40 research outputs found

    Whole-genome transcription and DNA methylation analysis of peripheral blood mononuclear cells identified aberrant gene regulation pathways in systemic lupus erythematosus

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    Hypermethylated CpG sites in PBMC of SLE patients comparing normal controls by genome-wide DNA methylation analysis. Three group comparisons, SLE LN+ vs. NC (S3-1), SLE LN− vs. NC (S3-2), and SLE (LN− and LN+) vs. NC (S3-3), were performed to identify hypermethylated DNA CpG sites by fold change (FC) > 1.2 and q value < 5% within each group. The 1813 common hypermethylated sites identified in each of the three group comparisons were then selected and listed in S3-4. (XLSX 814 kb

    Synthesis and Characterizations of High Carbon Ferrochrome (HCFC) Slag Based Geopolymer

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    In the present Investigation, Geopolymer (GP) is made using High carbon Ferrochrome (HCFC) slag by synthesizing silicon and aluminum present in it with alkali liquid solution which binds other non-reactive materials present in the slag. The compressive strength of GP is found to be 11 MPa after 7-days of air curing. Increasing air curing time to 28-days, the strength is measured to be 15 MPa. XRD analyses indicate that there is gradual transformation of crystalline phases to non-crystalline glassy phases. SEM images show presence of more amount of glassy phase after air curing for a longer time. This is also corroborated with mechanical properties such as compressive strength. TGA results are also discussed for both uncured and cured GP samples. DSC isotherms indicate oozing out of inbuilt water present in the prepared GP materials which is an indication of condensation polymerization reaction occurring during the formation of Geopolymers

    Clinical and Immunologic Profiles in Incomplete Lupus Erythematosus and Improvement with Hydroxychloroquine Treatment

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    Objective. The study goals were to evaluate performance of SLE classification criteria, to define patients with incomplete lupus erythematosus (ILE), and to probe for features in these patients that might be useful as indicators of disease status and hydroxychloroquine response. Methods. Patients with ILE (N=70) and SLE (N=32) defined by the 1997 American College of Rheumatology criteria were reclassified using the 2012 Systemic Lupus International Collaborating Clinics criteria. Disease activity, patient reported outcomes, and levels of Type I interferon- (IFN-) inducible genes, autoantibodies, and cytokines were measured. Subgroups treated with hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) were compared to patients not on this drug. Results. The classification sets were correlated (R2=0.87). ILE patients were older (P=0.0043) with lower disease activity scores (P<0.001) and greater dissatisfaction with health status (P=0.034) than SLE patients. ILE was associated with lower levels of macrophage-derived cytokines and levels of expressed Type I IFN-inducible genes. Treatment of ILE with HCQ was associated with better self-reported health status scores and lower expression levels of Type I IFN-inducible genes than ILE patients not on HCQ. Conclusion. The 2012 SLICC SLE classification criteria will be useful to define ILE in trials. Patients with ILE have better health status and immune profiles when treated with HCQ

    Household, community, sub-national and country-level predictors of primary cooking fuel switching in nine countries from the PURE study

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    Introduction. Switchingfrom polluting (e.g. wood, crop waste, coal)to clean (e.g. gas, electricity) cooking fuels can reduce household air pollution exposures and climate-forcing emissions.While studies have evaluated specific interventions and assessed fuel-switching in repeated cross-sectional surveys, the role of different multilevel factors in household fuel switching, outside of interventions and across diverse community settings, is not well understood. Methods.We examined longitudinal survey data from 24 172 households in 177 rural communities across nine countries within the Prospective Urban and Rural Epidemiology study.We assessed household-level primary cooking fuel switching during a median of 10 years offollow up (∼2005–2015).We used hierarchical logistic regression models to examine the relative importance of household, community, sub-national and national-level factors contributing to primary fuel switching. Results. One-half of study households(12 369)reported changing their primary cookingfuels between baseline andfollow up surveys. Of these, 61% (7582) switchedfrom polluting (wood, dung, agricultural waste, charcoal, coal, kerosene)to clean (gas, electricity)fuels, 26% (3109)switched between different polluting fuels, 10% (1164)switched from clean to polluting fuels and 3% (522)switched between different clean fuels

    Household, community, sub-national and country-level predictors of primary cooking fuel switching in nine countries from the PURE study

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    Tuberculous Synovitis of the knee with a discharging sinus

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    Extra pulmonary manifestations of tuberculosis are reported in less than one in five cases with the knee affected in 8% after the spine and hip. We report a case of tuberculous synovitis of the knee joint with a discharging sinus in a 40 year old female. The diagnosis was made by Ziehl - Neelson stain of the caseating discharge from the sinus, positive Mantoux test and radiological findings. The X-ray chest was normal. The patient responded well to anti-tuberculous treatment

    Guanidinium–amino acid hydrogen-bonding interactions in protein crystal structures: implications for guanidinium-induced protein denaturation

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    In the present work, 86 available high resolution X-ray structures of proteins that contain one or more guanidinium ions (Gdm+) are analyzed for the distribution and nature of noncovalent interactions between Gdm+ and amino-acid residues. A total of 1044 hydrogen-bonding interactions were identified, of which 1039 are N–H⋯O, and five are N–H⋯N. Acidic amino acids are more likely to interact with Gdm+ (46% of interactions, 26% Asp and 20% Glu), followed by Pro (19% of interactions). DFT calculations on the identified Gdm+–amino acid hydrogen-bonded pairs reveal that although Gdm+ interacts primarily with the backbone amides of nonpolar amino acids, Gdm+ does interact with the sidechains of polar and acidic amino acids. We classified the optimized Gdm+–amino acid pairs into parallel [p], bifurcated [b], single hydrogen bonded [s] and triple hydrogen bonded [t] types. The [p] and [t] type pairs possess higher average interaction strength that is stronger than that of [b] and [s] type pairs. Negatively charged aspartate and glutamate residues interact with Gdm+ ion exceptionally tightly (−76 kcal mol−1) in [p] type complexes. This work provides statistical and energetics insights to better describe the observed destabilization or denaturation process of proteins by guanidinium salts

    Mutation C677T in the methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase gene is associated with male infertility in an Indian population

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    A mutation (C677T) in the gene, MTHFR, is known to increase susceptibility to various multifactorial disorders. In order to assess this single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) as risk factor for idiopathic male infertility, a case-control study was done on an Indian population. DNA from 151 cases of non-obstruction, idiopathic oligo-/azoospermia and 200 fertile males (controls) was polymerase chain reaction amplified using site-specific primers, and analysed for the mutation following HinfI-digestion. Our results show a significantly increased frequency of CT heterozygotes among infertile patients (p value &lt; 0.04). More importantly, while there were no T homozygotes in the control population, six of 151 infertile cases were T homozygous. Considering that T allele occurs in very low frequency in the control population, 677T is clearly a risk factor for infertility in the Indian population. We contend that the same could also be true for African and Southeast Asian populations where the frequency of 677T is very low. The lack of similar association in western populations could be because of the overall dietary enrichment of folates, which could nullify or minimize the effect of this polymorphism
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