The little - known world of flies

What makes flies different from a dragonfly or a butterfly? How do the lovely iridescent bluebottle and greenbottle flies help solve murders? What do insect bites, galls and chocolate have in common? Do flies have taste-buds? How do we introduce flies in science classrooms? This article explores the fascinating world of true flies, their incredible variety, and the diversity of services they provide us with, ending with an activity that teachers can use to unravel one aspect of the life of flies to students

CHARACTERIZING MEDICATION ADHERENCE TO AN ORAL GLUCOSE LOWERING DRUG, METFORMIN USING GROUP BASED TRAJECTORY MODELS

Background Medication non-adherence is a major contributor to suboptimal control of chronic diseases. Its consequences include inferior clinical outcomes as well as unnecessary health care costs. Group based trajectory models (GBTM), a type of finite mixture model, can be used to identify distinct trajectories of medication adherence among the patient population. It models adherence as a longitudinal parameter. Objective To characterize patterns of medication adherence among adult patients in the first year of initiating metformin using group based trajectory models, compared to the traditional summary measure of proportion of days covered. Methods We identified patients who initiated metformin, an oral glucose lowering drug, between 1st January to 31st December, 2011 from pharmacy prescription claims in Truven MarketScan Commercial Claims and Encounter database and followed them for a period of 360 days. We evaluated the number of days covered by metformin in 12 30 day periods and generated 12 monthly indicators to indicate whether that month was fully covered (defined as 24 or more days out of the 30 days). We modeled trajectories using group based trajectory models (2 to 6 groups) using these monthly indicators. We also calculated a traditional summary measure, proportion of days covered (PDC). We used Bayesian Information Criterion (BIC), posterior probabilities and clinical relevant interpretations in order to decide the best fit model. Additionally, we compared the accuracy of prediction of adherence of the different summary measures. Results Among 77,279 patients who initiated metformin in 2011, we found that the 5 and 6 group model performed comparably. Overall the 6 group trajectory model summarized long term adherence best (C statistic 0.951) and PDC categorized as 80% or more (value of 1) and less than 80% (value of 0) summarized adherence worst (C statistic 0.767). However, keeping in the mind the relevance of clinical interpretation, we chose the 5 group model to be best fit model. Conclusion Group based trajectory models can be used to summarize medication adherence more accurately than proportion of days covered. This newer method can be used by payers, clinicians and researchers in order to identify groups of patients with distinct adherence patterns and to identify targeted interventions for its improvement

Nocodazole does not synchronize cells: implications for cell-cycle control and whole-culture synchronization

It has been predicted that nocodazole-inhibited cells are not synchronized because nocodazole-arrested cells with a G2-phase amount of DNA would not have a narrow cell-size range reflecting the cell size of some specific, presumably G2-phase, cell-cycle age. Size measurements of nocodazole-inhibited cells now fully confirm this prediction. Further, release from nocodazole inhibition does not produce cells that move through the cell cycle mimicking the passage of normal unperturbed cells through the cell cycle. Nocodazole, an archetypal whole-culture synchronization method, can inhibit growth to produce cells with a G2-phase amount of DNA, but such cells are not synchronized. Cells produced by a selective (i.e., non-whole-culture) method not only have a specific DNA content, but also have a narrow size distribution. The current view of cell-cycle control that is based on methods that are not suitable for cell-cycle analysis must therefore be reconsidered when results are based on whole-culture synchronization.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/47691/1/441_2005_Article_118.pd

Nocodazole does not synchronize cells: implications for cell-cycle control and whole-culture synchronization

Abstract It has been predicted that nocodazole-inhibited cells are not synchronized because nocodazole-arrested cells with a G2-phase amount of DNA would not have a narrow cell-size range reflecting the cell size of some specific, presumably G2-phase, cell-cycle age. Size measurements of nocodazole-inhibited cells now fully confirm this prediction. Further, release from nocodazole inhibition does not produce cells that move through the cell cycle mimicking the passage of normal unperturbed cells through the cell cycle. Nocodazole, an archetypal whole-culture synchronization method, can inhibit growth to produce cells with a G2-phase amount of DNA, but such cells are not synchronized. Cells produced by a selective (i.e., non-whole-culture) method not only have a specific DNA content, but also have a narrow size distribution. The current view of cell-cycle control that is based on methods that are not suitable for cell-cycle analysis must therefore be reconsidered when results are based on whole-culture synchronization

Evaluation of premetastatic changes in lymph nodes(pN0) of oral tongue tumour: A prospective observational Study [version 1; peer review: 2 approved]

Background: Tongue tumors show intra and inter-tumoral heterogenicity with high incidence, relapse and mortality rates necessitating further research.  Recurrence/metastasis that occurs  after surgical resection of primary cancer is often the reason for poor survival in these patients.  Lymph nodes are the most common site of metastasis in tongue tumors. Therefore, premetastatic molecular changes can be best evaluated in lymph nodes which may epitomize the earliest events in the metastasis cascades. The presence of circulating tumor cells(CTCs) in the absence of nodal disease (N0) may represent tumor aggressiveness, suggesting an immune escape which may have high metastatic potential. This trial  was developed  to investigate the earliest pre-metastatic changes which may regulate tumor dormancy and predict metastasis. A better understanding of organotropism or pre-metastatic changes can help in theragnostic, thereby  preventing the outbreak of overt metastasis.  Methods: A single-institutional prospective observational cohort study. This trial will be conducted at a tertiary care Centre (Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences Kochi).  Eligible patients will be enrolled after obtaining informed consent. The dissected lymph nodes will  be subjected to histopathological and immunohistochemical analyses for premetastatic niche (PMN) formation. In addition, circulating tumor cells will be evaluated before treatment and 6 months after treatment. The patients will be followed  up for a period of two years to correlate the findings with the recurrence-free survival. Expected results:  The pre-metastatic changes, if detected will  be  a predictive biomarker. It may help to define future drug targets for metastasis chemoprevention   . CTCs may  define the tumor aggressiveness ,there by  prognostication  and helps in better disease management. Ethics and dissemination: The study has received the following approval: Ethics Committee of Amrita School of Medicine (ECASM-AIMS-2022-048).Trial Registered Prospectively( CTRI/2022/03/041256 ) on 22/03/2022 under Clinical Trial Registry of Indi

Identification and functional validation of a unique set of drought induced genes preferentially expressed in response to gradual water stress in peanut

Peanut, found to be relatively drought tolerant crop, has been the choice of study to characterize the genes expressed under gradual water deficit stress. Nearly 700 genes were identified to be enriched in subtractive cDNA library from gradual process of drought stress adaptation. Further, expression of the drought inducible genes related to various signaling components and gene sets involved in protecting cellular function has been described based on dot blot experiments. Fifty genes (25 regulators and 25 functional related genes) selected based on dot blot experiments were tested for their stress responsiveness using northern blot analysis and confirmed their nature of differential regulation under different field capacity of drought stress treatments. ESTs generated from this subtracted cDNA library offered a rich source of stress-related genes including signaling components. Additional 50% uncharacterized sequences are noteworthy. Insights gained from this study would provide the foundation for further studies to understand the question of how peanut plants are able to adapt to naturally occurring harsh drought conditions. At present functional validation cannot be deemed in peanut, hence as a proof of concept seven orthologues of drought induced genes of peanut have been silenced in heterologous N. benthamiana system, using virus induced gene silencing method. These results point out the functional importance for HSP70 gene and key regulators such as Jumonji in drought stress response