RNAi-mediated Reduction of a Major Ruminant Specific Milk Allergen Using a Transgenic Mouse Model

Milk from dairy cows is an important human food. It contains the protein beta-lactoglobulin (BLG) which is not present in human milk and thought to be a major allergen in the milk of cows. RNA interference (RNAi), mediated by sequence-specific micro RNAs (miRNAs), provides a new molecular tool to reduce the levels of undesirable proteins. In this study, I have screened ten miRNAs targeting the BLG mRNA for their potential to knockdown BLG expression using a cell-based in vitro assay. I identified four miRNAs which showed substantial bovine BLG (bBLG) (78-97%) and ovine BLG (oBLG) (33-94%) knockdown activity in vitro. Tandem miRNA constructs with combinations of these four single miRNAs did not result in significantly increased knockdown efficiency compared to the respective single miRNA constructs in the in vitro assay (P>0.05). Because targeting of two different regions has the potential for greater knockdown efficiency in vivo, I chose a tandem construct which achieved in vitro up to 99% bBLG knockdown as compared to 92% and 74% of bBLG knockdown by the single miRNAs. The tandem construct also showed 90% of oBLG knockdown in comparison to 92% and 69% of oBLG knockdown by the single miRNAs in the in vitro assay which made it an ideal candidate for the subsequent evaluation in transgenic (Tg) mice. For the in vivo studies, the cytomegalovirus (CMV) promoter of the selected miRNA constructs was replaced with the promoter of the mouse milk protein gene for whey acid protein (WAP) which directs the expression of the BLG-specific miRNAs to the lactating mammary gland. The Tg mouse lines generated with the tissue-specific tandem construct and the single miRNAs used for the tandem miRNA construct were then crossed with an oBLG or bBLG expressing Tg mouse line to generate double transgenic (miRNA-BLG) mice for assessing BLG knockdown in vivo. Analysis of the milk proteins demonstrated that the tandem miRNA reduced the levels of oBLG and bBLG in milk from the miRNA-BLG mice up to 96% and 46%, respectively. This study validates the mammary gland specific expression of miRNAs as a promising approach to knockdown allergenic proteins in milk

Availability of aqua drugs and their uses in semi intensive culture farms at Patuakhali district in Bangladesh

A survey was undertaken to examine the accessibility of aqua-drugs and their applications in the semi-intensive aquaculture farms in Patuakhali district. A total of 83 stakeholders were selected and data gathered from aqua-medicine stores, representatives of different pharmaceuticals and semi-intensive aqua-farms owners via questionnaire interviews. PRA tools like focused group discussion, cross-checking, and key informant interviews were also used. Results show that 78% of farmers conduct polyculture and rest executes monoculture. Among the total fish farmer majority, 38% used lime for pond preparation and water quality management and potash used by 44% farmer as a disinfectant. For increasing dissolve-oxygen Oxy-rich (26%) was vastly used while 28% of farmers don’t use any oxygen supplier in their pond. However, 14% of farmers use commercial Megavit-Aqua growth promoters and 14% farmer used probiotics. For disease control, 52% and 14% of farmers use Renamycin and Renamox respectively due to its easy availability and affordability compared to probiotics. Several issues have been reported due to improper use of aquatic medications, such as lack of information about chemical use, sufficient dosage, form of application and indiscriminate use of antibiotics. This research result will help the policymaker to understand the requirement of fishers for healthy and sustainable aquaculture practices

Application of SWAT Model for Assessing Water Availability in Surma River Basin

Water discharge is a significant hydrological parameter because it defines the shape, size and course of the stream. This study was initiated to evaluate the performance and applicability of the physically based SWAT model in analyzing the influence of hydrologic parameters on the streamflow variability and estimation of water balance components at the outlet of Kanaighat streamflow station (SW266) of Surma basin. A 30-m resolution digital elevation model (DEM) has been used to delineate catchment boundary. Land use map obtained from global source GLOBCOVER (Europe Space Agency) has been reclassified to match the SWAT land classes. The model was first calibrated for the period from 2003 to 2008 and then validated for the period from 2009 to 2013 using the observed monthly discharge data. Statistical model performance measures, coefficient of determination (R2) of 0.780, the Nash–Sutcliffe Index (NSI) of 0.47 and Percent bias (PBIAS) of -53.5%, for calibration and 0.878, 0.74 and -31.7%, respectively for validation, indicated good performance of the model simulation on monthly time step. The results showed that SWAT can simulate the hydrologic characteristics of the watershed very well

Managing health insurance using blockchain technology

Health insurance plays a significant role in ensuring quality healthcare. In response to the escalating costs of the medical industry, the demand for health insurance is soaring. Additionally, those with health insurance are more likely to receive preventative care than those without health insurance. However, from granting health insurance to delivering services to insured individuals, the health insurance industry faces numerous obstacles. Fraudulent actions, false claims, a lack of transparency and data privacy, reliance on human effort and dishonesty from consumers, healthcare professionals, or even the insurer party itself, are the most common and important hurdles towards success. Given these constraints, this chapter briefly covers the most immediate concerns in the health insurance industry and provides insight into how blockchain technology integration can contribute to resolving these issues. This chapter finishes by highlighting existing limitations as well as potential future directions.Comment: 37 pages, 2 figures, 12 table

Immutable Autobiography of Smart Cars Leveraging Blockchain Technology

The popularity of smart cars is increasing around the world as they offer a wide range of services and conveniences. These smart cars are equipped with a variety of sensors generating a large amount of data, many of which are critical. Besides, there are multiple parties involved in the lifespan of a smart car, such as manufacturers, car owners, government agencies, and third-party service providers who also generate data about the vehicle. In addition to managing and sharing data amongst these entities in a secure and privacy-friendly way which is a great challenge itself, there exists a trust deficit about some types of data as they remain under the custody of the car owner (e.g. satellite navigation and mileage data) and can easily be manipulated. In this paper, we propose a blockchain assisted architecture enabling the owner of a smart car to create an immutable record of every data, called the autobiography of a car, generated within its lifespan. We also explain how the trust about this record is guaranteed by the immutability characteristic of the blockchain. Furthermore, the paper describes how the proposed architecture enables a secure and privacy-preserving mechanism for sharing of smart car data among different parties

GABA mediated response of aqueous, ethanol andethyl acetate extracts of Dicranopteris linearis leaf inSwiss Albino mice

Introduction: The objective of the study was to assess the potential of the leaf of Dicranopteris linearis in altering the CNS functions with three different extracts; aqueous, ethanol and ethyl acetate.Methods: To evaluate and compare the activities Morris maze, elevated plus maze (EPM),open field, hole cross and head dip tests were performed and many behavioral parameters wereobserved. The forced swim in Morris water maze analyzed the depression of rodents in termsof inability to self-rescue. Alongside, hole cross and open field tests assessed the inhibition oflocomotor activities. Moreover, EPM test screened the anxiolytic potential while the head dippinghole board test supported the previous experiments by evaluating both sedative, depressive andanxiolytic potentials of the extracts.Results: The results showed that the ethanol extract significantly suppressed CNS activity byreducing number of locomotor activities and increasing the stability phase (in EPM and Morrismaze) supporting mild sedation, depression and anxiolysis. Furthermore, the ethyl acetate extractalso possessed moderate to high potential in reducing locomotor activities depending on gradientdoses. Results were compared with control group and found statistically significant.Conclusion: As this plant mimic the activity of a gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) agonist, itcan be concluded that the plant may have GABA mediated involvement in central nervous system.However, the responsible compounds for these activities are yet to be investigated and this maypotentiate a new source of drug development

A Feasibility Study of a CHP System in a Commercial Facilities: Sizing and Parameters Analysis

The focus of this report is to design a CHP system using energy demand load profile for a food distribution center. This study has investigated energy requirements in food industry. The main distinction of this report is to carry out economic and environmental analysis of a CHP system. Case studies based on food industry demonstrates that the CHP system is able to run continuously at optimal efficiency and operational costs of the CHP system can be effectively reduced in both electric and heating cost

A Comparative Analysis of Distributed Ledger Technology Platforms

Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) has emerged as one of the most disruptive technologies in the last decade. It promises to change the way people do their business, track their products, and manage their personal data. Though the concept of DLT was first implemented in 2009 as Bitcoin, it has gained significant attention only in the past few years. During this time, different DLT enthusiasts and commercial companies have proposed and developed several DLT platforms. These platforms are usually categorized as public vs private, general-purpose vs application-specific and so on. As a growing number of people are interested to build DLT applications, it is important to understand their underlying architecture and capabilities in order to determine which DLT platform should be leveraged for a specific DLT application. In addition, the platforms need to be evaluated and critically analyzed to assess their applicability, resiliency and sustainability in the long run. In this paper, we have surveyed several leading DLT platforms and evaluated their capabilities based on a number of quantitative and qualitative criteria. The comparative analysis presented in this paper will help the DLT developers and architects to choose the best platform as per their requirement(s)