Fabrication of Multifunctional Carbon Coated Cobalt Ferrite Core/Shell Nanostructures by Pulsed Laser Ablation

Considerable research work is going on worldwide among the therapeutic scientific communities to use magnetic nanoparticles (NPs) as a controlled drug delivery system. Challenges to use those NPs for such in-vivo applications successfully are mainly biocompatibility and the functionality of those NPs. Addressing the needs, in this project, we synthesized carbon-coated cobalt ferrite (CFO) core-shell nanoparticles (CSNPS) by ablating a solution of toluene and CFO NPs with varying number of pulsed laser shots. The structure of the CSNPs then investigated through X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman spectroscopy, and also with the high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM). The XRD analysis shows that the inner structure of CFO remains intact after the laser ablation. The Raman data analysis confirmed that with increasing laser shots the amount of crystallinity of the carbon structure increases and the G-band peak becomes more prominent which infers fewer defects in the shell structure. The TEM images showed that the carbon is mostly present in the shell region and the intensity count from the line scan data concludes the formation of the core-shell structure of CFO NPs. Thus, the laser ablation technique turned out quite efficient to manufacture carbon-coated magnetic metal oxide CSNPs for further applications. To increase the functionality of the NPs, nitrogen was then introduced in the shell region using N, N-DMF solution along with toluene. Fluorescence spectroscopy of these two different types of coatings indicates subtle changes in the higher wavelength region, and SEM analysis informs the presence of nitrogen in the NPs although the future study is needed to confirm the existence of nitrogen in the shell structure of CFO CSNPs

Exploring the Care Options of Sickle Cell Disease Patients: Opioid and Non-Opioid Interventions

Background: Patients in Sickle Cell Crisis (SCC) experience severe pain resulting in hospitalization. Primary treatment is often opioid analgesia, which has the potential to affect hospital readmission rates, opioid dependence, and long-term pain for hospitalized Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) patients. Little research has been performed regarding the long-term effects of non-pharmacological pain interventions for SCD. Aim: The purpose of this study is to identify how non-pharmacological pain interventions, compared to opioid analgesia, affects long-term pain management, hospital readmission rates, and opioid dependence for patients with SCD. Methods: The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) directed the article selection from CINAHL, Medline, and Healthsource. Following a comprehensive review, the articles were analyzed using emergency room admissions, reports of opioid use disorders, and patient’s reports of pain (10-point scale). Results: Seventeen articles met the inclusion criteria of this study. The results of the study conclude that there are benefits and consequences to both opioid and non-opioid analgesia. For an improvement in patient outcomes, all options should be given and explored to patients with SCD, along with their consequences. Conclusion: The information in the study can be used as a guide for institutions and pharmacy departments to develop standardized pathways that utilize non-opioid analgesia and non-pharmacological interventions as an option for the treatment of SCC

Meiotic outcome in two carriers of Y autosome reciprocal translocations: selective elimination of certain segregants

BACKGROUND: Reciprocal Y autosome translocations are rare but frequently associated with male infertility. We report on the meiotic outcome in embryos fathered by two males with the karyotypes 46,X,t(Y;4)(q12;p15.32) and 46,X,t(Y;16)(q12;q13). The two couples underwent preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) enabling determination of the segregation types that were compatible with fertilization and preimplantation embryo development. Both PGD and follow up analysis were carried out via fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) or array comparative genomic hybridization (aCGH) allowing the meiotic segregation types to be determined in a total of 27 embryos. RESULTS: Interestingly, it was seen that the number of female embryos resulting from alternate segregation with the chromosome combination of X and the autosome from the carrier gamete differed from the corresponding balanced males with derivative Y and the derivative autosome by a ratio of 7:1 in each case (P = 0.003) while from the adjacent-1 mode of segregation, the unbalanced male embryos with the combination of der Y and the autosome were seen in all embryos from couple A and in couple B with the exception of one embryo only that had the other chromosome combination of X and derivative autosome (P = 0.011). In both cases the deficit groups have in common the der autosome chromosome that includes the segment Yq12 to qter. CONCLUSION: The most likely explanation may be that this chromosome is associated with the X chromosome at PAR2 (pseudoautosomal region 2) in the sex-body leading to inactivation of genes on the autosomal segment that are required for the meiotic process and that this has led to degeneration of this class of spermatocytes during meiosis

Body composition and prevalence of overweight and obesity and its determinants among adolescents in Manipur, North-Eastern India: a cross-sectional study

Background: Childhood obesity is emerging as one of the serious public health problems. It has become one of the significant risk factors associated with a cluster of non-communicable diseases which causes an enormous socioeconomic and public health burden. Therefore, the objective of this study was to assess the body fat % and prevalence of overweight and obesity among adolescent in Manipur and to identify factors which may contribute to overweight.Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 12,410 students studying in class VIII-XII in four districts of Manipur from 2007-2009.  A self-administered questionnaire method was used. BMI and Body composition were determined using the TANITA Body Composition Analyzer. Overweight/ obesity were classified by using WHO classification. Analysis done using SPSSv20 and mean (SD), percentages and Chi-square test were used. A p-value <0.05 was considered as statistically significant.Results: The overall mean fat % was 19.4±6.1 and girls have higher fat% than boys. Overall prevalence of overweight and obesity were 6.4% and 1.2% respectively. Obesity prevalence was more among girls than boys (1.6% vs 1.0%). Statistically significant association was found between obesity with family history of overweight, private schooling, playing games, mode of transport to school, sleeping hours, being vegetarian and watching television.Conclusions: Though the prevalence of overweight and obesity as compared to other parts of India is low, the increasing trend is a definite cause of concern. Therefore, there is a need for primary prevention targeted among children and adolescents regarding adoption of healthy life styles

Genome-wide transcriptome study in wheat identified candidate genes related to processing quality, majority of them showing interaction (quality x development) and having temporal and spatial distributions

BACKGROUND: The cultivated bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) possesses unique flour quality, which can be processed into many end-use food products such as bread, pasta, chapatti (unleavened flat bread), biscuit, etc. The present wheat varieties require improvement in processing quality to meet the increasing demand of better quality food products. However, processing quality is very complex and controlled by many genes, which have not been completely explored. To identify the candidate genes whose expressions changed due to variation in processing quality and interaction (quality x development), genome-wide transcriptome studies were performed in two sets of diverse Indian wheat varieties differing for chapatti quality. It is also important to understand the temporal and spatial distributions of their expressions for designing tissue and growth specific functional genomics experiments. RESULTS: Gene-specific two-way ANOVA analysis of expression of about 55 K transcripts in two diverse sets of Indian wheat varieties for chapatti quality at three seed developmental stages identified 236 differentially expressed probe sets (10-fold). Out of 236, 110 probe sets were identified for chapatti quality. Many processing quality related key genes such as glutenin and gliadins, puroindolines, grain softness protein, alpha and beta amylases, proteases, were identified, and many other candidate genes related to cellular and molecular functions were also identified. The ANOVA analysis revealed that the expression of 56 of 110 probe sets was involved in interaction (quality x development). Majority of the probe sets showed differential expression at early stage of seed development i.e. temporal expression. Meta-analysis revealed that the majority of the genes expressed in one or a few growth stages indicating spatial distribution of their expressions. The differential expressions of a few candidate genes such as pre-alpha/beta-gliadin and gamma gliadin were validated by RT-PCR. Therefore, this study identified several quality related key genes including many other genes, their interactions (quality x development) and temporal and spatial distributions. CONCLUSIONS: The candidate genes identified for processing quality and information on temporal and spatial distributions of their expressions would be useful for designing wheat improvement programs for processing quality either by changing their expression or development of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) markers

Thermomagnetic history effects in SmMn2_2Ge2_2

The intermetallic compound SmMn$_2$Ge$_2$, displaying multiple magnetic phase transitions, is being investigated in detail for its magnetization behavior near the 145 K first order ferromagnetic to antiferromagnetic transition occuring on cooling, in particular for thermomagnetic history effects in the magnetization data. The most unusual finding is that the thermomagnetic irreversibility, [= M$^{FCW}$(T)-M$^{ZFC}$(T)] at 135 K is higher in intermediate magnetic field strengths. By studying the response of the sample (i.e., thermomagnetic irreversibility and thermal hysteresis) to different histories of application of magnetic field and temperature, we demonstrate how the supercooling and superheating of the metastable magnetic phases across the first order transition at 145 K contribute to overall thermomagnetic irreversibility.Comment: 15 pages, 5 figures, to appear in Physical Review

A high-content, multiplexed screen in human breast cancer cells identifies profilin-1 inducers with anti-migratory activities

Profilin-1 (Pfn-1) is a ubiquitously expressed actin-binding protein that is essential for normal cell proliferation and migration. In breast cancer and several other adenocarcinomas, Pfn-1 expression is downregulated when compared to normal tissues. Previous studies from our laboratory have shown that genetically modulating Pfn-1 expression significantly impacts proliferation, migration, and invasion of breast cancer cells in vitro, and mammary tumor growth, dissemination, and metastatic colonization in vivo. Therefore, small molecules that can modulate Pfn-1 expression could have therapeutic potential in the treatment of metastatic breast cancer. The overall goal of this study was to perform a multiplexed phenotypic screen to identify compounds that inhibit cell motility through upregulation of Pfn-1. Screening of a test cassette of 1280 compounds with known biological activities on an Oris™ Pro 384 cell migration platform identified several agents that increased Pfn-1 expression greater than two-fold over vehicle controls and exerted anti-migratory effects in the absence of overt cytotoxicity in MDA-MB-231 human breast cancer cells. Concentration-response confirmation and orthogonal follow-up assays identified two bona fide inducers of Pfn-1, purvalanol and tyrphostin A9, that confirmed in single-cell motility assays and Western blot analyses. SiRNA-mediated knockdown of Pfn-1 abrogated the inhibitory effect of tyrphostin A9 on cell migration, suggesting Pfn-1 is mechanistically linked to tyrphostin A9's anti-migratory activity. The data illustrate the utility of the high-content cell motility assay to discover novel targeted anti-migratory agents by integrating functional phenotypic analyses with target-specific readouts in a single assay platform. © 2014 Joy et al