Utilization of phosphorus for casein biosynthesis in the mammary gland. II. Incorporation of P<SUP>32</SUP> into free phosphopeptides of milk and of mammary gland

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Research productivity on COVID-19: A Bibliometric approach

The study aimed to explore the perspective of COVID-19 publications across the globe. Further, attempts were also made to find out the most productive country, author, and institute in publishing literature on COVID-19. The data related study was retrieved from SCOPUS database. Various search strategies were used to retrieve publications on COVID-19 published between 1st December 2019 and 22nd June 2020. A total of 19,991 publications on COVID-19 were retrieved from the Scopus database. Further, it was found that Huazhong University of Science and Technology, China has produced 422 publications and received 5624 citations with an average citation of 13.327 per publication. BMJ Clinical Research Ed published 534 (1.61%) articles. Among the most productive authors, Wiwanitkit, Viroj from Hainan Medical University, China stands in the first place with 73 publications followed by Mahase, E. from the British Medical Journal, UK (52 publications) and Iacobucci, Gareth (48 publications). The study provided a relatively objective reference for peer scientists, national regimes, and the global health system. The findings of the study will definitely help the institutions as well as authors to get an opportunity to collaborate with regional, national and international research institutions and scientists

Novel titanium - hydroxyapatite biocomposites By mechanical milling

Titanium with nano hydroxyapatite (nHA) as well as with micron size hydroxyapatite was ball milled for various time intervals. The milled powders were characterized using X-Ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM) and transmission electron microscope (TEM) techniques. The XRD results show peak broadening with increase in milling time indicating the formation of nanocomposite with titanium and HA phases. Relatively, titanium was found to be more reduced in size with increase in milling time than HA in the composite. The EDX results indicated the presence of Ca and P in the titanium matrix. elemental mapping showed homogeneous distribution of Ti, Ca and P after 16 h of ball milling in all the composites. TEM micrographs also revealed the presence of nanocrystals. The powders were compacted, sintered and immersed in simulated body fluid (SBF), which has the same ion concentration as that of the human body plasma, to study bioactivity under physiological condition. After immersion in SBF for 1 week, the compacts were observed in SEM and all the composites were found to be bioactive with the formation of bone like apatite layer on the surface. The morphology of the apatite formed was globular and more dense for the composite prepared using nano HA compared to micron size HA

Improvement and Optimization of Performance of Iron Ore Beneficiation Plant

JSW steel in an integrated steel plant of 2.5 Mtpa crude steel capacity and is being expanded to 10 Mtpa in phases. The plant facilities include 3 Mt Iron Ore Beneficiation Plant, 4.2 Mt Pellet Plant, 1.6 Mt Corex iron making, 0.9 Mt Blast Furnace, 2.5 Mt BOF — CCP and 2 Mt Hot Strip Mill. In order to control alumina in iron ore fines, the iron ore beneficiation plant was installed based on in-house developed process. During its operation of last two years, number of improvements and innovations have been introdu-ced to improve the reduction in alumina, improve yield and reduce moisture of concentrate

Development of Beneficiation Process for High Alumina Iron Ores of Bellary-Hospet Region

JSW Steel is operating a 4.2 Mtpa capacity Pellet Plant to produce iron oxide pellets from the iron ore fines avail-able in the surrounding Bellary-Hospet region of southern India. Iron ore fines which get generated during mining are soft and rich in alumina with high amount of ultra fines. These characteristics of iron ore fines make it difficult to produce good grade pellets for use in COREX iron making units. Apart from this, high alumina in the pellets increases the slag volume in Corex, which demands additional heat energy, resulting in increased fuel rate. Hence, it was decided to set up a beneficiation plant to reduce the alumina content of the ore fines. Iron ore fines from several sources available in the Bellary- Hospet region were evaluated for their suitability for beneficiation as each source differs in chemistry, particle size distribution and washability characteris-tics. A technique called "Sizewise Washability Technique" was developed to study the washability characteristics of the ore fines to determine the extent of alumina reduction on washing and corresponding yield of concentrate. Iron ore fines from 13 sources were tested and were classified as Preferable, Tolerable and Not- Washable depending on their suitability for beneficiation. Mineralogical studies were also undertaken to understand the liberation characterist-ics of gangue minerals to achieve proper alumina reduction during beneficiation

Magneto-optics of massive Dirac fermions in bulk Bi2Se3

We report on magneto-optical studies of Bi2Se3, a representative member of the 3D topological insulator family. Its electronic states in bulk are shown to be well described by a simple Dirac-type Hamiltonian for massive particles with only two parameters: the fundamental bandgap and the band velocity. In a magnetic field, this model implies a unique property - spin splitting equal to twice the cyclotron energy: Es = 2Ec. This explains the extensive magneto-transport studies concluding a fortuitous degeneracy of the spin and orbital split Landau levels in this material. The Es = 2Ec match differentiates the massive Dirac electrons in bulk Bi2Se3 from those in quantum electrodynamics, for which Es = Ec always holds.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures and Supplementary materials, to be published in Physical Review Letter

Observation of epitaxially ordered twinned zinc aluminate “nanoblades” on c-capphire

We report the observation of a novel nanostructured growth mode of the ceramic spinel zinc aluminate grown on c-sapphire in the form of epitaxially ordered twinned crystallites with pronounced vertically aligned “nanoblades” on top of these crystallites. The nanostructures are formed on bare c-sapphire substrates using a vapour phase transport method. Electron microscopy images reveal the nanostructure morphology and dimensions and allow direct and indirect observation of the twin boundary location in a number of samples. The nanoblade structure with sharply rising sidewalls gives rise to a distinctive bright contrast in secondary electron images in scanning electron microscopy measurements

Broad-Spectrum Antiviral Activity of RNA Interference against Four Genotypes of Japanese Encephalitis Virus Based on Single MicroRNA Polycistrons

Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV), a neurotropic mosquito-borne flavivirus, causes acute viral encephalitis and neurologic disease with a high fatality rate in humans and a range of animals. Small interfering RNA (siRNA) is a powerful antiviral agent able to inhibit JEV replication. However, the high rate of genetic variability between JEV strains (of four confirmed genotypes, genotypes I, II, III and IV) hampers the broad-spectrum application of siRNAs, and mutations within the targeted sequences could facilitate JEV escape from RNA interference (RNAi)-mediated antiviral therapy. To improve the broad-spectrum application of siRNAs and prevent the generation of escape mutants, multiple siRNAs targeting conserved viral sequences need to be combined. In this study, using a siRNA expression vector based on the miR-155 backbone and promoted by RNA polymerase II, we initially identified nine siRNAs targeting highly conserved regions of seven JEV genes among strains of the four genotypes of JEV to effectively block the replication of the JEV vaccine strain SA14-14-2. Then, we constructed single microRNA-like polycistrons to simultaneously express these effective siRNAs under a single RNA polymerase II promoter. Finally, these single siRNAs or multiple siRNAs from the microRNA-like polycistrons showed effective anti-virus activity in genotype I and genotype III JEV wild type strains, which are the predominant genotypes of JEV in mainland China. The anti-JEV effect of these microRNA-like polycistrons was also predicted in other genotypes of JEV (genotypes II and IV), The inhibitory efficacy indicated that siRNAs×9 could theoretically inhibit the replication of JEV genotypes II and IV

Curcumin-induced inhibition of cellular reactive oxygen species generation: novel therapeutic implications

There is evidence for increased levels of circulating reactive oxygen species (ROS) in diabetics, as indirectly inferred by the findings of increased lipid peroxidation and decreased antioxidant status. Direct measurements of intracellular generation of ROS using fluorescent dyes also demonstrate an association of oxidative stress with diabetes. Although phenolic compounds attenuate oxidative stress-related tissue damage, there are concerns over toxicity of synthetic phenolic antioxidants and this has considerably stimulated interest in investigating the role of natural phenolics in medicinal applications. Curcumin (the primary active principle in turmeric, Curcuma longa Linn.) has been claimed to represent a potential antioxidant and antiinflammatory agent with phytonutrient and bioprotective properties. However there are lack of molecular studies to demonstrate its cellular action and potential molecular targets. In this study the antioxidant effect of curcumin as a function of changes in cellular ROS generation was tested. Our results clearly demonstrate that curcumin abolished both phorbol-12 myristate-13 acetate (PMA) and thapsigargin-induced ROS generation in cells from control and diabetic subjects. The pattern of these ROS inhibitory effects as a function of dose-dependency suggests that curcumin mechanistically interferes with protein kinase C (PKC) and calcium regulation. Simultaneous measurements of ROS and Ca2+ influx suggest that a rise in cytosolic Ca2+ may be a trigger for increased ROS generation. We suggest that the antioxidant and antiangeogenic actions of curcumin, as a mechanism of inhibition of Ca2+ entry and PKC activity, should be further exploited to develop suitable and novel drugs for the treatment of diabetic retinopathy and other diabetic complications

Contribution of infection and vaccination to population-level seroprevalence through two COVID waves in Tamil Nadu, India.

This study employs repeated, large panels of serological surveys to document rapid and substantial waning of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies at the population level and to calculate the extent to which infection and vaccination separately contribute to seroprevalence estimates. Four rounds of serological surveys were conducted, spanning two COVID waves (October 2020 and April-May 2021), in Tamil Nadu (population 72 million) state in India. Each round included representative populations in each district of the state, totaling ≥ 20,000 persons per round. State-level seroprevalence was 31.5% in round 1 (October-November 2020), after India's first COVID wave. Seroprevalence fell to 22.9% in round 2 (April 2021), a roughly one-third decline in 6 months, consistent with dramatic waning of SARS-Cov-2 antibodies from natural infection. Seroprevalence rose to 67.1% by round 3 (June-July 2021), with infections from the Delta-variant induced second COVID wave accounting for 74% of the increase. Seroprevalence rose to 93.1% by round 4 (December 2021-January 2022), with vaccinations accounting for 63% of the increase. Antibodies also appear to wane after vaccination. Seroprevalence in urban areas was higher than in rural areas, but the gap shrunk over time (35.7 v. 25.7% in round 1, 89.8% v. 91.4% in round 4) as the epidemic spread even in low-density rural areas