Large Amplitude Free Vibrations of Plates Resting on a Pasternak Type Elastic Foundation

In this paper following Berger's approximate plate theory for large deflections, large amplitude free vibrations of Rectangular Plate, isosceles right-angled triangular plate, Equilateral triangular plate and circular plate resting on a Pasternak-type elastic foundation have been discussed

Nanocarriers Targeting Dendritic Cells for Pulmonary Vaccine Delivery

Pulmonary vaccine delivery has gained significant attention as an alternate route for vaccination without the use of needles. Immunization through the pulmonary route induces both mucosal and systemic immunity, and the delivery of antigens in a dry powder state can overcome some challenges such as cold-chain and availability of medical personnel compared to traditional liquid-based vaccines. Antigens formulated as nanoparticles (NPs) reach the respiratory airways of the lungs providing greater chance of uptake by relevant immune cells. In addition, effective targeting of antigens to the most ‘professional’ antigen presenting cells (APCs), the dendritic cells (DCs) yields an enhanced immune response and the use of an adjuvant further augments the generated immune response thus requiring less antigen/dosage to achieve vaccination. This review discusses the pulmonary delivery of vaccines, methods of preparing NPs for antigen delivery and targeting, the importance of targeting DCs and different techniques involved in formulating dry powders suitable for inhalation

Performance of Amblypharyngodon mola with Barbodes gonionotus, Cyprinus carpio and Macrobrachium rosenbergii in rice-fish culture system

An experiment was conducted to assess the performance of mola (Amblyphmyngodon mola) in rice fish culture system with freshwater prawn Macrobrachium rosenbergii), Thai silver barb (Bm·bades ganianotus) and common carp (Cyprinus cmpia) for a period of 4 months at the Agronomy Field Laboratory, Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh, Bangladesh. Four treatments viz., treatment-I (T1) with A. mala and M. rosenbergii; treatmen t-II (T2) with A. mala, M. rosenbergii and B. gonianatus ; treatmentIII (T3) with A. mala, 1Vf. rosenbergii and C. cmpia, and treatment- IV (T4) as control (without fish) were used in triplicate. All treatments were equally fertilized with urea (200 kg/ha), TSP (150 kg/ha) and MP (75 kg/ha). The mean values of water quality parameters viz., temperature, dissolved oxygen, pH, nitrate-nitrogen showed a very small variations among different treatments, but phosphate-phosphorus and chlorophyll-a were relatively higher in T4 without fish (i.e., control). The fish production of 480.5 kg/ha in T3 was significantly higher than that of 355.6 kg/ha T2 and 223.8 kg/ha in T 1• The values of soil organic matter, total-nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium at harvest were significantly (P<0.05) higher in the treatments with fish than without fish, but pH did not show any significant differences. The yield of rice grain and straw was also obtained significantly (P<0.05) higher in the treatments with fish. The increase in grain was higher over the control by 11.81%, 9.41% and 14.76% and that in straw was by 9.83%, 4.77% and 13.29% in Tl> T2, and T3 respectively

Integrating serological and genetic data to quantify cross-species transmission: brucellosis as a case study

Epidemiological data are often fragmented, partial, and/or ambiguous and unable to yield the desired level of understanding of infectious disease dynamics to adequately inform control measures. Here, we show how the information contained in widely available serology data can be enhanced by integration with less common type-specific data, to improve the understanding of the transmission dynamics of complex multi-species pathogens and host communities. Using brucellosis in Northern Tanzania as a case-study, we developed a latent process model based on serology data obtained from the field, to reconstruct Brucella transmission dynamics. We were able to identify sheep and goats as a more likely source of human and animal infection than cattle; however, the highly cross-reactive nature of Brucella spp. meant that it was not possible to determine which Brucella species (B. abortus or B. melitensis) is responsible for human infection. We extended our model to integrate simulated serology and typing data, and show that although serology alone can identify the host source of human infection under certain restrictive conditions, the integration of even small amounts (5%) of typing data can improve understanding of complex epidemiological dynamics. We show that data integration will often be essential when more than one pathogen is present and when the distinction between exposed and infectious individuals is not clear from serology data. With increasing epidemiological complexity, serology data become less informative. However, we show how this weakness can be mitigated by integrating such data with typing data, thereby enhancing the inference from these data and improving understanding of the underlying dynamics

Nanocarriers Targeting Dendritic Cells for Pulmonary Vaccine Delivery

Pulmonary vaccine delivery has gained significant attention as an alternate route for vaccination without the use of needles. Immunization through the pulmonary route induces both mucosal and systemic immunity, and the delivery of antigens in a dry powder state can overcome some challenges such as cold-chain and availability of medical personnel compared to traditional liquid-based vaccines. Antigens formulated as nanoparticles (NPs) reach the respiratory airways of the lungs providing greater chance of uptake by relevant immune cells. In addition, effective targeting of antigens to the most ‘professional’ antigen presenting cells (APCs), the dendritic cells (DCs) yields an enhanced immune response and the use of an adjuvant further augments the generated immune response thus requiring less antigen/dosage to achieve vaccination. This review discusses the pulmonary delivery of vaccines, methods of preparing NPs for antigen delivery and targeting, the importance of targeting DCs and different techniques involved in formulating dry powders suitable for inhalation

Bovine Serum Albumin Adsorbed PGA-co-PDL Nanocarriers for Vaccine Delivery via Dry Powder Inhalation

PURPOSE: Dry powder vaccine delivery via the pulmonary route has gained significant attention as an alternate route to parenteral delivery. In this study, we investigated bovine serum albumin (BSA) adsorbed poly(glycerol adipate-co-ω-pentadecalactone), PGA-co-PDL polymeric nanoparticles (NPs) within L-leucine (L-leu) microcarriers for dry powder inhalation. METHODS: NPs were prepared by oil-in-water single emulsion-solvent evaporation and particle size optimised using Taguchi’s design of experiment. BSA was adsorbed onto NPs at different ratios at room temperature. The NPs were spray-dried in aqueous suspension of L-leu (1:1.5) using a Büchi-290 mini-spray dryer. The resultant nanocomposite microparticles (NCMPs) were characterised for toxicity (MTT assay), aerosolization (Next Generation Impactor), in vitro release study and BSA was characterized using SDS-PAGE and CD respectively. RESULTSL NPs of size 128.50 ± 6.57 nm, PDI 0.07 ± 0.03 suitable for targeting lung dendritic cells were produced. BSA adsorption for 1 h resulted in 10.23 ± 1.87 μg of protein per mg of NPs. Spray-drying with L-leu resulted in NCMPs with 42.35 ± 3.17% yield. In vitro release study at 37°C showed an initial burst release of 30.15 ± 2.33% with 95.15 ± 1.08% over 48 h. Aerosolization studies indicated fine particle fraction (FPF%) dae < 4.46 μm as 76.95 ± 5.61% and mass median aerodynamic diameter (MMAD) of 1.21 ± 0.67 μm. The cell viability was 87.01 ± 14.11% (A549 cell line) and 106.04 ± 21.14% (16HBE14o- cell line) with L-leu based NCMPs at 1.25 mg/ml concentration after 24 h treatment. The SDS-PAGE and CD confirmed the primary and secondary structure of the released BSA. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that PGA-co-PDL/L-leu NCMPs may be a promising carrier for pulmonary vaccine delivery due to excellent BSA adsorption and aerosolization behaviour

Prevalence of brucellosis in the human, livestock and wildlife interface areas of Serengeti National Park, Tanzania.

This research article published by AOSIS, 2016Between 2005 and 2006, a cross-sectional survey was carried out in domestic ruminants in agropastoral communities of Serengeti district, Tanzania to determine the seroprevalence of brucellosis in domestic-wildlife interface villages. Both the Rose Bengal Plate Test (RBPT) and Competitive Enzyme Linked-immunosorbent Assay (c-ELISA) were used to analyse 82 human and 413 livestock sera from four randomly selected villages located along game reserve areas of Serengeti National Park. Although both cattle (288) and small ruminants (125) were screened, seropositivity was detected only in cattle. The overall seroprevalence based on c-ELISA as a confirmatory test was 5.6%. In cattle both age and sex were not statistically associated with brucellosis seropositivity (P = 0.63; 95% CI = 0.03, 0.8 and 0.33; 95% CI = 0.6, 3.7, respectively). Overall herd level seropositivity was 46.7% (n = 7), ranging from 25% to 66.7% (n = 4-10). Each village had at least one brucellosis seropositive herd. None of the 82 humans tested with both RBPT and c-ELISA were seropositive. Detecting Brucella infection in cattle in such areas warrants further investigation to establish the circulating strains for eventual appropriate control interventions in domestic animals

Bovine serum albumin adsorbed PGA-CO-PDL nanocarriers for vaccine delivery via dry powder inhalation

Purpose: Dry powder vaccine delivery via the pulmonary route has gained significant attention as an alternate route to parenteral delivery. In this study, we investigated bovine serum albumin (BSA) adsorbed poly(glycerol adipate-co-ω-pentadecalactone), PGA-co-PDL polymeric nanoparticles (NPs) within L-leucine (L-leu) microcarriers for dry powder inhalation. Methods: NPs were prepared by oil-in-water single emulsion-solvent evaporation and particle size optimised using Taguchi's design of experiment. BSA was adsorbed onto NPs at different ratios at room temperature. The NPs were spray-dried in aqueous suspension of L-leu (1:1.5) using a Büchi-290 mini-spray dryer. The resultant nanocomposite microparticles (NCMPs) were characterised for toxicity (MTT assay), aerosolization (Next Generation Impactor), in vitro release study and BSA was characterized using SDS-PAGE and CD respectively. Results: NPs of size 128.50∈±∈6.57 nm, PDI 0.07∈±∈0.03 suitable for targeting lung dendritic cells were produced. BSA adsorption for 1 h resulted in 10.23∈±∈1.87 μg of protein per mg of NPs. Spray-drying with L-leu resulted in NCMPs with 42.35∈±∈3.17% yield. In vitro release study at 37°C showed an initial burst release of 30.15∈±∈2.33% with 95.15∈±∈1.08% over 48 h. Aerosolization studies indicated fine particle fraction (FPF%) dae∈<∈4.46 μm as 76.95∈±∈5.61% and mass median aerodynamic diameter (MMAD) of 1.21∈±∈0.67 μm. The cell viability was 87.01∈±∈14.11% (A549 cell line) and 106.04∈±∈21.14% (16HBE14o- cell line) with L-leu based NCMPs at 1.25 mg/ml concentration after 24 h treatment. The SDS-PAGE and CD confirmed the primary and secondary structure of the released BSA. Conclusions: The results suggest that PGA-co-PDL/L-leu NCMPs may be a promising carrier for pulmonary vaccine delivery due to excellent BSA adsorption and aerosolization behaviour