METHOLOGY FOR CITY LEVEL URBAN ROAD NETWORK CONNECTIVITY ANALYSIS USING GEOGRAPHICAL INFORAMTION SYSTEMS (GIS)

In most of the urban cities in India, the existing road network structure is unable to meet the increasing travel demand. In this context, there is a need to utilize the existing road network in a more efficient manner. To effectively utilize the existing road network, the structural parameters like connectivity, accessibility, hierarchy and morphology should be analyzed and evaluated. This study aimed to analyze and evaluate the road network structure of Hyderabad city, Telangana state, India in terms of its connectivity. Different places in Hyderabad city were considered to quantify the connectivity measures such as alpha index, beta index, gamma index, eta index, Cyclomatic number and Aggregate transportation score. Five kilometers radius buffers were drawn from the center of each location to compute the connectivity measures. The results of the study may act as a guide to the transportation planning authorities to understand the level of connectivity at each location in the city and implement better planning practices to improve the level of connectivity in the city. Geographical Information Systems (GIS) is a platform used for better decision making in urban transportation planning. The present study also tried to prove the efficiency of GIS in analyzing the connectivity based performance of the transport network structure in the study area

Comparing knowledge, attitude, practice and stigma associated with SARS- COV-2 Infection among Healthcare students of Bangalore city: A cross sectional study

Background: In 2020, a new global pandemic has emerged, caused by a new strain of Corona virus called SARS-CoV-2. A poor understanding of the disease among healthcare students may implicate in delayed treatment and rapid spread of infection and development of complications.  Objectives: 1) To estimate the knowledge, attitude, practice and stigma associated with SARS- CoV-2 infection among healthcare students. 2) To estimate the association between socio-demographic determinants with knowledge, attitude, practice and stigma of SARS- CoV-2 infection among healthcare students. Methods: A web-based cross-sectional study was undertaken among 493 healthcare i.e., medical, nursing and allied sciences students, during 1st May to 20th May 2020, using a pre-designed and semi-structured questionnaire. Data was analyzed using Chi square test, t-test, one way Anova and Bonferroni test was used for assessing the association among the study variables. Results: The study revealed that, there were about 225(45.64%) medical, 165(33.46%) nursing and 103(20.89%) allied sciences students. Majority were females 349(70.79%), majority were Hindus 333(67.54%). Mean knowledge score of medical, nursing and allied sciences students were 15.66 (2.518), 14.16 (2.92) and 14.46 (3.11) respectively. Practice score was good among nursing than allied sciences students at ‘p’ (0.003). Conclusion: Even though the overall knowledge was less in our study participants, majority of them had followed good practices for preventing SARS- CoV-2 infection

Transmural intestinal wall permeability in severe ischemia after enteral protease inhibition.

In intestinal ischemia, inflammatory mediators in the small intestine's lumen such as food byproducts, bacteria, and digestive enzymes leak into the peritoneal space, lymph, and circulation, but the mechanisms by which the intestinal wall permeability initially increases are not well defined. We hypothesize that wall protease activity (independent of luminal proteases) and apoptosis contribute to the increased transmural permeability of the intestine's wall in an acutely ischemic small intestine. To model intestinal ischemia, the proximal jejunum to the distal ileum in the rat was excised, the lumen was rapidly flushed with saline to remove luminal contents, sectioned into equal length segments, and filled with a tracer (fluorescein) in saline, glucose, or protease inhibitors. The transmural fluorescein transport was determined over 2 hours. Villi structure and epithelial junctional proteins were analyzed. After ischemia, there was increased transmural permeability, loss of villi structure, and destruction of epithelial proteins. Supplementation with luminal glucose preserved the epithelium and significantly attenuated permeability and villi damage. Matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) inhibitors (doxycycline, GM 6001), and serine protease inhibitor (tranexamic acid) in the lumen, significantly reduced the fluorescein transport compared to saline for 90 min of ischemia. Based on these results, we tested in an in-vivo model of hemorrhagic shock (90 min 30 mmHg, 3 hours observation) for intestinal lesion formation. Single enteral interventions (saline, glucose, tranexamic acid) did not prevent intestinal lesions, while the combination of enteral glucose and tranexamic acid prevented lesion formation after hemorrhagic shock. The results suggest that apoptotic and protease mediated breakdown cause increased permeability and damage to the intestinal wall. Metabolic support in the lumen of an ischemic intestine with glucose reduces the transport from the lumen across the wall and enteral proteolytic inhibition attenuates tissue breakdown. These combined interventions ameliorate lesion formation in the small intestine after hemorrhagic shock

AUDocker LE: A GUI for virtual screening with AUTODOCK Vina

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>AUTODOCK Vina is an open-source program which is steadfast and authentic to perform docking simulations. Though, Auto Dock Tools can help perform docking simulations with Vina, it largely remains as a platform for docking single molecule at a time.</p> <p>Findings</p> <p>"AUDocker LE" is designed with an aim to develop a software tool as a front end graphical interface with C# language to perform docking experiments in Windows based computers. It helps users to perform automated continuous docking of large ligand databases into a set of predefined protein targets. It will also help the user to analyze the results to select promising lead molecules.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>AUDocker LE provides a straight forward graphical interface which can be used in a standard personal computer with Microsoft Windows XP or Windows 7 as the operating system where Autodock Vina, Python 2.5 and .net frame work are preinstalled.</p

Fluorescence contrast improvement by polarization shaped laser pulses for autofluorescent biomolecules

We present contrast enhancement for the autofluorescing coenzymes flavin adenine dinucleotide (FAD) and nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH) in glycerol using phase and polarization shaped laser pulses after the transmission through a kagome fiber. Thereto, we report a way to calculate the optimal light modulator incident polarization angle, which in general differs from the horizontal. Combining phase and polarization shaping, we can selectively excite FAD in one polarization and simultaneously NADH in the other polarization direction by third order phase functions. Due to high anisotropy, the contrast of the fluorescence depends on the polarization direction. The effect of the fiber on the phase is precompensated in order to obtain the desired phase function after the fiber. Since the relative amounts of NADH and FAD give information about cellular metabolic activity which in turn helps understand disease processes, the method promises high biophotonic potential

Outcome of children with sickle cell disease admitted to intensive care:a single institution experience

International audienceWe retrospectively audited children with sickle cell disease admitted to paediatric intensive care (PICU) at King's College Hospital between January 2000 and December 2008. 46 children with SCD were admitted, on 49 separate occasions. Ages ranged from 4 months to 15 years (median 7.6 years). Three children died in PICU, however two presented to hospital in cardiorespiratory arrest; overall mortality was 6%. The most common reason for admission was acute chest syndrome (43%). 88% of admissions required blood transfusion, of which 74% had exchange blood transfusions. The mortality among children with SCD admitted to PICU is low

The State Of Higher Education In 2012

The higher education sector is experiencing an escalating pace of change. Even colleges and universities with the greatest resources and strongest brands are confronting change, particularly as a result of the digital revolution that is radically impacting modes of learning and accessibility to knowledge. These changes are driven by market pressures — i.e., by the demands and expectations of students and faculty. At the same time, all of higher education continues its evolution in response to ongoing price pressures, to reduced governmental support, to growing competition from the for-profit higher education sector, to its own ethical challenges, and to changes in the regulatory environment. Boards, presidents, provosts and CFOs are addressing these risks and challenges with new strategies and unique action plans that are a far cry from traditional approaches to higher education

Extracellular vesicles in the hematopoietic microenvironment

Self-renewal and differentiation are defining characteristics of hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells, and their balanced regulation is central to lifelong function of both blood and immune systems. In addition to cell-intrinsic programs, hematopoietic stem and progenitor cell fate decisions are subject to extrinsic cues from within the bone marrow microenvironment and systemically. Yet, many of the paracrine and endocrine mediators that shape hematopoietic function remain to be discovered. Extracellular vesicles serve as evolutionarily conserved, constitutive regulators of cell and tissue homeostasis, with several recent reports supporting a role for extracellular vesicles in the regulation of hematopoiesis. We review the physiological and pathophysiological effects that extracellular vesicles have on bone marrow compartmental function while highlighting progress in understanding vesicle biogenesis, cargo incorporation, differential uptake, and downstream effects of vesicle internalization. This review also touches on the role of extracellular vesicles in hematopoietic stem and progenitor cell fate regulation and recent advances in therapeutic and diagnostic applications of extracellular vesicles in hematologic disorders

Function of the SNARE Ykt6 on autophagosomes requires the Dsl1 complex and the Atg1 kinase complex

The mechanism and regulation of fusion between autophagosomes and lysosomes/vacuoles are still only partially understood in both yeast and mammals. In yeast, this fusion step requiresSNAREproteins, the homotypic vacuole fusion and protein sorting (HOPS) tethering complex, theRAB7GTPase Ypt7, and its guanine nucleotide exchange factor (GEF) Mon1-Ccz1. We and others recently identified Ykt6 as the autophagosomalSNAREprotein. However, it has not been resolved when and how lipid-anchored Ykt6 is recruited onto autophagosomes. Here, we show that Ykt6 is recruited at an early stage of the formation of these carriers through a mechanism that depends on endoplasmic reticulum (ER)-resident Dsl1 complex andCOPII-coated vesicles. Importantly, Ykt6 activity on autophagosomes is regulated by the Atg1 kinase complex, which inhibits Ykt6 through direct phosphorylation. Thus, our findings indicate that the Ykt6 pool on autophagosomal membranes is kept inactive by Atg1 phosphorylation, and once an autophagosome is ready to fuse with vacuole, Ykt6 dephosphorylation allows its engagement in the fusion event