BIOGENIC SYNTHESIS OF SILVER NANOPARTICLES USING MANILKARA HEXANDRA (ROXB.) DUBARD STEM BARK EXTRACT AND IT’S PHYSICAL, CHEMICAL CHARACTERIZATION AND PHARMACEUTICAL EVALUATION

Objective: The present study was to synthesize nanoparticles using Manilkara hexandra stem bark extract its characterization and evaluating it by an antimicrobial and antioxidant assay. Methods: Manilkara hexandra stem bark silver nanoparticles (MHSB-AgNPs) was done by mixing silver nitrate (1 mmol) and aqueous stem bark extract and it was analyzed by UV-Visible spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), dynamic light scattering (DLS), Zeta potential, Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FE-SEM), Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (EDAX), Thermogravimetry/Differential Thermal Analysis (TG/DTA) and Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The antibacterial assay was done by a well diffusion method and also examined for antifungal assay was done by disk diffusion method and antioxidant potential Diphenyl-1-picryl hydrazyl (DPPH method) Results: Manilkara hexandra stem bark silver nanoparticles (MHSB-AgNPs) is characterized by various techniques such as UV-visible absorption spectrum ranges from 430 nm to 440 nm indicate silver nanoparticles. The Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy consists of biomolecules acts as capping agent to form silver nanoparticles. Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy shows particle size ranges from 15 nm to 50 nm. Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy shows the presence of Silver. X-ray Diffraction corresponds to face-centered lattice planes (111), (200), (220) and (311). Dynamic Light Scattering show the range of 68 nm and Zeta potential show the negative value of-17 nm which has high stability. Silver nanoparticles is also examined by Thermogravimetry/Differential Thermal Analysis (TG/DTA) and Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) this project the thermal stability of the nanoparticles. The aqueous stem bark is also examined by UV-visible absorption spectrum, Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), and Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GCMS). In GCMS 20 compounds were identified. Silver nanoparticles show high zone of inhibition in antimicrobial assays and act as a good antioxidant agent. Conclusion: It is eco-friendly, non-toxic, and it’s easy to synthesis and it shows good result in an antimicrobial and antioxidant assay can be applied in a pharmaceutical application

PHYSICAL AND CHEMICAL CHARACTERIZATION OF GREEN SYNTHESIZED SILVER NANOPARTICLES USING STEM OF HIBISCUS VITIFOLIUS L. AND ITS ANTIMICROBIAL AND ANTIOXIDANT POTENTIAL

Objectives: The aim of our work was to synthesize the silver nanoparticle (AgNP) using Hibiscus vitifolius L. stem extract its characterization and evaluation of antimicrobial and antioxidant assay. Materials and Methods: The silver nitrate (1 mM) mixed with aqueous stem extract of H. vitifolius L. after the nanoparticles is examined by Fourier-transform infrared (FT-IR), ultraviolet-visible (UV-vis) spectroscopy, field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray (EDAX), X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), dynamic light scattering (DLS), zeta potential, thermogravimetry/differential thermal analysis (TG/DTA), and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The aqueous stem extract is examined for phytochemical screening, gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS) analysis, FT-IR, and UV-vis spectroscopy. The antibacterial, antifungal, and antioxidant assay were also evaluated for the AgNPs. Results: The aqueous stem extract shows 20 compounds in GC–MS analysis. The FT-IR and UV-vis spectroscopy show the biocompounds. H. vitifolius stem extract-AgNPs (HVS-AgNPs) examined in UV and FT-IR shows the presence of AgNPs, FE-SEM shows that the particle size is 30–70 nm, EDAX shows the presence of silver metal, and XRD shows that the particles are face-centered cubic. DLS shows the hydrodynamic size 136.9 nm, zeta potential shows the stability (−18.6 mV), and TG/DTA and DSC show that the particles are stable up to 335°C. The HVS-AgNPs are also evaluated in antimicrobial and antioxidant potential and the report shows a good inhibition. Conclusion: The stem extract of H. vitifolius L. can be used for green synthesis of AgNPs and could be used as antimicrobial and antioxidant potential

Preoperative calculation of risk for prolonged intensive care unit stay following coronary artery bypass grafting

OBJECTIVE: Patients who have prolonged stay in intensive care unit (ICU) are associated with adverse outcomes. Such patients have cost implications and can lead to shortage of ICU beds. We aimed to develop a preoperative risk prediction tool for prolonged ICU stay following coronary artery surgery (CABG). METHODS: 5,186 patients who underwent CABG between 1st April 1997 and 31st March 2002 were analysed in a development dataset. Logistic regression was used with forward stepwise technique to identify preoperative risk factors for prolonged ICU stay; defined as patients staying longer than 3 days on ICU. Variables examined included presentation history, co-morbidities, catheter and demographic details. The use of cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) was also recorded. The prediction tool was tested on validation dataset (1197 CABG patients between 1(st )April 2003 and 31(st )March 2004). The area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was calculated to assess the performance of the prediction tool. RESULTS: 475(9.2%) patients had a prolonged ICU stay in the development dataset. Variables identified as risk factors for a prolonged ICU stay included renal dysfunction, unstable angina, poor ejection fraction, peripheral vascular disease, obesity, increasing age, smoking, diabetes, priority, hypercholesterolaemia, hypertension, and use of CPB. In the validation dataset, 8.1% patients had a prolonged ICU stay compared to 8.7% expected. The ROC curve for the development and validation datasets was 0.72 and 0.74 respectively. CONCLUSION: A prediction tool has been developed which is reliable and valid. The tool is being piloted at our institution to aid resource management

Assessing functional reorganization in visual cortex with simulated retinal lesions

Macular degeneration (MD) causes central vision loss, removing input to corresponding representations in the primary visual cortex. There is disagreement concerning whether the cortical regions deprived of input can remain responsive, and the source of reported cortical responses is still debated. To simulate MD in controls, normally sighted participants viewed a bright central disk to adapt the retina, creating a transient 'retinal lesion' during a functional MRI experiment. Participants viewed blocks of faces, scrambled faces and uniform grey stimuli, either passively or whilst performing a one-back task. To assess the impact of the simulated lesion, participants repeated the paradigm using a more conventional mean luminance simulated scotoma without adaptation. Our results suggest our attempt to create a more realistic simulation of a lesion did not impact on responses in the representation of the simulated lesion. While most participants showed no evidence of stimulus-driven activation within the lesion representation, a few individuals (22%) exhibited responses similar to a participant with juvenile MD who completed the same paradigm (without adaptation). Reliability analysis showed that responses in the representation of the lesion were generally consistent irrespective of whether positive or negative. We provide some evidence that peripheral visual stimulation can also produce responses in central representations in controls while performing a task. This suggests that the 'signature of reorganization of visual processing', is not found solely in patients with retinal lesions, consistent with the idea that activity may be driven by unmasked top-down feedback

Childhood socioeconomic position and objectively measured physical capability levels in adulthood: a systematic review and meta-analysis

<p><b>Background:</b> Grip strength, walking speed, chair rising and standing balance time are objective measures of physical capability that characterise current health and predict survival in older populations. Socioeconomic position (SEP) in childhood may influence the peak level of physical capability achieved in early adulthood, thereby affecting levels in later adulthood. We have undertaken a systematic review with meta-analyses to test the hypothesis that adverse childhood SEP is associated with lower levels of objectively measured physical capability in adulthood.</p> <p><b>Methods and Findings:</b> Relevant studies published by May 2010 were identified through literature searches using EMBASE and MEDLINE. Unpublished results were obtained from study investigators. Results were provided by all study investigators in a standard format and pooled using random-effects meta-analyses. 19 studies were included in the review. Total sample sizes in meta-analyses ranged from N = 17,215 for chair rise time to N = 1,061,855 for grip strength. Although heterogeneity was detected, there was consistent evidence in age adjusted models that lower childhood SEP was associated with modest reductions in physical capability levels in adulthood: comparing the lowest with the highest childhood SEP there was a reduction in grip strength of 0.13 standard deviations (95% CI: 0.06, 0.21), a reduction in mean walking speed of 0.07 m/s (0.05, 0.10), an increase in mean chair rise time of 6% (4%, 8%) and an odds ratio of an inability to balance for 5s of 1.26 (1.02, 1.55). Adjustment for the potential mediating factors, adult SEP and body size attenuated associations greatly. However, despite this attenuation, for walking speed and chair rise time, there was still evidence of moderate associations.</p> <p><b>Conclusions:</b> Policies targeting socioeconomic inequalities in childhood may have additional benefits in promoting the maintenance of independence in later life.</p&gt

XMeis3 Is Necessary for Mesodermal Hox Gene Expression and Function

Hox transcription factors provide positional information during patterning of the anteroposterior axis. Hox transcription factors can co-operatively bind with PBC-class co-factors, enhancing specificity and affinity for their appropriate binding sites. The nuclear localisation of these co-factors is regulated by the Meis-class of homeodomain proteins. During development of the zebrafish hindbrain, Meis3 has previously been shown to synergise with Hoxb1 in the autoregulation of Hoxb1. In Xenopus XMeis3 posteriorises the embryo upon ectopic expression. Recently, an early temporally collinear expression sequence of Hox genes was detected in Xenopus gastrula mesoderm (see intro. P3). There is evidence that this sequence sets up the embryo's later axial Hox expression pattern by time-space translation. We investigated whether XMeis3 is involved in regulation of this early mesodermal Hox gene expression. Here, we present evidence that XMeis3 is necessary for expression of Hoxd1, Hoxb4 and Hoxc6 in mesoderm during gastrulation. In addition, we show that XMeis3 function is necessary for the progression of gastrulation. Finally, we present evidence for synergy between XMeis3 and Hoxd1 in Hoxd1 autoregulation in mesoderm during gastrulation

Discrepancies between dimensions of interoception in autism: implications for emotion and anxiety

Emotions and affective feelings are influenced by one's internal state of bodily arousal via interoception. Autism Spectrum Conditions (ASC) are associated with difficulties in recognising others' emotions, and in regulating own emotions. We tested the hypothesis that, in people with ASC, such affective differences may arise from abnormalities in interoceptive processing. We demonstrated that individuals with ASC have reduced interoceptive accuracy (quantified using heartbeat detection tests) and exaggerated interoceptive sensibility (subjective sensitivity to internal sensations on self-report questionnaires), reflecting an impaired ability to objectively detect bodily signals alongside an over-inflated subjective perception of bodily sensations. The divergence of these two interoceptive axes can be computed as a trait prediction error. This error correlated with deficits in emotion sensitivity and occurrence of anxiety symptoms. Our results indicate an origin of emotion deficits and affective symptoms in ASC at the interface between body and mind, specifically in expectancy-driven interpretation of interoceptive information

Neutrino Physics from the Cosmic Microwave Background and Large Scale Structure

This is a report on the status and prospects of the quantification of neutrino properties through the cosmological neutrino background for the Cosmic Frontier of the Division of Particles and Fields Community Summer Study long-term planning exercise. Experiments planned and underway are prepared to study the cosmological neutrino background in detail via its influence on distance-redshift relations and the growth of structure. The program for the next decade described in this document, including upcoming spectroscopic galaxy surveys eBOSS and DESI and a new Stage-IV CMB polarization experiment CMB-S4, will achieve sigma(sum m_nu) = 16 meV and sigma(N_eff) = 0.020. Such a mass measurement will produce a high significance detection of non-zero sum m_nu, whose lower bound derived from atmospheric and solar neutrino oscillation data is about 58 meV. If neutrinos have a minimal normal mass hierarchy, this measurement will definitively rule out the inverted neutrino mass hierarchy, shedding light on one of the most puzzling aspects of the Standard Model of particle physics --- the origin of mass. This precise a measurement of N_eff will allow for high sensitivity to any light and dark degrees of freedom produced in the big bang and a precision test of the standard cosmological model prediction that N_eff = 3.046.Astronom

Effects of antiplatelet therapy on stroke risk by brain imaging features of intracerebral haemorrhage and cerebral small vessel diseases: subgroup analyses of the RESTART randomised, open-label trial

Background Findings from the RESTART trial suggest that starting antiplatelet therapy might reduce the risk of recurrent symptomatic intracerebral haemorrhage compared with avoiding antiplatelet therapy. Brain imaging features of intracerebral haemorrhage and cerebral small vessel diseases (such as cerebral microbleeds) are associated with greater risks of recurrent intracerebral haemorrhage. We did subgroup analyses of the RESTART trial to explore whether these brain imaging features modify the effects of antiplatelet therapy

Inflation Physics from the Cosmic Microwave Background and Large Scale Structure

Fluctuations in the intensity and polarization of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) and the large-scale distribution of matter in the universe each contain clues about the nature of the earliest moments of time. The next generation of CMB and large-scale structure (LSS) experiments are poised to test the leading paradigm for these earliest moments---the theory of cosmic inflation---and to detect the imprints of the inflationary epoch, thereby dramatically increasing our understanding of fundamental physics and the early universe. A future CMB experiment with sufficient angular resolution and frequency coverage that surveys at least 1% of the sky to a depth of 1 uK-arcmin can deliver a constraint on the tensor-to-scalar ratio that will either result in a 5-sigma measurement of the energy scale of inflation or rule out all large-field inflation models, even in the presence of foregrounds and the gravitational lensing B-mode signal. LSS experiments, particularly spectroscopic surveys such as the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument, will complement the CMB effort by improving current constraints on running of the spectral index by up to a factor of four, improving constraints on curvature by a factor of ten, and providing non-Gaussianity constraints that are competitive with the current CMB bounds.Astronom