A Study on Carotid Arterial Remodeling in patients with Obstructive Coronary Artery Disease and Disease Free Subjects.

INTRODUCTION : Decades of silent arterial wall alterations precede vascular clinical events, which then reflect advanced atherosclerotic disease. The first morphological abnormalities of arterial walls can be visualized by Bmode ultrasonography. This high-resolution, noninvasive technique is one of the best methods for the detection of early stages of atherosclerotic disease, because it is rapidly applicable, readily available and demonstrates the wall structure with better resolution than any other similar technique .Accordingly, ultrasound has been used in a number of studies to monitor the intima-media thickness (IMT) of the carotid arteries, a measurement which has consequently been shown to be associated with cardiovascular risk factors and the incidence of cardiovascular disease. Furthermore, there are diverse approaches for measuring IMT, and some of these may lead to divergent results. Moreover, there are no unified criteria for distinguishing atherosclerosis as seen in early plaque formation from thickening of the intimal-medial complex. This is because IMT reflects not only early atherosclerosis, but also non atherosclerotic compensatory enlargement with largely medial hypertrophy as a result of smooth muscle cell hyperplasia and fibro cellular hypertrophy. This differentiation is important because epidemiological studies have shown that wall thickening as depicted by ultrasonographic measurements of IMT is different from atherosclerotic plaque regarding localization, natural history, risk factors and predictive value for vascular events. As IMT is being increasingly used in clinical trials to serve as a surrogate end point for determining the success of interventions that lower risk factors for atherosclerosis, it is imperative that standardized methods be used to allow homogenous data collection and analysis. This would help to improve the power of such studies and to facilitate the merging of large databases for meta-analyses. In our study correlation of intima medial thickness with carotid artery remodeling and coronary artery disease status is assessed. AIM OF STUDY : To study the carotid arterial remodeling in patients with coronary artery disease. To study the relationship between carotid arterial inter adventitial and lumen diameters to the intima medial thickness. To evaluate carotid arterial diameters of individuals with coronary artery disease and how it differed from those of CAD-free controls and To study the relationship between carotid artery remodeling and severity of cornary artery disease. CONCLUSIONS : 1. Common carotid atherosclerosis is associated with larger IA diameter and no reduction in lumen diameter POSITIVE REMODELING. Conversely, in the internal carotid, greater IMT is associated with smaller lumina in the absence of IA diameter enlargement. NEGATIVE REMODELING. 2. Case-control comparisons suggest differences in arterial dimensions: common carotid IA diameter was greater in cases than controls, whereas internal carotid lumen and IA diameter were both reduced in CAD cases compared with controls. However, interactive effects of case status on the associations between IMT and arterial dimensions did not reach significance. Patients with triple vessel disease had significant remodeling of carotids when comparing patients with single vessel disease. 3. The data is consistent with the concept that lack of arterial enlargement of the internal carotid during atherosclerosis progression partly explains the well-documented association of this carotid segment with symptomatic cardiovascular disease and the difference in the arterial biologic, physiologic and atherogenic prones properties of the different segments of carotid arteries

Tool wear monitoring using neuro-fuzzy techniques: a comparative study in a turning process

Tool wear detection is a key issue for tool condition monitoring. The maximization of useful tool life is frequently related with the optimization of machining processes. This paper presents two model-based approaches for tool wear monitoring on the basis of neuro-fuzzy techniques. The use of a neuro-fuzzy hybridization to design a tool wear monitoring system is aiming at exploiting the synergy of neural networks and fuzzy logic, by combining human reasoning with learning and connectionist structure. The turning process that is a well-known machining process is selected for this case study. A four-input (i.e., time, cutting forces, vibrations and acoustic emissions signals) single-output (tool wear rate) model is designed and implemented on the basis of three neuro-fuzzy approaches (inductive, transductive and evolving neuro-fuzzy systems). The tool wear model is then used for monitoring the turning process. The comparative study demonstrates that the transductive neuro-fuzzy model provides better error-based performance indices for detecting tool wear than the inductive neuro-fuzzy model and than the evolving neuro-fuzzy model

Targeting Mycobacterium tuberculosis CoaBC through Chemical Inhibition of 4'-Phosphopantothenoyl-l-cysteine Synthetase (CoaB) Activity.

Coenzyme A (CoA) is a ubiquitous cofactor present in all living cells and estimated to be required for up to 9% of intracellular enzymatic reactions. Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) relies on its own ability to biosynthesize CoA to meet the needs of the myriad enzymatic reactions that depend on this cofactor for activity. As such, the pathway to CoA biosynthesis is recognized as a potential source of novel tuberculosis drug targets. In prior work, we genetically validated CoaBC as a bactericidal drug target in Mtb in vitro and in vivo. Here, we describe the identification of compound 1f, a small molecule inhibitor of the 4'-phosphopantothenoyl-l-cysteine synthetase (PPCS; CoaB) domain of the bifunctional Mtb CoaBC, and show that this compound displays on-target activity in Mtb. Compound 1f was found to inhibit CoaBC uncompetitively with respect to 4'-phosphopantothenate, the substrate for the CoaB-catalyzed reaction. Furthermore, metabolomic profiling of wild-type Mtb H37Rv following exposure to compound 1f produced a signature consistent with perturbations in pantothenate and CoA biosynthesis. As the first report of a direct small molecule inhibitor of Mtb CoaBC displaying target-selective whole-cell activity, this study confirms the druggability of CoaBC and chemically validates this target

Using Barkhausen Noise to Measure Coating Depth of Coated High-Speed Steel

Coated high-speed steel tools are widely used in machining processes as they offer an excellent tool life to cost ratio, but they quickly need replacing once the coated layer is worn away. It would be therefore useful to be able to measure the tool life remaining non-destructively and cheaply. To achieve this, the work presented here aims to measure the thickness of the coated layer of high-speed cutting tools by using Barkhausen noise (BHN) techniques. Coated high-speed steel specimens coated with two different materials (chromium nitride (CrN), titanium nitride (TiN)) were tested using a cost-effective measuring system developed for this study. Sensory features were extracted from the signal received from a pick-up coil and the signal features, Root mean square, peak count, and signal energy, were successfully correlated with the thickness of the coating layer on high-speed steel (HSS) specimens. The results suggest that the Barkhausen noise measuring system developed in this study can successfully indicate the different thickness of the coating layer on CrN/TiN coated HSS specimens

Sorghum improvement (1980–2010): Status and way forward

Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) is the fifth most important cereal crop globally and is the dietary staple of more than 500 million people in over 90 countries, primarily in the developing world (Reddy et al. 2010). With its C4 photosynthetic pathway, it is adapted to a wide range of environmental conditions. It has multiple uses as a food, feed, fodder, fuel and fiber crop (Paterson et al. 2009). More than 35 percent of world sorghum production is going for food consumption (Awika and Rooney 2004) by the poorest of the poor in the largely low-income deficit countries. Worldwide, it is grown on about 40 million ha, of which about 9 million ha are cultivated in Asia; of this the largest area is in India (7.53 milion ha) which has a production of 7.25 million t (FAOSTAT 2011)

MGEx-Udb: A Mammalian Uterus Database for Expression-Based Cataloguing of Genes across Conditions, Including Endometriosis and Cervical Cancer

Gene expression profiling of uterus tissue has been performed in various contexts, but a significant amount of the data remains underutilized as it is not covered by the existing general resources.). The database can be queried with gene names/IDs, sub-tissue locations, as well as various conditions such as the cervical cancer, endometrial cycles and disorders, and experimental treatments. Accordingly, the output would be a) transcribed and dormant genes listed for the queried condition/location, or b) expression profile of the gene of interest in various uterine conditions. The results also include the reliability score for the expression status of each gene. MGEx-Udb also provides information related to Gene Ontology annotations, protein-protein interactions, transcripts, promoters, and expression status by other sequencing techniques, and facilitates various other types of analysis of the individual genes or co-expressed gene clusters.In brief, MGEx-Udb enables easy cataloguing of co-expressed genes and also facilitates bio-marker discovery for various uterine conditions

Identification of Specific Oral and Gut Pathogens in Full Thickness Colon of Colitis Patients: Implications for Colon Motility

Impaired colon motility is one of the leading problems associated with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). An expanding body of evidence supports the role of microbiome in normal gut function and in progression of IBD. The objective of this work is to determine whether diseased full thickness colon specimens, including the neuromuscular region (critical for colon motility function), contain specific oral and gut pathogens. In addition, we compared the differences in colon microbiome between Caucasians (CA) and African Americans (AA). Thirty-nine human full thickness colon (diseased colon and adjacent healthy colon) specimens were collected from Crohn's Colitis (CC) or Ulcerative Colitis (UC) patients while they underwent elective colon surgeries. We isolated and analyzed bacterial ribosomal RNA (rRNA) from colon specimens by amplicon sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene region. The microbiome proportions were quantified into Operational Taxonomic Units (OTUs) by analysis with Quantitative Insights Into Microbial ecology (QIIME) platform. Two hundred twenty-eight different bacterial species were identified by QIIME analysis. However, we could only decipher the species name of fifty-three bacteria. Our results show that proportion of non-detrimental bacteria in CC or UC colon samples were altered compared to adjacent healthy colon specimens. We further show, for the first time in full thickness colon specimens, that microbiome of CC and UC diseased specimens is dominated by putative oral pathogens belonging to the Phyla Firmicutes (Streptococcus, Staphylococcus, Peptostreptococcus), and Fusobacteria (Fusobacterium). In addition, we have identified patterns of differences in microbiome levels between CA and AA specimens with potential implications for health disparities research. Overall, our results suggest a significant association between oral and gut microbes in the modulation of colon motility in colitis patients

Optimization of TAM16, a Benzofuran That Inhibits the Thioesterase Activity of Pks13; Evaluation toward a Preclinical Candidate for a Novel Antituberculosis Clinical Target

[Image: see text] With increasing drug resistance in tuberculosis (TB) patient populations, there is an urgent need for new drugs. Ideally, new agents should work through novel targets so that they are unencumbered by preexisting clinical resistance to current treatments. Benzofuran 1 was identified as a potential lead for TB inhibiting a novel target, the thioesterase domain of Pks13. Although, having promising activity against Mycobacterium tuberculosis, its main liability was inhibition of the hERG cardiac ion channel. This article describes the optimization of the series toward a preclinical candidate. Despite improvements in the hERG liability in vitro, when new compounds were assessed in ex vivo cardiotoxicity models, they still induced cardiac irregularities. Further series development was stopped because of concerns around an insufficient safety window. However, the demonstration of in vivo activity for multiple series members further validates Pks13 as an attractive novel target for antitubercular drugs and supports development of alternative chemotypes

Altitudinal variation in soil organic carbon stock in coniferous subtropical and broadleaf temperate forests in Garhwal Himalaya

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The Himalayan zones, with dense forest vegetation, cover a fifth part of India and store a third part of the country reserves of soil organic carbon (SOC). However, the details of altitudinal distribution of these carbon stocks, which are vulnerable to forest management and climate change impacts, are not well known.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>This article reports the results of measuring the stocks of SOC along altitudinal gradients. The study was carried out in the coniferous subtropical and broadleaf temperate forests of Garhwal Himalaya. The stocks of SOC were found to be decreasing with altitude: from 185.6 to 160.8 t C ha^-1and from 141.6 to 124.8 t C ha^-1in temperature (<it>Quercus leucotrichophora</it>) and subtropical (<it>Pinus roxburghii</it>) forests, respectively.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The results of this study lead to conclusion that the ability of soil to stabilize soil organic matter depends negatively on altitude and call for comprehensive theoretical explanation</p