Vav3 collaborates with p190-BCR-ABL in lymphoid progenitor leukemogenesis, proliferation, and survival

Despite the introduction of tyrosine kinase inhibitor therapy, the prognosis for p190-BCR-ABL(+) acute lymphoblastic leukemia remains poor. In the present study, we present the cellular and molecular roles of the Rho GTPase guanine nucleotide exchange factor Vav in lymphoid leukemogenesis and explore the roles of Vav proteins in BCR-ABL-dependent signaling. We show that genetic deficiency of the guanine nucleotide exchange factor Vav3 delays leukemogenesis by p190-BCR-ABL and phenocopies the effect of Rac2 deficiency, a downstream effector of Vav3. Compensatory up-regulation of expression and activation of Vav3 in Vav1/Vav2-deficient B-cell progenitors increases the transformation ability of p190-BCR-ABL. Vav3 deficiency induces apoptosis of murine and human leukemic lymphoid progenitors, decreases the activation of Rho GTPase family members and p21-activated kinase, and is associated with increased Bad phosphorylation and up-regulation of Bax, Bak, and Bik. Finally, Vav3 activation only partly depends on ABL TK activity, and Vav3 deficiency collaborates with tyrosine kinase inhibitors to inhibit CrkL activation and impair leukemogenesis in vitro and in vivo. We conclude that Vav3 represents a novel specific molecular leukemic effector for multitarget therapy in p190-BCR-ABL-expressing acute lymphoblastic leukemia

Genome-Wide Association Study for Type 2 Diabetes in Indians Identifies a New Susceptibility Locus at 2q21

Indians undergoing socioeconomic and lifestyle transitions will be maximally affected by epidemic of type 2 diabetes (T2D). We conducted a two-stage genome-wide association study of T2D in 12,535 Indians, a less explored but high-risk group. We identified a new type 2 diabetes–associated locus at 2q21, with the lead signal being rs6723108 (odds ratio 1.31; P = 3.32 3 1029 ). Imputation analysis refined the signal to rs998451 (odds ratio 1.56; P = 6.3 3 10212) within TMEM163 that encodes a probable vesicular transporter in nerve terminals. TMEM163 variants also showed association with decreased fasting plasma insulin and homeostatic model assessment of insulin resistance, indicating a plausible effect through impaired insulin secretion. The 2q21 region also harbors RAB3GAP1 and ACMSD; those are involved in neurologic disorders. Forty-nine of 56 previously reported signals showed consistency in direction with similar effect sizes in Indians and previous studies, and 25 of them were also associated (P , 0.05). Known loci and the newly identified 2q21 locus altogether explained 7.65% variance in the risk of T2D in Indians. Our study suggests that common susceptibility variants for T2D are largely the same across populations, but also reveals a population-specific locus and provides further insights into genetic architecture and etiology of T2D

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Not AvailableThe catching performance of a 34 m High opening bottom trawl was studied with tow durations of 15, 60 and 120 min each and with two towing speeds to find out changes in the species retention and escapement in terms of weight and number from the codend. Variations in the retention and escapement catch per unit effort in terms of weight and number for the different tow durations were compared. Although, the mean catch rate expressed as mean CPUE was found to be consistently higher in the 15-min haul, the difference was not statistically significant from that of 60 and 120-min hauls. Within and between hauls variation in catch rate of six species was studied using univariate GLM with tow duration and speed as categorical predictors. The catch rates of three species Trichiurus lepturus, Lactarius lactarins and Uroteuthis (Photololigo) duvauceli were found to be significantly different due to tow duration effect, but neither speed nor the interaction effect had any significant effect on the catch rates for these species. The mean diversity, dominance and evenness indices showed no significant difference among the hauls of different tow durations. Based on the results of the study, it is concluded that the short duration tows of 15-min are as effective as the 60 and 120- min tows- for estimating catch per unit effort in terms of total weight, number and diversity indicesNot Availabl

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Not AvailableThe Indian squid, Uroteuthis (Photololigo) duvauceli (d'Orbigny, 1848) is an important resource exploited bv trawlers along the northwest coast of India. The size selectivity for this species in two tr wl systems viz:semi-pelagic and bottom trawls and in four mesh "sizes (40, 50, 60 and 70 mm) was estimated using covered codend method. The L 251 L50' L,5' selection range, selection factor and selection ratio for each codend were estimated. The L50 values of Uroteuthis (PhotololigoJ duvauceli for the 40 and 60 mm) diamond mesh codend attached to the bottom trawl were 7.90 ± 0.16 and 12.02 ± 0.21 em dorsal mantle length (DML) respectively and the selection factors worked out to be 1.98 and 2.00. The L 50 values of Uroteuthis (Photololigo) duvauceli for the 50 and 70 mm diamond mesh codend attached to the semi-pelagic trawlnet was 9.38 ± 0.12 and 16.36 ± 0.19 em DML respectively. he selection factors derived were 1.88 and 2.34 respectively for 50 and 60 mm mesh size. In codend mesh sizes of 40 and 50 mm, 65.78 and 80.39% of the individuals caught respectively were below the size at first maturity. In 60 mm mesh size, 40.07% of the individuais was below the size at first maturity while in 70 mm mesh size all the individuals caught were below the length at first maturity.Not Availabl

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Not AvailableThe present paper communicates the first record of live octocorals in the sub-tidal region of Veraval. The four genera identified are Litophyton sp., Studeriotes sp., Juncella juncea (Pallas) and Subergorgia suberosa (Pallas). The presence of octocorals in the trawling ground with depth of 15-20 m justifies the need to carry out further studies on the impact of bottom trawling on the coral reef ecosystem.Not Availabl

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Not AvailableExperimental bottom trawling was conducted from MFV Sagarkripa at five transects of water depths 15-20 m, 21-25 m, 26-30 m, 31-35 m and 36-40 m in commercial trawling grounds to assess the impact of bottom trawling on the macrobenthic fauna off Veraval coast. Trawling was conducted for 12 months in a span of 15 months (September 2005 - November 2006) excluding the trawl ban period (June to August). The groups of fauna present were polychaetes, gastropods, bivalves, scaphopods, amphipods, isopods, copepods, cumaceans, ostracods, shrimps, crabs, squilla, balanids, foraminiferans, octocorals, sipunculids, nemerteans, pogonophores, pterobranchia, brittle stars and teleost fishes. A total of 81 species of polychaetes belonging to order Errantia (36 species) and Sedentaria (45 species) were identified. The molluscs were represented by 15 species of gastropods, 13 species of bivalves and one species of scaphopod. One octocoral genus was also identified. The abundance and biomass of the fauna were recorded. The numerical density of macrofauna increased after trawling, exposing them from their natural habitat. The numerical density of macrofauna increased after trawl ban showing that trawl ban is giving some respite to the fauna for rejuvenation. The biodiversity indices were found to be significantly different before and after experimental trawling at 15-20 m and 21-25 m. The ABC curve and w-statistic of the total macrofauna showed that the fauna of the area studied were moderately or grossly stressed. It was also possible to delineate the impact on the fauna by MDS plots. The present study confirms the deleterious effects of bottom trawlers on macrobenthos off Veraval. Cataloguing the biodiversity of macrobenthos, identification of indicator species and updating the new data generated will aid in taking up steps towards conservation of macrobenthos. Suggestions are made for the promotion of ecofriendly gears and for conducting studies on appropriate un-trawled control sites for comparative assessment.Not Availabl

DLTS study of annihilation of oxidation induced deep-level defects in Ni/SiO2/n-Si MOS structures

This paper describes the fabrication of MOS capacitor and DLTS study of annihilation of deep-level defects upon thermal annealing. Ni/SiO 2/n-Si MOS structures fabricated on n-type Si wafers were investigated for process-induced deep-level defects. The deep-level traps in Si substrates induced during the processing of Ni/SiO2/n-Si have been investigated using deep-level transient spectroscopy (DLTS). A characteristic deep-level defect at EC = 0·49 eV which was introduced during high-temperature thermal oxidation process was detected. The trap position was found to shift to different energy levels (EC = 0·43, 0·46 and 0·34 eV) during thermal annealing process. The deep-level trap completely anneals at 350°C. Significant reduction in trap density with an increase in recombination life time and substrate doping concentration as a function of isochronal annealing were observed. © Indian Academy of Sciences

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Not AvailableTropical trawling fi sheries are often implicated with the generation of large quantities of by-catch. The Sindhudurg coast of Maharashtra is an important trawl landing centre along the West coast and about 317 trawlers operate from three major landing centres of this region. Square mesh codends are widely tested and recommended as effective gear based on technical measure for the reduction of by-catch, often constituted by juveniles of commercially important species, and affecting the fi shery. This paper reports the results of a study conducted along the Sindhudurg coast using square and diamond mesh codends of 30 mm size and 1.25 mm thickness.A total of 38 hauls using diamond mesh and 44 using square mesh codends were used for the analysis. The mean CPUE – Catch Per Unit Effort, (kg.h.-1) for diamond mesh (18.77) and square mesh codend (19.48)fi tted trawls, were not signifi cantly different (KruskalWallis chi-squared = 0.058711, df = 1, p-value = 0.81).The increase in the mean length of 12 out of the 15 commercially important species studied increased by 7.85%. The rate of escape was 0.76 kg per hour, from the square mesh codends, which is 3.9% of the total catch (2,142.4 kg) retained and valued at INR 28.5 per haul. By-catch generated per haul, was significantly higher during the months of December (43.5±9.3 SD) and January (56.3±17.1 SD) and the by-catch during months of September, October and November were less than 20.0 kg/haul. The study concludes that installation of square mesh codends did not affect the performance of the gear. The selection properties of the trawl net improved and no significant loss was incurred due to the use of square mesh codends. Though, mesh size optimization for multiple species in the codend and the modelling for the future value of the escapees were not worked out, based on the analysis carried out, it is recommended that traditional diamond mesh codends can be replaced with square mesh codends, as an easy and inexpensive technical measure for management of trawl fisheries along the Sindhudurg coast.Not Availabl

DLTS and in situ C-V analysis of trap parameters in swift 50MeV Li 3+ ion-irradiated Ni/SiO2/Si MOS capacitors

Ni/SiO2/Si MOS structures were fabricated on n-type Si wafers and were irradiated with 50MeV Li3+ ions with fluences ranging from 1 à 1010 to 1 à 1012 ions/cm2. High frequency C-V characteristics are studied in situ to estimate the build-up of fixed and oxide charges. The nature of the charge build-up with ion fluence is analyzed. Defect levels in bulk Si and its properties such as activation energy, capture cross-section, trap concentration and carrier lifetimes are studied using deep-level transient spectroscopy. Electron traps with energies ranging from 0.069 to 0.523eV are observed in Li ion-irradiated devices. The dependence of series resistance, substrate doping and accumulation capacitance on Li ion fluence are clearly explained. The study of dielectric properties (tan δ and quality factor) confirms the degradation of the oxide layer to a greater extent due to ion irradiation. © 2011 Taylor & Francis

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Not AvailableExperimental bottom trawling was conducted from MFV Sagarkripa at five transects of water depths 15-20 m, 21-25 m, 26-30 m, 31-35 m and 36-40 m in commercial trawling grounds to assess the impact of bottom trawling on the epifauna off Veraval coast. Trawling was conducted for 17 months in a span of 20 months (September 2005-April 2007) excluding the trawl ban period (June to August). Altogether 41 species of gastropods, 1 species of scaphopod, 19 species of bivalves, 3 species of crab, 3 species of shrimps, 2 species of Balanus, 1 species of stomatopod, 4 species of finfishes, 2 species of brown algae and 4 species of octocorals were identified. The soft corals found were Litophyton sp. and Studeriotes sp. (Christmas tree soft coral). The gorgonians collected were young stages of Subergorgia suberosa and Juncella juncea (Whip coral). The presence of octocorals recorded in the month of October, immediately after the closed season (June to August) when the sea bottom is not heavily trawled suggests that this area is an abode of corals and a favourable site for coral reef formation. But intense trawling in the succeeding months destroys these valuable entities of ecosystem and the samples were not encountered in the subsequent months. The changes before and after trawling in biodiversity indices were significant at 15-20 m. The abundance-biomass curve showed that the rate of stress increased with water depth. The shallow depths are lightly trawled due to intermittent rocky nature of bottom and as water depth increases, the trawling intensity increases. The analysis of similarity of percentages in Simper showed that the dissimilarity of fauna before and after experimental trawling was more evident in lightly trawled area and remained masked in heavily trawled area. Suggestions are made for the promotion of eco-friendly gears and for conducting studies on appropriate un-trawled control sites for comparative assessment. Management strategies have to be adopted for the conservation and biodiversity protection of octocorals.Not Availabl