Modeling HCV disease in animals: virology, immunology and pathogenesis of HCV and GBV-B infections

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection has become a global public health burden costing billions of dollars in health care annually. Even with rapidly advancing scientific technologies this disease still poses a significant threat due to a lack of vaccines and affordable treatment options. The immune correlates of protection and predisposing factors toward chronicity remain major obstacles to development of HCV vaccines and immunotherapeutics due, at least in part, to lack of a tangible infection animal model. This review discusses the currently available animal models for HCV disease with a primary focus on GB virus B (GBV-B) infection of New World primates that recapitulates the dual Hepacivirus phenotypes of acute viral clearance and chronic pathologic disease. HCV and GBV-B are also closely phylogenetically related and advances in characterization of the immune systems of New World primates have already led to the use of this model for drug testing and vaccine trials. Herein, we discuss the benefits and caveats of the GBV-B infection model and discuss potential avenues for future development of novel vaccines and immunotherapies

PPARs and Microbiota in Skeletal Muscle Health and Wasting.

Skeletal muscle is a major metabolic organ that uses mostly glucose and lipids for energy production and has the capacity to remodel itself in response to exercise and fasting. Skeletal muscle wasting occurs in many diseases and during aging. Muscle wasting is often accompanied by chronic low-grade inflammation associated to inter- and intra-muscular fat deposition. During aging, muscle wasting is advanced due to increased movement disorders, as a result of restricted physical exercise, frailty, and the pain associated with arthritis. Muscle atrophy is characterized by increased protein degradation, where the ubiquitin-proteasomal and autophagy-lysosomal pathways, atrogenes, and growth factor signaling all play an important role. Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPARs) are members of the nuclear receptor family of transcription factors, which are activated by fatty acids and their derivatives. PPARs regulate genes that are involved in development, metabolism, inflammation, and many cellular processes in different organs. PPARs are also expressed in muscle and exert pleiotropic specialized responses upon activation by their ligands. There are three PPAR isotypes, viz., PPARα, -β/δ, and -γ. The expression of PPARα is high in tissues with effective fatty acid catabolism, including skeletal muscle. PPARβ/δ is expressed more ubiquitously and is the predominant isotype in skeletal muscle. It is involved in energy metabolism, mitochondrial biogenesis, and fiber-type switching. The expression of PPARγ is high in adipocytes, but it is also implicated in lipid deposition in muscle and other organs. Collectively, all three PPAR isotypes have a major impact on muscle homeostasis either directly or indirectly. Furthermore, reciprocal interactions have been found between PPARs and the gut microbiota along the gut-muscle axis in both health and disease. Herein, we review functions of PPARs in skeletal muscle and their interaction with the gut microbiota in the context of muscle wasting

The role of primary cemented total hip arthroplasty in the management of fractures of the neck of femur in the elderly population

Background: Femoral neck fractures are common injuries in the elderly population and are associated with high rates of morbidity and mortality. The aim of surgical intervention in these elderly patients is to restore them to the pre-fracture status as rapidly as possible. The aim of this study was to evaluate the role of total hip arthroplasty as a primary option in the management of these fractures and to compare the results with studies of other authors as available in literature.Methods: 45 patients with femoral neck fractures treated with cemented total hip arthroplasty were studied from January 2011 to January 2013 and were followed up for a minimum period of two years.Results: There were 18 males and 27 females ranging from 60 to 75 years of age. Mean age was 64.6 years. Majority (80%) of the fractures were completely displaced, Garden type 4 fractures followed by type 3 in 20% of cases. The most common mode of injury was a simple slip and fall. Excellent results were seen in 17 patients, good results in 24 patients and fair results in 4 patients. No poor results were seen. Conclusions: Cemented total hip arthroplasty is a very useful procedure for the primary treatment of femoral neck fractures in elderly patients. This procedure markedly improves the functional status of the patients and gives good functional results

The Saito-Kurokawa lifting and Darmon points

Let E_{/_\Q} be an elliptic curve of conductor $Np$ with $p\nmid N$ and let $f$ be its associated newform of weight 2. Denote by $f_\infty$ the $p$-adic Hida family passing though $f$, and by $F_\infty$ its $\Lambda$-adic Saito-Kurokawa lift. The $p$-adic family $F_\infty$ of Siegel modular forms admits a formal Fourier expansion, from which we can define a family of normalized Fourier coefficients $\{\widetilde A_T(k)\}_T$ indexed by positive definite symmetric half-integral matrices $T$ of size $2\times 2$. We relate explicitly certain global points on $E$ (coming from the theory of Stark-Heegner points) with the values of these Fourier coefficients and of their $p$-adic derivatives, evaluated at weight $k=2$.Comment: 14 pages. Title change

Shrimp hatchery

Successful spawning of Penaeus japonicus under controlled conditions and their subsequent rearing upto the juvenile stage by Hudinaga (1942) and his team paved way for the large scale hatchery production of shrimp seed for aquaculture

Random Walk Investigation in Indian Market with special reference to S&P Nifty – Fifty Stocks

The competence of a financial system is entirely depending upon the stock market efficiency. The gradual growth of equity investor’s participation is inevitable to enrich the overall growth of emerging economies.Hence the necessity is felt to provide an empirical support to the investing community. For the purpose, this study attempts to examine the weak-form efficiency of Indian stock market – National Stock Exchange (NSE). The study has used the daily closing price of the Nifty fifty stocks from 3rdJanuary 2011 to 24thApril 2015. To test the weak form efficiency both parametric and non-parametric tests called Autocorrelation, Augmented Dicky Fuller test, and Runs Test were performed.  The study reveals that 39 stocks of NSE-Nifty Fifty are found to be weak form inefficient, so that the investors can formulate trading strategies to gain abnormal returns. The Index and 10 stocks are found to be weak form efficient during the study period since the price series found to be autocorrelation existence

On the source of QPO of the black hole candidate GRS1915+105: some new observations and their interpretation

A few classes of the light curve of the black hole candidate GRS 1915+105 have been analyzed in detail. We discover that unlike the previous findings, QPOs occasionally occur even in the so-called `On' or softer states. Such findings may require a revision of the accretion/wind scenario of the black hole candidates. We conjecture that considerable winds which is produced in `Off' states, cool down due to Comptonization, and falls back to the disk and creating an excess accretion rate to produce the so-called `On' state. After the drainage of the excess matter, the disk goes back to the `Off' state. Our findings strengthen the shock oscillation model for QPOs.Comment: MNRAS style. MNRAS (To appear

An evaluation of functional outcome following minimally invasive plate osteosynthesis in fractures of the distal tibia

Background: Management of fractures of the distal tibia remains a challenging proposition due to the fact that the major part of the bone is in a subcutaneous location and the blood supply is quite precarious. Conventional forms of osteosynthesis are associated with high rates of infection and nonunion. Due to extensive soft tissue stripping, the vascularity is compromised and often results in poor wound healing and tends to compromise fracture healing as well. Closed reduction with minimally invasive plate osteosynthesis (MIPO) addresses these issues and has emerged as a viable treatment option with minimal complications. The aim of this study was to assess the functional outcome MIPO using locking compression plates (LCP).Methods: 32 patients with distal tibial fractures treated by MIPO technique with LCP fixation were studied from January 2012 to January 2014 and were followed up for a period of 2 years.Results: All the fractures in our series united well at the end of 6 months with mean time to radiological evidence of callus formation at 10 weeks and the mean time to fracture union was 20 weeks. There were 2 cases with varus angulation in our series and no cases with implant failure. There were 3 patients with superficial skin infections and no cases of deep infection.Conclusions: We conclude that MIPO with LCP is an effective treatment option for distal tibial fractures avoiding all the complications associated with other forms of internal fixation. We strongly recommend its usage in these types of complex injuries