Two new species of Paratrichodorus Siddiqi, 1974 (Nematoda : Trichodoridae) with observation on P. mirzai (Siddiqi, 1960) Siddiqi, 1974 and P. renifer Siddiqi, 1974 from Pakistan

Deux nouveaux #Paratrichodorus provenant de la rhizosphère de goyavier (#Psidium guajava), à Faisalabad, Pakistan, sont décrits et illustrés. #Paratrichodorus psidiumi n. sp. peut être aisément distingué de toutes les espèces déjà décrites par la taille plus faible du corps, des spicules et du gubernaculum, et par le nombre de pores latéraux postérieurs à la vulve. #P. faisalabadensis n. sp. diffère des autres espèces par la combinaison de caractères suivante : forme du vagin et de la sclérotisation vaginale, spicules et gubernaculum plus petits. Des précisions morphométriques et morphologiques sont données sur #Paratrichodorus mirzai (Siddiqi, 1960) Siddiqi, 1974 - vulve double - et #P. renifer Siddiqi, 1974. (Résumé d'auteur

Physics of fractional imaging in biomedicine

Medical imaging is a rapidly evolving sub-field of biomedical engineering as it considers novel approaches to visualizing biological tissues with the general goal of improving health. Medical imaging research provides improved diagnostic tools in clinical settings and thereby assists in the development of drugs and other therapies. Data acquisition and diagnostic interpretation with minimum error are important technical aspects of medical imaging. The image quality and resolution are critical in visualization of the internal aspects of patient’s body. Although a number of user-friendly resources are available for processing image features, such as enhancement, colour manipulation and compression, the development and refinement of new processing methods is still a worthwhile endeavour. In this article we aim to highlight the role of fractional calculus in imaging with the aid of a variety of practical examples

Mathematical modelling of ciliary propulsion of an electrically conducting Johnson-Segalman physiological fluid in a channel with slip

Bionic systems frequently feature electromagnetic pumping and offer significant advantages over conventional designs via intelligent bio-inspired properties. Complex wall features observed in nature also provide efficient mechanisms which can be utilized in biomimetic designs. The characteristics of biological fluids are frequently non-Newtonian in nature. In many natural systems super-hydrophobic slip is witnessed. Motivated by these phenomena, in the present article, we present a mathematical model for the cilia-generated propulsion of an electrically-conducting viscoelastic physiological fluid in a ciliated channel under the action of an externally applied static magnetic field. The rheological behavior of the fluid is simulated with the Johnson-Segalman constitutive model which allows internal wall slip. The regular or coordinated movement of the ciliated edges (which line the internal walls of the channel) is represented by a metachronal wave motion in the horizontal direction which generate a two-dimensional velocity profile with the parabolic profile in the vertical direction. This mechanism is imposed as a periodic moving velocity boundary condition which generates propulsion in the channel flow. Under the classical lubrication approximation (long wavelength and low Reynolds' number), the boundary value problem is rendered non-dimensional and solved analytically with a perturbation technique. The influence of the geometric, rheological (slip and Weissenberg number) and magnetic parameters on the velocity, pressure gradient and the pressure rise (evaluated via the stream function in symbolic software) are presented graphically and interpreted at length

Drosophila Heartless Acts with Heartbroken/Dof in Muscle Founder Differentiation

The formation of a multi-nucleate myofibre is directed, in Drosophila, by a founder cell. In the embryo, founders are selected by Notch-mediated lateral inhibition, while during adult myogenesis this mechanism of selection does not appear to operate. We show, in the muscles of the adult abdomen, that the Fibroblast growth factor pathway mediates founder cell choice in a novel manner. We suggest that the developmental patterns of Heartbroken/Dof and Sprouty result in defining the domain and timing of activation of the Fibroblast growth factor receptor Heartless in specific myoblasts, thereby converting them into founder cells. Our results point to a way in which muscle differentiation could be initiated and define a critical developmental function for Heartbroken/Dof in myogenesis

Dapsone hypersensitivity syndrome-rare complication of dapsone therapy

Among several other adverse effects of dapsone therapy, dapsone hypersensitivity syndrome is extremely rare but most life-threatening complication. Here we report a case of severe dapsone hypersensitivity syndrome in a 27-year-old female student diagnosed as immune thrombocytopenic purpura on dapsone therapy who was admitted with remittent fever, lymphadenopathy and skin rash and was managed successfully with drug withdrawal and systemic glucocorticoid therapy. The idea of reporting this case is to recognise the rare potentially life threatening adverse effect of dapsone therapy, its timely diagnosis and favourable outcome with systemic glucocorticoid therapy

Physico-Chemical Characterization Of Sweet Chestnut (Castanea Sativa L.) Starch Grown In Temperate Climate Of Kashmir, India

Studies were conducted to characterize the chestnut starch for physico-chemical properties. Chemical composition of chestnut starch showed low levels of protein and ash indicating purity of starch. The results revealed low water and oil absorption capacity of chestnut starch. Starch showed high swelling power and low solubility index. Swelling power and solubility index of chestnut starch increased with increase in temperature (50–90 °C). The results revealed high initial, peak, setback, breakdown, and final viscosity but low paste development temperature. Transmittance (%) of the starch gel was low and decreased with increasing storage period. The chestnut starch gel showed increase in % water release (syneresis) with increase in time of storage but was less susceptible to repeated cycles of freezing and thawing. Starch was also characterized for granule morphology. Starch granules were of round and oval shapes, some granules showed irregular shape

The effect of human Mesenchymal stem cell on neutrophil oxidative burst

Objective: Mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) are multipotent, non-haematopoietic stem cells that are capable of differentiating into different varieties of mature cell types such as osteoblasts, chondrocytes, adipocytes. and myoblasts. There is abundant evidence showing that MSC not only affect the differentiation of haematopoietic progenitors, but also the function of mature cells like lymphocytes and neutrophils. However the effect of MSC on neutrophil function and its responses is not well studied. Therefore, this study was conducted to assess the effect of MSC on neutrophil nitric oxide production. Method: Neutrophils from heparanised venous blood were isolated using Ficoll-Hypaque density gradient centrifugation followed by Dextran sedimentation and red blood cell (RBC) lysis. Isolated neutrophils were on average of 97% purity as determined by morphologic analysis. MSC were generated from human bone marrow and characterised by immunophenotyping (monoclonal antibodies CD1O5, CD73 and CD34) using a flowcytometer. In order to test the effects of MSC on neutrophil function, isolated neutrophils were co-cultured in the presence or absence of MSC at different ratios for 24 and 48 hours. The amount of nitric oxide released was used as an indication of oxidative burst and measured using the Griess assay. Result: The results indicate that MSC neither elevate the NO level when cocultured with resting neutrophils nor alone. However MSC profoundly inhibit the secretion of nitric oxide in PMA stimulated neutrophils after 241w of incubation. Conclusion: MSC exert an immunomodulatory effect on neutrophil by suppressing neutrophil oxidative burst in vitro