ABO and Rh Blood Group Distribution Among Kunbis (Maratha) population of Amravati District, Maharashtra

The present study reports the distribution of ABO and Rh blood groups among the Kunbis (Maratha) population of Amravati district. The phenotypic frequency of blood group B is observed highest (33.06) percent, O (31.04), A (27.02) and AB is lowest (08.33) percent. The phenotypic frequency of Rh negative is (04.26) percent. TheKunbis (Maratha) population shows close genetic relationship with the Gujratis

Scrutinizing human MHC polymorphism:supertype analysis using Poisson-Boltzmann electrostatics and clustering

Peptide-binding MHC proteins are thought the most variable proteins across the human population; the extreme MHC polymorphism observed is functionally important and results from constrained divergent evolution. MHCs have vital functions in immunology and homeostasis: cell surface MHC class I molecules report cell status to CD8+ T cells, NKT cells and NK cells, thus playing key roles in pathogen defence, as well as mediating smell recognition, mate choice, Adverse Drug Reactions, and transplantation rejection. MHC peptide specificity falls into several supertypes exhibiting commonality of binding. It seems likely that other supertypes exist relevant to other functions. Since comprehensive experimental characterization is intractable, structure-based bioinformatics is the only viable solution. We modelled functional MHC proteins by homology and used calculated Poisson-Boltzmann electrostatics projected from the top surface of the MHC as multi-dimensional descriptors, analysing them using state-of-the-art dimensionality reduction techniques and clustering algorithms. We were able to recover the 3 MHC loci as separate clusters and identify clear sub-groups within them, vindicating unequivocally our choice of both data representation and clustering strategy. We expect this approach to make a profound contribution to the study of MHC polymorphism and its functional consequences, and, by extension, other burgeoning structural systems, such as GPCRs

The emerging face of the HIV epidemic in the Middle East and North Africa.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: A volume of quality HIV data has materialized recently in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). This review provides a thematic narrative of the patterns of HIV infection transmission in this region in light of these data. RECENT FINDINGS: Tens of integrated bio-behavioral surveillance surveys among hard-to-reach key populations at higher risk have been conducted in MENA in the recent years. Many of the studies reported appreciable and growing HIV prevalence. A few studies found alarming prevalence of as much as 87.2% HIV prevalence among people who inject drugs in Tripoli, Libya. The discovery of these hitherto hidden epidemics was unsettling to some authorities after years in which the importance of a focus on HIV prevention among key populations was not recognized. SUMMARY: The new data from MENA indicate growing HIV epidemics among key populations across the region. There is heterogeneity, however, as to which key populations are affected and in what proportions in different countries. In a few countries, HIV appears to affect only one key population and often there is substantial geographical heterogeneity in HIV transmission. Data are indicative of a growing HIV disease burden in this part of the globe, in contrast with the declining epidemics in most other regions

Customised Alloy Blends for In-Situ Al339 Alloy Formation Using Anchorless Selective Laser Melting

The additive manufacturing process Selective Laser Melting (SLM) can generate large thermal gradients during the processing of metallic powder; this can in turn lead to increased residual stress formation within a component. Metal anchors or support structures are required to be built during the process and forcibly hold SLM components to a substrate plate and minimise geometric distortion/warpage due to the process induced thermal residual stress. The requirement for support structures can limit the geometric freedom of the SLM process and increase post-processing operations. A novel method known as Anchorless Selective Laser Melting (ASLM) maintains processed material within a stress relieved state throughout the duration of a build. As a result, metal components formed using ASLM do not develop signification residual stresses within the process, thus, the conventional support structures or anchors used are not required to prevent geometric distortion. ASLM locally melts two or more compositionally distinct powdered materials that alloy under the action of the laser, forming into various combinations of hypo/hyper eutectic alloys with a new reduced solidification temperature. This new alloy is maintained in a semi-solid or stress reduced state for a prolonged period during the build with the assistance of elevated powder bed pre-heating. In this paper, custom blends of alloys are designed, manufactured and processed using ASLM. The purpose of this work is to create an Al339 alloy from compositionally distinct powder blends. The in-situ alloying of this material and ASLM processing conditions allowed components to be built in a stress-relieved state, enabling the manufacture of overhanging and unsupported features

Detection of Inositol Polyphosphates by Polyacrylamide Gel Electrophoresis (PAGE) under Apoptotic Conditions in Cultured SW480 Cells

Inositol phosphates are naturally occurring compounds that regulate diverse cellular processes including apoptosis. Apoptosis is a mechanism by which cells undergo natural death to maintain cellular homeostasis. It causes cell death in areas during a state that is harmful to the body. It also regulates cellular development. Previous work has shown that exogenously administered, as well as endogenously manipulated inositol phosphates bring about apoptotic changes. It has been demonstrated that cellular levels of inositol phosphates, particularly higher inositol phosphates such as inositol hexakis-phosphate (IP6) and diphosphoinositol pentakis-phosphate (IP7) levels increase during apoptotic conditions. In this study, we have attempted to separate and identify higher inositol phosphates such as IP6 by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE) and shown that changes in inositol phosphate levels can be detected by this method. Cells were treated with etoposide to induce apoptosis, and apoptotic cells were observed under UV light following ethidium bromide/acridine orange staining. This staining showed that IP3 - IP6 induced apoptosis in SW480 cells with IP6 being the most effective inducing agent. The extracts from apoptotic and control cells were then loaded onto the polyacrylamide gel and run along with standard IP6. Results showed that IP6 could be detected using the PAGE method and that cellular levels of IP6 were increased in SW480 cells, in which apoptosis had been induced by etoposide. Our results demonstrated that this technique could be utilized instead of the laborious radioactive labeling and HPLC separation method to study the changes in cellular levels of inositol phosphates particularly IP6

Meanings of blood, bleeding and blood donations in Pakistan: implications for national vs global safe blood supply policies

Contemporary public policy, supported by international arbitrators of blood policy such as the World Health Organization and the International Federation of the Red Cross, asserts that the safest blood is that donated by voluntary, non-remunerated donors from low-risk groups of the population. These policies promote anonymous donation and discourage kin-based or replacement donation. However, there is reason to question whether these policies, based largely on Western research and beliefs, are the most appropriate for ensuring an adequate safe blood supply in many other parts of the world

Investigation of Corrosion Inhibitors Adsorption on Metals Using Density Functional Theory and Molecular Dynamics Simulation

The use of computational chemistry as a tool in the design and development of organic corrosion inhibitors has been greatly enhanced by the development of density functional theory (DFT) and Molecular dynamic simulation (MD). Experimentally corrosion inhibitor development requires lots of money and time. Thus, in the era of hardware and software development, corrosion scientist can select a potential inhibitor on the basis of theoretical analysis of molecular properties of inhibitor molecules, which have reduced the cost. DFT and MD are capable to accurately predict the inhibition characteristics of inhibitor molecules using molecular/electronic properties and reactivity indices. The purpose of this book chapter is to summarize some important features related to DFT and MD, giving a brief background to the selected DFT/MD-based chemical reactivity concepts, calculations and their applications to organic corrosion inhibitor design. The impact of this book chapter is to illustrate the enormous power of DFT and MD

Joint optimization of Age of Information and Energy Efficiency in IoT Networks

Age of information (AoI) refers to the freshness of data generated by a status-update system. It is a crucial metric in networks such as Internet of things (IoT), specially when the underlying application demands fresh update. In environmental monitoring and smart agriculture, apart from the importance of AoI, energy efficiency (EE) becomes inevitable owing to network longevity. This paper studies an IoT network where the end devices transfer their information to a central gateway residing on a moving platform such as a tractor, which collects information from a large number of sensors in an agri-field. An optimal trajectory of the mobile reader is proposed using a modified nearest neighbor algorithm to gather the information from randomly distributed sensors. A clustering algorithm is also used to cluster the data in such a way that the overall EE of the network is maximized keeping a desired AoI and outage probability