A Novel DNA Sequence Compression Method Based on Chaos Game Representation

Unique signature images derived out of Chaos Game Representation of bio-sequences is an area of research that has been confined to pattern recognition applications. In this paper we pose and answer an interesting question – can we reproduce a bio-sequence in a lossless way given the co-ordinates of the final point in its CGR image? We show that it is possible in principle, but would need enormous resolution for representation of coordinates, roughly corresponding to the information content of direct binary coding of the sequence. We go on to show that we can code nucleotide codon triplets using this method in which 16 codons can be coded using 4 bits, the remaining 48 using 6 bits. Theoretically up to 11% compression is possible with this method. However, algorithm overheads reduce this to very nominal compression percentage of less than 4% for human genome and 9% for bacterial genome. We report the results on a subset of standard test sequences and also an independent wider data set

PRELIMINARY PHYTOCHEMICAL ANALYSIS OF WHOLE PLANT POWDER OF INDONEESIELLA ECHIOIDES (L.) SREEM.

The plant Indoneesiella echioides (L.) Sreem. belonging to the family Acanthaceae, is a less known medicinal plant widely distributed in the Tropical India and Srilanka. The only mentioning of this drug is in the Hortus Malabaricus, a treatise on the plant wealth of Malabar during the 17th century. The reference depicted is for fever and poison indicating the time old application of the drug by traditional Ayurvedic practitioners. The drug is neither included in Ayurvedic pharmacopeia nor currently been used in Ayurvedic practice. Research works of the drug is done mostly with extracts of leaves and aerial parts. This paper deals with the preliminary phytochemical analysis of the whole plant powder. Apart from the available results of qualitative analysis, quantitative determination of fiber content, tannin content, total sugars, reducing sugars, phenols, extractive values and successive solvent extraction of the whole plant powder has been done in this study. The results obtained for the quantitative determination of tannins, total sugars, reducing sugars and phenols were 3.187%, 10.99%, 4.11% and 27.979 microgram/gram respectively. Variations were noted in the physico-chemical parameters such as total ash (6.77%), moisture content (9.55%) and crude fiber content (50.866%) comparing to the corresponding values of leaves extract. The influence of regional climatic conditions, (Desapradhanyata) is also evident from the study. Among the extractive values, water soluble extractives exceeded the alcohol soluble extractives which revalidate the usage of water based formulations in Ayurvedic science

Does E-Marketing Mix Influence Brand Loyalty and Popularity of E-Commerce Websites?

E-commerce portals are increasing exponentially in terms of both business and data. Many organizations rely on their online websites to attract new customers, while still retaining their existing ones. E-commerce websites provide consumers with flexibility in terms of time, price, and space, during their purchases. The traditional marketing mix comprising of product, price, place and promotion (4Ps) identifies important factors in a purchase journey. In the online environment the concept of the marketing mix remains the same, except that the characteristics and functions of each factor are dynamic, suiting the online marketplace. The e-marketing mix, namely e-product, price intelligence (price sensitivity), delivery risk (place) and promotional intelligence, influences consumer buying-decisions in online markets. This research is an attempt to find the effect of the e-marketing mix on the loyalty and popularity of e-commerce sites. Data was collected using a structured questionnaire and was analyzed using a structural equation modeling-partial least squares method. The results showed that brand popularity was significantly influenced by the characteristics of the product and intelligent promotional techniques. Brand popularity had an influence on brand loyalty in an electronic marketing space

Gold nanoparticles approach to detect chondroitin sulphate and hyaluronic acid urothelial coating

This study investigated the location of hyaluronic acid (HA)-and chondroitin sulphate (CS)-coated gold nanoparticles in rabbit bladder and evaluated gene expression of CD44, RHAMM and ICAM-1 receptors involved in HA and CS transport into the cell. Gold nanoparticles were synthesised by reduction of gold salts with HA or CS to form HA-AuNPs and CS-AuNPs. Bladder samples were incubated with CS-AuNPs and HA-AuNPs or without glycosaminoglycans. Transmission electron microscopy, optic microscopy and scanning electron microscopy were used to determine the location of the synthesised AuNPs. Real-time PCR was used to analyse expression of urothelial cell receptors CD44, RHAMM, ICAM-1, after ex vivo administration of CS-AuNPs and HA-AuNPs. We showed that HA-AuNPs and CS-AuNPs were located in the cytoplasm and tight junctions of urothelial umbrella cells; this appearance was absent in untreated bladders. There were no significant differences in gene expression levels for CD44, RHAMM and ICAM-1 receptors in treated versus control bladder tissues. In conclusion, we clearly showed the presence of exogenous GAGs in the bladder surface and the tight junctions between umbrella cells, which is important in the regeneration pathway of the urothelium. The GAGs-AuNPs offer a promising approach to understanding the biophysical properties and imaging of urothelial tissue

Phylogenetic relationships of Indian caecilians (Amphibia: Gymnophiona) inferred from mitochondrial rRNA gene sequences

India has a diverse caecilian fauna, including representatives of three of the six currently recognized families, the Caeciliidae, Ichthyophiidae, the endemic Uraeotyphlidae, but previous molecular phylogenetic studies of caecilians have not included sequences for any Indian caecilians. Partial 12S and 16S mitochondrial gene sequences were obtained for a single representative of each of the caecilian families found in India and aligned against previously reported sequences for 13 caecilian species. The resulting alignment (16 taxa, 1200 sites, of which 288 cannot be aligned unambiguously) was analyzed using parsimony, maximum-likelihood, and distance methods. As judged by bootstrap proportions, decay indices, and leaf stabilities, well-supported relationships of the Indian caecilians are recovered from the alignment. The data (1) corroborate the hypothesis, based on morphology, that the Uraeotyphlidae and Ichthyophiidae are sister taxa, (2) recover a monophyletic Ichthyophiidae, including Indian and South East Asian representatives, and (3) place the Indian caeciliid Gegeneophis ramaswamii as the sister group of the caeciliid caecilians of the Seychelles. Rough estimates of divergence times suggest an origin of the Uraeotyphlidae and Ichthyophiidae while India was isolated from Laurasia and Africa and are most consistent with an Indian origin of these families and subsequent dispersal of ichthyophiids into South East Asia

Satellite-based assessment of the August 2018 flood in parts of Kerala, India

From 1 June to 29 August 2018, Kerala, a state in southwestern India, recorded 36% excess rainfall than normal levels, leading to widespread floods and landslides events and resulting in 445 deaths. In this study, satellite-based data were used to map the flood inundation in the districts of Thrissur, Ernakulam, Alappuzha, Idukki and Kottayam. Specifically, flood delineation was enabled with Sentinel-1A radar data of 21 August 2018 and was compared with an average pre-flood, water-cover map based on Modified Normalized Difference Water Index (MNDWI) that was developed using a January and February 2018 Sentinel-2A dataset. A 90% increase in water cover was observed during the August 2018 flood event. Low lying areas in the coastal plains of Kuttanad and the Kole lands of Thrissur, had marked a rise of up to 5 and 10 m of water, respectively, during this deluge. These estimates are conservative as that the flood waters had started receding prior to the August 21 Sentinel-1A imagery

Dysregulation of multiple metabolic networks related to brain transmethylation and polyamine pathways in Alzheimer disease: A targeted metabolomic and transcriptomic study.

BACKGROUND: There is growing evidence that Alzheimer disease (AD) is a pervasive metabolic disorder with dysregulation in multiple biochemical pathways underlying its pathogenesis. Understanding how perturbations in metabolism are related to AD is critical to identifying novel targets for disease-modifying therapies. In this study, we test whether AD pathogenesis is associated with dysregulation in brain transmethylation and polyamine pathways. METHODS AND FINDINGS: We first performed targeted and quantitative metabolomics assays using capillary electrophoresis-mass spectrometry (CE-MS) on brain samples from three groups in the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging (BLSA) (AD: n = 17; Asymptomatic AD [ASY]: n = 13; Control [CN]: n = 13) (overall 37.2% female; mean age at death 86.118 ± 9.842 years) in regions both vulnerable and resistant to AD pathology. Using linear mixed-effects models within two primary brain regions (inferior temporal gyrus [ITG] and middle frontal gyrus [MFG]), we tested associations between brain tissue concentrations of 26 metabolites and the following primary outcomes: group differences, Consortium to Establish a Registry for Alzheimer's Disease (CERAD) (neuritic plaque burden), and Braak (neurofibrillary pathology) scores. We found significant alterations in concentrations of metabolites in AD relative to CN samples, as well as associations with severity of both CERAD and Braak, mainly in the ITG. These metabolites represented biochemical reactions in the (1) methionine cycle (choline: lower in AD, p = 0.003; S-adenosyl methionine: higher in AD, p = 0.005); (2) transsulfuration and glutathione synthesis (cysteine: higher in AD, p < 0.001; reduced glutathione [GSH]: higher in AD, p < 0.001); (3) polyamine synthesis/catabolism (spermidine: higher in AD, p = 0.004); (4) urea cycle (N-acetyl glutamate: lower in AD, p < 0.001); (5) glutamate-aspartate metabolism (N-acetyl aspartate: lower in AD, p = 0.002); and (6) neurotransmitter metabolism (gamma-amino-butyric acid: lower in AD, p < 0.001). Utilizing three Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) datasets, we then examined mRNA expression levels of 71 genes encoding enzymes regulating key reactions within these pathways in the entorhinal cortex (ERC; AD: n = 25; CN: n = 52) and hippocampus (AD: n = 29; CN: n = 56). Complementing our metabolomics results, our transcriptomics analyses also revealed significant alterations in gene expression levels of key enzymatic regulators of biochemical reactions linked to transmethylation and polyamine metabolism. Our study has limitations: our metabolomics assays measured only a small proportion of all metabolites participating in the pathways we examined. Our study is also cross-sectional, limiting our ability to directly test how AD progression may impact changes in metabolite concentrations or differential-gene expression. Additionally, the relatively small number of brain tissue samples may have limited our power to detect alterations in all pathway-specific metabolites and their genetic regulators. CONCLUSIONS: In this study, we observed broad dysregulation of transmethylation and polyamine synthesis/catabolism, including abnormalities in neurotransmitter signaling, urea cycle, aspartate-glutamate metabolism, and glutathione synthesis. Our results implicate alterations in cellular methylation potential and increased flux in the transmethylation pathways, increased demand on antioxidant defense mechanisms, perturbations in intermediate metabolism in the urea cycle and aspartate-glutamate pathways disrupting mitochondrial bioenergetics, increased polyamine biosynthesis and breakdown, as well as abnormalities in neurotransmitter metabolism that are related to AD