A brief description on radon monitoring in India in some seismically sensitive areas

Radon anomalies in both groundwater as well as soil gas prior to a major earthquake were first observed in the Tashkent region (1966) of USSR. Since then, scientists have taken note of geochemical changes in seismically active areas on a regular basis. Emanation of radon gases and associated anomalies in spring and well waters have been observed in various seismically active regions in the Himalayan belt — both in the north-eastern as well as in the western part of the mountain chain. An attempt has been made in this paper to give a brief review of the radon monitoring work done in the Indian subcontinent in some seismically active regions

Pain during ice water test distinguishes clinical bladder hypersensitivity from overactivity disorders.

BACKGROUND: The Bladder cooling reflex (BCR) i.e. uninhibited detrusor contractions evoked by intravesical instillation of cold saline, is a segmental reflex believed to be triggered by menthol sensitive cold receptors in the bladder wall, with the afferent signals transmitted by C fibres. The BCR is a neonatal reflex that becomes suppressed by descending signals from higher centres at approximately the time when the child gains full voluntary control of voiding. It re-emerges in adults with neurogenic detrusor overactivity as a consequence of loss of central descending inhibition, resulting from conditions such as spinal cord injury or multiple sclerosis. We have recently shown an increase of nerve fibres expressing the cool and menthol receptor TRPM8 in both overactive (IDO) and painful bladder syndrome (PBS), but its functional significance is unknown. We have therefore studied the bladder cooling reflex and associated sensory symptoms in patients with PBS and overactivity disorders. METHODS: The BCR, elicited by ice water test (IWT) was performed in patients with painful bladder syndrome (PBS, n = 17), idiopathic detrusor overactivity (IDO, n = 22), neurogenic detrusor overactivity (NDO, n = 4) and stress urinary incontinence (as controls, n = 21). The IWT was performed by intravesical instillation of cold saline (0 - 4 degrees C). A positive IWT was defined as presence of uninhibited detrusor contraction evoked by cold saline, associated with urgency or with fluid expulsion. Patients were asked to report and rate any pain and cold sensation during the test. RESULTS: A positive IWT was observed in IDO (6/22, 27.3%) and NDO (4/4, 100%) patients, but was negative in all control and PBS patients. Thirteen (76.5%) PBS patients reported pain during the IWT, with significantly higher pain scores during ice water instillation compared to the baseline (P = 0.0002), or equivalent amount of bladder filling (100 mls) with saline at room temperature (P = 0.015). None of the control or overactive (NDO/IDO) patients reported any pain during the IWT. CONCLUSION: The BCR in DO may reflect loss of central inhibition, which appears necessary to elicit this reflex; the pain elicited in PBS suggests afferent sensitisation, hence sensory symptoms are evoked but not reflex detrusor contractions. The ice water test may be a useful and simple marker for clinical trials in PBS, particularly for novel selective TRPM8 antagonists

Nonrandom distribution of Alu elements in genes of various functional categories: insight from analysis of human chromosomes 21 and 22

The first draft of the human genome has revealed enormous variability in the global distribution of Alu repeat elements. There are regions such as the four homeobox gene clusters, which are nearly devoid of these repeats that contrast with repeat dense regions in other transcriptionally active regions of the genome. Our analysis of the completely sequenced chromosomes 21 and 22 revealed a striking bias in Alu distribution. These elements are more clustered in genes which are involved in metabolism, transport, and signaling processes. In contrast, they are significantly fewer in genes coding for information pathway components as well as structural proteins. This bias in Alu distribution is independent of the effect of Alu density of the flanking genomic region and is also not affected by the GC content of the gene and its upstream and downstream regions. The relative proportions of Alu subfamilies (Alu J, Alu S, and Alu Y) are not significantly different in genes with high Alu density belonging to the functional categories of transport, metabolism, and signaling. However, in the structural proteins and information genes, these proportions are lower than the other three categories. We suggest that Alu elements might be involved in regulatory mechanisms and are therefore differentially selected in primate genomes

Nociceptin/Orphanin FQ receptor expression in clinical pain disorders and functional effects in cultured neurons

The Nociceptin/Orphanin FQ peptide receptor (NOP), activated by its endogenous peptide ligand Nociceptin/Orphanin FQ (N/OFQ), exerts several effects including modulation of pain signalling. We have examined, for the first time, the tissue distribution of the NOP receptor in clinical visceral and somatic pain disorders by immunohistochemistry, and assessed functional effects of NOP and [micro] opioid receptor activation in cultured human and rat dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neurons. Quantification of NOP-positive nerve fibres within the bladder sub-urothelium revealed a remarkable several-fold increase in Detrusor Overactivity (p<0.0001) and Painful Bladder Syndrome patient specimens (p=0.0014), compared to controls. In post-mortem control human DRGs, 75-80% of small/medium neurons (<=50 [micro]m diameter) in the lumbar (somatic) and sacral (visceral) DRG were positive for NOP, and fewer large neurons; avulsion-injured cervical human DRG neurons showed similar numbers. NOP-immunoreactivity was significantly decreased in injured peripheral nerves (p=0.0004), and also in painful neuromas (p=0.025). Calcium imaging studies in cultured rat DRG neurons demonstrated dose-dependent inhibition of capsaicin responses in the presence of N/OFQ, with an IC50 of 8.6 pM. In cultured human DRG neurons, 32% inhibition of capsaicin responses was observed in the presence of 1 pM N/OFQ (p<0.001). The maximum inhibition of capsaicin responses was greater with N/OFQ than [mu]-opioid receptor agonist DAMGO. Our findings highlight the potential of NOP agonists, particularly in urinary bladder overactivity and pain syndromes. The regulation of NOP expression in visceral and somatic sensory neurons by target-derived neurotrophic factors deserves further study, and the efficacy of NOP selective agonists in clinical trials

Social media marketing: Comparative effect of advertisement sources

YesThis study was conducted to conceptualise advertising value and consumer attitudes towards advertisements. The research was developed to reveal the effect of the source of advertisements on credibility perception through the theoretical framework of Ducoffe's (1995) advertising value model. The research objective is to identify source derogation in terms of credibility to create advertising value and a positive attitude towards advertisements launched through the Facebook social network. In this regard, the study used three distinct sources to generate and introduce product promotional messages: an associative reference group, an aspirational reference group and marketers themselves. This research revealed significant differences in developing advertisement value and forming a favourable attitude towards advertisements when the product-related message was developed by these three distinct groups, who have different source derogations

Involvement in emergency supply chain for disaster management: a cognitive dissonance perspective

YesAn integrated process, interlinked operation and interoperable communication network amongst operating agencies are critical for developing an effective disaster management supply chain. The traditional managerial problems observed across disaster management operations are: non-cooperation among members, disrupted chain of commands, misuse of relief items, lack of information sharing, mistrust and lack of coordination. This study aims to understand the issues affiliated with negative attitude towards disaster management operations using theory of cognitive dissonance. A qualitative investigation was undertaken across 64 districts in Bangladesh. Five constructs were examined for their influences on attitude and behavioural intention of members participating in government emergency supply chain for disaster management. The results indicate that administrative conflict, political biasness and professional growth have significant effects on attitude. Impact of insecurity is non-significant on attitude. This research offers substantial theoretical contribution to the cognitive dissonance theory in the context of disaster management supply chain

In-depth mesocrystal formation analysis of microwave-assisted synthesis of LiMnPO4nanostructures in organic solution

In the present work, we report on the preparation of LiMnPO4 (lithiophilite) nanorods and mesocrystals composed of self-assembled rod subunits employing microwave-assisted precipitation with processing times on the time scale of minutes. Starting from metal salt precursors and H3PO4 as phosphate source, single-phase LiMnPO4 powders with grain sizes of approx. 35 and 65 nm with varying morphologies were obtained by tailoring the synthesis conditions using rac-1-phenylethanol as solvent. The mesocrystal formation, microstructure and phase composition were determined by electron microscopy, nitrogen physisorption, X-ray diffraction (including Rietveld refinement), dynamic light scattering, X-ray absorption and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and other techniques. In addition, we investigated the formed organic matter by gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry in order to gain a deeper understanding of the dissolution\u2013precipitation process. Also, we demonstrate that the obtained LiMnPO4 nanocrystals can be redispersed in polar solvents such as ethanol and dimethylformamide and are suitable as building blocks for the fabrication of nanofibers via electrospinning

The state of things: state history and theory reconfigured

This article looks at the relationship between logistical power and the assemblages of sites that constitute modern states. Rather than treating states as centralizing institutions and singular sites of power, we treat them as multi-sited. They gain power by using logistical methods of problem solving, using infrastructures to enforce and depersonalize relations of domination and limit the autonomy of elites. But states necessarily solve diverse problems by different means in multiple locations. So, educating children is not continuous with governing colonies even though both are necessary to nineteenth-century states. For this reason, states use logistical means of coordination to link sites, and they make the power of the state seem unitary even though the exercise of state power is not

How does Inflation Depend Upon the Nature of Fluids Filling Up the Universe in Brane World Scenario

By constructing different parameters which are able to give us the information about our universe during inflation,(specially at the start and the end of the inflationary universe) a brief idea of brane world inflation is given in this work. What will be the size of the universe at the end of inflation,i.e.,how many times will it grow than today's size is been speculated and analysed thereafter. Different kinds of fluids are taken to be the matter inside the brane. It is observed that in the case of highly positive pressure grower gas like polytropic,the size of the universe at the end of inflation is comparitively smaller. Whereas for negative pressure creators (like chaplygin gas) this size is much bigger. Except thse two cases, inflation has been studied for barotropic fluid and linear redshift parametrization $\omega(z) = \omega_{0} + \omega_{1} z$ too. For them the size of the universe after inflation is much more high. We also have seen that this size does not depend upon the potential energy at the end of the inflation. On the contrary, there is a high impact of the initial potential energy upon the size of inflation.Comment: 20 page