Creating a Fontan fenestration in a child with dextrocardia and interrupted inferior vena cava

Plastic bronchitis is a rare life-threatening complication of the Fontan operation. Transcatheter Fontan fenestration can ameliorate symptoms by decompressing elevated venous pressures. Transcatheter creation of a fenestration can be technically challenging in cases with complex venous anatomy. We report a case of a 5-year-old boy with heterotaxy, dextrocardia with unbalanced atrioventricular canal (AVC), atrial and visceral situs inversus, left-sided superior vena cava (SVC), and left-sided interrupted inferior vena cava (IVC) with azygos continuation. With few modifications to the equipment, a successful Fontan fenestration with stent implantation was performed via transjugular approach. At 2-year follow-up, his symptoms of plastic bronchitis improved significantly

Qualitative SERS analysis of G-quadruplex DNAs using selective stabilising ligands

Nucleic acids are of key biological importance due to their range of functions and ability to form various different structures, with an example of emerging significance being quadruplexes formed by guanine-rich sequences. These guanine rich sequences are found in different regions of the genome such as telomeres, gene promoters and introns and UTRs of mRNAs. Here a new approach has been developed that utilises surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) for the detection of the formation of G-quadruplexes. Three G-quadruplex stabilising ligands that each have their own unique SERS response were used in this study and their ability to act as reporters assessed. A SERS response was only obtained from the ligands in the absence of G-quadruplex formation. This resulted in an "on/off" method which was successfully used to qualitatively detect the formation of G-quadruplex using quadruplex-forming sequences such as human telomeric and C-MYC promoter DNAs. The unique SERS spectra of each stabilising ligand offer the potential for use of SERS to study higher order DNA structures. This work shows that the ligands used can act simultaneously as a potential therapeutic stabilising agent and a SERS reporter, therefore allowing the use of SERS as a method of analysis of the formation of G-quadruplex DNAs

Citations of the Top 100 Most-cited Papers of the Journal Scientometrics in Web of Science and its Association and Correlation with Scopus and Google Scholar Citations

This study is conducted to analyse the citations of the top 100 most-cited papers of the journal Scientometrics in Web of Science (WoS) and its association and correlation with corresponding citations in Scopus and Google Scholar (GS). Chi-square and Spearman’s rank rho are used to ascertain the association and correlation among these citations in different platforms. GS citations for the papers are comparatively higher than the citations in the other two databases. Scopus citations are slightly higher than WoS citations. The study found that there is significant association among level of citations of top 100 cited papers of the journal Scientometrics in WoS and its corresponding level of citations in Scopus and Google Scholar and also high positive correlation among citations in the three databases

Citations of the Top 100 Most-cited Papers of the Journal Scientometrics in Web of Science and its Association and Correlation with Scopus and Google Scholar Citations

This study is conducted to analyse the citations of the top 100 most-cited papers of the journal Scientometrics in Web of Science (WoS) and its association and correlation with corresponding citations in Scopus and Google Scholar (GS). Chi-square and Spearman’s rank rho are used to ascertain the association and correlation among these citations in different platforms. GS citations for the papers are comparatively higher than the citations in the other two databases. Scopus citations are slightly higher than WoS citations. The study found that there is significant association among level of citations of top 100 cited papers of the journal Scientometrics in WoS and its corresponding level of citations in Scopus and Google Scholar and also high positive correlation among citations in the three databases

Stability analysis of ginger (Zingiber officinale Rose.) genotypes

Ten genotypes of ginger (Zingiber officinale) were subjected to stability analysis based on their evaluation for 6 years at Regional Agricultural Research Station, Ambalavayal (Kerala, India). All the genotypes differed significantly for tiller number, leaf number and yield. Stability analysis revealed the superiority. of Ernadan and Kuruppampady as they expressed high mean yield, non significant S2di values and a regression nearing unity. &nbsp

Specific Recognition of Promoter G-Quadruplex DNAs by Small Molecule Ligands and Light-up Probes

G-Quadruplexes (G4s) are four-stranded nucleic acid structures whose underlying G-rich sequences are present across the chromosome and transcriptome. These highly structured elements are known to regulate many key biological functions such as replication, transcription, translation, and genomic stability, thereby providing an additional layer of gene regulation. G4s are structurally dynamic and diverse, and they can fold into numerous topologies. They are potential targets for small molecules, which can modulate their functions. To this end, myriad classes of small molecules have been developed and studied for their ability to bind and stabilize these unique structures. Though many of them can selectively target G4s over duplex DNA, only a few of them can distinguish one G4 topology from others. Design and development of G4-specific ligands are challenging owing to the subtle structural variations among G4 structures. However, screening assays and computational methods have identified a few classes of ligands that preferentially or specifically target the G4 topology of interest over others. This review focuses on the small molecules and fluorescent probes that specifically target human promoter G4s associated with oncogenes. Targeting promoter G4s could circumvent the issues such as undruggability and development of drug resistance associated with the protein targets. The ligands discussed here highlight that development of G4-specific ligands is an achievable goal in spite of the limited structural data available. The future goal is to pursue the development of G4-specific ligands endowed with drug-like properties for G4-based therapeutics and diagnostics

Stability analysis of ginger (Zingiber officinale Rose.) genotypes

Ten genotypes of ginger (Zingiber officinale) were subjected to stability analysis based on their evaluation for 6 years at Regional Agricultural Research Station, Ambalavayal (Kerala, India). All the genotypes differed significantly for tiller number, leaf number and yield. Stability analysis revealed the superiority. of Ernadan and Kuruppampady as they expressed high mean yield, non significant S2di values and a regression nearing unity. &nbsp

Stability analysis of ginger (Zingiber officinale Rose.) genotypes

Ten genotypes of ginger (Zingiber officinale) were subjected to stability analysis based on their evaluation for 6 years at Regional Agricultural Research Station, Ambalavayal (Kerala, India). All the genotypes differed significantly for tiller number, leaf number and yield. Stability analysis revealed the superiority. of Ernadan and Kuruppampady as they expressed high mean yield, non significant S2di values and a regression nearing unity. &nbsp

Optimum dose of nitrogen and potassium for ginger in Wynad, Kerala

Study on nutrient requirement of ginger in Wynad, Kerala showed the positive effect of higher, doses of Nand K on the yield. Among the 16 levels of Nand K, 3 combinations viz., 150 kg N, 50 kg K; 150 kg N, 100 kg K and 75 kg N, 150 kg K ha-1 were found to be significantly superior with respect to yield. Among the vegetative characters, plant height was found to be significantly influenced by nitrogen. The optimum dose of Nand K derived from the quadratic equation was 144 kg and 109 kg ha-1 respectively. &nbsp