Gene Polymorphisms That Predispose Women for Down Syndrome Child Birth

Down syndrome caused by presence of extra chromosome 21 originates from nondisjunction during parental gametogenesis. For overwhelming cases, the error occurs in oocyte and all the nondisjunction events are not stochastic. With increasing number of research efforts, it has come to know that maternal genetic architecture may be considered as risk factors for chromosomal errors. Polymorphisms of the genes involved in chromosome segregation, recombination and folic acid metabolisms have been investigated for their association with Down syndrome child birth. But the results are conflicting owing to ethnic and sociocultural differences. Here, we have discussed and summarized the outcome of the studies conducted on different population sample from different parts of world and tried to figure out the common polymorphisms, which could be used as makers for preconceptional screening of Down syndrome child birth risk among the women

THE STUDY OF RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN TOBIN’S Q AND US STOCK PERFORMANCE OF SELECTED FIRMS

The objective of study was to test the dynamic effects of changes in Tobin’Q on stock prices of selected 249 US public companies of different industry categories. Panel unit roots tests and cointegration tests are implemented. Next, DOLS and GMM models are estimated. Annual data for the 2004-2012 period are used for the above selected US companies. Panel unit root tests provide somewhat mixed evidence of non-stationarity of both variables. There is clear evidence of cointegration between the above variables. The negative coefficient of the error-correction term shows convergence toward long-run equilibrium, though at slow pace. The estimates also reveal shortrun net positive interactive feedback effects between the variables. Both DOLS and GMM estimates display similar picture of overvaluation of stocks in terms of upward movement in Tobin’s Q beyond 0-to-1 range. For most parts of the sample period, the US stock market was in declining mode due to heightening of economic uncertainties during the Great Recession and several years beyond. Tobin’s Q should be improved to boost stock prices. This is more of a long-run phenomenon. In the short run, both reinforce each other. The topic is unique and the existing literature on this topic is scant. Relatively new econometric techniques have been applied for estimation using panel data. The results are quite insightful, in our view

Bisphenol A: Understanding Its Health Effects from the Studies Performed on Model Organisms

Bisphenol A [4,4′‐(propane‐2,2‐diyl)diphenol] (abbreviated as BPA) is a synthetic xenoestrogenic chemical and endocrine disruptor. It is a most common plasticizer that is used widely to produce epoxy resin and polycarbonate plastics, enters the living system through food and water contamination and generates health hazards. Researches are being conducted to explore the adversity that BPA exerts in living body, and for this reason, model organisms are of scientific choice. Rodents, zebrafish, Drosophila, nematodes, crustaceans and echinoderms are being used for monitoring the effect of BPA on their life history traits, nervous system, endocrine system, reproductive systems, behaviour, etc., which could help us to anticipate what kind of challenges BPA is putting in human life. This systematic review is focused on the latest research trend on BPA toxicity on different model organisms

Hospital based surveillance and genetic characterization of rotavirus strains in children (<5 years) with acute gastroenteritis in Kolkata, India, revealed resurgence of G9 and G2 genotypes during 2011–2013

AbstractIntroductionIndia accounts for an estimated 457,000–884,000 hospitalizations and 2 million outpatient visits for diarrhea. In spite of the huge burden of rotavirus (RV) disease, RV vaccines have not been introduced in national immunization programme of India. Therefore, continuous surveillance for prevalence and monitoring of the circulating genotypes is needed to assess the disease burden prior to introduction of vaccines in this region.MethodsDuring January 2011 through December 2013, 830 and 1000 stool samples were collected from hospitalized and out-patient department (OPD) patients, respectively, in two hospitals in Kolkata, Eastern India. After primary screening, the G-P typing was done by multiplex semi-nested PCR using type specific primers followed by sequencing. Phylogenetic analysis for the VP7 gene of 25 representative strains was done.ResultsAmong hospitalized and OPD patients, 53.4% and 47.5% cases were positive for rotaviruses, respectively. Unlike previous studies where G1 was predominant, in hospitalized cases G9 rotavirus strains were most prevalent (40%), followed by G2 (39.6%) whereas G1 and G12 occurred at 16.4% and 5.6% frequency. In OPD cases, the most prevalent strain was G2 (40.3%), followed by G1, G9 and G12 at 25.5%, 22.8%, 9.3%, respectively. Phylogenetically the G1, G2 and G9 strains from Kolkata did not cluster with corresponding genotypes of Rotarix, RotaTeq and Rotavac (116E) vaccine strains.ConclusionThe study highlights the high prevalence of RV in children with gastroenteritis in Kolkata. The circulating genotypes have changed over the time with predominance of G9 and G2 strains during 2011-2013. The current G2, G9 and G1 Kolkata strains shared low amino acid homologies with current vaccine strains. Although there is substantial evidence for cross protection of vaccines against a variety of strains, still the strain variation should be monitored post vaccine introduction to determine if it has any impact on vaccine effectiveness

Genetic Variants Associated with Arsenic Susceptibility: Study of Purine Nucleoside Phosphorylase, Arsenic (+3) Methyltransferase, and Glutathione S-Transferase Omega Genes

BACKGROUND: Individual variability in arsenic metabolism may underlie individual susceptibility toward arsenic-induced skin lesions and skin cancer. Metabolism of arsenic proceeds through sequential reduction and oxidative methylation being mediated by the following genes: purine nucleoside phosphorylase (PNP), arsenic (+3) methyltransferase (As3MT), glutathione S-transferase omega 1 (GSTO1), and omega 2 (GSTO2). PNP functions as arsenate reductase; As3MT methylates inorganic arsenic and its metabolites; and both GSTO1 and GSTO2 reduce the metabolites. Alteration in functions of these gene products may lead to arsenic-specific disease manifestations. OBJECTIVES: To find any probable association between arsenicism and the exonic single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of the above-mentioned arsenic-metabolizing genes, we screened all the exons in those genes in an arsenic-exposed population. METHODS: Using polymerase chain reaction restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis, we screened the exons in 25 cases (individuals with arsenic-induced skin lesions) and 25 controls (individuals without arsenic-induced skin lesions), both groups drinking similar arsenic-contaminated water. The exonic SNPs identified were further genotyped in a total of 428 genetically unrelated individuals (229 cases and 199 controls) for association study. RESULTS: Among four candidate genes, PNP, As3MT, GSTO1, and GSTO2, we found that distribution of three exonic polymorphisms, His20His, Gly51Ser, and Pro57Pro of PNP, was associated with arsenicism. Genotypes having the minor alleles were significantly overrepresented in the case group: odds ratio (OR) = 1.69 [95% confidence interval (CI), 1.08–2.66] for His20His; OR = 1.66 [95% CI, 1.04–2.64] for Gly51Ser; and OR = 1.67 [95% CI, 1.05–2.66] for Pro57Pro. CONCLUSIONS: The results indicate that the three PNP variants render individuals susceptible toward developing arsenic-induced skin lesions. KEY WORDS: arsenic, As3MT, GSTO1, GSTO2, PNP, skin lesion, susceptibility. Environ Health Perspect 116:501–505 (2008). doi:10.1289/ehp.10581 available via http://dx.doi.org/ [Online 14 January 2008

Pharmacological Studies With Tea Root Extract With Special Reference To Its Antineoplastic Properties

The pharmacological properties of tea have been well studied and it is a well established fact that tea and its several components possess anti-hyperglycemic, hypocholesterolemic, anti-ulcer and anti-carcinogenic effects. Information from the tea gardens reveals that the tea plants remain viable for 30-100 years, depending upon the location, after which the trees are uprooted and the branches and roots are used mainly as fire wood and occasionally for making ornamental furniture. Since tea, both black and green, has been reported to contain a number of chemical constituents with remarkable medicinal values, it was felt that tea root also should be a store house of chemicals of biological and medicinal interest. Preliminary work carried out with tea root extract in our laboratory revealed that tea root extract and two of the triterpene saponins named as TS1 and TS2 isolated from the its butanolic fraction possessed potent anti-carcinogenic and antioxidant activities. In the present study detailed investigations have been carried out with crude tea root extract as well as with its triterpinoid saponins to establish their in vivo and in vitro anti-neoplastic activities as well as some other pharmacological activities

Hole pairing and ground state properties of high-

The t–t′–J–V model, one of the realistic models for studying high-Tc cuprates, has been investigated to explore the hole pairing and other ground state properties using exact diagonalization (ED) technique with 2 holes in a small 8-site cluster. The role of next-nearest-neighbor (NNN) hopping and nearest-neighbor (NN) Coulomb repulsion has been considered. It appears that qualitative behavior of the ground state energies of an 8-site and 16- or 18-site cluster is similar. Results show that a small short-ranged antiferromagnetic (AF) correlation exists in the 2 hole case which is favored by large V∕t. A superconducting phase emerges at 0 ≤ V∕t ≤ 4J. Hole–hole correlation calculation also suggests that the two holes of the pair are either at |i − j| = 1 or √2. Negative t′∕t suppresses the possibility of pairing of holes. Though s-wave pairing susceptibility is dominant, pairing correlation length calculation indicates that the long range pairing, which is suitable for superconductivity, is in the d-wave channel. Both s- and d-wave pairing susceptibility gets suppressed by V∕t while d-(s-) wave susceptibility gets favored (suppressed) by t′∕t. The charge gap shows a gapped behavior while a spin-gapless region exists at small V∕t for finite t′∕t