Aberrant neuronal activity-induced signaling and gene expression in a mouse model of RASopathy

Noonan syndrome (NS) is characterized by reduced growth, craniofacial abnormalities, congenital heart defects, and variable cognitive deficits. NS belongs to the RASopathies, genetic conditions linked to mutations in components and regulators of the Ras signaling pathway. Approximately 50% of NS cases are caused by mutations in PTPN11. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying cognitive impairments in NS patients are still poorly understood. Here, we report the generation and characterization of a new conditional mouse strain that expresses the overactive Ptpn11D61Y allele only in the forebrain. Unlike mice with a global expression of this mutation, this strain is viable and without severe systemic phenotype, but shows lower exploratory activity and reduced memory specificity, which is in line with a causal role of disturbed neuronal Ptpn11 signaling in the development of NS-linked cognitive deficits. To explore the underlying mechanisms we investigated the neuronal activity-regulated Ras signaling in brains and neuronal cultures derived from this model. We observed an altered surface expression and trafficking of synaptic glutamate receptors, which are crucial for hippocampal neuronal plasticity. Furthermore, we show that the neuronal activity-induced ERK signaling, as well as the consecutive regulation of gene expression are strongly perturbed. Microarray-based hippocampal gene expression profiling revealed profound differences in the basal state and upon stimulation of neuronal activity. The neuronal activity-dependent gene regulation was strongly attenuated in Ptpn11D61Y neurons. In silico analysis of functional networks revealed changes in the cellular signaling beyond the dysregulation of Ras/MAPK signaling that is nearly exclusively discussed in the context of NS at present. Importantly, changes in PI3K/AKT/mTOR and JAK/STAT signaling were experimentally confirmed. In summary, this study uncovers aberrant neuronal activity-induced signaling and regulation of gene expression in Ptpn11D61Y mice and suggests that these deficits contribute to the pathophysiology of cognitive impairments in NS

Residential location of low-income households in Hyderabad, India

The thesis examines the residential location of low - income households in Hyderabad. It reveals the current distribution of low - income housing both in the formal and informal housing markets composed mainly of old city tenements, government housing, unauthorised settlements, illegal sub - divisions and private housing. Through in-depth case studies of families and household interviews selected from various types of settlements all over the city, the thesis shows how the low - income households chose their residential location within Hyderabad. It also looks in detail at the structure of the owner-occupied housing sub-markets for low - income groups, analyses the various residential choices and alternatives available in the city and investigates the way in which the residential location of low - income households has changed over the last four decades in different parts of the city. The thesis also shows how the government actions have contributed to the deepening housing crisis through the allocation of inadequate financial resources in state plan outlays for low cost owner - occupied housing. A major reorientation of housing policy is called for, in which the current priorities for housing and infrastructure provision and the control of resources especially land and tenure are taken care of. Finally, the thesis provides a conceptual model and a methodological basis for improved understanding of residential circumstances and household changes of low - income households in Hyderabad

Numerical modeling of polyurea coated cementitious materials for flexure and impact loads

The research focuses on predicting the mechanical properties of various cementitious based materials coated with polyurea using the finite element program ABAQUS. To determine the effect of the polyurea coated systems, simple finite element analyses are performed on the beam model for flexure and the concrete slab model for impact. The experimental results carried out by Hyungjoo Choi [1, 2] are used to validate the model and to study the effect of the coating conditions of polyurea (plain, top, bottom, both). The load-displacement curves are plotted. Results show that using polyurea coating increases of deflection and load at failure (ductility), ultimate strength and strain, of Poly (Vinyl Butyral) (PVB) and Poly (Vinyl Alcohol) (PVA) fiber reinforced specimens. The simulation response for various models matched the experimental results very closely. Impact models depict the stresses developed and show that applying polyurea coating on the bottom seems to produce the best results

Response of nematode food webs to human induced disturbances

Modern human civilization occurs at the expense of biodiversity. Human activity has extensively transformed the land surface by agricultural intensification and urbanization. Notably, agricultural practices mainly tillage have diverse impacts on plants, soils and soil organisms. Tillage changes soil properties and affects organisms that are living in the soil. In addition, human activities such as burning of fossil fuels, urbanization, agriculture, deforestation and desertification are rapidly changing the world’s climate through the emission of greenhouse gases. Increase in the emission of greenhouse gases leads to global warming. Increase in air temperature congruently increases soil temperature, which could affect biodiversity in the soil. Nematodes are the most abundant multicellular soil organisms and are morphologically and functionally diverse. The objectives of this study were: 1) to assess the influence of agricultural intensification and urbanization on nematode communities by comparing different ecosystems through meta-analysis of published literature on a global scale, 2) to evaluate the effect of tillage on nematode communities in terms of increasing level of physical disturbance in an undisturbed forest ecosystem and 3) to investigate the response of nematodes to a 5 oC rise in soil temperature by simulating future global warming using heating cables in forest and agricultural ecosystems. Results from the meta-analyses indicated that overall richness was higher in forest than in natural grassland, disturbed grassland, urban, and agriculture ecosystems. In contrast, overall abundance was highest in disturbed grassland, agriculture and forest ecosystems. Effects of tillage on nematode communities suggested that it significantly reduced nematode richness but not abundance. Soil warming in agricultural site did not affect nematode abundance, whereas nematode richness was significantly decreased in the warming treatment. On the other hand, nematode abundance and richness were not affected by soil warming in the forest ecosystem. Results from the warming experiment support the idea that nematode communities in the forest ecosystem may be more resilient to environmental fluctuations than to communitites in agricultural ecosystems. Overall, this research strengthens the concept that human interventions adversely impact nematode richness, which is crucial for the maintenance of the full suite of ecosystem services provided by soil food webs

Random Variate Generation from Generalized Inverse Gaussian Distribution

We consider the problem of random variate generation from generalized inverse Gaussian (GIG) distribution. The CDF of this distribution does not admit an explicit form, so the standard approach to simulation based its inverse is not the right tool for this problem. Instead, we follow the rejection simulation method, based on the probability density function, which is given explicitly for this distribution. We study the efficiency of this method, and identify an optimal numerical procedure within this framework

Determination of Shear Viscosity of Clay Soil Using Gravity Cone Apparatus

In soil mechanics the shear strength of soil is a result of friction and interlocking of particles, and it gives the magnitude of shear stress that a soil can sustain. Knowledge of shear viscosity plays a vital role in understanding the viscous resistance in the dynamic penetration through the soils for applications in geotechnical field such as cone penetrometers landslides and jacked piles. The intention of this study is to apply viscous flow (hydrodynamics) principles to soils at critical state with the main purpose of understanding the effects of viscous soil resistance on penetrating shafts or objects in clay and also post failure features during movement of mud slides. &nbsp

Security and Privacy Attribute Based Data Sharing in Public Cloud Storage

Public cloud storage is a cloud storage model that give services to people and associations to store, alter and oversee data. Public cloud storage benefit is otherwise called storage benefit, utility storage and online storage. Cloud storage has numerous focal points, there is still stay different difficulties among which protection and security of clients data have significant issues in public cloud storage. Attribute Based Encryption (ABE) is a cryptographic system which gives data proprietor coordinate control over their data in public cloud storage. In the customary ABE conspire include single authority to keep up attribute set which can bring a solitary point bottleneck on both security and execution. Presently we utilize edge multi-authority Cipher content Policy Attribute-Based Encryption (CP-ABE) get to control plot, name TMACS. TMACS is Threshold Multi-Authority Access Control System. In TMACS, different authority mutually deals with the entire attribute set yet nobody has full control of a particular attribute. By joining limit secret sharing (t,n) and multi-authority CP-ABE conspire, we created dynamic multiauthority get to control framework in public cloud storage

First record of native entomopathogenic nematodes from Montana agroecosystems

A total of 30 different agricultural fields in the Golden Triangle Region of Montana, USA were surveyed, and 150 soil samples were evaluated for the presence of entomopathogenic nematodes (EPNs). The authors isolated EPNs from 10% of the collected samples. The recovered isolates were identified as Steinernema feltiae and Heterorhabditis bacteriophora by using morphological and molecular analysis. Steinernema feltiae was found from two fields, Kalispell (S. feltiae 1) and Choteau (S. feltiae 2). Steinernema feltiae (1 and 2) differed significantly from each other in terms of morphological characters for infective juveniles (distance from anterior end to excretory pore and nerve ring) and 1st generation males (body length, spicule length, gubernaculum length, oesophagus, tail, and anal body diameter). Steinernema feltiae 2 and H. bacteriophora were recovered from the same field in Choteau. All these species were recovered from wheat fields with sandy clay loam and loam soils with 3.3 to 3.4% organic matter content and pH 8

Automatic unhulled rice grain crack detection by X-ray imaging

Crack detection of incoming paddy (unhulled rice grain) is an important step in the rice milling industry, as paddy grains with cracks severely affect the milling yield. The present method of crack detection by manually dehusking and examining kernels under light is laborious, time consuming, and highly subjective. The potential of x-ray imaging for paddy grain crack detection was investigated. Algorithms were developed for automatic detection of paddy cracks from the x-ray image. Hough transform was used to determine the cracks in the final segmented image. A graphical user interface (GUI) was developed for displaying the number of cracks in the given x-ray image

Multi - owner Secure Data Sharing in Cloud Computing Environment

Data sharing in the cloud is a technique that allows users to conveniently access data over the cloud. The data owner outsources their data in the cloud due to cost reduction and the great conveniences provided by cloud services. Data owner is not able to control over their data, because cloud service provider is a third party provider.  The main crisis with data sharing in the cloud is the privacy and security issues. Various techniques are available to support user privacy and secure data sharing. This paper focus on various schemes to deal with secure data sharing such as Data sharing with forward security, secure data sharing for dynamic groups, Attribute based data sharing, encrypted data sharing and Shared Authority Based Privacy-Preserving Authentication Protocol for access control of outsourced data