Green Synthesis of Silver Nanoparticle in Calotropis Procera flower extract and its application for Fe2+sensing in aqueous solution

The silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) was synthesized in Calotropis procera extract. The synthesized AgNPs were characterized by UV–vis spectoscopy, dynamic light scattering (DLS)and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). DLS and TEM analysis of the synthesized AgNPs clearly showed the nanoscale particle size distribution having spherical shaped morphology. The color change and spectral shift in absorption spectrum after addition of Fe2+ ion to AgNPs solution develop a simple and quick method for quantitative determination of Fe2+ from aqueous solution without any interference from excipients. The selective adsorption of Fe2+ ions over the nano particle surface and mechanism of binding was supported by Langmuir adsorption plot, zeta sizer and absorption titration results. The results suggest that the synthesized AgNPs to be used as an ideal, eco-friendly nano probe for selective and sensitive detection of Fe2+ ion in aqueous medium based on adsorption studies. The present method successfully applied for the quantitative analysis of Fe2+ ion in samples collected from local area having limit of detection 4.29 µg/mL. The method offers a simple, selective, economical approach for quantitative detection of Fe2+ in environmental samples without any pretreatment

Characterization of SpPol4, a unique X-family DNA polymerase in Schizosaccharomyces pombe

As predicted by the amino acid sequence, the purified protein coded by Schizosaccharomyces pombe SPAC2F7.06c is a DNA polymerase (SpPol4) whose biochemical properties resemble those of other X family (PolX) members. Thus, this new PolX is template-dependent, polymerizes in a distributive manner, lacks a detectable 3′→5′ proofreading activity and its preferred substrates are small gaps with a 5′-phosphate group. Similarly to Polμ, SpPol4 can incorporate a ribonucleotide (rNTP) into a primer DNA. However, it is not responsible for the 1–2 rNTPs proposed to be present at the mating-type locus and those necessary for mating-type switching. Unlike Polμ, SpPol4 lacks terminal deoxynucleotidyltransferase activity and realigns the primer terminus to alternative template bases only under certain sequence contexts and, therefore, it is less error-prone than Polμ. Nonetheless, the biochemical properties of this gap-filling DNA polymerase are suitable for a possible role of SpPol4 in non-homologous end-joining. Unexpectedly based on sequence analysis, SpPol4 has deoxyribose phosphate lyase activity like Polβ and Polλ, and unlike Polμ, suggesting also a role of this enzyme in base excision repair. Therefore, SpPol4 is a unique enzyme whose enzymatic properties are hybrid of those described for mammalian Polβ, Polλ and Polμ

Intravenous doxycycline, azithromycin, or both for severe scrub typhus

BACKGROUND: The appropriate antibiotic treatment for severe scrub typhus, a neglected but widespread reemerging zoonotic infection, is unclear. METHODS: In this multicenter, double-blind, randomized, controlled trial, we compared the efficacy of intravenous doxycycline, azithromycin, or a combination of both in treating severe scrub typhus. Patients who were 15 years of age or older with severe scrub typhus with at least one organ involvement were enrolled. The patients were assigned to receive a 7-day course of intravenous doxycycline, azithromycin, or both (combination therapy). The primary outcome was a composite of death from any cause at day 28, persistent complications at day 7, and persistent fever at day 5. RESULTS: Among 794 patients (median age, 48 years) who were included in the modified intention-to-treat analysis, complications included those that were respiratory (in 62%), hepatic (in 54%), cardiovascular (in 42%), renal (in 30%), and neurologic (in 20%). The use of combination therapy resulted in a lower incidence of the composite primary outcome than the use of doxycycline (33% and 47%, respectively), for a risk difference of −13.3 percentage points (95% confidence interval [CI], (21.6 to −5.1; P=0.002). The incidence with combination therapy was also lower than that with azithromycin (48%), for a risk difference of −14.8 percentage points (95% CI, −23.1 to −6.5; P<0.001). No significant difference was seen between the azithromycin and doxycycline groups (risk difference, 1.5 percentage points; 95% CI, −7.0 to 10.0; P=0.73). The results in the per-protocol analysis were similar to those in the primary analysis. Adverse events and 28-day mortality were similar in the three groups. CONCLUSIONS: Combination therapy with intravenous doxycycline and azithromycin was a better therapeutic option for the treatment of severe scrub typhus than monotherapy with either drug alone. (Funded by the India Alliance and Wellcome Trust; INTREST Clinical Trials Registry–India number, CTRI/2018/08/015159.

Identification of genetic effects underlying Type 2 Diabetes in South Asian and European populations

South Asians are at high risk of developing type 2 diabetes (T2D). We carried out a genome-wide association meta-analysis with South Asian T2D cases (n=16,677) and controls (n=33,856), followed by combined analyses with Europeans (neff=231,420). We identify 21 novel genetic loci for significant association with T2D (P=4.7x10-8 to 5.2x10-12), to the best of our knowledge at the point of analysis. The loci are enriched for regulatory features, including DNA methylation and gene expression in relevant tissues, and highlight CHMP4B, PDHB, LRIG1 and other genes linked to adiposity and glucose metabolism. A polygenic risk score based on South Asian-derived summary statistics shows ~4-fold higher risk for T2D between the top and bottom quartile. Our results provide further insights into the genetic mechanisms underlying T2D, and highlight the opportunities for discovery from joint analysis of data from across ancestral populations

Challenges in QCD matter physics - The Compressed Baryonic Matter experiment at FAIR

Substantial experimental and theoretical efforts worldwide are devoted to explore the phase diagram of strongly interacting matter. At LHC and top RHIC energies, QCD matter is studied at very high temperatures and nearly vanishing net-baryon densities. There is evidence that a Quark-Gluon-Plasma (QGP) was created at experiments at RHIC and LHC. The transition from the QGP back to the hadron gas is found to be a smooth cross over. For larger net-baryon densities and lower temperatures, it is expected that the QCD phase diagram exhibits a rich structure, such as a first-order phase transition between hadronic and partonic matter which terminates in a critical point, or exotic phases like quarkyonic matter. The discovery of these landmarks would be a breakthrough in our understanding of the strong interaction and is therefore in the focus of various high-energy heavy-ion research programs. The Compressed Baryonic Matter (CBM) experiment at FAIR will play a unique role in the exploration of the QCD phase diagram in the region of high net-baryon densities, because it is designed to run at unprecedented interaction rates. High-rate operation is the key prerequisite for high-precision measurements of multi-differential observables and of rare diagnostic probes which are sensitive to the dense phase of the nuclear fireball. The goal of the CBM experiment at SIS100 (sqrt(s_NN) = 2.7 - 4.9 GeV) is to discover fundamental properties of QCD matter: the phase structure at large baryon-chemical potentials (mu_B > 500 MeV), effects of chiral symmetry, and the equation-of-state at high density as it is expected to occur in the core of neutron stars. In this article, we review the motivation for and the physics programme of CBM, including activities before the start of data taking in 2022, in the context of the worldwide efforts to explore high-density QCD matter.Comment: 15 pages, 11 figures. Published in European Physical Journal

Common variants in CLDN2 and MORC4 genes confer disease susceptibility in patients with chronic pancreatitis

A recent Genome-wide Association Study (GWAS) identified association with variants in X-linked CLDN2 and MORC4 and PRSS1-PRSS2 loci with Chronic Pancreatitis (CP) in North American patients of European ancestry. We selected 9 variants from the reported GWAS and replicated the association with CP in Indian patients by genotyping 1807 unrelated Indians of Indo-European ethnicity, including 519 patients with CP and 1288 controls. The etiology of CP was idiopathic in 83.62% and alcoholic in 16.38% of 519 patients. Our study confirmed a significant association of 2 variants in CLDN2 gene (rs4409525—OR 1.71, P = 1.38 x 10-09; rs12008279—OR 1.56, P = 1.53 x 10-04) and 2 variants in MORC4 gene (rs12688220—OR 1.72, P = 9.20 x 10-09; rs6622126—OR 1.75, P = 4.04x10-05) in Indian patients with CP. We also found significant association at PRSS1-PRSS2 locus (OR 0.60; P = 9.92 x 10-06) and SAMD12-TNFRSF11B (OR 0.49, 95% CI [0.31–0.78], P = 0.0027). A variant in the gene MORC4 (rs12688220) showed significant interaction with alcohol (OR for homozygous and heterozygous risk allele -14.62 and 1.51 respectively, P = 0.0068) suggesting gene-environment interaction. A combined analysis of the genes CLDN2 and MORC4 based on an effective risk allele score revealed a higher percentage of individuals homozygous for the risk allele in CP cases with 5.09 fold enhanced risk in individuals with 7 or more effective risk alleles compared with individuals with 3 or less risk alleles (P = 1.88 x 10-14). Genetic variants in CLDN2 and MORC4 genes were associated with CP in Indian patients

Moving Beyond Mimicry: Developing Hybrid Spaces in Indian Business Schools

This article analyses the identity work of Indian management educators and scholars as they seek to establish, maintain and revise a sense of self in the context of business school globalization. We show how globalization, combined with the historical legacy of colonialism, renders Indian scholars precarious in their interactions with Western business schools. Based on a qualitative interview study, we explore how Indian business school scholars perform their identities in the context of neo-colonial relations, which are characterised by the dominance of English language and a pressure to conform to research norms set by globally-ranked journals. Drawing on postcolonial theory, our argument focuses on mimicry as a distinctive form of identity work that involves maintaining difference between Western and non-Western identities by 'Othering' Indian scholars, while simultaneously seeking to transform them. We draw attention to ambivalence within participants' accounts, which we suggest arises because the authority of Western scholarship relies on maintaining non-Western scholars in a position of alterity or 'not quite-ness'. We suggest that hybridity offers an opportunity to disrupt and question current practices of business school globalization and facilitate scholarly engagement that reflects more diverse philosophical positions and worldviews

Recovering Protein-Protein and Domain-Domain Interactions from Aggregation of IP-MS Proteomics of Coregulator Complexes

Coregulator proteins (CoRegs) are part of multi-protein complexes that transiently assemble with transcription factors and chromatin modifiers to regulate gene expression. In this study we analyzed data from 3,290 immuno-precipitations (IP) followed by mass spectrometry (MS) applied to human cell lines aimed at identifying CoRegs complexes. Using the semi-quantitative spectral counts, we scored binary protein-protein and domain-domain associations with several equations. Unlike previous applications, our methods scored prey-prey protein-protein interactions regardless of the baits used. We also predicted domain-domain interactions underlying predicted protein-protein interactions. The quality of predicted protein-protein and domain-domain interactions was evaluated using known binary interactions from the literature, whereas one protein-protein interaction, between STRN and CTTNBP2NL, was validated experimentally; and one domain-domain interaction, between the HEAT domain of PPP2R1A and the Pkinase domain of STK25, was validated using molecular docking simulations. The scoring schemes presented here recovered known, and predicted many new, complexes, protein-protein, and domain-domain interactions. The networks that resulted from the predictions are provided as a web-based interactive application at http://maayanlab.net/HT-IP-MS-2-PPI-DDI/

Trace elements in hemodialysis patients: a systematic review and meta-analysis

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Hemodialysis patients are at risk for deficiency of essential trace elements and excess of toxic trace elements, both of which can affect health. We conducted a systematic review to summarize existing literature on trace element status in hemodialysis patients.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>All studies which reported relevant data for chronic hemodialysis patients and a healthy control population were eligible, regardless of language or publication status. We included studies which measured at least one of the following elements in whole blood, serum, or plasma: antimony, arsenic, boron, cadmium, chromium, cobalt, copper, fluorine, iodine, lead, manganese, mercury, molybdenum, nickel, selenium, tellurium, thallium, vanadium, and zinc. We calculated differences between hemodialysis patients and controls using the differences in mean trace element level, divided by the pooled standard deviation.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We identified 128 eligible studies. Available data suggested that levels of cadmium, chromium, copper, lead, and vanadium were higher and that levels of selenium, zinc and manganese were lower in hemodialysis patients, compared with controls. Pooled standard mean differences exceeded 0.8 standard deviation units (a large difference) higher than controls for cadmium, chromium, vanadium, and lower than controls for selenium, zinc, and manganese. No studies reported data on antimony, iodine, tellurium, and thallium concentrations.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Average blood levels of biologically important trace elements were substantially different in hemodialysis patients, compared with healthy controls. Since both deficiency and excess of trace elements are potentially harmful yet amenable to therapy, the hypothesis that trace element status influences the risk of adverse clinical outcomes is worthy of investigation.</p