Molecular Machinery For The ‘kiss And Run’ Mechanism Of Insulin Secretion

The insulin secreting porosome is a supramolecular lipo-protein complex that measures roughly 100 – 120 nm in diameter. Porosomes allow transient fusion of insulin secretory granules to the cell plasma membrane and mediates partial release of secretory contents. Post secretion, the secretory granule reseals and re-enters to the cell interior. This is in contrast to the ‘total fusion’ phenomenon, where secretory vesicles completely fuse at the cell plasma membrane and release all of the contents to the cell exterior. This study involved a deeper understanding of the transient or ‘kiss-and-run’ mechanism of cell secretion that involves the insulin secreting porosome complex. In addition to the porosome, two other components of transient cell secretion, namely the t/v SNARE complex and the insulin secreting granules (ISGs) were also studied. We demonstrated for the very first time in the history of porosomes, its functional and stable reconstitution into live insulin secreting mouse insulinoma cells leading to improved glucose stimulated insulin releasing from the reconstituted cells. Further, we demonstrated a drop in intracellular pH once a cell has been stimulated for secretion. This lowering of pH is critical for locking in place, the t/v SNARE complex that are present at the base of the porosome. We also demonstrated a loss in glucose stimulated insulin secretion upon prevention of intracellular acidification utilizing Bafilomycin A, a pharmacological inhibitor of the vacuolar proton pump (vH+ ATPase). The vH+ ATPase is also present on the insulin secretory granule membrane, which led to our fourth aim of this study. Valproate, is an FDA approved anticonvulsant that is widely used in the treatment of various neurological disorders such as epilepsy and mood disorders by disturbing vH+ ATPase activity in the neurons. Since, vH+ ATPase is also present on ISG membrane we wanted to understand effects of valproate on insulin secretion. We demonstrated that valproate treatment significantly reduces glucose stimulated insulin secretion. Additionally, we also demonstrated that valproate leads to de-localization of one of the cytosolic subunits of vH+ ATPase from the ISG membrane, preventing complete assembly of the proton pump. These results coherently suggest the importance of porosomes in transient cell secretion and its critical regulation via interaction with various proteins namely SNARE complex and ISG membrane proteins that allows for cell secretion

Sources of Oral Health Information and its Relationship on Knowledge Among Indian Adolescents

Objective: To assess the current level of oral health knowledge and identify information sources among adolescents in Bhubaneswar, India. Material and Methods: A cross-sectional examination was conducted among 1330 adolescents aged 13 to 15 years enrolled in 24 randomly selected government and private schools in Bhubaneswar. A specially designed self-administered questionnaire was used to collect the responses. Chi-square test with a level of significance set at 5% was used for statistical analysis. Results: Parents (55%) followed by media (18%) were the major sources of oral health information among the study population, which was statistically not significant in relation to gender and school type. Many subjects (95.3%) perceived sweets could cause tooth decay; however, this was statistically significant only among school type (p<0.05). Around (45%) knew about fluoride and only 36% properly identified fluoride's action as preventing cavities. This was statistically significant among both gender and school type (p<0.05). Seventy-five percent of students effectively distinguished gum disease symptoms, which was significant only with gender (p<0.05). Around 55% identified that oral habits have an influence on oral health, which showed significance among gender (p<0.05). Conclusion: Children oral health knowledge was not satisfactory, highlighting the need to utilize parents, schoolteachers and media to provide oral health education. It’s essential for designing and implementing a person-centered care model in dentistry

Sources of Oral Health Information and its Relationship on Knowledge Among Indian Adolescents

Objective: To assess the current level of oral health knowledge and identify information sources among adolescents in Bhubaneswar, India. Material and Methods: A cross-sectional examination was conducted among 1330 adolescents aged 13 to 15 years enrolled in 24 randomly selected government and private schools in Bhubaneswar. A specially designed self-administered questionnaire was used to collect the responses. Chi-square test with a level of significance set at 5% was used for statistical analysis. Results: Parents (55%) followed by media (18%) were the major sources of oral health information among the study population, which was statistically not significant in relation to gender and school type. Many subjects (95.3%) perceived sweets could cause tooth decay; however, this was statistically significant only among school type (p<0.05). Around (45%) knew about fluoride and only 36% properly identified fluoride's action as preventing cavities. This was statistically significant among both gender and school type (p<0.05). Seventy-five percent of students effectively distinguished gum disease symptoms, which was significant only with gender (p<0.05). Around 55% identified that oral habits have an influence on oral health, which showed significance among gender (p<0.05). Conclusion: Children oral health knowledge was not satisfactory, highlighting the need to utilize parents, schoolteachers and media to provide oral health education. It’s essential for designing and implementing a person-centered care model in dentistry

Novel and efficient oxidation of benzyl ethers to benzaldehydes by DMSO​/49​% aqueous HB

Dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO) oxidizes benzyl ethers into corresponding benzaldehydes at 110°; the reaction is accelerated by 49​% aq. HBr. The conditions work well for different aryl-​substituted benzyl ethers. This protocol is inert toward dialkyl ethers

GLIMEPIRIDE FAST DISINTEGRATING TABLETS: FORMULATION, EVALUATION AND IN-VIVO DISINTEGRATION AND DYNAMIC STUDIES

Objective: The main objective of the research was to formulate directly compressible fast disintegrating tablets of glimepiride by using different super disintegrants such as crospovidone, croscarmellose sodium, sodium starch glycolate and L-HPC in various concentrations.Methods: The prepared tablets were evaluated for various tablet properties like weight variation, thickness, hardness, friability, taste, drug content, in vitro and in vivo disintegration time, and in vitro drug release, in vivo dynamic studies. Other parameters such as wetting time, water absorption ratio, and drug-excipient compatibility were also evaluated.Results: The disintegration time of the optimized fast disintegrating tablet formulation was observed to be 12 s in vitro and 19.80 s in vivo. The correlation was observed between disintegration time and ‘R' for each of the four super disintegrants at the concentrations studied. Considering the ‘R' values and disintegration time, croscarmellose sodium was significantly superior compared to the other super disintegrants tested. Drug release was faster from formulations containing 25% croscarmellose sodium compared to the pure drug and without super disintegrant glimepiride tablet. FTIR studies did not indicate any excipient incompatibility, either during mixing or after compression. Optimized formulation exhibited good results in the decrease in blood glucose in rats when compared to the pure drug and marketed product.Conclusion: Form the results if this study it can be concluded that prepared optimized fast disintegrating tablets of glimepiride are the better option to treat diabetes.Keywords: Superdisintegrants, Fast disintegrating tablets, Disintegration time, Water absorption ratio, Wetting time, Dissolution, Dynamic studie

Nutrient management for jute-rice cropping system using soil test target yield equation

A field experiment was conducted during the year 2011-13 to study the nutrient management based on soil test to achieve the target yield of jute and rice and their effect of soil nutrient status for jute-rice cropping system. The target yield of jute fibre (3.5 t/ha) with -6% deviation and target yield of rice (5.5 t/ha) were achieved with application of 100% NPK based on ST-TY based along with 5 t/ha Farm Yard Manure (FYM). The highest system productivity (11.7 t/ha) and benefit-cost ratio (3.16) was also recorded higher with application 100% NPK based on ST-TY based along with 5 t/ha FYM. The nutrient uptake by crops and soil nutrients status were higher after three year of jute-rice cropping sequence when NPK were applied with FYM. Hence, combination of inorganic and organic (FYM) fertilizer could achieve target yield and maintain the soil fertility status

Study on awareness, perceptions, experiences in decision process of hysterectomy in women presenting to Goa Medical College

Background: Hysterectomy (removal of uterus) has many indications like fibroids, dysfunctional uterine bleeding, uterine prolapse and chronic pelvic pain. The purpose of this study is to know the level of awareness of women about hysterectomy, to study their experiences, to assess their involvement in decision making process and to develop a suitable protocol, counselling and education material to ensure women’s involvement.Methods: This is a cross sectional study using validated semi-structured interview questionnaire over 6 months (1st December, 2018 to 31st May, 2019) in Goa Medical College. Data was entered in epidata manager and analysed using SPSS 22 version. Categorical variables were expressed in percentages and proportions and quantitative variables in mean±SD. Significance was checked using Chi square test and association between dependent and independent variables was assessed by using bivariate analysis. P value <0.05 was taken as significant.Results: A total of 149 women were recruited into the study who were admitted for hysterectomy. The mean age of women was 49.3 years. The awareness with respect to various aspects of hysterectomy was good in 23.4% subjects and poor in 76.6% subjects. The awareness was significantly related to level of education (p=0.002), urban location (p=0.016) and socioeconomic status (p=0.028). Education was significant factor in decision-making process (p< 0.05). It was observed that good experience had positive correlation to their perception about hysterectomy.Conclusions: It was concluded that awareness about hysterectomy was significantly related to education, urban location and socio-economic status of women. Pre-operative education would help to reduce the post-operative symptoms for a women undergoing hysterectomy

Cities Are Physical Too: Using Computer Vision to Measure the Quality and Impact of Urban Appearance

For social scientists, developing an empirical connection between the physical appearance of a city and the behavior and health of its inhabitants has proved challenging due to a lack of data on urban appearance. Can we use computers to quantify urban appearance from street-level imagery? We describe Streetscore: a computer vision algorithm that measures the perceived safety of streetscapes. Using Streetscore to evaluate 19 American cities, we find that the average perceived safety has a strong positive correlation with population density and household income; and the variation in perceived safety has a strong positive correlation with income inequality