Chitosan-polycaprolactone Mixtures as Biomaterials: Influence of Surface Morphology on Cellular Activity

Chitosan, a naturally occurring polysaccharide has excellent biocompatibility, positive charge and reactive functional groups that help regulate cellular activity, antibacterial properties, and low cost. However, inadequate mechanical strength and incomplete understanding of cell-material interactions have limited its success. Polycaprolactone (PCL) is synthetic polyester that is easy to process, with excellent mechanical properties and tailorable physicochemical properties but lacks bioregulatory properties. Chitosan and PCL were homogenously dissolved in a unique acetic-acid water mixture to obtain a composite that has good biomechanical properties. Uniform membranes were obtained by drying the solutions at 50°C and several processes were explored for forming porous scaffolds, including freeze-extraction and freeze-drying. Membranes were tested for tensile properties under dry/wet, and monotonic/cyclical loading conditions. Support for adhesion and growth of eukaryotes (mouse embryonic fibroblasts) and prokaryotes (Streptococcus mutans and Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans) were evaluated in vitro. Cytocompatibility and support for vasculature of scaffolds was tested using CAM assay. Degradation characteristics were evaluated in PBS over 4 weeks. Physicochemical properties and interactions in these mixtures were characterized by DSC, DMTA, FTIR, WAXD, SEM, AFM and EFM. Findings and Conclusions: Hydrophilic chitosan and hydrophobic PCL were successfully mixed in different mass ratios by dissolution in a unique water-acetic acid mixture. There was no chemical reaction between chitosan and PCL in the prepared mixtures. However, the crystallinity was reduced suggesting partial miscibility between these polymers. Tensile properties of mixture membranes were comparable or better than those of chitosan membranes. These membranes also showed improved viability and spreading of mouse embryonic fibroblasts as well as Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. 3D scaffolds were non-toxic and supported blood vessel formation on CAMs. Evaluation of surface showed increased roughness and positive charge density on the mixtures. Observed changes in biological activity of chitosan were attributed to surface characteristics due to absence of other physical or chemical changes. Therefore, it maybe concluded that higher roughness and cationic charge density favor cellular colonization.School of Chemical Engineerin

Employee HR Connect Portal

Employee HR Connect Portal is essential in order to track employee time, project time. This portal can be hosted on any java based web server or application server and will be accessible via web-browsers. This portal is very user- friendly. Employee HR Connect Portal will be a useful tool to identify supply and demand of human resources. We have three main modules to maintain records of employee, department and project. Employee HR Connect Portal is very helpful for auditing. Through this portal we can judge the potentiality of the employee

Assessment of visual problems in elderly in an urban slum community of Mumbai

Background: Visual problems in the elderly share a major portion of the disability in the elderly. Visual impairment in the elderly can interfere with daily activities tremendously leading to dependence in many things. It can also lead to accidents and falls. Hence a study was carried out in an urban slum community at Mumbai to assess the various visual problems in the elderly, its causes and the prevalence. Methodology: Community based cross-sectional study of the elderly persons residing in an urban slum of Mumbai. Results: 65.54% (426) people had visual disability. Of 426 people with visual impairment 405(95.07%) people had low vision and 21 (4.93%) were blind. It was observed that errors of refraction (63.85%) and cataract (18.31%) were the most common cause of visual impairment. Conclusion: Visual impairment and disability is a major problem of the elderly. Errors of refraction and Cataract are the major causes for this disability which can be treated, thus preventing visual handicap and dependency

Effect of a single Dialysis session on plasma Lp(a) levels in patients on Maintenance haemodialysis

Background: 
Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a major cause of mortality in End stage renal disease (ESRD) patients on Maintenance haemodialysis (MHD). Lp (a), is a specialized form of glycoprotein-LDL-cholesterol complex and is an independent risk factor for myocardial infarction. The risk is related to its atherogenic and thrombogenic properties. The present study was taken up to evaluate changes in Lp(a) and Lipid profile in patients undergoing hemodialysis session. 

Methodology: 
Twenty seven patients with end stage renal disease who were on maintenance hemodialysis were included. Plasma samples were collected hourly during a dialysis session with polysulfone membrane using bicarbonate dialysate. Plasma cholesterol, triglycerides, and Lp(a) were estimated on Beckmann CX9 Fully Automated Analyzer using commercial kits. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS for windows version 11.5.

Results: 
Results of analysis of variance for repeated measures after correction for hemoconcentration where necessary revealed a decrease in Lp(a) (p=0.022) and triglycerides (p=0.001) levels and no change in cholesterol (p=0.48) levels.

Conclusion: 
Maintenance dialysis program is known to produce Dyslipidemia. Study of Lp(a) in dialysis patients is important as this is an independent risk marker. However there are very few reports on changes in Lp(a) due to the dialysis session. Our findings will be discussed in comparison with other reports.
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Maternal Circulating Levels of Activin A, Inhibin A, sFlt-1 and Endoglin at Parturition in Normal Pregnancy and Pre-Eclampsia

Background: Maternal circulating levels of anti-angiogenic factors such as soluble fms-like tyrosine kinase-1 (sFlt-1), endoglin (sEng) and placental proteins like activin A and inhibin A are increased before the onset of pre-eclampsia. There is evidence for oxidative stress in pre eclampsia. Recently it was shown that placental oxygen concentration is related to sFlt-1 and inhibin A. In addition it is reported that oxidative stress markers are increased in placental tissue delivered after labour. Therefore, the objective of this study is to investigate if these proteins are altered in maternal circulation of labouring preeclampsia and normal pregnancies. Methodology: To assess the effects of labour, samples were taken from 10 normal pregnant (NP) and 10 pre-eclamptic (PE) women pre-labour, full dilation, placental delivery and 24 h. To assess the effects of placental delivery, plasma samples were taken from 10NP and 10PE women undergoing elective Caesarean section, pre-delivery, placental delivery and 10 min, 60 min and 24 h post delivery. SFlt-1 and sEng and activin A and inhibin A were measured using commercial and in house ELISA’s respectively. Results: The levels of sFlt-1 and sEng were significantly higher in PE compared to NP women in both groups. In labour, sFlt- 1 levels increased significantly at full dilatation in PE women, before declining by 24 hr. However there was no significant rise in sEng levels in labour. Activin A and inhibin A levels declined rapidly with placental delivery in NP and PE pregnancies. There was a significant rise in activin A levels during labour in PE compared to pre labour, but inhibin levels did not increase. Conclusion: Labour in pre-eclamptic women increases the levels of sFlt-1 and activin A. This pilot data suggests that increase in the maternal levels of these factors in labour could predict and/or contribute to the maternal syndrome postpartum.Citation: Reddy, A. et al. (2009). 'Maternal circulating levels of activin A, inhibin A, sFlt-1 and endoglin at parturition in normal pregnancy and pre-eclampsia', PLoS ONE 4(2): e4453. [Available at http://www.plosone.org]. © 2009 Reddy et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited

From intent to action: A case study for the expansion of tiger conservation from southern India

AbstractTo conserve a large, wide-ranging carnivore like the tiger, it is critical not only to maintain populations at key habitat sites, but also to enable the persistence of the species across much larger landscapes. To do this, it is important to establish well-linked habitat networks where sites for survival and reproduction of tigers are complemented by opportunities for dispersal and colonization. On the ground, expanding protection to areas with a potential for tiger recovery still remains the means of operationalizing the landscape approach. Yet, while the gazetting of protected areas is necessary to enable this, it is not sufficient. It is essential to benchmark and monitor the process by which establishment of protected areas must necessarily be followed by management changes that enable a recovery of tigers, their prey and their habitats. In this paper, we report a case study from the Cauvery and Malai Mahadeshwara Hills Wildlife Sanctuaries of southern India, where we document the infrastructural and institutional changes that ensued after an unprecedented expansion of protected areas in this landscape. Further, we establish ecological benchmarks of the abundance and distribution of tigers, the relative abundance of their prey, and the status of their habitats, against which the recovery of tigers in this area of vast conservation potential may be assessed over time

SPECTRO-ANALYTICAL, COMPUTATIONAL AND BIOLOGICAL STUDIES ON 4-PYRIDINE CARBOXALDEHYDE-3-HYDROXY-5-(HYDROXY METHYL)-2-METHYL HYDRAZONE HYDROCHLORIDE AND ITS CU (II) COMPLEXCA

Objective: The title compound 4-pyridine carboxaldehyde 3-hydroxy-5-(hydroxy methyl)-2-methyl hydrazone (PCHHMMH) hydrochloride an analogue of Pyridoxal isonicotinoyl hydrazone PIH, is an iron chelator. The PCHHMMH has potential donor sites suitable for metal ion binding, the study on structural aspects of the compound and its copper complex are explored. With a view to understand biological importance of title compounds, antimicrobial and cytotoxic studies were planned. Methods: In the present study the spectroanalytical techniques employed were pH-metry, spectrophotometry, IR, 1H & 13C-NMR, UV-Vis, ESR, Magnetic measurements, TGA and SEM. The computational method employed is HyperChem 7.5 software. The antimicrobial studies were carried out by agar disc diffusion method for antibacterial studies against Gram positive and Gram negative bacteria. The cytotoxic potential was measured by Sulforhodamine B (SRB) method against selected tumor cells. Results: The equilibrium studies by employing pH-metric method inferred the dissociation of two protons in it. Further titration in presence of Cu (II) ion, it is confirmed the release of two protons from title compound and formation of corresponding complex. The orientations of frontier orbitals for molecular and ionized forms of compound were computed to understand the electronic properties. The Cu (II) PCHHMMH complex was characterized by spectroanalytical methods and screened for, antimicrobial and cytotoxic activities. Conclusion: As the structural features are important to understand the chemical behavior of metal complexes, in the present study copper complex was synthesized and characterized by employing various spectro-analytical tools viz; IR, 1H & 13C-NMR, UV-Vis, ESR, Magnetic measurements, TGA and SEM. Further the antimicrobial and cytotoxic activities were evaluated and correlated with computed QSAR data

Effect Of A Dialysis Session On Plasma Branched Chain Aminio Acids In Hemodialysis Patients

Protein and amino acid (AA) metabolism is abnormal in End stage renal disease (ESRD). Hemodialysis (HD) procedure is a strong catabolic stimulus. Branched chain amino acids (BCAAs) can affect other AA levels by reducing AA efflux from muscle due to inhibition of muscle protein degradation. Essential amino acids and keto acid supplements including BCAA and branched-chain keto acid (BCKA) are proposed to decrease protein intake while maintaining protein status. This study was taken up to evaluate the effect of a dialysis session on plasma BCAA’s for which fifteen patients of ESRD on Maintenance HD, thrice a week were recruited into the study. Analysis was done on samples drawn at the beginning (pre-HD) and after the end of each dialysis session (post-HD). Plasma BCAA’s were estimated by Reverse phase High performance liquid chromatography using pre column derivatization with O-pthalaldehyde-Mercaptoethanol. A significant decrease in plasma concentration of Valine and Isoleucine were observed post-HD compared to the pre-HD levels (p<0.05). After correcting the data by creatinine, the decrease in plasma concentrations of Valine and Isoleucine were still found to be statistically significant. The percentage losses after the completion of HD were –24.45, –23.19, and –6.22% respectively for valine, isoleucine, and leucine. The lower reduction in leucine could be due to its appearance from muscle catabolism during the dialysis session. In conclusion, hemodialysis itself may influence dialysate amino acid losses and may have an effect on muscle protein breakdown and this negative protein can be reversed with nutritional supplementation

Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles Synthesized From Curcuma Longa Extract for Seed Germination

In the present work zinc oxide nanoparticles were synthesized using simple green method. The prepared nano particles of zinc oxide was characterized by using XRD, FTIR, TG/TDA and SEM. The particles size was estimated using XRD pattern. This study shows that the exploit of aqueous extraction of the curcuma longa tubers powder act as reducing and stabilizing agent. The preparation of nanoparticle by green synthesis causes significant effect on bioavailability of seed germination and seed growth parameters of the mung bean. The seed germination experiment was carried out under greenhouse conditions to ensure uniform conditions. Biological method highlights the necessity for sustainable study on the impacts of nanoparticles on agricultural and environmental sectors