Utility of Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells for the Study and Treatment of Genetic Diseases: Focus on Childhood Neurological Disorders

The study of neurological disorders often presents with significant challenges due to the inaccessibility of human neuronal cells for further investigation. Advances in cellular reprogramming techniques, have however provided a new source of human cells for laboratory-based research. Patient-derived induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) can now be robustly differentiated into specific neural subtypes, including dopaminergic, inhibitory GABAergic, motorneurons and cortical neurons. These neurons can then be utilized for in vitro studies to elucidate molecular causes underpinning neurological disease. Although human iPSC-derived neuronal models are increasingly regarded as a useful tool in cell biology, there are a number of limitations, including the relatively early, fetal stage of differentiated cells and the mainly two dimensional, simple nature of the in vitro system. Furthermore, clonal variation is a well-described phenomenon in iPSC lines. In order to account for this, robust baseline data from multiple control lines is necessary to determine whether a particular gene defect leads to a specific cellular phenotype. Over the last few years patient-derived neural cells have proven very useful in addressing several mechanistic questions related to central nervous system diseases, including early-onset neurological disorders of childhood. Many studies report the clinical utility of human-derived neural cells for testing known drugs with repurposing potential, novel compounds and gene therapies, which then can be translated to clinical reality. iPSCs derived neural cells, therefore provide great promise and potential to gain insight into, and treat early-onset neurological disorders

Task level disentanglement learning in robotics using βVAE

Humans observe and infer things in a disentanglement way. Instead of remembering all pixel by pixel, learn things with factors like shape, scale, colour etc. Robot task learning is an open problem in the field of robotics. The task planning in the robot workspace with many constraints makes it even more challenging. In this work, a disentanglement learning of robot tasks with Convolutional Variational Autoencoder is learned, effectively capturing the underlying variations in the data. A robot dataset for disentanglement evaluation is generated with the Selective Compliance Assembly Robot Arm. The disentanglement score of the proposed model is increased to 0.206 with a robot path position accuracy of 0.055, while the state-of-the-art model (VAE) score was 0.015, and the corresponding path position accuracy is 0.053. The proposed algorithm is developed in Python and validated on the simulated robot model in Gazebo interfaced with Robot Operating System

PHYTOCHEMICAL SCREENING, ANTIMICROBIAL ACTIVITY AND BRINE SHRIMP LETHALITY BIOASSAY OF DIFFERENT EXTRACTS OF ALYSICARPUS VAGINALIS VAR. NUMMULARIFOLIUS (DC.) MIQ. (FAMILY: FABACEAE)

Objective: To evaluate the antimicrobial activity and cytotoxicity of hexane, ethyl acetate and methanol extracts of Alysicarpus vaginalis var. nummularifolius (DC) along with phytochemical analysis.Methods: The crude extract of hexane (AVH), ethyl acetate (AVE) and methanol (AVM) of Alysicarpus vaginalis var. nummularifolius (DC) were prepared and analysed for phytochemical constituents using standard methods. The cytotoxicity activity of the plant extracts was predicted using brine shrimp lethality assay (BSLA). The antimicrobial activity and the minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) of the plant extracts were examined against 5 bacterial and 2 fungal strains using agar well diffusion method, and two fold serial dilution method, respectively.Results: The phytochemical screening studies showed a higher concentration of saponins, alkaloids, flavonoids, phenols, quinones and terpenoids in AVM than the other two extracts. The LC50 value of AVH and AVE were found to be 900.05 µg/ml and 754.35 µg/ml respectively using BSLA while that of AVM was>1000 ug/ml. All the extracts of the plant showed antimicrobial activity against most of the test organisms. The MIC values of AVM were lower than AVE for all the microbial strains except for Pseudomonas aeroginosa where AVE (107.87µg/ml) exhibited higher value than AVM (51µg/ml).Conclusion: The present study concluded AVM with a high presence of phytochemicals. The AVE and AVM were found to possess promising antimicrobial activity when compared with the standards. The AVM exhibited lesser toxicity when compared with AVH and AVE.Â

Creation of Digital Elevated Model using lunar images of Chandrayan – 1

The present work discusses the technique and methodology of analysing and Terrain Mapping Camera (TMC) Images acquired during India’s first  Moon mission, Chandrayaan  – 1, launched on October, 2008  for generating Digital Elevated Model (DEM). The Terrain Mapping Camera (TMC) on India’s first satellite for lunar exploration, Chandrayaan-1, is intended for systematic topographic mapping of the entire lunar surface, including the far side and the polar regions. A high resolution imagery of the entire Moon will help detailed study of specific lunar regions of scientific interests and further our understanding of lunar evolution. The swath of the instrument is 20 km. The digital elevation model (DEM) is a computer representation of the moon’s surface. DEMs can be generated by traditional photogrammetry based on aerial photos if they are available and they are created very often more economically by the means of space images. A Digital Terrain Model (DEM) is a continuous representation of a ground surface landform that is commonly used to produce topographic maps. DEMs are created by integrating data obtained from a wide range of techniques including remote sensing and land surveying.DEM's are sampled arrays of elevation values representing ground positions at regularly spaced intervals. Digital Elevation Model (DEM) is the terminology adopted by the USGS to describe terrain elevation data sets in a digital raster form.  The normal orientation of data is by columns and rows. In this project work a DEM is created for each of the lunar images retrieved from the space craft using Triangulated Irregular Network (TIN)Key Words : Chandrayaan-1, DEM, Swath, TMC, TINDOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.11591/ijece.v1i2.8

Depression, anxiety and stress among COVID positive pregnant women

Background: Impact of the news that patient is covid positive may increase the risk of depression and anxiety among the vulnerable population such as pregnant women. Aims of the study were to estimate the prevalence of depression, anxiety and stress among covid positive pregnant women. To evaluate the demographic and obstetric factors contributing to the psychological manifestations in covid positive pregnant women.Methods: A cross sectional descriptive study was conducted at a tertiary hospital of North Kerala from July to August 2020. The demographic and factors were recorded and DASS 21 self-reported questionnaire was used to assess depression, anxiety and stress.Results: We found that using the DASS 21 scoring system, 37.5% out of the 120 study subjects were having psychological symptoms either of depression, anxiety or stress. Depression was seen in 32 (26.7%), anxiety in 29 (24.2%) and stress in 14 (11.7%) of the study participants. The psychological symptoms of depression and anxiety were more pronounced in those with low education, unemployed and in the first and third trimester of pregnancy.Conclusions: The current study shows that COVID-19 positive pregnant women have a high prevalence of depression and anxiety. Our findings can be used to formulate psychological interventions to improve mental health and psychological resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic

Virtual Screening of Drugs against HIV-1 Protease

The life-threatening infections and pandemic spread of Human Immunodeficiency virus-1 (HIV-1), the etiologic agent of AIDS, has promoted an unending scientific effort to understand and control the disease. The resultant understanding of HIV-1 life cycle has defined many different targets for potential drug intervention. HIV protease enzyme responsible for cleaving large polyprotein precursors into biologically active protein products is an important target for the treatment of AIDS. However drug resistance is a persistent problem and new protease inhibitors are needed. Tipranavir, one of the protease inhibitors most recently approved for clinical use has been shown to be potent against viruses harbouring multidrug resistance mutations such as V82A and L90M, but even this drug is shown to lose potency due to certain mutations or mutation patterns. Thus 10 derivatives of the drug Tipranavir, chemically diverse from the initial hit were generated and screened to determine their ability to interact with protease. Further analysis revealed one unique compound with high binding ability from the initial hit and its possibility for new class of protease inhibitors is discussed in this report

Liquid Crystalline Behaviour of Some Schiff Bases Derived from 4-n-Alkoxy-l-naphthaldehydes & p-(n-Amyloxy)aniline

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Hafnium carbide formation in oxygen deficient hafnium oxide thin films

On highly oxygen deficient thin films of hafnium oxide (hafnia, HfO$_{2-x}$) contaminated with adsorbates of carbon oxides, the formation of hafnium carbide (HfC$_x$) at the surface during vacuum annealing at temperatures as low as 600 {\deg}C is reported. Using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy the evolution of the HfC$_x$ surface layer related to a transformation from insulating into metallic state is monitored in situ. In contrast, for fully stoichiometric HfO$_2$ thin films prepared and measured under identical conditions, the formation of HfC$_x$ was not detectable suggesting that the enhanced adsorption of carbon oxides on oxygen deficient films provides a carbon source for the carbide formation. This shows that a high concentration of oxygen vacancies in carbon contaminated hafnia lowers considerably the formation energy of hafnium carbide. Thus, the presence of a sufficient amount of residual carbon in resistive random access memory devices might lead to a similar carbide formation within the conducting filaments due to Joule heating

A Study on Dispensing Pattern of OTC (Over the Counter) Medication among Community Pharmacist in Kalaburagi City

Purpose: Over the counter drugs (OTC) are sold without the prescription of a registered medical practitioner. There are reports that OTC drug market in India is on the rise. This is attributed to the rising cost of healthcare, difficulty in accessing healthcare, and an alarming tendency to self-manage symptoms. The outcome of this is OTC related adverse effects, abuse and hospitalizations. Subjects and Methods: The primary objective was to assess the knowledge of drug dispensing pattern of community pharmacists. The secondary objective was to assess the knowledge regarding drug related problems of over the counter medication. The tertiary objective was to find out whether the pharmacists involving in counselling activities. A community based, observational study was conducted among community pharmacist in Kalaburagi city, to find out knowledge on dispensing pattern of OTC medication. All the community pharmacist participated in the study were provided with a data collection form including self -structured questionnaires. One week after pre-test all the community pharmacist were educated regarding OTC drugs by means of providing information leaflets about OTC drugs. Post-test has been taken after 15 days of education by means of same questionnaires. Data were entered into Excel and analyzed using SPSS software. Pre and post intervention data were compared using student’s t-test. Results: Among 110 pharmacist, males 98 (89.1%) were more compared to females 12(10.9%). The mean knowledge scores on drug dispensing pattern of community pharmacist in pre-test were 57.0% and post test is 87.6%. Conclusions: Among 110 pharmacist, males 98 (89.1%) were more compared to females 12(10.9%). The mean knowledge scores on drug dispensing pattern of community pharmacist in pre-test were 57.0% and post test is 87.6%