Interleukin-12B & interleukin-10 gene polymorphisms in pulmonary tuberculosis

Background & objectives: Cytokines play an important role in anti-tuberculosis immune response. Skewing of immunity from protective to pathogenic may involve a shift in Th1-Th2 paradigm. Cytokine gene polymorphism is known to be associated with functional differences in cytokine regulation and altered clinical performance in a variety of diseases. The aim of this study was to know whether Interleukin-12B 3’ UTR (Taq1) (A/C) and Interleukin-10 (-1082 G/A) gene polymorphisms were associated with susceptibility to pulmonary tuberculosis. Methods: IL -10 (-1,082 G/A) and IL-12B gene polymorphisms were studied in132 pulmonary TB (PTB) patients and 143 normal healthy subjects (NHS), using DNA based polymerase chain reaction (PCR) with sequence specific primers and restriction digestion. Results: The allelic as well as genotypic frequencies of Interleukin -10 (-1082) and Interleukin -12B (3’UTR Taq 1) did not differ significantly between the patients and controls. Interpretation & conclusion: Our findings suggested that IL -10 (-1082 G/A) and IL -12B 3’UTR (Taq I) (A/C) gene polymorphisms were not associated either with susceptibility or resistance to pulmonary tuberculosis in the south Indian population

Development of a CAD Based Platform for Scorbot-ER Vu Industrial Robot Manipulator

AbstractRobots are required to operate at different environmental conditions facing varieties of end-effector to workspace interactions. During design stage, designer needs to verify the robots performance on various test conditions. Physical prototyping although is more desirable, may prove to be expensive and time consuming. Virtual prototyping can be used especially in the conceptual design stage in order to reduce the amount of physical testing that is required. Virtual prototyping of robots dynamic is one of the interesting fields where in the present day tools are used to simulate mechanical systems as a multi-body system with two or more rigid bodies imperfectly joined together having the possibility of relative moment between them. This paper discusses the application of Virtual Prototyping using CAD based software for SCORBOT-ER Vu robot. It is a 5-DOF of vertical articulated robot and all the joints are revolute. Initially, robot manipulator parametric solid models was created in Pro/ENGINEER (Pro/E), Pro/Mechanica was used to simulate the dynamic simulation and working space. Finally the program was tested in the real world, using the real robot

Interferon gamma (IFN -gamma) and interleukin -4 (IL-4) gene variants and cytokine levels in pulmonary tuberculosis. Indian Journal of Medical Research

Background & objectives: Cytokine gene polymorphisms may alter Th1/Th2 balance with major implications in tuberculosis. The aim of our study was to find out whether Interferon � +874A and IL-4 -590T polymorphisms were associated with susceptibility to pulmonary tuberculosis as well as the level of IFN� and IL-4 in south Indian population. Methods: Interferon � +874A and IL-4 -590T promoter polymorphisms were studied in 129 pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) patients and 127 normal healthy subjects (NHS) and were associated with culture filtrate and live Mycobacterium tuberculosis induced IFN� and IL-4 production in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs). IL-4 gene variants were also associated with IgG antibody levels against M. tuberculosis culture filtrate antigen. Results: The variant IFN� genotypes and IFN� levels between genotypes did not differ significantly in patients and controls. Significantly increased frequency of variant IL-4 ‘CT’ genotype in PTB patients (P<0.05) and ‘CC’ genotype in control group (P<0.01) was observed. IL-4 levels were detectable in very few subjects and the IgG levels did not differ between the three IL-4 genotypes. Interpretation & conclusion: The study suggests a lack of functional association of Interferon � +874A polymorphism in tuberculosis in south Indian population. The higher frequency of IL-4 ‘CT’ genotype in PTB suggests a possible association of IL-4 -590T promoter polymorphism with susceptibility to tuberculosis, and the ‘CC’ genotype may be associated with protection

Promoter polymorphism of IL-8 gene and IL-8 production in pulmonary tuberculosis

Interleukin-8 (IL-8) is a chemokine which functions as a potent chemo attractant for the recruitment of leucocytes to the inflammatory sites. A polymorphism in position –251 in the promoter region of the IL-8 gene has been shown to be associated with altered IL-8 production. IL-8-251A promoter polymorphism was studied in 127 pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) patients and 124 normal healthy subjects (NHS). IL-8 gene variants were correlated with IL-8 levels from peripheral blood mononuclear cells stimulated with phytohaemagglutinin, culture filtrate antigen (CFA) of Mycobacterium tuberculosis and live M. tuberculosis. No difference was observed in the variant genotype frequencies of IL-8 gene and IL-8 levels between NHS and PTB patients. NHS positive for TT genotype showed a higher spontaneous IL-8 production than AA genotype (P = 0.05). Similarly, PTB patients with TT genotype showed significantly higher IL-8 production to CFA (P = 0.009) and live M. tuberculosis (P = 0.022), compared to patients with AA genotype. The study suggests that the variant genotypes of –251 promoter polymorphism of the IL-8 gene are not associated with susceptibility to PTB. Probably, TT genotype may be associated with higher IL-8 production and increased leucocyte accumulation and inflammation at the site of M. tuberculosis infection

In silico analysis of lipopolysaccharide and β-1, 3-glucan binding protein (LGBP) gene from the haemocytes of Indian white shrimp Fenneropenaeus indicus

Lipopolysaccharide and β-1,3-glucan binding protein (LGBP) gene are involved in the pattern recognition mechanism of invertebrates, it induces the cell and humoral mediated immune responses like encapsulation, phagocytosis, nodule formation, clotting, synthesis of antimicrobial peptides and activation of the prophenoloxidase (proPO) system. The current study focuses to model the three-dimensional structure of novel immune related gene LGBP from the Indian white shrimp Fenneropeneaus indicus (F.indicus) by in silico homology modeling and its motif prediction. Fenneropeneaus indicus lipopolysaccharide and β-1,3-glucan binding protein (Fein-LGBP) consists of glycosylated regions which come under the glucanase family. Two conserved putative integrin-binding motif (cell adhesion sites), bacterial glucanase motif (GM) and two polysaccharide recognition motifs for the polysaccharide binding motif (PsBM) and β- glucan recognition motif (β-GRM) were conserved in the novel sequences of Fein-LGBP. Prediction of motifs, patterns, disulfide bridges and secondary structure were performed for functional characterization of the Fein-LGBP. Three dimensional structure of the Fein-LGBP was generated by Modeller9V8, Swiss Model and validated using NIH server. Results revealed that the modelled structure of Fein-LGBP was 75.7% of residues in allowed region. Theoretical model of Fein- LGBP facilitates to the discovery of new synthetic immune related peptides, agonists that could be useful to  understand the mechanism of LGBP involvement in the prophenoloxidase activating system of crustaceans. The tertiary structure prediction of the immune related gene Fein- LGBP will assist to explore more knowledge in immune system of crustaceans

Investigation of micro-textures and strengths of microwave heated samples of lunar simulant JSC-1A under different input powers

At the Moon, the regolith (soil) is a readily available resource, which can be thermally treated for extracting oxygen and water, as well as, for fabricating construction components. Due to the volumetric heating characteristic, intrinsic to microwave heating, it is considered as a more energy-efficient process than solar or laser sintering for large- scale manufacturing and construction purposes. Proof of concept experiments and numerical modelling have demonstrated that microwaves couple efficiently with lunar regolith simulants. Therefore, microwaves could be an efficient mechanism to sinter and melt lunar regolith to build 3D-printed structures, while also enabling the extraction of volatiles. In the context of In-Situ Resource Utilisation (ISRU) to offset the need to transport all materials from Earth, it is highly desirable and timely to align with the current Solar System exploration road maps of international space agencies. At the Open University, we have been leading the development of a microwave heating-based 3D printing technique to be used as a preferred fabrication method in extra-terrestrial construction processes and resource extraction, including oxygen, water and iron. As part of this research, a series of experiments were conducted to understand the microwave sintering/melting behaviour of lunar regoith and simulants. In this contribution, we describe different microtextures that were observed in microwave heated lunar simulant JSC-1A specimens under different input powers. This is important because it would allow us to utilise a specific input power of microwave for specific applications

Isolation and Characterization of Bacteria from the Gut of Bombyx mori that Degrade Cellulose, Xylan, Pectin and Starch and Their Impact on Digestion

Bombyx mori L. (Lepidoptera: Bombycidae) have been domesticated and widely used for silk production. It feeds on mulberry leaves. Mulberry leaves are mainly composed of pectin, xylan, cellulose and starch. Some of the digestive enzymes that degrade these carbohydrates might be produced by gut bacteria. Eleven isolates were obtained from the digestive tract of B. mori, including the Gram positive Bacillus circulans and Gram negative Proteus vulgaris, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Escherichia coli, Citrobacter freundii, Serratia liquefaciens, Enterobacter sp., Pseudomonas fluorescens, P. aeruginosa, Aeromonas sp., and Erwinia sp.. Three of these isolates, P. vulgaris, K. pneumoniae, C. freundii, were cellulolytic and xylanolytic, P. fluorescens and Erwinia sp., were pectinolytic and K. pneumoniae degraded starch. Aeromonas sp. was able to utilize the CMcellulose and xylan. S. liquefaciens was able to utilize three polysaccharides including CMcellulose, xylan and pectin. B. circulans was able to utilize all four polysaccharides with different efficacy. The gut of B. mori has an alkaline pH and all of the isolated bacterial strains were found to grow and degrade polysaccharides at alkaline pH. The number of cellulolytic bacteria increases with each instar

Separate loci underlie resistance to root infection and leaf scorch during soybean sudden death syndrome

Soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] cultivars show differences in their resistance to both the leaf scorch and root rot of sudden death syndrome (SDS). The syndrome is caused by root colonization by Fusarium virguliforme (ex. F. solani f. sp. glycines). Root susceptibility combined with reduced leaf scorch resistance has been associated with resistance to Heterodera glycines HG Type 1.3.6.7 (race 14) of the soybean cyst nematode (SCN). In contrast, the rhg1 locus underlying resistance to Hg Type 0 was found clustered with three loci for resistance to SDS leaf scorch and one for root infection. The aims of this study were to compare the inheritance of resistance to leaf scorch and root infection in a population that segregated for resistance to SCN and to identify the underlying quantitative trait loci (QTL). “Hartwig”, a cultivar partially resistant to SDS leaf scorch, F. virguliforme root infection and SCN HG Type 1.3.6.7 was crossed with the partially susceptible cultivar “Flyer”. Ninety-two F5-derived recombinant inbred lines and 144 markers were used for map development. Four QTL found in earlier studies were confirmed. One contributed resistance to leaf scorch on linkage group (LG) C2 (Satt277; P = 0.004, R 2 = 15%). Two on LG G underlay root infection at R8 (Satt038; P = 0.0001 R 2 = 28.1%; Satt115; P = 0.003, R 2 = 12.9%). The marker Satt038 was linked to rhg1 underlying resistance to SCN Hg Type 0. The fourth QTL was on LG D2 underlying resistance to root infection at R6 (Satt574; P = 0.001, R 2 = 10%). That QTL was in an interval previously associated with resistance to both SDS leaf scorch and SCN Hg Type 1.3.6.7. The QTL showed repulsion linkage with resistance to SCN that may explain the relative susceptibility to SDS of some SCN resistant cultivars. One additional QTL was discovered on LG G underlying resistance to SDS leaf scorch measured by disease index (Satt130; P = 0.003, R 2 = 13%). The loci and markers will provide tagged alleles with which to improve the breeding of cultivars combining resistances to SDS leaf scorch, root infection and SCN HG Type 1.3.6.7