Studies of DNA Polymerases Involved in DNA Repair and Lesion Bypass

Genomic DNA is under constant stress from both endogenous and exogenous sources. Factors such as UV light, chemotherapeutic agents, and even normal metabolic activities can all damage DNA by creating lesions; nitrogenous base alterations that include crosslinking, addition of covalent adducts, and spontaneous base loss. All forms of DNA damage are potentially detrimental because they hinder the cell’s ability to replicate DNA efficiently and accurately. Fortunately, the cell has many methods to minimize the effects of DNA damage. The damage can either be repaired or, if an unrepaired lesion stalls DNA replication, tolerated through lesion bypass. Because these pathways are the means by which genome integrity is maintained, they are very important to thoroughly understand. The studies reported herein concern two families of enzymes involved in the complex DNA damage response; the X- and Y-families of DNA polymerases.No embarg

Mitigatory Effects of Quercetin on Bisphenol A-Induced Oxidative Stress in Testis of Swiss Albino Mice

Background: Bisphenol A is a well-known xenoestrogen, mainly used in plastics and food can liners manufacture. Hence, it becomes an integral part of the food chain. Experimental studies shows negative health effects. Quercetin is one of the most effective antioxidants of the flavonoids, generally present in food stuff. The present study was an attempt to assess the mitigatory effects of quer on BPA–induced reduction in fertility of mice.Materials and methods: Inbred male Swiss strain albino mice were orally administered with various doses of BPA for 45 days. In another experiment quer along with high dose of BPA was administered to study the mitigatory consequence.Result: Administration of BPA caused significant (P0.05) and dose-dependent increase in oxidative stress compared to control groups. Administration of quer along with high dose of BPA caused amelioration in enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidant. Histopathological alteration was also seen in BPA treated groups, which were ameliorated on administration of quer.Conclusion: Quer is potent enough to mitigate the toxic effect of BPA. Biochemical alteration was mitigated by quer and dose dependent increase in fertility was observed

Third Eye-Office Automation using Image Processing

With the continuous growth of technological devices in its popularity and functionality, the demand for advanced applications in people’s daily lives is continuously increasing. People are becoming more dependent on technology to carry out basic activities. With the increased awareness of conservation of electricity and various other energy sources,many industrial firms are willing to take steps to conserve it. An attractive market can be developed for office automation which is represented by busy individuals and those with physical limitations. This project introduces the intelligent office automation system which is developed using Intel Galileo (development board) with MATLAB. The office automation system is used to control lights and electrical appliances in an office using gestures and human recognition. DOI: 10.17762/ijritcc2321-8169.150311

Measurement invariance of cognitive and affective job insecurity: A cross-national study

Empirical evidence of established measurement invariance of job insecurity measures may enhance the practical utility of job insecurity as a valid predictor when utilised over different cross-national samples. This study investigated the measurement invariance of the nine-item versions of the Job Security Index (a measure of cognitive job insecurity) and the Job Security Satisfaction Scale (a measure of affective job insecurity), across four countries (i.e. the United States, N = 486; China, N = 629; Italy, N = 482 and South Africa, N = 345). Based on a novel bifactor-(S-1) model approach we found evidence for partial metric, partial scalar and partial strict invariance of our substantive bifactor-(S-1) structure. The results extend measurement invariance research on job insecurity with obvious pragmatic implications (e.g. scaling units, measurement bias over cross-national interpretations). Contribution: This research provides evidence to support the applied use of cross-national comparisons of job insecurity scores across the nationalities included in this study. Theoretically, this research advances the debate about the nature of the relationship between cognitive and affective job insecurity, suggesting that in this cross-national dataset, a model where cognitive job insecurity is specified as the reference domain outperforms a model where affective job insecurity is assigned this status. Practically, it demonstrates that it is sensible and necessary to differentiate between cognitive and affective job insecurity and include measures of both constructs in future research on the construct

Therapeutic targeting of cathepsin C::from pathophysiology to treatment

Cathepsin C (CatC) is a highly conserved tetrameric lysosomal cysteine dipeptidyl aminopeptidase. The best characterized physiological function of CatC is the activation of pro-inflammatory granule-associated serine proteases. These proteases are synthesized as inactive zymogens containing an N-terminal pro-dipeptide, which maintains the zymogen in its inactive conformation and prevents premature activation, which is potentially toxic to the cell. The activation of serine protease zymogens occurs through cleavage of the N-terminal dipeptide by CatC during cell maturation in the bone marrow. In vivo data suggest that pharmacological inhibition of pro-inflammatory serine proteases would suppress or attenuate deleterious effects of inflammatory/auto-immune disorders mediated by these proteases. The pathological deficiency in CatC is associated with Papillon-Lefèvre syndrome. The patients however do not present marked immunodeficiency despite the absence of active serine proteases in immune defense cells. Hence, the transitory pharmacological blockade of CatC activity in the precursor cells of the bone marrow may represent an attractive therapeutic strategy to regulate activity of serine proteases in inflammatory and immunologic conditions. A variety of CatC inhibitors have been developed both by pharmaceutical companies and academic investigators, some of which are currently being employed and evaluated in preclinical/clinical trials