RELIABILITY TESTING & BAYESIAN MODELING OF HIGH POWER LEDS FOR USE IN A MEDICAL DIAGNOSTIC APPLICATION

While use of LEDs in fiber optics and lighting applications is common, their use in medical diagnostic applications is rare. Since the precise value of light intensity is used to interpret patient results, understanding failure modes is very important. The contributions of this thesis is that it represents the first measurements of reliability of AlGaInP LEDs for the medical environment of short pulse bursts and hence the uncovering of unique failure mechanisms. Through accelerated life tests (ALT), the reliability degradation model has been developed and other LED failure modes have been compared through a failure modes and effects criticality analysis (FMECA). Appropriate ALTs and accelerated degradation tests (ADT) were designed and carried out for commercially available AlGaInP LEDs. The bias conditions were current pulse magnitude and duration, current density and temperature. The data was fitted to both an Inverse Power Law model with current density J as the accelerating agent and also to an Arrhenius model with T as the accelerating agent. The optical degradation during ALT/ADT was found to be logarithmic with time at each test temperature. Further, the LED bandgap temporarily shifts towards the longer wavelength at high current and high junction temperature. Empirical coefficients for Varshini's equation were determined, and are now available for future reliability tests of LEDs for medical applications. In order to incorporate prior knowledge, the Bayesian analysis was carried out for LEDs. This consisted of identifying pertinent prior data and combining the experimental ALT results into a Weibull probability model for time to failure determination. The Weibull based Bayesian likelihood function was derived. For the 1st Bayesian updating, a uniform distribution function was used as the Prior for Weibull á-â parameters. Prior published data was used as evidence to get the 1st posterior joint á-â distribution. For the 2nd Bayesian updating, ALT data was used as evidence to obtain the 2nd posterior joint á-â distribution. The predictive posterior failure distribution was estimated by averaging over the range of á-â values. This research provides a unique contribution in reliability degradation model development based on physics of failure by modeling the LED output characterization (logarithmic degradation, TTF â<1), temperature dependence and a degree of Relevance parameter `R' in the Bayesian analysis

Occurrence of Gobi Yongeichthys criniger (Valenciennes, 1837) off Ratnagiri, Maharashtra

On 23rd August 2013, a Risso’s Dolphin was nearly stranded on the Aligadda beach, Karwar. The dolphin appeared to be under stress and it was coming towards the shore. On seeing the dolphin, the local fishermen dragged it into the deeper waters to rescue. This dolphin is locally known as “God’s fish”, and hence the rescue operation was carried out by the local fishermen

Dry cephalopods - A new market

Cephalopods contribute 15.5% towards the marine fish landings in Maharashtra (CMFRI, 2013). The major cephalopod landing centres of Maharashtra namely New Ferry Wharf, Sasoon Docks and Versova are situated in Mumbai and they account for nearly 60% of landings in the state (Annam and Sindhu, 2005). There are about 45 municipal fish markets in Mumbai and more than 20 dry fish markets are located in Mumbai at various locations such as Worli, S ewri, Crawford market, Khar, Versova, Sion etc

Study on avifauna and species richness in Karanja-Sohol wildlife sanctuary, (MS) India

The present study was carried out during a bird race organized in Karanja-Sohol Wildlife sanctuary Karanja, district Washim Maharashtra, India. The objective of this study was to assess the avifauna of wildlife sanctuaries. Due to the geological and ecological complexity of the area, it has become imperative to conduct research on the region's avian diversity. It is challenging to conduct this assessment, as the wildlife sanctuary is divided into numerous patches by the state highway running through it. Sanctuary is surrounded by numerous villages and agricultural land, which creates human interference and livestock grazing. This checklist will serve as a baseline for further study, as there is no published checklist of this area. In the present investigation, we reported a total of 151 bird species during the exhaustive survey by the authors and accompanied volunteers during the census organized by the wildlife department. The observed species of birds belong to 55 families and 17 orders. They also recorded their residential and IUCN red data status

Embryonic Development of Discus, Symphysodon aequifasciatus Pellegrin, 1904 in Indian Condition

The experiment was conducted to investigate the embryonic development of discus (Symphysodon aequifasiatus) and determine the time required for major egg developmental stages and hatching. Regular observations were made using optical microscope and the images were recorded using a digital camera attached to the microscope. Important water quality parameters were kept optimal for the hatching of discus eggs. Newly laid eggs were oval-shaped and yellow in colour with an average diameter of 1.37 ± 0.14 mm. The embryonic development of fertilized eggs was divided into 16 stages and the development of each stage was recorded in times lapse. The result revealed that cleavage occurred after 1hr after fertilization followed by development of blastula and gastrula at 20.5 hr and 24 hr after fertilization respectively. The period of organogenesis started with the formation of embryonic notochord from 37.5 hrs after fertilization. The appearance of a defined head and tail of the embryo with 19 somites was observed at 40.0 hrs after fertilization, whereas heart beat along with blood circulation appeared after 55.5 hrs after fertilization. The eggs hatched after 69.06 hr after fertilization

Significance of water pH and hardness on fish biological processes: A review

The success of any aquaculture endeavour broadly depends on water quality. Water quality determines to a great extent the success or failure of aquaculture operation. Optimum water quality is considered necessary for any aquaculture operation as it influences the productivity of production system. In the present review, the role of major abiotic factors such as water pH and hardness on the biological processes of fish like growth, survival, reproductive performance and embryology has been discussed

Plakophilin3 Loss Leads to an Increase in PRL3 Levels Promoting K8 Dephosphorylation, Which Is Required for Transformation and Metastasis

The desmosome anchors keratin filaments in epithelial cells leading to the formation of a tissue wide IF network. Loss of the desmosomal plaque protein plakophilin3 (PKP3) in HCT116 cells, leads to an increase in neoplastic progression and metastasis, which was accompanied by an increase in K8 levels. The increase in levels was due to an increase in the protein levels of the Phosphatase of Regenerating Liver 3 (PRL3), which results in a decrease in phosphorylation on K8. The increase in PRL3 and K8 protein levels could be reversed by introduction of an shRNA resistant PKP3 cDNA. Inhibition of K8 expression in the PKP3 knockdown clone S10, led to a decrease in cell migration and lamellipodia formation. Further, the K8 PKP3 double knockdown clones showed a decrease in colony formation in soft agar and decreased tumorigenesis and metastasis in nude mice. These results suggest that a stabilisation of K8 filaments leading to an increase in migration and transformation may be one mechanism by which PKP3 loss leads to tumor progression and metastasis

Fascin overexpression promotes neoplastic progression in oral squamous cell carcinoma

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Fascin is a globular actin cross-linking protein, which plays a major role in forming parallel actin bundles in cell protrusions and is found to be associated with tumor cell invasion and metastasis in various type of cancers including oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). Previously, we have demonstrated that fascin regulates actin polymerization and thereby promotes cell motility in K8-depleted OSCC cells. In the present study we have investigated the role of fascin in tumor progression of OSCC.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>To understand the role of fascin in OSCC development and/or progression, fascin was overexpressed along with vector control in OSCC derived cells AW13516. The phenotype was studied using wound healing, Boyden chamber, cell adhesion, Hanging drop, soft agar and tumorigenicity assays. Further, fascin expression was examined in human OSCC samples (N = 131) using immunohistochemistry and level of its expression was correlated with clinico-pathological parameters of the patients.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Fascin overexpression in OSCC derived cells led to significant increase in cell migration, cell invasion and MMP-2 activity. In addition these cells demonstrated increased levels of phosphorylated AKT, ERK1/2 and JNK1/2. Our in vitro results were consistent with correlative studies of fascin expression with the clinico-pathological parameters of the OSCC patients. Fascin expression in OSCC showed statistically significant correlation with increased tumor stage (<it>P </it>= 0.041), increased lymph node metastasis (<it>P </it>= 0.001), less differentiation (<it>P </it>= 0.005), increased recurrence (<it>P </it>= 0.038) and shorter survival (<it>P </it>= 0.004) of the patients.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>In conclusion, our results indicate that fascin promotes tumor progression and activates AKT and MAPK pathways in OSCC-derived cells. Further, our correlative studies of fascin expression in OSCC with clinico-pathological parameters of the patients indicate that fascin may prove to be useful in prognostication and treatment of OSCC.</p

31st Annual Meeting and Associated Programs of the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC 2016) : part two

Background The immunological escape of tumors represents one of the main ob- stacles to the treatment of malignancies. The blockade of PD-1 or CTLA-4 receptors represented a milestone in the history of immunotherapy. However, immune checkpoint inhibitors seem to be effective in specific cohorts of patients. It has been proposed that their efficacy relies on the presence of an immunological response. Thus, we hypothesized that disruption of the PD-L1/PD-1 axis would synergize with our oncolytic vaccine platform PeptiCRAd. Methods We used murine B16OVA in vivo tumor models and flow cytometry analysis to investigate the immunological background. Results First, we found that high-burden B16OVA tumors were refractory to combination immunotherapy. However, with a more aggressive schedule, tumors with a lower burden were more susceptible to the combination of PeptiCRAd and PD-L1 blockade. The therapy signifi- cantly increased the median survival of mice (Fig. 7). Interestingly, the reduced growth of contralaterally injected B16F10 cells sug- gested the presence of a long lasting immunological memory also against non-targeted antigens. Concerning the functional state of tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs), we found that all the immune therapies would enhance the percentage of activated (PD-1pos TIM- 3neg) T lymphocytes and reduce the amount of exhausted (PD-1pos TIM-3pos) cells compared to placebo. As expected, we found that PeptiCRAd monotherapy could increase the number of antigen spe- cific CD8+ T cells compared to other treatments. However, only the combination with PD-L1 blockade could significantly increase the ra- tio between activated and exhausted pentamer positive cells (p= 0.0058), suggesting that by disrupting the PD-1/PD-L1 axis we could decrease the amount of dysfunctional antigen specific T cells. We ob- served that the anatomical location deeply influenced the state of CD4+ and CD8+ T lymphocytes. In fact, TIM-3 expression was in- creased by 2 fold on TILs compared to splenic and lymphoid T cells. In the CD8+ compartment, the expression of PD-1 on the surface seemed to be restricted to the tumor micro-environment, while CD4 + T cells had a high expression of PD-1 also in lymphoid organs. Interestingly, we found that the levels of PD-1 were significantly higher on CD8+ T cells than on CD4+ T cells into the tumor micro- environment (p < 0.0001). Conclusions In conclusion, we demonstrated that the efficacy of immune check- point inhibitors might be strongly enhanced by their combination with cancer vaccines. PeptiCRAd was able to increase the number of antigen-specific T cells and PD-L1 blockade prevented their exhaus- tion, resulting in long-lasting immunological memory and increased median survival

Not Available

Not AvailableOn 23rd August 2013, a Risso’s Dolphin was nearly stranded on the Aligadda beach, Karwar. The dolphin appeared to be under stress and it was coming towards the shore. On seeing the dolphin, the local fishermen dragged it into the deeper waters to rescue. This dolphin is locally known as “God’s fish”, and hence the rescue operation was carried out by the local fishermen.Not Availabl