India Takes an Open Source Approach to Drug Discovery

Open source software may have been around for 17 years, but using an open source model to speed up drug discovery is a relatively new idea. This month, India is launching a new open source initiative for developing drugs to treat diseases such as tuberculosis, malaria, and HIV

Characteristics of COPD phenotypes classified according to the findings of HRCT and spirometric indices and its correlation to clinical characteristics

Introduction: In recent years, there has been increasing interest in diagnosing various components of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) using high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT). The present study was undertaken to evaluate HRCT features in patients with COPD.Materials and methods: Fifty patients of COPD (confirmed on Spirometry as per the GOLD guidelines 2014 guidelines) were enrolled, out of which 35 patients got a HRCT done. The Philips computer program for lung densitometry was used with these limits (-800/-1, 024 Hounsfield unit [HU]) to calculate densities, after validating densitometry values with phantoms. We established the area with a free hand drawing of the region of interest, then we established limits (in HUs) and the computer program calculated the attenuation as mean lung density (MLD) of the lower and upper lobes.Results: There was a significant correlation between smoking index and anteroposterior tracheal diameter (P = 0.036). Tracheal index was found to be decreasing with increasing disease severity which was statistically significant (P = 0.037). A mild linear correlation of pre-forced expiratory volume in the first second (FEV1) was observed with lower lobe and total average MLD while a mild linear correlation of post-FEV1 was observed with both coronal (P = 0.042) and sagittal (P = 0.001) lower lobes MLD. In addition, there was a linear correlation between both pre (P = 0.050) and post (P = 0.024) FEV1/forced vital capacitywith sagittal lower lobe MLD.Conclusion: HRCT may be an important additional tool in the holistic evaluation of COPD.Keywords: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, high resolution computed tomography, spirometry.

Co -Movements of U.S. Eu and Indian Equity Markets: Portfolio Diversification Implications

An integration of planet’s financial market has been the distinctive feature of the global development. The last two decades has witnessed hastening in financial globalization represented by an increase in cross-country foreign assets. The present study has focused on the co-integration aspect of American, European and Indian market. The results of the study indicate significant co-integration relationship among markets

Role Of Bacteria And Their Enzymes In Degradation Of Azo Dyes: A Review

The azo dyes are aromatic compounds containing azo (–N=N–) groups enabling them to be potent in absorbing visible spectrum light. These are considered to be electron-deficient toxic effluents due to the non-biodegradability function allowed through azo linking bonds. The azo bonds make the concerned dye resistant for preventing its degradation by enzymes produced by microorganisms. The most potent enzyme till now found for azo dye reduction is a group of reductase enzyme called azoreductase that facilitate the reaction using some suitable cofactors. Several microorganisms, especially the bacteria are readily used for successful azoreductase enzymes activity in azo dye decolourization. These enzymes are mostly isolated from bacterial cells and are found to be highly effective in case of partial or complete removal of azo dyes. Thus, the reason for the current review relies on a comprehensive systematization of various bacteria those are responsible for production of azoreductase enzymes and their application in azo dye decolourization. This review also compiles different bacterial enzymes responsible for degradation of the toxic azo dyes

The Drosophila ananassae species complex: Evolutionary relationships among different members

Information about genetic structure and historical demography of natural populations is central to understanding how natural selection changes genomes. Drosophila ananassae is a widespread species occurring in geographically isolated or partially isolated populations and provides a unique opportunity to investigate population structure and molecular variation. D. ananassae and its closely related species serve as a widely used model in population and evolutionary genetics. The ananassae subgroup belongs to the melanogaster species group. This subgroup contains 22 described species distributed mainly throughout Southeast Asia, with some species expanding into northeastern Australia, South Pacific and Indian subcontinent and Africa. Within the ananassae subgroup, three species complexes-ananassae, bipectinata and ercepeae have been recognized based on male genital morphology. D. ananassae and its relatives have many advantages as a model of genetic differentiation and speciation. In this review, distribution, phylogenies, hybridization, sexual isolation among D. ananassae complex have been discussed. The complex of several cryptic island species provides a useful model for evolutionary studies dealing with the mechanisms of speciation

Immunogenicity of a single dose mRNA vaccine in SARS-CoV-2 exposed subjects: A systematic review

Background: The novel coronavirus is quickly spreading and mutating, putting the public health and lifestyle in shambles. The development and approval of mRNA vaccines came up as a breakthrough. The breadth of immune response after a single-dose vaccination in the already infected population is discovered for understanding the hybrid immunity and side effects associated with second dose. Administering a single-dose vaccine to the seropositive population can spare the doses for the population at higher risk. Methods: PubMed, Web of Science, Google scholar, medRxiv and Cochrane library were explored to extract the original data on the efficacy of single-dose mRNA vaccines in seropositive subjects. The Cochrane risk of bias tool was used to assess the risk of bias in the studies. Results: 6 studies evaluating the immunogenicity of single-dose mRNA vaccine were incorporated along with some observational studies and literature. These studies present promising evidence for administering only single-dose mRNA vaccine in seropositive subjects, providing biphasic immune response of higher breadth and duration. Limitations: Most studies had a small sample size, did not correlate the results with higher age groups, with potential risk factors and the percentage of individuals who contracted breakthrough infections. Conclusions: Single-dose mRNA vaccine can be immunogenic and protective enough for already seropositive population by increasing the number of Spike protein-specific memory B-cells. Vaccination schedules based on existing anti-body titers in such individuals can spare doses for vulnerable groups, especially when there is limited production and supply of vaccines worldwide

Single Valued Neutrosophic Signedgraphs

Motivated by the notion of single valued neutrosophic graphs defined by Broumi, Talea, Bakali and Smarandache[2] and notion of intuitionistic fuzzy signed graphs defined by Mishra and Pal[8], we introduce the concept of single valued neutrosophic signed graphs and examine the properties of this new concept and examples