Transfer or not to transfer? a medical dilemma

Morphological assessment predominantly determines the quality of embryos although, several methods are available for it. Dilemma to transfer arises when clinicians are left with mere poor grade embryos. This case report encompasses a case of 37 years primary infertile female managed with GnRH antagonist cycle for tubal factor infertility. Post ovarian stimulation and ovum pickup, only two 4 celled grade-C embryos were available for transfer. Reluctantly the embryo was transferred, but fortunately resulted in a healthy live intrauterine pregnancy. This case report questions the aptness of the current methods to determine embryo quality and also enlightens whether the ethical or medical conundrum holds true regarding relation between embryo quality and chances of a fruitful pregnancy

Intermolecular interactions in staphylokinase–plasmin(ogen) bimolecular complex: Function of His43 and Tyr44

AbstractStaphylokinase (SAK) forms a 1:1 stoichiometric complex with human plasmin (Pm) and switches its substrate specificity to generate a plasminogen (Pg) activator complex. Site-directed mutagenesis of SAKHis43 and SAKTyr44 demonstrated the crucial requirement of a positively charged and an aromatic residue, respectively, at these positions for optimal functioning of SAK–Pm activator complex. Molecular modeling studies further revealed the role of these residues in making cation–pi and pi–pi interactions with Trp215 of Pm and thus establishing the crucial intermolecular contacts within the active site cleft of the activator complex for the cofactor activity of SAK

Disruption of Hydrogen Bonds between Major Histocompatibility Complex Class II and the Peptide N-Terminus Is Not Sufficient to Form a Human Leukocyte Antigen-DM Receptive State of Major Histocompatibility Complex Class II

Peptide presentation by MHC class II is of critical importance to the function of CD4+ T cells. HLA-DM resides in the endosomal pathway and edits the peptide repertoire of newly synthesized MHC class II molecules before they are exported to the cell surface. HLA-DM ensures MHC class II molecules bind high affinity peptides by targeting unstable MHC class II:peptide complexes for peptide exchange. Research over the past decade has implicated the peptide N-terminus in modulating the ability of HLA-DM to target a given MHC class II:peptide combination. In particular, attention has been focused on both the hydrogen bonds between MHC class II and peptide, and the occupancy of the P1 anchor pocket. We sought to solve the crystal structure of a HLA-DR1 molecule containing a truncated hemagglutinin peptide missing three N-terminal residues compared to the full-length sequence (residues 306–318) to determine the nature of the MHC class II:peptide species that binds HLA-DM. Here we present structural evidence that HLA-DR1 that is loaded with a peptide truncated to the P1 anchor residue such that it cannot make select hydrogen bonds with the peptide N-terminus, adopts the same conformation as molecules loaded with full-length peptide. HLA-DR1:peptide combinations that were unable to engage up to four key hydrogen bonds were also unable to bind HLA-DM, while those truncated to the P2 residue bound well. These results indicate that the conformational changes in MHC class II molecules that are recognized by HLA-DM occur after disengagement of the P1 anchor residue

Modelling of creep behaviour of a rotating disc in the presence of load and variable thickness by using seth transition theory

The purpose of this paper is to present study of creep behaviour of a rotating disc in the presence of load and thickness by using Seth's transition theory. It has been observed that a flat rotating disc made of compressible as well as incompressible material with load E-1 = 10, increases the possibility of fracture at the bore. It Is also shown that a rotating disc of incompressible material and thickness that increases radially experiences higher creep rates at the internal surface in comparison to a disc of compressible material. The model proposed in this paper is used in mechanical and electronic devices. They have extensive practical engineering applications such as in steam and gas turbines, turbo generators, flywheel of internal combustion engines, turbojet engines, reciprocating engines, centrifugal compressors and brake discs

Modelling of creep behaviour of a rotating disc in the presence of load and variable thickness by using seth transition theory

The purpose of this paper is to present study of creep behaviour of a rotating disc in the presence of load and thickness by using Seth's transition theory. It has been observed that a flat rotating disc made of compressible as well as incompressible material with load E-1 = 10, increases the possibility of fracture at the bore. It Is also shown that a rotating disc of incompressible material and thickness that increases radially experiences higher creep rates at the internal surface in comparison to a disc of compressible material. The model proposed in this paper is used in mechanical and electronic devices. They have extensive practical engineering applications such as in steam and gas turbines, turbo generators, flywheel of internal combustion engines, turbojet engines, reciprocating engines, centrifugal compressors and brake discs

Deferred Stenting for Heavy Thrombus Burden During Percutaneous Coronary Intervention for ST-Elevation MI

Patients with ST-elevation MI (STEMI) usually have a huge thrombus burden in the infarct-related artery. Stenting may lead to high chances of the slow-flow/no-reflow phenomenon that leads to periprocedural MI and adverse cardiovascular events. Deferred stenting may be beneficial in this situation as the thrombus burden will reduce, mitigating the slow-flow/no-reflow phenomenon. However, routine deferral of stenting in patients with STEMI has not been found to be beneficial, but when the patient is properly selected, deferred stenting has the potential for reducing the final infarct size. The authors report the safety and feasibility of deferred stenting after 5 days of prolonged anticoagulation in a 45-year-old smoker with STEMI who had a large thrombus load shown on an angiogram. They review the registries, trials and meta-analyses on deferred stenting in the literature and analyse the benefits and harms of the strategy. They also propose an algorithm for applying a strategy for deferred stenting in clinical practice based on the available data

Landau-Ginzburg Vacua of String, M- and F-Theory at c=12

Theories in more than ten dimensions play an important role in understanding nonperturbative aspects of string theory. Consistent compactifications of such theories can be constructed via Calabi-Yau fourfolds. These models can be analyzed particularly efficiently in the Landau-Ginzburg phase of the linear sigma model, when available. In the present paper we focus on those sigma models which have both a Landau-Ginzburg phase and a geometric phase described by hypersurfaces in weighted projective five-space. We describe some of the pertinent properties of these models, such as the cohomology, the connectivity of the resulting moduli space, and mirror symmetry among the 1,100,055 configurations which we have constructed.Comment: LaTeX, 33 pages, 10 PostScript figures using epsfig and psfi

Implantation of a three-dimensional fibroblast matrix improves left ventricular function and blood flow after acute myocardial infarction

This study was designed to determine if a viable biodegradable three-dimensional fibroblast construct (3DFC) patch implanted on the left ventricle after myocardial infarction (MI) improves left ventricular (LV) function and blood flow. We ligated the left coronary artery of adult male Sprague-Dawley rats and implanted the 3DFC at the time of the infarct. Three weeks after MI, the 3DFC improved LV systolic function by increasing (p < 0.05) ejection fraction (37 +/- 3% to 62 +/- 5%), increasing regional systolic displacement of the infarcted wall (0.04 +/- 0.02 to 0.11 +/- 0.03 cm), and shifting the passive LV diastolic pressure volume relationship toward the pressure axis. The 3FDC improved LV remodeling by decreasing (p < 0.05) LV end-systolic and end-diastolic diameters with no change in LV systolic pressure. The 3DFC did not change LV end-diastolic pressure (LV EDP; 25 +/- 2 vs. 23 +/- 2 mmHg) but the addition of captopril (2mg/L drinking water) lowered (p < 0.05) LV EDP to 12.9 +/- 2.5 mmHg and shifted the pressure-volume relationship toward the pressure axis and decreased (p < 0.05) the LV operating end-diastolic volume from 0.49 +/- 0.02 to 0.34 +/- 0.03 ml. The 3DFC increased myocardial blood flow to the infarcted anterior wall after MI over threefold (p < 0.05). This biodegradable 3DFC patch improves LV function and myocardial blood flow 3 weeks after MI. This is a potentially new approach to cell-based therapy for heart failure after MI

Unification of M- and F- Theory Calabi-Yau Fourfold Vacua

We consider splitting type phase transitions between Calabi-Yau fourfolds. These transitions generalize previously known types of conifold transitions between threefolds. Similar to conifold configurations the singular varieties mediating the transitions between fourfolds connect moduli spaces of different dimensions, describing ground states in M- and F-theory with different numbers of massless modes as well as different numbers of cycles to wrap various p-branes around. The web of Calabi-Yau fourfolds obtained in this way contains the class of all complete intersection manifolds embedded in products of ordinary projective spaces, but extends also to weighted configurations. It follows from this that for some of the fourfold transitions vacua with vanishing superpotential are connected to ground states with nonzero superpotential.Comment: plain TeX, 22p

Are advertising policies affirmative in restricting the marketing of foods high in fat, salt and sugar (HFSS) in India?: Evidence from SWOT Analysis

The regulatory Indian environment for advertising high fat, salt, and sugar (HFSS) foods and non-alcoholic beverages, on various media was reviewed. Identified national-level policies were categorised as mandatory or self-regulatory based on legal content. For each mandatory regulation, Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT) analysis was undertaken to determine how existing policies could be strengthened to safeguard children from unhealthy food advertisements. Thirteen policies (nine mandatory; four self-regulatory) relevant to advertising in India were identified. Of the nine mandatory policies, Guidelines for Prevention of Misleading Advertisements and Endorsements for Misleading Advertisements, 2022, is the only policy that restricts HFSS food advertisements to children across all media. There are key shortfalls, including limited scope of ‘child-targeted’ advertisements and lack of criteria to define HFSS foods. A robust regulatory framework is needed to protect children from HFSS food marketing, not just what is ‘directed’ at them, with clear evidence-based food classification criteria.Funding source: The work is supported by the UNICEF India Country Office, New Delhi, India