Sources of variability in cytosolic calcium transients triggered by stimulation of homogeneous uro-epithelial cell monolayers

Epithelial tissue structure is the emergent outcome of the interactions between large numbers of individual cells. Experimental cell biology offers an important tool to unravel these complex interactions, but current methods of analysis tend to be limited to mean field approaches or representation by selected subsets of cells. This may result in bias towards cells that respond in a particular way and/or neglect local, context-specific cell responses. Here, an automated algorithm was applied to examine in detail the individual calcium transients evoked in genetically homogeneous, but asynchronous populations of cultured non-immortalized normal human urothelial cells when subjected to either the global application of an external agonist or a localized scratch wound. The recorded calcium transients were classified automatically according to a set of defined metrics and distinct sub-populations of cells that responded in qualitatively different ways were observed. The nature of this variability in the homogeneous cell population was apportioned to two sources: intrinsic variation in individual cell responses and extrinsic variability due to context-specific factors of the environment, such as spatial heterogeneity. Statistically significant variation in the features of the calcium transients evoked by scratch wounding according to proximity to the wound edge was identified. The manifestation of distinct sub-populations of cells is considered central to the coordination of population-level response resulting in wound closure

Design and technical characteristics of shark gillnet operating in Mumbai coast

This paper deals with design and general features of shark gillnets operated along Mumbai coast. A PA monofilament of 0.60 to 1.0 mm diameter and selvedge meshes of PE of 1 to 2 mm diameter were used for shark set gillnets along Mumbai coast. Mesh size of the main webbing ranged from 120 to 200 mm with average of 144.4 ± 10.83 mm and rigged with a hanging coefficient of 0.41 to 0.51 with average of 0.42 were commonly used. A hung length ranging from 40 to 105 m with mean of 59 ± 10.37 with total hung depth varying from 6.42 to 10.58 m with average of 8.15 ± 0.49 m. Shark gillnet had a total length of 260 to 456 m with mean of 350.71 ± 28.53 m. The nets were operated mostly at a depth up to 18 m very near to the shore and were of set type of gillnet. Polyamide (PA) monofilament netting of 0.16 to 0.32 mm diameter and of mesh size 26-200 mm were generally used for construction of gillnets throughout the Mumbai coast. Polyamide (PA) monofilament has completely replaced PA multifilament in all the nets except those targeted i.e. white sardine and seerfish

Gallic Acid Protects Against Immobilization Stress-Induced Changes In Wistar Rats

Background: Stress triggers a wide range of body changes. Herbal medicines are rich in non specific antistress agents.Purpose: The present study was carried out to evaluate the antistress effect of gallic acid (GA), a naturally occurring plant phenol, on immobilization induced-stress in male albino Wistar rats.Methods: The immobilization stress was induced in rats by putting the rats in 20 cm Ч 7 cm plastic tubes for 2 h/day for 21 days. Rats were post orally treated with GA at a dose of 10 mg/kg body weight via intragastric intubations.Results:Treatment with GA significantly increased the food intake, body weight, organ weight (spleen, testis and brain) and the significant reduction was found in weight of liver, kidney, heart and adrenal glands, which was altered in stressed rats. GA also significantly reduced the elevated levels of plasma glucose, plasma and tissue cholesterol (CHL), triglycerides (TG), Low Density Lipid (LDL), Very Low Density Lipid (VLDL) and also significantly increased the level of High Density Lipid (HDL). A significant decrease in hematological parameters like RBC count, total and differential WBC count was also found which were increased in immobilization stress.Conclusion: GA prevented the stress-induced physiological, biochemical and hematological changes, indicating the preventive effect against stress

Clinico-pathological and epidemiological spectrum of ovarian cancer in Kashmir: a retrospective case control study

Objective: Ovarian cancer is the most dreadful gynecological malignancy among females worldwide, with worst prognosis and non-effectiveness of its screening markers yielding false negative cases. The aim of the present study was to investigate the clinicopathological and epidemiological profile of ovarian cancer patients in Kashmir ethnicity. Patients and Methods: The present observational cross-sectional study was conducted on 50 ovarian cancer patients who reported to the Department of General Surgery and Medical Oncology, SKIMS, Srinagar, from 2017 to 2019 and on 50 healthy female volunteers as age-matched controls. The clinicopathological and epidemiological profiles of the ovarian cancer patients were compared with those of normal controls. A detailed description of clinico-pathological, epidemiological, and etiological data was obtained from the in-patient record and questionnaire method and analyzed by Student's t-test to estimate statistically significant differences between cases and controls. The blood samples were assessed for CA-125 levels. p ≥ 0.05 differences were considered statistically significant. Results: Of the 50 ovarian cancer patients, the most affected (48%) age group was 44–59 years. The majority (64%) of the patients belonged to stages III and IV of the disease. Abdominal distension and pelvic pain were the most frequent symptoms observed in 46% and 44% of cases, respectively. Using Pearson’s correlation coefficient, we observed a significant negative correlation of risk of ovarian cancer with menarcheal age and a highly significant positive correlation with menopausal age, age at marriage, BMI, and CA125 in ovarian cancer patients. Conclusions: Most of the patients presented in an advanced stage of the disease and had CA125 levels of 500 U/ml. Awareness must be raised among women regarding the symptoms, warning signs, and risk factors of ovarian cancer because doing so will facilitate the early diagnosis of the disease

Automated Motion Analysis of Adherent Cells in Monolayer Culture

This paper presents a novel method for tracking and characterizing adherent cells in monolayer culture. A system of cell tracking employing computer vision techniques was applied to time-lapse videos of replicate normal human uro-epithelial cell cultures exposed to different concentrations of adenosine triphosphate (ATP), acquired over a 20 h period. Subsequent analysis, comprising feature extraction, demonstrated the ability of the technique to successfully separate the modulated classes of cell

A Unified Approach towards Describing Rapidity and Transverse Momentum Distributions in Thermal Freeze-Out Model

We have attempted to describe the rapidity and transverse momentum spectra, simultaneously, of the hadrons produced in the Ultra-relativistic Nuclear Collisions. This we have tried to achieve in a single statistical thermal freeze-out model using single set of parameters. We assume the formation of a hadronic gas in thermo-chemical equilibrium at the freeze-out. The model incorporates a longitudinal as well as a transverse hydrodynamic flow. We have also found that the role of heavier hadronic resonance decay is important in explaining the particle spectra.Comment: 22 pages, 11 figure

Engineering Cold Stress Tolerance in Crop Plants

Plants respond with changes in their pattern of gene expression and protein products when exposed to low temperatures. Thus ability to adapt has an impact on the distribution and survival of the plant, and on crop yields. Many species of tropical or subtropical origin are injured or killed by non-freezing low temperatures, and exhibit various symptoms of chilling injury such as chlorosis, necrosis, or growth retardation. In contrast, chilling tolerant species are able to grow at such cold temperatures. Conventional breeding methods have met with limited success in improving the cold tolerance of important crop plants involving inter-specific or inter-generic hybridization. Recent studies involving full genome profiling/ sequencing, mutational and transgenic plant analyses, have provided a deep insight of the complex transcriptional mechanism that operates under cold stress. The alterations in expression of genes in response to cold temperatures are followed by increases in the levels of hundreds of metabolites, some of which are known to have protective effects against the damaging effects of cold stress. Various low temperature inducible genes have been isolated from plants. Most appear to be involved in tolerance to cold stress and the expression of some of them is regulated by C-repeat binding factor/ dehydration-responsive element binding (CBF/DREB1) transcription factors. Numerous physiological and molecular changes occur during cold acclimation which reveals that the cold resistance is more complex than perceived and involves more than one pathway. The findings summarized in this review have shown potential practical applications for breeding cold tolerance in crop and horticultural plants suitable to temperate geographical locations

Climate Change-Its Impact on Agriculture

Global warming has effects and consequences on all walks of life. The consequences of global warming can be seen in the atmospheric weather, local climate change, glacier retreat and disappearance, oceans, seal level rise, acidification, forest fires, ozone depletion, agriculture, water scarcity  as well as the health of individuals. An increase of 2ºC in temperature could decrease the rice yield by about 0.75 t/ha and 0.5ºC increase in winter temperature reduce wheat yield 0.45 t/ha. Results showed that about 7.4, 8.7 and 9.8 per cent of total cumulative CO2, SO2 and NO2 emission respectively could be avoided between 1997 and 2015 by using efficient appliances. Improved training and general education of populations dependent on agriculture. Agriculture research to develop new crop varieties. Identification of the present vulnerabilities of agricultural systems. Food programmes and other social security programmes to provide insurance against supply changes. Transportation, distribution and market integration to provide the infrastructure to supply food during crop short falls. It is imperative that the developed countries and the rapidly developing countries formulate strategies to curb greenhouse gas emissions. Countries on the fast tract of economic growth should also look at adopting new energy-saving technologies and planting of more trees. The emphasis should also be laid on increasing the use of renewable energy sources like solar and wind. It is high time for leading emitters of CO2 to formulate national programmes to address climate change. Key words: Climatic change, Agriculture, Environment, Variables Shabir Ahmad Wani et al. Climate Change-Its Impact on Agriculture. J Phytol 2/10 (2010) 82-8

Economic loss assessment on juvenile fish catch due to forced non-selectivity in a selective fishing gear, gillnet along Mumbai coast, India

A study on quantity and value of juvenile fish landings was carried out in the gillnet fishery of three selected landing centers along Mumbai coast viz., Versova, Cuff Parade and Mahim in India using Out board motors (OBM), Inboard motors (IBM) and non-motorised gillnetters respectively. The data on the quantity and value of landed juveniles were collected and analysed to reach a consensus on the gross economic loss on account of juvenile fishing. A bio-economic model was used to estimate economic loss due to juvenile fishing of 18 commercially important species of finfish and shellfish. A huge economic loss was recorded due to fishing of juveniles of 18 species by three different gillnet sectors. The analysis indicated that IBM gillnetters at Cuff Parade incurred maximum loss of Rs. 62.26 crores with major contribution from juveniles of seerfish followed by non-motorised gillnetter (Rs.29.98 crores) at Mahim and 25.33 crores in OBM gillnetters at Versova

The prevalence of hepatitis C virus among people of South Asian origin in Glasgow: results from a community based survey and laboratory surveillance

Background South Asians often present late with HCV or HBV related liver disease which could have been avoided with early diagnosis and subsequent treatment; however the prevalence of HCV/HBV among South Asians in Glasgow is not known. Accordingly, to inform the need for case finding among this group we aimed to examine the prevalence of Hepatitis C virus (HCV) among South Asians living in Glasgow. Methods A community-based survey recruited individuals at six mosques and four community centres serving the South Asian community during 2009-2010; participants had predominantly never been HCV tested. Laboratory surveillance data involving all individuals tested for HCV during 1993-2009 were examined and South Asians were identified using Nam Pehchan software. Results In the community-based survey, 2.6% of 1288 participants tested HCV-antibody positive; the prevalence ranged from 0.6% among those born in the UK to 3.1% among those born in Pakistan. The odds of testing HCV-antibody positive were significantly raised among those who had surgery in South Asia (aOR: 5.0, 95% CI: 2.0-12.3) and had either medical/dental treatment or an injection in South Asia (aOR: 2.2, 95% CI: 1.0-5.0). Of 6404 South Asians identified from laboratory surveillance data, 9.3% tested HCV positive. An estimated 38% (330/870) of HCV-infected South Asians living in Glasgow remain undiagnosed. Conclusions South Asians living in Glasgow, particularly those born outside the UK are at greater risk of HCV infection than the general population. Efforts to increase awareness and testing in this population are warranted.</p