Vulnerability of Slums to Livelihood Security: A Case Study of 3 JJ Clusters, Delhi

Vulnerability has been defined as the characteristics of a person or a group of persons i.e. in terms of their capacity to cope with, anticipate, resist and recover from the impacts of natural or man-made hazards or any external event. Vulnerability is also defined as the inability to withstand the effects of hostile environment. Hostile environment refers to livelihood security in this research. Concept of vulnerability is described within five categories of livelihood security, which are economic, social, education, food and health. The parameters for assessing the vulnerability of slums for different location are within the five categories of livelihood security that are economic security, social security, education security, food security and health security

Potent intracellular knock down of hepatitis B virus X RNA by catalytic hammerhead ribozymes or DNA-Enzymes with antisense DNA-oligonucleotides or 10-23 DNA-Enzymes that powerfully augment in vitro sequence-specific cleavage activities

Novel antiviral approaches are needed to control Hepatitis B virus infection worldwide. X protein of this virus activates various promoters and is strongly associated with hepatocellular carcinoma. Although several groups, including ours, reported sequence-specific cleavage of X RNA by either ribozymes (Rzs) or DNA-enzymes (Dzs) earlier, but none of these studies reported 100% in vitro cleavage of the full-length X RNA. We reasoned that by melting the secondary structures near the Rz/Dz cleavage site with specific antisense DNA oligonucleotides (ODNs) or 10-23 Dz, it may be possible to achieve this objective. Hammerhead motif containing Rz-170 specific for X RNA was constructed by recombinant techniques and Dz-237 was synthesized using the 10-23 catalytic motif. When specific ODNs or 10-23 Dzs were included in the cleavage reaction with either Rz-170 or Dz-237, increased cleavage was observed in a dose-dependent manner which often resulted in almost complete in vitro cleavage of the target RNA. Rz-170 in combination with specific ODNs caused potent intracellular reduction of HBx RNA. Thus, the cleavage activity of catalytic nucleic acids (Rzs or Dzs) can be increased significantly by specific ODNs or Dzs and this treatment also results in potent intracellular target RNA reduction. These findings have important therapeutic implications

Role of Avarana in the etiopathogeneis of Urustambha

All the functions of the body are controlled by three fundamental factors called Tridosha. As per Ayurveda, these are considered as ‘the pillars of the body’. Dosha’s in the state of equilibrium perform the normal functions of the body but when they get vitiated, they cause diseases. Urustambha is a lifestyle disorder and it is commonly seen in the higher socio-economic status. Sushrutha Acharya named this disease as Adhyavata. Urustambha is a grave condition, in which the patient’s thighs become painful, numb and immobile. In this disease, deranged Vata due to intake of Apathya Ahara Vihara sub-charged with the Meda and Kapha settle down into the lower limbs which gives rise to painful and immobile condition of the lower limbs

Effect of varying cycle time interval and aerosol pre-charge on filtration performance of polyester media

Present study embodies filtration characterization of two nonwoven needle-felt polyester filter materials, viz. PTFE coated and without coated media. The materials have been assessed using flyash aerosol under varying time intervals (6, 9 and 12 min) at different inlet dust densities (50, 90 and 150 g/m3). The flyash particles are charged prior to their deposition over the filter media using a three phase parallel plate box pre-charger at two different levels of pre-charge, viz. 4 kV and 8 kV along with 0 kV. Results reveal that the filtration performance for PTFE coated material is better under all conditions. However, an enhanced filtration performance in terms of particle emission and pressure drop is noted at increased pre-charge level and higher cyclic interval. It may also be noted that the level of improvement in filtration behavior for both the materials has been better at initial level of pre-charge from 0 kV to 4 kV. However, the cumulative behavior of all the factors is also found significant.

Characterization of Dopaminergic System in the Striatum of Young Adult Park2(-/-) Knockout Rats

Mutations in parkin gene (Park2) are linked to early-onset autosomal recessive Parkinson's disease (PD) and young-onset sporadic PD. Park2 knockout (PKO) rodents;however, do not display neurodegeneration of the nigrostriatal pathway, suggesting age-dependent compensatory changes. Our goal was to examine dopaminergic (DAergic) system in the striatum of 2 month-old PKO rats in order to characterize compensatory mechanisms that may have occurred within the system. The striata form wild type (WT) and PKO Long Evans male rats were assessed for the levels of DAergic markers, for monoamine oxidase (MAO) A and B activities and levels, and for the levels of their respective preferred substrates, serotonin (5-HT) and beta-phenylethylamine (beta-PEA). The PKO rats displayed lower activities of MAOs and higher levels of beta-PEA in the striatum than their WT counterparts. Decreased levels of beta-PEA receptor, trace amine-associated receptor 1 (TAAR-1), and postsynaptic DA D2 (D2L) receptor accompanied these alterations. Drug-naive PKO rats displayed normal locomotor activity;however, they displayed decreased locomotor response to a low dose of psychostimulant methamphetamine, suggesting altered DAergic neurotransmission in the striatum when challenged with an indirect agonist. Altogether, our findings suggest that 2 month-old PKO male rats have altered DAergic and trace aminergic signaling

Study of dengue outbreak in north west zone of Rajasthan, India

Background: Dengue is one of the most important mosquito-borne viral disease globally. The virus is the member of flavivirus group which typically is a single stranded RNA virus. It is 2nd most common arthropod borne disease in India. Due to its atypical presentation often, dengue missed out as a differential diagnosis. High clinical suspicion and proper investigation help in early diagnosis of dengue and its complications.Methods: A total of 200 patients were selected to be a part of study after applying inclusion and exclusion criteria. Only those patients were included in the study who had classical features of dengue- fever with chills, body ache, headache and thrombocytopenia and had a positive serology against dengue virus. Patients who had malaria, enteric fever, and negative serology were excluded from the study. Other causes of pancreatitis, pneumonitis, ascitis, cholangitis, pleural effusion and thrombocytopenia are rolled out. All patients were subjected to a detailed history and a thorough clinical examination. A complete blood count, liver function tests, renal function tests, chest X-ray and USG abdomen were also done.Results: Among 200 patients diagnosed as dengue fever,106 were male and 94 female. 78% patient were from urban and majority were from 20-30 years age group. Average duration of stay in hospital is 3.5 days. Along with fever and malaise, pain abdomen, bleeding diathesis, itching, cough were the major complaints in decreasing order. Different findings in the investigations are: Mean WBC counts - 4251, mean platelet counts - 41831, mean hematocret - 41.8, mean MPV- 8.55, number of patients with deranged ALT/AST- 88(44%). In USG ascitis and edematous gall bladder were the major findings followed by hepatomegaly, splenomegaly and pleural effusion. Number of patients required platelet transfusion were 60. Among these 60 patients average number of RDP transfused is 2 units.Conclusions: Present study concludes that clinical vigilance about various type of presentations is important as timely recognition can influence outcome and may prevent compilations

Genetic and functional analysis of HIV-1 Rev Responsive Element (RRE) sequences from North-India

HIV-1 Rev protein regulates the expression of HIV-1 transcripts by binding to a highly structured stem loop structure called the Rev Responsive Element (RRE) present in the genomic and partially spliced RNAs. Genetic variation in this structure is likely to affect binding of Rev protein and ultimately overall gene expression and replication. We characterized RRE sequences from 13 HIV-1 infected individuals from North India which also included two mother-child pairs following vertical transmission. We observed high degree of conservation of sequences, including the 9-nt (CACUAUGGG) long sequence in stem-loop B, required for efficient binding of Rev protein. All of our 13 RRE sequences possessed G to A (position 66) mutation located in the critical branched-stem-loop B which is not present in consensus C or B sequence. We derived a consensus RRE structure which showed interesting changes in the stem-loop structures including the stem-loop B. Mother-Child RRE sequences showed conservation of unique polymorphisms as well as some new mutations in child RRE sequences. Despite these changes, the ability to form multiple essential stem-loop structures required for Rev binding was conserved. RRE RNA derived from one of the samples, VT5, retained the ability to bind Rev protein under in vitro conditions although it showed alternate secondary structure. This is the first study from India describing the structural and possible functional implications due to very unique RRE sequence heterogeneity and its possible role in vertical transmission and gene expression