In Silico characterization of growth hormone from freshwater ornamental fishes: Sequence analysis, molecular modelling and phylogeny

The present investigation includes in Silico sequence analysis, three-dimensional (3D) structure prediction and evolutionary profile of growth hormone (GH) from 14 ornamental freshwater fishes. The analyses were performed using the sequence data of growth hormone gene (gh) and its encoded GH protein. The evolutionary analyses were performed using maximum likelihood (ML) estimate and maximum parsimony (MP) methods. Bootstrap test (1000 replicates) was performed to validate the phylogenetic tree. The tertiary structures of GH were predicted using the comparative modelling method. The suitable template for comparative modeling protein databank (PDB IDs: 1HWG A) has been selected on the basis of basic local alignment search tool (BLASTp) and fast analysis (FASTA) results. The target-template alignment, model building, loop modelling and evaluation have been performed in Modeller 9.10. The tertiary structure of GH is α-helix structure connected by loops, which forms a compressed complex maintained by two disulfide bridges. The resultant 3D models are verified by ERRAT and ProCheck programmes. After fruitful verification, the tertiary structures of GH have been deposited to protein model database (PMDB). Sequence analyses and RNA secondary structure prediction was performed by CLC genomics workbench version 4.0. The computational models of GH could be of use for further evaluation of molecular mechanism of function.Keywords: Growth hormone, in Silico, somatotropin, growth hormone gene (gh) mRNA, freshwater ornamental fis

A Comparative Pharmaco-Clinical Study of Arjuna and Manjishtha w.s.r. to Vyanga

In Ayurveda Vyanga is a disease which is firstly described by Acharya Sushruta under Kshudra Roga. According to Acharya Sushruta Krodha and Shoka are responsible for development of Vyanga, as these psychological factors vitiate Pitta and Vata Dosha which then travel and get localized on facial skin and leads to development of Nirujam, Tanu Shyava Varna Mandala. Ayurveda is very effective in treating skin disorders and skin is also mentioned as a route of drug administration in terms of Bahiparimarajan Chikitsa. Acharya Sharangdhara has mentioned various Lepa formulations for various skin diseases; among them he has quoted Arjuna Twak Churna and Manjishtha Churna for treatment of Vyanga. It is easy to understand about Manjishtha because it is a very well known established Varnya drug, but regarding Arjuna it was very much important to trail it clinically as it is an established drug for heart. From Dravyaguna point of view it was very important to study Arjuna, that how it would have broken the pathogenesis of Vyanga, what are the major chemicals present in Arjuna that work on hyper pigmentation. So a proper revalidation of Shastrokta quote of Acharya Sharangdhara was done by clinical trial and pharmacognostical and HPTLC analysis of Arjuna and Manjishtha

Structural, EPR, optical and Raman studies of Nd 2O 3:Cu 2+ nanophosphors

Nanocrystalline Nd2O3:Cu2+ (2 mol %) phosphors have been prepared by a low temperature solution combustion technique. Powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD) results confirm that hexagonal A-type Nd2O3 (900 °C, 3 h) and the lattice parameters have been evaluated by Rietveld refinement. Surface morphology of as-formed and Cu2+ doped Nd2O3 phosphors show that the particles are irregular in shape and porous in nature. TEM results also confirm the nature and size of the particles. The EPR spectrum exhibits two resonance signals with effective g values at gǀǀ ≈ 2.12 and g⊥ ≈ 2.04. The g values indicate that the site symmetry of Cu2+ ions is octahedral symmetry with elongated tetragonal distortion. Raman studies show major peaks, which are assigned, to Fg and combination of Ag + Eg modes. It is observed that the Raman peaks and intensity have been reduced in Cu2+ doped samples. UV–Visible absorption spectra exhibit a strong and broad absorption band at ∼240 nm. Further, the absorption peak shifts to ∼14 nm in Cu2+ doped samples. The optical band gap is estimated to be 5.28 eV for Cu doped Nd2O3 nanoparticles which are higher than the bulk Nd2O3 (4.7 eV). This can be attributed to the quantum confinement effect of the nanoparticles

Thermoluminescence and EPR studies of nanocrystalline Nd 2O 3:Ni 2+ phosphor

Nanocrystalline Nd2O3:Ni2+ (2 mol%) phosphor has been prepared by a low temperature (∼400 °C) solution combustion method, in a very short time (<5 min). Powder X-ray diffraction results confirm the single hexagonal phase of nanopowders. Scanning electron micrographs show that nanophosphor has porous nature and the particles are agglomerated. Transmission electron microscopy confirms the nanosize (20–25 nm) of the crystallites. The electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectrum exhibits a symmetric absorption at g ≈ 2.77 which suggests that the site symmetry around Ni2+ ions is predominantly octahedral. The number of spins participating in resonance (N) and the paramagnetic susceptibility (χ) has been evaluated. Raman study show major peaks, which are assigned to Fg and combination of Ag + Eg modes. Thermoluminescence (TL) studies reveal well resolved glow peaks at 169 °C along with shoulder peak at around 236 °C. The activation energy (E in eV), order of kinetics (b) and frequency factor (s) were estimated using glow peak shape method. It is observed that the glow peak intensity at169 °C increases linearly with γ-dose which suggest that Nd2O3:Ni2+ is suitable for radiation dosimetry applications

Structural characterization, thermoluminescence and EPR studies of Nd 2O3:Co2+ nanophosphors

Nd2O3:Co2+ (1–4 mol%) nanophosphors (15–25 nm) have been prepared via low temperature solution combustion method. Scanning electron micrograph (SEM) shows that the product is highly porous in nature. The stokes line in the Raman spectrum at ∼2000 cm−1 is assigned to Fg mode and the anti-stokes lines are assigned to a combination of Ag + Eg modes. With increase of Co2+ concentration, the intensity of Fg mode decreases, whereas the combination of Ag + Fg modes completely disappears. Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectrum exhibits two resonance signals with effective g values at g = 2.25 and g = 2.03. Thermoluminescence (TL) response of Nd2O3:Co2+ nanopowders with γ dose 0.23–2.05 kGy was studied. The activation energy (E) and frequency factor (s) are estimated using Chen's glow peak shape method and obtained to be in the range 0.45–1.67 eV and 1.8 × 104 to 4.0 × 1012 s−1, respectively. It is observed that the TL glow peak intensity at 430 K increases linearly with γ dose which is suitable for radiation dosimetry

What is in Name?

abstract An interesting and rare case of name syndrome is reported here. A young patient presented with stroke (left side hemiperesis due to cardiac embolic stroke) and cutaneous lesions. Further investigations revealed that left atrial myxoma was the cause of cardioembolic stroke. skin lesions were also present which included, nevi, ephelides and neurofibroma hence diagnosis of &quot;NAME sYNDROME&quot; was made

Supersymmetric States in Large N Chern-Simons-Matter Theories

In this paper we study the spectrum of BPS operators/states in N=2 superconformal U(N) Chern-Simons-matter theories with adjoint chiral matter fields, with and without superpotential. The superconformal indices and conjectures on the full supersymmetric spectrum of the theories in the large N limit with up to two adjoint matter fields are presented. Our results suggest that some of these theories may have supergravity duals at strong coupling, while some others may be dual to higher spin theories of gravity at strong coupling. For the N=2 theory with no superpotential, we study the renormalization of R-charge at finite 't Hooft coupling using "Z-minimization". A particularly intriguing result is found in the case of one adjoint matter.Comment: 53 pages, 18 figures. v2: improved numerics, additional comments adde

Macrophage Depletion in Hypertensive Rats Accelerates Development of Cardiomyopathy

Inflammation contributes to the process of ventricular remodeling after acute myocardial injury. To investigate the role of macrophages in the chronic process of cardiac remodeling, they were selectively depleted by intravenous administration of liposomal clodronate in heart failure-prone hypertensive Ren-2 rats from the age of 7 until 13 weeks. plain liposomes were used for comparison. Liposomal clodronate treatment reduced the number of blood monocytes and decreased the number of macrophages in the myocardium. Compared to plain liposomes, liposomal clodronate treatment rapidly worsened left ventricular ejection function in hypertensive rats. Liposomal clodronate-treated Ren-2 rat hearts showed areas of myocyte loss with abundant inflammatory cell infiltration, predominantly comprising CD4 positive T lymphocytes. The current-study showed that lack of macrophages vas associated with earlier development of myocardial dysfunction in hypertensive rats. Modulation of macrophage function may be of value in the evolution of cardiomyopath