Hemolytic anemia in a case of SARS CoV2 infection without respiratory involvement: a new dimension of COVID-19

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS CoV-2) infection is a predominantly respiratory illness with variable organ involvement. Hematological changes are an important manifestation and anemia is usually autoimmune in origin. It is easily identifiable and treatable complication. In absence of tell tail sign of COVID-19 infection high index of suspicion is required with prompt testing. Our patient presented as case of autoimmune hemolytic anemia with no evidence of COVID-19 infection and tested after ruling out common causes in Indian setting. He responded to steroid therapy and viral clearance

Tbr1 instructs laminar patterning of retinal ganglion cell dendrites.

Visual information is delivered to the brain by >40 types of retinal ganglion cells (RGCs). Diversity in this representation arises within the inner plexiform layer (IPL), where dendrites of each RGC type are restricted to specific sublaminae, limiting the interneuronal types that can innervate them. How such dendritic restriction arises is unclear. We show that the transcription factor Tbr1 is expressed by four mouse RGC types with dendrites in the outer IPL and is required for their laminar specification. Loss of Tbr1 results in elaboration of dendrites within the inner IPL, while misexpression in other cells retargets their neurites to the outer IPL. Two transmembrane molecules, Sorcs3 and Cdh8, act as effectors of the Tbr1-controlled lamination program. However, they are expressed in just one Tbr1+ RGC type, supporting a model in which a single transcription factor implements similar laminar choices in distinct cell types by recruiting partially non-overlapping effectors

Erosion Study of Tungsten Carbide films under 100 keV Kr+ ion irradiation

Tungsten carbide (WC) stands out as a crucial material for exploration in extreme environments due to its resistance to radiation and impressive mechanical strength. Widely utilized in cutting tools, high-wear components, and as a potential contender for plasma-facing material in nuclear reactors, WC's erosion behavior under surrogate irradiations is a subject of investigation. In the present work, WC films were synthesized at two different substrate temperatures of 400 K and 600 K using RF sputtering and were then irradiated with 100 keV Kr1+ ions at a fluence of 1x1017 ions/cm2. The crystalline phases of as deposited WC films were confirmed by glancing incidence X-ray diffraction (GIXRD) measurements. Rutherford Backscattering Spectrometry (RBS) was employed to determine the thicknesses of pristine samples and the sputtering rate by measuring the difference in the areal densities of the pristine and irradiated films. The erosion rate of both types of films was found to be ~ 1.6 atoms per incident Kr+ ion. These findings contribute to a foundational comprehension of the radiation tolerance behavior of WC thin films, crucial for their performance in the demanding conditions of extreme radiation.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figure

Phytochemical screening, antimicrobial activity and cytotoxicity of Nepalese medicinal plants Swertia chirayita and Dendrobium amoenum

Research on medicinal plants are important to Nepal because most of its rural population relies on it as mode of medicine. Medicinal plants namely Swertia chirayita and Dendrobium amoenum were collected from mid hills of Nepal. The present study was undertaken to find the antimicrobial activity, phytochemical presence and their cytotoxicity in different extraction medium. The percentage yield from the plants were highest in warm methanol extraction with 12.6%, followed by ethyl acetate and lowest was for cold methanol. Plant extract showed the presence of antioxidants like alkaloid, terpenoids, flavonoids, tannin, glycosides. The Brine Shrimp Bioassay of methanol and ethyl acetate extract showed cytotoxicity. Chiraito extract showed LC50 of 199 ppm for Dhunche sample, 128.82 ppm for Daman sample and 131.82 ppm of Illam sample. The antibacterial activity of methanol extract of Chiraito and Dendrobium amoenum showed significant bioactivity by inhibiting growth of microbial species selected for the test. The zone of inhibition shown by the extracts was comparable to the standard antibiotics. Similarly, methanol extract of Chiraito also showed significant antifungal activity with the zone of inhibition comparable to amphotericin.Nepal Journal of Biotechnology. Dec. 2015 Vol. 3, No. 1: 48-5

Complement C1q-dependent excitatory and inhibitory synapse elimination by astrocytes and microglia in Alzheimer's disease mouse models

Microglia and complement can mediate neurodegeneration in Alzheimer's disease (AD). By integrative multi-omics analysis, here we show that astrocytic and microglial proteins are increased in Tau P301S synapse fractions with age and in a C1q-dependent manner. In addition to microglia, we identified that astrocytes contribute substantially to synapse elimination in Tau P301S hippocampi. Notably, we found relatively more excitatory synapse marker proteins in astrocytic lysosomes, whereas microglial lysosomes contained more inhibitory synapse material. C1q deletion reduced astrocyte-synapse association and decreased astrocytic and microglial synapses engulfment in Tau P301S mice and rescued synapse density. Finally, in an AD mouse model that combines β-amyloid and Tau pathologies, deletion of the AD risk gene Trem2 impaired microglial phagocytosis of synapses, whereas astrocytes engulfed more inhibitory synapses around plaques. Together, our data reveal that astrocytes contact and eliminate synapses in a C1q-dependent manner and thereby contribute to pathological synapse loss and that astrocytic phagocytosis can compensate for microglial dysfunction

Sleep Pattern and Problems in Young Children Visiting Outpatient Department of a Tertiary Level Hospital in Kathmandu, Nepal

Background. Sleep is an important parameter of a child’s growth and development. The pattern and duration of sleep varies with age. Sleep problems are a common occurrence during childhood days, and these problems that establish in childhood are presumed to continue later in life. Many times, parental concerns regarding their child’s sleep problems like difficulty in putting to sleep, frequent night time awakening, and waking up early are overlooked during their visits to the hospital. Objective. The aim of this study was to find out the sleep patterns and problems of children aged six to thirty-six months. Methodology. A cross-sectional study was conducted at the pediatric outpatient department of Kathmandu Medical College Teaching Hospital from October, 2019 till March, 2020. Two hundred and forty-nine respondents were chosen purposively and were given questionnaires to be filled out. Research instrument was a standard, Nepali version of a structured questionnaire called Brief Infant Sleep Questionnaire (BISQ) which contained questions related to sleep parameters and sleep problems existing among young children of 6-36 months. Mean, standard deviation, frequencies, and Kruskal Wallis test were used for statistical analysis. Results. The mean duration of total sleep was 12.12±2.00 hours, while that of night sleep was 9.22±1.19 hours and mean daytime nap was 2.90±1.66 hours. Most of the children (96%) coslept with their parents, and 55% of the children had feeding as a bedtime ritual. Overall, 19.6% of the children had sleep problems as identified by BISQ although only 5.6% of the parents perceived that their children had it. Conclusions. Sleep problems were present among young Nepalese children included in our study, and sleep assessment should be a part of every health checkup for children

Artificial Intelligence in Biological Sciences

Artificial intelligence (AI), currently a cutting-edge concept, has the potential to improve the quality of life of human beings. The fields of AI and biological research are becoming more intertwined, and methods for extracting and applying the information stored in live organisms are constantly being refined. As the field of AI matures with more trained algorithms, the potential of its application in epidemiology, the study of host–pathogen interactions and drug designing widens. AI is now being applied in several fields of drug discovery, customized medicine, gene editing, radiography, image processing and medication management. More precise diagnosis and cost-effective treatment will be possible in the near future due to the application of AI-based technologies. In the field of agriculture, farmers have reduced waste, increased output and decreased the amount of time it takes to bring their goods to market due to the application of advanced AI-based approaches. Moreover, with the use of AI through machine learning (ML) and deep-learning-based smart programs, one can modify the metabolic pathways of living systems to obtain the best possible outputs with the minimal inputs. Such efforts can improve the industrial strains of microbial species to maximize the yield in the bio-based industrial setup. This article summarizes the potentials of AI and their application to several fields of biology, such as medicine, agriculture, and bio-based industry

Comprehensive Identification and Spatial Mapping of Habenular Neuronal Types Using Single-Cell RNA-Seq.

The identification of cell types and marker genes is critical for dissecting neural development and function, but the size and complexity of the brain has hindered the comprehensive discovery of cell types. We combined single-cell RNA-seq (scRNA-seq) with anatomical brain registration to create a comprehensive map of the zebrafish habenula, a conserved forebrain hub involved in pain processing and learning. Single-cell transcriptomes of ∼13,000 habenular cells with 4× cellular coverage identified 18 neuronal types and dozens of marker genes. Registration of marker genes onto a reference atlas created a resource for anatomical and functional studies and enabled the mapping of active neurons onto neuronal types following aversive stimuli. Strikingly, despite brain growth and functional maturation, cell types were retained between the larval and adult habenula. This study provides a gene expression atlas to dissect habenular development and function and offers a general framework for the comprehensive characterization of other brain regions

Comprehensive Identification and Spatial Mapping of Habenular Neuronal Types Using Single-Cell RNA-Seq

The identification of cell types and marker genes is critical for dissecting neural development and function, but the size and complexity of the brain has hindered the comprehensive discovery of cell types. We combined single-cell RNA-seq (scRNA-seq) with anatomical brain registration to create a comprehensive map of the zebrafish habenula, a conserved forebrain hub involved in pain processing and learning. Single-cell transcriptomes of ∼13,000 habenular cells with 4× cellular coverage identified 18 neuronal types and dozens of marker genes. Registration of marker genes onto a reference atlas created a resource for anatomical and functional studies and enabled the mapping of active neurons onto neuronal types following aversive stimuli. Strikingly, despite brain growth and functional maturation, cell types were retained between the larval and adult habenula. This study provides a gene expression atlas to dissect habenular development and function and offers a general framework for the comprehensive characterization of other brain regions