A Field Study of the Street Slogans of the Dravida Kazhagam

The aim of this field study is to highlight how the Dravida Kazhaga street slogans became a powerful and unique tool for the development of that movement. Superstitions, racial consciousness and rights, women's rights education and language, economic development programs and universal humanitarian principles are found in those texts. Words of denial of God, anti-religious words, advices for human harmony, and words of eradicating superstition are seen as eloquent words that highlight Thanthai Periyar's ideas. Dravida Kazhagam's education policy and language policy are all Periyar policies only Based on that, anti-Hindi slogans have been divided into bilingual acceptance slogans and anti-education policy slogans. It is important to note that research ethics are not required for this research study, which has been prepared through field research

Risks in global transport

Abstract. The background of this project is that the case company delivers its products to customer all over the world using different supply chains. Currently, the products are packed and shipped in relatively similar packages without considering the specific requirements of the various supply chains, which raises the concern of poor packaging performance. Meaning that the packaging system was not designed to meet the supply chain requirements which ultimately leads to product damage or quality deterioration. The purpose of this thesis is to define the conditions that the product and the industrial package are exposed to in the various supply chains, as they flow from the Alfa Laval facility in Lund to the customers. The identification of the supply chain conditions will provide essential data that can be used as a foundation to enhance the industrial package’s performance and increase the protection of products during transport. The methodology used is an abductive research using systems thinking, in which theoretical knowledge was combined with empirical data collected through various methods to answer the research questions and provide suggestions for improvements. The data collection methods were interviews, observations, internal documents examination, data loggers and GPS trackers. The Conclusions were that the product and the industrial package are exposed to various risks that can be classified as mechanical, chemical & biological or miscellaneous risks. The occurrence of risks and the extent of damage they can cause are influenced by factors related to the product & its package, the communication between the forwarders, the climatic conditions, the human factor and finally factors related to activities of transport, handling & storage. The shipped cargo was exposed to high humidity shocks throughout the different supply chains. The cargo was not exposed to more damaging conditions in developing countries, as high humidity levels and shocks were also recorded within the production facility in Lund and during handling in EU countries (e.g. at ports)

PENGARUH KONSENTRASI LISOL TERHADAP DAYA SPORULASI OOKISTA €imeria tenella"

Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui sejauh mana konsentrasi lisol berpengaruh terhadap daya sporulasi ookista Eimeria tenella

Physiologically regulated transgenic ABCA1 does not reduce amyloid burden or amyloid‐beta peptide levels in vivo

J Lipid Res. 2007 Apr;48(4):914-23. Epub 2007 Jan 18. Physiologically regulated transgenic ABCA1 does not reduce amyloid burden or amyloid-beta peptide levels in vivo. Hirsch-Reinshagen V, Chan JY, Wilkinson A, Tanaka T, Fan J, Ou G, Maia LF, Singaraja RR, Hayden MR, Wellington CL. Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada. Abstract ABCA1-deficient mice have low levels of poorly lipidated apolipoprotein E (apoE) and exhibit increased amyloid load. To test whether excess ABCA1 protects from amyloid deposition, we crossed APP/PS1 mice to ABCA1 bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) transgenic mice. Compared with wild-type animals, the ABCA1 BAC led to a 50% increase in cortical ABCA1 protein and a 15% increase in apoE abundance, demonstrating that this BAC supports modest ABCA1 overexpression in brain. However, this was observed only in animals that do not deposit amyloid. Comparison of ABCA1/APP/PS1 mice with APP/PS1 controls revealed no differences in levels of brain ABCA1 protein, amyloid, Abeta, or apoE, despite clear retention of ABCA1 overexpression in the livers of these animals. To further investigate ABCA1 expression in the amyloid-containing brain, we then compared ABCA1 mRNA and protein levels in young and aged cortex and cerebellum of APP/PS1 and ABCA1/APP/PS1 animals. Compared with APP/PS1 controls, aged ABCA1/APP/PS1 mice exhibited increased ABCA1 mRNA, but not protein, selectively in cortex. Additionally, ABCA1 mRNA levels were not increased before amyloid deposition but were induced only in the presence of extensive Abeta and amyloid levels. These data suggest that an induction of ABCA1 expression may be associated with late-stage Alzheimer's neuropathology. PMID: 17235115 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE

Accurate Prediction of the Functional Significance of Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms and Mutations in the ABCA1 Gene

The human genome contains an estimated 100,000 to 300,000 DNA variants that alter an amino acid in an encoded protein. However, our ability to predict which of these variants are functionally significant is limited. We used a bioinformatics approach to define the functional significance of genetic variation in the ABCA1 gene, a cholesterol transporter crucial for the metabolism of high density lipoprotein cholesterol. To predict the functional consequence of each coding single nucleotide polymorphism and mutation in this gene, we calculated a substitution position-specific evolutionary conservation score for each variant, which considers site-specific variation among evolutionarily related proteins. To test the bioinformatics predictions experimentally, we evaluated the biochemical consequence of these sequence variants by examining the ability of cell lines stably transfected with the ABCA1 alleles to elicit cholesterol efflux. Our bioinformatics approach correctly predicted the functional impact of greater than 94% of the naturally occurring variants we assessed. The bioinformatics predictions were significantly correlated with the degree of functional impairment of ABCA1 mutations (r (2) = 0.62, p = 0.0008). These results have allowed us to define the impact of genetic variation on ABCA1 function and to suggest that the in silico evolutionary approach we used may be a useful tool in general for predicting the effects of DNA variation on gene function. In addition, our data suggest that considering patterns of positive selection, along with patterns of negative selection such as evolutionary conservation, may improve our ability to predict the functional effects of amino acid variation

A neutralizing IL-11 antibody reduces vessel hyperplasia in a mouse carotid artery wire injury model

Vascular restenosis remains a major problem in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) and peripheral artery disease (PAD). Neointimal hyperplasia, defined by post-procedure proliferation and migration of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) is a key underlying pathology. Here we investigated the role of Interleukin 11 (IL-11) in a mouse model of injury-related plaque development. Apoe−/− mice were fed a hyperlipidaemic diet and subjected to carotid wire injury of the right carotid. Mice were injected with an anti-IL11 antibody (X203), IgG control antibody or buffer. We performed ultrasound analysis to assess vessel wall thickness and blood velocity. Using histology and immunofluorescence approaches, we determined the effects of IL-11 inhibition on VSMC and macrophages phenotypes and fibrosis. Treatment of mice with carotid wire injury using X203 significantly reduced post-endothelial injury vessel wall thickness, and injury-related plaque, when compared to control. Immunofluorescence staining of the injury-related plaque showed that X203 treatment did not reduce macrophage numbers, but reduced the number of VSMCs and lowered matrix metalloproteinase 2 (MMP2) levels and collagen content in comparison to control. X203 treatment was associated with a significant increase in smooth muscle protein 22α (SM22α) positive cells in injury-related plaque compared to control, suggesting preservation of the contractile VSMC phenotype. Interestingly, X203 also reduced the collagen content of uninjured carotid arteries as compared to IgG, showing an additional effect on hyperlipidemia-induced arterial remodeling in the absence of mechanical injury. Therapeutic inhibition of IL-11 reduced vessel wall thickness, attenuated neointimal hyperplasia, and has favorable effects on vascular remodeling following wire-induced endothelial injury. This suggests IL-11 inhibition as a potential novel therapeutic approach to reduce arterial stenosis following revascularization in CAD and PAD patients

Inhibiting caspase cleavage of huntingtin reduces toxicity and aggregate formation in neuronal and nonneuronal cells.

Huntington's disease is a neurodegenerative disorder caused by CAG expansion that results in expansion of a polyglutamine tract at the extreme N terminus of huntingtin (htt). htt with polyglutamine expansion is proapoptotic in different cell types. Here, we show that caspase inhibitors diminish the toxicity of htt. Additionally, we define htt itself as an important caspase substrate by generating a site-directed htt mutant that is resistant to caspase-3 cleavage at positions 513 and 530 and to caspase-6 cleavage at position 586. In contrast to cleavable htt, caspase-resistant htt with an expanded polyglutamine tract has reduced toxicity in apoptotically stressed neuronal and nonneuronal cells and forms aggregates at a much reduced frequency. These results suggest that inhibiting caspase cleavage of htt may therefore be of potential therapeutic benefit in Huntington's disease

Low Levels of Human HIP14 Are Sufficient to Rescue Neuropathological, Behavioural, and Enzymatic Defects Due to Loss of Murine HIP14 in Hip14−/− Mice

Huntingtin Interacting Protein 14 (HIP14) is a palmitoyl acyl transferase (PAT) that was first identified due to altered interaction with mutant huntingtin, the protein responsible for Huntington Disease (HD). HIP14 palmitoylates a specific set of neuronal substrates critical at the synapse, and downregulation of HIP14 by siRNA in vitro results in increased cell death in neurons. We previously reported that mice lacking murine Hip14 (Hip14−/−) share features of HD. In the current study, we have generated human HIP14 BAC transgenic mice and crossed them to the Hip14−/− model in order to confirm that the defects seen in Hip14−/− mice are in fact due to loss of Hip14. In addition, we sought to determine whether human HIP14 can provide functional compensation for loss of murine Hip14. We demonstrate that despite a relative low level of expression, as assessed via Western blot, BAC-derived human HIP14 compensates for deficits in neuropathology, behavior, and PAT enzyme function seen in the Hip14−/− model. Our findings yield important insights into HIP14 function in vivo

Loss of α-catenin elicits a cholestatic response and impairs liver regeneration

The liver is unique in its capacity to regenerate after injury, during which hepatocytes actively divide and establish cell-cell contacts through cell adhesion complexes. Here, we demonstrate that the loss of α-catenin, a well-established adhesion component, dramatically disrupts liver regeneration. Using a partial hepatectomy model, we show that regenerated livers from α-catenin knockdown mice are grossly larger than control regenerated livers, with an increase in cell size and proliferation. This increased proliferation correlated with increased YAP activation, implicating α-catenin in the Hippo/YAP pathway. Additionally, α-catenin knockdown mice exhibited a phenotype reminiscent of clinical cholestasis, with drastically altered bile canaliculi, elevated levels of bile components and signs of jaundice and inflammation. The disrupted regenerative capacity is a result of actin cytoskeletal disorganisation, leading to a loss of apical microvilli, dilated lumens in the bile canaliculi, and leaky tight junctions. This study illuminates a novel, essential role for α-catenin in liver regeneration

The Influence of Huntingtin Protein Size on Nuclear Localization and Cellular Toxicity

Huntington disease is an autosomal dominant neurodegenerative disorder caused by the pathological expansion of a polyglutamine tract. In this study we directly assess the influence of protein size on the formation and subcellular localization of huntingtin aggregates. We have created numerous deletion constructs expressing successively smaller fragments of huntingtin and show that these smaller proteins containing 128 glutamines form both intranuclear and perinuclear aggregates. In contrast, larger NH2-terminal fragments of huntingtin proteins with 128 glutamines form exclusively perinuclear aggregates. These aggregates can form in the absence of endogenous huntingtin. Furthermore, expression of mutant huntingtin results in increased susceptibility to apoptotic stress that is greater with decreasing protein length and increasing polyglutamine size. As both intranuclear and perinuclear aggregates are clearly associated with increased cellular toxicity, this supports an important role for toxic polyglutamine-containing fragments forming aggregates and playing a key role in the pathogenesis of Huntington disease