Transcriptional Regulation of wnt1 and wnt10b by Evolutionarily Conserved CIS- Regulatory Regions

This study assesses the importance of enhancers of wnt genes- wnt1 and wnt10b during midbrain hindbrain boundary formation in zebrafish. These cis-regulatory elements are hypothesized to regulate wnt1 and wnt10b transcription both spatially and temporally. A secreted signaling molecule is encoded by wnt1 that is first expressed in the presumptive midbrain region of the neural plate and is essential for midbrain and hindbrain development. An understanding of wnt regulation would, therefore, shed light on transcriptional mechanisms that underlay regional organization of the vertebrate CNS. In mice it has been shown that certain non-coding regions work as enhancer elements and trigger the full wnt1 expression in the early murine embryo. These enhancers are proved to be both necessary and sufficient component of endogenous regulatory machinery of wnt1 expression. The wnt1 and wnt10b locus in fish shows many conserved non-coding regions. As compared to spotted gar (Lepisosteus oculatus), zebrafish underwent an additional round of whole-genome duplication but these cis-regulatory regions have still been conserved. That indicates they might be of key importance in regulating wnt1 and wnt10b during brain development. There is a possibility that these regions represent an evolutionarily conserved regulatory module controlling the wnt1 and wnt10b expression. This project targets a comparative sequence analysis of non-coding regions from zebrafish and spotted gar to check their ability to activate reporter gene expression in zebrafish midbrain and midbrain-hindbrain boundary. Our goal is to understand the transcriptional regulation of wnt in detail. ECRs are critical in understanding the regulation of wnt genes around midbrain hindbrain boundary. Overall, this study helped us to better understand the role of wnt in anterior posterior patterning in vertebrates as wells as complex control of brain development

Emotional responses to Hindustani raga music: the role of musical structure

In Indian classical music, ragas constitute specific combinations of tonic intervals potentially capable of evoking distinct emotions. A raga composition is typically presented in two modes, namely, alaap and gat. Alaap is the note by note delineation of a raga bound by a slow tempo, but not bound by a rhythmic cycle. Gat on the other hand is rendered at a faster tempo and follows a rhythmic cycle. Our primary objective was to (1) discriminate the emotions experienced across alaap and gat of ragas, (2) investigate the association of tonic intervals, tempo and rhythmic regularity with emotional response. 122 participants rated their experienced emotion across alaap and gat of 12 ragas. Analysis of the emotional responses revealed that (1) ragas elicit distinct emotions across the two presentation modes, and (2) specific tonic intervals are robust predictors of emotional response. Specifically, our results showed that the ‘minor second’ is a direct predictor of negative valence. (3) Tonality determines the emotion experienced for a raga where as rhythmic regularity and tempo modulate levels of arousal. Our findings provide new insights into the emotional response to Indian ragas and the impact of tempo, rhythmic regularity and tonality on it

Cubosomes: A Novel Carrier for Transdermal Drug Delivery

Cubosomes are square and rounded particles with internal cubic lattice. Cubosomes are thermodynamically stable and consist of honeycombed (cavernous) structures separating two internal aqueous channels and a large interfacial area. Cubosomes are nanoparticles which are self assembled liquid crystalline particles of certain surfactants with proper ratio of water with microstructure that provides unique properties of practical interest. Bicontinuous cubic liquid crystalline phase is optically clear and very viscous material has the unique structure at nanometer scale. The word bicontinuous refers to the division of the two continuous but non-intersecting aqueous regions by lipid bilayer that is twisted into space filling structure. Hydrating a surfactant or polar lipid that forms cubic phase and then dispersing a solid like phase into smaller particles usually forms a cubosomes. Self-assembled cubosomes as active drug delivery systems are receiving more and more attention and interest after the first discovery and nomination. They exhibit different internal cubic structure and composition with different drug-loading modalities. It has high internal surface area and cubic crystalline structures, relatively simple preparation method, biodegradability of lipids, the ability of encapsulating hydrophobic, hydrophilic and amphiphilic substances, targeting and controlled release of bioactive agents. Cubosomes are having wide range of applications in various fields and they can be characterized by various evaluation parameters. So, Cubosomes are gaining more attention in pharmaceutical field. Keywords: Cubosomes, Liquid crystal, drug-loading, hydrophilic, hydrophobic, amphiphilic

Illustrating the Charrette Process

A dialogue on possibilities for West Stadium

Online) An Open Access

ABSTRACT Yolk sac tumor with pregnancy is a rare neoplasm. There is a therapeutic dilemma for the treatment of pregnant patient with yolk sac tumor requiring chemotherapy. Our case was a pregnant woman with 24 weeks gestation with yolk sac tumor, removed by laparotomy. Chemotherapy was delayed till after delivery. Both mother and child are well 20 weeks after last dose of chemotherapy

Economic impact and risk analysis of integrating sustainable aviation fuels into refineries

The growth of the aviation industry coupled with its dependence on energy dense, liquid fuels has brought sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) research to the forefront of the biofuels community. Petroleum refineries will need to decide how to satisfy the projected increase in jet fuel demand with either capital investments to debottleneck current operations or by integrating bio-blendstocks. This work seeks to compare jet production strategies on a risk-adjusted, economic performance basis using Monte-Carlo simulation and refinery optimization models. Additionally, incentive structures aiming to de-risk initial SAF production from the refiner’s perspective are explored. Results show that market sensitive incentives can reduce the financial risks associated with producing SAFs and deliver marginal abatement costs ranging between 136-182 $/Ton-CO2e