Imunosno posredovana genska ekspresija IL-6 i TGF-β1 za vrijeme progresije i regresije zaraznog veneričnog tumora u pasa

Canine transmissible venereal tumor (CTVT) is a unique, naturally and experimentally transmitted contagious venereal tumor of dogs which is commonly present in stray dogs exhibiting unrestrained sexual activity. The mutated and contagious tumor cell is the causative agent. This study was conducted to evaluate the genetic expression of TGF-β1 and IL-6 cytokines, T-cell response towards Concanavalin A and hematological and biochemical changes during the progression and regression of the CTVT. The signalment and clinical history of 12 client-owned TVT affected dogs were recorded. Tissue samples were obtained through biopsy, and blood samples were collected for diagnostic confirmation using reverse transcriptase PCR. The RT-PCR products from CTVT samples were further purified and sequenced. Regression of the tumor was performed using intravenous injections of vincristine sulphate at weekly intervals. Significant genetic expression of TGF-β1 was observed in the progressive phase of CTVT, whereas genetic expression of IL-6 was significant in the regressive phase of CTVT after chemotherapy. Cell- mediated immunity also plays an important role in the regression of canine transmissible venereal tumors. Notably, a significant (P0.05) changes in the number of neutrophils, lymphocytes, monocytes and eosinophils, and slight hypoproteinemia and hypoalbuminemia were observed after chemotherapy with vincristine sulphate in CTVT affected animals. Overall, our results delineate the critical roles of T cells, TGF-β1 and IL-6 in triggering the progression and regression of CTVT, which can be promising in developing potential immunotherapy against CTVT.Zarazni venerični tumor u pasa (CTVT) jedinstven je, prirodno i eksperimentalno prenosiv kontagiozni venerični tumor, koji se obično nalazi u pasa lutalica s nekontroliranom seksualnom aktivnošću. Uzrokuje ga mutirana i kontagiozna tumorska stanica. Ovo je istraživanje provedeno kako bi se procijenila genska ekspresija citokina TGF-β1 i IL-6, odgovor T-stanica na konkanavalin A te hematološke i biokemijske promjene za vrijeme progresije i regresije CTVT-a. Zabilježeni su klinički znakovi i povijest bolesti 12 pasa sa zaraznim veneričnim tumorom. Uzorci tkiva dobiveni su biopsijom i krvnim uzorcima prikupljenima za dijagnostičku potvrdu upotrebom PCR reverzne transkriptaze. RT-PCR produkti CTVT uzoraka zatim su pročišćeni i sekvencirani. Tumorska je regresija postignuta tjednim intravenskim injekcijama vinkristin-sulfata. Znakovita genska ekspresija TGF-β1 uočena je u fazi progresije CTVT-a, dok je genska ekspresija IL-6 bila znakovita u fazi regresije CTVT-a nakon kemoterapije. Stanično posredovana imunost također je važna u regresiji zaraznog veneričnog tumora. Opažen je znakovit porast (P 0,05) broja neutrofila, limfocita, monocita i eozinofila te blaga hipoproteinemija i hipoalbuminemija poslije kemoterapije vinkristin-sulfatom u životinja s CTVT-om. Sveukupno rezultati naznačuju ključnu ulogu T-stanica, TGF-β1 i IL-6 u poticanju regresije i progresije CTVT-a, što može biti obećavajuće u razvoju potencijalne imunoterapije za CTVT

Role of excipients and polymeric advancements in preparation of floating drug delivery systems

Abstract Since decade or two, the development of floating drug delivery systems becomes a significant and novel tool as having low density than gastric content. There are various advanced polymers including chitosan, eudragit, etc., and excipients such as; pore forming agent, surfactants, etc. All of them are discussed briefly, and results are concluded from various reputed researches. We have discussed all natural and synthetic systems with their effect on the release and other parameters which are essential for the floating formulation development

Circular Patch Antenna with Defected Ground for UWB Communication with WLAN Band Rejection

The design and performance of coplanar waveguide fed modified circular patch antenna for possible application in ultra wideband communication systems with band rejection for upper wireless local area network band (5.15 GHz - 5.85 GHz) is reported. This antenna is designed on glass epoxy FR4 substrate having size 30 mm × 20 mm × 1.59 mm. The coplanar waveguide fed circular patch antenna is modified by introducing L shaped slits in ground plane and U shaped slot in patch and performance analysis of antenna is simulated by applying CST microwave studio simulation software. Different designed antennas were tested with available experimental facilities. The developed end product shows a nice matching with feed network at frequencies 2.62 GHz, 3.94 GHz and 8.50 GHz and provides 10.38 GHz (3.33 GHz - 13.71 GHz) impedance bandwidth with wireless local area network 5.5 GHz (4.74 GHz - 6.15 GHz) band rejection. The co and cross polar patterns in elevation and azimuth planes at two frequencies namely 2.62 GHz and 3.94 GHz are obtained which dictate that co-polar patterns are significantly better than cross polar patterns. The simulated peak gain of antenna is close to 3.86 dBi and gain variation with frequency shows a sharp gain decrease in the frequency range 4.74 GHz to 6.15 GHz.

Aerosol Chemistry over a High Altitude Station at Northeastern Himalayas, India

BACKGROUND: There is an urgent need for an improved understanding of the sources, distributions and properties of atmospheric aerosol in order to control the atmospheric pollution over northeastern Himalayas where rising anthropogenic interferences from rapid urbanization and development is becoming an increasing concern. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: An extensive aerosol sampling program was conducted in Darjeeling (altitude approximately 2200 meter above sea level (masl), latitude 27 degrees 01'N and longitude 88 degrees 15'E), a high altitude station in northeastern Himalayas, during January-December 2005. Samples were collected using a respirable dust sampler and a fine dust sampler simultaneously. Ion chromatograph was used to analyze the water soluble ionic species of aerosol. The average concentrations of fine and coarse mode aerosol were found to be 29.5+/-20.8 microg m(-3) and 19.6+/-11.1 microg m(-3) respectively. Fine mode aerosol dominated during dry seasons and coarse mode aerosol dominated during monsoon. Nitrate existed as NH(4)NO(3) in fine mode aerosol during winter and as NaNO(3) in coarse mode aerosol during monsoon. Gas phase photochemical oxidation of SO(2) during premonsoon and aqueous phase oxidation during winter and postmonsoon were the major pathways for the formation of SO(4)(2-) in the atmosphere. Long range transport of dust aerosol from arid regions of western India was observed during premonsoon. The acidity of fine mode aerosol was higher in dry seasons compared to monsoon whereas the coarse mode acidity was higher in monsoon compared to dry seasons. Biomass burning, vehicular emissions and dust particles were the major types of aerosol from local and continental regions whereas sea salt particles were the major types of aerosol from marine source regions. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: The year-long data presented in this paper provide substantial improvements to the heretofore poor knowledge regarding aerosol chemistry over northeastern Himalayas, and should be useful to policy makers in making control strategies

RNAi-Mediated Downregulation of Inositol Pentakisphosphate Kinase (IPK1) in Wheat Grains Decreases Phytic Acid Levels and Increases Fe and Zn Accumulation

Enhancement of micronutrient bioavailability is crucial to address the malnutrition in the developing countries. Various approaches employed to address the micronutrient bioavailability are showing promising signs, especially in cereal crops. Phytic acid (PA) is considered as a major antinutrient due to its ability to chelate important micronutrients and thereby restricting their bioavailability. Therefore, manipulating PA biosynthesis pathway has largely been explored to overcome the pleiotropic effect in different crop species. Recently, we reported that functional wheat inositol pentakisphosphate kinase (TaIPK1) is involved in PA biosynthesis, however, the functional roles of the IPK1 gene in wheat remains elusive. In this study, RNAi-mediated gene silencing was performed for IPK1 transcripts in hexaploid wheat. Four non-segregating RNAi lines of wheat were selected for detailed study (S3-D-6-1; S6-K-3-3; S6-K-6-10 and S16-D-9-5). Homozygous transgenic RNAi lines at T4 seeds with a decreased transcript of TaIPK1 showed 28–56% reduction of the PA. Silencing of IPK1 also resulted in increased free phosphate in mature grains. Although, no phenotypic changes in the spike was observed but, lowering of grain PA resulted in the reduced number of seeds per spikelet. The lowering of grain PA was also accompanied by a significant increase in iron (Fe) and zinc (Zn) content, thereby enhancing their molar ratios (Zn:PA and Fe:PA). Overall, this work suggests that IPK1 is a promising candidate for employing genome editing tools to address the mineral accumulation in wheat grains

The Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity in Nepal: Current Knowledge, Lacunae, and Opportunities

Nepal has an extreme altitudinal range from 60–8850m with heterogeneous topography and distinct climatic zones. The country is considered a biodiversity hotspot, with nearly a quarter of the land area located in protected areas. Nepal and the surrounding Himalayan region are particularly vulnerable to climate change because of their abrupt ecological and climatic transitions. Tens of millions of people rely on the region’s ecosystem services, and observed and modeled warming trends predict increased climate extremes in the Himalayas. To study the ecological impacts of climate change in Nepal and inform adaptation planning, we review the literature on past, present, and predicted future climatic changes and their impacts on ecological diversity in Nepal. We found few studies focusing on organisms, while research on species and communities was more common. Most studies document or predict species range shifts and changes in community composition. Results of these few investigations highlight major lacunae in research regarding the effects of changing climate on species comprising the Himalayan biota. Further empirical work is needed at all levels of biological organization to build on information regarding direct ecological impacts of climatic changes in the region. Countries face an ever-increasing threat of climate change, and Nepal has strong physiographic, elevational, and climatic gradients that could provide a useful model for studying the effects of climate change on a mountainous, and highly biodiverse, area

Development of a D genome specific marker resource for diploid and hexaploid wheat

Background: Mapping and map-based cloning of genes that control agriculturally and economically important traits remain great challenges for plants with complex highly repetitive genomes such as those within the grass tribe, Triticeae. Mapping limitations in the Triticeae are primarily due to low frequencies of polymorphic gene markers and poor genetic recombination in certain genetic regions. Although the abundance of repetitive sequence may pose common problems in genome analysis and sequence assembly of large and complex genomes, they provide repeat junction markers with random and unbiased distribution throughout chromosomes. Hence, development of a high-throughput mapping technology that combine both gene-based and repeat junction-based markers is needed to generate maps that have better coverage of the entire genome. Results: In this study, the available genomics resource of the diploid Aegilop tauschii, the D genome donor of bread wheat, were used to develop genome specific markers that can be applied for mapping in modern hexaploid wheat. A NimbleGen array containing both gene-based and repeat junction probe sequences derived from Ae. tauschii was developed and used to map the Chinese Spring nullisomic-tetrasomic lines and deletion bin lines of the D genome chromosomes. Based on these mapping data, we have now anchored 5,171 repeat junction probes and 10,892 gene probes, corresponding to 5,070 gene markers, to the delineated deletion bins of the D genome. The order of the gene-based markers within the deletion bins of the Chinese Spring can be inferred based on their positions on the Ae. tauschii genetic map. Analysis of the probe sequences against the Chinese Spring chromosome sequence assembly database facilitated mapping of the NimbleGen probes to the sequence contigs and allowed assignment or ordering of these sequence contigs within the deletion bins. The accumulated length of anchored sequence contigs is about 155 Mb, representing ~ 3.2 % of the D genome. A specific database was developed to allow user to search or BLAST against the probe sequence information and to directly download PCR primers for mapping specific genetic loci. Conclusions: In bread wheat, aneuploid stocks have been extensively used to assign markers linked with genes/traits to chromosomes, chromosome arms, and their specific bins. Through this study, we added thousands of markers to the existing wheat chromosome bin map, representing a significant step forward in providing a resource to navigate the wheat genome. The database website (http://probes.pw.usda.gov/ATRJM/) provides easy access and efficient utilization of the data. The resources developed herein can aid map-based cloning of traits of interest and the sequencing of the D genome of hexaploid wheat.Keywords: Recombination, Repeat junction markers, Genetic map, NimbleGen array, Molecular markers, Wheat deletion bin