Extracellular RNAs: development as biomarkers of human disease

Ten ongoing studies designed to test the possibility that extracellular RNAs may serve as biomarkers in human disease are described. These studies, funded by the NIH Common Fund Extracellular RNA Communication Program, examine diverse extracellular body fluids, including plasma, serum, urine and cerebrospinal fluid. The disorders studied include hepatic and gastric cancer, cardiovascular disease, chronic kidney disease, neurodegenerative disease, brain tumours, intracranial haemorrhage, multiple sclerosis and placental disorders. Progress to date and the plans for future studies are outlined

Prevalence of chronic kidney disease among patients undergoing transradial percutaneous coronary interventions

While transradial approach to conduct percutaneous coronary interventions offers multiple advantages, the procedure can cause radial artery damage and occlusion. Because radial artery is the preferred site for the creation of an arteriovenous fistula to provide dialysis, patients with chronic kidney disease are particularly dependent on radial artery for their long-term survival. In this retrospective study, we investigated the prevalence of chronic kidney disease in patients undergoing coronary interventions via radial artery. Stage of chronic kidney disease was based on estimated glomerular filtration rate and National Kidney Foundation - Kidney Disease Outcomes Quality Initiative guidelines. A total of 497 patients undergoing transradial percutaneous coronary interventions were included. Over 70.4% (350/497) of the patients had chronic kidney disease. Stage II chronic kidney disease was observed in 243 (69%) patients (estimated glomerular filtration rate = 76.0 ± 8.4 mL/min). Stage III was observed in 93 (27%) patients (estimated glomerular filtration rate = 49 ± 7.5 mL/min). Stage IV chronic kidney disease was observed in 5 (1%) patients (estimated glomerular filtration rate = 25.6 ± 4.3 mL/min) and Stage V chronic kidney disease was observed in 9 (3%) patients (estimated glomerular filtration rate = 9.3 ± 3.5 mL/min). Overall, 107 of 350 patients (30%) had advanced chronic kidney disease, that is, stage III-V chronic kidney disease. Importantly, 14 of the 107 (13%) patients had either stage IV or V chronic kidney disease. This study finds that nearly one-third of the patients undergoing transradial percutaneous coronary interventions have advanced chronic kidney disease. Because many of these patients may require dialysis, the use of radial artery to conduct percutaneous coronary interventions must be carefully considered in chronic kidney disease population

Mother India: the role of the maternal figure in establishing legal subjectivity

Psychoanalytic jurisprudence attempts to understand the images used by law to attract and capture the subject. In keeping with the larger psychoanalytic tradition, such theories tend to overemphasise the paternal principle. The image of law is said to be the image of the paterfamilias—the biological father, the sovereign, or God. In contrast to such theories, I would like to introduce the image of the mother and analyse its impact on the subject’s relation to law. For this purpose, I examine the history and use of the figure of Bharat Mata or Mother India and how it influences the Indian subject’s relation to law. When the subject is torn between his loyalties to the lawmaker–as–father and the nation–as–mother, who does he side with? Eschewing Greek myths and the Oedipus complex, I focus instead on Hindu mythology and the notion of an oedipal alliance to understand legal subjectivity in India. Lastly, I analyse a defining Indian political trial, the Gandhi murder trial, in which all these notions come to play and the accused justifies his decision to murder the father of the nation in the name of the motherland

exRNA Atlas Analysis Reveals Distinct Extracellular RNA Cargo Types and Their Carriers Present across Human Biofluids.

To develop a map of cell-cell communication mediated by extracellular RNA (exRNA), the NIH Extracellular RNA Communication Consortium created the exRNA Atlas resource (https://exrna-atlas.org). The Atlas version 4P1 hosts 5,309 exRNA-seq and exRNA qPCR profiles from 19 studies and a suite of analysis and visualization tools. To analyze variation between profiles, we apply computational deconvolution. The analysis leads to a model with six exRNA cargo types (CT1, CT2, CT3A, CT3B, CT3C, CT4), each detectable in multiple biofluids (serum, plasma, CSF, saliva, urine). Five of the cargo types associate with known vesicular and non-vesicular (lipoprotein and ribonucleoprotein) exRNA carriers. To validate utility of this model, we re-analyze an exercise response study by deconvolution to identify physiologically relevant response pathways that were not detected previously. To enable wide application of this model, as part of the exRNA Atlas resource, we provide tools for deconvolution and analysis of user-provided case-control studies

Abstracts of Scientifica 2022

This book contains the abstracts of the papers presented at Scientifica 2022, Organized by the Sancheti Institute College of Physiotherapy, Pune, Maharashtra, India, held on 12–13 March 2022. This conference helps bring researchers together across the globe on one platform to help benefit the young researchers. There were six invited talks from different fields of Physiotherapy and seven panel discussions including over thirty speakers across the globe which made the conference interesting due to the diversity of topics covered during the conference. Conference Title:  Scientifica 2022Conference Date: 12–13 March 2022Conference Location: Sancheti Institute College of PhysiotherapyConference Organizer: Sancheti Institute College of Physiotherapy, Pune, Maharashtra, Indi