Comparison of the spatial QRS-T angle derived from digital ECGs recorded using conventional electrode placement with that derived from Mason-Likar electrode position

Background: The spatial QRS-T angle is ideally derived from orthogonal leads. We compared the spatial QRS-T angle derived from orthogonal leads reconstructed from digital 12-lead ECGs and from digital Holter ECGs recorded with the Mason-Likar (M-L) electrode positions. Methods and results: Orthogonal leads were constructed by the inverse Dower method and used to calculate spatial QRS-T angle by (1) a vector method and (2) a net amplitude method, in 100 volunteers. Spatial QRS-T angles from standard and M-L ECGs differed significantly (57° ± 18° vs 48° ± 20° respectively using net amplitude method and 53° ± 28° vs 48° ± 23° respectively by vector method; p < 0.001). Difference in amplitudes in leads V4–V6 was also observed between Holter and standard ECGs, probably due to a difference in electrical potential at the central terminal. Conclusion: Mean spatial QRS-T angles derived from standard and M-L lead systems differed by 5°–9°. Though statistically significant, these differences may not be clinically significant

Choice of an alternative lead for QT interval measurement in serial ECGs when Lead II is not suitable for analysis

Introduction: Conventionally, QT interval is measured in lead II. There are no data to select an alternative lead for QT measurement when it cannot be measured in Lead II for any reason. Methods and results: We retrospectively analyzed ECGs from 1906 healthy volunteers from 41 phase I studies. QT interval was measured on the median beat in all 12 leads. The mean difference in QT interval between lead aVR and in Lead II was the least, followed by aVF, V5, V6 and V4; lead aVL had maximum difference. The T wave was flat (<0.1 mV) in Lead II in 6.9% of ECGs; it was also flat in 20% of these ECGs (1.4% of all ECGs) in Leads aVR, aVF and V5. Conclusions: When QT interval cannot be measured in Lead II, the best alternative leads are aVR, aVF, V5, V6 and V4 in that sequence. It differs maximally from that in Lead II in Lead aVL

Impact of accidental leakage of furnace oil on Mahul creek mangrove vegetation

477-481A pipeline carrying furnace/black oil from Butcher Island to the petrochemical complex at Mahul in Mumbai started leaking during 3rdweek of October 2013and went unnoticed till first week of November2013. The alignment of the pipeline is through an intertidal mudflat (0.240 km2) and about 0.052 km2 area covered by luxuriant mangrove growth, mainly of Avicenniamarina (Forssk). On 36th day after the notification of oil spill incident, a field study was carried out to assess the impact on mangroves that were found dead due to smothering of their breathing roots with oil. Sediment core (40cm) samples were collected from the intertidal region showed high accumulation of Petroleum Hydrocarbons (PHc, 1496 µg/g wet wt) at 2 cm sediment depth. The concentration of PHc at 20cm and 40cm of the core was 25 µg/g and 58 µg/g wet wt. Such variation in the sediment core may be due to anthropogenic perturbation

Metabolic engineering of CHO cells for the development of a robust protein production platform

<div><p>Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells are the most preferred mammalian host used for the bio-pharmaceutical production. A major challenge in metabolic engineering is to balance the flux of the tuned heterogonous metabolic pathway and achieve efficient metabolic response in a mammalian cellular system. Pyruvate carboxylase is an important network element for the cytoplasmic and mitochondrial metabolic pathway and efficiently contributes in enhancing the energy metabolism. The lactate accumulation in cell culture can be reduced by re-wiring of the pyruvate flux in engineered cells. In the present work, we over-expressed the yeast cytosolic pyruvate carboxylase (PYC2) enzyme in CHO cells to augment pyruvate flux towards the TCA cycle. The dual selection strategy is adopted for the screening and isolation of CHO clones containing varying number of PYC2 gene load and studied their cellular kinetics. The enhanced PYC2 expression has led to enhanced pyruvate flux which, thus, allowed reduced lactate accumulation up to 4 folds and significant increase in the cell density and culture longevity. With this result, engineered cells have shown a significant enhanced antibody expression up to 70% with improved product quality (~3 fold) as compared to the parental cells. The PYC2 engineering allowed overall improved cell performance with various advantages over parent cells in terms of pyruvate, glucose, lactate and cellular energy metabolism. This study provides a potential expression platform for a bio-therapeutic protein production in a controlled culture environment.</p></div

Comparative glycoform analysis of mAb secreted from the clone expressing PYC2 gene and a set of control without PYC2 over-expression.

<p>Relative abundance of glycan composition of a mAb.</p

Culture performance of the clone#12 expressing PYC2 and parental CHO cell in shake flask fed-batch culture.

<p><b>Graph representing culture profile: (A)</b> Cell density,(<b>B)</b> cell viability, (<b>C)</b> Glutamine (<b>D)</b> lactate and (<b>E)</b> glucose consumption profiles.</p

Comparative NAD⁺/NADH ratios of parental CHO cell and PYC2 clone#12 in feed batch culture studies.

<p>Comparative NAD⁺/NADH ratios of parental CHO cell and PYC2 clone#12 in feed batch culture studies.</p

Amino acid analysis of spent medium.

<p>Concentration of the glutamic acid, aspartic acid and alanine profile of parental CHO cells and clone#12 grown in a fed -batch culture at different time interval. (<b>A</b>) Glutamic acid (<b>B)</b> Aspartic acid (<b>C)</b> Alanine.</p

Comparative fed batch study of mAb expression in CHO-PYC2 clone 12 and CHO-S control cells.

<p><b>(A)</b> Cell density, (<b>B)</b> Cell viability, (<b>C)</b> Lactate profile (<b>D)</b> Specific productivity and <b>(E)</b> Titer profile.</p