‘Retournement’ of the aedeagus in Curculionidae (Coleoptera, Curculionoidea)

Retournement or turning of the aedeagus about its longitudinal axis through about 180o during development is known in Chrysomeloidea (Coleoptera). This change in the orientation of the organ may be observed during the postembryonic development. This change produces certain morphological effects. By observing these morphological features in the imago the retournement may be inferred. Such morphological features in Curculionidae (Coleoptera) are here recorded. From this it has been inferred not only that retournement of the aedeagus is included in the ontogeny of curculionids, but also that the change of orientation of the organ occurs by the same mechanism as in Chrysomeloidea. These inferences attest the notion of a close phyletic relationship between the superfamilies Curculionoidea and Chrysomeloidea

Heavy metal water pollution- A case study

Heavy metals are dangerous because they tend to bioaccumulate. Bioaccumulation means an increase in the concentration of a chemical in a biological organism over time, compared to the chemical's concentration in the environment. Compounds accumulate in living things any time they are taken up and stored faster than they are broken down (metabolized) or excreted. Heavy metals can enter a water supply by industrial and consumer waste, or even from acidic rain breaking down soils and releasing heavy metals into streams, lakes, rivers, and groundwater. Heavy metal toxicity can result in damaged or reduced mental and central nervous function, lower energy levels, and damage to blood composition, lungs, kidneys, liver, and other vital organs. Long-term exposure may result in slowly progressing physical, muscular, and neurological degenerative processes that mimic Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, muscular dystrophy, and multiple sclerosis. Allergies are not uncommon and repeated long-term contact with some metals or their compounds may even cause cancer (International Occupational Safety and Health Centre1999). &nbsp

UTTAR PRADESH HIGHER EDUCATION DIGITAL LIBRARY PORTAL: AN ANALYSIS

In the current digital information environment, a well-defined e-platform is required to organize, store, retrieve and disseminate of information efficiently—the web portal facilitates users to access a wide range of web-based information resources. Here, an attempt has been made to create awareness about Uttar Pradesh higher education digital library portal. This study was conducted to the analysis of Uttar Pradesh higher education digital library portal and the findings of the study are that Uttar Pradesh higher education digital library has more than 70,000 e-contents available in different streams and students of higher-level educational institutions are taking advantage of it. The notes and educational contents of the best teachers of the Uttar Pradesh state are accessible to every student without cost. This digital library portal is a godsend for those students who do not have access to the contents of an uninterrupted internet connection in this age of online learning. They can use this to download study material at their leisure

Repeated Burst Error Detecting Linear Codes

This paper presents lower bounds on the number of parity-check digits required for a linear code that is capable of detecting errors which are ‘m-repeated burst errors’. Further, codes capable of detecting and simultaneously correcting such errors have also been studied

Incidence of post-operative (caesarean section) infectious morbidities in cleansing and non-cleansing group after povidone iodine vaginal cleaning

Background: Despite of wide spread use of prophylactic antibiotics and various antiseptic measures, post-operative infection remains one of the significant and serious complication of caesarean delivery contributing to high maternal morbidity and mortality. Objective was to study the incidence of post-operative infectious morbidities in patients with/without povidone iodine vaginal cleansing done prior to caesarean section.Methods: A prospective randomized control study was done in the department of obstetrics and gynecology of Dr. Baba Saheb Ambedkar Medical College and Hospital, New Delhi.Results: Mean age of participants in group A is 26.22±2.47 years and in group B is 26.48±2.3 years. Majority women (84.0%) underwent emergency lower segment caesarean section (LSCS). (6.4%) women developed post-operative endometritis, out of which maximum (4.6%) belong to no vaginal cleansing group (B) compared to 1.8% in povidone iodine vaginal cleansing group(A), which is statistically significant (p=0.01). Over all (13%) women had post-operative fever, with significant difference among the two groups i.e. (8.6%) were in group B versus (4.4%) in group A (p=0.005).Conclusions: Povidone iodine vaginal cleansing prior to caesarean section is significantly effective in reducing post-operative infectious morbidities

Construction of m-Repeated Burst Error Detecting and Correcting Non-binary Linear Codes

Error correcting codes are required to ensure reliable communication of digitally encoded information. One of the areas of practical importance in which a parallel growth of the subject error correcting codes took place is that of burst error detecting and correcting codes. The nature of burst errors differs from channel to channel depending upon the behavior of channels or the kind of errors which occur during the process of transmission. The rate of transmission is efficient if the number of parity-check digits are as minimum as possible. It is usually not possible to give the exact number of parity-check digits required for a given code. However, bounds can be obtained over the number of parity-check digits. An upper bound for a linear code capable of detecting/ correcting burst errors or its variants is many a times established by the technique used to establish Varsharmov-Gilbert-Sacks bound by constructing a parity-check matrix for the requisite code. This technique not only ensures the existence of such a code but also gives a method for constructing such a code. The synthesis method using this technique is cumbersome and to the best of our knowledge, there is no systematic way to construct a parity-check matrix for a burst error correcting non-binary linear code. Extending the algorithm for binary linear codes given by the authors to non-binary codes, the paper proposes a new algorithm for constructing a parity-check matrix for any linear code over GF(q) capable of detecting and correcting a new kind of burst error called `m-repeated burst error of length b or less\u27. Codes based on the proposed algorithm have been illustrated

IN SILICO MODELING OF MONOMERIC DEXAMETHASONE-INDUCED RAS-RELATED PROTEIN 1 AND RAS HOMOLOG ENRICHED IN STRIATUM: ROLE OF N TERMINUS AND STRUCTURE‑FUNCTION RELATIONSHIP

Objective: Dexamethasone-induced Ras-related protein 1 (Dexras1) and Ras homolog enriched in striatum (RHES) are the two monomeric small G proteins that belong to Ras superfamily. These two proteins show 62% similarity. Both of these proteins are involved in signaling and modulation of several pathophysiological processes. They have unique GTP binding domain and a unique C and N terminus. C terminus is known to interact with several proteins; however, the role of its unique N terminus is still not known. The three-dimensional (3D) structure of these proteins is also not available in any of the databases yet. This present study approaches bioinformatics tools and servers to predict the 3D structure of these two proteins in silico.Methods: In this study, two bioinformatics servers were used, namely Swiss modeling server and Iterative Threading ASSEmbly Refinement (I-TASSER) server.Results: Both servers developed many alignment templates of Dexras1 and RHES. These alignments were used to develop 3D structure using Pymol. These models have different regions of proteins such as N terminus, GTP-binding domains, effector loop, C terminus, and the unique CAAX site. The models deduce that the N-terminals of both Dexras1 and RHES are unique regions that might possible be dangling out of the protein while it gets inserted into the membrane. We hypothesize that this unique N-terminal might have a distinct role in the modulation of N-type calcium channels.Conclusion: All the models generated show predicted 3D structure of Dexras1 and RHES protein. This study of structural prediction will be helpful in knowing the interaction of Dexras1 and RHES and a step forward to target these two proteins as a novel therapeutic drug

Breast cancer and the immune system: the response of lymphocytes to breast cancer and to chemotherapy

Background and Aim Chemotherapy is used for treatment of breast cancer. However, relatively little is known about the extent or the time course of immune dysfunction caused by it. The aim of this study was to evaluate the circulating lymphocytes and tetanus & pneumococcal antibody titers pre and at various time points post-chemotherapy and check for association between circulating lymphocytes and tumour infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) and their correlations with patient outcome. Methods Detailed immunophenotyping of peripheral blood lymphocytes was performed by flow cytometry in 88 patients with primary breast cancer before and at various time points up to 9 months after chemotherapy. Peripheral blood levels of anti-pneumococcal and anti-tetanus antibodies were assessed using ELISA. Immunohistochemistry was used to assess the presence of tumour infiltrating CD20+, CD4+, CD8+ and FoxP3+ positive lymphocytes in the tumour microenvironment. Results There were significant depletions of circulating B, CD4+T, CD8+T and NK cells at 2 weeks post-chemotherapy (p<0.001), with B cells showing maximum depletion. Levels of B cells and CD4+ T cells remained significantly low even at 9 months post-chemotherapy (p<0.001). Repopulating B and CD4+ T cell phenotypes were different from the pre-chemotherapy profile. Titers of anti-pneumococcal and anti-tetanus antibodies were significantly reduced post- chemotherapy and did not return to normal even at 9 months post-chemotherapy (p<0.001). Smoking and chemotherapy regimen had significant correlations with degrees of depletion and repopulation of B and T cells. Chemotherapy regimen and the extent of depletion of lymphocytes had a significant influence on overall and disease-free survival. Analysis of TILs showed significant correlations between the stromal and intra-tumoural levels of each of the lymphocytes and between different lymphocytes. TILs correlated with hormone negative, triple negative and grade 3 tumours. Only tumour infiltrating CD8+ lymphocytes correlated with its matched circulating levels, and this positive correlation was stronger in hormone negative and triple negative tumours. High CD4+ stromal infiltrate was associated with better disease-free survival and overall survival. High stromal CD8+ T cells were associated with better disease-free survival in ER/PR negative patients, while high intra-tumoural CD8+ T cell and FoxP3+ infiltrate was associated with poor overall survival in the ER/PR positive cohort. Conclusion Breast cancer chemotherapy has significant long-term effects on the immune parameters and this should be taken into consideration during clinical management. TILs are associated with poor prognostic features and also show some correlation with circulating lymphocytes. The site and type of lymphocyte infiltrate in the tumour microenvironment influences outcome

Ultrasound guided detection of position of post partum intra uterine contraceptive device and its relation to complications

Background: Worldwide, Intrauterine Contraceptive Device (IUCD) is one of the most commonly used reversible methods of contraception among married women of reproductive age. It is the second most commonly used forms of contraception, ranking second only to female sterilization. Proper positioning of Copper containing IUCD is of utmost importance for efficacy and safety. The immediate postpartum period, after a birth but prior to discharge from the hospital is an important but under utilized time frame to initiate contraceptives, specially long acting contraceptives such as intrauterine contraceptive device (IUCD). To study the location of Copper IUCD by ultrasound, relationship between position and complaints, failure rate and expulsion rate in post-partum IUCD cases.Methods: The study was prospective, analytical study conducted on 200 women for one year.  IUCD insertion was done in two groups; group A (normal delivery, postplacental) and group B (caesarean section, intracaesarean). On ultrasonography, position and distance of IUCD from fundus of uterus was measured. Outcome measures were expulsion, complication and failure rate upto six months. Informed consent was taken from each participant and ethical justification for the study was sought.Results: Majority of the patients were in age group of 21-25 years. Multigravidae patients had more acceptability of IUCD than primigravidae. More than half of IUCD insertion was done by senior residents (56%). Malpositions were more common in vaginal delivery (62%) than caesarean section (28%). Most common malposition was mid cavity and least common was oblique. Most common complaint was pain abdomen and least common was expulsion.Conclusions: Sonography can be used as an adjunct to clinical examination to examine the position of the IUCD. Ultrasonography done after PPIUCD insertion helps in determining, whether PPIUCDs are placed in normal position or malposition. Malpositioned PPIUCDs have more complications as compared to normally placed IUCD

Synthesis, characterization and applications of chitosan based metallic nanoparticles: A review

Chitosan as a natural biopolymer has been produced to be the important host for the preparation of metallic nanoparticles (MNPs) because of its excellent characteristics like:- good stabilizing and capping ability, biocompatibility, biodegradability, eco-friendly and non-toxicity properties. Chitosan can play a very important role for synthesis of metallic nanoparticles, as chitosan is a cationic polymer. It attracts metal ions and reduces them and also Capps and stabilizes. So basically chitosan can be responsible for the controlled synthesis of metallic nanoparticle. Chitosan has a very good chelating property. This property is due to its –NH2 and –OH functional groups. Size and shape of metallic nanoparticles are much affected by chitosan concentration, molecular weight, time of reaction, degree of acetylation of chitosan, pH of the medium, method of synthesis and type of derivative of chitosan etc. Metallic nanoparticles`s properties and applications are much associated with their size and shape. Optimization of the metallic nanoparticle size and shape has been the subject of curiosity for nanotechnology scientist. Chitosan can solve this problem by applying the optimization conditions. But a very little work is reported about: - how chitosan can affect the size and shape of metallic nanoparticles and how can it reduce metal salts to prepare metallic nanoparticle, stablilized in chitosan metrics. This is very first report as a review article highlighting the effect of chitosan on synthesis of metallic nanoparticles and optimization conditions. This review will also be beneficial for scientist working on food sensing application of nanoparticles.  Various synthesis methods and applications of chitosan based metallic nanoparticles have also been reported in details