Length-independent DNA packing into nanopore zero-mode waveguides for low-input DNA sequencing

Compared with conventional methods, single-molecule real-time (SMRT) DNA sequencing exhibits longer read lengths than conventional methods, less GC bias, and the ability to read DNA base modifications. However, reading DNA sequence from sub-nanogram quantities is impractical owing to inefficient delivery of DNA molecules into the confines of zero-mode waveguides-zeptolitre optical cavities in which DNA sequencing proceeds. Here, we show that the efficiency of voltage-induced DNA loading into waveguides equipped with nanopores at their floors is five orders of magnitude greater than existing methods. In addition, we find that DNA loading is nearly length-independent, unlike diffusive loading, which is biased towards shorter fragments. We demonstrate here loading and proof-of-principle four-colour sequence readout of a polymerase-bound 20,000-base-pair-long DNA template within seconds from a sub-nanogram input quantity, a step towards low-input DNA sequencing and mammalian epigenomic mapping of native DNA samples.R01 HG009186 - NHGRI NIH HHS; R21 HG006873 - NHGRI NIH HHSAccepted manuscrip

Sixth Sense Technology Based Pointer Interface System

As computers became more common in society, promoting natural human to computer interaction (HCI) will have a positive influence on their use. Hence, there has been growing interest in the development of new approaches and technologies for bridging the human–computer barrier. A Real Time Vision Based Pointer interface system is a new vision-based interface, which is sufficiently fast and effective to substitute a computer mouse. System is able to reduce hardware impact and also increases range of usage of physical word objects instead of digital word objects like mouse. The aim of a system is to bring HCI to a level where interactions with computers will be as natural as an interaction between humans. DOI: 10.17762/ijritcc2321-8169.150315

Role of Tenecteplase in management of acute ischemic stroke: a knowledge, attitude, and practice survey among Indian neurologists

Background: Tenecteplase, a third generation tissue plasminogen activator has important place in the thrombolytic therapy in acute ischemic stroke. The objective of present study was to understand the knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) towards the usage of tenecteplase in daily clinical practice.Methods: This was a prospective questionnaire based knowledge, attitude and practice survey with involvement of practising neurologists across the country. A specially designed validated questionnaire containing 18 questions was shared with neurologists and their anonymous inputs were captured and analysed in qualitative manner.Results: Total Sixty-eight neurologists completed this questionnaire. The 73 percent of neurologist preferred tenecteplase in stroke patients arriving within 4.5 hours of onset of stroke symptoms. Almost 70% of neurologists preferred tenecteplase in patients <60 years of age with average NIHSS score between 5-15. The preferred dosage was 0.2 mg/kg by majority (78%). Bridging therapy was used up to 0-10% of patients by 70% neurologists which ultimately has lesser bleeding chances. 46% neurologists reported that no sICH after tenecteplase, while 30% reported in <1% patients. Almost 70% neurologists reported no allergic reaction noted with tenecteplase. Overall, 70% neurologists reported good to very good improvement in the patient’s quality of life at 90 days after tenecteplase therapy.Conclusions: The current KAP survey emphasized tenecteplase as a commonly preferred thrombolytic agent in acute ischemic stroke with better efficacy and safety, affordable cost with single bolus administration

Aquatic Fungi from Nasik District-I

The paper deals with five species of aquatic fungi belonging to five genera of freshwater hyphomycetes found in foam samples collected from Trambkeshwar stream of Nasik District. The foam spora of this region represents mixture of both tropical and temperate species. Brief notes and illustration are given for each taxon. Geographical distribution of each species in India is also provided

A rare case of pregnancy with Sturge-Weber syndrome

Sturge-Weber syndrome is a rare sporadic neurocutaneous syndrome characterized by facial angiomas, ocular abnormalities (glaucoma and choroidal hemangioma), and leptomeningeal angioma. We report a case of Sturge Weber syndrome type I, associated with seizures, with gestational diabetes. She had successful labour outcome. Very few such cases have been reported in literature. The effect of pregnancy on neurological symptoms of Sturge Weber syndrome is not known.

MinMax Radon Barcodes for Medical Image Retrieval

Content-based medical image retrieval can support diagnostic decisions by clinical experts. Examining similar images may provide clues to the expert to remove uncertainties in his/her final diagnosis. Beyond conventional feature descriptors, binary features in different ways have been recently proposed to encode the image content. A recent proposal is "Radon barcodes" that employ binarized Radon projections to tag/annotate medical images with content-based binary vectors, called barcodes. In this paper, MinMax Radon barcodes are introduced which are superior to "local thresholding" scheme suggested in the literature. Using IRMA dataset with 14,410 x-ray images from 193 different classes, the advantage of using MinMax Radon barcodes over \emph{thresholded} Radon barcodes are demonstrated. The retrieval error for direct search drops by more than 15\%. As well, SURF, as a well-established non-binary approach, and BRISK, as a recent binary method are examined to compare their results with MinMax Radon barcodes when retrieving images from IRMA dataset. The results demonstrate that MinMax Radon barcodes are faster and more accurate when applied on IRMA images.Comment: To appear in proceedings of the 12th International Symposium on Visual Computing, December 12-14, 2016, Las Vegas, Nevada, US

Pregnancy with neurofibromatosis type II: the enigma continues

Neurofibromatosis type II in pregnancy has variable presentations. The recurrence rate and bilaterality of CP angle tumour is very high. We present a case of bilateral schwanomma diagnosed in midpregnancy, for which patient was operated in second trimester and postpartum radiotherapy will now be given

Interface structure and band alignment of CZTS/CdS heterojunction: An experimental and first-principles DFT investigation

We report a phase-pure kesterite Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS) thin films, synthesized using radio frequency (RF) sputtering followed by low-temperature H2S annealing and confirmed by XRD, Raman spectroscopy and XPS measurements. Subsequently, the band offsets at the interface of the CZTS/CdS heterojunction were systematically investigated by combining experiments and first-principles density functional theory (DFT) calculations, which provide atomic-level insights into the nature of atomic ordering and stability of the CZTS/CdS interface. A staggered type II band alignment between the valence and conduction bands at the CZTS/CdS interface was determined from Cyclic Voltammetry (CV) measurements and the DFT calculations. The conduction and valence band offsets were estimated at 0.10 and 1.21 eV, respectively, from CV measurements and 0.28 and 1.15 from DFT prediction. Based on the small conduction band offset and the predicted higher positions of the VBmax and CBmin for CZTS than CdS, it is suggested photogenerated charge carriers will be efficient separated across the interface, where electrons will flow from CZTS to the CdS and and vice versa for photo-generated valence holes. Our results help to explain the separation of photo-excited charge carriers across the CZTS/CdS interface and it should open new avenues for developing more efficient CZTS-based solar cells

EXPLORING VISCERAL ADIPOSITY INDEX AS A PREDICTOR OF VISCERAL ADIPOSITY DYSFUNCTION AND EVALUATING ITS PERFORMANCE IN PREDICTING HEPATIC INSULIN RESISTANCE IN INDIAN TYPE 2 DIABETICS

Objective: Visceral adiposity index (VAI) is a simple clinical algorithm developed as a surrogate marker for characterizing visceral adiposity dysfunction (VAD). This study aimed to explore an optimal VAI cut off value for predicting VAD as reflected quantitatively by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and to evaluate its merit in predicting the severity of the cardiometabolic risk (CMR) in type 2 diabetic patients of India.Methods: Data was collected from 81 diabetics and 48 healthy participants, who underwent metabolic assessments. VAI derived using BMI, waist circumference (WC), triglycerides (TG) and HDLc, was studied against visceral fat area measuring ≥130 cm2 by MRI as it is associated with higher CMR through raised VAD. Optimal VAI cutoff was determined using the area under the receiver operator characteristic curve (AUROC). Diabetic participants were divided into VAD absent, and VAD present groups based on derived VAI cut off to study associated difference in their metabolic profile. Results: Diabetic group had significantly deranged metabolic profile compared to the healthy control group. Most of the diabetic group participants had a visceral fat area between 101 and 200 cm2. From the ROC curve analysis (AUROC = 0.761), VAI cut-off of 2.0 predicted VAD with sensitivity and specificity of 73.21% and 71.23% respectively. Diabetic participants with VAI values more than 2, had significantly (p&lt;0.05) higher WC, visceral fat, fasting insulin, HOMA-IR (Homeostatic model assessment for insulin resistance), TG (p&lt;0.01), non-HDLc and apolipoprotein B/A1 ratio values. Age adjusted partial correlation analysis showed a significant (p&lt;0.01) positive correlation between VAI and HOMA-IR.Conclusion: VAI was useful in predicting VAD and identifying the severity of CMR within type 2 diabetics. VAI can replace imaging procedures with the advantages of reduced economic burden and can be used as screening tool for surveillance of CMR in Indian population.Â