Investigation of Theileria annulata as modulator of activation associated host cell gene expression

Infection of bovine leukocytes by the intracellular protozoan parasites Theileria annulata and Theileria parva represents a unique model of reversible host cell transformation; characterised by uncontrolled proliferation and protection against apoptosis. Host cell transformation is known to involve parasite dependent manipulation of a number of signalling pathways that result in constitutive activation of pro-inflammatory transcription factors. Activation of these factors has been shown to confer protection against apoptosis or influence the metastatic potential of the infected cell, respectively. However, transcription factors have the potential to be detrimental as well as beneficial to the infected cell and the infected animal. This study investigated the potential of the parasite to manipulate the outcome of cellular activation by comparing the outcome of stimulating Theileria-infected and uninfected bovine cells with LPS. The results clearly indicate that prolonged stimulation of uninfected cells generated a phenotype associated with loss of proliferation, cell death and activation of NF-B. In contrast, infected TBL20 cells were refractory to stimulation, despite displaying high levels of constitutively activated NF-B

Self-Configurable Current-Mirror Technique for Parallel RGB Light-Emitting Diodes (LEDs) Strings

Traditional current-mirror circuits require buck converter to deal with one fixed current load. This paper deals with improved self-adjustable current-mirror methods that can address different LED loads under different conditions with the help of one buck converter. The operating principle revolves around a dynamic and self-configurable combinational circuit of transistor and op-amp based current balancing circuit, along with their op-amp based dimming circuits. The proposed circuit guarantees uniformity in the outputs of the circuit. This scheme of current-balancing circuits omitted the need for separate power supply to control the load currents through different kinds of LEDs, i.e. RGB LEDs. The proposed methods are identical and modular, which can be scaled to any number of parallel current sources. The principle methodology has been successfully tested in Simulink environment to verify the current balancing of parallel LED strings

ROLE OF SONOELASTOGRAPHY IN THE EVALUATION OF THYROID NODULES

Thyroid nodular disease is one of the most common endocrine disorder. B mode ultrasound provides useful characteristic information about thyroid nodules but it has noticeably low accuracy to differentiate benign from malignant. Fine needle aspiration is widely been used in differentiation of benign and malignant thyroid nodules but it is an invasive procedure. Sonoelastography is a newly developed non- invasive technique which uses ultrasound and gives information about the stiffness of tissue. It estimates the hardness of thyroid lesions in association with adjacent tissues and assists in the differentiation of benign from malignant nodules.Objective:The objective of this study was to evaluate the role sonoelastography in the evaluation of thyroid nodules. Methods:This study was conducted on 72 Patients of age between 18-80 years of either gender at Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Oncology Lahore (INMOL) Pakistan, from 25 March 2019 to 23 August 2019 for duration of five months. Elastography was performed using Toshiba Aplio 500.  Patient having one or more solid nodules in thyroid on conventional ultrasound examination were included in the study and the sonoelastography of nodules was confirmed with histopathological findings of nodules. Results: A total 72 participants were included in our study. The mean age of participants was 42.11 years. Gender distribution shows that 51.4% (n=37) were male and 48.6% (n=35) were female. Sonoelastographic strain ratio of 55.6% nodules (n=40) was more than 2.1(malignant feature) and 44.4% nodules (n=32) have less than 2.1 (benign). Histopathology showed 56.9% of participants (n=41) have malignant nodules and 43.1% (n=31) have benign nodules. The comparison of sonoelastography and histopathology in reference with nodules shows that the results of histopathology and sonoelastography were same and support each other. Conclusion: Sonoelastography is non-invasive and cost-effective imaging technique to diagnose thyroid nodules either benign or malignant. Keywords: Ultrasound Elastography, Thyroid Nodules, Benign, Malignant, Fine Needle Aspiration. DOI: 10.7176/JHMN/66-08 Publication date:September 30th 201

A bovine lymphosarcoma cell line infected with theileria annulata exhibits an irreversible reconfiguration of host cell gene expression

Theileria annulata, an intracellular parasite of bovine lymphoid cells, induces substantial phenotypic alterations to its host cell including continuous proliferation, cytoskeletal changes and resistance to apoptosis. While parasite induced modulation of host cell signal transduction pathways and NFκB activation are established, there remains considerable speculation on the complexities of the parasite directed control mechanisms that govern these radical changes to the host cell. Our objectives in this study were to provide a comprehensive analysis of the global changes to host cell gene expression with emphasis on those that result from direct intervention by the parasite. By using comparative microarray analysis of an uninfected bovine cell line and its Theileria infected counterpart, in conjunction with use of the specific parasitacidal agent, buparvaquone, we have identified a large number of host cell gene expression changes that result from parasite infection. Our results indicate that the viable parasite can irreversibly modify the transformed phenotype of a bovine cell line. Fifty percent of genes with altered expression failed to show a reversible response to parasite death, a possible contributing factor to initiation of host cell apoptosis. The genes that did show an early predicted response to loss of parasite viability highlighted a sub-group of genes that are likely to be under direct control by parasite infection. Network and pathway analysis demonstrated that this sub-group is significantly enriched for genes involved in regulation of chromatin modification and gene expression. The results provide evidence that the Theileria parasite has the regulatory capacity to generate widespread change to host cell gene expression in a complex and largely irreversible manner

Hadamard upper bound on optimum joint decoding capacity of Wyner Gaussian cellular MAC

This article presents an original analytical expression for an upper bound on the optimum joint decoding capacity of Wyner circular Gaussian cellular multiple access channel (C-GCMAC) for uniformly distributed mobile terminals (MTs). This upper bound is referred to as Hadamard upper bound (HUB) and is a novel application of the Hadamard inequality established by exploiting the Hadamard operation between the channel fading matrix G and the channel path gain matrix Ω. This article demonstrates that the actual capacity converges to the theoretical upper bound under the constraints like low signal-to-noise ratios and limiting channel path gain among the MTs and the respective base station of interest. In order to determine the usefulness of the HUB, the behavior of the theoretical upper bound is critically observed specially when the inter-cell and the intra-cell time sharing schemes are employed. In this context, we derive an analytical form of HUB by employing an approximation approach based on the estimation of probability density function of trace of Hadamard product of two matrices, i.e., G and Ω. A closed form of expression has been derived to capture the effect of the MT distribution on the optimum joint decoding capacity of C-GCMAC. This article demonstrates that the analytical HUB based on the proposed approximation approach converges to the theoretical upper bound results in the medium to high signal to noise ratio regime and shows a reasonably tighter bound on optimum joint decoding capacity of Wyner GCMAC

Identification of candidate transmission-blocking antigen genes in Theileria annulata and related vector-borne apicomplexan parasites

Background: Vector-borne apicomplexan parasites are a major cause of mortality and morbidity to humans and livestock globally. The most important disease syndromes caused by these parasites are malaria, babesiosis and theileriosis. Strategies for control often target parasite stages in the mammalian host that cause disease, but this can result in reservoir infections that promote pathogen transmission and generate economic loss. Optimal control strategies should protect against clinical disease, block transmission and be applicable across related genera of parasites. We have used bioinformatics and transcriptomics to screen for transmission-blocking candidate antigens in the tick-borne apicomplexan parasite, Theileria annulata. Results: A number of candidate antigen genes were identified which encoded amino acid domains that are conserved across vector-borne Apicomplexa (Babesia, Plasmodium and Theileria), including the Pfs48/45 6-cys domain and a novel cysteine-rich domain. Expression profiling confirmed that selected candidate genes are expressed by life cycle stages within infected ticks. Additionally, putative B cell epitopes were identified in the T. annulata gene sequences encoding the 6-cys and cysteine rich domains, in a gene encoding a putative papain-family cysteine peptidase, with similarity to the Plasmodium SERA family, and the gene encoding the T. annulata major merozoite/piroplasm surface antigen, Tams1. Conclusions: Candidate genes were identified that encode proteins with similarity to known transmission blocking candidates in related parasites, while one is a novel candidate conserved across vector-borne apicomplexans and has a potential role in the sexual phase of the life cycle. The results indicate that a ‘One Health’ approach could be utilised to develop a transmission-blocking strategy effective against vector-borne apicomplexan parasites of animals and humans

Reducing the environmental impact of surgery on a global scale: systematic review and co-prioritization with healthcare workers in 132 countries

Abstract Background Healthcare cannot achieve net-zero carbon without addressing operating theatres. The aim of this study was to prioritize feasible interventions to reduce the environmental impact of operating theatres. Methods This study adopted a four-phase Delphi consensus co-prioritization methodology. In phase 1, a systematic review of published interventions and global consultation of perioperative healthcare professionals were used to longlist interventions. In phase 2, iterative thematic analysis consolidated comparable interventions into a shortlist. In phase 3, the shortlist was co-prioritized based on patient and clinician views on acceptability, feasibility, and safety. In phase 4, ranked lists of interventions were presented by their relevance to high-income countries and low–middle-income countries. Results In phase 1, 43 interventions were identified, which had low uptake in practice according to 3042 professionals globally. In phase 2, a shortlist of 15 intervention domains was generated. In phase 3, interventions were deemed acceptable for more than 90 per cent of patients except for reducing general anaesthesia (84 per cent) and re-sterilization of ‘single-use’ consumables (86 per cent). In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for high-income countries were: introducing recycling; reducing use of anaesthetic gases; and appropriate clinical waste processing. In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for low–middle-income countries were: introducing reusable surgical devices; reducing use of consumables; and reducing the use of general anaesthesia. Conclusion This is a step toward environmentally sustainable operating environments with actionable interventions applicable to both high– and low–middle–income countries

Is PeerMark a useful tool for formative assessment of literature review? A trial in the School of Veterinary Science

The BVSc new curriculum at the University of Liverpool places a very strong emphasis on the acquisition of research skills. As a part of a research skills exercise, second year veterinary undergraduate students have to submit a short literature review (2500 words). In semester 1, as a part of formative assessment all students (n=156) submitted their Literature Review via Turnitin©, a software that checks the originality and plagiarism of people’s written material. Each student had to review and critique two submissions of their peers by providing constructive feedback by responding to both open ended and scaled questions using Turnitin Peermark©. In the second phase, course instructor reviewed the feedback from the students and added appropriate comments where necessary using GradeMark©. In general, the undergraduate students have very little experience of scientific writing and providing a constructive feedback to their peers. This exercise helped them improve their writing skills and the entire process was evaluated with a questionnaire sent to all second year veterinary undergraduate students. The feedback received from students regarding the use of PeerMark was positive and suggested that peer assessment along with instructor’s feedback encouraged students to engage more in their learning and to improve their own work

FACTORS AFFECTING ESL SPEAKING ANXIETY IN HIGHER INSTITUTIONS IN PAKISTAN

The purpose of this qualitative study is to investigate the intricacies of speaking anxiety among students learning English as a Second language (ESL) at a university in Pakistan. The study investigates the cultural, educational, and linguistic elements that contribute to Speaking Anxiety and finds ways that participants cope with it by conducting in-depth interviews with 28 students from different departments. Results show that language barriers, educational system issues, and social expectations all had a role in making the change to English as the language of teaching a difficult one. The interactions between teachers and students become an important factor, with supportive connections playing a key role in reducing Speaking Anxiety. Some of the coping techniques that are highlighted by the participants include receiving support from peers and participating in extracurricular language activities. The significance of inclusive language practices and targeted language development programs is emphasized in the recommendations for institutional assistance. This research adds to the growing body of literature on the psychology of language acquisition and provides practical recommendations for schools and other organizations that are working to make their campuses more welcoming to students studying ESL