The molecular basis of ligand interaction at free fatty acid receptor 4 (FFA4/GPR120)

The long-chain fatty acid receptor FFA4(previously GPR120) is receiving substantial interest as a novel target for the treatment of metabolic and inflammatory disease. The current study examines for the first time the detailed mode of binding of both a long-chain fatty acid and synthetic agonist ligands at FFA4 by integrating molecular modeling, receptor mutagenesis, and ligand structure-activity relationship approaches in an iterative format. In doing so, residues required for binding of fatty acid and synthetic agonists to FFA4 have been identified. This has allowed for the refinement of a well-validated model of the mode of ligand-FFA4 interaction which will be invaluable in the identification of novel ligands and future development of this receptor as a therapeutic target. The model reliably predicted the effects of substituent variations on agonist potency, and was also able to predict the qualitative effect of binding site mutations in the majority of cases

Role of isospin physics in supernova matter and neutron stars

We investigate the liquid-gas phase transition of hot protoneutron stars shortly after their birth following supernova explosion and the composition and structure of hyperon-rich (proto)neutron stars within a relativistic mean-field model where the nuclear symmetry energy has been constrained from the measured neutron skin thickness of finite nuclei. Light clusters are abundantly formed with increasing temperature well inside the neutrino-sphere for an uniform supernova matter. Liquid-gas phase transition is found to suppress the cluster yield within the coexistence phase as well as decrease considerably the neutron-proton asymmetry over a wide density range. We find symmetry energy has a modest effect on the boundaries and the critical temperature for the liquid-gas phase transition, and the composition depends more sensitively on the number of trapped neutrinos and temperature of the protoneutron star. The influence of hyperons in the dense interior of stars makes the overall equation of state soft. However, neutrino trapping distinctly delays the appearance of hyperons due to abundance of electrons. We also find that a softer symmetry energy further makes the onset of hyperon less favorable. The resulting structures of the (proto)neutron stars with hyperons and with liquid-gas phase transition are discussed.Comment: 11 pages, 7 figures, RevTe

Groundwater research and management: integrating science into management decisions. Proceedings of IWMI-ITP-NIH International Workshop on "Creating Synergy Between Groundwater Research and Management in South and Southeast Asia," Roorkee, India, 8-9 February 2005

Groundwater management / Governance / Groundwater development / Artificial recharge / Water quality / Aquifers / Groundwater irrigation / Water balance / Simulation models / Watershed management / Water harvesting / Decision making / South East Asia / Bangladesh / China / India / Nepal / Pakistan / Syria

Chemistry by Mobile Phone (or how to justify more time at the bar)

By combining automatic environment monitoring with Java smartphones a system has been produced for the real-time monitoring of experiments whilst away from the lab. Changes in the laboratory environment are encapsulated as simple XML messages, which are published using an MQTT compliant broker. Clients subscribe to the MQTT stream, and produce a user display. An MQTT client written for the Java MIDP platform, can be run on a smartphone with a GPRS Internet connection, freeing us from the constraints of the lab. We present an overview of the technologies used, and how these are helping chemists make the best use of their time

Face Recognition using local Patterns

Deriving an effective face representation is very essential task for automatic face recognition application. In this paper we used a feature descriptor called the Local Directional Number Pattern (LDN), which allows individual’s face recognition under different lightning’s, pose and expressions. Face recognition deals with different challenging problems in the field of image analysis and human computer interface. To deal with attention in our proposed work we use local patterns, a local directional number pattern (LDN) method, a six bit compact code for face recognition and understanding. By using LDN method we encode the directional information of the face images by convolving the face image with the compass mask. This compass mask extracts the edge response values in eight directions in the neighborhood. For each pixel we get the maximum and the minimum directional values which generate a LDN code i.e. generating an LDN image. Later LDN image is divided into number of blocks for each block histogram is computed and finally adds these histogram from each block to form the feature vector which acts as face descriptor to represent the face images. We perform different experiments under various illumination, pose and expression conditions

Phytochemical Studies in Eleven Species of Ferns from Satara District of Maharashtra (India)

The present study was carried out with respect to phytochemical analysis such as chlorophylls, carotenoids and polyphenols contents in the eleven species of ferns from the Satara district of Maharashtra. The different species showed variation in their photosynthetic pigments. the different species shows increase in photosynthetic pigment during vegetative stage and decreases during mature stage. The decrease in photochemicals during reproductive stage may be due to sporangium formation which may create a stress during the maturation and increasing the amount of phenols

Formulation and Evaluation of Bilayer Floating Tablets

The aim of the present study is to formulate and evaluate the bilayer tabletsof Atorvastatin and Ramipril using different media, to know the releasestudies in which media the release of the drug is in controlled manner. Thebilayer tablets of Atorvastatin matrix floating and Ramipril immediaterelease tablets were prepared. Bi-Layer tablets consists of two layersi.e.,immediate release layer containing of disintegrant sodium starchglycollate and controlled release layer containing HPMCK100M, POLY0XWSR 303 and sodium alginate asretard layer. Combination of Atorvastatinand ramipril prepared by direct compression and wet granulation methodwhich consists of various disintegrants and polymer in different ratios Thetablets were evaluated for various parameters like weight variation,thickness, hardness and friability. The release studies were carried out usingdifferent media using USP dissolution testing apparatus II (paddle type) for12hr

Water poverty in the northeastern hill region (India): potential alleviation through multiple-use water systems: cross-learnings from Nepal Hills

Water poverty index / Construction / Multiple use / Water storage / Farming systems / Villages / Social aspects / Drip irrigation / India / Nepal / Nagaland / Mon district / Lampong Sheanghah

Pyrexia of unknown origin: a rare presentation of primary ovarian lymphoma

It is very rare to have a lymphomatous involvement of ovary. Malignant lymphoma of ovary is a well-known late manifestation of disseminated nodal disease. Primary ovarian lymphoma with ovarian mass as an initial manifestation is a rare entity and may have varied presentations which can cause confusion to the physician and cause delay in diagnosis. Study presents a case of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma where the initial presentation was fever with weight loss, and was evaluated as pyrexia of unknown origin. When no other cause of fever was identified PET-CT was done showing metabolically active uterine mass with no lymphadenopathy. Exploratory laparotomy was planned followed by hysterectomy with bilateral salpingo ophorectomy with omentectomy. Ovarian malignancy was detected intraoperatively, which was diagnosed as diffuse large B cell lymphoma, NHL double expresser phenotype on histopathology and IHC. Patient was started on chemotherapy and is doing fine