Managing Security in the Built Environment – A Review of Environmental Crime Prevention Strategies

The practice of urban planning and building design largely follow traditional methods while transforming the structure and quality of life in the built environment. The process of managing cities requires updates and integration of new technologies and research efforts. In this context, development of smart, sustainable, energy efficient, healthy, safe and secure built environment is a priority that is shaping modern cities all over the world. Though management of Indian cities tries to address these issues to a certain extent, it can be said that, as compared to many developed countries, aspects of safety and security have not been the top priority of our planners and designers. Research on Environmental Criminology and Environmental Psychology clearly indicates the important role and benefits of crime prevention through appropriate design of the built environment. In this context, this paper highlights the role of crime prevention strategies and the relevance of environmental criminology in current building practices for addressing security concerns in India

Surface measurements of atmospheric electrical conductivity at Jnanabharathi campus, Bengaluru (12.96° N, 77.56° E)

57-63Simultaneous measurements of the atmospheric electrical conductivity and meteorological parameters were carried out during January-December 2014 at Jnanabharathi campus, Bangalore University (urban station), Bengaluru, (12.96° N, 77.56°E), Karnataka for the first time. Gerdien condenser and mini boundary layer mast (micro meteorological tower) were used to study the variation of electrical conductivity and meteorological parameters. The observations show that the change in daily and weekly variations of conductivity is strong dependent of activity of Radon (222Rn) gas and meteorological parameters that defines the stability of the lower troposphere. Significant influence of atmospheric convective instability on conductivity was observed. The negative correlation of 0.56 was found between conductivity and rain for the year 2014. The average conductivity for the study period was found to be 4.02 ± 0.02 x 10-14 S/m, with higher values during the winter as compared to summer and monsoon seasons. The atmospheric air conductivity measurements may be used to study the atmospheric stability, pollution and climate change studies

Homogeneity and persistence of transgene expression by omitting antibiotic selection in cell line isolation

Nonuniform, mosaic expression patterns of transgenes are often linked to transcriptional silencing, triggered by epigenetic modifications of the exogenous DNA. Such phenotypes are common phenomena in genetically engineered cells and organisms. They are widely attributed to features of transgenic transcription units distinct from endogenous genes, rendering them particularly susceptible to epigenetic downregulation. Contrary to this assumption we show that the method used for the isolation of stably transfected cells has the most profound impact on transgene expression patterns. Standard antibiotic selection was directly compared to cell sorting for the establishment of stable cells. Only the latter procedure could warrant a high degree of uniformity and stability in gene expression. Marker genes useful for the essential cell sorting step encode mostly fluorescent proteins. However, by combining this approach with site-specific recombination, it can be applied to isolate stable cell lines with the desired expression characteristics for any gene of interest

Gene expression profiling revealed novel mechanism of action of Taxotere and Furtulon in prostate cancer cells

BACKGROUND: Both Taxotere and Capecitabine have shown anti-cancer activity against various cancers including prostate cancer. In combination, Taxotere plus Capecitabine has demonstrated higher anti-cancer activity in advanced breast cancers. However, the molecular mechanisms of action of Taxotere and Capecitabine have not been fully elucidated in prostate cancer. METHODS: The total RNA from PC3 and LNCaP prostate cells untreated and treated with 2 nM Taxotere, 110 μM Furtulon (active metabolite of Capecitabine), or 1 nM Taxotere plus 50 μM Furtulon for 6, 36, and 72 hours, was subjected to Affymetrix Human Genome U133A Array analysis. Real-time PCR and Western Blot analysis were conducted to confirm microarray data. RESULTS: Taxotere and Furtulon down-regulated some genes critical for cell proliferation, cell cycle progression, transcription factor, cell signaling, and oncogenesis, and up-regulated some genes related to the induction of apoptosis, cell cycle arrest, and differentiation in both cell lines. Taxotere and Furtulon also up-regulated some genes responsible for chemotherapeutic resistance, suggesting the induction of cancer cell resistance to these agents. CONCLUSIONS: Taxotere and Furtulon caused the alternation of a large number of genes, many of which may contribute to the molecular mechanisms by which Taxotere and Furtulon inhibit the growth of prostate cancer cells. This information could be utilized for further mechanistic research and for devising optimized therapeutic strategies against prostate cancer

Efficacy of the motile sperm organelle morphology examination (MSOME) in predicting pregnancy after intrauterine insemination

Background: Although the motile sperm organelle morphology examination (MSOME) was developed merely as a selection criterion, its application as a method for classifying sperm morphology may represent an improvement in the evaluation of semen quality. The aim of this study was to determine the prognostic value of normal sperm morphology using MSOME with regard to clinical pregnancy (CP) after intrauterine insemination (IUI).Methods: A total of 156 IUI cycles that were performed in 111 couples were prospectively analysed. Each subject received 75 IU of recombinant FSH every second day from the third day of the cycle. Beginning on the 10th day of the cycle, follicular development was monitored by vaginal ultrasound. When one or two follicles measuring at least 17 mm were observed, recombinant hCG was administered, and IUI was performed 12-14 h and 36-40 h after hCG treatment. Prior to the IUI procedure, sperm samples were analysed by MSOME at 8400x magnification using an inverted microscope that was equipped with DIC/Nomarski differential interference contrast optics. A minimum of 200 motile spermatozoa per semen sample were evaluated, and the percentage of normal spermatozoa in each sample was determined.Results: Pregnancy occurred in 34 IUI cycles (CP rate per cycle: 21.8%, per patient: 30.6%). Based on the MSOME criteria, a significantly higher percentage of normal spermatozoa was found in the group of men in which the IUI cycles resulted in pregnancy (2.6+/-3.1%) compared to the group that did not achieve pregnancy (1.2+/-1.7%; P = 0.019). Logistic regression showed that the percentage of normal cells in the MSOME was a determining factor for the likelihood of clinical pregnancy (OR: 1.28; 95% CI: 1.08 to 1.51; P = 0.003). The ROC curve revealed an area under the curve of 0.63 and an optimum cut-off point of 2% of normal sperm morphology. At this cut-off threshold, using the percentage of normal sperm morphology by MSOME to predict pregnancy was 50% sensitive with a 40% positive predictive value and 79% specificity with an 85% negative predictive value. The efficacy of using the percentage of normal sperm morphology by MSOME in predicting pregnancy was 65%.Conclusions: The present findings support the use of high-magnification microscopy both for selecting spermatozoa and as a routine method for analysing semen before performing IUI

Cell Lineage Analysis of the Mammalian Female Germline

Fundamental aspects of embryonic and post-natal development, including maintenance of the mammalian female germline, are largely unknown. Here we employ a retrospective, phylogenetic-based method for reconstructing cell lineage trees utilizing somatic mutations accumulated in microsatellites, to study female germline dynamics in mice. Reconstructed cell lineage trees can be used to estimate lineage relationships between different cell types, as well as cell depth (number of cell divisions since the zygote). We show that, in the reconstructed mouse cell lineage trees, oocytes form clusters that are separate from hematopoietic and mesenchymal stem cells, both in young and old mice, indicating that these populations belong to distinct lineages. Furthermore, while cumulus cells sampled from different ovarian follicles are distinctly clustered on the reconstructed trees, oocytes from the left and right ovaries are not, suggesting a mixing of their progenitor pools. We also observed an increase in oocyte depth with mouse age, which can be explained either by depth-guided selection of oocytes for ovulation or by post-natal renewal. Overall, our study sheds light on substantial novel aspects of female germline preservation and development

Spermatozoal sensitive biomarkers to defective protaminosis and fragmented DNA

Human sperm DNA damage may have adverse effects on reproductive outcome. Infertile men possess substantially more spermatozoa with damaged DNA compared to fertile donors. Although the extent of this abnormality is closely related to sperm function, the underlying etiology of ensuing male infertility is still largely controversial. Both intra-testicular and post-testicular events have been postulated and different mechanisms have been proposed to explain the presence of damaged DNA in human spermatozoa. Three among them, i.e. abnormal chromatin packaging, oxidative stress and apoptosis, are the most studied and discussed in the present review. Furthermore, results from numerous investigations are presented, including our own findings on these pathological conditions, as well as the techniques applied for their evaluation. The crucial points of each methodology on the successful detection of DNA damage and their validity on the appraisal of infertile patients are also discussed. Along with the conventional parameters examined in the standard semen analysis, evaluation of damaged sperm DNA seems to complement the investigation of factors affecting male fertility and may prove an efficient diagnostic tool in the prediction of pregnancy outcome