A drug will not function unless it is bound to a receptor: a longstanding confusion in basic pharmacology

The disparity between the general definition of a ‘drug’ and the wide-spread mechanism of actions of receptor-dependent drugs may often mislead to believe that a drug-receptor interaction is always indispensable for a drug to exert its action. This short review is intended to rectify this basic misconception in pharmacology with the aid of a list of examples of several receptor-independent drugs in context to their mode of actions

\u3cem\u3eIn Situ\u3c/em\u3e Analysis of LINE-1 Promoter Activity using LacZ Transgenic Mice

Apart from an evolutionary role, transposable elements have been implicated in animal development and also in pathophysiology. Non-LTR retrotransposons– LINE-1, Alu and SVA - are responsible for over 120 cases of human genetic diseases as heritable insertions, and are emerging as an important etiological factor for cancer and neurological disorders as somatic mutations. It is estimated that among the total number of 500,000 LINE-1s presents in the human genome, 80-100 LINE-1s remain competent for retrotransposition. Retrotransposition is only possible when LINE-1 is expressed. Because LINE-1 transcription is regulated by its 5’UTR promoter, it is essential to understand the spatiotemporal control of LINE-1 promoter activity. The huge abundance, repetitive nature and complex expression patterns of LINE-1s in the human and mouse genomes necessitate the development of innovative approaches and the careful design of experimental procedures used to study these elements. The primary objective of this dissertation was to develop and validate a mouse model, which can be utilized for studying LINE-1 promoter activity in vivo. Here, we utilized an in situ staining technique to quantify the endogenous LINE-1 promoter activity in different organs of the mouse model - to understand any organ-specific regulation of the mouse endogenous LINE-1 promoter activity. Moreover, by integrating the transgene into random or specific genomic loci in different orientations, we characterized the locus-dependent as well as the orientation-dependent expression patterns. In all these aspects, we attempted to understand LINE-1 promoter regulation during different periods of mouse development. Lastly, we also attempted to understand the cell-specific regulation, especially in the brain. We reported here organ-specific, agelinked, locus-associated, and orientation-dependent LINE-1 promoter activities in the mouse genome. Out study provides novel insights into LINE-1 biology and the new mouse model will serve as an invaluable tool to the LINE-1 field

EVALUATION OF ANTISTRESS ACTIVITY OF EXTRACT OF TINOSPORA CORDIFOLIA & ASPARAGUS RACEMOSUS IN RATS

Objectives: Present study was undertaken to evaluate the adaptogenic and antistress activity of T. cordifolia & A.racemosus we investigated the antistress activity of T. cordifolia and A. racemosus by Cold Water Swim Stress Model in rats. Materials and Methods: The anti-stress activity was evaluated on Cold Water Swim Stress induced biochemical changes. Extract of T.cordifolia and A.racemosus was administered orally 400 mg /kg.b.wt. Diazepam (5 mg/ kg.b.wt was used as a gold standard. Serum lipid, serum glucose, plasma cortisol, plasma glutathione total plasma NO and lipid peroxidation in terms of MDA were used as the stress indices. Results: The level of total plasma nitric oxide, (NO), MDA, a lipid peroxidation marker and cortisol were significantly higher in rats with chronic stress compared with healthy control group (p<0.005). Both extract of T.cordifolia and A.racemosus reduced Stress induced lipid peroxide, serum glucose, and serum triglyceride and significantly enhance the plasma glutathione level compared with stress control group (p <0.005). Conclusion: The present findings strongly suggested that oxidative stress plays a significant role in the pathophysiology of chronic stress. The findings of the present study indicate that the herbal agents T.cordifolia and A.racemosus has significant antistress and adaptogenic activity as shown by its mitigating effects on several chronic stress induced biochemical perturbations, comparable to that induced by the well known antistress agent Diazepam

What does Social Distancing and Stay at Home mean to those on low incomes in Bangladesh?

Under the advice of the World Health Organization, countries around the world have implemented state messaging campaigns to ensure their populations socially distance and stay at home. Here Ranjan Saha Partha (Jahangirnagar University, Bangladesh) and Abul Kalam (Helen Keller International, Bangladesh) explain what they discovered by interviewing 30 people on low incomes in the districts of Savar and Ashulia just outside of Dhaka

Investigating the region of 3C 397 in High Energy Gamma rays

We investigate the supernova remnant (SNR) 3C 397 and its neighboring pulsar PSR J1906+0722 in high energy gamma rays by using nearly six years of archival data of {\it Large Area Telescope} on board {\it Fermi Gamma Ray Space Telescope} (Fermi-LAT). The off-pulse analysis of gamma-ray flux from the location of PSR J1906+0722 reveals an excess emission which is found to be very close to the radio location of 3C 397. Here, we present the preliminary results of this gamma-ray analysis of 3C 397 and PSR J1906+0722.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, Proceeding of IAU Symposium No. 331, 201

Controlled Electrokinetic Particle Manipulation using Paper-and-Pencil Microfluidics

Dielectrophoresis is a very promising technique for particle manipulation on a chip. In this study, we demonstrate a controlled mannuvering of polystryrene particles on a simple paper-and-pencil based device by exploiting the underlying electrokinetics with primary contribution from dielectrophoretic (DEP) forces. On contrary to other reported DEP devices, the present configuration does not demand a shophitcated laboratory module for creating a non-uniform electric field, which is essential requirement in DEP settings. We demonstrate positive dielectrophoresis (pDEP) to trap 1 um size polystyrene particle for low-conductivity suspending medium, at an applied field strength of 100 V/cm. In addition, the switching of the trapping direction (positive to negative dielectrophoresis) can be simply achieved by manipulating the conductivity of the media. We further bring out an optimum range of pH for effective particle trapping. These results have significant implications towards designing cell-on-a-chip based point of care diagnostic devices for resource limited settings.Comment: 21 page

地域社会のコンテキストにおける平和の実践 : バングラデシュのチッタゴン丘陵地帯における３つの村落社会の事例研究

Peace studies in recent decades refer not only to the political structure or to the management of the state but designate the way in which the conduct of individuals or of groups participating in the peace processes may have led them to experience conflict. This approach has been engaged to guide an anthropological investigation of the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) Peace Accord 1997 in Bangladesh. To assess how local people experienced the peace process through the CHT Peace Accord 1997, I conducted a qualitative research study in three CHT villages. Drawing on interviews with local people in these rural villages, this thesis sheds light on a much-neglected and significant issue. I offer an analysis of their reiteration of the discourses of peace and conflict, the way in which they negotiated and/or contested these discourses, and the everyday dilemmas with which they lived. While most academic discourses on the CHT Peace Accord 1997 in Bangladesh have largely contributed to constructing peace and conflict as ‘political processes’, I closely examine the performativity in the accounts of the Jumma people, the reiteration and citation of existing discourses, as well as the new possibilities that emerge. I trace how all these discursive practices both contribute to the materialization of existing discourses of peace and simultaneously exclude them. In this thesis, I have argued that, even after a political agreement was achieved between conflicting parties in CHT, violence has continued to exist. I have investigated this situation using an anthropological fieldwork approach. By locating the dynamics of conflict in the post-Accord period at the village level, I have emphasized the fact that the CHT Peace Accord may have contributed to reducing the armed struggle but, at the same time, it created many problems in the implementation and clause-making processes. The Peace Accord has been submerged by ideas and practices which have done very little to meet the demands of the Jumma people in their struggle for recognition of their self-identity and cultural rights, a form of connection that is discordant to discourses of peace building and sustainability.広島大学(Hiroshima University)博士(学術)Doctor of Philosophydoctora