Nine-banded Armadillo Dasypus novemcinctus Animal Model for Leprosy (Hansen’s Disease)

Leprosy (Hansen’s disease) is a chronic infectious disease of mankind caused by Mycobacterium leprae.  Despite several serious scientific attempts, M.leprae has never been cultivated in artificial bacteriological  media. When M.leprae was identified as the causative germ of leprosy, Hansen (who discovered the causative  germ of leprosy in 1873) attempted to cultivate the germ in animal models, but he failed. Nearly 85  years after the discovery of M. leprae successful transmission and multiplication of M.leprae in the footpads  of laboratory mice was achieved. The mouse footpad model, although widely used in experimental leprosy,  has its own limitations (Sheppard, 1960; Rojas and Lovik, 2001). In 1971, significant advancement in  experimental leprosy research was made when nine-banded armadillos (Dasypus novemcinctus) were successfully  infected with M.leprae and developed generalised lepromatous leprosy over a period of 18 to 24  months post inoculation. Since then, the nine-banded armadillo has become a favoured animal model for  experimental leprosy (Krichheimer et al., 1972; Job et al., 2003). They remain as the only immunologically  intact species which regularly develops lepromatous leprosy.

Anatomy of a Spin: The Information-Theoretic Structure of Classical Spin Systems

Collective organization in matter plays a significant role in its expressed physical properties. Typically, it is detected via an order parameter, appropriately defined for each given system's observed emergent patterns. Recent developments in information theory, however, suggest quantifying collective organization in a system- and phenomenon-agnostic way: decompose the system's thermodynamic entropy density into a localized entropy, that solely contained in the dynamics at a single location, and a bound entropy, that stored in space as domains, clusters, excitations, or other emergent structures. We compute this decomposition and related quantities explicitly for the nearest-neighbor Ising model on the 1D chain, the Bethe lattice with coordination number k=3, and the 2D square lattice, illustrating its generality and the functional insights it gives near and away from phase transitions. In particular, we consider the roles that different spin motifs play (in cluster bulk, cluster edges, and the like) and how these affect the dependencies between spins.Comment: 12 pages, 8 figures; http://csc.ucdavis.edu/~cmg/compmech/pubs/ising_bmu.ht

Magnetohydrodynamic radiative Casson fluid flow over a semi-infinite vertical plate: An analytical approach

In this study, we analyzed the heat transfer nature of the magnetohydrodynamic Casson fluid flow over a semi-infinite porous vertical plate in the presence of thermal radiation and heat source/sink with buoyancy effect. The governing partial differential equations are transformed as non-dimensional equations using suitable transformation and resulting equations are solved using Perturbation technique. The effect of non-dimensional parameters namely thermal radiation, heat source/sink, Grashof number, porosity parameter and magnetic field parameter on the flow and heat transfer is analyzed for both Casson and Newtonian fluid cases. Also discussed the friction factor and local Nusselt number for both cases. It is found that momentum and thermal boundary layers of Casson and Newtonian fluids are non-uniform. Keywords: Casson fluid, MHD, thermal radiation, heat source/sink, buoyancy effect

Effect on Physiological Variables and Urinary Metabolites following a Single Dermal Application of Sulphur Mustard in Rats

The effect of single dermal application of different doses of sulphur mustard (2,2'-dichlorodiethyl sulphide, SM), i.e.5, 10 and 20 mg/kg body weight on some physiological variables, viz., body weight, intake of food and water, and excretion of excreta and urine was studied for one week. Levels of urinary metabolites, uric acid, urea, protein, creatine and creatinine were measured at 0, 1, 2, and 7 days in albino rats of Wister strain. A progressive dose-dependent fall in body weight was observed from day onwards after SM application. Feed and water intake were reduced significantly. Excretion of urine and exdreta was also affected adversely. The level of uric acid, a metabolite of purine bases, increased 24 hr post-exposure, in a time and dose-dependent manner. Excretion of urea decreased and the level of creatine increased drastically on 7th day. However, urinary excretions of protein and creatinine did not change. The study shows that single application of SM in rats induces a catabolic state

Position determination of a lander and rover at Mars with Earth-based differential tracking

The presence of two or more landed or orbiting spacecraft at a planet provides the opportunity to perform extremely accurate Earth-based navigation by simultaneously acquiring Doppler data and either Same-Beam Interferometry (SBI) or ranging data. Covariance analyses were performed to investigate the accuracy with which lander and rover positions on the surface of Mars can be determined. Simultaneous acquisition of Doppler and ranging data from a lander and rover over two or more days enables determination of all components of their relative position to under 20 m. Acquiring one hour of Doppler and SBI enables three dimensional lander-rover relative position determination to better than 5 m. Twelve hours of Doppler and either SBI or ranging from a lander and a low circular or half synchronous circular Mars orbiter makes possible lander absolute position determination to tens of meters

Electron-spectroscopic investigation of metal-insulator transition in Sr2Ru1-xTixO4 (x=0.0-0.6)

We investigate the nature and origin of the metal-insulator transition in Sr2Ru1-xTixO4 as a function of increasing Ti content (x). Employing detailed core, valence, and conduction band studies with x-ray and ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopies along with Bremsstrahlung isochromat spectroscopy, it is shown that a hard gap opens up for Ti content greater than equal to 0.2, while compositions with x<0.2 exhibit finite intensity at the Fermi energy. This establishes that the metal-insulator transition in this homovalent substituted series of compounds is driven by Coulomb interaction leading to the formation of a Mott gap, in contrast to transitions driven by disorder effects or band flling.Comment: Accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.

Treatment for Sulphur Mustard Poisoning -A Review

Sulphur mustard (SM) is a chemical warfare agent of historical and current interest It is a wellknown blistering agent or vesicant SM was extensively used in world war I as a chemical weaponand has been stockpiled by several counbies since that time. SM serves as an ideal war gas and is favoured militarily for its ability to incapacitate rather than to kill. Its use resulted in large numbers ofcasualties requiring prolonged and intensive medical care. Despite Geneva Protocol of 1925, which categorically bnned the production, stockpiling and use of chemical weapons in wars, SM has beenused in several wars, including the Iran-Irnq war during the 1980s, which renewed interest in it.Though, the chemical we'dpons convention was signed by more than 160 counbies in 1993 and wassubsequently ratified by several counbies, the threat from this agent persists due to its clandestineusage during war and also by teITOrist groups. There is no effective and specific antidote for local andsystemic toxicity of SM despite scientific research for more than 75 years. Many compounds weretested as antidotes for SM, but very few of them have been shown to provide some protection. The present review is aimed at evaluating the treatment regime and other clinical measures used to treat  SM victims and the various drugs and chemicals screened as antidotes for SM poisoning in experimental animals

Učinak piridostigmina i fizostigmina na akutnu toksičnost diizopropil fluorofosfata u štakora

Diisopropyl fluorophosphate (DFP) given to rats in lethal concentration (100 mg/m3, by inhalation for 40 min) significantly inhibited acetylcholinesterase activity in the blood, lung, liver and brain, and induced hyperglycaemia and glycogen mobilization in the liver, diaphragm and brain. Pretreatment (maximum sign-free dose) with carbamates, pyridostigmine (0.075 mg/kg, i.m.) or physostigmine (0.1 mg/kg, i.m.) 15 min before exposure to DFP, modified the inhibited acetylcholinesterase activity only in peripheral tissues. However, the hyperglycaemia and glycogen depletion induced by DFP inhalation were not modified by carbamate pretreatment. The time of survival of DFP exposed animals increased after pretreatment with carbamates, more after physostigmine (81 min) than after pyridostigmine (59 min). The animals exposed to DFP exhibited severe tremors and convulsions as compared to the animals pretreated with carbamates.Diizopropil fluorofosfat (DFP), koji su štakori primili u letalnoj koncentraciji (100 mg/m3) inhalacijom tijekom 40 minuta, značajno je inhibirao aktivnost acetilkolinesteraze u krvi, plućima, jetri i mozgu te izazvao hiperglikemiju i doveo do mobilizacije glikogena u jetri, dijafragmi i mozgu. Prethodno intramuskularno tretiranje životinja maksimalnom dozom karbarnata koja još ne izaziva znakove trovanja, i to piridostigminom (0,07.5 mg/kg) ili fizostigminom (0,1 mg/kg) petnaest minuta prije ekspozicije DFP-u dovelo je do promjene u inhibiciji aktivnosti acetilkolinesteraze samo u perifernim tkivima. Međutim, na hiperglikemiju i nedostatnost glikogena koji su bili izazvani inhaliranjem DFP-a prethodno tretiranje karbamatima nije utjecalo. Vrijeme preživljenja životinja koje su bile izložene DFP-u bilo je duže nakon što su životinje primile karbamate. U tom pogledu fizostigmin (81 min) je bio djelotvorniji od piridostigmina (59 minuta). U životinja koje su bile izložene DFP-u primijećeni su jači tremor i konvulzije nego u životinja koje su ranije bile tretirane karbarnatima

Respiratory Protection Against Chemical and Biological Warfare Agents

Chemical and biological warfare (CBW) agents pose unavoidable threat, both to soldiers and civilians.Exposure to such deadly agents amidst the CBW agents contaminated environment can be avoided bytaking proper protective measures. Respiratory protection is indispensable when the soldiers or civiliansare surrounded by such deadly environment as contamination-free air is needed for respiration purposes.In this context, an attempt has been made to review the literature for the past five decades on developmentof various protective devices for respiratory protection against aerosols, gases, and vapours of CBWagents. This review covers structural, textural, and adsorption properties of materials used in gas filtersand mechanical filters for the removal of CBW agents.Defence Science Journal, 2008, 58(5), pp.686-697, DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.14429/dsj.58.169