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Paraprobiotics, non-viable versions of probiotic microorganisms, offer a promising prophylactic strategy in aquaculture, addressing concerns about the safety and functionality of probiotics while harnessing similar health benefits for fish and shellfish. This study determined the dietary effects of paraprobiotic preparation from Bacillus amyloliquefaciens COFCAU_P1 to support the immune system and control Aeromonas hydrophila infection in Labeo rohita fingerlings. Paraprobiotic was prepared by heat and formalin inactivation of the probiotic B. amyloliquefaciens and subsequently analyzed by scanning electron microscopy. The cellular immunological responses viz. superoxide anion, myeloperoxidase activity, nitric oxide production, and leucocyte proliferation of rohu head-kidney (HK) leucocytes increased significantly with different doses (106, 107, and 108 cells ml−1) of both heat and formalin-inactivated preparations in vitro. Both preparations significantly enhanced the in vitro immune gene (IL-1β and IFN-γ) expression, indicating their immunostimulatory response at the molecular level. As the formalin-inactivated preparation showed a better immune response, it was selected for the subsequent in vivo experiment. Dietary administration of formalin-inactivated B. amyloliquefaciens at different doses (106, 107, and 108 cells g−1 feed) showed significantly higher responses in innate immune (respiratory burst, myeloperoxidase, and anti-protease activity) and biochemical parameters (total protein, albumin, globulin alkaline phosphatase activity, and glucose content). Resistance against experimental A. hydrophila infection was increased significantly after 30 days of feeding of the formalin-inactivated B. amyloliquefaciens. At the paraprobiotic dose of 1 × 108 cells g−1 feed, the maximum immune response and survivability against A. hydrophila infection were observed. It can be inferred from the results that formalin-inactivated B. amyloliquefaciens paraprobiotic can be used as a promising immunostimulant in aquaculture. The potency of B. amyloliquefaciens paraprobiotic to enhance immunity and survivability of rohu against experimental A. hydrophila infection is worth mentioning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mesenchymal to epithelial transition (MET) is instrumental in embryogenesis, tissue repair, and wound healing while the epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT) plays role in carcinogenesis. Alteration in microenvironment can modulate cellular signaling and induce EMT and MET. However, modulation of microenvironment to induce MET has been relatively less explored. In this work, effect of matrix stiffness in mediating MET in umbilical cord-derived mesenchymal stem cells (UCMSC) is investigated. Differential segregation of cell fate determinant proteins is one of the key factors in mediating altered stem cell fates through MET even though the genesis of apicobasal polarity remains ambiguous. Herein, it is also attempted to decipher if microenvironment-induced asymmetric cell division has a role to play in driving the cells toward MET. UCMSC cultured on stiffer PDMS matrices resulted in significantly (p < 0.05) higher expression of mechanotransduction proteins. It was also observed that stiffer matrices mediated significant (p < 0.05) upregulation of the polarity proteins and cell fate determinant protein, and epithelial marker proteins over lesser stiff substrates. On the contrary, expression of inflammatory and mesenchymal markers was reduced significantly (p < 0.05) on the stiffer matrices. Cell cycle analysis showed a significant increase in the G1 phase among the cells seeded on stiffer matrices. Transcriptomic studies validated higher expression of epithelial markers genes and lower expression of EMT markers. The transition from mesenchymal to epithelial phenotype depending on the gradation in matrix stiffness is successfully demonstrated. A computational machine learning model was developed to validate stiffness-MET correlation with 94% accuracy. Summary: The cross-boundary trans-lineage differentiation capability of MSC on bioengineered substrates can be used as a potential tool in tissue regeneration, organogenesis, and wound healing applications. In our present study, we deciphered the correlation between YAP/TAZ mechanotransduction pathway, EMT signaling pathway, and asymmetric cell division in mediating MET in MSC in a substrate stiffness-dependent manner. It is inferred that the stiffer PDMS matrices facilitate the transition from mesenchymal to epithelial state of MSC. Further, our study also proposed a scoring system to sort MSC from an intermediate hybrid E/M population while undergoing graded MET on matrices of different stiffnesses using a machine learning technique. This proposed scoring system can provide information regarding the E/M state of MSC on different bioengineered constructs based on their biophysical properties which may help in the proper choice of biomaterials in complex tissue-engineering applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We propose a hybrid quantum approach to threshold and binarize a grayscale image through unsharp measurements (UM) relying on image histogram. Generally, the histograms are characterized by multiple overlapping normal distributions corresponding to objects, or image features with small but significant overlaps, making it challenging to establish suitable thresholds. The proposed methodology uses peaks of the overlapping Gaussians and the distance between neighboring local minima as the variance, based on which the UM parameters are chosen, that maps the normal distribution into a localized delta function. To demonstrate its efficacy, subsequent implementation is done on noisy quantum environments in Qiskit. This process is iteratively repeated for a multimodal histogram to obtain more thresholds, which are then applied to various life-like pictures to get high-contrast images, resulting in comparable peak signal-to-noise ratio and structural similarity index measure values. The obtained thresholds are used to binarize a grayscale image by using novel enhanced quantum image representation integrated with a threshold encoder and an efficient quantum comparator (QC) that depicts the whole binarized picture. This approach significantly reduces the complexity of the proposed QC and of the whole algorithm when compared to earlier models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Osteoarthritis affects millions of people worldwide but current treatments using analgesics or anti-inflammatory drugs only alleviate symptoms of this disease. Here, we present an injectable, biodegradable piezoelectric hydrogel, made of short electrospun poly-L-lactic acid nanofibers embedded inside a collagen matrix, which can be injected into the joints and self-produce localized electrical cues under ultrasound activation to drive cartilage healing. In vitro, data shows that the piezoelectric hydrogel with ultrasound can enhance cell migration and induce stem cells to secrete TGF-β1, which promotes chondrogenesis. In vivo, the rabbits with osteochondral critical-size defects receiving the ultrasound-activated piezoelectric hydrogel show increased subchondral bone formation, improved hyaline-cartilage structure, and good mechanical properties, close to healthy native cartilage. This piezoelectric hydrogel is not only useful for cartilage healing but also potentially applicable to other tissue regeneration, offering a significant impact on the field of regenerative tissue engineering. The use of biomaterial scaffolds-based cartilage grafts could potentially innovate the Osteoarthritis (OA) treatment, but has been limited by toxicity concerns and invasive surgical procedures. Here, the authors report an injectable and biodegradable piezoelectric hydrogel with ultrasound activation to offer a minimally invasive approach for OA treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Early detection of oral cancer is essential for improving survival rates and diagnostic precision. Raman cyto-spectroscopy is a useful method, but its interpretive complexity prevents frequent clinical use. Prediction algorithms have been used to evaluate RS data and create CAD systems. An ensemble of MLAs and dimensionality reduction techniques has been demonstrated to effectively analyse the complex RS. In present study we utilised two MLA ensembles—(1) Linear Discriminant Analysis with Decision Tree Classifier (2) LDA with Support Vector Machine. Results show that RS of oral epithelial cells, collected from different study groups (viz. Normal-healthy volunteers; histo-pathologically confirmed- potentially cancerable- leucoplakia and cancer patients-OSCC) when classified using the ensembles had better overall accuracy of (88 ± 8%) as compared to either DTC (48 ± 19%) or SVM (58 ± 15%) when applied individually. Class-wise evaluation showed improved performance of LDA-SVM compared to LDA-DTC, and blind test was performed with RS of habitual cigarette smokers (CS) as susceptible group and healthy volunteers as control group to assess the classifier ensembles' performance in cancer risk prediction. The LDA-SVM ensemble showed the highest classification accuracy, indicating that it can be used to accurately detect oral cancer risk and screen susceptible patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Here we propose a macromolecular approach for developing a composite using collagen and functionalized bacterial cellulose (f-BC) for tissue engineering with improved cell adhesion and an acceptable degradation profile. In this study, the pure bacterial cellulose (BC) synthesized from Acetobacter xylinus using a standard Hestrin–Schramm medium has been functionalized through four different chemical routes. The successful functionalization of BC was primarily evaluated using conductometric titration, attenuated total reflectance-Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, and zeta potential measurements. The nano fibrous surface morphologies of the scaffolds were confirmed using field emission scanning electron microscopy. The porosity and surface area analysis of the scaffolds were carried out using N2 adsorption–desorption using standard BET and BJH methods. Hydrophilicity, comprehensive degradation profile, and buffer uptake ability of the scaffolds were found to be satisfactory for tissue engineering applications. After a series of in vitro characterizations, f-BC treated with amine (positively charged) and f-BC treated with (2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidin-1-yl)oxyl (negatively charged) were further selected for composite preparation with collagen and genipin as crosslinker for potential skin and bone tissue engineering. The functionalization process was carried out merely not only to enhance the biological functions of pure BC yet also to introduce sites for grafting other biomolecules to fabricate stable composites. The enhanced cell viability efficacy and non-toxicity were further observed for the proposed f-BC/collagen composite. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mg-Al-Zn-Sr-Ca alloys with varying calcium content were prepared and examined for biomedical applications. Microstructural observations indicated grain refinement and increased second phase precipitation with increasing Ca content. Immersion test, potentiodynamic polarization study, and impedance spectroscopy revealed that Ca content up to 1 wt.% improved the corrosion response of Mg-Al-Zn-Sr-Ca alloys studied in this work. Due to the combined effect of grain refinement, second phase precipitate barrier, and protective layer formation, the corrosion rate dropped from 1.84 mm/year in alloy Ca0.2 to 1.01 mm/year in alloy Ca1.0. Biocompatibility was assessed by 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide assay. Ca1.0 showed the highest cell attachment and proliferation density. Ca formed Mg2Ca and improved the cell viability of the alloys. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, bioactive glass-ceramic (BGC) particles were synthesized following the original composition of Bioglass 45S5 consisting of SiO2, CaO, Na2O, and P2O5 with an acid catalyzed sol-gel derived route (Acid-BGC) and with an N-cetyl trimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) assisted modified Stöber process under basic conditions (Basic-BGC). XRD study of Acid-BGC confirms the complete conversion of bioglass to its glass-ceramic form (crystalline phase), while Basic-BGC indicates a reduced crystalline ceramic conversion with mixed phases. Scanning electron microscopy and Transmission electron microscopy images of Basic-BGC revealed the nanometric particle size distribution. It has been observed that enhancing the CTAB concentration reduces the particle size of Basic-BGC. However, with the reduction in particle size, the mesoporous nature of Basic-BGC particles gets reduced. Hence, 6 mM CTAB concentration was selected as the optimized concentration, which provides particle size within the nanoscale range without losing mesoporous structure. The mesoporous nature of the nanoparticles was also estimated with BET and BJH studies. The Basic-BGC particles were further functionalized with dopamine hydrochloride, glutamic acid, and cystamine dihydrochloride, and their effect on bioactivity and dispersion stability was studied. The bioactivity under exposure to simulated body fluid (SBF) for 10 days was evaluated for Basic-BGC and functionalized Basic-BGCs with XRD, attenuated total reflectance-Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR), and energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS). The formation of apatite crystals on BG surfaces could be established from these characterizations. The surface zeta potential of the particles was measured using the DLS method. Further, a series of in vitro studies were carried out to assess the cytocompatibility of Basic-BGC and functionalized Basic-BGCs, which includes the antimicrobial activity using disk-diffusion method, cytocompatibility utilizing MTT assay, antioxidant property through DPPH radical scavenging activity, DAPI staining of nuclei for identification of viable cells after cell culture on the particles. Finally, the dispersion stability of the particles was studied in different polymer solutions. Overall, the glutamic acid functionalized Basic-BGCs offer significant antibacterial, antioxidant, and bioactivity with good dispersion stability in dilute polymer solutions, ensuring their potential use in electrospinning and bioprinting applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transgalactosylation reaction is the penultimate step in the production of galactooligosaccharides (GOSs) which has prominent applications in the treatment of disorders. In the present study, partially purified β-galactosidase from Enterobacter aerogenes KCTC2190 was used for the synthesis of prebiotic GOSs. GOSs were produced using lactose as substrate. Structural elucidation of collected fractions of GOSs by liquid chromatography electrospray ionization mass spectrometry exhibited the appearance of major peaks of produced GOSs at m/z 241.20, 481.39, 365.11, 527.17, and 701.51 respectively. GOSs facilitated the growth of potential probiotic strains (Lactobacillus delbrueckii ssp. helveticus, Bifidobacterium bifidum, and Lactiplantibacillus plantarum) and liberated propionate and butyrate as principal short-chain fatty acids which established its prebiotic potency. Synbiotic combinations exhibited good antioxidant activities. Synbiotic combinations also exhibited antimicrobial activities against pathogenic microorganisms namely Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli. Synbiotic combinations of GOSs and the respective probiotic microorganisms were able to decrease viable human bone cancer cells (MG-63). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite different nanomaterials were developed so far against cancer, their potential drawbacks are still scarcely considered. The off-target delivery of a therapeutic compound, as well as the non-specific uptake of these nanomaterials by healthy tissues or organs, and their potential immunogenicity are some of the major issues that still have to be faced prior to a successful clinical translation. This work aims to develop an innovative theranostic, biocompatible, and drug-loaded nanoconstruct based on Gadolinium-doped Zinc Oxide (ZnO-Gd) nanocrystals (NCs), focusing on one of the most lethal diseases, i.e., pancreatic cancer. The use of zinc oxide is motivated by the huge potential of this nanomaterial already demonstrated for in vitro and in vivo applications, while the Gadolinium doping confers magnetic properties useful for diagnostics. Furthermore, an innovative biomimetic shell is here used to coat the NCs: it is composed of a lipid bilayer made from extracellular vesicles (EVs) combined with other synthetic lipids and a peptide targeting the pancreatic tumor microenvironment. To complete the nanoconstruct therapeutic function, Gemcitabine, a first-line drug for pancreatic cancer treatment, was adsorbed on the ZnO-Gd NCs prior to the coating with the above-mentioned lipidic shell. The aim of this work is thus to strongly enhance the therapeutic capability of the final nanoconstruct, providing it with high biocompatibility, colloidal stability in biological media, efficient cargo loading and release properties, as well as active targeting for site-selective drug delivery. Furthermore, the magnetic properties of the ZnO-Gd NCs core can in future allow efficient in situ bioimaging capabilities based on Magnetic Resonance Imaging technique. The obtained nanoconstructs were tested on two different pancreatic cancer cell lines, i.e., BxPC-3 and the metastatic AsPC-1, proving high cell internalization levels, mediated by the targeting peptide exposed on the nanoconstruct. Cellular cytotoxicity assay performed on both cell lines dictated ~ 20% increased cell killing efficacy of Gemcitabine when delivered through the nanoconstruct rather than as a free drug. Taken together, our designed theranostic nanoconstruct can have a significant impact on the standard treatment of pancreatic cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Frequent exposure to mechanistic damages, pathological ingression, and chronic inflammation leads to recurrent cell death in the gut epithelium. Intestinal stem cells (ISCs) that reside in crypt-specific niches have an unprecedented role in gut epithelium renewal. ISC also facilitates the formation of mature intestinal epithelial cells (IECs) through regular differentiation and renewal in short turnover cycles. Interestingly, oxidative stress (OS) prevalent in the gut has a dominant role in the regulation of ISC proliferation and development. However, it is unclear, which axis OS controls the cellular signaling and underlying molecular mechanism to drive ISC turnover and regeneration cycle. Therefore, this review provides a comprehensive overview of the present understanding of OS generation in the gut, relatively directing the ISC development and regeneration under a conditional cellular environment. Additionally, the focus has been drawn on intestinal nutritional state and its related alteration on OS and its effect on ISCs. Moreover, recent findings and new approaches are emphasized herewith to enhance the present understanding of the mechanisms that direct universal ISC characteristics. Intestinal stem cells (ISC) form the basis of all repair mechanisms that help in the proliferation of the gut through their constant renewal and replacement. This activity is closely regulated in the ISC niche and is modulated by several extrinsic as well as intrinsic factors. Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) form one of the major factors that influence ISC formation. The levels of ROS in the gut influence stem cell renewal ROS itself however is further influenced by several other factors such as the microbiota concerning the gut and immune cells which in turn also influence one another by various cross-talk mechanisms. Diet also forms an important part of this crosstalk. It also regulates the levels of ROS in the gut and helps in the proliferation of the ISC cells and their overall turnover rate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Deep neural networks (DNNs) have shown success in image classification, with high accuracy in recognition of everyday objects. Performance of DNNs has traditionally been measured assuming human accuracy is perfect. In specific problem domains, however, human accuracy is less than perfect and a comparison between humans and machine learning (ML) models can be performed. In recognising everyday objects, humans have the advantage of a lifetime of experience, whereas DNN models are trained only with a limited image dataset. We have tried to compare performance of human learners and two DNN models on an image dataset which is novel to both, i.e. histological images. We thus aim to eliminate the advantage of prior experience that humans have over DNN models in image classification. Ten classes of tissues were randomly selected from the undergraduate first year histology curriculum of a Medical School in North India. Two machine learning (ML) models were developed based on the VGG16 (VML) and Inception V2 (IML) DNNs, using transfer learning, to produce a 10-class classifier. One thousand (1000) images belonging to the ten classes (i.e. 100 images from each class) were split into training (700) and validation (300) sets. After training, the VML and IML model achieved 85.67 and 89% accuracy on the validation set, respectively. The training set was also circulated to medical students (MS) of the college for a week. An online quiz, consisting of a random selection of 100 images from the validation set, was conducted on students (after obtaining informed consent) who volunteered for the study. 66 students participated in the quiz, providing 6557 responses. In addition, we prepared a set of 10 images which belonged to different classes of tissue, not present in training set (i.e. out of training scope or OTS images). A second quiz was conducted on medical students with OTS images, and the ML models were also run on these OTS images. The overall accuracy of MS in the first quiz was 55.14%. The two ML models were also run on the first quiz questionnaire, producing accuracy between 91 and 93%. The ML models scored more than 80% of medical students. Analysis of confusion matrices of both ML models and all medical students showed dissimilar error profiles. However, when comparing the subset of students who achieved similar accuracy as the ML models, the error profile was also similar. Recognition of ‘stomach’ proved difficult for both humans and ML models. In 04 images in the first quiz set, both VML model and medical students produced highly equivocal responses. Within these images, a pattern of bias was uncovered–the tendency of medical students to misclassify ‘liver’ tissue. The ‘stomach’ class proved most difficult for both MS and VML, producing 34.84% of all errors of MS, and 41.17% of all errors of VML model; however, the IML model committed most errors in recognising the ‘skin’ class (27.5% of all errors). Analysis of the convolution layers of the DNN outlined features in the original image which might have led to misclassification by the VML model. In OTS images, however, the medical students produced better overall score than both ML models, i.e. they successfully recognised patterns of similarity between tissues and could generalise their training to a novel dataset. Our findings suggest that within the scope of training, ML models perform better than 80% medical students with a distinct error profile. However, students who have reached accuracy close to the ML models, tend to replicate the error profile as that of the ML models. This suggests a degree of similarity between how machines and humans extract features from an image. If asked to recognise images outside the scope of training, humans perform better at recognising patterns and likeness between tissues. This suggests that ‘training’ is not the same as ‘learning’, and humans can extend their pattern-based learning to different domains outside of the training set. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In clinical studies, survival analysis is a well known technique to analyze time to event data with the assumption that every subject in the study will encounter the event of interest. With recent advancements in the drug development industry, a fraction of subjects may not face the event and are considered as immune or cured. However, due to the finite study period, full knowledge of subjects who are immune is usually not known and hence, can be considered as missing. We develop a novel semi-parametric algorithm to address this problem by minimizing a suitable loss function, which incorporates the missing data and generates cure indicators for the censored individuals. We prove the existence of a global minimizer for the loss function and establish some asymptotic properties, demonstrate via numerical experiments that under appropriate circumstances, our approach performs better than simpler alternatives, and use this algorithm to estimate lifetime parameters and the overall survivor function. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) have been widely studied for tissue regeneration and cell-based therapy. MSC can be isolated from different body tissues while several biological waste sources like dental pulp, umbilical cord, cord derived blood, amniotic fluid or urine have also emerged as potential sources of MSCs. Specifically, isolation of MSCs from such non-conventional sources show promising outcomes due to the non-invasiveness of the extraction process and high proliferation capacity of the isolated MSC. However, these stem cells also exhibit the limitation of replicative senescence in long-term culture condition. Inter-cellular reactive oxygen species is an important contributor for inducing cellular senescence under long-term culture conditions. For translational application, it becomes imperative to compare the stem cells isolated from these sources for their senescence and proliferative properties. In this study, MSC were extracted from two different sources of biological waste materials—dental pulp and umbilical cord, and compared for their proliferation capacity and replicative senescence at different passage numbers (i.e. P2 and P6). Intracellular ROS production was significantly (p < 0.001) less in dental pulp stem cells culture in comparison to umbilical cord-derived stem cells at P6. The β-gal expression also showed significantly (p < 0.001) low expression in DPSC culture compared to that of UCSC at P6. The study indicates the source of stem cells influences the proliferation capacity as well as replicative senescence of MSCs. This study will thus pave the path of future research in selecting appropriate stem cell source for regenerative medicine application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The response of cytoskeleton to mechanical cues plays a pivotal role in understanding several aspects of cellular growth, migration, and cell–cell and cell–matrix interactions under normal and diseased conditions. Finite element analysis (FEA) has become a powerful computational technique to study the response of cytoskeleton in the maintenance of overall cellular mechanics. With the revelation of role of external mechanical microenvironment on cell mechanics, FEA models have also been developed to simulate the effect of substrate stiffness on the mechanical properties of cancer cells. However, the models developed so far model cellular response under static mode, whereas in physiological condition, cells always experience dynamic loading conditions. To develop a more accurate model of cell-extracellular matrix (ECM) interactions, this paper models the cytoskeleton and other parts of the cell by beam and solid elements respectively, assuming spherical morphology of the cell. The stiffness and roughness of extracellular matrix were varied. Furthermore, static and dynamic sinusoidal loads were applied through a flat plate indenter on the cell along with providing sinusoidal strain at the substrate. It is observed that due to axial loading, cell reaches a plastic region, and when the sinusoidal loading is added to the axial load, the cell experiences permanent deformation. Degradation of the cytoskeleton elements and a physiologically more relevant spherical cap shape of the cell were also considered during the analysis. This study suggests that asperity topology of the substrate and indirect cyclic load can play a significant role in the shape alterations and motion of a cell. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is well established that measurement error has drastically negative impact on data analysis. It can not only bias parameter estimates but may also cause loss of power for testing relationship between variables. Although survival analysis of error-contaminated data has attracted extensive interest, relatively little attention has been paid to dealing with survival data with error-contaminated covariates when the underlying population is characterized by a cured fraction. In this paper, we consider this problem for which lifetimes of the non-cured individuals are featured by the additive hazards model and the measurement error process is described by an additive model. Unlike estimating the relative risk in the proportional hazards model, the additive hazards model allows us to estimate the absolute risk difference associated with the covariates. To allow the model flexibility, we incorporate time-dependent covariates in the model. We develop estimation methods for the two scenarios, without or with measurement error. The proposed methods are evaluated from both the theoretical view point and the numerical perspectives. Furthermore, a real-life data application is presented to illustrate the utility of the methodology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A colorimetric and fluorescence turn-off probe 10-(4-azido phenyl)-5,5-difluoro-5h-dipyrrolo[1,2-c:1',2'-f][1,3,2] diazaborinin-4-ium-5-uide, 1, for selective detection of H2S is reported. The probe displayed a robust decrease in fluorescence intensity with high sensitivity, specificity and least toxicity to detect exogenous H2S and also in live normal human oral fibroblast cells loaded with probe 1. The detection limit of probe 1 being 0.17 µm for H2S. A colorimetric and fluorescence turn-off BODIPY probe 1, for selective detection of exogenous H2S in live normal human oral fibroblast cells loaded with probe 1 and poisonous H2S gas formed under biodegradation in sewage waters and water tanks and corroded pipe lines. The detection limit of probe 1 being 0.17 μM [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study was to microencapsulate the reuterin produced by Lactobacillus reuteri BPL-36 strain for its long-term efficacy against food-borne pathogen Listeria monocytogenes. Lactobacillus reuteri BPL-36 strain previously isolated from a human infant fecal sample in lab was selected for the present study based on its ability to produce reuterin. The organism displayed a broad-spectrum antimicrobial activity. Reuterin concentration of 89.63 mM was obtained in the MRS-glycerol medium after 16 h incubation at 37 °C. The reuterin concentration required to inhibit the growth of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Escherichia coli O157: H7, Salmonella typhi, Staphylococcus aureus, and Listeria monocytogenes was found to be 1.0, 2.0, 2.0, 4.0, and 10.0 AU/mL, respectively. Microencapsulation of reuterin to enhance long-term efficacy against food-borne pathogens was done. Results in this study indicated that the release characteristics of reuterin from the encapsulated particles were pH dependent. The release characteristics were unaffected by the storage of encapsulated reuterin at 4 °C for 2 weeks. The anti-listerial efficacy of the encapsulated reuterin was tested against L. monocytogenes in the BHI medium adjusted to pH 5.0 with a reuterin content equivalent to 16 mM, similar to un-encapsulated (free) reuterin. Encapsulated reuterin demonstrated enhanced efficacy against L. monocytogenes for longer duration of time when compared with un-encapsulated (free) reuterin. The present work demonstrated a novel antimicrobial delivery system that ensured much better capability of inhibiting the growth of L. monocytogenes throughout 24 h incubation at 37 °C. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Advancements in our understanding of vestibular physiology and how it is changes in different diseases have established that of the three therapeutic approaches to treat disorders of the vestibular system viz. pharmacotherapy, surgery and physical therapy, it is the later i.e., physical therapy which is the most efficacious modality in the management of balance disorders. The futility of vestibular sedatives in the correction of vestibular disorders and in the restoration of balance and the very limited role of surgery has now been recognised. Advancements in vestibulometry now enable us to localise any lesion in the vestibular system with utmost precision and also determine the exact cause of the balance disorder. The site of lesion and the specific organ that is defective can now be very precisely identified. Treatment modalities especially that for physical therapy hence have to be organ specific, and if possible, also disease specific. Aims and Objectives: The study aims at evaluating the efficacy of physiotherapy in the management of balance disorders and also assesses the efficacy of organ targeted physical therapy, a new concept in restoring balance after vestibulometry has identified the offending organ. Materials and Methods: The study was conducted in the specialised physical therapy unit for balance and gait disorder patients which is a part of Vertigo and Deafness Clinic in Kolkata, India. Special instruments for physical therapy devised by the first author were used for stimulation of specific sense organs in the vestibular labyrinth that were found to be defective in vestibulometry. Specially made Virtual reality programs were used in patients suffering from psychogenic balance disorders. The pre and post therapy status was evaluated by different standard scales to assess balance and dizziness. Results: Very promising results were obtained. Organ targeted physiotherapy where defective sense organs were specifically stimulated showed remarkable improvement in different measures. Virtual reality exercises too showed very promising results in patients of psychogenic vertigo. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nanosized reduced graphene oxide (rGO) is found in active microcarbon used in popular face cream from the manufacturers like Ponds, Nevia, and Garnier which, under visible light exposure, gets activated by aerial oxygen to generate reactive oxygen species (ROS) harmful to skin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

En1, Nr2f1, Gpc4, Sfrp2, Shox2, Tbx15 and Thbd are among the genes involved in development process of an organism in a number of tissues, in particular adipose tissue. Considering the involvement of isobutyl-methyl-xanthine (IBMX), indomethacin, dexamethasone (DEX), triiodothyronine (T3), and insulin in adipocyte differentiation, we propose that these differentiation-inducing agents may regulate differentiation in brown adipose tissue through a developmental process. Stromavascular cells isolated from interscapular brown fat of mice were cultured in DMEM-LG medium. Proliferating brown preadipocytes were differentiated in the presence of IBMX, indomethacin, DEX, T3 and insulin. Pref1 (marker of proliferation stage) and uncoupling protein 1 ( UCP1, marker for differentiation stage) were upregulated during proliferation and differentiation, respectively. Relative expression of Pref1, UCP1 and developmental genes was determined in different stages of adipogenesis. En1, Gpc4, Nr2f1, Sfrp2 and Shox2 were upregulated during differentiation. Differentiation of preadipocytes in the absence of IBMX, indomethacin, and DEX resulted in drastic reduction in fat accumulation in differentiated adipocytes with simultaneous decrease in En1, Gpc4, Nr2f1, Sfrp2, Shox2 and Tbx15 gene expression. T3 upregulated the expression of En1, Gpc4, Sfrp2 and Tbx15 genes during differentiation and downregulated Shox2 expression as compared to proliferated state. Insulin upregulated the expression of Shox2. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The degree of increase in foetal haemoglobin (HbF) synthesis in haematological malignancies may be associated with the degree of malignancy. The aim of the present study was to quantify HbF levels in various childhood haematological malignancies and also, to ascertain its prognostic significance by comparing the results with the already established standard prognostic factors. Newly diagnosed cases of haematological malignancies in the paediatric age group were included in the study. HbF levels were estimated in each case of the study group along with HbF levels of control group comprising healthy children of same age group. The estimation was done by HPLC and Modified Betke's method. 50 cases of newly diagnosed haematological malignancies were studied out of which most of the cases were of acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) [ n = 30(60 %)] followed by acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) [ n = 8(16 %)], Hodgkin's lymphoma [ n = 7(14%)], non-Hodgkin's lymphoma [ n = 5(10 %)]. Raised HbF levels were found in 43.3 % cases of ALL (13/30) and 37.5 % cases of AML (3/8). No significant rise in HbF level was found in cases of lymphomas. There was correlation between raised HbF level and poor prognostic factors in cases of ALL but no such correlation was found in cases of AML. HbF levels are often elevated in childhood leukaemias as compared to childhood lymphomas. Thus, the concentration of HbF in acute childhood leukaemia may be considered as a prognostic factor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Honey's inherent compositional diversity, bio-compatibility and time tested therapeutic efficacy, especially in tissue repair as a topical agent, attract researchers towards harnessing its biomaterial potential particularly in developing matrix for tissue engineering applications. Hence, this study fabricates fibrous mat from optimum honey-alginate formulation and alginate solution using wet spinning technology. The physical and morphological properties of the scaffolds are assessed and finally their comparative biological performances are evaluated through in vitro studies on adherence, viability and prime molecular expression of HaCaT and 3T3 cells. The honey-alginate scaffold demonstrates better performance than that of alginate in terms of cellular adherence, viability and proper expression of cell-cell adhesion molecule (E-cadherin) and prime molecules of extra cellular matrix (Collagen I and III) by HaCaT and 3T3 respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effect of solar eclipse of July 22, 2009, obscuring up to 91 %, upon the value of point discharge current (PDC) has been reported in this paper. The observation had been taken from Kolkata (Lat. 22.56°N, Long. 88.5°E). During the eclipse period, significant variations in the magnitude of PDC were observed than their average value for the same period in other days. The average value of the PDC for the successive ±10 days adjacent to the solar eclipse day was about 2.253 A.U. (Arbitrary Unit), while the minimum value showed about 2.242 A.U. at the time of greatest phase at 06:26.4 IST (Indian Standard Time). The results are mainly interpreted in terms of changes of the conductivity of the medium during the solar eclipse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A paper chromatographic method for the detection of adulteration of anionic detergent in milk is described. The method is based on the complexing of anionic detergent with methylene blue dye and separation of complex from free dye using simple paper chromatographic method. Since complexing of detergent is with dye, visualization is direct without involvement of subsequent detection of complex. The method is simple and results are available in 10 min. The method is sensitive to detect 0.1 % (w/v) labolene (laboratory grade detergent) or 0.01 % (w/v) sodium dodecylbenzene sulfonate (pure anionic detergent) in milk. The method can be adopted at quality control laboratories in dairies for ascertaining the quality of milk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effects of 2009 Leonid Meteor Shower upon the two VLF subionospheric transmitted signals and vertical electric potential gradient from the ground surface have been studied from Kolkata (Lat: 22.56°N, Long: 88.5°E) on November 17, 2009. The received signals showed their peak values when ZHR (Zenithal Hourly Rate) was highest. Some typical variations in the outcome of these measurements during the meteor showers will be presented in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The detection of 2009 Leonid, Perseid and Geminid meteor showers over Agartala, Tripura, India (Lat: 23.0° N, Long: 91.4° E) will be reported here by using two VLF receivers tuned to subionospheric transmitted VLF signals at the frequency 16.4 kHz from Aldra Island, Norway (Lat: 66.42° N, Long: 13.13° E) and the other at 18.2 kHz from Vijayananarayanam, India (Lat: 8.4° N; Long: 77.7° E). The received signals exhibited their peak values on November 17, 2009 when ZHR (Zenithal Hourly Rate) was highest. Some typical variations which are observed in the records of amplitude during the 2009 Leonid, Perseid and Geminid meteor showers will be presented in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Some anomalies are observed in the subinospheric VLF electromagnetic (EM) signals at 19.8 kHz transmitted from North West Cape, Australia (lat: 21.82° S; long: 114.16° E) and 40 kHz from Fukushima, Japan (lat: 36.18° N, long: 139.85° E), recorded by VLF receivers near Kolkata (lat: 22.56° N, long: 88.5° E) during the occurrence of the two earthquakes at Andaman Island (lat:14.018° N, long: 92.92° E), India and other at South Coast of Honsu (lat: 34.78° N, long: 138.27° E), Japan. The analyses of these seismo-ionospheric VLF EM anomalies at these two frequencies during some days before and after the occurrence of earthquake on August 11, 2009 will be presented here. VLF-LF transient variations of significant magnitude in the form of spikes are observed few days prior to the day of occurrence of the earthquakes that continued several days more, then decaying gradually and finally ceased. Signals are examined to describe their connectivity with earthquakes. The enhancements of the amplitude and frequency of the fourth mode of Schumann resonance spectra have been detected during the occurrence of the two earthquakes, which will also be reported here. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Several experiments were undertaken at Kolkata (latitude: 22°34′N, longitude: 88°30′E) on the solar eclipse day of August 1, 2008 to observe the effects of the solar eclipse on Fair Weather Field (FWF) and VLF amplitude and phase. The experimental results presented here show significant deviations of the observed parameters from their normal values, as they are determined by the average of the records obtained on 5 days adjacent to the day of the solar eclipse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Continuous recording of a subionospheric transmitted signal at 16.4 kHz from Novik, Norway (66° 58′ N, 13° 54′ E) is being carried out in Kolkata (22° 34′ N, 88° 30′ E). The effects of recent solar eclipse on August 1, 2008 over this transmitted signal have been reported in this paper. The variations of normalized amplitude of this signal and its phase retardation in the path during the solar eclipse are measured which show significant deviations from their usual values for the same period of the control days. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present investigation attempts to formulate the analytical quality assessment criteria of lifting hooks made of 4140 grade (400 °C temper) high-strength steel using linear elastic fracture mechanics (LEFM) procedures. According to the existing standard specifications, the proof load test is mandatory for the acceptance/rejection of these components. Also, there is a provision that the hooks should be checked by nondestructive testing (NDT) techniques and must be free from obvious defects, but there is no stipulation of acceptance limit of defect, if any. It is therefore not realistic and is insufficient, because sometimes tested hooks are found to fail in actual service. In the present paper, acceptance limit that is, the maximum allowable defect sizes for dynamic loads with various stress ratios are quantitatively estimated from the computed defect growth curves. The maximum allowable operating cycles for nondestructively detectable minimum defects are tabulated, from which a logical quality assessment criteria has been formulated for the assessment of the fatigue life of the hooks. This investigation is helpful for the safe operation of the hooks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intramural aeromycological survey was performed at the Central Milk Dairy, Calcutta, covering eight locations within the Dairyusing Burkard personal volumetric air sampler. The locations were butter cold storage (−2 °C), cold store (8 °C), packaging section (23 °C), milk processing section (24 °C), reconstituent of skimmed milk (24 °C), quality control lab (25 °C), raw milk reception (28 °C) and loading dock (26 °C). A number of fungal spores, conidia and mycelia were recorded in different rooms: the highest spore quantity was recorded in the packaging section (23 °C) and the minimum at the butter cold store (−2 °C). The dominant spores consisted of Aspergillus niger, A flavus, Cladosporium sp., Fusarium sp., Curvularia sp., Alternaria sp., Torula sp., Myrotheciumsp., Helminthosporium sp., Periconia sp., Nigrospora sp. and Pithomyces sp. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The incidence of endometriosis of the appendix is reported to be just <1% of the total endometriosis cases. Laparoscopic visualization and diagnostic yield are of profound significance to women in whom gynecologic diseases such as endometriosis, pelvic inflammatory disease, ruptured ovarian follicles or tubal pregnancy may be the source of pain and mimic appendicitis. Therefore, lower abdominal pain in reproductive age group female must invite the attention of the surgeon or gynecologist to entertain the possibility of endometriosis since appendiceal endometriosis, while relatively uncommon in patients with endometriosis, is rare in the general population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Topical application of honey for tissue regeneration, has recently regained attention in clinical practice with controlled studies affirming its efficacy and indicating its role in regeneration over repair. Parallely, to overcome difficulties of applying raw honey, several product development studies like nanofibrous matrices have been reported. However, one approach concentrated on achieving highest possible honey loading in the nanofiber membranes while other studies have found that only specific honey dilutions result in differential cellular responses on wound healing and re-epithelization. From these results, it can be suggested that high honey loading provides optimum external microenvironment, low-loaded membranes could provide a more conducive internal microenvironment for tissue regeneration. With this hypothesis, this paper sought to evaluate ability of low-honey loaded nanofibers to modulate the anti-oxidant, anti-biofilm and anti-inflammatory properties which are important to be maintained in wound micro-environment. A loading-dependent reduction of biofilm formation and anti-oxidant activity was noted in different concentration ranges investigated. After scratch assay, a certain honey loading (0.5%) afforded the maximum re-epithelization. Since there is lack of methods to determine anti-inflammatory properties of nanofiber membranes during epithelial healing process, we performed anti-inflammatory assessment of nano-fibers by evaluating the expressions of pro-inflammatory markers-Cycloxygenase-2 (COX-2) and Interleukin-6 (IL-6) and to confirm the optimized concentration. Considering the role of COX-2 and IL-6, the novel methodology used in this study can also be developed as an assay for anti-inflammatory matrices for wound healing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A correction is presented for the article "Ex vivo bio-compatibility of honey-alginate fibrous matrix for HaCaT and 3T3 with prime molecular expressions" that was presented in a previous 2014 issue of the journal.