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Multilocular adipocytes are a hallmark of thermogenic adipose tissue(1,2), but the factors that enforce this cellular phenotype are largely unknown. Here, we show that an adipocyte-selective product of the Clstn3 locus (CLSTN3β) present in only placental mammals facilitates the efficient use of stored triglyceride by limiting lipid droplet (LD) expansion. CLSTN3β is an integral endoplasmic reticulum (ER) membrane protein that localizes to ER–LD contact sites through a conserved hairpin-like domain. Mice lacking CLSTN3β have abnormal LD morphology and altered substrate use in brown adipose tissue, and are more susceptible to cold-induced hypothermia despite having no defect in adrenergic signalling. Conversely, forced expression of CLSTN3β is sufficient to enforce a multilocular LD phenotype in cultured cells and adipose tissue. CLSTN3β associates with cell death-inducing DFFA-like effector proteins and impairs their ability to transfer lipid between LDs, thereby restricting LD fusion and expansion. Functionally, increased LD surface area in CLSTN3β-expressing adipocytes promotes engagement of the lipolytic machinery and facilitates fatty acid oxidation. In human fat, CLSTN3B is a selective marker of multilocular adipocytes. These findings define a molecular mechanism that regulates LD form and function to facilitate lipid utilization in thermogenic adipocytes.

The disproportionate share of contraceptive use by women makes family planning services women-centric in India. The meagre and declining share of male-based contraceptive use, along with the overwhelming prevalence of female sterilization, has its underpinning in the lack of emphasis on fertility regulation with the use of temporary methods. The recent trends in the share of contraceptive choices not only contest the most touted cafeteria approach but also serves counter to the National Health Policy target of increasing vasectomy prevalence. Hence an inspection of trends in vasectomy may help in course correction needed to realise NHP targets.

OBJECTIVES The present study was performed to determine the gingival dimensions (width and thickness) among young individuals in a central Indian population. MATERIALS AND METHODS Periodontal probing depth, width of the keratinized and attached gingiva, and gingival thickness were recorded on maxillary and mandibular teeth from central incisor to first molar unilaterally in 75 systemically healthy individuals (32 males and 43 females; 19-30 years of age). Comparisons were made gender-wise, arch-wise, tooth-wise, and site-wise using either the Student's t test or the ANOVA. RESULTS Keratinized and attached gingiva were wider in the maxilla than in the mandible both at proximal and at mid-buccal aspects (p

The detection of circulating tumor DNA via liquid biopsy has become an important diagnostic test for patients with cancer. While certain commercial liquid biopsy platforms designed to detect circulating tumor DNA have been approved to guide clinical decisions in advanced solid tumors, the clinical utility of these assays for detecting minimal residual disease after curative-intent treatment of nonmetastatic disease is currently limited. Predicting disease response and relapse has considerable potential for increasing the effective implementation of neoadjuvant and adjuvant therapies. As a result, many companies are rapidly investing in the development of liquid biopsy platforms to detect circulating tumor DNA in the minimal residual disease setting. In this review, we discuss the development and clinical implementation of commercial liquid biopsy platforms for circulating tumor DNA minimal residual disease detection of solid tumors. Here, we aim to highlight the technological features that enable highly sensitive detection of tumor-derived genomic alterations, the factors that differentiate these commercial platforms, and the ongoing trials that seek to increase clinical implementation of liquid biopsies using circulating tumor DNA-based minimal residual disease detection.

Paper investigates the association between labour intensive work of solid waste collection and street sweeping with the development of skin disease, respiratory disease, eye infection, musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) and MSDs-related disabilities during the service. A primary survey was conducted with 540 municipal employees adopting multistage stratified systematic sampling in 6 out of 24 municipal wards in Mumbai. The data was collected between March and September 2015, and analysis was performed in STATA13. The prevalence of self-reported morbidities among municipal workers varies from 7 to 46% in the reference period of the past 6 and 12 months. Adjusted odds of major morbidities show that the waste collectors significantly more likely to have injury/accident (OR = 11.36; p

We recently developed adeno-associated virus (AAV) capsids to facilitate efficient and noninvasive gene transfer to the central and peripheral nervous systems. However, a detailed protocol for generating and systemically delivering novel AAV variants was not previously available. In this protocol, we describe how to produce and intravenously administer AAVs to adult mice to specifically label and/or genetically manipulate cells in the nervous system and organs, including the heart. The procedure comprises three separate stages: AAV production, intravenous delivery, and evaluation of transgene expression. The protocol spans 8 d, excluding the time required to assess gene expression, and can be readily adopted by researchers with basic molecular biology, cell culture, and animal work experience. We provide guidelines for experimental design and choice of the capsid, cargo, and viral dose appropriate for the experimental aims. The procedures outlined here are adaptable to diverse biomedical applications, from anatomical and functional mapping to gene expression, silencing, and editing.

This study was aimed to evaluate the pharmacological potential of various extracts (hexane, chloroform, methanol and aqueous) of dried shoots of Triticum aestivum (wheat grass) in terms of antiproliferative and hepatoprotective potential of T. aestivum. The total chlorophyll content in dried shoots of T. aestivum was 0.54 ± 0.016 g/L (chlorophyll-a: 0.288 ± 0.05 g/L; and chlorophyll-b; 0.305 ± 0.05 g/L), while total carotene content was 0.42 ± 0.066 g/L. In addition, the chloroform extract of dried shoots of T. aestivum (250 μg/mL) exhibited 87.23% inhibitory effect with potent cytotoxicity against human hepatocellular carcinoma (HepG2) cancer cell line. Moreover, chloroform and methanol extracts significantly reduced the levels of SGOT, and SGPT enzymes, as well as total bilirubin content, while raised the level of total protein in a concentration-gradient manner, confirming the potent hepatoprotective effect of T. aestivum. A possible mechanism of apoptosis of the chloroform extract of dried shoots of T. aestivum in terms of its potent antiproliferative activity against HepG2 cancer cell line can also be proposed in this study. Our findings clearly demonstrate that T. aestivum has a significant pharmacological potential that night be used for antiproliferative and hepatoprotective purposes.

This paper reports the results of an experimental study to estimate the heat flux and convective heat transfer coefficient using liquid crystal thermography and Bayesian inference in a heat generating sphere, enclosed in a cubical Teflon block. The geometry considered for the experiments comprises a heater inserted in a hollow hemispherical aluminium ball, resulting in a volumetric heat generation source that is placed at the center of the Teflon block. Calibrated thermochromic liquid crystal sheets are used to capture the temperature distribution at the front face of the Teflon block. The forward model is the three dimensional conduction equation which is solved within the Teflon block to obtain steady state temperatures, using COMSOL. Match up experiments are carried out for various velocities by minimizing the residual between TLC and simulated temperatures for every assumed loss coefficient, to obtain a correlation of average Nusselt number against Reynolds number. This is used for prescribing the boundary condition for the solution to the forward model. A surrogate model obtained by artificial neural network built upon the data from COMSOL simulations is used to drive a Markov Chain Monte Carlo based Metropolis Hastings algorithm to generate the samples. Bayesian inference is adopted to solve the inverse problem for determination of heat flux and heat transfer coefficient from the measured temperature field. Point estimates of the posterior like the mean, maximum a posteriori and standard deviation of the retrieved heat flux and convective heat transfer coefficient are reported. Additionally the effect of number of samples on the performance of the estimation process has been investigated.

An efficient protocol has been established for rapid multiplication of Ophiorrhiza mungos Linn. (Rubiaceae), a potent anticancer plant. Axillary and terminal buds of these in vitro-raised seedlings formed the primary source of explants for direct organogenesis. Explants were inoculated onto MS medium supplemented with different concentrations and combinations of 6benzylaminopurine (BA) and kinetin (KN). The best morphogenic response was observed on MS media supplemented with 0.25 mg L -1 BA and 0.25 mg L -1 KN, which exhibited the highest regeneration frequency (84%), the maximum number of shoots/explants (63.1 ± 1.35) and shoot length (2.8 ± 1.15) within 4 weeks. Fortification of 1.0 mg L -1 GA3 enhanced the shoot elongation by 2.33 fold in 91% of shoot cluster cultures within 3 weeks. A high percent frequency of rooting (92.13%) was achieved within 15 days of shoot implantation on ½ strength MS media fortified with 100 mg L -1 activated charcoal. The rooted plantlets were successfully acclimatized with 95% survival rate. Randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) analysis confirmed that all the regenerated plants were genetically identical to their mother plant, suggesting an absence of detectable genetic variation in the regenerated plantlets. High performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) was done to further confirm the existence of qualitative and quantitative differences in the major secondary metabolite (camptothecin) between the mother plant and in vitro-propagated plants. The present results evidently showed comparable chemical profiles. Thus, the present protocol can be used for clonal mass propagation of true-to-type elite O. mungos plants.

This article reports the effect of Ag impurity (low ~4 and ~6 at.% and high ~10 at.%) on the ac conductivity (σac) of a-Ge20Se80 glass. Frequency (ω)-dependent ac conductance and capacitance of the samples over a frequency range ~100 Hz to 50 kHz was taken in the temperature range ~268–358 K. At frequency 2 kHz and temperature 298 K, the value of σac increases at low as well as at higher concentration of Ag. The σac is proportional to ωs for undoped and doped samples. The value of frequency exponent (s) decreases as the temperature increases.