Production of cowpea (Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp.), a staple legume crop in Sub-Saharan Africa, faces challenges due to biotic and abiotic constraints. Induced mutagenesis was deployed to create genetic variation in ...Production of cowpea (Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp.), a staple legume crop in Sub-Saharan Africa, faces challenges due to biotic and abiotic constraints. Induced mutagenesis was deployed to create genetic variation in two cowpea varieties (KVX396-4-5-2D and Moussa local). The radio-sensitivity tests led to determe the lethal dose 50 (LD50) corresponding to 230 Gy and 220 Gy for KVX396-4-5-2D and Moussa local varieties, respectively. Dried seeds (M0) of each variety were gamma-ray irradiated with LD50 − 50, LD50 and LD50 + 50. M1 seeds were advanced to generate M2, M3 and M4 mutants using the single-seed-descent method. M4 mutant lines were evaluated in rain-fed conditions using a randomized complete block design to assess phenotypic differences. Data on seven qualitative and eleven quantitative traits were collected. The results indicated that the mutation induced variability in three qualitative traits: in KVX 396-4-5-2D mutant lines, with flower and seed color frequencies at 2.61% and 0.56% respectively, and pod dehiscence at a frequency of 0.24%. While in Moussa local mutants, a pod color changed at a frequency of 17%. ANOVA results revealed significant differences between mutants of both varieties for all quantitative traits, including photosynthetic parameters. Positive correlations were observed between leaf diameter and 100-seed weight, and between branch number and 100-seed weight. Hierarchical clustering revealed three clusters among KVX 396-4-5-2D mutants and six clusters among Moussa local mutants. Early maturity and high foliage were induced traits in Cluster 3 of KVX 396-4-5-2D mutants while high hundred-seed weight was induced in Cluster 6 of Moussa local mutants.展开更多
Cancer is an abnormal state of cells where they undergo uncontrolled proliferation and produce aggressive malignancies that causes millions of deaths every year.With the new understanding of the molecular mechanism(s)...Cancer is an abnormal state of cells where they undergo uncontrolled proliferation and produce aggressive malignancies that causes millions of deaths every year.With the new understanding of the molecular mechanism(s)of disease progression,our knowledge about the disease is snowballing,leading to the evolution of many new therapeutic regimes and their successive trials.In the past few decades,various combinations of therapies have been pro-posed and are presently employed in the treatment of diverse cancers.Targeted drug therapy,immunotherapy,and personalized medicines are now largely being employed,which were not common a few years back.The field of cancer discoveries and therapeutics are evolving fast as cancer type-specific biomarkers are progressively being identified and several types of cancers are nowadays undergoing systematic therapies,extending patients’disease-free survival thereafter.Although growing evidence shows that a systematic and targeted approach could be the future of cancer medicine,chemotherapy remains a largely opted therapeutic option despite its known side effects on the patient’s physical and psychological health.Chemother-apeutic agents/pharmaceuticals served a great purpose over the past few decades and have remained the frontline choice for advanced-stage malignancies where surgery and/or radiation therapy cannot be prescribed due to specific reasons.The present report succinctly reviews the existing and contemporary advancements in chemotherapy and assesses the status of the enrolled drugs/pharmaceuticals;it also comprehensively discusses the emerging role of specific/targeted therapeutic strategies that are presently being employed to achieve better clinical success/survival rate in cancer patients.展开更多
AIM:To investigate the anti-inflammatory effects of cinnamon extract and elucidate its mechanisms for targeting the function of antigen presenting cells.METHODS:Cinnamon extract was used to treat murine macrophage cel...AIM:To investigate the anti-inflammatory effects of cinnamon extract and elucidate its mechanisms for targeting the function of antigen presenting cells.METHODS:Cinnamon extract was used to treat murine macrophage cell line(Raw 264.7),mouse primary antigen-presenting cells(APCs,MHCII+) and CD11c+dendritic cells to analyze the effects of cinnamon extract on APC function.The mechanisms of action of cinnamon extract on APCs were investigated by analyzing cytokine production,and expression of MHC antigens and co-stimulatory molecules by quantitative real-time PCR and flow cytometry.In addition,the effect of cinnamon extract on antigen presentation capacity and APC-dependent T-cell differentiation were analyzed by [H3]-thymidine incorporation and cytokine analysis,respectively.To confirm the anti-inflammatory effects of cinnamon extract in vivo,cinnamon or PBS was orally administered to mice for 20 d followed by induction of experimental colitis with 2,4,6 trinitrobenzenesulfonic acid.The protective effects of cinnamon extract against experimental colitis were measured by checking clinical symptoms,histological analysis and cytokine expression prof iles in inflamed tissue.RESULTS:Treatment with cinnamon extract inhibited maturation of MHCII+ APCs or CD11c+ dendritic cells(DCs) by suppressing expression of co-stimulatory molecules(B7.1,B7.2,ICOS-L),MHCII and cyclooxygenase(COX)-2.Cinnamon extract induced regulatory DCs(rDCs) that produce low levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines [interleukin(IL)-1β,IL-6,IL-12,interferon(IFN)-γ and tumor necrosis factor(TNF)-α] while expressing high levels of immunoregulatory cytokines(IL-10 and transforming growth factor-β).In addition,rDCs generated by cinnamon extract inhibited APC-dependent T-cell proliferation,and converted CD4+ T cells into IL-10high CD4+ T cells.Furthermore,oral administration of cinnamon extract inhibited development and progression of intestinal colitis by inhibiting expression of COX-2 and pro-inflammatory cytokines(IL-1β,IFN-γ and TNF-α),while enhancing展开更多
In the published article,there was an error in the affiliation information about the first author Uttpal Anand[a].Instead of"Department of Life Sciences,Ben-Gurion University of the Negev,Beer-Sheva 84105,Israel&...In the published article,there was an error in the affiliation information about the first author Uttpal Anand[a].Instead of"Department of Life Sciences,Ben-Gurion University of the Negev,Beer-Sheva 84105,Israel",it should be"CytoGene Research&Development LLP,K-51,UPSIDA Industrial Area,Kursi Road(Lucknow),Dist.Barabanki,225001,Uttar Pradesh,India".The authors would like to apologize for any inconvenience caused and state that this does not change the scientific conclusions of thearticle inanyway.展开更多
With the existence of several conventional and advanced building thermal energy demand forecast models to improve the energy efficiency of buildings,it is hard to find an appropriate,convenient,and efficient model.Eva...With the existence of several conventional and advanced building thermal energy demand forecast models to improve the energy efficiency of buildings,it is hard to find an appropriate,convenient,and efficient model.Evaluations based on statistical indexes(MAE,RMSE,MAPE,etc.)that characterize the accuracy of the forecasts do not help in the identification of the efficient building thermal energy demand forecast tool since they do not reflect the efforts entailed in implementation of the forecast model,i.e.,data collection to production/use phase.Hence,this work presents a Gini Index based Measurement of Alternatives and Ranking according to COmpromise Solution(GI-MARCOS),a hybrid Multi Attribute Decision Making(MADM)approach for the identification of the most efficient building energy demand forecast tool.GI-MARCOS employs(i)GI based objective weight method:assigns meaningful objective weights to the attributes in four phases(1:pre-processing,2:implementation,3:post-processing,and 4:use phase)thereby avoiding unnecessary biases in the expert’s opinion on weights and applicable to domains where there is a lack of domain expertise,and(ii)MARCOS:provides a robust and reliable ranking of alternatives in a dynamic environment.A case study with three alternatives evaluated over three to six attributes in four phases of implementation(pre-processing,implementation,post-processing and use)reveals that the use of GI-MARCOS improved the accuracy of alternatives MLR and BM by 6%and 13%,respectively.Moreover,additional validations state that(i)MLR performs best in Phase 1 and 2,while ANN performs best in Phase 3 and 4 with BM providing a mediocre performance in all four phases,(ii)sensitivity analysis:provides robust ranking with interchange of weights across phases and attributes,and(iii)rank correlation:ranks produce by GI-MARCOS has a high correlation with GRA(0.999),COPRAS(0.9786),and ARAS(0.9775).展开更多
In this paper, we report the experimental characterization of highly nonlinear GeSbS chalcogenide glass waveguides. We used a single-beam characterization protocol that accounts for the magnitude and sign of the real ...In this paper, we report the experimental characterization of highly nonlinear GeSbS chalcogenide glass waveguides. We used a single-beam characterization protocol that accounts for the magnitude and sign of the real and imaginary parts of the third-order nonlinear susceptibility of integrated Ge23Sb7S70 （GeSbS） chalcogenide glass waveguides in the near-infrared wavdength range at λ = 1580 nm. We measured a waveguide nonlinear parameter of 7.0 4- 0.7 W-1 · m-1, which corresponds to a nonlinear refractive index of n2 =（0.93 ± 0.08） ×10-18 m2/W, comparable to that of silicon, but with an 80 times lower two-photon absorption coefficient βTPA = （0.010± 0.003） cm/GW, accompanied with linear propagation losses as low as 0.5 dB/cm. The outstanding linear and nonlinear properties of GeSbS, with a measured nonlinear figure of merit FOM TPA = 6.0 ± 1.4 at λ = 1580 nm, ultimately make it one of the most promising integrated platforms for the realization of nonlinear functionalities.展开更多
Black phosphorus(BP)is an attractive material for two-dimensional(2D)electronics and optoelectronics given its direct optical band gap in the bulk.However,the vulnerability of BP to oxygen and moisture under ambient c...Black phosphorus(BP)is an attractive material for two-dimensional(2D)electronics and optoelectronics given its direct optical band gap in the bulk.However,the vulnerability of BP to oxygen and moisture under ambient conditions has been a significant impediment for the adoption of this material towards practical applications.This vulnerability has also curtailed the development of additively manufactured,solution processed,ink-jet printed BP devices,which are cost-effective alternatives to lithographically patterned rigid electronics and optoelectronics based on silicon.In this work,we have fabricated stable BP electronic devices on flexible and compliant substrates using low-cost,additive manufacturing techniques with ink-jet printing through scalable chemical exfoliation routes.To address the stability issues with BP,ionic liquids(ILs)were used as a passivation layer on the surface of the BP to minimize oxidative degradation.The enhanced stability of BP was inferred through Raman spectroscopy and scanning probe microscopy techniques,where no observable changes in the A^(1)_(g)and A^(2)_(g)Raman vibrational modes were observed with time for the BP films passivated with ILs over a period of 168 h under ambient conditions.On the other hand,a blue-shift in these Raman modes was evident for unpassivated samples.Atomic probe microscopy measurements clearly revealed the difference in the surface characteristics through localized regions of degradation that intensified with time,which was clearly absent in IL/BP samples.The stability measurements were also conducted in electronic device platforms for IL coated BP devices,where the temperature T dependence of the I_(ds)-V_(ds)characteristic was measured from T~5.4 to 335 K.Prototypical demonstrations of stabilized ILs/BP devices at ambient printed on flexible polyimide substrates were also made.The irradiation with broadband radiation appears to have a significant influence on the electrical behavior of BP,evident through the variation of photocurrent with temperature.Ov展开更多
We report a case of life-threatening hematemesis due to portal hypertension caused by an isolated arterioportal fistula (APF). Intrahepatic APFs are extremely rare and are a cause of presinusoidal portal hypertension....We report a case of life-threatening hematemesis due to portal hypertension caused by an isolated arterioportal fistula (APF). Intrahepatic APFs are extremely rare and are a cause of presinusoidal portal hypertension. Etiologies for APFs are comprised of precipitating trauma, malignancy, and hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia, but these were not the case in our patient. Idiopathic APFs are usually due to congenital vascular abnormalities and thus usually present in the pediatric setting. This is one of the first cases of adult-onset isolated APF who presented with portal hypertension and was successfully managed through endoscopic hemostasis and subsequent interventional radiological embolization.展开更多
Background: Thyroid disorders are the most common endocrine disorders in pregnancy accounting for 10% of subclinical hypothyroidism in all pregnancies. Screening for hypothyroidism is essential in all pregnant women, ...Background: Thyroid disorders are the most common endocrine disorders in pregnancy accounting for 10% of subclinical hypothyroidism in all pregnancies. Screening for hypothyroidism is essential in all pregnant women, especially in Nepal, a low-income region where women have an increased risk of developing iodine deficiency during pregnancy. Hence this study is to analyze fetomaternal outcomes in maternal hypothyroidism complicating pregnancies. Methods: This retrospective observational study was carried out at Paropakar Maternity and Women Hospital, a tertiary center located in Kathmandu, Nepal. The Subjects of this study were 330 antenatal women with a singleton pregnancy with hypothyroidism admitted for delivery in the obstetrics ward, and informed consent was obtained. Women were chosen irrespective of age, parity, residency, and socioeconomic status. Women with multiple pregnancies and any preexisting medical disorders including heart disease, diabetes, and hypertension were excluded. Routine hematological parameters and estimations of T3, T4, and thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) were conducted. Patients with hypothyroidism were divided into overt and subclinical and were subsequently assessed for maternal and fetal complications. The occurrence of maternal outcomes and perinatal outcomes were recorded. Result: Out of 470 total hypothyroid cases, 330 were enrolled in the study and the remaining 140 were excluded. In our study, the incidence of hypothyroidism in pregnancy was 2.11% with 1.7% of subclinical hypothyroidism and 0.31% of overt hypothyroidism. The mean age of the patient was >30 years with 53.3% (n = 176) primigravida. Mostly 70.3% (n = 232) from rural areas. Pre-Eclampsia, gestational diabetes abruptio placenta, and postpartum hemorrhage were the adverse maternal outcome with a higher percentage of these in overt hypothyroidism which was statistically significant. Concerning fetal outcome APGAR score <6 in 5 min, Intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR), NICU admission, neonatal Respiratory distres展开更多
Gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine neoplasms comprise a heterogeneous group of tumors that differ in their pathogenesis,hormonal syndromes produced,biological behavior and consequently,in their requirement for and/...Gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine neoplasms comprise a heterogeneous group of tumors that differ in their pathogenesis,hormonal syndromes produced,biological behavior and consequently,in their requirement for and/or response to specific chemotherapeutic agents and molecular targeted therapies.Various imaging techniques are available for functional and morphological evaluation of these neoplasms and the selection of investigations performed in each patient should be customized to the clinical question.Also,with the increased availability of cross sectional imaging,these neoplasms are increasingly being detected incidentally in routine radiology practice.This article is a review of the various imaging modalities currently used in the evaluation of neuroendocrine neoplasms,along with a discussion of the role of advanced imaging techniques and a glimpse into the newer imaging horizons,mostly in the research stage.展开更多
The aim of this work is to develop an improved region based active contour and dynamic programming based method for accurate segmentation of left ventricle （LV） from multi-slice cine short axis cardiac magnetic reso...The aim of this work is to develop an improved region based active contour and dynamic programming based method for accurate segmentation of left ventricle （LV） from multi-slice cine short axis cardiac magnetic resonance （MR） images. Intensity inhomogeneity and weak object boundaries present in MR images hinder the segmentation accuracy. The proposed active contour model driven by a local Gaussian distribution fitting （LGDF） energy and an auxiliary global intensity fitting energy improves the accuracy of endocardial boundary detection. The weightage of the global energy fitting term is dynamically adjusted using a spatially varying weight function. Dynamic programming scheme proposed for the segmentation of epicardium considers the myocardium probability map and a distance weighted edge map in the cost matrix. Radial distance weighted technique and conical geometry are employed for segmenting the basal slices with left ventricle outflow tract （LVOT） and most apical slices. The proposed method is validated on a public dataset comprising 45 subjects from medical image computing and computer assisted interventions （MICCAI） 2009 segmentation challenge. The average percentage of good endocardial and epicardial contours detected is about 99%, average perpendicular distance of the detected good contours from the manual reference contours is 1.95 mm, and the dice similarity coefficient between the detected contours and the reference contours is 0.91. Correlation coefficient and the coefficient of determination between the ejection fraction measurements from manual segmentation and the automated method are respectively 0.9781 and 0.9567, for LV mass these values are 0.9249 and 0.8554. Statistical analysis of the results reveals a good agreement between the clinical parameters determined manually and those estimated using the automated method.展开更多
Primary melanocytic tumours of the uterine cervix are rare. These include blue nevi and malignant melanoma. Blue nevi are benign melanocytic lesions which occur as incidental finding. Primary cervical melanomas are ra...Primary melanocytic tumours of the uterine cervix are rare. These include blue nevi and malignant melanoma. Blue nevi are benign melanocytic lesions which occur as incidental finding. Primary cervical melanomas are rare mucosal melanomas with aggressive behaviour. In small biopsies, they can mimic poorly differentiated carcinomas. Here we present the cases of melanocytic tumours reported from our institute during the last 6 years展开更多
Distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks continues to grow as a threat to organizations worldwide. From the first known attack in 1999 to the highly publicized Operation Ababil, the DDoS attacks have a history of ...Distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks continues to grow as a threat to organizations worldwide. From the first known attack in 1999 to the highly publicized Operation Ababil, the DDoS attacks have a history of flooding the victim network with an enormous number of packets, hence exhausting the resources and preventing the legitimate users to access them. After having standard DDoS defense mechanism, still attackers are able to launch an attack. These inadequate defense mechanisms need to be improved and integrated with other solutions. The purpose of this paper is to study the characteristics of DDoS attacks, various models involved in attacks and to provide a timeline of defense mechanism with their improvements to combat DDoS attacks. In addition to this, a novel scheme is proposed to detect DDoS attack efficiently by using MapReduce programming model.展开更多
Two semi-empirical approaches for prediction of elastic modulus of biphasic composites have been proposed. Developed relations are for pore free matrix and pore free filler and found to depend on nonlinear contributio...Two semi-empirical approaches for prediction of elastic modulus of biphasic composites have been proposed. Developed relations are for pore free matrix and pore free filler and found to depend on nonlinear contribution of volume fraction of constituents as well as ratio of elastic properties of individual phases. These relations are applied for the calculation of effective elastic modulus mainly for Al2O3-NiAl, SiC-Al, Alumina-Zirconia, Al-Al2O3, W-glass and Flax-Resin composite materials. Theoretical predictions using developed relations are compared with experimental data. It is found that the predicted values of effective elastic modulus using modified relations are quite close to the experimental results.展开更多
CRISPR/Cas,an adaptive immune system in bacteria,has been adopted as an efficient and precise tool for site-specific gene editing with potential therapeutic opportunities.It has been explored for a variety of applicat...CRISPR/Cas,an adaptive immune system in bacteria,has been adopted as an efficient and precise tool for site-specific gene editing with potential therapeutic opportunities.It has been explored for a variety of applications,including gene modulation,epigenome editing,diagnosis,mRNA editing,etc.It has found applications in retinal dystrophic conditions including progressive cone and cone-rod dystrophies,congenital stationary night blindness,X-linked juvenile retinoschisis,retinitis pigmentosa,age-related macular degeneration,leber’s congenital amaurosis,etc.Most of the therapies for retinal dystrophic conditions work by regressing symptoms instead of reversing the genemutations.CRISPR/Cas9 through indel could impart beneficial effects in the reversal of gene mutations in dystrophic conditions.Recent research has also consolidated on the approaches of using CRISPR systems for retinal dystrophies but their delivery to the posterior part of the eye is a major concern due to high molecular weight,negative charge,and in vivo stability of CRISPR components.Recently,non-viral vectors have gained interest due to their potential in tissue-specific nucleic acid(miRNA/siRNA/CRISPR)delivery.This review highlights the opportunities of retinal dystrophies management using CRISPR/Cas nanomedicine.展开更多
In this study,four biochars prepared from different crop residue waste i.e.sugarcane bagasse(SBB),coconut shell(CNB),paddy straw(PDB),and distilled waste of lemongrass(LGB)were evaluated for removal of Remazol Brillia...In this study,four biochars prepared from different crop residue waste i.e.sugarcane bagasse(SBB),coconut shell(CNB),paddy straw(PDB),and distilled waste of lemongrass(LGB)were evaluated for removal of Remazol Brilliant Blue R from the aqueous system.The RBBR adsorption capacities of biochar were 97-79%for SBB,99.9-99.47%for CNB,66.1-48%for PDB,and 78-68%for LGB,dominantly controlled by their aromaticity and mineral content.The Langmuir and Freundlich isotherms and pseudo-second-order kinetic models have described the chemisorption of RBBR on biochar surfaces.The thermodynamic data suggested that adsorption was spontaneous and endothermic.These biochars demonstrated excellent reusability(till four cycles with 50-61%regeneration).The purified water and biochar dye sludge demonstrated no phytotoxicity.The findings obtained in this study may provide supports for the potential of biochars for anionic dye removal from water and utilization of generated sludge for zero waste-producing technologies in the future.展开更多
This paper deals with the human adaptability to its built environment. The built environment as we know it rarely finds itself adapting to its surrounding context, whether it be on the level of interaction with humans...This paper deals with the human adaptability to its built environment. The built environment as we know it rarely finds itself adapting to its surrounding context, whether it be on the level of interaction with humans or the climate. Humans and nature both are in a constant state of flux;moving, changing, sensing, and reacting to their context and information they gather and perceive. A barrier is formed between the built environment and humans and nature due to the fact that their inherent characteristics are utterly contrasting. It is commonly estimated that persons in urban areas spend at least 80% of their time indoors. This suggests that the quality of the indoor environment can have a significant impact on comfort, health, and overall sense of well being. The indoor environment of buildings should thus be designed and controlled, as to provide a comfortable and healthy space for occupants. In order to maintain the quality of the indoor environment, we mechanically condition our buildings to achieve constant, uniform and comfortable environments. The maintenance of thermal equilibrium between the human body and its environment is one of the primary requirements. History of thermal comfort and climate design shows a definite relation between them and research is needed to know “What are comfort conditions?” and “How buildings could adapt themselves to these conditions”.展开更多
文摘Production of cowpea (Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp.), a staple legume crop in Sub-Saharan Africa, faces challenges due to biotic and abiotic constraints. Induced mutagenesis was deployed to create genetic variation in two cowpea varieties (KVX396-4-5-2D and Moussa local). The radio-sensitivity tests led to determe the lethal dose 50 (LD50) corresponding to 230 Gy and 220 Gy for KVX396-4-5-2D and Moussa local varieties, respectively. Dried seeds (M0) of each variety were gamma-ray irradiated with LD50 − 50, LD50 and LD50 + 50. M1 seeds were advanced to generate M2, M3 and M4 mutants using the single-seed-descent method. M4 mutant lines were evaluated in rain-fed conditions using a randomized complete block design to assess phenotypic differences. Data on seven qualitative and eleven quantitative traits were collected. The results indicated that the mutation induced variability in three qualitative traits: in KVX 396-4-5-2D mutant lines, with flower and seed color frequencies at 2.61% and 0.56% respectively, and pod dehiscence at a frequency of 0.24%. While in Moussa local mutants, a pod color changed at a frequency of 17%. ANOVA results revealed significant differences between mutants of both varieties for all quantitative traits, including photosynthetic parameters. Positive correlations were observed between leaf diameter and 100-seed weight, and between branch number and 100-seed weight. Hierarchical clustering revealed three clusters among KVX 396-4-5-2D mutants and six clusters among Moussa local mutants. Early maturity and high foliage were induced traits in Cluster 3 of KVX 396-4-5-2D mutants while high hundred-seed weight was induced in Cluster 6 of Moussa local mutants.
基金funded by"Agencia Canaria de Inves-tigación,Innovación y Sociedad de la Información(ACIISI)del Gobierno de Canarias"(No.ProID2020010134),óCaja Canarias(Project No.2019SP43).
文摘Cancer is an abnormal state of cells where they undergo uncontrolled proliferation and produce aggressive malignancies that causes millions of deaths every year.With the new understanding of the molecular mechanism(s)of disease progression,our knowledge about the disease is snowballing,leading to the evolution of many new therapeutic regimes and their successive trials.In the past few decades,various combinations of therapies have been pro-posed and are presently employed in the treatment of diverse cancers.Targeted drug therapy,immunotherapy,and personalized medicines are now largely being employed,which were not common a few years back.The field of cancer discoveries and therapeutics are evolving fast as cancer type-specific biomarkers are progressively being identified and several types of cancers are nowadays undergoing systematic therapies,extending patients’disease-free survival thereafter.Although growing evidence shows that a systematic and targeted approach could be the future of cancer medicine,chemotherapy remains a largely opted therapeutic option despite its known side effects on the patient’s physical and psychological health.Chemother-apeutic agents/pharmaceuticals served a great purpose over the past few decades and have remained the frontline choice for advanced-stage malignancies where surgery and/or radiation therapy cannot be prescribed due to specific reasons.The present report succinctly reviews the existing and contemporary advancements in chemotherapy and assesses the status of the enrolled drugs/pharmaceuticals;it also comprehensively discusses the emerging role of specific/targeted therapeutic strategies that are presently being employed to achieve better clinical success/survival rate in cancer patients.
基金Supported by Grants from the BioGreen 21 Program, Rural Development Administration (PJ007054)Regional Technology Innovation Program of the MOCIE (RTI05-01-01)Korea Healthcare Technology R&D Project, Ministry of Health and Welfare (A080588-20)
文摘AIM:To investigate the anti-inflammatory effects of cinnamon extract and elucidate its mechanisms for targeting the function of antigen presenting cells.METHODS:Cinnamon extract was used to treat murine macrophage cell line(Raw 264.7),mouse primary antigen-presenting cells(APCs,MHCII+) and CD11c+dendritic cells to analyze the effects of cinnamon extract on APC function.The mechanisms of action of cinnamon extract on APCs were investigated by analyzing cytokine production,and expression of MHC antigens and co-stimulatory molecules by quantitative real-time PCR and flow cytometry.In addition,the effect of cinnamon extract on antigen presentation capacity and APC-dependent T-cell differentiation were analyzed by [H3]-thymidine incorporation and cytokine analysis,respectively.To confirm the anti-inflammatory effects of cinnamon extract in vivo,cinnamon or PBS was orally administered to mice for 20 d followed by induction of experimental colitis with 2,4,6 trinitrobenzenesulfonic acid.The protective effects of cinnamon extract against experimental colitis were measured by checking clinical symptoms,histological analysis and cytokine expression prof iles in inflamed tissue.RESULTS:Treatment with cinnamon extract inhibited maturation of MHCII+ APCs or CD11c+ dendritic cells(DCs) by suppressing expression of co-stimulatory molecules(B7.1,B7.2,ICOS-L),MHCII and cyclooxygenase(COX)-2.Cinnamon extract induced regulatory DCs(rDCs) that produce low levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines [interleukin(IL)-1β,IL-6,IL-12,interferon(IFN)-γ and tumor necrosis factor(TNF)-α] while expressing high levels of immunoregulatory cytokines(IL-10 and transforming growth factor-β).In addition,rDCs generated by cinnamon extract inhibited APC-dependent T-cell proliferation,and converted CD4+ T cells into IL-10high CD4+ T cells.Furthermore,oral administration of cinnamon extract inhibited development and progression of intestinal colitis by inhibiting expression of COX-2 and pro-inflammatory cytokines(IL-1β,IFN-γ and TNF-α),while enhancing
文摘In the published article,there was an error in the affiliation information about the first author Uttpal Anand[a].Instead of"Department of Life Sciences,Ben-Gurion University of the Negev,Beer-Sheva 84105,Israel",it should be"CytoGene Research&Development LLP,K-51,UPSIDA Industrial Area,Kursi Road(Lucknow),Dist.Barabanki,225001,Uttar Pradesh,India".The authors would like to apologize for any inconvenience caused and state that this does not change the scientific conclusions of thearticle inanyway.
基金supported by The Indian Institute of Technology-Bombay(Institute Postdoctoral Fellowship-AO/Admin-1/Rect/33/2019).
文摘With the existence of several conventional and advanced building thermal energy demand forecast models to improve the energy efficiency of buildings,it is hard to find an appropriate,convenient,and efficient model.Evaluations based on statistical indexes(MAE,RMSE,MAPE,etc.)that characterize the accuracy of the forecasts do not help in the identification of the efficient building thermal energy demand forecast tool since they do not reflect the efforts entailed in implementation of the forecast model,i.e.,data collection to production/use phase.Hence,this work presents a Gini Index based Measurement of Alternatives and Ranking according to COmpromise Solution(GI-MARCOS),a hybrid Multi Attribute Decision Making(MADM)approach for the identification of the most efficient building energy demand forecast tool.GI-MARCOS employs(i)GI based objective weight method:assigns meaningful objective weights to the attributes in four phases(1:pre-processing,2:implementation,3:post-processing,and 4:use phase)thereby avoiding unnecessary biases in the expert’s opinion on weights and applicable to domains where there is a lack of domain expertise,and(ii)MARCOS:provides a robust and reliable ranking of alternatives in a dynamic environment.A case study with three alternatives evaluated over three to six attributes in four phases of implementation(pre-processing,implementation,post-processing and use)reveals that the use of GI-MARCOS improved the accuracy of alternatives MLR and BM by 6%and 13%,respectively.Moreover,additional validations state that(i)MLR performs best in Phase 1 and 2,while ANN performs best in Phase 3 and 4 with BM providing a mediocre performance in all four phases,(ii)sensitivity analysis:provides robust ranking with interchange of weights across phases and attributes,and(iii)rank correlation:ranks produce by GI-MARCOS has a high correlation with GRA(0.999),COPRAS(0.9786),and ARAS(0.9775).
基金H2020 European Research Council(ERC)(647342)U.S. National Science Foundation(NSF)(1506605)French RENATECH Network
文摘In this paper, we report the experimental characterization of highly nonlinear GeSbS chalcogenide glass waveguides. We used a single-beam characterization protocol that accounts for the magnitude and sign of the real and imaginary parts of the third-order nonlinear susceptibility of integrated Ge23Sb7S70 （GeSbS） chalcogenide glass waveguides in the near-infrared wavdength range at λ = 1580 nm. We measured a waveguide nonlinear parameter of 7.0 4- 0.7 W-1 · m-1, which corresponds to a nonlinear refractive index of n2 =（0.93 ± 0.08） ×10-18 m2/W, comparable to that of silicon, but with an 80 times lower two-photon absorption coefficient βTPA = （0.010± 0.003） cm/GW, accompanied with linear propagation losses as low as 0.5 dB/cm. The outstanding linear and nonlinear properties of GeSbS, with a measured nonlinear figure of merit FOM TPA = 6.0 ± 1.4 at λ = 1580 nm, ultimately make it one of the most promising integrated platforms for the realization of nonlinear functionalities.
基金the National Science Foundation(No.NSF ECCS 1753933)the Office of Naval Research(ONR)(No.ONR N00014-19-1-2142)that enabled us to pursue this work.
文摘Black phosphorus(BP)is an attractive material for two-dimensional(2D)electronics and optoelectronics given its direct optical band gap in the bulk.However,the vulnerability of BP to oxygen and moisture under ambient conditions has been a significant impediment for the adoption of this material towards practical applications.This vulnerability has also curtailed the development of additively manufactured,solution processed,ink-jet printed BP devices,which are cost-effective alternatives to lithographically patterned rigid electronics and optoelectronics based on silicon.In this work,we have fabricated stable BP electronic devices on flexible and compliant substrates using low-cost,additive manufacturing techniques with ink-jet printing through scalable chemical exfoliation routes.To address the stability issues with BP,ionic liquids(ILs)were used as a passivation layer on the surface of the BP to minimize oxidative degradation.The enhanced stability of BP was inferred through Raman spectroscopy and scanning probe microscopy techniques,where no observable changes in the A^(1)_(g)and A^(2)_(g)Raman vibrational modes were observed with time for the BP films passivated with ILs over a period of 168 h under ambient conditions.On the other hand,a blue-shift in these Raman modes was evident for unpassivated samples.Atomic probe microscopy measurements clearly revealed the difference in the surface characteristics through localized regions of degradation that intensified with time,which was clearly absent in IL/BP samples.The stability measurements were also conducted in electronic device platforms for IL coated BP devices,where the temperature T dependence of the I_(ds)-V_(ds)characteristic was measured from T~5.4 to 335 K.Prototypical demonstrations of stabilized ILs/BP devices at ambient printed on flexible polyimide substrates were also made.The irradiation with broadband radiation appears to have a significant influence on the electrical behavior of BP,evident through the variation of photocurrent with temperature.Ov
文摘We report a case of life-threatening hematemesis due to portal hypertension caused by an isolated arterioportal fistula (APF). Intrahepatic APFs are extremely rare and are a cause of presinusoidal portal hypertension. Etiologies for APFs are comprised of precipitating trauma, malignancy, and hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia, but these were not the case in our patient. Idiopathic APFs are usually due to congenital vascular abnormalities and thus usually present in the pediatric setting. This is one of the first cases of adult-onset isolated APF who presented with portal hypertension and was successfully managed through endoscopic hemostasis and subsequent interventional radiological embolization.
文摘Background: Thyroid disorders are the most common endocrine disorders in pregnancy accounting for 10% of subclinical hypothyroidism in all pregnancies. Screening for hypothyroidism is essential in all pregnant women, especially in Nepal, a low-income region where women have an increased risk of developing iodine deficiency during pregnancy. Hence this study is to analyze fetomaternal outcomes in maternal hypothyroidism complicating pregnancies. Methods: This retrospective observational study was carried out at Paropakar Maternity and Women Hospital, a tertiary center located in Kathmandu, Nepal. The Subjects of this study were 330 antenatal women with a singleton pregnancy with hypothyroidism admitted for delivery in the obstetrics ward, and informed consent was obtained. Women were chosen irrespective of age, parity, residency, and socioeconomic status. Women with multiple pregnancies and any preexisting medical disorders including heart disease, diabetes, and hypertension were excluded. Routine hematological parameters and estimations of T3, T4, and thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) were conducted. Patients with hypothyroidism were divided into overt and subclinical and were subsequently assessed for maternal and fetal complications. The occurrence of maternal outcomes and perinatal outcomes were recorded. Result: Out of 470 total hypothyroid cases, 330 were enrolled in the study and the remaining 140 were excluded. In our study, the incidence of hypothyroidism in pregnancy was 2.11% with 1.7% of subclinical hypothyroidism and 0.31% of overt hypothyroidism. The mean age of the patient was >30 years with 53.3% (n = 176) primigravida. Mostly 70.3% (n = 232) from rural areas. Pre-Eclampsia, gestational diabetes abruptio placenta, and postpartum hemorrhage were the adverse maternal outcome with a higher percentage of these in overt hypothyroidism which was statistically significant. Concerning fetal outcome APGAR score <6 in 5 min, Intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR), NICU admission, neonatal Respiratory distres
文摘Gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine neoplasms comprise a heterogeneous group of tumors that differ in their pathogenesis,hormonal syndromes produced,biological behavior and consequently,in their requirement for and/or response to specific chemotherapeutic agents and molecular targeted therapies.Various imaging techniques are available for functional and morphological evaluation of these neoplasms and the selection of investigations performed in each patient should be customized to the clinical question.Also,with the increased availability of cross sectional imaging,these neoplasms are increasingly being detected incidentally in routine radiology practice.This article is a review of the various imaging modalities currently used in the evaluation of neuroendocrine neoplasms,along with a discussion of the role of advanced imaging techniques and a glimpse into the newer imaging horizons,mostly in the research stage.
基金supported by Department of Science and Technology, Ministry of Science and Technology, India (No. DST/TSG/ICT/2010/08)
文摘The aim of this work is to develop an improved region based active contour and dynamic programming based method for accurate segmentation of left ventricle （LV） from multi-slice cine short axis cardiac magnetic resonance （MR） images. Intensity inhomogeneity and weak object boundaries present in MR images hinder the segmentation accuracy. The proposed active contour model driven by a local Gaussian distribution fitting （LGDF） energy and an auxiliary global intensity fitting energy improves the accuracy of endocardial boundary detection. The weightage of the global energy fitting term is dynamically adjusted using a spatially varying weight function. Dynamic programming scheme proposed for the segmentation of epicardium considers the myocardium probability map and a distance weighted edge map in the cost matrix. Radial distance weighted technique and conical geometry are employed for segmenting the basal slices with left ventricle outflow tract （LVOT） and most apical slices. The proposed method is validated on a public dataset comprising 45 subjects from medical image computing and computer assisted interventions （MICCAI） 2009 segmentation challenge. The average percentage of good endocardial and epicardial contours detected is about 99%, average perpendicular distance of the detected good contours from the manual reference contours is 1.95 mm, and the dice similarity coefficient between the detected contours and the reference contours is 0.91. Correlation coefficient and the coefficient of determination between the ejection fraction measurements from manual segmentation and the automated method are respectively 0.9781 and 0.9567, for LV mass these values are 0.9249 and 0.8554. Statistical analysis of the results reveals a good agreement between the clinical parameters determined manually and those estimated using the automated method.
文摘Primary melanocytic tumours of the uterine cervix are rare. These include blue nevi and malignant melanoma. Blue nevi are benign melanocytic lesions which occur as incidental finding. Primary cervical melanomas are rare mucosal melanomas with aggressive behaviour. In small biopsies, they can mimic poorly differentiated carcinomas. Here we present the cases of melanocytic tumours reported from our institute during the last 6 years
文摘Distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks continues to grow as a threat to organizations worldwide. From the first known attack in 1999 to the highly publicized Operation Ababil, the DDoS attacks have a history of flooding the victim network with an enormous number of packets, hence exhausting the resources and preventing the legitimate users to access them. After having standard DDoS defense mechanism, still attackers are able to launch an attack. These inadequate defense mechanisms need to be improved and integrated with other solutions. The purpose of this paper is to study the characteristics of DDoS attacks, various models involved in attacks and to provide a timeline of defense mechanism with their improvements to combat DDoS attacks. In addition to this, a novel scheme is proposed to detect DDoS attack efficiently by using MapReduce programming model.
文摘Two semi-empirical approaches for prediction of elastic modulus of biphasic composites have been proposed. Developed relations are for pore free matrix and pore free filler and found to depend on nonlinear contribution of volume fraction of constituents as well as ratio of elastic properties of individual phases. These relations are applied for the calculation of effective elastic modulus mainly for Al2O3-NiAl, SiC-Al, Alumina-Zirconia, Al-Al2O3, W-glass and Flax-Resin composite materials. Theoretical predictions using developed relations are compared with experimental data. It is found that the predicted values of effective elastic modulus using modified relations are quite close to the experimental results.
基金the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) for financial support through senior research fellowship (SRF) to DKS (file no. 45/66/2019Nan/BMS)and junior research fellow to MS (file no. 3/1/3/JRF2019/HRD(LS))support from the Department of Biotechnology, Ministry of Science and Technology (DBT), Government of India to DC through project grant (BT/PR26897/NNT/28/1489/2017)
文摘CRISPR/Cas,an adaptive immune system in bacteria,has been adopted as an efficient and precise tool for site-specific gene editing with potential therapeutic opportunities.It has been explored for a variety of applications,including gene modulation,epigenome editing,diagnosis,mRNA editing,etc.It has found applications in retinal dystrophic conditions including progressive cone and cone-rod dystrophies,congenital stationary night blindness,X-linked juvenile retinoschisis,retinitis pigmentosa,age-related macular degeneration,leber’s congenital amaurosis,etc.Most of the therapies for retinal dystrophic conditions work by regressing symptoms instead of reversing the genemutations.CRISPR/Cas9 through indel could impart beneficial effects in the reversal of gene mutations in dystrophic conditions.Recent research has also consolidated on the approaches of using CRISPR systems for retinal dystrophies but their delivery to the posterior part of the eye is a major concern due to high molecular weight,negative charge,and in vivo stability of CRISPR components.Recently,non-viral vectors have gained interest due to their potential in tissue-specific nucleic acid(miRNA/siRNA/CRISPR)delivery.This review highlights the opportunities of retinal dystrophies management using CRISPR/Cas nanomedicine.
基金financial support by the Department of Biotechnology(DBT),New Delhi(BT/PR24706/NER/95/822/2017)under the twinning program.
文摘In this study,four biochars prepared from different crop residue waste i.e.sugarcane bagasse(SBB),coconut shell(CNB),paddy straw(PDB),and distilled waste of lemongrass(LGB)were evaluated for removal of Remazol Brilliant Blue R from the aqueous system.The RBBR adsorption capacities of biochar were 97-79%for SBB,99.9-99.47%for CNB,66.1-48%for PDB,and 78-68%for LGB,dominantly controlled by their aromaticity and mineral content.The Langmuir and Freundlich isotherms and pseudo-second-order kinetic models have described the chemisorption of RBBR on biochar surfaces.The thermodynamic data suggested that adsorption was spontaneous and endothermic.These biochars demonstrated excellent reusability(till four cycles with 50-61%regeneration).The purified water and biochar dye sludge demonstrated no phytotoxicity.The findings obtained in this study may provide supports for the potential of biochars for anionic dye removal from water and utilization of generated sludge for zero waste-producing technologies in the future.
文摘This paper deals with the human adaptability to its built environment. The built environment as we know it rarely finds itself adapting to its surrounding context, whether it be on the level of interaction with humans or the climate. Humans and nature both are in a constant state of flux;moving, changing, sensing, and reacting to their context and information they gather and perceive. A barrier is formed between the built environment and humans and nature due to the fact that their inherent characteristics are utterly contrasting. It is commonly estimated that persons in urban areas spend at least 80% of their time indoors. This suggests that the quality of the indoor environment can have a significant impact on comfort, health, and overall sense of well being. The indoor environment of buildings should thus be designed and controlled, as to provide a comfortable and healthy space for occupants. In order to maintain the quality of the indoor environment, we mechanically condition our buildings to achieve constant, uniform and comfortable environments. The maintenance of thermal equilibrium between the human body and its environment is one of the primary requirements. History of thermal comfort and climate design shows a definite relation between them and research is needed to know “What are comfort conditions?” and “How buildings could adapt themselves to these conditions”.
