Here, an ultra-wide stop-band single-layer frequency-selective surface (FSS) with high-incidence angle independence has been proposed to enhance the gain of an ultra-wideband (UWB) monopole antenna. ...The unit cell (0.2λ × 0.2λ) of the proposed FSS consists of four asymmetric rectangular patches with circular slots embedded in it. This concept of four slotted patches is conceived to achieve ultra-wide stop-band characteristic over 4.7–14.9 GHz. An equivalent lumped circuit model for the FSS is proposed to provide insight into the working nature of the FSS. A UWB monopole antenna is also designed and integrated with the proposed FSS. Ultra-wide stop-band single-layer FSS converts the omnidirectional pattern of the monopole antenna into a unidirectional one and thereby registers a significant increase in its gain by 4.5 dBi. The design concept has been discussed and experimentally verified using simulated and measured results.
PURPOSE
The systematic collection of data on cancer is being performed by various population-based cancer registries (PBCRs) and hospital-based cancer registries (HBCRs) across India under the ...National Cancer Registry Programme–National Centre for Disease Informatics and Research of Indian Council of Medical Research since 1982.
METHODS
This study examined the cancer incidence, patterns, trends, projections, and mortality from 28 PBCRs and also the stage at presentation and type of treatment of patients with cancer from 58 HBCRs (N = 667,666) from the pooled analysis for the composite period 2012-2016. Time trends in cancer incidence rate were generated as annual percent change from 16 PBCRs (those with a minimum of 10 years of continuous good data available) using Joinpoint regression.
RESULTS
Aizawl district (269.4) and Papumpare district (219.8) had the highest age-adjusted incidence rates among males and females, respectively. The projected number of patients with cancer in India is 1,392,179 for the year 2020, and the common 5 leading sites are breast, lung, mouth, cervix uteri, and tongue. Trends in cancer incidence rate showed an increase in all sites of cancer in both sexes and were high in Kamrup urban (annual percent change, 3.8%; P < .05). The majority of the patients with cancer were diagnosed at the locally advanced stage for breast (57.0%), cervix uteri (60.0%), head and neck (66.6%), and stomach (50.8%) cancer, whereas in lung cancer, distant metastasis was predominant among males (44.0%) and females (47.6%).
CONCLUSION
This study provides a framework for assessing the status and trends of cancer in India. It shall guide appropriate support for action to strengthen efforts to improve cancer prevention and control to achieve the national noncommunicable disease targets and the sustainable development goals.
Arginine is a crucial amino acid that serves to modulate the cellular immune response during infection. Arginine is also a common substrate for both inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and ...arginase. The generation of nitric oxide from arginine is responsible for efficient immune response and cytotoxicity of host cells to kill the invading pathogens. On the other hand, the conversion of arginine to ornithine and urea via the arginase pathway can support the growth of bacterial and parasitic pathogens. The competition between iNOS and arginase for arginine can thus contribute to the outcome of several parasitic and bacterial infections. There are two isoforms of vertebrate arginase, both of which catalyze the conversion of arginine to ornithine and urea, but they differ with regard to tissue distribution and subcellular localization. In the case of infection with Mycobacterium, Leishmania, Trypanosoma, Helicobacter, Schistosoma, and Salmonella spp., arginase isoforms have been shown to modulate the pathology of infection by various means. Despite the existence of a considerable body of evidence about mammalian arginine metabolism and its role in immunology, the critical choice to divert the host arginine pool by pathogenic organisms as a survival strategy is still a mystery in infection biology.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Food with higher nutritional value is always desired for human health. Rice is the prime staple food in more than thirty developing countries, providing at least 20% of dietary protein, 3% of dietary ...fat and other essential nutrients. Several factors influence the nutrient content of rice which includes agricultural practices, post-harvest processing, cultivar type as well as manipulations followed by selection through breeding and genetic means. In addition to mutation breeding, genetic engineering approach also contributed significantly for the generation of nutrition added varieties of rice in the last decade or so. In the present review, we summarize the research update on improving the nutritional characteristics of rice by using genetic engineering and mutation breeding approach. We also compare the conventional breeding techniques of rice with modern molecular breeding techniques toward the generation of nutritionally improved rice variety as compared to other cereals in areas of micronutrients and availability of essential nutrients such as folate and iron. In addition to biofortification, our focus will be on the efforts to generate low phytate in seeds, increase in essential fatty acids or addition of vitamins (as in golden rice) all leading to the achievements in rice nutrition science. The superiority of biotechnology over conventional breeding being already established, it is essential to ascertain that there are no serious negative agronomic consequences for consumers with any difference in grain size or color or texture, when a nutritionally improved variety of rice is generated through genetic engineering technology.
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a dual phase clinical diagnostic procedure based on nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). In the transmission phase, the body protons are stimulated by an externally ...applied RF field. During the reception phase, the excited protons release RF signals which are used for imaging. The signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of scanned images can be improved by enhancing the RF magnetic flux density. However, high strength of RF magnetic fields during excitation might cause tissue heating and inhomogeneous field distribution in the subject under scan. Selective enhancement of RF magnetic flux density solely during the imaging phase is required for averting tissue heating and image artifacts while maintaining high SNR. In order to facilitate this, we report a nonlinear metasurface which could act as a dynamic supplement to transceiver MRI coils for obtaining images with higher spatial resolution or faster acquisition while maintaining low specific absorption rate (SAR).
Display omitted
•A nonlinear metasurface, which could act as a dynamic supplement to transceiver MRI coils, is reported.•A square ring resonator loaded with switching diodes has been used to make the metasurface detuned during transmission.•The interdigital capacitor layer coupled with a capacitive patch layer aids in enhancing the RF magnetic field up to a depth of 120 mm from the skin.
In the present study, we identified salt stress tolerant genes from the marine bacterium Staphylococcus sp. strain P-TSB-70 through transcriptome sequencing. In favour of whole-genome transcriptome ...profiling of Staphylococcus sp. strain P-TSB-70 (GenBank Accn. No. KP117091) which tolerated upto 20% NaCl stress, the strain was cultured in the laboratory condition with 20% NaCl stress. Transcriptome analyses were performed by SOLiD4.0 sequencing technology from which 10280 and 9612 transcripts for control and treated, respectively, were obtained. The coverage per base (CPB) statistics were analyzed for both the samples. Gene ontology (GO) analysis has been categorized at varied graph levels based on three primary ontology studies viz. cellular components, biological processes, and molecular functions. The KEGG analysis of the assembled transcripts using KAAS showed presumed components of metabolic pathways which perhaps implicated in diverse metabolic pathways responsible for salt tolerance viz. glycolysis/gluconeogenesis, oxidative phosphorylation, glutathione metabolism, etc. further involving in salt tolerance. Overall, 90 salt stress tolerant genes were identified as of 186 salt-related transcripts. Several genes have been found executing normally in the TCA cycle pathway, integral membrane proteins, generation of the osmoprotectants, enzymatic pathway associated with salt tolerance. Recognized genes fit diverse groups of salt stress genes viz. abc transporter, betaine, sodium antiporter, sodium symporter, trehalose, ectoine, and choline, that belong to different families of genes involved in the pathway of salt stress. The control sample of the bacterium showed elevated high proportion of transcript contigs (29%) while upto 20% salt stress treated sample of the bacterium showed a higher percentage of transcript contigs (31.28%). A total of 1,288 and 1,133 transcript contigs were measured entirely as novel transcript contigs in both control and treated samples, respectively. The structure and function of 10 significant salt stress tolerant genes of Staphylococcus sp. have been analyzed in this study. The information acquired in the present study possibly used to recognize and clone the salt stress tolerant genes and support in developing the salt stress-tolerant plant varieties to expand the agricultural productivity in the saline system.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Background
Rice productivity is adversely affected by environmental stresses. Transcription factors (TFs), as the regulators of gene expression, are the key players contributing to stress tolerance ...and crop yield. Histone gene binding protein-1b (OsHBP1b) is a TF localized within the
Saltol
QTL in rice. Recently, we have reported the characterization of OsHBP1b in relation to salinity and drought tolerance in a model system tobacco. In the present study, we over-express the full-length gene encoding OsHBP1b in the homologous system (rice) to assess its contribution towards multiple stress tolerance and grain yield.
Results
We provide evidence to show that transgenic rice plants over-expressing
OsHBP1b
exhibit better survival and favourable osmotic parameters under salinity stress than the wild type counterparts. These transgenic plants restricted reactive oxygen species accumulation by exhibiting high antioxidant enzyme activity (ascorbate peroxidase and superoxide dismutase), under salinity conditions. Additionally, these transgenic plants maintained the chlorophyll concentration, organellar structure, photosynthesis and expression of photosynthesis and stress-related genes even when subjected to salinity stress. Experiments conducted for other abiotic stresses such as drought and high temperature revealed improved tolerance in these transgenic plants with better root and shoot growth, better photosynthetic parameters, and enhanced antioxidant enzyme activity, in comparison with WT. Further, the roots of transgenic lines showed large cortical cells and accumulated a good amount of callose, unlike the WT roots, thus enabling them to penetrate hard soil and prevent the entry of harmful ions in the cell.
Conclusion
Collectively, our results show that rice
HBP1b
gene contributes to multiple abiotic stress tolerance through several molecular and physiological pathways and hence, may serve as an important gene for providing multiple stress tolerance and improving crop yield in rice.
NOSTRIN, abundantly expressed in colon, was reported to be anti-angiogenic, anti-invasive and anti-inflammatory. NOSTRIN expression was inversely related to survival of pancreatic ductal ...adeno-carcinoma patients. Yet its function and regulatory mechanism in CRC remains elusive.
NOSTRIN's influence on EMT of CRC cells were analysed using realtime PCR array containing the functional EMT-transcriptome followed by western blotting. Regulation of oncogenic potential of CRC cells by NOSTRIN was elucidated using soft agar colony formation, trans-well invasion, wound healing and colonosphere formation assays. Biochemical assays were used to reveal mechanism of NOSTRIN function. Human CRC tissue array was used to test NOSTRIN mark in control and CRC disease stages.
We showed here that CRC cell lines with less NOSTRIN expression has more invasive and migratory potential. NOSTRIN affected EMT-associated transcriptome of CRC cells by down regulating 33 genes that were functionally annotated to transcription factors, genes important for cell growth, proliferation, migration, cell adhesion and cytoskeleton regulators in CRC cells. NOSTRIN over-expression significantly reduced soft agar colony formation, wound healing and cell invasion. In line with this, RNA interference of Nostrin enhanced metastatic potential of CRC cells. Furthermore, stable overexpression of NOSTRIN in CRC cell line not only curtailed its ability to form colonosphere but also decreased expression of stemness markers CD133, CD44 and EpCAM. NOSTRIN's role in inhibiting self-renewal was further confirmed using BrdU incorporation assay. Interestingly, NOSTRIN formed immune-complex with Cdk1 in CRC cells and aided in increase of inhibitory Y15 and T14 phosphorylation of Cdk1 that halts cytokinesis. These ex vivo findings were substantiated using human colon cancer tissue array containing cDNAs from patients' samples with various stages of disease progression. Significant decrease in NOSTRIN expression was found with initiation and progression of advanced colon cancer disease stages.
We illustrate function of a novel molecule, NOSTRIN in curtailing EMT and maintenance of CRC cell stemness. Our data validates importance of NOSTRIN mark during onset and disease progression of CRC indicating its diagnostic potential.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Elephants show a strong selection towards areas with high foraging opportunities at the landscape level making top-down decisions by first selecting patch types within landscapes and finally species ...within them. Understanding forage selection in a multi-use landscape is critical for prioritising patches for habitat management, ensuring availability of selected forage, helping in minimizing pressure on food crops and subsequent negative interactions with people. We assessed dry season forage selection in a multi-use landscape of West Bengal state, India. Relative forage use and relative plant species availability ratio were calculated to assess forage selection in a multi-use landscape comprising of the forest, tea estates, agricultural land, and human settlement. Forage use was assessed using the opportunistic feeding trail observation method (150.01 km). Stratified random sampling was used to assess plant species availability using the quadrat method (123 plots of 0.1 ha each). Among 286 plant species recorded, 132 plant species were consumed by elephants. A majority (80.21%) of plant species were consumed more than the proportional availability thereby showing selective foraging during the dry season in the study area. From forest to semi-open forest and open forest, canopy layer tree density and the total number of species decreased whereas invasive species density increased. This indicates the high impact on the forage species availability for elephants and the requirement of appropriate habitat management strategies. The presence of 32.14% of the selected forage species in human-use landscape alone demands the development of conservation interventions. This is the first study to assess forage selection by elephants in a multi-use landscape and used to prioritise conservation and management strategies at a landscape level.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Aeromonas hydrophila
is a major generalist bacterial pathogen causing severe infections and mortalities in aquatic animals. Its genome, which was the first to be sequenced from the
Aeromonas
genus, ...may serve as a model for studying pathogenic mechanisms. To explore the pathogen-host fitness mechanism of bacterium, a comprehensive comparative transcriptome ecotype analysis of
A. hydrophila
isolated from the gut of
Labeo rohita
during infection was performed. Special characteristics in gene expression, gene ontology terms and expression of pathogenesis-associated genes, including genes encoding secreted proteins, candidate effectors, hydrolases, and proteins involved in secondary metabolite production were revealed. Among the database, 6,533 were gene ontology (GO) annotated, while 1,480 were not allocated in any GO terms. Investigation on GO illustrated that the articulated genes were improved with molecular function, cellular components, and biological processes. Further bioinformatics analysis identified the outer membrane protein genes (ompA, ompts, ompw, omp38, and omp48), cytotoxin, amylase, and lipase genes. Overall, this work allowed to designate, for the first time, a global view on the pathogenicity of
Aeromonas hydrophila
during infection. Furthermore, the study provides information on the fitness of
A. hydrophila
, a severe pathogen with a wide host range.
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