Airway structure and function are key aspects of normal lung development, growth, and aging, as well as of lung responses to the environment and the pathophysiology of important diseases such as ...asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and fibrosis. In this regard, the contributions of airway smooth muscle (ASM) are both functional, in the context of airway contractility and relaxation, as well as synthetic, involving production and modulation of extracellular components, modulation of the local immune environment, cellular contribution to airway structure, and, finally, interactions with other airway cell types such as epithelium, fibroblasts, and nerves. These ASM contributions are now found to be critical in airway hyperresponsiveness and remodeling that occur in lung diseases. This review emphasizes established and recent discoveries that underline the central role of ASM and sets the stage for future research toward understanding how ASM plays a central role by being both upstream and downstream in the many interactive processes that determine airway structure and function in health and disease.
Ocean acidification has become increasingly severe in coastal areas. It poses emerging threats to coastal organisms and influences ecological functioning. Donax faba, a dominant clam in the ...intertidal zone of the Bay of Bengal, plays an important role in the coastal food web. This clam has been widely consumed by the local communities and also acts as a staple diet for shorebirds and crustaceans. In this paper, we investigated how acidified conditions will influence the physiology, biochemical constituents, and energetics of Donax faba. Upon incubation for 2 months in lowered pH 7.7 ± 0.05 and control 8.1 ± 0.05 conditions, we found a delayed growth in the acidified conditions followed by decrease in calcium ions in the clam shell. Although not significant, we found the digestive enzymes showed a downward trend. Total antioxidant was significantly increased in the acidified condition compared to the control. Though not significant, the expression level of MDA and antioxidant enzymes (SOD, CAT, GST, GPX, and APX) showed increasing trend in acidified samples. Among nutrients such as amino acids and fatty acids, there was no significant difference between treatments, however, showed a downward trend in the acidified conditions compared to control. Among the minerals, iron and zinc showed significant increase in the acidified conditions. The above results suggest that the clam growth, and physiological energetics may have deleterious effects if exposed for longer durations at lowered pH condition thereby affecting the organisms involved in the coastal food web.
Display omitted
•Daily growth rate & calcium concentration have significantly decreased in acidified condition.•Total antioxidants and antioxidant enzymes showed an upward tendency.•Nutrient composition in clams has altered in acidified condition compared to control.•Prolonged exposure to OA will cause deleterious effects on clams thereby upsetting the intertidal food chain.
In this study, non-toxic mercury nanoparticle was synthesized as per "Prakash theory of metal drugs" and nanoparticle's characters has been demonstrated by employing several nanotechnological tools ...including XPS, XRD, EDAX. The size of the Prakasine nanoparticles (PRK-NP) ranged from 90-100 nm, confirmed using TEM, SEM, DLS and along with zeta potential of −29.5 mV before storage and −8.5 mV after storage. The FTIR provided information regarding the nanoparticle capping and functional groups. The study was further elaborated for determining PRK-NPs toxicity, genotoxicity, in-vivo toxicity, immunological anti-tumour activity, immunogenicity potential, gene expression profiling and confirmed by MTT and apoptosis assays, cancer zebrafish model studies and WBC proliferation assay. PRK-NPs revealed no cytotoxicity where cell viability was observed 99% in L6 mouse fibroblasts and 99% in MCF-7 cell lines. Also, the cell viability was to be 89.47% at a very high concentration of 320 µg/ml in HEK 293 cells. The PRK-NPs significantly reduced the tumour in zebrafish at dose of 90 μg/g by up regulating IL-1α, IL-1β, IL-2-ITK, IL-6, IL-8, IL-12, TNF-α and IFN-γ, and down regulating IL-4, IL-5, IL-10 and TGF-β compared to untreated controls without any adverse effects and toxicity. Thus, the current study beholds anticipation PRK-NPs may play a vital role in therapeutic.
Functionalized multiwalled carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are coated with a 4–5 nm thin layer of V2O5 by controlled hydrolysis of vanadium alkoxide. The resulting V2O5/CNT composite has been investigated ...for electrochemical activity with lithium ion, and the capacity value shows both faradaic and capacitive (nonfaradaic) contributions. At high rate (1 C), the capacitive behavior dominates the intercalation as 2/3 of the overall capacity value out of 2700 C/g is capacitive, while the remaining is due to Li-ion intercalation. These numbers are in agreement with the Trasatti plots and are corroborated by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) studies on the V2O5/CNTs electrode, which show 85% of vanadium in the +4 oxidation state after the discharge at 1 C rate. The cumulative high-capacity value is attributed to the unique property of the nano V2O5/CNTs composite, which provides a short diffusion path for Li+-ions and an easy access to vanadium redox centers besides the high conductivity of CNTs. The composite architecture exhibits both high power density and high energy density, stressing the benefits of using carbon substrates to design high performance supercapacitor electrodes.
Patient-reported measures of encounters in healthcare settings and consideration of their preferences could provide valuable inputs to improve healthcare quality. Although there are increasing ...reports of user experiences regarding health care in India in recent times, there is a lack of evidence from Indian healthcare settings on the care provided for patients with chronic diseases.
We selected diabetes mellitus and cancer as representatives of two common conditions requiring different care pathways. We conducted a scoping review of studies reporting experiences or preferences of patients/caregivers for these conditions, in PubMed, Global Index Medicus and grey literature, from the year 2000 onwards. Both published and emergent themes were derived from the data and summarised as a narrative synthesis.
Of 95 included studies (49 diabetes, 46 cancer), 73% (65) were exclusively quantitative surveys, 79% included only patients (75), and 59.5% (44) were conducted in government centres. Studies were concentrated in a few states in India, with the underrepresentation of vulnerable population groups and representative studies. There was a lack of standardised tools and comprehensive approaches for assessing experiences and preferences of patients and caregivers, concerning diabetes and cancers in India. The commonest type of care assessed was therapeutic (74), with 14 cancer studies on diagnosis and nine on palliative care. Repeated visits to crowded centres, drug refill issues, unavailability of specific services in government facilities, and expensive private care characterised diabetes care, while cancer care involved delayed diagnosis and treatment, communication, and pain management issues.
There is a need for robust approaches and standardised tools to measure responsiveness of the healthcare system to patient needs, across geographical and population subgroups in India. Health system reforms are needed to improve access to high-quality care for treatment and palliation of cancer and management of chronic diseases such as diabetes.
Summary
The importance of the gut microbiome in the regulation of non‐infectious diseases has earned unprecedented interest from biomedical researchers. Widespread use of next‐generation sequencing ...techniques has prepared a foundation for further research by correlating the presence of specific bacterial species with the onset or severity of a disease state, heralding paradigm‐shifting results. This review covers the mechanisms through which a dysbiotic gut microbiota contributes to the pathological symptoms in an autoimmune neurodegenerative disorder, multiple sclerosis (MS). Although the central nervous system (CNS) is protected by the blood–brain barrier (BBB), it is unclear how gut dysbiosis can trigger potential immunological changes in the CNS in the presence of the BBB. This review focuses on the immunoregulatory functionality of microbial metabolites, which can cross the BBB and mediate their effects directly on immune cells within the CNS and/or indirectly through modulating the response of peripheral T cells to stimulate or inhibit pro‐inflammatory chemokines and cytokines, which in turn regulate the autoimmune response in the CNS. Although more research is clearly needed to directly link the changes in gut microbiome with neuroinflammation, focusing research on microbiota that produce beneficial metabolites with the ability to attenuate chronic inflammation systemically as well as in the CNS, can offer novel preventive and therapeutic modalities against a wide array of inflammatory and autoimmune diseases.
The gut microbiota is a collective of commensal organisms and potential pathogens alike that have garnished an appreciation in recent research history due to a diversity‐dependent modulation of immune responses throughout the host. The gut microbiome and associated metabolites pose as novel targets for the intervention of inflammatory disorders targeting the central nervous system due to their immunoregulatory properties working as a form of bidirectional communication within the gut–brain axis. This review seeks to organize and present the known information on how the metabolome of prokaryotic organisms comprising the gut microbiota possess modulatory effects on the host immune response in patients with multiple sclerosis.
Strengthening of concrete structures using Fiber Reinforced Polymer (FRP) composites has gained prominence in the recent years due to its various advantages. Reinforced Concrete (RC) columns are ...predominantly subjected to compression loading and often need strengthening to increase their strength and ductility. This paper explores an innovative hybrid strengthening technique where short RC square column elements are strengthened using both Near Surface Mounted (NSM) CFRP laminates and Externally Bonded (EB) CFRP fabrics for confinement. Ten square column elements of cross sectional dimension 230mm and height of 450mm were cast, strengthened and tested under pure axial compression to investigate the efficiency of different combinations of strengthening techniques. Existing constitutive models available from past literature were used to predict the behavior of FRP strengthened RC column elements. A close correlation was observed between the peak strength obtained from experimental and analytical values. Hybrid strengthening technique was found to be more efficient leading to higher increase in strength, stiffness and ductility as compared to only NSM strengthened or only CFRP confined RC columns.
There is marked sexual dimorphism in the current coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Here we report that estrogen can regulate the expression of angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2), a ...key component for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) cell entry, in differentiated airway epithelial cells. Further studies are required to elucidate the mechanisms by which sex steroids regulate SARS-CoV-2 infectivity.
Mucosal changes in Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC), two major forms of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), are characterized by a prominent infiltration of inflammatory cells including ...lymphocytes, macrophages, T cells and neutrophils. The precise etiology of IBD is unknown but it involves a complex interplay of factors associated with the immune system, environment, host genotype and enteric commensal bacteria. As there is no known safe cure for IBD, natural alternative therapeutic options without side effects are urgently needed. To this end, Soy-based foods, which have been eaten for centuries in Asian countries, have potential benefits, including lowering the incidence of coronary heart disease, atherosclerosis, type-2 diabetes, allergic response, and autoimmune diseases. This study describes the effect of Soy isoflavons 4', 5, 7 Trihydroxyisoflavone (genistein) on dextran sodium sulphate (DSS) induced experimental colitis. The extent and severity of disease was analyzed through body weight, histopathological analysis, cellular immune response, systemic cytokine levels, and inflammation score using a disease activity index. Genistein treatment significantly attenuated DSS-induced colitis severity and resulted in increase in body weight, colon length and reduction in inflammation score. Genistein also skews M1 macrophages towards the M2 phenotype. Further, gen also reduced the systemic cytokine levels as compared to vehicle control. This serves as the first detailed study towards natural soya based product that shows the polarization of M1 towards M2 macrophages, and reduction of systemic cytokine in part to attenuate the colitis symptoms. Thus, our work demonstrates that genistein, a soya compound, may be useful for the treatment of IBD.
Fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) bars are increasingly used as internal reinforcement in concrete structures for mitigating the corrosion problems associated with steel reinforcement. However, its wide ...spread use in construction is limited by the parameters such as lack of awareness/usage, brittle failure mode, high initial cost, availability of comprehensive guidelines and test data on its long term effectiveness. The use of macro-synthetic structural fibers is explored in this study for improving the post-cracking, and deformability characteristics of glass FRP (GFRP) reinforced concrete beams. In total, eighteen full-scale RC beams with and without structural synthetic fibers are tested under flexure. The test specimens include: (i) control beams with steel reinforcement, (ii) GFRP bar RC beams without macro-synthetic fibers, and (iii) GFRP RC beams with 0.35%, 0.7%, and 1.0% volume of macro-synthetic fibers. The effect of fiber addition on cracking, stiffness and deformability characteristics of GFRP RC beams with different longitudinal reinforcement ratios (0.7% and 2.0%) is investigated. Experimental results reveal that the addition of fibers significantly improved the post-cracking response. Moreover, the crack widths reduced significantly at service loads with the increase in fiber dosage. Addition of 1% fibers helps in enhancing the deformability of GFRP RC beams and converts the failure from brittle flexure-shear to ductile flexure mode with higher pseudo-ductility. Analytical calculations of deflections showed a close correlation with the test results.
PDF
