Aim: This investigation was carried out to appraise the effect of different prevailing land-use systems (LUSs) on nutrient status along with deterioration indices of soil under sub-humid Southern ...Plains of Rajasthan. Methodology: Six dominant land-use systems: barren, agricultural, agri-horticulture, horticultural, grass, and natural forest were selected in the sub-humid Southern Plains of Rajasthan. A total of 120 composite soil samples 6-LUSs, 4- soil depths (0-20, 20-40, 40-60, and 60-80 cm), and five replications were collected for laboratory analysis. The two-way analysis of variance was used to test the effect of different LUSs and soil depths on available nutrients, essential properties with deterioration indices of soil. Results: The results of the study showed that soil organic carbon (SOC), DTPA extractable Zn, Mn, available nitrogen, and CEC are the most degraded soil fertility parameters under studied LUSs. Barren land-use has led to the highest decline in Zn (͌75%), SOC (71%), N (66%), Cu (62%) and Fe (57%), followed by Agricultural land-use that has led to a decline in SOC (53%), Zn (46%), N (43%) and Mn (38%). The use of soil deterioration indices revealed that soils deteriorated slightly under grassland and horticultural LUSs (-11.05 and -11.81 %). However, moderate deterioration was observed in the agri-horticulture land-use soil (-22.51 %) while severe (-28.11%) and extremely severe deterioration (-47.50%) occurred under agricultural and barren LUSs, respectively. Interpretation: The result of this study implies that consistent cultivation without appropriate land-use management practices in the cultivated LUS aggravates the deterioration of soil organic carbon and essential soil fertility parameters. These results suggested that restoration of barren and agricultural lands into horticultural, agri-horticulture, and grassland-uses consequently decreased soil disturbance which could be an effective strategy for improving or maintaining the soil quality and sustainability in the study area. Key words: Deterioration indices, Land-use system, Soil depth, Soil nutrients
For >50 years, it has been recognized that immunity contributes to hypertension. Recent data have defined an important role of T cells and various T cell-derived cytokines in several models of ...experimental hypertension. These studies have shown that stimuli like angiotensin II, deoxycorticosterone acetate-salt, and excessive catecholamines lead to formation of effector like T cells that infiltrate the kidney and perivascular regions of both large arteries and arterioles. There is also accumulation of monocyte/macrophages in these regions. Cytokines released from these cells, including interleukin-17, interferon-γ, tumor necrosis factorα, and interleukin-6 promote both renal and vascular dysfunction and damage, leading to enhanced sodium retention and increased systemic vascular resistance. The renal effects of these cytokines remain to be fully defined, but include enhanced formation of angiotensinogen, increased sodium reabsorption, and increased renal fibrosis. Recent experiments have defined a link between oxidative stress and immune activation in hypertension. These have shown that hypertension is associated with formation of reactive oxygen species in dendritic cells that lead to formation of gamma ketoaldehydes, or isoketals. These rapidly adduct to protein lysines and are presented by dendritic cells as neoantigens that activate T cells and promote hypertension. Thus, cells of both the innate and adaptive immune system contribute to end-organ damage and dysfunction in hypertension. Therapeutic interventions to reduce activation of these cells may prove beneficial in reducing end-organ damage and preventing consequences of hypertension, including myocardial infarction, heart failure, renal failure, and stroke.
Abstract
This first principles study explores the structural, electronic, optical, and thermoelectric properties of the CsTmCl
3
halide perovskite using density functional theory. The structural and ...thermoelectric properties are calculated without considering the spin‐orbit coupling (SOC), while both the electronic and optical properties are calculated with and without the SOC effect. A comparison of the results obtained with and without SOC reveals that inclusion of the SOC effect reduces the band gap from 1.18 to 0.99 eV due to shifting of the Tm‐d states toward the Fermi level. However, direct nature of the band gap remains the same in both the cases. The effect of SOC on the optical properties is, however, only visible in shifting of the third characteristic peak to lower energies. Strong optical absorption in the visible and ultraviolet regions shows effectiveness of CsTmCl
3
in the optical devices working in these regions. Moreover, the calculated transport properties reveal CsTmCl
3
as a useful thermoelectric material at room temperature.
The immunology of hypertension Norlander, Allison E; Madhur, Meena S; Harrison, David G
The Journal of experimental medicine,
01/2018, Letnik:
215, Številka:
1
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
Although systemic hypertension affects a large proportion of the population, its etiology remains poorly defined. Emerging evidence supports the concept that immune cells become activated and enter ...target organs, including the vasculature and the kidney, in this disease. Mediators released by these cells, including reactive oxygen species, metalloproteinases, cytokines, and antibodies promote dysfunction of the target organs and cause damage. In vessels, these factors enhance constriction, remodeling, and rarefaction. In the kidney, these mediators increase expression and activation of sodium transporters, and cause interstitial fibrosis and glomerular injury. Factors common to hypertension, including oxidative stress, increased interstitial sodium, cytokine production, and inflammasome activation promote immune activation in hypertension. Recent data suggest that isolevuglandin-modified self-proteins in antigen-presenting cells are immunogenic, promoting cytokine production by the cells in which they are formed and T cell activation. Efforts to prevent and reverse immune activation may prove beneficial in preventing the long-term sequelae of hypertension and its related cardiovascular diseases.
Bacterial pathogens resistant to antibiotics have become a serious health threat. Those species which have developed resistance against multiple drugs such as the carbapenems, are more lethal as ...these are last line therapy antibiotics. Current diagnostic tests for these resistance traits are based on singleplex target amplification techniques which can be time consuming and prone to errors. Here, we demonstrate a chip based optofluidic system with single molecule sensitivity for amplification-free, multiplexed detection of plasmids with genes corresponding to antibiotic resistance, within one hour. Rotating disks and microfluidic chips with functionalized polymer monoliths provided the upstream sample preparation steps to selectively extract these plasmids from blood spiked with E. coli DH5α cells. Waveguide-based spatial multiplexing using a multi-mode interference waveguide on an optofluidic chip was used for parallel detection of three different carbapenem resistance genes. These results point the way towards rapid, amplification-free, multiplex analysis of antibiotic-resistant pathogens.
Socioeconomic adversity in early life has been hypothesized to "program" a vulnerable phenotype with exaggerated inflammatory responses, so increasing the risk of developing type 2 diabetes in ...adulthood. The aim of this study is to test this hypothesis by assessing the extent to which the association between lifecourse socioeconomic status and type 2 diabetes incidence is explained by chronic inflammation.
We use data from the British Whitehall II study, a prospective occupational cohort of adults established in 1985. The inflammatory markers C-reactive protein and interleukin-6 were measured repeatedly and type 2 diabetes incidence (new cases) was monitored over an 18-year follow-up (from 1991-1993 until 2007-2009). Our analytical sample consisted of 6,387 non-diabetic participants (1,818 women), of whom 731 (207 women) developed type 2 diabetes over the follow-up. Cumulative exposure to low socioeconomic status from childhood to middle age was associated with an increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes in adulthood (hazard ratio HR = 1.96, 95% confidence interval: 1.48-2.58 for low cumulative lifecourse socioeconomic score and HR = 1.55, 95% confidence interval: 1.26-1.91 for low-low socioeconomic trajectory). 25% of the excess risk associated with cumulative socioeconomic adversity across the lifecourse and 32% of the excess risk associated with low-low socioeconomic trajectory was attributable to chronically elevated inflammation (95% confidence intervals 16%-58%).
In the present study, chronic inflammation explained a substantial part of the association between lifecourse socioeconomic disadvantage and type 2 diabetes. Further studies should be performed to confirm these findings in population-based samples, as the Whitehall II cohort is not representative of the general population, and to examine the extent to which social inequalities attributable to chronic inflammation are reversible.
We present a model and simulation for predicting the detected signal of a fluorescence-based optical biosensor built from optofluidic waveguides. Typical applications include flow experiments to ...determine pathogen concentrations in a biological sample after tagging relevant DNA or RNA sequences. An overview of the biosensor geometry and fabrication processes is presented. The basis for the predictive model is also outlined. The model is then compared to experimental results for three different biosensor designs. The model is shown to have similar signal statistics as physical tests, illustrating utility as a pre-fabrication design tool and as a predictor of detection sensitivity.
Many sensors operate by detecting and identifying individual events in a time-dependent signal which is challenging if signals are weak and background noise is present. We introduce a powerful, fast, ...and robust signal analysis technique based on a massively parallel continuous wavelet transform (CWT) algorithm. The superiority of this approach is demonstrated with fluorescence signals from a chip-based, optofluidic single particle sensor. The technique is more accurate than simple peak-finding algorithms and several orders of magnitude faster than existing CWT methods, allowing for real-time data analysis during sensing for the first time. Performance is further increased by applying a custom wavelet to multi-peak signals as demonstrated using amplification-free detection of single bacterial DNAs. A 4x increase in detection rate, a 6x improved error rate, and the ability for extraction of experimental parameters are demonstrated. This cluster-based CWT analysis will enable high-performance, real-time sensing when signal-to-noise is hardware limited, for instance with low-cost sensors in point of care environments.
Introduction: At the time of selection, police personnel undergo various health and fitness tests but subsequently health assessments are not done regularly. Unhealthy lifestyle and challenging work ...environment predispose them to various somatic sequelae, including cardiovascular diseases, musculoskeletal, gastrointestinal, and psychological disorders, etc., There is limited epidemiological data on the morbidity profile among police personnel in India. Aim: To study the morbidity profile and the treatment-seeking behavior among police personnel in National Capital Region (NCR), India. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted between May and November, 2014 on 300 police personnel working in the NCR, India. We administered a predesigned, pretested questionnaire (α = 0.63) to the study participants based on World Health Organization-STEPS tool for assessing morbidity profile, lifestyle risk factors, and treatment-seeking behavior after obtaining informed consent from the study participants. Results: Health complaints were reported by around half (n = 149, 49.6%) of the participants with the morbidity risk of 0.71 per person. The most common complaints were related to the cardiovascular and musculoskeletal system. Only around half of the affected participants took any treatment. Hospitalization rate reflected from past 1-year hospital admissions among participants was (n = 23, 7.7%). Data analysis suggested morbidity status of police personnel to be significantly associated with lifestyle risk factors such as abdominal obesity (n = 129, 86.5%), obstructive sleep apnea (n = 54, 36.2%), and distress (n = 48, 32.2%). Conclusion: Busy and challenging work life and poor control of health lead to high morbidity among police personnel. Regular health checks and lifestyle promotional activities are highly recommended to maintain a healthy police force.
We present Vision, a tool for annotating the sources of variation in single cell RNA-seq data in an automated and scalable manner. Vision operates directly on the manifold of cell-cell similarity and ...employs a flexible annotation approach that can operate either with or without preconceived stratification of the cells into groups or along a continuum. We demonstrate the utility of Vision in several case studies and show that it can derive important sources of cellular variation and link them to experimental meta-data even with relatively homogeneous sets of cells. Vision produces an interactive, low latency and feature rich web-based report that can be easily shared among researchers, thus facilitating data dissemination and collaboration.
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