Background
Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) consists of Ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn’s disease (CD). These two conditions share many common features—diarrhea, bloody stools, weight loss, ...abdominal pain, fever and fatigue. Small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO) is frequent in patients with CD but it has not been studied in UC Indian patients.
Aim
The study was planned to measure orocecal transit time (OCTT) and SIBO in UC and CD patients.
Methods
One hundred thirty-seven patients of IBD (95 UC and 42 CD) and 115 healthy controls were enrolled. OCTT and SIBO were measured by lactulose and glucose hydrogen breath test respectively. Concentration of hydrogen and methane were measured by SC microlyser from Quintron, USA.
Results
Mean ± standard deviation (SD) of OCTT in patients of IBD was significantly higher as compared to controls. Furthermore, OCTT was significantly higher in CD patients as compared to UC patients. It was also observed that occurrence of SIBO was significantly higher in IBD patients as compared to controls. The occurrence of SIBO in CD (45.2 %) was significantly higher as compared to patients in UC (17.8 %) group. Percentage of methane positive IBD patients (2.9 %) was significantly lower as compared to methane positive controls (24.4 %).
Conclusion
OCTT was significantly delayed in IBD patients as compared to controls and in CD patients as compared to UC patients. OCTT was significantly higher in SIBO positive IBD patients as compared to SIBO negative patients. Thus, we can suggest that delayed OCTT would have been the cause of increased SIBO in these patients.
Alcohol-associated liver disease (ALD) represents a spectrum of histopathological changes, including alcoholic steatosis, steatohepatitis, and cirrhosis. One of the early responses to excessive ...alcohol consumption is lipid accumulation in the hepatocytes. Lipid ω-hydroxylation of medium- and long-chain fatty acid metabolized by the cytochrome P450 4A (CYP4A) family is an alternative pathway for fatty acid metabolism. The molecular mechanisms of CYP4A in ALD pathogenesis have not been elucidated. In this study, WT and Shp-/- mice were fed with a modified ethanol-binge, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism model (10 days of ethanol feeding plus single binge). Liver tissues were collected every 6 hours for 24 hours and analyzed using RNA-Seq. The effects of REV-ERBα agonist (SR9009, 100 mg/kg/d) or CYP4A antagonist (HET0016, 5 mg/kg/d) in ethanol-fed mice were also evaluated. We found that hepatic Cyp4a10 and Cyp4a14 expression were significantly upregulated in WT mice, but not in Shp-/- mice, fed with ethanol. ChIP quantitative PCR and promoter assay revealed that REV-ERBα is the transcriptional repressor of Cyp4a10 and Cyp4a14. Rev-Erbα-/- hepatocytes had a marked induction of both Cyp4a genes and lipid accumulation. REV-ERBα agonist SR9009 or CYP4A antagonist HET0016 attenuated Cyp4a induction by ethanol and prevented alcohol-induced steatosis. Here, we have identified a role for the SHP/REV-ERBα/CYP4A axis in the pathogenesis of ALD. Our data also suggest REV-ERBα or CYP4A as the potential therapeutic targets for ALD.
Abstract
The fast recurrent nova V745 Sco was observed in the 3–79 keV X-rays band with NuSTAR 10 d after the optical discovery. The measured X-ray emission is consistent with a collisionally ionized ...optically thin plasma at temperature of about 2.7 keV. A prominent iron line observed at 6.7 keV does not require enhanced iron in the ejecta. We attribute the X-ray flux to shocked circumstellar material. No X-ray emission was observed at energies above 20 keV, and the flux in the 3–20 keV range was about 1.6 × 10−11 erg cm−2 s−1. The emission measure indicates an average electron density of the order of 107 cm−2. The X-ray flux in the 0.3–10 keV band almost simultaneously measured with Swift was about 40 times larger, mainly due to the luminous central supersoft source emitting at energy below 1 keV. The fact that the NuSTAR spectrum cannot be fitted with a power law, and the lack of hard X-ray emission, allow us to rule out Comptonized gamma-rays, and to place an upper limit of the order of 10−11 erg cm−2 s−1 on the gamma-ray flux of the nova on the tenth day of the outburst.
Bacterial wilt disease of tomato (
L.), incited by
(Smith), is a serious agricultural problem in India. In this investigation, chemical mutagenic agents (NTG and HNO
treatment) and ultraviolet (UV) ...irradiation have been used to enhance the antagonistic property of
DSBA-11 against
UTT-25 towards an effective management of tomato wilt disease. The investigation established the fact that maximum inhibition to
UTT-25 was exerted by the derivative strain MHNO
-20 treated with nitrous acid (HNO
) and then by the derivative strain MNTG-21 treated with NTG. The exertion was significantly higher than that of the parent
DSBA-11. These two potential derivatives
. MNTG-21, MHNO
-20 along with MUV-19, and a wild derivative strain of
i.e.,DSBA-11 were selected for GC/MS analysis. Through this analysis 18 major compounds were detected. Among the compounds thus detected, the compound 3-isobutyl hexahydropyrrolo (1,2), pyrazine-1,4-dione (4.67%) was at maximum proportion in the variant MHNO
-20 at higher retention time (RT) of 43.19 s. Bio-efficacy assessment observed a record of minimum intensity (9.28%) in wilt disease and the highest bio-control (88.75%) in derivative strain MHNO
-20-treated plants after 30 days of inoculation. The derivative strain MHNO
-20, developed by treating
with nitrous acid (HNO
), was therefore found to have a higher bio-efficacy to control bacterial wilt disease of tomato under glasshouse conditions than a wild-type strain.
We present broadband (radio, optical, and X-ray) light curves and spectra of the afterglows of four long-duration gamma-ray bursts (GRBs; GRBs 09032,09032,090902B, and 090926A) detected by the ...Gamma-Ray Burst Monitor and Large Area Telescope (LAT) instruments on the Fermi satellite. With its wide spectral bandpass, extending to GeV energies, Fermi is sensitive to GRBs with very large isotropic energy releases (1054 erg). Although rare, these events are particularly important for testing GRB central-engine models. When combined with spectroscopic redshifts, our afterglow data for these four events are able to constrain jet collimation angles, the density structure of the circumburst medium, and both the true radiated energy release and the kinetic energy of the outflows. In agreement with our earlier work, we find that the relativistic energy budget of at least one of these events (GRB 090926A) exceeds the canonical value of 1051 erg by an order of magnitude. Such energies pose a severe challenge for models in which the GRB is powered by a magnetar or a neutrino-driven collapsar, but remain compatible with theoretical expectations for magnetohydrodynamical collapsar models (e.g., the Blandford-Znajek mechanism). Our jet opening angles ( Delta *c) are similar to those found for pre-Fermi GRBs, but the large initial Lorentz factors ( Delta *G0) inferred from the detection of GeV photons imply Delta *c Delta *G0 70-90, values which are above those predicted in magnetohydrodynamic models of jet acceleration. Finally, we find that these Fermi-LAT events preferentially occur in a low-density circumburst environment, and we speculate that this might result from the lower mass-loss rates of their lower-metallicity progenitor stars. Future studies of Fermi-LAT afterglows at radio wavelengths with the order-of-magnitude improvement in sensitivity offered by the Extended Very Large Array should definitively establish the relativistic energy budgets of these events.
African American colorectal cancer patients have worse survival outcomes than Caucasian patients. To determine whether differences exist in the molecular mechanisms driving colorectal cancer between ...African Americans and Caucasians, we characterized patient tumors from a single institution by assessing genetic alterations involved in colorectal cancer progression and response to treatment.
We retrospectively examined 448 African Americans and Caucasians diagnosed with colorectal cancer at The University of Chicago Medical Center between 1992 and 2002. Microsatellite instability (MSI) status was determined by genotyping the BAT25, BAT26, BAT40, D5S346, and BAX loci. Mutations in KRAS codons 12 and 13 and BRAF codon 600 were identified by direct sequencing. MSI and detected mutations were correlated with clinicopathologic features.
Overall, no difference existed in MSI or BRAF mutation frequencies between African Americans and Caucasians. However, African Americans with microsatellite stable (MSS)/MSI-low (MSI-L) tumors had a higher proportion of KRAS mutations than Caucasians (34% vs. 23%, P = 0.048) that was isolated to proximal colon cancers and primarily driven by mutations in codon 13. There was no racial difference in receipt of chemotherapy, but African Americans with MSS/MSI-L tumors had a 73% increased risk of death over Caucasians that could not be explained by known prognostic factors.
The significantly higher risk of death among African Americans with MSS/MSI-L tumors may be related to differences in the distribution of factors influencing response to standard therapies. These data underscore the need for further research into the molecular mechanisms driving colorectal cancer progression in underserved and understudied populations.
Three native rhizobacteria, IRh9, IRh10 and IRh15, were isolated from nematode-infected tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) rhizosphere were characterized and evaluated for their efficacy against ...root-knot nematode (RKN), Meloidogyne incognita infecting tomato crop under pot conditions in the protected structure environment during 2020–21 at Centre for Protected Cultivation technology (CPCT), ICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi. Based on 16S rRNA sequences, IRh9, IRh10, and IRh15 showed > 98% homology with Bacillus licheniformis, Priestia megaterium and Pseudomonas putida, respectively. Compared to the control, the penetration of root-knot nematode in tomato roots was reduced by >50% under pot conditions through inoculation of these bacteria. Characterization through gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis revealed 30 different volatile organic compounds from these rhizobacteria. Among them, 19 compounds were identified from P. megaterium IRh10, followed by 16 compounds each from B. licheniformis IRh9 and P. putida IRh15. Furthermore, among the detected volatile organic compounds, acetic acid, hexadecane, hexadecanoic acid, octadecanoic acid, 1-decene and 9-octadeconoic acid are reported to possess nematicidal properties. Additional characterization of plant growth promotion traits associated with these rhizobacteria revealed that P. megaterium IRh10 and P. putida IRh15 produced indole acetic acid, while B. licheniformis IRh9 and P. megaterium IRh10 produced ammonia, but only P. putida IRh15 could solubilize the tricalcium phosphate under laboratory conditions. Among the 35 substrates studied, P. megaterium IRh10 utilized most (12), followed by B. licheniformis IRh9 and P. putida IRh15, which were able to use 11 and 8 substrates, respectively. The study showed that B. licheniformis IRh9, P. megaterium IRh10 and P. putida IRh15 are potential candidates for combating M. incognita infestation in tomato crops.
Botanical insecticides are known to affect insects through various mode of action which includes toxicity through ingestion, contact, antifeedant, growth inhibition, repellency, etc. The present ...study was aimed to explore the potential of
Murraya paniculata
leaf extracts against two important insect pests’, a storage pest, almond moth (
Cadra cautella
) and field crop pest, leaf-eating caterpillar (
Spodoptera litura
). It became apparent that among different stages of
C. cautella
, egg stage was more tolerant revealing the stage-specific toxicity. Maximum mortality (LC
50
values of 1.495, 3.330 and 2.593% for hexane, acetone and methanol extracts, respectively) was recorded against adult stage after 72 h of exposure time whereas eggs stage proved to be tolerant stage. Hexane extract possessed the maximum antifeedant activity (AI
50
= 1.820%) against
S. litura
after 24 h of exposure whereas after 48 h, methanol extract showed maximum antifeedant activity (AI
50
= 4.269%). Maximum larval weight reduction was recorded in hexane extract (68.67%) at 3 days after treatment (DAT), whereas after 7 DAT acetone extract (55.54%) recorded the maximum larval weight reduction. Acetone extract had the maximum abnormalities whilst methanol extract had maximum larval mortality (94.29%). The present bioassays showed that solvent extracts of
M. paniculata
leaves possess contact, antifeedant and growth regulatory properties, and it has potential for biopesticide development.
The use of tissue expanders (TE) in post-mastectomy breast reconstruction is a widely accepted practice, especially in patients desiring implant-based breast reconstruction. It has become the ...standard of care to perform a two-staged breast reconstruction using tissue expanders for the past 50 years due to its reliability, safety, cost-effectiveness, and versatility. Due to its popularity, there are numerous types and features of breast tissue expanders and various surgical approaches available for plastic surgeons.
In this article, we will review the role of tissue expanders in breast reconstruction, the types and features of breast tissue expanders, and technical considerations.
The use of tissue expanders in breast reconstruction offers significant advantages of preserving the breast skin envelope and reestablishing the breast mound. With evolving approaches to breast reconstruction, tissue expander design, and application underwent several refinements and modifications. Due to these advances, studies on its long-term efficacy and safety profile typically fall behind and more studies with higher levels of evidence are needed to better evaluate the efficacy and safety profile of tissue expanders. With increased understanding, reconstructive surgeons can minimize complications and maximize reconstructive, aesthetic outcomes with high patient satisfaction.
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