Introduction: The prevalence of Autism is increasing nowa-days in India so there is an evident need to develop early intervention programs targeting social-communication and behavioural skills of ...children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) that are applicable in the Indian setting. However, a lack of adequate measurement of social skills, hampers the evaluation of effectiveness of such programs. Aim: To evaluate the correlation between Social Skills Rating Scale (SSRS) and Indian Scale for Assessment of Autism (ISAA) and to find out the validity of SSRS in Indian children. Materials and Methods: The present study was an observational study. Fifty children diagnosed with ASD between 3-6 years as per the DSM-V criteria were recruited from March 2016 to Febuary 2017. Social Skills were assessed on SSRS and severity of autism was assessed on ISAA. Pearson correlation coefficient were calculated between seven subdomains of SSRS and total score of ISAA to evaluate the validity of SSRS. Results: A significant negative correlation was found between Social Skills and total score of ISAA (r=-0.61, p<0.01) and positive correlation between problem behaviours and ISAA total score (r=0.60, p<0.01). Conclusion: The study concluded that SSRS may be used to assess the social skills of children with ASD in Indian setting.
Th1 immune responses play an important role in controlling Visceral Leishmaniasis (VL) hence, Leishmania proteins stimulating T-cell responses in host, are thought to be good vaccine targets. Search ...of such antigens eliciting cellular responses in Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from cured/exposed/Leishmania patients and hamsters led to the identification of two enzymes of glycolytic pathway in the soluble lysate of a clinical isolate of Leishmania donovani--Enolase (LdEno) and aldolase (LdAld) as potential Th1 stimulatory proteins. The present study deals with the molecular and immunological characterizations of LdEno and LdAld. The successfully cloned and purified recombinant proteins displayed strong ability to proliferate lymphocytes of cured hamsters' along with significant nitric-oxide production and generation of Th1-type cytokines (IFN-γ and IL-12) from stimulated PBMCs of cured/endemic VL patients. Assessment of their prophylactic potentials revealed ∼ 90% decrease in parasitic burden in rLdEno vaccinated hamsters against Leishmania challenge, strongly supported by an increase in mRNA expression levels of iNOS, IFN-γ, TNF-α and IL-12 transcripts along with extreme down-regulation of TGF-β, IL-4 and IL-10. However, animals vaccinated with rLdAld showed comparatively lesser prophylactic efficacy (∼ 65%) with inferior immunological response. Further, with a possible implication in vaccine design against VL, identification of potential T-cell epitopes of both the proteins was done using computational approach. Additionally, in-silico 3-D modelling of the proteins was done in order to explore the possibility of exploiting them as potential drug targets. The comparative molecular and immunological characterizations strongly suggest rLdEno as potential vaccine candidate against VL and supports the notion of its being effective T-cell stimulatory protein.
In Leishmania species, Protein disulfide isomerase (PDI)--a redox chaperone, is reported to be involved in its virulence and survival. This protein has also been identified, through proteomics, as a ...Th1 stimulatory protein in the soluble lysate of a clinical isolate of Leishmania donovani (LdPDI). In the present study, the molecular characterization of LdPDI was carried out and the immunogenicity of recombinant LdPDI (rLdPDI) was assessed by lymphocyte proliferation assay (LTT), nitric oxide (NO) production, estimation of Th1 cytokines (IFN-γ and IL-12) as well as IL-10 in PBMCs of cured/endemic/infected Leishmania patients and cured L. donovani infected hamsters. A significantly higher proliferative response against rLdPDI as well as elevated levels of IFN-γ and IL-12 were observed. The level of IL-10 was found to be highly down regulated in response to rLdPDI. A significant increase in the level of NO production in stimulated hamster macrophages as well as IgG2 antibody and a low level of IgG1 in cured patient's serum was observed. Higher level of IgG2 antibody indicated its Th1 stimulatory potential. The efficacy of pcDNA-LdPDI construct was further evaluated for its prophylactic potential. Vaccination with this construct conferred remarkably good prophylactic efficacy (∼90%) and generated a robust cellular immune response with significant increases in the levels of iNOS transcript as well as TNF-α, IFN-γ and IL-12 cytokines. This was further supported by the high level of IgG2 antibody in vaccinated animals. The in vitro as well as in vivo results thus indicate that LdPDI may be exploited as a potential vaccine candidate against visceral Leishmaniasis (VL).
Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is one of the most important parasitic diseases with approximately 350 million people at risk. Due to the non availability of an ideal drug, development of a safe, ...effective, and affordable vaccine could be a solution for control and prevention of this disease. In this study, a potential Th1 stimulatory protein- Triose phosphate isomerase (TPI), a glycolytic enzyme, identified through proteomics from a fraction of Leishmania donovani soluble antigen ranging from 89.9-97.1 kDa, was assessed for its potential as a suitable vaccine candidate. The protein- L. donovani TPI (LdTPI) was cloned, expressed and purified which exhibited the homology of 99% with L. infantum TPI. The rLdTPI was further evaluated for its immunogenicity by lymphoproliferative response (LTT), nitric oxide (NO) production and estimation of cytokines in cured Leishmania patients/hamster. It elicited strong LTT response in cured patients as well as NO production in cured hamsters and stimulated remarkable Th1-type cellular responses including IFN-ã and IL-12 with extremely lower level of IL-10 in Leishmania-infected cured/exposed patients PBMCs in vitro. Vaccination with LdTPI-DNA construct protected naive golden hamsters from virulent L. donovani challenge unambiguously (∼90%). The vaccinated hamsters demonstrated a surge in IFN-ã, TNF-á and IL-12 levels but extreme down-regulation of IL-10 and IL-4 along with profound delayed type hypersensitivity and increased levels of Leishmania-specific IgG2 antibody. Thus, the results are suggestive of the protein having the potential of a strong candidate vaccine.
•Ferrite–PANI nano-composites were prepared by in-situ polymerization technique.•The average crystallite size was estimated in 20–30 nm range using Rietveld refinement.•Highest magnetization has been ...observed in Ni0.7Zn0.3Fe2O4 sample.•Ni0.7Zn0.3Fe2O4-PANI nano-composite shows highest Shielding Effectiveness of 60 dB.•Ferrite-PANI deposited fabrics show promising results for EMI shielding applications.
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Ferrite–PANI composites were prepared via in-situ polymerization. Nano particles of Ni1−xZnxFe2O4 (0.0 ≤ x ≤ 0.4) have been prepared by the sol-gel technique. Composites were made by in-situ polymerization of aniline monomer in the presence of ferrite nanoparticles. X-ray diffraction analysis of ferrite nanoparticles confirmed the existence of spinel nature with phase formation at very low annealing temperature. The presence of both the phases in composites was confirmed by XRD analysis. The average crystallite size was estimated in 20–30 nm range using Rietveld refinement. Magnetic hysteresis loops recorded at room temperature for ferrites as well as their composites showed that the magnetization first increased up to Zn = 0.3 and then started decreasing with increasing Zn concentration. The electromagnetic interference shielding behavior has been investigated for composite samples in the X-band frequency region. With the amalgamation of ferrite nanoparticles (50 wt%) in the PANI, a very high shielding effectiveness of 60 dB has been attained which indicates more than 99.9% of incident EM radiation get attenuated by the composites having high permeability and magnetic/electric losses. Magnetic and dielectric coated fabrics were prepared during in-situ polymerization of the composites. Ferrite-PANI coated fabrics of thickness 0.30 mm demonstrated high shielding effectiveness of 40–48 dB. Hence, high performance electromagnetic interference shielding ferrite-polyaniline nano composites and coated fabrics have been synthesized successfully for applications.
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► Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is a fatal disease of the disadvantaged on the Indian subcontinent. ► There is no vaccine to date and current reliance is on chemotherapy. ► p45 is an ...antigen that elicits a strong T-cell response in cured hamsters/patients. ► p45+Bacillus Calmette Guerin (BCG) reduces parasite burden to ∼85% in vaccinated and challenged hamsters. ► p45+BCG generates a long-lasting Th1 type response in vaccinated hamsters.
The development of a vaccine against visceral leishmaniasis (VL) conferring long-lasting immunity remains a challenge. Identification and proteomic characterization of parasite proteins led to the detection of p45, a member of the methionine aminopeptidase family. To our knowledge the present study is the first known report that describes the molecular and immunological characterization of p45. Recombinant Leishmania donovani p45 (rLdp45) induced cellular responses in cured hamsters and generated Th1-type cytokines from peripheral blood mononuclear cells of cured/endemic VL patients. Immunization with rLdp45 exerted considerable prophylactic efficacy (∼85%) supported by an increase in mRNA expression of iNOS, IFN-γ, TNF-α and IL-12 and decrease in TGF-β and IL-4, indicating its potential as a vaccine candidate against VL.
•Indigenously fabricated Surface Acoustic Wave Resonator (99.5MHz) on ST-Quartz.•ZnO thin film utilized as sensing layer for NO2 gas detection.•Room temperature sensing over wide concentration ...(400ppb–16ppm) of NO2 gas.
A Surface Acoustic Wave (SAW) resonator operating at a frequency of 99.50MHz using piezoelectric ST-cut quartz has been fabricated. The resonator device has been successfully integrated with ZnO sensing layer for detection of NO2 gas. The fabricated sensor device is found to be detecting trace level concentration of NO2 gas (400ppb to 16ppm) efficiently and selectively. The ZnO/Quartz SAW sensor is useful for wireless detection of NO2 gas.
The present work focuses on studying the pyroelectric properties of chemical solution deposition‐grown Pb 1− x La x (Zr 0.4 Ti 0.6 )O 3 films on nickel substrate which are annealed at constant ...temperature of 650 °C with lanthanum concentrations ranging from x = 2–8% respectively. Structural studies reveal polycrystalline nature in all the PLZT films. The dielectric constant values rise from 497 to 1048 as La doping concentration rises from 2% to 6% at a constant frequency of 1 MHz, reaching a maximum value of 1048 for 6% La doping with little variation in dielectric loss between 0.03 and 0.05. As La doping level increases from 2% to 6%, the remnant ( P r ) and saturation ( P s ) polarization values increase from 12 to 47 μC cm −2 and 18 to 53 μC cm −2 respectively. The leakage current is found to be 2.68 × 10 −8 A for 2%‐doped PZT film and it reduces to 2.94 × 10 −10 A for PLZT (6% doping) film. The influence of lanthanum doping on the pyroelectric properties has been studied in detail. The value of pyroelectric coefficient ( p ) is varied from 240 × 10 −3 to 980 × 10 −3 Cm −2 K −1 and current responsivity is varied from 960 × 10 −10 to 3920 × 10 −10 mV −1 with the variation in lanthanum content from 2% to 6%, respectively. The promising pyroelectric results found in PLZT films encourage these films in energy applications field.
•Love wave based Surface acoustic devices have been fabricated on Lithium Tantalate.•Poly Di Methyl Siloxane (PDMS) microchannels have been prepared and integrated with the device.•Uric acid sensing ...has been performed with high sensitivity and low detection limit.
In the present work, zinc oxide (ZnO) thin film based Love wave acoustic device has been exploited for realization of a biosensor. These Love wave devices have been fabricated on 36°YX lithium tantalate with ZnO thin film deposited using rf sputtering technique as the guiding layer. Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) microchannels have been prepared and integrated on the propagation path on the fabricated device. Detection of uric acid has been demonstrated using the developed biosensing device by measuring the shift in center frequency on interaction with uric acid. The developed uric acid sensor paves way towards the realization of handheld biosensor for future wireless sensing technology.
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