There has been a significant growth in the number of private automobiles in the previous decade as a result of technological advancements and changes in people’s lifestyles. This creates a major ...problem of congestion main reason being the transportation infrastructure’s inadequately construction and maintenance, which is the case in most major cities. By broadcasting the vehicle’s current location and surroundings in real time to other adjacent cars and roadside devices, VANETs may help alleviate traffic congestion by using intelligent algorithms to anticipate and avoid potential bottlenecks on the route. This can also be used to predict the shortest path from initial location to destination making it easy for the drivers in the choosing the right path. To implement all these functionalities, we need a robust and secure communication channel and also an intelligent and complex algorithm. Our aim is to predict a lane with least probability of accidents and find the shortest path with least travelling time and congestion. This keeps the user informed regarding the surrounding scenario’s and makes more coordinated, safer, and optimal use of transport networks.
Objective
The appearance of anti–citrullinated protein antibodies (ACPAs) in the circulation represents a major risk factor for developing rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Patient‐derived ACPAs have been ...shown to induce pain and bone erosion in mice, suggesting an active role in the pathogenicity of RA. We undertook this study to investigate whether ACPAs can induce tenosynovitis, an early sign of RA, in addition to pain and bone loss and whether these symptoms are dependent on peptidyl arginine deiminase 4 (PAD4).
Methods
Monoclonal ACPAs generated from plasma cells of RA patients were transferred to wild‐type and PAD4‐deficient mice. Pain‐like behavior and macroscopic inflammation were monitored for a period of 4 weeks, followed by the analyses of tenosynovitis in the ankle joints using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and bone microarchitecture in the tibia using an X‐ray microscope. Microscopic changes in the tendon sheath were analyzed in decalcified ankle joint sections.
Results
The combination of 2 monoclonal ACPAs (1325:04C03 and 1325:01B09) induced long‐lasting pain‐like behavior and trabecular bone loss in mice. Although no synovitis was observed macroscopically, we detected tenosynovitis in the ACPA‐injected mice by MRI. Microscopic analyses of the joints revealed a cellular hyperplasia and a consequent enlargement of the tendon sheath in the ACPA‐treated group. In PAD4−/− mice, the effects of ACPAs on pain‐like behavior, tenosynovitis, and bone loss were significantly reduced.
Conclusion
Monoclonal ACPAs can induce tenosynovitis in addition to pain and bone loss via mechanisms dependent on PAD4‐mediated citrullination.
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA)-specific anti-citrullinated protein/peptide antibodies (ACPAs) might contribute to bone loss and arthralgia before the onset of joint inflammation. We aimed to dissect ...additional mechanisms by which ACPAs might contribute to development of joint pathology.
Fibroblast-like synoviocytes (FLS) were isolated from the synovial membrane of patients with RA. The FLS cultures were stimulated with polyclonal ACPAs (anti-CCP-2 antibodies) purified from the peripheral blood of patients with RA or with monoclonal ACPAs derived from single synovial fluid B cells. We analysed how ACPAs modulate FLS by measuring cell adhesion and mobility as well as cytokine production. Expression of protein arginine deiminase (PAD) enzymes and protein citrullination were analysed by immunofluorescence, and signal transduction was studied using immunoblotting.
Challenge of FLS by starvation-induced stress or by exposure to the chemokine interleukin-8 was essential to sensitise the cells to ACPAs. These challenges led to an increased PAD expression and protein citrullination and an ACPA-mediated induction of FLS migration through a mechanism involving phosphoinositide 3-kinase activation. Inhibition of the PAD enzymes or competition with soluble citrullinated proteins or peptides completely abolished the ACPA-induced FLS migration. Different monoclonal ACPAs triggered distinct cellular effects in either fibroblasts or osteoclasts, suggesting unique roles for individual ACPA clones in disease pathogenesis.
We propose that transient synovial insults in the presence of a certain pre-existing ACPA repertoire might result in an ACPA-mediated increase of FLS migration.
Global Positioning System (GPS) monitoring of Zenith Total Delay (ZTD) of the troposphere which is related to water vapor is important as it may help us in weather forecasting. The atmospheric water ...vapor varies according to the season and it also varies quickly on short temporal and spatial scales during stormy periods. Thus it plays a crucial role in meteorology. GPS is one of the relatively inexpensive tools available to monitor the water vapor content in the atmosphere. In the present study, the efficacy of GPS data to monitor perturbations in tropospheric water content (GPS meteorology) associated with atmospheric storms and depressions is investigated utilizing the data from a tropical region of India, recorded between 15th October, 2010 and 27th December, 2010 during which Southern India was affected by a few significant atmospheric events. The ZTD was estimated for this period at the NGRI operated GPS stations at Hyderabad (HYDE) and MS University, Tirunelveli (MSUN). The accuracy of GPS derived ZTD was validated from the close match seen with ZTD values estimated from numerical weather modeling data. During the stormy periods there were strong variations of the ZTD. Corresponding changes in precipitable water vapor were estimated for the International GNSS Service station HYDE. The average ZTD was found to be higher near the coastal station at MSUN and less at the inland station HYDE. Most of the observed peaks in the ZTD time series were well correlated to the atmospheric events that influenced the region. The study extended to two more locations in the equatorial Indian Ocean region showed spatial variations in the ZTD values, which suggest the weakening of ZTD towards the coast. Our observations are yet another illustration for the application of GPS observations to monitor tropospheric water content variations associated with severe atmospheric events.
•Analyzed GPS derived ZTD at locations in South India during severe weather events.•ZTD changes correlate with storms and depressions that affected South India.•Study illustrate use of GPS to monitor troposphere water content variations.
•Causes of whales stranding and Delhi pollution investigated using integrated data•Stranding of whales coincides with time of earthquake and underwater volcanism•Toxic materials from volcanic ...eruptions lead to increased air and ocean pollution•Prominent cyclonic events are also intimately connected to volcanism•Volcanism-related air pollution affected the human health in Indian sub-continent
In the recent past there have been several incidences when large number of whales got stranded and died along the coastal areas of various continents, including India, causes of which are relatively unknown. We have investigated the possible causes of such incidences, based on the analysis of available seismological and GPS data. The time of occurrence of earthquakes of relatively larger magnitude, is found to correspond with the changes in Zenith Total Delay (ZTD). Similarly, stranding of the whales appears to coincide with the time of the underwater volcanism, for example in the Andaman region. The change in ZTD appears to be caused by the increase in the water vapor in the troposphere, as observed in one of the events (Nilam cyclone) in the Bay-of-Bengal region during October 2016. During this volcanic activity, the temperature and toxic contaminated materials from the volcanic eruptions, increased in the surrounding ocean which apparently killed the whales. The volcanic gaseous vents, through which the toxic gases emanated, seems to have apparently affected the whale's lungs. Subsequently, toxic substances which were present in water, severely affected their body organ functions, as the food intake takes place via their skin. Whales have an oxygen rich body, therefore, when lungs are not functioning properly, they may lose the oxygen and gain mass that causes their movement towards the shore. Thus, the influence of underwater volcanic activity, appeared to be a likely cause that led to the demise of sea animals. We also find that the prominent cyclonic events like ‘Ockhi’ which too have an intimate relationship with volcanism, caused severe air pollution that affected the health of the mankind residing in different parts of the Indian sub-continent, especially Delhi and nearby regions.
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The Global Positioning System (GPS) data collected during years 1997–2007 at Maitri along with the International GNSS Service (IGS) stations viz. Casey, Davis, Yaragadee, Tidbinbilla, Seychelles, ...Coco, Diego Garcia, Kerguelen and Hartbeesthoek in and around Indian Ocean were processed using Bernese. 4.2 software. The baseline length and their changes were estimated and spectral analysis was carried out subsequently. The value of the Hurst exponent, as estimated from the slope of spectral fall-off of each time series of baseline length, was used to interpret the characteristics of the plate motions in the region. The Hurst exponent is found to be 0.65 (>0.5) for the baseline length between stations Kerguelen and Coco clearly showing a constant increasing trend of the changes in baseline length. The time series of baseline lengths between stations Kerguelen and Diego Garcia; and Tidbinbilla and Yaragadee shows an increasing trend and the Hurst exponent is close to 0.5. This may suggest that the diffuse plate boundary zone and the Australian plate are moving away from the Antarctican plate. The baseline length between Kerguelen and Davis, Casey, Maitri and Seychelles is less than 0.5, which indicates that the baseline length of these stations shows a decreasing trend.
In this protocol, we describe a method to monitor cell migration by live-cell imaging of adherent cells. Scratching assay is a common method to investigate cell migration or wound healing capacity. ...However, achieving homogenous scratching, finding the optimal time window for end-point analysis and performing an objective image analysis imply, even for practiced and adept experimenters, a high chance for variability and limited reproducibility. Therefore, our protocol implemented the assessment for cell mobility by using homogenous wound making, sequential imaging and automated image analysis. Cells were cultured in 96-well plates, and after attachment, homogeneous linear scratches were made using the IncuCyte
WoundMaker. The treatments were added directly to wells and images were captured every 2 hours automatically. Thereafter, the images were processed by defining a scratching mask and a cell confluence mask using a software algorithm. Data analysis was performed using the IncuCyte
Cell Migration Analysis Software. Thus, our protocol allows a time-lapse analysis of treatment effects on cell migration in a highly reliable, reproducible and re-analyzable manner.
The Andaman and Nicobar Islands are constituents of Burmese micro-plate (Eurasian plate), surrounded by the Indian and Sunda plates. In order to understand the relative movement of Andaman Islands ...with its surrounding plates, the rate of change of baseline lengths of the selected GPS stations was estimated with the PBR2 in the Andaman Island as the prime representative. The interpretations of GPS parameters revealed that the Indian peninsula is coming closer to the Andaman Islands and the Sunda block is moving away from it. There is almost no significant movement of Burmese plate with respect to the Eurasian plate. A considerable level of deformation occurs between the Indian plate and Burmese micro-plate that corroborates with the continuous occurrence of earthquakes and volcanic activities in the surroundings of Andaman Islands. The convergence between the Indian peninsula and Andaman Islands is 24~26 mm/year and the corresponding strain rate is −1.4324 × 10
−8
and −1.3037 × 10
−8
, respectively. It is found that if this rate of convergence prevails/continues in the future, then after about ~73 million years, Indian sub-continent will be merged with the Andaman Islands and the Bay of Bengal will disappear. The estimated strain rate can be capable of generating frequent earthquakes releasing stress reflecting the high seismicity of the area.
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