Bioactive compounds contained in the seed kernel and other parts of the neem tree (Azadirachta indica A. Juss) have been found to show insecticidal activities and other effects in many species of ...insects. These activities include antifeedancy, growth regulation, fecundity suppression, male sterility, oviposition repellency, changes in biological fitness such as loss of flying ability, immunodepression, enzyme inhibition, splitting of biological rhythms, and so forth. We investigated the ovicidal effects of various formulations of azadrirachtin (AZ) against the mosquitoes Culex tarsalis Coquillett and Culex quinquefasciatus Say. The formulations tested were wettable powder Azad WP10, emulsifiable concentrate Azad EC4.5, and technically pure AZ. The ovicidal activity of the test neem products was influenced by concentration of AZ, age of the egg rafts, and age of the neem preparations. Other factors such as formulation and mosquito species were also involved in the degree of ovicidal activity. When the egg rafts were deposited directly in fresh neem suspension and left there for 4 h before transfer to untreated water, 1 ppm of AZ produced almost 100% mortality in eggs. When egg rafts aged for 0, 4, 8, 12, and 24 h were exposed to 10 ppm neem suspensions for 36 h, the ovicidal activity was only attained in the egg rafts deposited directly (0 h old) in the neem suspension, not in those with ages of 4-24 h. On aging, depending on the formulations and mosquito species, the neem suspensions at 1 ppm completely lost ovicidal activity within 7-20 days. The egg rafts of Cx. quinquefasciatus were more susceptible to the test neem products than those of Cx. tarsalis. The formulated neem products were more persistent and effective than the technical AZ. The wettable powder (WP) formulation was slightly more persistent and effective than the emulsifiable concentrate (EC). The ovicidal activity of the neem products against mosquitoes from the current research clearly demonstrated the potential of neem products as possible ovicides against Culex mosquitoes.
This paper tackles a me1t blend of po1y(lactic acid)/ natura1 rubber with dioctadecyldimethylammonium bromide(DODAB) modified clay. The study investigated mechanical, therma1 and morpho1ogical ...properties of poly(lactic acid)/ natural rubber and nanocomposites. The paper also examined Montmori1lonite clay with alky1 ammonium ion of (DODAB). the studied parameters, PLA/ NR nanocomposites revealed 1arger enhancements in mechanical properties in comparison to PLA/ NR blend because of high polymer blend matrix shear forces exerted on clay aggregated during mixing po1ymer-clay. The original MMT with Na+ action leads to weak improvements in mechanica1 properties in comparison to organoclays. It is noted that the strength of tensile, modulus, and the nanocomposite samples can be improved with 4% of clay loading. The optimum samp1e morphology and chemical structure were tested by X-ray diffraction and FT-IR spectroscopy respectively. This paper denotes that poly(lactic acid)/ natural rubber-toughened nanocomposites with a higher modulus and in this way, thermal stability could be made.
Objective: To investigate the prognostic value for loss of heterozygosity (LOH) of chromosomes 4 and 14q in early-stage colorectal cancer (CRC). Methods: A total of 70, largely microsatellite stable, ...tumours and their corresponding normal mucosa were subjected to microdissection and analysed for LOH at chromosomes 4 and 14q by using 13 highly polymorphic microsatellite markers. LOH was correlated with the survival of the patients, using univariate, multivariate and Kaplan–Meier’s survival curves. Result: LOH at D4S2935, D4S1579 and D4S1595 on chromosome 4 was significantly associated with metastatic recurrence of early-stage CRC. For chromosome arm 14q, two minimal regions of deletion were associated with metastatic recurrence and mapped to neighbouring markers D14S275/D14S49 at 14q12–13 and D14S65/D14S250 at 14q32. High-level loss (loss of five to eight of the informative microsatellite markers) on both chromosomes 4 and 14q, to be an independent prognostic indicator in early-stage CRC was shown by multivariate analysis. Conclusion: Determining the LOH of chromosomes 4 and 14q and their extent in primary tumours of patients with early-stage CRC may constitute a molecular signature of metastatic recurrence. This may be achieved if new finding sheds light on the treatment of this subgroup of patients that have been largely ignored.
Leptin, an adipocyte hormone, is a trophic factor for the reproductive system; however, it is still unknown whether there is a dynamic relation between fluctuations in circulating leptin and ...hypothalamic--pituitary-ovarian (HPO) axis hormones. To test the hypothesis that fluctuations in plasma leptin concentrations are related to the levels of luteinizing hormone (LH) and estradiol, we sampled plasma from six healthy women every 7 min for 24 h during days 8-11 of the menstrual cycle. Cross-correlation analysis throughout the 24-h cycle revealed a relation between release patterns of leptin and LH, with a lag of 42-84 min but no significant cross-correlation between LH and estradiol. The ultradian fluctuations in leptin levels showed pattern synchrony with those of both LH and estradiol as determined by cross-approximate entropy (cross-ApEn). At night, as leptin levels rose to their peak, the pulsatility profiles of LH changed significantly and became synchronous with those of leptin. LH pulses were fewer, of longer duration, higher amplitude, and larger area than during the day. Moreover, the synchronicity of LH and leptin occurred late at night, at which time estradiol and leptin also exhibited significantly stronger pattern coupling than during the day. We propose that leptin may regulate the minute-to-minute oscillations in the levels of LH and estradiol, and that the nocturnal rise in leptin may determine the change in nocturnal LH profile in the mid-to-late follicular phase that precedes ovulation. This may explain the disruption of hypothalamic--pituitary-ovarian function that is characteristic of states of low leptin release, such as anorexia nervosa and cachexia.
Objective To investigate the planning of subgroup analyses in protocols of randomised controlled trials and the agreement with corresponding full journal publications. Design Cohort of protocols of ...randomised controlled trial and subsequent full journal publications. Setting Six research ethics committees in Switzerland, Germany, and Canada. Data sources 894 protocols of randomised controlled trial involving patients approved by participating research ethics committees between 2000 and 2003 and 515 subsequent full journal publications. Results Of 894 protocols of randomised controlled trials, 252 (28.2%) included one or more planned subgroup analyses. Of those, 17 (6.7%) provided a clear hypothesis for at least one subgroup analysis, 10 (4.0%) anticipated the direction of a subgroup effect, and 87 (34.5%) planned a statistical test for interaction. Industry sponsored trials more often planned subgroup analyses compared with investigator sponsored trials (195/551 (35.4%) v 57/343 (16.6%), P<0.001). Of 515 identified journal publications, 246 (47.8%) reported at least one subgroup analysis. In 81 (32.9%) of the 246 publications reporting subgroup analyses, authors stated that subgroup analyses were prespecified, but this was not supported by 28 (34.6%) corresponding protocols. In 86 publications, authors claimed a subgroup effect, but only 36 (41.9%) corresponding protocols reported a planned subgroup analysis. Conclusions Subgroup analyses are insufficiently described in the protocols of randomised controlled trials submitted to research ethics committees, and investigators rarely specify the anticipated direction of subgroup effects. More than one third of statements in publications of randomised controlled trials about subgroup prespecification had no documentation in the corresponding protocols. Definitive judgments regarding credibility of claimed subgroup effects are not possible without access to protocols and analysis plans of randomised controlled trials.
Information about the impact of cancer treatments on patients' quality of life (QoL) is of paramount importance to patients and treating oncologists. Cancer trials that do not specify QoL as an ...outcome or fail to report collected QoL data, omit crucial information for decision making. To estimate the magnitude of these problems, we investigated how frequently QoL outcomes were specified in protocols of cancer trials and subsequently reported.
Retrospective cohort study of RCT protocols approved by six research ethics committees in Switzerland, Germany, and Canada between 2000 and 2003. We compared protocols to corresponding publications, which were identified through literature searches and investigator surveys.
Of the 173 cancer trials, 90 (52%) specified QoL outcomes in their protocol, 2 (1%) as primary and 88 (51%) as secondary outcome. Of the 173 trials, 35 (20%) reported QoL outcomes in a corresponding publication (4 modified from the protocol), 18 (10%) were published but failed to report QoL outcomes in the primary or a secondary publication, and 37 (21%) were not published at all. Of the 83 (48%) trials that did not specify QoL outcomes in their protocol, none subsequently reported QoL outcomes. Failure to report pre-specified QoL outcomes was not associated with industry sponsorship (versus non-industry), sample size, and multicentre (versus single centre) status but possibly with trial discontinuation.
About half of cancer trials specified QoL outcomes in their protocols. However, only 20% reported any QoL data in associated publications. Highly relevant information for decision making is often unavailable to patients, oncologists, and health policymakers.
Although diabetes is a major risk factor for vascular diseases, e.g., hypertension and atherosclerosis, mechanisms that underlie the “risky” aspects of diabetes remain obscure. The current study is ...intended to examine the notion that diabetic endothelial dysfunction stems from a heightened state of oxidative stress induced by an imbalance between vascular production and scavenging of reactive oxygen/nitrogen species. Goto-Kakizaki (GK) rats were used as a genetic animal model for non-obese type II diabetes. Nitric oxide (NO) bioavailability and O
2
− generation in aortic tissues of GK rats were assessed using the Griess reaction and a lucigenin–chemiluminescence-based technique, respectively. Organ chamber-based isometric tension studies revealed that aortas from GK rats had impaired relaxation responses to acetylcholine whereas a rightward shift in the dose–response curve was noticed in the endothelium-independent vasorelaxation exerted by the NO donor sodium nitroprusside. An enhancement in superoxide (O
2
−) production and a diminuation in NO bioavailability were evident in aortic tissues of GK diabetic rats. Immunoblotting and high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)-based techniques revealed, respectively, that the above inverse relationship between O
2
− and NO was associated with a marked increase in the protein expression of nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) and a decrease in the level of its cofactor tetrahydrobiopterin (BH
4) in diabetic aortas. Endothelial denudation by rubbing or the addition of pharmacological inhibitors of eNOS (e.g.
N
ω-nitro-
l-arginine methyl ester (
l-NAME)), and NAD(P)H oxidase (e.g. diphenyleneiodonium, apocynin) strikingly reduced the diabetes-induced enhancement in vascular O
2
− production. Aortic contents of key markers of oxidative stress (isoprostane F2α III, protein-bound carbonyls, nitrosylated protein) in connection with the protein expression of superoxide generating enzyme NAD(P)H oxidase (e.g. p47
phox, pg91
phox), a major source of reactive oxygen species in vascular tissue, were elevated as a function of diabetes. In contrast, the process involves in the vascular inactivation of reactive oxygen species exemplified by the activity of CuZnSOD was reduced in this diseased state. Our studies suggest that diabetes produces a cascade of events involving production of reactive oxygen species from the NADPH oxidase leading to oxidation of BH
4 and uncoupling of NOS. This promotes the oxidative inactivation of NO with subsequent formation of peroxynitrite. An alteration in the balance of these bioactive radicals in concert with a defect in the antioxidant defense counteracting mechanism may favor a heightened state of oxidative stress. This phenomenon could play a potentially important role in the pathogenesis of diabetic endothelial dysfunction.
Insect growth regulators (IGRs) are diverse groups of chemical compounds that are highly active against larvae of mosquitoes and other insects. The IGRs in general have a good margin of safety to ...most nontarget biota including invertebrates, fish, birds, and other wildlife. They are also relatively safe to man and domestic animals. The IGR compounds do not induce quick mortality in the preimaginal stages treated. Mortality occurs many days later after treatment. This is indeed a desirable feature of a control agent because larvae of mosquitoes and other vectors are an important source of food for fish and wildlife. On account of these advantages of IGRs and the high level of activity against target species, it is likely that IGRs will play an important role in vector control programs in the future.
Four 220 MWe pressurised heavy water reactors are under operation at Kaiga in the state of Karnataka in India. Environmental radiological survey of the surrounding areas of the Kaiga site is carried ...out by Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai. The estimated dose to the members of the public due to ingestion of radioactive isotope of potassium, a natural radionuclide, in the surroundings of the Kaiga site is 136 μSv (13.6 mrem) per year. The value indicates that the dose to the public due to operation of the nuclear reactors in Kaiga is insignificant in comparison with the dose due to unavoidable natural radioactivity.
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