In mouse model of mixed granulocytic asthma with corticosteroid refractoriness, Bronchom mitigates airway hyperresponsiveness, inflammation and airway remodeling.

Background: Asthma is a heterogeneous, inflammatory disease with several phenotypes and endotypes. Severe asthmatics often exhibit mixed granulocytosis with reduced corticosteroid sensitivity. Bronchom is a newly developed Ayurvedic prescription medicine, indicated for the treatment of obstructive airway disorders.

Effect of skull morphology on fox snow diving.

Certain fox species plunge-dive into snow to catch prey (e.g., rodents), a hunting mechanism called mousing.

Herbo-Mineral Medicine, Lithom Exhibits Anti-Nephrolithiasis Activity in Rat Model of Hyperoxaluria by Attenuating Calcium Oxalate Crystal Formation and Oxidative Stress.

Background: Calcium oxalate monohydrate (COM) forms the most common type of kidney stones observed in clinics, elevated levels of urinary oxalate being the principal risk factor for such an etiology. The objective of the present study was to evaluate the anti-nephrolithiatic effect of herbo-mineral formulation, Lithom.

Methods: The biochemical synthesis of COM crystals in the presence of Lithom was performed and observations were made by microscopy and Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) based analysis for the detection of crystal size and morphology.

Optimal free-surface pumping by an undulating carpet.

Examples of fluid flows driven by undulating boundaries are found in nature across many different length scales. Even though different driving mechanisms have evolved in distinct environments, they perform essentially the same function: directional transport of liquid. Nature-inspired strategies have been adopted in engineered devices to manipulate and direct flow.

Expression of genes encoding non-specific immunity, anti-oxidative status and aquaporins in β-glucan-fed golden mahseer () juveniles under ammonia stress.

The study investigated the effects of dietary administration of β-glucan on aquaporins and antioxidative & immune gene expression in endangered golden mahseer, juveniles, exposed to ammonia stress. For that, fish were fed experimental diets having 0 (control/basal), 0.25, 0.

Adhesive creases: bifurcation, morphology and their (apparent) self-similarity.

An elastic material that experiences strong compression parallel to its free surface can exhibit sharp surface folds. Such creases arise due to an instability where a self-contacting fold appears on the surface, often observed in growing tissues or swelling gels. Self-adhesion of the contact is known to affect the bifurcation behavior and morphology of these structures, yet a quantitative description remains elusive.

Exposure to different temperature regimes at early life stages affects hatching, developmental morphology, larval growth, and muscle cellularity in rainbow trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss.

In this study, the effects of temperature on hatching, yolk-sac absorption, larval metamorphosis, post-metamorphic growth, developmental morphology, and muscle cellularity were assessed in rainbow trout, during its early development (until 52 days post-hatching, dph). From the eyed-ova stage, embryos were exposed to either low (8 ± 1 °C, LT-8) or high (16 ± 1 °C, HT-16) temperatures until hatching. Following hatching, half of the sac-fry from LT-8 group were shifted to higher temperature (16 ± 1 °C, LHT-16), and half from HT-16 group were shifted to medium temperature (13 ± 1 °C, HMT-13), for larval rearing.

Molecular characterization of four innate immune genes in and their comparative transcriptional abundance during wild- and captive-bred ontogenetic developmental stages.

The current study was designed to characterize immune genes and compare their expression during ontogenetic developmental stages in progenies of wild-collected and captive-matured . The full-length cDNA sequences of and were 2814, 1545, 1807, and 653 bp in length, with ORFs of 2379 bp, 855 bp, 1410 bp, and 297 bp, encoding for putative peptides of 793, 284, 469 and 98 amino acids, respectively. The predicted peptide sequences of the genes had high sequence homology and structural conservation with other teleost fishes, especially cyprinids.

Slamming dynamics of diving and its implications for diving-related injuries.

In nature, many animals dive into water at high speeds, e.g., humans dive from cliffs, birds plunge, and aquatic animals porpoise and breach.

Revisiting the NASA surface tension driven convection experiments.

Marangoni effect plays an important role in many industrial applications where a surface tension gradient induces fluid flow, e.g., the cleaning process of silicon wafers and the welding process of melted metal.

Concurrent changes in thermal tolerance thresholds and cellular heat stress response reveals novel molecular signatures and markers of high temperature acclimation in rainbow trout.

The objective of this study was to better understand the molecular mechanisms which regulate acclimatory responses and thermal safety margins of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) at temperatures above physiological optimum. For this, we investigated the time course of changes in critical thermal tolerance thresholds and associated hepatic and renal transcript abundance of molecular markers related to cellular stress response, during high temperature acclimation. The experimental fish were initially acclimated to 17 °C and later exposed to a gradually raised elevated temperature regime (22 °C) for a period of 30 days.

Transgenerational effects of β-glucan on thermal tolerance, growth performance, and immune gene expression of endangered cyprinid Tor putitora progeny.

Nutritional programming signifies a process in which broodstock feeding approaches have long-term effects on the subsequent progeny. The present study aimed to elucidate whether supplementing golden mahseer, Tor putitora broodstock diets with β-glucan affects progeny growth performance, survival, thermal tolerance, and non-specific immunity. Initially, the growth performance of progeny produced from brooders fed with different levels of β-glucan was non-significant.

β-glucan modulates non-specific immune gene expression, thermal tolerance and elicits disease resistance in endangered Tor putitora fry challenged with Aeromonas salmonicida.

An eight-week feeding trial was performed to assess the effect of different dietary levels (0, 0.5, 1.0, and 1.

Pinning-Induced Folding-Unfolding Asymmetry in Adhesive Creases.

The compression of soft elastic matter and biological tissue can lead to creasing, an instability where a surface folds sharply into periodic self-contacts. Intriguingly, the unfolding of the surface upon releasing the strain is usually not perfect: small scars remain that serve as nuclei for creases during repeated compressions. Here we present creasing experiments with sticky polymer surfaces, using confocal microscopy, which resolve the contact line region where folding and unfolding occurs.

Molecular characterization of non-specific immune genes of endangered golden mahseer (Tor putitora) and their expression during embryonic and larval development.

The present study was undertaken to characterize and analyze the expression of non-specific immune genes to get an insight into the early immune status of endangered golden mahseer. In this study, the full-length mRNA sequence of IFNγ, TNFα, C3, and IL10 was 927, 1409, 5125 and 1177 bp with an ORF of 558, 765, 4938, and 540 bp, encoding a putative protein of 185, 254, 1645, and 179 amino acid residues, respectively. The deduced amino acid sequences of these genes shared highly conserved structures with those from other cyprinids.

Elastic Rayleigh-Plateau instability: dynamical selection of nonlinear states.

A slender thread of elastic hydrogel is susceptible to a surface instability that is reminiscent of the classical Rayleigh-Plateau instability of liquid jets. The final, highly nonlinear states that are observed in experiments arise from a competition between capillarity and large elastic deformations. Combining a slender analysis and fully three-dimensional numerical simulations, we present the phase map of all possible morphologies for an unstable neo-Hookean cylinder subjected to capillary forces.

Regimes of Soft Lubrication.

Elastohydrodynamic lubrication, or simply soft lubrication, refers to the motion of deformable objects near a boundary lubricated by a fluid, and is one of the key physical mechanisms to minimise friction and wear in natural and engineered systems. Hence it is of particular interest to relate the thickness of the lubricant layer to the entrainment (sliding/rolling) velocity, the mechanical loading exerted onto the contacting elements, and properties of the elastic boundary. In this work we provide an overview of the various regimes of soft lubrication for two-dimensional cylinders in lubricated contact with compliant walls.

Dietary soy lecithin augments antioxidative defense and thermal tolerance but fails to modulate non-specific immune genes in endangered golden mahseer (Tor putitora) fry.

A 70-day experiment was carried out to assess the effect of different levels (0, 1 and 2%) of soy lecithin in the diet on growth, survival, antioxidant defense markers, immune gene expression and thermal tolerance limits of golden mahseer, Tor putitora fry. Percentage weight gain, specific growth rate (SGR %) and survival of mahseer fed lecithin supplemented diets were not significantly different from those of the control group. Also, the mRNA expression levels of different immune related genes such as tnfα, il-1β, il-10, complement-3, interferon-gamma (ifnγ) and tlr4 were unaffected by dietary lecithin supplementation.

Temperature and oxygen related ecophysiological traits of snow trout (Schizothorax richardsonii) are sensitive to seasonal changes in a Himalayan stream environment.

In this study, we investigated the seasonal changes in key eco-physiological traits of a wild population of snow trout, Schizothorax richardsonii from river Gola in the Indian Himalayan region over one year. Live specimens (5.8-31.

Size-Dependent Submerging of Nanoparticles in Polymer Melts: Effect of Line Tension.

Adhesion of nanoparticles to polymer films plays a key role in various polymer technologies. Here we report experiments that reveal how silica nanoparticles adhere to a viscoelastic PMMA film above the glass transition temperature. The polymer was swollen with CO, closely matching the conditions of nanoparticle-nucleated polymer foaming.

Dynamical theory of the inverted cheerios effect.

Recent experiments have shown that liquid drops on highly deformable substrates exhibit mutual interactions. This is similar to the Cheerios effect, the capillary interaction of solid particles at a liquid interface, but now the roles of solid and liquid are reversed. Here we present a dynamical theory for this inverted Cheerios effect, taking into account elasticity, capillarity and the viscoelastic rheology of the substrate.

Liquid drops attract or repel by the inverted Cheerios effect.

Solid particles floating at a liquid interface exhibit a long-ranged attraction mediated by surface tension. In the absence of bulk elasticity, this is the dominant lateral interaction of mechanical origin. Here, we show that an analogous long-range interaction occurs between adjacent droplets on solid substrates, which crucially relies on a combination of capillarity and bulk elasticity.

Rising beyond elastocapillarity.

We consider the elastocapillary rise between swellable structures using a favorable solvent. We characterize the dynamic deformations and resulting equilibrium configurations for various beams. Our analysis reveals the importance of the spacing between the two beams, and the elastocapillary length lec, which prescribes the relative magnitude of surface tension and bending stiffness in the system.

Tissue response to titanium implant using scanning electron microscope.

Most of the surgeons now use titanium miniplates because of its biocompatibility and corrosion resistant properties; studies have shown that these titanium particles are released in the surrounding tissues causing tissue necrosis and if these implants are placed for a long period, the adverse effect of these implants are more severe. It therefore necessitates a study to find out whether these titanium particles are released into surrounding tissues from titanium miniplates used for maxillofacial fractures so that we could use these implants, that is, bone plates and screws with more confidence.

Swelling-induced deformations: a materials-defined transition from macroscale to microscale deformations.

Swelling-induced deformations are common in many biological and industrial environments, and the shapes and patterns that emerge can vary across many length scales. Here we present an experimental study of a transition between macroscopic structural bending and microscopic surface creasing in elastomeric beams swollen non-homogeneously with favorable . We show that this transition is dictated by the materials and geometry of the system, and we develop a simple scaling model based on competition between bending and swelling energies that predicts if a given droplet would deform a polymeric structure macroscopically or microscopically.