Background: Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) is one of the most important cereal crop species worldwide, but its growth and development are adversely influenced by drought stress. However, the application of trace elements is known to improve plant physiology under water-limited conditions.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFGrowth habits are among the essential adaptive traits acted upon by evolution during plant speciation. They have brought remarkable changes in the morphology and physiology of plants. Inflorescence architecture varies greatly between wild relatives and cultivars of pigeon pea.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFLow-temperature stress (LTS) drastically affects vegetative and reproductive growth in fruit crops leading to a gross reduction in the yield and loss in product quality. Among the fruit crops, temperate fruits, during the period of evolution, have developed the mechanism of tolerance, i.e.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe indiscriminate use of pesticides in agricultural commodities has become a global health concern. Various household methods are employed to remove pesticide residues from agricultural commodities, e.g.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFGlobal food security for a growing population with finite resources is often challenged by multiple, simultaneously occurring on-farm abiotic stresses (i.e., drought, salinity, low and high temperature, waterlogging, metal toxicity, etc.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFT cell activation is a fine-tuned process that involves T cell receptor and costimulation signals. To prevent undue activation of T cells, inhibitory molecules including PD-1 (programmed death 1) are induced and function as brakes for T cell signaling. In a steady state, the interaction of PD-1 with its ligands PD-L1 (B7-H1, CD274) and PD-L2 (B7-DC, CD273) maintains peripheral immune tolerance.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground Recent reports showed that overseas doctors were more likely than UK graduates to be referred by their employers to the General Medical Council (GMC) We investigated the trend of medico-legal insurance awareness and uptake of medical defence organisations (MDOs) by junior doctors and to examine if there is a difference between overseas and UK graduates. Methods Online questionnaire survey sent to junior doctors within the Yorkshire and Humber Deanery. Data regarding year of graduation, country of origin of primary medical qualification, year of starting work in the National Health Service (NHS) and date of joining an MDO were collected.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFGlobal agriculture is challenged with achieving sustainable food security while the climate changes and the threat of drought increases. Much of the research attention has focused on above-ground plant responses with an aim to improve drought resistance. The hidden half, that is, the root system belowground, is receiving increasing attention as the interface of the plant with the soil.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAn amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPD-1 is a target of cancer immunotherapy but responses are limited to a fraction of patients. Identifying patients with T cells subjected to PD-1-mediated inhibition will allow selection of suitable candidates for PD-1-blocking therapy and will improve the therapeutic success. We sought to develop an approach to detect PD-1-mediated inhibitory signaling.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFLung cancers with oncogenic mutations in the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) invariably acquire resistance to tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) treatment. Vulnerabilities of EGFR TKI-resistant cancer cells that could be therapeutically exploited are incompletely understood. Here, we describe a poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase 1 (PARP-1) inhibitor-sensitive phenotype that is conferred by TKI treatment in vitro and in vivo and appears independent of any particular TKI resistance mechanism.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFOverseas doctors are playing an important role in the successful running of the NHS. They represent one-third of the total number of UK doctors and include doctors from the European Economic Area and international medical graduates. The main aim of this review is to explore the challenges that overseas doctors might face when they take up their first job in the UK.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFLymphocyte activation requires adhesion to antigen-presenting cells. This is a critical event linking innate and adaptive immunity. Lymphocyte adhesion is accomplished through LFA-1, which must be activated by a process referred to as inside-out integrin signaling.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: A non-invasive diagnostic technique for abdominal adhesions is not currently available. Capture of abdominal motion due to respiration in cine-MRI has shown promise, but is difficult to interpret. This article explores the value of a complimentary diagnostic aid to facilitate the non-invasive detection of abdominal adhesions using cine-MRI.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFClin Med Insights Case Rep
May 2017
Our patient, aged 73 years, had background peripheral neuropathy of unknown cause, stable for several years, which caused some difficulty in walking on uneven ground. He attended for a teaching session but now staggered in, a new development. He had apparent weakness of his right arm, but there was difficulty in distinguishing motor weakness from impaired spatial awareness suggestive of parietal lobe dysfunction.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEur J Gastroenterol Hepatol
June 2017
Introduction: We present demographic differences across the gastro-oesophageal reflux disease (GORD) spectrum in a UK District General Hospital.
Patients And Methods: Data were prospectively collected over 37 years. At endoscopy patients were categorized as: erosive oesophagitis (EO), Barrett's oesophagus (BO) or nonerosive reflux disease (NER).
The immune system maintains a critically organized network to defend against foreign particles, while evading self-reactivity simultaneously. T lymphocytes function as effectors and play an important regulatory role to orchestrate the immune signals. Although central tolerance mechanism results in the removal of the most of the autoreactive T cells during thymic selection, a fraction of self-reactive lymphocytes escapes to the periphery and pose a threat to cause autoimmunity.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPolycomb group proteins regulate chromatin structure and have an important regulatory role on gene expression in various cell types. Two polycomb group complexes (Polycomb repressive complex 1 (PRC1) and 2 (PRC2)) have been identified in mammalian cells. Both PRC1 and PRC2 compact chromatin, and also catalyze histone modifications.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: We present the long-term outcome of Barrett's oesophagus (BO) at a District General Hospital set against the increasing numbers of patients with gastro-oesophageal reflux disease (GORD).
Methods: Data were collected prospectively over 37 years. Comparison of GORD without Barrett's (NoBO) versus BO was performed from 1/1/1977 to 31/12/2001 when the NoBO database closed and outcomes of all cases of BO diagnosed until 31/12/2011 and followed up until 31/12/2013 have been reported.
Bile acids (BAs) are essential for the absorption of lipids. BA synthesis is inhibited through intestinal farnesoid X receptor (FXR) activity. BA sequestration is known to influence BA metabolism and control serum lipid concentrations.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFConversion of normal cells to cancer is accompanied with changes in their metabolism. During this conversion, cell metabolism undergoes a shift from oxidative phosphorylation to aerobic glycolysis, also known as Warburg effect, which is a hallmark for cancer cell metabolism. In cancer cells, glycolysis functions in parallel with the TCA cycle and other metabolic pathways to enhance biosynthetic processes and thus support proliferation and growth.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFRadiation modulates both tumor cells and immune cells in the tumor microenvironment to exert its anti-tumor activity; however, the molecular connection between tumor cells and immune cells that mediates radiation-exerted tumor suppression activity in the tumor microenvironment is largely unknown. We report here that radiation induces rapid activation of the p65/p50 and p50/p50 NF-κB complexes in human soft tissue sarcoma (STS) cells. Radiation-activated p65/p50 and p50/p50 bind to the TNFα promoter to activate its transcription in STS cells.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction. Abdominal adhesions can cause serious morbidity and complicate subsequent operations. Their diagnosis is often one of exclusion due to a lack of a reliable, non-invasive diagnostic technique.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe current diagnostic challenge with diagnosing hepatic encephalopathy (HE) is identifying those with minimal HE as opposed to the more clinically apparent covert/overt HE. Rifaximin, is an effective therapy but earlier identification and treatment of HE could prevent liver disease progression and hospitalization. Our pilot study aimed to analyse breath samples of patients with different HE grades, and controls, using a portable electronic (e) nose.
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