Hybrid 3D structures of ZnO nanoflowers and PdO nanoparticles as a highly selective methanol sensor.

The present study concerns the enhancement of methanol selectivity of three dimensional (3D) nanoflowers (NFs) of ZnO by dispersing nickel oxide (NiO) and palladium oxide (PdO) nanoparticles on the surface of the nanoflowers to form localized hybrid nano-junctions. The nanoflowers were fabricated through a liquid phase deposition technique and the modification was achieved by addition of NiCl and PdCl2 solutions. In addition to the detailed structural (like X-ray diffraction (XRD), electron dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), X-ray mapping, XPS) and morphological characterization (by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM)), the existence of different defect states (viz.

flowClean: Automated identification and removal of fluorescence anomalies in flow cytometry data.

Modern flow cytometry systems can be coupled to plate readers for high-throughput acquisition. These systems allow hundreds of samples to be analyzed in a single day. Quality control of the data remains challenging, however, and is further complicated when a large number of parameters is measured in an experiment.

HIF-2α mediates a marked increase in migration and stemness characteristics in a subset of glioma cells under hypoxia by activating an Oct-4/Sox-2-Mena (INV) axis.

Hypoxia is a salient feature of most solid tumors and plays a central role in tumor progression owing to its multiple contributions to therapeutic resistance, metastasis, angiogenesis and stemness properties. Reports exist in literature about hypoxia increasing stemness characteristics and invasiveness potential of malignant cells. In order to delineate molecular crosstalk among factors driving glioma progression, we used knockdown and overexpression strategies.

Isolation and characterization of bioactive components from Mirabilis jalapa L. radix.

The present investigation was carried out to isolate and characterize bioactive components from Mirabilis jalapa L. radix ( zǐ mò lì gēn). Thin-layer chromatography was used for the separation of spots from fractions of the crude extract.

An overview of physico-chemical mechanisms of biogas production by microbial communities: a step towards sustainable waste management.

Biogas is a combination of methane, CO, nitrogen, HS and traces of few other gases. Almost any organic waste can be biologically transformed into biogas and other energy-rich organic compounds through the process of anaerobic digestion (AD) and thus helping in sustainable waste management. Although microbes are involved in each step of AD, knowledge about those microbial consortia is limited due to the lack of phylogenetic and metabolic data of predominantly unculturable microorganisms.

Development of a cell permeable red-shifted CHEF-based chemosensor for Al(3+) ion by controlling PET.

A structurally modified quinazoline derivative (L) acts as highly selective chemosensor for Al(3+) ions in DMSO-H2O (1:9, v/v) over the other competitive metal ions. L shows a red shifted fluorescence after the addition of Al(3+) ions and later the further fluorescence enhancement is due to chelation enhanced fluorescence (CHEF) through inhibition of photoinduced electron transfer (PET). This probe (L) detects Al(3+) ions as low as 9nM in DMSO-H2O (1:9, v/v) at biological pH.

Silencing of Human CutC Gene (hCutC) Induces Apoptosis in HepG2 Cells.

Copper is an essential microelement required for maintaining normal cell physiology. Copper transporter CutC is one of the six members of Cut family proteins, involved in prokaryotic copper homeostasis. Human homolog of CutC (hCutC) is an intracellular copper-binding protein with unknown physiological function.

A benchmark for evaluation of algorithms for identification of cellular correlates of clinical outcomes.

The Flow Cytometry: Critical Assessment of Population Identification Methods (FlowCAP) challenges were established to compare the performance of computational methods for identifying cell populations in multidimensional flow cytometry data. Here we report the results of FlowCAP-IV where algorithms from seven different research groups predicted the time to progression to AIDS among a cohort of 384 HIV+ subjects, using antigen-stimulated peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) samples analyzed with a 14-color staining panel. Two approaches (FlowReMi.

The impact of HLA class I and EBV latency-II antigen-specific CD8(+) T cells on the pathogenesis of EBV(+) Hodgkin lymphoma.

In 40% of cases of classical Hodgkin lymphoma (cHL), Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) latency-II antigens [EBV nuclear antigen 1 (EBNA1)/latent membrane protein (LMP)1/LMP2A] are present (EBV(+) cHL) in the malignant cells and antigen presentation is intact. Previous studies have shown consistently that HLA-A*02 is protective in EBV(+) cHL, yet its role in disease pathogenesis is unknown. To explore the basis for this observation, gene expression was assessed in 33 cHL nodes.

Imprecise knowledge based design and development of titanium alloys for prosthetic applications.

Imprecise knowledge on the composition-processing-microstructure-property correlation of titanium alloys combined with experimental data are used for developing rule based models for predicting the strength and elastic modulus of titanium alloys. The developed models are used for designing alloys suitable for orthopedic and dental applications. Reduced Space Searching Algorithm is employed for the multi-objective optimization to find composition, processing and microstructure of titanium alloys suitable for orthopedic applications.

Absence of asymptomatic malaria in a cohort of 133 individuals in a malaria endemic area of Assam, India.

Background: Malaria in northeast India affects children and adults annually. The number of malaria cases reported has declined over the past few years. Nevertheless, it is not clear whether there is an actual decline in parasitaemia or whether asymptomatic malaria infections are on the rise, especially in forested and forest-fringed areas.

Design, development, and results from a charge-collector diagnostic for a toroidal electron plasma experiment.

A suitable charge-collector has been designed and developed to estimate charge-content of electron plasmas in a Small Aspect Ratio Toroidal Experiment in a C-shaped trap (SMARTEX-C). The electrons are periodically injected and held in the trap with the aid of electrostatic end-fields and a toroidal magnetic field. After a preset "hold" time, the trapped charges are dumped onto a grounded collector (by gating it).

A novel placental like alkaline phosphatase promoter driven transcriptional silencing combined with single chain variable fragment antibody based virosomal delivery for neoplastic cell targeting [corrected].

Background: Placental like alkaline phosphatase (PLAP), an oncofetal antigen, is highly expressed in germ cell, cervical, ovarian and several other tumour types but minimally in normal tissues [corrected]. The expression of a PLAP promoter based transcriptional unit following antigen mediated cell specific delivery is a possible approach for tumour targeting.

Methods: PLAP promoter alone or in combination with NFκB DNA response elements was used for expressing shRNA targeting the long control region (LCR) of human papillomavirus (HPV)-16 oncogenes E6 and E7 via transcriptional gene silencing in PLAP expressing cervical cancer cell lines, SiHa and CaSki.

Efficacy of Autogenous Split Thickness Calvarial Graft in the Management of Residual Cranial Defect.

Introduction: The patients with cranial deformity suffer from headache, dizziness, irritability, loss of concentration, depression, anxiety, intolerance to noise and vibration and neuromotor weakness. It is therefore essential to restore the calvarium.

Material And Method: This study was conducted in the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Armed Forces Medical College, Pune between Oct 2010 and Mar 2012.

s-Triazine-based biocompatible hyperbranched epoxy adhesive with antibacterial attributes for sutureless surgical sealing.

Endeavors have been made over last few decades to relieve mankind from painful suturing during surgery, especially in the case of pediatrics. A few surgical sealants or tissue adhesives have been designed; however, biocompatibility and degradation concerns limit their use. Herein, an s-triazine-based hyperbranched epoxy, along with a poly(amido amine) hardener, was used to develop a highly biocompatible surgical sealant.

Inverse mirror plasma experimental device—A new magnetized linear plasma device with wide operating range.

Inverse mirror plasma experimental device has been designed and fabricated for detailed experimental investigation of phase mixing and wave breaking of plasma oscillation/wave. The device produces quiescent magnetized plasma over a wide operating range using multifilamentary source with low filament spacing in cusp geometry along with a flexible transition magnetic field region between the plasma source chamber and the main chamber. Argon plasma has been produced in the device over a wide pressure range from 1.

Gene Silencing and Activation of Human Papillomavirus 18 Is Modulated by Sense Promoter Associated RNA in Bidirectionally Transcribed Long Control Region.

Background: Recently various studies have demonstrated the role of promoter associated non-coding RNAs (pRNA) in dsRNA induced transcriptional gene silencing and activation. However the exact mechanistic details of these processes with respect to the orientation of pRNAs are poorly defined.

Methodology/principal Findings: We have identified novel sense and antisense long control region (LCR) associated RNAs (pRNAs) in HPV18 positive cervical cancer cell lines HeLa, C-4 I and C-4 II.

Survivin siRNA increases sensitivity of primary cultures of ovarian cancer cells to paclitaxel.

Purpose: This aim of this study was to use ovarian cancer cells shed in ascitic fluid to establish primary cultures and subsequently use it to detect drug resistance to paclitaxel. Survivin siRNA was used to down regulate survivin expression and effect on paclitaxel resistance was also evaluated.

Methodology: Ascitic fluid along with corresponding primary tumor tissue was collected from twenty untreated epithelial ovarian cancer patients.

Antiplatelet and antithrombotic activity of a fibrin(ogen)olytic protease from Bacillus cereus strain FF01.

Fibrin(ogen)olytic enzymes offer great promise for the treatment of thrombosis associated disorders. The present study describes the characterization of an extracellular fibrin(ogen)olytic serine protease (named Bacethrombase) purified from the Bacillus cereus strain FF01. The molecular mass of the Bacethrombase was determined by sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and matrix assisted laser desorption/ionization-time-of-flight-mass spectroscopy analyses at 39.

Membrane Fusion Mediated Targeted Cytosolic Drug Delivery Through scFv Engineered Sendai Viral Envelopes.

Antibody targeted cytoplasmic delivery of drugs is difficult to achieve as antigen-antibody interaction results in the payload being directed to the endosomal compartment. However, Sendai viral envelopes can bring about cytoplasmic delivery due to F-protein mediated membrane fusion. In this study we have generated and fused a recombinant scFv directed to the onco-fetal antigen, the Placental isozyme of Alkaline Phosphatase (PAP) with the trans-membrane and part of the cytoplasmic domain of the Sendai F protein (F(TMC)).

Stoichiometry, Length, and Wall Thickness Optimization of TiO2 Nanotube Array for Efficient Alcohol Sensing.

The present study concerns development of an efficient alcohol sensor by controlling the stoichiometry, length, and wall thickness of electrochemically grown TiO2 nanotube array for its use as the sensing layer. Judicious variation of H2O content (0, 2, 10 and 100% by volume) in the mixed electrolyte comprising ethylene glycol and NH4F resulted into the desired variation of stoichiometry. The sensor study was performed within the temperature range of 27 to 250 °C for detecting the alcohols in the concentration range of 10-1000 ppm.

Bio-functionalized MWCNT/hyperbranched polyurethane bionanocomposite for bone regeneration.

The proper fabrication of biomaterials, particularly for purposes like bone regeneration, is of the utmost importance for the clinical success of materials that fulfill the design criteria at bio-interfacial milieu. Building on this aspect, a polyurethane nanocomposite (PNC) was fabricated by the combination of rapeseed protein functionalized multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) and vegetable-oil-based hyperbranched polyurethane. Biofunctionalized MWCNTs showed incredible biocompatibility compared to pristine MWCNTs as ascertained via in vitro and in vivo studies.

Essential oil based polymeric patch development and evaluating its repellent activity against mosquitoes.

Essential oil based insect repellents are environment friendly and provide dependable personal protection against the bites of mosquitoes and other blood-sucking insects. In the present study, optimized mixture of three essential oils was embedded into the ethylcellulose (EC) and polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP K-30) polymers to develop essential oils based patch type mosquito repellent formulation. The developed formulation was characterized for various physico-chemical properties, oil release efficiency and essential oil-polymer interaction.