Apple (Malus × domestica Borkh.) production and quality in response to anti-hail nets.

Anti-hail nets are the best way to mitigate the effects of hailstorms in the orchards. Apple trees covered with nets may exhibit a variety of vegetative and reproductive responses, inclusive of changes in tree vigour, cropping, sugar contents, and fruit colour. The present study was conducted to assess the effect of timing of installation and colour of anti-hail net on cropping and fruit quality in high-density apple orchard for two consecutive seasons (2021 and 2022).

Modeling Cellular Signaling Variability Based on Single-Cell Data: The TGFβ-SMAD Signaling Pathway.

Nongenetic heterogeneity is key to cellular decisions, as even genetically identical cells respond in very different ways to the same external stimulus, e.g., during cell differentiation or therapeutic treatment of disease.

Radiotherapy exposure directly damages the uterus and causes pregnancy loss.

Female cancer survivors are significantly more likely to experience infertility than the general population. It is well established that chemotherapy and radiotherapy can damage the ovary and compromise fertility, yet the ability of cancer treatments to induce uterine damage, and the underlying mechanisms, have been understudied. Here, we show that in mice total-body γ-irradiation (TBI) induced extensive DNA damage and apoptosis in uterine cells.

Checkpoint inhibitor immunotherapy diminishes oocyte number and quality in mice.

Loss of fertility is a major concern for female reproductive-age cancer survivors, since a common side-effect of conventional cytotoxic cancer therapies is permanent damage to the ovary. While immunotherapies are increasingly becoming a standard of care for many cancers-including in the curative setting-their impacts on ovarian function and fertility are unknown. We evaluated the effect of immune checkpoint inhibitors blocking programmed cell death protein ligand 1 and cytotoxic T lymphocyte-associated antigen 4 on the ovary using tumor-bearing and tumor-free mouse models.

An overview on ethnic fermented food and beverages of India: Interplay of microbes, immunity and nutrition.

India is a land of diverse food culture and habits and has a plethora of ethnic fermented foods to boast of. Ranging from the north east to the western part of the country and from northern Indian states to the southern tip of the country, fermented ethnic foods have become part of everyday meals and have been able to bridge nutritional gaps and improve general immunity of the people. Most ethnic fermented foods have a rich content of protein, vitamins, fibres and minerals.

Country-specific optimization strategy for testing through contact tracing can help maintain a low reproduction number ([Formula: see text]) during unlock.

In response to the COVID19 pandemic, many countries have implemented lockdowns in multiple phases to ensure social distancing and quarantining of the infected subjects. Subsequent unlocks to reopen the economies started next waves of infection and imposed an extra burden on quarantine to keep the reproduction number ([Formula: see text]) < 1. However, most countries could not effectively contain the infection spread, suggesting identification of the potential sources weakening the effect of lockdowns could help design better informed lockdown-unlock cycles in the future.

Regulation of STAT3 signaling in IFNγ and IL10 pathways and in their cross-talk.

The pro-inflammatory IFNγ-STAT1 pathway and anti-inflammatory IL10-STAT3 pathway elicit cellular responses primarily utilizing their canonical STATs. However IL10 mediated STAT1 and IFNγ mediated STAT3 activation is also observed, suggesting crosstalk of these functionally opposing signaling pathways can potentially reshape the canonical dynamics both STATs and alter the expression of their target genes. Herein, we measured the dynamics of STATs in response to different doses of IL10 or IFNγ and in their co-stimulation and employed quantitative modeling to understand the regulatory mechanisms controlling signal responses in individual and co-simulation scenarios.

Predictive Value of Marker of Proliferation Ki-67 and Cell Cycle Dependent Protein kinase Inhibitor P16INK4a in Cervical Biopsy to Determine Its Biological Behaviour.

Objective: The aim of the study is to analyse the Immuno-histochemical expression of   Ki-67  and P16INK4a in CIN and cervical cancer cases  and  their utility to determine the accuracy of histological diagnosis and prediction of biological behavior of cervical lesion.

Methodology: A retrospective cross-sectional study was carried in 110 numbers of cervical biopsy that included 25 CIN1, 21 CIN2, 12 CIN3, 26 SCC and 01 adenocarcinoma and 25 non neoplastic lesion. The tissue sections were stained with Ki-67 and P16INK4a.

Staphylococcal Pyopericardium: A Rare and Fatal Complication Following a Common Viral Disease.

Sarma U, Mishra V, Aier I, . Staphylococcal Pyopericardium: A Rare and Fatal Complication Following a Common Viral Disease. Indian J Crit Care Med 2021;25(6):739-741.

Interdependencies between Toll-like receptors in Leishmania infection.

Multiple pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs) on a pathogen's surface imply their simultaneous recognition by the host cell membrane-located multiple PAMP-specific Toll-like receptors (TLRs). The TLRs on endosomes recognize internalized pathogen-derived nucleic acids and trigger anti-pathogen immune responses aimed at eliminating the intracellular pathogen. Whether the TLRs influence each other's expression and effector responses-termed TLR interdependency-remains unknown.

Maternal and perinatal Health Research Collaboration, India (MaatHRI): methodology for establishing a hospital-based research platform in a low and middle income country setting.

Maternal and perinatal Health Research collaboration, India (MaatHRI) is a research platform that aims to improve evidence-based pregnancy care and outcomes for mothers and babies in India, a country with the second highest burden of maternal and perinatal deaths. The objective of this paper is to describe the methods used to establish and standardise the platform and the results of the process. MaatHRI is a hospital-based collaborative research platform.

COVID-19 Pneumonia with Delayed Viral Clearance in a Patient with Active Drug-resistant Pulmonary Tuberculosis.

Unlabelled: COVID pneumonia patient presents with fever, cough, and breathing difficulty. Many respiratory pathogens have such clinical presentations and pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) is one of them, which is prevalent in the Indian subcontinent. Herein, we are presenting a case of dual infection with severe acute respiratory syndrome corona virus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and drug-resistant PTB [likely multidrug resistance (MDR)] in a patient with chronic kidney disease (CKD) and type 2 diabetes mellitus, a clinical course further complicated by a prolonged viral clearance.

Accurate Follicle Enumeration in Adult Mouse Ovaries.

Sexually reproducing female mammals are born with their entire lifetime supply of oocytes. Immature, quiescent oocytes are found within primordial follicles, the storage unit of the female germline. They are non-renewable, thus their number at birth and subsequent rate of loss largely dictates the female fertile lifespan.

Comparison of methods for quantifying primordial follicles in the mouse ovary.

Background: Accurate evaluation of primordial follicle numbers in mouse ovaries is an essential endpoint for studies investigating how endogenous and exogenous insults, such as maternal aging and chemotherapy, impact the ovarian reserve. In this study, we compared and contrasted two methods for counting healthy primordial follicles following exposure to cyclophosphamide (75 mg/kg), a well-established model of follicle depletion. The first was the fractionator/optical dissector technique, an unbiased, assumption-free stereological approach for quantification of primordial follicle numbers.

Residue-Specific Message Encoding in CD40-Ligand.

CD40-Ligand (CD40L)-CD40 interaction regulates immune responses against pathogens, autoantigens, and tumor and transplantation antigens. Single amino acid mutations within the 115-155 amino acids stretch, which is responsible for CD40L functions, result in XIgM syndrome. We hypothesize that each of these amino acids of CD40L encodes specific message that, when decoded by CD40 signaling, induces a specific profile of functions.

The PARP inhibitor, olaparib, depletes the ovarian reserve in mice: implications for fertility preservation.

Study Question: What is the impact of the poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibitor, olaparib, alone or in combination with chemotherapy on the ovary in mice?

Summary Answer: Olaparib treatment, when administered alone, depletes primordial follicle oocytes, but olaparib does not exacerbate chemotherapy-mediated ovarian follicle loss in mice.

What Is Known Already: The ovary contains a finite number of oocytes stored within primordial follicles, which give rise to all mature ovulatory oocytes. Unfortunately, they are highly sensitive to exogenous DNA damaging insults, such as cytotoxic cancer treatments.

Abundance of d-2-hydroxyglutarate in G2/M is determined by FOXM1 in mutant IDH1-expressing cells.

Isocitrate dehydrogenases (IDHs) are metabolic enzymes that are mutated in several cancers, resulting in overproduction of d-2-hydroxyglutarate (D-2HG). However, the signalling pathways and factors that regulate mutant IDHs or their metabolites remain elusive. Here, we report that in synchronized cells and cells treated with anti-mitotic agents, wild-type and mutant IDH proteins are induced maximally in G2/M.

Stillbirth among women in nine states in India: rate and risk factors in study of 886,505 women from the annual health survey.

Objectives: To assess the rate of stillbirth and associated risk factors across nine states in India.

Design: Secondary analysis of cross-sectional data from the Indian Annual Health Survey (2010-2013).

Setting: Nine states in India: Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, Jharkhand, Odisha, Bihar, Assam and Uttar Pradesh.

Oocytes from stem cells.

Folliculogenesis describes the process of activating an oocyte-containing primordial follicle from the ovarian reserve and its development to the mature ovulatory stage. This process is highly complex and is controlled by extra- and intra-ovarian signaling events. Oocyte competence and capacity for fertilization to support a viable pregnancy are acquired during folliculogenesis.

Dacarbazine depletes the ovarian reserve in mice and depletion is enhanced with age.

Dacarbazine is commonly administered for the treatment of cancers prevalent in reproductive age females. However, investigations of off-target effects of dacarbazine on the ovary are limited. We assessed the impact of dacarbazine on the ovarian reserve of primordial follicles, essential for fertility.

Cell-specific responses to the cytokine TGFβ are determined by variability in protein levels.

The cytokine TGFβ provides important information during embryonic development, adult tissue homeostasis, and regeneration. Alterations in the cellular response to TGFβ are involved in severe human diseases. To understand how cells encode the extracellular input and transmit its information to elicit appropriate responses, we acquired quantitative time-resolved measurements of pathway activation at the single-cell level.

Sharing of Phosphatases Promotes Response Plasticity in Phosphorylation Cascades.

Sharing of positive or negative regulators between multiple targets is frequently observed in cellular signaling cascades. For instance, phosphatase sharing between multiple kinases is ubiquitous within the MAPK pathway. Here we investigate how such phosphatase sharing could shape robustness and evolvability of the phosphorylation cascade.

p16INK4a Expression in Cervical Lesions Correlates with Histologic Grading - a Tertiary Level Medical Facility Based Retrospective Study.

p16INK4a is a tumor-suppressor protein and cyclin-dependent kinase (cdk) inhibitor that blocks cdk4- and cdk6-mediated pRb phosphorylation to inhibit E2F-dependent transcription and cell-cycle progression. Because the E7 protein of high-risk HPVs inactivates pRB, the resulting overexpression of p16INK4a may be a good marker for infection with high risk HPV types. Immunostaining of p16INK4a allows precise identification of even small CIN or cervical cancer lesions in biopsy sections and can help reduce inter-observer variation in the histopathological interpretation of cervical biopsy specimens.