Discrete wavelet transform analysis of surface electromyography for the fatigue assessment of neck and shoulder muscles

Assessment of neuromuscular fatigue is essential for early detection and prevention of risks associated with work-related musculoskeletal disorders. In recent years, discrete wavelet transform (DWT) of surface electromyography (SEMG) has been used to evaluate muscle fatigue, especially during dynamic contractions when the SEMG signal is non-stationary. However, its application to the assessment of work-related neck and shoulder muscle fatigue is not well established. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to establish DWT analysis as a suitable method to conduct quantitative assessment of neck and shoulder muscle fatigue under dynamic repetitive conditions. Ten human participants performed 40 min of fatiguing repetitive arm and neck exertions while SEMG data from the upper trapezius and sternocleidomastoid muscles were recorded. The ten of the most commonly used wavelet functions were used to conduct the DWT analysis. Spectral changes estimated using power of wavelet coefficients in the 12–23 Hz frequency band showed the highest sensitivity to fatigue induced by the dynamic repetitive exertions. Although most of the wavelet functions tested in this study reasonably demonstrated the expected power trend with fatigue development and recovery, the overall performance of the “Rbio3.1” wavelet in terms of power estimation and statistical significance was better than the remaining nine wavelets.     

Inducible nitric oxide synthase in innate immune cells is important for restricting cyst formation of Toxoplasma gondii in the brain but not required for the protective immune process to remove the cysts

Significantly larger numbers of Toxoplasma gondii cysts were detected in the brains of RAG1^?/?NOS2^?/? than RAG1^?/? mice following infection. In contrast, the cyst numbers markedly decreased in a same manner in both strains of mice after receiving CD8⁺ immune T cells. Thus, NOS2-mediated innate immunity is important for inhibiting formation of cysts in the brain but not required for the T cell-initiated cyst removal, which is associated with phagocyte accumulation. Treatment with chloroquine, an inhibitor of endolysosomal acidification, partially but significantly inhibited the T cell-mediated cyst removal, suggesting that phagosome–lysosome fusion could be involved in the T. gondii cyst elimination.     

Friedelane,isolated from <Emphasis Type="Italic">Pouzolzia indica</Emphasis> Gaud. exhibits toxic effect against melanoma

Melanoma is a predominant cause of skin cancer-related deaths. It was reported that, the methanolic extract of Pouzolzia Indica (P. indica) on chromatography gave five compounds (1-hentriacontanyl palmitate, myricyl alcohol, 6,7-dimethoxycoumarin, trichadonic acid and friedelane), which inhibited the acute promyelocytic leukemia cell lines, NB4, and HT93A. Friedelane was extracted as active compound from methanolic extract of P. indica. In this study, friedelane was tested on murine metastatic B16F10 and B16BL6 melanoma cell lines. To achieve the target, the cell viability using trypan blue exclusion, acridine orange/EtBr staining and cell cytotoxicity were tested using MTT assay. Caspase-3, caspase-9, Cyt-c, BAD and Bax protein were assayed to evidence the apoptosis induction. The compound friedelane shows potent cytotoxic effect against metastatic melanoma mouse cell lines in 10 µg/ml concentration.     

Loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) based method for rapid and sensitive detection of ‘<Emphasis Type="Italic">Candidatus</Emphasis> Liberibacter asiaticus’ in citrus and the psyllid vector, <Emphasis Type="Italic">Diaphorina citri</Emphasis> Kuwayama

Citrus greening is a destructive disease of citrus in India and many citrus-growing regions around the world. The disease is associated with three Gram negative, fastidious and phloem-limited bacteria in the genus ‘Candidatus Liberibacter’. ‘Ca. L. asiaticus’ is the most wide spread and destructive species. Currently, there is no effective control method available to manage this disease, thus rapid detection, control of its psyllid vector population and removal of affected trees are commonly recommended to manage citrus greening . The present study was conducted to standardize a rapid and sensitive loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) protocol to detect ‘Ca. L. asiaticus’ in citrus and the psyllid vector Diaphorina citri Kuwayama. A set of six primers were identified from 16S rDNA region of Indian ‘Ca. L. asiaticus’ and the amplification reaction was optimized to 65 °C for 60 min. The amplified DNA produced a ladder-like band pattern on agarose gels, and visually produced an intense green color upon staining with SYBR green. The results were subsequently validated by PCR (polymerase chain reaction) and sequencing of the amplicon. The optimized LAMP protocol is rapid, highly sensitive and cost-effective method for the early detection of citrus greening in citrus groves and nurseries, and could be performed even in small laboratories located in remote places with limited resources.     

Physical exercise, body mass index, subcutaneous adiposity and body composition among Bengalee boys aged 10-17 years of Kolkata, India

A comparative study of 215 sedentary (no regular physical exercise undertaken) and 313 physically active (regular physical exercise undertaken) Bengalee boys aged 10-17 years was undertaken to investigate the differences in overall adiposity (body mass index), subcutaneous adiposity (skinfolds) and body composition (percent body fat, fat mass and fat mass index). Both groups had a similar age. The results revealed that boys who did not undertake regular physical exercise (NPE) had a significantly greater mean body mass index (BMI) compared with those who undertook regular physical exercise (PE); p < 0.001. The means for all the skinfolds as well as percent body fat (PBF), fat mass (FM) and fat mass index (FMI) were significantly higher among the NPE group. The percentile distributions of all these variables and indices were consistently higher among the NPE group. The results of ANOVA of physical exercise (PE = yes, NPE = no) and PBF, FM and FMI, with age as covariate, revealed that PE had a significant negative effect on all these measures of body composition even after controlling for the impact of age. The means in each case were greater among the NPE group. In conclusion, this study provided evidence that Bengalee boys, who undertook regular physical exercise, had significantly less adiposity compared with those who did not undertake regular physical exercise.     

RV instantaneous intraventricular diastolic pressure and velocity distributions in normal and volume overload awake dog disease models

Intraventricular diastolic right ventricular (RV) flow field dynamics were studied by functional imaging using three-dimensional (3D) real-time echocardiography with sonomicrometry and computational fluid dynamics in seven awake dogs at control with normal wall motion (NWM) and RV volume overload with diastolic paradoxical septal motion. Burgeoning flow cross section between inflow anulus and chamber walls induces a convective pressure rise, which represents a "convective deceleration load" (CDL). High spatiotemporal resolution dynamic pressure and velocity distributions of the intraventricular RV flow field revealed time-dependent, subtle interactions between intraventricular local acceleration and convective pressure gradients. During the E-wave upstroke, the total pressure gradient along intraventricular flow is the algebraic sum of a pressure decrease contributed by local acceleration and a pressure rise contributed by a convective deceleration that partially counterbalances the local acceleration gradient. This underlies the smallness of early diastolic intraventricular gradients. At peak volumetric inflow, local acceleration vanishes and the total adverse intraventricular gradient is convective. During the E-wave downstroke, the strongly adverse gradient embodies the streamwise pressure augmentations from both local and convective decelerations. It induces flow separation and large-scale vortical motions, stronger in NWM. Their dynamic corollaries on intraventricular pressure and velocity distributions were ascertained. In the NWM pattern, the strong ring-like vortex surrounding the central core encroaches on the area available for flow toward the apex. This results in higher linear velocities later in the downstroke of the E wave than at peak inflow rate. The augmentation of CDL by ventriculoannular disproportion may contribute to E wave and E-to-A ratio depression with chamber dilatation.     

Altered glycosylation,expression of serum haptoglobin and alpha-1-antitrypsin in chronic hepatitis C,hepatitis C induced liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma patients

Liver cirrhosis with hepatitis C viral infection (HCV-LC) causes high risk to develop hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Besides diagnosis of liver cirrhosis by biochemical test, imaging techniques, assessment of structural liver damage by biopsy shows several disadvantages. Our aim was to monitor the changes in the expression level of serum proteins and their glycosylation pattern among chronic hepatitis C (HCV-CH), HCV-LC and HCC patients with respect to controls. 2D gel electrophoresis of HCV-CH, HCV-LC and HCC patients’ sera showed several protein spots, which were identified by LC-MS. The change in the expression of two prominent protein spots, haptoglobin (Hp) and alpha 1-antitrypsin (AAT) was evaluated by western blot and ELISA. The changes in glycosylation pattern of these serum proteins were assayed using different lectins. Increased level of Hp and AAT was observed in HCV-LC and HCC patients’ group whereas those were found to be present less in HCV-CH patient groups with respect to control as determined by ELISA using monoclonal antibodies. Decreased level of sialylation in both Hp and AAT was observed in HCV-LC and HCV-CH patients’ group whereas increased level of sialylation was observed in HCC patient groups by ELISA using Sambucus nigra agglutinin. On the other hand increased level of fucosylation in two serum glycoproteins was observed in HCV-LC and HCC patients’ group using Lens culinarris agglutinin. High glycan branching was found in HCV-LC and HCC patient groups in Hp but not in HCV-CH as determined by Datura stramonium agglutinin. However, there was no such change observed in glycan branching in AAT of HCV-CH and HCV-LC patients’ groups, to the contrary high glycan branching was observed in HCC patients’ group. Increased level of exposed galactose in both serum proteins was observed in both HCC patients’ group as determined by Ricinus communis agglutinin. The present glycoproteomics study could predict the progression of HCV-CH, HCV-LC and HCC without the need of liver biopsy.     

The Localization of Phenolic Compounds in Liposomal Bilayers and Their Effects on Surface Characteristics and Colloidal Stability

The interactions with and effects of five chemically distinct, bioactive phenolic compounds on the lipid bilayers of model dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine (DPPC) liposomes were investigated. Complementary analytical techniques, including differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and phosphorus and proton nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR), were employed in order to determine the location of the compounds within the bilayer and to correlate location with their effects on bilayer characteristics and liposomal stability. As compared to the phenolic compounds localized in the glycerol region of the DPPC head group within the bilayer, which enhanced the colloidal stability of the liposomes, compounds located closer to the center of the bilayer reduced vesicle stability as a function of time. Molecules present in the upper region of liposomal DPPC acyl chains (C₁–C₁₀) inhibited liposomal aggregation and size increase, perhaps due to tighter packing of adjoining DPPC molecules and increased surface exposure of DPPC phosphate head groups. These data may be useful for designing liposomal systems containing hydrophobic phenols and other small molecules, selecting appropriate analytical methods for determining their location within liposomal bilayers, and predicting their effects on liposome characteristics early in the liposome formulation development process.