Impact of elevated CO2 concentration on ultrastructure of pericarp and composition of grain in three Triticum species of different ploidy levels

Triticum species of three ploidies were grown under ambient (375 μl/l) or elevated (FACE, 550 μl/l) CO₂ concentration [CO₂] to evaluate their response to CO₂ enrichment. The consistent effect of elevated CO₂ was an increase in concentration of starch and decrease in concentration of protein in the grain. Transmission electron micrographs revealed an increase in width and area of chloroplasts, and change in shape from elliptical in ambient to round in elevated [CO₂]. There was a corresponding increase in starch grain size and number in chloroplasts. The large starch grains distributed among thylakoids resulted in separation and distortion of internal membrane system in chloroplasts. The level of response was different in species of different ploidy levels. Maximum increase in starch concentration, and least decrease in protein concentration, was observed in Triticum dicoccoides, which also proved the most suitable species in terms of C:N ratio.     

RPA complexes in Caenorhabditis elegans meiosis; unique roles in replication,meiotic recombination and apoptosis

Replication Protein A (RPA) is a critical complex that acts in replication and promotes homologous recombination by allowing recombinase recruitment to processed DSB ends. Most organisms possess three RPA subunits (RPA1, RPA2, RPA3) that form a trimeric complex critical for viability. The Caenorhabditis elegans genome encodes RPA-1, RPA-2 and an RPA-2 paralog RPA-4. In our analysis, we determined that RPA-2 is critical for germline replication and normal repair of meiotic DSBs. Interestingly, RPA-1 but not RPA-2 is essential for somatic replication, in contrast to other organisms that require both subunits. Six different hetero- and homodimeric complexes containing permutations of RPA-1, RPA-2 and RPA-4 can be detected in whole animal extracts. Our in vivo studies indicate that RPA-1/4 dimer is less abundant in the nucleus and its formation is inhibited by RPA-2. While RPA-4 does not participate in replication or recombination, we find that RPA-4 inhibits RAD-51 filament formation and promotes apoptosis of a subset of damaged nuclei. Altogether these findings point to sub-functionalization and antagonistic roles of RPA complexes in C. elegans.     

Single-walled carbon nanotube interactions with HeLa cells

This work concerns exposing cultured human epithelial-like HeLa cells to single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) dispersed in cell culture media supplemented with serum. First, the as-received CoMoCAT SWNT-containing powder was characterized using scanning electron microscopy and thermal gravimetric analyses. Characterizations of the purified dispersions, termed DM-SWNTs, involved atomic force microscopy, inductively coupled plasma – mass spectrometry, and absorption and Raman spectroscopies. Confocal microRaman spectroscopy was used to demonstrate that DM-SWNTs were taken up by HeLa cells in a time- and temperature-dependent fashion. Transmission electron microscopy revealed SWNT-like material in intracellular vacuoles. The morphologies and growth rates of HeLa cells exposed to DM-SWNTs were statistically similar to control cells over the course of 4 d. Finally, flow cytometry was used to show that the fluorescence from MitoSOX™ Red, a selective indicator of superoxide in mitochondria, was statistically similar in both control cells and cells incubated in DM-SWNTs. The combined results indicate that under our sample preparation protocols and assay conditions, CoMoCAT DM-SWNT dispersions are not inherently cytotoxic to HeLa cells. We conclude with recommendations for improving the accuracy and comparability of carbon nanotube (CNT) cytotoxicity reports.     

Right atrial appendage tachycardia: A rare cause of tachycardia induced cardiomyopathy in a 4-year-old child

We present a rare case of tachycardiomyopathy in a 4-year-old girl. The child had incessant atrial tachycardia (AT) and refractory heart failure. Right atrial appendage (RAA) was localised as the source of the ectopic tachycardia. The child underwent successful radiofrequency ablation (RFA) using 3-D electroanatomical mapping. Fluoroscopy was used sparingly only to rule out underlying anomalies. The left ventricular functions returned to normal by one month after the procedure. RAA AT is rare in very young children and usually necessitates surgical appendectomies. RFA is a challenge in such age groups and there are very few published literature on RAA AT in very young children.     

Biosynthesis of silver nanoparticles formation from Caesalpinia pulcherrima stem metabolites and their broad spectrum biological activities

The present work illustrates eco-friendly, rapid and cost effective method of AgNPs synthesis using C. pulcherrima stem extract. Initially, various physico chemical factors were optimized. Characterization was done by different spectroscopic and microscopic analysis. AgNPs were spherical in shape with an average size of 8?nm. AgNPs showed good synergistic antimicrobial, antibiofilm and antioxidant activity. The cytotoxicity effect against HeLa cancer cell line was dose dependent while genotoxic study revealed the non toxic nature of AgNPs at lower concentration. The results suggest that AgNPs from C. pulcherrima stem extract have great potential in biomedical applications.     

RHAS: robust hybrid auto-scaling for web applications in cloud computing

Cluster Computing - The elasticity characteristic of cloud services attracts application providers to deploy applications in a cloud environment. The scalability feature of cloud computing gives...     

Design,Synthesis, and Structure–Activity Relationships of Novel 1-(Substituted)-2-Methyl-3-(4-Oxo-2-Methylquinazolin-3(4H)-yl) Isothioureas for Their Anti-HIV and Antibacterial Activities

Russian Journal of Bioorganic Chemistry - In this study, a novel quinazolinone analogue was designed and synthesized by substituting the thiourea group and phenyl ring at N-3 and C-2 positions of...     

CULTURE AND BIOCHEMICAL ANALYSIS OF A TEA ALGAL PATHOGEN,CEPHALEUROS PARASITICUS1

To assess the current situation regarding the incidence of red rust disease in tea plants, an extensive survey was conducted in southern Indian tea plantations covering different tea cultivars and agroclimatic zones. The results indicated that the incidence of disease was more severe in tea seedlings than clones in all the agroclimatic zones. On the other hand, a simple, reliable, and reproducible technique was standardized for culturing Cephaleuros parasiticus G. Karst. isolated from infected tea leaves. Ten isolates were obtained, of which two were screened based on growth rate and culture characters for further studies. Ten culture media were tested for the culturing of C. parasiticus in which Trebouxia and Bristol media were the best followed by George, Go algal, and tea leaf extract media. Variations between isolates (Valparai C. parasiticus field number 27 [VCP27], Munnar C. parasiticus field number 11 [MCP11], and University of Texas culture number 2412 [UTEX2412]) of C. parasiticus were studied based on the growth pattern, protein expression profile, and cellular constituents in the filaments. The quantitative estimation of cellular constituents showed that there was no significant difference in these constituents among isolates. The detection of amino acids in the filaments of C. parasiticus isolates showed 16 free forms and 11 bound forms. Amino acids in bound form were higher in all the isolates than in free form of amino acids. The three isolates of C. parasiticus were closely related, with bands lying between the molecular weight of 116 and 35 kDa.