Search

Background Mucosal melanomas account for 17% of melanomas, and less than 1% affect the urogenital tract. Primary urethral melanoma is extremely rare; less than 200 cases have been reported so far since it was first described. The clinical presentation is usually delayed, and the prognosis is generally poor. Case presentation. An 86-year-old female was referred to urology due to the presence of a three-month-old violaceous mass in the urethral meatus protruding through the vagina. On physical examination, a pedunculated, hyperpigmented, friable, and tender lesion was seen in the urethral meatus bulging between the labia minora. After initial diagnostic studies, the patient was taken to surgical resection of the lesion. The pathology report identified the lesion as a malignant melanoma of the urethra, and staging studies revealed regional lymph node metastases. After discussing the treatment options with the patient, palliative therapy with nivolumab was started. In follow-up at 26 months, the patient had evidence of extensive lymph node involvement, but a conserved performance status and no visceral metastases. Conclusion Primary melanoma of the female urethra is an uncommon disease with a poor prognosis. Despite the deficiency in literature regarding its management, it is important to consider patient expectations and preferences when treating this rare disease.

Kidneys of six each of adult broiler chicken and broiler ducks were used in the present study. In the histological studies, the kidneys of all studied birds showed two zones, the cortex and medulla. The medulla occupied only a small portion of the kidney. In chicken a greater number of distinct cone-shaped medullary lobules were seen among cortical lobules while in duck they were lesser in number, more rounded in outline and were not cone shaped as in chicken. In the case of chicken more than one cortical lobule drained into a medullary lobule. Mammalian type of nephrons that occupied the juxta medullary region presented loop of Henle that was located within the medullary cone. Collecting ducts from different medullary lobules united together to form several large collecting ducts within the medulla which in turn united to form ureteral branches.

Histology, lectin histochemistry and ultrastructure of interdigital gland in sheep was studied using six adult cross bred sheep of either sex collected from the Meat Technology Unit, College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Mannuthy. The manus and pes were detached from the rest of limbs and after recording the gross observations, the interdigital glands were fixed in 10 per cent neutral buffered formalin and processed for histological examinations. Stratified squamous epithelium with a prominent keratin layer lined the lumen, similar to the skin over the dorsal surface of manus and pes. The epidermis presented mucosal folds, which projected into the lumen. The dermis contained small sebaceous glands, hair follicles of different sizes, arrector pili muscles and apocrine sweat glands. The secretory epithelium of sweat glands was lined with a simple layer of cuboidal and relatively flattened cells. The excretory ducts of these glands were lined by cuboidal cells, with darker appearance than its secretory portion. The fibrous capsule was composed of dense connective tissue with collagen, adipose cells, blood vessels and nerve fibers. Glandular secretion and the granules in the stratum granolosum of the surface squamous epithelium showed positive reaction for lectin Ulex europaeus (UEA-I). The apocrine nature of sweat glands was revealed in the ultrastructural studies by scanning electron microscope. Keywords: Interdigital gland, sheep, histology, lectin histochemistry and ultrastructure

Histomorphological study was conducted on the oesophageal tonsils in six broiler Vigova Super-M ducks of six to eight weeks age. The location of the tonsil was at the junction between oesophagus and proventriculus. In histological sections six to eight isolated tonsillar units were seen in the lamina propria near the base of the oesophageal folds. Each tonsillar unit consisted of a crypt lined by lymphoepithelium and surrounded by dense lymphoid tissue. The tonsillar units were seen encapsulated by connective tissue and composed of many large lymphoid nodules separated by internodular areas. The secretory portion of the mucosal glands of the oesophagus were firmly associated with the lymphoid tissue and the cylindrical epithelium was transformed to lymphoepithelium. The oesophageal tonsils offered immunological protection at the entrance of stomach. Keywords: Oesophageal tonsils, Histomorphology, Ducks

In mammals, the spinal cord forms a long, roughly cylindrical structure with cervical and lumbar enlargements. It is anchored in the vertebral canal, enclosed by meninges. The cord is protected by the epidural fat and terminates as the conus medullaris, which varied in level at different stages of gestation. The weight and length of the cord have a significant correlation in between them and with age, body weight, CRL, and vertebral column length and other body parameters. All cord segments did not correspond to the corresponding vertebrae. Initially, the spinal cord extended the entire length of the vertebral canal. Later it loose its correspondence with vertebral segments as gestation proceeds.

Hair distribution patterns in the deer, goat and sheep were studied using skin samples collected from spotted deer brought for post mortem at College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, from the Thrissur zoo and forest department and from goats and sheep freshly slaughtered at the Meat Technology Unit, Mannuthy. Samples of 1cm3 were collected from 27 regions of skin, viz. muzzle, infraorbital, horn glands, dorsal face, lateral face, ventral face, ear pinna, dorsal neck, lateral neck, ventral neck, dorsal abdomen, lateral abdomen, ventral abdomen, dorsal forelimb, palmar, dorsal hindlimb, plantar, interdigital part of fore limb, interdigital part of hind limb, forelimb foot pad, hindlimb foot pad, inguinal, preputial scrotal regions of male dorsal thorax, perineum and dorsal nasal regions. The hair arrangement in the three species was simple, but arranged in groups. Mostly two to three hairs formed a group and they emerged out very closely but not from a single orifice unlike in the case of compound hairs. The muzzle region lacked hair on the rostral aspect and sparse wool hairs were found on the dorsal surface. Dorsal nasal and carpal regions consisted of dense population of short, stout hairs. Maximum hair density per microscope field under low power was noticed in the lateral aspect of neck, dorsal abdomen, palmar, interdigital aspect of hind limb, lateral abdomen and dorsal aspect of hind limb in deer. Hair was absent in the muzzle followed by dorsal face region in all three species in the present study. Maximum hair density per microscope field under low power was noticed on the dorsal aspect of fore limb, palmar aspect, pinna of ear, dorsal abdomen and interdigital space of hind limb in goat with minimum hair distribution on the ventral abdomen followed by lateral face region. Maximum hair density per microscope field under low power was noticed on the dorsal aspect of neck, interdigital space of fore limb, lateral aspect of neck and infraorbital in sheep with minimum hair distribution on the ventral abdomen, dorsal face and lateral face. In general, density of hair distribution was more in the deer than the goat and sheep

Studies were conducted on 2972 failed to hatch chicken eggs with embryonic deaths to detect the various abnormalities occurring during their development. The study included descriptive examination and comparison of unhatched eggs of chicken. Objective of the experiment was to study the occurrence of abnormalities of embryos at various stages of incubation in chicks by gross examination. Of the total eggs collected, a major contribution towards lesser hatchability was accounted by infertile eggs, followed by mortality during early period, late stage and then mid-stage mortality. A significant positive correlation existed between weight, length and width of eggs. Anomalies encountered in the present study were categorized as developmental failure, developmental arrest, developmental excess including twinning and atypical differentiation with skeletal abnormalities.

The present study was conducted on the pelvic limb bones of a five year old male umbrella cockatoo. The femur was light in weight and presented a straight shaft, two extremities and four surfaces. The proximal extremity had a head with distinct fovea capitis, neck and indistinct trochanter major, while the distal extremity had a trochlea, two condyles and a wide intercondyloid groove. Patella was a small pea-sized sesamoid bone. The tibiotarsus was the largest of the leg bones and was one third longer than femur. It presented a long shaft with distinct fibular crest and two extremities. Both extremities showed medial and lateral condyles. From proximal extremity, the straight cnemial crest extended ventrally. The condyles of distal extremity were separated by intercondyloid fossa and continued caudally to wide grooved trochlea. Instead of extensor canal in other birds, a deep groove was observed. The fibula was with small head and rudimentary shaft and terminated near the middle of the shaft of tibiotarsus. The tarsometatarsus was extremely short. Its shaft presented convex dorsal surface whereas the plantar surface was concave without ridges. The distal extremity presented three articular trochleae. Between the trochlea for third and fourth digits, a bony canal was noticed. The spur core seen in cockerel was not observed in the present study. Four digits from one to four showed zygodactyl type of arrangement and contained two, three, four and five phalanges, respectively. Distal phalanx in each digit was a claw. The light femur and highly reduced fibula in umbrella cockatoo showed adaptations for flight whereas the positioning of the digits showed adaptation for climbing and grasping

This article reviews various aspects of research concerning the background and state-of-the-art of big data in agriculture. This article focuses on data generation, storage, analysis and visualization in big data. In every phase, technical challenges and the latest advancement are discussed, and these discussions aim to provide a comprehensive overview and complete picture of this exciting area. This survey is concluded with a discussion on the application of big data in precision agriculture and its future directions.

A prospective study on haemato-biochemical aspects of canine atopic dermatitis was conducted in the Department of Clinical Veterinary Medicine, College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Mannuthy during the period from 2019 to 2021. Sixteen dogs diagnosed with atopic dermatitis using characteristic clinical (Favrot’s) criteria with exclusion of other pruritic skin diseases, together with elevated Ig E levels and ten healthy animals formed the subjects for the present study. Whole blood samples were collected from atopic and healthy controls and haematobiochemical parameters were estimated. Haemato-biochemical studies of atopic dogs revealed anaemia with leukocytosis, neutrophilia and eosinophilia and hypoalbuminaemia with reduced AG ratio. Absolute eosinophil count that was found positively correlated with neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR) in atopic dogs, is of diagnostic significance in quantifying inflammatory response which helps in instituting customized treatment to atopic animals in clinical practice. Hypoalbuminaemia observed in atopic animals in the present study indicates the need for nutrient supplementation in the therapeutic protocol of the disease.

The present study was conducted on the testes of six healthy adult Large White Yorkshire pigs. Parenchyma of testes of adult boars was surrounded by a thick fibrous testicular capsule composed of inner tunica vasculosa, middle tunica albuginea, and outer visceral layer of tunica vaginalis. Tunica vasculosa was prominent and characterised by loose connective tissue contained numerous blood vessels. Tunica albuginea was composed of irregular connective tissues madeup of collagen, elastin and reticular fibres. Visceral layer of tunica vaginalis was found as outer thin layer of testicular capsule comprised of mesothelium and connective tissue layer. Connective tissue layer was blended with underlying connective tissues of tunica albuginea.

DNA barcoding is a technique for characterizing species of organisms using a short DNA sequence from a standard and agreed-upon position in the genome. In the present study, DNA barcoding was used as a technology to differentiate deer and goat species from the skin samples. The samples were collected from different regions of the skin, viz. ear pinna, dorsal abdomen, muzzle and interdigital space of foerelimb of deer brought for post mortem at College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, from Thrissur zoo and forest department and of goat freshly slaughtered in Meat Technology Unit, Mannuthy. Samples were chopped and preserved in ethanol and processed. The mitochondrial sequence of Cytochrome C Oxidase subunit (COI) was deliberated as a barcode marker suited best for species identification of the animals and based on this the samples were identified as Cervus unicolor, Rusa timorensis and Capra hircus. The results recommended that unidentified specimens from wild animals can be recognized competently using DNA sequencebased analysis.

Estimation of hydroxyproline and collagen in skin of turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) was done using skin samples procured from 12 birds each of either sex of four to six months of age. The samples were stored at -200 C and the hydroxyproline content of moisture-free and fat-free samples of the skin was estimated. From the values arrived at, the collagen content was calculated on fresh matter basis. Average content of hydroxyproline was 5.20 and 5.30 per cent in male and female turkeys respectively. Collagen content was found to be as 8.16 per cent in male and 8.14 per cent in female turkeys. On statistical analysis, significant difference was not detected in the mean percentage of hydroxyproline and collagen content between sexes. Hence, the skin of turkey with its high content of collagen can be recommended as a source for collagen production in the avian industry. Moreover, with a contribution of 8.43 to 9.65 per cent to the total carcass weight, the potentials of skin of turkey could be effectively harnessed for further processed products.

Malignant tumors of central nervous system have the least survival and highest morbidity compared to other prevalent cancers. Being with surgical resection as first-line treatment, further prognosis relies on the consecutive radiotherapy/chemotherapeutic regimen. However, the blood-brain barrier restricts a broad spectrum of chemotherapeutics to reach the tumor microenvironment even at a higher dose of administration. Herein, ultrasmall and spherical gold nanoparticles (GNPs) are capped with an antitumor, tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand-targeted galactoxyloglucan PST001 and are employed to enhance the distribution of doxorubicin (DOX) in the brain by crossing the blood–brain barrier. The PST-GNP-DOX NPs exhibit clathrin-mediated cellular internalization and appreciable cytotoxic profile at significantly less half maximal inhibitory concentration concentration. Moreover, higher retention time in plasma, lesser distribution in vital organs, enhanced brain distribution and significant...

RESUMEN Objetivo: comparar los efectos de un protocolo de entrenamiento de resistencia (ER) con un protocolo tradicional (ET) sobre la concentración sanguínea de lactato (L) y la creatin kinasa (CK). Materiales y Métodos: se aplicaron dos protocolos de entrenamiento durante 6 meses divididos en tres etapas. Se realizaron pruebas de esfuerzo antes de comenzar los protocolos de entrenamiento y al finalizar cada una de las etapas. En cada prueba se tomaron muestras de sangre venosa en reposo, durante el ejercicio y en recuperación para medir el lactato (L) y al inicio y al final para medir la creatin kinasa (CK) e inferir las adaptaciones metabólicas y musculares. Se calculó la diferencia de medianas del lactato basal por medio de la U Mann Whitney y se comparó la diferencia de medias del porcentaje de aclaramiento entre los grupos a través de la T de Students. Resultados: se encontró una diferencia significativa en el porcentaje de depuración de lactato entre ER y ET. También hubo un aumento significativo de los valores de CK intra-grupos, antes y después de las pruebas, pero manteniéndose dentro de los rangos de referencia. Discusión: el ER aumentó la capacidad de metabolizar el lactato pos-ejercicio en potros con entrenamiento de resistencia, aunque no hubo diferencias entre la máxima producción de L entre el grupo ER y ET. El comportamiento de la CK dentro de los rangos de referencia indica que no hubo daño muscular en los potros de ambos grupos. ABSTRACT Objective: To compare the effects of a resistance training protocol (ER) with a traditional protocol (ET) on blood lactate concentration and CK. Materials and methods: Two training protocols were applied for 6 months divided into three stages. Effort tests were performed before beginning the training protocols and at the end of each stage. In each test, samples of venous blood were taken at rest, during exercise and in recovery to measure lactate (L), and at the beginning and at the end to measure creatine kinase (CK) and infer metabolic and muscular adaptations. The difference in baseline lactate medians was calculated using Mann Whitney U and the mean difference in the percentage of clearance between the groups was compared through the Students' T test. Results: A significant difference in the percentage of lactate clearance between ER and ET was found. There was also a significant increase in intra-group CK values, before and after the tests, but remaining within the reference ranges. Discussion: ER increased the ability to metabolize post-exercise lactate in foals with resistance training, although there was no difference between the maximum production of L between the ER group and ET. The behavior of CK within the reference ranges indicates that there was no muscle damage in the foals of both groups of foals.

Histological studies were undertaken on the skin of six male commercial broiler chicken of six to eight weeks of age, slaughtered at Meat Technology Unit, Mannuthy. The skin consisted of an outer thin epidermis and inner thick dermis. The per cent contribution of epidermis and dermis to total width of skin was 2.01±0.01 and 97.99±0.01 respectively. The epidermis presented two major layers viz., stratum germinativum and stratum corneum. The dermis consisted of three distinct layers from superficial to deep viz., stratum superficiale, stratum profundum and lamia elastica. The stratum profundum consisted of a superficial stratum compactum and a deep stratum laxum which was the thickest among all the layers of skin. The lamina elastica separated the subcutaneous tissue from the dermis and was the thinnest layer

The present study was conducted to evaluate the chemical properties of keratin obtained from duck feather barbs. Feather barbs were collected from a total of 24 birds comprising of broiler Vigova Super-M ducks of six to eight weeks of age and spent Kuttanad ducks above 40 weeks of age. Different properties of feather barbs like protein content and amino acid content were studied according to the standard analytical methods. The percentage contribution of total feathers to the body weight was more in the broiler duck (5.03±0.24 %). Broiler duck feather contained 77.59 per cent and feather of Kuttanad duck contained 73.50 per cent protein. The relative high value of protein content in duck feather can be utilized as a good source of protein in the feed. Feather barbs of broiler and Kuttanad ducks showed similar proportion of amino acids. Serine was found to be the most abundant amino acid followed by glycine and proline. Percentage of hydrophobic amino acids was higher (56%) when compared to the hydrophilic amino acids (42%) in both the groups under study. Presence of amino acid cysteine, which has the ability to form disulfide bonds indicated the stable structure of keratin. The results indicated the importance of focusing on advanced technology to uplift the use of duck feather fibre as a natural protein source which is at present considered as a poultry industry waste and will help to build a ecofriendly environment.

Present study was conducted with the aim to understand the morphological features of skull of barred jungle owlet.The head of the owletwascollected from the specimen brought for post-mortem, processed and morphological studies were conducted . Frontal bones were the largest and were convex and smooth.Temporal fossae were deep. Characteristic feature of the skull was that the bony orbits were located anteriorly, relatively large and were incomplete anteriorly. The supraorbital process was narrow, triangular and pointed.Thisprocess may prevent the rotation of sclerotic tube and fix its position which might be the reason why owlets cannot move their eye ball freely. The frontonasal hinge joint helped in the mobility of upper beak and anterior to this joint, the nasal bones presented adeep depression in the midline. Occipital bone showed well-developedexternal occipital protuberance and a vertically grooved occipital condylewhich helped the birds to swivel its head and neck. The ex-occipital and basi-occipital bones were broad. The foramen magnum was situated basally and ventrally. This assistedthe upright posture of the head in this species

The rapid innovations and liberalized market economy in agriculture demand accuracy in Crop Yield Prediction (CYP). In accurate prediction, machine learning (ML) algorithms and the selected feature...

Chronic inflammation of the myelin sheath is the crucial event behind the progression of multiple sclerosis (MS). Bacoside-A is one of the major constituents obtained from Bacopa monerii (L.) Wettst., and possess neuroprotective as well as anti-inflammatory actions. The current study explores the effect of Bacoside-A in acute and chronic models of Experimental Autoimmune Encephalomyelitis (EAE). The results indicate that the Bacoside-A treated mice produced a significant reduction in disease score compared to disease control in both models. The treatment with Bacoside-A downregulated the inflammatory cytokines (IL-6, IL-17a, and TNFα) and inflammatory chemokine CCL-5 in EAE mice. On the other hand, Bacoside-A treated mice showed a nonsignificant effect on promoting the expressions of NCAM, BDNF1, and FOXP3 in acute and chronic models of EAE. Histopathological analysis revealed that the Bacoside-A treated mice at a dose of 10 mg/kg exhibited a significant reduction in cellular infiltrations, cellular changes, and demyelination in cerebral tissues, but unable to protect at a higher dose in both models. In conclusion, Bacoside-A can able to inhibit the progression of EAE may be by the inhibition of inflammatory cytokines and chemokine evolved during active EAE.

In agriculture, crop yield prediction is critical. Crop yield depends on various features which can be categorized as geographical, climatic, and biological. Geographical features consist of cultivable land in hectares, canal length to cover the cultivable land, number of tanks and tube wells available for irrigation. Climatic features consist of rainfall, temperature, and radiation. Biological features consist of seeds, minerals, and nutrients. In total, 15 features were considered for this study to understand features impact on paddy crop yield for all seasons of each year. For selecting vital features, five filter and wrapper approaches were applied. For predicting accuracy of features selection algorithm, Multiple Linear Regression (MLR) model was used. The RMSE, MAE, R, and RRMSE metrics were used to evaluate the performance of feature selection algorithms. Data used for the analysis was drawn from secondary sources of state Agriculture Department, Government of Tamil Nadu, India, for over 30 years. Seventy-five percent of data was used for training and 25% was used for testing. Low computational time was also considered for the selection of best feature subset. Outcome of all feature selection algorithms have given similar results in the RMSE, RRMSE, R, and MAE values. The adjusted R2 value was used to find the optimum feature subset despite all the deviations. The evaluation of the dataset used in this work shows that total area of cultivation, number of tanks and open wells used for irrigation, length of canals used for irrigation, and average maximum temperature during the season of the crop are the best features for better crop yield prediction on the study area. The MLR gives 85% of model accuracy for the selected features with low computational time. Keywords: Feature selection algorithm, Model validation, Multiple linear regression, Performance metrics.

Hypoplasia of ovary is one of the major causes of infertility in dairy cattle, which is characterized by absence of oestrus cycle, affecting livestock productivity and economics to a great extent. This study was conducted on the female genitalia collected from 100 dairy cows/heifers from the Meat Technology Unit, Mannuthy which included six animals culled on account of factors other than infertility with normal genitalia (control group) and remaining animals with a known history of infertility. Two animals of 22 months and 24 months of age showed bilateral ovarian hypoplasia. The history revealed that the animals were healthy, but had not shown oestrus. Grossly ovaries of the first animal appeared as pink-coloured, small, wrinkled, flattened, elongated structures without any follicles or CL. Second animal showed inactive, small, flat, streak-like left ovary without any cyclical structures. But the right ovary showed a single large corpus haemorrhagicum on the caudal end. Then ovarian tissue was fixed in 2 percent gluteraldehyde in 0.1 M phosphate buffer at pH 7.3. Under scanning electron microscopy, the ovary exhibited an uneven surface with clefts and grooves. The surface cells lost their normal appearance without any microvilli. Large round smooth germ cells were also observed on the ovarian surface. In the oviduct, the mucosa was lined by nonciliated cells having rounded surface interspersed among shrunken cells. The epithelial cell surface was covered with bulbous processes. Ciliated cells were not observed in the present study. Ovarian abnormality is reported to be the main cause of altered morphology of the surface epithelial cells and change in the ultrastructure of oviductal mucosa.

The study was conducted on genitalia collected from 100 dairy cows/heifers from the Meat Technology Unit, Mannuthy. The animals brought for slaughter at Meat Technology Unit, Mannuthy were from herds of five different farms (University and Government Undertaking farms) in Kerala state. This included six animals culled on account of factors other than infertility with normal reproductive system (control group) and the remaining animals with a known history of infertility. In total, seven animals showed kinked cervix condition. Cervix was evaluated morphometrically and histologically. Grossly, the cervix was hard, kinked and S-shaped, with a mean length of 9.64 ± 1.19 cm. Average number of annular rings in the cervical canal was 4.14 ± 0.26 with an average diameter of 1.74 ± 0.18 cm. At the external os, diameter of the cervix was less, while at the uterine end, diameter was more. The opening of each cervical ring showed a misalignment instead of a straight line. Histologically, the cervix was lined by simple columnar epithelium with signs of degeneration and desquamation. However, the submucosal layer was extensively infiltrated by collagen fibres. In uterus, there was a significant difference in the number of endometrial glands and height of the glandular epithelial cells which was less when compared to the control group. Muscular layer outer to connective tissue layer was thin and uneven. Alterations of the glandular structures negatively influence the viability of spermatozoa due to the lack of secretory products. This fibrous, collagen rich kinked cervix limits the smooth deposition of the semen into the uterus during artificial insemination and the insufficiently dilated cervix affects its contractibility leading to dystocia and subfertility.

Background: Rabbit farming provides a valuable additional source of income in the rural areas of the county. Skin is the largest organ in the body and the hair coat forms the first line of defense against the invading pathogenic organisms as well as the physical environment. So far, no detailed comparative study has been conducted on the skin of various breeds of rabbits. Hence, the present work was undertaken to compare the structure and distribution of hair follicles in different breeds of rabbits commonly reared in Kerala.Methods: The study was conducted on the skin of six breeds of rabbits namely, Soviet Chinchilla, New Zealand White, Grey Giant, White Giant, Angora and crossbred. In total, 36 animals were used for the study. From each animal, skin samples were collected from eight representative areas of the body viz., dorsal nasal region, pinna, dorsal neck, dorsal thorax, dorsal abdomen, ventral abdomen, perineal and carpal regions. Standard procedures were adopted for histological studies.Result: All the six breeds of rabbits showed compound hair follicles with primary and secondary follicles with associated sebaceous glands. Arrangement of hair follicles showed differences among the breeds. There was no difference in the histology of hair/hair follicle among the breeds. This work will form a basis for further breed specific research in the area of fur and leather industry and skin penetration studies.

Iron oxide nanoparticles (IONPs) are employed as MRI contrast agents and as effective drug delivery vehicles. However, the limited solubility and biodegradability of these nanoparticles need to be improved for safer biomedical applications. In an attempt to improve the bottlenecks associated with IONPs, the current study focuses on the synthesis of folic acid conjugated, galactoxyloglucan-iron oxide nanoparticles (FAPIONPs), for the loading and controlled release of the encapsulated chemotherapeutic agent doxorubicin (DOX). The as-designed DOX@FAPIONPs induced a dose-dependent increase in cytotoxicity in folate receptor-positive cells through a caspase-mediated programmed cell death pathway while bare DOX demonstrated a non-targeted toxicity profile. Using LC-MS/MS analysis, several major biological processes altered in treated cells, from which, cell cycle, cellular function and maintenance were the most affected. Detailed toxicity studies in healthy mice indicated the absence of any major side effects while bare drugs created substantial organ pathology. Gadolinium-based contrast agents have a risk of adverse effects, including nephrogenic systemic fibrosis overcome by the administration of DOX@FAPIONPs in xenograft mice model. Tumor-targeted biodistribution pattern with a favorable DOX pharmacokinetics will be the driving factor behind the appealing tumor reduction capacity and increased survival benefits demonstrated on solid tumor-bearing mice.

Galactomannan isolated from the fruit rind of Punica granatum was previously reported to have excellent antioxidant, immunomodulatory and anticancer properties against both human and murine cancer cells. This polysaccharide was proved to be an anticancer agent either alone or as an adjuvant to chemotherapy. An exploration leads to the fabrication of silver nanoparticles with an average size around 30 nm and a negative surface charge of 35.2 mV using this biopolymer which acted both as reducing and capping agent and displayed good stability and biocompatibility. UV–vis spectrum of the aqueous medium containing silver nanoparticles showed an absorption peak at around 440 nm. The nanoparticles displayed an upgraded and selective cytotoxicity towards human adenocarcinoma, colorectal carcinoma and hepatocellular carcinoma cells. The induction of cancer cell toxicity was proved to be through the induction of programmed cell death pathway mediated with the active involvement of caspases. The significant anti-metastatic properties will further favour the safer in vivo application of these silver nanoparticles against neoplasia. The nontoxic nature of polysaccharide endowed the resultant silver nanoparticles with excellent biocompatibility towards red blood cells and extended the biomedical potential of this candidate. Hence, the surfactant-free green method mediated orchestration of biogenic silver nanoparticles resembled a potential theransonstic nano-construct with synergistic anticancer and immunomodulatory potential in a single platform.

Al exposure causes an alteration in the several ions in the body and causes toxicity. Such as apoptosis, oxidative stress, disruption in neuronal transport, mitochondrial damage, excitotoxicity, generation of inflammatory mediators, and microglial activation. These multiple mechanisms lead to the several neurodegenerative diseases, including sporadic amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (sALS). The study aims to unravel the mechanisms behind the neuroprotective effects of wedelolactone (WL) and gallic acid (GA) against aluminium-induced neurodegeneration and thereby to unlock a platform to find a cure for sALS. We studied the neuroprotective effects of WL (100 & 200 mg/kg) and GA (100 & 200 mg/kg) using aluminium chloride (AlCl3)-induced neurodegeneration model. The study was conducted using male Wistar rats. We assessed the effects of WL and GA on motor learning ability, motor coordination, locomotor activity, cytokine production, BDNF, glutathione peroxidase (GPx), m-calpain, caspase-3 inhibition and L -glutamate level. The study suggests that the treatment with WL and GA could protect the motor neurons from the toxicity that caused by Al via improving the antioxidant status, BDNF, and by preventing glutamate excitotoxicity. Also, WL and GA are found to be effective in inhibiting caspase-3 activation and downregulating inflammatory cytokines. WL and GA also found effective in improving the motor learning abilities and motor coordination in rats. The protective effects of the WL and GA were further confirmed from histopathological results. WL and GA prevent the neurofibrillary tangle formation and neuronal damage. The study concluded that the WL and GA were dose-dependently effective in managing the AlCl3-induced neurodegeneration.

Nanotechnology-based drug delivery research has largely focused on developing well efficient localized delivery therapeutic agents to overcome the limitations of non-specificity and toxicity of conventional chemotherapy. Herein, we constructed a nanoplatform based on a self-assembled polysaccharide-protein conjugate to deliver anti-tumor drug doxorubicin and gold nanoparticles (DOX@PST-BSA AuNPs) for cancer therapy. The self-assembled DOX@PST-BSA AuNPs exhibited higher stability and thermal properties which enable them for drug delivery via passive targeting. The fluorescent property of the drug contributes to the self-monitoring of NPs Biodistribution in vitro and in vivo. Furthermore, the NPs showed negligible cytotoxicity and tissue accumulation in normal cells in vivo. Importantly, the NPs could load the anti-tumor drug with high encapsulation efficiency and competently delivered into the tumor microenvironment thereby inhibit tumor growth significantly through apoptotic induction. Notably, DOX@PST-BSA AuNPs exhibits low systemic toxicity and very few side effects in vivo. Based on the explored features, these NPs could serve as a promising multifunctional drug delivery nanoplatform for cancer therapy.

In recent years natural calamities and disasters resulted in tragic loss of mankind and caused unpredictable infrastructural damages. The process of identifying damage and casualties allows first responders to efficiently allocate resources and save as many lives as possible. The success of a disaster management process is largely dependent on getting the accurate and timely information about the disaster status, the affected people and the environment in the surrounding areas. Social media is one of the ways of communication in the course of catastrophes. During such catastrophe, bystanders and affected people post instant updates including death toll or reports of injured people, infrastructure damage, requests for immediate necessities like food, water, shelter, donation offers and so on. Social media images are a valuable source of relevant information. However, the huge number of posts and presence of irrelevant posts makes it impossible for emergency responders to manually mine posts for credible information. Therefore, automating the process of information extraction from the posts which are already collected from social media is essential to fully take advantage of this abundance of data. This paper mainly discusses about denoising, and classifying imagery content from social media platforms to help humanitarian organizations in gaining situational awareness, updates and launching relief operations.

Aluminium (Al) is the most common metal and widely distributed in our environment. Al was first isolated as an element in 1827, and its use began only after 1886. Al is widely used for industrial applications and consumer products. Apart from these it is also used in cooking utensils and in pharmacological agents, including antacids and antiperspirants from which the element usually enters into the human body. Evidence for the neurotoxicity of Al is described in various studies, but still the exact mechanism of Al toxicity is not known. However, the evidence suggests that the Al can potentiate oxidative stress and inflammatory events and finally leads to cell death. Al is considered as a well-established neurotoxin and have a link between the exposure and development of neurodegenerative diseases, including Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), Alzheimer's disease (AD), dementia, Gulf war syndrome and Parkinsonism. Here, we review the detailed possible pathogenesis of Al neurotoxicity. This review summarizes Al induced events likewise oxidative stress, cell mediated toxicity, apoptosis, inflammatory events in the brain, glutamate toxicity, effects on calcium homeostasis, gene expression and Al induced Neurofibrillary tangle (NFT) formation. Apart from these we also discussed animal models that are commonly used for Al induced neurotoxicity and neurodegeneration studies. These models help to find out a better way to treat and prevent the progression in Al induced neurodegenerative diseases.

Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) is a freshwater fish that has great potential to be developed and has a fairly high economic value. One of the important factors to support the success of Tilapia fish farming is the availability of seeds. Instalasi Budidaya Air Tawar (IBAT) Pandaan is contributing to the fulfillment of the superior seeds through the activities of tilapia fish hatchery. The purpose of this study was to identified the performance of hatcheries techniques of tilapia fish in Instalasi Budidaya Air Tawar (IBAT) Pandaan, Pasuruan, East Java through the survival rate. This research used in this study was descriptive method, supported by primer and secondary data. The survival rate result showed that high value of survivaval rate of 92% and showed good condition of fish This was due to the good technique of tilapia hatcheries included the pond preparation, broodstock selection and preparation, hatchery, feeding, and water quality control.

Glutamate excitotoxicity plays a crucial role in the pathogenesis behind the development and progression of several neurodegenerative diseases. The study aimed to investigate the neuroprotective activity of Gallic acid (GA) against glutamate-induced neurotoxicity in primary rat cortex neurons (RCN). Treated the RCNs with GA 25 & 50 μg/ml for 2 h and later treated the cells with 100 μM glutamate (GLU) and incubated for 24 h at 37 °C. The results demonstrated that, the GA improved the antioxidant profile in the cortex neurons and inhibited the production of the proinflammatory cytokine. GA also maintained the Ca2+ homeostasis, IGF-1 expression, and protected the neurons from glutamate-induced neuronal toxicity. The neuroprotective activity of GA has further confirmed from the results of N-acetylaspartate and expression of microtubule-associated protein-2 expression. The reports suggest that, GA is significantly attenuated the glutamate-induced neurotoxicity and protected neurons from various chemical events that are involved in the pathogenesis of neurotoxicity.

Quinolinic acid (QUIN) is a well-known neuroactive metabolite of tryptophan degradation pathway or kynurenine pathway. The QUIN is involved in the development of several toxic cascades which leads to the neuronal degeneration processes. The QUIN-induced toxicity is also responsible for the impairment of the motor function and motor learning ability. This study seeks to investigate the several mechanisms which are involved in the intrastriatal administration of QUIN-induced neurodegeneration and the neuroprotective effects of wedelolactone (WL) and gallic acid (GA) over QUIN-induced toxicity. The Wistar rats were used for the study and conducted behavioral model to evaluate the effects of WL (100 & 200 mg/kg) and GA (100 & 200 mg/kg) on impaired motor function and motor learning ability. We also assessed the effects of WL and GA on the antioxidant profile, cytotoxicity, apoptosis, excitotoxicity, inflammatory cascades, and on growth factors which helps in neurogenesis. The compounds effectively improved the motor function, motor learning memory in the rats. Similarly, enhanced the activity of Glutathione peroxidase, SOD, catalase, and declined the lipid peroxidation and nitrite production in the brain. The treatment with WL and GA lowered the activities of LDH, m-calpain, and caspase-3. The reports strongly support that both compounds are useful in the prevention of glutamate excitotoxicity induced by QUIN. The NAA, IGF-1, and VEGF levels in the brain were improved after treatment with WL and GA. The neuroprotective effects of WL and GA further proved through the anti-inflammatory effects. The compounds significantly down-regulated the expression of TNF-α, IL-6, and IL-β in the brain. Immunohistochemical analysis shows that the WL and GA reduced the expression of NF-κB. The histopathological studies for cerebellum, hippocampus, striatum, and spinal cord confirms the toxic effects of QUIN and neuroprotective effects of WL and GA. The results suggest that WL and GA could ameliorate the toxic events triggered by QUIN and might be effective in the prevention and progression of several cascades which lead to the development of sALS.

Passiflora foetida leaves used by the society for generations as a natural antidiabetic drug research aims to test the effectiveness of the leaf extract of Passiflora foetida with variations of a dose of 250 mg / kg, 500 mg / kg, and 750 mg / kg in lowering blood sugar levels in mice. Passiflora foetida leaves were extracted by sokhletasi method with 70% ethanol, the extract was tested on 15 mice, the test animals were randomized into 5 groups consist of negative control group given 0.5% Na-CMC, positive control group was given glibenclamide 0, 65 mg / kg, and the treatment group were given the leaf extract of Passiflorafoetida with variations of each dose of 250 mg / kg, 500 mg / kg, 750 mg / kg. To increase blood sugar levels in mice induced glucose 50%. Measurement of blood sugar levels in mice were performed using an easy touch glucometer and blood is taken via the lateral tail vein. The results showed that the percentage of blood sugar levels drop to a negative control is 13.1%, for a dose of 250 mg / kg body weight of 29.52%, for a dose of 500 mg / kg was 38.79%, to dosis750 mg / kg was 49, 21%, and 48.1% for the positive control. The results showed that the leaf extract of Passiflorafoetida at a dose of 750 mg / kg is most effective as an antidiabetic

Salmonella Paratyphi A is a food-borne Gram-negative pathogen and a major public health challenge in the developing world. Upon reaching the intestine, S. Paratyphi A penetrates the intestinal epithelial barrier; and infects phagocytes such as macrophages and dendritic cells. S. Paratyphi A surviving within macrophages is protected from the lethal action of antibiotics due to their poor penetration into the intracellular compartments. Hence we have developed chloramphenicol loaded chondroitin sulfate (CS-Cm Nps) and dextran sulfate (DS-Cm Nps) nanoparticles through ionotropic-gelation method for the intracellular delivery of chloramphenicol. The size of these nanoparticles ranged between 100 and 200 nm in diameter. The encapsulation efficiency of both the nanoparticles was found to be around 65%. Both the nanoparticles are found to be non-hemolytic and non-toxic to fibroblast and epithelial cells. The prepared nanoparticles exhibited sustained release of the drug of up to 40% at pH 5 and 20–25% at pH 7.0 after 168 h. The anti-microbial activities of both nanoparticles were tested under in vitro and ex vivo conditions. The delivery of DS-Cm Nps into the intracellular compartments of the macrophages was 4 fold more compared to the CS-Cm Nps which lead to the enhanced intracellular antimicrobial activity of Ds-Cm Nps. Enhanced anti-microbial activity of Ds-Cm Nps was further confirmed in an ex vivo chicken intestine infection model. Our results showed that Cm loaded DS Nps can be used to treat intracellular Salmonella infections.

Nanogels are hydrogels having size in nanoregime, which is composed of cross-linked polymer networks. The advantages of nanogels include stimuli-responsive nature, easy drug loading, and higher drug-loading capacity, physical stability, versatility in design, stability of entrapped drug, and controlled release of the anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, protein, peptide and anticancer drugs. Stimuli-responsive nature of nanogel is of particular importance in anticancer and anti-inflammatory drug delivery, as cancer and inflammation are associated with acidic pH, heat generation, and change in ionic content. Nanogels composed of muco-adhesive polymers provide prolonged residence time and increase the ocular availability of loaded drugs. By forming suitably sized complex with proteins or by acting as artificial chaperones, they thus help to keep the proteins and enzymes in proper confirmation necessary for exerting biological activity; nanogels can increase the stability and activity of protein/peptide drugs. Better drug penetrations achieved by prolonged contact with skin contribute much in transdermal drug delivery. When it comes to cancer drug delivery, the presence of multiple interactive functional groups in nanogels different targeting agents can be conjugated for delivery of the selective drugs. This review focuses on applications of nanogels in cancer drug delivery and imaging, anti-inflammatory, anti-psoriatic, transdermal, ocular and protein/peptide drug delivery and therapy.

Twelve dogs with full thickness cutaneous wounds such as dog bitten wounds, traumatic accident wounds and chronic wounds were selected and randomly divided into two groups. In Group I, a pre-sterilized bovine collagen-alginate sheet and in Group II, a presterilized bovine collagen sheet were applied as wound dressing. Re-application of dressing was continued at 48 hours intervals for a two more timesand afterwards weekly bandaging was followed. The animals were observed for a period of 28 days and a cutaneous punch biopsy from the mid-portion of healing wound was taken on day 28 for histopathological examination to evaluate the progress of wound healing. The results of the study revealed that both bovine collagen and bovine collagenalginate had good graft acceptance, with no adverse reactions and helped in the augmentation of wound healing process.

Stroke is the cerebrovascular issue influencing blood supply to the mind that predominantly influences individuals over 65 years old. This article proposes an automatic technique to perceive and orchestrate the sorts of strokes starting with 2D cerebrum CT images. The methodology is divided into four steps. In the introductory step, preprocessing may be performed on the image to expel unwanted disturbance by applying median filtering. In second step, different texture-based features are extricated utilizing wavelet packet transform (WPT) for classification. In the following step, Linear Discriminant Analysis (LDA) is utilized to diminish the dimensionality of the features. Finally, the diminished group of feature is connected to the supervised learning techniques for classification of normal and infected region. The goal of the proposed work is to build up a framework that accurately extracts the stroke region from CT images that helps doctors in their diagnosis decisions. The performance of the proposed scheme has fundamentally enhanced the stroke classification precision contrasted with other neural system-based classifier.

Prenatal development of rectal patch was studied in 30 goat fetuses ranging from 1.4 cm CRL (24 days of gestation) to 38.0 cm CRI (Crown ramp length). Rectal patch first appeared in goat foetuses by 60 days of gestational age as a continuous band of small to medium–sized lymphocytes in the lamina propria of rectum. During fourth month of gestation, the primordia differentiated into large lymphoid nodules which had an oval basal portion and a pyramidal apical portion, which formed a dome-like structure within the intestinal ridges below the surface epithelium and was surrounded by an irregular capsule. During fifth month, an increase in the number and size of the lymphoid nodules and primordial dome region was noticed. The lymphoid nodules were histologically mature with a prominent germinal center, its corona, a wide dome area and an internodular area with few high endothelial venules. The rectal patch was histologically mature at birth with both primary and secondary nodules in it.

Histological studies were conducted on the palatine tonsil of six male crossbred goats of six months of age. The tonsils were lined by a stratified squamous non-keratinized surface epithelium which continued into the crypts forming the non-reticular epithelium. At some areas in the crypts, the non-reticular epithelium associated with lymphoid follicles showed a great reduction in height with only one to two intact cell layers and were called reticular epithelium or lymphoepithelium. Propria-submucosa of the palatine tonsil was characterized by dense irregular connective, lymphoid, glandular, adipose and muscular tissues. Lymphoid tissue constituted majority of the palatine tonsil and was organized into primary and secondary lymphoid nodules and dense diffuse lymphatic tissue. Average diameter of lymphoid nodules was 684.17±6.88µm while the lymphocyte count in the nodules was 28826.54±236.25. The average number of lymphatic nodules counted per field under low power magnification of microscope was 2.67±0.42 and the internodular distance was 34.67±1.41. Glandular tissue was present in the deeper areas of propria-submucosa. A well developed connective tissue capsule separated the lymphoid and glandular tissues of the palatine tonsil. In the immunohistochemical staining technique strong positive reaction for cytoplasmic IgG bearing B- lymphocytes was noticed within the germinal centre of lymphoid nodules, towards the base of the FAE and some cells even infiltrated the crypt epithelium. In the mantle zone and internodular area, reaction was very mild indicating that T- lymphocytes predominated in these areas. It was concluded that the palatine tonsils were histologically mature as a local defence mechanism against the harmful substances to be encountered from the environment after birth.

Tunable pH and redox responsive polymer was prepared using γ-polyglutamic acid (γ-PGA) with linker 3-mercaptopropionic acid (3-MPA) (γ-PGA_SH) via oxidation to obtain redox responsive disulfide (γ-PGA_SS) backbone and adipic acid dihydrazide (ADH) (γ-PGA_SS_ADH) with hydrazide functional group for pH responsiveness. Further curcumin (Cur) was conjugated through hydrazone bond of the γ-PGA_SS_ADH via Schiff base reaction to obtain (γ-PGA_SS_ADH_Cur). The prepared systems were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), Raman spectroscopy, Electrospray ionization quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (ESI-Qq-TOF-MS/MS) and Solid state nuclear magnetic resonance (SS NMR) techniques. γ-PGA_SS_ADH_Cur formed self-assembled core shell nanoparticles (NPs) in existence of stabilized aqueous medium. γ-PGA_SS_ADH_Cur NPs maintained its stability in physiological condition. NPs tunable Cur release and cytotoxicity were observed for γ-PGA_SS_ADH_Cur NPs in both acidic and redox conditions mimicking the cancer microenvironment. γ-PGA_SS_ADH_Cur NPs uptake study showed via endocytosis mechanism resulted in the lysosomal entrapment of these NPs within the cell. γ-PGA_SS_ADH_Cur NPs exhibited a dual stimuli responsive drug delivery and can be used as a smart and potential drug delivery system in cancer microenvironment.