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Purpose: Inflammation and extracellular matrix degeneration contribute to abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) development. We aimed to assess the effect of exercise intensity on circulating biomarkers of inflammation and extracellular matrix degeneration in patients with AAA and healthy older adults. Methods: Twenty patients with AAA (74 ± 6 yr) and 20 healthy males (72 ± 5 yr) completed moderate-intensity cycling at 40% peak power output, higher-intensity intervals at 70% peak power output, and control (rest) on separate days. Circulating matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9), transforming growth factor beta 1, interleukin-6 (IL-6), IL-10, and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) were analyzed at rest and 0 to 90 min postexercise. Results: Biomarkers at baseline were similar between groups. IL-6 responses to exercise were similar between groups, with a greater increase in ΔIL-6 after moderate-intensity compared with higher-intensity exercise (P < 0.001). Delta MMP-9 showed a 118-ng·mL-1 (95% confidence interval = 23 to 214, P = 0.02) greater increase immediately after higher-intensity exercise compared with changes in control in both groups. Delta MMP-9 then decreased by 114 ng·mL-1 (18 to 211, P = 0.02) 90 min after higher-intensity exercise compared with the changes in control. Delta TNF-α was not different between protocols in healthy adults. In patients with AAA, delta TNF-α showed a greater decrease after higher-intensity compared with moderate-intensity exercise (-6.1 pg·mL-1, -8.5 to -3.6, P < 0.001) and control (-4.9 pg·mL-1, -7.4 to -2.4, P < 0.001). IL-10 and transforming growth factor beta 1 did not change in either group. Conclusions: These findings suggest that a bout of higher-intensity exercise elicits a greater anti-inflammatory response compared with moderate-intensity exercise, which may be further augmented in patients with AAA. Exercise-induced reductions in biomarkers associated with AAA progression may represent a protective effect of exercise in patients with AAA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Antibiotics are of great interest due to antibiotic-resistant problems around the globe due to bacterial resistance to conventional antibiotics. In this study, a novel green biosynthesis of silver-ruthenium bimetallic zinc oxide nanocomposite using Callistemon viminalis leaf extract as a reducing agent using zinc nitrate hexahydrate, silver nitrate, and ruthenium(iii) chloride as capping agents was reported. The results demonstrated that the surface morphology of the prepared bimetallic nanocomposite by scanning electron microscopy was hexagonal in shape for zinc nanoparticle, rectangular in shape for silver nanoparticle, and tetragonal in shape for ruthenium nanoparticle, having an average surface size 25, 35, and 55 nm, respectively. Fourier transform infrared analysis confirmed the presence of compounds containing alkene, halo-, sulfoxide, phenol, nitro-, phenyl-ester, carboxylic acid, amines, and alcohols which act as functional groups attached to the surface of nanocomposites. Results from X-ray diffraction analysis found 81.12% crystallinity and hexagonal structure of zinc nanoparticles, rectangular structure of silver nanoparticles, and tetragonal structure of ruthenium nanoparticles, which are also similar to the results from transmission electron microscopy analysis. The average size distribution by dynamic light scattering of silver-ruthenium bimetallic zinc oxide nanocomposite was 255 nm, which confirms the biosynthesis of non-uniform size. Photo-disinfection activity of a silver-ruthenium bimetallic zinc oxide nanocomposite against Escherichia coli bacteria isolated from hospital wastewater under dark and ultraviolet-A irradiation conditions was observed. The antibacterial activity was calculated at 2.42704239, ensuring the silver-ruthenium bimetallic zinc oxide nanomaterials have photo-disinfection properties. The results from this study revealed that the developed novel antibacterial nanocomposite of silver-ruthenium bimetallic zinc oxide is useful in nanocoating photocatalytic Escherichia coli disinfection and can be applied to disinfect surfaces., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest., (This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry.)

Purpose: Leg muscle microvascular blood flow (perfusion) is impaired in response to maximal exercise in patients with peripheral artery disease (PAD); however, during submaximal exercise, microvascular perfusion is maintained due to a greater increase in microvascular blood volume compared with that seen in healthy adults. It is unclear whether this submaximal exercise response reflects a microvascular impairment, or whether it is a compensatory response for the limited conduit artery flow in PAD. Therefore, to clarify the role of conduit artery blood flow, we compared whole-limb blood flow and skeletal muscle microvascular perfusion responses with exercise in patients with PAD (n=9; 60±7 years) prior to, and following, lower-limb endovascular revascularization., Materials and Methods: Microvascular perfusion (microvascular volume × flow velocity) of the medial gastrocnemius muscle was measured before and immediately after a 5 minute bout of submaximal intermittent isometric plantar-flexion exercise using contrast-enhanced ultrasound imaging. Exercise contraction-by-contraction whole-leg blood flow and vascular conductance were measured using strain-gauge plethysmography., Results: With revascularization there was a significant increase in whole-leg blood flow and conductance during exercise (p<0.05). Exercise-induced muscle microvascular perfusion response did not change with revascularization (pre-revascularization: 3.19±2.32; post-revascularization: 3.89±1.67 aU.s -1 ; p=0.38). However, the parameters that determine microvascular perfusion changed, with a reduction in the microvascular volume response to exercise (pre-revascularization: 6.76±3.56; post-revascularization: 2.42±0.69 aU; p<0.01) and an increase in microvascular flow velocity (pre-revascularization: 0.25±0.13; post-revascularization: 0.59±0.25 s -1 ; p=0.02)., Conclusion: These findings suggest that patients with PAD compensate for the conduit artery blood flow impairment with an increase in microvascular blood volume to maintain muscle perfusion during submaximal exercise., Clinical Impact: The findings from this study support the notion that the impairment in conduit artery blood flow in patients with PAD leads to compensatory changes in microvascular blood volume and flow velocity to maintain muscle microvascular perfusion during submaximal leg exercise. Moreover, this study demonstrates that these microvascular changes are reversed and become normalized with successful lower-limb endovascular revascularization., Competing Interests: Declaration of Conflicting InterestsThe author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Objective This study aimed to evaluate and analyze the characteristics of Indian patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) in relation to the usage patterns of a fixed-dose combination (FDC) of glimepiride, metformin, and voglibose. Methods This retrospective, observational, multicentric analysis was conducted from March 2021 to September 2022. It involved adult patients (aged ≥18 years) with T2DM from 424 sites including a combination of hospitals and privately owned clinics across India to ensure comprehensive representation of the patient population The study included patients who had been treated with FDC of glimepiride, metformin, and voglibose of varying strengths for T2DM management. Data were collected through a pre-designed electronic form, which captured demographic details, medical history, T2DM history, and drug usage patterns from medical records. The collected data were then analyzed using descriptive statistical methods. Results This analysis encompassed a final cohort of 8,587 patients out of which 5,840 were males with a mean age of 54.91 years and a BMI of 28.41 kg/m 2 . Newly diagnosed T2DM cases were 35.23%, 54.79% had a family history, and 61.21% had risk factors such as smoking, sedentary lifestyle, and others. Dyslipidemia (13.94%) and neuropathy (14.48%) were common comorbidities. The most prescribed FDC was 1 mg glimepiride, 500 mg metformin, 0.2 mg voglibose (40.14%), the most preferred dosing frequency was once daily (52.92%) and the most common duration of treatment was one to three months (48.78%). Conclusion In routine Indian clinical practice, the triple drug FDC of 1 mg glimepiride, 500 mg metformin, and 0.2 mg voglibose, taken once daily for one to three months, was the most common treatment for both newly diagnosed and long-standing diabetes patients., Competing Interests: The authors have declared financial relationships, which are detailed in the next section., (Copyright © 2024, Shamanna et al.)

Binary zinc oxide (ZnO) nanocomposites with different noble metals, silver (Ag) and ruthenium (Ru), were prepared from an aqueous leaf extract of Callistemon viminalis. The biosynthesized photocatalysts were characterized and examined for their photocatalytic disinfection against Escherichia coli isolated from hospital wastewater. The influence of the different noble metals showed a difference in physicochemical characteristics and photocatalytic efficiency between Ag-ZnO and Ru-ZnO. The photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue and photocatalytic disinfection were found to be in the order Ag-ZnO > Ru-ZnO > ZnO. The photocatalytic disinfection of Ag-ZnO reached a 75% reduction in 60 min, compared to 34 and 9% reductions of Ru-ZnO and ZnO, respectively. The kinetic reaction rate for the photocatalytic disinfection of Ag-ZnO was found to be 2.8 times higher than that of Ru-ZnO. The outstanding photocatalytic activity of Ag-ZnO over Ru-ZnO was attributed to higher crystallinity, greater UVA adsorption capacity, smaller particle size, and the additional antimicrobial effect of Ag itself. The C. viminalis-mediated Ag-ZnO nanocomposites can be a potential candidate for photocatalytic disinfection of drug-resistant E. coli in hospital wastewater.

Background: Treatment of neuropathic pain is challenging. Pregabalin and duloxetine are used as first-line therapy. Various international guidelines recommend a combination of first-line agents for the management of neuropathic pain. The objective of this study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of a fixed-dose combination (FDC) of low-dose pregabalin and duloxetine compared to pregabalin monotherapy at week 7 in patients with moderate to severe neuropathic pain. Methods: This was a phase 3, randomized, double-blind, double-dummy parallel-group non-inferiority study conducted at 17 sites across India. Three hundred and twenty-eight adult patients with moderate to severe neuropathic pain were randomized in a ratio of 1:1 to receive a FDC of pregabalin and duloxetine or pregabalin monotherapy for 7 weeks followed by a one-week follow-up. The pregabalin-duloxetine combination was initiated at 50 plus 20 mg per day and gradually titrated to a maximum of 75mg plus 30mg twice daily. Pregabalin was initiated at 75mg/day and gradually titrated to a maximum of 150mg twice daily. The main efficacy outcome was a mean change in pain intensity at the end of 7 weeks. Results: Two hundred and ninety-eight patients completed the study, 148 in the pregabalin-duloxetine group and 150 in the pregabalin group. The mean change in daily pain at 7 weeks was as follows: -4.49 with FDC and -4.66 with pregabalin (p<0.0001). The non-inferiority of a low-dose FDC compared to pregabalin monotherapy was demonstrated at the end of the study. The incidence of dizziness and somnolence was comparable between both treatments. A higher frequency of peripheral oedema was observed with pregabalin monotherapy than in the FDC group (p>0.05). Conclusions: A FDC of low doses of pregabalin and duloxetine and high dose of pregabalin monotherapy achieved similar analgesia with dizziness, and somnolence as the most frequent adverse event. Trial registration: CTRI/2020/09/027555., Competing Interests: No competing interests were disclosed., (Copyright: © 2023 K. K et al.)

Color-center-based single-photon emitters in hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) have shown promising photophysical properties as sources for quantum light emission. Despite significant advances toward such a goal, achieving lifetime-limited quantum light emission in h-BN has proven to be challenging, primarily due to various broadening mechanisms, including spectral diffusion. Here, we propose and experimentally demonstrate suppression of spectral diffusion by applying an electrostatic field. We observe both Stark shift tuning of the resonant emission wavelength and emission line width reduction (down to 89 MHz) nearly to the homogeneously broadened lifetime limit. Finally, we find a cubic dependence of the line width with respect to temperature at the homogeneous broadening regime. Our results suggest that field tuning in electrostatically gated heterostructures is promising as an approach to control the emission characteristics of h-BN color centers, removing spectral diffusion and providing the energy tunability necessary for integrate of quantum light emission in nanophotonic architectures.

Perception and preferences for food and beverages determine dietary behaviour and health outcomes. Inherent differences in chemosensory genes, ethnicity, geo-climatic conditions, and sociocultural practices are other determinants. We aimed to study the variation landscape of chemosensory genes involved in perception of taste, texture, odour, temperature and burning sensations through analysis of 1,029 genomes of the IndiGen project and diverse continental populations. SNPs from 80 chemosensory genes were studied in whole genomes of 1,029 IndiGen samples and 2054 from the 1000 Genomes project. Population genetics approaches were used to infer ancestry of IndiGen individuals, gene divergence and extent of differentiation among studied populations. 137,760 SNPs including common and rare variants were identified in IndiGenomes with 62,950 novel (46%) and 48% shared with the 1,000 Genomes. Genes associated with olfaction harbored most SNPs followed by those associated with differences in perception of salt and pungent tastes. Across species, receptors for bitter taste were the most diverse compared to others. Three predominant ancestry groups within IndiGen were identified based on population structure analysis. We also identified 1,184 variants that exhibit differences in frequency of derived alleles and high population differentiation (F ST ≥0.3) in Indian populations compared to European, East Asian and African populations. Examples include ADCY10 , TRPV1 , RGS6 , OR7D4 , ITPR3 , OPRM1 , TCF7L2 , and RUNX1 . This is a first of its kind of study on baseline variations in genes that could govern cuisine designs, dietary preferences and health outcomes. This would be of enormous utility in dietary recommendations for precision nutrition both at population and individual level., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2022 Prakrithi, Jha, Jaiswal, Sharma, Bhoyar, Jain, Imran, Senthilvel, Divakar, Mishra, Scaria, Sivasubbu and Mukerji.)

History of domestic service in South Asia is beginning to attract scholars but a rich historiography around it is still distant and difficult. The forms of servitude are different across different times, places and contexts. The sources available to scholars for specific sites and moments in history are marked by extreme diversity of language, genre, concerns, and vantage points. Studies based on exploration of particular kinds of texts across dissimilar contexts make for a good beginning. Using insights from apparently disjointed explorations of servitude in uneven locales, we sketch a tentative template to study changing patterns of service relations and their articulations in the long duration beginning with the early modern period and reaching up to our own times. The study of domestic service yields empathetic vignettes of lives of domestic servants. They also yield insights on various forms of servitude and their centrality to social and economic relationships in a manner that can potentially upset the set historiographic paradigms of work, leisure, household, labour and 'labour laws' in the early modern and modern periods., Competing Interests: No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s)., (© 2022 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.)

Color centers in hexagonal boron nitride ( h BN) have emerged as promising candidates for single-photon emitters (SPEs) due to their bright emission characteristics at room temperature. In contrast to mono- and few-layered h BN, color centers in multi-layered flakes show superior emission characteristics such as higher saturation counts and spectral stability. Here, we report a method for determining both the axial position and three-dimensional dipole orientation of SPEs in thick h BN flakes by tuning the photonic local density of states using vanadium dioxide (VO 2 ), a phase change material. Quantum emitters under study exhibit a strong surface-normal dipole orientation, providing some insight on the atomic structure of h BN SPEs, deeply embedded in thick crystals. Next, we optimized a hot pickup technique to reproducibly transfer the h BN flake from VO 2 /sapphire substrate onto SiO 2 /Si substrate and relocated the same emitters. Our approach serves as a practical method to systematically characterize SPEs in h BN prior to integration in quantum photonics systems., (© 2021 IOP Publishing Ltd.)

The present study is focused on the influence of amylose and amylopectin ratio on crystallinity, water barrier, mechanical, morphological and anti-fungal properties of starch-based bionanocomposite films. The different sources of starch containing various proportion of amylose and amylopectin (high amylose corn starch, 70:30; corn starch, 28:72; wheat starch, 25:75; and potato starch, 20:80) has been incorporated with chitosan (CH) and nanoclay (Na-MMT). Amylose and amylopectin ratio has regulated the orientation of molecular structure in the starch-based films. Experimental results have revealed that the prepared bionanocomposite films that of CS/CH/nanoclay has exhibited higher crystallinity and molecular miscibility among corn starch, with chitosan and nanoclay were confirmed by XRD. CS/CH/nanoclay has exhibited lowest water vapor permeability and highest tensile strength due to molecular space present in corn starch. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy has confirmed the shift of amine peak to a higher wavenumber indicating a stronger hydrogen bond between starch and chitosan. Finally, the best bionanocomposite films were tested for food packaging applications. Low-density polyethylene has exhibited fungal growth on 5th day when packed with bread slices at 25 °C and 59% RH whereas CS/CH/nanoclay bionanocomposite film did not show the same for at least 20 days. CS/CH/nanoclay film could potentially be useful for active packaging in extending shelf life; maintaining its quality and safety of food products thus substituting synthetic plastic packaging materials., (© Association of Food Scientists & Technologists (India) 2020.)

Carrier excitation and decay processes in graphene are of broad interest since relaxation pathways that are not present in conventional materials are enabled by a gapless Dirac electronic band structure. Here, we report that a previously unobserved decay pathway-hot plasmon emission-results in Fermi-level-dependent mid-infrared emission in graphene. Our observations of non-thermal contributions to Fermi-level-dependent radiation are an experimental demonstration of hot plasmon emission arising from a photo-inverted carrier distribution in graphene achieved via ultrafast optical excitation. Our calculations indicate that the reported plasmon emission process can be several orders of magnitude brighter than Planckian emission mechanisms in the mid-infrared spectral range. Both the use of gold nanodisks to promote scattering and localized plasmon excitation and polarization-dependent excitation measurements provide further evidence for bright hot plasmon emission. These findings define an approach for future work on ultrafast and ultrabright graphene emission processes and mid-infrared light source applications.

Objective/background: Elevated arterial stiffness is a characteristic of abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA), and is associated with AAA growth and cardiovascular mortality. A bout of exercise transiently reduces aortic and systemic arterial stiffness in healthy adults. Whether the same response occurs in patients with AAA is unknown. The effect of moderate- and higher intensity exercise on arterial stiffness was assessed in patients with AAA and healthy adults., Methods: Twenty-two men with small diameter AAAs (36 ± 5 mm; mean age 74 ± 6 years) and 22 healthy adults (mean age 72 ± 5 years) were included. Aortic stiffness was measured using carotid to femoral pulse wave velocity (PWV), and systemic arterial stiffness was estimated from the wave reflection magnitude (RM) and augmentation index (Alx75). Measurements were performed at rest and during 90 min of recovery following three separate test sessions in a randomised order: (i) moderate intensity continuous exercise; (ii) higher intensity interval exercise; or (iii) seated rest., Results: At rest, PWV was higher in patients with AAA than in healthy adults (p < .001), while AIx75 and RM were similar between groups. No differences were observed between AAA patients and healthy adults in post-exercise aortic and systemic arterial stiffness after either exercise protocol. When assessed as the change from baseline (delta, Δ), post-exercise ΔAIx75 was not different to the seated rest protocol. Conversely, post-exercise ΔPWV and ΔRM were both lower at all time points than seated rest (p < .001). ΔPWV was lower immediately after higher intensity than after moderate intensity exercise (p = .015)., Conclusion: High resting aortic stiffness in patients with AAA is not exacerbated after exercise. There was a similar post-exercise attenuation in arterial stiffness between patients with AAA and healthy adults compared with seated rest. This effect was most pronounced following higher intensity interval exercise, suggesting that this form of exercise may be a safe and effective adjunctive therapy for patients with small AAAs., (Copyright © 2019 European Society for Vascular Surgery. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Self-organized criticality emerges in dynamical complex systems driven out of equilibrium and characterizes a wide range of classical phenomena in physics, geology, and biology. We report on a quantum coherence-controlled self-organized critical transition observed in the light localization behavior of a coherence-driven nanophotonic configuration. Our system is composed of a gain-enhanced plasmonic heterostructure controlled by a coherent drive, in which photons close to the stopped-light regime interact in the presence of the active nonlinearities, eventually synchronizing their dynamics. In this system, on the basis of analytical and corroborating full-wave Maxwell-Bloch computations, we observe quantum coherence-controlled self-organized criticality in the emergence of light localization arising from the synchronization of the photons. It is associated with two first-order phase transitions: one pertaining to the synchronization of the dynamics of the photons and the second pertaining to an inversionless lasing transition by the coherent drive. The so-attained light localization, which is robust to dissipation, fluctuations, and many-body interactions, exhibits scale-invariant power laws and absence of finely tuned control parameters. We also found that, in this nonequilibrium dynamical system, the effective critical "temperature" of the system drops to zero, whereupon one enters the quantum self-organized critical regime.

Phenolic compounds were extracted from the husk of milled black rice (cv. Poireton) by using a combination of ultrasound assisted extraction and microwave assisted extraction. Extraction parameters were optimized by response surface methodology according to a three levels, five variables Box-Behnken design. The appropriate process variables (extraction temperature and extraction time) to maximize the ethanolic extraction of total phenolic compounds, flavonoids, anthocyanins and antioxidant activity of the extracts were obtained. Extraction of functional components with varying ethanol concentration and microwave time were significantly affected by the process variables. The best possible conditions obtained by RSM for all the factors included 10.02 min sonication time, 49.46 °C sonication temperature, 1:40.79 (w/v) solute solvent ratio, 67.34% ethanol concentration, and 31.11 s microwave time. Under the given solutions, the maximum extraction of phenolics (1.65 mg/g GAE), flavonoids (3.04 mg/100 g), anthocyanins (3.39 mg/100 g) and antioxidants (100%) were predicted, while the experimental values included 1.72 mg/g GAE of total phenolics, 3.01 mg/100 g of flavonoids, 3.36 mg/100 g of anthocyanins and 100% antioxidant activity. The overall results indicated positive impact of co-application of microwave and ultrasound assisted extractions of phenolic compounds from black rice husk.

This paper presents a generic programmable analog front-end (AFE) for acquisition and digitization of various biopotential signals. This includes a lead-off detection circuit, an ultra-low current capacitively coupled signal conditioning stage with programmable gain and bandwidth, a new mixed signal automatic gain control (AGC) mechanism and a medically cohesive reconfigurable ΣΔ ADC. The full system is designed in UMC 0.18μm CMOS. The AFE achieves an overall linearity of more 10 bits with 0.47μW power consumption. The ADC provides 2(nd) order noise-shaping while using single integrator and an ENOB of ~11 bits with 5μW power consumption. The system was successfully verified for various ECG signals from PTB database. This system is intended for portable batteryless u-Healthcare devices.

We propose a novel scheme for efficient Raman sub-harmonic generation in a system of inhomogeneously broadened atomic vapor with atoms in a closed three-level Λ-configuration. The key feature underlying Raman sub-harmonics generation is microwave-induced hyperfine coherence between the two lower level metastable states. We show explicitly how the amplitude and phase of the microwave field generate controllable spectral amplitudes of Raman sub-harmonics. Our scheme is viable in currently available atomic vapor cells thereby opening the way for efficient sub-harmonic generation in standard experimental setups.

All companies, including dentists, rely on their staff to represent their firms in the most positive and effective manner. Today's managers face a multitude of issues, and as such, they must walk a fine line of fostering a productive, harmonious and safe working environment for their employees. Over the last several decades it is apparent that on the- job sexual harassment is no longer the leading issue of employee complaints. Rather, the organization issue which was investigated is workplace bullying, also commonly referred to as employee harassment. Risk management is no longer limited to avoiding malpractice issues but also preventing litigation created by poor organizational behavior. The primary purpose of this paper is to explore the background of workplace bullying and how it affects today's managers and their employees, customers and suppliers. In other words, the scope of this paper will feature research on past studies, results and conclusions. Since workplace bullying affects all levels of a corporation, it must be stated that the concern and focus of this paper is for today's manager to understand the background and history of workplace bullying, and what they can do to foster a safe working environment and prevent the bully from creating mental and physical harm to their employees. This paper details the history of workplace bullying and how management, employees and suppliers deal with and address the issue. Lastly, this treatise looks at risk management from a manger/dentist's perspective, the assessment/conclusion summarizes the implications for managers regarding how they must handle the issue or risk harm to the employee and/or serious legal ramifications.

Background & Objectives: Tuberculosis is (TB) responsible for high morbidity and mortality worldwide. Cytokines play a major role in defense against Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection. Polymorphisms in the genes encoding the various pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines have been associated with tuberculosis susceptibility. In this study we examined association of 25 sequence polymorphisms in six candidate cytokine genes namely IFNG, TNFB, IL4, IL1RA, IL1B and IL12 and their related haplotypes with risk of developing pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) among north Indians., Methods: Pulmonary TB (n=110) patients and 215 healthy controls (HC) from north India were genotyped. Purified multiplex PCR products were subjected to mass spectrometry using Sequenom MassARRAY platform to generate the genotypes in a population-based case-control study., Results: Using multiple corrections, significant overall risk against PTB was observed at seven loci which included variants in IFNG at rs1861493 and rs1861494; IL1RA at rs4252019, IL4 variant rs2070874, IL12 variants rs3212220, rs2853694 and TNFB variant rs1041981. Analysis of gene structure revealed two haplotype blocks formed by IFNG variants rs1861493 and rs1861494. The TA haplotype was significantly over-represented (P=0.011) in the cases showing a two-fold risk in the current population (Odds ratio=1.59 CI=1.101 to 2.297) and TNFB variants at rs2229094 and rs1041981 contributed to two haplotypes which were in strong linkage disequilibrium (LD) with AT haplotype showing a three-fold risk (P=0.0011, Odds ratio=3, CI=0.1939 to 0.7445) of developing PTB in north Indians., Interpretation & Conclusions: Our study showed six novel associations of cytokine gene variants with susceptibility to PTB in north Indians. Variants of IFNG and TNFB emerged as factors imposing a significant risk of developing PTB in north Indians apart from risk indicated by IL1RA, IL4 and IL12.

Background: O6-methylguanine methyltransferase (MGMT) promoter methylation in adult glioblastomas (glioblastoma multiforme) is considered a promising molecular alteration, predictive of better response to temozolomide therapy and longer overall survival., Objective: To look at the frequency of MGMT methylation in glial tumors of all grades and types, and correlate this alteration with loss of heterozygosity 1p/19q, TP53 gene mutations, epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) amplification, and isocitrate dehydrogenase 1 (IDH1) mutations., Methods: One hundred two gliomas of various grades and subtypes were assessed by methylation-specific polymerase chain reaction for MGMT promoter methylation status. The results were correlated with 1p/19q status, EGFR amplification, TP53, and IDH1 mutations., Results: There was an inverse correlation of MGMT promoter methylation frequency with tumor grade, observed in 79.4%, 70.8%, and 56.8% of grade II, grade III, and grade IV gliomas, respectively. The difference was statistically significant in grade II vs IV tumors (P=.036). The majority of cases with 1p/19q loss of heterozygosity also showed MGMT methylation, although the association was not significant. There was no significant correlation of MGMT status with IDH1 mutation. In astrocytic tumors, there was no correlation of MGMT methylation with TP53 mutation or EGFR amplification., Conclusion: MGMT promoter methylation was observed in a considerable proportion of all grades and subtypes of gliomas, with no significant correlation with other known genetic alterations. On extensive literature review, in both low- and high-grade gliomas, wide variability of data on the frequency of MGMT methylation and its association with other molecular alterations from various centers was noted, mostly owing to technical causes. This raises questions regarding the capacity of this test for use as an objective and reproducible marker for customized treatment in individual cases.