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Lead accumulation by free and immobilized cyanobacteria, Lyngbya majuscula and Spirulina subsalsa was studied. Exponentially growing biomass was exposed to 1-20mg L(-1) of Pb(II) solution at pH 6, 7 and 8 for time periods ranging from 10 min to 48 h. L. majuscula accumulated 10 times more Pb (13.5 mg g(-1)) than S. subsalsa (1.32 mg g(-1)) at pH 6 within 3h of exposure to 20mg L(-1) Pb(II) solution and 76% of the Pb could be recovered using 0.1M EDTA. This chelator (2 μM) did not influence Pb accumulation whereas 100 μM citrate increased that of S. subsalsa 6- to 8-fold. L. majuscula filaments enmeshed in a glass wool packed in a column removed 95.8% of the Pb from a 5mg L(-1) Pb solution compared to free and dead biomass which removed 64 and 33.6% Pb respectively. A 92.5% recovery of accumulated Pb from the immobilized biomass suggests that repeated absorption-desorption is possible., (Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

This study reports an alternative approach to achieve vitrification where cells are pre-desiccated prior to cooling to cryogenic temperatures for storage. Chinese Hamster Ovary (CHO) cells suspended in a trehalose solution were rapidly and uniformly desiccated to a low moisture content (<0.12 g of water per g of dry weight) using a spin-drying technique. Trehalose was also introduced into the cells using a high-capacity trehalose transporter (TRET1). Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) was used to examine the uniformity of water concentration distribution in the spin-dried samples. 62% of the cells were shown to survive spin-drying in the presence of trehalose following immediate rehydration. The spin-dried samples were stored in liquid nitrogen (LN(2)) at a vitrified state. It was shown that following re-warming to room temperature and re-hydration with a fully complemented cell culture medium, 51% of the spin-dried and vitrified cells survived and demonstrated normal growth characteristics. Spin-drying is a novel strategy that can be used to improve cryopreservation outcome by promoting rapid vitrification.

Excessive softening of fruits during the ripening process leads to deterioration. This is of significant global importance as softening-mediated deterioration leads to huge postharvest losses. N-glycan processing enzymes are reported to play an important role during climacteric fruit softening: however, to date these enzymes have not been characterized in non-climacteric fruit. Two ripening-specific N-glycan processing enzymes, α-mannosidase (α-Man) and β-D-N-acetylhexosaminidase (β-Hex), have been identified and targeted to enhance the shelf life in non-climacteric fruits such as capsicum (Capsicum annuum). The purification, cloning, and functional characterization of α-Man and β-Hex from capsicum, which belong to glycosyl hydrolase (GH) families 38 and 20, respectively, are described here. α-Man and β-Hex are cell wall glycoproteins that are able to cleave terminal α-mannose and β-D-N-acetylglucosamine residues of N-glycans, respectively. α-Man and β-Hex transcripts as well as enzyme activity increase with the ripening and/or softening of capsicum. The function of α-Man and β-Hex in capsicum softening is investigated through RNA interference (RNAi) in fruits. α-Man and β-Hex RNAi fruits were approximately two times firmer compared with the control and fruit deterioration was delayed by approximately 7 d. It is shown that silencing of α-Man and β-Hex enhances fruit shelf life due to the reduced degradation of N-glycoproteins which resulted in delayed softening. Altogether, the results provide evidence for the involvement of N-glycan processing in non-climacteric fruit softening. In conclusion, genetic engineering of N-glycan processing can be a common strategy in both climacteric and non-climacteric species to reduce the post-harvest crop losses.

Protein deficiency is the most crucial factor that affects physical growth and development and that increases morbidity and mortality especially in developing countries. Efforts have been made to improve protein quality and quantity in crop plants but with limited success. Here, we report the development of transgenic potatoes with enhanced nutritive value by tuber-specific expression of a seed protein, AmA1 (Amaranth Albumin 1), in seven genotypic backgrounds suitable for cultivation in different agro-climatic regions. Analyses of the transgenic tubers revealed up to 60% increase in total protein content. In addition, the concentrations of several essential amino acids were increased significantly in transgenic tubers, which are otherwise limited in potato. Moreover, the transgenics also exhibited enhanced photosynthetic activity with a concomitant increase in total biomass. These results are striking because this genetic manipulation also resulted in a moderate increase in tuber yield. The comparative protein profiling suggests that the proteome rebalancing might cause increased protein content in transgenic tubers. Furthermore, the data on field performance and safety evaluation indicate that the transgenic potatoes are suitable for commercial cultivation. In vitro and in vivo studies on experimental animals demonstrate that the transgenic tubers are also safe for human consumption. Altogether, these results emphasize that the expression of AmA1 is a potential strategy for the nutritional improvement of food crops.

A low-cost pulsed laser is used in conjunction with a homebuilt laser confocal-scanning epifluorescence microscope having submicron lateral and axial spatial resolution to determine cytoplasmic viscosity at specific intracytoplasmic locations in J774 mouse macrophage cells. Time-dependent fluorescence anisotropy measurements are made at each location and global deconvolution techniques are used to determine rotational correlation times. These rotational correlation times are related to the hydrated volume of 8-hydroxyperene-1,3,6-trisulfonic acid (HPTS) to calculate viscosity at specific points inside the cell. In the cytoplasmic areas measured, rotational correlation times of HPTS ranged from 0.186 ns to 0.411 ns, corresponding to viscosities ranging from 1.00 +/- 0.03 cP to 2.21+/- 0.05 cP.

In species whose evolutionary history has provided natural tolerance to dehydration and freezing, metabolic depression is often a pre-requisite for survival. We tested the hypothesis that preconditioning of mammalian cells with 5-aminoimidazole-4-carboxamide-1-b-D-ribofuranoside (AICAR) to achieve metabolic depression will promote greater survivorship during cryopreservation. AICAR is used extensively to stimulate AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK), which can result in downregulation of biosynthetic processes. We showed that the metabolic interconversion of AICAR was cell-type dependent. Accumulation of 5-aminoimidazole-4-carboxamide-1b-D-ribofuranosyl-5'-monophosphate (ZMP), as well as other metabolites that possess multiple phosphates (i.e., ZDP, ZTP), varied approximately 3.5-fold across the cell lines tested. AICAR treatment also significantly influenced the concentrations of cellular adenylates (ATP, ADP, and AMP). Depression of cell metabolism and proliferation with AICAR treatment differed among cell lines. Proliferation for a given cell line was negatively correlated with the fold-increase achieved in the 'effective adenylate ratio' ([AMP]+[ZMP])/[ATP]) after AICAR treatment. Metabolic preconditioning with AICAR promoted a significant increase in viability post-freezing in J774.A1 macrophages, HepG2/C3A cells and primary hepatocytes but not in NIH/3T3 fibroblasts or OMK cells. The effect of AICAR on viability after freezing was positively correlated (r(2)=0.94) with the fold-increase in the 'effective adenylate ratio'. Thus for each cell line, the greater the depression of metabolism and proliferation due to preconditioning with AICAR, the greater was the survivorship post-freezing., ((c) 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection is associated with an increased risk for human herpes viruses (HHVs) and their related diseases and they frequently cause disease deterioration and therapeutic failures. Methods for limiting the transmission of HHVs require a better understanding of the incidence and infectivity of oral HHVs in HIV-infected patients. This study was designed to determine the seroprevalence of human herpes viruses (CMV, HSV 2, EBV-1, VZV) antibodies and to evaluate their association with age, sex as well as other demographic and behavioral factors., Results: A study of 200 HIV positive patients from Eastern India attending the Calcutta Medical College Hospital, Kolkata, West Bengal, Apex Clinic, Calcutta Medical College Hospital and ART Center, School of Tropical Medicine, Kolkata, West Bengal was done. Serum samples were screened for antibodies to the respective viruses using the indirect ELISA in triplicates.CytoMegalo virus (CMV), Herpes Simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2), Varicella Zoster virus (VZV), and Epstein Barr virus (EBV-1) were detected in 49%, 47%, 32.5%, and 26% respectively., Conclusion: This study has contributed baseline data and provided insights in viral OI and HIV co-infection in Eastern India. This would undoubtedly serve as a basis for further studies on this topic.

Water-deficit or dehydration impairs almost all physiological processes and greatly influences the geographical distribution of many crop species. It has been postulated that higher plants rely mostly on induction mechanisms to maintain cellular integrity during stress conditions. Plant cell wall or extracellular matrix (ECM) forms an important conduit for signal transduction between the apoplast and symplast and acts as front-line defense, thereby playing a key role in cell fate decision under various stress conditions. To better understand the molecular mechanism of dehydration response in plants, four-week-old rice seedlings were subjected to progressive dehydration by withdrawing water and the changes in the ECM proteome were examined using two-dimensional gel electrophoresis. Dehydration-responsive temporal changes revealed 192 proteins that change their intensities by more than 2.5-fold, at one or more time points during dehydration. The proteomic analysis led to the identification of about 100 differentially regulated proteins presumably involved in a variety of functions, including carbohydrate metabolism, cell defense and rescue, cell wall modification, cell signaling and molecular chaperones, among others. The differential rice proteome was compared with the dehydration-responsive proteome data of chickpea and maize. The results revealed an evolutionary divergence in the dehydration response as well as organ specificity, with few conserved proteins. The differential expression of the candidate proteins, in conjunction with previously reported results, may provide new insight into the underlying mechanisms of the dehydration response in plants. This may also facilitate the targeted alteration of metabolic routes in the cell wall for agricultural and industrial exploitation.

Recently, there has been considerable interest in developing processing methods that enable storage of cells in a dry state. Most of these studies describe cell viability following processing as a function of the final moisture content reached or the duration of drying. Recently, a cumulative osmotic stress model has been proposed, which takes both final moisture content and duration of drying into consideration in an effort to account for the effects of cumulative processing stresses. The present study demonstrates the applicability of this approach and elucidates a simple mechanistic technique to reduce cumulative osmotic stress during processing. Mouse macrophage cells (J774) were exposed to increasing concentrations of trehalose-containing 0.33× phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) by step-changing the extracellular solution in 2 increments of 0.7 Osm, using only trehalose as the additive solute. Three minutes was provided for equilibration prior to drying in a traditional low-humidity chamber. The data were compared with that of cells dried directly in isotonic 0.2 M trehalose in 0.33× PBS. Following dehydration, cells were rehydrated and viability was assessed 45 min postrehydration using a combination of trypan blue staining for membrane integrity of detached cells and calcein AM-propidium iodide fluorescence assay for live-dead staining of the attached cells. Cells that were preprocessed to higher trehalose concentrations in step changes prior to drying had higher viability scores at comparable final moisture levels when compared with cells dried in iso-osmotic solution, up to a limit of ∼8 Osm, at which point cells processed by both methods approached zero viability.

HIV is driving the tuberculosis (TB) epidemic in many developing countries including India. This study was initiated to determine the drug resistance pattern of pulmonary TB among 200 HIV seropositive and 50 HIV negative hospitalized patients from different states of Eastern India. The TB positive isolates (120) were screened and characterized by conventional laboratory methods followed by first- and second-line drug susceptibility testing on Lowenstein-Jensen medium by the proportion method. The drug susceptibility testing showed 17.7% (16/90) and 6.6% (2/30) multidrug-resistant (MDR) TB for the HIV positive and HIV negative patients, respectively. 22.2% (4/18) of the isolated MDR-TB cases could be classified as extensively drug-resistant (XDR) TB isolates. 88.8% (16/18) of all the MDR-TB isolates and all XDR-TB isolates were screened from HIV patients. Five (27.7%) of the 18 MDR-TB isolates showed resistance to all the first-line drugs. Mortality rate among the XDR-TB isolates was as high as 75% (3/4). Patients with interrupted anti-TB drug treatment were the ones most affected. These findings are critical and the risk to public health is high, particularly with HIV infected patients.

In a globalized economy, the control of fruit ripening is of strategic importance because excessive softening limits shelf life. Efforts have been made to reduce fruit softening in transgenic tomato through the suppression of genes encoding cell wall-degrading proteins. However, these have met with very limited success. N-glycans are reported to play an important role during fruit ripening, although the role of any particular enzyme is yet unknown. We have identified and targeted two ripening-specific N-glycoprotein modifying enzymes, alpha-mannosidase (alpha-Man) and beta-D-N-acetylhexosaminidase (beta-Hex). We show that their suppression enhances fruit shelf life, owing to the reduced rate of softening. Analysis of transgenic tomatoes revealed approximately 2.5- and approximately 2-fold firmer fruits in the alpha-Man and beta-Hex RNAi lines, respectively, and approximately 30 days of enhanced shelf life. Overexpression of alpha-Man or beta-Hex resulted in excessive fruit softening. Expression of alpha-Man and beta-Hex is induced by the ripening hormone ethylene and is modulated by a regulator of ripening, rin (ripening inhibitor). Furthermore, transcriptomic comparative studies demonstrate the down-regulation of cell wall degradation- and ripening-related genes in RNAi fruits. It is evident from these results that N-glycan processing is involved in ripening-associated fruit softening. Genetic manipulation of N-glycan processing can be of strategic importance to enhance fruit shelf life, without any negative effect on phenotype, including yield.

The rapidly expanding segment of the aging population with its rising incidence of cutaneous melanoma will present major challenges in therapeutic management. Immune strategies will be important in designing effective treatment of melanoma because it is a highly immunogenic tumor. Aging, however, is associated with dysregulation of the immune system and is likely to affect the success of melanoma treatment in the elderly population. This population represents an ideal in vivo model to study the effects of the aging immune system on the natural history of melanoma in the elderly. We review the epidemiology, histopathologic features, and treatment outcomes of elderly melanoma patients with reference to their immune function. Various components of the normal immune system are described, and the immune response to melanoma is recapitulated. Particular emphasis is placed on the growing understanding of the innate, adaptive, and regulatory arms of the aging immune system.

Background: The ultimate phenome of any organism is modulated by regulated transcription of many genes. Characterization of genetic makeup is thus crucial for understanding the molecular basis of phenotypic diversity, evolution and response to intra- and extra-cellular stimuli. Chickpea is the world's third most important food legume grown in over 40 countries representing all the continents. Despite its importance in plant evolution, role in human nutrition and stress adaptation, very little ESTs and differential transcriptome data is available, let alone genotype-specific gene signatures. Present study focuses on Fusarium wilt responsive gene expression in chickpea., Results: We report 6272 gene sequences of immune-response pathway that would provide genotype-dependent spatial information on the presence and relative abundance of each gene. The sequence assembly led to the identification of a CaUnigene set of 2013 transcripts comprising of 973 contigs and 1040 singletons, two-third of which represent new chickpea genes hitherto undiscovered. We identified 209 gene families and 262 genotype-specific SNPs. Further, several novel transcription regulators were identified indicating their possible role in immune response. The transcriptomic analysis revealed 649 non-cannonical genes besides many unexpected candidates with known biochemical functions, which have never been associated with pathostress-responsive transcriptome., Conclusion: Our study establishes a comprehensive catalogue of the immune-responsive root transcriptome with insight into their identity and function. The development, detailed analysis of CaEST datasets and global gene expression by microarray provide new insight into the commonality and diversity of organ-specific immune-responsive transcript signatures and their regulated expression shaping the species specificity at genotype level. This is the first report on differential transcriptome of an unsequenced genome during vascular wilt.

Background: Although recognized as a significant respiratory pathogen, there is a dearth of information on genetic diversity of human respiratory syncytial virus (HRSV) strains among children in India., Objectives: To study prevalence and genomic diversity of HRSV strains among children (<5 years of age) with acute respiratory tract infection (ARTI) at Dr. B.C. Roy Memorial Hospital for Children, Kolkata, Eastern India., Study Design: During September 2005 to August 2008, nasal and/or throat swabs from children with ARTI were screened for presence of HRSVs by RT-PCR of nucleocapsid (N) and glycoprotein (G) genes. Classification of G gene of HRSV strains were achieved with different primer pairs designed for amplification of N'- and/or C'-terminal hypervariable regions (HVR1 and HVR2) of HRSV A and B strains. The HVR1 and HVR2 of G gene of 27 and 22 HRSV B strains were sequenced., Results: One hundred seventy seven of 1720 clinical samples were positive for HRSVs. Group B strains were detected at higher rates (95% against 5%, n=80) than A in 2005-2006, whereas in consecutive years, the rate of detection of group A were higher (94.84% against 5.16%, n=97). The group B strains were genetically related to globally spreading BA genotype, exhibiting conserved nature of stop codon, six nucleotide deletions in HVR1 and formed single phylogenetic clusters for both HVR1 and HVR2., Conclusions: The detection of significant high rates of group B strains in 2005-2006 followed by increase in prevalence of A strains in subsequent years highlight the dynamic nature of prevalence of HRSV subtypes among children with ARTI in Eastern India.

Water deficit or dehydration is the most crucial environmental constraint on plant growth and development and crop productivity. It has been postulated that plants respond and adapt to dehydration by altering their cellular metabolism and by activating various defense machineries. The nucleus, the regulatory hub of the eukaryotic cell, is a dynamic system and a repository of various macromolecules that serve as modulators of cell signaling dictating the cell fate decision. To better understand the molecular mechanisms of dehydration-responsive adaptation in plants, we developed a comprehensive nuclear proteome of rice. The proteome was determined using a sequential method of organellar enrichment followed by two-dimensional electrophoresis-based protein identification by LC-ESI-MS/MS. We initially screened several commercial rice varieties and parental lines and established their relative dehydration tolerance. The differential display of nuclear proteins in the tolerant variety under study revealed 150 spots that showed changes in their intensities by more than 2.5-fold. The proteomics analysis led to the identification of 109 differentially regulated proteins presumably involved in a variety of functions, including transcriptional regulation and chromatin remodeling, signaling and gene regulation, cell defense and rescue, and protein degradation. The dehydration-responsive nuclear proteome revealed a coordinated response involving both regulatory and functional proteins, impinging upon the molecular mechanism of dehydration adaptation. Furthermore a comparison between the dehydration-responsive nuclear proteome of rice and that of a legume, the chickpea, showed an evolutionary divergence in dehydration response comprising a few conserved proteins, whereas most of the proteins may be involved in crop-specific adaptation. These results might help in understanding the spectrum of nuclear proteins and the biological processes they control under dehydration as well as having implications for strategies to improve dehydration tolerance in plants.

We present the design and operation of a novel instrument for the simultaneous three-dimensional measurements of localized properties using optical and mechanical probes. In this instrument the mechanical and optical probes are stationary relative to the instrument frame while the specimen can be navigated in three-dimensional space in the probing field, translating over a range of 64.5 microm by 49.7 microm by 31.5 microm in each axis, respectively, at closed loop speeds of 10 Hz. A large aperture is provided in the center of the moving platform so that an optical lens can image the specimen from below. An additional z-direction translator has been integrated with this instrument to independently move a force probe that contacts the specimen from above with a translation range of 16 microm. Furthermore, there is an additional seven degrees of freedom providing adjustments to independently position and/or align the scanner and force probe relative to the optical imaging lens. Initial results of both optical and mechanical scans demonstrate 6 nm localization from single molecule fluorescence measurements, as well as single pair fluorescence energy transfer measurements indicating molecular separations of about 2 nm.

As tuberculosis generates a highly heterogeneous antibody repertoire, its diagnosis requires tests based on cocktails of antigens. We describe a new, rapid method called rapid immunochromatographic assay (RICA) for cocktail-based diagnosis, which can detect Mycobacterial antigens in sputum specimens. Six antigenic fractions of pathogenic Mycobacterium tuberculosis were used in combination as the capture antigens in the control line of the flow-through assay. Antigen detection of 200 sputum samples from HIV seropositive patients by RICA assay gave a sensitivity of 97.9%, specificity of 99.0%, positive predictive value of 98.9%, negative predictive value of 98.0%, false positive rate of 0.9%, false negative rate of 2.0%, prevalence rate of 49%, likelihood ratio for positive results 97 and likelihood ratio for negative results 0.02. The combination of RICA and AFB staining gave a sensitivity of 100%, specificity of 100%, positive predictive value of 100%, negative predictive value of 100%, false positive rate of 0%, false negative rate of 0%, likelihood ratio for negative results 0. The assay was simple, rapid and economical for the detection of M. tuberculosis infection and suitable for large scale screening of samples in endemic areas without any sophisticated equipment. The results of the assay proved to be superior to conventional methods and combined with clinical data, could form the basis for starting an earlier course of treatment.

Infectious diseases are among the leading causes of death and sometimes curable. Bacteria are the most common aetiology in hospitalised patients. Objectives of this study were to evaluate the incidence of bacterial infections and their pattern of susceptibility to antibiotics in moderate and severe infections in hospitalised patients. The study was performed in the apical teaching hospital of West Bengal in the first half of 2005. Patients admitted in medical wards and medical ICU, suffering from moderate and severe infections having APACHE-II score > 5 were studied. Clinical evaluation, routine and specific investigations were done in each case. Microbiological samplings were tried on day 1, after completion of antibiotic therapy and in between as required. Aerobic BACTEC bacterial culture and sensitivity tests were done. Pending initial culture and sensitivity report empiric antibiotic therapy was started, which was modified on getting the culture and sensitivity report. Outcome was observed as no response, cured, resolved, inconclusive, died and left against medical advice. Out of 40 patients total number of samples were 54 and that of sites of infections were 48. Primary site could not be detected in 11 infections (22.9%). Commonest form was urinary tract infection and abdominal infection in community acquired infection (n=18) and pneumonia in hospital acquired infection (n = 15). Culture was positive in 33 (61.11%), Gram-negative infection was more common in general, but incidence of Gram-positive infection was also quite high and Gram-positive infection was more common in community acquired infection. In general S aureus was most common bacteria -8 (24.24%). In community acquired infection S aureus 4 (22.22%) predominated followed by E coli and in hospital acquired infection S aureus -4 (26.66%) followed by E coli and P aeruginosa. Incidence of methicillin resistant Staph aureus was low. But it constituted 50% of S aureus. No methicillin resistant Staph aureus was found in community acquired infection. Two isolates of vancomycin intermediate sensitive Staph aureus were observed. Methicillin resistant Staph aureus showed maximum sensitivity to linezolid (100%) and all methicillin resistant Staph aureus but one vancomycin intermediate sensitive Staph aureus were sensitive to vancomycin. Coagulase negative Staph aureus were all sensitive to vancomycin and linezolid. Gram-negatives were mostly resistant to aminoglycosides and P aeruginosa were all sensitive to aztreonam. Single strain of S typhi as isolated was resistant to ceftriaxone and ciprofloxacin. P miribalis, P aeruginosa and coagulase negative Staph aureus were notoriously multidrug resistant; 82.5% of cases responded to treatment of which 35% were cured microbiologically. Gram-negative infection was more common overall, but incidence of Gram-positive infection was also very high. Gram-negative infections were responsible for more severe infections and case fatality. Multidrug resistant Gram-positive infections are rising.

Cumulative osmotic stress models have been previously used to successfully describe the dehydration kinetics of recalcitrant seeds. For example, Liang and Sun demonstrated that a cumulative stress model effectively described the dehydration rate-dependence of recalcitrant seed viability under various drying conditions. In contrast, most studies describing the functionality of mammalian cells following drying conditions have been end-point oriented, describing cell viability as a function of the final moisture content reached or the duration of drying. This study applies a thermodynamics-based water metric similar to the Liang and Sun model to describe the viability of J774 mouse macrophage cells as a function of both moisture content and time of drying. Cells were incubated in full-complement DMEM media containing 50 mM trehalose, to enable trehalose loading by endocytosis. Treated cells and untreated controls that were not previously incubated in trehalose were dried in hypertonic (508 mOsm) and isotonic (308 mOsm) solutions of trehalose (200 mM) in phosphate-buffered saline (PBS). Various levels of dehydration were achieved by placing droplets of cell suspension in a desiccator for time periods up to 2 h. Cells were then immediately rehydrated and viability was assessed 45-min after rehydration. Cell viability was evaluated using a combination of Trypan Blue staining for membrane integrity of detached cells and Calcein AM - ethidium bromide fluorescence as a live-dead assay for attached cells. The cellular response was then evaluated as a function of cumulative osmotic stress, defined as the integral of the deviation in osmolality from isotonic conditions as a function of time. The results of this modeling suggested that significant cell injury was occurring in a moderate osmolality range, and that modulation of osmotic stresses in this range could lead to improved processing outcomes.

Background and Aims: Dysarthria affects linguistic domains such as respiration, phonation, articulation, resonance and prosody due to upper motor neuron, lower motor neuron, cerebellar or extrapyramidal tract lesions. Although Bengali is one of the major languages globally, dysarthric Bengali speech has not been subjected to neurolinguistic analysis. We attempted such an analysis with the goal of identifying the speech defects in native Bengali speakers in various types of dysarthria encountered in neurological disorders., Settings and Design: A cross-sectional observational study was conducted with 66 dysarthric subjects, predominantly middle-aged males, attending the Neuromedicine OPD of a tertiary care teaching hospital in Kolkata., Materials and Methods: After neurological examination, an instrument comprising commonly used Bengali words and a text block covering all Bengali vowels and consonants were used to carry out perceptual analysis of dysarthric speech. From recorded speech, 24 parameters pertaining to five linguistic domains were assessed. The Kruskal-Wallis analysis of variance, Chi-square test and Fisher's exact test were used for analysis., Results: The dysarthria types were spastic (15 subjects), flaccid (10), mixed (12), hypokinetic (12), hyperkinetic (9) and ataxic (8). Of the 24 parameters assessed, 15 were found to occur in one or more types with a prevalence of at least 25%. Imprecise consonant was the most frequently occurring defect in most dysarthrias. The spectrum of defects in each type was identified. Some parameters were capable of distinguishing between types., Conclusions: This perceptual analysis has defined linguistic defects likely to be encountered in dysarthric Bengali speech in neurological disorders. The speech distortion can be described and distinguished by a limited number of parameters. This may be of importance to the speech therapist and neurologist in planning rehabilitation and further management.

Tuberization in potato ( Solanum tuberosum L.) is a developmental process that serves a double function, as a storage organ and as a vegetative propagation system. It is a multistep, complex process and the underlying mechanisms governing these overlapping steps are not fully understood. To understand the molecular basis of tuberization in potato, a comparative proteomic approach has been applied to monitor differentially expressed proteins at different development stages using two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2-DE). The differentially displayed proteomes revealed 219 protein spots that change their intensities more than 2.5-fold. The LC-ES-MS/MS analyses led to the identification of 97 differentially regulated proteins that include predicted and novel tuber-specific proteins. Nonhierarchical clustering revealed coexpression patterns of functionally similar proteins. The expression of reactive oxygen species catabolizing enzymes, viz., superoxide dismutase, ascorbate peroxidase and catalase, were induced by more than 2-fold indicating their possible role during the developmental transition from stolons into tubers. We demonstrate that nearly 100 proteins, some presumably associated with tuber cell differentiation, regulate diverse functions like protein biogenesis and storage, bioenergy and metabolism, and cell defense and rescue impinge on the complexity of tuber development in potato.

Dry preservation involves removing water from samples so that degradative biochemical processes are slowed and extended storage is possible. Recently this approach has been explored as a method for preserving living mammalian cells. The current work explores the use of microwave processing to enhance evaporation rates and to improve drying uniformity, thereby overcoming some of the challenges in this field. Mouse macrophage cells (J774) were pre-incubated in full complement media containing 50 mM trehalose, for 18-h, to allow for endocytosis of trehalose. Droplets of experimental and control (no intracellular trehalose) cell suspensions were placed on coverslips in a microwave cavity. Water was evaporated using intermittent microwave heating (600 W, 30 s intervals). Samples were dried to various moisture levels, rehydrated, and then survival was assessed after a 45-min recovery period using Calcein-AM/PI fluorescence and Trypan Blue exclusion assays. The metabolic activity of dried cells (4.3 gH(2)O/gdw) was assessed after rehydration using a resazurin reduction assay. Apoptosis levels were also measured. Post- rehydration survival correlated with the final moisture content achieved, consistent with other drying methods. Intracellular trehalose provided protection against injury associated with moisture loss. Metabolic assays revealed normal growth in surviving cells, and these survival levels were consistent with results from apoptosis assays (P > 0.05). Brightfield and fluorescence images of microwave-dried samples revealed a uniform distribution of cells within the dried matrix and profilometry analysis demonstrated that solids were uniformly distributed throughout the sample. Microwave-processing successfully facilitated rapid and uniform dehydration of cell-based samples., ((c) 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

Dehydration or water-deficit is one of the most important environmental stress factors that greatly influences plant growth and development and limits crop productivity. Plants respond and adapt to such stress by altering their cellular metabolism and activating various defense machineries. Mechanisms that operate signal perception, transduction, and downstream regulatory events provide valuable information about the underlying pathways involved in environmental stress responses. The nuclear proteins constitute a highly organized, complex network that plays diverse roles during cellular development and other physiological processes. To gain a better understanding of dehydration response in plants, we have developed a comparative nuclear proteome in a food legume, chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.). Three-week-old chickpea seedlings were subjected to progressive dehydration by withdrawing water and the changes in the nuclear proteome were examined using two-dimensional gel electrophoresis. Approximately 205 protein spots were found to be differentially regulated under dehydration. Mass spectrometry analysis allowed the identification of 147 differentially expressed proteins, presumably involved in a variety of functions including gene transcription and replication, molecular chaperones, cell signaling, and chromatin remodeling. The dehydration responsive nuclear proteome of chickpea revealed a coordinated response, which involves both the regulatory as well as the functional proteins. This study, for the first time, provides an insight into the complex metabolic network operating in the nucleus during dehydration.

In this report we describe the clinical and laboratory profiles of different opportunistic infections (OIs) among 125 immunocompromised patients admitted to a referral hospital in the eastern part of India. Different pathogens were isolated, identified and characterized using the laboratory gold standard methods. Oral candidiasis (88%) was found to be the most common OI, followed by tuberculosis (57%), enteropathogenic Vibrio (47%), cytomegalovirus infection (45%), cryptosporidial diarrhea (43%), Escherichia coli infection (42%) and other infections among the study subjects. Statistical analysis of the case studies shows 120/cumm median CD4+ blood cell count, and the OIs showed an inversely proportional occurrence to the CD4+ count of the immunocompromised patients. The spectrum and frequency of certain OIs highlight the urgency of studying HIV/AIDS in resource-limited countries where locally specific disease patterns may be observed. The purpose of the present investigation was the identification of such opportunistic pathogens, as we feel the HIV epidemic can be more effectively managed if physicians and health planners are aware of this information.

Water deficit or dehydration is the most crucial environmental factor that limits crop productivity and influences geographical distribution of many crop plants. It is suggested that dehydration-responsive changes in expression of proteins may lead to cellular adaptation against water deficit conditions. Most of the earlier understanding of dehydration-responsive cellular adaptation has evolved from transcriptome analyses. By contrast, comparative analysis of dehydration-responsive proteins, particularly proteins in the subcellular fraction, is limiting. In plants, cell wall or extracellular matrix (ECM) serves as the repository for most of the components of the cell signaling process and acts as a frontline defense. Thus, we have initiated a proteomics approach to identify dehydration-responsive ECM proteins in a food legume, chickpea. Several commercial chickpea varieties were screened for the status of dehydration tolerance using different physiological and biochemical indexes. Dehydration-responsive temporal changes of ECM proteins in JG-62, a relatively tolerant variety, revealed 186 proteins with variance at a 95% significance level statistically. The comparative proteomics analysis led to the identification of 134 differentially expressed proteins that include predicted and novel dehydration-responsive proteins. This study, for the first time, demonstrates that over a hundred ECM proteins, presumably involved in a variety of cellular functions, viz. cell wall modification, signal transduction, metabolism, and cell defense and rescue, impinge on the molecular mechanism of dehydration tolerance in plants.

Yersinia pestis, the causative agent of plague, is known to develop strategies to overcome the host immune mechanisms and survive in the host. The molecular changes induced by Y. pestis in the host are not well delineated. Here, we examined the early events triggered after the intracellular infection of Y. pestis in human monocytes and lymphocytes by analyzing the host transcriptional profiles using cDNA arrays. We found that sets of genes that, especially at early time periods, were highly upregulated in monocytes alone when compared with a mixed culture of lymphocytes and monocytes. Gene expression responses revealed genes coding for cytokines, chemokines, transcription factors, inflammatory and apoptosis-related genes. Protein levels were measured, and real-time polymerase chain reaction was used to validate the microarray results. Our data suggest that intracellular infection of human monocytes with Y. pestis results in a strong inflammatory response at early time periods and a downregulation of genes such as thromobomodulin, which may play a role in coagulation, resulting in disseminated intravascular coagulation, a primary cause of death in plague infected hosts. We provide evidence that genomic analysis can provide a solid foundation to mechanistic insights to explain some of the symptoms induced by Y. pestis.

Systematic extraction of relevant biological facts from available massive scientific knowledge source is emerging as a significant task for the science community. Its success depends on several key factors, including the precision of a given search, the time of its accomplishment, and the communicative prowess of the mined information to the users. GeneCite - a stand-alone Java-based high-throughput data mining tool - is designed to carry out these tasks for several important knowledge sources simultaneously, allowing the users to integrate the results and interpret biological significance in a time-efficient manner. GeneCite provides an integrated high-throughput search platform serving as an information retrieval (IR) tool for probing online literature database (PubMed) and the sequence-tagged sites' database (UniSTS), respectively. It also operates as a data retrieval (DR) tool to mine an archive of biological pathways integrated into the software itself. Furthermore, GeneCite supports a retrieved data management system (DMS) showcasing the final output in a spread-sheet format. Each cell of the output file holds a real-time connection (hyperlink) to the given online archive reachable at the users' convenience. The software is free and currently available online www.bioinformatics.org; www.wrair.army.mil/Resources.

Maternal health services have a potentially critical role in the improvement of reproductive health. The use of health services is related to the availability, quality and cost of the services, as well as to social structure, health beliefs and the personal characteristics of the users. The present paper examined the factors that influence the use of maternal health services for some selected pregnancy-related complications (e.g. prolonged labour, excessive bleeding, high fever/discharge and convulsions) in Bangladesh by using data from the Bangladesh Demographic Health Survey, 1999-2000. It was found that younger mothers were significantly less likely to seek professional healthcare at the time of birth. The odds for rural women seeking healthcare services from a doctor, nurse and/or midwife were half those of urban women. The strong influence of the mothers' education and parity on the utilisation of healthcare services is consistent with findings from other studies. The possession of assets emerged as an important predictor of seeking care from health professionals at the time of birth. Another factor, i.e. a husband's concern about pregnancy complications, showed a significant and positive impact on the utilisation of healthcare services, which is very important for rural women when they are dependent on their spouses. It was observed that the respondents living in urban areas, who had higher levels of education and lower parity, and more assets (used as a proxy for income), visited trained healthcare providers more often and were more likely to use healthcare facilities provided by trained personnel at the time of delivery. This is a reflection of the fact that, irrespective of their needs, only people from higher economic or educational groups can afford to seek healthcare from trained personnel in Bangladesh. In other words, predisposing and enabling factors appear to have a strong association with women's healthcare utilisation during pregnancy.

A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted in July 2004 to understand the problem of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections among long-distance transport workers operating through the Siliguri-Guwahati national highway. The study included 301 transport workers who were contacted at different transport workers' stops on the Siliguri-Guwahati national highway. Informed consent was obtained. Participants were interviewed for their socio-demographic characteristics, risk behavior, and risk perceptions. Blood testing for HIV, hepatitis B virus, and syphilis (at least 1:8 dilution) showed seroprevalence rates of 2.3%, 3.7%, and 6.3%, respectively. About 67% said they visited sex workers. The reported condom use rate was 58%. About 27% sustained a sexually transmitted infection within the last year. The existing HIV prevalence among transport workers appears to be low, but in view of their risk behavior and high rate of sexually transmitted infection, HIV rates may increase unless a suitable behavioral intervention is urgently initiated toward them.

Protein phosphatase 2Cs (PP2Cs) constitute a major class of phosphatases in plants. PP2Cs play important roles in many signaling pathways by countering the action of specific protein kinases. In addition to their role in several environmental stress-related signal transduction pathways, they are also involved in plant metabolism. Protein phosphatases often physically associate with their protein kinase counterparts. One approach to understanding PP2C function is to identify their interacting protein kinases. We describe a yeast two-hybrid assay system used in our lab to determine the interaction between members of the PP2C family and protein kinases in the SOS2 family. This chapter and the cited articles describing related work might be of help in discovering interactions between other protein phosphatases and kinases.

Objectives: The aim of this paper was to investigate the potential risk factors for developing complications and their magnitude during the antenatal period., Methodology: The data used in this paper came from a prospective survey in rural areas of Bangladesh conducted by the Bangladesh Institute of Research for Promotion of Essential and Reproductive Health and Technologies (BIRPERHT) between November 1992 and December 1993. The differential patterns were analyzed for respondents' selected characteristics, and multivariate analysis was performed employing logistic regression and proportional hazards models for life-threatening and high-risk complications during pregnancy., Results: For life-threatening complications during pregnancy, several factors emerged as potential risk factors, such as number of the pregnancy, age at marriage, duration of pregnancy, economic status and history of anemia prior to the index pregnancy. The last two covariates were associated only in the proportional hazards. Potential risk factors for high-risk complications during pregnancy were level of education, age at marriage, wanted pregnancy, duration of pregnancy and economic status., Conclusions: Health planners and policy makers in developing countries are trying to facilitate health services at the doorsteps of rural people. Our findings will help them understand the magnitude and underlying determinants of maternal morbidities and help their health planning process to reduce both life-threatening and high-risk complications during the antenatal period. Early age at marriage needs to be prevented through encouragement of girls' education as well as through increased social awareness programs. An effective quick referral mechanism should be developed to provide emergency services to high risk-groups. Finally, the importance of additional food supplements needs to be promoted during antenatal care visits as well as through mass media in order to reach people living in remote areas of rural Bangladesh.

Essential fatty acids have long been identified as possible oncogenic factors. Existing reports suggest omega-6 (omega-6) essential fatty acids (EFA) as pro-oncogenic and omega-3 (omega-3) EFA as anti-oncogenic factors. The omega-3 fatty acids, eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), inhibit the growth of human breast cancer cells while the omega-6 fatty acids induces growth of these cells in animal models and cell lines. In order to explore likely mechanisms for the modulation of breast cancer cell growth by omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids, we examined the effects of arachidonic acid (AA), linoleic acid (LA), EPA and DHA on human breast cancer cell lines using cDNA microarrays and quantitative polymerase chain reaction. MDA-MB-231, MDA-MB-435s, MCF-7 and HCC2218 cell lines were treated with the selected fatty acids for 6 and 24 h. Microarray analysis of gene expression profiles in the breast cancer cells treated with both classes of fatty acids discerned essential differences among the two classes at the earlier time point. The differential effects of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids on the breast cancer cells were lessened at the late time point. Data mining and statistical analyses identified genes that were differentially expressed between breast cancer cells treated with omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids. Ontological investigations have associated those genes to a broad spectrum of biological functions, including cellular nutrition, cell division, cell proliferation, metastasis and transcription factors etc., and thus presented an important pool of biomarkers for the differential effect of omega-3 and omega-6EFAs.

Nuclear proteins constitute a highly organized, complex network that plays diverse roles during cellular development and other physiological processes. The yeast nuclear proteome corresponds to about one-fourth of the total cellular proteins, suggesting the involvement of the nucleus in a number of diverse functions. In an attempt to understand the complexity of plant nuclear proteins, we have developed a proteome reference map of a legume, chickpea, using two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2-DE). Approximately, 600 protein spots were detected, and LC-ESI-MS/MS analyses led to the identification of 150 proteins that have been implicated in a variety of cellular functions. The largest percentage of the identified proteins was involved in signaling and gene regulation (36%), while 17% were involved in DNA replication and transcription. The chickpea nuclear proteome indicates the presence of few new nuclear proteins of unknown functions vis-à-vis many known resident proteins. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of a nuclear proteome of an unsequenced genome.

Dollar spot caused by Sclerotinia homoeocarpa F. T. Bennett is the most economically important turf disease on golf courses in North America. Dollar spot resistance in a creeping bentgrass cultivar would greatly reduce the frequency, costs, and environmental impacts of fungicide application. Little work has been done to understand the genetics of resistance to dollar spot in creeping bentgrass. Therefore, QTL analysis was used to determine the location, number and effects of genomic regions associated with dollar spot resistance in the field. To meet this objective, field inoculations using a single isolate were performed over 2 years and multiple locations using progeny of a full sib mapping population '549 x 372'. Dollar spot resistance seems to be inherited quantitatively and broad sense heritability for resistance was estimated to be 0.88. We have detected one QTL with large effect on linkage group 7.1 with LOD values ranging from 3.4 to 8.6 and explaining 14-36% of the phenotypic variance. Several smaller effect QTL specific to rating dates, locations and years were also detected. The association of the tightly linked markers with the LG 7.1 QTL based on 106 progeny was further examined by single marker analysis on all 697 progeny. The high significance of the QTL on LG 7.1 at a sample size of 697 (P < 0.0001), along with its consistency across locations, years and ratings dates, indicated that it was stable over environments. Markers tightly linked to the QTL can be utilized for marker-assisted selection in future bentgrass breeding programs.

Simian-Human immunodeficiency virus is a chimeric virus which, in rhesus macaques (Macacca mulatta) closely imitates immunodeficiency virus infection in human (HIV). A relatively new way to study pathogenesis of viral infection is to study alterations in host gene expression induced by the virus. SHIV infection with certain strains does not result in clinical signs. We hypothesized that alterations in gene expression relating to the immune system would be present in SHIV-infected animals despite the lack of clinical signs. Splenic tissue from four adult male Indian-origin Rhesus monkeys serologically positive for non-pathogenic SHIV 89.6 was processed by cDNA microarray analysis. Results were compared with the corresponding outcome using splenic tissues from four unexposed adult male Rhesus monkeys. Subsequent gene analysis confirmed statistically significant variations between control and infected samples. Interestingly, SHIV-infected monkeys exhibited altered expression in genes related to apoptosis, signal transduction, T and B lymphocyte activation and importantly, to immune regulation. Although infected animals appeared asymptomatic, our study demonstrated that SHIV-infected monkeys cannot reliably be used in studies of other infectious agents as their baseline gene expression differs from that of normal Rhesus monkeys. The gene expression differences in SHIV-infected animals relative to uninfected animals offer additional clues to the pathogenesis of altered immune function in response to secondary infection.

The extracellular matrix (ECM) or cell wall is a dynamic system and serves as the first line mediator in cell signaling to perceive and transmit extra- and intercellular signals in many pathways. Although ECM is a conserved compartment ubiquitously present throughout evolution, a compositional variation does exist among different organisms. ECM proteins account for 10% of the ECM mass, however, comprise several hundreds of different molecules with diverse functions. To understand the function of ECM proteins, we have developed the cell wall proteome of a crop legume, chickpea (Cicer arietinum). This comprehensive overview of the proteome would provide a basis for future comparative proteomic efforts for this important crop. Proteomic analyses revealed new ECM proteins of unknown functions vis-à-vis the presence of many known cell wall proteins. In addition, we report here evidence for the presence of unexpected proteins with known biochemical activities, which have never been associated with ECM.

Problem: Program evaluation of the effectiveness of two continuing nursing education programs (CNE) in child psychiatry in India., Methods: Pre- and postevaluation of a total of 51 nurses attending a 10-day CNE program, using a 30-item (six-domain) questionnaire according to CNE topics in child psychiatry., Findings: The CNE program resulted in significant increase in the total scores as well as scores in several sub-domains in the field of child psychiatry., Conclusions: In a country that does not offer degree programs that integrate psychiatric nursing into the curriculum, CNE programs are an important educational option for nurses. The CNE program offered in this study, comprising lectures, discussion, interactive sessions, and case demonstrations totaling 60 hr across 10 days, was effective in improving the level of knowledge of nurses. It was equally beneficial for senior as well as less experienced nurses.

Inositol phosphate glycan pseudotetrasaccharides consisting of man-(alpha1-6)-man-(alpha1-4)-glcN-(alpha,beta1-6)-myo-inositol-1,2-cyclic phosphate possessing a sulfate group at either O-6 (compounds 3alpha,beta) or O-2 (compounds 4alpha,beta) of the terminal mannose have been prepared. Compound 4alpha was able to stimulate lipogenesis in native rat adipocytes to 78% of the maximal insulin response (MIR) with an EC50 of 1.1 microM. The other compounds exhibited lower maximal stimulations (47-63% MIR) and higher EC50 values (9.5-10.6 microM).

This study comparing patterns of service utilization by bipolar patients in North-West Wales found a greater prevalence of service utilization in the 1990s compared with the 1890s. In the pre-lithium era, admissions for bipolar disorders occurred at a rate of 4 every 10 years; they now occur at a rate of 6.3 every 10 years. Where 100 years ago, there were 16 bipolar patients per million population resident per day in hospital, there are now 24 per million resident in acute service beds and more in non-acute beds. These data are incompatible with simple claims that mood stabilizing drugs 'work'. An alternative is that these agents have treatment effects, and further research is needed to match treatments to patients in order to optimize outcomes.

Hepatopulmonary syndrome (HPS) is charaterised by arterial hypoxaemia found mainly in association with chronic liver disease (most commonly cirrhosis of liver) but also rarely with acute liver diseases like fulminant hepatic failure or Budd-Chiari syndrome. The purpose of this article is to present an uncommon but grave complication mostly associated with cirrhosis of liver and to differentiate this entry from cyanotic heart diseases or certain lung conditions. Investigations include history and physical examination, certain biochemical tests, upper gastro-intestinal (GI) endoscopy, abdominal ultrasonography, liver biopsy and venacavography in appropriate cases. Finally, the suspected cases underwent arterial blood gas (ABG) analysis and contrast enhanced echocardiography (CEE) for confirmation of the diagnosis of HPS. Of the 123 cases of cirrhosis of liver, three cases of HPS (2.4%) were found-all of them being males. Also one male patient with inferior vena cava (IVC) obstruction amongst other causes presenting with HPS was encountered. As of now, no medical treatment has been proved to be useful and liver transplant remains the only hope for this disorder.

Creeping bentgrass (Agrostis stolonifera L.) is one of the most adapted bentgrass species for use on golf course fairways and putting greens because of its high tolerance to low mowing height. It is a highly outcrossing allotetraploid species (2n=4x=28, A(2) and A(3) subgenomes). The first linkage map in this species is reported herein, and it was constructed based on a population derived from a cross between two heterozygous clones using 169 RAPD, 180 AFLP, and 39 heterologous cereal and 36 homologous bentgrass cDNA RFLP markers. The linkage map consists of 424 mapped loci covering 1,110 cM in 14 linkage groups, of which seven pairs of homoeologous chromosomes were identified based on duplicated loci. The numbering of all seven linkage groups in the bentgrass map was assigned according to common markers mapped on syntenous chromosomes of ryegrass and wheat. The number of markers linked in coupling and repulsion phase was in a 1:1 ratio, indicating disomic inheritance. This supports a strict allotetraploid inheritance in creeping bentgrass, as suggested by previous work based on chromosomal pairing and isozymes. This linkage map will assist in the tagging and eventually in marker-assisted breeding of economically important quantitative traits like disease resistance to dollar spot (Sclerotinia homoeocarpa F.T. Bennett) and brown patch (Rhizoctonia solani Kuhn).

The chemical synthesis of 2,6-dideoxy-2-amino-6-mercaptoglucopyranosyl-(alpha1-6)-myo-inositol 1,2-cyclic phosphate and its conjugation with a lucifer yellow derivative are reported. The resulting fluorescent IPG analogue was able to stimulate lipogenesis in rat adipocytes despite the fact that it was not internalized into the cell. The results demonstrate that internalization of the IPG is not required for manifestation of its insulin-like effects.

We studied the expression levels of fatty acid binding proteins in breast normal and cancer cell lines. Liver fatty acid binding protein (L-FABP) and intestine fatty acid binding proteins were shown to be up-regulated in breast cancer cell lines while adipose- and epidermal-fatty acid binding proteins were down regulated in breast cancer cells compared to normal breast cell lines. We have previously shown that blocking the expression of L-FABP resulted in remarkable effects on apoptosis and cell proliferation of prostate cancer cell lines (Hammamieh et al 2004). To study the mechanism of effect of the liver fatty acid binding protein in breast cancer cells, we designed an antisense oligodeoxynucleotide to block the production of liver-FABP in MCF-7 cells. The antisense was shown to inhibit the expression of L-FABP and to induce apoptosis in MCF-7 cells. This study examines the mechanism by which L-FABP antisense regulates proliferation and apoptosis in breast cancer cell lines. We used human cDNA microarrays to explore differentially expressed genes in MCF-7 breast cancer cells treated with L-FABP antisense oligonucleotide. Some of the genes that were differentially expressed were confirmed using quantitative RT-PCR. Genes related to cell growth, proliferation and angiogenesis showed significant variations. This suggests a possible use of these antisense ODNs as therapeutic agents for breast cancer in future.

Objectives: There are only a few studies on maternal morbidity, delivery complications and maternal mortality in Bangladesh. This study analyzes data from a follow-up study conducted by the Bangladesh Institute of Research for Health and Technologies (BIRPERHT) on maternal morbidity in rural Bangladesh in 1993., Methods: A total of 1020 pregnant women were interviewed in the follow-up component of the study. The survey collected information on socioeconomic and demographic characteristics, pregnancy-related care and practice, morbidity during the period of follow-up as well as in the past, information concerning complications at the time of delivery and during the postpartum period. For the purpose of this study, we selected 993 pregnant women with at least one antenatal follow-up. Both bivariate and multivariate analyses were conducted to identify the potential risk factors for complication during delivery and duration of labor., Results and Conclusions: It appears that complications during the antenatal period can result in various complications at the time of delivery. Some of the important findings are: hemorrhage during the antenatal period increases the risk of excessive hemorrhage during delivery, the risk of obstructed labor increases significantly if abdominal pain is observed during the antenatal period, prolonged labor appears to be significantly higher for the first pregnancy, and pregnancies suffering from abdominal pain during pregnancy tend to have a higher risk of prolonged labor during delivery. The duration of labor appears to be negatively associated with the number of previous pregnancies, being longest for the first pregnancies. The duration of labor pain is significantly higher for the respondents who reported the index pregnancy as undesired, and, similarly, the respondents who were reported to be involved with gainful employment would have a shorter duration of labor pain than those having no involvement with gainful employment.

Aripiprazole, an atypical antipsychotic with a novel method of action, has only recently been awarded a license in the UK. We report our first patient to receive this drug, who had treatment-resistant schizophrenia and developed neuroleptic malignant syndrome (NMS) with aripiprazole. To our knowledge, this is the first published case report involving aripiprazole and NMS in a potentially fatal medical emergency. Further experience with this drug should indicate whether this is an isolated case (as described with other atypical antipsychotics) or constitutes a more serious risk than that suggested by the relatively beneficial therapeutic profile described in the literature to date.

Previous studies in our laboratory have showed that liver (L)-FABP and intestine-FABP were upregulated in prostate cancer cells whereas Adipose-FABP and epidermal-FABP were down regulated in cancer cells when compared to normal cells in tissue cultures and biopsy samples (Das et al, 2001). We have also shown that blocking the expression of L-FABP resulted in remarkable effects on apoptosis and cell proliferation of prostate cancer cell lines. Another study showed that induction of A-FABP inhibited proliferation DU 145 prostate cancer cells (DeSantis et. al., Journal of Experimental Therapeutics and Oncology, 4:91-100, 2004) and caused a downregulation of the L-FABP transcript levels. This suggests that there is a correlation in the expression between of A-FABP and L-FABP in prostate cancer cells and that high expression of A-FABP is associated with a downregulation of L-FABP and vice versa. This study examines the mechanism by which L-FABP antisense regulates proliferation and apoptosis in prostate cancer cell lines. We used human cDNA array blots and custom DNA microarrays to explore differentially expressed genes in DU 145 prostate cancer cells treated with L-FABP antisense oligonucleotide. Genes that were differentially expressed were confirmed using quantitative RT-PCR. Genes correlating with proliferation were downregulated and antiproliferative genes were upregulated in response to antisense to L-FABP. This suggests a possible use of these antisense ODNs as therapeutic agents for prostate cancer in future.

There is acute dearth of information regarding factors affecting complications during different stages of childbearing in Bangladesh. This study employs a multistage model that involves transitions at different stages to complications. The proposed model appears to display more meaningful explanation concerning the impact of different factors on the incidence of complications taking into account types of transitions. Two alternative models are also presented in this paper in order to demonstrate possible simplifications of the proposed model. This study uses data from a prospective survey on Maternal Morbidity in Bangladesh. The survey was conducted during the period 11 1992-12 1993. A total of 1020 pregnant women were followed during pregnancy, delivery and 90 days after delivery. This study reveals some very important findings regarding the potential impact of antenatal visits, economic status, whether the index pregnancy was desired or not and number of pregnancies prior to the index pregnancy. It is observed that slightly more than 50 per cent of the women suffer from at least one of the major complications (haemorrhage, excessive vomiting, oedema and fits/convulsion) during pregnancy. It is noteworthy that if a woman suffers from one or more of the major complications during pregnancy, then it is more likely that she will suffer from complications during delivery. This study reveals that the women who suffer from one or more of the major complications during pregnancy are expected to have a substantially higher risk of suffering from complications during postpartum period, irrespective of no complications or complications during delivery. Generally speaking, higher economic status can reduce the complications at the postpartum stage, although women belonging to higher economic status may suffer from complications during pregnancy and delivery at a higher rate. It is surprising that antenatal visit is positively associated with incidence of complications during pregnancy and delivery, but antenatal visit reduces complications at the postpartum stage., (Copyright 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.)

We have used piglets as an animal model for studying the toxic effects of staphylococcal enterotoxins (SEs). Piglets are easy to handle, easy to carry out vital measurements, inexpensive, and more importantly, express remarkably similar pathological symptoms and responses to SE intoxication as humans at comparable doses. Microarray analyses are used to study the effect of many infections on gene expression profile in peripheral blood mononuclear cells. This high throughput application offers detailed depiction of alteration at the molecular levels. When using high throughput gene expression analysis, there is a high possibility of finding genes that vary normally in the tissues under study. It is necessary to verify genes that are normally differentially expressed between piglets. To evaluate the normal physiological variation in gene expression in vivo in piglets, we used cDNA microarray to measure gene expression levels in peripheral blood mononuclear cells from 10 normal Yorkshire piglets. We used analysis of variance to determine genes that showed statistically significant variations across piglets. Out of 1185 genes, 19 (1.6%) genes revealed statistically significant variance between RNA samples. Some of these varying genes are involved in stress response, immune response, and transcription. This study facilitates the characterization of gene expression base line needed for meaningful interpretation of microarray data.

Objective: To review the history of 'mood-stabilizing' treatments., Method: We have reviewed primary source data on the origin of the use of current mood-stabilizers., Results: This historical record on the origins of the mood-stabilizers points to a more ambiguous picture as regards pharmacotherapeutic specificity to bipolar disorders than is commonly conceded., Conclusions: This review suggests a need for alternative formulations of the concept of a mood-stabilizer. An alternative to the currently dominant paradigm is that these agents have treatment effects, which need to be matched more precisely with patients' constitutional types in order to optimize outcomes.