Expression of cAMP response element binding protein-binding protein in the song control system and hypothalamus of adult European starlings (Sturnus vulgaris).

In songbirds, the initiation of song behaviour and the neural substrate of this system are highly influenced by gonadal steroids. Receptors for gonadal steroid hormones, such as androgens and oestrogens, have been localized within select nuclei of the song system. An important step in steroid receptor action is the recruitment of nuclear receptor coactivators. The coactivator, cAMP response element binding protein (CREB)-binding protein (CBP), has been implicated in both androgen and oestrogen receptor transactivation. Although the role of CBP in transcriptional mechanisms has been widely studied, little is known about CBP expression in the brain. The association between the distribution of CBP and oestrogen receptors in the hippocampus has been related to long-term memory. However, the distribution of brain CBP has not been related to the expression of gonadal steroid receptors in a system as relevant to reproductive behaviour as the avian song system. Western immunoblotting of European starling (Sturnus vulgaris) brain tissue reveals a band at 265 kDa. Immunohistochemical localization of CBP in starling brain indicates wide, but heterogeneous expression. CBP-immunoreactive (CBP-ir) cells define the boundaries of song control nuclei. In HVc (sometimes called the High Vocal Center) and the robust nucleus of the archistriatum (RA), there is a higher density of CBP-ir cells within the boundaries of these nuclei than in adjacent neostriatum or archistriatum, for HVc and RA, respectively. We also report that the distribution of CBP-ir cells varies among different nuclei within the song control system. CBP-ir cells within area X (also a part of the song system) and HVc are densely packed into clusters, whereas cells can be easily discriminated in RA. CBP is also highly expressed in hypothalamic areas, indicating that areas rich in steroid receptors also contain CBP. These data suggest that CBP is important for modulating transcriptional activities in the song system and other sites in the songbird brain that express gonadal steroid receptors.

Supervised interpretation of echocardiograms with a psychological model of expert supervision.

We have developed a collaborative scheme that facilitates active human supervision of the binary segmentation of an echocardiogram. The scheme complements the reliability of a human expert with the precision of segmentation algorithms. In the developed system, an expert user compares the computer generated segmentation with the original image in a user friendly graphics environment, and interactively indicates the incorrectly classified regions either by pointing or by circling. The precise boundaries of the indicated regions are computed by studying original image properties at that region, and a human visual attention distribution map obtained from the published psychological and psychophysical research. We use the developed system to extract contours of heart chambers from a sequence of two dimensional echocardiograms. We are currently extending this method to incorporate a richer set of inputs from the human supervisor, to facilitate multi-classification of image regions depending on their functionality. We are integrating into our system the knowledge related constraints that cardiologists use, to improve the capabilities of our existing system. This extension involves developing a psychological model of expert reasoning, functional and relational models of typical views in echocardiograms, and corresponding interface modifications to map the suggested actions to image processing algorithms.

Could the products of Indian medicinal plants be the next alternative for the treatment of infections?

Indian medicinal plants are now recognized to have great potential for preparing clinically useful drugs that could even be used by allopathic physicians. Traditionally, practitioners of Indian medicine have used plant products in powder, syrup or lotion forms, without identification, quantification and dose regulation, unlike their allopathic counterparts. The present review explores the immense potential of the demonstrated effect of Indian medicinal plants on microbes, viruses and parasites. In the present context, with the available talent in the country like pharmaceutical chemists, microbiologists, biotechnologists and interested allopathic physicians, significant national effort towards identification of an "active principle" of Indian medicinal plants to treat human and animal infections should be a priority.

Comparison of a conventional polymerase chain reaction with real-time polymerase chain reaction for the detection of neurotropic viruses in cerebrospinal fluid samples.

PURPOSE: To compare a conventional polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and real-time PCR for the detection of neurotropic DNA viruses. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 147 cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples was collected from patients attending a tertiary care hospital in South India for a period from 2005 to 2008. All these samples were tested using a conventional multiplex/uniplex PCR and a real-time multiplex/uniplex PCR. This technique was used to detect a large number of herpes viruses responsible for central nervous system infections, including HSV-1, HSV-2, VZV, CMV and EBV and the polyoma virus JCV. RESULTS: Overall, in the entire set of samples, the real-time PCR yielded 88 (59.9%) positives and conventional PCR had six (4.1%) positives. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that the real-time PCR assay was more sensitive compared with the conventional PCR. The advantage of real-time PCR is that it can be performed much faster than conventional PCR. Real-time PCR is less time-consuming, less labour-intensive and also reduces the chance of contamination as there is no post-amplification procedure. In the entire study population, the major viruses detected using real-time PCR were EBV (34%), HSV-2 (10.8%) and VZV (6.8%).

Detection of opportunistic DNA viral infections by multiplex PCR among HIV infected individuals receiving care at a tertiary care hospital in South India.

PURPOSE: Opportunistic viral infections cause increased morbidity and mortality among human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infected individuals, especially those who are not on antiretroviral treatment. Early diagnosis of these opportunistic viruses will be able to reduce the risk of disease progression with appropriate intervention. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Multiplex PCR was attempted to detect the opportunistic herpes viruses (HSV-1, HSV-2, VZV, EBV, and CMV), adenovirus and polyoma viruses (JC and BK) in three cocktails of PCR reactions. Subsequently, all the viruses detected were quantitated by testing using monoplex real time PCR. Whole blood samples collected between 2006 and 2007 from 68 treatment naïve HIV-1 infected and 30 normal healthy individuals were tested for these eight viruses. Among the 68 HIV-1 infected individuals 35 had CD4+ T cell count less than or equal to 200 while the other 33 had greater than 200 CD4+ T cells. RESULTS: Among the 68 HIV-1 infected individuals, 49 (72%) were positive for EBV, 5 (7%) samples were positive for CMV. All the five CMV positive individuals had CD4+ T cell count of less than or equal to 200 cells/microL. The mean EBV load among the individuals with a CD4+ T cells of less than or equal to 200 cells/microL was 3.88 log(10) while among those with greater than 200 CD4+ T cells it was 3.75 log(10) . The mean CMV load was 6.98 log(10). Three samples were positive for both CMV & EBV. None of the samples was positive for HSV-1, HSV-2, VZV, Adenovirus, JC and BK viruses. CONCLUSIONS: In our study, multiplex PCR based detection system was found useful in detecting opportunistic viruses in HIV infected individuals. Though EBV is the most prevalent opportunistic viral infection among HIV infected individuals, there was no significant association between EBV load, CD4+ T cell counts and HIV-1 virus load. CMV was seen in HIV infected individuals with low CD4+ T cell counts (less than 200 cells/microL).

Improvement of shelf-life and microbiological quality of minimally processed refrigerated capsicum by gamma irradiation.

Shelf-life, microbiological and chemical quality of minimally processed capsicum subjected to radiation doses of 1, 2 and 3 kGy followed by storage at 5 degrees C and 10 degrees C were evaluated. Irradiation at an optimal dose of 2 kGy reduced the initial bacterial population by 2-3 log cycles and eliminated the coliforms Listeria and Yersinia. Chemical analysis revealed that the initial contents of ascorbic acid (127.7 mg/100 g), carotenoid (110 microg/100 g) and chlorophyll (7.75 mg/g) were reduced marginally by 5-10% with increasing radiation dose. However, during subsequent storage, up to 4 weeks, the temperature-dependent losses in vitamin C and chlorophyll content of irradiated samples were less compared with non-irradiated samples. The total carotenoid content of capsicum irradiated and stored for up to 2 weeks at 10 degrees C showed a similar trend. Thus, gamma irradiation at 2 kGy was found to improve both the hygienic quality and shelf-life without affecting the nutritional quality of minimally processed capsicum.