Autophagy related gene 5 polymorphism rs17587319 (C/G) in asthmatic patients in North Indian population.

Objective: Genetic background and environmental stimuli play an important role in asthma, which is an individual's hyper-responsiveness to these stimuli leading to airway inflammation. Autophagy Related Gene 5 (ATG5) plays a critical role in the autophagy pathway and has been shown to be involved in asthma. The genetic polymorphisms in the ATG5 have been reported to predispose individuals to asthma. The role of single nucleotide polymorphism rs17587319 (C/G) of ATG5 in asthma has not been studied so far.Materials and methods: In this study, we in silico analysed rs17587319 (C/G) using web-based tools Human Splice Finder (HSF) and RegulomeDB and further a case-control study was conducted that included 187 blood samples (94 asthmatic and 93 healthy controls).Results: In silico analysis suggested alteration of splicing signals by this intronic variant. The samples were genotyped by applying the PCR-RFLP method. The MAF obtained was 0.022 and 0.043 in healthy controls and asthmatic individuals, respectively. The statistical analysis revealed no association (allelic model, OR = 2.02, 95%CI = 0.59-6.83, p = 0.25; co-dominant model, OR = 2.06, 95%CI = 0.6-7.12, p = 0.24) of rs17587319 (C/G) with the susceptibility to asthma in the north Indian population.Conclusions: In conclusion, rs17587319 (C/G) of ATG5 does not predispose individuals to asthma in our part of the world. Further studies are needed including more number of samples to ascertain the role of this polymorphism in asthma.

A pilot study exploring staff acceptability of a socially assistive robot in a residential care facility that accommodates people under 65 years old.

ABSTRACTSocially assistive robots have successfully been trialed in residential care facilities (RCFs) for older adults. These robots may have potential for younger adults (i.e. under 65 years old) who also live in RCFs. However, it is important to investigate staff acceptability and ease-of-use of these robots. This pilot study used the Technology Acceptance Model to investigate how staff working in a specialized RCF for younger adults accept Betty, a socially assistive robot who was introduced in the facility for 12 weeks. Twenty-four staff completed pre-questionnaires, reporting that they thought Betty would have the ability to engage and entertain the residents they cared for. While there were only eight staff who completed the post-questionnaires, there were significant improvements compared to the pre-questionnaire results in areas such as residents enjoying the contact and activities. Impacting on ease-of use were technical difficulties. Although this study had limitations and could be improved by a better response rate and investigating the residents' acceptability of Betty, this study is one of the first to report that this novel technology may have much potential for engaging adults in RCFs.

Cyclosporine in steroid refractory acute severe colitis.

Approximately 15-20% patients with ulcerative colitis (UC) suffer from a severe flare during their lifetime which required hospitalization. Intravenous corticosteroids are the first line of therapy for acute severe UC. While almost 70-80% of patients respond to corticosteroids 20% do not. Although colectomy for UC is curative, it has its problems such as increased frequency of stool and pouchitis, which led to search for colon rescue therapy. Cyclosporine and anti-tumor necrosis factor-alpha (anti-TNF á) have emerged as effective colon rescue therapy. While the short-term efficacy of cyclosporine in preventing colectomy is 64-86%, the long-term efficacy is not as good and almost 70% eventually require colectomy over 1-7 years. The efficacy of cyclosporine is equivalent both at a high and low doses and cyclosporine is now used most often as a low dose regime in patients with steroid refractory acute severe UC. Furthermore, recent data suggest that the both cyclosporine and infliximab are equally effective in steroid refractory acute severe UC. Monitoring patients for adverse events and serum cyclosporine levels is mandatory. The response to both cyclosporine and infliximab is rapid and usually occurs within 4-5 days. Despite mounting evidence of its efficacy, cyclosporine remains largely underused because it requires intense monitoring for toxicity especially at higher dosage. Gastroenterologists need to be more familiar with cyclosporine for the management of steroid refractory acute severe UC.

Nanovaccines: A game changing approach in the fight against infectious diseases.

The field of nanotechnology has revolutionised global attempts to prevent, treat, and eradicate infectious diseases in the foreseen future. Nanovaccines have proven to be a valuable pawn in this novel technology. Nanovaccines are made up of nanoparticles that are associated with or prepared with components that can stimulate the host's immune system. In addition to their delivery capabilities, the nanocarriers have been demonstrated to possess intrinsic adjuvant properties, working as immune cell stimulators. Thus, nanovaccines have the potential to promote rapid as well as long-lasting humoral and cellular immunity. The nanovaccines have several possible benefits, including site-specific antigen delivery, increased antigen bioavailability, and a diminished adverse effect profile. To avail these benefits, several nanoparticle-based vaccines are being developed, including virus-like particles, liposomes, polymeric nanoparticles, nanogels, lipid nanoparticles, emulsion vaccines, exomes, and inorganic nanoparticles. Inspired by their distinctive properties, researchers are working on the development of nanovaccines for a variety of applications, such as cancer immunotherapy and infectious diseases. Although a few challenges still need to be overcome, such as modulation of the nanoparticle pharmacokinetics to avoid rapid elimination from the bloodstream by the reticuloendothelial system, The future prospects of this technology are also assuring, with multiple options such as personalised vaccines, needle-free formulations, and combination nanovaccines with several promising candidates.

Engagement and experience of older people with socially assistive robots in home care.

Social isolation is one of the most common consequences of older people with dementia, especially for those who live at their own dwellings alone due to limited access to social activities. Research relating to the use of social robots in aged care has increasing attention to facilitating the support to care services for older people with dementia. Particularly less attention has focused on the applicability of social robots in home care services. This paper aims to study the engagement and robot experience of older people with dementia while interacting with a social robot named Betty in the context of home-based care. This paper contributes to the research relating to care service embedded robots by expanding the knowledge regarding longitudinal research in home based care, while there is limited long-term study in this context. The results show that social robots are evident to be able to engage with older people with dementia at home. Consequently, designing social robots in a social context is desirable. While the robots enabled service for the human partner within the social context is possible, there is a need to underpin the concept of personhood to realize personalization of services and its contents to suit individual preferences.

Exogenous naringenin improved digestible protein accumulation and altered morphology via VrPIN and auxin redistribution in Vigna radiata.

Naringenin exposure altered auxin redistribution via VrPIN1 leading to morphological alterations and significantly reduced the protein precipitable tannins that further enhanced the protein accumulation and bioavailability. Flavonoid exposure is known to affect the antioxidant profile of legumes. However, a detailed study evaluating the effect of flavonoid naringenin on morphology and biochemical profile of legume is lacking. The present study is a novel report of improved in planta protein bioavailability and antioxidant potential of legume mungbean on naringenin exposure. The quantitative evaluation revealed significant protein accumulation (64-122 µg/g FW) on naringenin exposure. Further, an increase in protein solubility and digestibility compared to control was evident. Naringenin mediated altered α-amylase activity improved the mungbean seed germination rate. Naringenin induced auxin redistribution and altered PIN formed transcript expression reduced lateral root density and increased stem length that was subsequently reverted on exogenous indole acetic acid application. Naringenin enhanced polyphenolic accumulation and improved the antioxidant potential of mungbean. Additionally, the responsiveness of the early gene of the flavonoid biosynthetic pathway, Chalcone isomerase to naringenin concentration was revealed indicating a probable feedback regulation. Further, the presence of alternate liquiritigenin biosynthesis was also evident. The present study, thus reveals the probable potential of phytochemical naringenin towards agricultural sustainability in the changing environmental conditions.

Peripheral blood based C-PCR assay for diagnosing extra-pulmonary tuberculosis.

Extra pulmonary tuberculosis (EPTB) constitutes around 20% of all tuberculosis cases in India. Conventional methods are of limited use in diagnosing this form of the disease. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) has emerged as a sensitive and specific tool for documenting the presence of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in clinical samples but lacks quantitative ability. The present study evaluates peripheral blood as an alternative clinical specimen for diagnosing EPTB. Peripheral blood samples from 38 EPTB and 89 non tuberculous subjects were analyzed for the presence of tubercle bacilli by MPB 64 gene based PCR method. The assay gave an overall sensitivity of 60.53% with negative predictive value of 76.92% which is superior to present gold standard of mycobacterial culture (10.53 and 72.36%). Additionally, 43.82% of non tuberculous subjects gave positive results with the PCR, thus mitigating the clinical utility of this test. An in-house Competitive PCR (C-PCR) assay was used to determine the mycobacterial load in peripheral blood from culture positive, culture negative EPTB patients and non tuberculous controls which ranged from 7498-12498, 602-4797 and 101-800 genome equivalent (ge)/mL, respectively. The data clearly demonstrated that C-PCR assay can furnish insightful information in diagnosing extra pulmonary disease.

Diet and inflammatory bowel disease: The Asian Working Group guidelines.

INTRODUCTION: These Asian Working Group guidelines on diet in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) present a multidisciplinary focus on clinical nutrition in IBD in Asian countries. METHODOLOGY: The guidelines are based on evidence from existing published literature; however, if objective data were lacking or inconclusive, expert opinion was considered. The conclusions and 38 recommendations have been subject to full peer review and a Delphi process in which uniformly positive responses (agree or strongly agree) were required. RESULTS: Diet has an important role in IBD pathogenesis, and an increase in the incidence of IBD in Asian countries has paralleled changes in the dietary patterns. The present consensus endeavors to address the following topics in relation to IBD: (i) role of diet in the pathogenesis; (ii) diet as a therapy; (iii) malnutrition and nutritional assessment of the patients; (iv) dietary recommendations; (v) nutritional rehabilitation; and (vi) nutrition in special situations like surgery, pregnancy, and lactation. CONCLUSIONS: Available objective data to guide nutritional support and primary nutritional therapy in IBD are presented as 38 recommendations.

Correction to: Diet and inflammatory bowel disease: The Asian Working Group guidelines.

The recommendations 31 which recommend "VSL#3®", refer only to the product used in the cited literature and equivalent products independent from the present product labelings. This product is now known by the generic name "De Simone Formulation".

Differential association of tumour necrosis factor-alpha single nucleotide polymorphism (-308) with tuberculosis and bronchial asthma.

BACKGROUND: Tumour necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha is a pleiotropic, pro-inflammatory cytokine of 17 kDa, whose gene is localized on the short arm of chromosome 6. It has a G-308A polymorphism in the promoter region, which is known to be associated with its differential production; the A allele being the high producer. The circulating level of TNF-alpha is under genetic control and implicated in the pathophysiology of asthma and tuberculosis. Since raised levels of TNF-alpha have been found in asthma and tuberculosis, we looked for the association of TNF-alpha G-308A polymorphism in patients with these diseases. METHODS: A total of 300 blood samples from patients (155 with asthma, 145 tuberculosis) and 211 normal healthy controls were collected. The G-308A polymorphism was studied using amplification refractory mutation system analysis. RESULTS: The distribution of G/A alleles in the two patient groups when compared with normal controls revealed a statistically significant association with asthma (p = 0.016) but not with tuberculosis (p = 0.178). CONCLUSION: The data support the common variant common disease hypothesis, which emphasizes that common genetic variations may participate as critical players in inciting common diseases.

Insect pest densities across site-specific management zones of irrigated corn in northeastern Colorado.

The ability to manage insect pests in a site-specific manner is hindered by the costs and time required to describe pest densities and distributions. The purpose of this study was to determine whether insect pest distributions are related to site-specific management zones (SSMZs). Site-specific management zones, as described in this study, delineate fields into three zones of similar yield potential: high, medium, and low productivity. If insect densities vary across SSMZs, it is possible that management decisions could be made at the SSMZ level instead of treating the whole field. This research was conducted during summers 2001 and 2002 on cooperators' farms in northeastern Colorado. Surveys were conducted within corn, Zea mays L., fields, so that densities of three common insect pests of Colorado corn could be compared across SSMZ. The three insect pests were western corn rootworm, Diabrotica virgifera virgifera LeConte; European corn borer, Ostrinia nubilalis (HiAbner); and western bean cutworm, Richia albicosta (Smith). D. v. virgifera larvae and adults were most common in the high-productivity SSMZ. O. nubilalis larval abundance was similar at three fields, whereas in a fourth field the larvae were most common in the high-productivity SSMZ. In one field that contained substantial numbers of R. albicosta, egg abundance was similar across SSMZs, whereas larvae were most common in the high-productivity SSMZ. Site-specific management zones seemed to correlate well with the abundance of some insect pests and might prove useful for managing insects in a site-specific manner.

Service innovation through social robot engagement to improve dementia care quality.

Assistive technologies, such as robots, have proven to be useful in a social context and to improve the quality of life for people with dementia (PwD). This study aims to show how the engagement between two social robots and PwD in Australian residential care facilities can improve care quality. An observational method is adopted in the research methodology to discover behavioural patterns during interactions between the robots and PwD. This observational study has undertaken to explore the improvement arising from: (1) approaching social baby-face robots (AR), (2) experiencing pleasure engaging with the robots (P), (3) interacting with the robots (IR), and (4) interacting with others (IO). The findings show that social robots can improve diversion therapy service value to PwD through sensory enrichment, positive social engagement, and entertainment. More than 11,635 behavioral reactions, such as facial expressions and gestures, from 139 PwD over 5 years were coded, in order to identify the engagement effectiveness between PwD and two social robots named Sophie and Jack. The results suggest that these innovative social robots can improve the quality of care for people suffering from dementia.

Distribution and Incidence of Iris yellow spot virus in Colorado and Its Relation to Onion Plant Population and Yield.

Iris yellow spot virus (IYSV) is an emerging and potentially devastating disease of onion that was recently detected in Colorado and other onion producing regions in the western United States. In annual surveys, IYSV was confirmed in one of 18 fields (5.6%) in 2001, four of 24 (16.7%) in 2002, and 41 of 56 (73.2%) in 2003. IYSV was confirmed on volunteer onions in 2003 at all four locations where IYSV was observed in the onion crop the previous year. The disease was detected in six of seven western Colorado onion fields surveyed in 2003, but was not observed any year in southern or northeastern Colorado. The spatial variability of disease incidence, yield, and plant population also was mapped in two fields in 2003 using the global positioning system and a geographic information system. Disease incidence varied among cultivars, plant population, fields, and location in the field. Distinct disease gradients were observed in both fields with susceptible cultivars Teton and Granero, but not in the moderately resistant cultivar Sterling. In fields planted to the susceptible cultivars, disease incidence was highest on the field edges and lowest near the field centers. Plant population was negatively correlated with IYSV incidence in cultivar Sterling (R2 = 0.56, P = 0.003), but not with the susceptible cultivars. Yield of jumbo market class onions, but not total yield, was negatively correlated with increasing IYSV incidence (R2 = 0.37, P = 0.012) in cultivar Teton. Colossal market class yield, but not other yield components, was negatively correlated with IYSV incidence in cultivar Sterling (R2 = 0.28, P = 0.061). The results of these studies indicate the distribution of IYSV is rapidly expanding in Colorado and is associated with a general reduction in bulb size.