Kockhertz0740

The current study was carried out on dominant fish Oreochromis niloticus and water collected from the polluted Yamuna River, Agra, India. The heavy metals in water, recorded as follows Fe > Mn > Zn > Cu > Ni > Cr > Cd and all were found to be above the prescribed limits. According to metal pollution index, exposed muscle (49.86), kidney (47.68) and liver (45.26) have been recorded to have higher bioaccumulation. The blood biochemical analysis of exposed O. niloticus indicated significant increase in activities of aspartate aminotransferase (+ 343.5%), alkaline phosphatase (+ 673.6%), alanine aminotransferase (+ 309.1%), and creatinine (+ 494.3%) over the reference. However, a significant decrease in albumin (A) globulins (G) ratio (- 87.86%) was observed. Similarly, the exposed fish also showed significant increase in total leucocyte count (+ 121%), differential leucocyte count, respiratory burst (+ 1175%), and nitric oxide synthase (+ 420%). The histological examination of liver and kidney showed tissue injury. Moreover, micronuclei (0.95%), kidney shaped nuclei (1.2%), and lobed nuclei (0.6%) along with DNA damage in the form of mean tail length in the liver (20.7 µm) and kidney (16.5 µm) was observed in the exposed O. niloticus. Potential health risk assessments based on estimated daily intake, target hazard quotient, hazard index, and target cancer risk indicated health risks associated with the consumption of these contaminated fishes. In conclusion, the present study showed that exposure to heavy metals contaminated water can alter immunological response; induce histopathological alterations and DNA damage in the studied fish. The consumption of this contaminated water or fish could have serious impact on human health.Structural studies of the aggregation inhibition of the amyloid-β peptide (Aβ) by different natural compounds are of the utmost importance due to their great potential as neuroprotective and therapeutic agents for Alzheimer's disease. We provided the simulation of molecular dynamics for two different states of Aβ42, including "monomeric aggregation-prone state (APS)" and "U-shaped pentamers of amyloidogenic protofilament intermediates" in the absence and presence of polyphenolic flavonoids (Flvs, myricetin and morin) in order to verify the possible mechanism of Flvs fibrillogenesis suppression. Data showed that Flvs directly bind into Aβ42 species in both states of "monomeric APS β-sheets" and "pentameric amyloidogenic intermediates". Binding of Flvs with amyloidogenic protofilament intermediates caused the attenuation of some inter-chains H-bonds, salt bridges, van der Waals and interpeptide interaction energies without interfering with their secondary β-sheets. Therefore, Flvs redirect oligomeric amyloidogeation of two different monomeric and pentameric Aβ42 systems. The distinct dual functions of Flvs are proposed as suppressing the aggregation by converting β-sheets of monomeric APS to proper soluble structures and disrupting the "steric zipper" fibril motifs of oligomeric intermediate by converting on-pathway into off-pathway. Taken together, our data propose that Flvs exert dual and more effective functions against monomeric APS (fibrillogenesis suppression) and remodel the Aβ aggregation pathway (fibril destabilization).Sensor data can be wirelessly transmitted from simple, battery-less tags using Radio Frequency Identification (RFID). RFID sensor tags consist of an antenna, a radio frequency integrated circuit chip (RFIC), and at least one sensor. An ideal tag can communicate over a long distance and be seamlessly integrated onto everyday objects. However, miniaturized antenna designs often have lower performance. Here we demonstrate compact, flexible sensor tags with read range comparable to that of conventional rigid tags. We compare fabrication techniques for flexible antennas and demonstrate that screen and stencil printing are both suitable for fabricating antennas; these different techniques are most useful at different points in the design cycle. We characterize two versions of flexible, screen printed folded dipoles and a meandered monopole operating in the 915 MHz band. Finally, we use these antennas to create passive sensor tags and demonstrate over the air communication of sensor data. These tags could be used to form a network of printed, flexible, passive, interactive sensor tags.In situ HfB2-SiC-VSi2 composite was fabricated by reactive pressureless sintering at the temperature of 2150 °C for 4 h under a vacuum atmosphere. In situ SiC and VSi2 reinforcements were formed using VC and Si powders as starting materials according to the following reaction VC + 3Si = SiC + VSi2. GSK2578215A Microstructural studies and thermodynamic calculations revealed that in situ VSi2 and SiC phases were mostly formed and homogeneously distributed in HfB2 skeleton. The results showed that the density of in situ HfB2-SiC-VSi2 composite was 98%. Besides, the mechanical properties of the composite were effectively enhanced by the formation of in situ second phases. The Vickers hardness and the fracture toughness of the composite reached 20.1 GPa and 5.8 MPa m-1/2, respectively.The paper describes a novel technique to harvest 222Rn laden air from soil gas of natural origin as a highly efficient source of 222Rn for calibration applications in a walk-in type 222Rn calibration chamber. The technique makes use of a soil probe of about 1 m to draw soil gas, through a dehumidifier and a delay volume, using an air pump to fill the calibration chamber. 222Rn concentration in the range of a few hundred Bq m-3 to a few tens of kBq m-3 was easily attained in the chamber of volume 22.7 m3 within a short pumping duration of 1 h. A new technique referred to as "semi-dynamic mode of operation" in which soil gas is injected into the calibration chamber at regular intervals to compensate for the loss of 222Rn due to decay and leak is discussed. Harvesting soil gas has many important advantages over the traditional methods of 222Rn generation for calibration experiments using finite sources such as solid flow-through, powdered emanation, and liquid sources. They are (1) soil gas serves as an instantaneous natural source of 222Rn, very convenient to use unlike the high strength 226Ra sources used in the calibration laboratories, and has no radiation safety issues, (2) does not require licensing from the regulatory authority, and (3) it can be used continuously as a non-depleting reservoir of 222Rn, unlike other finite sources. The newly developed technique would eliminate the need for expensive radioactive sources and thereby offers immense application in a variety of day to day experiments-both in students and research laboratories.We introduce a novel method to compute three-dimensional (3D) displacements and both in-plane and out-of-plane tractions on nominally planar transparent materials using standard epifluorescence microscopy. Despite the importance of out-of-plane components to fully understanding cell behavior, epifluorescence images are generally not used for 3D traction force microscopy (TFM) experiments due to limitations in spatial resolution and measuring out-of-plane motion. To extend an epifluorescence-based technique to 3D, we employ a topology-based single particle tracking algorithm to reconstruct high spatial-frequency 3D motion fields from densely seeded single-particle layer images. Using an open-source finite element (FE) based solver, we then compute the 3D full-field stress and strain and surface traction fields. We demonstrate this technique by measuring tractions generated by both single human neutrophils and multicellular monolayers of Madin-Darby canine kidney cells, highlighting its acuity in reconstructing both individual and collective cellular tractions. In summary, this represents a new, easily accessible method for calculating fully three-dimensional displacement and 3D surface tractions at high spatial frequency from epifluorescence images. We released and support the complete technique as a free and open-source code package.Human facial attractiveness is evaluated by using multiple cues. Among others, sexual dimorphism (i.e. masculinity for male faces/femininity for female faces) is an influential factor of perceived attractiveness. Since facial attractiveness is judged by incorporating sexually dimorphic traits as well as other cues, it is theoretically possible to dissociate sexual dimorphism from facial attractiveness. This study tested this by using a data-driven mathematical modelling approach. We first analysed the correlation between perceived masculinity/femininity and attractiveness ratings for 400 computer-generated male and female faces (Experiment 1) and found positive correlations between perceived femininity and attractiveness for both male and female faces. Using these results, we manipulated a set of faces along the attractiveness dimension while controlling for sexual dimorphism by orthogonalisation with data-driven mathematical models (Experiment 2). Our results revealed that perceived attractiveness and sexual dimorphism are dissociable, suggesting that there are as yet unidentified facial cues other than sexual dimorphism that contribute to facial attractiveness. Future studies can investigate the true preference of sexual dimorphism or the genuine effects of attractiveness by using well-controlled facial stimuli like those that this study generated. The findings will be of benefit to the further understanding of what makes a face attractive.The glycine receptor (GlyR), a member of the pentameric ligand-gated ion channel family (pLGIC), displays remarkable variations in the affinity and efficacy of the full agonist glycine and the partial agonist taurine depending on the cell system used. Despite detailed insights in the GlyR three-dimensional structure and activation mechanism, little is known about conformational rearrangements induced by these agonists. Here, we characterized the conformational states of the α1 GlyR upon binding of glycine and taurine by microscale thermophoresis expressed in HEK293 cells and Xenopus oocytes after solubilization in amphipathic styrene-maleic acid copolymer nanodiscs. Our results show that glycine and taurine induce different conformational transitions of the GlyR upon ligand binding. In contrast, the variability of agonist affinity is not mediated by an altered conformational change. Thus, our data shed light on specific agonist induced conformational features and mechanisms of pLGIC upon ligand binding determining receptor activation in native environments.Long noncoding RNAs play important roles in various biological processes. However, not much is known about their roles in inflammatory response. Mast cells, involved in innate and adaptive immunity, are one of the major effector cells in allergic inflammatory reactions and contribute to the pathogenesis of disorders, including asthma. In the present study, we aimed to verify and elucidate the function and possible role of a novel lncRNA, called lncRNA-AK149641, in the mechanism of lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced inflammatory response in P815 mast cells. The results showed that downregulating lncRNA-AK149641 decreased secretion of tumor necrosis factor-α into the supernatants of LPS-stimulated mast cells. Mechanistically, the activity of nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB) decreased after downregulating lncRNA-AK149641, as shown by western blot and electrophoretic mobility shift assays. Moreover, RNA binding protein immunoprecipitation (RIP) verified that lncRNA-AK149641 was able to bind to NF-κB in the nucleus. In conclusion, we demonstrated that lncRNA-AK149641 regulated LPS-induced inflammatory response in mast cells through the NF-κB signaling pathway.