PurposeMany organizations failed to generate profits after investing considerable money and time in Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems. This study, therefore, sought to identify the challenges encountered by pharmaceutical firms... more
PurposeMany organizations failed to generate profits after investing considerable money and time in Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems. This study, therefore, sought to identify the challenges encountered by pharmaceutical firms during the post-implementation of ERP systems.Design/methodology/approachA case-based study followed by general survey-based research was carried out in pharmaceutical firms to determine the critical post-implementation challenges of ERP systems. DANP (DEMATEL-based ANP) and Wilcoxon Signed Rank test were used to find the causal/critical challenges and rank them.FindingsAfter analyzing a pharmaceutical case company and conducting a general survey among pharmaceutical companies, statistical analysis was performed to identify the most significant challenges, namely, “Inefficient troubleshooting mechanism”, “Lack of training during post-implementation stage” and “Difficulty in identifying invalid data when entered into the ERP system”. Furthermore, orga...
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In this work we show a simple, one step process of grafting highly hydrophilic hydrogel layer on chemically inert polymers. This applied method has a potential to form the basis for advanced biocompatible and biofunctional surface... more
In this work we show a simple, one step process of grafting highly hydrophilic hydrogel layer on chemically inert polymers. This applied method has a potential to form the basis for advanced biocompatible and biofunctional surface engineering.
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Background Highly proliferating cancer cells exhibit the Warburg effect by regulation of PKM alternative splicing and promoting the expression of PKM2. Majority of the alternative splicing events are known to occur in the nuclear matrix... more
Background Highly proliferating cancer cells exhibit the Warburg effect by regulation of PKM alternative splicing and promoting the expression of PKM2. Majority of the alternative splicing events are known to occur in the nuclear matrix where various MARBPs actively participate in the alternative splicing events. SMAR1, being a MARBP and an important tumor suppressor, is known to regulate the splicing of various cancer-associated genes. This study focuses on the regulation of PKM alternative splicing and inhibition of the Warburg effect by SMAR1. Methods Immunohistochemistry was performed in breast cancer patient samples to establish the correlation between SMAR1 and PKM isoform expression. Further, expression of PKM isoforms upon modulation in SMAR1 expression in breast cancer cell lines was quantified by qRT-PCR and western blot. The acetylation status of PTBP1 was estimated by immunoprecipitation along with its enrichment on PKM pre-mRNA by CLIP in SMAR1 knockdown conditions. The...
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Herpes simplex virus (HSV-1 and HSV-2) are one of the disease which is found all over the world which may lead to Alzheimer’s disease (AD). It causes cold sore or watery blisters on the skin and the mucous membrane of mouth or genitals,... more
Herpes simplex virus (HSV-1 and HSV-2) are one of the disease which is found all over the world which may lead to Alzheimer’s disease (AD). It causes cold sore or watery blisters on the skin and the mucous membrane of mouth or genitals, which are contagious and ubiquitous. It can spread with the contact of the saliva of the infected person. After the primary infection the virus undergoes in latent phase in the cell bodies of neurons which may reactivate if favorable condition is provided. There are many antiviral drugs present for the treatment or the disease but till now no vaccine has been made in case of HSV-1.
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Prashant K Trivedi (prashantcsd@gmail.com) is at the Giri Institute of Development Studies, Lucknow. Smriti Singh (smritis.1974@gmail.com) is State Project Director, Mahila Samakhya, Uttar Pradesh. A higher proportion of acquittals is... more
Prashant K Trivedi (prashantcsd@gmail.com) is at the Giri Institute of Development Studies, Lucknow. Smriti Singh (smritis.1974@gmail.com) is State Project Director, Mahila Samakhya, Uttar Pradesh. A higher proportion of acquittals is often put forward as evidence to suggest that Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code has been continuously misused. This position appears to focus on interpersonal violence, overlooking the various subliminal factors governing the everyday lives of women, such as the varied forms of violence and the role of gendered state institutions in conceptualising and implementing law. This paper considers the complexities of law enforcement from the survivors’ perspective to investigate the dynamics of the formation of a new perception regarding the misuse of Section 498A. The Supreme Court judgment in Arnesh Kumar vs State of Bihar (2 July 2014) has initiated a heated debate by referring to the frequent misuse of Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). Howe...
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Television shows play an important role inpropagating societal norms. Owing to the popularity of the situational comedy (sitcom) genre, it contributes significantly to the over-all development of society. In an effort to analyze the... more
Television shows play an important role inpropagating societal norms. Owing to the popularity of the situational comedy (sitcom) genre, it contributes significantly to the over-all development of society. In an effort to analyze the content of television shows belong-ing to this genre, we present a dataset of dialogue turns from popular sitcoms annotated for the presence of sexist remarks. We train a text classification model to detect sexism using domain adaptive learning. We apply the model to our dataset to analyze the evolution of sexist content over the years. We propose a domain-specific semi-supervised architecture for the aforementioned detection of sexism.Through extensive experiments, we show that our model often yields better classification performance over generic deep learn-ing based sentence classification that does not employ domain-specific training. We find that while sexism decreases over time on average,the proportion of sexist dialogue for the most sexist sitcom ...
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Non-fouling DNase I conjugated microgel provide a novel biohybrid platform to disrupt Neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) and can be used as a non-thrombogenic coating for reduction of NET-mediated inflammation and microthrombi formation.
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Heavy metals can be both, essential as well as toxic for living beings. Micronutrients such as, Co, Fe, Mn have important role to play in living systems whereas, Pb Cd etc. pose harmful effects even at low concentrations. When these heavy... more
Heavy metals can be both, essential as well as toxic for living beings. Micronutrients such as, Co, Fe, Mn have important role to play in living systems whereas, Pb Cd etc. pose harmful effects even at low concentrations. When these heavy metals get accumulated within the tissues of the organisms at various levels of the ecological chain, they cause decrease in the biomass and biological diversity by affecting the growth, morphology and activity of the organisms. Accumulation of heavy metals in soil also causes soil contamination, which can be overcome with the help of bioremediation. A large group of soil bacteria belonging to the Actinomycetes species are exposed to heavy metals in a variety of ways; although, they show resistance to heavy metals. The species of actinomycetes possess resistance for antibiotic synthesis as well. This makes the actinomycetes suitable agents for bioremediation. In this experiment, a total of 20 isolates from Shivpuri region of Madhya Pradesh were tes...
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Nitric oxide (NO) continuously generated by healthy endothelium prevents platelet activation and maintains vascular homeostasis. However, when artificial surfaces, like of extracorporeal membrane oxygenator comes in contact with blood,... more
Nitric oxide (NO) continuously generated by healthy endothelium prevents platelet activation and maintains vascular homeostasis. However, when artificial surfaces, like of extracorporeal membrane oxygenator comes in contact with blood, protein adsorption and thereby platelet activation takes place, which eventually leads to thrombus formation. To overcome this, we present an antifouling microgel coating mimicking the function of enzyme glutathione peroxidase to endogenously generate NO in the blood plasma from endogenous NO-donors and maintain a physiological NO flux. Microgels are synthesized by copolymerization of highly hydrophilic N-(2-hydroxypropyl)methacrylamide (HPMA) and glycidyl methacrylate (GMA) with diselenide crosslinks. For immobilization of the microgels on hydrophobic poly(4-methylpentene) (TPX) membranes bioengineered amphiphilic anchor peptides with free thiols are used. The anchor peptide attaches to the TPX membranes by hydrophobic interactions while the free thiols are presented for crosslinking with the microgels. The hydrophilic nature of the microgel coating prevents protein adsorption while the reversible diselenide bridges make the microgels responsive to the reducing environment and lead to the formation of reactive selenols/selenolates. The generated selenols/selenolates provide an efficient and sustained NO-release from endogenous S-nitrosothiols (RSNOs) mimicking the enzymatic function of glutathione peroxidase. On exposure to the whole blood, the microgel coating inhibited platelet activation and prolonged the blood clotting time.
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Breast cancer cells (BCCs) preferentially metastasize to bone. It is known that BCCs remotely primes the distant bone site prior to metastasis. However, the reciprocal influence of bone cells on the primary tumor is relatively overlooked.... more
Breast cancer cells (BCCs) preferentially metastasize to bone. It is known that BCCs remotely primes the distant bone site prior to metastasis. However, the reciprocal influence of bone cells on the primary tumor is relatively overlooked. Here, to study the bone-tumor paracrine influence, a tri-cellular 3-D vascularized breast cancer tissue (VBCTs) model is engineered which comprised MDA-MB231, a triple-negative breast cancer cells (TNBC), fibroblasts, and endothelial cells. This is indirectly co-cultured with osteoblasts (OBs), thereby constituting a complex quad-cellular tumor progression model. VBCTs alone and in conjunction with OBs led to abnormal vasculature and reduced vessel density but enhanced VEGF production. A total of 1476 significantly upregulated and 775 downregulated genes are identified in the VBCTs exposed to OBs. HSP90N, CYCS, RPS27A, and EGFR are recognized as upregulated hub-genes. Kaplan Meier plot shows HSP90N to have a significant outcome in TNBC patient surv...
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Despite profound advances in treatment approaches, gliomas remain associated with very poor prognoses. The residual cells after incomplete resection often migrate and proliferate giving a seed for highly resistant gliomas. The efficacy of... more
Despite profound advances in treatment approaches, gliomas remain associated with very poor prognoses. The residual cells after incomplete resection often migrate and proliferate giving a seed for highly resistant gliomas. The efficacy of chemotherapeutic drugs is often strongly limited by their poor selectivity and the blood brain barrier (BBB). Therefore, the development of therapeutic carrier systems for efficient transport across the BBB and selective delivery to tumor cells remains one of the most complex problems facing molecular medicine and nano‐biotechnology. To address this challenge, a stimuli sensitive nanogel is synthesized using pre‐polymer approach for the effective delivery of nano‐irradiation. The nanogels are cross‐linked via matrix metalloproteinase (MMP‐2,9) substrate and armed with Auger electron emitting drug 5‐[125I]Iodo‐4”‐thio‐2”‐deoxyuridine ([125I]ITdU) which after release can be incorporated into the DNA of tumor cells. Functionalization with diphtheria toxin receptor ligand allows nanogel transcytosis across the BBB at tumor site. Functionalized nanogels efficiently and increasingly explore transcytosis via BBB co‐cultured with glioblastoma cells. The subsequent nanogel degradation correlates with up‐regulated MMP2/9. Released [125I]ITdU follows the thymidine salvage pathway ending in its incorporation into the DNA of tumor cells. With this concept, a highly efficient strategy for intracellular delivery of radiopharmaceuticals across the challenging BBB is presented.
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Repeated heating cooling cycles can anneal inhomogeneity in physical gels and significantly improve their mechanical properties.
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Cereal rye and its wild forms are important sources of genetic diversity for wheat breeding due to their resistances to biotic and abiotic stresses. Secale strictum subsp. anatolicum (Boiss.) K. Hammer (SSA) is a weedy relative of... more
Cereal rye and its wild forms are important sources of genetic diversity for wheat breeding due to their resistances to biotic and abiotic stresses. Secale strictum subsp. anatolicum (Boiss.) K. Hammer (SSA) is a weedy relative of cultivated rye, S. cereale. Meiotic chromosome pairing in F1 hybrids of SSA and S. cereale reveals strong genomic affinity between the two genomes. A study of the transferability of S. cereale sequence-based markers to SSA and hexaploid triticale demonstrated their applicability for tracing SSA chromatin in wheat. The transferability of the markers was over 80% from homoeologous groups 1, 2, and 3, and greater than 70% from groups 4 to 7. This study focused on the generation and molecular and cytogenetic characterization of wheat–SSA alien derivatives. Twelve were identified using combinations of non-denaturing fluorescence in situ hybridization (ND-FISH), genomic in situ hybridization (GISH), and molecular marker analysis. All SSA chromosomes, except 3Ra ...
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In this work, we synthesized electroactive and degradable microgels based on biomacromolecular building blocks, which enable the controlled release of therapeutic drugs.
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The development of an in vitro model resembling the alveolar-capillary barrier might be a highly beneficial tool to study lung physiology as well as the immune response of the lung to infection or after exposure to nanoparticles. This... more
The development of an in vitro model resembling the alveolar-capillary barrier might be a highly beneficial tool to study lung physiology as well as the immune response of the lung to infection or after exposure to nanoparticles. This study is based on an in vitro alveolar barrier developed on a basement membrane mimic, composed of ultrathin nanofiber meshes generated via electrospinning using bioresorbable poly(ɛ-caprolactone). As cellular components, NCI H441, resembling the alveolar epithelial cells, and ISO-HAS-1, an endothelial cell line, were used to perform bipolar coculture experiments for a total cultivation period of 14 days. In addition to immunohistochemical and immunofluorescent studies, transepithelial electrical resistance (TER) and transport capabilities of the in vitro model system were investigated. Alveolar barrier function could be clearly determined for the postulated bipolar coculture system on the basement membrane mimic, since TER increased during the course ...
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The histone modifiers (HMs) are crucial for chromatin dynamics and gene expression; however, their dysregulated expression has been observed in various abnormalities including cancer. In this study, we have analyzed the expression of HMs... more
The histone modifiers (HMs) are crucial for chromatin dynamics and gene expression; however, their dysregulated expression has been observed in various abnormalities including cancer. In this study, we have analyzed the expression of HMs in microarray profiles of head and neck cancer (HNC), wherein a highly significant overexpression of p21-activated kinase 2 (PAK2) was identified which was further validated in HNC patients. The elevated expression of PAK2 positively correlated with enhanced cell proliferation, aerobic glycolysis and chemoresistance and was associated with the poor clinical outcome of HNC patients. Further, dissection of molecular mechanism revealed an association of PAK2 with c-Myc and c-Myc-dependent PKM2 overexpression, wherein we showed that PAK2 upregulates c-Myc expression and c-Myc thereby binds to PKM promoter and induces PKM2 expression. We observed that PAK2-c-Myc-PKM2 axis is critical for oncogenic cellular proliferation. Depletion of PAK2 disturbs the ax...
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Epilepsy is a treatable chronic neurological disorder which is often linked to supernatural activities, due to lack of knowledge and awareness among the common people. The beliefs that outbreak of epilepsy as an unnatural or supernatural... more
Epilepsy is a treatable chronic neurological disorder which is often linked to supernatural activities, due to lack of knowledge and awareness among the common people. The beliefs that outbreak of epilepsy as an unnatural or supernatural activities can be most frequently seen in rural population. One cannot say that the perception of urban populace is different from that of rural populace, but yes, they do differ at some extent. Knowledge, superstition, and myth toward epilepsy in North India. This is a questionnaire-based study (12 questions) conducted in neurology outpatient department of Banaras Hindu University, visited by more than hundreds of people from different province of northern India. This survey was also conducted in nearby areas of holy city Varanasi. People belonging to different socioeconomic background and educational level were surveyed to know their view regarding epilepsy. In this survey conducted by our team, we came to the truth that urban population do consid...
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Neurolathyrism is now a disease of the past and also the causative agent,(Khesari Pulse or keerai in Local Hindi and Bhojpuri language) has now been proven to be harmless and has become part of the usual diet. The population at risk was... more
Neurolathyrism is now a disease of the past and also the causative agent,(Khesari Pulse or keerai in Local Hindi and Bhojpuri language) has now been proven to be harmless and has become part of the usual diet. The population at risk was screened and studied for demography, economic status, knowledge about Khesari pulse, awareness about so-called harmful effects of Khesari pulse intake in humans, and the effects of ban of Khesari pulse on the population which is using Lathyrus (Khesari) as a major source of pulse since the past 4 years through a questionnaire of three pages. Nearly 97% of total screened population totally fed on Khesari pulse as their major source of food and we did not found a single case of primary walking difficulty. We did find three cases of poststroke paralysis, a case of post-GBS lower limb weakness, and a case of recurrent myelitis as a part of questionnaire-based study and then followed by personally examining the patients to confirm the diagnosis. Khesari p...
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Nanoparticles degradable upon external stimuli combine pharmacokinetic features of both small molecules as well as large nanoparticles. However, despite promising preclinical results, several redox responsive disulphide-linked... more
Nanoparticles degradable upon external stimuli combine pharmacokinetic features of both small molecules as well as large nanoparticles. However, despite promising preclinical results, several redox responsive disulphide-linked nanoparticles failed in clinical translation, mainly due to their unexpected in vivo behavior. Glutathione (GSH) is one of the most evaluated antioxidants responsible for disulfide degradation. Herein, the impact of GSH on the in vivo behavior of redox-sensitive nanogels under physiological and modulated conditions is investigated. Labelling of nanogels with a DNA-intercalating dye and a radioisotope allows visualization of the redox responsiveness at the cellular and the systemic levels, respectively. In vitro, efficient cleavage of disulphide bonds of nanogels is achieved by manipulation of intracellular GSH concentration. While in vivo, the redox-sensitive nanogels undergo, to a certain extent, premature degradation in circulation leading to rapid renal eli...
Research Interests: Biophysics, Chemistry, Medicine, Multidisciplinary, Glutathione, and 4 moreBiodistribution, In Vivo, Small, and Redox
Aberrant alternative splicing and epigenetic changes are both associated with various cancers, but epigenetic regulation of alternative splicing in cancer is largely unknown. Here we report that the intragenic DNA methylation-mediated... more
Aberrant alternative splicing and epigenetic changes are both associated with various cancers, but epigenetic regulation of alternative splicing in cancer is largely unknown. Here we report that the intragenic DNA methylation-mediated binding of Brother of Regulator of Imprinted Sites (BORIS) at the alternative exon of Pyruvate Kinase (PKM) is associated with cancer-specific splicing that promotes the Warburg effect and breast cancer progression. Interestingly, the inhibition of DNA methylation, BORIS depletion, or CRISPR/Cas9-mediated deletion of the BORIS binding site leads to a splicing switch from cancer-specific PKM2 to normal PKM1 isoform. This results in the reversal of the Warburg effect and the inhibition of breast cancer cell growth, which may serve as a useful approach to inhibit the growth of breast cancer cells. Importantly, our results show that in addition to PKM splicing, BORIS also regulates the alternative splicing of several genes in a DNA methylation-dependent ma...
Research Interests: Cancer, Biology, Epigenetics, Medicine, Multidisciplinary, and 15 moreTranscriptome, DNA, Caspases, RNA interference, Humans, Glucose, Female, DNA methylation, Alternative splicing, Carcinogenesis, Chromatin Immunoprecipitation, Alternative Splicing, Cell Survival, DNA binding proteins, and Breast Neoplasms
Background: The present study has been conducted to compare regimens containing either of nevirapine (NVP) and efavirenz (EFV) and two or more nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs) among HIV infected patients in respect to... more
Background: The present study has been conducted to compare regimens containing either of nevirapine (NVP) and efavirenz (EFV) and two or more nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs) among HIV infected patients in respect to clinical outcome and to compare incidence of opportunistic infections among these patients.Methods: This study was an observational study conducted at a tertiary care centre over 105 patients, who were evenly matched and received three antiretroviral drug one of the drug was either nevirapine (NVP) or efavirenz (EFV) and these patients were followed up for 6 months for occurrence of any opportunistic infections during these 6 months.Results: 105 patients were followed for 6 months, the maximum incidence of opportunistic infection (OI’s) was found among patients who were on ZLN (zidovudine, lamivudine, nevirapine) regime i.e. 60% followed by patients who changed their regime from ZLN to TLE i.e. 36.5%, while the least incidence of OI’s was noted among...
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For patients with a severe acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) represents a life-saving measure. Frequently, patients with severe ARDS also show signs of severe sepsis. As blood contact... more
For patients with a severe acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) represents a life-saving measure. Frequently, patients with severe ARDS also show signs of severe sepsis. As blood contact with the membrane oxygenator surface leads to adverse effects due to insufficient biocompatibility partly caused by activation of platelets, coagulation factors and leucocytes, we hypothesized that these adverse effects would be amplified if septic blood in a preactivated state came into contact with the membrane oxygenator. In a previously established in vitro 12-h ECMO test system (mock loop), we used septic or healthy domestic pig blood to analyse coagulation and inflammatory parameters. Sepsis was induced by a caecal ligation and puncture model in pigs. At the beginning of the mock loop experiments, the septic blood showed significantly increased thrombin-antithrombin complexes (76.9 vs 27.7 µg/l), D-dimers (1.2 vs 0.3 mg/l) and fibrinogen concen...
Research Interests: Cytokines, Medicine, Hemodynamics, Animals, Sepsis, and 11 moreAnesthesia, Blood Coagulation, Platelet activation mechanism, Ards, Coagulation, Sus Scrofa, Biocompatible Materials, Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation, Blood Specimen Collection, Cardiovascular medicine and haematology, and Inflammation Mediators
There is increasing interest in the synthesis of low molecular weight heparin and heparan sulfate mimetic polymers because of their various potential biomedical applications. The functional activity of heparin and heparan sulfate is... more
There is increasing interest in the synthesis of low molecular weight heparin and heparan sulfate mimetic polymers because of their various potential biomedical applications. The functional activity of heparin and heparan sulfate is believed to arise from the presence of a number of functional groups, such as hydroxyl, carboxylate and sulfate groups. The design and synthesis of novel heparin-mimetic polymers with a particular functionality poses a formidable challenge and requires carefully control of the selective conversion of functional groups on the polymer chain. Here, this study describes a simple and efficient synthetic protocol for the preparation of heparin-mimetic linear polyglycidol copolymers based on the selective conversion of primary hydroxyl groups to carboxylic acids under ruthenium-catalyzed selective dehydrogenation in basic aqueous solution. To achieve the anticoagulant activity of these polymers, primary hydroxyl groups are selectively converted to sulfate group...
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In vitro reconstruction of an alveolar barrier for modeling normal lung functions and pathological events serve as reproducible, high-throughput pharmaceutical platforms for drug discovery, diagnosis, and regenerative medicine. Despite... more
In vitro reconstruction of an alveolar barrier for modeling normal lung functions and pathological events serve as reproducible, high-throughput pharmaceutical platforms for drug discovery, diagnosis, and regenerative medicine. Despite much effort, the reconstruction of organ-level alveolar barrier functions has failed due to the lack of structural similarity to the natural basement membrane, functionalization with specific ligands for alveolar cell function, the use of primary cells and biodegradability. Here we report a bipolar cultured alveolar-capillary barrier model of human primary cells supported by a basement membrane mimics of fully synthetic bifunctional nanofibers. One-step electrospinning process using a bioresorbable polyester and multifunctional star-shaped polyethylene glycols (sPEG) enables the fabrication of an ultrathin nanofiber mesh with interconnected pores. The nanofiber mesh possessed mechanical stability against cyclic expansion as seen in the lung in vivo. T...
Research Interests: Engineering, Biochemistry, Biophysics, Chemistry, Hematology, and 15 moreBiotechnology, Cancer, Cell Adhesion, Cell Biology, Medicine, Biological Sciences, Humans, Basement Membrane, Endothelial Cells, Bipolar, Membrane, CHEMICAL SCIENCES, Biocompatible Materials, Biomacromolecules, and Human Umbilical Vein Endothelial Cells
The discovery of an increasing number of alternative splicing events in the human genome highlighted that ∼94% of genes generate alternatively spliced transcripts that may produce different protein isoforms with diverse functions. It is... more
The discovery of an increasing number of alternative splicing events in the human genome highlighted that ∼94% of genes generate alternatively spliced transcripts that may produce different protein isoforms with diverse functions. It is now well known that several diseases are a direct and indirect consequence of aberrant splicing events in humans. In addition to the conventional mode of alternative splicing regulation by 'cis' RNA-binding sites and 'trans' RNA-binding proteins, recent literature provides enormous evidence for epigenetic regulation of alternative splicing. The epigenetic modifications may regulate alternative splicing by either influencing the transcription elongation rate of RNA polymerase II or by recruiting a specific splicing regulator via different chromatin adaptors. The epigenetic alterations and aberrant alternative splicing are known to be associated with various diseases individually, but this review discusses/highlights the latest literatu...
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Asthma disproportionately affects minority populations and is associated with psychosocial stress such as racial/ethnic discrimination. We aimed to examine the association of perceived discrimination with asthma and poor asthma control in... more
Asthma disproportionately affects minority populations and is associated with psychosocial stress such as racial/ethnic discrimination. We aimed to examine the association of perceived discrimination with asthma and poor asthma control in African American and Latino youth. We included African American (n = 954), Mexican American (n = 1,086), other Latino (n = 522), and Puerto Rican Islander (n = 1,025) youth aged 8 to 21 years from the Genes-Environments and Admixture in Latino Americans study and the Study of African Americans, Asthma, Genes, and Environments. Asthma was defined by physician diagnosis, and asthma control was defined based on the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute guidelines. Perceived racial/ethnic discrimination was assessed by the Experiences of Discrimination questionnaire, with a focus on school, medical, and public settings. We examined the associations of perceived discrimination with each outcome and whether socioeconomic status (SES) and global Afric...
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Targeted delivery of drugs across endothelial barriers remains a formidable challenge, especially in the case of the brain, where the blood-brain barrier severely limits entry of drugs into the central nervous system.... more
Targeted delivery of drugs across endothelial barriers remains a formidable challenge, especially in the case of the brain, where the blood-brain barrier severely limits entry of drugs into the central nervous system. Nanoparticle-mediated transport of peptide/protein-based drugs across endothelial barriers shows great potential as a therapeutic strategy in a wide variety of diseases. Functionalizing nanoparticles with peptides allows for more efficient targeting to specific organs. We have evaluated the hemocompatibilty, cytotoxicity, endothelial uptake, efficacy of delivery and safety of liposome, hyperbranched polyester, poly(glycidol) and acrylamide-based nanoparticles functionalized with peptides targeting brain endothelial receptors, in vitro and in vivo. We used an ELISA-based method for the detection of nanoparticles in biological fluids, investigating the blood clearance rate and in vivo biodistribution of labeled nanoparticles in the brain after intravenous injection in Wi...
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Expression of opinions is basic human nature. With the advent of various online platforms, this expression has largely taken digital form. More often than not, it is in the interest of enterprises and individuals to know the sentiment of... more
Expression of opinions is basic human nature. With the advent of various online platforms, this expression has largely taken digital form. More often than not, it is in the interest of enterprises and individuals to know the sentiment of these opinions, be them in the form of reviews, blogs or articles. Given the humungous amount of this data, it becomes essential to analyze it programmatically and with accuracy. The paper looks at various methods of doing this and also suggests one which takes into account the sentence constructs and the way the sentences are framed. One of the primary concerns is also to detect and handle negations and contradictions occurring in the sentences.
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Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are combustion-related pollutants and are ubiquitous in the environment, including in sources of drinking water. Upon contact with DNA, stable PAH-DNA adducts form rapidly as the first step towards... more
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are combustion-related pollutants and are ubiquitous in the environment, including in sources of drinking water. Upon contact with DNA, stable PAH-DNA adducts form rapidly as the first step towards their toxic effects. In this work, we prepared hydrophilic DNA nanogels to exploit this generic complexation process as a biomimetic scavenging method. This approach relies on interaction between PAHs and the complete network that constitutes the water-swollen nanogels, and is not restricted to interfacial adsorption. Up to 720 μg of PAH per gram of DNA nanogel are taken up, meaning that 1 mg of DNA nanogel is sufficient to purify a liter of water containing the critical PAH concentration for cancer risk (600 ng L(-1) ). As a result of short diffusion pathways, PAH uptake is rapid, reaching 50 % loading after 15 minutes. Beyond PAHs, DNA nanogels may be useful for the generic detoxification of water containing genotoxins, since most known molecules ...
Research Interests: Chemistry, DNA damage, Medicine, DNA, CHEMICAL SCIENCES, and 3 morePollutant, Carcinogen, and Adduct
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The paper focuses on how the consequences of racism and colonialism distort and change the very identity of the Asian African immigrants during the colonial regime of the Germans, British or the Americans.