Nav

Indian mutual fund industry started with traditional products like equity fund, debt fund and balanced fund and later significantly increased it's product base. Today, the industry has introduced a wide range of products such as money market funds, sector specific funds, index funds, gilt funds, insurance linked funds, exchange traded funds, and marching towards reality funds. The different types of schemes offered by the Indian mutual fund industry provide several options of investment to common man. What is noteworthy is that bulk of the mobilization has been by the private sector mutual funds rather than bank sponsored mutual funds. Through this paper the author has attempted to focus on the the factors that motivate the investors to invest in mutual funds.

Hyperexcitability and alterations in neuronal networks contribute to cognitive impairment in Alzheimer’s Disease (AD). Voltage-gated sodium channels (NaV), which are crucial for regulating neuronal excitability, have been implicated in AD-related hippocampal hyperactivity and higher incidence of spontaneous non-convulsive seizures. Here, we show by using primary hippocampal neurons exposed to amyloid-β1–42 (Aβ1–42) oligomers and from Tg2576 mouse embryos, that the selective upregulation of NaV1.6 subtype contributes to membrane depolarization and to the increase of spike frequency, thereby resulting in neuronal hyperexcitability. Interestingly, we also found that NaV1.6 overexpression is responsible for the aberrant neuronal activity observed in hippocampal slices from 3-month-old Tg2576 mice. These findings identify the NaV1.6 channels as a determinant of the hippocampal neuronal hyperexcitability induced by Aβ1–42 oligomers. The selective blockade of NaV1.6 overexpression and/or h...

Fourth Generation (4G) Wireless System will integrate heterogeneous wireless overlay systems i.e. interworking of WLAN/ GSM/ CDMA/ WiMAX/ LTE/ etc with guaranteed Quality of Service (QoS) and Experience (QoE).QoS(E) vary from network to network and is application sensitive. User needs an optimal mobility solution while roaming in Overlaid wireless environment i.e. user could seamlessly transfer his session/ call to a best available network bearing guaranteed Quality of Experience. And If this Seamless transfer of session is executed between two networks having different access standards then it is called Vertical Handover (VHO). Contemporary VHO decision algorithms are based on generic QoS metrics viz. SNR, bandwidth, jitter, BER and delay. In this paper, Error Vector Magnitude (EVM) is proposed to be a generic QoS trigger for VHO execution. EVM is defined as the deviation of inphase/ quadrature (I/Q) values from ideal signal states and thus provides a measure of signal quality. In ...

Indian mutual fund industry started with traditional products like equity fund, debt fund and balanced fund and later significantly increased it’s product base. Today, the industry has introduced a wide range of products such as money market funds, sector specific funds, index funds, gilt funds, insurance linked funds, exchange traded funds, and marching towards reality funds. The different types of schemes offered by the Indian mutual fund industry provide several options of investment to common man. What is noteworthy is that bulk of the mobilization has been by the private sector mutual funds rather than bank sponsored mutual funds. Through this paper the author has attempted to focus on the the factors that motivate the investors to invest in mutual funds.

Because the pulp tissue extirpated during root canal procedures might serve as a valuable resource with which to assess underlying mechanisms of persistent pain, we sought to determine whether standard Western blotting techniques could be used to quantify neural proteins in pulp ...

Treatment of major depression, posttraumatic stress disorder and other psychopathologies with antidepressants can be associated with improvement of the cognitive deficits related to these disorders. Although the mechanisms of these effects are not completely elucidated, alterations in the extinction of aversive memories are believed to play a role in these psychopathologies. We have recently verified that female rats present low levels of extinction when submitted to the plus-maze discriminative avoidance task. In the present study, female rats were treated long term with clinically used antidepressants (fluoxetine, nortriptyline or mirtazapine) and subjected to the plus-maze discriminative avoidance task to evaluate learning, memory, extinction and anxiety-related behaviors as well as behavioral despair in the forced swimming test. All groups learned the task and exhibited retrieval. Chronic treatment with fluoxetine (but not with the other antidepressants tested) increased extinct...

Scorpion envenomation is a public health problem in Venezuela, mainly produced by Tityus discrepans (TD) and Tityus zulianus (TZ). Accidents by these two species differ clinically. Thus, TZ envenomation is associated with high mortality in children due to cardiopulmonary disorders, as a result of, excessive amounts of plasma catecholamines (Epinephrine) release from adrenal medulla, probably via the voltage-gated sodium-channel activated by specific scorpion toxins. This Epi release is, in part responsible, for some of the envenomation clinical consequences, resembling those described for patients presenting catecholamine-releasing tumors (pheochromocytoma). In this work, BALB/c mice and rat pheochromocytoma-derived PC12 cells were used to provide in vivo and in vitro models, respectively, on which the basis for the TZ-mediated catecholamine release mechanism could be elucidated. In mice, TZ venom increased, at 1 h post-injection, the Epi plasma levels in 4000%, which remained elevated for 24 h. A significant rise in plasma levels of the catecholamine catabolite 3-Methoxy-4-Hydroxy-Phenyl-Glycol (MHPG) was also observed. In [3H]dopamine-loaded PC12 cells, TZ venom potentiated the carbamylcholine (CC)-mediated release of [3H]dopamine, as shown by the leftward shift in the CC-dose-response curves. Moreover, TZ venom also displayed the maximal [3H]dopamine releasing activity compared to TD venom, with significant reduction of the EC50 for CC. The nicotinic-acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) blocker hexamethonium induced a significant inhibition of the [3H]dopamine release produced by CC in PC12 cells but the TZ-elicited release of [3H]dopamine was 70% hexamethonium-insensitive, suggesting unidentified TZ toxins affecting other regulatory mechanisms of catecholamine secretion.► We simulated in mice, catecholamine rise of Tityus zulianus (TZ)-envenomed patients. ► TZ venom increased in 4000%, the plasma catecholamine (Epinephrine) levels in mice. ► Plasma levels of MHPG (main Epi-catabolite) were also increased in TZ-envenomed mice. ► TZ venom potentiated the dopamine release from PC12 cells (PC12) by carbamylcholine. ► Dopamine release by TZ at PC12 is hexamethonium-insensitive suggesting novel toxins.

To better understand the mechanisms through which non-painful and painful stimuli evoke behavior, new resources to dissect the complex circuits engaged by subsets of primary afferent neurons are required. This is especially true to understand the consequences of injury, when reorganization of central nervous system circuits likely contributes to the persistence of pain. Here we describe a transgenic mouse line (ZWX) in which there is Cre-recombinase-dependent expression of a transneuronal tracer, wheat germ agglutinin (WGA), in primary somatic or visceral afferent neurons, but only after transection of their peripheral axons. The latter requirement allows for both regional and temporal control of tracer expression, even in the adult. Using a variety of Cre lines to target WGA transport to subpopulations of sensory neurons, here we demonstrate the extent to which myelinated and unmyelinated “pain” fibers (nociceptors) engage different spinal cord circuits. We found significant convergence (i.e., manifest as WGA-transneuronal labeling) of unmyelinated afferents, including the TRPV1-expressing subset, and myelinated afferents to NK1-receptor–expressing neurons of lamina I. By contrast, PKCγ interneurons of inner lamina II only receive a myelinated afferent input. This differential distribution of WGA labeling in the spinal cord indicates that myelinated and unmyelinated sensory neurons target different and spatially segregated populations of postsynaptic neurons. On the other hand, we show that neurons of deeper laminae (III–V) receive direct (i.e., monosynaptic) inputs from myelinated afferents and polysynaptic input from unmyelinated afferents. Taken together, our results indicate that peripheral sensory information is transmitted to the central nervous system both through segregated and convergent pathways.