Rickettsial Pathogen Perturbs Tick Circadian Gene to Infect the Vertebrate Host

Ixodes scapularis is a medically important tick that transmits several microbes to humans, including rickettsial pathogen Anaplasma phagocytophilum. In nature, these ticks encounter several abiotic factors including changes in temperature, humidity, and light. Many organisms use endogenously generated circadian pathways to encounter abiotic factors. In this study, we provide evidence for the first time to show that A. phagocytophilum modulates the arthropod circadian gene for its transmission to the vertebrate host. We noted a circadian oscillation in the expression of arthropod clock, bmal1, period and timeless genes when ticks or tick cells were exposed to alternate 12 h light: 12 h dark conditions. Moreover, A. phagocytophilum significantly modulates the oscillation pattern of expression of these genes. In addition, increased levels of clock and bmal1 and decreased expression of Toll and JAK/STAT pathway immune genes such as pelle and jak, respectively, were noted during A. phagocytophilum transmission from ticks to the vertebrate host. RNAi-mediated knockdown of clock gene expression in ticks resulted in the reduced expression of jak and pelle that increased bacterial transmission from ticks to the murine host. Furthermore, clock-deficient ticks fed late and had less engorgement weights. These results indicate an important role for circadian modulation of tick gene expression that is critical for arthropod blood feeding and transmission of pathogens from vector to the vertebrate host.     

Frame selection for OCR from video stream of book flipping

Multimedia Tools and Applications - Optical Character Recognition (OCR) in video stream of flipping pages is a challenging task because flipping at random speed causes difficulties in identifying...     

Effect of matrix content on the performance of carbon paper as an electrode for PEMFC

Porous conducting carbon fiber‐based composite paper is used as an electrode backing in the fuel cell assembly. It not only acts as a channel through which the reactant and product gases pass to and from the bipolar plate and the catalyst site but also helps in the flow of electrons. In order to perform its role efficiently, it should have sufficient strength, high electrical conductivity, and ideal porous structure. Carbon paper has been fabricated, which builds up the required composite properties. Studies have been conducted to optimize the fiber/matrix ratio in the carbon paper, while ensuring the perfect combination of porosity, mechanical strength, and electrical conductivity for an electrode in a proton electrolyte membrane fuel cells. Detail physico‐mechanical and electrochemical characterizations further ascertain that the fiber/matrix ratio plays an important role in tuning the composite properties. The polarization curve of the unit proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell (with an effective electrode area 4 cm²) shows a peak power density of 916 mW/cm² for the sample with fiber/matrix ratio of 65:35, which is almost the same as the commercially available sigracet gas diffusion layer (SGL) carbon paper tested under similar conditions. Further, proportionally enlarging the electrode area to 100 cm² shows that the carbon paper not only shows almost repeatable results in a given set up but also scales up.     

Cornea stress test--evaluation of corneal endothelial function in vivo by contact lens induced stress

Changes in the NHS have supported the idea of targeting health services to those in greatest need. This has meant that health visitors are increasingly having to identify 'vulnerable' families in need of increased health visiting intervention. This paper reports on a qualitative study undertaken in order to explore the ways in which health visitors plan and organize their work in relation to the concept of vulnerability. Focus groups and semi-structured interviews were carried out with health visitors from two separate geographical areas, one an inner city area and the other suburban, in order to explore the criteria by which health visitors define vulnerability and decide to increase their levels of intervention to particular families. It was found that vulnerability was extremely difficult to define but that the health visitors used criteria which were appropriate to the particular localities in which they worked to identify vulnerable families and to increase their levels of intervention to those families. Health visitors were targeting their services within a framework of a basic minimum service to all and were assessing the health needs of individuals or families rather than planning their work on the basis of community or practice profiles.     

Synthesis,optimization and characterization of PVA-co-poly(methacrylic acid) green adsorbents and applications in environmental remediation

Polymer Bulletin - The present paper is focused on the synthesis and optimization of a green PVA-co-poly(MAA) adsorbent by free radical polymerization using N,N′-methylene-bis-acrylamide and...     

Corrosion behavior of Monofrax K-3 refractory in borosilicate-based model low activity waste glass melts

Owing to its good chemical and thermal durabilities at high temperatures, Monofrax K-3 refractory is widely used in nuclear waste vitrification as a lining material in melting vessels. However, the corrosion of K-3 refractory during the vitrification of nuclear waste is a serious problem because it affects the melter's safety, performance, and lifetime. Therefore, in the present study, we have focused on unearthing the impact of glass network formers, such as SiO₂, B₂O₃, and Al₂O₃, in a model nuclear waste glass composition on the corrosion of Monofrax K-3 refractory. The corrosion tests have been performed per ASTM C621 at 1150°C for 5 days. The dimensional measurements on corroded K-3 refractory suggest that Al₂O₃ and SiO₂ tend to reduce the refractory corrosion (neck loss), with the effect of Al₂O₃ being significant. A corroded region on the K-3 refractory at the melt–refractory interface is observed. The corrosion occurs via a coupling of the melt infiltration induced by a capillary effect and the dissolution of Al, Mg, and Fe components from K-3 into the melt through chemical reactions. A Cr-rich layer is retained on the glass contact surface of the corroded K-3 refractory.     

Design and Comparative Analysis of Heterogeneous Gate Dielectric Nanosheet TFET with Temperature Variance

Silicon - In this article, a Heterogeneous Gate-Dielectric Nanosheet Tunnel Field Effect Transistor (HD-NSH-TFET) with three channels is investigated using the 3-D Visual TCAD simulator. The HD...     

Comparative Study of Tocopherol Contents and Fatty Acids Composition in Twenty Almond Cultivars of Afghanistan

Afghanistan is the fourth largest producer of almonds in the world producing 78 native and 6 imported cultivars. However, till date, there have been no comprehensive data on nutrient profiles of the native cultivars. Thus, in the present investigation, tocopherol contents and fatty acid composition from the kernels of 20 selected native almond cultivars of Afghanistan were analyzed. The ranges of variability for the studied nutrients were similar to those already reported for almonds grown in other countries, such as 47.8–66.1% of total lipids (fresh weight basis), 62.54–81.57% of oleic acid in the total lipids, and 139.1–355.0 μg/g α-tocopherol in kernels. With respect to cultivars, significantly (p < 0.05) high content of total lipids were recorded in ‘Belabai’ and ‘Sattarbai’ (Afghan grade), oleic acid in ‘Khairodini’ and of α-tocopherol in ‘Khairodini-161 Samangan’ and ‘Belabai’ cultivars. Kernels from these cultivars can be used for nutrient dense food formulations. Daily consumption of 50 g almonds is sufficient to meet the RDA of α-tocopherol (15 mg/day), considering the average 300 μg/g of α-tocopherol in Afghan almonds. Also, these nutrient rich cultivars can be used in almond breeding programs globally, to focus on improving kernel oil composition and nutrient contents.     

Geometrical Variability Impact on the Performance of Sub - 3 nm Gate-All-Around Stacked Nanosheet FET

Silicon - To meet the scaling targets and continue with Moore’s Law, the transition from FinFET to Gate-All-Around (GAA) nanosheet Field Effect Transistors (FETs) is the necessity for...