A structural dynamic problem involves extraction of eigenvalues and eigenvectors to find natural frequencies and mode shapes. \(FEAS{T}^{SMT}\) is Finite Element (FE)-based structural analysis software developed in-house for the analysis of satellite launch vehicles structures. Solution of dynamic analysis problems is based on dynamic substructuring to achieve parallelism during computation. A bottleneck in this solution process is solving the resulting eigen system that involves nearly fully populated matrices. Lanczos method involves a series of mass matrix multiplication with factorized stiffness matrix for orthogonalization of trial vectors. FE models of launch vehicle structures are very complex and consist of large number of elements and nodes. A modified Lanczos method is developed using multifrontal-based partial factorization. Performance of the dynamic analysis in \(FEAS{T}^{SMT}\) software is substantially improved from the existing sequential version. This paper discusses the implementation details of the modified Lanczos reduction method using multifrontal based factorization.

Due to increased human population, industrialization, use of fertilizers and manmade activity, water is highly polluted with different harmful contaminants. Ground water gets contaminated due to weathering of rocks, leaching of soils, mining processes, etc. It is, therefore, necessary that the quality of drinking water should be checked at regular time interval, because use of contaminated drinking water by human population leads to various water borne diseases. In the present study, ground and surface water were collected from different site of Brambe and Central University of Jharkhand Campus, at Brambe, Ranchi District located in India for investigation of its physiochemical parameters. The local community is dependent on the groundwater and surface water for drinking and irrigation purpose. The objective of this study is to find out the quality of ground water and surface water around Brambe, and CUJ campus and report its suitability for domestic and agricultural purpose after appropriate treatment. These parameters are essential in determining quality of ground water and surface water. The results were compared with the drinking water guidelines of Indian Standard IS 10500 and IS 2296. Laboratory experiments were done using titrimetric method for analysis of various parameters like acidity, alkalinity, conductivity, pH, total hardness, free carbon dioxide and total solid and TDS (Total Dissolved Solid) were done using drying oven (105°C). Result of all parameters are within IS standard except alkalinity.

Advanced glycation end-products (AGEs) are implicated in the pathogenesis of diabetic nephropathy (DN). N-carboxymethyl-lysine (CML) is one of the predominant AGEs that accumulate in all renal compartments of diabetic patients. Nevertheless, the direct effect of CML on podocyte biology has not been explored. In this study, we demonstrate the induction of the transcription factor Zeb2 in podocytes upon exposure to CML through activation of NF-kappa B signaling cascade. Zeb2 orchestrates epithelial-mesenchymal transformation (EMT), during which cell cell and cell-extracellular matrix interactions are feeble and enable epithelial cells to become invasive. CML treatment induced both NF-kappa B and Zeb2 promoter activity and suppressed E-cadherin promoter activity. Inhibition of NF-kappa B activity prevented CML dependent induction of Zeb2 and loss of E-cadherin. While the exposure of podocytes to CML results in increased podocyte permeability, shRNA-mediated knockdown of Zeb2 expression abrogated CML-mediated podocyte permeability. Further, in vivo findings of elevated CML levels concurrent with increased expression of ZEB2 in glomeruli and proteinuria in diabetic rats confirm that CML-mediated manifestations in the kidney under chronic diabetes conditions. These in vitro and in vivo results envisage the novel axis of NF kappa B-ZEB2 in podocytes playing a significant role in eliciting EMT and pathogenesis of DN. (C) 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Ad-hoc networks are the collection of autonomous nodes where all the nodes are configured dynamically without any centralized management system. Mobile Ad-hoc Networks (MANETs) are self-configuring network of mobile routers connected via a wireless link. A MANET is a most promising and rapidly growing technology and it have become a very popular research topic in recent years. This paper gives an overview of MANETs with respect to services, parameters, applications, attacks and challenges.

The formation of advanced glycation end products (AGEs) is a characteristic feature of diabetic tissues and accumulation of these products has been implicated in the pathogenesis of micro-and macrovascular complications of diabetes including diabetic nephropathy (DN). Compelling evidence suggests that AGEs mediate progressive alteration in the renal architecture and loss of renal function whereas inhibitors of AGEs prevent the progression of experimental DN. We have investigated the potential of ellagic acid (EA), a polyphenol present abundantly in fruits and vegetables, to prevent in vivo accumulation of AGE and to ameliorate renal changes in diabetic rats. Streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats were fed with either 0.2% or 2% of EA in the diet for 12 weeks. Dietary supplementation of EA to diabetic rats prevented the glycation mediated RBC-IgG-cross-links and HbA1c accumulation. EA inhibited the accumulation of N-carboxymethyl lysine (CML), a predominant AGE in the diabetic kidney. Further, EA also prevented the AGE-mediated loss of expression of podocyte slit diaphragm proteins: nephrin and podocin. By inhibiting CML formation, EA improved renal function in rats as evidenced by urinary albumin and creatinine levels. In conclusion, EA inhibited AGE accumulation in the diabetic rat kidney and ameliorated AGE-mediated pathogenesis of DN.

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Fast Fourier transform (FFT) coprocessor, having a significant impact on the performance of communication systems, and in DSP processors has been a hot topic of research in recent years. The FFT function is consists of consecutive multiply add operations over complex numbers, dubbed as butterfly units. Applying floating-point (FP) arithmetic to FFT architectures, specifically butterfly units, has become more popular recently. It offloads compute-intensive tasks from general-purpose processors by dismissing FP concerns (e.g., scaling and overflow/underflow). However, the major downside of FP butterfly is its slowness in comparison with its fixed-point counterpart. This reveals the incentive to develop a high-speed FP butterfly architecture to mitigate FP slowness. This brief proposes a fast FP butterfly unit using a devised FP fused-dot-product-add (FDPA) unit, to compute AB±CD±E, based on binary-signed-digit (BSD) representation. The FP three-operand BSD adder and the FP BSD constant multiplier are the constituents of the proposed FDPA unit. A carry-limited BSD adder is proposed and used in the three-operand adder and the parallel BSD multiplier so as to improve the speed of the FDPA unit. Moreover, modified Booth encoding technique is used to accelerate the BSD multiplier. The synthesis results show that the proposed FP butterfly architecture is faster than previous counterparts but

An experiment was conducted for two years with leaf extracts and newer insecticides to evaluate their efficacy at different growth stages against Maruca vitrata in Greengram (Vigna radiata). At bud initiation stage, first spray with metaflumizone 22% SC 0.044 per cent spray was found to be the most effective followed by chlorfenapyr 10% SC, which was on par with neem leaf extract (NLE) spray at bud initiation stage. Metaflumizone recorded the 8.78% pod damage with the highest (85.7) per cent reduction in pod damage over untreated control followed by chlorfenapyr (80.1) which is on par with metaflumizone spray at 50% flowering stage. The NLE and karanj leaf extract (KLE) sprayed at bud initiation stage recorded 64.6 and 58.6 per cent reduction in pod damage over untreated control. The spray at bud initiation stage recorded 0.69 (KLE)-1.22 (metaflumizone) kg plot yields with an increase of 58–157 per cent yield over untreated control.

ABSTRACTThe glomerular podocytes form a major size selective barrier for the filtration of serum proteins and reduced podocyte number is a critical event in the pathogenesis of proteinuria during diabetic nephropathy (DN). An elevated level of growth hormone (GH) is implicated as a causative factor in the development of nephropathy in patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus. We have previously shown that podocytes express GH receptor and are a target for GH action. To elucidate the molecular basis for the effects of GH on podocyte depletion, we conducted PCR‐array analyses for extracellular matrix and adhesion molecules in podocytes. Our studies reveal that GH increases expression of a gene that encodes transforming growth factor‐beta‐induced protein (TGFBIp) expression. Similarly, microarray data retrieved from the Nephromine database revealed elevation of TGFBIp in patients with DN. Treatment with GH results in increased secretion of extracellular TGFBIp by podocytes. Both GH and TGFBIp induced apoptosis and epithelial mesenchymal transition (EMT) of podocytes. Exposure of podocytes to GH and TGFBIp resulted in increased migration of cells and altered podocyte permeability to albumin across podocyte monolayer. Administration of GH to rats induced EMT and apoptosis in the glomerular fraction of the kidney. Therefore, we conclude that the GH‐dependent increase in TGFBIp in the podocyte is one of the mechanisms responsible for podocyte depletion in DN. J. Cell. Biochem. 116: 1947–1956, 2015. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Tendon ruptures associated with ankle fractures and dislocations or subtalar dislocations are very rare entities with only a few reports of these in the literature. We report a case of an open subtalar dislocation and associated isolated proximal rupture of the flexor digitorum longus tendon at the musculotendinous junction, following a relatively low energy trauma. The finding of the avulsed flexor digitorum longus tendon was intraoperative, and management involved thorough washout of the joint and a primary side-to-side tenodesis with the flexor hallucis longus tendon. The patient has made a good functional recovery from his injuries. This case is reported because of the rarity of this combination of injuries and the associated management dilemma with which it presented us.

Monodisperse iron nanoparticles of size range 5–19 nm with controlled crystallinity and magnetic properties are synthesized via thermal decomposition of iron pentacarbonyl in the presence of an appropriate ligand. Crystalline body-centered cubic iron nanoparticles synthesized in the presence of didodecyldimethylammonium bromide exhibit a high saturation magnetization and room temperature ferromagnetic behavior with a remarkable increased stability in the aqueous phase in comparison to amorphous nanoparticles synthesized in the presence of other ligands.

The essential function of the kidney is to ensure formation of a relatively protein-free ultra-filtrate, urine. The rate of filtration and composition of the primary renal filtrate is determined by the transport of fluid and solutes across the glomerular filtration barrier consisting of endothelial cells, the glomerular basement membrane, and podocyte foot processes. In diabetes mellitus (DM), components of the kidney that enable renal filtration get structurally altered and functionally compromised resulting in proteinuria that often progresses to end-stage renal disease. Histological alterations in DM include early hypertrophy of glomerular and tubular components, subsequent thickening of basement membrane in glomeruli and tubules, progressive accumulation of extracellular matrix proteins in the glomerular mesangium and loss of podocytes, together constituting a clinical condition referred to as diabetic nephropathy (DN). The glomerulus has become the focus of research investigating the mechanism of proteinuria. In particular, the progressive dysfunction and/or loss of podocytes that is contemporaneous with proteinuria in DN have attracted intense scientific attention. The absolute number of podocytes predicts glomerular function and podocyte injury is a hallmark of various glomerular diseases. This review discusses the importance of podocytes in normal renal filtration and details the molecular and cellular events that lead to podocyte dysfunction and decreased podocyte count in DN.

Non-enzymatic protein glycation and resultant accumulation of advanced glycation endproducts (AGE) are implicated in the pathogenesis of diabetic complications including diabetic nephropathy (DN). It is considered that antiglycating agents offer protection against AGE mediated pathologies including DN. Earlier we characterized procyanidin-B2 (PCB2) as the active component from cinnamon (Cinnamomum zeylanicum) that inhibits AGE formation in vitro. In this study, we have investigated the potential of PCB2-enriched fraction of cinnamon to prevent in vivo accumulation of AGE and to ameliorate renal changes in diabetic rats. Streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats were fed with either 3% cinnamon or 0.002% PCB2-fraction in diet for 12weeks. Biochemical analysis of blood and urine was performed at the end of experiment. Evaluation of glomerular markers that serve as indicators of renal function was done by immunohistochemistry, immunoblotting and qRT-PCR. Supplementation of diabetic rats with cinnamon and PCB2-fraction prevented glycation mediated RBC-IgG cross-links and HbA1c accumulation in diabetes rats. Cinnamon and PCB2-fraction also inhibited the accumulation of N-carboxy methyl lysine (CML), a prominent AGE in diabetic kidney. Interestingly, cinnamon and its PCB2-fraction prevented the AGE mediated loss of expression of glomerular podocyte proteins; nephrin and podocin. Inhibition of AGE by cinnamon and PCB2-fraction ameliorated the diabetes mediated renal malfunction in rats as evidenced by reduced urinary albumin and creatinine. In conclusion, PCB2 from cinnamon inhibited AGE accumulation in diabetic rat kidney and ameliorated AGE mediated pathogenesis of DN.

The mesophilic strains Aspergillus flavus CFR 10 and Fusarium oxysporum CFR 8 are potent producers of extracellular thermoactive chitinases (endo-chitinase and β- N- acetylhexosaminidase). Chitinases have a wide range of applications in many areas including reclamation of seafood processing chitinous by-products. In the present study, the interactive effects of four fermentation conditions on thermoactive chitinase production by solid state fermentation (SSF) using commercial wheat bran (CWB) was investigated employing response surface methodology (RSM). Further, these chitinases were applied for the preparation of N- acetyl chitooligosaccharides from shrimp chitin. Statistical optimization resulted in the production (unit/g initial dry substrate, U/g IDS) of 19.8 endo-chitinase and 649.0 β- N- acetylhexosaminidase activity by A. flavus CFR 10, and 17.5 endo-chitinase and 319.9 β- N- acetylhexosaminidase activity by F. oxysporum CFR 8. Activity of crude endo-chitinase and β- N- acetylhexosaminidase were found to be optimum at 62 ± 1 °C in a wide pH range. Hydrolysis of colloidal chitin with crude chitinases produced the maximum N- acetyl chitooligosaccharides yield (mmol/l) of 10.4 ± 0.28 at 6 h and 10.2 ± 0.01 at 30 h post-reaction initiation, respectively, by the enzymes of A. flavus CFR 10 and F. oxysporum CFR 8. HPLC analysis revealed the presence of N- acetyl chitooligosaccharides with N -acetyl chitotriose as the main end product of the colloidal chitin hydrolysis. These results indicate the potential of mesophilic A. flavus CFR 10 and F. oxysporum CFR 8 in the production of thermoactive chitinases employing the economical SSF process using CWB as an ideal substrate, as well as the potential of these chitinases for the reclamation of abundant shrimp processing by-products and production of defined N- acetyl chitooligosaccharides.

Adipose tissue remodeling in obesity involves macrophage infiltration and chronic inflammation. NF-kB-mediated chronic inflammation of the adipose tissue is directly implicated in obesity-associated insulin resistance. We have investigated the effect of growth hormone (GH) on NF-kB activity in preadipocytes (3T3-F442A) and macrophages (J774A.1). Our studies indicate that whereas GH increases NF-kB activity in preadipocytes, it decreases NF-kB activity in macrophages. This differential response of NF-kB activity to GH correlates with the GH-dependent expression of a cadre of NF-kB-activated cytokines in these two cell types. Activation of NF-kB by GH in preadipocytes heightens inflammatory response by stimulating production of multiple cytokines including TNF-α, IL-6, and MCP-1, the mediators of both local and systemic insulin resistance and chemokines that recruit macrophages. Our studies also suggest differential regulation of miR132 and SIRT1 expression as a mechanism underlying the observed variance in GH-dependent NF-kB activity and altered cytokine profile in preadipocytes and macrophages. These findings further our understanding of the complex actions of GH on adipocytes and insulin sensitivity.