Involvement of TauT/SLC6A6 in Taurine Transport at the Blood–Testis Barrier

Taurine transport was investigated at the blood–testis barrier (BTB) formed by Sertoli cells. An integration plot analysis of mice showed the apparent influx permeability clearance of [3H]taurine (27.7 μL/(min·g testis)), which was much higher than that of a non-permeable paracellular marker, suggesting blood-to-testis transport of taurine, which may involve a facilitative taurine transport system at the BTB. A mouse Sertoli cell line, TM4 cells, showed temperature- and concentration-dependent [3H]taurine uptake with a Km of 13.5 μM, suggesting that the influx transport of taurine at the BTB involves a carrier-mediated process. [3H]Taurine uptake by TM4 cells was significantly reduced by the substrates of taurine transporter (TauT/SLC6A6), such as β-alanine, hypotaurine, γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA), and guanidinoacetic acid (GAA), with no significant effect shown by L-alanine, probenecid, and L-leucine. In addition, the concentration-dependent inhibition of [3H]taurine uptake revealed an IC50 of 378 μM for GABA. Protein expression of TauT in the testis, seminiferous tubules, and TM4 cells was confirmed by Western blot analysis and immunohistochemistry by means of anti-TauT antibodies, and knockdown of TauT showed significantly decreased [3H]taurine uptake by TM4 cells. These results suggest the involvement of TauT in the transport of taurine at the BTB.

Correlation of Corneal Thickness Measurements Between Tono-pachymeter and Scheimpflug- Placido Topography

Central corneal thickness (CCT) measurements are important for diagnosis, treatment, and surgery planning in ophthalmology. The purpose of this study was to see whether CCT measurements taken with Tono-pachymeter and Scheimpflug- Placido Topography had any significant differences. Tono-pachymeter and topography CCT measurements were taken (n=400). Inter-measurement agreement between them was determined using Bland-Altman Plot analysis. Age groups were also formed as group 1 (aged 18-50 years, 94 males, 106 females) and group 2 (age >51 years, 100 males, 100 females). Mean CCTs measured by Tonopachymeter and topography were 563.77 +±26.43 and 560.88 + 26.341 microns. Bland-Altman Plot analysis showed in total, 13 were above the upper limit and 5 were under the minimum limit of agreement with regression analysis showing no significant relationships (p=0.213). Group 1 had 7 above and 2 below from the limits of agreement. Group two had 9 above and 2 below from the limits of agreement. Both groups showed insignificant differences between devices (p=0.07 and p=0.86). Tono-pachymeter and Scheimpflug-Placido Topography give reliable CCT results within each other. However, since the limit of agreement ranges can still affect one-to-one patient evaluations, we recommend clinics that use these devices to not interchange measurements in practice.

Prediction of Epitope Peptides for PTK Gene of Acinetobacter baumannii

Background: Acinetobacter baumannii is a gramnegative bacilli acquiring both intrinsic and adaptive patterns of multi drug resistance and virulence. Immune-informatics approach holds promise to detect putative epitope peptides from vital virulence factors which can be further synthesized and evaluated for their immunological response. Aim: The aim of the study was to predict the immuno-dominant peptides from the ptk gene of A. baumannii. Materials and Methods: Protein retrieval of the Ptk gene using CELLO V.2.5 was done with the evaluation of antigenicity and allergenicity of the predicted epitopes, using Vaxijen V2.0 server and AlgPred servers. Epitope structure prediction and validation by using RAMPAGE revealed the homology peptides. Molecular Docking of epitopes with HLA-alleles using ClusterPro server, and further identification of B cell epitope was performed by using Kolaskar and Tonganokar antigenicity method. Results: A total of 20 epitopes were predicted and 18 peptides were chosen based on antigenicity and stability analysis prediction. The structure predictions were carried out using pepfold server and based on Ramachandran plot analysis 10 epitopes were taken for further analysis. Conclusion: The present finding has detected and evaluated the desirable epitope as LFFSLIAQW using an immune-informatic approach. However, it needs further experimental validation for its immunological response using standard in-vitro studies.

Clinicopathological study of non-granulomatous necrotizing lymphadenopathies

Non-granulomatous necrotizing lymphadenopathy (NGNL) is not a specific entity. It is seen in various conditions like Kikuchi-Fujimoto disease (KFD), Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE), tuberculosis, lymphoma/metastasis and lymph node infarction. These conditions mimic each other histologically but it is necessary to identify the correct pathology as the treatment differs significantly. To highlight the subtle morphological features which lead to the etiological diagnosis in NGNL. The lymphnode biopsies (N=198), reported in our institute as NGNL, over 4½ year study period, were retrieved. Of these, the benign cases were 64 in total, with 40 cases of KFD and 8 cases of SLE. H&E, special stains and immunohistochemistry slides were reviewed by two pathologists. Histomorphological features like amount of necrosis, apoptotic debris, vasculitis, presence of neutrophils, eosinophils, histiocytes, plasma cells, hematoxylin bodies, Azzopardi phenomenon and thrombus formation were studied. Logistic regression analysis was performed to identify the most significant histopathological parameter with each disease. Kendall’s Tau matrix plot analysis was used to measure the correlation between the disease and the histopathologic variables. Features like vasculitis, hematoxylin bodies and Azzopardi phenomenon showed strong correlation with SLE and inverse correlation with KFD. Apoptotic debris, paucity of neutrophils and eosinophils had a strong positive association with KFD. The histological features help in differentiating the various entities associated with NGNL. It is necessary to correlate with clinical details and various laboratory parameters to reach a conclusive diagnosis because these conditions have varied treatment modalities.

Indazole Derivatives Effective against Gastrointestinal Diseases

Background: In this fast-growing lifestyle, humans are in the race against time to cope up with busy schedule. Less exercise, consumption of high calorie-low fiber food and stress take us one step closer towards digestive dysfunction. Dysfunctional digestive system causes various gastrointestinal disorders like constipation, IBS, UC, diarrhea, gastrointestinal tract immobility, hyperglycemia, hemorrhoids, fistula, anal fissures, stomach cancer, hepatocellular carcinoma, pancreatic cancer, colon cancer and metabolic syndrome. Amongst various natural and synthetic indazole derivatives nigellicine, nigellamine, nigellidine, zanubrutinib and SCH772984 showed prominent results to cure various gastrointestinal disorders. Objective: In this manuscript, we focus on the importance of indazole derivatives in the treatment of various gastrointestinal diseases. Results and Conclusion: In the treatment of IBS, four positions (R1, R2, R3 and R4) of indazole were mainly substituted with aromatic aldehyde/substituted methyl, aromatic acid/formamide, benzamide/sulfonamide and methyl groups, respectively. In case of diarrhea and metabolic syndrome treatment, substitutions with benzyl/isopropyl/acetaldehyde (R1 position) and carboxamide/formamide (R2 position) of indazole play a critical role. Also, in the treatment of diabetes melitus, all six positions of indazole derivative were substituted with substituted aryl/alkyl/aromatic acid, substituted formamide, substituted acetamide/hydrazide group, halo aryl, substituted aryl/aromatic acid and a long chain of alkyl-aryl alcohol groups, respectively. In the treatment of gastrointestinal cancers, all six positions of indazole derivative were substituted with benzylamide (R1), octanediamide/benzamide/formamide (R2), carbaldehyde (R4) and substituted phenyl (R5 and R6) groups, respectively. Six receptors (6NP0, 2YME, 4EFU, 4WZ8, 5U4W and 7KKP) associated with GI disorders (co-crystallized with indazole derivative) were identified. Analysis of the receptors showed that co-crystalized ligand molecules were well-interacted with receptors via pie-pie interaction, co-ordinate and sigma bonding within 4 Å distance. As per Ramachandran plot analysis, more than 90% of the amino acid residues were present in the most favored region. So, if sufficient focuses are imposed on the development of newer indazole derivatives to treat gastrointestinal diseases, it will work as a boon to society.

The reminiscences of «The Name of the Rose» by Umberto Eco in the «Bibliomysteries» by Otto Penzler

The article explores the intertextual discourse of Umberto Eco’s novel «The Name of the Rose» and Otto Penzler’s book series «Bibliomysteries» through the reminiscences as a form of the intertextuality that reflects «images of the literature in the literature». The plot analysis is carried out and seven main characteristic features of the detective component of the novel Eco are singled out. The genre-typological features of each of the selected works of the Penzler’s series are studied and the following types of the reminiscences are revealed: direct, or unchanging; modified, or transformed; and hidden, or implicit. The following number of the reminiscences in the considered works is defined: 1) «The Compendium of Srem» by F. Paul Wilson – 8 direct, 14 transformed, 2 hidden; 2) «An Acceptable Sacrifice» by Jeffery Deaver – 4 direct, 7 transformed, 2 hidden; 3) «Condor in the Stacks» by James Grady – 2 direct, 5 transformed, 3 hidden; 4) «The Gospel of Sheba» by Lyndsay Faye – 5 direct, 8 transformed, 2 hidden; 5) «It’s in the Book» by Mickey Spillane and Max Allan Collins – 3 direct, 6 transformed, 2 hidden. It is established that the specified series as a set of texts reveals in relation to the novel Eco property intertextuality due to the presence in the receiving texts of different types of reminiscences of the original text. Taking into account the genre features of the recipient texts, the interaction of the texts takes place in the detective plane source text, which is a distinctive feature of the considered intertextual discourse.

The Mystery of the Crime in Skotoprigonyevsk. Plot Analysis of the Brothers Karamazov from the Perspective of Literature Studies, Psychology and Psychiatry

In this article, by focusing on the two main protagonists, Mitya Karamazov and Pavel Smerdyakov, we would like to analyze the murder of Fyodor Karamazov, which is the crucial event in the novel The Brothers Karamazov. We have conducted analysis of these two characters from the perspective of literature studies, psychology and psychiatry. Although we agree with Freud’s opinion (1) that it is not important who killed the father, but who wanted to kill him, we hope that our findings will allow us to formulate conclusions that will be helpful in new interpretations of this masterpiece.

Identification of SnoRNAs Predicting Prognosis for Ovarian Cancer

Background: Increasing evidence has been confirmed that small nucleolar RNAs (SnoRNAs) play critical roles in tumorigenesis and exhibit prognostic value in clinical practice. However, there is short of systematic research on SnoRNAs in ovarian cancer (OV).Material/methods: 379 OV patients with RNA-Seq and clinical parameters from TCGA database and 5 paired clinical OV tissues were embedded in our study. Cox regression analysis was used to identify prognostic SnoRNAs and construct prediction model. SNORic database was adopted to examine the copy number variation of snoRNAs. ROC curves and KM plot curves were applied to validate the prediction model. Besides, the model was validated in 5 paired clinical tissues by real-time PCR, H&E staining and immunohistochemistry. Results: A prognostic model was constructed on the basis of SnoRNAs in OV patients.Patients with higher RiskScore had poor clinicopathological parameters, including higher age, larger tumorsize, advanced stage and with tumor status. KM plot analysis confirmed that patients with high RiskScore had poorer prognosis in subgroup of age, tumor size and stage. 7 of 9 snoRNAs in the prognostic model had positive correlation with their host genes. Moreover, 5 of 9 snoRNAs in the prognostic model correlated with their CNVs, and SNORD105B had the strongest correction with its CNVs. ROC curve showed that the RiskScore had excellent specificity and accuracy. Further, H&E staining and immunohistochemistry of Ki67, P53 and P16 were confirmed that patients with higher RiskScore are more malignant. Conclusions: In summary, we identified a nine-snoRNAs signature as an independent indicator to predict prognosis of OV, providing a prospective prognostic biomarker and potential therapeutic targets for ovarian cancer.

Research on short-term wind power Prediction of GRU based on similar days

As the proportion of wind power generation continues to increase, accurate forecasting of wind power output is of great significance to the smooth operation of the entire power grid. However, due to the greater impact of environmental factors, wind power generation has strong randomness, and it becomes difficult to accurately predict the power generation. Thus, a new hybrid model for wind power generation prediction combining GRU neural networks and similar days’ characters analysis is proposed to address solve this problem. The prediction method employs grey relation analysis to screen similar days, which not only reduces the amount of data required to train the model, reduces the computational complexity, and improves the training speed, but also improves the prediction accuracy based on the selected datasets. In addition, this method also filters and processes the data through box-plot analysis and linear smoothing, which further improves the prediction accuracy of the model. The results show that compared with a single GRU network, the MAE of this method has dropped by 1.89, RMSE has dropped by 1.9, and MAPE has dropped by 11.07%. Obviously, the prediction model based on similar days extraction has obvious advantages.

Temperature dependence of quantum oscillations from non-parabolic dispersions

The phase offset of quantum oscillations is commonly used to experimentally diagnose topologically nontrivial Fermi surfaces. This methodology, however, is inconclusive for spin-orbit-coupled metals where π-phase-shifts can also arise from non-topological origins. Here, we show that the linear dispersion in topological metals leads to a T2-temperature correction to the oscillation frequency that is absent for parabolic dispersions. We confirm this effect experimentally in the Dirac semi-metal Cd3As2 and the multiband Dirac metal LaRhIn5. Both materials match a tuning-parameter-free theoretical prediction, emphasizing their unified origin. For topologically trivial Bi2O2Se, no frequency shift associated to linear bands is observed as expected. However, the π-phase shift in Bi2O2Se would lead to a false positive in a Landau-fan plot analysis. Our frequency-focused methodology does not require any input from ab-initio calculations, and hence is promising for identifying correlated topological materials.