Jugal Ghorai

Demonstration of 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin attenuation of P450 steroidogenic enzyme mRNAs in rat granulosa cell in vitro by competitive reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction assay.

We investigated the effects of 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD), in prepubertal (PP) and adult (A) rat granulosa cells (GC) in vitro by examining the changes in estrogen secretion, aromatase enzyme activity and mRNAs for steroidogenic enzymes P450scc, 3beta-HSDI, P450arom; and for components of the AHR signaling pathway-CYP1A1, aromatic hydrocarbon receptor (AHR), and the AHR nuclear translocator protein (ARNT). In PP and A rat GC, TCDD (3.1 nM) reduced estrogen secretion at 48 h without altering aromatase enzyme activity. Addition of FSH (50 ng/ml) increased aromatase activity in GC with or without TCDD. FSH-induced aromatase activity was significantly reduced by TCDD (3.1 nM) at 48 h. Semi-quantitative RT-PCR showed a significant increase in CYP1A1 mRNA both at 24 and 48 h with TCAP, while a significant reduction in P450scc and P450arom mRNA was observed with competitive RT-PCR. All steroidogenic enzyme mRNAs were significantly lower in adults than in PP GC. We conclude that in rat GC, TCDD modulates the level of cytochrome P450 enzymes involved in the steroid biosynthetic cascade. This effect may be attributable to AHR interaction with dioxin-responsive elements present in the genes encoding these enzymes.

Total cost and operating room time comparison of rotator cuff repair techniques at low, intermediate, and high volume centers: Mini-open versus all-arthroscopic

BACKGROUND The objective of this study was to determine mean cost and operative time differences between mini-open and all-arthroscopic rotator cuff repair techniques at surgical centers of low, intermediate, and high annual rotator cuff repair volume. METHODS The 2006 New York State Ambulatory Surgery Database (NY-SASD) was utilized. It represents 100% of all outpatient procedures performed in hospital-affiliated and freestanding surgical centers, containing 10,658,923 patients for 2006 alone. Only patients who had an arthroscopic acromioplasty and either open or arthroscopic rotator cuff repair were included, leaving 5,224 patients for the study. These were divided into 2 groups: the mini-open group (1,334) and the all-arthroscopic group (3,890). Surgical center volume data were divided into 3 groups: low volume (<75 rotator cuff repairs per year), intermediate volume (75-199 rotator cuff repairs per year), and high volume (200+ rotator cuff repairs per year). RESULTS Patient age and gender were normally distributed within the 2 groups with no significant differences between them (P = .82 and P = .31, respectively). Operative time was significantly shorter in the mini-open group (103 minutes) compared to the all-arthroscopic group (113 minutes), P < .00001. Surgical charges were also significantly less in the mini-open group (

Developmental selenomethionine and methylmercury exposures affect zebrafish learning.

7,841) compared to the all-arthroscopic group (

Developmental lead exposure causes startle response deficits in zebrafish

8,985), P < .00001. Regardless of the repair method, high volume surgical centers were significantly more expensive when compared to low and intermediate volume centers, P < .00001. CONCLUSION The mini-open rotator cuff repair technique requires significantly less operative time and is significantly less expensive than the all-arthroscopic repair. Regardless of the repair technique, high volume surgical centers cost significantly more than low and intermediate volume surgical centers.

Probabilistic load flow analysis for power systems with multi-correlated wind sources

Methylmercury (MeHg) is a ubiquitous environmental pollutant and has been shown to affect learning in vertebrates following relatively low exposures. Zebrafish were used to model long-term learning deficits after developmental MeHg exposure. Selenomethionine (SeMet) co-exposure was used to evaluate its role in neuroprotection. Embryos were exposed from 2 to 24h post fertilization to (1) MeHg without SeMet, (2) SeMet without MeHg and (3) in combination of MeHg and SeMet. In case (1), the levels of MeHg were 0.00, 0.01, 0.03, 0.06, 0.10, and 0.30 microM. In case (2), the levels of SeMet were 0.00. 0.03, 0.06, 0.10, and 0.30 microM. In case (3), co-exposure levels of (MeHg, SeMet) were (0.03, 0.03), (0.03, 0.06), (0.03, 0.10), (0.03, 0.30), (0.10, 0.03), (0.10, 0.06), (0.10, 0.10), and (0.10, 0.30) microM. Learning functions were tested in individual adults, 4 months after developmental exposure using a spatial alternation paradigm with food delivery on alternating sides of the aquarium. Low levels of MeHg (<0.1 microM) exposure delayed learning in treated fish; fish exposed to higher MeHg levels were unable to learn the task; SeMet co-exposure did not prevent this deficit. These data are consistent with findings in laboratory rodents. The dorsal and lateral telencephalon are the primary brain regions in fish involved in spatial learning and memory. Adult telencephalon cell body density decreased significantly at all MeHg exposures >0.01 microM MeHg. SeMet co-exposure ameliorated but did not prevent changes in telencephalon cell body density. In summary, MeHg affected both learning and brain structure, but SeMet only partially reversed the latter.

Experimental Design Affects Social Behavior Outcomes in Adult Zebrafish Developmentally Exposed to Lead

Lead (Pb(2+)) exposure continues to be an important concern for fish populations. Research is required to assess the long-term behavioral effects of low-level concentrations of Pb(2+) and the physiological mechanisms that control those behaviors. Newly fertilized zebrafish embryos (<2h post fertilization; hpf) were exposed to one of three concentrations of lead (as PbCl(2)): 0, 10, or 30 nM until 24 hpf. (1) Response to a mechanosensory stimulus: Individual larvae (168 hpf) were tested for response to a directional, mechanical stimulus. The tap frequency was adjusted to either 1 or 4 taps/s. Startle response was recorded at 1000 fps. Larvae responded in a concentration-dependent pattern for latency to reaction, maximum turn velocity, time to reach V(max) and escape time. With increasing exposure concentrations, a larger number of larvae failed to respond to even the initial tap and, for those that did respond, ceased responding earlier than control larvae. These differences were more pronounced at a frequency of 4 taps/s. (2) Response to a visual stimulus: Fish, exposed as embryos (2-24 hpf) to Pb(2+) (0-10 μM) were tested as adults under low light conditions (≈ 60 μW/m(2)) for visual responses to a rotating black bar. Visual responses were significantly degraded at Pb(2+) concentrations of 30 nM. These data suggest that zebrafish are viable models for short- and long-term sensorimotor deficits induced by acute, low-level developmental Pb(2+) exposures.

The type of responder T-cell has a significant impact in a human in vitro suppression assay.

This paper presents a new probabilistic load flow algorithm which takes consideration of multi-correlated wind sources in the power network. The paper first uses linear approximation to obtain the injected power distribution of wind farm by considering cut-in and cut-out wind speed. Then a 5-point discrete distribution is deduced by the point estimation method. Based on the copula method, a bivariate model which can model the correlation between the wind farms is also developed. The spatiotemporal dependencies of two wind farms are analyzed and discussed. In order to model the high dimensional joint distribution, a combination method, which combines all possible bivariate distributions, is introduced to reduce the dimensional of multivariate distribution for the situation of more than two correlated wind farms. The proposed algorithms have been tested using the IEEE118 bus test system. The results indicate that the proposed algorithm can actually capture the probabilistic characteristics of the power systems with multi-correlated wind sources.

Estimating the common parameter of normal models with known coefficients of variation: a sensitivity study of asymptotically efficient estimators

Lead (Pb(2+)) affects neuronal and endocrine systems that influence social interactions. By providing potential hiding locations, spatial heterogeneity may affect Pb(2+)-induced behavioral outcomes. Therefore, a test chamber was designed into which a refuge could be inserted. The refuge allowed test subjects to escape from the mirror image that stimulated agonistic interactions. Behaviors with a mirror were compared with baseline activity patterns without a mirror. Adult (12-month old) male and female zebrafish, exposed to Pb(2+) (0-10 μM) as embryos (2-24 hours post fertilization), were tested individually for 5 min in each chamber design within 2 h of feeding. Behaviors were evaluated for % time in mirror zone, distance traveled (=activity level), and attacks on the mirror image. When there was no refuge, significant concentration-dependent increases occurred in male % time in mirror zone, activity level, and number of attacks. Increases in these variables were less pronounced in females. When there was a refuge, there were significant differences for males only in activity level and attacks at the higher developmental exposure concentrations; % time in mirror zone followed a similar pattern and level as without refuge. Females displayed Pb(2+)-induced behavioral changes only for attacks on mirror. Since the presence of refuges that is, environmental enrichment, reduced Pb(2+)-induced agonistic behavior in both sexes, experimental spatial design can be considered an important factor when interpreting behavioral outcomes.

Estimation of a smooth quantile function under the proportional hazards model

Background In type 1 diabetes (T1D), a prototypic autoimmune disease, effector T cells destroy beta cells. Normally, CD4+CD25+high, or natural regulatory T cells (Tregs), counter this assault. In autoimmunity, the failure to suppress CD4+CD25low T cells is important for disease development. However, both Treg dysfunction and hyperactive responder T-cell proliferation contribute to disease. Methods/Principal Findings We investigated human CD4+CD25low T cells and compared them to CD4+CD25- T cells in otherwise equivalent in vitro proliferative conditions. We then asked whether these differences in suppression are exacerbated in T1D. In both single and co-culture with Tregs, the CD4+CD25low T cells divided more rapidly than CD4+CD25- T cells, which manifests as increased proliferation/reduced suppression. Time-course experiments showed that this difference could be explained by higher IL-2 production from CD4+CD25low compared to CD4+CD25- T cells. There was also a significant increase in CD4+CD25low T-cell proliferation compared to CD4+CD25- T cells during suppression assays from RO T1D and at-risk subjects (n = 28, p = 0.015 and p = 0.024 respectively). Conclusions/Significance The in vitro dual suppression assays proposed here could highlight the impaired sensitivity of certain responder T cells to the suppressive effect of Tregs in human autoimmune diseases.

A central limit theorem for theL 2 error of positive wavelet density estimator

In this article, estimation of the common parameter θ, when data X 1, …, X n are independent observations where each X i is normally distributed N (d i θ, θ2) and coefficients of variation 1/d 1, …, 1/d n are known, is treated. Such a setup is motivated by problems arising in medical, biological, and chemical experiments. We consider maximum likelihood, linear unbiased minimum variance type, linear minimum mean square, Pitman-type, and Bayes estimators of θ. Our results generalize work of previous authors in several ways. First, consideration of known but different coefficients of variation allows more flexibility in designing experiments. Secondly, our treatment can be directly applied to the case of dependent data with known correlation structure. Further, using Monte Carlo simulations, we supplement asymptotic findings with small-sample results. We also investigate the sensitivity of the estimators under various model misspecification scenarios.