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Bangalore India Bio Summit 2013

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Hi,

Bangalore India Bio Summit 2013 which is one of most awaited biotech conference in India will be conducted on Feb 4-6. The summit is a great platform to network and partner with the leaders in the Biotech industry.

Registrations to participate in the event have begun. People registering till tomorrow can avail 15 per cent discount.

You can get further details about the summit in the brochure below

http://www.slideshare.net/Bangaloreindia...conference

I need help in Ames test calculation !

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Hello every one,
Angel
I've done Ames test to see the mutagenicity in some vegetables that were grown using treated waste water ..

I took 5 gm of each vegetable and homogenized it with 100ml DH2O == (5gm/100ml)
the vegetable juice was filtered and 100Ml was taken to be grown with the top agar then incubated in 37C for 48 hr
the control was Sodium Azide with the S.typhi TA100 and the colony count was for the control (486 CFU)
I know that the colony count for the +ve control should be more than 1000CFU for the Sodium azide with TA100 , but this is the best result that i had in many trials.
now I'm trying to calculate the mutagenicity % for my results and I need to consider if I had 100gm of my vegetables

I konw that the main formula is:

The % mutagenicity as positive control :
(# colony plate/+ve control )*100%

for example :
(34/486)*100= 6.99 (this number in 5gm/100ml)
but if I need it /100gm
should I multiply it with 20 (as 100/5) or multiply it with 100?? Exclamation

& is my calculations are right or what?? HuhHuh

sorry for the long message
thanx

The Bright Future of Astrobiology

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How the life originated and evolved? Is there life elsewhere in the universe? What is the future of life on Earth and on other planets? These three fundamental issues define well area of interest of a new young interdisciplinary science called astrobiology. Earth is the only place in the universe known to harbor life.However, recent advances in planetary science have changed fundamental assumptions about the possibility of life in the universe, raising the estimates of habitable zones around other stars and the search for extraterrestrial microbial life.

Biotechnology discoveries may, in the near future, become very important for the development of astrobiology.

The Establishment of Astrobiology

Astrobiology explores life as a planetary phenomenon in order to understand the fundamental nature of life on Earth and possibility of life elsewhere in the universe. Astrobiology makes use of physics, chemistry, astronomy, biology, molecular biology, ecology, planetary science, geography, and geology to investigate the possibility of life on other worlds and help recognize biospheres that might be different from the biosphere on Earth. In recent years, a great amount of new data about extra solar planets and small bodies within our solar system are gathered, which has significantly increased our understanding of the origin and evolution of planets. Most astronomy-related astrobiological research falls into the category of extrasolar planet (exoplanet) detection, the hypothesis being that if life arose on Earth, then it could also arise on other planets with similar characteristics. After having established the NASA Astrobiology Institute - NAI 1998 yerar, astrobiology has become a formal science branch. The creation of this institute stemmed from the growing interest of NASA for planet Mars, the nearest planet that potentially has suitable properties that can support life.

Groundbreaking event was probably the discovery of Antarctic meteorite ALH84001 1996 year, originating from Mars, where they allegedly found microfossils of extraterrestrial life. NAI works as a virtual institute and currently comprises twelve U.S. research teams with over 700 scientists. Nearly a decade after its founding, NAI entered the crisis period (in the last two years, NASA astrobiology cut funding by 50%). The focus of research is shifting to other institutions, mostly European.

Research centers for astrobiology now exist around the world, such as the Centro de Astrobiologia in Spain and the Groupement de Recherche en Exobiologie in France, the Australian Centre for Astrobiology, Astrobiology Society of Britain and the European Exo / Astrobiology Network Association. Also, many reputable universities are giving the offer to study astrobiology classes. Strategy plan for astrobiology research is presented through seven primary scientific objectives.

Scientific Objectives of Astrobiology

1. To understand the nature of the environment suitable for life, and its distribution in space is the main component of this objective of modeling of planets suitable for life. For previously mentioned small bodies in the solar system, which are considered to be the remains which have failed to form planets, astrobiology is important for two reasons: to create a theoretical model of the origin and development of habitable planets, and the collisions with the early Earth that have significantly impacted chemical composition of the future biosphere on Earth. Another important component of the first objective is to directly and indirectly observe extra solar planets suitable for life. Up to now, more than 200 planets outside our solar system have been discovered. Very recently, the first extra solar planet similar to Earth is discovered. Researcher Dijana Dominis Prester Took a great part in this remarkable discovery.

2. To investigate former or current environment and signs of life outside of the the solar system. Still, first task is exploring Mars, and then the rest of the solar system and planets and other bodies beyond it.

3. To get the grasp on how the life sprang from cosmic and planetary precursor example, how they were created and developed out of the biomolecules.

4. To understand how the early life on Earth adapted to early global changes, for example, how the complex organisms developed from simple forms in early biosphere environment.

5. To understanding the mechanisms of evolutionary constraints imposed by the environment. This goal is especially the matter of molecular evolution of organisms and their adaptation to the extreme conditions of the environment. Biologists cannot say that a process or phenomenon, by being mathematically possible, have to exist forcibly in the real nature. On the Earth have so far been discovered many extremophilles, microorganisms that live in extreme environments (from our viewpoint) temperature, pressure and acidity. Characterization of these organisms, their environments and their evolutionary pathways, is considered a crucial component to understanding how life might evolve elsewhere in the universe.

6. To get the grasp on the principles that will shape the future life on Earth and beyond. The emphasis is on living organisms that can adapt to extraterrestrial life conditions. For example, space biology explores the impact of space flight on living organisms. Today, it is part of astrobiology although it was developed much earlier.

7. To determine how to identify signs of life on other planets. The methane gas was recently found in the atmosphere of Mars. Given that methane in atmospheric conditions on Mars is not stable over time, there must be a constant source of it. It could be volcanic activity or an important sign of the presence of viable microorganisms. Active volcanoes on Mars, however, have not yet been observed.

Still Without Evidence

Until today, there was no reliable confirmation of the existence of extraterrestrial life. Similarly, no evidence was found that intelligent aliens ever visited Earth. I emphasize that I pointed out the difference between the science of astrobiology and the search for understanding of Hollywood aliens. The true goal of astrobiology is not looking for ET. The goal is to create the preconditions for the expansion of humanity beyond the planet Earth, which sooner or later must happen, probably long before Earth ceases to be suitable for life. Appeal to young readers to overgrow pulp-literature and naive stories of visitors from Sirius, but to pay attention to real scientific discoveries that can really change our future. In this sense, I recommend two excellent books that emphasize the importance of critical thinking, fighting the misconception and deception: Sagan’s Demon-Haunted World, and Dawkins' book A Devil's Chaplain.

Bangalore Bio India 2013- BioQuiz 2013

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Hi,

I’m a biotechnology student. Bangalore India Bio is conducting the largest quiz on Biotechnology. The first round is happening on Jan 30 in Bangalore. I’m thinking about participating. Is there anyone else from Bangalore who is going for this?

Isolation and purification of plasmids

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Being first coined by a molecular biologist in 1952 plasmids, the small, circular, extra chromosomal DNA mainly found in bacteria made its entry into the field of molecular biology as vectors in 1970s. Plasmids are able to self replicate without any dependence on the host chromosomal DNA, carry genes useful for the host organism (for example, antibiotic resistance gene) and also possess the ability to transfer among different bacterial species through horizontal gene transfer. These characteristic makes plasmids a useful vector tool in molecular biology in developing recombinant molecules. It is not that a single bacterial cell contains only one plasmid as there is a possibility of different plasmids existing in a single bacterial cell. Based on their ability to transfer between species plasmids are classified as conjugative and non-conjugative plasmids and another classification of plasmids made based on the function and the type of genes they carry include fertility plasmid, resistance plasmid, virulence plasmid, col plasmid and degradative plasmid.

With its wide application in molecular biology in the preparation of recombinants, plasmids need to be extracted or isolated from its host organism and thus isolated plasmids need to be purified. The initial step required in the extraction or isolation of the plasmid from the host bacteria is the preparation of the host bacterial culture which is called as minipreparation or miniprep from which the plasmid is extracted. As the name indicates miniprep involves preparation of few ml of the culture by inoculating the host organism containing the desired plasmid in the organism specific broth and allowing to grow overnight to attain the stationary phase. At this stage the culture is subjected to centrifugation, as a result the bacterial cells settle down forming a pellet which is then harvested and exposed to various processes like alkaline lysis, phenol extraction or cesium chloride gradient and ethanol precipitation to obtain pure plasmids.

In alkaline lysis, the harvested cell pellet is treated with buffer solution followed by the addition of special solution which initiates lysis of the cell and hence called as cell lysis solution. This solution is a combination of sodium dodecyl sulfate and sodium hydroxide, whereas sodium dodecyl sulfate acts on the cell membrane, lyses the membrane and also acts on the proteins by denaturing them and the alkaline environment created by the addition of the sodium hydroxide enables the denaturation and hydrolysis of the DNA and RNA respectively. The solution is then neutralized by the addition of potassium acetate which enables the precipitation of the proteins (denatured) and DNA (chromosomal) which upon centrifugation settles down leaving the plasmid DNA, RNA and fewer proteins in the supernatant.

The supernatant containing the plasmid, RNA and less protein is subjected to either phenol extraction method or cesium chloride gradient method to extract the plasmid alone from the mixed supernatant. The cesium chloride gradient is effective in obtaining pure plasmids and is adopted for plasmid production in large scale. In phenol extraction method, the addition of phenol to the supernatant followed by vigorous mixing denatures the proteins present in the supernatant which is finally seen as a separate precipitated layer below the plasmid - RNA layer. The plasmid - RNA layer is removed and processed with ethanol (ethanol precipitation) which enables the pelleting of the plasmid alone which is then treated with Tris hydrochloride and EDTA solution whereas the former is added to create buffer environment and the later takes care of any Magnesium ions present in the solution by chelating the ions and thus protects the plasmid DNA. The fear of RNA presence is cured by adding Ribonuclease A to the solution which takes care of the RNA and thus pure plasmid can be obtained.

In cesium chloride gradient method, as already said used for large scale plasmid production, the supernatant is treated with the solution of cesium chloride and ethidium bromide which upon centrifugation forms different fractions in the tube based on the density. The fractionation in the tube is seen as protein layer on top of all, followed by layer of chromosomal DNA, below which is the layer of super coiled plasmid and finally RNA is seen as pellets at the bottom of the tube. The plasmid layer is then recovered and subjected to ethanol precipitation method to obtain the pure plasmid.

Thus the plasmids with unique characteristics can be isolated and purified to be used as vectors in molecular biology.

Bio-Chemical Tests Used in Identification of Microorganisms.

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In various pharmaceutical manufacturing plants and in medical field, biochemical tests are performed to identify microorganisms.
Such biochemical test helps in differentiating bacteria and thus is a way to diagnose the cause of infections and other disease related to micro-organisms. This test indicates different characteristics of microorganism with respect to subjected bio-chemicals and thus helps in their identification up to species level.
Once this identification is done, specific recommendations/corrective actions are implemented for treatments and further resolution of microbial infection or contamination.
Bio-chemical test includes Catalase test, Carbohydrate oxidation fermentation tests, MR-VP test, Simmon’s citrate test, Nitrogen metabolism – urea Hydrolysis test etc.
These tests are done under aseptic conditions under totally controlled environments. This is to avoid un-wanted contamination and to keep the validity of test.
In catalase test, oxygen is used as final electron acceptor by many micro-organisms the breakdown of H2O2 into water and oxygen molecules is characterized by bubble formation and this indicates the result as Positive (+). Eg. Staphyloccocus aureus.
In Carbohydrate fermentation test, acid and gases production are detected. Acid production is indicated with color change and it shows that microorganism under test are capable of utilizing various carbohydrates.
MRVP test, which is abbreviation of Methyl Red Voges Proskauer is test to know if organic acid is produced, the positive result is just a no change in color of MR chemical indicator.
Simmon’s citrate test is to identify the ability of bacteria to ferment citrate. In this test when citric acid or sodium citrate is in solution, it loses sodium ion to form citrate ion. This Citrate is break down to pyruvate. When a bacterium uses Citrate, medium turns alkaline.
Another test which is employed in identification of microorganism is Urea test. In this test, Urease breaks down urea into ammonia and carbon dioxide.
Bio-chemical test is fundamental concept in microbiology which helps in identification of micro-organism of interest out of hundreds of samples.

Advanced PG Diploma in Clinical Research, CDM, Pharmacovigilance & SAS Clinical

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Advanced PG Diploma in Clinical Research, Clinical Data Management, Pharmacovigilance & SAS Clinical (Base SAS and Advance SAS) with Live Projects
BioMed Informatics Medwin Hospitals


Features:
• Certificate will be provided after successful completion of the course
• Job experience certificate will be provided till you are getting placement, because of availability of patients data with us from time to time
• Job experience certificate will be provided till you are going to abroad
• This is the only place in India where you can get job experience certificate because of availability of clinical records. This job experience certificate will be very much useful in shortlisting process by companies
• Relieving certificate will be provided after getting the job
• Resume preparation tips / Interview guidance
• Printed material will be provided

Medwin Hospitals, a Multi Speciality Hospital with excellence in modern health care ventures BioMed Informatics (Member of BCIL-DBT) in the field of Clinical Research by keeping in view of the tremendous applications in improving the quality of the health care.

Our candidates employed in Novartis, Quintiles, Parexel International (India) Pvt Ltd, Global Hospitals, Apollo Hospitals, NIMS, Glenmark Pharmaceuticals Ltd, Jubilant, Reliance Life Sciences, Shantha Biotechnics Ltd, Mahindra Satyam, SMO Clinical Research (I) Pvt Ltd, Pioneer Corporate Services Inc-USA, ICMR, AstraZeneca-UK, Texas Woman’s University-USA and many more…

Interested candidates are kindly requested to fill the enquiry form in the website http://www.biomedlifesciences.com for further information.

Please note that we also provide separate hostel facility assistance for ladies as well as gents.

Thanking you,

G.V.L.P. Subba Rao
BioMed Informatics
Medwin Hospitals B Block First Floor,
Nampally, Hyderabad-500 001, India
Phone: 040 - 40209750
Website: http://www.biomedlifesciences.com

Course Curriculum

Clinical Research

• Introduction to Clinical Research
• Pharma Research/Drug Development Process
• Pre-Clinical Research
• Clinical Trial Phases (I - IV)
• IND/NDA/ANDA
• Ethics in Clinical Research
• ICH-GCP Guidelines
• Regulatory Affairs
• US FDA Guidelines
• DCGI/Schedule Y
• EMA
• CRO Industry
• IRB / IEC
• Informed Consent Process
• Roles and Responsibilities of Clinical Trial Team
• Site Initiation Study
• CRF & e-CRF
• Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs)
• Investigator Brochure (IB)
• Protocol Design and Format
• Investigational Product (IP)
• Essential Documents for a Clinical Trial
• Submission & Publication of Clinical Study Report
• Audits & Inspections

Pharmacovigilance
• Introduction to Pharmacovigilance
• Good Pharmacovigilance Practices
• Pharmacovigilance Plan (ICH E2E)
• Classification & Reporting of ADRs
• Periodic Safety Update Reports (PSURs) for Marketed Drugs (ICH E2C)
• Safety Signal Detection
• Safety Signal Assessment
• Reporting of Safety Signals
• Management of Safety Signals
• Indian Scenario
• Risk Management Process
• Risk MAPs
• Pharmacoepidemiological Studies
• Registers
• Surveys

Clinical Data Management
• Introduction to Clinical Data Management
• Guidelines for CDM
• Roles and Responsibilities of CDM Team
• 21 CFR Part 11
• CRF Designing
• Data Capture Methods
• Data Entry
• External Data Loading
• Data Validation Procedures
• Data Cleaning
• Discrepancy Management
• Query Management
• Data Clarification Form (DCF)
• Database Closure and Freezing
• Data Storage & Archival
• Data Coding and Medical Dictionaries
• Safety Data Management (AEs/SAEs)
• SAE Reconciliation
• Quality Assurance & Quality Control
• Auditing
• CDISC Standards

Live Project

• Clinical Data Management System
• Protocol Designing
• CRF Designing
• CRF Tracking
• Study Event Creation
• Groups Creation
• Data Entry
• Data Validation
• Discrepancy Management
• Query Management
• Database Locking
• Data Security and Data Privacy


SAS Clinical (Base SAS and Advance SAS)
SAS Modules:
 SAS / BASE
 SAS / STAT
 SAS / REPORT
 SAS / ODS
 SAS / GRAPH
 SAS / SQL
 SAS / MACROS
 SAS / ACCESS
 SAS / CONNECT
 LIVE SAS CLINICAL PROJECT

SAS / BASE
• Introduction to SAS System & Architecture
• SAS Windowing Environment
• SAS Libraries
• Variables & SAS Syntax Rules
• Data Step and Proc Step
• Titles & Footnotes
• Proc Print Statement
• Proc Print Options
• Set Statement
• Dataset Options
• Options Statement
• Types of Input Statements
• Infile Statement With Options
• Keep, Drop and Rename Statements
• Update Statement
• Modify Statement
• Merging Concepts
• Interleaving Concept
• Logical Variables
• Retain Statement
• Formats and Informats
• Conditional Statements
• SAS Functions
• Do Statement
• Randomization

BASE SAS PROCEDURES
• Proc Sort
• Proc Append
• Proc Transpose
• Proc Contents
• Proc Format
• Proc Import
• Proc Export
• Proc Compare
• Proc Copy
• Proc Options
• Proc Forms
• Proc Datasets
• Proc Printto
• Proc Calendar

BIOSTATISTICS
• Introduction To Biostatistics – Clinical Applications
• Frequency Distribution Of Clinical data
• Clinical Data Presentation
• Measures Of Centering Constants
• Measures Of Dispersion
• Normal Distribution
• Null Hypothesis / Alternate Hypothesis
• p – Value Interpretation
• Sampling Variation
• Probability Concepts In Clinical Trials
• t-Test – Pharma Applications
• Chi Square test – Adverse Event Analysis
• Correlation & Regression – Estimation Analysis
• ANOVA – Efficacy Analysis

SAS / STAT (DATA ANALYSIS)
• Proc Means (mean, median, std, n, var, cv, range, q, q3, qrange, p50)
• Proc Univariate
• Proc Summary
• Proc TTest (Paired and Unpaired)
• Proc Anova (One Way, Two Way and Manova)
• Proc Glm
• Proc Freq
• Proc Chisq
• Proc Corr
• Proc Reg

SAS / GRAPH
• Proc Plot
• Proc Gplot
• Mutliple Plots & Overlay
• Symbol Statement
• Title and Footnote Statements
• Proc Chart
• Proc Gchart
• Vertical, Horizontal, Pie
• Group, Subgroups
• Proc G3D
• Proc Gprint
• Graph-N-Go

SAS / REPORT
• Proc Report
• Column Statements
• Break/Rbreak Statements
• Compute Statement
• Frequency Procedure
• Proc Tabulate
• One-Dimensional Tables
• Two-Dimensional Tables
• Summary Statistics
• Proc Summary

SAS / ODS
• ODS Statements
• ODS Options
• Using ODS to Create HTML, PDF, RTF
• Proc Template
• Proc Report with ODS

SAS / SQL
• Introduction to SAS/SQL
• Proc Sql Statements
• Proc Sql Options
• Set Clause
• Where Clause
• Order by Clause
• Group by Clause
• Having Clause
• Distinct Clause
• Formatting Output
• Case Expression and Conditional Logic
• Sql Set Operators
• Joins in Sql
• Creating ,Populating & Deleting Tables
• Alter Table Statement
• Renaming A Table & Columns
• Changing Column's Length
• Aggregate Functions
• Pass Through Facility

SAS / MACROS
• Macro Concepts
• Macros And Macro Variables
• Creating Macro Variables
• Using Macro Variables
• Invoking A Macro
• Passing Arguments to Macros
• Macro Quoting Functions
• Macro Options
• Macro Expressions
• Macro Character Functions
• Macro Interface Functions

SAS / ACCESS
• Import & Export Procedures
• Proc Access
• Worksheet Statement

SAS / CONNECT
• Cimport Procedure
• Cport Procedure
• Using Select Statement

LIVE SAS CLINICAL PROJECT

Advanced PG Diploma in Intellectual Property Rights-IPR & Patents

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Advanced PG Diploma in Intellectual Property Rights-IPR & Patents
BioMed Informatics Medwin Hospitals

Features:
• Certificate will be provided after successful completion of the course
• Job experience certificate will be provided till you are getting placement, because of availability of data with us from time to time
• Job experience certificate will be provided till you are going to abroad
• This is the only place in India where you can get job experience certificate because of availability of data. This job experience certificate will be very much useful in shortlisting process by companies
• Relieving certificate will be provided after getting the job
• Resume preparation tips / Interview guidance
• Printed material will be provided

Medwin Hospitals, a Multi Speciality Hospital with excellence in modern health care ventures BioMed Informatics (Member of BCIL-DBT) in the field of IPR & Clinical Research by keeping in view of the tremendous applications in improving the quality of the health care.

Intellectual Property Rights is creating excellent job opportunities for Pharma/Science candidates to work as Patent Analyst, IPR Executive, Patent Drafting Expert, Patent Writer, Patent Executive, IPR Associate, Patent Manager, Patent Research Executive, Docketing Specialist, Patent Agent, Patent Associate, Patent Officer in India, USA & UK.

Our candidates employed in Novartis, Quintiles, Parexel International (India) Pvt Ltd, Global Hospitals, Apollo Hospitals, NIMS, Glenmark Pharmaceuticals Ltd, Jubilant, Reliance Life Sciences, Shantha Biotechnics Ltd, Mahindra Satyam, SMO Clinical Research (I) Pvt Ltd, Pioneer Corporate Services Inc-USA, ICMR, AstraZeneca-UK, Texas Woman’s University-USA and many more…

Interested candidates are kindly requested to fill the enquiry form in the website http://www.biomedlifesciences.com for further information.

Please note that we also provide separate hostel facility assistance for ladies as well as gents.

Thanking you,

G.V.L.P. Subba Rao
BioMed Informatics
Medwin Hospitals B Block First Floor,
Nampally, Hyderabad-500 001, India
Phone: 040 - 40209750
Website: http://www.biomedlifesciences.com


Course Curriculum

Module 1: Intellectual Property and Patents
• Introduction to IP
• Patents
• Trademarks
• Copyrights
• Patent Corporation Treaty
• Patent Specification
• Terms and Terminology

Module 2: Basic Patent Laws and Concepts
• Concepts of Indian Patent law
• Concepts of US law
• Concepts of EU law

Module 3: Patent Searches
• Structure of Patent
• Patent Searching
• Indian Patent Office (IPO)
• United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO)
• European Patent Office (EPO)
• Delphion and Thomson Reuters
• Tools of Patent Searching
• Keyword Searching
• Boolean Searching
• Query Searching
• Image Searching
• Chemical Structure Searching
• Citation Searching
• Cluster Searching
• Classification Code Searching

Module 4: Patent Analysis
• Prior Art Search
• Validity Search
• Infringement Search
• Freedom to Operate Search
• Patentability Search
• Novelty Search
• Technology Landscaping
• State of Art Search
• Maps Portraying an Overall Composition of a Technology Field or an Expanse of a Technology Field
• Map Portraying Expanses of Applications of a Technology Field
• Map Portraying Technology Fields Related to a Technology Field
• Map Portraying a Technological Progress
• Map Portraying Changes of Relations between Activity of a Technology Development and Participating Companies
• Map Portraying the Degree of Maturity of a Technology Field
• Map Portraying Changes of Technical Contents
• Map Portraying Trends of Problems in a Technological Development
• Map Portraying Changes of Influential Industrial Field in Technological Development
• Map Portraying the Status Quo of Applications with Multiple Perspective of a Technology Field
• Maps Portraying Problems in a Technological Development
• Map Portraying Correspondence between Problems and Technologies
• Map Portraying Applicants Having Filed Many Applications
• Map Portraying Structural Differences of Applications among the US, Europe and Japan
• Map Portraying Upper Ranked Applicants (Right Holders) of Foreign Countries
• Map Portraying Expanses of a Technology Development in Foreign Countries

Module 5: Case Studies and Sample Reports

Advanced PG Diploma in Regulatory Affairs

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Advanced PG Diploma in Regulatory Affairs
BioMed Informatics Medwin Hospitals


Features:
• Certificate will be provided after successful completion of the course
• Job experience certificate will be provided till you are getting placement, because of availability of data with us from time to time
• Job experience certificate will be provided till you are going to abroad
• This is the only place in India where you can get job experience certificate because of availability of data. This job experience certificate will be very much useful in shortlisting process by companies
• Relieving certificate will be provided after getting the job
• Resume preparation tips / Interview guidance
• Printed material will be provided

Medwin Hospitals, a Multi Speciality Hospital with excellence in modern health care ventures BioMed Informatics (Member of BCIL-DBT) in the field of Clinical Research & Regulatory Affairs by keeping in view of the tremendous applications in improving the quality of the health care.

As regulatory processes increase in complexity and scope, and globalization occurs within the field, there will be continuing industry demand for people with a strong foundation in regulatory affairs. The Regulatory Affairs program provides professionals with the specialized knowledge required to help biotechnology, medical device, pharmaceutical and food companies manage regulatory processes.

Our candidates employed in Novartis, Quintiles, Parexel International (India) Pvt Ltd, Global Hospitals, Apollo Hospitals, NIMS, Glenmark Pharmaceuticals Ltd, Jubilant, Reliance Life Sciences, Shantha Biotechnics Ltd, Mahindra Satyam, SMO Clinical Research (I) Pvt Ltd, Pioneer Corporate Services Inc-USA, ICMR, AstraZeneca-UK, Texas Woman’s University-USA and many more…

Interested candidates are kindly requested to fill the enquiry form in the website http://www.biomedlifesciences.com for further information.

Please note that we also provide separate hostel facility assistance for ladies as well as gents.

Thanking you,

G.V.L.P. Subba Rao
BioMed Informatics
Medwin Hospitals B Block First Floor,
Nampally, Hyderabad-500 001, India
Phone: 040 - 40209750
Website: http://www.biomedlifesciences.com

Course Curriculum

Module 1: Introduction to the Regulatory Affairs
• Introduction and general overview of pharmaceutical industry
• Functions and types of dosage forms
• Definitions and various departments in the industry
• Regulatory Affairs as a profession and its importance
• Code of ethics of Regulatory Affairs professional
• Functions of Regulatory Affairs professional
• Importance of QA and its link with Regulatory Affairs
• Origin of drug development process and filings
• Innovation, creativity and its role in drug development and filings
• Importance of regulatory audits
• Overview of regulations worldwide and their origin (US, EU, Japan, Australia, Canada, UK, India)

Module 2: Regulations in United States of America
• Origin of USFDA
• Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act (FDA)
• Code of Federal Regulations (CFR)
• Branches in USFDA and the function of each one of them, CDER, CBER, CDRH, CFSAN, CVM, ORA
• Procedure for marketing a drug in US
• Types of drug applications in US (ANDA, NDA, sNDA, 505(b)(2), BLA.etc)
• Detailed study about each of the drug applications
• Special emphasis on generic drug development and application procedure (ANDA)
• Sample flow chart on the development of a oral dosage form

Module 3: Regulations in European Countries
• EU Commission
• European Medicines Agency (EMEA) including CHMP and CVMP
• National authorities of other EU countries
• Mutual recognition procedure
• Abridged application process
• Centralized procedure
• Decentralized procedure
• Orphan drug applications
• Guidelines and Eudralex
• EGA
• Biological similar

Module 4: Regulations in Other Countries and Dossiers
• Conventional dossiers
• DMF & CTD
• Differences in EU and US regulations
• Regulations in Canada and its filing process
• Regulations in Japan and its filing process

Module 5: ICH and WHO
• Harmonisation and its need
• ICH and the steps involved in forming ICH
• Guidelines of ICH
• Stability
• Dissolution
• Impurities
• Bioequivalence and Bioavailability
• Interchangeability
• WHO and its importance

Synthetic Membranes Could Restore Impaired Vision

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Researchers from the University of Sheffield have developed a method for the production of synthetic, biodegradable membranes that would made possible to incorporate stem cells into the eyes. This technique allows scientists, whose research is published in the journal Acta Biomaterialia to produce membranes that mimic the structure of the eye. They hope to be able to use this novelty in treating a great number of damaged corneal injuries which are responsible for a large number of cases of blindness in the world.

Synthetic Membranes

This project, funded by the Wellcome Trust and Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), is managed in cooperation with Dr. Virender Sangwan, assistant director and head of clinical research at the Institute for Ophtalmology LV Prasad in Hyderabad in India. The researchers are confident that their synthetic membranes significantly increase the availability of reparative operation using corneal stem cells.
Sheila MacNeil, professor in the Department of Tissue Engineering, Faculty of Engineering at the University of Sheffield, talked about the improvements that this method could allow. For starters it is a question of the production of these synthetic membranes.

Electrospin and Microstereolithography

"First, we use a technique called electrospin," she said. "It's kind of like making the spider web of thin fibers. These fibers are made from a material called PLGA, which is used for the production of degradable sutures. PLGA is placed in the syringe and the polymers which are gathered on the rotating drum are squeezed. At the end we get a soft fabric fiber thickness of approximately 100 microns. This fabric is not much structurally different from a paper tissue. Then we use a technique called microstereolithography by which we install protective pockets where stem cells can "hide". We actually imitate the natural environment of the limbal stem cells in the eye. This is a great, but very hard work. It takes a long time to produce adequate membranes using microstereolithography.


Fortunately, we were able to overcome this obstacle as we accidentally discovered how to achieve it more easily. We covered the drum by material that bakers use to prevent their cakes to stick to the casserole. In this material, there is a certain pattern of which in the beginning we did not even think. However, as we have put PLGA on drum covered by this method, we noticed that it shapes by that pattern. So we came up with the idea to use as a mold the membranes which are already processed by microstereolithography. On the surface of the drum we put the membrane as a template and inflicted on her soft fibers using the electrospin. That way, we achieved the shape of “micro pockets” the same as on the template. Now we work with a company that uses the electrospin method and with this method we are able to produce between 20 and 24 pieces every couple of hours. "

Approach to the use of membranes in stem cell therapy is not new. However, the production of large quantities of synthetic membranes could increase the availability of this type of therapy.

"Stem cells can be taken from the patient's healthy eye and, when they are grown enough, they can be incorporated into the damaged eye," explained Professor MacNeil. "However, the damaged area is so avascular that the cells would not survive without additional substrate. Scientists currently use small pieces of amniotic membrane – the tissue in which a child is wrapped in childbirth – on which they put the stem cells. This method is successful. Amniotic membrane is a good biological substrate, cells can easily connect to it, it breaks down relatively quickly and, once decomposed, corneal cells remain in the right position. Unfortunately, there is a shortage. "

The Disadvantages

"These membranes are part of human tissue. Material must therefore be taken by patients who have agreed to it - from women who have given birth and who willingly agree to have their amniotic membrane used for these purposes. Furthermore, since it is human tissue, results vary from case to case. However, the biggest problem is that the fabric must be kept under conditions approved by the tissue bank. This means that the tissue can be obtained in a safe way if you have access to an accredited tissue bank has the tissue in stock. In reality, most of the ophthalmic surgeons do not have such access. If we manage to produce an efficient synthetic material, it will be necessary to have access to bank tissue. Membranes will simply be stored under sterile conditions until they are needed. This method would be safer and more accessible. It is the goal of our research. "

This project is not yet at the stage of clinical testing, but the team has achieved very promising results in the laboratory. According to Professor MacNeil, an improvement in vision can come in less than a month after the surgery.

Preclinical Investigations

"To make sure that this method is effective, we are currently testing the eyes of rabbits," she said. "I stress that we use only the eyes of rabbits killed for commercial purposes and that we do not kill new rabbits. We make an incision on the cornea of the eye to create the injured area, remove part of the cornea using ethanol, grown the cells on our artificial membranes, and then using glue we paste fibers of the membrane on damaged cornea. Membrane begins to dissolve and the cells form a new corneal epithelium. In the laboratory, a new epithelium of several layers is produced in about three weeks. "

"We believe that the vision would improve in people in that short time if we used cells grown on human corneas," continues Professor MacNeil. "How much will the vision improve, varies depending on the patient. In some cases, patients are practically blind because of an injury, and others can see the movement and some basic shapes. In Hyderabad, our collaborators using amniotic membranes, have almost completely restored vision in some patients. Vision will not always be perfect, but it will be significantly improved. Dr. Sangwan performed approximately eight hundred these processes and the results were stunning. Within a year this method was successful in 80% of cases. "

At the end, we asked Professor MacNeil on the next steps in this exciting research project.

"We are currently in the process of negotiations with regulatory agencies in India," he answered. "We reported it to our colleagues from Hyderabad for a license for the first human trials. While much remains to be done before this, we would like to conduct a study with our synthetic membranes by the end of next year. "

Software That Distinguishes The True From The False Smile

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Staging of emotions to manage the thoughts of other people just got a lot harder. If you are not a professional thief or a manipulator you would probably not be worried about this news, but from time to time it is nice to remind how developed the technology is today, says SingularityHub.

The New Software

Scientists at MIT have developed a software that is able to distinguish between "real" smile that is a product of sincere excitement of the "fake" smile that occurs as a product of some frustration. Whether you realize it or not, scientists say that most people laugh when trying to deal with some frustration. The problem occurs when the non-trained human eye interprets this "frustrated" smile as a "real" smile of delight. What is actually the difference between these smiles?

Frustrated Smile Syndrome

By analyzing the video recordings, the researchers concluded that the fundamental difference is in duration: sincere smile develops gradually, and as a result of frustration smile appears suddenly and disappears in the same way from the face. During the research scientists have conducted a lot of experiments. With a sincere smile, computer people equally well estimated emotion that smile was showing. In "Frustrated" Smile Syndrome, people misinterpreted emotion in roughly half of the cases, while the software in 92% of cases identified the emotion behind the smile correctly.

The motive for conducting this research was to help the people who have problems with interpretation of direct personal communication (such as people with various forms of autistic disorder). In addition, scientists have developed new software and other practical functions.

Experimental Settings

This study, which was published in the journal IEEE Transactions on Affective Computing (unfortunately, the full version of the article requires registration, which is not free, but a summary of the article is available for free), is based on two separate experiments. In the first experiment, the scientists requested from the male and female respondents to express the delight and frustration. After this, the participants had to fill out an online questionnaire that was designed to create a natural reaction to the frustration (deliberately encouraging frustrating online experiences such as slow page load, CAPTCHA, the disabled and copy-and-paste option of transferring text). Just reading these brutal methods used in the experiment causes frustration and that was followed by second part of the experiment in which they attempted to boost enthusiasm reaction in participants (by playing the popular Youtube video baby laughing, etc.)

In both experiments, detailed webcam was recording the facial expressions of subjects. After that, the expressions were analyzed with the help of Google software for the analysis of facial expressions that captures 22 different points on the face and received data was inserted into the interpretive mathematical model which is able to distinguish true from false smiles.


The results of the study offered some pretty interesting results related to the human smile. For example, there is an obvious difference in the speed and size of different types of smiles. Smiles of delight lasted an average of 13.8 seconds, while smiles as an expression of frustration on average lasted about 7.5 seconds. Also, smiles of enthusiasm were 60% more intense than frustration smiles.

What is very interesting is that the majority of respondents were not even aware that they naturally smiled as a reaction to the feeling of frustration. It seems that the idea that someone is frustrated substantially limits the ability to remember of the smile in the particular situation as for most of the respondents, smile is just completely non related to the sense of frustration. This explains the fact that the majority of respondents misinterpreted smile that came as a result of frustration.

On the basis of the recorded data, the researchers ultimately concluded that the most useful component in determining the emotions behind the smile is dynamic form through which the smile develops over time. The very fact that the face is smiling, tells us virtually nothing about how a person feels.

What is truly fascinating about this study is that it provides a better understanding of human behavior, but also that it can be constructed by using a computer program that helps certain people in interpersonal communication.

The Possible Uses of New Software

This is primarily due to individuals who suffer from some form of autism. They usually have developed non-verbal communication skills, especially when they need to "read" other people's emotions. Autistic individuals, simply put, tend to “prove” the emotional state of the person by looking at the parts of the face where the emotions are not expressed. To assist them, the most common treatment is learning basic facial expressions and adopting some basic principles such as the smile that means that someone is happy, and so forth.

Clearly, this research may be the best proof of how wrong the basic principles of learning are, but still they are an integral part of therapy for people with autistic disorder. Therefore, such persons should probably learn to distinguish between different types of smiles but only to note the fact whether or not there is a smile. This research is a major step forward since it shows that it is possible to develop sophisticated software by which autistic people will be able to notice how quickly the smile is developing, how long it lasts, etc. This technology will likely be even more important in the future because the U.S. CDC (Center for Disease Control and Prevention) claims that 1 of 88 children suffer from an autistic disorder, but these figures are a clear upward trend.

Fine nuances to differentiate types of smiles on people show that this research can be used even for analyzing differences among cultures where a smile has an important role in communication.

Possible areas for application of the new software are quite a range. One of the areas are programs for the analysis of facial expressions that would, with the help of new software better read emotions. Analysis of expression is becoming more widespread and more advanced, and the results of this research could help to develop programs that would be able to notice the changes of behavior and subtle facial expressions that would be confusing to many people or they would even not be able to notice them at all. In addition to the algorithm for age determination which was recently presented by Face.com, it would be possible to create an algorithm to determine the emotions that would be of great help in police investigations. Another possible application are so-called new technologies. Augmented reality like Google Glass. Imagine that when you start a conversation with some (known or unknown) person you have a software that tells you in the emotional state of the person.

Pathogenic Microbes in water and Detection Methods

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Water the elixir of life is the basic and important element supporting life on the planet. It is evident in researches carried out to find out the possibility of life forms in other planets stating, the presence of water signifies the presence of life in the explored planet .Thus water is incredible in nature and is an essential element for all lives. Man uses water for drinking, cooking, bathing, washing and other recreational activities and just can’t exist without water. Thus water being a part and parcel of humans and also a natural curative or medicine for good health if contaminated becomes a potential threat to the health, which may even be fatal.

How does water gets polluted /contaminated? There is not one but many ways by which a water body gets polluted or contaminated. Either anthropogenic or non-anthropogenic, the change in temperature, entry of effluents into the water body from any industry, entry of sewage into the water body all accounts for water pollution causing physical, chemical and biological pollution and hence the quality of water is evaluated by analyzing these three categories namely physical, chemical and biological parameters. Physical parameter involves analysis of water for temperature and presence of total suspended solids and turbidity and chemical parameters indicates analysis of water for BOD,COD, heavy metals, pesticides and so on and presence of excess of any of the analyzed chemical in the water than the desired level indicates water contamination. Biological parameter involves the analysis of water for presence of any pathogenic microbes. There are many international standards set to ensure the water quality and any analyzed water sample for various set parameters identified with levels exceeding the set desired levels is said to be polluted or contaminated and attains the status of unfit for consumption.

Water body contaminated with sewage or waste water is most likely to possess pathogenic microbes fatal to humans when consumed and these microbes may be bacteria, virus or protozoa. E. coli, Salmonella, Pseudomonas, Campylobacter and Shigella are some of the bacterial pathogens in water. Enterovirus, Noravirus, rota virus is some of the viral pathogens, Entamoeba, Giardia lamblia are examples of possible parasitic pathogens in the water. There are many water borne pathogenic diseases identified like amoebiasis, giardiasis, cryptosporidiosis, SARS, hepatitis A, botulism, cholera, dysentery, E.coli infection, typhoid etc posing potential health risk and many analytical methods has been derived to detect the presence of such pathogens in the drinking water.

Screening water for the presence of all such pathogens is quite complicated and hence analysis to detect the presence of indicator organism in the water is the most commendable and common method practiced to ensure the water quality based on microbial contamination. Coliforms are the indicator organisms and generally divided as Total coliforms and fecal coliforms. Screening for fecal coliform is significant and presence of this particular strain in analyzed water sample indicates the possibility of presence of harmful pathogens and there are various established methods available to check the water for pathogenic contamination.

The most widely used methods for analysis of water for the presence of the indicator organism (coliforms) are plate count method, membrane filtration method, Multiple tube method or Most probable number (MPN) method. Sterile condition should be ensured right from the sample collection till the end of the analysis procedure. In multiple tube method, 0.1ml, 1ml and 10ml of the sample is inoculated into tubes with selective liquid media (5 tubes per dilution and hence total of 15 tubes) and incubated at required temperature for required time. The presence of coliforms is indicated by the formation of gas in the tubes. The tubes are observed after 24 hours and 48 hours of incubation. The number of tubes positive for gas formation is counted in each set and the most probable number is calculated by comparing the result to the existing derived standard MPN chart. To detect the presence of fecal coliforms, sample from the positive tubes are inoculated into the lactose bile broth and incubated. Presence of fecal coliforms is confirmed by the gas production.

The other method to test the coliforms is the membrane filtration method which is employed to test large volume of sample say 100ml. In this method the sample is passed under vacuum pressure through specially designed membrane and the membrane is transferred to the prepared selective agar plates and incubated at 44.5 degree Celsius for 24 hours. The plate is observed for colony forming units and the number of colonies present in the sample is calculated. Apart from this now a days there is a special method called enzyme-substrate assay available to test the coliforms in the water.

Thus drinking water quality is ensured by analyzing all the three parameters like physical, chemical and biological parameter. Even any one of the parameters not falling under the prescribed standards makes the water unfit for consumption.

How The Brain Deals With Images

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We all know that computers owe their existence to humans. On the other hand, the study of computers and their development has led to many questions that man would have never get answers if it weren’t for computers.

To understand who we are and what we are, we often the first look for answers around ourselves, so that we can learn to ask questions that will help us to better comprehend ourselves.

This mechanism of indirect learning is happening all the time, and one example of the way by which our brains manage to cope with a large number of visual information received in the course of even a single day, and not to mention the whole life.

How do we actually remember all those images that come to us?


The story of memory and data storage, begins with the invention of computers. When an image is saved to the specific place on hard drive or CD, actually the specific mechanism is activated to optimize and reduce the amount of information needed to preserve a certain image, and more importantly, to allow its faithful reproduction. There are a lot of different algorithms, and all of those were invented by people, and among them are best known and most commonly used formats JPG and PNG. There are also ancient BMP, GIF and giant TIFF, and beside them, a whole gallery of algorithms that are in use today. All these algorithms are still caught between the quality (to preserve the credibility of content - pictures) and the amount of data required to preserve the credibility. Therefore, there is a constant confrontation of the two characteristics: quality and quantity. All these algorithms are solutions to the computer, because without them, sending files would even today took a long time and require us to be very patient when sending and receiving e-mail.

Finally, based on the above, we recognize that our brain has to deal with similar situation, or if you like – similar problem. The cells in the retina, which are susceptible to light, have the ability of capturing the image which is measured in megapixels. The brain, on the other hand, does not have the ability or memory capacity to handle such graphic formats during the life. Therefore, the brain is forced to choose the most vital information and to understand the visual world using that information.

In a recent edition of the Current Biology journal, the research team led by scientists Ed Connor and Zhang Kechen from Johns Hopkins University, describe the following piece of knowledge that will help us to better understand how the brain compresses and stores visual information (any similarity to the computers is no accident).

Researches have shown that there are cells in the brain of primates (meaning not only in humans) that are highly selective for the parts of the image that contain harsh and severe curvature. When we say "curvature" we do not mean just the line but also the entire area that is in a way, very, different from the rest of the picture. Area of the brain where the cells are marked with the "V4" and which is located in the central part of the the brain, is responsible for processing the image. Simply put, in the brain, the information obtained is filtered, where the parameter by which to filter, in fact, is the information about curves that represent the picture. For these cells, straight edges and gentle curves are not interesting at all, but sharp and angular are very well noted.

Keeping this in mind, researchers, and one of the co-authors have developed a computer model of the cells from area V4. The cells were carefully "trained" by thousands of images that show a variety of objects from nature. After viewing a picture, the cell is forced to invoke that particular image back. Computer V4 cells reacted in the opposite way, as for those cells the straight edges and gentle curves were more attractive.

However, the number of artificial cells that were involved in the process of image reconstruction was not limited. The next phase of the experiment sought to substantively reduce the number of cells, with each new scan of the picture. The more number of active cells decreased, the more their selectivity lead to sharp and angular aspect of the image. So, modeled V4 cells were done not bad, they just had a better position than natural. As soon as the conditions were made equal, they both reacted in the same way.

What's so important about these sharp edges?

Sharpness or sharp line is several times rarer in nature than straight line or gentle curve. Using sharpness as a critical element of recognition and reproduction of the object, in visual terms, keeping the image is much more economical. Uniqueness has always attracted more attention than, widely present, ordinariness.

"At this moment, our computers are defeating us in chess and are solveing certain mathematical problems better than we do, but we are still unbeatable when it comes to the ability to differentiate, recognize, understand, and manipulate memory objects that make up our world." underlines Connor.

This advantage is achieved due to the human ability to condense the information to the level of recognition and tracking, rather than storing complete information. From the Computer’s point of view, the human brain is still the best compression algorithm for visual information.
"If I wanted to search for a particular sexy old car or an elegant dinner jacket, wouldn't it be great if I could take a picture of what I wanted, upload it and tell Google to find what's in the picture?" said Garrett Kenyon, a neurophysicist at Los Alamos National Laboratory who is studying the way the brain processes visual information. "If we could help computers understand what underlies the 'aha!' moment when we recognize something, we would be able to communicate better with it about what we were looking for visually. The computer would be able to understand." That would probably become possible as soon as we teach the computer to act in the same manner as the human brain.

Combinatorial genetic transformation

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Hi every one I hope that i will have a good answer for my question :

What is combinatorial genetic transformation and how can it be used to dissect and modify complex multigene pathways in plants ?

thank you

Million years old bacteria's germination !

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With the process of ice melts, ancient bacteria and viruses are coming back to life after millions of years. Ice melting is due to global warming. This process of growth of bacteria and viruses after almost 7-8 million years is natural and there is nothing to worry. Also such bugs are unlikely to cause diseases in humans.

This is because; they are successful in surviving but many had loosed virulence and other factors during the course of evolution. Many researchers had extracted DNA and Bacteria from ice found beneath the surface of a glacier in Mullin and Beacon Valleys of Antarctica. These samples were estimated to be 5-8 million years old. These samples when grown along with control sample that is the young cells, it was found that the organism from old ice doubled in size every 7-10 days on average while the control grew really fast.

The examination of length of DNA fragments which were found in ice samples determined that frozen Deoxyribose Nucleic Acid is degraded gradient with time. The half life is 1.1 million years it means that after 1.1 million years half the original DNA degraded. Further studies suggested that DNA degradation was due to cosmic rays, which are stronger at the poles. Also the earth’s magnetic field is weakest at the pole and contributed to it.

Many such examples had proved that Bacteria might have got trapped in the salt crystals which were down 1850 feet under various sea and land. And today we are able to trace back to that time due to fossil remains. This was the time when first dinosaurs were just starting to appear on Earth. It means that Microorganisms had been there during that time and few of them can still be made alive if they start to germinate out of spores !

Bacterial Viral and Fungal Diseases Transmissible Through Air

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Human diseases caused by microorganisms can be classified as bacterial, viral and fungal disease based on the type of infectious microbe and classified as food borne, water borne, soil borne and air borne disease based on the nature of the medium (food, water, soil and air) through which these infectious agents enters the human system causing pathogenic diseases. Like drinking contaminated water, consuming spoiled food and contact with soil increases the chances of getting infected inhaling air with infectious microbe is also a major cause for concern for some of the harmful microbial diseases.

Breathing pure air is a challenging task in the present scenario as air is being polluted by various factors. Vehicular emissions and industrial emissions are the major source of air pollution contributing to the increased amount of carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide, volatile organic compounds, noxious gases and other suspended particles in the air. Apart from these physical and chemical pollutants there is microbial flora present in the air. Acromonium, Ascospores, Basidiospores, Cladosporium, Epicocum, Penicillium, Smut spores, Stachybotrys are examples of some of the reported microbes present in the air identified through air sampling. Let us see examples of some of the common, transmissible and airborne bacterial, viral and fungal diseases, treatment and prevention methods.

Airborne Bacterial Diseases
1.Whooping cough: Caused by Bordetella pertussis, a gram negative, aerobic, coccobacillus bacterium. The disease is prevented by vaccines like DTaP (childhood vaccination) and Tdap (booster dose in adulthood). The symptoms of the disease are managed with antibiotics.

2.Meningitis: Caused by Gram negative, diplococcus bacteria, Neisseria meningitidis. A person acquires this bacterium by kissing infected person and inhaling the air containing this infectious agent. This bacterium infects the protective layer of the affected individual’s brain and causes inflammation. MCV4 and MPSV4 are the vaccines available.

3.Diphtheria: Caused by corynebacterium diphtheria, a Gram positive, facultative anaerobic bacterium. Antibiotics like Metronidazole, procaine penicillin G and erythromycin are used to manage the symptoms and it is prevented with the help of the DPT vaccine.

4.Pneumonia: This is condition of inflammation of the lungs caused by Streptococcus pneumoniae (Gram positive, alpha hemolytic). Pneumococcal vaccine which is pneumococcal polysaccharide and conjugated bacteria is used to prevent the disease.

5.Tuberculosis: Bacteria Mycobacterium tuberculosis targets the lungs on entering the human body and causes tuberculosis. The infected individual is given antibiotics like isoniazid, rifampicin based on the symptoms and the disease can be prevented with BCG (Bacillus Calmette-Guerin) vaccine.

Airborne Viral Diseases
1.Chickenpox: The virus of the herpes virus species called as Varicella zoster virus is the microbe responsible for chickenpox. Involuntary actions like coughing and sneezing by an infected person release this virus into air and a person inhaling the air gets infected. Varicella vaccine, Zostavax is the preventive tool.

2.Influenza: Caused by Influenza viruses of the group RNA viruses under the family Orthomyxoviridae. A person gets infected either by being present near an affected person or through contact with droppings of birds as this virus is infectious to both birds and mammals. Trivalent Influenza Vaccine (TIV) shot prevent the infection and drugs like Tamiflu is prescribed to the infected person.

3.Measles: Enveloped, single stranded negative sense RNA virus called as Paramyxovirus belonging to the genus Morbillivirus causes Measles and the disease is prevented with a shot of MMR (Measles, Mumps and Rubella) vaccine.

4.SARS: This is a type of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome caused by infection with the SARS corona virus and its pathogenicity is seen in birds as well as mammals. Identifying and isolating the infected person is the best way to prevent SARS. Supplementing oxygen, providing ventilation and administering antipyretics drugs to the infected person are the practiced methods in managing the disease.

Airborne Fungal Diseases
1.Aspergillosis: Fungal species of the genus Aspergillus seem to be present both in the outdoor and indoor environment is responsible for the disease Aspergillosis and individual with weakened immune system is more prone to this pathogen. This fungus targets the lungs and also known to develop some allergic reaction.

2.Cryptococcosis: The fungal spores of the genus Cryptococcus, the Cryptococcus neoformans present in air is responsible for lung infection and may also affect the brain by causing inflammation.

Thus the above discussed pathogens and the types of disease caused by them makes clear that infectious agents not only spread through contaminated water and spoiled food but also through the omnipresent air and people with weak immune system becomes the first victims of these diseases.

Amino Acids – Types, Classification, Genetic Code and Applications

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Amino acids, the tiny building blocks of proteins occupies a prominent position among all the other nutrients and are reported as the molecule of source of life in theories discussing the mysteries behind origin of life. There are 20 naturally occurring amino acids and Asparagine was the first discovered amino acid in the year 1806 followed by Cysteine, Leucine and Glycine. All the 20 amino acids involved in the construction of proteins were identified in the year 1935 and this discovery marked phenomenol significance in understanding the proteins, its structure and functions. Amino acid, as the name implies has amine (-NH2) group and carboxylic acid (-COOH) with additional functional R group which acts as a side chain. Thus amino acids possess molecules of carbon, nitrogen oxygen and hydrogen. The R group alone varies from one amino acid to the other thus contributing to 20 different natural amino acids.

Types
The 20 amino acids involved in the construction of proteins are Glycine, Valine, Leucine, Isoleucine, Arginine, Cysteine, Lysine, Proline, Threonine, Methionine, Histidine, Tyrosine, Serine, Alanine, Phenylalanine, Glutamine, Glutamate, Asparagine, Aspartic acid and Tryptophan. These 20 amino acids based on their mode of availability are divided into essential (dietary intake) and non essential amino acids (synthesized in the body through metabolic process). Out of the 20 amino acids, Glycine, Arginine, Cysteine, Proline, Tyrosine, Alanine, Glutamine, Glutamate, Arginine, Asparagine and Aspartic acid are the amino acids synthesized in the body and hence falls under the category non-essential amino acids and the rest 9 amino acids are essential that is to be supplemented through diet.

Classification
Based on the type of functional group (R group) present amino acids are classified as aliphatic, aromatic, acidic, basic, acid amide, sulfur and cyclic amino acids. Based on the characteristic of the functional group amino acids are classified as polar and non-polar amino acids. They are also classified as alpha, beta, gamma and delta amino acids based on the site of attachment of the functional group.

Genetic Code
The base sequences of DNA ( A- Adenine, G-Guanine, C-Cytosine, T-Thymine) are information centers which are copied to RNA (A-Adenine, G-Guanine, C-Cytosine, U-Uracil) through transcription and the resulting RNA with complementary base sequences to that of the DNA translates the information into proteins. The sequence of bases in the RNA dictates the type of amino acid to be synthesized and as a rule three bases codes for one aminoacid and such set of three bases is called as codon. Except for the amino acids Methionine and Tryptophan all the other amino acids are represented by more than one codon and such condition is termed as degeneracy and the different set of codons representing the same amino acid are called as Synonyms. Below are the natural amino acids and the codons specific for each amino acid.

Glycine - GGU,GGC, GGA,GGG
Valine -GUU,GUC,GUA,GUG
Leucine -CUU,CUC,CUA,CUG,UUA,UUG
Isoleucine -AUU, AUC, AUA
Arginine -CGU,CGC,CGA,CGG,AGA,AGG
Cysteine-UGU,UGC
Lysine-AAA,AAG
Proline-CCU,CCC,CCA,CCG
Threonine-ACU,ACC,ACA,ACG
Methionine-AUG
Histidine-CAU,CAC
Tyrosine-UAU,UAC
Serine-UCU,UCC,UCA,UCG,AGU,AGC
Alanine-GCU,GCC,GCA,GCG
Phenylalanine -UUU,UUC
Glutamine-CAA, CAG
Glutamate-GAA, GAG
Asparagine-AAU, AAC
Aspartic acid-GAU, GAC and
Tryptophan-UGG

Apart from these codons coding specific amino acid there are three codons which do not code for any amino acid but acts as stop signal in the protein synthesis are called as Stop codons and they are UAG, UGA and UAA. The codon AUG which codes for Methionine is also called as Start codon for it initiates the protein synthesis.

Various researches carried out in order to explore the amino acid present in different food types states the correlation between the type of amino acid present in the food and the taste of the food. For example Glutamate and Aspartic acid contribute to the sour taste of the food, Glycine, Alanine, Threonine, Proline, Serine and Glutamine are sweet factors in the food and Bitter taste of the food is contributed by Phenylalanine, Tyrosine, Arginine, Leucine, Isoleucine, Valine, Histidine and Methionine.

Applications
Amino acids are used in the preparation of feed for animals. The chelating property of the amino acid makes it a suitable element enhancing the absorption of minerals from the food by the animals. Various amino acids are used in the food industry as a flavor enhancer and also used in pharmaceuticals and cosmetic preparations. The chelating nature of the amino acids when used along with fertilizers enhances the absorption of minerals from the soil by the cultivated crops. With all these applications amino acids are on its way into the synthesis of biodegradable polymers.

MS Biotechnology & MBA dual degree

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Hi, I´m a Colombian girl and I´m interesting in MS Biotechnology & MBA dual degree. I want to study but first I need a full schoolarship, but I dont know how I can to get one. Please, help me!!!

Keep your immune system strong and healthy !

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Microorganisms are Omni-present and due to this, there is always a chance that they can infect humans and other animals especially when they are immunologically feeble. Therefore it is very important to keep our immune system strong and there are many strategies for the same. Immune system has three lines of defense which includes skin, various barriers for infections and WBC’s which includes macrophages and various plasma cells.
But for us the first line of defense is to follow a healthy lifestyle. To keep our immune system strong and healthy, we need to follow good health guidelines. When we adhere to such guidelines, these not only boost our immune system but also improve capability of each and every system of our body. When your immune system is strong, your whole body and its all systems follow the same path of becoming strong. Few guidelines which can keep your immune system strong and healthy are:

• Exercise regularly for minimum 30 minutes.
• Maintain a healthy weight that is body mass index.
• Don’t smoke.
• Adhere to good practices for improving personal hygiene and follow
steps to avoid infection, such as washing your hands frequently,
try to adapt with various environments with exposures.
• Get adequate sleep for minimum of 7-8 hours.
• Eat a diet high in fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, and low in
saturated fat.
• Track your blood pressure and control it.
• If you drink alcohol, drink only in moderation.
• Get regular medical screening and take necessary precautions as
recommended.
• And the most important is to live happy and stress free life.

Nature always gives chance to everyone and is well balanced; with infections as well as immunity.
Now it only depends on us what we opt!

Scientists Successfully Develop HIV-Resistant T-cells !

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Yes, another breakthrough in science and Science is made for that!

Scientists successfully develop HIV resistant T-Cell. The technique which creates HIV- resistant cells is discovered now. It means that HIV positive patients can have an alternative to a lifelong medication schedule which is currently followed. HIV is dangerous only because of the virus’ capability to break into and eliminate T Cells

Two genes namely CXR4 and CCR5 helps virus to breach the T cells. These are receptive to the virus. The new technique is to combat HIV are therefore aimed at both of those receptors genes. The gene could be modified in a way that can make them naturally immune to HIV!
Matthew Porteus, MD, an associate professor at Stanford and a pediatric oncologist at Lucile Packard Children’s hospital, and chief investigator said:

"We inactivated one of the receptors that HIV uses to gain entry and added new genes to protect against HIV, so we have multiple layers of protection, what we call stacking. We can use this strategy to make cells that are resistant to both major types of HIV."

These findings are published in “Molecular therapy” which describes the use of “molecular scissors” to cut and paste several HIV-resistant genes into T cells.

This new technique could eventually replace drug treatment all together. As the study was done in laboratory, it further needs clinical trials to prove that this would be functional as complete therapy. Scientists are optimistic. Providing T cells to infected person will not cure infection, but it would provide them protected set of T cell and thus will develop their immune system that is against AIDS.

Through both the CXCR4 and CCR5 receptors and combining the three immune genes, helped guard the cell from HIV. The triple modified genes were the most immune to infection. The T cells that were not modified here the positive control, ended up giving to infection within 25 days.

This is also considered as a stepping stone in gene therapy development for HIV. The next step in this is to test this technique in T cells taken from AIDS patients directly and move further towards animal testing and clinical trials!
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