A study of spectrin and lipid peroxidation of red blood cell membrane in thalassaemia carrier

The aim of the present work is to understand the lipid peroxidation of RBC membrane and the spectrin protein content of RBC membrane cytoskeleton of thalassaemic carrier state (trait) of β and hemoglobin E variant (HbE). We have measured the hemoglobin (Hb), malondialdehyde (MDA) and spectrin content of RBC membrane of thalassaemic carrier. The spectrin content (α and β band) of both β and HbE carrier was not changed than normal individuals. However, lipid peroxidation of RBC membrane was significantly increased in both β and HbE trait, and Hb level was also decreased in thalassaemic carrier. It may be assumed that oxidative damage by excess lipid peroxidation may have no role on irreversible membrane damage in β thalassaemia and HbE thalassaemia carrier.     

Is the ‘Idiot's Box’ raising idiocy? Early and middle childhood television watching and child cognitive outcome

There is widespread belief that exposure to television has harmful effects on children's cognitive development. Most studies that point to a negative correlation between hours of television watching and cognitive outcomes, fail to establish causality. Using the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY) we study young children between 5 and 10 years of age during late 1990s and early 2000s. We find strong evidence of negative correlations between hours of television watched and cognitive test scores. However, once parent's characteristics and unobserved child characteristics are taken into account these correlations go away. We find that hours of television viewed per se do not have any measurable impact on children's test scores. Our results are robust to different model specifications and instrumental variable estimates. We conclude that despite the conventional wisdom and the ongoing populist movement, proactive policies to reduce children's television exposure are not likely to improve children's cognitive development and academic performance.     

Love as De/Colonial Onto-Epistemology: A Post-Oppositional Approach to Contextualized Research Ethics

In this essay, we describe our path toward a shared understanding of a love-based onto-epistemic orientation to de/coloniality. Our exploration includes the negotiation of our intersectional and entangled identities, subject positions, and understandings of research ethics in education. A de/colonial sensibility is critical in urban educational contexts given the predominance of uninterrogated westernized epistemologies in curriculum and instruction. We seek to bring awareness to the colonial ways scholarly knowledge is constructed, disseminated, and used in urban teacher and leadership education. We critique colonial assumptions from a post-oppositional approach that moves away from antagonistic discourse and toward considering possibilities for a transformative future. We enact our proposed ethical orientation through personal narratives, critical self-reflection, and prioritizing knowledge construction from (non)traditional spaces such as those created by our mothers. We conclude with points of consideration for those engaged in urban education research that center love-based onto-epistemologies and the lived realities of people who are traditionally minoritized, racialized, or ignored in academia.

     

Effect of Copper on <Emphasis Type="SmallCaps">l</Emphasis>-Cysteine/<Emphasis Type="SmallCaps">l</Emphasis>-Cystine Influx in Normal Human Erythrocytes and Erythrocytes of Wilson’s Disease

Wilson’s disease is a disease of abnormal copper metabolism in which free serum copper level is raised. The objective of the study was to determine, whether in Wilson disease, l-cysteine/l-cystine influx into RBC was decreased or not and the specific amino acid transporter affected by copper in normal human RBC. For l-cysteine/l-cystine influx, ten untreated cases, ten treated cases and ten age and sex matched healthy controls were recruited. To study the effect of copper on l-cysteine/l-cystine influx in RBC, 15 healthy subjects were selected. RBC GSH and l-cysteine/l-cystine influx were estimated by Beautler’s and Yildiz’s method respectively. In untreated cases, l-cysteine/l-cystine influx and erythrocyte GSH level were decreased showing that elevated level of free copper in serum or media decreased l-cysteine/l-cystine influx in human RBC. Copper treatment inhibited L amino acid transporter in normal RBC specifically.     

Lipid peroxidation and spectrin of RBC membrane in hydroxyurea treated Eβ thalassaemia

The aim of the present work is to understand the effect of low dose of hydroxyurea (HU) therapy on oxidative damage of RBC membrane in non-transfused Eβ thalassaemia. HU was administered at a dose of 30 mg/kg/day for 90 consecutive days. The percentage of spectrin and the level of malondialdehyde (MDA), fetal hemoglobin (HbF), hemoglobin (Hb) and packed cell volume (PCV) were measured. The HbF level was significantly increased after 90 days of HU therapy. MDA level of RBC membrane was decreased. There was no change in PCV, Hb and spectrin content of RBC membrane after HU therapy for 90 days in Eβ thalassaemia. Increment of HbF in HU treated Eβ patient may have some role on the correction of oxidative damage of RBC membrane by inhibiting further degradation of spectrin and by decreasing lipid peroxidation of red cell membrane.     

Crossing the salt barrier

Salinity of water is a stumbling block for the movement of aquatic animals. There are thousands of fish species whose localization in water bodies is strictly restricted to either the sea or freshwater (rivers, lakes, ponds, etc.), or brackish water (where river or lake water mixes with sea water). Only three species known so far have conquered this deadly salt barrier and made crossing it a regular life process. This article gives an indepth account of the processes and strategies that enable them to do so.