Age-Dependent Changes in Glutathione-S-Transferase: Correlation with Total Plasma Antioxidant Potential and Red Cell Intracellular Glutathione

The correlation between antioxidant capacity and oxidative damage during aging has been reported in several tissues in different species. Glutathione-S-transferases (GST) can metabolise endogenous and exogenous toxins and carcinogens by catalysing the conjugation of diverse electrophiles with reduced glutathione (GSH). We observe a significant (P < 0.001) increase in plasma GST activity as a function of human age (r = 0.5675). A significant (P < 0.001) positive correlation (r = 0.8979) is observed between GST activity and total plasma antioxidant potential measured as ferric reducing ability of the plasma (FRAP). GST activity and red cell intracellular GSH also show a significant positive correlation (r = 0.7014). We hypothesize that the increased activity of plasma GST is a manifestation of increased generation of ROS and a concomitant decrease in the level of plasma antioxidant capacity during aging.     

An Overview of Modern Technologies Applications in Indian Libraries (Brief Communication)

India is one of the oldest civilizations with a kaleidoscopic variety and rich cultural heritage. It has achieved multi-faccted socio-economic progress during the last 47 years of its independence. This article reports on a survey of the usage of modern technologies (e.g. photocopiers, microfilming, computers, facsimile transmission, audio-visual, online searching and CD-ROMs) in Indian libraries. These libraries include university, engineering, scientific, medical, government and public libraries. The study used a questionnaire, personal visits to many libraries and interviews. The paper examines the impact of modern technologies on these libraries. It concludes with a summary of the problems faced by the librarians in adopting the modern technologies and suggests measures for implementation of modern technologies.     

Angiotensin Converting Enzyme Gene Polymorphism and its Association with Hypertension in South Indian Population

Hypertension, a well known risk factor for various cardiovascular, peripheral vascular and renal events is an important public health challenge. Renin angiotensin system (RAS) being the most vital pathogenic mechanism of hypertension is mediated by a key component; the angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE). The present study was aimed to know the relationship of ACE gene polymorphism and the possible risk of development of hypertension in south Indian population. The study included 101 clinically diagnosed hypertensive patients without any associated disease condition and 81 age and sex matched apparently healthy controls. Genotyping was performed using a polymerase chain reaction, (PCR) amplification of the intron 16 fragment harboring the 287 bp Alu repeat sequence. Three possible genotypes D/D, I/I homozygous and I/D heterozygous were analyzed where the D/D genotypes corresponds to higher ACE levels (D-Deletion, I-Insertion). The PCR products were separated on 2 % agarose gel. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS.15 software program. We found a significance in frequency of D/D genotype in the hypertensive patients compared to the control group (p = 0.0005, odd’s ratio = 4.157). This suggested that ACE (D/D) genotypes are more prone for the development of hypertension. This is relatively a pilot study; but nevertheless may assist in identifying the pathophysiological cause of hypertension.     

Identification of strategy parameters for particle swarm optimizer through Taguchi method

INTRODUCTION The particle swarm optimization (PSO) method is a member of the broad category of swarm intelli- gence techniques for finding optimized solutions. The PSO algorithm is based on the social behavior of animals such as flocking of birds and schooling of fish, etc. PSO has its origin in simulation for visual- izing the synchronized choreography of bird flock by incorporating concepts such as nearest-neighbor ve- locity matching and acceleration by distance (Par- sopoulos and V…     

External quality assessment for the RIA of thyroid related hormones: Second phase

An external quality assessment was conducted to assess the performance of various laboratories for RIA of thhyroid related hormones in two phases. In the first phase thirty five laboratories participated. At the end of first phase a meeting cum workshop was organised to discuss the results of first phase, difficultires faced by the participants and pinpoint the short oming. A second phase was then initiated with an objective of improvement in the performance, if any, where twelve samples from four pools were distributed to twenty four laboratories who participated for the second phase. The overall return of the results increased significantly from 71.8% (1586/2208) for the first phase to 92.4% (732/792) for the second phase. The inter laboratory %CV for T₃, T₄ and TSH were lower during the second phase (30.6%, 19.0% and 31.6% respectively) as compared to those observed during first phase (36.3%, 22.7% and 52.8% respectively). Similarly, there was an improvement in reproducibility of ALTM as %CV for T₃, T₄ and TSH decreased from 6.0%, 9.8% and 13.4% respectively to 4.5%, 4.6% and 8.5% respectively. The individual performances of the participating laboratories viz. bias, variability of bias and imprecision also showed a trend towards improvement as percent laboratories having desirable or acceptable results for T₃, T₄ and TSH increased from 10.7%, 60.7% and 0.0% respectively to 20.8%, 66.7% and 22.2% respectively. External quality assessment thus appears to be beneficial in assessing the performane of a laboratory in comfparison with other laboratories and indeed helps in improving the performance.