Indian Institute of Technology Palakkad&nbsp;(IIT Palakkad or IIT PKD) is a public autonomous&nbsp;engineering&nbsp;and&nbsp;research&nbsp;institute located in&nbsp;Palakkad,&nbsp;Kerala. It was&nbsp;one of the five new&nbsp;IITs&nbsp;proposed in the&nbsp;2014 Union budget of India. The campus was inaugurated on 3 August 2015. The institute has 94 faculty, 978 students, and 63 non-teaching staffs.

IT Palakkad currently offers four-year Bachelor of Technology (B.Tech) and two years MS programmes in 8 different engineering disciplines including&nbsp;Computer Science, Electrical, Mechanical, Civil among others.

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IIT Palakkad

Dendritic cells (DCs) play a critical role in immune homeostasis by regulating the functions of various immune cells, including T and B cells. Notably, DCs also undergo education on reciprocal signalling by these immune cells and environmental factors. Various reports demonstrated that B cells have profound regulatory functions, although only few reports have explored the regulation of human DCs by B cells. Here we demonstrate that activated but not resting B cells induce maturation of DCs with distinct features to polarize Th2 cells that secrete interleukin (IL)-5, IL-4 and IL-13. B-cell-induced maturation of DCs is contact dependent and implicates signalling of B-cell activation molecules CD69, B-cell-activating factor receptor, and transmembrane activator and calcium-modulating cyclophilin ligand interactor. Mechanistically, differentiation of Th2 cells by B-cell-matured DCs is dependent on OX-40 ligand. Collectively, our results suggest that B cells have the ability to control their own effector functions by enhancing the ability of human DCs to mediate Th2 differentiation. © Author(s) 2014.

World University root node

Biological Sciences and Engineering

Fulltext

Nature Communications

Human B cells induce dendritic cell maturation and favour Th2 polarization by inducing OX-40 ligand

We demonstrate the amplified detection of BRCAI gene based on the gold nanoparticle labeled DNA sensor. The sensor was based on a "sandwich" detection strategy, which involved an immobilized capture probe DNA (DNA-c), Target DNA (DNA-t) and gold nanoparticle conjugated reporter probe DNA (DNA-r.AuNP). The sensor surface was characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). Detection capability of the sensor was studied with I-V measurements using either scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) or Keithley 2400 Source Meter SMU Instrument. The DNA sensor could detect up to 1. fM DNA target (5.896. fg of BRCA 1. gene/ml) and exhibited excellent selectivity against noncomplementary sequences and three base mismatch complementary targets. Good reproducibility, high sensitivity, good stability and reusability of the developed sensor surface showed its application in early cancer diagnosis. {\textcopyright} 2014 Elsevier B.V.

Colloids and Surfaces B: Biointerfaces

Femtomolar level detection of BRCA1 gene using a gold nanoparticle labeled sandwich type DNA sensor

The encapsulation of odorants by the synthetic receptor cucurbit[7]uril (CB[7]) reduces the response of olfactory receptors in Mozambique tilapia (Oreochromis mossambicus) in vivo. For example, the olfactory receptor response to the odorant adamantan-1-amine, as measured by electro-olfactography, was suppressed by 92% in the presence of CB[7]. A reduction in olfactory response of 88% was observed for pentane-1,5-diamine (cadaverine), an odorant associated with carrion avoidance in some fish. The results reveal how the association constants and the concentrations of natural and synthetic receptors play a determinant role and show that synthetic receptors can be used to remove bioactive molecules from fish olfaction. © 2014 American Chemical Society.

Department of Chemistry

ACS Chemical Biology

Synthetic versus natural receptors: Supramolecular control of chemical sensing in fish

The phototransformation of benzimidazole (BZ) and of the benzimidazole pesticide thiabendazole (TBZ) was investigated in aqueous solution in the absence and presence of the supramolecular host cucurbit[8]uril (CB8). ESI-MS and NMR reveal that both compounds form stable 1:2 host-guest complexes with CB8 (BZ2@CB8, TBZ2@CB8). The phototransformation of free BZ leads to dehydrodimerization, while for TBZ the photoreactivity leads to BZ, benzimidazole-2-carboximide and 2-acetylbenzimidazole. Inside CB8, BZ undergoes photohydrolysis to form 2-aminoformanilide, while for TBZ2@CB8 additional photoproducts were observed which are pH dependent. At pH 1.2 photolysis of TBZ2@CB8 leads to new red-shifted photoproducts with extended π conjugation. © The Royal Society of Chemistry and Owner Societies.

Photochemical and Photobiological Sciences

Phototransformation of benzimidazole and thiabendazole inside cucurbit[8]uril

Oxidative stress triggers the peroxidation ofω-6-polyunsaturated fatty acids to reactive lipid fragments, including (2E)-4-hydroxy-2-nonenal (HNE). We previously reported two parallel catabolic pathways of HNE. In this study, we report a novel metabolite that accumulates in rat liver perfused with HNE or 4-hydroxynonanoic acid (HNA), identified as 3-(5-oxotetrahydro-2-furanyl)propanoyl-CoA. In experiments using a combination of isotopic analysis and metabolomics studies, three catabolic pathways of HNE were delineated following HNE conversion to HNA. (i) HNA is ω-hydroxylated to 4,9-dihydroxynonanoic acid, which is subsequently oxidized to 4-hydroxynonanedioic acid. This is followed by the degradation of 4-hydroxynonanedioic acid via β-oxidation originating from C-9 of HNA breaking down to 4-hydroxynonanedioyl-CoA, 4-hydroxyheptanedioyl-CoA, or its lactone, 2-hydroxyglutaryl-CoA, and 2-ketoglutaric acid entering the citric acid cycle. (ii) ω-1-hydroxylation of HNA leads to 4,8-dihydroxynonanoic acid (4,8-DHNA), which is subsequently catabolized via two parallel pathways we previously reported. In catabolic pathway A, 4,8-DHNA is catabolized to 4-phospho-8-hydroxynonanoyl-CoA, 3,8-dihydroxynonanoyl-CoA, 6-hydroxyheptanoyl-CoA, 4-hydroxypentanoyl-CoA, propionyl-CoA, and acetyl-CoA. (iii) The catabolic pathway B of 4,8-DHNA leads to 2,6-dihydroxyheptanoyl-CoA, 5-hydroxyhexanoyl-CoA, 3-hydroxybutyryl-CoA, and acetyl-CoA. Both in vivo and in vitro experiments showed that HNE can be catabolically disposed viaω- and ω-1-oxidation in rat liver and kidney, with little activity in brain and heart. Dietary experiments showed thatω- and ω-1-hydroxylation of HNA in rat liver were dramatically up-regulated by a ketogenic diet, which lowered HNE basal level. HET0016 inhibition and mRNA expression level suggested that the cytochrome P450 4A are main enzymes responsible for the NADPH dependent ω- and ω-1-hydroxylation of HNA/HNE. © 2014 by The American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Inc.

Journal of Biological Chemistry

Catabolism of (2E)-4-hydroxy-2-nonenal viaω- and ω-1-oxidation stimulated by ketogenic diet

The major route for elimination of 4-hydroxy-2-(E)-nonenal (4-HNE) has long been considered to be through glutathionylation and eventual excretion as a mercapturic acid conjugate. To better quantitate the glutathionylation process, we developed a sensitive LC-MS/MS method for the detection of glutathione (GSH) conjugates of 4-hydroxy-2-(E)-alkenal enantiomers having a carbon skeleton of C5 to C12. The newly developed method enabled us to quantify 4-hydroxy-2-(E)- alkenal-glutathione diastereomers in various organs, i.e., liver, heart, and brain. We identified the addition of iodoacetic acid as a critical step during sample preparation to avoid an overestimation of glutathione-alkenal conjugation. Specifically, we found that in the absence of a quenching step reduced GSH and 4-hydroxy-2-(E)-alkenals react very rapidly during the extraction and concentration steps of sample preparation. Rat liver perfused with d11-4-hydroxy-2-(E)-nonenal (d11-4-HNE) revealed enantioselective conjugation with GSH and transportation out of the liver. In the d11-4-HNE-perfused rat livers, the amount of d 11-(S)-4-HNE-GSH released from the rat liver was higher than that of d11-(R)-4-HNE-GSH, and more d11-(R)-4-HNE-GSH than d 11-(S)-4-HNE-GSH remained in the perfused liver tissues. Overall, the glutathionylation pathway was found to account for only 8.7% of the disposition of 4-HNE, whereas catabolism to acetyl-CoA, propionyl-CoA, and formate represented the major detoxification pathway. © 2014 Elsevier Inc.

Free Radical Biology and Medicine

Glutathionylated 4-hydroxy-2-(E)-alkenal enantiomers in rat organs and their contributions toward the disposal of 4-hydroxy-2-(E)-nonenal in rat liver

Department of Electrical Engineering

21st International Symposium on Mathematical Theory of Networks and Systems {\ldots}

Exponential Attitude Stabilization and Synchronization of Rigid Bodies

In orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) systems, such as long term evolution (LTE) and WiMAX, a codeword is transmitted over a group of subcarriers. Since the subcarriers see different channel gains in a frequency-selective channel, the modulation and coding scheme (MCS) of the codeword must be selected based on the vector of signal-to-noise-ratios (SNRs) of these subcarriers. Exponential effective SNR mapping (EESM) simplifies this problem by mapping the vector of SNRs into a single, equivalent flat-fading SNR. We develop a new analytical framework to characterize the throughput of EESM-based rate adaptation in such wideband channels in the presence of feedback delays, which make the choice of the MCS partially outdated by the time data transmission takes place. To this end, we first propose a novel bivariate gamma distribution to model the joint statistics of EESM at the times of estimation and data transmission. We then derive a novel expression for the throughput as a function of feedback delay. Our framework works for both correlated and independent subcarriers and for various multiple antenna diversity modes, and is accurate over a wide range of delays. © 2014 IEEE.

2014 IEEE Global Communications Conference, GLOBECOM 2014

Impact of feedback delays on EESM-based wideband link adaptation: Modeling and analysis

Atmospheric water vapor is known to affect many processes, including cloud formation and precipitation. Water vapor can be measured using both in situ instruments, including radiosondes and remote sensing instruments, including Raman lidar. Radiosondes provide measurements of atmospheric water vapor and temperature that are some of the most widely used in numerical weather prediction models. They have high vertical resolution but poor temporal and horizontal sampling since they are launched every 12 hours and radiosondes are launched regularly in the U.S. from sites at an average separation of approximately 100 km. Therefore, there is a paucity of information on the horizontal, vertical and temporal variability of water vapor and temperature. Sensitivity studies indicate that severe storm forecasting is limited by a lack of accurate observations of water vapor aloft in the lower troposphere. Therefore, the availability of fine-resolution and accurate 2D and 3D water vapor field measurements would substantially improve numerical weather prediction model initialization. Microwave radiometers have the capability to measure atmospheric water vapor and temperature at sufficiently high spatial and temporal resolution to aid in advance forecasting of the onset, timing and location of severe weather.

2013 US National Committee of URSI National Radio Science Meeting (USNC-URSI {\ldots}

Spatial resolution and accuracy of retrievals of 2D and 3D water vapor fields from ground-based microwave radiometer networks

In this paper, we evaluate the efficacy, in a Hadoop setting, of two coding schemes, both possessing an inherent double replication of data. The two coding schemes belong to the class of regenerating and locally regenerating codes respectively and these two classes are representative of recent advances made in designing codes for the efficient storage of data in a distributed setting. In comparison with triple replication, double replication permits a significant reduction in storage overhead, while delivering good MapReduce performance under moderate work loads. The two coding solutions under evaluation here, add only moderately to the storage overhead of double replication, while simultaneously offering reliability levels similar to that of triple replication. One might expect from the property of inherent data duplication that the performance of these codes in executing a MapReduce job would be comparable to that of double replication. However, a second feature of this class of code comes into play here, namely that under both coding schemes analyzed here, multiple blocks from the same coded stripe are required to be stored on the same node. This concentration of data belonging to a single stripe negatively impacts MapReduce execution times. However, much of this effect can be undone by simply adding a larger number of processors per node. Further improvements are possible if one tailors the Map task scheduler to the codes under consideration. We present both experimental and simulation results that validate these observations. © 6th USENIX Workshop on Hot Topics in Storage and File Systems, HotStorage 2014.