Project description:Negative thermal expansion (NTE) materials have become a rapidly growing area of research over the past two decades. The initial discovery of materials displaying NTE over a large temperature range, combined with elucidation of the mechanism behind this unusual property, was followed by predictions that these materials will find use in various applications through controlled thermal expansion composites. While some patents have been filed and devices built, a number of obstacles have prevented the widespread implementation of NTE materials to date. This paper reviews NTE materials that contract due to transverse atomic vibrations, their potential for use in controlled thermal expansion composites, and known problems that could interfere with such applications.

| S-EPMC5448970 | biostudies-other

Research on marine actinobacteria in India.

Project description:Marine actinobacteriology is one of the major emerging areas of research in tropics. Marine actinobacteria occur on the sediments and in water and also other biomass (mangrove) and substrates (animal). These organisms are gaining importance not only for their taxonomic and ecological perspectives, but also for their unique metabolites and enzymes. Many earlier studies on these organisms were confined only to the temperate regions. In tropical environment, investigations on them have gained importance only in the last two decades. So far, from the Indian peninsula, 41 species of actinobacteria belonging to 8 genera have been recorded. The genus, Streptomyces of marine origin has been more frequently recorded. Of 9 maritime states of India, only 4 have been extensively covered for the study of marine actinobacteria. Most of the studies conducted pertain to isolation, identification and maintenance of these organisms in different culture media. Further, attention has been focused on studying their antagonistic properties against different pathogens. Their biotechnological potentials are yet to be fully explored.

| S-EPMC3450339 | biostudies-other

Integrity matters in oncology: AORTIC takes a stand against research misconduct.

Project description: Not available

| S-EPMC11523996 | biostudies-literature

Research on antipsychotics in India.

Project description:Antipsychotic as a class of medications became available for treatment of various psychiatric disorders in the early 1950's. Over the last 60 years many antipsychotics have become available. In line with the west, Indian researchers have evaluated the efficacy of antipsychotics in various conditions. Additionally, researchers have also evaluated the important safety and tolerability issues. Here, we review data originating from India in the form of drug trials, effectiveness, usefulness, safety and tolerability of antipsychotics. Additionally, data with respect to other important treatment related issues is discussed.

| S-EPMC3146231 | biostudies-literature

Recent translational research: antiangiogenic therapy for breast cancer - where do we stand?

Project description:The central importance of angiogenesis and our understanding of how new blood vessels are formed have led to the development of novel antiangiogenic therapies. Although the number of agents in development has grown exponentially, only one phase III trial in breast cancer has been completed. In that study the addition of bevacizumab to capecitabine did not extend the progression-free survival of patients with refractory disease as compared with capecitabine monotherapy. Early enthusiasm for antiangiogenic therapy must give way to clinical reality. Our challenge now is to exploit better the activity of antiangiogenic agents seen in the early clinical studies.

| S-EPMC400679 | biostudies-literature

Cancer research: India meets the West.

Project description: Not available

| S-EPMC3172122 | biostudies-literature

Research Techniques Made Simple: Murine Models of Human Psoriasis.

Project description:Psoriasis vulgaris is a common, inflammatory skin disease affecting approximately 3% of the population in the United States. The etiology of psoriasis and its associated comorbidities are complex and the result of complicated interactions between the skin, immune system, disease-associated susceptibility loci, and multiple environmental triggers. The modeling of human disease in vivo through the use of murine models represents a powerful, indispensable tool for investigating the immune and genetic mechanisms contributing to a clinical disease phenotype. Nevertheless, modeling a complex, multigenic disease like psoriasis in mice has proven to be extremely challenging and is associated with significant limitations. Over the last four decades, more than 40 unique mouse models for psoriasis have been described. These models can be categorized into three major types: acute (inducible), genetically engineered (transgenic), and xenograft (humanized). The purpose of this Research Techniques Made Simple article is to provide an overview of the common types of psoriasis-like mouse models currently in use and their inherent advantages and limitations. We also highlight the need for improved psoriasis mouse model systems and several key factors to be considered as this field of laboratory science advances.

| S-EPMC6902858 | biostudies-literature

The planktonic protist interactome: where do we stand after a century of research?

Project description:Microbial interactions are crucial for Earth ecosystem function, but our knowledge about them is limited and has so far mainly existed as scattered records. Here, we have surveyed the literature involving planktonic protist interactions and gathered the information in a manually curated Protist Interaction DAtabase (PIDA). In total, we have registered ~2500 ecological interactions from ~500 publications, spanning the last 150 years. All major protistan lineages were involved in interactions as hosts, symbionts (mutualists and commensalists), parasites, predators, and/or prey. Predation was the most common interaction (39% of all records), followed by symbiosis (29%), parasitism (18%), and 'unresolved interactions' (14%, where it is uncertain whether the interaction is beneficial or antagonistic). Using bipartite networks, we found that protist predators seem to be 'multivorous' while parasite-host and symbiont-host interactions appear to have moderate degrees of specialization. The SAR supergroup (i.e., Stramenopiles, Alveolata, and Rhizaria) heavily dominated PIDA, and comparisons against a global-ocean molecular survey (TARA Oceans) indicated that several SAR lineages, which are abundant and diverse in the marine realm, were underrepresented among the recorded interactions. Despite historical biases, our work not only unveils large-scale eco-evolutionary trends in the protist interactome, but it also constitutes an expandable resource to investigate protist interactions and to test hypotheses deriving from omics tools.

| S-EPMC6976576 | biostudies-literature