Glucosylceramide synthase inhibitors differentially affect expression of glycosphingolipids

Glucosylceramide synthase (GCS) catalyzes the first committed step in the biosynthesis of glucosylceramide (GlcCer)-related glycosphingolipids (GSLs). Although inhibitors of GCS, PPMP and PDMP have been widely used to elucidate their biological function and relevance, our comprehensive literature review revealed that the available data are ambiguous. We therefore investigated whether and to what extent GCS inhibitors affect the expression of lactosylceramide (LacCer), neolacto (nLc4 and P1), ganglio (GM1 and GD3) and globo (Gb3 and SSEA3) series GSLs in a panel of human cancer cell lines using flow cytometry, a commonly applied method investigating cell-surface GSLs after GCS inhibition. Their cell-surface GSL expression considerably varied among cell lines and more importantly, sublethal concentrations (IC10) of both inhibitors preferentially and significantly reduced the expression of Gb3 in the cancer cell lines IGROV1, BG1, HT29 and T47D, whereas SSEA3 was only reduced in BG1. Unexpectedly, the neolacto and ganglio series was not affected. LacCer, the precursor of all GlcCer-related GSL, was significantly reduced only in BG1 cells treated with PPMP. Future research questions addressing particular GSLs require careful consideration; our results indicate that the extent to which there is a decrease in the expression of one or more particular GSLs is dependent on the cell line under investigation, the type of GCS inhibitor and exposure duratio

Comparative economic analysis of pond fish production in Mymensingh and Jessore Districts, Bangladesh

The study was conducted to determine the cost, return and relative profitability of pond fish production of Mymensingh and Jessore districts. A total of 75 ponds were selected on the basis of purposive random sampling technique from 7 villages under 2 Upazila (Trishal and Gouripur) of Mymensingh districts and 8 villages under 4 Upazila (Monimmpur, Jhikorgacha, Chowgacha and Sadar) of Jessore district. It was found that per hectare per year gross cost of pond fish production in Mymensingh and Jessore were Tk 333457.75 and Tk 54327.74, while gross return were Tk 434131.16 and Tk. 96640.00 and net return were Tk 100673.41 and Tk. 42312.26, respectively. The findings of this study revealed that the pond fish production in Jessore district was more profitable than that of Mymensingh district. Cobb-Douglas production function was applied to realize the specific effect of the factors on pond fish production. Out of six variables included in the function three variables had positive impact on return from pond fish production, in Mymensingh district but five variables had positive impact on return from pond fish production in Jessore distric

Stretching the Parameters of Diplomatic Protocol: Incursion into Public Diplomacy

The end of the Cold War saw the United States retrenching its public diplomacy program. However, as the sole remaining superpower, it saw the opportunity to spread its values and ideals – particularly those of liberal democracy, human rights, and the free market economy – to those countries that were lacking in them. Paradoxically, intense public diplomacy efforts were required in pursuit of that objective. Traditional diplomats then began to take on public diplomacy functions, but, in so doing, often violated Article 41 of the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations. They were mostly from the United States, while the rest were from Europe and regional powers, whereas the host countries were mostly developing nations complaining of interference in their internal political affairs. While some such interference may be expected, they are better done through traditional diplomats discreetly communicating with the host government. Cowboy diplomacy by traditional diplomats probably does more harm than good to both the home country aspirations in, and the internal political dynamics of, the host nation

Homolytic substitution in aromatic heterocycles

A radical is a species with an unpaired electron. The classical research papers of Gomberg1 on the triphenylmethyl radical (I) (reaction 1 and 2), and the study by Lund and [diagram] Bodenstein 2 (1906) of the H2 an Br2 hain reaction, mark thebeginning of organic free-radical chemistry. Radical kinetics openedup with the radical-mirror removal experiments of Paneth et. al. 3 (1929) (reaction 3) and others. 4. [diagram] (3) The pyrolysis of tetramethyl lead (900--1200&deg;K; 1 s, residence in quartz furnace) produced species (methyl radicals) which were capable of removing mirrors of lead, antimony and zinc. The rates and products observed made possible the first measurements of radical concentration and of radical reactivity.The Rice-HerzfieId mechanisms 5 (1934) gave a detailed scheme of elementary radical reactions to account for the rates and products of complex pyrolysis reactions.<p

Determinants of Male Internal Migration in Bangladesh: Is Due to Services Matter?

Migration is a common process where people move rural to urban area for better livelihood. The aim of this study is exploring the factors of rural to urban migration in Bangladesh. A cross-sectional study was conducted in Sylhet City Corporation and 120 migrants were selected through two stage cluster sampling technique. Social survey method was used to collect the data from the respondents. Binary logistic regression was applied to determine the factors related to male migration due to services. The results show that level of education is positively associated with male migration due to services. The results also show that income, occupation before migration, family types also effects cause of migration due to services. Keywords: Rural-urban migration, Determinants, Migration status, Banglades

Instrumentation of nanoendoscopy AFM and its applications to visualizing intracellular nanoscale dynamics and mechanics in living cells

金沢大学博士（ナノ科学）博士論文　要旨Abstract/要約Outline【本文Full非公開】 以下に掲載予定：Nature Communication Nature. 共著者：Mohammad Shahidul Alam, Takeshi Fukumadoctoral thesi

Dissecting the molecular function of neutral glycosphingolipids in ovarian cancer progression

Glycosphingolipids (GSLs) are essential structural components of each eukaryotic cell and comprise a heterogeneous group of membrane lipids covalently linked to a glycan moiety. GSLs play fundamental role in proliferation, differentiation, adhesion, protein and lipid trafficking, signalling events and binding ligands of bacterial toxin and viruses. Aberrant glycosylation on GSLs has been associated with malignant transformation. The presence of tumor associated GSLs has also been observed in epithelial ovarian cancer, which is the eight most common cause of cancer in the women worldwide bearing the highest mortality rate among all gynaecological cancers. Several studies from our group suggest a potential role of GSLs (Gb3 and P1) in ovarian cancer. Both are the members of neutral GSLs belonging to globo series (Gb3) and (neo-) lacto series (P1). The α1-4 galactosyltransferase (A4GALT) terminates both Gb3 and P1 in the GSLs biosynthesis pathway. Gb3 is expressed on different human cell types (erythrocytes, monocytes, granulocytes, fibroblasts, smooth muscle cells of digestive tract and urogenital system, and various cancer cell lines) as well as in cancer tissues (primary lesions of metastatic colon cancer and the colon cancer metastases to liver) while the presence of P1 is only known to be on erythrocytes. The functional role of these neutral GSLs has not been well understood in general and particular in context of ovarian cancer. To address this question, here we utilized two strategies: 1) enzymatic inhibition of key glycosyltransferase glucosylceramide synthase (GCS) and 2) CRISPR-Cas9 mediated genome editing to generate homozygous, stable, and heritable knockout cell lines to consequently establish an experimental tool depleted for specific glycan’s. The effects of inhibition and abolishment of these GSLs on cellular process is investigated with the appropriate assays. Our results displayed that ablation of (neo-) lacto series GSLs by CRISPR-Cas9 mediated genome editing (ΔB3GNT5) leads an unexpected loss of α 2-6 sialylation on N-glycoproteins. Profiling of α 2-6 sialyltransferase encoding genes revealed that loss of α 2-6 sialylation is due to the silencing of ST6GAL1 expression. Another study reported that globoside glycosyltransferases are elevated in epithelial signature and depletion of globosides by CRISPR-Cas9 mediated A4GALT deletion induce epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT) and consequently enhance chemo resistances. Cells undergoing EMT lost E-cadherin expression through epigenetic silencing at the promoter of CDH1 via DNA methylation, however, in A4GALT deleted cells demethylation was only able to rescue E-cadherin expression while wild type A4GALT was provided. Our data demonstrated another class of biomolecules vital for epithelial homeostasis to maintaining cell integrity and function. Taken together, our studies demonstrate that GSLs, and in particular globosides, play an important role in the transition of ovarian cancer cells towards epithelial (MET) or mesenchymal (EMT) phenotypes. Thus, these data suggest that particular GSLs are involved in a complex network affecting molecular events such as alteration of α 2,6- sialylation on N-glycoproteins and influencing E-cadherin mediated cell-cell adhesion in intermediate EMT ovarian cancer cell lines. In summary, this PhD thesis highlights a close relationship between the EMT process and GSLs, which allows a new direction for targeting new therapies

Assessing inconsistency in global land cover products and a synthesis of studies on land use and land cover dynamics during 2001-2017 in the southeastern region of Bangladesh

The high-quality Land Use and Land Cover data is important for monitoring and analyzing environmental changes in the background of global warming. This study accessed the spatial and areal inconsistencies in the four most recent multi-resources land cover products in a complex manner using the common classification systems of IGBP-17, IGBP-9, IPCC-5 and TC (vegetation, wetlands and others only). Based on inconsistencies and multi temporal land cover datasets, a synthesis of study was triggered out on land use and land cover dynamics during 2001-2017 in the southeastern region of Bangladesh. The overall areal and spatial inconsistencies decreased from high to low levels of aggregation (IGBP-17 to TC), indicating that the inconsistencies are not only influenced by the level of thematic detail and landscape complexity but also related to the conversion uncertainties. Overall areal inconsistency in the comparison of the FROM-GLC and GlobeLand30 datasets was the smallest among the six pairs, while, the pair of MODISLC and LULC was observed the highest inconsistencies. Based on overall lower inconsistencies classification system (IGBP-9), the synthetic land use cover changes at the study area were assessed. During the period of study, the areal distribution of forest cover, built-up areas and water were found increased in annually by 0.4%, 1.32%, and 0.3% respectively, while the croplands and wetlands were respectively decreased by 0.5% and 0.3%. The dynamic changes of croplands, forest, and artificial surface were identified the prime cyclic land cover change. This research is helpful in providing training areas for the producer of land cover products

Regeneration of Blackgram (Vigna mungo L.) on Changes of Hormonal Condition

The study comprised of experiments for shoot regeneration and plantlet formation from cotyledonary node of Vigna mungo by culturing them on low concentration of BAP followed by transfer to hormone free MS medium. Cotyledonary node explants were cultured on different concentrations of BAP (0, 1, 2.5 and 50 mg l-1). Shoot regeneration occurred from cotyledonary nodes irrespective of the presence or absence of BAP in the medium. However, culture of cotyledonary node explants for 10 days on medium containing 1.0 mg l-1 BAP followed by transfer to hormone free medium gave higher number of shoots (9.33/explant) compared to culture of the explants on hormone free medium for 15 days followed by transfer to medium containing 1.0 mg l-1 BAP (8.33/explants). The regenerated shoots were transferred to rooting medium supplemented with different concentrations of IBA and NAA. The high frequency (100.0%) of rooting was observed with MS medium supplemented with 0.5 mg l-1 IBA. The rooted plants were transferred to pots for hardening

The Role of Microcredit Program on Women Empowerment: Empirical Evidence from Rural Bangladesh

The empowerment of women is the burning issues in developing countries. This study examined the impact of micro-credit on the empowerment of rural women in Bangladesh. A total of 120 respondents were selected as sample using stratified random sampling technique on Tuker bazar Union Parishad under Sylhet Sadar Upazilla in Sylhet district, Bangladesh and data was collected through face to face interview by using survey method. The women empowerment was measured by five dimensions .These dimension were (1) economic decision making, (2) household decision making,(3) freedom of  physical movement, (4) ownership of property,(5) political and social awareness. OLS (Ordinary Least Squares) regression was applied to understand the effects of microcredit program on each dimension of women empowerment and aggregate women empowerment. The results showed that microcredit program was positively associated with each dimension of women empowerment as well as aggregate measure of Empowerment. So, this study reveals that microcredit program improves the women empowerment in Bangladesh. Keywords: Microcredit, Empowerment, Effects, Rural Women, Bangladesh