BHU – Central News Hub

US-based alumnus gifts $1 million to BHU

The Institute will name the library in honour of his father, Shreenivas Deshpande, a 1948 graduate of the College of Technology…reports Asian Lite News

A US-based alumnus of the Indian Institute of Technology, Banaras Hindu University (IIT-BHU) has gifted $1 million.

Boston-based entrepreneur and philanthropist Dr Desh Deshpande and his wife Jaishree made the donation through the IIT-BHU Foundation, a US-based all volunteer, non-profit association.

The Institute will name the library in honour of his father, Shreenivas Deshpande, a 1948 graduate of the College of Technology.

The library naming ceremony will be held on June 24 on the campus.

According to an IIT-BHU spokesperson, after completing his B.Sc. in first class in Industrial Chemistry in 1948, Shreenivas Deshpande spent the next 31 years working in the public sector and retired in 1980 as the joint commissioner of labour in the government of Karnataka.

He then went on to serve as the president of Chinmaya Mission in Hubli.

IIT-BHU Foundation president Arun Tripathi said: “We are thankful to Desh and his wife Jaishree for this very thoughtful gift. They are well known philanthropists. However, this gift is very special to the Foundation as it is across generations, reflecting upon the Institute’s transformative impact.”

IIT-BHU Director, Professor Pramod Kumar Jain thanked the couple, and said: “It is the achievements of distinguished alumni that inspire the faculty and staff to train the technology leaders of the future.”

He said that this contribution to the library will be helpful in strengthening the academic and research ecosystem of the Institute.

ALSO READ-US based Rise Capital to launch operations in India

BHU researchers claim key finding in Zika virus treatment

Microcephaly leads to abnormal brain development. The outcomes of microcephaly may differ according to the extent of the brain damage…reports Asian Lite News.

Researchers at the molecular biology unit of the Institute of Medical Sciences in Banaras Hindu University (IMS-BHU) have reported an important finding on Zika virus pathogenesis, which they claim, will be helpful in understanding the molecular pathogenesis of the virus and in therapeutic development.

The study has been published in an international peer-reviewed journal ‘Molecular Neurobiology’.

Prof Sunit K. Singh, head of the Molecular Biology Unit and a well-known molecular virologist, said that most people with Zika virus infection do not develop symptoms.

“The incubation period of ZIKV infection lasts for 2- 7 days. In 2015, the major ZIKV outbreak was reported in Brazil, North America, Pacific and South-east Asia, infecting 1.5 million people and with more than 3,500 microcephaly cases reported in infants. In India, 157 ZIKV positive cases were reported in 2018,” he explained.

Currently, there are no definite antivirals against ZIKV and only symptomatic treatment regime is followed. Zika virus infection is also a trigger of Guillain-Barre syndrome, neuropathy and myelitis, particularly in adults and older children. The Zika virus vaccine is at various stages of development at present.

Zika virus can be transmitted from mother to foetus during pregnancy, which may lead to microcephaly (smaller than normal head size) and other congenital malformations in the infant, collectively referred to as congenital Zika syndrome, whereas in adults, the symptoms are mild-fever, headache, conjunctivitis, joint-pain, and body rash.

Microcephaly leads to abnormal brain development. The outcomes of microcephaly may differ according to the extent of the brain damage.

According to him, the brain is surrounded by a barrier known as blood-brain-barrier (BBB), which separates the brain from the peripheral blood circulation of the body. The BBB is formed by brain endothelial cells and these cells are held together by protein named tight-junction proteins (TJs) and adherent junction proteins (AJs).

If the TJs and AJs proteins expression decreases, the BBB is compromised and allows the movement of immune cells into the brain which causes neuronal damage.

The ZIKV infected cells secrete a viral protein, NS1, which has been directly corelated with the disease severity in patients.

His study reported that Zika virus NS1 protein treatment compromises the BBB integrity and this may lead to microcephaly and other brain related disorders in infants.

The research group reported that Zika virus NS1 protein increases the expression of microRNA-101_3p in human brain microvascular endothelial cells, which in turn suppresses the expression of tight-junction proteins and adherent junction proteins and that leads to the compromise in the integrity of BBB.

“This finding will be very helpful in understanding the molecular pathogenesis of Zika virus and in the therapeutic development. A diagnosis of Zika virus infection can be done by laboratory tests of blood, urine and semen,” said Singh.

ALSO READ-Zika virus impairs foetal development