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Purpose This paper aims to investigate the potential application of Balanites aegyptiaca bark powder (BABP) for removing a basic textile dye, methylene blue (MB), from aqueous solutions. Design/methodology/approach The biosorbent (BABP) was characterized using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and point of zero charge (pHPZC). Batch mode was selected to study the biosorption of MB onto BABP surface at different experimental conditions (shaking speed, contact time, initial solution pH, ionic strength, solution temperature, biosorbent dosage and initial dye concentration). Besides, the reusability of BABP for MB biosorption was also examined. Findings The biosorption results revealed that approximately 96% of MB was removed successfully at the optimized operational conditions. Pseudo-second-order and Langmuir models, respectively, better described the adsorption kinetics and isotherms. The monolayer biosorption capacity (qmax) for MB was about 97.09 mg/g. According to thermodynamics findings, the MB biosorption onto BABP is an exothermic and spontaneous process. The results demonstrate that BABP can be considered as potential eco-friendly, readily available and low-cost biosorbent for hazardous textile dyes removal from water bodies and also provides a promising method for minimization of agricultural solid wastes (e.g. plant barks). Originality/value The utilization of Balanites aegyptiaca bark powder (BABP), solid waste material, as low-cost and eco-friendly biosorbent for the removal of hazardous basic textile dye (methylene blue) from the aquatic environment.

Aim of our present study was to analyze physico-chemical properties of tomato ketchup samples available in the local market. Major part of tomato consumption comes under processed products like tomato juice, ketchup and sauce. Recent studies have indicated the potential health benefits of a diet that are rich in tomatoes. Study of various physico-chemical parameter testing of four different types of tomato ketchup samples. Study was performed in Department of Applied Sciences, Chemistry section, University of Technology and Applied Sciences, Muscat, Oman during the September 2017 – April 2018. We have selected four different tomato ketchup samples from the local brand and tested for their various physical and chemical parameters such as, pH, conductivity, viscosity, solubility, acidity total, moisture, ash, vitamin C, sodium, potassium, calcium and magnesium. We have used routine and simple techniques for analysis. Such as some chemical methods, Flame photometer etc. We have found that, pH was in the range of 3.6 – 3.8, conductivity 5.38 – 8.71 MS/cm, viscosity 3.93 – 6.76 Pa s, solubility 53.35 – 61.12, titratable acidity 3.2 – 4.01 g/100 gm, (pH metric 3.6 – 4.3 g/100 gm), ash 1.62 – 2.98%, vitamin C 17.25 – 55.23 mg/100 gm, sodium 294.5 – 475.85 ppm, potassium 93.5 – 153.3 ppm, magnesium 106 – 163 ppm, calcium 67 – 117 ppm. The result found in our analysis was more or less close to each other. On the basis of result obtained during the analysis of four tomato ketchup samples Jumbo sample was good amount of vitamin C, less ash value lowest sodium content.

The dye-doped polymer is commonly used in the field of optoelectronics, given its effectiveness in optimising the device’s performance. This study is devoted to the synthesis and characterisation of Anchusa-Italica-doped Pentacene thin-film. Scanning electronic microscopy structural analysis, Fourier transform spectroscopy, and UV-visible transmittance spectra with a range of 300-900 nm were also carried out. The fundamental optical properties such as the absorption coefficient, optical energy gap, absorption and refractive indices were calculated based on the methods already used in the literature as Tauc’s relationship. The morphology of the samples indicated that dye structure was affected in the doped pentacene. The Fourier transform infrared technique (FT-IR) resulting spectrum of the doped samples also showed a significant absorption peak corresponding to C-H as an index of impurities. The calculated band-gap energy of the impurity sample was reduced and was the lowest compared to both the pure dye and polymer samples. The optical absorption and transmittance spectra revealed that it was positioned in the desirable ranges for optoelectronic applications. An anomaly in the absorption index was also observed through excitation of the resonance mode with transparent indication. This effect was deduced from the calculation of the refractive index. The results presented in this paper significantly contribute to the developments in the field of optoelectronic devices based on dye/polymer organic materials.

Medicinal plants particularly with higher nutritional values are attracting the attention of both the pharmacological and nutritional affairs. In the present study, we extracted the wheat germ oil with cold press, hexane as well as supercritical carbon dioxide (SC-CO2). All were chemically and biologically (antimicrobial) evaluated to investigate how far can the differential in fatty acid composition affect the biological properties. The most eminent result was recorded by SC-CO2 oil. It was the only among the extracted oils that possessed moderate antibacterial and strong antifungal activities.

Even in nonexcitable cells, the membrane potential Vm is fundamental to cell function, with roles from ion channel regulation, development, to cancer metastasis. Vm arises from transmembrane ion concentration gradients; standard models assume homogeneous extracellular and intracellular ion concentrations, and that Vm only exists across the cell membrane and has no significance beyond it. Using red blood cells, we show that this is incorrect, or at least incomplete; Vm is detectable beyond the cell surface, and modulating Vm produces quantifiable and consistent changes in extracellular potential. Evidence strongly suggests this is due to capacitive coupling between Vm and the electrical double layer, rather than molecular transporters. We show that modulating Vm changes the extracellular ion composition, mimicking the behaviour if voltage-gated ion channels in non-excitable channels. We also observed Vm-synchronised circadian rhythms in extracellular potential, with significant implications for cell–cell interactions and cardiovascular disease.

Diseases such as osteoarthritis (OA) are commonly characterized at the molecular scale by gene expression and subsequent protein production, likewise, the effects of pharmaceutical interventions are typically characterized by the effects of molecular interactions. However, these phenomena are usually preceded by numerous precursor steps, many of which involve significant ion influx or efflux. As a consequence, rapid assessment of cell electrophysiology could play a significant role in unravelling the mechanisms underlying drug interactions and progression of diseases, such as OA. In this study, we used dielectrophoresis (DEP), a technique that allows rapid, label-free determination of the dielectric parameters to assess the role of potassium ions on the dielectric characteristics of chondrocytes, and to investigate the electrophysiological differences between healthy chondrocytes and those from an in vitro arthritic disease model. Our results showed that DEP was able to detect a significant decrease in membrane conductance (6191 ± 738 vs. 8571 ± 1010 S/m2), membrane capacitance (10.3 ± 1.47 vs. 14.5 ± 0.01 mF/m2), and whole cell capacitance (5.4 ± 0.7 vs. 7.5 ± 0.3 pF) following inhibition of potassium channels using 10 mM tetraethyl ammonium, compared to untreated healthy chondrocytes. Moreover, cells from the OA model had a different response to DEP force in comparison to healthy cells, this was seen in terms of both a decreased membrane conductivity (782 S/m2 vs. 1139 S/m2) and a higher whole cell capacitance (9.58 ± 3.4 vs. 3.7 ± 1.3 pF). The results show that DEP offers a high throughput method, capable of detecting changes in membrane electrophysiological properties and differences between disease states.

Current models suggest that MIRO GTPases anchor cytoskeletal motors to the mitochondrial outer membrane (MOM). However, our previous findings indicate that the unconventional myosin, MYO19, interacts with MIRO weakly but that a MIRO-independent MOM-localizing domain interacts more tightly with the MOM. To test the model that MIRO proteins serve as weaker, initial recruiters of cytoskeletal motors to mitochondria, we examined interactions between TRAK proteins (microtubule motor-mitochondria adapter proteins) and the MOM via quantitative fluorescence microscopy and steady-state kinetic approaches. Using GFP-TRAK truncations expressed in MIRO1-2 double knockout mouse embryonic fibroblasts, we identified a MIRO-independent mitochondrial binding domain in the C-terminus of TRAK1 and TRAK2, sufficient for localization to the MOM--similar to what we observed for full length GFP-TRAK proteins. The MIRO-binding domains (MBD) of the TRAK proteins were only able to localize to mitochondria in the presence of ectopic expression of MIRO. Importantly, fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP) demonstrated that the steady-state kinetics of TRAKMBD/MIRO2 interaction were faster-exchanging than for either full-length TRAK or the TRAK C-terminal MOM-binding domain expressed alone. These data support the model that MIRO supports weak associations of cytoskeletal motors to the MOM, while MIRO-independent binding contributes significantly to tighter association of such motors to the MOM.

Bacterial wilt caused by Ralstonia solanacearum leads to death of infected suckers and reduces the yield of commercially important banana varieties like Lakatan. Among the many varieties of banana, no germplasm with bacterial wilt resistance has been identified yet (Tripathi et al 2004). Mutation induction in plants to develop disease resistance genes using physical or chemical mutagens has been used as alternative to harmful pesticides. To induce mutation for the possible development of resistance to bacterial wilt, shoot tips of Stage 2 in vitro-grown Lakatan plantlets were exposed to 0.1% and 0.2% ethyl methanesulfonate (EMS) for 12 and 24h. Treated and untreated explants were cultured in-vitro to regenerate plantlets. Shoots emerged two days after in vitro inoculation of explants treated with – 0.1% EMS for 12h. Significantly longer shoots also developed from the cultures compared to the untreated explants. The other explants exposed to other treatments had shoot emergence one to three days later. Falcate, curled, irregularly-shaped, and yellowish leaves and pseudostems also developed in EMS-treated cultures. Untreated plantlets exhibited at least one bacterial wilt symptom such as leaf spots, necrosis at pseudostem base, and death six days from the introduction of Ralstonia solanacearum in vitro. Plantlets from explants exposed to 0.1% EMS for 12h did not exhibit disease symptoms even after ten days of exposure to the pathogen and had 100% survival. Seventy one percent of plantlets from explants exposed to 0.1% EMS for 24h and 55% from explants treated with 0.2% EMS for 24h also survived without infection. The surviving plantlets need to be studied further for their ex vitro responses to the pathogen and determine possible genetic changes due to the chemical mutagen treatment.

This study aimed to explore the antimicrobial and chitinase activity produced by potent marine Streptomyces against Escherichia coli, MRSA and Aspergillus terreus. The powdered shrimp shell (SS) was used as a mono-component medium and tested for their effect on the production of active metabolites against three pathogens and chitinase activity. Shrimp shell was used as production media for optimizing fermentation conditions. The tested medium supported production of bioactive metabolite. Shrimp shell at 5.0 gl-1 exhibited significant antagonistic activity against pathogenic microorganisms and produced chitinase in cell-free supernatants at value of 0.56 U/ml/h, while the greatest chitinase activity value of 10.36 U/ml/h was achieved when grown on the shrimp waste as a mono-component medium (40 gl-1 shrimp waste in tap water).

Treatment of drug delivery system using polymeric materials is a new field of research due to their low toxic nature. In this study we prepared a Chitosan / Polyvinyl alcohol that are blended of both Zinc oxide nanoparticles (CH / PVA / ZnO) and Folic Acid drug (CH / PVA / ZnO – FA) may be use as a component of drug delivery system. These components were characterized by Scanning Electron Microscopy / Energy Dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM / EDX) techniques and Zeta potential value (ZP). The results of SEM /EDX indicated that ZnO nanoparticles and Folic acid drug encapsulated into CH / PVA polymer matrix, hence can significantly improve the compactness of the polymers and these components have fair zeta potential values are (-15.3mv and -13.6mv) respectively, (ZP) was identified that CH / PVA / ZnO nanoparticles and CH / PVA / ZnO – FA formulation have a good stability. In Vitro release profile of folic acid drug also studied and shows that comulative % of drug release is (95%). In Vivo toxicity of this component were studied too and shows no toxicity of (CH / PVA / ZnO – FA) sample. These results indicated improved bioavilability and increase ability of targeting cancer tumor were successfully.

It is known that cells grown in 3D are more tolerant to drug treatment than those grown in dispersion, but the mechanism for this is still not clear; cells grown in 3D have opportunities to develop inter-cell communication, but are also closely packed which may impede diffusion. In this study we examine methods for dielectrophoresis-based cell aggregation of both suspension and adherent cell lines, and compare the effect of various drugs on cells grown in 3D and 2D. Comparing viability of pharmacological interventions on 3D cell clusters against both suspension cells and adherent cells grown in monolayer, as well as against a unicellular organism with no propensity for intracellular communication, we suggest that 3D aggregates of adherent cells, compared to suspension cells, show a substantially different drug response to cells grown in monolayer, which increases as the IC50 is approached. Further, a mathematical model of the system for each agent demonstrates that changes to drug response are due to inherent changes in the system of adherent cells from the 2D to 3D state. Finally, differences in the electrophysiological membrane properties of the adherent cell type suggest this parameter plays an important role in the differences found in the 3D drug response.

In this paper, we present the fabrication and the photo-physical characterization of a photovoltaic solar cell in the presence of Iron (III) oxide nanoparticles (Fe2O3 NPs). This latter is deposited at the hole’s interface collecting the layer of buffer [poly(styrenesulfonate): poly(o-toluidine) and poly(3,4ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT: PSS) ] and (POT) Zinc Oxide Nanoparticle (ZnONPs) active layer. This additive at the interface was noticed to considerably elevate the performances of the solar cell. These devices’ photo-physical characteristics are examined at the interface of POT: ZnONPs active layer and PEDOT: PSS buffer layer with Fe2O3 NPs with varied space distributions. The enhancement in optical characteristics occurs when the Fe2O3 NPs are appropriatley large to break through the active layer and subsequently improving the photovoltaic solar cells (PSCs) performances through hole collection efficiency gains. The hybrid PSCs considerably increases the power conversion efficiency (PCE) to 0.18% compared to 0.16% in conventional pure solar cells.

The aim of this work is recycling. where the natural polymers were extraction (Chitosan) from Shrimp Waste (soluble in acetic acid), and Nicotine extraction from in cigarettes. measurement FT-IR (400-4000) of Chitosan and Nicotine(CN) and analysis of active group were taken to ensure the purity of extracted materials. The chitosan/Nicotine as also revealed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Measurement UV–Spectroscopy rang (300-900) nm and The UV-IS optical properties related to, refractive index (n), extinction coefficient (K) and was the real dielectric constant (er), and fixed fantasy insulation (ei).

Tissue engineering of human fetal osteoblast cells was investigated on gelatin-hydroxyapatite (HA), crosslinked, electrospun oriented fiber scaffolds at the different HA concentrations of 0, 10, 20, and 25 wt % in the dry fibers and different fiber diameter, pore size and porosity of scaffolds. Rheological tests and proton nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy were conducted for all solutions used for electrospinning. It was found that 25 wt % HA-gelatin scaffolds electrospun at 20 kV led to the greatest cell attachment, cell proliferation and extracellular matrix (ECM) production while fiber orientation improved the mechanical properties, where crosslinked electrospun 25 wt % HA-gelatin fiber scaffolds yielded a Young's modulus in the range of 0.5-0.9 GPa and a tensile strength in the range of 4-10 MPa in the fiber direction for an applied voltage of 20-30 kV, respectively, in the electrospinning of scaffolds. Biological characterization of cell seeded scaffolds yielded the rate of cell growth and ECM (collagen and calcium) production by the cells as a function of time; it included cell seeding efficiency tests, alamar blue cell proliferation assay, alkaline phosphate (ALP) assay, collagen assay, calcium colorimetric assay, fluorescence microscopy for live and dead cells, and scanning electron microscopy for cell culture from 1 to 18 days. After 18 days, cells seeded and grown on the 25 wt % HA-gelatin scaffold, electrospun at 20 kV, reached production of collagen at 370 μg/L and calcium production at 0.8 mM. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part A: 105A: 1911-1926, 2017.

It is increasingly recognised that biomimetic, natural polymers mimicking the extracellular matrix (ECM) have low thrombogenicity and functional motifs that regulate cell–matrix interactions, with these factors being critical for tissue engineered vascular grafts especially grafts of small diameter. Gelatin constitutes a low cost substitute of soluble collagen but gelatin scaffolds so far have shown generally low strength and suture retention strength. In this study, we have devised the fabrication of novel, electrospun, multilayer, gelatin fibre scaffolds, with controlled fibre layer orientation, and optimised gelatin crosslinking to achieve not only compliance equivalent to that of coronary artery but also for the first time strength of the wet tubular acellular scaffold (swollen with absorbed water) same as that of the tunica media of coronary artery in both circumferential and axial directions. Most importantly, for the first time for natural scaffolds and in particular gelatin, high suture retention strength was achieved in the range of 1.8–1.94 N for wet acellular scaffolds, same or better than that for fresh saphenous vein. The study presents the investigations to relate the electrospinning process parameters to the microstructural parameters of the scaffold, which are further related to the mechanical performance data of wet, crosslinked, electrospun scaffolds in both circumferential and axial tubular directions. The scaffolds exhibited excellent performance in human smooth muscle cell (SMC) proliferation, with SMCs seeded on the top surface adhering, elongating and aligning along the local fibres, migrating through the scaffold thickness and populating a transverse distance of 186 μm and 240 μm 9 days post-seeding for scaffolds of initial dry porosity of 74 and 83%, respectively.

Background and objective Pectin-degrading enzymes applied in the food industries are preferred to be obtained from fungal origin because fungi are potent producers of pectic enzymes and the optimal pH of fungal enzymes is very close to the pH of many fruit juices, ranging from pH 3.0 to 5. Pectinolytic enzymes, have several industrial applications in different industries such as food industries to concentrate fruit juices. They increased the yield of fruit juice from the pulp and removal of haze from juices to get a clear product. Research to find microorganisms to produce high-quality polygalacturonase (PGase) and technical constraint include supply of cheap and pure raw materials needed to produce inexpensive enzymes. Utilization of agroindustrial residues offers potential benefits for solid-state fermentation, which is attractive for the implementation of sustainable bioprocesses. Materials and methods Fungal strain screening for PGase production was studied in 250 ml Erlenmeyer flasks containing 5 g of tested substrate moistened to 50% (v/w, ml/g) with distilled water. One milliliter of spore suspension (106 spores) from each fungus was used as inoculum. The cultures were incubated at 30°C for 4 days. At the end of the incubation period, 100 ml of distilled water was added to each flask, blended by shaking at 150 rpm for 30 min, and harvested by filtration. The filtrates were saved as sources of crude enzyme. The selected fungal strain and substrate were incubated for 120 h at 30°C and culture was taken at 24 h intervals to detect the optimum incubation period. Sugar beet pulp was moistened to different moisture levels, that is, 1 : 1, 1 : 2, 1 : 3, and 1 : 4 (v/w) under the optimum incubation period to determine the more suitable moisture content for enzyme production. Sodium phosphate buffer at 0.1 M was used for adjusting the initial pH of fermentation medium to different values from 3.5 to 7.5 to study the effect of pH on enzyme secretion. The fungus was incubated under different temperatures, that s, 20, 25, 30, 35, and 40°C to study the temperature effect on enzyme production. Inorganic nitrogen sources (at level 0.92 mg N/g solid substrate) were applied in the fermentation medium to study their effect on enzyme yield. Results and conclusion Aspergillus awamori NRC-F18 showed promising PGase’ production activity than other fungi screened. The study showed that the fungus gave promising results when the moisture content was adjusted to 70% (v/w), initial pH value 5.0, and incubation temperature at 35°C for 72 h. The enzyme activity was increased when urea was the sole nitrogen source at a level of 0.92 mg/g solid substrate supplemented to fermentation medium. Under the above conditions, 396.4 U/g original substrate was obtained. A study on the obtained PGase revealed that it has an optimum pH that ranged from 4.5 to 5.5, as well as it gave the highest activity when incubated at 50°C. Eighty percent ammonium sulfate (w/v) was applied to precipitate enzyme protein, as 24% of total protein involved 61% of total PGase activity obtained with a specific activity of 36.94 U/mg protein against 12.8 U/mg protein in the crude culture supernatant. After fermentation the mixture from unutilized raw material and fungal biomass after enzyme elution was 76% (w/w) from the original substrate dry weight involving 14.2% protein related to 9.2% before beet pulp fermentation which could be utilized as feedstuff component in rations for ruminant feed.

Apoptosis is characterised by many cellular events, but the standard Annexin-V assay identifies two; the transfer of the phospholipid phosphatidylserine (PS) from inner to outer leaflets of the plasma membrane, acting as an "eat me" signal to macrophages, and the permeabilisation of the plasma membrane. In this paper we compare the results from the Annexin-V assay with electrophysiology data obtained in parallel using dielectrophoresis, which highlights two changes in cell electrophysiology; a change in cytoplasmic conductivity which correlates with PS expression, and a membrane conductance spike that correlates with permeabilisation. Combining results from both methods shows a strong inverse relationship between conductivity and PS externalisation. One mechanism which may explain this correlation is related to intracellular Ca(2+), which is known to increase early in apoptosis. PS expression occurs when enzymes called scramblases swap external and internal phospholipids, and which are usually activated by Ca(2+), whilst the change in cytoplasmic conductivity may be due to K(+) efflux from intermediate conductance (IK) ion channels that are also activated by Ca(2+).

Currently, cell separation occurs almost exclusively by density gradient methods and by fluorescence- and magnetic-activated cell sorting (FACS/MACS). These variously suffer from lack of specificity, high cell loss, use of labels, and high capital/operating cost. We present a dielectrophoresis (DEP)-based cell separation method, using 3D electrodes on a low-cost disposable chip; one cell type is allowed to pass through the chip whilst the other is retained and subsequently recovered. The method advances usability and throughput of DEP separation by orders of magnitude in throughput, efficiency, purity, recovery (cells arriving in the correct output fraction), cell losses (those which are unaccounted for at the end of the separation) and cost. The system was evaluated using three example separations; live and dead yeast; human cancer cells/red blood cells; and rodent fibroblasts/red blood cells. A single-pass protocol can enrich cells with cell recovery of up to 91.3% at over 300,000 cells/second with >3% cell loss. A two-pass protocol can process 300,000,000 cells in under 30 minutes, with cell recovery of up to 96.4% and cell losses below 5%, an effective processing rate >160,000 cells/second. A three-step protocol is shown to be effective for removal of 99.1% of RBCs spiked with 1% cancer cells, whilst maintaining a processing rate of ~170,000 cells/second. Furthermore, the self-contained and low-cost nature of the separator device means that it has potential application in low-contamination applications such as cell therapies, where GMP compatibility is of paramount importance. Significance statement. Cell separation is a fundamental process in biomedicine, but is presently complicated, cumbersome and expensive. We present a technique that can sort cells at a rate equivalent to or faster than gold-standard techniques such as FACS and MACs, but can do label-free and with very low cell loss. The system uses dielectrophoresis (DEP) to sort cells electrostatically, using a novel electrode chip that eschews microfabrication in favour of a laminate drilled with 397 electrode-bearing wells. This high level of parallelisation makes the system immune to the bubbles that limit labs-on-chip, whilst also increasing capacity and throughput to unprecedented levels, whilst the chip is cheap enough to be disposable, preventing inter-separation contamination.

Spatial patterning of cells is of great importance in tissue engineering and biotechnology, enabling, for example the creation of bottom-up histoarchitectures of heterogeneous cells, or cell aggregates for in vitro high-throughput toxicological and therapeutic studies within 3D microenvironments. In this paper, a single-step process for creating peelable and resilient hydrogels, encapsulating arrays of biological cell aggregates formed by negative DEP has been devised. The dielectrophoretic trapping within low-energy regions of the DEP-dot array reduces cell exposure to high field stresses while creating distinguishable, evenly spaced arrays of aggregates. In addition to using an optimal combination of PEG diacrylate pre-polymer solution concentration and a novel UV exposure mechanism, total processing time was reduced. With a continuous phase medium of PEG diacrylate at 15% v/v concentration, effective dielectrophoretic cell patterned arrays and photo-polymerisation of the mixture was achieved within a 4 min period. This unique single-step process was achieved using a 30 s UV exposure time frame within a dedicated, wide exposure area DEP light box system. To demonstrate the developed process, aggregates of yeast, human leukemic (K562) and HeLa cells were immobilised in an array format within the hydrogel. Relative cell viability for both cells within the hydrogels, after maintaining them in appropriate iso-osmotic media, over a week period was greater than 90%.

A loss of ability of cells to undergo apoptosis (programmed cell death, whereby the cell ceases to function and destroys itself) is commonly associated with cancer, and many anti-cancer interventions aim to restart the process. Consequently, the accurate quantification of apoptosis is essential in understanding the function and performance of new anti-cancer drugs. Dielectrophoresis has previously been demonstrated to detect apoptosis more rapidly than other methods, and is low-cost, label-free and rapid, but has previously been unable to accurately quantify cells through the apoptotic process because cells in late apoptosis disintegrate, making cell tracking impossible. In this paper we use a novel method based on light absorbance and multi-population tracking to quantify the progress of apoptosis, benchmarking against conventional assays including MTT, trypan blue and Annexin-V. Analyses are performed on suspension and adherent cells, and using two apoptosis-inducing agents. IC50 measurements compared favourably to MTT and were superior to trypan blue, whilst also detecting apoptotic progression faster than Annexin-V.

Background: Normal-weight adults gain lower-body fat via adipocyte hyperplasia and upper-body subcutaneous (UBSQ) fat via adipocyte hypertrophy. Objectives: We investigated whether regional fat loss mirrors fat gain and whether the loss of lower-body fat is attributed to decreased adipocyte number or size. Design: We assessed UBSQ, lower-body, and visceral fat gains and losses in response to overfeeding and underfeeding in 23 normalweight adults (15 men) by using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry and abdominal computed tomography scans. Participants gained w5% of weight in 8 wk and lost w80% of gained fat in 8 wk. We measured abdominal subcutaneous and femoral adipocyte sizes and numbers after weight gain and loss. Results: Volunteers gained 3.1 6 2.1 (mean 6 SD) kg body fat with overfeeding and lost 2.4 6 1.7 kg body fat with underfeeding. Although UBSQ and visceral fat gains were completely reversed after 8 wk of underfeeding, lower-body fat had not yet returned to baseline values. Abdominal and femoral adipocyte sizes, but not numbers, decreased with weight loss. Decreases in abdominal adipocyte size and UBSQ fat mass were correlated (r = 0.76, P = 0.001), as were decreases in femoral adipocyte size and lower-body fat (r = 0.49, P = 0.05). Conclusions: UBSQ and visceral fat increase and decrease proportionately with a short-term weight gain and loss, whereas a gain of lower-body fat does not relate to the loss of lower-body fat. The loss of lower-body fat is attributed to a reduced fat cell size, but not number, which may result in long-term increases in fat cell numbers. Am J Clin Nutr 2012;96:229–33.

Lung cancer is one of the most commonly occurring malignancies. It has been reported that mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) is phosphorylated in lung cancer and its activation was more frequent in tumors with overexpression of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K)/Akt. Therefore, dual inhibitors of PI3K/Akt and mTOR signaling could be valuable agents for treating lung cancer. In the present study, we show that fisetin, a dietary tetrahydroxyflavone inhibits cell growth with the concomitant suppression of PI3K/Akt and mTOR signaling in human nonsmall cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cells. Using autodock 4, we found that fisetin physically interacts with the mTOR complex at two sites. Fisetin treatment was also found to reduce the formation of A549 cell colonies in a dose-dependent manner. Treatment of cells with fisetin caused decrease in the protein expression of PI3K (p85 and p110), inhibition of phosphorylation of Akt, mTOR, p70S6K1, eIF-4E and 4E-BP1. Fisetin-treated cells also exhibited dose-dependent inhibition of the constituents of mTOR signaling complex such as Rictor, Raptor, GβL and PRAS40. There was an increase in the phosphorylation of AMPKα and a decrease in the phosphorylation of TSC2 on treatment of cells with fisetin. We also found that treatment of cells with mTOR inhibitor rapamycin and mTOR-siRNA caused decrease in phosphorylation of mTOR and its target proteins which were further downregulated on treatment with fisetin, suggesting that these effects are mediated in part, through mTOR signaling. Our results show that fisetin suppressed PI3K/Akt and mTOR signaling in NSCLC cells and thus, could be developed as a chemotherapeutic agent against human lung cancer.

This study involves the preparation, microstructural, physical, mechanical, and biological characterization of novel gelatine and gelatine/elastin gels for their use in the tissue engineering of vascular grafts. Gelatine and gelatine/elastin nanocomposite gels were prepared via a sol-gel process, using soluble gelatine. Gelatine was subsequently cross-linked by leaving the gels in 1% glutaraldehyde. The cross-linking time was optimized by assessing the mass loss of the cross-linked gels in water and examining their mechanical properties in dynamic mechanical tests. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) studies revealed elastin nanodomains, homogeneously distributed and embedded in a bed of gelatine nanofibrils in the 30/70 elastin/gelatine gel. It was concluded that the manufactured nanocomposite gels resembled natural arteries in terms of microstructure and stiffness. The biological characterization involved the culture of rat smooth muscle cells (SMCs) on tubular gelatine and gelatine/ elastin nanocomposite gels, and measurements of the scaffold diameter and the cell density as a function of time.

The photolytic degradation of the diazo dye, Amido Black, using UV/H(2)O(2) has been carried out experimentally and parameters for most efficient dye degradation have been determined. The degradation of the dye was followed by UV-Vis spectroscopy, HPLC, and LC-MS and is proposed to be initiated by ()OH radicals formed by the photolysis of H(2)O(2). A detailed study was also carried out using LC-MS and LC-MS/MS to determine the degradation pathway of the dye as well as to identify some of the intermediate products formed. Our results suggest that Amido Black degradation occurs preferentially by ()OH radical attack at the more electron rich diazo functionality of the molecule. Furthermore, evidence is presented that subsequent steps in this diazo dye degradation pathway include radical denitration, radical desulfonation and radical diazotization. This report is one of the very few studies that have proposed possible mechanistic pathways for the degradation pathways of a diazo compound.

A prothrombotic state in obesity may be partially responsible for the higher incidence of atherosclerotic complications. However the factors responsible for this prothrombotic state, linked with high levels of plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1), are not fully known. Leptin is elevated in obesity and studies have shown a positive correlation between leptin and PAI-1 levels in human subjects, along with a negative correlation with tissue type plasminogen activator (tPA). We tested the hypothesis that leptin induces PAI-1 and inhibits tPA expression using human coronary artery endothelial cells (HCAEC) in culture as these cells play an important role in atherosclerosis. We demonstrate that leptin induces the transcription and translation of PAI-1 in HCAEC. The leptin dependent upregulation of PAI-1 mRNA and protein was comparable to insulin-induced PAI-1 expression. We show leptin concentration (0-150 ng/ml) dependent increases in PAI-1 mRNA and protein after six and twelve hours of leptin administration respectively. Increased intracellular PAI-1 expression correlates with increased PAI-1 activity in conditioned media and inhibition of specific ERK1/2 pathway by treatment with PD98059 (20 to 40 μM) inhibits leptin dependent PAI-1 expression. However no changes in tPA expression were seen with time or increasing concentrations of leptin. Also leptin treatment did not alter total tPA concentration or tPA activity in conditioned media. In conclusion, our study shows that leptin up-regulates the expression of PAI-1 in vascular endothelial cells via activation of ERK1/2 but does not regulate tPA expression. These studies demonstrate a novel mechanism for the prothrombotic role of leptin in development of atherosclerosis.

The photo-oxidation of Rhodamime B was carried out in the presence of H2O2 using UV light. The effects of dye concentration, pH, H2O2 dose and irradiation time were studied. These parameters strongly influenced the degradation of the dye. As expected, the increase of initial dye concentration decreased the percentage decoloration. Likewise increasing H2O2 concentration also increased the dye decoloration upto a certain limit after which it starts decreasing. The optimum operating conditions of the method were found to be [Dye] = 10 μM; [H2O2] = 1.67 mM at pH 7. Under these conditions, a maximum of 73% decoloration of the dye was achieved. The decoloration pattern obeyed the first-order kinetics and was used to calculate apparent rate constants for dye decoloration. The actual breakdown of the dye was confirmed using HPLC and GC/MS analyses. Preliminary results show that the low molecular weight aliphatic alcohols and acids are some of the degradation products of Rhodamine B. The influence of dye assisting chemicals such as NaCl, NaNO3, Na2SO4 and Na2CO3 on photodecoloration of the dye was also investigated. Addition of these chemicals inhibited the percent decoloration as well as the rate of dye degradation. The reaction mechanism is discussed in terms of OH• radical scavenging by these ions.

Instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA) was applied for multi-element determination in samples of graphite used in manufacturing of pencils. These samples have been randomly selected from the Egyptian market from different manufacturers and of various origins. Some of these samples are imported from the world market and the others are locally made. The determined elements in these samples were: As, Au, Ce, Co, Cr, Cs, Eu, Fe, Hf, La, Lu, Na, Ni, Rb, Sc, Ta, Th, U, W, Yb and Zn. Some of these elements were major or minor elements where others were trace elements. Standard reference material was used in this analysis. Some of the analyzed samples contain some toxic or undesirable elements such as As, Th and U. In addition some of these elements are present in comparatively high concentration.

Dielectrophoresis (DEP)--the motion of particles in non-uniform AC fields-has been used in the investigation of cell electrophysiology. The technique offers the advantages of rapid determination of the conductance and capacitance of membrane and cytoplasm. However, it is unable to directly determine the ionic strengths of individual cytoplasmic ions, which has potentially limited its application in assessing cell composition. In this paper, we demonstrate how dielectrophoresis can be used to investigate the cytoplasmic ion composition by using ion channel blocking agents. By blocking key ion transporters individually, it is possible to determine their overall contribution to the free ions in the cytoplasm. We use this technique to evaluate the relative contributions of chloride, potassium and calcium ions to the cytoplasmic conductivities of drug sensitive and resistant myelogenous leukaemic (K562) cells in order to determine the contributions of individual ion channel activity in mediating multi-drug resistance in cancer. Results indicate that whilst K(+) and Ca(2+) levels were extremely similar between sensitive and resistant lines, levels of Cl(-) were elevated by three times to that in the resistant line, implying increased chloride channel activity. This result is in line with current theories of MDR, and validates the use of ion channel blockers with DEP to investigate ion channel function.

This paper comprises the application of instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA) for multi-element determination in some edible pulse samples. These edible pulses are usually daily used in the Egyptian kitchen. These were: anise, cumin, coriander, caraway, black cumin, white kidney bean, lupine, lentil, chickpea, broad bean, peanut, almond, and fenugreek. The pulses have been analyzed as dehulled pulses, in the case of legume and oil pulses with simultaneous analysis of their respective skins. The determined elements were: Ce, Co, Cr, Cs, Eu, Fe, Hf, Rb, Sb, Sc, Sr, Th and Zn. The element content in the dehulled pulses and their respective skins has been compared. Some elements were major or minor elements where others were trace elements. Standard reference materials were used to assure quality control, accuracy and precision of the technique.

Carmine (C.I. name is Natural Red 4), a naturally occurring important dye, was subjected to UV radiation in the presence of hydrogen peroxide. The photo-oxidation of the dye was monitored spectrophotometrically. The apparent rate of decoloration was calculated from the observed absorption data and was found to be of first order. A systematic study of the effect of dye concentration as well as H 2 O 2 concentration on the kinetics of dye decoloration was carried out. Additionally, the effect of various additives on the decoloration of this dye was also investigated. Most of the anions tested had an inhibitory effect on the decoloration of the dye, with the most pronounced effect seen with sulfite ion as compared to carbonate, sulphate, nitrate and chloride ions. Examination of the effect of pH showed that the dye could be efficiently decolorized in a basic media. A plausible explanation involving the probable radical initiated mechanism was given to explain the dye decoloration. Lastly, we used HPLC analysis to show that the decoloration of carmine observed during the UV/H 2 O 2 photolysis treatment was in fact due to the degradation of the dye.

Safranin-O (C.I name is Basic Red 2), a histologically important dye for counterstaining cartilages, was subjected to UV radiation in the presence of hydrogen peroxide. The photo-oxidation of the dye was monitored spectrophotometrically. The rate of degradation was calculated from the observed absorption data and was found to be first order. A systematic study of the effect of dye concentration as well as H2O2 concentration on the kinetics of dye degradation was carried out. Additionally, the effect of various additives on the degradation of this dye was also investigated. Most of the anions tested had a minor inhibitory effect on the degradation of the dye, with the most pronounced effect seen with Cl−, Br−, CH3COO−, and SO32− ions. Addition of cations did not significantly affect the dye degradation, except for Cd2+, Cu2+, and Ag+, all of which inhibited dye degradation, and Fe3+, which dramatically enhanced the rate of dye degradation. Examination of the effect of pH showed that the dye could be efficiently degraded over a wide pH range. A plausible explanation involving the probable radical initiated mechanism was given to explain the dye degradation.

Summary Instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA) has been used to determine some trace, minor and major elements in some cosmetic samples. These samples have been randomly selected from the Egyptian market. Some of these cosmetics are imported from the world market and the others are manufactured in Egypt. Up to 25 elements have been quantitatively determined in selected cosmetic samples. These elements are: As, Br, Ba, Ce, Co, Cr, Cs, Eu, Fe, Hf, K, La, Lu, Na, Sb, Sc, Sm, Rb, Ta, Tb, Th, U, W, Yb and Zn. Two certified standard reference materials have been used to assure the accuracy and precision of the technique, which are IAEA-405 and SL-1. Two different γ-radioactivity counting systems have been used and compared. Some of the analyzed samples contain some elements, which according to the list of the European Union must not be present in cosmetics. Moreover, some of these elements are present in a very high concentration. Thus, some of the analyzed samples contain arsenic, antimony, chromium and cobalt with the following respectively concentration ranges, in ppm, 0.37-3.67, 0.14-5.36, 2.94-29768 (∼3) and 0.52-4.12.

Determining water saturation accurately is the most critical factor in reservoir monitoring projects. Both Pulsed Neutron (PN) and resistivity logs have been extensively used in Saudi Arabia fields on a routine basis to monitor saturation changes and dynamics of reservoir performance. This critical evaluation has been evident in conventional resistivity that is run in every well drilled. The estimation of formation fluid saturation from conventional resistivity logs requires the sufficient knowledge of porosity, Archie exponents and formation water salinity. Resistivity logs read about 10 times deeper than PN logs; making them possibly more representative of reservoir conditions where measurements are taken in the undisturbed zone. With the onset of low salinity water injection and uncertainties of rock electrical properties, resistivity logs lose accuracy. Recent advances in spectroscopic nuclear techniques have improved accuracy of formation quantification from Carbon/Oxygen ratio (C/O) measurements. This paper examines how C/O log provides better estimation of water saturation when the near wellbore reservoir is free of borehole fluid re-invasion. The ratio responds to the volumes of carbon and oxygen found in formation and borehole, making the evaluation independent of formation salinity, unlike resistivity logs. This paper presents a study conducted in a giant carbonate field in Saudi Arabia to examine and compare the different techniques of PN logs [inelastic C/O and capture sigma] to quantify water saturation in several observation wells. It was found that: ■C/O saturation led to better representation of saturation.■Sigma is difficult for quantifying saturation. Additionally, this paper provides recommendations and operational notes for the pre-job planning stage of this PN technology.

The scope of this work was to synthesize a novel bifunctionalized vanadyl(VO)(2+)/vitamin B 6 complex. The diabetic therapeutic efficacy of the new complex was investigated in alloxan-induced diabetic mice. The results suggested that vanadyl(VO)(2+)/vit B6 complex has an anti-diabetic potency, improved the lipid profile and liver and kidney functions. The new complex possesses an antioxidant activity. The current results support the therapeutic potentiality of vanadyl(VO)(2+)/vitamin B 6 complex for the management of diabetes.

In the field of epidemiology, Genome-Wide Association Studies (GWAS) are commonly used to identify genetic predispositions of many human diseases. Large repositories housing biological specimens for clinical and genetic investigations have been established to store material and data for these studies. The logistics of specimen collection and sample storage can be onerous, and new strategies have to be explored. This study examines three different DNA sources (namely, degraded genomic DNA, amplified degraded genomic DNA and amplified extracted DNA from FTA card) for GWAS using the Illumina platform. No significant difference in call rate was detected between amplified degraded genomic DNA extracted from whole blood and amplified DNA retrieved from FTA™ cards. However, using unamplified–degraded genomic DNA reduced the call rate to a mean of 42.6% compared to amplified DNA extracted from FTA card (mean of 96.6%). This study establishes the utility of FTA™ cards as a viable storage matrix for cells from which DNA can be extracted to perform GWAS analysis.

The adhesion of Staphylococcus epidermidis, Escherichia coli, and Candida albicans on mucin coatings was evaluated to explore the feasibility of using the coating to increase the infection resistance of biomaterials. Coatings of bovine submaxillary mucin (BSM) were deposited on a base layer consisting of a poly(acrylic acid-b-methyl methacrylate) (PAA-b-PMMA) diblock copolymer. This bi-layer system exploits the mucoadhesive interactions of the PAA block to aid the adhesion of mucin to the substratum, whereas the PMMA block prevents dissolution of the coating in aqueous environments. The thickness of the mucin coating was adjusted by varying the pH of the solution from which it was deposited. Thin mucin coatings decreased the numbers of bacteria but increased the numbers of C. albicans adhering to the copolymer and control surfaces. Increasing the mucin film thickness resulted in a further lowering of the density of adhering S. epidermidis cells, but it did not affect the density of E. coli. In contrast, the density of C. albicans increased with an increase in mucin thickness.

Recent studies have suggested that the apolipoprotein-B (apo-B)/apolipoprotein-AI (apo-AI) ratio predicts cardiovascular risk better than any of the cholesterol indexes. The aim of the present study was to assess if the apo-B/apo-AI ratio is related to the metabolic syndrome and its components. Data were analyzed from 2,964 subjects (mean age 48 years; 1,516 men, 1,448 women) from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey III with apolipoprotein data who were evaluated for the metabolic syndrome and its components. The metabolic syndrome was defined according to the criteria of the National Cholesterol Education Program Adult Treatment Panel III and the International Diabetes Federation. The mean values of the apo-B/apo-AI ratio in subjects with and without the metabolic syndrome were compared. Overall, the median distribution of the apo-B/apo-AI ratio was significantly greater (p

Ketene silylacetals derived from prenyl and ( Z )- and ( E )-crotyl 2-methylcyclopentanecarboxylates ( 9 ) were subjected to the Ireland–Claisen rearrangement. All three substrates rearranged with complete facial selectivity, but the ( Z )- and ( E )-crotyl systems gave a mixture comprised of the same diastereomers of 1-(1-methyl-2-propenyl)-2-methylcyclopentanecarboxylic acid ( 14 ) in ratios of 2:1 and 1:2, respectively. In contrast, the ketene silylacetals prepared from allyl and prenyl 2-methoxycyclopentanecarboxylates ( 22 ) underwent rearrangements with both facial stereochemistries.

Lung cancer is the most common cause of cancer mortality worldwide and continues to be a major health problem, exceeding the combined mortality rates of colorectal, breast and prostate cancers. It has proven difficult to control lung cancer with conventional therapeutic and surgical approaches, and generally the prognosis is poor with an overall five-year survival rate of 10-14% in the USA. A competent approach to reduce the mortality from lung cancer is the early detection of premalignant lesions as the survival of early stage lung cancer patients is much better as compared to patients with advanced cancers. The current mainstays of lung cancer therapy are surgical resection, radiation ablation and systemic chemotherapy with considerable toxicity. However, it appears unlikely that these therapies can cause striking improvements in near future. Thus, effective approaches to the prevention of lung cancer need to be developed, especially efforts targeted to the progression of preneoplastic and benign neoplastic lesions to more malignant lung tumors. The pomegranate (Punica granatum; Punicaceae) fruit has been used for centuries in ancient cultures for its medicinal purposes and we have been defining the chemopreventive effects of pomegranate fruit extract (PFE). Based on MALDI-TOF MS analysis, PFE was found to contain anthocyanins (such as delphinidin, cyanidin and pelargonidin) and hydrolyzable tannins (such as punicalin, pedunculagin, punicalagin, gallagic and ellagic acid esters of glucose). We have earlier shown that PFE inhibits prosurvival signaling pathways in human lung carcinoma A549 cells and tumor growth in athymic nude mice (Carcinogenesis 2007;28:163-73) and A/J mice (Cancer Res 2007;67:3475-82). In this study, the chemopreventive activity of PFE during progression of lung adenomas was investigated in two mouse tumor protocols. Female A/J mice were treated with 0.2% PFE in drinking water (w/v, equivalent of human consumption of juice derived from two fruits) till the termination of the experiment. One week after treatment with PFE, mice were given a single i.p. injection of 4-(methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanone (NNK) at dose of 100 mg/kg body weight or urethane at dose of 1 mg/g body weight. Mice were sacrificed at 16 weeks after NNK treatment and 20 weeks after treated with urethane. PFE administration significantly reduced the lung tumor multiplicity by 47% in mice treated with NNK and 52% in urethane-treated mice. Markers of cell proliferation, apoptosis and angiogenesis were studied by immunohistochemical staining. Treatment with PFE caused significant reduction in Ki-67, proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA), caspase-3, CD-31 and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in lungs of mice treated with NNK and urethane. Thus, our results show that PFE can act as a chemopreventive agent in smokers and ex-smokers with early lung lesions. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 101st Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2010 Apr 17-21; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2010;70(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 951.