Universal 1H Spin-Lattice NMR Relaxation Features of Sugar-A Step towards Quality Markers.

1H fast field-cycling and time-domain nuclear magnetic resonance relaxometry studies have been performed for 15 samples of sugar of different kinds and origins (brown, white, cane, beet sugar). The extensive data set, including results for crystal sugar and sugar/water mixtures, has been thoroughly analyzed, with a focus on identifying relaxation contributions associated with the solid and liquid fractions of the systems and non-exponentiality of the relaxation processes. It has been observed that 1H spin-lattice relaxation rates for crystal sugar (solid) vary between 0.45 s-1 and 0.59 s-1, and the relaxation process shows only small deviations from exponentiality (a quantitative measure of the exponentiality has been provided). The 1H spin-lattice relaxation process for sugar/water mixtures has turned out to be bi-exponential, with the relaxation rates varying between about 13 s-1-17 s-1 (for the faster component) and about 2.1 s-1-3.5 s-1 (for the slower component), with the ratio between the amplitudes of the relaxation contributions ranging between 2.8 and 4.2. The narrow ranges in which the parameters vary make them a promising marker of the quality and authenticity of sugar.

Antifouling and Water Flux Enhancement in Polyethersulfone Ultrafiltration Membranes by Incorporating Water-Soluble Cationic Polymer of Poly [2-(Dimethyl amino) ethyl Methacrylate].

Novel ultrafiltration (UF) polymer membranes were prepared to enhance the antifouling features and filtration performance. Several ultrafiltration polymer membranes were prepared by incorporating different concentrations of water-soluble cationic poly [2-(dimethyl amino) ethyl methacrylate] (PDMAEMA) into a homogenous casting solution of polyethersulfone (PES). After adding PDMAEMA, the effects on morphology, hydrophilicity, thermal stability, mechanical strength, antifouling characteristics, and filtration performance of these altered blended membranes were investigated. It was observed that increasing the quantity of PDMAEMA in PES membranes in turn enhanced surface energy, hydrophilicity, and porosity of the membranes. These new modified PES membranes, after the addition of PDMAEMA, showed better filtration performance by having increased water flux and a higher flux recovery ratio (FRR%) when compared with neat PES membranes. For the PES/PDMAEMA membrane, pure water flux with 3.0 wt.% PDMAEMA and 0.2 MPa pressure was observed as (330.39 L·m-2·h-1), which is much higher than that of the neat PES membrane with the value of (163.158 L·m-2·h-1) under the same conditions. Furthermore, the inclusion of PDMAEMA enhanced the antifouling capabilities of PES membranes. The total fouling ratio (TFR) of the fabricated PES/PDMAEMA membranes with 3.0 wt.% PDMAEMA at 0.2 MPa applied pressure was 36 percent, compared to 64.9 percent for PES membranes.

Probing the behavior and kinetic studies of amphiphilic acrylate copolymers with bovine serum albumin.

This article presents that acrylate copolymers are the potential candidate against the adsorption of bovine serum albumin (BSA). A series of copolymers poly(methyl methacrylate) (pMMA), poly(3-sulfopropyl methacrylate-co-methyl methacrylate) p(SPMA-co-MMA), and poly(dimethylaminoethyl methacrylate-co-methyl methacrylate) p(DMAEMA-co-MMA) were synthesized via free radical polymerization. These amphiphilic copolymers are thermally stable with a glass transition temperature (Tg) 50-120 °C and observed the impact of surface charge on amphiphilic copolymers to control interactions with the bovine serum albumin (BSA). These copolymers pMD1 and pMS1 have surface charges, - 56.6 and - 72.6 mV at pH 7.4 in PBS buffer solution that controls the adsorption capacity of bovine serum albumin (BSA) on polymers surface. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) analysis showed minimum roughness of 0.324 nm and 0.474 nm for pMS1 and pMD1. Kinetic studies for BSA adsorption on these amphiphilic copolymers showed the best fitting of the pseudo-first-order model that showed physisorption and attained at 25 °C and pH 7.4 within 24 h.

Coding-Complete Genome Sequence of a SARS-CoV-2 Strain Isolated in Gilgit, Pakistan.

Here, we report the coding-complete genome sequence of a severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) isolate obtained from a nasopharyngeal swab from the first patient with COVID-19 in Gilgit, Pakistan.

Effect of Flavonoid-Coated Gold Nanoparticles on Bacterial Colonization in Mice Organs.

Multidrug resistance (MDR) has been a potentiator for the exploration of antibiotics. Nano drug delivery systems have opened new avenues to overcome this challenge. Although antibacterial nanocarriers are extensively realized, their effect on the bacteria residing inside the tissues and their toxicity is rarely explored. This study investigated the effects of flavonoid coated gold nanoparticles (FAuNPs) on the colonization of Enterococcus faecalis in the mouse liver and kidneys. Flavonoids were extracted from the leaves of Berberis lycium Royle and used to stabilize gold following a green synthesis approach. FAuNPs were characterized by ultraviolet-visible (UV-Vis) spectroscopy, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM), X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS). FAuNPs showed significantly higher reduction in bacterial counts in in-vitro and in-vivo in mice organs as compared to the free flavonoids owing to their biocompatibility and effectiveness.

Comparative safety analysis of bactericidal nano-colloids: Assessment of potential functional toxicity and radical scavenging action.

Extensive utilization of silver nanoparticles (AgNP) has raised concerns of their safety profile upon interaction with biological system. In past decade, various nanoparticles (NPs) with excellent antimicrobial potential have been synthesized, a majority of which have struggled with the established toxicity in biological systems. The NPs safety is still a hot debate and various strategies are being adopted to overcome this giant limitation. This paper successfully reports comparative toxicity profiles of previously synthesized antimicrobial NPs in our lab and concludes the effectiveness of biologically synthesized NPs for its safe usage in biological systems. In this study, five of our previously synthesized NPs that showed excellent antimicrobial potential were compared for their in vivo toxicity and corresponding radical scavenging activities. Based on lowest morbidity, mortality, weight loss, toxicity and agglomeration profile, best NPs with highest antimicrobial potentials were screened out and used for further biomedical applications. The previously reported NPs used in this study included Aerva javanica synthesized nanoparticles (AjNPs), Heliotropium crispium synthesized nanoparticles (HcNPs), and violacein capped nanoparticles (VNPs), these showed least toxicity upon in vivo histological analysis. AjNPs among them showed maximum safety and efficacy profile and consistently showed least production of reactive oxygen species, least mortality and morbidity rate as compared to other groups. Present study establishes that all these biologically synthesized NPs and specifically AjNPs can be efficiently employed as antimicrobial agents as they have not exhibited toxic profile and have shown least accumulation into the organs such as liver spleen and kidney.

In silico functional and tumor suppressor role of hypothetical protein PCNXL2 with regulation of the Notch signaling pathway.

Since the last decade, various genome sequencing projects have led to the accumulation of an enormous set of genomic data; however, numerous protein-coding genes still need to be functionally characterized. These gene products are called "hypothetical proteins". The hypothetical protein pecanex-like protein 2 Homo sapiens (PCNXL2) is found to be mutated in colorectal carcinoma with microsatellite instability; therefore, annotation of the function of PCNXL2 in tumorigenesis is very important. In the present study, bioinformatics analysis of PCNXL2 was performed at the molecular level to assess its role in the progression of cancer for designing new anti-cancer drugs. The retrieved sequence of PCNXL2 was functionally and structurally characterized through the web tools Pfam, Batch CD (conserved domain) search, ExPASy, COACH and I-TASSER directed for pathway analysis and design to explore the intercellular interactions of PCNXL2 involved in cancer development. The present study has shown that PCNXL2 encodes multi-pass transmembrane proteins whose tumor suppressor function may involve regulating Notch signaling by transporting protons across the membrane to provide suitable membrane potential for γ secretase function, which may liberate the Notch intracellular domain NICD from the receptor to inside the cell. Furthermore, domain A of PCNXL2 may exhibit nuclear transport activity of NICD from the cytoplasm to the nucleus through interaction with a nuclear localization signal that may act as an activator for Notch signaling in the nucleus. Conclusively, the tumor suppressor role of PCNXL2 by regulation of the Notch signaling pathway and its functional and structural characteristics are important findings. However, further studies are required to validate the putative role of PCNXL2 as a cancer biomarker in cancer development.

Clinical populations of Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolated from acute infections show a wide virulence range partially correlated with population structure and virulence gene expression.

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a ubiquitous environmental bacterium responsible for a variety of infections in humans, as well as in animal hosts. While the evolution of virulence in P. aeruginosa strains isolated from chronic lung infection in cystic fibrosis (CF) patients has been extensively studied, the virulence phenotype of P. aeruginosa isolated from other infection types or from the environment is currently not well characterized. Here we report an extensive analysis of the virulence of P. aeruginosa strains isolated from acute infections compared with population structure. Virulence profiles of individual strains were also compared with the expression levels of the rhlR gene, the transcriptional regulator of the rhl quorum-sensing system, and the gene encoding Crc, a global regulator controlling catabolite repression and carbon metabolism. Additionally, the presence/absence of the two mutually exclusive genes, exoU and exoS, encoding effectors of the type III secretion system, was assessed. In order to capture the widest range of genetic variability, a collection of 120 clinical strains was initially characterized by repetitive element-based PCR genotyping, and a selection of 27 strains belonging to different clonal lineages was subsequently tested using three different virulence assays, including two Dictyostelium discoideum assays on different growth media, and a Caenorhabditis elegans fast-killing assay. We show that the parallel application of virulence assays can be used to quantitatively assess this complex, multifactorial phenotypic trait. We observed a wide spectrum of virulence phenotypes ranging from weakly to highly aggressive, indicating that clinical strains isolated from acute infections can present a reduced or altered virulence phenotype. Genotypic associations only partially correlated with virulence profiles and virulence gene expression, whereas the presence of either exoU or exoS was not significantly correlated with virulence. Interestingly, the expression of rhlR showed a significant and positive correlation with the virulence profiles obtained with the three assays, while the expression of crc was either negatively or not correlated with virulence, depending on the assay.

Degradation of low rank coal by Trichoderma atroviride ES11.

A new isolate of Trichoderma atroviride has been shown to grow on low rank coal as the sole carbon source. T. atroviride ES11 degrades approximately 82% of particulate coal (10 g l(-1)) over a period of 21 days with 50% reduction in 6 days. Glucose (5 g l(-1)) as a supplemented carbon source enhanced the coal solubilisation efficiency of T. atroviride ES11, while 10 and 20 g l(-1) glucose decrease coal solubilisation efficiency. Addition of nitrogen [1 g l(-1) (NH(4))(2)SO(4)] to the medium also increased the coal solubilisation efficiency of T. atroviride ES11. Assay results from coal-free and coal-supplemented cultures suggested that several intracellular enzymes are possibly involved in coal depolymerisation processes some of which are constitutive (phenol hydroxylase) and others that were activated or induced in the presence of coal (2,3-dihydrobiphenyl-2,3-diol dehydrogenase, 3,4-dihydro phenanthrene-3,4-diol dehydrogenase, 1,2-dihydro-1,2-dihydroxynaphthalene dehydrogenase, 1,2-dihydro-1,2-dihydroxyanthracene dehydrogenase). GC-MS analysis of chloroform extracts obtained from coal degrading T. atroviride ES11 cultures showed the formation of only a limited number of specific compounds (4-hydroxyphenylethanol, 1,2-benzenediol, 2-octenoic acid), strongly suggesting that the intimate association between coal particles and fungal mycelia results in rapid and near-quantitative transfer of coal depolymerisation products into the cell.