Co-Doped CeO2/Activated C Nanocomposite Functionalized with Ionic Liquid for Colorimetric Biosensing of H2O2 via Peroxidase Mimicking.

Hydrogen peroxide acts as a byproduct of oxidative metabolism, and oxidative stress caused by its excess amount, causes different types of cancer. Thus, fast and cost-friendly analytical methods need to be developed for H2O2. Ionic liquid (IL)-coated cobalt (Co)-doped cerium oxide (CeO2)/activated carbon (C) nanocomposite has been used to assess the peroxidase-like activity for the colorimetric detection of H2O2. Both activated C and IL have a synergistic effect on the electrical conductivity of the nanocomposites to catalyze the oxidation of 3,3',5,5'-tetramethylbenzidine (TMB). The Co-doped CeO2/activated C nanocomposite has been synthesized by the co-precipitation method and characterized by UV-Vis spectrophotometry, FTIR, SEM, EDX, Raman spectroscopy, and XRD. The prepared nanocomposite was functionalized with IL to avoid agglomeration. H2O2 concentration, incubation time, pH, TMB concentration, and quantity of the capped nanocomposite were tuned. The proposed sensing probe gave a limit of detection of 1.3 × 10-8 M, a limit of quantification of 1.4 × 10-8 M, and an R2 of 0.999. The sensor gave a colorimetric response within 2 min at pH 6 at room temperature. The co-existing species did not show any interference during the sensing probe. The proposed sensor showed high sensitivity and selectivity and was used to detect H2O2 in cancer patients' urine samples.

Plant foods consumed at the Neolithic site of Qujialing (ca. 5800-4200 BP) in Jianghan Plain of the middle catchment of Yangtze River, China.

The site of Qujialing experienced a long, sustained process of the development of Neolithic culture in the Jianghan Plain, with a period of some1600 years. Our previous studies based on macrofossil remains and phytoliths revealed that rice (Oryza sativa) from Qujialing was already domesticated, and millet (Setaria italica and Panicum miliaceum) had also been spread into the site since the Youziling Culture period (5800-5100 BP). Nevertheless, no direct evidence has been provided regarding the daily consumed plant foods, especially plant foods obtained by gathering, throughout the site occupation. This paper thus examines pottery sherds (n=41) associated with culinary practices from Qujialing with starch grain analysis. Apart from starch grains from rice and millet, the results indicate that job's tears (Coix lacryma-jobi), lotus roots (Nelumbo nucifera), tubers possibly from Chinese yam (Dioscorea panthainca), acorns (Quercus sp.), and beans (Vigna sp. or/and Vicia sp.) were consumed by the ancient Qujialing people, within job's tears and lotus roots were not discovered before in the macrofossil remains and phytoliths. Combining the starch data and multiple lines of evidence from macrofossil remains and phytoliths, it is suggested that rice was among the most frequently consumed plant foods since the first occupation phase at Qujialing, while acorns could have been gradually replaced by other agricultural products (i.e., rice) and became less important food ingredients, especially when agriculture was more developed in the last occupation phase at Qujialing. These novel findings not only complement our previous research by providing the first line of evidence of paleodiet in the Jianghan Plain from the perspective of starch grain analysis but also delivers a better understanding of the characterized dietary trends and agricultural development in the research region.

Colorimetric acetone sensor based on ionic liquid functionalized drug-mediated silver nanostructures.

The current work reports the drug-mediated synthesis of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) and their functionalization with ionic liquid (IL) for acetone determination. The rationale behind the selection of the Augmentin drug was the aromaticity in its structure and the functional groups attached. These properties are not only supposed to work in the synthesis of the nanoparticles but also enhance their electron density. The nanoparticles were further coated with 1-H-3-methylimidazolium acetate IL, having conductivity and aromaticity in their structure. The synthesized nanoparticles have been characterized by different techniques such as FTIR, XRD, SEM, and EDX. Colorimetric determination of acetone was done by using IL capped AgNPs with the assistance of NaCl solution and results were analyzed by UV-Vis spectrophotometry. Low-cost, stable eosin dye works as a substrate and is consumed resulting in a color change from brown to transparent. The IL capped AgNPs act as a reducing agent for the production of reduced radical form of acetone which act on the carboxylate moiety and bubble it out in the form of CO2. Different parameters such as (concentrations, loading of nanoparticles, time and pH, etc.) were optimized to get the best results of the proposed sensor. The sensor shows a wide linear range of (1 ×10-8-2.40 ×10-6 M), low limit of detection 2.66 × 10-9 M, and limit of quantification 8.86 × 10-9 M with an R2 value of 0.997. The proposed sensor has been successfully applied to diabetic patient's urine samples for acetone detection with a visible colorimetric change. It showed good sensitivity and selectivity towards acetone detection.

Development of a Nonenzymatic Colorimetric Sensor for the Detection of Uric Acid Based on Ionic Liquid-Mediated Nickel Nanostructures.

Uric acid (UA) is a metabolic byproduct of purine nucleotides and is excreted as a urine component. Abnormalities in UA metabolism cause localized inflammation due to crystal deposition and can lead to various diseases. In the current study, we successfully fabricated a biosensor based on 1-H-3-methylimidazolium acetate (ionic liquid, IL)-capped nickel nanoparticles (NiNPs) for the detection of uric acid in test samples. The structures of IL-capped NiNPs and their precursors were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and X-ray diffraction. The IL-capped NiNPs possessed intrinsic peroxidase-like properties and displayed selective UA quenching after interacting with 3,3',5,5'-tetramethylbenzidine (TMB) solution. Different parameters such as pH, time, IL, TMB, and UA concentration were optimized to obtain the best results for the proposed sensor. The UA biosensor shows good responses in the linear range from 1 × 10-8 to 2.40 × 10-6 M, with a lower limit of detection of 1.30 × 10-7 M, a limit of quantification of 4.3 × 10-7 M, and an R 2 value of 0.9994. For the colorimetric detection of UA, the proposed sensor gave a short time response of 4 min at room temperature and pH 7.5. The proposed sensing probe detects UA in real serum samples and could be used as a selective sensor for UA in the real sample detection.

Experiences of Newly Diagnosed Oral Cancer Patients during the First Wave of the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Qualitative Study from Pakistan.

The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in the scaling back or postponement of non-emergency hospital services, including care of cancer patients. The present qualitative study explored the experiences of newly diagnosed oral cancer patients during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Pakistan. Patients who attended the Department of Maxillofacial Surgery, Khyber College of Dentistry in July 2020 were selected using a maximum variation purposive sampling method. Seventeen semi-structured interviews were conducted in Pashto, the local language of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. All interviews were audiotaped, transcribed verbatim, and translated into English. Thematic content analysis yielded eight major themes: pain and generalised physical weakness, shock at diagnosis, psychological distress of the COVID-19 pandemic, faith and religion, double hit loss of employment, social isolation, social support from caregivers, and lack of support from health care professionals. In conclusion, the COVID-19 pandemic has a clear impact on the life experiences of newly diagnosed oral cancer patients. Distress due to delay in accessing health care and lack of support from health care providers are a matter of great concern. Appropriate interventions should be introduced to ensure psychological and social support strategies are in place for patients during interruptions of health care services.

Role of environmental and occupational factors in fall-related maxillofacial fractures.

OBJECTIVES: The objective of this study was to determine the frequency and patterns of maxillofacial fractures in falls due to environmental and occupational reasons. MATERIAL AND METHODS: One hundred and nineteen patients were included in this study who presented to the department of Oral and maxillofacial surgery at Khyber College of Dentistry, Peshawar. The duration of study was 3 years from January 1, 2017 to December 31, 2019. Demographic data such as age, gender and data environmental or occupational etiology of falls and pattern of fractures was noted in a customized Performa after detailed history, clinical and radiographic examination. Patients of maxillofacial fractures resulting due to falls with age ranging from 16 to 64 years were included. Those cases of falls that presented with systemic diseases or had chances of pathological fractures were excluded from the study. RESULTS: Male population was affected more than females (60% vs. 39.4%). The mean age was 32.39 SD ± 16.031. Falls due to environmental factors were more common than occupational factors (81.5% vs 18.5%). Fracture of midface was more common (57.1%) than fracture of mandible (36.7%) in patients of falls. 5.5% had both midface and mandible fractures. CONCLUSION: We concluded that Environmental and work-related facial fractures in falls are common in third and fourth decade of life. Falls due to stumbling, tripping and slipping, falls from height and falls from stairs most commonly result in midface fractures. Mandible fractures are commonly seen in sportsmen and laborers. Preventive strategies shall be adopted to prevent morbidity and mortality associated with such injuries.

Exceptional Photocatalytic Activities of rGO Modified (B,N) Co-Doped WO3 , Coupled with CdSe QDs for One Photon Z-Scheme System: A Joint Experimental and DFT Study.

Artificial Z-scheme, a tandem structure with two-step excitation process, has gained significant attention in energy production and environmental remediation. By effectively connecting and matching the band-gaps of two different photosystems, it is significant to utilize more photons for excellent photoactivity. Herein, a novel one-photon (same energy-two-photon) Z-scheme system is constructed between rGO modified boron-nitrogen co-doped-WO3 , and coupled CdSe quantum dots-(QDs). The coctalyst-0.5%Rhx Cr2 O3 (0.5RCr) modified amount-optimized sample 6%CdSe/1%rGO3%BN-WO3 revealed an unprecedented visible-light driven overall-water-splitting to produce ≈51 µmol h-1 g-1 H2 and 25.5 µmol h-1 g-1 O2 , and it remained unchanged for 5 runs in 30 h. This superior performance is ascribed to the one-photon Z-scheme, which simultaneously stimulates a two photocatalysts system, and enhanced charge separation as revealed by various spectroscopy techniques. The density-functional theory is further utilized to understand the origin of this performance enhancement. This work provides a feasible strategy for constructing an efficient one-photon Z-scheme for practical applications.

Postoperative Complications in Genioplasty and Their Association with Age, Gender, and Type of Genioplasty.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of our study was to determine the incidence of postoperative complications associated with different kinds of genioplasties done with or without concomitant orthognathic surgeries. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Patients in whom facial asymmetry was corrected by genioplasty with age ranging from 16 to 55 at the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery were included in the study. Patients with facial asymmetry due to congenital problems were excluded. RESULTS: 59 patients were included, of which 38 were males and 21 were females with the age range of 16-55 (mean: 27.3729, Std. deviation: 4.70472). Advancement genioplasty was performed in 15.3%, reduction genioplasty was done in 16.9%, and advancement genioplasty with rotation was performed in 67.8% cases. In 28.8% cases, genioplasty was performed as an adjunct procedure with orthognathic surgery, and in 71.2% cases, genioplasty was performed alone. 3.4% patients developed infection, 8.5% had hematoma, and 6.8% had temporary numbness. Postoperative complications were seen more in men than in women. Correction of chin asymmetry by rotation/advancement showed the highest number of complications (84%). CONCLUSION: Temporary neurosensory disturbance of the inferior alveolar nerve is the most common complication that occurs after genioplasty. Patients shall be counselled preoperatively, and informed consent shall be obtained prior to surgery.

Breast Cancer Inhibition by Biosynthesized Titanium Dioxide Nanoparticles Is Comparable to Free Doxorubicin but Appeared Safer in BALB/c Mice.

Cancer remains a global health burden prompting affordable, target-oriented, and safe chemotherapeutic agents to reduce its incidence rate worldwide. In this study, a rapid, cost-effective, and green synthesis of titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanoparticles (NPs) has been carried out; Ex vivo and in vivoevaluation of their safety and anti-tumor efficacy compared to doxorubicin (DOX), a highly efficient breast anti-cancer agent but limited by severe cardiotoxicity in many patients.Thereby,TiO2 NPs were eco-friendly synthetized using aqueous leaf extract of the tropical medicinal shrub Zanthoxylum armatum as a reducing agent. Butanol was used as a unique template. TiO2 NPs were physically characterized by ultraviolet-visible (UV-Vis) spectroscopy, dynamic light scattering (DLS), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscope (SEM), X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) as routine state-of-the art techniques. The synthesized TiO2 NPs were then evaluated for their cytotoxicity (by MTT, FACS, and oxidative stress assays) in 4T1 breast tumor cells, and their hemocompatibility (by hemolysis assay). In vivo anti-tumor efficacy and safety of the TiO2 NPs were further assessed using subcutaneous 4T1 breast BALB/c mouse tumor model.The greenly prepared TiO2 NPs were small, spherical, and crystalline in nature. Interestingly, they were hemocompatible and elicited a strong DOX-like concentration-dependent cytotoxicity-induced apoptosis both ex vivo and in vivo (with a noticeable tumor volume reduction). The underlying molecular mechanism was, at least partially, mediated through reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation (lipid peroxidation). Unlike DOX (P < 0.05), it is important to mention that no cardiotoxicity or altered body weight were observed in both the TiO2 NPs-treated tumor-bearing mouse group and the PBS-treated mouse group (P > 0.05). Taken together, Z. armatum-derived TiO2 NPs are cost-effective, more efficient, and safer than DOX. The present findings shall prompt clinical trials using green TiO2 NPs, at least as a possible alternative modality to DOX for effective breast cancer therapy.

Serum p53 antibodies detection in oral squamous cell carcinoma, oral potentially malignant disorders and healthy individuals: A multicentre study.

OBJECTIVE: To detect antibodies against p53 in serum of patients of oral squamous cell carcinoma and oral potentially malignant disorders compared to healthy individuals. METHODS: The descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted at the departments of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Peshawar Dental College, Peshawar, Khyber College of Dentistry, Peshawar, and the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences, Islamabad, Pakistan, from April, 2016 to March, 2017, and comprised serum of oral squamous cell carcinoma patients in group A, oral potentially malignant disorder patients in group B and healthy individuals in group C. Serum concentrations of anti-p53 antibodies were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Data was analysed using SPSS 20. RESULTS: Of the180 subjects, there were 60(33.3%) in each of the three groups. Circulating serum p53 antibodies were detected in 59(98.3%) cases in group A, 58(96.6%) in group B and in 20(33.3%) individuals in group C (p=0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The expression of circulating p53 antibodies in serum samples of squamous cell carcinoma and oral potentially malignant disorders patients indicates the potential to be a probable candidate for being taken as a diagnostic or prognostic biomarker.

Phytochemical Screening, Antibacterial Activity and Heavy Metal Analysis of Ethnomedicinal Recipes and Their Sources Used Against Infectious Diseases.

Plants are a rich source of secondary metabolites that have been found to have medicinal properties. The present study was conducted to evaluate the phytochemical screening, antibacterial activities and heavy metal analysis of seven medicinal plants i.e., Nigella sativa (seeds), Trigonella foenum-graecum (seeds), Brassica campestris (seeds), Pistacia integerrima (galls), Linum usitatissimum (seeds), Hyssopus officinalis (flowers), Ephedra vulgaris (dry branches) and its two recipes which are used by hakims (Practitioners of local herbal medicines), against different diseases particularly respiratory tract infections. The obtained results revealed that alkaloids (30%) and flavonoids (41%) were in maximum quantity in P. integerrima (galls) while saponins (10.9%) were in maximum quantity in Recipe 1. The antibacterial activity was determined by the agar well disc diffusion method using methanol, ethanol, chloroform and deionized water extracts. Each plant extract was tested against one Gram-positive (Streptococcus pneumonia) and two Gram-negative (Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Klebsiella pneumonia) bacteria. Maximum zones of inhibition in methanol, ethanol, chloroform and aqueous extract were seen in T. foenum-graecum against S. pneumonia (20.06 ± 0.16 mm), B. campestris against S. pneumonia (22.40 ± 0.24 mm), Recipe 2 against K. pneumonia (20.06 ± 0.16 mm) and N. sativa against S. pneumonia (20.23 ± 0.16 mm), respectively. The concentrations of heavy metals were determined by atomic absorption spectrophotometer and showed the existence of high concentration of Iron (Fe), Lead (Pb) and Chromium (Cr). Thus, it has been found that medicinal plants individually as well as their recipes are potentially active against various diseases particularly respiratory tract infections.

Antibacterial Activities, Phytochemical Screening and Metal Analysis of Medicinal Plants: Traditional Recipes Used against Diarrhea.

The aim of this study was to explore the phytochemical composition, heavy metals analysis and the antibacterial activity of six medicinal plants i.e., Terminalia chebula Retz (fruits), Aegle marmelos L., (fruits), Curcuma longa L., (rhizomes), Syzygium aromaticum L., (flower buds), Piper nigrum L., (seeds), Cinnamomum cassia L., (barks) and its two remedial recipes (recipe 1 and 2) used against diarrhea obtained from the local herbal practitioners (Hakeems). A preliminary phytochemical screening of the above-mentioned plants extract in methanol, chloroform, n-hexane and distilled water revealed the presence of various constituents such as alkaloids, flavonoids, tannins and saponins by using standard procedures. The quantitative phytochemical studies shows that alkaloids, flavonoid and saponins were in maximum amount in Terminalia chebula. The concentration of Cd, Ni, Pb, Fe, Cr, Cu and Zn were investigated by using an atomic absorption spectrometer. The obtained analysis shows that Cr, Fe and Pb were present in the highest concentration in medicinal plants and their recipes. The antibacterial activities of the crude extract found in the recipes of methanol, chloroform, n-hexane and distilled water were analyzed by using agar well disc diffusion assay and minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) by broth dilution method against four bacterial strains, namely, E. coli, Salmonella, Shigella and Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), respectively. The maximum zones of inhibition in methanol, water, chloroform and n-hexane extracts were seen in recipe 2 against Shigella (22.16 ± 0.47 mm), recipe 2 against Shigella (20.33 ± 0.24 mm), recipe 1 against Shigella (20.30 ± 0.29 mm) and recipe 2 against E. coli (30.23 ± 0.12 mm), respectively. Furthermore, the recipe extracts are more active against the tested bacterial strains than the extracts from individual plants. Therefore, it is concluded that the use of herbal plants and their recipes are the major source of drugs in a traditional medicinal system to cure different diseases.

Correlation of metformin with intravenous iodinated contrast media and precautions.

To discuss metformin and iv-contrast induced acute renal failure with its reported cases worldwide, associated risk factors and precautions that can be taken to reduce this tragedy & to address this sensitive issue to my technologist family working in clinical situations. As these studies were observational studies and just report contrast induced nephrotoxicity in different countries by analyzing patients data. By Personal experience or by analyzing data available on PACS (Picture archiving and communication system) most commonly available in Hospitals now a days, that is why these studies did not use any scientific procedure. In our study, we collected opinions of Senior Doctors about use of Metformin before and after contrast study. All Doctors were agreed upon investigation of serum creatinine before contrast study. Doctors were not agreed on single opinion but surely they agreed on stop of Metformin before and after procedure. They said its responsibility of imaging technologist or Radiologist to guide patient about this problem. Diabetic patients using Metformin are at high risk of acute renal acidosis if they are undergoing for iodinated contrast study.

Therapeutic potential of medicinal plants for the management of urinary tract infection: A systematic review.

Urinary tract infection (UTI) is one of the most severe public health problem affecting both sexes but females are more susceptible due to the differences in urogenital and reproductive anatomy, physiology and lifestyle. As in UTI, different parts of the urinary tract are affected and morbidity due to UTI is more common in women of all ages and older men. Due to multi-drug resistant strains and high recurrence rate, UTI has become a major socioeconomic burden. The current review article was aimed to describe the natural therapeutic strategies to manage and cure the UTI. For this purpose, different databases including Google Scholar, Cochrane database, and PubMed etc. were explored. Inclusion criteria were any research article investigating the current therapy of UTI. It was found that microbial infections including Escherichia coli, Enterococcus faecalis and Klebsiella species are the major causes of UTI with different signs and symptoms including painful urination or dysuria, hematuria, urinary urgency, burning micturition, frequent urination, nausea, and vomiting. Antibiotics like trimethoprim, sulfamethoxazole, quinolone etc. as the first choice of the drug are used worldwide. However, due to microbial resistance, several life-threatening side effects, repeated high doses, high cost and low efficacy of these antibiotics motivated the researchers to explore natural remedies for the treatment of UTI. Herbal medicines are effective to combat bacterial resistance with high efficacy, and easy availability with minimal or no side effects. For these reasons it has attained the attention of researchers wanting to explore the herbal treatment of UTI. Vaccinium macrocarpon, Tribulus terrestris, Trachyspermum copticum, Cinnamomum verum and Hybanthusenn easpermus are some common medicinal plants reported to have therapeutic potential for the management and cure of the UTI. Although herbal medicines have more potential over conventional medicine but more discoveries are required to explore the phytoconstituents and their mechanism of action responsible for the management and cure of UTI.

Prevalence and co-infection of Malaria and Typhoid in the local population of Faisalabad, Pakistan.

Malaria and typhoid fever are among the major infectious diseases which impose significant health and socioeconomic burden on affected populations. Further, co-infection and resembling symptomatology in both infections, mostly leads to misdiagnosis and mistreatment. So co-infection of malaria and typhoid fever is becoming a major issue in tropical and subtropical countries. The current study was planned to explore the rate of co-infection of malaria and typhoid fever to show the diagnostic challenges and people health implications in the local population of Faisalabad-Pakistan. For this purpose, 144 samples (n=144) were collected from suspected subjects both male (n=74) and female (n=70) (comprises of three age group ranges viz >01-10, 11-20 and above 20 years old) of typhoid fever and malaria from October to December 2017 at Children Hospital, Faisalabad-Pakistan. Thick smear as a gold standard technique for malaria diagnosis and Widal agglutination technique for typhoid diagnosis were used. Results revealed that the prevalence of co-infection in selected subjects was 6.3% (n=9) with higher prevalence in female subjects (7.1%) as compared to males (5.4%). Further, it was also reported that age groups >01-10 years old, 11-20 years old and 21-above years old have6.6 % (n=75), 5.7 % (n=35) and 5.8% (n=34), coinfection prevalence respectively. In the present study, it could be concluded that although the prevalence of co-infection of malaria and typhoid fever in the studied population was possible but sensitivity of diagnostic tools was limited, so more reliable, specific and sensitive diagnostic tools are required to report confidently more precise correlation of these infectious diseases.

Identifying 5-methylcytosine sites in RNA sequence using composite encoding feature into Chou's PseKNC.

This study examines accurate and efficient computational method for identification of 5-methylcytosine sites in RNA modification. The occurrence of 5-methylcytosine (m5C) plays a vital role in a number of biological processes. For better comprehension of the biological functions and mechanism it is necessary to recognize m5C sites in RNA precisely. The laboratory techniques and procedures are available to identify m5C sites in RNA, but these procedures require a lot of time and resources. This study develops a new computational method for extracting the features of RNA sequence. In this method, first the RNA sequence is encoded via composite feature vector, then, for the selection of discriminate features, the minimum-redundancy-maximum-relevance algorithm was used. Secondly, the classification method used has been based on a support vector machine by using jackknife cross validation test. The suggested method efficiently identifies m5C sites from non- m5C sites and the outcome of the suggested algorithm is 93.33% with sensitivity of 90.0 and specificity of 96.66 on bench mark datasets. The result exhibits that proposed algorithm shown significant identification performance compared to the existing computational techniques. This study extends the knowledge about the occurrence sites of RNA modification which paves the way for better comprehension of the biological uses and mechanism.

Bi-PSSM: Position specific scoring matrix based intelligent computational model for identification of mycobacterial membrane proteins.

Mycobacterium is a pathogenic bacterium, which is a causative agent of tuberculosis (TB) and leprosy. These diseases are very crucial and become the cause of death of millions of people every year in the world. So, the characterize structure of membrane proteins of the protozoan play a vital role in the field of drug discovery because, without any knowledge about this Mycobacterium's membrane protein and their types, the scientists are unable to treat this pathogenic protozoan. So, an accurate and competitive computational model is needed to characterize this uncharacterized structure of mycobacterium. Series of attempts were carried out in this connection. Split amino acid compositions, Unbiased-Dipeptide peptide compositions (Unb-DPC), Over-represented tri-peptide compositions, compositions & translation were the few recent encoding techniques followed by different researchers in their publications. Although considerable results have been achieved by these models, still there is a gap which is filled in this study. In this study, an evolutionary feature extraction technique position specific scoring matrix (PSSM) is applied in order to extract evolutionary information from protein sequences. Consequently, 99.6% accuracy was achieved by the learning algorithms. The experimental results demonstrated that the proposed computational model will lead to develop a powerful tool for anti-mycobacterium drugs as well as play a promising rule in proteomic and bioinformatics.

Unb-DPC: Identify mycobacterial membrane protein types by incorporating un-biased dipeptide composition into Chou's general PseAAC.

This study investigates an efficient and accurate computational method for predicating mycobacterial membrane protein. Mycobacterium is a pathogenic bacterium which is the causative agent of tuberculosis and leprosy. The existing feature encoding algorithms for protein sequence representation such as composition and translation, and split amino acid composition cannot suitably express the mycobacterium membrane protein and their types due to biasness among different types. Therefore, in this study a novel un-biased dipeptide composition (Unb-DPC) method is proposed. The proposed encoding scheme has two advantages, first it avoid the biasness among the different mycobacterium membrane protein and their types. Secondly, the method is fast and preserves protein sequence structure information. The experimental results yield SVM based classification accurately of 97.1% for membrane protein types and 95.0% for discriminating mycobacterium membrane and non-membrane proteins by using jackknife cross validation test. The results exhibit that proposed model achieved significant predictive performance compared to the existing algorithms and will lead to develop a powerful tool for anti-mycobacterium drugs.

Preliminary studies on the stability of arsenolipids: Implications for sample handling and analysis.

Human health risk assessments concerning arsenic are now estimating exposure through food in addition to exposure through drinking water. Intrinsic to this assessment is sample handling and preparation that maintains the arsenic species in the form that they occur in foods. We investigated the stability of three arsenolipids (two arsenic fatty acids, AsFA-362 and AsFA-388, and one arsenic hydrocarbon AsHC-332), common constituents of fish and algae, relevant to sample storage and transport, and to their preparation for quantitative measurements. The fate of the arsenolipids was followed by high performance liquid chromatography/electrospray triple quadruple mass spectrometry (HPLC/ESIMS) analyses. Storage of the compounds dry as pure compounds or mixed in fish oil at up to 60˚C did not result in significant changes to the compounds, although losses were observed by apparent adsorption onto the plastic walls of the polypropylene tubes. No losses occurred when the experiment was repeated with glass tubes. When the compounds were stored in ethanol for up to 15 days under acidic, neutral, or alkaline conditions (each at room temperature), no significant decomposition was observed, although esterification of the fatty acids occurred at low pH. The compounds were also stable during a sample preparation step involving passage through a small silica column. The results indicate that these typical arsenolipids are stable when stored in glass at temperatures up to 60˚C for at least 2 days, and that, consequently, samples of food or extracts thereof can be transported dry at ambient temperatures, i.e. without the need for cool conditions.

A method for determining arsenolipids in seawater by HPLC-high resolution mass spectrometry.

Arsenic-containing lipids (arsenolipids), naturally occurring arsenicals in algae, have never been detected in seawater even though they might be introduced to the water column on senescence of marine algae or by active excretion. The complex nature of seawater presents an analytical challenge to detect these compounds and to monitor their environmental fate. We developed a simple sample preparation method using liquid-liquid extraction combined with HPLC-high resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS) capable of measuring six standard arsenolipids in seawater at the ng As/L level (<1% of the total arsenic in seawater). The method is suitable for studies on the biotransformation and pathways of arsenolipids in the marine environment. When we applied the method to four samples of natural seawater, however, we did not find any of the six standard arsenolipids.