Superoxide Dismutase (SOD) Enzyme Activity Assay in Fasciola spp. Parasites and Liver Tissue Extract

Background: The purpose of this comparative study was to detect superoxide dismutase (SOD) activities in Fasciola hepatica, F. gigantica parasites, infected and healthy liver tissues in order to determine of species effects and liver infection on SODs activity level.Methods: Fasciola spp. parasites and sheep liver tissues (healthy and infected liver tissues), 10 samples for each, were collected, homogenized and investigated for protein measurement, protein detection and SOD enzyme activity assay. Protein concentration was measured by Bradford method and SODs band protein was detected on SDS-PAGE. SODs activity was determined by iodonitrotetrazolium chloride, INT, and xanthine substrates. Independent samples t-test was conducted for analysis of SODs activities difference.Results: Protein concentration means were detected for F. hepatica 1.3 mg/ ml, F. gigantica 2.9 mg/ml, healthy liver tissue 5.5 mg/ml and infected liver tissue 1.6 mg/ml (with similar weight sample mass). Specific enzyme activities in the samples were obtained 0.58, 0.57, 0.51, 1.43 U/mg for F. hepatica, F. gigantica, healthy liver and infected liver respectively. Gel electrophoresis of Fasciola spp. and sheep liver tissue extracts revealed a band protein with MW of 60 kDa. The statistical analysis revealed significant difference between SOD activities of Fasciola species and also between SOD activity of liver tissues (P<.05).Conclusion: Fasciola species and liver infection are effective causes on SOD enzyme activity level

Comparative analysis of anisotropic material properties of uniaxial nematics formed by flexible dimers and rod-like monomers

We report temperature dependencies of material properties such as dielectric anisotropy, birefringence, splay (K₁₁), twist (K₂₂), and bend (K₃₃) elastic constants of the uniaxial nematic (N) phase formed by flexible dimers of DTC5C9 and compare their behavior to that of a corresponding monomer MCT5. DTC5C9 forms a twist-bend nematic (Ntb) at temperatures below the N phase. Anisotropic properties of MCT5 are typical of the rod-like mesogens. In particular, birefringence increases as the temperature is reduced, following the classic behavior, described by Haller. The elastic constants also follow the standard behavior, with their ratios being practically temperature-independent. In contrast, DTC5C9 shows a dramatic departure from the standard case. Birefringence changes non-monotonously with temperature, decreasing on approaching the N-Ntb phase transition. K₃₃ decreases strongly to 0.4 pN near the N - Ntb transition, although remains finite. The ratios of the elastic constants in DTC5C9 show a strong temperature dependence that can be associated with the bend-induced changes in the orientational distribution function. The measured elastic properties are consistent with the tendency of the dimeric molecules to adopt bent configurations that give rise to the Ntb phase

Population genetic structure of silver pomfret, Pampus argenteus, in Persian Gulf and Oman Sea in Iran and Kuwait waters by using10 Microsatellite Markers

The silver pomfret, Pampus argenteus, is distributed in Indo-western pacific ocean, especially in Persian Gulf and Oman sea, and although is widely commercially exploited, the genetics structure of this species is not clear completely. In the present study, the genetic diversity and population structure of Pampus argentus in the Persian Gulf and Oman Sea were investigated using microsatellite DNA markers. Genomic DNA from 125 specimens was extracted and PCR amplification performed. Seven loci with reasonable polymorphism were amplified. The results showed that average of observed heterozygosity was ranged from 0.54 while expected heterozygosity was 0.67. After applying the Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium (HWE) test, some loci were found to be significantly deviated from HWE in some populations in which deficiency of heterozygotes was apparent. Population differentiation observed among all populations (P<0.01). The population differentiation (Fst) value between Kuwait and bushehr was the highest and significant (0.087) and between Chabahar and Bushehr (0.021) was the lowest and significant. Genetic distance analysis showed that the largest distance (0.269) was between Khuzestan and Chabahar and the smallest distance (0.075) was between Bushehr and Chabahar. The reported results could be of interest for management and conservation programmes of this species in the Persian Gulf and Oman Sea

N�89 and C�274 Truncated Enzymes of Chondroitinase ABC I Regain More Imperturbable Microenvironments Around Structural Components in Comparison to their Wild Type

Immune response stimulation and inactivation of chondroitinase ABC I in physiological condition have been limited its use in various clinical conditions as a bacterial enzyme drug. In the present study, we have investigated some structural and functional features of N�89, C�274 and N�89C�274; three designed truncated cABC I, in order to clarify the unclear role of two terminal parts of cABC I i.e., the 1�89 and 747�1021 amino acids sequences of the full length enzyme through truncation. As a result, the numbers of potential epitopes, the susceptibility to trypsin digestion, ANS fluorescence spectra, and fluorescence quenching using KI and acrylamide were diminished for N�89 and C�274 in comparison to the wild type. Secondary and tertiary structure investigation for N�89 and C�274 revealed that the intrinsic fluorescence was increased and Far-UV CD spectra were changed accordingly. Relative to the wild type enzyme, 0.164, 0.195 remaining activity and lack of activity was shown with the zymographic assay for N�89, C�274 and N�89C�274 variants, respectively. The diminished enzyme activity and structural changes suggested a reorientation of microenvironments interactions including cation�� interactions around structural elements toward lowering regional mobility. Constructing applicable truncated cABC I with improved features could be regarded as a strategy to regain new possible functional advantages over the full length enzyme. © 2019, Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature

Detection of inter-hemispheric functional connectivity in motor cortex with coherence analysis

Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) is showing promise as an alternate method to fMRI for studying cortical function. Resting state studies in both methods are showing functional linkages. The strength of functional connections is typically quantified by the level of significance of the temporal synchrony between brain regions, termed resting-state functional connectivity. Coherence analysis of resting state allows for phase insensitive and frequency specific analysis. This paper provides a detailed method for undertaking fNIRS in combination with resting-state coherence analysis. We show that maps of inter-hemispheric resting-state functional connectivity between the motor cortices can be reliably generated, and the frequency responses (to 50 Hz) for both oxy- and deoxyhemoglobin. Frequencies of 0-0.1 Hz provide robust data as have been shown previously. Higher frequencies (up to 5 Hz) also exhibit high coherence. Deoxyhemoglobin also shows high coherence above 10Hz. Coherence is similar during both resting and task activated states. fNIRS allows for mapping cortical function and, in combination with coherence analysis, allows one to study variations in frequency response

Structural MRI studies of language function in the undamaged brain

In recent years, the demonstration that structural changes can occur in the human brain beyond those associated with development, ageing and neuropathology has revealed a new approach to studying the neural basis of behaviour. In this review paper, we focus on structural imaging studies of language that have utilised behavioural measures in order to investigate the neural correlates of language skills in the undamaged brain. We report studies that have used two different techniques: voxel-based morphometry of whole brain grey or white matter images and diffusion tensor imaging. At present, there are relatively few structural imaging studies of language. We group them into those that investigated (1) the perception of novel speech sounds, (2) the links between speech sounds and their meaning, (3) speech production, and (4) reading. We highlight the validity of the findings by comparing the results to those from functional imaging studies. Finally, we conclude by summarising the novel contribution of these studies to date and potential directions for future research

Investigating the effects of external fields polarization on the coupling of pure magnetic waves in the human body in very low frequencies

In this paper we studied the effects of external fields' polarization on the coupling of pure magnetic fields into human body. Finite Difference Time Domain (FDTD) method is used to calculate the current densities induced in a 1 cm resolution anatomically based model with proper tissue conductivities. Twenty different tissues have been considered in this investigation and scaled FDTD technique is used to convert the results of computer code run in 15 MHz to low frequencies which are encountered in the vicinity of industrial induction heating and melting devices. It has been found that external magnetic field's orientation due to human body has a pronounced impact on the level of induced currents in different body tissues. This may potentially help developing protecting strategies to mitigate the situations in which workers are exposed to high levels of external magnetic radiation

Changes in Gray Matter Induced by Learning—Revisited

BACKGROUND: Recently, activation-dependant structural brain plasticity in humans has been demonstrated in adults after three months of training a visio-motor skill. Learning three-ball cascade juggling was associated with a transient and highly selective increase in brain gray matter in the occipito-temporal cortex comprising the motion sensitive area hMT/V5 bilaterally. However, the exact time-scale of usage-dependant structural changes occur is still unknown. A better understanding of the temporal parameters may help to elucidate to what extent this type of cortical plasticity contributes to fast adapting cortical processes that may be relevant to learning. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Using a 3 Tesla scanner and monitoring whole brain structure we repeated and extended our original study in 20 healthy adult volunteers, focussing on the temporal aspects of the structural changes and investigated whether these changes are performance or exercise dependant. The data confirmed our earlier observation using a mean effects analysis and in addition showed that learning to juggle can alter gray matter in the occipito-temporal cortex as early as after 7 days of training. Neither performance nor exercise alone could explain these changes. CONCLUSION: We suggest that the qualitative change (i.e. learning of a new task) is more critical for the brain to change its structure than continued training of an already-learned task