Recombinant hepatitis B surface antigen and anionic phospholipids share a binding region in the fifth domain of β2-glycoprotein I (apolipoprotein H)

AbstractHuman β2-glycoprotein I (β2GPI) binds to recombinant hepatitis B surface antigen (rHBsAg), but the location of the binding domain on β2GPI is unknown. It has been suggested that the lipid rather than the protein moiety of rHBsAg binds to β2GPI. Since β2GPI binds to anionic phospholipids (PL) through its lipid-binding region in the fifth domain of β2GPI, we predicted that this lipid-binding region may also be involved in binding rHBsAg. In this study, we examined rHBsAg binding to two naturally occurring mutants of β2GPI, Cys306Gly and Trp316Ser, or evolutionarily conserved hydrophobic amino acid sequence, Leu313-Ala314-Phe315 in the fifth domain of β2GPI. The two naturally occurring mutations and two mutagenized amino acids, Leu313Gly or Phe315Ser, disrupted the binding of recombinant β2GPI (rβ2GPI) to both rHBsAg and cardiolipin (CL), an anionic PL. These results suggest that rHBsAg and CL share the same region in the fifth domain of β2GPI. Credence to this conclusion was further provided by competitive ELISA, where CL-bound rβ2GPI was incubated with increasing amounts of rHBsAg. As expected, pre-incubation of rβ2GPI with CL precluded binding to rHBsAg, indicating that CL and rHBsAg bind to the same region on β2GPI. Our data provide evidence that the lipid (PL) rather than the protein moiety of rHBsAg binds to β2GPI and that this binding region is located in the fifth domain of β2GPI, which also binds to anionic PL

Comparison of Bacterial Load measured by X-pert / MTB RIF Assay with Smear & Myco-Bacterial Culture, as a marker for monitoring disease outcome in Cavitary Pulmonary Tuberculosis

Introduction: Tuberculosis (TB) is one of the major public health problems in Pakistan. Treatment depends on the diagnosis and bacterial load. The smear and culture of the sputum sample are considered as the gold standard. However, another recently invented diagnostic criteria i.e. X-PERT / MTB RIF Assay can also give high accuracy and can be used as a substitute for sputum culture. Objective: To determine the validity of Xpert MTB/RIF and sputum smear in monitoring the outcome of cavitary pulmonary tuberculosis by taking culture as the gold standard Study design: Descriptive Cross-sectional Study. Setting: Department of Pulmonology, Fauji Foundation Hospital Rawalpindi. Duration: 15th Feb to 15th Dec 2018. Materials and Methods: 250 Patients who meet the criteria were integrated into the study. A sputum sample was taken two times and two samples were sent to the laboratory of the hospital for Xpert MTB/RIF, sputum smear, and culture. Findings were recorded. Then patients were given standard treatment for tuberculosis. Data was entered in SPSS 23. Age, laboratory variables like HB, Platelets count, etc. were presented as mean and standard deviation. Gender, outcome of diagnosis were presented as mean and standard deviation. Sensitivity, specificity measure on –rays, findings, smear test, and Xpert MTB/RIF. Results: Total 187 patients including 12 (6.4%) male and 175 (93.6%) female. The mean age was 44.14+17.13 years. Positive findings on X-pert and smear were found in 35(53%) patients and MTB/ RIF were found in 41(62.1%). Sensitivity, specificity of X-pert MTB/RIF were found to be 77.6% and 13.6% at baseline while 40% and 40% respectively at end of treatment. Conclusion: Thus, X-pert MTB/RIF is an important tool than sputum smear and AFB culture in monitoring the outcome of cavitary pulmonary tuberculosis

Comparison of Bacterial Load measured by X-pert / MTB RIF Assay with Smear & Myco-Bacterial Culture, as a marker for monitoring disease outcome in Cavitary Pulmonary Tuberculosis

Introduction: Tuberculosis (TB) is one of the major public health problems in Pakistan. Treatment depends on the diagnosis and bacterial load. The smear and culture of the sputum sample are considered as the gold standard. However, another recently invented diagnostic criteria i.e. X-PERT / MTB RIF Assay can also give high accuracy and can be used as a substitute for sputum culture. Objective: To determine the validity of Xpert MTB/RIF and sputum smear in monitoring the outcome of cavitary pulmonary tuberculosis by taking culture as the gold standard Study design: Descriptive Cross-sectional Study. Setting: Department of Pulmonology, Fauji Foundation Hospital Rawalpindi. Duration: 15th Feb to 15th Dec 2018. Materials and Methods: 250 Patients who meet the criteria were integrated into the study. A sputum sample was taken two times and two samples were sent to the laboratory of the hospital for Xpert MTB/RIF, sputum smear, and culture. Findings were recorded. Then patients were given standard treatment for tuberculosis. Data was entered in SPSS 23. Age, laboratory variables like HB, Platelets count, etc. were presented as mean and standard deviation. Gender, outcome of diagnosis were presented as mean and standard deviation. Sensitivity, specificity measure on –rays, findings, smear test, and Xpert MTB/RIF. Results: Total 187 patients including 12 (6.4%) male and 175 (93.6%) female. The mean age was 44.14+17.13 years. Positive findings on X-pert and smear were found in 35(53%) patients and MTB/ RIF were found in 41(62.1%). Sensitivity, specificity of X-pert MTB/RIF were found to be 77.6% and 13.6% at baseline while 40% and 40% respectively at end of treatment. Conclusion: Thus, X-pert MTB/RIF is an important tool than sputum smear and AFB culture in monitoring the outcome of cavitary pulmonary tuberculosis

Conjugate effects of heat and mass transfer on free convection past an infinite oscillating vertical flat plate with radiation effect

The conjugate effects of heat and mass transfer on natural convection flow of an incompressible viscous fluid past an infinite oscillating vertical plate with radiation effect have been investigated in this paper. The governing equations are transformed into dimensionless forms by using a set of suitable transformations and solved analytically by the Laplace transform method. The exact solutions for velocity, temperature and concentration are obtained. Numerical results are shown graphically for some selected values of embedded flow parameters and discussed

INDIGENOUS VESICULAR MYCORRHIZAL FUNGI EFFECT ON MAIZE UNDER DIFFERENT TEXTURES

Plant health and biomass relies on nutrient availability and the efficiency with which nutrients are taking in by plants. Vesicular Arbuscular Mycorrhiza (VAM) is a symbiotic association between plant roots and fungus. VAM improve plant growth by modifying its rhizosphere soil and helps in nutrient uptake by plants. Our aim was to evaluate the growth of maize (Zea mays) and quantify mycorrhizae under different textures and in phosphorous deficient soils. Treatments include different types of soil texture (pure soil, pure sand and 1:1 soil+sand) along with recommended rate of nitrogen and potassium fertilizer while no phosphorous fertilizer was used. Root colonization, growth rate of plant, biomass of plant root and shoot and effect of VAM and roots on rhizosphere soil pH were observed. Results showed that shoot biomass was significantly improved in plain soil treatment as compared to sandy texture soils. Root:shoot ratio was significantly decreased in plain soil as compared to plants in sand. pH was reduced in all treatments significantly. Root colonization ranges from 40-49% and colonization rates higher in sandy soils than others. Results suggested that VAM infection show well growth in its natural environment and improve plant growth and yield

Exact Solutions of Heat and Mass Transfer with MHD Flow in a Porous Medium under Time Dependent Shear Stress and Temperature

This paper aims to study the influence of thermal radiation on unsteady magnetohyrdodynamic (MHD) natural convection flow of an optically thick fluid over a vertical plate embedded in a porous medium with arbitrary shear stress. Combined phenomenon of heat and mass transfer is considered. Closed-form solutions in general form are obtained by using the Laplace transform technique. They are expressed in terms of exponential and complementary error functions. Velocity is expressed as a sum of thermal and mechanical parts. Corresponding limiting solutions are also reduced from the general solutions. It is found that the obtained solutions satisfy all imposed initial and boundary conditions and reduce to some known solutions from the literature as special cases. Analytical results for the pertinent flow parameters are drawn graphically and discussed in detail. It is found that the velocity profiles of fluid decrease with increasing shear stress. The magnetic parameter develops shear resistance which reduces the fluid motion whereas the inverse permeability parameter increases the fluid flow

STUDY OF SPATIAL AND TEMPORAL VARIABILITY OF ARSENIC IN GROUNDWATER DUE TO DRAIN BY USING GIS

Industrial activity is one of the major reason of groundwater contamination. Arsenic is one, which is responsible for the contamination of the groundwater. Its testing in groundwater is considered as an important activity due to its serious effects on human health. Arsenic problem in Pakistan has been identified recently as a result of field testing. In Faisalabad, arsenic has been found in groundwater within permissible limit. But due to increasing industrial activities the concentration of arsenic is increasing day by day. Drain passing through the city is one of the sources of arsenic in groundwater. The research work was conducted at Syedabbad, Faisalabad. Samples were taken from the selected drain portion and from the groundwater by the help of water pumps. The sampling points were drawn on GIS map by the help of GPS receiver to study the spatial variability of arsenic contamination The results shows that there 10109.9 mg per second intake of arsenic due to drain. Results show that there is no temporal variability of arsenic within the research period but they have spatial variabilit

Evaluation of Selenium Nanoparticles in Inducing Disease Resistance against Spot Blotch Disease and Promoting Growth in Wheat under Biotic Stress

In the present study, SeNPs were synthesized using Melia azedarach leaf extracts and investigated for growth promotion in wheat under the biotic stress of spot blotch disease. The phytosynthesized SeNPs were characterized using UV-visible spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX), and Fourier-transformed infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The in vitro efficacy of different concentrations of phytosynthesized SeNPs (i.e., 100 μ g/mL, 150 μ g/mL, 200 μ g/mL, 250 μ g/mL, and 300 μ g/mL) was evaluated using the well diffusion method, which reported that 300 μ g/mL showed maximum fungus growth inhibition. For in vivo study, different concentrations (10, 20, 30, and 40 mg/L) of SeNPs were applied exogenously to evaluate the morphological, physiological, and biochemical parameters under control conditions and determine when infection was induced. Among all treatments, 30 mg/L of SeNPs performed well and increased the plant height by 2.34% compared to the control and 30.7% more than fungus-inoculated wheat. Similarly, fresh plant weight and dry weight increased by 17.35% and 13.43% over the control and 20.34% and 52.48% over the fungus-treated wheat, respectively. In leaf surface area and root length, our findings were 50.11% and 10.37% higher than the control and 40% and 71% higher than diseased wheat, respectively. Plant physiological parameters i.e., chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, and total chlorophyll content, were increased 14, 133, and 16.1 times over the control and 157, 253, and 42 times over the pathogen-inoculated wheat, respectively. Our findings regarding carotenoid content, relative water content, and the membrane stability index were 29-, 49-, and 81-fold higher than the control and 187-, 63-, and 48-fold higher than the negative control, respectively. In the case of plant biochemical parameters, proline, sugar, flavonoids, and phenolic contents were recorded at 6, 287, 11, and 34 times higher than the control and 32, 107, 33, and 4 times more than fungus-inoculated wheat, respectively. This study is considered the first biocompatible approach to evaluate the potential of green-synthesized SeNPs as growth-promoting substances in wheat under the spot blotch stress and effective management strategy to inhibit fungal growth