The Human Serum Metabolome

Continuing improvements in analytical technology along with an increased interest in performing comprehensive, quantitative metabolic profiling, is leading to increased interest pressures within the metabolomics community to develop centralized metabolite reference resources for certain clinically important biofluids, such as cerebrospinal fluid, urine and blood. As part of an ongoing effort to systematically characterize the human metabolome through the Human Metabolome Project, we have undertaken the task of characterizing the human serum metabolome. In doing so, we have combined targeted and non-targeted NMR, GC-MS and LC-MS methods with computer-aided literature mining to identify and quantify a comprehensive, if not absolutely complete, set of metabolites commonly detected and quantified (with today's technology) in the human serum metabolome. Our use of multiple metabolomics platforms and technologies allowed us to substantially enhance the level of metabolome coverage while critically assessing the relative strengths and weaknesses of these platforms or technologies. Tables containing the complete set of 4229 confirmed and highly probable human serum compounds, their concentrations, related literature references and links to their known disease associations are freely available at http://www.serummetabolome.ca

Outbreak of an emerging zoonotic Nipah virus: An emerging concern

The Nipah virus (NiV) infection is one of the newly emerging deadly zoonotic diseases which carries a significant weightage of mortality among its victims. Due to the relatively recent history of its emergence and only a few known outbreaks, we cannot predict but foresee its potential to create havoc, which can be far more dreadful than the current ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Here we have tried to depict the fatal potential of the virus and the increased propensity with which it can spread to rest of the world

A novel noise filtered and occlusion removal : navigational accuracy in augmented reality-based constructive jaw surgery

Purpose: Augmented reality-based constructive jaw surgery has been facing various limitations such as noise in real-time images, the navigational error of implants and jaw, image overlay error, and occlusion handling which have limited the implementation of augmented reality (AR) in corrective jaw surgery. This research aimed to improve the navigational accuracy, through noise and occlusion removal, during positioning of an implant in relation to the jaw bone to be cut or drilled. Method: The proposed system consists of a weighting-based de-noising filter and depth mapping-based occlusion removal for removing any occluded object such as surgical tools, the surgeon’s body parts, and blood. Results: The maxillary (upper jaw) and mandibular (lower jaw) jaw bone sample results show that the proposed method can achieve the image overlay error (video accuracy) of 0.23~0.35 mm and processing time of 8–12 frames per second compared to 0.35~0.45 mm and 6–11 frames per second by the existing best system. Conclusion: The proposed system concentrates on removing the noise from the real-time video frame and the occlusion. Thus, the acceptable range of accuracy and the processing time are provided by this study for surgeons for carrying out a smooth surgical flow

Cd(II) complexation with 1,1-dithiolate and nitrogen donors: synthesis, luminescence, crystal structure, and antifungal activity study

<div><p>A new luminescent complex of Cd(II) with 1,1-dicyanoethylene-2,2-dithiolate [i-MNT²⁻ = {S₂C : C(CN)₂}²⁻] with 1,3-diaminopropane (tn) and 4-methyl pyridine (γ-picoline) as secondary ligands has been synthesized and characterized on the basis of spectroscopy and single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis. Single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis reveals that cadmium(II) is five coordinate in a 1-D polymer. Biological screening effects <i>in vitro</i> of the synthesized complex has been tested against five fungi <i>Synchytrium endobioticum</i>, <i>Pyricularia oryzae</i>, <i>Helminthosporium oryzae</i>, <i>Candida albicans</i> (ATCC10231), and <i>Trichophyton mentagrophytes</i> by the disk diffusion method. A comparative study of inhibition zone values of K₂i-MNT·H₂O and {[Cd(tn)(iMNT)(4-MePy)]·4H₂O}_n (<b>1</b>) indicates that the complex exhibits antifungal activity, whereas K₂i-MNT·H₂O became silent on <i>S. endobioticum</i>, <i>P. oryzae</i>, <i>H. oryzae</i>, <i>C. albicans (ATCC10231),</i> and <i>T. mentagrophytes</i>.</p></div

Six-coordinate cadmium(II) complex containing a bridging dithiolate ligand: Synthesis, crystal structure and antifungal activity study

<div><p></p><p>A mixed ligand polymeric metal complex of Cd(II) has been prepared by reactions of Cd(NO₃)₂·4H₂O with 1,3-diaminopropane (tn) and potassium salt of 1,1-dicyanoethylene-2,2-dithiolate and characterized on the basis of spectroscopy and single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis. Single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis reveals that the Cd(II) complex crystallizes in monoclinic space group P 2₁/n with distorted octahedral coordination geometry. The Cd(II) complex was screened <i>in vitro</i> against fungal pathogens such as <i>Synchytrium endobioticum</i>, <i>Pyricularia oryzae</i>, <i>Helminthosporium oryzae</i>, <i>Candida albicans</i> (ATCC10231) and <i>Trichophyton mentagrophytes</i> by the disc diffusion method. The biological testing data of the primary ligand K₂i-MNT·H₂O and [Cd(tn)(i-MNT)]_n indicate that the complex exhibits fungistatic antifungal activity whereas K₂i-MNT·H₂O has no activity. The fungicidal properties of [Cd(tn)(i-MNT)]_n showed that the cadmium complex was more bioactive than the parent ligand.</p></div

Virtual laboratory for planetary materials: System service architecture overview

This paper brings an overall view of the service-oriented architecture (SOA) used in VLab, a system aimed to handle concurrent calculations of geo-materials participating in extensive workflows. We recap the algorithms of physical importance that underly the system requirements. The system architecture then emerges naturally. A usage view diagram is shown and thoroughly discussed. We also show how analysis tools are integrated in the SOA. © 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Synthesis, crystal structure, and antifungal activity of a newly synthesized polymeric mixed ligand complex of Zn(II) with 1,1-dithiolate and nitrogen donor<b>s</b>

<div><p>A new mixed ligand complex of Zn(II) with 1,1-dicyanoethylene-2,2-dithiolate [i-MNT²⁻ = {S₂C:C(CN)₂}²⁻] and 1,3-diaminopropane as ligands has been synthesized and characterized on the basis of spectroscopy and single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis. Spectroscopic studies and single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis reveal that the zinc(II) complex is tetrahedral and adopts a 1,3-diaminopropane-assisted linear polymeric assembly. The molar conductance data of the complex in DMF solution show non-electrolytic nature. Biological screening effects of the complex <i>in vitro</i> have been tested against five fungi <i>Synchitrium endobioticum</i>, <i>Pyricularia oryzae</i>, <i>Helminthosporium oryzae</i>, <i>Candida albicans</i> (ATCC10231), and <i>Trichophyton mentagrophytes</i> by the disk diffusion method. A comparative study of inhibition zone values of the primary ligand K₂i-MNT·H₂O and its synthesized complex indicates that the complex exhibits a fungistatic antifungal activity whereas K₂i-MNT·H₂O does not affect <i>P. oryzae</i>.</p></div