Genetic variation among Northern and Southern Egyptian buffaloes using polymerase chain reaction-random amplified polymorphic DNA (PCR-RAPD)

The domestic water buffalo is a species of great economic potential, especially in developing countries like Egypt. Egyptian buffalo have been classified according to minor phenotypic differences and their geographical locations. Few studies have taken place to investigate the genetic variations in Egyptian buffalo using  microsatellites analysis. In the present study, 11 random primers were analyzed for the genetic diversity  determination between Northern and Southern Egyptian buffaloes using polymerase chain reaction-random  amplified polymorphic DNA (PCR-RAPD) analysis. 169 bands were amplified for the analyzed 11 random  primers, from which 160 bands (94.67%) for North populations and 168 bands for South population (99.41%).  Out of the 160 amplified bands in North populations, 152 bands were polymorphic with a percentage of 89.94% and only one specific band (0.59%). In South population, all 168 amplified bands were polymorphic, nine bands (5.33%) were specific for this population. The identity index and the genetic distance between North and South populations were measured. The results showed that the two tested populations have the same origin and  belong to one breed without significant genetic difference between their animals.Key words: Buffalo, genetic diversity, polymerase chain reaction (PCR), random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD)

Morphology and anatomical structure of the larval salt gland of Artemia tunisiana under different salinities

Brine shrimps of the genus Artemia is characterized by its high adaptability to adverse environmental conditions. To elucidate the effect of salinity on the neck organ (salt gland) of Artemia tunisiana nauplii, the morphology and fine structure of the ion transporting epithelium were examined following culturing under different salinities (25, 40, 70, 140 and 180 g/L). The expression of APH-1 mRNA, using semiquantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), was also determined. The morphology and anatomical structure of the salt gland varied according to the salinity degree. At low salinities, salt gland was small, thin and flat having many shallow canals, while at high salinities, it was more elongated with deeper canals and grooves. Ultrastructure examination showed low amplification of the plasma membrane at 25 g/L with no tubular tufts, while at 40 and 70 g/L salinities, the apical and central zones showed a large amplification of the surface area of the plasma membrane. At 140 g/L salinity, the epithelial cells were more elongated and the cuticle appeared to be composed of many layers. The general structure of the salt gland of nauplii cultured at 180 g/L disappeared. Semiquantitative APH-1 mRNA analysis indicated that the gene was expressed in all tested salinities. The expression did not change remarkably between 25 and 40 g/L salinities. As salinity increased, the gene was up regulated at 70 g/L and reached the highest level at 140 g/L, while the expression level reduced significantly at 180 g/L. This coincides with the histological results and highlights the possible role of APH-1 in salinity protection in Artemia.Keywords: Artemia, nauplii, salt gland, salinity, APH-1 gene expressionAfrican Journal of Biotechnology Vol. 12(41), pp. 6032-604

Investigation of pulse dispersion in a carrier-based UWB system with LO leakage cancellation

Local oscillator (LO) leakage in a carrier-based ultrawideband (UWB) system is a major design concern. In many cases, mixer LO-RF isolation is not sufficient and the LO leakage is well above the useful UWB signal. However, this leakage can be substantially reduced by using a notch filter located before the UWB transmitting antenna as long as it will not lead to unacceptable signal distortion. Therefore, various filter parameters, such as the filter order and 3 dB rejection bandwidth, have been studied to see their effects on providing sufficient band rejection level to reduce the unwanted LO leakage while minimizing the transmitted pulse dispersion. Time domain simulations and measurements have been utilized to evaluate the pulse dispersion using both the relative signal's first pulse amplitude and the pulse time delay spread. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J RF and Microwave CAE, 2009.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/64339/1/20390_ftp.pd

Characterization of the mrgRS locus of the opportunistic pathogen Burkholderia pseudomallei: temperature regulates the expression of a two-component signal transduction system

BACKGROUND: Burkholderia pseudomallei is a saprophyte in tropical environments and an opportunistic human pathogen. This versatility requires a sensing mechanism that allows the bacterium to respond rapidly to altered environmental conditions. We characterized a two-component signal transduction locus from B. pseudomallei 204, mrgR and mrgS, encoding products with extensive homology with response regulators and histidine protein kinases of Escherichia coli, Bordetella pertussis, and Vibrio cholerae. RESULTS: The locus was present and expressed in a variety of B. pseudomallei human and environmental isolates but was absent from other Burkholderia species, B. cepacia, B. cocovenenans, B. plantarii, B. thailandensis, B. vandii, and B. vietnamiensis. A 2128 bp sequence, including the full response regulator mrgR, but not the sensor kinase mrgS, was present in the B. mallei genome. Restriction fragment length polymorphism downstream from mrgRS showed two distinct groups were present among B. pseudomallei isolates. Our analysis of the open reading frames in this region of the genome revealed that transposase and bacteriophage activity may help explain this variation. MrgR and MrgS proteins were expressed in B. pseudomallei 204 cultured at different pH, salinity and temperatures and the expression was substantially reduced at 25°C compared with 37°C or 42°C but was mostly unaffected by pH or salinity, although at 25°C and 0.15% NaCl a small increase in MrgR expression was observed at pH 5. MrgR was recognized by antibodies in convalescent sera pooled from melioidosis patients. CONCLUSION: The results suggest that mrgRS regulates an adaptive response to temperature that may be essential for pathogenesis, particularly during the initial phases of infection. B. pseudomallei and B. mallei are very closely related species that differ in their capacity to adapt to changing environmental conditions. Modifications in this region of the genome may assist our understanding of the reasons for this difference

Effect of Healthy Lifestyle Interventions in Schools of Jazan City, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia: A Quasi-experimental Study

Background Unhealthy dietary habits and lifestyle among adolescents is considered as a risk factor for nutrition-related diseases in adulthood. The objective of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of a healthy lifestyle intervention—including physical activity (PA) and eating habits (EH)—among female students in Jizan City, southwest Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). Methods A representative sample of 565 school students aged 12–15 years was randomly selected from four schools in Jizan, KSA. The PA and EH were assessed using a validated self-administered questionnaire. A pre-post quasi-experimental study was implemented in three phases. Results Following the intervention, the school children in the intervention groups showed a significant improvement in their EH and PA. These improvements were documented in increased physical walking measured by the number of students walking daily, the number of days walked, and the time spent on vigorous activities (54.11 ± 54.89 to 63.24 ± 76.16). Fruits and vegetables had a similar consumption frequency in both the intervention and control groups. The snacks were frequently consumed among intervention group with a significant increase in the mean number from 1.64 ± 0.93 to 1.96 ± 1.13 (p = 0.000) and fast food were less frequently consumed among intervention group than the control group (p = 0.000). The prevalence of obesity in the intervention group was reduced from 16.3% to 12.9%, while it was significantly increased from 17.6% to 19.0% in the control group (p = 0.0148). Weight decreased by 0.37 kg in the intervention group, while it increased by 0.07 kg in the control group, but with no statistically significant increase. Conclusion: In conclusion, healthy lifestyle interventions can improve short- and long-term outcomes in school children. When examining the health benefits of healthy lifestyle, the importance of dietary and PA behaviors should be considered. Keywords:  lifestyle, dietary habits, physical activity, chronic diseases, Jazan-KSA &nbsp

The association between leukocytes and sperm quality is concentration dependent

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>To evaluate the association between leukocytes (polymorphonuclear granulocytes -PMNL) and semen parameters at different leukocyte concentrations.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>This was a retrospective clinical study at a university hospital andrology clinic. Semen samples from infertile men were analyzed for sperm morphology and motility according to seminal leukocytes (PMNL) concentration (category A: >0 to <0.25 × 10(6)/mL; category B: >0.25 to <0.5 × 10(6)/mL; category C: >0.5 to <0.75 × 10(6)/mL; category D: >0.75 to <1.0 × 10(6)/mL, category E: >1 × 10(6)/mL).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The percentage of sperm with normal morphology increased significantly from category A (14%) to category D (19%) but decreased in category E to levels (14%) similar to those in category A. Motility grades a and a+b (combined) also increased from category A (12%, 20%) to category D (18.0%, 28.5%) and decreased in category E (11%, 20.5%) to levels similar to those in category A. Sperm deformities and motility grades c and d increased progressively in all categories.</p> <p>Summary</p> <p>Leukocytes had a positive association with normal morphology and progressive motility in semen samples at a concentration of 0-1 × 10(6)/mL. The findings suggest that the association between leukocytes (PMNL) and semen quality might be concentration dependent.</p

Preparation and in vivo Assessment of Nystatin-Loaded Solid Lipid Nanoparticles for Topical Delivery against Cutaneous Candidiasis

Solid lipid nanoparticles (SLNs) have gained great attention for the topical treatment of skin associated fungal infection as they facilitate the skin penetration of loaded drugs. Our work deals with the preparation of nystatin loaded solid lipid nanoparticles (NystSLNs) using the hot homogenization and ultrasonication method. The prepared NystSLNs were characterized in terms of entrapment efficiency, particle size, zeta potential, transmission electron microscopy, differential scanning calorimetry, rheological behavior and in vitro drug release. A stability study for 6 months was performed. A microbiological study was conducted in male rats infected with Candida albicans, by counting the colonies and examining the histopathological changes induced on the skin of infected rats. The results showed that SLNs dispersions are spherical in shape with particle size ranging from 83.26±11.33 to 955.04±1.09 nm. The entrapment efficiencies are ranging from 19.73±1.21 to 72.46±0.66% with zeta potential ranging from -18.9 to -38.8 mV and shear-thinning rheological Behavior. The stability studies done for 6 months showed that nystatin (Nyst) is a good candidate for topical SLN formulations. A least number of colony forming unit/ ml (cfu/ml) was recorded for the selected NystSLN compared to the drug solution and the commercial Nystatin® cream present in the market. It can be fulfilled from this work that SLNs provide a good skin targeting effect and may represent promising carrier for topical delivery of Nyst offering the sustained release and maintaining the localized effect, resulting in an effective treatment of cutaneous fungal infection

Preoperative Evaluation of Thyroid Epithelial Lesions by DNA Ploidy and Galectin-3 Expression in FNAC

AIM: This study aimed to investigate the value of DNA ploidy and galectins-3 immunostain in the preoperative evaluation of thyroid epithelial lesions.MATERIAL AND METHODS: Sixty patients presenting with thyroid enlargement were included in this study and referred by clinicians for FNA. Routine cytological evaluation was done on PAP   stained slides according to the WHO criteria and at least three slides were prepared for routine cytological examinations. The nuclear DNA analysis was performed at the Pathology Department, National Research Center using the Leica Qwin 500 Image Analyzer (LEICA Imaging Systems Ltd, Cambridge, England). Galectin-3 expression was investigated in all tissues using streptavidin-biotin technique.RESULTS: Conventional Fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) of 60 cases could diagnose malignancy with a sensitivity of 60%, negative predictive value (NPV) 71.4%, and overall diagnostic accuracy of 80%. The aneuploidy was significantly associated with malignancy, with sensitivity 90.9%, specificity 83.3% and accuracy 88.3%. On using galectin-3 immunocytochemichal stain on cell blocks prepared from FNA the values were improved, sensitivity 93.3% specificity 86.7% and overall accuracy 90% and it was noticed that galectin-3 over expression was significantly associated with malignancy.CONCLUSIONS: From the results of this study we can consider that DNA ploidy and Galectin-3 could refine the FNA results and  increase its sensitivity as a screening test from sensitivity(60%) to reach sensitivity (93.3%), thus decreasing the false negative cases. From this study, it is concluded that the application of ancillary techniques as galectin-3 immunocytochemical markers may become a reliable indicator for surgical intervention, DNA ploidy measurements on the other hand may be of value in galectin-3 negative cases to determine the behavior of the lesion in such cases &amp; refine the preoperative assessment by out ruling false negative cases