Nucleophilic Addition of Reactive Dyes on Amidoximated Acrylic Fabrics

Seven reactive dyes judiciously selected based on chemical structures and fixation mechanisms were applied at 2% owf of shade on amidoximated acrylic fabrics. Amidoximated acrylic fabric has been obtained by a viable amidoximation process. The dyeability of these fabrics was evaluated with respect to the dye exhaustion, fixation, and colour strength under different conditions of temperature and dyeing time. Nucleophilic addition type reactive dyes show higher colour data compared to nucleophilic substitution ones. FTIR studies further implicate the binding of reactive dyes on these fabrics. A tentative mechanism is proposed to rationalize the high fixation yield obtained using nucleophilic addition type reactive dyes. Also, the levelling and fastness properties were evaluated for all dyes used. Excellent to good fastness and levelling properties were obtained for all samples irrespective of the dye used. The result of investigation offers a new method for a viable reactive dyeing of amidoximated acrylic fabrics

The Biomechanical Effect of Different Denture Base Materials on the Articular Disc in Complete Denture Wearers: A Finite Element Analysis

AIM: The objective of the present study was to evaluate the effect of different denture base materials on the stress distribution in TMJ articular disc (AD) in complete denture wearers.MATERIAL AND METHODS: Two three dimensional Finite Element (FEA) models of an individual temporomandibular joint (TMJ) were built on the basis CT scan. The FEA model consisted of four parts: the condyle, the articular disc, the denture base, and the articular eminence skull. Acrylic resin and chrome-cobalt denture base materials were studied. Static loading of 300N was vertically applied to the central fossa of the mandibular second premolar. Stress and strain were calculated to characterize the stress/strain patterns in the disc.RESULTS: The maximum tensile stresses were observed in the anterior and posterior bands of (AD) on load application with the two denture base materials. The superior boundaries of the glenoid fossa showed lower stress than those on the inferior boundaries facing the condyle.CONCLUSIONS: Within the limitations of the present study it may be concluded that: The denture base material may a have an effect in stress-strain pattern in TMJ articular disc. The stiffer denture base material, the better the distribution of the load to the underling mandibular supporting structures & reducing stresses induced in the articular disc

Partial Purification and Characterization of Two Endo-ȕ-1, 4-glucanase from Trichoderma sp. (Shmosa tri)

Abstract: Two endoglucanases (EC 3.2.1.4) from Trichoderma sp. (shmosaTri) FJ937359 were purified to homogeneity using ammonium sulfate precipitation and gel filtration. Purity was confirmed by SDS/PAGE. Enzymatic properties and molecular weights were determined. Molecular weights of CMCase I and II were 58 and 34 KDa, respectively. The effect of temperature on the 2 endoglucanase activity was studied and results showed that optimum activity obtained at 50°C for both CMCase I and II. The enzymes withstand 60 min at 50ºC without loss of enzymatic activity. CMCase I and II retained 14.0 and 26.5 % of their original activities at 70°C after 90 min. The optimum pH for CMCase I and II was 5.0. Results also show that CMCase I was active at room temperature after 24 hrs over a broad pH range (3.0-9.0) while CMCase II was relatively stable in pH range (4.0-6.0). Among different kinds of substrates, both enzymes showed a high preference for carboxymethyl cellulose while both CMCase I and II did not show any hydrolytic activity against chitin, starch and cellobiose. On the other hand both CMCase I and II have relatively low hydrolytic activity towards ȕ glucan and xylan. All metallic ions used as well as EDTA and SDS at a concentration of 20 ug/ml of reaction mixture have an inhibitory effect on both CMCase I and II

Osteogenic Differentiation Potential of Human Bone Marrow and Amniotic Fluid-Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells in Vitro & in Vivo

BACKGROUND: Cell therapies offer a promising potential in promoting bone regeneration. Stem cell therapy presents attractive care modality in treating degenerative conditions or tissue injuries. The rationale behind this is both the expansion potential of stem cells into a large cell population size and its differentiation abilities into a wide variety of tissue types, when given the proper stimuli. A progenitor stem cell is a promising source of cell therapy in regenerative medicine and bone tissue engineering. AIM: This study aimed to compare the osteogenic differentiation and regenerative potentials of human mesenchymal stem cells derived from human bone marrow (hBM-MSCs) or amniotic fluid (hAF-MSCs), both in vitro and in vivo studies. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Human MSCs, used in this study, were successfully isolated from two human sources; the bone marrow (BM) and amniotic fluid (AF) collected at the gestational ages of second or third trimesters. RESULTS: The stem cells derived from amniotic fluid seemed to be the most promising type of progenitor cells for clinical applications. In a pre-clinical experiment, attempting to explore the therapeutic application of MSCs in bone regeneration, Rat lumbar spines defects were surgically created and treated with undifferentiated and osteogenically differentiated MSCs, derived from BM and second trimester AF. Cells were loaded on gel-foam scaffolds, inserted and fixed in the area of the surgical defect. X-Ray radiography follows up, and histopathological analysis was done three-four months post- operation. The transplantation of AF-MSCs or BM-MSCs into induced bony defects showed promising results. The AF-MSCs are offering a better healing effect increasing the likelihood of achieving successful spinal fusion. Some bone changes were observed in rats transplanted with osteoblasts differentiated cells but not in rats transplanted with undifferentiated MSCs. Longer observational periods are required to evaluate a true bone formation. The findings of this study suggested that the different sources; hBM-MSCs or hAF-MSCs exhibited remarkably different signature regarding the cell morphology, proliferation capacity and osteogenic differentiation potential CONCLUSIONS: AF-MSCs have a better performance in vivo bone healing than that of BM-MSCs. Hence, AF derived MSCs is highly recommended as an alternative source to BM-MSCs in bone regeneration and spine fusion surgeries. Moreover, the usage of gel-foam as a scaffold proved as an efficient cell carrier that showed bio-compatibility with cells, bio-degradability and osteoinductivity in vivo

Pyrvinium Targets the Unfolded Protein Response to Hypoglycemia and Its Anti-Tumor Activity Is Enhanced by Combination Therapy

We identified pyrvinium pamoate, an old anthelminthic medicine, which preferentially inhibits anchorage-independent growth of cancer cells over anchorage-dependent growth (∼10 fold). It was also reported by others to have anti-tumor activity in vivo and selective toxicity against cancer cells under glucose starvation in vitro, but with unknown mechanism. Here, we provide evidence that pyrvinium suppresses the transcriptional activation of GRP78 and GRP94 induced by glucose deprivation or 2-deoxyglucose (2DG, a glycolysis inhibitor), but not by tunicamycin or A23187. Other UPR pathways induced by glucose starvation, e.g. XBP-1, ATF4, were also found suppressed by pyrvinium. Constitutive expression of GRP78 via transgene partially protected cells from pyrvinium induced cell death under glucose starvation, suggesting that suppression of the UPR is involved in pyrvinium mediated cytotoxicity under glucose starvation. Xenograft experiments showed rather marginal overall anti-tumor activity for pyrvinium as a monotherapy. However, the combination of pyrvinium and Doxorubicin demonstrated significantly enhanced efficacy in vivo, supporting a mechanistic treatment concept based on tumor hypoglycemia and UPR

Proapoptotic activity of Ukrain is based on Chelidonium majus L. alkaloids and mediated via a mitochondrial death pathway

BACKGROUND: The anticancer drug Ukrain (NSC-631570) which has been specified by the manufacturer as semisynthetic derivative of the Chelidonium majus L. alkaloid chelidonine and the alkylans thiotepa was reported to exert selective cytotoxic effects on human tumour cell lines in vitro. Few clinical trials suggest beneficial effects in the treatment of human cancer. Aim of the present study was to elucidate the importance of apoptosis induction for the antineoplastic activity of Ukrain, to define the molecular mechanism of its cytotoxic effects and to identify its active constituents by mass spectrometry. METHODS: Apoptosis induction was analysed in a Jurkat T-lymphoma cell model by fluorescence microscopy (chromatin condensation and nuclear fragmentation), flow cytometry (cellular shrinkage, depolarisation of the mitochondrial membrane potential, caspase-activation) and Western blot analysis (caspase-activation). Composition of Ukrain was analysed by mass spectrometry and LC-MS coupling. RESULTS: Ukrain turned out to be a potent inducer of apoptosis. Mechanistic analyses revealed that Ukrain induced depolarisation of the mitochondrial membrane potential and activation of caspases. Lack of caspase-8, expression of cFLIP-L and resistance to death receptor ligand-induced apoptosis failed to inhibit Ukrain-induced apoptosis while lack of FADD caused a delay but not abrogation of Ukrain-induced apoptosis pointing to a death receptor independent signalling pathway. In contrast, the broad spectrum caspase-inhibitor zVAD-fmk blocked Ukrain-induced cell death. Moreover, over-expression of Bcl-2 or Bcl-x(L )and expression of dominant negative caspase-9 partially reduced Ukrain-induced apoptosis pointing to Bcl-2 controlled mitochondrial signalling events. However, mass spectrometric analysis of Ukrain failed to detect the suggested trimeric chelidonine thiophosphortriamide or putative dimeric or monomeric chelidonine thiophosphortriamide intermediates from chemical synthesis. Instead, the Chelidonium majus L. alkaloids chelidonine, sanguinarine, chelerythrine, protopine and allocryptopine were identified as major components of Ukrain. Apart from sanguinarine and chelerythrine, chelidonine turned out to be a potent inducer of apoptosis triggering cell death at concentrations of 0.001 mM, while protopine and allocryptopine were less effective. Similar to Ukrain, apoptosis signalling of chelidonine involved Bcl-2 controlled mitochondrial alterations and caspase-activation. CONCLUSION: The potent proapoptotic effects of Ukrain are not due to the suggested "Ukrain-molecule" but to the cytotoxic efficacy of Chelidonium majus L. alkaloids including chelidonine

The responses of an anaerobic microorganism, Yersinia intermedia MASE-LG-1 to individual and combined simulated Martian stresses

The limits of life of aerobic microorganisms are well understood, but the responses of anaerobic microorganisms to individual and combined extreme stressors are less well known. Motivated by an interest in understanding the survivability of anaerobic microorganisms under Martian conditions, we investigated the responses of a new isolate, Yersinia intermedia MASE-LG-1 to individual and combined stresses associated with the Martian surface. This organism belongs to an adaptable and persistent genus of anaerobic microorganisms found in many environments worldwide. The effects of desiccation, low pressure, ionizing radiation, varying temperature, osmotic pressure, and oxidizing chemical compounds were investigated. The strain showed a high tolerance to desiccation, with a decline of survivability by four orders of magnitude during a storage time of 85 days. Exposure to X-rays resulted in dose-dependent inactivation for exposure up to 600 Gy while applied doses above 750 Gy led to complete inactivation. The effects of the combination of desiccation and irradiation were additive and the survivability was influenced by the order in which they were imposed. Ionizing irradiation and subsequent desiccation was more deleterious than vice versa. By contrast, the presence of perchlorates was not found to significantly affect the survival of the Yersinia strain after ionizing radiation. These data show that the organism has the capacity to survive and grow in physical and chemical stresses, imposed individually or in combination that are associated with Martian environment. Eventually it lost its viability showing that many of the most adaptable anaerobic organisms on Earth would be killed on Mars today

Morphological and molecular identification of root-knot nematodes infecting pomegranate in Assiut Governorate, Egypt

Root-knot nematodes are the most plant parasitic nematodes causing serious damage in pomegranate. Accurate identification of Meloidogyne species is of great importance for effective management of root-knot nematodes. Morphological identification of Meloidogyne spp. has been long and extensively used. However, molecular diagnostics was reported as a replacement or a complement method. Examination of the perineal patterns of the female was typically identified the nematode isolates as M. javanica which was dominant in all five pomegranate samples. For further confirmation of identification, a polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based assay with two species-specific sequence characterized amplified regions (SCAR) primer sets was performed. The Fjav/Rjav and MJ-F/MJ-R primers efficiently amplified SCAR markers of 670 and 517 bp, respectively, which were previously reported for M. javanica. These results support that SCAR markers are a powerful tool for rapid and effective detection and could be used as a complementary tool together with the morphological identification of root-knot nematodes