GREEN SYNTHESIS OF COPPER NANOPARTICLE FROM PASSIFLORA FOETIDA LEAF EXTRACT AND ITS ANTIBACTERIAL ACTIVITY

Objective: Development of green nanotechnology is generating interest of researchers toward eco-friendly biosynthesis of nanoparticles (NPs). Inthis study, biosynthesis of stable copper (Cu) NPs was done using Ocimum sanctum leaf extract.Materials and Methods: First, we prepared leaf extract of Passiflora foetida in deionized water. This extract added to 20 mMol of Cu sulfate solution, and we observed the change in color of the solution from colorless to colored solution; this indicates that there is a formation of CuNPs.Results: These biosynthesized CuNPs were characterized with the help of ultraviolet visible spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The spectroscopic analysis of synthesized CuNPs showed the maximum absorbance at 350 nm indicating the presence of biosynthesized CuNPs in the reaction mixture.Conclusion: It was observed that the P. foetida leaf extract can reduce Cu ions into CuNPs within 8-10 minutes of reaction time. Thus, this method canbe used for rapid and eco-friendly biosynthesis of stable CuNPs.Keywords: Copper nanoparticles, Passiflora foetida, Copper sulfate, Biosynthesis

Location-aware deep learning-based framework for optimizing cloud consumer quality of service-based service composition

The expanding propensity of organization users to utilize cloud services urges to deliver services in a service pool with a variety of functional and non-functional attributes from online service providers. brokers of cloud services must intense rivalry competing with one another to provide quality of service (QoS) enhancements. Such rivalry prompts a troublesome and muddled providing composite services on the cloud using a simple service selection and composition approach. Therefore, cloud composition is considered a non-deterministic polynomial (NP-hard) and economically motivated problem. Hence, developing a reliable economic model for composition is of tremendous interest and to have importance for the cloud consumer. This paper provides “A location-aware deep learning framework for improving the QoS-based service composition for cloud consumers”. The proposed framework is firstly reducing the dimensions of data. Secondly, it applies a combination of the deep learning long short-term memory network and particle swarm optimization algorithm additionally to considering the location parameter to correctly forecast the QoS provisioned values. Finally, it composes the ideal services need to reduce the customer cost function. The suggested framework's performance has been demonstrated using a real dataset, proving that it superior the current models in terms of prediction and composition accuracy

ConVeh: Driving Safely into a Connected Future

© 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. The loss of lives and damages to the property due to the vehicle crashes and road accidents have been an issue for long; a quarter of these accidents happen due to the adverse weather conditions. This paper presents the idea of cooperative driving technique for the drivers with the use of Connected Vehicles to minimize road accidents, traffic congestions, and to lessen, as far as possible, the effects of traffic on the environment and the loss of lives and economy. The frameworks for improving situational awareness and crash avoidance suggested hereby are vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) and vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) data transmission systems. The research will primarily focus on the feasibility of CVs as applicable to the contemporary physical and virtual infrastructure and suggest the required adaptations, while the technical needs for the effective and successful implementation of a robust communication framework through the use of dedicated short-range communications (DSRC) will be discussed thereafter. Peer-review under responsibility of the Conference Program Chairs

Diagnostic value of MRI for predicting axillary lymph nodes metastasis in newly diagnosed breast cancer patients: Diffusion-weighted MRI

AbstractObjectiveNon-invasive preoperative detection of axillary nodal metastasis is beneficial for the outcome of breast cancer patients. We aimed to determine the value of DW MRI, ADC and their combination with MRI morphological criteria in detecting axillary metastasis.MethodsWe included recently diagnosed forty breast cancer patients. MRI morphological criteria, signal intensity on DWI, and ADC value were assessed and compared between metastatic and non-metastatic LNs using histopathological findings as reference standard. Sensitivity, specificity, PPV, NPV and accuracy for each variable and cutoff value of ADC were evaluated.ResultsNo statistically significant difference between metastatic and non-metastatic LNs in short axis diameter or L/S ratio (p value: 0.87 and 0.82 respectively); however, loss of fatty hilum, high signal intensity on DWI and low ADC value were significant with increasing sensitivity on their combination. The mean ADC was 0.96±0.9×10−3mm2/s for metastatic and 1.53±0.6×10−3mm2/s for benign LNs with cutoff value 1.09×10−3mm2/s and sensitivity (94.5%), specificity (93.6%), PPV (96%), NPV (94.7%) and accuracy (95.6%).ConclusionDW-MRI and ADC per se or in combination with loss of the fatty hila is a promising and supportive tool for detection of axillary LNs metastasis

Co-existence of NDM-1 and OXA-48 genes in Carbapenem Resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae clinical isolates in Kafrelsheikh, Egypt

Background: The noteworthy spread of carbapenem-resistant K. pneumoniae (CR-KP) isolates represents a significant safety threat. Objective: Determination of the carbapenemase genes incidence among CR-KP clinical isolates in Kafrelsheikh, Egypt. Methods: A total of 230 K. pneumoniae isolates were recovered from four hospitals in Kafrelsheikh, Egypt. Susceptibility testing was conducted using Kirby-Bauer method and automated-Vitek2 system. CR-KP isolates were tested using modified Hodge test (MHT) and combined disk synergy test. PCR and DNA sequencing were conducted for CR-KP isolates to recognize the included carbapenemase-genes. Results: Out of 230 K. pneumoniae isolates, 50 isolates presented resistance to carbapenem (meropenem). All 50 CR-KP isolates were multidrug-resistant (MDR). Genes like blaNDM-1 and blaOXA-48 were the only detected genes among CR-KP with an incidence of 70.0% and 52.0%, respectively. Up to 74.0% of the tested isolates carried at least one of the two recorded genes, among them 48.0% co-harbored both blaNDM-1 and blaOXA-48 genes. The accession-numbers of sequenced blaNDM-1 and blaOXA-48 genes were MG594615 and MG594616, respectively. Conclusion: This study reported a high incidence of MDR profile with the emergence of blaNDM-1 and blaOXA-48 genes co-existence in CR-KP isolates in Kafrelsheikh, Egypt. Hence, more restrictions should be applied against the spread of such serious pathogens

Application of a flow-induced stress wave and investigation of associated injuries on cell monolayers using a parallel plate flow chamber

© 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. Parallel plate flow chambers are widely used to expose cultured cells to physiological flows for the investigation of a variety of diseases. These applications usually involve the generation of continuous and steady fluid flow over cell monolayers for extended durations, usually a few days. Another technique is to generate a fast high-stress wave over the cells to see the immediate effect of flow-induced stresses. This can be achieved by propagating an air/liquid interface, in other words, a bubble, over cell monolayers. The approach is relevant to the reopening event of fluid-filled lung bronchioles and alveoli during mechanical ventilation therapy of Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome. This article explains how we generate a stress wave using a parallel plate flow chamber and presents representative results of this wave on cultured lung epithelial cells

Total phenolic and flavonoid contents and antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, analgesic, antipyretic and antidiabetic activities of Cordia myxa L. leaves

MBackground: Many plants of genus Cordia are traditionally used as astringent, anti-inflammatory, anthelminthic, antimalarial, diuretic, febrifuge, appetite suppressant and cough suppressant and to treat urinary infections, lung diseases and leprosy. The aim of the study is to determine the total phenolic and flavonoid contents of total ethanol extract and different fractions of C. myxa L. leaves, in addition to evaluation of some pharmacological activities including antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, analgesic, antipyretic and antidiabetic effects. Methods: Air dried powder of C. myxa leaves were extracted using 95% ethanol and fractionated successively with petroleum ether, dichloromethane, ethyl acetate and finally with n-butanol. The fractions were concentrated and then investigated for their antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, analgesic, antipyretic and antidiabetic activities using phosphomolybidinum and DPPH assays, carrageenan-induced paw edema, hot plate, yeast -induced pyrexia and streptozotocin-induced hyperglycemia methods, respectively. Results: The ethyl acetate fraction showed the highest antioxidant activity with high phenolic and flavonoid contents (31.03 ± 0.15 mg gallic acid equivalent/g dried weight and 811.91 ± 0.07 mg rutin equivalent/g dried weight, respectively). Dichloromethane and ethyl acetate fractions exhibited higher anti-inflammatory activity with percentages of inhibition 45.16% and 40.26%, respectively, which were quite comparable to that of indomethacin (51.61%). The petroleum ether and dichloromethane fractions showed the highest analgesic activity with reaction time 289.00 ± 3.00 and 288.33 ± 20.82, respectively. Evaluation of antipyretic activity revealed that the total ethanol extract and different fractions showed high antipyretic activities after 2 h, which were very close to that of the standard acetyl salicylic acid with a rapid onset (30 min). The total ethanol extract and the petroleum ether fraction exhibited the most potent hypoglycemic effect with a significant reduction in blood glucose level especially after 3 h to 95.67 ± 5.77 mg/dl and 87.67 ± 10.26 mg/dl, respectively and percentages decrease in blood glucose level were 68.22% and 70.78%, respectively. Conclusion: Cordia myxa L. extract and fractions exhibited antioxidant, anti-inflammatory analgesic, antipyretic and antidiabetic activities which may be attributed by the presence of active phytoconstituents

Phage-Encoded Endolysins

Due to the global emergence of antibiotic resistance, there has been an increase in research surrounding endolysins as an alternative therapeutic. Endolysins are phage-encoded enzymes, utilized by mature phage virions to hydrolyze the cell wall from within. There is significant evidence that proves the ability of endolysins to degrade the peptidoglycan externally without the assistance of phage. Thus, their incorporation in therapeutic strategies has opened new options for therapeutic application against bacterial infections in the human and veterinary sectors, as well as within the agricultural and biotechnology sectors. While endolysins show promising results within the laboratory, it is important to document their resistance, safety, and immunogenicity for in-vivo application. This review aims to provide new insights into the synergy between endolysins and antibiotics, as well as the formulation of endolysins. Thus, it provides crucial information for clinical trials involving endolysins

Revisiting the Prevalence of Autism Spectrum Disorder among Omani Children: A multicentre study

Objectives: This study aimed to provide an updated estimate of the prevalence of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) among Omani children. Methods: This retrospective descriptive study was conducted from December 2011 to December 2018. Data were retrieved from the three main autism diagnostic centres in Oman: Sultan Qaboos University Hospital, Royal Hospital and Al-Massarah Hospital. The ASD diagnosis was made by experienced clinicians based on the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5). The overall population prevalence estimates per 10,000 children aged 0–14 years old in Oman were calculated using the denominator of the mid-period population data. Results: A total of 1,705 ASD cases were identified with the majority of cases being male (78.1%). The overall prevalence rate of ASD was estimated at 20.35 per 10,000 children (95% confidence interval: 19.39–21.32) between 2012–2018. Boys were found to have a 3.4-fold higher prevalence of ASD than girls (31.23/10,000 versus 9.07/10,000). Regionally, the majority of cases were found in the capital, Muscat, where the highest prevalence was 36.51 cases per 10,000 children. Conclusion: The prevalence of ASD among Omani children is 15-fold higher than estimates from 2011. This increase can be attributed to improvements in diagnostic services, increased awareness of ASD, better screening programmes and changes in diagnostic criteria. In addition, this increase in prevalence suggests a need for a registry of developmental disabilities and more extensive diagnostic and rehabilitation services in Oman.Keywords: Autism Spectrum Disorder; Epidemiology; Prevalence; Oman