Biofuel potential within chaetoceros species (bacillartophyceae) from coastal water of Pahang, Malaysia

Several marine diatoms have been known for their high lipid content. Chaetoceros is the largest genus of marine planktonic diatoms with approximately 400 species described. Lipid is important as primary storage for nutrient and essential for cell's growth and function. Nowdays, there are increasing in demands for alternative source of fuel with several attempts have been conducted to find the best ways for fatty acid collection and algae have been listed as potential source for lipid. This study was-aimed to analyze the production of fatty acids from marine algae Genus Chaetoceros. The results showed three species had been identified as Chaetoceros baculites, Chaetoceros anostomosans and Chaetoceros affinis var. willei. Chaetoceros baculites had higher growth rate compared to other species mention earlier. All species had more than 40o/o of total lipid detected during exponential phase of their growth. Based on accumulation, Chaetoceros baculites has higher lipid percentage than other species followed by Chaetoceros ffinis var. willei and lastly Chaetoceros anastomosans. This indicates that Genus Chaetoceros can be treated as potential sources biofuel industry in Malaysia

Antibacterial activities of Musa Acuminate L. peel

N-hexane, chloroform and water extracts of (Musa acuminate L.) green and ripe banana peel were evaluated for antibacterial activity. A total of 4 bacterial strains (Salmonella typhimurium, Shigella flexneri, Bacillus subtilis, Enterrococcus faecalis) were selected and antibacterial efficiency of crude extracts were assessed by well diffusion test via measuring inhibition zones formed in agar plate at three different dosages (100mg/ml, 200mg/ml and 500mg/ml). The results showed that n-hexane and chloroform extracts of green banana peel produced significant inhibition zone against Gram-negative bacteria Salmonella typhimurium at dosage of 500mg/ml. Minimum inhibition concentration (MIC) and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) assay indicated that there were significant growth inhibition of the bacterial strains against water and chloroform extracts of rip banana peel and n-hexane and chloroform extraction of green banana peel (P<0.05). The GC/MS analysis of the active extracts of green banana peels from n-hexane and chloroform revealed their molecular weight and the presence of palmitic acid with 27.38% and 16.17% respectively. In conclusion present study indicated that the active extraction of n-hexane and chloroform of green banana peel has a considerable amount of potential antibacterial compounds

Haploinsufficiency of PRR12 causes a spectrum of neurodevelopmental, eye, and multisystem abnormalities

Purpose: Proline Rich 12 (PRR12) is a gene of unknown function with suspected DNA-binding activity, expressed in developing mice and human brains. Predicted loss-of-function variants in this gene are extremely rare, indicating high intolerance of haploinsufficiency. Methods: Three individuals with intellectual disability and iris anomalies and truncating de novo PRR12 variants were described previously. We add 21 individuals with similar PRR12 variants identified via matchmaking platforms, bringing the total number to 24. Results: We observed 12 frameshift, 6 nonsense, 1 splice-site, and 2 missense variants and one patient with a gross deletion involving PRR12. Three individuals had additional genetic findings, possibly confounding the phenotype. All patients had developmental impairment. Variable structural eye defects were observed in 12/24 individuals (50%) including anophthalmia, microphthalmia, colobomas, optic nerve and iris abnormalities. Additional common features included hypotonia (61%), heart defects (52%), growth failure (54%), and kidney anomalies (35%). PrediXcan analysis showed that phecodes most strongly associated with reduced predicted PRR12 expression were enriched for eye- (7/30) and kidney- (4/30) phenotypes, such as wet macular degeneration and chronic kidney disease. Conclusion: These findings support PRR12 haploinsufficiency as a cause for a novel disorder with a wide clinical spectrum marked chiefly by neurodevelopmental and eye abnormalities. Graphic Abstract: [Figure not available: see fulltext.

QCovSML: A reliable COVID-19 detection system using CBC biomarkers by a stacking machine learning model

The reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test is considered the current gold standard for the detection of coronavirus disease (COVID-19), although it suffers from some shortcomings, namely comparatively longer turnaround time, higher false-negative rates around 20–25%, and higher cost equipment. Therefore, finding an efficient, robust, accurate, and widely available, and accessible alternative to RT-PCR for COVID-19 diagnosis is a matter of utmost importance. This study proposes a complete blood count (CBC) biomarkers-based COVID-19 detection system using a stacking machine learning (SML) model, which could be a fast and less expensive alternative. This study used seven different publicly available datasets, where the largest one consisting of fifteen CBC biomarkers collected from 1624 patients (52% COVID-19 positive) admitted at San Raphael Hospital, Italy from February to May 2020 was used to train and validate the proposed model. White blood cell count, monocytes (%), lymphocyte (%), and age parameters collected from the patients during hospital admission were found to be important biomarkers for COVID-19 disease prediction using five different feature selection techniques. Our stacking model produced the best performance with weighted precision, sensitivity, specificity, overall accuracy, and F1-score of 91.44%, 91.44%, 91.44%, 91.45%, and 91.45%, respectively. The stacking machine learning model improved the performance in comparison to other state-of-the-art machine learning classifiers. Finally, a nomogram-based scoring system (QCovSML) was constructed using this stacking approach to predict the COVID-19 patients. The cut-off value of the QCovSML system for classifying COVID-19 and Non-COVID patients was 4.8. Six datasets from three different countries were used to externally validate the proposed model to evaluate its generalizability and robustness. The nomogram demonstrated good calibration and discrimination with the area under the curve (AUC) of 0.961 for the internal cohort and average AUC of 0.967 for all external validation cohort, respectively. The external validation shows an average weighted precision, sensitivity, F1-score, specificity, and overall accuracy of 92.02%, 95.59%, 93.73%, 90.54%, and 93.34%, respectively

Impact of Sensor Networks on Aquatic Biodiversity in Wetland: An Innovative Approach

Aquatic biodiversity is in the central field of environmental conservation issues in a wetland. Yet it determinately faced aquatic conservation authorities the loss of biodiversity as a very important global issue for several years due to misuse wireless sensor technology. The study attempts to re-look at the sensor networks that affect the aquatic biodiversity within and around the Tanguar Haor- wetland study at Sunamganj district in Bangladesh. Key aquatic conservation tools provided at the Tanguar Haor and its challenges with gaps in policies for wetland management practices are highlighted. The study shows the aquatic biodiversity-related rules and regulations amended were apex in Bangladesh from 2010 to 2018. The study represents the impact of processed sensor networks on aquatic biodiversity in a wetland to be compared to larger, medium, and smaller animals in a bright, dark and optimum environment, facilitating the design and misuse of wireless sensor networks within GPS locations. Approximately 64% of the respondents agreed on the development of aquatic biodiversity for managing the wetland at Sunamganj with secure peripheral sensor networks. The research also found that the Tanguar Haor is at risk due to misuse of wireless sensor networks compared to other wetlands in the Sylhet Division. Scientific knowledge is indispensable in wetland resource management but it poorly identified such knowledge while various performances are still below par. The research is unique and represents the innovative idea to improve the existing wetland policy linking with the appropriateness for the Ramsar Wetland Conservation Strateg

Haploinsufficiency of PRR12 causes a spectrum of neurodevelopmental, eye, and multisystem abnormalities

PURPOSE: Proline Rich 12 (PRR12) is a gene of unknown function with suspected DNA-binding activity, expressed in developing mice and human brains. Predicted loss-of-function variants in this gene are extremely rare, indicating high intolerance of haploinsufficiency. METHODS: Three individuals with intellectual disability and iris anomalies and truncating de novo PRR12 variants were described previously. We add 21 individuals with similar PRR12 variants identified via matchmaking platforms, bringing the total number to 24. RESULTS: We observed 12 frameshift, 6 nonsense, 1 splice-site, and 2 missense variants and one patient with a gross deletion involving PRR12. Three individuals had additional genetic findings, possibly confounding the phenotype. All patients had developmental impairment. Variable structural eye defects were observed in 12/24 individuals (50%) including anophthalmia, microphthalmia, colobomas, optic nerve and iris abnormalities. Additional common features included hypotonia (61%), heart defects (52%), growth failure (54%), and kidney anomalies (35%). PrediXcan analysis showed that phecodes most strongly associated with reduced predicted PRR12 expression were enriched for eye- (7/30) and kidney- (4/30) phenotypes, such as wet macular degeneration and chronic kidney disease. CONCLUSION: These findings support PRR12 haploinsufficiency as a cause for a novel disorder with a wide clinical spectrum marked chiefly by neurodevelopmental and eye abnormalities

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the education of medical, dental and non-medical healthcare professionals in Bangladesh : findings and connotation

Lockdown measures in response to the COVID-19 pandemic had an appreciable impact on the education of all medical, dental, and non-medical healthcare professional (HCP) students. These included the closure of universities necessitating a rapid move to e-learning and new approaches to practical’s. However initially, there was a lack of knowledge and expertise regarding e-learning approaches and the affordability of internet bundles and equipment. We initially con-ducted two pilot studies to assess such current challenges, replaced by a two-stage approach including a full investigation involving 32 private and public universities during the early stages of the pandemic followed by a later study assessing the current environment brought about by the forced changes. Top challenges at the start of the pandemic included a lack of familiarity with e-learning approaches, cost of the internet, lack of IT equipment and the quality of the classes. Universities offered support to staff and students to a varying degree to address identified challenges. Since then, e-learning approaches have widened the possibilities for teaching and learning at convenient times. However, challenges remain. In conclusion, there were considerable challenges at the start of them pandemic. Several key issues have been addressed with hybrid learning here to stay. Remaining challenges include a lack of ICT equipment. However, new innovations will continue

Design and In-Vitro Evaluation of Compressed Kollidon® SR Based Naproxen Sodium Microcapsule: Effect of Talc

Naproxen sodium is a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) with analgesic antipyretic properties. In this research work, naproxen sodium was encapsulated by solvent-evaporation technique using kollidon® SR as coating polymeric material to prolong the therapeutic duration of the drug. Four different concentrations of talc were used as additives to see the changes in drug release pattern from the compressed microcapsules. Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) was applied to study size and surface morphology of prepared microcapsules. UV-spectrophotometric method was applied to calculate the drug loading efficiency and the performance of the prepared dosage form was evaluated in terms of in-vitro dissolution studies according to USP paddle method (type 2) in 400 ml in phosphate buffer (pH 6.8) for 8 hours at 370 ± 50 C temperature at 50 rpm. Release of naproxen sodium from the compressed microcapsules was found to follow hixon crowell mechanism (R2=0.99). Hixon equation was used to calculate the release exponent value (n) which indicates the drug release behavior and the mean dissolution time T50% (MDT) for release rate. The surfaces of the microcapsules became smoother with the increase in talc amount and simultaneously decrease in drug release rate. Keywords: Naproxen sodium, Kollidon® SR, microcapsule, emulsion solvent evaporation technique, MDT (Mean Dissolution Time)&nbsp;&nbsp