The Rapid and Sensitive Quantitative Determination of Galactose by Combined Enzymatic and Colorimetric Method: Application in Neonatal Screening

The quantitative measurement of galactose in blood is essential for the early diagnosis, treatment, and dietary monitoring of galactosemia patients. In this communication, we aimed to develop a rapid, sensitive, and cost-effective combined method for galactose determination in dry blood spots. This procedure was based on the combination of enzymatic reactions of galactose dehydrogenase (GalDH), dihydrolipoyl dehydrogenase (DLD), and alkaline phosphates with a colorimetric system. The incubation time and the concentration of enzymes used in new method were also optimized. The analytical performance was studied by the precision, recovery, linearity, and sensitivity parameters. Statistical analysis was applied to method comparison experiment. The regression equation and correlation coefficient (R2) were Y = 0.0085x + 0.032 and R2 = 0.998, respectively. This assay exhibited a recovery in the range of 91.7–114.3 % and had the limit detection of 0.5 mg/dl for galactose. The between-run coefficient of variation (CV) was between 2.6 and 11.1 . The within-run CV was between 4.9 and 9.2 . Our results indicated that the new and reference methods were in agreement because no significant biases exist between them. Briefly, a quick and reliable combined enzymatic and colorimetric assay was presented for application in newborn mass screening and monitoring of galactosemia patients. © 2016 Springer Science+Business Media New Yor

Biomass estimation of seaweeds in the intertidal waters of the Oman Sea along the coasts of Sistan-o-Baluchistan Province

Sampling and determination of seaweed biomass was carried out in the Oman Sea coasts along the intertidal waters of Sistan & Baluchistan province stretching 300Km from Guater area to Jood from October 2001 to September 2002. The regions covered included Guater, Passabandar, Beris, Kachoo, Ramin, Chabahar, Pozm, Gurdim, Tang, and Jood as sampling stations from east to west. The intertidal zone was determined by measuring and recording of geographical positions by GPS. Fifteen transects were aligned randomly each month with equal distance to the coast. All sampling attempts were made by applying quadrats 50*50cm in dimension. The samples were transferred to the lab and the weight of each species was measured after being cleaned, and identified. The biomass of each species per unit area and in the total area was obtained after determining the average weight of species. During the research, 69 species were collected, of which, 16 species were green algae, 18 species were brown algae and 35 species were red algae. There were some important families including green algae (Ulvaceae and Caulerpaceae), brown algae (Sargassaceae and Dictyotaceae) and red algae (Gracilariaceae, Gelidiaceae and Hypneaceae). Wet biomass of seaweeds in the total area of Sistan & Baluchestan coasts was 10286340.3 kg of which 2645192.1kg (25.7%) were green algae, 2955963.9kg (28.7%) were brown algae and 4685184.2 kg (45.5%) were red algae. The estimated monthly average was 264522.3, 295327.9 and 467089.7Kg for green, brown and red algae respectively. The maximum biomass was 15.4kg/m ^(2) seen in Chabahar and the minimum biomass was 4.9kg/m ^(2) obtained in Pozm

Purification and Characterization of Recombinant Darbepoetin Alfa from Leishmania tarentolae

Darbepoetin alfa is a biopharmaceutical glycoprotein that stimulates erythropoiesis and is used to treat anemia, which associated with renal failure and cancer chemotherapy. We herein describe the structural characterization of recombinant darbepoetin alfa produced by Leishmania tarentolae T7-TR host. The DNA expression cassette was integrated into the L. tarentolae genome through homologous recombination. Transformed clones were selected by antibiotic resistance, diagnostic PCRs, and protein expression analysis. The structure of recombinant darbepoetin alfa was analyzed by isoelectric focusing, ultraviolet–visible spectrum, and circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy. Expression analysis showed the presence of a protein band at 40 kDa, and its expression level was 51.2 mg/ml of culture medium. Darbepoetin alfa have 5 isoforms with varying degree of sialylation. The UV absorption and CD spectra were analogous to original drug (Aranesp), which confirmed that the produced protein was darbepoetin alfa. Potency test results revealed that the purified protein was biologically active. In brief, the structural and biological characteristics of expressed darbepoetin alfa were very similar to Aranesp which has been normally expressed in CHO. Our data also suggest that produced protein has potential to be developed for clinical use. © 2016, Springer Science+Business Media New York

The attitudes of team members towards family presence during hospital-based CPR: A study based in the Muslim setting of four Iranian teaching hospitals

Background: Contrary to international guidelines recommending family presence during cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), allowing family members to be present remains a matter of debate in many countries. The purpose of this study was to determine the opinions of healthcare providers from a Muslim setting concerning family-witnessed resuscitation (FWR). Methods: The sample population consisted of CPR responders in four teaching hospitals in Tehran. These centres have no policy regarding the presence of family members during resuscitation. We developed and circulated a questionnaire gathering opinions, and collated their comments. Results: From 200 respondents, 77 opposed FWR. We found that gender, age, experience, previous exposure to FWR or specialty (except for emergency physicians) did not predict opinion towards family presence during CPR. The most common reasons given for opposition to family presence were fear of psychological trauma to family members, possible interference with patient care/ decision-making, and a perceived increase in staff stress. Conclusion: In a largely Muslim community, and contrary to general guidelines, our survey suggested that the majority of CPR responders do not favour the presence of relatives during cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Any counter to this opinion would need to be based on educating team members about the possible benefits of relatives being present during resuscitation. Public education surrounding CPR would also be a fundamental element for implementing any formal programme encouraging family-witnessed CPR in hospitals such as ours. © 2010 Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh

Algorithms for crime prediction in smart cities through data mining

The concentration of police resources in conflict zones contributes to the reduction of crime in the region and the optimization of those resources. This paper presents the use of regression techniques to predict the number of criminal acts in Colombian municipalities. To this end, a set of data was generated merging the data from the Guardia Civil with public data on the demographic structure and voting trends in the municipalities. The best regressor obtained (Random Forests) achieves a RRSE (Root Relative Squared Error) of 40.12% and opens the way to keep incorporating public data of another type with greater predictive power. In addition, M5Rules were used to interpret the results

The effect of filling of the drum on physical properties of granulated multicomponent fertilizer

One of the operations in particulate processing which has an ancient history and a widespread use is granulation. Granulated compost fertilizer was granulated using the drum granulation method under different level of drum filling. Filling of the drum ranged from 5 to 10% (v/v). The effect of filling of the drum on some physical properties granulated compost fertilizer including: useful granules, granules size, crush strength, mass of the granules, bulk density, angle of friction and angle of repose are investigated in the present study. Result indicated that with the increasing of drum filling the percentage of useful granules, crush strength, bulk density, angle of friction and angle of repose increase from 64.97% to 78.82%, 34.32 N to 36.69 N, 745.585 kg/m3 to 762.729 kg/m3, 25.56º to 27.93º and 11.38º to 12.52º, respectively. Also the average size of granules decreases from 10.28 mm to 9.45 mm

Review of some of Coating Seed Factors in Rotary Pan Coater

Introduction Today, hybrid seeds are expensive because the company that produces them spends a lot of money on research and development that often takes years to accomplish. So precise planting of seeds in order to create the best growing condition for all seeds is important. Modified size and shape of seeds for precision planting, providing macro and micro nutrients since the start of seed germination and control pests and diseases are goals that are possible by coating seeds. The overall process of seed coating or seed pelleting comprises a number of important stages: 1- Droplet formation 2- Droplet travel 3- Impingement 4- Wetting 5- Spreading 6- Coalescence. Seed coating was largely borrowed from the confectionery industry which had developed this technique over the ages and is still widely used today. The seed industry concentrated on using the rotary drum or pan. This type of pan or drum was used for batches of up to 150–200 kg. Some rotary drum coater were developed subsequently which improved handling, particularly in the way the drying air was introduced and extracted. The pan of drum rotary coater is placed at the end of a tilted rotating shaft that is turned at a constant speed about 15- 20 rpm. Then a nozzle is spraying proper amount of coating solution on the seeds. The aim of this study was to evaluate technology and determine the factors affecting its quality coverage. Materials and Methods This experiment lay out in factorial experiment based on random complete block design with three replications. The first factor was vertically distance nozzle from seed bed in two levels 150 and 300 mm, second factor was the nozzle installed location in two levels installed in 1/4 diameter upper center and in center of cylinder, and third factor was concentration of binder polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) in three levels 50, 75 and 100 g kg-1 kaolin. In order to measure the pellet error percent, first 100 pellets were selected and broken. No seed or multi-seed pellets were counted. For measuring physical strength of pellets, instron machine were implemented in physical properties laboratory in Aborihan department of Tehran University. Its load cell capacity was 490 N. Forward speed of the instron was 5 mm per minute. Germination test were performed in the laboratory in dryland agricultural substitute Sararood, Kermanshah. Results and Discussion The results showed that the nozzle distance from the seed bed had a significant effect on all measured traits (1% level). With increasing distance from the seed bed, the physical strength of pellet and the percentage of pellet error decreased but germination increased. In fact, with increasing nozzle distance from 150 mm to 300 mm, the physical strength of pellet decreased from 22.8 N to 21.4 N, the pellet error decreased from 4.1% to 2.1% but germination increased from 71.3 to 73.4 percent. The used binder quantity had a significant effect on all measured traits (1% level). By increasing of using binder, the physical strength of pellet and the percentage of pellet error increased but germination strongly decreased. In the other word, with increasing used binder from 50g to 100g per one kilogram kaolin, the physical strength of pellet increased from 13.9N to 29.1N, the pellet error increased from.2.01 to 4.18 percent but germination decreased from 90.42 to 53.17 percent. The nozzle installed location had a significant effect only on the pellet error (1% level). In the other word, the nozzle installed on the cylindrical center is better than nozzle installed in 1/4 diameter upper center. There was negative significant correlation (r=-0.96) between physical strength shell characteristics and germination. So increasing the physical strength of the shell is reduced germination. There was a significant correlation (r= 0.621) between physical strength and pellet error percentage. So with increasing physical shell strength, pellet error was increased