DNA minor groove binders-inspired by nature

The synthesis and biological activity of a variety of analogues to the naturally occurring anti-bacterial and anti-fungal Distamycin A were explored by a number of authors. These compounds were subject to a large array of assays. Some of these compounds showed high activity against a range of Gram-positive, Gram-negative bacteria as well as fungi. To explore the anti-parasitic activity of this class of compounds, specific modifications had to be made. A number of these compounds proved to be active against Trypanosoma brucei. The binding of a number of these compounds to short sequences of DNA were also examined using footprinting assays as well as NMR spectroscopy. Computer modelling was employed on selected compounds to understand the way these compounds bind to specific DNA sequences. A large number of variations were made to the standard structure of Distamycin. These changes involved the replacement of the pyrrole moieties as well as the head and tail groups with a number of heterocyclic compounds. Some of these MGBs were also investigated for their capability for the treatment of cancer and in particular lung cancer

Effect of electronic cigarette (EC) aerosols on particle size distribution in indoor air and in a radon chamber

Particle size distribution is an important factor governing whether aerosols can be deposited in various respiratory tract regions in humans. Recently, electronic cigarette (EC), as the alternative of tobacco cigarette, has become increasingly popular all over the world. However, emissions from ECs may contribute to both indoor and outdoor air pollution; moreover, comments about their safety remain controversial, and the number of users is increasing rapidly. In this investigation, aerosols were generated from ECs and studied in the indoor air and in a chamber under controlled conditions of radon concentration. The generated aerosols were characterized in terms of particle number concentrations, size, and activity distributions by using aerosol diffusion spectrometer (ADS), diffusion battery, and cascade impactor. The range of ADS assessment was from 10 -3 μm to 10 μm. The number concentration of the injected aerosol particles was between 40 000 and 100 000 particles/cm 3 . The distribution of these particles was the most within the ultrafi ne particle size range (0-0.2 μm), and the other particle were in the size range from 0.3 μm to 1 μm. The surface area distribution and the mass size distribution are presented and compared with bimodal distribution. In the radon chamber, all distributions were clearly bimodal, as the free radon decay product was approximately 1 nm in diameter, with a fraction of ~0.7 for a clean chamber (without any additional source of aerosols). The attached fraction with the aerosol particles from the ECs had a size not exceeding 1.0 μm. © 2019 H. N. Khalaf, M. Y. A. Mostafa & M. Zhukovsky

Modeling and simulation of a 3-ф induction motor based on two types of WFA

This paper has been proposed to simulate the transient model of 3-Ф cage rotor induction motor based on winding function approach (WFA). According to this method the motor is assumed to be consist of an electrical circuits on both stator and rotor. The magneto motive forces (MMF) that have been generated by these circuits play a role for coupling them together. Then mutual and self-inductances will be easily computed using WFA. Two types of WFA have been used to build and simulate the model of the induction motor. In the one part type, it’s assumed that the coupling MMF between stator and rotor have a non-sinusoidal shapes according to the actual windings distribution over the motor slots. While in second part type the generated MMF in are assumed to have sinusoidal waveform. The suggested models may be used to simulate the dynamic as well as steady state performance of a faulty and non-faulty motor. A simulation of the suggested models that consists of m-rotor bars and n-stator phases multiple coupled circuit-based has been performed using matlab m.file and the results of the motor current have been proved in its nonlinear way by using WFA

The correlation between maternal hypomagnesemia and preterm labour

Background: Preterm birth is defined as all births before 37 weeks completed, which is a major cause of neonatal death and significant cause of long term loss of human potential amongst survivors. The objective of this study was to verify the correlation between low maternal serum magnesium level and preterm delivery.Methods: one hundred patients who admitted into the labour room of the hospital due to preterm labour (28-36+6 weeks of gestation) whose etiology could not be explained by etiological factors were enrolled in this prospective case-control study during the period from June 2013 to June 2014. And another 80 women of comparable gestational age who were referred to the consultation clinic of our hospital for achieving prenatal care or for causes other than preterm labour, provided only those whose birth occurred after 37th week considered as a control group. Serum magnesium level was measured in both groups.Results: Women in preterm labour had a significantly reduced serum magnesium level (mean1.552 mg/dl with a S.D. of 0.658 versus 1.81 mg/dl with a SD of 0.735) for those delivered at term (p<0.032). Number of patients with Preterm labour who gave of history of muscle cramps were significantly greater than those delivered at term (p<0.00193). Percentage of patients with preterm labour belonging to low socio-economic class was significantly higher than the upper and middle socio-economic classes (p<0.041).Conclusions: Serum magnesium level can be used as a predicting tool for idiopathic preterm labour

Process design Optimisation, heat integration, and techno-economic analysis of oil refinery: A case study

This paper outlines a comprehensive analysis of the optimal design and simulation of a crude oil distillation system within a refinery process, including pre-treatment and blending of two crude oils to increase the refinery’s annual profit. This distillation process is currently in operation, and the desired amount of feedstock is obtained from Iraqi Basra light-2015 and Kirkuk-2011 crude oil. To improve the energy efficiency of the utilization rate of crude oil, an atmospheric distillation process unit in this refinery with a capacity of 150,000 barrels per day (bpd) is considered. Aspen HYSYS simulation is used to optimize the distillation unit configuration and its operating performance. This paper also deals with three scenarios by comparing the feedstock compositions to the distillation process and the produced product compositions to minimize utility consumption. A heat integration approach was applied to the 3rd scenario by recycling hot outlet streams to the heat exchangers to increase the temperature of the inlet stream of the distillation column. Results indicated that about £2.29 million per year (Mpy) could be saved from the heat integration systems. Economic analysis and cut yields were carried out for each scenario to investigate the cost-effective and economically viable. Based on the economic analysis, scenario three showed better performance with a comparatively high cumulative cash flow of £31,886 M

Gallbladder cancer: 7-Year experience from Qatar

Thirty-five patients presented with GC during the study period, 10 females (28.6%) and 25 males (71.4%). Fourteen patients (40%) were diagnosed incidentally after laparoscopic cholecystectomy, 16 (48.6%) were diagnosed pathologically, and 4 (11.4%) were diagnosed radiologically. The median age at diagnosis was 54 years (31–78). 74.3% of the disease occurred in patients less than 60 years old. Metastatic disease was discovered in 25 patients (71.4%) versus no metastasis in 10 patients (28.6%). The most common sites for metastasis were the liver (42.9%), peritoneum (25.7%), and lymph nodes (25.7%). Curative central hepatic resection was done in 8 patients (22.9%). Pathology showed adenocarcinoma in 27 patients (77.1%), neuroendocrine tumor in 3 patients (8.6%) and high-grade dysplasia in 1 patient (2.9%). No histopathology was available for 4 patients (11.4%). Twenty-eight patients (80.0%) had regular follow up, with 22 (62.9%) still alive. Six patients (17.1%) died during follow up with survival after diagnosis ranging from 42 days to 6.8 years

Biomarker Significance of Serum CXCL8, CXCL10 and CXCL16 in Breast Tumors of Iraqi Patients

قيمت الاهمية الواسم-حياتية لثلاث من الحركيات الكيميائية (CXCL8 وCXCL10 وCXCL16) في مصول 45 من مريضات سرطان الثدي و28 من مريضات ورم الثدي الحميد و20 من نساء السيطرة. واعتمدت المرحلة السريرية وتعبير الورم لمستقبلات Estrogen وProgesterone وعامل النمو الشري HER-2 في هذا التقييم. اظهرت النتائج زيادة معنوية في متوسط CXCL8 وCXCL10 وCXCL16 لمريضات سرطان الثدي ومريضات ورم الثدي الحميد مقارنة بالسيطرة (CXCL8: 47.3 و25.7 مقابل 15.0؛ CXCL10: 37.6 و30.7 مقابل 13.1؛ CXCL16: 27.9 و25.2 مقابل 19.2 بيكوغرام/مل، على التوالي). وكانت زيادة مستوى CXCL8 وCXCL16 اكثر وضوحا في المريضات ثلاثية-سالبة التعبير والموجبة للمستقبل HER-2، على التوالي. اظهر تحليل الانحدار اللوجستي الثنائي اهمية CXCL8 كعامل تنبؤي لسرطان الثدي وان ذلك اكثر وصفا في المريضات ثلاثية سالبة التعبير. وفضلا عن ذلك فقد اظهر تحليل خصائص المستقبل التشغيلية باحتلال CXCL8 مساحة تحت المنحنى قدرها 0.988 في مريضات سرطان الثدي. يمكن الاستنتاج بان CXCL8 ذو اهمية لواسم - حياتي لسرطان الثدي خصوصا عند الاخذ بنظر الاعتبار تعبير الورم لمستقبلات Estrogen وProgesterone وعامل النمو الشري HER-2. وفي هذا الصدد، فان الدراسة تقترح الاهمية التنبؤية للحركي الكيميائي-8 في تطور سرطان الثدي لدى المريضات ثلاثية سالبة التعبير.The biomarker significance of three chemokines (CXCL8, CXCL10 and CXCL16) was evaluated in sera of 45 breast cancer (BC) and 28 benign breast lesion (BBL) patients, as well as 20 control women. Clinical stage and tumor expression of estrogen (ER), progesterone (PgR) and human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 (HER-2) receptors were considered in this evaluation. The results demonstrated that CXCL8, CXCL10 and CXCL16 showed a significant increased median in BC and BBL patients compared to control (CXCL8: 47.3 and 25.7 vs. 15.0; CXCL10: 37.6 and 30.7 vs. 13.1; CXCL16; 27.9 and 25.2 vs. 19.2 pg/ml, respectively). The increased levels of CXCL8 and CXCL16 were more pronounced in triple-negative and HER-2 positive patients, respectively. Binary logistic regression analysis revealed that CXCL8 was a significant predictor of BC, and such prediction was more depicted in triple-negative patients. The receiver operating characteristic analysis also revealed that CXCL8 recorded an area under curve of 0.998 in BC patients. In conclusion, CXCL8 is a potential biomarker for BC, especially when ER, PgR and HER-2 expression is considered. In this context, the predictive significance of CXCL8 in influencing BC progression is suggested in triple-negative patients

Explore the E-Learning Management System Lower usage during COVID-19 Pandemic

During the COVID-19 pandemic, several universities are finding it difficult to provide and use online and e-learning systems. Blackboard, for example, is an e-learning system with various wonderful features that would be useful during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, knowing the acceptance variables as well as the primary problems that contemporary e-learning technologies confront is crucial for efficient utilization. The growing number of students attending different instructional organizations has resulted in a greater volume of material being needed in these organizations both from the academic and professional workforce and also because learning management systems and e-learning are indeed the university prospect, several more universities and colleges have accepted them. The purpose is to analyze the most popular E-learning system, the Blackboard system, and the authors suggest a learning management control system to accommodate major e-learning features. A Blackboard system is a plethora of academic perspectives, research, ideas, theories, and affective responses to the virtual learning environment. To use it, the technology acceptance model in times of crisis (TAMTC) has been developed as a way to evaluate student acceptability. The existing literature demonstrates that the field of information administration is constantly changing due to the effect of learning technologies like the blackboard system. Given their reduced utilization of the system, the data reveal a high level of student acceptability. The conclusions of this study provide important recommendations for policymakers, managers, developers, and academics, allowing them may further understand the key factors of successfully using an e-learning system during the COVID-19 epidemic

Facile synthesis of Schiff and Mannich bases of isatin derivatives

We report herein on the synthesis of some isatin Schiff’s bases (1–11), which were prepared from the reaction of isatin and some aromatic amines. These in turn were converted to the corresponding Mannich bases (12-23) by reaction with a number of secondary amines and formaldehyde, taking advantage of the active –NH group in the isatin. The structures of these compounds were elucidated using standard spectroscopic and analytical methods