Environmental friendly method for the extraction of cellulose from Triflolium resopinatum and its characterization

The leaves of Triflolium resopinatum were collected from the mountains of Malakand division, Khyber Pukhtoonkhwa, Pakistan and was grinded into smaller particles and converted into powder. The ground biomass was treated with different solvents in the Soxhlet apparatus for the removal of soluble extractive like pectin, cutin and wax substances. For bond breaking the alkaline substance was kept in the autoclave. Ethylene diamine tetra-acetate (EDTA) and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) were used for the removal of most polar substances like pectin, cutin, waxes and other extractives. Furthermore, raw cellulose was purified through acetic acid and nitric acid. Double distilled water was used for the neutralization of pH.The analysis of purified cellulose was carried out through different procedures such as X-ray Diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The extracted cellulose has high degree of purity and crystallinity (72%) and thermal stability indicating that the process for the extraction of cellulose is quite adequate.               KEY WORDS: Triflolium resopinatum, Cellulose, FTIR, XRD, TGA, SEM Bull. Chem. Soc. Ethiop. 2019, 33(1), 61-68DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.4314/bcse.v33i1.

Raman Spectroscopic Analysis of Normal, Dysplastic and Cancerous Oral Mucosa: A Tissue Engineering Approach

Head and neck cancer (HNC) is the sixth most common malignancy worldwide. Squamous cell carcinoma, the primary cause of HNC, evolves from normal epithelium through dysplasia before invading the connective tissue to form a carcinoma. Only 5% of suspicious lesions progress to cancer and diagnosis currently relies on histopathological evaluation, which is invasive and time consuming. A non-invasive, real-time point-of-care method could overcome these problems and facilitate regular screening. Infrared (IR) and Raman spectroscopy (RS) can non-invasively provide information regarding biochemical differences between normal and abnormal tissues. In this study, RS was employed to distinguish between different tissues-engineered models. 3D tissue engineered models of normal, dysplastic and head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) using normal oral keratinocytes, dysplastic (D19, D20 and DOK) and HNSCC cell lines (Cal27 , SCC4 and FaDu) were constructed and their biochemical content predicted by interpretation of their spectral characteristics. Spectral features of normal tissue samples were mainly attributed to lipids, whereas, malignant tissue samples were observed to be protein dominant. Visible differences were found between the spectra of normal, dysplastic and cancerous models, specifically in the bands of amide I and III. The spectra of HNSCC models showed a broad and strong peak of amide I instead of the sharp and weak lipid peak in normal models at band centred at 1667 cm-1. A shift at 2937 cm-1 was only observed in DOK, differentiating them from the other tissue types. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Cluster Analysis (CA) distinguished noticeable differences between tissues

Removal of basic green 5 by carbonaceous adsorbent: Adsorption kinetics

The Eucalyptus lenceolata wood was collected from Malakand division, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Pakistan. Chemical activation of sample was conducted for surface efficiency. Batch studies were performed to address various experimental parameters like, contact time, temperature and adsorbent dosage for the removal of dye. For elemental analysis, surface morphology and for identification of different functional groups, energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) techniques were applied, respectively. Removal of dye (Basic Green 5) was studied on raw and activated samples by kinetics adsorption at different temperature. BET adsorption isotherm was used to characterize the surface area of the sample. Under the conditions investigated, a higher carbonization temperature promoted development of porous structures. Intraparticle diffusion, Elovich and Bhangam models were used for adsorption kinetics studies. From adsorption kinetic data thermodynamic parameters like ΔH≠, ΔS≠ and ΔE≠ were determined. The results show that the adsorption is spontaneous process. The endothermic nature of adsorptive process is due to the positive value of enthalpy. The negative entropy shows that acids molecules on the surface of adsorbent take an oriented position. The results shows that all the models were best fitted for these data of adsorption.               KEY WORDS: Activated carbon, Adsorption, SEM, EDS, FTIR, Surface area Bull. Chem. Soc. Ethiop. 2017, 31(3), 411-422. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.4314/bcse.v31i3.

Are GSTM1 Null and GSTT1 Null Risk Factor of Autism Spectrum Disorder? a Preliminary Study

Background: Low plasma total glutathione (tGSH) levels, elevated levels of oxidized glutathione (GSSG) and low ratios of tGSH to GSSG in autism were reported. Glutathione S-transferases (GST) are antioxidant enzymes that play important role in cellular detoxification and the excretion of environmental pollutants including heavy metals. Glutathione S-transferase mu (GSTM1) and Glutathione S-transferase theta (GSTT1) are known to be highly polymorphic. Homozygous deletions of these genes result in lack ofenzyme activity and impaired the ability to excrete metals including mercury. Combined effects of mercury (Hg) accumulation coupled with decreased levels of antioxidants (low glutathione and antioxidant enzymes) contribute to the phenotypic presentation of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Association of GSTM1 null genotype with autism has been reported. Therefore the preliminary study was performed to investigate the role of GSTM1 null and GSTT1 null as risk factor of ASD associated with phenotype expression.Method: Fifty one ASD patients were recruited from special need & autism school and 45 controls from Semarang & Solo. Blood veins samples were collected and genomic DNA was extracted by salting-out method in CEBIOR Semarang. Genotyping for GSTM1 and GSTT1 gene was done in UMBI Malaysia. Multiplex PCR was performed and PCR products were separated on 1.2 % agarose gel, stained with ethidium bromide and visualized on UV transiluminator. GSTM1 & GSTT1 gene product is about 625 bp and 459 bp. Absence of GSTM1 and GSTT1 gene band was interpreted as GSTM1 null & GSTT1 null.Results: The frequency of GSTM1 null and GSTT1 null in ASD higher compared with control group but the difference is not statistically significant (p=0.357, OR=0.504; 95% CI 0.117-2.168 and p=0.364, OR=0.674; 95% CI 0.287-1.580). There is also no statistically different in the distribution of GSTM1 null and GSTT1 null between mild to moderately autistic and severely autistic (p=0.983, OR=0.980; 95% CI 0.158-6.095 and p=0.439, OR=1.633; 95% CI 0.471-5.656).Conclusion: GSTM1 null and GSTT1 null are not risk factor of ASD. Further investigations are needed with a bigger sample size, analyzing multiple GST genes and GST activity determination to find out the gene susceptibility of ASD and factors that contribute to the phenotype expression of ASD

Botanicals to Control Soft Rot Bacteria of Potato

Extracts from eleven different plant species such as jute (Corchorus capsularis L.), cheerota (Swertia chiraita Ham.), chatim (Alstonia scholaris L.), mander (Erythrina variegata), bael (Aegle marmelos L.), marigold (Tagetes erecta), onion (Allium cepa), garlic (Allium sativum L.), neem (Azadiracta indica), lime (Citrus aurantifolia), and turmeric (Curcuma longa L.) were tested for antibacterial activity against potato soft rot bacteria, E. carotovora subsp. carotovora (Ecc) P-138, under in vitro and storage conditions. Previously, Ecc P-138 was identified as the most aggressive soft rot bacterium in Bangladeshi potatoes. Of the 11 different plant extracts, only extracts from dried jute leaves and cheerota significantly inhibited growth of Ecc P-138 in vitro. Finally, both plant extracts were tested to control the soft rot disease of potato tuber under storage conditions. In a 22-week storage condition, the treated potatoes were significantly more protected against the soft rot infection than those of untreated samples in terms of infection rate and weight loss. The jute leaf extracts showed more pronounced inhibitory effects on Ecc-138 growth both in in vitro and storage experiments

3D Face Reconstruction from Light Field Images: A Model-free Approach

Reconstructing 3D facial geometry from a single RGB image has recently instigated wide research interest. However, it is still an ill-posed problem and most methods rely on prior models hence undermining the accuracy of the recovered 3D faces. In this paper, we exploit the Epipolar Plane Images (EPI) obtained from light field cameras and learn CNN models that recover horizontal and vertical 3D facial curves from the respective horizontal and vertical EPIs. Our 3D face reconstruction network (FaceLFnet) comprises a densely connected architecture to learn accurate 3D facial curves from low resolution EPIs. To train the proposed FaceLFnets from scratch, we synthesize photo-realistic light field images from 3D facial scans. The curve by curve 3D face estimation approach allows the networks to learn from only 14K images of 80 identities, which still comprises over 11 Million EPIs/curves. The estimated facial curves are merged into a single pointcloud to which a surface is fitted to get the final 3D face. Our method is model-free, requires only a few training samples to learn FaceLFnet and can reconstruct 3D faces with high accuracy from single light field images under varying poses, expressions and lighting conditions. Comparison on the BU-3DFE and BU-4DFE datasets show that our method reduces reconstruction errors by over 20% compared to recent state of the art

Biological effects of EF24, a curcumin derivative, alone or combined with mitotane in adrenocortical tumor cell lines

Background: Curcumin has numerous properties and is used in many preclinical conditions, including cancer. It has low bioavailability, while its derivative EF24 shows enhanced solubility. However, its effects have never been explored in adrenocortical tumor cell models. The efficacy of EF24 alone or combined with mitotane (reference drug for adrenocortical cancer) was evaluated in two adrenocortical tumor cell lines, SW13 and H295R. Method and Results: EF24 reduced cell viability with an IC50 (half maximal inhibitory concentration) of 6.5 \ub1 2.4 \ub5M and 4.9 \ub1 2.8 \ub5M for SW13 and H295R cells, respectively. Combination index (EF24 associated with mitotane) suggested an additivity effect in both cell lines. Cell cycle analysis revealed an increase in subG0/G1 phase, while motility assay showed a decrease in migratory cell capacity, and similarly, clonogenic assay indicated that EF24 could reduce colony numbers. Furthermore, Wnt/\u3b2-catenin, NF-\u3baB, MAPK, and PI3k/Akt pathways were modulated by Western blot analysis when treating cells with EF24 alone or combined with mitotane. In addition, intracellular reactive oxygen species levels increased in both cell lines. Conclusion: This work analyzed EF24 in adrenocortical tumor cell lines for the first time. These results suggest that EF24 could potentially impact on adrenocortical tumors, laying the foundation for further research in animal models

High-sensitivity Gd3+-Gd3+ EPR distance measurements that eliminate artefacts seen at short distances

We would like to acknowledge EPSRC (EP/R)13705/1) for current funding on the HiPER project, and the Wellcome Trust for a multi-user equipment grant (099149/Z/12/Z) for upgrades on the Q-band system. We thank the Royal Society for an International Exchanges Grant and The Weizmann-UK Joint Research Program for allowing bilateral travel and research between the University of St Andrews and the Weizmann Institute of Science. JEL thanks the Royal Society for a University Research Fellowship. MJT thanks EPSRC for a CM-CDT studentship (EP/LO15110/1). MQ and AG thank the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) for funding within SPP 1601 (GO555/6-2).Gadolinium complexes are attracting increasing attention as spin labels for EPR dipolar distance measurements in biomolecules and particularly for in-cell measurements. It has been shown that flip-flop transitions within the central transition of the high spin Gd3+ ion can introduce artefacts in dipolar distance measurements, particularly when measuring distances less than 3–4 nm. Previous work has shown some reduction of these artefacts through increasing the frequency separation between the two frequencies required for the Double Electron-Electron Resonance (DEER) experiment. Here we use a high power (1 kW), wideband, non-resonant, system operating at 94 GHz to evaluate DEER measurement protocols using two rigid Gd(III)-rulers, consisting of two [GdIII(PyMTA)] complexes, with separations of 2.1 nm and 6.0 nm, respectively. We show that by avoiding the |−1/2⟩ → |1/2⟩ central transition completely, and placing both the pump and the observer pulses on either side of the central transition, we can now observe apparently artefact-free spectra and narrow distance distributions, even for a Gd-Gd distance of 2.1 nm. Importantly we still maintain excellent signal-to-noise ratio and relatively high modulation depths. These results have implications for in-cell EPR measurements at naturally occurring biomolecule concentrations.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe