N-(Benzothia­zol-2-yl)butyramide

The title compound, C11H12N2OS, was synthesized from 2-amino­benzothia­zole and butanoyl chloride in anhydrous acetone. In the crystal structure, mol­ecules are linked by N—H⋯N and C—H⋯O hydrogen bonds and by C—H⋯π inter­actions

Bacteriological investigation of ground water sources in selected urban areas of district Mardan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan

Microbial contamination of ground water sources is a common problem in all the big cities, which endangers health and impairs quality of living . To assess this, 39 water samples were collected from highly populated 13 union councils from the urban area of district Mardan. Faecal coliform and Escherichia coli were investigated both qualitatively and quantitatively. Qualitative study showed that faecal coliform was found in 90% samples and E. coli in 56% samples. Quantitatively, faecal coliform most probable number (MPN) was ranging from 1601 to 2400 for about 28% samples, followed by 551 to 1600 and 201 to 550 for 20% samples each, 40 to 200 for 18% samples and less than 40 for about 13% samples. The major cause of the bacteriological contamination was found to be the extent of susceptibility of the water sources to intrusions from the nearest contamination source.Keywords: Mardan, urban area, microbial contamination, faecal coliform, ground water, Escherichia col

Wandering

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/67904/2/10.1177_153331758800300109.pd

An Explainable Artificial Intelligence Model for the Classification of Breast Cancer

Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women and globally affects both genders. The disease arises due to abnormal growth of tissue formed of malignant cells. Early detection of breast cancer is crucial for enhancing the survival rate. Therefore, artificial intelligence has revolutionized healthcare and can serve as a promising tool for early diagnosis. The present study aims to develop a machine-learning model to classify breast cancer and to provide explanations for the model results. This could improve the understanding of the diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer by identifying the most important features of breast cancer tumors and the way they affect the classification task. The best-performing machine-learning model has achieved an accuracy of 97.7% using k-nearest neighbors and a precision of 98.2% based on the Wisconsin breast cancer dataset and an accuracy of 98.6% using the artificial neural network with 94.4% precision based on the Wisconsin diagnostic breast cancer dataset. Hence, this asserts the importance and effectiveness of the proposed approach. The present research explains the model behavior using model-agnostic methods, demonstrating that the bare nuclei feature in the Wisconsin breast cancer dataset and the area’s worst feature Wisconsin diagnostic breast cancer dataset are the most important factors in determining breast cancer malignancy. The work provides extensive insights into the particular characteristics of the diagnosis of breast cancer and suggests possible directions for expected investigation in the future into the fundamental biological mechanisms that underlie the disease’s onset. The findings underline the potential of machine learning to enhance breast cancer diagnosis and therapy planning while emphasizing the importance of interpretability and transparency in artificial intelligence-based healthcare systems

Reusable photocatalytic optical fibers for underground, deep-sea, and turbid water remediation

An approach for underground, deep, and turbid water remediation is presented based on optical fibers with a photocatalytic coating. Thus, photocatalytic TiO2 P25 nanoparticles immobilized in a poly(vinylidene difluoride) (PVDF) matrix are coated on polymeric optical fibers (POFs) and the photocatalytic performance of the system is assessed under artificial sunlight. To the best of our knowledge, poly(methyl methacrylate)-POF coated with TiO2/PVDF and the reusability of any type of POF for photocatalytic applications are not previously reported. The photocatalytic efficiency of the hybrid material in the degradation of ciprofloxacin (CIP) and its reusability are evaluated here. It is shown that 50 w/w% of TiO2 P25 achieves a degradation of 95% after 72 h under artificial sunlight and a reusability of three times leads to a loss of activity inferior to 11%. The efficient removal of ciprofloxacin and the stability of the POF coated with TiO2 P25 successfully demonstrate its suitability in the degradation of pollutants with potential application in regions with low light illumination, as in underground and deep water.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Coxiella burnetii Phagocytosis Is Regulated by GTPases of the Rho Family and the RhoA Effectors mDia1 and ROCK

The GTPases belonging to the Rho family control the actin cytoskeleton rearrangements needed for particle internalization during phagocytosis. ROCK and mDia1 are downstream effectors of RhoA, a GTPase involved in that process. Coxiella burnetii, the etiologic agent of Q fever, is internalized by the host´s cells in an actin-dependent manner. Nevertheless, the molecular mechanism involved in this process has been poorly characterized. This work analyzes the role of different GTPases of the Rho family and some downstream effectors in the internalization of C. burnetii by phagocytic and non-phagocytic cells. The internalization of C. burnetii into HeLa and RAW cells was significantly inhibited when the cells were treated with Clostridium difficile Toxin B which irreversibly inactivates members of the Rho family. In addition, the internalization was reduced in HeLa cells that overexpressed the dominant negative mutants of RhoA, Rac1 or Cdc42 or that were knocked down for the Rho GTPases. The pharmacological inhibition or the knocking down of ROCK diminished bacterium internalization. Moreover, C. burnetii was less efficiently internalized in HeLa cells overexpressing mDia1-N1, a dominant negative mutant of mDia1, while the overexpression of the constitutively active mutant mDia1-ΔN3 increased bacteria uptake. Interestingly, when HeLa and RAW cells were infected, RhoA, Rac1 and mDia1 were recruited to membrane cell fractions. Our results suggest that the GTPases of the Rho family play an important role in C. burnetii phagocytosis in both HeLa and RAW cells. Additionally, we present evidence that ROCK and mDia1, which are downstream effectors of RhoA, are involved in that processFil: Salinas Ojeda, Romina Paola. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto de Histología y Embriología de Mendoza Dr. Mario H. Burgos. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de Cienicas Médicas. Instituto de Histología y Embriología de Mendoza Dr. Mario H. Burgos; ArgentinaFil: Ortiz Flores, Rodolfo Matias. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto de Histología y Embriología de Mendoza Dr. Mario H. Burgos. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de Cienicas Médicas. Instituto de Histología y Embriología de Mendoza Dr. Mario H. Burgos; ArgentinaFil: Distel, Jesús Sebastián. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto de Histología y Embriología de Mendoza Dr. Mario H. Burgos. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de Cienicas Médicas. Instituto de Histología y Embriología de Mendoza Dr. Mario H. Burgos; ArgentinaFil: Aguilera, Milton Osmar. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto de Histología y Embriología de Mendoza Dr. Mario H. Burgos. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de Cienicas Médicas. Instituto de Histología y Embriología de Mendoza Dr. Mario H. Burgos; ArgentinaFil: Colombo, Maria Isabel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto de Histología y Embriología de Mendoza Dr. Mario H. Burgos. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de Cienicas Médicas. Instituto de Histología y Embriología de Mendoza Dr. Mario H. Burgos; ArgentinaFil: Beron, Walter. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto de Histología y Embriología de Mendoza Dr. Mario H. Burgos. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de Cienicas Médicas. Instituto de Histología y Embriología de Mendoza Dr. Mario H. Burgos; Argentin

Isocitrate Dehydrogenase of Helicobacter pylori Potentially Induces Humoral Immune Response in Subjects with Peptic Ulcer Disease and Gastritis

Background. H. pylori causes gastritis and peptic ulcers and is a risk factor for the development of gastric carcinoma. Many of the proteins such as urease, porins, flagellins and toxins such as lipo-polysaccharides have been identified as potential virulence factors which induce proinflammatory reaction. We report immunogenic potentials of isocitrate dehydrogenase (ICD), an important house keeping protein of H. pylori. Methodology/Principal Findings. Amino acid sequences of H. pylori ICD were subjected to in silico analysis for regions with predictably high antigenic indexes. Also, computational modelling of the H. pylori ICD as juxtaposed to the E. coli ICD was carried out to determine levels of structure similarity and the availability of surface exposed motifs, if any. The icd gene was cloned, expressed and purified to a very high homogeneity. Humoral response directed against H. pylori ICD was detected through an enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) in 82 human subjects comprising of 58 patients with H. pylori associated gastritis or ulcer disease and 24 asymptomatic healthy controls. The H. pylori ICD elicited potentially high humoral immune response and revealed high antibody titers in sera corresponding to endoscopically-confirmed gastritis and ulcer disease subjects. However, urea-breath-test negative healthy control samples and asymptomatic control samples did not reveal any detectable immune responses. The ELISA for proinflammatory cytokine IL-8 did not exhibit any significant proinflammatory activity of ICD. Conclusions/Significance. ICD of H. pylori is an immunogen which interacts with the host immune system subsequent to a possible autolytic-release and thereby significantly elicits humoral responses in individuals with invasive H. pylori infection. However, ICD could not significantly stimulate IL8 induction in a cultured macrophage cell line (THP1) and therefore, may not be a notable proinflammatory agent

Potential of utilization of renewable energy technologies in gulf countries

This critical review report highlights the enormous potentiality and availability of renewable energy sources in the Gulf region. The earth suffers from extreme air pollution, climate changes, and extreme problems due to the enormous usage of underground carbon resources applications materialized in industrial, transport, and domestic sectors. The countries under Gulf Cooperation Council, i.e., Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates, mainly explore those underground carbon resources for crude oil extraction and natural gas production. As a nonrenewable resource, these are bound to be exhausted in the near future. Hence, this review discusses the importance and feasibility of renewable sources in the Gulf region to persuade the sci-entific community to launch and explore renewable sources to obtain the maximum benefit in electric power generation. In most parts of the Gulf region, solar and wind energy sources are abundantly available. However, attempts to harness those resources are very limited. Furthermore, in this review report, innovative areas of advanced research (such as bioenergy, biomass) were proposed for the Gulf region to extract those resources at a higher magnitude to generate surplus power generation. Overall, this report clearly depicts the current scenario, current power demand, currently installed capacities, and the future strategies of power production from renewable power sources (viz., solar, wind, tidal, biomass, and bioenergy) in each and every part of the Gulf region

Suspension High Velocity Oxy-Fuel (SHVOF)-sprayed alumina coatings: microstructure, nanoindentation and wear

Suspension High Velocity Oxy Fuel Spraying (SHVOF) can be used to produce thermally sprayed coatings from powdered feedstocks too small to be processed by mechanical feeders, allowing formation of nanostructured coatings with improved density and mechanical properties. Here, alumina coatings were produced from sub-micron sized feedstock in aqueous suspension, using two flame combustion parameters yielding contrasting microstructures. Both coatings were tested in dry sliding wear conditions with an alumina counterbody. The coating processed with high combustion power of 101 kW contained 74 wt% amorphous phase and 26 wt% crystalline phase (95 wt% gamma and 3 wt% alpha alumina) while the 72 kW coating contained lower 58 wt% amorphous phase and 42 wt% crystalline phases (73 wt% was alpha and 26 wt % gamma). The 101 kW coating had a dry sliding specific wear rate between 4-4.5 x 10-5 mm3/Nm, 2 orders of magnitude higher than the 72 kW coating wear rate of 2-4.2 x 10-7 mm3/Nm. A severe wear regime dominated by brittle fracture and grain pull out of the coating was responsible for the wear of the 101 kW coating, explained by mean fracture toughness three times lower than the 72 kW coating, owing to the almost complete absence of alpha alumina

An international survey of patients with thalassemia major and their views about sustaining life-long desferrioxamine use

BACKGROUND: Management of thalassemia major requires patients to have life-long access to a treatment regimen of regular blood transfusions coupled with iron chelation therapy. The objective of this study was to investigate patients' reasons for missing iron chelation therapy with desferrioxamine, and the support to sustain life-long adherence to treatment. METHODS: From October 1999 to May 2000 a survey of patients with thalassemia major was conducted in ten countries: Cyprus, Egypt, Greece, Hong Kong, India, Iran, Italy, Jordan, Taiwan, and the United States. RESULTS: 1,888 questionnaires (65%) were returned. Most patients (1,573) used desferrioxamine, and 79% administered a dose at least 4 days a week. Inaccessibility of the drug was a common reason for missing a dose in India (51%), and in Iran (25%), whereas, in any other country, it was a reason for less than 17% of patients. Overall, 58% reported reasons for missing a dose related to their beliefs or feelings about the medication, and 42% drug-related side effects. CONCLUSION: Many patients miss doses of desferrioxamine and an opportunity remains to develop interventions that provide more support to sustain use of desferrioxamine