Porphyria Cutanea Tarda with Constrictive Pericarditis: A Rare Association

Porphyria cutanea tarda(PCT) is characterised by photosensitivity and bulla formation on photoexposed parts which heals with scaring and pigmentation. PCT is frequently associated with diabetes mellitus, lupus erythematosus and hepetitis C virus infection. We are reporting and Indian patient of PCT associated with pericarditis which is very rare

Immunopathogenesis of Granulibacter bethesdensis, an opportunistic pathogen causing recurrent infection in immunocompromised patients

https://openworks.mdanderson.org/sumexp22/1151/thumbnail.jp

A comparative study on GC-MS analysis and antimicrobial activity of bioactive compounds present in aerial parts (leaf and fruit) of Ficus benghalensis L.

Plants are being looked upon for medications derived mainly from different plant parts. The majority of the population worldwide, especially in underdeveloped nations, relies on herbal formulations for basic medical requirements. Ficus benghalensis L., member of moraceae family is renowned for its ethano-medicinal applications. In this study, polar (aqueous, methanolic, and acetone) and non polar (petroleum ether) extracts of leaves and fruits of F. benghalensis L. were investigated for their antimicrobial activity and phytochemical constituency. Antimicrobial activity was estimated by investigating Zone of Inhibition (ZOI) and Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) against gram-positive (Bacillus subtilis and Staphylococcus aureus) and gram-negative (Salmonella typhi and Escherichia coli) bacteria; and fungal strains (Aspergillus niger, Fusarium oxysporum, and Rhizopus oryzae). The diameter of ZOI ranged from 18.8 ± 1.2mm to 6.2 ± .88mm for various bacterial strains, whereas from 10.2 ± 1.3mm to 6.2 ± 1.6mm for fungal strains. Aqueous and petroleum ether extracts exhibited comparatively lesser or no activity in some cases whereas methanol and acetone extracts exhibited moderate to good activity. MIC values ranged between 50μg/μl to 0.024μg/μl against both bacterial and fungal strains. Methanolic extracts were further analyzed using Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) for their phytochemical profile since they showed higher antimicrobial activity. The major compounds detected in leaf extracts were Lup-20(29)-en-3-one (20.45%), Lupeol (17.40%), Beta amyrone (9.07%), Squalene (5.17), Stigmasta-5-en-3-ol (5.62%), Vitamin-E (3.89%), and n-Hexadecanoic acid (1.32%); and in fruit extract were Octadecatrienoic acid (15.24%), 4H-Pyran-4-one, 2,3-dihydro-3,5-dihydroxy-6-methyl (14.89%), 5-Hydroxymethylfurfural (15.32%), 24-Norursa-3,12-diene (2.79%), and 9,12-Octadecadienoic acid (z, z)-2-hydroxy-1- (hydroxymethyl) ethyl (2.07%). This study supports using F. benghalensis L. in microbial infection therapy

Partial Pressure Assisted Growth of Single-Layer Graphene Grown by Low-Pressure Chemical Vapor Deposition: Implications for High-Performance Graphene FET Devices

An attempt has been made to understand the thermodynamic mechanism study of the low-pressure chemical vapor deposition (LPCVD) process during single-layer graphene (SLG) growth as it is the most debatable part of the CVD process. The intensive studies are being carried out worldwide to enhance the quality of LPCVD-grown graphene up to the level of mechanically exfoliated SLG. The mechanism and processes have been discussed earlier by several research groups during the variation in different parameters. However, the optimization and mechanism involvement due to individual partial pressure-based effects has not been elaborately discussed so far. Hence, we have addressed this issue in detail including thermodynamics of the growth process and tried to establish the effect of the partial pressures of individual gases during the growth of SLG. Also, optical microscopy, Raman spectroscopy, and atomic force microscopy (AFM) have been performed to determine the quality of SLG. Furthermore, nucleation density has also been estimated to understand a plausible mechanism of graphene growth based on partial pressure. Moreover, the field-effect transistor (FET) device has been fabricated to determine the electrical properties of SLG, and the estimated mobility has been found as similar to 2595 cm(2) V-1 s(-1) at n = -2 x 10(12) cm(-2). Hence, the obtained results trigger that the partial pressure is an important parameter for the growth of SLG and having various potential applications in high-performance graphene FET (GFET) devices

Physicochemical properties of native Jack bean (Canavalia ensiformis) starch: An underutilised legume

Legumes are a cost-effective source of proteins and abundant starch, a biodegradable substance, providing human nutrition and serving various food sectors globally. Some of the neglected (underutilised) legumes can also be used as the cheapest source of starch. Therefore, the present study was conducted to determine the physicochemical characteristics of jack bean (Canavalia ensiformis) starch - a legume not widely known so underutilised. The starch was isolated from the bean by standard method to study its various properties. One-way analysis of variance was employed to verify a significant difference at the 5% significance level. The jack bean yielded 30.98% of starch. The starch’s moisture, ash, fat, protein, fiber, and carbohydrate content were 9.67%, 0.19%, 0.27%, 0.56%, 0.27%, and 89.28% respectively. The physicochemical properties were also determined. The apparent and total amylose contents were 43.82% and 47.78%, respectively, with 7.66% of amylose leaching at 95°C. The water and oil absorption capacities were 2.31 and 2.56 g/g, respectively, while emulsion capacity and stability were 62.30 and 71.38 %, respectively. The solubility and swelling power of jack bean starch increased with temperature from 55 to 95°C. The effect of starch concentrations (6, 8, and 10%) on freeze-thaw stability revealed that water expelled decreased as starch content increased. Nevertheless, a comprehensive investigation has not been conducted into the distinct functional characteristics and other attributes of jack bean starch. This study could provide new opportunities for conventional starch industries that rely on starch from sources like cereals, tubers, and rhizomes.

Comparative Analysis and EST Mining Reveals High Degree of Conservation among Five Brassicaceae Species

Brassicaceae is an important family of the plant kingdom which includes several plants of major economic importance. The Brassica spp. and Arabidopsis share much-conserved colinearity between their genomes which can be exploited for the genomic research in Brassicaceae crops. In this study, 131,286 ESTs of five Brassicaceae species were assembled into unigene contigs and compared with Arabidopsis gene indices. Almost all the unigenes of Brassicaceae species showed high similarities with Arabidopsis genes except those of B. napus, where 90% of unigenes were found similar. A total of 9,699 SSRs were identified in the unigenes. PCR primers were designed based on this information and amplified across species for validation. Functional annotation of unigenes showed that the majority of the genes are present in metabolism and energy functional classes. It is expected that comparative genome analysis between Arabidopsis and related crop species will expedite research in the more complex Brassica genomes. This would be helpful for genomics as well as evolutionary studies, and DNA markers developed can be used for mapping, tagging, and cloning of important genes in Brassicaceae

COPD-like Inflammation Induces Neutrophil Invasion and NETosis via the C5a Pathway

https://openworks.mdanderson.org/sumexp22/1127/thumbnail.jp

Synthesis and Anticancer Activity of N-Aryl-5-substituted-1,3,4-oxadiazol-2-amine Analogues

In continuance of our search for anticancer agents, we report herein the synthesis and anticancer activity of some novel oxadiazole analogues. The compounds were screened for anticancer activity as per National Cancer Institute (NCI US) protocol on leukemia, melanoma, lung, colon, CNS, ovarian, renal, prostate, and breast cancers cell lines. N-(2,4-Dimethylphenyl)-5-(4-methoxyphenyl)-1,3,4-oxadiazol-2-amine (4s) showed maximum activity with mean growth percent (GP) of 62.61 and was found to be the most sensitive on MDA-MB-435 (melanoma), K-562 (leukemia), T-47D (breast cancer), and HCT-15 (colon cancer) cell lines with GP of 15.43, 18.22, 34.27, and 39.77, respectively. Maximum GP was observed on MDA-MB-435 (melanoma) cell line (GP = 6.82) by compound N- (2,4-dimethylphenyl)-5-(4-hydroxyphenyl)-1,3,4-oxadiazol-2-amine (4u)

Attenuated Response of Aged Mice to Respiratory Francisella novicida Is Characterized by Reduced Cell Death and Absence of Subsequent Hypercytokinemia

Pneumonia and pulmonary infections are major causes of mortality among the growing elderly population. Age associated attenuations of various immune parameters, involved with both innate and adaptive responses are collectively known as immune senescence. These changes are likely to be involved with differences in host susceptibility to disease between young and aged individuals.The objective of this study was to assess potential age related differences in the pulmonary host response in mice to the Gram-negative respiratory pathogen, Francisella novicida. We intranasally infected mice with F. novicida and compared various immune and pathological parameters of the pulmonary host response in both young and aged mice.We observed that 20% of aged mice were able to survive an intranasal challenge with F. novicida while all of their younger cohorts died consistently within 4 to 6 days post infection. Further experiments revealed that all of the aged mice tested were initially able to control bacterial replication in the lungs as well as at distal sites of replication compared with young mice. In addition, the small cohort of aged survivors did not progress to a severe sepsis syndrome with hypercytokinemia, as did all of the young adult mice. Finally, a lack of widespread cell death in potential aged survivors coupled with a difference in cell types recruited to sites of infection within the lung confirmed an altered host response to Francisella in aged mice