CLONING AND MOLECULAR CHARACTERIZATION OF GAG GENE FROM HIV-1 INTO E. COLI DH5A HOST

Considering the worldwide increasing prevalence of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) infection, World Health Organization (WHO) has intensified the access to the antiretroviral treatment. In spite of that one of the major issues to eradicate HIV-1 is the persistence of proviral human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) DNA reservoir. Although PCR detects HIV-1 DNA, the diagnosis of early, post exposure HIV infection prior to seroconversion can be achieved by the detection of proviral DNA by RTPCR. In the present study HIV-1 DNA were isolated from patient with HIV and using specific primer designed using Primer 3 plus software for the HIV-1 gag gene. The amplified gene was ligated with T vector and transformed into DH5αcells. The plasmid DNA obtained was then confirmed by restriction digestion and sequence analysis. The sequence was found to be 98% similar to that obtained in GenBank. Further research is required to express the gene to get the protein antigen for the production antibodies or effective vaccine for HIV-1. Considering the worldwide increasing prevalence of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) infection, World Health Organization (WHO) has intensified the access to the antiretroviral treatment. In spite of that one of the major issues to eradicate HIV-1 is the persistence of proviral human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) DNA reservoir. Although PCR detects HIV-1 DNA, the diagnosis of early, post exposure HIV infection prior to seroconversion can be achieved by the detection of proviral DNA by RTPCR. In the present study HIV-1 DNA were isolated from patient with HIV and using specific primer designed using Primer 3 plus software for the HIV-1 gag gene. The amplified gene was ligated with T vector and transformed into DH5αcells. The plasmid DNA obtained was then confirmed by restriction digestion and sequence analysis. The sequence was found to be 98% similar to that obtained in GenBank. Further research is required to express the gene to get the protein antigen for the production antibodies or effective vaccine for HIV-1

Wavelet Transform of Fractional Integrals for Integrable Boehmians

The present paper deals with the wavelet transform of fractional integral operator (the Riemann- Liouville operators) on Boehmian spaces. By virtue of the existing relation between the wavelet transform and the Fourier transform, we obtained integrable Boehmians defined on the Boehmian space for the wavelet transform of fractional integrals

Certain Expansion Formulae Involving a Basic Analogue of Fox’s H-Function

Certain expansion formulae for a basic analogue of the Fox’s H-function have been derived by the applications of the q-Leibniz rule for the Weyl type q-derivatives of a product of two functions. Expansion formulae involving a basic analogue of Meijer’s G-function and MacRobert’s E-function have been derived as special cases of the main results

Consultation outcomes for musculoskeletal conditions at two community health centres in Cape Town

Objectives: To compare the proportion of patients with documented diagnoses and management plans when they presented with musculoskeletal complaints at two community health centres (CHCs) using two models of care: one with a rheumatology outreach service and the other with none. Secondly, to describe the profile of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) who attended the CHC with the outreach service. Design: Cross-sectional. Setting: Heidelberg Community Health Centre and Vanguard Community Health Centre, Cape Town. Subjects: A group of 59 patients at each CHC were compared regarding engagement of their musculoskeletal complaints by doctors and clinical nurse practitioners (CNPs). Secondly, 24 RA patients who attended Heideveld CHC were profiled. Results: A comparison of the “overall engagement” between the two CHCs [risk difference (RD) -0.06, 95% confidence interval (CI): -0.17–0.05, odds ratio (OR) 0.79, 95% CI: 0.51–1.24, chi-square 0.82, p-value 0.36] was not significantly different. Comparison between doctors (RD -0.05, 95% CI: -0.05–0.08, OR 0.80, 95% CI: 0.46–1.40, chi-square 0.41, p-value 0.52) was also not significantly different. The comparison between the CNPs at the two CHCs was statistically significant (RD 0.30, 95% CI: 0.14–0.45, OR 8.37, 95% CI: 1.05–66.60, Fisher's exact test 0.01), but the CI around OR was large. Patients with RA had a mean age of 60 years, an average of two co-morbidities and an average of three annual clinic visits. Eighty- three per cent resided in the drainage area of the clinic. Conclusion: There was no significant difference in engagement between the CHCs. The potential that CNPs seemed to show of being positively influenced by the outreach service should be further researched. Patients with RA had co- morbidities that required management at primary healthcare level

Cloning of the β-phycocyanin gene from Anacystis nidulans

AbstractThe β-phycocyanin gene, pcyB, of Anacystis nidulans was isolated from an Escherichia coli λ-phage bank by the use of synthetic oligonucleotides derived from the 170 amino acid sequence of the β-phycocyanin protein. Two positive, overlapping λ-clones were found. Partial DNA sequencing of one of the clones gave a deduced amino acid sequence which was in full agreement with a portion of the published sequence of A. nidulans β-phycocyanin. A comparison with the published DNA sequence for β-phycocyanin from Agmenellum quadruplicatum shows a DNA sequence homology of 70.4% over the sequenced region

Transgenesis and Genomics in Molecular Breeding of Forage Plants

Forage plant breeding has been largely based on phenotypic selection following sexual recombination of natural genetic variation found between and within ecotypes. Advances in plant genetic manipulation over the last 15 years have provided convincing evidence that these powerful technologies can complement and enhance plant breeding programs. Significant progress in the establishment of the methodologies required for the molecular breeding of forage plants has been made. Examples of current products and approaches for the application of these methodologies to forage grass and legume improvement are outlined. Large-scale genomic analysis of many organisms is under way with human, arabidopsis and rice genome sequences almost completed. Forage plant breeding is just now entering the genome era. The plethora of new technologies and tools now available for high-throughput gene discovery and genome-wide gene expression analysis have opened up opportunities for innovative applications in the identification, functional characterisation and use of genes of value in forage production systems and beyond. Examples of these opportunities, such as ‘molecular phenotyping’, ‘symbio-genomics’ and ‘xeno-genomics’ are introduced

Unsedated transnasal endoscopy:a safe, well-tolerated and accurate alternative to standard diagnostic peroral endoscopy

Diagnostic unsedated transnasal endoscopy (uTNE) has been proven to be a safe and well-tolerated procedure. Although its utilization in the United Kingdom (UK) is increasing, it is currently available in only a few centers. Through consideration of recent studies, we aimed to perform an updated review of the technological advances in uTNE, consider their impact on diagnostic accuracy, and to determine the role of uTNE in the COVID-19 era. Current literature has shown that the diagnostic accuracy of uTNE for identification of esophageal pathology is equivalent to conventional esophagogastroduodenoscopy (cEGD). Concerns regarding suction and biopsy size have been addressed by the introduction of TNE scopes with working channels of 2.4 mm. Advances in imaging have improved detection of early gastric cancers. The procedure is associated with less cardiac stress and reduced aerosol production; when combined with no need for sedation and improved rates of patient turnover, uTNE is an efficient and safe alternative to cEGD in the COVID-19 era. We conclude that advances in technology have improved the diagnostic accuracy of uTNE to the point where it could be considered the first line diagnostic endoscopic investigation in the majority of patients. It could also play a central role in the recovery of diagnostic endoscopic services during the COVID-19 pandemic

Composite Cutting with Abrasive Water Jet

Abrasive Water Jet (AWJ) technology has demonstrated to be an interesting manufacturing process for space, aircraft, boat and automotive sectors due to its specific advantages when machining composite materials. However, AWJ cutting of composite laminates possesses several challenges. It is necessary to develop a methodology to adapt the process parameters for each type of FRP & CFRP material which will allow AWJ trimming operations to be easily carried out on composite materials, since machine manufacturers still do not provide good databases for composite cutting. The presented work aims at studying the behaviour of a machinability model in composite materials. The machinability index for various composite materials with different thicknesses was found experimentally, which showed very different results for different materials. A study of the effect of the abrasive waterjet process parameters on the quality of cut (taper and surface roughness) was carried out

Implicit rather than explicit threat predicts attentional bias towards Black but not Asian faces in a White undergraduate population

Attentional biases are driven by type of stimulus in our environment (faces capture our attention in preference to non face items, e.g. Ro, Russel & Lavie, 2001), and motivation to seek out specific stimuli (e.g. spider images will capture attention more readily in those with arachnophobia, e.g. Ohman, Flykt & Esteves, 2001). Hence, attentional biases have been used as a behavioural measure of positive or negative attitudes to stimuli in the environment. The finding that the faces of Black people capture attention in a sample of White U.S. participants (Trawalter, Todd, Baird & Richeson, 2008) has been interpreted as Black faces being a threat stimulus, which is an interpretation in accord with other experimental evidence on the stigmatized representation of Black people as threatening (e.g. in a simulated first person shooter task, White participants shoot both armed and unarmed Black targets more frequently and more quickly than White targets, e.g. Correll, Urland and Ito, 2006). Al-Janabi, MacLeod and Rhodes (2012) suggest that attentional bias to Black faces may not represent threat but rather novelty of the stimulus, supported by the finding that an attentional bias was found towards faces of Asian females, where these faces had not been rated as more threatening than White faces. However, as noted as a possibility by these authors and as demonstrated by Donders, Correll and Wittenbrink (2008), implicit measures of danger can predict attentional bias towards Black faces. Implicit attitudes are often poorly correlated with conscious attitudes and are thought to stem from simple exposure to stereotyped information in the environment without being necessarily consciously endorsed. Hence, there is still uncertainty as to whether implicit bias as opposed to explicit bias better underpins attentional bias to other race faces