10 research outputs found
Synteny Approach of Drug Target Prediction among Unique Hypothetical Proteins of Streptococcus Gordonii Causing Infective Endocarditis
At the time of infection, many of the gene products of completely sequenced organisms yet remain ‘hypothetical’ meaning they remain unsimilar to any previously characterized and may disguise some true virulent factors. Domain scanning provides a means of understanding functional information in these cases, extending facilitated identification oftheir virulence factors, proceeding for antimicrobial drug and vaccine design. In developing countries, mortality rate due to Infective endocarditis is accelerating along with retardation in efficiency of pathogen specific drugs. We have re-annotated at domain level and predicted cellular localization of 200 unique and hypothetical proteins obtained by syntenic comparison of Streptococcus gordonii among other strains of similar species for similar infection. The study resulted into 200 unique and hypothetical proteins, of which, domains of 85 proteins are predictable, representing 15 with no similarity with human proteome. Later, 9 proteins with 8 domains predicted to be antimicrobial targets. Further, these can be experimentally validated for drug and vaccine target ability
Healing through culturally embedded practice: an investigation of counsellors’ and clients’ experiences of Buddhist Counselling in Thailand
This thesis is concerned with an exploration of counsellors’ and clients’ lived experiences of
Buddhist Counselling, an indigenous Buddhist-based counselling approach in Thailand. Over
the past decade, Buddhist Counselling has received a growing interest from Thai counselling
trainees and practitioners, and it has also expanded to serve Thai people in various settings.
Research on Buddhist Counselling is very limited and most of the existing studies in the
field have focused on measuring the effectiveness of the approach. While these studies have
consistently indicated the positive effects of Buddhist Counselling on psychological
improvement across several population groups, the significant questions of how Buddhist
Counselling brings about such outcome and how it is experienced are still largely
unanswered. Moreover, existing research is concentrated much more on clients’ views than
counsellors’ views, although counsellors’ views of their counselling practice can also serve as
a knowledge base of the field. This thesis thus sets out to contribute to rectifying this
omission by exploring Buddhist Counselling from the perspectives of both counsellors and
clients.
The thesis is based on two qualitative studies. The first study addressed Buddhist
Counselling from the perspective of five counsellors through a focus group and semi-structured
interviews. The second study explored Buddhist Counselling from the perspective
of three clients, using two semi-structured interviews with each of them. All data received
were analysed using interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA).
The study reveals counsellors’ and clients’ overall positive experience of engaging in
Buddhist Counselling. Central to the accounts of the counsellors are the following
perceptions: that their practice of Buddhist Counselling is culturally congruent with the
existing values and beliefs of both themselves and their clients; that their personal and
professional congruence is key to their therapeutic efficacy; and that they enhance such
congruence through their application of Buddhist ideas and practices in their daily lives. Key
to the clients’ accounts is their emphasis on the significant roles of the counsellors’ Buddhist
ideas and personal qualities, and of their religious practices in facilitating healing and change.
Key shared findings from both studies reveal that the participants’ accounts of their cultural
background and their experiences of Buddhist Counselling are intertwined. Adopting
hermeneutics to address this intertwinement, I reveal the cultural and moral dimensions
underlying the practice of Buddhist Counselling. Based on such revelation, I suggest that
Buddhist Counselling in particular, as well as psychotherapy in general, should be better
understood as a historically situated, culturally bound, and morally constituted activity of
people who are concerned with improving the quality of their lives and their community,
rather than the transcultural and merely relational work of morally-neutral practitioners
Strategies for the Synthesis of Graphene, Graphene Nanoribbons, Nanoscrolls and Related Materials
Single-layer graphene (SLG), the 3.4 angstrom thick two-dimensional sheet of sp(2) carbon atoms, was first prepared in 2004 by mechanical exfoliation of graphite crystals using the scotch tape technique. Since then, SLG has been prepared by other physical methods such as laser irradiation or ultrasonication of graphite in liquid media. Chemical methods of synthesis of SLG are more commonly used; the most popular involves preparation of single-layer graphene oxide followed by reduction with a stable reagent, often assisted by microwave heating. This method yields single-layer reduced graphene oxide. Other methods for preparing SLG include chemical vapour deposition over surfaces of transition metals such as Ni and Cu. Large-area SLG has also been prepared by epitaxial growth over SIC. Few-layer graphene (FLG) is prepared by several methods; arc discharge of graphite in hydrogen atmosphere being the most convenient. Several other methods for preparing FLG include exfoliation of graphite oxide by rapid heating, ultrasonication or laser irradiation of graphite in liquid media, reduction of few-layer graphene oxide, alkali metal intercalation followed by exfoliation. Graphene nanoribbons, which are rectangular strips of graphene, are best prepared by the unzipping of carbon nanotubes by chemical oxidation or laser irradiation. Many graphene analogues of inorganic materials such as MoS2, MoSe2 and BN have been prepared by mechanical exfoliation, ultrasonication and by chemical methods involving high-temperature or hydrothermal reactions and intercalation of alkali metals followed by exfoliation. Scrolls of graphene are prepared by potassium intercalation in graphite or by microwave irradiation of graphite immersed in liquid nitrogen
A study of the synthetic methods and properties of graphenes
Graphenes with varying number of layers can be synthesized by using different strategies. Thus, single-layer graphene is prepared by micromechanical cleavage, reduction of single-layer graphene oxide, chemical vapor deposition and other methods. Few-layer graphenes are synthesized by conversion of nanodiamond, arc discharge of graphite and other methods. In this article, we briefly overview the various synthetic methods and the surface, magnetic and electrical properties of the produced graphenes. Few-layer graphenes exhibit ferromagnetic features along with antiferromagnetic properties, independent of the method of preparation. Aside from the data on electrical conductivity of graphenes and graphene-polymer composites, we also present the field-effect transistor characteristics of graphenes. Only single-layer reduced graphene oxide exhibits ambipolar properties. The interaction of electron donor and acceptor molecules with few-layer graphene samples is examined in detail