Synthesis and characterization of a tetranuclear Cu(II) coordination polymer containing pyridine-2,6-dicarboxylic acid and 4-amidinopyridine co-ligand

This research demonstrates the preparation of a new coordination polymer, {[Cu4(H2pydc)2(H1apy)(H2O)2DMF].DMF}n, (H2pydc = pyridine-2,6-dicarboxylic acid, H1apy = 4-amidinopyridine) under solvothermal condition by the self-assembly of pyridine-2,6-dicarboxylic acid, 4-midinopyridene and copper(II) acetate. The compound was characterized by elemental analysis and infrared spectroscopic technique. The analysis indicated that the 4-amidinopyridine coordinated to the copper ions through the terminal nitrogen in a monodentate fashion while the pyridine-2,6-dicarboxylic acids coordinated through the carboxylate oxygens in monodentate mode. Both the elemental analysis and the infrared spectroscopic data agreed with the proposed stoichiometry. This result represent the first report of a tetranuclear Cu(II) coordination polymer having coordinated 4-amidinopyridine as the nitrogen donor moiety in its structure

Social media in undergraduate medical education: A systematic review

Introduction There are over 3.81 billion worldwide active social media (SoMe) users. SoMe are ubiquitous in medical education, with roles across undergraduate programmes, including professionalism, blended learning, well being and mentoring. Previous systematic reviews took place before recent explosions in SoMe popularity and revealed a paucity of high-quality empirical studies assessing its effectiveness in medical education. This review aimed to synthesise evidence regarding SoMe interventions in undergraduate medical education, to identify features associated with positive and negative outcomes. Methods Authors searched 31 key terms through seven databases, in addition to references, citation and hand searching, between 16 June and 16 July 2020. Studies describing SoMe interventions and research on exposure to existing SoMe were included. Title, abstract and full paper screening were undertaken independently by two reviewers. Included papers were assessed for methodological quality using the Medical Education Research Study Quality Instrument (MERSQI) and/or the Standards for Reporting Qualitative Research (SRQR) instrument. Extracted data were synthesised using narrative synthesis. Results 112 studies from 26 countries met inclusion criteria. Methodological quality of included studies had not significantly improved since 2013. Engagement and satisfaction with SoMe platforms in medical education are described. Students felt SoMe flattened hierarchies and improved communication with educators. SoMe use was associated with improvement in objective knowledge assessment scores and self-reported clinical and professional performance, however evidence for long term knowledge retention was limited. SoMe use was occasionally linked to adverse impacts upon mental and physical health. Professionalism was heavily investigated and considered important, though generally negative correlations between SoMe use and medical professionalism may exist. Conclusions Social media is enjoyable for students who may improve short term knowledge retention and can aid communication between learners and educators. However, higher-quality study is required to identify longer-term impact upon knowledge and skills, provide clarification on professionalism standards and protect against harms

Design of Automated Database System for Storage and Management of Reports on Mycotoxins Contaminated Agricultural Products in Sub-Saharan Africa

This paper discusses the idea and the design of an automated system for storage and management of mycotoxins reports for decision making Mycotoxins are poisonous chemical compounds produced by certain fungi Mycotoxins are fungal secondary metabolites that contaminate various feedstuffs and agricultural crops The contamination of food by mycotoxins can occur before production during storage processing transportation or marketing of the food products High temperature moisture content and water activity are among the factors that facilitate the production of mycotoxins in food The five major mycotoxins produced in food and feedstuffs are Aflatoxins ochratoxins fumonisins deoxynivalenol and zearalenon

Multiple novel prostate cancer susceptibility signals identified by fine-mapping of known risk loci among Europeans

Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified numerous common prostate cancer (PrCa) susceptibility loci. We have fine-mapped 64 GWAS regions known at the conclusion of the iCOGS study using large-scale genotyping and imputation in 25 723 PrCa cases and 26 274 controls of European ancestry. We detected evidence for multiple independent signals at 16 regions, 12 of which contained additional newly identified significant associations. A single signal comprising a spectrum of correlated variation was observed at 39 regions; 35 of which are now described by a novel more significantly associated lead SNP, while the originally reported variant remained as the lead SNP only in 4 regions. We also confirmed two association signals in Europeans that had been previously reported only in East-Asian GWAS. Based on statistical evidence and linkage disequilibrium (LD) structure, we have curated and narrowed down the list of the most likely candidate causal variants for each region. Functional annotation using data from ENCODE filtered for PrCa cell lines and eQTL analysis demonstrated significant enrichment for overlap with bio-features within this set. By incorporating the novel risk variants identified here alongside the refined data for existing association signals, we estimate that these loci now explain ∼38.9% of the familial relative risk of PrCa, an 8.9% improvement over the previously reported GWAS tag SNPs. This suggests that a significant fraction of the heritability of PrCa may have been hidden during the discovery phase of GWAS, in particular due to the presence of multiple independent signals within the same regio

Direct and mediated electrochemistry of peroxidase and its electrocatalysis on a variety of screen-printed carbon electrodes: amperometric hydrogen peroxide and phenols biosensor

This study compares the behaviour of direct and mediated electrochemistry of horseradish peroxidase (HRP) immobilised on screen-printed carbon electrodes (SPCEs), screen-printed carbon electrodes modified with carboxyl-functionalised multi-wall carbon nanotubes (MWCNT-SPCEs) and screen-printed carbon electrodes modified with carboxyl-functionalised single-wall carbon nanotubes (SWCNT-SPCEs). The techniques of cyclic voltammetry and amperometry in the flow mode were used to characterise the properties of the HRP immobilised on screen-printed electrodes. From measurements of the mediated and mediatorless currents of hydrogen peroxide reduction at the HRP-modified electrodes, it was concluded that the fraction of enzyme molecules in direct electron transfer (DET) contact with the electrode varies substantially for the different electrodes. It was observed that the screen-printed carbon electrodes modified with carbon nanotubes (MWCNT-SPCEs and SWCNT-SPCEs) demonstrated a substantially higher percentage (a parts per thousand 100 %) of HRP molecules in DET contact than the screen-printed carbon electrodes (a parts per thousand 60 %). The HRP-modified electrodes were used for determination of hydrogen peroxide in mediatorless mode. The SWCNT-SPCE gave the lowest detection limit (0.40 +/- 0.09 mu M) followed by MWCNT-SPCE (0.48 +/- 0.07 mu M) and SPCE (0.98 +/- 0.2 mu M). These modified electrodes were additionally developed for amperometric determination of phenolic compounds. It was found that the SWCNT-SPCE gave a detection limit for catechol of 110.2 +/- 3.6 nM, dopamine of 640.2 +/- 9.2 nM, octopamine of 3341 +/- 15 nM, pyrogallol of 50.10 +/- 2.9 nM and 3,4-dihydroxy-l-phenylalanine of 980.7 +/- 8.7 nM using 50 mu M H2O2 in the flow carrier