Effect of excess Fluoride consumption on Urine-Serum Fluorides, Dental state and Thyroid Hormones among children in “Talab Sarai” Punjab Pakistan

190 children aged 7-18 years from an endemic fluorotic village “Talab Sarai (n = 130) and a non-fluorotic, control, village “Ottawa” (n = 60) were selected for comparison. Children were examined for fluoride (F-) concentration in drinking water, urine, and serum as well as Dental fluorosis (DF) and thyroid hormone levels. The mean concentration of water fluoride (WF) in the sample group was 6.23 mg/L, urine fluoride (UF) 3.38 mg/L, and serum fluoride (SF) 0.21 mg/L, while DF was 93.07%. Significant elevations (P = 0.000) in the concentration of all these four variables were observed in sample group children as compared to control. Mean Free Tetra-iodothyronine (FT4), Free Tri-iodothyronine (FT3) and Thyroid Stimulating Hormone (TSH) concentrations in the sample group were 16.64pmol/L, 5.57 pmol /L and 4.41 mlU/L, respectively. No marked difference in FT4 (P = 0.1) was noted, while significant elevations in FT3 and TSH (P = 0.000) were found in the sample relative to the control group. 80% of the children displayed clear thyroid hormonal derangements, with 36.92% having high TSH and 43.07% with FT3 and FT4 disorders. A moderate to strong correlation among WF, UF, SF and DF (r = 0.94, 0.60, 0.60, 0.72) and a very strong correlation between WF and TSH (r = 0.9) were observed. Our results suggest that excess F- level that is four times greater than the “safe limit” is not only increasing fluoride concentration in body fluids but is also affecting thyroid hormones in 4 out of 5 children which could lead to abnormal physical and mental growth in later developmental stages

Correlation of Water Fluoride with Body Fluids, Dental Fluorosis and FT4, FT3 –TSH Disruption among Children in an Endemic Fluorosis area in Pakistan

In the present study 134 children were studied for comparison and correlation between an endemic fluorotic village Rukh Mudke (RM), n = 74, and a non-fluorotic village Ottawa (OTW), n = 60. The children were aged between 7-18 years and selected for the estimation of fluoride in their household water, body fluids (urine-serum), dental fluorosis and thyroid hormones (Free tri-iodothyronine (FT3) free tetra iodothyronine (FT4) and thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) respectively. Mean concentration of water fluoride in subjects of RM was 4.6 ×106 ng/L, urine fluoride 2.59 ×106 ng/L, serum fluoride 6.0 ×104 and dental fluorosis 90.5% respectively. Significant elevation (P = 0.000) in the concentration of three out of these four variables (P < 0.01) was observed (except in serum fluoride) in subjects of RM compared to those in the control group (OTW). Mean FT4, FT3 and TSH concentrations in RM subjects was 18.3 pmol/L, 5.06 pmol/L and 3.2 mlU/L respectively. No marked difference in FT4 and FT3 (P = 0.17 and P = 0.7) was found compared to the control (OTW) group, while significant elevation in TSH (P < 0.05) was found in. 22% of the children in the RM group, portrayed well defined thyroid hormonal aberrations. A negative correlation between water fluoride - FT4 (r = - 0.24); a strong positive between water, urine, serum, dental fluorosis and TSH (r = 0.94, 0.87, 0.88, 0.74 and 0.8) and moderate correlation between water fluoride - FT3 (r = 0.52) was observed. Results of this study indicate that the fluoride intoxication through drinking water is not only increasing fluoride level in body fluids and deteriorating teeth but also destroying thyroid function in a large number of children

Altered gene expression profiles define pathways in colorectal cancer cell lines affected by celecoxib

It is well established that celecoxib, a selective inhibitor of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) and a tested chemopreventive agent, has several COX-2-independent activities. In an attempt to better understand COX-2-independent molecular mechanisms underlying the chemopreventive activity of celecoxib, we did global transcription profiling of celecoxib-treated COX-2-positive and COX-2-deficient colorectal cancer cell lines. Celecoxib treatment resulted in significantly altered expression levels of over 1,000 to 3,000 transcripts in these cell lines, respectively. A pathway/functional analysis of celecoxib-affected transcripts, using Gene Ontology and Biocarta Pathways and exploring biological association networks, revealed that celecoxib modulates expression of numerous genes involved in a variety of cellular processes, including metabolism, cell proliferation, apoptotic signaling, cell cycle check points, lymphocyte activation, and signaling pathways. Among these processes, cell proliferation and apoptotic signaling consistently ranked as the highest-scoring Gene Ontology terms and Biocarta Pathways in both COX-2 expresser and nonexpresser cell lines. Altered expression of many of the genes by celecoxib was confirmed by quantitative PCR and at the protein level by Western blotting. Many novel genes emerged from our analysis of global transcription patterns that were not previously reported to be affected by celecoxib. In the future, in-depth work on selected genes will determine if these genes may serve as potential molecular targets for more effective chemopreventive strategies

Phylogenetic Analysis and Emerging Drug Resistance against Different Nucleoside Analogues in Hepatitis B Virus Positive Patients

Several nucleotide analogues have been approved for use in treating hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. Long-term exposure to therapy leads to the emergence of mutations within the HBV DNA polymerase gene, resulting in drug resistance, a major factor contributing to therapy failure. Chronic HBV patients from the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, Pakistan, who had completed 6 months of therapy participated in this study. Samples were collected from 60 patients. In this study, the entire reverse transcriptase domain of the HBV polymerase gene was amplified using nested polymerase chain reaction and sequenced. Drug-resistant mutations were detected in nine (22.5%) patients. All of these patients had lamivudine-resistant mutations (rtM204V + L180M), while seven individuals (17.5%) had both lamivudine- plus entecavir-resistant mutations (L180M + M204V + S202G). N236T, a mutation that gives rise to tenofovir and adefovir resistance, was observed in two (5%) patients. T184A, a partial drug-resistant mutation to entecavir, was found in five (12.5%) patients. Furthermore, other genotypic variants (100%) and vaccine escape mutations (5%) were additionally observed. Moreover, pN459Y (35%), pN131D (20%), pL231S (20%), pP130Q (17.5%), pS189Q (12.5%), pP161S (5%), pH160P (2.5%), pT322S (2.5%), and pA223S (2.5%) mutations in the polymerase gene, as well as sA166V (17.5%), sQ181K (12.5%), sV184R (7.5%), sA17E (5%), sP153S/K (5%), sW156C (5%), sC76Y (2.5%), and S132F (2.5%) mutations in the small surface gene, were identified for the first time in this study. Phylogenetic analysis showed that genotype D was predominant amongst the HBV carriers. Subtype D1 was found in most patients, while two patients were subtype D9. These novel findings may contribute to the body of knowledge and have clinical significance for treating and curing HBV infections in Pakistan

Partitioning of Reactive Yellow 86 between Aqueous and Micellar Media studied by Differential Absorption Spectroscopy

The manuscript reports the partitioning of a reactive dye, reactive yellow 86 between aqueous and micellar media of a cationic surfactant, Cetyltrimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB) as well as an anionic surfactant, Sodium Dodecyl Sulphate, SDS. For said purpose UV/Visible absorption spectra of dye was recorded as function of surfactants concentration above and below critical micelle concentration (CMC). Absorption spectra show red shift in case of CTAB and hypochromic shift with SDS. The partition coefficient (Kx) was calculated using differential absorption data while value of free energy of partition (â Gp) was calculated using value of partition coefficient. The results revealed that dye is solubilized in CTAB micelles to greater extent than in SDS micelles.The accepted manuscript in pdf format is listed with the files at the bottom of this page. The presentation of the authors' names and (or) special characters in the title of the manuscript may differ slightly between what is listed on this page and what is listed in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript; that in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript is what was submitted by the author

Electron Donor and Acceptor Influence on the Nonlinear Optical Response of Diacetylene-Functionalized Organic Materials (DFOMs): Density Functional Theory Calculations

Herein, we report the quantum chemical results based on density functional theory for the polarizability (&alpha;) and first hyperpolarizability (&beta;) values of diacetylene-functionalized organic molecules (DFOM) containing an electron acceptor (A) unit in the form of nitro group and electron donor (D) unit in the form of amino group. Six DFOM 1&ndash;6 have been designed by structural tailoring of the synthesized chromophore 4,4&prime;-(buta-1,3-diyne-1,4-diyl) dianiline (R) and the influence of the D and A moieties on &alpha; and &beta; was explored. Ground state geometries, HOMO-LUMO energies, and natural bond orbital (NBO) analysis of all DFOM (R and 1&ndash;6) were explored through B3LYP level of DFT and 6-31G(d,p) basis set. The polarizability (&alpha;), first hyperpolarizability (&beta;) values were computed using B3LYP (gas phase), CAM-B3LYP (gas phase), CAM-B3LYP (solvent DMSO) methods and 6-31G(d,p) basis set combination. UV-Visible analysis was performed at CAM-B3LYP/6-31G(d,p) level of theory. Results illustrated that much reduced energy gap in the range of 2.212&ndash;2.809 eV was observed in designed DFOM 1&ndash;6 as compared to parent molecule R (4.405 eV). Designed DFOM (except for 2 and 4) were found red shifted compared to parent molecule R. An absorption at longer wavelength was observed for 6 with 371.46 nm. NBO analysis confirmed the involvement of extended conjugation and as well as charge transfer character towards the promising NLO response and red shift of molecules under study. Overall, compound 6 displayed large &lt;&alpha;&gt; and &beta;tot, computed to be 333.40 (a.u.) (B3LYP gas), 302.38 (a.u.) (CAM-B3LYP gas), 380.46 (a.u.) (CAM-B3LYP solvent) and 24708.79 (a.u.), 11841.93 (a.u.), 25053.32 (a.u.) measured from B3LYP (gas), CAM-B3LYP (gas) and CAM-B3LYP (DMSO) methods respectively. This investigation provides a theoretical framework for conversion of centrosymmetric molecules into non-centrosymmetric architectures to discover NLO candidates for modern hi-tech applications

DataSheet_1_Biofilm producing plant growth promoting bacteria in combination with glycine betaine uplift drought stress tolerance of maize plant.docx

IntroductionThe escalating threat of drought poses a significant challenge to sustainable food production and human health, as water scarcity adversely impacts various aspects of plant physiology. Maize, a cornerstone in staple cereal crops, faces the formidable challenge of drought stress that triggers a series of transformative responses in the plant. MethodsThe present study was carried out in two sets of experiments. In first experiment, drought stress was applied after maintaining growth for 45 days and then irrigation was skipped, and plant samples were collected at 1st, 3rd and 6th day of drought interval for evaluation of changes in plant growth, water relation (relative water content) and antioxidants activity by inoculating indigenously isolated drought tolerant biofilm producing rhizobacterial isolates (Bacillus subtilis SRJ4, Curtobacterium citreum MJ1). In the second experiment, glycine betaine was applied as osmoregulator in addition to drought tolerant PGPR to perceive modulation in photosynthetic pigments (Chlorophyll a and b) and plant growth under varying moisture stress levels (100, 75 and 50% FC). Results and discussionResults of the study revealed upsurge in root and shoot length, fresh and dry biomass of root and shoot besides increasing chlorophyll contents in water stressed inoculated plants compared to uninoculated plants. Glycine betaine application resulted in an additional boost to plant growth and photosynthetic pigments, when applied in combination with bacterial inoculants. However, both bacterial inoculants behaved differently under drought stress as evident from their biochemical and physiological attributes. Isolate SRJ4 proved to be superior for its potential to express antioxidant activity, leaf water potential and relative water contents and drought responsive gene expression while isolate MJ1 showed exclusive increase in root dry biomass and plant P contents. Though it is quite difficult to isolate the bacterial isolates having both plant growth promoting traits and drought tolerance together yet, such biological resources could be an exceptional option to be applied for improving crop productivity and sustainable agriculture under abiotic stresses. By exploring the combined application of PGPR and glycine betaine, the study seeks to provide insights into potential strategies for developing sustainable agricultural practices aimed at improving crop resilience under challenging environmental conditions. </p