Protocol for detection of mycobacterium paratuberculosis in crohn\u27s disease patients

We developed a detailed protocol for technology that detects Mycobacterium avium paratuberculosis (MAP) in blood derivatives samples from human by culture and PCR. The technology has potential to be used for screening blood samples from millions of patients with inflammatory and non-inflammatory bowel diseases for MAP

The Degree of Including International Standards of Science Education in the Physics Syllabus of Palestinian Secondary Schools

This study aimed at finding out the degree of including international standards of science education in the physics syllabus of the secondary stage in Palestinian schools. The sample of the study consisted of the analytical aspect of the physics textbooks of the eleventh and twelfth grades. The findings of the study show that the rates of including international standards of science education in these textbooks do not match expectations. The study also shows that the criterion of physics ranked first on the study scale among the criteria of content, followed by the criterion of science as a survey, and then the criterion of unified concepts and processes of science. However, there is obvious omission of the standards of science and technology, science from personal and societal perspectives, and the history and nature of science. In light of these results, the researcher recommends the development of the physics syllabus of the secondary stage to include international standards. The study, further, calls for more research on the assessment of physics textbooks and other disciples of science at different educational levels in view of content standards as well ason the impact of including such standards on the learning outputs

Cellular Infiltration and Cytokine Expression Correlate with Fistulizing State in Crohn\u27s Disease

The purpose of this study was to determine the degree of infiltration of different cell subpopulations (tissue dendritic macrophages, T-helper cells, cytotoxic T lymphocytes, monocytes, neutrophils, and B cells) and the expression of the cytokines interleukin-12 (IL-12) and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha) in inflamed and noninflamed resected tissues from Crohn\u27s disease (CD) and non-CD patients. Twenty-one resected full-thickness intestinal tissue specimens representing 13 subjects (8 CD and 5 non-CD patients) were included in this study. Sections of 20 mu m in thickness were cut and then stained using immunohistochemistry. The sections were analyzed using confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM). Patterns of staining for inflamed CD and noninflamed CD tissues versus non-CD tissues demonstrated significant differences in the macrophage and T-helper subpopulations. Surprisingly, the T-helper subset was decreased significantly in the inflamed CD sections compared to the noninflamed CD and non-CD sections. The staining patterns also suggested differences in the expression of both IL-12 and TNF-alpha between the groups, with cytokine overexpression directly relating to the fistulizing state in CD patients. Cytokine expression is upregulated in chronic CD patients; therefore, the degree of inflammation and tissue damage in CD is dependent on the expression of specific cytokines within the tissue. Differentiation of cell subpopulations may be important for establishing a direct relationship with each state of CD (inflammatory, stricturing, and fistulizing states)

Optical Properties for Thin Film of Coumarin 334 Organic Laser Dye doped with PVA Polymer and Al2O3 Nanoparticles

Background: In this work, the optical properties for thin film of Coumarin 334 organic laser dye doped with PVA polymer and AL2O3 nanoparticles are determined at different concentrations, dissolved in ethanol solvent. Methods: Solutions at concentration (10-4 M) from coumarin (334) dye  in ethanol solvent at Different concentrations from dye (1, 3, 5, and 7)  ×10-5 M  were  prepared. Results: The AFM measurements show that the  grain size, root mean  square and roughness belong to the surface of the thin films rises with thickness rise for thin films  .  It has also increased the absorbance due to the increase in concentration. Conclusion: By using Gaussian beam from CW pulsed laser at 457 nm, we used Z-scan to study the nonlinear optical properties. The nonlinearity of thin film highly excels the pure dye solutions

Computational Analysis of Two-Dimensional Inviscid Flow Around Turbine Cascade Using Gas Kinetic Bhatnagar-Gross-Krook (BGK) Scheme

Fluid flows within turbomachinery tend to be extremely complex. Understanding such flows is crucial to improve current turbomachinery designs, and the computational approach can be used to great advantage in this regard. This study presents a gas kinetic Bhatnagar-Gross-Krook (BGK) scheme to calculate the flow within a turbine cascade. The two dimensional Euler equations with a numerical method based on the gas kinetic Bhatnagar-Gross-Krook (BGK) scheme was developed to simulate the flow around a turbine cascade configuration. The grids around the select model are efficiently generated using a multi-zone structure technique.Computed results for the even studied cases were compared with experimental data in terms of Mach number distribution. Comparisons of these results with experimental data were made wherever possible and the agreement between the two is found to be good. In addition the gas kinetic Bhatnagar-Gross-Krook (BGK) scheme as the numerical procedure has been tested for its accuracy in solving the two-dimensional compressible inviscid flow fields. Analyzing the results in regular shock reflection revealed that the gas kinetic Bhatnagar-Gross-Krook (BGK) scheme is able to produce numerical results that are comparable, robust, and accurate as Roe’s scheme. In addition, the gas kinetic Bhatnagar-Gross-Krook (BGK) scheme converges faster than Roe's scheme. For a given 1000 time iterations, the BGK scheme converges at 887 time iterations while the Roe's scheme converges at 906 time iterations. Therefore, the BGK scheme proved to be more efficient than Roe’s scheme

Microbe detection via hybridizing magnetic relaxation nanosensors (US)

Disclosed herein are methods and materials for facilitating the detection of nucleic acid analytes of interest. Specifically exemplified herein are methods for detecting mycobacterial microorganisms, namely Mycobacterium avium spp. paratuberculosis. Also disclosed is new hybridizing magnetic relaxation nanosensor (hMRS) particularly adapted to detect a target nucleic acid analyte of interest

Separation and identification of phenolics and flavonoids from wild Pistacia palaestina extract and its antioxidant activity

An in-vitro evaluation of the antioxidant activities of wild Palestinian Pistacia palaestina extracts was done. In parallel, the total phenolic content (TPC) and the total flavonoids content (TFC) were measured. The antioxidant activities were determined spectrophotometrically by DPPH, FRAP, CUPRAC and the ABTS methods. The phenolic and flavonoid contents were separated and identified using LC-PDA-MS. The P. palaestina extract was found to contain many phenolic and flavonoids that enhance its reducing activity and free radical scavenging ability. Total phenolic content, and total flavonoids contents were found to be 66.5 ± 2.2 mg Gallic acid/g, and 20.3 ± 1.1 mg catechin/g, respectively. Antioxidant activity represented as FRAP, CUPRAC, DPPH and ABTS was found to be 23.5± 1.2 mmol Fe+2/g, 4562 ± 63 μmol Trolox/g, 344 ± 11 μmol/g, 53.1 ± 6.6 μmol/g, respectively. The aim of the study is therefore to employ different antioxidant tests to evaluate the antioxidant activities of crude ethanol leaf extracts of P. palaestina, and to determine its phenolic and flavonoids content

The concept of displacement (Reading in the positions of the most important Western and Arab pioneers)

Based on the above research, we see that displacement is a distinctive aesthetic feature in the art of the text, and it is of interest to it, and its proper presence in the studies of criticism and stylistic, so this research sought to explore its uses in Western and Arab thought. It should be noted that the affective charge of displacement reveals the emotional (moral) dimension of displacement in its rhythmic, syntactic and semantic contexts

Polymorphisms in TNF Receptor Superfamily 1B (TNFRSF1B:rs3397) are Linked to Mycobacterium avium paratuberculosis Infection and Osteoporosis in Rheumatoid Arthritis

We previously discovered that single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in PTPN2/22 (T-cell negative-regulators) occur in 78% of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), along with Mycobacterium avium paratuberculosis (MAP) infection in 33% of patients. In Crohn’s disease, we reported that SNPs in TNFα and receptors (TNFRSF1A/TNFRSF1B) benefited intracellular MAP-survival, increased infection, and elevated inflammatory response mimicking the poor response to anti-TNFα treatment in some patients. Here, we studied the frequency and effects of SNPs in TNFα/TNFRSF1A/TNFRSF1B in RA including gene expression, MAP infection, and osteoporosis marker levels in blood (54 RA and 48 healthy controls). TNFα:rs1800629 (GA) was detected in 19/48 (40%) RA and 8/54 (15%) controls (p-value CT (0.34 ± 0.14) and CC > TT (0.27 ± 0.12)), compared to wildtype CC (0.51 ± 0.17), p-value < 0.05. MAP DNA was detected significantly in 17/48 (35.4%) RA compared to 11/54 (20.4%) controls (p-value < 0.05, OR = 2.14, 95% CI: 1.12–5.20). The average osteocalcin level was significantly lower (p-value < 0.05) in RA (2.70 ± 0.87 ng/mL), RA + MAP (0.60 ± 0.31 ng/mL), RA + TNFRSF1B:rs3397 (TT) (0.67 ± 0.35 ng/mL), compared to the healthy control (5.31 ± 1.39 ng/mL), and MAP-free RA (3.85 ± 1.31 ng/mL). Overall, rs3397 appears to downregulate TNFRSF1B, increase MAP infection, worsen inflammation, and cause osteocalcin deficiency and possibly osteoporosis in RA