Affinity study of -lactalbumin nanoparticles in a mixed solvent environment using Laplace transform technique

ABSTRACT. Effect of pH and cosolvent on the stabilization of protein structure is a well established study in protein or food science. Of the various interesting applications of protein nanoparticles, making it as a drug or bioactive compound carrier is of vital importance. This application of protein nanoparticle demands the affinity priority of protein with the available components of the medium. The basis of such studies lies in the synthesis of such protein nanoparticles and their characterizations. Secondly the knowledge of priority in affinity of protein to a particular solvent is essential. On this basis, the present work deals with the ultrasonic analysis of hydophobic interactions exhibited by the α-lactalbumin nanoparticle synthesised by heat treatment using acetone as desolvating agent. In order to enrich the variations in hydrophobicity, pH and cosolvent (fructose) are included in the study. The results are compared with one of our earlier work and are interpreted in terms of the interactions existing among the components and the evolved discussions reveal that the bulk nature of the medium is controlled by the existing hydrophobicity interactions. Further, as a novel attempt, the preference of protein particle to interact with a particular solvent in mixed solvent environment is elucidated using Laplace transform technique. This approach is expected to torch light in protein science in fixing the most desirable solvent in mixed solvent environment.                     KEY WORDS: a-Lactalbumin, Fructose, Laplace Transform, Diffusion, Hydrophobic interactions   Bull. Chem. Soc. Ethiop. 2021, 35(3), 659-668. DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.4314/bcse.v35i3.1

Creativity and Entrepreneurial Tendencies Among Form Two Malaysian Students

The aim of this study is to design a reliable and valid instrument to assess entrepreneurial tendency and to investigate the relationship of entrepreneurial tendency and creative personality among form two Malaysian students. A sample of 174 form two students taking entrepreneurship as a subject were chosen randomly from the four zones in Malaysia. The validated Entrepreneurship Tendency Inventory (ETI) and a measure of creative personality characteristics, Khatena Torrance Creative Perception Inventory (KTCPI) were administered. Factor analysis revealed the existence of eight factors namely, self-employed, business confidence, business intention, business anxiety, people dependent, forced decision, low self-confidence and contingent decision with internal consistencies ranging from 0.80 (self-employed) to 0.23 (low self-confidence). Self-employed, business confidence, business intention and people dependent are found to relate positively to entrepreneurial tendency. Business Anxiety has a very low correlation with entrepreneurial tendency. Students who perceive themselves as creative based on past creative performances have high levels of initiative, place more importance on what close relatives think and prefer challenging tasks and tend to have higher entrepreneurial tendencies. Further replication of this study is recommended to confirm the reliability and validity of ETI and to further elucidate the relationship between entrepreneurial tendencies and creative personality characteristic

Towards Personalized Prostate Cancer Therapy Using Delta-Reachability Analysis

Recent clinical studies suggest that the efficacy of hormone therapy for prostate cancer depends on the characteristics of individual patients. In this paper, we develop a computational framework for identifying patient-specific androgen ablation therapy schedules for postponing the potential cancer relapse. We model the population dynamics of heterogeneous prostate cancer cells in response to androgen suppression as a nonlinear hybrid automaton. We estimate personalized kinetic parameters to characterize patients and employ $\delta$-reachability analysis to predict patient-specific therapeutic strategies. The results show that our methods are promising and may lead to a prognostic tool for personalized cancer therapy.Comment: HSCC 201

Microbial prevalence and their antibiotic susceptibility pattern in diabetic infections

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A fracture of OS trigonum: a rare case report

Fractures of os trigonum is an extremely rare event. It is one of the accessory ossicles of the foot found in about 7 % of the population. Very few cases have been reported in the literature about a fracture of the ostrigonum. We present a case of fracture of ostrigonum with associated fracture of the fibula and a large lacerated wound in the leg, in a young man sustained due to road traffic accident. The initial radiological examination with Xray ankle showed a doubtful fracture of posterior process of talus but was not clear. The diagnosis was clinched by CT scan of the ankle with 2mm cuts, which showed clearly a fracture of the os trigonum. It was treated by flap cover for the wound and plaster immobilisation for the fracture. So, any doubtful fracture near the posterior process of talus should be fully assessed radiologically with a CT scan to guide in the treatment

Effect of socio-economic differentials on growth and development of children in five metropolitan cities of India

Background: Children’s growth and development depend on their parents’ socio-economic status. Adequate nutrition of children influence their anthropometric measures proper growth and development and reduces morbidity and mortality among children. Objective: To understand the growth and development pattern of children dwelling in the slum environment and to compare some of their growth parameters with non-slum children. Methods: This was a record review of National Family Health Survey-3 (NFHS-3) data, freely available from Measure DHS USA. Data for five major metropolitan cities, namely, Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, and Hyderabad were used for this study. The households classified as slum and non-slum by two agencies, viz., NFHS and census of India were considered for analysis. Variables more relevant as an indicator for the growth and development of children, viz., height, weight, hemoglobin, standard of living index (SLI), age (in months), and place of residence were selected for this study. Place of residence (slum or non-slum) and SLI, which is proxy to socio-economic status, were considered to understand their influence on height, weight, and hemoglobin values of the children. Results: About 75% of the slum dwellers were in low SLI category, and 69% of non-slum residents were in high SLI category. There is a significant difference (p=0.001) between slum and non-slum residence on the proportions of SLI. Multivariate analysis showed that all the variables significantly differ by SLI except age of the children. Conclusion: It is concluded that the observed difference between slum and non-slum children’s height, weight, and hemoglobin are due to differences in SLI. Growth and development of children dwelling in slum or non-slum area depend on the socio-economic status of their parents and not by their place where they are growing