SABAR

The aim of this study was to determine the suitability of tannin-added Rhizophora spp. particleboards as phantom materials in the application of low- and high-energy photons. The tannin-added Rhizophora spp. particleboards and density plug phantoms were created with a target density of 1.0 g/cm(3). The elemental composition and effective atomic number of the particleboards were measured using energy dispersive X-ray analysis. The mass attenuation coefficient of the particleboards for low-energy photons were measured using the attenuation of X-ray fluorescence...

Silicon nanowires (SiNWs) were fabricated by the electroless etching of an n-type Si (100) wafer in HF/AgNO3. Vertically aligned and high-density SiNWs are formed on the Si substrates. Various shapes of SiNWs are observed, including round, rectangular, and triangular. The recorded maximum reflectance of the SiNWs is approximately 19.2%, which is much lower than that of the Si substrate (65.1%). The minimum reflectance of the SiNWs is approximately 3.5% in the near UV region and 9.8% in the visible to near IR regions...

BCR-ABL kinase domain (KD) mutations are well known for causing resistance against tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) and disease progression in chronic myeloid leukemia (CML). In recent years, compound BCR-ABL mutations have emerged as a new threat to CML patients by causing higher degrees of resistance involving multiple TKIs, including ponatinib. However, there are limited reports about association of compound BCR-ABL mutations with disease progression in imatinib (IM) sensitive CML patients. Therefore, we investigated presence of ABL-KD mutations in chronic phase (n = 41), late chronic phase (n = 33) and accelerated phase (n = 16) imatinib responders...

Lignocellulosic materials from municipal solid waste emerge as attractive resources for anaerobic digestion biorefinery. To increase the knowledge required for establishing efficient bioprocesses, dynamics of batch fermentation by the cellulolytic bacterium Ruminiclostridium cellulolyticum were compared using three cellulosic materials, paper handkerchief, cotton discs and Whatman filter paper. Fermentation of paper handkerchief occurred the fastest and resulted in a specific metabolic profile: it resulted in the lowest acetate-to-lactate and acetate-to-ethanol ratios...

OBJECTIVE: rs12603332, an important regulatory site variant, is known to alter the regulatory motif E2A that is involved in maturation of B-lymphocytes. The study was designed to check whether different environmental exposures alter its risk allele association with asthma or not. METHODS: 200 Physician diagnosed asthma patients and 108 healthy individuals were enrolled from hospitals of Lahore. After quantitation of DNA extracted from their peripheral blood samples, amplification of genomic region with rs12603332 was performed followed by single base extension...

Considering its widespread usage in various fields, such as food, pharmaceutical, medical, cosmetic and polymer composites industries, microcrystalline cellulose (MCC) is becoming impellent due to increasing demand of alternatives to non-renewable and scarce fossil materials. Although it still suffers from some drawbacks, MCC has recently gained more interest owing to its renewability, non-toxicity, economic value, biodegradability, high mechanical properties, high surface area and biocompatibility. New sources, new isolation processes, and new treatments are currently under development to satisfy the increasing demand of producing new types of MCC-based materials on an industrial scale...

The study has been conducted in the Potka Block of East Singhbhum district of the state of Jharkhand. The district is mainly dominated by indigenous tribes, such as, Santhal, Munda, Ho, Bhumiz, Kharia, and Sabar. The unit of analysis of the study was an individual. The objectives were to: a) Understand the socio-economic and health status of LAP, b) Know the health seeking behavior and problems faced by the LAP, c) Assess the utilization of the programs related to Leprosy eradication in the study area and d), Suggest various measures for improving the socio-economic and health status of LAP...

BACKGROUND: Fusion oncogenes (FOs) resulting from chromosomal abnormalities have an important role in leukemogenesis in pediatric B cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). The most common FOs are BCR-ABL, MLL-AF4, ETV6-RUNX1, and TCF3-PBX1, all of which have important prognostic and drug selection implications. Moreover, frequencies of FOs have ethnic variations. We studied Pakistani frequencies of FOs, clinical pattern, and outcome in pediatric B-ALL. METHODS: FOs were studied in 188 patients at diagnosis using reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and interphase fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH)...

OBJECTIVE: Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) on 17q21 are known to be associated with asthma disease in multiple populations. This study was designed to know whether this region is associated with asthma in Lahore region population or not. METHODS: A total of 200 asthma patients and 100 healthy controls were enrolled from different hospitals of Lahore, Pakistan. Twelve SNPs from chromosomal region 17q21 were analyzed in cases and controls by single base extension method and capillary-based genetic analyzers...

Drug resistance is a phenomenon that has become a critical issue in medical practice. Such is the case in the response to clopidogrel treatment, which is variable inter-individually and inter-ethnically due to genetic polymorphisms in the cytochrome P40 (CYP) gene. Clopidogrel is an anti-platelet agent administered to cardiac patients in the form of a prodrug, which is further metabolized into an active form by CYP enzymes. There are many allelic variants of the CYP gene that are involved in clopidogrel resistance, of which CYP2C19*2 has been demonstrated to be one of the most significant loss-of-function alleles...

To gain insights into the adaptation of the Escherichia coli species to different environments, we monitored protein abundances using quantitative proteomics and measurements of enzymatic activities of central metabolism in a set of five representative strains grown in four contrasted culture media including human urine. Two hundred and thirty seven proteins representative of the genome-scale metabolic network were identified and classified into pathway categories. We found that nutrient resources shape the general orientation of metabolism through coordinated changes in the average abundances of proteins and in enzymatic activities that all belong to the same pathway category...

BACKGROUND: Cancer incidence in Middle Eastern countries, most categorized as low- and middle-income, is predicted to double in the next 10 years, greater than in any other part of the world. While progress has been made in cancer diagnosis/treatment, much remains to be done to improve palliative care for the majority of patients with cancer who present with advanced disease. OBJECTIVE: To determine knowledge, beliefs, barriers, and resources regarding palliative care services in Middle Eastern countries and use findings to inform future educational and training activities...

BACKGROUND: The African malaria vector, Anopheles gambiae s.s., is known to feed selectively on certain plants for sugar sources. However, the adaptive significance of this behaviour especially on how the extracts of such plants impact on the fitness of this vector has not been explored. This study determined the toxicity and larvicidal activity on this vector of extracts from six selected plants found in Kenya and two compounds identified from Ricinus communis: 3-carbonitrile-4-methoxy-N-methyl-2-pyridone (ricinine), and its carboxylic acid derivative 3-carboxy-4-methoxy-N-methyl-2-pyridone, the latter compound being reported for the first time from this plant...

Hyper-heuristics are search methodologies that aim to provide high-quality solutions across a wide variety of problem domains, rather than developing tailor-made methodologies for each problem instance/domain. A traditional hyper-heuristic framework has two levels, namely, the high level strategy (heuristic selection mechanism and the acceptance criterion) and low level heuristics (a set of problem specific heuristics). Due to the different landscape structures of different problem instances, the high level strategy plays an important role in the design of a hyper-heuristic framework...

The immune response to dengue virus (DENV) infection generates high levels of antibodies (Abs) against the DENV non-structural protein 1 (NS1), particularly in cases of secondary infection. Therefore, anti-NS1 Abs may play a role in severe dengue infections, possibly by interacting (directly or indirectly) with host factors or regulating virus production. If it does play a role, NS1 may contain epitopes that mimic those epitopes of host molecules. Previous attempts to map immunogenic regions within DENV-NS1 were undertaken using mouse monoclonal Abs (MAbs)...

The orientation of barley anthers on culture medium had a marked effect on their response. Embryoids developed only in the upper lobes of anthers cultured on edge, i.e. with a single lobe in contact with the culture medium. Anthers cultured flat, i.e. with both lobes in contact with the medium, did not respond. Careful orientation of anthers at the start of incubation resulted in a mean yield of 20 green plants per 100 anthers cultured.

Pollen calli and plantlets of Hordeum vulgare cv. 'Sabarlis' were obtained through direct pollen culture without pretreatment of spikes or preculture of anthers. Isolated immature pollen grains were cultured first in a 0.3 M mannitol solution or a C1 basal medium (Chen et al. 1979) supplemented with 0.3 M mannitol but without sucrose for 5-7 days, then transferred into a C1 medium containing 6% sucrose, 3 mM glutamine and 5 mM m-inositol. After a 3 week culture period small pollen calli derived from the pollen grains were transferred into a growth medium comprising C1 basal medium supplemented with 250 mg/1 lactalbumin hydrolysate and 0...

The inheritance of the ability of barley anthers to produce microspore-derived callus in vitro was investigated. The genotypes selected were the two spring cultivars 'Dissa' (D) and 'Sabarlis' (S), the two F1 hybrids (DxS, SxD), the two backcross generations [Dx(DxS), Sx(DxS)], and an F2 generation derived from DxS. From a number of individuals of each generation, the first five spikes were harvested sequentially and after pre-treatment the anthers were removed and placed in culture. Cultures were scored for microspore callus production and plantlet differentiation...

The non-structural protein NS2B/NS3 serine-protease complex of the dengue virus (DENV) is required for the maturation of the viral polyprotein. Dissociation of the NS2B cofactor from NS3 diminishes the enzymatic activity of the complex. In this study, we identified a small molecule inhibitor that interferes with the interaction between NS2B and NS3 using structure-based screening and a cell-based viral replication assay. A library containing 661,417 small compounds derived from the Molecular Operating Environment lead-like database was docked to the NS2B/NS3 structural model...

End-stage congestive heart failure is a leading diagnosis among hospice patients without cancer. As in terminally ill cancer patients; the aim of the treatment was to focus on palliation and maximum symptom relief. Anasarca, a widespread swelling of the skin because of effusion of fluid into the extracellular space, is a common sign in end-stage heart failure causing much pain and discomfort. We described a simple, safe, bed-side technique to alleviate the discomfort associated with massive scrotal oedema.