Biomedical science Research Papers - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

The past decade has witnessed an upsurge in studies demonstrating mitochondrial transfer as one of the emerging mechanisms through which mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) can regenerate and repair damaged cells or tissues. It has been found to play a critical role in healing several diseases related to brain injury, cardiac myopathies, muscle sepsis, lung disorders and acute respiratory disorders. Several studies have shown that various mechanisms are involved in mitochondrial transfer that includes tunnel tube formation, micro vesicle formation, gap junctions, cell fusion and others modes of transfer. Few studies have investigated the mechanisms that contribute to mitochondrial transfer, primarily comprising of signaling pathways involved in tunnel tube formation that facilitates tunnel tube formation for movement of mitochondria from one cell to another. Various stress signals such as release of damaged mitochondria, mtDNA and mitochondrial products along with elevated reactive oxygen...

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- Regeneration, Biology, Mitochondria, Medicine

In this article we examine how a leading Israeli hospital gradually became a large biomedical research facility, resembling a huge laboratory. For Chaim Sheba (1908-1971), the founder and first director of Tel-Hashomer Hospital, the massive immigration to Israel in the 1950s was a unique opportunity for research of diverse human populations, especially Jews who had arrived to Israel from Asia and Africa. We focus on the way research and medical practices were integrated and their boundaries blurred, and study the conditions under which an entire hospital became a research field. Using the case of one of Israel's prominent medical institutes allows us to consider the idea of "the hospital as a laboratory". We will conclusively argue that for Sheba, not only did the hospital function as a great research site, but also the whole country was seen as a vast laboratory that "had no walls".

- by Ari Barell and +1
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- Population Genetics, History of Hospitals, Israel, Biomedical science

- by awajimijan mbaba
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- Biology, Biomedical science
- by Christian Obirikorang
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- Ghana, Biological Sciences, Prospective studies, Humans
- by Cheng-chi Chang
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- Migration, Cancer, Cell Migration, Cell Division

Cycling exercise-based on functional electrical stimulation (FES) for disabled individuals-is achieved by stimulating single muscle group, the quadriceps, with the help of a new assist mechanism represented by a solid disc flywheel equipped with an electrical clutch. Fuzzy logic based closed-loop control method is implemented to obtain a stable cycling cadence by i) controlling the stimulation intensity on the muscle and ii) managing the engagement of the flywheel mechanism. To achieve better results, several crank positionswith different gear ratios between the crank and the flywheel-are tested and analyzed. To obtain the optimal design parameters, a multi-objective genetic algorithm (MOGA) approach is adopted towards maximizing the cycling efficiency and minimizing the cadence error. A comparison with the results reported in the literature reveals the superiority of the proposed design to limit the cadence error to ±5 rpm for 35 rpm desired speed. Moreover, the results demonstrate that the designed control approach with the proposed assist mechanism is robust to changes in muscle force due to muscle fatigue. Additionally, the introduced control approach with the new assist mechanism is promoting bounded tracking of the desired speed and prolonging FES-cycling training by stimulating the quadriceps muscle group only.

- by Jang-yen Wu
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- Biological Sciences, Humans, Biomedical science, Nitric oxide
- by Campbell Price and +1
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- Egyptology, Biomedical science

Alumina has received considerable attention and has been historically well-accepted as biomaterials for dental and medical applications. This article reviews the applications of this material in dentistry. It presents a brief history, dental applications and methods for improving the mechanical properties of alumina-based materials. It also offers perspectives on recent research aimed at the further development of alumina for clinical uses, at their evaluation and selection, and very importantly, their clinical performance. This article also stated about the Functionally Graded Materials (FGMs) which has been conceived as a new material design approach to improve performance compared to traditional homogeneous and uniform materials. This technique allows the production of a material with very different characteristics within the same material at various interfaces. The importance of the FGM concept in biological applications and functions was highlighted. Fundamentally, the combination of mechanical properties and biocompatibility are very important factors in application of any biomaterial to medical or dental fields. The characteristics of the surface govern the biocompatibility of the material, and the mechanical strength is determined by the average mechanical strength of the materials. However, the fabrication of FGMs is most often hindered by the variation of elastic, plastic, thermal, chemical, and kinetic properties within the composite. Across a material interface, these discontinuities in material properties lead to the formation of residual stresses. Despite these challenges, compositional gradient structures offer significant benefits. Notable research literature is highlighted regarding (1) applications of alumina in various fields in dentistry; (2) improvement of the mechanical properties of alumina by microstructural manipulation, FGM as well as composite formulations involving metallic, intermetallic elements and bioceramics.

- by Ahmed A. Madfa
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- Dentistry, Orthodontics, Prosthodontics, Orthopedic Surgery
- by Rodrigo Taborda
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- Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Technology, Biomedical Engineering

A simple and selective LC method is described for the determination of Ambroxol, Montelukast and Levocetirizine in tablet dosage forms. Chromatographic separation was achieved on a c18 column using mobile phase consisting of a mixture of Triethylamine Buffer:ACN:Methanol (20:30:50) with detection of 280 nm. Linearity was observed in the range 7.7-22.5 µg/ml for Ambroxol (r2=0.999) and 1.25-3.75 µg/ml for Montelukast (r2=0.998) and 5-15 µg/ml for Levocetirizine (r2=0.997) for the amount of drugs estimated by the proposed methods was in good agreement with the label claim. The proposed methods were validated. The accuracy of the methods was assessed by recovery studies at three different levels. Recovery experiments indicated the absence of interference from commonly encountered pharmaceutical additives. The method was found to be precise as indicated by the repeatability analysis, showing %RSD less than 2. All statistical data proves validity of the methods and can be used for routine analysis of pharmaceutical dosage form.

A simple and selective LC method is described for the determination of Tiotropium Bromide and Olodaterol dosage forms. Chromatographic separation was achieved on a c18 column using mobile phase consisting of a mixture of 50 volumes of acetonitrile and 50 volumes of Triethyl-amine buffer with detection of 225 nm. Linearity was observed in the range 30-70 μg /ml for Tiotropium Bromide (r2 =0.9987) and 40-80 μg/ml for Olodaterol (r2 =0.9977) for the amount of drugs estimated by the proposed methods was in good agreement with the label claim. The proposed methods were validated. The accuracy of the methods was assessed by recovery studies at three different levels. Recovery experiments indicated the absence of interference from commonly encountered pharmaceutical additives. The method was found to be precise as indicated by the repeatability analysis, showing % RSD less than 2. All statistical data proves validity of the methods and can be used for routine analysis of pharmaceutical dosage form.

There is enormous evidence that the initiation and growth of atherosclerosis is highly influenced by hemodynamic factors. In this study, hemodynamic factors in the following patient specific 3D carotid artery models were studied: i) normal, ii) stenosis (with plaque near to bifurcation of internal carotid artery (ICA)), and iii) surgical model (plaque with surgically fitted Palmaz–Schatz stent). The 3D model of the carotid artery was formed from CT image of a patient through a commercial software MIMICS. The geometrical measurement taken from the 3D model was used to form its CAD model using CATIA software. The CAD model was meshed in ANSYS ICEM CFD module. The inlet- and outlet- boundary conditions were defined and material properties were given in CFX-Pre module of ANSYS. Then the solver input file was given to CFX solver manager for performing computational fluid dynamics (CFD) on the model. The outputs of the CFD analysis were observed in CFD-Post. The wall shear stress and blood velocity were greater both at near the bifurcation and at bend of the carotid artery model. The abnormal model is characterized by high wall shear stress in the stenosed portion which indicates greater probability of growth of plaque. Disturbed flow patterns and oscillating velocity indicate that the vulnerability of plaque formation is high in such places. The hemodynamic values have come back near to normal values in the carotid model fitted with stent. The observed variations in hemodynamic factors in the carotid artery with plaque surgically fitted with stent were compared to its normal model. This information can be used to predict restenosis in future.

To establish the treatment or prevention of an illness will always be necessary the eradication of all etiological factors, and/or increase host local resistance and/or improve the overall resistance of the host against all etiologic factors, and/or promote a control of etiological factors at levels below their potential for aggression capable of being inactivate by the host's defensive system to induce health for a long period. To equate a treatment plan for a disease, it is extremely necessary to analyze how the etiological agents act to initiate the disease.

- by International Journal of Biomedical Investigation and +1
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- Dentistry, Biomedical Engineering, Biomedical, Biomedical Research

Since the 1990s, results coming in from molecular phylogenetics necessitate
us to recognize that Horizontal Gene Transfer (HGT) occurs massively across all three
domains of life. Nonetheless, many of the mechanisms whereby genes can become
transferred laterally have been known from the early twentieth century onward. The
temporal discrepancy between the first historical observations of the processes, and
the rather recent general acceptance of the documented data, poses an interesting epistemological
conundrum: Why have incoming results on HGT been widely neglected
by the general evolutionary community and what causes for a more favorable reception
today? Five reasons are given: (1) HGT was first observed in the biomedical sciences
and these sciences did not endorse an evolutionary epistemic stance because of
the ontogeny/phylogeny divide adhered to by the founders of the Modern Synthesis.
(2) Those who did entertain an evolutionary outlook associated research on HGT with
a symbiotic epistemic framework. (3) That HGT occurs across all three domains of
life was demonstrated by modern techniques developed in molecular biology, a field
that itself awaits full integration into the general evolutionary synthesis. (4) Molecular
phylogenetic studies of prokaryote evolution were originally associated with exobiology
and abiogenesis, and both fields developed outside the framework provided by the
Modern Synthesis. (5) Because HGT brings forth a pattern of reticulation, it contrasts
the standard idea that evolution occurs solely by natural selection that brings forth
a vertical, bifurcating pattern in the “tree” of life. Divided into two parts, this chapter
first reviews current neo-Darwinian “tree of life” versus reticulate “web of life”
polemics as they have been debated in high-profile academic journals, and secondly,
the historical context of discovery of the various means whereby genes are transferred
laterally is sketched. Along the way, the reader is introduced to how HGT contradicts
some of the basic tenets of the neo-Darwinian paradigm.

- by Nathalie Gontier
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- Evolutionary Biology, Microbiology, Philosophy of Science, Philosophy of Biology

Recent days Computer-aided design and image processing techniques are one of the most emerging useful tools for analysis of models in various medical, industrial and research areas. In medical field for the diagnosis of various diseases in vivo techniques including biochemical test, enzymatic tests are needed for continuous monitoring of patients. These diagnosis procedures are time consuming and inconvenient for patients. Therefore Computer assisted designing and image processing techniques are most promising non invasive tools for faster diagnosis and useful tool for designing of biomedical implants. In this paper portal vein was segmented from patient’s Liver computed tomography (CT) image by dedicated software. A Liver’s CT image of 38 year old Indian male patient’s was collected and by using imaged based software MIMICS (Materialise’s Interactive Medical Image Control System, Belgium) 3D model of HPV (hepatic portal vein) was obtained and Solid Work Professional (Dassault Systems Solid Works Corporation, USA) software was used for designing of normal portal vein’s 3D model and various portal vein diseased models including minor right portal vein thrombosis ( 19-20% reduction in medial region of vein), severe right portal vein thrombosis (20-22% reduction in medial and distal region of vein), minor left portal vein thrombosis (19-20% reduction in medial region of vein, severe right portal vein
thrombosis(20-22% reduction in medial and distal region of vein), left aneurysm (150-200 % increase of medial region).These models can be used for designing for implants and analysis of portal vein’s disorder like portal thrombosis, and portal aneurysm which are main cause of portal hypertension and also useful for surgeon for planning surgery and also helpful for understanding of portal vein hemodynamic (pressure, velocity, wall shear force)

- by Anburajan Mariamichael
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- Physiology, Human Physiology, Health Sciences, Medical Sciences
- by Hojjat Naderi-Meshkin and +1
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- Biochemistry, Clinical Psychology, Hydrogeology, Medical Sciences

Pulmonary diseases due to mycobacteria cause significant morbidity and mortality to human health. In addition to tuberculosis (TB), caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb), recent epidemiological studies have shown the emergence of non-tuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) species in causing lung diseases in humans. Although more than 170 NTM species are present in various environmental niches, only a handful, primarily Mycobacterium avium complex and M. abscessus, have been implicated in pulmonary disease. While TB is transmitted through inhalation of aerosol droplets containing Mtb, generated by patients with symptomatic disease, NTM disease is mostly disseminated through aerosols originated from the environment. However, following inhalation, both Mtb and NTM are phagocytosed by alveolar macrophages in the lungs. Subsequently, various immune cells are recruited from the circulation to the site of infection, which leads to granuloma formation. Although the pathophysiology of TB and NT...

- by Rajesh Mondal
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- Biological Sciences, Biomedical science, Medical and Health Sciences

Background Parkinson's disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disorder. The diagnosis of Parkinsonism is challenging because currently none of the clinical tests have been proven to help in diagnosis. PD may produce characteristic perturbations in the metabolome and such variations can be used as the marker for detection of disease. To test this hypothesis, we used proton NMR and multivariate analysis followed by neural network pattern detection. Methods & Results 1H nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy analysis was carried out on plasma samples of 37 healthy controls and 43 drug-naive patients with PD. Focus on 22 targeted metabolites, 17 were decreased and 5 were elevated in PD patients (p < 0.05). Partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) showed that pyruvate is the key metabolite, which contributes to the separation of PD from control samples. Furthermore, gene expression analysis shows significant (p < 0.05) change in expression of PDHB and NPFF genes leading to increased pyruvate concentration in blood plasma. Moreover, the implementation of 1H- NMR spectral pattern in neural network algorithm shows 97.14% accuracy in the detection of disease progression. Conclusion The results increase the prospect of a robust molecular definition in detection of PD through the early symptomatic phase of the disease. This is an ultimate opening for therapeutic intervention. If validated in a genuinely prospective fashion in larger samples, the biomarker trajectories described here will go a long way to facilitate the development of useful therapies. Moreover, implementation of neural network will be a breakthrough in clinical screening and rapid detection of PD.

- by Ali Motie Nasrabadi
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- Psychology, Biomedical science, Fractal Dimension, Feature Analysis
- by Rodrigo Apostolo Reis
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- Evolutionary Biology, Microbiology, Nursing, Nutrition and Dietetics
- by f ahmadi
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- Pharmacology, Chemistry, Analytical Chemistry, Pharmacy

Additive manufacturing (AM) has attracted growing interest for different industries. This article provides a review of fabrication of biosensors and diagnostic tools via additive manufacturing. This mini-review will provide an applicable classification of diagnostic tools fabricated by different AM methods such as fused deposition modeling, stereolithography, and selective laser melting. The application of bioprinting for designing sensors and different mechanisms such as extrusion, Inkjet, and laser-based methods are studied. The mini review summarizes design principles and mechanisms and challenges in additive manufacturing to achieve high-performance sensors. Each of the AM methods results in the specific properties and characteristics of the fabricated biosensor. Some parameters including heat source type, build orientation, the thickness of the layers, raster width and angle, air gap, and feed rate which can affect systematically on properties and characterization of biosensors are investigated in this paper.

- by Mehrdad Khakbiz
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- 3D printing, Biomedical science

Phyllanthus emblica posses a vast ethnomedicinal history and
represents a large group of phytochemical reservoir of medicinal
uses. It is one of the ingredients used from time immemorial in
various ancient literatures like in “Ayurveda” and “Charka
Samhitha” as a potential ingredient for various ailments. The fruit
is studied for various phyto chemical constituents like rich in
quercetin, gallic acid, tannins, flavonoids, pectin and Vitamin C
and also contains various polyphenolic compounds. A wide range
of phytochemical components from this plant have shown proven
results for biological activities like terpenoids, alkaloids,
flavonoids and tannins. Many pharmacological studies also have
exhibited proven results for antioxidant, anticarcinogenic,
antitumour, antigenotoxic, antiinflamatory activities supporting its
traditional uses. In view of these studies the present work has been
focused on the GC–MS analysis of ethyl acetate extract of the bark
portion of the P. emblica which could be a possible source of
extracting the therapeutically useful products.

Transposable elements (TEs) initially attracted attention because they comprise a major portion of the genomic sequences in plants and animals. TEs may jump around the genome and disrupt both coding genes as well as regulatory sequences to cause disease. Host cells have therefore evolved various epigenetic and functional RNA-mediated mechanisms to mitigate the disruption of genomic integrity by TEs. TE associated sequences therefore acquire the tendencies of attracting various epigenetic modifiers to induce epigenetic alterations that may spread to the neighboring genes. In addition to posting threats for (epi)genome integrity, emerging evidence suggested the physiological importance of endogenous TEs either as cis-acting control elements for controlling gene regulation or as TE-containing functional transcripts that modulate the transcriptome of the host cells. Recent advances in long-reads sequence analysis technologies, bioinformatics and genetic editing tools have enabled the pr...

- by Shau-ping Lin
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- Biological Sciences, Biomedical science, Medical and Health Sciences

The articulating surface of standard femoral knee component is as generic shape while every individual patient has a unique shape of knee joint and this is causes some problems. The Conventional femoral knee component gives a satisfactory result in many cases that carry the patient back to active lifestyle and near normal patient and especially for younger patients. Most patients' gaits are altered after a total knee replacement (TKR) due to the change in surface geometry of femoral implant. The main objective of this work is to design custom design implant as smooth-implant interface of femoral component to increase appropriate bone ingrowths and to prevent bone remodeling found in conventional knee implants, also this design maintain the articulating surface of femoral with tibial component and patellar component as natural knee to maintain the patients gait without altered. This custom design of femoral knee implant will provide better results for patients who have more active lifestyle and strenuous activities such as younger patients. The custom design was done by creating 3D models from computerized tomography (CT) scan data through computer segmentation using Materialise MIMICS software. Geomagic studio software was used in this work for smoothing, preparation of the model and convert STL file format to STEP format. The 3D model as STEP format then exported from Geomagic Studio to CAD design software such as solidworks (Solidworks, USA) for design on the femoral components of the implant. From 3D model of the femur, a custom knee implant femoral component was designed. Finite Element Analysis was used to examine and evaluate the stress distribution over the interface between the implant and femur bone. The custom design as smooth surface describe a more even stress distribution in the contact region between femur bone and implant. This stress will reduce the uneven bone remodeling; also reduce the risk of premature loosening of implant.

In India, number of people with type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (DM) would be 87 million by the year 2030. DM disturbs autonomic regulation of skin microcirculation, and causes decrease in resting blood flows through the skin. The skin blood flow has a major effect on its temperature. The aim of the study was to evaluate changes of skin temperature of all parts of the body and serum asymmetric dimethylarginine, ADMA (μmol/L) in type-2 DM Indian patients. Group-I: Normal (n=17; M/F: 10/15, mean±SD= 43.2±9.4 years); Group-II: Type-2 DM without cardiovascular (CV) complications (n=15; M/F: 10/7, mean±SD= 46.3 ± 14.0 years); Thermograms of all parts of the body were acquired using a non-contact infrared (IR) thermography camera (ThermaCAM T400, FLIR Systems, Sweden). Blood parameters and thyroid hormone were measured biochemically. Indian diabetic risk score (IDRS) was calculated for each subject. In type-2 DM patients without CV group (n=15), there was a statistically significant (p=0.01) negative correlations between HbA1c and skin temperature of eye and nose (r= -0.57 and r= -0.55 respectively). ADMA was correlated significantly (p=0.01) with HbA1c (r=0.65) and estimated average glucose, eAG (r=0.63). In normal subjects, mean minimum and maximum values of skin temperatures were observed at posterior side of sole (26.89°C) and ear (36.85°C) respectively. In type-2 DM without CV, mean values of skin temperature in different parts of the body from head to toe were lesser than those values in control group; but this decreases were statistically significant in nose (32.66 Vs 33.99°C, p=0.024) as well as in tibia (32.78 Vs 33.13°C, p=0.036) regions.

- by Anburajan Mariamichael
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- Thermal Engineering, Bioinformatics, Health Sciences, Medical Sciences
- by Hong-Yi Gong
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- Apoptosis, Biomedical, Biological Sciences, Biomedical science
- by Elisabeth Bloemena
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- Dentistry, Clinical Trial, Cancer, Treatment
- by Rodriguez Rodriguez Paola Andrea
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- Tissue Engineering, Immunohistochemistry, Stem Cell, Biomedical

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have been demonstrated to have a great potential in the treatment of several diseases due to their differentiation and immunomodulatory capabilities and their ability to be easily cultured and manipulated. Recent investigations revealed that their therapeutic effect is largely mediated by the secretion of paracrine factors including exosomes. Exosomes reflect biophysical features of MSCs and are considered more effective than MSCs themselves. Alternative approaches based on MSC-derived exosomes can offer appreciable promise in overcoming the limitations and practical challenges observed in cell-based therapy. Furthermore, MSC-derived exosomes may provide a potent therapeutic strategy for various diseases and are promising candidates for cell-based and cell-free regenerative medicine. This review briefly summarizes the development of MSCs as a treatment for human diseases as well as describes our current knowledge about exosomes: their biogenesis and mol...

- by Lucia Slovinska
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- Biological Sciences, Biomedical science, Medical and Health Sciences
- by Manuel Gidekel
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- Immune response, Clinical Trial, Cytokines, Dendritic Cells

One of the drawbacks of the most commonly used tool for obesity screening, body mass index (BMI) is its inaccuracy in assessing body fat. In order to address the issue associated with the aforementioned screening tool; this study aims at predicting body fat percentage (%BF) using segmental body composition variables measured by bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA). A total of ninety women between the age group of 20 to 75 years participated in the study. From the women who partook in the study %BF, regional (arm, leg, trunk) fat distribution parameters and bioelectrical impedance variables were measured using multi-frequency BIA. Pearson’s correlation was applied onto the obtained measurement data and was found that BMI and %BF were significantly correlated (r=0.952). Substantiated by the high value of correlation, %BF cut-off values for corresponding BMI cut off values recommended by WHO were calculated and obesity was evaluated for the population under study. Regression equations from the best model (r2 =0.97) was used to predict %BF values for the subjects. Receiver Operating Curves (ROC) analysis was executed to evaluate the ability of predicted %BF values to distinguish between obesity and non-obesity. With the help of the analyses that were performed it was inferred that the predicted %BF was able to distinguish obesity clearly with sensitivity being 95.5% and specificity being 97.7%, the Area Under the Curve (AUC) was found to be 0.997. Corroborated by the high levels of sensitivity, specificity and AUC obtained from the analysis, the %BF computed from the segmental BIA variables can be used as an additional tool for screening population for obesity.

Advances in Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats/CRISPR associated system (CRISPR/Cas9) has dramatically reshaped our ability to edit genomes. The scientific community is using CRISPR/Cas9 for various biotechnological and medical purposes. One of its most important uses is developing potential therapeutic strategies against diseases. CRISPR/Cas9 based approaches have been increasingly applied to the treatment of human diseases like cancer, genetic, immunological and neurological disorders and viral diseases. These strategies using CRISPR/Cas9 are not only therapy oriented but can also be used for disease modeling as well, which in turn can lead to the improved understanding of mechanisms of various infectious and genetic diseases. In addition, CRISPR/Cas9 system can also be used as programmable antibiotics to kill the bacteria sequence specifically and therefore can bypass multidrug resistance. Furthermore, CRISPR/Cas9 based gene drive may also hold the potentia...

- by Hassan Zafar
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- Biological Sciences, Humans, Biomedical science, Noncommunicable Diseases
- by Andrés Amado Zuno Arce
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- Bioinformatics, Neuromodulation, Acupuncture, Biomedical science
- by Yick-pang Ching
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- Flow Cytometry, Fluorescence Microscopy, Western blotting, Biological Sciences

Background: Common and rare entities may manifest differently in younger children than in adults on chest radiograph and the sort of pathology encountered in pediatric patients also varies. This study was designed to evaluate the common radiographic chest findings in pediatric patients to obtain comprehensive data that will serve as a reference for the diagnosis of pediatric chest diseases in our locality. Materials and Methods: This was a cross-sectional retrospective review of radiological reports of pediatric patients who underwent chest X-ray investigations in two selected hospitals in Enugu metropolis. Ethical approval for this study was obtained from the Human Research and Ethics Committees of the study centers. Results: Out of 200 cases studied, 82% (n=164) was pathological with pneumonia having the highest frequency of occurrence, 17.0% (n=34). Normal finding accounted for about 18% (n=36). Out of the total sample size, females were highest 55.50% (n=111) when compared with ...

- by Awajimijan Mbaba
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- Biology, Biomedical science

Biometrics-based personal verification is a powerful security features in technology era. Palmprint is an important complement and reliable biometric that can be used for identity verification because it is stable and unique for every individual. This paper presents a new palmprint verification method by using the contourlet features and
AdaBoost classification. The contourlet transform is a new two dimensional extension of the wavelet transform using multi-scale and directional filter banks. It can effectively capture smooth contours that are the dominant features in palmprint images. AdaBoost is used as a classifier in the experiments. Experimental results shows that the contourlet features when classify by using AdaBoost (α-Type) classifier are very suitable for invariant palmprint verification. The experimental results illustrate the effectiveness of the method proposed.

The objective was to obtain solid dispersion to improve the dissolution rate, solubility and oral absorption of MB (mebendazole), poor water-soluble drugs. The new formulation was characterized by DSC (differential scanning calorimetry), PXRD (powder X-ray diffraction), FT-IR (fourier transform infrared spectroscopy) and STEM (scanning transmission electron microscopy) methods. Solid dispersions of MB with polyvinylpyrrolidone K-30 (PVP K30) were prepared by solvent evaporation method. The solubility of MB (original powder) and that of the solid dispersions was measured at 25ºC in ethanol-water. The aqueous solubility of MB was favoured by the presence of the polymer in solvent mixtures. Combination of solid dispersions with co-solvents increased the water solubility of MB in a larger extent that each method separately. Solubility parameter () was used to relate to solubility profiles. MB and the solid dispersions show a solubility curve with a single peak at ı = 30.78 MPa 1/2. Solid state characterizations indicated that the solid dispersion exist an amorphous material entrapped in polymer matrix getting highest improvement in wettability and solubility.

- by Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmacology
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- Pharmacy, Biomedical science

BackgroundThe highly pathogenic H5N1 is a major avian pathogen that crosses species barriers and seriously affects humans as well as some mammals. It mutates in an intensified manner and is considered a potential candidate for the possible next pandemic with all the catastrophic consequences.MethodsNasal swabs were collected from donkeys suffered from respiratory distress. The virus was isolated from the pooled nasal swabs in specific pathogen free embryonated chicken eggs (SPF-ECE). Reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and sequencing of both haemagglutingin and neuraminidase were performed. H5 seroconversion was screened using haemagglutination inhibition (HI) assay on 105 donkey serum samples.ResultsWe demonstrated that H5N1 jumped from poultry to another mammalian host; donkeys. Phylogenetic analysis showed that the virus clustered within the lineage of H5N1 from Egypt, closely related to 2009 isolates. It harboured few genetic changes compared to the closely related viruses from avian and humans. The neuraminidase lacks oseltamivir resistant mutations. Interestingly, HI screening for antibodies to H5 haemagglutinins in donkeys revealed high exposure rate.ConclusionsThese findings extend the host range of the H5N1 influenza virus, possess implications for influenza virus epidemiology and highlight the need for the systematic surveillance of H5N1 in animals in the vicinity of backyard poultry units especially in endemic areas.

- by Ahmed Abdel-Moneim
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- Genetics, Egypt, Biomedical, Influenza virus
- by Rao Sethumadhavan
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- Genetics, Polymorphism, Computational Biology, Biological Sciences
- by Ming Tam
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- Biological Sciences, Biomedical science, P-glycoprotein, Cytochrome c oxidase
- by Ben Berkhout
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- Genetics, Hepatitis C, Gene Silencing, HIV

Studies at the molecular level aim to integrate genetic and neurobiological data to provide an increasingly detailed understanding of phenotypes related to the ability in time perception. This study suggests that the polymorphisms genetic SLC6A4 5-HTTLPR, 5HTR2A T102C, DRD2/ANKK1-Taq1A, SLC6A3 3'-UTR VNTR, COMT Val158Met, CLOCK genes and GABRB2 A/C as modification factor at neurochemical levels associated with several neurofunctional aspects, modifying the circadian rhythm and built-in cognitive functions in the timing. We conducted a literature review with 102 studies that met inclusion criteria to synthesize findings on genetic polymorphisms and their influence on the timing. The findings suggest an association of genetic polymorphisms on behavioral aspects related in timing. However, order to confirm the paradigm of association in the timing as a function of the molecular level, still need to be addressed future research.

- by Daya S Gupta
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- Cognition, Biology, Time Perception, Medicine

Background Lynch syndrome is a hereditary cancer predisposition syndrome caused by a mutation in one of the DNA mismatch repair (MMR) genes. About 24% of the mutations identified in Lynch syndrome are missense substitutions and the frequency of missense variants in MSH6 is the highest amongst these MMR genes. Because of this high frequency, the genetic testing was not effectively used in MSH6 so far. We, therefore, developed CoDP (Combination of the Different Properties), a bioinformatics tool to predict the impact of missense variants in MSH6. Methods We integrated the prediction results of three methods, namely MAPP, PolyPhen-2 and SIFT. Two other structural properties, namely solvent accessibility and the change in the number of heavy atoms of amino acids in the MSH6 protein, were further combined explicitly. MSH6 germline missense variants classified by their associated clinical and molecular data were used to fit the parameters for the logistic regression model and to assess th...

- by Hiroko Terui
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- Computational Biology, Biological Sciences, Software, Humans