Browse publications by year: 2021

  1. Al-Salih M, Samsudin S, Arshad SS
    J Genet Eng Biotechnol, 2021 May 18;19(1):76.
    PMID: 34003402 DOI: 10.1186/s43141-021-00161-y
    BACKGROUND: Environmental contamination by microbes is a major public health concern. A damp environment is one of the potential sources for microbe proliferation. Smart synthesis nanocatalytic coatings on surfaces, food, and material from different pathogen bacteria can inhibit using the Fe3O4/CNTs as anti-microbial growth can effectively curb this growing threat. In this present work, the anti-microbial efficacy of synthesis of a compound nanoparticle-containing iron oxide-multi-walled carbon nanotube was combined by laser ablation PLAL and explored the anti-bacterial action of colloidal solution of Fe3O4/CNTs NPs that was evaluated against bacteria which is classified as gram-negative (Escherichia coli (E. coli), Klebsiella pneumonia (K. pneumonia), and also that is identified as gram-positive (Streptococcus pyogenes (S .pyogenes) and Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) under visible light irradiation.

    RESULTS: Doping of a minute fraction of iron(III) salt (0.5 mol%) in a volatile solvent (ethanol) was carried out via the sol-gel technique. Fe3O4 was further calcined at various temperatures (in the range of 500-700 °C) to evaluate the thermal stability of the Fe3O4 nanoporous oxidizer nanoparticles. The physicochemical properties of the samples were characterized through X-ray diffraction (XRD), atomic force microscopy (AFM), attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR), and UV-Visible spectroscopy techniques. XRD results revealed that the nanoparticles framework of Fe3O4 was maintained well up to 650 °C by the Fe dopant. UV-Vis results suggested that absorption property of combination Fe3O4/CNTs nanopowder by PLAL was enhanced and the band gap is reduced into 2.0 eV.

    CONCLUSIONS: Density functional theory (DFT) studies emphasize the introduction of Fe+ and Fe2+ ions by replacing other ions in the CNT lattice, therefore creating oxygen vacancies. These further promoted anti-microbial efficiency. A significantly high bacterial inactivation that indicates results was evaluated and that the mean estimations of restraint were determined from triple assessment in every appraisal at 400 ml which represent the best anti-bacterial action against gram-positive and gram-negative microbes.

    MeSH terms: Ethanol; Doping in Sports; Escherichia coli; Ferric Compounds; Iron; Light; Oxides; Oxygen; Pneumonia; Public Health; Solvents; Spectrophotometry, Ultraviolet; Staphylococcus aureus; Streptococcus pyogenes; Temperature; X-Ray Diffraction; Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared; Microscopy, Atomic Force; Nanotubes, Carbon; Cell Proliferation; Laser Therapy; Nanoparticles; Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus; Nanopores
  2. Pulingam T, Thong KL, Appaturi JN, Lai CW, Leo BF
    Chemosphere, 2021 Oct;281:130739.
    PMID: 34004516 DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2021.130739
    Recent advances in the field of nanotechnology contributed to the increasing use of nanomaterials in the engineering, health and biological sectors. Graphene oxide (GO) has great potentials as it could be fine-tuned to be adapted into various applications, especially in the electrical, electronic, industrial and clinical fields. One of the important applications of GO is its use as an antibacterial material due to its promising activity against a broad range of bacteria. However, our understanding of the mechanism of action of GO towards bacteria is still lacking and is often less described. Therefore, a comprehensive overview of bactericidal mechanistic actions of GO and the roles of physicochemical factors including size, aggregation, functionalization and adsorption behavior contributing to its antibacterial activities are described in this review. As the use of GO is expected to increase exponentially in the health sector, the cytotoxicity of GO among the cell lines is also discussed. Thus, this review emphasizes the physicochemical characteristics of GO that can be tailored for optimal antibacterial properties that is of importance to the health industry.
    MeSH terms: Anti-Bacterial Agents/toxicity; Bacteria; Oxides/toxicity; Nanostructures*
  3. Nurul Syafiqah Hirman, Nur Athirah Mohd Taib
    MyJurnal
    A simple and low-cost Fiber Optic Displacement Sensor (FODS) using reflective intensity modulation technique was developed to analyze various concentrations of Pb2+, a compound classified under heavy metal ions. Lead is harmful to the environment including to human but is used in the cosmetic field for beauty without realizing and considering the hazardousness of lead as it would cause a long-term effect. Therefore, a feasible way has been identified in this study to demonstrate the level of Pb2+ concentration in cosmetics field by employing the theory of modulation of intensity as a function of displacement sensor. The permissible limit according to Malaysian Cosmetics Guidelines and ASEAN Cosmetic Directive was 20 ppm. The concentration sensor’s system exhibits 0.0018 V/ppm sensitivity with a linearity of 96% and 94% respectively, for both peaks. Meanwhile, the sensitivity was 0.034 V/ppm for the first peak and 27.72 V/ppm for the second peak, with slope linearity of more than 96% for surface tension parameter. The credibility of these optical response curves data might be useful, especially in the cosmetic’s industrial application.

    MeSH terms: Beauty; Cosmetics; Fiber Optic Technology; Humans; Ions; Lead; Surface Tension; Metals, Heavy
  4. Nurhani Fatihah Mohd Hanifah, Hanis Nadia Yahya, Norlelawati Arifin
    MyJurnal
    Chia seed has a high content of fibres and polyunsaturated fatty acids. Chia seed also holds numerous amounts of minerals and vitamins, including calcium and phosphorus. Chia seed offers a great potential of gel-forming ability and good water and oil holding capacities. Therefore, this study aims to determine the effect of chia seed powder substitution in chicken meat sausage formulations on the physicochemical characteristics and sensory acceptance. In the study, the chicken meat sausages were produced in four formulations; sample A as the control (100% chicken meat), sample B (5% substitution of chia seed powder to chicken meat), sample C (10% substitution of chia seed powder to chicken meat) and sample D (15% substitution of chia seed powder to chicken meat). The sausages were analysed for colour, texture, water holding capacity, cooking loss, proximate analysis, crude fibre content, and sensory acceptability. As for the findings, the substitution of chia seed powder resulted in low ‘L’ values of chicken meat sausage due to the dark colour of the chia seed. On the other hand, chia seed powder's substitution decreased the hardness and cohesiveness values. However, it increased the adhesiveness, springiness, and chewiness. Water holding capacity and a cooking loss percentage of the chicken meat sausages with chia seed powder substitution were observed to improve compared to control sausage (100% chicken meat), resulting in juicier sausages. The chia seed powder substitution increased the carbohydrate, ash, fat, and fibre contents for the chemical composition. On a 9-point hedonic scale, sample B (5% chia seed powder substitution) exhibited the highest sensory scores in all attributes evaluated (colour, texture, taste, juiciness, and overall acceptance). Thus, it can be concluded that chia seed powder can be substituted in chicken meat sausage to produce better quality products.

    MeSH terms: Adhesiveness; Animals; Calcium, Dietary; Chickens; Color; Cooking; Dietary Fiber; Fatty Acids, Unsaturated; Hardness; Meat Products; Minerals; Phosphorus; Powders; Taste; Vitamins; Water
  5. Muhammad Najmi Mohammad Fauzi, Aisyah Aqilah Abu Bakar, Liyana Amalina Adnan, Tg Ainul Farha Tg Abdul Rahman, A’wani Aziz Nurdalila
    MyJurnal
    Bioinformatics tool is a software program made to extract meaningful information from the mass of molecular biology or biological databases and carry out sequence or structural analysis. The method of determining the order of nucleotides within a deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) molecule is known as DNA sequencing. This analysis is meant to be run to the commercialized or factorymade goat's milk (pasteurised) from various states in Malaysia to identify the milk's authenticity, either it is pure or mixed with other foreign substances from other animals. The main objective is to compare DNA sequences of commercialized and raw goat's milk (handmilking and non-pasteurised). To achieve this, we used ClustalX to align and compare the obtained DNA from both milk samples. The sequences will be aligned using ClustalX software. ClustalX is a provider of an automated system for performing multiple alignments of sequences and profiles and evaluating the outcomes. The usage of ClustalX is helpful as it is cost-effective, user-friendly, and showing a high accuracy of the analysis.

    MeSH terms: Animals; Base Sequence; Cost-Benefit Analysis; DNA; Goats; Malaysia; Milk; Molecular Biology; Nucleotides; Software; Sequence Analysis, DNA; Computational Biology; Pasteurization
  6. Aws Hashim Ali Al-Kadhim, Azlan Jaafar, Mohd Nazrin Isa
    MyJurnal
    Nonsurgical retreatment involves removing mechanical barriers such as gutta-percha to achieve proper cleaning and disinfection. The complexity of the anatomy of molar tooth gives challenge in retreatment procedure. Thus, this study evaluates the amount of residual gutta-percha after retreatment with rotary files (Reciproc Blue®) from each maxillary first molar canal using cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) and the time required to accomplish it. Nine freshly extracted maxillary molars were instrumented and obturated. Preoperative CBCT was taken, and retreatment was done using Reciproc Blue®. CBCT was taken post retreatment, and the residual volume percentage of gutta-percha from each canal was calculated. The total retreatment time was recorded, and the data were statistically analyzed. The result shows no statistically significant difference in the amount of residual filling material in mesiobuccal, distobuccal, and palatal canal for maxillary first molar and total time used for retreatment with Reciproc Blue® system.

    MeSH terms: Dental Pulp Cavity; Disinfection; Gutta-Percha; Molar; Residual Volume; Retreatment; Cone-Beam Computed Tomography; Spiral Cone-Beam Computed Tomography
  7. Ullah A, Leong SW, Wang J, Wu Q, Ghauri MA, Sarwar A, et al.
    Cell Death Dis, 2021 05 14;12(5):490.
    PMID: 33990544 DOI: 10.1038/s41419-021-03771-z
    Lung cancer (LC) is one of the leading causes of cancer-related death. As one of the key features of tumor microenvironment, hypoxia conditions are associated with poor prognosis in LC patients. Upregulation of hypoxic-induced factor-1α (HIF-1α) leads to the activation of various factors that contribute to the increased drug resistance, proliferation, and migration of tumor cells. Apurinic/apyrimidinic endonuclease-1 (APEX1) is a multi-functional protein that regulates several transcription factors, including HIF-1α, that contribute to tumor growth, oxidative stress responses, and DNA damage. In this study, we explored the mechanisms underlying cell responses to hypoxia and modulation of APEX1, which regulate HIF-1α and downstream pathways. We found that hypoxia-induced APEX1/HIF-1α pathways regulate several key cellular functions, including reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, carbonic anhydrase 9 (CA9)-mediated intracellular pH, migration, and angiogenesis. Cephalomannine (CPM), a natural compound, exerted inhibitory effects in hypoxic LC cells via the inhibition of APEX1/HIF-1α interaction in vitro and in vivo. CPM can significantly inhibit cell viability, ROS production, intracellular pH, and migration in hypoxic LC cells as well as angiogenesis of HUVECs under hypoxia through the inhibition of APEX1/HIF-1α interaction. Taken together, CPM could be considered as a promising compound for LC treatment.
    MeSH terms: Animals; Humans; Lung Neoplasms/genetics*; Lung Neoplasms/pathology; Mice, Nude; Reactive Oxygen Species/metabolism*; DNA-(Apurinic or Apyrimidinic Site) Lyase/metabolism*; Taxoids/metabolism*; Mice; Tumor Microenvironment
  8. Munkongdee T, Tongsima S, Ngamphiw C, Wangkumhang P, Peerapittayamongkol C, Hashim HB, et al.
    Sci Rep, 2021 05 14;11(1):10352.
    PMID: 33990643 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-89641-2
    β-Thalassemia/HbE disease has a wide spectrum of clinical phenotypes ranging from asymptomatic to dependent on regular blood transfusions. Ability to predict disease severity is helpful for clinical management and treatment decision making. A thalassemia severity score has been developed from Mediterranean β-thalassemia patients. However, different ethnic groups may have different allele frequency and linkage disequilibrium structures. Here, Thai β0-thalassemia/HbE disease genome-wild association studies (GWAS) data of 487 patients were analyzed by SNP interaction prioritization algorithm, interacting Loci (iLoci), to find predictive SNPs for disease severity. Three SNPs from two SNP interaction pairs associated with disease severity were identifies. The three-SNP disease severity risk score composed of rs766432 in BCL11A, rs9399137 in HBS1L-MYB and rs72872548 in HBE1 showed more than 85% specificity and 75% accuracy. The three-SNP predictive score was then validated in two independent cohorts of Thai and Malaysian β0-thalassemia/HbE patients with comparable specificity and accuracy. The SNP risk score could be used for prediction of clinical severity for Southeast Asia β0-thalassemia/HbE population.
    MeSH terms: Adolescent; Adult; Child; Child, Preschool; Female; Gene Frequency; Hemoglobin E/analysis; Hemoglobin E/genetics*; Humans; Infant; Infant, Newborn; Malaysia; Male; Repressor Proteins/genetics; Sensitivity and Specificity; Severity of Illness Index*; Thailand; Cohort Studies; Linkage Disequilibrium; beta-Thalassemia/blood; beta-Thalassemia/diagnosis*; beta-Thalassemia/genetics; GTP-Binding Proteins; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-myb/genetics; Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; Asian Continental Ancestry Group/genetics; Genome-Wide Association Study; Young Adult
  9. Holzner A, Balasubramaniam KN, Weiß BM, Ruppert N, Widdig A
    Sci Rep, 2021 May 14;11(1):10353.
    PMID: 33990658 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-89783-3
    Human-induced habitat alterations globally threaten animal populations, often evoking complex behavioural responses in wildlife. This may be particularly dramatic when negatively affecting social behaviour, which fundamentally determines individual fitness and offspring survival in group-living animals. Here, we provide first evidence for significant behavioural modifications in sociality of southern pig-tailed macaques visiting Malaysian oil palm plantations in search of food despite elevated predation risk. Specifically, we found critical reductions of key positive social interactions but higher rates of aggression in the plantation interior compared to the plantation edge (i.e. plantation areas bordering the forest) and the forest. At the plantation edge, affiliation even increased compared to the forest, while central positions in the macaques' social network structure shifted from high-ranking adult females and immatures to low-ranking individuals. Further, plantations also affected mother-infant relationships, with macaque mothers being more protective in the open plantation environment. We suggest that although primates can temporarily persist in human-altered habitats, their ability to permanently adapt requires the presence of close-by forest and comes with a trade-off in sociality, potentially hampering individual fitness and infant survival. Studies like ours remain critical for understanding species' adaptability to anthropogenic landscapes, which may ultimately contribute to facilitating their coexistence with humans and preserving biodiversity.
    MeSH terms: Agriculture; Animals; Animal Communication*; Female; Macaca nemestrina/psychology*; Malaysia; Male; Social Behavior*; Arecaceae*; Endangered Species*; Social Networking; Forests
  10. Tay YW, Lim JL, Tan AH, Annuar AA, Lim SY
    Ann Acad Med Singap, 2021 04;50(4):353-355.
    PMID: 33990826 DOI: 10.47102/annals-acadmedsg.2020508
    MeSH terms: Exons/genetics; Humans; Malaysia/epidemiology; Mutation; Age of Onset
  11. Liu Z, Gopinath SCB, Wang Z, Li Y, Anbu P, Zhang W
    Mikrochim Acta, 2021 05 15;188(6):187.
    PMID: 33990848 DOI: 10.1007/s00604-021-04834-w
    A new zeolite-iron oxide nanocomposite (ZEO-IO) was extracted from waste fly ash of a thermal power plant and utilized for capturing aptamers used to quantify the myocardial infarction (MI) biomarker N-terminal prohormone B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-ProBNP); this was used in a probe with an integrated microelectrode sensor. High-resolution microscopy revealed that ZEO-IO displayed a clubbell structure and a particle size range of 100-200 nm. Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy confirmed the presence of Si, Al, Fe, and O in the synthesized ZEO-IO. The limit of detection for NT-ProBNP was 1-2 pg/mL (0.1-0.2 pM) when the aptamer was sandwiched with antibody and showed the doubled current response even at a low NT-ProBNP abundance. A dose-dependent interaction was identified for this sandwich with a linear plot in the concentration range 1 to 32 pg/mL (0.1-3.2 pM) with a determination coefficient R2 = 0.9884; y = 0.8425x-0.5771. Without  sandwich, the detection limit was 2-4 pg/mL (0.2-0.4 pM) and the determination coefficient was R2 = 0.9854; y = 1.0996x-1.4729. Stability and nonfouling assays in the presence of bovine serum albumin, cardiac troponin I, and myoglobin revealed that the aptamer-modified surface is stable and specific for NT-Pro-BNP. Moreover, NT-ProBNP-spiked human serum exhibited selective detection. This new nanocomposite-modified surface helps in detecting NT-Pro-BNP and diagnosing MI at stages of low expression.
    MeSH terms: Base Sequence; Humans; Microelectrodes; Myocardial Infarction/blood; Myocardial Infarction/diagnosis; Oxides/chemistry; Peptide Fragments/blood*; Peptide Fragments/immunology; Peptide Fragments/chemistry; Reproducibility of Results; Biosensing Techniques/instrumentation; Biosensing Techniques/methods*; Biomarkers/blood; Biomarkers/chemistry; Zeolites/chemistry*; Natriuretic Peptide, Brain/blood*; Natriuretic Peptide, Brain/immunology; Natriuretic Peptide, Brain/chemistry; Aptamers, Nucleotide/chemistry; Nanocomposites/chemistry*; Electrochemical Techniques/instrumentation; Electrochemical Techniques/methods; Antibodies, Immobilized/immunology; Limit of Detection; Iron Compounds/chemistry; Immobilized Nucleic Acids/chemistry
  12. Ranaei Pirmardan E, Barakat A, Zhang Y, Naseri M, Hafezi-Moghadam A
    FASEB J, 2021 Jun;35(6):e21593.
    PMID: 33991133 DOI: 10.1096/fj.202100353R
    Diabetes is a major risk factor for cataract, the leading cause of blindness worldwide. There is an unmet need for a realistic model of diabetic cataract for mechanistic and longitudinal studies, as existing models do not reflect key aspects of the complex human disease. Here, we introduce and characterize diabetic cataract in the Nile grass rat (NGR, Arvicanthis niloticus), an established model of metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes (T2D). We conducted a longitudinal study of cataract in over 88 NGRs in their non-diabetic, pre-diabetic, and diabetic stages of metabolism. Oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) results distinguished the metabolic stages. Diverse cataract types were observed in the course of diabetes, including cortical, posterior subcapsular (PSC), and anterior subcapsular (ASC), all of which succeeded a characteristic dotted ring stage in all animals. The onset ages of diabetes and cataract were 44 ± 3 vs 29 ± 1 (P 
    MeSH terms: Aging; Animals; Blindness; Cataract Extraction; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2; Epithelial Cells; Female; Glucose Tolerance Test; Humans; Lens, Crystalline; Longitudinal Studies; Male; Prediabetic State; Risk Factors; Cadherins; Apoptosis; Age of Onset; Diabetes Complications; Cell Proliferation; Rats; Capsule Opacification
  13. Anand K, Vadivalagan C, Joseph JS, Singh SK, Gulati M, Shahbaaz M, et al.
    Chem Biol Interact, 2021 Aug 01;344:109497.
    PMID: 33991505 DOI: 10.1016/j.cbi.2021.109497
    Extracellular vesicles like exosomes are important therapeutic tactics for treating COVID -19. By utilizing convalescent plasma derived exosomes (CPExo) from COVID-19 recovered persistence could accelerate the treatment strategies in the current state of affairs. Adequate literature has shown that administering the exosome to the in vivo system could be beneficial and could target the pathogens in an effective and precise manner. In this hypothesis we highlight the CPExo instead of convalescent plasma (CP), perhaps to dispense of exosomes are gratified and it's more effectively acquired immune response conferral through antibodies. COVID-19 convalescent plasma has billions of exosomes and it has aptitudes to carry molecular constituents like proteins, lipids, RNA and DNA, etc. Moreover, exosomes are capable of recognizing antigens with adequate sensitivity and specificity. Many of these derivatives could trigger an immune modulation into the cells and act as an epigenetic inheritor response to target pathogens through RNAs. COIVID-19 resistance activated plasma-derived exosomes are either responsible for the effects of plasma beyond the contained immune antibodies or could be inhibitory. The proposed hypothesis suggests that preselecting the plasma-derived antibodies and RNAs merged exosomes would be an optimized therapeutic tactic for COVID-19 patients. We suggest that, the CPExo has a multi-potential effect for treatment efficacy by acting as immunotherapeutic, drug carrier, and diagnostic target with noncoding genetic materials as a biomarker.
    MeSH terms: Antibodies/immunology; Antigens/immunology; DNA/immunology; Humans; Immunization, Passive; Plasma/immunology*; RNA/immunology; Exosomes/immunology*; Adaptive Immunity/immunology
  14. Sinha A, Mishra S, Sharif A, Yarovaya L
    J Environ Manage, 2021 Aug 15;292:112751.
    PMID: 33991831 DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2021.112751
    Striving to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), countries are increasingly embracing a sustainable financing mechanism via green bond financing. Green bonds have attracted the attention of the industrial sector and policymakers, however, the impact of green bond financing on environmental and social sustainability has not been confirmed. There is no empirical evidence on how this financial product can contribute to achieving the goals set out in Agenda 2030. In this study, we empirically analyze the impact of green bond financing on environmental and social sustainability by considering the S&P 500 Global Green Bond Index and S&P 500 Environmental and Social Responsibility Index, from October 1, 2010 to 31st July 2020 using a combination of Quantile-on-Quantile Regression and Wavelet Multiscale Decomposition approaches. Our results reveal that green financing mechanisms might have gradual negative transformational impacts on environmental and social responsibility. Furthermore, we attempt to design a policy framework to address the relevant SDG objectives.
    MeSH terms: Social Responsibility*
  15. Harith HH, Mohd MF, Nai Sowat S
    Appl Ergon, 2021 Sep;95:103455.
    PMID: 33991852 DOI: 10.1016/j.apergo.2021.103455
    Manual harvesting is still prevalent in the agricultural industry. Accordingly, it is one of the largest contributors toward work-related musculoskeletal disorder. The cutting task in oil palm harvesting uses a long pole and involves repetitive and forceful motion of the upper limbs. Exoskeleton technology is increasingly explored to assist manual tasks performance in manufacturing and heavy industries, mainly for reducing discomfort and injuries, and improving productivity. This paper reports an initial investigation on the feasibility of using an upper limb exoskeleton to assist oil palm harvesting tasks. Previous studies highlighted that exoskeletons for agricultural activities should be adaptable to changing field tasks, tools and equipment. The immediate difference in the activity of three muscles were analyzed for a range of harvesting-simulated tasks. Lower activities were observed for tasks involving overhead work when using the prototype. Nevertheless, users' feedback highlighted that its design should be optimized for better acceptance.
    MeSH terms: Exoskeleton Device*; Biomechanical Phenomena; Humans; Musculoskeletal Diseases*; Task Performance and Analysis; Upper Extremity
  16. Gao M, Lin Y, Wang P, Jin Y, Wang Q, Ma H, et al.
    J Hazard Mater, 2021 Sep 05;417:126037.
    PMID: 33992013 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2021.126037
    Chinese liquor distillers' grain (CLDG) is an abundant industrial organic waste showing high potential as feedstock for biofuel conversion. In this study, CLDG was used as substrate by microbial community in pit mud to produce medium-chain fatty acids (especially caproate). Simulated and real fermentation were used to evaluate the effect of ethanol and lactic acid being the electronic donors (EDs) during the anaerobic chain elongation (CE). The caproate concentration was achieved at 449 mg COD/g VS, with the corresponding high carbon selectivity at 37.1%. Microbial analysis revealed that the domestication of pit mud increased the abundance of Caproiciproducens (converting lactic acid into caproate) and Lactobacillus (producing lactic acid), leading to enhanced caproate production. The lactic acid conversion facilitated in full utilization of ethanol through CE consumption. The coexistence of EDs benefited the CE system and that this green energy production can be a promising high-performance biofuel donor for sustainable industrial production development.
  17. Jamil A, Ching OP, Iqbal T, Rafiq S, Zia-Ul-Haq M, Shahid MZ, et al.
    J Hazard Mater, 2021 Sep 05;417:126000.
    PMID: 33992016 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2021.126000
    This study presents an extended thermodynamic and phenomenological combined model to mitigate the environmental hazardous acid gas over composite membranes. The model has been applied to an acid gas such as carbon dioxide (CO2) for its permeation through polyetherimide incorporated montmorillonite (Mt) nanoparticles hollow fiber asymmetric composite membranes. The well-established non-equilibrium lattice fluid (NELF) model for penetrating low molecular weight penetrant in a glassy polyetherimide (PEI) was extended to incorporate the other important polymer/filler system features such as tortuosity in acid gas diffusion pathways resulted from layered filler aspect ratio and concentration. The model mentioned above predicts the behavior of acid gas in PEI-Mt composite membranes based on thermodynamic characteristics of CO2 and PEI and tortuosity due to Mt. The calculated results are compared to experimentally determined values of CO2 permeability through PEI-Mt composite asymmetric hollow fiber membranes at varying transmembrane pressures and Mt concentrations. A reasonable agreement was found between the model predicted behavior and experimentally determined data in terms of CO2 solubility, Mt concentration and aspect ratio were calculated based on average absolute relative error (%AARE). The proposed modified model efficiently predicts the CO2 permeance across MMMs up to 3 wt% Mt loadings and 6 bar pressure with ± 10%AARE.
  18. Dass SA, Tan KL, Selva Rajan R, Mokhtar NF, Mohd Adzmi ER, Wan Abdul Rahman WF, et al.
    Medicina (Kaunas), 2021 Jan 12;57(1).
    PMID: 33445543 DOI: 10.3390/medicina57010062
    Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is an aggressive breast type of cancer with no expression of estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR), and human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 (HER2). It is a highly metastasized, heterogeneous disease that accounts for 10-15% of total breast cancer cases with a poor prognosis and high relapse rate within five years after treatment compared to non-TNBC cases. The diagnostic and subtyping of TNBC tumors are essential to determine the treatment alternatives and establish personalized, targeted medications for every TNBC individual. Currently, TNBC is diagnosed via a two-step procedure of imaging and immunohistochemistry (IHC), which are operator-dependent and potentially time-consuming. Therefore, there is a crucial need for the development of rapid and advanced technologies to enhance the diagnostic efficiency of TNBC. This review discusses the overview of breast cancer with emphasis on TNBC subtypes and the current diagnostic approaches of TNBC along with its challenges. Most importantly, we have presented several promising strategies that can be utilized as future TNBC diagnostic modalities and simultaneously enhance the efficacy of TNBC diagnostic.
    MeSH terms: Humans; Immunohistochemistry; Neoplasm Recurrence, Local; Receptors, Estrogen
  19. Agarwal T, Chiesa I, Presutti D, Irawan V, Vajanthri KY, Costantini M, et al.
    Mater Sci Eng C Mater Biol Appl, 2021 Apr;123:112005.
    PMID: 33812625 DOI: 10.1016/j.msec.2021.112005
    Inadequate self-repair and regenerative efficiency of the cartilage tissues has motivated the researchers to devise advanced and effective strategies to resolve this issue. Introduction of bioprinting to tissue engineering has paved the way for fabricating complex biomimetic engineered constructs. In this context, the current review gears off with the discussion of standard and advanced 3D/4D printing technologies and their implications for the repair of different cartilage tissues, namely, articular, meniscal, nasoseptal, auricular, costal, and tracheal cartilage. The review is then directed towards highlighting the current stem cell opportunities. On a concluding note, associated critical issues and prospects for future developments, particularly in this sphere of personalized medicines have been discussed.
    MeSH terms: Cartilage; Stem Cells; Tissue Engineering; Bioprinting*; Printing, Three-Dimensional
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