In this study the authors report on the development of a new type of electronic nose (e-nose) instrument, which the authors refer to as the Portable electronic Mucosa (PeM) as a continuation of previous research. It is designed to mimic the human nose by taking significant biological features and replicating them electronically. The term electronic mucosa or simply e-mucosa was used because our e-nose emulates the nasal chromatographic effect discovered in the olfactory epithelium, located within the upper turbinate. The e-mucosa generates spatio-temporal information that the authors believe could lead to improved odour discrimination. The PeM comprises three large sensor arrays each containing a total of 576 sensors, with 24 different coatings, to increase the odour selectivity. The nasal chromatographic effect provides temporal information in the human olfactory system, and is mimicked here using two-coated retentive channels. These channels are coated with polar and non-polar compounds to enhance the selectivity of the instrument. Thus, for an unknown sample, the authors have both the spatial information (as with a traditional e-nose) and the temporal information. The authors believe that this PeM may offer a way forward in developing a new range of low-cost e-noses with superior odour specificity.
The application of an HPLC bioactivity profiling/microtiter plate technique in conjunction with microprobe NMR instrumentation and access to the AntiMarin database has led to the isolation of a new 1. In this example, 1 was isolated from a cytotoxic fraction of an extract obtained from marine-derived Streptomyces sp. cultured on Starch Casein Agar (SCA) medium. The 1D and 2D (1)H NMR and ESIMS data obtained from 20 μg of compound 1 fully defined the structure. The known 2 was also isolated and readily dereplicated using this approach.
Matched MeSH terms: Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid/methods; Drug Screening Assays, Antitumor/methods*; Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy/methods
The main objective of the present study is the physicochemical characterization of naturally available Terminalia catappa gum (Badam gum [BG]) as a novel pharmaceutical excipient and its suitability in the development of gastroretentive floating drug delivery systems (GRFDDS) to retard the drug for 12 h when the dosage form is exposed to gastrointestinal fluids in the gastric environment. As BG was being explored for the first time for its pharmaceutical application, physicochemical, microbiological, rheological, and stability studies were carried out on this gum. In the present investigation, the physicochemical properties, such as micromeritic, rheological, melting point, moisture content, pH, swelling index, water absorption, and volatile acidity, were evaluated. The gum was characterized by scanning electron microscopy, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), powder X-ray diffraction studies (PXRD), and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). Gastroretentive floating tablets of BG were prepared with the model drug propranolol HCl by direct compression methods. The prepared tablets were evaluated for all their physicochemical properties, in vitro buoyancy, in vitro drug release, and rate order kinetics. PBG 04 was selected as an optimized formulation based on its 12-h drug release and good buoyancy characteristics. The optimized formulation was characterized with FTIR, DSC, and PXRD studies, and no interaction between the drug and BG was found. Thus, the study confirmed that BG might be used in the gastroretentive drug delivery system as a release-retarding polymer.
Matched MeSH terms: Chemistry, Pharmaceutical/methods; Drug Compounding/methods; Drug Delivery Systems/methods
Palm oil mill effluent (POME) is highly polluting wastewater generated from the palm oil milling process. Palm oil mill effluent was used as an electrolyte without any additive or pretreatment to perform electrocoagulation (EC) using electricity (direct current) ranging from 2 to 4 volts in the presence of aluminum electrodes with a reactor volume of 20 L. The production of hydrogen gas, removal of chemical oxygen demand (COD), and turbidity as a result of electrocoagulation of POME were determined. The results show that EC can reduce the COD and turbidity of POME by 57 and 62%, respectively, in addition to the 42% hydrogen production. Hydrogen production was also helpful to remove the lighter suspended solids toward the surface. The production of Al(OH)XHO at the aluminum electrode (anode) was responsible for the flocculation-coagulation process of suspended solids followed by sedimentation under gravity. The production of hydrogen gas from POME during EC was also compared with hydrogen gas production by electrolysis of tap water at pH 4 and tap water without pH adjustment under the same conditions. The main advantage of this study is to produce hydrogen gas while treating POME with EC to reduce COD and turbidity effectively.
Matched MeSH terms: Electrocoagulation/methods*; Waste Disposal, Fluid/methods*; Water Purification/methods*
The Singapore Genome Variation Project (SGVP) provides a publicly available resource of 1.6 million single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) genotyped in 268 individuals from the Chinese, Malay, and Indian population groups in Southeast Asia. This online database catalogs information and summaries on genotype and phased haplotype data, including allele frequencies, assessment of linkage disequilibrium (LD), and recombination rates in a format similar to the International HapMap Project. Here, we introduce this resource and describe the analysis of human genomic variation upon agglomerating data from the HapMap and the Human Genome Diversity Project, providing useful insights into the population structure of the three major population groups in Asia. In addition, this resource also surveyed across the genome for variation in regional patterns of LD between the HapMap and SGVP populations, and for signatures of positive natural selection using two well-established metrics: iHS and XP-EHH. The raw and processed genetic data, together with all population genetic summaries, are publicly available for download and browsing through a web browser modeled with the Generic Genome Browser.
Matched MeSH terms: Genetics, Population/methods; Genomics/methods; Genome-Wide Association Study/methods
A sensitive and specific RT-nested PCR coupled with an ELISA detection system for detecting Newcastle disease virus is described. Two nested pairs of primer which were highly specific to all the three different pathotypes of NDV were designed from the consensus fusion gene sequence. No cross-reactions with other avian infectious agents such as infectious bronchitis virus, infectious bursal disease virus, influenza virus, and fowl pox virus were observed. Based on agarose electrophoresis detection, the RT-nested PCR was about 100 times more sensitive compared to that of a non-nested RT-PCR. To facilitate the detection of the PCR product, an ELISA detection method was then developed to detect the amplified PCR products and it was shown to be ten times more sensitive than gel electrophoresis. The efficacy of the nested PCR-ELISA was also compared with the conventional NDV detection method (HA test) and non-nested RT-PCR by testing against a total of 35 tissue specimens collected from ND-symptomatic chickens. The RT-nested PCR ELISA found NDV positive in 21 (60%) tissue specimens, while only eight (22.9%) and two (5.7%) out of 35 tissue specimens were tested NDV positive by both the non-nested RT-PCR and conventional HA test, respectively. Due to its high sensitivity for the detection of NDV from tissue specimens, this PCR-ELISA based diagnostic test may be useful for screening large number of samples.
The performance of a commercial immunochromatography test for rapid detection of dengue NS1 antigen present in serum or plasma of patients was evaluated against a commercial dengue NS1 antigen-capture ELISA. The rapid immunochromatography test gave an overall sensitivity of 90.4% with a specificity of 99.5%. The sensitivity was highest for serum samples from which virus was isolated (96.3%) and lowest for those from which virus was not isolated and RT-PCR was negative (76.4%). The sensitivity was significantly higher for serum samples from patients with acute primary dengue (92.3%) than those from patients with acute secondary dengue (79.1%). The positive predictive value and negative predictive value of this commercial immunochromatography test were 99.6% and 87.9% respectively.
Expanding the scope of pharmacogenomic research by including multiple global populations is integral to building robust evidence for its clinical translation. Deep whole-genome sequencing of diverse ethnic populations provides a unique opportunity to study rare and common pharmacogenomic markers that often vary in frequency across populations. In this study, we aim to build a diverse map of pharmacogenetic variants in South East Asian (SEA) Malay population using deep whole-genome sequences of 100 healthy SEA Malay individuals. We investigated the allelic diversity of potentially deleterious pharmacogenomic variants in SEA Malay population. Our analysis revealed 227 common and 466 rare potentially functional single nucleotide variants (SNVs) in 437 pharmacogenomic genes involved in drug metabolism, transport and target genes, including 74 novel variants. This study has created one of the most comprehensive maps of pharmacogenetic markers in any population from whole genomes and will hugely benefit pharmacogenomic investigations and drug dosage recommendations in SEA Malays.
Mycobacterium spp. are renowned for being the causative agent of diseases like leprosy, Buruli ulcer and tuberculosis in human beings. With more and more mycobacterial genomes being sequenced, any knowledge generated from comparative genomic analysis would provide better insights into the biology, evolution, phylogeny and pathogenicity of this genus, thus helping in better management of diseases caused by Mycobacterium spp.With this motivation, we constructed MycoCAP, a new comparative analysis platform dedicated to the important genus Mycobacterium. This platform currently provides information of 2108 genome sequences of at least 55 Mycobacterium spp. A number of intuitive web-based tools have been integrated in MycoCAP particularly for comparative analysis including the PGC tool for comparison between two genomes, PathoProT for comparing the virulence genes among the Mycobacterium strains and the SuperClassification tool for the phylogenic classification of the Mycobacterium strains and a specialized classification system for strains of Mycobacterium abscessus. We hope the broad range of functions and easy-to-use tools provided in MycoCAP makes it an invaluable analysis platform to speed up the research discovery on mycobacteria for researchers. Database URL: http://mycobacterium.um.edu.my.
Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are potentially ideal tips for atomic force microscopy (AFM) due to the robust mechanical properties, nanoscale diameter and also their ability to be functionalized by chemical and biological components at the tip ends. This contribution develops the idea of using CNTs as an AFM tip in computational analysis of the biological cells. The proposed software was ABAQUS 6.13 CAE/CEL provided by Dassault Systems, which is a powerful finite element (FE) tool to perform the numerical analysis and visualize the interactions between proposed tip and membrane of the cell. Finite element analysis employed for each section and displacement of the nodes located in the contact area was monitored by using an output database (ODB). Mooney-Rivlin hyperelastic model of the cell allows the simulation to obtain a new method for estimating the stiffness and spring constant of the cell. Stress and strain curve indicates the yield stress point which defines as a vertical stress and plan stress. Spring constant of the cell and the local stiffness was measured as well as the applied force of CNT-AFM tip on the contact area of the cell. This reliable integration of CNT-AFM tip process provides a new class of high performance nanoprobes for single biological cell analysis.
A 90-day feeding trial was conducted on the growth performance, feeding efficacy, body indices, various hematological and plasma biochemical parameters, and histopathological examination of the gonads from male and female Nile tilapia fingerlings when fed different crude plant extracts from Cinnamomum camphora, Euphorbia hirta, Azadirachta indica, or Carica papaya at 2 g kg(-1) compared to a control diet. This was followed by a 14-day challenge to Streptococcus agalactiae. All treatments were triplicated, and each treatment consisted of 30 fish. Results showed that C. papaya extracts were the most effective at delaying gonadal maturation to both male and female tilapia, as well as significantly increasing (P < 0.05) growth performance compared to the control treatment. Similarly, dietary C. camphora and E. hirta extracts also significantly improved growth, while no significant growth effect was detected between the A. indica and control treatments (P > 0.05). Further, crude body lipid was lower in the C. camphora, E. hirta and C. papaya treatments, but was only significantly lower for the E. hirta treatment compared to the control. Meanwhile, none of the hematological or biochemical parameters were significantly affected, although plasma ALT was significantly lower for tilapia fed A. indica compared to the control. After the 14-day bacterial challenge, tilapia fed C. camphora supplementation had significantly higher survival, compared to the control, but was not significantly higher than the other supplemented diets. Results indicate that dietary C. papaya extract can significantly promote growth and delay gonadal maturation to both male and female tilapia, while C. camphora was the most effective prophylactic to S. agalactiae and may be a cost-effective and eco-friendly alternative to antibiotics.
The chitosan has been used as the primary excipient in transdermal particulate dosage form design. Its distribution pattern across the epidermis and dermis is not easily accessible through chemical assay and limited to radiolabelled molecules via quantitative autoradiography. This study explored Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy imaging technique with built-in microscope as the means to examine chitosan molecular distribution over epidermis and dermis with the aid of histology operation. Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy skin imaging was conducted using chitosan of varying molecular weights, deacetylation degrees, particle sizes and zeta potentials, obtained via microwave ligation of polymer chains at solution state. Both skin permeation and retention characteristics of chitosan increased with the use of smaller chitosan molecules with reduced acetyl content and size, and increased positive charge density. The ratio of epidermal to dermal chitosan content decreased with the use of these chitosan molecules as their accumulation in dermis (3.90% to 18.22%) was raised to a greater extent than epidermis (0.62% to 1.92%). A larger dermal chitosan accumulation nonetheless did not promote the transdermal polymer passage more than the epidermal chitosan. A small increase in epidermal chitosan content apparently could fluidize the stratum corneum and was more essential to dictate molecular permeation into dermis and systemic circulation. The histology technique aided Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy imaging approach introduces a new dimension to the mechanistic aspect of chitosan in transdermal delivery.
The commonly adopted method of dumping dredge spoil at sea using split-hull barges leads to considerable sediment loss to the water column and a subsequent dispersion of fine material that can pose a risk to sensitive "downstream" habitats such as coral reefs. Containing sediment loads using stitched closed geotextile bags is practiced for minimizing loss of contaminated sediment, but is expensive in terms of operational efficiency. Following promising observations from initial laboratory trials, the plunging of partially shielded sediment loads, released on open sea, was studied. The partial shielding was achieved with rigid, open containers as well as flexible, open bags. The loss of sediment from these modes of shielding was measured, and it was observed that even limited and unstitched shielding can be effective in debilitating the entrainment of water into the descending load. In particular, long-sleeved flexible bags practically self-eliminated the exposure of the load and thus losses.
Matched MeSH terms: Conservation of Natural Resources/methods*; Refuse Disposal/methods*
BACKGROUND: Dengue is a mosquito-borne disease that causes a public health problem in tropical and subtropical countries. Current immunological diagnostics based on IgM and/or nonstructural protein 1 (NS1) antigen are limited for acute dengue infection due to low sensitivity and accuracy.
OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to develop a one-step multiplex real-time RT-PCR assay showing higher sensitivity and accuracy than previous approaches.
STUDY DESIGN: Serotype-specific primers and probes were designed through the multiple alignment of NS1 gene. The linearity and limit of detection (LOD) of the assay were determined. The assay was clinically validated with an evaluation panel that was immunologically tested by WHO and Malaysian specimens.
RESULTS: The LOD of the assay was 3.0 log10 RNA copies for DENV-1, 2.0 for DENV-3, and 1.0 for DENV-2 and DENV-4. The assay showed 95.2% sensitivity (20/21) in an evaluation panel, whereas NS1 antigen- and anti-dengue IgM-based immunological assays exhibited 0% and 23.8-47.6% sensitivities, respectively. The assay showed 100% sensitivity both in NS1 antigen- and anti-dengue IgM-positive Malaysian specimens (26/26). The assay provided the information of viral loads and serotype with discrimination of heterotypic mixed infection.
CONCLUSIONS: The assay could be clinically applied to early dengue diagnosis, especially during the first 5 days of illness and approximately 14 days after infection showing an anti-dengue IgM-positive response.
An HS-SPME method was developed using multivariate experimental designs, which was conducted in two stages. The significance of each factor was estimated using the Plackett-Burman (P-B) design, for the identification of significant factors, followed by the optimization of the significant factors using central composite design (CCD). The multivariate experiment involved the use of Minitab® statistical software for the generation of a 2(7-4) P-B design and CCD matrices. The method performance evaluated with internal standard calibration method produced good analytical figures of merit with linearity ranging from 1 to 500 μg/kg with correlation coefficient greater than 0.99, LOD and LOQ were found between 0.35 and 8.33 μg/kg and 1.15 and 27.76 μg/kg respectively. The average recovery was between 73% and 118% with relative standard deviation (RSD=1.5-14%) for all the investigated pesticides. The multivariate method helps to reduce optimization time and improve analytical throughput.
Matched MeSH terms: Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry/methods*; Solid Phase Microextraction/methods*
Among numerous artificial intelligence approaches, k-Nearest Neighbor algorithms, genetic algorithms, and artificial neural networks are considered as the most common and effective methods in classification problems in numerous studies. In the present study, the results of the implementation of a novel hybrid feature selection-classification model using the above mentioned methods are presented. The purpose is benefitting from the synergies obtained from combining these technologies for the development of classification models. Such a combination creates an opportunity to invest in the strength of each algorithm, and is an approach to make up for their deficiencies. To develop proposed model, with the aim of obtaining the best array of features, first, feature ranking techniques such as the Fisher's discriminant ratio and class separability criteria were used to prioritize features. Second, the obtained results that included arrays of the top-ranked features were used as the initial population of a genetic algorithm to produce optimum arrays of features. Third, using a modified k-Nearest Neighbor method as well as an improved method of backpropagation neural networks, the classification process was advanced based on optimum arrays of the features selected by genetic algorithms. The performance of the proposed model was compared with thirteen well-known classification models based on seven datasets. Furthermore, the statistical analysis was performed using the Friedman test followed by post-hoc tests. The experimental findings indicated that the novel proposed hybrid model resulted in significantly better classification performance compared with all 13 classification methods. Finally, the performance results of the proposed model was benchmarked against the best ones reported as the state-of-the-art classifiers in terms of classification accuracy for the same data sets. The substantial findings of the comprehensive comparative study revealed that performance of the proposed model in terms of classification accuracy is desirable, promising, and competitive to the existing state-of-the-art classification models.
The fabrication of Metal-DNA-Metal (MDM) structure-based high sensitivity sensors from DNA micro-and nanoarray strands is a key issue in their development. The tunable semiconducting response of DNA in the presence of external electromagnetic and thermal fields is a gift for molecular electronics. The impact of temperatures (25-55 °C) and magnetic fields (0-1200 mT) on the current-voltage (I-V) features of Au-DNA-Au (GDG) structures with an optimum gap of 10 μm is reported. The I-V characteristics acquired in the presence and absence of magnetic fields demonstrated the semiconducting diode nature of DNA in GDG structures with high temperature sensitivity. The saturation current in the absence of magnetic field was found to increase sharply with the increase of temperature up to 45 °C and decrease rapidly thereafter. This increase was attributed to the temperature-assisted conversion of double bonds into single bond in DNA structures. Furthermore, the potential barrier height and Richardson constant for all the structures increased steadily with the increase of external magnetic field irrespective of temperature variations. Our observation on magnetic field and temperature sensitivity of I-V response in GDG sandwiches may contribute towards the development of DNA-based magnetic sensors.
Content-based medical image retrieval (CBMIR) system enables medical practitioners to perform fast diagnosis through quantitative assessment of the visual information of various modalities.
Matched MeSH terms: Image Processing, Computer-Assisted/methods*; Information Storage and Retrieval/methods*
Brain segmentation in magnetic resonance images (MRI) is an important stage in clinical studies for different issues such as diagnosis, analysis, 3-D visualizations for treatment and surgical planning. MR Image segmentation remains a challenging problem in spite of different existing artifacts such as noise, bias field, partial volume effects and complexity of the images. Some of the automatic brain segmentation techniques are complex and some of them are not sufficiently accurate for certain applications. The goal of this paper is proposing an algorithm that is more accurate and less complex).
Matched MeSH terms: Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted/methods*; Magnetic Resonance Imaging/methods*