The fibrinolytic system plays an important role in normal haemostasis and endothelial function. This study was conducted to compare three fibrinolytic markers, i.e. plasminogen, tissue-plasminogen activator (t-PA) and plasminogen activator inhibitor type-1 (PAI-1) between acute stroke and stable non-stroke patients and to investigate the clinical significance of these markers.
D-optimal design was employed to optimize the mixture of cross-linking agents formulation: microbial transglutaminase (MTGase) and ribose, and the processing parameters (i.e. incubation and heating time) in the mixture in order to obtain combined-cross-linked bovine serum albumin gels that have high gel strength, pH close to neutral and yet medium in browning. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed that the contribution of quadratic term to the model over the linear was significant for pH and L* value, whereas linear model was significant for gel strength. Optimization study using response surface methodology (RSM) was performed to the mixture components and process variables and the optimum conditions obtained were: MTGase of 1.34-1.43 g/100 mL, ribose of 1.07-1.16 g/100 mL, incubation time of 5 h at 40 degrees C and heating time of 3 h at 90 degrees C.
BACKGROUND AND AIMS OF THE WORK: Nitric oxide (NO) has been reported to enhance the production of cAMP by hydroxyapatite (HA)-induced a human osteoblast cell line (HOS cells). The aim of the present study was to test the hypothesis that exogenous NO may up-regulate the proliferation of hydroxyapatite (HA)-induced HOS cells via the cyclic-AMP-protein kinase A (PKA) pathway.
Psoriasis is a skin disorder which is caused by genetic fault. There is no cure for psoriasis, however, there are many treatment modalities to help control the disease. To evaluate treatment efficacy, PASI (Psoriasis Area and Severity Index) which is the current gold standard method is used to measure psoriasis severity by evaluating the area, erythema, scaliness and thickness of the plaques. However, the calculation of PASI can be tedious and subjective. In this work, we develop a computer vision method that determines one of the PASI parameter, the lesion area. The method isolates healthy (or healed) skin areas from lesion areas by analyzing the hue and chroma information in the CIE L*a*b* colour space. Centroids of healthy skin and psoriasis in the hue-chroma space are determined from selected sample. Euclidean distance of all pixels from each centroid is calculated. Each pixel is assigned to the class with minimum Euclidean distance. The study involves patients from three different ethnic origins having different skin tones. Results obtained show that the proposed method is comparable to the dermatologist visual approach.
In this paper, we describe an image processing scheme to analyze and determine areas of skin that have undergone repigmentation in particular, during the treatment of vitiligo. In vitiligo cases, areas of skin become pale or white due to the lack of skin pigment called melanin. Vitiligo treatment causes skin repigmentation resulting in a normal skin color. However, it is difficult to determine and quantify the amount of repigmentation visually during treatment because the repigmentation progress is slow and moreover changes in skin color can only be discerned over a longer time frame typically 6 months. Here, we develop a digital image analysis scheme that can identify and determine vitiligo skin areas and repigmentation progression on a shorter time period. The technique is based on principal component analysis and independent component analysis which converts the RGB skin image into a skin image that represent skin areas due to melanin and haemoglobin only, followed by segmentation process. Vitiligo skin lesions are identified as skin areas that lack melanin (non-melanin areas). In the initial studies of 4 patients, the method has been able to quantify repigmentation in vitiligo lesion. Hence it is now possible to determine repigmentation progression objectively and treatment efficacy on a shorter time cycle.
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 ability to identify the occurrence of different resistance genotypes in field populations of mosquito is considered important for the purpose of optimising chemical control operations. The recent development of rapid microassays of enzymes responsible for resistance has provided a means for rapidly assessing the genetic background of target mosquito populations. This concept is the topic of investigation in this study. Non-specific esterase activity, which is responsible for the resistance to organophosphates in Malaysian Culex quinquefasciatus Say adults, was determined in 3 field populations from Kuala Lumpur City using rapid enzyme assay. The optical density results were used to estimate the genotypic frequencies of the populations. Subsequently, time-dependent changes in the various frequencies were determined. Such techniques allowed rapid assessment of resistance genotypes for decision-making and its possible use in insect control merits further investigation.
A filter method for collection and storage of capillary blood spots for glycated haemoglobin (gHb) has been developed. Glass fibre filters (GFB) impregnated with 0.8 M boric acid were used to collect and store capillary blood. Haemoglobin from the dried blood spots was eluted into water and determined by Drabkin's method, while gHb in the eluates was determined by the microcolorimetric method. The intraassay coefficients of variation (CVs) were 4.5, 4.5 and 3.1% at 882, 1101 and 1704 pmol HMF/mg Hb, respectively. The corresponding inter-assay CVs were 8.6, 8.6 and 6.3%, respectively. A total of 63 paired capillary and venous blood samples were measured by both the direct and GFB method. The GFB method showed excellent correlation with the direct method (r = 0.948 and r = 0.994) after 7 and 14 days' storage at room temperature. The GFB method will enable prior collection and postage of blood samples by patients.
Phenolic chemicals with their very low taste and odour thresholds, high persistence and toxicity, are of growing concern as water pollutants. The compounds are known to exist in raw water as well as in treated water. The level of phenolic priority pollutants in water within the catchment area of the Linggi River Treatment Plant in Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia, which includes the Linggi river basin, was monitored. The 4-aminoantipyrin colourimetric method was used to determine total phenols whereas capillary column gas chromatography was used to determine the individual compounds. The results show that at most sampling stations, particularly those within the Seremban municipality, the level of phenols was found to exceed the recommended Malaysian standard of 2.0 μg/L(-1) for raw water. This is seen as the direct impact of industrial and urbanization of the area and clearly indicates the unhealthy state of the Linggi river. The results also indicate the need to improve the water quality if the river is going to be used as a source of raw water.