Traditionally serum and/or CSF specimens have been used for detection of either specific antibodies or antigens as a supportive diagnosis of NCC. However, in recent days, much interest has been shown employing noninvasive specimens such as urine. In our study, we identified and compared a profile of circulating antigenic peptides of parasite origin in three different body fluids (CSF, serum and urine) obtained from confirmed NCC cases and control subjects. The circulating antigenic peptides were resolved by SDS-PAGE and subjected to immunoblotting. For confirmation of their origin as parasite somatic or excretory secretory (ES) material, immunoreactivity was tested employing affinity purified polyclonal Taenia solium metacestode anti-somatic or ES antibodies, respectively. Only lower molecular weight antigenic peptides were found circulating in urine in contrast to serum and CSF specimens. Few somatic peptides were identified to be 100% specific for NCC (19·5 kDa in all three specimens; 131, 70 kDa in CSF and serum only; 128 kDa in CSF only). Similarly, the specific ES peptides detected were 32 kDa (in all three specimens), 16·5 kDa (in serum and CSF only), and 15 kDa (urine only). A test format detecting either one or more of these specific peptides would enhance the sensitivity in diagnosis of NCC.
There are two major problems in proton therapy. (1) In comparison with the gamma-ray therapy, proton therapy has only ~ 10% greater biological effectiveness, and (2) the risk of the secondary neutrons in proton therapy is another unsolved problem. In this report, the increase of biological effectiveness in proton therapy has been evaluated with better performance than 11B in the presence of two proposed nanomaterials of 157GdF4 and 157Gd doped carbon with the thermal neutron reduction due to the presence of 157Gd isotope. The present study is based on the microanalysis calculations using GEANT4 Monte Carlo tool and GEANT4-DNA package for the strand breaks measurement. It was found that the proposed method will increase the effectiveness corresponding to the alpha particles by more than 100% and also, potentially will decrease the thermal neutrons fluence, significantly. Also, in this work, a discussion is presented on a significant contribution of the secondary alpha particles in total effectiveness in proton therapy.
The emissions from fossil fuels causes severe air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, driving climate change and health risks. Thus, finding renewable and eco-friendly alternative fuels is urgently needed for energy security and environmental sustainability. This study aimed to produce bioethanol from cassava peels and optimize the production parameters to maximize bioethanol yield and purity. The experimental design was developed using Taguchi orthogonal array, while Grey Relational Analysis and Analysis of Variance were applied to determine the optimal process conditions and evaluate the significance of process parameters. The produced bioethanol was characterized using Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) analysis and physicochemical properties determination. Cassava peels were collected, washed, sun-dried, and ground into powder before undergoing acid hydrolysis using 0.5 M H2SO4 at 121 °C to produce fermentable sugars. The hydrolysate was neutralized and fermented with Saccharomyces cerevisiae at controlled temperatures and fermentation times, followed by distillation to obtain bioethanol. The results indicated that optimal conditions of 30 °C fermentation temperature, pH of 4, and 72-h fermentation time produced the highest grey relational grade, corresponding to 33% yield and 96% purity. Furthermore, FTIR spectroscopy confirmed the presence of functional groups and compounds characteristic of ethanol-based biofuels. The produced bioethanol shows physicochemical properties that closely match those of pure ethanol and comply with fuel-grade ethanol standards. These findings demonstrate that cassava peels can serve as an effective feedstock for sustainable bioethanol production, and that optimisation of fermentation parameters significantly enhances fuel quality and production efficiency.