Population Dynamics of Intermediate-Host Snails in the White Nile River,Sudan: A Year-Round Observational Descriptive Study

We aimed to explore the population dynamics of snail in 3 sites of the White Nile in Sudan. More specifically, we aimed to investigate the annual patterns of snail populations that act as intermediate hosts of schistosomes and monthly snail infection rates and ecological characteristics presumably related to snail populations. We collected snails for 1 year monthly at 3 different shore sites in the vicinity of El Shajara along the White Nile river in Khartoum State, Sudan. In addition, we measured air and water temperatures, water turbidities, vegetation coverages, and water depths and current speeds. Most of the collected snails were Biomphalaria pfeifferi and Bulinus truncatus. The population densities of snails and their infection rates varied across survey sites. The collected snails liberated S. mansoni and S. haematobium cercariae as well as Amphistome and Echinostome cercariae. Infected snails were found during March–June. The ecological characteristics found to be associated with the absence of snails population were: high turbidity, deep water, low vegetation coverage (near absence of vegetation), high water temperature, and high current speed. To our knowledge, this is the first longitudinal study of the snail population and ecological characteristics in the main basin of the White Nile river.     

Chitosan and silver nanoparticles are attractive auxin carriers: A comparative study on the adventitious rooting of microcuttings in apple rootstocks

Nanocarriers for encapsulation and sustained release of agrochemicals such as auxins have emerged as an attractive strategy to provide enhanced bioavailability and efficacy for improved crop yields and nutrition quality. Here, a comparative study was conducted on the effectiveness of chitosan-as a biopolymeric nanocarrier- and silver-as a metallic nanocarrier- on in vitro adventitious rooting potential of microcuttings in apple rootstocks, for the first time. Auxins indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) and indole-3-butyric acid (IBA) loaded silver (nAg) or chitosan nanoparticles (nChi) were synthesized. Scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy studies showed the spherical shape of the nanoparticles. The average particle size of IAA-nChi was 167.5 ± 0.1 nm while that of IBA-nChi was 123.2 ± 2.6 nm. The hydrodynamic diameter of the nAg-IAA and nAg-IBA particles were measured as 93.66 ± 5 nm and 71.41 ± 3 nm, respectively. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy analyses confirmed the encapsulation of IAA or IBA in the chitosan nanoparticles. Meanwhile, the characteristic peaks of IAA or IBA were detected on silver nanoparticles. In-vitro adventitious rooting of microcuttings of Malling Merton 106 (MM 106) was significantly higher both in chitosan and silver nanoparticles loaded with IAA or IBA (91.7%–62.5%) compared to free IAA or IBA applications (50.0%–33.3%), except for 2.0 mg L^–1 IBA (66.7%). However, the application of 2 mg L^–1 IBA and IBA-nChi at all concentrations caused an undesirable large callus development.     

Abutilon indicum Exhibits Anxiolytic and Antidepressant Effects in Mice Models

Doklady Biochemistry and Biophysics - Abutilon indicum Linn (A. indicum) is native to tropical and subtropical zones and traditionally used in ulcer, diabetes, piles, jaundice, gonorrhoea and...     

Eremophilane Sesquiterpenes and Benzene Derivatives from the Endophyte Microdiplodia sp. WGHS5

Three new eremophilane sesquiterpenes phomadecalins G−I ( 1 – 3 ) and two new benzene derivatives microdiplzenes A and B ( 12 and 13 ), together with nine known eremophilane sesquiterpenes ( 4 – 11 and 14 ) were isolated from an endophytic fungus, Microdiplodia sp. WGHS5. Their structures were elucidated by the interpretation of HR-ESI-MS and NMR data; meanwhile, the absolute configurations of new compounds were determined on the base of ECD calculations. All compounds were evaluated for the antimicrobial activities and antiproliferative effect on human gastric cancer cell lines (BGC-823).     

Optimization of an improved,efficient and rapid in vitro micropropagation protocol for Petunia hybrida Vilm. Cv. “Bravo”

An efficient protocol for in-vitro propagation of an important ornamental crop, Petunia hybrida Vilm. Cv. “Bravo” was developed. The explants that were used to carry out the experiment were Leaf segments, nodal segments and shoot tips. Nodal segments recorded highest per cent asepsis followed by shoot tips and leaf segments. Asepsis was found to be highest when the explants were sterilized with Fungicide (Carbendazim) 0.02% for the duration of 30 min followed by 0.1% HgCl₂ for duration of 10 min and then ethanol 70% for 10 s. Longer duration of the sterilant treatment showed more necrotic effects on the explants, thus mercuric chloride treatment when given for 5 min proved to be more effective in terms of survival of the explants. Maximum establishment per cent was recorded in Murashige and Skoog (MS) media fortified with BAP (1.5 mg L⁻¹) and IBA (0.5 mg L⁻¹) in shoot tips and nodal segments, i.e. 97.90 and 95.74% respectively. Callus was efficiently induced and developed when PGR amalgamation of BAP (0.1 mg L⁻¹) and 2,4-D (1.5mg L⁻¹) was used. Kinetin at the concentration of 2.0 mg L⁻¹ along with IBA at 0.5mg L⁻¹ recorded highest callus regeneration in both leaf and internodal segment derived callus. Maximum proliferation percent of shoots (97.90%), highest number of shoots (20.50 explant⁻¹) and maximum length of shoot (2.70 cm) was recorded in PGR combination of IBA and BAP both at 0.5 mg L⁻1 concentration level. Rhizogenesis was recorded to be highest in the MS media containing IBA 1.00 mg L⁻¹. Best hardening media which recorded maximum survival per cent 92.50% was noticed on the media formulation comprised of equal ratio of perlite and vermiculite mix, under poly house conditions.     

A new cloud-based classification methodology (CBCM) for efficient semantic web service discovery

Over the last decades, web services are used for performing specific tasks demanded by users. The most important task of service’s classification system is to match an anonymous input service with the stored pre-classified web services. The most challenging issue is that web services are currently organized and classified according to syntax while the context of the requested service is ignored. Due to this motivation, Cloud-based Classification Methodology is proposed as it presents a new methodology based on semantic web service’s classification. Furthermore, cloud computing is used for not only storing but also allocating the high scale of web services with both high availability and accessibility. Fog technology is employed to reduce the latency and to speed up response time. The experimental results using the suggested methodology show a better performance of the proposed system regarding both precision and accuracy in comparison with most of the methods discussed in the literature of the current study.

     

Structural and functional relations between the connective tissue and epithelium of enamel organ and their role during enamel maturation

Journal of Molecular Histology - The morphological and possible functional interactions between the connective tissue and enamel organ cells were examined during the maturation phase of enamel...     

Extremely Sensitive Photonic Crystal Fiber–Based Cancer Cell Detector in the Terahertz Regime

A new photonic crystal fiber (PCF)–based, hollow-core, optical waveguide is proposed and numerically investigated to quickly identify numerous species of cancerous cells in the human body. Typical and cancerous cells have different refractive indices (RIs), and via this characteristic, the other important optical parameters are evaluated. The guiding properties of this proposed cancer cell sensor are analyzed in the COMSOL Multiphysics environment which used the finite element method as mathematical tool to solve differential equations. Furthermore, to ensure the highest simulation accuracy, extremely fine mesh elements are introduced. The simulation studies confirm that the proposed sensor, at 2.5 THz, achieves an extremely high relative sensitivity of almost 98% with negligible loss (< 0.025 dB/cm). Furthermore, a high numerical aperture (NA) and spot size, with low modal area, enhance the propagation characteristics of the sensor to a new height. The sensor’s physical structure is very simple so that it can be easily fabricated with modern fabrication technology. Thus, it seems that this sensor will open a new door in the field of detecting and diagnosing different cancer cells.

     

Toward subject-specific evaluation: methods of evaluating finite element brain models using experimental high-rate rotational brain motion

Biomechanics and Modeling in Mechanobiology - Computational models of the brain have become the gold standard in biomechanics to understand, predict, and mitigate traumatic brain injuries. Many...     

Naringin inhibits the biofilms of metallo-β-lactamases (MβLs) producing Pseudomonas species isolated from camel meat

Food producing animals harbouring bacteria carrying drug resistance genes especially the metallo-beta-lactamase (MBL) pose high risk for the human population. In addition, formation of biofilm by these drug resistant pathogens represents major threat to food safety and public health. In this study, metallo-β-lactamases (MβLs) producing Pseudomonas spp. from camel meat were isolated and assessed for their biofilm formation. Further, in vitro and in silico studies were performed to study the effect of flavone naringin on biofilm formation against isolated Pseudomonas spp. A total of 55% isolates were found to produce metallo-β-lactamase enzyme. Naringin mitigated biofilm formation of Pseudomonas isolates up to 57%. Disturbed biofilm architecture and reduced the colonization of bacteria on glass was observed under scanning electron microscope (SEM) and confocal laser scanning microscope (CLSM). The biofilm related traits such as exopolysaccharides (EPS) and alginate production was also reduced remarkably in the presence of naringin. Eradication of preformed biofilms (32–60%) was also observed at the respective 0.50 × MICs. Molecular docking revealed that naringin showed strong affinity towards docked proteins with binding energy ranging from −8.6 to −8.8 kcal mol⁻¹. Presence of metallo-β-lactamase producers indicates that camel meat could be possible reservoir of drug-resistant Pseudomonas species of clinical importance. Naringin was successful in inhibiting biofilm formation as well as eradicating the preformed biofilms and demonstrated strong binding affinity towards biofilm associated protein. Thus, it is envisaged that naringin could be exploited as food preservative especially against the biofilm forming food-borne Pseudomonas species and is a promising prospect for the treatment of biofilm based infections.