Morphological variation of Echinococcus granulosus protoscoleces from hydatid cysts of human and various domestic animals in Jordan

, and 1988. Morphological variation of Echinococcus granulosus protoscoleces from hydatid cysts of human and various domestic animals in Jordan. International Journal for Parasitology 18: 1111–1114. Rostellar hook morphology of protoscoleces was employed to study the possible existence of Echinococcus granulosus strains in humans and various domestic animals in Jordan. A distinct form in the donkey was evident as the protoscoleces from this host did not share any characteristics with those from the other hosts examined. Sheep, goats and cattle appeared to be affected by another form since the protoscoleces from their hydatid cysts shared six out of nine characteristics studied. Protoscoleces of camel and human cysts shared seven out of nine characteristics studied and they were different in six characteristics from protoscoleces from other hosts. Differences observed among the three forms may reflect strain variation of E. granulosus in this country.     

An Artifact Of Liquid Emulsion Autoradiography

The localization of ³H-opiatcs in the myenteric plexus of the guinea pig ileum is subject to systematic artifact when stretch preparations of the myenteric plexus are dipped into liquid Kodak NTB-3 emulsion for autoradiography. The cause of the artifact was determined to be a discontinuous distribution, or retraction, of emulsion over plexuses. The apposition of frozen freeze-dried ilial sections to dried photographic emulsion avoids this source of error.     

Thymoquinone attenuates doxorubicin‐cardiotoxicity in rats

Contrary to the fact that doxorubicin is a powerful chemotherapeutic agent for the treatment of neoplastic diseases, cardiotoxicity is too important to be ignored. Thymoquinone serves as a powerful free radical scavenger. In the study, the effects of thymoquinone against doxorubicin‐cardiotoxicity will be evaluated. Forty rats were divided into five groups. Group I: control group (n = 8); group II: olive oil group (n = 8); group III: thymoquinone group (n = 8); given 10 mg/kg thymoquinone intraperitoneally per day throughout the experiment; group IV: doxorubicin group (n = 8); injected with a single dose of 15 mg/kg ip doxorubicin on the 7th day of the experiment; group V: doxorubicin + thymoquinone group (n = 8); administered with 10 mg/kg thymoquinone per day during the experiment and 15 mg/kg doxorubicin ip on the 7th day. The experiment was planned for 14 days. Immunohistochemically, heat shock protein (HSP) 70 and HSP90, glucose‐regulated protein 78 (GRP78), caspase‐3 were stained. We made terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick end labeling for apoptotic evaluation. Total oxidant status (TOS) levels and total antioxidant status (TAS) were measured in the heart tissue. Atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) and pro‐B type natriuretic peptide (proBNP) were evaluated. In the study, HSP70, HSP90, GRP78, and caspase‐3 levels increased in group IV. TOS and TAS levels were significant compared to group I. Doxorubicin significantly increased ANP and NT‐proBNP levels. Thymoquinone revealed significant differences in these values. Thymoquinone can be an important cardioprotective agent against doxorubicin‐cardiotoxicity.     

Antifungal and antibacterial activities of Taxus wallichiana Zucc

Current study was undertaken to evaluate the in vitro antifungal and antibacterial potential of methanol extract and subsequent fractions obtained after partitioning in organic solvents with variable polarity of the aerial parts of the tree Taxus wallichiana Zucc. Traditionally, this plant is often used in folk medicines in Pakistan for treating microbial infections. In order to rationalize the traditional use, methanol extracts of leaf, bark, and heartwood of Taxus wallichiana Zucc. were tested against six bacteria and six fungal strains using the Hole diffusion and macro-dilution methods. All extracts and fractions displayed significant antimicrobial effect. Only three fungal strains, Trichophyton longifusus, Microspoum canis, and Fusarium solani were susceptible to the extracts and fractions with MICs ranging from 0.08 to 200 mg/mL. In case of bacterial strains, Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Salmonella typhi were susceptible to the extracts and fractions with MICs ranging from 0.08 to 200 mg/mL. Comparison results were carried out using imipinem, miconazole and amphotericin B as standard antibiotics.     

Combination of AT-101/cisplatin overcomes chemoresistance by inducing apoptosis and modulating epigenetics in human ovarian cancer cells

We investigated the effects of AT-101/cisplatin combination treatment on the expression levels of apoptotic proteins and epigenetic events such as DNA methyltransferase (DNMT) and histone deacetylase (HDAC) enzyme activities in OVCAR-3 and MDAH-2774 ovarian cancer cells. XTT cell viability assay was used to evaluate cytotoxicity. For showing apoptosis, both DNA Fragmentation and caspase 3/7 activity measurements were performed. The expression levels of apoptotic proteins were assessed by human apoptosis antibody array. DNMT and HDAC activities were evaluated by ELISA assay and mRNA levels of DNMT1 and HDAC1 genes were quantified by qRT-PCR. Combination of AT-101/cisplatin resulted in strong synergistic cytotoxicity and apoptosis in human ovarian cancer cells. Combination treatment reduced some pivotal anti-apoptotic proteins such as Bcl-2, HIF-1A, cIAP-1, XIAP in OVCAR-3 cells, whereas p21, Bcl-2, cIAP-1, HSP27, Clusterin and XIAP in MDAH-2774 cells. Among the pro-apoptotic proteins, Bad, Bax, Fas, phospho-p53 (S46), Cleaved caspase-3, SMAC/Diablo, TNFR1 and Cytochrome c were induced in OVCAR-3 cells, whereas, Bax, TRAILR2, FADD, p27, phospho-p53 (S46), Cleaved caspase-3, Cytochrome c, SMAC/Diablo and TNFR1 were induced in MDAH-2774 cells. Combination treatment also inhibited both DNMT and HDAC activities and also mRNA levels in both ovarian cancer cells. AT-101 exhibits great potential in sensitization of human ovarian cancer cells to cisplatin treatment in vitro, suggesting that the combination of AT-101 with cisplatin may hold great promise for development as a novel chemotherapeutic approach to overcome platinum-resistance in human ovarian cancer.     

Clock gene PERIOD3 polymorphism is associated with susceptibility to Graves’ disease but not to Hashimoto’s thyroiditis

ABSTRACT

Circadian disruption has been linked with immune-related morbidities including autoimmune diseases. PERIOD3 (PER3) clock gene is a key player in the mammalian circadian system. This study evaluated the possible association of PER3 rs2797685 (G/A) polymorphism and susceptibility of autoimmune thyroid diseases (AITD) and assessed if this SNP contributes to disease characteristics and serum levels of interleukin-6 (IL-6) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α). The PER3 rs2797685 (G/A) polymorphism was assessed in 125 patients with AITD [Graves’ disease (GD), 69; Hashimoto’s thyroiditis (HT), 56] and 115 unrelated healthy controls. Subjects carrying at least one variant allele of PER3 rs2797685 (GA+AA) had increased risk for GD (OR 1.9, 95% CI 1–3.61, p= .05). There were no differences in the frequencies of genotypes and alleles of the PER3 rs2797685 polymorphism between HT patients and control subjects. No association was observed between genotypes of the studied SNP and any of the disease characteristics in GD and HT patients. The GA+AA genotype of PER3 rs2797685 was associated with lower levels of IL-6 in patients with Graves’ disease. There were no differences between genotypes of the studied SNP regarding TNF-α levels in GD, HT or control groups. In conclusion, this study provides the first evidence for a genetic association between GD and the PER3 gene, highlighting the possible relevance of polymorphisms in clock genes in the etiopathogenesis of AITD. However, functional studies to identify the underlying molecular mechanisms of this association are needed to translate these findings to clinical applications.     

Liminality and racial hazing of Muslim migrants: media framing of Albanians in Shepparton,Australia, 1930–1955

This article is a historical empirical study of the Albanian Muslim migrant community of Shepparton. Through analysing newspaper reports, the authors discuss how these migrants were portrayed as liminal between their first arrival and acceptance as Australians a generation later. This is characteristic of a practice which the authors term “migrant hazing”, where a migrant group is demonized as a threat to the society during the liminal phase. Migrant hazing occurs in public discourse, particularly the media, and ceases with the replacement of the group by newer migrants, who are subjected to the same process. Furthermore, migrant hazing remains present in contemporary depictions of Australian Muslims. In this longitudinal study, media reports on Albanian Muslims revolved around three persistent themes: their supposed criminality, the wrongful use of land and the threat of dual-loyalty. These three items constituted the main weapons of the media in hazing the first, liminal generation.     

Phytoremediation of landfill leachate waste contaminants through floating bed technique using water hyacinth and water lettuce

Abstract

In the present study, the effectiveness of water hyacinth and water lettuce was tested for the phytoremediation of landfill leachate for the period of 15?days. Fifteen plastic containers were used in experimental setup where aquatic plants were fitted as a floating bed with the help of thermo-pole sheet. It was observed that both plants significantly (p?<?0.05/p?<?0.01/p?<?0.001) reduce the physicochemical parameters pH, TDS, BOD, COD and heavy metals like Zn, Pb, Fe, Cu and Ni from landfill leachate. Maximum reduction in these parameters was obtained at 50% and 75% landfill leachate treatment and their removal rate gradually increased from day 3 to day 15 of the experiment. The maximum removal rate for heavy metals such as for Zn (80–90%), Fe (83–87%) and Pb (76–84%) was attained by Eichhornia crassipes and Pistia stratiotes. Value of bioconcentration and translocation factor was less than 1 which indicates the low transport of heavy metals from roots to the above-ground parts of the plants. Both these plants accumulate heavy metals inside their body without showing much reduction in growth and showing tolerance to all the present metals. Therefore, results obtained from the study suggest that these aquatic plants are suitable candidate for the removal of pollution load from landfill leachate.     

Correlation between Li Plating Behavior and Surface Characteristics of Carbon Matrix toward Stable Li Metal Anodes

Carbonaceous materials are widely employed to host Li for stable and safe Li metal batteries while relatively little effort is devoted to tailoring the surface properties of carbon to facilitate uniform Li plating. Herein, the correlation between Li plating behavior and the surface characteristics of electrospun porous carbon nanofibers (PCNFs) is systemically elucidated through experiments and theoretical calculations. It is revealed that the neat carbon surface suffers from severe lattice mismatch with Li metal, hindering uniform Li plating. In contrast, open pores created on the PCNF surface serve as active sites for controlled initial nucleation of Li. The introduction of oxygenated functional groups further facilitates the nucleation of Li on PCNFs through the largely reduced nucleation energy barrier. The Li film uniformly deposited on PCNFs enables efficient use of the whole carbon surface, giving rise to enhanced cyclic stability of the electrode. When used as an anode in lithium–sulfur batteries, the modified electrode delivers an excellent energy density of 385 Wh kg^?1 after 100 cycles. The fundamental correlation established in this study is universal to all types of carbonaceous materials and sheds new light on the rational design of high‐performance Li metal anodes by controlling the initial Li nucleation.