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Bioinformatics as a modern tool in forensic science for data understanding & investigation in research
No full textModern-day biology is witnessing a data explosion with a vast amount of information generated from ongoing genome and sequencing projects. The abundance of data from genome sequences, functional genomics and another high throughput (HTP) technique with the potential of computing has led to rising of a new discipline namely ‘bioinformatics’. Bioinformatics is a young but fast-growing field for biological data collection, organization, interpretation, and modeling. Tools and techniques for bioinformatics are derived from multidisciplinary combinations of varied disciplines from natural and physical sciences. Previously various disciplines were carved out as and when sufficient specialization was achieved. However, now bioinformatics is borne out of an alliance between existing disciplines from life and non-life. Bioinformatics encompasses new foundations for the collection, organization, and mining of gene/ protein sequences, three-dimensional structures, and biochemical functions, for modeling biological processes of functioning cells. DNA sequencing performed on an industrial scale has produced a vast amount of data to analyze. Although the Human Genome Project is officially over, improvements in DNA sequencing continue to be made. The field of forensic science is increasingly based on biomolecular data and many European countries are establishing forensic databases to store DNA profiles of crime scenes of known offenders and apply DNA testing
Radiation-induced salivary gland damage/dysfunction in head and neck cancer: Nano-bioengineering strategies and artificial intelligence for prevention, therapy and reparation
No full textSaliva is produced by and secreted from salivary glands. It is an extra-cellular fluid, 98% water, plus electrolytes, mucus, white blood cells, epithelial cells, enzymes, and anti-microbial agents. Saliva serves a critical role in the maintenance of oral, dental, and general health and well-being. Hence, alteration(s) in the amount/quantity and/or quality of secreted saliva may induce the development of several oro-dental variations, thereby the negatively-impacting overall quality of life. Diverse factors may affect the process of saliva production and quantity/quality of secretion, including medications, systemic or local pathologies and/or reversible/irreversible damage. Herein, chemo- and/or radio-therapy, particularly, in cases of head and neck cancer, for example, are well-documented to induce serious damage and dysfunction to the radio-sensitive salivary gland tissue, resulting in hypo-salivation, xerostomia (dry mouth) as well as numerous other adverse Intra-/extra-oral, medical and quality-of-life issues. Indeed, radio-therapy inevitably causes damage to the normal head and neck tissues including nerve structures (brain stem, spinal cord, and brachial plexus), mucous membranes, and swallowing muscles. Current commercially-available remedies as well as therapeutic interventions provide only temporary symptom relief, hence, do not address irreversible glandular damage. Further, despite salivary gland-sparing techniques and modified dosing strategies, long-term hypo-function remains a significant problem. Although a single governing mechanism of radiation-induced salivary gland tissue damage and dysfunction has not been yet elucidated, the potential for synergy in radio-protection (mainly, and possibly -reparation) via a combinatorial approach of mechanistically distinct strategies, has been suggested and explored over the years. This is, undoubtfully, in parallel to the ongoing efforts in improving the precision, safety, delivery, and efficacy of clinical radiotherapy protocols/outcomes, and in designing, developing, evaluating and optimizing (for translation) new artificial intelligence, technological and bio-pharmaceutical alternatives, topics covered in this review
In silico disrupting quorum sensing of porphyromonas gingivalis via essential oils and coumarin derivatives
No full textThe emergence of Porphyromonas gingivalis biofilm is a hallmark of risky burden diseases including Alzheimer's disease and atherosclerosis. The current study aims to screen some natural essential oil compounds and coumarin derivatives to interfere with quorum sensing of the bacterium and thus biofilm formation. A total of 20 ligands (10 essential oil molecules and 10 coumarin derivatives) were docked to P.gingivalis heme-binding protein HmuY using UCSF Chimera built-in AutoDock interface. Alongside, ADMET properties were also predicted via ADMETsar 2.0 and ProTox-II webservers. All of the selected ligands had higher free energy values than the reference inhibitor MES and native coumarin as well. Moreover, ADME parameters are in good agreement with Lipinski's rule of five. Nevertheless, the best molecules with top binding energy exhibited slight immunogenicity as well as carcinogenicity issues requiring in vitro confirmation. In conclusion, the tested ligands had better efficacy against P.gingivalis quorum sensing and biofilm
The protective potential of Carbonic Anhydrase VI (CA VI) against tooth decay in children: A systematic review of the literature
No full textCarbonic anhydrase VI (CA VI) catalyzes the reversible hydration of carbon dioxide in saliva with possible pH regulation, taste perception, and tooth formation effects. Objective: The aim of this work was to undertake a systematic review regarding the relationship between the expression/activity of CA VI in saliva and in dental biofilm and caries experience. Study design: Five databases were searched until February 2020. The composition was based on the PRISMA statement and on the PICOS model. First author, year, subject characteristics, analysis performed, outcome, measures & variables were extracted. The used terms were “carbonic anhydrase VI”, “saliva”, “dental biofilm” and “dental caries”.Results: Five studies in the English language were selected for this systematic review and the main discussed topics were the expression/activity of CA VI in saliva and/or in the dental biofilm of children, and its relationship with dental caries. Conclusion: Salivary carbonic anhydrase plays an important role in the caries dynamics process since there is an association between the expression/activity of CA VI in saliva and the experience of caries. Thus, this protein can predict the risk of dental caries in young patients
Follow-up of patients with sarcoidosis in an internal medicine unit from a hospital in Asturias, Spain. Analysis of extrapulmonary manifestations
No full textSarcoidosis is a multisystem disease of unknown origin that is characterized by non-caseating epithelioid granuloma formation within various organs, mainly the lungs [1]. The objective of this study is the analysis of sarcoidosis patients affected by pulmonary manifestation alone or extrapulmonary expression
Fabrication of novel Co3O4@GO/La2O3 nanocomposites as efficient, innovative and recyclable nanocatalysts for the synthesis of quinazolinone derivatives under solvent-free conditions
No full textFor the first time, this research has developed an efficient and novel approach to high to excellent yields for synthesizing Quinazolinone derivatives. Also, the synthesis of Quinazolinone derivatives has been carried out in the presence of Co3O4@GO/La2O3 nanocomposite as a novel heterogeneous catalyst and a green under solvent-free conditions and in a short time and excellent yields for the first time. Various structural and morphological characteristics of the nanocatalyst were employed for the catalyst characterization, such as FT-IR, XRD, FE-SEM, EDX and VSM analyses. All characterization data were checked with each other so that the structure of the nanocatalyst was exactly characterized. The reactions were carried out in the presence of a low amount of nanocatalyst at 100 °C under solvent-free conditions for a short period of time. The proposed nanocomposite exhibits excellent catalytic activity. One of the most important advantages of this method is easy magnetic nanocatalyst separation, green condition, excellent recoverability and easy workup
Prevalence and awareness of oral habits among adults in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
No full textIntroduction: Oral habit is common in childhood and it is proven to cause multiple adverse effects on oral and general health, while oral habits in the adult population are under looked. The prevalence of oral habits varied among different societies. The extent of these effects varies depending on a wide range of variables including the actual habit, the duration, and the intensity of the oral habit. Objectives: The primary objective is to determine the prevalence of oral habits in adults in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and the secondary objective is awareness of different types of oral habits and their adverse effects.Methods: Descriptive cross-sectional study using questionnaire through google form which will address the prevalence of 5 Oral habits in the adult population, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia such as nail biting, chewing on pens/pencils/Miswak, using the teeth as a tool, chewing ice, and teeth clenching/grinding and bruxism. Also, it will address the awareness of these 5 oral habits and their adverse effects on oral health and prevention modalities. Results: There were 220 participants. The majority were Saudi (52.7%), females (83.2%) with bachelor’s degrees (63.6%) and around fifty percent with age below 30 years old. The most prevalent pattern was using teeth as a tool (46.8%), followed by chewing ice (43.6%) and nail-biting (39.1%). All five habits were mainly started in childhood; however, a respectable percentage of beginning is still reported during adulthood, particularly for clenching/grinding/ bruxism and chewing ice, with a ratio of 36.4% and 25%, respectively. Most participants who reported clenching/grinding/ bruxism and nail-biting were related to stress (75.3%, 48.8%, respectively). The majority reported that oral habits could harm teeth (82.3%) and could be preventable (78.6%).Discussion: Most of the studies concentrate on oral habits in children while few studies had concentrated on oral habits in adults. Oral habit is not uncommon in adults, they have either to continue childhood bad habits or practice new oral habit. The adverse effect varies widely on oral and general health. Although the adult population is aware of these side effects few only seek medical advice.Conclusion: In Saudi Arabia, oral habit is not uncommon in adults. So the recommendation for the prevention of oral habits is to embed it in all public services, at strategic and operational levels
Determination of foot-and-mouth disease serotypes from naturally infected cattle by solid phase competitive ELISA (SPCE) techniques
No full textObjective: Foot and mouth disease (FMD) is a highly infectious and economically important disease affecting cloven-hoofed domestic and wild animals. Early diagnosis and serotyping of the agent are very important to effectively design and implement the control approach. This study was conducted on serum samples collected from Amhara, Tigray, Oromia and Addis Ababa between October 2018 to February 2020. The animals were kept under a semi-intensive to an extensive system of rearing. Serum samples with low OD values (positive) using competition NSP-ELISA were subjected to serotyping ELISA. Results: In the present study, three serotypes were identified from 186 NSP ELISA positive sera of which 156 serotype O, 40 serotypes A and 28 serotype SAT2. In this analysis, multiple serotype infection was observed which is why the number of serotypes was beyond the samples analyzed. Among 23 samples from Addis Ababa 10, 3 and 5 were O, A and SAT2 serotypes respectively, while in samples from the Oromia region 12 were O and 3 were SAT2 serotypes. From the Amhara region, 99 samples analyzed were found to be serotype O and SAT2 in 7 of the serum samples. From the Tigray region, 30 samples were seen to have Serotype O infection, whereas 13 of them were SAT2. The proportion of serotypes identified based on the production system practices was also found that semi-intensive production takes the largest share in all three serotypes followed by extensive production. Generally, early determination of the serotype from past infection helps to aware of the epidemiology as well as the infection immunity of the herd/individual animals
Study of ESG criteria and metrics for the construction industry
No full textConsidering the performance of supply chains in the three dimensions of sustainability; Economic, Social, and Environmental, ESG scores can function as a measurement scale [1]. Environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) is an extension and enrichment of the concept of Socially Responsible Investment (SRI) and is an important measure of corporate sustainable development [2,3]
Sanitary update on wheat in Argentina
No full textThe wheat production (Triticum aestivum L.) in Argentina is the third in importance after soybeans and corn (source: BCR).