Antiviral Therapy for Hepatitis C Virus (HCV): Black Mustard Seeds
Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) is an RNA virus, which is considered the main cause of progressive chronic liver disease, cirrhosis, and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) worldwide. The number of the patients who are infected with this sleeping virus is increasing rapidly every year, as the unsuitability of the current therapy – interferon α and ribavirin – for most of the genotypes is the main cause of these high rates. Hence, the recent researches are focusing on finding out a new immunotherapy to affect this virus. In this research work, Black Mustard (Brassica nigra) has been used as powdered spice samples to prepare aqueous extracts; One of the included phytochemicals in the black mustard; glucosinolates and their hydrolysis products, was proposed to be used for the HCV patients to prevent the virus progression. Also, the Isothiocyanates are shown with chemotherapeutic and anti-tumor properties. Moreover, some of the structure-related isothiocyanates have the ability to induce the enzyme paraoxonase-1 (PON-1) that is considered hepato-protective agent against liver impairment, inflammation, fibrosis and liver disease mediated by monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1), and is thought to affect the entry of the virus into the hepatocytes. The effect of the black mustard and the produced myrosinase enzyme on the HCV RNA replication is still unknown. In conclusion, the black mustard is thought to affect the progression and the fluidity of the HCV envelope resulting in impairment of viral binding and fusion.
H.E.L.P. Heart Empowers Lifelong Pacemaker
EXPERIMENT 1---The effect of NaCl and Glucose Concentration on the efficiency of the cell I. Introduction Experiment on different concentrations of standard glucose solution (ranged from 0.125 M to 1.000 M) and standard sodium chloride solution (ranged from 0.250 M to 4.000 M) were done. We investigated the full concentration effect, which included both concentration of glucose solution and sodium chloride solution on the fuel cell’s output voltage, current and power. II. Procedures 1. Add 25.0 cm3 of Glucose solution of the tested concentration to the beaker representing the anode, and add 25.0 cm3 of distilled water to the beaker representing the cathode. 2. Add 50.0 cm3 of 0.250 M NaCl (aq) to both beakers representatively. 3. Fold a piece of filter paper and soak in fully into NaCl (aq) at cathode. 4. Clean and place the silver wires into the beakers representatively, and connect the air pump to the cathode. 5. Connect the cell to two multi-meters, each acting as a voltmeter and an ammeter respectively 6. Take the readings of multi-meters after 30 seconds. 7. Repeat steps 1 to 6 twice for the second and third reading of the cell. 8. Take average value among three values as the final reading of the cell. 9. Repeat steps 1 to 8 by replacing the NaCl (aq) with concentrations of 0.000 M, 0.500 M, 1.000 M, 2.000 M and 4.000 M, and the standard glucose solution with concentrations of 0.000 M, 0.125 M, 0.250 M, 0.500 M, 0.750 M and 1.000 M. III. Result of Experiment 1 When glucose concentration is increased from 0.000 M to 0.250 M, the output power increases, it is found that power generated is maximized at glucose concentrations between 0.125 M and 0.250 M. However, with further increase in glucose concentration from 0.250 M to 1.000 M, the power generated decreases. This shows that high concentration of glucose inhibits the generation of electricity, while higher concentration of sodium chloride solution can increase the output. EXPERIMENT 2---The effect of temperature on the efficiency of the cell I. Introduction In this experiment, the second effect - temperature on the fuel cell’s output voltage, current and power was investigated. In order to get a significant result, the effect of temperature on these measures with fixed 0.250 M glucose solution and sodium chloride solution concentrations varied from 0.500 M to 4.000 M had been investigated. II. Procedures 1. Add 25.0 cm3 of Glucose solution of the tested concentration (0.25 M) to the beaker representing the anode, and add 25.0 cm3 of distilled water to the beaker representing the cathode. 2. Add 50.0 cm3 of 0.500 M NaCl (aq) to both beakers representatively. 3. Fold a piece of filter paper and soak in fully into NaCl (aq) at cathode. 4. Clean and place the silver wires into the beakers respectively, and connect the air pump to the cathode. 5. Connect the cell to two multi-meters, each acting as a voltmeter and an ammeter respectively 6. Take the readings of multi-meters after 30 seconds. 7. Repeat steps 1 to 6 twice for the second and third reading of the cell. 8. Take average value among three values as the final reading of the cell. 9. Repeat steps 1 to 8 by varying the temperature from 42℃ to 32℃. 10. Repeat steps 1 to 9 by replacing the NaCl solution of 0.000 M, 1.000 M, 2.000 M, and 4.000 M respectively. III. Result of Experiment 2 The results showed a consistent trend and relationship of the effect of temperature on the output current, voltage and power of the fuel cell for 4 different concentrations of sodium chloride solution with fixed 0.25 M glucose solution. Generally, the results showed that the output power increases with temperature. EXPERIMENT 3---The effect of dialysis tubing and Nafion 117 on the efficiency of the cell I. Introduction Semi-permeable membrane separating glucose and oxygen, ensure the glucose oxidation only occurs at the anode, and preventing glucose oxidation occurs at the cathode, responds to maximize power output. Experimental study on two kinds of membranes, dialysis membranes and Nafion 117 films were done, by studying their fuel cell output voltage, current and power effects. Previous experiments showed that the optimal output of the battery is at 0.250 M glucose solution, Therefore, experimental conditions for glucose concentration is fixed on 0.250 M and sodium chloride solution concentration varies from 0.500 to 4.000 M. II. Procedures The Effect of Dialysis Tubing on voltage and current of the fuel cell 1. Pour 50 cm3 1.000 M NaCl (aq) to each compartment of the beaker separated by dialysis tubing. 2. Pour 0.250 M Glucose Solution into the compartment representing anode. 3. Connect the cell to two multimeters, which act as a voltmeter and ammeter respectively 4. Take the reading of the multimeters after 30 seconds 5. Repeat steps 1 to 4 twice for the second and third reading of the cell. 6. Take average value among three values as the final reading of the cell. 7. Repeat steps 1 to 6 with NaCl (aq) with concentration of 0.000 M, 0.250 M, 0.500 M, 2.000 M and 4.000 M to obtain the remaining data. The Effect of Nafion 117 on voltage and current of the fuel cell 1. Add 50 cm3 1.000 M NaCl (aq) and 50 cm3 of 0.250 M of glucose solution to the beaker. 2. Add 1.000 M NaCl (aq) to the Nafion 117 membrane pouch, and silver plate was put inside to become the anode. 3. Connect the cell to two multimeters, which act as a voltmeter and ammeter respectively 4. Take the reading of the multimeters after 30 seconds 5. Repeat steps 1 to 4 twice for the second and third reading of the cell. 6. Take average value among three values as the final reading of the cell. 7. Repeat steps 1 to 6 with NaCl (aq) with concentration of 0.000 M, 0.250 M, 0.500 M, 2.000 M and 4.000 M to obtain the remaining data. III. Result of Experiment 3 The result had shown that when the solution does not contain glucose (i.e. Glucose concentration equals to 0.000 M), Nafion 117 Membrane Cells have similar power outputs compared to the dialysis tubing cells. However, in 0.250 M glucose solution, the output of Nafion 117 membrane cell is about 1 to 5 times more compared to that of dialysis tubing cell. According to the experiment results, it was found out that the power output was maximized when the concentration of glucose solution and NaCl (aq) are 0.250 M and 4.000 M respectively. Under this concentration, the out of Nafion 117 membrane cell was 1336.68 nW which was 5 times higher than that of dialysis tubing cell. Hence, adopting Nafion 117 as the selectively membrane can greatly enhance the output of cell. It is believed that the special structure of Nafion 117 has limited the movement of glucose molecules, and prevented their oxidation at cathode. This has enhanced the oxidation of glucose at anode, and thus increased the power output of the cell.
A Backpropagation Neural Network Model on Precipitation Forecasting in the Philippines
Backpropagation neural networks were used to forecast daily rainfall with minimal error for Metro Manila in order to have an inexpensive way of accurately predicting weather. Calamities brought on by heavy rainfall have caused great economic, infrastructure and human loses. Neural networks have the ability to discern complex patterns in noisy data; this makes it a viable method for weather forecasting. Daily precipitation, humidity, rain indication, sea level pressure, temperature and maximum sustained wind speed for January 2000 to December 2010 were acquired from the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astrological Services Administration. The neural network made use of Python 2.7.2 and the backpropagation program by Neil Schemenauer (python.org). It considered different neural network architectures with a total of 2844 data sets for training and 708 data sets for testing. Each neural network’s accuracy was measured with a graph of the actual and predicted values, correlation coefficient, and root mean square error. It was observed that the neural network with architecture 5-8-1 yielded the most accurate results as it had the highest correlation coefficient of 0.48599 and smallest root mean square error of 14.84. It was also observed that the trends of the predicted values followed that of the target values. This suggests that it is possible to create a neural network with a moderate correlation given daily weather data. It is recommended that further researches make use of hourly data instead of daily data for more accurate results. Other variables, which might affect rainfall, not in this study should also be considered. This research could aid in the anticipation of calamities and the decision making involved in shipping, fishing and aviation industries.
BA-ADA based ROS-responsive nanoparticles for selective drug delivery in cancer cells
Current medical intervention in cancer therapeutic methods has shown risks and side effects with normal tissues. This includes incomplete cancer eradication. In reference to numerous studies and literature reviews, a stimuli-responsive drug delivery system is selected as an innovative, safe and more assured treatment due to its site-specific release ability. This allows specific intervention upon the given stimulus which response to the presenting disease symptoms. Hence, we designed a ROS(Reactive Oxygen Species)-responsive BA-ADA(4-Hydroxyphenylboronic acid pinacol ester and 1-Adamantanecarboxylic acid bonded molecule) nanoparticle delivery system. In our study, ROS-responsive nanoparticle was designed and prepared based on a synthetic molecule from BA and ADA. A therapeutic payload, Doxorubicin, can be loaded into the nanoparticles and it can be selectively released within cancerous tissues whereby ROS level is over-expressed. This will enhance both therapeutic efficiency and reduce side effects. The stability and ROS-responsiveness of the particle were proven in a series of evidence-based experiments. The results showed a significant difference in cell viability during the experiments with healthy and cancerous cell samples. Further research will be required to extend the experiment in vivo.
Parallax Modelling of OGLE Microlensing Events
We present a study using microlensing event data from the Optical Gravitational Lensing Experiment (OGLE), recorded in the period 2002-2016 from the Galactic bulge. Our two algorithms are based on the standard point-source-point-lens (PSPL) model, and on the less conventional parallax model respectively. The optimal fit was found for each sample event in the chi-square optimization algorithm, along with the best fit parameters. Out of the 7 best fits, 4 show strong parallax effect. The microlensing fit parameters were then cross-matched with proper motion data from the Naval Observatory Merged Astrometric Dataset (NOMAD), to obtain lens mass estimation for four events. These were estimated to 0.447 solar masses, 0.269 solar masses, 0.269 solar masses and 17.075 solar masses respectively. All masses were within the microlensing mass interval for lenses found in similar studies. In this study, we conclude that the parallax model often better describe long events and demonstrate the importance of utilizing both PSPL fits and parallax fits, instead of only the PSPL model. By varying only 2 of the 7 parallax microlensing parameters instead of all simultaneously, we obtain plausible values for lens direction and lens transverse velocity: a method to investigate microlensing lens properties with no regard to its luminosity. In addition, we also present spectral classes of the NOMAD objects associated with each event, which is vital for future investigations to further confirm mass estimations. We present strategies to further enhance the algorithm to analyze the microlensing event light curve to better find deviations. We also conclude that our double model can potentially unveil the presence of dim lens objects (MACHOs) such as brown dwarfs, exoplanets or black holes.