Sphingolipids are key components of eukaryotic membranes, particularly the plasma membrane. The biosynthetic pathway for the formation of these lipid species is largely conserved. However, in contrast to mammals, which produce sphingomyelin, organisms such as the pathogenic fungi and protozoa synthesize inositol phosphorylceramide (IPC) as the primary phosphosphingolipid. The key step involves the reaction of ceramide and phosphatidylinositol catalysed by IPC synthase, an essential enzyme with no mammalian equivalent encoded by the AUR1 gene in yeast and recently identified functional orthologues in the pathogenic kinetoplastid protozoa. As such this enzyme represents a promising target for novel anti-fungal and anti-protozoal drugs. Given the paucity of effective treatments for kinetoplastid diseases such as leishmaniasis, there is a need to characterize the protozoan enzyme. To this end a fluorescent-based cell-free assay protocol in a 96-well plate format has been established for the Leishmania major IPC synthase. Using this system the kinetic parameters of the enzyme have been determined as obeying the double displacement model with apparent V(max)=2.31 pmol min(-1)U(-1). Furthermore, inhibitory substrate analogues have been identified. Importantly this assay is amenable to development for use in high-throughput screening applications for lead inhibitors and as such may prove to be a pivotal tool in drug discovery.
In general, path-planning problem is one of most important task in the field of robotics. This paper describes the path-planning problem of mobile robot based on various metaheuristic algorithms. The suitable collision free path of a robot must satisfies certain optimization criteria such as feasibility, minimum path length, safety and smoothness and so on. In this research, various three approaches namely, PSO, Firefly and proposed hybrid FFCPSO are applied in static, known environment to solve the global path-planning problem in three cases. The first case used single mobile robot, the second case used three independent mobile robots and the third case applied three follow up mobile robot. Simulation results, whi
... Show MoreDue to the importance of Laser usage in the field of skin diseases Like removing. the cicatrix (acne causes). skin lines, cone spots, two laser systems have underwent a study and evaluation for their use in treatingthe skin diseases.
The research deals with desigrrating an optical system .The system is for concentrating the laser beam C02 with a wave length of
10.6 micrometer Descriptions of 1he system and value of the
perfonnance
... Show MoreAbstract
β-thalassemia major is a genetic disease that causes sever defect in normal hemoglobin synthesis. The patients with β-thalassemia major need periodic blood transfusions that can result in accumulation of body iron, so treatment with iron chelating agent is required. Complications of this iron overload affecting many vital organs, including the liver. The aim of this work was to evaluate liver enzymes in β -thalassemia major patients with deferasirox versus without it. Two groups of β-thalassemia major patients were involved in this study named group A; 40 β-thalassemia patients of blood transfusion dependent without deferasirox, group B; 40 β-thalassemia patients of blood transfusion dependent on de
... Show MoreBackground: Because of wide use of Functional Endoscopic Sinus Surgery (FESS) technique in the recent years and basic role of coronal computed tomography (CT) scan in demonstrating the normal drainage route of para-nasal sinuses, identifying the major patterns of inflammatory sinonasal disease and accompanied anatomical variations is essential for appropriate preoperative surgical planning. In review of publisthed literature, there is no data on CT patterns of chronic inflammatory sinonasal disease and their accompained anatomical variations of nose and PNS in our local population.Objectives: was to determine the frequency of CT patterns and variations in patients with sinonasal symptoms.Methods: This was a cross sectional descriptive st
... Show MoreLiquid electrodes of domperidone maleate (DOMP) imprinted polymer were synthesis based on precipitation polymerization mechanism. The molecularly imprinted (MIP) and non-imprinted (NIP) polymers were synthesized using DOMP as a template. By methyl methacrylate (MMA) as monomer, N,Nmethylenebisacrylamide (NMAA) and ethylene glycol dimethacrylate (EGDMA) as cross-linkers and benzoyl peroxide (BP) as an initiator. The molecularly imprinted membranes were synthesis using acetophenone (APH), di-butyl sabacate (DBS), Di octylphthalate (DOPH) and triolyl phosphate (TP)as plasticizers in PVC matrix. The slopes and limit of detection of l
... Show MoreIn a hybrid cooling solar thermal systems , a solar collector is used to convert solar energy into heat energy in order to super heat the refrigerant leaving the compressor, and this process helps in the transformation of refrigerant state from gaseous state to the liquid state in upper two-thirds of the condenser instead of the lower two-thirds such as in the traditional air-conditioning systems and this will reduce the energy needed to run the process of cooling .In this research two systems with a capacity of 2 tons each were used, a hybrid air-conditioning system with an evacuated tubes solar collector and a traditional air-conditioning system . The refrigerant of each type was R22.The comparison was in the amou
... Show MoreIn this article, a numerical method integrated with statistical data simulation technique is introduced to solve a nonlinear system of ordinary differential equations with multiple random variable coefficients. The utilization of Monte Carlo simulation with central divided difference formula of finite difference (FD) method is repeated n times to simulate values of the variable coefficients as random sampling instead being limited as real values with respect to time. The mean of the n final solutions via this integrated technique, named in short as mean Monte Carlo finite difference (MMCFD) method, represents the final solution of the system. This method is proposed for the first time to calculate the numerical solution obtained fo
... Show MoreThis study aimed to incorporate hydroxyapatite nanoparticles (nHA) or amorphous calcium phosphate nanoparticles (nACP) into a self-etch primer (SEP) to develop a simplified orthodontic bonding system with remineralizing and enamel preserving properties.
nHA and nACP were incorporated into a commercial SEP (Transbond™ plus) in 7% weight ratio and compared with the plain SEP as a control. Shear bond strengths (SBS), enamel damage, and adhesive remnant index (ARI) scores were evaluated at 24 h
A recently reported Nile red (NR) dye conjugated with benzothiadiazole species paves the way for the development of novel organic-based sensitizers used in solar cells whose structures are susceptible to modifications. Thus, six novel NR structures were derived from two previously developed structures in laboratories. In this study, density functional theory (DFT) calculations and time-dependent DFT (TD-DFT) were used to determine the optoelectronic properties of the NR-derived moieties such as absorption spectra. Various linkers were investigated in an attempt to understand the impact of π-linkers on the optoelectronic properties. According to the findings, the presence of furan species led to the planarity of the molecule and a reduction
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