Reusable Enzymatic Strip for Detection of Arsenic

HIGHLIGHTS Arsenic is considered as one of the highly hazardous elements in the environment and a serious carcinogen for the human health. An enzymatic method has been described by using arsenite oxidase for arsenic detection. Residual activity of the immobilized enzyme was 43% of the initial activity after being recycled 10 times.

Abstract Arsenic is considered as one of the highly hazardous elements in the environment and a serious carcinogen for the human health. More attention has taken towards the arsenic due to its presence in ground water in India, China, Bangladesh, Inner Mongolia and several other regions of the world. It's been a challenge to remove arsenic due to the lack of its efficient detection approach in the complicated environmental matrix. The proposed method describes an enzymatic method for arsenic determination using arsenite oxidase, which catalyzes the oxidation of arsenite to arsenate. Hence, a colorimetric PVC strip with immobilized arsenite oxidase has been developed to detect the arsenic concentration and also having potential for the field-testing. The influence of the optimal conditions i.e. pH, temperature, storage stability, and reusability of free and immobilized enzyme were evaluated and compared. The results have shown that the stabilities were significantly enhanced compared with free counterpart. Residual activity of the immobilized enzyme was 43% of the initial activity after being recycled 10 times. We approve that this novel low cost immobilized carrier presents a new approach in large scale applications and expected to act as a model for establishment of indigenous arsenic sensor in miniature form.

How Important is Histopathology in Management of Benign Lesions of Tongue.

Introduction: Lipomas are amongst the commonest tumorsof human body. Approximately 15 to 20% occur in head andneck but oral cavity is an unusual site. They represent 0.1-5% of all benign intraoral tumors, with most lesions occurringin the buccal mucosa. We report a rare case of intramuscularlipoma of lateral border of tongue.Case report: A 55-year-old female presented with progressiveswelling on lateral border of tongue. Complete excision alongwith healthy margins was done, and histopathology suggestedit to be an infiltrating lipoma. Patient had no recurrence in 2year follow up.Discussion and conclusion: This type of lipoma is rare(<25cases have been reported so far) and only two cases withhistopathological documentation could be traced in literature.It has close resemblance to liposarcoma, a malignant tumorwith high propensity to recur. Therefore, complete excisionwith healthy margin is mandatory for this rare clinical entity.

Coagulation Profile in neonates with perinatal asphyxia

Background: Perinatal Asphyxia refers to a condition during the first and second stage of labour in which impaired gas exchange leads to fetal acidosis, hypoxemia and hypercarbia. It accounts for about 23 per cent of the four million newborn deaths worldwide.Methods: To estimate the magnitude of coagulation derangement in babies who suffered birth asphyxia and compare it with non-asphyxiated controls.Results: There were 61.9% and 64 % males in both the groups outnumbering females suggesting that the health care seeking behavior for male children is more than for their female counterparts. Birth weight and mode of delivery are comparable in both the groups. PT and APTT were significantly higher in the asphyxiated babies than in their respective control group. It may be noted , however, that PT and APTT values were higher in the control group also, when compared with the reference values. This may indicate that the hemostatic mechanisms are already compromised in the newborns and perinatal asphyxia further augment the situation tilting it in favour of bleeding. Thrombocytopenia is observed in the asphyxiated group which may be due to placental insufficiency. Severe bleeding is significant in asphyxiated group as compared to the control.Conclusion: Dyscoagulation should be considered in all asphyxiated babies, and they may present with clinically significant bleeding, which may require fresh frozen plasma to restore and maintain their coagulation status.

Psychological intervention for specific learning disability: A case report.

Cognitive deficits resulting in poor scholastic performance are common among children with specific learning disabilities. Current study was carried out to identify areas of deficits leading to poor academic performance followed by a home based remediation program for rehabilitation of impaired skills. Single case study method was opted and assessment of academic skills was done using NIMHANS Index for Specific Learning Disability (SLD). Assessment findings revealed significant impairment in scholastic skills and attention processes. Management of identified deficits was planned and weekly sittings of remediation were provided for six months. Monitoring of the rehabilitation package was done on every visit using charting method. Improvement in academic skills/ performance was seen in later sessions.

3-Dimensional QSAR and molecular docking studies of a series of indole analogues as inhibitors of human non-pancreatic secretory phospholipase A2.

Background: Design and development of new drugs is simplified and made more cost-effective because of the advances in the concepts of Quantitative Structure-Activity Relationship (QSAR) studies. A methodology of QSAR studies is one of the approaches to the rational drug design. Methods: 3-Dimensional QSAR studies were performed on a series of indole analogues as inhibitors of human non-pancreatic secretory phospholipaseA2 (PLA2) by using Scigress explorer software suite. Docking studies of these compounds were also performed to understand the interactions with amino acid residues of PLA2 protein. Results: The multiple linear regression analysis was used to correlate the physicochemical descriptors with the PLA2 inhibitory activity of 20 training set of compounds and the best QSAR model was developed. The best model was validated using leave-one-out method and found to be statistically significant, with coefficient of determination (r2) of 0.788. This model was further used to predict the PLA2 inhibitory activity of 12 test set of compounds. Docking analysis revealed that most of the compounds formed H-bond interactions with amino acid residues of PLA2 protein (PDB ID: 1DB4). Predicted pIC50 value of one of the test compounds was 7.454 and it showed H-bond interactions with Asp48, Cys44, His27, Gly29 and Gly31 residues. Conclusion: The present study shall help in rational drug design and synthesis of new selective PLA2 inhibitors with predetermined affinity and activity and provides valuable information for the understanding of interactions between PLA2 and the novel indole analogue compounds.

Enzyme-based Colorimetric and Potentiometric Biosensor for Detecting Pb (II) Ions in Milk

The aim of the present work was to study a simple colorimetric and potentiometric biosensor based on urease inhibition by Pb (II) ions for its estimation in milk samples. Urease immobilized on nylon membrane by hydrosol gel method was used as the biocomponent to demonstrate the metal effect on the enzyme activity using phenol red as the pH indicator. A lower limit detection of 38.6µm was achieved in the milk and the enzyme membranes were stable for more than two months at 4ºC. In potentiometric approach, response of an ion selective electrode (ISE) to changing ammonium ion concentration as a consequence of urease inhibition by Pb (II) ions was explored to achieve a detection limit of 9.66 µm. Lead specificity was attained by means of masking agents 1,10 - phenanthroline and sodium potassium tartarate. Validation of the developed biosensors was carried out with spiked milk samples.

3-Dimensional quantitative structure-activity relationship and molecular docking studies of tetrasubstituted pyrazole derivatives as inhibitors of cyclooxygenase-2.

Background: Design and development of new drugs is simplified and made more cost-effective because of the advances in the concepts of Quantitative Structure-Activity Relationship (QSAR) studies. A methodology of QSAR studies is one of the approaches to the rational drug design. Methods: 3-Dimensional QSAR studies were performed on a series of tetrasubstituted pyrazole derivatives by using Scigress Explorer software suite. Docking studies of these compounds were also performed to understand the interactions with amino acid residues of COX-2 protein. Results: The multiple linear regression analysis was used to correlate the physicochemical descriptors with the COX-2 inhibitory activity of 24 training set of compounds and the best QSAR model was developed. The best model was validated using leave-one-out method and found to be statistically significant, with coefficient of determination (r2) of 0.835. This model was further used to predict the COX-2 inhibitory activity of 10 test set of compounds. Docking analysis revealed that most of the compounds formed H-bond interactions with amino acid residues of COX-2 protein (PDB ID: 1CX2). Predicted pIC50 value of one of the test compounds was 7.048 and it showed H-bond interactions with His90 & Tyr355 residues. Conclusion: The present study shall help in rational drug design and synthesis of new selective COX-2 inhibitors with predetermined affinity and activity and provides valuable information for the understanding of interactions between COX-2 and the novel tetrasubstituted pyrazole derivative compounds.

A new surgical technique using steel suture for trans-scleral fixation of posterior chamber intraocular lenses.

Background: A new emerging complication of trans‑scleral fixation of posterior chamber (PC) intraocular lens (IOL) with polypropylene suture is high rates of spontaneous dislocation of the IOL due to disintegration or breakage of suture. Materials: We report a new surgical technique of trans‑scleral fixation of posterior chamber intraocular lens (SF PCIOL) with steel suture to eliminate the complication of dislocation of IOL fixed with polypropylene suture in one adult and a child. Results: We successfully achieved stable fixation and good centration of IOL after SF PCIOL with steel suture in these patient having inadequate posterior capsular support. Both eyes achieved best corrected visual acuity 20/40 at 18 months follow‑up. Conclusions: Steel suture is a viable option for trans‑scleral fixation of posterior chamber intraocular lens.

Screening of efficient arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi for Azadirachta indica under nursery condition: a step towards afforestation of semi-arid region of western India

To optimize nursery practices for efficient plant production procedures and to keep up to the ever growing demand of seedlings, identification of the most suitable species of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF), specific for a given tree species, is clearly a necessary task. Sixty days old seedlings of Neem (Azadirachta indica A. Juss) raised in root trainers were inoculated with six species of AMF and a mixed inoculum (consortia) and kept in green house. Performances of the treatments on this tree species were evaluated in terms of growth parameters like plant height shoot collar diameter, biomass and phosphorous uptake capabilities. Significant and varied increase in the growth parameters and phosphorous uptake was observed for most of the AMF species against control. Consortia culture was found to be the best suited AMF treatment for A.indica, while Glomus intraradices and Glomus mosseae were the best performing single species cultures. It is the first time in the state of Gujarat that a wide variety of AMF species, isolated from the typical semi-arid region of western India, were tested for the best growth performance with one of the most important tree species for the concerned region.

Outcome of in-the-bag implanted square-edge polymethyl methacrylate intraocular lenses with and without primary posterior capsulotomy in pediatric traumatic cataract.

Purpose: To study the outcome of in-the-bag implanted square-edge polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) intraocular lenses (IOL) with and without primary posterior capsulotomy in pediatric traumatic cataract. Materials and Methods: The study was undertaken in a tertiary care center. Thirty eyes of 30 children ranging in age from 4 to 16 years with traumatic cataract which underwent cataract extraction with capsular bag implantation of IOL were prospectively evaluated. Group A included 15 eyes of 15 children where primary posterior capsulotomy (PPC) and anterior vitrectomy with capsular bag implantation of square-edge PMMA IOL (Aurolab SQ3602, Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India) was performed. Group B comprised 15 eyes of 15 children in which the posterior capsule was left intact. Postoperative visual acuity, visual axis opacification (VAO) and possible complications were analyzed. Results: Best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) of 20/40 or better was achieved in 12 of 15 eyes in both groups. Amblyopia was the cause of no improvement in visual acuity in the remaining eyes. Visual axis opacification was significantly high in Group B as compared to Group A (P=0.001). Postoperative fibrinous uveitis occurred in most of the eyes in both groups. Pupillary capture was observed in one eye in each group. Conclusion: Primary posterior capsulotomy and anterior vitrectomy with capsular bag implantation of square-edge PMMA significantly helps to maintain a clear visual axis in children with traumatic cataract.

Partition of glucose oxidase from Aspergillus niger in aqueous two-phase systems based on salt and polyethylene glycol

The aim of this work was to study the isolation of glucose oxidase (GOx) from Aspergillus niger in aqueous two phase system consisting of PEG 7500 (150g l-1), potassium phosphate (175 g l-1, K2HPO4 +KH2PO4) and glucose (10 gl-1), the enzyme was partitioned in polymer phase. By sequential extraction GOx (69.2 percent) was recovered in polymer phase by 11.8 fold purification, giving a yield of 129U mg protein-¹.