Volume 1 (2017): Issue 4 (October 2017)

The mini-review provides an overview on the differences between the right and left hemispheres of the brain. Recent studies highlight the contribution of the two hemispheres to the physical and mental control, and the interaction language-music. We focused the attention on the behaviour of the right and left hemispheres about the music and on what happens when music areas are damaged.

It has been generally recognized that BigData analytics presently have most significant impact on computer inference in life sciences, such as genome wide association studies (GWAS) in basic research and personalized medicine, and its importance will further increase in near future. In this work non-parametric separation of responsive yeast genes from experimental data obtained in chemostat cultivation under dilution rate and nutrient limitations with basic biogenic elements (C,N,S,P), and the specific leucine and uracil auxothropic limitations. Elastic net models are applied for the detection of the key responsive genes for each of the specific limitations. Bootstrap and perturbation methods are used to determine the most important responsive genes and corresponding quantiles applied to the complete data set for all of the nutritional and growth rate limitations. The model predicts that response of gene YOR₃₄₈C, involved in proline metabolism, as the key signature of stress. Based on literature data, the obtained result are confirmed experimentally by the biochemistry of plants under physical and chemical stress, also by functional genomics of bakers yeast, and also its important function in human tumorogenesis is observed.

In this study, a deep neural network classifier is proposed for the classification of coronary artery disease medical data sets. The proposed classifier is tested on reference CAD data sets from the literature and also compared with popular representative classification methods regarding its classification performance. Experimental results show that the deep neural network classifier offers much better accuracy, sensitivity and specificity rates when compared with other methods. The proposed method presents itself as an easily accessible and cost-effective alternative to currently existing methods used for the diagnosis of CAD and it can be applied for easily checking whether a given subject under examination has at least one occluded coronary artery or not.

Phantoms are specifically designed objects that are utilized or imaged to evaluate, analyze and tune the performance of experimental devices. In this project, it is aimed to design a phantom that responds in a similar manner with how human blood circulation would act in specific flow and pressure tests such as pulse measurement. Ballistic gelatin is a member of hydrogel family with 250 Bloom value which resembles human muscle tissue in terms of mechanical features. That’s why we carried out a uniaxial compression test on our gelatin sample to analyze its similarity of human muscle tissue in terms of elastic modulus, stiffness and rupture strength. Test results indicated that our gelatin sample has approximate values with organic human muscle tissue. Designed model was X-rayed and the similarities of the model to human texture were compared. After producing of lower limb phantoms, we carried out a circulation test through them by the aid of a peristaltic pump to simulate the actual blood circulation of human body limbs. This designed phantom is made ready for available flow and pressure tests.

Moringa oleifera is grown globally. It is a multipurpose tree and the seeds are rich in phytochemicals with antimicrobial activities. The crude powder of seeds clarify the turbid and metal contaminated water. M. oleifera (drumstick tree) seed coagulant protein (MoCP) was isolated to homogeneity from the crude extracts by carboxymethyl cellulose chromatography (CMC) and gel filtration. The molecular weight of the protein on gel filtration was 13 kDa and in SDS-PAGE it migrated as a single band under reducing conditions with molecular mass of 6.5 kDa (dimeric). Immobilized MoCP selectively binds cadmium from aqueous solutions (pH 2.0-7.0) with maximum binding at pH 6.0 in 180 min when tested at 10-600 minutes. It also bound the metal in the concentration range of 30-70mgL^-1. The adsorption kinetics was better described by pseudo second order and the data better explained by freundlich isotherm model than Langmuir isotherm model as in Freundlich model the correlation coefficient (R2) is high and the calculated q_max is very close to the experimental q_max rather than Langmuir isotherm model. Furthermore, the nanoparticles of MoCP were prepared and characterized using transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The authenticity of the isolated protein and the nanopraticles prepared was confirmed by specific reactivity with the MoCP antibody raised earlier in our laboratory.

Alternanthera philoxeroides (alligator weed) grows abundantly in polluted Peri-urban Greater Hyderabad, India. It is collected at no cost and sold in the market as a leafy vegetable in the name of “Ceylon Spinach”. The plant accumulates iron (Fe), manganese (Mn), cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb) and zinc (Zn) in roots and leaves. Soil samples were analyzed for pH, EC, available nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) and showed significant metal concentrations of Pb, Mn and Zn, which varied from one location to another. The metal accumulation order in the plants is root>leaf>stem in all the studied sites. The results revealed that the massive roots of alligator weed are effective in the bioconcentrating Fe, Mn, Zn, Pb and Cd, although the plant parts are rich in nutraceuticals like phenolics and antioxidants. Therefore, low income community prefers to consume it as vegetable. However, its consumption as a leafy vegetable can cause health risks.

Water soluble galactomannans from seed endosperm of Mimosa pudica L. was extracted and characterized (Fig. 1). Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy and Gas Chromatography results revealed the presence of 4-linked mannose backbone with galactose side chains linked at the C6 position. Scanning Electron Micrographs showed smooth, elongated and irregular granular structure of galactomannan. Structural analysis by Attenuated total reflection infrared spectroscopy presented the Mannose to Galactose ratio while the X-ray diffraction studies showed the presences of A-type crystalline pattern of the galactomannan. Thermo Gravitimetric Analysis showed the three steps weight loss event and determined the thermal stability. The results showed that the extracted polysaccharides are typically amorphous, thermally stable and have desirable properties for industrial applications.

Red yeast strains are ubiquitous microorganisms which accumulate substantial amounts of lipids and lipid-soluble metabolites. Red yeasts utilize many waste substrates of different origin. In this work red yeasts strains (Rhodotorula, Sporobolomyces, Cystofilobasidium) were used for screening of growth and metabolic activity. As a carbon source waste animal fat and its hydrolysis products were used. Hydrolysis of animal fat was tested in alkaline as well as acidic conditions. As the substrate glucose (control), glycerol, crude animal fat, acid fat hydrolyzate and hydrolysate: glucose 1:2 were used. Screening of growth and metabolic activity of red yeasts was performed by flow cytometry. Extracellular lipase production was monitored as adaptation mechanism. Carotenoids, ergosterol and ubiquinone were quantified by HPLC/PDA/MS/ESI and the biomass was evaluated gravimetrically. All tested strains utilized fat hydrolysate and produced red coloured biomass. Cultivation in media containing non-hydrolysed fat led to strain specific induction of extracellular lipase. Amount of lipid metabolites produced by individual strains was depended on glycerol content in medium. The highest increase of lipase production was observed in Cystofilobasidium macerans and Sporobolomyces shibatanus. Valorisation of animal fat can lead to production of unsaturated fatty acids, single cell oils, carotenoid pigments, sterols and enriched red yeast biomass.

PRDM9 plays a key role in specifying meiotic recombination hotspot locations in humans. To examine the effects of both the 13-bp sequence motif (cis-regulator) and trans-regulator PRDM9 on crossover frequencies and distribution, we studied Hotspot DA. This hotspot had the motif at its centre, and a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) that disrupts the motif. The crossover frequency showed Hotspot DA to be a regular hotspot with an average crossover rate (~8 X10-4) among hotspots assayed on autosomes. Our results show that, comparing the rates and distributions of sperm crossover events between donors heterozygous for the disrupting SNP showed that there was a huge asymmetry between the two alleles, with the derived, motif-disrupting allele completely suppressing hotspot activity. Intensive biased gene conversion, both in to crossovers and noncrossovers, has been found at Hotspot DA. Biased gene conversion that influences crossover and non-crossover hotspot activity correlates with PRDM9 allele A. In Hotspot DA, the lifetime of the hotspot mostly depends on the cis-regulatory disrupting SNP, and on the trans-regulatory factor PRDM9. Overall, our observation showed that Hotspot DA is the only evidence for human crossover hotspot regulation by a very strong cisregulatory disrupting SNP.

The research was conducted on a group of 20 3-weeks-old chicken from the Cobb breed that were divided into two batches. Both batches received a 21/1 ratio feed diet for broiler chicken in their finishing period. The experimental group feed was supplemented with 0.5 ppm selenium, with 0.25 ALKOSEL R397 g/kg mixed fodder. 30 days into this feeding regime, the following determinations were made weekly: body weight, body temperature and computerized thermography of the comb and wattle. The obtained results were tabled and bio statistically analyzed revealing that individuals in the experimental batch showed statistically significant increases of the values for body weight (average body weight was 14.78% larger than that of the control batch) and of the temperature measured in the combs (average temperature was 12.97% higher) and wattles (average temperature was 4.12% higher). The experimental group also registered a higher core body temperature, but not statistically significant in comparison with the control group. Association of the higher values of core and peripheral body temperature with increased body weight in the individuals from the experimental group, correlated with an increased number of red blood cells and lower cholesterol levels suggest an improved basal metabolism and a better feed conversion.

The methanolic extract of ten Zingiberaceae taxa were evaluated for their phytochemical constituents, total phenolic and flavonoid contents along with in-vitro antioxidant and antimicrobial activities. Among the extracts, Kaempferia parviflora and Zingiber montanum were the most potent reducing agents, while Zingiber officinale exhibited strong free radical-scavenging activity. The high phenolic content observed in Z. montanum, Z. officinale and Curcuma longa may be attributed to the strong antioxidant activity. Furthermore, the extracts of C. longa, K. parviflora and Z. montanum effectively inhibite the growth of test pathogenic microbes. This study suggest that the ginger species are promising source of natural of antioxidant with strong antimicrobial properties.