[en] This work involve deals with experimental part, deals with methods and the ways used in the synthesis of 3- aryl phthalides startingfrom phthalal aldehydic acid and many phenoles and anisols containing electron with drawing groups such as (CO2H, COR, CHO, NO2), and some of the reactions that started with compounds prepared previously. (15 tabs., 12 figs., 47 refs.)

[en] Concerns over the adverse reproductive outcomes in human have been raised, more evidence including the underlying mechanism are required. Since extravillous trophoblast (EVT) invasion is an important physiological step during early development, the effects of mono-2-ethylhexyl phthalate (MEHP), the bioactive metabolite of DEHP, on EVT invasion were investigated using Matrigel-coated transwell chambers and cell line HTR-8/SVneo. In the transwell-based invasive assay, MEHP exposure inhibited EVT invasion as judged by decreased invasion index. Further analysis showed that MEHP exposure significantly inhibited the activity of matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9), which is an important positive regulator of EVT invasion. Meanwhile, the protein levels of tissue inhibitor matrix metalloproteinase-1 (TIMP-1), one key negative regulator of EVT invasion, were upregulated by MEHP treatment. Finally, inactivation of PPARγ pathway by either PPARγ inhibitors or PPARγ shRNA knockdown rescued the MEHP-induced inhibited invasion of HTR-8/SVneo cells, which is accompanied by the recovery of inhibited MMP-9 expression. The present study provides the evidence that MEHP exposure inhibits trophoblast invasion via PPARγ at concentrations comparable to those found in humans, which provides an insight in understanding the mechanisms of DEHP-associated early pregnancy loss. - Highlights: • MEHP inhibits HTR-8/SVneo cell invasion. • MEHP exposure imbalanced the expression of MMP-9/TIMP-1 in HTR-8/SVneo cells. • This effect of MEHP is mediated via the PPARγ pathway.

[en] A faster, simpler and sensitive method was developed for determination of aliphatic phthalates using differential pulse polarography (DPP) as standard technique. The choice and concentration of base electrolyte, solvent, initial potential, effect of water addition and interference by other phthalates were the main parameters to optimize for enhancement of peak current and to obtain well-defined polarograms with lower background current using 1.3 x 10/sup -4/ M di-butyl phthalate (DBP) solution. Best results were obtained in the presence of tetra methyl ammonium bromide (TMAB) as electrolyte in methanol solvent with initial potential, -1.4 V. A linear calibration plot was observed in the range of 3 x 10/sup -7/ - 1.6 x 10/sup -4/ M DBP solution as aliphatic phthalates with lower detection limit of 5.9 x 10/sup -8/ M and linear regression coefficient of 0.9987. The developed polarographic method was successfully applied for analysis of aliphatic phthalates in various samples of locally available polymer products such as baby toys, nipples, teethers, infusion blood bags and shopping bags. The results of the current method were compared with those obtained by a reported method and good agreement was found between them. (author)

[en] As its widely opening and easy performance, Modbus communication protocol has a great advantage in field bus using. Details are given on a method to implement Modbus communication protocol based on MCS51 system, and the advantage of uVision integrated environment. The design realizes Modbus RTU mode communication, meanwhile the problem of synchronization in communication is solved. And float-point operation and display are achieved by format print. All of this are carried out under uVision integrated environment. The result approves that the response ratio of Modbus communication is 100%. The design shows the advantage of uVision integrated environment and MCS51 system. And also gives solution to the occasion where communication interface and low cost are required. (authors)

[en] Citrate synthase from the thermophilic euryarchaeon T. acidophilum fused to a hexahistidine tag was purified and biochemically characterized. The structure of the unliganded enzyme at 2.2 Å resolution contains tail–active site contacts in half of the active sites. Citrate synthase (CS) plays a central metabolic role in aerobes and many other organisms. The CS reaction comprises two half-reactions: a Claisen aldol condensation of acetyl-CoA (AcCoA) and oxaloacetate (OAA) that forms citryl-CoA (CitCoA), and CitCoA hydrolysis. Protein conformational changes that ‘close’ the active site play an important role in the assembly of a catalytically competent condensation active site. CS from the thermoacidophile Thermoplasma acidophilum (TpCS) possesses an endogenous Trp fluorophore that can be used to monitor the condensation reaction. The 2.2 Å resolution crystal structure of TpCS fused to a C-terminal hexahistidine tag (TpCSH6) reported here is an ‘open’ structure that, when compared with several liganded TpCS structures, helps to define a complete path for active-site closure. One active site in each dimer binds a neighboring His tag, the first nonsubstrate ligand known to occupy both the AcCoA and OAA binding sites. Solution data collectively suggest that this fortuitous interaction is stabilized by the crystalline lattice. As a polar but almost neutral ligand, the active site–tail interaction provides a new starting point for the design of bisubstrate-analog inhibitors of CS

No abstract available

[en] Purpose: In order to receive DICOM files from treatment planning system and generate patient isocenter positioning parameter file for CT laser system automatically, this paper presents a method for communication with treatment planning system and calculation of isocenter parameter for each radiation field. Methods: Coordinate transformation and laser positioning file formats were analyzed, isocenter parameter was calculated via data from DICOM CT Data and DICOM RTPLAN file. An in-house software-DicomGenie was developed based on the object-oriented program platform-Qt with DCMTK SDK (Germany OFFIS company DICOM SDK) . DicomGenie was tested for accuracy using Philips CT simulation plan system (Tumor LOC, Philips) and A2J CT positioning laser system (Thorigny Sur Marne, France). Results: DicomGenie successfully established DICOM communication between treatment planning system, DICOM files were received by DicomGenie and patient laser isocenter information was generated accurately. Patient laser parameter data files can be used for for CT laser system directly. Conclusion: In-house software DicomGenie received and extracted DICOM data, isocenter laser positioning data files were created by DicomGenie and can be use for A2J laser positioning system

No abstract available

[en] An approach to managing diagnostic data in heterogenous formats by using XML-based (eXtensible Markup Language) tag files is discussed. The tag file functions like header information in ordinary data formats but it is separate from the main body of data, human readable, and self-descriptive. Thus all the necessary information for reading the contents of data can be obtained without prior information or reading the data body itself. In this paper, modeling of diagnostic data and its representation in XML are studied and a very primitive implementation of this approach in C++ is presented. The overhead of manipulating XML in a proof-of-principle code was found to be small. The merits, demerits, and possible extensions of this approach are also discussed.

[en] Early detection of sepsis in the emergency department is of prime importance and requires tools that are time and cost-effective. The Systemic Inflammatory Response Syndrome (SIRS) has been poorly associated with sepsis. Timothy et al in a retrospective analysis of Emergency Department (ED) visit stated estimate of SIRS at 17.8% accounting to an annual yield of 16.6 million adult visits with SIRS per year, among these only 26% accounted as an infectious aetiology of SIRS, trauma being 10% and other causes being rare. Shock index is found to be independently associated with 30-day mortality in a broad population of ED patients including sepsis. With limited health resources in a low to middle income country, focused utilization is important and so is the need for markers that are non-invasive, readily available, cost effective, and easy to interpret. Shock index can serve this purpose as a surrogate marker of disease severity in patients with severe sepsis and thus resulting in early detection of such patients. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted from December 2014 to May 2015 at a tertiary care setup (Aga Khan University Hospital) in Karachi consisting of all septic patients received at the emergency department. Non-probability sampling technique was used. p-value <0.05 was taken as significant. Results: Out of 180 study participants 94 (52.22%) were males while 86 (47.78%) were females. The mean age was 57.48±18.8 years. Cohen's κ was used to determine an agreement between the Shock index and Lactate levels. Shock index with cut off value of > 0.7 was used and moderate to the strong agreement between the two was found with kappa κ = 0.786 which was statistically significant (p=<0.001). Sensitivity was found to be 0.99, specificity 0.75, NPV 0.98, PPV 0.87. Conclusion: To conclude the shock index has some very favourable features, including availability, low cost, and direct relevance to sepsis in terms of its high validity. A high SI predicts elevated lactate levels in patients with sepsis. (author)