Morpho-anatomical characterization of some members of euglenophycota (algae) of north-east Punjab,Pakistan based on light microscopy (LM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM)

The study was carried out in four districts, that is, Gujranwala, Gujarat, Narowal and Sialkot of Punjab, Pakistan. The sampling was carried out randomly in different seasons from the water bodies especially from wastewater. Twenty-one species belonging to Euglenophycota were identified using light microscopy and scanning electron microscopy from which 04 species belong to genus Phacus, 02 species belonging to Trachelomonas and Euglena based on light microscopy. It was observed that Euglena was the most diverse genus and it is supposed to be the indicator species of the polluted water. It was observed that E. oblonga was found in maximum pH range, that is, 7.0–11.0. Similarly, E. brevicaudatus was found in maximum EC, that is, 169 ± 1.5 ms/cm these outcomes indicated that for internal examination along with LM, SEM was necessary for correct identification of algal sample up to specie level.     

Toxicity and Metabolism of Layered Double Hydroxide Intercalated with Levodopa in a Parkinson’s Disease Model

Layered hydroxide nanoparticles are generally biocompatible, and less toxic than most inorganic nanoparticles, making them an acceptable alternative drug delivery system. Due to growing concern over animal welfare and the expense of in vivo experiments both the public and the government are interested to find alternatives to animal testing. The toxicity potential of zinc aluminum layered hydroxide (ZAL) nanocomposite containing anti-Parkinsonian agent may be determined using a PC 12 cell model. ZAL nanocomposite demonstrated a decreased cytotoxic effect when compared to levodopa on PC12 cells with more than 80% cell viability at 100 μg/mL compared to less than 20% cell viability in a direct levodopa exposure. Neither levodopa-loaded nanocomposite nor the un-intercalated nanocomposite disturbed the cytoskeletal structure of the neurogenic cells at their IC₅₀ concentration. Levodopa metabolite (HVA) released from the nanocomposite demonstrated the slow sustained and controlled release character of layered hydroxide nanoparticles unlike the burst uptake and release system shown with pure levodopa treatment.     

Succinate and malate improve development of hamster eight-cell embryos in vitro: confirmation of viability by embryo transfer

The in vitro development of hamster preimplantation embryos is supported by non-glucose energy substrates. To investigate the importance of embryonic metabolism, influence of succinate and malate on the development of hamster 8-cell embryos to blastocysts was examined using a chemically defined protein-free modified hamster embryo culture medium-2 (HECM-2m). There was a dose-dependent influence of succinate on blastocyst development; 0.5 mM succinate was optimal (85.1% +/- 3.9 vs. 54.5% +/- 3.5). In succinate-supplemented HECM-2m, blastocyst development was reduced by omission of lactate (68.5% +/- 7.2), but not pyruvate (85.8% +/- 6.2) or glutamine (84.1% +/- 2.1). Succinate along with either glutamine or lactate or pyruvate poorly supported blastocyst development (28%-58%). Malate also stimulated blastocyst development; 0.01 mM malate was optimal (86.3% +/- 2.8). Supplementation of both succinate and malate to HECM-2m supported maximal (100%) blastocyst development, which was inhibited 4-fold by the addition of glucose/phosphate. The mean cell numbers (MCN) of blastocysts cultured in succinate-supplemented HECM-2m was higher (28.3 +/- 1.1) than it was for those cultured in the absence of glutamine or pyruvate (range 20-24). The MCN was the highest (33.4 +/- 1.6) for blastocysts cultured in succinate-malate-supplemented HECM-2m followed by those in succinate (28.3 +/- 1.1) or malate (24.7 +/- 0.5) supplemented HECM-2m. Embryo transfer experiments showed that 29.8% (+/- 4.5) of transferred blastocysts cultured in succinate-malate-supplemented HECM-2m produced live births, similar (P > 0.1) to the control transfers of freshly recovered 8-cells (33.5% +/- 2.0) or blastocysts (28.9% +/- 3.0). These data show that supplementation of succinate and malate to HECM-2m supports 100% development of hamster 8-cell embryos to high quality viable blastocysts and that non-glucose oxidizable energy substrates are the most preferred components in hamster embryo culture medium.     

Rainfall propagation impairments for medium elevation angle satellite‐to‐earth 12 GHz in the tropics

Rain attenuation is the dominant propagation impairment for satellite communication systems operating at frequencies above about 10 GHz. The rainfall path attenuation at 12.255 GHz measured at Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) for 4 years (2 January to 5 December) is presented. This paper presents an empirical analysis of rain rate and rain attenuation cumulative distribution functions obtained using 1‐min integrated rainfall data and comparison of the measured data with data obtained from well‐established rain model attenuation predictions. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Mechanical characteristics of oil palm fiber reinforced thermoplastics as filament for fused deposition modeling (FDM)

Fibers are increasingly in demand for a wide range of polymer composite materials. This study's purpose was the development of oil palm fiber (OPF) mixed with the thermoplastic material acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) as a composite filament for fused deposition modeling (FDM). The mechanical properties of this composite filament were then analyzed. OPF is a fiber extracted from empty fruit bunches, which has proved to be an excellent raw material for biocomposites. The cellulose content of OPF is 43%-65%, and the lignin content is 13%-25%. The composite filament consists of OPF (5%, mass fraction) in the ABS matrix. The fabrication procedure included alkalinizing, drying, and crushing the OPF to develop the composite. The OPF/ABS materials were prepared and completely blended to acquire a mix of 250 g of the material for the composition. Next, the FLD25 filament extrusion machine was used to form the OPF/ABS composite into a wire. This composite filament then was used in an FDM-based 3D printer to print the specimens. Finally, the printed specimens were tested for mechanical properties such as tensile and flexural strength. The results show that the presence of OPF had increased the tensile strength and modulus elasticity by approximately 1.9% and 1.05%, respectively. However, the flexural strength of the OPF/ABS composite had decreased by 90.6% compared with the virgin ABS. Lastly, the most significant outcome of the OPF/ABS composite was its suitability for printing using the FDM method.The full text can be downloaded at https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007%2Fs40436-019-00287-w.pdf     

Cloud-based efficient scheme for handwritten digit recognition

Multimedia Tools and Applications - Handwritten character recognition has been acknowledged and achieved more prominent attention in pattern recognition research community due to enormous...     

Synthesis of poly(acrylonitrile‐co‐divinylbenzene‐co‐vinylbenzyl chloride)‐derived hypercrosslinked polymer microspheres and a preliminary evaluation of their potential for the solid‐phase capture of pharmaceuticals

Poly[acrylonitrile (AN)‐co‐divinylbenzene (DVB)‐co‐vinylbenzyl chloride (VBC)] terpolymers were synthesized by precipitation polymerization in the form of porous polymer microspheres. The poly(AN‐co‐DVB‐co‐VBC) polymers were then hypercrosslinked, via a Friedel‐Crafts reaction with FeCl₃ in nitrobenzene, to provide a significant uplift in the specific surface areas of the polymers. FTIR spectra of the hypercrosslinked poly(AN‐co‐DVB‐co‐VBC)s showed that the chloromethyl groups derived from VBC were consumed by the Friedel‐Crafts reactions, which was consistent with successful hypercrosslinking. Hypercrosslinking installed a number of new, small pores into the polymers, as evidenced by a dramatic increase in the specific surface areas upon hypercrosslinking (from ～530 to 1080 m² g^?1). The hypercrosslinked polymers are very interesting for a range of applications, not least of all for solid‐phase extraction (SPE) work, where the convenient physical form of the polymers (beaded format), their low mean particle diameters, and narrow particle size distributions, as well as their high specific surface areas and polar character (arising from the AN residues), make them attractive candidates as SPE sorbents. In this regard, in a preliminary study one of the hypercrosslinked polymers was utilized as an SPE sorbent for the capture of the polar pharmaceutical diclofenac from a polar environment. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2018 , 135, 45677.