An Algorithm for Computing the Limit Points of the Quasi-component of a Regular Chain

For a regular chain $R$, we propose an algorithm which computes the (non-trivial) limit points of the quasi-component of $R$, that is, the set $\bar{W(R)} \setminus W(R)$. Our procedure relies on Puiseux series expansions and does not require to compute a system of generators of the saturated ideal of $R$. We focus on the case where this saturated ideal has dimension one and we discuss extensions of this work in higher dimensions. We provide experimental results illustrating the benefits of our algorithms

Brand Awareness and Consumer Loyalty in Malaysia

The objectives of this study is to evaluate consumer's awareness of brand by studying the relationship between brand awareness and variables such as customer loyalty, customer satisfaction, customer trust and quality of services. The study examines the relationship through a quantitative research methodology conducted in main peninsula Malaysia. The examined brand Air Asia airline's services in Malaysia. This study finds the existence of crucial association between customer loyalty, trust, satisfaction and quality of services that affects brand awareness among Malaysian consumers. Customer loyalty is found to have the highest impact on brand awareness. Findings of the study help organizations in enhancing brand images, improves brand recognition

Irredundant Triangular Decomposition

Triangular decomposition is a classic, widely used and well-developed way to represent algebraic varieties with many applications. In particular, there exist sharp degree bounds for a single triangular set in terms of intrinsic data of the variety it represents, and powerful randomized algorithms for computing triangular decompositions using Hensel lifting in the zero-dimensional case and for irreducible varieties. However, in the general case, most of the algorithms computing triangular decompositions produce embedded components, which makes it impossible to directly apply the intrinsic degree bounds. This, in turn, is an obstacle for efficiently applying Hensel lifting due to the higher degrees of the output polynomials and the lower probability of success. In this paper, we give an algorithm to compute an irredundant triangular decomposition of an arbitrary algebraic set $W$ defined by a set of polynomials in C[x_1, x_2, ..., x_n]. Using this irredundant triangular decomposition, we were able to give intrinsic degree bounds for the polynomials appearing in the triangular sets and apply Hensel lifting techniques. Our decomposition algorithm is randomized, and we analyze the probability of success

Development of an indirect sandwich ELISA for detection of urinary antigen, using Legionella pneumophila PAL protein

Legionella pneumophila peptidoglycan-associated lipoprotein (PAL) protein is an extremely conserved antigen among Legionella species. In this study, rabbit and rat anti-PAL immunoglobulin G antibodies were produced by immunization with purified, recombinant PAL (r-PAL) protein of L. pneumophila serogroup 1 and used as capture and detection antibodies in the PAL antigen-based enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) to detect urinary PAL antigen. Urine samples were obtained from rats experimentally infected with L. pneumophila serogroup 1. The PAL antigen was measured in urine samples of 40 infected and 40 uninfected rats. After choosing the cut-off value of 0.192, the sensitivity and specificity of the PAL antigen-based ELISA were 87.5 and 97.5 %, respectively. The results obtained by PAL antigen base ELISA were compared with those obtained by Biotest. The PAL antigen was detected efficiently by both of the assays and all of the control human urine samples were negative by the ELISA test. The PAL antigen-based ELISA assay was relatively simple to perform, precise, highly sensitive and specific, and reproducible. Based on our data the PAL antigen-based ELISA described here is the first indirect sandwich ELISA for urinary antigen detection which could easily be applied for diagnosis of Legionnaires disease

Use of an alternative method to evaluate erythema severity in a clinical trial: difference in vehicle response with evaluation of baseline and postdose photographs for effect of oxymetazoline cream 1·0% for persistent erythema of rosacea in a phase IV study.

BackgroundOnce-daily topical oxymetazoline cream 1·0% significantly reduced persistent facial erythema of rosacea in trials requiring live, static patient assessments.ObjectivesTo evaluate critically the methodology of clinical trials that require live, static patient assessments by determining whether assessment of erythema is different when reference to the baseline photograph is allowed.MethodsIn two identically designed, randomized, phase III trials, adults with persistent facial erythema of rosacea applied oxymetazoline or vehicle once daily. This phase IV study evaluated standardized digital facial photographs from the phase III trials to record ≥ 1-grade Clinician Erythema Assessment (CEA) improvement at 1, 3, 6, 9 and 12 h postdose.ResultsAmong 835 patients (oxymetazoline n = 415, vehicle n = 420), significantly greater proportions of patients treated with oxymetazoline vs. vehicle achieved ≥ 1-grade CEA improvement. For the comparison between phase IV study results and the original phase III analysis, when reference to baseline photographs was allowed while evaluating post-treatment photographs, the results for oxymetazoline were similar to results of the phase III trials (up to 85.7%), but a significantly lower proportion of vehicle recipients achieved ≥ 1-grade CEA improvement (up to 29.7% [phase 4] vs. 52.3% [phase 3]; P<0.001). In the phase IV study, up to 80·2% of patients treated with oxymetazoline achieved at least moderate erythema improvement vs. up to 22·9% of patients treated with vehicle. The association between patients' satisfaction with facial skin redness and percentage of erythema improvement was statistically significant.ConclusionsAssessment of study photographs, with comparison to baseline, confirmed significant erythema reduction with oxymetazoline on the first day of application. Compared with the phase III trial results, significantly fewer vehicle recipients attained ≥ 1-grade CEA improvement, suggesting a mitigated vehicle effect. This methodology may improve the accuracy of clinical trials evaluating erythema severity

Detection of Helicobacter pylori in Drinking Water by Loop-Mediated Isothermal Amplification

Background: There should be a public environmental reservoir for Helicobacter pylori in the developing countries, such as Iran, due to their high infection rate of over 70%. Epidemiological findings revealed that water could be a possible source of H. pylori transmission. However, high prevalence of H. pylori in drinking water in Kermanshah, West of Iran, was detected in the authors' previously published study. The current study aims at designing a more accurate and rapid procedure to investigate the prevalence of Helicobacter species and cagA gene in drinking water samples in Kermanshah, from October to December 2012. Methods: In the current study, 60 tap water samples were obtained and specific polymerase chain reaction (PCR) targeted cagA and 16s rRNA was performed. A loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) targeted ureC gene was developed to accurately detect H. pylori in water samples. Results: The prevalence of ureC by PCR, ureC by LAMP and 16s rRNA by PCR were 26.67%, 38%, and 61.67%, respectively. Among 24 samples (40%), 1 of the 2 tests was positive. The prevalence of cagA gene among ureC positive, 16s rRNA positive and all samples were 18.75%, 13.51%, and 10%, respectively. Conclusions: Helicobacter pylori contamination in drinking water was considerably higher using LAMP compared with PCR. It is noteworthy that some H. pylori positive samples were also positive for Caga

Evaluation of the egg yolk enriched columbia agar for isolation of Helicobacter pylori from gastric biopsy specimens

زمینه و هدف: هلیکوباکتر پیلوری اولین باکتری سرطان زای شناخته شده و عامل بیماری های گاسترودئودنال متعددی است. هدف از این پژوهش ارزیابی محیط کشت غنی شده با تخم مرغ به منظور جداسازی هلیکوباکتر پیلوری از نمونه های بیوپسی گرفته شده از بیماران مبتلا به بیماری های گاسترودئودنال و مقایسه آن با تست اوره آز سریع بوده است. روش بررسی: این مطالعه مقطعی (توصیفی- تحلیلی) بر روی 192 بیمار مراجعه کننده به بخش آندوسکوپی بیمارستان امام خمینی کرمانشاه در سال1391 انجام شد. از هر بیمار دو نمونه بیوپسی از ناحیه آنتروم و دو نمونه بیوپسی از ناحیه کورپوس گرفته شد. نمونه های بیماران با استفاده از آزمون های تست اوره آز سریع و کشت در محیط انتخابی کلمبیا آگار غنی شده با تخم مرغ و حاوی آنتی بیوتیک مورد ارزیابی قرار گرفت. پس از کشت از رنگ آمیزی گرم و آزمایشات بیوشیمیایی به منظور تعیین هویت نهایی هلیکوباکتر پیلوری استفاده گردید. برای به دست آوردن حساسیت، ویژگی و کارآیی از نرم افزارهای kappa calculator و SPSS استفاده شد. یافته ها: از مجموع 192 نمونه بیوپسی گرفته شده 98 نمونه (10/51 درصد) در آزمون اوره آز سریع مثبت و 87 نمونه (31/45 درصد) به وسیله کشت مثبت شدند. حساسیت، ویژگی، ارزش اخباری مثبت و منفی روش کشت به ترتیب 5/76، 2/87 ، 2/86 و 0/78 درصد و کارایی این روش 0/81 درصد می باشد. نتیجه گیری: این مطالعه نشان می دهد که محیط کلمبیا آگار غنی شده با تخم مرغ به عنوان محیط کشت اختصاصی مناسب برای جداسازی هلیکوباکتر پیلوری می باشد. این محیط کشت دارای حساسیت، ویژگی و کارآیی بالایی است و از لحاظ هزینه مقرون به صرفه بوده و نیز از جهت تهیه کردن به راحتی در دسترس می باشد

Periplasmic expression and one-step purification of urease subunit B of Helicobacter pylori

UreB is one of the urease subunits of Helicobacter pylori and can be used as an excellent antigen candidate for H. pylori vaccination. Easy access to highly purified UreB protein, facilitate advances in therapeutic or preventive strategies. To achieve a simplified purification procedure, the present report represents a novel method of producing recombinant urease subunit B extracellularly. ureB gene from 26,695 standard strain was amplified by PCR and cloned into pET-26b(+) expression vector. UreB was expressed as a soluble, N-terminal pelB and C-terminal hexahistidine-tagged fusion protein (UreB-6His) and secreted into the periplasmic space of Escherichia coli. Expression of the recombinant UreB in E. coli BL21 (DE3) was induced by isopropylthio-β-d-galactoside (IPTG). Expression of UreB was confirmed by sodium dodecyl sulphate–polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS–PAGE) and western blot analysis using anti-His monoclonal antibody. UreB-6His protein was extracted from the periplasm by osmotic shock treatment and was purified in one step by Nickel affinity chromatography. In conclusion, the present protocol is easier to perform; more time effective and low cost than earlier methods. Keywords Helicobacter pylori –Urease subunit B–Cloning–Periplasmic expression Periplasmic expression and one-step purification of urease subunit B of Helicobacter pylori (PDF Download Available). Available from: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/227181089_Periplasmic_expression_and_one-step_purification_of_urease_subunit_B_of_Helicobacter_pylori [accessed Dec 09 2017]

Cloning of the Recombinant Cytochrome P450 Cyp141 Protein of Mycobacterium tuberculosis as a Diagnostic Target and Vaccine Candidate

Background: Tuberculosis has been announced as a global emergency by World Health Organization and the second infectious agent of mortality worldwide. The general policy in the development of new vaccines is to develop some vaccines with higher efficiency not only for infants but also for adults compared with the Bacillus Calmette-Guerin vaccine. Recently, cytochrome P450 cyp141 has been introduced as a new target for detecting Mycobacterium tuberculosis from clinical samples. Objectives: The aim of this study was to clone this gene in order to pave the way for more evaluation. Materials and Methods: M. tuberculosis H37Rv DNA was extracted by a standard phenol-chlorophorm protocol. After designing the specific primers, P450 cyp141 gene was replicated by PCR. The purified PCR products were then subcloned into the pTZ57R/T plasmid vector. After extraction, enzyme digestion, and recombinant pTZ57R/T-cyp141 plasmid vector sequencing, the aforementioned products were cloned into a pET-26b plasmid vector. Then, the recombinant pET26b-cyp141 plasmid molecules were transformed to Escherichia coli strain BL21 (DE3) using the transformation method. Next, the recombinant pET26b-cyp141 plasmids were purified and evaluated by the enzyme digestion analysis. Results: The cloning of P450 cyp141 gene was confirmed by the enzyme digestion and sequencing of the recombinant pTZ57R/T-cyp141 and pET26b-cyp141 plasmid vectors. Conclusions: The results of this study demonstrated that the P450 cyp141 gene was successfully cloned into a pET26b plasmid vector as an expression vector. In this paper, for the first time in Iran, this gene was cloned for more purposes, including the expression and purification of the recombinant cytochrome P450 cyp141 protein