Queer Muslim Diasporas in Contemporary Literature and Film

This is a book review of Alberto Fernández Carbajal\u27s Queer Muslim Diasporas in Contemporary Literature and Film

Novel Analytical Methods Combining Non-Denaturing Chromatography and Mass Spectrometry to Study Biopolymer Structure and Interactions

Biotherapeutics, an emerging class of medicines containing biopolymers (e.g., proteins, peptide, and polysaccharides) have been developed for a variety of indications including cancer, autoimmune, genetic, and blood diseases. Among these biopolymers protein therapeutics have been the rapidly growing segment in the pharmaceutical industry. This trend combined with the complexity of proteins has necessitated the development of powerful and robust analytical methods to study their structure and interactions with physiological partners. Mass spectrometry (MS) has become an indispensable tool to analyze various attributes of protein drugs such as profiling of intact mass, amino acid sequencing, and post translational modifications (PTMs). In this work novel analytical methods have been developed by combining non-denaturing chromatographic separations (such as size exclusion chromatography and ion exchange chromatography) with native ESI MS. In addition to providing information of mass and non-covalent assemblies, native ESI MS has an advantage of probing conformational integrity of proteins by analyzing ionic charge state distributions in the mass spectrum. Size exclusion chromatography with online native ESI MS detection method developed in this work allowed characterization of higher order structure of proteins and probe aggregation propensity. Using the same SEC/native ESI MS workflow a method to find kinetics and equilibrium binding constant of transient protein interactions have also been developed. Combination of ion exchange chromatography (IXC) with native ESI MS and MS/MS detection was developed and shown to be effective in characterization of positional isomers of protein conjugates and PTMs of a biotherapeutic recombinant human interferon beta 1a. To characterize highly heterogeneous PEGylated glycoprotein (conjugated with a 20kDa PEG) analytical methods using IXC/native ESI MS combined with limited charge reduction and collisional activation were developed

Audiological evaluation in geriatric age group

AIM: To evaluate the hearing thresholds in individuals aged above 65 years attending the Government General Hospital and among the people attending the hearing screening done in the city of Thiruvananthapuram. The study also includes the review of the literature on ARHL. MATERIALS AND METHODS: 185 individuals aged above 65 years are evaluated for hearing thresholds with the help of pure tone audiometry and speech audiometry. Among the 185 individuals 102 are patients attending the Department of ENT for the complaints of loss of hearing. The remaining 83 individuals are from the survey conducted to screen for hearing loss in the city of Thiruvananthapuram for the population aged above 65 years.  Demographic data about the 185 individuals is collected. Pure tone audiogram and speech audiometry is done in all the patients. CONCLUSIONS:  PTA and SRT values are similar in both the groups. Early old age groups presented with mild to severe types of deafness and loss in lower frequencies. Late old aged people showed profound hearing loss and increased thresholds in higher frequencies. SRT estimation seemed more sensitive than calculating PTA in the persons above 85 years. Females showed 5 to 10 dB lower PTA values than males in all ages

High Pressure Liquid Chromatography Studies of the Reaction of Platinum Complexes with Peptides

Platinum complexes (cisplatin, carboplatin and oxaliplatin) are effective anticancer agents. However the major drawbacks of platinum chemotherapy are toxic side effects and resistance. The affinity of platinum complexes to sulfur donor ligands of side chains of methionine and cysteine amino acids was assumed to be responsible for toxicity and resistance. Recently, it was found that the reaction of platinum complex with proteins containing sulfur donor ligands could actually favor its anticancer activity. Copper transporter 1 (Ctr 1), a protein involved in the transport of copper into the cell, also helps in the influx of cisplatin by binding to N-terminal domain of Ctr 1 which is rich in methionine and histidine residues. A better understanding of how the size and shape of amine ligand, and leaving groups affect the reaction of platinum (II) complexes with methionine could give new ways to optimize its anticancer activity. This preliminary research focuses to answer this by HPLC-UV-VIS analysis of bulky platinum complexes including [Pt(dien)Cl]Cl, Pt(Me4en)(NO3)2 and Pt(en)(NO3)2 with two methionine containing small peptides that serve as models for protein interactions

Demographic determinants and effect of pre-operative angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors and angiotensin receptor blockers on the occurrence of atrial fibrillation after CABG surgery

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Atrial fibrillation (AF) occurs in about 27% to 40% of post cardiac surgery patients. AF following coronary artery bypass graft surgery (CABG) is associated with a two-fold increase in morbidity and mortality. Various demographic risk factors and medications have been studied to predict the occurrence of this arrhythmia. The role of angiotensin related medications on the occurrence of AF in CABG patients is not determined.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Retrospective clinical and statistical analysis was made of all the patients who had undergone CABG surgery at Lehigh Valley Hospital during the years 2005 and 2006. Patients with chronic AF and those undergoing valvular surgery with CABG were excluded. Statistic analysis included chi-square test for categorical and student t-test for continuous variables.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>757 patients (560 males and 197 females) were studied. AF occurred in 19% of the patients. Age (70.5 vs. 65.1, p < 0.005. OR per year of age: 1.02, 95%CI: 1.018-1.023) and presence of hypertension (OR: 1.92, 95%CI: 1.086-3.140, p = 0.025) were significantly associated with occurrence of AF. Neither ARBs (OR: 0.78, 95%CI: 0.431-1.410, p = 0.41) nor ACE inhibitors (OR: 1.01, 95%CI: 0.753-1.608, p = 0.63) reduced the occurrence of post operative AF. Patients with post operative AF had a significantly longer hospital stay (9.5 +/- 5.4 days vs. 6.9 +/- 4.3 days, p = 0.001).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Advanced age and presence of hypertension were independent predictors of post-CABG AF. Patients with post operative AF had significantly longer hospital stay. Neither ARBs nor ACE inhibitors were associated with reduction of post-surgical AF. Further studies are needed to better delineate the role of angiotensin related medications on reduction of post-surgical AF.</p

Visual Improvements in Color Image Processing Using Regularized Filtration

I. Introduction The principal objective of image enhancemen

SHOPPING MALL AIR DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM

The objective to design Heating, Ventilation &amp; Air conditioning (HVAC) system for a commercial Building, with simultaneously controls its temperature, humidity, cleanliness, proper distribution, noise level, heat load calculation, fresh air, exhaust, duct design, pipe design, equipment selection and layout of accessories such as indoor and outdoor unit of the project. Cooling load will be calculated on E20 form. Indeed, today the emphasis is no more on understanding air conditioning ‘products’ but on creating ‘solutions’ and not just solutions, but ‘customized solutions’ that suit specific cooling needs of specific business and establishment