Deoxyribonucleic Acid Analysis Research Articles

Clinical and Microbiological Profiles of Aggressive and Chronic Periodontitis in Congolese Patients: A Cross-sectional Study.

ABSTRACTBackground:Chronic and aggressive periodontitis were the main forms of periodontitis according to the 1999 classification of periodontal diseases and conditions. Their profile in Congolese patients is still undescribed.Aim:The aim of this study was to compare the profile of chronic periodontitis (ChP) with that of aggressive periodontitis (AgP) in Congolese patients.Materials and Methods:Thirty-two patients with ChP and 20 with AgP who consulted the dental services at any of the four medical centers in Kinshasa, from April 2017 to April 2018, were enrolled in the cross-sectional study. All patients underwent a full mouth examination, including assessment of the probing pocket depth and clinical attachment level at six sites per tooth. Microbial samples were collected in the deepest pocket in the maxilla and the deepest pocket in the mandible. A deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) analysis was performed using DNA strip technology. Fisher exact test, the chi-square test, the t test, and the Mann–Whitney test were used for the statistical analysis.Results:Patients with AgP were significantly younger than those with ChP (P < 0.001). There was no significant difference in the prevalence of Porphyromonas gingivalis, Tannerella forsythia, Treponema denticola, or Prevotella intermedia between the AgP and ChP groups (P > 0.05). Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans was detected in 10% of cases in the AgP group and in none of those in the ChP group (P = 0.143).Conclusion:This study shows that the clinical profiles of ChP and AgP are similar in Congolese patients. There were no microbiological differences between these two forms of periodontitis.

An Efficient-Assembler Whale Optimization Algorithm for DNA Fragment Assembly Problem: Analysis and Validations

The study of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) is crucial in many fields, including medicine, biology, zoology, agriculture, and forensics. Since reading a DNA sequence is onerous because of its massive length, it is common in many DNA analysis applications to divide DNA strands into small segments or fragments which, after analysis, must be reassembled. Since this reassembly takes a non-specific polynomial time to solve, the DNA fragment assembly problem (DFAP) is NP-hard. This paper proposes a new assembler for tackling the DFAP based on the overlap-layout-consensus (OLC) approach. The proposed assembler adapts a discrete whale optimization algorithm (DWOA) using standard operators adopted from evolutionary algorithms to simulate the strategy adopted by humpback whales when searching for prey. For the first time, we formulate the behaviors of whales to be applied directly to any discrete optimization problem based on three primary operations: a swap-based best-position operator, an ordered crossover operator, and selection of a random whale operation to perform the exploitation and exploration phases of the algorithm. These operations were carefully designed to preserve the methodology of the original whale algorithm. DFAP is a multi-objective problem that seeks to reach the optimal order of segments that maximizes the overlap score and minimizes the number of contigs (set of overlapping DNA segments) to compose a one-contig DNA strand. Existing local search methods, such as problem aware local search (PALS) many non-conflicting movements (PALS2-many), suffer from being trapped in local optima. Hence, the integration of DWOA with PALS2-many improves the search capability for finding the optimal order of fragments. In addition, we propose a new variation of PALS2-many that achieves simultaneously the two objectives of DFAP. Our proposed DWOA was compared with a number of the most recent robust assemblers: a hybrid crow search algorithm for solving the DFAP (CSA-P2M*Fit), P2M*Fit, and a hybrid genetic algorithm (GA-P2M*Fit). The experimental results and statistical analyses of the proposed DWOA on thirty benchmark instances show that DWOA significantly outperforms those algorithms in reaching fewer contigs, in addition to being competitive with CSA-P2M*Fit and superior to P2M*Fit and GA-P2M*Fit for the overlap score.

ANALYSIS OF APOLIPOPROTEIN-B (APO-B) GENE IN ATHEROSCLEROSIS MICE GIVEN CURCUMINOID EXTRACT OF ZANTHORRIZA IN ORAL

The aim of this study was to investigate the apolipoprotein-B (apo-B) gene in atherosclerosis mice which were orally given curcuminoid extract of Curcuma xanthorriza. A total number of 30 white mice were split into 6 groups, the first group considered as control (without any treatment), second group as atherogenic feed control, the third group as extract control, while the fourth, fifth and sixth groups as atherogenic feed and curcuminoid Curcuma xanthorriza extract group treated with 5 mg/mouse, 10 mg/mouse and 15 mg/ mouse, respectively for three months. The blood samples were taken from all six groups for the deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) analysis using total DNA isolation, DNA amplification with polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and DNA sequencing. The data analysis showed that 374 bp nucleotide sequence gen of apo-B from Rattus norvegicus in groups B, C, D, E, and F did not cause any changes in genes. The analysis showed the sequence of apo-B Rattus norvegicus gene in the treatment group was apparently identical with that of Rattus norvegicus group A as the control group without treatment. As conclusion, the administration of curcuminoid zanthorrizza to atherosclerosis mice did not change the gene structure of apo-B 100.

Relationship of follicle stimulating hormone receptor Gene Thr307Ala polymorphism with polycystic ovary syndrome in Iraqi women

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a polygenic multifactorial status affecting millions of females worldwide. It is a common cause of anovulatory subfertility. Because of follicle stimulating hormone (FSH), is an important agent in human reproduction. Therefore, the correlation between follicle stimulating hormone receptor (FSHR) gene polymorphisms and polycystic ovary syndrome attracts broad attention. The objective of this study is to investigate the potential association between the follicle stimulating hormone receptor gene Thr307Ala polymorphism with polycystic ovary syndrome in the Iraqi women. A case-control study including 135 Iraqi women of Arab ethnicity (75 PCOS patients and 60 age-matched control women). The age of subjects ranged from 18 to 38 years. PCOS diagnosis was established by Rotterdam consensus criteria. The FSHR (Thr307Ala) variant was tested by conventional polymerase chain reaction (PCR)–restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) followed by deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) sequencing. The heterozygote Thr/Ala (AG) genotype of Thr307Ala (rs6165) polymorphism of follicle stimulating hormone receptor gene was giving a significant risk (odds ratio=19.4, 95%CI=1.14-30.40, P value=0.002) of developing PCOS in Iraqi women compared with control group. Sequencing analysis of DNA confirms RFLP analysis. In conclusion; the variant Thr307Ala (rs6165) of the follicle stimulating hormone receptor gene is associated with polycystic ovary syndrome and may consider as the causal factor of polycystic ovary syndrome in Iraqi women.

Analisis Awal Terhadap Isu-Isu Kebolehterimaan Asid Deoksiribonukleik DNA Sebagai Bahan Bukti di Mahkamah Syariah (Preliminary Analysis of Admissibility Issues of Deoxyribonucleic Acid DNA as Evidence in Syariah Court)

Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) benefits human life in various aspects. Islamic history has proven that the practice of proving a case through DNA has been carried out as early as the time of the Prophet Joseph (p.b.u.h.) and the time of the Prophet Muhammad (p.b.u.h.). A lot of efforts have been done to introduce evidence through DNA in the Syariah Court. However, there are some important issues that must be addressed by various parties in Malaysia before starting to apply the DNA evidence in the Syariah Court. This study was conducted to identify important issues that require attention in the realization of the use of DNA evidence in the Syariah Court. This qualitative study employed socio-legal and library-based research in collecting primary and secondary data. Then, the data have been analyzed by using content analysis method through inductive and deductive reasoning. This study found five issues that need to be addressed namely the knowledge and understanding of shariah officers in regard to the DNA, the need to establish Syariah Forensic Laboratory, the suspect's reluctance to provide his DNA sample for DNA analysis, DNA forensic expert qualification as an expert witness in Syariah Court, and the evidential value of DNA in Syariah Court. This study concludes that these issues require effective and practical solution for the effort to bring DNA evidence to be successfully carried out.

Enhancement of pigment production potential of Serratia marcescens (GBB151) through mutation and random amplified polymorphic deoxyribonucleic acid analysis of its mutants

Serratia marcescens (GBB151) was isolated and genetically modified for high-yielding pigment production capacity that could be employed for industrial purposes. Ethidium bromide-induced mutagenesis of GBB151 resulted in the generation of eight mutant isolates (GBB151Ea - GBB151Eh). The chemical mutants of S. marcescens obtained produced 5-fold more pigment than the wild-type organism. The wild-type GBB151 produced 413.9 unit/cell, while the mutant strains produced pigments with yields ranging from 841.7 to 2008.5 unit/cell. RAPD-PCR analysis showed different amplicons patterns of native as well as mutant derivatives. The factorial analysis diagram and the dendrogram showed a degree of dissimilarity among the wild-type bacterial isolate GBB151 and its mutants. Mutant strains GBB151Ec and GBB151Ef were closest to the wild-type as they appeared in the same quadrant. GBB151Ed which had lost its ability to produce pigment was farthest and in the different quadrant to the wild-type. These study provided insight into improvement in pigment production by manipulating genetic make-up of S. marcencens, thus meeting industrial demand.

Information analysis of the human DNA

The structure of the deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) is quantified using an algorithm that translates the chromosome data into a state-space plot. This scheme converts the information written by means of the four nitrogenous bases {thymine, cytosine, adenine, guanine} into a two-dimensional numerical representation. The resulting locus is then analyzed in the perspective of fractal and information theories. The classical integer-order expressions, namely the entropy and mutual information of two-dimensional distributions, are compared with those obtained using recently proposed fractional formulations. It is verified that the fractional approach leads to a superior discrimination of the information embedded in the two-dimensional locus. The dataset is further explored through the Jensen–Shannon divergence and multidimensional scaling. The proposed approach is first applied to the 24 Human chromosomes. In a second phase, the Bonobo, Chimpanzee and Orangutan are also considered for establishing a comparison between the four species. The results shed some light upon the information content of the distinct chromosomes.

Binding interaction of spherical silver nanoparticles and calf thymus DNA: Comprehensive multispectroscopic, molecular docking, and RAPD PCR studies

It is well established that silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) can interact with deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), inducing different DNA damages. Here, absorption spectra, fluorescence and synchronous fluorescence spectra, analysis of melting temperature curves, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), molecular docking, and random amplification of polymorphic DNA (RAPD) experiments were used to study the interaction of double-stranded calf thymus DNA (dsCT-DNA) with 5 nm bare spherical silver nanoparticles. The association constant (Kapp) of AgNPs with DNA from UV–Vis study was found to be 1.6 (±0.2) × 104 L mol−1 which is comparable to Kapp of groove binders. Moreover, the interaction strength of the DNA bases with AgNPs has been explored through absorbance measurements based on the values of their binding constants in the order G > C > A ≫ T. The quenching data were analyzed using Stern-Volmer and Hill equations. The Stern-Volmer analyzed data demonstrated that the DNA-AgNPs quenching process is static in nature. The calculated binding constant of AgNPs in the DNA environment (<105 L mol−1) indicates the groove binding. The Hill coefficients < 1 indicated the existence of the negative cooperative interactions. The synchronous fluorescence, molecular docking, and RAPD PCR studies as well as the TEM analysis of DNA in the absence and presence of AgNPs suggest the complex formation between DNA and AgNPs. The change in melting temperature also supported the groove binding between DNA and AgNPs.

A handheld lateral flow strip for rapid DNA extraction from staphylococcus aureus cell spiked in various samples

Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) extraction procedure is commonly based on well-developed and commercialized silica-based techniques. However, there are limits to utilize in resource-limited environments due to being time-consuming, labor-intensive, and expensive. Although simple DNA extraction systems have been recently reported, there are still remaining challenges for conventional treatment to complex samples such as blood, food, and soil. Here, we demonstrated a handheld lateral flow strip for rapid DNA extraction from complex samples. We designed the lateral flow system based on investigation of basic property for DNA binding and proper arrangements of various materials. Engineering structure of the lateral flow strip made by the arrangement of convenient pad materials is playing a key role for DNA extraction device without expensive fabrication technique. Different binding affinity to DNA molecules of pad materials is inducing DNA transportation and concentration on the elution hole by lateral flow separation. Result of rapid DNA extraction by the handheld strip was shown similar efficiency to a commercialized silica column. In the concentration between 10 CFU to 106 CFU, and the volume of 5 μl to 100 μl, DNA extraction from Staphylococcus aureus cells in buffer was successfully performed by the handheld strip. We successfully showed that the rapid and effective DNA extraction in various type of complex samples (such as saliva, whole blood, urine, milk, meat, soil, and pond water) can be performed using the handheld strip within 3 min. Moreover, this fabricated strip could be an excellent platform for DNA storage and transportation, thus being potentially suitable for expanding the area of DNA analysis in resource-limited environments.

Study on Commercial Spice and Herb Products Using Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS).

Background: The use of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA)-based testing methods is increasing in the food sector. DNA analyses can be a helpful tool for the analysis of many food products and can address some of the present concerns about adulteration and authenticity. Several analytical methods have been proposed to answer the specific topic of species composition in foods. Objective: The aim is to show that Next-generation sequencing (NGS) is a suitable tool for food analysis including spices, herbs, seasoning, etc. Method: In the present study, we show how an internal NGS workflow was setup and tested for species composition in real food seasoning samples. Results: Commercial samples of different spice and herb mixtures were analysed by our internal developed NGS workflow. The results obtained will be discussed based on the labeling of the products relative to the type of sample and species mixtures. Conclusions: Here we show that our internal NGS workflow can be successfully applied in complex commercial samples. Highlights: NGS can become a powerfull and reliable tool for authentication of spices and herbs products.

An Efficient Multiple Fault Detection Technique in Digital Microfluidic Biochips

ABSTRACT The involvement of Digital Microfluidic Biochips (DMFBs) in the field of disease detection, automated drug discovery, on-chip DNA (Deoxyribonucleic acid) analysis has become well-accepted during last decades. Though trustworthiness of Digital Microfluidic Biochip system plays a vital role in point-of-care diagnosis, defective electrodes are the main reasons for various misleading assay performances. It also affects overall assay completion time; even it leads to discard a chip in the worst scenario. Hence, fault detection is a crucial need. In this paper, an efficient fault detection mechanism is formulated to identify multiple numbers of defective/faulty electrodes on an m × n biochip array, where m and n can be of any positive number. Test droplets are strategically routed throughout an arbitrary sized electrode array and capacitive sensing circuit is deployed to take decision about existence of faults. The basic idea of the proposed technique is to identify actual positions of faulty electrodes through boundary test, row test, and diagonal test. In some complicated cases, instead of finding exact faulty location(s), through an extended testing our proposed technique identifies faulty zone(s) (it is a bounded region where one or more defective electrodes reside) to ensure safe assay performance on a chip. A detailed study evaluates the proposed approach considering different faulty environments.

X-ray Induced Genetic Variability in &amp;lt;i&amp;gt;Amaranthus hybridus&amp;lt;/i&amp;gt; L. and Analysis of Variants Using Morphological and Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA Data

Amaranthus hybridus L. is an important vegetable in Nigeria, grown mainly for its highly nutritious leaves. In a bid to explore the possibility of increasing the infra-specific diversity of the crop, we induced three accessions of A. hybridus from Anambra State, Nigeria with x-ray particles using various concentration levels. The experimental layout composed a 5 x 3 x 3 Randomized Complete Block Design arrangement, with treatment levels: 1 MGY, 2 MGY, 4 MGY, and 6 MGY, selectively allotted to the different accession based on a preliminary dosimetry test. Morphological data were recorded and subsequently leaves samples subjected to Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA) extraction and Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA (RAPD) analysis. The results show that except for inflorescence weight, other morphological data were not statistically significant. However, RAPD techniques identify some variations induced by x-ray particles on the different accessions. Ogbunike accession irradiated with 4 MGY appears to show the optimum concentration of x-ray particles required to induce genetic variability in A. hybridus. These findings are of paramount importance to plant breeders, whose primary tool is to identify variations to produce better yielding varieties.

Non-parametric spectral estimation techniques for DNA sequence analysis and exon region prediction

Bioinformatics is the analysis of biological information using computers and statistical techniques. This paper presents non-parametric spectral estimation techniques based on the Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT) for the analysis of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) sequences. These techniques are efficient frequency-domain signal representation techniques, which improve the analysis of DNA sequences and enable the extraction of some desirable information that cannot be extracted from the time-domain representation of these sequences. The adopted techniques are the periodogram, average periodogram (Bartlett), modified average periodogram (Welch), and Blackman and Tukey spectral estimation techniques. The objective of these spectral estimation techniques is to investigate the locations of exons in DNA sequences for gene prediction. A comparison study is presented in this paper between the suggested spectral estimation techniques from the exon prediction perspective. The methods presented in this paper improve the detectability of peaks representing exon regions.

Association Between Chromosome 4Q25 Polymorphism RS2200733 and the Incidence of Atrial Fibrillation in Bulgarian Patients

Summary Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the commonest type of arrhythmia seen in everyday clinical practice, which leads to a significant increase in both morbidity and mortality. Its incidence increases with age and tends to turn into an epidemic. The cause of AF in 10-20% of cases remains unknown. Several mutations and polymorphism that might be responsible for the development of AF have been found, including single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) - rs2200733 and rs10033464 in the long arm of the fourth chromosome. These polymorphisms are selected o the basis of genome- wide association study in Iceland from 2007, the results from which were later confirmed in 4 other large populations. The rs2200733 is a common noncoding polymorphism, described in National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) database dbSNP like NC_000004.12:g.110789013C&gt;T, with a frequency of the less common allele between 0.1 and 0.24. In order to investigate the association between the rs2200733 polymorphism in chromosome 4q25 and the development of AF, we studied the frequency of this polymorphism in patients with heart diseases from the Pleven region, and thus evaluate the relationship between the individual genotype and the clinical condition of the patients. We carried out a case-control study on 80 patients: 40 with AF and 40 without AF- from the Pleven region. None of these had structural heart disease. The study was conducted between November 2015 and November 2017. With deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) analysis, we determined rs2200733 polymorphism, using a TaqMan-based polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The Cochran-Armitage trend test, the Chi-Squared Pearson correlation, Fisher test we used confirmed the statistically significant association between the rs2200733 polymorphism in chromosome 4q25 and the development of AF. In the population examined, the genotypic frequencies were as follows: CC - 45 (56.2%), CT - 19 (23.8%), TT - 16 (20%), with value of Chi-Square (χ2) 24.496, df=2, p&lt;0.001. Screening for SNPs could be a useful marker for the detection of patients predisposed to AF.

COLLECTION, IDENTIFICATION, MOLECULAR CHARACTERIZATION, AND ANTIOXIDANT ACTIVITY OF NON-GILLED MUSHROOMS COLLECTED FROM NORTH WESTERN HIMALAYAS

Objective: The objective of present research deals with collection, taxonomic, molecular taxonomy characterization, and antioxidant activity of wild non-gilled mushrooms sample collected from North Western Himalayas.Methods: The wild non-gilled mushroom samples were characterized for micro, morphological properties, and molecular identification. 1,1 diphenylpicrylhydrazyl (DPPH), nitric oxide (NO2), hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), and free radical scavenging assay were used to evaluate the antioxidant properties of selected wild non-gilled mushrooms.Results: The obtained results revealed that on the basis of microscopic and morphological identification all the four non-gilled mushrooms samples were tentatively identified as 2/15 (Auricularia sp.1), 6/15 (Auricularia sp.2), 32/15 (Ganoderma sp.), and 132/15 (Trametes sp.). The colony, mycelial, and basidiospore morphology of fungal isolate were evidence of Basidiomycetes family. All these four non-gilled mushrooms were sequenced. Sequences were submitted to National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), and their accession number was MF770159 (2/15), MF774107 (6/15), MF770158 (32/15), and MF770160 (132/15). The phylogenetic analysis of 18S ribosomal deoxyribonucleic acid (18S rDNA) sequence of four non-gilled mushrooms was compared with other species and identified as Auricularia polytricha, Ganoderma lucidum, Auricularia auricula-judae, and Trametes elegans. The four non-gilled mushrooms extract exhibited DPPH, NO2, and H2O2 free radical scavenging activities. G. lucidum methanolic extract has the highest effect on free radicals in comparison to hexane effect.Conclusion: All the isolated four non-gilled mushrooms showed good antioxidant potential, and it can be concluded that these mushrooms are not only consumed but also have a wide range of medicinal properties which must further explode for future use.

Screening of quorum quenching activity of the bacteria isolated from dairy industry waste activated sludge

Intercellular bacterial communication process via exchange of signalling molecules acyl homoserine lactone results in various group activities like bioluminescence, antibiotic production, biofilm formation, sporulation, and virulence. The signalling molecules are targeted, and the communication is interrupted by a group of bacteria termed quorum quenching bacteria. The present study aims to isolate the quorum quenching bacteria from the waste activated sludge collected from the dairy industry effluent treatment plant and explore for its quorum quenching potential. The bacteria were cultured in the KG medium containing n-hexanoyl homoserine lactone as a sole source of carbon and nitrogen. The isolates were identified by the 16S ribosomal deoxyribonucleic acid analysis and subsequently were evaluated for its quorum quenching activity through Chromobacterium violaceum CV026 biosensor assay. The n-hexanoyl homoserine lactone degradation was quantified by GC–MS analysis. The 16S ribosomal deoxyribonucleic acid analysis revealed the isolated bacteria as Klebsiella pneumoniae (JYQ1 and JYQ5), Acinetobacter baumannii JYQ2, Pseudomonas nitroreducens JYQ3, and Pseudomonas JYQ4. The biosensor strain assay and GC–MS analysis indicated that all the isolates possessed an inherent ability to degrade N-hexanoyl homoserine lactone. The strain Pseudomonas JYQ4 exhibited the highest quorum quenching activity of 84 ± 3.3% within 6 h of incubation. The strain A. baumannii JYQ2 acted both as quorum sensing and as quorum quenching bacteria as evidenced by the decrease in quorum quenching from 79 ± 3.1 to 76.8 ± 2.5%.

Some clinical morphological and molecular genetic aspects in patients with clinical signs of hereditary breast cancer

Aim. To study the clinical morphological and molecular genetic characteristics of clinically hereditary breast cancer with and without verified mutation of BRCA1, BRCA2 compared to sporadic breast cancer.&#x0D; Methods. The study included 191 female patients with verified breast cancer stage I-IIA and clinical signs of hereditary breast cancer. In order to identify mutations in genes ВRCA1/2 molecular genetic analysis of deoxyribonucleic acid from peripheral blood leukocytes was performed.&#x0D; Results. The total frequency of mutations in the genes BRCA1 and ВRCA2 amounted 14.1% of the total number of examined patients. The most common mutation in clinically hereditary breast cancer among residents of the Rostov Region was 5382insC in BRCA1 gene, which corresponds to the nationwide data. Also common features of hereditary breast cancer compared to sporadic breast cancer were identified: young age at the time of disease manifestation, high prevalence of triple-negative cancer, history of infertility, increased level of p53 and androgen receptor expression, decreased level of aneuploid cell and proliferation index in the tumor.&#x0D; Conclusion. In a number of clinical morphological and molecular genetic parameters, clinically hereditary breast cancer differs from sporadic breast cancer. These indicators in the future can be used as criteria for selection of patients with clinically hereditary breast cancer without confirmed BRCA1/2 mutation by standard panels for in-depth genetic testing.

Sex determination from tooth pulp deoxyribonucleic acid using polymerase chain reaction.

Introduction:In this fast era of numerous unwanted disasters and because of the severely devastated and degenerated body remains, personal identification of unknown remains has become the most difficult and challenging task. In such instances, dental pulp plays a vital role in identification through deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA).Aim:The aim of the study is to determine sex from tooth pulp tissues by DNA analysis using polymerase chain reaction amplification method under different environmental conditions.Materials and Methods:The human extracted teeth were exposed to different conditions such as heat, soil, and open environment. The DNA was extracted from all these teeth including freshly extracted teeth, then quantified, and further amplified with male and female primers.Results:Quantity of DNA content achieved ranged from 5.21 to 62.87 ng/μl. The accuracy in determining sex from pulp DNA ranged from 92% to 100% in the study groups, except from the teeth exposed to uncontrolled heat, as the pulp tissue was burnt completely. The intergroup analysis was statistically highly significant (P < 0.001). Gender determination using the quantity of DNA was found to be nonsignificant (P > 0.05).Conclusion:The dental pulp is the reliable source for sex determination in the humid or dry environment compared to uncontrolled heat.

Vascular Cell Co-Culture on Silk Fibroin Matrix.

Silk fibroin (SF), a natural polymer material possessing excellent biocompatibility and biodegradability, and has been widely used in biomedical applications. In order to explore the behavior of vascular cells by co-culturing on regenerated SF matrix for use as artificial blood vessels, human aorta vascular smooth muscle cells (HAVSMCs) were co-cultured with human arterial fibroblasts (HAFs) or human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) on SF films and SF tubular scaffolds (SFTSs). Analysis of cell morphology and deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) content showed that HUVECs, HAVSMCs and HAFs adhered and spread well, and exhibited high proliferative activity whether cultured alone or in co-culture. Immunofluorescence and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis showed that HUVECs and HAFs co-existed well with HAVSMCs on SF films or SFTSs. Cytokine expression determined by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) indicated that the expression levels of α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA) and smooth muscle myosin heavy chain (SM-MHC) in HAVSMCs were inhibited on SF films or SFTSs, but expression could be obviously promoted by co-culture with HUVECs or HAFs, especially that of SM-MHC. On SF films, the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and platelet endothelial cell adhesion molecule-1 (CD31) in HUVECs was promoted, and the expression levels of both increased obviously when co-cultured with HAVSMCs, with the expression levels of VEGF increasing with increasing incubation time. The expression levels of VEGF and CD31 in cells co-cultured on SFTSs improved significantly from day 3 compared with the mono-culture group. These results were beneficial to the mechanism analysis on vascular cell colonization and vascular tissue repair after in vivo transplantation of SFTSs.

Resistant Raoultella Ornithinolytica Bacteremia in a Patient with New Acute Myeloid Leukemia

Members of the Raoultella genus were formerly considered to be Klebsiella species until they were differentiated based on phylogenetic Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) analysis.1 Since then, Raoultella ornithinolytica has been sparsely implicated in clinically-apparent disease, though more case reports are appearing as of late. Here we report the first documented instance of R. ornithinolytica bacteremia in a patient with new acute myeloid leukemia (AML).