Ionic liquids (ILs) offer a wide range of promising applications in condensation, oil-water separation and Li-ion batteries owing to their unique physicochemical properties. Here, we reveal the role of hydrogen-bonding in IL-water interfacial interactions based on ab-initio molecular dynamics (AIMD) simulation. Stronger hydrogen bonding between water and [BF4]- ion of [BMIm][BF4] renders water molecules move faster than that at water-[BMIm][Tf2N] interface. This finding also provides indirect explanation of hydrophobicity of [BMIm][Tf2N], which is popular in phase change and multiphase systems.
In this paper, we modeled computationally dry methane reforming (DRM) process in an industrial scale packed bed using multi-phase particle in cell (MP-PIC) approach via implementing reaction kinetics of Rhodium catalyst. We provide a lumping scheme of detailed surface reaction mechanism for the system in order to be treated as a black-box. Our simulated results not only shows that this system significantly improves in utilization greenhouse gases (GHG) area in the industry by replacing the conventionally used steam reformation of methane (SRM), but also verify theoretical analysis. We thus believe that the proposed system can be a good framework for fluidized bed reactor simulation in future work.
Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is an oncogenic virus associated in the pathogenesis of several human malignancies. Unfortunately, several aspects of the EBV biology remain poorly understood, due to the lack of a suitable animal model. We have shown that healthy rabbits are susceptible to EBV infection and the virus establishes a pattern of latent infection typically seen in humans. We observed that, immunosuppression of animals at the time of primary infection with EBV causes severe infection with gross pathology evident within two weeks of infection. EBV infected animals express various lytic and latent proteins. Taken together, these findings show that our rabbit model is not only suitable for studying the biology of EBV, but more importantly, it closely recapitulates EBV infection in humans. We use this novel animal model to address the dynamics of EBV infection which could not be previously addressed in an in vivo system.
Clinical trials have shown that natural killer (NK) cells possess potent effects against solid and blood malignancies. NK92, an immortal human NK cell line derived from a non-hodgkin lymphoma patient, is one of the most important sources of NK cell used in adoptive cell therapy. The ability to easily expand these cells, make them highly attractive for immunocytotherapy. However, the fate of NK92 cells post killing tumor cells is not well investigated. Here we sought to investigate the fate of NK92 cells post their killing of the colorectal cancer cell line, HCT116. Defining the type of cell death of NK92 cells following their anti-tumor activity will provide impetus to their utilization in immunotherapy of cancer, and will aid in finding methods to harness these cells for greater efficacy.
One of the greatest concerns among threats to public health worldwide is antimicrobial resistance (AR). The ESKAPE pathogens (Enterococcus faecium, Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Acinetobacter baumannii, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Enterobacter species) are a leading cause of nosocomial infections worldwide. Most of these pathogens are multidrug resistant, making them very difficult to manage and treat. Actinomycetes, particularly the genus Streptomyces are an exceptional source of antibiotics. In this study we perform molecular characterization of 37 isolated Actinomycetes isolated from extreme Sharjah desert, UAE. Using DNA sequencing of the 16S-rRNA gene these isolates were identified. 24 of the isolates were found to belong to the genus Streptomyces while the remaining 13 were Rare Actinomycetes. Using cross streak method, we identified 12 strains that exhibited antimicrobial activity against at least 1 member of the ESKAPE pathogens.
Host responses in P. falciparum malaria vary between individuals and ethnic groups through poorly understood mechanisms. During the blood-stage malaria, P. falciparum engages with the host in exchanging metabolites, resulting in major perturbations that impact the host response and parasite proliferation. Here we combine the power of prospective sampling and integrative analysis of global in vivo metabolomic and transcriptomic data to investigate the impact of infection on African children. Using integrative multi-omics data analysis, we identify major perturbations in lipid metabolism during infection implicating the metabolome in mechanisms behind immune avoidance strategies in malaria.
Insight into the metabolic changes elicited through residual SARS-CoV-2 proteins is important and yet to be determined. Here we show that treatment of human peripheral blood monocyte-derived macrophages with SARS-CoV-2 peptides induced concentration-dependent proliferation of macrophages and alterations in their metabolomic and phenotypic profiles. Our current findings provide important insight into the effects of SARS-CoV-2 residual proteins
Hyalomma dromedarii is an important blood-feeding ectoparasite that affects the health of camels. We assessed the profile of bacterial communities associated with H. dromedarii collected from camels in the eastern part of the UAE in 2010 and 2019. A total of 100 partially engorged female ticks were taken from tick samples collected from camels (n = 100; 50/year) and subjected to DNA extraction and sequencing. The 16S rRNA gene was amplified from genomic DNA and sequenced using Illumina MiSeq platform to elucidate the bacterial communities. Principle Coordinates Analysis (PCoA) was conducted to determine patterns of diversity in bacterial communities.
Blastocystis is an intestinal protozoan with undeceive pathogenicity. According to the CDC, 9 subtypes were identified. Between chronic diseases and Blastocystis infection, there is a clear but not well-understood relationship. This study aims to assess the possible association between Blastocystis infection and Colorectal cancer (CRC) condition amongst cancer patients compared to healthy control. Three groups were recruited: CRC patients, patients with cancers outside the gastrointestinal tract (COGT), and cancer-free participants. Participants consented to provide a fresh stool sample. Fecal specimens underwent microscopy and molecular analysis to identify any macro or micro-intestinal parasites. Xenic culture of samples was also used to confirm the subtyping of Blastocystis. According to the preliminary data, the prevalence of Blastocystis was twice the prevalence of Blastocystis infection in healthy individuals. However, CRC patients showed lower Blastocystis infection compared to COGT. Prevalence of sub-type I of Blastocystis was the most common among all participants.
Studies have demonstrated the association between the alteration in cellular sphingolipids (SPLs) and the development of drug resistance in human cancers. To investigate the role of SPLs in doxorubicin (dox)-resistant MCF-7 cells, a sphingolipidomics analysis associated with gene expression analysis were conducted. The data obtained revealed that SPLs were clustered into two groups differentiating parental from dox-resistant cells. Eight SPLs were significantly altered in response to dox-resistance. This study is the first to conclusively ascertain the involvement of SPLs dysregulation in doxorubicin resistance in MCF-7 cells. SPLs metabolism in dox-resistant MCF-7 cells was associated downregulation of ceramides and increase in sphingomyelin. Gene expression analysis has revealed that dox-resistant cells tend to escape from the Cer-related apoptosis by activation of SM-Cer and GluCer-LacCer-ganglioside.
