I read this book the same weekend that the Packers took on the Rams, and the experience of the latter event, obviously, colored my judgment. Although I abhor anything that smacks of being a handbook (like, \"How to Earn a Merit Badge in Neurosurgery\") because too many volumes in biomedical science already evince a boyscout-like approach, I must confess that parts of this volume are fast, scholarly, and significant, with certain reservations. I like parts of this well-illustrated book because Dr. Sj6strand, without so stating, develops certain subjects on technique in relation to the acquisition of judgment and sophistication. And this is important! So, given that the author (like all of us) is somewhat deficient in some areas, and biased in others, the book is still valuable if the uninitiated reader swallows it in a general fashion, realizing full well that what will be required from the reader is a modulation to fit his vision, propreception, adaptation and response, and the kind of problem he is undertaking. A major deficiency of this book is revealed by comparison of its use of physics and of chemistry to provide understanding and background for the application of high resolution electron microscopy to problems in biology. Since the volume is keyed to high resolution electron microscopy, which is a sophisticated form of structural analysis, but really morphology in a modern guise, the physical and mechanical background of The instrument and its ancillary tools are simply and well presented. The potential use of chemical or cytochemical information as it relates to biological fine structure , however, is quite deficient. I wonder when even sophisticated morphol-ogists will consider fixation a reaction and not a technique; only then will the fundamentals become self-evident and predictable and this sine qua flon will become less mystical. Staining reactions (the most inadequate chapter) ought to be something more than a technique to selectively enhance contrast of morphological elements; it ought to give the structural addresses of some of the chemical residents of cell components. Is it pertinent that auto-radiography gets singled out for more complete coverage than other significant aspects of cytochemistry by a high resolution microscopist, when it has a built-in minimal error of 1,000 A in standard practice? I don't mean to blind-side (in strict football terminology) Dr. Sj6strand's efforts for what is \"routinely used in our laboratory\"; what is done is usually well done. It's just that …

Methods in Enzymology.

▶ Addresses a wide range of timely environment, economic and energy topics ▶ A forum to review, analyze and stimulate the development, testing and implementation of mitigation and adaptation strategies at regional, national and global scales ▶ Contributes to real-time policy analysis and development as national and international policies and agreements are discussed and promulgated ▶ 94% of authors who answered a survey reported that they would definitely publish or probably publish in the journal again

Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change

The current demands of the world’s biotechnological industries are enhancement in enzyme productivity and development of novel techniques for increasing their shelf life. These requirements are inevitable to facilitate large-scale and economic formulation. Enzyme immobilization provides an excellent base for increasing availability of enzyme to the substrate with greater turnover over a considerable period of time. Several natural and synthetic supports have been assessed for their efficiency for enzyme immobilization. Nowadays, immobilized enzymes are preferred over their free counterpart due to their prolonged availability that curtails redundant downstream and purification processes. Future investigations should endeavor at adopting logistic and sensible entrapment techniques along with innovatively modified supports to improve the state of enzyme immobilization and provide new perspectives to the industrial sector.

/pdf/enzyme-immobilization-an-overview-on-techniques-and-support-23u8nfucrt.pdf

Enzyme immobilization: an overview on techniques and support materials.

This research is focused on the ultrasound-assisted removal of Auramine-O (AO) dye from aqueous solutions using ZnS:Cu nanoparticles loaded on activated carbon (ZnS:Cu-NP-AC) as an adsorbent. ZnS:Cu nanoparticles were synthesized and characterized using FESEM (Field-Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy) and XRD (X-Ray Diffraction) analysis. The experiments were designed by response surface methodology. A quadratic model was used to predict the variables. Analysis of variance was used for investigation of variables and interaction between them. High F-value (48.91), very low P-value (<0.00001), non-significant lack of fit, and the determination coefficient (R2 = 0.977) demonstrate good correlation between experimental and predicted values of the response. The highest removal percent attained was 99.76%, and the optimum parameters achieved are: adsorbent amount (0.02 g), initial dye concentration (20 mg L−1), sonication time (3 min) and pH = 7. Adsorption processes of AO by ZnS:Cu-NP-AC could be well described by a Langmuir isotherm and a pseudo-second-order kinetic model. The maximum adsorption capacity of AO by ZnS:Cu-NP-AC was determined as 183.15 mg g−1, suggesting a highly promising potential for ZnS:Cu-NP-AC to be used as a new adsorbent.

/pdf/removal-of-basic-dye-auramine-o-by-zns-cu-nanoparticles-2lw3r67uhc.pdf

Removal of basic dye Auramine-O by ZnS:Cu nanoparticles loaded on activated carbon: optimization of parameters using response surface methodology with central composite design

Removal of methylene blue from aqueous solution with magnetite loaded multi-wall carbon nanotube: kinetic, isotherm and mechanism analysis.

IMPORTANCE
This proof-of-concept paper demonstrates that driver mutations can be detected in plasma in differentiated thyroid tumors, and we were able to detect mutations in upto 80% malignant thyroid nodules. Additionally, cancer subtypes could also be predicted using a 8-gene panel. In almost 90% follicular adenoma, rat sarcoma virus (RAS) mutations were detectable. There was a strong agreement between driver mutations found in plasma samples, FNAC materials, and histopathology samples. This has potential as a noninvasive, preoperative diagnostic tool (particularly of clinical importance in indeterminate nodules) and may help in detection of residual tumor after surgery. Future research is warranted to test the role of this tool to detect tumor recurrence.


OBJECTIVE
Ultrasonographic (USG) evaluation and fine-needle aspiration (FNA) are cornerstone for evaluation of thyroid neoplasm. Molecular technique including detection of driver mutation from FNA cytology (FNAC) material is an established modality. In this study, we explored the feasibility of using plasma cell-free nucleic acids to identify known driver mutations in differentiated thyroid neoplasm.


DESIGN
Patients presenting with thyroid nodules underwent USG with Thyroid Image Reporting and Data Systems scoring and FNAC (Bethesda classification). All patients in Bethesda 3, 4, 5, 6 underwent surgery and histopathological confirmation. Patients in Bethesda 2 (cosmetic concerns, compressive symptoms) underwent surgery, and rest were presumed benign on the basis of USG, FNAC features, and clinical followup.).


SETTING
Endocrinology clinic.


PARTICIPANTS
Subjects with thyroid nodule.


INTERVENTION(S) OR EXPOSURE(S)
None.


MAIN OUTCOME(S) AND MEASURE(S)
Plasma sample, FNA, and histopathology material were evaluated for driver mutations (8-gene panel comprising BRAF-V600E, RET/PTC3, RET/PTC1, TERT promoter, HRAS, NRAS, KRAS, and PAX8-PPARG).


RESULTS
A total of 223 subjects were recruited; of these 154 were benign and 69 had differentiated thyroid cancer. We were able to detect driver mutation from plasma in 55 subjects (79.71%) of all malignant patients, and 11 patients in benign category had RAS mutation (follicular adenoma). Rest of the benign nodules did not have any detectable driver mutations.


CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE
Plasma might be a viable noninvasive alternative source for detection of driver mutations (8-gene panel) in subjects with differentiated thyroid tumors and may have significant clinical utility.

https://academic.oup.com/ejendo/article-pdf/188/1/lvac018/49157924/lvac018.pdf

Detection of driver mutations in plasma cell-free nucleic acids in differentiated thyroid neoplasm.

Impact of Co2+ on the magneto-optical response of MAPbBr3: An inspective study of doping and quantum confinement effect

Surface Morphology Study of Chitosan-Dextran Sulphate Multilayer Thin Films

Abstract In the present study, the waste part of the banana tree was used as a precursor, and copper chloride salt was used as an impregnating agent for the preparation of adsorbent to remove both cyanide and phenol from synthetic wastewater. Initially, thermogravimetric analysis was used to determine the rate of carbonization of the material with temperature, and thus, the optimum temperature (370 °C) and time of carbonization (35 min) were assessed. Different samples of adsorbents were prepared next by varying the weight ratio of pseudo-stem of waste banana tree to copper salt from 1:1 to 30:1. All the samples were then tested for removal of both the pollutants, and the ratio (20:1) corresponding to maximum removal of both the pollutants was considered as optimum. Therefore, further studies were conducted with the adsorbent prepared at optimum ratio, temperature and time and such adsorbent was termed as copper impregnated activated banana tree (CIABT). One variable at a time approach was followed to find out the most effective condition based on the maximum removal of pollutants. Maximum removal of 95.99 ± 1.03% and 97.33 ± 0.04% was achieved for cyanide (initial concentration: 100 ppm) and phenol (initial concentration: 450 ppm), respectively, at an optimum contact time of 150 min, the particle size of 90 μ, the adsorbent dosage of 10 g/L, pH 8.0 using CIABT at 25 °C. Hybrid artificial neural network–particle swarm optimization were employed for modelling-optimization of removal of both the pollutants while achieving 91.4–99.99% and 86.43–99.99% removal of cyanide and phenol, respectively, from simulated wastewater. 

/pdf/application-of-hybrid-artificial-neural-network-ann-particle-3ihon7xd.pdf

Application of hybrid artificial neural network (ANN)–particle swarm optimization (PSO) for modelling and optimization of the adsorptive removal of cyanide and phenol from wastewater using agro-waste-derived adsorbent

A cyanobacterial strain, Leptolyngbya sp., was used for CO2 biomitigation due to its effectiveness for bioconversion of CO2 and higher yield of biomass. In the present research study, CO2 b...

Susmita Dutta

Papers

Detection of driver mutations in plasma cell-free nucleic acids in differentiated thyroid neoplasm.

Impact of Co2+ on the magneto-optical response of MAPbBr3: An inspective study of doping and quantum confinement effect

Surface Morphology Study of Chitosan-Dextran Sulphate Multilayer Thin Films

Application of hybrid artificial neural network (ANN)–particle swarm optimization (PSO) for modelling and optimization of the adsorptive removal of cyanide and phenol from wastewater using agro-waste-derived adsorbent

Biomitigation of CO2 and Extraction of Biomolecules Using Leptolyngbya sp.