Annual Conference on Bioscience September 12-13, 2016 Berlin, Germany

Biography:

Veronica Uzokwe has received her MSc in Agronomy (1998) from the University of Ibadan and her PhD (2008) in Plant Breeding/Genetics from the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), both in Nigeria. She has joined IITA, Dar es Salaam, Eastern African (EA) Hub in her current role as a System Agronomist in 2013 and currently the country project Coordinator for the Support to Agriculture for Research and Development of Strategic Crops in Africa (SARD-SC) project. Earlier, from 2011 to 2013, she was a Plant Breeder/Agronomist with the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) at Los Banes, Philippines.
 

Abstract:

Sustainable agriculture requires the careful optimization of the use of organic amendments to improve soil fertility while minimizing any harmful environmental effects. This study evaluated the nitrogen (N) mineralization dynamics in soil after adding different organic amendments. The four organic amendments were fresh dairy cattle manure, fresh white clover, vegetable, fruit and yard waste compost and poplar tree compost. The N mineralization potential of each organic amendment was determined by analyzing total mineral nitrogen during a 97 days laboratory incubation experiment. Soils amended with clover released 240 µg N g^-1 of soil during the 97 days incubation, more than twice as much as that released from soils amended with manure or composts (76-100 µg N g^-1 soil). At the end of the incubation, the net N mineralization in clover amended soils was 54%, more than five times higher than that in soils amended with composts or manure (4-9%). Nitrogen was mineralized faster in clover amended soil (1.056 µg N g^-1 soil day^-1) than in soil amended with composts (0.361-0.417 µg N g^-1 soil day^-1). The microbial biomass carbon content was higher in clover amended soil than in the soils amended with manure or composts. Bacteria (Gram positive and Gram negative), actinomycetes and fungi were more abundant in clover amended soils than soils amended with manure or composts. The N mineralization potential varied among the four organic amendments. Therefore, the timing of application and the type of organic amendment should be matched to the nutrient needs of the crop.

Biography:

Michael Klüppel received a Master's degree from the University of Heidelberg, Germany, and a PhD from the University of Toronto, Canada. After Post-doctoral studies at The Hospital for Sick Children and Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto, he currently holds an Assistant Professor position at the Feinberg School of Medicine of Northwestern University in Chicago. He has published more than 30 peer-reviewed papers in reputed journals, and serves as an Editorial Board Member for several international journals.

Abstract:

The glycosaminoglycan chondroitin sulfate is a critical component of proteoglycans on the cell surface and in the extracellular matrix. As such, chondroitin sulfate side chains and the sulfation balance of chondroitin play important roles in the control of signaling pathways, and have a functional importance in human disease. In contrast, very little is known about the roles of chondroitin sulfate molecules and sulfation patterns during mammalian development and cell lineage specification. Here, we report a novel biphasic role of chondroitin sulfate in the specification of the cardiac cell lineage during  embryonic stem cell differentiation through modulation of Wnt/beta-catenin signaling. Lineage marker analysis demonstrates that enzymatic elimination of endogenous chondroitin sulfates leads to defects specifically in cardiac differentiation. This is accompanied by a reduction in the number of beating cardiac foci. Mechanistically, we show that endogenous chondroitin sulfate controls cardiac differentiation in a temporal biphasic manner through inhibition of the Wnt/beta-catenin pathway, a known regulatory pathway for the cardiac lineage. Treatment with a specific exogenous chondroitin sulfate, CS-E, could mimic these biphasic effects on cardiac differentiation and Wnt/beta-catenin signaling. These results establish chondroitin sulfate and its sulfation balance as  important regulators of cardiac cell lineage decisions through control of the Wnt/beta- catenin pathway. Our work suggests that targeting the chondroitin biosynthesis and sulfation machinery is a novel promising avenue in regenerative strategies after heart injury.

Biography:

Hanieh Yazdanfar has completed her PhD in Condensed Matter Physics (Nanoscien) at the University of Leicester. Her research area and expertise lies in the “synthesis, and optical and chemical characterisation of conductors and semiconductors especially fluorescent silicon nanoclusters”. She was involved in design and fabrication of a device to produce nanoclusters by deposition of atomic vapour onto a liquid jet in vacuum. She has undertaken a broad range of experimental analyses on a series of materials specially silicon for electronics as well as drug delivery applications.

Abstract:

Fluorescent silicon nanoclusters are of considerable interest, both as means of studying the fundamental properties of silicon, the most important technological material of our age, but also for their many possible applications. Luminescent clusters of silicon have applications in optoelectronic devices, as well as for biological labels and sensors, its low toxicity giving it an advantage over other light emitting materials. Here, fluorescent silicon nanoclusters are produced by deposition of silicon atomic vapour directly onto a liquid micro-jet. We have produced samples in different solvents such as water, ethanol and isopropanol. Of these solvents, water is especially important for medical application in vivo. Mixing silicon atomic vapour and water indeed yield a suspension that emit blue fluorescence when excited with UV light. The fluorescence wavelength is ranged from 350-420 nm, depending on the solvent. AFM measurements of clusters-film deposited on HOPG show the clusters are 1nm in height. Stern-Volmer plots of the fluorescence yield and the UV/Vis absorbance show that the fluorescent clusters are chemically stable and do not agglomerate over a storage time of years, without further chemical stabilization, suggesting the existence of an intrinsically stable form of fluorescent silicon nanoclusters in aqueous solution. Samples of silicon deposited in water jets exhibited a fluorescence quantum yield of 8-10% three years after production which is very promising for many applications such as medical and biological imaging and diagnostic labelling. Chemical analysis of nanoclusters films by XPS and IR spectroscopy reveal that the silicon is present in a high oxidation state and that the deep-blue fluorescence emerges from oxygen rich states.

Biography:

Elena Afrimzon has completed her PhD from Central Institute of Immunology, Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (Alma-Ata, Kazakhstan). She is Senior Researcher at the Biophysical Interdisciplinary Jerome Schottenstein Center for the Research and the Technology of the Cellome, Department of Physics, Bar-Ilan University.

She is the initiator of the development and utilization of a novel hydrogel micro-chamber array for protracted culturing of live cells and 3D multicellular objects, which permits kinetic live cell studies. She has published more than 25 papers in reputed journals.

Abstract:

Individual living cells within a population may differ significantly and these differences can drive the health and function of the entire cell population. Live cell analysis of individual cells is a challenging endeavor due to the small volume of a single cell, cell motility and the complexity of cellular systems. Novel methodologies and means for analyzing dynamic states of individual cells/cell groups, which enable monitoring alteration in cell behavior and function over time in a complex tissue environment, and assessing functional changes at single-element level are presented. The platforms are based on various types of arrays made of high-quality transparent miniature femtoliter, picoliter and nanoliter volume vessels, for the investigating living cells at molecular, cellular and multicellular levels, respectively. Each pico/nano-liter chamber is designed to hold a single cell or cell-aggregate without tethering. The technology is extremely flexible, enabling use of a spectrum of biomaterials and control over dimension, shape, configuration and distribution of the microstructures, and thus, facilitating adaptation of the arrays to various cell types and use of both label-free and fluorescence detection methods to determine live-cell status in real-time. Practical applications of the platforms include: generation and drug screening of 3D multicellular cancer spheroids, multiplexed analysis of cancer stem cells and tumor heterogeneity, measurement of biochemical processes in live cells followed by cell content analysis of the same cells, cryopreservation of individual cells, single cell analysis of cell transfection and protein translocation.

Biography:

Esma Eryilmaz has completed her graduation in Physics and MS in Molecular Physics from Selcuk University, Turkey. She has completed her PhD from Texas A&M University Biophysics & Biomedical Engineering with a PhD fellowship by Turkish Ministry of Education in December 2015. She is an Assistant Professor at Selcuk University, Turkey and has published articles in both national and international refereed journals. Her research interest includes “self-assembly mechanism of biomolecules, intermolecular interactions, biomaterials and bioinformatics approaches”.

Abstract:

Collagen self-assembly is an important phenomenon generating the biological alloy ECM and the structural/functional diversity of different tissue types. We explored the question of how the amino acid sequence determines structure resulted from the self-assembly. Studies investigating the collagen intermolecular interactions are mostly based on the experimental host-guest peptides representing small part of collagen alpha chain and their pairwise interaction. By the combination of given protein primary structures and the programming language python, we investigated the three main types of interaction including hydrophobic, polar, and electrostatic between molecules by taking the physicochemical properties of side chains in a certain range. D-periodic staggered arrangement of collagen molecules in fibrils is clarified by taking the amino acid sequence and calculating the corresponding interaction sliding one molecule another. Our amino acid based computational analysis provides a wide range of application to investigate the sequence effect on the structure and to understand the characterization of interactions and stabilization of other fibrillar macromolecules.

Biography:

Roberto Romaniello is a Contract Researcher on Agricultural Mechanics and a Contract Professor of Mathematics at University of Foggia, Department of the Science of Agricultural, Food and Environment. His scientific research concerns the innovation and optimization of agro-food industry equipment and plants, prototyping new food plants’ machines, designing of image analysis protocols for food safety and food quality assessment. He has been involved in research projects aimed to design and prototyping new industrial scale machines and new methods to control the food processes by using different measurement chains.

Abstract:

A microwave system was developed and applied in an industrial-scale olive oil extraction plant to evaluate the impact of the microwave treatment used to condition the olive paste, to analyze the installation and determine any advantages to improving the process continuity. To this purpose the extraction efficiency of the olive oil plant was investigated for different operating conditions of the microwave system and compared with conventional methods to condition the olive paste. The microwave system was evaluated in terms of extraction yield of the olive, electrical and thermal energy consumption and olive oil quality. The energy consumption evaluation shows that the use of the microwave system requires an additional electric power but non request thermal power with respect to the traditional malaxers machine. The short process time obtained with the microwave treatment resulted in a low peroxide value compared with the conventional method. Using the microwave treatment, a higher concentration of volatile compounds with spicy and bitter notes was obtained. No significant differences were found with extraction yield. The experiments showed the potential of the continuous microwave system to conditioning the olive paste as an alternative technique to effectively condition olive paste.

Biography:

Alessandro Leone is an Associate Professor in Agricultural Mechanics and Food Processing Plants, SAFE Department, Engineering Area, University of Foggia, where he teaches Mechanics and Mechanization in Agricultural, Food Engineering and Work Safety. His major research topics are, in food processing plants: Agro-food industry plants and process settings, processing logic control, recovery of agro-food waste byproducts to useful composts in agriculture, as well as waste management and in agricultural mechanics: Analysis of the vibrations transmission mode from the vibrating heads to the trunk of olive trees and subsequent optimization; study, design of mobile elevating work platforms; safety devices on tractors and machinery.

Abstract:

In this scientific paper, an industrial prototype of a partial destoner machine was specified, built and implemented in an industrial olive oil extraction plant to evaluate its quantitative and qualitative performance compared to the traditional mechanical crusher. The extraction efficiency of the olive oil extraction plant, olive oil quality, sensory evaluation and rheological aspects were investigated. The research demonstrated that leaving 40% of pits in olive paste (as pits fragments) the extraction efficiency loss at decanter level is avoided. The extraction efficiency measured when partial destoner machine and mechanical crusher were used did not show statistical differences. The oils obtained using partial destoner machine are characterized by higher green fruitiness, flavor and aroma with respect to those produced using traditional processing systems. In addition, the partial destoner machine allows the pits recovery to be used as biomass. It is to be noted that nowadays the goal of environmental sustainability is oriented to the use of renewable energy instead of fossil fuels and the global goal is to increase the use of biomasses for energy-consuming processes.

Biography:

Hiroyuki Akazawa has received his PhD degree in Engineering from Nihon University, Tokyo Japan in 2010. He was a Postdoctoral fellow at the Natural Product Research and Development Center, Science and Technology and Research Institute, Chiangmai University from 2010 to 2014. He is currently working as an Assistant Professor at Department of Biotechnology and Material Chemistry, Nihon University Junior College. His research interest includes the natural product in Asia, structure elucidation of compounds and bioactivities that included anti-cancer, anti-melanogenesis and anti-oxidant. He has published 24 papers in reputed journals.

Abstract:

Thai/Lanna medicinal plants recipes has been used for the treatment of several diseases including cancers. Wood of Artocarpus heterophyllus, well known as Jackfruits, is one of the ingredients of these recipes. In this study, Artocarpus heterophyllus wood was investigated for its anti-cancer properties. The methanolic extract and its soluble-fractions were evaluated for their anti-tumor promoting activity via in vitro Epstein-Barr virus early antigen (EBV-EA) screening. The extract exhibited potent inhibitory effect against 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA)-induced EBV-EA activation in Raji cells. The extract was partitioned subsequently to the four soluble fractions (hexane, ethyl acetate, n-butanol and water). The ethyl acetate fraction was fractionated with silica gel column chromatography and purified by high-performance liquid chromatography to obtain 11 compounds. These compounds were phenolic compounds including flavonoids. The structure of compounds was identified by means of ¹H-NMR, ¹³C-NMR and mass spectrometer by comparison of the data in literature. These compounds were evaluated for their anti-tumor promoting activity by EBV-EA assay. Artocarpin, one of flavonoids with two prenyl (3-methyl-2-butenyl) moieties, exhibited the best inhibitory effect against EBV-EA induction, which was higher activity than reference compound. This study revealed that the flavonoids from the Artocarpus heterophyllus wood extract exhibited the potent anti-tumor promoting effect on EBV-EA induction and the principle of its activity might be due to flavonoids with prenyl moiety.

Biography:

Antonia Tamborrino is an Assistant Professor on Agricultural Mechanics and Food Processing Plants at the University of Bari, Department of Agricultural and Environmental Science. Her scientific research deals with the innovation and optimization of agro-food industry equipment and plants, design of the food pilot plants and their implementation in the industrial environment, sensors and real time process for the food industry, processes settings and influence of industrial processes on food quality. She has participated on different national and UE projects to develop innovative processes and prototypes of agro-industry plants.

Abstract:

A system that supplied gas and measured oxygen concentration was implemented on a prototype malaxer. The system was able to measure the oxygen concentration both in headspace and in the olive paste. Five processing conditions were performed to assess the influence of the oxygen on the qualitative/quantitative parameters of the obtained olive oil. Several parameters were determined and a session of sensorial analysis was performed. The oxygen content in the headspace and olive paste was measured and the balance between these contents was assessed; a high correlation between the oxygen consumed in the headspace and the oxygen consumed by the olive paste was found. An amount of oxygen per kilogram of dough, over 40 minutes of kneading, falling in the range 55.4 to 77.9 mg [O₂] kg^-1 [olive paste], give of the best qualitative and quantitative performance during the malaxation process. The experimental tests have also demonstrated that a controlled oxygen supply promotes the production of volatile compounds responsible of balanced oil, avoiding its excessive oxidation. These data allowed us to define new basic parameters for the malaxer design and to optimize the extraction performance, thus ensuring the production of high-quality olive oil.

Biography:

Michael K E Schafer has completed his PhD in Biology and he is currently a Professor for Experimental Anesthesiology at the University Medical Center Mainz, Germany. He is also affiliated to the Research Focus Program Translational Neurosciences in Mainz. His work is focused on neurodevelopment disorders as well as acute and chronic neurodegeneration in response to brain injury.

Abstract:

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a major cause of death and disability and therapeutic options are limited. The underlying pathophysiology is characterized by secondary changes in cerebral blood flow and metabolism, progressive brain tissue damage, activation of glia cells as well as the CNS inflammation. Taking advantage of gene-deficient mice, we studied the role of the NG2 proteoglycan in response to TBI using controlled cortical impact as a model system. Seven days after TBI behavioral analysis, brain damage volumetry, assessment of blood brain barrier integrity as well as immunohistochemical analysis of astrocytes and microglia demonstrated an exacerbated response of NG2-deficient compared to wild-type mice. Moreover, PCR array screening revealed a striking TBI-induced up-regulation of the Cxcl13 chemokine in NG2-deficient mice. CXCL13, known to attract immune cells to the inflamed brain was expressed by activated perilesional microglia/macrophages and enhanced CD45+ leukocyte infiltration was observed thirty days after TBI. Thus, NG2-deficiency exacerbates neurological deficits after TBI and associates with abnormal activation of astrocytes, microglia/macrophages and increased leukocyte recruitment to the injured brain. These findings suggest that NG2 may counteract neurological deficits and adverse glial responses in TBI

Biography:

Antonia dos Reis Figueira is a Plant Virologist. She has completed her PhD in UNICAMP-SP-Brazil in 1984. She works for the Federal University of Lavras (UFLA) since April 1982, where she develops teaching, research and extension activities related to plant virology. She advised dozens of students from under-graduate and graduate programs such as Agronomy, Biology, Phytopathology and Biotechnology.

Abstract:

Increasing genetic variability and generating plants with higher productive potential, which can be improved through the exchange of any promising propagative plant material between countries, is the main goal of modern agriculture. However, it is the main way to introduce exotic pathogens, such as viruses, leading to unwanted consequences. To avoid pathogen introduction in Brazil, the imported plant material must be sampled at the port of entry and analyzed to investigate the presence of quarantine and regulated non-quarantine pathogens. Such analysis can be done through several techniques, but the most common ones have been the DAS-ELISA, PCR for DNA viruses and RT-PCR for RNA viruses. Since the routine diagnostic methods require the use of a positive control for high reliability and credibility, the diagnosis of quarantine viruses are not an easy task. The maintenance of a collection of quarantine viruses, even under protected cultivation, could offer risk of virus scape and field spreading. Dehydrated infected plant tissues require periodic replacement, and frequent imports. This study reports the establishment of a bank of positive controls for 41 quarantine viruses and two quarantine viroids, as well as 12 regulated non-quarantine viruses in Brazil. It was accomplished by cloning pathogen genomic fragments, such as the viral coat protein gene, in appropriate plasmids, to support the diagnostic techniques through PCR and RT-PCR. This bank of positive controls provides a safer and more economical alternative, eliminating the risk of incidental introduction of exotic viruses and viroids in the country.

Biography:

Basak Kusakci Seker has completed her undergraduate education and PhD from Hacettepe University and Near East University respectively. She is a Lecturer and Clinical Specialist at Eskisehir Osmangazi University, Faculty of Dentistry, Department of Periodontology. She has published more than 20 papers and presentations and continues to study on dental implant surgery, dental laser applications, plasma disinfection, wound healing and bone regeneration techniques.

Abstract:

The purpose of this study was to assess the effect of non-thermal atmospheric plasma-jet on the surface morphology of radicular dentin. Four extracted single-root human teeth were cut 1 mm below the cement-enamel junction in order to obtain samples. The labial sides of the samples were polished and rinsed under deionized water. The plasma stream had a length of 11 mm. The distance between nozzle and dentin was approximately 5 mm. Argon gas is used as carrier gas at a flow of 5 l/min at 2.5 Bar. Roughly 1 cm² of dentin surface was treated for 30 second, 60 second and 120 second with plasma jet. For SEM observations, the samples were fixed in 2.5% gluteraldehyde in phosphate buffer (pH 7.3) for 24 hours at 4 °C and washed 3 times for 10 minutes each in phosphate buffer. The specimens were then dehydrated in a series of aqueous ethanol solutions with ascending strengths up to 100%. They were dried overnight in a desiccator jar and mounted with silver paint on SEM stubs. Significant differences were detected before and after plasma treat­ment. According to results of this study, it can be assumed that non-thermal atmospheric plasma can significantly alter the morphology of radicular dentin, which is an important characteristic to be considered when plasma is used for clinical applications.

Biography:

Alan R Criollo Ródiz has completed his Graduation with Honors in Medical Technology Research. He completed his Master degree from Centro de Estudios Biosanitarios de España. He was Assistant Professor of the Microbiology Department of the Medical Technology School at Universidad Central de Venezuela. He has been speaker for the Venezuelan Microbiology Society and Medical Technologist Venezuelan Society. Currently, He is in charge of developing and introducing new products in the Infection Division and Molecular Division on Kabla Diagnostics for Mexican Market.

Abstract:

Globalization is one of the most important changes that the world is experimenting. In the very same way that economic issues in a particular country can impact the rest of the world, health problems have demonstrated this same behaviour. It is the case of bacterial resistance when the current data have exposed its annual increment. For a period of three years 2010-2013, the Venezuelan statistics have revealed that more than 40% of the isolates of Klebsiella pneumoniae are resistant to quinolones and a decreasing of carbapenems-sensitiveness. It is for similar scenario, that others countries around the world, have adopted particular health policies as a part of the government task and prevention approaches. The results of investigations in this field, suggest that prevention is an excellent way for solving this issue, and have demonstrated positive impact in other fields in society, i.e., clinical, economical, and social aspects. Researchers have shown that methods such as hand washing or hand rubbing can be helpful in reducing contamination level on medical employees in more than 75%. Also, control of the use of antibiotics, reveals that it is useful approach to save money for hospitals and governments. In fact, in some cases the cost of the antimicrobial decreased in an average of 50%. Moreover, education of healthcare workers and communities exhibit positive results, as well. Finally, it is evident that prevention methods suggested by researchers will be an excellent approach to face this problem in a country with the particular economy problems as in Venezuela.

Biography:

Peter M Waziri has completed his MSc in the University of Nottingham in 2013. He is currently a PhD student of Medicinal Chemistry in the University of Putra Malaysia, Malaysia. In the last 2 years, he has focused on the isolation of bioactive components in plants for use in cancer therapy.

Abstract:

Liver cancer is a leading cause of death in the world with an increasing burden in Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. The therapeutic options for liver cancers are inadequate and survival after diagnosis is very uncertain. This situation actually creates the need for studies on natural products that can complement and provide suitable alternatives to the current therapeutic measures. In the current study, we used clausenidin isolated from Clausena excavata Burm.f. to treat liver cancer (hepG2 cells). The plant is a shrub used in Asian folk medicine in the treatment of cancer but only little is known about its scientific evidence. We evaluated the cytotoxicity of clausenidin as well as its effect on reactive oxygen species production in hepG2 cells. In addition, we studied possible mechanisms through which clausenidin induces cell death in hepG2 cells. Our result reveals that clausenidin induces cytotoxic effects in hepG2 cells in a dose dependent manner with significant increase in the production of reactive oxygen species. Cell death was found to have occurred via apoptotic and non-apoptotic routes as revealed by the results of DNA fragmentation analysis and transmission electron microscopy respectively. The present study lends credence to the use of Clausena excavata to treat cancer patients in Asia and demonstrates the potential of clausenidin in the biotherapy of liver cancer.

Biography:

Indu Thakur has obtained her PhD in Radiation Biology at the Barkatullaha University, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh in 2010 under the guidance of Dr P. Uma Devi. She has been working as an Assistant Research Officer at the Jawaharlal Nehru Cancer Hospital and Research Centre, Idgah Hills, Bhopal.

Abstract:

The effect of aqueous (PnAq) and alcoholic (PnAl) extracts (5-250 mg/kg) of Phyllanthus niruri (Family: Euphorbiaceae) on in vivo gamma radiation induced chromosome aberration and in vitro antioxidant activity (5-500 µg/ml) by Fenton reaction were studied with dose modification factor and radiation dose response. The present work was also aimed to optimize the route of administration; PnAl was administered via Intraperitoneal (I.P), Intramuscular (I.M), Intravenous (I.V) and oral routes. The extract was administrated 1 hour prior to irradiation dose of 4Gy. The percentage of aberrant cells was calculated after 24 hours. DMF was calculated by observing survival rate following whole body irradiation with 8, 9, 10 and 11Gy radiation exposure with and without 200 mg/kg I.P PnAl extract before1 hour of exposure. Radiation dose response effect of 200 mg/kg of PnAl was observed against 1, 2, 3 and 4Gy gamma ray exposure by scoring different types of chromosomal aberrations from bone marrow metaphase plates. PnAl (250 mg/kg) showed highly significant decrease in chromosomal aberrations compared to radiation treated group. The I.P administered group showed significantly reduced aberrant cell percentage compared to I.M, oral, I.V and sham control groups. P. niruri alcoholic extract significantly (p<0.05-0.001) reduced percent aberrant cell and major aberrations like breaks, rings and polyploidy against 4Gy radiation. It showed DMF of 1.12 with improved survival rate, delayed occurrence of lethality and radiation sickness. The optimum dose of Phyllanthus niruri alcoholic extract is established to be 200 mg/kg I.P., having safe and effective radioprotector efficiency. Alcoholic extract of P. niruri decreased the complex aberrations like ring, dicentric and SDC indicating significant protection of bone marrow against double strand breaks and multiple chromosomal lesions.

Biography:

Hasan Baber has completed his BDS from Baqai Medical University and MSc in Oral Biology from Queen Mary University of London. He has also acquired a Post Graduate Diploma in Healthcare Management from Cambridge Regional College, UK. Currently he is an Assistant Professor at Dow University of Health Sciences, Department of Oral Biology, Pakistan. He is an active Member of American Dental Association, International Academy of Dental Research, British Society of Restorative and Implant Dentistry. Recently he won best research presentation award on Annual research day, presented by Chairmen Higher Education Commission of Pakistan. He has multiple local and international publications to his credit. His current work is on identifying specific period onto pathogens in type-II diabetic patients having periodontitis.

Abstract:

Introduction: Human bone forms the skeleton framework of the body. The mineral component of bone together with the orientation of its crystallites at different levels of Hierarchy is responsible for the mechanical strength and resistance of bone to external stresses and strains. Studies have revealed that among various bones, calvaria are seen to be more resistant to mechanical stresses and bone diseases like osteoporosis.

Aim & Materials: To investigate the property of skull bone, we took post-pubescent rat samples of ulna, calvaria and whale rostrum.

Methods: The collected samples were analyzed through, Synchrotron X-ray diffraction. We put the bone samples into XMAS beam line for the interpretation of data through synchrotron. We then analyzed the interpreted data by ESRF (European Synchrotron Radiation Facility) software, Fit2d and fitted the curves by ORIGINS and SIGMAPLOT for plotting the graphs. We then did SEM of the rat ulna and calvaria samples and the images for whale rostrum were collected (images courtesy of Zhen Li and Jill Pasteris at University of Washington) and compared.

Results: Our results demonstrated a greater orientation of crystallites in rat calvaria and whale rostrum, than in ulna samples. This increased orientation may be due to functional adaptability, age and the amount of external stresses, which cause this bone to be resistant.

Conclusion: In summary we have shown that the resistance offered by skull bones to stresses and strains and diseases like osteoporosis is partly due to the orientation of the bone crystallites.

Biography:

Anita Tilwari has completed her PhD in Biotechnology from Rajiv Gandhi Technical University (RGTU) and Postdoctoral studies from University of Sains Malaysia, Institute for Research in Molecular Medicine (INFORMM). Currently she is working as a Senior Scientist at Centre of Excellence in Biotechnology, Madhya Pradesh Council of Science and Technology with 10 years of research experience. She has published more than 25 papers in reputed journals and has been serving as an Editorial Board Member of repute. She is an author of more than 25 peer-reviewed papers and more than 5 proceedings for national and international conference. She has also published a book on diversity of medicinal plant. She has also served as a Reviewer for several journals. Her current research interests are bioprospecting of microorganism associated with hot springs of India and also on biodiversity conservation.

Abstract:

Microbial lipases are in high demand due to their specificity of reaction and less energy consumption and play very important role in the biotechnological applications. Nowadays scientists are showing great interest in their investigation. The present study was aimed to study the physicochemical properties of water and determination of diversity of lipase producing bacterial isolates of Anhoni hot water spring located at pachmarhi biosphere reserve of central India using random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD). The hot spring is sulfurous spring with acidic in nature. The water sample obtained were subjected to physiochemical analysis like pH, TDS, conductivity, chlorine, salinity, dissolved oxygen (DO), biological oxygen demand (BOD) and chemical oxygen demand (COD) and results were compared with WHO limit. A total of 15 bacterial isolates producing lipase were purified and used for RAPD analysis. DNA was extracted from bacterial isolates and amplified using 10 RAPD primers. Total 71 fragments were generated, of which 68 were polymorphic with an average of 6.8 bands per primer. The size of the product varied from 141 bp to 2670 bp. The similarity index of the isolates within each group, estimated on the basis of Jaccard’s similarity coefficient ranged from 0.128 to 0.552. Our findings also indicate that primer RBa-7produced the maximum number of fragments whereas minimum number of fragments was produced with primer RBa 10. Regardless of the oligonucleotide primer employed the 15 bacterial isolates studied were separated into three genetic group composed of HSM1, HSM3, HSM4 and HSM5 (group 1), HSM 6A, HSM6B, HSM 7, HSM8, HSM9 and CA1 (group 2) and CA2, CA4, CA5, CA6 and CA7 (group 3). The distribution pattern of genetic information about bacterial isolates obtained from the result indicates that RAPD profiling constitutes an effective, reliable and efficient tool to study the genetic diversity. To the best of our knowledge this is the first attempt for analyzing the bacterial genetic diversity of hot springs from central India. This study will be useful for conservation of industrially important bacteria in the future.

Biography:

Rinku Majumder has completed her PhD in 1999 from Bose Institute, India and Postdoctoral studies from UNC Chapel Hill, School of Medicine in 2003. She is currently an Associate Professor in the Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology at LSU Health Science Center, School of Medicine. She has published more than 22 papers in reputed journals and has been serving as a standing study section Member for NIH, AHA grants. She is the Reviewer for reputed journals like Blood, JTH, JBC, Plos One, Biochemistry and Thrombosis Hemostasis.

Abstract:

In the production of fibrin, the blood coagulation cascade is a refined process that relies heavily upon vitamin-K dependent proteases, including factor IXa (FIXa) and its cofactor, factor VIIIa. Protein S (PS) has been shown to inhibit Factor IXa (FIXa) in vitro; however, this interaction has neither been demonstrated in a physiological system nor have the binding sites on FIXa been fully defined. We intend to elucidate the distinct interaction sites between Protein S and Factor IXa and to demonstrate that their interaction occurs not only in vitro, but also in, in vivo. This data will help us to both better understand the factors that contribute to venous thromboembolism and hemophilia B. Our studies suggested that multiple residues, which are critical for the binding of heparin, such as Asp129, Lys132, and Arg233 may also be required in directly binding PS. Further data of various FIXa deletion constructs supported our previous studies that the first EGF-like domain of FIXa is required in binding PS, but they also demonstrated that the Gla domain is not necessary for this interaction. These novel results have not only localized the main inhibitory site of PS on the FIXa protease domain, but they have also provided enough information to propose a binding mechanism, which may rely on the association of the laminin-G-like domains of PS with FIXa’s first EGF-like and Protease domains. Ultimately, the clarification of the mechanism driving this interaction could provide immense benefits in the production of therapeutics for hemophilia B and thrombosis.

Biography:

Prof. Dr. Abdel-Wahab Kamel is expert in microalgae mass production at the Marine Invertebrates Lab, Aquaculture Division of the National Institute of Oceanography and Fisheries (NIOF). He has thirty years in experience in economic culture media, low cost technique with reduced production cost of different microalgae species. He mainly concern on reduce of production cost of economical algal species, like Spirulina, Dunaliella and Chlorella. He interested in microalgae isolation, optimum growth conditions, mass production and the utilization of microalgae as live food for invertebrates larval feeding. He has earned his B.Sc. degree in 1974 in Agriculture Science, El-Mansoura University; M.Sc., 1985, in the field of Aquatic Plant, El-Zagazig University, and the Ph.D., 1991, on Phytoplankton, El-Zagazig University. He participated as PI, team leader, in national project under the title (The Development Methods of Mass Production of Natural Food, Phytoplankton), funded from NIOF 2015-2016. He participated as Co-PI in national project under the title The (Biodiesel and Protein Concentrate Production from Marine Microalgae), funded from NIOF 2014-2015. He worked in many national project all dealt with microalgae mass production, low cost techniques. He is a supervisor on many theses in Egypt and published a valuable scientific paper.

Abstract:

Screening of local isolated Egyptian marine micro algal species, with potential for aquaculture, biodiesel and biotechnology, are essential to achieve strong micro algal database with successful commercial applications. In this study, identification of Nannochloropsis, isolated from the eastern south of Mediterranean Sea, was carried out using morphological identification, scanning electron microscope and molecular technique (18S rDNA). Moreover, biochemical constituents (lipid, protein, and carbohydrates) were observed. Our promising isolate was carefully identified as Nannochloropsis in the light of obtaining specific genomic band with 982 bp. Alignment of specific band sequence confirmed our identification as Nannochloropsis oceanica strains LAMB0001, N. oceanica strains CCMP531 and N. oceanica strains IMET1 with 100% of identity. On the other hand, total lipid, protein and carbohydrate of isolated and identified N. oceanica strains LAMB0001 were 37.71±4.27%, 22.81±3.71%, and 18.93±2.19% of dry weight, respectively, which make this strain as a good source for either biodiesel production or aquaculture feedstock.

Biography:

Emre Seker has completed his undergraduate education and PhD from Ankara University and Near East University respectively. He is as a Lecturer and Clinical Specialist at Eskisehir Osmangazi University, Faculty of Dentistry, Department of Prosthodontics as an Assistant Professor. He has published more than 30 papers    and presentations and continues to study on surface treatment techniques of dental materials, CADCAM dentistry and plasma technology.

Abstract:

This study aimed to evaluate the surface changes and wettability of PMMA as a prosthetic material after different durations of argon plasma-jet surface treatment. Four Poly Methyl Methacrylate (PMMA) discs were machined and smoothed with silicon polishing discs. The surface changes were evaluated in a control group and in groups with different plasma-jet exposure application times [30-60-120 seconds (s)]. The average contact angle (CA) measurements and surface changes were recorded via a tensiometer and scanning electron microscope (SEM) respectively. According to the results, the argon plasma-jet surface treatment markedly affects the wettability properties. With an increase in the application time, a remarkable reduction in CA and surface changes were observed. Within the limitation of this study it can be concluded that the argon plasma-jet could enhance the wetting performance and adhesive capability of PMMA.

Biography:

Jorge Enrique Lozano has completed his PhD in Chemical Engineering in 1988. He is a full Professor in Food Engineering and a Member of the National Science and Technology Council of Argentina. He published more than 80 papers in reputed journals, two books and several chapters on food science and technology. He also serves as an Editorial Board Member of the Journal of Food Process Engineering (since 1998) and the Food Engineering Reviews (Since 2008).

Abstract:

In food processing lines or in complex equipment, microorganisms are exposed to varying hydrodynamic conditions caused by the flow of liquid food and biofilms grown under a wide distribution of hydrodynamic strengths. Using industrially relevant strains of yeasts, it was demonstrated that biofilms formed on stainless steel at Reynolds (Re) numbers ranging from 294,000 to 1.2×106. These growth phases transform adherent blastospores to well-defined cellular communities encased in an extracellular matrix and biofilm formation increases when increasing Re number and time. In situ rheological behavior of yeast biofilms growing on stainless steel under turbulent flow was also investigated. The species used (R. mucilaginosa, C. krusei, C. kefyr and C. tropicalis) were isolated from a clarified apple juice industry. The flow conditions impacted biofilm composition over time with a predominance of C. krusei under static and turbulent flow. Structural variations occurred with a tighter appearance under dynamic flow. Under turbulent flow there was an increase of 112 μm in biofilm thickness and cell morphology was governed by hyphal structures and rounded cells. Yeast biofilms were determined to be viscoelastic materials with a predominantly solid-like behavior and rheological values were not significantly affected by the flow conditions or the growth time. At large deformations their weak structure collapsed beyond a critical strain. The present work could represent a starting point for developing in situ measurements of yeast rheology and contribute to a thin body of knowledge about fungal biofilm formation.

Biography:

Kholood Mohamed Gharieb is a Demonstrator at the Faculty of Science, Zagazig University, Egypt. She is also a Master’s degree student conducting research on Ralstonia solanacearum bacterium and wilt diseases in Egypt.

Abstract:

Ralstonia solanacearum is a Gram-negative bacterium and the causative agent of bacterial wilt in many important crops. The bacteria were isolated from infected potato tubers and Egyptian soil. The isolates were characterized by CPG medium. In this study three different bacteriophages infecting the phytopathogen Ralstonia solanacearum were isolated from Egyptian soil. The phages showed different host ranges when tested against different R. solanacearum strains. These phages were characterized as two myoviruses and one siphovirus with very non-contractile tail based on their morphology under electron microscope. These phages showed diverged genomic sequences revealed by restriction enzyme digestion analysis. The isolated phages in this study represent valuable resources with potential uses in biocontrol of bacterial wilt in Egypt.