Paqr5b is a gene encoding membrane progesterone receptor γ (mPRγ), which is one of five mPR subtypes. Paqr5b belongs to the progestin and adipoQ receptor (PAQR) family, which consists of 11 genes. To elucidate the physiological functions of the mPR subtypes, we established gene knockout (KO) zebrafish strains by genetically editing seven paqr genes and analyzed their phenotypes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe study assessed the quality of four different edible fats and oils using standard analytical techniques. The presence of potentially toxic elements was determined using atomic absorption spectrometry. This study reveals that edible oils function admirably in terms of physical traits such as moisture content, boiling point, melting point, density, and specific gravity.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFGround heat exchanger (GHE) is the most crucial element of a ground source heat pump (GSHP) system for building cooling and heating by the utilization of geothermal energy. Therefore, intending to enhance the performance of GHE, the present study conducts a computational investigation of the thermal performance of modified spiral tube vertical GHEs. Several modifications of uniform-pitched spiral GHE are made to increase its thermal performance.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCancer and antibiotic resistance represent significant global challenges, affecting public health and healthcare systems worldwide. Lectin, a carbohydrate-binding protein, displays various biological properties, including antimicrobial and anticancer activities. This study focused on anticancer and antibacterial properties of Alocasia macrorrhiza lectin (AML).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis study is to investigate the effect of SPS on the UC model. An animal model of UC induced by DSS was developed using C57BL/6 mice. The body weight was recorded every day, and the symptoms related to UC were detected.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn this study, lead-free BiM(Zn, Ca, Mg)Ti-BiFeO ceramics are fabricated under eco-friendly hydrothermal reaction conditions at 250 °C. XRD patterns show that all the synthesized compounds exhibit a phase coexistence of monoclinic and tetragonal perovskite-type structures with a morphotropic phase boundary at = 0.4, with minimum impurity.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe prss59.1 gene was identified as one of 11 genes that were highly upregulated during the induction of ovulation in zebrafish by using an in vivo ovulation assay. Previously, we conducted biochemical characterization of Prss59.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPerovskite solar cells (PSCs) have become a possible alternative to traditional photovoltaic devices for their high performance, low cost, and ease of fabrication. Here in this study, the SCAPS-1D simulator numerically simulates and optimizes CsPbBr-based PSCs under the optimum illumination situation. We explore the impact of different back metal contacts (BMCs), including Cu, Ag, Fe, C, Au, W, Pt, Se, Ni, and Pd combined with the TiO electron transport layer (ETL) and CFTS hole transport layer (HTL), on the performance of the devices.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe quaternary compound copper manganese tin sulfide CuMnSnS is a potential absorber semiconductor material for fabricating thin film solar cells (TFSC) thanks to their promising optoelectronic parameters. This article numerically investigated the performance of CuMnSnS (CMTS)-based TFSC without and with tin sulphide (SnS) back surface field (BSF) thin-film layer. First, the impact of several major influential parameters such as the active material's thickness, doping concentration of photoactive materials, density of bulk and interface defect, working temperature, and metal contact, were studied systematically without a BSF layer.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFResearchers are currently showing interest in molybdenum disulfide (MoS)-based solar cells due to their remarkable semiconducting characteristics. The incompatibility of the band structures at the BSF/absorber and absorber/buffer interfaces, as well as carrier recombination at the rear and front metal contacts, prevents the expected result from being achieved. The main purpose of this work is to enhance the performance of the newly proposed Al/ITO/TiO/MoS/InTe/Ni solar cell and investigate the impacts of the InTe BSF and TiO buffer layer on the performance parameters of open-circuit voltage ( ), short-circuit current density ( ), fill factor (FF), and power conversion efficiency (PCE).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAntimony (Sb) chalcogenides such as antimony selenide (SbSe) and antimony sulfide (SbS) have distinct properties to be used as absorber semiconductors for harnessing solar energy including high absorption coefficient, tunable bandgap, low toxicity, phase stability. The potentiality of SbSe and SbS as absorber material in Al/FTO/SbSe(or SbS)/Au heterojunction solar cells (HJSCs) with 2D tungsten disulfide (WS) electron transport layer (ETL) layer has been investigated numerically using SCAPS-1D solar simulator. A systematic investigation of the impact of physical properties of each active material of SbSe, SbS and WS on photovoltaic parameters including layer thickness, carrier doping concentration, bulk defect density, interface defect density, carrier generation, and recombination.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe present study show the usability of starch (tamarind) based-bio-composite film reinforced by fenugreek by various percentages to replace the traditional petrochemical plastics. The prepared bio-composite films were systematically characterized using the universal testing machine (UTM), soil degradation, scanning electron microscope (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), thermogravimetric analyzer (TGA), and antibacterial tests. The experiments showed that a lower percentage of fenugreek improves biodegradation and mechanical strength.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe current study attempted to evaluate the antagonistic activity of compounds isolated and purified from the marine algae during cultivation. The compounds were collected on a filter, concentrated on ODS columns and separated by HPLC. Two peaks that showed competitive progesterone binding activity with membrane progesterone receptor α (mPRα) were purified.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn a previous study, we demonstrated the next-generation effects and further transgenerational adverse effects of bisphenol A (BPA) in zebrafish. The adverse effects on reproductive factors, such as gonadal activity, fertility, hatching rate and malformation of embryo caused by the dietary administration on initial generation (F0) male and female zebrafish were continued until third filial (F3) generation. In this study, we examined how much amount of BPA contained in the diet was taken up by the zebrafish.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFUnlabelled: Using an assay, we selected 11 genes that were highly upregulated during the induction of ovulation in zebrafish using microarray analysis and RNA sequencing. The starmaker gene () was one of these genes. Although has been previously reported to be involved in otolith formation during the early development of zebrafish, we detected its expression in eggs and showed that was related to fertilization by establishing an gene knockout strain using the CRISPR/Cas9 system.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCurrently, semiconductor nanoparticles known as quantum dots (QDs) have attracted interest in various application fields such as those requiring sensing properties, binding assays, and cellular imaging and are the very important in the acceleration of drug discovery due to their unique photophysical properties. Here, we applied graphene quantum dots (GQDs) for the binding assay of membrane progesterone receptor alpha (mPRα), one of the probable membrane receptors that have potential in drug discovery applications. By coupling the amino groups of mPRα with GQDs, we prepared fluorogenic GQD-conjugated mPRα (GQD-mPRα).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEleven genes, including pax2a, were selected as candidate ovulation-inducing genes on the basis of microarray analysis and RNA sequencing in our previous study. The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of the pax2a gene in the ovulation-inducing process. F2 pax2a homozygous mutant zebrafish possessing a deletion of 6 nucleotides were established in this study.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBiochem Biophys Res Commun
August 2020
The maturation and ovulation of fish oocytes are well-characterized biological processes induced by progestins via coordination of nongenomic actions and genomic actions. Previously, we established a procedure that enables the induction of oocyte maturation and ovulation in live zebrafish by simple administration of the natural teleost maturation-inducing hormone 17 alpha, 20 beta-dihydroxy-4-pregnen-3-one (17,20β-DHP) into the surrounding water. By this in vivo assay, the potencies of chemicals in inducing or preventing oocyte maturation and ovulation can be evaluated.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTo complete meiosis II, cyclin B is degraded in a short period by the inactivation of M-phase promoting factor (MPF). Previously, we showed that the destruction of cyclin B was initiated by the ubiquitin-independent proteolytic activity of the 26 S proteasome through an initial cut in the N-terminus of cyclin (at K57 in the case of goldfish cyclin B). We hypothesized that this cut allows cyclin to be ubiquitinated for further destruction by the ubiquitin-dependent proteolytic pathway, which leads to MPF inactivation.
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