Aspergillus was first catalogued in 1729 by an Italian priest and biologist Pietro Antonio Micheli. Viewing the fungi under a microscope, Micheli thought of the shape of an aspergillum (holy water sprinkler), and named the genus accordingly [1].The genus Aspergillus is extraordinary as exemplified by the diversity of its disease manifestations, almost all termed “aspergillosis’. All forms of aspergillosis are sapronoses, which are transmissible from abiotic environments, and not communicable from person to person, or zoonoses. The spectrum of aspergillosis can be broadly divided into four categories:Invasive life-threatening infection in immunocompromised patients;Subacute or chronic infection in patients with pre-existing pulmonary or sinus disease and probably some subtle defect in innate immunity;Allergic or eosinophilic disease which is manifest in many forms including allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis, eosinophilic rhinosinusitis and extrinsic allergic alveolitis;Locally inv. fumigatus [12]. There are approximately 250 species of Aspergillus but only a few are known to cause disease in humans [13]. A. fumigatus, A. flavus, and A. niger are the most commonly encountered pathogenic species, but other species, like A. terreus, A. clavatus, and A. nidulans are rarely reported as human pathogens [14][15].The clinical, radiological and histological manifestation of ABPA is a complex interplay between the number and virulence of the organisms and the patient’s immune responses [16]. Depending on the host immunity and the organism virulence, the respiratory diseases caused by Aspergillus species can be broadly classified as allergic (allergic Aspergillus sinusitis, ABPA, severe asthma with fungal sensitisation, SAFS, and hypersensitivity pneumonias), chronic non-invasive (e.g., chronic sinusitis or pulmonary cavitary aspergillosis, with or without fungal balls), and invasive conditions [17].Patients with ABPA are likely to present histories of asthma and generallorted in 1952 by Hinson from the United Kingdom [10], whereas it was identified in the USA in 1967 [25]. The first case description from Australia came in 1967 [26] and from India in 1971 [27]. The disorder is much more common than previously thought and truly has a global presence. In fact, a high frequency of ABPA has been reported in the last two decades [28][29]. However, the population prevalence of ABPA in patients with asthma remains unknown yet.The association of ABPA and cystic fibrosis (CF) was first reported in 1965 by Mearns et al. Who reported two cases of ABPA in CF [30]. Subsequently, a high prevalence of precipitating antibodies and cutaneous hypersensitivity to A. fumigatus was reported in patient with CF [31]. CF is characterised by impaired mucus clearance and airway obstruction. This may favour germination of conidia of A. fumigatus and release of antigens with resultant complex immune response by the host. The prevalence of ABPA in CF has been variably reported bethain reaction, when the research of the ABPA on treatment goes well, there will be more opportunities for patients to improve their life qualities. Also, immunological and radiological investigations should be studied for the improvement in ABPA research. These investigations may facilitate the diagnosis, which would fasten its treatment progress.References[1] Mehrotra, R. S., Aneja, K. R. An introduction to mycology 1990;68-72[2] Plaignaud M. Observation sur fungus de sinus macillarire. J Chir 1791;1:11-116.[3] Bennett J. H. On the parasitic vegetable structures found growing in living animals. Trans Roy Soc Edinburgh 1842;15:277-279[4] Rayer. Fioriep’s N. Notixen 1842 (No extra details available)[5] Mayer. Aspergillus otomycosis. Müller’s Archiv für Anat u Phys 1844;12:404[6] Leber T. Keratomycosis aspergillina als ursache von hypopyonkeratitis. Arch Opthalmol 1879;25:285–301.[7] Wheaton SW. Case primarily of tubercle, in which a fungus (aspergillus) grew in the bronchi and lung, stier, T. P., Roberts, M. & Smith, L. L. Allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis in patients with and without evidence of bronchiectasis. Ann Allergy, 1993;70, 333–38.[21] Kumar, R. Mild, moderate, and severe forms of allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis: a clinical and serologic evaluation. Chest, 2003;124, 890–92.[22] Imbeau, S. A., Cohen, M. & Reed, C. E. Allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis in infants. Am J Dis Child, 1977;131, 1127–30.[23] Kirsten, D., Nowak, D., Rabe, K. F. & Magnussen, H. [Diagnosis of bronchopulmonary aspergillosis is often made too late]. Med Klin (Munich), 1993;88, 353–56.[24] HTTP://WWW.WHO.INT/CLASSIFICATIONS/ICD/EN/. January 17th, 2009].[25] Patterson, R. & Golbert, T. M. Hypersensitivity disease of the lung. Univ Mich Med Cent J, 1968;34, 8–11.[26] Elder, J. L. & Smith, J. T. Allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis. Med J Aust, 1967;1,231–33.[27] Shah, J. R. Allergic pulmonary aspergillosis. J Assoc Physicians India, 1971;19, 835–41.[28] Bedi, R. S. Al7.
ContentResearch Question--------------------------------------------2Introduction----------------------------------------------------2Hypothesis------------------------------------------------------2Materials--------------------------------------------------------2Methods---------------------------------------------------------3Results-----------------------------------------------------------4Discussion-------------------------------------------------------5Evaluation-------------------------------------------------------5Conclusion------------------------------------------------------6Appendices-----------------------------------------------------6References------------------------------------------------------8Research questionWhat effect does increasing the salinity of solution have on the germination rate of mung beans?IntroductionHigh salinity is a common abiotic stress factor that seriously affects crop production in some parts of the world, particularly in arid and semi-arid rebean seeds.Materials24*Petri dishesDistilled WaterSodium ChlorideMung beansConical FlaskScaleTimer100ml measuring cylinderRuler8*100ml beakers96*Cotton wools8* Solution containers25ml measuring cylinderMethodsThe collection of data included recording three different trials with independent variables separately to produce a wide array of results and conclude in average. The experiment has one independent variable: Concentrations of Sodium Chloride. Since this variable cannot be kept constant for every trial, a selection from final result has been rounded up to make an average.The measuring cylinder was used to measure 100ml of distilled water, into eight beakers. One beaker was kept as a control, while other seven beakers had NaCl added in order to change concentration.7 different concentrations were used: 0.1M, 0.2M, 0.4M, 0.6M, 0.8M, 1.0M, 2.0M solutions of NaCl. These solutions were prepared using the following calculations.Other concentrations were found multiplying the mass of salttesDiscussionAs the data in figure 1 clearly demonstrates, the rate of germination is affected by solute concentration of solution. As the concentration increases, the rate of germination decreases, showing an inverse relationship: at 0.2M, the rate of germination was 76.7% in total, while at 1.0M solution the rate of germination was 0.0% in total. The rate of germination seems to be linear till 0.6M, with an inversely proportional relationship between rate of germination and concentration (Refer to figure 1 and appendix 1 for the full results). However, this statement can only be made for approximately 2 grams of mung bean seeds. Also, the relationship may be discovered to be non-linear with more accurate measuring scales.Germination rate was decreased by salinity in mung bean seeds. This matched with the results of in wheat [10]; in safflower [11] and in Physalis [12]. The decrease in germination rate, under drought and salt stress conditions in particular, may have resulted due to tri dishes were used for every trial, with the same solution of NaCl that the researcher made, and the scale was reset every single trial to make accurate data. Also, when measuring data, the same scale and measuring cylinders were used so that all the errors would occur as regularly as possible. These measurements were taken by the same person so that any differences in a person’s eyesight and parallax error would not affect the results.To improve the accuracy of the result is to increase reliability. This could be achieved by performing the experiment for each concentration for more than 15 times rather than only 3 times, the finding the average of the results. If this experiment is to be repeated, the effect of changing the other variables, such as temperature and amount of light would lead to an interesting discussion.Further investigation may be focused on acid phosphatase activities in mung bean seedlings with salinity.ConclusionThe investigation examining the salinity effects on perature Levels on Seed Germination of Some Vegetable Species, Acta Agrobotanica, Page 76-78 (Viewed 11/03/2016) Hyperlink "http://dx.doi.org/10.5586/aa.2002.045" http://dx.doi.org/10.5586/aa.2002.045[3] Ungar, I. (1996) Effect of Salinity on Seed Germination, Growth, and Ion Accumulation of Artiplex patula Chenopodiaceae. American Journal of Botany, Page 602-607. (Viewed 02/03/2016) Hyperlink "http://dx.doi.org/10.2307.2445919" http://dx.doi.org/10.2307.2445919[4] Hampson, C. and Simpson, G. (1990) Effects of Temperature, Salt, and Osmotic Potential on Early Growth of Wheat Trittcum aestivum. I. Germination. Canadian Journal of Botany, Page 520-528. (Viewed 04/03/2016) Hyperlink "http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/b90-072" http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/b90-072[5] Bohnert, H.J., Nelson, D.E. and Jensne, R.G. (1995) Adaptations to Environmental Stresses. The Plant Cell, Page 1100-1112 (Viewed 04/03/2016) Hyperlink "http://dx.doi.org/10.1105/tpc.7.7.1099" http://dx.doi.org/10.1105/tpc.7.7.1099[6] Yan2016
The effect of the pH on the structure of cell membraneSemester 2 Year 112015-08-13BiologyResearch QuestionDoes pH affect cell membrane function?IntroductionpH level damages membranes by affecting the proteins that make up about 70% of most cell membranes. Proteins are made of amino-acids and each amino-acid has a variable number of nitrogen and oxygen atoms in it. These can be formed by Hydrogen bonds with the many hydrogen atoms found in the molecule. (Lovejoy) The protein folds up to ensure that the maximum number of these hydrogen bonds is made. When the pH of a solution changes, the position of some of these hydrogen atoms also change. This is because amino-acids are amphoteric, and tend to stabilize pH. Thus, they can lose an H+ ion at the acid part of the molecule at higher pHs, or gain an H+ ion at the amino end of the molecule at lower pHs which causes the overall shape of the protein to change with pH. This is the reason why most enzymes (which need a precisely-shaped active snt has one independent variable: levels of pH. Since this variable cannot be kept constant for every trial, a selection of final result has been rounded up to make an average.The beetroot was cut into small sizes of 1.5cm*0.5cm thick with a razor, and put into tap water for 15 minutes till all excess colour escaped. After that the beetroot was dried clean and placed into 7 different test tubes with various levels of pH (2, 4, 6, 7, 8, 10, 12) for each trial, and then start time was recorded (date, hour, minutes), 15minutes later take a picture of trial to see the difference so far. Approximately, 100hours later, the solutions in each test tube was tested using the data logger and colorimeters to see the result of absorbance and transmittance of each colour (Orange, Blue, Green, Red).Variables that must be controlledFinish time = Approx. 100hoursEquipment: colorimeters, data loggers (see figure 1) If the same equipment is not used in every trial then the results will be inaccurate.Exper solution for every trial. This is to ensure the same injecting techniques is used.(Figure 1)Results(Figure 2) The table of average results of Absorbance and TransmittancepH/AverageAb OAb BAb GAb RTr OTr BTr GTr R20.8461.4081.9110.51539.27%22.93%12.80%62.83%40.3791.8801.8370.06145.43%3.833%3.833%87.50%60.0350.1640.1920.01392.33%70.10%66.03%97.00%70.0880.4310.6490.02382.27%42.07%43.30%94.70%80.1450.4820.4330.04672.30%39.37%36.60%89.97%100.2610.5430.4600.11055.87%31.63%37.73%78.23%120.0730.4200.1110.05884.80%45.77%77.83%87.97%*Absorbance=Ab / Transmittance=Tr / Orange=O / Blue=B / Green=G / Red=R /(Figure 3) Photograph of solutions find after 99hours 30minutes.(Figure 4) Photograph of mixed solution after 99hours 30minutes*The level of each test tube looks different, but actual volume was 99% same.DiscussionFrom the data collection through the testing of the pH buffer solutions, the colorimeter results for the Orange Light Transmittance are the main focus of the discussion, as they demonbinations of nitrogen, carbon, oxygen and hydrogen molecules that are highly susceptible to chemical reactions, due to their amphoteric structure. (White, 2005)However, after examining of the results, it is evident that there were inconsistencies present amongst the data, refer to appendix 2. These circles were from the first two pH trial that there was human error and equipment malfunction. Human error and equipment malfunction can be held accountable for the limitations of data. Human error is the major contributing factor to the inaccurate results. For example, given that the accuracy of cutting the lengths of the beetroot and measuring the amount of liquid is reliant upon human capability, there is a high possibility that the solutions did not have an equal surface area to volume ratio, therefore producing inaccurate results. It is also possible that the equipment utilized in the investigation could also have affected the data. Since only one cuvette was available for testing the s, due to human errors which could have been made in the measuring the solutions’ volume, or cutting the beetroot as a bar. Various steps were taken to ensure that error was either reduced or eliminated. The same sized test tubes were used for every trial, with the same bottle of pH buffer solutions and distilled water to clean out the cuvette. Also, when measuring the data the same scales and measuring cylinders were used so that any error would be systematic. These measurements were taken by the same person so that any differences in a person’s eyesight and parallax error would not affect the results, and would stay systematic.To improve the accuracy of the result is to increase reliability. This could be achieved by performing the experiment for each concentration more than 10 times rather than only 3 times, the finding the average of the results.If this experiment was to be repeated, the effect of changing the other variables, such as temperature and surface area could lead to an ine)