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Thermal energy and its storage systems play an extensive role in day-to-day life. They store renewable energy and are capable of recovering generated heat from different systems. Storage of thermal energy can be classified into three types: sensible, latent and sorption heat storages. Thermal heat storages use different types of materials based on their capacity of heat storage, stability of duration and thermal conductivity. Various phase change materials (PCMs) that are suitable for thermal storage are reported. Low conversion ability limits their effectiveness. We reviewed some of the traditional materials synthesized recently that are used for thermal energy storage (TES). Recently developed TES materials exhibit high thermal conductivity, reduced super cooling and multiple phase change temperatures. Nano-enhanced PCMs produced an increase in thermal conductivity up to 32% with a reduction in latent heat by 32%. At this juncture, MXenes with high performance and extraordinary properties (thermal, mechanical, etc.) are of special significance. MXenes displayed an increased thermal conductivity up to 16% and 94% efficiency. In view of their structure and adaptability to be used in thermal storage systems, an attempt was made to review their role also in thermal storage applications. It is observed that MXenes highly impact storage and efficiency. Apart from MXenes, various types of PCMs along with their thermal characteristics are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The time-lag method is the most useful technique to determine gas permeability, diffusivity, and solubility. However, it is difficult to evaluate the transport properties of the membrane accurately because gas permeability depends on the technique used to assess gas flow. The significance of the present study is to design an economic isochoric apparatus to accurately measure micro-range gas flow rates ranging from 10−6 to 10 cm3(STP) s−1. A strategic procedure is demonstrated to eliminate possible artifacts while conducting the gas permeation experiments, including utilizing downstream pressure rise profiles to identify nanoscale defects as well as transient and steady-state permeation. An indigenous apparatus was developed to estimate the polymeric intrinsic properties of the dense and thin-film composite membranes. The device has been successfully used to measure the gas permeation flow rate ranging from 1 × 10−5 to 1 × 10−1cm3 (STP) s−1, which indicates the broad applicability and reproducibility of the data suggesting the reliability of the designed apparatus. Permeation flow rates of binary mixtures of CO2/CH4 through the defect-free membranes were compared with the numerical estimations to validate the measured transport properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nuclear factor erythroid 2‐related factor 2 (Nrf2) is a transcriptional factor which acts as a regulator for cellular oxidative stress, and tightly regulated by Kelch‐like ECH‐associated protein 1 (Keap1). In this study, we found that auranofin and paclitaxel combination treatment increased TUNEL positive apoptotic cells and enhanced the DNA damage marker γ‐H2AX in MCF‐7 and MDA‐MB‐231 breast cancer cells. The immunoblotting analysis revealed the combination of auranofin and paclitaxel significantly increased the FOXO3 expression in a concentration dependent manner. Further we observed that auranofin and paclitaxel treatment prevents the translocation of Nrf2 in a concentration dependent manner. The increased FOXO3 expression might be involved in the cytoplasmic degradation of Nrf1‐Keap1 complex. Further, the molecular docking results confirm auranofin act as the agonist for Foxo3. Therefore, the present results suggest that auranofin sensitize the breast cancer cells to paclitaxel via regulating FOXO3/Nrf2/Keap1signaling pathway. Significance Statement: The present results show that auranofin enhances paclitaxel induced TUNEL positive apoptotic cells. Further, auranofin treatment increases FOXO3 which in turn inhibit the dissociation of Nrf2 and Keap1 in both MDA‐MB‐231 and MCF‐7 cell lines. Therefore, the present results clearly illustrate the chemosensitizing property of auranofin via regulating FOXO3/Nrf2/Keap1 signaling pathway in the breast cancer cells. Auranofin is already a Food and Drug administration approved drug and it could be considered for the clinical applications after preclinical experimentation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The intrinsic redox status of cancer cells limits the efficacy of chemotherapeutic drugs. Auranofin, a Food and Drug Administration‐approved gold‐containing compound, documented with effective pharmacokinetics and safety profiles in humans, has recently been repurposed for anticancer activity. This study examined the paclitaxel‐sensitizing effect of auranofin by targeting redox balance in the MDA‐MB‐231 and MCF‐7 breast cancer cell lines. Auranofin treatment depletes the activities of superoxide dismutase, catalase, and glutathione peroxidase and alters the redox ratio in the breast cancer cell lines. Furthermore, it has been noticed that auranofin augmented paclitaxel‐mediated cytotoxicity in a concentration‐dependent manner in both MDA‐MB‐231 and MCF‐7 cell lines. Moreover, auranofin increased the levels of intracellular reactive oxygen species (observed using 2, 7‐diacetyl dichlorofluorescein diacetate staining) and subsequently altered the mitochondrial membrane potential (rhodamine‐123 staining) in a concentration‐dependent manner. Further, the expression of apoptotic marker p21 was found to be higher in auranofin plus paclitaxel‐treated breast cancer cells compared to paclitaxel‐alone treatment. Thus, the present results illustrate the chemosensitizing property of auranofin in MDA‐MB‐231 and MCF‐7 breast cancer cell lines via oxidative metabolism. Therefore, auranofin could be considered a chemosensitizing agent during cancer chemotherapy. Significance statement: In this study, auranofin, a Food and Drug Administration‐approved drug, has been repurposed for anticancer activity. The results illustrate that auranofin improved paclitaxel‐mediated cytotoxicity in breast cancer cell lines. The auranofin treatment altered the intracellular redox balance in the breast cancer cells, which contributes to paclitaxel‐mediated cell cycle arrest and subsequent apoptotic cell death. Thus, the present results illustrate the chemosensitizing property of auranofin in breast cancer cell lines via oxidative metabolism. Therefore, auranofin could be considered a chemosensitizing agent during cancer chemotherapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the potential for targeting systemic inflammation in patients with heart failure through leucocyte immunomodulation. It highlights the high incidence of cardiovascular mortality and hospitalizations for heart failure despite current therapies. The role of inflammation in heart failure is explored, with a focus on the involvement of proinflammatory cytokines and biomarkers. The article introduces a novel approach using a selective cytopheretic device (SCD) to target activated neutrophils and monocytes, which has shown promise in reducing systemic inflammation and improving outcomes in other acute conditions. A case report is presented to demonstrate the potential effectiveness of the SCD in bridging patients to left ventricular assist device (LVAD) implantation. The article concludes by suggesting that further studies are needed to evaluate the use of the SCD and its potential to reduce cardiovascular mortality and hospitalizations in heart failure patients. [Extracted from the article]

The prime intention of this article is to investigate the effect of variable bottom topography and a bottom-sitting porous barrier on the hydroelastic response of an elastic plate floating on a two-layer fluid using small amplitude wave theory. Galerkin's single-mode approximation in each layer for variable bottom topography and the method of eigenfunction expansion for the fluid region of uniform bottom topography are used as mathematical tools to detail the phenomena. In the variable bottom topography, a system of differential equations is solved. By applying matching conditions, jump conditions, and the appropriate boundary conditions, the solution is expressed as an algebraic linear system from which all the unknown constants are evaluated. The effects of different parameters related to the fluid, bottom topography, and porous barrier on the bending moment, shear force, and deflection of an elastic plate are explored. The variations in the bending moments, shear forces, and plate deflection with respect to fluid density are found to be in opposite trends, caused by surface and interfacial waves, respectively. Further, as the density ratio becomes closer to one, the bending moments, shear forces, and plate deflection tend to diminish for interfacial waves. The bottom effect on bending moments, shear forces, and plate deflection is minimal due to surface waves but significant due to interface waves with maximum amplitude in a concave up bottom. The plate deformation can be further reduced using a suitable barrier, as investigated in this article. The findings hold good potential for furthering our understanding of installing an elastic plate in a stratified fluid with fluctuating water depth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mosquito-borne diseases cause a huge burden on public health worldwide. The viruses that cause these diseases impact the behavioural traits of mosquitoes, including locomotion and feeding. Understanding these traits can help in improving existing epidemiological models and developing effective mosquito traps. However, it is difficult to understand the flight behaviour of mosquitoes due to their small sizes, complicated poses, and seemingly random moving patterns. Currently, no open-source tool is available that can detect and track resting or flying mosquitoes. Our work presented in this paper provides a detection and trajectory estimation method using the Mask RCNN algorithm and spline interpolation, which can efficiently detect mosquitoes and track their trajectories with higher accuracy. The method does not require special equipment and works excellently even with low-resolution videos. Considering the mosquito size, the proposed method's detection performance is validated using a tracker error and a custom metric that considers the mean distance between positions (estimated and ground truth), pooled standard deviation, and average accuracy. The results showed that the proposed method could successfully detect and track the flying (≈ 96% accuracy) as well as resting (100% accuracy) mosquitoes. The performance can be impacted in the case of occlusions and background clutters. Overall, this research serves as an efficient open-source tool to facilitate further examination of mosquito behavioural traits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effect of bottom topography and a surface-piercing porous barrier on the hydroelastic response of an elastic plate floating on a two-layer fluid with variable bottom topography is studied using small amplitude wave theory. As a mathematical tool, Galerkin's single-mode approximation for waves in each layer is used for variable bottom topography, while the method of eigenfunction expansion is applied for the fluid region of a uniform bottom. In the variable bottom topography, a system of differential equations is solved. By applying matching conditions, jump conditions, and the appropriate boundary conditions, the solution is expressed as an algebraic linear system from which all the unknown constants are computed. The effects of different parameters related to the fluid, bottom topography, and porous barrier on the bending moment, shear force, and the deflection of an elastic plate are explored. The variations in the bending moments, shear forces, and plate deflection with respect to fluid density are found to be in opposite trends, caused by surface and interfacial waves, respectively. Further, as the density ratio becomes closer to one, the bending moments, shear forces, and plate deflection tend to diminish for interfacial waves. The plate is least deformed by surface and interfacial waves in the case of a concave down and a plane sloping bottom, respectively. This deformation can further be reduced by using suitable barriers as reported in this investigation. The observations may be useful in analysing the response of very large floating structures to the presence of undulating bottoms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The interaction between an oblique gravity wave and a partial porous flexible plate barrier in a two-layer fluid with an undulating bottom has been studied using small amplitude and structural response theory. Separate cases for (a) scattering of wave and (b) trapping of wave by porous flexible plate in the presence of an impermeable sea wall are discussed. The submerged plate of two typical configurations, bottom standing and surface piercing, is considered. The effects of surface waves, interfacial waves, and the induced energy among the layers due to undulated bottom have been taken into consideration. An approximation technique, i.e. modified mild-slope equation and the Fourier method together with the method of least-square, is adopted as a solution procedure. By applying the continuity condition and mass flux at the interface along with the plate boundary conditions, the problem is converted into a system of equations. Different physical characteristics are investigated, including reflection and transmission coefficients, wave load on the plate and impermeable sea wall, and bottom effect against parameters like incident wave angle and bottom slope length. This study finds that bottom-standing plate dissipated much surface wave energy, whereas the surface-piercing plate dissipates much interfacial wave energy. An opposite effect of surface and interfacial waves on membrane deformation for any given bottom, with maximum deformation due to propagating wave along surface and interface for plane and sinusoidal bottoms, respectively, is observed. The influence of undulated sea bottom on surface wave generated force upon sea wall is almost insensitive, whereas interfacial wave-induced force on sea wall varies significantly with changing bottom profiles. The study carried out in this article holds good potential in deepening our understanding of wave scattering and trapping by a partial porous flexible barrier. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Granzyme-B is a serine proteinase expressed and released mainly by the cytotoxic T and NK cell. Granules intact Granzyme-B is directly delivered into the target cell, while extracellular Granzyme-B, released in serum leads to nonspecific cleavages of extracellular matrix molecules like vitronectin, collagen, TGF-ß, IL-1 and invites systemic inflammation, tissue remodeling and fibrosis leading to the development of chronic renal allograft dysfunction. Objective: We aimed to immunophenotype the Granzyme-B positive T-lymphocyte subset and Granzyme-B role in the development of chronic renal allograft dysfunction. Methods: We have analyzed the Granzyme-B+CD8+T/CD8neg and Granzyme-B+CD3+/CD3neg cell subset by the flowcytometry and serum Granzyme-B level by the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Results: We have found that the frequency of Granzyme-B+ CD8neg CD3+T cell, Granzyme-B+ CD8lowCD3+T cell and Granzyme-B+ CD8high CD3+T cell subset was significantly lower and serum Granzyme-B level was significantly higher in CAD group. The frequency of CD3+T, CD3neg lymphocyte, CD8neg CD3+T, CD8lowCD3+T, CD8high CD3+T, Granzyme-B+CD3negCD8neg lymphocyte was similar between the group. The frequency of CD3+CD8negGzm-B+ cell was negatively correlated with serum creatinine and CD3+CD8highGzm-B+ cell was negatively correlated with serum Granzyme-B level. Similarly, Serum Granzyme-B level was positively correlated with serum creatinine, urine proteinuria and negatively with eGFR. Conclusion: The circulating frequency of Granzyme-B+ CD8neg CD3+T cell, Granzyme-B+ CD8lowCD3+T cell and Granzyme-B+ CD8high CD3+T cell subsets were significantly lower and serum Granzyme-B level was significantly higher in renal allograft recipients with CAD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The stock market prices of the company vary in a daily fashion. The social media pattern usage of the company can be determined to find the sentiment score values. The dependency factor between the social media tweet platform and the performance of an organization can have how much effect on the stock prices is determined. The historical data from the Yahoo Finance APIs are taken for the unique company ID and then the probability of stock being good or bad is determined. Also, the tweets related to the company are scanned and analyzed to find the positive and negative scores. The concentration value connected to growth, the intensity of capital expenditure, and the volume of promotion were among the factors utilized in the stock's modeling. This paper also takes the yearly finances of the end-user based on LIC payments, medical insurance payments, and average rent and then performs a classification of the user. Based on the user classification, companies are recommended to the end-user based on descending order of stock value. The average volume, average price, average market index, average daily turnover, and sentiment discrepancy index are based on the tweets of a company and the predicted value of its performance. For the classification of the user, we make use of the support vector machine algorithm. For the sentiment analysis of the tweets, the naïve Bayes algorithm is made use of, and then stock classification is done based on mathematical modeling, which includes the sentiment analysis index. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

2-Aminothiazoles have been synthesized by a one-pot, two-step sequential procedure in solution state which does not involve the isolation of intermediates. It involves α-halogenation of corresponding precursor ketones followed by condensation with substituted thiourea derivatives. All the products were analyzed by IR, NMR, mass spectral techniques and four of them were evaluated crystallographically. One of them crystallizes in the triclinic crystal system with space group P 1 ¯ , while, all the other compounds crystallize in the monoclinic crystal system in two different space groups viz. P21/c and P21/n. The modified 2-aminothiazole core did not show any change in the intermolecular interaction. The N-H...N interaction predominates over other interactions forming centrosymmetric head to head dimer with the neighboring atoms. This feature is observed in all the molecules except N-(4-(4-bromophenyl)-3-(2,5-dimethylphenyl)thiazol-2(3H)-ylidene)-2,5-dimethylaniline. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current paper describes the multiple response optimization of electrochemical machining (ECM) responses, such as specific energy consumption (SEC), overcut, and material removal rate (MRR), aimed at sustainable machining. The experimental work was conducted on electrochemical drilling of AA6061-TiB2 composite material. The concentration of electrolyte, applied voltage, and current were selected as the governing parameters in machining process. The Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to the Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) was applied to identify the optimal set of machining parameters based on the closeness coefficient (CC). The weighting of responses was allotted by using the Analytical hierarchy process (AHP), or equal weights, or entropy method. The results indicate that the closeness coefficient varied by weighting. A comparative analysis of the confirmation experiments showed that the optimal level of machining parameters obtained from the entropy weighting method gave the largest improvement in the closeness coefficient to attain sustainable machining. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Magnetic properties and structural analysis of Nd(Neodymium) doped Ni0.65Zn0.35Fe2O4 using XRD, Rietveld Analysis, FTIR Spectroscopy and VSM are reported. Confirmation of secondary phase formation with increased Nd content is established. Cation distribution for neodymium substituted nickel-zinc ferritesis proposed by considering the deficiency of Fe3+ in NiZnFe2O4 due to secondary phase formation of NdFeO3. The quality of present cation distribution was confirmed through close agreement of experimentally calculated lattice constant and Rietveld refinement. Changes in saturation magnetization with increased Nd content are explained on the basis of intensifying effect on energy exchange (inter-sublattice) between Ni-O-Nd and Ni-O-Fe concnerning Fe-O-Fe interaction, effect of replacing lower magnetic moment Nd3+ (3.62 μB) in place of Fe3+ (5 μB) and exchange developed between the cations existing at B-sites due to creation of oxygen vacancies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The performance of the flange joint depends on the relaxation of load in bolts. This in turn affects the gasket stress and control of leakage. A finite element model of flange joint with threaded bolt‐nut fastener having zero helix angle is developed and analyzed for stress distribution in the threaded bolt. The stress concentration factor at the thread root region is observed to be non‐uniform along the circumference due to the bending behavior of the bolt in the flange joint. The maximum stress is observed in the first engaged thread. The variation in bolt load due to internal fluid, thermal and external loads are also investigated for both single and twin‐gaskets (two concentric half‐sized single gaskets). The gasket material and gasket configuration are observed to be potential factors causing variation in the distribution of load in the flange joint. In a flange joint subjected to external bending load, the maximum stress concentration in the bolt is observed to be in the first thread, instead of the first engaged thread. Under external bending load, the flange joint loses its structural integrity before the traces of leakage occur in the joint. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper portrays the effect of growth rate on the structural, magnetic, and electrical properties of sputtered Ni thin films. Seventy-five nanometer thick Ni films were grown on Si <100> substrates at room temperature by high power impulse magnetron sputtering with varying growth rates such as 0.27, 0.57, 1.01, 2.18, and 2.65 Å/s. All the films crystallized in a single FCC type structure devoid of any impurity phase. With an increase in the growth rate, the density of the Ni films was found to increase. The surface roughness and the stresses developed in Ni films were found to decrease with an increase in the growth rate. Microstructural investigations indicated an island of surface morphology for all the films. An increase in growth rate was also found to affect the magnetic properties of Ni thin films considerably. Saturation magnetization increased with an increase in growth rate both along the in-plane and out-of-direction owing to the increase in the density of the film and reduction in stresses and surface roughness. Further, the in-plane magnetization studies also showed an increase in in-plane magnetic anisotropy in Ni films with an increase in growth rate. Evidences for improvement in the in-plane magnetic anisotropy were derived from the increase in the in-plane coercivity and remanence. Temperature variation of electrical resistivity in Ni films indicated a metallic behavior. Films grown at higher growth rates exhibited high-temperature co-efficient of resistance suitable for resistance temperature detector applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bolted flange joints are widely used in pressure vessels and piping. With the increase in installation of nuclear power plants, chemical industries and oil and gas transportation facilities, design of highly reliable leak proof joints has become an important concern. Bolted flange joint is subjected to many uncertainties such as material and geometric nonlinearities, load distribution and its relaxation. Hence, there is a need to understand the behaviour of bolted flange joint under different conditions, with varying bolt load, internal fluid pressure, temperature and occasional loads. In the present study, the influence these factors on the leakage of bolted flange joints are reviewed in detail. The significance of variation in axial joint stiffness due to bolt load relaxation at elevated temperature is discussed. Attention is also given to sealing performance and prediction of leakage rate under different loading conditions. The load bearing capacity and failure criteria of flange joint, along with the effect of loading history are also discussed. Then, the focus is turned towards the numerical formulations of flange joint under dynamic loads, in addition to experimental techniques to extract its response. Further, the current challenges in this area along with future scope for improvement to achieve leak-proof and structurally sound flange joint are also discussed in this review article. • Load relaxation in bolted flange joint due to creep and thermal loads. • Effective material characterization techniques of nonlinear gasket material. • Behaviour of flange joint subjected to thermal and external loads is discussed. • Sealing performance and prediction of leakage rate under different loading conditions are highlighted. • Recommendation to overcome joint relaxation is also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Mosquito-borne diseases exert a huge impact on both animal and human populations, posing substantial health risks. The behavioural and fitness traits of mosquitoes, such as locomotion and fecundity, are crucial factors that influence the spread of diseases. In existing egg-counting tools, each image requires separate processing with adjustments to various parameters such as intensity threshold and egg area size. Furthermore, accuracy decreases significantly when dealing with clustered or overlapping eggs. To overcome these issues, we have developed EggCountAI, a Mask Region-based Convolutional Neural Network (RCNN)-based free automatic egg-counting tool for Aedes aegypti mosquitoes. Methods: The study design involves developing EggCountAI for counting mosquito eggs and comparing its performance with two commonly employed tools—ICount and MECVision—using 10 microscopic and 10 macroscopic images of eggs laid by females on a paper strip. The results were validated through manual egg counting on the strips using ImageJ software. Two different models were trained on macroscopic and microscopic images to enhance egg detection accuracy, achieving mean average precision, mean average recall, and F1-scores of 0.92, 0.90, and 0.91 for the microscopic model, and 0.91, 0.90, and 0.90 for the macroscopic model, respectively. EggCountAI automatically counts eggs in a folder containing egg strip images, offering adaptable filtration for handling impurities of varying sizes. Results: The results obtained from EggCountAI highlight its remarkable performance, achieving overall accuracy of 98.88% for micro images and 96.06% for macro images. EggCountAI significantly outperformed ICount and MECVision, with ICount achieving 81.71% accuracy for micro images and 82.22% for macro images, while MECVision achieved 68.01% accuracy for micro images and 51.71% for macro images. EggCountAI also excelled in other statistical parameters, with mean absolute error of 1.90 eggs for micro, 74.30 eggs for macro, and a strong correlation and R-squared value (0.99) for both micro and macro. The superior performance of EggCountAI was most evident when handling overlapping or clustered eggs. Conclusion: Accurate detection and counting of mosquito eggs enables the identification of preferred egg-laying sites and facilitates optimal placement of oviposition traps, enhancing targeted vector control efforts and disease transmission prevention. In future research, the tool holds the potential to extend its application to monitor mosquito feeding preferences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Morbidly obese patients are considered to be poor candidates for extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) in patients with respiratory failure due to COVID-19 pneumonia. A body mass index (BMI) greater than or equal to 40 is a relative contraindication to ECMO by the Extracorporeal Life Support Organization (ELSO) COVID-19 guidelines. This study seeks to determine the impact of obesity on survival of patients with COVID-19 on ECMO. This project is a retrospective cohort study of a multicenter US healthcare system queried from January 2020 to December 2021. All patients aged 16 years and older with COVID-19 treated with ECMO support were included in the study. Patients with missing data on ECMO duration were excluded from secondary analyses. The primary outcome was in-hospital mortality in a time-to-event analysis after ECMO initiation, with a comparison between patient groups based on body mass index (BMI) categories. Secondary outcomes included ventilator days, intensive care days, complications, and discharge destination. We identified 335 patients for the primary analysis; 66 were removed from secondary analysis due to missing data for duration of ECMO. There were no baseline differences between obese and non-obese patients in terms of demographics, comorbidities, pre-ECMO treatments, or hospital length of stay. Obese patients were more likely to be younger (median age 41 vs 45; p = 0.016). Obesity (BMI ≥ 30) was associated with a decreased risk of mortality, odds ratio 0.620 (95% CI 0.399 - 0.964; p = 0.0338) after controlling for age. Severe obesity (BMI ≥ 40) was not associated with increased mortality compared to non-obese. Secondary analysis of 269 patients with complete data demonstrate overall in-hospital mortality of 34.3%. There was no difference in ECMO duration, ICU length of stay, rate of blood stream infection, stroke, or blood transfusion between BMI groups. Obesity is not associated with increased mortality on ECMO for COVID-19. Neither obesity nor severe obesity should be used to rule out candidacy for the use of ECMO in this population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Synthesis of β -CDP/QD NCs using epichlorohydrin linker to overcome. P-glycoprotein (P-gp) mediated MDR in cancer cells. The β -CDP/QD NCs enter the MDR cancer cells through endocytosis. The QCT released from the nanocarrier enhances the intracellular availability of DOX via blocking the drug efflux function of P-gp. [Display omitted] • The β -CDP/QD NCs were successfully synthesized by the freeze-dried method. • Spectroscopic and microscopic studies evaluate the encapsulation of drugs in polymer. • The β -CDP/QD NCs show burst and sustained release of quercetin and doxorubicin. • β -CDP/QD NCs show enhanced apoptotic cell death in MDR cancer cells. In this study, we prepared a β -cyclodextrin polymer (β -CDP) co-loaded quercetin (QCT) and doxorubicin (DOX) nanocarrier (β -CDP/QD NCs) by freeze-dried method to combat P-glycoprotein (P-gp) mediated multidrug resistance (MDR) in KB-ChR 8–5 cancer cells. Various microscopic and spectroscopic techniques were employed to characterize the prepared nanocarrier. The molecular docking studies confirm the effective binding interactions of QCT and DOX with the synthesized β -CD polymer. The in vitro drug release study illustrates the sustainable release of DOX and QCT from the β -CDP nanocarrier. Further, we noticed that the QCT released from the β -CDP nanocarrier improved the intracellular availability of DOX via modulating P-gp drug efflux function in KB-ChR 8–5 cells and MCF-7/DOX cancer cells. Cell uptake results confirmed the successful internalization of DOX in KB-ChR 8–5 cells compared with free DOX. Cell-based assays such as nuclear condensation, alteration in the mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP), and apoptosis morphological changes confirmed the enhanced anticancer effect of β -CDP/QD NCs in the resistant cancer cells. Hence, QCT and DOX co-loaded β -CDP may be considered effective in achieving maximum cell death in the P-gp overexpressing MDR cancer cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Mosquito-borne diseases exert a huge impact on both animal and human populations, posing substantial health risks. The behavioural and fitness traits of mosquitoes, such as locomotion and fecundity, are crucial factors that influence the spread of diseases. In existing egg-counting tools, each image requires separate processing with adjustments to various parameters such as intensity threshold and egg area size. Furthermore, accuracy decreases significantly when dealing with clustered or overlapping eggs. To overcome these issues, we have developed EggCountAI, a Mask Region-based Convolutional Neural Network (RCNN)-based free automatic egg-counting tool for Aedes aegypti mosquitoes. Methods: The study design involves developing EggCountAI for counting mosquito eggs and comparing its performance with two commonly employed tools—ICount and MECVision—using 10 microscopic and 10 macroscopic images of eggs laid by females on a paper strip. The results were validated through manual egg counting on the strips using ImageJ software. Two different models were trained on macroscopic and microscopic images to enhance egg detection accuracy, achieving mean average precision, mean average recall, and F1-scores of 0.92, 0.90, and 0.91 for the microscopic model, and 0.91, 0.90, and 0.90 for the macroscopic model, respectively. EggCountAI automatically counts eggs in a folder containing egg strip images, offering adaptable filtration for handling impurities of varying sizes. Results: The results obtained from EggCountAI highlight its remarkable performance, achieving overall accuracy of 98.88% for micro images and 96.06% for macro images. EggCountAI significantly outperformed ICount and MECVision, with ICount achieving 81.71% accuracy for micro images and 82.22% for macro images, while MECVision achieved 68.01% accuracy for micro images and 51.71% for macro images. EggCountAI also excelled in other statistical parameters, with mean absolute error of 1.90 eggs for micro, 74.30 eggs for macro, and a strong correlation and R-squared value (0.99) for both micro and macro. The superior performance of EggCountAI was most evident when handling overlapping or clustered eggs. Conclusion: Accurate detection and counting of mosquito eggs enables the identification of preferred egg-laying sites and facilitates optimal placement of oviposition traps, enhancing targeted vector control efforts and disease transmission prevention. In future research, the tool holds the potential to extend its application to monitor mosquito feeding preferences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Properties of CF-NPs can be modified by changing the routes of synthesis, dopant element and its concentration, annealing temperature of the product, and the precursors used for synthesising this material. • Routes of synthesis, and thermal treatment influenced the particle size of samples, morphology, and structure. • X-ray diffraction technique was used to study the crystal structure and size. • Compositional analysis was done using FTIR. • Magnetic properties were studied using vibrational sample magnetometer. The review on doping/substitution and modification of properties of cobalt ferrites. Ferrites have great importance in the field of material science. Cobalt ferrite is one of them which have immense scientific interest due to its unique properties and applications. This material exhibits numerous remarkable properties e.g., magnetic, dielectric, optical, photocatalytic, and catalytic, to name but a few. They also show antibacterial activities. Properties of CF can be tailored by several ways. This provides an opportunity to create materials of desired properties. Several methods have been used to synthesise this material. Although, it has been observed that sol–gel route and its modifications are widely used. The method of synthesis, heat treatment and effect of doping strongly influenced the particle size of samples, morphology, and structure, and hence their properties like electrical, optical, magnetic, and catalytic properties. Biomedical applications also depend upon these properties of the material. Their properties can also be tailored by doping with transition metals and rare earth element. It is possible to prepare nanocomposites of this material, which opens a new area that can be utilized by scientists and technocrats for the enhancement of knowledge and cutting edge technology. In this age, when the human civilisation is going for digitization, magnetic materials of this quality that can be used for storage and transportation of data, makes its own prominent place in the world of technology. Here, we have reviewed properties, applications, and routes of synthesis of CF doped with elements of 4d-series. To our knowledge this has not be done in the recent years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The gram-positive bacterium Deinococcus radiodurans can survive under extreme ionizing radiation environment. This study aims to rationalize the role of redox balance, antioxidant status, and metabolite content on the radiation survival of D. radiodurans. We found that the TrxR inhibitors, i.e., ebselen, auranofin, and epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) (10 µM) treatment affects the radiation survival of D. radiodurans. The TrxR inhibitors treatment affects the redox status, activities of antioxidant enzymes, increases the intracellular ROS levels and protein carbonylation upon 4 kGy ionizing radiation treatments. Moreover, the alteration in cellular redox status affects the metabolites content of the organism. In addition, we noticed differential metabolomic profiles in sham control, radiation control (4 kGy), and TrxR inhibitors plus radiation-treated D. radiodurans. The TrxR inhibitors plus radiation treated groups exhibit more variation compare to sham control and 4 kGy radiation-exposed D. radiodurans. Further, some novel metabolites can possess the high antioxidant property and involved in vital cellular metabolism were found in sham control and radiation treated cells of D. radiodurans. Thus, the results illustrate the role of intracellular redox status in the survival and metabolomic profile of D. radiodurans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The world over energy resources are getting scarcer and increasingly exorbitant with time. In India bridging the ever- widening gap between energy demand and supply by increasing supply is an expensive option. The share of energy costs in total production costs can, therefore improve profit levels in all the industries. Thermal Power Plant is a major source of electricity production by coal. We will understand the overview of Thermal Power Plant i.e its parts such as boiler, turbine etc. Overview of Thermal Power Plant is very important for its better functioning and for its maintenance. The satisfactory design consist of selection of sites; estimation of cost; selection of Boiler, Turbine, Electrical Generator, Cooling System. The Transportation of electrical energy is more economical to the transportation of coal. So, we have to put greater efforts on thermal power plant as it is very economical for us. This reduction can be achieved by improving the efficiency of industrial operations and equipments. Energy plays an important role in identifying energy conservation opportunities in the industrial sector, while they do not provide the final answer to the problem; they do help to identify potential for energy conservation and induces the companies to concentrate their efforts in this area in a focused manner. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Compatibility of polymer–solvent assisted from HSP and Floury-Huggins parameters. • Solvent with higher molar volume is favorable in creating an increased FFV. • Atomistic simulations revealed the effect of residual solvent on CO 2 and CH 4 diffusion. • Residual DMAc solvent affects transport properties positively. • Good agreement between experimental and simulations was presented. The present study focuses on understanding various residual solvent effects on the physical morphology and separation characteristics of polyamide-imide (Torlon) membranes. The dense membranes were indigenously synthesized by phase inversion technique using various solvents including, N,N-dimethyl formamide (DMF), N,N-dimethyl acetamide (DMAc) and N-methyl pyrrolidone (NMP) respectively. The effect of various solvents on the physical morphology and separation characteristics were studied using a combination of both experimental techniques and atomistic simulations. The Hansen solubility and Floury-Huggins parameters were used to understand the polymer–solvent interactions and further extended to correlated to separation characteristics. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) methods were used to investigate the resulted physical morphology of the membranes. Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and 1H NMR spectra revealed residual solvent, hydrogen-bonding interactions with the Torlon polymer membrane. The experimental gas permeation studies demonstrated that the CO 2 permeability in Torlon membranes follows the order T-NMP > T-DMAc > T-DMF. However, the membrane with the T-DMAc solvent exhibited higher ideal selectivity of 34.65 at 12.5 bar for CO 2 /CH 4 separation due to the lower diffusion coefficient of CH 4 in the presence of residual DMAc. The predicted solubility and diffusion coefficients of CO 2 and CH 4 were shown to be in good agreement with the experimental results. Additionally, structural analysis of simulated models provided further insights into residual solvent effects on the microscopic properties and gas permeation. Overall, the Torlon membrane with the residual DMAc solvent showed positive effects on the transport properties and in turn enhance the diffusive selectivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The primary factors in the radiation exposure received by the human population from soil and water are natural radioactivity, uranium isotopes, and thorium isotopes. High levels of nuclear radiation exposure are now one of the leading causes of cancer. Radon and its offspring in the biosphere have long been the topic of research. Various experts from all over the world have undertaken several investigations on the quantity of radon in surface and groundwater supplies. An attempt was made to measure the levels of radon in groundwater in and around Areekode using a smart radon monitor (SRM) developed by the Baba Atomic Research Centre (BARC) in Mumbai. Groundwater/Bore well water in this region had 222Rn in concentrations ranging from 0.37±0.03Bq/L to 3.53±0.10Bq/L. The environmental protection agency's allowable limit of 11.1 kBq/m3 was met by all of the samples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With increasing urbanisation, the dengue disease burden is on the rise in India, especially in large cities such as Mumbai. Current dengue surveillance in Mumbai includes municipal corporation carrying out specific activities to reduce mosquito breeding sites and the use of insecticides to suppress the adult mosquito populations. Clinical cases remain either underreported or misreported due to the restriction to government clinics, missing the large private health care sector. There is a need for an integrated approach to manage dengue outbreaks in Mumbai. There are various novel strategies available for use that can be utilised to improve disease detection, mosquito surveillance, and control of mosquito-borne diseases. These novel technologies are discussed in this manuscript. Given the complex ecosystem of mosquito-borne diseases in Mumbai, integrating data obtained from these technologies would support the ongoing mosquito control measures in Mumbai. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Unlike the ground-based manipulator, the space manipulator has no fixed base. Dynamic reaction forces and moments induced by manipulator motion will disrupt the space robot base. The docking of a floating object adds a control problem because it affects the pose of the free-floating base of the space manipulator. As a result, the tracking trajectory by the robot tip cannot comply with the reference trajectory. Owing to the non-holonomic features of space manipulator, the control methodology requires the advanced controller to neutralize trajectory deviation. This work presents the trajectory control strategy of two redundant planar robot (RPR) that dealt with a rectangular floating body. The control strategy composed of Proportional Integral Derivative (PID) controller and Amnesia controller. The eight-links two RPSR are modeled and simulated for docking the rectangular floating body. The result of computer simulation shows that with PID and Amnesia controller, the deviation between the reference and actual trajectory is decreased, the error between the reference and the actual trajectory is reduced, and the rotation of a floating rectangular body is reduced to the minimum extent because of PID and Amnesia controller. Additionally, optimum tuning of gain parameters is implemented using a Genetic Algorithm which results in further reduction of error by 40%. Furthermore, this proposed control strategy will be extended to achieve the desired trajectory by controlling and switching over various joints with greater accuracy. The Bond Graph Technique (BGT) is utilized in this work to model the robot dynamic behavior and to implement the control scheme using the SYMBOLS Shakti software. The BGT is convenient for the modeling and simulation of systems with a different domains like hydraulic, mechanical, electrical, etc. The technique generates dynamic equations based on graphical modeling with kinematic entities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For the first time, we propose a dual-hop multiple input multiple output (MIMO)-based convergent underwater wireless optical communication (UWOC)–free-space optical (FSO) system. The UWOC and FSO links are Gamma–Gamma (GG) distributed. Closed-form expression for the average bit error rate (ABER) is derived for the proposed MIMO-based dual-hop UWOC-FSO convergent system using the GG cumulative distribution function. The end-to-end system performance analysis is carried out by considering the turbulence, attenuation, and pointing error effects for UWOC and FSO links. For the UWOC link, different oceanic conditions, such as the clear ocean, coastal ocean, and turbid harbor, are considered. Various atmospheric effects, such as clear air, fog, rain, drizzle, and haze, are considered for the FSO link. The analytical results of the proposed MIMO-based convergent system are compared with single-input single-output (SISO) system. As a result, it is observed that the proposed MIMO 2 × 3 scheme offers an improvement of 35 dB in the average signal-to-noise ratio compared with the SISO system at ABER of 10 − 5 in the case of weak pointing error. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Trivalent Al3+-doped samples of magnetite (Alx ${\mathrm {Fe}}_{3-x}\text{O}$ 4, $0.01\le x \le1.0$) were produced by wet chemical method. The X-ray diffraction studies confirmed the formation of a single-phase inverse spinel-type structure. Particles having spherical morphology and size range lying between 4 and 25 nm were observed during transmission electron microscopic investigation. Magnetic measurement displayed increase in saturation magnetization with a maximum value of ~62 $\text{A}\cdot \text{m}$ 2/kg for $x =0.1$ , and thereafter, it started decreasing with increased concentration of Al. The temperature during magnetic hyperthermia got stabilized near therapeutic range (~315 K) for the samples such as $x =0.01$ , 0.5, 0.7, and 1.0 at various external alternating current magnetic fields. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cancer often develops multidrug resistance (MDR) when cancer cells become resistant to numerous structurally and functionally different chemotherapeutic agents. MDR is considered one of the principal reasons for the failure of many forms of clinical chemotherapy. Several factors are involved in the development of MDR including increased expression of efflux transporters, the tumor microenvironment, changes in molecular targets and the activity of cancer stem cells. Recently, researchers have designed and developed a number of small molecule inhibitors and derivatives of natural compounds to overcome various mechanisms of clinical MDR. Unfortunately, most of the chemosensitizing approaches have failed in clinical trials due to non-specific interactions and adverse side effects at pharmacologically effective concentrations. Nanomedicine approaches provide an efficient drug delivery platform to overcome the limitations of conventional chemotherapy and improve therapeutic effectiveness. Multifunctional nanomaterials have been found to facilitate drug delivery by improving bioavailability and pharmacokinetics, enhancing the therapeutic efficacy of chemotherapeutic drugs to overcome MDR. In this review article, we discuss the major factors contributing to MDR and the limitations of existing chemotherapy- and nanocarrier-based drug delivery systems to overcome clinical MDR mechanisms. We critically review recent nanotechnology-based approaches to combat tumor heterogeneity, drug efflux mechanisms, DNA repair and apoptotic machineries to overcome clinical MDR. Recent successful therapies of this nature include liposomal nanoformulations, cRGDY-PEG-Cy5.5-Carbon dots and Cds/ZnS core–shell quantum dots that have been employed for the effective treatment of various cancer sub-types including small cell lung, head and neck and breast cancers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Clinical use of tacrolimus has been challenging due to its narrow therapeutic index and highly variable pharmacokinetics. In this study, we compared patients who received body weight-based tacrolimus dosing pre-transplant (transplanted from 2016 to 2018) with those who received CYP3A5 genotype-based dosing (2018 to 2020). Methods: Eighty-two renal transplant recipients were non-randomly assigned to genotype-adapted or bodyweight-based tacrolimus dosing groups. The primary end point was to study the proportion of subjects who achieved the target tacrolimus C0 on post-op day 4. Secondary end points included clinical outcomes and safety. Results: The proportion of subjects who achieved the target tacrolimus C0 on postoperative days 4 and 10 were significantly higher in the adapted group, 53.6% and 47.5%, compared to 24.3% and 17% in controls, respectively (P = 0.01). Adapted group subjects achieved their first target tacrolimus C0 significantly earlier (4 days) compared to 25 days in controls (P = 0.01). The total number of tacrolimus dose modifications required in the first postop month were lower in the adapted group; 47 compared to 68 in the controls (P = 0.05). The proportion of subjects with sub-therapeutic tacrolimus exposure on postoperative day 4 was significantly higher in the controls, 56% versus 10% in the adapted group (P < 0.001). There were no significant differences between the groups in the rate of biopsy proven acute rejections, adverse events, and graft function at the end of 3 months follow up. Conclusion: Genotype-based tacrolimus dosing leads to more subjects achieving the target tacrolimus C0 earlier. However, there may be a higher risk of tacrolimus nephrotoxicity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to cater to the scientific demand for deep ocean exploration with human presence, manned submersible capable of operating up to 6000 m depth is being designed and developed at National Institute of Ocean Technology. The submersible can accommodate three personnel inside the confined space volume of 4.8 m³ human capsule (personnel sphere) for total endurance of 108 h (12 h normal mission and 96 h in case of emergency). Human Metabolic Simulator was developed by following Det Norske Veritas guideline to validate the life support system design during initial stages of qualification inside the personnel sphere. By considering human respiratory quotient (RQ), HMS was designed by combusting propane gas (RQ 0.6) to produce carbon dioxide, water and heat. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: In this paper, we introduce geographical information systems (GIS) as a tool to study trends in disease spread in time and space. Based on data gathered by the integrated disease surveillance programme (IDSP), we can see where outbreaks of Chickenpox have occurred. Objective: The aim of this study is to assess the trends in chickenpox diseases in India between January 2015 and April 2021 using GIS maps. Methods: For the collection of secondary data relating to chickenpox, a free app called collect 5 was used for collecting data weekly from the IDSP website and then storing them in an online server. In this project, variables that needed to be processed with QGIS were combined with table attributes of many shapefiles of India and presented as maps. Results: Between Jan 2015 and May 2021, 1269 chickenpox outbreaks (27,257 cases) have been recorded. Thirty-one deaths have been confirmed, with most occurring in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. Nineteen states did not report any deaths. According to the seasonally adjusted trend, the number of cases was highest during the months of January and March. Conclusion: In summary, geographic information systems have become an invaluable tool for mapping the hotspots of acute epidemics and planning public health interventions to prevent the spread of these diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multidrug resistance (MDR) is a major obstacle in cancer chemotherapy. P‐glycoprotein (P‐gp) one of the ATP‐binding cassette (ABC) transporters plays an important role in MDR. In this study, we examined the sensitizing property of andrographolide (Andro) to reverse MDR in the drug‐resistant KBChR 8‐5 cells. Andro exhibited increased cytotoxicity in a concentration‐dependent manner in the P‐gp overexpressing KBChR 8‐5 cells. Furthermore, Andro showed synergistic interactions with PTX and DOX in this drug‐resistant cells. Andro co‐administration enhanced PTX‐ and DOX‐induced cytotoxicity and reduced cell proliferation in the MDR cancer cells. Moreover, reactive oxygen species (ROS) were elevated with a decrease in the mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) during Andro and chemotherapeutic drugs combination treatment in the drug‐resistant cells. Furthermore, Andro and PTX‐induced cell cycle arrest was observed in the drug‐resistant cell. We also noticed that the expression of ABCB1 and AKT were downregulated during Andro (4 µM) treatment. Furthermore, Andro treatment enhanced the expression of caspase 3 and caspase 9 in the combinational groups that support the enhanced apoptotic cell death in drug‐resistant cancer cells. Therefore, the results reveal that Andro plays a role in the reversal of P‐gp‐mediated MDR in KBChR 8‐5 cells which might be due to regulating ABCB1/AKT signaling pathway. Significance statement: ATP‐binding cassette (ABC) transporters‐mediated multidrug resistance (MDR) is a major hindrance during cancer treatment. Efflux mechanism of P‐glycoprotein (P‐gp) decreases bioavailability and efficacy of chemotherapeutic drugs. Already known inhibitors of P‐gp exhibit higher toxicity to the untargeted cells. Phytochemicals have great potential to reverse the MDR mechanism in cancer cells with less toxicity. Andrographolide (Andro), a phytochemical of Andrographis paniculata, enhanced the efficacy of the chemotherapeutic drugs and reverses drug resistance in MDR cancer cells. Therefore, Andro can be considered as a potent candidate to overcome MDR after preclinical and clinical validations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Back electromotive force (EMF)-based sensorless vector control of permanent magnet synchronous motor (PMSM) drives provides a simple, robust, and low-cost solution for applications requiring only medium- and high-speed control. However, during the low-speed operation, back EMF is nearly zero, and hence, for starting and speed ramp-up, open-loop I−ƒ control is used. Once the motor attains a sufficient speed, the control is transferred to sensorless vector control. However, an arbitrary choice of the slope of frequency ramp leads to pole slipping. Pole slipping is usually prevented by fixing the frequency ramp slope to a minimum value, which deteriorates the dynamic performance during starting. In this article, a torque controller is proposed to dynamically vary the frequency slope depending on the moment of inertia and load torque present in the system, achieving fast and reliable starting. A reference frequency modulation algorithm for overcoming the inherent mid-frequency instability of the open-loop control is also included. An additional slope attenuator is proposed to minimize the torque oscillations caused by the reference frequency modulation during the transition from a ramp-up interval to a constant-speed interval with I−ƒ control. The proposed methods are experimentally verified on a 25-kW PMSM drive, which is started using open-loop I−ƒ control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The use of percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in patients with ST‐segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) is associated with a mortality rate of 5%–7%. It is clear that there is an urgent need to develop new drugs that can effectively prevent cardiac reperfusion injury. ATP‐sensitive K+ (KATP) channel openers (KCOs) can be classified as such drugs. Results: KCOs prevent irreversible ischemia and reperfusion injury of the heart. KATP channel opening promotes inhibition of apoptosis, necroptosis, pyroptosis, and stimulation of autophagy. KCOs prevent the development of cardiac adverse remodeling and improve cardiac contractility in reperfusion. KCOs exhibit antiarrhythmic properties and prevent the appearance of the no‐reflow phenomenon in animals with coronary artery occlusion and reperfusion. Diabetes mellitus and a cholesterol‐enriched diet abolish the cardioprotective effect of KCOs. Nicorandil, a KCO, attenuates major adverse cardiovascular event and the no‐reflow phenomenon, reduces infarct size, and decreases the incidence of ventricular arrhythmias in patients with acute myocardial infarction. Conclusion: The cardioprotective effect of KCOs is mediated by the opening of mitochondrial KATP (mitoKATP) and sarcolemmal KATP (sarcKATP) channels, triggered free radicals' production, and kinase activation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ultraviolet radiation induces oxidative photoaging in the skin cells. In this study, we investigated the ability of andrographolide (ADP) to protect human dermal fibroblasts (HDFa) from UVB radiation‐induced oxidative stress and apoptosis. The HDFa cells were exposed to UVB (19.8 mJ/cm2) radiation in the presence or absence of ADP (7 μM) and then oxidative stress and apoptotic protein expression were analyzed. UVB exposure resulted in a significant decline in the activity of antioxidant enzymes and altered mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP). Furthermore, UVB‐irradiation causes increased intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, apoptotic morphological changes, and lipid peroxidation levels in the HDFa. Moreover, the pretreatment with ADP reduced the UVB‐induced cytotoxicity, ROS production, and increased antioxidant enzymes activity. Further, the ADP pretreatment prevents the UVB‐induced loss of MMP and apoptotic signaling in HDFa cells. Therefore, the present results suggest that ADP protects HDFa cells from UVB‐induced oxidative stress and apoptotic damage. Significance statement: Andrographolide (ADP) exhibits potent antioxidant in the in vitro free radical scavenging activity and it prevents UVB‐induced oxidative stress and apoptotic signaling in human dermal fibroblasts. Further, we suggest that the ADP pretreatment predominantly protects against UVB‐induced cytotoxicity, lipid peroxidation, antioxidant depletion, and apoptotic molecules. In this study, ADP possesses antioxidant effects; it could help to develop photoprotective and new sunscreen agents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, we have fabricated hybrid heterojunction solar cells with structure ITO/ZnO/P3HT:PCBM:CTSe NCs (optimized weight percentage 10 wt%)/MoO3/Ag (device SM10). A thin layer of molybdenum oxide MoO3 prepared by peroxomolybdic acid organosol as the precursor was used as hole transport layers (HTLs). The performance of the device was compared with ITO/ZnO/P3HT:PCBM:CTSe NCs/Ag(device S10). The important parameters such as global charge carrier mobility (µ), effective charge carriers lifetime (τn) and charge diffusion time (τd) have been extracted from electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) performed at the bias of 0.1 V in the dark. The Nyquist plot obtained from EIS has demonstrated effective carriers lifetime, global mobility and charge diffusion time for a device SM10 as 6.46 ms, 12.6 × 10−4 cm2 V−1 S−1 and 5.2 µs and for device S10 as 5.65 ms, 9.58 × 10−4 cm2 V−1 S−1 and 6.8 µs, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective:The aim of the present study to prepare Pulsatile release tablets of Tolterodine tartarate for the treatment of over active bladder. Methods:The drug delivery system was designed to deliver the drug at time when it could be most needful for the patient. Tolterodine Tartarate Pulsatile core-in-cup tablet was designed to deliver a rapid or transient and quantified drug after a predetermined lag period. This type of tablet was prepared by direct compression method and is used to prepare a set of corein- cup tablets with Swellable and Rupturable polymers like Pectin, Locust bean gum and HPMCK15M respectively with different proportions with impermeable cup ethyl cellulose. Tablets were evaluated for Precompression, Post compression and in vitro dissolution studies. Results: The drug polymer interaction was studied by FTIR. The Precompression and post compression parameters are with in the limits.The Data of core-in-cup tablet were within the acceptable limit and they can be compressed directly into tablets. The hardness, friability and uniformity in weight and disintegration time results were in accordance with the standard limit. The lag time is dependent on rupturing property of Ethylcellulose and swelling property of the polymers. In the Optimized formulation the best fit model was found to be Korsmeyer peppas with exponential 'n' value is > 1 indicates the drug release follows super case II transport mechanism. The initial burst release was observed after lag time and drug release of 9was extended up to 11hrs for the optimized formulation. The in vitro drug release studies suggest that core-in-cup tablet prepared with ethyl cellulose and HPMC K 15 M shows a lag time of 4hrs due to more swelling and delayed rupturing properties of HPMC K15M and ethyl cellulose. Comparitive Dissolution studies were conducted for optimized formulation TT9 & Marketed preparation. Short Term Stability studies indicate no significant changes in Drug content and Dissolution rates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The acute myocardial infarction (AMI) and sudden cardiac death (SCD), both associated with acute cardiac ischemia, are one of the leading causes of adult death in economically developed countries. The development of new approaches for the treatment and prevention of AMI and SCD remains the highest priority for medicine. A study on the cardiovascular effects of chronic hypoxia (CH) may contribute to the development of these methods. Chronic hypoxia exerts both positive and adverse effects. The positive effects are the infarct-reducing, vasoprotective, and antiarrhythmic effects, which can lead to the improvement of cardiac contractility in reperfusion. The adverse effects are pulmonary hypertension and right ventricular hypertrophy. This review presents a comprehensive overview of how CH enhances cardiac tolerance to ischemia/reperfusion. It is an indepth analysis of the published data on the underlying mechanisms, which can lead to future development of the cardioprotective effect of CH. A better understanding of the CH-activated protective signaling pathways may contribute to new therapeutic approaches in an increase of cardiac tolerance to ischemia/reperfusion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nanocomposites have been demonstrated to have much lower density, higher viscoelasticity and can have tunable physical and chemical properties compared to metal alloys. The main advantage of nanofillers reinforcement in the polymer matrix for underwater application has been highlighted in terms of lower water intake as well as less debonding in ionic medium. The different types of fibre-reinforced polymer nanocomposites have been fabricated in order to understand the role of nanofillers at polymer matrix inside the saline water. The bonding of protective coating with the resin surface was found to be affected in salt water whereas the nanofillers were found to diffuse into the empty space of polymer matrix and provide comprehensive chemical resistance in ionic environment. It has been established that the gel coating of the composite was not stable under the dynamic water flow and pressure. On the other hand, nanofillers has been found to comprehensively plugged the voids in polymer and fibers interfaces which showed much higher stability in marine environment by delaying the ageing of structures for offshore applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cucurbiturils are magnificent macrocycles that are used as precise molecules for the fabrication of supramolecular chemotherapeutic agents through host-guest molecular recognition. In the present work, the host-guest complex of cucurbit[6]uril (CB[6]) with 5-fluorouracil (Flu, an anticancer drug) is synthesized and its structural study was carried out using UV, XRD, and TG/DTA techniques. The UV-Vis spectrum of the inclusion complex exhibited maximum absorbance with a blue shift at 302 nm whereas the maximum absorbance for free CB[6] was observed at 318 nm. This notable shift in wavelength proves the formation of the inclusion complex of CB[6] with fluorouracil. The host-guest complex of fluorouracil with CB[6] shows sharp endothermic peaks at 403.30C with a heat flow of -0.5 mW/mg the peak covers partially an area of 528.2 J/g, The large variations observed in the DSC curves of the complex compared with free host CB[6] confirm the formation of a stable host-guest complex. The XRD pattern of the host-guest complex is different from the parent compound and this reaffirms the formation of host-guest complex. The cytotoxic effect of 5-fluorouracil and the host-guest complex of CB[6] with fluorouracil on KB cells was determined by MTT assay and the cytotoxicity of anticancer drug Flu towards cancer cells significantly increases by encapsulating 5-fluorouracil into the hydrophobic cavity of CB[6], The ROS generation study was carried out by measurement of intracellular ROS using fluorescent and chemiluminescent probe. The ROS generation of anticancer drugs against cancer cells is significantly increased by encapsulating 5-fluorouracil into the hydrophobic cavity of CB[6], The inclusion complex of cucurbituril with fluorouracil treatment in KB cells showed higher anticancer potential than fluorouracil treatment in KB cells when compared to the control. The IC50 value of 5-flurouracil was found to be higher compared to the inclusion complex of cucurbituril with fluorouracil. The interesting results obtained, might open new avenues for the use of CB[6] host-guest complexes in anticancer and drug delivery studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]