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Doxorubicin (DOX) is a widely used powerful anthracycline for treatment of many varieties of malignancies; however its cumulative and dose-dependent cardio-toxicity has been limited its clinical use. In the current study, in vivo and in vitro (neonatal rat's cardiomyocytes) experiments were conducted to identify the impact of nifuroxazide (NIFU) on DOX-induced cardiomyopathy, vascular injury, and hemato-toxcity and plot the underlying regulatory mechanisms. Cardiovascular injury was induced in vivo by I.P. injection of an overall dose of DOX (21 mg/kg) administered (3.5 mg/kg) twice weekly for 21 days. NIFU (10 and 30 mg/kg) was administered orally once daily for 21 days, 1 week after DOX injection initiation. In vivo experiments confirmed NIFU to restore blood cells counts and hemoglobin concentration. Moreover, NIFU normalized the myocardial functional status as confirmed by ECG examination and myocardial injury markers; CK-MB, LDH, and AST. NIFU restored the balance between TAC and both of ROS and MDA and down-regulated the protein expression of TLR4, NF-kB, TXNIP, NLR-family pyrin domain containing 3 (NLRP3), caspase-1, IL-1β, and GSDMD-N terminal, with inhibition of the up-stream of NLRP3 and the down-stream DOX-induced pyroptosis. The in vitro assay confirmed well preserved cardiomyocytes' architecture, amelioration of NLRP3/IL-1 β-mediated cell pyroptosis, enhanced cell viability, and improved spontaneous beating. Moreover, NIFU normalized the disturbed aortic oxidant-antioxidant balance; enhanced eNOS- mediated endothelial relaxation, and down regulated IL-1β expression. Thus, NIFU may be proposed to serve as a cardioprotective agent to attenuate DOX-induced cardio-toxicity and vascular injury., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2022. Published by Elsevier Inc.)

Purpose: Targeting enhancer of zeste homolog 2 (EZH2) can represent a hopeful strategy for oncotherapy. Also, the use of PLGA-based nanoparticles as a novel and rate-controlling carrier system was of our concern., Methods: Benzimidazole derivatives were synthesized, and their structures were clarified. In vitro antitumor activity was evaluated. Then, a modeling study was performed to investigate the ability of the most active compounds to recognize EZH2 active sites. Compound 30 (Drug) was selected to conduct pre-formulation studies and then it was incorporated into polymeric PLGA nanoparticles (NPs). NPs were then fully characterized to select an optimized formula (NP 4 ) that subjected to further evaluation regarding antitumor activity and protein expression levels of EZH2 and EpCAM., Results: The results showed the antitumor activity of some synthesized derivatives. Docking outcomes demonstrated that Compound 30 was able to identify EZH2 active sites. NP 4 exhibited promising findings and proved to keep the antitumor activity of Compound 30. HEPG-2 was the most sensitive for both Drug and NP 4 . Protein analysis indicated that Drug and NP 4 had targeted EZH2 and the downstream signaling pathway leading to the decline of EpCAM expression., Conclusions: Targeting EZH2 by Compound 30 has potential use in the treatment of cancer especially hepatocellular carcinoma., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Coastal salinity causes substantial adverse impacts on agricultural productivity and food security. Farmers' choice of salinity adaptation strategies might depend on how they perceive the problem. This research examined rice farmers' perceptions of salinity, adaptation strategies, and its implications for policy initiatives to sustain rice production in the affected coastal areas of Bangladesh. Boro rice growers (n = 109) randomly selected from two coastal sub-districts were interviewed using a semi-structured survey. Awareness of salinity and its increase over the past 20 years was widespread among rice farmers. A high proportion of farmers (90%) perceived the reproductive (e.g. booting, heading, and flowering) stages of the rice plant as the most sensitive to salinity problems. Salinity (ECe) was measured in the farmers' fields and were categorized according to farmers' perceptions and scientific interpretation (e.g. high or low). Farmers perceived a field affected by high salinity at a lower EC reading than the scientific interpretation of the salinity level. Most of the farmers (67%) were undertaking early transplanting and applying irrigation in order to adapt to salinity problems which occur later in rice crop growth during Boro season. Thus, farmers' actions demonstrated that their perceptions of salinity and adaptation responses were pre-emptive of when salinity was most likely to have an impact on the rice crop. Farmers' perceptions of salinization and measures to manage salinity need to be considered in research prioritization and policy formulation by the government. This action could potentially secure rice production and thus contribute to the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals (SDG-1, 2 and 3)., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declares no conflict of interests., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Research efforts, on soil carbon management in agricultural lands, over the last two decades have sought to improve our understanding in order to increase soil productivity, soil carbon sequestration and to offset greenhouse gas emissions. This systematic review aims to identify the research gaps and future direction of soil carbon management in Australia. We explored and synthesized the use of social-ecological systems (SES) both in the global and Australian context, before making the first attempt to develop a conceptual SES framework for soil carbon management. Both quantitative and qualitative assessment of articles were used to identify and synthesise research trends, challenges and opportunities for improved soil carbon management. The results provide valuable insight into the SES components examined, the research gaps and the methodological challenges for research into soil carbon management conducted over the last two decades. The review revealed that research has predominately focused on the ecological component of soil carbon management in agricultural practices and has been conducted from a scientist's perspective. The sustainability of carbon-building soil management practices will require integration of social components into future research, particularly from a farmer perspective. The proposed conceptual SES framework is designed to identify and investigate SES components in soil carbon management in order to increase the process of offsetting greenhouse gas emissions as required by Sustainable Development Goals 2, 13 and 15., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Aims: Diabetic nephropathy (DN) is a common chronic microvascular complication of both types of diabetes mellitus, which leads to renal dysfunction and subsequent need of dialysis and organ transplantation. Advanced glycation end products (AGEs) are metabolic consequence of hyperglycemia and are main contributory factor in the DN pathogenesis through mediating establishment of oxidative status and chronic inflammatory milieu. This study aimed to explore the impact of vanillin on preventing the progression of DN., Main Methods: Experimental DN model was established in rats utilizing streptozotocin. Serum concentration of AGEs and Interleukin-6 (IL-6) and transforming growth factor β1 (TGFβ1) levels in kidney homogenate were assessed using ELISA technique. Also, we evaluated the expression of nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) using immunohistochemistry., Key Findings: Treatment with vanillin for 8 weeks significantly ameliorated DN. Vanillin significantly decreased hyperglycemia and improved kidney function reflected by decreased serum levels of blood urea nitrogen, creatinine, and decreased proteinuria. Also, vanillin significantly decreased malondialdehyde content and elevated superoxide dismutase activity in renal tissues. Moreover, vanillin decreased renal expression of NF-κB and renal concentrations of IL-6, TGFβ1 and collagen. In addition, vanillin significantly decreased serum AGEs concentration. Also, vanillin attenuated histological abnormalities in kidney architecture., Significance: Vanillin, which is a cheap and abundant natural product, exhibited anti-AGEs, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and anti-fibrotic activities. These activities might be helpful and potent mechanisms in preventing the progression of DN., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Hepatic steatosis occurs when lipids accumulate in the liver leading to steatohepatitis, which can evolve into cirrhosis and consequently may end with hepatocellular carcinoma. Several automatic classification algorithms have been proposed to detect liver diseases. However, some algorithms are manufacturer-dependent, while others require extensive calculations and consequently prolonged computational time. This may limit the development of real-time and manufacturer-independent computer-aided detection of liver steatosis. This work demonstrates the feasibility of a computationally-efficient and manufacturer-independent wavelet-based computer-aided liver steatosis detection system using conventional B-mode ultrasound (US) imaging. Seven features were extracted from the approximation part of the second-level wavelet packet transform (WPT) of US images. The proposed technique was tested on two datasets of ex-vivo mice livers with and without gelatin embedding, in addition to a third dataset of in-vivo human livers acquired using two different US machines. Using the gelatin-embedded mice liver dataset, the technique exhibited 98.8% accuracy, 97.8% sensitivity, and 100% specificity, and the frame classification time was reduced from 0.4814 s using original US images to 0.1444 s after WPT preprocessing. When the other mice liver dataset was used, the technique showed 85.74% accuracy, 84.4% sensitivity, and 88.5% specificity, and the frame classification time was reduced from 0.5612s to 0.2903 s. Using human liver image data, the best classifier exhibited 92.5% accuracy, 93.0% sensitivity, 91.0% specificity, and the classification time was reduced from 0.660 s to 0.146 s. This technique can be useful for developing computationally-efficient and manufacturer-independent noninvasive CAD systems for fatty liver detection., Competing Interests: Conflict of interest The authors do not have financial and personal relationships with other people or organizations that could inappropriately influence (bias) their work.

Many people practice open defecation in south Asia. As a result, lot of human waste containing nutrients such as nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) enter rivers. Rivers transport these nutrients to coastal waters, resulting in marine pollution. This source of nutrient pollution is, however, ignored in many nutrient models. We quantify nutrient export by large rivers to coastal seas of Bangladesh, India and Pakistan, and the associated eutrophication potential in 2000 and 2050. Our new estimates for N and P inputs from human waste are one to two orders of magnitude higher than earlier model calculations. This leads to higher river export of nutrients to coastal seas, increasing the risk of coastal eutrophication potential (ICEP). The newly calculated future ICEP, for instance, Godavori river is 3 times higher than according to earlier studies. Our modeling approach is simple and transparent and can easily be applied to other data-poor basins., (Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Glycoproteins are an important class of biomolecules involved in a number of biological recognition processes. However, natural and recombinant glycoproteins are usually produced as mixtures of glycoforms that differ in the structures of the pendent glycans, which are difficult to separate in pure glycoforms. As a result, synthetic homogeneous glycopeptides and glycoproteins have become indispensable probes for detailed structural and functional studies. A number of elegant chemical and biological strategies have been developed for synthetic construction of tailor-made, full-size glycoproteins to address specific biological problems. In this review, we highlight recent advances in chemical and chemoenzymatic synthesis of homogeneous glycoproteins. Selected examples are given to demonstrate the applications of tailor-made, glycan-defined glycoproteins for deciphering glycosylation functions., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Various types of protein glycosylation have been identified from prokaryotes. Recent investigations have revealed the presence of N-linked glycoproteins in the pathogenic bacterium, Campylobacter jejuni. The structure of this glycan is unique, consisting of 5 GalNAc and 1 Glc, in addition to 2,4-diacetamido-2,4,6-trideoxy-d-glucopyranose (bacillosamine; Bac), which is N-glycosidically linked to the side chain of asparagine (Asn). We synthesized Bac from a 2-azido-2-deoxy-D-galactose derivative, which was further converted to the Asn-linked form.

A preconcentration method for silver in environmental waters involving adsorption on a tungsten wire, followed by electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry with a tungsten tube atomizer is described. The optimal immersing time was 90s. The best pH for the adsorption of silver was 3. Under the optimal conditions, the detection limit for silver by the tungsten wire preconcentration method was 5.0ngl(-1) (3S/N) and the relative standard deviation was 8.2%. The effects of large amounts of concomitants on the preconcentration of silver were evaluated. Even though 10(3)- to 10(4)-fold excess of matrix elements existed in water, the silver response was not significantly affected by the matrix elements. The method with preconcentration on a tungsten wire was applied to the determination of silver in waters and proved to be sensitive, simple, and convenient. This adsorption method can be utilized in in situ sampling of ultra-trace silver in environmental samples (waters). Furthermore, after sampling it is easy to carry and store the tungsten wire without contamination for a long time.