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Diclofenac (DCF) and Acetaminophen (ACT) are among the most important nonsteroidal anti–inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) that sought after for their antipyretic, analgesic, and anti‐inflammatory properties. In addition, ACT and DCF show synergistic activity toward pain relief. Therefore, appropriate analytical strategies are required for the simultaneous quantification of these NSAIDs in prescription drugs. This study introduces a method for the direct and simultaneous determination of ACT and DCF using the voltammetric approach in conjunction with chemometric tools such as partial least squares (PLS) and genetic algorithm–multiple linear regressions (GA−MLR). The calibration set was established using differential pulse voltammetry for 25 distinct mixtures of ACT and DCF. The calibration curve exhibited linearity within the concentration ranges of 0.1–1000 μM for ACT and 0.1–100 and 100–1000 for DCF. The effectiveness of chemometric methods was evaluated by analyzing synthetic mixtures of ACT and DCF and applying these methods to real samples containing a commercial pharmaceutical preparation of the specified drugs. Both methods yielded favorable results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The novel developed heterogeneous catalyst Ad/Pd‐UiO‐66 has been synthesized by hydrothermal technique. The prepared catalyst was identified by some analytical techniques such as Fourier transform‐infrared spectroscopy (FT‐IR), high‐resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR‐TEM), X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), X‐ray diffraction (XRD), and field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE‐SEM). The Ad/Pd‐UiO‐66 was used as catalyst in the Suzuki C–C coupling in the green aqueous media. This catalyst showed excellent efficiency for the C–C coupling of aryl halides with phenylboronic acid and 4‐methyl phenylboronic acid. The best results was recorded for coupling of iodobenzene with phenylboronic acid (95% conversion in 30 min). Furthermore, the stability and recyclability of the catalyst under optimized conditions were investigated. The catalyst was recovered and reused up to 5 times with no significant decrease in activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Graphene, emerging as a true two-dimensional (2D) material, has attracted increasing attention due to its unique physical and electrochemical properties such as high surface area, excellent conductivity, high mechanical strength, and ease of functionalization and mass production. The entire scientific community recognizes the significance and potential impact of graphene. Electrochemical detection strategies have advantages such as being simple, fast, and low-cost. The use of graphene as an excellent interface for electrode modification provides a promising way to construct more sensitive and stable electrochemical (bio)sensors. The review presents sensors based on graphene and its derivatives for electrochemical drug assays from pharmaceutical dosage forms and biological samples. Future perspectives in this rapidly developing field are also discussed. In addition, the interaction of several important anticancer drug molecules with deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) that was immobilized onto graphene-modified electrodes has been detailed in terms of dosage regulation and utility purposes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Seed pelleting is a technique of covering seeds with adhesive agents to improve seed performance and plant establishment while reducing production costs. To evaluate the responses of potato superelite minitubers to different pelleting treatments both qualitatively and quantitatively, a 2-year experiment was conducted based on randomized complete block design with three replications in Mohaghegh Ardabili University, Ardabil, Iran during 2018 and 2019. Experimental treatments included 17 different combinations of zeolite (ZE) or cocopeat (CO) fillers, coating (SC) or soil application (SS) of triple superphosphate, superabsorbent polymer (SP), and chitosan (CH). The results showed a significant effect of pelleting on yield, physiological, and qualitative traits. The highest fresh and dry tuber weight belonged to SS + ZE treatment, which showed 50.6 and 49.0% increase compared to the control treatment (without pelleting), respectively. Pelleting minitubers by ZE + SS had the highest fresh tuber and biological yield (23.6 and 28.0 ton.ha-1, respectively), which showed an increase of 156.5% and 145.6%, compared to the no pelleting treatment. Most pelleting treatments increased the leaf proline content and activity of the antioxidant enzymes. The highest peroxidase activity and lowest catalase activity (16.1 and 29.6 U.mg protein-1.min, respectively) were observed in the CO+SC+CH treatment. Co-application of ZE, SC, and SP resulted in the highest protein, nitrate, and starch content. In addition, minituber pelleting with ZE+SS+SP increased methionine content significantly by 52.94% compared to the control. In general, the co-application of triple superphosphate, SP, and ZE increased the tuber yield and quality traits. Finally, the use of CH with these compounds resulted in improving physiological characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current review summarized the progress that has been made over the years for the colorimetric determination of corticosteroids using chromophore reagents. Following an introduction to the subject and the fundamentals of colorimetric detection of corticosteroids, the chromophoric reagents were described in detail, and a perspective on the future of these materials was proposed. Different chromophores and various colorimetric reactions used for the detection of corticosteroids in real samples were reviewed. The key point of this review is to investigate and collect the colorimetric methods to improve the sensors based on image analysis, wearable sensors, and smartphones for corticosteroids in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims at investigating the morpho-physiological responses of potato superelite mini-tubers to different coating treatments factorial experiment, based on randomized complete block design with three replications in Research Farm of Mohaghegh Ardabili University between 2018 and 2019. Experimental factors at four levels include mini-tubers filler (zeolite and cocopeat), superphosphate (soil and pellet application), chitosan, and superabsorbent with control treatment (without pelleting). Application of cocopeat with superphosphate leads to the highest average number of tubers per plant (8.36), fresh and dry tuber yield (18.23 and 3.88 tons per hectare), and biological yield (21.69 tons per hectare). The use of chitosan in mini-tuber pelleting decrease the activity of catalase and peroxidase enzymes (19.67% and 16.37%, respectively), increasing the activity of polyphenol oxidase (37.80%). Zeolite increase and cocopeat decrease the tuber protein percentage, compared to the control. This increase in protein percentage with increasing tuber yield leads to a 32.23% increase in tuber protein yield in zeolite application, compared to control treatment. The use of superphosphate in mini-tuber pelleting also increase the protein percentage, thus leading to a 30.30% increase in protein yield, compared to control mini-tuber. In principal component analysis (PCA), the first component, with which 35% of the changes could be explained, include the yield of protein, lysine, and methionine, and the second component, with which 25% of the changes could be explained, include the protein, methionine, lysine, and total nitrogen. Finally, the results show that the mini-tuber pelleting by superphosphate, zeolite, and superabsorbent have had significant additive effects on yield and quality traits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study of graphene-based carbon nanocomposites has remarkably increased in recent years. Functionalized graphene-based nanostructures, including graphene oxide and reduced graphene oxide, have great potential as new innovative electrode materials in the fabrication of novel electrochemical sensors. Electrochemical sensors based on aptamers attracted great attention because of their high sensitivity and selectivity, and simple instrumentation, as well as low production cost. Aptamers as a potent alternative to antibodies are functional nucleic acids with a high tendency to specific analytes. Electrochemical aptasensors show specific recognition ability for a wide range of analytes. Although aptamers are selected in vitro in contrast to antibodies, they are interesting due to advantages like high stability, easy chemical modifications, and the potential to be employed in nanostructured device fabrication or electrochemical sensing devices. Recently, new nanomaterials have shown a significant impact on the production of electrochemical sensors with high efficiency and performance. This review aims to give an outline of electrochemical aptasensors based on the graphene family materials and discuss the detection mechanism in this type of aptasensors. The present review summarizes some of the recent achievements in graphene-based aptasensors and includes their recent electroanalytical applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]