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During the last few decades, the quality of water has deteriorated significantly due to pollution and many other issues. As a consequence of this, there is a need for a model that can make accurate projections about water quality. This work shows the comparative analysis of different machine learning approaches like Support Vector Machine (SVM), Decision Tree (DT), Random Forest, Gradient Boost, and Ada Boost, used for the water quality classification. The model is trained on the Water Quality Index dataset available on Kaggle. Z-score is used to normalize the dataset before beginning the training process for the model. Because the given dataset is unbalanced, Synthetic Minority Oversampling Technique (SMOTE) is used to balance the dataset. Experiments results depict that Random Forest and Gradient Boost give the highest accuracy of 81%. One of the major issues with the machine learning model is lack of transparency which makes it impossible to evaluate the results of the model. To address this issue, explainable AI (XAI) is used which assists us in determining which features are the most important. Within the context of this investigation, Local Interpretable Model-agnostic Explanations (LIME) is utilized to ascertain the significance of the features.

Wireless body area networks (WBANs) have seen an increase in popularity in recent years. Electromagnetic waves created by the body have the capacity to connect nodes all over the epidermis and throughout the body. If the gadget does not cause discomfort or harm, it can be linked to or implanted in the body. This is something that is currently being worked on. Other factors influence an individual’s genuine mobility and the ease with which they can use something. Participating in social networks may enhance the lives of members. WBANs equipped with sensors can monitor a user’s heart rate and communicate that information to the user’s physician. WBAN has been shown to be a dependable electronic health solution. WBAN technology allows you to follow your patient’s data no matter where they are, when they are, or what they are doing. However, because it runs in an open Wi-Fi environment and can conceal users’ physiological data, it is more vulnerable to assault. To deal with resource-constrained WBAN sensors and devices, a cryptographic solution that is both very efficient and extremely secure is required. Our primary priority will be the safeguarding of the WBAN network. WBAN contains several significant security weaknesses that must be addressed immediately. WBANs might benefit from certificateless signature encryption that uses a hyperelliptic curve and works over a secure channel. We are outpaced by the opposition by 4.58 milliseconds.

Grafting of starch with methyl methacrylate was carried out using a free radical mechanism. Free radicals were generated by the thermal disintegration of potassium persulphate at the temperature of 60°C. A variety of experimental methods were investigated to check the effect of different parameters such as (temperature, amount of starch, quantity of monomer) for efficient grafting. The optimum temperature found for good grafting was 60°C. The initial amount of starch was taken as 0.75 g. Keeping the amount of starch constant, the quantity of monomer was reduced gradually from 10 to 2 ml in portions of 5 and 3 ml. The controlled biodegradability of the grafted product was obtained by using a 3 ml monomer in 0.75 g starch. This grafted polymer showed 31.45% biodegradability in 60 days. The nanocomposite of starch grafted methyl methacrylate was prepared by incorporating 0.02 g Ni nanoparticles in the reaction flask 15 min before the completion of reaction time. The starch grafted polymer and nanocomposite of this were fully characterized by SEM, FTIR, TGA, and DSC techniques. The soil burial method was applied to estimate the biodegradability of samples. The polymer containing Ni nanoparticles was less biodegradable than without nanoparticles. Such polymers can be efficiently used as packaging material for food items. RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS: Through a free radical method, methyl methacrylate was grafted onto the backbone of starch in this study. During the process, nickel nanoparticles were added to achieve the nickel nanocomposite of the starch grafted polymer. The breakdown of starch grafted polymer after 60 days in a soil burial experiment was 31.45%, whereas the degradation of nanocomposites was 20.07%. Our synthesized nanocomposite polymers can be effectively employed as packaging material for food items.

Helicobacter pylori urease remains a validated drug target for the eradication of pervasive chronic stomach infection that leads to severe human health diseases such as gastritis and stomach cancer. The increased failure of current treatment protocols because of resistance to broadband antibiotics, severe side effects and low compliance underscore the need for a targeted eradication therapy. Therefore, in the present research, we have developed a new series of acetylphenol-based acyl thioureas that can potentially provide a new template for drug candidates to inhibit urease enzyme. Newly synthesized compounds 7a-j were evaluated for urease inhibitory strength using thiourea as a positive control. In vitro inhibitory results revealed that all the tested compounds were significantly potent than the standard drug. The most active lead 7f competitively inhibited the enzyme and displayed an IC

A well-refined heterointerface combination of a 2D/1D SCN/CNS binary heterojunction is developed.

Ischemic stroke remains a devastating cerebrovascular disease that accounts for a high proportion of mortality and disability worldwide. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of small non-coding RNAs that are responsible for regulation of post-transcriptional gene expression, and growing evidence supports a role for miRNAs in stroke injury and recovery. The current study examined the role of miR-182 in experimental stroke using both in vitro and in vivo models of ischemic injury. Brain levels of miR-182 significantly increased after transient middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) in mice and in primary astrocyte cultures subjected to combined oxygen-glucose deprivation/reperfusion (OGD/R) injury. In vivo, stroke volume and neurological score were significantly improved by pre-treatment with miR-182 antagomir. Astrocyte cultures stressed with OGD/R resulted in mitochondrial fragmentation and downregulation of cortactin, an actin-binding protein. Inhibition of miR-182 significantly preserved cortactin expression, reduced mitochondrial fragmentation and improved astrocyte survival after OGD/R. In parallel, lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced nitric-oxide release in astrocyte cultures was significantly reduced by miR-182 inhibition, translating to reduced injury in primary neuronal cultures subjected to conditioned medium from LPS-treated astrocytes. These findings identify miR-182 and/or cortactin as potential clinical targets to preserve mitochondrial structure and mitigate neuroinflammation and cell death after ischemic stroke.

There has been an increase in cases of drug addiction and prescription drug abuse worldwide. Recently, pregabalin abuse has been a focus for many healthcare agencies, as highlighted by epidemiological studies. We previously evaluated the possibility of pregabalin abuse using the conditioned place preference (CPP) paradigm. We observed that a 60 mg/kg dose could induce CPP in mice and that pregabalin-rewarding properties were mediated through glutamate neurotransmission. Notably, the dopaminergic reward circuitry is also known to play a crucial role in medication-seeking behavior. Therefore, this study aimed to explore the possible involvement of dopaminergic receptor-1 in pregabalin-induced CPP. Mice were randomly allocated to receive saline or the dopamine-1 receptor antagonist SKF-83566 (0.03 mg/kg, intraperitoneal). After 30 min, the mice received either saline or pregabalin (60 mg/kg) during the conditioning phase. Among the control groups that received saline or SKF-83566, the time spent in the two conditioning chambers was not significantly altered. However, among the pregabalin-treated group, there was a marked increase in the time spent in the drug-paired chamber compared to the time spent in the vehicle-paired chamber. Notably, blocking dopamine-1 receptors with SKF-83566 completely prevented pregabalin-induced place preference, thus demonstrating the engagement of the dopaminergic system in pregabalin-induced reward-related behavior.

In this study, photocorrosion of ZnO is inhibited by doping Ni in the ZnO nanostructure and electron–hole recombination was solved by forming a heterostructure with S-g-C3N4. Ni is doped into ZnO NPs from 0 to 10% (w/w). Among the Ni-decorated ZnO NPs, 4% Ni-doped ZnO NPs (4NZO) showed the best performance. So, 4% Ni–ZnO was used to form heterostructure NCs with S-g-C3N4. NZO NPs were formed by the wet co-precipitation route by varying the weight percentage of Ni (0–10% w/w). Methylene blue (MB) was used as a model dye for photocatalytic studies. For the preparation of the 4NZO-x-SCN nanocomposite, 4NZO NPs were formed in situ in the presence of various concentrations of S-g-C3N4 (10–50% (w/w)) by using the coprecipitation route. The electron spin resonance (ESR) and radical scavenger studies showed that O2− and OH free radicals were the main reactive species that were responsible for MB photodegradation.

The photocatalytic activity of photocatalysts is severely hampered by limited visible light harvesting and unwanted fast recombination of photogenerated e− and h+. In the current study, the photocatalytic efficiency of Cu–ZnO/S-g-C3N4 (CZS) nanocomposites was investigated against MB dye. The composite materials were designed via chemical co-precipitation method and characterised by important analytical techniques. Distinctive heterojunctions developed between S-g-C3N4 and Cu–ZnO in the CZS composite were revealed by TEM. The synthesized composites exhibit a huge number of active sites, a large surface area, a smaller size and better visible light absorption. The considerable enhancement in the photocatalytic activity of CZS nanocomposites might be accredited to the decay in the e–h pair recombination rate and a red shift in the visible region, as observed by PL and optical analysis, respectively. Furthermore, the metal (Cu) doping into the S-g-C3N4/ZnO matrix created exemplary interfaces between ZnO and S-g-C3N4, and maximized the photocatalytic activity of CZS nanocomposites. In particular, CZS nanocomposites synthesized by integrating 25% S-g-C3N4 with 4% Cu–ZnO (CZS-25 NCs) exhibited the 100% photocatalytic degradation of MB in 60 minutes under sunlight irradiation. After six cycles, the photocatalytic stability of CZS-25 NCs was excellent. Likewise, a plausible MB degradation mechanism is proposed over CZS-25 NCs based on photoluminescence and reactive species scavenger test observation. The current research supports the design of novel composites for the photocatalytic disintegration of organic contaminants.

The growth of carbon nanostructures from vegetable oils using a modified conventional approach is a simple and environmentally friendly technology with controllable features. The goal of this study is to develop a simple and environmentally friendly process for making carbon nanoparticles using commercially available, low-cost vegetable oils. The technique involves the controlled burning of “Mustard”, “Olive”, and “Linseed” oils using the traditional clay lamps and collecting the carbon soot on a ceramic plate. The prepared carbon nanoparticles were purified through sonication and subjected to characterization using powder X-ray diffraction, SEM, Fourier transformed infrared, Thermogravimetric and differential scanning calorimetric analyses. The average particle size of carbon nanoparticles as investigated by powder X-Ray Diffraction analyses was found to be 18, 24, and 57 nm for mustard, olive and linseed oils respectively. SEM analyses revealed the surface morphology of these carbon nanostructures as spherical particles. Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) providing knowledge about the thermal stability of these carbon nanoparticles. The synthesized carbon nanoparticles were screened for antibacterial activities against different species (e.g., Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Streptococcus haemolyticus, Proteus refrigere and Staphylococcus aureus) and fruitful results have been obtained.

Substance abuse is a chronic, relapsing disorder characterized by compulsive drug use regardless of negative consequences. Incremental increases in pregabalin abuse have been observed in Saudi Arabia and throughout the world. In previous studies, the potential for pregabalin abuse with escalating doses of the drug (30, 60, 90, and 120 mg/kg) were investigated in male mice. Notably, researchers have argued that women may exhibit a greater tendency to consume drugs without a prescription to alleviate stress and depression. Moreover, female subjects are more prone to impulsivity in drug intake or abuse than their male counterparts. Therefore, in the present study, we compared the potential for pregabalin abuse between male and female mice using a conditioned place preference paradigm. Male and female BALB/c mice were divided into four groups based on the pregabalin dose administered (30, 60, 90, or 120 mg/kg, intraperitoneal). Preference scores were then calculated and compared between male and female mice in each dosage group. Interestingly, preference scores were significantly higher in female mice than in male mice at dosages of 30 and 120 mg/kg. These findings indicate that female mice may be more prone to pregabalin abuse and tolerance than male mice. These results might be helpful to the healthcare providers and policymakers to consider these sex differences in choosing therapeutic plans and consider alternatives to the misused prescription medications.

The delivery of noncoding (nc)RNA to target cancer stem cells and metastatic tumors has shown many positive outcomes, resulting in improved and more efficient treatment strategies. The success of therapeutic RNA depends solely on passing cellular barriers to reach the target site, where it binds to the mRNA of the interest. By 2018, 20 clinical trials had been initiated, most focusing on cancer and diabetes, with some progressing to Phase II clinical trials testing the safety and efficacy of small interfering (si)RNA. Many challenges limit RNA interference (RNAi) and miRNA usage in vivo; therefore, various approaches have been developed to promote ncRNA efficiency and stability. In this review, we focus on targeting the tumor microenvironment (TME) via the modification of delivery systems utilizing nanotechnology-based delivery approaches.

Well-differentiated thyroid cancer (WDTC) is a malignant head and neck tumor with a very high incidence. Thyroidectomized WDTC patients have been referred to nuclear medicine for radioactive iodine (RAI) ablation therapy and/or annual follow-up with diagnostic whole-body imaging. Serum thyroglobulin (TG) and thyroglobulin antibodies (TGAb) are biochemical tumor markers used to monitor WDTC. A global rise in the prevalence of WDTC is increasing the number of thyroidectomized patients requiring lifelong monitoring for persistent or recurrent diseases. The present study aimed to identify the most successful prognostic factors in well-defined thyroid carcinoma patients following total thyroidectomy and RAI therapy, followed by an estimation of the cutoff value of TG and TGAb. In this context, a total of 100 subjects were recruited and classified as follows: 60 thyroid carcinoma patients underwent total thyroidectomy and successful RAI therapy, while 40 normal healthy individuals matched for age, sex, and socioeconomic status constituted the control group. Interestingly, the levels of TG did not differ significantly between the relapsed and non-relapsed cases, but the levels of TGAb differed significantly between the relapsed and non-relapsed cases. Collectively, TG and TGAb are considered the most successful prognostic factors in well-defined thyroid carcinoma patients after total thyroidectomy and RAI therapy. The present study also concluded that the TGAb determination was better than that of the TG level, with a cutoff value of 10 ng/mL. These findings provide baseline information for follow-up and lifelong monitoring of thyroidectomized WDTC patients. Further research is warranted to explore more about serum TG and TGAb in thyroid carcinoma patients on a larger scale.

Organic polymers in the process of thermal degradation produce a lot of toxic fragments. In this work, we designed a new method of degradation of polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) materials with aluminum triiodide nanoadditives (AlI

A well-defined heterojunction among two dissimilar semiconductors exhibited enhanced photocatalytic performance owing to its capability for boosting the photoinduced electron/hole pair transportation. Therefore, designing and developing such heterojunctions using diverse semiconductor-based materials to enhance the photocatalytic ability employing various approaches have gained research attention. For this objective, g-C

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder and the leading cause of dementia worldwide. The limited pharmacological approaches based on cholinesterase inhibitors only provide symptomatic relief to AD patients. Moreover, the adverse side effects such as nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite, muscle cramps, and headaches associated with these drugs and numerous clinical trial failures present substantial limitations on the use of medications and call for a detailed insight of disease heterogeneity and development of preventive and multifactorial therapeutic strategies on urgent basis. In this context, we herein report a series of quinoline-thiosemicarbazone hybrid therapeutics as selective and potent inhibitors of cholinesterases. A facile multistep synthetic approach was utilized to generate target structures bearing multiple sites for chemical modifications and establishing drug-receptor interactions. The structures of all the synthesized compounds were fully established using readily available spectroscopic techniques (FTIR, 1H- and 13C-NMR). In vitro inhibitory results revealed compound 5b as a promising and lead inhibitor with an IC50 value of 0.12 ± 0.02 μM, a 5-fold higher potency than standard drug (galantamine, IC50 = 0.62 ± 0.01 μM). The synergistic effect of electron-rich (methoxy) group and ethylmorpholine moiety in quinoline-thiosemicarbazone conjugates contributes significantly in improving the inhibition level. Molecular docking analysis revealed various vital interactions of potent compounds with amino acid residues and reinforced the in vitro results. Kinetics experiments revealed the competitive mode of inhibition while ADME properties favored the translation of identified inhibitors into safe and promising drug candidates for pre-clinical testing. Collectively, inhibitory activity data and results from key physicochemical properties merit further research to ensure the design and development of safe and high-quality drug candidates for Alzheimer’s disease.