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Manjri Singh,1 Parul Gupta,2 Richa Baronia,1 Priti Singh,1 Stalin Karuppiah,1 Rishi Shankar,3 Premendra D Dwivedi,2 Surinder P Singh1 1CSIR-National Physical Laboratory, New Delhi, 2CSIR-Indian Institute of Toxicology Research, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, 3Institute of Life Sciences, Ahmedabad University, Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India Abstract: We have synthesized graphene oxide (GO) nanosheets using modified Hummer’s method and conjugated it with doxorubicin (DOx), an anticancer drug. Drug release kinetics from GO–DOx conjugate indicated the drug release at acidic pH. MTT assay performed on FaDu hypopharyngeal cancer cell lines revealed that the GO–DOx nanoconjugate inhibited cell proliferation more efficiently compared with pure DOx. Preliminary results indicate the potential of designed GO–DOx drug conjugate for head and neck cancer. Keywords: graphene oxide, doxorubicin, nanomedicine, head and neck cancer

Rajni Singh,1 Mony Sreedharan Smitha,1 Stalin Karuppiah,2 Surinder P Singh2 1Amity Institute of Microbial Biotechnology, Amity University, Noida, Uttar Pradesh, 2CSIR-National Physical Laboratory, New Delhi, Delhi, India Abstract: GO with –OH, –CHO, –CO, –COOH, and epoxide groups is considered more suitable than other commonly used materials for biomedical applications. The presence of –CO, –CHO, and –OH groups renders the easy functionalization of GO by biomolecules and drugs. Therefore, in this study, we designed a multifunctional GO–Fe3O4 nanocomposite and investigated its bactericidal activity against different bacterial strains with an evaluation of percentage inhibition. Our results revealed the potential of GO–Fe3O4 nanocomposites as an effective bactericidal, which can be used for dynamic applications in medical devices and food and other industries. Keywords: graphene oxide, GO nanocomposites, GO–Fe3O4, pathogenic strains, antibacterial

Richa Baronia,1 Manjri Singh,1 Rajat B Gupta,1 Stalin Karuppiah,1 Rajiv Kumar,2 Jodi Belz,2 Rishi Shanker,3 Srinivas Sridhar,2 Surinder P Singh1 1CSIR-National Physical Laboratory, Dr KS Krishnan Marg, New Delhi, India; 2Nanomedicine Science and Technology Center, Northeastern University, Boston, MA, USA; 3Institute of Life Sciences, Ahmedabad University, Ahmedabad, India Abstract: Gold nanoparticles, because of their high radiation absorption coefficient and efficient generation of secondary photoelectrons, have been predicted to enhance therapeutic efficacy in radiation therapy. However, high dose for effective treatment limits their use. We have synthesized multifunctional gold nanoclusters (GNCs) that can be used for imaging and radiation therapy. The designed GNCs have been characterized for their physicochemical properties, biocompatibility, and their radiation dose enhancement potential on PC3 cell lines. Keywords: gold nanoclusters, radiation therapy

A post column derivatization method for the estimation of fat soluble vitamins K2-4 and K2-7 was developed by reverse phase HPLC and validated as per ICH guidelines. The compounds were extracted by solvent extraction with acetone followed by evaporation in a rotary evaporator. The residue was dissolved in ethanol and injected in to a chromatograph consisting of C18 column (Waters symmetry, 150×4.6, 3.5 μ) and fluorescence detector. The derivatization reagent was prepared by dissolving 136 mg of zinc chloride, 40 mg of sodium acetate and 0.1 ml of glacial acetic acid in methanol. The mobile phase comprises of methanol:isopropyl alcohol:acetonitrile:zinc chloride buffer solution 850:90:50:10 with a flow rate of 1 ml/min. The overall percentage recoveries of five different levels were found to be 99.85 and 100.5%, respectively. The linearity of the analytical method was determined from 10% to 120% level and the linear regression coefficients were 0.9991 and 0.9995 which is well within the acceptance criteria of 0.999. The limits of detection and limits of quantification were determined based on signal to noise ratio. The established values were 0.050, 0.50 μg/ml and 0.005, 0.047 μg/ml which is much lesser than available literatue limits. The developed method can be more suitable for the estimation of K2-4 and K2-7 present in drug substances as well as drug product formulations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Subacromial impingement is common and frequently treated with arthroscopic subacromial decompression (ASD); however, its efficacy has recently been questioned. Poor surgical outcomes have been associated with anxiety and depression within other orthopedic subspecialties but not within this group of patients. We hypothesized that anxiety and depression are associated with worse outcomes after ASD. Methods A retrospective review of prospectively collected data was carried out of patients undergoing ASD. Inclusion criteria were short-term relief with injection therapy and presence of Hawkins sign. Rotator cuff tears were excluded. Patients completed the Oxford Shoulder Score (OSS), Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), and visual analog scale for pain before and after surgery in outpatient clinic follow-up at 6 weeks and by postal questionnaire at 6 months. Results The 86 patients who participated in the study were analyzed in 2 groups defined by HADS scores, group A being depressed and group B nondepressed. Both groups had less pain and improved OSS at 6 months; however, group B improved faster with improved scores at 6 weeks, which were maintained to 6 months. Group B had less pain and higher OSS at 6 months than group A. There was strong negative correlation ( P  < .01) between preoperative HADS score and 6-week and 6-month OSS and HADS scores. There was strong positive correlation ( P  < .01) between HADS score and 6-week and 6-month pain scores. High preoperative HADS score was negatively correlated to 6-month satisfaction ( P  < .05). Conclusion Patients with HADS score >11 before ASD have worse outcomes. This should be taken into account when counseling patients for surgery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates a new metacarpophalangeal joint design aimed at treating patients with moderate to severe forms of arthritis affecting the index, long, ring, and little fingers. Current small joint arthroplasty designs, including those for the metacarpophalangeal joint of the hand, have had limited success owing to mechanical failures and can be divided into two main families: single-piece elastomer implants and surface articulating implants. The design proposed in this study involves combining the principles of a surface weight-bearing articulating implant with those of a spanning elastomeric implant. The design consists of metacarpal and proximal phalangeal articulating housings and a central flexible spanning elastomer rod that maintains the alignment of the metacarpal and proximal phalangeal components. A preliminary finite element analysis was used to investigate the stresses in the design, the wear of the articulating bearing surfaces for different material combinations, and the stresses between the central elastomer rod and the articulating housings. This preliminary analysis shows that the design should withstand the probable loading conditions experienced within the human body and that the wear rates of the articulating surfaces and the central elastomer are acceptable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For understanding global distribution, transport and behavior of tris (4-chlorophenyl)methane (TCPMe) and tris (4-chlorophenyl)methanol (TCPMOH), the two newly identified microcontaminants, the present study determined their concentrations and other persistent organochlorines (OCs) in the blubber of nine species of adult male cetaceans collected from various locations in the North Pacific Ocean and coastal waters of some Asian countries, during 1985–97. Concentrations of TCPMe and TCPMOH were found to be highest in northern right whale dolphins, which may be attributable to wide distribution of this species, including some heavily polluted areas such as coastal California. Elevated residue levels of TCPMe and TCPMOH were observed in both off-shore and coastal species, suggesting widespread contamination of these compounds in the marine environment. Higher contamination of TCPMe and TCPMOH was found in cetaceans from temperate and cold waters than those from tropical regions. The latitudinal distribution of TCPMe and TCPMOH in cetaceans from the North Pacific and Asian coastal waters was similar to that of DDTs, suggesting less transportable nature of TCPMe and TCPMOH in the marine environment. Data on the occurrence of TCPMe and TCPMOH further indicated high bioaccumulation potential of these compounds, which was comparable to DDTs. Relative concentrations of TCPMe/TCPMOH in cetaceans were apparently higher than those observed in seals, suggestive of lower metabolic capacity for these compounds in cetaceans than in pinnipeds, which is similar to classic contaminants like polychlorinated biphenyls and DDTs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

World-Health-Organization (WHO) has listed Tuberculosis (TB) as one among the top 10 reasons for death and an early diagnosis will help to cure the patient by giving suitable treatment. TB usually affects the lungs and an accurate bio-imaging scheme will be apt to diagnose the infection. This research aims to implement an automated scheme to detect TB infection in chest radiographs (X-ray) using a chosen Deep-Learning (DL) approach. The primary objective of the proposed scheme is to attain better classification accuracy while detecting TB in X-ray images. The proposed scheme consists of the following phases namely, (1) image collection and pre-processing, (2) feature extraction with pre-trained VGG16 and VGG19, (3) Mayfly-algorithm (MA) based optimal feature selection, (4) serial feature concatenation and (5) binary classification with a 5-fold cross validation. In this work, the performance of the proposed DL scheme is separately validated for (1) VGG16 with conventional features, (2) VGG19 with conventional features, (3) VGG16 with optimal features, (4) VGG19 with optimal features and (5) concatenated dual-deep-features (DDF). All experimental investigations are conducted and achieved using MATLAB® program. Experimental outcome confirms that the proposed system with DDF yields a classification accuracy of 97.8%using a K Nearest-Neighbor (KNN) classifier.