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Cost-effective and controllable synthesis of M0.25Ni0.15Cu0.25Co0.35Fe2O4 (M2+ = Mg2+, Mn2+, and Cd2+) ferrites via the sol–gel auto-combustion technique. The impact of divalent cations on the structural, dielectric, and optoelectrical properties of ferrites was examined by XRD, FTIR, Raman, LCR, UV–Vis, and two probe I-V measurement techniques. The crystallite size was 52.66 nm, and the minimum specific surface area was observed 5.1507 m2/g for Mg2+ doped NCCF ferrite. The FTIR and Raman analysis also confirmed the substitution of divalent cations (M2+ = Mg2+, Mn2+, and Cd2+) at their respective lattice sites. The maximum energy bandgap was 1.67 eV Mg2+-doped NCCF ferrite as compared to other divalent ion-doped ferrites. The dielectric loss decreased while the ac conductivity increased with increasing frequency, and the minimum values were observed for Mg2+-doped NCCF ferrite. The activation energy was observed maximum for Mg2+-doped NCCF ferrite (0.2234 eV). Due to incredible properties including small specific surface area, large energy band gap, high resistivity, and loss dielectric loss of Mg2+-doped NCCF ferrite have potential applications in different fields.

ObjectiveThis study aimed to investigate the effect of small molecules incorporated into the engineered nanofibrous scaffold to enhance the osteoblast differentiationMaterials and methodsPoly-ε-caprolactone (PCL) nanofiber matrices with lithium chloride (LiCl) were fabricated using the electrospinning technique. Scaffolds were characterized using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX). Scaffolds were seeded with MC3T3-E1 cells and assessed using Western blots (β-catenin), alamarBlue assay (proliferation), qPCR (osteoblast differentiation), and mineralization (Alizarin Red staining).ResultsWe observed LiCl nanofiber scaffolds induced concentration-dependent cell proliferation that correlated with an increased β-catenin expression indicating sustained Wnt signaling. Next, we examined osteoblast differentiation markers such as osteocalcin (OCN) and Runt-related transcription factor 2 (Runx2) and noted increased expression in LiCl nanofiber scaffolds. We also noted increased bone morphogenetic protein (BMP-2, 4, and 7) expressions suggesting activated Wnt can promote cures to further osteogenic differentiation. Finally, Alizarin Red staining demonstrated increased mineral deposition in LiCl-incorporated nanofiber scaffolds.ConclusionsTogether, these results indicated that LiCl-incorporated nanofiber scaffolds enhance osteoblast differentiation.Clinical relevanceSmall molecule-incorporated nanofibrous scaffolds are an innovative clinical tool for bone tissue engineering.

Introduction: COVID-19 is mainly a respiratory illness, causing hypoxemia in the majority of those been infected. In our study, we aimed to correlate the biochemical markers with hypoxemia and predicting the prognosis of COVID-19 patients. Materials and methods: A retrospective, observational study was conducted to include all the admitted COVID-19 patients (n = 183) diagnosed by a real-time Polymerase chain reaction and evaluated those for hypoxemia and disease outcomes by utilizing the biochemical markers. Results: Out of the 183 patients, 117 were in the ward, 66 were in ICU, 148 of them recovered, while 35 deaths were reported, 89 patients were having persisting hypoxemia (despite oxygen therapy) during the hospital stay, and the remaining 94 were non-hypoxemic with or without supplemental oxygen therapy. There were significant differences in mean hemoglobin (p = 0.028), total leukocyte count (p = 0.005), Neutrophil-to-Lymphocyte ratio (p = 0.001), serum urea and creatinine (p = 0.002), serum potassium (p = 0.009), C-reactive protein (p = 0.001), Lactate dehydrogenase (p = 0.005), and Ferritin (p = 0.042) of the hypoxemic patients versus non-hypoxemic group. Amongst the deceased patients, there was significant leukocytosis (p = 0.008), increased Neutrophil-to-Lymphocyte ratio (p = 0.001), elevated C-reactive protein (p = 0.001), and Lactate dehydrogenase (p = 0.009). Receiver operating characteristic curves showed Neutrophil-to-Lymphocyte ratio (p

Rhabdomyosarcoma is a rare and highly aggressive malignancy arising from the striated skeletal muscle fibre. It is commonly a childhood tumour and rarely seen in adults. The most predominant part commonly involved is head and neck. We are reporting a rare case of a 54 year old adult male with Rhabdomyosarcoma of nasopharynx with a non specific presentation of weight loss for past four months, fever, a perianal abscess and backache since 10 days. The haematological and biochemical parameters were within normal limits however C reactive protein and erythrocyte sedimentation rate were raised. An MRI for the pelvis, which was done for the extension of perianal abscess, also displayed some heterogeneous marrow signal, which raised the suspicion of some infiltrative process. Later, a bone scan, PET scan, and a biopsy of the nasopharaynx was done. The biopsy confirmed the findings of Rhabdomyosarcoma by showing marked pleomorphism with strong positive desmin and myogin stain. The patient was then referred to the oncology department for further management.

The yttrium substituted cadmium ferrites having composition Cd1-xYxFe2O4 (X = 0.00, 0.125, 0.250, 0.375, 0.500) were synthesized by the co-precipitation method and sintered at 1100 °C for 6 h. Structural, morphological, electrical, optical and dielectric characteristics were explored by XRD, SEM, EDS, FTIR, I–V two probes, UV–Vis and LCR techniques.XRD results confirmed the cubic structure of spinel ferrites. A decrease in lattice constants of the prepared samples was observed with the substitution of Y ions and was attributed to the difference in ionic radii of Y3+ (0.95 A) and Cd2+ (0.97 A) ions. Cationic distributions, ionic radii of both tetrahedral and octahedral sites, tolerance factor, oxygen positional parameters, bond lengths, interatomic distances, positional parameters and bond length angles were calculated from XRD data. The morphology of the prepared ferrites was studied using SEM and results ratified the XRD results. EDS confirmed the presence of all inserted elements in Cd1-xYxFe2O4 composition. DC resistivity and drift mobility of soft-ferrites were found to be increased from 1.047 × 108–4.822 × 1010 Ω-cm and 5.87 × 10−12 – 1.045 × 10−14 cm2V−1s−1, respectively, at 523 K with yttrium content confirming the behavior of semiconductor materials. The optical band gap energy calculated from the UV–Vis pattern of the Cd1-xYxFe2O4 system was decreased from 3.6011 to 2.8153 eV. DC resistivity and optical band gaps exposed inverse relation. FTIR results revealed lower and upper-frequency absorption bands in the ranges of 419.31–417.01 cm−1 and 540.95–565.70 cm−1, respectively. Dielectric constant and dielectric losses were in decreasing order, while ac conductivity revealed rising behavior with increasing frequency. Results showed the potential of yttrium doped Cd nanoferrites for applications in high-frequency microwave absorbing devices.

Spinel ferrites are attaining huge importance in the modern era, due to their incredible properties, which means they are widely used in various fields. Therefore, in this paper a cost-effective and environmentally friendly preparation of Mg0.25Ni0.25Cu0.5−xCoxFe1.97La0.03O4 (x = 0.0, 0.125, 0.25, 0.375, and 0.5) ferrites via the sol–gel auto-combustion method were carried out. How the structural and functional properties varied with the Cu to Co ratio was studied. It was found that the crystallite size (D) was reduced from 47.2 to 27.6 nm as the Co2+ increased from x = 0.0 to 0.5. While the two major absorption bands including the higher frequency band (υ1) and lower frequency band (υ2) lie in the range of 573.80–538.65 cm−1 and 470.37–405.65 cm−1 belong to the spinel matrix. Five active Raman modes were found in the range of wave number 200–800 cm−1 corresponds to the sublattices of the spinel structure. The optical bandgap increased from 0.85 eV to 1.33 eV for x = 0.0 to x = 0.25 and then observed optical band gap was 1.15 eV and 1.46 eV for x = 0.375 to x = 0.5. The resistivity (ρ) was minimum for Co2+ concentration x = 0.25 at low temperature, while at high temperature the resistivity (ρ) was maximum for Co2+ doping x = 0.25. The temperature coefficient of resistance percentage (TCR %) was −2.66%/K at 513 K for x = 0.25, as shown in the graphical abstract. At lower frequencies, the impedance was observed maximum for Co2+ doping x = 0.125 and minimum for x = 0.375. These findings indicate that the as-prepared ferrites are a potential candidate for optoelectrical and bolometric devices.

Cadmium ferrites belong to normal spinel ferrites, and they exhibit interesting electrical, magnetic, and optical properties. The pure and cerium-doped cadmium ferrites CdFe2−xCexO4 (x = 0.0, 0.125, 0.250, 0.375, 0.5) were synthesized by a chemical co-precipitating technique using sodium hydroxide as a co-precipitating agent. The structures and phase purity of fabricated nanomaterials were analyzed by X-ray diffraction (XRD). The crystallite size for all the prepared nanomaterials was in the range of 28–46 nm. The lattice constant and unit cell volume were found to decrease with the increasing concentration of Cerium, which was confirmed by the peak shift in the XRD pattern. The X-ray density for all nano ferrites increased with the enhancement of cerium composition. The resistivity of the nanomaterials has random behavior with the enhancement of cerium composition for a temperature, but the value of resistivity at x = 0.125 has the lowest value and at x = 0.375 has the highest value for almost all temperatures. For specific concentrations, a decreasing trend of resistivity of fabricated materials was found with an increment of temperature. The activation energies were also calculated, and it increased for x = 0.125 and then decreased for all the nanomaterials. For the confirmation of the M–O bonds, FTIR analysis of all the nano ferrites was also performed. The analysis shows a higher frequency absorption band in the range of 531.24–534.84 cm−1. This absorption band confirms that metal oxides are formed in all the synthesized nanoparticles.

This chapter reviews the recent advances in computational modeling of the various interesting properties of nanobiocomposites. Computational simulations complement the experimental results to validate the findings in addition to predicting the properties for the design and composition of novel nanobiocomposites of desired capabilities. A strong knowledge of shape, structure, and optimized chemical functions including intermolecular interactions, catalysis, ion-pumping, and self-assembly of components utilized for the preparation of different types of functional nanobiocomposites are prerequisites for the fabrication of customized materials. This chapter highlights the recent advances in the general concept of computational modeling, and computational tools used for the simulation of certain properties of interest of nanobiocomposites. This document was designed to cover the computational studies performed on the various nanocomposites of natural products for fine-tuning the characteristics of existing nanobiocomposites, the design of novel composites with enhanced properties, and the prediction of properties of the nanobiocomposites for accelerated discoveries based on informed decisions. The computational modeling carried out from the atomistic to the advanced molecular level has been covered. This includes the simple calculations to advanced level and complex systematic studies using different computational tools. It involves the computations regarding the studies of structural design and the arrangement of fibers in a nanocomposite system. It also includes the various types of molecular simulations ranging from atomistic to molecular level. We tried to cover the computational strategies, approaches, and techniques utilized for complementing experimental results for the discovery of materials with enhanced properties, including structure–property relationship, molecular docking, prediction of interactions, and certain properties including Tg, hydrogen bonding, Young’s moduli, elastic moduli, arrangement of fibers, aggregation of minerals for the mineralization of biopolymers, electrostatic and van der Waals interactions, surface modification, tensile tests, stiffness and ductility, geometry optimizations, quantitative structure activity/property relationship (QSAR), volume of adsorbents and adsorbents, calculation of energy of highest occupied molecular orbital, energy of lowest unoccupied molecular orbital, and dipole moment etc. This chapter covers the computational studies conducted from the preliminary level to the cutting-edge advanced level, in silico molecular modeling and simulations, such as molecular dynamic simulations, all atomistic simulations, coarse-grain simulations, multiscale dynamic simulations, QSAR, molecular docking, energy optimizations, etc. We not only focused on the strategies and approaches used to fine-tune the properties of the desired material, but we also considered paying attention to covering the simple to advanced computational tools used for this purpose.

Present work reports the synthesis of RE3+ (La3+, and Ce3+) and Co2+ co-doped Zn0.75Cu0.25Fe2O4 samples powder using sol-gel auto combustion process. Rietveld refinement established the spinel matrix with the space group (F d -3 m) and suggests that the uniform distribution of cations at the tetrahedral and octahedral lattice sites. The comparative study of crystallite size (D) was found using the Scherrer's relation, Scherrer's plot, Williamson-Hall (W–H), and Size-Strain (SS) plot methods for the as-prepared ferrites. The absorption band analysis confirmed the characteristic band absorptions lie in the frequency range of (577.82–418.84) 102 × m−1. Moreover, the electrical resistivity (ρ) measurements showed that the Co–Ce doped ZCF sample is highly resistive as compared to the other samples. The dielectric measurements revealed a dispersion pattern at lower frequencies and an almost frequency-independent pattern at higher frequencies. The field dependence of the dM/dH curve shows a magnetically well stable state and good crystallization cubic matrix of all the samples.

Intestinal P-glycoprotein (Pgp/multidrug resistance 1), encoded by the ATP-binding cassette B1 gene, is primarily involved in the transepithelial efflux of toxic metabolites and xenobiotics from the mucosa into the gut lumen. Reduced Pgp function and expression has been shown to be associated with intestinal inflammatory disorders. Keratinocyte growth factor-2 (KGF2) has emerged as a potential target for modulation of intestinal inflammation and maintenance of gut mucosal integrity. Whether KGF2 directly regulates Pgp in the human intestine is not known. Therefore, the present studies were undertaken to determine the modulation of Pgp by KGF2 using Caco-2 cells. Short-term treatment of Caco-2 cells with KGF2 (10 ng/ml, 1 h) increased Pgp activity (∼2-fold, P < 0.05) as measured by verapamil-sensitive [3H]digoxin flux. This increase in Pgp function was associated with an increase in surface Pgp levels. The specific fibroblast growth factor receptor (FGFR) antagonist PD-161570 blocked the KGF2-mediated increase in Pgp activity. Inhibition of the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway by PD-98059 attenuated the stimulatory effects of KGF2 on Pgp activity. Small-interfering RNA knockdown of Erk1/2 MAPK blocked the increase in surface Pgp levels by KGF2. Long-term treatment with KGF2 (10 ng/ml, 24 h) also significantly increased PgP activity, mRNA, protein expression, and promoter activity. The long-term effects of KGF2 on Pgp promoter activity were also blocked by the FGFR antagonist and mediated by the Erk1/2 MAPK pathway. In conclusion, our findings define the posttranslational and transcriptional mechanisms underlying stimulation of Pgp function and expression by KGF2 that may contribute to the beneficial effects of KGF2 in intestinal inflammatory disorders.

Change Impact analysis and propagation have widely been studied in Software engineering research, but most studies are related to monolithic software applications, and very few studies have focused on distributed environments. Newer technologies like SOA, BPM and Cloud demand different perspectives and newer tools and techniques to support impact analysis and propagation in distributed environments. SOA adoption is fairly recent and major concern is now shifting towards maintenance and evolution of the service based business Process management systems. Change impact analysis and propagation have been identified as a potential research area in this context. This study is part of a larger study to systematically review all available research on impact analysis and propagation in context of Business process management (BPM) and Service Oriented Architecture (SOA). Preliminary results have been reported by answering 2 selected research Questions. 43 studies were selected out of initial set of 182 research articles. Studies answering selected research questions have been included in this report. BPM is considered at Business Level for Business operations and Process Models, while SOA is considered as a Deployment Architecture at service level. We have extended the scope of our study to Inter-Process and inter-service change analysis in addition to Top-Down, Bottom-Up analysis. This study revealed that although evolution of service based systems is getting significant attention, very few approaches and tools exist to support impact analysis and propagation activities.

P-glycoprotein (P-gp) mediates efflux of xenobiotics and bacterial toxins from the intestinal mucosa into the lumen. Dysregulation of P-gp has been implicated in inflammatory bowel disease. Certain probiotics have been shown to be effective in treating inflammatory bowel disease. However, direct effects of probiotics on P-gp are not known. Current studies examined the effects of Lactobacilli on P-gp function and expression in intestinal epithelial cells. Caco-2 monolayers and a mouse model of dextran sulfate sodium-induced colitis were utilized. P-gp activity was measured as verapamil-sensitive [3H]digoxin transepithelial flux. Multidrug resistant 1 (MDR1)/P-gp expression was measured by real-time quantitative PCR and immunoblotting. Culture supernatant (CS; 1:10 or 1:50, 24 h) of Lactobacillus acidophilus or Lactobacillus rhamnosus treatment of differentiated Caco-2 monolayers (21 days postplating) increased (∼3-fold) MDR1/P-gp mRNA and protein levels. L. acidophilus or L. rhamnosus CS stimulated P-gp activity (∼2-fold, P < 0.05) via phosphoinositide 3-kinase and ERK1/2 MAPK pathways. In mice, L. acidophilus or L. rhamnosus treatment (3 × 109 colony-forming units) increased mdr1a/P-gp mRNA and protein expression in the ileum and colon (2- to 3-fold). In the dextran sulfate sodium (DSS)-induced colitis model (3% DSS in drinking water for 7 days), the degree of colitis as judged by histological damage and myeloperoxidase activity was reduced by L. acidophilus. L. acidophilus treatment to DSS-treated mice blocked the reduced expression of mdr1a/P-gp mRNA and protein in the distal colon. These findings suggest that Lactobacilli or their soluble factors stimulate P-gp expression and function under normal and inflammatory conditions. These data provide insights into a novel mechanism involving P-gp upregulation in beneficial effects of probiotics in intestinal inflammatory disorders.