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In this second paper, we develop transferable semiempirical extended Hückel theoretical (EHT) parameters for the electronic structure of another technologically important material, namely, silicon. The EHT parameters are optimized to experimental target values of the band dispersion of bulk silicon. We quantitatively benchmark our parameters to bulk electronic properties such as band edge energies and locations, effective masses, and spin-orbit coupling parameters, competitive with a nearest-neighbor sp3d5s* orthogonal tight-binding model for silicon of T. Boykin et al. [Phys. Rev. B 69, 115201 (2004)] that has been widely used to model silicon-based devices (see, e.g., A. Rahman et al. [Jpn. J. Appl. Phys. Part I 44, 2187 (2005)] and J. Wang et al. [Appl. Phys. Lett. 86, 093113 (2005)]). The transferability of the parameters is checked for multiple physical and chemical configurations, specifically, two different reconstructed surfaces, Si(100)-(2×1) and Si(111)-(2×1). The robustness of the parameters to different environments is demonstrated by comparing the surface band structures with density functional theory GW calculations and photoemission/inverse photoemission experiments. We further apply the approach to calculate the one-dimensional band dispersion of an unrelaxed rectangular silicon nanowire and explore the chemistry of surface passivation by hydrogen. Our EHT parameters thus provide a quantitative model of bulk silicon and silicon-based interfaces such as contacts and reconstructed surfaces, which are essential ingredients towards a quantitative quantum transport simulation through silicon-based heterostructures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a transport model for molecular conduction involving an extended Hückel theoretical treatment of the molecular chemistry combined with a nonequilibrium Green’s function treatment of quantum transport. The self-consistent potential is approximated by CNDO (complete neglect of differential overlap) method and the electrostatic effects of metallic leads (bias and image charges) are included through a three-dimensional finite element method. This allows us to capture spatial details of the electrostatic potential profile, including effects of charging, screening, and complicated electrode configurations employing only a single adjustable parameter to locate the Fermi energy. As this model is based on semiempirical methods it is computationally inexpensive and flexible compared to ab initio models, yet at the same time it is able to capture salient qualitative features as well as several relevant quantitative details of transport. We apply our model to investigate recent experimental data on alkane dithiol molecules obtained in a nanopore setup. We also present a comparison study of single molecule transistors and identify electronic properties that control their performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Several theoretical studies are conducted to explain the magnetoresustance exhibited by the two terminal lateral semiconductor spin valves. The magnetoresistance response of the system is shown to get highly reduced because of the presence of the extended regions outside the spin-current path.

Originating from the basic chalcone structure, bis-chalcones are characterized by their dual α , β -unsaturated carbonyl systems and carry a range of biological activities that include antimicrobial, antiviral, antiparasitic, antioxidant, antiproliferative, and chemical reactivities that warrant a review to cover recent progress. Thus, this review presents the significant potential demonstrated by bis-chalcones in various biological applications. For example, compounds 2.3.1 showed excellent antiparasitic activity against leishmania with good selectivity index, and compounds 2.2.1 - 2.2.3 showed submicromolar activity against SupT1 cells. Compound 2.6.22 stood out in its antiproliferative activity against a panel of 60 different cell lines. Compounds 2.6.4 and 2.6.9 have been shown as submicromolar noncompetitive xanthine oxidase inhibitors. We also present their recent applications in material science, for example, as photosensitizers and photoinitiators, to showcase their broader potential for innovation in both medicinal chemistry and industrial applications., Competing Interests: The authors declare no competing financial interest., (© 2024 The Authors. Published by American Chemical Society.)

Changing the river course in the alluvial plain region is a common phenomenon that may have disastrous consequences. The risk of river bank erosion has increased dramatically during the last few decades. As a result, assessing the river bankline alteration is necessary. The study aims to determine the changes in the bankline in the lower Ganga River. This research presents a novel approach by using the digital shoreline analysis system (DSAS) in conjunction with geospatial data to monitor and predict long-term changes in river banks from 1965 to 2017, providing a comprehensive temporal analysis that is unprecedented in this study area. The study analyzes the bankline change along the river Ganga using DSAS using during the elapsed period. An erosion and accretion zonation was conducted based on the rate of bankline change of the river Ganga in the study area. The rate of bankline shifting was quantified using the endpoint rate (EPR) and linear regression rate (LRR) statistics computed using the DSAS model. The east bank of the Ganga in the study area experienced an average erosion of - 41.17 m/year according to the LRR model. Whereas, the west bank eroded an average of - 2.32 m/year between 1965 and 2017. 90.54% of the transect lines recorded erosion at the east bank and 53.69% of the transect lines at the west bank recorded erosion computed with LRR. For the assessment of the impact of river bankline change on the LULC of the study area, the future river banklines for 2027 and 2037 were forecasted. The result shows that by 2027 and 2037 about 133.24 and 147 km 2 of agricultural land and 7.19 and 11.47 km 2 of the built-up area may be affected by river bank erosion respectively. By extending the applications of DSAS and geospatial analytics to encompass predictive and impact assessment capabilities, this study significantly enriches the literature on the management of riverbank erosion and associated land use risks. This research provides important insights that improve river management and planning and enable the formulation of robust strategies to mitigate erosion risks on river banks., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Little is known about the effect of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2 or SARS2) vaccine breakthrough infections (BTIs) on the magnitude and breadth of the T cell repertoire after exposure to different variants. We studied samples from individuals who experienced symptomatic BTIs during Delta or Omicron waves. In the pre-BTI samples, 30% of the donors exhibited substantial immune memory against non-S (spike) SARS2 antigens, consistent with previous undiagnosed asymptomatic SARS2 infections. Following symptomatic BTI, we observed (1) enhanced S-specific CD4 and CD8 T cell responses in donors without previous asymptomatic infection, (2) expansion of CD4 and CD8 T cell responses to non-S targets (M, N, and nsps) independent of SARS2 variant, and (3) generation of novel epitopes recognizing variant-specific mutations. These variant-specific T cell responses accounted for 9%-15% of the total epitope repertoire. Overall, BTIs boost vaccine-induced immune responses by increasing the magnitude and by broadening the repertoire of T cell antigens and epitopes recognized., Competing Interests: Declaration of interests A.S. is a consultant for AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals, Calyptus Pharmaceuticals Inc, Darwin Health, EmerVax, EUROIMMUN, F. Hoffman-La Roche Ltd, Fortress Biotech, Gilead Sciences, Granite bio., Gritstone Oncology, Guggenheim Securities, Moderna, Pfizer, RiverVest Venture Partners, and Turnstone Biologics. A.G. is a consultant for Pfizer. S.C. has consulted for GSK, JP Morgan, Citi, Morgan Stanley, Avalia NZ, Nutcracker Therapeutics, University of California, California State Universities, United Airlines, Adagio, and Roche. L.J.I. has filed for patent protection for various aspects of T cell epitope and vaccine design work., (Copyright © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Historically, industrialization has been a catalyst for built-up expansion generated by economic growth that transforms a landscape. In India, there is a paucity of exploration into how the economic shift transforms the cityscape. Therefore, the objective of current research work was to monitor built-up growth induced by industrialization using Landsat datasets and registered industry data. The k-means clustering technique was applied for assessing land use/land cover, Shannon entropy for sprawl, and Pearson for correlation between industrial growth and built-up expansion. The results manifest exponential trend in industrialization with 102-year registered industry record along with increase in built-up density from 0.30 in 1989 to 0.69 by 2019 and in the entire Delhi; it rose from 0.16 to 0.39. Furthermore, Shannon entropy confirmed the sprawl and the strong positive correlation was found among built-up of industrial areas and built-up of Delhi and registered industries. The striking chorological change in industrial as well as city's landscape was observed co-occurring with the dynamics of economic reforms. The outcome of current research could be utilized for the sustainable planning of industrial landscape in Delhi and cities with alike geographical conditions., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Wetlands are among the most valuable components of the ecosystem, playing an important role in preventing floods, maintaining the hydrological cycle, protecting against natural hazards, and controlling local weather conditions and ecological restoration. The Kolkata Metropolitan Area (KMA) is considered one of the most ecologically valuable regions in terms of wetland ecosystem, but due to haphazard development and human activities, the wetlands of the city are under constant threat of degradation. Therefore, this study aims to assess the factors responsible for wetland health and their dynamics using Driving Force-Pressure-State-Impact (DPSI) framework. To assess wetland health during 2011-2020, seventeen indicators and four sub-indicators were selected to calculate weights using the analytic hierarchy process (AHP). The results showed that most of the municipalities in the healthy category were in the pressure (P) section in 2011, while fluctuations were observed in the impact (I) section in several wards during 2011-20. The condition section (S) showed the overall change in the water, vegetation, and built-up categories from 2011 to 2020, so the most dominant category was "healthy," followed by "unhealthy" and "poor." The highly significant factors worsening wetland health were population density (B1), road density (B3), per capita wastewater generation (B5), per capita solid waste generation (B7), biological oxygen demand (D1a), dissolved oxygen (D1b), pH (D1c), and total coliform (D1d). The results of the study can help develop sustainable conservation and management of the wetland ecosystem in the KMA urban area and at the global level with similar geographical conditions., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Hyaluronic acid (HA) coated irinotecan loaded lignin nanoparticles (HDLNPs) were synthesized using ionic interaction method. Optimized nanoparticles were characterized for their active chemotherapeutic targeting potential to CD44 receptors overly-expressed on cancer cells. Blood component interaction studies supported hemocompatible nature of HDLNPs and also demonstrated their sustained plasma residence property. Cell anti-proliferation and mitochondrial depolarization studies on HT-29 cells suggest significantly (p < 0.01) improved chemotherapeutic efficacy of HDLNPs. In vitro cell based studies showed that nanoparticles have retained antioxidant activity of lignin that can prevent cancer relapse. In vivo biodistribution studies in tumor-bearing Balb/c mice confirmed improved drug localization in tumor site for longer duration. Tumor regression and histopathological studies indicated the efficacy ofligand-assisted targeting chemotherapy over the conventional therapy. Hematological and biochemical estimation suggested that irinotecan-associated myelosuppression, liver steatosis and rare kidney failure can be avoided by its encapsulation in HA-coated lignin nanoparticles. HDLNPs were found to be stable over a period of 12 months., 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 © 2023 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Antioxidant enzymes being an integral part of the defense mechanism have a crucial role in cellular metabolism, essential for healthy growth and living of the cells. The main function is to scavenge and degrade the free radicals, reactive oxygen species (ROS), and reactive nitrogen species (RNS). Endogenous antioxidant enzymes present in mitochondria, cytosol, and other cellular parts participate in capturing and repairing the oxidative damage to the system. Superoxide dismutase, catalase, and glutathione are antioxidant enzymes considered to be part of the first line of defense and are especially important in scavenging reactive oxygen species such as superoxide anion and hydrogen peroxide. Numerous studies in humans, as well as animal models, are correlated and reported about elevation in the enzymatic activity being involved in inhibiting oxidative damage and controlling the disease progression. Similarly, alterations due to enzymatic damage increase oxidative damage and have a key role in disease progression in diseases like cancer, atherosclerotic diseases, neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, viral diseases, age-related ailments, etc. However, information about antioxidant enzymes, their specificity, free radicals involved in different diseases, and the oxidation process needs to be explored to a greater extent. This review focuses on our current understanding of the role of free radicals and the potential of various antioxidant enzymes, and their great scope in therapeutics against many dreadful diseases., (Copyright© Bentham Science Publishers; For any queries, please email at epub@benthamscience.net.)

Background: Many publications have compared various outcomes defining safety and efficacy of DOACs across different BMI ranges. Our meta-analysis compares warfarin and DOACs for its treatment effects over different BMI ranges., Methods: A systematic search was conducted from inception to May 2021 on PubMed, Scopus and Embase databases. The data was extracted and pooled using a random effects model. Our study consisted of patients being treated for VTE and AF, across different BMI categories. For the comparison of DOAC, risk ratios (RR) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were used, whilst for the second comparison between warfarin and DOACs odds ratios (OR) were used., Results: In our first comparison, 12 studies ( n  = 254,908 patients) were included. For our second comparison, six studies ( n  = 109,609 patients) were included. Major bleeding events in the underweight group were higher than normal weight [RR: 1.89 (1.10, 3.23); P  = 0.02; I 2  = 0%]. Overweight patients were related with reduced rates of VTE than in patients with normal BMI [RR: 0.86 (0.76, 0.97); P  = 0.02; I 2  = 0%]. In comparison with patients receiving warfarin, DOACs had significantly reduced risk of major bleeding in normal weight, overweight and obese [OR: 0.64 (0.49, 0.83); P  = 0.0007 I 2  = 90%]., Conclusion: The risk of VTE reduces with an increasing BMI, hence there could be a possible obesity paradox in patients with anticoagulation therapy. In comparison to warfarin, DOACs proved to be the safer option by having a reduced risk of bleeding across all BMI categories., Competing Interests: None to declare., (© 2022 The Authors.)

Background: Synthetic polymers present disadvantages such as high cost, limited availability, safety concerns, environmental hazards and accumulation in body. Lignin, an aromatic biopolymer, is highly abundant and offers various advantages including cost-effectiveness, biocompatibility and biodegradability. It also possesses various pharmacological activities including antioxidant, antibacterial, anticancer and UV protection, thus lignin has become a popular biopolymer in recent years and is no more considered as bio-waste rather extensive research is been carried out on developing it as drug carrier. Lignin also has non-biomedical applications including dispersing agents, surfactants, detergent/ cleaning agents, energy storage, etc. Methods: This review compiles patents granted on production of technical lignin, different lignin therapeutic carriers and its biomedical and non-biomedical applications. The literature is collected from recent years including both articles as well as patents and is carefully analyzed and compiled in an easy to comprehend pattern for guiding future research., Results: The reviewed patents and articles highlighted the advancement made in lignin isolation and valorization. Numerous lignin nanoformulations as drug delivery agents or as standalone entities with various pharmacological actions like antibacterial, antioxidant or UV protectant have been reported. As well as industrial applications of lignin as adhesives, insulators or supercapacitors have also made lignin a biopolymer of choice., Conclusion: Lignin being a bio-inspired polymer has huge potential in commercial applications. New methods of lignin isolation from lignocellulosic biomass including physical pretreatments, solvent fraction, and chemical and biological pretreatment have been widely patented. Several micro/nano lignin formulations with improved and controllable reactivity like nanocontainers, nanocapsules, nanoparticles have also been reported recently. Also, various pharmacological properties of lignin have also been explored, thus valorization of lignin is a hot topic of hour., (Copyright© Bentham Science Publishers; For any queries, please email at epub@benthamscience.net.)

Continuum of care throughout pregnancy, delivery and post-delivery has proved to be a critical health intervention for improving the health of mothers and their newborn children. Using data from the fourth wave of the National Family Health Survey (NFHS-4) conducted in 2015-16, this study examined the correlates of utilization of maternal health care services and child immunization following the continuum of care approach in India. The study also assessed whether the continuity in utilizing maternal health care services affects the immunization of children. A total of 33,422 survey women aged 15-49 were included in the analysis of maternal health care indicators, and 8246 children aged 12-23 months for the analysis of child immunization. The results indicated that about 19% of the women had completed the maternal health continuum, i.e. received full antenatal care, had an institutional delivery and received postnatal care. Women with a higher level of education and of higher economic status were more likely to have complete continuum of care. Continuity of maternal health care was found to be associated with an increase in the immunization level of children. It was observed that 76% of the children whose mothers had complete continuum of care were fully immunized. Furthermore, the results from propensity score matching revealed that if mothers received continuum of care, the chance of their child being fully immunized increased by 17 percentage points. The results suggest that promotion of the continuum of maternal health care approach could help reduce not only the burden of maternal deaths in India, but also that of child deaths by increasing the immunization level of children.

Lignin nanoparticles synthesis is among recent developments in lignin valorization especially for biomedical applications. In this study, a new technique where complete self-assembling of lignin was ensured by simultaneous solvent displacement and flash pH change was used to optimize particle size of blank lignin nanoparticles (BLNPs) for suitability in cell uptake along with maximized yield. To establish BLNPs as drug carrier, safety studies including hemocompatibility, cytotoxicity and elaborate genotoxicity studies on Drosophila melanogaster as a model organism were done. Finally, irinotecan loaded lignin nanoparticles (DLNPs) were synthesized to establish their drug carrying potential and thorough in vitro characterization was performed. BLNPs with controllable size (⁓152 nm), low polydispersity (<0.2), maximized yield (>65%), negative surface charge (-22 to -23 mV), spherical shape and smooth surface were obtained with acceptable %hemolysis (<2%). In vitro cytotoxicity studies revealed that BLNPs were significantly toxic (74.38 ± 4.74%) in human breast adenocarcinoma (MCF-7), slightly toxic (38.8 ± 4.70%) in human alveolar epithelial adenocarcinoma (A-549) and insignificantly toxic (15.89 ± 2.84%) to human embryonic kidney (HEK-293) cells. BLNPs showed concentration dependent early neuronal defects in Drosophila, but nuclei fragmentation and gut cell damage were absent. Sustained release DLNPs with high drug loading reduced the IC 50 value of irinotecan by almost 3 folds., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors associated with this manuscript have observed no conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Autoimmune disorders are characterized as a condition in which the host's immune system mistakenly attacks itself. These disorders cause the immune system to cause a systemic reaction by attacking multiple organs or may be localized to attacking one specific organ, such as the skin. The exact mechanism of such autoimmune conditions is not well understood; however, the presumed mechanism tends to vary amongst the disorders. Autoimmune diseases present with a clear gender bias with a greater prevalence amongst women, occurring at a rate of 2 to 1. Many autoimmune disorders tend to affect women during periods of extensive stress, such as pregnancy, or during a great hormonal change. A far greater number of women are affected every year with autoimmune diseases, leading to researchers attempting to identify the underlying factors, which could be responsible for this disparity. Autoimmune disorders occur as a result of multiple factors as some disorders may be genetic, while others are sporadic. Throughout this review, various hypotheses are explored that provide insight into the increased susceptibility of autoimmune disorders within women., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist., (Copyright © 2020, Angum et al.)

Autoimmune diseases are collectively addressed as chronic conditions initiated by the loss of one's immunological tolerance, where the body treats its own cells as foreigners or self-antigens. These hay-wired antibodies or immunologically capable cells lead to a variety of disorders like rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, multiple sclerosis and recently included neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's, Parkinsonism and testicular cancer triggered T-cells induced autoimmune response in testes and brain. Conventional treatments for autoimmune diseases possess several downsides due to unfavourable pharmacokinetic behaviour of drug, reflected by low bioavailability, rapid clearance, offsite toxicity, restricted targeting ability and poor therapeutic outcomes. Novel nanovesicular drug delivery systems including liposomes, niosomes, proniosomes, ethosomes, transferosomes, pharmacosomes, ufasomes and biologically originated exosomes have proved to possess alluring prospects in supporting the combat against autoimmune diseases. These nanovesicles have revitalized available treatment modalities as they are biocompatible, biodegradable, less immunogenic and capable of carrying high drug payloads to deliver both hydrophilic as well as lipophilic drugs to specific sites via passive or active targeting. Due to their unique surface chemistry, they can be decorated with physiological or synthetic ligands to target specific receptors overexpressed in different autoimmune diseases and can even cross the blood-brain barrier. This review presents exhaustive yet concise information on the potential of various nanovesicular systems as drug carriers in improving the overall therapeutic efficiency of the dosage regimen for various autoimmune diseases. The role of endogenous exosomes as biomarkers in the diagnosis and prognosis of autoimmune diseases along with monitoring progress of treatment will also be highlighted., (Copyright© Bentham Science Publishers; For any queries, please email at epub@benthamscience.net.)

Wood-based cellulose nanofibrils (CNF) offer an excellent scaffold for drug-delivery formulation development. However, toxicity and haemocompatibility of the drug carrier is always an important issue. In this study, toxicity-related issues of CNF were addressed. Different doses of CNF were orally administered to Drosophila and different tests like the developmental cycle, trypan blue exclusion assay, larva crawling assay, thermal sensitivity assay, cold sensitivity assay, larval light preference test, climbing behaviour, nitroblue tetrazolium (NBT) reduction assay, adult phenotype, and adult weight were conducted to observe the impact on its development and behaviour. A haemocompatibility assay was done on the blood taken from healthy Wistar rats. In Drosophila, the abnormalities in larval development and behaviour were observed in the behavioural assays. However, the cytotoxic effect could not be confirmed by the gut staining and level of reactive oxygen species. The larvae developed into an adult without any abnormality in the phenotype. The CNF did cause loss of weight in the adult flies and did not cause much toxicity within the body since there was no phenotypic defect. Hemolysis data also suggested that CNF was safe at lower doses, as the data was well within acceptable limits. All these results suggest that cellulose nanofibres have no significant cytotoxic effects on Drosophila. However, the developmental and behavioural abnormalities suggest that CNF may act as a behavioural teratogen.

Colon cancer is one of the fatal forms of cancer all round the world with a equal frequency of occurrence in both male and female population. Mutational changes and defects in APC (Adenomatous Polyposis Coli) and DNA mismatch repair genes accompanied by genetic chaos in oncogenic pathways leads to colon cancer. Intensive study on pathogenesis of colon cancer has been made to decipher the mechanisms underlying the development and progress of the disease so as to develop effective treatment. However, a complete therapeutic regimen is still not available for combating this deadly disease. Hurdles faced by chemotherapy include drug resistance due to P-glycoprotein transporters, untoward effects on normal cells, high cost, bio-burden of the therapy, and the most dreadful drawback is cancer relapse. The concept of cancer relapse is related to development of oxidative stress that causes cell apoptosis. If the level of oxidative stress is inadequate to cause apoptosis then it leads to cell dormancy which may revive post chemotherapy. This hypothesis aims to put forward a combinatorial approach that includes utilizing a cost effective, biocompatible and environmentally benign nanoparticulate carrier made up of lignin, loaded with anti-cancer agent and P-gp modulator, and functionalized with ligand for CD44 receptors that are over expressed on cancer cells. Antioxidant effect of lignin will overcome dormancy of cancer cells making it possible for cell cycle specific drugs to kill them and prevent relapse and active targeting will prevent untoward effects on normal cells. Thus a robust and wholesome formulation can be developed to combat colon cancer., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Rutin, a polyphenolic plant flavonoid, is found in citrus fruits, mulberry, cranberries and buckwheat with reported anti-diabetic, anti-fungal, anti-inflammatory and anti-bacterial activity. We appraise the effect of rutin on hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 ) mediated deregulation of antioxidant enzyme activity, non-enzymatic biomarkers, reactive oxygen species production (in vitro and in vivo) and on echinocyte formation (ex-vivo). In addition to it the interaction studies (in silico) against targeted enzymes and membrane proteins were also performed. A pre-treatment with rutin (16.3 µM) significantly attenuate the altered level of glutathione, sulfhydryl, malondialdehyde and carbonyl content. The activity and expression of catalase, superoxide dismutase, glutathione peroxidase, glutathione reductase and glutathione-S-transferase were also decreased significantly (p < 0.01) in presence of H 2 O 2 , while pre-treatment of rutin ameliorates the effect of H 2 O 2 . Furthermore, rutin at higher tested concentration protects the morphology of erythrocytes by decreasing the reactive oxygen species level (p < 0.01) as compared to H 2 O 2 treatment. In silico analysis with selected membrane proteins and enzymes revealed that the rutin did not modulate the structure and function of the preferred proteins. In addition, rutin down regulates the inducible nitric oxide synthase expression and up-regulate the nuclear factor (erythroid-related factor 2) expression. Moreover, the lower mean erythrocyte fragility values of rutin (0.53 ± 0.024-0.61 ± 0.014) alone or with H 2 O 2 (0.65 ± 0.021) indicate the protection and non-toxic behaviour. These finding suggests that rutin; a nutritional compound can reduce oxidative stress induced by H 2 O 2 by increasing the expression of Nrf2 and endogenous antioxidant enzymes., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

A new series of 1,9-acetals of forskolin were synthesized by treating with aromatic and aliphatic aldehydes using Ceric ammonium nitrate as catalyst and evaluated for anticancer and α-glucosidase inhibition activities. Among the synthesized compounds 2a, 2b and 3a showed potential cytotoxic activity towards human cancer cell lines MCF-7 (Human Breast Adenocarcinoma), MDA-MB (Human Breast Carcinoma), HeLa (Human Cervix Adenocarcinoma), A498 (Human Kidney Carcinoma), K562 (Human Erythromyeloblastoid leukemia), SH-SY5Y (Human Neuroblastoma), Hek293 (Human Embryonic Kidney) and WRL68 (Human Hepatic) with IC50 values ranging between 0.95 and 47.96 μg/ml. Osmotic fragility test revealed compound 3a as non-toxic to human erythrocytes at the tested concentrations of 50 and 100 μg/ml. Compounds 1g (IC50 value 0.76 μg/ml) and 1p (IC50 value 0.74 μg/ml) significantly inhibited α-glucosidase in in vitro system. In silico based docking, ADME and toxicity risk assessment studies also showed discernible α-glucosidase activity for compounds 1g, 1p compared to standard acarbose., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.)

Interpenetrating polymer network (IPN) hydrogel microspheres of sodium carboxymethyl cellulose (NaCMC) and poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) were prepared by water-in-oil (w/o) emulsion crosslinking method for oral controlled release delivery of a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug, diclofenac sodium (DS). The microspheres were prepared with various ratios of NaCMC to PVA, % drug loading and extent of crosslinking density at a fixed polymer weight. The prepared microspheres with loose and rigid surfaces were evidenced by scanning electron microscope (SEM). Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis confirmed the IPN formation. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) study was performed to understand the dispersion nature of drug after encapsulation. The in vitro drug release study was extensively evaluated depending on the process variables in both acid and alkaline media. All the formulations exhibited satisfactory physicochemical and in vitro release characteristics. Release data indicated a non-Fickian trend of drug release from the formulations. Based on the results of this study suggest that DS loaded IPN microspheres were suitable for oral controlled release application., (Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Administration of 5 g L-lysine orally to normal adults produced a significant increase in plasma carnitine levels within 6 h followed by a further rise by 48 h. Levels remained high up to 72 h. Similar changes in plasma carnitine were not observed if blood was sampled without lysine load or after administering a load of other amino acids such as tryptophan or threonine. Maximum excretion of carnitine per g creatinine was observed in 24 to 48 h collection after lysine load. Two subjects showed an early peak in 3-h and 6-h collections, respectively. Undernourished subjects failed to demonstrate similar change. After rehabilitation the undernourished subjects behaved as did the well-nourished subjects. These observations suggest that there may be a rapid in vivo conversion of orally administered lysine to carnitine in humans. Conversion of lysine to carnitine may be impaired in malnutrition.