Monoterpenoid synergy: a new frontier in biological applications.

Monoterpenoids, compounds found in various organisms, have diverse applications in various industries. Their effectiveness is influenced by the oil's chemical composition, which in turn is influenced by plant genotype, environmental conditions, cultivation practices, and plant development stage. They are used in various industries due to their distinctive odor and taste, serving as ingredients, additives, insecticides, and repellents. These compounds have synergistic properties, resulting in superior combined effects over discrete ones, potentially beneficial for various health purposes. Many experimental studies have investigated their interactions with other ingredients and their antibacterial, insecticidal, antifungal, anticancer, anti-inflammatory, and antioxidant properties. This review discusses potential synergistic interactions between monoterpenoids and other compounds, their sources, and biological functions. It also emphasizes the urgent need for more research on their bioavailability and toxicity, underlining the importance and relevance of this comprehensive study in the current scientific landscape.

Strategic analysis of intimate partner violence (IPV) and cycle of violence in the autobiographical text -When I Hit You.

Objectives: Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) is a globally recognized societal problem that requires intensive research to raise public awareness. Aim: Accordingly, the purpose of the study is to analyze IPV at the physical, psychological, and social aspects of abuse. Method: The methodology of the study correlates IPV to the personal experiences of notable Indian writer, Meena Kandasamy, according to the autobiographical account of her abusive married life in the award-winning novel When I Hit You, which depicts the horrible treatment of women by their perpetrators within a closed sphere. To substantiate, the selected autobiographical work is compared with Lenore Edna Walker's prominent Cycle of Violence theory, which best describes why women become victims and also the abuser's tactics in controlling the women in a violent relationship. Results: The study's findings suggest that IPV, a serious global problem, requires government intervention and severe legal enforcement to protect women's lives from the clutches of the abuser.

Analytical characteristics and comparative evaluation of Aptima HIV-1 Quant Dx assay with Ampliprep/COBAS TaqMan HIV-1 test v2.0.

BACKGROUND: Quantitation of HIV-RNA is critically important for diagnosis, prognosis, treatment, monitoring and assessment of infectivity in HIV-1 infection. The objective of this study was to assess performance characteristics of the Aptima HIV-1 Quant Dx assay (Aptima), a new transcription mediated amplification (TMA), fully integrated and automated assay from Hologic Inc., San Diego, CA, USA. The analytical sensitivity, analytical specificity, precision and detection of HIV-1 subtypes were tested based on commercially available international standards or panels. A selected group of 244 anti-HIV-1 (+) plasma samples was used for comparison with Roche COBAS Ampliprep/COBAS TaqMan HIV- 1 test v2.0 (Roche CAP/CTM), (Roche Molecular Systems, Pleasanton, CA). RESULTS: The 50 and 95 % limit of detection were estimated at 4.9 (95 % CI 3.9-5.7) and 17.6 (15.2-21.2) IU/mL respectively. The specificity was found 99.83 (99.06-99.97) %. The standard deviations and coefficient of variations for panels with 50 and 100 copies/mL (1.7 and 2 log copies/mL) were 0.14 log copies/mL (8.67 %CV) and 0.18 log copies/mL (9.91 %CV) respectively. The detection rate for Aptima and Roche assays was 220/244 (90.2 %) and 217/244 (88.9 %) respectively. CONCLUSION: The Aptima assay is a sensitive, specific, precise and accurate test for measuring HIV-1 viral loads and for the detection of HIV-1 infections.

Microwave Assisted Synthesis of Ferrite Nanoparticles: Effect of Reaction Temperature on Particle Size and Magnetic Properties.

The preparation of ferrite magnetic nanoparticles of different particle sizes by controlling the reaction temperature using microwave assisted synthesis is reported. The iron oxide nanoparticles synthesized at two different temperatures viz., 45 and 85 °C were characterized using techniques such as X-ray diffraction (XRD), small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS), vibrating sample magnetometry (VSM), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The average size of iron oxide nanoparticles synthesized at 45 and 85 °C is found to be 10 and 13.8 nm, respectively, and the nanoparticles exhibited superparamagantic behavior at room temperature. The saturation magnetization values of nanoparticles synthesized at 45 and 85 °C were found to be 67 and 72 emu/g, respectively. The increase in particle size and saturation magnetization values with increase in incubation temperature is attributed to a decrease in supersaturation at elevated temperature. The Curie temperature was found to be 561 and 566 0C for the iron oxide nanoparticles synthesized at 45 and 85 °C, respectively. The FTIR spectrum of the iron oxide nanoparticles synthesized at different temperatures exhibited the characteristic peaks that corresponded to the stretching of bonds between octahedral and tetrahedral metal ions to oxide ions. Our results showed that the ferrite nanoparticle size can be varied by controlling the reaction temperature inside a microwave reactor.

Probing of Competitive Displacement Adsorption of Casein at Oil-in-Water Interface Using Equilibrium Force Distance Measurements.

The equilibrium force distance measurement is employed for the first time to probe the competitive and displacement adsorption of casein at an oil-water (O/W) emulsion interface that was initially adsorbed with either a diblock polymer or an anionic surfactant. A significant change in the force-distance profile was observed under the competitive displacement adsorption of casein, which is further confirmed from the hydrodynamic diameter and zeta potential measurements. A decrease in the onset of repulsion and decay length are observed on competitive adsorption of smaller size casein molecules at O/W interface. With addition of casein in PVA-vac diblock polymer stabilized emulsion, the onset of repulsion decreases from 88 to 48 nm whereas the magnitude of force increases from 1 to 19 nN. The force decay length is reduced from 10.5 to 4.5 nm upon addition of casein. Our results suggest the complete replacement of adsorbed diblock polymers by casein molecules. The hydrodynamic diameter and zeta potential measurements corroborate the casein mediated polymer displacement and the competitive adsorption of casein at the O/W interface. In the case of anionic surfactant covered O/W interfaces, casein molecules weakly associate at the interface without displacing the smaller size surfactant molecules where no significant changes in the onset repulsion and force profiles are observed. These results suggest that the casein molecules are effective displacers for replacement of adsorbed macromolecules from formulations, which has several important practical applications.

Genetically engineered Lactobacillus plantarum WCFS1 constitutively secreting heterologous oxalate decarboxylase and degrading oxalate under in vitro.

Hyperoxaluria is a major risk factor for urinary stone disease, where calcium oxalate (CaOx) is the most prevalent type of kidney stones. Systemic treatments of CaOx kidney stone patients are limited and comprise drawbacks including recurrence of stone formation and kidney damages. In the present work Lactobacillus plantarum (L. plantarum) was engineered to constitutively secrete oxalate decarboxylase (OxdC) for the degradation of intestinal oxalate. The homologous promoter PldhL and signal peptide Lp_0373 of L. plantarum were used for constructing recombinant vector pLdhl0373OxdC. Results showed that homologous promoter PldhL and signal peptide Lp_0373 facilitated the production, secretion, and functional expression of OxdC protein in L. plantarum. SDS-PAGE analysis revealed that 44 kDa protein OxdC was seen exceptionally in the culture supernatant of recombinant L. plantarum (WCFS1OxdC) harboring the plasmid pLdhl0373OxdC.The culture supernatant of L. plantarum WCFS1OxdC showed OxdC activity of 0.06 U/mg of protein, whereas no enzyme activity was observed in the supernatant of the wild type WCFS1 and the recombinant NC8OxdC strains. The purified recombinant OxdC from the WCFS1OxdC strain showed an activity of 19.1 U/mg protein. The recombinant L. plantarum strain secreted 25 % of OxdC protein in the supernatant. The recombinant strain degraded more than 70 % of soluble oxalate in the culture supernatant. Plasmid segregation analysis revealed that the recombinant strain lost almost 70-89 % of plasmid in 42nd and 84th generation, respectively. In conclusion, recombinant L. plantarum strain containing plasmid pLdhl0373OxdC showed constitutive secretion of bioactive OxdC and also capable of degrading externally available oxalate under in vitro conditions.

Self-assembly of surfactin in aqueous solution: role of divalent counterions.

Myriad applications of surfactin in environmental and biomedical field prompt understanding the self-assembly behaviour of surfactin in aqueous solution as well as its interaction with counterions. Effect of four divalent counterions namely, Ni(2+), Zn(2+), Cd(2+), and Ca(2+) on the self-assembly of the surfactin, a biosurfactant isolated from Bacillus subtilis YB7 is studied by fluorescence spectroscopy, dynamic light scattering, optical and electron microscopic studies. The critical micelle concentration (CMC) and aggregation number (Nagg) of surfactin are 96.76 ± 15.49 µM and 101.12 ± 2.53, respectively. The degree of counterion association increases as its ionic radius decreases. Ni(2+) exhibits the highest and Ca(2+) the least degree of counterion association. Addition of counterion reduces the size of the microstructures, aggregation number (Nagg) and zeta potential. The reduction in the zeta potential indicates the neutralization of the negative charges on the electrical double layer of the microstructures. Differential interference contrast (DIC) and transmission electron microscopic (TEM) images of surfactin show the presence of vesicles and large aggregates including giant vesicles. On the addition of Ca(2+), fusion of vesicles into large aggregates is predominantly observed. Ni(2+) induces the transition of large spherical vesicles into small spherical, worm-like vesicles and multicompartment-like structures (vesosome). Such structures are the evidences for metal ion coordinated intervesicular interactions. This study reveals that the self-assembly process of surfactin can be controlled by the addition of metal ions according to the requirements.

Functionalization of iron oxide nanoparticles with biosurfactants and biocompatibility studies.

We present methodologies to functionalize iron oxide (Fe3O4) nanoparticles with biosurfactants and biocompatibility results. Positively charged Fe3O4 nanoparticles of average hydrodynamic size -26 nm is functionalized with four different molecules of interest, viz., surfactin, rhamnolipid, polyethylene glycol (PEG) and dextran. The functionalization results in dramatic alterations in surface potential and hydrodynamic size due to the presence of coated moieties on the nanoparticle interface. The Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and thermogravimetric analysis confirm the presence of adsorbed moieties on nanoparticles. The phase contrast microscopy studies show the formation of reversible chains of functionalized nanoparticles under an external magnetic field. Cell viability studies using L929 mouse fibroblast cell line show that pure surfactin, rhamnolipid and dextran exhibit cytotoxicity with increase in concentration, whereas, pure PEG exhibit biocompatibility at different concentrations. Accordingly, surfactin and rhamnolipid coated nanoparticles are found to be cytotoxic with increase in concentration and PEG coated nanoparticles are found to be biocompatible. Dextran coated nanoparticles do not exhibit significant increase in biocompatibility.

PHARMACOGNOSTIC STUDIES ON Gisekia Pharnaceoides Linn.

Gisekia Pharnaceoides Linn is a diffuse subsucculent, glabrous herb. It is aromatic, aperient and act as powerful anthelmintic in cases of taenia. The plant possesses antibacterial, CNS depressant and anthelmintic activity. The present communication deals with the morphology, anatomy, microscopic constants, Physicochemical constants preliminary phytochemical studies and fluorescence Linn.