Recent trends and challenges with the synthesis of membranes: Industrial opportunities towards environmental remediation.

The industrial and agricultural revolution has posed a serious and potential threat to environment. The industrial and agricultural pollutants are directly released into the environment. This issue has clinched the scientists to work on different materials in order to decontaminate the environment. Among all other techniques, the membrane filtration technology has fascinated researchers to overcome the pollution by its promising features. This review elaborated various membrane synthesis approaches along with their mechanism of filtration, their applications towards environmental remediation such as removal of heavy metals, degradation of dyes, pharma waste, organic pollutants, as well as gas sensing applications. The membrane synthesis using different sort of materials in which inorganic, carbon materials, polymers and metal organic framework (MOFs) are highlighted. These materials have been involved in synthesis of membrane to make it more cost effective and productive to remove such hazardous materials from wastewater. Based on the reported literature, it has been found that inorganic and polymer membranes are facing issues of brittleness and swelling prior to the industrial scale applications related to the high temperature and pressure which needs to be addressed to enhance the permeation performance.

Graphene based composite membranes for environmental toxicology remediation, critical approach towards environmental management.

Graphene-based composite membranes, as laminated, stacked, and assembled architectures of graphene, have surpassed other conventional membranes with their advanced and preeminent structural specialization and potential use in a wide range of sustainable and environmental applications. The characteristic membrane features such as distinct laminar morphology, tailored physicochemical properties, as well as extraordinary molecular properties have fascinated scientists. Due to remarkable mechanical properties, these membranes can be easily fabricated. Recent progress has been achieved by graphene and its derivatives-based membranes to purify water and gases for environmental remediation. This review explained the latest and groundbreaking advances in chemical design, fabrication, and application of graphene-based membranes. Special attention is paid to the recent developments on graphene-based composites into membranes with various forms: free-standing, layered, and graphene-based nanocomposite membranes. Furthermore, a unique approach on environmental management with as-fabricated membranes is provided by discussing the effect of physicochemical properties. Consequently, their full-scale use for environmental management, water purification, gas purification, and biological treatments will pave the way for their promising features and realize their future prospects.

Comparative Analysis of Antioxidants Activity of Indigenously Produced Moringa Oleifera Seeds Extracts.

Medicinal plants are used to control and remediate oxidative stress related diseases caused by free radicals. Thus, these plants find their use as remedy. Moringa oleifera is an extremely valued plant for its medicinal properties. Herein, two indigenously produced accessions of Moringa oleifera seeds [originated from Multan (M-Mln) and India (PKM1)] were investigated for their antioxidant properties by 2.2-Diphenyl-1picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) assay, total phenolics content and total flavonoids content. The presence of various phenolics as well as flavonoids was further confirmed by high performance liquid chromatography. Moreover, fourier transform infrared spectroscopy detected the presence of various functional groups. In conclusion, these findings revealed that the methanol extract of M-Mln variety seeds showed high antioxidant potential, having IC50 value of 84 µg/ml. While, hexane extract of PKM1 showed least activity. The methanol extract of M-Mln was found to show highest total phenolics content as 33.83 ± 1.19 mg GAE/g. The methanol extract of M-Mln was found to show highest total flavonoids content as 76.07 ± 1.10 mg CAE/g. The hexane extract of PKM1 was found to show least total flavonoids content as 22.47 ± 1.70 mg CAE/g. The detection of phenolics (ferulic acid, caffeic acid, chlorogenic acid, coumaric acid, and gallic acid) as well as flavonoids (catechin and quercetin) revealed the potential of methanol extracts of both varieties as a good source of antioxidants. The results indicated the importance of seed extracts in the treatment of oxidative stress related diseases. In future, the use of natural antioxidants will prevent the progression of diseases.

Sonic hedgehog signalling pathway: a complex network.

Sonic Hedgehog (Shh) signalling cascade is one of the intricate signal transduction mechanisms that govern the precisely regulated developmental processes of multicellular organisms. Along with establishing the patterns of cellular differentiation to direct complex organ formation, it also has an important role in post-embryonic tissue regeneration and repair processes. Especially, Shh signalling is implicated in the induction of multifarious neuronal populations in central nervous system. There is compelling evidence of the involvement of Shh protein in the signalling network that regulates various morphogenetic processes such as the exquisite neural tube pattern formation. In the morphogenetic field, the activation of Shh signalling processes is intricately linked to the alterations at the molecular level in the structure of Shh protein that leads to its altered biophysical and biochemical reactivity. This brief article gives an overview of such complex cascade of events in Shh signalling and its transduction pathways.

Spatially regulated adult neurogenesis.

Adult neurogenesis has been the center of attention for decades. Neuroscientists hope to understand the mechanism underlying this phenomenon that might provide a unique perception of brain repair in future. Neurogenesis is referred to the process in which neuronal stem cells and progenitors generate new neurons in non-pathologic setting. Although there are some similarities between two neurogenetic regions including hippocampus and olfactory bulb, however there are some important differences. Regardless of the unique functional roles of ongoing neurogenesis in olfactory bulb and hippocampus, the differences are in terms of consequence of neurogenesis, origin of newly born neurons, responding receptors to nicotine exposure, neuronal migration and GABAergic input between two regions. In this paper, we have briefly reviewed the differences of adult neurogenesis between olfactory bulb and hippocampus.