Myrica esculenta Leaf Extract-Assisted Green Synthesis of Porous Magnetic Chitosan Composites for Fast Removal of Cd (II) from Water: Kinetics and Thermodynamics of Adsorption.

Heavy metal contamination in water resources is a major issue worldwide. Metals released into the environment endanger human health, owing to their persistence and absorption into the food chain. Cadmium is a highly toxic heavy metal, which causes severe health hazards in human beings as well as in animals. To overcome the issue, current research focused on cadmium ion removal from the polluted water by using porous magnetic chitosan composite produced from Kaphal (Myrica esculenta) leaves. The synthesized composite was characterized by BET, XRD, FT-IR, FE-SEM with EDX, and VSM to understand the structural, textural, surface functional, morphological-compositional, and magnetic properties, respectively, that contributed to the adsorption of Cd. The maximum Cd adsorption capacities observed for the Fe3O4 nanoparticles (MNPs) and porous magnetic chitosan (MCS) composite were 290 mg/g and 426 mg/g, respectively. Both the adsorption processes followed second-order kinetics. Batch adsorption studies were carried out to understand the optimum conditions for the fast adsorption process. Both the adsorbents could be regenerated for up to seven cycles without appreciable loss in adsorption capacity. The porous magnetic chitosan composite showed improved adsorption compared to MNPs. The mechanism for cadmium ion adsorption by MNPs and MCS has been postulated. Magnetic-modified chitosan-based composites that exhibit high adsorption efficiency, regeneration, and easy separation from a solution have broad development prospects in various industrial sewage and wastewater treatment fields.

Synthesis and Theoretical Studies of Biologically Active Thieno Nucleus Incorporated Tri and Tetracyclic Nitrogen Containing Heterocyclics Scaffolds via Suzuki Cross-Coupling Reaction.

A new series of thieno nucleus embellished trinuclear (19, 20) and tetranuclear (21-24) nitrogen heteroaryl have been synthesized by the Suzuki cross-coupling reaction using bis(triphenylphosphine)palladium(II) dichloride. All the synthesized compounds were characterized by IR, 1 H-NMR, 13 CNMR and Mass spectral properties. In vitro antibacterial studies of the synthesized compound were conducted using broth microdilution assay employing Gram-positive and Gram-negative strains and half-maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50 ) was determined. The result showed that compound 20 possess best antibacterial activity against S. aureus and E. coli with IC50 values of 60 µg mL-1 and 90 µg mL-1 . Further to determine the mode of antibacterial action, compounds 20 and 21 were examined for in vitro bacterial dehydrogenase inhibitory assay. To understand the binding affinity of the synthesized compounds, the docking study was performed in the bacterial dehydrogenase enzyme by AutoDock Vina software and structure was confirmed by Discovery Studio Visualizer. All the synthesized compounds were docked in a good manner within the active sites of the bacterial dehydrogenase enzyme and exhibited good binding energies.

Synthesis of N-Benzylideneaniline by Schiff base reaction using Kinnow peel powder as Green catalyst and comparative study of derivatives through ANOVA techniques.

The cheap and easy availability of the Kinnow peel waste has reported various applications due to presence of multifunctional groups. Therefore, in present study we explored its application to synthesize N-Benzylideneaniline and its derivatives based on Schiff base reaction. Kinnow peel powder is characterized by FTIR, TEM, SEM, XRD, EDX, and TGA for functional groups, morphology, surface, elements and thermal stability. Benzaldehyde, aniline, and their derivatives such as 4-methyl benzaldehyde, 4-hydroxy benzaldehyde, 4-methoxy benzaldehyde, and 4-methoxy aniline have been used to compare the efficacy of the Schiff base reaction using analysis of variance (ANOVA) and it has been observed that combination of Aniline and benzaldehyde for Schiff base reaction provided 85% yield of relative product.

Usefulness of clock-drawing test in Indian older adults with diabetes mellitus.

BACKGROUND: Clock-drawing test (CDT) is a simple, quick, and bedside cognitive screening test which measures different cognitive domains but has some limitations. The aim of this study was to examine the usefulness of CDT for Indian older adult based on a part of an ICMR-funded research project, New Delhi, India. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Sample comprised seventy participants (38 controls and 32 cases) aged 60 years and above included according to the inclusion/exclusion criteria in a consecutive series. Participants, who gave written informed consent, residing permanently in the area of Chowk, Lucknow, constituted the study sample. Semistructured sociodemographic details and medical history pro forma, socioeconomic status scale, General Health Questionnaire-12 (GHQ-12), CDT, and Hindi cognitive screening test (HCST) were administered. Biochemical investigations were carried out, and blood glucose level (fasting ≤100 mg/dl and postprandial ≤140 mg/dl) was considered for having diabetes mellitus (DM). The participants were categorized into two groups: (1) case: participants with DM only and (2) control: participants without discernible abnormality of physical illness and GHQ negative. Data were analyzed using percentages, t-test, the Chi-square test, sensitivity, and specificity. RESULTS: About 71.05% participants in control and 81.25% in the case group have cognitive impairment on CDT. Significantly higher illiterates (P < 0.05) were found to be significantly more cognitively impaired on HCST. CDT has a high level of sensitivity (0.71) and low specificity (0.23) when compared with HCST. CONCLUSION: CDT had screening bias to Indian older adults as a higher number of literates (almost double) and illiterates (four times) were found to be cognitively impaired compared to on HCST. Usefulness of CDT to screen Indian older adults for cognitive impairment is debatable.

Development of Comprehensive Satisfaction Index (ComSI) and Its Association with WHOQOL-BREF.

BACKGROUND: Comprehensive satisfaction in life may be considered as a significant contributor to health for everyone, including the aging population (individuals aged 45 years and above). For understanding the comprehensive satisfaction, an assessment measure with various psychometric properties may be useful. During a longitudinal study of aging and geriatric mental health, a 26-item tool was developed in Hindi for the assessment of satisfaction. This article aimed to analyze the items of Comprehensive Satisfaction Index (ComSI) applying Varimax rotation and to find out its association with World Health Organization Quality of Life Brief (WHOQOL-BREF). METHODS: Data of 260 subjects were extracted from the longitudinal study to analyze the psychometric properties of the tool named as Comprehensive Satisfaction Index and its association with various domains of WHOQOL-BREF. Varimax rotation was applied after computing Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin and Bartlett's test of sphericity. Furthermore, the association between various components of ComSI and various domains of WHOQOL-BREF was explored. RESULTS: Of the total 26 items of the tool, item no. 17 was excluded due to its -ve/ <0.31 value. A total of three components were generated with >1 eigenvalues; maximum items were loaded in component 1 (19) followed by components 2 (4) and 3 (2). Each of these factors has been significantly correlated with each other. Furthermore, these components also were compared with various domains of WHOQOL-BREF, and positive correlation was obtained for most of them. CONCLUSION: There is a positive association between ComSI and WHOQOL-BREF. This tool will help in identifying the satisfaction level of the aging subjects promptly and efficiently, which would further help in making strategies for interventions.

Compliance with the quality standards of National Diabetic Retinopathy Screening Committee.

AIMS: The National Diabetic Retinopathy Screening Committee has recommended 19 standards for quality assurance of screening programmes in the United Kingdom. Five of the standards apply to the care provided by ophthalmology departments. This study assesses the quality assurance of the eye care provided by the Wakefield and North Kirklees Screening programme. METHODS: A retrospective audit of case notes of patients for 12 consecutive months in 2007. The outcomes were compared with the five quality standards. RESULTS: Out of a total number of 15,080 patients screened for diabetic retinopathy (DR), 479 (3.17%) required referral to ophthalmology department (screen-positive). Of these, 352 (2.33% of total screened) were referred for diabetic retinopathy. Forty-three patients (13%) were referred for proliferative retinopathy (R3), 279 (79%) for maculopathy (M1), 24 (7%) for non-proliferative retinopathy (R2), and 4 (1%) for a history of previous photo-coagulation (P1). Fifty-eight patients (16%) failed to attend. A timely consultation was achieved in 33% of R3 and 77% of M1 patients. Only 31% of R3 and 8% of M1 at screening were listed at their first visit to ophthalmology clinic and received laser treatment in stipulated time. CONCLUSION: Significant progress is required for timely consultation and management of screen-positive patients. In order to achieve these targets efficiently, it may be appropriate to re-define M1 so that a significant proportion of patients with M1 may be referred to and better managed by primary care physicians or diabetologists.

Larvicidal activity of Artemisia annua L. callus culture against Anopheles stephensi larvae.

The emergence of resistance by both Plasmodium falciparum and Anopheles stephensi made the search for an alternative environmentally safe plant based insecticide inevitable. Artemisia annua is a well known antimalarial. Present study is an attempt to induce callus production from young leaves of Artemisia annua plant and study its larvicidal activity against larvae of Anopheles stephensi. Callus was initiated by using different concentrations of auxins and cytokinins. A suitable culture media was standardized for optimal growth of callus. Healthy callus cultures were obtained in the slightly modified Murashige and Skoog's medium +NAA and BAP (0.03 and 0.2 mg l(-1) respectively) + Sucrose 20 gm l(-1) +Agar 8 gm l(-1) within 28 days of inoculation. Callus was successively extracted in order of increasing polarity of solvents. Larvicidal activity, in terms of lethal concentration (LC50) of the callus extract in chloroform was calculated to be 18.45 +/- 0.75 ppm after72 hr against third instar larvae of A. stephensi.

Larvicidal activity of an indigenous plant, Centratherum anthelminticum.

Crude extracts of fruits and leaves of Centratherum anthelminticum in different solvents were tested for larvicidal activity against Anopheles stephensi, the vector of malaria. The petroleum ether crude extract of both fruits and leaves exhibited significant larvicidal activity against III instar larvae with LC50 values of 162.60 ppm and 522.94 ppm, respectively after 24 hr. The petroleum ether extract of fruit was 11.66, 2.15 and 1.32 times more toxic than that of leaf extract after 24, 48 and 72 hr, respectively at LC90 level. However at LC50 level the corresponding values were 3.22, 1.83 and 1.19, respectively. The petroleum ether extract of C. anthelminticum fruits is a promising source for the control of Anopheles larvae.