Controlling liquid hydrocarbon composition in valorization of plastic waste via tuning zeolite framework and SiO2/Al2O3 ratio.

Abundance of plastic waste has become threat to the mankind and aquatic life and thus needs to be recycled or converted into value added products. Liquefaction of waste plastics via catalytic cracking is one the efficient routes towards plastic waste management. Concerning this, in present study, conversion of polymer mixture containing polypropylene, low-density polyethylene and high-density polyethylene (PP, LDPE and HDPE) was done for the production of gasoline and diesel range hydrocarbons using two-step cracking approach. MWW and MFI (12 and 10 member ring structures respectively) type zeolites having different pore structure and acidity were used for catalytic cracking of polymer feed at 350 °C. Investigations revealed that MWW type zeolite having two independent pore channels selectively provides gasoline range of hydrocarbons (C7-C12, 99.12%) in polymer cracking reaction as compared to MFI type which results in C13-C20 range of hydrocarbons (73.19%). Hydrocarbon compositions were confirmed from GC-MS, 1H, 13C NMR and FT-IR techniques. In activity results it was observed that acidity of zeolites affects the liquid yield and hydrocarbon distribution as analysed by using zeolites of two different SiO2/Al2O3 (SAR) ratio (30 and 55) which directs that zeolite (MFI/MWW) with lower SAR (30) having higher acidity results in higher yield of fuel range liquid hydrocarbons as compared to higher SAR (55) zeolite. Characterization studies such as XRD, N2-physisorption, NH3-TPD, FE-SEM and EDX were performed to check the physiochemical properties of zeolite and correlated with the activity. Overall, the present investigation provides detailed comparative study on plastic degradation using MFI and MWW type zeolites resulting into different range of liquid hydrocarbons.

Bariatric and Metabolic Endoscopy: A New Paradigm.

The prevalence of obesity, type 2 diabetes mellitus, and metabolic syndromes is increasing globally. Minimally invasive metabobariatric (MB) endoscopic therapies are adjunct treatments that can potentially bridge the gap between surgical interventions and medical therapy. A growing number of MB techniques are becoming available, allowing for more personalized and patient-targeted treatment options for specific disease states. MB techniques are less invasive than surgery and can precisely target different parts of the gastrointestinal tract that may be responsible for the pathophysiology of obesity and metabolic syndromes such as type 2 diabetes mellitus. These alternatives should be selected on an individualized patient basis to balance the expected clinical outcomes and desired anatomical targets with the level of invasiveness and degree of acceptable risk. Each MB intervention presents great flexibility allowing for a tailored intervention and different levels of patient engagement. Patient awareness and motivation are essential to avoid therapy withdrawal and failure. Differences between MB procedures in terms of weight loss and metabolic benefit will be discussed in this review, along with the insights on clinical decision-making processes to evaluate the potential of further evolution and growth of bariatric and metabolic endoscopy.

Fermented bamboo shoots: A complete nutritional, anti-nutritional and antioxidant profile of the sustainable and functional food to food security.

Bamboo shoot fermentation is a traditional process carried out in different communities of the North-Eastern region. To understand the mechanism involved in the traditional process, its scientific validation was done in laboratory. The shoots were fermented for a period of 30 days with the addition of inoculum. Initial investigation showed that the acidity increased and cyanogenic toxicity decreased. The final fermented bamboo shoot product was further analyzed for the proximate composition, minerals and antioxidant capacity. An increase in the protein content (+17.28%) was found in the fermented sample while fat and vitamin C were found to decrease i.e. 90.2% and 35.77% respectively. A significant increase in the phenol, flavonoid content and antioxidant capacity was also found to increase indicating their potential to protect human health. Bamboo shoot serves a great means to food security and a source of functional food. Commercializing fermented shoot products will preserve traditional knowledge and provide livelihood and achieve development goals.

Impregnation of pectin-cedarwood essential oil nanocapsules onto mini cotton bag improves larvicidal performances.

The use pesticide is one of the indispensable means to combat mosquito borne diseases. However, the repeated use of synthetic pesticides has induced resistance in the vector pest along with undesirable impact on the environment. The biodegradability, non-persistent and user's safety are the root cause to prefer plant-derived pesticides to synthetic ones. The botanical based pesticides tend to degrade rapidly under the influence of several environmental factors. For the feasible application as pesticides, the plant products are formulated either as liquid or as purely solid. Despite well-established formulation technology in pesticide delivery, their handling trouble is being ignored. There is difficulty in liquid formulation of pesticide products, as they are prone to splashing and spillage, resulting in contamination, wastage and direct exposure to skin; whereas a solid formulation tends to produce dust. In the present work, cedarwood (Cedrus deodara) essential oil embedded pectin nanocapsules were produced. The nanocapsules were characterized according to their morphology, size, encapsulation efficiency and thermal stability. Furthermore, the nanocapsules were impregnated onto mini cotton tea bags to be employed as RTU (ready to use) formulation for treating the breeding sites of mosquitoes. The larvicidal activity of the bags treated with pectin-cedar wood nanocapsules was assessed against malaria vector, Anopheles culicifacies and 98% mortality was recorded till 4 weeks, this suggests its potential and hassle free applications in controlling mosquito vector.

Publisher Correction: Barcoding reveals complex clonal behavior in patient-derived xenografts of metastatic triple negative breast cancer.

The original version of this Article contained an error in Fig. 4. In the left histogram of the right panel of Fig. 4d, several data points were inadvertently deleted from the histogram during the production process. This error has been corrected in both the PDF and HTML versions of the Article. The original, incorrect version of Fig. 4 is presented in the accompanying Publisher Correction.

Barcoding reveals complex clonal behavior in patient-derived xenografts of metastatic triple negative breast cancer.

Primary triple negative breast cancers (TNBC) are prone to dissemination but sub-clonal relationships between tumors and resulting metastases are poorly understood. Here we use cellular barcoding of two treatment-naïve TNBC patient-derived xenografts (PDXs) to track the spatio-temporal fate of thousands of barcoded clones in primary tumors, and their metastases. Tumor resection had a major impact on reducing clonal diversity in secondary sites, indicating that most disseminated tumor cells lacked the capacity to 'seed', hence originated from 'shedders' that did not persist. The few clones that continued to grow after resection i.e. 'seeders', did not correlate in frequency with their parental clones in primary tumors. Cisplatin treatment of one BRCA1-mutated PDX model to non-palpable levels had a surprisingly minor impact on clonal diversity in the relapsed tumor yet purged 50% of distal clones. Therefore, clonal features of shedding, seeding and drug resistance are important factors to consider for the design of therapeutic strategies.

Whole exome sequencing of breast cancer (TNBC) cases from India: association of MSH6 and BRIP1 variants with TNBC risk and oxidative DNA damage.

Whole exome sequencing in triple negative breast cancer cases (n = 8) and targeted sequencing in healthy controls (n = 48) revealed BRIP1 rs552752779 (MAF: 75% vs. 6.25%, OR 45.00, 95% CI 9.43-243.32), ERBB2 rs527779103 (MAF: 62.5% vs. 7.29%, OR 21.19, 95% CI 5.11-94.32), ERCC2 rs121913016 (MAF: 56.25% vs. 7.29%, OR 16.34, 95% CI 4.02-70.41), MSH6 rs2020912 (MAF: 56.25% vs. 1.04%, OR 122.13, 95% CI 12.29-2985.48) as risk factors for triple negative breast cancer. Construction of classification and regression tree followed by smart pruning identified MSH6 and BRIP1 variants as the major determinants of TNBC (Triple Negative Breast Cancer) risk. Except for ERBB2, all other genes regulate DNA repair and chromosomal integrity. In TNBC cases, two likely pathogenic variations i.e. NCOR1 rs562300336 and PIM1 rs746748226 were observed at frequencies of 18.75% and 12.5%, respectively. Among the 24 variants of unknown significance, MMP9 rs199676062, SYNE1 rs368709678, AURKA rs373550419, ABCC4 rs11568694 have variant allele frequency ≥ 62.5%. These genes regulate metastasis, nuclear modeling, cell cycle and cellular detoxification, respectively. To conclude, aberrations in DNA mismatch repair, nucleotide excision repair or BRCA1 associated genome surveillance mechanism contribute towards triple negative breast cancer.

Harnessing the bio-mineralization ability of urease producing Serratia marcescens and Enterobacter cloacae EMB19 for remediation of heavy metal cadmium (II).

In the present study, urease positive Serratia marcescens (NCIM2919) and Enterobacter cloacae EMB19 (MTCC10649) were individually evaluated for remediation of cadmium (II) using ureolysis-induced calcium carbonate precipitation. Both the cultures were observed to efficiently remove cadmium from the media through co-precipitation of Cd (II) and Ca (II). S. marcescens and E. cloacae EMB19, respectively showed 96 and 98% removal of initial 5.0 mg L-1 soluble Cd (II) from the urea and CaCl2 laden media at 96 h of incubation period. At higher Cd (II) concentrations of 10 and 15 mg L-1, cadmium removal efficiency was much higher in case of E. cloacae EMB19 compared to S. marcescens. In-vitro cadmium (II) remediation study using urease containing cell-free culture supernatant of S. marcescens and E. cloacae EMB19 showed respective 98 and 53% removal of initial 50 mg L-1 Cd (II) from the reaction mixtures in co-presence of Ca (II). While in sole presence of Cd (II), only 16 and 8% removal of Cd (II) were detected for S. marcescens and E. cloacae EMB19, respectively. The elemental analysis of the co-precipitated mineral products using Energy Dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) clearly showed the prevalence of Ca and Cd ions. The morphology Cd-Ca composites formed with respect to both the cultures were observed to be of different shape and size as revealed through Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). Entire study hence comes out with a sustainable bioremediation option which could be effectively used to tackle Cd (II) or other heavy metal pollution.

Association of B12 deficiency and anemia synergistically increases the risk of high TNF-α levels among adolescent girls.

We investigated the association between iron status, B12, and inflammatory markers among 101 adolescent girls. We found that B12 showed significant negative association with tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) (rs = -0.232, P = 0.020) and positive association with serum ferritin (SF) (rs = 0.209, P = 0.036) among girls. Our results showed that hepcidin discriminates anemic and non-anemic population under normal B12 conditions. The logistic regression analysis revealed that the risk of having higher TNF-α levels was 13.2 times higher in low B12 girls in the presence of anemia compared to the girls having normal hemoglobin and B12 levels.

Single point mutation detection in living cancer cells by far-red emitting PNA-FIT probes.

Peptide nucleic acid bis-quinoline conjugates are reported as attractive far-red emitting probes that detect mutated mRNA in living cells at SNP resolution.

Effect of multi-nutrient insufficiency on markers of one carbon metabolism in young women: response to a methionine load.

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Multi-nutrient insufficiencies as a consequence of nutritional and economic factors are common in India and other developing countries. We have examined the impact of multi-nutrient insufficiency on markers of one carbon (1C) metabolism in the blood, and response to a methionine load in clinically healthy young women. SUBJECTS/METHODS: Young women from Pune, India (n=10) and Cleveland, USA (n=13) were studied. Blood samples were obtained in the basal state and following an oral methionine load (50 mg/kg of body weight in orange juice). Plasma concentrations of vitamin B12, folate and B6 were measured in the basal state. The effect of methionine load on the levels of methionine, total homocysteine, cysteine, glutathione and amino acids was examined. RESULTS: Indian women were significantly shorter and lighter compared with the American women and had lower plasma concentration of vitamins B12, folate and B6, essential amino acids and glutathione, but higher concentration of total homocysteine. The homocysteine response to methionine load was higher in Indian women. The plasma concentrations of glycine and serine increased in the Indian women after methionine (in juice) load. A significant negative correlation between plasma B6 and homocysteine (r= -0.70), and plasma folate and glycine and serine levels were observed in the Indian group (P<0.05) but not in the American group. CONCLUSIONS: Multi-nutrient insufficiency in the Indian women caused unique changes in markers of whole body protein and 1C metabolism. These data would be useful in developing nutrient intervention strategies.

Quantitative Evaluation of Macrophage Expression Using CD68 in Oral Submucous Fibrosis: An Immunohistochemical Study.

BACKGROUND: Macrophages are important cells for the innate immunity. Circulating monocytes are attracted to tissues by chemotactic factors and become macrophages under the influence of their microenvironment. Several studies suggested that local and systemic upregulation of fibrogenic cytokines and downregulation of antifibrotic cytokine are central to the pathogenesis of oral submucous fibrosis (OSMF). Currently, there have been no attempts made to elucidate the presence and role of macrophages in OSMF. AIM: Our aim was to study the expression of CD68 in OSMF patients and to investigate the possible correlation of macrophages using CD68 in various histopathological grades of OSMF. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: A prospective case-control study which included 40 patients was conducted after obtaining informed consent and Ethical Committee clearance. Ten cases were normal control and thirty cases had OSMF. Biopsy was performed and a quantitative study of macrophages was done using CD68 antigen and was immunohistochemically localized. Statistical analysis was carried out using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) 17.0 version (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA). RESULTS: OSMF was observed in male patients of a younger age group. The macrophage number in the patients of intermediate and advanced stage of OSMF was higher than that of the controls which was statistically significant (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: The findings of this study suggest that CD68 plays a vital role in the pathogenesis of OSMF and can be regarded as a useful marker for assessing the progress of the disease.

Meningeal myeloma deposits adversely impact the therapeutic index of an oncolytic VSV.

Vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) is neuropathogenic in rodents but can be attenuated 50-fold by engineering the mouse interferon-beta (IFN-ß) gene into its genome. Intravenously administered VSVs encoding IFN-ß have potent activity against subcutaneous tumors in the 5TGM1 mouse myeloma model, without attendant neurotoxicity. However, when 5TGM1 tumor cells were seeded intravenously, virus-treated mice with advanced myeloma developed clinical signs suggestive of meningoencephalitis. Co-administration of a known active antimyeloma agent did not prolong survival, further suggesting that deaths were due to viral toxicity, not tumor burden. Histological analysis revealed that systemically administered 5TGM1 cells seed to the CNS, forming meningeal tumor deposits, and that VSV infects and destroys these tumors. Death is presumably a consequence of meningeal damage and/or direct transmission of virus to adjacent neural tissue. In light of these studies, extreme caution is warranted in clinical testing of attenuated VSVs, particularly in patients with CNS tumor deposits.

Mathematical modelling to restore circulating IGF-1 concentrations in children with Crohn's disease-induced growth failure: a pharmacokinetic study.

OBJECTIVES: Children with Crohn's disease grow poorly, and inflammation depresses the response of insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) to growth hormone. Correcting the inflammation normalises growth velocity; however, removing inflammation cannot be achieved in all children. Our lack of understanding of IGF-1 kinetics has hampered its use, particularly as high IGF-1 concentrations over long periods may predispose to colon cancer. We hypothesised that mathematical modelling of IGF-1 would define dosing regimes that return IGF-1 concentrations into the normal range, without reaching values that risk cancer. DESIGN: Pharmacokinetic intervention study. SETTING: Tertiary paediatric gastroenterology unit. PARTICIPANTS: 8 children (M:F; 4:4) entered the study. All completed: 5 South Asian British; 2 White British; 1 African British. INCLUSION CRITERIA: Children over 10 years with active Crohn's disease (C reactive protein >10 mg/l or erythrocyte sedimentation rate >25 mm/h) and height velocity <-2 SD score. EXCLUSION CRITERIA: closed epiphyses; corticosteroids within 3 months; neoplasia or known hypersensitivity to recombinant human IGF-1 (rhIGF-1). INTERVENTIONS: Subcutaneous rhIGF-1 (120 µg/kg) per dose over two admissions: the first as a single dose and the second as twice daily doses over 5 days. PRIMARY OUTCOME: Significant increase in circulating IGF-1. SECONDARY OUTCOMES: Incidence of side effects of IGF-1. A mathematical model of circulating IGF-1 (Ac) was developed to include parameters of endogenous synthesis (Ksyn); exogenous uptake (Ka) from the subcutaneous dose (As): and IGF-1 clearance: where dAc/dt=Ksyn - Kout×Ac+Ka×As. RESULTS: Subcutaneous IGF-1 increased concentrations, which were maintained on twice daily doses. In covariate analysis, disease activity reduced Ksyn (p<0.001). Optimal dosing was derived from least squares regression fitted to a dataset of 384 Crohn's patients, with model parameters assigned by simulation. CONCLUSIONS: By using age, weight and disease activity scaling in IGF-1 dosing, over 95% of children will have normalised IGF-1 concentrations below +2.5 SDs of the normal population mean, a level not associated with cancer risk.

Simvastatin local drug delivery in smokers with chronic periodontitis: a randomized controlled clinical trial.

BACKGROUND: Simvastatin (SMV) is a specific competitive inhibitor of 3-hydroxy-2-methyl-glutaryl coenzyme A reductase. Statins have recently been shown to promote bone formation. This study was designed to investigate the effectiveness of SMV 1.2% in an indigenously prepared biodegradable controlled release gel as an adjunct to scaling and root planing (SRP) in the treatment of smokers with chronic periodontitis. METHODS: Forty patients were categorized into two treatment groups: SRP plus SMV 1.2% and SRP plus placebo. Clinical parameters were recorded at baseline and at 3, 6 and 9 months; they included modified sulcus bleeding index (mSBI), probing depth (PD) and clinical attachment level (CAL). At baseline, after 6 months and 9 months, radiologic assessment of intrabony defect (IBD) fill was done using computer-aided software. RESULTS: Mean probing depth reduction and mean clinical attachment level gain was greater in the SMV group than the placebo group at all visits. Furthermore, significantly greater mean percentage of bone fill was found in the SMV group (32.37 ± 10.23%) compared to the placebo (4.18 ± 5.39%). CONCLUSIONS: There was a greater decrease in mSBI and PD and more CAL gain with significant IBD fill at sites treated with SRP plus locally delivered SMV in smokers with chronic periodontitis.

Conventional xylene and xylene-free methods for routine histopathological preparation of tissue sections.

Xylene customarily has been used as a clearing agent for routine tissue processing. Because xylene is a relatively hazardous solvent, laboratories are under pressure to seek less toxic alternatives for routine use. We prepared 30 paired soft tissue specimens for routine histopathological evaluation using conventional xylene and xylene-free methods to evaluate and compare their efficacy for fixation, processing, embedding, staining and turnaround time. All specimens were measured before and after processing. Three pathologists evaluated and scored the histological sections. Tissue shrinkage was greater when using the xylene method compared to the xylene-free method. The quality of tissue sections including tissue architecture; quality of staining; preservation of epithelial, fibrous, glandular, muscle and adipose tissue; inflammatory cells; and vascular tissue was better after using the xylene method, but differences were not statistically significant. Xylene-free method produced adequate results that nearly equaled the xylene method. Added advantages included cost effectiveness, better working atmosphere and decreased toxicity.

Local drug delivery of 0.5% azithromycin in the treatment of chronic periodontitis among smokers.

BACKGROUND: Along with conventional periodontal surgical therapy, local delivery of antibiotics may provide more effective treatment in smokers by targeting tissue-invasive bacteria. The aim of this randomized, placebo-controlled, double-masked clinical trial was to evaluate the adjunctive effects of subgingivally delivered 0.5% azithromycin (AZM) as an adjunct to scaling and root planing (SRP) in the treatment of chronic periodontitis in smokers. METHODS: Fifty-four patients were randomized and categorized into two treatment groups: Group 1 - 26 subjects who received (SRP) plus placebo gel and Group 2 - 28 subjects who received (SRP) plus 0.5% azithromycin. Clinical parameters were recorded at baseline, 3, 6 and 9 months. They included Plaque Index (PI), modified Sulcus Bleeding Index (mSBI), probing depth (PD) and clinical attachment level (CAL). RESULTS: Azithromycin resulted in significant improvements. A single application of AZM resulted in attachment gain at 9 months of 2.44 ± 0.64 mm as compared to 0.18 ± 0.68 mm for the placebo. Similarly, pocket depth and PI were significantly reduced but no change in the mSBI was noted. CONCLUSIONS: When compared to the placebo, the adjunctive use of 0.5% AZM resulted in significant improvement in clinical outcome in the treatment of chronic periodontitis among smokers.

Blast lung: experience at CIMS.

Blast lung is a clinical condition which is characterised by respiratory difficulty and hypoxia without obvious external injury to the chest in bomb blast cases. Two patients of the bomb blast episode were brought at emergency department at Chhattisgarh Institute of Medical Sciences, Bilaspur in a state of shock. After proper wound care, resuscitation and investigation both the cases proved to be that of blast lung. In bomb blast cases although there might not be any external injury over chest wall, it will be sensible to rule out blast lung in all cases with the help of computerised tomography.

Potent systemic therapy of multiple myeloma utilizing oncolytic vesicular stomatitis virus coding for interferon-ß.

Multiple myeloma (MM) is an incurable malignancy of plasma secreting B cells disseminated in the bone marrow. Successful utilization of oncolytic virotherapy for myeloma treatment requires a systemically administered virus that selectively destroys disseminated myeloma cells in an immune-competent host. Vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV)-expressing interferon-ß (IFNß) is a promising new oncolytic agent that exploits tumor-associated defects in innate immune signaling pathways to destroy cancer cells specifically. We demonstrate here that a single, intravenous dose of VSV coding for IFNß (VSV-IFNß) specifically destroys subcutaneous and disseminated 5TGM1 myeloma in an immune-competent myeloma model. VSV-IFN treatment significantly prolonged survival in mice bearing orthotopic myeloma. Viral murine IFNß expression further delayed myeloma progression and significantly enhanced survival compared with VSV-expressing human IFNß. Evaluation of VSV-IFNß oncolytic activity in human myeloma cell lines and primary patient samples confirmed myeloma-specific oncolytic activity, but revealed variable susceptibility to VSV-IFNß oncolysis. The results indicate that VSV-IFNß is a potent, safe oncolytic agent that can be systemically administered to target and destroy disseminated myeloma effectively in immune-competent mice. IFNß expression improves cancer specificity and enhances VSV therapeutic efficacy against disseminated myeloma. These data show VSV-IFNß to be a promising vector for further development as a potential therapy for the treatment of MM.