Enhancing systematic tolerance in Bermuda grass (Cynodon dactylon L.) through amplified alkB gene expression and bacterial-driven hydrocarbon degradation.

This study aimed to access the impact of soil polluted with petroleum (5, 10 g petroleum kg-1 soil) on Bermuda grass (Cynodon dactylon L.) with and without applied bacterial inoculants (Arthrobacter oxydans ITRH49 and Pseudomonas sp. MixRI75). Both soil and seed were given bacterial inoculation. The evaluated morphological parameters of Bermuda grass were fresh and dry weight. The results demonstrated that applied bacterial inoculants enhanced 5.4%, 20%, 28% and 6.4%, 21%, and 29% shoot and root fresh/dry weights in Bermuda grass under controlled environment. The biochemical analysis of shoot and root was affected deleteriously by the 10 g petroleum kg-1 soil pollution. Microbial inoculants enhanced the activities of enzymatic (catalase, peroxidase, glutathione reductase, ascorbate peroxidase, superoxide dismutase) and non-enzymatic (ɑ-tocopherols, proline, reduced glutathione, ascorbic acid) antioxidant to mitigate the toxic effects of ROS (H2O2) under hydrocarbon stressed condition. The maximum hydrocarbon degradation (75%) was recorded by Bermuda grass at 5 g petroleum kg-1 soil contamination. Moreover, bacterial persistence and alkane hydroxylase gene (alkB) abundance and expression were observed more in the root interior than in the rhizosphere and shoot interior of Bermuda grass. Subsequently, the microbe used a biological tool to propose that the application of plant growth-promoting bacteria would be the most favorable choice in petroleum hydrocarbon polluted soil to conquer the abiotic stress in plants and the effective removal of polyaromatic hydrocarbons in polluted soil.

Vesicular approach of cubosomes, its components, preparation techniques, evaluation and their appraisal for targeting cancer cells.

Cancer has been characterized by abnormal and uncontrolled proliferation of cells. Majority of drugs given through chemotherapy produce unwanted and adverse effects of chemotherapeutic agents to the other healthy cells and tissues of body. Various nanocarriers have now been considered for treatment of cancer. Among various nanocarriers, cubosomes are the nano sized dispersions that have drawn interest of researchers recently. Cubosomes are defined as dispersions of colloidal nature containing cubic crystalline liquid formations in aqueous medium in presence of suitable surfactant molecules. The unique capacity to encapsulate lipophilic, hydrophilic, and amphiphilic compounds inside their structure distinguishes them among others. Top- down method and hydrotrope method are most often employed methods for cubosomes preparation. Cubosomes can be characterized by Polarized light microscopy Photon correlation spectroscopy X-ray scattering (SAXS), Transmission electron microscopy and various stability studies. Cubic lipid nanoparticles have a very stable cubic structure that enables slower dissociation rate, increased retention and site-specific delivery of drugs. Cubosomes containing extracts of cornelian cherry for boosting anti-cancerous effects in cancer of colorectal cells by preventing against GIT destruction. When applied for skin cancer, cubosomes have shown to be having enhanced permeation of the drug. In liver cancer, increased bioavailability of drug was observed via cubosomes. This current review elaborates the advancement of cubosomes and their effective role in the treatment of cancer. This review aims to describe vesicular approach of cubosomes, its composition and method of preparation, characterization tests as well as elaborates various applications of cubosomes in cancer.

Untangling connections between challenges in the adoption of learning analytics in higher education.

Potential benefits of learning analytics (LA) for improving students' performance, predicting students' success, and enhancing teaching and learning practice have increasingly been recognized in higher education. However, the adoption of LA in higher education institutions (HEIs) to date remains sporadic and predominantly small in scale due to several socio-technical challenges. To better understand why HEIs struggle to scale LA adoption, it is needed to untangle adoption challenges and their related factors. This paper presents the findings of a study that sought to investigate the associations of adoption factors with challenges HEIs face in the adoption of LA and how these associations are compared among HEIs at different scopes of adoption. The study was based on a series of semi-structured interviews with senior managers in HEIs. The interview data were thematically analysed to identify the main challenges in LA adoption. The connections between challenges and other factors related to LA adoption were analysed using epistemic network analysis (ENA). From senior managers' viewpoints, ethical issues of informed consent and resistance culture had the strongest links with challenges of learning analytic adoption in HEI; this was especially true for those institutions that had not adopted LA or who were in the initial phase of adoption (i.e., preparing for or partially implementing LA). By contrast, among HEIs that had fully adopted LA, the main challenges were found to be associated with centralized leadership, gaps in the analytic capabilities, external stakeholders, and evaluations of technology. Based on the results, we discuss implications for LA strategy that can be useful for institutions at various stages of LA adoption, from early stages of interest to the full adoption phase.

Induced systemic tolerance mediated by plant-microbe interaction in maize (Zea mays L.) plants under hydrocarbon contamination.

The present investigation was committed to examining the effect of soil spiked with diesel contamination (0, 1.5, 2.5, 3.5 g diesel kg-1 soil) on maize (Zea mays L) varieties (MMRI yellow and Pearl white) with or without bacterial consortium (Pseudomonas aeruginosa BRRI54, Acinetobacter sp. strain BRSI56, Acinetobacter sp. strain ACRH80). Seed and soil bacterial inoculation were done. The studied morphological attributes were fresh and dry weight of shoot and root of both maize varieties. The results documented that bacterial consortium caused 21%, 0.06% and 29%, 34% higher shoot and root fresh/dry weights in "Pearl white" and 14%, 15% and 32%, 22% shoot and root fresh/dry weights respectively in MMRI yellow under control conditions. The biochemical attributes of shoot and root were affected negatively by the 3.5 g diesel kg-1 soil contamination. Bacterial consortium enhanced enzymatic activity (APX, CAT, POD, SOD, GR) and non-enzymatic (AsA, GSH, Pro, α-Toco) antioxidant and reduction in oxidative stress (H2O2, MDA) under hydrocarbon stress as compared to non-inoculated ones in both root and shoot organs. Among both varieties, the highest hydrocarbon removal (75, 64, and 69%) was demonstrated by MMRI yellow with bacterial consortium as compare to Pearl white showed 73, 57, 65% hydrocarbon degradation at 1.5 2.5, 3.5 g diesel kg-1 soil contamination. Consequently, the microbe mediated biotransformation of hydrocarbons suggested that the use of PGPB would be the most beneficial selection in diesel fuel contaminated soil to overcome the abiotic stress in plants and successfully remediation of hydrocarbon in contaminated soil.

Pharmacokinetics of thymoquinone in layer chickens following oral and intravenous administration.

Thymoquinone (TQ) is the major constituent of Nigella sativa and known to possess a variety of pharmacological effects. This study was designed to evaluate the pharmacokinetic profile of TQ following oral (PO) and intravenous (IV) administration in layer chickens. The layer chickens were equally divided into two groups (six chickens in each group, total 12 chickens), and TQ was administered via PO and IV routes. For PO route, the dose was 20 mg/kg b.w. and for IV route, 5 mg/kg b.w. was administered, respectively. A sensitive and accurate High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) technique was validated for the quantification of TQ from plasma. The limit of detection (LOD) and limit of quantification (LOQ) were 0.02 µg/ml and 0.05 µg/ml, respectively with >80% recovery. Maximum plasma concentration (Cmax ) following PO and IV administration was 8.805 and 4.497 µg/ml, respectively, while time to reach at maximum concentration (Tmax ) was 1 and 0.1 hr, respectively. The elimination half-lives were recorded as 1.02 and 0.978 hr, whereas the mean residence times were 1.79 and 1.036 hr following both PO and IV administration, respectively. The 85% PO bioavailability was indicative that TQ could be used for various therapeutic purposes in layer chickens.

Supramolecular self-assembly and physical-gel formation in disc-like liquid crystals: a scalable predictive model for gelation and an application in photovoltaics.

The application of triphenylene-based discotic liquid crystal derivatives as physical gelators is investigated. In particular, we focus on 2,3,6,7,10,11-hexakis-pentyloxytriphenylene (HAT5) and the longer alkyl chain homologue (HAT6). The driving mechanisms behind and parameter space of non-covalent physical gel formation is studied. A Hansen solubility parameter (HSP) approach is used to predict physical gelation of these disc-like liquid crystalline molecules in a variety of common organic and inorganic solvents important to electrochemical devices. Our results show that HSP analysis is very useful for the prediction of gel formation. The results are transferrable and can form the basis for future investigations into liquid crystalline physical gels. Furthermore, we use acetonitrile as a solvent and apply the gels as electrolytes in dye sensitized solar cells. It is observed that using a binary mixture of gelators results in average photovoltaic power conversion efficiencies as high as 7.21%, compared to a 5.9% reference electrolyte. This is attributed to a reduction in electron recombination at the n-type interface and provides further insight about hybrid gelators. Coupled with an increase in device stability, the results are promising for gel-based dye sensitized solar cells as well as potentially other electrolytic devices such as batteries and supercapacitors.