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1.
J Chem Phys ; 160(3)2024 Jan 21.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38230950

RESUMO

The semiconductor/insulator blends for organic field-effect transistors are a potential solution to improve the charge transport in the active layer by inducing phase separation in the blends. However, the technique is less investigated for long-chain conducting polymers such as Poly[2,5-(2-octyldodecyl)-3,6-diketopyrrolopyrrole-alt-5,5-(2,5-di(thien-2-yl)thieno [3,2-b]thiophene)] (DPPDTT), and lateral phase separation is generally reported due to the instability during solvent evaporation, which results in degraded device performance. Herein, we report how to tailor the dominant mechanism of phase separation in such blends and the molecular assembly of the polymer. For DPPDTT/PMMA blends, we found that for higher DPPDTT concentrations (more than 75%) where the vertical phase separation mechanism is dominant, PMMA assisted in the self-assembly of DPPDTT to form nanowires and micro-transport channels on top of PMMA. The formation of nanowires yielded 13 times higher mobility as compared to pristine devices. For blend ratios with DPPDTT ≤ 50%, both the competing mechanisms, vertical and lateral phase separation, are taking place. It resulted in somewhat lower charge carrier mobilities. Hence, our results show that by systematic tuning of the blend ratio, PMMA can act as an excellent binding material in long-chain polymers such as DPPDTT and produce vertically stratified and aligned structures to ensure high mobility devices.

2.
Omega (Westport) ; : 302228231186360, 2023 Jun 28.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-37379515

RESUMO

Background: The mental health of healthcare workers (HCWs) has been significantly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. To address this, spirituality and religious coping mechanisms have been suggested as a way to maintain well-being and reduce anxiety levels. Additionally, vaccination has been shown to play an essential role in lowering anxiety levels, including death anxiety. However, there is a lack of evidence on how positive religious coping strategies and COVID-19 immunization affect death anxiety levels. To fill this gap, this study uses a Pakistani HCWs sample. Methods: This study collected cross-sectional data from 389 HCWs on socio-demographics, positive religious coping strategies, vaccine acceptance, and death anxiety. Hypothesis testing was done using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) and Partial Least Squares (PLS) by adopting the Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) technique. Results: The results showed that the positive religious coping strategy and acceptance of the COVID-19 vaccine reduced death anxiety among HCWs in Pakistan. HCWs practicing the positive religious coping strategy and vaccine acceptance had lower levels of death anxiety symptoms. Thus, the positive religious coping strategy has a direct effect on reducing death anxiety. Conclusion: In conclusion, COVID-19 immunization positively affects individual mental health by reducing death anxiety. Vaccines protect individuals from COVID-19 infection, providing a sense of security that reduces the chance of death anxiety among HCWs attending to COVID-19 patients.

3.
Annu Rev Pharmacol Toxicol ; 59: 171-189, 2019 01 06.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-30216745

RESUMO

New approaches to the neurobiology of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are needed to address the reported crisis in PTSD drug development. These new approaches may require the field to move beyond a narrow fear-based perspective, as fear-based medications have not yet demonstrated compelling efficacy. Antidepressants, particularly recent rapid-acting antidepressants, exert complex effects on brain function and structure that build on novel aspects of the biology of PTSD, including a role for stress-related synaptic dysconnectivity in the neurobiology and treatment of PTSD. Here, we integrate this perspective within a broader framework-in other words, a dual pathology model of ( a) stress-related synaptic loss arising from amino acid-based pathology and ( b) stress-related synaptic gain related to monoamine-based pathology. Then, we summarize the standard and experimental (e.g., ketamine) pharmacotherapeutic options for PTSD and discuss their putative mechanism of action and clinical efficacy.


Assuntos
Antidepressivos/farmacologia , Antidepressivos/uso terapêutico , Transtornos de Estresse Pós-Traumáticos/tratamento farmacológico , Transtornos de Estresse Pós-Traumáticos/fisiopatologia , Animais , Encéfalo/efeitos dos fármacos , Encéfalo/fisiopatologia , Humanos
4.
Sensors (Basel) ; 22(4)2022 Feb 12.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-35214322

RESUMO

Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Internet of Things (IoT) offer immense potential to transform conventional healthcare systems. The IoT and AI enabled smart systems can play a key role in driving the future of smart healthcare. Remote monitoring of critical and non-critical patients is one such field which can leverage the benefits of IoT and machine learning techniques. While some work has been done in developing paradigms to establish effective and reliable communications, there is still great potential to utilize optimized IoT network and machine learning technique to improve the overall performance of the communication systems, thus enabling fool-proof systems. This study develops a novel IoT framework to offer ultra-reliable low latency communications to monitor post-surgery patients. The work considers both critical and non-critical patients and is balanced between these to offer optimal performance for the desired outcomes. In addition, machine learning based regression analysis of patients' sensory data is performed to obtain highly accurate predictions of the patients' sensory data (patients' vitals), which enables highly accurate virtual observers to predict the data in case of communication failures. The performance analysis of the proposed IoT based vital signs monitoring system for the post-surgery patients offers reduced delay and packet loss in comparison to IEEE low latency deterministic networks. The gradient boosting regression analysis also gives a highly accurate prediction for slow as well as rapidly varying sensors for vital sign monitoring.


Assuntos
Internet das Coisas , Inteligência Artificial , Atenção à Saúde , Humanos , Aprendizado de Máquina , Projetos Piloto
5.
Molecules ; 26(19)2021 Sep 30.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-34641480

RESUMO

The present research is based on the fabrication preparation of CS/PVA/GG blended hydrogel with nontoxic tetra orthosilicate (TEOS) for sustained paracetamol release. Different TEOS percentages were used because of their nontoxic behavior to study newly designed hydrogels' crosslinking and physicochemical properties. These hydrogels were characterized using Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and wetting to determine the functional, surface morphology, hydrophilic, or hydrophobic properties. The swelling analysis in different media, degradation in PBS, and drug release kinetics were conducted to observe their response against corresponding media. The FTIR analysis confirmed the components added and crosslinking between them, and surface morphology confirmed different surface and wetting behavior due to different crosslinking. In various solvents, including water, buffer, and electrolyte solutions, the swelling behaviour of hydrogel was investigated and observed that TEOS amount caused less hydrogel swelling. In acidic pH, hydrogels swell the most, while they swell the least at pH 7 or higher. These hydrogels are pH-sensitive and appropriate for controlled drug release. These hydrogels demonstrated that, as the ionic concentration was increased, swelling decreased due to decreased osmotic pressure in various electrolyte solutions. The antimicrobial analysis revealed that these hydrogels are highly antibacterial against Gram-positive (Staphylococcus aureus and Bacillus cereus) and Gram negative (Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Escherichia coli) bacterial strains. The drug release mechanism was 98% in phosphate buffer saline (PBS) media at pH 7.4 in 140 min. To analyze drug release behaviour, the drug release kinetics was assessed against different mathematical models (such as zero and first order, Higuchi, Baker-Lonsdale, Hixson, and Peppas). It was found that hydrogel (CPG2) follows the Peppas model with the highest value of regression (R2 = 0.98509). Hence, from the results, these hydrogels could be a potential biomaterial for wound dressing in biomedical applications.


Assuntos
Antibacterianos/administração & dosagem , Bactérias/efeitos dos fármacos , Quitosana/química , Galactanos/química , Hidrogéis/administração & dosagem , Mananas/química , Gomas Vegetais/química , Álcool de Polivinil/química , Cicatrização/efeitos dos fármacos , Antibacterianos/química , Bandagens , Liberação Controlada de Fármacos , Hidrogéis/química
6.
Sensors (Basel) ; 19(15)2019 Jul 25.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-31349623

RESUMO

Wireless Body Area Networks (WBANs) are in the spotlight of researchers and engineering industries due to many applications. Remote health monitoring for general as well as military purposes where tiny sensors are attached or implanted inside the skin of the body to sense the required attribute is particularly prominent. To seamlessly accomplish this procedure, there are various challenges, out of which temperature control to reduce thermal effects and optimum power consumption to reduce energy wastage are placed at the highest priority. Regular and consistent operation of a sensor node for a long-time result in a rising of the temperature of respective tissues, where it is attached or implanted. This temperature rise has harmful effects on human tissues, which may lead to the tissue damage. In this paper, a Temperate Aware and Energy Optimized (TAEO) routing protocol is proposed that not only deals with the thermal aspects and hot spot problem, but also extends the stability and lifetime of a network. Analytical simulations are conducted, and the results depict better performance in terms of the network lifetime, throughput, energy preservation, and temperature control with respect to state of the art WBAN protocols.

7.
Sensors (Basel) ; 19(11)2019 May 31.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-31159252

RESUMO

The lack of healthcare staff and increasing proportions of elderly population is alarming. The traditional means to look after elderly has resulted in 255,000 reported falls (only within UK). This not only resulted in extensive aftercare needs and surgeries (summing up to £4.4 billion) but also in added suffering and increased mortality. In such circumstances, the technology can greatly assist by offering automated solutions for the problem at hand. The proposed work offers an Internet of things (IoT) based patient bed-exit monitoring system in clinical settings, capable of generating a timely response to alert the healthcare workers and elderly by analyzing the wireless data streams, acquired through wearable sensors. This work analyzes two different datasets obtained from divergent families of sensing technologies, i.e., smartphone-based accelerometer and radio frequency identification (RFID) based accelerometer. The findings of the proposed system show good efficacy in monitoring the bed-exit and discriminate other ambulating activities. Furthermore, the proposed work manages to keep the average end-to-end system delay (i.e., communications of sensed data to Data Sink (DS)/Control Center (CC) + machine-based feature extraction and class identification + feedback communications to a relevant healthcare worker/elderly) below 1 10 th of a second.

8.
Phys Chem Chem Phys ; 20(41): 26068-26071, 2018 Nov 07.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-30307015

RESUMO

The cubic phase of pure zirconia (ZrO2) is stabilized in dense thin films through a controlled introduction of oxygen vacancies (O defects) by cold-plasma-based sputtering deposition. Here, we show that the cubic crystals present at the film/substrate interface near-region exhibit fast ionic transport, which is superior to what is obtained with similar yttrium-stabilized cubic zirconia thin films.

9.
Psychiatr Q ; 89(1): 235-247, 2018 03.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-28815479

RESUMO

Despite growing concerns over pathological internet usage, studies based on validated psychometric instruments are still lacking in Pakistan. This study aimed to examine the psychometric properties of the Internet Addiction Test (IAT) in a sample of Pakistani students. A total of 522 students of medicine and dentistry completed the questionnaire, which consisted of four sections: (a) demographics, (b) number of hours spent on the Internet per day, (c) English version of the IAT, and (d) the Defense Style Questionnaire-40. Maximum likelihood analysis and principal axis factoring were used to validate the factor structure of the IAT. Convergent and criterion validity were assessed by correlating IAT scores with number of hours spent online and defense styles. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis reflected the goodness of fit of a unidimensional structure of the IAT, with a high alpha coefficient. The IAT had good face and convergent validity and no floor and ceiling effects, and was judged easy to read by participants.


Assuntos
Comportamento Aditivo/diagnóstico , Internet/estatística & dados numéricos , Escalas de Graduação Psiquiátrica/normas , Estudantes de Odontologia/estatística & dados numéricos , Estudantes de Medicina/estatística & dados numéricos , Adulto , Feminino , Humanos , Masculino , Paquistão , Reprodutibilidade dos Testes , Adulto Jovem
10.
Antimicrob Agents Chemother ; 60(3): 1304-18, 2015 Dec 14.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-26666937

RESUMO

The global emergence of drug resistance in malaria is impeding the therapeutic efficacy of existing antimalarial drugs. Therefore, there is a critical need to develop an efficient drug delivery system to circumvent drug resistance. The anticoccidial drug monensin, a carboxylic ionophore, has been shown to have antimalarial properties. Here, we developed a liposome-based drug delivery of monensin and evaluated its antimalarial activity in lipid formulations of soya phosphatidylcholine (SPC) cholesterol (Chol) containing either stearylamine (SA) or phosphatidic acid (PA) and different densities of distearoyl phosphatidylethanolamine-methoxy-polyethylene glycol 2000 (DSPE-mPEG-2000). These formulations were found to be more effective than a comparable dose of free monensin in Plasmodium falciparum (3D7) cultures and established mice models of Plasmodium berghei strains NK65 and ANKA. Parasite killing was determined by a radiolabeled [(3)H]hypoxanthine incorporation assay (in vitro) and microscopic counting of Giemsa-stained infected erythrocytes (in vivo). The enhancement of antimalarial activity was dependent on the liposomal lipid composition and preferential uptake by infected red blood cells (RBCs). The antiplasmodial activity of monensin in SA liposome (50% inhibitory concentration [IC50], 0.74 nM) and SPC:Chol-liposome with 5 mol% DSPE-mPEG 2000 (IC50, 0.39 nM) was superior to that of free monensin (IC50, 3.17 nM), without causing hemolysis of erythrocytes. Liposomes exhibited a spherical shape, with sizes ranging from 90 to 120 nm, as measured by dynamic light scattering and high-resolution electron microscopy. Monensin in long-circulating liposomes of stearylamine with 5 mol% DSPE-mPEG 2000 in combination with free artemisinin resulted in enhanced killing of parasites, prevented parasite recrudescence, and improved survival. This is the first report to demonstrate that monensin in PEGylated stearylamine (SA) liposome has therapeutic potential against malaria infections.


Assuntos
Antimaláricos/farmacologia , Artemisininas/farmacologia , Lipossomos/administração & dosagem , Malária/tratamento farmacológico , Monensin/farmacologia , Aminas/administração & dosagem , Aminas/química , Animais , Antimaláricos/administração & dosagem , Sangue/efeitos dos fármacos , Sangue/parasitologia , Sistemas de Liberação de Medicamentos/métodos , Quimioterapia Combinada , Feminino , Lipossomos/química , Lipossomos/farmacologia , Malária/parasitologia , Camundongos , Monensin/farmacocinética , Plasmodium berghei/patogenicidade , Plasmodium falciparum/efeitos dos fármacos , Distribuição Tecidual
11.
Cell Biol Int ; 38(12): 1355-66, 2014 Dec.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-24947407

RESUMO

Our knowledge about encoding and maintenance of spatial memory emphasizes the integrated functional role of the grid cells and the place cells of the hippocampus in the generation of theta rhythm in spatial memory formation. However, the role of astrocytes in these processes is often underestimated in their contribution to the required structural and functional characteristics of hippocampal neural network operative in spatial memory. We show that hippocampal astrocytes, by the secretion of gliotransmitters, such as glutamate, d-serine, and ATP and growth factors such as BDNF and by the expression of receptors and channels such as those of TNFα and aquaporin, have several diverse fuctions in spatial memory. We specifically focus on the role of astrocytes on five phases of spatial memory: (1) theta rhythm generation, (2) theta phase precession, (3) formation of spatial memory by mapping data of entorhinal grid cells into the place cells, (4) storage of spatial information, and (5) maintenance of spatial memory. Finally, by reviewing the literature, we propose specific mechanisms mentioned in the form of a hypothesis suggesting that astrocytes are important in spatial memory formation.


Assuntos
Astrócitos/metabolismo , Hipocampo/fisiologia , Peptídeos e Proteínas de Sinalização Intercelular/metabolismo , Neurotransmissores/metabolismo , Memória Espacial/fisiologia , Ritmo Teta/fisiologia , Animais , Humanos
12.
Int J Biol Macromol ; 267(Pt 1): 131540, 2024 May.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38608992

RESUMO

Lignin-containing nanocellulose (LNC) is a compelling alternative to traditional nanocellulose (NC), it offers enhanced yields and a reduction in the demand for toxic chemicals. This research involves the isolation of LNC from date palm waste using a green hydrolysis process and its subsequent characterization. The potential of using ionic liquids (ILs) as green solvents to isolate LNC has not yet been explored. Our findings suggest that 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride ([Emim]Cl) can hydrolyze partially delignified and unbleached lignocellulose, achieving LNC synthesis. The obtained LNC showed a higher yield than its NC counterpart and exhibited rod-shaped fibers with nanoscale diameters and micrometer lengths, indicating a high aspect ratio. Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS) results indicate average particle sizes of 143.20 nm for NC and 282.30 nm for LNC, with a narrow particle size distribution conforming their monodisperse behavior. Thermogravimetric analysis and differential scanning calorimetry revealed high thermal stability (initial degradation temperature = 222.50 °C and glass transition temperature = 84.45°C) of LNC. Moreover, the obtained LNC fibers were crystalline (crystallinity index = 52.76 %). Their activation energy (124.95 kJ/mol) was determined using the Coats-Redfern method by employing eight solid-state diffusion models. Overall, this study motivates the use of ILs as green solvents to produce lignocellulose derivatives that are suitable for various applications.


Assuntos
Celulose , Química Verde , Lignina , Phoeniceae , Solventes , Lignina/química , Solventes/química , Celulose/química , Química Verde/métodos , Phoeniceae/química , Hidrólise , Líquidos Iônicos/química , Termogravimetria , Resíduos , Temperatura , Tamanho da Partícula
13.
Materials (Basel) ; 17(8)2024 Apr 11.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38673114

RESUMO

A tunable multiband terahertz metamaterial absorber, based on vanadium dioxide (VO2), is demonstrated. The absorber comprises a three-layer metal-insulator-metal (MIM) configuration with a split ring and slots of VO2 on the uppermost layer, a middle dielectric substrate based on silicon dioxide (SiO2), and a gold reflector on the back. The simulation results indicate that, when VO2 is in the metallic state, the proposed metamaterial exhibits nearly perfect absorption at six distinct frequencies. The design achieves an average absorption of 98.2%. The absorptivity of the metamaterial can be dynamically tuned from 4% to 100% by varying the temperature-controlled conductivity of VO2. The proposed metamaterial absorber exhibits the advantages of polarization insensitivity and maintains its absorption over 80% under different incident angle conditions. The underlying physical mechanism of absorption is explained through impedance matching theory, interference theory, and the distribution of electric fields. The ability to achieve multiband absorption with tunable characteristics makes the proposed absorber a promising candidate for applications in terahertz sensing, imaging, communication, and detection. The polarization insensitivity further enhances its practicality in various scenarios, allowing for versatile and reliable performance in terahertz systems.

14.
Eur J Pharm Biopharm ; 197: 114210, 2024 Apr.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38340876

RESUMO

Malaria is a longstanding global health challenge that continues to afflict over 90 countries located in tropical and subtropical regions of the globe. The rise of drug-resistant malarial parasites has curtailed the therapeutic efficacy of a number of once-effective anti-malarials, including mefloquine. In the present study, we have taken advantage of drug encapsulation approach to elevate the anti-malarial potential of mefloquine. Encouragingly, our findings unveil that liposomal formulations of mefloquine outperform equivalent doses of free mefloquine, both in laboratory cultures and in a murine model of malaria. Intriguingly, a cationic liposomal mefloquine formulation, administered at four successive doses of 3 mg/kg body weight, achieves complete resolution of cerebral malaria in the murine model while avoiding noticeable toxic repercussions. Altogether, our study furnishes pre-clinical validation for a therapeutic strategy that can remarkably enhance the drug efficacy, offering a revitalizing solution for failing anti-malarials.


Assuntos
Antimaláricos , Malária Cerebral , Animais , Camundongos , Antimaláricos/farmacologia , Mefloquina/uso terapêutico , Lipossomos , Malária Cerebral/tratamento farmacológico , Modelos Animais de Doenças
15.
R Soc Open Sci ; 11(5): 240153, 2024 May.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-39076796

RESUMO

With the wide potential of organic field-effect transistors in all the modern electronic circuitries, researchers are grappling with the challenge of poor charge transport and hence lower mobility in organic polymers. Low-charge carrier mobility is mainly due to disorder in the molecular packing of organic semiconductors along with other factors, such as impurities, defects and interactions between molecules. The current research work has been conducted to align the molecular chains of poly[4-(4,4-dihexadecyl-4H-cyclopenta[1,2-|||b:5,4-|b']|dithiophen-2-yl)-alt-[1,2,5]thiadiazolo-[3,4-c]pyridine] (PCDTPT) using directional coating techniques such as dip coating and brush coating on nano-grooved substrates. Long-range order of polymer chains was clearly observed along the direction of brush coating and nanogrooves in optical and atomic force microscope (AFM) images while transmission spectra confirmed decreased pi-pi stacking for the polymer films deposited by this technique. By comparing the mobility performance of brush-coated devices with other techniques, we found a remarkable mobility enhancement of 90 times that of conventional spin-coated device and 24 times enhancement compared with the dip-coated device for the case when the alignment of polymer chains was parallel to the channel. All the fabrication and characterizations were performed in the ambient environment. This study demonstrates a potential approach to align the polymers on long and short ranges hence providing a route for high-performing devices in ambient conditions.

16.
Plant Physiol Biochem ; 215: 109029, 2024 Aug 12.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-39137682

RESUMO

The levels of soils pollutants such as lead (Pb) and cadmium (Cd) have significantly increased recently resulting in ecological disturbances and threatening crop production. Various amendments have been employed to enhance the tolerance of crops to withstand Cd and Pb stresses. However, the role of combined application of potassium (K) and of salicylic acid (SA) for Cd and Pb stress mitigation and phytoremediation by quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa Willd) has not been comprehended well. In the present study, the effect of 10 mM K and 0.1 mM SA was tested on the quinoa plants subjected to 250 µM Pb and/or 100 µM Cd. The Pb and Cd treatments were applied separately or together. Phytotoxicity induced by Pb and Cd resulted in drastic decrease (>60%) in chlorophyll contents, stomatal conductance, and plant biomass. The collective treatment of Pb and Cd induced an increase in the concentration of hydrogen peroxide (13-fold) and lipid peroxidation (16-fold) that resulted in a 61% reduction in membrane stability. The application of 10 mM K and/or 0.1 mM SA was remarkable in mitigating the adverse effect of Pb and Cd. The reduction in plant biomass was 17% when 10 mM K and 0.1 mM SA were applied together under the combined treatment of both the metals. The simultaneous application of K and SA effectively mitigated oxidative stress by enhancing the activities of superoxide dismutase, peroxidase, ascorbate peroxidase, and catalase by 12, 10, 7 and 10-folds respectively. The positive effect of K and SA on these attributes resulted in a remarkable reduction in metal accumulation and translocation and lipid peroxidation. The stressed plants supplemented with K and SA exhibited a significant improvement in the membrane stability index, chlorophyll content, and stomatal conductance. This study concluded that the combined application of K and SA could be a good approach for reducing Pb and Cd phytotoxicity in quinoa and enhancing their phytostabilization potential in the contaminated soils.

17.
Spectrochim Acta A Mol Biomol Spectrosc ; 315: 124264, 2024 Jul 05.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38603961

RESUMO

Design and eco-friendly fabrication of affordable and sustainable materials for the treatment of wastewater consisting of dyes, antibiotics, and other harmful substances has always been demanding. Untreated wastewater being released from industries imposes serious threats to our ecosystem, seeking convenient approaches to diminish this alarming issue. Here in this work, we synthesized MgO/CuO nanocomposites from a plant extract of Ammi visnaga L. and then employed these nanocomposites for the treatment of organic dye (methylene blue). We characterized the synthesized nanocomposites by dynamic light scattering (DLS), zeta potential, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), x-ray diffraction (XRD), and X-ray photoelectron microscopy (XPS). DLS presented information about the explicit size of nanocomposites, while the surface charge was examined by zeta potential. XRD provided detailed information about the crystalline behavior and the information regarding surface morphology and size was extracted by SEM, TEM, and AFM. Moreover, the fabricated nanocomposites were used as a photocatalyst in the treatment of methylene blue. The overall catalytic reaction took an hour to complete, and the value of percentage degradation was 98 %. Substantially, a detailed account of the kinetics, rate of reaction, and mechanism is also fostered in the context. The presented study can assist scientists and researchers around the world to reproduce the results and use them to apply them on a broader scale.

18.
Front Chem ; 12: 1408740, 2024.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38882215

RESUMO

Artificial intelligence (AI) has recently emerged as a unique developmental influence that is playing an important role in the development of medicine. The AI medium is showing the potential in unprecedented advancements in truth and efficiency. The intersection of AI has the potential to revolutionize drug discovery. However, AI also has limitations and experts should be aware of these data access and ethical issues. The use of AI techniques for drug discovery applications has increased considerably over the past few years, including combinatorial QSAR and QSPR, virtual screening, and denovo drug design. The purpose of this survey is to give a general overview of drug discovery based on artificial intelligence, and associated applications. We also highlighted the gaps present in the traditional method for drug designing. In addition, potential strategies and approaches to overcome current challenges are discussed to address the constraints of AI within this field. We hope that this survey plays a comprehensive role in understanding the potential of AI in drug discovery.

19.
Gels ; 10(3)2024 Mar 18.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38534622

RESUMO

Drug delivery techniques based on polymers have been investigated for their potential to improve drug solubility, reduce systemic side effects, and controlled and targeted administration at infection site. In this study, we developed a co-polymeric hydrogel composed of graphene sheets (GNS), polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), and chitosan (CS) that is loaded with methotrexate (MTX) for in vitro liver cancer treatment. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) was employed to check the structural properties and surface morphology. Moreover, tests were conducted on the cytotoxicity, hemolytic activity, release kinetics, swelling behaviour and degradation of hydrogels. A controlled release of drug from hydrogel in PBS at pH 7.4 was examined using release kinetics. Maximal drug release in six hours was 97.34%. The prepared hydrogels did not encourage the HepG2 growth and were non-hemolytic. The current study highlights the potential of GNS-based hydrogel loaded with MTX as an encouraging therapy for hepatocellular carcinoma. HepG2 cell viability of MTX-loaded CS-PVA-GNS hydrogel was (IC50 5.87 µg/200 mL) in comparison to free MTX (IC50 5.03 µg/200 mL). These outcomes recommend that hydrogels with GNS ensure improved drug delivery in cancer microenvironment while lessening adverse consequences on healthy cells.

20.
Sci Rep ; 14(1): 9871, 2024 04 30.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38684775

RESUMO

The Plasmodium is responsible for malaria which poses a major health threat, globally. This study is based on the estimation of the relative abundance of mosquitoes, and finding out the correlations of meteorological parameters (temperature, humidity and rainfall) with the abundance of mosquitoes. In addition, this study also focused on the use of nested PCR (species-specific nucleotide sequences of 18S rRNA genes) to explore the Plasmodium spp. in female Anopheles. In the current study, the percentage relative abundance of Culex mosquitoes was 57.65% and Anopheles 42.34% among the study areas. In addition, the highest number of mosquitoes was found in March in district Mandi Bahauddin at 21 °C (Tmax = 27, Tmin = 15) average temperature, 69% average relative humidity and 131 mm rainfall, and these climatic factors were found to affect the abundance of the mosquitoes, directly or indirectly. Molecular analysis showed that overall, 41.3% of the female Anopheles pools were positive for genus Plasmodium. Among species, the prevalence of Plasmodium (P.) vivax (78.1%) was significantly higher than P. falciparum (21.9%). This study will be helpful in the estimation of future risk of mosquito-borne diseases along with population dynamic of mosquitoes to enhance the effectiveness of vector surveillance and control programs.


Assuntos
Anopheles , Malária , Mosquitos Vetores , Plasmodium , Reação em Cadeia da Polimerase , Animais , Anopheles/parasitologia , Anopheles/genética , Mosquitos Vetores/parasitologia , Mosquitos Vetores/genética , Reação em Cadeia da Polimerase/métodos , Feminino , Plasmodium/genética , Plasmodium/isolamento & purificação , Malária/epidemiologia , Malária/parasitologia , Malária/transmissão , RNA Ribossômico 18S/genética , Culex/parasitologia , Culex/genética , Humanos , Plasmodium falciparum/genética , Plasmodium falciparum/isolamento & purificação , Plasmodium vivax/genética
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