Preparation of Electrolytic Quasi-Solid-State Nanofibers for Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells

JOM - Nanofibers were prepared from a poly(acrylonitrile-co-vinyl acetate) [P(AN-co-VAC)]/polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) blend and used as a quasi-solid (QS) electrolyte for dye-sensitized solar...     

Gene expression of 49 kDa apyrase,cytoskeletal proteins,ATPase, ADPase and amino acid contents of <i>Pisum sativum</i> (L.) cells germinated in E<i>uryops arabicus</i> (Steud. ex Jaub. & Spach) water extract

The present research reports of quick and marked changes induced by plant extract of Euryops arabicus in the gene expression of 49-kDa apyrases, cytoskeletal proteins, ATPases, ADPase and amount of amino acid of pea (Pisum sativum L. var. Alaska). Pellets of cytoskeletals proteins (27000 xg) were probed with anti-apyrase antibody, biotinylated anti-rat, actin and alpha and beta-tubulin for Western blotting. ATPase and ADPase activities were determined based on the hydrolytic efficacy of adenine triphosphate and adenine diphosphate. By 72 hours, the abundance of apyrases, cytoskeletal proteins and amount of amino acid in pellets of 27000 xg of germinated pea seeds in E. arabicus extracts were sharply increased than those sown in distilled water. All the samples exhibited that the stems had more amount from apyrases, cytoskeletal proteins, amino acids and ATPase and ADPase activities than primary leaves and primary roots that were germinated either on E. arabicus water extract or in distilled water. Based on the enzyme’s capability to hydrolyse nucleotide triphosphate and nucleotide diphosphate as well as the direct association between expression of 49-kDa apyrase and cytoskeletal proteins, E. arabicus water extract had an important effect on plant germinations.     

Automated delineation of non-small cell lung cancer: A step toward quantitative reasoning in medical decision science

Quantitative reasoning in medical decision science relies on the delineation of pathological objects. For example, evidence-based clinical decisions regarding lung diseases require the segmentation of nodules, tumors, or cancers. Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) tends to be large sized, irregularly shaped, and grows against surrounding structures imposing challenges in the segmentation, even for expert clinicians. An automated delineation tool based on spatial analysis was developed and studied on 25 sets of computed tomography scans of NSCLC. Manual and automated delineations were compared, and the proposed method exhibited robustness in terms of the tumor size (5.32–18.24 mm), shape (spherical or irregular), contouring (lobulated, spiculated, or cavitated), localization (solitary, pleural, mediastinal, endobronchial, or tagging), and laterality (left or right lobe) with accuracy between 80% and 99%. Small discrepancies observed between the manual and automated delineations may arise from the variability in the practitioners' definitions of region of interest or imaging artifacts that reduced the tissue resolution.     

Gold-Nanoparticle-Decorated Metal-Organic Frameworks for Anticancer Therapy

Confinement of Au nanoparticles (NPs) within the porous materials with few nanometers (2-3 nm) has been a well established research area in the past decades in heterogeneous catalysis mainly due to the unique behaviour of Au NPs than its bulk counterpart. In this aspect, Au NPs encapsulated within the pore volumes of metal−organic frameworks (MOFs) have been intensively explored as heterogeneous solid catalysts for wide range of reactions. In recent years, Au NPs confined within the porous MOFs along with the photosensitizer or drug have been effectively used for the treatment of tumor cells through the generation of reactive oxygen species via cascade reactions. This work highlights the benefits of MOFs pores in the preparation of nanomedicine with high efficiency by assembling Au NPs, photosensitizer/drug with the combination of laser either for imaging or treatment of tumor cells. Further, the existing literature is grouped based on the nature of porous materials employed in the preparation of nanomedicine. The final section comments on our view on future developments in the field.     

Microwave bandpass filter by feedback interference topology

This paper proposes a signal feedback interference topology to control the characteristics of a coupled line bandpass filter. Control is carried out by varying the ratio of the transmission line parameters of the forward and the feedback couplers. The topology produces a compact filter that does not require a complicated design or fabrication. The results of the insertion and return losses show that the feedback‐controlled design has desirable features in terms of the design frequency, fractional bandwidth, stopband rejection level, roll‐off rate and insertion loss. The test results of the fabricated prototype achieved good agreement with the simulation results of the ideal transmission line design model. Several microwave, modern wireless and mobile/satellite communication systems may benefit from such a filter design due to its compactness and flexibility.     

Sol-Gel Preparation and Spectroscopic Properties of Modified Sodium Silicate /Tartrazine Dye Nanocomposite

Silicon - Thin film nanocomposites of sodium silicate (80 SiO2 –20 Na2O)/ tartrazine dye (E102) prepared using sol gel process in acidic system. The change in the physicochemical properties...     

Ubiquitin C-Terminal Hydrolase L1: Biochemical and Cellular Characterization of a Covalent Cyanopyrrolidine-Based Inhibitor

The deubiquitinase (DUB) ubiquitin C-terminal hydrolase L1 (UCHL1) is expressed primarily in the central nervous system under normal physiological conditions. However, UCHL1 is overexpressed in various aggressive forms of cancer with strong evidence supporting UCHL1 as an oncogene in lung, glioma, and blood cancers. In particular, the level of UCHL1 expression in these cancers correlates with increased invasiveness and metastatic behavior, as well as poor patient prognosis. Although UCHL1 is considered an oncogene with potential as a therapeutic target, there remains a significant lack of useful small-molecule probes to pharmacologically validate in vivo targeting of the enzyme. Herein, we describe the characterization of a new covalent cyanopyrrolidine-based UCHL1 inhibitory scaffold in biochemical and cellular studies to better understand the utility of this inhibitor in elucidating the role of UCHL1 in cancer biology.     

Synthesis and Characterization of Sulfanilamide-Based Nonionic Surfactants and Evaluation of Their Nano-Vesicular Drug Loading Application

Nonionic surfactants are highly stable and cost-effective and receiving acceptance for applications in many diverse fields including drug delivery, due to their distinctive properties. Here, we report on the synthesis and characterization of sulfanilamide-based nonionic surfactants for nanoscale vesicular drug loading applications. Nonionic surfactants were synthesized through alkylation of sulfanilamide with alkyl halides that possessed diverse degrees of lipophilicity. They were explored for their nanovesicular drug loading with Cefixime as a hydrophobic model drug. Drug-loaded nanovesicles were characterized for surface morphologies, size, size distribution, surface charge, and drug loading efficiency using atomic force microscopy (AFM), dynamic light scattering (DLS), and UV–visible spectrophotometry. All of the synthesized nonionic surfactants revealed their CMC values in 0.055–0.035 mM range depending upon the lipophilic chain length of surfactants. They caused a decreased hemoglobin release and low toxicity against cell culture. They self-assembled and loaded an increased amount of drug in the form of nanorange spherical shape niosomal vesicles. Results of the current study verify these synthesized nonionic surfactants are hemocompatible, nontoxic, and capable of self-assembling into nanorange niosomal vesicles. These niosomal vesicles can be suggested as safe and highly efficient nanocarriers for hydrophobic drug loading and delivery.     

Easy access to pharmaceutically relevant heterocycles by catalytic reactions involving α-imino gold carbene intermediates

This review summarizes recent advances in the field of gold-catalyzed synthesis of pharmaceutically relevant aza-heterocycles via in situ generated α-imino gold carbene complexes as intermediates.     

H∞ control for uncertain one‐sided Lipschitz nonlinear systems in finite frequency domain

The current article discusses the H_∞ disturbance attenuation control design problem for one‐sided Lipschitz systems in finite frequency domain. Models containing norm‐bounded parameter uncertainties, disturbances, and input nonlinearities are considered. By contrast to existing full frequency methods, the H_∞ controller is computed depending on the frequency ranges of disturbances. The finite frequency disturbance attenuation index is initially defined. Thanks to Finsler's lemma, sufficient and less conservative analysis conditions are also derived for the closed‐loop system. Then, synthesis conditions in the low, middle, and high frequency ranges as well as the whole frequency range, are formulated in terms of linear matrix inequalities. At last, to prove the effectiveness and the superiority of the proposed approach, a physical example is used and a comparative study is done.