Inhibition action of thiosemicabazone and some of it is ρ-substituted compounds on the corrosion of iron-base metallic glass alloy in 0.5 M H2SO4 at 30 °C

The study of the effect of thiosemicarbazone compounds on the corrosion of the iron-base Fe₈₁B_13.5Si_3.5C₂ metallic glass in 0.5 M H₂SO₄ solutions by electrochemical technique shows that these compounds were very effective inhibitors, their protection percentage exceeded 98% at low concentrations as much as 10⁻⁴ M. A mixed type of inhibition from polarization and a charge transfer mechanism from impedance study in absence and presence of these compounds were found. Langmuir adsorption isotherm is obtained. Linear free energy relationships (LFER) have used to correlate the protection percentage of thiosemicarbazone and it is ρ-substituted derivatives with the Hammett substitute constant (σ). The value of ρ = +0.328 indicates weak dependence of the substitution on the adsorption character of the reaction center. The reactivity of these compounds was analyzed through theoretical calculations based on density functional theory to confirm that () is the reactive center. The effect of immersion time at certain concentration was studied.     

Trends in Conducting Polymer and Hybrids of Conducting Polymer/Carbon Nanotube: A Review

Several conducting polymers, including polyaniline, polypyrrole, polythiophene, polyvinylpyrrolidone, poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene), poly(m-phenylenediamine), polynaphthylamine, poly(p-phenylene sulfide), and their carbon nanotube reinforced nanocomposites are discussed in this review. The physical, electrical, structural and thermal properties of polymers along with synthesis methods are discussed. A concise note on carbon nanotubes regarding their purification, functionalization, properties and production are reported. Moreover, the article focuses upon synthesis methods, properties and applications of conducting polymer/carbon nanotube nanocomposites are focused. Nanotube dispersion, loading concentration and alignment within conducting polymer/carbon nanotube nanocomposite affect their performance and morphology. The conducting polymer/carbon nanotube nanocomposites are substantially used in sensors, energy storage devices, supercapacitors, solar cells, EMI materials, diodes, and coatings.     

Sucralose as co-crystal co-former for hydrochlorothiazide: development of oral disintegrating tablets

Development of oral disintegrating tablets requires enhancement of drug dissolution and selection of sweetener. Co-crystallization of drugs with inert co-former is an emerging technique for enhancing dissolution rate. The benefit of this technique will become even greater if one of the sweeteners can act as co-crystal co-former to enhance dissolution and mask the taste. Accordingly, the objective of this work was to investigate the efficacy of sucralose as a potential co-crystal co-former for enhancing the dissolution rate of hydrochlorothiazide. This was extended to prepare oral disintegrating tablets. Co-crystallization was achieved after dissolving hydrochlorothiazide with increasing molar ratios of sucralose in the least amount of acetone. The co-crystallization products were characterized using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, differential thermal analysis and powder X-ray diffraction. These measurements indicated that co-crystallization process started at a drug sucralose molar ratio of 1:1 and completed at 1:2. The developed co-crystals exhibited faster drug dissolution compared with the control, with co-crystal containing the drug with sucralose at 1:2 molar ratio being optimum. The later was used to prepare fast disintegrating tablets. These tablets had acceptable physical characteristics and showed fast disintegration with subsequent rapid dissolution. The study introduced sucralose as co-crystal co-former for enhanced dissolution and masking the taste.     

Identification of Novel Insulin Resistance Related ceRNA Network in T2DM and Its Potential Editing by CRISPR/Cas9

Background: Type 2 diabetes mellitus is one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide and is derived from an accumulation of genetic and epigenetic changes. In this study, we aimed to construct Insilco, a competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) network linked to the pathogenesis of insulin resistance followed by its experimental validation in patients’, matched control and cell line samples, as well as to evaluate the efficacy of CRISPR/Cas9 as a potential therapeutic strategy to modulate the expression of this deregulated network. By applying bioinformatics tools through a two-step process, we identified and verified a ceRNA network panel of mRNAs, miRNAs and lncRNA related to insulin resistance, Then validated the expression in clinical samples (123 patients and 106 controls) and some of matched cell line samples using real time PCR. Next, two guide RNAs were designed to target the sequence flanking LncRNA/miRNAs interaction by CRISPER/Cas9 in cell culture. Gene editing tool efficacy was assessed by measuring the network downstream proteins GLUT4 and mTOR via immunofluorescence. Results: LncRNA-RP11-773H22.4, together with RET, IGF1R and mTOR mRNAs, showed significant upregulation in T2DM compared with matched controls, while miRNA (i.e., miR-3163 and miR-1) and mRNA (i.e., GLUT4 and AKT2) expression displayed marked downregulation in diabetic samples. CRISPR/Cas9 successfully knocked out LncRNA-RP11-773H22.4, as evidenced by the reversal of the gene expression of the identified network at RNA and protein levels to the normal expression pattern after gene editing. Conclusions: The present study provides the significance of this ceRNA based network and its related target genes panel both in the pathogenesis of insulin resistance and as a therapeutic target for gene editing in T2DM.     

Thyme oil and thymol abrogate doxorubicin-induced nephrotoxicity and cardiotoxicity in Wistar rats <i>via</i> repression of oxidative stress and enhancement of antioxidant defense mechanisms

This study aimed to assess the preventive effects of thyme oil and thymol on doxorubicin (DOX)-inducedrenotoxicity, cardiotoxicity, and oxidative stress in Wistar rats. Thyme oil was subjected to GC-MS analysis, whichindicated that thymol was the major constituent representing 33.896%. Rats intraperitoneally injected with DOX ata dose of 2 mg/kg b.w./one per week for 7 weeks were co-treated with thyme oil and its major constituent, thymol, atdoses 250 and 100 mg/kg b.w./every other day, respectively, by oral gavage for the same period. Thyme oil and thymolmarkedly ameliorated the raised levels of serum urea, uric acid, and creatinine in DOX-administered rats. They alsoreduced the elevated activities of serum CK-MB and LDH. Thyme oil was more effective than thymol in decreasingthe elevated serum creatinine level and serum CK-MB activity in DOX-administered rats, thereby reflecting its morepotent effect on kidney and heart functions. Lipid peroxidation significantly decreased while GSH level and GST andGPx activities significantly increased in kidney and heart of DOX-administered rats treated with thyme oil and thymol.The DOX-induced perturbed kidney histological changes including congestion of glomerulus tuft, inflammatory cellsinfiltration, protein cast in lumina of the renal tubule, and thickening of the parietal layer of Bowman’s capsule wereremarkably ameliorated as a result of treatment with thyme oil and thymol; thyme oil was more effective. In addition,DOX-induced deleterious heart histological alterations, including intramuscular infiltration of inflammatory cells,focal necrosis of cardiac myocytes, and edema, were remarkably reduced by treatment with thyme oil and thymol.Thus, it can be concluded that DOX could induce marked toxicity in kidney and heart, and the treatment with thymeoil or thymol produced potential improvement of kidney and heart function and histological integrity via repression ofoxidative stress and enhancement of antioxidant defense mechanisms.     

A decentralised service composition approach for peer-to-peer video delivery

Recent platforms for Peer-to-Peer (P2P) based video distribution such as Zattoo and Joost are based on End-Host or Application Layer Multicast techniques. An on demand adaptation of audio/video data to end user terminals or to the transport and error characteristics of the client access technology is not supported. To address such issues in the scale of P2P Networks, we describe a cooperative service provisioning principle (CSP) based on the assumption that selected peers offer processing services to the community. In contrast to recent approaches our main focus in this paper is on the applicability of QoS estimation techniques to decrease time and measurement complexity of CSP. We provide a state of the art in landmark-based delay estimation and introduce a novel technique for landmark-based bottleneck bandwidth prediction showing favourable results for networks with widest path routing.     

Quantitative risk assessment of human salmonellosis from the consumption of a turkey product in collective catering establishments

The quantitative risk assessment (QRA) approach recommended by the Codex Alimentarius Commission was used to assess the risk of human salmonellosis from the consumption of 'cordon bleu', a specific turkey product, in collective catering establishments (CCEs) of a French department. The complete process was modeled and simulated, from the initial storage in the CCE freezer to the consumption, using a Monte Carlo simulation software. Data concerning the prevalence of contaminated 'cordon bleu', the level of contamination of Salmonella, the cooking and storage process were collected from 21 CCEs and 8 retailers of 'cordon bleu' in the selected department. Thermal inactivation kinetics for Salmonella were established to estimate the effect of heat treatment on the concentration in the product and to calculate the dose that could be ingested by the consumer. The Beta-Poisson dose-response model of Rose and Gerba [Water Science and Technology 24 (1991) 29] with the specific parameters for Salmonella was used to estimate the probability of infection related to the ingestion of a particular dose and a factor was applied to estimate the probability of illness from ingestion. The individual risk of salmonellosis, the risk of outbreak and the number of cases were calculated using Monte Carlo simulation method. The risk of salmonellosis was close to zero when the 'cordons bleus' were cooked in the oven. Therefore, the risk was calculated for the fryer cooking since the insufficient cooking time observed was, sometimes, at the origin of low temperatures (37-89 degrees C). The influence of both the initial concentration of Salmonella in the product and the heat storage before consumption on the final risk was studied. For a high initial concentration of Salmonella in the product, when the 'cordons bleus' are fryer cooked, the average risk of salmonellosis was equal to 3.95 x 10(-3) without storage before consumption and 2.8 x 10(-4) if the product is consumed after storage. This paper presents the results of the QRA and discusses risk management options to minimize the risk of salmonellosis.     

Reactions with the Arylhydrazones of some α-cyanoketones

Ethereal diazomethane reacts with the arylhydrazones of mesoxalic acid dinitrile 1a–c and of ethyl α-cyanoglyoxalate 2b, d–g to yield the methylarylhydrazones 3a–c and 4a–e respectively. Treatment of 4b–e with phenylmagnesium bromide results in the formation of the imino derivatives 5a–d . Whereas 2a–g react with phenylhydrazine to yield the aminopyrazoles 8a–g , the hydrazides 10a, b are formed on treatment of 4c, e with hydrazine hydrate. 1a–c react with hydrazine hydrate and with phenylhydrazine to yield 3-amino-4-arylhydrazono-5-imino-2-pyrazoline derivatives 11a–f 11a, b react with acrylonitrile to yield 3-amino-1(β-cyanoethyl)-4-arylhydrazono-5-imino-2-pyrazoline derivatives 12a, b which can be readily cyclised to the pyrazolo[3,2-b]pyrimidine derivatives 13a, b by the action of hot acetic acid.