Electroanalysis of Carbendazim using MWCNT/Ca‐ZnO Modified Electrode

The present research involves the report on electrochemical deportment of Carbendazim (MBC) at multiwalled carbon nanotubes and calcium‐doped zinc oxide nanoparticles altered nanocomposite based carbon paste electrode (MWCNTs/Ca‐ZnO‐CPE). The modified carbon paste evidenced manifest electrocatalytic behavior for MBC in 0.2 M phosphate buffer (PB) solutions. Cyclic voltammetry (CV), linear sweep voltammetry (LSV), and square wave voltammetry (SWV) techniques were used for the analysis. The working electrode assembly exhibits faster electron transfer of MBC with increase in the peak current. At bare CPE, MBC showed maximum peak current of 1.098 μA at potential 0.7568 V whereas at MWCNT/Ca‐ZnO/CPE peak current of 5.203 μA was observed at potential 0.7541 V in 0.2 M PBS of pH 7.0 at the sweep rate of 50 mV s^?1. The synthesized 5 % Ca‐ZnO nanoparticles (NPs) were characterized by X‐ray diffraction (XRD), Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Energy dispersive X‐ray analysis (EDX), and Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) analysis. Various factors influencing the voltammetry of MBC such as pre‐concentration time, pH, sweep rate, and amount of MBC were studied and from the studies we observed that the response was found to be diffusion‐controlled. The concentration variation studies for MBC was watched in the linear working range of 0.01 μM to 0.45 μM and the detection limit was found by SWV technique.     

Vibrational study of fluorobenzene and its solvation with methanol via polarized Raman measurements and quantum chemical calculations

Raman spectra of neat fluorobenzene (C₆H₅F, FB) and its binary mixtures with methanol (CH₃OH, M) at varying mole fractions of FB from 0.1 to 0.9 were recorded in order to understand the influence of intermolecular interaction on spectral features corresponding to some selected vibrational bands of FB in the region 1200-450 cm⁻¹. Only few vibrational bands of fluorobenzene show a significant change in their peak position in going from neat liquid to the complexes. The 803, 829 and 994 cm⁻¹ bands show blue shift upon complexation which indicates significant amount of charge transfer between the reference molecule and the solvent. However, the linewidths do not show any appreciable change. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations were performed employing B3LYP method and high level basis set 6-311++G(d,p) to obtain the ground state geometry of neat FB and its hydrogen bonded complexes with methanol in gas phase. In order to account for the solvent effect and also to realize a condition quite close to the experiment, polarizable continuum model (PCM) calculations considering bulk solvation as well as explicit (specific plus bulk) solvation approaches were also performed. A detailed vibrational assignment of the various normal modes has been performed on the basis of potential energy distribution (PED) calculations. Depolarization ratios for the different vibrational bands were calculated and the values match nicely with the depolarization ratio determined from the experimental data.     

Assessment of immune response to repeat stimulation with BCG vaccine using in vitro PBMC model

Background  

Tuberculosis (TB) is one of the most prevalent cause of death due to a single pathogen. Bacillus Calmette Guérin (BCG) is the only vaccine available for clinical use that protects against miliary TB; however, this vaccine has shown variable levels of efficacy against pulmonary TB. In India, a single dose of BCG vaccine is given and there are few countries where repeated doses of BCG are given. The incidence of TB in India is very high inspite of primary vaccination in neonatal period and therefore requires consideration for repeated immunization.     

Study of Anticancer Properties of Graphene Oxide–Metal Oxide Composite

Graphene and graphene oxide (GO) have garnered significant attention due to their exceptional properties. GO, enriched with various functional groups such as epoxy, hydroxyl, and carboxylic groups, has exhibited remarkable potential in biomedical applications. The combination of GO with metals has proven to be a promising platform for cellular imaging, with this study focusing on the preparation of diverse hybrids of GO with metal oxides (GO/MO) and their potential as anticancer agents. In this research, GO is functionalized with MOs like TiO₂, Fe₃O₄, and Cu₂O using specific chemical methods and investigated for the anticancer activity for the application as cancer therapeutic agent. The resulting GO/MO hybrids exhibits favorable thermal and mechanical properties. Moreover, their cytotoxicity against human lung cancer cells is assessed in vitro, revealing the promising anticancer activity of GO/MO hybrids. Notably, the GO/Cu₂O hybrid demonstrates particularly high cytotoxicity in human lung cancer cells.     

Monosaccharide-Directed Selective Internalization of Gold and Silver Nanoparticles in Hepatic Cancer Cells

The therapeutic success of nanomedicines requires nanomaterials to either adhere to the surface or internalize within the cytoplasm. The endocytosis phenomenon is controlled by the nanomaterial's shape, size, composition, charge, and capping molecules. The membrane potential-based non-specific internalization of therapeutic nanomedicines offers limited benefits than receptor-based specific delivery. Glut receptor-based internalization of glucose molecules is a well-known process in cancerous cells, which is one of the most exploited strategies to target cancer cells using nanoparticles. However, the internalization process of other structurally similar monosaccharides (D-Galactose, Mannose, and D-Fructose) conjugated nanoparticles remains to be unexplored. Herein, D-Glucose, D-Galactose, Mannose, and D-Fructose-coated AuNPs and AgNPs have been synthesized and studied the role of Glut receptors in their internalization in liver cancer cells, and compared them with non-cancerous cells. Results revealed that almost all monosaccharide-coated NPs exhibited high uptake in liver cancer cells than non-cancerous cells. Glut-1 receptor is observed to play a key role in the uptake and inhibition of Glut-1 receptors by genistein lead to a significant decrease in nanoparticle uptake. In conclusion, monosaccharide-conjugated nanoparticles can be used to direct the selective internalization of AuNPs and AgNPs in hepatic cancer cells to realize therapeutic and imaging applications.     

Enantioselective Desymmetrization of Curcumins with 3-Olefinic Oxindoles for the Synthesis of Spirocyclohexanoneoxindoles

An enantioselective desymmetrization of curcumins with 3-olefinic oxindoles involving a cascade double-Michael addition strategy provides direct access to spirocyclohexanone-oxindoles with complete regio- and diastereoselectivities and excellent enantioselectivities, besides good to excellent yields. The products possess three contiguous chiral centers and multiple reactive functionalities. The observed selectivities were rationalized by transitions state energy calculations at B3LYP//6-31g(d) level of DFT.