Development of Antibacterial,Degradable and pH-Responsive Chitosan/Guar Gum/Polyvinyl Alcohol Blended Hydrogels for Wound Dressing

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.     

Line Profile Measure as a Stopping Criterion in CG-SENSE Algorithm

Conjugate gradient SENSE (CG-SENSE) is a parallel magnetic resonance imaging reconstruction algorithm which solves the inversion problem of SENSE iteratively. One major limitation of CG-SENSE is the appropriate choice of the number of iterations required for good reconstruction results. Fewer iterations result in aliasing artifacts and too many iterations result in an increased noise level. This paper proposes a novel method to define the stopping criterion of CG-SENSE algorithm which is based on the use of correlation measure between the line profiles of the reconstructed images in the current and the previous iterations. The results are compared with Bregman distance-stopping criterion. Artifact power and peak signal-to-noise ratio are used to quantify the quality of the reconstructed images. The results demonstrate that the line profile correlation measure acts as an effective stopping criterion in CG-SENSE.     

Determination of glimepiride in pharmaceutical formulations using HPLC and first-derivative spectrophotometric methods

Two validated analytical methods have been developed to determine glimepiride in pharmaceutical formulations using HPLC and 1st order derivative spectrophotometric techniques. Employing reverse phase HPLC method, the drug was analyzed by pumping a mixture of acetonitrile and 2% formic acid solution, pH 3.5 (80: 20 v/v) through a C₁₈ column (250 × 4.6 mm, 5 μm) and detecting the eluents at 228 nm. The linearity range was found to be 20–140 μg/mL with mean recovery of 100.52 ± 0.33%. The second method was based on the formation of a complex of the drug with 2,3,5-triphenyl-2H-tetrazolium chloride in basic media. 1st order derivative spectrum made it possible to detect the complex at 413.5 nm. The linearity range was found to be 40–160 μg/mL, with mean recovery of 100.33 ± 0.47%. Both the proposed methods can reliably be used for routine analysis of glimepiride in raw material as well as in pharmaceutical formulations. The article is published in the original.     

Effects of shape and size of cobalt ferrite nanostructures on their MRI contrast and thermal activation

Cobalt ferrite magnetic nanostructures were synthesized via a high temperature solution phase method. Spherical nanostructures of various sizes were synthesized with the help of seed mediated growth of the nanostructures in organic phase, while faceted irregular (FI) cobalt ferrite nanostructures were synthesized via the same method but in the presence of a magnetic field. Magnetic properties were characterized by SQUID magnetometry, relaxivity measurements and thermal activation under RF field, as a function of size and shape. The results show that the saturation magnetization of the nanostructures increases with an increase in size, and the FI nanostructures exhibit lower saturation magnetization than their spherical counterparts. The relaxivity coefficient of cobalt ferrite nanostructures increases with increase in size; while FI nanostructures show a higher relaxivity coefficient than spherical nanostructures with respect to their saturation magnetization. In the case of RF thermal activation, the specific absorption rate (SAR) of nanostructures increases with increase in the size. The contribution sheds light on the role of size and shape on important magnetic properties of the nanostructures in relation to their biomedical applications.     

Projection algorithms for solving a system of general variational inequalities

In this paper, we introduce and consider a new system of general variational inequalities involving four different operators. Using the projection operator technique, we suggest and analyze some new explicit iterative methods for this system of variational inequalities. We also study the convergence analysis of the new iterative method under certain mild conditions. Since this new system includes the system of variational inequalities involving three operators, variational inequalities and related optimization problems as special cases, results obtained in this paper continue to hold for these problems. Our results can be viewed as a refinement and improvement of the previously known results for variational inequalities.     

Mixed quasi complementarity problems in topological vector spaces

In this paper, we introduce and consider a new class of complementarity problems, which is called the mixed quasi complementarity problems in a topological vector space. We show that the mixed quasi complementarity problems are equivalent to the mixed quasi variational inequalities. Using the KKM mapping theorem, we study the existence of a solution of the mixed quasi variational inequalities and mixed quasi complementarity problems. Several special cases are also discussed. Results obtained in this paper can be viewed as extension and generalization of the previously known results.     

Efficient photodegradation of methylthioninium chloride dye in aqueous using barium tungstate nanoparticles

BaWO₄ nanoparticles were successfully used as the photocatalysts in the degradation of methylthioninium chloride (MTC) dye at different pH levels of aqueous solution. Pure phase of barium tungstate (BaWO₄) nanoparticles was synthesized by modified molten salt process at 500 °C for 6 h. Structural and morphological characterizations of BaWO₄ nanoparticles (average particle size of ~40 nm) were studied in details using powder x-ray diffraction (XRD), FTIR, Raman, energy-dispersive, electron microscopic, and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) techniques. Direct band gap energy of BaWO₄ nanoparticles was found to be ~3.06 eV from the UV–visible absorption spectroscopy followed by Tauc’s model. Photocatalytic properties of the nanoparticles were also investigated systematically for the degradation of MTC dye solution in various mediums. BaWO₄ nanoparticles claim the significant enhancement of the photocatalytic degradation of aqueous MTC dye to non-hazardous inorganic constitutes under alkaline, neutral, and acidic mediums.

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Graphical abstract BaWO₄ nanoparticles enhance the rate of photocatalytic degradation of organic dyes in various mediums.

     

Variation in fat soluble vitamins (A,D, E,K) in in vitro and ex vitro germinated chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) seedlings,as revealed by high performance liquid chromatography

In present communication, effect of in vitro and ex vitro culture conditions was investigated on the yield of fat soluble vitamins in chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) seedlings analyzed by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Amongst the tested culture conditions (in vitro and ex vitro); in vitro condition proved to be highly effective compared to ex vitro. We noticed a significant difference in vitamins D (ergocalciferol), E (α-tocopherol) and K (phylloquinone) yields in chickpea seedlings grown in two different conditions. Maximum yield with a linear increase in vitamins D and E was noticed upto 9 days old in vitro grown seedlings. Vitamin K yield was also high in in vitro grown seedlings with a linear increase upto 11 days. Although, vitamin A was not detected, the vitamin production in germinating seeds was, therefore, age and culture condition dependent. The study revealed that, in in vitro condition, the level of fat soluble vitamins enhanced in seedlings, which could be used for human consumption with value addition in the diet of vegetarians.     

On nonconvex bifunction variational inequalities

In this paper, we introduce and consider a new class of variational inequalities, which is called the nonconvex bifunction variational inequality. We suggest and analyze some iterative methods for solving nonconvex bifunction variational inequalities using the auxiliary principle technique. We prove that the convergence of implicit method requires only pseudomonotonicity, which is weaker condition than monotonicity. Our proof of convergence is very simple. Results proved in this paper may stimulate further research in this dynamic field.     

A new predictor-corrector method for noncoercive mixed variational inequalities

In this paper, we use the auxiliary principle technique to suggest and analyze a class of predictor-corrector methods for solving noncoercive mixed variational inequalities. The convergence of the proposed method requires only the partially relaxed strongly monotonicity, which is even weaker than the co-coercivity. As special cases, we obtain a number of new and known results for classical variational inequalities.