Friedelin Attenuates Neuronal Dysfunction and Memory Impairment by Inhibition of the Activated JNK/NF-κB Signalling Pathway in Scopolamine-Induced Mice Model of Neurodegeneration

Oxidative stress (OS) and c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) are both key indicators implicated in neuro-inflammatory signalling pathways and their respective neurodegenerative diseases. Drugs targeting these factors can be considered as suitable candidates for treatment of neuronal dysfunction and memory impairment. The present study encompasses beneficial effects of a naturally occurring triterpenoid, friedelin, against scopolamine-induced oxidative stress and neurodegenerative pathologies in mice models. The treated animals were subjected to behavioural tests i.e., Y-maze and Morris water maze (MWM) for memory dysfunction. The underlying mechanism was determined via western blotting, antioxidant enzymes and lipid profile analyses. Molecular docking studies were carried out to predict the binding modes of friedelin in the binding pocket of p-JNK protein. The results reveal that scopolamine caused oxidative stress by (1) inhibiting catalase (CAT), peroxidase enzyme (POD), superoxide dismutase (SOD), and reduced glutathione enzyme (GSH); (2) the up-regulation of thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) in mice brain; and (3) affecting the neuronal synapse (both pre- and post-synapse) followed by associated memory dysfunction. In contrast, friedelin administration not only abolished scopolamine-induced oxidative stress, glial cell activation, and neuro-inflammation but also inhibited p-JNK and NF-κB and their downstream signaling molecules. Moreover, friedelin administration improved neuronal synapse and reversed scopolamine-induced memory impairment accompanied by the inhibition of β-secretase enzyme (BACE-1) to halt amyloidogenic pathways of amyloid-β production. In summary, all of the results show that friedelin is a potent naturally isolated neuro-therapeutic agent to reverse scopolamine-induced neuropathology, which is characteristic of Alzheimer’s disease.     

Novel Design of RNA Aptamers as Cancer Inhibitors and Diagnosis Targeting the Tyrosine Kinase Domain of the NT-3 Growth Factor Receptor Using a Computational Sequence-Based Approach

Aptamers, the nucleic acid analogs of antibodies, bind to their target molecules with remarkable specificity and sensitivity, making them promising diagnostic and therapeutic tools. The systematic evolution of ligands by exponential enrichment (SELEX) is time-consuming and expensive. However, regardless of those issues, it is the most used in vitro method for selecting aptamers. Therefore, recent studies have used computational approaches to reduce the time and cost associated with the synthesis and selection of aptamers. In an effort to present the potential of computational techniques in aptamer selection, a simple sequence-based method was used to design a 69-nucleotide long aptamer (mod_09) with a relatively stable structure (with a minimum free energy of −32.2 kcal/mol) and investigate its binding properties to the tyrosine kinase domain of the NT-3 growth factor receptor, for the first time, by employing computational modeling and docking tools.     

Facile one‐pot method of initiator fixation for surface‐initiated atom transfer radical polymerization on carbon hard spheres

An efficient and novel one‐pot process is developed to immobilize the atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) initiators onto the surface of fully pyrolyzed carbon hard spheres (CHSs) via a radical trapping process from the in situ thermal decomposition of bis(bromomethylbenzoyl)peroxide. The CHSs do not require any additional preparative treatment prior to the initiator immobilization. Styrene and methyl methacrylate are polymerized onto initiator‐immobilized CHSs by surface‐initiated atomic transfer radical polymerization (SI‐ATRP). Samples are characterized using Fourier transform infrared, thermogravimetric analysis, scanning electron microscopy, and transmission electron microscopy. These methods of characterization confirmed that all the CHSs are coated with a uniform layer of grafted polymer. This efficient, one‐pot immobilization of ATRP‐initiators represents an exceptionally simple route for the rapid preparation of various polymer‐coated carbon‐based nanomaterials using SI‐ATRP. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2013, 51, 3314–3322     

A Novel One Pot Synthesis of o‐Nitrophenylacetic Acid and Unexpected p‐Nitrobenzoic Acid by HNO3‐Mediated CH2 Extrusion Reaction of Phenylacetic Acid

The HNO₃‐mediated CH₂ extrusion reactions of phenylacetic acid lead to one pot synthesis of unexpected commercially important product 4‐nitrobenzoic acid through the formation of 4‐nitrophenylacetic acid and 2‐nitrophenylacetic acid.     

Effect on photophysical properties of colloidal ZnS quantum dots by doping with cobalt, copper, and cobalt�Ccopper mixtures

Colloidal ZnS quantum dots (QDs) are prepared by passing H₂S gas through a solution of Zn(CH₃COO)₂ in acetonitrile. Photophysical properties are investigated using UV?CVisible and photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy. The spectrum shows an absorption shoulder at 271 nm representing a band gap of 4.6 eV. The doping of ZnS QDs with Co, Cu, and a mixture of Co and Cu not only increased the band gap to 0.2 eV but also turns these otherwise colorless QDs to blue in color due to cobalt, and green due to Cu. The observed emission in the visible region suggests that the dopants may have induced additional excited states to the ZnS QDs. This absorbance in the visible region can be utilized in the optoelectronic applications.     

The role of entropy in word ranking

Entropy as a measure of complexity in the systems has been applied for ranking the words in the human written texts. We introduce a novel approach to evaluate accuracy for retrieved indices. We also have an illustrative comparison between proposed entropic metrics and some other methods in extracting the keywords. It seems that, some of the discussed metrics apply similar features for word ranking in the text. This work recommend the entropy as a systematic measure in text mining.     

Improving anti-reflectivity and laser damage threshold of \hbox {SiO}_{2}/\hbox {ZrO}_{2} thin films by laser shock peening at 1064 nm

In this study, anti-reflection (AR) \(\hbox {SiO}_{2}/ \hbox {ZrO}_{2}\) thin films with 3-layers were designed and fabricated by the essential Macleod software and physical vapor deposition, respectively. In order to improve the optical and physical properties of the prepared samples, laser shock peening (LSP) technique was applied. For this purpose, an Argon Fluoride Excimer laser \((\lambda =193 \,\text {nm})\) with 110 and 240 mJ energies and 1 Hz frequency at different pulses was used. The effect of LSP method in improving transmissions and laser damage thresholds of the prepared samples was proved by using UV–Vis–IR spectroscopy in the wavelength range of 400–1200 nm and international standard ISO11254 at 1064 nm. In addition, scanning electron microscopy was used to check the effect of applying LSP.     

Pressure anisotropy effects on nonlinear electrostatic excitations in magnetized electron-positron-ion plasmas

The propagation of linear and nonlinear electrostatic waves is investigated in a magnetized anisotropic electron-positron-ion (e-p-i) plasma with superthermal electrons and positrons. A two-dimensional plasma geometry is assumed. The ions are assumed to be warm and anisotropic due to an external magnetic field. The anisotropic ion pressure is defined using the double adiabatic Chew-Golberger-Low (CGL) theory. In the linear regime, two normal modes are predicted, whose characteristics are investigated parametrically, focusing on the effect of superthermality of electrons and positrons, ion pressure anisotropy, positron concentration and magnetic field strength. A Zakharov-Kuznetsov (ZK) type equation is derived for the electrostatic potential (disturbance) via a reductive perturbation method. The parametric role of superthermality, positron content, ion pressure anisotropy and magnetic field strength on the characteristics of solitary wave structures is investigated. Following Allen and Rowlands [J. Plasma Phys. 53, 63 (1995)], we have shown that the pulse soliton solution of the ZK equation is unstable to oblique perturbations, and have analytically traced the dependence of the instability growth rate on superthermality and ion pressure anisotropy.     

Spatially Homogeneous Rotating Solution in f(R) Gravity and Its Energy Contents

In this paper, the metric approach of f(R) theory of gravity is used to investigate the exact vacuum solutions of spatially homogeneous rotating spacetimes. For this purpose, R is replaced by f(R) in the standard Einstein-Hilbert action and the set of modified Einstein field equations reduce to a single equation. We adopt the assumption of constant Ricci scalar which maybe zero or non-zero. Moreover, the energy density of the non-trivial solution has been evaluated by using the generalized Landau-Lifshitz energy-momentum complex in the perspective of f(R) gravity for some appropriate f(R) model, which turns out to be a constant quantity.     

High‐mobility solution‐processed zinc oxide thin films on silicon nitride

A high effective electron mobility of 33 cm² V^–1 s^–1 was achieved in solution‐processed undoped zinc oxide (ZnO) thin films. The introduction of silicon nitride (Si₃N₄) as growth substrate resulted in a mobility improvement by a factor of 2.5 with respect to the commonly used silicon oxide (SiO₂). The solution‐processed ZnO thin films grown on Si₃N₄, prepared by low‐pressure chemical vapor deposition, revealed bigger grain sizes, lower strain and better crystalline quality in comparison to the films grown on thermal SiO₂. These results show that the nucleation and growth mechanisms of solution‐processed films are substrate dependent and affect the final film structure accordingly. The substantial difference in electron mobilities suggests that, in addition to the grain morphology and crystalline structure effects, defect chemistry is a contributing factor that also depends on the particular substrate. In this respect, interface trap densities measured in high‐κ HfO₂/ZnO MOSCAPs were about ten times lower in those fabricated on Si₃N₄ substrates. (© 2014 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH &Co. KGaA, Weinheim)