Effect of elevated concentrations of strontium and iron on the structural and dielectric characteristics of Ba(1−x−y)Sr(x)Ti Fe(y)O3 prepared through sol–gel technique

Nano-composite Ba_1−xSr_(x)TiO₃ (BST), where x=0.01–0.50 and doped with different concentrations of iron Ba_(1−x−y)Sr_(x)TiFe _(y)O₃ (BSTF), where x=0.01 and y=0.01–0.05 powders were prepared by sol–gel method.     

Estimating health related costs and savings from balcony acoustic design for road traffic noise

A multi-faceted study is conducted with the objective of estimating the potential fiscal savings in annoyance and sleep disturbance related health costs due to providing improved building acoustic design standards. This study uses balcony acoustic treatments in response to road traffic noise as an example. The study area is the State of Queensland in Australia, where regional road traffic noise mapping data is used in conjunction with standard dose–response curves to estimate the population exposure levels. The background and the importance of using the selected road traffic noise indicators are discussed. In order to achieve the objective, correlations between the mapping indicator (L_{A10 (18 hour)}) and the dose response curve indicators (L_den and L_night) are established via analysis on a large database of road traffic noise measurement data. The existing noise exposure of the study area is used to estimate the fiscal reductions in health related costs through the application of simple estimations of costs per person per year per degree of annoyance or sleep disturbance. The results demonstrate that balcony acoustic treatments may provide a significant benefit towards reducing the health related costs of road traffic noise in a community.     

Efficient catalytic effect of CuO nanostructures on the degradation of organic dyes

An efficient catalytic effect of petals and flowers like CuO nanostructures (NSs) on the degradation of two organic dyes, methylene blue (MB) and rhodamine B (RB) were investigated. The highest degradation of 95% in CuO petals and 72% in flowers for MB is observed in 24 h. For RB, the degradation was 85% and 80% in petals and flowers, respectively for 5 h. It was observed that CuO petals appeared to be more active than flowers for degradation of both dyes associated to high specific surface area. The petals and flower like CuO NSs were synthesized using the chemical bath method at 90 °C. The grown CuO NSs were characterized using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), and X-ray diffraction (XRD).     

In Silico Molecular Docking Analysis of Karanjin against Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s Diseases as a Potential Natural Lead Molecule for New Drug Design,Development and Therapy

Parkinson’s disease (PD) and Alzheimer’s disease (AD) are neurodegenerative disorders that have emerged as among the serious health problems of the 21st century. The medications currently available to treat AD and PD have limited efficacy and are associated with side effects. Natural products are one of the most vital and conservative sources of medicines for treating neurological problems. Karanjin is a furanoflavonoid, isolated mainly from Pongamia pinnata with several medicinal plants, and has been reported for numerous health benefits. However, the effect of karanjin on AD and PD has not yet been systematically investigated. To evaluate the neuroprotective effect of karanjin, extensive in silico studies starting with molecular docking against five putative targets for AD and four targets for PD were conducted. The findings were compared with three standard drugs using Auto Dock 4.1 and Molegro Virtual Docker software. Additionally, the physiochemical properties (Lipinski rule of five), drug-likeness and parameters including absorption, distribution, metabolism, elimination and toxicity (ADMET) profiles of karanjin were also studied. The molecular dynamics (MD) simulations were performed with two selective karanjin docking complexes to analyze the dynamic behaviors and binding free energy at 100 ns time scale. In addition, frontier molecular orbitals (FMOs) and density-functional theory (DFT) were also investigated from computational quantum mechanism perspectives using the Avogadro-ORCA 1.2.0 platform. Karanjin complies with all five of Lipinski’s drug-likeness rules with suitable ADMET profiles for therapeutic use. The docking scores (kcal/mol) showed comparatively higher potency against AD and PD associated targets than currently used standard drugs. Overall, the potential binding affinity from molecular docking, static thermodynamics feature from MD-simulation and other multiparametric drug-ability profiles suggest that karanjin could be considered as a suitable therapeutic lead for AD and PD treatment. Furthermore, the present results were strongly correlated with the earlier study on karanjin in an Alzheimer’s animal model. However, necessary in vivo studies, clinical trials, bioavailability, permeability and safe dose administration, etc. must be required to use karanjin as a potential drug against AD and PD treatment, where the in silico results are more helpful to accelerate the drug development.     

An Update on the Use of Molecularly Imprinted Polymers in Beta-Blocker Drug Analysis as a Selective Separation Method in Biological and Environmental Analysis

Beta-blockers are antihypertensive drugs and can be abused by athletes in some sport competitions; it is therefore necessary to monitor beta-blocker levels in biological samples. In addition, beta-blocker levels in environmental samples need to be monitored to determine whether there are contaminants from the activities of the pharmaceutical industry. Several extraction methods have been developed to separate beta-blocker drugs in a sample, one of which is molecularly imprinted polymer solid-phase extraction (MIP-SPE). MIPs have some advantages, including good selectivity, high affinity, ease of synthesis, and low cost. This review provides an overview of the polymerization methods for synthesizing MIPs of beta-blocker groups. The methods that are still widely used to synthesize MIPs for beta-blockers are the bulk polymerization method and the precipitation polymerization method. MIPs for beta-blockers still need further development, especially since many types of beta-blockers have not been used as templates in the MIP synthesis process and modification of the MIP sorbent is required, to obtain high throughput analysis.     

A Review on Recent Progress of Stingless Bee Honey and Its Hydrogel-Based Compound for Wound Care Management

Stingless bee honey has a distinctive flavor and sour taste compared to Apis mellifera honey. Currently, interest in farming stingless bees is growing among rural residents to meet the high demand for raw honey and honey-based products. Several studies on stingless bee honey have revealed various therapeutic properties for wound healing applications. These include antioxidant, antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, and moisturizing properties related to wound healing. The development of stingless bee honey for wound healing applications, such as incorporation into hydrogels, has attracted researchers worldwide. As a result, the effectiveness of stingless bee honey against wound infections can be improved in the future to optimize healing rates. This paper reviewed the physicochemical and therapeutic properties of stingless bee honey and its efficacy in treating wound infection, as well as the incorporation of stingless bee honey into hydrogels for optimized wound dressing.     

Ultrasonic Extraction of 2-Acetyl-1-Pyrroline (2AP) from Pandanus amaryllifolius Roxb. Using Ethanol as Solvent

2-acetyl-1-pyrroline (2AP) is the compound that gives out the typical aroma and flavour of pandan leaves (Pandanus amaryllifolius Roxb.). This research incorporates ultrasonic extraction to extract the aromatic compound in pandan leaves. The parameters varied in this study are the extraction time, sonicator amplitude, concentration of solvent and the mass of pandan leaves. The experiment was conducted using a central composite design (CCD) model generated by the response surface methodology (RSM). From the extraction process, it can be deduced that the effect of leaves’ mass is comparably higher than other parameters, while sonicator amplitude gives the most negligible impact on the process. The obtained p-value was 0.0014, which was less than 0.05. The high R-squared 0.9603 and adjusted R-squared 0.8809 indicate the model is well agreed with the actual data. The optimal control variables of ultrasonic extraction of 2AP are at an extraction time of 20 min, 60% of solvent concentration, amplitude of 25% and 12.5 g of pandan leaves, which produced 60.51% of yield of the extract and 1.43 ppm of 2AP. It is found that the mass of pandan leaves and the concentration of solvent have a significant impact on the extraction process of 2AP.     

A correlation of conductivity medium and bioparticle viability on dielectrophoresis-based biomedical applications

Dielectrophoresis (DEP) bioparticle research has progressed from micro to nano levels. It has proven to be a promising and powerful cell manipulation method with an accurate, quick, inexpensive, and label-free technique for therapeutic purposes. DEP, an electrokinetic phenomenon, induces particle movement as a result of polarization effects in a nonuniform electrical field. This review focuses on current research in the biomedical field that demonstrates a practical approach to DEP in terms of cell separation, trapping, discrimination, and enrichment under the influence of the conductive medium in correlation with bioparticle viability. The current review aims to provide readers with an in-depth knowledge of the fundamental theory and principles of the DEP technique, which is influenced by conductive medium and to identify and demonstrate the biomedical application areas. The high conductivity of physiological fluids presents obstacles and opportunities, followed by bioparticle viability in an electric field elaborated in detail. Finally, the drawbacks of DEP-based systems and the outlook for the future are addressed. This article will aid in advancing technology by bridging the gap between bioscience and engineering. We hope the insights presented in this review will improve cell suspension medium and promote DEP-viable bioparticle manipulation for health-care diagnostics and therapeutics.     

Cooperative Network Formation via Two-Colour Light-Activated λ-Orthogonal Chromophores

Independently addressing photoreactive sites within one molecule with two colours of light is a formidable challenge. Here, we combine two sequence independent λ-orthogonal chromophores in one heterotelechelic dilinker molecule, to exploit their disparate reactivity utilizing the same reaction partner, a maleimide-containing polymer. We demonstrate that polymer network formation only proceeds if two colours of light are employed. Upon single colour irradiation, linker-decorated post-functionalized polymers are generated at either wavelength and in either sequence. Network formation, however, is only achieved by sequential or simultaneous two colour irradiation. The herein introduced photoreactive system demonstrates the power of wavelength orthogonal chemistry in macromolecular synthesis.