Mineralized Polyvinyl Alcohol/Sodium Alginate Hydrogels Incorporating Cellulose Nanofibrils for Bone and Wound Healing

Bio sustainable hydrogels including tunable morphological and/or chemical cues currently offer a valid strategy of designing innovative systems to enhance healing/regeneration processes of damaged tissue areas. In this work, TEMPO-oxidized cellulose nanofibrils (T-CNFs) were embedded in alginate (Alg) and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) solution to form a stable mineralized hydrogel. A calcium chloride reaction was optimized to trigger a crosslinking reaction of polymer chains and mutually promote in situ mineralization of calcium phosphates. FTIR, XRD, SEM/EDAX, and TEM were assessed to investigate the morphological, chemical, and physical properties of different mineralized hybrid hydrogels, confirming differences in the deposited crystalline nanostructures, i.e., dicalcium phosphate dehydrate (DCPDH) and hydroxyapatite, respectively, as a function of applied pH conditions (i.e., pH 4 or 8). Moreover, in vitro tests, in the presence of HFB-4 and HSF skin cells, confirmed a low cytotoxicity of the mineralized hybrid hydrogels, and also highlighted a significant increase in cell viability via MTT tests, preferentially, for the low concentration, crosslinked Alg/PVA/calcium phosphate hybrid materials (<1 mg/mL) in the presence of hydroxyapatite. These preliminary results suggest a promising use of mineralized hybrid hydrogels based on Alg/PVA/T-CNFs for bone and wound healing applications.     

Spectroscopic investigations and electrical properties of PVA/PVP blend filled with different concentrations of nickel chloride

Films of PVA/PVP blend (50/50) filled with different concentrations of NiCl₂ were prepared by casting method. The prepared films were investigated by different techniques. XRD scans demonstrated that the peak intensity at 2θ≈20° decreased and the band width increased with increase in the concentrations of NiCl₂ content, which implied decrease in the degree of crystallization and hence causes increase in the amorphous region. UV-vis analysis revealed that the values of the optical band gap are affected with increase in NiCl₂ content. This indicates the formation of charge transfer complexes between the polymer blend and the filler. The rise of conductivity is significant with increased concentration of NiCl₂ filler; this reveals an increase in degree of amorphosity. AC conductivity (σ_ac) behavior of all the prepared films was investigated over the frequency range 42 Hz-5 MHz and under different isothermal stabilization in the temperature range 313-393 K. It suggests that the hopping mechanism might be playing an important role in the conduction process in high frequency region. The dielectric behavior was analyzed using dielectric permittivity (ε´, ε″) dielectric loss tangent (tan δ) and electric modulus (M″). The decrease in dielectric permittivity was observed with increase in the concentration of NiCl₂ filler. This suggests the role of NiCl₂ as filler to improve the electrical conductivity of PVA/PVP blend.     

Effect of flow on quasi-one-dimensional acoustic wave propagation in a variable area duct of finite length

The general equation for the velocity potential of quasi-one-dimensional acoustic wave motion in a variable area, finite duct with one-dimensional flow is derived by using a perturbation technique. The non-linear second-order partial differential equation is linearized and then solved, by either a power series expansion method or the Runge-Kutta fourth-order method, for harmonic time dependence. The boundary condition taken at the duct mouth is that of matching the impedance of the duct sound field to that of the radiation field at the duct opening. Three axial Mach number variations along the duct axis are considered and the results obtained are compared with those for the case of constant Mach number, to determine the influence of the axial velocity gradient on sound propagation. The effect of flow on the radiation impedance is also considered.     

Determination of plastic stress-strain behavior by digital-image-processing techniques

This work explores the application of digitalimage-processing techniques to the measurement of large plastic strains. Two sample problems have been selected, namely the uniform tensile deformation of aluminum-sheet metal strips and the post-necking deformation of copper circular rods. Images of these gridded metallic test pleces were captured, digitized and analyzed in a fully computerized way to evaluate strain distributions, anisotropic parameters and plastic stress-strain flow curves. For post-necked test pieces, Bridgman stress correction has been easily applied by defining the neck profile contour from the automated processing of digitized images. Results compare satisfactorily with those based on displacements measured by conventional microscopy. The presented technique, with added improvements, can consititute a viable one for accurate and fully computerized measurement of large deformations.     

Facile Synthesis of Thiophene- and 1,3,4-Thiadiazole-Based Heterocycles

Treatment of 3-cyanoacetylpyrazole derivative 1 with phenyl isothiocyanate in potassium hydroxide at room temperature followed by α-haloketones 4a–d and hydrazonoyl halides 10a–e gave the corresponding pyrazolylthiophene 6a–d and pyrazolyl-1,3,4-thiadiazole 12a–e derivatives, respectively.     

Microbial Natural Products with Antiviral Activities,Including Anti-SARS-CoV-2: A Review

The SARS-CoV-2 virus, which caused the COVID-19 infection, was discovered two and a half years ago. It caused a global pandemic, resulting in millions of deaths and substantial damage to the worldwide economy. Currently, only a few vaccines and antiviral drugs are available to combat SARS-CoV-2. However, there has been an increase in virus-related research, including exploring new drugs and their repurposing. Since discovering penicillin, natural products, particularly those derived from microbes, have been viewed as an abundant source of lead compounds for drug discovery. These compounds treat bacterial, fungal, parasitic, and viral infections. This review incorporates evidence from the available research publications on isolated and identified natural products derived from microbes with anti-hepatitis, anti-herpes simplex, anti-HIV, anti-influenza, anti-respiratory syncytial virus, and anti-SARS-CoV-2 properties. About 131 compounds with in vitro antiviral activity and 1 compound with both in vitro and in vivo activity have been isolated from microorganisms, and the mechanism of action for some of these compounds has been described. Recent reports have shown that natural products produced by the microbes, such as aurasperone A, neochinulin A and B, and aspulvinone D, M, and R, have potent in vitro anti-SARS-CoV-2 activity, targeting the main protease (M^pro). In the near and distant future, these molecules could be used to develop antiviral drugs for treating infections and preventing the spread of disease.     

Synthesis of 3-cyano-2-pyridone derivative and its utility in the synthesis of some heterocyclic compounds with expecting antimicrobial activity

New 2-pyridone derivatives bearing p-methoxyphenyl and p-bromophenyl substituents at C-4 and C-6 were prepared smoothly by the one-pot reaction in high yield, and in a comparatively short time, it reacted with phosphorous oxychloride to produce the corresponding chloro compound. The latter was reacted with several nitrogen nucleophiles such as sodium azide, hydrazine, acetohydrazide, and benzohydrazide to give tetrazolo, hydrazino, and triazolo derivatives, respectively. The reaction of hydrazino derivative with cyclopentanone, furan-2-carbaldehyde afforded the corresponding hydrazone derivatives. Cyclocondensation of the latter compounds with thioglycolic acid afforded the nicotinamide derivatives. 2-Pyridone reacted with ethyl chloroacetate to afford chloroacetate and ethyl acetate derivatives. Ethyl acetate-derivative reacted with hydrazine hydrate and gave the acetohydrazide derivative, it was condensed with p-anisaldehyde and gave the 4-methoxybenzylidene acetohydrazide derivative. Also, 2-pyridone reacted with chloroacetic acid and or benzoyl chloride, afforded the benzoate derivative and 2-((6-(4-bromophenyl)-3-cyano-4-(4-methoxyphenyl) pyridin-2-yl) oxy) acetic acid, respectively. Structures of the products were confirmed using spectroscopic data and elemental analyses. Antibacterial activity of the synthesized compounds was evaluated against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus.     

Linear relations betweenE-functions and Bessel functions

In this paper, some new linear relations for MacRobert'sE-Functions are established. They are formulae (1), (10), (15), (20), (22) and (28) below. For the definitions and properties of these functions, the reader is referred to MacRobert, “Functions of a Complex Variable” (3rd ed., London 1946), p. 348. This work will be denoted by the letters C.V. Also some expansions of Bessel Functions are deduced.     

Structure and dielectric studies of nano-composite Fe2O3: BaTiO3 prepared by sol-gel method

Nano-structure pure barium titanate (BaTiO₃) and that was doped with iron oxide (Fe₂O₃), have been prepared by sol-gel method, using barium acetate (Ba(Ac)₂) and titanium butoxide (Ti(C₄H₉O)₄), as precursors. The as-grown prepared samples by sol-gel technique were found to be amorphous, which crystallized to the tetragonal phase after synthesized at 750 °C in air for 1 h as detected from the XRD patterns. The XRD data were confirmed by transmission electron microscope (TEM). The dielectric properties namely; dielectric constant (ε′) and loss tangent (tan δ) in the frequency range between 42 Hz and 1 MHz, at range of temperature 25-250 °C were investigated. The temperature dependence of ε′ and tan δ for the undoped and doped materials, at 1 kHz, was also investigated. As a result, tan δ increased rapidly with decreasing temperature below 125 °C (Curie temperature) while above this temperature, tan δ shows temperature independent. As a result, below and above Curie temperature, ferroelectric phase and paraelectric phase of BaTiO₃ can be obtained, respectively.     

Molecular Docking,DFT Calculations,Effect of High Energetic Ionizing Radiation,and Biological Evaluation of Some Novel Metal (II) Heteroleptic Complexes Bearing the Thiosemicarbazone Ligand

New Pb(II), Mn(II), Hg(II), and Zn(II) complexes, derived from 4-(4-chlorophenyl)-1-(2-(phenylamino)acetyl)thiosemicarbazone, were synthesized. The compounds with general formulas, [Pb(H₂L)₂(OAc)₂]ETOH.H₂O, [Mn(H₂L)(HL)]Cl, [Hg₂(H₂L)(OH)SO₄], and [Zn(H₂L)(HL)]Cl, were characterized by physicochemical and theoretical studies. X-ray diffraction studies showed a decrease in the crystalline size of compounds that were exposed to gamma irradiation (γ-irradiation). Thermal studies of the synthesized complexes showed thermal stability of the Mn(II) and Pb(II) complexes after γ-irradiation compared to those before γ–irradiation, while no changes in the Zn(II) and Hg(II) complexes were observed. The optimized geometric structures of the ligand and metal complexes are discussed regarding density functional theory calculations (DFT). The antimicrobial activities of the ligand and metal complexes against several bacterial and fungal stains were screened before and after irradiation. The Hg(II) complex has shown excellent antibacterial activity before and after γ-irradiation. In vitro cytotoxicity screening of the ligand and the Mn(II) and Zn(II) complexes before and after γ-irradiation disclosed that both the ligand and Mn(II) complex exhibited higher activity against human liver (Hep-G2) than Zn(II). Molecular docking was performed on the active site of MK-2 and showed good results.