Renewable and optically transparent electroactive indium tin oxide surfaces for chemoselective ligand immobilization and biospecific cell adhesion

In this report, we show the successful transfer of a sophisticated electroactive immobilization and release strategy to an indium tin oxide (ITO) surface to generate (1) optically transparent, robust, and renewable surfaces, (2) inert surfaces that resist nonspecific protein adsorption and cell attachment, and (3) tailored biospecific surfaces for live-cell high-resolution fluorescence microscopy of cell culture. By comparing the surface chemistry properties on both ITO and gold surfaces, we demonstrate the ITO surfaces are superior to gold as a renewable surface, in robustness (durability), and as an optically transparent material for live-cell fluorescence microscopy studies of cell behavior. These advantages will make ITO surfaces a desired platform for numerous biosensor and microarray applications and as model substrates for various cell biological studies.     

Exploring the Phytochemicals and Anti-Cancer Potential of the Members of Fabaceae Family: A Comprehensive Review

Cancer is the second-ranked disease and a cause of death for millions of people around the world despite many kinds of available treatments. Phytochemicals are considered a vital source of cancer-inhibiting drugs and utilize specific mechanisms including carcinogen inactivation, the induction of cell cycle arrest, anti-oxidant stress, apoptosis, and regulation of the immune system. Family Fabaceae is the second most diverse family in the plant kingdom, and species of the family are widely distributed across the world. The species of the Fabaceae family are rich in phytochemicals (flavonoids, lectins, saponins, alkaloids, carotenoids, and phenolic acids), which exhibit a variety of health benefits, especially anti-cancer properties; therefore, exploration of the phytochemicals present in various members of this family is crucial. These phytochemicals of the Fabaceae family have not been explored in a better way yet; therefore, this review is an effort to summarize all the possible information related to the phytochemical status of the Fabaceae family and their anti-cancer properties. Moreover, various research gaps have been identified with directions for future research.     

Ameliorative Effect of Structurally Divergent Oleanane Triterpenoid, 3-Epifriedelinol from Ipomoea batatas against BPA-Induced Gonadotoxicity by Targeting PARP and NF-κB Signaling in Rats

The pentacyclic triterpenoids (PTs) of plant origin are reputed to restrain prostate cancer (PCa) cell proliferation. This study aims to assess 3-epifriedelinol (EFD) isolated from aerial part of Ipomoea batatas against PCa and its potential mechanism, in vitro and in vivo. Molecular docking affirms good binding affinity of the compound with target proteins exhibiting binding energy of −7.9 Kcal/mol with BAX, −8.1 Kcal/mol (BCL-2), −1.9 Kcal/mol (NF-κB) and −8.5 Kcal/mol with P53. In the MTT assay, EFD treatment (3–50 µM) showed a significant (p < 0.05 and p < 0.01) dose and time dependent drop in the proliferative graph of DU145 and PC3, and an upsurge in apoptotic cell population. EFD displayed substantial IC50 against DU145 (32.32 ± 3.72 µM) and PC3 (35.22 ± 3.47 µM). According to Western blots, EFD administration significantly enhanced the cleavage of caspases and PARP, elevated BAX and P53 and decreased BCL-2 and NF-κB expression, thereby triggering apoptosis in PCa cells. When male Sprague Dawley rats were intoxicated with Bisphenol A (BPA), an apparent increase in prostate mass (0.478 ± 0.08 g) in comparison to control (0.385 ± 0.03 g) indicates prostatitis. Multidose treatment of EFD (10 mg/kg) significantly reduced prostate size (0.404 ± 0.05 g). EFD exhibited substantial curative potential in vivo, as hematological, hormonal and histopathological parameters have been significantly improved. Reduced peroxidation (TBARS), and suppression of inflammatory markers i.e., NO, IL-6 and TNF-α, signposts substantial antiinflammatory potential of the compound. Overall, EFD has shown better binding affinity with target molecules, acceptable ADMET profile, potent antiproliferative and apoptotic nature and significant reduction in inflamed prostate mass of rats. The present study demonstrates acceptable physicochemical and pharmacokinetic properties of the compound with excellent drugable nature, hence EFD in the form of standardized formulation can be developed as primary or adjuvant therapy against PCa and toxins-induced gonadotoxicity.     

The space–time CESE method for solving special relativistic hydrodynamic equations

The special relativistic hydrodynamic equations are more complicated than the classical ones due to the nonlinear and implicit relations that exist between conservative and primitive variables. In this article, a space–time conservation element and solution element (CESE) method is proposed for solving these equations in one and two space dimensions. The CESE method has capability to capture sharp propagating wavefront of the relativistic fluids without excessive numerical diffusion or spurious oscillations. In contrast to the existing upwind finite volume schemes, the Riemann solver and reconstruction procedure are not the building blocks of the suggested method. The method differs from previous techniques because of global and local flux conservation in a space–time domain without resorting to interpolation or extrapolation. The scheme is efficient, robust, and gives results comparable to those obtained with more sophisticated algorithms, even in highly relativistic two-dimensional test problems.     

Neural firing rate model with a steep firing rate function

In this study we justify rigorously the approximation of the steep firing rate functions with a unit step function in a two-population neural firing rate model with steep firing rate functions. We do this justification by exploiting the theory of switching dynamical systems. It has been demonstrated that switching dynamics offer a possibility of simplifying the dynamical system and getting approximations of the solution of the system for any specific choice of parameters. In this approach the phase space of the system is divided into regular and singular domains, where the limit dynamics can be written down explicitly. The advantages of this method are illustrated by a number of numerical examples for different cases of the singular domains (i.e. for black, white and transparent walls) and for specific choices of the parameters involved. General conditions have been formulated on these parameters to give black, white and transparent walls. Further, the existence and stability of regular and singular stationary points have been investigated. It has been shown that the regular stationary points (i.e. stationary points inside the regular domains) are always stable and this property is preserved for smooth and sufficiently steep activation functions. In the most technical part of the paper we have provided conditions on the existence and stability of singular stationary points (i.e. those belonging to the singular domains). For the existence results, the implicit function theorem has been used, whereas the stability of singular stationary points is addressed by applying singular perturbation analysis and the Tikhonov theorem.     

Synthesis of Tetradentate Schiff Base Derivatives of Transition Bimetallic Complexes as Antimicrobial Agents

A series of Co(II), Cu(II), Mn(II) and Zn(II) bimetallic complexes have been synthesized with the schiff base ligand 2‐(bis‐2‐hydroxyl phenylidene) diimine (L) derived from the condensation of hydrazine and salicylaldehyde. The synthesized ligand and bimetallic complexes were characterized by different spectroscopic techniques. The characterization of ligand was carried out by FT‐IR, H¹NMR, C¹³NMR and MS while the bimetallic complexes were characterized by FT‐IR and X‐ray crystallographic techniques. The complexes and ligand were employed in vitro for antifungal and antibacterial activities using disc diffusion method. Different fungal strains such as Alternaria Alternate, Aspergillus Flavus and Aspergillus Niger were used to check antifungal activities of bimetallic complexes and ligand. Similarly, the bacterial strains used were Staphylococcus Aureus, Bacillus Subbtilis and Escheria Coli. The biological studies showed that the ligand exhibited lower value of antifungal and antibacterial activities than bimetallic complexes.     

Effects of CDTT model on the stability of spherical collapse in Palatini f(R) gravity

The objective of this paper is to study the stability of an adiabatic anisotropic collapsing sphere in the context of Palatini f(R) gravity. In this framework, we construct the collapse equation with the help of the contracted Bianchi identities of the effective as well as the usual energy-momentum tensor. The perturbation scheme is applied on the fluid variables which accordingly cause a perturbation on the Ricci scalar. We explore the instability ranges in the Newtonian and post-Newtonian regimes. It is concluded that the stability of the star is governed by adiabatic index Γ ₁, which depends on the energy density profile, anisotropic pressure and dark source terms of the chosen f(R) model. We also explore our results when f(R)→R.     

Synthesis and Electrochemical Performance of Urea Assisted Pristine LiMn2O4 Cathode for Li Ion Batteries

We report the synthesis of electrochemically active LiMn₂O₄ nanoparticles at varied temperature and pH values by sol–gel method using urea as a chelating and combusting agent. The effect of pH and annealing temperature on the structure, morphology and electrochemical performance was evaluated. The results obtained by XRD, SEM, TEM, and FTIR show that LiMn₂O₄ has uniform porous morphology and highly crystalline particles that can be obtained at pH 7.0 and 8.0 and at a relatively lower temperature of 600°C. Cyclic voltammetry measurements showed reversible redox reactions with fast kinetics corresponding to Li ions intercalation/deintercalation at 600°C at neutral pH 7.0. Charge/discharge studies carried out at a current rate of 40 mA g^–1 reveal that LiMn₂O₄ synthesized at 600°C and pH 7.0 has the best structural stability and excellent cycling performance.