Novel method for the fast preconcentration and monitoring of a ppt level of lead and copper with a modified hexagonal mesoporous silica compound and inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry.

A novel method for the rapid extraction and determination of a ppt level of Pb2+ and Cu2+ ions using partial silylated MCM-41 modified by a new salophen and inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES) is introduced. The preconcentration factor of the method is 500, and the detection limits of Pb2+ and Cu2+ are 335 and 34 ng L(-1), respectively. The time and efficiency of extraction, the pH and flow rate, the type and minimum amount of acid for stripping of Pb2+ and Cu2+ from modified MCM-41 and the break-through volume were investigated. The maximum capacity of 4 mg of silylated MCM-41 modified by salophen used was found to be 150 +/- 4 and 117 +/- 3 microg of Pb2+ and Cu2+, respectively.     

Nanoformulation of Polyphenol Curcumin Enhances Cisplatin-Induced Apoptosis in Drug-Resistant MDA-MB-231 Breast Cancer Cells

Triple Negative Breast Cancer (TNBC) is the aggressive and lethal type of breast malignancy that develops resistance to current therapies. Combination therapy has proven to be an effective strategy on TNBC. We aimed to study whether the nano-formulation of polyphenolic curcumin (Gemini-Cur) would affect the cisplatin-induced toxicity in MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells. MDA-MB-231 cells were treated with Gemini-Cur, cisplatin and combination of Gemini-Cur/Cisplatin in a time- and dose-dependent manner. Cell viability was studied by using MTT, fluorescence microscopy and cell cycle assays. The mode of death was also determined by Hoechst staining and annexin V-FITC. Real-time PCR and western blotting were employed to detect the expression of BAX and BCL-2 genes. Our data demonstrated that Gemini-Cur significantly sensitizes cancer cells to cisplatin (combination index ≤ 1) and decreases IC50 values in comparison with Gemini-cur or cisplatin. Further studies confirmed that Gemini-Cur/Cisplatin suppresses cancer cell growth through induction of apoptosis (p < 0.001). In conclusion, the data confirm the synergistic effect of polyphenolic curcumin on cisplatin toxicity and provide attractive strategy to attain its apoptotic effect on TNBC.     

Transcriptome Profiling of HCT-116 Colorectal Cancer Cells with RNA Sequencing Reveals Novel Targets for Polyphenol Nano Curcumin

Colorectal cancer is one of the leading causes of cancer-related deaths worldwide. The gemini nanoparticle formulation of polyphenolic curcumin significantly inhibits the viability of cancer cells. However, the molecular mechanisms and pathways underlying its toxicity in colon cancer are unclear. Here, we aimed to uncover the possible novel targets of gemini curcumin (Gemini-Cur) on colorectal cancer and related cellular pathways. After confirming the cytotoxic effect of Gemini-Cur by MTT and apoptotic assays, RNA sequencing was employed to identify differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in HCT-116 cells. On a total of 3892 DEGs (padj < 0.01), 442 genes showed a log2 FC >|2| (including 244 upregulated and 198 downregulated). Gene ontology (GO) enrichment analysis was performed. Protein–protein interaction (PPI) and gene-pathway networks were constructed by using STRING and Cytoscape. The pathway analysis showed that Gemini-Cur predominantly modulates pathways related to the cell cycle. The gene network analysis revealed five central genes, namely GADD45G, ATF3, BUB1B, CCNA2 and CDK1. Real-time PCR and Western blotting analysis confirmed the significant modulation of these genes in Gemini-Cur-treated compared to non-treated cells. In conclusion, RNA sequencing revealed novel potential targets of curcumin on cancer cells. Further studies are required to elucidate the molecular mechanism of action of Gemini-Cur regarding the modulation of the expression of hub genes.     

Amine modified nanozeolites for the three component synthesis of chromenes

Research on Chemical Intermediates - New amine modified nanozeolites were prepared and characterized using FT-IR, TGA, DTG, SEM, and TEM. Then the synthesized nanozeolites were employed as novel,...     

Numerical study of melting and solidification in a wavy double-pipe latent heat thermal energy storage system

Journal of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry - The objective of this paper is to develop the influences of channel waviness on the performance of a latent heat storage system during phase change...     

CeO2/CuO@N-GQDs@NH2 nanocomposite as a high-performance catalyst for the synthesis of benzo[g]chromenes

A three-component reaction of aromatic aldehydes, malononitrile or ethyl cyanoacetate and 2-hydroxy-1,4-naphthaquinone has been achieved in the presence of an amino-functionalized CeO₂/CuO@ nitrogen graphene quantum dot nanocomposite as a highly effective heterogeneous catalyst to produce benzo[g]chromenes. The catalyst has been characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) and vibrating sample magnetometry. This new catalyst has been demonstrated to be highly effective in the preparation of benzo[g]chromenes.     

An efficient numerical approach to solve a class of variable‐order fractional integro‐partial differential equations

The main purpose of this work is to investigate an initial boundary value problem related to a suitable class of variable order fractional integro‐partial differential equations with a weakly singular kernel. To discretize the problem in the time direction, a finite difference method will be used. Then, the Sinc‐collocation approach combined with the double exponential transformation is employed to solve the problem in each time level. The proposed numerical algorithm is completely described and the convergence analysis of the numerical solution is presented. Finally, some illustrative examples are given to demonstrate the pertinent features of the proposed algorithm.     

Highly Sensitive Electrochemical Sensor Based on Pt Doped NiO Nanoparticles/MWCNTs Nanocomposite Modified Electrode for Simultaneous Sensing of Piroxicam and Amlodipine

In this paper, a high‐sensitivity electrochemical sensor based on platinum (Pt) doped nickel oxide (NiO) nanoparticles and multi‐walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) modified glassy carbon electrode (Pt?NiO/MWCNTs/GCE) has been developed to determine piroxicam (PIR) and amlodipine (AML) simultaneously. The electrochemical behavior of PIR and AML at the proposed sensor has been investigated by cyclic voltammetry (CV), differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) and chronoamperometry (CA) methods. Pt doped NiO nanoparticles were synthesized by the sol‐gel procedure and were investigated using X‐ray diffraction (XRD), energy dispersive X‐ray spectroscopy (EDX) and field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) techniques. DPV responses of PIR and AML increased linearly with their concentration in wide linear dynamic ranges of 0.6–320.0 μM and 1.0–250.0 μM, respectively. The limits of detection were 0.061 μM for PIR and 0.092 μM for AML. The excellent analytical figure of merits of the proposed modified electrode leads to application of it promising electrochemical sensor to determine PIR and AML in human serum and urine with satisfactory results.