A comparative study of interaction of ibuprofen with biocompatible polymers

In this paper we are reporting the interaction of a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug ibuprofen (IBF) with various biocompatible polymers. Being amphiphilic, the drug interacts with the polymers similar to the interaction of surfactants and polymers. Therefore, we have considered the polymer-amphiphile interaction approach using conductimetry. The polymers of different charges (cationic, anionic, and nonionic) have been taken for the study. It was found that the critical aggregation concentration (cac) decreases on increasing the polymer concentrations of cationic as well as nonionic polymers whereas it increases for anionic polymers. The results imply that anionic IBF interacts with cationic and nonionic polymers more strongly as compared to the anionic polymers. A possible anionic-anionic repulsion is responsible for the weak interaction of IBF with anionic polymers. On the other side, the critical micelle concentration (cmc) increases for all polymers which is a usual indication of the interaction between amphiphiles and polymers. Free energies of aggregation (ΔG_agg) and micellization (ΔG_mic) were also computed with the help of degrees of micelle ionization obtained from the specific conductivity - [IBF] isotherms.     

Reversed‐Phase High‐Performance Liquid Chromatographic Separation and Determination of 4‐Amino‐azobenzene‐4′,5‐disulfonic Acid and Related Products in Industrial Wastewater Effluents

A simple and rapid reversed‐phase high‐performance liquid chromatographic method for the separation and determination of 4‐amino‐azobenzene‐4′,5‐disulfonic acid (AABDS) and its process‐related impurities was developed. The separation was achieved on a μ‐Bondapak C₁₈ column using 0.15 M ammonium sulfate‐acetonitrile (55:45) (v/v) as eluent. A UV‐visible spectrophotometric detector fixed at 386 nm was used both for detection and quantitation. The method was used not only for quality assurance but also for process development and wastewater management of AABDS.     

Impact of Gamma Irradiation and Kale Leaf Powder on Amino Acid and Fatty Acid Profiles of Chicken Meat under Different Storage Intervals

The present study was planned to determine the effect of kale leaf powder and gamma rays on variations in the pH, amino acid and fatty acid profiles of chicken meat at different storage intervals. Significant changes (p ≤ 0.05) in the pH, amino acid and fatty acid profiles of chicken meat following different treatments (KLP (1% and 2%) and gamma irradiation (3k Gy)) were reported at 0, 7 and 14 days of storage. The pH value of the chicken meat sample decreased with the addition of kale leaf powder, whereas the value increased following a gamma irradiation dose of 3 kGy and with the passage of time. During different storage intervals, the minimum reduction in the amino acid and fatty acid quantities in the chicken meat samples was reported after gamma irradiation treatment. However, with the addition of KLP, the amount of amino acids and fatty acids in the chicken meat samples increased. Conclusively, the pH was observed to be reduced in the meat following combined treatment (irradiation + KLP), whereas the 2% KLP treatment improved the amino acid and fatty acid profiles of the chicken samples.     

Oleuropein as a Potent Compound against Neurological Complications Linked with COVID-19: A Computational Biology Approach

The association of COVID-19 with neurological complications is a well-known fact, and researchers are endeavoring to investigate the mechanistic perspectives behind it. SARS-CoV-2 can bind to Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR-4) that would eventually lead to α-synuclein aggregation in neurons and stimulation of neurodegeneration pathways. Olive leaves have been reported as a promising phytotherapy or co-therapy against COVID-19, and oleuropein is one of the major active components of olive leaves. In the current study, oleuropein was investigated against SARS-CoV-2 target (main protease 3CL^pro), TLR-4 and Prolyl Oligopeptidases (POP), to explore oleuropein potency against the neurological complications associated with COVID-19. Docking experiments, docking validation, interaction analysis, and molecular dynamic simulation analysis were performed to provide insight into the binding pattern of oleuropein with the three target proteins. Interaction analysis revealed strong bonding between oleuropein and the active site amino acid residues of the target proteins. Results were further compared with positive control lopinavir (3CL^pro), resatorvid (TLR-4), and berberine (POP). Moreover, molecular dynamic simulation was performed using YASARA structure tool, and AMBER14 force field was applied to examine an 100 ns trajectory run. For each target protein-oleuropein complex, RMSD, RoG, and total potential energy were estimated, and 400 snapshots were obtained after each 250 ps. Docking analyses showed binding energy as −7.8, −8.3, and −8.5 kcal/mol for oleuropein-3CL^pro, oleuropein-TLR4, and oleuropein-POP interactions, respectively. Importantly, target protein-oleuropein complexes were stable during the 100 ns simulation run. However, an experimental in vitro study of the binding of oleuropein to the purified targets would be necessary to confirm the present study outcomes.     

Effect of phase fluctuations on entanglement generation in a correlated emission laser with injected coherence

This proposal investigates the influence of the phase fluctuations on the time evolution of entanglement generation in a three-level correlated emission laser (CEL) with injected coherence. The atoms are injected in the cavity with an initial partial coherent superposition of the upper and lower levels. The corresponding phase φ is considered to be randomly distributed around some fixed phase φ₀. The fluctuations in phase φ modifies the coherence between the two corresponding atomic levels. Therefore, we observe strong influence of phase fluctuations on the entanglement generation using the injected coherence CEL system.     

Unsteady flow and heat transfer of a second grade fluid over a stretching sheet

The problem of unsteady boundary layer flow of a second grade over a stretching sheet is investigated in this paper. The governing equations of motion are reduced into a partial differential equation with two independent variables by using similarity transformations. The heat transfer analysis has been also carried out for two heating processes namely the prescribed surface temperature (PST case) and prescribed surface heat flux (PHF case). The series solutions of the problem are developed by employing homotopy analysis method (HAM). Convergence of the obtained series solutions are analyzed. It is noted that the present solutions of a second grade are valid for all dimensionless times. Finally, the results are obtained and discussed through graphs for various parameters of interest.     

Are multi-criteria decision-making tools useful? An experimental comparative study of three methods

Many decision makers still question the usefulness of multi-criteria decision-making methods and prefer to rely on intuitive decisions. In this study we evaluated a number of multi-criteria decision-making tools for their usefulness using incentive-based experiments, which is a novel approach in operations research but common in psychology and experimental economics. In this experiment the participants were asked to compare five coffee shops to win a voucher for their best-rated shop. We found that, although the usefulness of different multi-criteria decision-making tools varied to some extent, all the tools were found to be useful in the sense that, when they decided to change their ranking, they followed the recommendation of the multi-criteria decision-making tool. Moreover, the level of inconsistency in the judgements provided had no significant effect on the usefulness of these tools.     

On refined Hardy-type inequalities with fractional integrals and fractional derivatives

The aim of this paper is to present new more general Hardy-type inequalities for different kinds of fractional integrals and fractional derivatives.     

Stretching a Curved Surface in a Viscous Fluid

This work is concerned with the viscous flow due to a curved stretching sheet. The similarity solution of the problem is obtained numerically by a shooting method using the Runge-Kutta algorithm. The physical quantities of interest like the fluid velocity and skin friction coefficient are obtained and discussed under the influence of dimensionless curvature. It is evident from the results that dimensionless curvature causes an increase in boundary layer thickness and a decrease in the skin friction coefficient.