Antibacterial Effects of Commiphora gileadensis Methanolic Extract on Wound Healing

Commiphora gileadensis (CG) is a small tree distributed throughout the Middle East. It was traditionally used in perfumes in countries in this area. In Saudi Arabia, it was used to treat wounds burns and as an antidote to scorpion stings. This study aimed to evaluate the antimicrobial activity and cutaneous wound healing efficiency of the CG extracts using microbiological tests, rate of wound contraction and histopathological changes. CG plant were extracted using the methanol extraction technique; then, the methanolic extract was characterized using liquid chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (LC–MS). Afterwards, a six-millimetre (mm) excision wound was induced in 60 male Balb/c mice. Mice were classified into two classes; each class consisted of three groups of 10 mice. In the non-infected wound class, the group I was assigned as control and received normal saline. Group II received gentamicin treatment, and group III treated with CG-methanolic extract. In the Staphylococcus aureus-infected class, group IV received normal saline, and groups V and VI were treated with gentamicin and CG-methanolic extract, respectively. The colonization of infected wounds was determined using colony-forming units (CFUs), and the percentage of wound contraction was measured in all groups. Finally, the histopathologic semi-quantitative determination of wound healing was evaluated by inflammatory cell infiltration, the presence of collagen fibres and granulation tissue, and the grade of re-epithelization. Composition analysis of the methanolic extract confirmed the presence of a high amount of ceramide (69%) and, to a lesser extent, hexosylceramide (18%) and phosphatidylethanolamine (7%) of the total amount. Additionally, there was a statistically significant difference between the percentage of wound contraction in the CG-treated and control groups in both Staphylococcus aureus-infected and non-infected wounds (p < 0.01). The colonization of the infected wounds was lower in the group treated with CG than in the control group (p < 0.01). In both non-infected and infected wounds, the CG-treated group showed significant statistical differences in inflammatory cell infiltration, collagen fibres, re-epithelization and granulation tissue formation compared with the control group (p < 0.01). The CG extract possesses antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties that induce wound healing.     

Characteristics of ternary clove/water/1-butanol microemulsions based drug delivery system for aspirin

This work was intended to characterize aspirin solubilized in microemulsion systems comprising clove oil, 1-butanol and water. Microemulsions demonstrated the unique ability to solubilize aspirin in polar media, thus having good potential in drug delivery. After incorporation of aspirin, four samples were selected in microstructure and be investigated by conductivity measurements, transmission electron microscope (TEM), and spectroscopic studies (¹H-NMR, UV-visible spectroscopy, and IR spectra). The percolation behavior with variation of weight fraction of aqueous phase (?) was confirmed by conductivity measurements. In order to study the effect of aspirin, the conductivity results of aspirin-loaded samples were compared with non-loaded ones. The proton transfer and The competitive H-bonding interactions between aspirin with butanol and water were also discussed in details using ¹H-NMR, UV-visible spectroscopy, and IR spectra. These measurements confirmed that the hydrogen-bonded ion pair structure dominated in the solutions.     

On the indefinite Helmholtz equation: Complex stretched absorbing boundary layers,iterative analysis,and preconditioning

This paper studies and analyzes a preconditioned Krylov solver for Helmholtz problems that are formulated with absorbing boundary layers based on complex coordinate stretching. The preconditioner problem is a Helmholtz problem where not only the coordinates in the absorbing layer have an imaginary part, but also the coordinates in the interior region. This results into a preconditioner problem that is invertible with a multigrid cycle. We give a numerical analysis based on the eigenvalues and evaluate the performance with several numerical experiments. The method is an alternative to the complex shifted Laplacian and it gives a comparable performance for the studied model problems.     

Spectrophotometric and spectrofluorimetric methods for analysis of acyclovir and acebutolol hydrochloride

Simple and sensitive spectrophotometric and spectrofluorimetric methods are described for analysis of acebutolol hydrochloride. The proposed methods are based on oxidation of the selected drug with cerium(IV) ion in acidic medium with subsequent measurement of either the decrease in absorbance at 320 nm or the fluorescence intensity of the produced cerous(III) ion at 363 nm (excitation at 250 nm). Beer's law obeyed from 1.0-7.0 microg ml(-1) and 0.25-2.5 microg ml(-1) acebutolol hydrochloride, using the spectrophotometric and spectrofluorimetric method, respectively. The proposed methods were successfully applied for determination of the selected drug in its pharmaceutical preparation with good recoveries.     

Preparation and characterization of HypoGel-supported Pd nanocatalysts for Suzuki reaction under mild conditions

A new heterogeneous catalyst composed of Pd nanoparticles immobilized within a HypoGel resin has been prepared in the absence of any ligands using an extensive cross-linking method. This new-ly develop...     

Evaluation of the Effect of Plasma Treatment Frequency on the Activation of Polymer Particles

This study investigates the influence of treatment frequency (1–150 kHz) on the atmospheric plasma activation of both silicone and polyethylene terephthalate (PET) particles. These polymer particles with diameters in the range 3–5 mm, were treated using either helium or helium/oxygen gas mixtures, in a barrel atmospheric plasma system. The level of polymer particles activation was monitored using water contact angle measurements. The effect of plasma treatment frequency on barrel heating was monitored using an infrared thermographic camera, the maximum barrel temperature after 15 min treatment was found to be 98 °C at a frequency of 130 kHz. Optical emission spectroscopy was used as a diagnostic tool to monitor changes in atomic and molecular species spectral intensity with experimental conditions, as well as a change in electron energy distribution function. Electrical characterisation studies demonstrated an increase in plasma power with increasing frequency, in the range investigated. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis indicate an increase of oxygen content on polymer surfaces after plasma treatment. For silicone particles, the minimum polymer water contact angle was obtained by using a frequency of 130 kHz. After 15 min treatment time, the water contact angle decreased from 141° to 11°. While for PET particles the optimum treatment frequency was found to be 70 kHz, resulting in a water contact angle decreased from 94° to 32°. This lower frequency was used due to the partial melting of the PET (Tg of 80 °C), when treated at the higher frequency.     

Effect of Triton‐X‐100 Solvent in the Micellar Catalysis of the Aquation of Tris(2‐nitroso‐1‐naphtholate) Ferrate (II)

The effect of triton‐X‐100 micelles on the aquation of Fe(C₁₀H₆N₂O)₃ ²⁺ has been investigated with triton‐X‐100 as solvent. In liquid triton‐X‐100, over a range of [H₂O] _T (0.0–3 M), significant rate enhancement factors of 50–150 are observe. Acid inhibits the rate of aquation at fixed [H₂O] _T . A mechanism based on effective solvent participation in a chemical environment similar to that in reversed micelles is proposed in liquid triton‐X‐100 with dispersed water pockets. This mechanism predicts direct H₂O substitution into the coordination sphere of Fe(C₁₀H₆N₂O)₃ ²⁺ in the highly polar water pockets or cavities where the Fe (II) complex molecules are solubilized. Changes in the tumbling rate, structure, and activity of water are suggested to account for the observed changes in the rate of aquation as a function OH [H₂O] _T . All k _ψ–[H₂O] _T profiles are structured and exhibit maxima with k _ψ(max) shifted to progressively higher [H₂O] _T as the fixed concentration [H⁺] _T is increased.     

Optimization of 89Zr production using Monte Carlo simulations

Zirconium-89 (⁸⁹Zr) can be produced in a cyclotron by focusing the proton beam on an yttrium-89 (⁸⁹Y) foil target. Optimal combination of beam energy and target assembly configuration enables maximum production of ⁸⁹Zr while minimizing the formation of contaminant nuclides such as ⁸⁸Zr and ⁸⁸Y to allow efficient and effective radiopharmaceutical labeling. Accurate modeling of the proton beam and the target is therefore an essential step to assure the best beam and target specification. We used the radiation transport code MCNPX to simulate the transport of protons through the irradiation assembly and the nuclear reaction code TALYS to obtain the production cross sections of various nuclides from proton-⁸⁹Y reactions. Results from simulating the irradiation of 14 mm diameter targets with aluminum (Al) degrader at 19.8 mA for 1 h suggested that the 0.15 mm thick one would produce 227 MBq while the 0.3 mm thick one would produce 413 MBq of ⁸⁹Zr with less than 1 % uncertainty. These results show excellent agreement with experimental work in literature. This work provides the basis for further experimental and theoretical assessments of the use of ⁸⁹Zr as radiopharmaceutical labels.