Decaffeination and Neuraminidase Inhibitory Activity of Arabica Green Coffee (Coffea arabica) Beans: Chlorogenic Acid as a Potential Bioactive Compound

Coffee has been studied for its health benefits, including prevention of several chronic diseases, such as type 2 diabetes mellitus, cancer, Parkinson’s, and liver diseases. Chlorogenic acid (CGA), an important component in coffee beans, was shown to possess antiviral activity against viruses. However, the presence of caffeine in coffee beans may also cause insomnia and stomach irritation, and increase heart rate and respiration rate. These unwanted effects may be reduced by decaffeination of green bean Arabica coffee (GBAC) by treatment with dichloromethane, followed by solid-phase extraction using methanol. In this study, the caffeine and chlorogenic acid (CGA) level in the coffee bean from three different areas in West Java, before and after decaffeination, was determined and validated using HPLC. The results showed that the levels of caffeine were reduced significantly, with an order as follows: Tasikmalaya (2.28% to 0.097% (97 ppm), Pangalengan (1.57% to 0.049% (495 ppm), and Garut (1.45% to 0.00002% (0.2 ppm). The CGA levels in the GBAC were also reduced as follows: Tasikmalaya (0.54% to 0.001% (118 ppm), Pangalengan (0.97% to 0.0047% (388 ppm)), and Garut (0.81% to 0.029% (282 ppm). The decaffeinated samples were then subjected to the H5N1 neuraminidase (NA) binding assay to determine its bioactivity as an anti-influenza agent. The results show that samples from Tasikmalaya, Pangalengan, and Garut possess NA inhibitory activity with IC₅₀ of 69.70, 75.23, and 55.74 μg/mL, respectively. The low level of caffeine with a higher level of CGA correlates with their higher levels of NA inhibitory, as shown in the Garut samples. Therefore, the level of caffeine and CGA influenced the level of NA inhibitory activity. This is supported by the validation of CGA-NA binding interaction via molecular docking and pharmacophore modeling; hence, CGA could potentially serve as a bioactive compound for neuraminidase activity in GBAC.     

An Overview of the Literature on the Synthetic Routes to Azolyloxadiazoles

Published data on the methods of preparation of different azoles linked directly to oxadiazoles are described systematically. This review is divided into classes based on the number of heteroatoms in the azoles connected to oxadiazole ring, and the subtitles are divided according to the type of oxadiazoles isomer.     

Flow of a fluid of grade two between two eccentric rotating spheres

The isothermal, stationary and isochoric flow of a fluid of grade two between a pair of rotating eccentric spheres is investigated. The equations of motion of first and second order are formulated and solved for the first order only. However, the equation of second order indicates the presence of secondary flow. The stress distributions are computed and used to determine the resultant forces and torques acting on the stationary outer sphere. An important result for rheometry is that the resultant torques can be used to determine the coefficient of viscosity, while the resultant force in the direction of the axis of symmetry may be employed to determine the second normal stress difference.     

Synthesis, growth, crystal structure and characterization of a new organic material: glycine glutaric acid

Glycine glutaric acid, a new organic compound has been synthesized and good quality single crystals were grown by slow evaporation technique. The structure of the grown crystal was elucidated by using single crystal XRD. The presence of the functional groups was confirmed by using FT-IR spectroscopy. The optical transparency was studied by using UV-vis spectrophotometer and it was found that the crystal is having high optical transparency. The thermal stability of the crystal was studied by using thermo-gravimetric and differential thermal analyses and found that it is stable up to 150°C. The room temperature dielectric studies were also carried out over the wide frequency range: 10 mHz to 10 MHz.     

Influence of l-alanine doping on crystalline perfection, SHG efficiency, optical and mechanical properties of KDP single crystals

Pure and l-alanine (LA) doped single crystals of potassium dihydrogen orthophosphate (KDP) were grown by slow evaporation solution technique (SEST) in aqueous solution at ambient temperature. Powder X-ray diffraction study was done to confirm the crystal system and lattice parameters of KDP. No additional phases were observed at all doping concentrations (1-7.5 mol%), which was further confirmed by FT-Raman spectroscopy analysis. The influence of LA doping on the crystalline perfection was assessed by high-resolution X-ray diffractometry (HRXRD) analysis. HRXRD studies revealed that the grown crystals could accommodate LA at the interstitial positions in the crystalline matrix of KDP up to some critical concentration without any deterioration in the crystalline perfection. Above this concentration, very low angle structural grain boundaries were developed and it seems that the excess LA above the critical concentration was segregated along the grain boundaries. The SHG efficiency was measured using the Kurtz powder technique. The relative SHG efficiency of the crystals was found to be increased with doping concentration up to 5 mol% and above this it decreases. Optical transmission study also revealed the same behavior with enhancement up to 5 mol% concentration and later decreased. The hardness values were found to be increased by increasing the doping concentration.     

Pharmacological Efficacy of Ginseng against Respiratory Tract Infections

Respiratory tract infections are underestimated, as they are mild and generally not incapacitating. In clinical medicine, however, these infections are considered a prevalent problem. By 2030, the third most comprehensive reason for death worldwide will be chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), according to the World Health Organization. The current arsenal of anti-inflammatory drugs shows little or no benefits against COPD. For thousands of years, herbal drugs have been used to cure numerous illnesses; they exhibit promising results and enhance physical performance. Ginseng is one such herbal medicine, known to alleviate pro-inflammatory chemokines and cytokines (IL-2, IL-4, IFN-γ, TNF-α, IL-5, IL-6, IL-8) formed by macrophages and epithelial cells. Furthermore, the mechanisms of action of ginsenoside are still not fully understood. Various clinical trials of ginseng have exhibited a reduction of repeated colds and the flu. In this review, ginseng’s structural features, the pathogenicity of microbial infections, and the immunomodulatory, antiviral, and anti-bacterial effects of ginseng were discussed. The focus was on the latest animal studies and human clinical trials that corroborate ginseng’s role as a therapy for treating respiratory tract infections. The article concluded with future directions and significant challenges. This review would be a valuable addition to the knowledge base for researchers in understanding the promising role of ginseng in treating respiratory tract infections. Further analysis needs to be re-focused on clinical trials to study ginseng’s efficacy and safety in treating pathogenic infections and in determining ginseng-drug interactions.     

Incorporation of 125I, 134I,and 99mTe in some Pharmaceutics and Hormones

In-vitro-labelling of vasopressin and tofranil using radioactive iodine and lechnelium, is carried out by direct interaction between nascent halogen and the macromolecules. Labelling takes place at the favourable pH in the tyrosyl residue of the molecule, yielding a die-iodo derivative or similar. The present method had the advantage of being simple rapid and gives labelled compounds of high specific activity. The gel-filtration method furnished labelled compounds with a minimum degradation products.     

Molecular modeling of the adsorption and initial photocatalytic oxidation step for para-nitrophenol on nano-sized TiO2 surface

In the present work, the non-constrained optimization for three proposed models of PNP molecule onto TiO₂ (100) surface has resulted in three molecular adsorption conformations; a vertical alignment via bridged NO₂, a parallel alignment bridges via NO₂ and OH groups, and a monodentate vertical alignment bridged via OH. The first configuration is the dominant adsorption structure. The adsorption energy for the bridging geometries is found to be much more stable than that of the monodentate conformer. The predicted VDOS spectra indicate that the main interaction between PNP molecule and the surface of TiO₂ takes place through a linkage between the Lewis acid sites, fivefold Ti (V) and fourfold Ti (IV) coordinated titanium surface atoms, and the nitro or phenolic oxygen atoms. Frontier electron theory (FET) and Wheland localization approach (WLA) have been applied for the prediction of the primary ^?OH initiated oxidation intermediates. These approaches highlight similar expectations for the variation in the reactivity of the ring positions, towards the hydroxyl radical attack. By comparison with the available experimental data and other theoretical calculations, it is shown that MSINDO can reproduce literature data with acceptable accuracy.