Ethyl({[acryloyl(furan-2-ylmethyl)amino]acetyl}amino)acetate

Ethyl({[acryloyl(furan-2-ylmethyl)amino]acetyl}amino)acetate was synthesized via Ugi four component (4C) reaction at ambient temperature. The protocol employs a reaction between formaldehyde, furfurylamine, acrylic acid, and ethyl 2-isocyanoacetate. The course of the reaction was found to be high yielding, and the resulting glycine ester derivative was well characterized by elemental analysis, FTIR, NMR spectroscopy, and mass spectrometric techniques. © 2017 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.DE-AC02-05CH11231, DOE, U.S. Department of Energy; MŠMT, Ministerstvo Školství, Mládeže a TělovýchovyMSMT CR-USA Kontakt II [LH14050]; Molecular Foundry, Office of Science, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, of the U.S. Department of Energy [DE-AC02-05CH11231]; Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Czech Republic - NPU Program I [LO1504

Ecofriendly synthesis of silver nanoparticles from garden rhubarb (rheum rhabarbarum)

Bioreduction of silver ions following one pot process is described to achieve Rheum rhabarbarum (RR) based silver nanoparticles (SNPs) which is termed as "RR-SNPs." The Ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy (UV-vis) confirms the characteristic surface plasmon resonance band for RR-SNPs in the range of 420-460 nm. The crystalline nature of SNPs was confirmed by X-ray diffraction (XRD) peaks at 38.2 degrees, 45.6 degrees, 64.2 degrees, and 76.8 degrees. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and scanning electronic microscopy (SEM) confirm the shape of synthesized SNPs. They are roughly spherical but uniformly distributed, and size varies from 60 to 80 nm. These biogenic SNPs show persistent zeta potential value of 34.8mV even after 120 days and exhibit potent antibacterial activity in presence of Escherichia coli (CCM 4517) and Staphylococcus aureus (CCM 4516). In addition, cytotoxicity of RR-SNPs against in vitro human epithelial carcinoma (HeLa) cell line showed a dose-response activity. The lethal concentration (LC50) value was found to be 28.5 mu g/mL for RR-SNPs in the presence of HeLa cells. These findings help us to evaluate their appropriate applications in the field of nanotechnology and nanomedicine

N-[2-(Cyclohexylamino)-2-oxoethyl]-N-(4-octyloxy) phenyl-prop-2-enamide

N-[2-(Cyclohexylamino)-2-oxoethyl]-N-(4-octyloxy)phenyl-prop-2-enamide was prepared in good yield by coupling of 4(octyloxy)aniline, Cyclohexyl isocyanide, paraformaldehyde and acrylic acid by multicomponent Ugi reaction, at room temperature. The structure of the newly synthesized tripeptoid derivative was well characterized using elemental analysis, FTIR, NMR and mass spectral data. © 2016 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.DE-AC02-05CH11231, DOE, U.S. Department of EnergyMSMT CR-USA Kontakt II [LH14050]; Office of Science, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, of the U.S. Department of Energy [DE-AC02-05CH11231]; Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Czech Republic - NPU Program I [LO1504

Effect of salt concentration and temperature on the rheological properties of guar gum-dead sea salt gel

Dead Sea Salt (DSS) contains 21 minerials including magnesium, calcium, sulfur, bromide, iodine, sodium, zinc and potassium etc. On the other hand, Guar Gum (GG) is a natural polysaccharide, water soluble, having highest molecular weight and good gelling property. Due to such advantageous properties of DSS and GG, it has been taken interest to prepare a user friendly medicated gel (designated as GG-DSS gel) adding additional ingredients:e.g. Glycerol, Thymol, Ethanol, Seabuckthorn oil, and essencial oils for the improvment of the gel's medicated values and healing properties for the curing of general skin diseases/treatment. In this study, the viscoelastic behavior of GG-DSS gels were characterized by dynamic storage (G') and loss (G") moduli and complex viscosity as a function of angular frequency. The effect of DSS concentration and temperature on these properties of GG-DSS gels was investigated. All GG-DSS gels having different amount DSS shows G' higher than G" over a wide range of angular frequency. Both moduli have the trends to increase with the increase of temperature (temperature varies from 28°C to 50°C), and increase with the increase of DSS concentration higher than about 10%. In conclusion, it can be mentioned that the knowledge about the rheological properties of DSS-GG gels may be useful during the characterization of similar kinds of medicated gel. © 2016 Author(s).ERDF, European Regional Development Fun

A strong and sticky hydrogel electrolyte for flexible supercapacitors

With the rapid development of flexible supercapacitors (SCs), there is increasing demand for high-performance solid electrolyte to replace the conventional liquid electrolyte. Hydrogel electrolyte is one of the promising candidates, which possesses solid state but contains plenty of water within its highly porous structure. In this paper, a strong and sticky hydrogel has been synthesized using bacterial cellulose (BC) and poly (acrylic acid) (PAA). The results of attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy shows that two components are well combined. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) test shows that BC/PAA has a highly porous structure, which is modified by the interaction between BC nanofibers and acrylic acid monomer. Double network created by BC and PAA not only enhances the mechanical property of PAA but also improves the anti-compression ability of BC. Moreover, a sticky property is recognized within BC/PAA due to PAA, which can prevent the spilt of two flexible electrodes. The high ionic strength makes PAA shrink in 1M Na2SO4. However, the swelling ratio of BC/PAA could still reach to approximately 500% and its ionic conductivity is about 0.06 S·cm-1. This prepared BC/PAA hydrogel electrolyte has a great potential to be used in flexible SCs. © 2016 Author(s)

Heat Killed Attenuated Leishmania Induces Apoptosis of HepG2 Cells Through ROS Mediated p53 Dependent Mitochondrial Pathway

Cytotoxic effect of attenuated Leishmania on liver cancer cells by inducing ROS generation. Methods: Spectrophotometric study to analyze cell death and levels of different active caspases. Flow cytometric study was done to analyze apoptosis induction and ROS generation and levels of different protein. Western blot analysis was performed to study the levels of protein. Confocal microscopy was done to ascertain the expression of different apoptotic markers. Results: We have now observed that attenuated Leishmania donovani UR6 also has potentiality towards growth inhibition of HepG2 cells and investigated the mechanism of action. The effect is associated with increased DNA fragmentation, rise in number of annexinV positive cells, and cell cycle arrest at G1 phase. The detection of unregulated levels of active PARP, cleaved caspases 3 and 9, cytosolic cytochrome C, Bax, and Bad, along with the observed downregulation of Bcl-2 and loss of mitochondrial membrane potential suggested the involvement of mitochondrial pathway. Enhanced ROS and p53 levels regulate the apoptosis of HepG2 cells. NAC was found to inhibit p53 production but PFT-α has no effect on ROS generation. In conclusion, Leishmania donovani UR6 efficiently induces apoptosis in HepG2 cells through ROS mediated p53 dependent mitochondrial pathway. Conclusion: It has been reported earlier that some parasites show prominent cytotoxic effect and prevent tumor growth. From our study we found that Leishmania donovani UR6 efficiently induced apoptosis in HepG2 cells through ROS mediated p53 dependent mitochondrial pathway. This study has rejuvenated the age old idea of bio-therap

A strong and sticky hydrogel electrolyte for flexible supercapacitors

With the rapid development of flexible supercapacitors (SCs), there is increasing demand for high-performance solid electrolyte to replace the conventional liquid electrolyte. Hydrogel electrolyte is one of the promising candidates, which possesses solid state but contains plenty of water within its highly porous structure. In this paper, a strong and sticky hydrogel has been synthesized using bacterial cellulose (BC) and poly (acrylic acid) (PAA). The results of attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy shows that two components are well combined. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) test shows that BC/PAA has a highly porous structure, which is modified by the interaction between BC nanofibers and acrylic acid monomer. Double network created by BC and PAA not only enhances the mechanical property of PAA but also improves the anti-compression ability of BC. Moreover, a sticky property is recognized within BC/PAA due to PAA, which can prevent the spilt of two flexible electrodes. The high ionic strength makes PAA shrink in 1M Na2SO4. However, the swelling ratio of BC/PAA could still reach to approximately 500% and its ionic conductivity is about 0.06 S·cm-1. This prepared BC/PAA hydrogel electrolyte has a great potential to be used in flexible SCs. © 2016 Author(s)

Bone cancer detection using electrical impedance tomography

Bone cancer is an uncommon sort of malignancy that alludes to irregular development of tissue inside the bone, with high opportunity to spread to different pieces of the body. It is extremely important to distinguish bone cancer at the beginning phase to cure it productively. Presently, in addition to a physical examination, magnetic resonance imaging, blood tests, positron emission tomography (PET), computed tomography (CT) or PET-CT scan, X-ray, Bone scan, Biopsy and computed tomography scan, are used to diagnose or determine the stage (or extent) of bone sarcoma. But these methods are costly and not free of radiation. Moreover, these machines are bulky. Electrical impedance tomography approach was proposed in this research for identifying bone cancer as this detection technique is able to distinguish between cancerous and non-cancerous cells by differentiating between their conductivity and it has the possibility to remove the limitations of conventional medical imaging techniques. Here, equivalent bone models were generated using (electrical impedance and diffused optical reconstruction software (EIDORS) which had been implemented in MATLAB, and three different image reconstruction algorithms-GREIT, Sheffield Backprojection, Gauss-Newton inverse algorithm had been used to detect the cancerous cells

Calcium phosphate incorporated bacterial cellulose-polyvinylpyrrolidone based hydrogel scaffold: Structural property and cell viability study for bone regeneration application

This work focuses on the analysis of structural and functional properties of calcium phosphate (CaP) incorporated bacterial cellulose (BC)-polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) based hydrogel scaffolds referred to as "CaP/BC-PVP". CaP is incorporated in the scaffolds in the form of hydroxyapatite (HA) and β-tricalcium phosphate (β-TCP) in different concentrations (β-TCP: HA (w/w) = 20:80, 40:60, and 50:50). The scaffolds were characterized on the basis of porosity, thermal, biodegradation, mechanical, and cell viability/cytocompatibility properties. The structural properties of all the hydrogel scaffolds show significant porosity. The biodegradation of "CaP/BC-PVP" scaffold was evaluated following hydrolytic degradation. Weight loss profile, pH change, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) study confirm the significant degradability of the scaffolds. It is observed that a 50:50_CaP/BC-PVP scaffold has the highest degree of degradation. On the other hand, the compressive strengths of CaP/BC-PVP hydrogel scaffolds are found between 0.21 to 0.31 MPa, which is comparable with the human trabecular bone. The cell viability study is performed with a human osteosarcoma Saos-2 cell line, where significant cell viability is observed in all the hydrogel scaffolds. This indicated their ability to facilitate cell growth and cell proliferation. Considering all these substantial properties, CaP/BC-PVP hydrogel scaffolds can be suggested for detailed investigation in the context of bone regeneration application. © 2019 by the authors.Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of The Czech Republic - NPU Program I [LO1504]; Internal Grant Agency, Tomas Bata University in Zlin, Czech Republic [IGA/CPS/2019/003