Synthesis and characterization of some new ruthenium (II) complexes as photosensitizers in dye-sensitized solar cells

New ruthenium (II) complexes, [Ru(DHZ)2(bpy)], [Ru(SCN)2(bpy)(DMSO)2], [Ru(SCN)2(dmbpy)(DMSO)2] and [RuCl2(salen)]-2, where bpy = 2,2'- bipyridine, DHZ = 1,5-diphenylthiocarbazone, dmbpy = 4,4'-dimethyl-2,2' bipyridine and salen = 2,2'- ethylenebis(nitrilomethylidene)diphenol were synthesized and characterized by elemental analysis, FTIR, UV-Vis spectroscopy and thermal analysis. From data of these investigations the structural formula and the mode of bonding were obtained. These complexes were successfully applied to sensitization of nano-crystalline TiO2 based solar cells (DSSCs). The photovoltaic efficiencies of the studied DSSCs increase in the following order [Ru(DHZ)2(bpy)]< [Ru(SCN)2(bpy)(DMSO)2]< [Ru(SCN)2(dmbpy)(DMSO)2]< [RuCl2(salen)]-2. This increase is in agreement with the light harvesting of these complexes as indicated from their absorption spectra. Ferrioxalate complex enhanced the performance of some investigated cells. Therefore, a mechanism of this improvement has been postulated. Polyaniline as well as iodine doped polyaniline modified FTO electrode has been tested as promising counter electrodes. The efficiencies of the cells using iodine doped polyaniline is higher than that of polyaniline, which is assignable to the high conductivity of iodine

An Enhanced Communication Protocol for Location Privacy in WSN

Wireless sensor network (WSN) is built of many sensor nodes. The sensors can sense a phenomenon, which will be represented in a form of data and sent to an aggregator for further processing. WSN is used in many applications, such as object tracking and security monitoring. The objects in many situations need physical and location protection. In addition to the source location privacy, sink location privacy should be provided. Providing an efficient location privacy solution would be challenging due to the open nature of the WSN. Anonymity is a key solution for location privacy. We present a network model that is protected against local, multilocal, and global adversaries that can launch sophisticated passive and active attacks against the WSN.http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2015/69709

Assessment of Serum Level of Protein Carbonyl as a Marker of Protein Oxidation in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

  Background: Diabetes mellitus is a chronic disease with an increasing prevalence worldwide and characterized by an increase in oxidative stress and inflammation. The most important factor that is responsible for oxidative stress and production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) is hyperglycemia. The major targets of ROS are proteins. The most common and widely used biomarker of severe oxidative protein damage is protein carbonyl content. The study was designed to assess the serum level of protein carbonyl as a marker of protein oxidation in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus and to evaluate the effect of age, body weight, waist circumference, diabetic control and disease duration on the level of protein carbonyl. Subjects and Methods: This is a case-control study that included 91 patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus Eighty-five non-diabetic apparently healthy subjects matched for both age and sex with cases were enrolled as controls. Fasting blood samples were collected after an overnight fasting to measure protein carbonyl, fasting blood sugar, lipid profile, and glycated hemoglobin. Results: The level of serum protein carbonyl was significantly higher in diabetic patients than in controls and positively correlated with glycated hemoglobin, age of participant and disease duration as well as with body mass index and waist circumference. Conclusion: Diabetes mellitus is associated with an increase in protein oxidation in term of increase in the level of serum protein carbonyl with significant association in those who had poor glycemic control, obesity, higher age, and prolonged disease duration suggest that the carbonyl content of protein may be useful in evaluating the disease progression. Significant positive correlation of protein carbonyl together with waist circumference suggest that individual with central obesity are more susceptible to protein oxidation

Diabetes mellitus in Egypt: glycaemic control and microvascular and neuropathic complications

We performed a cross-sectional, population-based survey of persons 20 years of age and older living in Cairo and surrounding rural villages. The purpose was to describe glycaemic control and the prevalence of microvascular and neuropathic complications among Egyptians with diagnosed diabetes, previously undiagnosed diabetes, impaired glucose tolerance, and normal glucose tolerance. A total of 6052 households were surveyed. The response rate was 76 % for the household survey and 72 % for the medical examination. Among people with previously diagnosed diabetes, mean haemoglobin A 1c was 9.0 %. Forty-two per cent had retinopathy, 21 % albuminuria, and 22 % neuropathy. Legal blindness was prevalent (5 %) but clinical nephropathy (7 %) and foot ulcers (1 %) were uncommon in persons with diagnosed diabetes. Among people with diagnosed diabetes, microvascular and neuropathic complications were associated with hyperglycaemia. Retinopathy was also associated with duration of diabetes; albuminuria with hypertension and hypercholesterolaemia; and neuropathy with age, female sex, and hypercholesterolaemia. Albuminuria was as common in people with previously undiagnosed diabetes (22 %) as those with diagnosed disease (21 %). Mean haemoglobin A 1c was lower (7.8 %) and retinopathy (16 %) and neuropathy (14 %) were less prevalent in people with previously undiagnosed disease. Ocular conditions, blindness, and neuropathy were prevalent in the non-diabetic population. The microvascular and neuropathic complications of diabetes are a major clinical and public health problem in Egypt. Copyright © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/34940/1/696_ftp.pd

Association between diabetes mellitus and rs2868371; a polymorphism of HSPB1

Introduction: Diabetes (DM) is a type of metabolic disorder that its types are generated by collectingof genetic and environmental risk agents. Here, the association between HSPB1 polymorphism as a genetic risk factor and DM was investigated. Methods: Total 690 participants from MASHAD cohort study population were recruited into the study.Anti-HSP27-level was assessed followed by genotyping using Taqman®-probes-based assay. Anthropometric, demographic and hematological/biochemical characteristics were evaluated. Kaplan-Meier curves were utilized, while logistic regression models were used to assess the association of the genetic variant with clinical characteristics of population. Results: Finds was shown there are meaningful differences among groups of age, height, waist circumference, systolic blood pressure, FBG,TG, HDL-C, and hs-CRP, and was no big -significant difference between theexists in different HSP27 SNP in the two studied groups (with and without DM), also was no remarkable relation between genetic forms of HSPB1and T2DM. This investigation was the first research that analyzed the relationship between the genetic type of the HSPB1 gene (rs2868371) and Type 2 diabetes (DM2). In our population, the CC genotype (68.1%) had a higher prevalence versus GC (26.6%) and GG (5.3%) genotypes and the data shown that no genetic difference of HSPB1 gene polymorphism (rs2868371) was related with DM2. Conclusion: HSPB1 polymorphism, rs2868371, was not associated with type 2 diabetes mellitus

"THE PROTECTIVE ROLE OF L-CYSTEINE AGAINST FOLLICULAR ATRESIA INDUCED BY LEAD IN MOUSE OVARY"

Lead is an ubiquitous environmental toxin that induces a broad range of physiological biochemical, and behavioral dysfunctions. In this study, we examined the pathologic effects of lead acetate in NMRI mouse ovarian tissue and the protective role of antioxidant L-cysteine, against the induced damage. We used lead acetate at a dose of 10 mg/kg, and L-cysteine at a dose of 200 mg/kg. Both drugs were administered intraperitoneally according to 2 protocols: intraperitoneal injection of lead acetate 10 mg/kg/day for 15 days or 10 mg/kg/week for 15 weeks. Ovaries were examined histologically and changes in the number of graafian, growing, atretic, and primordial follicles, thickness of granolusa of theca layers, relative ovary weight (ROW) and animal weights, were determined. Significantly increased numbers of atretic follicles and thickness of the theca layer, and a decrease in other parameters were observed after treatment with lead acetate (P< 0.05). No changes were observed after treatment with a combination of L-cysteine. Also, more oocytes had resumed meiosis in the follicles exposed to lead acetate. The results suggest that lead acetate at a dose of 10 mg/kg has a toxic effect on ovarian tissue, and antioxidants such as L-cysteine have a protective role against the induced damage

Metabolic and biotransformation effects on dietary glucosinolates, their bioavailability, catabolism and biological effects in different organisms

Glucosinolate-producing plants have long been recognized for both their distinctive benefits to human nutrition and their resistance traits against pathogens and herbivores. Despite the accumulation of glucosinolates (GLS) in plants is associated with their resistance to various biotic and abiotic stresses, the defensive and biological activities of GLS are commonly conveyed by their metabolic products. In view of this, metabolism is considered the driving factor upon the interactions of GLS-producing plants with other organisms, also influenced by plant and plant attacking or digesting organism characteristics. Several microbial pathogens and insects have evolved the capacity to detoxify GLS-hydrolysis products or inhibit their formation via different means, highlighting the relevance of their metabolic abilities for the plants\u27 defense system activation and target organism detoxification. Strikingly, some bacteria, fungi and insects can likewise produce their own myrosinase (MYR)-like enzymes in one of the most important adaptation strategies against the GLS-MYR plant defense system. Knowledge of GLS metabolic pathways in herbivores and pathogens can impact plant protection efforts and may be harnessed upon for genetically modified plants that are more resistant to predators. In humans, the interest in the implementation of GLS in diets for the prevention of chronic diseases has grown substantially. However, the efficiency of such approaches is dependent on GLS bioavailability and metabolism, which largely involves the human gut microbiome. Among GLS-hydrolytic products, isothiocyanates (ITC) have shown exceptional properties as chemical plant defense agents against herbivores and pathogens, along with their health-promoting benefits in humans, at least if consumed in reasonable amounts. Deciphering GLS metabolic pathways provides critical information for catalyzing all types of GLS towards the generation of ITCs as the biologically most active metabolites. This review provides an overview on contrasting metabolic pathways in plants, bacteria, fungi, insects and humans towards GLS activation or detoxification. Further, suggestions for the preparation of GLS containing plants with improved health benefits are presented

Metabolites profiling reveals gut microbiome-mediated biotransformation of green tea polyphenols in the presence of N-nitrosamine as pro-oxidant

The gut microbiome contributes to host physiology and nutrition metabolism. The interaction between nutrition components and the gut microbiota results in thousands of metabolites that can contribute to various health and disease outcomes. In parallel, the interactions between foods and their toxicants have captured increasing interest due to their impact on human health. Taken together, investigating dietary interactions with endogenous and exogenous factors and detecting interaction biomarkers in a specific and sensitive manner is an important task. The present study sought to identify for the first time the metabolites produced during the interaction of diet-derived toxicants e.g., N-nitrosamines with green tea polyphenols, using liquid chromatography electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry (LC/ESI-MS/MS). In addition, the metabolic products resulting from the incubation of green tea with a complex gut microbiome in the presence of N-nitrosamine were assessed in the same manner. The quinone products of (epi)catechin, quercetin, and kaempferol were identified when green tea was incubated with N-nitrosamine only; whereas, incubation of green tea with N-nitrosamine and a complex gut microbiome prevented the formation of these metabolites. This study provides a new perspective on the role of gut microbiome in protecting against potential negative interactions between food-derived toxicants and dietary polyphenols

Statins and C-reactive protein: in silico evidence on direct interaction

Statins are known to lower CRP, and this reduction has been suggested to contribute to the established efficacy of these drugs in reducing cardiovascular events and outcomes. However, the exact mechanism underlying the CRP-lowering effect of statins remains elusive