Fluorinated Molecules and Nanotechnology: Future 'Avengers' against the Alzheimer's Disease?

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a serious health concern, affecting millions of people globally, which leads to cognitive impairment, dementia, and inevitable death. There is still no medically accepted treatment for AD. Developing therapeutic treatments for AD is an overwhelming challenge in the medicinal field, as the exact mechanics underlying its devastating symptoms is still not completely understood. Rather than the unknown mechanism of the disease, one of the limiting factors in developing new drugs for AD is the blood-brain barrier (BBB). A combination of nanotechnology with fluorinated molecules is proposed as a promising therapeutic treatment to meet the desired pharmacokinetic/physiochemical properties for crossing the BBB passage. This paper reviews the research conducted on fluorine-containing compounds and fluorinated nanoparticles (NPs) that have been designed and tested for the inhibition of amyloid-beta (A beta) peptide aggregation. Additionally, this study summarizes fluorinated molecules and NPs as promising agents and further future work is encouraged to be effective for the treatment of AD

Explaining the diffusion of biogas in India: a new functional approach considering national borders and technology transfer

Renewable energy technologies have been identified as one important lever for mitigating environmental problems such as climate change. However, several obstacles stand in the way of their ample diffusion in both industrialized as well as developing countries. Besides the pure analyses of barriers to the diffusion of these technologies, the functions of innovation systems approach promises insights on how to augment their diffusion via policy measures. We extend these approaches by introducing a spatial dimension into the functions literature. Thereby, we allow transfer of technology, know-how and financial resources to be an integral part of the innovation system literature. By applying our new framework to the case of biogas in India, we do not only demonstrate its suitability and added value for researchers, but also derive policy recommendations for both, national and international policy makers on how to remove existing barriers by strengthening the functions of the innovation system

Causas de abandono en estudios superiores de ciencias agrarias. Una investigación comparada entre México y España

Programa de Doctorado en Innovación en la Enseñanza y el Aprendizaje de las Ciencias Experimentales, Sociales, Matemáticas y la Actividad Física y DeportivaEl abandono escolar representa un problema real para los sistemas educativos de la mayoría de los países. Sin embargo, la falta de datos concretos respecto al abandono que se presenta en alumnos de educación superior es un tanto habitual, lo que dificulta una aproximación más detallada sobre esta problemática. El interés por abordar esta investigación se debe principalmente al aumento de los controles de calidad en cuanto a los alumnos que abandonan o postergan sus carreras Universitarias más allá del tiempo establecido por los planes y programas de estudio; aún pese a los recursos financieros que aporta el gobierno de cada país en materia de educación y de las estrategias implementadas por las propias Universidades para disminuir el riesgo de abandono entre su alumnado. Este trabajo de investigación tiene como principal objetivo identificar y analizar los factores que inciden en el abandono educativo de alumnos de titulaciones agrarias de la Universidad de Extremadura, en España y de la Universidad Autónoma Chapingo, en México. Debido a la complejidad de este tema se realizará una aproximación comparatista a los múltiples factores que intervienen en su aparición abarcando las perspectivas de alumnos, docentes, directivos y demás sujetos que intervienen en el proceso formativo de los primeros. Se espera que los resultados obtenidos ayuden a las Universidades objeto de estudio a establecer un panorama más general sobre esta problemática, lo cual pudiera permitir tanto a directivos como docentes replantear acciones y generar nuevas alternativas para reducir el abandono escolar y con ello aumentar la eficiencia terminal del alumnado.The school dropout continued to represent a real problem for the majority of countries’ education systems. However, the lack of concrete data respecting university dropouts is somewhat common and stands in the way of making more detailed evaluations regarding this issue. The interest in investigating this problem stems principally from the increase in quality controls with regards to students who abandon or postpone their university degrees. These students do not finish their degree in the time established by the programs of study despite financial resources provided by each country’s government for educational matters and the strategies implemented by each university to reduce the risk of dropping out among the student population. The principal objective of this paper is to investigate and analyse the factors that impact school dropout among agriculture students at the Universidad de Extremadura, in Spain, and at the Universidad Autónoma Chapingo, in México. Due to the complexity of this issue, this paper will compare the multiple factors that intervene in the decision to drop out, including the perspectives of students, teachers, administrators, and others involved in the students’ education. It is expected that the results obtained aid the universities that were the study subjects in establishing a general overview of this problem, which would permit teachers and administrators to evaluate their actions and generate new alternatives to reduce school dropout and increase the terminal efficiency of the student body

Plasma metabolomics reveal the correlation of metabolic pathways and Prakritis of humans

Background: Ayurveda, an ancient Indian medicinal system, has categorized human body constitutions in three broad constitutional types (prakritis) i.e. Vata, Pitta and Kapha. Objectives: Analysis of plasma metabolites and related pathways to classify Prakriti specific dominant marker metabolites and metabolic pathways. Materials and methods: 38 healthy male individuals were assessed for dominant Prakritis and their fasting blood samples were collected. The processed plasma samples were subjected to rapid resolution liquid chromatography–electrospray ionization–quadrupole time of flight mass spectrometry (RRLC–ESI–QTOFMS). Mass profiles were aligned and subjected to multivariate analysis. Results: Partial least square discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) model showed 97.87% recognition capability. List of PLS-DA metabolites was subjected to permutative Benjamini–Hochberg false discovery rate (FDR) correction and final list of 76 metabolites with p  2.0 was identified. Pathway analysis using metascape and JEPETTO plugins in Cytoscape revealed that steroidal hormone biosynthesis, amino acid, and arachidonic acid metabolism are major pathways varying with different constitution. Biological Go processes analysis showed that aromatic amino acids, sphingolipids, and pyrimidine nucleotides metabolic processes were dominant in kapha type of body constitution. Fat soluble vitamins, cellular amino acid, and androgen biosynthesis process along with branched chain amino acid and glycerolipid catabolic processes were dominant in pitta type individuals. Vata Prakriti was found to have dominant catecholamine, arachidonic acid and hydrogen peroxide metabolomics processes. Conclusion: The neurotransmission and oxidative stress in vata, BCAA catabolic, androgen, xenobiotics metabolic processes in pitta, and aromatic amino acids, sphingolipid, and pyrimidine metabolic process in kapha Prakriti were the dominant marker pathways. Keywords: Ayurveda, Prakriti, Human metabolomics, RRLC–ESI–QTOFM

Fluorinated Molecules and Nanotechnology: Future ‘Avengers’ against the Alzheimer’s Disease?

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a serious health concern, affecting millions of people globally, which leads to cognitive impairment, dementia, and inevitable death. There is still no medically accepted treatment for AD. Developing therapeutic treatments for AD is an overwhelming challenge in the medicinal field, as the exact mechanics underlying its devastating symptoms is still not completely understood. Rather than the unknown mechanism of the disease, one of the limiting factors in developing new drugs for AD is the blood–brain barrier (BBB). A combination of nanotechnology with fluorinated molecules is proposed as a promising therapeutic treatment to meet the desired pharmacokinetic/physiochemical properties for crossing the BBB passage. This paper reviews the research conducted on fluorine-containing compounds and fluorinated nanoparticles (NPs) that have been designed and tested for the inhibition of amyloid-beta (Aβ) peptide aggregation. Additionally, this study summarizes fluorinated molecules and NPs as promising agents and further future work is encouraged to be effective for the treatment of AD

β-sitosterol in different parts of Saraca asoca and herbal drug ashokarista: Quali-quantitative analysis by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry

β-sitosterol is an important component in food and herbal products and beneficial in hyperlipidemia. Its higher concentrations in serum may lead to coronary artery disease in case of sitosterolemia. Therefore, it is essential to determine the quantity of β-sitosterol in food and herbal drugs. Saraca asoca and its preparations have been widely used by traditional healers are also a source of β-sitosterol. In the present study, quantitative estimation of β-sitosterol present in hot and cold water extracts of bark, regenerated bark, leaves and flowers of the S. asoca and Ashokarista drugs were carried out first time using high performance liquid chromatography coupled (HPLC) with quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry. Different concentrations of β-sitosterol and crude extracts were estimated by HPLC and targeted mass spectrometry. Standard curve for β-sitosterol was prepared from the intensities of transitions (397.50 → 147.0987 m/z) having regression coefficient (r 2) 0.9952. Out of eight extracts and two drugs used in the study bark water, leaves water and leaves hot water extracts were found to have a considerable quantity of β-sitosterol, i.e. 170, 123.5 and 19.3 ng/mL, respectively. The results showed significant differences in the distribution of β-sitosterol among different organs of S. asoca and drugs prepared from its bark. HPLC/electrospray ionizationmass spectroscopy method is accurate, reproducible and requires less specimen, sample preparation and analysis time over HPLC assay. This type of approaches could be helpful for the quality control of herbal medicines and provides necessary information for the rational utilization of plant resources

Quantitative analysis of catechins in Saraca asoca and correlation with antimicrobial activity

Herbal medicines are highly complex and have unknown mechanisms in diseases treatment. Saraca asoca (Roxb.), De. Wild has been recommended to treat gynecological disorders and used in several commercial polyherbal formulations. In present study, efforts have been made to explore antimicrobial activity and its co-relation with the distributions of catechins in the organs of S. asoca using targeted MS/MS. Eight extracts (cold and hot water) from four different organs of S. asoca and two drugs were prepared and antimicrobial activity was assessed by microbroth dilution assay. Quantitative and qualitative analysis of catechins in crude extracts was done by using targeted and auto-MS/MS and correlated with antimicrobial activity. (+)-Catechin and (+)-epicatechin and their biosynthesis related compound were found to be up-regulated in regenerated bark and leaves extracts. (â)-Epigallocatechin was found to be significantly higher in bark water extract as compared to others but showed low antimicrobial activity. Result showed down-regulation of (â)-epigallocatechin and up-regulation of (+)-catechin and (+)-epicatechin in the regenerated bark and leaves of S. asoca. It might be the contributing factor in the antimicrobial activity of regenerated bark and leaves of the plant. The concentration of (+)-epicatechin in processed drugs (Ashokarishta) from Baidyanath was found to be seven times higher than that of Dabur Pvt. Ltd., but no antimicrobial activity was observed, indicating the variations among the plant based drugs. This will be helpful in rational use of S. asoca parts. Furthermore, the analytical method developed is sensitive, repeatable and reliable; therefore, it is suitable for quality control of herbal drugs. Keywords: Mass spectroscopy, Phytochemistry, Quality control, Flavonoids, Ayurveda, Antimicrobia