Polymerization of Phenol using Free and Immobilized Horseradish Peroxidase

Phenol is a toxic compound and need to be treated before discharged. Phenol polymerization has been studied using free and immobilized Horse Radish Peroxidase (HRP). During the study period the ambient room temperature was between 27-32oC. Phenol concentration of 100-500 mg/L was fed to both free and immobilized HRP. Free enzyme studies were carried out in Erlenmayer flasks. Immobilized HRP Enzyme Bed Reactor was fabricated and used for polymerization of phenol. Free HRP polymerized 84% of phenol when fed with 100 mg/L where as Immobilized HRP polymerized 62% with the same phenol concentration. Free enzyme showed a better polymerization effect than immobilized enzyme. This might be attributed to the availability of more active sites in free enzyme when compared to immobilized enzymes. Reduction in phenol polymerization could be noticed with the increase in phenol concentration. Keywords: Phenol, phenol polymerizing enzymes, horse radish peroxidase, enzyme immobilization, bioremediation

Novel series of dehydrozingerone inspired potential antimycobacterial agents: design, synthesis, spectral studies and in vitro biological evaluation.

Doctoral Degree. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban.Tuberculosis (TB) is a key health burden globally. With the emergence of resistance issue, the antitubercular research has been challenging. Novel effective drugs are immediately required to treat this serious epidemic disease. Innovative potential antitubercular drug candidates are momentously required to combat the disadvantages linked with existing drugs or line of treatments. Synthetic manipulations of natural sources are being extensively investigated worldwide for developing potent and efficient drugs. Besides, these manipulations also offer effective leads for further optimization. Therefore, this project is an effort in identifying a novel and effective antitubercular leads based on natural product model dehydrozingerone (DZG), a curcumin degradant. In this project we have performed an extensive literature survey of DZG for its known biological activities. And further, we have synthesized some novel series of DZG fused heterocyclic compounds with three different 5 membered heterocyclic scaffolds namely, thiazole, thiazolidon- 4-one and pyrazole. A total of 53 compounds comprising of styryl hydrazine thiazole hybrids (6ao, Chapter 3), styryl hydrazine thiazolidin-4-one hybrids (7a-d, 10a-l and 13a-b, Chapter 4) and lastly styryl fused pyrazole derivatives of acid hydrazides, semicarbazone and thiosemicarbazones (8a-i, 11a-h and 14a-c, Chapter 5) have been synthesized by versatile synthetic routes as outlined in schemes of respective chapters. The completion of reaction and the purity of synthesized compounds were established by chromatographic analysis. All the newly synthesized compounds displayed acceptable analysis for their anticipated structures, which were established based on physicochemical and spectral data (IR, 1H NMR, 13C NMR and HRMS). These newly synthesized compounds were primarily evaluated for their in vitro antimycobacterial activities at Infectious Disease Research Institute (IDRI) within the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) screening program, Bethesda, USA or Department of Microbiology, Inkosi Albert Luthuli Hospital, Durban, South Africa. From the systematic analysis of antimycobacterial activity results obtained following key observations were made. i. Degradants of curcumin have been looked upon for molecular variations in developing diverse scaffolds. DZG is an imperative scaffold and its numerous analogs have emerged as a promising leads in the design and development of some novel medicinally active compounds with improved metabolic, pharmacokinetic and pharmacological profiles, indicating that there is much scope for considering DZG as a structural framework for developing effective leads. ii. Chapter 3: Of the fifteen novel styryl hydrazine thiazole derivatives synthesized and tested, compound 6o exhibited significant antimycobacterial activity (H37Rv; MIC = 1.5 μM; IC50 = 0.48 μM) along with bactericidal (MBC = 12 μM) and intracellular antimycobacterial activities (IC50 = < 0.098 μM). Furthermore, 6o displayed prominent antimycobacterial activity under hypoxic (MIC = 46 μM) and normal oxygen (MIC = 0.28 μM) conditions along with anti-mycobacterial efficiency against isoniazid (MIC = 3.2 μM for INH-R1; 1.5 μM for INH-R2) and rifampicin (MIC = 2.2 μM for RIF-R1; 6.3 μM for RIF-R2) resistant strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Presence of electron donating groups on the phenyl ring of thiazole moiety had positive correlation for antimycobacterial activity. iii. Chapter 4: From the eighteen novel styryl hydrazine thiazolidin-4-one hybrids derivatives synthesized and tested, Compounds 7a (MIC = 110 μM; IC50 = 67 μM), 7c (MIC = 120 μM; IC50 = 66 μM) and 10g (MIC = 100 μM; IC50 = 100 μM) exhibited noteworthy antimycobacterial activity. Further, the title compounds displayed least cytotoxic effects against a mammalian Vero cell determined using MTT assay. iv. Chapter 5: Among the twenty novel styryl pyrazolo carbazone derivatives synthesized and tested, Compounds 8a, 8c, 8d, 8g, 8h, 8i and 11f showed reasonable antibacterial activity (MIC = 50 μg/mL) against B. subtilis, compound 11a demonstrated noteworthy activity towards P. aeruginosa (MIC = 25 μg/mL). Further, compounds 8a, 8d, 8e, 8f, 8i, and 11h showed good to moderate antifungal activity ranging from 25 to 50 μg/mL towards C. neoformans (MIC = 25 μg/mL) and C. albicans (MIC = 50 μg/mL). Besides, compound 8a, comprising of isonicotinoyl hydrazide portion displayed remarkable antitubercular activity (MIC = 0.78 μg/mL) against H37Rv. Substituted urea derivatives, 14a-c and 11d also exhibited encouraging activity (MIC = 12.5 and 25 μg/mL, respectively) whereas, derivative with carbothioamide portion 11a, (MIC = 0.78 μg/mL) illustrated significant activity against H37Rv. Moreover, some of the tested compounds showed reasonable activity against MDR (multi drug resistant) and MOTT (mycobacteria other that tuberculosis) strains

Biological removal of phenol from wastewaters: a mini review

Phenol and its derivatives are common water pollutants and include wide variety of organic chemicals. Phenol poisoning can occur by skin absorption, inhalation, ingestion and various other methods which can result in health effects. High exposures to phenol may be fatal to human beings. Accumulation of phenol creates toxicity both for flora and fauna. Therefore, removal of phenol is crucial to perpetuate the environment and individual. Among various treatment methods available for removal of phenols, biodegradation is environmental friendly. Biological methods are gaining importance as they convert the wastes into harmless end products. The present work focuses on assessment of biological removal (biodegradation) of phenol. Various factors influence the efficiency of biodegradation of phenol such as ability of the microorganism, enzymes involved, the mechanism of degradation and influencing factors. This study describes about the sources of phenol, adverse effects on the environment, microorganisms involved in the biodegradation (aerobic and anaerobic) and enzymes that polymerize phenol

Comparison of the Oswestry Disability Index and Magnetic Resonance Imaging Findings in Lumbar Canal Stenosis: An Observational Study

Study DesignCross-sectional study.PurposeThe aim of the study was to determine relationship between the degrees of radiologically demonstrated anatomical lumbar canal stenosis using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and its correlation with the patient's disability level, using the Oswestry Disability Index (ODI).Overview of LiteratureThe relationship between the imaging studies and clinical symptoms has been uncertain in patients suffering from symptomatic lumbar canal stenosis. There is a limited number of studies which correlates the degree of stenosis with simple reproducible scoring methods.MethodsFifty patients were selected from 350 patients who fulfilled the inclusion criteria. The patients answered the national-language translated form of ODI. The ratio of disability was interpreted, and the patients were grouped accordingly. They were subjected to MRI; and the anteroposterior diameters of the lumbar intervertebral disc spaces and the thecal sac cross sectional area were measured. Comparison was performed between the subdivisions of the degree of lumbar canal stenosis, based on the following: anteroposterior diameter (three groups: normal, relative stenosis and absolute stenosis); subdivisions of the degree of central canal stenosis, based on the thecal sac cross-sectional area, measured on axial views (three groups: normal, moderately stenotic and severely stenotic); and the ODI outcome, which was also presented in 20 percentiles.ResultsNo significant correlation was established between the radiologically depicted anatomical lumbar stenosis and the Oswestry Disability scores.ConclusionsMagnetic resonance imaging alone should not be considered in isolation when assessing and treating patients diagnosed with lumbar canal stenosis

AN EXPERIMENTAL STUDY ON THE EFFICACY OF VAGBHATOKTA JALA NIRVISHIKARANA YOGA ON POLLUTED WATER

Background: Increased suffering and death due to impure water consumption, along with the failure of the outreach of advanced techniques to the deprived people with middle socioeconomic status, has directed the evaluation of efficacy of the classical Ayurvedic formulations used in water purification. Aim: To evaluate the efficacy of Vagbhatokta Jala Nirvishikarana Yoga in terms of its physiochemical and antimicrobial qualities for the treatment of polluted river water.Materials and Methods: The Jala Nirvishikarana Yoga (JNY) was prepared according to the classical method, and analytical study was performed. Optimum dose and period for JNY was calculated, and the water sample was treated accordingly. The sample was analysed for various physical, chemical and microbiological parameters before and after treatment. Stability and efficacy of the formulation was determined after 3 months and 1 year. Results: JNY is a thick, alkaline and viscous liquid bearing a characteristic taste and pleasant odour. The optimum dose and period was found to be three drops per 100 mL for 30 min of contact time. No significant change in the physiochemical parameters was observed except pH. Apart from the variation in pH, JNY was observed to have antimicrobial activity. Reduction in the coliforms and inhibition of bacterial and fungal colonies in the sample were observed. JNY was observed to be stable for 1 year at room temperature. Conclusion: JNY showed efficient antimicrobial activity and was stable and effective for at least 1 year at room temperature. However, in larger doses, its administration resulted in increase of pH of water

Impact of large-scale renewable energy integration on the grid voltage stability

Nowadays, the production of renewable energy is increasing rapidly due to its enormous potential and environmental advantages. Still, the addition of renewable energy to the grid has resulted in some volatility in the electrical system. In this work, the national grid of Ethiopia is used as an example to examine the impact of significant wind power integration on grid stability. In particular, issues with voltage stability in both steady-state and emergency scenarios are taken into account for the network. The dynamic modeling of the wind farm is taken into consideration for contingency-based analysis, and the whole nation's power network, including the largest wind farm in the nation, Adama-II, is modeled for base-case analysis using MATLAB's built-in PSAT software. The result indicates that the bus voltages are within an acceptable standard voltage range for the base-case system. Nevertheless, the wind farm will be disconnected from the network in compliance with the global manufacturer's guideline in the case of a three-phase fault at the network point of common coupling (PCC), where the voltage at PCC is equivalent to 0.045 per unit voltage. The results also demonstrate that the voltage profile throughout the whole nation power network is lower when there is a problem at PCC. As a result, as Ethiopia is building several huge wind farms, it is advised that fault detection and control methods be thoroughly designed before connecting the major wind farms to the grid

Tension band plating in growth modulation: A review of current evidences

Tension band plating has been pitted as the best method for correcting the angular deformities and limb length discrepancies (LLD) in growing children. In this review we examined the superiority of the tension band plating over other methods of growth modulation, in terms of safety and efficacy.  As per the current literature, in angular deformities TBP has similar correction rates with lesser complications. However in LLD the results are less promising.