Differential Pulse Polarographic Studies of Risperidone in Pharmaceutical Formulations

A simple and rapid differential pulse polarographic method has been developed for trace determination of risperidone. A well-defined single peak with Ep value of –1.54 V is obtained in Britton-Robinson buffer (pH = 8.0). The linearity is valid up to 5 ´ 10–5 mol/L (r = 0.9995) with minimum detection limit of 2 ´ 10–7 mol/L. Precision of the method developed is implied from the values of the relative mean deviation, standard deviation and coefficient of variation, which are 2.4 %, 0.016 % and 3.2 %, respectively. Commercial formulations of risperidone were analyzed by calibration and standard addition methods. Recovery experiments were found to be quantitative and the determined mass per tablet was obtained within ± 0.2 % of the expected value. The studies have shown that the method is simple, reproducible and accurate and can be used in the analysis of commercial formulations

Germplasm variability-assisted near infrared reflectance spectroscopy chemometrics to develop multi-trait robust prediction models in rice

Rice is a major staple food across the world in which wide variations in nutrient composition are reported. Rice improvement programs need germplasm accessions with extreme values for any nutritional trait. Near infrared reflectance spectroscopy (NIRS) uses electromagnetic radiations in the NIR region to rapidly measure the biochemical composition of food and agricultural products. NIRS prediction models provide a rapid assessment tool but their applicability is limited by the sample diversity, used for developing them. NIRS spectral variability was used to select a diverse sample set of 180 accessions, and reference data were generated using association of analytical chemists and standard methods. Different spectral pre-processing (up to fourth-order derivatization), scatter corrections (SNV-DT, MSC), and regression methods (partial least square, modified partial least square, and principle component regression) were employed for each trait. Best-fit models for total protein, starch, amylose, dietary fiber, and oil content were selected based on high RSQ, RPD with low SEP(C) in external validation. All the prediction models had ratio of prediction to deviation (RPD) > 2 amongst which the best models were obtained for dietary fiber and protein with R2 = 0.945 and 0.917, SEP(C) = 0.069 and 0.329, and RPD = 3.62 and 3.46. A paired sample t-test at a 95% confidence interval was performed to ensure that the difference in predicted and laboratory values was non-significant

Role of NADPH Oxidase versus Neutrophil Proteases in Antimicrobial Host Defense

NADPH oxidase is a crucial enzyme in mediating antimicrobial host defense and in regulating inflammation. Patients with chronic granulomatous disease, an inherited disorder of NADPH oxidase in which phagocytes are defective in generation of reactive oxidant intermediates (ROIs), suffer from life-threatening bacterial and fungal infections. The mechanisms by which NADPH oxidase mediate host defense are unclear. In addition to ROI generation, neutrophil NADPH oxidase activation is linked to the release of sequestered proteases that are posited to be critical effectors of host defense. To definitively determine the contribution of NADPH oxidase versus neutrophil serine proteases, we evaluated susceptibility to fungal and bacterial infection in mice with engineered disruptions of these pathways. NADPH oxidase-deficient mice (p47phox−/−) were highly susceptible to pulmonary infection with Aspergillus fumigatus. In contrast, double knockout neutrophil elastase (NE)−/−×cathepsin G (CG)−/− mice and lysosomal cysteine protease cathepsin C/dipeptidyl peptidase I (DPPI)-deficient mice that are defective in neutrophil serine protease activation demonstrated no impairment in antifungal host defense. In separate studies of systemic Burkholderia cepacia infection, uniform fatality occurred in p47phox−/− mice, whereas NE−/−×CG−/− mice cleared infection. Together, these results show a critical role for NADPH oxidase in antimicrobial host defense against A. fumigatus and B. cepacia, whereas the proteases we evaluated were dispensable. Our results indicate that NADPH oxidase dependent pathways separate from neutrophil serine protease activation are required for host defense against specific pathogens

Green Tea Leaves as a Natural Adsorbent for the Removal of Cr(VI) from Aqueous Solutions

Chromium(VI) has been found to be one of the toxic metals present in water obtained from industrial effluents. This study deals with the removal of Cr(VI) using used green tea leaves, which is a waste material. The sorption of Cr(VI) was carried out by using a batch method, and its concentration was determined using an ultraviolet visible spectrophotometer at 540 nm. Parameters such as pH, mass of adsorbate, concentration of adsorbent, time of contact, and temperature were optimized. It was observed that, under optimum conditions, the percentage efficiency of removal of Cr(VI) was up to 99%. Adsorption studies were carried out using Langmuir and Freundlich adsorption isotherms. The values of Δ G , Δ H , and Δ S were also calculated, which showed that the process is spontaneous and the extent of adsorption decreases with the increase in temperature. The kinetic studies were carried out, and it was found that the reactions followed pseudo-second-order kinetics. This technique can be used for the removal of Cr(VI) from water obtained from industries, which have chromium as one of the main pollutants in their effluents

A green method for the removal of Zinc(II) ions from wastewater using modifed biopolymers

Zinc pollution in wastewater is a global problem because it is highly toxic. Zinc is commonly used in industries that transfer the water containing zinc directly into water sources, leading to pollution. Exposure to a high level of zinc causes major health problems. This study evaluated the adsorption of zinc ions from aqueous system using modified biopolymers of chitosan by crosslinking with sulphates using the batch adsorption method; the concentration was determined using atomic absorption spectrophotometry. The sulphate cross-linked chitosan (SCC) was characterised by several method. The effects of various experimental parameters such as pH, contact time, concentration, adsorbent dosage and temperature were investigated. Under the optimised conditions, the percentage efficiency for the removal of zinc(II) was up to 85%. Freundlich and Langmuir isotherms were used to analyse the equilibrium adsorption data along with kinetic studies. Various thermodynamic parameters have also been reported

Sulphate-Crosslinked Chitosan as an Adsorbent for the Removal of Congo Red Dye From Aqueous Solution

Dyes are a major cause of concern nowadays as large quantities are being released into water bodies causing pollution. In this article, modified chitosan (sulphate crosslinked) has been studied for the removal of Congo red (a benzidine-based anionic diazo dye) which is a toxic dye introduced into water bodies from textile industries. Sulphate-crosslinked chitosan (SCC) was prepared in the laboratory and the characterization of SCC was done by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX). Various parameters such as pH, contact time, adsorbent dosage, and concentration of adsorbent were optimized. The adsorption capacity was determined at pH 3.0, at which the percentage recovery was about 90% and followed Freundlich adsorption isotherm with an adsorption capacity of 91.8 mg/g. The adsorption followed pseudo-second-order kinetics. Various thermodynamic parameters were also determined for the change in adsorption with temperature. The SCC was regenerated with NaOH and showed good recycling capacity. The modified chitosan was applied for the removal of Congo red from industrial wastewater samples (spiked)

Mining nutri-dense accessions from rice landraces of Assam, India

The Indian subcontinent is the primary center of origin of rice where huge diversity is found in the Indian rice gene pool, including landraces. North Eastern States of India are home to thousands of rice landraces which are highly diverse and good sources of nutritional traits, but most of them remain nutritionally uncharacterized. Hence, nutritional profiling of 395 Assam landraces was done for total starch, amylose content (AC), total dietary fiber (TDF), total protein content (TPC), oil, phenol, and total phytic acid (TPA) using official AOAC and standard methods, where the mean content for the estimated traits were found to be 75.2 g/100g, 22.2 g/100g, 4.67 g/100g, 9.8 g/100g, 5.26%, 0.40 GAE g/100g, and 0.34 g/100g for respectively. The glycaemic index (GI) was estimated in 24 selected accessions, out of which 17 accessions were found to have low GI (<55). Among different traits, significant correlations were found that can facilitate the direct and indirect selection such as estimated glycemic index (EGI) and amylose content (−0.803). Multivariate analyses, including principal component analysis (PCA) and hierarchical clustering analysis (HCA), revealed the similarities/differences in the nutritional attributes. Four principal components (PC) i.e., PC1, PC2, PC3, and PC4 were identified through principal component analysis (PCA) which, contributed 81.6% of the variance, where maximum loadings were from protein, oil, starch, and phytic acid. Sixteen clusters were identified through hierarchical clustering analysis (HCA) from which the trait-specific and biochemically most distant accessions could be identified for use in cultivar development in breeding programs