In-silico molecular docking analysis of some plant derived molecules for anti-inflammatory inhibitory activity

Herbs are essential resources for drug discovery. However, numerous challenges stand in front of the scientific community to discover novel drugs from herbs. To explore the validation behind the precious knowledge of traditional medicine, we focused on achieving virtual screening to detect the potential medicines from the herbs.  Five bioactive compounds from known anti-inflammatory medicinal plants were examined through molecular docking against  cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) and inducible Nitric Oxide Synthase (iNOS), using AutoDock 4.2. The docking of selected ligands with COX-2 showed the binding energy varying from -6.15 Kcal/mol to ‑11.24 Kcal/mol. The docking energies of identified ligands with iNOS were generated ranges from -3.85kcal/mol to -6.99 kcal/mol.  Among the tested ligands, it was noted that 6 urs-12-en-24-oic acid showed the best binding energy than other compounds with the lowest binding energy and highest binding affinity with both anti-inflammatory target proteins COX-2 and iNOS. The in silico study validates the potential phytochemical compound of the medicinal herb that contribute to anti-inflammatory activity with low toxicity and minimal side effects

Univalent functions defined by Ruscheweyh derivatives

We study some radii problems concerning the integral operator F(z)=γ+1zγ∫°zuγ−1f(u)du for certain classes, namely Kn and Mn(α), of univalent functions defined by Ruscheweyh derivatives. Infact, we obtain the converse of Ruscheweyh's result and improve a result of Goel and Sohi for complex γ by a different technique. The results are sharp

Ethno-botanical survey of Palamalai Hills, Mettur Taluk, Eastern Ghats, India

Ethnobotanical survey of Palamali hills, a part of Eastern Ghats was carried out for reporting the preliminary traditional knowledge from the inhabitant tribal community. Through the survey, we identified 18 plants which possess medicinal properties. This report is a preliminary checklist and will be helpful for people in identifying potential bioresource and initiating conservatory measures. The present investigation showed that, the tribes of Palamalai Hills of Mettur Taluk, Eastern Ghats, India possess rich knowledge of the medicinal plants and their utilization. There is a need of scientific awareness for prevention of most of the diseases and the cultivation of above medicinal plants for both the utilization and the conservation of natural resources.&nbsp

Prognostic indicators and patterns of renal recovery in patients requiring hemodialysis for acute kidney injury

Background: The outcome of patients with acute kidney injury (AKI) is highly variable. Patients who receive renal replacement therapy (RRT) for similar diseases may recover differently. The factors that operate in each patient may alter the prognosis and outcome. Aims: Our study aims at identification of prognostic factors influencing recovery in patients who required hemodialysis for AKI. Material and Methods: Patients admitted in different ICUs with AKI who underwent hemodialysis in a tertiary care hospital over a three year period were included in the study. Time from day one of disease to first dialysis, hematological and biochemical parameters were noted. Patients were grouped based on the time taken for recovery of renal function following hemodialysis into group A (<2 weeks) and group B (>2 weeks). Studied parameters have been statistically analyzed to find any significant association with recovery time. Results: Out of 63 patients, 9 progressed to chronic kidney disease. In the remaining 54, Group A comprised 31 and group B 23. Out of all the factors studied, serum creatinine (7.0±1.3 vs 8.4±3.8; P=0.018), S. bicarbonate (21.7±2.8 vs 19.7±3.8; P=0.03), pH at admission (7.25±0.13 vs 7.1±0.19; P=0.048); number of hemodialysis sessions (3.5 ±1.5 vs 5±2.4; P=0.016) and time lag from day one of disease to first hemodialysis (8.6 ± 3.6 vs 11.5±5.9; P=0.007) showed significant association with recovery time. Conclusion: Recovery following AKI is influenced by factors liked delayed presentation, late initiation of hemodialysis, low pH and low bicarbonate which can predict delayed renal recovery following hemodialysis

A high step up Application of Stand-Alone Photovoltaic and Battery Power Systems

A three-port dc–dc converter integrating photovoltaic (PV) and battery power for high step-up applications is proposed in this paper. The topology includes five power switches, two coupled inductors, and two active-clamp circuits. The coupled inductors are used to achieve high step-up voltage gain and to reduce the voltage stress of input side switches. Two sets of active-clamp circuits are used to recycle the energy stored in the leakage inductors and to improve the system efficiency. The operation mode does not need to be changed when a transition between charging and discharging occurs. Moreover, tracking maximum power point of the PV source and regulating the output voltage can be operated simultaneously during charging/discharging transitions. As long as the sun irradiation level is not too low, the maximum power point tracking (MPPT) algorithm will be disabled only when the battery charging voltage is too high. Therefore, the control scheme of the proposed converter provides maximum utilization of PV power most of the time. As a result, the proposed converter has merits of high boosting level, reduced number of devices, and simple control strategy

Challenges and Opportunities in Understanding Genetics of Fungal Diseases:Towards a Functional Genomics Approach

Item does not contain fulltextInfectious diseases are a leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide, and human pathogens have long been recognized as one of the main sources of evolutionary pressure, resulting in a high variable genetic background in immune-related genes. The study of the genetic contribution to infectious diseases has undergone tremendous advances over the last decades. Here, focusing on genetic predisposition to fungal diseases, we provide an overview of the available approaches for studying human genetic susceptibility to infections, reviewing current methodological and practical limitations. We describe how the classical methods available, such as family-based studies and candidate gene studies, have contributed to the discovery of crucial susceptibility factors for fungal infections. We will also discuss the contribution of novel unbiased approaches to the field, highlighting their success but also their limitations for the fungal immunology field. Finally, we show how a systems genomics approach can overcome those limitations and can lead to efficient prioritization and identification of genes and pathways with a critical role in susceptibility to fungal diseases. This knowledge will help to stratify at-risk patient groups and, subsequently, develop early appropriate prophylactic and treatment strategies

Biobutanol as Fuel for Direct Alcohol Fuel Cells-Investigation of Sn-Modified Pt Catalyst for Butanol Electro-oxidation

Direct alcohol fuel cells (DAFCs) mostly use low molecular weight alcohols such as methanol and ethanol as fuels. However, short-chain alcohol molecules have a relative high membrane crossover rate in DAFCs and a low energy density. Long chain alcohols such as butanol have a higher energy density, as well as a lower membrane crossover rate compared to methanol and ethanol. Although a significant number of studies have been dedicated to low molecular weight alcohols in DAFCs, very few studies are available for longer chain alcohols such as butanol. A significant development in the production of biobutanol and its proposed application as an alternative fuel to gasoline in the past decade makes butanol an interesting candidate fuel for fuel cells. Different butanol isomers were compared in this study on various Pt and PtSn bimetallic catalysts for their electro-oxidation activities in acidic media. Clear distinctive behaviors were observed for each of the different butanol isomers using cyclic voltammetry (CV), indicating a difference in activity and the mechanism of oxidation. The voltammograms of both n-butanol and iso-butanol showed similar characteristic features, indicating a similar reaction mechanism, whereas 2-butanol showed completely different features; for example, it did not show any indication of poisoning. Ter-butanol was found to be inactive for oxidation on Pt. In situ FTIR and CV analysis showed that OHads was essential for the oxidation of primary butanol isomers which only forms at high potentials on Pt. In order to enhance the water oxidation and produce OHads at lower potentials, Pt was modified by the oxophilic metal Sn and the bimetallic PtSn was studied for the oxidation of butanol isomers. A significant enhancement in the oxidation of the 1° butanol isomers was observed on addition of Sn to the Pt, resulting in an oxidation peak at a potential ?520 mV lower than that found on pure Pt. The higher activity of PtSn was attributed to the bifunctional mechanism on PtSn catalyst. The positive influence of Sn was also confirmed in the PtSn nanoparticle catalyst prepared by the modification of commercial Pt/C nanoparticle and a higher activity was observed for PtSn (3:1) composition. The temperature-dependent data showed that the activation energy for butanol oxidation reaction over PtSn/C is lower than that over Pt/C

NANOTECHNOLOGY IN CANCER THERAPY

Cancer is caused by damage of genes which control the growth and division of cells. Detection/diagnose/treatment is possible by confirming the growth of the cells and treated by rectifying the damaging mechanism of the genes or by stopping the blood supply to the cells or by destroying it. The application of nanotechnology for cancer therapy has received considerable attention in recent years. Cancer nanotechnology (an interdisciplinary area of research in science, engineering and medicine) is an upcoming field with extensive applications. Recent developments in nanotechnology have provided researchers with new tools for cancer imaging and treatment. This technology has enabled the development of nanoscale devices that can be conjugated with several functional molecules simultaneously, including tumour-specific ligands, antibodies, anticancer drugs, and imaging probes. Since these nanodevices are 100 to 1,000-fold smaller than cancer cells, they can be easily transferred through leaky blood vessels and interact with targeted tumour-specific proteins both on the surface of and inside cancer cells. Keywords: tumour, chemotherapy, liposomes, nanoparticles, treatmen

Circadian genomics of the chick pineal gland in vitro

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Chick pinealocytes exhibit all the characteristics of a complete circadian system, comprising photoreceptive inputs, molecular clockworks and an easily measured rhythmic output, melatonin biosynthesis. These properties make the <it>in vitro </it>pineal a particularly useful model for exploring circadian control of gene transcription in a pacemaker tissue, as well as regulation of the transcriptome by primary inputs to the clock (both photic and noradrenergic).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We used microarray analysis to investigate the expression of approximately 8000 genes within cultured pinealocytes subjected to both LD and DD. We report that a reduced subset of genes was rhythmically expressed <it>in vitro </it>compared to those previously published <it>in vivo</it>, and that gene expression rhythms were lower in amplitude, although the functional distribution of the rhythmic transcriptome was largely similar. We also investigated the effects of 6-hour pulses of light or of norepinephrine on gene expression in free-running cultures during both subjective day and night. As expected, both light and norepinephrine inhibited melatonin production; however, the two treatments differentially enhanced or suppressed specific sets of genes in a fashion that was dependent upon time of day.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Our combined approach of utilizing a temporal, photic and pharmacological microarray experiment allowed us to identify novel genes linking clock input to clock function within the pineal. We identified approximately 30 rhythmic, light-responsive, NE-insensitive genes with no previously known clock function, which may play a role in circadian regulation of the pineal. These are candidates for future functional genomics experiments to elucidate their potential role in circadian physiology. Further, we hypothesize that the pineal circadian transcriptome is reduced but functionally conserved <it>in vitro</it>, and supports an endogenous role for the pineal in regulating local rhythms in metabolism, immune function, and other conserved pathways.</p

Tracing geochemical sources and health risk assessment of uranium in groundwater of arid zone of India

Water quality degradation and metal contamination in groundwater are serious concerns in an arid region with scanty water resources. This study aimed at evaluating the source of uranium (U) and potential health risk assessment in groundwater of the arid region of western Rajasthan and northern Gujarat. The probable source of vanadium (V) and fluorine (F) was also identified. U and trace metal concentration, along with physicochemical characteristics were determined for 265 groundwater samples collected from groundwater of duricrusts and palaeochannels of western Rajasthan and northern Gujarat. The U concentration ranged between 0.6 and 260 μg L−1 with a mean value of 24 μg L−1, and 30% of samples surpassed the World Health Organization’s limit for U (30 μg L−1). Speciation results suggested that dissolution of primary U mineral, carnotite [ K2(UO2)2(VO4)2·3H2O] governs the enrichment. Water–rock interaction and evaporation are found the major hydrogeochemical processes controlling U mineralization. Groundwater zones having high U concentrations are characterized by Na–Cl hydrogeochemical facies and high total dissolved solids. It is inferred from geochemical modelling and principal component analysis that silicate weathering, bicarbonate complexation, carnotite dissolution, and ion exchange are principal factors controlling major solute ion chemistry. The annual ingestion doses of U for all the age groups are found to be safe and below the permissible limit in all samples. The health risk assessment with trace elements manifested high carcinogenic risks for children