Recent Advances in Sorafenib based Nanoformulation for Enhanced Cancer Therapy

Sorafenib, a multi-kinase inhibitor has gained significant attention in cancer therapy. However, the clinical use of sorafenib is limited by poor aqueous solubility, low bioavailability, unfavorable pharmacokinetic properties, and undesirable side effects including anorexia, gastrointestinal bleeding, and severe skin toxicity. To overcome these drawbacks, the encapsulation of sorafenib into nanocarriers is an effective strategy. With advancements in nanotechnology, sorafenib[1]based nanoformulation has been developed to enhance their targetability and bioavailability. Various strategies, such as ligand-mediated targeting and stimuli-responsive systems, enable selective drug delivery to cancer cells while overcoming multidrug resistance. This editorial highlights the recent advances in sorafenib-based nanoformulation (liposomal, polymer, metallic) for improved cancer therapy

Numerical Simulation on Methane Coal Dust Composite Explosion in Restricted Space by Ultrafine Water Mist Suppression

The purpose of this experimental investigation was to examine the effects of ultrafine water mist on explosions caused by methane and coal dust hybrids that occurred inside of a closed vessel. In this study, we built a small-scale semi-closed visualization experimental platform and ran simulations to study the effects of four factors on the explosion of methane coal mixtures: the amount of ultra-fine water mist sprayed, the volume fraction of methane, the position of the methane inlet, and the amount of time it took to premix. This allowed us to gain a deeper understanding of the repressive effect of this water mist on methane explosion. The findings demonstrate that ultrafine water mist is capable of suppressing methane explosions, with a notable inhibitory effect on 10% methane. This inhibitory effect becomes stronger with increasing amounts of sprayed ultrafine water mist. The effect of methane volume fraction on the maximum explosion overpressure

Solids velocity measurement using electric capacitance sensor assemblies

This paper covers the application of the cross-correlation method for measuring the velocity of solid particles. Capacitive electrodes are used as primary sensors to measure the time required by the solid particles to cover a known distance between the electrodes. The capacitive variations of both the electrode sensors are stored in computer synchronously for offline estimation of the velocity of the solid particles. Single glass marble is used as a solid particle to conduct the performance in the lab for its good signal to noise ratio (SNR) and vivid graphs. Matlab R2018a is used as a programming tool to perform the cross-correlation algorithm. The distance between the sensors is adjusted optimally. The results were realistic to ensure the correctness of the system

Federating cloud systems for collaborative construction and engineering

The construction industry has undergone a transformation in the use of data to drive its processes and outcomes, especially with the use of Building Information Modelling (BIM). In particular, project collaboration in the construction industry can involve multiple stakeholders (architects, engineers, consultants) that exchange data at different project stages. Therefore, the use of Cloud computing in construction projects has continued to increase, primarily due to the ease of access, availability and scalability in data storage and analysis available through such platforms. Federation of cloud systems can provide greater flexibility in choosing a Cloud provider, enabling different members of the construction project to select a provider based on their cost to benefit requirements. When multiple construction disciplines collaborate online, the risk associated with project failure increases as the capability of a provider to deliver on the project cannot be assessed apriori. In such uncontrolled industrial environments, “trust” can be an efficacious mechanism for more informed decision making adaptive to the evolving nature of such multi-organisation dynamic collaborations in construction. This paper presents a trust based Cooperation Value Estimation (CoVE) approach to enable and sustain collaboration among disciplines in construction projects mainly focusing on data privacy, security and performance. The proposed approach is demonstrated with data and processes from a real highway bridge construction project describing the entire selection process of a cloud provider. The selection process uses the audit and assessment process of the Cloud Security Alliance (CSA) and real world performance data from the construction industry workloads. Other application domains can also make use of this proposed approach by adapting it to their respective specifications. Experimental evaluation has shown that the proposed approach ensures on-time completion of projects and enhanced..

In vitro Anti-Cancer Effect of Polymeric Nanoparticles Encapsulating Caralluma tuberculata in Cancer Cells

Rapidly evolving drug delivery systems employ therapeutic agents (liposomes, polymers, and nanospheres) to achieve optimum therapeutic and targeted effects with declined side effects to cure chronic diseases like cancer. Nano-formulation of a natural product i.e., Caralluma tuberculata (Ct) extract, has been used as an effective combinational therapy with enhanced biocompatibility owing to its strong anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-bacterial, and anti-tumor potential. Ct extract was prepared using three solvents (EtOH, MeOH, and CHCl3) amongst which methanolic Ct extract exhibited the highest percentage yield (9.6%). Qualitative phytochemical screening, thin layer chromatography (TLC), and antioxidant assays (DPPH assay and H2O2 assay) were performed. The percentage free radical scavenging values were found to be 86.25% (IC50=140.1μg/ml) and 88% (IC50=14.22μg/ml) at 1000 μg/ml concentration for both assays respectively. Methanolic Ct extract was then encapsulated in chitosan-tripolyphosphate (CS-TPP) nanoparticles using ionic gelation method with an encapsulation efficiency of 87%. Characterization showed uniform size distribution of 140nm particle size using DLS and encapsulation of Ct extract inside CS-TPP nanoparticles was confirmed by UV spectrophotometry and FTIR. Ct loaded CS-TPP nanoparticles showed less than or equal to 5% hemolytic activity at concentrations of 15.62μg/ml, 31.25μg/ml, 62.5μg/ml, and 125μg/ml, suggesting its safer usage at lower concentration. Rhodamine conjugated Ct loaded CS-TPP nanoparticles showed significant uptake efficiency in breast cancer cells compared to control. Ct extract and the nanoformulation were treated against triple negative breast cancer cell lines (Cal-51) for the evaluation of cytotoxicity exhibiting 30-40% (IC50=122.3μg/ml) and up to 75% (IC50=14.39μg/ml) cytotoxicity respectively. The study paves way for the encapsulation of medicinal plants in polymeric nanoparticles to achieve safer and highly efficient drug delivery systems

STATISTICAL ANALYSIS OF COVID-19 VACCINATIONS: KARACHI AS A CASE STUDY

The entire world has started to vaccinate their respective countries' citizens to get rid of COVID-19 from their country. Likewise other countries, Pakistan has also started the vaccination process for its citizens and unlike the rest of the world, there have been different types of vaccines in Pakistan with different manufacturers and with different immunity booster levels. Through statistical analysis of vaccination in this research paper, we have tried to understand the diverse level of vaccines in Karachi and tried to get an understanding of the vaccination process happening in Karachi. For this kind of research, we have maintained the questionnaire and spread it through emails, WhatsApp, and Facebook.  The questionnaire was sent to about 500 people from July to August 2021. The results obtained depict the satisfaction of the vaccination process with normal side effects. Unlike other countries, Pakistan is among the countries where the mass vaccination process has always been very difficult to conduct. Further using the data of seven stations for prediction purposes Multiple Linear Regression (MLR) models were constructed. A better future trend analysis of COVID-19 can be observed using these constructed models. The data for the time series modeling from, 1st January 2021 to 25 August 2021, was taken from National Command and Control (NCOC) Pakistan

Motivational Factors for the Implementation of ISO-9001 in Construction Firms of Pakistan

Motivating public and private construction firms to implement various management systems in their firms is not a simple job. Especially in Pakistan, management system is a new practice, most of the construction firms are not aware about the benefits of management system and what will be achieved after the implementation of management system. The implementation of ISO 9001 Quality Management System (QMS) in the construction industry is a continuing development method, particularly in small construction firms. On the other hand, the awareness level and readiness level of construction industry firms in Pakistan is yet very low as associated to other countries of Asia and Europe where ISO 9001 initiated. The purpose current study is to determine most responsible factors which will motivate the public and private construction firms of Pakistan to adopt the QMS (ISO 9001). A questionnaire survey was conducted and a total of 337 out of 553 questionnaires were received from public and private construction firms of AZBAGIKHPUSI areas. The analysis results depict 3 significant factors, which will motivate construction firms of Pakistan to implement ISO 9001 are (1) to qualify for bidding (2) to improve quality management system of company (3) to reduce wastage. Hence, based on these results and findings, the construction companies require ISO 9001 certification system and registration with Pakistan Engineering Council (PEC) as a constitution passed for the construction firms then to qualify for the bidding

Aggregated capability assessment (AgCA) for CAIQ enabled Cross-Cloud Federation

Cross-Cloud Federation (CCF) enables resource exchange among multiple, heterogeneous Cloud Service Providers (CSPs) to support the composition of services (workflow) hosted by different providers. CCF participation can either be fixed, or the types of services that can be used are limited to reduce the potential risk of service failure or secure access. Although many service selection approaches have been proposed in literature for cloud computing, their applicability to CCF i.e. cloud-to-cloud interaction, has not been adequately investigated. A key component of this cloud-to-cloud paradigm involves assessing the combined capability of contributing participants within a federation and their connectivity. A novel Aggregated Capability Assessment (AgCA) approach based on using the Consensus Assessment Initiative Questionnaire from Cloud Security Alliance is proposed for CCF. The proposed mechanism is implemented as a component of a centralized broker to enhance the quality of the selection process for participants within a federation. Our experimental results show that AgCA is a useful tool for partner selection in a dynamic, heterogeneous and multilevel cloud federation

Knowledge causes and practice of self-medication during COVID-19: A population-based survey in Pakistan

Background: Self-medication (SM) is a public health issue upsurge day by day and its side effects accelerate the burden on healthcare, pharmacists, and the economy. The demand for self-prescribed medicines during the COVID-19 pandemic was found to be on the rise globally.Methods: The survey was conducted during June-August 2021 to analyses knowledge, causes, and practices of self-medication in Pakistan. The Chi-square test was used to examine the relationships between the categorical variable: The Pearson Correlation coefficient determined the relationship between quantitative variables. Age, gender, marital status, education, profession, field, knowledge, causes and practice of SM were variables included in survey.Result: 203 responses were received in the online survey and results from demographic factors were 104 (51.7%) male, 114(56.7%) single, 20-30 years (42.3%) age group, 44.8% were MS/M. Phil, 31.3% were teacher and 74.1% respondents belongs to the bioscience field. 20.4% considered it good practice while 42.3% responded to it as an acceptable practice. Quarantine was the most significant factor for SM during COVID-19 (68.7%). Discrimination after infection (37.8%) was also of higher priority and SM practiced under the influence of friends and social media, emergency illness, distance to hospitals (19.9%), and prescribed by medical personnel in a health facility (31.3%) followed by own self (22.9%), 19.9% by a friend, and 15.4% by pharmacist. 52.7% used self-prescribed antibiotics with the appearance of symptoms of fever, chills, and tiredness (37.30%). Conclusion: This population-based survey suggested that legislation, awareness campaigns, media, community, and government should play their part to fight misinformation about alleged COVID-19 preventive medicines on different platforms

The Impact of Colorectal Conditions on Psychosocial Well Being of Caregivers and Patients Presenting to A Tertiary Care Hospital

Colorectal conditions such as Hirschsprung disease, anorectal malformation, fecal incontinence and spinal condition cause a significant stress among patients and their caregivers. Managing such disorders requires not only a one-time definitive surgery but a significant number of follow up visits, dietary modifications and long-term medication. The aim of this study was to estimate the psychosocial wellbeing of caregivers and patients suffering from these conditions