Determination and Extraction of Acetamiprid Residues in Fruits and Vegetables

  Vegetables (chilies, tomato, cauliflower and cucumber) and fruits (mango and apple) samples were spiked with known quantity (0.50 mg kg-1) of acetamiprid reference standard for testing the retrieval percentage of acetamiprid residue in those vegetables and fruits. The efficiency of different extracting (ethyl acetate and dichloromethane + acetone 8:2) and eluting (ethyl acetate and dichloromethane + acetone 8:2) solvents and adsorbents (activated charcoal and florisil) for clean up purpose was calculated using HPLC. Amongst the extracting solvents ethyl-acetate was observed an effective extracting solvent alone which produced maximum 90-96%  recovery for acetamiprid residues while among the eluting solvents a combination of dichloromethane and acetone ( ratio 8:2) produced superior recoveries i.e. 87-95%. Similarly, between the adsorbents used for clean up purpose activated charcoal and florisil in tandem (first from charcoal and then through florisil) yielded recoveries 82-90 % whereas adsorbents used alone in form of activated florisil and charcoal recovered only 70 to 78 % and 71 to 73% acetamiprid residues, respectively in all vegetables and fruits

Determination and Extraction of Acetamiprid Residues in Fruits and Vegetables

<p align="center"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">  <span style="font-size: medium;">Vegetables (chilies, tomato, cauliflower and cucumber) and fruits (mango and apple) samples were spiked with known quantity (0.50 mg kg-1) of acetamiprid reference standard for testing the retrieval percentage of acetamiprid residue in those vegetables and fruits. The efficiency of different extracting (ethyl acetate and dichloromethane + acetone 8:2) and eluting (ethyl acetate and dichloromethane + acetone 8:2) solvents and adsorbents (activated charcoal and florisil) for clean up purpose was calculated using HPLC. Amongst the extracting solvents ethyl-acetate was observed an effective extracting solvent alone which produced maximum 90-96%  </span><span style="font-size: medium;">recovery for acetamiprid residues while among the eluting solvents a combination of dichloromethane and acetone ( ratio 8:2) produced superior recoveries i.e. 87-95%. Similarly, between the adsorbents used for clean up purpose activated charcoal and florisil in tandem (first from charcoal and then through florisil) yielded recoveries 82-90 % whereas adsorbents used alone in form of activated florisil and charcoal recovered only 70 to 78 % and 71 to 73% acetamiprid residues, respectively in all vegetables and fruits.</span></span></p

Synthesis, Characterization, Antibacterial, α-Glucosidase Inhibition and Hemolytic Studies on Some New N-(2,3- Dimethylphenyl)benzenesulfonamide Derivatives

Purpose: To synthesize a series of new N-(2,3-dimethylphenyl)benzenesulfonamide derivatives with pharmacological analysis.Methods: N-(2,3-Dimethylphenyl)benzenesulfonamide (3) was synthesized by the reaction between 2,3-dimethylaniline (1) and benzenesulfonyl chloride (2) in aqueous basic medium. Compound 3 was further treated with various alkyl/aralakyl halides (4a-m) to yield new compounds, 5a-m, in a weak basic aprotic polar organic medium. The proposed structures of synthesized compounds were confirmed using proton-nuclear magnetic resonance (1H-NMR), infra red spectroscopy (IR) and electron impact mass spectrometry (EIMS). The synthesized compounds were screened for in vitro antibacterial, antienzymatic and hemolytic activities using standard procedures.Results: All the synthesized compounds showed moderate to high activity against Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacterial strains. The molecules 5g and 5j exhibited good inhibition of α-glucosidase enzyme with half-maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) of 59.53 ± 0.01 and 55.31 ± 0.01 μmoles/L, respectively, relative to acarbose with IC50 of 38.25 ± 0.12 μmoles/L. All the compounds exhibited cytotoxicity levels ranging from 27.20 ± 0.24 to 5.20 ± 0.41 %, relative to Triton X-100.Conclusion: Compound 5f is the most potent antibacterial while 5j is the best α-glucosidase inhibitor; 5e showed the least cytotoxicity.Keywords: 2,3-Dimethylaniline, Antibacterial activity, Anti-enzymatic activity, α-Glucosidase inhibitor, Hemolytic activity, Sulfonamide

Electrolyte Imbalance Pattern in Hospitalized Unconscious Patients

Objective: To determine the pattern of electrolyte imbalance and associated etiological factors among the unconscious patients hospitalized at Pak Emirates Military Hospital. Study Design: Cross-sectional study Place and Duration of Study: Pak Emirates Military Hospital, Rawalpindi Pakistan from Sep 2019 to Feb 2020 Methodology: A total of 240 cases were included in this study in liaison with other departments where the admitted patients became unconscious. Patients with a Glasgow coma scale score <10 were included in the study. Serum electrolytes, including Sodium, Potassium, Magnesium and Chloride, were measured in the study participants. Results: Mean age of study participants was 49.10±7.55 years. One hundred and sixty-two (67.5%) patients were from Medicine -Allied Wards while 78(32.5%) patients were from Surgical-Allied Wards. Thirty-eight patients were from the Critical Care Unit. Mean serum sodium was 139.10±11.52 meq/L, while potassium was 4.60±1.06 meq/L. Mean chloride was 809.4±53.55 meq/L, and Magnesium was 1.40±1.05) meq/L. Our analysis revealed that advanced age, underlying medical illness and duration of hospitalization were strongly linked with electrolyte imbalance among the unconscious patients. Conclusion: Electrolyte imbalance emerged as a common finding in the unconscious patients hospitalized in our tertiary care unit. Patients with advancing age, medical illnesses and long hospitalization should be screened for electrolyte wasting a priority to prevent them from going unconscious

Toxicity and Repellency of Plant Extract and Termiticide against Fungus Growing Subterranean Termites (Blattodea: Termitidae)

Different methods such as physical, biological and chemical are used to manage soil fungus increasing termites. Synthetic insecticide plays a vital part in the management of termites. The pesticide used in big quantities causes phytotoxicity, mammalian toxicity and resistance to pesticides in target pests and insect outbreaks. Intensive pesticides exert chronic effects on living organisms with annoyance for beneficial insects. It also accompanied with environmental hazards and developed resistance. Plant leaves extracts provide a distinct variety of biochemical compounds with diverse prospective uses. Resistance development requires the discovery of fresh biological compounds with a wide spectrum of action. Plant leaves extract and Chlorfenapyr solution in methanol and water with various concentrations (15 %, 10 %, 5 % and 0 %) were applied to the soil against termites to determine mortality and repellency. Posttreatment data was obtained and evaluated through statistical analysis. The result revealed that the extract of Conocarpus lancifolius with the solution of methanol and solution of water exhibited higher mortality of subterranean termites, whereas the solution of methanol had higher repellency and mortality than water solution of botanical extract. Water and methanol solution of insecticide chlorfenapyr used against the subterranean termites, both are found to be efficacious against termites, while insecticide with the solution of methanol revealed 100% mortality. Nonetheless, plant extract of C. lancifolius with water and methanol solution and chlorfenapyr with methanol solution can be applied as new biological control tools against subterranean termites

Synthesis of 3-[4-(2-furoyl)-1-piperazinyl]-N- (substituted)propanamides as promising antibacterial agents with mild cytotoxicity

Purpose: To evaluate the antibacterial activity and cytotoxicity of a series of molecules with amalgamation of furoyl, piperazine and amide moieties.Methods: New derivatives, namely 3-[4-(2-furoyl)-1-piperazinyl]-N-(substituted) propanamides, were synthesized and evaluated for their antibacterial activity and toxicity to mammalian cells. The synthesis was initiated by treating different aryl/aralkyl amines (1a-u) with 3-bromopropionyl chloride (2) to obtain the solid electrophiles 3a-u, which were collected by filtration. Thereafter, the different N-aryl/aralkyl-3- bromopropionamides (3a-u) and 2-furoyl-1-piperazine (4) at equimolar ratios were allowed to react in acetonitrile and in the presence of a base, K2CO3, to form the target compounds, 5a-u. Structural elucidation was carried out using EI-MS (electron impact mass spectrometry), IR (infrared) and 1H-NMR (proton nuclear magnetic resonance). The antibacterial activity of the synthesized compounds was evaluated against various bacterial strains. Furthermore, hemolysis was determined to assess cytotoxicity using bovine red blood cells.Results: Molecules 5g, 5a, 5p, 5g and 5i were found to be potent agents against S. aureus, S. typhi, P. aeruginosa, E. coli and B. subtilis with respective minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values of 8.34 ± 0.55, 8.37 ± 0.12, 8.65 ± 0.57, 8.97 ± 0.12 and 9.24 ± 0.50 μM, compared to 7.80 ± 0.19, 7.45 ± 0.58, 7.14 ± 0.58, 7.16 ± 0.58 and 7.29 ± 0.90 μM for the reference standard, ciprofloxacin. The most active compounds, 5a, 5g, 5i and 5p, showed a hemolysis of 15.48, 8.03, 5.52 and 4.35 %, respectively.Conclusion: The synthesized compounds exhibit good antibacterial activity. The hemolysis data indicate that these compounds have a low toxicity level. However, in vivo studies are required to ascertain their potentials as new drug candidates.Keywords: 4-(2-Furoyl)-1-piperazine, 1H-NMR, EI-MS, Antimicrobial activity, Hemolytic activit

Validated RP-HPLC method for the simultaneous determination of glucosamine sulphate and curcumin in cream formulation: A novel stability-indicating study

Purpose: To develop and validate a stability-indicating reverse phase-high performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC) method for the simultaneous determination of glucosamine sulphate (GS) and curcumin (Cur) in drug solution and formulation.Methods: The optimized chromatographic conditions were achieved by passing various compositions of mobile phases over&nbsp; different reverse phase chromatographic columns. Various validation parameters, including linearity, range, limit of detection (LOD), limit of quantification (LOQ), accuracy, precision, specificity and system suitability were performed and evaluated. Stability studies under stressed conditions were done to evaluate the effects of acid, alkali, oxidation, heat and degradation by UV light.Results: The validated method was linear over the concentration range of 0.094 to 1.5 mg/mL for GS and 0.125 to 1.5 mg/mL for Cur, with a correlation coefficient &gt; 0.999. The Intra and inter-day precision were 1.9 % for GS and 0.5 % for Cur, while accuracy was 96 and 102 % for GS and Cur, respectively. Stability studies showed that GS was highly sensitive to acid, alkali and oxidation and less sensitive to heat and UV. Cur was stable against acid, heat and oxidation but sensitive to alkali and UV.Conclusion: The developed and validated method was precise and accurate for both GS and Cur and can potentially be utilized for their identification and quantification at industrial, research and quality control laboratories

Design and Evaluation of a Button Sensor Antenna for On-Body Monitoring Activity in Healthcare Applications

A button sensor antenna for on-body monitoring in wireless body area network (WBAN) systems is presented. Due to the close coupling between the sensor antenna and the human body, it is highly challenging to design sensor antenna devices. In this paper, a mechanically robust system is proposed that integrates a dual-band button antenna with a wireless sensor module designed on a printed circuit board (PCB). The system features a small footprint and has good radiation characteristics and efficiency. This was fabricated, and the measured and simulated results are in good agreement. The design offers a wide range of omnidirectional radiation patterns in free space, with a reflection coefficient (S11) of −29.30 (−30.97) dB, a maximum gain of 1.75 (5.65) dBi, and radiation efficiency of 71.91 (92.51)% in the lower and upper bands, respectively. S11 reaches −23.07 (−27.07) dB and −30.76 (−31.12) dB, respectively, with a gain of 2.09 (6.70) dBi and 2.16 (5.67) dBi, and radiation efficiency of 65.12 (81.63)% and 75.00 (85.00)%, when located on the body for the lower and upper bands, respectively. The performance is minimally affected by bending, movement, and fabrication tolerances. The specific absorption rate (SAR) values are below the regulatory limitations for the spatial average over 1 g (1.6 W/Kg) and 10 g of tissues (2.0 W/Kg). For both indoor and outdoor conditions, experimental results of the range tests confirm the coverage of up to 40 m

Synthesis and in silico study of 2-furyl(4-{4-[(substituted)sulfonyl]benzyl}-1-piperazinyl)methanone derivatives as suitable therapeutic agents

In the study presented here, a new series of 2-furyl(4-{4-[(substituted)sulfonyl]benzyl}-1-piperazinyl)methanone derivatives was targeted. The synthesis was initiated by the treatment of different secondary amines (1a-h) with 4-bromomethylbenzenesulfonyl chloride (2) to obtain various 1-{[4-(bromomethyl)phenyl]sulfonyl}amines (3a-h). 2-Furyl(1-piperazinyl)methanone (2-furoyl-1-piperazine; 4) was then dissolved in acetonitrile, with the addition of K2CO3, and the mixture was refluxed for activation. This activated molecule was further treated with equi-molar amounts of 3a-h to form targeted 2-furyl(4-{4-[(substituted)sulfonyl]benzyl}-1-piperazinyl)methanone derivatives (5a-h) in the same reaction set up. The structure confirmation of all the synthesized compounds was carried out by EI-MS, IR and 1H-NMR spectral analysis. The compounds showed good enzyme inhibitory activity. Compound 5h showed excellent inhibitory effect against acetyl- and butyrylcholinesterase with respective IC50 values of 2.91±0.001 and 4.35±0.004 μM, compared to eserine, a reference standard with IC50 values of 0.04±0.0001 and 0.85±0.001 μM, respectively, against these enzymes. All synthesized molecules were active against almost all Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacterial strains tested. The cytotoxicity of the molecules was also checked to determine their utility as possible therapeutic agents