Improved dielectric performance of barium strontium titanate multilayered capacitor by means of pulsed laser deposition and slow injection sol-gel methods

A Pt/BST/NiFe/Cu multilayered capacitor was fabricated incorporating a polycrystalline Ba0.5Sr0.5TiO3 (BST) film deposited using the pulsed laser deposition technique. Qualitative X-ray diffraction analysis confirmed a perovskite structure for the deposited BST dielectric films which were fired at various temperatures. No intermediate phase was discernable with a post-annealing temperature of 750°C and highly crystallized thin film was obtained at a post-annealing temperature of 800°C. The fabricated capacitor with a BST film thickness of 665 nm exhibited respectable electrical performance with a dielectric constant, k of 657 and a dielectric loss, tan δ = 0.0137 at room temperature at an applied frequency of 1 MHz. The recorded charge storage density and leakage current density were 4.6 μC cm-2 and 33 nA cm-2, respectively, with ±5 V bias

Nutrient Cycling in Tropical and Temperate Coastal Waters: Is Latitude Making a Difference?

Tropical coastal waters are highly dynamic and amongst the most biogeochemically active zones in the ocean. This review compares nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) cycles in temperate and tropical coastal waters. We review the literature to identify major similarities and differences between these two regions, specifically with regards to the impact of environmental factors (temperature, sunlight), riverine inputs, groundwater, lateral fluxes, atmospheric deposition, nitrogen fixation, organic nutrient cycling, primary production, respiration, sedimentary burial, denitrification and anammox. Overall, there are some similarities but also key differences in nutrient cycling, with differences relating mainly to temperature, sunlight, and precipitation amounts and patterns. We conclude that due to the differences in biogeochemical processes, we cannot directly apply cause and effect relationships and models from temperate systems in tropical coastal waters. Our review also highlights the considerable gaps in knowledge of the biogeochemical processes of tropical coastal waters compared with temperate systems. Given the ecological and societal importance of tropical coastal waters, we hope that highlighting the differences and similarities to temperate systems as well as the existing gaps, will inspire further studies on their biogeochemical processes. Such knowledge will be essential to better understand and forecast impacts on tropical coastal nutrient cycling at local, regional, and global scales

Jerantinine A induces tumor-specific cell death through modulation of splicing factor 3b subunit 1 (SF3B1)

Precursor mRNA (pre-mRNA) splicing is catalyzed by a large ribonucleoprotein complex known as the spliceosome. Numerous studies have indicated that aberrant splicing patterns or mutations in spliceosome components, including the splicing factor 3b subunit 1 (SF3B1), are associated with hallmark cancer phenotypes. This has led to the identification and development of small molecules with spliceosome-modulating activity as potential anticancer agents. Jerantinine A (JA) is a novel indole alkaloid which displays potent anti-proliferative activities against human cancer cell lines by inhibiting tubulin polymerization and inducing G2/M cell cycle arrest. Using a combined pooled-genome wide shRNA library screen and global proteomic profiling, we showed that JA targets the spliceosome by up-regulating SF3B1 and SF3B3 protein in breast cancer cells. Notably, JA induced significant tumor-specific cell death and a significant increase in unspliced pre-mRNAs. In contrast, depletion of endogenous SF3B1 abrogated the apoptotic effects, but not the G2/M cell cycle arrest induced by JA. Further analyses showed that JA stabilizes endogenous SF3B1 protein in breast cancer cells and induced dissociation of the protein from the nucleosome complex. Together, these results demonstrate that JA exerts its antitumor activity by targeting SF3B1 and SF3B3 in addition to its reported targeting of tubulin polymerization

Combined effects of glufosinate ammonium and temperature on the growth, photosynthetic pigment content and oxidative stress response of Chlorella sp. and Pseudokirchneriella subcapitata

There has been concern over the potential adverse effects of glufosinate ammonium, a widely used herbicide, on microalgae. This study aimed to assess the combined effects of glufosinate and temperature on Chlorella sp. CHSS262, which was isolated from a farmland in Malaysia, in comparison with the model microalga Pseudokirchneriella subcapitata. The following parameters were assessed: growth, pigment content and oxidative stress response. Results showed that Chlorella sp. (EC25 = 120 μg mL−1) was more tolerant to glufosinate than P. subcapitata (EC25 = 43 μg mL−1) when grown at 28 °C. Both microalgae were then exposed to glufosinate at EC25 at different temperatures (10, 18, 28, 33 and 38 °C) for 8 days. While P. subcapitata could grow from 10 to 38 °C, with optimal temperature between 18 and 28 °C, the lower temperature limit of Chlorella sp. was 18 °C. There was only minimal growth inhibitory effect of glufosinate on Chlorella sp. over the range of temperatures tested. In comparison, the inhibitory effect of glufosinate on P. subcapitata was less pronounced at extreme temperatures (10 and 38 °C) compared to that at 18 to 33 °C. High ROS levels and increased lipid peroxidation were detected in P. subcapitata at 10 and 38 °C in both the control and glufosinate-treated cultures. Principal component analysis (PCA) showed that there was significant correlation between ROS and lipid peroxidation in P. subcapitata but not in Chlorella sp. Overall, the results showed that Chlorella sp. and P. subcapitata responded differently to temperature and glufosinate, especially in regard to oxidative stress response although both species were highly resistant to the herbicide

Impact of Microplastics and Nanoplastics on Human Health

Plastics have enormous impacts to every aspect of daily life including technology, medicine and treatments, and domestic appliances. Most of the used plastics are thrown away by consumers after a single use, which has become a huge environmental problem as they will end up in landfill, oceans and other waterways. These plastics are discarded in vast numbers each day, and the breaking down of the plastics from micro- to nano-sizes has led to worries about how toxic these plastics are to the environment and humans. While, there are several earlier studies reported the effects of micro- and nano-plastics have on the environment, there is scant research into their impact on the human body at subcellular or molecular levels. In particular, the potential of how nano-plastics move through the gut, lungs and skin epithelia in causing systemic exposure has not been examined thoroughly. This review explores thoroughly on how nanoplastics are created, how they behave/breakdown within the environment, levels of toxicity and pollution of these nanoplastics, and the possible health impacts on humans, as well as suggestions for additional research. This paper aims to inspire future studies into core elements of micro- and nano-plastics, the biological reactions caused by their specific and unusual qualities

Microwave-assisted synthesis of sec/tert-butyl 2-arylbenzimidazoles and their unexpected antiproliferative activity towards ER negative breast cancer cells

A new series of N-sec/tert-butyl 2-arylbenzimidazole derivatives was synthesised in 85–96% yields within 2–3.5 min by condensing ethyl 3-amino-4-butylamino benzoate with various substituted metabisulfite adducts of benzaldehyde under focused microwave irradiation. The benzimidazole analogues were characterised using 1H NMR, 13C NMR, high resolution MS and melting points. Evaluation of antiproliferative activity of the benzimidazole analogues against MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 revealed several compounds with unexpected selective inhibitions of MDA-MB-231 in micromolar range. All analogues were found inactive towards MCF-7. The most potent inhibition against MDA-MB-231 human breast cancer cell line came from the unsubstituted 2-phenylbenzimidazole 10a

A novel strategy for community screening of SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19): Sample pooling method.

The rapid global spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has inflicted significant health and socioeconomic burden on affected countries. As positive cases continued to rise in Malaysia, public health laboratories experienced an overwhelming demand for COVID-19 screening. The confirmation of positive cases of COVID-19 has solely been based on the detection of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) using real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). In efforts to increase the cost-effectiveness and efficiency of COVID-19 screening, we evaluated the feasibility of pooling clinical Nasopharyngeal/Oropharyngeal (NP/OP) swab specimens during nucleic acid extraction without a reduction in sensitivity of qRT-PCR. Pools of 10 specimens were extracted and subsequently tested by qRT-PCR according to the WHO-Charité protocol. We demonstrated that the sample pooling method showed no loss of sensitivity. The effectiveness of the pooled testing strategy was evaluated on both retrospective and prospective samples, and the results showed a similar detection sensitivity compared to testing individual sample alone. This study demonstrates the feasibility of using a pooled testing strategy to increase testing capacity and conserve resources, especially when there is a high demand for disease testing