HPTLC METHOD FOR ESTIMATION AND QUANTIFICATION OF β-SITOSTEROL FROM IN-VIVO AND IN-VITRO SAMPLES OF MERREMIA AEGYPTIA AND MERREMIA DISSECTA

Objective: A normal-phase high-performance thin-layer chromatography (HPTLC) method has been developed and validated for estimation and quantitation of beta-sitosterol from the methanolic fraction of different plant parts of two medicinally important plants viz. Merremia aegyptia and Merremia dissecta. These plants have been reported to possess antimicrobial, antioxidant, and anti-inflammatory activities. Methods: Chromatographic separation of beta-sitosterol from the methanolic extracts of plant parts of M. aegyptia and M. dissecta was performed on TLC aluminum plates pre-coated with silica gel 60F254 using a suitable mobile phase. The densitometric scanning was done after derivatization at ????-580 nm for ????-sitosterol. Result: Only M. dissecta leaf sample was reported to contain ????-sitosterol (4.6 ng/μl), whereas other samples such as seed, stem, and callus extracts of M. aegyptia and M. dissecta did not showed its presence. Conclusion: The developed HPTLC method is simple, rapid, and precise and can be used for routine analysis and quantification of ????-sitosterol and other useful plant bioactives that are phytopharmaceutically important

Pembrolizumab-Associated Hypothyroidism: Case Report and Review of Literature

Pembrolizumab is a Programmed Death 1 (PD-1) inhibitor used to treat advanced malignant melanoma and metastatic non-small cell lung cancer. It causes various endocrinological side effects including immune mediated thyroiditis. Thyroiditis caused by Pembrolizumab can mimic other immune mediated thyroiditis like Hashimoto thyroiditis and Grave’s disease

Breast cancer management pathways during the COVID-19 pandemic: outcomes from the UK ‘Alert Level 4’ phase of the B-MaP-C study

Abstract: Background: The B-MaP-C study aimed to determine alterations to breast cancer (BC) management during the peak transmission period of the UK COVID-19 pandemic and the potential impact of these treatment decisions. Methods: This was a national cohort study of patients with early BC undergoing multidisciplinary team (MDT)-guided treatment recommendations during the pandemic, designated ‘standard’ or ‘COVID-altered’, in the preoperative, operative and post-operative setting. Findings: Of 3776 patients (from 64 UK units) in the study, 2246 (59%) had ‘COVID-altered’ management. ‘Bridging’ endocrine therapy was used (n = 951) where theatre capacity was reduced. There was increasing access to COVID-19 low-risk theatres during the study period (59%). In line with national guidance, immediate breast reconstruction was avoided (n = 299). Where adjuvant chemotherapy was omitted (n = 81), the median benefit was only 3% (IQR 2–9%) using ‘NHS Predict’. There was the rapid adoption of new evidence-based hypofractionated radiotherapy (n = 781, from 46 units). Only 14 patients (1%) tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 during their treatment journey. Conclusions: The majority of ‘COVID-altered’ management decisions were largely in line with pre-COVID evidence-based guidelines, implying that breast cancer survival outcomes are unlikely to be negatively impacted by the pandemic. However, in this study, the potential impact of delays to BC presentation or diagnosis remains unknown

Reference economic model for airborne wind energy systems

<p>Cost models are necessary to understand how a given technology's economics scale. This is crucial when designing a system for a given application. A reference economic model is useful for both industry and academia. Industry can use it to assess the economic viability of its concept while being sure the economic model is aligned with the competitors. Academics can use it to assess the economic viability of their research while being sure the economic model is aligned with the industry. </p><p>The present economic model aims at identifying the main cost drivers for each sub-component, quantifying the main cost parameters, and defining relevant metrics and relevant study cases. The process of refining and validating this economic model needs to be a collaborative effort between the authors and the community, to ensure a high-quality model.</p&gt

Value-Driven System Design of Utility-Scale Airborne Wind Energy

In the current auction-based electricity market, the design of utility-scale renewable energy systems has traditionally been driven by the levelised cost of energy (LCoE). However, the market is gradually moving towards a subsidy-free era, which will expose the power plant owners to the fluctuating prices of electricity. This paper presents a computational approach to account for the influence of time-varying electricity prices on the design of airborne wind energy (AWE) systems. The framework combines an analytical performance model, providing the power curve of the system, with a wind resource characterisation based on ERA5 reanalysis data. The resulting annual energy production (AEP) model is coupled with a parametric cost model based on reference prototype data from Ampyx Power B.V. extended by scaling laws. Ultimately, an energy price model using real-life data from the ENTSO-E platform maintained by the association of EU transmission system operators was used to estimate the revenue profile. This framework was then used to compare the performance of systems based on multiple economic metrics within a chosen design space. The simulation results confirmed the expected behaviour that the electricity produced at lower wind speeds has a higher value than that produced at higher wind speeds. To account for this electricity price dependency on wind speeds in the design process, we propose an economic metric defined as the levelised profit of energy (LPoE). This approach determines the trade-offs between designing a system that minimises cost and designing a system that maximises value

Isolation, Identification and quantitative analysis of Ellagic acid: a tannin compound from Helicteres isora

Plant derived secondary metabolites have widely attracted humans with great interest due to their immense medicinal and pharmacological properties. Ellagic acid, a natural phenolic compound found in many fruits exhibits both antimutagenic and anticarcinogenic activity. Qualitative analysis of the plant samples of Helicteres isora showed the presence of ellagic acid in in vivo (stem bark) and in vitro (callus) samples. Presence of isolated ellagic acid was confirmed by superimposable IR spectra of isolated and authentic samples of ellagic acid. The ellagic acid was further identified and confirmed by using different techniques such as TLC (Rf 0.41), and HPLC (Rt =5.546 min) studies