•The Co(II), Ni(II), and Cu(II) complexes are derived from ligand LB.•Structurally characterized by spectroscopic tools, thermal and powder XRD analysis.•Cytotoxic studies and docking interactions as ...been carried out with protein receptor.•The antioxidant and anti-lipase activity were evaluated, showed promising activity for metal complexes.
In this study, we designed, synthesized, and characterized ultrahigh purity single-walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT)-alginate hydrogel composites. Among the parameters of importance in the formation of ...an alginate-based hydrogel composite with single-walled carbon nanotubes, are their varying degrees of purity, their particulate agglomeration and their dose-dependent correlation to cell viability, all of which have an impact on the resultant composite's efficiency and effectiveness towards cell-therapy. To promote their homogenous dispersion by preventing agglomeration of the SWCNT, three different surfactants-sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS-anionic), cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB-cationic), and Pluronic F108 (nonionic)-were utilized. After mixing of the SWCNT-surfactant with alginate, the mixtures were cross-linked using divalent calcium ions and characterized using Raman spectroscopy. Rheometric analysis showed an increase in complex viscosity, loss, and storage moduli of the SWCNT composite gels in comparison with pure alginate gels. Scanning electron microscopy revealed the presence of a well-distributed porous structure, and all SWCNT-gel composites depicted enhanced electrical conductivity with respect to alginate gels. To characterize their biocompatibility, cardiomyocytes were cultured atop these SWCNT-gels. Results comprehensively implied that Pluronic F108 was most efficient in preventing agglomeration of the SWCNTs in the alginate matrix, leading to a stable scaffold formation without posing any toxicity to the cells.
Strain control of Urbach energy in Cr-doped PrFeO3 Kumar, Anil; Warshi, M. Kamal; Mishra, Vikash ...
Applied physics. A, Materials science & processing,
09/2017, Letnik:
123, Številka:
9
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Polycrystalline samples of PrFe
1−
x
Cr
x
O
3
having average particle size of ~90 nm have been prepared by wet chemical route. The structural phase purity of the prepared samples is confirmed by ...powder X-ray diffraction followed by Rietveld refinements. It is observed that with Cr doping, the Urbach energy (
E
u
) increases. The
E
u
is measure of the various disorders present in the sample, such as chemical and structural. To understand the contribution to the
E
u
due to chemical and structural disorders, we have probed the chemical and structural disorders in the samples by elemental mappings and through X-ray diffraction experiments, respectively. Elemental mapping confirms chemical homogeneity of prepared samples. It is observed that with Cr doping the crystallographic strain increases and Urbach energy shows the similar scaling.
Quantitative Structure-Activity Relationship (QSAR) studies describing the correlations between biological activity as dependent parameters and physicochemical and structural descriptors, including ...topological indices (TIs) as independent parameters, play an important role in drug discovery research. The emergence of graph theory in exploring the structural attributes of the chemical space has led to the evolution of various TIs, which have made their way into drug discovery. The TIs are easy to compute compared to the empirical parameters, but they lack physiochemical interpretation, which is essential in understanding the mechanism of action.
Hence, efforts have been made to review the work on the advances in topological indices, their physicochemical significance, and their role in developing QSAR models.
A literature search has been carried out, and the research article providing evidence of the physicochemical significance of the topological parameters as well as some recent studies utilizing these parameters in the development of QSAR models, have been evaluated.
In this review, the physicochemical significance of TIs have been described through their correlations between empirical parameters in terms of explainable physicochemical properties, along with their application in the development of predictive QSAR models.
Most of these findings suggest a common trend of TIs correlation with MR rather than logP or other parameters; nevertheless, the developed models may be useful in both drug and vaccine development.
An extremely compact and low-frequency metamaterial design is presented in the following work. A ferrite loaded solenoid with a size on the order of 1/10000 of the wavelength of operation is used as ...the unit cell of the proposed metamaterial. This unit cell allows for the construction of a 77 unit-cell sample with dimensions of 6 cm × 6 cm × 2 cm and operating at a working frequency of 5.57 MHz. Measurements show that using this metamaterial sample in a wireless power transfer (WPT) system results in an efficiency enhancement of 10% at a working distance of 4.5 cm, which is twice the efficiency of the original system at the same distance. Alternatively, for a target efficiency of 10%, the range of the system can be extended from 4.5 to 8.8 cm by using the proposed metamaterial, a 4.3-cm, or 95%, extension over the original system range. The proposed metamaterial design, characterized by compactness, low frequency of operation, and large efficiency enhancement, is useful in a number of applications, such as biomedical telemetry systems and wireless charging.
The essential function of the kidney is to ensure formation of a relatively protein-free ultra-filtrate, urine. The rate of filtration and composition of the primary renal filtrate is determined by ...the transport of fluid and solutes across the glomerular filtration barrier consisting of endothelial cells, the glomerular basement membrane, and podocyte foot processes. In diabetes mellitus (DM), components of the kidney that enable renal filtration get structurally altered and functionally compromised resulting in proteinuria that often progresses to end-stage renal disease. Histological alterations in DM include early hypertrophy of glomerular and tubular components, subsequent thickening of basement membrane in glomeruli and tubules, progressive accumulation of extracellular matrix proteins in the glomerular mesangium and loss of podocytes, together constituting a clinical condition referred to as diabetic nephropathy (DN). The glomerulus has become the focus of research investigating the mechanism of proteinuria. In particular, the progressive dysfunction and/or loss of podocytes that is contemporaneous with proteinuria in DN have attracted intense scientific attention. The absolute number of podocytes predicts glomerular function and podocyte injury is a hallmark of various glomerular diseases. This review discusses the importance of podocytes in normal renal filtration and details the molecular and cellular events that lead to podocyte dysfunction and decreased podocyte count in DN.
Cerebroside sulfotransferase (CST) is emerging as an important therapeutic target to develop substrate reduction therapy (SRT) for metachromatic leukodystrophy (MLD), a rare neurodegenerative ...lysosomal storage disorder. MLD develops with progressive impairment and destruction of the myelin sheath as a result of accumulation of sulfatide around the nerve cells in the absence of its recycling mechanism with deficiency of arylsulfatase A (ARSA). Sulfatide is the product of the catalytic action of cerebroside sulfotransferase (CST), which needs to be regulated under pathophysiological conditions by inhibitor development. To carry out in silico-based preliminary drug screening or for designing new drug candidates, a high-quality three-dimensional (3D) structure is needed in the absence of an experimentally derived three-dimensional crystal structure. In this study, a 3D model of the protein was developed using a primary sequence with the SWISS-MODEL server by applying the top four GMEQ score-based templates belonging to the sulfotransferase family as a reference. The 3D model of CST highlights the features of the protein responsible for its catalytic action. The CST model comprises five β-strands, which are flanked by ten α-helices from both sides as well as form the upside cover of the catalytic pocket of CST. CST has two catalytic regions: PAPS (-sulfo donor) binding and galactosylceramide (-sulfo acceptor) binding. The catalytic action of CST was proposed via molecular docking and molecular dynamic (MD) simulation with PAPS, galactosylceramide (GC), PAPS-galactosylceramide, and PAP. The stability of the model and its catalytic action were confirmed using molecular dynamic simulation-based trajectory analysis. CST response against the inhibition potential of the experimentally reported competitive inhibitor of CST was confirmed via molecular docking and molecular dynamics simulation, which suggested the suitability of the CST model for future drug discovery to strengthen substrate reduction therapy for MLD.
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