Abstract
In this investigation, Kaolin (K) impregnated aminated chitosan (AM-CTS) composite beads were fabricated with multi-features including low-cost, high performance, renewable and ease of ...separation for adsorption of anionic Congo red (CR) dye. Characterization tools such as FTIR, XRD, SEM, TGA, BET, XPS and Zeta potential were thoroughly employed to confirm the successful formulation process. The results revealed that K@ AM-CTS composite beads displayed higher specific surface area (128.52 m
2
/g), while the thermal stability was prominently improved compared to pure AM-CTS. In addition, the adsorption equilibrium of CR dye was accomplished rapidly and closely gotten within 45 min. The removal efficiency was significantly enriched and reached 90.7% with increasing kaolin content up to 0.75%, compared to 20.3 and 58% for pristine kaolin and AM-CTS, respectively. Moreover, the adsorption process obeyed the pseudo-first order kinetic model, while data were agreed with the Freundlich isotherm model with a maximum adsorption capacity reached 104 mg/g at pH 6. Furthermore, D–R isotherm model demonstrated the physical adsorption process of CR dye, which includes the electrostatic interactions, ion exchange and H-bonding. Thermodynamics evidenced the spontaneous and endothermic nature of the adsorption process. Interestingly, the developed K@AM-CTS composites beads showed better reusability for eight consecutive cycles, suggesting their feasible applicability for adsorptive removal anionic dyes from polluted aquatic bodies.
The present study aimed to investigate the impact of salinity on vegetative growth, chemical constituents, and yields of cowpeas (
) and the possible benefits of salicylic acid (SA) on these plants ...after damage from salinity. To achieve these objectives, two pot experiments were carried out at the Faculty of Agriculture, Al-Azhar University, Egypt, during the two growing seasons of 2019 and 2020. The results revealed that salinity significantly decreased, and SA treatment substantially increased the plant height, number of compound leaves, number of internodes per plant, fresh weights of leaves and stems, productivity, photosynthetic pigments content, and concentrations of nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K) of the cowpea plants compared with the control. The anatomical structure of stems and leaves of the plants were also investigated, and it was found that positive variations in the anatomical structure of the median portion of the main stems and blades of mature foliage leaves were detected in the stressed and SA-treated plants. In conclusion, SA treatment increased the salt stress tolerance of cowpea plants by improving the morphological and physiological attributes of the plants.
Developing a variety of safe and effective functioning wound dressings is a never-ending objective. Due to their exceptional antibacterial activity, biocompatibility, biodegradability, and ...healing-promoting properties, functionalized chitosan nanocomposites have attracted considerable attention in wound dressing applications. Herein, a novel bio-nanocomposite membrane with a variety of bio-characteristics was created through the incorporation of zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnONPs) into amine-functionalized chitosan membrane (Am-CS). The developed ZnO@Am-CS bio-nanocomposite membrane was characterized by various analysis tools. Compared to pristine Am-CS, the developed ZnO@Am-CS membrane revealed higher water uptake and adequate mechanical properties. Moreover, increasing the ZnONP content from 0.025 to 0.1% had a positive impact on antibacterial activity against Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. A maximum inhibition of 89.4% was recorded against Escherichia coli, with a maximum inhibition zone of 38 ± 0.17 mm, and was achieved by the ZnO (0.1%)@Am-CS membrane compared to 72.5% and 28 ± 0.23 mm achieved by the native Am-CS membrane. Furthermore, the bio-nanocomposite membrane demonstrated acceptable antioxidant activity, with a maximum radical scavenging value of 46%. In addition, the bio-nanocomposite membrane showed better biocompatibility and reliable biodegradability, while the cytotoxicity assessment emphasized its safety towards normal cells, with the cell viability reaching 95.7%, suggesting its potential use for advanced wound dressing applications.
The present study aimed to clarify the prognostic role of the pre-treatment neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) for the response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) in locally advanced breast cancer ...(LABC). Due to conflicting results in currently available data, the specific focus of the present study was on evaluating the associations between the pre-treatment NLR and the rate of achieving a pathological complete response (pCR) and survival outcomes. For the present study, data from a cohort of 465 consecutive patients with LABC who underwent NAC at King Feisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center (Riyadh, Saudi Arabia) between 2005 and 2014 were obtained from a prospective BC database and analyzed. Patients were stratified into two groups based on an optimal NLR cut-off determined using the receiver operating characteristic curve. Logistic regression analyses were conducted to assess variables associated with pCR, and Cox regression analyses were used to assess variables associated with survival outcomes. The low pre-treatment NLR group (≤2.2) was found to exhibit a higher likelihood of achieving a pCR (odds ratio, 2.59; 95% CI, 1.52–4.38; P<0.001), along with higher 5-year disease-free survival (DFS) 75.8 vs. 64.9%; hazard ratio (HR), 0.69; 95% CI, 0.50–0.94; P=0.02 and 5-year overall survival (OS; 90.3 vs. 81.9; HR, 0.62; 95% CI, 0.39–0.98; P=0.04) rates compared with those in the high NLR group (>2.2). Sub-group analysis revealed that the observed significance in survival outcomes was driven by the triple-negative BC (TNBC) subgroup. Patients with residual TNBC disease and a high pre-treatment NLR were observed to have lower 5-year DFS (44.4 vs. 75.0%; P=0.02) and 5-year OS (55.9 vs. 84.5%; P=0.055) rates compared with those with residual TNBC disease and a low NLR. To conclude, data from the present study suggest that the pre-treatment NLR can serve as a viable independent prognostic factor for pCR following NAC in patients with LABC and for survival outcomes, particularly for patients with TNBC.
There is evidence for an association between peripheral blood eosinophil count (PBEC) and response to cancer immunotherapy; however, such data is limited in metastatic triple-negative breast cancer ...(mTNBC).
This report presents patients (n = 14) who received a combination of durvalumab and paclitaxel for mTNBC (NCT02628132).
There was a statistically significant correlation (p = 0.028) between an increase in PBEC (>300/mm
) during treatment and response to the combination therapy. Survival analysis showed a statistically significant association between progression-free survival and increased PBEC, after therapy (p = 0.005). A similar trend existed for overall survival, although it did not reach statistical significance (p = 0.167).
: This is the first study to report on eosinophilia in mTNBC treated with chemoimmunotherapy and supports a role for eosinophils in immunotherapy for mTNBC.
The need to get uranium out of leaching liquid is pushing scientists to come up with new sorbents. This study uses the wet technique to improve the U(VI) sorption properties of ZrO2/chitosan ...composite sorbent. To validate the synthesis of ZrO2/CS composite with Zirconyl-OH, -NH, and -NH2 for U(VI) binding, XRD, FTIR, SEM, EDX, and BET are used to describe the ZrO2/chitosan wholly formed. To get El Sela leaching liquid, it used 150 g/L H2SO4, 1:4 S:L ratio, 200 rpm agitation speed, four hours of leaching period, and particle size 149–100 µm. In a batch study, the sorption parameters are evaluated at pH 3.5, 50 min of sorbing time, 50 mL of leaching liquid (200 mg/L U(VI)), and 25 °C. The sorption capability is 175 mg/g. Reusing ZrO2/CS for seven cycles with a slight drop in performance is highly efficient, with U(VI) desorption using 0.8 M acid and 75 min of desorption time. The selective U(VI) recovery from El Sela leachate was made possible using ZrO2/CS. Sodium diuranate was precipitated and yielded a yellow cake with a purity level of 94.88%.
This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of fenestration in comparison to the classic muscle recession as a weakening maneuver to horizontal and vertical extra ocular muscles in the ...surgical management of strabismus.
This is a pilot single blind parallel group randomized controlled trial with 1:1 allocation ratio. Male or female patients aged 1- to 60-years-old who were admitted to the Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus Department for surgical correction of horizontal or vertical strabismus. Patients were randomly allocated by the envelop method to either group 1 (muscle fenestration, N=9) or group 2 (classic muscle recession, N=9). All participants were assessed at the first post operative day, at one week, and one month after the surgery for the outcomes.
Postoperative ocular alignment evaluated at the first day, one week, and one month following the operation showed comparable results with no significant differences between both groups (p>0.05). The median postoperative pain score evaluated at the first day following the operation was significantly higher in fenestration group than recession group (the medians were 2.0 and 1.0, respectively, p=0.014). Alternatively, the medians of the pain score were equal in both groups at one week and one month postoperatively (p>0.999). One patient in the fenestration group developed progressive subconjunctival hemorrhage. In contrast, there was no postoperative complications in the recession group (p>0.999).
Efficacy and safety of muscle fenestration for correcting horizontal or vertical strabismus was comparable to the classic muscle recession.
Recently, noncovalent interactions in complexes and crystals have attracted considerable interest. The current study was thus designed to gain a better understanding of three seminal types of ...noncovalent interactions, namely: hydrogen, halogen and tetrel interactions with π-systems. This study was performed on three models of Lewis acids: X
3
-C-H, F
3
-C-X and F-T-F
3
(where X = F, Cl, Br and I; and T = C, Si, Ge and Sn) and three π-systems as Lewis bases: benzene (BZN), 1,3,5-trifluorobenzene (TFB) and hexafluorobenzene (HFB). Quantum mechanical calculations, including geometrical optimization, molecular electrostatic potential (MEP), maximum positive electrostatic potential (
V
s,max
), Point-of-Charge (PoC), potential energy surface (PES), quantum theory of atoms in molecules (QTAIM) and noncovalent interaction (NCI) calculations, were carried out at the MP2/aug cc-pVDZ level of theory. The binding energies were additionally benchmarked at the CCSD(T)/CBS level. The results showed that: (i) the binding energies of the X
3
-C-H π-system complexes were unexpectedly inversely correlated with the
V
s,max
values on the hydrogen atom but directly correlated with the X atomic sizes; (ii) the binding energies for the F
3
-C-X π-system and F-T-F
3
π-system complexes were correlated with the σ-hole magnitudes of the X and T atoms, respectively; and (iii) for the F
3
-C-F π-system complexes, the binding energy was as strong as the π-system was electron-deficient, indicating the dominating nucleophilic character of the fluorine atom. NCI analysis showed that the unexpected trend of X
3
-C-H π-system binding energies could be attributed to additional attractive interactions between the X atoms in the X
3
-C-H molecule and the carbon atoms of the π-system. Furthermore, the I
3
-Sn-H molecule was employed as a case study of hydrogen, halogen and tetrel interactions with π-systems. It was found that hydrogen and halogen interactions of the I
3
-Sn-H molecule correlated with the electron-richness of the π-system. In contrast, tetrel interactions correlated with the electron deficiency of the π-system.
Three seminal types of noncovalent interaction, namely: hydrogen, halogen and tetrel interactions with π-systems, were investigated using quantum mechanical calculations.
Cytoplasmic male sterility (CMS) provides an irreplaceable strategy for commercial exploitation of heterosis and producing high-yielding hybrid rice. The exogenous application of plant growth ...regulators could improve outcrossing rates of the CMS lines by affecting floral traits and accordingly increase hybrid rice seed production. The present study aimed at exploring the impact of growth regulators such as gibberellic acid (GA
), indole-3-acetic acid (IAA), and naphthalene acetic acid (NAA) on promoting floral traits and outcrossing rates in diverse rice CMS lines and improving hybrid rice seed production. The impact of foliar applications of growth regulators comprising GA
at 300 g/ha or GA
at 150 g/ha + IAA at 50 g/ha + NAA at 200 g/ha versus untreated control was investigated on floral, growth, and yield traits of five diverse CMS lines. The exogenously sprayed growth regulators, in particular, the combination of GA
, IAA, and NAA (T3) boosted all studied floral, growth, and yield traits in all tested CMS lines. Moreover, the evaluated CMS lines exhibited significant differences in all measured floral traits. L2, L3, and L1 displayed the uppermost spikelet opening angle, duration of spikelet opening, total stigma length, style length, stigma brush, and stigma width. In addition, these CMS lines exhibited the highest plant growth and yield traits, particularly under T3. Consequently, exogenous application of GA
, IAA, and NAA could be exploited to improve the floral, growth, and yield traits of promising CMS lines such as L2, L3, and L1, hence increasing outcrossing rates and hybrid rice seed production.
To analyze alogliptin in its pharmaceutical dosage forms and human plasma, a sensitive, inexpensive, simple, and precise spectrofluorimetric method was developed and tested. This method was also used ...to investigate the drug’s pharmacokinetic behaviour in the blood of rats. This was based on the Hantzsch reaction, which produces yellowish luminous products that can be detected spectrofluorometrically at 480 and 415 nm for emission and excitation, respectively, when the primary amine group in the examined drug reacts with acetylacetone and formaldehyde. Several experimental parameters that affect the reaction product's development and stability were explored and improved. The curve of fluorescence and concentration for alogliptin was linear in the concentration range 0.05–3.60 μg ml−1. The proposed approach was validated according to International Council for Harmonization criteria. The method was successfully utilized to evaluate the examined drug in dose formulations and spiked human plasma with high accuracy.
Scheme of Hantzsch condensation Reaction for determination of Alogliptin.
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