The black cumin or
Nigella sativa
L. seeds have many acclaimed medicinal properties such as bronchodilatory, hypotensive, antibacterial, antifungal, analgesic, anti-inflammatory and ...immunopotentiating. This review article is an update on the previous article published on
Nigella sativa
L. in this journal in 1999. It covers the medicinal properties and chemical syntheses of the alkaloids isolated from the seeds of the herb.
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•Graphene-based IoT integrated electrochemical biosensors for rapid diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2.•Integration of smart IoT-based technologies for monitoring and controlling global scale ...outbreak efficiently.•Brief description of smart nanomaterials based biosensors for management of COVID-19 pandemic.
Unique characteristics like large surface area, excellent conductivity, functionality, ease of fabrication, etc., of graphene and its derivatives, have been extensively studied as potential candidates in healthcare applications. They have been utilized as a potential nanomaterial in biosensor fabrication for commercialized point-of-care (POC) devices. This review concisely provided innovative graphene and its derivative-based-IoT (Internet-of-Things) integrated electrochemical biosensor for accurate and advanced high-throughput testing of SARS-CoV-2 in POC setting.
COVID-19 household transmissibility remains unclear in Pakistan. To understand the dynamics of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus disease epidemiology, this study estimated Secondary ...Attack Rate (SAR) among household and close contacts of index cases in Pakistan using a statistical transmission model.
A retrospective cohort study was conducted using an inclusive contact tracing dataset from the provinces of Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa to estimate SAR. We considered the probability of an infected person transmitting the infection to close contacts regardless of residential addresses. This means that close contacts were identified irrespective of their relationship with the index case. We assessed demographic determinants of COVID-19 infectivity and transmissibility. For this purpose based on evolving evidence, and as CDC recommends fully vaccinated people get tested 5-7 days after close contact with a person with suspected or confirmed COVID-19. Therefore we followed the same procedure in the close contacts for secondary infection.
During the study period from 15th May 2020 to 15th Jan 2021, a total of 339 (33.9%) index cases were studied from 1000 cases initially notified. Among close contact groups (n = 739), households were identified with an assumed mean incubation period of 8.2+4.3 days and a maximum incubation period of 15 days. SAR estimated here is among the household contacts. 117 secondary cases from 739 household contacts, with SAR 11.1% (95% CI 9.0-13.6). All together (240) SAR achieved was 32.48% (95% CI; 29.12-37.87) for symptomatic and confirmed cases. The potential risk factors for SAR identified here included; old age group (>45 years of age), male (gender), household members >5, and residency in urban areas and for index cases high age group. Overall local reproductive number (R) based on the observed household contact frequencies for index/primary cases was 0.9 (95% CI 0.47-1.21) in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and 1.3 (95% CI 0.73-1.56) in Punjab.
SAR estimated here was high especially in the second phase of the COVID-19 pandemic in Pakistan. The results highlight the need to adopt rigorous preventive measures to cut the chain of viral transmission and prevent another wave of COVID-19.
The antioxidant properties of the synthetic compound (
C1
)–(
C8
), which comprised 7 curcuminoids and a chalcone, were evaluated by two complementary assays, DPPH and β-carotene/linoleic acid. It ...was found that, in general, the free radical scavenging ability of (
C1
)–(
C8
) was concentration-dependent. Compounds (
C1)
and (
C4)
, which contained (4-OH) phenolic groups, were found to be highly potent antioxidants with higher antioxidant values than BHT suggesting that synthetic curcuminoids are more potent antioxidants than standard antioxidants like BHT. Using β-carotene-linoleic acid assay, only the water-soluble 2, 4,6-trihydroxyphenolic chalcone (
C5
) showed 85.2 % inhibition of the formation of conjugated dienes reflecting on its potent antioxidant activity.
The incidence of acute kidney injury (AKI) in the intensive care unit (ICU) has increased during the past decade due to increased acuity as well as increased recognition. Early epidemiology studies ...were confounded by erratic definitions of AKI until recent consensus guidelines (RIFLE and AKIN) standardized its definition. This paper discusses the incidence of AKI in the ICU with focuses on specific patient populations. The overall incidence of AKI in ICU patients ranges from 20% to 50% with lower incidence seen in elective surgical patients and higher incidence in sepsis patients. The incidence of contrast-induced AKI is less (11.5%–19% of all admissions) than seen in the ICU population at large. AKI represents a significant risk factor for mortality and can be associated with mortality greater than 50%.
Highlights
Shed light on MXene-based electrochemical aptasensors for the detection of cancer biomarkers.
Strategies for the design and synthesis of biomarker-specific aptamer are presented.
The ...properties such as electrical conductivity, chemical stability, mechanical properties, and the hydrophilic–hydrophobic nature of MXenes are discussed.
Brief insight on futuristic sensing applications along with challenges are highlighted.
Delayed diagnosis of cancer using conventional diagnostic modalities needs to be addressed to reduce the mortality rate of cancer. Recently, 2D nanomaterial-enabled advanced biosensors have shown potential towards the early diagnosis of cancer. The high surface area, surface functional groups availability, and excellent electrical conductivity of MXene make it the 2D material of choice for the fabrication of advanced electrochemical biosensors for disease diagnostics. MXene-enabled electrochemical aptasensors have shown great promise for the detection of cancer biomarkers with a femtomolar limit of detection. Additionally, the stability, ease of synthesis, good reproducibility, and high specificity offered by MXene-enabled aptasensors hold promise to be the mainstream diagnostic approach. In this review, the design and fabrication of MXene-based electrochemical aptasensors for the detection of cancer biomarkers have been discussed. Besides, various synthetic processes and useful properties of MXenes which can be tuned and optimized easily and efficiently to fabricate sensitive biosensors have been elucidated. Further, futuristic sensing applications along with challenges will be deliberated herein.
Renin-angiotensin system (RAS) signaling and angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) have been implicated in the pathogenesis of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). We postulated that ...repleting ACE2 using GSK2586881, a recombinant form of human angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (rhACE2), could attenuate acute lung injury.
We conducted a two-part phase II trial comprising an open-label intrapatient dose escalation and a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled phase in ten intensive care units in North America. Patients were between the ages of 18 and 80 years, had an American-European Consensus Criteria consensus diagnosis of ARDS, and had been mechanically ventilated for less than 72 h. In part A, open-label GSK2586881 was administered at doses from 0.1 mg/kg to 0.8 mg/kg to assess safety, pharmacokinetics, and pharmacodynamics. Following review of data from part A, a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled investigation of twice-daily doses of GSK2586881 (0.4 mg/kg) for 3 days was conducted (part B). Biomarkers, physiological assessments, and clinical endpoints were collected over the dosing period and during follow-up.
Dose escalation in part A was well-tolerated without clinically significant hemodynamic changes. Part B was terminated after 39 of the planned 60 patients following a planned futility analysis. Angiotensin II levels decreased rapidly following infusion of GSK2586881, whereas angiotensin-(1-7) and angiotensin-(1-5) levels increased and remained elevated for 48 h. Surfactant protein D concentrations were increased, whereas there was a trend for a decrease in interleukin-6 concentrations in rhACE2-treated subjects compared with placebo. No significant differences were noted in ratio of partial pressure of arterial oxygen to fraction of inspired oxygen, oxygenation index, or Sequential Organ Failure Assessment score.
GSK2586881 was well-tolerated in patients with ARDS, and the rapid modulation of RAS peptides suggests target engagement, although the study was not powered to detect changes in acute physiology or clinical outcomes.
ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT01597635 . Registered on 26 January 2012.
Delirium in the intensive care unit (ICU) is a common diagnosis, with an incidence ranging between 45% and 87%. Delirium represents a significant burden both to the patient and to the health care ...system, with a 3.2-fold increase in 6-month mortality and annual US health care costs up to $16 billion. In this review, the diagnosis, epidemiology, and risk factors for delirium in the ICU are discussed. The pathophysiology of delirium and evolving prevention and treatment modalities are outlined.
Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS-CoV-2), the causative agent of the global pandemic, which has resulted in more than one million deaths with tens of millions reported cases, requires a fast, ...accurate, and portable testing mechanism operable in the field environment. Electrochemical sensors, based on paper substrates with portable electrochemical devices, can prove an excellent alternative in mitigating the economic and public health effects of the disease. Herein, we present an impedance biosensor for the detection of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein utilizing the IgG anti-SARS-CoV-2 spike antibody. This label-free platform utilizing screen-printed electrodes works on the principle of redox reaction impedance of a probe and can detect antigen spikes directly in nasopharyngeal fluid as well as virus samples collected in the universal transport medium (UTM). High conductivity graphene/carbon ink is used for this purpose so as to have a small background impedance that leads to a wider dynamic range of detection. Antibody immobilization onto the electrode surface was conducted through a chemical entity or a biological entity to see their effect; where a biological immobilization can enhance the antibody loading and thereby the sensitivity. In both cases, we were able to have a very low limit of quantification (i.e., 0.25 fg/mL), however, the linear range was 3 orders of magnitude wider for the biological entity-based immobilization. The specificity of the sensor was also tested against high concentrations of H1N1 flu antigens with no appreciable response. The most optimized sensors are used to identify negative and positive COVID-19 samples with great accuracy and precision.
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