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•The effect of various defects and temperature on thermal conductivity of silicene is studied using NEMD.•Only 5% of carbon doping are found to reduce the thermal conductivity of pure ...silicene by ~ 71%.•Reduction of thermal conductivity is more pronounced with the increased vacancy than carbon.•PDOS reveals the high-frequency regime exhibit a redshift for carbon-doped silicene.•Both pristine and carbon-doped silicene exhibit isotropic thermal conductivity behavior.
Silicene has recently grabbed tremendous attention in the scientific community owing to its superb electronic and thermal properties and the promise of high-efficiency thermoelectric operations. Notwithstanding rigorous analyses of its electronic properties, little attention has been paid so far to explore and tailor the thermal transport characteristics of silicene. This study employed optimized Tersoff potential to extensively investigate the thermal conductivity (TC) of pristine and defective silicene using non-equilibrium molecular dynamics (NEMD) simulations. We analyzed theinfluence of temperature variation, percentage of carbon doping, andmonovacancy concentration on the phonon TC along both armchair and zigzag directions and elucidated the underlying mechanisms that modulate these effects. The simulation results reveal excellent isotropic behavior of the material in the considered temperature regime. Our predicted room-temperature TC of pristine silicene of ~ 20 W/m.K shows excellent conformity with prior studies. Simulation results suggestthat the TC deteriorates significantly with increasing concentration of carbon doping. It is revealed that incorporating only 5% of carbon dopants can reduce the TC of silicene by ~ 71%. Meanwhile, with the increase in temperature from 100 K to 600 K, the thermal conductivities of both pristine and carbon-doped silicene are also found to decline dramatically by ~14 W/m.K and ~9 W/m.K, respectively. The vacancy defect study reveals that thermal conductivities of both pure and carbon-doped silicene are also a strong function of vacancy concentration and can be reduced by ~ 58% by removing only 1% of silicon atom from the pristine nanosheet. It is further disclosed that the impact of vacancy on regulating the TC is more pronounced in pristine silicene than the carbon-doped silicene. To obtain a detailed insight into the thermal transport mechanism, phonon density of states (PDOS) is computed using the fast Fourier transform of the atomic velocity autocorrelation function. The PDOS discloses interesting phonon spectrum features under impurity doping, temperature variation, and increased vacancy concentration. Overall, this study offers a comprehensive roadmap for engineering the thermal conductivity of silicene and will grease the wheels for designing efficient thermal management systems for the present silicon-based semiconductor industry.
Cancer is one of the life-taking diseases worldwide and among cancer-related death; colorectal cancer is the third most. Though conventional methods of treatment are available, multidrug resistance ...and side effects are predominant. Physicians and scientists are working side by side to develop an effective medicament, which is safe and cost-effective. However, most failures are obtained when focused on the clinical perspective. This review mainly brings out the correlation between the curcumin and its use for the mitigation of colorectal cancer, the use of curcumin as a chemotherapeutic agent, chemosensitizer, and in a combination and synergistic approach. The pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics properties of curcumin and its formulation approach helps in giving an idea to develop new approaches for the treatment of colorectal cancer using curcumin.
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COVID-19, which is caused by the novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), has quickly spread over the world, posing a global health concern. The ongoing epidemic has ...necessitated the development of novel drugs and potential therapies for patients infected with SARS-CoV-2. Advances in vaccination and medication development, no preventative vaccinations, or viable therapeutics against SARS-CoV-2 infection have been developed to date. As a result, additional research is needed in order to find a long-term solution to this devastating condition. Clinical studies are being conducted to determine the efficacy of bioactive compounds retrieved or synthesized from marine species starting material. The present study focuses on the anti-SARS-CoV-2 potential of marine-derived phytochemicals, which has been investigated utilizing in in silico, in vitro, and in vivo models to determine their effectiveness. Marine-derived biologically active substances, such as flavonoids, tannins, alkaloids, terpenoids, peptides, lectins, polysaccharides, and lipids, can affect SARS-CoV-2 during the viral particle's penetration and entry into the cell, replication of the viral nucleic acid, and virion release from the cell; they can also act on the host's cellular targets. COVID-19 has been proven to be resistant to several contaminants produced from marine resources. This paper gives an overview and summary of the various marine resources as marine drugs and their potential for treating SARS-CoV-2. We discussed at numerous natural compounds as marine drugs generated from natural sources for treating COVID-19 and controlling the current pandemic scenario.
Cancer treatment is improving widely over time, but finding a proper defender to beat them seems like a distant dream. The quest for identification and discovery of drugs with an effective action is ...still a vital work. The role of a membrane protein called P-glycoprotein, which functions as garbage chute that efflux the waste, xenobiotics, and toxins out of the cancer cells acts as a major reason behind the therapeutic failure of most chemotherapeutic drugs. In this review, we mainly focused on a multiple strategies by employing 5-Fluorouracil, curcumin, and lipids in Nano formulation for the possible treatment of colorectal cancer and its metastasis. Eventually, multidrug resistance and angiogenesis can be altered and it would be helpful in colorectal cancer targeting.We have depicted the possible way for the depletion of colorectal cancer cells without disturbing the normal cells. The concept of focusing on multiple pathways for marking the colorectal cancer cells could help in activating one among the pathways if the other one fails. The activity of the 5-Fluorouracil can be enhanced with the help of curcumin which acts as a chemosensitizer, chemotherapeutic agent, and even for altering the resistance. As we eat to survive, so do the cancer cells. The cancer cells utilize the energy source to stay alive and survive. Fatty acids can be used as the energy source and this concept can be employed for targeting the colorectal cancer cells and also for altering the resistant part.
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•Colorectal cancer treatment failure is multidrug resistance and reoccurrence.•Resistance exhibits with the action of P-glycoprotein, which results in metastasis.•Lipids, 5-Fluorouracil and curcumin combination relapse colorectal cancer.•This dual drug approach provides a synergistic activity.•Focusing on metastasis with lymph node targeting with lipids.
Temperature-induced, rapid changes in the viscosity and reproducible 3-D structure formation makes thermos-sensitive hydrogels an ideal delivery system to act as a cell scaffold or a drug reservoir. ...Moreover, the hydrogels’ minimum invasiveness, high biocompatibility, and facile elimination from the body have gathered a lot of attention from researchers. This review article attempts to present a complete picture of the exhaustive arena, including the synthesis, mechanism, and biomedical applications of thermosensitive hydrogels. A special section on intellectual property and marketed products tries to shed some light on the commercial potential of thermosensitive hydrogels.
Mitochondria are essential cellular organelles that act as metabolic centers and signaling platforms and have been identified as an important subcellular target in a broad range of neuropathologies. ...Studies on the role of mitochondria in neurological disorders have primarily focused on neurons. However, dysfunctional mitochondria in glial cells, particularly astrocytes, have recently gained research attention due to their close involvement in neuroinflammation and metabolic and neurodegenerative disorders. Furthermore, alterations in mitochondrial energy metabolism in astrocytes have been reported to modulate cellular morphology and activity and induce the release of diverse proinflammatory mediators. Moreover, emerging evidence suggests that dysregulation of mitochondrial dynamics characterized by aberrant fission and fusion events in glial cells is closely associated with the inflammatory activation of glia. In this mini-review, we cover the recent advances in the molecular aspects of astrocytic mitochondrial dynamics and their metabolic changes under the pathological conditions of the central nervous system (CNS).
The current understanding of the sulphate attack mechanism on ordinary Portland cement (OPC) concrete within the construction sector is not yet well understood. The primary objective of this study is ...to focus on and discuss how to minimize the sulphate attack on concrete. The main purpose of this research is to better understand and improve the mechanical, durability, and microstructural characteristics of concrete under saline and non-saline/normal environments. This investigation involved the use of artificial seawater in the concrete mixing process and ensuring saline conditions for the concrete specimens in the laboratory. In addition, an approach for assessing the influence of using sulphate-resisting cement (SRC) in concrete to differentiate the performance from OPC concrete is also investigated. Silica fume (SF) is used as a partial cementitious material in SRC concrete by 10% and 20%. The concrete performances were examined by several rheological, mechanical, durability, and microstructural tests and compared the corresponding performances with the SRC-artificial seawater (SRCASW) and OPC-freshwater (OPCFW) concrete. Test results show that the strength of concrete decreased linearly from the OPCFW to SRCASW. Among SRC-artificial seawater concrete mixes, the mix with 10% SF shows the best strength outcomes i.e., 28.84, 36.22, and 37.54 MPa at 7, 28, and 56 days respectively, which is an average of 12.5% higher than the mix with 20% SF. A concrete mix of SRC with 10% SF displays the highest durable behavior, achieving chloride penetration and electrical resistivity at a very low range (936 columbus and 290.7 Ω-m, respectively). In addition, microstructural images of the SRC concrete mixes indicate no visible crack due to sulphate inclusion. An analytical approach has provided a conservative estimate with the experimental results and standard code of practice for predicting mechanical properties. Finally, this study revealed that SRC incorporation in concrete increased the long-term serviceability of the structures against salinity.
•Artificial sea water used to mix SRC and OPC concrete to ensure saline effect.•Durability performances of concrete improved with SRC and SF at presence of salinity.•Reduction of sulphate attack dut to sillica fume and SRC were visible in SEM pictures.
Autophagy is a vacuolar, lysosomal degradation pathway for injured and damaged protein molecules and organelles in eukaryotic cells, which is controlled by nutrients and stress responses. ...Dysregulation of cellular autophagy may lead to various diseases such as neurodegenerative disease, obesity, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and malignancies. Recently, natural compounds have come to attention for being able to modulate the autophagy pathway in cancer prevention, although the prospective role of autophagy in cancer treatment is very complex and not yet clearly elucidated. Numerous synthetic chemicals have been identified that modulate autophagy and are favorable candidates for cancer treatment, but they have adverse side effects. Therefore, different phytochemicals, which include natural compounds and their derivatives, have attracted significant attention for use as autophagy modulators in cancer treatment with minimal side effects. In the current review, we discuss the promising role of natural compounds in modulating the autophagy pathway to control and prevent cancer, and provide possible therapeutic options.
Studies from past years have observed various enzymes that are artificial, which are issued to mimic naturally occurring enzymes based on their function and structure. The nanozymes possess ...nanomaterials that resemble natural enzymes and are considered an innovative class. This innovative class has achieved a brilliant response from various developments and researchers owing to this unique property. In this regard, numerous nanomaterials are inspected as natural enzyme mimics for multiple types of applications, such as imaging, water treatment, therapeutics, and sensing. Nanozymes have nanomaterial properties occurring with an inheritance that provides a single substitute and multiple platforms. Nanozymes can be controlled remotely via stimuli including heat, light, magnetic field, and ultrasound. Collectively, these all can be used to increase the therapeutic as well as diagnostic efficacies. These nanozymes have major biomedical applications including cancer therapy and diagnosis, medical diagnostics, and bio sensing. We summarized and emphasized the latest progress of nanozymes, including their biomedical mechanisms and applications involving synergistic and remote control nanozymes. Finally, we cover the challenges and limitations of further improving therapeutic applications and provide a future direction for using engineered nanozymes with enhanced biomedical and diagnostic applications.
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a developmental disorder of the brain characterized by shortfall in the social portfolio of an individual and abbreviated interactive and communication aspects ...rendering stereotypical behavior and pitfalls in a child’s memory, thinking, and learning capabilities. The incidence of ASD has accelerated since the past decade, portraying environment as one of the primary assets, comprising of metallic components aiming to curb the neurodevelopmental pathways in an individual. Many regulations like Clean Air Act and critical steps taken by countries all over the globe, like Sweden and the USA, have rendered the necessity to study the effects of environmental metallic components on ASD progression. The review focuses on the primary metallic components present in the environment (aluminum, lead, mercury, and arsenic), responsible for accelerating ASD symptoms by a set of general mechanisms like oxidative stress reduction, glycolysis suppression, microglial activation, and metalloprotein disruption, resulting in apoptotic signaling, neurotoxic effects, and neuroinflammatory responses. The effect of these metals can be retarded by certain protective strategies like chelation, dietary correction, certain agents (curcumin, mangiferin, selenium), and detoxification enhancement, which can necessarily halt the neurodegenerative effects.
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