Fabrication and Characterization of Triterpenoid Oleanolic Acid NIOSOMES

Introduction: Phytoconstituents, derived from plants, exhibit diverse pharmacological activities; however, their medical application is frequently impeded by challenges such as poor solubility, limited bioavailability, rapid metabolism, and inadequate targeting to specific sites of action. Oleanolic acid (OA), a natural triterpenoid compound abundant in various plants such as olive oil, garlic, and apples, has emerged as a focal point in cancer research, particularly in the realm of liver cancer therapy. However, its application faces several challenges, including low solubility, limited bioavailability, and the emergence of drug resistance mechanisms. To surmount these hurdles, the formulation of niosomes encapsulating oleanolic acid presents a promising strategy, offering a means to enhance solubility, augment bioavailability, and potentially circumvent issues related to drug resistance. Objectives: Oleanolic acid has a very low water solubility of about 1 ug/mL and poor permeability which usually results in low oral bioavailability and limited use in clinical treatments. Incorporating OA in niosomal vesicular drug delivery system solubility might be increase which result in increase in bioavailability of OA. Methods: Niosomes of oleanolic acid was prepared by modified ethanol injection followed by solvent evaporation method. A different combination of span 60 and cholesterol were made to obtained optimized niosomes, span 60, Cholesterol and drug were dissolved separately in ethanol. Cholesterol solution was firstly mixed with span 60. The drug solution was then added to surfactant mixture. The resulting mixture was then added in aqueous phase with help of syringe (flow rate 1.5 mL/min) under constant stirring at 800 rpm on magnetic stirrer. The stirring was continued till 4-6 hours for complete removal of organic phase. Results: Formulated OA loaded niosmoes were characterized for PDI, average particle size, zeta potential and % entrapment efficiency (%EE). On the basis of these parameter a optimized batch is selected. The optimized batch were further used all other characterization such as, SEM, TEM, invitro drug release etc. Conclusions: OA loaded niosomes were formulated by modified ethanol injection method. The prepared niosomes were characterized using PDI, average particle size, zeta potential and % entrapment efficiency (%EE), SEM, TEM, invitro drug release techniques. The formulated niosomes of OA shows sustained release of drug from niosomal vesicle.&nbsp

Ethnomedicinal plants used in malaria in tribal areas of Odisha, India

The present paper deals with 38 ethnomedicinal plant species belonging to 37 genera and 24 families used for prevention and treatment of malaria by the tribal and indigenous non-tribal communities of Sundargarh, Mayurbhanj, Angul, Balangir, Deogarh and Nuapada districts of Odisha. This first-hand ethnomedicinal information for their therapeutic use against malaria was collected directly from a field survey of 404 remote tribal villages and forest areas of these 6 districts during 2006-2017. Additionally, uses of other 6 plants for the treatment of the same diseases were also recorded from the already published literature on these districts. These plant species are arranged in alphabetical order followed by family, habit, local name(s), locality(ies), field number(s) along with a method of preparation and mode of ethnomedicinal uses in detail

Evaluation of Ponseti method in correction of congenital talipes equinovarus

Background: Congenital idiopathic clubfoot is a complex foot deformity often requires many months of treatment and frequently resulted in incomplete or defective correction by older methods. Deformity can be corrected with serial manipulation and casting with minimal or no surgery as reported by Ponseti. This study is an attempt to evaluate the effectiveness of Ponseti technique in treatment of idiopathic congenital talipes equino varus.Methods: 30 patients between age group of 01 to 24 weeks with 48 feet having congenital idiopathic clubfoot were treated using Ponseti technique. The guidelines for treatment were followed as per the Ponseti method of serial manipulation and casting at weekly intervals.Results: 43 (89.58%) cases were treated successfully by using Ponseti technique without need of extensive surgery. 42 feet required tenotomy. 38 (79.16%) feet had an excellent outcome, 5 (10.42%) feet had a fair outcome and 05 feet (10.42%) had poor outcome as measured by the Pirani scoring system. 7 (14.58%) patients had cast related complications.Conclusions: The Ponseti method is a safe, effective and reproducible method for correction of idiopathic congenital talipes equinovarus which significantly reduces the rate of extensive corrective surgeries for correction of clubfoot

Review of Student Profile Management System Using QR Code

The QR code has gained a lot of popularity these days. With the rapid growth in information technology, the QR code has made their way in to the world. The quick response code is a two dimensional barcode as it is evolved from barcode. They come in various shapes and size. They are multidimensional and can also come in coloured form. The main purposed of the QR code is directing the user to a particular link. Since the use of mobile has increased, they have become very popular among the mobile users. Presently, smart phones come at much affordable prices because of which almost every person on the planet has a mobile phone which also includes the student population. This facilitates the QR code in the educational system. In this paper, we are suggesting a way of management of student?s record by creating a Student profile using his basic registration information. This profile can be simultaneously updated. The purpose of this system is to eliminate the gap between the student and the institutional management. This is not only an efficient profile management system but also reduces the problem of queue, wastage of time and reduction in paper consumption. This way, there is a smoother and systematic management at the student?s side as well as the administration side

Enhanced photocatalytic activity of N, P, co-doped carbon quantum dots: an insight from experimental and computational approach

Herein, we demonstrate the single-step microwave radiation assisted approach to develop Nitrogen (N) and Phosphorous (P) co-doped carbon quantum dots (NP-CQD). The developed NP-CQD showed enhancement in visible light photocatalytic activity towards methylene blue dye degradation than that of N-CQD and P-CQD due to creation of energy states and reduced work function as estimated by Ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy and corroborated by first-principles Density Functional Theory (DFT) calculations

Effect of nicotine on serotonin (5-HT) levels in brain of depressed rats

Background: Reduction in brain serotonin (5-HT) levels contributes to depression. Nicotine may have antidepressant properties and smokers self-medicate underlying depression. Epidemiological findings suggest that smokers more often demonstrate depressive symptoms than non-smokers and depressed patients are less likely to cease smoking. Therefore, the study was planned to evaluate the effect of nicotine on serotonin levels in brain of depressed rats.Methods: Antidepressant action of study drugs was evaluated using isolation induced hyperactivity model in rats. Rats were divided into five groups with six rats in each group. Study groups: Vehicle in normal rats 1 ml/kg (subcutaneous); vehicle after isolation 1ml/kg (subcutaneous); imipramine 10 mg/kg (intraperitoneal) for 7 consecutive days; single dose of nicotine 0.4 mg/kg (subcutaneous); single dose of nicotine 0.2 mg/kg (inhalational). Brain serotonin assay was carried out. The statistical significance was determined by ANOVA followed by Tukey test (p<0.05).Results: Serotonin levels (55.93ng/g of brain tissue) in rats after isolation were significantly less than in normal rats (335.87ng/g) (p<0.001). In imipramine treated group, serotonin levels (301.4ng/g) after isolation were highly significant as compared to serotonin levels in vehicle treated group after isolation (p<0.001). Nicotine administered by subcutaneous and inhalational route showed significantly higher brain serotonin levels, i.e. 175ng/g and 254.62ng/g respectively as compared to vehicle treated rats after isolation (p<0.001).Conclusions: Single dose nicotine (inhalational) produced significant antidepressant action comparable to that of seven days’ treatment of standard antidepressant drug imipramine in rats. In rats, nicotine by both routes i.e. subcutaneous and inhalational increased serotonergic activity

Stallion semen quality depends on major histocompatibility complex matching to teaser mare.

The major histocompatibility complex (MHC) has repeatedly been found to influence mate choice of vertebrates, with MHC-dissimilar mates typically being preferred over MHC-similar mates. We used horses (Equus caballus) to test whether MHC matching also affects male investment into ejaculates after short exposure to a female. Semen characteristics varied much among stallions. Controlling for this variance with a full-factorial within-subject experimental design, we found that a short exposure to an MHC-dissimilar mare enhanced male plasma testosterone and led to ejaculates with elevated sperm numbers as compared to exposure to an MHC-similar mare. Sperm velocity seemed not affected by the treatment. Overall genetic similarity between stallions and mares (determined from polymorphic microsatellites on 20 different chromosomes) played no significant role here. The MHC type of the teaser mare also affected characteristics of cold-stored sperm after 24 and 48 hr. As expected from ejaculate economics, sperm viability was elevated after exposure to an MHC-dissimilar mare. However, oxidative stress and the percentage of sperm with a high DNA fragmentation were mostly increased after exposure to an MHC-dissimilar mare, depending also on whether the teaser mare was in oestrous or not. We conclude that males can quickly adjust ejaculate quality relative to a female's MHC, and that this male reaction to the social environment can also affect important characteristics of cold-stored semen

Not Just a Theory--The Utility of Mathematical Models in Evolutionary Biology

Progress in science often begins with verbal hypotheses meant to explain why certain biological phenomena exist. An important purpose of mathematical models in evolutionary research, as in many other fields, is to act as “proof-of-concept” tests of the logic in verbal explanations, paralleling the way in which empirical data are used to test hypotheses. Because not all subfields of biology use mathematics for this purpose, misunderstandings of the function of proof-of-concept modeling are common. In the hope of facilitating communication, we discuss the role of proof-of-concept modeling in evolutionary biology

Polymer-wrapped reduced graphene oxide/nickel cobalt ferrite nanocomposites as tertiary hybrid supercapacitors: insights from experiment and simulation

The tertiary hybrid supercapacitor consisting of PEDOT:PSS wrapped reduced graphene oxide/Ni0.5Co0.5Fe2O4 (PGNC) was developed and its supercapacitance performance has been compared with that of the reduced graphene oxide (rGO)/Ni0.5Co0.5Fe2O4 (GNC), carbon nanotube (CNT)/Ni0.5Co0.5Fe2O4 (CNC) and carbon nanotube/reduced graphene oxide/Ni0.5Co0.5Fe2O4 (CGNC). Among all, PGNC exhibits an excellent specific capacitance of 1286 Fg−1 with a capacitance retention of 95% over 6000 cycles at a current density of 0.5 Ag−1. The synergetic effects between rGO, Ni0.5Co0.5Fe2O4 and the PEDOT:PSS polymer result in an increase in the specific surface area and the pore volume, making PGNC an excellent hybrid supercapacitor for energy storage. The enhancement in the specific capacitance of the PGNC nanocomposite is further validated through first-principles density functional theory calculations, which predict an increment in the density of states at the Fermi level of the GNC and CNC nanocomposites compared to the isolated Ni0.5Co0.5Fe2O4 material. The supercapacitance performance of the PGNC nanocomposite is reported for different electrolytes, different stoichiometric ratios of Ni and Co in NixCo1-xFe2O4 and on different substrates

Thermoluminescence, photoluminescence and optically stimulated luminescence characteristics of CaSO4:Eu phosphor: experimental and density functional theory (DFT) investigations

The CaSO4:Eu phosphor in nanocrystalline form was obtained by chemical method. The sample was annealed at various temperatures and quenched. The structural, electronic and optical properties are studied using various experimental techniques. As synthesized CaSO4:Eu particles have nanorod shapes with diameter of ~15 nm and length of ~250 nm. After annealing (at around 900 °C) a significant increase in their size (~2–4 μm) with phase transformation from hexagonal to orthorhombic was observed. Thermoluminescence (TL) and optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) intensities were found to increase with temperature up to 900 °C and decrease thereafter for 1 Gy of test dose of β-rays from 90Sr-90Yr source. However, the maximum OSL sensitivity was found to be more than that of CaSO4:Eu microcrystalline phosphor (prepared by acid recrystallization method) contrary to the usually found in the literature but much less than that of commercially available α-Al2O3:C phosphor. The activation energy for thermally assisted OSL process was found to be 0.0572 ± 0.0028 eV. The dose ranges of TL and OSL response was found from 0.04 Gy to 100 Gy and 0.02 Gy–100 Gy, respectively. The experimental results are also correlated with computational calculations based on density functional theory (DFT). The crystal structures and electronic structures of both hexagonal and orthorhombic CaSO4 and CaSO4:Eu materials show that they are direct band gap (5.67–5.86 eV) insulators, with Ca2+ substitution by Eu2+ found to introduce donor states in the band gap near Fermi level and the valence band edge of CaSO4 on doping with Eu2+ impurity ions