Displaying publications 21 - 40 of 42 in total

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  1. Fulltext An Industrial IoT-Based Blockchain-Enabled Secure Searchable Encryption Approach for Healthcare Systems Using Neural Network
    Ali A, Almaiah MA, Hajjej F, Pasha MF, Fang OH, Khan R, et al.
    Sensors (Basel), 2022 Jan 12;22(2).
    PMID: 35062530 DOI: 10.3390/s22020572
    The IoT refers to the interconnection of things to the physical network that is embedded with software, sensors, and other devices to exchange information from one device to the other. The interconnection of devices means there is the possibility of challenges such as security, trustworthiness, reliability, confidentiality, and so on. To address these issues, we have proposed a novel group theory (GT)-based binary spring search (BSS) algorithm which consists of a hybrid deep neural network approach. The proposed approach effectively detects the intrusion within the IoT network. Initially, the privacy-preserving technology was implemented using a blockchain-based methodology. Security of patient health records (PHR) is the most critical aspect of cryptography over the Internet due to its value and importance, preferably in the Internet of Medical Things (IoMT). Search keywords access mechanism is one of the typical approaches used to access PHR from a database, but it is susceptible to various security vulnerabilities. Although blockchain-enabled healthcare systems provide security, it may lead to some loopholes in the existing state of the art. In literature, blockchain-enabled frameworks have been presented to resolve those issues. However, these methods have primarily focused on data storage and blockchain is used as a database. In this paper, blockchain as a distributed database is proposed with a homomorphic encryption technique to ensure a secure search and keywords-based access to the database. Additionally, the proposed approach provides a secure key revocation mechanism and updates various policies accordingly. As a result, a secure patient healthcare data access scheme is devised, which integrates blockchain and trust chain to fulfill the efficiency and security issues in the current schemes for sharing both types of digital healthcare data. Hence, our proposed approach provides more security, efficiency, and transparency with cost-effectiveness. We performed our simulations based on the blockchain-based tool Hyperledger Fabric and OrigionLab for analysis and evaluation. We compared our proposed results with the benchmark models, respectively. Our comparative analysis justifies that our proposed framework provides better security and searchable mechanism for the healthcare system.
  2. Exploring the Biochemical and Nutra-Pharmaceutical Prospects of Some Thymus Species - A Review
    Anwar F, Mahrye, Khan R, Qadir R, Saadi S, Gruczynska-Sekowska E, et al.
    Chem Biodivers, 2024 Jul;21(7):e202400500.
    PMID: 38719739 DOI: 10.1002/cbdv.202400500
    The Thymus genus includes various medicinal and aromatic species, cultivated worldwide for their unique medicinal and economic value. Besides, their conventional use as a culinary flavoring agent, Thymus species are well-known for their diverse biological effects, such as antioxidant, anti-fungal, anti-bacterial, anti-viral, anti-tumor, anti-inflammatory, anti-cancer, and anti-hypertensive properties. Hence, they are used in the treatment of fever, colds, and digestive and cardiovascular diseases. The pharmaceutical significance of Thymus plants is due to their high levels of bioactive components such as natural terpenoid phenol derivatives (p-cymene, carvacrol, thymol, geraniol), flavonoids, alkaloids, and phenolic acids. This review examines the phytochemicals, biological properties, functional food, and nutraceutical attributes of some important Thymus species, with a specific focus on their potential uses in the nutra-pharmaceutical industries. Furthermore, the review provides an insight into the mechanisms of biological activities of key phytochemicals of Thymus species exploring their potential for the development of novel natural drugs.
  3. Fulltext Removal of hydrocarbon pollutants from refinery wastewater using N-hexadecylchitosan as an efficient adsorptive platform
    Khan R, Haram Z, Ahmad W, Sohni S, Xu J, Ilyas M
    Sci Rep, 2024 Jul 26;14(1):17236.
    PMID: 39060270 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-66429-8
    The negative impact of refinery wastewater is of great concern to the aquatic, terrestrial, and aerial environment. In this study, N-hexadecylchitosan (NHDC) was successfully synthesized to deal with low mechanical strength, poor adsorption capacity, and limited selectivity of native chitosan. The NHDC was characterized by fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-Ray diffraction analysis (XRD) to study its composition, morphology, and structural attributes. The adsorption of hydrocarbon pollutants from refinery wastewater was studied in batch mode experiments. The results indicated that the removal of COD attained by chitosan and NHDC was 21 and 63%, respectively. COD removal was found to be maximal, i.e., 96% using 0.08 g of NHDC at 60 min in a solution of pH 6.5 maintained at 60 °C. Furthermore, kinetic data revealed that the adsorption system followed pseudo-second order kinetics, whereas equilibrium studies supported both monolayer and multilayer adsorption mechanisms. The designed adsorption platform was able to capture hydrocarbon pollutants under very mild optimized conditions. Furthermore, NHDC demonstrated long term stability when subjected to five successive cycles, which contributed to the sustainability of water treatment systems. On the basis of the outcome of this work, it is advocated that new biobased NHDC can be used as an efficient adsorbent for the remediation of organic contaminants laden wastewater streams generated from oil refineries.
  4. Fulltext Effect of Sand Fines Concentration on the Erosion-Corrosion Mechanism of Carbon Steel 90° Elbow Pipe in Slug Flow
    Khan R, H Ya H, Pao W, Majid MAA, Ahmed T, Ahmad A, et al.
    Materials (Basel), 2020 Oct 16;13(20).
    PMID: 33081078 DOI: 10.3390/ma13204601
    Erosion-corrosion of elbow configurations has recently been a momentous concern in hydrocarbon processing and transportation industries. The carbon steel 90° elbows are susceptible to the erosion-corrosion during the multiphase flow, peculiarly for erosive slug flows. This paper studies the erosion-corrosion performance of 90° elbows at slug flow conditions for impact with 2, 5, and 10 wt.% sand fines concentrations on AISI 1018 carbon steel exploiting quantitative and qualitative analyses. The worn surface analyses were effectuated by using laser confocal and scanning electron microscopy. The experiment was conducted under air and water slug flow containing sand fines of 50 µm average size circulated in the closed flow loop. The results manifest that with the increase of concentration level, the erosion-corrosion magnitude increases remarkably. Sand fines instigate the development of perforation sites in the form of circular, elongated, and coalescence pits at the elbow downstream and the corrosion attack is much more obvious with the increase of sand fines concentration. Another congruent finding is that cutting and pitting corrosion as the primitive causes of material degradation, the 10 wt.% sand fines concentration in carrier phase increases the erosion-corrosion rate of carbon steel up to 93% relative to the 2 wt.% sand fines concentration in slug flow.
  5. Formation of Antihyperlipidemic Nano-Ezetimibe from Volatile Microemulsion Template for Enhanced Dissolution Profile
    Saleem MA, Yasir Siddique M, Nazar MF, Khan SU, Ahmad A, Khan R, et al.
    Langmuir, 2020 07 14;36(27):7908-7915.
    PMID: 32551692 DOI: 10.1021/acs.langmuir.0c01016
    Nanostructures play an important role in targeting sparingly water-soluble drugs to specific sites. Because of the structural flexibility and stability, the use of template microemulsions (μEs) can produce functional nanopharmaceuticals of different sizes, shapes, and chemical properties. In this article, we report a new volatile oil-in-water (o/w) μE formulation comprising ethyl acetate/ethanol/brij-35/water to obtain the highly water-dispersible nanoparticles of an antihyperlipidemic agent, ezetimibe (EZM-NPs), to enhance its dissolution profile. A pseudoternary phase diagram was delineated in a specified brij-35/ethanol ratio (1:1) to describe the transparent, optically isotropic domain of the as-formulated μE. The water-dilutable μE formulation, comprising an optimum composition of ethyl acetate (18.0%), ethanol (25.0%), brij-35 (25.0%), and water (32.0%), showed a good dissolvability of EZM around 4.8 wt % at pH 5.2. Electron micrographs showed a fine monomodal collection of EZM-loaded μE droplets (∼45 nm) that did not coalesce even after lyophilization, forming small spherical EZM-NPs (∼60 nm). However, the maturity of nanodrug droplets observed through dynamic light scattering suggests the affinity of EZM to the nonpolar microenvironment, which was further supported through peak-to-peak correlation of infrared analysis and fluorescence measurements. Moreover, the release profile of the as-obtained EZM-nanopowder increased significantly >98% in 30 min, which indicates that a reduced drug concentration will be needed for capsules or tablets in the future and can be simply incorporated into the multidosage formulation of EZM.
  6. Fulltext Assessment of Adherence to the Core Elements of Hospital Antibiotic Stewardship Programs: A Survey of the Tertiary Care Hospitals in Punjab, Pakistan
    Mubarak N, Khan AS, Zahid T, Ijaz UEB, Aziz MM, Khan R, et al.
    Antibiotics (Basel), 2021 Jul 24;10(8).
    PMID: 34438956 DOI: 10.3390/antibiotics10080906
    Background: To restrain antibiotic resistance, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), United States of America, urges all hospital settings to implement the Core Elements of Hospital Antibiotic Stewardship Programs (CEHASP). However, the concept of hospital-based antibiotic stewardship programs is relatively new in Low- and Middle-Income Countries. Aim: To appraise the adherence of the tertiary care hospitals to seven CEHASPs. Design and Setting: A cross-sectional study in the tertiary care hospitals in Punjab, Pakistan. Method: CEHASP assessment tool, (a checklist) was used to collect data from the eligible hospitals based on purposive sampling. The check list had 19 statements to cover seven CEHASPs: Hospital Leadership Commitment, Accountability, Pharmacy Expertise, Action (Implement Interventions to Improve Antibiotic Use), Tracking Antibiotic Use and Outcomes, Reporting Antibiotic Use and Outcomes, and Education. For each statement, a response of "YES", "NO" or "Under Process" constituted a score of 2, 0 and 1, respectively, where the higher the scores the better the adherence. Categorical variables were described through descriptive statistics, while independent t-test computed group differences. Result: A total of 68 hospitals (n = 33 public, n = 35 private) participated with a response rate of 79.1%. No hospital demonstrated "Perfect" adherence. Roughly half private (48.6%) and more than half public (54.5%) sector hospitals were "Poor" in adherence. Based on the mean score, there was no significant difference between the private and the public hospitals in terms of comparison of individual core elements. The two most neglected core elements emerged as top priority area were: Reporting Antibiotic Use and Outcomes and Tracking Antibiotic Use and Outcomes.Conclusion: The current response of Pakistan to implement hospital-based antibiotic stewardship programs is inadequate. This study points out significant gaps of practice both in public and private tertiary care hospitals. A majority of the core elements of antibiotic stewardship are either absent or "Under Process". The deficiency/priority areas mentioned require immediate attention of the concerned stakeholders in Pakistan.
  7. Fulltext Neuroprotective Strategies for Neurological Disorders by Natural Products: An update
    Rehman MU, Wali AF, Ahmad A, Shakeel S, Rasool S, Ali R, et al.
    Curr Neuropharmacol, 2019;17(3):247-267.
    PMID: 30207234 DOI: 10.2174/1570159X16666180911124605
    Nature has bestowed mankind with surplus resources (natural products) on land and water. Natural products have a significant role in the prevention of disease and boosting of health in humans and animals. These natural products have been experimentally documented to possess various biological properties such as antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and anti-apoptotic activities. In vitro and in vivo studies have further established the usefulness of natural products in various preclinical models of neurodegenerative disorders. Natural products include phytoconstituents, like polyphenolic antioxidants, found in herbs, fruits, nuts, vegetables and also in marine and freshwater flora. These phytoconstituents may potentially suppress neurodegeneration and improve memory as well as cognitive functions of the brain. Also, they are known to play a pivotal role in the prevention and cure of different neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease, epilepsy, Parkinson's disease and other neuronal disorders. The large-scale neuro-pharmacological activities of natural products have been documented due to the result of either the inhibition of inflammatory processes, or the up-regulation of various cell survival proteins or a combination of both. Due to the scarcity of human studies on neuroprotective effects of natural products, this review focuses on the various established activities of natural products in in vitro and in vivo preclinical models, and their potential neuro-therapeutic applications using the available knowledge in the literature.
  8. Impact of sublethal phenol in freshwater fish Labeo rohita on biochemical and haematological parameters
    Muthukumaravel K, Priyadharshini M, Kanagavalli V, Vasanthi N, Ahmed MS, Musthafa MS, et al.
    Environ Monit Assess, 2022 Oct 21;195(1):10.
    PMID: 36269455 DOI: 10.1007/s10661-022-10554-2
    Phenol, an aromatic chemical commonly found in domestic and industrial effluents, upon its introduction into aquatic ecosystems adversely affects the indigenous biota, the invertebrates and the vertebrates. With the increased demand for agrochemicals, a large amount of phenol is released directly into the environment as a byproduct. Phenol and its derivatives tend to persist in the environment for longer periods which in turn poses a threat to both humans and the aquatic ecosystem. In our current study, the response of Labeo rohita to sublethal concentrations of phenol was observed and the results did show a regular decrease in biochemical constituents of the targeted organs. Exposure of Labeo rohita to sublethal concentration of phenol (22.32 mg/L) for an epoch of 7, 21 and 28 days shows a decline in lipid, protein, carbohydrate content and phosphatase activity in target organs such as the gills, muscle, intestine, liver and kidney of the fish. The present study also aims to investigate the toxic effects of phenol with special reference to the haematological parameters of Labeo rohita. At the end of the exposure period, the blood of the fish was collected by cutting the caudal peduncle with a surgical scalpel. And it was observed that the red blood corpuscle count (RBC), white blood corpuscle (WBC), haemoglobin count (Hb), packed cell volume (PCV), mean corpuscular volume (MCV), mean corpuscular haemoglobin (MCH) and mean corpuscular haemoglobin concentration (MCHC) values showed a decline after exposure to phenol for 7 days, while white blood corpuscle (WBC) shows an increased count. At 21 days and 28 days, all the haematological parameters showed a significant decrease.
  9. Efficacy of pentamidine-loaded chitosan nanoparticles as a novel drug delivery system for Leishmania tropica
    Khan RU, Khan M, Sohail A, Ullah R, Iqbal A, Ahmad B, et al.
    Trop Biomed, 2022 Dec 01;39(4):511-517.
    PMID: 36602209 DOI: 10.47665/tb.39.4.003
    The present study compares the in vitro effects of nanoparticles loaded pentamidine drug and conventional pentamidine on Leishmania tropica. Herein, pentamidine-loaded chitosan nanoparticles (PTN-CNPs) have been synthesized through an ionic gelation method with sodium tripolyphosphate (TPP). Next, the physical characteristics of PTN-CNPs were determined through the surface texture, zeta potential, in vitro drug release, drug loading content (DLC), and encapsulation efficacy (EE) and compared its efficacy with free pentamidine (PTN) drug against promastigotes and axenic amastigotes forms of L. tropica in vitro. The PTN-CNPs displayed a spherical shape having a size of 88 nm, an almost negative surface charge (-3.09 mV), EE for PTN entrapment of 86%, and in vitro drug release of 92% after 36 h. In vitro antileishmanial activity of PTN-CNPs and free PTN was performed against Leishmania tropica KWH23 promastigote and axenic amastigote using 3-(4, 5- dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2, 5-diphenyletetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. It was observed that the effect of PTN-CNPs and free PTN on both forms of the parasite was dose and time dependent. Free PTN presented low efficacy even at higher dose (40 µg/ml) with 25.6 ± 1.3 and 26.5 ±1.4 mean viability rate of the promastigotes and axenic amastigotes, respectively after 72 hrs incubation. While PTN-CNPs showed strong antileishmanial effects on both forms of parasite with 16 ± 0.4 and 19 ± 0.7 mean viability rate at the same higher concentration (40 µg/ml) after 72 hrs incubation. Half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) values of PTN-CNPs toward promastigotes and amastigotes were obtained as 0.1375 µg/ml and 0.1910 µg/ml, respectively. In conclusion, PTN-CNPs effectively inhibited both forms of the L. tropica; however, its effect was more salient on promastigotes. This data indicates that the PTN-CNPs act as a target drug delivery system. However, further research is needed to support its efficacy in animal and human CL.
  10. Optimizing lung cancer classification through hyperparameter tuning
    Nabeel SM, Bazai SU, Alasbali N, Liu Y, Ghafoor MI, Khan R, et al.
    Digit Health, 2024;10:20552076241249661.
    PMID: 38698834 DOI: 10.1177/20552076241249661
    Artificial intelligence is steadily permeating various sectors, including healthcare. This research specifically addresses lung cancer, the world's deadliest disease with the highest mortality rate. Two primary factors contribute to its onset: genetic predisposition and environmental factors, such as smoking and exposure to pollutants. Recognizing the need for more effective diagnosis techniques, our study embarked on devising a machine learning strategy tailored to boost precision in lung cancer detection. Our aim was to devise a diagnostic method that is both less invasive and cost-effective. To this end, we proposed four methods, benchmarking them against prevalent techniques using a universally recognized dataset from Kaggle. Among our methods, one emerged as particularly promising, outperforming the competition in accuracy, precision and sensitivity. This method utilized hyperparameter tuning, focusing on the Gamma and C parameters, which were set at a value of 10. These parameters influence kernel width and regularization strength, respectively. As a result, we achieved an accuracy of 99.16%, a precision of 98% and a sensitivity rate of 100%. In conclusion, our enhanced prediction mechanism has proven to surpass traditional and contemporary strategies in lung cancer detection.
  11. Glycolipids biosurfactants production using low-cost substrates for environmental remediation: progress, challenges, and future prospects
    Aqif M, Shah MUH, Khan R, Umar M, SajjadHaider, Razak SIA, et al.
    Environ Sci Pollut Res Int, 2024 Jul 17.
    PMID: 39017873 DOI: 10.1007/s11356-024-34248-z
    The production of renewable materials from alternative sources is becoming increasingly important to reduce the detrimental environmental effects of their non-renewable counterparts and natural resources, while making them more economical and sustainable. Chemical surfactants, which are highly toxic and non-biodegradable, are used in a wide range of industrial and environmental applications harming humans, animals, plants, and other entities. Chemical surfactants can be substituted with biosurfactants (BS), which are produced by microorganisms like bacteria, fungi, and yeast. They have excellent emulsifying, foaming, and dispersing properties, as well as excellent biodegradability, lower toxicity, and the ability to remain stable under severe conditions, making them useful for a variety of industrial and environmental applications. Despite these advantages, BS derived from conventional resources and precursors (such as edible oils and carbohydrates) are expensive, limiting large-scale production of BS. In addition, the use of unconventional substrates such as agro-industrial wastes lowers the BS productivity and drives up production costs. However, overcoming the barriers to commercial-scale production is critical to the widespread adoption of these products. Overcoming these challenges would not only promote the use of environmentally friendly surfactants but also contribute to sustainable waste management and reduce dependence on non-renewable resources. This study explores the efficient use of wastes and other low-cost substrates to produce glycolipids BS, identifies efficient substrates for commercial production, and recommends strategies to improve productivity and use BS in environmental remediation.
  12. Fulltext SARS-CoV-2 removal by mix matrix membrane: A novel application of artificial neural network based simulation in MATLAB for evaluating wastewater reuse risks
    Zahmatkesh S, Rezakhani Y, Chofreh AG, Karimian M, Wang C, Ghodrati I, et al.
    Chemosphere, 2023 Jan;310:136837.
    PMID: 36252897 DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2022.136837
    The COVID-19 outbreak led to the discovery of SARS-CoV-2 in sewage; thus, wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) could have the virus in their effluent. However, whether SARS-CoV-2 is eradicated by sewage treatment is virtually unknown. Specifically, the objectives of this study include (i) determining whether a mixed matrixed membrane (MMM) is able to remove SARS-CoV-2 (polycarbonate (PC)-hydrous manganese oxide (HMO) and PC-silver nanoparticles (Ag-NP)), (ii) comparing filtration performance among different secondary treatment processes, and (iii) evaluating whether artificial neural networks (ANNs) can be employed as performance indicators to reduce SARS-CoV-2 in the treatment of sewage. At Shariati Hospital in Mashhad, Iran, secondary treatment effluent during the outbreak of COVID-19 was collected from a WWTP. There were two PC-Ag-NP and PC-HMO processes at the WWTP targeted. RT-qPCR was employed to detect the presence of SARS-CoV-2 in sewage fractions. For the purposes of determining SARS-CoV-2 prevalence rates in the treated effluent, 10 L of effluent specimens were collected in middle-risk and low-risk treatment MMMs. For PC-HMO, the log reduction value (LRV) for SARS-CoV-2 was 1.3-1 log10 for moderate risk and 0.96-1 log10 for low risk, whereas for PC-Ag-NP, the LRV was 0.99-1.3 log10 for moderate risk and 0.94-0.98 log10 for low risk. MMMs demonstrated the most robust absorption performance during the sampling period, with the least significant LRV recorded in PC-Ag-NP and PC-HMO at 0.94 log10 and 0.96 log10, respectively.
  13. Genetic diversity and population structure of long-tailed macaque (Macaca fascicularis) populations in Peninsular Malaysia
    Nikzad S, Tan SG, Yong Seok Yien C, Ng J, Alitheen NB, Khan R, et al.
    J Med Primatol, 2014 Dec;43(6):433-44.
    PMID: 24930735 DOI: 10.1111/jmp.12130
    The genetic diversity and structure of long-tailed macaques (Macaca fascicularis) in Peninsular Malaysia, a widely used non-human primate species in biomedical research, have not been thoroughly characterized.
  14. Preclinical Evidence for the Pharmacological Actions of Glycyrrhizic Acid: A Comprehensive Review
    Rehman MU, Farooq A, Ali R, Bashir S, Bashir N, Majeed S, et al.
    Curr Drug Metab, 2020;21(6):436-465.
    PMID: 32562521 DOI: 10.2174/1389200221666200620204914
    Glycyrrhiza glabra L. (Family: Fabaceae) is one of the important traditional medicinal plant used extensively in folk medicine. It is known for its ethnopharmacological value in curing a wide variety of ailments. Glycyrrhizin, an active compound of G. glabra, possesses anti-inflammatory activity due to which it is mostly used in traditional herbal medicine for the treatment and management of chronic diseases. The present review is focused extensively on the pharmacology, pharmacokinetics, toxicology, and potential effects of Glycyrrhizic Acid (GA). A thorough literature survey was conducted to identify various studies that reported on the GA on PubMed, Science Direct and Google Scholar.
  15. Fulltext Compact Ultra-Wideband Monopole Antenna Loaded with Metamaterial
    Al-Bawri SS, Hwang Goh H, Islam MS, Wong HY, Jamlos MF, Narbudowicz A, et al.
    Sensors (Basel), 2020 Jan 31;20(3).
    PMID: 32024016 DOI: 10.3390/s20030796
    A printed compact monopole antenna based on a single negative (SNG) metamaterial is proposed for ultra-wideband (UWB) applications. A low-profile, key-shaped structure forms the radiating monopole and is loaded with metamaterial unit cells with negative permittivity and more than 1.5 GHz bandwidth of near-zero refractive index (NZRI) property. The antenna offers a wide bandwidth from 3.08 to 14.1 GHz and an average gain of 4.54 dBi, with a peak gain of 6.12 dBi; this is in contrast to the poor performance when metamaterial is not used. Moreover, the maximum obtained radiation efficiency is 97%. A reasonable agreement between simulation and experiments is realized, demonstrating that the proposed antenna can operate over a wide bandwidth with symmetric split-ring resonator (SSRR) metamaterial structures and compact size of 14.5 × 22 mm2 (0.148 λ0 × 0.226 λ0) with respect to the lowest operating frequency.
  16. Arabinoxylan/graphene-oxide/nHAp-NPs/PVA bionano composite scaffolds for fractured bone healing
    Aslam Khan MU, Haider A, Abd Razak SI, Abdul Kadir MR, Haider S, Shah SA, et al.
    J Tissue Eng Regen Med, 2021 04;15(4):322-335.
    PMID: 33432773 DOI: 10.1002/term.3168
    The importance of bone scaffolds has increased many folds in the last few years; however, during bone implantation, bacterial infections compromise the implantation and tissue regeneration. This work is focused on this issue while not compromising on the properties of a scaffold for bone regeneration. Biocomposite scaffolds (BS) were fabricated via the freeze-drying technique. The samples were characterized for structural changes, surface morphology, porosity, and mechanical properties through spectroscopic (Fourier transform-infrared [FT-IR]), microscopic (scanning electron microscope [SEM]), X-ray (powder X-ray diffraction and energy-dispersive X-ray), and other analytical (Brunauer-Emmett-Teller, universal testing machine Instron) techniques. Antibacterial, cellular, and hemocompatibility assays were performed using standard protocols. FT-IR confirmed the interactions of all the components. SEM illustrated porous and interconnected porous morphology. The percentage porosity was in the range of 49.75%-67.28%, and the pore size was 215.65-470.87 µm. The pore size was perfect for cellular penetration. Thus, cells showed significant proliferation onto these scaffolds. X-ray studies confirmed the presence of nanohydroxyapatite and graphene oxide (GO). The cell viability was 85%-98% (BS1-BS3), which shows no significant toxicity of the biocomposite. Furthermore, the biocomposites exhibited better antibacterial activity, no effect on the blood clotting (normal in vitro blood clotting), and less than 5% hemolysis. The ultimate compression strength for the biocomposites increased from 4.05 to 7.94 with an increase in the GO content. These exciting results revealed that this material has the potential for possible application in bone tissue engineering.
  17. Thiadiazine thione derivatives as anti-leishmanial agents: synthesis, biological evaluation, structure activity relationship, ADMET, molecular docking and molecular dynamics simulation studies
    Tamanna, Fu C, Qadir M, Shah MIA, Shtaiwi A, Khan R, et al.
    J Biomol Struct Dyn, 2023 Aug 07.
    PMID: 37551015 DOI: 10.1080/07391102.2023.2245480
    During last decades, 3,5-disubstituted-tetrahydro-2H-thiadiazine-2-thione scaffold remains the center of interest due to their ease of preparation, diverse range substituents at N-3 and N-5 positions, and profound biological activities. In the current study, a series of 3,5-disubstituted-tetrahydro-2H-thiadiazine-2-thiones were synthesized in good to excellent yield, and the structure of the compounds were confirmed by various spectroscopic techniques such as FTIR, 1H-NMR, 13C-NMR and Mass spectrometry, and finally evaluated against Leishmania major. Whereas, all the evaluated compounds (1-33), demonstrate potential leishmanicidal activities with IC50 values in the range of (1.30- 149.98 uM). Among the evaluated compounds such as 3, 4, 6, and 10 exhibited excellent leishmanicidal activities with IC50 values of (2.17 μM), (2.39 μM), (2.00 μM), and (1.39 μM), respectively even better than the standard amphotericin B (IC50 = 0.50) and pentamidine (IC50 = 7.52). In order to investigate binding interaction of the most active compounds, molecular docking study was conducted with Leishmania major. Further molecular dynamic simulation study was also carried out to assess the stability and correct binding of the most active compound 10, within active site of the Leishamania major. Likewise, the physiochemical properties, drug likeness, and ADMET of the most active compounds were investigated, it was found that none of the compounds violate Lipiniski's rule of five, which show that this class of compounds had enough potential to be used as drug candidate in near future.Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma.
  18. Correction to: Heavy metals in popularly sold branded cigarettes in Bangladesh and associated health hazards from inhalation exposure
    Hasan M, Hossain MM, Abrarin S, Kormoker T, Billah MM, Bhuiyan MKA, et al.
    Environ Sci Pollut Res Int, 2023 Oct;30(46):103364.
    PMID: 37723402 DOI: 10.1007/s11356-023-29946-z
  19. Heavy metals in popularly sold branded cigarettes in Bangladesh and associated health hazards from inhalation exposure
    Hasan M, Hossain MM, Abrarin S, Kormoker T, Billah MM, Bhuiyan MKA, et al.
    Environ Sci Pollut Res Int, 2023 Sep;30(45):100828-100844.
    PMID: 37644270 DOI: 10.1007/s11356-023-29491-9
    Tobacco products are widely recognized as a major contributor to death. Cigarette smoke contains several toxic chemicals including heavy metals particulate causing high health risks. However, limited information has been available on the health risks associated with the heavy metals in cigarettes commonly sold in the Bangladeshi market. This study evaluated the concentrations and potential health risks posed by ten concerned heavy metals in ten widely consumed cigarette brands in Bangladesh using an atomic absorption spectrometer. The concentration (mg/kg) ranges of heavy metals Pb, Cd, Cr, As, Co, Ni, Mn, Fe, Cu, and Zn vary between 0.46-1.05, 0.55-1.03, 0.80-1.2, 0.22-0.40, 0.46-0.78, 2.59-3.03, 436.8-762.7, 115.8-184.4, 146.6-217.7, and 34.0-42.7, respectively. We assume that the heavy metals content among cigarette brands is varied due to the differences in the source of tobacco they use for cigarette preparation. The carcinogenic risks posed by heavy metals follow the order of Cr > Co > Cd > As > Ni > Pb, while the non-carcinogenic risks for Cu, Zn, Fe, and Mn were greater than unity (HQ > 1), except for Fe. The existence of toxic heavy metals in cigarette tobacco may thus introduce noticeable non-carcinogenic and carcinogenic health impacts accompanying inhalation exposure. This study provides the first comprehensive report so far on heavy metal concentration and associated health risks in branded cigarettes commonly sold in Bangladesh. Hence, this data and the information provided can serve as a baseline as well as a reference for future research and have potential implications for policy and legislation in Bangladesh.
  20. Fulltext Chromosome-length genome assembly and linkage map of a critically endangered Australian bird: the helmeted honeyeater
    Robledo-Ruiz DA, Gan HM, Kaur P, Dudchenko O, Weisz D, Khan R, et al.
    Gigascience, 2022 Mar 29;11.
    PMID: 35348671 DOI: 10.1093/gigascience/giac025
    BACKGROUND: The helmeted honeyeater (Lichenostomus melanops cassidix) is a Critically Endangered bird endemic to Victoria, Australia. To aid its conservation, the population is the subject of genetic rescue. To understand, monitor, and modulate the effects of genetic rescue on the helmeted honeyeater genome, a chromosome-length genome and a high-density linkage map are required.

    RESULTS: We used a combination of Illumina, Oxford Nanopore, and Hi-C sequencing technologies to assemble a chromosome-length genome of the helmeted honeyeater, comprising 906 scaffolds, with length of 1.1 Gb and scaffold N50 of 63.8 Mb. Annotation comprised 57,181 gene models. Using a pedigree of 257 birds and 53,111 single-nucleotide polymorphisms, we obtained high-density linkage and recombination maps for 25 autosomes and Z chromosome. The total sex-averaged linkage map was 1,347 cM long, with the male map being 6.7% longer than the female map. Recombination maps revealed sexually dimorphic recombination rates (overall higher in males), with average recombination rate of 1.8 cM/Mb. Comparative analyses revealed high synteny of the helmeted honeyeater genome with that of 3 passerine species (e.g., 32 Hi-C scaffolds mapped to 30 zebra finch autosomes and Z chromosome). The genome assembly and linkage map suggest that the helmeted honeyeater exhibits a fission of chromosome 1A into 2 chromosomes relative to zebra finch. PSMC analysis showed a ∼15-fold decline in effective population size to ∼60,000 from mid- to late Pleistocene.

    CONCLUSIONS: The annotated chromosome-length genome and high-density linkage map provide rich resources for evolutionary studies and will be fundamental in guiding conservation efforts for the helmeted honeyeater.

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