Immunoinformatics-based multi-epitope containing fused polypeptide vaccine design against visceral leishmaniasis with high immunogenicity and TLR binding.

Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is the most lethal among all leishmaniasis diseases and remains categorized as a neglected tropical disease (NTD). This study aimed to develop a peptide-based multi-epitope vaccine construct against VL using immunoinformatics methodologies. To achieve this, four distinct proteins were screened to identify peptides consisting of 9-15 amino acids with high binding affinity to toll-like receptors (TLRs), strong antigenicity, low allergenicity, and minimal toxicity. The resulting multi-epitope vaccine construct was fused in a tandem arrangement with appropriate linker peptides and exhibited superior properties related to cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs), helper T lymphocytes (HTLs), and B-cell epitopes. Subsequently, a three-dimensional (3D) model of the vaccine construct was generated, refined, and validated for structural stability and immune response capabilities. Molecular docking and simulations confirmed the vaccine construct's stability and binding affinities with TLRs, with TLR4 displaying the highest binding affinity, followed by TLR2 and TLR3. Additionally, simulations predicted robust cellular and humoral antibody-mediated immune responses elicited by the designed vaccine construct. Notably, this vaccine construct includes proteins from various pathways of Leishmania donovani (LD), which have not been previously utilized in VL vaccine design. Thus, this study opens new avenues for the development of vaccines against diverse protozoan diseases.

Triple-zero tillage and system intensification lead to enhanced productivity, micronutrient biofortification and moisture-stress tolerance ability in chickpea in a pearlmillet-chickpea cropping system of semi-arid climate.

Pearlmillet-chickpea cropping system (PCCS) is emerging as an important sequence in semi-arid regions of south-Asia owing to less water-requirement. However, chickpea (dry-season crop) faces comparatively acute soil moisture-deficit over pearlmillet (wet-season crop), limiting overall sustainability of PCCS. Hence, moisture-management (specifically in chickpea) and system intensification is highly essential for sustaining the PCCS in holistic manner. Since, conservation agriculture (CA) has emerged is an important climate-smart strategy to combat moisture-stress alongwith other production-vulnerabilities. Hence, current study comprised of three tillage systems in main-plots viz., Complete-CA with residue retention (CAc), Partial-CA without residue-retention (CAp), and Conventional-tillage (ConvTill) under three cropping systems in sub-plots viz., conventionally grown pearlmillet-chickpea cropping system (PCCS) alongwith two intensified systems i.e. pearlmillet-chickpea-fodder pearlmillet cropping system (PCFCS) and pearlmillet-chickpea-mungbean cropping system (PCMCS) in split-plot design. The investigation outcomes mainly focused on chickpea (dry-season crop) revealed that, on an average, there was a significant increase in chickpea grain yield under CAc to the tune of 27, 23.5 and 28.5% under PCCS, PCFCS and PCMCS, respectively over ConvTill. NPK uptake and micronutrient (Fe and Zn) biofortification in chickpea grains were again significantly higher under triple zero-tilled CAc plots with residue-retention; which was followed by triple zero-tilled CAp plots without residue-retention and the ConvTill plots. Likewise, CAc under PCMCS led to an increase in relative leaf water (RLW) content in chickpea by ~ 20.8% over ConvTill under PCCS, hence, ameliorating the moisture-stress effects. Interestingly, CA-management and system-intensification significantly enhanced the plant biochemical properties in chickpea viz., super-oxide dismutase, ascorbate peroxidase, catalase and glutathione reductase; thus, indicating their prime role in inducing moisture-stress tolerance ability in moisture-starved chickpea. Triple zero-tilled CAc plots also reduced the N2O fluxes in chickpea but with slightly higher CO2 emissions, however, curtailed the net GHG-emissions. Triple zero-tilled cropping systems (PCFCS and PCMCS) both under CAc and Cap led to a significant improvement in soil microbial population and soil enzymes activities (alkaline phosphatase, fluorescein diacetate, dehydrogenase). Overall, the PCCS system-intensification with mungbean (PCMCS) alongwith triple zero-tillage with residue-retention (CAc) may amply enhance the productivity, micronutrient biofortification and moisture-stress tolerance ability in chickpea besides propelling the ecological benefits under semi-arid agro-ecologies. However, the farmers should preserve a balance while adopting CAc or CAp where livestock equally competes for quality fodder.

RiRPSSP: A unified deep learning method for prediction of regular and irregular protein secondary structures.

Protein secondary structure prediction (PSSP) is an important and challenging task in protein bioinformatics. Protein secondary structures (SSs) are categorized in regular and irregular structure classes. Regular SSs, representing nearly 50% of amino acids consist of helices and sheets, whereas the remaining amino acids represent irregular SSs. [Formula: see text]-turns and [Formula: see text]-turns are the most abundant irregular SSs present in proteins. Existing methods are well developed for separate prediction of regular and irregular SSs. However, for more comprehensive PSSP, it is essential to develop a uniform model to predict all types of SSs simultaneously. In this work, using a novel dataset comprising dictionary of secondary structure of protein (DSSP)-based SSs and PROMOTIF-based [Formula: see text]-turns and [Formula: see text]-turns, we propose a unified deep learning model consisting of convolutional neural networks (CNNs) and long short-term memory networks (LSTMs) for simultaneous prediction of regular and irregular SSs. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study in PSSP covering both regular and irregular structures. The protein sequences in our constructed datasets, RiR6069 and RiR513, have been borrowed from benchmark CB6133 and CB513 datasets, respectively. The results are indicative of increased PSSP accuracy.

Assessing the Prevalence of Financial Toxicity, its Predictors and Association with Health- Related Quality of Life Among Radiation Oncology Patients in India: A Cross-Sectional Patient Reported Outcome Study.

PURPOSE: Financial toxicity has been associated with several clinical outcomes such as early mortality and poor quality of life. The aim of this study was to evaluate the magnitude of financial toxicity among radiation oncology patients and its association with health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in Indian health care settings. METHODS AND MATERIALS: This cross-sectional study was conducted among patients with cancer who had completed radiation therapy, either standalone or as part of a multimodal treatment. Financial toxicity and HRQOL were assessed using the Comprehensive Score for Financial Toxicity (COST) and Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy: General (FACT-G) measures, respectively. Associations between financial toxicity and HRQOL were assessed using Pearson correlation. Univariate and multivariate regression analyses were conducted to identify the factors associated with financial toxicity. RESULTS: A total of 350 patients were included in this study. Of the 350 participants, 57.7% were male, 95.7% had no health insurance, and 61% were diagnosed with Head & Neck cancers. The average COST score was 15.38 ± 9.18 (range, 2-35), and the average FACT-G score was 69.63 ± 12.25 (range, 33-99). Based on the total COST score, 7.4% of participants reported grade 3 and 44.9% reported grade 2 financial toxicity. A significant positive correlation was observed between the COST and FACT-G scores, with a correlation coefficient of 0.58 (P < .001), indicating a large effect size. The COST score also significantly predicted the FACT-G score (ß = 0.77; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.66-0.88; P < .001). The results of multivariate linear regression identified annual household income (ß = 3.9; 95% CI, 3.29-4.57; P < .001) and cancer type (ß = 3.74; 95% CI, 2.33-5.14; P < .001) as significant predictors of the COST score. CONCLUSIONS: More than 80% of the participants experienced financial toxicity in this study. The results highlight the need for interventions to alleviate the growing financial toxicity among cancer survivors in India.

High pressure CO2 adsorption onto Malaysian Mukah-Balingian coals: Adsorption isotherms, thermodynamic and kinetic investigations.

CO2 sequestration into coalbed seams is one of the practical routes for mitigating CO2 emissions. The adsorption mechanisms of CO2 onto Malaysian coals, however, are not yet investigated. In this research CO2 adsorption isotherms were first performed on dry and wet Mukah-Balingian coal samples at temperatures ranging from 300 to 348 K and pressures up to 6 MPa using volumetric technique. The dry S1 coal showed the highest CO2 adsorption capacity of 1.3 mmol g-1, at 300 K and 6 MPa among the other coal samples. The experimental results of CO2 adsorption were investigated using adsorption isotherms, thermodynamics, and kinetic models. Nonlinear analysis has been employed to investigate the data of CO2 adsorption onto coal samples via three parameter isotherm equilibrium models, namely Redlich Peterson, Koble Corrigan, Toth, Sips, and Hill, and four parameter equilibrium model, namely Jensen Seaton. The results of adsorption isotherm suggested that the Jensen Seaton model described the experimental data well. Gibb's free energy change values are negative, suggesting that CO2 adsorption onto the coal occurred randomly. Enthalpy change values in the negative range established that CO2 adsorption onto coal is an exothermic mechanism. Webber's pore-diffusion model, in particular, demonstrated that pore-diffusion was the main controlling stage in CO2 adsorption onto coal matrix. The activation energy of the coals was calculated to be below -13 kJ mol-1, indicating that adsorption of CO2 onto coals occurred through physisorption. The results demonstrate that CO2 adsorption onto coal matrix is favorable, spontaneous, and the adsorbed CO2 molecules accumulate more onto coal matrix. The observations of this investigation have significant implications for a more accurate measurement of CO2 injection into Malaysian coalbed seams.

Designing of Peptide Based Multi-Epitope Vaccine Construct against Gallbladder Cancer Using Immunoinformatics and Computational Approaches.

Gallbladder cancer (GBC) is an aggressive and difficult to treat biliary tract carcinoma with a poor survival rate. The aim of this study was to design a peptide-based multi-epitope vaccine construct against GBC using immunoinformatics approaches. Three proteins implicated in the progression of GBC were selected for B and T cell epitope prediction and the designing of the potential vaccine construct. Seven CTL, four HTL and six Bcell epitopes along with a suitable adjuvant were selected and connected using linkers for designing the vaccine construct. The secondary and tertiary models of the designed vaccine were generated and satisfactorily validated. A Ramachandran plot of the final 3D model showed more than 90% of the residues in allowed regions and only 0.4% in disallowed regions. The binding affinity of a vaccine construct with TLR 2, 3 and 4 receptors was assessed through molecular docking and simulation. The average numbers of hydrogen bonds for vaccine-TLR 2, 3 and 4 complexes in the simulation were 15.36, 16.45, and 11.98, respectively, and remained consistent over a 100 ns simulation period, which is critical for their function. The results of this study provide a strong basis for further evaluation through in vitro/in vivo experimental validation of the safety and efficacy of the designed vaccine construct.

Knowledge and Attitude on Childhood Vaccination among Healthcare Workers in Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia.

(1) Background: Vaccine hesitancy is recognized as an important issue globally and healthcare workers (HCWs) have a powerful influence on the public. Recent studies have reported that there are increasing numbers of vaccine hesitancies among HCWs. This study was conducted to assess the knowledge and attitudes on childhood vaccinations among HCWs in Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia (HUSM). (2) Methods: This is a cross-sectional study conducted among one hundred and ninety-eight HCWs in HUSM, Kubang Kerian, Kelantan who were selected via convenient sampling. Data on their socio-demographic details, working experience, and main source of information regarding childhood vaccination were collected. A validated, Malay version of the knowledge and attitude on childhood vaccination (KACV) questionnaire was used during the study. (3) Results: Female (OR (95% CI):3.15, (1.39, 7.12), p < 0.05) and a higher education level (degree and above) (OR (95% CI): 2.36 (1.14, 4.89), p < 0.05) are significantly associated with good knowledge. Respondents with a history of side effects of the vaccines among their relatives were about 66% less likely to have good knowledge (OR (95% CI): 0.342 (0.16, 0.73), p < 0.05). A positive attitude towards childhood vaccination was significantly associated with a higher level of education participants, who had significantly better knowledge than participants with a lower education level (OR (95% CI): 3.81, (1.92, 7.57), p < 0.001). On the contrary, participants having direct contact with patients were less likely to have a good attitude towards childhood vaccination (OR (95% CI): 0.207 (0.043, 0.10), p < 0.05), and those with a history of severe side effects of the vaccines among their relatives were also significantly associated with a poor attitude towards childhood vaccination (OR (95% CI: 0.342 (0.16, 0.76), p < 0.05).; (4) Conclusions: The survey findings showed a good level of knowledge and a good attitude of participants towards childhood vaccination. Good knowledge is important for the HCWs to have a favourable attitude to educate the general population on childhood vaccination.

Functionalized organic filler based integrated membranes for environmental remediation.

Mixed matrix membranes (MMMs) are synthesized for efficient CO2 separation released from various anthropogenic sources, which are due to global environmental concerns. The synergetic effect of porous nitrogen-rich, CO2-philic filler and polymer in mixed matrix-based membranes (MMMs) can separate CO2 competent. The development of various loadings of porphyrin poly(N-isopropyl Acryl Amide) (P-NIPAM)as functionalized organic fillers (5-20%) in polysulfone (PSU) through solution casting is carried out followed by the various characterizations including field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD), Fourier Transform Infrared Spectrometer(FT-IR) analysis and pure and mixed gas permeations ranging from 2 to 10 bar feed pressure. Due to both organic species interactions in the matrix, well-distributed fillers and homogenous surfaces, and cross-sectional structures were observed due to π-π interactions and Lewis's basic functionalities. The strong affinity of porous nitrogen-rich and CO2-philic fillers through gas permeation analysis showed high CO2/CH4 and CO2/N2 gas performance that surpassed Robeson's upper bound limit. Comparatively, MMMs showed improved CO2/CH4 permeabilities from 87.5 ± 0.5 Barrer to 88.2 ± 0.9 Barrer than pure polymer matrix. For CO2/N2, CO2 permeabilities improved to 75 ± 0.8 Barrer than pure polymer matrix. For both gas pairs (CO2/CH4, CO2/N2), respective pureselectivities (84%; 86%) and binary selectivities (85% and 85%)were improved. Various theoretical gas permeation models were used to predict CO2 permeabilities for MMMs from which the modified Maxwell-Wagner-Sillar model showed the least AARE% of 0.87. The results showed promising results for efficient CO2 separation due to exceptional functionalized P-PNIPAM affinitive properties. Finally, cost analysis reflected the inflated cost of membranes production for industrial setup using indigenous resources.

A mechanistic approach for toxicity and risk assessment of heavy metals, hydroquinone and microorganisms in cosmetic creams.

The demand and importance of fairness creams as a major cosmetic have increased significantly in recent years. However, some of these cosmetics contain heavy metals, hydroquinone and microorganism that can cause various health problems. Therefore, the aim of this study is to determine and examine the concentration of metals (i.e. Cd, Pb, Cr, Ni, Zn, Hg), hydroquinone and microorganisms in nine different fairness creams produced by local and international brands. The health risk assessment of the tested substances for consumers was accessed through systemic exposure dosage (SED), margin of safety (MoS), lifetime cancer risk (LCR), hazard quotient (HQ) and hazard index (HI). The concentration of Zn and Hg were found the highest and measured in the range of 17.82-138.06 mg.kg-1 and 2.3-141 mg.kg-1, respectively. The concentrations of other metals were determined as 0.06-0.67 mg.kg-1 of Cd, 0.43-1.55 mg.kg-1 of Cr, 0.14-1.43 mg.kg-1 of Ni and 0.3-1.34 mg.kg-1 of Pb. HPLC results showed a significant presence of hydroquinone in the range of 0.12-7.2%. The total viable counts of cosmetic samples showed the substantial presence of microorganisms, and 44% of the collected samples surpassed the permissible limit of 100 cfu/g recommended by European Union. Many of the collected samples exceeded the MoS, HQ and HI tolerance limits. However, the LCR value in all samples was significantly higher than the acceptable limit. Therefore, it is advised to avoid overuse of these products in order to ensure human safety and reduce the risks to skin health.

Menace of antimicrobial resistance in LMICs: Current surveillance practices and control measures to tackle hostility.

Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) is significant challenge humanity faces today, with many patients losing their lives every year due to AMR. It is more widespread and has shown a higher prevalence in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) due to lack of awareness and other associated reasons. WHO has suggested some crucial guidelines and specific strategies such as antimicrobial stewardship programs taken at the institutional level to combat AMR. Creating awareness at the grassroots level can help to reduce the AMR and promote safe and effective use of antimicrobials. Control strategies in curbing AMR also comprise hygiene and sanitation as microbes travel from contaminated surroundings to the human body surface. As resistance to multiple drugs increases, vaccines can play a significant role in curbing the menace of AMR. This article summarizes the current surveillance practices and applied control measures to tackle the hostility in these countries with particular reference to the role of antimicrobial stewardship programs and the responsibilities of regulatory authorities in managing the situation.

Phyllosilicate derived catalysts for efficient conversion of lignocellulosic derived biomass to biodiesel: A review.

The efforts have been made to review phyllosilicate derived (clay-based) heterogeneous catalysts for biodiesel production via lignocellulose derived feedstocks. These catalysts have many practical and potential applications in green catalysis. Phyllosilicate derived heterogeneous catalysts (modified via any of these approaches like acid activated clays, ion exchanged clays and layered double hydroxides) exhibits excellent catalytic activity for producing cost effective and high yield biodiesel. The combination of different protocols (intercalated catalysts, ion exchanged catalysts, acidic activated clay catalysts, clay-supported catalysts, composites and hybrids, pillared interlayer clay catalysts, and hierarchically structured catalysts) was implemented so as to achieve the synergetic effects (acidic-basic) in resultant material (catalyst) for efficient conversion of lignocellulose derived feedstock (non-edible oils) to biodiesel. Utilisation of these Phyllosilicate derived catalysts will pave path for future researchers to investigate the cost-effective, accessible and improved approaches in synthesising novel catalysts that could be used for converting lignocellulosic biomass to eco-friendly biodiesel.

Treatment of Hospital wastewater with submerged aerobic fixed film reactor coupled with tube-settler.

In this study, Hospital wastewater was treated using a submerged aerobic fixed film (SAFF) reactor coupled with tubesettler in series. SAFF consisted of a column with an up-flow biofilter. The biological oxygen demand (BOD)5, chemical oxygen demand (COD), nitrate and phosphate were the chosen pollutants for evaluation. The pollutants removal efficiency was determined at varying organic loading rates and hydraulic retention time. The organic loading rate was varied between 0.25 and 1.25 kg COD m-3 d-1. The removal efficiency of SAFF and tubesettler combined was 75 % COD, 67 % BOD and 67 % phosphate, respectively. However, nitrate saw an increase in concentration by 25 %. SAFF contribution in the removal of COD, BOD5 and Phosphate was 48 %, 46 % and 29 %, respectively. While for accumulation of nitrate, it was responsible for 56%, respectively. Tubesettler performed better than SAFF with 52 %, 54 % and 69 % reduction of COD, BOD5 and phosphate, respectively. But in terms of nitrate, tubesettler was responsible for 44 % accumulation. The nutrient reduction decreased with an increase in the organic loading rate. Nitrification was observed in the SAFF and tubesettler, which indicated a well-aerated system. An anaerobic unit is required for completing the denitrification process and removing nitrogen from the effluent. The better performance of tubesettler over SAFF calls for necessitates extended retention time over design criteria. Further studies are beneficial to investigate the impact of pharmaceutical compounds on the efficiency of SAFF.

Challenges and recent trends with the development of hydrogel fiber for biomedical applications.

Hydrogel is the most emblematic soft material which possesses significantly tunable and programmable characteristics. Polymer hydrogels possess significant advantages including, biocompatible, simple, reliable and low cost. Therefore, research on the development of hydrogel for biomedical applications has been grown intensely. However, hydrogel development is challenging and required significant effort before the application at an industrial scale. Therefore, the current work focused on evaluating recent trends and issues with hydrogel development for biomedical applications. In addition, the hydrogel's development methodology, physicochemical properties, and biomedical applications are evaluated and benchmarked against the reported literature. Later, biomedical applications of the nano-cellulose-based hydrogel are considered and critically discussed. Based on a detailed review, it has been found that the surface energy, intermolecular interactions, and interactions of hydrogel adhesion forces are major challenges that contribute to the development of hydrogel. In addition, compared to other hydrogels, nanocellulose hydrogels demonstrated higher potential for drug delivery, 3D cell culture, diagnostics, tissue engineering, tissue therapies and gene therapies. Overall, nanocellulose hydrogel has the potential for commercialization for different biomedical applications.

Effect of process parameters over carbon-based ZIF-62 nano-rooted membrane for environmental pollutants separation.

The paper evaluates the routes towards the evaluation of membranes using ZIF-62 metal organic framework (MOF) nano-hybrid dots for environmental remediation. Optimization of interaction of operating parameters over the rooted membrane is challenging issue. Subsequently, the interaction of operating parameters including temperature, pressure and CO2 gas concentration over the resultant rooted membranes are evaluated and optimized using response surface methodology for environmental remediation. In addition, the stability and effect of hydrocarbons on the performance of the resulting membrane during the gas mixture separation are evaluated at optimum conditions to meet the industrial requirements. The characterization results verified the fabrication of the ZIF-62 MOF rooted composite membrane. The permeation results demonstrated that the CO2 permeability and CO2/CH4 selectivity of the composite membrane was increased from 15.8 to 84.8 Barrer and 12.2 to 35.3 upon integration of ZIF-62 nano-glass into cellulose acetate (CA) polymer. Subsequently, the optimum conditions have been found at a temperature of 30 °C, the pressure of 12.6 bar and CO2 feed concentration of 53.3 vol%. These optimum conditions revealed the highest CO2 permeability, CH4 permeability and CO2/CH4 separation factor of 47.9 Barrer, 0.2 Barrer and 26.8. The presence of hydrocarbons in gas mixture dropped the CO2 permeability of 56.5% and separation factor of 46.4% during 206 h of testing. The separation performance of the composite membrane remained stable without the presence of hydrocarbons for 206 h.

A review on sensing and catalytic activity of nano-catalyst for synthesis of one-step ammonia and urea: Challenges and perspectives.

One of the most significant chemical operations in the past century was the Haber-Bosch catalytic synthesis of ammonia, a fertilizer vital to human life. Many catalysts are developed for effective route of ammonia synthesis. The major challenges are to reduce temperature and pressure of process and to improve conversion of reactants produce green ammonia. The present review, briefly discusses the evolution of ammonia synthesis and current advances in nanocatalyst development. There are promising new ammonia synthesis catalysts of different morphology as well as magnetic nanoparticles and nanowires that could replace conventional Fused-Fe and Promoted-Ru catalysts in existing ammonia synthesis plants. These magnetic nanocatalyst could be basis for the production of magnetically induced one-step green ammonia and urea synthesis processes in future.

Development and validation of the knowledge and attitude regarding childhood vaccination (KACV) questionnaire among healthcare workers: the Malay version.

Health care workers play an important role in supporting childhood vaccination as they are the most trusted source of vaccine-related information for parents. However, there is limited validated tools to measure their knowledge and attitude on childhood vaccination. This study aims to develop and validate knowledge and attitude regarding childhood vaccination (KACV) questionnaire among healthcare workers. The questionnaire was developed based on literature reviews and underwent a sequential validation process, including content, face validity and exploratory factor analysis. However, the attitude section is unidimensional and has undergone reliability analysis only. The preliminary knowledge questionnaire contains 33 items and the attitude questionnaire consists of 17 items. The preliminary KACV showed a high item Content Validity Index and Face Validity Index. The final questionnaire consists of 10 items for knowledge and 15 items for attitude. The Cronbach alpha for the knowledge and attitude section were 0.896 and 0.861, respectively. KACV is a valid and reliable tool to measure healthcare workers' knowledge and attitude on childhood vaccination.

Self-healing epoxy coating synthesis by embedment of metal 2-methyl imidazole and acetylacetonate complexes with microcapsules.

The restoration of mechanical properties is desired for creating the self-healing coatings with no corrosion capabilities. The encapsulation of epoxy resins is limited by various factors in urea and melamine formaldehyde microcapsules. An improved method was developed, where epoxy resin was encapsulated by individual wrapping of poly(melamine-formaldehyde) and poly(urea-formaldehyde) shell around emulsified epoxy droplets via oil-in-water emulsion polymerization method. The synthesized materials were characterized analytically. The curing of the epoxy was achieved by adding the [Ni/Co(2-MI)6].2NO3 as a latent hardener and iron acetylacetonate [Fe(acac)3] as a latent accelerator. Isothermal and non-isothermal differential scanning calorimetric analysis revealed lower curing temperature (Tonset = 116 °C) and lower activation energies (Ea ≈ 69-75 kJ/mol). The addition of microcapsules and complexes did not adversely alter the flexural strength and flexural modulus of the epoxy coatings. The adhesion strength of neat coating decreased from 6310.8 ± 31 to 4720.9 ± 60 kPa and percent healing increased from 50.83 to 67.45% in the presence of acetylacetonate complex at 10 wt% of microcapsules.

Assessing the reliability and validity of comprehensive score for financial toxicity (COST) among radiation oncology patients in India: a cross-sectional pilot study.

BACKGROUND: Besides physical toxicity, cancer care imposes significant financial distress referred to as financial toxicity (FT). FT has become a growing concern among cancer patients. Researchers have associated FT among cancer patients with clinical outcomes like mortality, poor quality of life and non-adherence. Currently, no reliable tools are available for assessing FT among cancer patients in India. The aim of this pilot study was to test the reliability and validity of the Comprehensive Score for Financial Toxicity (COST) questionnaire among patients undergoing radiotherapy in India. MATERIAL AND METHODS: This cross-sectional pilot study was conducted among head and neck cancer patients on follow-up in radiation oncology department. The reliability of COST measure was assessed using Cronbach's α. The underlying construct of COST was verified by Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA). EFA was performed using parallel analysis technique. RESULTS: Based on inclusion and exclusion criteria, the COST questionnaire was administered to 29 patients using the interview method after written informed consent. The COST measure demonstrated excellent reliability with Cronbach's α of 0.92. A Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin of 0.87 verified the sample adequacy and a p-value of ˂0.001on Bartlett's sphericity test indicated that the strength of the correlation between 11 COST items was good to perform the EFA. Parallel analysis technique identified one factor on scree plot with eigenvalue of 6.21 explaining 56.5% of the variance by non-rotated solution. All the factor loadings in one factor model were ˃0.3 (range 0.35-0.97). The factor loadings indicated that the underlying construct can be considered as one factor domain as intended by the original COST development study. However, Chi-square goodness of fit test revealed the one factor model did not adequately depict the data. However, the results were consistent with the construct obtained in the original scale development study. CONCLUSION: This pilot study demonstrated excellent reliability of COST for measuring FT among radiation oncology patients. Further studies are warranted to study the clinical implications of FT in the Indian population for making better strategies and policies to ease the financial burden on cancer patients.

Fabrication and performance evaluation of polymeric membrane using blood compatible hydroxyapatite for artificial kidney application.

In the current study, a phase inversion scheme was employed to fabricate hydroxyapatite (HA)/polysulfone (PSF)-based asymmetric membranes using a film applicator with water as a solvent and nonsolvent exchanging medium. Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) spectroscopic studies were conducted to confirm the bonding chemistry and purity of filler. The inherent thick nature of PSF generated sponge-like shape while the instantaneous demixing process produced finger-like pore networks in HA/PSF-based asymmetric membranes as exhibited by scanning electron microscope (SEM) micrographs. The FTIR spectra confirmed noncovalent weak attractions toward the polymer surface. The leaching ratio was evaluated to observe the dispersion behavior of HA filler in membrane composition. Hydrophilicity, pore profile, pure water permeation (PWP) flux, and molecular weight cutoff (MWCO) values of all formulated membranes were also calculated. Antifouling results revealed that HA modified PSF membranes exhibited 43% less adhesion of bovine serum albumin (BSA) together with >86% recovery of flux. Membrane composition showed 74% total resistance, out of which 60% was reversible resistance. Biocompatibility evaluation revealed that the modified membranes exhibited prothrombin time (PT), and thrombin time (TT) comparable with typical blood plasma, whereas proliferation of living cells over membrane surface proved its nontoxic behavior toward biomedical application. The urea and creatinine showed effective adsorption aptitude toward HA loaded PSF membranes.

Sustainable mixed matrix membranes containing porphyrin and polysulfone polymer for acid gas separations.

The synergetic effect of nitrogen-rich and CO2-philic filler and polymer in mixed matrix-based membranes (MMMs) can separate CO2 competently. The introduction of well-defined nanostructured porous fillers of pores close to the kinetic diameter of the gas molecule and polymer matrix compatibility is a challenge in improving the gas transportation characteristics of MMMs. This study deals with the preparation of porphyrin filler and the polysulfone (PSf) polymer MMMs. The fillers demonstrated uniform distribution, uniformity, and successful bond formation. MMMs demonstrated high thermal stability with a glass transition temperature in the range of 480-610 °C. The porphyrin filler exhibited microporous nature with the presence of π-π bonds and Lewis's basic functionalities between filler-polymer resulted in a highly CO2-philic structure. The pure and mixed gas permeabilities and selectivity were successfully improved and surpass the Robeson's upper bound curve's tradeoff. Additionally, the temperature influence on CO2 permeability revealed lower activation energies at higher temperatures leading to the gas transport facilitation. This can be granted consistency and long-term durability in polymer chains. These results highlight the unique properties of porphyrin fillers in CO2 separation mixed matrix membranes and offer new knowledge to increase comprehension of PSf performance under various contents or environments.