Preparation of a chiral hyperbranched polymer based on cinchona alkaloids and investigation of its catalytic activity in asymmetric reactions.

Cinchona alkaloid-derived sulfonamides and ester dimers containing chiral hyperbranched polymers have been successfully synthesized and applied as catalysts in asymmetric reactions. Several hyperbranched polymers derived from cinchona alkaloids, incorporating sulfonamides and esters, were synthesized through Mizoroki-Heck coupling polymerization. These polymers were subsequently applied in enantioselective Michael addition reactions. As the prepared polymers are not soluble in frequently used organic solvents, they act as efficient catalysts in the enantioselective reaction of ß-ketoesters to nitroolefins, achieving up to 99% enantioselectivity with good yields. The insoluble property allows them to better satisfy "green chemistry" requirements and be used several times without losing the enantioselectivity.

Advances of polyolefins from fiber to nanofiber: fabrication and recent applications.

Polyolefins are a widely accepted commodity polymer made from olefinic monomer consisting of carbon and hydrogen. This thermoplastic polymeric material is formed through reactive double bonds of olefins by the addition polymerization technique and it possesses a diverse range of unique features for a large variety of applications. Among the various types, polyethylene and polypropylene are the prominent classes of polyolefins that can be crafted and manipulated into diversified products for numerous applications. Research on polyolefins has boomed tremendously in recent times owing to the abundance of raw materials, low cost, lightweight, high chemical resistance, diverse functionalities, and outstanding physical characteristics. Polyolefins have also evidenced their potentiality as a fiber in micro to nanoscale and emerged as a fascinating material for widespread high-performance use. This review aims to provide an elucidation of the breakthroughs in polyolefins, namely as fibers, filaments, and yarns, and their applications in many domains such as medicine, body armor, and load-bearing industries. Moreover, the development of electrospun polyolefin nanofibers employing cutting-edge techniques and their prospective utilization in filtration, biomedical engineering, protective textiles, and lithium-ion batteries has been illustrated meticulously. Besides, this review delineates the challenges associated with the formation of polyolefin nanofiber using different techniques and critically analyzes overcoming the difficulties in forming functional nanofibers for the innovative field of applications.

Antibody-drug conjugates: the paradigm shifts in the targeted cancer therapy.

Cancer is one of the deadliest diseases, causing million of deaths each year globally. Conventional anti-cancer therapies are non-targeted and have systemic toxicities limiting their versatile applications in many cancers. So, there is an unmet need for more specific therapeutic options that will be effective as well as free from toxicities. Antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) are suitable alternatives with the right potential and improved therapeutic index for cancer therapy. The ADCs are highly precise new class of biopharmaceutical products that covalently linked a monoclonal antibody (mAb) (binds explicitly to a tumor-associated surface antigen) with a customized cytotoxic drug (kills cancer cells) and tied via a chemical linker (releases the drug). Due to its precise design, it brings about the target cell killing sparing the normal counterpart and free from the toxicities of conventional chemotherapy. It has never been so easy to develop potential ADCs for successful therapeutic usage. With relentless efforts, it took almost a century for scientists to advance the formula and design ADCs for its current clinical applications. Until now, several ADCs have passed successfully through preclinical and clinical trials and because of proven efficacy, a few are approved by the FDA to treat various cancer types. Even though ADCs posed some shortcomings like adverse effects and resistance at various stages of development, with continuous efforts most of these limitations are addressed and overcome to improve their efficacy. In this review, the basics of ADCs, physical and chemical properties, the evolution of design, limitations, and future potentials are discussed.

Lipoid Proteinosis: Identification of a Novel Nonsense Mutation c.1246C>T:p.R416X in ECM1 gene from Bangladesh.

Lipoid proteinosis is a rare multisystem genodermatosis inherited as autosomal recessive trait. We report a case of lipoid proteinosis in a 10-year-old boy born to first-degree consanguineous parents presented with marked hoarseness of voice, accelerated photoaging appearance, enlarged and erythematous tongue with restricted movement and widespread dermatoses. Biopsy of oral mucosa revealed Periodic acid-Schiff (PAS)-positive amorphous eosinophilic hyaline deposits. Mutational analysis revealed a homozygous nonsense mutation with C to T substitution at nucleotide position 1246(c.1246C>T) in exon-8 of the extracellular matrix protein 1 gene leading to a stop codon. Both the parents were unaffected heterozygous carriers. To our knowledge, this is the first case report of lipoid proteinosis with evidence of a novel nonsense genetic mutation from Bangladesh.

Antimicrobial Resistance: A Growing Serious Threat for Global Public Health.

Antibiotics are among the most important discoveries of the 20th century, having saved millions of lives from infectious diseases. Microbes have developed acquired antimicrobial resistance (AMR) to many drugs due to high selection pressure from increasing use and misuse of antibiotics over the years. The transmission and acquisition of AMR occur primarily via a human-human interface both within and outside of healthcare facilities. A huge number of interdependent factors related to healthcare and agriculture govern the development of AMR through various drug-resistance mechanisms. The emergence and spread of AMR from the unrestricted use of antimicrobials in livestock feed has been a major contributing factor. The prevalence of antimicrobial-resistant bacteria has attained an incongruous level worldwide and threatens global public health as a silent pandemic, necessitating urgent intervention. Therapeutic options of infections caused by antimicrobial-resistant bacteria are limited, resulting in significant morbidity and mortality with high financial impact. The paucity in discovery and supply of new novel antimicrobials to treat life-threatening infections by resistant pathogens stands in sharp contrast to demand. Immediate interventions to contain AMR include surveillance and monitoring, minimizing over-the-counter antibiotics and antibiotics in food animals, access to quality and affordable medicines, vaccines and diagnostics, and enforcement of legislation. An orchestrated collaborative action within and between multiple national and international organizations is required urgently, otherwise, a postantibiotic era can be a more real possibility than an apocalyptic fantasy for the 21st century. This narrative review highlights on this basis, mechanisms and factors in microbial resistance, and key strategies to combat antimicrobial resistance.

How technological innovation and electricity consumption affect environmental quality? A road map towards achieving environmental sustainability.

Still the world witnessed an upturn in environmental degradation in spite of commitment to climate change across the nations. However, this study attempts to examine linkages among environmental degradation, technological innovation, and electricity consumption in India from 1981 to 2018 using time series data. To examine the long-run equilibrium relationship among the studied variables, we used robust econometric methods such as the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL), fully modified ordinary least square (FMOLS), and dynamic ordinary least square (DOLS) methods. Furthermore, Granger causality also investigates through the vector error correction model (VECM) model, to assess inter-connotation among the underlying variables. From our empirical findings, urbanization, financial development, and technological innovation have a negative impact on carbon emissions, indicating long-term improvements in environmental quality. While economic development and electricity consumption are deteriorating environmental quality in India. The study's findings suggest that policymakers should prioritize renewable energy, which decreases environmental damage without impeding economic growth.

Conventional methods and future trends in antimicrobial susceptibility testing.

Antimicrobial susceptibility testing is an essential task for selecting appropriate antimicrobial agents to treat infectious diseases. Constant evolution has been observed in methods used in the diagnostic microbiology laboratories. Disc diffusion or broth microdilution are classical and conventional phenotypic methods with long turnaround time and labour-intensive but still widely practiced as gold-standard. Scientists are striving to develop innovative, novel and faster methods of antimicrobial susceptibility testing to be applicable for routine microbiological laboratory practice and research. To meet the requirements, there is an increasing trend towards automation, genotypic and micro/nano technology-based innovations. Automation in detection systems and integration of computers for online data analysis and data sharing are giant leaps towards versatile nature of automated methods currently in use. Genotypic methods detect a specific genetic marker associated with resistant phenotypes using molecular amplification techniques and genome sequencing. Microfluidics and microdroplets are recent addition in the continuous advancement of methods that show great promises with regards to safety and speed and have the prospect to identify and monitor resistance mechanisms. Although genotypic and microfluidics methods have many exciting features, however, their applications into routine clinical laboratory practice warrant extensive validation. The main impetus behind the evolution of methods in antimicrobial susceptibility testing is to shorten the overall turnaround time in obtaining the results and to enhance the ease of sample processing. This comprehensive narrative review summarises major conventional phenotypic methods and automated systems currently in use, and highlights principles of some of the emerging genotypic and micro/nanotechnology-based methods in antimicrobial susceptibility testing.

Genetic association in CYP3A4 and CYP3A5 genes elevate the risk of prostate cancer.

BACKGROUND: CYP3A4 and CYP3A5 are biologically potential genes responsible for prostate cancer. AIM: We aimed to analyse the expression and association of CYP3A4 and CYP3A5 genes in prostate cancer. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Web-based bioinformatics tools were used to assess the association of CYP3A4 and CYP3A5 genes with prostate cancer risks. A case-control study of 210 prostate cancer cases and 207 controls was also approved to determine the allelic variants of the CYP3A4 gene- rs2740574 (CYP3A4*1B) and the variant of CYP3A5 gene-rs776746 (CYP3A5*3) using Polymerase Chain Reaction-Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism (PCR-RFLP). The risk of prostate cancer was estimated as odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) using unrestricted logistic regression models. RESULTS: Our in silico data confirmed that both CYP3A4 and CYP3A5 genes are significantly associated with higher prostate cancer risks. In the case of CYP3A4*1B polymorphism, the heterozygote (*1 A/*1B), mutant (*1B/*1B), and combined heterozygote plus mutant (*1A/*1B+*1B/*1B) genotypes showed 3.52-fold, 3.90-fold, and 3.67-fold increased risk of prostate cancer, respectively. In the case of CYP3A5*3 polymorphism, the heterozygote (*1/*3), mutant (*3/*3), and combined (*1/*3+*3/*3) genotypes were found to be significantly associated with 5.11-, 5.49-, and 5.28-fold greater risk of prostate cancer, respectively. CONCLUSION: Our results indicate that CYP3A4*1B and CYP3A5*3 are significantly associated with increased prostate cancer risk.KEY MESSAGESBioinformatics tools were used and concluded that the CYP3A4 and CYP3A5 genes were significantly associated with the development and progression of prostate cancer.CYP3A4 and CYP3A5 polymorphisms were significantly associated with an increased risk of prostate cancer.Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR)-Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism (RFLP) was used to estimate polymorphisms of prostate cancer progression in the Bangladeshi population.

Addressing the effect of meteorological factors and agricultural subsidy on agricultural productivity in India: a roadmap toward environmental sustainability.

In the last two decades, the extensive literature that has measured agricultural productivity and growth rate remains controversial and provides few strategies about its main determinants. The present study aims to find out the key determinants of food grain yield (FGY) and examine the role of climate change and agricultural subsidy (SUB) in the context of India using annually data spanning from 1991 to 2018. The current study applied the ARDL modelling to investigate the impacts of climatic factors (average rainfall (RF), mean temperature (AT), and carbon emission (CO2) and agricultural subsidy (SUB) on food grain yield (FGY) in the short-and long-term in India. The estimated outcomes indicate that climatic factors such as RF have a positive impact while AT and CO2 have a negative effect on FGY. Similarly, non-climate variables such as gross capital formation (GCF) and fertilizer usage (FERT) positively contributed to FGY, while the area under crop (LUC), SUB, and employment (AL) negatively affected FGY in India. The results from Granger causality divulge that climatic and non-climatic elements are the main determinants of food grain yield, which have been playing play a significant role in enhancing food grain production and ensuring food security in India. Based on empirical outcomes and findings, some key policy implications emerged. Precisely, government and policy developers should focus on technological innovation and precision agriculture to increase agriculture production and productivity. Government should create funds to curb the climate change problem and promote eco-friendly renewable energy.

A survey on the incidence of common musculoskeletal side effects among the patients taking long-term anti-ulcerant therapies in Bangladesh.

Background: Proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) and H2 blockers are commonly prescribed medications to treat ulcers in the stomach and the upper part of the small intestine and prescribed for some other common gastrointestinal complications such as gastroesophageal reflux disease, esophagitis, irritable bowel syndrome, and dyspepsia. Previous studies claimed that, apart from other side effects, these anti-ulcerant therapies significantly altered bone mineral density by interfering with intestinal reabsorption of minerals and vitamin B12, and the most widely prescribed PPIs were significantly associated with increased risks of hip and spine fractures. However, the potential skeletal side effects of these antiulcerants are unknown in Bangladesh. Methods: To examine safety concerns of anti-ulcer therapies and their impact on musculoskeletal health among patients in Bangladesh, the present work surveyed 200 patients in five different hospitals from December 2019 to February 2020. Results: The current study revealed that most respondents (95 %) received PPIs for gastrointestinal indications while the rest were taking H2 receptor antagonists for their gastric ailments. Most patients taking PPIs alone (> 3 years; 95 % of respondents) claimed some unusual musculoskeletal side effects, such as weakness, flank pain, spasm of hands and feet, muscle aches, numbness, and tremor. About 61 % of patients taking PPIs experienced low back pain whereas the respondents with neck pain and knee joint pain were 10 % and 7 %, respectively. However, few osteopenia and osteoporotic incidences have been also recorded. Although further studies are required to confirm the impact of these antiulcerants on the bone, these patient responses suggest that these musculoskeletal side effects might have some links with altered bone metabolism. Conclusions: It is possible that anti-ulcerant therapies may worsen the bone metabolism of patients suffering from osteoporosis or other bone disorders, and awareness and precautions should be raised among the patients and clinicians for the careful administration of PPIs to patients suffering from bone disorders.