Understanding the Mechanism of Cs Accumulation on Stainless Steel Suspended in Nuclear High-Level Liquid Waste.

In a nuclear facility, the surface of stainless steels (SS) was found to be contaminated during the processing of radioactive liquid waste. Their safe and secure disposal is highly challenging to the nuclear industry. If the fundamental property of steel corrosion could be evaluated, successful decontamination and effective decommissioning strategies could be planned. Although individual radionuclide contamination behavior on SS metal was studied, till date, SS contamination behavior under the exposure of high-level liquid waste (HLLW) was unexplored. In view of this, investigations were carried out to understand the nature of contamination in SS 304L alloy under the exposure of simulated HLLW (SHLLW). For understanding of radionuclide adsorption behavior on structural materials, scanning electron microscopy/energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy have been utilized for SS 304L. The solutions were analyzed using inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy to calculate the changes in the elemental composition of the solution and corrosion behavior of SS. The passivation of SS coupons was observed in the presence of HNO3 due to enrichment of Cr at the surface. The deposition of Cs and Mo was noticed, while SS coupons were exposed to SHLLW. At 3 M HNO3 and room temperature, the SS surface is mildly passivated by Cr enrichment by formation of a Cr oxide layer on the SS surface. However, the passive layer was not thick enough to attenuate the signal from the substrate below the passivated layer. Hence, Fe0 and Cr0 were also found along with Cr3+ and Fe3+ (in small quantity). When temperature was elevated to 70 °C, the SS surface was completely covered with the Cr oxide layer, and hence no Cr0 signal was observed. The small signal of Fe0 indicated that the signal from the substrate surface is present below the passive layer. During the passivation process, Cr diffused toward the passive layer, thereby producing a Cr-depleted layer below the passive layer (Cr0 signal was not seen). In the case of SHLLW at 70 °C, the surface was fully covered by Cr3+, Mo6+, and Cs+. Fe and Ni were not observed at all. This finding will help to design an effective corrosion inhibitor and suitable decontamination agent. In addition to that, this information was found to be useful in designing high-performance novel and modern age reactor materials with improved characteristics.

Morphological Tuning of Nanostructured Hydroxyapatite (HAp) Porous Microgranules by Evaporation-Induced Assembly.

Porous biocompatible microgranules, such as hydroxyapatite (HAp), are potential candidates for various bio-medical applications including drug delivery and remediation. Using the principle of evaporation-induced assembly in contact free dispersion droplets, we have synthesized porous micrometric HAp granules consist of interlocked ellipsoidal nanoparticles. We have shown that the shape of the microgranules can be tuned from spherical to doughnut solely by controlling the drying temperature during assembly. The structure and interparticle correlation in the synthesized granules have been probed by electron microscopy and small-angle scattering. The observed morphological transition has been attributed to the buckling of elastic shell made of interlocked HAp nanoparticles. Alteration of granular morphology at higher drying rate does not affect the local packing fraction of the correlated HAp nanoparticles in the granules. The absorption of bovine serum albumin protein by the synthesized granules has been tested as a potential application.

Cardiovascular disease among patients with type 2 diabetes: Role of Homocysteine as an inflammatory marker.

It is known that inflammation has a role in the pathogenesis of cardiovascular diseases; measurement of inflammatory markers improves the risk prediction of cardiovascular diseases. Hyperhomocysteinemia has been correlated with the occurrence of blood clots, heart attacks and strokes; though it is unclear whether hyperhomocysteinemia is an independent risk factor for these conditions. In the present study, we aimed to evaluate the role of homocysteine in type 2 diabetes patients with cardiovascular disease in a population of Madhya Pradesh India. Total 100 type 2 diabetes patients were included in the study, of these 50 had angiographically proven cardiovascular disease and 50 had no evidence of it. High sensitivity C-reactive protein, fibrinogen, and lipoprotein (a) were measured in serum. Homocysteine, blood glucose in plasma, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, glycated haemoglobin were measured in whole blood. A albumin excretion rate, creatinine clearance rate were measured in the urine sample for renal function. It was shown that, levels of homocysteine and other inflammatory markers were elevated significantly in the group II (n = 50). A correlation between hyperhomocysteinemia and inflammatory markers in patients with impaired renal function was observed. It was concluded that impairment of renal function is a key factor that affects homocysteine level.

Cardiovascular Diseases Risk Prediction by Homocysteine in Comparison to other Markers: A Study from Madhya Pradesh.

INTRODUCTION: Atherosclerosis is associated with increased inflammatory activity and risk of vascular disease. However, the factors that promote inflammation are not apparently clear. In the present study we aimed to evaluate levels of homocysteine in comparison with other markers including inflammatory risk predictor of cardiovascular disease. METHODS: A total of 200 patients were included in the study, of these 100 were angiographically proven cardiovascular disease patients and 100 were not suffering from any cardiovascular disease. Levels of homocysteine, hs-CRP, lipoprotein(a), HbA1c and blood lipid were measured along with anthropometric and demographic parameters. RESULTS: Levels of homocysteine and other markers were significantly increased in diseased group in comparisons to control. CONCLUSION: There is a very high sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy with 89% positive predictive value and 39.48 odds ratio for homocysteine in cardiovascular patients when compared to other risk factors.

Comparative analysis of lycopene in oxidative stress.

OBJECTIVE: Lycopene is a phytochemical, found in tomatoes having singlet oxygen quenching ability higher than other antioxidants, participates in most of chemical reactions to protect critical cellular biomolecules. Present study is to analyze effect of tomato's lycopene, synthetic lycopene, its placebo form in patients of OS. METHODS: Study includes 45 patients having oxidative stress, age 40-60 years and 30 age and sex matched healthy control. Blood samples were collected at the enrollment, end of 2 weeks of lycopene restricted diet and after 10 weeks of lycopene supplementation. Oxidative stress biomarkers MDA, SOD, GPX, GR, GSH, Catalase, vitamin C and E were measured. RESULTS: Results of study revealed decreased lipid peroxidation and OS after various forms of lycopene supplementation but comparative analysis showed significant increase in OS biomarkers except MDA in patients receiving synthetic lycopene as compare to natural and placebo form. CONCLUSION: Dietary intake of tomato lycopene is beneficial to fight against OS but in the synthetic form it is more bioavailable and more effective against OS.

Comparative study of nitro blue tetrazolium (NBT) reduction method for estimation of glycated haemoglobin with glycated HbA1c estimated on DCA2000+analyzer (immunoagglutination inhibition).

Glycated haemoglobin is a diagnostic tool, used for the monitoring of the glycemic status among diabetic patients. The present study is designed to compare and correlate modified NBT reduction method for the estimation of Glycated protein (Glycated Haemoglobin) with HbA1C estimated on DCA+2000Analyzer. Glycated protein reduces Nitro Blue Tetrazolium (NBT) reagent in alkaline medium to tetrazinolyl radical NBT+ which is disproportional to yield a highly colored formazan dye (MF+) (monoformazen), absorbance of colored compound was measured which gives the concentration of glycated proteins present in the sample. Heme free globin (glycated hemoglobin) was extracted out and dissolved immediately in 1 ml normal saline. Dissolved globin was treated with modified NBT reagent, absorbance of color developed was recorded in milli delta A/min. The results of modified NBT were then compared with HbA1c estimated by immunoagglutination inhibition method. Correlation coefficient between Glycated hemoglobin and HbAlc was found to be r=0.926 using Schimadzu CL-750 spectrophotometer and r=0.902 using colorimeter. Results of this study were found to be statistically significant p < 0.001. Thus the present study concludes that Glycated hemoglobin testing by modified NBT reduction method is as sensitive as HbAlc estimated by DCA2000+Analyzer (immunoagglutination inhibition). Hence it could be used for routine monitoring of blood glucose control level in diabetic subjects.

Comparative study of NBT reduction method for estimation of glycated protein (serum fructoseamine) with glycated HbA1c estimated on DCA 2000+Analyzer (immunoagglutination inhibition).

Glycated protein estimation is a diagnostic tool, used for the long term and short term monitoring of the glycemic status of diabetic patients. The present study is designed to compare and correlate modified NBT reduction method for the estimation of Glycated protein (serum fructosamine) with HbAlc estimated on DCA+2000 Analyzer. Glycated protein (serum fructosamine) reduces Nitro Blue Tetrazolium (NBT) reagent in alkaline medium to tetrazinolyl radical NBT+ which forms a highly colored monoformazen compound, absorbance of which is directly proportional to the concentration of glycated protein (serum fructosamine) present in the sample and is recorded as delta A/min. The results of modified NBT were then compared with HbA1c estimated by immunoagglutination inhibition method. Correlation coefficient between HbAlc with serum fructosamine was found to be r = 0.739 using Schimadzu CL-750 spectrophotometer and r = 0.731 using colorimeter. Results of this study were found to be statistically significant P < 0.001. Hence this method could be used for routine monitoring of blood glucose control in diabetics as HbA1c estimation.

Dissolution behaviour of nalidixic acid solid dispersions using water soluble dispersion carriers.

The oral bioavailability of nalidixic acid (NA) is low due to its poor solubility and slow dissolution. Solid dispersions of NA containing varying concentrations of polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP), beta-cyclodextrin (BCD) and sodium starch glycolate (SSG) were prepared by solvent evaporation technique in an attempt to improve dissolution rate of NA. Physical characterization of NA, physical mixtures (PM) and solid dispersions were investigated by a variety of analytical methods including scanning electron microscopy (SEM), infrared (IR) spectroscopy and powder X-ray diffraction (XRD). SEM was useful in the verification of possible nalidixic acid inclusion in the dispersion system by studying its surface and shape characteristics of different samples. IR analysis demonstrated no strong interaction between the drug and the carrier exists in the solid dispersions. The degree of crystallinity of nalidixic acid decreased and also differed with the dispersion systems of different carriers. Disolution studies indicated that the dissolution rate and percent dissolution efficiency (DE) were significantly increased in the solid dispersions compared with drug alone. The relative potency of the carriers to enhance the dissolution rate of nalidixic acid was in the order: BCD > PVP > SSG. The dissolution rate of the drug in the solid dispersions was faster when the ration of the drug to carrier was smaller. F-test suggests that first order model may be used for explaining the kinetics of drug release from all the solid dispersion systems.