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Despite the availability of different treatments for type 2 diabetes (T2D), post-diagnosis complications remain prevalent; therefore, more effective treatments are desired. Glucagon-like peptide (GLP)-1-based drugs are currently used for T2D treatment. They act as orthosteric agonists for the GLP-1 receptor (GLP-1R). In this study, we analyzed in vitro how the GLP-1R orthosteric and allosteric agonists augment glucose-stimulated insulin secretion (GSIS) and intracellular cAMP production (GSICP) in INS-1E pancreatic beta cells under healthy, diabetic, and recovered states. The findings from this study suggest that allosteric agonists have a longer duration of action than orthosteric agonists. They also suggest that the GLP-1R agonists do not deplete intracellular insulin, indicating they can be a sustainable and safe treatment option for T2D. Importantly, this study demonstrates that the GLP-1R agonists variably augment GSIS through GSICP in healthy, diabetic, and recovered INS-1E cells. Furthermore, we find that INS-1E cells respond differentially to the GLP-1R agonists depending on both glucose concentration during and before treatment and/or whether the cells have been previously exposed to these drugs. In conclusion, the findings described in this manuscript will be useful in determining in vitro how pancreatic beta cells respond to T2D drug treatments in healthy, diabetic, and recovered states.

Hybrid molecules of pharmacophores could enhance the desired pharmacological activity while minimizing the side effects and drug resistance associated with individual pharmacophores. In this study, we synthesized twelve bis-1,2,3-triazole-based chalcones (78–90 %) yield) in five steps and characterized them via IR, 1H NMR, 13C NMR, and HRMS spectroscopy. Seven hybrid molecules demonstrated good cytotoxicity against A-549 lung cancer cells in the MTT cell viability assay (IC50 = 44.72±0.66 to 86.22±1.06 µM), which is comparable to the IC50 of the anticancer drug doxorubicin (39.86±1.15 µM). Molecular docking studies of the hybrid molecules with extracellular signal-regulated kinase 2/mitogen-activated protein kinase 1 (ERK2) (PDB ID: 4ZXT), which is triggered by lung cancer, showed excellent binding interactions (H-bonding, hydrophobic interactions, halogen bonding, etc.) between the drug candidates and target receptors (binding energy = −7.7 to −9.7 kcal/mol). We believe that these hybrid molecules could have potential applications as anticancer agents.

The application of waste biomass-derived materials to synthetic chemistry is a remarkable achievement, and the use of aqueous media is further advancement. The switch towards earth's abundant metals like cobalt/copper/iron/nickel from precious palladium in C–C coupling reactions is also a high throughput in the global sustainability perspective. Herein, we describe a CuCl-catalyzed homocoupling of (hetero)arylboronic acids (HABAs) in water extract of pomegranate ash (WEPA) with low E-factor of 1.25 without including the column chromatographic separation of products, which helped in understanding the effectiveness of this method on comparison to reported protocols lacking amounts of silica gel and eluents, however, it was 171.64 by including column purification. The reactions are conducted at room temperature to deliver self-coupling products with 90–99% yields in 10–45 min under precious metal, ligand, non-renewable base, toxic/problematic organic solvent and added oxidant-free conditions. A wide range of substrates were screened with aryl and heteroaryl moieties containing diversified functional groups. The substitution of earth's rare metals-based catalysts by abundant copper, exploration of waste to state-of-the-art C–C coupling, use of biorenewable base, aqueous media, ambient conditions, operational simplicity, excellent yields of biaryls and quick reactions are the noteworthy advantages of this protocol.

Utilization of waste-derived materials for industrially pertinent chemical transformations is highly challenging and offers sustainable solution to waste management. Despite several difficulties in the manufacture of aryl iodides (AIs), which are the fundamental substrates in organic synthesis, we report here, an added oxidant/metal/catalyst/additive and problematic solvent-free versatile and straightforward protocol for the synthesis of AIs using molecular iodine (I2) in water extract of pomegranate ash (WEPA). These transformations were performed at room temperature (rt) and the reactions takes place in 5–20 min to give 83–99% yields of AIs. WEPA was characterized by using XPS, EDX, XRF, XRD, and FTIR analysis and a plausible mechanism has been established based on these analyses along with some control experiments. Further, the products were purified by recrystallization technique. This work with intrinsic sustainability, high substrate feasibility, utilization of biorenewable catalystytic media, ease of execution and separation of products, and added oxidant/catalyst/metal and additive-free conditions may become one among the forefront sustainable procedures in making AIs. The use of waste-derived WEPA as catalystytic media for this iodination is the novelty of this method and may be used these AIs for further in-process transformations (e.g. cross-couplings, nucleophilic reactions, etc.) to access fine chemicals.

Phenols are prominent in organic reactions and highly significant biologically active substances. We report a versatile and sustainable CuI-catalyzed protocol for their synthesis through an oxidative ipso-functionalization (hydroxy deborylation) strategy of (hetero)arylboronic acids [(H)ABAs] using the water extract of pomegranate peel ash (WEPA) in open-air. They are formed at room temperature (RT). This process shows high significance toward the environmental sustainability over the reported procedures of ipso-hydroxylation of (H)ABAs. The application of a waste-derived biorenewable basic reaction medium, air as an oxidant, wide substrate scope, high functional group tolerance, reusability of the catalyst, ambient conditions, less expensive and safer catalyst with low loading, aqueous medium, avoidance of volatile organic solvents, and external oxidant, and tremendous further scope are the noteworthy features of this protocol.

Heart failure is a common, complex clinical syndrome with high morbidity and mortality. Hemodynamic parameter evaluation is useful for early detection, clinical outcome monitoring, timely treatment, and the overall prognosis of heart failure patients. Therefore, continuous monitoring of hemodynamic parameters helps in the evaluation of patients with suspected heart failure. The hemodynamic parameters change with respect to the contraction and expansion of the heart. Hence, in this research, two circuit-less 30 mm spherical receiver coils were implanted in both the left and right sides of the heart and an external transceiver coil was placed above the chest. The changes in the reflection coefficient of the transceiver coil at the resonant frequency changed depending on the distance between the implanted coils, allowing the contraction and expansion of the heart to be determined. This work was carried out at 13.56 MHz, considering the safety limits imposed by the FCC. The proposed reflection coefficient monitoring technique may distinguish healthy patients from heart failure and heart attack patients. The reflection coefficients at a maximum distance of 50 mm for simulation and measurement are −10.3 dB and −10.6 dB, respectively, at the resonant frequency.

Coronavirus disease COVID-19, which is caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, has become a worldwide pandemic in recent years. In addition to being a respiratory disease, COVID-19 is a ‘vascular disease’ since it causes a leaky vascular barrier and increases blood clotting by elevating von Willebrand factor (vWF) levels in the blood. In this study, we analyzed in vitro how the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein S1 induces endothelial cell (EC) permeability and its vWF secretion, and the underlying molecular mechanism for it. We showed that the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein S1 receptor-binding domain (RBD) is sufficient to induce endothelial permeability and vWF-secretion through the angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE)2 in an ADP-ribosylation factor (ARF)6 activation-dependent manner. However, the mutants, including those in South African and South Californian variants of SARS-CoV-2, in the spike protein did not affect its induced EC permeability and vWF secretion. In addition, we have identified a signaling cascade downstream of ACE2 for the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein-induced EC permeability and its vWF secretion by using pharmacological inhibitors. The knowledge gained from this study could be useful in developing novel drugs or repurposing existing drugs for treating infections of SARS-CoV-2, particularly those strains that respond poorly to the existing vaccines.

The presence of microplastics and nanoplastics (MNPs) in soils is becoming pervasive in most agroecosystems. The recent estimates suggest that the soil burden of MNPs in the agroecosystems is more than 0.5 megatons (Mt) annually. In all the agroecosystems, the transformation, migration, and transferring of MNPs, along with other contaminants, and the trophic transfer of MNPs can threaten the food web. MPs can exhibit negative and positive effects, or none, on the physical/chemical properties of soil, soil microbiota, invertebrates, and plant systems, depending on the polymer compositions, additives, and exposure time. Difficulties in comparing the studies on the effects of MNPs, as well as the discrepancies among them, are mostly due to variations in the methods followed for sampling, detection, quantification, and the categorization of particles, abundance, and exposure time. Since agricultural soils are important environmental reservoirs for diverse chemicals and contaminants, they provide milieus for several types of interactions of MNPs with soil biota. The present review critically examines the sources and transformation of MNPs in agricultural soils, the release and fate of additives, as well as their role as vectors of other potential contaminants and influence on soil physical/chemical properties, toxicities to soil biota (i.e., microorganisms, invertebrates, and plants), current regulatory guidelines for the mitigation of MNPs, and future research directions.

Air conditioners, which have become the most widely used cooling system, have already been employed in both household and commercial environments. Automation in air conditioning is a very complex and demanding task today. When a sensor in an automatic human detection air conditioner detects the motion and activity of people, it will automatically turn on and set the temperature accordingly. However, in situations in which there are no humans around or in which human presence is unstable for an extended period, energy and power are wasted. In this regard, a control system was created utilising a Neutrosophic logic controller to regulate the AC temperature to a specific level by reducing the compressor and fan speeds without considering other parameters. Since neutrosophic logic handles the truth, ambiguity, and untruth of people in a closed environment, a more intelligent air-conditioning system is created by the suggested approach. As a result, massive quantities of energy savings are achieved. To accomplish the desired outcome, a MATLAB simulation is applied.

We described a novel and eco-friendly approach to remove toxic heavy metal of Pb(II) by using dimercaptosuccinic acid (DMSA) anchored Fe3O4 magnetic nanorods (MNRs) which were synthesized via facile method utilizing Punica Granatum rind extract which was a non toxic waste material. The DMSA@Fe3O4 MNRs were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transformed infrared analysis (FT-IR), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), nitrogen adsorption and desorption techniques, and vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM). These DMSA@Fe3O4 MNRs have been used for the removal of Pb(II) from aqueous solution. The adsorption isotherm data fitted well with Langmuir isotherm and Freundlich model, the monolayer adsorption capacity was found to be 46.18 mg/g at 301 K. The experimental kinetic data fitted very well with the pseudo-second-order model. The results indicate that the biogenic synthesized DMSA@Fe3O4 MNRs act as significant adsorbent material for removal of Pb (II) from aqueous environment. Keywords: Punica Granatum rind extract, DMSA@Fe3O4 MNRs, VSM, TGA, Pb(II) removal

In the current world situation, population and industrial growth have become major problems for energy and environmental concerns. Extremely noxious pollutants such as heavy metal ions, dyes, antibiotics, phenols, and pesticides in water are the main causes behind deprived water quality leading to inadequate access to clean water. In this connection, graphite carbon nitride (GCN or g-C3N4) a nonmetallic polymeric material has been utilized extensively as a visible-light-responsive photocatalyst for a variety of environmental applications. This review focuses on recent developments in the design and photocatalytic applications of metal-doped GCN-based nanomaterials in CO2 photoreduction, water splitting toward hydrogen production, bacterial disinfection, and organic pollutant degradation. Additionally, this review discusses various methods of using GCN-based materials to optimize dye sensitization, metal deposition, ion doping, and their environmental applications.

In this article, we propose a deep-learning-based estimation model for rating enlarged perivascular spaces (EPVS) in the brain’s basal ganglia region using T2-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) images. The proposed method estimates the EPVS rating directly from the T2-weighted MRI without using either the detection or the segmentation of EVPS. The model uses the cropped basal ganglia region on the T2-weighted MRI. We formulated the rating of EPVS as a multi-class classification problem. Model performance was evaluated using 96 subjects’ T2-weighted MRI data that were collected from two hospitals. The results show that the proposed method can automatically rate EPVS—demonstrating great potential to be used as a risk indicator of dementia to aid early diagnosis.

Continuous improvement and innovation are solid foundations for the textile sector to maintain excellent growth and active sustainability. As the limited resources possessed by textile companies generally result in the incapability of implementing circular economy (CE) strategies simultaneously, recently, researchers advocate that organizations should analyze the influential inter-relationship between key barriers to explore the more dominant determinants for designing improved actions for implementing CE in the textile sector. CE implementation in the textile sector appears to be in its infancy. Although much attention has been paid to CE implementation barriers, the present study tries to fill this research gap by analyzing the causal relationships among the CE barriers in the textile sector. Therefore, the twelve barriers are identified by an extensive literature review, and the application of the Fuzzy Delphi Method (FDM) based on the expert options from the textile sector. Subsequently, the causal inter-relationship among the key CE barriers is based on expert opinions using the decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory (DEMATEL). The results of this study indicate that three key barriers require quick action: “consumers lack knowledge and awareness about reused/recycle (B1)”, “lack of successful business models and frameworks to implement CE (B3)”, and “lack of an information exchange system between different stakeholders (B8)”. In addition, the results provide significant managerial implications, including implementations of CE in the textile sector. Not only should the government build regulations and friendly laws and encourage environmentally-friendly materials but the textile companies should also focus or monitor the recycling methods and quality to overcome the CE implementation issues. In addition, this study contributes to the textile sector transition toward CE by using the novel methodology for determining and prioritizing the key barriers. Finally, this work would help top management and the practitioners to better design effective infrastructural strategies for the textile sector transition towards CE.

Measurement of densities (ρ), viscosities (η), and ultrasonic speeds (u) has been carried out for binary mixtures of N,N-diethylaniline (N,N-DEA) with acetone (AC), methylethylketone (MEK), methylpropylketone (MPK), diethylketone (DEK), and methylisobutylketone (MIBK), and their pure liquids at 303.15 K and 308.15 K over the entire composition range. These experimental values have been used to calculate the excess molar volume (VE), deviation in ultrasonic speeds (Δu), deviation in isentropic compressibility (Δκs), deviation in intermolecular free length (ΔLf), deviation in acoustic impedance (ΔZ), excess Gibbs free energy of activation of viscous flow (G∗E) and deviation in viscosity (Δη). The variation of these properties with composition of the mixtures suggests dipole–dipole interactions and charge-transfer complex formation between N,N-diethylaniline and dipolar ketones. The magnitude of the property is found to depend on the chain length of the ketones’ molecule. The viscosity data have been correlated using three equations: Grunberg and Nissan, Katti and Chaudhri and Hind et al. These results have been fitted to the Redlich–Kister polynomial using multiparametric nonlinear regression analysis to estimate the binary coefficients and standard errors.

Two rapid, simple, sensitive and selective spectrophotometric methods have been developed for the quantitative estimation of nifedipine in pharmaceutical formulations and different human body fluids (serum and urine). The proposed methods are based on the reduction of the nitro group to amino group of the drug. The resulting amine was then subjected to proposed methods. Method A is based on the oxidation followed by coupling of nifedipine with 3- methyl-2-benzothiazolinone hydrazone (MBTH) in presence of ferric chloride (FeCl3) to form green colored chromogen at 685 nm. Method B is based on the formation of oxidative coupling reaction between the corresponding drug and brucine – NaIO4 to form violet colored chromogen at 546 nm. The procedures described were applied successfully to the determination of the compound in their dosage forms and body fluids. The results showed that the proposed procedures compared favorably with reference method are satisfactory sensitive, accurate and precise. The optical characteristics such as Beer’s law limits, molar absorptivity, Sandell’s sensitivity and various statistical data are reported. The results of the analysis for the two methods have been validated statistically and by recovery studies.

The enormous ongoing industrial development has caused serious water pollution which has become a major crisis, particularly in developing countries. Among the various water pollutants, non-biodegradable heavy metal ions are the most prevalent. Thus, trace-level detection of these metal ions using a simple technique is essential. To address this issue, we have developed a fluorescent probe of Au/C nanodots (GCNDs-gold carbon nanodots) using an eco-friendly method based on an extract from waste onion leaves (Allium cepa-red onions). The leaves are rich in many flavonoids, playing a vital role in the formation of GCNDs. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and Scanning transmission electron microscopy-Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (STEM-EDS) elemental mapping clearly indicated that the newly synthesized materials are approximately 2 nm in size. The resulting GCNDs exhibited a strong orange fluorescence with excitation at 380 nm and emission at 610 nm. The GCNDs were applied as a fluorescent probe for the detection of Hg2+ ions. They can detect ultra-trace concentrations of Hg2+ with a detection limit of 1.3 nM. The X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy results facilitated the identification of a clear detection mechanism. We also used the new probe on a real river water sample. The newly developed sensor is highly stable with a strong fluorescent property and can be used for various applications such as in catalysis and biomedicine.

Recently, metal nanoparticles embedded in porous carbon composite materials have been playing a significant role in a variety of fields as catalyst supports, sensors, absorbents, and in energy storage. Porous carbon composite materials can be prepared using various synthetic methods; recent efforts provide a facile way to prepare the composites from metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) by pyrolysis. However, it is usually difficult to control the phase of metal or metal oxides during the synthetic process. Among many types of MOF, recently, cobalt-based MOFs have attracted attention due to their unique catalytic and magnetic properties. Herein, we report the synthesis of a Pt doped cobalt based MOF, which is subsequently converted into cobalt nanoparticle-embedded porous carbon composites (Pt@Co/C) via pyrolysis. Interestingly, the phase of the cobalt metal nanoparticles (face centered cubic (FCC) or hexagonal closest packing (HCP)) can be controlled by tuning the synthetic conditions, including the temperature, duration time, and dosage of the reducing agent (NaBH4). The Pt doped Co/C was characterized using various techniques including PXRD (powder X-ray diffraction), XPS (X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy), gas sorption analysis, TEM (transmission electron microscopy), and SEM (scanning electron microscopy). The composite was applied as a phase transfer catalyst (PTC). The Fischer-Tropsch catalytic activity of the Pt@Co/C (10:1:2.4) composite shows 35% CO conversion under a very low pressure of syngas (1 MPa). This is one of the best reported conversion rates at low pressure. The 35% CO conversion leads to the generation of various hydrocarbons (C1, C2⁻C4, C5, and waxes). This catalyst may also prove useful for energy and environmental applications.