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Two types of composite imprinted membranes, i.e., composite membrane comprised of D-Phe imprinted beads and D-Phe imprinted membrane or DCM and composite membrane comprised of L-Phe imprinted beads and L-Phe imprinted membranes or LCM, were synthesized by phase inversion technique after a uniform dispersion of beads within the polymeric solutions using simple physico-mechanical process. The assemblies of the prepared DCM, LCM and control membranes were employed in ultrafiltration for chiral separation of D, L-Phenylalanine racemate solution. DCM and LCM showed an improved adsorption capacity (0.334 mg g-1 and 0.365 mg g-1 respectively), and adsorption selectivity (2.72 and 2.98 respectively). However, the percent rejection of the template and counter enantiomer were lower than that of control membranes. Compared to control membrane, the DCM and LCM showed inverse permselectivity. These composite membranes having better adsorption and separation ability for Phenylalanine racemate solution will be suitable in the future for various other applications.

Magnetic core–shell polymer nanocomposites (MCS-PNCs) have gained great research attraction in various emerging fields. MCS-PNCs are considered as one of the potential smart choices for targeted and controlled drug delivery systems. In the present study, MCS-PNCs composed of silica-coated iron oxide (Fe3O4@SiO2) magnetic core and poly(methacrylamide-co-acrylic acid) p(MAAm-co-AA) shell were prepared. Initially, Fe3O4 nanoparticles were synthesized via a modified co-precipitation technique and then coated with silica through Stober Method. Fe3O4@SiO2 nanoparticles were then coated with polymeric shell p(MAAm-co-AA) by microwave-assisted precipitation polymerization method using methacrylamide (MAAm) and acrylic acid (AA) as functional monomers, ethylene glycol dimethacrylate (EGDMA) as a crosslinker, and azobisisobutyronitrile (AIBN) as an initiator. The synthesized MCS-PNCs were characterized by Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Energy dispersive X-ray (EDX), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) techniques. The as-prepared composites were then observed as adsorbents for an anticancer drug letrozole (LZ) loading. The optimum conditions for maximum adsorption of LZ (95.97%) were achieved by varying the experimental conditions. The obtained MCS-PNCs were super-paramagnetic and were easily collected with an external magnet after using in adsorption experiment. We believe that the current findings can receive substantial interest and potential applications in biomedical fields, especially in controlled and targeted drug delivery systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Seasonal incongruence in total phenols, total flavonoids, antioxidant and antibacterial activity of lemon grass was studied at Plant Genetic Resources Programme, National Agricultural Research Centre, Islamabad, Pakistan during the year 2015. Highest amounts of total phenols (111.109 mg of GAE/100 g dry wt) and total flavonoids (119.56 mg of CE/100 g dry wt) were detected in methanolic extracts of summer harvest followed by winter harvest. Highly significant differences were observed for season, essential oil/plant extract and concentrations for antioxidant activity. Essential oil from summer harvest possessed maximum free radical scavenging activity (92.45 %) as compared to essential oil and plant extract obtained from other periods. For antibacterial activity, highly significant differences were also detected for season, essential oil concentrations and bacterial strains. Essential oil from summer harvest produced largest zone of inhibition (12.48 mm) against gram negative bacteria X. axonopodis. The data show that in summer season, lemon grass possessed higher amounts of bioactive compounds and thus having better drug potential. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Affordable and efficient water treatment process to produce water free from various contaminants is a big challenge. The presence of toxic heavy metals, dyes, hazardous chemicals and other toxins cause contamination of water sources and our food chain and make them hazardous to living organisms. The current water treatment processes are no longer sustainable due to high cost and low efficiency. Due to advantageous properties, nanotechnology based materials can play a great role in increasing the efficiency of water treatment processes. Magnetic nanocomposites use nano as well as magnetic properties and have the potential to provide a sophisticated system to overcome most of the impurities present in water. There is diversity of magnetic nanocomposites, however presently we have focussed the core-shell magnetic nanocomposites because they have excellent magnetic and separation properties, stability, and good biocompatibility., Methods: We collected systematically the bibliographic data bases for peer-reviewed research literature focusing on the theme of our review. The Quality of the included research papers are selected by standard tools. A conceptual frame work is designed to arrange the topics and extracted the interventions and findings of the included studies., Results: The overall study was divided in sections and each section incorporated the most appropriate literature citation. Total one hundred and eight references were included of which 32 references were used for basic description/introduction of core-shell magnetic nanocomposites. One review paper containing the synthesis methods for core shell magnetic nanocomposites is included while majority (76) of the references are included for comprehensive description of applications of the core-shell nanocomposites among which 25 were for dyes removal, 27 for hazardous metals, 07 for hazardous chemicals, 12 for pesticides and biological contaminants removal and five other including patents were added as miscellaneous substances removal from water sources. This review identified the effective role of core-shell magnetic nanocomposites for environmental remediation in terms of removal of various hazardous substances from water resources., Conclusion: The outcomes of the present review confirms that the magnetic core-shell nanocomposites provide a cost effective and efficient way for the removal of various toxic substances including dyes, heavy metals, toxic organic chemicals, pesticides and some biological contaminants from water sources.