Search

Polymer composites are an important class of materials widely being used for many applications. But the main concern of non-degradability and adverse environmental impact of the polymer matrices and the synthetic reinforcements have given forth the need of environmental-friendly polymer matrices and reinforcements used in them. An attempt of such kind is to use the natural plant fibres as the reinforcements that have no harmful impact on the environment and also, they are cost effective. With growing interest in natural fibres in recent years, a lot of work is being done in various directions, which need to be gathered up for a specific interest. So, the present article is an attempt to review and discuss the research works that have evaluated the natural plant fibres as reinforcements in polymer composites. Natural fibre composites show variation of properties such as fibre's source, type and structure. Interfacial adhesion between the fibre and the matrix is the most important factor when tensile properties of natural fibre composites are under consideration. The interfacial strength can be improved by some chemical modification of fibre surface, which changes the adhesion between fibre and matrix. These features of natural fibres as compared to synthetic fibres are motivating manufacturers and the end users to switch to natural fibre-based products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current study emphasized on assessment of Antioxidant, Acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and Butyrylcholinesterase (BChE) inhibitory activity of the crude methanolic and chloroform leaves extracts along with their isolated compounds derived from Azadirachta indica. Phytochemical analysis revealed the manifestation of ancillary metabolites like alkaloid, anthraqinones, catechins, flavonoids, phenolic compounds, saponins, tannins and steroids. Methanolic crude extract of Azadirachta indica leaves revealed comparable antioxidant activity as that of quercetin and propyl gallate. As far as enzyme inhibitory activity was concerned, a significant AChE enzymes inhibition was observed. These findings confirm the traditional use of Azadirachticha indica as medicinal plant in the treatment of mental ailments and anti-inflammatory illnesses. Chloroform crude extract and isolated compounds showed weak antioxidant and enzyme inhibitory activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: South Asian individuals possess a high risk of chronic kidney disease. There is a need to study, evaluate, and compare the newly suggested glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) equations for accurate CKD diagnosis, staging, and drug dosing. This study aimed to (1) evaluate the European Kidney Function Consortium (EKFC), Pakistani CKD-EPI, and 2021 Race-Free CKD-EPI creatinine equation in the South Asian population with CKD and (2) to examine the expected implications on both CKD classification as well as End Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) prevalence across these equations in South Asian population., Methods: We carried out a cross-sectional investigation on 385 participants, a CKD cohort ≥ 18 years, at Allama Iqbal Medical College, Jinnah Hospital, Lahore. Serum creatinine was measured by Jaffe's method and rGFR was measured by inulin clearance., Results: Pakistani CKD-EPI has a lower median difference at -1.33 ml/min/1.73m2 elevated precision (IQR) at 2.33 (-2.36, -0.03) and higher P30 value at 89.35% than 2021 CKD-EPI and EKFC equations. The mean difference (ml/min/1.73m2), 95% agreement limits (ml/min/1.73m2) of CKD-EPI PK: -1.18, -6.14, 2021 CKD-EPI: -5.98, -13.24 and EKFC: -5.62, -13.01 (P <0.001). These equations highly correlated to rGFR (P <0.001). An upward re-classification in GFR categories was shown by 2021 CKD-EPI and EKFC compared to the Pakistani CKD-EPI equation. However, there was an exception regarding the G5 category, where an elevated count of 217 (56.36%) was shown for CKD-EPI PK. The prevalence of ESRD was seen in entire age groups and prevailed among females more than in males overall equations., Conclusions: Pakistani CKD-EPI exhibited outstanding performance, while 2021 CKD-EPI and EKFC demonstrated poor performances and could not show an adequate advantage for both CKD classification and prevalence of ESRD compared to Pakistani CKD-EPI. Therefore, Pakistani CKD-EPI appears optimal for this region and warrants future validation in other South Asian countries. In contrast, suitable measures must be implemented in Pakistani laboratories., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist., (Copyright: © 2024 Safdar et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)