Amandeep Kaur

Sunlight-driven photocatalytic degradation of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug based on TiO2 quantum dots

This paper reports the facile synthesis, characterization and solar-light driven photocatalytic degradation of TiO2 quantum dots (QDs). The TiO2 QDs were synthesized by a facile ultrasonic-assisted hydrothermal process and characterized in terms of their structural, morphological, optical and photocatalytic properties. The detailed studies confirmed that the prepared QDs are well-crystalline, grown in high density and exhibiting good optical properties. Further, the prepared QDs were efficiently used as effective photocatalyst for the sun-light driven photocatalytic degradation of ketorolac tromethamine, a well-known non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID). To optimize the photocatalytic degradation conditions, various dose-dependent, pH-dependent, and initial drug-concentration dependent experiments were performed. The detailed solar-light driven photocatalytic experiments revealed that ∼99% photodegradation of ketorolac tromethamine drug solution (10 mg L(-1)) was observed with optimized amount of TiO2 QDs and pH (0.5 g L(-1) and 4.4, respectively) under solar-light irradiations. The observed results demonstrate that simply synthesized TiO2 QDs can efficiently be used for the solar-light driven photocatalytic degradation of harmful drugs and chemicals.

Arbuscular mycorrhiza: Nutritional aspects

Abstract Arbuscular mycorrhizae (AM) engage in the most common underground symbiosis that occurs with plants. More than 80% of the higher plants have the ability to form arbuscular mycorrhizal associations. Plants exchange carbohydrates and lipids for nutrients, especially phosphates from AM. Five billion tons of carbon are transferred from plants to fungi via AM each year, worldwide. The fungus in AM symbiosis forms hyphae outside the plant, which provide a connection between the soil and inner part of plant. Phosphorus is transported from the soil solution across the membrane of the hyphae, moves to the arbuscule, unloads from the fungal arbuscule at the arbuscule-cortical interface and is then taken up by the plant cortical cell. AM, in turn, derive carbon from the host plant in the form of hexose/sucrose, which is taken up at the interface and is converted to trehalose and glycogen, typical fungal carbohydrates. This review discusses the transfer of phosphate from soil to plant via AM and the carbon flux and metabolism in AM fungi.

Synthesis, evaluation of 6,8-dibromo-2-aryl-2,3-dihydroquinolin-4(1H)-ones in MCF-7 (breast cancer) cell lines and their docking studies

A series of novel 6,8-dibromo-2-aryl-2,3-dihydroquinolin-4(1H)-ones have been synthesized and evaluated in vitro (in MCF-7 breast cancer cell lines). Compounds 5a, 5d, 5e, and 5g exhibited potent GI50 and TGI values compared with reference standard and compounds 5b and 5c showed moderate activity. The docking studies (in silico) were conducted to recognize the hypothetical binding motif of the title compounds within the active site of aromatase enzyme employing GOLD docking software. The binding mode and SAR of the title compounds has been proposed based on the docking studies.

A comparative study of intra canal stress pattern in endodontically treated teeth with average sized canal diameter and reinforced wide canals with three different post systems using finite element analysis

Study methodology: This is a comparative study of intra canal stress patterns in endodontically treated maxillary central incisor with: average sized canal diameter and wide canals reinforced with three different post systems - cast post and core, carbon fiber post, stainless steel post; restored with ceramic crown using finite element analysis (FEA). All the models were subjected to a force of 100N applied at 450 to the long axis of the tooth at the middle third of the palatal surface of the restored ceramic crown. Results: The FEA revealed that all the post systems showed maximum stress in the coronal and middle third of the root. Maximum stress was seen on the inner dentinal wall in case of stainless steel post followed by cast gold and carbon fiber post, both in the models without reinforcement as well as in the reinforced models.

Visible light driven photocatalytic degradation of fluoroquinolone levofloxacin drug using Ag2O/TiO2 quantum dots: a mechanistic study and degradation pathway

Herein, we report the facile synthesis, characterization and photocatalytic degradation application of Ag2O/TiO2 quantum dots (QDs). The QDs were synthesized via a pH-mediated precipitation method and characterized in detail in terms of their morphological, compositional, structural, optical and photocatalytic properties. Detailed morphological studies confirmed the large scale formation of spherical Ag2O/TiO2 quantum dots with typical sizes of 2–9 nm. Surface analysis by XPS clearly revealed the presence of Ag+ and Ti4+ in the form of Ag2O and TiO2. Optical properties exhibited an absorption shift towards the visible light region i.e. 506 nm, a wide shift compared to TiO2 QDs (i.e. 394 nm) in the synthesized Ag2O/TiO2 QDs. As a photocatalyst, the synthesized material exhibited remarkable photocatalytic performance towards the degradation of levofloxacin drug under visible light as compared to bare TiO2. The higher photocatalytic activity was due to electron–hole pair separation which improved the light absorption (λ > 400 nm) and availability of active sites. Interestingly, the major intermediates of levofloxacin degradation were identified and a probable pathway was also proposed. The observed results clearly revealed that simply prepared Ag2O/TiO2 QDs could be an excellent candidate for the photocatalytic degradation of various harmful chemicals.

Photocatalytic degradation of ketorolac tromethamine (KTC) using Ag-doped ZnO microplates

In this study, Ag-doped ZnO microplates were prepared via precipitation technique and further characterized by FESEM, EDS, XRD, FTIR, TGA, XPS, UV-DRS and RT-PL techniques. The outcomes indicated that Ag+ ions were well incorporated into ZnO lattice leading to the absorption of ZnO in visible region as well as effective charge separation. The photocatalytic experiments exhibited that Ag-doped ZnO microplates show higher catalytic activity (91%) than bare ZnO (71%) for the degradation of KTC drug under solar illumination. The photocatalytic degradation of KTC drug over Ag-doped ZnO microplates obeyed pseudo first-order kinetics model. Also, the role of active species was examined by the addition of several scavengers in the photocatalytic degradation system. The results indicated that h+, ·OHs, 1O2 and ·OH were considered as prime reactive species in photocatalytic degradation process.

N-gram Based Approach for Opinion Mining of Punjabi Text

Opinion mining is the process of analyzing views, attitude or opinions of a writer or a speaker. Research in this particular area involves the detection of opinions from the text of any language. Vast amount of work has been done for the English language. In spite of lack of resources for Indian languages, work has been done for Telugu, Bengali and Hindi language. In this paper, we proposed a hybrid research approach for the emotion/opinion mining of the Punjabi text. Hybrid technique is the combination of Naive Bayes and N-grams. As the part of presented research, we have extracted the features of N-grams model which are used to train Naive Bayes. The trained model is then validated using the testing data. Results obtained are also compared with already existing approaches and the accuracy of the results shows the better efficacy of the proposed method.

Care and Global Migration in the Nursing Profession: a north Indian perspective

ABSTRACT Globalisation, supply–demand dynamics, uneven development, enhanced connectivity including the better flow of information, communication and the reduced cost of travel have encouraged the global integration of nursing labour markets. Developed regions of the world have attracted internationally educated nurses (IENs) because of growing healthcare needs. India, along with the Philippines, has become a key supplier of nurses in the global economy. Traditionally the supply of nurses was heavily regionalised in south India, especially Kerala, but of late Punjab, in north India, has played an increasing role in nurse training and migration as the profession has become more respected and more international. This paper uses survey and interview data to detail the recent interest in nursing as a channel for independent female international migration from Punjab, and to examine how migratory ambitions have developed over the last decade in parallel with the changing status of nursing as an internationally respected profession. We identify growing interest in international migration for nursing students and their increased intention to pursue employment opportunities in Australia and New Zealand. This research highlights how nursing and care migration are increasingly structured by international circuits of training and employment, and how such circuits alter migrant and occupational geographies on the ground in sending regions.

Atypical radiographic presentation of a horizontal mid-root fracture in a maxillary central incisor tooth

Prognosis of a horizontal mid-root fracture is favorable, primarily because the dental pulp tends to maintain its vitality and the fracture segments are completely intraalveolar. Healing usually occurs with deposition of calcified tissue. However, if the segment coronal to the fracture becomes nonvital and infected, healing occurs by interposition of granulation tissue. This report describes a case of a horizontal mid-root fracture in a right maxillary central incisor tooth, where the apical fractured segment was significantly displaced in a linear direction. This was attributed to the pressure generated from the expanding granulomatous tissue that was interpositioned between the fractured segments. This resulted in an atypical radiographic presentation. In addition, this report highlights the role of cone-beam computed tomography in the diagnosis, treatment planning, and management of root fractures.

Quorum sensing in thermophiles: prevalence of autoinducer-2 system

BackgroundQuorum sensing is a mechanism of cell to cell communication that requires the production and detection of signaling molecules called autoinducers. Although mesophilic bacteria is known to utilize this for synchronization of physiological processes such as bioluminescence, virulence, biofilm formation, motility and cell competency through signaling molecules (acyl homoserine lactones, AI-1; oligopeptides, peptide based system and furanosyl borate diester, AI-2), the phenomenon of quorum sensing in thermophiles is largely unknown.ResultsIn this study, proteomes of 106 thermophilic eubacteria and 21 thermophilic archaea have been investigated for the above three major quorum sensing systems to find the existence of quorum sensing in these thermophiles as there are evidences for the formation of biofilms in hot environments. Our investigation demonstrated that AI-1 system is absent in thermophiles. Further, complete peptide based two component systems for quorum sensing was also not found in any thermophile however the traces for the presence of response regulators for peptide based system were found in some of them. BLASTp search using LuxS (AI-2 synthase) protein sequence of Escherichia coli str. K-12 substr. MG1655 and autoinducer-2 receptors (LuxP of Vibrio harveyi, LsrB of E. coli str. K-12 substr. MG1655 and RbsB of Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans) as queries revealed that 17 thermophilic bacteria from phyla Deinococcus- Thermus and Firmicutes possess complete AI-2 system (LuxS and LsrB and/or RbsB). Out of 106 thermophilic eubacteria 18 from phyla Deinococcus- Thermus, Proteobacteria and Firmicutes have only LuxS that might function as AI-2 synthesizing protein whereas, 16 are having only LsrB and/or RbsB which may function as AI-2 receptor in biofilms.ConclusionsWe anticipate that thermophilic bacteria may use elements of LsrB and RbsB operon for AI-2 signal transduction and they may use quorum sensing for purposes like biofilm formation. Nevertheless, thermophiles in which no known quorum sensing system was found may use some unknown mechanisms as the mode of communication. Further information regarding quorum sensing will be explored to develop strategies to disrupt the biofilms of thermophiles.