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Water remediation, acknowledged as a significant scientific topic, guarantees the safety of drinking water, considering the diverse range of pollutants that can contaminate it. Among these pollutants, arsenic stands out as a particularly severe threat to human health, significantly compromising the overall quality of life. Despite widespread awareness of the harmful effects of arsenic poisoning, there remains a scarcity of literature on the utilization of biobased polymers as sustainable alternatives for comprehensive arsenic removal in practical concern. Cellulose and chitosan, two of the most prevalent biopolymers in nature, provide a wide range of potential benefits in cutting-edge industries, including water remediation. Nanocomposites derived from cellulose and chitosan offer numerous advantages over their larger equivalents, including high chelating properties, cost-effective production, strength, integrity during usage, and the potential to close the recycling loop. Within the sphere of arsenic remediation, this Review outlines the selection criteria for novel cellulose/chitosan-nanocomposites, such as scalability in synthesis, complete arsenic removal, and recyclability for technical significance. Especially, it aims to give an overview of the historical development of research in cellulose and chitosan, techniques for enhancing their performance, the current state of the art of the field, and the mechanisms underlying the adsorption of arsenic using cellulose/chitosan nanocomposites. Additionally, it extensively discusses the impact of shape and size on adsorbent efficiency, highlighting the crucial role of physical characteristics in optimizing performance for practical applications. Furthermore, this Review addresses regeneration, reuse, and future prospects for chitosan/cellulose-nanocomposites, which bear practical relevance. Therefore, this Review underscores the significant research gap and offers insights into refining the structural features of adsorbents to improve total inorganic arsenic removal, thereby facilitating the transition of green-material-based technology into operational use.

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Transdermal drug delivery systems (TDDS) have received significant attention in recent years. TDDS are flexible systems that transport active components to the skin for either localized or systemic delivery of drugs through the skin. Among the three main layers of skin, the outermost layer, called the stratum corneum (SC), prevents the entry of water-loving bacteria and drugs with a high molecular weight. The challenge lies in successfully delivering drugs through the skin, which crosses the stratum corneum. The popularity of lipid-based vesicular delivery systems has increased in recent years due to their ability to deliver both hydrophilic and hydrophobic drugs. Ethosomes are specialized vesicles made of phospholipids that can store large amounts of ethanol. Ethosome structure and substance promote skin permeability and bioavailability. This article covers ethosome compositions, types, medication delivery techniques, stability, and safety. In addition to this, an in-depth analysis of the employment of ethosomes in drug delivery applications for a wide range of diseases has also been discussed. This review article highlights different aspects of ethosomes, such as their synthesis, characterization, marketed formulation, recent advancements in TDDS, and applications.

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PURPOSE: Visceral leishmaniasis is one of the ignored parasitic infection affecting millions of people globally. Currently, available treatment options are unsatisfactory because of high cost and side effects of the leishmanicidal drugs. Therefore, herbal medicines provide a promising choice for the detection of efficient and novel leishmanicidal therapeutics which can rejuvenate the immune response of the host with less adverse effects. The objective of the present study was to determine the in vitro and in vivo effect of hydroethanolic extract of Bauhinia variegata (HEBV) against Leishmania donovani. METHODS: The in vitro efficacy and cytotoxicity of HEBV was checked against L. donovani and THP1 human macrophages. Further HEBV (500 and 1000 mg/kg b.wt.) were given orally to inbred BALB/c mice infected with L. donovani for 2 weeks and euthanized on 14th post treatment day. Various parameters like parasite load, delayed-type hypersensitivity (DTH) responses, T cells, Th1/Th2 cytokines, histological and biochemical tests were investigated. RESULTS: HEBV showed marked antileishmanial activity with cell cycle arrest at sub-G0/G1 phase. HEBV was found to be more effective at higher dose in declining parasite concentration in the spleen as compared to the lower dose. Moreover, the extract augmented the DTH reaction and T cell responses in the infected mice. Oral administration of HEBV caused the enhancement of disease-suppressing Th1 cytokines and suppression of disease-progressing Th2 cytokines with no toxicities. CONCLUSION: Thus, HEBV showed the antileishmanial efficacy through the generation of pro-inflammatory immunity of the host which further suggests the mechanistic exploration of it as a leishmanicidal therapeutic.

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Introduction:Vitamin D plays a protective role against COVID-19. Patients with deficiency of vitamin D are more prone to severe SARS-CoV-2 infections. It is known to enhance human ß-defensin 2 and antimicrobial peptide. Vitamin D can easily stabilise and manage immunological reactions against SARS-CoV-2. It can also suppress the cytokine storm by boosting the innate system. Material and methods: RT-PCR confirmed COVID-19 positive subjects were divided into two groups, one comprising asymptomatic subjects (Group 1) and the other one ICU admitted patients (Group 2). In both groups, various comorbidities such as obesity, diabetes mellitus, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, respiratory disease, renal disease and malignancy were taken into consideration. Vitamin D estimation was performed along with serum levels of interleukin-6 (IL-6) and ferritin using automated immunoassays on Siemens Advia Centaur XP. Results:On acknowledging the cut-off serum concentration level of vitamin D as < 30 ng/mL for establishing vitamin D deficiency the prevalence of vitamin D deficiency was 66.18% in Group 1 and 98.30% in Group 2. Diabetes mellitus, followed by hypertension was associated comorbidity in both groups. In total, 33 patients were found to be severely deficient (<10 ng/mL) in vitamin D, out of which 27 were critically ill and six asymptomatic. In both groups, diabetes mellitus, followed by hypertension were the highest comorbid associations. Fatality rate (discharge vs fatality) was 0% in Group 1 and 16.94% (10 patients died) in Group 2. Conclusion:To conclude, the present study addressed the significant relationship between vitamin D levels and clinical outcomes of COVID-19 patients. Vitamin D deficiency distinctly upswings the chance of disease severity as well as mortality after SARS-CoV-2 infection.

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In this paper green synthesis of an important commodity chemical lactamide has been undertaken using chitosan immobilized Rhodococcus pyridinivorans NIT-36 harbouring nitrile hydratase (NHase) enzyme. The cells immobilization (300 mg/g) is based on the partial entrapment of cells by suspension cross-linking technique facilitated by N, N'-Methylene bis-acrylamide. In the repeated-use experiments, the immobilized cells retained 80% of its initial activity when stored at 4 °C for 30 days. NHase activity of free and immobilized cells was studied over temperature ranging from 25 °C to 60 °C. The activity for free cells showed a sharp decline of 70% when the reaction temperature was elevated from 45 °C to 50 °C whereas chitosan immobilized cells retained their activity in the same temperature range. A fed-batch reaction was designed and the immobilized cells showed 100% similar enzymatic pattern for five consecutive rounds which gradually decreased in following cycles. A volumetric productivity of 20 g/L and catalytic productivity of 8.33 g/g dcw/h for lactamide were achieved.

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Pectin was hydrolyzed and was processed in spherically-shaped structure through calcium crosslinker. The synthesized spherical-bead structure was surface functionalized by acrylonitrile grafting reaction, which extends the applications of pectin followed by derivatization with hydroxylamine. The matrix was further decorated with the iron metal to enhance the practical applicability in the aqueous system. The chemical structures were characterized via gravimetric analysis, FTIR, SEM-EDX, elemental analysis, XPS and XRD. The results supported the exceptional uniformity with the presence of substantial receptor amidoxime groups in morphology and elemental composition. The process of adsorption was concluded with good adsorption capacity with iron-impregnated-amidoxime. The presence of S2O32-, SO42-, and NO3- had an insignificant influence on fluoride uptake excluding Cl- and PO43- in a binary/mixture solutions. The adsorption data were excellently expressed by the Freundlich isotherm model (R2 > 0.998) which suggests that the surface of the ligand is multifunctional. The kinetic data was determined and pseudo-second-order rate equation showed well-fit (R2 > 0.998) to the presented data. The findings indicate that Fe-impregnated poly(amidoxime) is a cost-effective and eco-friendly promising adsorbent for fluoride removal even at trace level and a wide optimum pH range due to better aqueous dispersibility of pendent groups responsible for the sorption application.

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The successful control and eradication of leishmaniasis are still challenging in view of the lack of adequate chemotherapy and potential prophylaxis. Research is going on for finding an appropriate anti-leishmanial drug which should be acceptable in terms of cost and safety. In view of this, the current study investigated the anti-leishmanial efficacy of salidroside (SAL) which is a phenylpropanoid glycoside. The leishmanicidal capacity of SAL was verified in vitro as well as in vivo. The SAL exhibited leishmanicidal activity against the promastigotes of L. donovani which was further validated by propidium iodide staining and its ability to arrest the promastigotes at the sub G0/G1 stage. SAL decreased and controlled the VL infection in mice as estimated by real-time PCR. Active immunomodulation was exhibited upon SAL treatment in BALB/c mice. The characteristic features like pronounced DTH reaction, polarization of immune status to Th1 type of immune response, increased the production of CD4+ and CD8+ T cells indicated the immune-stimulatory property of SAL. In addition to this the expression of NF-ĸB, iNOS genes along with the levels of leishmanicidal species, NO and ROS were found to be augmented in SAL treated infected animals. Moreover, SAL exhibited minimal toxicity to the THP-1 cells and it revealed no toxicity against liver and kidney. The capability of SAL in promoting the immune status in favor of host during VL infection without causing any side-effects may be used as an effective strategy to fight the disease.

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The available chemotherapeutics for the cure of visceral leishmaniasis (VL) are linked with many detrimental effects. Moreover, VL is associated with the suppression of protective Th1 immune response of the host and induction of disease exaggerating Th2 immune response. Therefore, there is an urgent requirement of therapeutics which can augment the immune status of the host to cure this disease. In the current investigation, the antileishmanial potential of lupeol was monitored in vitro and in vivo in inbred BALB/c mice against Leishmania donovani. Lupeol showed potent antipromastigote activity via arresting parasites at sub G0/G1 phase in vitro. Lupeol significantly decreased the splenic parasite burden by inducing strong delayed-type hypersensitivity responses in contrary to untreated infected animals. The therapeutic efficacy of lupeol was observed to be similar to the reference drug, AmB. Treatment of infected animals with lupeol depicted enhanced levels of T cells and Th1 cytokines in contrast to only infected controls. Further lupeol treatment upregulated the levels of nuclear factor κ B and nitric oxide synthase genes and elevated the production of reactive oxygen species and nitric oxide. Unlike AmB, lupeol-treated infected animals did not show any toxicity. These findings are promising and indicate that lupeol can serve as a prototype drug for the cure of VL.

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BACKGROUND: Hands are the most common vehicle for the transmission of pathogens within the healthcare environment. Hand hygiene is the leading measure for reducing healthcare-associated infections (HCAIs) and preventing the spread of antimicrobial resistance. OBJECTIVE: An interventional study was carried out to evaluate the knowledge, attitude and practices of hand hygiene among third semester medical students. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 152 medical students were evaluated using a pretest self-structured questionnaire to assess the knowledge, attitude and practices regarding hand hygiene. The students were trained by faculty of microbiology vigorously with the help of a lecture and demonstration on hand hygiene followed by hands-on training. The same group of students were then distributed the post-training questionnaire. The pre-training and post training data was analyzed and compared. RESULT: There was a significant improvement in knowledge, attitude and practice towards hand hygiene among students after intervention, as seen on comparison of results of post-test questionnaire from its pre-test counter-part because the doubts in the mind of the students got cleared in the education sessions. CONCLUSION: Targeting medical students and teaching them the good standard practices was fruitful as they were young, easy to mold and enthusiastic and above all they are the future doctors. Such educational intervention regarding hand hygiene will be carried out for each batch of medical students in future.

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In an attempt to explore reasonable and impervious remedies against visceral leishmaniasis, antileishmanial potential of hydroethanolic extract of Codonopsis clematidea (HECC) and its active component, naringenin (NRG) was investigated on the basis of innocuous and immunostimulatory properties. In vitro analysis showed the ability of HECC and NRG to arrest the promastigotes in sub G0/G1 phase. Further to evaluate the protective efficacy, inbred BALB/c mice infected with L. donovani were treated with HECC and NRG for 14 days. The treated animals were sacrificed on 7th and 14th post treatment days and scrutinized for clearance of parasite, DTH response, different Th1/Th2 cytokines (IFN-γ, IL-12, TNF-α, IL-17, IL-10, IL-4), T cells and B cell responses. The expression of iNOS, NFκB and the levels of nitric oxide (NO) and reactive oxygen species was also evaluated. The toxic effect of HECC and NRG was checked in terms of biochemical parameters and histological studies. Maximum reduction in parasite load and increase in the DTH response was observed in NRG treated animals in comparison to HECC and infected control. HECC and NRG switched the host Th2 immune response to the Th1-type along with the induction of CD4+ and CD8+ T cells. CD19 B cells were found to be decreased in NRG and HECC treated animals as compared to infected control. Moreover, treatment of HECC and NRG showed no alterations in hepatic and renal enzymes which was well supported by normal architecture of liver and kidney. The mechanistic details of NRG proved that it increased the NO and ROS production by activating the NFκB and iNOS expression and thus reduced the parasite load. These findings depicted that activity of HECC might be due to the presence of NRG and that the NRG provides an encouraging alternative for the treatment of visceral leishmaniasis with the rejuvenation of immune status of the host.

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The current treatment approach for leishmaniasis has been questioned in terms of development of the resistance and life threatening side-effects. The utility of the drug can only be confirmed by inspecting its safety window along with its impact against different strains of parasite including the resistant ones. The aim of this study was to evaluate the therapeutic effects of a flavonoid, rutin (RTN) against sodium stibogluconate (SSG) sensitive (S-) and resistant (R-) strain of L. donovani. RTN exhibited its anti-promastigote activity via arresting the cells at sub G0/G1 phase. Further RTN resulted in decline of splenic parasite burden. The parasiticidal activity was associated with the elicitation of cell-mediated immune response in terms of increased DTH response, augmented levels of T cells (CD4+, CD8+), Th1 cytokines, NO and ROS. RTN also up-regulated the expression of NF-ĸB and iNOS gene in S- as well as R- strain infected mice. Where no therapeutic effect of SSG was seen in the R-strain infected mice, the RTN treatment was able to control the disease in even R-strain infected mice. Moreover RTN was found to be devoid of any hepatic or renal toxicity. RTN could control the infection and it even had the capacity to counteract the resistant parasite by restoring the ability of host to produce protective immune response and microbicidal NO via up-regulating NF-ĸB and iNOS gene. This finding elucidates RTN to be a strong candidate in the antileishmanial drug pipeline not only against the sensitive but resistant strains also.

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This paper describes an innovative procedure for the fabrication of a facile colorimetric sensor in one step with thiol functional group for Hg(2+) detection at trace level. The sensor was successfully synthesized via chitosan isothiouronium salt intermediate with innocuous low cost thiourea reagent under microwave irradiation. It is an innovative green approach to achieve thiol functionalization with a high degree of substitution. Thiomer was characterized by titrimetry, FTIR, (1)H NMR, elemental analysis (CHNS), and EDX for extent of modification with detail structure. The synthesized and well characterized thiomer was screened for sensor application. The sensing solution of thiomer resulted in an instantaneous sharp color change from colorless, yellow, to brown with increase in Hg(2+) concentration. Chitosan thiomer also exhibited high sensitivity and selectivity for Hg(2+) over other possible interfering ions in aqueous media. The sensing responses were visualized quantitatively with quick response, good selectivity, high sensitivity, and a low detection limit of ∼0.465 ppb by the naked eye. The same was tested with a paper strip method for technological applications. Furthermore, the as-prepared sensors also exhibited exceptional sorption potential for Hg(2+) even from ultralow concentration aqueous solution and reduced the Hg(2+) concentration from 10 ppb to the extremely low level of ∼0.04 ppb as studied by cyclic voltammetry. Thus, the proposed method is simple, promising, and rapid without any complicated modifying step and is an economical alternative to traditional Hg(2+) sensors for rapid sensor application in environmental water samples at ppb levels.

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This paper presents the synthesis of bis-quaternary starch by innocuous reagents. For this, starch was functionalized to di-aldehyde structure by periodate oxidation. Aldehyde is reactive and amenable to further derivatization to amine structure. It was functionalized to amine via the modified Leuckart-Wallach reaction. Then, the aminated starch was modified to the quaternary form by the exhaustive methylation. The structural characterization of synthesized compounds was performed using titrimetric analytical estimation, FTIR, (1)H NMR, (13)C NMR, and SEM-EDX. Analytical results showed 58.8% aldehyde content in di-aldehyde starch. The synthesized quaternary derivatives with gemini like structure showed high degree of quaternization 62%. In conclusion, the applied protocol is efficient and revealed high extent of modification with almost good uniformity from the characterization studies.

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CONTEXT: Carbapenemase production is an important mechanism responsible for carbapenem resistance. AIMS: Phenotypic detection and differentiation of types of carbapenemase in carbapenem resistant Enterobacteriaceae is important for proper infection control and appropriate patient management. SETTINGS AND DESIGN: We planned a study to determine the occurrence of Class A Klebsiella pneumoniae carbapenemase (KPC type) and Class B Metallo-ß-lactamase (MBL type) carbapenemase in hospital and community. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Clinical isolates of Escherichia coli and Klebsiella species and simultaneously evaluate different phenotypic methods for detection of carbapenemases. RESULTS: It was observed that 20.72% clinical isolates of E. coli and Klebsiella spp. were resistant to carbapenem on screening of which, 14.64% were E. coli and 29.69% were Klebsiella spp. Using phenotypic confirmatory tests the occurrence of carbapenemase production was found to be 87.01% in E. coli and 91.51% in Klebsiella spp. using both modified Hodge test (MHT) and combined disk test (CDT) using imipenem-ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid. CONCLUSIONS: Both MBL and KPC type carbapenemases were seen among clinical isolates of E. coli and Klebsiella spp. CDT is simple, rapid and technically less demanding procedure, which can be used in all clinical laboratories. Supplementing MHT with CDT is reliable phenotypic tests to identify the class A and class B carbapenemase producers.

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Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is a vector-borne parasitic disease targeting tissue macrophages. It is among the most neglected infectious diseases. As available therapeutics for treatment of this disease have many side effects, there is a need for safer alternatives. One of the immunopathological consequences of active visceral leishmaniasis is suppression of protective T-helper (Th)-1 cells and induction of disease-promoting Th-2 cells, and thus the treatment of VL relies on immunomodulation. In the current study, herbal drugs derived as whole-plant extracts of Asparagus racemosus and Withania somnifera were used to treat Leishmania donovani-infected BALB/c mice. Keeping the scenario of immunosuppression during VL in mind, the potential of these drugs in the restoration of murine Th-1-type protective immune responses was evaluated. To investigate the propensity of these drugs to treat VL, liver parasite load, delayed-type hypersensitivity responses and parasite-specific immunoglobulin levels were studied. Various biochemical and haematological tests were also carried out. A positive-control group used the standard drug treatment of sodium stibogluconate. Treatment of infected mice with A. racemosus and W. somnifera in combination at the higher dose of 200 mg (kg body weight)(-1) not only resulted in a successful reduction in parasite load but also generated protective Th1-type immune responses with normalization of biochemical and haematological parameters, suggesting their potential as potent anti-leishmanial agents.

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Silica, in natural waters (due to weathering of rocks) decreases system performance in water processing industry due to scaling. In view of that, the present work involves the synthesis of novel green star shaped additives of algae core (a bio-inspired material as diatom maintains silicic acid equilibrium in sea water) as silica polymerization inhibitors. Star shaped materials with bio-inspired core and poly(acrylamide) [poly(AAm)] and poly(acrylic acid) [poly(AAc)] arms were synthesized by economical green approach. The proficiency was evaluated in 'mini lab' scale for the synthesized APAAm (Algae-g-poly(AAm)) and APAAc (Algae-g-poly(AAc)) dendrimers (star shaped) in colloidal silica mitigation/inhibition at 35 °C and 55 °C. Synthesized dendrimers were equally proficient in silica inhibition at 12 h and maintains ≥450 ppm soluble silica. However, APAAm dendrimers of generation 0 confirmed better results (≈300 ppm) in contrast to APAAc dendrimers in silica inhibition at 55 °C. Additionally, dendrimers also worked as a nucleator for heterogeneous polymerization to inhibit silica homo-polymerization. APAAm dendrimer test set showed no silica deposit for more than 10 days of inhibition. EDX characterization results support nucleator mechanism with Si content of 6.97%-10.98% by weight in silica deposits (SiO2-APAAm dendrimer composites).

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Immobilized enzymes are useful as reusable catalysts in industrial processes. In this study, α-amylase was used as a model enzyme to evaluate the propensity of synthesized porous chitosan microspheres as immobilization matrix. Chitosan microspheres were synthesized by grafting and covalent gelation technique using acrylamide (AAm) and glutaraldehyde (GA) as chemical agents, respectively. The synthesized chitosan-cl-poly(AAm) demonstrated amylase immobilization capacity of 350 mg/g. Furthermore, SEM results supported the porous microsphere structure for chitosan-cl-poly(AAm) with non-aggregated amylase immobilization, which accounts for comparable activity of immobilized amylase (3.28 µmol/ml/min) in contrast to free amylase (3.46 µmol/ml/min). The immobilized α-amylase was characterized for optimal pH and temperature activity and showed better resistance to temperature and pH inactivation in contrast to free amylase. The immobilized amylase retained more than 60% of its initial activity when stored at 4°C for 30 days and retained 50% of its initial activity after seven successive repeated-use cycles. In conclusion, the study can be used as base for the immobilization of competent industrial biocatalysts in non-aggregated active structure.

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Guar gum, being the natural polymer is renewable, nontoxic, biocompatible and biodegradable. Therefore, it is the perfect material to formulate particulates or microspheres for potential applications in pharmaceutical. The formulation of material in nano/microsphere scale offers new rich in application potential. In view of that, novel biodegradable and pH-sensitive hydrogels composed of pH-sensitive methacrylic acid (MAc) and a biodegradable guar gum were synthesized by grafting reactions. Water-in-oil (w/o) emulsion method was used to direct the pH-sensitive material in microspheres shape using bi-functional glutaraldehyde (GA) as crosslinker. The synthesized microspheres were characterized by FTIR and SEM (different magnification). The swelling ratios of hydrogels in buffer solutions showed a pH-dependent profile at physiological pH. In vitro release data was analyzed using Fick's law, which indicated swelling controlled super case II transport of BSA through the synthesized microspheres. Therefore, in conclusion, as ascertained from the results the introduction of -COOH moieties along the guar gum chain drastically increases the end-use performance due to pH-sensitivity.

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To prepare novel hydrogels for use in water technologies, guar gum was subjected to acid hydrolysis. The depolymerized guar gum obtained there from and the native guar gum were oxidized to their respective polycarboxylic forms using NO(x) as oxidant. All these polymers were crosslinked with N,N-methylenebisacrylamide, and were used as Cu(2+) sorbents. The candidate hydrogel exhibiting the highest uptake was used further to investigate the effect of external stimuli on sorption. The sorption on hydrogels was fast as the highest sorption was observed after 2 h at 40 degrees C and 20 ppm of Cu(2+) ions. The hydrogel prepared from the oxidized guar gum afforded the maximum sorption capacity of 125.893 mg g(-1). Langmuir and Freundlich isotherms, and pseudo second order kinetics matches the experimental data. The evidence of sorption was obtained by characterizing Cu(2+)-loaded hydrogels by FTIR spectroscopy.

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Fe(II)-loaded pectin based hydrogels were used to remove As(V) from water. The hydrogels were synthesized by crosslinking pectin 'as such' or in the presence of 2-acrylamido-2-methylpropanesulphonic acid and three crosslinkers. The hydrogels crosslinked with 5% glutaraldehyde showed the maximum uptake of both Fe(II) and As(V). The sorption of As(V) was found to be sensitive to pH and temperature changes, as the maximum sorption was observed at 35 degrees C and 7.0-9.2 pH.

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