Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) have been undeniable for its antimicrobial activity while its antitumour potential is still limited. Therefore, the present study focused on determining cytotoxic effects of AgNPs on Michigan cancer foundation-7 (MCF-7) breast cancer cells and its corresponding mechanism of cell death. Herein, the authors developed a bio-reduction method for AgNPs synthesis using actinomycetes isolated from marine soil sample. The isolated strain was identified by 16s ribotyping method and it was found to be . Furthermore, the synthesised AgNPs were characterised by various bio-analytical techniques such as ultraviolet-visible spectrophotometer, atomic force microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, Fourier transform infra-red spectroscopy, and X-ray diffraction. Moreover, the results of 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide assay reveals 44.51 µg of AgNPs to have profound inhibition of cancer cell growth; furthermore, the inhibition of MCF-7 breast cancer cell line was found to be dose dependent on treatment with AgNPs. Acridine orange and ethidium bromide double staining methods were performed for cell morphological analysis. The present results showed that biosynthesised AgNPs might be emerging alternative biomaterials for human breast cancer therapy.

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Key words:Optimization of a product or process is determination of best possible composition or operating conditions resulting in its optimal performance. Optimization techniques are relatively new to the practice of pharmacy. Optimization using factorial designs is an efficient technique used in formulation optimization. Factorial experiments with two level factors are used widely because they are easy to design, efficient to run, straight forward to analyze, and full of information. Five case studies, in which optimization was performed by factorial design are discussed.Optimization, Factorial Design, Recent Research, Case Studies.

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In the field of biomedicine, upconversion nanoparticles have wide ranging applications from bioimaging to targeted cargo delivery, especially due to their excellent chemical and optical properties in comparison with conventional fluorophores. However, their use in biomedical applications is largely hindered due to strong absorption of short wavelength (<600 nm) light by biological tissues/cells and feeble luminescence. Hence, it is important to develop new strategies to increase the long wavelength (red) emission efficiency. In this work, we report an effective strategy to improve the red luminescence efficiency of NaYF4:Yb/Ho/Mn upconversion nanophosphors by varying the reaction conditions. The influence of different synthesis parameters, such as solvent ratio, reaction temperature, and reaction time, on the luminescence, crystal phase, and morphology of the upconversion nanophosphors has been studied in detail and optimized. The improvement in the crystallinity of nanophosphors is claimed as the main origin for the increase in the red emission intensity. This work could pave way for the versatile use of these bright red emitting upconversion nanophosphors in biomedical applications.

Hydrazine is a noxious environmental pollutant, which can be easily absorbed through skin, respiratory and oral paths of exposure and leads to mutagenic and carcinogenic diseases, which demands for the progress of advanced detection methods. In this regard, we report a new detection platform based on luminescence resonance energy transfer (LRET) for the detection of hydrazine (N 2 H 4 ) in environmental samples, where anti-Stokes shift luminescence having optical sensing system is built with upconversion nanophosphors (UCNPs, donor) modified by resorufin propionate (RePr, acceptor). Herein UCNPs were used as an excitation host to significantly minimize the photobleaching of RePr. Upon interaction with N 2 H 4 , the green upconversion luminescence (UCL) intensity of hybrid nanoprobes (RePr-UCNPs) gradually decreases, since the green emission is in resonance with the absorbance of resorufin, whereas the red emission intensity was intact. Hence, green emitting optical sensing system shows red luminescence in the presence of hydrazine. This organic-inorganic hybrid sensing system has been utilized for the sensing of hydrazine in various environmental samples and the obtained results are compared with the sensing efficiency in distilled water. This anti-Stokes shift luminescent hybrid sensing system would be a promising candidate to be utilized in environmental protection, water treatment and safety inspection.

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