Cancer is one of the major diseases that cause a high number of deaths globally. Of the major types of cancers, lung cancer is known to be the most chronic form of cancer in the world. The conventional management of lung cancer includes different medical interventions like chemotherapy, surgical removal, and radiation therapy. However, this type of approach lacks specificity and also harms the adjacent normal cells. Lately, nanotechnology has emerged as a promising intervention in the management and treatment of lung cancers. Nanotechnology has revolutionized the existing modalities and focuses primarily on reducing toxicity and improving the bioavailability of anticancer drugs to the target tumor cells. Nanocarrier systems are being currently used extensively to exploit and to overcome the obstructions induced by cancers in the lungs. The nano-carrier-loaded therapeutic drug delivery methods have shown promising potential in treating lung cancer as its target is to control the growth of tumor cells. In this review, various modes of nano drug delivery options like liposomes, dendrimers, quantum dots, carbon nanotubes and metallic nanoparticles have been discussed. Nano-carrier drug delivery systems emerge as a promising approach and thus is expected to provide newer and advanced avenues in cancer therapeutics.

The present work aims to investigate the removal of dye congo red from aqueous solutions by two low-cost biowaste adsorbents such as ground nut shells charcoal (GNC) and eichhornia charcoal (EC) under various experimental conditions. The effect of contact time, ionic strength, temperature, pH, dye concentration, and adsorbent dose on the removal of dye was studied. The kinetic experimental data were fitted to pseudo-first order, pseudo-second order, intraparticle diffusion, Elovich model, and Bangham’s model. Results imply that adsorption of congo red on these adsorbents nicely followed the second order kinetic model and maximum adsorption capacity was found to be 117.6 and 56.8 mg g−1for GNC and EC at 318 K, however it increases with increase in temperature for both adsorbents. Equilibrium isotherms were analyzed by Langmuir, Freundlich, Temkin, Dubinin and Radushkevich, and Generalized Isotherms. Freundlich isotherm described the isotherm data with high-correlation coefficients. The results of the present study substantiate that biowaste material GNC and EC are promising adsorbents for the removal of the dye congo red.

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Maternal and newborn health and nutrition status are the significant indicators of the burden of any disease. Calcium is the most abundant mineral in the body and is essential for many diverse mechanisms and reactions such as muscle contraction, bone formation and enzyme and hormone functioning. Calcium in extracellular fluid maintains its physiologic equilibrium is in three forms namely ionic, protein bound and complexed. Calcium Metabolism During Pregnancy During the course of pregnancy, a remarkable series of physiologic changes occur, aimed at preserving maternal homeostasis while at the same time providing for fetal growth and development. These changes which have direct implications on calcium metabolism include falling albumin level, expansion of extracellular fluid volume, increase in renal function and placental calcium transfer. Calcium homeostasis is a complex process involving calcium and three calcitropic hormones-parathyroid hormone, calcitonin and 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D 3 (1, 25(OH)2D). Total serum concentrations fall during pregnancy due to hemodilution. This fall mainly occurs in albumin bound

Previous studies show that treatment of cantaloupes with chlorine dioxide (ClO2) gas at 5 mg/liter for 10 min results in a significant reduction (P < 0.05) in initial microflora, an increase in shelf life without any alteration in color, and a 4.6- and 4.3-log reduction of Escherichia coli O157:H7 and Listeria monocytogenes, respectively. However, this treatment could result in the presence of chloroxyanion residues, such as chloride (Cl(-)), chlorite (ClO2(-)), chlorate (ClO3(-)), and perchlorate (ClO4(-)), which, apart from chloride, are a toxicity concern. Radiolabeled chlorine dioxide ((36)ClO2) gas was used to describe the identity and distribution of chloroxyanion residues in or on cantaloupe subsequent to fumigation with ClO2 gas at a mean concentration of 5.1 ± 0.7 mg/liter for 10 min. Each treated cantaloupe was separated into rind, flesh, and mixed (rind and flesh) sections, which were blended and centrifuged to give the corresponding sera fractions. Radioactivity detected, ratio of radioactivity to mass of chlorite in initial ClO2 gas generation reaction, and distribution of chloroxyanions in serum samples were used to calculate residue concentrations in flesh, rind, and mixed samples. Anions detected on the cantaloupe were Cl(-) (∼ 90%) and ClO3(-) (∼ 10%), located primarily in the rind (19.3 ± 8.0 μg of Cl(-)/g of rind and 4.8 ± 2.3 μg of ClO3(-)/g of rind, n = 6). Cantaloupe flesh (∼ 200 g) directly exposed to(36)ClO2 gas treatment showed the presence of only Cl(-) residues (8.1 ± 1.0 μg of Cl(-)/g of flesh, n = 3). Results indicate chloroxyanion residues Cl(-) and ClO3(-) are only present on the rind of whole cantaloupes treated with ClO2 gas. However during cutting, residues may be transferred to the fruit flesh. Because Cl(-) is not toxic, only ClO3(-) would be a toxicity concern, but the levels transferred from rind to flesh are very low. In the case of fruit flesh directly exposed to ClO2 gas, only nontoxic Cl(-) was detected. This indicates that ClO2 gas that comes into contact with edible flesh would not pose a health concern.

BACKGROUND:The effect of elevated levels of serum progesterone (P4) and estradiol (E2) on the day of human chorionic gonadotropin and their cut-off value on in vitro fertilization (IVF) outcomes is still not clear.AIMS:The aim was to evaluate the association between serum P4, E2 and progesterone/estradiol ratio (P4/E2) on pregnancy outcome in IVF/intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) cycles with long agonist protocol.SETTING AND DESIGN:Retrospective, single center, cohort study.MATERIALS AND METHODS:A review of complete data of 544 women undergoing fresh IVF/ICSI cycles (539 cycles) with long agonist protocol from January 2012 to February 2014 was done. Data were stratified into Three groups according to the number of oocytes retrieved: low (≤4 oocytes obtained), intermediate (5–19 oocytes obtained), and high ovarian response (≥20 oocytes obtained).STATISTICAL ANALYSIS:Fishers exact test/Chi-square was carried for comparing categorical data. Receiver operating characteristics analysis was performed to determine the cut-off value for P4 and P4/E2 detrimental for pregnancy.RESULTS:A negative association was observed between pregnancy rate (PR) and serum P4 and P4/E2 levels with no effect on fertilization and cleavage rate. The overall cut-off value of serum P4 and P4/E2 ratio detrimental for pregnancy was found to be 1.075 and ≥0.35, respectively. Different P4 threshold according to the ovarian responders were calculated, 1.075 for intermediate and 1.275 for high responders. Serum E2 levels were not found to be significantly associated with PR.CONCLUSION:Serum P4 levels and P4/E2 ratio are a significant predictor for pregnancy outcome without affecting cleavage and fertilization rate while serum estradiol levels do not seem to affect PR.

e Acute gastroenteritis caused by human norovirus is a significant public health issue. Fresh produce and seafood are examples of high-risk foods associated with norovirus outbreaks. Food contact surfaces also have the potential to harbor noroviruses if exposed to fecal contamination, aerosolized vomitus, or infected food handlers. Currently, there is no effective measure to decontaminate norovirus on food contact surfaces. Chlorine dioxide (ClO 2 ) gas is a strong oxidizer and is used as a decontaminating agent in food processing plants. The objective of this study was to determine the kinetics and mechanism of ClO 2 gas inactivation of a norovirus surrogate, murine norovirus 1 (MNV-1), on stainless steel (SS) coupons. MNV-1 was inoculated on SS coupons at the concentration of 10 7 PFU/coupon. The samples were treated with ClO 2 gas at 1, 1.5, 2, 2.5, and 4 mg/liter for up to 5 min at 25°C and a relative humidity of 85%, and virus survival was determined by plaque assay. Treatment of the SS coupons with ClO 2 gas at 2 mg/liter for 5 min and 2.5 mg/liter for 2 min resulted in at least a 3-log reduction in MNV-1, while no infectious virus was recovered at a concentration of 4 mg/liter even within 1 min of treatment. Furthermore, it was found that the mechanism of ClO 2 gas inactivation included degradation of viral protein, disruption of viral structure, and degradation of viral genomic RNA. In conclusion, treatment with ClO 2 gas can serve as an effective method to inactivate a human norovirus surrogate on SS contact surfaces. Human norovirus (NoV) is the most prevalent cause of foodborne illnesses worldwide (1-3). This etiological agent accounts for more than 58% of all foodborne illnesses, causing 5.5 million cases of acute gastroenteritis in the United States annually (1). It is estimated that human NoV is responsible for more than 95% of nonbacterial acute gastroenteritis. Human NoV transmission occurs primarily through the fecal-oral route, either via person-to-person contact or contaminated food, water, fomites, and environmental surfaces (4, 5), and airborne transmission of viral particles may also be possible due to aerosolized vomitus or fecal material (6). Human NoV is highly contagious, with an infectious dose as low as 10 particles, and outbreaks often occur in confined settings, including restaurants, coach buses, hotels, nursing homes, hospitals, and cruise ships (7-11). Although human NoV causes significant health and emotional burdens, research on human NoV has been hampered due to the lack of an in vitro cell culture method and a small animal model (12). Therefore, we must rely on proper surrogates to study the survival of human NoV. Currently, cultivable animal caliciviruses, such as murine norovirus (MNV), feline calicivirus (FCV), and Tulane virus (TV), are used as surrogates for the study of human NoV (13,14). Studies have shown that MNV is more resistant to acid, heat, and environmental stresses than FCV (15). While MNV and TV have similar long-term storage stability and resistance to heat ...

BackgroundThe concept of Umbilical Cord blood (UCB) stem cells is emerging as a non-invasive, efficacious alternative source of hematopoietic stem cells to treat a variety of blood and bone marrow diseases, blood cancers, metabolic disorders and immune deficiencies. Aim of the present study was to determine the level of awareness about banking UCB among pregnant women in India. We also assessed patient perception for banking of UCB and explored the patient expectations of banking UCB in future. This is the first study to assess current attitudes, in a sample population of potential donors from one of the largest potential UCB repository (India). Obtaining this information may help optimize recruitment efforts and improve patient education.Material and MethodPresent explorative questionnaire based survey included 254 pregnant women in the final analysis.ResultsWe established only 26.5% pregnant women in our study population knew what exactly is meant by UCB. A large proportion (55.1%) was undecided on whether they want to bank UCB or not. Women were more aware of the more advertised private cord blood banking compared to public banking. More than half of the pregnant women expected their obstetrician to inform them regarding UCB. One-third of the women in our population had undue expectations from banking of the UCB.ConclusionObstetricians should play a more active role in explaining the patients regarding pros and cons of UCB banking.