Biolmpacts
Volume:2 Issue: 2, Jun 2012

Nanocapsules, existing in miniscule size, range from 10 nm to 1000 nm. They consist of a liquid/solid core in which the drug is placed into a cavity, which is surrounded by a distinctive polymer membrane made up of natural or synthetic polymers. They have attracted great interest, because of the protective coating, which are usually pyrophoric and easily oxidized and delay the release of active ingredients. Various technical approaches are utilized for obtaining the nanocapsules; however, the methods of interfacial polymerization for monomer and the nano-deposition for preformed polymer are chiefly preferred. Most important characteristics in their preparation is particle size and size distribution which can be evaluated by using various techniques like X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, superconducting quantum interference device, multi angle laser light scattering and other spectroscopic techniques. Nanocapsules possessing extremely high reproducibility have a broad range of life science applications. They may be applied in agrochemicals, genetic engineering, cosmetics, cleansing products, wastewater treatments, adhesive component applications, strategic delivery of the drug in tumors, nanocapsule bandages to fight infection, in radiotherapy and as liposomal nanocapsules in food science and agriculture. In addition, they can act as self-healing materials. The enhanced delivery of bioactive molecules through the targeted delivery by means of a nanocapsule opens numerous challenges and opportunities for the research and future development of novel improved therapies.

Diatoms are single cell eukaryotic microalgae, which present in nearly every water habitat make them ideal tools for a wide range of applications such as oil explora­tion, forensic examination, environmental indication, biosilica pattern generation, toxicity testing and eutrophication of aqueous ecosystems. Essential information on diatoms were reviewed and discussed towards impacts of diatoms on biosynthesis and bioremediation. In this review, we present the recent progress in this century on the application of diatoms in waste degradation, synthesis of biomaterial, biomineraliza­tion, toxicity and toxic effects of mineral elements evaluations. Diatoms can be considered as metal toxicity bioindicators and they can be applied for biomineralization, synthesis of biomaterials, and degradation of wastes.

Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) is a simple and highly sensitive technique that can be used for evaluation of the aptamer-target interaction even in a label-free approach. To pursue the effectiveness of EIS, in the current study, the folding properties of specific aptamer for methamphetamine (METH) (i.e., aptaMETH) were evaluated in the presence of METH and amphetamine (Amph). Folded and unfolded aptaMETH was mounted on the gold electrode surface and the electron charge transfer was measured by EIS. The Ret of methamphetamine-aptaMETH was significantly increased in comparison with other folding conditions, indicating specific detection of METH by aptaMETH. Based on these findings, methamphetamine-aptaMETH on the gold electrode surface displayed the most interfacial electrode resistance and thus the most folding situation. This clearly indicates that the aptaMETH can profoundly and specifically pinpoint METH; as a result we suggest utilization of this methodology for fast and cost-effective identification of METH.

Polyamidoamine (PAMAM) dendrimers are a unique family of dendritic polymers with numerous pharmaceutical and biomedical applications. One major problem with these polymers is their cytotoxicity. The purpose of this study is to synthesize novel dendrimers with aldehyde terminal groups and compare their cytotoxicity with that of dendrimers containing amine terminated groups. G1 (first generation) and G2 (second generation) dendrimers with amine terminated groups were synthesized by divergent method and then the amine terminated groups were converted to the aldehyde groups using surface modification of the functional group inversion (FGI) method. The cytotoxicity of the novel G1 and G2 polyamidoaldehyde (PAMAL) dendrimers together with that of G1 and G2 PAMAM-NH2 dendrimers was investigated by MTT assay using MCF-7 cell line. The results showed that cytotoxicity of dendrimers with aldehyde terminated groups is much lower than that of G1 and G2 PAMAM-NH2 dendrimers. Dendrimers with aldehyde terminated groups could be used as novel and convenient carriers for drug delivery with low cytotoxic effect compared with the amine terminated denderimers. The results revealed that the same generations of the dendrimers with aldehyde-terminated groups are far less toxic than the corresponding amine-terminated denderimer.

The potential health risks and toxicity of synthetic antioxidants resulted in an upsurge of interest in phytochemicals as new sources of natural antioxidants. Phenolics of Astragalus L. (Fabaceae) possess antioxidant properties and have been shown to have a protective effect against several degenerative diseases. The objective of this study was to determine total phenolics and antioxidant activity of methanolic extracts from different parts of A. compactus Lam. at different phenological phases and to investigate the correlations between antioxidation and the contents of the total phenolics. Total phenolic content (TPC) was determined using the Folin-Ciocalteau reagent and the antioxidant capacity was evaluated with the 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) test. Generally, the TPC in leaves was higher than that of the roots and flowers. TPC in leaves, roots and flowers of the species varied from 5.01-8.25, 4.29-7.89 and 4.19 μg GAE/mg DW, respectively. In addition, roots and leaves at fructification stage possessed higher TPC than vegetative and flowering stages. Therefore, the leaf extracts at fructification phase showed the highest TPC that accompanied with best antioxidant activity. In the root extracts, fructification stage was also characterized by the highest antioxidant activity. A positive relationship between antioxidant activity and TPC showed that phenolics were the dominant antioxidant components in the species. Results obtained suggest that A. compactus methanolic extracts may serve as potential sources of natural phenolic antioxidants and that the fructification phase could be considered as the best stage for the harvesting of this plant.

Scientometric analysis of academic institutions provides useful information for policy makers, international and national organizations to invest in the research fields of the institutions to gain more outputs with less cost. The objectives of this work were to report a scientometric analysis of Islamic states considering a number of indicators. The number of articles and patents published by members of organization of Islamic conference were extracted from ScopusTM along with the top journals, authors, document type, universities, language of the publications and subjects. The analyses of data revealed that Turkey is the leading country followed by Iran, Egypt, Malaysia and Nigeria when total numbers of indexed articles in ScopusTM are considered. When the articles of 2006-2010 are considered the ranks are Turkey, Iran, Malaysia, Egypt and Pakistan. the increased pattern was observed for scientific performances of OIC members however, more investments are required to fill the gap between OIC members and the leading countries.