Design, synthesis and antiamoebic activity of dysprosium-based nanoparticles using contact lenses as carriers against Acanthamoeba sp.

Purpose: Contact lenses have direct contact with the corneal surface and can induce sight-threatening infection of the cornea known as Acanthamoeba keratitis. The objective of this study was to evaluate the dysprosium-based nanoparticles (Dy-based NPs), namely Fe O -PEG-Dy O nanocomposites and Dy(OH) nanorods, as an active component against Acanthamoeba sp., as well as the possibility of their loading onto contact lenses as the drug administering vehicle to treat Acanthamoeba keratitis (AK).

DFT and QTAIM based investigation on the structure and antioxidant behavior of lichen substances Atranorin, Evernic acid and Diffractaic acid.

In this study, the structural and antioxidant behavior of the three lichen-derived natural compounds such as atranorin (AT), evernic acid (EV) and diffractaic acid (DF) has been investigated in the gas and water phase using both B3LYP and M06-2X functional level of density functional theory (DFT) with two different basis sets 6-31+G (d, p) and 6-311++G (d, p). The intramolecular H-bonds (IHB) strength, aromaticity and noncovalent interactions (NCI) have been computed with the help of the quantum theory of atoms in molecules (QTAIM). This calculation gives major structural characteristics that indirectly influence the antioxidant behavior of the investigated compounds.

QSAR classification-based virtual screening followed by molecular docking studies for identification of potential inhibitors of 5-lipoxygenase.

Developments of novel inhibitors to prevent the function of 5-lipoxygenase (5-LOX) proteins that are responsible for a variety of inflammatory and allergic disease are a major challenge in the scientific community. In this study, robust QSAR classification models for predicting 5-LOX activity were developed using machine learning algorithms. The Support Vector Machines (SVM), Logistic Regression, k-Nearest Neighbour (NN) and Decision Trees were adopted to improve the prediction ability of the classification models.

Investigation on the pH-independent photoluminescence emission from carbon dots impregnated on polymer matrix.

Highly luminescent, polymer nanocomposite films based on poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA), and monodispersed carbon dots (C-dots) derived from multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs), as coatings on substrates as well as free standing ones are obtained via solution-based techniques. The synthesized films exhibit pH-independent photoluminescence (PL) emission, which is an advantageous property compared with the pH-dependent photoluminescence intensity variations, generally observed for the C-dots dispersed in aqueous solution. The synthesized C-dots and the nanocomposite films are characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infra-red spectroscopy (FTIR), ultraviolet (UV) - visible spectroscopy and photoluminescence spectroscopy (PL) techniques.