Publications by authors named "Prabhakar R"

The disposal of waste-printed circuit boards (WPCBs) poses significant environmental and health risks, as they are a major component of e-waste containing hazardous materials. However, WPCBs also contain valuable metallic elements, making them important resources for recycling. To address the dual challenge of hazardous waste management and resource recovery, sustainable approaches for metal extraction from WPCBs are imperative.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Microplastics (MPs) have become a critical pollutant, accumulating in aquatic ecosystems and posing significant environmental and human health risks. Approximately 5.25 trillion plastic particles float in global oceans, releasing up to 23,600 metric tonnes of dissolved organic carbon annually, which disrupts microbial dynamics.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • - The study successfully created a pure form of propargyltrichlorosilane and developed a new method for its reaction with aldehydes using asymmetric catalytic techniques.
  • - Researchers found that the relationship between the catalyst's structure and its effectiveness in producing specific enantiomers differs from similar reactions involving allylation.
  • - A total of eleven α-allenic alcohols were synthesized from the reaction, yielding different amounts and enantiomeric ratios, and potential reaction mechanisms were explored using computational methods.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

High contact resistance has been a bottleneck in developing high-performance transition-metal dichalcogenide (TMD) based -type transistors. We report degenerately doped few-layer WSe transistors with contact resistance as low as 0.23 ± 0.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • Contaminated Sediments:
  • Hazardous metal contaminants in sediments pose risks to humans and wildlife, and current management options are limited.
  • Polonite® as a Solution:
  • In lab experiments, Polonite®, an activated calcium-silicate, showed potential as a cost-effective and sustainable sorbent for capping contaminated sediments, with significant metal uptake and reduced bioavailability.
  • Key Findings:
  • Adding Polonite increased the sediment's capacity to hold metals like Cu, Pb, and Zn considerably, and its usage led to a substantial reduction in metal bioavailability to marine life, making it a better alternative to traditional remediation methods like dredging.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Sheet-like colloidal assemblies represent model systems to investigate the structure and properties of two-dimensional materials. Here, we report a simple yet versatile method for the preparation of colloidal monolayer sheet-like assemblies that affords control over the size, crystalline order, flexibility, and defect density. The protocol that we report relies on self-assembly of colloids as a sessile drop of dispersion is evaporated on an oil-covered substrate.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

We report the discovery that the molecule 1-(pyridin-2-ylmethylamino)propan-2-ol (HL) can reduce oxidative stress in neuronal C6 glioma cells exposed to reactive oxygen species (O, HO, and OH) and metal (Cu) stress conditions. Furthermore, its association with Cu generates [Cu(HL)Cl] () and [Cu(HL)](ClO) () complexes that also exhibit antioxidant properties. Potentiometric titration data show that HL can coordinate to Cu in 1:1 and 1:2 Cu:ligand ratios, which was confirmed by monocrystal X-ray studies.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

This paper outlines a novel drug delivery system for highly cytotoxic mertansine (DM1) by conjugating to an albumin-binding Evans blue (EB) moiety through a tuneable responsive disulfide linker, providing valuable insights for the development of effective drug delivery systems toward cancer therapy.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Many self-assembling peptides can form amyloid like structures with different sizes and morphologies. Driven by non-covalent interactions, their aggregation can occur through distinct pathways. Additionally, they can bind metal ions to create enzyme like active sites that allow them to catalyze diverse reactions.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Electrochemical CO reduction (COR) using heterogenized molecular catalysts usually yields 2-electron reduction products (CO, formate). Recently, it has been reported that certain preparations of immobilized cobalt phthalocyanine (CoPc) produce methanol (MeOH), a 6-electron reduction product. Here, we demonstrate the significant role of intermediate mass transport in CoPc selectivity to methanol.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Electrochemical CO reduction on Cu is a promising approach to produce value-added chemicals using renewable feedstocks, yet various Cu preparations have led to differences in activity and selectivity toward single and multicarbon products. Here, we find, surprisingly, that the effective catalytic activity toward ethylene improves when there is a larger fraction of less active sites acting as reservoirs of *CO on the surface of Cu nanoparticle electrocatalysts. In an adaptation of chemical transient kinetics to electrocatalysis, we measure the dynamic response of a gas diffusion electrode (GDE) cell when the feed gas is abruptly switched between Ar (inert) and CO.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Bisphenol S (BPS), a BPA analog and a safer alternative, is utilized in a diverse range of industrial applications, such as making polycarbonate plastics, epoxy resins, thermal receipt papers, and currency bills. Recently, the increased use of BPS in containers and packages for daily life has been interrogated due to its identical chemical structure and probable endocrine-disrupting actions as BPA has. The present study aimed to evaluate the alterations in biochemical indices and antioxidant enzymes as certain indicators of the endocrine-disrupting effect of BPS in Channa striatus, a freshwater fish.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Case: A 29-year-old young active man with ununited necrosed proximal fifth of scaphoid with chronic scapholunate ligament disruption was managed by excision of proximal pole fragment and interosseous scapholunate reconstruction using modified Brunelli triple ligament tenodesis technique with satisfying outcome at 6 months and return to sports instructor job by the end of 1 year.

Conclusion: Meticulous understanding and algorithmic itemwise approach of injury components can lead to optimal management of complex unstable wrist injuries such as scapholunate dissociation. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report on excision of proximal pole of scaphoid coupled with scapholunate ligament reconstruction.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The viscoelastic properties of the female reproductive tract influence sperm swimming behavior, but the exact role of these rheological changes in regulating sperm energetics remains unknown. Using high-speed dark-field microscopy, the flagellar dynamics of free-swimming sperm across a physiologically relevant range of viscosities is resolved. A transition from 3D to 2D slither swimming under an increased viscous loading is revealed, in the absence of any geometrical or chemical stimuli.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

As COVID-19 infection caused severe public health concerns recently, the development of novel antivirals has become the need of the hour. Main protease (M ) has been an attractive target for antiviral drugs since it plays a vital role in polyprotein processing and virus maturation. Herein we report the discovery of a novel class of inhibitors against the SARS-CoV-2, bearing histidine α-nitrile motif embedded on a simple dipeptide framework.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Relative to isotropic organic solvent medium, the structure and conformation of a reactant molecule in an organized and confining medium are often different. In addition, because of the rigidity of the immediate environment, the reacting molecule have a little freedom to undergo large changes even upon gaining energy or modifications in the electronic structure. These alterations give rise to differences in the photochemistry of a molecular and supramolecular species.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Intercalation is the process of inserting chemical species into the heterointerfaces of two-dimensional (2D) layered materials. While much research has focused on the intercalation of metals and small gas molecules into graphene, the intercalation of larger molecules through the basal plane of graphene remains challenging. In this work, we present a new mechanism for intercalating large molecules through monolayer graphene to form confined oxide materials at the graphene-substrate heterointerface.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Drought susceptibility is a major yield limiting factor in agricultural crops especially in hybrids/varieties that have been bred for high yields. We show that manipulation of the SlDREB3 gene in tomato alters ABA responses and thereby sensitivity of stomatal closure to ABA. SlDREB3 suppression lines show ABA hypersensitivity and rapid stomatal closure in response to ABA while over-expression lines show reduced sensitivity to ABA and open stomata even at high ABA levels with rapid water loss after 10 days of water stress.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The application of microfluidic techniques in experimental and environmental studies is a rapidly emerging field. Water-in-oil microdroplets can serve readily as controllable micro-vessels for studies that require spatial structure. In many applications, it is useful to monitor cell growth without breaking or disrupting the microdroplets.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The selective hydrolysis of the extremely stable phosphoester, peptide and ester bonds of molecules by bio-inspired metal-based catalysts (metallohydrolases) is required in a wide range of biological, biotechnological and industrial applications. Despite the impressive advances made in the field, the ultimate goal of designing efficient enzyme mimics for these reactions is still elusive. Its realization will require a deeper understanding of the diverse chemical factors that influence the activities of both natural and synthetic catalysts.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

This research was conducted in the urban area of Patna region, the capital and largest city of Bihar, which is part of the Indo-Gangetic alluvium plain. This study aims to identify the sources and processes controlling groundwater's hydrochemical evolution in the Patna region's urban area. In this research, we evaluated the interplay between several measures of groundwater quality, the various possible causes of groundwater pollution, and the resulting health risks.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • Early neurological deterioration (END) is common in acute ischemic stroke and significantly impacts patient outcomes, with fibrinogen being a debated factor in its prediction.
  • A study involving 141 patients identified independent predictors of END, including age, NIHSS score at admission, and fibrinogen levels, with significant statistical relationships.
  • Results suggest that elevated fibrinogen levels correlate with both poor neurological outcomes and hospital outcomes, highlighting its potential role in early prognostication for ischemic stroke patients.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • - Steady-state fluorescence spectroscopy is useful in biophysics and imaging but has limitations in the information it provides about complex systems like DNA and amyloid fibrils.
  • - This study utilizes time-resolved spectroscopy to uncover two distinct binding sites for ruthenium complexes on amyloid-β fibrils, revealing previously hidden interactions that steady-state methods missed.
  • - Understanding these binding interactions is crucial for developing drugs that target amyloid proteins and mitigate their harmful effects, with time-resolved spectroscopy serving as a valuable method for studying these dynamics.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Spatial structure within microbial communities can provide nearly limitless opportunities for social interactions and are an important driver for evolution. As metabolites are often molecular signals, metabolite diffusion within microbial communities can affect the composition and dynamics of the community in a manner that can be challenging to deconstruct. We used encapsulation of a synthetic microbial community within microdroplets to investigate the effects of spatial structure and metabolite diffusion on population dynamics and to examine the effects of cheating by one member of the community.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • The study reports the creation and characterization of two new cobalt(II) coordination compounds, investigating their effects on Leishmania amazonensis, a parasite that causes leishmaniasis.
  • Complex (1) showed no toxicity to mammalian cells and had moderate antiproliferative activity against the promastigote form of the parasite, while complex (2) was cytotoxic to mammalian cells but was also effective against the parasite.
  • Mechanistic studies revealed that complex (1) induces mitochondrial dysfunction and apoptosis-like cell death in the parasites, with promising molecular docking results suggesting a potential interaction with crucial proteins, warranting further research.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF