Exploring the viability of anti-microbial, superhydrophobic jute bags as an approach to sustainable food packaging system.

Jute in food packaging offers several advantages, including cost-effectiveness, biodegradability, renewability, and low environmental impact. Nevertheless, its hydrophilic characteristic makes it susceptible to airborne humidity and precipitation moisture. We combated this by chemically treating jute to make it water-resistant.

Solvent-Directed Bioactive Supramolecular Zinc(II)-Metallogels: Exploring Semiconducting Aptitudes of Fabricating p-n Junction and Schottky Devices.

α-Ketoglutaric acid-based supramolecular Zn(II) metallogels in ,'-dimethylformamide (DMF) and dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) solvent (i.e., Zn-α-Glu-DMF and Zn-α-Glu-DMSO) were successfully achieved.

Synthesis of Exfoliated Ni(OH) Nanosheets and AgNPs-Embedded Functionalized Polyindole-Based Trinary Hybrid Microspheres: A Z-Scheme Photocatalyst for the Sunlight-Driven Degradation of Organic Pollutants with Enhanced Antibacterial Efficacy.

Advancing a facile one-pot synthetic approach for the fabrication of a hybrid heterojunction photocatalyst remains a significant challenge in research pursuits. Herein, a microsphere-like trinary hybrid nanocomposite has been synthesized (NH/PIn/MAA/Ag). It comprises exfoliated single- and a few-layered Ni(OH) (NH nanosheets), mercaptoacetate-functionalized polyindole (PIn/MAA), and Ag nanoparticles (AgNPs) through an approach.

Understanding the gelation properties of the fluorophenyl glycosides of arabinoside gelators: experimental and theoretical studies.

In supramolecular gelation, fluorinated gelators are important due to the unique properties displayed by these compounds that arise out of the presence of fluorine atoms. Generally, incorporation of fluorine leads to higher mechanical strength of the gels compared to their non-fluorinated counterparts and this property is enhanced with increasing the number of fluorine atoms. Herein, we show that the incorporation of fluorine into the phenyl ring of phenyl arabinoside allows the molecule to act as a gelator, unlike the non-fluorinated compound.

Insights into Allosteric Inhibition of the AcrB Efflux Pump: Role of Distinct Binding Pockets, Protomer Preferences, and Crosstalk Disruption.

AcrB, a key component in bacterial efflux processes, exhibits distinct binding pockets that influence inhibitor interactions. In addition to the well-known distal binding pocket within the periplasmic domain, a noteworthy pocket amidst the transmembrane (TM) helices serves as an alternate binding site for inhibitors. The bacterial efflux mechanism involves a pivotal functional rotation of the TM protein, inducing conformational changes in each protomer and propelling drugs toward the outer membrane domain.

Economic evaluation of submerged anaerobic hybrid membrane bioreactor operating at mesophilic temperature.

A laboratory-scale mesophilic submerged anaerobic hybrid membrane bioreactor (An-HMBR) was operated for 270 days for the treatment of high-strength synthetic wastewater at different hydraulic retention times (HRTs) (3 days, 2 days, 1 day, and 0.5 days). Chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal efficiency of 92% was obtained with methane yield rate of 0.

Spin Inertia and Auto-Oscillations in Ferromagnets.

Recent experimental confirmation of spin inertia in ferromagnets positions this well-developed material class as a prime candidate for THz frequency applications. Spin-torque driven critical spin dynamics, such as auto-oscillations, play the central role in many spin-based technologies. Yet, the pressing question on spin inertia's effect on spin-torque driven dynamics in ferromagnets has remained unexplored.

Chaos and extinction risks of sexually reproductive generalist top predator in a seasonally forced food chain system with Allee effect.

This paper investigates the dynamics of a tritrophic food chain model incorporating an Allee effect, sexually reproductive generalist top predators, and Holling type IV and Beddington-DeAngelis functional responses for interactions across different trophic levels. Analytically, we explore the feasible equilibria, their local stability, and various bifurcations, including Hopf, saddle-node, transcritical, and Bogdanov-Takens bifurcations. Numerical findings suggest that higher Allee intensity in prey growth leads to the inability of species coexistence, resulting in a decline in species density.

Elucidating the Molecular Basis of 14-3-3 Interaction with α-Synuclein: Insights from Molecular Dynamics Simulations and the Design of a Novel Protein-Protein Interaction Inhibitor.

Parkinson's disease is a widespread age-related neurodegenerative disorder characterized by the loss of dopaminergic neurons in the midbrain along with the appearance of protein aggregates, termed as "Lewy bodies" in the surviving neuronal cells. The components of Lewy bodies include proteins such as α-synuclein, 14-3-3, Parkin, and LRRK2, along with other cellular organelles, which, in their native state, perform a plethora of vital biological functions within the human biome. Formation of these aggregates renders these components inactive, thereby interfering with homeostasis.

Exploring transmembrane allostery in the MexB: DB08385 variant as a promising inhibitor-like candidate against antibiotic resistance: a computational study.

, a formidable pathogen renowned for its antimicrobial resistance, poses a significant threat to immunocompromised individuals. In this regard, the MexAB-OprM efflux pump acts as a pivotal line of defense by extruding antimicrobials from bacterial cells. The inner membrane homotrimeric protein MexB captures antibiotics and translocates them into the outer membrane OprM channel protein connected through the MexA adaptor protein.

A Comprehensive Review on Strategies for Enhancing the Performance of Polyanionic-Based Sodium-Ion Battery Cathodes.

The significant consumption of fossil fuels and the increasing pollution have spurred the development of energy-storage devices like batteries. Due to their high cost and limited resources, widely used lithium-ion batteries have become unsuitable for large-scale energy production. Sodium is considered to be one of the most promising substitutes for lithium due to its wide availability and similar physiochemical properties.

Decoding Inhibitor Egression from Wild-Type and G2019S Mutant LRRK2 Kinase: Insights into Unbinding Mechanisms for Precision Drug Design in Parkinson's Disease.

Leucine-rich repeat kinase 2 (LRRK2) remains a viable target for drug development since the discovery of the association of its mutations with Parkinson's disease (PD). G2019S (in the kinase domain) is the most common mutation for LRRK2-based PD. Though various types of inhibitors have been developed for the kinase domain to reduce the effect of the mutation, understanding the working of these inhibitors at the molecular level is still ongoing.

Modulation of fluorescence and phosphorescence of organoboron compounds from ortho-substituted phenolic Schiff bases by structural modification.

Light emission from organoboron compounds of Schiff bases is found to depend strongly on their chemical structure. Two of these compounds (OB1 and OB2), which contain a benzene ring between the Schiff base moieties, exhibit weak fluorescence in methanol, with marked viscosity dependence. Fluorescence lifetimes of these compounds are in picosecond timescale, as determined by femtosecond optical gating (FOG).

Elucidating Daptomycin's Antibacterial Efficacy: Insights into the Tripartite Complex with Lipid II and Phospholipids in Bacterial Septum Membrane.

This study elucidated the mechanism of formation of a tripartite complex containing daptomycin (Dap), lipid II, and phospholipid phosphatidylglycerol in the bacterial septum membrane, which was previously reported as the cause of the antibacterial action of Dap against gram-positive bacteria via molecular dynamics and enhanced sampling methods. Others have suggested that this transient complex ushers in the inhibition of cell wall synthesis by obstructing the downstream polymerization and cross-linking processes involving lipid II, which is absent in the presence of cardiolipin lipid in the membrane. In this work, we observed that the complex was stabilized by Ca-mediated electrostatic interactions between Dap and lipid head groups, hydrophobic interaction, hydrogen bonds, and salt bridges between the lipopeptide and lipids and was associated with Dap concentration-dependent membrane depolarization, thinning of the bilayer, and increased lipid tail disorder.

A two carbon homologation of Friedel-Crafts alkylation enabled by photochemical alkene stitching: modular assembly of cyclolignans.

Herein we report an efficient two-carbon homologated variant of Friedel-Crafts alkylation photochemical radical alkene stitching. Readily available feedstock alkenes are used as bridges between photogenerated alkyl radicals and arenes, opening a route to γ-aryl-carbonyls for chemo-divergent access to aryltetralone and γ-lactones, a gateway to 2,7'-cyclolignans.

Optimizing coal mine planning and design for sustainable development in the context of mass exploitation of coal deposits.

Sustainable mining practices is a concept that embeds the principles of sustainable development into the whole mine life-cycle, from exploration, extraction and processing through to mine closure. The optimization of coal mine planning and the developing a standardized design for its sustainable development is very challenging and requires more effort. The present research attempts to address the conditions of sustainability and necessary measures for sustainable development, thereby providing appropriate solutions for each stage of mining operation besides expressing the necessity of sustainable development integration at different stages of mining life cycle (MLC).

Phenoxazinyl Zn(II) diradical complex formed redox-driven cyclization of a 2-aminophenol-based NO ligand. Isolation of the modified N ligand radical and its Ni(II) complex.

Aerobic reaction between the pyridine-2-carboxamide-2-aminophenol NO ligand (HL) and Zn(ClO)·6HO in CHCN affords an N phenoxazinylate coordinated Zn(II) complex; its diradical electronic structure [Zn{(L*)˙}] has been elucidated from redox, spectroscopic (UV-VIS and EPR), and magnetic measurements and DFT calculations. Isolation and characterization of the metal-assisted redox-driven modified N ligand as a radical cation (HL*)˙ and its Ni(II)-diradical complex [Ni{(L*)˙}] have also been achieved.

A computational strategy for estimation of mean using optimal imputation in presence of missing observation.

In this study, we suggest an optimal imputation strategy for the elevated estimation of the population mean of the primary variable utilizing the known auxiliary parameters for the missing observations. Under this strategy, we suggest a new modified Searls type estimator, and we study its sampling properties, mainly bias and mean squared error (MSE), for an approximation of order one. The introduced estimator is compared theoretically with the estimators of population mean in competition under the imputation method.

Ganglioside GM1 Drives Hemin and Protoporphyrin Adsorption in Phospholipid Membranes: A Structural Study.

Monosialoganglioside (GM1), a ubiquitous component of lipid rafts, and hemin, an integral part of heme proteins such as hemoglobin, are essential to the cell membranes of brain neurons and erythrocyte red blood cells for regulating cellular communication and oxygen transport. Protoporphyrin IX (PPIX) and its derivative hemin, on the contrary, show significant cytotoxic effects when in excess causing hematological diseases, such as thalassemia, anemia, malaria, and neurodegeneration. However, the in-depth molecular etiology of their interactions with the cell membrane has so far been poorly understood.

Fabrication and failure characteristics of asymmetric balsa-core based fibre composite sandwich beams under 3-point bending test.

The failure characteristics of an asymmetric balsa-core based fibre composite sandwich beam subjected to 3-point bending are investigated analytically and experimentally. The experimental specimens comprise a balsa wood core and two types of fibre composite skins, notably glass fibre and carbon fibre. During the static bending test, the effects of carbon fibre loading (CL) face and glass fibre loading (GL) face on bending failure behaviour are tested.

Beneficiation of Low-Grade Hematite Iron Ore Fines by Magnetizing Roasting and Magnetic Separation.

Present investigation includes the magnetizing roasting of low-grade iron ore fines followed by grinding and beneficiation using magnetic separation. The hematite iron ore used in the investigation contains 53.17% T Fe, 10.

Visible-Light-Sensitive Photoliquefiable Arylazoisoxazoles for the Solar Energy Conversion, Storage and Controlled-Release of Heat at Room Temperature or Lower Temperatures.

The photoswitchable MOlecular Solar Thermal (MOST) energy storage systems that are capable of exhibiting high energy storage densities are found to suffer from the poor cyclability, the use of less abundant UV light of the solar spectrum, or reduced charging/discharging rates and poor photoconversions in solid states. Herein, we have designed and readily synthesized a novel set of para-thioalkyl substituted arylazoisoxazoles, that undergo high trans-cis and cis-trans photoconversions under visible light, and show fast charging/discharging and impressive cyclability. Remarkably, the presence of C6-or C10-thioalkyl chainin photochromes permitted reversible solid-liquid phase transition with the formation of cis-enriched charged states by 400 nm light irradiation and trans-enriched discharged states by 530 nm light at various temperatures (10-35 °C).

Machine Learning-Guided Discovery of AcrB and MexB Efflux Pump Inhibitors.

Multidrug efflux pump is one of the reasons behind the antimicrobial inactivity related to infection caused by Gram-negative pathogens. The inner membrane resistance-nodulation-cell division transporter proteins, AcrB and MexB, in association with outer membrane proteins, TolC and OprM, are responsible for the extrusion of a broad range of substrates, followed by recognizing them. Although various inhibitors were proposed to stop the efflux activity of the transporter protein, none of them had been approved clinically.

Positron scattering from structurally related biomolecules.

We report the integral elastic, momentum transfer, and inelastic (positronium formation and ionisation) cross sections for positron scattering from structurally related molecules. The molecules chosen for the current investigation are formamide, formylphosphine, formic acid, -methylformamide, acetone, acetic acid, and formaldehyde. The cross sections were calculated using the optical potential approach and the complex scattering potential-ionisation contribution method for impact energies between 1 and 5 keV.