Design, Synthesis, Biological Evaluation and Molecular Docking Studies of 5-fluorouracil-dithiocarbamate Conjugates

In this paper, a series of novel 5-fluorouracil-dithiocarbamate conjugates were designed, synthesized and evaluated in vitro . The results of cytotoxicity assays illuminated that these conjugates had anti-tumor activity against B16, Hela and U87MG, and compound P3 exhibited excellent growth inhibition against U87MG cells. Interestingly, the cytotoxicity of these conjugates was significantly increased when combined with copper ions. Meanwhile, colony-formation assays, transwell migration assays, cell apoptosis assays and cell cycle distribution assays were performed to explore the anti-tumor mechanism of conjugates. Compound P3 and P4 exhibited good biological activity in above four experiments when combined with copper ions. Especially, P3 displayed better bioactivity compared to the other three compounds. These results indicated that conjugates might be metabolized in the cells to produce dithiocarbamates, then metabolites formed complexes with copper ions, generating anti-tumor effects. Furthermore, conjugates and their metabolized dithiocarbamate derivatives were investigated by molecular docking, the results exhibited that P3 had the strongest interaction with the proteins 6CCY and 5T92, which was consistent with the obtained results of cell experiments. Compound P3 might be a potential lead-compound for the treatment of breast cancer and glioma. Further research in vivo about these compounds would be performed in our following work.

Immunomodulatory and Antiprotozoal Potential of Fabricated Sesamum radiatum Oil/Polyvinylpyrrolidone/Au Polymeric Bionanocomposite Film

A unique morphological Sesamum radiatum oil/polyvinylpyrrolidone/gold polymeric bionanocomposite film was synthesized using the S. radiatum oil dispersed in a polymeric polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) matrix and decorated with gold nanoparticles (AuNPs). The chemical and physical characteristics as well as the thermal stability of the synthesized bionanocomposite film were investigated using various spectroscopic and microscopic techniques. The microscopic analysis confirmed well dispersed AuNPs in the PVP- S. radiatum oil matrix with particle size of 100 nm. Immunomodulatory and antiprotozoal potentials of the suggested bionanocomposite film were evaluated for lipopolysaccharide-induced BV-2 microglia and against L. amazonensis, L. mexicana promastigotes and T. cruzi epimastigotes, respectively. The results exerted outstanding reduction of inflammatory cytokines’ (IL-6 and TNFα) secretions after pretreatment of bionanocomposite. The bionanocomposite exhibited large inhibitory effects on certain cell signaling components that are related to the activation of expression of proinflammatory cytokines. Additionally, AuNPs and bionanocomposite exhibited excellent growth inhibition of L. mexicana and L. amazonensis promastigotes with IC50 (1.71 ± 1.49, 1.68 ± 0.75) and (1.12 ± 1.10, 1.42 ± 0.69), respectively. However, the nanomaterials showed moderate activity towards T. cruzi. All outcomes indicated promising immunomodulatory, antiprotozoal, and photocatalytic potentials for the synthesized S. radiatum oil/PVP/Au polymeric bionanocomposite.

Physico-chemical and Adulteration Profile of Dried Milk in Kashmir

Background: Milk is a highly nutritious food that serves as an excellent growth good medium for microorganisms. Converting milk into milk powder increases its shelf life and can be stored for extended period (about 1 year) without substantial loss of quality even at ambient temperatures. Methods: The current investigation was undertaken with the aim of evaluating the quality of milk powder in Kashmir division for characterizing its physico-chemical and adulteration profile. Since all the dried milk is imported in the valley, it is important to ascertain its quality. For this purpose, whole valley was divided into three zones namely north, south and central. The physiochemical properties and adulteration profile of all the milk powder samples, collected from three zones (north, center, south) were determined. Result: The physiochemical properties of all the milk powder samples were to be of approved quality, irrespective of the brand and class. Adulteration profile of milk powder was seen to match completely to the standards. Milk powder should be free from all the adulterants to ensure its safe and wholesome consumption to consumers. A very few samples were found positive to alkaline neutralizer.

Anti-salmonella potential and antioxidant activity of fermented fruit-based juice by lactic acid bacteria and its biotransformation

Background: Lactic acid bacteria-based fermentation clearly contributes to improving nutritional value and exhibits various health benefits. The demand for non-dairy functional beverages, such as fruit beverages, as an alternative vehicle for probiotics is increasing because of lifestyle choices or health conditions. Therefore, the objective of this study was to evaluate the anti-Salmonella potential and antioxidant activity of fermented fruit-based juice by lactic acid bacteria and its biotransformation. Methods: In this study, to produce the fermented fruit-based juice (FFJ), the mixed fruit juice (MFJ) was fermented by Lactobacillus plantarum TISTR 1465 and Lactobacillus salivarius TIST 1112 for 72 hrs. The potential function, anti-Salmonella by the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC), minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC), and antibiofilm activities of FFJ against Salmonella Typhi DMST 22842 was evaluated. The antioxidative capacity was determined by DPPH and FRAP assay. The active volatile compounds were identified by GC-MS. Results: A novel functional FFJ showed excellent growth capacity with 8 log CFU/mL of probiotics Lactobacillus plantarum TISTR 1465 and Lactobacillus salivarius TIST 1112. MIC and MBC values in the FFJ were 500 mg/mL after 72 hrs of fermentation. After 48hrs of fermentation, biofilm formation inhibition was significant (p < 0.05) with 95.27% ± 2.26% inhibition; biofilm metabolic activity inhibition was also significant (p < 0.05) with 89.25% ± 0.18% inhibition. The volatile compounds present in the FFJ were fruity flavors and aromas, most of have antimicrobial and antioxidant properties. These compounds comprise various classes, including alcohols, organic acid, ester, and ketone. In both LAB fermentations, the most abundant volatile alcohol was isoamyl alcohol, followed by 1-hexanol and 2,3-Butanolone; acetic acid was only present in L. plantarum fermentation. In addition, DPPH radical scavenging and FRAP assay showed the mixed fruit juice had dramatically increased antioxidant activity after 48 hrs of fermentation.Conclusion: The findings of this work indicate that the obtained fermented fruit-based juice (FFJ) showed excellent growth capacity of probiotics, Lactobacillus plantarum TISTR 1465 and Lactobacillus salivarius TIST 1112, and produced the volatile compounds from biotransformation. This not only improved fruit flavor and aroma, but also influenced antibacterial activity against the pathogen Salmonella Typhi DMST 22842, as well as increased antioxidant activity. Therefore, the FFJ could be a novel functional fermented drink for vegan and non-diary consumption.Keywords: Lactic acid bacteria, Probiotics, Biotransformation, Non-dairy functional beverage, Anti-Salmonella

Method for Rapid Labeling of Waste Sludge from a Food Factory with 15N-Glycine and Evaluation of N Use Using Komatsuna (Brassica rapa Var. perviridis)

The waste sludge from food factories has rich nutrients and useful material for fertilizer or animal feed, but quick treatments and recycling of the waste sludge are difficult due to its higher water content. We have developed a rapid composting system to make sludge fertilizer using mix of waste sludge and shredded newspaper (Sludge Fertilizer Made by Paper Mixing Method, SF-PMM). The mixture was incubated in a box reactor, continuously aerated with warm air around 35°C, and changed to mature SF-PMM, in only two weeks. To search movement of N from the SF-PMM to plants, we developed a new method to label small amounts of SF-PMM with 15N-glycine. 50 L of wastewater from a food factory was incubated with 1 L of active sludge and 3 g of 15N-glycine (98 atom% 15N), and 175 g of labeled sludge was obtained in a day. This sludge was mixed with 25 g of newspaper chips, packed between two steel meshes, and placed at 20 cm depth in the reactor composting 200 kg of unlabeled sludge-paper mixture. Composting was restarted, and after about 7 days of reaction, 15N-labeled SF-PMM 7.03 atom% 15N was obtained. The surrounding unlabeled compost contained 4.0, 4.0, and 0.8% of N, P2O5, and K2O, respectively. C/N and pH were 10 and 7.4, respectively. Komatsuna (Brassica rapa var. perviridis) was cultivated in a pot with 50 and 100 mg N of SF-PMM, and healthy plants were obtained as in the Control experiments containing 50 mg N ammonium sulfate. No growth inhibition was observed in these experiments. Even in 100 mg SF-PMM, excellent growth of the roots was observed. About 56% of the N in the plant was shown to come from 15N-SF-PMM, and about 6% of the total15N in the 15N-SF-PMM was also shown to be incorporated into the plant.

Length-Weight Relationships and Relative Condition Factor of the Mullet, Rhinomugil Corsula (Hamilton, 1822) In the Sitakunda Coast of the Bay of Bengal, Bangladesh

This study deals with the length-weight relationship and relative condition factor (Kn) of 2480 specimens of Rhinomugil corsula (Hamilton, 1822), ranging from 3.5 cm to 29.5 cm total length and 0.40 g to 235.34 g weight, sampled monthly for two years period from March 2016 to February 2018 from the Sitakunda Coast of the Bay of Bengal, Bangladesh. Arithmetic form of equations for length (TL) and weight (W) of fish showed curvilinear relationships in male: W=0.0081TL3.016, female: W= 0.0083TL3.058 and combined sex: W=0.0076TL3.052, while logarithmic scale showed linear relationships in male: LogW=-2.122+3.016LogTL, female: LogW=-2.09+3.058 TL and combined sex: LogW=-2.121+3.052TL. In all the cases the coefficient of correlations between length and weight were positive and highly significant (P<0.01). The regression coefficient ‘b’ values were found to be 3.01±0.11, 3.06±0.12 and 3.05±0.12 for male, female and combined sexes, respectively for two years period together. When ‘t’ test was done, the growth was found to be isometric in case of male and combined sex and positive allometric in case of female. The relative condition factor (Kn) varied from 1.0003-1.009, 1.001-1.008 and 1.001-1.008, respectively, for male, female and combined sex in 2016-17, whereas 1.001-1.007, 1.003-1.006 and 0.992-1.008 respectively in 2017-18. The Kn values were always around ‘1’ or a little bit more than ‘1’ for length groups as well as monthly, indicating the excellent growth and robustness of fish due to favorable environmental condition prevailing in the habitat of the fish, in the Sitakunda coast of the Bay of Bengal. Bangladesh J. Zool. 49(1): 91-103, 2021

A Search of the Efficient S-Hetarylsuccinate Landscape Design Plant Growth Stimulators

The 4-thioquinolinic succinate derivatives with potential growth-stimulating activity has been investigated. The monitoring of carbohydrate concentration has confirmed its stimulation of the metabolism in saffron and sugarbeet. This lets us conclude that it may be an excellent growth stimulator.

Mispricing and Investor Preference with Six Indicators of Blue-Chip Stocks’ Future Returns

This research involves three variables: future returns, mispricing, and investor preference. The issue is that future returns in the markets are difficult to understand, especially for beginner, amateur investors. They are advised to focus on blue-chip stocks due to their safety in the market. The objective of this research is to find a connection from mispricing and investor preference to the future anomalies as indicators of mispricing and ten measurements as indicators of investor preference leading to three anomalies of mispricing and three measurements of investor preference. The three anomalies are asset growth, net operating assets, and total returns of blue-chip stocks. The methods used are descriptive statistics and associative statistics. In this research, we adopted eleven liabilities to total assets, while the three investor preferences are beta synchronous trading, book equity to market equity, and size. The descriptive statistics show that the asset growth, net operating asset, and size of eight companies are above the mean and the others are below it. Blue-chip stocks have excellent growth in assets, high operating assets, and high market capitalization. In addition, they have low liabilities (solvable), book value to market value (high return), and beta (low market sensitivity). The associative statistics used the multiple-regression cross-section Newey–West method and conducted the examination three times; that is, it tested mispricing with three indicators, investor preference with three indicators, and additional indicators between mispricing and investor preference. The result is not significant for the investor preference and mispricing index for the future returns of blue-chip stocks. The policy implication is that there is no divergence between fundamental and price security in the types of blue-chip stocks for future returns. Moreover, the institutional or individual investor does not impact future return’s stocks.

Isolation and biochemical characterization of probiotic bacteria obtained from yogurt samples of Rajshahi and Chittagong divisions of Bangladesh and their antimicrobial activity against enteric pathogens

Probiotics are generally live microorganisms which exert beneficial effects on human and animal health by improving the gastrointestinal microflora. Isolation and proper identification of probiotic bacteria are very much important for safe use in food and feed industry. With this perceptive, the aim of the present study was the isolation of probiotic bacteria and their biochemical characterization. In this study, ten probiotic Lactobacillus spp. was isolated and according to their morphological, physiological and biochemical assay, it was observed that all the isolated bacteria were rod shaped, gram positive, catalase negative, non-motile and coagulase positive which are an indicator of typical probiotic bacteria. Carbohydrate fermentation pattern and growth against inhibitory substances viz. pH 3.0, 0.3% bile, 0.1-0.4% phenol and 1-6% NaCl ensured the criteria for identification of the probiotic bacteria. All the isolated bacteria showed excellent growth against low pH (3.0) and bile (0.3%) in a 24 hour period of time. Isolated bacteria were tested for their antimicrobial activity against eight human and animal enteric pathogens and showed promising antimicrobial efficacy against the selective pathogens. Further research regarding, molecular characterization and identification of specific genes and proteins of interest through technological intervention may help to develop next generation bacteriocins and industrially important drug for human and animals. Bangladesh J. of Livestock Res. 21-25: 142-152, 2018