Efficacy and safety of eltrombopag in Chinese patients with refractory or relapsed severe aplastic anemia

For patients with severe aplastic anemia (SAA) in China who have had an insufficient response to the first-line treatment with hematopoietic stem cell transplantation or immunosuppressive therapy, there is no established standard of care other than transfusion support and treatment of infections. This non-randomized, open-label, Phase II multicenter trial investigated the efficacy and safety of eltrombopag in 20 adult Chinese patients with refractory or relapsed (r/r) SAA. The primary endpoint of hematologic response rate at Week 26, defined as the proportion of patients who met any of the International Working Group criteria, was observed in 70% (14/20) of patients, with more than 50% of these having at least bi-lineage response. Reduced red blood cell and platelet transfusion at Week 26 were observed in 57% (8/14) and 80% (8/10) of patients, respectively. Safety findings were consistent with the established safety profile of eltrombopag and no new safety signals were reported. None of the patients discontinued eltrombopag because of safety concerns. Although the sample size was small, this is the first prospective study to show that eltrombopag is efficacious and has a favorable safety profile in a Chinese patient population with r/r SAA.Trial registration: This trial is registered on ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT03988608); registered 17 June 2019.

Capturing water vapors from atmospheric air using superporous gels

Dehumidification performance of most polymer desiccant materials is unsatisfactory because of the complex adsorption mechanism on polymer surface and non-porous structure. A viable alternative of solid desiccants, especially existing polymer desiccants, for capturing water vapors from moist air is the super-porous gels (SPGs). The presence of interconnected channels of pores in its structure facilitates the transfer of water molecules to the internal structure of SPGs. Therefore, in this research work, we are proposing N-isopropylacrylamide (NIPAM) and acrylamide (AM) based thermoresponsive SPGs as a potential alternative to the existing conventional solid desiccants. To ensure the formation of interconnected capillary channels, the SPGs were synthesized via gas blowing and foaming technique. Surface morphology of the SPGs was studied using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and the other physio-chemical characteristics were studied using different techniques like fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and thermo-gravimetric analysis (TGA). Water vapors adsorption properties of the SPGs were explored via adsorption isotherm and kinetics. The adsorption isotherm was found to be of type-III isotherm with a maximum adsorption capacity of 0.75 g_w/g_ads at 25 °C and 90% relative humidity. Experimental isotherm data correlated well with BET, FHH and GAB isotherm models. Adsorption kinetics suggested that the water vapors diffusion followed intraparticle diffusion and liquid field driving mechanisms collectively. SPGs exhibited very good regeneration and reusability for ten continuous adsorption/desorption cycles. Therefore, the dehumidification efficiency of synthesized SPGs shows that they have potential to replace most of the conventional solid desiccant materials in use.

Therapeutic equivalence of vildagliptin 100 mg once daily modified release to 50 mg twice daily immediate release formulation: An open-label, randomized, two-period, single- and multiple-dose, 6-day crossover study

BACKGROUND AND AIMS

Vildagliptin, a dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP-4) inhibitor to treat type 2 diabetes mellitus, is available as immediate release (IR) tablets administered at 50 mg twice daily (BID). A 100 mg modified release (MR) formulation was developed for once daily (QD) dosing. This study aimed to compare the therapeutic equivalence of vildagliptin 100 mg MR QD (test) and 50 mg IR BID (reference) formulations at steady state under fasting conditions.

METHODS

This was an open-label, randomized, two-period, single- and multiple-dose, two-way crossover, steady state study conducted in healthy adult subjects. Both vildagliptin formulations were administered for six days. Endpoints included pharmacodynamic equivalence, pharmacokinetic parameters, and tolerability of both formulations.

RESULTS

Thirty subjects were enrolled and 26 completed both treatments. Maximum plasma concentration and exposure achieved with test was lower than reference formulation on day 1 and 6. The DPP-4 enzyme inhibition over time (DPP-4-AUEC_0-24) was comparable between the formulations. Both formulations were well tolerated.

CONCLUSION

This study confirms the therapeutic equivalence of vildagliptin IR and MR formulations for DPP-4 enzyme inhibition over time. The study supports vildagliptin 100 mg MR QD as a useful therapeutic alternative to 50 mg IR BID formulation to possibly improve treatment adherence and patient compliance. Long-term safety of the vildagliptin 100 mg MR QD formulation is not evaluated in this study.

A source and ground motion study of earthquakes in and near Delhi (the National Capital Region), India

We study source parameters of 10 local earthquakes (2.7 ≤  M w ≤ 4.5) that have occurred in the National Capital Region (NCR) since 2001 and the ground motions produced by these events. Moment rate spectra of the earthquakes retrieved from the recordings at hard sites after applying corrections for geometrical spreading (1/R, R ≤ 100 km), anelastic attenuation (Q = 253f ^0.8) and cutoff frequency (f _m = 35 Hz) are reasonably well fit by the Brune ω ²-source model with stress drop ranging between 0.9 and 13 MPa. Neglecting the outlier low-stress drop value, the average stress drop is 6 MPa. We apply a modified standard spectral ratio technique to estimate site effect at 38 soft sites in the NCR as well as the geometrical mean site effect with respect to a reference hard site. Application of the stochastic method, with source characterized by the Brune ω ²- model with stress drop of 6 MPa and the mean site effect for soft sites, yields peak horizontal ground acceleration and velocity curves that are in good agreement with the observed values. These results provide the parameters needed for the application of the stochastic method to predict ground motions at hard and soft sites in the NCR during postulated M w ≤ 5.5 earthquakes.

GO crosslinked hydrogel nanocomposites of chitosan/carboxymethyl cellulose - A versatile adsorbent for the treatment of dyes contaminated wastewater

Graphene oxide (GO) crosslinked nanocomposites hydrogels (NCH) of chitosan (CS) and carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) were synthesized and the feasibility of its application as a versatile adsorbent for the remediation of cationic (methylene blue, MB) as well as anionic (methyl orange, MO) dyes contaminated wastewater was explored. Initially, GO was functionalized with vinyltriethoxysilane which was subsequently used as a chemical crosslinker to synthesize the NCH of CS and CMC (CS/CMC-NCH) with the polymeric mixture of diallyldimethylammonium chloride and 2-acrylamido-2-methyl-1-propanesulfonic acid. About 99% dye was adsorbed from 50 mg/L dye solution of MB dye with 0.4 g/L of CS/CMC-NCH at pH 7, whereas, for MO about 82% dye was adsorbed with 0.6 g/L of CS/CMC-NCH at pH 3. The Adsorption of both dyes is well explained using pseudo-second-order and Langmuir models with the maximum adsorption capacities of 655.98 mg_dye/g_ads for MB and 404.52 mg_dye/g_ads for MO. Thermodynamics studies suggested spontaneous and exothermic nature of the adsorption process with values of ΔS < 0 and ΔH > 0. Furthermore, CS/CMC-NCH showed excellent regeneration capacity for continuous twenty cycles of adsorption-desorption. Therefore, the synthesized CS/CMC-NCH is a versatile adsorbent that can treat both anionic and cationic dyes contaminated wastewater.

Low-Temperature Synthesis of Magnetic Carbonaceous Materials Coated with Nanosilica for Rapid Adsorption of Methylene Blue

This work reports the synthesis of nanosilica-coated magnetic carbonaceous adsorbents (MCA@SiO₂) using low-temperature hydrothermal carbonization technique (HCT) and the feasibility to utilize it for methylene blue (MB) adsorption. Initially, a carbon precursor (CP) was synthesized from corn starch under saline conditions at 453 K via HCT followed by the magnetization of CP again via HCT at 453 K. Subsequently, MCA was coated with silica nanoparticles. MCA and MCA@SiO₂ were characterized using X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared, scanning electron microscopy/energy-dispersive spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) N₂ adsorption-desorption isotherms. The BET surface area of MCA and MCA@SiO₂ were found to be 118 and 276 m² g^-1, respectively. Adsorption of MB onto MCA@SiO₂ was performed using batch adsorption studies and in the optimum condition, MCA@SiO₂ showed 99% adsorption efficiency with 0.5 g L^-1 of MCA@SiO₂ at pH 7. Adsorption isotherm studies predicted that MB adsorption onto MCA@SiO₂ was homogeneous monolayer adsorption, which was best described using a Langmuir model with the maximum adsorption capacity of 516.9 mg g^-1 at 25 °C. During adsorption kinetics, a rapid dye removal was observed which followed pseudo-first- as well as pseudo-second-order models, which suggested that MB dye molecules were adsorbed onto MCA@SiO₂ via both ion exchange as well as the chemisorption process. The endothermic and spontaneous nature of the adsorption of MB onto MCA@SiO₂ was established by thermodynamics studies. Mechanism of dye diffusion was collectively governed by intraparticle diffusion and film diffusion processes. Furthermore, MB was also selectively adsorbed from its mixture with an anionic dye, that is, methyl orange. Column adsorption studies showed that approximately 500 mL of MB having 50 mg L^-1 concentration can be treated with 0.5 g L^-1 of MCA@SiO₂. Furthermore, MCA@SiO₂ was repeatedly used for 20 cycles of adsorption-desorption of MB. Therefore, MCA@SiO₂ can be effectively utilized in cationic dye-contaminated wastewater remediation applications.

Super porous TiO2 photocatalyst: Tailoring the agglomerate porosity into robust structural mesoporosity with enhanced surface area for efficient remediation of azo dye polluted waste water

The low surface area of TiO₂ (50 m²g^-1 - Degussa P25) due to randomly oriented, agglomerated nanostructures and charge carrier recombination tendency, has till date been its major limitation for photocatalytic remediation of polluted wastewater. This study presents an innovative process to design super porous TiO₂ nanostructures with high effective surface area (238 m²g^-1), robust, structurally ordered mesoporosity via a simple sol-gel assisted reflux method. Detailed material characterization studies suggest that the higher degree of intermolecular ligation in novel templates such as butanetetracarboxylic or tricarballylic acid modified titanium hydroxide gels resulted in retainment of the porous structure during the urea assisted combustion synthesis. The induction of robust structural porosity is accompanied by a reduction in pore size distribution, an increase in pore volume leading to significantly higher total surface area of the synthesized TiO_2. Detailed investigation of dye adsorption kinetics and photocatalytic degradation kinetics, complemented by kinetic modeling analysis confirmed that the super porous TiO₂ with robust mesoporous structure outperforms the rest of synthesized TiO₂ catalyst (having only agglomerate porosity) in terms of its superior adsorption capacity, faster diffusion kinetics and photocatalytic activity for degradation of Amaranth dye. Thus, the super porous TiO₂ shows promising potential for application in sustainable photocatalytic technology for remediation of wastewater contaminated with azo dyes.

Advanced TiO2-SiO2-Sulfur (Ti-Si-S) Nanohybrid Materials: Potential Adsorbent for the Remediation of Contaminated Wastewater

In this present work, TiO₂-SiO₂-sulfur (Ti-Si-S) nanohybrid material was successfully prepared using TiO₂ nano powder, TEOS sol-gel precursor, and elemental sulfur as raw material by sol-gel process and hydrothermal method at 120 °C temperature. Raman spectroscopy, XRD, SEM, TEM, and N₂ absorption-desorption characterized the synthesized nanohybrid material. The characterization results confirmed the homogeneous distribution of sulfur in the nanohybrid material. The size of the Ti-Si-S nanohybrid material is vary between 20 and 40 nm and the surface areas of the nanohybrid material was measured using N₂ absorption-desorption, which showed value of 57.2 m² g^-1. The potential of Ti-Si-S nanohybrid material as an adsorbent was further tested to adsorb methylene blue (MB) from aqueous solution. Adsorption performance of hybrid material was highly influenced by the solution pH and mass of adsorbent. The adsorption of MB using Ti-Si-S nanohybrid material was homogeneous monolayer adsorption, which followed the Langmuir adsorption isotherm with a q_e,max value of 804.80 mg g^-1 and pseudo-second-order rate equation. The dye diffusion mechanism partially followed both intraparticle and liquid film diffusion mechanisms. Thermodynamics studies predicted the spontaneous and endothermic nature of the whole adsorption process. The Ti-Si-S nanohybrid material was used for six repeated cycles of MB dye adsorption-desorption.

A review on the study of urban wind at the pedestrian level around buildings

Urbanization is leading towards the change of local wind climate in the vicinity of tall buildings, which influences the pedestrian level wind environment to an uncomfortable or even dangerous level. Therefore nowadays, building design should not be limited only for the consideration of wind load and indoor environment, but outdoor wind environment should also be considered. This study presents a review of the methods for the assessment of pedestrian level wind climate, different wind comfort criterion and various techniques to evaluate the wind speed at the pedestrian level. In later sections, brief review for the influence of different parameters related to building design and configuration on pedestrian level wind is presented. After analyzing previous literature it is suggested that there is a strong need for the homogenization of different wind comfort criterion, as it may lead to different consequences for the architects. Among various wind tunnel measurement techniques, use of Irwin probe is simple and accurate compared to hot-wire anemometry and it can be installed at numerous locations for simultaneous measurement of pedestrian level wind speed. For numerical simulation, Reynolds Averaged Navier Stokes based technique has been used by various researchers, although this technique is not accurate as much as large eddy simulation and detached eddy simulation. But this technique is cost effective and requires less computing resources.

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Wind comfort due to high as well as low wind speeds should be considered.

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Irwin probes provide relatively accurate measurements of wind speed.

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Reynolds Averaged Navier Stokes based method is economic to simulate urban wind flow.

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Corner modified and lift-up buildings and use of podiums are positive design approach.

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Building width at 1/3rd height from ground affects the pedestrian wind mostly.

Efficient removal of rhodamine 6G dye from aqueous solution using nickel sulphide incorporated polyacrylamide grafted gum karaya bionanocomposite hydrogel

This research paper reports the synthesis and usage of the polyacrylamide (PAAm) grafted gum karaya (Gk) and nickel sulphide nanoparticle based hydrogel to effectively remove rhodamine 6G dye (R6G) from aqueous solution.

Morphogenesis of ZnO nanostructures: role of acetate (COOH−) and nitrate (NO3−) ligand donors from zinc salt precursors in synthesis and morphology dependent photocatalytic properties

We investigated how the presence of one anion effects the overall ZnO growth in the presence of another anion.

Biosorption potential of Gum ghatti-g-poly(acrylic acid) and susceptibility to biodegradation by B. subtilis

This article reports the biosorption potential of Gum ghatti (Gg)-grafted-acrylic acid (AA) polymer and its susceptibility to biodegradation by Bacillus subtilis (BS) in two different liquid media, i.e. phosphate buffered saline (PBS) and mineral salt medium (MSM). The progress of biodegradation was monitored after every 15 days using FT-IR and SEM techniques. The degradation of the polymer was further evidenced by a loss of weight of 23.2% and 27% in BS-MSM and BS-PBS, respectively, after 60 days. The AA-grafted polymer was then utilized for the removal of Pb(II) and Cu(II) from aqueous solution. The adsorption isotherm data were studied using Langmuir, Freundlich, Temkin, Flory-Huggins and Dubinin-Kaganer-Radushkevich isothermal models. High values of correlation coefficients confirmed the applicability of Langmuir isotherm model used to determine the adsorption capacity of the AA-grafted polymer. The maximum adsorption capacity was found to be 84.74 mg/g for Cu(II) and 310.55 mg/g for Pb(II). Kinetic data were evaluated using pseudo first order, pseudo second order, Elovich, intraparticle diffusion and liquid film diffusion models. The experimental kinetic data fitted well with the pseudo second order rate model.