Treatment of chrome plating wastewater (Cr+6) using activated alumina

Suitability of activated alumina for removal of hexavalent chromium from electroplating wastewater has been investigated. Activated alumina exhibited good sorption capacity for hexavalent chromium and pH has no pronounced effect on the sorption capacity. Both batch and column adsorption studies have been carried out and an adsorption column design indicated reasonable depth of column for practical application.     

Antitumor activity of extract of Zingiber aromaticum and its bioactive sesquiterpenoid zerumbone

The anticancer properties of zerumbone (2,6,9 humulatriene-8-one, a sesquiterpenoid) from Zingiber aromaticum were compared with those of curcumin from Curcuma longa in an in vitro MTT tetrazolium salt assay using HT-29, CaCo-2, and MCF-7 cancer cells and in an azoxymethane (AOM)-induced animal model of colon cancer using aberrant crypt foci (ACFs) as a preneoplastic marker. The IC50 of zerumbone was approximately 10 mM and that of curcumin was 25 mM. Cell cycle arrest in HT-29 cells was observed at G0/G1 for 10 and 12.5 mM and G2/M for 25 mM after 24 h at concentrations of 10-25 mM of zerumbone, and a concentration-dependent increase in apoptosis (2-6% of viable cells) was observed after 48 h using the same concentration range. Male Sprague-Dawley rats were fed extracts in an AIN diet prepared from the equivalent of 4% by weight of dried rhizomes of Z. aromaticum and C. longa. ACFs were induced by two doses (15 mg/kg body weight) subcutaneously of AOM 1 wk apart, the rats were killed 10 wk later, and the ACFs were assessed in the colon. Total ACFs were significantly reduced by Z. aromaticum extract (down 21%, P < 0.05) relative to control, the effect being most evident with large ACFs (>3 aberrant crypts per focus). Similar reductions were observed with 4% C. longa extract in the diet (down 24%, P < 0.01) and with 2,000 ppm curcumin, the effect being particularly evident with large ACFs. The concentration of zerumbone in the Z. aromaticum extract diet was assayed at 300 ppm and of curcumin in the C. longa extract diet was also 300 ppm, i.e., the extract of C. longa was as effective at one-seventh the concentration of curcumin as the positive control. Zerumbone is effective as an anticancer agent, possibly by its apoptosis-inducing and antiproliferative influences. This latter possibility is currently being investigated.     

Current perspectives on the cellular uptake and trafficking of riboflavin

The role of riboflavin in cell maintenance and growth, and the mechanism by which it is absorbed into various human tissues and cell lines has been extensively studied over the past decade. Evidence suggests two absorption mechanisms, a saturable-active component that dominates at near physiological vitamin concentrations and a passive component that is revealed at oversupplemented riboflavin conditions. Various transport modulator studies consistently suggest a highly riboflavin specific, temperature-dependent active transport mechanism that is regulated by the Ca2+/calmodulin pathway. The PKA and PKG pathways have also been implicated in absorption regulation. The long-standing model that riboflavin absorption involves a carrier-mediated transporter has recently been challenged through studies suggesting a receptor-mediated endocytic component. The presence of a soluble, human riboflavin binding protein in the transport stratagem has been shown to play an important role in fetal development. The relationship of this binding protein with the riboflavin specific membrane bound protein, though currently not well defined, may involve a protein-protein interaction that plays a primary role in this proposed receptor-mediated component.     

MRI features of tuberculosis of peripheral joints

The aim of this article is to present the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) features of peripheral tubercular arthritis. The clinical presentation of peripheral tubercular arthritis is variable and simulates other chronic inflammatory arthritic disorders. MRI is a highly sensitive technique which demonstrates fine anatomical details and identifies the early changes of arthritis, which are not visible on radiographs. The MRI features of tubercular arthritis include synovitis, effusion, central and peripheral erosions, active and chronic pannus, abscess, bone chips and hypo-intense synovium. These imaging features in an appropriate clinical setting may help in the diagnosis of tubercular arthritis. Early diagnosis and treatment can effectively eliminate the long-term morbidity of joints affected by tuberculosis.     

Double logarithmic,linear relationship between plasma chloride concentration and time since death in humans in Chandigarh Zone of North-West India

Estimation of time since death with the change in chloride concentration in postmortem blood is the topic of discussion in the study. Querido (Forensic Sci Int 45 (1990) 117) had demonstrated a highly significant double logarithmic linear relationship between the plasma chloride concentration and postmortem interval in Wistar rats. Henceforth, the present study was carried out to substantiate this propensity in humans. Chloride concentration in postmortem blood of 474 subjects revealed a highly significant relationship between logarithm of plasma chloride concentration and logarithm of the time since death during 3-58 h of death. Notwithstanding, time since death can be predicted from plasma chloride concentration with standard error of estimate of 2.1 h but factors like environmental temperature, cause of death, age and gender influences it significantly.     

An integrated approach to measuring tumor oxygen status using human melanoma xenografts as a model

Tumor oxygen status is a reliable prognostic marker that impacts malignant progression and outcome of tumor therapy. However, tumor oxygenation is heterogeneous and cannot be sufficiently described by a single parameter. It is influenced by several factors including microvessel density (MVD), blood flow (BF), blood volume (BV), blood oxygen saturation, tissue pO(2), oxygen consumption rate, and hypoxic fraction. The goal of this investigation was to integrate these measurements to obtain a comprehensive profile of tumor oxygenation. Platelet/endothelial cell adhesion molecule immunohistochemistry, the recessed oxygen microelectrode, color and power Doppler ultrasound (DUS), and diffuse light spectroscopy (DLS) were used to measure tumor oxygen status using vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)-transfected hypervascular human melanoma xenografts and their nontransfected counterparts as a model. NIH1286 human melanoma cells were transfected with a retroviral vector +/- a 720-bp fragment of human VEGF(121). High VEGF-producing clones were selected by ELISA. Oxygen consumption rate was measured in NIH1286/VEGF+ [VEGF-transfected cells (VEGF+ cells)] and NIH1286/Vec cells [cells transfected with vector alone (Vec cells)] using a standard Clark oxygen electrode. Athymic nude 6-8-week-old mice received s.c. injection in the right flank with 5 x 10(6) VEGF+ or Vec cells. When tumors were 10-14 mm in maximum dimension, serum was analyzed for VEGF by ELISA. Cryopreserved tumor tissue sections were immunostained for platelet/endothelial cell adhesion molecule, and MVD measurements were made. Tumor-bearing mice were anesthetized, and pO(2) measurements were made using Eppendorf pO(2) histograph or the recessed oxygen microelectrode. Tumor BF and BV were measured by quantitative analysis of DUS images. DLS was used to measure tumor BF and blood oxygen saturation variation. VEGF+ cell supernatants had 15,500 pg/ml VEGF, and Vec cells had 10 pg/ml. VEGF+ and Vec cells had equivalent oxygen consumption rates. VEGF+ tumors had a faster growth rate than Vec tumors. Serum from VEGF+ tumor-bearing mice showed 4,211 pg/ml VEGF, whereas VEGF was undetectable in the serum of control mice. MVD values were 74 +/- 11 in VEGF+ tumors and 39 +/- 4 in control tumors at x200 magnification/0.95-mm(2) area. The median pO(2) values were 3.5-fold higher in VEGF+ tumors than in Vec tumors by the recessed oxygen microelectrode and 18-fold higher by Eppendorf pO(2) histograph. DUS showed a 3.3-fold higher mean BF and a 5.5-fold higher BV in VEGF+ tumors than in Vec tumors. DLS showed a 3.2-fold higher mean BF and 1.7-fold higher oxygen saturation in the hypervascular tumors as compared with the control tumor type, consistent with increased BF and BV data by DUS. An integrated approach that yields a comprehensive and consistent profile of oxygen status in tumors could potentially provide critical information for prognosis and treatment.     

Synthesis and discovery of macrocyclic polyoxygenated bis-7-azaindolylmaleimides as a novel series of potent and highly selective glycogen synthase kinase-3beta inhibitors

Attempts to design the macrocyclic maleimides as selective protein kinase C gamma inhibitors led to the unexpected discovery of a novel series of potent and highly selective glycogen synthase kinase-3beta (GSK-3beta) inhibitors. Palladium-catalyzed cross-coupling reactions were used to synthesize the key intermediates 17 and 22 that resulted in the synthesis of novel macrocycles. All three macrocyclic series (bisindolyl-, mixed 7-azaindoleindolyl-, and bis-7-azaindolylmaleimides) were found to have submicromolar inhibitory potency at GSK-3beta with various degrees of selectivity toward other protein kinases. To gain the inhibitory potency at GSK-3beta, the ring sizes of these macrocycles may play a major role. To achieve the selectivity at GSK-3beta, the additional nitrogen atoms in the indole rings may contribute to a significant degree. Overall, the bis-7-azaindolylmaleimides 28 and 29 exhibited little or no inhibitions to a panel of 50 protein kinases. Compound 29 almost behaved as a GSK-3beta specific inhibitor. Both 28 and 29 displayed good potency in GS cell-based assay. Molecular docking studies were conducted in an attempt to rationalize the GSK-3beta selectivity of azaindolylmaleimides.     

Results of clinical trials for locally advanced and metastatic nonsmall-cell lung cancer

Chemotherapy in nonsmall-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is not just a reality but has resulted in important improvements in quality of life and survival for patients with locally advanced and metastatic NSCLC. For patients with stage IV NSCLC, platinum-based 2-drug combinations are superior to single-agent therapy and have a superior therapeutic index than 3-drug combinations. Concurrent chemoradiation has become the standard of care for patients with locally advanced NSCLC. The addition of consolidation chemotherapy following definitive chemoradiation appears to improve median survival. The era of molecularly targeted therapies for NSCLC is here. Early results with some of the targeted agents studied for the treatment of NSCLC have generated a great deal of excitement. In this article, we review the results of recent clinical trials in locally advanced and metastatic NSCLC.