Displaying publications 1 - 20 of 30 in total

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  1. Fulltext Secure Trust-Based Blockchain Architecture to Prevent Attacks in VANET
    Khan AS, Balan K, Javed Y, Tarmizi S, Abdullah J
    Sensors (Basel), 2019 Nov 14;19(22).
    PMID: 31739437 DOI: 10.3390/s19224954
    Vehicular ad hoc networks (VANET) are also known as intelligent transportation systems. VANET ensures timely and accurate communications between vehicle to vehicle (V2V) and vehicle to infrastructure (V2I) to improve road safety and enhance the efficiency of traffic flow. Due to its open wireless boundary and high mobility, VANET is vulnerable to malicious nodes that could gain access into the network and carry out serious medium access control (MAC) layer threats, such as denial of service (DoS) attacks, data modification attacks, impersonation attacks, Sybil attacks, and replay attacks. This could affect the network security and privacy, causing harm to the information exchange within the network by genuine nodes and increase fatal impacts on the road. Therefore, a novel secure trust-based architecture that utilizes blockchain technology has been proposed to increase security and privacy to mitigate the aforementioned MAC layer attacks. A series of experiment has been conducted using the Veins simulation tool to assess the performance of the proposed solution in the terms of packet delivery ratio (PDR), end-to-end delay, packet loss, transmission overhead, and computational cost.
  2. Fulltext Potential biosorbent derived from Calligonum polygonoides for removal of methylene blue dye from aqueous solution
    Nasrullah A, Khan H, Khan AS, Man Z, Muhammad N, Khan MI, et al.
    ScientificWorldJournal, 2015;2015:562693.
    PMID: 25705714 DOI: 10.1155/2015/562693
    The ash of C. polygonoides (locally called balanza) was collected from Lakki Marwat, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan, and was utilized as biosorbent for methylene blue (MB) removal from aqueous solution. The ash was used as biosorbent without any physical or chemical treatment. The biosorbent was characterized by using various techniques such as Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The particle size and surface area were measured using particle size analyzer and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller equation (BET), respectively. The SEM and BET results expressed that the adsorbent has porous nature. Effects of various conditions such as initial concentration of methylene blue (MB), initial pH, contact time, dosage of biosorbent, and stirring rate were also investigated for the adsorption process. The rate of the adsorption of MB on biomass sample was fast, and equilibrium has been achieved within 1 hour. The kinetics of MB adsorption on biosorbent was studied by pseudo-first- and pseudo-second-order kinetic models and the pseudo-second-order has better mathematical fit with correlation coefficient value (R (2)) of 0.999. The study revealed that C. polygonoides ash proved to be an effective, alternative, inexpensive, and environmentally benign biosorbent for MB removal from aqueous solution.
  3. Fulltext Synthesis, Structural Characterization, and Evaluation of the Biological Properties of Heteroleptic Palladium(II) Complexes
    Khan H, Daraz N, Khan MN, Said M, Akhtar N, Badshah A, et al.
    Bioinorg Chem Appl, 2014;2014:916361.
    PMID: 25276113 DOI: 10.1155/2014/916361
    Five heteroleptic palladium(II) complexes of the general formula Pd(PR3)(tu)Cl2, where PR3 = triphenylphosphine (1), diphenyl-o-tolylphosphine (2), diphenyl-p-tolylphosphine (3), diphenyl-t-butylphosphine (4), and diphenyl-o-methoxyphenylphosphine (5), and tu = 1,3-bis(2-methoxyphenyl) thiourea. They all have been synthesized and characterized by various spectroscopic techniques (elemental analysis, FTIR, and (1)H NMR and the ligand 1,3-bis(2-methoxyphenyl) thiourea was synthesized by single crystal X-ray diffraction technique). The synthesized compounds were screened for their antibacterial activity against four strains of bacteria (Escherichia coli, Shigella flexneri, Staphylococcus aureus, and Bacillus subtilis). The antitumor potential was evaluated in terms of activity against brine shrimp eggs and DNA interaction. The mixed ligand complexes have exhibited moderate antibacterial activity and promising antitumor potential.
  4. Five decades of the International Endodontic Journal: Bibliometric overview 1967-2020
    Khan AS, Ur Rehman S, Ahmad S, AlMaimouni YK, Alzamil MAS, Dummer PMH
    Int Endod J, 2021 Oct;54(10):1819-1839.
    PMID: 34196006 DOI: 10.1111/iej.13595
    AIM: The International Endodontic Journal (IEJ) has served as a platform for research and clinical practice in Endodontics since 1967. This study provides a bibliographic analysis and overview of the publications that have appeared in the IEJ from 1967 to 2020.

    METHODOLOGY: A literature search was performed in Elsevier's Scopus database to locate all the publications of the International Endodontic Journal. Various bibliometric software packages including the open-source visualization software Gephi and Biblioshiny (version 2.0) were employed for data visualization and analysis.

    RESULTS: A total of 3739 records with citation and bibliographic details were selected and retrieved to allow a bibliometric analysis to be performed. The bibliometric analysis indicates that the IEJ has grown both in terms of productivity and influence. Over time, the journal has been associated with an increase in the number of manuscripts published and the citations they have attracted, but with minor downward fluctuations in citations in the last few years. Bibliographic coupling of the IEJ articles revealed that the major research themes published in the journal include 'endodontics', 'root canal treatment', 'calcium hydroxide', 'apical periodontitis', 'mineral trioxide aggregate', 'microbiology', 'cyclic fatigue', 'cone-beam computed tomography' and 'micro-computed tomography'. Authors affiliated to institutions in the UK were the major contributors to the journal and were linked with other countries such as Brazil, USA and Malaysia. The largest number of publications were from the University of São Paulo, Brazil.

    CONCLUSION: The IEJ is one of the leading journals in Endodontology and has been providing a platform for innovative research and clinical reports for more than 50 years. Publications have been associated with a wide range of authors, institutions and countries around the world.

  5. Efficient conversion of lignocellulosic biomass to levulinic acid using acidic ionic liquids
    Khan AS, Man Z, Bustam MA, Nasrullah A, Ullah Z, Sarwono A, et al.
    Carbohydr Polym, 2018 Feb 01;181:208-214.
    PMID: 29253965 DOI: 10.1016/j.carbpol.2017.10.064
    In the present research work, dicationic ionic liquids, containing 1,4-bis(3-methylimidazolium-1-yl) butane ([C4(Mim)2]) cation with counter anions [(2HSO4)(H2SO4)0], [(2HSO4)(H2SO4)2] and [(2HSO4)(H2SO4)4] were synthesised. ILs structures were confirmed using 1H NMR spectroscopy. Thermal stability, Hammett acidity, density and viscosity of ILs were determined. Various types of lignocellulosic biomass such as rubber wood, palm oil frond, bamboo and rice husk were converted into levulinic acid (LA). Among the synthesized ionic liquids, [C4(Mim)2][(2HSO4)(H2SO4)4] showed higher % yield of LA up to 47.52 from bamboo biomass at 110°C for 60min, which is the better yield at low temperature and short time compared to previous reports. Surface morphology, surface functional groups and thermal stability of bamboo before and after conversion into LA were studied using SEM, FTIR and TGA analysis, respectively. This one-pot production of LA from agro-waste will open new opportunity for the conversion of sustainable biomass resources into valuable chemicals.
  6. Swelling mechanism of urea cross-linked starch-lignin films in water
    Sarwono A, Man Z, Bustam MA, Subbarao D, Idris A, Muhammad N, et al.
    Environ Technol, 2018 Jun;39(12):1522-1532.
    PMID: 28524800 DOI: 10.1080/09593330.2017.1332108
    Coating fertilizer particles with thin films is a possibility to control fertilizer release rates. It is observed that novel urea cross-linked starch-lignin composite thin films, prepared by solution casting, swell on coming into contact with water due to the increase in volume by water uptake by diffusion. The effect of lignin content, varied from 0% to 20% in steps of 5% at three different temperatures (25°C, 35°C and 45°C), on swelling of the film was investigated. By gravimetric analysis, the equilibrium water uptake and diffusion coefficient decrease with lignin content, indicating that the addition of lignin increases the hydrophobicity of the films. When temperature increases, the diffusion coefficient and the amount of water absorbed tend to increase. Assuming that swelling of the thin film is by water uptake by diffusion, the diffusion coefficient is estimated. The estimated diffusion coefficient decreases from 4.3 to 2.1 × 10-7 cm2/s at 25°C, from 5.3 to 2.9 × 10-7 cm2/s at 35°C and from 6.2 to 3.8 × 10-7 cm2/s at 45°C depending on the lignin content. Activation energy for the increase in diffusion coefficient with temperature is observed to be 16.55 kJ/mol. An empirical model of water uptake as a function of percentage of lignin and temperature was also developed based on Fick's law.
  7. Anticariogenic and Mechanical Characteristics of Resin-Modified Glass Ionomer Cement Containing Lignin-Decorated Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles
    Malik Z, Muhammad N, Kaleem M, Nayyar M, Qazi AS, Butt DQ, et al.
    ACS Appl Bio Mater, 2023 Feb 20;6(2):425-435.
    PMID: 36700919 DOI: 10.1021/acsabm.2c00644
    This study aims to synthesize and characterize lignin-decorated zinc oxide nanoparticles before incorporating them into resin-modified glass ionomer cement (RMGIC) to improve their anticariogenic potential and mechanical properties (shear bond strength and microhardness). Probe sonication was used to synthesize lignin-decorated zinc oxide nanoparticles which were then characterized via scanning electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and X-ray diffraction. Following characterization, these were incorporated in RMGIC (Gold label, Fuji II LC). Three major groups, experimental group A (EGA), experimental group B (EGB), and control group (CG), were outlined. EGA and EGB were divided into numbered subgroups based on the ascending concentrations of nanoparticles (5, 10, and 15%) of lignin-coated zinc oxide and zinc-oxide, respectively. CG served as a control and comprised cured RMGIC samples without any incorporation. Anticariogenic analysis was conducted on experimental RMGIC samples via disk-diffusion (n = 3) and direct contact test (n = 3) against Streptococcus mutans (ATCC 25175). Optical density values for days 1, 3, and 5 were recorded via a UV-Vis spectrophotometer. A shear bond strength test was performed using 35 premolars. The adhesive remnant index was used to estimate the site of bond failure. For the Vickers microhardness test (n = 3), 100 g of load at 10 s dwell time was set. Atomic absorption spectroscopy was performed over 28 days to determine the release of zinc from the samples. All tests were analyzed statistically. The anticariogenic potential of EGA and EGB was significantly greater (p ≤ 0.05) than that of the control. The shear bond strength test reported the highest value for EGA15 with all groups exhibiting failure at the bracket/RMGIC interface. The microhardness of EGA15 yielded the highest value (p ≤ 0.05). Release kinetics displayed a steady release with EGB15 exhibiting the highest value. The EGA and EGB samples displayed good anticariogenic potential, which was sustained for 28 days without any deleterious effect on the shear bond strength and microhardness.
  8. Fulltext Investigation of Dielectric, Ferroelectric, and Strain Responses of (1 - x)[0.90(Bi0.5Na0.5)TiO3 - 0.10SrTiO3] - xCuO Ceramics
    Ullah A, Khan AS, Sarker MR, Iqbal MJ, Khan HU, Tirth V, et al.
    ACS Omega, 2023 Apr 04;8(13):12372-12378.
    PMID: 37033827 DOI: 10.1021/acsomega.3c00128
    The low-temperature sintering of (Bi0.5Na0.5)TiO3-based ceramics can be achieved by sintering aid CuO. Piezoelectric ceramics (1 - x)[0.90(Bi0.5Na0.5)TiO3 - 0.10SrTiO3] - xCuO (BNT-ST-Cu) with x = 0, 0.01, 0.02, 0.03, and 0.04 were prepared through the mixed oxide route. A tetragonal structure was indexed for the undoped sample. Its structure was found to be changed to a pseudocubic when Cu was added. For undoped Cu samples, the sintering temperature (T s) for sufficient densification was 1160 °C. However, T s was reduced to 1090-1120 °C for Cu-added specimens. Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) showed a uniform and dense grain morphology for all samples. The maximum dielectric constant temperature (T m) was decreased with the doping concentration of Cu and applied frequency. The strain was increased with Cu concentration and had the maximum value of 500 pm/V for the sample x = 0.02 with symmetric and slim strain loops.
  9. Fulltext Exploring the dynamic world of ternary deep eutectic solvents: Synthesis, characterization, and key properties unveiled
    Alotaibi MA, Malik T, Naeem A, Khan AS, Ud Din I, Shaharun MS
    Heliyon, 2024 Nov 30;10(22):e40521.
    PMID: 39641067 DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e40521
    Deep eutectic solvents are a novel class of solvents that have gained much attention with time due to their biodegradability, non-volatility, non-toxicity and low-cost. In this work, a novel ternary deep eutectic solvent (TDES) was synthesized using ethaline (ChCl:EG) and glycine, with the addition of carboxylic acids. The synthesized material was characterized through Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). While the thermal stability and physical properties such as density, viscosity, surface tension and refractive index were also determined). To estimate the critical properties, modified version of Lyderson-Joback-Reid (LJR) and Lee-Kesler mixing (Alkhatib et al., 2020) [1] methods were used. The density of the DES was calculated using the Spencer and Danner correlation and the obtained values were compared with experimental data. FTIR analysis confirmed that hydrogen bonding is the main driving force responsible for the formation of the deep eutectic solvents. The physical properties of the binary DES system, such as viscosity, density,and thermal stability of the system were enhanced after the incorporation of a third component (carboxylic acid) to the system. However, the surface tension of the TDES system decrease with the increasing amounts of the third component, likely due to increase in the void radius of the TDES. Thus investigation is considering as novel work to check the influence of carboxylic acids on the physical properties of binary deep eutectic solvent systems.
  10. Fulltext Retraction Note: DNA encoding schemes herald a new age in cybersecurity for safeguarding digital assets
    Aqeel S, Khan SU, Khan AS, Alharbi M, Shah S, El Affendi M, et al.
    Sci Rep, 2025 Feb 11;15(1):5028.
    PMID: 39934159 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-025-88627-8
  11. Fulltext A lightweight and robust authentication scheme for the healthcare system using public cloud server
    Abbasi IA, Jan SU, Alqahtani AS, Khan AS, Algarni F
    PLoS One, 2024;19(1):e0294429.
    PMID: 38289970 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0294429
    Cloud computing is vital in various applications, such as healthcare, transportation, governance, and mobile computing. When using a public cloud server, it is mandatory to be secured from all known threats because a minor attacker's disturbance severely threatens the whole system. A public cloud server is posed with numerous threats; an adversary can easily enter the server to access sensitive information, especially for the healthcare industry, which offers services to patients, researchers, labs, and hospitals in a flexible way with minimal operational costs. It is challenging to make it a reliable system and ensure the privacy and security of a cloud-enabled healthcare system. In this regard, numerous security mechanisms have been proposed in past decades. These protocols either suffer from replay attacks, are completed in three to four round trips or have maximum computation, which means the security doesn't balance with performance. Thus, this work uses a fuzzy extractor method to propose a robust security method for a cloud-enabled healthcare system based on Elliptic Curve Cryptography (ECC). The proposed scheme's security analysis has been examined formally with BAN logic, ROM and ProVerif and informally using pragmatic illustration and different attacks' discussions. The proposed security mechanism is analyzed in terms of communication and computation costs. Upon comparing the proposed protocol with prior work, it has been demonstrated that our scheme is 33.91% better in communication costs and 35.39% superior to its competitors in computation costs.
  12. Fulltext DNA encoding schemes herald a new age in cybersecurity for safeguarding digital assets
    Aqeel S, Khan SU, Khan AS, Alharbi M, Shah S, Affendi ME, et al.
    Sci Rep, 2024 Jun 15;14(1):13839.
    PMID: 38879689 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-64419-4
    With the urge to secure and protect digital assets, there is a need to emphasize the immediacy of taking measures to ensure robust security due to the enhancement of cyber security. Different advanced methods, like encryption schemes, are vulnerable to putting constraints on attacks. To encode the digital data and utilize the unique properties of DNA, like stability and durability, synthetic DNA sequences are offered as a promising alternative by DNA encoding schemes. This study enlightens the exploration of DNA's potential for encoding in evolving cyber security. Based on the systematic literature review, this paper provides a discussion on the challenges, pros, and directions for future work. We analyzed the current trends and new innovations in methodology, security attacks, the implementation of tools, and different metrics to measure. Various tools, such as Mathematica, MATLAB, NIST test suite, and Coludsim, were employed to evaluate the performance of the proposed method and obtain results. By identifying the strengths and limitations of proposed methods, the study highlights research challenges and offers future scope for investigation.
  13. Fulltext Key insights into recommended SMS spam detection datasets
    Johari MF, Chiew KL, Hosen AR, Yong KSC, Khan AS, Abbasi IA, et al.
    Sci Rep, 2025 Mar 10;15(1):8162.
    PMID: 40059218 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-025-92223-1
    Short Message Service (SMS) spam poses significant risks, including financial scams and phishing attempts. Although numerous datasets from online repositories have been utilized to address this issue, little attention has been given to evaluating their effectiveness and impact on SMS spam detection models. This study fills this gap by assessing the performance of ten SMS spam detection datasets using Decision Tree and Multinomial Naïve Bayes models. Datasets were evaluated based on accuracy and qualitative factors such as authenticity, class imbalance, feature diversity, metadata availability, and preprocessing needs. Due to the multilingual nature of the datasets, experiments were conducted with two stopword removal groups: one in English and another in the respective non-English languages. The key findings of this research have led to the recommendation of Dataset 5 for future SMS spam detection research, as evidence from the dataset's high qualitative assessment score of 3.8 out of 5.0 due to its high feature diversity, real-world complexity, and balanced class distribution, and low detection rate of 86.10% from Multinomial Naïve Bayes. Recommending a dataset that poses challenges for high model performance fosters the development of more robust and adaptable spam detection models capable of handling diverse forms of noise and ambiguity. Furthermore, selecting the dataset with the highest qualitative score enhances research quality, improves model generalizability, and mitigates risks related to bias and inconsistencies.
  14. Fulltext New cholinesterase inhibitory constituents from Lonicera quinquelocularis
    Khan D, Khan HU, Khan F, Khan S, Badshah S, Khan AS, et al.
    PLoS One, 2014;9(4):e94952.
    PMID: 24733024 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0094952
    A phytochemical investigation on the ethyl acetate soluble fraction of Lonicera quinquelocularis (whole plant) led to the first time isolation of one new phthalate; bis(7-acetoxy-2-ethyl-5-methylheptyl) phthalate (3) and two new benzoates; neopentyl-4-ethoxy-3, 5-bis (3-methyl-2-butenyl benzoate (4) and neopentyl-4-hydroxy-3, 5-bis (3-methyl-2-butenyl benzoate (5) along with two known compounds bis (2-ethylhexyl phthalate (1) and dioctyl phthalate (2). Their structures were established on the basis of spectroscopic analysis and by comparison with available data in the literature. All the compounds (1-5) were tested for their acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and butyrylcholinesterase (BChE) inhibitory activities in dose dependent manner. The IC50 (50% inhibitory effect) values of compounds 3 and 5 against AChE were 1.65 and 3.43 µM while the values obtained against BChE were 5.98 and 9.84 µM respectively. Compounds 2 and 4 showed weak inhibition profile.
  15. Microwave assisted synthesis and characterization of magnesium substituted calcium phosphate bioceramics
    Khan NI, Ijaz K, Zahid M, Khan AS, Abdul Kadir MR, Hussain R, et al.
    Mater Sci Eng C Mater Biol Appl, 2015 Nov 1;56:286-93.
    PMID: 26249592 DOI: 10.1016/j.msec.2015.05.025
    Hydroxyapatite is used extensively in hard tissue repair due to its biocompatibility and similarity to biological apatite, the mineral component of bone. It differs subtly in composition from biological apatite which contains other ions such as magnesium, zinc, carbonate and silicon (believed to play biological roles). Traditional methods of hydroxyapatite synthesis are time consuming and require strict reaction parameter control. This paper outlines synthesis of magnesium substituted hydroxyapatite using simple microwave irradiation of precipitated suspensions. Microwave irradiation resulted in a drastic decrease in ageing times of amorphous apatitic phases. Time taken to synthesize hydroxyapatite (which remained stable upon heat treatment at 900°C for 1h) reduced twelve folds (to 2h) as compared to traditionally required times. The effects of increasing magnesium concentration in the precursors on particle size, surface area, phase-purity, agglomeration and thermal stability, were observed using scanning electron microscopy, BET surface area analysis, X-ray diffraction and photo acoustic Fourier transform infra-red spectroscopy. Porous agglomerates were obtained after a brief heat-treatment (1h) at 900°C.
  16. Fulltext Assessment of Adherence to the Core Elements of Hospital Antibiotic Stewardship Programs: A Survey of the Tertiary Care Hospitals in Punjab, Pakistan
    Mubarak N, Khan AS, Zahid T, Ijaz UEB, Aziz MM, Khan R, et al.
    Antibiotics (Basel), 2021 Jul 24;10(8).
    PMID: 34438956 DOI: 10.3390/antibiotics10080906
    Background: To restrain antibiotic resistance, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), United States of America, urges all hospital settings to implement the Core Elements of Hospital Antibiotic Stewardship Programs (CEHASP). However, the concept of hospital-based antibiotic stewardship programs is relatively new in Low- and Middle-Income Countries. Aim: To appraise the adherence of the tertiary care hospitals to seven CEHASPs. Design and Setting: A cross-sectional study in the tertiary care hospitals in Punjab, Pakistan. Method: CEHASP assessment tool, (a checklist) was used to collect data from the eligible hospitals based on purposive sampling. The check list had 19 statements to cover seven CEHASPs: Hospital Leadership Commitment, Accountability, Pharmacy Expertise, Action (Implement Interventions to Improve Antibiotic Use), Tracking Antibiotic Use and Outcomes, Reporting Antibiotic Use and Outcomes, and Education. For each statement, a response of "YES", "NO" or "Under Process" constituted a score of 2, 0 and 1, respectively, where the higher the scores the better the adherence. Categorical variables were described through descriptive statistics, while independent t-test computed group differences. Result: A total of 68 hospitals (n = 33 public, n = 35 private) participated with a response rate of 79.1%. No hospital demonstrated "Perfect" adherence. Roughly half private (48.6%) and more than half public (54.5%) sector hospitals were "Poor" in adherence. Based on the mean score, there was no significant difference between the private and the public hospitals in terms of comparison of individual core elements. The two most neglected core elements emerged as top priority area were: Reporting Antibiotic Use and Outcomes and Tracking Antibiotic Use and Outcomes.Conclusion: The current response of Pakistan to implement hospital-based antibiotic stewardship programs is inadequate. This study points out significant gaps of practice both in public and private tertiary care hospitals. A majority of the core elements of antibiotic stewardship are either absent or "Under Process". The deficiency/priority areas mentioned require immediate attention of the concerned stakeholders in Pakistan.
  17. A new approach of probe sonication assisted ionic liquid conversion of glucose, cellulose and biomass into 5-hydroxymethylfurfural
    Sarwono A, Man Z, Muhammad N, Khan AS, Hamzah WSW, Rahim AHA, et al.
    Ultrason Sonochem, 2017 Jul;37:310-319.
    PMID: 28427638 DOI: 10.1016/j.ultsonch.2017.01.028
    5-Hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) has been identified as a promising biomass-derived platform chemical. In this study, one pot production of HMF was studied in ionic liquid (IL) under probe sonication technique. Compared with the conventional heating technique, the use of probe ultrasonic irradiation reduced the reaction time from hours to minutes. Glucose, cellulose and local bamboo, treated with ultrasonic, produced HMF in the yields of 43%, 31% and 13% respectively, within less than 10min. The influence of various parameters such as acoustic power, reaction time, catalysts and glucose loading were studied. About 40% HMF yield at glucose conversion above 90% could be obtained with 2% of catalyst in 3min. Negligible amount of soluble by-product was detected, and humin formation could be controlled by adjusting the different process parameters. Upon extraction of HMF, the mixture of ionic liquid and catalyst could be reused and exhibited no significant reduction of HMF yield over five successive runs. The purity of regenerated [C4C1im]Cl and HMF was confirmed by NMR spectroscopy, indicating neither changes in the chemical structure nor presence of any major contaminants during the conversion under ultrasonic treatment. 13C NMR suggests that [C4C1im]Cl/CrCl3 catalyses mutarotation of α-glucopyranose to β-glucopyranose leading to isomerization and finally conversion to HMF. The experimental results demonstrate that the use of probe sonication technique for conversion to HMF provides a positive process benefit.
  18. Fulltext Antibacterial and antibiofilm efficacy of k21-E in root canal disinfection
    Daood U, Bapat RA, Sidhu P, Ilyas MS, Khan AS, Mak KK, et al.
    Dent Mater, 2021 10;37(10):1511-1528.
    PMID: 34420798 DOI: 10.1016/j.dental.2021.08.001
    OBJECTIVES: The aim of the current project was to study the antimicrobial efficacy of a newly developed irrigant, k21/E against E. faecalis biofilm.

    METHODS: Root canals were instrumented and randomly divided into the following groups: irrigation with saline, 6% NaOCl (sodium hypochlorite), 6% NaOCl+2% CHX (Chlorhexidine), 2% CHX, 0.5% k21/E (k21 - quaternary ammonium silane) and 1% k21/E. E. faecalis were grown (3-days) (1×107CFU mL-1), treated, and further cultured for 11-days. Specimens were subjected to SEM, confocal and Raman analysis and macrophage vesicles characterized along with effect of lipopolysaccharide treatment. 3T3 mouse-fibroblasts were cultured for alizarin-red with Sortase-A active sites and Schrödinger docking was performed. TEM analysis of root dentin substrate with matrix metalloproteinases profilometry was also included. A cytotoxic test analysis for cell viability was measured by absorbance of human dental pulp cells after exposure to different irrigant solutions for 24h. The test percentages have been highlighted in Table 1.

    RESULTS: Among experimental groups, irrigation with 0.5% k21/E showed phase separation revealing significant bacterial reduction and lower phenylalanine 1003cm-1 and Amide III 1245cm-1 intensities. Damage was observed on bacterial cell membrane after use of k21/E. No difference in exosomes distribution between control and 0.5%k21/E was observed with less TNFα (*p<0.05) and preferential binding of SrtA. TEM images demonstrated integrated collagen fibers in control and 0.5%k21/E specimens and inner bacterial membrane damage after k21/E treatment. The k21 groups appeared to be biocompatible to the dental pulpal cells grown for 24h.

    SIGNIFICANCE: Current investigations highlight potential advantages of 0.5% k21/E as irrigation solution for root canal disinfection.

  19. Novel micro-structured carbon-based adsorbents for notorious arsenic removal from wastewater
    Islam A, Teo SH, Ahmed MT, Khandaker S, Ibrahim ML, Vo DN, et al.
    Chemosphere, 2021 Jun;272:129653.
    PMID: 33486455 DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2021.129653
    The contamination of groundwater by arsenic (As) in Bangladesh is the biggest impairing of a population, with a large number of peoples affected. Specifically, groundwater of Gangetic Delta is alarmingly contaminated with arsenic. Similar, perilous circumstances exist in many other countries and consequently, there is a dire need to develop cost-effective decentralized filtration unit utilizing low-cost adsorbents for eliminating arsenic from water. Morphological synthesis of carbon with unique spherical, nanorod, and massive nanostructures were achieved by solvothermal method. Owing to their intrinsic adsorption properties and different nanostructures, these nanostructures were employed as adsorption of arsenic in aqueous solution, with the purpose to better understanding the morphological effect in adsorption. It clearly demonstrated that carbon with nanorods morphology exhibited an excellent adsorption activity of arsenite (about 82%) at pH 3, remarkably superior to the two with solid sphere and massive microstructures, because of its larger specific surface area, enhanced acid strength and improved adsorption capacity. Furthermore, we discovered that iron hydroxide radicals and energy-induced contact point formation in nanorods are the responsible for the high adsorption of As in aqueous solution. Thus, our work provides insides into the microstructure-dependent capability of different carbon for As adsorption applications.
  20. Fulltext A Conceptual Framework of the Way Forward to a Community Pharmacist-General Practitioner Collaborative Medication Therapy Management Model for Chronic Diseases in Malaysian Primary Care: A Qualitative Study
    Mubarak N, Raja SA, Khan AS, Kanwal S, Saif-Ur-Rehman N, Aziz MM, et al.
    Risk Manag Healthc Policy, 2021;14:1615-1627.
    PMID: 33907479 DOI: 10.2147/RMHP.S296113
    BACKGROUND: There is a growing global interest in formulating such policies and strategic plans that help devise collaborative working models for community pharmacists (CPs) and general practitioners (GPs) in primary care settings.

    OBJECTIVE: To conceptualize a stakeholder-driven framework to improve collaboration between CPs and GPs in Malaysian primary care to effectively manage medicines in chronic diseases.

    DESIGN AND SETTING: A qualitative study that involved individual semi-structured interviews of the leadership of various associations, guilds, and societies representing CPs, GPs, and Nurses in Malaysia.

    METHODS: This study collected and reported data in accordance with the guidelines of the Consolidated Criteria for Reporting of Qualitative Studies. Key informants were recruited based on purposive (expert) sampling. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and data were coded based on the principles of thematic analysis in NVivo.

    RESULTS: A total of 12 interviews (5 CPs, 5 GPs, and 2 nurses) were conducted. Five themes emerged: Theme 1 highlighted a comparison of community pharmacy practice in Malaysia and developed countries; Theme 2 involved current practices in Malaysian primary care; Theme 3 encompassed the advantages of CP-GP collaboration in chronic diseases; Theme 4 highlighted the barriers which impede collaboration in Malaysian primary care; and Theme 5 delineated the way forward for CP-GP collaboration in Malaysia.

    CONCLUSION: The actionable insights obtained from the Malaysian stakeholders offered an outline of a framework to enhance collaboration between CPs and GPs in primary care. Generally, stakeholders were interested in CP-GP collaboration in primary care and identified many positive roles performed by CPs, including prescription review, adherence support, and patient education. The framework of the way forward includes: separation of CP and GP roles through a holistic revision of relevant legislation to grant an active role to CPs in chronic care; definition of protocols for collaborative practices; incentivization of both stakeholders (CPs and GPs); and design and implementation of an effective regulatory mechanism whereby the Malaysian Ministry of Health may take a leading role.

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