The National University of Medical Sciences, commonly referred as NUMS, is a public university located in Rawalpindi, Punjab, Pakistan.
Cellulose is the most abundant natural biopolymer obtained from plants, animals, and microbes. Cellulose is porous, biocompatible, biodegradable, noncytotoxic, and can retain water for a longer period. Therefore, cellulose has various applications in the medical, cosmetic, paper, and food industries. The current review summarizes the recent progress related to the application of cellulose in skin biology. Cellulose is preferable for skin biology applications due to its porosity, and hygroscopic nature that enables it to mimic the extracellular matrix (ECM) of native skin. Cellulose can be modified by combining with other biopolymers to make a functional cellulose composite. Researchers have developed various cellulose composites that are successfully used as wound dressing agents, scaffolds for skin tissue engineering, and vehicles for drug delivery like anticancer or other hydrophobic drugs. Cellulose-based facial masks act as a carrier for active agents like anti-aging, anti-wrinkle, and anti-acne substances. Cellulose can also be used as a stabilizer in the preparation of emulsion-based creams and other cosmetic products. It is concluded that cellulose is a suitable biopolymer in the global marketplace for skin applications, but further advancements should be made to maximize its clinical use.
To determine the effect of social media addiction and fear of missing out on phubbing behavior among medical students in Rawalpindi. Analytical cross-sectional. At 3 medical colleges of Rawalpindi from October 2023 to March 2024. The study was conducted on 380 medical students of both genders ranging from age 18–25 years. A well-structured validated questionnaire comprising of four sections, was used. The initial part comprised of demographic information. The second part consists of Social Media Addiction Scale (BSMAS), third part includes FoMO scale, fourth part consists of Phubbing Scale. The data was analyzed using SPSS version 27. Chi square test and Pearson correlation was applied to find association between levels of SMA FoMO and its impact on phubbing behavior. A binary logistic regression was applied to determine the probability of dependent variable (phubbing behavior) using predictor variables (SMA FoMO). Among pre-clinical students, 152 (65.8
Leishmaniasis is an endemic disease in many countries that affects vulnerable populations of humans, dogs, and cats. This study employs immunoinformatics to design a multi-epitope vaccine construct for leishmaniasis by identifying vaccine targets on the protein Pteridine Reductase. T-cell and B-cell epitopes were screened for antigenicity, toxicity, and allergenicity. Shortlisted T-cell targets were confirmed to have appropriate IC values (≤ 50 nM and ≤ 500 nM for MHC I and MHC II, respectively). One B-cell epitope, six MHC class I epitopes, and 25 MHC class II epitopes were selected for inclusion in the vaccine construct, which was linked with EAAAK, CPGPG, and AAY linkers, along with a CPG Oligodeoxynucleotide adjuvant. The vaccine construct had a Ramachandran score of 89.9% and an Errat score of 98.4615. HLA alleles were predicted to produce an immune response in 81.8% of the global population, indicating encouraging potential for broad immunogenicity. Successful binding of the vaccine construct with TLR-9 was confirmed through molecular docking, and the docked complex exhibited a low eigenvalue of 2.06e-0.6 and a ΔG of -11.8 kcal mol-1, indicating stable binding and a high level of flexibility. Codon optimization was carried out, followed by in-silico cloning of the vaccine in Escherichia coli K12 strain using the vector pET-21a (+). These results suggest that the vaccine is stable and capable of eliciting a promising immune response against Leishmania, making it a favorable candidate for experimental trials.
Dengue is a frequent mosquito borne infection with no antiviral medications approved and drug repurposing is an economical and time-saving method of creating an efficient therapy. This research has chosen RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) of non-structural protein 5 (NS5) of dengue virus serotype 2 (DENV-2) as a therapeutic. PyRx software was used to perform virtual screening of FDA-approved drugs available in the ZINC database based on their structure. Out of the top15, doxorubicin and rifamycin were selected as candidate drugs to undergo molecular docking and molecular dynamics (MD) studies. Docking showed binding energies of − 8.9 kcal/mol for doxorubicin and − 8.6 kcal/mol for rifamycin. Simulations of MD confirmed that interactions of doxorubicin with the palm domain of RdRp occur in a stable way, which may result in the inability to promote viral replication. In Vero cells, cytotoxicity tests showed that concentrations below 12.25 µg/mL of doxorubicin were not toxic, whereas higher concentrations had morphological effects with a CC50 of approximately 150 µg/mL. MTT-based cell viability assays in DENV-2–infected Vero cells showed dose-dependent effects on cell viability, with an IC50 of 86.52 µg/mL. Conclusively, doxorubicin exhibited indirect, cell viability–based effects in DENV-2–infected Vero cells at non-cytotoxic concentrations, however, a low selectivity index (SI ≈ 1.7) and cytotoxicity highlights a narrow therapeutic window, limiting its potential for direct clinical use. The development of safer derivatives, optimized dosing and targeted delivery systems, e.g., nanocarriers should be considered in future research to improve efficacy and decrease toxicity.
In this study, we de novo assembled the chloroplast (cp) genome of Trollius acaulis Lindl. (Ranunculaceae) and compared it with those of 16 other reported Trollius species. The cp genome of T. acaulis measured 159,961 base pairs (bps), consisting of a large single-copy region of 88,339 bp, a small single-copy region of 18,466 bp, and two inverted repeat regions of 26,578 bp each. Across the genus, cp genome lengths ranged from 159,597 to 160,611 bp, with large single-copy regions spanning 88,091–88,943 bp, small single-copy regions 18,083–18,532 bp, and IR regions 26,490–26,632 bp each. All Trollius cp genomes displayed a similar arrangement of 113 unique genes, including 79 protein-coding genes, 30 transfer RNA genes, and 4 ribosomal RNA genes. These genomes also exhibited similarities in terms of inverted repeats contraction/expansion, amino acid frequency, and codon usage patterns. Phylogenetic analysis divided the genus into three clades: T. acaulis formed a sister group with Trollius lilacinus Bunge in clade I (section Hegemone), while the remaining 15 species were grouped into clades II and III (section Trollius). This study advances our understanding of cp genome evolution in Trollius and clarifies its phylogenetic relationships.
