Fares Hezam Al-Ostoot

The development of flexible, leakage-free solid polymer electrolytes (SPEs) represents a critical milestone for the societal transition toward sustainable, high-safety portable electronics and smart optical displays. This work addresses this need through the novel fabrication of flexible nanocomposite membranes via a streamlined solution-casting approach, uniquely achieving precision tuning of the electronic screening effect within a host poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) matrix. The PVA matrix incorporates 2 wt % La2CuO4 nanoparticles (verified at 80–120 nm via TEM), 10 wt % LiClO4 electrolytic salt, and varying fractions (2 to 8 wt %) of propylene carbonate (PC) plasticizer. FTIR spectroscopy confirmed robust complexation, showing systematic red shifts (downshifts) in the host matrix O–H (∼21 cm–1) and C═O (∼10 cm–1) stretching bands, driven by extensive ion-dipole coordination networks. SEM and XRD analyses indicated a highly amorphous microstructure within the plasticized matrices. DSC thermograms verified superior film flexibility, with the glass transition temperature (Tg) systematically dropping from ∼98 °C to ∼66 °C. Optical metrics revealed that the direct optical bandgap (Eg) was nonlinearly tuned, initially decreasing from 5.22 eV (pure PVA) to 3.29 eV at 2 wt % PC, and subsequently expanding to 3.79 eV up to 8 wt % PC due to a prominent screening/capping effect. Concurrently, the refractive index at 250 nm systematically shifted from 1.78 to 3.00, while the optimal 2 wt % PC loading yielded a peak optical conductivity of 8.11 × 1011 s–1. These data-driven findings confirm that this tunable composite matrix bridges the gap between film flexibility and precise optoelectronic modulation.

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) remains one of the deadliest malignancies, with limited effective therapeutic options due to late diagnosis, aggressive progression, and rapid development of drug resistance. In pursuit of novel treatments, this study reports the design, synthesis, and biological evaluation of a new series of topsentin derivatives, featuring a 1,2,4-oxadiazole core. The newly synthesized derivatives were screened for antiproliferative activity against multiple PDAC cell lines (SUIT-2, Patu-T, and PANC-1), identifying several compounds with potent growth-inhibitory effects, particularly on SUIT-2 and Patu-T cells. Further studies demonstrated that these compounds also significantly inhibited cell migration and reduced clonogenic potential, with IC₅₀ values in the micromolar range. The results suggest that these marine-inspired 1,2,4-oxadiazole derivatives effectively target key hallmarks of PDAC, including proliferation, migration, and colony formation, supporting their further development as promising candidates for overcoming drug resistance and metastatic progression in pancreatic cancer.

A number of conditions and factors can cause the transformation of normal cells in the body into malignant tissue by changing the normal functions of a wide range of regulatory, apoptotic, and signal transduction pathways. Despite the current deficiency in fully understanding the mechanism of cancer action accurately and clearly, numerous genes and proteins that are causally involved in the initiation, progression, and metastasis of cancer have been identified. But due to the lack of space and the abundance of details on this complex topic, we have emphasized here more recent advances in our understanding of the principles implied tumor cell transformation, development, invasion, angiogenesis, and metastasis. Inhibition of angiogenesis is a significant strategy for the treatment of various solid tumors, that essentially depend on cutting or at least limiting the supply of blood to micro-regions of tumors, leading to pan-hypoxia and pan-necrosis inside solid tumor tissues. Researchers have continued to enhance the efficiency of anti-angiogenic drugs over the past two decades, to identify their potential in the drug interaction, and to discover reasonable interpretations for possible resistance to treatment. In this review, we have discussed an overview of cancer history and recent methods use in cancer therapy, focusing on anti-angiogenic inhibitors targeting angiogenesis formation. Further, this review has explained the molecular mechanism of action of these anti-angiogenic inhibitors in various tumor types and their limitations use. In addition, we described the synergistic mechanisms of immunotherapy and anti-angiogenic therapy and summarizes current clinical trials of these combinations. Many phase III trials found that combining immunotherapy and anti-angiogenic therapy improved survival. Therefore, targeting the source supply of cancer cells to grow and spread with new anti-angiogenic agents in combination with different conventional therapy is a novel method to reduce cancer progression. The aim of this paper is to overview the varying concepts of cancer focusing on mechanisms involved in tumor angiogenesis and provide an overview of the recent trends in anti-angiogenic strategies for cancer therapy.

This investigation delves into the potential use of halogen bonding to enhance both the short-circuit current (J_SC) and overall efficiency of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). Specifically, we synthesized two distinct dyes, SQI-F and SQI-Cl, and characterized them using FT-IR, ¹HNMR, ¹³C NMR, and mass spectroscopy. These dyes are based on the concept of incorporating halogen atoms within unsymmetrical squaraine structures with a donor–acceptor–donor (D-A-D) configuration. This strategic design aims to achieve optimal performance within DSSCs. We conducted comprehensive assessments using DSSC devices and integrated these synthesized dyes with iodolyte electrolytes, denoted as Z-50 and Z-100. Further enhancements were achieved through the addition of CDCA. Remarkably, in the absence of CDCA, both SQI-F and SQI-Cl dyes displayed distinct photovoltaic characteristics. However, through sensitization with three equivalents of CDCA, a significant improvement in performance became evident. The peak of performance was reached with the SQI-F dye, sensitized with three equivalents of CDCA, and paired with iodolyte Z-100. This combination yielded an impressive DSSC device efficiency of 6.74%, an open-circuit voltage (V_OC) of 0.694 V, and a current density (J_SC) of 13.67 mA/cm². This substantial improvement in performance can primarily be attributed to the presence of a σ-hole, which facilitates a robust interaction between the electrolyte and the dyes anchored on the TiO₂ substrate. This interaction optimizes the critical dye regeneration process within the DSSCs, ultimately leading to the observed enhancement in efficiency.

Nanometal oxides have attracted considerable research interest because of the widespread applications in which nanomaterials can be synthesised in various oxide forms that can adopt various structural geometries with unique electronic band structures. Additionally, nanometal oxides provide unique features imputed to quantum confinement effects that stimulate changes in their optical, electrical, and optoelectronic behaviours. Meanwhile, introducing such nanometal oxides into host polymeric materials enables the formation of advanced polymeric nanocomposites with versatile properties. Even so, the utilisation of such nanocomposites in diverse potential applications requires a fundamental understanding of their inherent material functionalities. Therefore, this document aims to demonstrate the importance of polymer nanocomposites with a special focus on the impact of nanometal oxides to enhance the optical and electrical behaviours of polymer composites for advanced optoelectronic and energy storage applications.

Nanomaterials have unique physicochemical properties compared to their bulk counterparts. Besides, biologically synthesized nanoparticles (NPs) have proven superior to other methods. This work aimed to biosynthesize zinc oxide (ZnO) NPs using an aqueous extract of Lepidium sativum seed. The obtained ZnO NPs were characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared, and ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy. The in vitro antibacterial activity of ZnO NPs against Gram-positive (S. aureus) and Gram-negative (E. coli) bacteria was assessed using the disk diffusion technique. The hemolytic impact was quantified spectrophotometrically. The results indicated a 24.2nm crystallite size, a hexagonal structure phase, and a 3.48eV optical bandgap. Antibacterial studies revealed a dose-dependent response with comparable activity to the standard drug (gentamicin) and higher activity against S. aureus than E. coli, e.g., the zone of inhibition at 120mg/mL was 23±1.25 and 16±1.00mm, respectively. The hemolysis assay showed no potential harm due to ZnO NPs toward red blood cells if utilized in low doses. As a result, it could be concluded that the reported biogenic method for synthesizing ZnO NPs is promising, resulting in hemocompatible NPs and comparable bactericidal agents.