Ali O. Alqarni

The surge in plastic waste production has forced researchers to work on practically feasible recovery processes. Pyrolysis is a promising and intriguing option for the recycling of plastic waste. Developing a model that simulates the pyrolysis of high-density polyethylene (HDPE) as the most common polymer is important in determining the impact of operational parameters on system behavior. The type and amount of primary products of pyrolysis, such as oil, gas, and waxes, can be predicted statistically using a multiple linear regression model (MLRM) in R software. To the best of our knowledge, the statistical estimation of kinetic rate constants for pyrolysis of high-density plastic through MLRM analysis using R software has never been reported in the literature. In this study, the temperature-dependent rate constants were fixed experimentally at 420 °C. The rate constants with differences of 0.02, 0.03, and 0.04 from empirically set values were analyzed for pyrolysis of HDPE using MLRM in R software. The added variable plots, scatter plots, and 3D plots demonstrated a good correlation between the dependent and predictor variables. The possible changes in the final products were also analyzed by applying a second-order differential equation solver (SODES) in MATLAB version R2020a. The outcomes of experimentally fixed-rate constants revealed an oil yield of 73% to 74%. The oil yield increased to 78% with a difference of 0.03 from the experimentally fixed rate constants, but light wax, heavy wax, and carbon black decreased. The increased oil and gas yield with reduced byproducts verifies the high significance of the conducted statistical analysis. The statistically predicted kinetic rate constants can be used to enhance the oil yield at an industrial scale.

The massive increase in disposable plastic globally can be addressed through effective recovery methods, and one of these methods is pyrolysis. R software may be used to statistically model the composition and yield of pyrolysis products, such as oil, gas, and waxes to deduce an effective pyrolysis mechanism. To date, no research reports have been documented employing the Arrhenius equation in R software to statistically forecast the kinetic rate constants for the pyrolysis of high-density plastics. We used the Arrhenius equation in R software to assume two series of activation energies (Ea) and pre-exponential factors (A_o) to statistically predict the rate constants at different temperatures to explore their impact on the final pyrolysis products. In line with this, MATLAB (R2020a) was used to predict the pyrolysis products of plastic in the temperature range of 370–410 °C. The value of the rate constant increased with the temperature by expediting the pyrolysis reaction due to the reduced frequency factor. In both assumed series of Ea and A_o, a significantly larger quantity of oil (99%) was predicted; however, the number of byproducts increased in the first series analysis compared to the second series analysis. It was revealed that an appropriate combination of Ea, A_o, and the predicted rate constants could significantly enhance the efficiency of the pyrolysis process. The major oil recovery in the first assumed series occurred at 390 °C to 400 °C, whereas the second assumed series of Ea and Ao occurred at 380 °C to 390 °C. In the second series at 390 °C to 400 °C, the predicted kinetic rate constants behaved aggressively after 120 min of the pyrolysis process. The second assumed series and anticipated rate constants at 380 °C to 390 °C can be applied commercially to improve oil production while saving energy and heat.

Therapeutic and/or preventive interventions using phytochemical constituents for ischemic heart disease have gained considerable attention worldwide, mainly due to their antioxidant activity. This study investigated the cardioprotective effect and possible mechanism of juglone, a major constituent of the walnut tree, using an isoproterenol (ISO)-induced myocardial infarction (MI) model in rats. Rats were pretreated for five (5) days with juglone (1, 3 mg/kg, i.p) and atenolol (1 mg/kg, i.p) in separate experiments before inducing myocardial injury by administration of ISO (80 mg/kg, s.c) at an interval of 24 h for 2 consecutive days (4th and 5th day). The cardioprotective effect of juglone was confirmed through a lead II electrocardiograph (ECG), cardiac biomarkers (cTnI, CPK, CK-MB, LDH, ALT and AST) and histopathological study. The results of our present study suggest that prior administration of juglone (1 and 3 mg/kg) proved to be effective as a cardioprotective therapeutic agent in reducing the extent of myocardial damage (induced by ISO) by fortifying the myocardial cell membrane, preventing elevated T-waves, deep Q-waves in the ECG, heart to body weight ratio, infarction and also by normalizing cardiac marker enzymes (cTnI, CPK, CK-MB, LDH, ALT and AST) and histopathological changes, such as inflammation, edema and necrosis. In conclusion, this study has identified phytochemical constituents, in particular juglone, as a potential cardioprotective agent.

Aim: The study was planned to investigate the phytochemicals, antidiabetic and antioxidant studies of A. consanguineum. Methods: The preliminary studies were performed on crude extract and different solvent fractions. Based on the potency, the chloroform fraction was semi-purified to phyto-fractions CHF-1 – 5. Furthermore, CHF-3 was subjected to isolation of pure compounds using column chromatography. The α-glucosidase, α-amylase and antioxidant assays (DPPH, ABTS, H₂O₂) were performed on all samples. The in-vivo experiments on compounds 1 and 2 were also performed using oral glucose tolerance test. Docking studies were performed on α-glucosidase and α-amylase targets. Results: Among all fractions, the chloroform fraction exhibited excellent activities profile giving IC₅₀ values of 824, 55, 117, 58 and 85 μg/ml against α-glucosidase, α-amylase, DPPH, ABTS and H₂O₂ targets respectively. Among the five semi-purified chloroform phyto-fractions (CHF-1-5), CHF-3 was the leading fraction in activities giving IC₅₀ values of 85.54, 61.19 and 26.58 μg/ml against α-glucosidase, α-amylase and DPPH respectively. Based on the overall potency and physical amount of CHF-3, it was subjected to purification to get compounds 1 and 2. The two compounds were also found potent in in-vitro activities. The observed IC₅₀ values for compound 1 were 7.93, 28.01 and 6.19 μg/ml against α-glucosidase, α-amylase and DPPH respectively. Similarly, the compound 2 exhibited IC₅₀ of 14.63, 24.82 and 7.654 μg/ml against α-glucosidase, α-amylase and DPPH respectively. Compounds 1 and 2 were potent in decreasing the blood glucose levels in experimental animals. Compounds 1 and 2 also showed interactions with the respective enzymes with molecular docking. Conclusions: We can conclude that A. Consanguineum is a rich source of natural antidiabetic agents. Bioguided isolation of compound 1 and 2 showed potential inhibitions in all tested in-vitro antidiabetic targets. Further, both the compounds were also able to decrease the blood glucose levels in experimental animals.

Background: Natural phenolic compounds and Phenolics-rich medicinal plants are also of great interest in the management of diabetes. The current study was aimed to analyze phenolics inP. hydropieprL extracts via HPLC-DAD analysis and assess their anti-diabetic potentials using in-vitro and in-silico approaches.Methods: Plant crude methanolic extract (Ph.Cme) was evaluated for the presence of phenolic compounds using HPLC-DAD analysis. Subsequently, samples including crude (Ph.Cr), hexane (Ph.Hex), chloroform (Ph.Chf), ethyl acetate (Ph.EtAc), butanol (Ph.Bt), aqueous (Ph.Aq) and saponins (Ph.Sp) were tested for α-glucsidase and α-amylase inhibitory potentials and identified compounds were docked against these target enzymes using Molecular Operating Environment (MOE) software. Fractions were also analyzed for the nutritional contents and acute toxicity was performed in animals.Results: In HPLC-DAD analysis of Ph.Cme, 24 compounds were indentfied and quantified. Among these, Kaemferol-3-(p-coumaroyl-diglucoside)-7-glucoside (275.4 mg g^− 1), p-Coumaroylhexose-4-hexoside (96.5 mg g^− 1), Quercetin-3-glucoronide (76.0 mg g^− 1), 4-Caffeoylquinic acid (58.1 mg g^− 1), Quercetin (57.9 mg g^− 1), 5,7,3′-Trihydroxy-3,6,4′,5′-tetramethoxyflavone (55.5 mg g^− 1), 5-Feruloylquinic acid (45.8 mg g^− 1), Cyanidin-3-glucoside (26.8 mg g^− 1), Delphinidin-3-glucoside (24 mg g^− 1), Quercetin-3-hexoside (20.7 mg g^− 1) were highly abundant compounds. In α-glucosidase inhibition assay, Ph.Sp were most effective with IC₅₀value of 100 μg mL-1. Likewise in α-amylase inhibition assay, Ph.Chf, Ph.Sp and Ph.Cme were most potent fractions displayed IC₅₀values of 90, 100 and 200 μg mL-1 respectively. Docking with the α-glucosidase enzyme revealed top ranked conformations for majority of the compounds with Kaemferol-3-(p-coumaroyl-diglucoside)-7-glucoside as the most active compound with docking score of − 19.80899, forming 14 hydrogen bonds, two pi-H and two pi-pi linkages with the Tyr 71, Phe 158, Phe 177, Gln 181, Arg 212, Asp 214, Glu 276, Phe 300, Val 303, Tyr 344, Asp 349, Gln 350, Arg 439, and Asp 408 residues of the enzyme. Likewise, docking with α-amylase revealed that most of the compounds are well accommodated in the active site residues (Trp 59, Tyr 62, Thr 163, Leu 165, Arg 195, Asp 197, Glu 240, Asp 300, His 305, Asp 356) of the enzyme and Cyanidin-3-rutinoside displayed most active compound with docking score of − 15.03757.Conclusions: Phytochemical studies revealed the presence of highly valuable phenolic compounds, which might be responsible for the anti-diabetic potentials of the plant samples.

Nonthermal plasma processing is a dry, environment-friendly and chemical-free method of improving the wettability, adhesion, self-cleaning and dying quality of fabrics without affecting their bulk properties. This study presents a green synthesis and coating method for the immobilization of nanoparticles of ZnO on the nonthermal plasma functionalized cotton fabric. The self-cleaning activity of ZnO-coated cotton was then optimized statistically. The ultraviolet protection and antimicrobial activity of the optimized and a control sample were also elaborated in this study. Psidium guajava Linn (guava) plant extract and zinc chloride were used in the ultrasonic biosynthesis of ZnO nanoparticles and concurrent immobilization over plasma functionalized cotton. Sodium hydroxide was used as a reaction accelerator. Statistical complete composite design (CCD) based on the amount of ZnCl₂, NaOH and plasma exposure time was used to optimize the role of input parameters on the self-cleaning ability of the coated cotton. Methylene blue in water was used as a sample pollutant in the self-cleaning study. The ZnO-coated cotton showed notably high self-cleaning activity of 94% and a UV protection factor of 69.87. The antimicrobial activity against E. Coli and S. Aureus bacteria was also appreciably high compared to the control.

Background: Diabetes mellitus is a common disease effecting the lifestyles of majority world population. In this research work, we have embarked the potential role of crude extracts and isolated compounds of Notholirion thomsonianum for the management diabetes mellitus. Methods: The crude extracts of N. thomsonianum were initially evaluated for α-glucosidase, α-amylase and antioxidant activities. The compounds were isolated from the activity based potent solvent fraction. The structures of isolated compounds were confirmed with NMR and MS analyses. The isolated compounds were tested for α-glucosidase, α-amylase, protein tyrosine phosphatase 1B (PTP1B) and DPPH activities. The molecular docking studies were carried out to find the binding interactions of isolated compounds for α-glucosidase, α-amylase and PTP1B. Results: Initially, we screened out crude extracts and subfractions of N. thomsonianum against different in-vitro targets. Among all, Nt.EtAc was observed a potent fraction among all giving IC₅₀ values of 67, 70, < 0.1, 89 and 16 μg/mL against α-glucosidase, α-amylase, DPPH, ABTS and H₂O₂ respectively. Three compounds (Nt01, Nt02 and Nt03) were isolated from Nt.EtAc of N. thomsonianum. The isolated compounds Nt01, Nt02 and Nt03 exhibited IC₅₀ values of 58.93, 114.93 and 19.54 μM against α-glucosidase, while 56.25, 96.54 and 24.39 μM against α-amylase respectively. Comparatively, the standard acarbose observed IC₅₀ values were 10.60 and 12.71 μM against α-glucosidase, α-amylase respectively. In PTP1B assay, the compounds Nt01, Nt02 and Nt03 demonstrated IC₅₀ values of 12.96, 36.22 and 3.57 μM in comparison to the standard ursolic acid (IC₅₀ of 3.63 μM). The isolated compounds also gave overwhelming results in DPPH assay. Molecular docking based binding interactions for α-glucosidase, α-amylase and PTP1B were also encouraging. Conclusions: In the light of current results, it is obvious that N. thomsonianum is potential medicinal plant for the treatment of hyperglycemia. Overall, Nt.EtAc was dominant fraction in all in-vitro activities. Three compounds Nt01, Nt02 and Nt03 were isolated from ethyl acetate fraction. The Nt03 specifically was most potent in all in-vitro assays. The molecular docking studies supported our in-vitro results. It is concluded that N. thomsonianum is a rich source of bioactive antidiabetic compounds which can be further extended to in-vivo based experiments.

Pure TiO₂ nanoparticles (TiO₂NPs) were produced via the sol–gel method and then coated with silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) to reduce their optical band gap. The concurrent synthesis and immobilization of AgNPs over TiO₂NPs was achieved through the interaction of an open-air argon plasma jet with a solution of silver nitrate/stabilizer/TiO₂NPs. The one-pot plasma synthesis and coating of AgNPs over TiO₂NPs is a more straightforward and environmentally friendly method than others. The plasma-produced Ag/TiO₂ nanocomposites were characterized and tested for their photocatalytic potential by degrading different concentrations of methyl blue (MB) in water. The dye concentration, oxidant dose, catalyst dose, and reaction time were also optimized for MB degradation. XRD results revealed the formation of pure AgNPs, pure TiO₂NPs, and Ag/TiO₂ nanocomposites with an average grain size of 12.36 nm, 18.09 nm, and 15.66 nm, respectively. The immobilization of AgNPs over TiO₂NPs was also checked by producing SEM and TEM images. The band gap of AgNPs, TiO₂NPs, and Ag/TiO₂ nanoparticles was measured about 2.58 eV, 3.36 eV, and 2.86 eV, respectively. The ultraviolet (UV) results of the nanocomposites were supportive of the degradation of synthetic dyes in the visible light spectrum. The AgNPs in the composite not only lowered the band gap but also obstructed the electron–hole recombinations. The Ag/TiO₂ composite catalyst showed 90.9% degradation efficiency with a 5 ppm dye concentration after 120 min of light exposure.

Background: Edible oils have proven health benefits in the prevention and treatment of various disorders since the establishment of human era. This study was aimed to appraise neuropharmacological studies on the commonly used edible oils including Cinnamomum verum (CV), Zingiber officinale (ZO) and Cuminum cyminum (CC). Methods: The oils were analyzed via GC-MS for identifications of bioactive compounds. Anti-radicals capacity of the oils were evaluated via 2,2-diphenyl-1-picryl-hydrazyl-hydrate (DPPH) and 2,2'-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid (ABTS) radicals scavenging assays. The samples were also tested against two important acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and butyrylcholinesterase (BChE) which are among the important drug targets in Alzheimer’s disease. Lineweaver-Burk plots were constructed for enzyme inhibition studies which correspond to velocity of enzymes (V_max) against the reciprocal of substrate concentration (K_m) in the presence of test samples and control drugs following Michaelis-Menten kinetics. Docking studies on AChE target were also carried out using Molecular Operating Environment (MOE 2016.0802) software. Results: (Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry GC-MS) analysis revealed the presence of thirty-four compounds in Cinnamon oil (Cv.Eo), fourteen in ginger oil (Zo.Eo) and fifty-six in cumin oil (Cc.Eo). In the antioxidant assays, Cv.Eo, Zo.Eo and Cc.Eo exhibited IC₅₀ values of 85, 121, 280 μg/ml sequentially against DPPH radicals. Whereas, in ABTS assay, Cv.Eo, Zo.Eo and Cc.Eo showed considerable anti-radicals potentials with IC₅₀ values of 93, 77 and 271 μg/ml respectively. Furthermore, Cv.Eo was highly active against AChE enzyme with IC₅₀ of 21 μg/ml. Zo.Eo and Cc.Eo exhibited considerable inhibitory activities against AChE with IC₅₀ values of 88 and 198 μg/ml respectively. In BChE assay, Cv.Eo, Zo.Eo and Cc.Eo exhibited IC₅₀ values of 106, 101 and 37 μg/ml respectively. Our results revealed that these oils possess considerable antioxidant and cholinesterase inhibitory potentials. As functional foods these oils can be effective remedy for the prevention and management of neurological disorders including AD. Synergistic effect of all the identified compounds was determined via binding energy values computed through docking simulations. Binding orientations showed that all the compounds interact with amino acid residues present in the peripheral anionic site (PAS) and catalytic anionic site (CAS) amino acid residues, oxyanion hole and acyl pocket via π-π stacking interactions and hydrogen bond interactions.

Background: According to the recent global cancer statistics, breast cancer is the leading cause of deaths among women with 2.3 million new cases globally. Likewise, cervical cancer is also among the leading causes of mortality among women. Polygonum hydropiper is traditionally known for its cytotoxic effects and several bioactive cytotoxic compounds were isolated from it. This study was aimed to isolate potential anticancer compounds from its most potent fractions and evaluate their anticancer potentials. Methods: Based on our earlier studies, active fractions including chloroform and ethyl acetate were subjected to column chromatography for isolation of compounds. Chemical structures of isolated compounds were confirmed via ¹H NMR, ¹³C NMR, mass spectrometry. Purified compounds were tested for cytotoxicity against breast cancer cells (MCF-7), cervical cancer cells (HeLA) and NIH/3T3 fibroblasts cells cultures using MTT assy. Anti-angiogenic potentials of isolated compounds were evaluated via chorioallantoic membrane assay. Anti-tumor studies were done using Agrobacterium tumefaciens induced potato tumor assay. Furthermore, to understand the binding modes of Isolated compounds, molecular docking was performed against EGFR, HER2 and VEGFR using MOE as docking software. Results: Two bioactive compounds PH-1 (4-methyl-5-oxo-tetrahydrofuran-3-yl acetate) and PH-2 (methyl 4-hydroxy-3-methoxybenzoate) were purified from the active fractions. In cytotoxicity studies, PH-1 exhibited highest cytotoxicity against HeLA cells with 87.50% lethality at 1 mgmL⁻¹ concentration and LD₅₀ of 60 µgmL⁻¹. Likewise, PH-2 showed 82.33% cytotoxicity against HeLA cells with LD₅₀ of 160 µgmL⁻¹. Similarly, PH-1 and PH-2 exhibited LD₅₀ of 170 and 380 µgmL⁻¹ respectively. Moreover, PH-1 and PH-2 were also very potent cytotoxic compounds against NIH/3T3 cells with 81.45 and 85.55% cytotoxicity at 1 mgL⁻¹ concentration and LD₅₀ of 140 and 58 µgL⁻¹ respectively. Isolated compounds exhibited considerable anti-angiogenic potentials with IC₅₀ of 340 and 500 µgL⁻¹ respectively for PH-1 and PH-2. In anti-tumor assay, PH-1 and PH-2 exhibited 81.15 and 76.09% inhibitions with LD₅₀ of 340 and 550 µgL⁻¹ respectively. Both compounds selectively binds with EGFR and HER2 receptors with low binding energies. Both compounds exhibited stronger interactions with VEGFR through binding pocket residues Lys868, Val916 and Asp1046. Conclusions: Both compounds cause considerable cytotoxicity against cancer cells. The anti-angiogenic and anti-tumor results suggests additional tumor suppressive properties. Docking analysis suggests that these compound not only has the ability to bind to EGFR and HER2 but also equally binds to VEGFR and may act as potential anti-angiogenic agents.