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Present study focuses on the experimental and numerical investigation of the effect of surface roughness of casing and adhesive coating on the efficiency of centrifugal pump. It consists of two parts; in the first part, effect of coating centrifugal pump casing by ultra-smooth ceramic based coating on the efficiency of the centrifugal pump is investigated experimentally. In the second part, effect of change in surface roughness of casing is investigated numerically by using the CFD tool. The surface roughness of casing is modeled in terms of effective sand grain size parameters and investigated by solving Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes equation at volume mesh. Effects of three surface roughnesses, i.e., 100 μm, 200 μm and 300 μm, are investigated numerically. It is observed that surface roughness of casing has considerable effect on pump performance, and pump head decreases by 9.06–14.73% by change in surface roughness from 100 to 300 μm for different mass flow rates values. For same flow rate, centrifugal pump with coated casing produces more head than that of pump without coating. Coating casing with the ultra-smooth adhesive material results in maximum efficiency enhancement of 9.6%.

Nanomedicine has evolved as precision medicine in novel therapeutic approach of cancer management. The present study investigated the efficacy of biogenic gold nanoparticles synthesized using Argemone mexicana L. aqueous extract (AM-AuNPs) against the human colon cancer cell line, HCT-15. Biosynthesis of AM-AuNPs was determined by ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy and further characterized by transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, and Fourier transition infrared spectroscopy analysis. The cytotoxic activity of AM-AuNPs was assessed by the 3-(4, 5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2, 5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide assay, whereas genotoxicity was evaluated by the DNA fragmentation assay. The expression of apoptosis regulatory genes such as p53 and caspase-3 was explored through semi-quantitative reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and western blotting to evidence apoptotic cell death in HCT-15 cells. Biogenic AM-AuNPs inhibited cell proliferation in HCT-15 cell line with a half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC.sub.50) of 20.53 [mu]g/mL at 24 h and 12.03 [mu]g/mL at 48 h of exposure. The altered cell morphology and increased apoptosis due to AM-AuNPs were also evidenced through nuclear DNA fragmentation and upregulated expression of p53 and caspase-3 in HCT-15 cells. The AM-AuNPs may exert antiproliferative and genotoxic effects on HCT-15 cells by cell growth suppression and induction of apoptosis mediated by activation of p53 and caspase-3 genes.

ABSTRACT Background: Last few decades, multiple studies all over the world revealed the association of genetic polymorphism in cytochrome P450 (CYP) genes with risk of developing different type of cancers, but contradictory outcomes were evidenced in case of cervical cancer (CC) risk. Therefore, the discrepancies in earlier reports influenced us to evaluate the association of CYP1A1*2A rs4646903, CYP1B1*3 rs1056836, CYP2C8*2 rs11572103, CYP2C9*2 rs1799853, CYP2C9*3 rs1057910, and CYP2C19*2 rs4244285 polymorphisms and CC susceptibility in the women of rural population of Maharashtra. Materials and Methods: In this case-control study, genetic association of the polymorphisms in CYP genes was studied by using polymerase chain reaction and restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) method. The study was conducted among 350 clinically confirmed CC patients and 350 healthy volunteers in a population of south-western Maharashtra. The odds ratio (OR) with 95% confidence interval (CI) and P value were evaluated to get the level of association where P ≤ 0.005 was considered as statistically significant. Results: After the analysis of single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNPs) of CYP1A1, CYP1B1, CYP2C8, CYP2C9, and CYP2C19, we noticed that CYP1B1*3 rs1056836 (Leu4326Val) polymorphism possessed a significantly elevated risk (OR = 3.28; 95% CI: 2.18-4.94; P < 0.0001), whereas CYP2C19*2 rs4244285 showed significantly lower risk (OR: 0.53, 95% CI: 0.33-0.85 P < 0.009) of CC in the studied rural population. Conclusion: The findings from this study supported that rs1056836 SNP of CYP1B1*3 increase CC development, whereas rs4244285 of CYP2C19*2 lowers the CC risk in the studied population.

Background: The present study was designed to determine the antioxidant, antimicrobial, and cytotoxic activity of Argemone mexicana. Materials and Methods: Aqueous, methanol, and ethanol extracts of the whole plant A. mexicana were screened for phenolics, tannins, and flavonoids. The in vitro antioxidant activity was evaluated through 2,2′-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid), 2,2-diphenyl-1-picryl -hydrazyl-hydrate, and ferric reduction activity potential assays. The antimicrobial activity of the extracts against Klebsiella pneumoniae, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Staphylococcus aureus was determined. Cytotoxic properties of the extracts were studied using the cancer cell lines HeLa, MCF-7, and HCT-15 through cell viability and DNA fragmentation assays. Results: Phytochemical analysis revealed that the extracts contained phenolics, tannins, and flavonoids. The aqueous and solvent extracts of the whole plant exhibited a strong antioxidant activity in vitro and antibacterial activity against the tested human pathogenic bacteria. The crude extract of A. mexicana exhibited a strong cytotoxic activity against the tested cancer cell lines. Conclusion: Phytoconstituents from the crude extract of A. mexicana exhibited higher antioxidant, antibacterial, and cytotoxic activities than earlier reported annotations.