nadereh rahbar

Liposomes have been attracted considerable attention as phospholipid spherical vesicles, over the past 40 years. These lipid vesicles are valued in biomedical application due to their ability to carry both hydrophobic and hydrophilic agents, high biocompatibility and biodegradability. Various methods have been used for the synthesis of liposomes, so far and numerous modifications have been performed to introduce liposomes with different characteristics like surface charge, size, number of their layers, and length of circulation in biological fluids. This article provides an overview of the significant advances in synthesis of liposomes via active or passive drug loading methods, as well as describes some strategies developed to fabricate their targeted formulations to overcome limitations of the “first-generation” liposomes.

The potential of the raw cuttlebone nano-powder (CBNP), a biomass waste, as a novel and nontoxic adsorbent for the adsorption of Alizarin Red S (ARS) from water solutions was investigated. To achieve the highest efficiency for the removal of ARS, some affecting factors were optimized. Common techniques (FTIR, FESEM, EDX and XRF) were used to characterize the physicochemical features of the adsorbent. Various kinetic and isotherm models were used to obtain the useful information about the adsorption mechanism of the dye onto the adsorbent. The maximum dye removal efficiency was obtained with the adsorbent amount of 500 mg (in 50 mL) and initial pH of 2 in 10 min for 20 mg/L ARS solution. Under these optimum conditions the complete removal of ARS was obtained while the maximum adsorption capacity was 38.51 mg/g. The well fitness of pseudo-second order kinetic model in the adsorption process was proved by kinetic studies. According to the obtained results, Freundlich isotherm model can suitably describe the adsorption of ARS on the sorbent. The achieved results from this study showed the excellent capability of CBNP for the adsorption of ARS.

 Organophosphates (OPPs) are toxic chemicals that can cause serious health problems through poisoning water and food.

 A very simple and fast disperser-less liquid microextraction strategy before chromatographic detection was designed for the analysis of organophosphates in various water solutions.

 A 60 µL aliquot of chloroform, as extraction solvent (without using disperser), was introduced into the sample solution by rapid injection, and the sedimented organic phase was analyzed to assay some organophosphates.

 Analytical characteristics, including limits of detection (0.0003 - 0.001 µg.L-1), linear dynamic ranges (0.001 - 100 µg.L-1), relative standard deviations (2.5 - 10), enrichment factors (up to 238), and extraction recoveries (84% - 108%), indicated the high efficacy of the developed method for analyzing the target analytes.

 The proposed procedure was effectively used for the analysis of the OPPs in real tap water, river water, and fruit juice samples. In the present study, the examined analytes were in the range of 0.07 - 1.56 µg.L-1.

Wastewaters produced from various industries and their entry into surface water is one of the most important environmental problems that have harmful effects on aquatic life. Discharging phosphate from urban and industrial wastewater to the aquatic environment causes a lot of algae growth. The aim of this study was to evaluate the removal of phosphate from aqueous solutions using sepia endoskeleton (cuttlebone) powder as a natural biomass, cheap and non-toxic absorbent. This study was conducted in a batch system. Sepia endoskeleton was washed with distilled water. It was then dried at 80 °C and thoroughly powdered by milling. Physical and chemical properties of the adsorbent were determined using the Particle Sizer, atomic force microscopy, and infrared spectroscopy and X-ray fluorescence. The effects of variables affecting phosphate uptake, such as pH, adsorbent amount, contact time, initial concentration of phosphate and stirring rate were optimized. Also, the isotherm models (Langmuir, Freundlich, Tamkin and Dubbin-Radshkvich) and first-order and second-order kinetics models were used to evaluate the data. The results showed that the highest removal percentage was observed at pH 5, adsorbent content of 5 g/L and contact time of 10 min at initial phosphate concentration of 10 mg/L. Using sepia powder under optimal laboratory conditions, the phosphate ion with the concentration of 10 mg/L was removed with a yield of over 99%. The results indicated that the Freundlich isotherm model gives a better description than other models showing the adsorption of phosphate ions occurs in a heterogeneous surface. Using Langmuir model, the maximum absorption capacity for phosphate was 68.02 mg/g. The kinetic model of phosphate removal followed the pseudo-second-order model. Besides, the percentage of removal of the real samples was over 98%, indicating the great ability of this natural and inexpensive absorbent to remove this pollutant from the water solutions.

Sidr belongs to the Rhamnaceae family that contains many genera and it grows in various parts of Iran and Middle East countries. In ancient medical and pharmaceutical texts and in the view of Iranian and Islamic scholars, Sidr has a special place. The traditions and hadiths as well as the Holy Quran refer to the Sidr plant and its therapeutic properties. In the field of pharmacy, the compounds present in this plant and its essential oils have been identified and used. Currently there are various products of Sidr in the form of spray and shampoo at the market.

In this review study aimed at investigating the therapeutic and biological properties of this plant, in addition to the Holy Quran, hadiths and traditional medicine books, databases such as Ovid, ISI, Magiran, IranMedex, Scopus, ISC, PubMed and Google Scholar were also reviewed.

Different parts of Sidr as skin, extract and fruit contain effective pharmaceutical compounds such as antioxidants and antimicrobial compounds that have a significant effect in preventing various cancers and infectious diseases.

New scientific findings, in line with Quranic references and traditional medicine, prove the therapeutic effects of Sidr, which makes us think more and more about Islamic notifications and traditional medicine. It is recommended that further clinical studies confirm the therapeutic effects of Sidr in scientific papers.

In the recent years, mercury contamination has attracted great deal of attention due to its serious environmental threat. The main goal of this study was application of one-step synthesized magnetic (magnetite) chitosan nanoparticles (MCNs) in the removal of mercury ions from petrochemical waste water. This study was performed in batch and column modes. Effects of various parameters such as pH, adsorbent dose, contact time, temperature and agitation speed for the removal of mercury ions by MCNs investigated in batch mode. Afterwards, optimum conditions were exploited in column mode. Different kinetic models were also studied. An effective Hg (II) removal (99.8%) was obtained at pH 6, with 50 mg of MCNs for an initial concentration of this ion in petrochemical waste water (5.63 mg L-1) and 10 minutes agitation of the solution. The adsorption kinetic data was well fitted to the pseudo-second-order model. Experimental results showed that MCNs is an excellent sorbent for removal of mercury ions from petrochemical waste water. In addition, highly complex matrix of this waste does not affect the adsorption capability of MCNs.

Lidocaine hydrochloride (LH) is one of the most extensively used local anesthetics and peripheral analgesics. Availability of a simple and sensitive assay method for this analyte in pharmaceutical preparations as well as development of new voltammetric detectors that can be applied in chromatographic systems for determination of this analyte in biological samples are of great importance.. In this study, a square-wave voltammetric (SWV) determination of LH at a bare carbon-paste electrode (CPE) was reported. Moreover, the oxidation mechanism for LH molecule at this electrode was investigated.. The SW voltammogram of LH solution at CPE showed a well-defined peak between +0.80 and +0.88 V depending on a scan rate in potassium nitrate (KNO3) solution. Different chemical and instrumental parameters influencing the voltammetric response, such as the pH level and scan rate were optimized for LH determination.. A linear range of 8.0 - 1000.0 μmol L-1 (r2 = 0.999) was obtained. The limit of detection (LOD) was 0.29 μmol L-1. The relative standard deviations of 2.1% obtained for 0.8 800 μmol L-1 solution of LH indicated a reasonable reproducibility of the method.. The results of this study show that LH in different pharmaceutical preparations could be determined with good reliability. In addition, the results reveal that the equal numbers of electrons and protons are involved in the oxidation of LH and the irreversible oxidation of an analyte was performed via amine groups of LH molecule..

Nowadays, removal of heavy metals from the environment is an important problem due to their toxicity.. In this study, a modified method was used to synthesize chitosan-coated magnetite nanoparticles (CCMN) to be used as a low cost and nontoxic adsorbent. CCMN was then employed to remove Hg2+ from water solutions.. To remove the highest percentage of mercury ions, the Box-Behnken model of response surface methodology (RSM) was applied to simultaneously optimize all parameters affecting the adsorption process. Studied parameters of the process were pH (5-8), initial metal concentration (2-8 mg/L), and the amount of damped adsorbent (0.25-0.75 g). A second-order mathematical model was developed using regression analysis of experimental data obtained from 15 batch runs.. The optimal conditions predicted by the model were pH = 5, initial concentration of mercury ions = 6.2 mg/L, and the amount of damped adsorbent = 0.67 g. Confirmatory testing was performed and the maximum percentage of Hg2+ removed was found to be 99.91%. Kinetic studies of the adsorption process specified the efficiency of the pseudo second-order kinetic model. The adsorption isotherm was well-fitted to both the Langmuir and Freundlich models.. CCMN as an excellent adsorbent could remove the mercury ions from water solutions at low and moderate concentrations, which is the usual amount found in environment..

Atrazine (ATZ) is a widely used herbicide in most countries because of its low cost and good selectivity. The concentration of ATZ that the EPA considers safe to consume in drinking water is 3 ppb. Therefore, recently, there have been concerns about its determination in trace levels. This compound is not electro-active, so in this research indirect electrochemical method for its detection in low levels was proposed.. The main aim of this study is the indirect determination of ATZ in water samples by voltammetry using nano-particle modified electrode.. A nano-CuO modified carbon paste electrode (NMCPE) is constructed and its application for indirect square wave voltammetric (SWV) detection of ATZ is reported. The sensing performance mechanism of the nano-CuO modified carbon paste electrode toward atrazine is due to complexation of the analyte with Cu (II) ion. The peak current for copper (II) reduction decreases with increase in the ATZ concentration and is monitored for its determination. Instrumental and chemical parameters influencing the detection of ATZ were optimized.. The results revealed that decrease in peak current was proportional to ATZ concentration over the range of 5-75 ng/mL. The limit of detection (LOD) and limit of quantification (LOQ) were 2 ng/mL and 5.6 ng/mL (n = 20), respectively. The relative standard deviation (n = 10) for the determination of 10 and 50 ng/mL of ATZ solution was estimated as 4.9% and 4.2 %, respectively.. This easily fabricated electrode together with the fast and sensitive SW voltammetry was successfully applied for the determination of concentration of ATZ at trace levels, in different water samples..

This study aimed to determine the total mercury (T-Hg) concentration in the common Carp muscles (Cyprinus carpio) fish species and surface water where they are collected. The fish and water samples were collected from Azadegan Aquaculture complex in Khuzestan، Iran during November of 2011 and the concentration of T-Hg was determined by Direct Mercury Analyzer-80. The mean T-Hg concentration in Cyprinus carpio was 0. 52±0. 25 μg T-Hg/kg for wet weight fish tissue. Average T-Hg concentrations for water sample from tree point of the pond were 2. 10 ±0. 001 μg/kg، 2. 12±0. 003 μg/kg and 2. 11±0. 08 μg/kg correspondingly. The results demonstrated that the levels of T-Hg in fish tissues were lower than water samples which is below the standards for human health screening levels proposed by the WHO، FDA and EPA (for water samples) and that bioaccumulation of mercury did not occur in fish in this aquaculture complex.

This work summarizes how the efficiency of pharmacopeias (USP and BP) procedures for the iodometric determination of pencillins can be significantly enhanced through the use of beta-cyclodextrin (β-CD). In the commonly used iodometric method, titration takes about 30 min; 15 min to hydrolyze the antibiotics and 15 min for reaction between iodine and hydrolyzed species. The experimental results indicate that β-CD accelerates both hydrolysis of amoxicillin, ampicilline and cloxacilline and the reaction of their hydrolyzed products with iodine. Effect of different parameters such as sodium hydroxide, hydrochloric acid concentrations, and the waiting times in the presence of β-CD on the total titration times reported in pharmacopeia are evaluated. Finally, it is shown that the analysis times of iodometric assay for ampiciline an d amoxicilin in the presence of 0.108 mg.ml-1 βCDare reduced from 30 to 5 min and those of cloxaciline is reduce to 10 min. The iodometric titration in the presence of β-CD is referred to as modified USP. Student t-tests at 95% level shows that there are no significant differences between USP and Modified USP. It is also shown that β-CD increases the stability of penicillin-G relative to USP buffer No.1. The reliability of the proposed method is evaluated by analysis of the above mentioned antibiotics in different pharmaceutical forms. The results show that the modified method can be successfully applied for the assay of cloxaciline injection vial, amoxicillin and ampicillin capsules and suspensions.