Shiv Nadar University

About: Shiv Nadar University is a education organization based out in Dadri, Uttar Pradesh, India. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Graphene. The organization has 1015 authors who have published 1924 publications receiving 18420 citations.

Inhibition of Hemoglobin Degrading Protease Falcipain-2 as a Mechanism for Anti-Malarial Activity of Triazole-Amino Acid Hybrids.

Abstract: Background Novel drug development against malaria parasite over old conventional antimalarial drugs is essential due to rapid and indiscriminate use of drugs, which led to the emergence of resistant strains. Methods In this study, previously reported triazole-amino acid hybrids (13-18) are explored against Plasmodium falciparum as antimalarial agents. Among six compounds, 15 and 18 exhibited antimalarial activity against P. falciparum with insignificant hemolytic activity and cytotoxicity towards HepG2 mammalian cells. In molecular docking studies, both compounds bind into the active site of PfFP-2 and block its accessibility to the substrate that leads to the inhibition of target protein further supported by in vitro analysis. Results Antimalarial half-maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) of 15 and 18 compounds were found to be 9.26 μM and 20.62 μM, respectively. Blood stage specific studies showed that compounds, 15 and 18 are effective at late trophozoite stage and block egress pathway of parasites. Decreased level of free monomeric heme was found in a dose dependent manner after the treatment with compounds 15 and 18, which was further evidenced by the reduction in percent of hemoglobin hydrolysis. Compounds 15 and 18 hindered hemoglobin degradation via intra- and extracellular cysteine protease falcipain-2 (PfFP-2) inhibitory activity both in in vitro and in vivo in P. falciparum. Conclusion We report antimalarial potential of triazole-amino acid hybrids and their role in the inhibition of cysteine protease PfFP-2 as its mechanistic aspect.

Thermodynamics and kinetics of laser induced transformation in zirconium based bulk metallic glass

Abstract: Laser-material interaction for a Zirconium based bulk metallic glass was investigated. The change in glass transition, crystallization temperature and enthalpies along with microstructure of the amorphous alloy was explained by the non-isothermal history experienced during processing. Varying volume fractions of amorphous and crystalline phases were found through the cross-section. A finite element based multi-physics modeling approach was employed to predict the temperature history and associated cooling rates during laser processing. Maximum devitrification occurred in sub-surface regions that experienced suitable combination of thermodynamic and kinetic conditions during laser treatment. It was demonstrated that the location and length scale of crystallized zone can be controlled by tailoring the laser processing parameters.

Agency Costs and Foreign Institutional Investors in India

Abstract: Financial markets are the catalysts and engines of growth of any nation. Since its liberalization in 1991, India has initiated several steps to strengthen its financial system. The financial sector reforms undertaken by the Government of India and the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), over the last few years have augmented the magnitude of FDI and FII inflows. The FDI inflow for the FY ended 1991 is US$ 97 million and the corresponding figure for the FY 2004 (P) is US$ 4,675 million. The corresponding figures for FII inflows are US$ 6 million and US$ 11.377 billion, respectively. The remarkable increase in the FDI's and FII's is due to the friendly enabling environment, significant improvement in terms of the efficiency of the capital markets and the protection of the investors. India, one of the biggest emerging markets, is currently an important destination for FDI and FII inflows. SEBI has undertaken important policy reforms to attract new investments into the country. This empirical study endeavors to find the effect of the contemporary changes in the corporate governance structures on the agency costs of the publicly traded companies; primarily to study the effect of FII shareholding on the agency costs of publicly traded companies. The results show that FII's are effective monitors in reducing the agency costs.

Can the local electric field be a descriptor of catalytic activity? A case study on chorismate mutase.

Abstract: The current theoretical perception of enzymatic activity is highly reliant on the determination of the activation energy of the reactions, which is often calculated using computationally demanding quantum mechanical calculations. With the ever-increasing use of bioengineering techniques that produce too many variants of the same enzyme, a fast and accurate way to study the relative efficiency of enzymes is currently in high demand. Here, we propose the local electric field (LEF) of the enzyme along the reaction axis as a descriptor for the enzymatic activity using the example of chorismate mutase in its native form and several variants (R90A, R90G, and R90K/C88S). The study shows a direct correlation between the calculated enzymatic EF and the enzymatic activity for all the complexes. MD simulations of the Michaelis complex and the transition state analog (TSA) show a stabilizing force on the TSA due to the enzymatic EF. QM/MM and QM-only DFT calculations in the presence of an external electric field (EEF) oriented along the reaction axis show that the electric field can interact with the dipole moment of the TS, thereby stabilizing it and thus lowering the activation energy.