Publications by authors named "Upendra Kumar Singh"

In Nepal, 47% of individuals who fell ill with TB were not reported to the National TB Program in 2018. Approximately 60% of persons with TB initially seek care in the private sector. From November 2018 to January 2020, we implemented an active case finding intervention in the Parsa and Dhanusha districts targeting private provider facilities.

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Consumption of junk food among adolescents has been recognized as a serious health problem in the world. Therefore, this study aims to assess the effectiveness of an educational intervention program (interactive lecture) based on the theory of planned behavior (TPB) for reducing junk food consumption among school adolescents in Birgunj Metropolitan City, Nepal. A structured questionnaire was deployed for collecting the data from four government schools.

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Noscapine is effective to inhibit cellular proliferation and induced apoptosis in nonsmall cell, lung, breast, lymphoma, and prostate cancer. It also shows good efficiency to skin cancer cells. In the current work, we studied the mechanism of interaction between the anticancer drug noscapine (NOS) and carrier protein human serum albumin (HSA) by using a variety of spectroscopic techniques (fluorescence spectroscopy, time-resolved fluorescence, UV-visible, fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), and circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy), electrochemistry (cyclic voltammetry), and computational methods (molecular docking and molecular dynamic simulation).

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In vitro refolding of denatured protein and the influence of the alkyl chain on the refolding of a protein were tested using long chain imidazolium chloride salts, 1-methyl-3-octylimidazolium chloride [Cmim][Cl], and 1-decyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride [Cmim][Cl]. The horse heart cytochrome c (h-cyt c) was denatured by urea and guanidinium hydrochloride (GdnHCl), as well as by base-induced denaturation at pH 13, to provide a broad overview of the overall refolding behavior. The variation in the alkyl chain of the ionic liquids (ILs) showed a profound effect on the refolding of denatured h-cyt c.

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The refolding of urea denatured horse heart cytochrome c (h-cyt-c) under the influence of ester based cationic gemini surfactants [ethane-1, 2-diyl bis(N, N-dimethyl-N-alkylammoniumacetoxy) dichlorides] 16-E2-16, 14-E2-14 and 12-E2-12 (n-E2-n) was performed by using UV-visible, fluorescence and circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopic techniques. We found that n-E2-n geminis promote the formation of molten globule (MG) like state upon addition into the urea denatured h-cyt-c. The comparative study of refolding of denatured h-cyt-c with n-E2-n, cationic gemini surfactant show stabilization of MG-like state influenced by hydrophobic interactions.

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The present work is focused on the interaction between membrane bound gramicidin and 1-butyl-1-methyl-2-oxopyrrolidinium bromide (BMOP) ionic liquid. Ionic liquids (ILs) are solvents that are often liquid at room temperature and composed of organic cation and appropriate anion. The gramicidin peptide forms prototypical ion channels for cations, which have been extensively used to study the organization, dynamics, and function of membrane spanning channels.

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Several spectroscopic approaches namely fluorescence, time-resolved fluorescence, UV-visible, and Fourier transform infra-red (FT-IR) spectroscopy were employed to examine the interaction between ethane-1,2-diyl bis(N,N-dimethyl-N-hexadecylammoniumacetoxy)dichloride (16-E2-16) and bovine serum albumin (BSA). Fluorescence studies revealed that 16-E2-16 quenched the BSA fluorescence through a static quenching mechanism, which was further confirmed by UV-visible and time-resolved fluorescence spectroscopy. In addition, the binding constant and the number of binding sites were also calculated.

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Herein, we are reporting the interaction of ionic liquid type gemini surfactant, 1,4-bis(3-dodecylimidazolium-1-yl) butane bromide ([C12-4-C12 im]Br2) with lysozyme by using Steady state fluorescence, UV-visible, Time resolved fluorescence, Fourier transform-infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy techniques in combination with molecular modeling and docking method. The steady state fluorescence spectra suggested that the fluorescence of lysozyme was quenched by [C12-4-C12 im]Br2 through static quenching mechanism as confirmed by time resolved fluorescence spectroscopy. The binding constant for lysozyme-[C12-4-C12 im]Br2 interaction have been measured by UV-visible spectroscopy and found to be 2.

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The interaction of synthesized ionic liquid, 1-butyl-1-methyl-2-oxopyrrolidinium bromide (BMOP) and bovine serum albumin (BSA) was investigated using UV-Vis, FT-IR, steady state and time resolved fluorescence measurements and docking studies. Steady state spectra revealed that BMOP strongly quenched the intrinsic fluorescence of BSA through dynamic quenching mechanism. The corresponding thermodynamic parameters; Gibbs free energy change (ΔG), entropy change (ΔS) and enthalpy change (ΔH) showed that the binding process was spontaneous and entropy driven.

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Monoterpenes, which are among the major components of plant essential oils, are known for their ecological roles as well for pharmaceutical properties. Geraniol, an acyclic monoterpene induces cell cycle arrest and apoptosis/senescence in various cancer cells and plants; however, the genes involved in the process and the underlying molecular mechanisms are not well understood. In this study, we demonstrate that treatment of tomato plants with geraniol results in induction of senescence due to a substantial alteration in transcriptome.

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