There have been over 7 million cases and almost 413,372 deaths globally due to the novel coronavirus (2019‐nCoV) associated disease COVID‐19, as of June 11, 2020. Phylogenetic analysis suggests that there is a common source for these infections. The overall sequence similarities between the spike protein of 2019‐nCoV and that of SARS‐CoV are known to be around 76‐78% and 73‐76% for whole protein and receptor‐binding domain (RBD), respectively. Thus, they have the potential to serve as drug and/ or vaccine candidate. However, the individual response against 2019‐nCoV differs due to genetic variations in the human population. Understanding the variations in Angiotensin‐converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) and human leukocyte antigen (HLA) that may affect the severity of 2019‐nCoV infection could help in identifying individuals at higher risk from the COVID‐19. A number of potential drugs/vaccines as well as antibody/cytokine‐based therapeutics are running in various developmental stages of preclinical/clinical trials against SARS‐CoV, MERS‐CoV and 2019‐nCoV with substantial cross‐reactivity, which may be used against COVID‐19. For diagnosis, reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT‐PCR) is the gold standard test for initial diagnosis of COVID‐19. Kit based on serological tests are also recommended for investigating the spread of COVID‐19 but it is challenging due to antibodies cross‐reactivity. This review comprehensively summarizes the recent reports available regarding the host‐pathogen interaction, morphological and genomic structure of the virus, and the diagnostic techniques as well as available and potential therapeutics against COVID‐19. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Synthesis of nanomaterials by a simple, low cost and in high yield has been a great challenge since the very early development of nanoscience. Various bottom and top down approaches have been developed so far, for the commercial production of nanomaterials. Among all top down approaches, high energy ball milling, has been widely exploited for the synthesis of various nanomaterials, nanograins, nanoalloy, nanocomposites and nano -quasicrystalline materials. Mechanical alloying techniques have been utilized to produce amorphous and nanocrystalline alloys as well as metal/non-metal nanocomposite materials by milling and post annealing, of elemental or compound powders in an inert atmosphere. Mechanical alloying is a non-equilibrium processing technique in which different elemental powders are milled in an inert atmosphere to create one mixed powder with the same composition as the constituents. In high-energy ball milling, plastic deformation, cold-welding and fracture are predominant factors, in which the deformation leads to a change in particle shape, cold-welding leads to an increase in particle size and fracture leads to decrease in particle size resulting in the formation of fine dispersed alloying particles in the grain-refined soft matrix. By utilizing mechanical milling various kind of aluminium/ nickel/ magnesium/ copper based nanoalloys, wear resistant spray coatings, oxide and carbide strengthened aluminium alloys, and many other nanocomposites have been synthesized in very high yield. The mechanical milling has been utilized for the synthesis of nanomaterials either by milling and post annealing or by mechanical activation and then applying some other process on these activated materials. This review is a systematic view of the basic concept of mechanical milling, historical view and applications of mechanical milling in the synthesis of various nanomaterials, nanosomposites, nnaocarbons and nano quasicrystalline materials.

The results of these experiments clearly demonstrate that f-CNT-AmB has significantly greater antileishmanial efficacy than AmB and had no significant cytotoxic effects.

Toxic organic pollutants in the aquatic environment cause severe threats to both humans and the global environment. Thus, the development of robust strategies for detection and removal of these organic pollutants is essential. For this purpose, a multifunctional and recyclable membrane by intercalating gold nanoparticles and graphitic carbon nitride into graphene oxide (GNPs/g-C 3 N 4 / GO) is fabricated. The membranes exhibit not only superior surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) activity attributed to high preconcentration ability to analytes through π-π and electrostatic interactions, but also excellent catalytic activity due to the enhanced electron-hole separation efficiency. These outstanding properties allow the membrane to be used for highly sensitive detection of rhodamine 6G with a limit of detection of 5.0 × 10 −14 m and self-cleaning by photocatalytic degradation of the adsorbed analytes into inorganic small molecules, thus achieving recyclable SERS application. Furthermore, the excellent SERS activity of the membrane is demonstrated by detection of 4-chlorophenol at less than nanomolar level and no significant SERS or catalytic activity loss was observed when reusability is tested. These results suggest that the GNPs/g-C 3 N 4 /GO membrane provides a new strategy for eliminating traditional, single-use SERS substrates, and expands practical SERS application to simultaneous detection and removal of environmental pollutants.

Objectives: The aim of the present study was to compare the efficacy of a nano form of amphotericin B deoxycholate with that of conventional amphotericin B deoxycholate for the treatment of visceral leishmaniasis. Methods:We have formulated nanoparticles (10-20 nM) from amphotericin B deoxycholate (1 -2 mM) by applying high-pressure (150 argon) milling homogenization and have tested their efficacy in a J774A cell line and in hamsters. Parasite survival and tissue burden in spleen were evaluated for nanoamphotericin B and conventional amphotericin B. Both nano-amphotericin B and conventional amphotericin B were injected intraperitoneally at 5 mg/kg per day for 5 days.Results: The inhibition of amastigotes in the splenic tissue with nano-amphotericin B was significantly more than with conventional amphotericin B (92.18% versus 74.57%, P 5 0.005). Similarly, the suppression of parasite replication in the spleen was also found to be significant (99.18% versus 97.17%, P 5 0.05). In a cytotoxicity test, nano-amphotericin B against the J774A cell line had a CC 50 of 12.67 mg/L in comparison with 10.61 mg/L for amphotericin B, far higher than the doses used for ED 50 .Conclusions: Nanoparticles of amphotericin B had significantly greater efficacy than conventional amphotericin B. This formulation may have a favourable safety profile, and if production costs are low, it may prove to be a feasible alternative to conventional amphotericin B.