Studies on the stability of an edible film and its use for the preservation of carrot (Daucus carota)

An edible coating was formed by blending turmeric (Curcuma longa) and casein in equal proportions at 95 °C for 12 h. Small quantities of polyvinyl alcohol and propylene glycol were added to encourage film formation and plasticizing respectively. The blend was removed from the reaction vessel and homogenized using Tween‐80 as emulsifier. The homogenized blend was sampled at 2‐h intervals for stability by means of the ‘keeping property’ and ‘accelerated stability’ tests. Stability was also determined by differential scanning calorimetry in which a singlet endotherm indicated molecular mixing (miscibility window) of the components. All three tests indicated that the emulsion was stable after 12 h of blending. Colour, carotenoid content, texture retention and antimicrobial properties remained satisfactory for 10 days in the stable emulsion‐coated carrot whereas the control spoiled after 3 days. Thus turmeric and casein based‐emulsion coating could extend the shelf‐life of carrots by 7 days.     

A Case Study on Optimization of Biomass Flow During Single-Screw Extrusion Cooking Using Genetic Algorithm (GA) and Response Surface Method (RSM)

In the present study, response surface method (RSM) and genetic algorithm (GA) were used to study the effects of process variables like screw speed, rpm (x ₁), L/D ratio (x ₂), barrel temperature (°C; x ₃), and feed mix moisture content (%; x ₄), on flow rate of biomass during single-screw extrusion cooking. A second-order regression equation was developed for flow rate in terms of the process variables. The significance of the process variables based on Pareto chart indicated that screw speed and feed mix moisture content had the most influence followed by L/D ratio and barrel temperature on the flow rate. RSM analysis indicated that a screw speed?>?80 rpm, L/D ratio?>?12, barrel temperature?>?80 °C, and feed mix moisture content?>?20% resulted in maximum flow rate. Increase in screw speed and L/D ratio increased the drag flow and also the path of traverse of the feed mix inside the extruder resulting in more shear. The presence of lipids of about 35% in the biomass feed mix might have induced a lubrication effect and has significantly influenced the flow rate. The second-order regression equations were further used as the objective function for optimization using genetic algorithm. A population of 100 and iterations of 100 have successfully led to convergence the optimum. The maximum and minimum flow rates obtained using GA were 13.19?×?10^?7 m³/s (x ₁?=?139.08 rpm, x ₂?=?15.90, x ₃?=?99.56 °C, and x ₄?=?59.72%) and 0.53?×?10^?7 m³/s (x ₁?=?59.65 rpm, x ₂?=?11.93, x ₃?=?68.98 °C, and x ₄?=?20.04%).     

Storage Properties of Low Fat Fish and Rice Flour Coextrudates

In the present study, response surface method (RSM) and genetic algorithm (GA) were used to study the effects of process variables like screw speed, rpm (x ₁), L/D ratio (x ₂), barrel temperature (°C; x ₃), and feed mix moisture content (%; x ₄), on flow rate of biomass during single-screw extrusion cooking. A second-order regression equation was developed for flow rate in terms of the process variables. The significance of the process variables based on Pareto chart indicated that screw speed and feed mix moisture content had the most influence followed by L/D ratio and barrel temperature on the flow rate. RSM analysis indicated that a screw speed > 80 rpm, L/D ratio > 12, barrel temperature > 80 °C, and feed mix moisture content > 20% resulted in maximum flow rate. Increase in screw speed and L/D ratio increased the drag flow and also the path of traverse of the feed mix inside the extruder resulting in more shear. The presence of lipids of about 35% in the biomass feed mix might have induced a lubrication effect and has significantly influenced the flow rate. The second-order regression equations were further used as the objective function for optimization using genetic algorithm. A population of 100 and iterations of 100 have successfully led to convergence the optimum. The maximum and minimum flow rates obtained using GA were 13.19 × 10⁻⁷ m³/s (x ₁ = 139.08 rpm, x ₂ = 15.90, x ₃ = 99.56 °C, and x ₄ = 59.72%) and 0.53 × 10⁻⁷ m³/s (x ₁ = 59.65 rpm, x ₂ = 11.93, x ₃ = 68.98 °C, and x ₄ = 20.04%).     

Biodeterioration of sandstone under the influence of different humidity levels in laboratory conditions

Excessive moisture in building materials supports microbial growth. It has been referred that relative humidity more than 55% promotes the microbial growth. To test the effect of different relative humidity tropical chamber test was set up at 52%, 76%, 85% and 96% RH and maximum diversity of fungi was found at 85% and 96% RH. Two fungi Aspergillus sydowi and Aspergillus flavipes were present throughout the course of study from moderate to highly abundant form. It was observed that Fusarium moniliforme, Cephalosporium acremonium, Papulospora sp. proliferated at higher relative humidity (i.e. at 85% and 96.6% RH) and Fusarium roseum, Fusarium oxysporum only at 96% RH level. The relative humidity level lower than 62%, i.e. at 52% level exhibited no fungal growth on sandstone surface during two-year observations. During the study pattern it was noticed that diversity decreased gradually and dominance of particular species increased with the time factor. Analysis of sandstone after fungal colonization by X-ray diffraction and SEM showed the formation of newly formed biomineral.     

Developing an Antibody–Drug Conjugate Approach to Selective Inhibition of an Extracellular Protein

Antibody–drug conjugates (ADCs) are a growing class of therapeutics that harness the specificity of antibodies and the cell-killing potency of small-molecule drugs. Beyond cytotoxics, there are few examples of the application of an ADC approach to difficult drug discovery targets. Here, we present the initial development of a non-internalising ADC, with a view to selectively inhibiting an extracellular protein. Employing the wellinvestigated matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) as our model, we adapted a broad-spectrum, nonselective MMP inhibitor for conjugation and linked this to a MMP-9-targeting antibody. The resulting ADC fully inhibits MMP-9, and ELISA results suggest antibody targeting can direct a nonselective inhibitor.     

Multi-level Gaussian mixture modeling for detection of malicious network traffic

The Journal of Supercomputing - Along with the growing network connectivity across the world, there is a substantial increase in malicious network traffic to exploit the vulnerabilities, thus...     

Impact of various solid carriers and spray drying on pre/post compression properties of solid SNEDDS loaded with glimepiride: in vitro-ex vivo evaluation and cytotoxicity assessment

Development of self-nanoemulsifying drug delivery systems (SNEDDS) of glimepiride is reported with the aim to achieve its oral delivery. Lauroglycol FCC, Tween-80, and ethanol were used as oil, surfactant, and co-surfactant, respectively as independent variables. The optimized composition of SNEDDS formulation (F1) was 10% v/v Lauroglycol FCC, 45% v/v Tween 80, 45% v/v ethanol, and 0.005% w/v glimepiride. Further, the optimized liquid SNEDDS were solidified through spray drying using various hydrophilic and hydrophobic carriers. Among the various carriers, Aerosil 200 was found to provide desirable flow, compression, dissolution, and diffusion. Both, liquid and solid-SNEDDS have shown release of more than 90% within 10?min. Results of permeation studies performed on Caco-2 cell showed that optimized SNEDDS exhibited 1.54 times higher drug permeation amount and 0.57 times lower drug excretion amount than that of market tablets at 4?hours (p?p?>?.05, i.e. 0.74). The formulation was found stable with temperature variation and freeze thaw cycles in terms of droplet size, zeta potential, drug precipitation and phase separation. Crystalline glimepiride was observed in amorphous state in solid SNEDDS when characterized through DSC, PXRD, and FT-IR studies. The study revealed successful formulation of SNEDDS for glimepiride.     

Tailor-made pH-sensitive polyacrylic acid functionalized mesoporous silica nanoparticles for efficient and controlled delivery of anti-cancer drug Etoposide

A multifaceted therapeutic platform has been proposed for controlled delivery of Etoposide (ETS) leading to a synergistic advantage of maximum therapeutic efficacy and diminished toxicity. A state of the art pH responsive nanoparticles (NPs) MSNs-PAA consisting of mesoporous silica nanoparticles core and polymeric shell layers, were developed for controlled release of model anti-cancer drug ETS. Graft onto strategy was employed and amination served as an interim step, laying a vital foundation for functionalization of the MSN core with hydrophilic and pH responsive polyacrylic acid (PAA). MCM-41-PAA were investigated as carriers for loading and regulated release of ETS at different pH for the first time. The PAA-MSNs contained 20.19% grafted PAA as exhibited by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), which enormously improved the solubility of ETS in aqueous media. The synthesized PAA-MSNs were characterized by various techniques viz, SEM-EDS, TEM, BET, FT-IR and powder XRD. ETS was effectively loaded into the channels of PAA-MSN via electrostatic interactions. The cumulative release was much rapid at extracellular tumor (6.8) and endosomal pH (5.5) than that of blood pH (7.4). Hemolysis study was done for the prepared NPs. MTT assay results showed that the drug-loaded ETS-MCM-41-PAA NPs were more cytotoxic to both prostate cancer cells namely PC-3 and LNCaP than free ETS, which was attributed to their slow and sustained release behavior. The above results confirmed that PAA-MSN hold a great potential as pH responsive carriers with promising future in the field of cancer therapy.     

Laser ablated lead free (Na,K) NbO<Subscript>3</Subscript> thin films with excess alkali-content

Lead free (Na_0.5K_0.5) NbO₃ (NKN) being hygroscopic in nature is very difficult to be fabricated with enhanced properties in thin films. To maintain stoichiometry 0, 5 and 10% mole excess of Na on A-site were added on NKN bulk targets. The perovskite ABO₃ crystal structure incorporating 0, 5 and 10% excess alkali ions were grown on Pt/Ti/SiO2/Si substrate by pulsed laser deposition, using stoichiometric high density ceramic targets. X-ray diffraction peaks and Raman scattering spectra suggest the formation of single phase of the film in monoclinic phase. The dielectric properties and leakage current is improved with increasing amount of Na concentration. The reduction in leakage current with addition of excess Na concentration may be due to increase in grain size decrease in the connection of grain boundaries with grains. The impedance spectra of the film shows single dielectric relaxation which is non-debye type and the relaxation frequency is shifted to higher side at higher frequency.