Cumin Prevents 17β-Estradiol-Associated Breast Cancer in ACI Rats

Breast cancer (BC) is a leading cause of cancer deaths in women in less developed countries and the second leading cause of cancer death in women in the U.S. In this study, we report the inhibition of E2-mediated mammary tumorigenesis by Cuminum cyminum (cumin) administered via the diet as cumin powder, as well as dried ethanolic extract. Groups of female ACI rats were given either an AIN-93M diet or a diet supplemented with cumin powder (5% and 7.5%, w/w) or dried ethanolic cumin extract (1%, w/w), and then challenged with subcutaneous E2 silastic implants (1.2 cm; 9 mg). The first appearance of a palpable mammary tumor was significantly delayed by both the cumin powder and extract. At the end of the study, the tumor incidence was 96% in the control group, whereas only 55% and 45% animals had palpable tumors in the cumin powder and extract groups, respectively. Significant reductions in tumor volume (660 ± 122 vs. 138 ± 49 and 75 ± 46 mm³) and tumor multiplicity (4.21 ± 0.43 vs. 1.16 ± 0.26 and 0.9 ± 0.29 tumors/animal) were also observed by the cumin powder and cumin extract groups, respectively. The cumin powder diet intervention dose- and time-dependently offset E2-related pituitary growth, and reduced the levels of circulating prolactin and the levels of PCNA in the mammary tissues. Mechanistically, the cumin powder diet resulted in a significant reversal of E2-associated modulation in ERα, CYP1A1 and CYP1B1. Further, the cumin powder diet reversed the expression levels of miRNAs (miR-182, miR-375, miR-127 and miR-206) that were highly modulated by E2 treatment. We analyzed the composition of the extract by GC/MS and established cymene and cuminaldehyde as major components, and further detected no signs of gross or systemic toxicity. Thus, cumin bioactives can significantly delay and prevent E2-mediated mammary tumorigenesis in a safe and effective manner, and warrant continued efforts to develop these clinically translatable spice bioactives as chemopreventives and therapeutics against BC.     

Ionic liquid mediated nano-composite polymer gel electrolyte for rechargeable battery application

ABSTRACT

Nano-composite polymer gel electrolytes (NPGEs) based on polymer poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene) PVdF-HFP, ionic liquid, 1-butyl-3- methylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide BMIMTFSI, Li-salt along with the addition of SiO₂ nanoparticles have been synthesized and characterized by various techniques. Prepared NPGEs show high room temperature ionic conductivity (~10^?3 S/cm) and have a wide electrochemical window (ECW) (~3.3–3.5 V). The galvanostatic charge/discharge profile was studied by sandwiching best performing NPGEs between a LiFePO₄ cathode and lithium metal anode. The specific discharge capacity of the cell (Li/NPGE/LiFePO₄) room temperature at 0.1C rate is found to be 138 mAh/g.     

Bulk free radical polymerizations of methyl methacrylateunder non-isothermal conditions and with intermediate additionof initiator: Experiments and modeling

Experimental data on the monomer conversion, x_m, and the weight average molecular weight, M_w, have been generated under several isothermal and non-isothermal conditions for the polymerization of methyl methacrylate in a rheometer-reactor assembly. The non-isothermal results, in particular, can be used to provide more stringent tests of kinetic models than isothermal data alone. A simple empirical model has been used to describe this system that accounts for the gel (Trommsdorff) and glass effects. The model involves only x_m and the temperature, and is quite general. The model parameters are tuned using only three sets of isothermal data. Good agreement is found between the experimental results and model predictions for a whole variety of experimental conditions, including non-isothermal operation and with intermediate addition of initiator. Because of its generality, this model is quite suitable for use for on-line optimizing control as well as for describing industrial reactors.     

Simulation of an industrial nylon 6 tubular reactor

A commonly used energy-efficient nylon 6 reactor is simulated under steady-state conditions. The effects of various operating conditions and parameters, e.g., feed composition, temperature and flow rate, heat transfer coefficients, and reactor dimensions, on the temperature and molecular weight profiles are studied. A temperature maximum is observed in the reactor under usual conditions of operation. The maximum value of the temperature is sensitive to the feed conditions, and one has to ensure that degradation reactions speeded up at high temperatures do not affect product characteristics. The model and the numerical technique used are fairly simple and account for most of the important features of industrial reactors. Hence, these can be used in the development of digital-control algorithms in the future.     

Scientific basis for establishing country greenhouse gas estimates for rice-based agriculture: An Indian case study

A comprehensive scientific assessment of CH₄ budget estimation for Indian rice paddies, based on a decade of measurements in India, is presented. Indian paddy cultivation areas contain soils that have low to medium levels of soil organic carbon. The average seasonally integrated CH₄ flux (E _sif) values calculated from these measurements were 15.3 ± 2.6 g m^–2 for continuously flooded (CF), 6.9 ± 4.3 g m^–2 for intermittently flooded (IF) single aeration (SA) and 2.2 ± 1.5 g m^–2 for IF multiple aeration (MA) rice ecosystems. For CF and IF (MA) rice ecosystems having high soil organic carbon, without organic amendments, the CH₄ flux (E _sif) may be increased by 1.7 times relative to low soil organic carbon, whereas it may enhance by 5.3 for CF if amended organically. Organic amendment and high soil organic carbon paddy areas do not alter the methane budget estimates for India (3.6±1.4 TgY^–1) much, due to their small paddy harvested area. Methane estimated using average emission factors (E _sif) for all paddy water regimes, which include harvested areas having soils with high organic carbon and organic amendments, may give a budget of 5 TgY^–1 for India.     

Chlorosis in sugarcane: Associated soil properties,leaf mineral composition,and crop response to iron and manganese

Attempts were made to find out the nature and cause of a widespread sugarcane chlorosis in a cane growing area. Soils from chlorotic and nonchlorotic fields did not differ markedly in pH, CaCO₃, electrical conductivity, organic C, and soil test P, Zn, Cu, and Mn levels, but the chlorotic field soils had relatively more NH₄OAc-extractable K and less clay and DTPA-extractable Fe. Chlorotic and green leaf blades contained about the same concentration of P, S, Mg, Fe, Zn, Cu, and Mo, but the former leaf blades had more K and less Ca and HCl soluble Fe than the green ones. Green leaves of plants that seemed to have naturally recovered in chlorotic fields were higher in Mn. A foliage spray with 2.5% FeSO₄.7H₂O solution resulted in greening of leaves and a field experiment showed marked crop response to Fe and some response to Mn. The results thus suggest that the chlorosis is due to a lime-induced Fe-deficiency with the possibility of some role of Mn in Fe nutrition in calcareous soil conditions.Deceased 22 September 1988     

Low frequency ac conduction and dielectric relaxation behavior of solution grown and uniaxially stretched poly(vinylidene fluoride) films

The measurements of ac conductivity [σ_m(ω)], dielectric constant [?′(ω)] and loss [?″(ω)] have been performed on solution grown (thickness ∼85 μm) and uniaxially stretched (thickness ∼25, 45 and 80 μm) films of poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) in the frequency range 0.1 kHz-10 MHz and in the temperature range 77-400 K. The σ_m(ω) can be described by the relation σ(ω) = Aω^s, where s is close to unity and decreases with increase in temperature. Three relaxations, observed in the present investigation, have been designated as the α_c-, the α_a- and the β-relaxations appearing from high temperature side to the low temperature side. The α_c-relaxation could not be observed in the case of uniaxially stretched poly(vinylidene fluoride) films. The α_c- and α_a-relaxations are associated with the molecular motions in the crystalline regions and micro-Brownian motion in the amorphous regions of the main polymer chain, respectively, whereas the β-relaxation is attributed to the rotation of side group dipoles or to the local oscillations of the frozen main polymer chain.     

Prediction of properties of rubber by using artificial neural networks

Different rubber formulations were designed using nitrile rubber and a mixed crosslinking system consisting of sulfur/accelerator and electron beam radiation. Based on the experimental results, an artificial neural network (ANN) was constructed to simulate the mechanical properties and volume fraction of rubber. The ANN could predict accurately the above properties for a series of nitrile rubber compounds. However, the number of training data played a key role in the ANN predictive quality. In addition, the more complex the nonlinear relation between input and output was, the larger was the number of training dataset required. The predicted results were further validated using another mathematical model. The constructed ANN was verified with a completely different styrene butadiene rubber system. The prediction was found to be extremely good. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 100: 2227–2237, 2006     

Infrared study of salt free and salt treated cellulose pyrolysis under nitrogen atmosphere

The pyrolysis under nitrogen of salt free and salt treated cellulose was studied by infrared spectroscopy. The results confirm the unzipping mechanism suggested by DTA and TGA studies, and show this mechanism to apply to the untreated and salt treated samples. The results also show the unzipping to stop at the stage of char formation. The onset of this stage was found to occur after the volatilization of only 45–50% of the initial sample of the borax treated cellulose, compared with 65–70% of the KCl treated cellulose and 80–85% of the untreated cellulose.