Evaluation of Safety of Stewart’s Wood Fern (Dryopteris stewartii) and Its Anti-Hyperglycemic Potential in Alloxan-Induced Diabetic Mice

Diabetes has become a critical challenge to the global health concerns. Cytotoxicity and development of resistance against available drugs for management of diabetes have shifted the focus of global scientific researchers from synthetic to herbal medications. Therefore, the current study was conducted to investigate the possible anti-hyperglycemic potential of Dryopteris stewartii using Swiss albino mice. To evaluate any possible toxic effect of the plant, acute oral toxicity test was performed while the anti-diabetic effects of aqueous and ethanol extracts at 500 mg/kg, positive, negative and normal control were assessed simultaneously. The anti-diabetic study revealed that aqueous extract has higher anti-diabetic potential than ethanol extract while lowered blood glucose level at second week reaching 150 mg/dL, exerting stronger anti-diabetic effects, compared to ethanol extract (190 mg/dL). Oral glucose tolerance findings revealed that aqueous extract decreased blood glucose level by −0.41-fold, compared to ethanol extract showing a decrease by only −0.29-folds. The histopathological evaluation of liver and pancreas of all groups revealed normal cell architecture with no morphological abnormalities. These results suggested the possible use of D. stewartii as anti-diabetic herbal drug in near future. However, these recommendations are conditioned by deep mechanistic studies.     

Comparison and effect of Cinder supported with Manganese and Lanthanum oxide for biodiesel production

In this study, comparison and effect of Cinder supported with Lanthanum and Manganese oxide as catalyst for transesterification of triglyceride to methyl ester is proposed. The reaction mechanism along with the effects of methanol to oil molar ratio, amount of catalyst to oil, reaction temperature were also discussed. Moreover reusability of catalyst, catalyst resistance toward Free Fatty Acid and water were also discussed. The results show that yield of biodiesel produced with Mn:La:Cinder catalyst was 99% at ≥150 °C in 6 h. Cinder supported with Mn shows conversion of triglycerides from soybean oil in reaction with methanol after 6 h was over 99% at 150 °C. For both catalyst 3wt% of catalyst based on oil, 24:1 methanol/oil molar ratio was reused for 7 times with regeneration. The catalysts displayed great resistance toward 2.5% water and 1% wt fatty acids.     

Hot corrosion behavior of double ceramic layered CaZrO3/Yttria‐stabilized zirconia coatings

A novel double ceramic layered (DCL) CaZrO₃/Yttria‐stabilized zirconia (YSZ) thermal barrier coatings (TBCs) was designed for improved service life against sulfate vanadate hot corrosion as compared with that of YSZ single layered coating. The hot corrosion behavior of DCL CaZrO₃/YSZ coatings was studied at 950°C after dry spreading 50%Na₂SO₄+50%V₂O₅ mixture onto a coated surface. The CaZrO₃ as the topmost layer in DCL CaZrO₃/YSZ coatings, served as a sacrificial layer during sulfate vanadate hot corrosion protecting the underneath YSZ coating. The corrosion reactions in this case were sluggish due to the initial formation of low melting point meta‐calcium vanadate (CaV₂O₆) that isothermally transformed to higher melting point calcium vanadates having higher calcia (CaO) content. The corrosion reaction products sealed the top surface, impeding the oxygen movement and eventually retarded the thermally grown oxide (TGO) growth. The sulfate vanadate hot corrosion life of the DCL CaZrO₃/YSZ coatings was observed to be more than double as compared with single ceramic layered YSZ coatings.     

Cooling of molten core material within a pressurised water reactor vessel lower head: interaction of surface radiation and wall conduction with free convection

The phenomenon of cooling of molten core material inside the lower head of a pressurised water reactor pressure vessel has been analysed numerically. A detailed analysis of interaction of surface radiation and conjugate wall conduction with free convection inside the semi-circular cavity has been presented. The effect of parameters which govern the radiative heat transfer from the pool surface has been investigated. The results show that for a certain set of parameters radiative heat transfer from the pool surface is more efficient than convection towards vessel circular wall. For all the cases considered in the present analysis well-stratified corium pool has been obtained.     

Study of pore structure modification using Environmental Scanning Electron Microscopy

The microscopic structural changes of porous media caused by polymer treatment were studied using Environmental Scanning Electron Microscopy (ESEM). The rocks used for this study are outcrops of the Elgin and Okesa sandstones of northeastern Oklahoma.The results indicate that the amount and distribution of clays in the porous media affect the amount of polymer retention. The polymer blocks the larger pores in the Okesa sandstone that have pore-lining clays; whereas in the Elgin sandstone the polymer reduces the size of the larger pores. The pores in the Elgin sandstone are relatively clay-free and have smooth surfaces. There was a uniform layer of adsorbed polymer in the pores of the Elgin sandstone.This study enhances the understanding and visualization of the distribution of the polymer in the pores of consolidated rocks. This study also enables one to better understand physical adsorption of the polymer at the pore level.     

A qualitative evaluation of evolution of a learning analytics tool

LOCO-Analyst is a learning analytics tool we developed to provide educators with feedback on students learning activities and performance. Evaluation of the first version of the tool led to the enhancement of the tool’s data visualization, user interface, and supported feedback types. The second evaluation of the improved tool allowed us to see how the improvements affected the users’ perceived value of the tool. Here, we present the qualitative results of our two evaluations and discuss important lessons learned stemming from the comparison of the two studies. The results show that educators find the kinds of feedback implemented in the tool informative and they value the mix of textual and graphical representations of different kinds of feedback provided by the tool.     

The development of novel auxetic woven structure for impact applications

Nowadays, the auxetic materials, auxetic reinforcement as well as auxetic composite are under the great attention of scientific research due to having excellent mechanical properties. In the current research work, the impact resistance of composite was improved by modifying the four layer through the thickness woven structure, that was used as reinforcement. A comparison was made between the standard four layer through the thickness and modified four layer through the thickness woven structure in terms of auxeticity and penetration. The modified four layer through the thickness woven structure showed auxetic behavior in both warp and weft direction having less penetration resistance as compared to standard sample. The four layer through the thickness non-auxetic woven structures and modified auxetic four layer thorough the thickness woven structures were used as reinforcements to develop composite for impact resistance comparison. The result showed that impact resistance of auxetic composite was 6.7% greater as compared to the non-auxetic composite. It was concluded that the greater value of impact resistance was due to the auxetic behavior of modified four layer through the thickness woven structure.     

Effect of wheat germ on metabolic markers: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

Food Science and Biotechnology - This systematic review and meta-analysis aim to evaluate the association of wheat germ interventions and metabolic markers. An electronic search was performed by...     

Toxicological effects of the chemical and green ZnO NPs on Cyprinus carpio L. observed under light and scanning electron microscopy

Nanoparticles in aquatic bodies cause serious harm to the aquatic organisms when accumulated in high amounts. However, green nanoparticles synthesized using plants can be less toxic as compared to chemical nanoparticles. Hence, we designed our study to investigate the toxicological effects of chemical and green zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) on the biological activity of juvenile Cyprinus carpio. The green ZnO NPs were synthesized from Solieria robusta, and chemical ZnO NPs were synthesized using zinc chloride solution and ammonium hydroxide. Characterization was done by using light microscopy, scanning electron microscope (SEM), Fourier transmission infrared radiation, and X-ray diffraction (XRD) techniques. The highest absorbance of nanoparticles was observed at 360 which confirmed the synthesis of ZnO. The SEM analysis showed that green nanoparticles were hexagonal while the chemical nanoparticles were spherical to cubic in shape. Definite peaks were observed in XRD of green and chemical NPs at 2θ angles 45.84° and 32.18°, respectively. Oxidative stress was determined by chemical analysis of catalase, glutathione S-transferase (GST), glutathione (GSH), and lipid peroxidation (LPO) activities. The toxicological effects of chemical ZnO NPs on the catalase, LPO, GST, and GSH activities were more than green ZnO NPs. The histopathological investigation proved that the effect of chemical nanoparticles was worse than green ZnO NPs. More tissue damage was found in chemical nanoparticles than green synthesized nanoparticles. It was concluded that chemical nanoparticles can be replaced by green nanoparticles, as green nanoparticles are eco-friendly with less toxicological effects. This replacement can limit the toxic effect of nanoparticles when they get accumulated in high amounts in water bodies.