Insecticidal action of Lantana camara against Callosobruchus chinensis (Coleoptera: Bruchidae)

Aerial parts of Lantana camara were investigated for their insecticidal, antiovipositional and antifeedant activity against Callosobruchus chinensis. Petroleum ether and methanol extracts of the plant showed 10–43% mortality at 1–5% concentrations. The extracts also showed complete feeding deterrent action at 5% concentrations. Loss of fecundity was also noticed in both the extracts at higher doses. The antiovipositional values were 30 mg/100 g for petroleum ether extract and 40 mg/100 g of seed for methanol extract.     

Numerical simulation and artificial neural network modeling of natural circulation boiling water reactor

Numerical simulation of natural circulation boiling water reactor is important in order to study its performance for different designs and under various off-design conditions. Numerical simulations can be performed by using thermal-hydraulic codes. Very fast numerical simulations, useful for extensive parametric studies and for solving design optimization problems, can be achieved by using an artificial neural network (ANN) model of the system. In the present work, numerical simulations of natural circulation boiling water reactor have been performed with RELAP5 code for different values of design parameters and operational conditions. Parametric trends observed have been discussed. The data obtained from these simulations have been used to train artificial neural networks, which in turn have been used for further parametric studies and design optimization. The ANN models showed error within ±5% for all the simulated data. Two most popular methods, multilayer perceptron (MLP) and radial basis function (RBF) networks, have been used for the training of ANN model. Sequential quadratic programming (SQP) has been used for optimization.     

Study of glasses/glass-ceramics in the SrO-ZnO-SiO2 system as high temperature sealant for SOFC applications

Glasses having composition (in wt.%) 51SrO-9ZnO-(40−x)SiO₂ (SZS), where x represents the additives like B₂O₃, Al₂O₃, V₂O₅, and Cr₂O₃, were prepared by melt-quench method and transformed into glass-ceramics by controlled crystallization based on differential thermal analysis (DTA) data. Glasses and glass-ceramics were characterized using dilatometry, X-ray diffraction (XRD), microhardness, and Raman spectroscopy. XRD revealed that glass-ceramics are composed of mainly Sr₂ZnSi₂O₇ and SrSiO₃ crystalline phases along with residual glassy phase. Raman spectroscopy showed that main constitutes of the glass network are the Q¹ and Q² silicate structural units. With the addition of B₂O₃ and other additives silicate glass network depolymerizes and concentration of Q¹ structural units increases at the expense of Q² units. Formation of phases during crystallization depends on the presence of different silicate structural units in the glass matrix. B₂O₃ goes into the glass network as triangular (BO₃) borate structural units and at higher concentration of B₂O₃, only a part of the B₂O₃ forms tetragonal (BO₄) structural units. Investigated glasses and glass-ceramics have thermal expansion coefficient (TEC) in the range of 105-120 × 10⁻⁷/°C which matches with TEC of other cell components. B₂O₃ containing SZS glasses show good adhesion/bonding with YSZ and Crofer 22 APU. Elemental line scans indicate that interdiffusion of Fe, Cr and Si across interface is responsible for good bonding with Crofer 22 APU and interdiffusion of Sr, Si, Y and Zr is responsible for good bonding with YSZ.     

Utilization of Food Processing By-products as Dietary,Functional, and Novel Fiber: A Review

Fast growing food processing industry in most countries across the world, generates huge quantity of by-products, including pomace, hull, husk, pods, peel, shells, seeds, stems, stalks, bran, washings, pulp refuse, press cakes, etc., which have less use and create considerable environmental pollution. With growing interest in health promoting functional foods, the demand of natural bioactives has increased and exploration for new sources is on the way. Many of the food processing industrial by-products are rich sources of dietary, functional, and novel fibers. These by-products can be directly (or after certain modifications for isolation or purification of fiber) used for the manufacture of various foods, i.e. bread, buns, cake, pasta, noodles, biscuit, ice creams, yogurts, cheese, beverages, milk shakes, instant breakfasts, ice tea, juices, sports drinks, wine, powdered drink, fermented milk products, meat products and meat analogues, synthetic meat, etc. A comprehensive literature survey has been carried on this topic to give an overview in the field dietary fiber from food by-products. In this article, the developments in the definition of fiber, fiber classification, potential sources of dietary fibers in food processing by-products, their uses, functional properties, caloric content, energy values and the labelling regulations have been discussed.     

The effects of diet, ad libitum overfeeding, and moderate dietary restriction on the rodent bioassay: the uncontrolled variable in safety assessment

Ad libitum (AL) overfeeding is the most significant, uncontrolled variable affecting the outcome of the current rodent bioassay. There is a highly significant correlation between AL food consumption, the resultant obesity and body weight, and low 2-yr survival in rodents. AL feeding of diets with lowered protein, metabolizable energy (ME), and increased fiber does not improve survival. Only dietary restriction (DR) of all diets tested significantly improves survival and delays the onset of spontaneous degenerative disease (i.e., nephropathy and cardiomyopathy) and diet-related tumors. Moderate DR results in an incidence of spontaneous tumors similar to AL-fed rats, but the tumors are found incidentally and do not cause early mortality. There is a decreased age-adjusted incidence of pituitary and mammary gland tumors in moderate DR-fed rats, but tumor growth time is similar between AL and DR rats with only a delay in tumor onset time seen in DR-fed groups. Moderate DR does not significantly alter drug-metabolizing enzyme activities nor the toxicologic response to 5 pharmaceuticals tested at maximum tolerated doses (MTDs). However, moderate DR-fed rats did require much higher doses of 4 additional pharmaceutical compounds before classical MTDs were produced. Toxicokinetic studies of 2 of these compounds demonstrated equal or higher steady-state systemic exposures to parent drug and metabolites in moderate DR-fed rats. Markers of oxidative stress (lipid peroxidation, protein oxidation) are decreased and cytoprotective anti-oxidant markers are preserved in moderate DR-fed rats. But moderate DR does not delay reproductive senescence in female rats. Only marked DR delays reproductive senescence compared to AL and moderate DR-fed female rats. These and other data indicate that moderate DR is the most appropriate method of dietary control for the rodent bioassay when used to assess pharmaceuticals for human safety and compounds for risk assessment.     

Correlates of peak expiratory flow rate: a study of sand stone quarry workers in desert

BACKGROUND: Pulmonary infections continue to be a major cause of morbidity and mortality in patients with sickle cell disease (SCD). METHODS: In this study cell-mediated immunity in vitro was evaluated in 62 SCD patients (62 steady state and 16 with acute pneumonia) and compared with 44 normal controls (30 healthy and 14 with acute pneumonia). Lymphocyte blastogenic responses to phytohemagglutinin, tetanus toxoid and Candida albicans antigen were assessed in all subjects. In addition production of tumor necrosis factor, alpha- and gamma-interferon (IFN) were assayed. RESULTS: The results revealed comparable blastogenic responses to all three stimuli in all subjects except SCD patients with pneumonia. This group showed poor responses to all stimuli. The mean counts per minute were decreased 65 to 90% when compared with the other patients. Cytokine production of IFN-alpha and TNF was equivalent in all subjects. Conversely IFN-gamma production in both SCD groups, steady state (35 +/- 6 U/ml) and SCD with pneumonia (14 +/- 6 U/ml), was significantly decreased when compared with those in normal healthy controls (65 +/- 14 U/ml) and with pneumonia (48 +/- 17 U/ml). On analysis of individual titers 15 of 62 (24%) steady state and 10 of 16 (63%) SCD patients with pneumonia were deficient in IFN-gamma production in vitro. CONCLUSIONS: Acute pulmonary infections seem to have a profound effect on cell-mediated immunity in SCD. IFN-gamma deficiency, along with quantitative and qualitative T cell abnormalities, may represent significant factors to explain the frequent and severe infections seen in SCD.     

Powder Compaction Dies and Compressibility of Various Materials

Powder Metallurgy and Metal Ceramics - Powder compaction is the most crucial process in powder metallurgy since almost all the desired properties of a material, such as a shape, size, density,...     

Effect of various lipid-bile salt mixed micelles on the intestinal absorption of amphotericin-B in rat

We investigated the effect of the somatosensory functions to the outcomes of motor functions in 28 patients with thalamic hemorrhage. The disturbance of the pyramidal tracts was assessed by the destruction of the internal capsule found in computed tomography (CT). The disturbance of the somatosensory function was analyzed by the N20 component of short-latency somatosensory evoked potentials (SSEP). The outcomes of motor function was evaluated after 3 months of ictus. Correlations between the outcomes of motor function, disturbance of the pyramidal tract, and disturbance of the somatosensory function were discussed. The result indicated that functional outcomes statistically correlated with neither disturbance of the internal capsule alone nor disturbance of N20 alone. But, there was statistically significant between functional outcomes and the combination of disturbance of the internal capsule with disturbance of N20 (p < 0.05, Wilcoxon signed-rank). There was not statistical difference in hematoma volume or consciousness. The implications of these results suggest that somatosensory function may affect the recovery of motor functions.     

ERICE, a novel FLICE-activatable caspase

Programmed cell death, or apoptosis, is a process of fundamental importance to cellular homeostasis in metazoan organisms (Ellis, R. E., Yuan, J., and Horvitz, H. R. (1991) Annu. Rev. Cell Biol. 7, 663-698). The caspase family of mammalian proteases, related to the nematode death protein CED-3, plays a crucial role in apoptosis and inflammation. We report here the isolation and characterization of a new caspase, tentatively termed ERICE (Evolutionarily Related Interleukin-1beta Converting Enzyme). Based on phylogenetic analysis, ERICE (caspase-13) is a member of the ICE subfamily of caspases which includes caspase-1 (ICE), caspase-4 (ICErel-II, TX, ICH-2), and caspase-5 (ICErel-III, TY). Overexpression of ERICE induces apoptosis of 293 human embryonic kidney cells and MCF7 breast carcinoma cells. Like other members of the subfamily, ERICE is not activated by the serine protease granzyme B, a caspase-activating component of cytotoxic T cell granules. Therefore, ERICE most likely does not play a role in granzyme B-induced cell death. ERICE, however, was activated by caspase-8 (FLICE, MACH, Mch-5), the apical caspase activated upon engagement of death receptors belonging to the tumor necrosis factor family. This is consistent with a potential role for ERICE in this receptor-initiated death pathway.