A Fluorometric Enzymatic Assay for Quantification of Steryl Glucosides in Biodiesel

Steryl glucosides (SG) are common contaminants in biodiesel that form precipitates, which form and cause problems due to fouling during transport and storage. Therefore, their quantification is necessary to assess the quality of this fuel. The methods currently available for SG analysis require expensive instrumentation, need a previous concentration step by solid‐phase extraction (SPE) or are of limited use for the quantitative assessment. We developed an enzymatic method for SG quantification in biodiesel samples based on the hydrolysis of the glucoside catalyzed by a broadly specific beta glucosidase and the subsequent determination of the glucose released by the reaction. The method is non‐expensive, sensitive and was adapted to 96‐well format fluorescence plate reader, making it useful for the parallel assay of multiple samples. The enzymatic assay presented here represent a valuable tool for both quality control and the development of improved biodiesel production and purification procedures.     

Micromorphology,pharmacognosy, and bio‐elemental analysis of an important medicinal herb: Verbascum thapsus L.

The present study was conducted on characterization of morpho‐anatomical, phytochemical, and bio‐elemental analysis of root, stem, and leaf of Verbascum thapsus. Morphologically Verbascum is a biennial plant that flowers for a month and a half in mid‐ to late summer. Various organoleptic features of root, leaf, and stem were recorded. Anatomically the T. S of the root, stem, and leaf showed a typical dicot histological differentiation. Leaf possessed anomocytic stomata, crescent shape vascular bundles, and covered with long and stellate type trichomes while, stem contained collateral type of vascular bundles and a well‐developed pith to store phytochemicals responsible for various pharmacological activities. The powder drug study through scanning electron microscopy revealed the presence of various types of tissues. Branched, tree like and stellate trichomes in root and leaf help in absorption and reduce loss of water. These anatomical features are responsible for the survival of the plant as biennial. Four macro elements (Na, K, Ca, and Mg) and seven microelements (Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, Zn, and Cd) and their concentrations in ppm were also studied using Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy. Phytochemical screening of methanolic extract showed existence of various secondary metabolites, while mucilage and anthraquinones was not detected. The present study helps to understand the taxonomic identification of the plant based on morpho‐anatomical features and throws the attention of the researchers to carry out the work for developing its various formulations, which can ultimately be beneficial for the human beings as well as animals.     

Evaluating the lucrative role of probiotics in the aquaculture using microscopic and biochemical techniques

The present study focused to elucidate the promising role of probiotics in the fish culture, by employing microscopic and biochemical parameters to rationalize the possible outcomes. After preliminary feeding trial histopathological analysis revealed clear and visible changes in the intestinal and liver cells of CTRL (control group) compared to probiotics supplemented group, the bacterial inoculations resulted in shorten and swelled villi, while liver kupffer cells increased many folds in the CTRL. Moreover, there was clear hypertrophy and lamellar fusion in the gills tissues examined under microscope. Furthermore, intriguing results were obtained, such as a substantial increase in the weight gain, specific growth rate (%BW/day), FCE%, survival%, and improved secretions of amylase, cellulase, and protease activities. Likewise, high crude protein, fats content, while low moisture and total Ash was noticed in EXP I (Probiotics supplemented) compared to CTRL. The microscopic and biochemical analysis disclosed the positive role of probiotics on the fish health, thus we suggest its supplementations in the fish diet.     

One-against-all ensemble for multiclass pattern classification

This paper presents a new method called one-against-all ensemble for solving multiclass pattern classification problems. The proposed method incorporates a neural network ensemble into the one-against-all method to improve the generalization performance of the classifier. The experimental results show that the proposed method can reduce the uncertainty of the decision and it is comparable to the other widely used methods.     

Effects of acid strength and micro pore size on -caprolactam selectivity and catalyst deactivation in vapor phase Beckmann rearrangement over acid solid catalysts

The vapor phase Beckmann rearrangement of cyclohexanone oxime (CHO) over solid acid catalysts including zeolites was carried out to elucidate the effects of the acid strength and the micropore size of the catalysts on the selectivity of -caprolactam (CL) and the catalyst deactivation rate. It was found that the catalyst deactivation rate was strongly dependent on the acid strength of the acid catalysts. The improvement of catalyst life was achieved by using MFI-type metallosilicates having weak acid sites. The CL selectivity decreased over the acid catalysts with micropores larger than those of the MFI zeolites. Furthermore, using methanol and carbon dioxide as the diluent solvent and diluent gas improved CL selectivity and catalyst life, respectively.     

Effect of inclined roof on the airflow associated with a wind driven turbine ventilator

Rotating wind driven turbine ventilator has been used as cost-effective environmental friendly natural ventilation device. Rotating wind driven turbine ventilator type of device is usually installed on the rooftop to extract air extract air flow from a building to improve air quality and comfort. Performance investigations carried thus far on turbine ventilator have ignored the effect of the inclination on rooftop. An experimental program was, therefore, formulated at the aerodynamic laboratory of the University of New South Wales to study such effect on a simulated rooftop. The results obtained from the measured forces and rotational speeds on different configurations indicate that the effect is minimal in extracting air from a building at low wind speed. The static pressure and skin friction distributions on the simulated roof further supports this finding. Two important conclusions can be drawn from the present investigation: firstly, the presence of the inclined roof may extend the safety margin in the operation of a turbine ventilator at high wind speed by reducing the magnitude of the total force that acts on the ventilator; secondly the dependency of the total fore on low Reynolds number suggests that the efficiency and reliability of operation of such ventilator should be boosted through the provision of other power source such as solar power at low wind speed.     

Protective effect of ω-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) on sodium nitrite induced nephrotoxicity and oxidative damage in rat kidney

Sodium nitrite (SNT) widely used as a curative agent in meat processing industry possesses cell-transforming mutagenic and cytogenic properties. Dietary omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (ω-3 PUFA) has been shown to reduce the severity of certain types of cancers, cardiovascular and renal diseases. The present study examined whether feeding of fish oil (FO)/flaxseed oil (FXO) has protective effect against SNT-induced toxicity. SNT significantly altered the activities of serum creatinine (Crt), blood urea nitrogen (BUN), metabolic and brush border membrane (BBM) enzymes. SNT caused significant imbalances in the antioxidant system associated with increased lipid peroxidation (LPO). Feeding of FO and FXO with SNT ameliorated the changes in various parameters caused by SNT. Nephrotoxicity parameters lowered and enzyme activities of carbohydrate metabolism, BBM and radioactively labeled inorganic phosphate (³²Pi) transport were improved to near control values. The results of the present study suggest that ω-3 PUFA-enriched FO and FXO from sea-foods and plant sources respectively are similarly effective in reducing SNT-induced nephrotoxicity and oxidative damage.     

An efficient extraction and clean‐up procedure for pesticide determination in olive oil

This work reports a simple, rapid, and effective extraction method based on liquid–liquid extraction (LLE) followed by matrix solid‐phase dispersion‐sonication for detection, identification and quantification of multiclass pesticides in virgin olive oil using liquid chromatography mass spectrometry (LC‐QTOF‐MS). LLE to extract pesticide residues in virgin olive oil was performed in order to study the centrifugation efficiency to obtain high recovery yield and low co‐extract fat residue in the final extract. Different suitable parameters of MSPD procedure were evaluated, such as nature of dispersing phase, clean‐up adsorbent, and volume of eluting solvent (acetonitrile) in different extraction conditions, with or without sonication. The best results were obtained using 5 g of virgin olive oil, 2 g of PSA as dispersant sorbent, 2 g of Florisil/GCB (70:30 w/w) as clean‐up sorbent, and 15 mL of acetonitrile as eluting solvent under conditions of 15 min ultrasonic bath at RT. Method validation was performed in order to study sensitivity, linearity, precision, and accuracy. Average recoveries ranged between 73.7 and 104.2% with relative SDs 5.3–13.4% at three concentration levels (25, 50, and 100 µg/kg). Detection and quantification limits ranged from 1.5 to 5 µg/kg and 3 to 9 µg/kg, respectively.     

Combined cross-linking treatments of bovine serum albumin gel beadlets for controlled-delivery of caffeine

Combined cross-linking agents (CCLA) of microbial transglutaminase (MTgase) and ribose were applied during production of bovine serum albumin gels via incubation and heating treatment, respectively. CCLA produced stronger gels with lower protein solubility in disruptive solvents (1% sodium dodecyl sulphate plus 1% β-mercaptoethanol) as compared to BSA gels (BSA/Control) or gels produced using single cross-linking agents (SCLA) of MTGase or ribose. The gels were then converted into dried beadlets containing caffeine following a freeze-drying process. In-vitro controlled-release of caffeine and swelling ratio studies of the beadlets in artificial saliva or simulated gastric fluid indicated that CCLA beadlets had the slowest release of caffeine and the lowest swelling ratio as compared to other beadlets. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) data suggested that the improved release and the lower swelling ratio were mainly due to the denser network formed within the CCLA beadlets that had restricted the diffusion of caffeine and hampered the enzymatic breakdown of the matrix. The additional protein cross-linkings formed as a result of MTgase incubation and ribose-induced Maillard reaction could provide a delay action in releasing caffeine that potentially extend the duration of the action of the drug during ingestion.