Double emulsion‐encapsulated guggul exhibits improved in vivo hypocholesterolaemic action in rats

Guggul tree or Commiphora mukul is a small thorny herb having remarkable hypocholesterolaemic properties. Its therapeutic effects are because of its biocomponent guggulsterones, especially guggulsterone E and Z. In this research, double emulsion‐based spread was tried to improve the bioavailability of the herb guggul in in vivo rat model. The effect of the different diets with encapsulated and nonencapsulated guggul was evaluated and compared after 6 weeks, based on the final body weight and analysis of organs, serum and faeces of normal and hypercholesterolaemic (H) rats. It was evident from the results that double emulsion‐encapsulated guggul showed better control on weight of H rats (25.98% lower), inhibition of HMG CoA reductase (3.95 times less) activity and reduction in atherosclerotic index (47.2%), as compared to diet with unencapsulated guggul. Encapsulation of guggul also improved faecal excretion of bile acids, lipids and total cholesterol in H and normal rats.     

Whole grains and resistant starch rich,reduced‐calorie biscuit diet as a hypoglycaemic,hypolipidaemic and insulin stimulator in streptozotocin‐induced diabetic rats

A fibre‐enriched, reduced‐calorie biscuit [formulated biscuit (FB)] was evaluated for its antidiabetic and antilipidaemic potential in streptozotocin‐induced diabetes in Wistar rats against control biscuit (CB) having high calorie and low fibre content. Animals were allocated into five groups: a control group fed with synthetic diet, two diabetes‐induced groups (CBD and FBD) and two nondiabetic groups (CBND and FBND). CBD and CBND were fed with synthetic diet + CB while FBD and FBND were fed with synthetic diet + FB. After 6 weeks of feeding, the change in weight of nondiabetic group fed with FB (+16.20%) was nonsignificantly lower compared to control (+33.01%) and CB‐fed (+34.55%) group. Nonsignificant loss in body weight was observed among diabetic group fed with FB (?11.76%) or CB (?36.88%). Feeding of FB led to a significant decrease in fasting and postprandial blood glucose levels, total cholesterol, triglycerides, LDL‐C, VLDL‐C and atherosclerotic index and increase the HDL‐C. Histological examination showed that feeding of FB was able to partially recover the destroyed β‐cell in STZ‐induced diabetic rats.     

Rebranding Terroir: Ethnoecology and Tea Agro-Ecosystem Management in Response to Increased Market Integration in Southern Yunnan,China

Prompted by increased domestic and transnational demand for Pu’er tea, an emergence of agroecosystem intensification in Southern Yunnan, China has resulted in various agro-ecosystems including tea forests, mixed crop systems, and monocultural terrace tea gardens, in the tea production system. Plants of Camellia sinensis assamica often grow as trees in forests whilst C. sinensis sinensis grow as shrubs in terrace tea gardens. Inspired by the wine industry, the concept „Terroir” acts as a framework that analyzes both environmental and human factors yielding var ying botanic profiles, and hence quantifies values created by the cultivation process. The approach allows economic opportunities of place-based tea products to be driven by the origin in lieu of extrinsic qualities, which has resulted in to the fabricated reputation of terroir. In response to a common gap in terms of botanical and cultural values between tea cultivation and marketing trends, this artic le investigates an alternative scenario in which tea production and promotion model could minimize its environmental impacts and utilize its economic weight to advance land conservation efforts specific to cultural complexity at community scales.     

Towards a Secure IPv6 Autoconfiguration

ABSTRACT

Stateless Address Autoconfiguration (SLAAC) is one of the novel features introduced in IPv6 Neighbor Discovery Protocol (NDP) providing for self-configuration of nodes and supplementing the reduction of operational and deployment cost of networks. Although self-configuration elevates the idea of autonomy for network, it has also introduced vulnerabilities that require substantial solutions. The SLAAC is pivoted on the presumption that network consists of authentic and entrusted nodes, however with inception of public sector wireless networks; any node can affix to the link with trivial authentication and situation changes radically. Although some security extensions like IPsec or SeND have been proposed, but these security protocols have been reported to have serious limitations like complex cryptographic algorithms which negate their adoption. This paper revisits the stateless auto configuration process and discusses its inherent vulnerabilities. The paper surveys existing research and available defense mechanisms available to protect SLAAC. The paper also suggests some guidelines from existing literature which can further promote and supplement the research to secure the auto configuration process. Finally, a novel technique is proposed for securing IPv6 link layer communication against DoS and Man-in-the-Middle attack which can be used as an alternate approach for CGA and SeND protocol.     

Synthesis and characterization of poppy seed oil methyl esters

Response surface methodology(RSM) was used to determine the optimum conditions of the methanolysis of crude poppy seed oil using Na OCH3 as catalyst. The experiments were run according to five levels, four variable central composite rotatable design(CCRD) using RSM. The reaction variables, i.e., molar ratio of methanol/oil(3:1–9:1), catalyst concentration(0.5 wt%–1.25 wt% Na OCH3), reaction temperature(25–65 °C), and reaction time(20–90 min) were studied. We demonstrated that the molar ratio of methanol/oil, catalyst concentration,and reaction temperature were the significant parameters affecting the yield of poppy seed oil methyl esters(PSOMEs). The optimum transesterification reaction conditions, established using the RSM, which offered a89.35% PSOME yield, were found to be 7.5:1 molar ratio of methanol/oil, 0.75% catalyst concentration, 45 °C reaction temperature, and 90 min reaction time. The proposed process provided an average biodiesel yield of more than 85%. A linear correlation was constructed between the observed and predicted values of the yield.The gas chromatography(GC) analyses have shown that PSOMEs contain linoleic-, oleic-, palmitic-, and stearic-acids as main fatty acids. The FTIR spectrum of the PSOMEs was also analyzed to confirm the completion of the transesterification reaction. The fuel properties of the PSOMEs were discussed in light of biodiesel standards(ASTM D 6751 and EN 14214).     

Advances in the chemical leaching (inorgano-leaching), bio-leaching and desulphurisation of coals

International Journal of Coal Science & Technology - Coal still remains an important source of power generation world over. Along with its usage, comes unwanted generation of noxious gas...     

Step-By-Step Atomic Insights into Structural Reordering from 2D to 3D MoS2

Vertically stacked low-dimensional heterostructures are outstanding systems both for exploring fundamental physics and creating new devices. Due to nanometer-scale building blocks, atomic scale phenomena become for them of fundamental importance, including during device operation. These can be accessed in situ in aberration-corrected scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) experiments. Here, the dynamics of a graphene-MoS₂ heterostructure are studied under Joule heating, where the graphene serves as a high temperature atomically thin and electron transparent “hot plate” for the MoS₂. Structural dynamics and evolution of the system are shown at the atomic scale, demonstrating that at the highest temperatures (estimated to exceed 2000 K), the continuous 2D MoS₂ transforms into separated 3D nanocrystals, initiated by sulfur vacancy creation and migration followed by formation of voids and clustering at their edges. The resulting nanocrystals exhibit predominantly hexagonal shapes with the 2H and hybrid (2H/3R, 3R/TZ) polytypes. The observed morphology of the crystals is further discussed during and after the transformation, as well as their different edge configurations and stability under electron irradiation. These observations of MoS₂ at extreme temperatures provide insights into the operation of devices based on graphene/MoS₂ heterostructures and ultimately may help device fabrication techniques to create MoS₂-based nanostructures, for example, in hydrogen evolution reaction applications.     

Hydrogen storage properties of various carbon supported NaBH4 prepared via metathesis

Sodium borohydride nanoparticles prepared via the metathesis reaction between LiBH₄ and NaCl were successfully deposited on various carbon supporting materials such as graphite, graphene oxide and carbon nanotubes. The X-ray diffraction analyses were conducted to identify the phase of NaBH₄ deposited on various carbon supporting materials. The transmittance electron micrograph analyses were also conducted to investigate the particle size and dispersion of NaBH₄ within carbon supporting materials. The particle size and size distribution of NaBH₄ on graphite were observed to be larger and broader than of other two supporting materials, graphene oxide and CNT due to the lower surface energy as compared to GO and CNT. The bonding state of NaBH₄ was confirmed by the Fourier-transformed infrared spectroscopy analysis. The TG and PCT results show that the hydrogen desorption of the NaBH₄ deposited on carbon supports takes place at temperature (130 °C～) significantly lower than that of pure NaBH₄ (above 500 °C) and the amount of desorption was in the order of graphene oxide (12.3 mass %) > CNT (9.8 mass %) > graphite (5.7 mass %). The reversibility of hydrogen adsorption after five cycles of adsorption-desorption showed that NaBH₄/GO and NaBH₄/CNT were much better than that of pure NaBH₄ due to excellent structural stability.     

TRAM: Technique for resource allocation and management in fog computing environment

The Journal of Supercomputing - The traditional cloud computing technology provides services to a plethora of applications by providing resources. These services support numerous industries for...