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Sunil Ambekar, The RSS: Roadmaps for the 21st Century. Rupa Publications India Pvt Ltd, 2019, 230 pp.,₹595.

The Internet of Things (IoT) has the potential to revolutionise daily life by connecting various devices and enabling smart functionalities. However, a critical issue in this realm is the charging problem faced by mosquito repellent devices. This paper introduces MOSQ-Charge, a system that focuses on wirelessly charging smart mosquito repellents within an IoT framework. Comprising five key components, including a wireless charger, Smart IoT Gateway, cloud services, security algorithm, and device control application, MOSQ-Charge aims to enhance home automation by addressing the charging concerns of mosquito repellent devices. The system utilises sensors to monitor battery levels, cloud services for data storage, and an IoT connectivity protocol named MQTT to link gateways to the cloud server. By designing and deploying a successful wireless charging setup for MOSQ-Charge, this research contributes to controlling mosquito-borne diseases and advancing IoT-based home automation.

In this article, some logarithmic type estimators are introduced for the population mean utilizing the information on an attribute under stratified simple random sampling. The mean square error (MSE) expressions of the proposed estimators are obtained to the first order approximation. The efficiency conditions are developed by comparing the MSEs of the proposed and existing estimators. The theoretical results are further supported by the numerical study. The numerical results are found to be satisfactory and show the dominance of the proffered estimators over the contemporary estimators in terms of percent relative efficiency.

Byline: Kiran. Kumar, Akshata. Prakash, Suresh. Gangasagara, Sujatha. Rathod, K. Ravi, Ambica. Rangaiah, Sathyanarayan. Shankar, Shantala. Basawarajappa, Shashi. Bhushan, T. Neeraja, Srinivas. Khandenahalli, M. Swetha, Priyam. Gupta, U. Sampritha, Guru. [...]

This article deals with some new chain imputation methods by using two auxiliary variables under missing completely at random (MCAR) approach. The proposed generalized classes of chain imputation methods are tested from the viewpoint of optimality in terms of MSE. The proposed imputation methods can be considered as an efficient extension to the work of Singh and Horn (Metrika 51:267–276, 2000), Singh and Deo (Stat Pap 44:555–579, 2003), Singh (Stat A J Theor Appl Stat 43(5):499–511, 2009), Kadilar and Cingi (Commun Stat Theory Methods 37:2226–2236, 2008) and Diana and Perri (Commun Stat Theory Methods 39:3245–3251, 2010). The performance of the proposed chain imputation methods is investigated relative to the conventional chain-type imputation methods. The theoretical results are derived and comparative study is conducted and the results are found to be quite encouraging providing the improvement over the discussed work.

This study investigates an enhanced estimation procedure for the estimation of the population mean of the study variable by using the information on an auxiliary attribute under two-phase sampling. The suggested class of estimator incorporates several well-established estimators for suitably chosen values of characterising scalars. The properties such as bias and mean square error of suggested estimator are studied to the first order of approximation. The efficiency conditions are derived by comparing the MSEof the suggested class of estimator with the MSEof the existing estimators. The efficiency conditions are enhanced by an empirical study using some real datasets. The empirical findings are clearly demonstrating the ascendancy of the suggested class of estimator over all of the works discussed.

Food is one of the necessities for a human being to survive. Moreover, since the population is increasing with each passing day, growing sufficient crops to feed such a vast population becomes evident. Also, the country's economy is based on agricultural production as well. However, there is a significant threat to agricultural crop production in today's times, and hence the analysis of crop diseases becomes essential. Thus, the automatic identification and analysis of plant diseases are highly desired in agricultural information. The main objective of the research is to develop an optimised approach for system automation to detect crop diseases. Here we proposed an approach for building an automated system that primarily detects diseases using leaf images and some other features like recommending the remedy for that disease. We created a model using a convolution neural network algorithm and used the transfer learning approach using Inception v3 and ResNet 50 model. Further, we used this model and collected some data for remedies for the diseased classes and added that feature to our system.

This manuscript proffers a new efficient class of estimators for population mean in two-phase sampling using the known population proportion. The usual mean estimator, classical ratio estimator, Singh (2011) estimator and log type estimator are identified as the members of the proposed class of estimators for suitably chosen values of characterising scalars. The expression of mean square error of the proffered estimators is obtained to the first order of approximation. A comparative study is accomplished concerning the relevant contemporary estimators existing till date. Further, an empirical study is carried out using different real datasets. The empirical results turned out to be rewarding as it shows better amelioration over all the existing prominent estimators.

The estimation of domain mean in presence of missing data is a significant issue in sample surveys. Literature contains no imputation method to estimate the domain mean in the presence of missing data using bivariate auxiliary information. The present study uses simple random sampling to propose several novel synthetic domain mean imputation methods and the corresponding resulting estimators based on bivariate auxiliary information in the case of missing data. To evaluate how well the suggested novel imputation methods and the resulting estimators perform, the mathematical equation of mean square errors is derived. A thorough simulation experiment is also carried out using a population drawn artificially from a normal distribution. Furthermore, an application is also offered based on real data.

This paper investigates the performance of combined and separate log type class of estimators of population mean under stratified ranked set sampling. The expressions of bias and mean square error of the proposed estimators are deduced. The theoretical comparison of the proposed estimators with the existing estimators is carried out and the efficiency conditions are reported. The credibility of theoretical results is extended by a simulation study conducted over various artificially generated symmetric and asymmetric populations. The results of the simulation study show that the proposed class of estimators dominate the well-known existing estimators.

Introduction: There is an urgent need for an effective, oral therapy for COVID-19. Purified aqueous extract of Cocculus hirsutus(AQCH) has shown robust antiviral activity in in vitro studies. We aimed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of AQCH plus standard of care in hospitalized patients with moderate COVID-19. Methods: In an open-label, multicenter, randomized controlled trial conducted in India, eligible patients (aged 18–75 years) were randomized (1:1) to receive AQCH 400 mg orally three times a day plus standard of care (AQCH group) or standard of care alone (control group) for 10 days. Primary endpoint was the proportion of patients showing clinical improvement by day 14. Time to clinical improvement, time to viral clearance, and duration of hospitalization were secondary endpoints. Results: A total of 210 patients were randomized. By day 14 most patients in both groups showed clinical improvement [difference − 0.01 (95% CI − 0.07 to 0.05); p= 1.0]. Median time to clinical improvement was 8 days (IQR 8–11) in the AQCH group versus 11 days (IQR 8–11) in the control group [HR 1.27 (95% CI 0.95–1.71); p= 0.032]. Time to viral clearance and duration of hospitalization were also significantly shorter in the AQCH group (p= 0.0002 and p= 0.016, respectively). AQCH was well tolerated, with no safety concerns identified. Conclusions: AQCH significantly reduced time to clinical improvement, time to viral clearance, and duration of hospitalization. In a pandemic, this has significant potential to decrease healthcare resource utilization and increase hospital bed availability. Further investigation of the therapeutic potential of AQCH in patients with COVID-19 is warranted. Trial Registration: Clinical Trials Registry – India (CTRI/2020/05/025397).

This article deals with the problem of estimating population variance of study variable by using information on auxiliary attribute in simple random sampling. We have adapted the procedure of Kadilar and Cingi (2006) and established some efficient classes of estimators for population variance. The performance of the proposed estimators have been assessed by an empirical study using two real populations and the results demonstrate that the proposed estimators present an extensively greater efficiency when compared with the usual mean estimator, classical ratio, regression and exponential estimators suggested by Singh and Kumar (2011), Singh and Malik (2014) estimators, Zaman and Kadilar (2019) type estimators, Zaman (2020) type estimator and Cekim and Kadilar (2020) type estimator.

This article considers some separate and combined logarithmic estimators of population mean by utilizing information on the auxiliary variables in stratified ranked set sampling (SRSS). The mean square error (MSE) expressions of the proposed logarithmic estimators are deduced with the first order approximation. It has been exhibited theoretically that the proposed logarithmic estimators perform superior than the classical mean estimator, classical ratio estimator, Mandowara and Mehta in Hacet J Math Stat 43(3):461-471 estimators, Mehta and Mandowara in Int J Appl Math Stat Sci 5(4):37-46 estimator and Saini and Kumar in Life Cycle Reliability Safety Eng 84(5):931-945 estimators. Subsequently, to support the theoretical findings, a simulation study is also performed using an artificially generated population.

This article proposes an efficient class of estimators for population mean in ranked set sampling framework which includes the usual mean estimator, Upadhyaya et al. (1985) type estimator, Samawi and Muttlak (1996) estimator, Yu and Lam (1997) estimator, Khoshnevisan et al. (2007) type estimators, Bouza (2008) estimator, Koyuncu and Kadilar (2009) type estimators, Kadilar et al. (2009) estimator, Al-Omari et al. (2009) estimator, Singh et al. (2014) estimator, Mehta and Mandowara (2016) estimators, Mandowara and Mehta (2016) estimators and Bhushan and Kumar (2020a; b) estimators. The bias and mean square error of the proposed estimators are reported up to first order of approximation. It has been proven, both theoretically and empirically, that the proposed estimators provide more accurate results than the existing estimators.

Nemipterus randalliis one of the predominant species in demersal fisheries along the Indian coast. Analysis of morphological divergence among the stocks using different stock identification methods provides a basis for sustainable resources management. In the present study, body and otolith shape was used to elucidate the stock structure of Randall’s threadfin bream. Specimens of N. randalliwere sampled from five major fishing regions across the Indian coast from September 2018 to November 2018. A total of 23 truss distances and six otolith shape indices from each specimen were extracted and analyzed using multivariate statistical analysis. Body and otolith shape analysis suggested the existence of different phenotypic stocks of N. randallialong the Indian coast. Phenotypic variations among the stocks might be probably due to the existing environmental conditions in their respective habitats. Therefore, there is a need for independent management approaches for different stocks of N. randalli. Further, complete understanding of the temporal variation of stocks in the future could be useful in managing the fishery resource.

In the present study, ultraviolet radiation C (UV-C) was used as a pretreatment tool for the optimal recovery of biofuel precursors from algae Chlorella vulgaris. The pretreatment efficiency of UV-C with fixed light intensity (1.173 mWcm−2) on 1.5 gL-1algal biomass was observed at 0, 0.5, 1, 2, 5, 10, and 20 h of irradiation by measuring the released sugar content and soluble chemical oxygen demand (sCOD). The UV-C pretreated algal cells were also analyzed through impedance spectroscopy, fluorescence microscope, and digital images to assess the degree of cell wall disintegration. The released sugar content reached a maximum of 73.61 mg L-1at 10 h of exposure, whereas the maximum sCOD of 190 mg L-1was achieved at 20 h exposure. Image analysis indicated that the chlorophyll content declined exponentially from 7.21 to 0.14 µgmL-1with UV-C exposure. An increase in UV-C exposure time resulted in decreased impedance and increased conductance. The SYTOX green fluorescence also increased with 10 h of exposure, followed by a decline. Therefore, the cell wall stability gets compromised and the permeability increases with increment in UV-C exposure. This triggers extensive release in cell wall sugar content with exposure. Further exposure destabilizes the cell wall leading to discreet breakage. This breakage disperses internal content to bulk liquid, causing elevated sCOD with reduced sugar content. The present study showed that UV-C to be a potential pretreatment strategy to release precursors to derive biofuels such as biohydrogen, bioethanol and others.

The presence of either malicious vehicles or inaccessibility of network services makes vehicular ad-hoc networks (VANETs) easy targets for denial of service (DoS) attacks. The sole purpose of DoS attacks is to prevent the intended users from accessing the available resources and services. When the DoS attack is carried out by multiple vehicles distributed throughout the network, it is referred as distributed DoS (DDoS) attack. A lot of works have been done by researchers in securing the vehicular communication against the DDoS attacks. In this paper, efforts have been made to simulate the DDoS attacks in VANETs as well as to study their impact on the performance of networks. The experimental results are presented using six important metrics, which are collision, jitter, delay, packet drop, ratio-in-out, and throughput. The experimental results show that the impact of distributed DoS (DDoS) attack on networks performance is very critical and must be addressed to ensure the smooth functioning of networks.

The Jumping halfbeak, Hemiramphus archipelagicusCollette and Parin 1978, has been previously reported from the west coast of India (Arabian Sea). During a taxonomic study on Hemiramphidae, eight specimens of H. archipelagicus,collected from the coastal water of Odisha, east coast of India, were examined. The species is characterized by 13–14 dorsal-fin rays, 9–12 anal-fin rays, 11–12 pectoral-fin rays, 6 pelvic-fin rays, 25–28 gillrakers on first gill arch and 36–41 pre-dorsal scales, body width less than the depth (62.1–62.3% in body depth), pectoral-fin short (17.2–18.4% in SL) not reaching anterior margin of nasal pit when folded forward, dorsal fin without well-developed anterior lobe and absence of vertical bars on the sides of body. This is the first report confirming the occurrence of H. archipelagicusfrom the east coast of India (western Bay of Bengal) suggesting that this species is widely distributed throughout the Indian coast.

AbstractThis paper proposes a family of estimators based on the auxiliary information in the form of the attributes. The expressions for the bias and mean square error are obtained up to the first order of approximation, in a general form. The theoretical findings are supported by numerical examples based on the two natural populations, showing the superiority of the suggested family of estimators over many estimators available in literature.

The wireless sensor networks have operated in various applications in which sensor nodes are placed in hostile and open environment. The attacker can originate different types of attacks in the open environment. The clone node attack is one of the gravest attacks on WSN since clone node is deliberated as legitimate node and clone node can initiate different attacks within the network. The paper proposes a Fuzzy-Logic-based Clone Detection (FULCD) scheme to detect replica nodes in the static wireless sensor network. The proposed scheme, FULCD, has three segments. The proposed method reduces end to end delay, packet loss, and energy consumption and increases PDR as shown by simulation results. FULCD has been compared with existing methods, i.e. ERCD, RED, LSM and RAWL. The proposed method FULCD diminishes energy consumption by 45% and improves the clone detection rate by 46% compared to ERCD, RED, LSM and RAWL.

Rohitukine (1), a chromone alkaloid isolated from Indian medicinal plant Dysoxylum binectariferum, has inspired the discovery of flavopiridol and riviciclib, both of which are bioavailable only via intravenous route. With the objective to address the oral bioavailability issue of this scaffold, four series of rohitukine derivatives were prepared and screened for Cdk inhibition and cellular antiproliferative activity. The 2,6-dichloro-styryl derivative IIIM-290 (11d) showed strong inhibition of Cdk-9/T1 (IC501.9 nM) kinase and Molt-4/MIAPaCa-2 cell growth (GI50< 1.0 μM) and was found to be highly selective for cancer cells over normal fibroblast cells. It inhibited the cell growth of MIAPaCa-2 cells via caspase-dependent apoptosis. It achieved 71% oral bioavailability with in vivo efficacy in pancreatic, colon, and leukemia xenografts at 50 mg/kg, po. It did not have CYP/efflux-pump liability, was not mutagenic/genotoxic or cardiotoxic, and was metabolically stable. The preclinical data presented herein indicates the potential of 11dfor advancement in clinical studies.

AbstractWireless sensor network has widely used in various applications such as military, environment monitoring where sensor nodes has operated in open, harsh environment. Different type of attacks can be originated by attacker in this environment. The Clone attack is suspected the most serious attacks in WSN as clone node attack can fabricate a variety of attack in networks. In this attack, an adversary confines the legitimate sensors and creates the replicas with captured node of identical identity and deploys the clone nodes in the network. We propose a clone detection scheme to detect the replica nodes in the wireless sensor network. The proposed method, TBCND, has two phases. In first phase, network is deployed in Binary search tree form which uses the key as node id. When any clones communicate in the network it will detected in next phase. The proposed method implement in ns2 simulator and performance of TBCND is measure in E2E delay, PDR, packet loss and residual energy. We evaluate the performance in three scenarios and compare the result in normal and clone containing network. The result show that clone node has no effect on network due to proposed method. We also compute the communication and memory cost of proposed method and compare to the existing methods. The result shows that the proposed method has lower communication, memory cost as compared to existing methods

Peristaltic micro-pumps offer an excellent mechanism for delivery of a variety of medicines including drugs, corneal solutions etc. The surge in deployment of nanoparticles in medicine has provided new potential for such pumps. In light of this we investigate the time-dependent peristaltic flow of nanofluids with diffusive effects through a finite non-uniform channel, this geometry being more representative of real micro-pumps. Creeping flow is taken into account (inertial forces are small compared with viscous forces) i.e., Reynolds number is low (Re<1) and wavelength is also taken to be very large. The Buongiornoformulation for nanofluids is employed with an Oberbeck-Boussinesq approximation. Closed-form solutions are developed for the non-dimensional governing equations subject to physically realistic boundary conditions. Mathematica symbolic software is employed to evaluate the evolution of nanoparticle fraction, temperature, axial velocity, transverse velocity and pressure difference distribution along the length of the pump channel with variation in thermal Grashof number, basic-density (species i.e., mass) Grashof number, Brownian motion parameter and thermophoresis parameter.

In this study, the problem of mean estimation in the presence of measurement errors under simple random sampling is addressed. We propose some novel logarithmic type estimators and obtain the expressions of mean square error with the first order of approximation. A comparative analysis is performed by comparing the mean square error of the proposed and existing estimators. The theoretical results are illustrated with a numerical study carried out over a real population. Furthermore, to generalize the results of the numerical study, a simulation study is also executed over an artificially generated population.

The transportation of biological and industrial nanofluids by natural propulsion like cilia movement and self-generated contraction-relaxation of flexible walls has significant applications in numerous emerging technologies. Inspired by multi-disciplinary progress and innovation in this direction, a thermo-fluid mechanical model is proposed to study the entropy generation and convective heat transfer of nanofluids fabricated by the dispersion of single-wall carbon nanotubes (SWCNT) nanoparticles in water as the base fluid. The regime studied comprises heat transfer and steady, viscous, incompressible flow, induced by metachronal wave propulsion due to beating cilia, through a cylindrical tube containing a sparse (i.e., high permeability) homogenous porous medium. The flow is of the creeping type and is restricted under the low Reynolds number and long wavelength approximations. Slip effects at the wall are incorporated and the generalized Darcy drag-force model is utilized to mimic porous media effects. Cilia boundary conditions for velocity components are employed to determine analytical solutions to the resulting non-dimensionalized boundary value problem. The influence of pertinent physical parameters on temperature, axial velocity, pressure rise and pressure gradient, entropy generation function, Bejan number and stream-line distributions are computed numerically. A comparative study between SWCNT-nanofluids and pure water is also computed. The computations demonstrate that axial flow is accelerated with increasing slip parameter and Darcy number and is greater for SWCNT-nanofluids than for pure water. Furthermore the size of the bolus for SWCNT-nanofluids is larger than that of the pure water. The study is applicable in designing and fabricating nanoscale and microfluidics devices, artificial cilia and biomimetic micro-pumps.

Addressing the ever-increasing global demand and limiting the dependency on exhaustible fossil fuels led to the foundation for renewable energy research. Biomass obtained from algae seems as a promising feedstock for biofuel production. For the optimal recovery of biofuel, pretreatment of algal biomass is a primary element. This review discusses different biological routes of pretreatment used for algal feedstock, including whole-cell, fungal, and bacterial pretreatments. This manuscript also extensively covers enzymatic pretreatment and its approaches toward augmenting enzyme performances and enhancing biofuel production. Additionally, mutagenesis approaches by rational, semi-rational, and de novo designs using bioinformatics and biotechnological tools are also discussed. Furthermore, how chemical modification of enzymes using non-canonical amino acids and organo-metallo cofactors improve biofuel production is highlighted. Bioprospecting for biofuel production is an important area of research that contributes to sustainable and renewable energy development using screening of natural habitats, genetic modifications, synthetic biology, and metagenomics approaches. This study gives insight into different biomass pre-treatment and biofuel production methods, especially biogas, biohydrogen, and bioethanol. Furthermore, the review explores the comparative assessment of biological pretreatment of algal biomass and shows that biological processes can result in better biofuel yield from algal biomass.

Groundwater is a significant source of plant water use since groundwater consumption of plants reduces the volume of surface irrigation water. In this study, groundwater table effect on hard red spring wheat (Triticum aestivumL.) growth and yield parameters were investigated using a lysimeter technique in a controlled environment. Three different groundwater table depths including 30, 60, and 90 cm and a control treatment with surface irrigation were tested. The results showed that water consumption in the 90 cm water table depth was 11% and 31% lower than the water consumption in the 60 and 30 cm water table depths, respectively. Consequently, the groundwater table depth increased, and crop water consumption decreased. Similarly, with the increasing water table depth from 30 to 90 cm in the lysimeter, the crop water use efficiency and crop yield increased by 79% and 71%, respectively. The 90 cm water table produced the highest crop yield, above-ground biomass, and kernel quality compared to 30 and 60 cm water table depths. Quality analysis of the wheat kernels indicated that the kernels from the 90 cm depth had relatively higher starch content, pasting properties, and gluten proteins compared to the kernels from other water table depths.

AbstractIn this article, we have addressed the issue of optimality under imputation by using Searls (1964) idea. We have proposed three new Searls-type difference (STD) methods for imputation of missing data. The resultant STD estimators are better than the estimators proposed by Kadilar and Cingi (2008) and Diana and Perri (2010). An analytical comparison shows that the proposed optimal methods are always better that the respective regression methods of imputation. Theoretical results are supported by an empirical study.

It is well-known that the appearance of measurement errors spoils the traditional results in survey sampling. The concept of correlated measurement errors (CMEs) is true in various practical situations, but this has been seldom considered by researchers in survey sampling. In this article, the influence of the CME under simple random sampling (SRS) has been considered over some prominent classes of estimators for the population mean. The first-order approximated formulae of the mean square error of the introduced estimators are reported, and a comparative analysis has also been conducted with traditional estimators. The theoretical findings are extended by a broad spectrum computational study using real and artificial data.

Nanotechnology-based drug products are emerging as promising agents to enhance the safety and efficacy of established chemotherapeutic molecules. Carbon nanotubes (CNTs), especially multiwalled CNTs (MWCNTs), have been explored for this potential owing to their safety and other desired attributes. Docetaxel (DTX) is an indispensable anticancer agent, which has wide applicability in variety of cancers. However, the potential of DTX is still not completely harvested due to problems like poor aqueous solubility, low tissue permeability, poor bioavailability, high first pass metabolism, and dose-related toxicity. Hence, it was proposed to attach DTX to MWCNTs and coadminister it along with piperine with an aim to enhance the tissue permeation, anticancer activity, and bioavailability. The Fourier transform infrared, UV, and NMR spectroscopic data confirmed successful conjugation of DTX to MWCNTs and adsorption of piperine onto MWCNTs. The codelivery MWCNT-based system offered drug release moderation and better cancer cell toxicity than that of plain DTX as well as DTX–CNT conjugate. The pharmacokinetic profile of DTX was exceptionally improved by the conjugation, in general, and coadministration with piperine, in specific vis-à-visplain drug. Hence, the dual approach of MWCNTs conjugation and piperine coadministration can serve as a beneficial option for enhancement of the performance of DTX in cancer chemotherapy.

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDA) remains one of the deadliest types of cancers. Median survival rate is very poor with the currently available chemotherapeutical regimens. Therefore, discovery of new antineoplastic agents against PDA is one of the focused areas of contemporary research. The present study was undertaken to explore the antitumour activity of a potent parthenin analog P16. Among PANC-1, Mia PaCa-2 and AsPC-1 pancreatic cancer cells, PANC-1 showed highest sensitivity to P16 with an IC50 value of 3.4 μM. Time dependent cell cycle studies revealed that P16 suppressed the growth of PANC-1 cells by arresting the progression through the cell cycle in G2/M phase via downregulation of cyclin B1 and cyclin A. However, P16 did not alter the expressions of CDK-1 and CDC25C in PANC-1 cells. The P16 induced cell cycle arrest, which consequently, led to induction of apoptosis, which was accompanied by activation of caspase-9 and -3. Interestingly, PANC-1 cells displayed increasing loss of mitochondrial potential, which seemed to be correlated to the activation of caspase-3. Additionally, P16 was also able to down-regulate the cell migration in PANC-1 cells. Furthermore, P16 treatment of hypoxic PANC-1 cells strongly suppressed the expression of proangiogenic factors VEGFR-2, HIF1α and HIF1β. Antiangiogenic ability of P16 was also reflected in the human umbilical vascular endothelial cells (HUVECs), where it effectively suppressed the migration and inhibited the formation of the tube in a matrigel based assay. Therefore, cytostatic and antiangiogenic properties of P16 against pancreatic adenocarcinoma cells make it a suitable candidate for further investigation.

Post-human genome revelation observes the emergence of ‘Nutigenomics’ as one of the exciting scientific advancement influencing mankind around the world. Food or more precisely ‘nutrition’ has the major impact in defining the cause-response interaction between nutrient (diet) and human health. In addition to substantial understanding of nutrition-human-health interaction, bases of ‘nutrigenomic’ development foster on advent in transcriptomics, genomics, proteomics and metabolomics as well as insight into food as health supplement. Interaction of selected nutrient with associated genes in specific organ or tissue necessary to comprehend that how individual's genetic makeup (DNA transcribed into mRNA and then to proteins) respond to particular nutrient. It provided new opportunities to incorporate natural bioactive compounds into food for specific group of people with similar genotype. As inception of diabetes associated with change in gene expression of, not limited to, protein kinase B, insulin receptor, duodenal homeobox and glucokinase, thus, targeting such proteins by modifying or improving the nutritional availability or uptake may help to devise novel food, supplements, or nutraceuticals. In this article, various aspects of R in nutrigenomics are reviewed to ascertain its impact on human health, especially with lifestyle associated diseases.

Deregulation of the PI3K-Akt-mTOR pathway is unanimously pragmatic in a number of tumors. This pathway pedals proliferation, survival, translation, and coupled with tumorassociated endurance. Current efforts focus on the discovery and development of novel inhibitors of this pathway. We have discovered6-(4-phenoxyphenyl)-N-phenylquinolin-4-amine [PQQ] as a potent mTOR inhibitor with IC50 value of 64nM in a cell-based and cell-free mTOR assay. Mechanistically, PQQ was found to be a strong PI3K-Akt-mTOR-p70S6K cascade inhibitor in Human promyelocytic leukemia HL-60 cells. Moreover, it was found to be dual mTORC1 and mTORC2 inhibitor that inhibit the entire mTOR kinase-dependent functions and feedback commencement of PI3K/Akt pathway. PQQ simultaneously induces apoptosis via mitochondrial dependant pathway, which was confirmed through a battery of the assays, e.g. cellular and nuclear microscopy, annexin-V assay, cell cycle analysis and loss of mitochondrial membrane potential. In summary, PQQ discovered as a novel secondgeneration mTOR inhibitor with significant cytotoxic and apoptotic potentials. Thus, it might be a significant lead structure for the development of mTOR-targeted based anti-cancer therapeutics.

Apple pomace is a waste biomass generated after apple fruit processing. In present investigation, efforts were made to comprehend influence of differently dried pomace on cell wall properties and phenolic profile. Different drying techniques were employed to remove moisture content from fresh apple pomace. Total dietary fiber yield (74%) and array of functional properties such as density, water and oil holding capacity, swelling capacity and glucose dialysis retardation index (36.91%) was found better in freeze dried fraction. The higher total phenolics (5.78±0.08mg GAE/g dry weight) content was also recorded in freeze dried fraction followed by oven and sun drying. The 50% aqueous acetone was found as more efficient solvent for extraction of phenolic constituents. RP-HPLC analysis has revealed presence of quercetin, phloridzin and phloretin as major phenolics. Thus, it is evident from the results that pomace generated at industrial scale can be utilized as a source of dietary food ingredient.

AbstractThis article considers some generalized classes of estimators in the presence of non- response for estimating population mean using information based on two auxiliary variables which are better than the estimators proposed by Singh and Kumar [9] and Shabbir and Khan [10] under different situations. The properties of these generalized estimators have been studied. In order to support the results a comparative study is also carried out both theoretically as well as empirically.

Zanthoxylum heitziiis a spice used to prepare several dishes and to treat tumors, syphilis, malaria, cardiac palpitations, urogenital infections in the west region of Cameroon, but the antitumor mechanisms and chemical composition are not yet investigated. This study was aimed to determine the antiproliferative effects of four extracts from the fruits and barks of Zanthoxyllum heitzii(Rutaceae) on apoptosis in human promyelocytic cells, their mechanisms and the chemical composition. The 3-(4, 5-dimethylthiazole-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay was used to determine the fifty percent inhibition (IC50) concentration of the cell lines after treatment. The effect on morphology was observed using a light or fluorescence microscopy. The rate of apoptosis and the cell cycle were measured using flow cytometry (FCM). The phytochemical analysis of the extract was carried with HPLC/MS methods. The phytochemical analysis of the extracts indicated the presence of four known polyphenols (Syringic acid, Juglon, Luteolin and Myricetin) in both fruits and barks of Z. heitziibut in different quantities. Syringic acid and Myricetin concentrations were between 17-21 fold higher in the fruits than the stem bark. Rhamnetin (393.35 μg/mL) and Oleuropein (63.10 μg/mL) were identified only in the stem barks of Z. heitzii. Among the four extracts tested for cytotoxicity properties, only the methanol extract of fruits and barks significantly inhibited cell proliferation of HL-60 cells with IC50value of 20 μg/mL and 12 μg/mL respectively. HL-60 cells treated with Z. heitziiextracts significantly produced reactive oxygen species (ROS) with concurrent loss of mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP). Modifications in the DNA distribution and enhanced of G1/G0 phase cell cycle arrest were observed in a concentration dependent manner. Polyphenols from Z. heitziiplant exert inhibitory effect on HL-60 cells through the reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation, loss of mitochondrial membrane potential and cell cycle destabilization.

Mallotus B (2d) is a prenylated dimeric phloroglucinol compound isolated from Mallotus philippensis.There have been no reports on the synthesis or biological activity of this compound. In the present paper, a semisynthetic preparation of mallotus B is reported via base-mediated intramolecular rearrangement of rottlerin (1), which is one of the major constituents of M. philippensis. The homodimer “rottlerone” was also formed as one of the products of this base-mediated intramolecular reaction. Rottlerin (1), along with rottlerone (2c) and mallotus B (2d), was evaluated for cytotoxicity against a panel of cancer cell lines including HEPG2, Colo205, MIAPaCa-2, PC-3, and HL-60 cells. Mallotus B (2d) displayed cytotoxicity for MIAPaCa-2 and HL-60 cells with IC50values of 9 and 16 μM, respectively. Microscopic studies in HL-60 cells indicated that mallotus B (2d) induces cell cycle arrest at the G1 phase and causes defective cell division. It also induces apoptosis, as evidenced by distinct changes in cell morphology.

Hydrogen sulfide (H2S) has been shown to induce angiogenesis in in vitro models and to promote vessel growth in the setting of hindlimb ischemia. The goal of the present study was to determine the therapeutic potential of a stable, long-acting H2S donor, diallyl trisulfide, in a model of pressure-overload heart failure and to assess the effects of chronic H2S therapy on myocardial vascular density and angiogenesis.

Hydrogen sulfide (H2S), known as an important cellular signaling molecule, plays critical roles in many physiological and/or pathological processes. Modulation of H2S levels could have tremendous therapeutic value. However, the study on H2S has been hindered due to the lack of controllable H2S releasing agents that could mimic the slow and moderate H2S release in vivo. In this work we report the design, synthesis, and biological evaluation of a new class of controllable H2S donors. Twenty-five donors were prepared and tested. Their structures were based on a perthiol template, which was suggested to be involved in H2S biosynthesis. H2S release mechanism from these donors was studied and proved to be thiol-dependent. We also developed a series of cell-based assays to access their H2S-related activities. H9c2 cardiac myocytes were used in these experiments. We tested lead donors’ cytotoxicity and confirmed their H2S production in cells. Finally we demonstrated that selected donors showed potent protective effects in an in vivomurine model of myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury, through a H2S-related mechanism.

A pentacyclic triterpenediol (TPD) from Boswellia serratahas significant cytotoxic and apoptotic potential in a large number of human cancer cell lines. To enhance its anticancer potential, it was successfully formulated into solid lipid nanoparticles (SLNs) by the microemulsion method with 75% drug entrapment efficiency. SEM and TEM studies indicated that TPD-SLNs were regular, solid, and spherical particles in the range of 100–200 nm, and the system indicated that they were more or less stable upon storing up to six months. TPD loaded SLNs showed significantly higher cytotoxic/antitumor potential than the parent drug. TPD-SLNs have 40–60% higher cytotoxic and apoptotic potential than the parent drug in terms of IC50, extent of apoptosis, DNA damage, and expression of pro-apoptotic proteins like TNF-R1, cytochrome-c, and PARP cleavage in HL-60 cells. Moreover, blank SLNs did not have any cytotoxic effect on the cancer as well as in normal mouse peritoneal macrophages. The in vivoantitumor potential of TPD-SLNs was significantly higher than that of TPD alone in Sarcoma-180 solid tumor bearing mice. Therefore, SLNs of TPD successfully increased the apoptotic and anticancer potential of TPD at comparable doses (both in vitroand in vivo). This work provides new insight into improvising the therapeutic efficacy of TPD by adopting novel delivery strategies such as solid lipid nanoparticles.

In structured and unstructured Peer-to-Peer (P2P) systems, frequent joining and leaving of peer nodes causes topology mismatch between the P2P logical overlay network and the physical underlay network. This topology mismatch problem generates high volumes of redundant traffic in the network. This paper presents Common Junction Methodology (CJM) to reduce network overhead by optimize the overlay traffic at underlay level. CJM finds common junction between available paths, and traffic is only routed through the common junction and not through the conventional identified paths. CJM does not alter overlay topology and performs without affecting the search scope of the network. Simulation results show that CJM resolves the mismatch problem and significantly reduces redundant P2P traffic up to 87% in the best case for the simulated network. CJM can be implemented over structured or unstructured P2P networks, and also reduces the response time by 53% approximately for the network.

Shoot buds emerged from intact leaves while still attached to plants after 60 days, without subculturing, on Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium containing 10.0 μM 6‐benzylaminopurine and 5.0 μM indole‐3‐butyric acid. Histological studies revealed the emergence of shoot buds directly from the leaf surface without an intervening callus phase. Regenerated plantlets were successfully transferred to the greenhouse after rooting in plant growth regulator‐free MS medium. The survival percentage of transferred plants was very low. However, pretreatment of the plants at low temperature (15±2°C) for 10 days before transfer to greenhouse conditions increased the survival percentage. The increased survival was supported by an increased number of vascular bundles, leaf thickness, net rate of photosynthesis (PN), stomatal conductance (gs) and density (SD). The direct regeneration method from intact leaves of R. emodiwill reduce the cost, time and labor required and hence can be successfully employed for faster in vitromultiplication and conservation of this endangered and medicinally important plant species.

Shikonin and its derivatives are important red colored naphthoquinone pigments found in a large number of Arnebia species, includingA. euchroma, that are responsible for the various pharmacological activities exhibited by the plant. The precise separation of each naphthoquinone is essential for total quality evaluation and bioactivity analysis of herbal formulations of A. euchroma. Furthermore, the overexploitation of this useful plant has resulted in species becoming endangered. With this in mind, a simple and rapid preparative scale HPLC method with single compound recovery for the isolation and purification of two shikonin derivatives (i. e.acetylshikonin, β‐acetoxyisovalerylshikonin) from cell suspension cultures ofA. euchromais presented. The compounds were separated on a C18column within 10 min using acetonitrile/methanol (95:5) as mobile phase in isocratic mode. The isolated compounds were found to be more than 98% pure. The LOD for acetylshikonin and β‐acetoxyisovalerylshikonin was estimated at 0.063 and 0.146 μg/mL, respectively, while the LOQ was found to be 0.209 and 0.487 μg/mL, respectively. The recoveries accomplished for both the shikonin derivatives were in the range of 94.7–96.8%. The repeatability, expressed as %RSD, of acetylshikonin and β‐acetoxyisovalerylshikonin was found to be 1.74 and 1.27, respectively.

Electroluminescence (EL) emission has been observed under AC field excitation in chemically deposited (dipping technique) films of (Zn-Cd)S:Cu,F using substrates of conducting glass plates. Results of XRD, SEM, absorption spectra, transmission spectra, EL emission spectra, voltage, frequency and temperature dependence and brightness waves of EL brightness are presented and discussed. SEM studies show better growth condition in presence of F. X-ray diffraction studies show diffraction lines due to CdS and ZnS. Both the studies represent average particle sizes of the order of 1Å. Absorption studies show change in band gap due to increasing concentration of ZnS. The observed EL emission (blue-green region) may be due to Cu, F combination. Results of transmission spectra give band gap similar to those given by absorption spectra. From voltage dependence of EL brightness acceleration-collision mechanism is found to be effective. Frequency dependence of EL brightness shows first an increase in brightness in the lower frequency range followed by saturation at higher frequencies. Temperature dependence of EL emission shows a maximum at 40°C. Brightness waves consist of primary and secondary waves, which depend on voltage and frequency of excitation & the ambient temperature. (© 2006 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)

Ammonia toxicity in water bodies is a global problem. Different approaches have been adopted to get the ammonia concentration in water back to permitted level (0.5 mg L−1for aquaculture and 5 mg L−1for environmental discharge). The existing techniques are elaborate and time consuming, often not economically viable. This study reports a single unit packed bed biofilm reactor-based treatment of Aquaculture Effluent (AE) and non-AE using a pure culture of Bacillus albusASSF01 from environmental origin as inoculum. The strain could reduce an initial ammonia concentration of 1.7 mg L−1to 4.7 mg L−1to a final ammonia concentration of 0.5 mg L−1within 12–16 h while that of 27 mg L−1, 47 mg L−1and 100 mg L−1to 5 mg L−1within 42 h, 48 h, and 98 h under immobilized condition respectively. Upon scaling up the operation to 9.5 L at ambient temperature, the strain could maintain its efficiency along with simultaneous reduction of nitrite from 0.30 mg L−1to the accepted level of 0.01 mg L−1. The parameters optimized during batch mode operation using Response surface methodology were also applicable for continuous mode operation. The isolate under immobilized condition could remove ammonia at a concentration of 7.92 mg kg−1of matrix from Luria Bertani broth while 41.6 mg kg−1of matrix from minimal medium indicating it to be suitable for environmental application. This study reports a rapid, single unit bacterial biofilm based stable continuous mode treatment strategy for ammonia removal from effluent ensuring environmental protection.

•Algal biomass: potential feed stock for energy cultivation.•Recent advancement in biomass harvesting & different biomass pretreatment modules.•Pinch out alternative strategies to provide sustenance to algal technology.•Superiority of biological techniques involved in harvesting, pretreatment and conversion is discussed.

ABSTRACTAn unorthodox, surprising mechanism of resistance to the antibiotic linezolid was revealed by cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) in the 70S ribosomes from a clinical isolate of Staphylococcus aureus. This high-resolution structural information demonstrated that a single amino acid deletion in ribosomal protein uL3 confers linezolid resistance despite being located 24 Å away from the linezolid binding pocket in the peptidyl-transferase center. The mutation induces a cascade of allosteric structural rearrangements of the rRNA that ultimately results in the alteration of the antibiotic binding site.IMPORTANCEThe growing burden on human health caused by various antibiotic resistance mutations now includes prevalent Staphylococcus aureusresistance to last-line antimicrobial drugs such as linezolid and daptomycin. Structure-informed drug modification represents a frontier with respect to designing advanced clinical therapies, but success in this strategy requires rapid, facile means to shed light on the structural basis for drug resistance (D. Brown, Nat Rev Drug Discov 14:821–832, 2015, https://doi.org/10.1038/nrd4675). Here, detailed structural information demonstrates that a common mechanism is at play in linezolid resistance and provides a step toward the redesign of oxazolidinone antibiotics, a strategy that could thwart known mechanisms of linezolid resistance.

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