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Floating drug delivery systems (FDDS) was most convenient and widely used drug delivery for systemic intervention, oral administration. The main purpose of developing the FDDS is to enhance therapeutic benefits such as ease of dosing administration, patient compliance, and formulation versatility. In pharmaceuticals industries we are approaches to design single-unit and multiple-unit floating systems, and classification and formulation of FDDS aspects are covered in detail. This review summarizes the tablet, Floating Drug Delivery System, Type, Mechanism, and also the Advantages & Disadvantages. This sort of medication delivery method is beneficial because it has enough buoyancy to float above gastric contents and stay buoyant in the stomach for a long time. Keywords:- FDDS, Floating Drug Delivery System, Therapeutic, Design, Buoyant, Gastric

In the present study, we report a simple, robust, and eco-friendly one pot synthesis of gentamicin conjugated gold nanoparticles (G-GNPs), where gentamicin behaves dually as a reducing as well as a stabilizing agent. The resultant nanoparticles were characterized through different microscopic and spectroscopic techniques and found to be almost spherical in shape with hydrodynamic diameter of ~ 15 nm along with excellent stability. The antibacterial potential was evaluated by well diffusion assay and showed that G-GNPs effectively inhibit the growth of gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria viz. Escherichia coli DH5α, Escherichia coli ATCC 25922 and Staphylococcus aureus MTCC 3160 (p

Life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) is a lively field of research, and data and models are continuously improved in terms of impact pathways covered, reliability, and spatial detail. However, many of these advancements are scattered throughout the scientific literature, making it difficult for practitioners to apply the new models. Here, we present the LC‐IMPACT method that provides characterization factors at the damage level for 11 impact categories related to three areas of protection (human health, ecosystem quality, natural resources). Human health damage is quantified as disability adjusted life years, damage to ecosystem quality as global species extinction equivalents (based on potentially disappeared fraction of species), and damage to mineral resources as kilogram of extra ore extracted. Seven of the impact categories include spatial differentiation at various levels of spatial scale. The influence of value choices related to the time horizon and the level of scientific evidence of the impacts considered is quantified with four distinct sets of characterization factors. We demonstrate the applicability of the proposed method with an illustrative life cycle assessment example of different fuel options in Europe (petrol or biofuel). Differences between generic and regionalized impacts vary up to two orders of magnitude for some of the selected impact categories, highlighting the importance of spatial detail in LCIA. This article met the requirements for a gold – gold JIE data openness badge described at http://jie.click/badges., Journal of Industrial Ecology, 24 (6), ISSN:1088-1980, ISSN:1530-9290

In this paper, the desired pitch and yaw axis trajectories of a 2-DOF helicopter system are tracked. For this purpose, fuzzy system is implemented and its performance is compared with a conventional control approach, namely an LQR controller. In proposed fuzzy system, in order to obtain an optimal fuzzy model for benchmark Unmanned Air Vehicle (2-DOF Helicopter), the parameters of the membership functions at the antecedent part of the fuzzy rules are tuned.

Summary Effective and equitable conservation requires understanding of the global biodiversity impacts inflicted by consumption in individual countries and those embodied in international trade. Research to date has ascertained these impacts in terms of threats, but not on species directly. Here we use a novel approach, by parametrizing the countryside species-area relationship (SAR) (a). Using a recent high-resolution and harmonized global land use map along with (b). IUCN habitat classification data for all 22,386 mammal, bird, and amphibian species, to project endemic species extinctions due to habitat loss to date across all 804 terrestrial ecoregions; and then, (c). Validating the projected extinctions with IUCN Red List. We allocate projected extinctions to the agriculture, pasture, urban, and forestry areas used, traded, and consumed in 129 countries, using an environmentally extended global multi-regional input output database. Results show that for the three taxa combined, a total of 927 endemic species are projected to go extinct due to the impacts of current global land use. The taxonomic breakdown is 186 projected mammal extinctions, 170 birds, and 571 amphibians, with global agriculture land use responsible for 267 projected extinctions; pasture 314, forestry 313, and urbanization 32. Importantly, countryside SAR projections compare well with the number of extinct and threatened species documented by the IUCN Red List. We found that land use for export production is responsible for 25% of these projected global extinctions. Our approach enables parametrization of countryside SARs in any world region even without extensive field studies, and therefore allows quantitative assessment of biodiversity impacts under alternative land use scenarios. Overall, our approach and findings can inform sustainability assessment of commodity supply-chains as well as specific national actions toward achievement of the Aichi 2020 and UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Current diets of most nations either do not meet the nutrition recommendations or transgress environmental planetary boundaries or both. Transitioning toward sustainable diets that are nutritionally adequate and low in environmental impact is key in achieving the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals. However, designing region-specific sustainable diets that are culturally acceptable is a formidable challenge. Recent studies have suggested that optimization algorithms offer a potential solution to the above challenge, but the evidence is mostly based on case studies from high-income nations using widely varying constraints and algorithms. Here, we employ nonlinear optimization modeling with a consistent study design to identify diets for 152 countries that meet four cultural acceptability constraints, five food-related per capita environmental planetary boundaries (carbon emissions, water, land, nitrogen, and phosphorus use), and the daily recommended levels for 29 nutrients. The results show that a considerable departure from current dietary behavior is required for all countries. The required changes in intake amounts of 221 food items are highly country-specific but in general point toward a need to reduce the intake of meat, dairy, rice, and sugar and an increase in fruits, vegetables, pulses, nuts, and other grains. The constraints for fiber, vitamin B12, vitamin E, and saturated fats and the planetary boundaries for carbon emissions and nitrogen application were the most difficult to meet, suggesting the need to pay special attention to them. The analysis demonstrates that nonlinear optimization is a powerful tool to design diets achieving multiple objectives.

Exergy analysis is carried out on a single-cylinder CI engine fueled with biodiesel blends of palm, jatropha and cottonseed oils. This is to identify the blends with high exergy destruction. To this end, experimental and analytical methods were adopted. Three types of biodiesel blends incorporated in this study are primary, binary and ternary. The load was varied as an independent parameter, and mass flow rates of air and fuel, flue gas composition, etc., were measured during the study. Moreover, the chemical composition of the fuel blends and flue gas, as well as their flow rates, were used to determine the total exergy. The output parameters determined were 1st and 2nd law efficiency and fuel exergy destruction under all loading conditions. The inference obtained from the experiment suggests minutely higher 1st law efficiency for the biodiesel blends. Increasing the blending ratio led to an increase in efficiency indices.

Following our failure to fully achieve any of the 20 Aichi biodiversity targets, the future of biodiversity rests in the balance. The Convention on Biological Diversity’s Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) presents us with the opportunity to preserve Nature’s Contributions to People (NCPs) for current and future generations through conserving biodiversity and averting extinction across the Tree of Life. Here we call attention to our need to conserve the Tree of Life to maintain its benefits into the future as a key mechanism for achieving intergenerational equity. We highlight two indicators available for adoption in the post-2020 GBF to monitor our progress towards safeguarding the Tree of Life. The Phylogenetic Diversity indicator, adopted by IPBES, can be used to monitor biodiversity’s capacity to maintain NCPs for future generations. The EDGE (Evolutionarily Distinct and Globally Endangered) Index monitors how well we are performing at averting the greatest losses across the Tree of Life by conserving the most distinctive species. By committing to safeguarding the Tree of Life post-2020, we can reduce biodiversity loss to preserve nature’s contributions to humanity now and into the future.

We propose a spectral viscosity method (SVM) to approximate the incompressible Euler equations driven by a multiplicative noise. We show that SVM solution converges to a dissipative measure-valued martingale solution. These solutions are weak in the probabilistic sense i.e. the probability space and the driving Wiener process are an integral part of the solution. We also exhibit weak (measure-valued)-strong uniqueness principle. Moreover, we establish strong convergence of approximate solutions to the regular solution of the limit system at least on the lifespan of the latter, thanks to the weak (measure-valued)--strong uniqueness principle for the underlying system., Comment: 27 pages. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:2012.10175, arXiv:2108.12201. text overlap with arXiv:2012.07391 by other authors

Reducing food waste can contribute positively towards multiple sustainable development goals (SDGs) but the differences in the food waste across countries in terms of embedded nutrients and environmental impacts is not well-known. Here we assess the value of daily per capita food waste of 151 countries using two recent indicators for embedded nutrition losses (wasted nutrient days and wasted daily diets) and five indicators for environmental impacts. Globally, on average, 65 kg of food is wasted per year by one person of which 25% is through wasted vegetables, 24% through cereals and 12% through fruits. Daily wasted amounts of vitamin C, K, Zinc, Copper, Manganese and Selenium are especially high representing 25-50% of their daily dietary recommended intake (DRI) value. Cereals, fruits and vegetables are the three major food groups contributing the most to wasted nutrients followed by meat, dairy and eggs that contribute substantially to the wasted calcium, choline, riboflavin, zinc, and vitamin B12. Global average amount of food waste per capita per year contains 18 healthy diets meaning it can fulfil the DRIs of 25 nutrients for one person for 18 days. The embedded environmental footprints in average person's daily food waste are: 124 g CO2 eq., 58 Litre freshwater use, 0.36 m2 cropland use, 2.90 g nitrogen and 0.48 g phosphorus use. Cereals, meat, and sugar are major food groups contributing to environmental impacts. Our results show that different countries have widely varying nutrients and environmental footprints embedded in their food waste entailing country-specific waste reduction interventions. ISSN:0921-3449 ISSN:1879-0658

This paper proposes a progressive visual cryptography (PVC) scheme for color images without any pixel expansion based on the halftoning technique and primitive share. Firstly, a chromatic image is decomposed into three monochromatic images possessing channel red, blue and green. These three channels are transformed into binary images by halftone technique. Then progressive VCS(t, n) is applied to these channels, shares are produced depending upon n, these shares are progressive in nature and are known as primitive shares. Final share is generated by stacking one share from each channel. Hence, the primitive share is progressive, so the final shares are also progressive in nature. For reconstruction of secret shares are XORed, in which each channel of one share is XORed with the same channel in other share. To prevent attack from hackers and for cheating prevention, we are using Diagonal Parity for each possible diagonal and a weight called Gama weight. These are calculated for each share and are transmitted with the share. At the receiving side, these are again calculated and matched with the original parity and weight. This scheme provides progressive VCS to color image and an efficient method for cheating detection.

Numerous studies have shown that replacing a portion of beef with plant-based foods in daily diets of high-income nations can improve health, nutrition, and environmental consequences globally. Pulses are one of the major plant-based protein foods shown to have both environmental and nutritional benefits. For consumers to adopt more plant-based foods in their diets, more options are needed that meet consumer demands for taste, convenience, nutrition, and sustainability along with dietary preferences. Beef-based burger patties can be made more sustainably, nutritiously, and cost-effectively while maintaining palatability by reformulating with a portion of pulses such as whole cooked lentils. The aim of this study was to quantify the nutritional and environmental benefits of such lentil-reformulated beef burgers. Here we compared the nutrient balance score (considering 27 essential macro and micronutrients) and environmental footprints (carbon, bluewater, water scarcity, land use, and biodiversity) of an all-beef burger with a beef burger reformulated with a portion of cooked lentil puree. The geographic resolution of the analysis was Saskatchewan, Canada. Results showed that partial replacement of a lean beef burger with cooked lentil puree increased the nutrient density by ~20%, decreased the life cycle environmental footprint by ~33%, and reduced the cost by 26%. In particular, the lentil reformulated burger had 60 times higher dietary fiber, three times higher total folate, five times higher manganese, and 1.6 times higher selenium than the all-beef burger. We highlight the importance of using high-spatial resolution inventory of agricultural inputs and characterization factors (impacts per unit agricultural inputs) to obtain more accurate environmental results. The results underscore the potential of food innovation to contribute towards multiple global sustainable development goals.

International audience; The Convention on Biological Diversity’s post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework will probably include a goal to stabilize and restore the status of species. Its delivery would be facilitated by making the actions required to halt and reverse species loss spatially explicit. Here, we develop a species threat abatement and restoration (STAR) metric that is scalable across species, threats and geographies. STAR quantifies the contributions that abating threats and restoring habitats in specific places offer towards reducing extinction risk. While every nation can contribute towards halting biodiversity loss, Indonesia, Colombia, Mexico, Madagascar and Brazil combined have stewardship over 31% of total STAR values for terrestrial amphibians, birds and mammals. Among actions, sustainable crop production and forestry dominate, contributing 41% of total STAR values for these taxonomic groups. Key Biodiversity Areas cover 9% of the terrestrial surface but capture 47% of STAR values. STAR could support governmental and non-state actors in quantifying their contributions to meeting science-based species targets within the framework.

Now a day power is a primary need for human life. Energy is amenable for development of any country economy. It is notable to design ecofriendly energy generation system. Through the speed breaker generation of energy is the best technique which produces the electrical energy with minimum input. Nonrenewable energy resource is generated more energy of today world. Now a day population is increasing day by day and the nonrenewable sources are less. The vast usage of energy has resulted in an energy emergency over the few years. Therefore when this situation we need to implement the technique of optimal utilization of nonrenewable source for conservation of energy in this paper include how to use the energy which is feckless when the vehicle passes over a speed breaker more energy is generated when vehicle passes over speed breaker in roadside. We found the electrical energy generated by moving vehicles and produce power by using the speed breaker as power generating with kinetic energy of the moving vehicles can be converted into mechanical energy through rack. It than, this mechanical energy will converted to electrical energy is stored in battery by using this technique we can save more electrical energy which can make up over future demands.

The nanotechnology is the fast-growing field that offers a huge application in various disciplines of science and technology. The nanoscale materials can be synthesized by physical, chemical, physicochemical, or biological methods. All the synthesis processes except biological process have some environmental and operational constraints. The biological synthesis process or green synthesis of these nanomaterials is an eco-friendly and cost-effective approach which utilizes bacteria, fungi, and plant sources. Biological systems are a good producer of nanoparticles such as magnetotactic bacteria that are capable of producing magnetite (Fe3O4), while diatoms are capable of producing siliceous materials. Magnetotactic bacteria produce magnetosomes which are greatly used for the immobilization of enzymes, antibodies, DNA, and RNA. Metal and microbial interactions are greatly involved in the processes like biomineralization, bioremediation, bioleaching, and microbial corrosion. Pseudomonas stutzeri AG259 is a metal-accumulating bacterium that has the capability to produce silver nanoparticles; fungi like Candida glabrata and Schizosaccharomyces pombe have the potential to produce cadmium sulfide particles. Schizosaccharomyces pombe has been well studied for its potential to detoxify cadmium from the environment by active intracellular uptake of cadmium and its bioconversion to small iso-peptides. In a summarized way, we can say microbes are the living factories for the generation of advanced materials.

We introduce a novel concept of dissipative measure-valued martingale solution to the stochastic Euler equations describing the motion of an inviscid incompressible fluid. These solutions are characterized by a parametrized Young measure and a concentration defect measure in the total energy balance. Moreover, they are weak in the probablistic sense i.e., the underlying probablity space and the driving Wiener process are intrinsic part of the solution. In a significant departure from the existing literature, we first exhibit the relative energy inequality for the incompressible Euler equations driven by a multiplicative noise, and then demonstrate pathwise weak-strong uniqueness principle. Finally, we also provide a sufficient condition, a la Prodi and Serrin, for the uniqueness of weak martingale solutions to stochastic Naiver-Stokes system in the class of finite energy weak martingale solutions., Comment: 36 Pages

In recent years, environmentally friendly polymers are gaining considerable interest. Biorenewable polymers are promising materials which fall in this category. Among the biorenewable polymers known, Lignin is one of the most vastly used polymers. It is the most abundant natural polymer after cellulose. Lignin can be an excellent material having a potential of replacing other synthetic polymers in drug delivery and biomedical applications due to its excellent biocompatibility and nontoxic nature. Hence, lignin micro- and nanoparticles are gaining high interest in the research fraternity. Syntheses of a wide range of polymer nanoparticles have been reported. However, the usage of the reports to the synthesis of lignin micro- and nanoparticles is limited due to the physicochemical properties of lignin. The present chapter discusses the various approaches suitable for preparation of lignin micro- or nanoparticles. The effect of different experimental parameters and their physicochemical properties at nanoscale are also thoroughly explored. A brief discussion on the applications of lignin micro- or nanoparticles in drug delivery, biomedical science, nanomedicine, and therapeutics is also explored.

Increased efforts are required to prevent further losses to terrestrial biodiversity and the ecosystem services that it provides1,2. Ambitious targets have been proposed, such as reversing the declining trends in biodiversity3; however, just feeding the growing human population will make this a challenge4. Here we use an ensemble of land-use and biodiversity models to assess whether—and how—humanity can reverse the declines in terrestrial biodiversity caused by habitat conversion, which is a major threat to biodiversity5. We show that immediate efforts, consistent with the broader sustainability agenda but of unprecedented ambition and coordination, could enable the provision of food for the growing human population while reversing the global terrestrial biodiversity trends caused by habitat conversion. If we decide to increase the extent of land under conservation management, restore degraded land and generalize landscape-level conservation planning, biodiversity trends from habitat conversion could become positive by the mid-twenty-first century on average across models (confidence interval, 2042–2061), but this was not the case for all models. Food prices could increase and, on average across models, almost half (confidence interval, 34–50%) of the future biodiversity losses could not be avoided. However, additionally tackling the drivers of land-use change could avoid conflict with affordable food provision and reduces the environmental effects of the food-provision system. Through further sustainable intensification and trade, reduced food waste and more plant-based human diets, more than two thirds of future biodiversity losses are avoided and the biodiversity trends from habitat conversion are reversed by 2050 for almost all of the models. Although limiting further loss will remain challenging in several biodiversity-rich regions, and other threats—such as climate change—must be addressed to truly reverse the declines in biodiversity, our results show that ambitious conservation efforts and food system transformation are central to an effective post-2020 biodiversity strategy. To promote the recovery of the currently declining global trends in terrestrial biodiversity, increases in both the extent of land under conservation management and the sustainability of the global food system from farm to fork are required.

A simple, single pot synthesis method has been described for the synthesis of Au Ag alloy nanoparticles using cationic long chain polymer. Unlike other methods for alloy NP synthesis, our method is unique because of its fast synthesis rate and robust nature. The high stability of the synthesized monometallic and bimetallic nanoparticles is attributed to the combined effect of the steric hindrance and electrostatic repulsion provided by polymeric stabilizer. Efficient reduction of 4-nitrophenol (4-NP) to 4-aminophenol (4-AP) in the presence of alloy nanoparticles and NaBH4 is investigated and is found to depend upon the gold content in the nanoparticles.

The UNEP-SETAC life cycle initiative recently recommended use of the countryside species–area relationship (SAR) model to calculate the characterization factors (CFs; potential species loss per m2) for projecting the biodiversity impact of land use associated with a products’ life cycle. However, CFs based on this approach are to date available for only six broad land use types without differentiating between their management intensities and have large uncertainties that limit their practical applicability. Here we derive updated CFs for projecting potential species losses of five taxa resulting from five broad land use types (managed forests, plantations, pasture, cropland, urban) under three intensity levels (minimal, light, and intense use) in each of the 804 terrestrial ecoregions. We utilize recent global land use intensity maps and International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) habitat classification scheme to parametrize the SAR model. As a case study, we compare the biodiversity impacts of ...

This study discusses the operation of a Homogeneous Charge Compression Ignition (HCCI) engine using simulated biogas and diethyl ether (DEE) as the primary and secondary fuels respectively. Performance, emission and combustion parameters are measured for various biogas flow rates (8–16 litre/min), composition (50 to 100% methane), intake temperatures (35–80 °C) and loads (20 to 90% of full load). A comparison of injecting DEE at the intake port (port injection) and 7 cm upstream (manifold injection) is also presented. It was demonstrated that at high flow rates and/or with high methane content, biogas can effectively substitute DEE and provide up to 60% of the total energy input. However, the use of lower biogas flow rates and methane fraction resulted in better thermal efficiency (as high as 26%) as well as lower HC emissions. HCCI operation offered simultaneously low NOx (

Identifying the global hotspots of forestry driven species, ecosystem services losses and informing the consuming nations of their environmental footprint domestically and abroad is essential to design demand side interventions and induce sustainable production methods. Here we first use countryside species area relationship model to project species extinctions of four vertebrate taxa (mammals, birds, amphibians and reptiles) due to forest land use in 174 countries. We combine the projected extinctions with a global database on the monetary value of ecosystem services provided by different biomes and with bilateral trade data of wood products to calculate species extinctions and ecosystem services losses inflicted by national wood consumption and international wood trade. Results show that globally a total of 485 species are projected to go extinct due to current forest land use. About 32% of this projected loss can be attributed to land use devoted for export production. However, under the counterfactual scenario with the same consumption levels but no international trade of wood products, an additional 334 species are projected to go extinct. Globally, we find that losses of ecosystem services worth $1.5trillion/year are embodied in the timber trade. Compared to high-income nations, tropical countries such as Philippines, Nicaragua, Sri Lanka, Gambia and Bolivia presented the highest net ecosystem services losses (>3000US$/ha/year) that could not be compensated through current land rents, indicating underpriced exports. Small tropical countries also gained much lower rents per species extinction suffered. These results can help internalize these costs into the global trade through financial compensation mechanisms such as REDD+ or through price premiums on wood sourced from these countries. Overall the results can provide valuable insights for devising national strategies to meet several of the global Aichi 2020 biodiversity targets and can also be useful for life cycle assessment and product labelling schemes.

It is essential to get the regular check-up of our eye so that the earlier detection of diabetic retinopathy (DR) can be made possible. DR is the disease because of retinal damage due to prolonged diabetic mellitus. The detection of DR using eye fundus images has been a current research topic in the area of medical image processing. Several methods have been developed to automate the process of DR detection. Researchers have made use of different classifiers to efficiently detect the presence of diabetes. SVMs contribute to the latest modelling of DR detection. Although, it proved to be an efficient technique but time consuming, especially when the dataset is large. Also, there is noticeable decrease in the performance of SVM when the dataset is corrupted by noise and outliers. This paper presents the idea of making use of twin support vector machines (TWSVMs) and its robust variants for DR detection. We give the detail of feature extraction from the digital fundus images which are fed to the TWSVMs and its robust variants. The comparison with the previous works of SVM illustrates the superiority of our model. It should be noted that the choice of TWSVM classifier not only solved the problem of time consumption but also made the DR detection robust.

Carbon dots (C-dots), a new class of non-toxic carbogenic nanomaterials have attracted lots of attention. By using simple microwave heating of a biocompatible biological media such as potato-dextrose agar (PDA), the newly synthesized C-dots not only showed its potential application on the ultrasensitive and highly selective Lead (Pb 2+ ) detection in solution but also in paper based sensor strips. The detection limit (DL) of Pb 2+ was found to be 106–110 pM both in solution and on a paper based strips sensor. The fast kinetic data suggested on spot real time Pb 2+ detection. Finally, it showed the potential Pb 2+ sensing in human cells.

Agricultural land use to meet the demands of a growing population, changing diets, lifestyles and biofuel production is a significant driver of biodiversity loss. Globally applicable methods are needed to assess biodiversity impacts hidden in internationally traded food items. We used the countryside species area relationship (SAR) model to estimate the mammals, birds, amphibians and reptiles species lost (i.e. species ‘committed to extinction’) due to agricultural land use within each of the 804 terrestrial ecoregion. These species lost estimates were combined with high spatial resolution global maps of crop yields to calculate species lost per ton for 170 crops in 184 countries. Finally, the impacts per ton were linked with the bilateral trade data of crop products between producing and consuming countries from FAO, to calculate the land use biodiversity impacts embodied in international crop trade and consumption. We found that 83% of total species loss is incurred due to agriculture land use devoted for domestic consumption whereas 17% is due to export production. Exports from Indonesia to USA and China embody highest impacts (20 species lost at the regional level each). In general, industrialized countries with high per capita GDP tend to be major net importers of biodiversity impacts from developing tropical countries. Results show that embodied land area is not a good proxy for embodied biodiversity impacts in trade flows, as crops occupying little global area such as sugarcane, palm oil, rubber and coffee have disproportionately high biodiversity impacts.

Keeping the native structure and activity of proteins, while adsorbed onto a nanoparticle surface, is one of the pre-requisites for the real biological applications of nanoparticles. However, this phenomenon is poorly understood because of the lack of in-depth knowledge on the structural orientation of the adsorbed protein, complex surface chemistry and morphology of the nanoparticle. In this study, we present quantitative information on the structure and the activity of a few major blood proteins when adsorbed onto different morphological and surface functionalized gold nanoparticles (GNPs). A profound effect of both the particle anisotropy and the surface ligands on the secondary structural change and consequently the activity of the proteins were observed. Furthermore, a prominent effect on the cell viability assay was also observed, when the MTT assay was performed using MDA-MB 231 cell lines.

Agri-food production systems are major drivers of global sustainability challenges including climate change, freshwater scarcity, micronutrient deficiencies, and cardiovascular disease. There is an urgent need for more robust methods (e.g., life cycle assessment, system-based modelling) and metrics (e.g., Disability-Adjusted Life Years, nutrient diversity indicators) to quantitatively assess the sustainability of these production systems on a joint nutritional, health, and environmental basis. Creating a sustainable future will require actors to co-develop and co-implement interventions across these groups; presently, however, these fields are misaligned. Current methods are siloed, qualitative, and calorie- or food- based, and they should be developed in a more holistic, quantitative, and nutritionally-focused manner. Developing data-driven and interdisciplinary approaches can help to alleviate food security and sustainability challenges., Global Food Security, 26, ISSN:2211-9124

Currently, ~65% of extant primate species (ca 512 species) distributed in 91 countries in the Neotropics, mainland Africa, Madagascar, South Asia and Southeast Asia are threatened with extinction and 75% have declining populations as a result of deforestation and habitat loss resulting from increasing global market demands, and land conversion for industrial agriculture, cattle production and natural resource extraction. Other pressures that negatively impact primates are unsustainable bushmeat hunting, the illegal trade of primates as pets and as body parts, expanding road networks in previously isolated areas, zoonotic disease transmission and climate change. Here we examine current and future trends in several socio-economic factors directly or indirectly affecting primates to further our understanding of the interdependent relationship between human well-being, sustainable development, and primate population persistence. We found that between 2001 and 2018 ca 191 Mha of tropical forest (30% canopy cover) were lost as a result of human activities in the five primate range regions. Forty-six percent of this loss was in the Neotropics (Mexico, Central and South America), 30% in Southeast Asia, 21% in mainland Africa, 2% in Madagascar and 1% in South Asia. Countries with the greatest losses (ca 57% of total tree cover loss) were Brazil, Indonesia, DRC, China, and Malaysia. Together these countries harbor almost 50% of all extant primate species. In 2018, the world human population was estimated at ca 8bn people, ca 60% of which were found in primate range countries. Projections to 2050 and to 2100 indicate continued rapid growth of the human populations in these five primate range regions, with Africa surpassing all the other regions and totaling ca 4bn people by the year 2100. Socioeconomic indicators show that, compared to developed nations, most primate range countries are characterized by high levels of poverty and income inequality, low human development, low food security, high levels of corruption and weak governance. Models of Shared Socioeconomic Pathway scenarios (SSPs) projected to 2050 and 2100 showed that whereas practices of increasing inequality (SSP4) or unconstrained growth in economic output and energy use (SSP5) are projected to have dire consequences for human well-being and primate survivorship, practices of sustainability-focused growth and equality (SSP1) are expected to have a positive effect on maintaining biodiversity, protecting environments, and improving the human condition. These results stress that improving the well-being, health, and security of the current and future human populations in primate range countries are of paramount importance if we are to move forward with effective policies to protect the world’s primate species and promote biodiversity conservation.

Overwhelming evidence shows that overconsumption of meat is bad for human and environmental health and that moving towards a more plant-based diet is more sustainable. For instance, replacing beef with beans in the US could free up 42% of US cropland and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 334 mmt, accomplishing 75% of the 2020 carbon reduction target. We summarise the evidence on how overconsumption of meat affects social, environmental and economic sustainability. We highlight the social, environmental and economic effectiveness of a range of dietary interventions that have been tested to date. Because meat eating is embedded within complex cultural, economic, and political systems, dietary shifts to reduce overconsumption are unlikely to happen quickly and a suite of sustained, context-specific interventions is likely to work better than brief, one-dimensional approaches. We conclude with key actions needed by global leaders in politics, industry and the health sector that could help aide this dietary transformation to benefit people and the planet., Graphical abstract Unlabelled Image, Highlights • Overconsumption of meat must decline to meet Sustainable Development Goals • We review the range and effectiveness of interventions to reduce meat overconsumption • Government and food supply chain buy-in are needed to transition to more sustainable diets

Incorporating low cost pulses, such as yellow peas, that are rich in nutrients and low in fertilizer requirements, into daily food items, can improve the nutritional and sustainability profile of national diets. This paper systematically characterized the effect of using Canadian grown whole yellow pea and refined wheat flours on nutritional density and carbon footprint in cereal-based food products. Canada-specific production data and the levels of 27 macro- and micronutrients were used to calculate the carbon footprint and nutrient balance score (NBS), respectively, for traditional and reformulated pan bread, breakfast cereal, and pasta. Results showed that partial replacement of refined wheat flour with yellow pea flour increased the NBS of pan bread, breakfast cereal, and pasta by 11%, 70%, and 18%, and decreased the life cycle carbon footprint (kg CO2 eq/kg) by 4%, 11%, and 13%, respectively. The cultivation stage of wheat and yellow peas, and the electricity used during the manufacturing stage of food production, were the hotspots in the life cycle. The nutritional and greenhouse gas (GHG) data were combined as the nutrition carbon footprint score (NCFS) (NBS/g CO2 per serving), a novel indicator that reflects product-level nutritional quality per unit environmental impact. Results showed that yellow pea flour increased the NCFS by 15% for pan bread, 90% for breakfast cereal, and 35% for pasta. The results and framework of this study are relevant for food industry, consumers, as well as global and national policy-makers evaluating the effect of dietary change and food reformulation on nutritional and climate change targets.

The study presents dithiothreitol (DTT) functionalized anisotropic gold nanoparticles (GNP) based colorimetric sensor for detection of toxic lead ions in water. Our results demonstrate the selectivity and sensitivity of the developed sensor over various heavy metal ions with detection limit of ∼9 nM. The mechanism of sensing is explained on the basis of unique corona formation around the DTT functionalized anisotropic GNP.

Nitrogen-doped, PEGylated carbon dots (C-dots) have been synthesized for the detection of mercury ions (Hg(2+)). The detection limit was found to be 6.8 nM. However, upon functionalization with dithiothreitol (DTT), it reached to as low as 18 pM. The C-dots-Hg(2+) system was also able to efficiently detect biothiols.

Because of the difference in the surface energies of various crystal facets that arise from a large fraction of edges, corners and vertices, the morphology of nanoparticles has extreme potential for various applications. In this report, using poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) polystyrene sulfonate (PEDOT:PSS) functionalized anisotropic gold nanoparticles (GNPs) we have demonstrated a simple but robust method for the naked eye colorimetric detection of glucose in human urine with high sensitivity. Glucose oxidase (GOx) was conjugated to the modified anisotropic GNPs. The controlled degree of PEDOT:PSS attached onto the surface of the GNPs was crucial for the detection of glucose. The GNPs were aggregated and the color of the solution changed from pink to blue upon the addition of only 10 μg mL−1 of glucose. The detection limit for glucose was found to be 9.8 μM. Such highly sensitive naked eye detection using PEDOT:PSS will be very useful for low cost homemade sensors.

Using lysine (Lys) and dithiothreitol (DTT) as aggregation promoters, an ultrasensitive and highly selective colorimetric assay for detection of mercury (Hg2+) ions has been developed with anisotropic gold nanoparticles (GNP). The detection limit of the assay is determined to be 27 pM and 58 pM for Hg2+ in deionized water and tap water, respectively. The mechanism of sensing is explained on the basis of possible mercury-gold amalgam formation and subsequent aggregation of the GNP upon addition of Lys and DTT. The kinetics data indicate that the sensor can be effectively used for on-site and real-time Hg2+ detection.

Here, we report a facile, versatile and simple one-pot synthesis of doxorubicin (Dox) loaded gold nanoparticles (Dox–GNP conjugate), where Dox can act both as a reducing as well as a capping agent. Interestingly, when the conjugate was placed into the transporter protein environment, it avoided the undesirable multilayer protein corona formation, which is very common for nanomaterials. The in vitro drug release kinetic studies and the cytotoxicity assay and cellular update efficiency advocates that the system is capable of sustained release of the drug even in the presence of a complex biological environment.