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Graphical abstract Highlights • Biochanin A is an isoflavone presents in legume plants including Red clover and soy. • Biochanin A reduces insulin resistance and improves insulin sensitivity. • Biochanin A increases the expression of SIRT1 in pancreatic tissue. Abstract Biochanin A (5,7-Dihydroxy-4′-methoxyisoflavone) is an O-methylated isoflavone known for its anti-inflammatory, lipid lowering and anti-cancer activity. The current study was designed to find out antidiabetic efficacy of Biochanin A in type 2 diabetes in rats. Induction of type 2 diabetes mellitus in experimental animals was carried out by manipulation of diet using high fat diet for fourteen days and then administration of streptozotocin at low dose of 35 mg/kg, i.p. The diabetic animals were treated with 10, 20 and 40 mg/kg of Biochanin A for 28 days. The effect of Biochanin A treatment in diabetic animals was evaluated by measuring changes in body weight, biochemical parameters, insulin sensitivity index, Homeostatic model assessment-Insulin resistance (HOMA-IR), oral glucose tolerance test, glycohaemoglobin and hepatic glycogen level. Changes in histopathological characteristics of pancreatic tissue were also evaluated after treatment with Biochanin A. Immunohistochemical analysis of pancreatic tissue was carried out for the expression of SIRT1. The results showed that the selected doses of (10, 20 and 40 mg/kg) Biochanin A significantly decreased blood glucose (p < 0.001). The higher dose (40 mg/kg) of Biochanin A significantly reduced glucose tolerance (p < 0.001) in diabetic animals. Biochanin A treatment significantly reduced insulin resistance (p < 0.001) and improved inulin sensitivity (p < 0.01 for 10 mg/kg, 20 mg/kg, p < 0.001 for 40 mg/kg) at all selected dose levels. It also improved lipid profile significantly (p < 0.001) at lower, middle and higher dose level. Glycohaemoglobin formation was significantly decreased in diabetic animals (p < 0.001) after treatment with Biochanin A at all three dose levels. Liver glycogen level was also improved significantly after treatment with Biochanin A in diabetic animals at 20 mg/kg and 40 mg/kg dose level. Biochanin A at dose of 40 mg/kg increased SIRT1 expression in pancreatic tissue. In conclusion, Biochanin A has significant effect in type 2 diabetes mellitus which might be linked to its effects on SIRT1. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Silymarin is a polyphenolic flavonoid of Silybum marianum , exhibited neuroprotection and antidepressant like activity in acute restraint stressed mice. The main objective of the present study is to investigate possible antidepressant like activity of silymarin in experimentally induced depressive behavior in rats. The depressive behaviors were induced in rats by olfactory bulbectomized (OBX) technique. Wistar rats were administered with silymarin at a dose of 100 mg/kg and 200 mg/kg, by per oral in OBX and sham operated rats. Behavioral (ambulatory and rearing activity and immobility time), neurochemical [serotonin (5-HT), dopamine (DA), norepinephrine (NE) and brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) level], biochemical (MDA formation, IL-6, TNF-α and antioxidants) changes in hippocampus and cerebral cortex along with serum corticosterone were investigated. Rats subjected to OBX elicited significant increase in immobility time, ambulatory and rearing behaviors, reduced BDNF level, 5-HT, DA, NE and antioxidant parameters along with increased serum corticosterone, MDA formation, IL-6, and TNF-α in hippocampus and cerebral cortex compared to sham operated rats. Administration of with silymarin significantly attenuated immobility time, ambulatory and rearing behaviors, serum corticosterone and improved BDNF expression, 5-HT, DA, NE and antioxidant paradigms in cerebral cortex as well as hippocampus. In addition, silymarin attenuated IL-6, and TNF-α significantly in hippocampus and cerebral cortex in OBX rats. Thus, silymarin exhibits anti-depressant-like activity in OBX rats due to alterations in several neurotransmitters, endocrine and immunologic systems, including BDNF, 5-HT, DA, NE, MDA formation, IL-6, and TNF-α in hippocampus and cerebral cortex as well as serum corticosterone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Computer-aided design (CAD) models of thin-walled solids such as sheet metal or plastic parts are often reduced dimensionally to their corresponding midsurfaces for quicker and fairly accurate results of computer-aided engineering (CAE) analysis. Computation of the midsurface is still a time-consuming and mostly, a manual task due to lack of robust and automated techniques. Most of the existing techniques work on the final shape (typically in the form of boundary representation, B-rep). Complex B-reps make it hard to detect subshapes for which the midsurface patches are computed and joined, forcing usage of hard-coded heuristic rules, developed on a case-by-case basis. Midsurface failures manifest in the form of gaps, overlaps, nonmimicking input model, etc., which can take hours or even days to correct. The research presented here proposes to address these problems by leveraging feature-information available in the modern CAD models, and by effectively using techniques like simplification, abstraction, and decomposition. In the proposed approach, first, the irrelevant features are identified and removed from the input FbCAD model to compute its simplified gross shape. Remaining features then undergo abstraction to transform into their corresponding generic Loft-equivalents, each having a profile and a guide curve. The model is then decomposed into cellular bodies and a graph is populated, with cellular bodies at the nodes and fully overlapping-surface-interfaces at the edges. The nodes are classified into midsurface-patch generating nodes (called “solid cells” or sCells) and interaction-resolving nodes (“interface cells” or iCells). In a sCell, a midsurface patch is generated either by offset or by sweeping the midcurve of the owner-Loft-feature's profile along with its guide curve. Midsurface patches are then connected in the iCells in a generic manner, thus resulting in a well-connected midsurface with minimum failures. Output midsurface is then validated topologically for correctness. At the end of this paper, real-life parts are used to demonstrate the efficacy of the proposed approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Eugenol is an important phenylpropanoid present in essential oil obtained from a number of plant species. It is responsible for the typical flavour and the aroma of these plants. Eugenol is known for its various pharmacological activities including anti-diabetic activity. No systematic and scientific reports were available on its effect in diabetic nephropathy. Transforming growth factor β (TGF-β) plays a central role in the progression of diabetic nephropathy. Down regulation of TGF-β can prove a better approach for treatment of diabetic nephropathy. The present study was designed to evaluate the effect of eugenol in streptozotocin (STZ) induced type I diabetic nephropathy. Diabetes was induced in male Sprague Dawley rats by administration of streptozotocin (55 mg kg-1, i.p.). The effect of eugenol was studied at the dose of 5 and 10 mg kg-1 day-1. Treatment was done for 28 days. Assessment of plasma biochemical and urine parameters was done at the end of study. Oxidative stress markers in kidney were also evaluated. Changes in kidney histology were observed by Hematoxylin-Eosin, Periodic Acid Schiff and Masson Trichrome staining. Expression of TGF-β1 was determined by measuring the optical density in immunostained kidney sections. Parameters associated with diabetic nephropathy were significantly shifted towards the normal level after treatment with eugenol. Eugenol also ameliorated the histological changes in the diabetic kidney. Expression of TGF-β1 was increased significantly in the diabetic control group. However, eugenol treatment decreases this increased expression. Results suggest that treatment with eugenol involved amelioration of diabetic nephropathy by decreasing TGF-β1 expression. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Computer-aided design (CAD) models of thin-walled parts, such as sheet metal or plastic parts, are often represented by their corresponding midsurfaces for computer-aided engineering (CAE) analysis. The reason being, 2D surface elements, such as 'shell' elements, which need to be placed on the midsurface, provide fairly accurate results, while requiring far lesser computational resources time compared to the analysis using 3D solid elements. Existing approachesof midsurface computation are not reliable and robust. They result in ill-connected midsurfaces having missing patches, gaps, overlaps, etc. These errors need to be corrected, mostly by a manual and time-consuming process, requiring from hours to even days. Thus, an automatic and robust technique for computation of a well-connected midsurface is the need of the hour. This paper proposes an approachwhich, instead of working on the complex final solid shape, typically represented by B-rep (boundary representation), leverages feature information available in the modern CAD models for techniques such as defeaturing, generalization, and decomposition. Here, first, the model is defeaturedby removing irrelevant features, generating a simplified shape called 'gross shape'. The remaining features are then generalizedto their corresponding generic loft-feature equivalents. The model is then decomposed into sub-volumes, called 'cells' having respective owner loft features. A graph is populated, with the cells at the graph nodes. The nodes are classified into midsurface patch-generating nodes (called 'solid cells' or sCells) and interaction-resolving nodes (called 'interface cells' or iCells). Using owner loft feature's parameters, sCells compute their own midsurface patches. Using a generic logic, the patches then get connected appropriately in the iCells, resulting in a well-connected midsurface. The efficacy of the approach is demonstrated by computing well-connected midsurfaces of various real-life sheet metal parts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]