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Using photoprotection, it is possible to prevent UV-induced skin damage and skin cancers. Radiation that falls between visible light and X-rays is defined as ultraviolet. By biological consequences, UVR is classified into five types, UVA, UVB, UVC, Far UV, and Vacuum UV. However, sunscreen functions as an essential device in our accessories of photo protective action, whose goal is to protect us from sunburn and from the harmful effects of ultraviolet radiation. Sunscreens are categorized as systemic and topical, depending on how they are administered. Again, topical sunscreen divides into organic and inorganic sunscreen. Despite the main objective of sunscreen is to be secure, chemically inert, non-toxic and protected against wide-ranging radiation so as to combat photo aging and photocarcinogenesis. But chemical and synthetic sunscreen causes several undesirable effects, which is a matter of concern. Therefore, a better and safer photoprotective agent is needed in sunscreen. In this regard, nanoparticles, or nanoparticulate systems, are becoming increasingly popular as a form of sunscreen for many different reasons, such as boosting SPF and stability, customizing the release profile, and minimizing adverse effects. In this review, the nanoformulation approach of sunscreen has been described, which has more demand than conventional sunscreen, including liposomes, ethosomes, microemulsions, nano-emulgel, solid-lipid nanoparticles, nano-transferosomes, and niosomes which received a lot of attention worldwide. In short, this review provides an outline of novel advent to sunscreen formulations.

The present study was aimed to screen neuroprotective effects of lantana camara in BPA induced-cognitive dysfunction and oxidative stress in rats. In methodology animals were divided into 5 groups. Group I serve as vehicle control group and was administered with 2 ml of normal saline. Group II was administered with BPA 50 µg/kg for 21 days. Group III and IV served as drug treated group and pre treated for 1 week with methanolic extract of L.camara (250 and 500 mg/kg bw/day orally). Group V serve as standard drug treated group and treated with piracetam 200mg/kg i.p. after the completion of dosing, rats were subjected to various test to analyze their behaviour performance and later sacrificed for further test. Animals were screened for elevated plus maze and Y-maze. Animals were sacrificed and evaluated the brain anti oxidant parameters like catalase (CAT), Estimation of lipid peroxidation (LPO), Estimation of superoxide dismutase (SOD), and Estimation of glutathione (GSH). All the Parameters of extract treated group animals have shown better results when compared with toxic and test groups. These findings provide a preliminary evidence for its potential as neuroprotective effect.

Naringin (NAR), a naturally occurring essential flavonoid, present in grapefruit and Chinese herbal medicines, creates great interest in researchers due to its diverse biological and pharmacological activities. However, further development of NAR is hindered due to its poor water solubility and dissolution rates in GIT. To address these limitations, in this study, we report polymeric nanoparticles (NPs) of NAR (NAR-PLGA-NPs) for enhancing the oral NAR efficiency, with a biodegradable polymer (PLGA) to improve its absorption and bioavailability. NAR-PLGA-NPs were fabricated by a modified solvent emulsification–evaporation technique. Physicochemical properties were evaluated by SEM, particle size distribution, entrapment efficiency, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). In vitro drug release and ex vivo permeation studies were carried out in phosphate buffer (pH 6.8) for 24 h. Furthermore, in vivo anti-arthritic studies were performed on a mouse model, and the results were compared with free NAR. The modulation of inflammatory mediators was also evidently supported by docking studies. Optimized nanoformulation FN4 (NAR-PLGA-NPs) prepared with acetone–ethanol (2:1) as a solvent system in a combination of stabilizers, i.e., poloxamer-188 and sodium deoxylate (1:1), along with 2% PVA solution, was prepared. From size characterization studies, it was observed that nanoformulations possessed a low particle size (179.7 ± 2.05 nm), a low polydispersity index (0.206 ± 0.001), and a negative zeta potential (−9.18 ± 0.78 mV) with a maximum entrapment efficiency (74 ± 3.61%). The drug release followed a Korsmeyer–Peppas release kinetic model (anomalous non-Fickian diffusion), providing greater NAR release after lyophilization (82.11 ± 3.65%) drug release in pH 6.8 phosphate buffer for 24 h. Ex vivo permeation analysis through an isolated goat intestinal membrane revealed 80.02 ± 3.69% drug release in 24 h. Encapsulation of a drug into PLGA is well described by the results of FTIR, DSC, and XRD. Finally, the therapeutic efficacy of optimized FN4 (NAR-PLGA-NPs) and its possible application on RA were further confirmed in a Freund’s complete adjuvant-induced rat arthritic model as against free NAR at a dose of 20 mg/kg body wt. Our findings demonstrate that sustained action of NAR from optimized FN4 NPs with a rate-controlling polymeric carrier system exhibited prolonged circulation time and reduced arthritic inflammation, hence indicating the possibility as a novel strategy to secure the unpropitious biological interactions of hydrophobic NAR in a gastric environment.

The study is an attempt to classify the observed tropical cyclone (TC) track patterns over the Bay of Bengal (BoB) region. It is hypothesized that winds at 200 hPa level can determine the direction of TC motion. We found that the mean TC genesis locations were shifted southward from October to December with the shifting of the regional wind circulation patterns. The wind circulation pattern during the straight moving TCs were very similar to the recurving TCs. Straight moving TCs were embedded in a deep easterly flow whereas the recurving TCs significantly moved further northward compared to the straight tracks which brought them under the influence of mid-latitude westerlies and changed their paths towards northeast. A TC track prediction scheme is presented to evaluate the effectiveness of 200 hPa level surrounding winds in TC motion prediction. Sea level pressure fall and relative vorticity advection also have been used as supportive factors. We found results comparable with other TC track prediction models which did not consider the upper level surrounding winds as a TC track predictor. Hence, the use of 200 hPa level winds might be beneficial to improve the existing TC track prediction models over the BoB region.

The genesis of tropical cyclones over the Bay of Bengal region showed a significant amount of both spatial and temporal variability. Mean tropical cyclone genesis locations were shifted southward from July to December. The tropical cyclone activity was greatly suppressed during the monsoon (June–September) season compared to the post-monsoon (October-December) season. A Genesis Potential Index is presented to demonstrate the spatial and temporal alteration in the environmental factors contributing to the tropical cyclone genesis. Here we used six environmental factors such as instability, relative humidity, sea surface temperature, relative vorticity, mean sea level pressure and vertical wind shear. All of the six environmental factors showed a considerable amount of month-wise variability over the Bay of Bengal region from monsoon to post-monsoon season. We observed that during the monsoon season, instability, relative humidity and sea surface temperature were very favorable for tropical cyclone genesis, but the tropical cyclone frequency was very low compared to the post-monsoon season due to very high vertical wind shear and low relative vorticity. On the other hand, reduced vertical wind shear and increased relative vorticity overwhelmed the effect of reduced instability and increased relative humidity and favored tropical cyclone genesis during the post-monsoon season.

Tropical cyclone (TC) genesis over the North Indian Ocean (NIO) region showed significant amount of both spatial and temporal variability.It was observed that the TC genesis was significantly suppressed during the monsoon (June-September) compared to pre-monsoon (March-May) and post-monsoon (October-December) season specifically in terms of severe cyclonic storms (SCS) frequency. The Bay of Bengal (BoB) was characterized by higher TC frequency but lower intensity compared to the Arabian Sea (AS). It was also observed that the TC genesis locations were shifted significantly seasonally.The movement of the TCs also portrayed some significant seasonal differences. The pre-monsoon and post-monsoon season was responsible for generating TCs with higher values of accumulated cyclone energy (ACE) compared to the monsoon. The time series of TC frequency showed a statistically significant decreasing trend whereas the time series of ACE showed astatistically significant increasing trend over the NIO.

Successful drug therapy depends on the interaction between drug-drug and drug-diet. Drug interactions are a vital reason for causing adverse drug reactions and modify one drug effect by another drug and these kinds of interactions can increase or decrease the effectiveness of the drug. Polypharmacy could be a major risk for Drug-Drug and Drug-food interactions. Food Consumption can alter the effect of drugs by interfering either with their pharmacokinetics or pharmacodynamics processes. Anti-ulcer drugs are used to treat different types of ulcer and that may interact with another drug showing undesirable effects. GIT medications interfere with another type of medication either with at the pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic level. The main objective of this article is to review data regarding common Drug-drug & Drug-food interactions related to GIT medications. Data was collected from Google Scholar, PubMed, and Scopus databases, and they were reviewed for publication on drug-drug & drug-food interactions related to GIT medications. This data is very helpful for pharmacists while reviewing and analyzing prescribed medication, especially in geriatrics prescriptions.

A search control-based new efficiency optimisation strategy for indirect vector controlled induction motor (IM) drive is proposed in this work. The online optimisation method considered in this regard is based on modified adaptive quadratic interpolation. The proposed strategy is employed in the flux loop of the speed control technique to decide the optimum flux component of stator current necessary to meet a particular drive operating condition. The selection of the optimum flux in this way, in fact, minimises the core loss of IM drive, thereby improving the overall efficiency of the drive depending upon the motor loading condition. Like the conventional search controllers, the algorithm is simple, immune to the machine parameter variation and does not require any additional circuitry for its implementation. The algorithm offers faster convergence, thereby preserving the dynamic response of the speed control loop. Analytical studies are done in MATLAB/Simulink and the results are validated experimentally in a 2.2 kW IM drive laboratory prototype.

Combination of drugs is extensively used to treat chronic inflammatory disease. Naringin (NAR), sulforaphane (SFN), and phenethyl isothiocyanate (PEITC) are nutraceuticals with promising anti-inflammatory properties. However, their clinical effectiveness gets hindered because of low aqueous solubility and poor bioavailability. In the current study, two combinations of liposome (NAR + SFN and NAR + PEITC) were prepared and studied thoroughly in different in vivo models of acute and chronic models of inflammation. The encapsulation efficiency of NAR, SFN, and PEITC in the combination liposomal formulations (CLFs) prepared with 1,2-dipalmitoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine/cholesterol/1,2-distearoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphoethanolamine -020CN (15:4:1 M ratio) was determined to be 79.8 ± 4.2, 46.5 ± 3.6, and 78.5 ± 3.2%, respectively. The CLFs were characterized by differential scanning calorimetry, X-ray diffraction, dynamic light scattering, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The physicochemical results showed that the preparations were monodisperse (PDI 0.062–0.248) in water with an average size from 140.5 to 165.6 nm and a zeta potential of −47.3 to −53.3 mV. Dissolution studies in vitro showed a slower release of PEITC (>90%, 6 h) in comparison to that of SFN (3 h). Here, we are the first to report the antiarthritic activity of CLF of NAR + SFN and NAR + PEITC in the Freund’s complete adjuvant (FCA)-induced arthritic model. At an intraperitoneal dose (375 + 375 μg/mL) for 3 weeks, the NAR + PEITC liposome significantly improves both % paw edema and arthritic score compared to their free drug combinations in FCA rats. Most importantly, hematological and biochemical results showed improved anemic conditions with significant changes in the SGOT, SGPT, and ALP levels. The ELISA results showed similar trends of increased cytokine (IL-10) and decreased inflammation markers (TNF-α, IL-6, IFN-γ). Histological evaluations showing reduction in cell infiltration, pannus formation, and bone and cartilage destruction further confirm and validate the antiarthritic activity of the CLF. This comprehensive study reveals the effectiveness of combination liposomes of poorly soluble anti-inflammatory molecules (NAR, SFN, PEITC) in the treatment of arthritis.

The purpose of this chapter is to review nanotechnology-based drug delivery systems of herbal medicines. The advancement of phytochemical and phytopharmacological sciences has enabled elucidation of several plant products' composition and biological activities. The activities of many species of medicinal plants depends on the supply of active compounds. Most of the biologically active phyto constituents are water soluble but have low absorption due to their large molecular size and inability to cross the lipid membranes of the cells resulting in loss of bioavailability and efficacy. Hence, the combination of herbal medicine with nanotechnology might be able to potentiate the action of plant extracts, reducing the required dose and side effects and improving activity. Nanosystems can deliver the active constituent at a sufficient concentration during the entire treatment period at the desired site of action.

This paper proposes a new model reference adaptive system (MRAS) for the sensorless speed estimation of field-oriented induction motor (IM) drive utilizing d - and q -circuits effective impedances. The functional quantity of the MRAS, in this context, is the difference between the stator d - and q -circuits' effective working impedances. This unique structure does not require any flux computation while estimating speed. Moreover, the formulation is free from any resistance terms. The proposed estimator performs satisfactorily at all the operating points and exhibits stability in all the four quadrants of the drive's operation. The relevant stability and sensitivity studies, in this regard, are done in MATLAB/Simulink. Furthermore, the controller performance is validated experimentally by dSPACE-1103-based IM drive setup.

Recent advances in science and technology radically changed the way we detect, treat and prevent different diseases in all aspects of human life. Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic, systemic, progressive, autoimmune disease in which the body’s immune system whose major role is to protect the health by attacking foreign bacteria and viruses are mistakenly, attacking the joints resulting in thickened synovium, pannus formation, & destruction of bone, cartilage. Still now researchers are unable to know the exact cause of this disease. However, it is believed that genes and environmental factors play a role in development of RA. In this review, we discuss the Pathophysiology, predictors, & factors involved in pathogenesis of RA. We also discuss the Conventional therapeutic agents for Rheumatoid Arthritis. More importantly, we extensively discuss the emerging novel drug delivery systems (NDDS) like nanoparticles, dendrimers, micelles, microspheres, liposomes, and so on as these are the promising tools having successful applications in overcoming the limitations associated with conventional drug delivery systems. Although several NDDS have been used for various purposes, liposomes have been focused on due to its potential applications in RA diagnosis and therapy. In addition, we discuss the therapeutic effectiveness and challenges for RA by using these novel drug delivery systems. Finally, we conclude by discussing the future perspectives.

Bauhinia racemosa Lamk. and Bauhinia tomentosa linn. (Ceasalpiniaceae) leaves are used as holistic medicines mainly for inflammations and various skin disorders by the tribal sovereignty in Odisha ecoregion. This research work presents a study on chemical composition and tyrosinase inhibitory property of the methanol extract of leaves of Bauhinia racemosa (MBR) and Bauhinia tomentosa (MBT) with computational approaches. GC–MS technique, in-silico approach and in vitro tyrosinase inhibitory assay models were used for analysis of skin-whitening efficacies of these plant extracts. The major chemotype of the MBR was found to be myo-Inositol 4-C-methyl- (14.50%), whereas 3-O-Methyl-d-glucose (91.89%) was present in MBT as major compound. Tyrosinase inhibition was investigated against monophenolase (l-tyrosine). IC50 values of MBR and MBT were found to be 280 ± 0.9 and 610 ± 1.7 μg/mL, respectively. Molecular docking analysis of the binding of myo-Inositol, 4-C-methyl- and 3-O-Methyl-d-glucose with protein (PDB ID: 1wx2) showed an extensive hydrogen bond network with amino acid residues like ASN 191, ALA 202 and SER 206, THR 203, ASN 191, respectively. Both these compounds showed good binding affinities with target receptors and can be used as lead molecules for inhibition of tyrosinase. MBR and MBT might be suggested as a better source of skin-whitening agents for cosmetic and medicinal applications.

The paper proposes an improved low speed performance of classical rotor flux (RF)-based model reference adaptive system (MRAS) for field oriented controlled induction motor (IM) drives. The improved performance of the RF-MRAS estimator is obtained by using voltage reference vector to compute the rotor flux vector in the reference model instead of actual voltage signal vector in the process of speed estimation. The voltage reference vector is estimated by using proportional integral controller over the error signal vectors obtained from the difference between the reference and the measured current vectors. This modification allows satisfactory low or zero speed estimation of IM drive using RF-MRAS-based estimator. The proposed drive's performance is compared with classical RF-MRAS and its performance for the low-speed operation is also authenticated with ${\vec{V}^ * } \times \vec{I}$ based MRAS in MATLAB/ Simulink. Stability and sensitivity studies are further carried out to ensure the robustness of the drive system. Experimental results as obtained by a dSPACE-1104 based IM laboratory prototype are also presented to validate the simulation study.

A facile synthetic route and growth mechanism of heterobimetallic cubical nanoparticles Au@AgCl and Ag@AgCl@Au have been developed using Muntingia calabura flower extract. The formation of nanoparticles has been confirmed through UV-Vis, powder X-ray diffraction and electron microscopy. The elemental composition of the nanoparticles has been evidenced by EDS analysis. Combing the UV-Vis spectral analysis and powder X-ray diffraction studies, the composition of bimetallic nanoparticles are assigned as Au@AgClNP and Ag@AgCl@AuNP. The prepared nanoparticles display good antibacterial activity which is comparable to standard kanamycin and ampicillin.

This paper proposes a new sensorless speed control technique for induction motor (IM)driven electric vehicle (EV) using a model reference adaptive controller (MRAC) with a basic energy optimization technique known as golden section method. The proposed MRAC for the vector controlled IM drive utilizes instantaneous and steady state values of a fictitious resistance (R) in the reference and adaptive models respectively. The proposed scheme is immune to the variation in stator resistance (Rs). Moreover, the unique formation of the MRAC with the instantaneous and steady-state reactive power completely eliminates the requirement of any flux estimation in the process of speed estimation. Thus, the method is insensitive to integrator-related problems like drift and saturation enabling the estimation at or around zero speed quite accurately. The proposed drive's performance with the R-MRAC is validated for various speed ranges and patterns in Matlab/Simulink. Sensitivity of various motor parameters and stability studies are carried out using eigenvalues loci plots by first order eigenvalue sensitivity analysis.

Chronic Myeloid Leukemia (CML) is a hematopoietic stem cell malignant clonal disorder resulting in elevation of erythroid cells and platelets in peripheral blood and clear myeloid hyperplasia in the bone marrow. Philadelphia (Ph) chromosome detection forms the major diagnosis in CML. It displays the translocation t(9; 22) that generates the oncogene bcr/abl. Constitutive tyrosine kinase activity is been exhibited by the oncoprotein (BCR/ABL) which supports growth and continued existence in cells of CML. Incidence remains almost constant worldwide and it is the most commonest in India majorly in adults. Clinically, Chronic Phase (CP), Accelerated Phase (AP), and Blast Phase (BP) are the three phases of CML. The drugs used in the treatment of CML are known as Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitors (TKI'S). The primary drug which directly target BCR-ABL tyrosine kinase activity was Imatinib. Imatinib resistance is the major drawback of this drug due to mutations. Imatinib binding is prevented by BCR-ABL kinase domain mutations, BCR-ABL gene amplification or over-expression, clonal progression, and reduced bioavailability of imatinib or cell exposure. Stem cell transplantation is the only curative approach till date. In patients who cannot undergo transplantation, the BCR-ABL tyrosine kinase inhibitor STI571 (Gleevec, Imatinib), immune therapy or interferon-alpha and other cytoprotective drugs are used. Currently available data shows that Imatinib is a better compound compared to second line drugs in producing complete molecular and cytogenetic responses. The resistance against STI571 has been reported which has to be tested with mutational analysis for the treatment for using an accurate regimen. Current researchers are consequently challenging to inhibit or work against STI571 resistance by the development of new molecules or combination of molecules contributing for further improvement in the treatment of CML and for better understanding of resistant mechanisms. These strategies, whether will guide to curative treatment in CML in the future remains unclear.

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an autoimmune disease of inflammatory origin. It progressively affects the articular and extra-articular joints, mostly identified by hyperplasia, inflammation of synoviocytes, autoantibody production and bone/cartilage degradation. Etiology and underlying mechanism of RA is still unknown, causing an imbalance between inflammatory and anti-inflammatory pathways. The drawbacks in the safety, efficacy of existing treatment options, are driving the need for new, effective and safe medications. As, it is a priority for biological research in 21st century, current experimental outcomes focus on the potential of Nutraceutical in management of RA. Furthermore, we abridge the effect of various citrus flavonoids against Rheumatoid arthritis with main biochemical citations which can either improve or retard the RA by their, anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant, anti-radical, immuno modulatory and enzyme inhibitory effects. The main aim of this review is to perform an up-to-date insight regarding pathophysiological basis of RA. A special focus is given on the effective dietary Nutraceutical, particularly effect of flavonoids (citrus) on prevention of the progression of Rheumatoid Arthritis. Finally, by using several plethora of evidence, this review suggests the promising future prospects of various dietary citrus flavonoids, their underlying mechanisms, which are having massive potential to be explored as safe and effective treatment strategies in RA.

Induction motors (IM) drives are extensively used in the industries. However, the efficiency of the induction motor (IM) is poor when operated at the lightly loaded condition. Hence, IM loss optimization is necessary and can be achieved by optimizing the operating flux. This particular paper presents a search control scheme based on the Golden Section method for direct torque control (DTC) of induction motor (IM) drive to minimize the drive’s losses. The machine’s stator flux level is directly regulated by the proposed scheme thereby reducing the losses and improving the efficiency. The proposed algorithm is comparatively fast and a beforehand knowledge of the minimum number of functional estimations like other methods such as Fibonacci search method is not required. Furthermore, it has faster convergence compared to other search-based method as it requires the least number of functional evaluations to reach the desired precision. The approach is not only easy to implement but also do not require any external hardware for practical implementation. In this context, all the studies are carried out in MATLAB/Simulink.

This paper presents a speed and flux estimation scheme for sinusoidal pulse width modulation (SPWM) fed induction motor (IM) drive using extended Kalman filter (EKF) observer. EKF is a recursive algorithm and robust method against motor parameter variations and it can also handle the nonlinearity in machine modeling in discretized form. Despite high estimation complexity, EKF shows better transient and steady state responses over the wide speed and torque ranges. However, the rotor flux variation as speed changes is controlled by introducing a proportional integral (PI) regulator in flux path. Implementation of the field oriented control of IM drive in the proposed sensorless environment is carried out in Matlab/Simulink. Furthermore, simulation results are authenticated by experimental tests with the help of dSPACE-1103 laboratory prototype.

Herein, a facile scale up and shape variable synthesis of gold nanoparticle (AuNP) and reaction mechanism by natural xanthone derivative (mangiferin) has been reported. Mangiferin (C19H18O11; 1,3,6,7-tetrahydroxyxanthone-C2-β- d -glucoside), a xanthone derivative is isolated from Mangifera indica L. leaves which efficiently reduces Au3+ ions to Au0 and stabilizes the formed AuNP. The structural, optical and plasmonic properties of synthesized AuNP have been investigated through different instrumental techniques like UV–Vis and FTIR spectroscopy, powder XRD, FESEM and TEM analysis. It is observed that variation of the concentration of Au3+ ions and mangiferin has a great effect on controlling size and shape of nanoparticles. The role of reaction temperature is also notable. An interesting observation is that with same concentration ratio of HAuCl4/mangiferin (0.025 mM/0.002%) at the room temperature kidney shaped AuNP is produced, whereas it is spherical at boiling temperature. Moreover, mangiferin allows high scale synthesis of AuNPs (0.025 mM to 10 mM) without changing the particles size and shape. The mechanistic investigation through UV–Vis, FTIR and GCMS analyses reveal the cleavage of glucose unit and oxidation of phenolic OH groups during AuNP formation. Non-toxicity of mangiferin conjugated AuNP on normal human breast cell line (MCF-10A) suggesting its future application as a drug delivery system and other related medicinal purposes.

This paper proposes a search control based loss minimization approach for direct torque control (DTC) of induction motor (IM) drive suitable for electric vehicle application. The proposed scheme directly regulates the stator flux level using an optimal stator flux reference generated by adaptive quadratic interpolation (AQI) to meet the desired torque demand. The search controller is implemented in the outer loop of the control scheme to decide an optimum flux level for the drive's operation. Consequently, the core loss of IM reduces significantly, thereby improving the efficiency of the drive system. The proposed algorithm is simple in computation and does not involve any additional hardware circuitry for its practical realization. Furthermore, it provides faster convergence without compromising the dynamic response of the speed control loop. All the relevant studies, in this context, are carried out in MATLAB/Simulink. Finally, the scheme is validated experimentally in a dSPACE-1103 based IM drive laboratory prototype.

Prebiotics are therapeutic foods that fuel the growth of beneficial bacteria in the human gut. They are essentially recognized as nondigestible food elements isolated from natural sources, such as dietary fibers. The use of prebiotics in the food and pharmaceutical industries has increased because of their potential as promoters of human health. Their association with human health leads to the potential cure of various disorders including, obesity, inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), diabetes, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), antibiotic-associated diarrhea, colitis, constipation, cancer, and hepatic encephalopathy. Therefore, the production of prebiotics from novel sources is now an emerging research area. Known prebiotics, such as oligosaccharides, monosaccharides, polysaccharides, short-chain fatty acids, inulin, and fructans are generally derived from plant roots, seeds, fruits, vegetables, and marine herbs. However, their use as food supplements meets dietary requirements without making any trivial changes to their food preference. Although prebiotics comprise a varied group of biomolecules with diverse mechanisms of action, they all improve human health by enhancing the beneficial bacteria in the gut. This chapter debates the current trends and future prospective use of prebiotics as therapeutic foods, focusing on cutting-edge research outcomes of novel prebiotic sources, and their application in human health.

There has been a great resurgence of interest in phyto-therapy in treating chronic diseases like Type 2 diabetes. The current research aims to explore the mechanistic anti-diabetic potentials of the leaves and rhizomes of Sansevieria trifasciata (ST). Chemo-profiling by phytochemical tests and GC-MS analysis have shown the presence of phenolics, alkaloids, terpenoids, flavonoids, saponins, steroids and glycosides. The median lethal dose was found to be 500 mg/kg on acute toxicity studies. The extract showed statistically significant (p

This paper aims to propose a new sensorless speed control technique for induction motor (IM) drive suitable for electric vehicle applications using model reference adaptive system (MRAS) with a basic energy optimization scheme known as golden section method. The proposed MRAS is developed by using instantaneous and steady state values of a fictitious resistance (R) in the reference and adaptive models respectively. The optimization scheme generates the optimal level of rotor flux for machine operation and improves the efficiency of the drive system by bringing down the IM core loss. The developed overall scheme is immune to the stator resistance variation. Moreover, the unique formation of the MRAS eliminates completely the requirement of any flux estimation. Thus, the method is insensitive to the integrator-related problems like drift and saturation enabling an accurate estimation of speed even from zero to the rated speed. In this context, all the relevant studies are done in MATLAB/Simulink. A few experimental results are also presented to validate the simulation results.

Improvement of biological activities of medicinal plant in combination with metal nanoparticles is highly appealing. Herein, bio-conjugated AuNP and AgNP have been synthesized at room temperature using leaf extract of Saraca asoca a medicinal plant. Phytochemicals present in aqueous leaf extract of Saraca asoca, are acting as reducing, capping and stabilizing agent. The formation of nanoparticles is confirmed and characterized by different instrumental techniques like UV-visible and IR spectroscopy, SEM, TEM and XRD analysis. Both nanoparticles are spherical, monodisperse and crystalline in nature. Phytochemicals, comprising of functional groups like aliphatic ester C–O–C, alcoholic and phenolic–OH in extract are responsible for reduction of metal precursor and functional groups like N–H or O–H are responsible for capping and stabilization of nanoparticles. Preliminary biological activities like antibacterial, anticancer and anti-diabetic activity of bio-conjugated metal nanoparticles are screened through disc diffusion methods, MTT assay and α-amylase inhibition assay. Both AuNP and AgNP show antibacterial activity (zone inhibition values 9.6 mm and 9.7 mm for E. coli and 7.7 mm and 11 mm for B. subtilis, respectively) and anti-diabetic activity (IC50 1.5 mM and 0.35 mM, respectively) whereas AgNP displays growth inhibition of prostate cancer cell line . CAM assay confirm the biocompatibility of synthesized nanoparticles. Further, both nanoparticles show excellent catalytic activity towards the reduction of 4-nitrophenol (4-NP) using as reducing agent even at very low concentration.

Objective: The objective of this study was to establish the anti-inflammatory activity of sulforaphane (SFN) in different acute and subchronic models of inflammation. Methods: The anti-inflammatory activity of SFN was evaluated by the secretion of proinflammatory cytokines in rat peripheral blood mononuclear cells (interleukin-6 [IL-6] and tumor necrosis factor alpha [TNF-α]) which are important mediators of inflammation as determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Furthermore, paw volume was determined in various acute models of inflammation, and percentage inhibition of granuloma tissue was assessed by cotton pellet-induced granuloma model. From serum, serum glutamic pyruvic transaminase, serum glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase, and alkaline phosphatase levels were determined which is followed by assay for estimation of antioxidants such as superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase, and glutathione (GSH). Results: SFN showed significant anti-inflammatory activity against paw edema induced by carrageenin/histamine/egg-albumin. A remarkable control in inflammation was observed most notably at the highest test dose of 5 mg/kg in the subchronic granuloma model. In addition, the release of inflammatory cytokines such as IL-6 and TNF-α which is responsible for inflammatory activity gets attenuated by SFN (∗p

High quality performance of vector controlled induction motor (IM) drives to a large proportion depends upon the rotor resistance which varies significantly with temperature notably at low speed. Many techniques are proposed till date but, model reference adaptive controller (MRAC) is one of the ace methods among the numerous due to its performance and straightforward stability approach. The rotor flux (RF) -error based MRAC consists of two models, viz. reference and adaptive models used simultaneously to estimate the d-q components of the rotor flux using IM line currents and voltages. However, in the case of conventional RF-MRAC based drive, the accuracy of the measured voltage drastically falls because of the significant amount of voltage drop across the stator resistance in the low speed region. To overcome this limitation, in this paper, the d-q components of the stator voltages are computed using the error signal between the reference and measured d-q current components with Proportional Integral (PI) controllers and representing the relevant equations in the synchronously rotating frame. Hence, instead of using voltage and current sensors, only current sensor is required in the proposed scheme. Thus, the proposed RF-MRAC based drive performs satisfactorily at the low speed as direct dependence on the measured voltage is eliminated. The proposed drive's performance with the RF-MRAC is validated for various speed ranges and patterns, both by Matlab simulation and experimental verification. A stability study in all the four quadrants of drive's operation and sensitivity study against motor parameter variations are carried out in Matlab/ Simulink. Experimental results obtained by a dSPACE-1104 based laboratory prototype are presented in the paper.

Objective: The purpose of this research work was to develop and evaluate microspheres appropriate for controlled release of zidovudine (AZT). Methods: The AZT loaded polylactide-co-glycolide (PLGA) microspheres were prepared by W/O/O double emulsion solvent diffusion method. Compatibility of drug and polymer was studied by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The influence of formulation factors (drug: polymer ratio, stirring speed, the concentration of surfactant) on particle size encapsulation efficiency and in vitro release characteristics of the microspheres was investigated. Release kinetics was studied and stability study was performed as per ICH guidelines. Results: S canning electron microscopy (SEM) images show good reproducibility of microspheres from different batches. The average particle size was in the range of 216-306 μm. The drug-loaded microspheres showed 74.42±5.08% entrapment efficiency. The cumulative percentage released in phosphate Buffer solution (PBS) buffer was found to be 55.32±5.89 to 74.42±5.08 %. The highest regressions (0.981) were obtained for zero order kinetics followed by Higuchi (0.968) and first order (0.803). Conclusion: Microsphere prepared by double emulsion solvent diffusion method was investigated and the results revealed that 216-306 μm microsphere was successfully encapsulated in a polymer. FT-IR analysis, entrapment efficiency and SEM Studies revealed the good reproducibility from batch to batch. The microspheres were of an appropriate size and suitable for oral administration. Thus the current investigation show promising results of PLGA microspheres as a matrix for drug delivery and merit for In vivo studies for scale up the technology.

Objective: To develop and evaluate floating microspheres of repaglinide (RG).Materials and Methods: RG loaded noneffervescent microspheres of different ratios of ethylcellulose (EC) and hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HPMCK4M) were prepared using polyvinyl alcohol as emulsifier by solvent evaporation technique. Various process variables such as polymer ratio, stirringspeed, concentration of drug, and emulsifying agent were studied. Compatibility of drug and polymers was studied by Fourier-transform infraredspectroscopy (FTIR). Characterization, in-vitro evaluation, and kinetic studies were performed.Results: FTIR spectra have revealed no drug-excipient incompatibility. The average particle size of microspheres was in the range of 312-359 μm. Theresults showed that floating microspheres were successfully prepared with good yield (56.15-64.3%), high entrapment efficiency (58.22-70.14%),and good floating behavior (63.1-76.2%), respectively. In-vitro release data indicates appreciable amount of drug is released (62.28-73.27%) from themicrospheres in gastric fluid. The mechanism of drug release founds to follow first order kinetics (r2=0.986).Conclusion: The developed floating microspheres of RG may be used for prolonged drug release for at least 12 hrs, thereby improving bioavailabilityand patient compliance.Keywords: Repaglinide, Compatibility, Kinetic, Ethylcellulose.

Objective: To develop and evaluate floating type gastro-retentive dosage form, appropriate for controlled release of repaglinide (RG) having a narrow therapeutic window.Methods: Repaglinide loaded microspheres (MS) using biological macromolecule ethylcellulose (EC) was prepared by a solvent diffusion-evaporation technique using polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) emulsifier. Compatibility of drug and polymer was studied by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). During formulation, various process optimisation parameters studied were stirring speed, the concentration of drug, polymer and emulsifier. Characterization and in vitro evaluation was performed. In vivo antidiabetic activity was performed on alloxan induced diabetic rats followed by histopathological screening.Results: The average particle size was in the range of 174-243 µm. Yield, entrapment and buoyancy of microspheres were 68.4­­-79.8, 58.6-73.1 and 71.8-84.1% respectively. 65.1% release of drug from optimised formulation was obtained which follows first-order kinetics (r2 = 0.989). Optimised formulation treated group shows significant (p