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The aim of this paper is to identify the various types of barriers that an automotive component manufacturing company faces when attempting to introduce Lean Six Sigma techniques. Initially, 31 Lean Six Sigma Barrier (LSSB) were selected through an exhaustive literature review which was conducted using questionnaire survey. In the questionnaire survey, the manager’s opinions were collected with the help of online emails. The collected responses were analysed through statistical tools like Importance-indexed and CIMTC. The internal consistency of the collected responses was 0.971 which is good and the outcomes of an importance index and a CIMTC analysis indicates that most of the Indian manufacturing firms were facing the challenges from LSSB-4 and LSSB-3. The identified LSSB exhibits that it is difficult to implement LSS techniques in Auto component manufacturing industries. As said above authors have researched on barriers faced by automobile industries to manufacture a unit and also going on with LSS. But, literature limited to explore the studies on parts manufacturing industries which are responsible for many unique parts of automotive units.

Buddhism is among the oldest religious traditions of the world. It is based on the life and teachings of Siddharta Gautama. The message of world peace is the greatest contribution of Buddhism to the human civilization. This paper aims to study the spread of Buddhism in the Southeast Asian region and its relations with the ideals of peace in contemporary period. Theoretically paper relies on the post-colonial history writing tradition. It adopts descriptive and analytical method to study the subject matter. Conclusions of the paper are drawn after scrutiny of primary and secondary literatures. A thorough study reveals that Buddhism has a glorious past in the Southeast Asia. The practice of Buddhism in the region was popular even prior to the beginning of recorded history. Different monuments provide tangible evidence, and deep-rooted essence of Buddhism in the socio-cultural practices of the region are intangible testimony to this. Paper argues that inter-religious issues in the region and especially current situation of conflict between people of different faith can be resolved by following philosophy of Buddhism in true sense.

Mitigation of the enhanced greenhouse gas (GHG) concentrations in the Earth’s atmosphere is imperative to meet the climate change mitigation objective. Governments of many countries are developing and implementing various mitigation strategies to reduce their GHG emissions. However, a time delay between the formulation and implementation of these mitigation policies can affect their effectiveness in controlling greenhouse gas levels in the atmosphere. This work presents a nonlinear mathematical model to investigate the effect of application of mitigation strategies and the delay involved in their implementation over the reduction of atmospheric greenhouse gases. In model formulation, it is assumed that the mitigation strategies work two-fold; first they reduce the GHG emission rate from the anthropogenic source and second they increase the removal rate of greenhouse gas from the atmosphere. A comprehensive stability analysis of the proposed model system is made to examine its long-term behavior. The model analysis shows that an increase in the implementation rate of mitigation strategies and their efficiencies to cut down the GHG emission rate from point sources and increase the GHG uptake rate lead to reduction in equilibrium GHG concentration. It is found that a long delay in the execution of mitigation policies can destabilize the system dynamics and leads to the generation of periodic oscillations. The expression for the threshold value of the delay parameter at which periodic oscillations arise via Hopf-bifurcation is determined. The stability and direction of bifurcating periodic solutions are discussed. A sensitivity analysis is performed to investigate the effect of changes in key parameters over system dynamics.

Here, we report the frequency dependent ultrasonic attenuation of monometallic gold and bimetallic gold/platinum based aqueous nanofluids (NFs). The as-synthesised bimetallic NFs (BMNFs) revealed less resistance to ultrasonic waves compared to the monometallic NFs. Thermal conductivity of both NFs taken at different concentrations revealed substantial conductivity improvement when compared to the base fluid, although gold/platinum showed lesser improvement compared to gold. Characterisation of the as-synthesised nanoparticles (NPs) and fluids was carried out with X-ray diffraction (XRD), ultraviolet-visible (UV-vis) spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS). The distinct two-phase bimetallic nature of gold/platinum, its two plasmonic band optical absorption features and the spherical morphology of the particles were shown. The findings were correlated with the observed thermal and ultrasonic behaviour and proper rationalisation is provided. It was revealed that the comparatively lesser thermal conductivity of gold/platinum had direct implication on its attenuation property. The findings could have important repercussions in both industrial applications and in the mechanistic approach towards the field of ultrasonic attenuation in NFs.

In the present work, semiconducting cadmium sulfide (CdS) nanoparticles have been synthesized by co-precipitation method. X-ray diffraction (XRD), UV–visible (UV/Vis) absorption spectroscopy, and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) have been used for the characterization of the synthesized nanoparticles. Two-step technique has been used to formulate stable polyvinyl alcohol (PVA)-based CdS nanofluids at room temperature. Thermal conductivities of nanofluids at different temperatures have been measured using Hot Disc Thermal Constants Analyzer. Significant enhancement in thermal conductivity is noted at very low nanoparticle loading. Ultrasonic velocity and ultrasonic attenuation in the prepared nanofluids have been investigated using ultrasonic interferometer and Acoustic Particle Sizer (APS-100), respectively. APS-100 has been also used for the analysis of particle size distribution (PSD) of CdS nanoparticles in the prepared nanofluids. The PSD result of APS-100 is in good agreement with that of HRTEM. The characteristic behavior of CdS nanofluid is illustrated on the basis of its ultrasonic and thermal properties. The thermal conductivity enhancement increases with the temperature and reaches up to 61.6% for 1.0 wt% particle loadings at 80 °C. Our analysis shows that CdS nanofluids have potential application for effective heat transfer management in various cooling industries.

Eosinophils are a common clinical feature associated with chronic allergic diseases, and elemental diets, systemic steroids, anti‐IL‐5 and anti‐IL‐13 treatment have shown some therapeutic promise. Herein, we present evidence that pre‐ and post‐intraperitoneal administration of tacrolimus (FK506) is very effective in reducing CCR3/Siglec‐F(+) eosinophils in Aspergillus‐challenged asthma and EoE, CD2‐IL‐5 induced global eosinophilia, and DOX regulated IL‐13‐induced asthma. We used flow cytometry and anti‐major basic protein (MBP) immunostaining to examine eosinophils in the spleen, bone marrow, BALF, lung, oesophagus and intestine. Additionally, we also performed ELISA and Western blot analyses to show that tacrolimus treatment also reduces the levels of eosinophil‐specific cytokines IL‐4, IL‐5, IL‐13 and TGF‐β, eosinophil‐specific chemokines Eotaxin‐1 and Eotaxin‐2, and progenitors of target RCAN1 mRNA and protein levels. Additionally, the current investigations also show that the TGF‐β‐mediated oesophageal and lung fibrosis is also reduced in Aspergillus‐challenged, CD2‐IL‐5 transgenic and DOX‐responsive IL‐13 mice. Mechanistically, we show that tacrolimus in vitro treatment inhibited bone marrow‐derived eosinophil proliferation and viability by promoting eosinophil apoptosis that may be associated with downregulation of RCAN1. Taken together, we provide in vivo and in vitro evidence that tacrolimus ameliorates eosinophil levels and associated pathogenesis in allergen‐, IL‐5‐ and IL‐13‐induced EoE, EG and asthma pathogenesis. Considering tacrolimus side‐effects and reactivity to several other drugs, we propose the topical use of tacrolimus for paediatric and low‐dose oral for adult patients as a novel therapeutic strategy for the clinical trial to reduce mucosal eosinophilia first in steroid‐refractory or elemental diet non‐responsive adult EoE, EG and asthma patients.

Energy demand is rising day by day and will continue to increase to meet the demand of the growing population. A major portion of global energy production comes from fossil fuel burning, resulting in the increase in the atmospheric burden of global warming gas carbon dioxide ( $$CO _{2}$$ ). Cutting down $$CO _{2}$$ emission from the energy sector is crucial to meet the climate change mitigation target. This paper is focused on fulfilling two objectives: The first objective is to present a mathematical model that captures the dynamical relationship between the human population, energy use, and atmospheric carbon dioxide, and the second aim is to derive a mathematical framework to effectively utilize the available mitigation options to curtail $$CO _{2}$$ emission from energy use by proposing an optimal control problem. The mitigation options that reduce the $$CO _{2}$$ emission rate from energy production, as well as the options that reduce the energy consumption rate, are considered in the modeling process. The proposed mathematical model is analyzed qualitatively to comprehend the system’s long-term behavior. The model parameters are fitted to real data of global energy use, population, and $$CO _{2}$$ concentration. It is shown that the equilibrium level of $$CO _{2}$$ reduces with the increase in the efficiencies of mitigation options to reduce the $$CO _{2}$$ emission rate per unit energy use and energy consumption rate. The optimality system is derived analytically by taking the efficiencies of the mitigation options to reduce the $$CO _{2}$$ emission rate and energy consumption rate as control variables. Numerical simulations are conducted to validate the theoretical findings and identify the optimal profiles of control variables under different settings of $$CO _{2}$$ emission rate, energy consumption rate, and maximum efficiencies of available mitigation options to cut down $$CO _{2}$$ emission rate and energy consumption rate. It is found that the development and implementation of more efficient mitigation options and switching to low carbon energy sources bring reduction in the mitigation cost.

A field experiment was conducted during 2018 and 2019 at the crop research farm, Department of Agronomy, Shuats, Prayagraj (Uttar Pradesh) to study the effect of intercrop row ratio and liquid manures on chickpea and mustard intercropping system. The treatments consisted of five intercropping systems viz. Sole chickpea, sole mustard, chickpea + mustard (1:1), chickpea + mustard (2:1), chickpea + mustard (3:1) row ratios in replacement series and four liquid organic manures viz. control (no spray), panchagavya 3%, cow urine 10% and vermiwash 10% were tested in split plot design with planting ratio as the main plots and liquid manures as the sub plot with 3 replications. Results revealed that maximum growth attributes in both crop were recorded under chickpea + mustard (3:1). However maximum, yield attributes and yield were recorded under sole stand of both crop. Among liquid manures maximum growth, yield attributes and yield were recorded under foliar application of panchagavya 3% at branching and flowering stage in both crop and vermiwash10% found at par.

Endameba histolytic a of the gastrointestinal tract is common in developing countries. There are many cases where colonic amebiasis can mimic colonic carcinoma but amebiasis and coexisting carcinoma is exceedingly rare. We present a case of 43 years old male who presented with abdominal pain, generalized weakness and bleeding per rectum. Endoscopic examination showed superficial ulceration with edematous mucosa in proximal, transverse and ascending colon which was indistinguishable from ulceration and amebomas. Histopathological examination of tissue revealed the coexistence of Endameba trophozoites with adenocarcinoma of colon. The organism was demonstrated by Periodic Acid Schiff’s stain with engulfed red blood cell. Our report is to enhance the awareness that amebiasis is may not only mimic carcinoma but can also coexist with carcinoma. After extensive search of literature, our isolated case report might be under tenth of reported cases. Keywords:Amoebiasis; Endameba histolytic; Carcinoma

Several case reports show accumulation of eosinophils in pancreatitis patients and term the disease as “eosinophilic pancreatitis (EP)”. EP usually presents with a pancreatic tumour and abdominal pain in obstructive jaundice, which is generally not diagnosed until the patient undergoes pancreatic resection. Histologically, EP reveals distinct patterns like diffused, periductal, acinar, and septal inflammatory infiltrates with eosinophils, eosinophilic phlebitis, and localised extreme eosinophilic infiltrates related with pseudocyst formation. EP patients also have elevated serum IgE levels with high eosinophil counts in the pancreas as well as in other organs such as the gastrointestinal tract, which is termed as eosinophilic gastroenteritis. Due to the lack of knowledge based on just a few case reports, it is considered that eosinophilic infiltration is quite rare in the pancreas; therefore, the significance of eosinophils in pancreatitis is not yet established. This review assesses the current understanding of eosinophilic pancreatitis and the important role of eosinophils in promoting pancreatic fibrosis including malignancy.

Augmenter of liver regeneration (ALR), a ubiquitous fundamental life protein, is expressed more abundantly in the liver than other organs. Expression of ALR is highest in hepatocytes, which also constitutively secrete it. ALR gene transcription is regulated by NRF2, FOXA2, SP1, HNF4α, EGR-1 and AP1/AP4. ALR's FAD-linked sulfhydryl oxidase activity is essential for protein folding in the mitochondrial intermembrane space. ALR's functions also include cytochrome c reductase and protein Fe/S maturation activities. ALR depletion from hepatocytes leads to increased oxidative stress, impaired ATP synthesis and apoptosis/necrosis. Loss of ALR's functions due to homozygous mutation causes severe mitochondrial defects and congenital progressive multiorgan failure, suggesting that individuals with one functional ALR allele might be susceptible to disorders involving compromised mitochondrial function. Genetic ablation of ALR from hepatocytes induces structural and functional mitochondrial abnormalities, dysregulation of lipid homeostasis and development of steatohepatitis. High-fat diet-fed ALR-deficient mice develop non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) and fibrosis, while hepatic and serum levels of ALR are lower than normal in human NASH and NASH-cirrhosis. Thus, ALR deficiency may be a critical predisposing factor in the pathogenesis and progression of NASH.

Correction of rigid clubfoot in an older child by gradual differential distraction using the Ilizarov's device or Joshi's external stabilization system (JESS) is a time-consuming procedure. We simultaneously combined the lateral column shortening by cuboid wedge resection along with the differential distraction by application of JESS fixator for the treatment of severe, rigid, neglected, or relapsed congenital talipes equinovarus (CTEV) foot deformity in 30 feet in 18 children with mean age of 5.3 years and mean follow-up of 27.6 months. The mean pretreatment Pirani score was 5.3 which improved to mean Pirani score after treatment of 1.4. Excellent results were obtained in 22 (71.33%) feet, good results in four (13.33%) feet, and poor results in four (13.33%) feet. The average period for distraction in our series was 6.3 weeks, and total average period of fixator in place was 11.2 weeks. To conclude, lateral column shortening with JESS application simultaneously gives early good to excellent short-term results, and the combination of techniques permits rapid correction of deformity, and thus reducing the time for which the fixator is in place and hence has better acceptance by the patient.

Higher order elastic constants have been calculated in semi-metallic superconducting single crystal magnesium diboride (MgB2) at low temperatures following the interaction potential model. Second order elastic constants are used for the determination of other ultrasonic parameters. The pressure variation of the ultrasonic velocities is evaluated using the second order elastic constants. The ultrasonic attenuation due to electron-phonon interaction has been computed at different pressures and in low temperatures range 40–90 K. We have also calculated the electron-viscosity at different low temperature, needed for the calculation of ultrasonic attenuation. The behaviour of ultrasonic attenuation is almost similar to its inverse electrical resistivity. The electron–phonon interaction, which is the dominating cause of ultrasonic attenuation, occurs at lower temperatures in MgB2 single crystal. It has been found that the electrical resistivity is the main contributor to the behaviour of ultrasonic attenuation as a function of temperature and the responsible cause of attenuation is phonon-phonon interaction.

Baseline eosinophils reside in the gastrointestinal tract; however, in several allergic disorders, excessive eosinophils accumulate in the blood as well in the tissues. Recently, we showed in vitro that interleukin (IL)‐18 matures and transforms IL‐5‐generated eosinophils into the pathogenic eosinophils that are detected in human allergic diseases. To examine the role of local induction of IL‐18 in promoting eosinophil‐associated intestinal disorders, we generated enterocyte IL‐18‐overexpressing mice using the rat intestinal fatty acid‐binding promoter (Fabpi) and analysed tissue IL‐18 overexpression and eosinophilia by performing real‐time polymerase chain reaction, Enzyme‐Linked Immunosorbent Assay and anti‐major basic protein immunostaining. Herein we show that Fabpi‐IL‐18 mice display highly induced IL‐18 mRNA and protein in the jejunum. IL‐18 overexpression in enterocytes promotes marked increases of eosinophils in the blood and jejunum. Our analysis shows IL‐18 overexpression in the jejunum induces a specific population of CD101(+ ) CD274(+) tissue eosinophils. Additionally, we observed comparable tissue eosinophilia in IL‐13‐deficient‐Fabpi‐IL‐18 mice, and reduced numbers of tissue eosinophils in eotaxin‐deficient‐Fabpi‐IL‐18 and IL‐5‐deficient‐Fabpi‐IL‐18 mice compared with Fabpi‐IL‐18 transgenic mice. Notably, jejunum eosinophilia in IL‐5‐deficient‐Fabpi‐IL‐18 mice is significantly induced compared with wild‐type mice, which indicates the direct role of induced IL‐18 in the tissue accumulation of eosinophils and mast cells. Furthermore, we also found that overexpression of IL‐18 in the intestine promotes eosinophil‐associated peanut‐induced allergic responses in mice. Taken together, we provide direct in vivo evidence that induced expression of IL‐18 in the enterocytes promotes eotaxin‐1, IL‐5 and IL‐13 independent intestinal eosinophilia, which signifies the clinical relevance of induced IL‐18 in eosinophil‐associated gastrointestinal disorders (EGIDs) to food allergens.

The bearing faults may lead to expensive and catastrophic failures, which affect the reliability of power drivetrain in electromechanical system. To reduce impact of the bearing failures, accurate analysis and timely diagnosis are required for improved reliability of the electromechanical systems. In this work, an enhanced transient current signature analysis has been investigated for aircraft application using permanent magnet synchronous motor with bearing defects. The motor current under steady-state and transient conditions is acquired from an experimental test-rig with bearing defects at different loading and speed levels. The acquired signals are first investigated using frequency domain analysis and then compared with the time–frequency domain analysis such as wavelet analysis. The discrete wavelet transform is used to analyze on the calculated residual current for the bearing fault diagnosis. The proposed time–frequency-based technique is able to provide useful features that characterize the condition of the bearings on transient current. Further, back-propagation neural network is used over the calculated features which distinguishes the defective bearing from the healthy bearing with high accuracy.

The main objective of this paper is to detect and classify the faults in a single-stage bevel gearbox. In this paper, energy operator (EO) is combined with the spectrum and cepstrum analysis is used for detection of faults and for classification purpose, J48 algorithm is used. Usually, the vibration signal is contaminated with noises which suppress the fault frequencies in spectrum analysis. So, a filter-free, simple, and efficient EO method is used to reduce noise and interferences of vibration signal coming from the gearbox test rig. All the experiments are carried out by varying the speed and load under three health conditions of gearbox such as healthy, chipped, and missing tooth. The vibration signal is preprocessed by EO, which is further analyzed by spectrum and cepstrum analysis in MATLAB to detect the location of faults. J48 decision tree algorithm is used to select the dominant feature among 12 statistical features which are extracted from the processed signal and based on these chosen features; the overall classification accuracy is approx. 89% with a precision of 0.917. The obtained results show that the presented method can detect and classify the faults of gearbox efficiently.

The current study presents first CP murine model that show IL-18–induced eosinophil inflammation-mediated induction of oncogenic proteins and several pathological malignant characteristics., Reports indicate that accumulated macrophages in the pancreas are responsible for promoting the pathogenesis of chronic pancreatitis (CP). Recently, macrophage-secreted cytokines have been implicated in promoting pancreatic acinar-to-ductal metaplasia (ADM). This study aims to establish the role of accumulated macrophage-activated NLRP3-IL-18-eosinophil mechanistic pathway in promoting several characteristics of pancreatic malignancy in CP. We report that in a murine model of pancreatic cancer (PC), accumulated macrophages are the source of NLRP3-regulated IL-18, which promotes eosinophilic inflammation-mediated accumulation to periductal mucin and collagen, including the formation of ADM, pancreatic intraepithelial neoplasia (PanINs), and intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasm. Most importantly, we show improved malignant characteristics with reduced levels of oncogenes in an anti–IL-18 neutralized and IL-18 gene deficient murine model of CP. Last, human biopsies validated that NLRP3-IL-18–induced eosinophils accumulate near the ducts, showing PanINs formation in PC. Taken together, we present the evidence on the role of IL-18–induced eosinophilia in the development of PC phenotype like ADM, PanINs, and ductal cell differentiation in inflammation-induced CP.

Pancreatitis is an inflammatory disease characterized by the induction of several proinflammatory cytokines like interleukin (IL)-6, IL-8, IL-1β, and IL-1. Recently, the multifunctional innate cytokine IL-15 has been implicated in the protection of several diseases, including cancer. Tissue fibrosis is one of the major problems in successfully treating chronic pancreatitis pathogenesis. Therefore, we tested the hypothesis that recombinant IL-15 (rIL-15) treatment may induce innate tissue responses and its overexpression will improve the pathogenesis of cerulein-induced chronic pancreatitis, associated remodeling, and fibrosis. We observed atrophy of acinar cells, increased inflammation, and increased deposition of perivascular collagen, the upregulated protein level of transforming growth factor (TGF)-β1, α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA), and collagen-1 in cerulein-induced chronic pancreatitis in mice. Furthermore, we reported that rIL-15 treatment protects mice from the cerulein-induced chronic pancreatitis pathogenesis, including acinar cell atrophy, and perivascular accumulation of tissue collagen followed by downregulation of profibrotic genes such as TGF-β1, α-SMA, collagen-1, collagen-3, and fibronectin in cerulein-induced chronic pancreatitis in mice. Mechanistically, we show that IL-15-mediated increase of interferon-γ-responsive invariant natural killer T (iNKT) cells in the blood and tissue protects cerulein-induced pancreatic pathogenesis in mice. Of note, a reduction in iNKT cells was also observed in human chronic pancreatitis compared with normal individuals. Taken together, these data suggest that IL-15 treatment may be a novel therapeutic strategy for treating chronic pancreatitis pathogenesis. NEW & NOTEWORTHY Pancreatic fibrosis is a major concern for the successful treatment of chronic pancreatitis and pancreatic cancer. Therefore, restriction in the progression of fibrosis is the promising approach to manage the pancreatitis pathogenesis. Herein, we present in vivo evidences that pharmacological treatment of recombinant interleukin-15 improves remodeling and fibrosis in cerulein-induced chronic pancreatitis in mice. Our observations indicate that interleukin-15 immunotherapy may be a possible and potential strategy for restricting the progression of fibrosis in chronic pancreatitis.

The current studies demonstrate a critical role of IL-18 in transforming IL-5 generated naïve eosinophils into the distinct inflammatory CD101(+)CD274(+) expressing mature and activated tissue eosinophils that promote disease pathogenesis.

Eosinophilic pancreatitis (EP) is reported in humans; however, the etiology and role of eosinophils in EP pathogenesis are poorly understood and not well explored. Therefore, it is interesting to examine the role of eosinophils in the initiation and progression of pancreatitis pathogenesis. Accordingly, we performed anti-major basic protein immunostaining, chloroacetate esterase, and Masson’s trichrome analyses to detect eosinophils, mast cells, and collagen in the tissue sections of mouse and human pancreas. Induced eosinophils accumulation and degranulation were observed in the tissue sections of human pancreatitis, compared with no eosinophils in the normal pancreatic tissue sections. Similarly, we observed induced tissue eosinophilia along with mast cells and acinar cells atrophy in cerulein-induced mouse model of chronic pancreatitis. Additionally, qPCR and ELISA analyses detected induced transcript and protein levels of proinflammatory and profibrotic cytokines, chemokines like IL 5, IL-18, eotaxin-1, eotaxin-2, TGF-β1, collagen-1, collagen-3, fibronectin, and α-SMA in experimental pancreatitis. Mechanistically, we show that eosinophil-deficient GATA1 and endogenous IL-5-deficient mice were protected from the induction of proinflammatory and profibrotic cytokines, chemokines, tissue eosinophilia, and mast cells in a cerulein-induced murine model of pancreatitis. These human and experimental data indicate that eosinophil accumulation and degranulation may have a critical role in promoting pancreatitis pathogenesis including fibrosis. Taken together, eosinophil tissue accumulation needs appropriate attention to understand and restrict the progression of pancreatitis pathogenesis in humans.NEW & NOTEWORTHY The present study for the first time shows that eosinophils accumulate in the pancreas and promote disease pathogenesis, including fibrosis in earlier reported cerulein-induced experimental models of pancreatitis. Importantly, we show that GATA-1 and IL-5 deficiency protects mice form the induction of eosinophil active chemokines, and profibrotic cytokines, including accumulation of tissue collagen in an experimental model of pancreatitis. Additionally, we state that cerulein-induced chronic pancreatitis is independent of blood eosinophilia.

Interleukin (IL)-15 overexpression in eosinophilic gastrointestinal disorders is reported, but IL-15’s role in promoting eosinophilia gastroenteritis is largely unknown. Therefore, we generated enterocyte-overexpressed IL-15 transgenic mice using Fabpi-promoter. The Fabpi-IL-15 (iIL-15) transgenic mice show induced IL-15 levels in the jejunum with a marked increase in jejunum eosinophils. However, no induction of eosinophilia in the blood or any other gastrointestinal segment was observed. Eosinophilia in the jejunum villus was substantially higher in iIL-15 mice compared to wild type mice. In addition, goblet cell hyperplasia was also observed in the jejunum of iIL-15 mice. Furthermore, a significant correlation between induced IL-15 transcript and the IL-18 transcripts was observed. Therefore, to further understand the role of IL-18 in IL-15 mice associated gastrointestinal disorders; we generated iIL-15/IL-18Rα(−/−) mice. Using these mice, we found that IL-18 has an important role in promoting IL-15-induced eosinophilia. Since intestinal IL-15 overexpression is reported in food intolerance; we examined OVA intolerance in iIL-15 mice. The OVA-sensitized and challenged iIL-15 mice experienced weight loss, diarrhea, and eosinophilia in the jejunum. Taken together, our findings demonstrate that intestinal IL-15 overexpression induces IL-18-dependent eosinophilia and immunoglobulin in the intestine that promotes food allergic responses.

Worldwide increase incidences of allergic diseases have heightened the interest of clinicians and researchers to understand the role of neuroendocrine cells in the recruitment and activation of inflammatory cells. Several pieces of evidence revealed the association of neuropeptides in the pathogenesis of allergic diseases. Importantly, one such peptide that is secreted by neuronal cells and immune cells exerts a wide spectrum of immunological functions as cytokine/chemokine is termed as Vasoactive Intestinal Peptide (VIP). VIP mediates immunological function through interaction with specific receptors namely VPAC-1, VPAC-2, CRTH2 and PAC1 that are expressed on several immune cells such as eosinophils, mast cells, neutrophils, and lymphocytes; therefore, provide the basis for the action of VIP on the immune system. Additionally, VIP mediated action varies according to target organ depending upon the presence of specific VIP associated receptor, involved immune cells and the microenvironment of the organ. Herein, we present an integrative review of the current understanding on the role of VIP and associated receptors in allergic diseases, the presence of VIP receptors on various immune cells with particular emphasis on the role of VIP in the pathogenesis of allergic diseases such as asthma, allergic rhinitis, and atopic dermatitis. Being crucial signal molecule of the neuroendocrine-immune network, the development of stable VIP analogue and/or antagonist may provide the future therapeutic drug alternative for the better treatment of these allergic diseases. Taken together, our current review summarizes the current understandings of VIP biology and further explore the significance of neuroendocrine cells derived VIP in the recruitment of inflammatory cells in allergic diseases that may be helpful to the investigators for planning the experiments and accordingly predicting new therapeutic strategies for combating allergic diseases. Summarized graphical abstract will help the readers to understand the significance of VIP in allergic diseases.

Food allergy, a commonly increasing problem worldwide, defined as an adverse immune response to food. A variety of immune-related effector cells such as mast cells, eosinophils, neutrophils, and T cells are involved in food-related allergic responses categorized as IgE-mediated, non-IgE mediated, and mixed (IgE and non-IgE) depending upon underlying immunological mechanisms. The dietary antigens mainly target the gastrointestinal tract including pancreas that gets inflamed due to food allergy and leads acute pancreatitis. Reports indicate several food proteins induce pancreatitis; however, detailed underlying mechanism of food-induced pancreatitis is unexplored. The aim of the review is to understand and update the current scenario of food-induced pancreatitis. A comprehensive literature search of relevant research articles has been performed through PubMed and articles were chosen based on their relevance to food allergen mediated pancreatitis. Several cases in the literature indicating that acute pancreatitis has been provoked after the consumption of mustard, milk, egg, banana, fish, and kiwi fruits. Food-induced pancreatitis is an ignored and unexplored area of research. The review highlights the significance of food in the development of pancreatitis and draws the attention of physicians and scientists to consider food allergies as a possible cause for initiation of pancreatitis pathogenesis.

In the present work, we have calculated temperature-dependent second- and third-order elastic constants (SOECs and TOECs) of thermoelectric zirconium disulphide ( $$\hbox {ZrS}_{2})$$ and zirconium diselenide ( $$\hbox {ZrSe}_{2})$$ using a simple interaction potential model. SOECs have been used for the calculation of ultrasonic velocity along different orientations of propagation. Thermal relaxation time and ultrasonic attenuation have been determined with the help of SOECs and thermal conductivity. Temperature-dependent specific heat, thermal energy density, elastic coupling constants and Gruneisen parameters are also calculated using SOECs and other parameters. The dominating cause behind ultrasonic attenuation, in the temperature range of 300–900 K, is the interaction of acoustical phonon and lattice phonon. In the present study, we observed that the thermal conductivity and energy density play significant roles in ultrasonic attenuation. Ultrasonic velocity and attenuation are correlated with other thermophysical properties extracting important information about the quality and nature of the materials which are useful for industrial applications.