An environmentally sustainable manufacturing network model under an international ecosystem

Clean Technologies and Environmental Policy - There is a growing consensus that the increase in greenhouse gases results in unfavorable changes to the Earth’s climate and is responsible for...     

Fabrication of Food Grade Vitamin E Nanoemulsion by Low Energy Approach,Characterization and Its Application

The present study was carried out to fabricate the food grade vitamin E acetate nanoemulsion using edible mustard oil and to evaluate its improved bioactivities. A food-grade vitamin E acetate nanoemulsion was fabricated using the edible mustard oil and surfactant Tween-80. Flocculation was not observed for 15 days. The nanoemulsion was characterized for droplet morphology and size distribution using atomic force microscope and zetasizer, respectively. We observe a stable nanoemulsion of spherical morphology and a size distribution of 86.45 ± 3.61 nm. Further, the high-performance liquid chromatography method was used to determine the vitamin E acetate concentration and encapsulation efficiency for the stable nanoemulsion. These nanoemulsions showed improved bioactivity, antioxidant, and antimicrobial activity and could be potentially used to increase the shelf life of fruit juice.     

The Lithiation Reactivity and Selectivity of Differentially Branched Alkyldiphenylphosphine Oxides – A Simple and Versatile Approach to ortho‐Functionalized Arylphosphine Oxides

Alkyldiphenylphosphine oxides typically undergo α‐deprotonation with alkyllithium reagents. Here, the lithiation of differentially branched alkyldiphenylphosphine oxides was investigated and a diverse, but predictable reactivity was found. γ‐Branched derivatives undergo selective directed ortho‐metalation (DoM) using butyllithium and TMEDA as an additive. With decreasing degree of γ‐branching α‐lithiation becomes predominant. The ortho‐phosphinoyllithium intermediates are subject to functionalization and C C bond forming reactions, thus providing a convenient approach to new phosphine oxides and phosphine‐borane complexes, which have a good potential for an approach to new ligands for catalysis.

     

Low-fat sweet syrup cheese ball (Rosogolla) manufacturing and effect of lowering fat on quality

Low-fat sweet syrup cheese ball (Rosogolla) was manufactured by using low-fat cow milk and implementing six different combinations viz. type of chhana and two different concentrations (40 and 50o Brix) of cooking medium. Experimental Rosogolla samples and control were analysed for physico-chemical, textural and sensory properties. A 40o Brix concentration of sugar syrup as a cooking medium gave a highly acceptable low-fat Rosogolla. Average composition of low-fat Rosogolla is, moisture—49.83%, fat—4.66%, protein—11.85%, sorbitol—32.41% and ash—0.90%. Rheological properties of the most acceptable low-fat Rosogolla were hardness—6.78 N, springiness—5.72 mm, gumminess—3.2 N, chewiness—18.92 Nmm and stiffness—0.95 N/mm.     

Computational Investigation Identified Potential Chemical Scaffolds for Heparanase as Anticancer Therapeutics

Heparanase (Hpse) is an endo-β-D-glucuronidase capable of cleaving heparan sulfate side chains. Its upregulated expression is implicated in tumor growth, metastasis and angiogenesis, thus making it an attractive target in cancer therapeutics. Currently, a few small molecule inhibitors have been reported to inhibit Hpse, with promising oral administration and pharmacokinetic (PK) properties. In the present study, a ligand-based pharmacophore model was generated from a dataset of well-known active small molecule Hpse inhibitors which were observed to display favorable PK properties. The compounds from the InterBioScreen database of natural (69,034) and synthetic (195,469) molecules were first filtered for their drug-likeness and the pharmacophore model was used to screen the drug-like database. The compounds acquired from screening were subjected to molecular docking with Heparanase, where two molecules used in pharmacophore generation were used as reference. From the docking analysis, 33 compounds displayed higher docking scores than the reference and favorable interactions with the catalytic residues. Complex interactions were further evaluated by molecular dynamics simulations to assess their stability over a period of 50 ns. Furthermore, the binding free energies of the 33 compounds revealed 2 natural and 2 synthetic compounds, with better binding affinities than reference molecules, and were, therefore, deemed as hits. The hit compounds presented from this in silico investigation could act as potent Heparanase inhibitors and further serve as lead scaffolds to develop compounds targeting Heparanase upregulation in cancer.     

Effect of cultivars and irrigation waters on persistence of indicator bacteria on lettuce grown in high tunnel

Effect of irrigation with groundwater (GW), primary-treated wastewater (PTWW), secondary-treated wastewater (STWW), and roof-collected rainwater (RCR) on the microbial quality of lettuce cultivars “Annapolis,” “Celinet,” and “Coastline” grown in high tunnel was investigated. Lettuce plants were spray irrigated with irrigation waters once a week for 2 weeks and analyzed for indicator and pathogenic bacteria. PTWW irrigation resulted in the highest Escherichia coli recovery on the lettuce plants (4.7 log MPN/g) as compared to irrigation with other three waters on 0 day postirrigation (dpi). Lettuce cultivars affected the bacterial die-off rate, where E. coli populations reduced the most by 1.5 log MPN/g on “Annapolis” lettuce on 2 dpi. The STWW and RCR irrigation did not significantly influence indicator bacterial populations on lettuce as compared to GW irrigation. The STWW and RCR containing low populations of indicator bacteria may be suitable for lettuce irrigation in Mid-Atlantic area without affecting its microbial quality.     

In Situ Nanoparticle Embedding for Authentication of Epoxy Composites

In situ reduction of chloroauric acid inside an amine‐cured epoxy matrix leads to formation of gold nanoparticles which are embedded inside the part. This phenomenon is leveraged to design an authentication system for composites wherein the particles are embedded spatially and are invisible to the naked eye. Under UV light, the particles diffract light and create an easily visible path. The particles penetrate inside the part and create a permanent, cost‐effective, tamper‐proof code. The advantage of this technique is that this authentication system can be built in composite parts after fabrication of the composite structure. As very small amount (nanograms) of particles are present in the part, negligible change in the thermal characteristics of the parent matrix is observed. The particles can be embedded easily in carbon fiber as well as glass fiber reinforced epoxy structures.     

Evaluation of in vitro probiotic potential of phytase‐producing bacterial strain as a new probiotic candidate

Sixty‐three phytase‐producing bacterial strains were isolated from natural sources, and their probiotic potential was evaluated. Of these, only fifteen strains were selected on the basis of confirmatory plate assay. Among these, five phytase‐producing strains exhibiting potent probiotic properties were identified as Bacillus cereus P1, Bacillus subtilis P6, B. subtilis P7, Pseudomonas aeruginosa P12 and P. aeruginosa P15 on the basis of morphological, biochemical and molecular characteristics. Maximum phytase activity (2.74 EU mL^?1) with potential probiotic properties, that is more than 70% survivability at pH 2.0, up to 2.0% bile salt tolerance, sporulation efficiency of more than 80% and survival in anaerobic condition (94.31%), was revealed by B. subtilis P6 as compared to the well‐established commercial probiotic strains Lactobacillus sporogenes and Lactobacillus casei. Thus, phytase‐producing B. subtilis P6 with promising probiotic features can be used in food and animal feed applications for betterment of mankind after further validation.     

Proteomic approaches for discovery of new targets for vaccine and therapeutics against visceral leishmaniasis

Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is the most devastating type caused by Leishmania donovani, Leishmania infantum, and Leishmania chagasi. The therapeutic mainstay is still based on the antiquated pentavalent antimonial against which resistance is now increasing. Unfortunately, due to the digenetic life cycle of parasite, there is significant antigenic diversity. There is an urgent need to develop novel drug/vaccine targets against VL for which the primary goal should be to identify and characterize the structural and functional proteins. Proteomics, being widely employed in the study of Leishmania seems to be a suitable strategy as the availability of annotated sequenced genome of Leishmania major has opened the door for dissection of both protein expression/regulation and function. Advances in clinical proteomic technologies have enable to enhance our mechanistic understanding of virulence/pathogenicity/host-pathogen interactions, drug resistance thereby defining novel therapeutic/vaccine targets. Expression proteomics exploits the differential expression of leishmanial proteins as biomarkers for application towards early diagnosis. Further using immunoproteomics efforts were also focused on evaluating responses to define parasite T-cell epitopes as vaccine/diagnostic targets. This review has highlighted some of the relevant developments in the rapidly emerging field of leishmanial proteomics and focus on its future applications in drug and vaccine discovery against VL.