ANTIDIABETIC, HYPOLIPIDEMIC AND ANTIOXIDANT ACTIVITIES AND PROTECTIVE EFFECTS OF PUNICA GRANATUM PEELS POWDER AGAINST PANCREATIC AND HEPATIC TISSUES INJURIES IN STREPTOZOTOCIN INDUCED IDDM IN RATS

Objective: There is a growing interest in traditional medicinal plants since they contain medicinally active products to remedy many diseases. Punica granatum (PG) has many medicinal applications. The aim of this study was to investigate the antidiabetic, hypolipidemic, antioxidant and hepato-pancreatic protective effects of PG peel powder (PGPP) on streptozotocin (STZ) induced diabetic rats.Methods: Male Swiss albino rats became diabetic with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM) after a single intravenous injection of STZ (50 mg/kg). IDDM-rats received either a daily oral dose of PGPP (200 mg/kg), or insulin for 20 days. On day 21, rats were sacrificed and levels of fasting blood glucose (FBG), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), albumin, lipid profile, lipid peroxidation (LPO), nitric oxide (NO), superoxide dismutase (SOD), and total antioxidant capacity (TAC) were estimated. Histopathological studies of liver and pancreas were performed.Results: There was a significant elevation in FBG, AST, ALT activities, NO and LPO levels for induced IDDM. In contrast, albumin level, SOD activity, and TAC exhibited the significant decline. In addition, there was marked lipid profile disturbances, and histopathological changes of liver and pancreas. Following PGPP supplementation, the levels of all the above-mentioned factors were back to normal. Also, liver architecture and the size of an islets of Langerhans of the pancreas were almost back to normal. The effect of PGPP was more pronounced when compared with insulin.Conclusion: PGPP is an effective alternative for the treatment of IDDM through the regeneration of β cells of pancreas and via its strong antioxidant properties.Â

Synthesis of New Pyrazolo[1,5-a]-s-triazine, Pyrazolo[5,1-c]-as-triazines, Pyrazolo[1\u27,5\u27:1,2]imidazo[4,5-b] quinoxaline, and Pyrazolo[1,5-a]pyrimidines

Novel pyrazolo[1,5-a]-s-triazine, pyrazolo[1,5-c]-as-triazine, pyrazolo [1\u27,5\u27;1,2]imidazo[4,5-fr]quinoxaline and pyrazolo[1,5-a]pyrimidines have been prepared using 5-aminopyrazoles as starting materials

Prospects for the Improvement of Energy Performance in Agroindustry Using Phase Change Materials

This work was partially supported by the Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia, UIDB/00066/2020 (CTS – Center of Technology and Systems).The use of Phase Change Materials (PCMs), able to store latent heat, represents an opportunity to improve energy efficiency in the agroindustry by means of thermal energy storage. PCMs provide higher energy density then sensible heat storage mediums, thus paving the way to multiple applications, like supporting the integration of renewables or allowing for new storage architectures, decentralized and directly installed in the chain production equipment, creating e.g. the opportunity to recover and value low-grade operational heat sub-products. Such new and decentralized architecture, not currently applied in agroindustry, is proposed in this work. A chocolate tempering machine using an organic PCM is conceived and analyzed using ANSYS Fluent software for computational fluid dynamics simulations, comparing the main aspects in the storage capacity and discharging process with a conventional sensitive heat storage solution that uses water. PCMs allows improving the stored energy, keeping the chocolate in the working temperature after being tempered for more than four times longer than using only hot water. If the PCMs are charged by renewables, the self-consumption ratio can be improved while providing energy flexibility to the user.authorsversionpublishe

Biotransformation of lanthanum by Aspergillus niger

Lanthanum is an important rare earth element and has many applications in modern electronics and catalyst manufacturing. However, there exist several obstacles in the recovery and cycling of this element due to a low average grade in exploitable deposits and low recovery rates by energy-intensive extraction procedures. In this work, a novel method to transform and recover La has been proposed using the geoactive properties of Aspergillus niger. La-containing crystals were formed and collected after A. niger was grown on Czapek-Dox agar medium amended with LaCl 3. Energy-dispersive X-ray analysis (EDXA) showed the crystals contained C, O, and La; scanning electron microscopy revealed that the crystals were of a tabular structure with terraced surfaces. X-ray diffraction identified the mineral phase of the sample as La 2(C 2O 4) 3·10H 2O. Thermogravimetric analysis transformed the oxalate crystals into La 2O 3 with the kinetics of thermal decomposition corresponding well with theoretical calculations. Geochemical modelling further confirmed that the crystals were lanthanum decahydrate and identified optimal conditions for their precipitation. To quantify crystal production, biomass-free fungal culture supernatants were used to precipitate La. The results showed that the precipitated lanthanum decahydrate achieved optimal yields when the concentration of La was above 15 mM and that 100% La was removed from the system at 5 mM La. Our findings provide a new aspect in the biotransformation and biorecovery of rare earth elements from solution using biomass-free fungal culture systems. </p