Corn and Rice Bran Biodiesel Blend as Alternative fuels for Diesel Engine at Different Injection Pressures

Experimental study has been carried out using methyl esters of corn oil and rice branoilas fuel blendat the most recommended blending ratio of 20% biodiesel with conventional diesel fuel as alternative fuel for diesel engine.The effect of fuel injection pressure on diesel engine performance using B20 blend in comparison with that using neat diesel fuel is studied. Preliminary experiments regarding the analysis of fuel properties indicate that oils are heated up to the temperature of 50–60°C during process of transesterification. This is necessary to reduce high viscosity of oils as compared with that of neat diesel fuel. A series of tests were conducted on four-stroke single cylinder air cooled direct injection (DI) diesel engine at constant engine speed with varying load in percentage such as 0,25,50,75 and 100 and varying injection pressures of 180, 200 and 200 bar respectively. The investigating parameters include the engine performance parameters such as brake thermal efficiency, brake specific fuel consumption,combustion and emission parameters. The properties of methyl esters of corn oil and rice bran oil fuel blend affect the fuel injection system and cause an increase in the duration of fuel injection .This may cover more time according to the increase in the amount of injected fuel necessary to overcome the power loss accompanied with the biodiesel low energy content. The major conclusion is that, the increased injection pressure gives better results regarding the engine performance parameters in comparison with case of the original injection pressure for all tested fuels, thus the best results are obtained at high injection pressure of 200 bar. At this conditions it is concluded that, the increase of engine BTE and the decrease of BSFC was observed.The emissions like UBHC, CO are comparatively lower for biodiesel blend of B20 compared with diesel fuel. The heat release rate ( HRR) and peak pressure (P-θ) are higher for both tested fuels. This is due to better combustion of fuel due to presence of oxygen in biodiesel. But NOx and smoke opacity are marginally higher than that of the diesel fuel

Dengue fever: atypical manifestation

Dengue fever is affecting millions of population globally. For the past one decade, we have seen several outbreaks   and even causing significant mortality of affected population. We witnessed numerous pattern and multisystem presentation of dengue in this period. The CNS manifestation like encephalitis, polyneuropathy (GB like syndrome) and paresthesias were uncommonly reported priorly. Pancreatitis, polyserositis, carditis of varying severity and hepatic failure are the, some of atypical manifestations observed in recent out breaks. So dengue illness can presents with multi system involvement and can account to significant mortality. Here an attempt was done to present varying, uncommon and atypical manifestation of dengue illness

IN VITRO ANTI-INFLAMMATORY AND HEPATOPROTECTIVE ACTIVITY OF TURMESAC®

Objective: In this study, we investigated the hepatoprotective activity of Turmesac® on Human liver cells (HepG2 cell line) and anti-inflammatory effect on Murine macrophages (Raw 264.7 cell line) by flow Cytometry. Methods: Cell viability of HepG2 and Raw 264.7 cells determined by the MTT [3-(4,5-Dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-Diphenyltetrazolium Bromide] assay to identify a non-cytotoxic concentration of Turmesac® for the respective cell lines after 24 h exposure period. Further hepatoprotective effect of Turmesac® was performed in H2O2 treated liver cells using H2DCF-DA staining by flow cytometry. The anti-inflammatory potency of Turmesac® was evaluated in Lipopolysaccharide (LPS 2µg/ml) stimulated Murine Raw 264.7 macrophages by measuring the relative fluorescence intensity of 2 cytokines, Interleukin-8(IL-8) and (Interleukin-12) IL-12 by flow cytometric analysis. Results: Turmesac® concentrations of less than 50μg/ml did not show significant cytotoxicity on both HepG2 and Raw 264.7, cell lines following the treatment period of 24 h and selected 50μg/ml as the optimum concentration for hepatoprotective and anti-inflammatory models. The reactive oxygen species (ROS) study revealed that Turmesac® (50μg/ml) effectively suppressed the H2DCF-DA expression in HepG2 cells. Secondly, Turmesac® significantly suppressed the anti-inflammatory cytokine expressions of IL-8 and IL-12 in LPS pre-stimulated cells categorising as a potentially potent anti-inflammatory drug. The mean fluorescence intensity percentage of IL-8 is control 8.86, LPS 50.49, Turmesac® 19.63 and IL12 is control 10.41, LPS 68.94, and Turmesac® 15.79 respectively. Conclusion: This study highlighted that Turmesac® could be considered as a promising hepatoprotective and anti-inflammatory compound and a therapeutic agent in curing liver-related and inflammation-related diseases

Response of Dashehari mango to different Zn levels on yield and pulp nutrient contents grown on sandy loam soils of Lucknow

Dashehari is the leading mango variety grown in Indo-Gangetic plain. Its yield is affected severely by the micronutrient deficiencies. Zinc and boron are the two important micronutrients which limit the yield and quality of Dashehari mango in this region. Hence a field study was taken up to understand the responses of Dashehari mango to different levels of Zn. Results indicated yield enhancement with proper Zn supplementation through foliar sprays. Highest yield of 43.50±2.00 to 50.72±2.40 kg tree-1 was recorded with 1.0% ZnSO4 application, followed by 42.27±1.26 (1.5% ZnSO4) to 47.85±1.65 (0.75% ZnSO4) kg tree-1. TSS (19.63±0.25 to 20.27±0.40°Brix), acidity (0.150±0.01 to 0.200±0.02%) and ascorbic acid (29.46±2.29 to 35.17±1.32 mg per 100 g) variations were noted under the influence of various Zn treated fruits. Foliar spray application also caused nutrient richness in mango fruit pulp showing improvement in Zn concentration in fruit pulp from 1.17±0.10 to 1.73±0.10 mg kg-1. Highest concentration of B, Cu, Fe and Mn were observed (3.13±0.018, 4.37±0.06, 7.87±0.06, 20.10±0.15 mg kg-1 respectively) with P and K concentrations of 0.026±0.0002 & 0.28±0.001% respectively. Significant difference in leaf and soil Zn content was also recorded. The results indicated that yield and quality of Dashehari mango can be improved with foliar spray of Zn in sandy loam soil

Gastroprotective Effect of Ginger Rhizome (Zingiber officinale) Extract: Role of Gallic Acid and Cinnamic Acid in H+, K+-ATPase/H. pylori Inhibition and Anti-Oxidative Mechanism

Zinger officinale has been used as a traditional source against gastric disturbances from time immemorial. The ulcer-preventive properties of aqueous extract of ginger rhizome (GRAE) belonging to the family Zingiberaceae is reported in the present study. GRAE at 200 mg kg−1 b.w. protected up to 86% and 77% for the swim stress-/ethanol stress-induced ulcers with an ulcer index (UI) of 50 ± 4.0/46 ± 4.0, respectively, similar to that of lansoprazole (80%) at 30 mg kg−1 b.w. Increased H+, K+-ATPase activity and thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) were observed in ulcer-induced rats, while GRAE fed rats showed normalized levels and GRAE also normalized depleted/amplified anti-oxidant enzymes in swim stress and ethanol stress-induced animals. Gastric mucin damage was recovered up to 77% and 74% in swim stress and ethanol stress, respectively after GRAE treatment. GRAE also inhibited the growth of H. pylori with MIC of 300 ± 38 μg and also possessed reducing power, free radical scavenging ability with an IC50 of 6.8 ± 0.4 μg mL−1 gallic acid equivalent (GAE). DNA protection up to 90% at 0.4 μg was also observed. Toxicity studies indicated no lethal effects in rats fed up to 5 g kg−1 b.w. Compositional analysis favored by determination of the efficacy of individual phenolic acids towards their potential ulcer-preventive ability revealed that between cinnamic (50%) and gallic (46%) phenolic acids, cinnamic acid appear to contribute to better H+, K+-ATPase and Helicobacter pylori inhibitory activity, while gallic acid contributes significantly to anti-oxidant activity

Curing of large cardamom (Amomum subulatum Roxb.) : Fabrication of a new dryer and a comparative study of its performance with existing dryers

A simple natural convection dryer that could be easily dismantled and transported was designed, fabricated and field tested in a large cardamom (Amomum subulatum) plantation in Sikkim, India. The thermal efficiency of the dryer (5.2%).was much higher compared to the traditional curing house dryer (1.8%) thus saving substantial fuel. The dryer had a capacity of 300 kg of fresh cardamom capsules which was adequate for most ofthe plantations in the region. The time taken for drying the fresh capsules to a moisture content of about 10% was 24 h which was much less compared to conventional bhatti drying (55 h) and curing house drying (42 h). The quality of the dried product with respect to flavour and colour was also superior to that obtained from the other two methods of drying. &nbsp

Mediators of Inflammation-Induced Bone Damage in Arthritis and Their Control by Herbal Products

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an autoimmune disease characterized by chronic inflammation of the synovial joints leading to bone and cartilage damage. Untreated inflammatory arthritis can result in severe deformities and disability. The use of anti-inflammatory agents and biologics has been the mainstay of treatment of RA. However, the prolonged use of such agents may lead to severe adverse reactions. In addition, many of these drugs are quite expensive. These limitations have necessitated the search for newer therapeutic agents for RA. Natural plant products offer a promising resource for potential antiarthritic agents. We describe here the cellular and soluble mediators of inflammation-induced bone damage (osteoimmunology) in arthritis. We also elaborate upon various herbal products that possess antiarthritic activity, particularly mentioning the specific target molecules. As the use of natural product supplements by RA patients is increasing, this paper presents timely and useful information about the mechanism of action of promising herbal products that can inhibit the progression of inflammation and bone damage in the course of arthritis

Modulation of Macrophage Function by Lactobacillus-Conditioned Medium

open access articleProbiotics are used as microbial food supplements for health and well-being. They are thought to have immunomodulatory effects although their exact physiological mechanism of action is not clear. This study investigated the influence of probiotic Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG conditioned media (LGG-CM) on macrophage phagocytosis of non-pathogenic Escherichia coli HfrC. The gentamicin protection assay was used to study the bacterial killing phases of phagocytosis. Macrophages co-incubated with E. coli for an hour allowed them to ingest bacteria and then the rate of E. coli killing was monitored for up to 300 min to determine the killing or digestion of the bacteria by recovering them from the macrophage lysate. We found that the LGG-CM significantly increased the bacterial killing by approximately 6-fold when compared with that of controls. By contrast, this killing process was found to be associated with enhanced free radical production via the activation of NADPH oxidase, stimulated by the LGG conditioned medium. We also found that the conditioned medium had small effect on nitric oxide (NO) generation, albeit to a lesser extent. This work suggests that LGG-CM may play an important role in suppressing the total microbial load within the macrophages and hence, the extent to which pro-inflammatory molecules such as free radicals and NO are generated. The modulation of inflammation-promoting signals by LGG-CM may be beneficial as it modulates bacterial killing, and thereby prevents any collateral damage to host