Free fatty acids regulating action of Capparis decidua fruit on dyslipidemia in rats

Capparis decidua belongs to family Capparidaceae in wastelands of India. The study aim was to determine the role of C. decidua fruits on the free fatty acids (FFA) profile in fat-rich diet (FRD) dyslipidemic rats. The methanolic extract of edible fruit of C. decidua (CD) was given orally to obese dyslipidemic rats at the dose of 125 mg/kg and 250 mg/kg for consecutive 28 days. CD treatment in FRD rats significantly restricts the body weight gains. Blood lipid profile was altered dose dependently and significantly after 4-week treatment with CD to FRD. rats. It significantly (p<0.05) enhanced serum FFA especially, g-linolinate, a-linolinate, arachidonate, ecosapentaenoate, docosapentaenoate and docosahexaenoate. Moreover, w3-PUFA content was also enhanced (50.3% and 78.8%) in the serum of CD treated animals, whereas MUFA was lowered (31.1% and 40%). Therefore, Capparis decidua fruit has a promising role on dyslipidemia and obesity and has the capabilities to regulate beneficial free fatty acids.

Experimental Investigation of Stratified Sensible Thermal Energy Storage Using Silicone Oil

This study experimentally investigates the scarcely studied stratified, oil-based sensible thermal energy storage (STES) tank, to examine the heat retention capability of Hytherm-600 silicone oil during the standalone period and its heat dispatchability during the discharging process. To conduct an experimental study on the thermic oil, a vertical cylindrical tank with a helical discharging coil fitted inside is used. Three different oil charging temperatures (50, 70, and 90 °C), and three different discharging flow rates (water) through the helical coil (0.5, 1.25, and 2 L/min) have been considered. The thermal stratification phenomena in oil and the evolution of thermocline have been investigated. Results indicate the formation of a thermocline zone of 154 mm thickness in the lower portion of the tank within 3 h from the commencement of the stand-alone period. The discharging operation fluctuates the thermocline stability in the storage medium (i.e., commercial thermic oil Hytherm-600). During the discharging operation, a water flow rate of 0.5 L/min through the helical coil led to higher discharging efficiencies owing to better heat transfer attributable to the higher water residence time inside the coil. For the aforesaid water flow rate, the average discharging efficiencies are 85.6%, 75.6%, and 81.6% for the charging temperatures of 50, 70, and 90 °C, respectively. Finally, the primary thermocline thickness is found to be constant at 82 mm following the splitting of the initial thermocline during the discharging operation

Strand-biased gene distribution, purine assymetry and environmental factors influence protein evolution in Bacillus

AbstractA strong purine asymmetry, along with strand-biased gene distribution and the presence of PolC, prevails in Bacillus and some other members of Firmicutes, Fusobacteria and Tenericutes. The analysis of protein features in 21 Bacillus species of diverse metabolic, virulence and ecological traits revealed that purine asymmetry in conjunction with lineage/niche specific constraints significantly influences protein evolution in Bacillus. All Bacillus species, except for Se-respiring Bacillus selenitireducens, display distinct strand-specific biases in amino acid usage, which may affect the isoelectric point or surface charge distribution of proteins with prevalence of acidic and basic residues in the leading and lagging strand proteins, respectively

Study of Different Flow Configurations of Radial Flow Annular Reactor for Thermochemical Energy Storage

Thermochemical energy storage is emerging as a promising seasonal thermal energy storage technology. Strontium Bromide has recently become one of the most used salt hydrates for the salt-hydrate and moist airbased open thermochemical energy storage system. This article suggests that radial flow fixed bed reactors offer advantageous configurations owing to their lower pressure drop without compromising thermal performance. Four possible configurations of radial flow fixed bed reactors, Inward flow Π-type, Inward flow Z-type, Outward flow Π-type, and Outward flow Z-type, are analyzed in detail. Energy efficiency, exergy efficiency, pressure drop, and non-dimensional constant named non-uniformity are used as performance metrics for comparing the proposed configurations with four different combinations of flow rates and aspect ratios. It is found that the type of the reactor configuration (Π-type or Z-type) has a negligible impact on the performance, with a maximum change of 4% in the energy efficiency during the hydration phase. The inward and outward flow arrangements exhibit considerable differences in performance, with inward flow having 3.5 times higher exergy efficiency than outward flow. The π-type configuration shows the highest non-uniformity of -0.22 for an aspect ratio of four, with a flow rate of 50 m3/h