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Heliyon May 2024Alternative fuels can be produced from both non-edible feedstocks and edible crops. The higher production costs and contaminating nature of vegetable biofuels, which...
Evaluating the effect of diethyl ether and moringa oleifera antioxidant additives on the performance and emission characteristics of jatropha biodiesel-diesel blended fuel on CI engine - An experimental investigation.
Alternative fuels can be produced from both non-edible feedstocks and edible crops. The higher production costs and contaminating nature of vegetable biofuels, which cause engine component failure, make it conceivable to encourage the synthesis of biodiesel from non-edible sources. One of the most widely utilized alternative fuels is Jatropha biofuel, which has performance levels comparable to diesel fuels and can be used with CI (Compression Ignition) engines without any modifications. However when it comes to oxidative stability properties that impact shelf life and commercialization, the majority of biodiesels-including Jatropha-are lacking. Therefore, the objective of this study was to enhance the oxidative stability and other physicochemical parameters, such performance and emission characteristics, of Jatropha biodiesel with diesel blends by adding additives like DEE (diethyl ether) and MA (moringa oleifera antioxidant). The seeds of jatropha and moringa were harvested by hand and then mechanically extracted with a screw press. A conical flask containing the precisely weighed amount of oil is filled with 50 mL of neutral alcohol. The combination is then heated for an hour using a water condenser over a bath. Using phenolphthalein indicator, the contents are titrated with KOH solution after cooling. Weight of oil taken (w)/volume of KOH used (mL) × normality of KOH is the formula used to determine the acidity value of jatropha oil. It is therefore below the minimum level set by ASTM D 675, which is 2.5 mg KOH/g. Methanol was used in the transesterification process to produce biodiesel, and potassium hydroxide (KOH) was used as a catalyst. Then, using 5 % DEE and 10 % MA additives, the physicochemical properties of jatropha biodiesel-such as density, kinematics viscosity, calorific value, and oxidative stability-were characterized. The percentage of improvement of the biodiesel's mentioned properties with these additives was 0.68 %, 2.8 %, 0.73 %, and 33.8 %, respectively. The brake thermal efficiency (BTE) of B40MA10DEE05D45 increased by 8.52 % whereas the brake specific fuel consumption (BSFC) of B50MA10DEE05D35, which is Made up of 44 % diesel, 50 % jatropha biodiesel, 5 % DEE, and 10 % MA fuels, declined by 5.14 %. As a result of these additions, the blended fuel's CO, HC, and NOx emissions were reduced by 3.51 %, 2.25 %, and 8.64 %, respectively. Therefore, a 20 % blend of Jatropha biodiesel and diesel containing antioxidants from Moringa can be used in compression ignition engines without the need for engine modifications and with high oxidation stability.
PubMed: 38831843
DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e31436 -
Journal of Natural Medicines Jun 2024Mountain caviar is a fruit of Kochia scoparia that contains momordin Ic as a major saponin constituent. Its extract (MCE) has been shown to suppress blood glucose...
Mountain caviar is a fruit of Kochia scoparia that contains momordin Ic as a major saponin constituent. Its extract (MCE) has been shown to suppress blood glucose elevations in the human oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) as well as increases in blood glucose in OGTT, gastric emptying (GE), and glucose incorporation in the small intestine in rats. However, the effects of MCE and momordin Ic on glucose absorption in mice and these action mechanisms have not been examined for more than 2 decades. Therefore, we herein investigated the effects of MCE, its saponin fraction, and momordin Ic on blood glucose elevations in mice. Mouse blood glucose elevation tests were performed on carbohydrate-loaded mice. The mountain caviar saponin fraction significantly delayed blood glucose elevations in glucose-, sucrose-, and soluble starch-loaded mice. In glucose-loaded mice, the saponin fraction, MCE, and momordin Ic significantly suppressed rapid glucose elevations after glucose loading, but not sucrose loading. A mouse GE study was performed by loading with glucose and phenolphthalein solution. Momordin Ic and MCE strongly suppressed mouse GE. Intestinal glucose absorption was evaluated by the incorporation of 2-deoxyglucose (2-DG) into Caco-2 cell layers and mouse duodenum wall vesicles. The results obtained showed that momordin Ic inhibited the incorporation of 2-DG into Caco-2 cells and mouse duodenum vesicles. Collectively, these results suggest that MCE, particularly the principal saponin, momordin Ic, preferably suppressed glucose-induced blood glucose elevations and delayed carbohydrate-induced glucose elevations in mice. The underlying mechanism was found to involve the suppression of GE and intestinal glucose absorption.
Topics: Animals; Mice; Saponins; Plant Extracts; Humans; Caco-2 Cells; Hypoglycemic Agents; Male; Blood Glucose; Glucose; Intestinal Absorption; Glucose Tolerance Test; Gastric Emptying; Fruit; Mice, Inbred ICR
PubMed: 38587581
DOI: 10.1007/s11418-024-01791-5 -
Psychoanalytic Review Mar 2024Offering a personal example, the author argues for the protocols of respectful, confidential, and responsible institutional support as a corrective to an individual...
Offering a personal example, the author argues for the protocols of respectful, confidential, and responsible institutional support as a corrective to an individual clinician's lack of optimal judgment when facing difficult clinical challenges or personal crises.
Topics: Humans; Psychoanalytic Therapy; Aging; Phenolphthalein
PubMed: 38551657
DOI: 10.1521/prev.2024.111.1.47 -
Journal of Vision Mar 2024Transmission and processing of sensory information in the visual system takes time. For motion perception, our brain can overcome this intrinsic neural delay through...
Transmission and processing of sensory information in the visual system takes time. For motion perception, our brain can overcome this intrinsic neural delay through extrapolation mechanisms and accurately predict the current position of a continuously moving object. But how does the system behave when the motion abruptly changes and the prediction becomes wrong? Here we address this question by studying the perceived position of a moving object with various abrupt motion changes by human observers. We developed a task in which a bar is monotonously moving horizontally, and then motion suddenly stops, reverses, or disappears-then-reverses around two vertical stationary reference lines. Our results showed that participants overestimated the position of the stopping bar but did not perceive an overshoot in the motion reversal condition. When a temporal gap was added at the reverse point, the perceptual overshoot of the end point scaled with the gap durations. Our model suggests that the overestimation of the object position when it disappears is not linear as a function of its speeds but gradually fades out. These results can thus be reconciled in a single process where there is an interplay of the cortical motion prediction mechanisms and the late sensory transient visual inputs.
Topics: Humans; Brain; Dioctyl Sulfosuccinic Acid; Motion; Motion Perception; Phenolphthalein
PubMed: 38512248
DOI: 10.1167/jov.24.3.6 -
Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics :... Mar 2024A phenolphthalein-based Schiff base, 3,3-bis-{4-hydroxy-3-[(pyridine-2-ylmethylimino)-methyl]-phenyl}-3-isobenzofuran-1-one (PAP), has been synthesized and used for...
A phenolphthalein-based Schiff base, 3,3-bis-{4-hydroxy-3-[(pyridine-2-ylmethylimino)-methyl]-phenyl}-3-isobenzofuran-1-one (PAP), has been synthesized and used for selective fluorescence 'turn on' and 'turn off' sensing of Zn and PO respectively. The limit of detection using the 3 method for Zn is found to be 19.3 nM and that for PO is 8.3 μM. The sensing mechanism of PAP for Zn ions has been explained by H NMR, C NMR, TRPL, ESI-MS, FT-IR, and DFT based calculations. Taking advantage of this fluorescence 'on-off' behavior of PAP in the sequential presence of Zn and PO a two input fuzzy logic (FL) operation has been constructed. The chemosensor PAP can thus act as a metal ion and anion responsive molecular switch, and its corresponding emission intensity is used to mimic numerous FL functions. To replace various expensive, time-consuming experimental procedures, we implemented machine learning soft computing tools, such as fuzzy-logic, artificial neural networks (ANNs), and adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference systems (ANFIS), to correlate as well as predict the fluorescence intensity in the presence of any equivalent ratio of Zn and PO. The statistical performance measures (MSE and RMSE, for example) show that the projected values of the cation and anion sensing data by the ANFIS network are the best and closer to the experimental values.
PubMed: 38482924
DOI: 10.1039/d3cp05662g -
Polymers Mar 2024For the first time, copolymers of polyphenylene sulfone (PPSU) with cardo fragments of phenolphthalein (PP) were synthesized to develop highly permeable flat-sheet...
For the first time, copolymers of polyphenylene sulfone (PPSU) with cardo fragments of phenolphthalein (PP) were synthesized to develop highly permeable flat-sheet ultrafiltration membranes. By introducing cardo fragments into the polymer chain, we achieved a mechanical strength 1.3 times higher than the strength of commercial PPSU. It is shown that the introduction of the cardo monomer significantly increases the solubility of the polymer in aprotic solvents. The highest solubility is observed at the concentration of PP 50 mol.%. It is found that reduced viscosity of cardo polymer solutions leads to an increase in the coagulation rate. The permeance of asymmetric ultrafiltration membranes increases with PP concentration from 17.5 L/(m·h·bar) (10 mol.% PP) to 85.2 L/(m·h·bar) (90 mol.% PP). These data are in agreement with the results of a study of the coagulation rate of polymer solutions. Thus, for ultrafiltration membranes with 1.5-8 times higher permeance in comparison with PPSU due to the introduction of cardo fragments in the polymer chain, possessing high rejection of the model dye Blue Dextran (M = 70,000 g/mol), more than 99.2%, as well as high strength characteristics, were achieved.
PubMed: 38475386
DOI: 10.3390/polym16050703 -
Journal of the College of Physicians... Mar 2024To evaluate the role of intraoperative neurophysiological monitoring (IONM) in reducing the postoperative neurologic deficit following corrective surgery of scoliosis. (Observational Study)
Observational Study
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the role of intraoperative neurophysiological monitoring (IONM) in reducing the postoperative neurologic deficit following corrective surgery of scoliosis.
STUDY DESIGN
Observational Study. Place and Duration of the Study: Spine Surgery Department, Combined Military Hospital, Rawalpindi, from December 2022 to May 2023.
METHODOLOGY
The study included 170 cases of scoliosis operated under multimodal IONM. Decreased amplitude of ≥50% in SSEP or 70-80% in MEPs were considered warning signs. Cases were divided into two groups: Group 1 (signal drop) and Group 2 (no signal drop). Group 1 was subdivided into Group 1a (true positive), Group 1b (false positive) and Group 1c (intermediate positive). Group 2 was subdivided into Group 2a (true negative) and Group 2b (false negative).
RESULTS
Evoked potential changes were observed in 27 (15.9%) cases. This includes transient drop of signals in 16 (9.4%) and sustained drop of signals in 11 (6.5%) cases. Among sustained signal drop, 9 (5.29%) cases had exhibited postoperative neurological deficit whereas 2 (1.17%) cases did not show postoperative neurological deficit (false positive). Multimodal IONM in the current study shows sensitivity of 100%, specificity of 98.6%, positive predictive value of 92.6%, and negative predictive value of 100%.
CONCLUSION
Multimodal IONM reduces the incidence of postoperative neurological deficit in corrective surgery of scoliosis by effectively detecting neurologic injury during surgery. Monitoring events alert surgical team to exercise immediate corrective measures which likely results in recovery of lost signals and predict the favorable outcome.
KEY WORDS
Intraoperative monitoring, Motor evoked potentials, Neurological deficit, Scoliosis, Somatosensory evoked potentials.
Topics: Humans; Intraoperative Neurophysiological Monitoring; Scoliosis; Tertiary Care Centers; Evoked Potentials, Somatosensory; Evoked Potentials, Motor; Dioctyl Sulfosuccinic Acid; Phenolphthalein; Retrospective Studies
PubMed: 38462862
DOI: 10.29271/jcpsp.2024.03.284 -
Food Chemistry Jul 2024Screening for the hazardous adulterant phenolphthalein (PTH) in slimming foods is necessary. Herein, the linkage of the PTH target epitope with various spacer arms was...
Screening for the hazardous adulterant phenolphthalein (PTH) in slimming foods is necessary. Herein, the linkage of the PTH target epitope with various spacer arms was proposed for hapten design, aiming to produce highly sensitive and specific antibodies targeting PTH. To understand the influence of spacer arms on epitope, comprehensive evaluations were conducted using computer-aided chemistry and animal immunization. The resulting antibody exhibited maximal half-inhibitory concentration (IC) of 0.25 ng/mL. Then, a lateral flow immunoassay (LFIA) was established with detection capability for screening (CCβ) of less than 140, 240, and 25 ng/g for PTH in tea, instant coffee, and oral liquid, respectively. Furthermore, blind sample results agreed well with LFIA and liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). Therefore, this work not only provides a robust tool for detecting PTH adulteration but also suggests that the careful pairing of spacer arms with hapten epitope is a key factor in advancing rational hapten design.
Topics: Animals; Phenolphthalein; Chromatography, Liquid; Epitopes; Tandem Mass Spectrometry; Immunoassay; Antibodies; Haptens
PubMed: 38452509
DOI: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2024.138912 -
BMC Geriatrics Mar 2024Aging is associated with changes in the musculoskeletal system, including increased susceptibility to spine malalignments. Utilizing corrective exercises with a... (Randomized Controlled Trial)
Randomized Controlled Trial
BACKGROUND
Aging is associated with changes in the musculoskeletal system, including increased susceptibility to spine malalignments. Utilizing corrective exercises with a therapeutic emphasis can be beneficial in the elderly with thoracic spine hyperkyphosis.
OBJECTIVE
This study aimed to investigate the effects of six weeks of telerehabilitation-based respiratory and corrective exercises on quality of life, disability, thoracic kyphosis, craniovertebral angle, shoulder angle, cranial angle, and chest expansion in the elderly with thoracic spine hyperkyphosis.
METHODS
In this clinical trial, a total of 40 participants aged 60 and above with thoracic hyperkyphosis were randomly divided into the control (N = 20) and experimental (N = 20) groups. The experimental group performed the corrective exercises for six weeks (3 sessions per week). The control group performed general stretching exercises during the same time period. We measured the outcomes of quality of life, disability, thoracic kyphosis, craniovertebral angle, shoulder angle, cranial angle, and lung expansion before and after the intervention. Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was employed to analyze the data. A P-value ≤ 0.05 was considered statistically significant.
RESULTS
Quality of life (P < 0.001, Effect Size (ES): 0.44), chest expansion (P < 0.001, ES: 0.56), thoracic kyphosis angle (P < 0.001, ES: 0.31), craniovertebral (P < 0.001, ES: 0.33), cranial (P < 0.001, ES: 0.38), and shoulder (P = 0.005, ES: 0.20) angles were significantly improved in the experimental group as compared with controls. However, no statistically significant difference was observed between the two groups in terms of physical ability (P = 0.251, ES: 0.04).
CONCLUSION
It is therefore recommended that online corrective exercises be used in the rehabilitation protocol to improve the quality of life, posture, chest expansion, and disability in the elderly with thoracic kyphosis.
Topics: Aged; Humans; Telerehabilitation; Quality of Life; Exercise Therapy; Exercise; Kyphosis; Dioctyl Sulfosuccinic Acid; Phenolphthalein
PubMed: 38448857
DOI: 10.1186/s12877-024-04779-8 -
Journal of Drugs in Dermatology : JDD Mar 2024Integrated skin care is defined as the complementary use of topical treatments to nonsurgical facial rejuvenation procedures, such as lasers and radiofrequency...
INDIVIDUAL ARTICLE: Real-World Patient Cases Using Botanical Serum-Containing Corrective Gel as an Adjunct to Aesthetic Facial Laser or Microneedling Radiofrequency (MRF) Treatment.
Integrated skin care is defined as the complementary use of topical treatments to nonsurgical facial rejuvenation procedures, such as lasers and radiofrequency microneedling devices, to produce pleasing aesthetic results. Real-world experience from expert dermatologists is invaluable in guiding patient treatment plans, as there are limited clinical trials on the efficacy of integrated skincare regimens. The SkinCeuticals (New York, NY) Phyto Corrective gel (botanical serum-containing corrective gel) contains a lightweight botanical serum that hydrates, calms, and soothes skin. It contains antioxidant and anti-inflammatory ingredients derived from plant and fruit extracts, making it an appealing option for adjunctive treatment of post-procedure erythema and swelling. J Drugs Dermatol. 2024;23:3(Suppl 2):s3-s14.
Topics: Humans; Percutaneous Collagen Induction; Rejuvenation; Antioxidants; Dioctyl Sulfosuccinic Acid; Esthetics; Lasers; Phenolphthalein
PubMed: 38443134
DOI: 10.36849/jdd.SF400676