To study the effects of delta-tocotrienol on glycaemic control parameters in individuals with pre-diabetes.
The randomised control trial was conducted at the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, ...Rawalpindi, Pakistan, from July 15 to November 15, 2019, and comprised individuals aged 18-60 years having fasting plasma glucose of 5.6 to 6.9 mmol/L or glycosylated haemoglobin of 5.7 to 6.4%. They were randomised into group A receiving 300mg delta-tocotrienol and group B receiving a placebo once daily for 12 weeks. Weight, height, waist circumference, fasting plasma glucose, insulin and glycosylated haemoglobin were measured at the beginning and end of the trial to assess any change. Body mass index and homeostatic model assessment-insulin resistance were also calculated. Data was analysed using SPSS 21.
Of the 77participants, 40(52%) were in group A and 37(48%) in group B. Group A showed significantly greater reduction in terms of fasting plasma glucose, glycosylated haemoglobin, insulin and homeostatic model assessment-insulin resistance index (p≤0.001) post-intervention.
Delta-tocotrienol supplementation was found to have a significant effect in improving glycaemic control parameters in persons with pre-diabetes. Futures larger scale clinical trials are needed to confirm these findings.
SLCTR/2019/024.
This study aimed to determine the publication rate of free paper abstracts presented by the postgraduate (PG) trainees and determine the reasons for non-publication. A mixed methods study was ...conducted. PG trainees presenting free papers at the at the Pakistan Society of Chemical Pathologist conferences from 2012 to 2018 were included. Three databases were searched to identify if the abstracts were published or not. The PG trainee authors of abstracts not published as full manuscript, were surveyed to determine the barriers and challenges in publishing a manuscript. The average rate of full manuscript publication was 51.8% (n = 93/177) for the abstracts presented by the PG trainees. Publication rate was higher for oral (n = 73/119, 61.3%) compared to poster presentation (n = 20/58, 34.5%). Most of the manuscripts were published after two years of abstract presentation. The survey showed that the main challenges to publishing an abstract were lack of time, limited scientific writing or submission skills, lack of funding for publication fee, and negative or statistically non-significant results. This reflects a need to arrange workshops/symposia for the PG trainees of low-middle income country (LMIC) to enhance their writing and time management skills and improve the full manuscript publication rate from LMICs.
Presented in this paper is an experimental study on scour downstream of rough and smooth stiff aprons under the influence of wall jets. The effect of various parameters on asymptotic scour depth is ...studied. The analysis of data reveals that maximum scour depth reduces with increasing sediment size, sluice opening, and apron length. It is directly proportional to densimetric Froude number. Maximum equilibrium scour depth initially decreases with increasing tailwater level (up to a minimum), but thereafter an increase is observed. The effect of roughness of stiff apron on scour is studied and quantification of decline in maximum scour depth due to roughness is carried out. Scour profiles and their temporal variation are also studied. A regression-based equation to predict equilibrium scour depth under smooth and rough apron is proposed, which conforms to experimental data. Based on the conclusions of this study, it is recommended to use roughness over the surface of stiff apron to confine scour under-wall jets.
We aimed to compare the efficacy of δ-tocotrienol with α-tocopherol in the treatment of patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD).
This study was a double-blinded, active-controlled ...trial. The patients with NAFLD were randomly assigned to receive either δ-tocotrienol 300 mg or α-tocopherol 268 mg twice daily for 48 weeks.
The primary endpoints were change from baseline in fatty liver index (FLI), liver-to-spleen attenuation ratio (L/S ratio), and homeostatic model assessment for insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) at 48 weeks. Key secondary endpoints were change in markers of inflammation, oxidative stress, and hepatocyte apoptosis. Clinical assessment, biochemical analysis, and computed tomography scan of the liver were conducted at baseline, 24 and 48 weeks.
A total of 100 patients (δ-tocotrienol = 50, α-tocopherol = 50) were randomized and included in the intention to treat analysis. Compared with baseline, there was a significant improvement (p < .001) in FLI, L/S ratio, HOMA-IR, and serum malondialdehyde in both groups at 48 weeks that was not significant between the two groups. However, there was a significantly greater decrease in body weight, serum interleukin-6, tumor necrosis factor-alpha, leptin, cytokeratin-18, and increase in adiponectin in the δ-tocotrienol group compared to the α-tocopherol group at 48 weeks (p < .05). No adverse events were reported.
δ-tocotrienol and α-tocopherol exerted equally beneficial effects in terms of improvement in hepatic steatosis, oxidative stress, and insulin resistance in patients with NAFLD. However, δ-tocotrienol was more potent than α-tocopherol in reducing body weight, inflammation, and apoptosis associated with NAFLD.
Sri Lankan Clinical Trials Registry (https://slctr.lk/SLCTR/2019/038).
•The first human study to compare the efficacy of δT3 with αTF in the treatment of patients with NAFLD.•δT3 exerted equally beneficial effects as of αTF in improving hepatic steatosis, insulin resistance and oxidative stress.•δT3 was more potent than αTF in improving body weight, inflammation and hepatocyte apoptosis.
Soybean Glycine max (L.) Merr. is a globally important crop due to its valuable seed composition, versatile feed, food, and industrial end‐uses, and consistent genetic gain. Successful genetic gain ...in soybean has led to widespread adaptation and increased value for producers, processors, and consumers. Specific focus on the nutritional quality of soybean seed composition for food and feed has further elucidated genetic knowledge and bolstered breeding progress. Seed components are historical and current targets for soybean breeders seeking to improve nutritional quality of soybean. This article reviews genetic and genomic foundations for improvement of nutritionally important traits, such as protein and amino acids, oil and fatty acids, carbohydrates, and specific food‐grade considerations; discusses the application of advanced breeding technology such as CRISPR/Cas9 in creating seed composition variations; and provides future directions and breeding recommendations regarding soybean seed composition traits.
Core Ideas
Soybean genetics are the foundation for improving nutritional composition.
Soybean genomics can be harnessed to improve nutritional composition.
Soybean breeding has and will continue to improve nutritional composition.
The concepts of lean manufacturing operations and sustainability are congruent in nature, marked by the facet of improving organizational efficiency. However, only difference lies in the definition ...of waste. This definition is given a new dimension by sustainability by incorporating the extensive scope of reductions in the environmental consequences in the form of 6R (reduce, reuse, recycle, recover, redesign and remanufacture); which requires a consolidated integrated approach. Therefore, as to affirm the requirement, a systematic literature review has been carried out which scrutinized previous researches in view of their originality, methodology, objectives and limitations. Based on this literature study, 25 most related approaches (lean and sustainable integrated approaches) were selected and their originality was investigated. Investigation revealed that few research articles are integrating lean and sustainable approaches. This study identifies the gap of the integration of lean practices with 6Rs and a framework was developed which implemented on the case study that carries ability to attain 6R based sustainable lean production systems. Because of more social and environmentally friendly atmosphere achieved through 6R based implementation, the results achieved are 50% decrease in heating cost by redesigning furnaces (from oil furnaces to gas furnaces), 36.33% improvement in value added time, 40.14% in lead-time and 22% reduction in labour utilization. This improvement indicates that use of proposed integrated framework is highly beneficial for any kind of manufacturing sector.
Manufacturing sector has traditionally employed the concepts of lean manufacturing for production optimization and waste elimination. However, the looming danger of climate change demands responsible ...production and consumption; oftentimes the environmental aspects have been ignored for economic gains. The fourth industrial revolution brought about a paradigm shift in the manufacturing landscape, yet there is dearth of approaches that combine the concepts of lean manufacturing, environmentally conscious manufacturing and Industry 4.0 for improving the production and ecological performance of manufacturing sector. This study has fulfilled this research gap by developing a comprehensive implementation framework that combines lean manufacturing, green manufacturing and Industry 4.0 in a harmonious manner. Using a longitudinal case study approach, the developed framework has been applied to an auto-parts manufacturing firm to achieve reduced lead time, value added time, non-value-added time and greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions. The results revealed that the approaches of first-in-first out (FIFO), total productive maintenance (TPM), smart production control, cyberphysical systems, 6R and smart energy monitoring are extremely beneficial in achieving optimized and cleaner production, where the lead time, non-value added time and value added time has been reduced by 25.60%, 56.20% and 24.68% respectively, whereas the carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide emissions were reduced by 55%. The theoretical contribution of this research work lies in the development of a novel integration framework that combines the concepts of lean manufacturing and green manufacturing with Industry 4.0 technologies, whereas practitioners can benefit from the synergistic combination to achieve automation-based fast and environmentally conscious manufacturing.
•Demonstrated renewable energy status and targets for sustainable energy solutions.•Proposed power value chain and smart energy framework for better power utilization.•Impacts and recommendations in ...African energy sector response to COVID-19 pandemic.•Proposed machine learning enabled PV forecasting for enhances the power scheduling.
Today's more focus and efforts are being put by all the energy leaders towards power generation using renewable energy resources. Fortunately, these resources are becoming affordable to facilitate a swift shift towards green and clean energy. Possible strategic assets are an add-on for all the developing nations in terms of economy. The technological advancement and power market revolution resulting in an adequate reduction of renewable energy cost and affordability. This paper mainly focusing on Covid-19 impacts in the African energy sector. Also, analyzing recent developments in African renewable energy generation that holds the immense capacity for improvisation. This paper highlighting the recommendations in response to the COVID-19 pandemic for the African renewable energy sector. This paper is a result of rigorous analysis based on major issues governing sustainable solutions for Africa. This review paper comes up with effective conclusions to address the challenges in the current pandemic situation. In Africa abundance of resources is found with huge potential for the generation of power. But still, Africa undergoing a phase of serious crises because they are not able to tap its huge capital of renewable energies. There is a subsequent need for power grid restructuring, energy storage technologies, and parallel mitigation of environmental factors with seasonal variations. Proposed review analysis bringing a better opportunity for all issues towards sustainable solutions, that will ease the renewable energy status in Africa. It is observed that there is an inevitable need to focus on having strong government policy frameworks and proper regulations. The various recommendations are required to swing towards renewable energy development. Combined efforts are required in luring foreign investments and to address feasible issues like setting-up targets. This paper demonstrated a smart energy system using a proposed machine learning-based framework for enhancing the PV forecasting and up-gradation in available technologies.
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