Fresh fruits are highly needed for the health benefits of human beings because of the presence of high content of natural nutrition in the form of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and other phenolic ...compounds. However, some nutritional fruits such as guava are climacteric in nature with very less post-harvest shelf-life because of the ripening in a very short period and possibility of microbial infections. Thus security of natural nutrients is a serious concern in order to properly utilize guava without generating a huge amount of waste. Among reported various methods for the enhancement of fruits shelf-life, the application of edible coatings with antimicrobial activities on the outer surface of fruits have attracted significant attention because of their eco-friendly nature, easy applicability, high efficacy, and good durability. In recent years, researchers are paying more and more attention in the development of antimicrobial edible coatings to enhance the post-harvest shelf-life of guava using polysaccharides, protein and lipids. In this review, basic approaches and recent advancements in development of antimicrobial and edible coatings on guava fruit by the application of polysaccharides and protein and lipids along with the combination of nanomaterials are summarized. In addition, improvements in basic properties of edible coatings to significantly control the permeation of gases (O2/CO2) by the optimization of coating components as well as delay in ripening process are reviewed and discussed.
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•Polysaccharides, proteins and lipids based materials for edible and antimicrobial coatings on guava fruits•The fundamental mechanisms behind fabrications of edible coatings•Limitations for large scale preparation of edible and sustainable coating are highlighted.
To determine trends in incidence, treatment, and survival with primary uveal melanoma in the United States over a 36-year period from 1973 to 2008.
Systematic review of existing databases.
A total of ...4070 patients with primary uveal melanoma (International Classification of Disease for Oncology ICD-O-2 codes C69.3 choroid, C69.4 ciliary body and iris, and C69.2 retina) derived from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) program database in the United States from 1973 to 2008.
The significance of trends in age-adjusted incidence, treatment, and 5-year relative survival rates were determined using chi-square testing and 95% confidence intervals (CIs).
Age-adjusted incidence, form of treatment (surgery, radiation, or both), and 5-year relative survival rates.
There were 4070 cases of uveal melanoma representing 3.1% of all recorded cases of melanoma. The majority of cases (98.3%) were reported by hospital inpatient/outpatient clinics. Histopathologic confirmation was available in 2804 cases (72.1% for all years). The mean age-adjusted incidence of uveal melanoma in the United States was 5.1 per million (95% CI, 4.8-5.3). The majority of cases (97.8%) occurred in the white population. There was a statistically significant variation of age-adjusted incidence between sexes (male = 5.8, 95% CI, 5.5-6.2; and female = 4.4, 95% CI, 4.2-4.7). A decreasing trend was observed in patients treated with surgery alone (93.8% for 1973-1975 vs. 28.3% for 2006-2008), whereas a corresponding increase was seen in those treated with radiation (1.8% for 1973-1975 vs. 62.5% for 2006-2008). No change in the 5-year relative survival rate (81.6%) was observed from 1973 to 2008.
The age-adjusted incidence of uveal melanoma (5.1 per million) has remained unchanged from 1973 to 2008. Despite a shift toward more conservative treatments, survival has not improved during this time period.
A magnetic nanocomposite was developed and characterized. Adsorption of crystal violet (CV) dye from water was studied using the nanocomposite. A four-factor central composite design (CCD) combined ...with response surface modeling (RSM) was employed for maximizing CV removal from aqueous solution by the nanocomposite based on 30 different experimental data obtained in a batch study. Four independent variables, viz. temperature (10–50°C), pH of solution (2–10), dye concentration (240–400mg/l), and adsorbent dose (1–5g/l) were transformed to coded values and a second-order quadratic model was built to predict the responses. The significance of independent variables and their interactions were tested by the analysis of variance (ANOVA) and t-test statistics. Adequacy of the model was tested by the correlation between experimental and predicted values of the response and enumeration of prediction errors. Optimization of the process variables for maximum adsorption of CV by nanocomposite was performed using the quadratic model. The Langmuir adsorption capacity of the adsorbent was determined as 81.70mg/g. The model predicted maximum adsorption of 113.31mg/g under the optimum conditions of variables (concentration 240mg/l; temperature 50°C; pH 8.50; dose 1g/l), which was very close to the experimental value (111.80mg/g) determined in batch experiment.
The deterioration of the aquatic environment by the heavy metal ions contamination causes serious threat to environment and human beings. However, the treatment of complex industrial wastewater by ...simultaneous removal of multiple heavy metal ions via a one-step method is still extremely challenging. To this end, we synthesize ferrous sulfide (FeS) and carboxyl-functionalized ferroferric oxide (CFFO) nanoparticles, which were introduced into polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) matrix (individually/mixed together in an optimum ratio) through phase inversion technique. Three types of mixed matrix membranes (MMMs) were developed, viz. FeS/PVDF, CFFO/PVDF and FeS/CFFO/PVDF. The prepared membranes were characterized by SEM, TEM, AFM, FTIR, XRD, BET, and XPS techniques. The properties of the membranes were also examined for pure water flux, hydrophilicity, water uptake capacity, mechanical and thermal property, salt separation and simultaneous separation of toxic heavy metal ions such as lead, (Pb), cadmium (Cd), and chromium (Cr) from industrial ground water. The resultant membranes exhibited relatively high water flux (340–1266 L/m2h) than the unmodified PVDF membrane, due to changes in the porosity and hydrophilicity of the membranes. FeS/CFFO/PVDF membrane showed that it could effectively treat Pb, Cd, Cr and As contaminated industrial ground water, simultaneously with a high removal efficiency of about 88% for Cr(VI), 99% for Cd2+, 99% for Pb2+ and 95% for As in a single filtration process. In addition, the developed membranes conspicuously reduce their concentrations below the maximum contaminant level of WHO and BIS (India). The probable mechanism of separation of heavy metal ions through MMMs could be understood through FTIR and XPS techniques. The results of this study inferred that FeS/CFFO/PVDF membrane is a potential candidate for the simultaneous separation of Pb, Cd, Cr, and As.
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•Novel FeS/CFFO/PVDF membrane was developed, exhibited excellent hydrophilicity with high water flux.•Simultaneous high removal efficiency of 86%, 99%, 99.1% for Cr(VI), Cd2+, and Pb2+ respectively.•Applicable in industrial ground water treatment.
The long-term survival of uveal melanoma patients in the US is not known. We compared long-term survival estimates using relative survival, excess absolute risk (EAR), Kaplan-Meier (KM), and ...competing risk analyses.
Population based cohort study.
Pooled databases from Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results data (SEER, SEER-9+SEER-13+SEER-18).
Overall Survival (OS), Metastasis Free Survival (MFS) and relative survival, computed directly or estimated via a model fitted to excess mortality.
There were 10678 cases of uveal melanoma spanning a period of 42 years (1975-2016). The median age at diagnosis was 63 years (range 3-99). Over half the patients were still alive at the end of 2016 (53%, 5625). The KM estimates of MFS were 0.729 (0.719, 0.74), 0.648 (0.633, 0.663), and 0.616 (0.596, 0.636) at 10, 20, and 30 years, respectively. The cumulative probabilities of melanoma metastatic death at 10, 20 and 30 years were 0.241 (0.236, 0.245), 0.289 (0.283, 0.294), and 0.301 (0.295, 0.307). In the first 5 years since diagnosis of uveal melanoma, the proportion of deaths attributable to uveal melanoma were 1.3 with rapid fall after 10 years. Death due to melanoma were rare beyond 20 years. Relative survival (RS) plateaued to ~60% across 20 to 30 years. EAR parametric modeling yielded a survival probability of 57%.
Relative survival methods can be used to estimate long term survival of uveal melanoma patients without knowing the exact cause of death. RS and EAR provide more realistic estimates as they compare the survival to that of a normal matched population. Death due to melanoma were rare beyond 20 years with normal life expectancy reached at 25 years after primary therapy.
Natural bio-material surface with hydrophobic behavior (aqueous droplet to roll off from its surface) has inspired researchers to design sustainable artificial coatings with hydrophobic or ...superhydrophobic behavior. The developed hydrophobic or superhydrophobic artificial coatings are highly useful in various applications such as water remediation, oil/water separation, self-cleaning, anti-fouling, anti-corrosion and also in medical fields including anti-viral, anti-bacterial efficacy. In recent years, among various coating materials, bio-based materials derived from plants and animals (cellulose, lignin, sugarcane bagasse, peanut shell, rice husk, egg cell etc.) are applied on various surfaces in order to develop fluorine free hydrophobic coatings with longer durability by lowering the surface energy and increasing the surface roughness. This review summarized recent developments in hydrophobic/superhydrophobic coating fabrication methods, properties and applications with the use of different bio-based materials and their combinations. In addition, basic mechanisms behind the coating fabrication process and their durability under different environmental conditions are also discussed. Moreover, prospects and limitations of bio-based coatings in practical applications have been highlighted.
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•Bio-based materials for hydrophobic/superhydrophobic coatings•The fundamental mechanisms behind fabrications of bio-based coatings for various applications•Highlighted the limitation for large scale preparation of sustainable coatings
A novel scheme is proposed for online condition monitoring of bond wires present in insulated gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) package. The proposed method detects bond wire degradation using on-state ...collector emitter voltage at the inflection point. Previously reported condition monitoring methods based on on-state collector-emitter voltage as a precursor of aging require an accurate knowledge of junction temperature which is difficult to measure online during an inverter operation. The key advantage of the proposed scheme is that it monitors the bond wire degradation irrespective of the junction temperature. Therefore, this technique is not affected by increase in junction temperature due to die attach degradation or change in ambient temperature. The proposed scheme is verified experimentally under realistic operating conditions.
In recent years, extensive research endeavors are being undertaken for synthesis of an efficient, economic and eco-friendly cerium oxide nanoparticles (CeO2 NPs) using plant extract mediated greener ...approach. A number of medicinal plants and their specific parts (flowers, bark, seeds, fruits, seeds and leaves) have been found to be capable of synthesizing CeO2 NPs. The specific key phytochemical constituents of plants such as alkaloids, terpenoids, phenolic acids, flavones and tannins can play significant role as a reducing, stabilizing and capping agents in the synthesis of CeO2 NPs from their respective precursor solution of metal ions. The CeO2 NPs are frequently using in diverse fields of science and technology including photocatalytic degradation of dyes, antibiotics as well as antimicrobial applications. In this review, the mechanism behind the green synthesis CeO2 NPs using plant entities are summarized along with discussion of analytical results from characterization techniques. An overview of CeO2 NPs for water remediation application via photocatalytic degradation of dyes and antibiotics are discussed. In addition, the mechanisms of antimicrobial efficacy of CeO2 NPs and current challenges for their sustainable application at large scale in real environmental conditions are discussed.
Mitochondria are one of the central regulators of many cellular processes beyond its well established role in energy metabolism. The inter-organellar crosstalk is critical for the optimal function of ...mitochondria. Many nuclear encoded proteins and RNA are imported to mitochondria. The translocation of small RNA (sRNA) including miRNA to mitochondria and other sub-cellular organelle is still not clear. We characterized here sRNA including miRNA associated with human mitochondria by cellular fractionation and deep sequencing approach. Mitochondria were purified from HEK293 and HeLa cells for RNA isolation. The sRNA library was generated and sequenced using Illumina system. The analysis showed the presence of unique population of sRNA associated with mitochondria including miRNA. Putative novel miRNAs were characterized from unannotated sRNA sequences. The study showed the association of 428 known, 196 putative novel miRNAs to mitochondria of HEK293 and 327 known, 13 putative novel miRNAs to mitochondria of HeLa cells. The alignment of sRNA to mitochondrial genome was also studied. The targets were analyzed using DAVID to classify them in unique networks using GO and KEGG tools. Analysis of identified targets showed that miRNA associated with mitochondria regulates critical cellular processes like RNA turnover, apoptosis, cell cycle and nucleotide metabolism. The six miRNAs (counts >1000) associated with mitochondria of both HEK293 and HeLa were validated by RT-qPCR. To our knowledge, this is the first systematic study demonstrating the associations of sRNA including miRNA with mitochondria that may regulate site-specific turnover of target mRNA important for mitochondrial related functions.
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•Highly efficient (17.5%) hysteresis-free CH3NH3PbI3 solar-cell has been fabricated.•Solar Cell Capacitance Simulator (SCAPS-1D) is utilized to understand device physics.•Effect of ...Interface defect-density on device performance has been studied.
Experimental data from a 17.5% efficient perovskite solar cell has been used to develop a self-consistent device model using Solar Cell Capacitance Simulator (SCAPS). Electronic properties of the individual layers, such as doping density of compact TiO2 (c-TiO2), doping and defect density of perovskite, etc. are extracted from experimental data. The only fitting parameters in the model are the defect densities at spiro-MeOTAD/perovskite interface (IL-1) and perovskite/TiO2 interface (IL-2). The simulated current-voltage (J-V) characteristics and Mott-Schottky plot results match extremely well with the experimentally measured plots, validating the device model. The model was further used to extract insights into the loss mechanism of the high-efficiency perovskite solar cells. Simulations revealed that defect density at IL-1 interface has strong impact on the open-circuit voltage (Voc), while defect density in the perovskite and IL2 interface has a major impact on short-circuit current density (Jsc).
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