A Review on the Role of Nutraceuticals as Simple as Se2+ to Complex Organic Molecules Such as Glycyrrhizin That Prevent as Well as Cure Diseases

Nutraceuticals are nutritional medicines which are present in edible food items. Most of them are antioxidants with various other biological properties viz, anti inflammatory, anti atherogenic, anticancer, anti viral, anti aging properties etc. They are as simple as minerals like Se²⁺ to complex organic molecules such as glycyrrhizin (Ca²⁺, K⁺ salts of glycyrrhizic acid). They can prevent as well as cure various diseases. Most of the medical people are not aware of the importance of the nutraceuticals as such matters are not part of their text books. Many still think that vitamins are the major nutritional medicines. Actually other dietary principles like terpenes, carotenes, phytosterols, polyphenols, flavanoids, di and poly sulphides, their sulfoxides and their precursor amino acids are necessary to scavenge free radicals in the body which are reactive oxygen species to protect and maintain the vitamin levels in the body. They down regulate the activities of those enzymes which are increased in diseases and they increase those that remove oxidants and detoxify carcinogens. They are immune boosters too. Recently glucosinolates, non toxic alkaloids, certain proteins and even fiber are included in the list of nutraceuticals.     

Investigation of the heat transfer of a non-Newtonian fluid flow in an axisymmetric channel with porous wall using Parameterized Perturbation Method (PPM)

In the present article Parameterized Perturbation Method (PPM) is used to obtain the solutions of momentum and heat transfer equations of non-Newtonian fluid flow in an axisymmetric channel with porous wall for turbine cooling applications. The validity of the results of PPM solution were verified by comparison with numerical results obtained using a fourth order Runge–Kutta method. These comparisons reveal that Parameterized Perturbation Method is a powerful approach for solving this problem. The analytical investigation is carried out for different governing parameters namely, Reynolds number, injection Reynolds number, Prandtl number and power law index. The results show that skin friction coefficient increases with increase of Reynolds number, especially at high Reynolds numbers. Also it can be found that Nusselt number has direct relationship with Reynolds number, Prandtl number and power law index.     

Adaptive output feedback neural network control of uncertain non-affine systems with unknown control direction

This paper deals with the problem of adaptive output feedback neural network controller design for a SISO non-affine nonlinear system. Since in practice all system states are not available in output measurement, an observer is designed to estimate these states. In comparison with the existing approaches, the current method does not require any information about the sign of control gain. In order to handle the unknown sign of the control direction, the Nussbaum-type function is utilized. In order to approximate the unknown nonlinear function, neural network is firstly exploited, and then to compensate the approximation error and external disturbance a robustifying term is employed. The proposed controller is designed based on strict-positive-real (SPR) Lyapunov stability theory to ensure the asymptotic stability of the closed-loop system. Finally, two simulation studies are presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of the developed scheme.     

Smartphone-interfaced lab-on-a-chip devices for field-deployable enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay

The emerging technologies on mobile-based diagnosis and bioanalytical detection have enabled powerful laboratory assays such as enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) to be conducted in field-use lab-on-a-chip devices. In this paper, we present a low-cost universal serial bus (USB)-interfaced mobile platform to perform microfluidic ELISA operations in detecting the presence and concentrations of BDE-47 (2,2′,4,4′-tetrabromodiphenyl ether), an environmental contaminant found in our food supply with adverse health impact. Our point-of-care diagnostic device utilizes flexible interdigitated carbon black electrodes to convert electric current into a microfluidic pump via gas bubble expansion during electrolytic reaction. The micropump receives power from a mobile phone and transports BDE-47 analytes through the microfluidic device conducting competitive ELISA. Using variable domain of heavy chain antibodies (commonly referred to as single domain antibodies or Nanobodies), the proposed device is sensitive for a BDE-47 concentration range of 10⁻³–10⁴μg/l, with a comparable performance to that uses a standard competitive ELISA protocol. It is anticipated that the potential impact in mobile detection of health and environmental contaminants will prove beneficial to our community and low-resource environments.     

Computational investigations of the mixing performance inside liquid slugs generated by a microfluidic T-junction

Droplet-based microfluidics has gained extensive research interest as it overcomes several challenges confronted by conventional single-phase microfluidics. The mixing performance inside droplets/slugs is critical in many applications such as advanced material syntheses and in situ kinetic measurements. In order to understand the effects of operating conditions on the mixing performance inside liquid slugs generated by a microfluidic T-junction, we have adopted the volume of fluid method coupled with the species transport model to study and quantify the mixing efficiencies inside slugs. Our simulation results demonstrate that an efficient mixing process is achieved by the intimate collaboration of the twirling effect and the recirculating flow. Only if the reagents are distributed transversely by the twirling effect, the recirculating flow can bring in convection mechanism thus facilitating mixing. By comparing the mixing performance inside slugs at various operating conditions, we find that slug size plays the key role in influencing the mixing performance as it determines the amount of fluid to be distributed by the twirling effect. For the cases where short slugs are generated, the mixing process is governed by the fast convection mechanism because the twirling effect can distribute the fluid to the flow path of the recirculating flow effectively. For cases with long slugs, the mixing process is dominated by the slow diffusion mechanism since the twirling effect is insufficient to distribute the large amount of fluid. In addition, our results show that increasing the operating velocity has limited effects on improving the mixing performance. This study provides the insight of the mixing process and may benefit the design and operations of droplet-based microfluidics.     

Solution pH change in non-uniform alternating current electric fields at frequencies above the electrode charging frequency

AC Faradaic reactions have been reported as a mechanism inducing non-ideal phenomena such as flow reversal and cell deformation in electrokinetic microfluidic systems. Prior published work described experiments in parallel electrode arrays below the electrode charging frequency (f_c), the frequency for electrical double layer charging at the electrode. However, 2D spatially non-uniform AC electric fields are required for applications such as in plane AC electroosmosis, AC electrothermal pumps, and dielectrophoresis. Many microscale experimental applications utilize AC frequencies around or above f_c. In this work, a pH sensitive fluorescein sodium salt dye was used to detect [H⁺] as an indicator of Faradaic reactions in aqueous solutions within non-uniform AC electric fields. Comparison experiments with (a) parallel (2D uniform fields) electrodes and (b) organic media were employed to deduce the electrode charging mechanism at 5 kHz (1.5f_c). Time dependency analysis illustrated that Faradaic reactions exist above the theoretically predicted electrode charging frequency. Spatial analysis showed [H⁺] varied spatially due to electric field non-uniformities and local pH changed at length scales greater than 50 μm away from the electrode surface. Thus, non-uniform AC fields yielded spatially varied pH gradients as a direct consequence of ion path length differences while uniform fields did not yield pH gradients; the latter is consistent with prior published data. Frequency dependence was examined from 5 kHz to 12 kHz at 5.5 V_pp potential, and voltage dependency was explored from 3.5 to 7.5 V_pp at 5 kHz. Results suggest that Faradaic reactions can still proceed within electrochemical systems in the absence of well-established electrical double layers. This work also illustrates that in microfluidic systems, spatial medium variations must be considered as a function of experiment time, initial medium conditions, electric signal potential, frequency, and spatial position.     

Inducing chemotactic and haptotactic cues in microfluidic devices for three-dimensional in vitro assays

Microfluidic devices allow for the production of physiologically relevant cellular microenvironments by including biomimetic hydrogels and generating controlled chemical gradients. During transport, the biomolecules interact in distinct ways with the fibrillar networks: as purely diffusive factors in the soluble fluid or bound to the matrix proteins. These two main mechanisms may regulate distinct cell responses in order to guide their directional migration: caused by the substrate-bound chemoattractant gradient (haptotaxis) or by the gradient established within the soluble fluid (chemotaxis). In this work 3D diffusion experiments, in combination with ELISA assays, are performed using microfluidic platforms in order to quantify the distribution of PDGF-BB and TGF-β₁ across collagen and fibrin gels. Furthermore, to gain a deeper understanding of the fundamental processes, the experiments are reproduced by computer simulations based on a reaction-diffusion transport model. This model yields an accurate prediction of the experimental results, confirming that diffusion and binding phenomena are established within the microdevice.     

体育规则：足球规则修改与集体项目规则的比较研究

本文以法学视角,尤其是国际法视角,通过研读规则文本的方式,对足球规则的演进进行分析,并且揭示一些目前体育法领域关注的问题:体育法(lex sportiva)确实存在,包含了公法部分(国际公约、国家立法)和私法部分(体育规则);体育规则(Laws of the game)是体育法的核心,包括国家、地区以及全球范围内各级体育主管部门的章程与条例;项目规则是体育法的另一个重要核心,作者以足球为例,论证了为什么项目规则也是法的问题。     

‘Motivate’: the effect of a Football in the Community delivered weight loss programme on over 35-year old men and women’s cardiovascular risk factors

The purpose of this study was to examine whether an innovative, inclusive and integrated 12-week exercise, behaviour change and nutrition advice-based weight management programme could significantly improve the cardiovascular risk factors of overweight and obese men and women over the age of 35. One hundred and ninety-four men and 98 women (mean age?=?52.28?±?9.74 and 51.19?±?9.04) attending a community-based intervention delivered by Notts County Football in the Community over one year, took part in the study. Height (m), weight (kg), fitness (meters covered during a 6?min walk) and waist circumference (cm) were measured at weeks 1 and 12 as part of the intervention. Changes in body weight, waist circumference and fitness for men and women were measured by a 2-way repeated measures ANOVA, with significance set to p?<?0.05.Weight, waist circumference and fitness significantly improved over time in both men (4.96?kg, 6.29?cm, 70.22?m; p?<?0.05) and women (4.26?kg, 5.90?cm, 35.29?m; p?<?0.05). The results demonstrated that the FITC lead weight loss intervention was successful in significantly improving cardiovascular risk factors in both men and women. In particular, the weight loss reductions achieved were comparable to those seen in similar, more costly men-only programmes. This is the first study to demonstrate the efficacy of such an intervention in an inclusive, mixed gender programme and more specifically, in women.