Exploring the therapeutic potential of rosemary compounds against Alzheimer's disease through GC-MS and molecular docking analysis.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is an age-related neurodegenerative disorder that is the leading cause of dementia in elderly individuals. Currently, there is no permanent treatment option available for this disorder, and the existing drug regimens are associated with limited effectiveness and side effects. To evaluate the neuroprotective effect of rosemary compounds, an extensive study was started with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis. GC-MS was performed to study the composition of rosemary essential oil and a total of 120 volatile compounds were identified. The 36 compounds from GC-MS data of rosemary essential oil having > 1% concentration in the oil were selected along with 3 already reported well-known non-volatile compounds of rosemary. se39 bioactive natural compounds of rosemary were docked against ACE, BACE1, GSK3, and TACE proteins, which are involved in AD progression. The top 3 compounds against each target protein were selected based on their binding energies and a total of 6 compounds were found as best candidates to target the AD; α Amyrin, Rosmanol, Androsta-1,4-dien-3-one,16,17-dihydroxy-(16.beta.,17.beta), Benzenesulfonamide,4-methyl-N-(5-nitro-2-pyridinyl), Methyl abietate, and Rosmarinic acid were the best compounds. The binding energy of α-Amyrin, Rosmanol, and Androsta-1,4-dien-3-one,16,17-dihydroxy-(16.beta.,17.beta) to ACE target is -10 kcal/mol, -9.3 kcal/mol, and - 9.3 kcal/mol, respectively. The best binding affinity was shown by complexes formed between GSK3-α-Amyrin (-9.1 kcal/mol), BACE1- α-Amyrin (-9.9 kcal/mol), and TACE- Benzenesulfonamide,4-methyl-N-(5-nitro-2-pyridinyl) (-9.1 kcal/mol). The comparative analysis between known inhibitors/ drugs of target proteins and the rosemary compound that shows the highest binding affinity against each protein also revealed the higher potential of rosemary natural compounds in terms of binding energy. The drug-likeliness properties like Lipinski's rule of five and the ADME/T analysis of top-selected compounds were screened through PkCSM and Deep-PK tools. The findings from this study suggested that rosemary compounds have the potential as a therapeutic lead for treating AD. This kind of experimental confirmation can lead to novel drug candidates against the pharmacological targets of AD. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s40203-024-00238-9.

Natural wax recovery from Musa acuminata biomass using organic solvents.

The main aim of this study is to experimentally investigate the yield of extraction and the presence of wax in the extracted yield from Musaacuminata (banana) biomass based on various functional groups that are present in natural wax. Extraction of natural wax from Musaacuminata (banana) biomass has been done by using the Soxhlet apparatus method in the presence of both polar (ethyl acetate and ethanol) and non-polar (toluene and hexane) solvents. The extracted yield has been found as 3.58% from hexane, 5.16% from toluene, 7.03% from ethyl acetate, and 10.26% from ethanol. The wax was also found in the extracted yield only in the case of nonpolar solvents (toluene and hexane). The novelty of this work is that Musaacuminata (banana) waste biomass has been utilized to recover the natural wax using nonpolar solvents and also compared with that of polar solvents to check the scope of wax extraction using polar solvents. Also, statistical analysis has been performed of the extracted yield using both solvents. Thin Layer Chromatography (TLC) and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) methods have been used to determine the various hydrocarbon chains present in the extracted yield which is similar to that of natural wax.

In silico molecular screening of bioactive natural compounds of rosemary essential oil and extracts for pharmacological potentials against rhinoviruses.

Rhinoviruses (RVs) cause upper respiratory tract infections and pneumonia in children and adults. These non-enveloped viruses contain viral coats of four capsid proteins: VP1, VP2, VP3, and VP4. The canyon on VP1 used cell surface receptor ICAM-1 as the site of attachment and for the internalization of viruses. To date, there has been no drug or vaccine available against RVs. In this study, bioactive natural compounds of rosemary (Salvia rosmarinus L.), which are known for their pharmacological potential, were considered to target the VP1 protein. A total of 30 bioactive natural compounds of rosemary were taken as ligands to target viral proteins. The PkCSM tool was used to detect their adherence to Lipinski's rule of five and the ADMET properties of the selected ligands. Further, the CB-Dock tool was used for molecular docking studies between the VP1 protein and ligands. Based on the molecular docking and ADMET profiling results, phenethyl amine (4 methoxy benzyl) was selected as the lead compound. A comparative study was performed between the lead compound and two antiviral drugs, Placonaril and Nitazoxanide, to investigate the higher potential of natural compounds over synthetic drugs. Placonaril also targets VP1 but failed in clinical trials while Nitazoxanide was examined in clinical trials against rhinoviruses. It was discovered from this study that the (4 methoxy benzyl) phenethyl amine exhibited less toxicity in comparison to other tested drugs against RVs. More research is needed to determine its potential and make it a good medication against RVs.

Transcriptome sequencing of medical herb Salvia Rosmarinus (Rosemary) revealed the phenylpropanoid biosynthesis pathway genes and their phylogenetic relationships.

BACKGROUND: The Salvia rosmarinus spenn. (rosemary) is considered an economically important ornamental and medicinal plant and is widely utilized in culinary and for treating several diseases. However, the procedure behind synthesizing secondary metabolites-based bioactive compounds at the molecular level in S. rosmarinus is not explored completely. METHODS AND RESULTS: We performed transcriptomic sequencing of the pooled sample from leaf and stem tissues on the Illumina HiSeqTM X10 platform. The transcriptomics analysis led to the generation of 29,523,608 raw reads, followed by data pre-processing which generated 23,208,592 clean reads, and de novo assembly of S. rosmarinus obtained 166,849 unigenes. Among them, nearly 75.1% of unigenes i.e., 28,757 were interpreted against a non-redundant protein database. The gene ontology-based annotation classified them into 3 main categories and 55 sub-categories, and clusters of orthologous genes annotation categorized them into 23 functional categories. The Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes database-based pathway analysis confirmed the involvement of 13,402 unigenes in 183 biochemical pathways, among these unigenes, 1,186 are involved in the 17 secondary metabolite production pathways. Several key enzymes involved in producing aromatic amino acids and phenylpropanoids were identified from the transcriptome database. Among the identified 48 families of transcription factors from coding unigenes, bHLH, MYB, WRKYs, NAC, C2H2, C3H, and ERF are involved in flavonoids and other secondary metabolites biosynthesis. CONCLUSION: The phylogenetic analysis revealed the evolutionary relationship between the phenylpropanoid pathway genes of rosemary with other members of Lamiaceae. Our work reveals a new molecular mechanism behind the biosynthesis of phenylpropanoids and their regulation in rosemary plants.

Computational study of the performance of a solar dryer for improvement in the shelf life of the food materials.

In this study, the thermal and drying characteristics of a thin layer food sample were investigated. An indirect type, simple, efficient, and economically feasible solar dryer was fabricated and used for food preservation. However, a dynamic model of a fabricated solar dryer was also presented to gain a better insight into the drying and thermal actions. This model consists of thermal modeling of the drying chamber, solar collector, and solar-dried food sample. The law of conservation of energy was applied to evaluate the temperature at different sections of the solar dryer with respect to drying time. All listed model equations were solved in the MATLAB environment. This study helps to examine the influence of solar radiation on the collector plate temperature, drying chamber temperature, food sample temperature, and performance parameters such as thermal efficiency with respect to drying time. Model data was found in good agreement with experimental data within a 4% error. It is concluded that the drying of food material is affected by air temperature, the collector temperature, mode of heat transfer, and material characteristics such as dimension and mass of the food sample.

Potable water production through a low-cost single chamber solar still in north India.

The main aim of this study is to evaluate the performance of a single slope solar still and to assess the effect of nanofluid on its performance. A single basin single slope solar still was designed and fabricated at the Department of Chemical Engineering, IET Lucknow. Its performance was assessed in terms of the yield of potable water. The effect of various climatic parameters was also studied. Al2O3 nanofluid was used to enhance the yield of the solar still. In the presence of nanofluid, the total yield of the solar still improved by 16.6%. Its economic feasibility was analyzed and reported. The portability of the small size of solar stills, its better economics, easy fabrication, and good performance make them very useful for industrial as well as household purposes.

Molecular Targets of Valeric Acid: A Bioactive Natural Product for Endocrine, Metabolic, and Immunological Disorders.

BACKGROUNDS: Postbiotics produced by gut microbiota have exhibited diverse pharmacological activities. Valeric acid, a postbiotic material produced by gut microbiota and some plant species like valerian, has been explored to have diverse pharmacological activities. METHODS: This narrative review aims to summarise the beneficial role of valeric acid for different health conditions along with its underlying mechanism. In order to get ample scientific evidence, various databases like Science Direct, PubMed, Scopus, Google Scholar and Google were exhaustively explored to collect relevant information. Collected data were arranged and analyzed to reach meaningful a conclusion regarding the bioactivity profiling of valeric acid, its mechanism, and future prospects. RESULTS: Valeric acid belongs to short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) compounds like acetate, propionate, butyrate, pentanoic (valeric) acid, and hexanoic (caproic) acid. Valeric acid has been identified as one of the potent histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitors. In different preclinical in -vitro and in-vivo studies, valeric acid has been found to have anti-cancer, anti-diabetic, antihypertensive, anti-inflammatory, and immunomodulatory activity and affects molecular pathways of different diseases like Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and epilepsy. CONCLUSION: These findings highlight the role of valeric acid as a potential novel therapeutic agent for endocrine, metabolic and immunity-related health conditions, and it must be tested under clinical conditions to develop as a promising drug.

Sustainable pathways for solar desalination using nanofluids: A critical review.

Water is a fundamental requirement for the survival of human beings. Although water is abundantly available across the globe, access to freshwater still remains a major concern. Most of the water available is saline or brackish, which is not fit for human consumption. Desalination is the optimum solution for production of potable water from saline water. A major shortcoming of conventional desalination technologies is their dependence on fossil fuel that results in environmental degradation, global warming, etc. Therefore, sustainable desalination technology has evolved as a need of hour. Among all renewable energy resources, solar energy is abundantly available and can be potentially harvested. Therefore, solar energy can be used to drive sustainable desalination technologies. A solar still converts saline water into freshwater in a single step using solar energy. But the major drawbacks of solar still are relatively lower efficiency and lower yield. Nanofluids are widely used to overcome these limitations due to their extraordinary and unique properties. This paper critically reviews the recent research performed on the application of nanofluids in solar desalination systems. Methods of nanofluid preparation, their types and properties are also discussed in detail. Application of nanofluids in solar desalination systems is discussed with special attention on performance enhancement of solar stills. Combinations of nanofluids with various other performance enhancement techniques are also considered. The effectiveness of nanofluids in solar stills is found to be dependent majorly on the nature and concentration of the nanofluid used.

Applications of some advanced sequencing, analytical, and computational approaches in medicinal plant research: a review.

The potential active chemicals found in medicinal plants, which have long been employed as natural medicines, are abundant. Exploring the genes responsible for producing these compounds has given new insights into medicinal plant research. Previously, the authentication of medicinal plants was done via DNA marker sequencing. With the advancement of sequencing technology, several new techniques like next-generation sequencing, single molecule sequencing, and fourth-generation sequencing have emerged. These techniques enshrined the role of molecular approaches for medicinal plants because all the genes involved in the biosynthesis of medicinal compound(s) could be identified through RNA-seq analysis. In several research insights, transcriptome data have also been used for the identification of biosynthesis pathways. miRNAs in several medicinal plants and their role in the biosynthesis pathway as well as regulation of the disease-causing genes were also identified. In several research articles, an in silico study was also found to be effective in identifying the inhibitory effect of medicinal plant-based compounds against virus' gene(s). The use of advanced analytical methods like spectroscopy and chromatography in metabolite proofing of secondary metabolites has also been reported in several recent research findings. Furthermore, advancement in molecular and analytic methods will give new insight into studying the traditionally important medicinal plants that are still unexplored.

Toxicological impacts of microplastics on human health: a bibliometric analysis.

Plastic has been known as an artificial polymer whereas environmental microplastics become a global concern. Microplastics are reported to cause immunotoxicity in humans through gut deposition and entering the bloodstream. This study is a comprehensive indication of the recent research on microplastic toxicity in the gastrointestinal system. We performed bibliographic analysis using VOS viewer software and analyzed the data received on microplastics and their impact on gut health which has grown exponentially since 2016. Recent findings also support microplastic toxicity in combination with heavy metals. The smaller particle size and other factors enhanced the adsorption ability of environmental contamination such as heavy metals on microplastic which increased their bioaccumulation. Such toxic complexes of heavy metals and microplastics are a concern to natural ecosystems and environmental biologists. Few reports also demonstrated the biofilm formation on microplastic surfaces which might cause greater environmental as well as human health risks. Notably, terms of determining the microplastics in human tissues through several analytical techniques are still limited to some extent. Future research should be focused on the quantification of microplastics in human tissues, the combined effect of microplastics with other contaminants, and their effects on pre-existing diseases. This study boosts understanding of the potential impacts of microplastic and nanoplastic toxicity in the human gastrointestinal system.

Patients' perception about polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) in Sub-Himalayan region of India-A facility-based cross-sectional study.

Background: In modern times, metabolic disorders are most common and one of them is polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) in women, which causes high morbidity and complications. PCOS has largely been a neglected and less researched area; however, it is gaining importance in recent times as PCOS is increasing as well as it can be prevented to a considerable extent. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted to assess knowledge among females in government hospitals in Northern India. Data were collected using a pretested structured questionnaire on 300 women (completed 270), selected by proportionate sampling technique, and admitted in government hospitals. Data were analyzed by SPSS version 23. Results: The results showed that the mean age of respondents was 33.02 ± 9.039 years, the mean age at menarche was 12.33 ± 2.13 years, and the mean of gravida status was 1.82 ± 0.78 years. Only half of the respondents had good knowledge about PCOS. Conclusion: This study suggests that efforts are needed to reinforce women's knowledge through setting-based awareness campaigns and health education in this context to enable them to identify and seek timely treatment and improve their quality of life.

Nutritional support for adult patients with microbiologically confirmed pulmonary tuberculosis: outcomes in a programmatic cohort nested within the RATIONS trial in Jharkhand, India.

BACKGROUND: Undernutrition is a common comorbidity of tuberculosis in countries with a high tuberculosis burden, such as India. RATIONS is a field-based, cluster-randomised controlled trial evaluating the effect of providing nutritional support to household contacts of adult patients with microbiologically confirmed pulmonary tuberculosis in Jharkhand, India, on tuberculosis incidence. The patient cohort in both groups of the trial was provided with nutritional support. In this study, we assessed the effects of nutritional support on tuberculosis mortality, treatment success, and other outcomes in the RATIONS patient cohort. METHODS: We enrolled patients (aged 18 years or older) with microbiologically confirmed pulmonary tuberculosis across 28 tuberculosis units. Patients received nutritional support in the form of food rations (1200 kcal and 52 g of protein per day) and micronutrient pills. Nutritional support was for 6 months for drug-susceptible tuberculosis and 12 months for multidrug-resistant tuberculosis; patients with drug-susceptible tuberculosis could receive an extension of up to 6 months if their BMI was less than 18·5 kg/m2 at the end of treatment. We recorded BMI, diabetes status, and modified Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status at baseline. Clinical outcomes (treatment success, tuberculosis mortality, loss to follow-up, and change in performance status) and weight gain were recorded at 6 months. We assessed the predictors of tuberculosis mortality with Poisson and Cox regression using adjusted incidence rate ratios (IRRs) and adjusted hazard ratios (HRs). The RATIONS trial is registered with the Clinical Trials Registry of India (CTRI/2019/08/020490). FINDINGS: Between Aug 16, 2019, and Jan 31, 2021, 2800 patients (mean age 41·5 years [SD 14·5]; 1979 [70·7%] men and 821 [29·3%] women) were enrolled. At enrolment, 2291 (82·4%) patients were underweight (BMI <18·5 kg/m2), and 480 (17·3%) had a BMI of less than 14 kg/m2. The mean weight and BMI were 42·6 kg (SD 7·8) and 16·4 kg/m2 (2·6) in men and 36·1 kg (7·3) and 16·2 kg/m2 (2·9) in women. During the 6-month follow-up, treatment was successful in 2623 (93·7%) patients, 108 (3·9%) tuberculosis deaths occurred, 28 (1·0%) patients were lost to follow-up, and treatment failure was experienced by five (0·2%) patients. The median weight gain was 4·6 kg (IQR 2·8-6·8), but 1441 (54·8%) of 2630 patients remained underweight. At 2 months, 1444 (54·0%) of 2676 patients gained at least 5% of baseline weight. Baseline weight (adjusted IRR 0·95, 95% CI 0·90-0·99), BMI (0·88, 0·76-1·01), poor performance status (ECOG categories 3-4; 5·33, 2·90-9·79), diabetes (3·30, 1·65-6·72), and haemoglobin (0·85, 0·71-1·00) were predictors of tuberculosis mortality. A reduced hazard of death (adjusted HR 0·39, 95% CI 0·18-0·86) was associated with a 5% weight gain at 2 months. INTERPRETATION: In this study, nutritional support was provided to a cohort with a high prevalence of severe undernutrition. Weight gain, particularly in the first 2 months, was associated with a substantially decreased hazard of tuberculosis mortality. Nutritional support needs to be an integral component of patient-centred care to improve treatment outcomes in such settings. FUNDING: India Tuberculosis Research Consortium, Indian Council of Medical Research.

Carbon offset potential of biochar based straw management under rice- wheat system along Indo-Gangetic Plains of India.

The Paris Agreement goal of a net-zero equation will require decarbonization technologies in agriculture. Agri-waste biochar offers huge potential for carbon abatement in agricultural soils. The present experiment was carried out to compare the effects of residue management, viz., no residue (NR), residue incorporation (RI), and biochar (BC), as well as nitrogen options for emission reduction and carbon capture under the rice-wheat cropping sequence (RWCS) of the Indo-Gangetic Plains (IGP), India. After two cycles of cropping pattern, the analysis revealed that the biochar application (BC) reduces the RWCS's annual CO2 emissions by 18.1 % over residue incorporation (RI), while CH4 and N2O emissions were reduced by 23 % and 20.6 % over RI and 11 % and 29.3 % over no residue (NR), respectively. The application of biochar-based nutrient composites with rice straw biourea (RSBU) at 100 % and 75 % significantly reduced greenhouse gases (CH4 and N2O) compared to commercial urea at 100 %. The global warming potential of cropping systems recorded with BC was 7 % and 19.3 % lower than NR and RI, respectively, while 6-15 % under RSBU over urea 100 %. The annual carbon footprint (CF) under BC and NR decreased by 37.2 % and 30.8 % over RI, respectively. The net CF under residue burning was estimated to be the highest (132.5 Tg CO2-Ce), followed by RI (55.3 Tg CO2-Ce), showing net positive emissions; however, net negative emissions were found under a biochar-based system. The estimated annual carbon offset potential of a complete biochar system over residue burning, incorporation, and partial biochar as calculated was 189, 112, and 92 Tg CO2-Ce yr-1, respectively. A biochar-based approach to managing rice straw had great carbon offset potential through a large drop in greenhouse gas emissions and an improved soil carbon pool under the rice wheat system along the IGP, India.

Determination of thermal degradation behavior and kinetics parameters of chemically modified sun hemp biomass.

Sun hemp fibers are natural fibers obtained from plants grown in India and nearby countries. It is lignocellulosic biomass having the complex structure of hemicelluloses, cellulose and lignin. Chemical treatment of natural fibers is in practice to enhance the properties being used as reinforcement. Alkaline-treated fiber was sampled and thermal stability along with kinetic parameters was assessed with thermo gravimetric data at heating rates 10, 20 and 30 °C/min using four model-free methods Kissinger-Akahira-Sunose (KAS), Flynn-Wall-Ozawa (FWO), Friedman (FM), Starink (STAR) along with Distributed activation energy model (DAEM) to calculate pre-exponential factor. The calculated activation energy Ea by these model-free methods were in the range of 93.3-104.8 kJ/mol and pre-exponential factor (A) was observed between the range 46.6 x103-90.5 x106/min by the DAEM method. The standard deviation (σ) calculated from average activation energy using all four methods was 4.5 kJ/mol, which showed the consistency in the methods employed to determine the activation energy of sun hemp.

Tagging Efficiency of 99m Tc-SC Radiolabeled Alternative Gastric Emptying Meals: A Quantitative Study.

Objective The aim of this study was to know the tagging efficiencies of technetium-99m labeled sulfur colloid (99mTc-SC) with different meals. Materials and Methods Egg white sandwiches are the gold standard for gastric-emptying scan (GES); thus, an egg white omelet labeled with 99m Tc-SC is taken as a standard meal. For evaluation, we included four meals, bread and butter, instant oatmeal, idli, and chapatti, and all meals were prepared by labeling them with 99m Tc-SC. After preparation, food articles were chopped with the help of a metal fork and mixed in simulated gastric fluid. Four samples were taken simultaneously from each food article and analyzed for 1 to 4hours after agitation within the centrifuge. The samples were filtered and separated from the sediments and supernatants. We analyzed the activity in each sample before and after filtration. Results The mean values of labeling efficiency in per cent of various meals were obtained. There was no significant difference in labeling stability for egg whites, chapatti, and idli meals labeled with 99m Tc-SC from 1 to 4hours as their p -value (p>0.05) was insignificant. Conclusion Radiolabeled chapatti and idli with 99m Tc-SC show higher labeling stability, while oatmeal and bread and butter samples show relatively low stability. Thus, for GES, chapatti and idli labeled with 99m Tc-SC can be used as alternatives to eggs for vegetarian people or for those allergic to eggs.

Drying characteristics of thin layer of potato (Solanum tuberosum): experimental and computational studies.

Solar drying is a renewable energy-based technique which is widely used for food preservation purpose. In this study, various drying characteristics of the solar-dried Solanum tuberosum samples of different thicknesses have been investigated at variable climate condition of Lucknow. A mathematical model has also been developed to validate experimental results to predict the drying rate, free moisture content, and other parameters. Pre-treatment of the food samples was also done before the experimental runs on the fabricated solar dryer. Global radiation has also been monitored during the study to correlate the heat transfer rate in inner and outer sides of the solar drying chamber. SEM analysis has also been done to analyze the surface morphology of solar-dried samples. All solar dried food samples have uniformly heated. There was no hot-spot condition present on the surface of the samples. The drying efficiency and payback period of the fabricated solar dryer have also been calculated as 22.9% and 1.42 years, respectively. Model data have been found in good agreement with the experimental data within a 5% error. This modified model can be used for different agro-based food materials such as carrot, kiwifruit, and yam.

Experimental investigation of different-shaped microwave-heated potatoes: thermal and quality characteristics analysis for food preservation.

Food materials are consumed for nutritional purposes in the form of fruits, vegetables, plants, and meat. These contain proteins, carbohydrates, and other useful nutritional compounds and these processed foods are a rich source of nutrition. The demand and supply of hygienic food for a particular population is possible only by food preservation. It can be done by various methods such as drying, freezing, chilling, chemical preservation, and pasteurization. Drying is a method of food preservation and it can be done by solar drying, microwave heating, vacuum drying, and some other methods. Microwave heating is a fast-drying method. It utilizes electrical energy to generate heat energy. The domestic microwave oven is not harmful but a commercial-level oven may be little bit harmful, when operated on high frequency. Potato is used as a sample material with different shapes such as slab, cylindrical, and spherical. The microwave oven has been operated at four different microwave powers such as 100 W, 300 W, 600 W, and 800 W. Slab-shaped (30 °C), cylindrical-shaped (31.5 °C), and spherical-shaped (30.5 °C) food materials achieved maximum temperatures of 83.9 °C, 110.6 °C, and 146.1 °C respectively. The temperature variations and drying characteristics of the food samples have been monitored. An oven has achieved maximum drying efficiency of 25.65% with a slab-shaped sample. For the detection of the cracks and chemical compositions in the food samples, SEM with EDS analysis has been performed. Economic analysis of microwave oven has also been done and payback period has been found as 3.27 years.

Volatile Compounds Governed by Single Recessive Gene Impart Aroma in Sponge Gourd (Luffa cylindrica L. Roem).

As a vegetable crop, sponge gourd is widely consumed worldwide due to its health promoting and nutraceutical value. This study describes genetics of an aromatic genotype VRSG-7-17 and deciphers the genetic control and volatile compound composition of sponge gourd. To study the inheritance of this trait, a cross was made between aromatic light-green-fruited VRSG-7-17 and non-aromatic dark-green-fruited VRSG-194 genotypes. The F1s were found to be non-aromatic and have a green fruit colour. Chi-square (χ2) analysis of backcross and F2 population segregating for aroma suggested that the inheritance of aroma in VRSG-7-17 is governed by a single recessive gene in a simple Mendelian fashion. The SPME-GC/MS analysis of the volatile compounds suggested that the compounds responsible for Basmati rice-like aroma were mainly hexanal, 1-octen-3-ol, 3-octanone and limonene. The aroma persists in the cooked VRSG-7-17 fruits, that did not lose fragrance traits at high temperatures. The inheritance of fruit colour was found to be controlled by a single gene with incomplete dominance. The segregation analysis showed that the aroma and fruit colour were not linked, and they segregated independently. The findings will lead to understanding the inheritance of the aromatic compounds in the sponge gourd and may be utilised in the breeding programmes for developing improved aromatic varieties.

Barriers in biogas production from the organic fraction of municipal solid waste: A circular bioeconomy perspective.

Biogas-based circular bioeconomy can provide a long-term way out of the organic fraction of municipal solid waste. The barriers to biogas production are obstructing the growth of the biogas-based circular bioeconomy. This study provides a comprehensive analysis of the barriers to biogas in developing countries for the wider implementation of biogastechnology. Twenty barriers are identified and categorized into technical, logistical, institutional, and social dimensions. The analytical hierarchy process is applied to rank the barriers. The result of barrier ranking shows that the lack of appropriate segregation facilities is the most crucial barrier, followed by waste characteristics variation, and inconsistent supply. This study will provide an outline for rational decision-making in the sustainable organic fraction of municipal waste management.

Sarve: synthetic data and local differential privacy for private frequency estimation.

The collection of user attributes by service providers is a double-edged sword. They are instrumental in driving statistical analysis to train more accurate predictive models like recommenders. The analysis of the collected user data includes frequency estimation for categorical attributes. Nonetheless, the users deserve privacy guarantees against inadvertent identity disclosures. Therefore algorithms called frequency oracles were developed to randomize or perturb user attributes and estimate the frequencies of their values. We propose Sarve, a frequency oracle that used Randomized Aggregatable Privacy-Preserving Ordinal Response (RAPPOR) and Hadamard Response (HR) for randomization in combination with fake data. The design of a service-oriented architecture must consider two types of complexities, namely computational and communication. The functions of such systems aim to minimize the two complexities and therefore, the choice of privacy-enhancing methods must be a calculated decision. The variant of RAPPOR we had used was realized through bloom filters. A bloom filter is a memory-efficient data structure that offers time complexity of O(1). On the other hand, HR has been proven to give the best communication costs of the order of log(b) for b-bits communication. Therefore, Sarve is a step towards frequency oracles that exhibit how privacy provisions of existing methods can be combined with those of fake data to achieve statistical results comparable to the original data. Sarve also implemented an adaptive solution enhanced from the work of Arcolezi et al. The use of RAPPOR was found to provide better privacy-utility tradeoffs for specific privacy budgets in both high and general privacy regimes.