Therapeutic Effect of Cereal Grains: A Review.

Over the last few decades, life style changes have resulted in drastic increase in the incidence of diabetes all over the world, especially in the developing countries. Oral hypoglycemic agents and insulin form the main stay in controlling diabetes but they have prominent side effects and fail to significantly alter the course of diabetic complications. Appropriate diet and exercise programs that form a part of lifestyle modifications have proven to be greatly effective in the management of this disease. Dietary therapy is showing a bright future in the prevention and treatment of diabetes. Cereal grains which form the staple diet for humans in most of the countries are increasingly being used to treat diabetes and other associated disorders in view of their anti-diabetic and anti-lipidemic potential. Given this background, this paper reviews the possible mechanisms of lowering blood sugar and cholesterol levels possessed by various commonly consumed cereal grains. It is concluded that cereal grains are not only the potential sources of energy but also possess the therapeutic role in preventing metabolic disorders and decreasing the risk factors for cardiovascular and renal diseases.

Antidiabetic potential of commonly consumed legumes: a review.

Over the last few decades, lifestyle changes have resulted in a drastic increase in the incidence of diabetes all over the world, especially in the developing countries. Oral hypoglycemic agents and insulin form the mainstay in controlling diabetes, but they have prominent side effects and fail to significantly alter the course of diabetic complications. Appropriate diet and exercise programs that form a part of lifestyle modifications have proven to be greatly effective in the management of this disease. Dietary therapy is showing a bright future in the prevention and treatment of diabetes. Legumes, owing to their high nutritive value, are increasingly being used in dietetic formulations in the treatment and prevention of diabetes on account of their antidiabetic potential. Given this background, this paper reviews the glucose- and lipid-lowering action possessed by various commonly consumed legumes through several animal and human studies. It is concluded that the various legumes not only have varying degrees of antidiabetic potential but are also beneficial in decreasing the risk factors for cardiovascular and renal disease.

Design and simulation of 4 kW solar power-based hybrid EV charging station.

Electric vehicles (EVs) have become an attractive alternative to IC engine cars due to the increased interest in lowering the consumption of fossil fuels and pollution. This paper presents the design and simulation of a 4 kW solar power-based hybrid EV charging station. With the increasing demand for electric vehicles and the strain they pose on the electrical grid, particularly at fast and superfast charging stations, the development of sustainable and efficient charging infrastructure is crucial. The proposed hybrid charging station integrates solar power and battery energy storage to provide uninterrupted power for EVs, reducing reliance on fossil fuels and minimizing grid overload. The system operates using a three-stage charging strategy, with the PV array, battery bank, and grid electricity ensuring continuous power supply for EVs. Additionally, the system can export surplus solar energy to the grid, reducing the load demand. The paper also discusses the use of MPPT techniques, PV cell modeling, and charge controller algorithms to optimize the performance of the hybrid charging station.

Bamboo shoots: a novel source of nutrition and medicine.

Bamboos, a group of large woody grasses belonging to the family Poaceae and subfamily Bambusoideae, are much talked about for their contribution to the environment. However, the food potential of Bamboo shoot per se remains unexploited. Literature on the nutritional and medicinal potential of bamboo shoots is scarce. This paper therefore provides insight on bamboo shoot as a food resource. Various edible species and exotic food products (fermented shoots, pickle, etc.) and recipes of bamboo shoots (bamboo beer, bamboo cookies) are consumed worldwide. Change in nutritional composition of different species of bamboo shoots with processing has also been reviewed. Bamboo shoots possess high protein, moderate fiber, and less fat content. They are also endowed for having essential amino acids, selenium, a potent antioxidant, and potassium, a healthy heart mineral. Occurrence of taxiphyllin, a cyanogenic glycoside in raw shoots, and its side effect on human health calls for the demand to innovate processing ways using scientific input to eliminate the toxic compound without disturbing the nutrient reserve. Lastly, the paper also reviews the utilization of medicinal properties acquired by bamboo shoot. Using the traditional knowledge, pharmaceutical preparations of bamboo shoots like bamboo salt, bamboo vinegar, bamboo extracts for diabetes and cholesterol control, etc. are now gaining importance. Further investigation is required by the researchers to make novel nutraceutical products and benefit the society.

Bamboo shoot preservation for enhancing its business potential and local economy: a review.

Bamboo shoot as food has been used in traditional ways by the tribal community the world over. For enhancing its business potential, research on various aspects of bamboo shoot as food is being carried out in Japan, Taiwan, Thailand, and Asian countries and several products are available in the market. Bamboo shoots are used as a delicacy in human food, are a good source of dietary fiber, low in fat and calories. The research studies included in this review paper focus on post-harvest preservation of bamboo shoot. In view of the seasonal availability of bamboo shoot, the post-harvest preservation system for handling cynogenic toxicity in raw shoot while keeping nutrients intact and enhancement of shelf life of the value added products assume great significance for the business potential of this natural product. A yardstick of assessing the "Shelf life-Quality Matrix" developed in this review paper would give a new perspective of quality control in case of preservation of bamboo shoot. Also, knowledge gaps identified in this paper would give impetus to new academic and R&D activities, in turn generating an innovative job profile in the food industry as well as rural entrepreneurship.

Fermented bamboo shoots: A complete nutritional, anti-nutritional and antioxidant profile of the sustainable and functional food to food security.

Bamboo shoot fermentation is a traditional process carried out in different communities of the North-Eastern region. To understand the mechanism involved in the traditional process, its scientific validation was done in laboratory. The shoots were fermented for a period of 30 days with the addition of inoculum. Initial investigation showed that the acidity increased and cyanogenic toxicity decreased. The final fermented bamboo shoot product was further analyzed for the proximate composition, minerals and antioxidant capacity. An increase in the protein content (+17.28%) was found in the fermented sample while fat and vitamin C were found to decrease i.e. 90.2% and 35.77% respectively. A significant increase in the phenol, flavonoid content and antioxidant capacity was also found to increase indicating their potential to protect human health. Bamboo shoot serves a great means to food security and a source of functional food. Commercializing fermented shoot products will preserve traditional knowledge and provide livelihood and achieve development goals.

Design and Analysis of Multi Junction Solar Photovoltaic Cell with Graphene as an Intermediate Layer.

An efficacious Intermediate Layer (IML) is important for multi junction solar Photo Voltaic Cell (PVC) owing to its good electrical conductivity and optical transparency. In this research work, the use of Graphene as an IML with varied thickness on InGaP/GaAs/InGaAs multi-junction solar PVCs is investigated using virtual fabrication TCAD tool SILVACO-Atlas. The detail absorption rate from wavelength 300 nm (ultraviolet)-2500 nm (middle infra-red region) is determined and the effected modelling stages are recounted. The results after simulation are further confirmed with experimental data to prove accuracy of the research work proposed. The performance parameters with Jsc = 33.4 mA/cm², Voc = 1.27 V, fill factor (FF) = 99.5% and conversion efficiency of 30.91% (1 sun) are obtained under AM1.5G illumination.

ChemGenome2.1: An Ab Initio Gene Prediction Software.

Gene prediction, also known as gene identification, gene finding, gene recognition, or gene discovery, is among one of the important problems of molecular biology and is receiving increasing attention due to the advent of large-scale genome sequencing projects. We designed an ab initio model (called ChemGenome) for gene prediction in prokaryotic genomes based on physicochemical characteristics of codons. In this chapter, we present the methodology of the latest version of this model ChemGenome2.1 (CG2.1). The first module of the protocol builds a three-dimensional vector from three calculated quantities for each codon-the double-helical trinucleotide base pairing energy, the base pair stacking energy, and an index of the propensity of a codon for protein-nucleic acid interactions. As this three-dimensional vector moves along any genome, the net orientation of the resultant vector should differ significantly for gene and non-genic regions to make a distinction feasible. The predicted putative protein-coding genes from above parameters are passed through a second module of the protocol which reduces the number of false positives by utilizing a filter based on stereochemical properties of protein sequences. The chemical properties of amino acid side chains taken into consideration are the presence of sp3 hybridized γ carbon atom, hydrogen bond donor ability, short/absence of δ carbon and linearity of the side chains/non-occurrence of bi-dentate forks with terminal hydrogen atoms in the side chain. The final prediction of the potential protein-coding genes is based on the frequency of occurrence of amino acids in the predicted protein sequences and their deviation from the frequency values of Swissprot protein sequences, both at monomer and tripeptide levels. The final screening is based on Z-score. Though CG2.1 is a gene finding tool for prokaryotes, considering the underlying similarity in the chemical and physical properties of DNA among prokaryotes and eukaryotes, we attempted to evaluate its applicability for gene finding in the lower eukaryotes. The results give a hope that the concept of gene finding based on physicochemical model of codons is a viable idea for eukaryotes as well, though, undoubtedly, improvements are needed.

Prokaryotic gene finding based on physicochemical characteristics of codons calculated from molecular dynamics simulations.

An ab initio model for gene prediction in prokaryotic genomes is proposed based on physicochemical characteristics of codons calculated from molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. The model requires a specification of three calculated quantities for each codon: the double-helical trinucleotide base pairing energy, the base pair stacking energy, and an index of the propensity of a codon for protein-nucleic acid interactions. The base pairing and stacking energies for each codon are obtained from recently reported MD simulations on all unique tetranucleotide steps, and the third parameter is assigned based on the conjugate rule previously proposed to account for the wobble hypothesis with respect to degeneracies in the genetic code. The third interaction propensity parameter values correlate well with ab initio MD calculated solvation energies and flexibility of codon sequences as well as codon usage in genes and amino acid composition frequencies in approximately 175,000 protein sequences in the Swissprot database. Assignment of these three parameters for each codon enables the calculation of the magnitude and orientation of a cumulative three-dimensional vector for a DNA sequence of any length in each of the six genomic reading frames. Analysis of 372 genomes comprising approximately 350,000 genes shows that the orientations of the gene and nongene vectors are well differentiated and make a clear distinction feasible between genic and nongenic sequences at a level equivalent to or better than currently available knowledge-based models trained on the basis of empirical data, presenting a strong support for the possibility of a unique and useful physicochemical characterization of DNA sequences from codons to genomes.

A physicochemical model for analyzing DNA sequences.

In search of an ab initio model to characterize DNA sequences as genes and nongenes, we examined some physicochemical properties of each trinucleotide (codon), which could accomplish this task. We constructed three-dimensional vectors for each double-helical trinucleotide sequence considering hydrogen-bonding energy, stacking energy, and a third parameter, which we provisionally identified with DNA-protein interactions. As this three-dimensional vector moves along any genome, the net orientation of the resultant vector should differ significantly for gene and nongene regions to make a distinction feasible, if the underlying model has some merits. An analysis of 331 prokaryotic genomes comprising a total of 294 786 experimentally verified genes (nonoverlapping) and an equal number of nongenes presents a proof of concept of the model without the need for further parametrization. Also, initial analyses on Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Arabidopsis thaliana suggest that the methodology is extendable to eukaryotes. The physicochemical model (ChemGenome1.0) introduced has the potential to be developed into a gene-finding algorithm and, more pressingly, could be employed for an independent assessment of the annotation of DNA sequences.