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Current status and future trends on the use of innovative technologies for recovering bioactive from insects
Edible insects hold great potential as human food owing to their nutritional, economic and environmental value. Though, the negative perceptions of insects limit their intake by majority of the insects, their efficient processing and utilization in food products have steadily increased their demand in recent years. This chapter deals with the emerging and advanced extraction techniques for recovering functional and bioactive compounds from insects, considering the various factors which might influence the optimum yields. Apart from their production yields, it is of utmost significance to preserve their nutritional and sensory qualities for their effective utilization in functional food products. In this regard, various emerging technologies such as enzymatic hydrolysis, cold atmospheric pressure plasma, ultrasound-assisted extraction, high hydrostatic pressure have been explored. Mechanisms of action along with their benefits and drawbacks have been thoroughly described in the later part of the chapter which will provide insight to the readers for the selection of optimum technology for insect processing. Overall, this chapter provides the readers a comprehensive view about alternatives to conventional techniques for postprocessing of insects and optimization for case-specific technology. 2024 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. -
A review of alternative proteins for vegan diets: Sources, physico-chemical properties, nutritional equivalency, and consumer acceptance
Alternate proteins are gaining popularity as a more sustainable and environmentally friendly alternative to animal-based proteins. These proteins are often considered healthier and are suitable for people following a vegetarian or vegan diet. Alternative proteins can be recovered from natural sources like legumes, grains, nuts, and seeds, while single cell proteins (mycoproteins), and algal proteins are being developed using cutting-edge technology to grow fungus, yeast and algal cells in a controlled environment, creating a more sustainable source of protein. Although, the demand for alternative protein products is increasing, there still happens to be a large gap in use among the general consumers mainly stemming from its lower bioavailability, lack of nutritional equivalency and reduced digestibility compared to animal proteins. The focus of the review is to emphasize on various sources and technologies for recovering alternative proteins for vegan diets. The review discusses physicochemical properties of alternative proteins and emphasise on the role of various processing technologies that can change the digestibility and bioavailability of these proteins. It further accentuates the nutritional equivalency and environmental sustainability of alternative protein against the conventional proteins from animals. The food laws surrounding alternative proteins as well as the commercial potential and consumer acceptance of alternative protein products are also highlighted. Finally, key challenges to improve the consumer acceptability and market value of plant-based proteins would be in achieving nutrient equivalency and enhance bioavailability and digestibility while maintaining the same physicochemical properties, taste, texture, as animal proteins, has also been highlighted. 2023 The Authors -
In-silico validation of novel therapeutic activities of withaferin a using molecular docking and dynamics studies
Withaferin A is a bioactive molecule of W. somnifera. We access its efficacy against various target proteins associated with Cancer, Type-II Diabetes and hypercholesterolemia using molecular docking. Although its efficacy against some of these targets have been reported earlier, we validate each mechanism in order to report the most appropriate mechanism of action. We explain the anti-cancer activity of Withaferin A by inhibition of Mortalin (mtHsp70) and Nrf2 protein with binding energies ?8.85 kcal/mol and ?12.59 kcal/mol respectively. Similarly, the anti-diabetic activity could be explained by inhibition of alpha and bet?-glucosidase with binding energies ?6.44 and ?4.43 kcal/mol respectively and the cholesterol reduction could be explained by its ability to inhibition of NPC1 and SRB1 with binding energies ?5.73 and ?7.16 kcal/mol respectively. The molecular dynamics of the apoprotein and the protein-ligand complex simulated for the best targets of each activity namely Nrf2 protein for anti-cancer, ?-glucosidase for anti-diabetic and SR-B1 for anti-hypercholesterolemia activity indicated the formation of stable complexes due to low RMSD deviations, low RMSF fluctuations and low RG values after the docking simulation. Finally, an ADME + T (Adsorption, distribution, metabolism, excretion and toxicity) prediction on Withaferin A showed that it obeyed all the Lipinskys rules and qualified the drug-like criteria. All these results validate that Withaferin A possess potential anti-cancer, anti-diabetic and cholesterol reducing properties. This is the first report that indicates the possibility of Withaferin A binding and inhibiting SR-B1 as a mechanism of its anti-hypercholesterolemia activity. 2022 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. -
Maximal matching cover pebbling number for variants of hypercube
An edge pebbling move is defined as the removal of two pebbles from one edge and placing one on the adjacent edge. The maximal matching cover pebbling number, fmmcp(G), of a graph G, is the minimum number of pebbles that must be placed on E(G), such that after a sequence of pebbling moves the set of edges with pebbles forms a maximal matching regardless of the initial configuration. In this paper, we find the maximal matching cover pebbling number for variants of hypercube. (2023), (SciELO-Scientific Electronic Library Online). All Rights Reserved. -
A Machine Learning Entrenched Brain Tumor Recognition Framework
Brain tumor detection plays a significant role in medical image processing. Treatment for patients with brain tumors is primarily dependent on faster detection of these tumors. More rapid detection of brain tumors will help in the improvement of the patient's life chances. Diagnosis of brain tumors by doctors most commonly follow manual segmentation, which is difficult and time-consuming; instead, automatic detection is necessary. Nowadays, automatic detection plays a vital role and can be a solution to detecting brain tumors with better performance. Brain tumor detection using the MRI images method is an essential diagnostic tool for predicting brain tumors; the implementation for these kinds of detection can be done using various machine learning algorithms and methodologies. It helps the doctors understand the actual progression of the evolving tumor, allowing the doctors to decide how the treatment has to be given for that particular patient and measures required to follow up. Therefore, the intention is to create a framework to detect brain tumors in MRI images using a machine learning algorithm and analyze the performance of the brain tumor detection using sensitivity and specificity, which helps us to analyze how well the algorithm has performed in detecting the brain tumors accurately and develop a mobile application framework in which the MRI images can be directly scanned to know whether the cancer is present in a scanned MRI image or not. 2022 IEEE. -
Innovative Natural Disaster Precautionary Methods Through Virtual Space
Humancomputer interaction is the study of a human and computer interaction in which we analyze and create an interface between the humans and the computer to decide to which extent it is possible to interact with computers which change the way of the usual lifestyle that can evolve the future generations according to the humans convenience. Virtual reality environments in natural disasters are to train people to overcome or prevent their lives from risky situations. When it comes to natural disasters, people never know when such disasters strike in their daily lives, so it is necessary to be prepared to face such consequences. Though the rescuers are there to save the lives of the people, it is not possible to wait for the rescuers all the time, and the situations may also be even worse than the expected. It becomes highly impossible to take precautionary measures; therefore, after the warning of the disaster, people can prepare themselves to survive such situations without the help of rescuers. Different disasters happen in different landscapes; for example, Tsunami occurs in the sea, floods occur as a temporary disaster that covers the land with water, usually not covered by water, and many other disasters that cause life and damage property. Therefore, with the help of virtual reality simulation, people can be trained according to the scenarios or the natural disaster created by the computer-generated 3D environment where the trainee can interact and perform actions generated based on the scenarios. In the virtual world, provided in the head-mounted display, the user can be trained upon by first instructing what to be done and later, after understanding the situation, the trainee is put into a natural disaster scenario where he performs the precautionary measures that need to be done based on the scenario and prepare accordingly in such situations so that before the arrival of the rescuers, people would be more aware of what measures to be taken and react accordingly in such a way that it reduces the risk of life. The chapter further explains in detail about humancomputer interaction (HCI), virtual reality (VR), advantages and disadvantages of virtual reality, various natural disasters, and the role and impact of VR environment in creating awareness and providing precautionary measures for preventing natural disasters. When it comes to immersive technology and smart cities, it is equally important to make everything smart according to the changing generations and technologies in our day-to-day lives. On the other hand, when dealing with people to make them understand and educate things, we must also enhance teaching and make them feel interested in whatever we impose on them. So, when we give the people a 360-degree view or a three-dimensional view of the scenarios, it helps them experience like they are actually into the scenario to understand and make immediate decisions. The advantage of using such immersive technology is that when errors or misjudgments are made to learn from the mistakes and correct it, it helps them understand the scenario and take spot and efficient decision at the time of disasters which will have a significant impact on rescuing the lives of the people. 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG. -
Beyond Humour: How Memes Shape Brand Associations and Drive Purchase Choices
Memes are the perfect marketing tools a brand can use while promoting their products or services. In this ever-changing consumer preferences memes are the convenient marketing tools that a consumer pays attention, the usage of memes has become a completely modern approach for brands to seek the attention of consumers. The study examines the impact of internet meme that spreads through social media which catches the consumer attention and improves the intention of purchasing products and also learn about the brands. A structured questionnaire and convenience sampling technique are designed to collect data from frequent internet users who are active in social media from Gen-z and have at least a little knowledge on meme marketing, and responses yielded were 353. This paper gives a general study of meme marketing and if the consumer brand relatability and purchase decisions are affected by meme marketing. The findings state that there is a relationship between branding memes and consumer brand relatability and using the memes in social handles affect the consumer behaviour however there is a discomfort among consumers when brands solely use memes for marketing purposes. Also the study found that there is no significance between Gender and meme motivation into buying products. Thus the study contributes to understand the consumer behaviour, purchase intention and likeliness towards the brands. In addition, the authors contribute to the finding the significance of meme in daily life of a consumer and what type of memes would pursue consumers more towards the brand. The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2024. -
Molecular phylogenetics and character evolution in Haplanthodes (Acanthaceae), an endemic genus from peninsular India
Haplanthodes (Acanthaceae) is an Indian endemic genus with four species. It is closely related to Andrographis which is also mainly distributed in India. Haplanthodes differs from Andrographis by the presence of cladodes in the inflorescences, subactinomorphic flowers, stamens included within the corolla tube, pouched stamens and oblate pollen grains. To understand the phylogenetic relationship of Haplanthodes, Andrographis and Haplanthus, which are putatively closely related taxa, we used four plastid markers, matK, rbcL, psbA-trnH and trnGRto construct a molecular phylogeny. Our results established the monophyly of Haplanthodes and revealed a sister relationship to Andrographis and Haplanthus. Further, to understand the historical biogeography of the genus, we inferred the divergence time and performed an ancestral area reconstruction. Our analyses suggest that Haplanthodes evolved during Late Miocene 5.85 Ma (95%HPD: 2.1810.34 Ma) in peninsular India where it might have shared a common ancestor with Andrographis. To understand character evolution, the ancestral states of important morphological characters were inferred and discussed based on the equal rate model. The generic status of Haplanthus was not resolved due to incomplete sampling. 2022 Nordic Society Oikos. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. -
Origin and diversification of Indian Ceropegieae (Apocynaceae) and its possible relation to the Indian monsoon
The Indian subcontinent has experienced a major shift in climatic regime from a wet tropical regime to increased seasonal rainfall, since the late Miocene. This shift has been attributed to the intensification of monsoons, which led to opening up of dry habitats in humid forests and formation of deciduous forests. We explored the role of this climatic shift in the origin and diversification of dry-adapted plant genera Ceropegia and Brachystelma (Ceropegiae, Asclepiadoideae, Apocynaceae). We sampled Ceropegia and Brachystelma from across India and used five markers (two nuclear and three plastid regions) to reconstruct a global phylogeny of this group. Indian members of the tribe Ceropegiae were derived from Africa through at least four independent dispersal events. All dispersal events occurred in late Miocene after establishment of a monsoon climate. One of these early dispersing lineages underwent rapid radiation in peninsular India, giving rise to around 50 species. Thus, both dispersal and diversification events coincided with the intensification of monsoons and concomitant aridification. The role of environment in the evolution of floral characteristics and root type in the Indian radiation is also discussed. This is one of the first reports on a dry-adapted endemic radiation of plants in India. 2020 Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences -
Cryptic species and taxonomic troubles: A rebuttal of the systematic treatment of the Asian ladies' tresses orchids (Spiranthes species; Orchidaceae) by Pace et al. (2019)
In a recent research article by Pace et al. (2019), the authors claimed to have used information from phenology, morphology and molecular phylogenetics in their nomenclatural review of the Spiranthes sinensis complex. However, there are several scientific and botanical nomenclature issues with the Pace et al. (2019) paper in addition to its many errors and misinformation, which can be severely misleading and have the potential to affect our understanding of the highly complex Asian Spiranthes group. Here, we compare and critique their study in light of our study published prior to the article in the Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society. We suggest that the authors should have resorted to improved and new molecular data and a truly integrative analysis to support: (1) re-circumscription of the S. sinensis species complex for each of the six species they recognized, and the treatment of S. hongkongensis as a hybrid; and (2) all the new synonymies they proposed for Asian Spiranthes. 2020 The Linnean Society of London, Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society, 2020, 194, 375-381 -
A Glimpse into the Future: AI, Digital Humans, and the Metaverse Opportunities and Challenges for Life Sciences in Immersive Ecologies
The Metaverse is poised to have a significant impact in life sciences, especially in the healthcare sector. In the near future, genomic data along with AI and extended reality may be used to enhance digital humans to create digital twins to be used for virtual world interactions, or manipulated to obtain insights for real-world healthcare decision-making. In addition, extended reality may enable more robust population-based research and faster drug discovery, and permit the creation of virtual spaces and immersive environments for patients and physicians alike. In this chapter, we examine aspects of extended reality and AI that will play important roles in various areas of life sciences and discuss the future of life sciences in the Metaverse. 2023 John Wiley & Sons Ltd. -
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Precise surface molecular engineering of 2D-Bi2S3 enables the ultrasensitive simultaneous detection of dopamine, epinephrine, serotonin and uric acid
Multiple biomolecule detection at a single read is an emerging and highly desirable technology in point-of-care diagnostics. Thus, functional nanoscale materials with high precision and stability at an affordable cost are required to fabricate adaptable multiplex biosensing devices with exceptional performance. Herein, an ultrasensitive molecularly engineered 2D-Bi2S3 biosensor is developed via a two-step synthetic approach. Simultaneous detection of dopamine (DA), epinephrine (EP), serotonin (ST), and uric acid (UA) is achieved at the nanomolar level. The surface molecular engineered 2D-Bi2S3 by 4-mercaptobenzoic acid (MBA) exhibits a well crystalline nature and consists of 36 stacked layers with creased-paper-like morphology after an MBA molecule has been precisely linked at the basal plane of Bi2S3. Bi2S3-MBA's surface/vibrational spectroscopic and scanning tunneling microscopic studies demonstrate the Bi2S3-MBA electronic nature and the linked molecule present on the Bi2S3 surface with a comparatively large random distribution of MBA molecules at the basal plane than the edge plane. The density functional theory (DFT) calculation verifies the proposed molecular interaction mechanism. The success of this unique surface molecular engineering strategy, which effectively modified the electronic and surface configuration of the 2D-Bi2S3, offers an exciting possibility for building different variants of the versatile biosensor for real-world diagnostic device applications. 2024 -
Laser Scribing Turns Plastic Waste into a Biosensor via the Restructuration of Nanocarbon Composites for Noninvasive Dopamine Detection
The development of affordable and compact noninvasive point-of-care (POC) dopamine biosensors for the next generation is currently a major and challenging problem. In this context, a highly sensitive, selective, and low-cost sensing probe is developed by a simple one-step laser-scribing process of plastic waste. A flexible POC device is developed as a prototype and shows a highly specific response to dopamine in the real sample (urine) as low as 100 pmol/L in a broad linear range of 10?1010?4 mol/L. The 3D topological feature, carrier kinetics, and surface chemistry are found to improve with the formation of high-density metal-embedded graphene-foam composite driven by laser irradiation on the plastic-waste surface. The development of various kinds of flexible and tunable biosensors by plastic waste is now possible thanks to the success of this simple, but effective, laser-scribing technique, which is capable of modifying the matrixs electronic and chemical composition. 2023 by the authors. -
Detection and Behavioral Analysis of Preschoolers with Dyscalculia
Human behaviours are influenced by various factors that might impact their thought process. The way human beings response in situations have a strong connection with genetic makeup, cultural values and experiences from the past. Behaviour Analysis discusses the effect of human response to external/internal stimuli. This study helps in understanding behaviour changes among individuals suffering from various psychological disorders. Dyscalculia is one similar type of learning disorder [LD] which is commonly found among individuals and goes undetected for years. It is a lifelong condition which causes difficulty for people to perform mathematics-related tasks. Dyscalculia is quite eminent at every age. Since the symptoms are prominent from a young age, it can be detected at the earliest. Dyscalculia has no medical treatment but can be minimized by getting involved in some brain exercises especially created for children with Learning Disabilities. The chapter deals with minor research and the behaviour analysis for the above-mentioned disorder among pre-schoolers. In this chapter, a study of the behavioural patterns of pre-schoolers with dyscalculia is performed. This chapter also attempts to propose a model that can detect and predict the possibility of a child suffering from dyscalculia. It also includes a number of brain training activities that can help them to improve and enhance their confidence in mathematics. 2020, Springer Nature Switzerland AG. -
Effective fraud detection in healthcare domain using popular classification modeling techniques
Fraud is any activity with malicious intentions resulting in personal gain. In the Present Day scenario, every sector is polluted by such fraudulent activities to fetch unauthorized benefits. In HealthCare, an increase in fraudulent insurance claims has been observed over the years which may constitute around 3-5% of the total cost. Increasing healthcare costs along with the hike in fraud cases have made it difficult for people to approach these services when required. To avoid such situations, we must understand and identify such illegal acts and prepare our systems to combat such cases. Thus, there is a need to have a powerful mechanism to detect and avoid fraudulent activities. Many Data mining approaches are applied to identify, analyze and categorized fraud claims from the genuine ones. In this paper, various frauds existing in the Health Care sector have been discussed along with analyzing the effect of frauds in the health care domain with existing data mining models. Furthermost, a comparative analysis is performed on two existing approaches to extract relevant patterns related to fraudulent claims. BEIESP. -
Enhancement of Reflected Faces on Semi-reflecting Surfaces
Face recognition is interesting research area in computer vision. This paper proposes to enhance faces reflected on semi reflecting surfaces such as glass window, glass screens or any other mirror like surfaces. Visibility or clarity of reflected image is depending on the reflecting ability of material surface on which reflection occurs. Other than mirror surfaces, majority of reflected images are less visibility. So recognition of reflected face is a challenge in the proposed method. This paper addresses enhancement of reflected face image. Estimating atmospheric light and medium transmission map, recover haze free image. Apply CLAHE i.e., adaptive histogram equalization by limiting contrast to obtain enhanced reflected face image. 2019 IEEE. -
The impact of ESG inclusion on price, liquidity and financial performance of Indian stocks: Evidence from stocks listed in BSE and NSE ESG indices
In recent years, investors have perceived that Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) practices significantly increase the value of companies' stocks. This study investigates the impact of ESG inclusion on the price, liquidity and financial performance of stocks listed in the Indian ESG indices. Two major Indian benchmark ESG Indices, the BSE100 ESG and Nifty 100 ESG, were considered for the study. A total sample of 64 firms from the BSE100 ESG index and 86 firms from the Nifty100 ESG index were selected. The market model of the event study methodology was employed to measure AAR and CAAR and to demonstrate the effect before and after the inclusion of the stocks in the ESG indices. The empirical results show a highly significant negative AAR on the announcement day, i.e., on (day = 0) for BSE100 ESG index stocks and an insignificant positive AAR for Nifty100 ESG index stocks. In addition, the results also document a significant negative CAAR for BSE 100 ESG stocks and a positive insignificant CAAR for Nifty100 ESG stocks. Moreover, the liquidity test results revealed a considerable liquidity enhancement in the stocks posts their inclusion in the BSE100 ESG. At the same time, there were no significant changes in the liquidity ratio of stocks after being included in the Nifty100 ESG index. This study concludes that there will be a substantial improvement in the companies' financial performance as indicated by EPS and market capitalization after their inclusion in the ESG indices. Suresha B., Srinidhi V. R., Dippi Verma, Manu K. S., Krishna T. A., 2022. -
Nexus Between Tax Buoyancy and Economic Growth Evidence from India1
This paper examines the trends in fiscal revenue collections and the relationship between tax buoyancy and economic growth. In recent years, the responsiveness of revenue growth in relation to economic growth is a growing concern as we witness staggered tax revenue growth with the convergence of percentage contribution of direct taxes to the aggregate revenue with indirect taxes. Using the Log OLS model, for the period between 2000-2018 the variability in tax revenue due to the change in economic growth as measured by GDP was verified. We confirm the test results using M-estimation Robust Log-OLS. We critically appraise the policy interventions and administrative initiatives taken up to improve the buoyancy rate and suggest ways to enhance the voluntary tax compliance rate in the country. The studys findings show a significant relationship between tax revenue and economic growth, but it does not necessarily improve the tax buoyancy rate. Indian Institute of Finance. -
Nexus between ownership structure and firm performance - Evidence from Indian service sector
Shareholding pattern of an organization determines the management control and decision making climate. Empirical researches have proved relationship among the type of shareholdings, managerial efficiency and stock returns in manufacturing sectors. This study investigates the relationship between the organizational shareholding pattern and financial performance of select services sector companies taking sample from listed financial services and Information technology firms from CNX500 Index for a period of five years. The study emphasizes on the significance of categorical distinctions among ownership and evaluating its influence on firm performance for investment decisions. Both accounting and market based approach of Firm performance has been considered using Tobin Q ratio and Return on Capital Employed as proxy. The results show that there is Insider owners dominance in services sector. A higher percentage of aggregate promoter and promoters group holdings are documented in services sector. The study also documents a positive and significant relationship between the firm performance as measured by market model and the percentage of shares held by promoters and Institutional bodies. In contrast, there is negative and insignificant influence of promoters holdings on the firm performance. However, Institutional shareholdings have a positive and significant influence. Dominant insiders ownership enhances management efficiency through excessive control for wealth maximization. IAEME Publication.