Fabrication of magnetite nanoparticles (Fe3O4-NPs) for catalytic pyrolysis of nutshells biomass

The fabrication of nanoparticles has been perused as a topic of critical importance in the present decades. Biosynthesis of nanoparticles employs plants extract instead of harmful chemicals. These plant extracts act as reducing and capping agents which is the most appropriate and eco-friendly method among all the preparative routs. In present study, the magnetite nanoparticles (Fe₃O₄-NPs) were fabricated using rapid, single step and benign biosynthetic rout by reduction of ferric nitrate nonahydrate solution with Ferocactus echidne aqueous extract containing ascorbic acid as a main reducing and capping agent. The structural and morphological properties of prepared iron oxide nanoparticles were investigated by Powder X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy. The size of the synthesized nanoparticles was approximately 15 ± 2 nm as determined by Scherrer equation. The biosynthetically fabricated nanoparticles were employed as catalyst for pyrolysis of nutshells to produce biofuel. Catalytic pyrolysis of biomass yields biofuel as an alternative source of energy and chemical feed stock. Effect of temperature, heating rate, and amount of catalyst were investigated on conversion percentage and product yields. Aniline point, carbon residue, and cetane number of prepared bio-oil were also determined.     

Mixed convection and entropy production in a nanofluid-filled closed space with inclined magnetic field

Journal of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry - A computational analysis has been performed to study the impact of magnetic field on entropy generation due to mixed convective nanofluid flow with top...     

New Epoxydammarane Triterpenes from Salvia santolinifolia

Three new 20,24‐epoxydammarane triterpenes, santolins A–C ( 1 – 3 ), were isolated from the AcOEt‐soluble fraction of the MeOH extract of Salvia santolinifolia (whole plant). Their structures were assigned based on ¹H‐NMR, ¹³C‐NMR (DEPT), and 2D‐NMR analyses, in combination with HR‐MS experiments and comparison with literature data of related compounds.     

Ailanthus altissima (Miller) Swingle fruit - new acyl β-sitosteryl glucoside and in vitro pharmacological evaluation

β-Sitosterol-3-O-(6?-O-13?-octadecenoyl)-β-D-glucoside (1), a new acyl β-sitosteryl glucoside, along with three known compounds β-sitosterol-3-O-β-D-glucoside (2), β-sitosterol (3) and methyl gallate (4) have been isolated from the ethyl acetate soluble fraction of methanolic extract of Ailanthus altissima fruits. Their structures were elucidated through spectroscopic data including 2D NMR, ESI-MS, methanolysis and oxidative cleavage of double bond. Antibacterial, antifungal, cytotoxic, phytotoxic and insecticidal activities were evaluated of compound 1, crude extract and its fractions so far for the first time. Pharmacological activities results showed that n-butanol fraction was good active against Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Salmonella typhi bacteria, and moderate active against Microsporum canis fungus. Crude extract, n-butanol and aqueous fractions showed good cytotoxicity. Moreover, compound 1, extract and all fractions showed notable phytotoxicity at higher concentrations, whereas all inactive against assayed insects.     

Multi-Targeted Molecular Docking,Pharmacokinetics, and Drug-Likeness Evaluation of Okra-Derived Ligand Abscisic Acid Targeting Signaling Proteins Involved in the Development of Diabetes

Diabetes mellitus is a global threat affecting millions of people of different age groups. In recent years, the development of naturally derived anti-diabetic agents has gained popularity. Okra is a common vegetable containing important bioactive components such as abscisic acid (ABA). ABA, a phytohormone, has been shown to elicit potent anti-diabetic effects in mouse models. Keeping its anti-diabetic potential in mind, in silico study was performed to explore its role in inhibiting proteins relevant to diabetes mellitus- 11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (11β-HSD1), aldose reductase, glucokinase, glutamine-fructose-6-phosphate amidotransferase (GFAT), peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma (PPAR-gamma), and Sirtuin family of NAD(+)-dependent protein deacetylases 6 (SIRT6). A comparative study of the ABA-protein docked complex with already known inhibitors of these proteins relevant to diabetes was compared to explore the inhibitory potential. Calculation of molecular binding energy (ΔG), inhibition constant (pKi), and prediction of pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics properties were performed. The molecular docking investigation of ABA with 11-HSD1, GFAT, PPAR-gamma, and SIRT6 revealed considerably low binding energy (ΔG from −8.1 to −7.3 Kcal/mol) and predicted inhibition constant (pKi from 6.01 to 5.21 µM). The ADMET study revealed that ABA is a promising drug candidate without any hazardous effect following all current drug-likeness guidelines such as Lipinski, Ghose, Veber, Egan, and Muegge.     

Unique Outcomes of Internal Heat Generation and Thermal Deposition on Viscous Dissipative Transport of Viscoplastic Fluid over a Riga-Plate

Boundary layer stagnation point flow of Casson fluid over a Riga plate of variable thickness is investigated in present article. Riga plate is an electromagnetic actuator consists of enduring magnets and gyrated aligned array of alternating electrodes mounted on a plane surface. Physical problem is modeled and simplified under appropriate transformations. Effects of thermal radiation and viscous dissipation are incorporated. These differential equations are solved by Keller Box Scheme using MATLAB. Comparison is given with shooting techniques along with RangeKutta Fehlberg method of order 5. Graphical and tabulated analysis is drawn. The results reveal that Eckert number,radiation and fluid parameters enhance temperature whereas they contribute in lowering rate of heat transfer. The numerical outcomes of present analysis depicts that Keller Box Method is capable and consistent to solve proposed nonlinear problem with high accuracy.     

Step-wise laser excitation of the 4snf 3F Rydberg states of neutral zinc

The new experimental results on the effective quantum numbers and term energies of the highly excited odd-parity 4s4d ³D_1,2,3 →4snf ³F_2,3,4 Rydberg transitions of zinc have been presented. The experiment was performed using the three dye lasers simultaneously pumped by the second harmonic (532?nm) of the Q-switched Nd:YAG laser. The new observation includes the 4snf ³F₃ (12?≤n?≤?50) series excited from the 4s4d ³D₂ intermediate level. In addition, the 4snf ³F₂ (12?≤n?≤?28) and 4snf³F₄ (12?≤n?≤?33) series are observed from the thermally populated 4s4d ³D_1,3 fine structure components. The ionization potential of zinc has been determined from the unperturbed 4snf ³F₃ series as 75769.31?±?0.15?cm^?1, which is in excellent agreement with the previously reported value.     

Impact of Internal Heat Source on Mixed Convective Transverse Transport of Viscoplastic Material under Viscosity Variation

This communication addresses the impact of heat source/sink along with mixed convection on oblique flow of Casson fluid having variable viscosity. Similarity analysis has been utilized to model governing equations, which are simplified to set of nonlinear differential equations. Computational procedure of shooting algorithm along with 4th order Range-Kutta-Fehlberg scheme is opted to attain the velocity and temperature distributions. Impact of imperative parameters on Casson fluid flow, temperature, significant physical quantities such as skin friction, local heat flux and streamlines are displayed via graphs.     

Thermal transport of rate-type fluid impinging obliquely over a heated sheet

The main objective of this study is to examine the two-dimensional (2D) oblique Oldroyd-B flow on a stretching heated sheet. The flow governing problem is converted into nonlinear ordinary differential equations through proper scaling transformations. The prevailing set of equations is solved computationally with a tolerance level of \({ 10}^{-5}\). The velocity and temperature of a fluid model under consideration are portrayed to discuss the influence of all associated parameters on momentum and thermal characteristics. Heat flux at the wall has been computed numerically and analysed in a physical manner. The results obtained depict a reversed flow region for non-positive values of shear flow components once a free parameter is varied. It is noticed that heat transfer at the wall drops due to a rise in Deborah number \(\beta _{1}\) as well as Biot number \(\hbox {Bi}\).