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Humankind is presently engulfed by convenience quench, modern life style and urbanized diet system leading to progression in array of health disorders. The past decade confronted cardiometabolic disorder (21.8 %), lower respiratory and chronic obstructive lung disease (12.5 %) as the major causes of death world over. In anticipation, scientific communities' have demonstrated the role of healthy diets, especially those rich in fruits and vegetables, for management of such health related issues. These horticultural crops are considered as a good source of polyphenols such as dihydrochalcones, flavanols, flavonols, anthocyanins and phenolic acids. The present article reviews the efforts made to assess the potential of apple phenolic compounds present in fresh fruits, leaves, bark and pomace as dietary polyphenols. Considering the positive impact of such phytochemicals on human health, various nutraceuticals, dietary supplements and phenolic-rich food products are presently available on market shelves. On analytical front, improved instrumentation based on liquid chromatography (HPLC, UPLC, LC/MS/ MS) have made the assessment of phenolics more rapid and reliable. Thus, owing to the emergent interest in natural compounds, it is pertinent to discuss the latest significant research findings on therapeutic aspects along with probable metabolic mechanisms of dietary polyphenols found in apples and their implications on human health.

A range of PS-DVB resins were prepared by suspension polymerization with styrene, p-chloromethyl styrene, and DVB. Yields of polymerization increased (from 40% to almost 80%) with increasing cross-linking. The beads exhibited the expected swelling characteristics, with the 0.3% resin swelling to almost 9 times its dry volume in CHCl3. Kinetics of cleavage of the dye Methyl Red from the range of Rink linked resins showed rate enhancements of up to 500% between the 6.0 and the 0.3% cross-linked resins. Total synthesis of Kawaguchipeptin B was carried out on the resins, and their performance during the syntheses was investigated. Contrary to expectations, the purities of the cyclic peptide product increased with increasing resin cross-linking doubling from the 0.3-6.0% resin. A Suzuki reaction showed the half-lives of reaction increased with increasing resin cross-linking with an 11-fold increase in half-life between the 0.3-2.7% resin. Surprisingly, we observed very little reaction in the case of the 3.0 and 6.0% cross-linked resins.

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Micro-and Nano-electromechanical (MEM/NEM) relays can operate with zero-leakage at far higher temperatures and levels of radiation than transistors, but have poor reliability. This work demonstrates improvement in reliability of MEM relays using nano-crystalline graphite (NCG)-coated contact surfaces. The high stability of NCG in ambient air, along with its low surface energy, appear to make it an ideal contact material. NCG-coated relays achieved over 2.8 million fast, hot-switching cycles with a drain current of at least 5 µA and on-resistance under 17 kΩ, in ambient air. The relays also were tested in slow, hot-switching cycles designed to increase the electrical stress on the contact, and consistently achieved on-currents up to 50 µA or the imposed current limit without failure. The eventual cause of failure appeared to be mechanical stress on the NCG layer over repeated cycling causing degradation. Increasing the layer thickness is expected to further improve the contact reliability. The relays are scalable and can be used as micro-or nano-scale switches in electronic components designed for very high temperatures and levels of radiation.

FEW WESTERN RESEARCHERS HAVE STUDIED music in everyday life. Data were collected from 200 Pakistani participants to address whether Western findings could be generalized to non-Western samples. Music was heard in everyday life by a large number of participants; most musical experiences occurred while participants were with friends; Pakistani classical and Western pop music were heard most frequently; liking for the music varied depending on who the participant was with, where they were, and whether they had chosen to be able to hear music; music was usually experienced during the course of some other activity; exposure to music occurred more frequently in the evening and at weekends; music was heard mostly at home; and the importance of several functions of music depended upon whom the participant was with and the place where the music was heard. These findings are compared with those from earlier Western research.

Industrial apple pomace, a biowaste generated during apple processing, is rich in cell wall polysaccharides and phenolics. These biologically active compounds are reported to be highly beneficial from the nutritional and health point of view. In the present study, the total phenolic content in the apple pomace aqueous extract (APE) was estimated and evaluated for its possible antioxidant and hepatoprotective efficacy in carbon tetrachloride (CCl4)-induced liver injury mice model. The aqueous extract exhibited 2,2-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl free radical scavenging activity in vitro. Under in vivo study, mice were treated with APE (200 mg and 400 mg/kg body weight) for 2 weeks prior to the administration of CCl4 (30% v/v). The serum liver injury markers alanine transaminase, aspartate transaminase, and alkaline phosphatase were significantly lowered by APE in a dose-dependent manner. The levels of antioxidant parameters superoxide dismutase (SOD), reduced glutathione (redGSH), and lipid peroxidation were also improved by APE in liver homogenate. Histopathological studies revealed that APE treatment significantly lowered the CCl4-induced necrotic changes in the liver. Furthermore, terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase deoxyuridine triphosphate nick end-labeling assay showed that CCl4-induced apoptosis in the liver was significantly inhibited by APE in a dose-dependent manner. Immunohistochemistry results showed higher expression of nuclear erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) in the liver of the APE-treated mice, a key regulator of antioxidative response. In conclusion, the results of the present study revealed the hepatoprotective efficacy of APE by inhibiting CCl4-induced apoptosis, which is due to its antioxidant activity and the ability to induce Nrf2 protein expression.