Abstract: Gastrointestinal (GI) and biliary disorders are the most commonly known health issues for people in the present time as a consequence of modern lifestyle, eating habits, stress, and many other conditions. The usage of traditional substances has been phased out over time, resulting in an increase in the occurrence of numerous diseases and a decrease in immunity. Therefore, in the current scenario, traditional medicine is increasingly being used to treat and manage diseases worldwide. Traditional medical systems of India, China, and Africa are the most frequently used today. Indian medicinal system includes the Ayurveda, Siddha, and Unani systems of medicine. Ayurveda is the most antique system of medicine, which relies on the usage of plant-based formulations. Herbal medicines are used nowadays by up to half of the world's population. Phytomedicines isolated from plants contain a wide variety of bioactive components that can have both negative and positive effects. Many herbal plants, such as Acacia, Aloe, Carum, Rose, Funnel, etc., are proven to be effective as phytomedicines that are effective for the cure of gastrointestinal and biliary problems. The available pharmacological therapeutic drugs often have efficacy but are associated with many adverse effects. To minimize the adverse effects, the use of phytomedicines can be the best possible alternative. In this study, a review of some of the most frequently used traditional herbal medicine isolates with their proven pharmacological activity and novel drug delivery systems for the proper delivery of isolates is presented. Moreover, currently available herbal-marketed formulations are also highlighted.

Abstract Recent studies suggested that the ejecta velocity of Type Ia supernova (SN Ia) is a promising indicator in distinguishing the progenitor systems and explosion mechanisms. By classifying the SNe Ia based on their ejecta velocities, studies found SNe Ia with high $\mathrm{Si}\, \small {II}\, \lambda 6355$ velocities (HV SNe Ia; $v \gtrsim 12000$ km s−1) tend to be physically different from their normal-velocity counterparts (NV SNe Ia). In this work, we revisit the low-z sample studied in previous work and closely look into the spatially resolved environment local to the site of SN explosion. Our results reveal a possible trend (at 2.4σ significance) that HV SNe Ia are likely associated with older stellar populations than NV SNe Ia. While the trend is inconclusive, the local host-galaxy sample studied in this work is likely skewed toward massive galaxies, limiting the parameter space that we would like to investigate from the original parent sample. Nevertheless, our results do not rule out the possibility that parameters other than the host-galaxy age (such as metallicity) could be the underlying factors driving the differences between HV and NV SNe Ia due to the limitation of our dataset.

This work investigates a pseudo‐junction barrier Schottky (pseudo‐JBS) diode that is created by placing an AlGaN/GaN Schottky diode in parallel with a p‐GaN junction on the same epitaxial p‐GaN gate AlGaN/GaN high electron mobility transistor (HEMT) wafer. This pseudo‐JBS diode employs the two‐dimentional electron gas to increase the operation current, thus reducing the on‐resistance with high blocking voltage. The fabricated pseudo‐JBS diode with anode‐to‐cathode lengths (LAC) of 10 μm shows a turn‐on voltage of 1.05 V, a minimum specific on‐resistance (RON,MIN) of 2.53 mΩ cm2, and blocking voltage of 1112 V yielding an excellent Baliga's figure of merit of 488.7 MW cm−2 on the same epitaxial p‐GaN/AlGaN/GaN HEMT wafer. This study provides a promising substitute for Schottky barrier diodes without requiring extra p‐GaN layer design.

This work demonstrated the first synthetic application of direct C-H olefinations in the step-saving preparation of various hole-transporting materials (HTM) for efficient perovskite solar cells (PSC). Cross-dehydrogenative couplings of naphthodithiophene (NDT) with vinyl arenes under palladium-catalysis facilely generated various new oligo(hetero)aryls with internal alkenes. Reaction conditions were optimized, which gave the product isolated yields of up to 71 % with high (E)-stereoselectivity. These readily accessible NDT core-based small molecules involving olefin as π-spacers displayed immediate power conversion efficiencies of up to 17.2 % without a device oxidation process that is required for the commercially available spiro-OMeTAD and most other existing HTMs while fabricated in corresponding PSC devices.

Research on the cardiovascular toxicity of angiogenesis inhibitors among patients with cancer in Taiwan is lacking. This observational study explored the risk of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACEs) associated with angiogenesis inhibitors in Taiwan. We conducted a nested case-control study using the TCR (Taiwan Cancer Registry) linked with the Taiwan National Insurance Claim Database. We matched every case with 4 controls using risk-set sampling by index date, age, sex, cancer type, and cancer diagnosis date. Conditional logistic regression was used to evaluate the risks of MACEs and different cardiovascular events using propensity score adjustment or matching. Sensitivity analyses were used to evaluate the risks matched by cancer stages or exposure within 1 year. Among a cohort of 284 292 after the exclusion of prevalent cases, the incidences of MACEs among the overall cohort and those exposed to angiogenesis inhibitors were 22.5 and 32.5 events per 1000 person-years, respectively. We matched 17 817 cases with 70 740 controls, with a mean age of 74.9 years, and 56.8% of patients were men. After propensity score adjustment, angiogenesis inhibitors were associated with increased risks of MACEs (odds ratio, 4.56; 95% CI, 1.78-11.59). Significantly increased risks were noted for heart failure hospitalization, myocardial infarction, cerebrovascular accident, and venous thromboembolism, but not for new-onset atrial fibrillation. Similar results were observed after matching by cancer stage or restriction of 1-year exposure. Angiogenesis inhibitors were associated with increased risks of MACEs among patients with various malignancies in Taiwan but were not associated with new-onset atrial fibrillation.

A combination of inorganic and organic hybrid systems is of high research interest as they provide novel hybrid systems for the improvement of existing properties, overcoming limitations of the parent materials, and for the optimization of their controlled release potential. This study sorted to develop and pharmaceutically assess the release profile of diclofenac sodium using cocoa pod husk (CPH) blended with different proportions of either talc or bentonite as multiparticulate composite release modifiers. Preformulation investigations of the multiparticulate hybrid systems included pH, swelling index, moisture content, elemental contents, and flow properties. The FTIR was also used to investigate the compatibilities between pectin and bentonite (PB), pectin and talc (PT), and diclofenac and pectin-talc (DPT), as well as diclofenac and pectin-bentonite (DPB). The diclofenac content, uniformity of the weight of capsules, in vitro drug release, and the kinetics and mechanism of release of diclofenac from the hybrid systems were also investigated using mathematical models. The pectin yield was 23.3%, with the water-holding capacities of pectin-talc (PT) and pectin-bentonite (PB) hybrid systems being 6.4% and 5.0%, respectively. The swelling indices of PT and PB were 110.0 and 130.0 in 0.1 M HCL at pH 1.2 and 130.0 and 149.0 in phosphate buffer at pH 6.8, respectively. This system was also found to exhibit excellent flow properties, and there were no diclofenac-excipient interactions. All formulated batches passed the pharmacopoeial and nonpharmacopoeial tests. They also demonstrated controlled release properties via different release kinetics and mechanisms. This study shows that the pectin-talc and pectin-bentonite multiparticulate composites could be used as release modifiers in pharmaceutical preparations.

Quantitative precipitation estimates (QPE) can be further improved using estimation algorithms derived from localized raindrop size distribution (DSD) observations. In this study, DSD measurements from two disdrometer stations within Metro Manila during the Southwest monsoon (SWM) period were used to investigate the microphysical properties of rainfall and develop localized dual-polarimetric relations for different radar bands and rainfall types. Observations show that the DSD in Metro Manila is more distributed to larger diameters compared to Southern Luzon and neighboring countries and regions in the Western Pacific. This is reflected by the relatively higher mass-weighted mean diameter (Dm) and smaller shape (μ) and slope (Λ) parameters measured in the region. The average values of Dm and normalized intercept parameter (Nw) in convective rain samples also suggest that convective rains in Metro Manila are highly influenced by both continental and oceanic convective processes. Dual-polarimetric variables simulated using the T-matrix scattering method showed good agreement with disdrometer-derived reflectivity (ZH) values. The 0.5 dB and 0.3° km−1 thresholds for the differential reflectivity (ZDR) and specific differential phase (KDP) based on the blended algorithm of Cifelli (J Atmos Ocean Technol 28:352-364, 2011) and Thompson et al. (2017) are proven to be useful since the utility of the dual-polarimetric variables as rainfall estimators are shown to have dependencies on the radar band and rainfall type. Evaluation of the QPE products with respect to the C-band shows that R (KDP, ZDR) has the best performance among the dual-pol relations and statistically outperformed the conventional Marshall & Palmer relation [R(ZMP)]. The results show that dual-polarimetric variables such as ZDR and KDP can better represent the DSD properties compared to one-dimensional Z, hence providing more accurate QPE products than the conventional R(Z) relations.

ABSTRACT The study examines the effect of monetary policy and prudential regulations on bank lending behaviour in Africa. This study employs the Two-Stage Least Square (2SLS) estimation technique for a panel dataset of 54 African countries over the period, 2004–2021. The study finds that monetary policy and prudential regulations reduce bank lending and the impact is better in countries with a strong institutional environment. It provides evidence to affirm that monetary policy and prudential regulations provide a complementarity effect in yielding a desirable outcome for bank lending.

The screen image synthesis (SIS) meter was originally proposed as a high-speed measurement tool, which fused the measured data from multiple sample-rotational angles to produce a whole-field measurement result. However, it suffered from stray light noise and lacked the capability of spectrum measurement. In this study, we propose an SIS system embedded with a snapshot hyperspectral technology, which was based on a dispersion image of the sparse sampling screen (SSS). When a photo was captured, it was transformed and calibrated to hyperspectral data at a specific sample-rotational angle. After the hyperspectral data in all sample-rotational angles were captured, an SIS image-fusion process was then applied to get the whole field hyperspectral data. By applying SSS to the SIS meter, we not only create a screen image synthesis hyperspectral meter but also effectively address the issue of stray-light noise. In the experiment, we analyze its correctness by comparing the hyperspectral value with a one-dimensional spectrum goniometer (ODSG). We also show the 2D color temperature coefficient distribution and compare it with the ODSG. Experimental results also demonstrate the feasibility in terms of both spectrum distribution meter and color coefficient temperature distribution meter.

This study examines the role of women included in governance system in explaining the impact of dividend policy framework on the risk-taking of banks, using a panel dataset of 52 African countries over the period, 2006–2020. The empirical outcome confirms that independent women on the board has a lower probability of paying dividend, reduce dividend yield and induce less risk-taking of banks while women in country-level governance position seek to protect the interest of shareholders and subsequently increase the likelihood of dividend payments and risk-taking of banks. The study found that banks that pay dividends face stricter market discipline, which in turn reduces banks' risk-taking. The study found that dividend policy framework generally acts as a complement for risk-taking when independent women are included in corporate boards while it acts as a substitute control device for banks’ risk-taking when women are included in country-level governance positions. Based on the net effects, the study found robust and strong evidence to support that the dividend policy framework reduces the risk-taking at higher level of women included in governance system.