Oral diseases, encompassing dental caries and periodontal conditions, persist as a profound global public health challenge, affecting billions and significantly compromising systemic well-being and quality of life. Although synthetic antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory agents remain conventional therapeutic choices, their chronic application is increasingly associated with deleterious effects, including emergent antimicrobial resistance, mucosal irritation, tooth discoloration and disruption of the indigenous oral microbiota. Consequently, research focus has shifted toward herbal formulations as safer, biocompatible alternatives. Herbal oral sprays have emerged as an optimized delivery platform, facilitating the precise, direct administration of bioactive phytoconstituents to the oral mucosa. This modality ensures rapid therapeutic onset, localized efficacy and enhanced patient compliance while effectively bypassing hepatic first-pass metabolism.

Diverse medicinal taxa including Azadirachta indica, Syzygium aromaticum, Aloe vera, Mentha piperita, Ocimum sanctum, Glycyrrhiza glabra, Curcuma longa and Matricaria chamomilla, possess comprehensive pharmacological profiles including antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, analgesic and immunomodulatory properties. This review evaluates current scientific evidence concerning oral disease pathophysiology, innovative formulation strategies and rigorous quality assessment parameters. Furthermore, it highlights advanced delivery techniques, such as nanotechnology-based systems and mucoadhesive hydrogels, designed to optimize bioavailability and mucosal retention time. While these herbal systems offer transformative potential for managing halitosis, candidiasis and aphthous ulcers, achieving successful clinical translation necessitates standardized manufacturing protocols, robust clinical trials and international regulatory harmonization. Ultimately, herbal oral sprays represent a sophisticated, patient-friendly advancement in modern phytotherapy, integrating traditional ethnobotanical knowledge with contemporary pharmaceutical sciences to ensure superior oral health outcomes and sustained global patient well-being.

Keywords: Herbal oral spray, Oral diseases, Phytoconstituents, Oral drug delivery, Dental diseases.

Water removal is an essential operation in dairy manufacturing, required to extend product shelf life, minimize bulk transport and storage volumes, and prepare liquid streams for spray drying or ingredient manufacturing. Traditionally, thermal vacuum evaporation has served as the workhorse of industrial concentration, capable of achieving high total solids content under continuous operation (Singh & Heldman, 2014). However, prolonged exposure to elevated temperatures induces structural modifications in milk proteins, degrades thermosensitive micronutrients, and imposes heavy thermal energy demands (Jeurnink& de Kruif, 1995; Anema & Li, 2003; Fox & McSweeney, 2015).

Pressure-driven membrane filtration operations—microfiltration, ultrafiltration, nanofiltration, and reverse osmosis—have emerged as lower-temperature alternatives that maintain native nutrient functionality while lowering utility requirements (Cheryan, 1998; Pouliot, 2008). This review evaluates and compares the transport mechanisms, energetic demands, nutritional retention, economic drivers, and industrial applicability of both processing pathways. Current evidence indicates that while membrane systems reduce steam utility requirements and preserve bioactivity, vacuum evaporation remains necessary to reach the high solids thresholds demanded by downstream powder operations (Geankoplis, 2003; Singh & Heldman, 2014). Consequently, industrial processing is increasingly converging on hybrid process architectures, using reverse osmosis or ultrafiltration for pre- concentration followed by multi-effect vacuum evaporation (Daufin et al., 2001; Yee et al., 2009).

Keywords: Dairy concentration, membrane filtration, vacuum evaporation, energy efficiency, native proteins, hybrid processing.

The drastic changes in traditional rainfall patterns have created a need to study trends in climatic variables, especially rainfall. In this paper, annual and seasonal trends of rainfall in Tamil Nadu as a whole, as well as Agro-climatic zone-specific patterns for the period of 24 years (2000-2023) have been analysed using non-parametric tests ideal for non-normal hydro-climatic time series: the Mann-Kendall test for monotonic trends and Sen’s slope estimator for magnitude - this analysis mirrors methodologies in the referenced works. The results reveal spatially heterogenous rainfall trends across Tamil Nadu’s Agro-Climatic Zones. Especially, the Southern Zone showed a decreasing trend of -0.55mm/year during the winter season while Western Zone showed significant increasing trend of +2.13mm/year during the monsoon season. In contrast, there was no significant monotonic trend in rainfall statewide and in other zones which implies that variations are likely due to natural variability rather than a systematic increase or decrease.

Keywords: Trend, Rainfall, Non-parametric test.

Agriculture plays vital role in India’s economy, contributing significantly to national GDP and employment while continuing to face challenges such as soil degradation and regional yield disparities. Optimizing fertilizer use is therefore essential to meet growing food demands sustainably. This study examines the relationship between fertilizer consumption and agricultural yield using Canonical Correlation Analysis (CCA) on secondary data spanning 1950 to 2022. The independent variable set included Nitrogen (N), Phosphorus (P?O?), and Potassium (K?O) consumption, while the dependent variable set included the yields of Jute, Potato, and Groundnut. The results reveal a very strong and statistically significant relationship between fertilizer consumption and crop yield, with the first canonical function returning a canonical correlation of 0.990, explaining 95.6% of the variance in fertilizer consumption and 76.0% of the variance in crop yield. Nitrogen emerged as the most dominant fertilizer influencing yield, followed closely by phosphorus, while potassium contributed a comparatively smaller but still meaningful role. Among the three crops, Potato yield showed the strongest dependence on fertilizer application, with a cross-loading of 0.975, followed by Jute (0.878) and Groundnut (0.716). These findings indicate that balanced, fertilizer -specific fertilizer strategies, rather than uniform application, offer the most effective path to improving crop productivity. The study provides practical insights for policymakers and agricultural planners seeking to enhance fertilizer efficiency, support targeted fertilizer management, and minimize the environmental impact of excessive fertilizer use.

Keywords: Canonical Correlation Analysis; fertilizer consumption; crop yield; fertilizer management; sustainable agriculture.

Understanding Rainfall variability is crucial for effective climate adaptation, disaster risk management and water resource planning. This study focuses on the comparison of Factor and Cluster Analysis, two prominent multivariate analytical methods, using district-wise rainfall data of Tamil Nadu from 2000 to 2023. The objective is to determine which method more effectively identifies rainfall patterns, as well as flood- and drought-prone zones. The finding highlights the strengths and limitations of both techniques, providing policymakers with valuable insights. The study concludes that integrating these methods can enhance the accuracy of precipitation classification and improve decision-making in environmental and agricultural sectors.

Keywords: Multivariate Techniques, Classification, Factor Analysis, Cluster Analysis, Rainfall Variability.

The skin, the body’s largest organ, comprises three primary layers: epidermis, dermis and hypodermis. The stratum corneum, the outermost epidermal layer (~10–20 ?m), acts as the principal barrier to transdermal drug delivery. Its brick-and-mortar structure of corneocytes embedded in lipid matrices impedes permeation, particularly for hydrophilic or high-molecular-weight compounds (>500 Da). Conventional approaches patches, chemical enhancers, iontophoresis and electroporation often yield suboptimal flux. Microneedles (MNs) represent a transformative strategy, mechanically bypassing the stratum corneum via microchannels without stimulating nociceptors, thus enabling painless, enhanced permeation (10–1000× increase). MN arrays are classified into five types: solid (pre-treatment), coated (surface-bound drug), dissolving (matrix-embedded, biodegradable), hollow (fluid infusion), and hydrogel-forming (swelling-mediated sustained release). Critical quality attributes include drug content uniformity, weight variation, swelling ratio and mechanical integrity (insertion and fracture force). Microscopic techniques (SEM, confocal) assess morphological fidelity, while DSC, FTIR and XRD evaluate drug–polymer interactions and stability. In vitro permeation studies using Franz diffusion cells and ex vivo/in vivo models validate efficacy and skin recovery kinetics. Microneedle systems offer a minimally invasive, patient-compliant platform for transdermal delivery of therapeutics, vaccines, cosmetics and diagnostics.

Keywords: Microneedles, Transdermal drug delivery, Stratum corneum, Dissolving microneedles, Mechanical characterization, Permeation enhancement.

This comprehensive research paper examines the profound intersection between sociological transformations and the economic success of female entrepreneurs globally. Historically relegated to domestic and informal sectors, women are increasingly becoming powerful catalysts for economic development and structural societal change. This paper utilizes a mixed-methods approach, analyzing secondary data spanning from 2015 to 2025, alongside sociological frameworks such as Social Role Theory and Institutional Theory. The research reveals that while systemic barriers—such as the venture capital funding gap and entrenched patriarchal norms—persist, women entrepreneurs demonstrate disproportionately high revenue efficiency and community reinvestment rates. By redefining traditional gender roles, these entrepreneurs not only achieve individual financial independence but also trigger a ripple effect that alters household decision-making dynamics, dismantles structural inequalities, and drives local economic development. The study concludes with targeted policy recommendations aimed at fostering an inclusive entrepreneurial ecosystem, emphasizing the critical need for sociological support networks alongside financial capital.

The dairy processing industry generates vast quantities of by-products principally whey, buttermilk, and processing sludge—that, if discharged untreated, impose a severe organic pollution load on receiving water bodies. Over the past two decades, the perception of these streams has shifted from “waste” to “resource,” driven by advances in membrane separation, enzymatic biotechnology, and fermentation science. This review synthesizes current knowledge on the valorization of dairy by-products, with emphasis on whey protein recovery, lactose-derived prebiotics, bioethanol and bioenergy generation, buttermilk phospholipid utilization, and circular-economy frameworks for dairy waste management. Particular attention is given to the Indian context, where paneer and chhana whey represent an especially large and underexploited resource. The review concludes that integrated, multi-product biorefinery approaches offer the most viable pathway to convert dairy by-products from an environmental liability into an economically and nutritionally valuable resource, supporting the broader goals of sustainable and circular food systems.

Keywords: Whey Valorization, Buttermilk, Circular Economy, Dairy by-products, Sustainable Food Systems, Lactose.