OPAC 2.0: towards the next generation of online library catalogues

While the 4th Law of S.R. Ranganathan’s Five Laws of Library Science (1931) says that: “Save the time of the reader”, it is a big question to ask whether the current Library catalogues precisely do this for its library patrons. There is a common understanding that the evolution of OPAC should be in line with the evolution of technology and its services. They have to be designed in such a way that the users should be able to find what they are looking for in a timely manner only then they will be more satisfied, and more likely to feel like their needs have been met. While it is mandatory that the OPACs should not be a complex matrix for the users, it is important that it should encompass the current trends and features of advancements. There is no doubt that Librarians are the Architects to design best next generation OPACs by amalgamating Web 2.0 tools and the social networking aspects to the traditional catalogues which offer interacting options to the patrons. This paper looks at the current trend in formulating the next generation of Online Library catalogues with glimpses of isolated experiments and improvements in the library catalogues coupled with various open source software packages for OPAC 2.0 and the benefits to the users therewith

The effectiveness of antibiotics against a major uropathogen- Escherichia coli and its biofilm assay by phenotypic methods

Background: Urinary tract infection (UTI), an inflammatory disease occurs to a high multiplication of pathogenic microbes in the urinary system. Escherichia coli, a major uropathogen accounting for up to 80% UTI. Activity of antibiotics against E.coli is decreasing due to enzymatic, genetic and various other factors resulting in multidrug resistance. Biofilm is a great threat as it interferes antibiotic therapy, undergoes gene transformation, making the bacteria more virulent. Objectives of the study were to isolate the E. coli from the urine sample of symptomatic UTI patients, to study the effectiveness of antibiotics against E.coli by antibiotic susceptibility pattern, ESBL detection and to biofilm phenotype assay by four different methods.Methods: A total of 400 urine samples from symptomatic UTI patients, October 2015 to March 2016 and processed. E.coli was isolated and antibiotic susceptibility was done as per CLSI guidelines. Biofilm detection by a) Congo red agar (CRA), b) Modified Congo red agar (MCRA), c) Tube adherence assay, d) Microtitre plate method.Results: A total of 100 E. coli (69%) was obtained from 400 samples, 49% were ESBL producers and 84% shows multi drug resistant. Biofilm positive isolates shows 70% positivity by CRA, 91% by MCRA, 57% in tube adherence assay and 99% via microtitre plate method.Conclusions: Resistance to antibiotics ladder is increasing and it’s necessary to take actions to reduce its hindrance in the future. Advanced studies in biofilm will help to prevent the more virulence without any critical complications in therapy. 

Arachis hypogaea derived activated carbon/Pt catalyst: reduction of organic dyes

Activated carbon from agro waste groundnut (Arachis hypogaea) shell was prepared by chemical activation and used as support for dispersion of 5% platinum nanoparticles. The Pt nanoparticles were obtained by the reduction in hydrogen gas medium. The synthesized groundnut activated carbon/platinum catalyst was characterized by various techniques such as X-ray powder diffraction, electron microscopies and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The catalytic behaviour of the synthesized catalyst was investigated by exploring it as catalyst for the reduction of various classes of dyes; namely, triphenylmethane dyes such as Malachite green, phenol red and bromophenol blue, xanthene dyes: rose bengal, rhodamine 6G, rhodamine B, thiazine dye: methyelene blue, azo dye: congo red and 4-nitrophenol by sodium borohydride in aqueous medium. Under suitable reaction conditions, for all tested dyes, cationic dyes were reduced at a faster rate than anionic dyes. The rate of reduction on the structure of dye and nature of catalyst was employed

Gallic Acid Protects Against Immobilization Stress-Induced Changes In Wistar Rats

Background: Stress triggers a wide range of body changes. Herbal medicines are rich in non specific antistress agents.Purpose: The present study was carried out to evaluate the antistress effect of gallic acid (GA), a naturally occurring plant phenol, on immobilization induced-stress in male albino Wistar rats.Methods: The immobilization stress was induced in rats by putting the rats in 20 cm Ч 7 cm plastic tubes for 2 h/day for 21 days. Rats were post orally treated with GA at a dose of 10 mg/kg body weight via intragastric intubations.Results:Treatment with GA significantly increased the food intake, body weight, organ weight (spleen, testis and brain) and the significant reduction was found in weight of liver, kidney, heart and adrenal glands, which was altered in stressed rats. GA also significantly reduced the elevated levels of plasma glucose, plasma and tissue cholesterol (CHL), triglycerides (TG), Low Density Lipid (LDL), Very Low Density Lipid (VLDL) and also significantly increased the level of High Density Lipid (HDL). A significant decrease in hematological parameters like RBC count, total and differential WBC count was also found which were increased in immobilization stress.Conclusion: GA prevented the stress-induced physiological, biochemical and hematological changes, indicating the preventive effect against stress

Targeting mulitple dyslipidemias with fixed combinations – focus on extended release niacin and simvastatin

Dyslipidemia is a major risk factor in the initiation and progression of cardiovascular diseases such as atherosclerosis. Several pharmacological agents have been developed over the past 50 years which target various lipid components such as low density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, triglyceride, and high density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol. Similar to other risk factors such as hypertension and diabetes mellitus, the management of dyslipidemia can be complicated and may require combination therapy for effective treatment. This review discusses the biochemical mechanisms of action and clinical uses for simvastatin (the most widely available and commercially prescribed statin) and niacin, and the combination of these agents in the management and treatment of dyslipidemia

Acute toxicity study and antipyretic effect of the brown alga tTurbinaria conoides (J. agardh) kuetz.

The active principles of brown alga, Turbinaria conoides (J.Agardh) Kuetz. (Sargassaceae) was extracted with n-hexane, cyclohexane, methanol and ethanol-water (1:1) and investigated for acute toxicity and antipyretic activity. Phytochemical analysis of the extracts revealed the presence of steroids, flavonoids and reducing sugars. Acute toxicity study was performed in Wistar rats after administration of extracts orally. No mortality was observed up to the dose of 5g/kg for methanol and ethanol-water (1:1) extracts whereas n-hexane and cyclohexane extracts were found to be toxic at the dose levels of 1g/kg and 2 g/kg respectively. In biochemical analysis, n-hexane, cyclohexane and ethanol-water (1:1) extracts caused a significant (

Stable release of enhanced organic solvent tolerant amylase from Bacillus amyloliquefaciens AMY02 under sub-merged fermentation

552-559This study has been performed to isolate a potential strain able to release the prolific amylase under non-aqueous conditions to meet the current demand in industries to substitute the amylase produced in aqueous media. A bacterial strain that produces organic solvent-stable amylase in the media containing 15% benzene was isolated from the soil. The recovered strain was identified to be Bacillus amyloliquefaciens AMY02by 16S rRNA sequencing. Under sub-merged fermentation, the optimized amylase release by this strain was found with the condition having starch (carbon source), pH 7.0, the temperature at 30°C for 48 h (incubation time). This optimized condition promoted the amylase production to be 2.04-fold higher than the culture was kept under standard condition with the basic media composition. Further, the stability of the enzyme in the presence of 20% organic solvents was assessed by incubating for 2 weeks. The enzyme was found to be active and stable in the presence of benzene, chloroform, o-xylene, and toluene. The higher organic solvent stability of this amylase production by B. amyloliquefaciens under sub-merged fermentation can be an alternative catalyst in non-aqueous media for industrial applications