Ethnobotanical Survey of Medicinal Plants Used in the Treatment of Dermatogenic Diseases in Chittoor District, Andhra Pradesh, India

An ethno-medicobotanical survey of plants used in the treatment of dermatogenic diseases in Chittoor District, Andhra Pradesh was conducted. The information was collected on the basis of personal interviews with traditional healers, tribal doctors and old women of the society. The investigation revealed that 24 plant species belonging to 18 families and 21 genera are commonly used in the treatment of skin ailments

BOBMEX: the Bay of Bengal monsoon experiment

The first observational experiment under the Indian Climate Research Programme, called the Bay of Bengal Monsoon Experiment (BOBMEX), was carried out during July-August 1999. BOBMEX was aimed at measurements of important variables of the atmosphere, ocean, and their interface to gain deeper insight into some of the processes that govern the variability of organized convection over the bay. Simultaneous time series observations were carried out in the northern and southern Bay of Bengal from ships and moored buoys. About 80 scientists from 15 different institutions in India collaborated during BOBMEX to make observations in most-hostile conditions of the raging monsoon. In this paper, the objectives and the design of BOBMEX are described and some initial results presented. During the BOBMEX field phase there were several active spells of convection over the bay, separated by weak spells. Observation with high-resolution radiosondes, launched for the first time over the northern bay, showed that the magnitudes of the convective available potential energy (CAPE) and the convective inhibition energy were comparable to those for the atmosphere over the west Pacific warm pool. CAPE decreased by 2-3 kJ kg-1 following convection, and recovered in a time period of 1-2 days. The surface wind speed was generally higher than 8 m s-1. The thermohaline structure as well as its time evolution during the BOBMEX field phase were found to be different in the northern bay than in the southern bay. Over both the regions, the SST decreased during rain events and increased in cloud-free conditions. Over the season as a whole, the upper-layer salinity decreased for the north bay and increased for the south bay. The variation in SST during 1999 was found to be of smaller amplitude than in 1998. Further analysis of the surface fluxes and currents is expected to give insight into the nature of coupling

Research and Reviews: Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology Isolation of Amylase Producing Bacteria from Solar Salterns of Nellore District, Andhra Pradesh, India

ABSTRACT α-Amylases are a class of starch degrading enzymes catalyzing the hydrolysis of internal α-1,4-O-glycosidic bonds in polysaccharides. The following investigation were carried out to isolate haloalkaliphilic bacteria, a group of organisms with twin extremities of pH and salinity, capable of producing α-amylases from an artificial solar saltern. A total of 25 discrete colonies were isolated, 21 isolates showed amylase production. Among these 7 isolates produced amylase at extreme conditions such as salt, alkalinity and temperature. The isolates were characterized biochemically and also for other enzymes. From the results it is imperative that these isolates can be further studied to exploit them up to industrial scale

IDI diesel engine performance and exhaust emission analysis using biodiesel with an artificial neural network (ANN)

Biodiesel is receiving increasing attention each passing day because of its fuel properties and compatibility. This study investigates the performance and emission characteristics of single cylinder four stroke indirect diesel injection (IDI) engine fueled with Rice Bran Methyl Ester (RBME) with Isopropanol additive. The investigation is done through a combination of experimental data analysis and artificial neural network (ANN) modeling. The study used IDI engine experimental data to evaluate nine engine performance and emission parameters including Exhaust Gas Temperature (E.G.T), Brake Specific Fuel Consumption (BSFC), Brake Thermal Efficiency (B.The) and various emissions like Hydrocarbons (HC), Carbon monoxide (CO), Carbon dioxide (CO2), Oxygen (O2), Nitrogen oxides (NOX) and smoke. For the ANN modeling standard back propagation algorithm was found to be the optimum choice for training the model. A multi-layer perception (MLP) network was used for non-linear mapping between the input and output parameters. It was found that ANN was able to predict the engine performance and exhaust emissions with a correlation coefficient of 0.995, 0.980, 0.999, 0.985, 0.999, 0.999, 0.980, 0.999, and 0.999 for E.G.T, BSFC, B.The, HC, O2, CO2, CO, NOX, smoke respectively

Computer augmented speciation studies of cobalt(II), copper(II) and zinc(II) complexes of L-glutamic acid in water-urea mixtures

1334-1338Speciation of Co(II), Cu(II) and Zn(II) complexes of L-glutamic acid has been studied in varying concentrations (0-36.83% w/w) of urea solutions maintaining an ionic strength of 0.16 mol dm-3 at 303 K. The protonation and formation constants are refined with the computer program, MINIQUAD75 using the primary alkalimetric data. Selection of the best fit chemical models is based on statistical parameters and residual analysis. The trend in variation in values of the protonation and the metalligand stability constants with the dielectric constant has been explained on the basis of electrostatic and non-electrostatic forces

Effect of denaturants on the speciation of amino acid complexes-Computer augmented modelling studies - IV: Cobalt(II), copper(II) and zinc(II) complexes of L-glutamic acid in water-N,N' -dimethylformamide mixtures^†

567-572A computer assisted investigation has been made on the nature of complexes of cobalt(Il), copper(II) and zinc(II) with L-glutamic acid. The distribution of these metal ions amongst the complexes formed with the above amino acid has been computed. The formation constants required for this calculation have been determined experimentally by monitoring H+ concentration. The formation constants have been refined with the computer program, MINIQUAD 75ᵒ using the primary alkalimetric data. The predominant complexes formed are CoL, CoL. CuL, CuL,CuLH+.CuL2H-.ZnL,ZnL.and ZnLH+. The distribution patterns of different species varies with the relative concentrations of the metal ion and the ligand