Performance and Economic Evaluation of Storage Technologies

In the last decade there has been a drastic increase in the penetration of variable generation (VG) such as wind and solar. VG increases the MW variability that must be met in the regulation and reserve markets. If VG penetration levels are allowed to increase without providing additional flexibility in the form of fast response regulation, reserves, and capacity, then the required capabilities will be provided by the existing conventional generation fleet. This do-nothing approach will lead to increased cycling of the existing plants and thus weaken the health of the current grid. The increase VG capacity penetration will also necessitate increased transmission capability in the grid in order to facilitate increased VG energy penetration. All these boils down to endowing the grid with the capability to be flexible by investigating the various options such as transmission expansion, demand control, fast responding generation, VG MW output control, expanding the balancing areas and/or investing in storage technology. In this dissertation, the primary focus is on storage technologies, which is one of the attractive means to meet VG variability due to their fast response. With sufficient energy storage capability, they also promise many other valuable grid services such as peak shaving, load leveling, relieving congestion, increasing VG energy penetration, and deferring generation and transmission expansion plans. The objective and contribution of the dissertation is hinged on developing tools and assessment methodologies to perform economic assessment of storage. The work develops a high-fidelity technology adaptive storage dispatch model for production costing study within a co-optimized energy and ancillary market. This tool is used to investigate the grid benefits and economic viability of different class of storage under various wind penetration scenarios, compare them with other competing solutions, and devise appropriate monetizing schemes for their services. This work also proposes an integrated approach involving production costing and automatic generation control simulation tools to assess short-term storages. Based on the application in IEEE 24 bus system, many conclusions and indicators on storage venture\u27s profitability and risks are drawn

PRELIMINARY PHYTOCHEMICAL SCREENING AND ANTI-INFLAMMATORY EFFECT OF THE AQUEOUS EXTRACT OF TABERNAEMONTANA DIVARICATA FLOWER IN WISTER RATS

Objective: To determine the phytochemical analysis and anti-inflammatory effect of the aqueous extract of Tabernaemontanadivaricata flower in Wister Rats.Methods: The aqueous extract of fresh flowers of the plant Tabernaemontanadivaricata (family-Apocyanaceae) were prepared and analyzed for phytochemical constituents using standard methods. The anti-inflammatory activity of the plant extracts was examined with the help of rat models by taking diclofenac as a standard drug against T. divericata oil extract by using carrageenan induced rat paw edema method with the help of the instrument plethesmometer.Results: The present experiment shows the phytochemical analysis, anti-inflammatory activity of the aqueous extract of fresh flowers of the plant Tabernaemontanadivaricata (family-Apocyanaceae). Various phytochemical analysis revealed the presence of saponins, flavonoids, glycosides, steroids, proteins, phenols, amino acids and tannins. The oil extract of the plant showed much effective anti-inflammatory activity against the standard drug.Conclusion: It can be concluded aqueous extract of the flower of the plant Tabernaemontanadivaricata (family-Apocyanaceae) contain the high presence of phytochemicals. This extract was found to possess promising antimicrobial activity when compared with the standards

DIFFERENT TYPES OF NANOCARRIERS FOR TARGETED TREATMENT OF HIV/AIDS

AIDS is a major challenge in the 21st century. AIDS, stands for Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome, is a serious health problem and a fast-spreading incurable disease. It is a disorder of the cell-mediated immune system of the body. It is localized in certain inaccessible compartment of the body such as the CNS, lymphatic system and in the macrophages, where it cannot be reached by the majority of the therapeutic agent in adequate concentration or in which the therapeutic agents cannot for the necessary duration. HIV/AIDS infection are reducing incidence with the advent of Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy (HAART). There remain a number of challenges including drug resistance, anatomical barriers to antiretroviral therapy. To overcome these different nanocarriers with the stimuli-responsive release are proposed for antiretroviral agents. Nanocarrier and those optimized for cancer chemotherapy. These include the development nanoparticles capable of passive and active targeting as well as those that are responsive to various internal and externl triggers. Nanocarriers can also provide many of the advantages of lipid system. Liposome, solid lipid nanoparticle, nanoemulsion, dendrimers, polymeric nanoparticle are the example of drug delivery systems that are under investigation for the treatment of HIV/AIDS. This review aims to summarize the ability of nanocarrier technology to provide a rational approach for anti-HIV therapy

ANTI-HYPERGLYCEMIC ACTIVITY OF HYDRO-ALCOHOLIC BARK EXTRACT OF MANILKARA HEXANDRA (ROXB) IN STREPTOZOTOCIN INDUCED DIABETIC RATS

Objective: Manilkara hexandra Roxb. (Family: Sapotaceae) is a common evergreen tree and commercial crop in India which is widely used as antibacterial, diuretic, anthelmintic, antioxidant and antidiabetic in folklore medicine in India. The objective of the study was to evaluate the antidiabetic activity of Manilkara hexandra bark in streptozotocin-induced diabetes in experimental animals.Methods: Non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM) was induced in overnight fasted rats by an intra-peritoneal injection (i. p.) of 60 mg/kg streptozotocin. 50 % ethanolic extract of M. hexandra, 250 mg/kg or 500 mg/kg body weight was administered orally to the rats once daily for 21 d. The blood glucose level was assessed by a glucometer. The serum levels of cholesterol, triglycerides, high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol were determined by using diagnostic kits.Results: A significant reduction (p<0.001) in the blood glucose level was observed in diabetic animals treated with the different doses of the extract, compared to untreated diabetic rats. The drug posses good hypolipidemic effect by normalizing the lipid parameters. This also evidenced by histopathological examination of isolated organs viz. pancreas and kidney showing reduced the injuries induced by streptozotocin.Conclusion: The result of this study thus shows that 50 % of the ethanolic extract at different doses possesses significant antidiabetic activity and potent hypolipidemic potential in diabetic conditions.Keywords: Antidiabetic, Bark extract, Histopathology, Manilkara hexandra, Streptozotoci

Improvement of photocatalytic activity of Zinc Oxide nanoparticles using Zinc Sulphide Shell

Core/shell nanoparticles having distinct attributes of both core and shell have, of late, become attractive candidates for applications involving surface engineering of nanoparticles. In this work, the synthesis of ZnO/ZnS core/shell nanoparticles by wet chemical method is reported, formation of which is confirmed by HRTEM analysis. Characterization of the core/shell nanoparticles was done using absorption spectroscopy and HRTEM. ZnO/ZnS core/shell nanoparticles exhibited higher photocatalytic activity than the already proved good photocatalyst ZnO. This was supported by photocatalytic degradation experiments carried out on an organic dye, methylene blue, under direct sunlight irradiation. The enhancement in the photocatalytic activity is attributed to the increase of the surface reactivity of the as synthesized material, which is confirmed through the blue shift in the UV Visible absorption spectra. This material can be a promising photocatalyst in the field of water purification.Keywords: visible light, photocatalysis, ZnO, ZnO/ZnS Core/Shell, methelyne blu

Bandgap Engineering of ZnO Nanostructures through Hydrothermal Growth

he optical, electronic and magnetic properties changes with the reduction of particle sizes, this is because the nano sized structures exhibits certain unique properties different from their bulk counterpart. Bandgap engineering for nano structures is one of the prominent area of research now. All though the bandgap increases with the reduction in the particle size, however there are several other ways by which the band gap can be changed. Fast crystallization method has been reported here and is compared with the conventional method. Absorption spectra are obtained using UV-vis optical spectrometer and from the absorption spectra tauc plot is drawn to find out the band gap theoretically. The band gap of nano particles and nano rods grown with the same nano particles as seeds are found to be different. The work shows a comparative study on the resultant bandgap for ZnO nano particles and ZnO nano rods grown with hydrothermal method. It is observed that the fast crystallization method results in decreases of band gap by around .8 eV compared to conventional method.Keywords:ZnO, nano particle, nano rod,bandga

PRELIMINARY PHYTOCHEMICAL SCREENING AND ANTIMICROBIAL ACTIVITY OF ETHANOLIC EXTRACT OF STEMS OF IPOMOEA AQUATICA FORSK. (FAMILY-CONVOLVULACEAE)

Objective: To evaluate the antimicrobial activity ethanolic extracts of stems of the plant Ipomoea aquatica Forsk. (family-Convolvulaceae) along with preliminary phytochemical analysis.Methods: The ethanolic extract of stems of the plant Ipomoea aquatica Forsk. (family-Convolvulaceae) were prepared and analyzed for phytochemical constituents using standard methods. The antimicrobial activity of the plant extracts was examined against 2 bacterial strains among one is gram positive and other is gram negative and 2 fungus using agar well diffusion method.Results: The present experiment shows the phytochemical analysis, antimicrobial activity of the ethanolic extract of stems of the plant Ipomoea aquatic Forsk. (Family-Convolvulaceae). Various phytochemical analysis revealed the presence of alkaloids, saponin, flavonoids, carbohydrates, glycosides, Steroids, proteins and amino acids and tannins. All the extracts of the plant showed antimicrobial activity against most of the test organisms.Conclusion: The present study concluded that ethanolic extract of stems of the plant Ipomoea aquatica Forsk. Contain the high presence of phytochemical. The ethanolic extract of the plant was found to possess promising antimicrobial activity when compared with the standards.Â

HYPOGLYCEMIC AND ANTIHYPERLIPIDEMIC EFFECTS OF ADIANTUM CAUDATUM IN ALLOXAN INDUCED DIABETES IN RATS

ABSTRACTObjective: To investigate the hypoglycemic and antihyperlipidemic effect of a successive ethanolic extract of Adiantum caudatum (EEAC) whole plantin alloxan induced diabetic rats.Methods: Diabetes was induced in Wistar albino rats by the administration of alloxan (140 mg/kg b. w., i.p.). EEAC (200 mg/kg b. w., p.o.) wasadministered to diabetic rats for 21 days in alloxan induced diabetic rats. The effect of EEAC on blood glucose and body weight was studied in alloxaninduced diabetic rats. All these effects were compared with glibenclamide (10 mg/kg b. w., p.o.) as a reference antidiabetic drug.Results: The administration of EEAC (200 mg/kg b. w., p.o.) resulted in a significant decrease in blood glucose level and a significant increase in bodyweight in alloxan induced diabetic rats. Furthermore, EEAC showed antihyperlipidemic activity as evidenced by a significant decrease in serum totalcholesterol and triglyceride levels in alloxan induced diabetic rats.Conclusion: The results suggest that the EEAC possess a promising hypoglycemic effect in alloxan induced diabetic rats.Keywords: Hypoglycemic, Antihyperlipidemic, Adiantum caudatum, Alloxan, Diabetes

PHYTOCHEMICAL SCREENING AND ANALGESIC EFFECTS OF ETHANOLIC EXTRACT OF PLANT MURDANIA NUDIFLORA (L) BRENAN (COMMELINACEAE) IN ALBINO MICE USING HOT PLATE METHOD

Objective: Murdania nudiflora (L) Brenan (Commelinaceae) has long been used in folk medicine in treatment of many diseases. In this study, attempts have been made for pharmacological screening of the plant Murdania nudiflora (L) Brenan (Commelinaceae) for analgesic activity and presence of different phytochemicals. Methods: To this end, ethanolic extract of Murdania nudiflora (L) Brenan (Commelinaceae) was evaluated for analgesic properties using plate reaction time in mice and phytochemical screening of the plant was done by different methods. Results: The analgesic study showed that the ethanolic extract of the leaves have significant analgesic effects (P < 0.05; P < 0.001) as compared to morphine sulphate (10 mg/kg) used as a standard drug. The result of the preliminary phytochemical studies revealed the presence of tannins, flavonoids, saponins, alkaloids as a whole and which are reported to be responsible for the analgesic and anti-inflammatory activities in many medicinal plants of this family. Conclusion: From these studies, it may be concluded that ethanol extracts of Murdania nudiflora (L) Brenan may contain novel bioactive principles with analgesic activity. Further study is required for evaluation of active principle(s) in different animal models

A global reference database of crowdsourced cropland data collected using the Geo-Wiki platform

A global reference data set on cropland was collected through a crowdsourcing campaign using the Geo-Wiki crowdsourcing tool. The campaign lasted three weeks, with over 80 participants from around the world reviewing almost 36,000 sample units, focussing on cropland identification. For quality assessment purposes, two additional data sets are provided. The first is a control set of 1,793 sample locations validated by students trained in satellite image interpretation. This data set was used to assess the quality of the crowd as the campaign progressed. The second data set contains 60 expert validations for additional evaluation of the quality of the contributions. All data sets are split into two parts: the first part shows all areas classified as cropland and the second part shows cropland average per location and user. After further processing, the data presented here might be suitable to validate and compare medium and high resolution cropland maps generated using remote sensing. These could also be used to train classification algorithms for developing new maps of land cover and cropland extent