Problem Solving

It is the process of working through details of problem to reach a solution. Problem solving may include mathematical or systematic operations and can be a gauge of an individual's critical thinking skill. Problem solving refers to a state of desire for reaching a definite 'goal' from a present condition either is not directly moving toward the goal, or needs more complex logic for finding a missing description of conditions or steps toward the goal

Biofilm inhibitory potential of Oscillatoria tenuis against Candida albicans

Prokaryotic autotrophs have a key role in maintaining the sustainability of nature. Their secondary metabolites and stored chemicals have wide utility in human life. Cyanophytes, the primitive producers, can become a necessity of the modern world as they have enormous unexplored features. Candida albicans, an opportunistic pathogen having multidrug resistance, fallout health concerns in human and animal hosts. This study focused on the antibiofilm potential of Oscillatoria tenuis NTAPD 02, isolated from a hydrocarbon-polluted area against the hyphal switching of Candida albicans. Ethanolic extract of the algal sample, OEE, was taken to perform the biofilm quantification test and CLSM studies to determine the antibiofilm potential of Oscillatoria tenuis against Candida albicans. The MBIC for OEE was found to be 30 µg/mL against C. albicans and also shows a 70.8% reduction of fungal biofilm. The GC-MS and FTIR analysis illustrates the presence of potent phenolic hydrocarbons having an anti-proliferative effect. OEE was also found stress generative in C. elegans (500 µg/mL). The ROS generation in the worms intensified by increased concentration of OEE. The study proves that Oscillatoria tenuis, NTAPD 02, can be considered an anti-proliferative alga against C. albicans invasions

CARICA PAPAYA MEDIATED GREEN SYNTHESIZED SILVER NANOPARTICLES

Objective: The present study was designed to biosynthesize NPs from leaves to study the reducing Ag+ions and stabilizing the particles and confirm AgNP synthesis by using various spectroscopy and microscopic methods.Methods: Bio-inspired AgNPs were rapidly synthesized at room temperature using fresh aqueous leaf extract of Carica papaya. A green and low-cost synthesis was effective in the formation of stable crystalline NPs in the solution. Amine, alkene and alkyl halides groups present in the Carica papaya leaf extract functioned as reducing as well as a stabilizing agent to produce shape controlled AgNPs.Results: SPR confirmed the formation of AgNPs in UV-Visible spectra at 445.7 nm. The XRD result also showed the presence of elemental Ag+as a crystalline nature. Study the functional groups responsible for the bio reduction of Ag+. HE-TEM and FE-SEM with EDX image showed spherical crystalline AgNPs.Conclusion: Hence, the plant-based bio AgNPs could be used in biomedical applications

GREEN BIOSYNTHESIS OF MAGNETIC IRON OXIDE NANOPARTICLES OF VITEX NEGUNDO AQUEOUS EXTRACT

Objective: The green synthesis of magnetic iron oxide nanoparticles is a convenient, economical, rapid and eco-friendly method compared to physical and chemical synthesis methods.Methods: In the present study iron oxide nanoparticles synthesized by Vitex negundo leaves extract.Results: The formation of iron oxide nanoparticles was confirmed by the colour change and further characterized by UV-Visible Spectroscopy and XRD. The morphology and the size of nanoparticles were analyzed by SEM and HR-TEM analysis.Conclusion: On the basis of this research work, green synthesized iron oxide nanoparticles can be a good source for alternative therapy for human diseases

HSAS: Hindi Subjectivity Analysis System

With the development of Web 2.0, we are abundant with the documents expressing user's opinions, attitudes and sentiments in the textual form. This user generated textual content is an important source of information to make sound decisions by the organizations and the government. The textual information can be categorized into two types: facts and opinions. Subjectivity analysis is the automatic extraction of subjective information from the opinions posted by users and divides the content into subjective and objective sentences. Most of the works in subjectivity analysis exists for English language data but with the introduction of unicode standards UTF-8, Hindi language content on the web is growing very rapidly. In this paper, Hindi Subjectivity Analysis System (HSAS) is proposed. It explores two different methods of generating subjectivity lexicon using the available resources in English language and their comparative evaluation in performing the task of subjectivity analysis at the sentence level. The first method uses English language OpinionFinder subjectivity lexicon. The second method uses a small seed word list of Hindi language and expands it to generate subjectivity lexicon. Different evaluation strategies are used to validate the lexicon. We achieved 71.4% agreement with human annotators and ~80% accuracy in classification on a parallel data set in English and Hindi. Extensive simulations conducted on the test dataset confirm the validity of the suggested method

Genotoxicity Evaluation of Commercially Available Acid Red Dye by Comet Assay in Fish (Cyprinus Carpio)

Genotoxicity of commercially available acid red dye on fish was evaluated. Fish were exposed to various concentrations of the dye and gill processed for comet assay. Nucleoids were visually scored and categorized into various damage degrees. Significant increase (p < 0.05) in the percentage and distribution of damaged nucleoids was recorded in all dye-treated groups over control. DNA damage scores (AU) increased with exposure concentrations and dose-response was observed at higher doses. From the results it is concluded that commercially available acid red dye is potentially genotoxic to fish. The results are preliminary and further studies are warranted to acknowledge this effect. Keywords: acid red, commercial dyes, genotoxicity, comet assay

Does program linking with insurance makes agriculture insurance sustainable?

Agriculture insurance is most common forms of risk transfer in agriculture. It is often compulsory for borrowers of agricultural loans in low and middle income countries. This study tries to find out the status of compulsory agriculture insurance in Nepal and its sustainability through answering question “are compulsory agriculture insurance programs making agricultural insurance sustainable? Or we have to think differently for its sustainability. Household survey were conducted using pre-tested semi structured questionnaire in eight districts. Altogether 377 insurer farmers (132 crop and 245 livestock farmers) were selected from the list of target population using simple random sampling technique. Similarly, five cases were selected from the study districts. Result shows that Government of Nepal (GoN) has developed both cost of production and value based insurance products based on farmers demand. Basically, premium rate is fixed as five percent to cost of production based and seven percent to value based insurance for most of crops and livestock. Different governments programs such as youth self-employment program, youth focused program, spring rice promotion program and other grant/subsidy programs under different mega projects of GoN have started to link agriculture insurance with their programs. Insurance has been made mandatory to get such any subsidy support from the government for promoting agriculture insurance simultaneously. However, this study found that this strategy did not adequately work. But if they feel the enterprises is risky and realize the importance of agriculture insurance and can get higher returns from the enterprises, they were willing to participate in agriculture insurance. Most of farmers who participated in government grant program have limited understanding of crop insurance so that they have discontinued insurance after the end of grant/subsidy program. Therefore, it is necessary to revisit the existing provision of grant linked insurance and need to focus more on creating awareness on importance of agriculture insurance for its sustainability

HIGH FREQUENCY BOOST CONVERTER EMPLOYING SOFT SWITCHING AUXILIARY RESONANT CIRCUIT

A new soft-switching boost converter is proposed in this paper. The conventional boost converter generates switching losses at turn ON and OFF, and this causes a reduction in the whole system’s efficiency. The proposed boost converter utilizes a soft switching method using an auxiliary circuit with a resonant inductor and capacitor, auxiliary switch, and diodes. Therefore, the proposed soft-switching boost converter reduces switching losses more than the conventional hard-switching converter. The efficiency, which is about 91% in hard switching, increases to about 97% in the proposed soft-switching converter. In this paper, the performance of the proposed soft-switching boost converter is verified through the theoretical analysis, simulation, and experimental results

ASSOCIATION BETWEEN MICROALBUMINURIA AND OXIDATIVE STRESS IN DIABETIC NEPHROPATHY

Objectives: Diabetic Nephropathy (DN) is a leading cause of chronic kidney disease and end stage renal failure worldwide. This study aimed to evaluate the association between oxidants, antioxidants and microalbuminuria in Diabetic Nephropathy compared with Type II Diabetes Mellitus (DM). Methods: The study includes 60 Type II Diabetes Mellitus and 40 Diabetic Nephropathy Patients. Parameters performed HbA1c, urea, creatinine, total proteins, microalbuminuria, glutathione peroxidase and malondialdehyde(MDA). Results: The levels of HbA1c, urea, creatinine, microalbuminuria and malondialdehyde are significantly higher in DN compared with Type II DM. the levels of T.P and glutathione peroxidase are decreased in DN compared with Type II DM. Conclusion: Low levels of glutathione peroxidase and total proteins were observed in DN. HbA1c, urea, creatinine, microalbuminuria and malondialdehyde levels were elevated in DN compared with Type II DM.KEYWORDS: Diabetic Nephropathy; Glutathione peroxidase; Microalbuminuria; Malondialdehyde

ASSOCIATION BETWEEN MICROALBUMINURIA AND OXIDATIVE STRESS IN DIABETIC NEPHROPATHY

Objectives: Diabetic Nephropathy (DN) is a leading cause of chronic kidney disease and end stage renal failure worldwide. This study aimed to evaluate the association between oxidants, antioxidants and microalbuminuria in Diabetic Nephropathy compared with Type II Diabetes Mellitus (DM). Methods: The study includes 60 Type II Diabetes Mellitus and 40 Diabetic Nephropathy Patients. Parameters performed HbA1c, urea, creatinine, total proteins, microalbuminuria, glutathione peroxidase and malondialdehyde(MDA). Results: The levels of HbA1c, urea, creatinine, microalbuminuria and malondialdehyde are significantly higher in DN compared with Type II DM. the levels of T.P and glutathione peroxidase are decreased in DN compared with Type II DM. Conclusion: Low levels of glutathione peroxidase and total proteins were observed in DN. HbA1c, urea, creatinine, microalbuminuria and malondialdehyde levels were elevated in DN compared with Type II DM.KEYWORDS: Diabetic Nephropathy; Glutathione peroxidase; Microalbuminuria; Malondialdehyde