Effect of Occupational Stress on Executives' Leadership Styles

In the present investigation an attempt was made to explore the influencing effect of occupational stress on the executive's leadership style. The occupational stress index developed by Shrivastava and Singh (1981) and Managerial Styles developed by McBer & Co. (1980) were administered on a sample of 388 Executives of Neyveli Lignite Corporation Ltd., Neyveli. The inferential statistical techniques, Chi-Square Test and Pearson's Product Moment Correlation Coefficient were applied for determining the effect of occupational stress as an influencer of leadership styles. The correlation analysis suggests that presence of the occupational stressors influences positively the coercieve and authoritative leadership styles and influences negatively the affiliative, democratic, pace-setting and coaching styles. The Chi-Square Test also confirms the presence of association between stressors and leadership styles

Electrochemical analysis of nitrite contamination in water using SnTe@GO modified glassy carbon electrode

An electrochemically active tin telluride (SnTe) decorated graphene oxide (GO) (SnTe@GO) nanocomposite has been synthesized through simple experimental method and used the same for surface modification of glassy carbon electrode, thus developed a new efficient SnTe@GO/GCE which in turn has been demonstrated as a sensor for identification and quantification of nitrite species in water samples. Common analytical techniques are employed and established the physiochemical properties of SnTe@GO nanocomposite. The electrocatalytic activity of SnTe@GO/GCE has been examined towards sensing and quantification of nitrite through Cyclic Voltammetry and Differential Pulse Voltammetry techniques. The obtained results revel that SnTe@GO/GCE exhibited high sensitivity with wide linear range such as 9.8-162 mM and detection limit found to be 0.079 µM. In addition, in order to inspect the real time application of SnTe@GO/GCE, it is also employed and determined the concentration of nitrite in drinking water, pond water and well water samples which are collected from Rayapuram, Muttukadu and Guindy during the specific period. The LOD observed for drinking water collected from Rayapuram, Chennai are 1.63 μM, pond water collected from Muttukadu, Kanchipuram 2.5 μM, and the well water collected from Guindy, Chennai are 1.25 μM, and thus proves that the newly designed SnTe@GO/GCE is an excellent sensor for nitrite species even in real water sample analysis

Electrochemical analysis of nitrite contamination in water using SnTe@GO modified glassy carbon electrode

1313-1320An electrochemically active tin telluride (SnTe) decorated graphene oxide (GO) (SnTe@GO) nanocomposite has been synthesized through simple experimental method and used the same for surface modification of glassy carbon electrode, thus developed a new efficient SnTe@GO/GCE which in turn has been demonstrated as a sensor for identification and quantification of nitrite species in water samples. Common analytical techniques are employed and established the physiochemical properties of SnTe@GO nanocomposite. The electrocatalytic activity of SnTe@GO/GCE has been examined towards sensing and quantification of nitrite through Cyclic Voltammetry and Differential Pulse Voltammetry techniques. The obtained results revel that SnTe@GO/GCE exhibited high sensitivity with wide linear range such as 9.8-162 mM and detection limit found to be 0.079 µM. In addition, in order to inspect the real time application of SnTe@GO/GCE, it is also employed and determined the concentration of nitrite in drinking water, pond water and well water samples which are collected from Rayapuram, Muttukadu and Guindy during the specific period. The LOD observed for drinking water collected from Rayapuram, Chennai are 1.63 μM, pond water collected from Muttukadu, Kanchipuram 2.5 μM, and the well water collected from Guindy, Chennai are 1.25 μM, and thus proves that the newly designed SnTe@GO/GCE is an excellent sensor for nitrite species even in real water sample analysis

Correlation of Estrogen and Progesterone Receptors Status with the Grade and Type of Breast Cancer

Abstract: The present study was designed to evaluate the use of estrogen and progesterone receptor as biomarkers in human benign and malignant mammary tumors. Tissue samples from tumors and adjacent uninvolved areas from fifteen breast cancer patient's undergone prior treatment were analyzed. The blood samples obtained from the breast cancer patients were analyzed together with an equal number of age-and sex -matched normal healthy subjects. The relationship between expression of receptors for estrogen and progesterone (ER & PR) and disease progression in breast cancer was involved by comparing immunohisto chemical determinations of estrogen receptor and progesterone receptor. Incidence of receptor expression were significantly more among the cases with grade II malignancy (53.3 percent) than compared with grade I (6.6 percent) and grade III (40 percent) malignancy. Estrogens promote the development of mammary cancer and exert both direct and indirect proliferating effects. MIB Index was used for the determination of grade of the tumor by counting the number of cells involved in mitotic process which directly controls the grade of tumors. In view of the present results obtained in women with breast cancer the lesions observed from the removed samples ranged from grade I to III in malignancy

Grafting of Poly(methyl methacrylate) Brushes from Magnetite Nanoparticles Using a Phosphonic Acid Based Initiator by Ambient Temperature Atom Transfer Radical Polymerization (ATATRP)

Poly(methyl methacrylate) in the brush form is grown from the surface of magnetite nanoparticles by ambient temperature atom transfer radical polymerization (ATATRP) using a phosphonic acid based initiator. The surface initiator was prepared by the reaction of ethylene glycol with 2-bromoisobutyrl bromide, followed by the reaction with phosphorus oxychloride and hydrolysis. This initiator is anchored to magnetite nanoparticles via physisorption. The ATATRP of methyl methacrylate was carried out in the presence of CuBr/PMDETA complex, without a sacrificial initiator, and the grafting density is found to be as high as 0.90 molecules/nm2. The organic–inorganic hybrid material thus prepared shows exceptional stability in organic solvents unlike unfunctionalized magnetite nanoparticles which tend to flocculate. The polymer brushes of various number average molecular weights were prepared and the molecular weight was determined using size exclusion chromatography, after degrafting the polymer from the magnetite core. Thermogravimetric analysis, X-ray photoelectron spectra and diffused reflection FT-IR were used to confirm the grafting reaction

Efficiency of Organelle Capture by Microtubules as a Function of Centrosome Nucleation Capacity: General Theory and the Special Case of Polyspermia

Transport of organelles along microtubules is essential for the cell metabolism and morphogenesis. The presented analysis derives the probability that an organelle of a given size comes in contact with the microtubule aster. The question is asked how this measure of functionality of the microtubule aster is controlled by the centrosome. A quantitative model is developed to address this question. It is shown that for the given set of cellular parameters, such as size and total tubulin content, a centrosome nucleation capacity exists that maximizes the probability of the organelle capture. The developed general model is then applied to the capture of the female pronucleus by microtubules assembled on the sperm centrosome, following physiologically polyspermic fertilization. This application highlights an unintuitive reflection of nonlinearity of the nucleated polymerization of the cellular pool of tubulin. The prediction that the sperm centrosome should lower its nucleation capacity in the face of the competition from the other sperm is a stark illustration of the new optimality principle. Overall, the model calls attention to the capabilities of the centrosomal pathway of regulation of the transport-related functionality of the microtubule cytoskeleton. It establishes a quantitative and conceptual framework that can guide experiment design and interpretation

Qualitative SERS analysis of G-quadruplex DNAs using selective stabilising ligands

Nucleic acids are of key biological importance due to their range of functions and ability to form various different structures, with an example of emerging significance being quadruplexes formed by guanine-rich sequences. These guanine rich sequences are found in different regions of the genome such as telomeres, gene promoters and introns and UTRs of mRNAs. Here a new approach has been developed that utilises surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) for the detection of the formation of G-quadruplexes. Three G-quadruplex stabilising ligands that each have their own unique SERS response were used in this study and their ability to act as reporters assessed. A SERS response was only obtained from the ligands in the absence of G-quadruplex formation. This resulted in an "on/off" method which was successfully used to qualitatively detect the formation of G-quadruplex using quadruplex-forming sequences such as human telomeric and C-MYC promoter DNAs. The unique SERS spectra of each stabilising ligand offer the potential for use of SERS to study higher order DNA structures. This work shows that the ligands used can act simultaneously as a potential therapeutic stabilising agent and a SERS reporter, therefore allowing the use of SERS as a method of analysis of the formation of G-quadruplex DNAs