Hydrogeochemical Characteristics of Groundwater: A Case Study from KadavanarWatershed, Amaravathi Sub-basin, Cauvery River, South India

1627-1639The aim of this study is to the groundwater chemistry at Kadavanar watershed, Cauvery river, South-India. This paper demonstrated that the interrelationship of rock types and groundwater chemistry using piper trilinear diagram and multi-rectangular diagram (MDRs). Well-developed sampling technique was used for this study. Four km equal grids were designed in plain region. Each intersect points are selected for groundwater sample locations. Groundwater samples 147 m.l. were collected on April 2016 (Pre-monsoon). Groundwater samples were analyzed for major ions (pH, EC, Ca2+, K+, Na+, Mg2+, HCO3-, SO42-, NO3-, CO3-). Analytical results were used, to prepare the Piper Triangles Diagram and multi-rectangular diagram (MRD), Gibb’s, USSL and Wilcox diagrams with respect to geology. As per the piper triangles diagram reveals that 53.06 % samples fall under Sodium chloride (NaCl) alkalies exceed alkaline earth class. Concluded that the Multi-rectangular diagram (MRD) interpretation result is reflected same as reveals piper triangles diagram result. Gibb’s diagram shows that the chemical concentration of the groundwater in mainly depends upon the rock water-interaction. Other irrigational classification diagrams such as USSL (63.95 %) and Wilcox’s (67.35 %) diagrams interpretation reavel that the majority of the groundwater samples fell under suitable for agricultural uses

Studies on removal of chloride from soak liquor

Rice bran is converted into activated charcoal by treating wilh conc. H2S04 and is used as an adsorbent for the removal of chloride present in the tannery soak liquor upto a concentration of 35,000 mgm/litre. It was found to be effetive at the pH. Efrect of the constituents of rice bran on adsorption has also been studied. Infra-red spectra of the samples and the T. L. C. showed that the adsorption is only a physical phenomenon. The rate of adsorption of chloride over the charcoal was determined as 9.150 × 10-3/min. The adsorption passes through triple layer formation as shown by adsorption isotherm. The charcoal removes chloride to the extent of 0.9800 m ep/gm. of the charcoal. The soluble proteins present in the soak liquor are also removed with 100% efficiency. The B. O.D, C.O.D and colour of the soak liquor Were seen to be reduced reduced after passing throuh the charcoal

Hydrolysis of proteinaceous tannery solid waste for the production of extracellular acidic protease by Selenomonas ruminantium

The objective of this study was to produce protease from Selenomonas ruminantium using animal fleshing (ANFL), an untanned tannery solid waste as the sole protein source. Optimization of the minimal medium composition for the production of protease was carried out by a statistical approach using response surface methodology (RSM) which includes the variables such as NH4Cl, K2HPO4, KH2PO4 and NaCl. The isolate was found to produce maximum protease at pH 6 and at a temperature of about 40°C. Protease was purified 56 fold with a total yield of 28.14%. The enzyme was found to be monomeric having a molecular weight around 53 kDa. The purified enzyme was stable at a pH of about 4 revealing its acid protease nature and was also found to be stable up to 40°C. The enzyme was activated by divalent cations like Ca2+ and Mg2+ and inhibited by dithiothreitol (DTT), where the latter suggested its cysteine protease nature. The enzyme had good stability in the presence of non-ionic surfactants like tween 20, tween 40, tween 80 and triton X100 and also in the presence of solvents like methanol, ethanol and isopropanol. These characteristics reveal the potential of the enzyme for different industrial applications.Keywords: Acid protease, animal fleshing, optimization, response surface methodology (RSM), Selenomonas ruminantiu

An effective identification of crop diseases using faster region based convolutional neural network and expert systems

The majority of research Study is moving towards cognitive computing, ubiquitous computing, internet of things (IoT) which focus on some of the real time applications like smart cities, smart agriculture, wearable smart devices. The objective of the research in this paper is to integrate the image processing strategies to the smart agriculture techniques to help the farmers to use the latest innovations of technology in order to resolve the issues of crops like infections or diseases to their crops which may be due to bugs or due to climatic conditions or may be due to soil consistency. As IoT is playing a crucial role in smart agriculture, the concept of infection recognition using object recognition the image processing strategy can help out the farmers greatly without making them to learn much about the technology and also helps them to sort out the issues with respect to crop. In this paper, an attempt of integrating kissan application with expert systems and image processing is made in order to help the farmers to have an immediate solution for the problem identified in a crop

Production of Prodigiosin Using Tannery Fleshing and Evaluating Its Pharmacological Effects

Aim. The focal theme of present investigation includes isolation of prodigiosin producing fish gut bacteria, enhancing its production using tannery solid waste fleshing, and evaluation of its pharmacological effect. Methods. Optimization of fermentation conditions to yield maximum prodigiosin, and instrumental analysis using FTIR, NMR, ESI-MS, TGA, and DSC. Results. The optimum conditions required for the maximum prodigiosin concentration were achieved at time 30 h, temperature 30°C, pH 8, and 3% substrate concentration. The secondary metabolite was analyzed using ESI-MS, FTIR, and NMR. Therapeutic efficacy was assessed by in vitro anticancer studies. Among the pathogenic bacteria Pseudomonas aeruginosa was most susceptible at the lowest concentration followed by Salmonella typhi. IC(50) concentration was cell line specific (HeLa cells: 4.3 µM, HEp2: 5.2 µM, and KB cells: 4.8 µM) and remains nontoxic up to the concentration of 25 µM on normal Vero cells suggesting that cancerous cells are more susceptible to the prodigiosin at lower concentration. Conclusion. Maximum prodigiosin production was obtained with tannery fleshing. The potency of the fish gut bacterial secondary metabolite prodigiosin as a therapeutic agent was confirmed through in vitro antimicrobial and anticancer studies

What predicts mental health literacy among school teachers?

Objectives: The present study aimed at assessing high school teachers’ mental health literacy (MHL) and predictors related to study outcomes.Design: Cross-sectional studyMethods: We employed 460 high school teachers who engaged with adolescents for at least six hours per week with a minimum of five years of teaching experience in southern India. Semi-structured questionnaires were used to assess their MHL. Descriptive analysis and backward logistic regression analysis were performed. A p-value < 0.05 was set as significant.Results: Teachers’ MHL on depression was less than desirable; however, they identified 288 (62.6%) adolescents with mental health problems during their career, and 172(59.72%) were referred to mental health professionals. On logistic regression analysis, teachers’ educational status, their marital status, teaching a class with an average strength of 31-60 students per class, previous mental health training and having self-efficacy concerning seeking informationon mental health, perceived ability to spread awareness and to provide referrals were found to predict MHL among teachers.Conclusion: Sociodemographic factors including teachers’ educational status, average class strength and having had previous mental health training were predictors for MHL among high school teachers. Establishing training programs and referral networks may be key in early intervention among adolescents

Cytotoxic effect of crude venom isolated from Sea anemone Calliactis tricolor on human cancer cell lines

601-609The present study was made to analyze the antiproliferative effect of crude venom isolated from sea anemone Calliactis tricolor against human cancer cell lines such as Human Neuroblastoma cell (SHSY5Y), Human Lung Cancer cells (A549) and Human Colon Cancer cells (HT-29). The protein profile of venom was performed by Native PAGE and subunit profile was analyzed by SDS-PAGE. The in vitro cytotoxic effect of crude venom against SHSY5Y, A549, HT-29 and Vero cell lines was evaluated by MTT assay method. All the cells exposed to crude venom showed dose-dependent cytotoxic effect with IC50 of 60 µg/ml for both SHSY5Y and A549 cells and 75 µg/ml for HT-29 cells compared to with IC50 of 100 µg/ml for the Vero cell control. The significant decrease in cell viability was observed in SHSY5Y Human Neuroblastoma cells among other cancer cells. The cellular and nuclear morphological observations revealed the loss of cell morphological integrity along with the prominent damage of nucleus in the cell. This was further confirmed by DNA fragmentation assay. Based on the preliminary results, it could be clearly stated that the crude venom of C. tricolor may have a potential anti-cancerous molecules which can be further explored and used as a tool for Neuroblastoma chemotherapy. 

NiO/nanoporous carbon heterogeneous Fenton catalyst for aqueous microcystine-LR decomposition

The efficacy of NiO nanoparticles dispersed on a nanoporous carbon matrix (NiO/NPC) for microcystine-LR degradation in aqueous media is reported. The NiO/NPC catalyst was characterized by porosimetry, scanning electron microscopy, elemental analysis, powder X-ray diffraction, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and applied to the oxidative degradation of microcystine-LR contaminated water in the presence of hydrogen peroxide as a function of pH under ambient conditions. Optimal MC-LR removal efficiency was 86% at neutral pH catalyzed by this heterogeneous Fenton-like (NiO/NPC with H2O2) process, which has the added benefit of avoiding secondary metal pollution during microcystine-LR degradation. NiO/NPC represents an earth abundant catalyst for generating hydroxyl radicals to facilitate environmental depollution of organic pollutants from wastewater