AAUOKHYB -1 : An excellent Okra hybrid developed by Assam Agricultural University (AAU) suitable for diverse agro-climatic situation of North East India

A hybrid development programme on okra (Abelmoschus esculentus) was undertaken at the Assam Agricultural University (AAU), Jorhat. The work included collection and evaluation of okra germplasm, identification of parents for hybridization, selfing of identified parental lines, making crosses and production of hybrid seeds, testing of hybrids for yield and resistance to Yellow Vein Mosaic Virus (YVMV) disease, adaptability under diverse agro-climatic condition and testing in all India trials. The programme resulted in development and identification of excellent Okra hybrid AAUOKHYB-1 in 2017.  The performance of the hybrid was very good under diverse agro-climatic conditions yielding about 162.0 q/ha fruit yield which is 32.5% higher than the best commercial check Arka Anamika. The hybrid showed resistant (R) reaction to YVMV disease. A wide range of heterosis upto 43% was exhibited by the hybrid in different vegetable research centers of the country as compared to the best check variety

Near room-temperature colossal magnetodielectricity and multiglass properties in partially-disordered La2NiMnO6

We report magnetic, dielectric and magnetodielectric responses of pure monoclinic bulk phase of partially-disordered La2NiMnO6, exhibiting a spectrum of unusual properties and establish that this system intrinsically is a true multiglass with a large magnetodielectric coupling (8-20%) over a wide range of temperatures (150 - 300 K). Specifically, our results establish a unique way to obtain colossal magnetodielectricity, independent of any striction effects, by engineering the asymmetric hopping contribution to the dielectric constant via the tuning of the relative spin orientations between neighboring magnetic ions in a transition metal oxide system. We discuss the role of anti-site (Ni-Mn) disorder in emergence of these unusual properties.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, Slightly revised version of previous article in condmat: arXiv:1202.4319v

DEVELOPMENT OF BILAYER TABLETS FOR IMMEDIATE AND CONTROLLED RELEASE OF ALLICIN

Objective: The purpose of this study was to develop and evaluate bilayer tablet for the immediate and controlled release of Allicin (Garlic Extract) for effective treatment of Hypertension.Methods: The immediate release layer was prepared by using super disintegrants-sodium starch glycolate and binder used xantham gum and the sustained release layer was prepared by using hydrophilic polymer like HPMC K 100 and PVP. Before preparation of the tablets, all the pre-formulation parameters were checked and the tablet of Allicin were prepared by direct compression method and was evaluated for physical characteristics like hardness, weight variation, drug content and friability. In vitro release of drug was performed USP type II dissolution test apparatus using phosphate buffer (pH 7.4) as dissolution media and dissolution was continued for 8 hrs for the sustained release layer.Results: It was found that all the formulations were within the limit of the standard. The drug release of the tablet was in the range of 66%-83% in 8 h.Conclusion: It was concluded that the F4 formulation showed the optimum result as a bilayer tablet for the effective treatment of hypertension.Â

Seismic Behaviour of Water Front Structures with Tyre Chip Backfill

Water front structures have suffered significant damage in many of the recent earthquakes. One of the primary causes for the poor performance of these classes of structures is the liquefaction of the foundation soil and in some instances liquefaction of the backfill soil. The liquefaction of the soil in-front of the quay wall tends to cause large lateral displacements and rotation of the wall. Full or partial liquefaction of the backfill can result in the increase of lateral earth pressure exerted on the wall that can cause additional lateral displacement of the wall. In this paper numerical analyses of a gravity wall type water front structure will be considered. Often such gravity walls are placed on rubble mound that is deposited onto the sea bed. The problem will be based on a generic model although the simplifications in the generic model were derived based on observed failures of quay walls following the 1995 Kobe earthquake. The paper presents finite element analyses of such a problem in which strength degradation of the foundation soil and the backfill material will be modelled using PZ mark III constitutive relationship. At the Port and Airport Research Institute (PARI) in Japan the possibility of using tyre chips from used car tyres as the backfill material is being researched using 1G underwater shaking table and dynamic centrifuge modelling. The finite element analyses will be repeated by including a zone of backfill consisting of the tyre chips. The properties of this material will be derived from the element tests carried out at PARI. Finally the results from the analyses of the gravity wall founded rubble mound with liquefiable foundation soil and backfill will be compared to those with tyre chip backfill. The improvement in the performance of the wall in terms of decreased lateral displacements and/or reduction in the rotation suffered by the wall will be compared

Elyyal oleate synthesis by Porcine pancreatic lypase in organic solvent

The Porcine pancreatic lipase catalysed esterification of oleic acid with ethanol was studied in 10 different solvents with constant initial water content in the reaction mixture. The initial rates of the esterification reaction were attempted to correlate with such solvent properties as hydrophobicity (log P), water solubility (Sw), dielectric constant, electron pair acceptance and donation index (expressed as EN T + DNN), polarisability etc. While significantly good linear correlations with log P and log Sw were obtained, the correlations with the other properties were found to be inferior. The kinetics of the reactions was found to conform to the so-called Ping-Pong-Bi-Bi model with ethanol inhibition effect and the estimated model parameters exhibited statistically significant correlation with log P consistent to its correlation with the initial rate. Assuming that organic solvents do not interfere with the lipase–substrate binding process nor with the catalytic mechanism, the contribution of substrate–solvent interactions to enzyme kinetics was accounted for by replacing the substrate concentrations of the intrinsic kinetic equations by thermodynamic activities. The values of the corrected intrinsic parameters (Km, ksp) and the maximal rate (Vmax) were found to be nearly equal for all the medi

A comparative study of laser posterior cordotomy and vocal cord lateralization

AbstractIntroductionThe treatment of bilateral vocal cord paralysis continues to be a challenge to the otolaryngologist, head and neck surgeon even today. Numerous surgical procedures have been proposed to improve the patient’s airway insufficiency without leaving the patient with a breathy, weak voice or an incompetent larynx. In this study we compared the outcome of laser posterior cordotomy and vocal cord lateralization in a group of bilateral abductor palsy patients.MethodRetrospective as well as a prospective study of 25 patients was carried out. The total of 25 patients was divided into 2 groups, group 1 consisted of 15 patients who underwent vocal cord lateralization with SUTUPAK suture and group 2 consisted of 10 patients who underwent laser assisted posterior partial cordotomy.ResultsThyroidectomy was the commonest cause for bilateral vocal fold paralysis i.e. 80% (20) of cases. Patients who underwent laser posterior cordotomy had 100% successful decannulation rate as compared to 92.8% for vocal cord lateralization patients. Comparison between pre and post operative voice assessment data by WILCOXON SIGNED RANKS test revealed that excepting the parameter of fluctuations/s in F0, all other parameters were statistically not significant.ConclusionLaser cordotomy is a superior, reliable and viable alternative to the other lateralization procedures for bilateral vocal fold paralysis