Estimation and Comparison of Superoxide Dismutase level in patients with Oral Submucous Fibrosis

The study was conducted to evaluate and compare the levels of antioxidant enzyme superoxide dismutase(SOD) in blood samples of patients diagnosed with Oral SubmucousFibrosis(OSMF) and their age and sex matched controls and also to compare the SOD levels within the study group between patients with stage I, stage II, stage III and stage IV OSM

Comparative study of phytoremediation of chromium contaminated soil by Amaranthus viridis in the presence of different chelating agents

Chromium is a harmful heavy metal to the environment due to the toxicity induced by it to plants and other living organisms. High concentration of Cr in soil poses severe toxicological problems ecosystem. Phytoremediation using different plants is an economical and environment-friendly method for removing Cr from soil. The addition of chelating agents augments the phytoextraction using plants.The present study aimed to augment the Cr phytoremediation capacity of Amaranthus virdis, a predominant plant species in the Cr-contaminated open dumpsites of Bangalore. . Phytoextraction of Cr by Amaranthus viridis was studied in the presence of different chelating agents viz. ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA), citric acid (CA), growth promoting hormone- indoleacetic acid (IAA) and NPK fertiliser. A. viridis grown under different concentrations (5, 10 and 20 mg/Kg) of Cr were treated with 0.5g EDTA/Kg of soil, 0.5g CA/Kg of soil, 1mg IAA/Kg of soil and NPK (125 mg of nitrogen, 45 mg of phosphorous and 156 mg of potassium per Kg of soil). Results indicated that CA, at 10 mg/kg Cr supply, induced the highest uptake (up to 29.25 µg/plant). Furthermore, the study revealed that CA amendment induced maximum Cr uptake in A. viridis at all levels of Cr supply as compared to other amendments. This was due to the increased solubility of Cr in the presence of citric acid and the amelioration of oxidative stress due to Cr to plants by citric acid. This study inferred that the non-hyperaccumulating plant, A. virdis could be used as a phytoremediator for Cr in the presence of citric acid in the places where it is grown abundantly.   

Performance Assessment of Fuel and Core Structural Materials Irradiated in FBTR

AbstractPost-irradiation examination (PIE) is a vital link in the nuclear fuel cycle for providing valuable feedback on the performance and residual life of the fuel and structural materials to designers, fabricators, and reactor operating personnel. The challenging task of setting up of α,β,γ inert atmosphere hot cell facility for PIE of Fast Breeder Test Reactor (FBTR) was accomplished successfully and irradiation performance of the FBTR mixed carbide fuel was assessed stage wise at various burnups starting from 25 GWd/t upto 155 GWd/t. With FBTR being used as a test bed for irradiation experiments on various FBR fuels and structural materials, PIE of various materials subjected to experimental irradiation like the PFBR MOX fuel, FBTR grid plate material have also been carried out to provide valuable feedback to the designers. This paper highlights the (i) results of comprehensive PIE carried on mixed carbide fuel & structural material (ii) control rod performance and (iii) outcome of the examinations on the experimental irradiated sub assemblies.

Comparative study of soil properties and vegetation at various open dump and non-dumpsites in the Bengaluru city of Karnataka, India

A comparative field studies on seven municipal dumpsites namely Agara 1 (12.917°N , 77.639°E), Agara 2 (12.922°N, 77.639°E), HSR depot (12.919°N, 77.644°E) , Koramangala Church (12.934°N, 77.626°E) , Koramanagla BDA (12.931°N, 77.625°E), Garvebhayipalya (12.897°N, 77.638°E) and Sanjay Gandhi hospital  (12.891°N, 77.601°E), and its adjoining non-dump sites were conducted to understand their soil characteristic features and the vegetation pattern. Soil characteristics were presented in terms of the physicochemical parameters and the vegetation patterns were presented in terms of the dominance using the ecological parameter Important Value Index (IVI). Soils at the dump sites showed higher mean electrical conductivity and pH values as compared to the non-dump sites. Though the mineral content showed higher mean value in the dump sites (except chloride), there is no significant variation in the higher total soluble solutes between dump and non-dump sites(P>0.05) As per ANNOVA there was highly significant variation  in the heavy metal content between dump and non dumpsites (P<0.01).. With respect to vegetation analysis though 50 different species found across locations only 10 species viz Alternatheria sessile, Amaranthus spinose, Caesalpinia pulcherima, Ipomea acumilanata, Ipomea evolvulus, Parthenium hysterophorous Pisum sativum, Ricinis communis, Sida rombifolia and Solanum lycopersicum were found consistent across all locations irrespective of the seasons. Among these, A. sessile, R. communis and A. spinosa were found dominant based on the IVI values across seven locations which further can be studied for their potential for phyto remediating the land pollutants such as heavy metals.&nbsp

Effect of nickel uptake on selected growth parameters of Amaranthus viridis L.

Nickel is an essential element for normal physiological functions in plants. At higher doses (>50 mg/kg, as per WHO) it is toxic to plants and humans, which can bring about oxidative stress affecting the physiological functions of plants and is also considered carcinogenic to human beings. To manage nickel pollution in environment, proper chemical or phytoremediation techniques are required. In this regard nickel accumulator plants would offer a cost effective and environmental friendly phytoremediation method. In the present study, the nickel phyto-accumulation potential of Amaranthus viridis from soil was evaluated to check the tolerance level and the impact on selected morphological parameters like total biomass, plant height, root length and number of leaves. Nickel uptake by A. viridis was studied from Ni contaminated soil amended with20, 40, 60, 80 mg/Kg of Ni exposure under controlled conditions. Toxic effects and tolerance of the plant to toxic doses of nickel was evaluated by correlating the uptake per gram of biomass with various parameters of plant like its height, biomass, root length and, number of leaves.  Supply dependent maximum nickel uptake of 108 µg/gm and corresponding decrease in growth parameters were recorded up to 60 mg/Kg exposure. This study indicates the uptake of nickel by A. viridis increases with increase in supply up to 60mg/kg and beyond 60 mg/kg, the uptake decreases. The study also shows uptake of nickel per gram of biomass has a significant  negative correlation mainly with parameters like plant height (R= -0.71 at 0.05 level of significance) and total biomass (R = -0.83 at 0.05 level of significance) where as other parameters like length of root and number of leavers are not significantly affected (P>0.05) with uptake of nickel per gram of biomass

Optical-fibre based sensors for monitoring offshore floating photovoltaic farms.

Solar photovoltaic farms are seeing increasing expansion into new domains (offshore) in order to harvest the sunlight as society pushes towards reaching Net Zero by 2050. However, photovoltaics are bound by physics, parameters such as temperature and strain varying result in changes in efficiency. Predictive maintenance through remote sensing can also save resources particularly in a domain where equipment and personnel are relatively expensive. This work represents the first investigation into the utilisation of Fibre Bragg Gratings (FBG) for offshore floating solar farms. It proposes a robust multiplexed network of FBG sensors to monitor these parameters in the harsh oceanic environment where equivalent electromechanical equivalents would fail. Using Super luminous LED (Light Emitting Diode), FBG interrogators, multiplexing techniques and the sensors themselves reliable, effective strain and temperature measurement can be made. A series of MATLAB simulations into how FBGs can be engineered to achieve these results were carried out. The findings suggest that applied to a select case study, 2 strain and 49 temperature sensors can be multiplexed on a single line of fibre. An experiment was also carried out that placed FBGs on an aluminum solar panel frame that suggests a bandwidth of 13.32μm would be needed to encompass the range in that specific study

Theoretical investigation of positional influence of FBG sensors for structural health monitoring of offshore structures.

Fibre Bragg Grating (FBG) is a key technology for condition monitoring of different offshore oil and gas structures. FBG sensors are used to sense different physical parameters such as strain, temperature, vibration, etc. This paper investigates the effect of FBG sensor positions on the reflected sensing signal, to optimise the sensor positioning plan for structural health monitoring of offshore structures. Theoretical investigations were carried out on a cantilever beam to analyze the strain effects. Effect of different cantilever beam shapes, materials and their thickness on strain was investigated. Theoretical studies were also carried out to evaluate the strain sensitivities of FBG sensors. Furthermore, micrometer displacement based strain analysis of cantilever beam was carried out using FBG sensors and electrical strain gauges to study the positional influence and compared it with the theoretical results obtained

Curing of large cardamom (Amomum subulatum Roxb.) : Fabrication of a new dryer and a comparative study of its performance with existing dryers

A simple natural convection dryer that could be easily dismantled and transported was designed, fabricated and field tested in a large cardamom (Amomum subulatum) plantation in Sikkim, India. The thermal efficiency of the dryer (5.2%).was much higher compared to the traditional curing house dryer (1.8%) thus saving substantial fuel. The dryer had a capacity of 300 kg of fresh cardamom capsules which was adequate for most ofthe plantations in the region. The time taken for drying the fresh capsules to a moisture content of about 10% was 24 h which was much less compared to conventional bhatti drying (55 h) and curing house drying (42 h). The quality of the dried product with respect to flavour and colour was also superior to that obtained from the other two methods of drying. &nbsp

Polypill Eligibility for Patients with Heart Failure With Reduced Ejection Fraction in South India: A Secondary Analysis of a Prospective, Interrupted Time Series Study.

RESEARCH LETTER - No abstract available