Evaluation of coastal aquaculture ponds using remote sensing and GIS

1205-1209Coastal aquaculture is one of the fast growing food production sectors worldwide, contributing to more than half of the total volume of aquatic foods for human consumption, and offering great potential for global food security. Remote sensing and GIS technologies contribute to the mapping and monitoring of changes in aquaculture providing essential information for coastal management applications. The present study investigates the growth and expansion of aquaculture and its spatiotemporal dynamics in Nagapattinam district (from Vedaranyam to Vettar River) over the last decade. Multitemporal IRS 1C and IRS P6 remote sensing data were analyzed for detecting and assessing land use and land cover (LULC) change in the Nagapattinam area (Tamil Nadu). Visual interpretations have been made with the help of field surveys, primary data collected on field, and secondary data from government departments. LULC maps were prepared to identify changes in aquaculture areas. The classified area for aquaculture in Nagapattinam is 4.02 km2 in 2006 and 9.80 km2 in 2016. Similarly, the salt pan areaincreased from 0.53 km2 to 1.53 km2 in 2016. The coastal wetlands and marshy lands were used for aquaculture and salt pan activities during 2006 to 2016, providing a livelihood for the people in that area. The study will assist to identify change dynamics in environmental sustainability in the context of livelihood option/development activities

Mechanistic insights into the analgesic and anti-inflammatory effects of alcoholic extracts from Curcuma longa

Background: Aim of the study was to scientifically validate the traditional Indian claims of Curcuma longa's (turmeric) antinociceptive (pain-relieving) and anti-inflammatory effects. Methods: The alcoholic extract of C. longa was tested in three rodent nociceptive models: acetic acid-induced writhing: examines visceral pain, formalin test: evaluates both acute and chronic neurogenic and inflammatory pain and tail immersion test to assess thermal pain. The extract's effects were compared to a control group and morphine (reference drug). Results: C. longa extract significantly reduced abdominal constrictions in the acetic acid test (59.36% inhibition). In the formalin test, the extract significantly decreased paw licking response time in both early (54.12% inhibition) and late phases (78.59% inhibition). C. longa extract significantly increased the tail flick reaction time in the immersion test, indicating pain relief. Conclusions: This study confirms the antinociceptive and anti-inflammatory activities of C. longa, providing scientific evidence for its traditional use in pain management

Natural treasures from Picrorhiza kurrooa: a computational exploration of drug-like properties and bioactivity of kutkin, cucurbitacin, apocynin and lupanine

Background: To analyse and predict the basic pharmacokinetic and toxicological properties of four compounds of interest found in Picrorhiza kurroa (Kutkin, cucurbitacin, apocynin and lupanine) using computational bioinformatics tools. Methods: The chemical structures and molecular properties of the compounds were obtained from authentic sources and processed for data profiling. 2D structures were converted to 3D structures using ChemSketch software and PHASE module. In silico screening of the 3D structures was performed using bioinformatics prediction software to assess drug-likeness, absorption, blood-brain barrier penetration, enzyme interaction potential, skin penetration, and acute oral toxicity. Results: Kutkin exhibited poor drug-likeness and low oral absorption, while the other three compounds showed promising drug-like properties and good oral absorption. Cucurbitacin and lupanine were predicted to cross the blood-brain barrier, while Kutkin and Apocynin were not. None of the compounds were substrates for P-glycoprotein, but Kutkin and cucurbitacin were substrates for CYP3A4. All four compounds had low skin penetration. Acute oral toxicity varied, with cucurbitacin classified as highly toxic and the others as slightly toxic. Conclusions: Cucurbitacin, apocynin, and lupanine have potential for further development as therapeutic agents due to their favorable drug-like properties and good absorption. Kutkin's poor drug-likeness and low absorption make it less suitable for oral drug development. This information provides valuable insights for further research on the medicinal properties of Picrorhiza kurroa and the development of new drugs based on its active compounds

Quantification of execution and emission efficiency of a fueled diesel engine

A significant portion of the automobile and industrial sector is mostly dependent on the running of diesel engines as it is efficient and shifts a large of the goods around the globe and power various equipment. Also, as the use of energy as diesel fuel is increasing enormously with the expansion of industrial growth, diversification, this led to the accelerating global emissions, global climatic change, health issues, and exhaustion of fuels. To succumb this, alternative fuel is needed to fight against the ill effects and as a replacement to diesel fuel. Thus, vegetable oils as alternative fuels are drawing more attention as they are renewable and do not address the problem of greenhouse gas. In the present work, the cottonseed oil was chosen as the favorite among the vegetable oils due to its advantages like less pollutant level, excessive availability, etc. The transesterification process was used to produce the cottonseed oil biodiesel. This research aims to investigate efficiency, emission characteristics by using smooth diesel, cottonseed oil, and mixtures with varying composition from 20 % to 80 % in 20 % steps to identify sustainable fuel as a substitute for existing fuel and to overcome fuel demand and enviro effects. This test was conducted on single-cylinder four-stroke water-cooled diesel engines. From the results, it was revealed that cottonseed oil and its blends have a significant influence on performance and emission characters

Management of Thrips, Scirtothrips dorsalis Hood, on Rose under Open-Field and Protected Conditions

Investigation on management of thrips, Scirtothrips dorsalis Hood on roses under open-field and protected conditions was conducted during 2008-10 at Bengaluru. Clothianidin 50 WDG 20g a.i./ha proved best in terms of efficacy and cost. Vertimac, spinosad and Garlic Barrier agriculture (GB Ag ) were comparable in efficacy. GB Ag was on par with clothianidin besides being eco-friendly. GB Ag was found effective as a new molecule. Neem seed kernel extract (NSKE) proved to be superior to neem oil, pongamia oil and the commercial neem product, Nimbecidine. NSKE was also found to reduce thrips density to the extent of 64% - 88%. In rose fields where pest suppression measures are hardly practised, farmers can apply NSKE, monocrotophos or imidacloprid. Based on the cost of vertimac and spinosad, these can be recommended where cost-effective, as in commercial polyhouses growing roses

Development and validation of RP HPLC method for determination of metformin and sitagliptin in bulk and pharmaceutical dosage form

A simple and rapid reversed phase-high performance liquid chromatographic method was developed for simultaneous determination of Metformin and Sitagliptin in Tablet Dosage form. The elution was done with a mobile phase of Water: Methanol (60:40) on Intersil-BDS C18 column (250 × 4.6 mm, 5 μm particle size). The wavelength detector was set at 258 nm. Retention times for Metformin and Sitagliptin were around 2.869 min, 3.942 min respectively. The reliability and analytical performance of the proposed HPLC procedure were statistically validated according to the respect of linearity, ranges, precision, accuracy, repeatability, reproducibility, detection and quantification limits. Linear ranges were established between 20-80 μg/mL for both the drug. The LOD and LOQ for Metformin were found to be 0.663, 1.92 and for Sitagliptin were found to be 0.405, 1.228 respectively. The described High Performance Liquid Chromatography method was successfully employed for the analysis of pharmaceutical formulations containing combined dosage for

Assessment of groundwater potential using geospatial techniques for urbanized Mambakkam mini-watershed, Kancheepuram district, India

1856-1865Evaluation of groundwater potential and mapping using geospatial platform is crucial especially for semi-arid hard rock and coastal adjoining terrain to identify the zones of very good, good, moderate and poor groundwater potential. The Mambakkam mini watershed, Tamil Nadu (India) is situated towards the southern part of Chennai city. It is experiencing commercial development of groundwater in addition with escalating domestic and industrial demands. The present study is aimed to develop the mapping of groundwater potential zones for the selected urbanized watershed by using the remote sensing and geospatial techniques. Data like water level, water quality, rainfall, climatology and geophysical resistivity from various sources and satellite imageries have been used for this study to observe the changes on the sources of water resource system. The Inverse Distance Weighted (IDW) method was used for generating the thematic layers of rainfall, depth to bed rock, weathered rock, jointed rock and water levels. The generated village wise groundwater potential map has shown a vast spatial variability of ground water potential and the area that belongs to the “very good” potential category is quite less in the entire study area (12 %) which alarms the development of existing groundwater resource. The study concluded that considerable falling trend of groundwater level during pre-monsoon showing the alarming threat for further development. Thus the presented study identified the risk of groundwater development and provides guidelines to water resource mangers and village officials to recommend conservation and protection strategies against the uncontrolled commercial development especially on the identified poor groundwater potential zones

Desmosomal Component Expression in Normal, Dysplastic, and Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Squamous cell carcinoma (oral SCC) is the most common oral cancer in the U.S., affecting nearly 30,000 Americans each year. Despite recent advances in detection and treatment, there has been little improvement in the five-year survival rate for this devastating disease. Oral cancer may be preceded by premalignant disease that appears histologically as dysplasia. Identification of molecular markers for cellular change would assist in determining the risk of dysplasia progressing to oral squamous cell carcinoma. The goal of this study was to determine if any correlation exists between histological diagnosed dysplasia and OSCC lesions and altered expression of desmosomal cell-cell adhesion molecules in the oral epithelium. Our data showed that oral SCC tissue samples showed decreased immunoreactivity of both desmoplakin and plakophilin-1 proteins compared to normal oral epithelium. Furthermore, significant decrease in desmoplakin immunoreactivity was observed in dysplastic tissue compared to normal oral epithelium. In contrast, the level of desmoglein-1 staining was unchanged between samples however desmoglein-1 was found localized to cell borders in oral SCC samples. These data suggest that changes in expression of desmoplakin and plakophilin-1 may prove to be a useful marker for changes in tissue morphology and provide a tool for identifying pre-neoplastic lesions of the oral cavity

Properties of Al-doped ZnS films grown by chemical bath deposition

Zinc sulphide (ZnS) buffer layers are a cadmium free, wider energy band gap, alternative to the cadmium sulphide(CdS) buffer layers commonly used in copper indium gallium diselenide (CuInGaSe2)-based solar cells. However extrinsic doping of the ZnS is important to lower the resistivity of the layers and to improve flexibility of device design. In this work, Al-doped ZnS nanocrystalline films have been produced on glass substrates using a chemical bath deposition (CBD) method. The Al- concentration was varied from 0 at. % to 10 at. %, keeping other deposition parameters constant. The elemental composition of a typical sample with 6 at. % ‘Al’ in ZnS was Zn=44.9 at. %, S=49.8 at. % and Al=5.3 at.%. The X-ray diffraction data taken on these samples showed a broad peak corresponding to the (111) plane of ZnS while the crystallite size varied in the range, 8 – 15 nm, depending on the concentration of Al in the layers. The films with a Al-doping content of 6 at. % had an optical transmittance of 75 % in the visible range and the energy band gap evaluated from the data was 3.66 eV. The films n-type electrical conductivities and the electrical resistivity varied in the range, 107-103 Ωcm, it decreasing with an increase of the Al-concentration in the solution