Padina boergessenii ameliorates carbon tetrachloride induced nephrotoxicity in Wistar rats

AbstractThis research investigates the ameliorative effect of brown alga Padina boergessenii against CCl4-induced nephrotoxicity in rats. Twenty-four Wistar albino rats were divided into four groups as follows: control group (saline), CCl4 group, CCl4+P. boergessenii extract group and P. boergessenii extract alone group. At the end of the experimental period, the animals are sacrificed and tissue samples (kidney) were collected. CCl4 at a dose of 2mL/kg, administered subcutaneously, produced significantly decreased activities of glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px), superoxide dismutase (SOD), and catalase (CAT). Histopathological examinations showed massive centrilobular necrosis and fat accumulation in CCl4-induced animals. In the protective test, especially in animals pretreated with P. boergessenii (150mg/kg) extract, there was a significant increase in antioxidant enzyme levels although there was no sign of abnormality in the kidney of rats pretreated with extract as evidenced by histopathological sections against CCl4-induced decrease of lipid peroxidation (TBARS). The ameliorative effect may be due to the presence of various bioactive compounds in alga. These results suggest that an extract of P. boergessenii is able to significantly alleviate the nephrotoxicity induced by CCl4 in Wistar rats

Development of UAV as a Platform for Current and Future Dynamic Soaring Research

We address the final stages in the development of a dynamic soaring (DS) capable unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). This project has been funded by the Embry-Riddle Office of Undergraduate Research through the Ignite program. Dynamic soaring is a bio-inspired flight maneuver in which energy is extracted by flying through regions of wind velocity gradient such as the wind shear layer. The objective of our project is to design an autonomous dynamic soaring flight controller through simulation, develop a DS capable UAV platform, and perform DS maneuvers in the real world. For simulation, a 6-degrees-of-freedom (6DoF) flight simulation environment in MATLAB and Simulink has been developed. Using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) a variable-fidelity aerodynamic model was obtained. The UAV platform is an FMS Fox Aerobatic Glider, a high aspect-ratio powered glider with a robust sensor suite and autonomous flight control system. Finally, we are developing a reinforcement-learning (RL) trained artificial intelligence (AI) that will optimize the path of the UAV to minimize power consumption. After completion, the UAV will be capable of testing future DS navigation systems. This presentation will discuss current progress as well as address challenges we face in the completion of our goals

Varietal Evaluation of Single Petalled Tuberose (Agave amica Medik.) Germplasm for the Growth and Flowering Attributes

The present experiment was to evaluate eight single petaled tuberose germplasm for growth and flowering attributes. All the tuberose germplasm showed a significant variation in the results. In vegetative parameters, the maximum plant height (79.3 cm) was observed in ‘Mexican Single’, while maximum leaf length (35.1 cm) and leaf width (3.4 cm) was observed in ‘Arka Keerthy’ and ‘Bidhan Rajani’, respectively, then high number of leaves seen in the germplasm ‘Mexican Single. In flowering parameters, ‘Nilakottai local” found superior in days taken for spike emergence (64.7 days), spike length (90.9 cm) and rachis length (31.4 cm) respectively. While, floret length (7.28 cm) and Single floret weight (1.57 g) was observed in ‘Bidhan Rajani’