Ethnobotanical knowledge as booster to Make in India campaign for agriculture and pharma sectors

India is a mega-biodiversity rich country comprising a vast traditional knowledge on use of plants and their products in ancient agriculture as well as pharmaceutical sectors. The country needs bioprospection of Indian flora and ethnobotanically important plants for novel formulations to be used in agricultural pest management as well as in cure of different human diseases, thereby, boosting green chemicals based substances as an important component under the Make in India campaign.

Geoelectrical Sounding to Identify Sub-surface and Groundwater State at Village Banauli, Singrauli District, Madhya Pradesh, India

Electrical resistivity (Geoelectrical) methods are well-known and common techniques for investigating the groundwater potential zone. These methods are economically viable and have the highest resolving power compared with other geophysical methods. A total of fifteen Vertical electrical soundings were conducted in the village of Banauli, located in Singrauli district in Madhya Pradesh, India. Vertical electrical sounding was carried out using Schlumberger electrode configuration with the maximum current electrode (AB) spacing of 200 m and potential electrode (MN) spacing of 10 m. For interpretation of measured resistivity, the Partial curve matching technique was used to calculate the layer parameters (resistivity and thickness) and further depict the depth section of the profile. In this study, the maximum five-layer model is obtained, and most curves are of HAK types. The first layer has a mean resistivity value of 12.41 Ωm and a mean thickness of 0.94 m. The second layer has mean resistivity of 7.93 Ωm and a mean thickness of 4.79 m. The third layer has a mean thickness value of 10.55 m and a mean resistivity value of 16.54 Ωm. The fourth layer has a mean resistivity value of 20.17 Ωm and a mean thickness of 9.20 m, and finally, the fifth layer, the bedrock, has a higher mean resistivity value of 59.92 Ωm. Thus, the obtained results may be used for identifying the drilling site for the groundwater potential zone

Tuning of Laser Damage Threshold by Adjusting Field Zones in Multilayer Dielectric Coatings

There are many factors that influencing the laser induced damage threshold (LIDT) and one of them is damage induced due to standing wave electric fields generated inside the multilayer coating on the irradiation of the laser. HfO2 and SiO2 are preferred materials for high damage threshold coatings stack. (HL)^n, where “H” is quarter wave optical thickness (QWOT) for high index materials and “L” is quarter wave optical thickness (QWOT) of low index materials for high reflectance mirror to achieve high reflectivity at reference wavelength. One of the problems with such a stack is that the peak standing wave electric field falls on the interface of low and high index materials which reduces the laser damage threshold of the high reflectance mirror. In the present study, we have optimized the minimum number of layers in quarter wave stacks to go non quarter so that this standing wave electric field shifts away from the interface to the high damage threshold region

Modulations of Lipid Membranes Caused by Antimicrobial Agents and Helix 0 of Endophilin

Understanding the cellular membrane interaction with membrane active biomolecules and antimicrobial agents provides an insight in their working mechanism. Here, we studied the effect of antimicrobial agents; a recently developed peptidomimetics E107-3 and colistin as well as the N-terminal helix H0, of Endophilin A1 on the lipid bilayer. It is important to discern the interaction mechanism of antimicrobial peptides with lipid membranes in battling multidrug resistant bacterial pathogens. We study the modification of structural and mechanical properties with a recently reported peptidomimetic on lipid bilayer. The compound referred to as E107-3 is synthesized based on the acylated reduced amide scaffold and has been shown to exhibit good antimicrobial potency. This compound increases lipid bilayer permeability as indicated by our vesicle leakage essay. Micropipette aspiration experiment shows that exposure of GUV to the compound causes the protrusion length Lp to spontaneously increase and then decrease, followed by GUV rupture. Solution atomic force microscopy (AFM) is used to visualize lipid bilayer structural modulation within a nanoscopic regime. This compound induces nanoscopic heterogeneous structures rather than pore like structures as produced by melittin. Finally, we use AFM-based force spectroscopy to study the impact of the compound on lipid bilayer’s mechanical properties. With the incremental addition of this compound, we found the bilayer puncture force decreases moderately and a 39% decrease of the bilayer area compressibility modulus KA. To explain our experimental data, we propose a membrane interaction model encompassing disruption of lipid chain packing and extraction of lipid molecules. The later action mode is supported by our observation of a double-bilayer structure in the presence of fusogenic calcium ions. Polyanionic Lipopolysaccharides LPS are important in regulating the permeability of outer membrane (OM) of gram-negative bacteria. To initiate the bactericidal activity of polymyxins, it is essential to impair the LPS-enriched OM. Here, we study the mechanism of membrane permeability caused by colistin (Polymyxin E) of LPS/phospholipid bilayers. Our vesicle leakage experiment showed that colistin binding enhanced bilayer permeability; the maximum increase in the bilayer permeability was positively correlated with the LPS fraction. Addition of magnesium ions abolished the effect of LPS in enhancing bilayer permeabilization. Solution atomic force microscopy (AFM) measurements on planar lipid bilayers shows the formation of nano- and macro clusters which protruded from the bilayer by ~2nm. Moreover, increasing the fraction of LPS or colistin enhances the formation of clusters but inhibits by magnesium ions addition. To explain our experimental data, we proposed a lipid-clustering model where colistin binds to LPS to form large-scale complexes segregated from zwitterionic phospholipids. The discontinuity (and thickness mismatch) at the edge of LPS-colistin clusters will create a passage that allows solutes to permeate through. The proposed model is consistent with all data obtained from our leakage and AFM experiments. Our results of LPS-dependent membrane restructuring provided useful insights into the mechanism that could be used by polymyxins in impairing the permeability barrier of the OM of Gram-negative bacteria. Also, we studied the effect of helix H0 of a membrane modification inducing protein endophilin, on planar bilayer. We obtained transmembrane defects on the bilayer when scanned.with AFM

Schwannoma of the penis, presenting as a scrotal mass, rare entity with an uncommon presentation

Schwannomas are benign nerve sheath tumors that are seen either sporadically or in patients of neurofibromatosis. This tumor is common in head, neck, and extremities. Penis is a rare site for this tumor. To the very best of our knowledge, <34 cases of penile schwannoma have been reported in literature till now, but none had presented as scrotal mass. Here, we report a case of penile schwannoma in a 16-year-old male boy who presented in our outpatient department with a slowly growing scrotal mass. Our patient did not have any other feature of neurofibromatosis. The patient after investigation underwent surgical excision and had no recurrence on follow-up of 5 years

Ethnobotanical knowledge as booster to Make in India campaign for agriculture and pharma sectors

655-657India is a mega-biodiversity rich country comprising a vast traditional knowledge on use of plants and their products in ancient agriculture as well as pharmaceutical sectors. The country needs bioprospection of Indian flora and ethnobotanically important plants for novel formulations to be used in agricultural pest management as well as in cure of different human diseases, thereby, boosting green chemicals based substances as an important component under the Make in India campaig