Strain improvement for the production of antioxidant activity from Bacillus sp. by induced stress

In the present study, water samples were collected from different beaches in Chennai such as Marina beach, Elliott beach, VGP Golden beach and Kovalam beach to evaluate the best source for antioxidants. The bacteria were isolated on Starch Casein Agar media and screened for the antimicrobial activity. Among 11 isolates, 5 isolates showed antimicrobial potential which were further evaluated for the DPPH (2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl) scavenging activity. Among 5 isolates, one sample showed significant DPPH scavenging activity with half minimal inhibitory concentration of (IC50)344.754µg/mL. The maximum antioxidant production was observed at pH 7 and at temperature of 37ºC with an IC50 of 188.66µg/mL and 293.76µg/mL respectively. The potent antioxidant producing strain was subjected for mutagenesis. In physical mutagenesis, the organism exposed for UV light for 25 minutes showed maximum antioxidant production with an IC50 of 133.55µg/mL. This mutant strain was then subjected for chemical mutagenesis with the addition of different concentrations of Ethidium bromide such as 10µL, 20µL, 30µL, 40µL and 50µL. The mutant strain obtained with the addition of 20µL Ethidium bromide (EtBr) showed significant antioxidant activity with an IC50 of 325.4µg/mL. The sample was purified by solvent extraction method and was evaluated for antioxidant production. The analyte was subjected to HPLC (High Performance Liquid Chromatography) analysis to avince the presence of antioxidants. The ethyl acetate extract showed the total phenolic content of 0.892 mg GAE/g of dry extract. It also showed the total flavonoid content of 0.522mg RE/g of dry extract

The structures of eleven (4-phenyl)piperazinium salts containing organic anions

Eleven (4-phen­yl)piperazinium salts containing organic anions have been prepared and structurally characterized, namely, 4-phenyl­piperazin-1-ium 4-fluoro­benzoate monohydrate, C10H15N2+·C7H4FO2−·H2O, 1; 4-phenyl­piperazin-1-ium 4-bromo­benzoate monohydrate, C10H15N2+·C7H4BrO2−·H2O, 3; 4-phenyl­piperazin-1-ium 4-iodo­benzoate, C10H15N2+·C7H4IO2−, 4; 4-phenyl­piperazin-1-ium 4-nitro­benzoate, C10H15N2+·C7H4NO4−, 5; 4-phenyl­piperazin-1-ium 3,5-di­nitro­salicylate, C10H15N2+·C7H3N2O7−, 6; 4-phenyl­piperazin-1-ium 3,5-di­nitro­benzoate, C10H15N2+·C7H3N2O6−, 7; 4-phenyl­piperazin-1-ium picrate, C10H15N2+·C6H2N3O7−, 8; 4-phenyl­piperazin-1-ium benzoate monohydrate, C10H15N2+·C7H5O2−·H2O, 9; 4-phenyl­piperazin-1-ium p-toluene­sulfonate, C10H15N2+·C7H7O3S−, 10; 4-phenyl­piperazin-1-ium tartarate monohydrate, C10H15N2+·C4H5O6−·H2O, 11; and 4-phenyl­piperazin-1-ium fumarate, C10H15N2+·C4H3O4−, 12. Compounds 1 and 3–12 are all 1:1 salts with the acid proton transferred to the phenyl­piperaizine basic N atom (the secondary amine) with the exception of 3 where there is disorder in the proton position with it being 68% attached to the base and 32% attached to the acid. Of the structures with similar stoichiometries only 3 and 9 are isomorphous. The 4-phenyl substituent in all cases occupies an equatorial position except for 12 where it is in an axial position. The crystal chosen for structure 7 was refined as a non-merohedral twin. There is disorder in 5, 6, 10 and 11. For both 5 and 6, a nitro group is disordered and was modeled with two equivalent orientations with occupancies of 0.62 (3)/0.38 (3) and 0.690 (11)/0.310 (11), respectively. For 6, 10 and 11, this disorder is associated with the phenyl ring of the phenyl­piperazinium cation with occupancies of 0.687 (10)/0.313 (10), 0.51 (7)/0.49 (7) and 0.611 (13)/389 (13), respectively. For all salts, the packing is dominated by the N—H⋯O hydrogen bonds formed by the cation and anion. In addition, several structures contain C—H⋯π (1, 3, 4, 8, 9, 10, and 12) and aromatic π–π stacking inter­actions (6 and 8) and one structure (5) contains a –NO2⋯π inter­action. For all structures, the Hirshfeld surface fingerprint plots show the expected prominent spikes as a result of the N—H⋯O and O—H⋯O hydrogen bonds

Nitrogen Requirements at Different Growth Stages of Short-duration Pigeonpea (Cajanus cajan L. Millsp)

The response to N fertilization of a short-duration pigeonpea genotype, ICPL 87, was studied in the field to assess the scope for genetically improving symbiotic N2 fixation by pigeonpea. The field study was undertaken during 1985, 1986 and 1987 growing seasons on Vertisol and Alfisol at ICRISAT Center (peninsular India), Inceptisol at Gwalior (central India) and Entisol at Hisar (northern India) in as non-limiting environmental conditions as possible. Nitrogen fertilizer was applied to the soil at various growth stages to determine when N becomes most limiting. There was a significant response in grain yield to fertilizer N applied at flowering in Vertisol but not in Alfisol, Inceptisol or Entisol. This suggests that biological N2 fixation by short-duration pigeonpea was not adequate to meet N requirements of the crop grown in Vertisol but that it was probably adequate in the other three soil types. These results are discussed in relation to the nodulation and acetylene reductase activity of pigeonpea and also N mineralization potential of different soils. It can be concluded that there is a need for genetic improvement of N2 fixing ability of short-duration pigeonpea grown on heavy textured soils such as Vertisol

Rhizobium Germplasm Resources at ICRISAT Center

The ICRISAT Rhizobium culture collection represents rhizobia of the three mandate legumes: chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.), groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.), and pigeonpea [Cajanus cajan (L.) Millsp.]. This catalog lists a total of 819 strains of which 259 are of chickpea, 150 of groundnut, and 410 of pigeonpea, from 17 countries. Sixty eight percent of these strains were isolated at ICRISAT Center from nodules obtained or collected from six countries. The remaining 32 % of the strains were contributions from scientists in different countries and other Rhizobium culture collections of the world. The collection represents rhizobia from diverse climatic regions, different soil types, different growth rates in laboratory conditions, and different effectiveness rating in glasshouse studies. Information in this catalog has been assembled to encourage use of these strains in different relevant studies by the scientific community

The impact of business outsourcing on corporate real estate in India

Driven by Western companies\u27 requirements for efficiency and effectiveness, a trend towards outsourcing of business activities to India and other low-cost countries commenced in the early 1990s and has continued to grow at a surprisingly fast pace. In a relatively short timeframe India has become a global hub for back-office services, although the effect on the urban cities is yet to be fully comprehended. As American and European companies continue to relocate their information technology services and other back office works to the subcontinent, there has been a considerable flow-on effect on Indian corporate real estate. This paper addresses two key questions. Firstly, the factors important for Western companies\u27 outsourcing of organisational activities to India, and secondly, the effect of business outsourcing on corporate real estate locational requirements in India. A survey of corporate real estate representatives in India and the UK was conducted with the results providing an insight into the present state and possible future direction of outsourcing for India. This research presents a unique insight into the impacts of Western business outsourcing on corporate real estate in India, and presents findings that are useful to both organisations seeking to relocate business activities to India and for property market analysts looking to understand drivers behind this sustained demand for Indian corporate real estate

The use of complementary and alternative medicine among people living with diabetes in Sydney

Background: Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is common in patients with chronic disease such as diabetes mellitus. The primary objective of the study was to determine the overall prevalence and type of CAM use in individuals with diabetes mellitus (DM) in Western Sydney and to compare the prevalence and factors associated with CAM use with the literature.Methods: A multicenter cross-sectional study was undertaken using a self-completed questionnaire distributed to patients with DM attending a public hospital and specialist endocrinology clinics in the region. The type of DM and pattern of CAM utilisation were analyzed.Results: Sixty nine people responded to the questionnaire: age range of 18-75 years during a twelve week collection period. Overall, 32 respondents with diabetes were using some form of CAM, resulting in a utilisation rate of 46.3%. Twenty of the 32 CAM users used CAM specifically to treat their diabetes accounting for 28.9% of the respondent sample population. Multivitamins (40%), cinnamon, Co-enzyme q10 and prayer were the most frequently used CAM modalities. There was no significant difference between males and females, age range, income or diabetes complications between CAM and non-CAM users. (p values each &gt; 0.05) The factor most significantly associated with CAM usage was being born overseas (p = 0.044).Conclusions: Almost half the respondents (46.3%) used CAM: 28% used CAM specifically to treat their diabetes. Individuals born overseas were significantly more likely to use CAM than those born in Australia. Other factors such as age, gender, wealth and duration of living with diabetes were not associated with higher rate of CAM usage.<br /

Activating the knowledge-to-action cycle for geriatric care in India

Despite a rapidly aging population, geriatrics - the branch of medicine that focuses on healthcare of the elderly - is relatively new in India, with many practicing physicians having little knowledge of the clinical and functional implications of aging. Negative attitudes and limited awareness, knowledge or acceptance of geriatrics as a legitimate discipline contribute to inaccessible and poor quality care for India's old. The aim of this paper is to argue that knowledge translation is a potentially effective tool for engaging Indian healthcare providers in the delivery of high quality geriatric care. The paper describes India's context, including demographics, challenges and current policies, summarizes evidence on provider behaviour change, and integrates the two in order to propose an action plan for promoting improvements in geriatric care