PHYTOCHEMICAL STUDIES AND GC-MS ANALYSIS OF SPERMADICTYON SUAVEOLENS ROXB

Objective: The present study was performed to identify the phytochemical constituents of leaves and flowers of a plant Spermadictyon suaveolens extracted with four different solvents.Methods: Dried and powdered samples were subjected to soxhlation based on the polarity of the solvents. The extracts were scanned using Ultra Violet-visible (UV-Vis) spectrophotometry with the wavelength ranging from 200–800 nm by comparing the absorption spectrum with the spectra of known compounds, Fourier Transform Infrared (FT-IR) spectrometry was used to find out the functional groups of the compounds and GC-MS system consisting of a Perkin Elmer Technologies Model Clarus 680 GC equipped with Clarus 600 (EI) was used to identify the metabolites by matching their recorded mass spectra with the standard mass spectra from National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST05. LIB) libraries provided by the software of the GCMS system (TurboMass version 5.4.2).Results: The phytochemical tests indicated the presence of carbohydrates, alkaloids, flavonoids, phenols, tannins, saponins and terpenoids from the chloroform extract of leaves and flowers. UV-visible spectrophotometer results indicated a wavelength range between 230–660 nm for the flower and leaf extracts for major peaks. FT-IR analysis indicated major functional groups such as aromatic, primary, secondary and aliphatic amines, alkanes, carboxylic acids and amides. GC-MS analysis results revealed major bioactive compounds in the crude extracts.Conclusion: Presence of secondary metabolites has been identified from the phytochemical studies. Many phyto-compounds have been identified from the leaves and flowers of using GC-MS analysis. Hence, this medicinal plant may be used as a source for treating many diseases

Enhancing Speech Recognition Using Improved Particle Swarm Optimization Based Hidden Markov Model

Enhancing speech recognition is the primary intention of this work. In this paper a novel speech recognition method based on vector quantization and improved particle swarm optimization (IPSO) is suggested. The suggested methodology contains four stages, namely, (i) denoising, (ii) feature mining (iii), vector quantization, and (iv) IPSO based hidden Markov model (HMM) technique (IP-HMM). At first, the speech signals are denoised using median filter. Next, characteristics such as peak, pitch spectrum, Mel frequency Cepstral coefficients (MFCC), mean, standard deviation, and minimum and maximum of the signal are extorted from the denoised signal. Following that, to accomplish the training process, the extracted characteristics are given to genetic algorithm based codebook generation in vector quantization. The initial populations are created by selecting random code vectors from the training set for the codebooks for the genetic algorithm process and IP-HMM helps in doing the recognition. At this point the creativeness will be done in terms of one of the genetic operation crossovers. The proposed speech recognition technique offers 97.14% accuracy

Effect of n-3 fatty acids on immune function in broiler chickens

There is interest in the enrichment of poultry meat with long-chain n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids in order to increase the consumption of these fatty acids by humans. However, there is concern that high levels of n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids may have detrimental effects on immune function in chickens. The effect of feeding increasing levels of fish oil (FO) on immune function was investigated in broiler chickens. Three-week-old broilers were fed 1 of 4 wheat-soybean basal diets that contained 0, 30, 50, or 60 g/kg of FO until slaughter. At slaughter, samples of blood, bursa of Fabricius, spleen, and thymus were collected from each bird. A range of immune parameters, including immune tissue weight, immuno-phenotyping, phagocytosis, and cell proliferation, were assessed. The pattern of fatty acid incorporation reflected the fatty acid composition of the diet. The FO did not affect the weight of the spleen, but it did increase thymus weight when fed at 50 g/kg (P < 0.001). Fish oil also lowered bursal weights when fed at 50 or 60 g/kg (P < 0.001). There was no significant effect of FO on immune cell phenotypes in the spleen, thymus, bursa, or blood. Feeding 60 g/kg of FO significantly decreased the percentage of monocytes engaged in phagocytosis, but it increased their mean fluorescence intensity relative to that of broilers fed 50 g/kg of FO. Lymphocyte proliferation was significantly decreased after feeding broiler chickens diets rich in FO when expressed as division index or proliferation index, although there was no significant effect of FO on the percentage of divided cells. In conclusion, dietary n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids decrease phagocytosis and lymphocyte proliferation in broiler chickens, highlighting the need for the poultry industry to consider the health status of poultry when poultry meat is being enriched with FO

Protection of construction pit for car-park building in Ljubljana

V diplomski nalogi je obravnavano varovanje gradbene jame za objekt parkirno garažne hiše v Ljubljani. Varovalna konstrukcija je bila izvedena s sidranimi slopi po tehnologiji injektiranja pod visokimi pritiski (jet grouting). Sidranje smo izvedli z začasnimi geotehničnimi sidri v enem ali dveh nivojih. V nalogi je podan pregled postopkov za izvedbo jet grouting slopov in začasnih geotehničnih sider po veljavnih standardih. Pozornost je posvečena načinom izvedbe, ki so uveljavljeni pri nas, in problemom, ki se pojavljajo zaradi odstopanja od zhatev tehnične regulative ali nezmožnosti upoštevanja le-te. To je delno posledica zastarele opreme in utečenih postopkov izvajanja del. Dodatno pa na to vplivajo tudi zahteve po čim cenejši izvedbi gradbenih del. V nalogi so predstavljene izkušnje pridobljene med izvedbo varovalne konstrukcije gradbene jame, rezultati kontrolnih preiskav in problemi, ki so se pojavili med izvedbo del, ter rešitve teh problemov. V fazi izvedbe varovalne konstrukcije iz jet grouting slopov smo največ pozornosti posvetili tehnologiji enofaznega postopka injektiranja in njeni učinkovitosti v danih razmerah. Pri izvedbi geotehničnih sider pa smo največ pozornosti posvetili vgradnji in napenjanju preskusnih sider. Na gradbišču nastali problemi so lahko tudi posledica nepopolne gradbene dokumentacije, vključno s starimi in pomanjkljivimi načrti sosednjih objektov. V nalogi je prav tako obravnavano reševanje problemov, povezanih z nepričakovano sestavo temeljnih tal. Ta je pomembno vplivala na težave in zamude pri izvedbi in nemoteno napredovanje del.The subject of this thesis is the execution construction pit for multi-storey car-park building in Ljubljana. The supporting structure was made with high pressure grouting (e.q jet grouting), and anchored with temporary ground anchors in one or two levels. An overview of jet grouting and temporary ground anchors procedures accoding to current standards is shown. A special attention is put on the currently valid execution of works in our country. We primarily examined the problems occurring due to the deviation from technical regulations or inability to stick to them, which may be the consequence of either old equipment or sticking to generally accepted procedures of the execution, as well as requirements for a cheaper execution. The thesis presents the description of experiences gained during the execution works, the results of control examinations, the problems that occurred during the execution and appropriate solutions. In the phase of the jet-grouting-piles execution, which were used as a supporting structure, the attention was on the technology of the single fluid system and its effectiveness in the ground, while with ground anchors the most attention was paid to ground anchor installation and. The problems occurring on the construction site are often result of an incomplete project documentation, often involving the old and incomplete documentation of neighbouring buildings. The solution of issues in relation to the unexpected ground conditions, which significantly delayed the execution of works, is examined

ANTI-METHICILLIN RESISTANT STAPHYLOCOCCUS AUREUS POTENTIAL OF PHYTOCHEMICALS IN TERMINALIA CATAPPA AND THEIR PROPOSED IN SILICO MECHANISM OF ACTION: Anti-MRSA potential of Terminalia catappa

Objective: The objective of this study was to investigate the antibacterial potential of leaves of this Terminalia catappa and identify the mechanism of action for those phytochemicals present in this leaves. Methods: Phytochemicals were extracted using maceration and the extracts were analyzed using gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC-MS) to identify the chemical structure. Antibacterial potential was evaluated using agar well diffusion. The phytochemicals were subjected to in silico protein–ligand docking study to identify the mechanism of action. Results: In vitro antibacterial study demonstrated that the ethanol extract of the leaves has significant antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus (SA) and methicillin-resistant SA (MRSA) with a zone of inhibition of 16 mm and 18 mm, respectively, at a concentration of 2 mg/ml. The chloroform and hexane extracts of the leaves did not demonstrate any significant activity. Based on GC-MS analysis and literature review, 12 phytochemicals were identified to be present in the ethanol extract of the T. catappa leaves. These molecules were subjected to in silico protein–ligand docking study against common drug target proteins of SA and MRSA. Among the studied ligands, granatin A demonstrated the highest significance to inhibit topoisomerase IV with a binding energy of −11.3 kcal/mol and produced 7 hydrogen bonds, followed by punicalin with −10.7 kcal/mol binding energy toward penicillin-binding protein 2a with 6 hydrogen bonds. Conclusion: Phytochemicals of T. catappa demonstrates significant drug ability potential against drug-resistant MRSA pathogen and demands further investigation on their individual activity and mechanism

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Not AvailableTriacylglycerol (TAG) biosynthesis in plants is complex and involves several genes with specific roles in the Kennedy pathway. Analysis of the evolutionary pattern and diversity of these genes can help to improve understanding of TAG biosynthesis in oilseed crops. In this study, an attempt was made to explore the diversity of genes: DGAT1, DGAT2, GPAT9 and LPAT2 across 13 oilseed crops using the sequence information ofthe model species, Arabidopsis thaliana. A total of 213 protein sequences corresponding to these genes were retrieved from the NCBI database by BLAST, multiple sequence alignment was performed and a phylogenetic tree was constructed. DGAT1, DGAT2 and GPAT9 sequences produced distinct species-wise clusters with several distinct sub-clusters, indicatingmonophyletic and highlydivergent nature with specialized rolesin differentspecies. LPAT2 sequences did not produce species-wise distinct clusters, indicating their polyphyletic nature. Diverse candidate gene sequences and phylogenetic relationships presented in this study would help to study TAG biosynthesis through genome-wide analysis in oilseed crops.Not Availabl

Powder Bed Fusion via Machine Learning-Enabled Approaches

Powder bed fusion (PBF) applies to various metallic materials used in the metal printing process of building a wide range of complex parts compared to other AM technologies. PBF process has several variants such as DMLS (direct metal laser sintering), EBM (electron beam melting), SHS (selective heat sintering), SLM (selective laser melting), and SLS (selective laser sintering). For PBF to reach its maximum potential, machine learning (ML) algorithms are used with suitable materials to achieve goals cost-effectively. Various applications of neural networks, including ANNs, CNNs, RNNs, and other popular techniques such as KNN, SVM, and GP were reviewed, and future challenges were discussed. Some special-purpose algorithms were listed as follows: GAN, SeDANN, SCNN, K-means, PCA, etc. This review presents the evolution, current status, challenges, and prospects of these technologies in terms of material, features, process parameters, applications, advantages, disadvantages, etc., to explain their significance and provide an in-depth understanding of the same