BioNanoAdhesion: atomic force microscopy study of the electrostatic properties of pyridine-and imidazole-based polycationic surfaces

Self-assembled monolayers of pyridine- and imidazole-based disulfides are currently being produced on low roughness gold surfaces. The electrostatic interaction between these surfaces and an atomic force microscope cantilever, modified with a silica microparticle, will subsequently be investigated as a function of environmental pH. The results can be used towards the development of improved nanoparticulate non-viral gene delivery vectors

Security Methods in Internet of vehicles

The emerging wireless communication technology known as vehicle ad hoc networks (VANETs) has the potential to both lower the risk of auto accidents caused by drivers and offer a wide range of entertainment amenities. The messages broadcast by a vehicle may be impacted by security threats due to the open-access nature of VANETs. Because of this, VANET is susceptible to security and privacy problems. In order to go beyond the obstacle, we investigate and review some existing researches to secure communication in VANET. Additionally, we provide overview, components in VANET in details

How to Identify Rare and Endangered Ferns and Fern Allies

Identification of rare and endangered plant species is the first requirement for any conservation programme. The IUCN guideline is the only available method to identify the rare and endangered species and it requires vast data on the wild population of the target species. None of the biological characters, which are playing main role in the survival and distribution of several species, is used in IUCN guideline. In the meantime there are several difficulties in following IUCN guideline, particularly the non availability of complete field data. Moreover, the same guideline can not be used for all the groups of species in equal importance. The vascular cryptogams, pteridophytes, are also an important component of any mountainous flora and they have also to be conserved in nature. As they are the primitive vascular plants on the earth, they are getting depleted in the flora due to various reasons and it is the right time to identify the rare and endangered pteridophytes to conserve them. By considering various difficulties of IUCN method for the identification rare and endangered pteridophytes, a very simple method has been adopted by using just four criteria and this method can be applied to Pteridophytes from any region of the world

A NEW TYPE OF WIND TURBINE TO SUIT THE SOLAR CHIMNEY FOR POWER PRODUCTION

Solar chimney uses the solar thermal energy to heat the air under the solar collector (canopy) which causes difference in density compared to the air outside at ambient temperature. This creates an updraft of air in the chimney. The air updraft created at the base of the chimney would rotate a wind turbine to generate power. This type of power plant requires very large footprint of area and thus research on turbogenerators which operates on very low updraft speed with small footprint of area is necessary. The objective of this study is to investigate the use of a new type of wind turbine to be used to generate electricity using a small scaled experimental model of solar chimney of 7 m height and 3 m collector diameter. Four separate turbine enclosure cases were studied to investigate the electricity generation. They are the open-ended turbine, the close-ended turbine, cylindrical turbine enclosure and conical turbine enclosure. This is to address the current solar chimney power plant’s problem which is the use of conventional wind turbine which requires a minimum of 6 m/s of wind speed to operate. The scope of the research is the modification of the existing model of solar chimney and the turbine unit. Experimental methods are primarily employed which begins with model design followed by fabrication and testing. For the electricity generation, the unconventional shape of the turbine requires a proper turbogenerator coupling to minimize vibration to the system. Once coupling and enclosures are fabricated, experimentations are performed from 8:00AM – 7:00PM where solar chimney temperature data were recorded hourly and voltage and current readings were recorded every second. The sampling rate of wind velocity, ambient temperature and solar intensity are recorded in 5 minute intervals. From this research, it has been proven that electricity generation for very small scaled solar chimney using the new type of wind turbine is possible with the best case being the cylindrical turbine enclosure generating a maximum of 2.291W. This is obtained using a rigid turbogenerator coupling

Glimpses of Tribal Botanical Knowledge of Tirunelveli Hills, Western Ghats, India

In the present paper, 46 plant species of angiosperms belonging to 19 genera of Euphorbiaceae that occur naturally in the Tirunelveli Hills of western Ghats, India, were chosen for study. It was found that the uses of Euphorbiaceous plants by the inhabitants of this region cover a number of broad categories including food, various kinds of poisons, medicines, sundry types of oils, waxes, rubbers, varnishes, compounds for paints and other industrial products

Overexpression Analysis of emv2 gene coding for Late Embryogenesis Abundant Protein from Vigna radiata (Wilczek)

Late embryogenesis abundant (LEA) proteins are speculated to protect against water stress deficit in plants. An over expression system for mungbean late embryogenesis abundant protein, emv2 was constructed in a pET29a vector, designated pET-emv2 which is responsible for higher expression under the transcriptional/translational control of T7/lac promoter incorporated in the Escherichia coli BL21 (DE3).Induction protocol was optimized for pET recombinants harboring the target gene. Overexpressed EMV2 protein was purified to homogeneity and the protein profile monitored by SDS-PAGE

Inhibition and kinetic studies of cellulose - and hemicellulose - degrading enzymes of Ganoderma boninense by naturally occurring phenolic compounds

AIM: Ganoderma sp, the causal pathogen of the basal stem rot (BSR) disease of oil palm, secretes extracellular hydrolytic enzymes. These play an important role in the pathogenesis of BSR by nourishing the pathogen through the digestion of cellulose and hemicellulose of the host tissue. Active suppression of hydrolytic enzymes secreted by Ganoderma boninense by various naturally occurring phenolic compounds and estimation of their efficacy on pathogen suppression is focused in this study. METHODS AND RESULTS: Ten naturally occurring phenolic compounds were assessed for their inhibitory effect on the hydrolytic enzymes of G. boninense. The enzyme kinetics (Vmax and Km ) and the stability of the hydrolytic enzymes were also characterized. The selected compounds had shown inhibitory effect at various concentrations. Two types of inhibitions namely uncompetitive and noncompetitive were observed in the presence of phenolic compounds. Among all the phenolic compounds tested, benzoic acid was the most effective compound suppressive to the growth and production of hydrolytic enzymes secreted by G. boninense. The phenolic compounds as inhibitory agents can be a better replacement for the metal ions which are known as conventional inhibitors till date. The three hydrolytic enzymes were stable in a wide range of pH and temperature. CONCLUSION: These findings highlight the efficacy of the applications of phenolic compounds to control Ganoderma. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY: The study has proved a replacement for chemical controls of G. boninense with naturally occurring phenolic compounds

Functional and radiological analysis of posterior lumbar interbody fusion in spondylolisthesis

Background:Spondylolisthesis is present in 5% of the adult population with clinical evidence of low back pain. These patients are treated initially by conservative measures, failing of which surgical intervention is mandatory. Majority of patients with varying degree of slip and disability ultimately require surgical intervention. In this study we are trying to analyse the functional outcome following posterior lumbar interbody fusion in spondylolisthesis.Methods: Posterior lumbar interbody fusion using pedicle screw and rods with cage was performed on 25 patients. 6 months follow-up was completed in 25 patients who were then reviewed at regular intervals. Out of the 25 patients, 17(68%) were females and 8(32%) were males. The mean age of the patients was 40.64 years. Out of 25 patients, 14 patients had listhesis at L4 – L5 level and another 11 at L5 – S1 level. 21(84%) were Isthmic variant and 4 (16%) were Degenerative spondylolisthesis.Results:The mean follow up period in this study of 25 patients is 19 months. Out of 25 patients, there was mean improvement of 18.96 in the Oswestry scoring index. The Visual analogue scale score showed a mean improvement of 6.48. Radiologically, the percentage of slip was decreased by a mean of 8.40%. One patient had a cage extrusion with no neurological deficit.Conclusions:The pedicle screw with rod and cage system is easy to use and provides the anatomic restoration of the isthmus in isthmic spondylolisthesis or restoring the stability after laminectomy/discectomy in degenerative spondylolisthesis. From our study, we strongly believe that this technique is very useful in low grade degenerative and isthmic spondylolisthesis