Isolation of Bacillus producing Chitinase from Soil: Production and Purification of Chito-oligosaccharides from Chitin Extracted from Fresh Water Crustaceans and Antimicrobial Activity of Chitinase

In the present investigation Bacillus sp. strain was isolated and screened from the red soil collected from Doiwala region of Dehradun (U.K), India. Serial dilution technique was adopted to isolate the organism and was screened for its chitinolytic activity. The biochemical tests were performed to prove its validity. The microorganism was also screened by inoculating a loop full of the isolated strain in basic cresol red dye and incubated for about 18- 24 h. The conversion of colour of the red dye into purple (pH, 6.5- 8.8) was taken as an indication for the presence of Bacillus sp. Amylase production by the organism was also screened by introduction of iodine in the broth/agar culture having starch. The broth/agar medium having starch but no bacterial strain was used as the control. The disappearance of color confirmed the presence of Bacillus strain producing amylase which degrades the starch. The chitinous wastes were collected from fresh water crustaceans viz. fresh water crab (Potamon sp.) and fresh water prawn (Palaemon sp.) and the chitin extracted was used as the substrate for chitinase. The yield of chitin extracted from fresh water prawn (Palaemon sp.) was found to be comparatively higher than that of chitin extracted from fresh water crab (Potamon sp.). Standard colloidal chitin was used as the reference control. The enzyme activity of chitinase for degradation of chitin extracted from crab and prawn was compared. The results confirmed that chitinase activity for degradation of crab chitin was comparatively higher than that of degradation of prawn chitin. The enzyme activities were found to be 0.11 µg/ml/minute and 0.09 µg/ml/minute for degradation of crab and prawn chitin respectively. The antimicrobial activity of chitinase extracted was determined against the bacterial and fungal cultures. Potent antibacterial activity of chitinase was observed against the bacterial cultures but no antifungal activity was observed. The chitinase produced by the species was able to degrade the chitin and chito-oligosaccharides produced was separated by TLC and purified by HPLC

Non-Centrosymmetric Heavy-Fermion Superconductors

In this chapter we discuss the physical properties of a particular family of non-centrosymmetric superconductors belonging to the class heavy-fermion compounds. This group includes the ferromagnet UIr and the antiferromagnets CeRhSi3, CeIrSi3, CeCoGe3, CeIrGe3 and CePt3Si, of which all but CePt3Si become superconducting only under pressure. Each of these superconductors has intriguing and interesting properties. We first analyze CePt3Si, then review CeRhSi3, CeIrSi3, CeCoGe3 and CeIrGe3, which are very similar to each other in their magnetic and electrical properties, and finally discuss UIr. For each material we discuss the crystal structure, magnetic order, occurrence of superconductivity, phase diagram, characteristic parameters, superconducting properties and pairing states. We present an overview of the similarities and differences between all these six compounds at the end.Comment: To appear in "Non-Centrosymmetric Superconductors: Introduction and Overview", Lecture Notes in Physics 847, edited by E. Bauer and M. Sigrist (Springer-Verlag, Berlin Heidelberg, 2012) Chap. 2, pp. 35-7

Mapping geographical inequalities in childhood diarrhoeal morbidity and mortality in low-income and middle-income countries, 2000–17 : analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017

Background Across low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs), one in ten deaths in children younger than 5 years is attributable to diarrhoea. The substantial between-country variation in both diarrhoea incidence and mortality is attributable to interventions that protect children, prevent infection, and treat disease. Identifying subnational regions with the highest burden and mapping associated risk factors can aid in reducing preventable childhood diarrhoea. Methods We used Bayesian model-based geostatistics and a geolocated dataset comprising 15 072 746 children younger than 5 years from 466 surveys in 94 LMICs, in combination with findings of the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2017, to estimate posterior distributions of diarrhoea prevalence, incidence, and mortality from 2000 to 2017. From these data, we estimated the burden of diarrhoea at varying subnational levels (termed units) by spatially aggregating draws, and we investigated the drivers of subnational patterns by creating aggregated risk factor estimates. Findings The greatest declines in diarrhoeal mortality were seen in south and southeast Asia and South America, where 54·0% (95% uncertainty interval [UI] 38·1–65·8), 17·4% (7·7–28·4), and 59·5% (34·2–86·9) of units, respectively, recorded decreases in deaths from diarrhoea greater than 10%. Although children in much of Africa remain at high risk of death due to diarrhoea, regions with the most deaths were outside Africa, with the highest mortality units located in Pakistan. Indonesia showed the greatest within-country geographical inequality; some regions had mortality rates nearly four times the average country rate. Reductions in mortality were correlated to improvements in water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) or reductions in child growth failure (CGF). Similarly, most high-risk areas had poor WASH, high CGF, or low oral rehydration therapy coverage. Interpretation By co-analysing geospatial trends in diarrhoeal burden and its key risk factors, we could assess candidate drivers of subnational death reduction. Further, by doing a counterfactual analysis of the remaining disease burden using key risk factors, we identified potential intervention strategies for vulnerable populations. In view of the demands for limited resources in LMICs, accurately quantifying the burden of diarrhoea and its drivers is important for precision public health

The global burden of cancer attributable to risk factors, 2010–19: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019

BACKGROUND: Understanding the magnitude of cancer burden attributable to potentially modifiable risk factors is crucial for development of effective prevention and mitigation strategies. We analysed results from the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2019 to inform cancer control planning efforts globally. METHODS: The GBD 2019 comparative risk assessment framework was used to estimate cancer burden attributable to behavioural, environmental and occupational, and metabolic risk factors. A total of 82 risk–outcome pairs were included on the basis of the World Cancer Research Fund criteria. Estimated cancer deaths and disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) in 2019 and change in these measures between 2010 and 2019 are presented. FINDINGS: Globally, in 2019, the risk factors included in this analysis accounted for 4·45 million (95% uncertainty interval 4·01–4·94) deaths and 105 million (95·0–116) DALYs for both sexes combined, representing 44·4% (41·3–48·4) of all cancer deaths and 42·0% (39·1–45·6) of all DALYs. There were 2·88 million (2·60–3·18) risk-attributable cancer deaths in males (50·6% [47·8–54·1] of all male cancer deaths) and 1·58 million (1·36–1·84) risk-attributable cancer deaths in females (36·3% [32·5–41·3] of all female cancer deaths). The leading risk factors at the most detailed level globally for risk-attributable cancer deaths and DALYs in 2019 for both sexes combined were smoking, followed by alcohol use and high BMI. Risk-attributable cancer burden varied by world region and Socio-demographic Index (SDI), with smoking, unsafe sex, and alcohol use being the three leading risk factors for risk-attributable cancer DALYs in low SDI locations in 2019, whereas DALYs in high SDI locations mirrored the top three global risk factor rankings. From 2010 to 2019, global risk-attributable cancer deaths increased by 20·4% (12·6–28·4) and DALYs by 16·8% (8·8–25·0), with the greatest percentage increase in metabolic risks (34·7% [27·9–42·8] and 33·3% [25·8–42·0]). INTERPRETATION: The leading risk factors contributing to global cancer burden in 2019 were behavioural, whereas metabolic risk factors saw the largest increases between 2010 and 2019. Reducing exposure to these modifiable risk factors would decrease cancer mortality and DALY rates worldwide, and policies should be tailored appropriately to local cancer risk factor burden

MERCURY OXIDIZATION IN NON-THERMAL PLASMA BARRIER DISCHARGE SYSTEM

In the past decade, the emission of toxic elements from human activities has become a matter of great public concern. Hg, As, Se and Cd typically volatilize during a combustion process and are not easily caught with conventional air pollution control techniques. In addition, there is no pollution prevention technique available now or likely be available in the foreseeable future that can prevent the emission of these trace elements. These trace elements pose additional scientific challenge as they are present at only ppb levels in large gas streams. Mercury, in particular, has attracted significant attention due to its high volatility, toxicity and potential threat to human health. In the present research work, a non-thermal plasma dielectric barrier discharge technique has been used to oxidize Hg{sup 0}(g) to HgO. The basic premise of this approach is that Hg{sup 0} in vapor form cannot be easily removed in an absorption tower whereas HgO as a particulate is amiable to water scrubbing. The work presented in this report consists of three steps: (1) setting-up of an experimental apparatus to generate mercury vapors at a constant rate and modifying the existing non-thermal plasma reactor system, (2) solving the analytical challenge for measuring mercury vapor concentration at ppb level, and (3) conducting experiments on mercury oxidation under plasma conditions to establish proof of concept

Electro-catalytic reduction of NO sub x

In this investigation, a stream containing nitric oxide has been subjected to intense electric fields in the presence of catalysts. The work has been conducted in two phases. In the first phase catalysts tested included steel, stainless steel, and gold plated stainless steel wools. The effect of parameters such as inlet nitric oxide concentration, oxygen and water vapor content, gas residence time and temperature on NO reduction have been studied. In the second phase, the effect of non-conducting materials such as glass wool as a catalyst on NO reduction has been investigated. Experiments were also conducted with no catalyst to study the advantage of catalyst use

Radiation sensitivity of memory chip module of an ID card.

The utility of ID card chip modules to function as a radiation dosimeter is investigated. Specifically the thermoluminescence (TL) and optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) of a sampling of chip modules are measured over the range of 0.4–12 Gy. Both infrared (830 nm) from a laser diode and blue light (470 nm) from LEDs were used to perform the OSL measurements. The TL measurements showed a linear dose–response relationship, but the TL suffered from a large zero-dose signal in the unirradiated samples and dose regeneration with time after heating the chip modules. The OSL measurements also showed a linear dose–response, but did not exhibit a zero-dose signal or regeneration. Performing the infrared OSL measurements at a temperature of Click to view the MathML source may improve the dose sensitivity to 0.15 Gy, but the dose–response is supralinear in the dose range investigated. Curve fitting of infrared and blue stimulated luminescence curves showed that both exhibit a fast and a slow component. Thermal stability studies indicates the presence of a component that decays in the first hour of irradiation, and a component that is stable at least during the period of investigation (up to 10 h). This stable component is more appropriate for dosimetry purposes