Fly ash and its use in cementitious material in civil engineering

This paper briefly outlines the evolution of ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) and Portland Pozzolana Cement in India and their judicious use in civil engineering constructions The paper also describes the different classes of fly ash with their varying pozzolanic activities and other properties like strength, corrosion and alkali aggregate reaction while used in concrete

Cadmium in the purpleback flying squid Sthenoteuthis oualaniensis (Lesson, 1830) along northwest coast of India

The purpleback flying squid Sthenoteuthis oualaniensis (Lesson, 1830) is landed in small quantities along the northwest coast of India. Keeping in view the possibility of utilization of this species for domestic and export markets, the cadmium accumulation in the body tissues, which often causes concern, was studied. The dorsal mantle length of male and female observed during the study ranged from 34 to 47 cm and 30 to 32 cm respectively. The highest mean concentration of 435.22 ± 61.27 μg g-1 (mean ± S.E.) of Cd was found in the liver. Accumulation of Cd was also prominent in the gut, gills and skin. Moderate concentration of Cd (1 to 4 μg g-1) was observed in the nidamental gland, accessory nidamental gland, eyes, tentacles and muscle. In the gonads and arms, the concentration was below the acceptability level of 1.0 μg g-1. Higher accumulation in most of the organs/tissues of larger squids was observed. Significantly higher accumulation (p < 0.05) was noticed in the liver of larger specimens, indicating bioaccumulation. As the mean Cd content in the edible part was more than 1.0 μg g-1, this study highlights the need for detailed investigations to understand the bioaccumulation of Cd in Sthenoteuthis oualaniensi

General anaesthetic and airway management practice for obstetric surgery in England: a prospective, multi-centre observational study

There are no current descriptions of general anaesthesia characteristics for obstetric surgery, despite recent changes to patient baseline characteristics and airway management guidelines. This analysis of data from the direct reporting of awareness in maternity patients' (DREAMY) study of accidental awareness during obstetric anaesthesia aimed to describe practice for obstetric general anaesthesia in England and compare with earlier surveys and best-practice recommendations. Consenting patients who received general anaesthesia for obstetric surgery in 72 hospitals from May 2017 to August 2018 were included. Baseline characteristics, airway management, anaesthetic techniques and major complications were collected. Descriptive analysis, binary logistic regression modelling and comparisons with earlier data were conducted. Data were collected from 3117 procedures, including 2554 (81.9%) caesarean deliveries. Thiopental was the induction drug in 1649 (52.9%) patients, compared with propofol in 1419 (45.5%). Suxamethonium was the neuromuscular blocking drug for tracheal intubation in 2631 (86.1%), compared with rocuronium in 367 (11.8%). Difficult tracheal intubation was reported in 1 in 19 (95%CI 1 in 16-22) and failed intubation in 1 in 312 (95%CI 1 in 169-667). Obese patients were over-represented compared with national baselines and associated with difficult, but not failed intubation. There was more evidence of change in practice for induction drugs (increased use of propofol) than neuromuscular blocking drugs (suxamethonium remains the most popular). There was evidence of improvement in practice, with increased monitoring and reversal of neuromuscular blockade (although this remains suboptimal). Despite a high risk of difficult intubation in this population, videolaryngoscopy was rarely used (1.9%)

Structural characterization of Th-doped TiO2 photocatalyst and its extension of response to solar light for photocatalytic oxidation of oryzalin pesticide: A comparative study

The degradation efficiency of Th-doped TiO2/TiO2 photocatalysts were investigated under UV and solar light illumination. The model compound chosen for the study was Oryzalin (OZ). Doping of inner transition metal ion Th was intended to modify the electronic properties of TiO2. The Th-doped TiO2 were synthesized by incorporating 0.02, 0.04, 0.06, and 0.1 atom percentage of Th into the TiO2 lattice by solid-state reaction. The stochiometry of the prepared samples is Ti1-xThx O2, where 'x' is the percentage of Th. The samples were characterized by UV-Visible absorption, UV-Visible -Diffused reflectance spectra, Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Energy Dispersive X-ray Analysis (EDX) and X-ray Diffraction (XRD). The pore size and surface area of these samples were studied by Brunauer, Emmett and Teller (BET) adsorption method. It was found that metal ion doping at various percentage compositions enables a large shift in the absorption band of the TiO2 towards visible light region. This is due to the formation of various mid band gaps at 2.84 eV, 2.804 eV, 2.66 eV, and 2.55 eV. The extent of degradation of the pesticide was followed by UV-Visible spectroscopy and GC-MS methods. Based on the spectral analysis, the probable degradation reaction mechanism for OZ is proposed. These results indicate that Th-doped TiO2 with the modified electronic properties is a good catalyst under solar light irradiation. But these particles show marginal variation in rates under UV-illumination. All the photodegradation reactions follow the first order kinetics. © Versita Warsaw and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2009

Heterogeneous photo catalytic degradation of anionic and cationic dyes over TiO2 and TiO2 doped with Mo6+ ions under solar light: Correlation of dye structure and its adsorptive tendency on the degradation rate

Degradation of synthetic dyes like Methyl Orange (MO), p-amino azo benzene (PAAB), Congo Red (CR), Brilliant Yellow (BY), Rhodamine-B (RB) and Methylene Blue (MB) under solar light were carried out using TiO2 doped with Mo6+ ions. The rate constant for the degradation of anionic dyes MO, PAAB, CR and BY was high at pH 5.6, while for cationic dyes the highest rate constant was obtained in the alkaline pH 8.0. These differences can be accounted to their adsorption capacity on the catalyst surface at different pH conditions. Among the photocatalyst used, Mo6+ (0.06)-TiO2 showed enhanced activity due to the effective separation of charge carriers. © 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

On a New Summation Formula for Basic Bilateral Hypergeometric Series and Its Applications

We have obtained a new summation formula for 22 bilateral basic hypergeometric series by the method of parameter augmentation and demonstrated its various uses leading to some development of etafunctions, -gamma, and -beta function identities

Characterization of a red pigment from Fusarium chlamydosporum exhibiting selective cytotoxicity against human breast cancer MCF‐7 cell lines

Aim This research aims to characterize the pigment produced by isolated fungi and to evaluate its anticancer activities. Methods and Results Pigment‐producing fungi was isolated and identified as Fusarium chlamydosporum. The pigment was extracted with chloroform, purified by preparative TLC and characterized by Fourier transmittance infrared, electron spray ionization mass spectroscopy, liquid chromatography mass spectroscopy and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) (1HNMR, 13C NMR) spectral analysis, which revealed the pigment to be ‘long chain hydrocarbons with poly unsaturated groups’ (m/z 702). Pigment stability varied with different pH, temperature and sunlight conditions. The pigment‐induced cell death in human breast adenocarcinoma cells MCF‐7 and showed no significant toxicity in CHOK 1 cells. Lipid peroxidation assay revealed that treatment with pigment was able to reduce the lipid peroxidation caused by H2O2 in MCF‐7 cells. Conclusions The F. chlamydosporum pigment is a compound of long‐chain hydrocarbons with poly unsaturated groups, possessing selective cytotoxicity in MCF‐7 cancer cell lines. Significance and Impact of the Study The pigment can be used as a colouring agent in cosmetics. Its anticancer potential can be used in production of therapeutics in increasing demand cancer research