Microwave-Assisted Alkali Delignification Coupled with Non-Ionic Surfactant Effect on the Fermentable Sugar Yield from Agricultural Residues of Cassava

Cassava stem, leaves and peel are agricultural residues generated as waste biomass during the cultivation and processing of cassava. The potential of these biomasses as feedstock for ethanol production depends on the effective deconstruction via pretreatment and saccharification. The effect of alkaline hydrogen peroxide (AHP) treatment on microwave (MW)-irradiated or steam-exposed aqueous slurry was compared with MW-irradiation (300 W) of alkali slurry in delignifying the biomass and degrading the polysaccharides. Cellulose was degraded to a higher extent than hemicellulose in the AHP treatments. The steam-exposed and AHP pretreated residues on saccharification with Cellic (Cellulase complex) alone or Cellic along with Tween 20 resulted in high conversion of carbohydrate to reducing sugars (RS) in leaves (64-70%) and peel (74- 78%), with slightly lower conversion in stem. MW-irradiation of alkali slurry (5 min.) followed by Tween 20 supplemented saccharification was a better strategy degrading cellulose and hemicellulose to very high extent. Tween 20 supplementation was beneficial in enhancing the RS release from the biomasses even when Cellic dosage was halved. Ultrastructural studies indicated the disappearance of starch granules from stem and peel samples after MW-irradiation and saccharification, while fragmented cellulose fibers were visible in leaf samples. The study showed that MW-assisted alkali pretreatment followed by saccharification with Cellic in presence of Tween 20 was very effective in releasing maximum sugars from these biomasses

Soil Metagenomics: Concepts and Applications

Soil is a living entity of the Earth, and considered as one of the main reservoir of microbial diversity. Studying the soil microbial diversity is very much necessary, as they play an important role in maintaining the health of soil by recycling the nutrients, creating soil structure and humus. However, the culture dependent approaches fail to provide clear estimates of the diversity and untapped resources. Hence, study of the microbial diversity using culture independent approaches become necessary. The field of metagenomics helps in studying the genomes of the diverse soil organisms collectively in their natural habitat which holds the promising for accessing novel genetic resources. Application of the metagenomics to the soil environment is very challenging due to several difficulties; one of which is co-extraction of humic acid with nucleic acids which hinder downstream high throughout processes. However, applying sequencing methods to soil microbial communities will help in uncovering the hidden resources like novel genes, biomolecules and other valuable products which are yet to be discovered or still unknown. Different culture independent techniques and applications of the metagenomics to study the abundant microflora of the complex and changing environment of soil discussed herein

ANTIDEPRESSANT ACTIVITY OF AQUEOUS EXTRACTS OF FRUITS OF TERMINALIA CHEBULA AND PHYLLANTHUS EMBLICA IN BEHAVIOURAL MODELS OF DEPRESSION: INVOLVEMENT OF MONOAMINERGIC SYSTEM

Objectives: Terminalia chebula (TCh) and Phyllanthus emblica (PE) posses wide range of central nervous system activity. This study was conducted to investigate the antidepressant activity and mechanism action of aqueous extract of TCh & PE using forced swimming test (FST) and tail suspension test (TST). Methods: Aqueous extracts of TCh (390, 780 & 1560mg/kg) and PE (390, 780, 1560 & 3120 mg/kg) were administered for seven days to mice and immobility time was measured in FST & TST. Extracts were administered for 14 days and immobility time was measured in chronic FST. The mechanisms of antidepressant effect of TCh and PE were studied using prazosin (1mg/kg), levosulpiride (20mg/kg) and p-CPA (300mg/kg) in TST. Results: In FST, 780 & 1560 mg/kg of TCh and 1560 & 3120 mg/kg of PE reduced immobility time while in TST, 1560 mg/kg of TCh and 3120 mg/kg of PE decreased immobility significantly compared to control. In chronic FST, only 780 & 1560 mg/kg of TCh showed significant reduction. Antidepressant effect of TCh was reversed by prazosin while antidepressant effect of PE was reversed by prazosin and levosulpiride significantly in TST. Conclusions: The aqueous extracts of TCh and PE possess antidepressant activity at higher doses. This effect was possibly mediated through mono aminergic pathways

Spindle cell sarcoma of sphenoid bone

Primary bone tumors involving skull are extremely rare and they constitute 0.8% of all bone tumors. The common tumors that are seen in skull base include fibrous dysplasia, giant cell tumor, chordoma, ossifying fibroma, angiosarcoma. We report a rare case of spindle cell sarcoma arising from right sphenoid bone in a 70-year-old male which presented as unilateral defective vision with mild proptosis

Evaluation of adverse drug reactions of first line antiretroviral drugs in a tertiary care centre of Telangana, India

Background: The introduction of highly active anti-retroviral therapy (HAART) has led to a significant reduction in AIDS related morbidity and mortality. Most of the adverse drug reactions are preventable. So continuous evaluation will benefit Antiretroviral treatment that helped to achieve ultimate goal of making treatment safer and more effective to patients. The present study was designed to monitor and analyse the incidence, type and nature of adverse events to first line Antiretroviral drugs.Methods: A cross sectional observational study was conducted at Antiretroviral treatment center of Gandhi Hospital, Secunderabd, Telangana. The study was conducted over a period of 6 months involving all HIV patients. After initiation of 1st line regimen- tenofovir 300mg + lamivudine 300mg + efavirenz 600mg (TLE), patients were followed for any adverse event. Descriptive statistics was used for analysis of data.Results: Out of 453 studied, 47 patients developed adverse events. A total of 79 adverse events were reported. The assessment of total adverse drug reaction profile revealed cutaneous 44.30%, hematological 40.50%, renal 11.39%, gastrointestinal 3.79%. WHO-UMC causality assessment scale showed 76.5% and 23.4% Adverse events as probable and possible respectively. Hartwig and Siegel severity scale revealed 93.6%, 2.1% and 4.3% as mild, moderate and severe cases respectively.Conclusions: The TLE regimen found with lower adverse events in this study. The study focuses the importance of active adverse event monitoring to detect early toxicities and to support safe use of anti-retroviral treatment

Influence Of Tillage Practices And Residue Management Practices on Yield Attributes And Yield Of Maize In Maize-Based Cropping Systems Under Semi-Arid Tropics

A field experiment was conducted during kharif and rabi in 2016-17 and 2017-18 at International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-arid Tropics, Patancheru, Hyderabad to study the influence of tillage practices and residue management practices on yield attributes and yield of maize in maize-based cropping systems under semi-arid tropics. The field experiment was laid out on broad-beds and furrows in a split-split design with four replications under rainfed conditions. Main plot consisted of two tillage practices (minimum tillage and conventional tillage), sub-plot of two crop residue management practices (residue addition and no-residue addition) and sub-sub plot of two cropping systems (Maize-chickpea sequential cropping and maize+pigeonpea intercropping system). The results revealed that yield and yield attributes of maize did not vary significantly due to tillage practices, however, minimum tillage led to considerable yield losses. Among the residue management practices, addition of crop residue recorded significantly higher yield and yield attributes (cob girth, number of grain rows and test weight) as compared to no residue addition. Yield attributes and yield remained non-significant among the two cropping systems

Clustered Node Based Load Balancing In Distributed Environment

Cloud computing having tremendous growth on recent years but it is not segregation on shared clouds.  Distributed file systems are key building blocks for cloud computing applications based on the Map Reduce programming paradigm. In such file systems, nodes simultaneously serve computing and storage functions; a file is partitioned into a number of chunks allocated in distinct nodes so that Map Reduce tasks can be performed in parallel over the nodes. Data storage and communication which are to be done in huge amount, in such cases clouds are most provably used. "The cloud", also focuses on increasing the effectiveness of the public resources. Cloud resources are usually not only shared by multiple users but are also vigorously reallocated per demand. This can work for apportioning resources to users .But In the time of apportionment  these are indeed .So In this paper we are introducing novel mechanism. We investigate to implement security provided for cloud computing and Evaluate the Quality of Service-QOS (Ex. Response Time) of whole system. In cloud computing one server controls number of sub servers, files, it can add, delete, and append dynamically  Freight stabilization in the cloud computing surroundings has an imperative impact on the performance. Excellent freight stabilizing makes cloud computing more efficient and improves user satisfaction. In this paper we are presenting freight stabilizing techniques for cloud segregating

A Novel Approach for Processing of Real Time Big Data for Machine Learning By Using Map reduce Paradigm

As of late Big Data and its investigation assuming overwhelming part in ideal stockpiling of semi or unstructured information and Decision making by utilizing mining systems and prescient examination. Particularly Remote Sensing gathers colossal information as multispectral high determination satellite pictures. These pictures contain assortment of information in tremendous volume as pixels. Dispersing high volume information into various product frameworks utilizing disseminated record framework is a noteworthy upset made by Hadoop system to deal with enormous information with the accessible equipment and computational abilities. Delineate is a strategy which performs Map capacities and Reduce works on the disseminated document framework. This paper examined on continuous Big Data Analytical design for remote detecting satellite application. To deal with Remote Sensing Data proposed engineering contains three fundamental units, for example, Data Pre-Processing Unit (DPREU), Data Analysis Unit (DAU) and Data Post-Processing Unit (DPOSTU). In the first place, DPREU gets the required information from satellite sensors by utilizing filtration, adjusted conveyed stockpiling and parallel preparing utilizing Hadoop condition. Second, DAU recognizes the concealed examples from information put away in disseminated File System utilizing Map capacities took after by Reduce works in Map-Reduce worldview. At last, DPOSTU is the upper layer unit of the proposed design, which is in charge of arranging stockpiling of the outcomes, and era of choice in light of the outcomes got from DAU. Mapper capacities are part into number of record perusers and they will read the information stacked circulates document framework by utilizing key-esteem combine. The yield of each Map capacity is taken by Reducer work for further investigation.

Mainstreaming Gender and Empowering Women in Agriculture in the Thar Region of India, Research Report No 69

Social inequities based on gender norms reinforce nonparticipation of women in decision making at various levels, consequently depriving them of the benefits arising out of any technological advances. These advances could be in all fields in general, and in particular financial services. Integration of a gender responsive approach in all development initiatives assumes great importance in the context of economic relations in an agrarian economy. Despite the fact that women contribute immensely to agriculture and allied activities and consequently to food security, rural economy and development, their contributions go largely unrecognized. The need to empower women and mainstream gender in agriculture is necessary not only due to the extent and importance of their contribution but also for ensuring creation of equitable economic relations and progressive social milieu. This is important to build capacity of the large human capital (women) supporting agricultural production, marketing and consumption. As part of the CGIAR Research Program on ‘Dryland Systems: Integrated Agriculture Production System for the Poor and Vulnerable in Dry Areas’, ICRISAT in collaboration with GRAVIS, has implemented a project in eight randomly identified villages in three districts - Barmer, Jaisalmer and Jodhpur in western Rajasthan. The program is aimed at developing technological, policy and institutional innovations to improve food security and livelihoods using an integrated systems approach. The project reaches out directly to more than 3000 poor rural farming households, about 11% of which are headed by women..