Feasibility study on the microbial separation of iron from slime

Bio-mineral processing is the generic term that describes the processing of metal containing ores, concentrator tailings, newly mined run-of-the-mine (ROM) material, and intermediate to high-grade ores using (micro-) biological technology. The slime generated by the Tata Iron and Steel Company is becoming a major problem for the Company. Since, it contains a high quantity of Iron (around 56%), it can be recycled for the generation of Steel. Bioleaching comes to the rescue of such a problem. As it contains a high percentage of alumina and silica as its component, it can be treated as a non- sulphide system. Heterotrophic organisms can be used to leach out the alumina and silica. We have thus tried to see the feasibility of Bacillus to leach the slime and increase the Iron content in it. The conditions like pH, time and inoculum size have been optimized. The results showed that, there was a maximum recovery of iron (around 79%) in the slime and the optimum conditions at which this was obtained were at pH of 7, a time of 5 days and inoculum size of 20%

Studies on Structural, Transport and Magnetic Properties of Mixed Oxide Perovskites

Not availabl

DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION OF ASYNCHRONOUS FIR FILTER

This paper presents the architecture of a micropipeline asynchronous digital signal processing chain coupled to non-uniformly sampled data in time. Non-uniform sampling has been proven to be a better scheme than the uniform sampling to sample low activity signals. With such signals, it generates fewer samples, which means less data to process and lower power consumption. In addition, it is well-known that asynchronous logic is a low power technology. We focus on a Finite Impulse Response filter (FIR) applied to this non-uniform sampled signal obtained from an asynchronous analog to digital converter (A-ADC). The FIR filter blocks are implemented using verilog code

Natural sources as potential anti-cancer agents: A review

Natural products remain an important source of new drugs, new drug leads and new chemical entities. The plant based drug discovery resulted mainly in the development of anticancer agents including plants (vincristine, vinblastine, etoposide, paclitaxel, camptothecin, topotecan and irinotecan), marine organisms (citarabine, aplidine and dolastatin 10) and micro-organisms (dactinomycin, bleomycin and doxorubicin). Beside this there is numerous agents identified from fruits and vegetables can used in anticancer therapy. The agents include curcumin (turmeric), resveratrol (red grapes, peanuts and berries), genistein (soybean), diallyl sulfide (allium), S-allyl cysteine (allium), allicin (garlic), lycopene (tomato), capsaicin (red chilli), diosgenin (fenugreek), 6-gingerol (ginger), ellagic acid (pomegranate), ursolic acid (apple, pears, prunes), silymarin (milk thistle), anethol (anise, camphor, and fennel), catechins (green tea), eugenol (cloves), indole-3-carbinol (cruciferous vegetables), limonene (citrus fruits), beta carotene (carrots), and dietary fiber. In this review active principle derived from natural products are offering a great opportunity to evaluate not only totally new chemical classes of anticancer agents, but also novel lead compound and potentially relevant mechanisms of action. Keywords: Cancer, vincristin, vinblastin, fruit, vegetables

Natural sources as potential anti-cancer agents: A review

Natural products remain an important source of new drugs, new drug leads and new chemical entities. The plant based drug discovery resulted mainly in the development of anticancer agents including plants (vincristine, vinblastine, etoposide, paclitaxel, camptothecin, topotecan and irinotecan), marine organisms (citarabine, aplidine and dolastatin 10) and micro-organisms (dactinomycin, bleomycin and doxorubicin). Beside this there is numerous agents identified from fruits and vegetables can used in anticancer therapy. The agents include curcumin (turmeric), resveratrol (red grapes, peanuts and berries), genistein (soybean), diallyl sulfide (allium), S-allyl cysteine (allium), allicin (garlic), lycopene (tomato), capsaicin (red chilli), diosgenin (fenugreek), 6-gingerol (ginger), ellagic acid (pomegranate), ursolic acid (apple, pears, prunes), silymarin (milk thistle), anethol (anise, camphor, and fennel), catechins (green tea), eugenol (cloves), indole-3-carbinol (cruciferous vegetables), limonene (citrus fruits), beta carotene (carrots), and dietary fiber. In this review active principle derived from natural products are offering a great opportunity to evaluate not only totally new chemical classes of anticancer agents, but also novel lead compound and potentially relevant mechanisms of action. Keywords: Cancer, vincristin, vinblastin, fruit, vegetables

Remotely Sensed Image Inpainting With MNLTV Model

Image processing is an significant component of modern technologies as it provides the perfection in pictorial information for human interpretation and processing of image data for storage, transmission and representation. In remotely sensed images because of poor atmospheric condition and sensor malfunction (Instrument error such as SLC-OFF failure on may13,2003 the scan line corrector (SLC)of LANDSAT7 Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus(ETM+)sensor failed permanently causing around 20% of pixel not scanned which become called dead pixels)there is usually great deal of missing information which reduce utilization rate. Remotely sensed images often suffer from strip noise ,random dead pixels. The techniques to recover good image from contaminated one are called image destriping for strips and image inpainting for dead pixels, therefore reconstruction of filling dead pixels and removing uninteresting object is an important issue in remotely sensed images. In past decades ,missing information reconstruction of remote sensing data has become an active research field and large number of algorithms have been developed. This paper presented to solve image destriping , image inpainting and removal of uninteresting object based on multichannel nonlocal total variation. In this algorithm we consider nonlocal method which has superior performance in dealing with textured images.To optimize variation model a Bregmanized-operator-splitting algorithm is employed. Furthermore proposed inpainting algorithm is used for text removal, scratch removal ,pepper and salt noise removal ,object removal etc. The proposed inpainting algorithm was tested on simulated data

A study of prevalence of asymptomatic bacteriuria in pregnant women from rural areas attending to Obstetric Department in Akash Hospital, Karnataka, India

Background: Asymptomatic bacteriuria (ASB) in pregnancy is a significant risk factor for developing upper urinary tract infection and pyelonephritis which is associated with significant maternal and fetal risks. The aim of this study was to know the prevalence of asymptomatic bacteriuria in pregnancy, to identify the organisms and their antibiotic susceptibility patterns and to formulate a single or combined rapid screening method as an acceptable alternative to urine culture.Methods: A total of 375 pregnant women aged between 18 to 45 years were included in this study. Clean catch mid-stream urine samples were collected. Screening tests done were gram staining of uncentrifuged urine, pus cell count, nitrite test and leukocyte esterase test. Identification of pathogens and antibiotic sensitivity tests were performed as per standard urine culture and sensitivity methods.Results: Out of the 375 pregnant women, 31 (8.4%) had significant bacteriuria. High percentage of women with ASB were primigravidas (51.38%) and in 2nd trimester (43.86%). The most common organism isolated was E.coli (56.14%). In screening tests, gram staining of uncentrifuged urine had a sensitivity of 85.71%. Sensitivity of 71.42% was found in Nitrite and leucocyte esterase tests. However, the combination of these two tests, with either test positive, showed sensitivity and negative predictive value of 90.47% and 99.09% respectively.Conclusions: Early detection and treatment of ASB in pregnancy can prevent complications. ASB can be identified by simple and combined rapid screening methods and urine culture along with antibiogram. Therefore, screening and treatment of ASB may be incorporated as routine antenatal care for safe motherhood and healthy newborn

Assessment of nitric oxide and uric acid in patients of leprosy

Background: Leprosy is an old, dreaded infectious disease caused by the obligate intracellular bacterium mycobacterium leprae. Leprosy still continues to be a significant public health problem in few countries including India. Oxidative stress caused by derangement in the balance between ROS and natural antioxidants plays a crucial role in the pathogenesis of leprosy. Hence this study attempts to assess the oxidative stress and antioxidant status in terms of Nitric oxide and uric acid.Methods: A case control observational study was carried out in100 untreated leprosy patients and compared with 50 healthy controls.  Leprosy patients were divided as paucibacillary and multibacillary. Serum Nitric oxide and uric acid levels were estimated in both groups to find out correlation of Nitric Oxide with uric acid.Results: There was a significant rise in serum NO in both PB and MB leprosy as compared to controls. The uric acid level was significantly decreased in both PB and MB leprosy patients as compared to controls.Conclusions: Elevated NO levels indicate oxidative stress in leprosy patients, denoting its crucial involvement in the pathogenesis and nerve damage in leprosy. Low uric acid indicates decrease defence of antioxidants in leprosy

The Origin of Nitrogen on Jupiter and Saturn from the 15^{15}N/14^{14}N Ratio

The Texas Echelon cross Echelle Spectrograph (TEXES), mounted on NASA's Infrared Telescope Facility (IRTF), was used to map mid-infrared ammonia absorption features on both Jupiter and Saturn in February 2013. Ammonia is the principle reservoir of nitrogen on the giant planets, and the ratio of isotopologues ($^{15}$N/$^{14}$N) can reveal insights into the molecular carrier (e.g., as N$_2$ or NH$_3$) of nitrogen to the forming protoplanets, and hence the source reservoirs from which these worlds accreted. We targeted two spectral intervals (900 and 960 cm$^{-1}$) that were relatively clear of terrestrial atmospheric contamination and contained close features of $^{14}$NH$_3$ and $^{15}$NH$_3$, allowing us to derive the ratio from a single spectrum without ambiguity due to radiometric calibration (the primary source of uncertainty in this study). We present the first ground-based determination of Jupiter's $^{15}$N/$^{14}$N ratio (in the range from $1.4\times10^{-3}$ to $2.5\times10^{-3}$), which is consistent with both previous space-based studies and with the primordial value of the protosolar nebula. On Saturn, we present the first upper limit on the $^{15}$N/$^{14}$N ratio of no larger than $2.0\times10^{-3}$ for the 900-cm$^{-1}$ channel and a less stringent requirement that the ratio be no larger than $2.8\times10^{-3}$ for the 960-cm$^{-1}$ channel ($1\sigma$ confidence). Specifically, the data rule out strong $^{15}$N-enrichments such as those observed in Titan's atmosphere and in cometary nitrogen compounds. To the extent possible with ground-based radiometric uncertainties, the saturnian and jovian $^{15}$N/$^{14}$N ratios appear indistinguishable, implying that $^{15}$N-enriched ammonia ices could not have been a substantial contributor to the bulk nitrogen inventory of either planet, favouring the accretion of primordial N$_2$ from the gas phase or as low-temperature ices.Comment: 33 pages, 19 figures, manuscript accepted for publication in Icaru