Traditional Tribal Knowledge and Status of Some Rare and Endemic Medicinal Plants of North Cachar Hills District of Assam, Northeast India

An ethnobotanical survey carried out in the district of North Cachar hills, Assam, North East India during the period of February 2006 – November 2006, has revealed 34 species of plants to be threatened in several parts of the country, and in the district itself. More than 6 species of plants are included in the red Data Book of Indian Plants, 5 numbers of species have already been included in the Red Data List of the IUCN. 13 species documented in the present paper have not been reported about its threat status earlier, but are now threatened in the district. These plants are used in various ways such as, medicinal, wild edibles, ornamentals, building materials and other miscellaneous uses in their daily life. Because of the declining population of species like, Taxus baccata, Renanthera inschootiana, Swertia chirata etc., the area warrants conservation in order to preserve them from extinction. The present paper documents on the botanical name, parts used, local name, and also compares the threat status relative to other regions of the country as per IUCN Guidelines

Some Superstitious Botanical Folklore of Different Tribes of North Cachar Hills, Assam (Northeast India)

The district of North Cachar Hills of Assam, one of the most biodiverse regions of the world is endowed with different tribes each with their own traditions, customs and method of healing. Northeast India has been a paradise for ethnobotanical research but the district of N.C.Hills, with its vast ethnobotanical wealth is virtually unexplored. The present study documents for the first time, the superstitious folkloric uses of plants to treat ailments among the different tribes. 16 species of plants has been identified with details on its method of use, disease, parts used, local name and growth forms. The study was conducted through informal interviews after prior informed consent. The study reflects a rich traditional knowledge base of the tribe on ethnomedicine with immense potential for a more detailed study with emphasis on its pharmacological aspects

AstroSat observation of rapid Type-I thermonuclear burst from the low mass X-ray binary GX 3+1

We report the results of an observation of low mass X-ray binary GX 3+1 with {\it AstroSat}'s Large Area X-ray Proportional Counter (LAXPC) and Soft X-ray Telescope (SXT) instruments on-board for the first time. We have detected one Type-1 thermonuclear burst ($\sim$ 15 s) present in the LAXPC 20 light curve, with a double peak feature at higher energies and our study of the hardness-intensity diagram reveals that the source was in a soft banana state. The pre-burst emission could be described well by a thermally Comptonised model component. The burst spectra is modelled adopting a time-resolved spectroscopic method using a single color blackbody model added to the pre-burst model, to monitor the parametric changes as the burst decays. Based on our time-resolved spectroscopy, we claim that the detected burst is a photospheric radius expansion (PRE) burst. During the PRE phase, the blackbody flux is found to be approximately constant at an averaged value $\sim$ 2.56 in $10^{-8}$ ergs s$^{-1}$ cm$^{-2}$ units. On the basis of literature survey, we infer that \textit{AstroSat}/LAXPC 20 has detected a burst from GX 3+1 after more than a decade which is also a PRE one. Utilising the burst parameters obtained, we provide a new estimation to the source distance, which is $\sim$ 9.3 $\pm$ 0.4 kpc, calculated for an isotropic burst emission. Finally, we discuss and compare our findings with the published literature reports.Comment: 14 pages, 10 figures, accepted for publication in The Journal of Astrophysics and Astronom

Effect of Green Processing on Enhancement of Thermal Conductivity of Nanofluid for Thermal Applications

Thermal tuning properties of nanofluid from lower to higher value is a challenging issue in the field of thermal industries and microelectronic industries as well as in medical sciences. Nanofluids of aluminum oxide has been prepared with different volume fraction varies from 0.01– 0.05 vol%. The crystal structure and surface shape of the synthesized aluminum oxide nano powder has been studied using X-ray diffraction technique (XRD), scanning-electron-microscopy (SEM) and electron transmission microscopy (TEM). The nanofluids are characterized by experimental technique such as FTIR, UV-visible, photoluminescence and particle distribution with particle size analyzer. Thermal conductivity of the alumina nano fluid was found to vary from 0.5378–0.7299 W/mK for volume percentage 0.01–0.05 respectively with enhancement from 1.8 % to 21.44% which is better than other works in the literature. With increase of sonication time, thermal conductivity varies appreciably from 0.531–0.736 W/mK with volume fraction of nanofluid. This significant increase in thermal conductivity of alumina nanofluid in different operating condition may be attributed to extraction and oxidation of alumina nitrate assisted with leaf extracted surfactants

Physico-Chemical Study on Heat Transfer Property of Iron Oxide Nanofluid

The analytical characterization of thermophysical properties of metal oxide nanofluid has got significant attention in thermal industries due to their high capability of reducing energy loss and enhancing the efficiency of machinery parts. The fascinating heat transfer characteristics of green modulated iron oxide nanoparticles (IONPs) attain significant importance due to their wide range of diverse applications in different industries. In the current study, IONPs were successfully synthesized using an aqueous extract of Aloe vera (Aloe barbadensis) leaves to evaluate its effective thermophysical properties in base fluid like water. The average particle size of 11nm IONPs with its nanofluid of various volume concentrations 0.01 to 0.05 with a different temperature range of 30°C to 50°C shows an enhancement in thermal conductivity of 34.08% compared to distilled water (base fluid). Different characterization technique like Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transforms infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, UV-visible spectroscopy, and particle size analyzer has been employed to get characteristic modification and formation of iron oxide nanoparticles. The experimentally measured values of thermal conductivity were compared with existing theoretical models for effective enhancement in thermophysical properties and the same was analyzed with the importance of green technique

MONAI: An open-source framework for deep learning in healthcare

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is having a tremendous impact across most areas of science. Applications of AI in healthcare have the potential to improve our ability to detect, diagnose, prognose, and intervene on human disease. For AI models to be used clinically, they need to be made safe, reproducible and robust, and the underlying software framework must be aware of the particularities (e.g. geometry, physiology, physics) of medical data being processed. This work introduces MONAI, a freely available, community-supported, and consortium-led PyTorch-based framework for deep learning in healthcare. MONAI extends PyTorch to support medical data, with a particular focus on imaging, and provide purpose-specific AI model architectures, transformations and utilities that streamline the development and deployment of medical AI models. MONAI follows best practices for software-development, providing an easy-to-use, robust, well-documented, and well-tested software framework. MONAI preserves the simple, additive, and compositional approach of its underlying PyTorch libraries. MONAI is being used by and receiving contributions from research, clinical and industrial teams from around the world, who are pursuing applications spanning nearly every aspect of healthcare.Comment: www.monai.i

Effect of Green Processing on Enhancement of Thermal Conductivity of Nanofluid for Thermal Applications

671-682Thermal tuning properties of nanofluid from lower to higher value is a challenging issue in the field of thermal industries and microelectronic industries as well as in medical sciences. Nanofluids of aluminum oxide has been prepared with different volume fraction varies from 0.01– 0.05 vol%. The crystal structure and surface shape of the synthesized aluminum oxide nano powder has been studied using X-ray diffraction technique (XRD), scanning-electron-microscopy (SEM) and electron transmission microscopy (TEM). The nanofluids are characterized by experimental technique such as FTIR, UV-visible, photoluminescence and particle distribution with particle size analyzer. Thermal conductivity of the alumina nano fluid was found to vary from 0.5378–0.7299 W/mK for volume percentage 0.01–0.05 respectively with enhancement from 1.8 % to 21.44% which is better than other works in the literature. With increase of sonication time, thermal conductivity varies appreciably from 0.531–0.736 W/mK with volume fraction of nanofluid. This significant increase in thermal conductivity of alumina nanofluid in different operating condition may be attributed to extraction and oxidation of alumina nitrate assisted with leaf extracted surfactants

Physico-Chemical Study on Heat Transfer Property of Iron Oxide Nanofluid

124-131The analytical characterization of thermophysical properties of metal oxide nanofluid has got significant attention in thermal industries due to their high capability of reducing energy loss and enhancing the efficiency of machinery parts. The fascinating heat transfer characteristics of green modulated iron oxide nanoparticles (IONPs) attain significant importance due to their wide range of diverse applications in different industries. In the current study, IONPs were successfully synthesized using an aqueous extract of Aloe vera (Aloe barbadensis) leaves to evaluate its effective thermophysical properties in base fluid like water. The average particle size of 11nm IONPs with its nanofluid of various volume concentrations 0.01 to 0.05 with a different temperature range of 30 °C to 50 °C shows an enhancement in thermal conductivity of 34.08% compared to distilled water (base fluid). Different characterization technique like Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transforms infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, UV-visible spectroscopy, and particle size analyzer has been employed to get characteristic modification and formation of iron oxide nanoparticles. The experimentally measured values of thermal conductivity were compared with existing theoretical models for effective enhancement in thermophysical properties and the same was analyzed with the importance of green technique

Phosphate impregnated titania: an efficient reusable heterogeneous catalyst for aza-michael reactions under solvent-free condition

The aza-Michael reactions of amines with α,β-unsaturated compounds have efficiently been carried out using phosphate impregnated titania containing 84.5% of TiO2 and 15.5% of [Ti4H11(PO4)9].nH2O (n = 1-4) as a heterogeneous catalyst. Solvent-free condition, recyclability of the catalyst, very good yield and scaling up of the reactions are important attributes in this catalysis. Aromatic amines do not participate effectively in the reaction

Improved procedure for the preparation of isothiocyanates via iodine-mediated desulfurization of dithiocarbamic acid salts

We report here an improved procedure for the synthesis of isothiocyanates from the corresponding dithiocarbamic acid salts via a desulfurization strategy using molecular iodine and sodium bicarbonate in water/ethyl acetate biphasic medium. The reagents used are easily available, non-toxic, and cheap. High environmental acceptability of the reagents, cost effectiveness and high yields are the important attributes of this methodology