Effect of vermicompost on manifestation of pesticide action on growth of Zinnia elegans

In order to asses the implication of endosulfan in the soil amended with vermicompost, Zinnia elegans (Family Asteraceae) was grown, under strict laboratory conditions. Seed germination, size of internode, total length of the plant, leaf area of the plant, tufts of rootlets, which emerged, were measured and recorded. Vermicompost at a concentration of 12.5% was used as source of amendment; treatment was made with endosulfan the concentration of which ranged from 2.5, 5 and 7.5% respectively. From the data obtained after 4 days of treatment, it appeared that the addition of endosulfan in plain soil (7.5%), affects germination to negative value. Reduced germination and plant growth even during prolonged treatment (up to 9 days) was noticed during treatment with 2.5 and 5% of endosulfan. In a soil amended with vermicompost, however, germination to total length of the plant was found to increase quite considerably. This trend has continued, even during extended period of treatment. The entire texture of the plant was found to change to a healthier look in the presence of vermicompost. Better growth of the plant, larger number of rootlets, and bigger leaf area, can be suggested to be additive role of vermicompost on growth and development of Zinnia elegans. This also indicated possible involvement of the plant in remediation of pesticide endosulfan. On this account, Z. elegans like related members of this family can be considered as a candidate involved in remediation of pesticides from polluted soilKey word: Vermicompost, endosulfan, Zinnia elegans

Geographic Visualization in Archaeology

Archaeologists are often considered frontrunners in employing spatial approaches within the social sciences and humanities, including geospatial technologies such as geographic information systems (GIS) that are now routinely used in archaeology. Since the late 1980s, GIS has mainly been used to support data collection and management as well as spatial analysis and modeling. While fruitful, these efforts have arguably neglected the potential contribution of advanced visualization methods to the generation of broader archaeological knowledge. This paper reviews the use of GIS in archaeology from a geographic visualization (geovisual) perspective and examines how these methods can broaden the scope of archaeological research in an era of more user-friendly cyber-infrastructures. Like most computational databases, GIS do not easily support temporal data. This limitation is particularly problematic in archaeology because processes and events are best understood in space and time. To deal with such shortcomings in existing tools, archaeologists often end up having to reduce the diversity and complexity of archaeological phenomena. Recent developments in geographic visualization begin to address some of these issues, and are pertinent in the globalized world as archaeologists amass vast new bodies of geo-referenced information and work towards integrating them with traditional archaeological data. Greater effort in developing geovisualization and geovisual analytics appropriate for archaeological data can create opportunities to visualize, navigate and assess different sources of information within the larger archaeological community, thus enhancing possibilities for collaborative research and new forms of critical inquiry

Not Available

Not AvailableNot AvailableNot Availabl

Combination of single walled carbon nanotubes/graphene oxide with paclitaxel: a reactive oxygen species mediated synergism for treatment of lung cancer

Heterogeneity in tumors has led to the development of combination therapies that enable enhanced cell death. Previously explored combination therapies mostly involved the use of bioactive molecules. In this work, we explored a non-conventional strategy of using carbon nanostructures (CNs) single walled carbon nanotube (SWNT) and graphene oxide (GO)] for potentiating the efficacy of a bioactive molecule paclitaxel (Tx)] for the treatment of lung cancer. The results demonstrated enhanced cell death following combination treatment of SWNT/GO and Tx indicating a synergistic effect. In addition, synergism was abrogated in the presence of an anti-oxidant, N-acetyl cysteine (NAC), and was therefore shown to be reactive oxygen species (ROS) dependent. It was further demonstrated using bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) incorporation assay that treatment with CNs was associated with enhanced mitogen associated protein kinase (MAPK) activation that was ROS mediated. Hence, these results for the first time demonstrated the potential of SWNT/GO as co-therapeutic agents with Tx for the treatment of lung cancer