Implementation of web 2.0 in the library websites of universities of North-East India: An analytical study

For moving with the flow in this technology driven environment, the libraries have been forced to adopt new technologies and tools. Now-a days, along with the traditional services the libraries have been adopting Web2.0 tools for providing user oriented services to their users. This paper is a web based survey of library web pages of universities of North-East region of India regarding application of Web 2.0 technology. Here, an attempt is made to gain a picture of the status of application of web 2.0 services by the university libraries of the region. The study has been conducted through the official websites of the universities and the result shows that 78% of the university libraries have websites/webpages and 26% university libraries have implemented web 2.0 tools to serve their users

On the analytical study of Mellin moments of parton distribution functions

Mellin moments of parton density functions are obtained as integrals of the distribution over Bjorken-x variable. They are not only used for obtaining the solution of scale evolution equation of parton densities but also for the evaluation of scattering cross sections. In this work, we review the evolution equations of moments of parton density functions and their applications in QCD analysis have also been studied. One can study scaling violation, without making any assumption, on the shape of input parameterization of parton densities

A study of the formation constants of ternary and quaternary complexes of some bivalent transition metals

The formation of hetero-ligand 1:1:1, M(II)-Opda-Sal/Gly ternary and 1:1:1:1, M(II)-Opda-Sal-Gly quaternary complexes, where M(II) = Ni, Cu, Zn and Cd; Opda = o‑phenylenediamine, Sal = salicylic acid, Gly = glycine, was studied pH-metrically in aqueous medium. The formation constants for the resulting ternary and quaternary complexes were evaluated at a constant ionic strength, μ = 0.20 mol dm-3 and temperature, 30±0.1 °C. The order of the formation constants in terms of the metal ion for both type of complexes was found to be Cu(II) > Ni(II) > Zn(II) > Cd(II). This order was explained based on the increasing number of fused rings, the coordination number of the metal ions, the Irving – William order and the stability of various species. The expected species formed in solution were pruned with the Fortran IV program SPEPLOT and the stability of the ternary and quaternary complexes is explained

Isolating silkworm genomic DNA without liquid nitrogen suitable for marker studies

Genomic DNA was isolated from posterior silk gland of silkworms, Antheraea assama. Absolute alcohol was used as tissue fixing solution instead of grinding in liquid nitrogen, which yielded high molecular weight DNA (>40 kb). Samples yielded similar amount of DNA when fixed in absolute alcohol (400 μmg/g of silk gland tissue) and ground in liquid nitrogen (456 μmg/g of silk gland tissue). RAPD profile of the isolated DNA revealed high degree of polymorphism. The silkworms were analysed using 50 random primers among which 36 polymorphic primers gave 309 amplicons. The average amplicons per primer found to be 8.58 and 94.82% amplicons were polymorphic. Cluster analysis based on Jaccard’s similarity coefficients resulted in the formation of two main clusters with S9 on one cluster and the remaining strains on the other cluster. Jaccard’s similarity coefficients ranged from 0.122 to 0.863 indicating a high level of genetic diversity within muga silkworm collection. Isolated DNA was also suitable for cloning and restriction enzyme digestion. This method does not require liquid nitrogen for fixation, grinding or storage at -80°C, making it advantageous over other common protocols.Key words: Genomic, silkworms, muga, molecular breeding

DUBIOUS ANTI-OBESITY AGENT HCA FROM GARCINIA: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW

Obesity is a complex disorder of appetite regulation and energy metabolism controlled by specific biological factors. Whenever prevention fails, medicinal treatment of obesity may become an obligation and it is more fruitful when we can acquire the medicinal treatment directly from nature, which is more preferred and healthier rather than going for chemical and surgical treatment. Alternatively, inhibition of carbohydrate to fatty acid conversion reaction can lead to obesity control. This can be done by assay of Hydroxycitric acid [(-)-HCA], which inhibits the formation of ATP-citrate lyase, responsible for lipogenesis. HCA is a derivative of citric acid and found in Garcinia fruit as the principal acid. Many in vitro and in vivo studies have demonstrated that (-)-HCA suppresses the de novo fatty acid synthesis and lipogenesis. However, results from clinical studies showed both negative and positive anti obesity effects of (-)-HCA. In this review paper an attempt has been made to explore and give an insight of (-)-HCA taking account of the literature coverage on speckled topics: Its discovery, properties, extraction and estimation and its significance of role in anti-obesity activity

Assessing Household Catastrophic Healthcare Expenditure and its Associated Factors: A Study in a North-Eastern State of India

Background: Out-of-pocket expenses (OOPE) are the primary means of funding healthcare costs in developing nations, and when the cost is too high, it leads to catastrophic healthcare expenditures (CHE). Aim & Objective: This study aimed to assess the proportion of households that faced CHE and also examined the associated factors that determine CHE at the household level. Methods and Material: Between September 2020 and February 2021, a cross-sectional study covering a sample of 771 households was conducted in four districts of Assam. A multistage sampling design was employed to select the sample households. Statistical analysis used: Binary logistic regression analysis has been performed to ascertain the factors that could determine household CHE. Results: 23% households had experienced CHE, high dependence on the private healthcare system. Monthly household income, duration of illness, presence of children under five years of age and elderly members, education of household head, and health insurance were the significant factors influencing CHE. Conclusions: The study identified the growing use of private healthcare services as a major concern that contributes to the prevalence of CHE. To make all healthcare services accessible and affordable and to lower OOP on healthcare, it is also crucial to improve the infrastructure and quality of the public healthcare system in rural and remote locations

Analysis of genetic diversity of muga silkworm (Antheraea assamensis, Helfer; Lepidoptera : Saturniidae) using RAPD-based molecular markers

Eleven populations of muga silkworm, Antheraea assamensis Helfer, the golden silk yarn producer of northeast India, was subjected to RAPD marker analysis in order to assess its genetic diversity. The genomic DNA extracted from muga silkworms were analysed using 50 random primers among which 36 polymorphic primers generated 309 bands. RAPD profile of the isolated DNA revealed a high level of genetic polymorphism. The average amplicons per primer was found to be 8.58, and 94.82% amplicons were polymorphic. Cluster analysis based on Jaccard’s similarity coefficients resulted in the formation of two main clusters with one population on one cluster and the remaining on the other cluster.Jaccard’s similarity coefficients ranged from 0.122 to 0.863 indicating a high level of genetic diversity within muga silkworm collection. The study concluded that, although there lays little morphological differences among the collected muga silkworm populations, the populations are highly polymorphic which might have enabled the silkworm to survive under a restricted geographical location, that is north east region of India only but under diverse climatic conditions for a long period. This study maybe useful in identifying diverse genetic stocks of A. assamensis, which may be conserved on a priority basis

Productivity of Perennial Grasses under \u3cem\u3eMachillus bombicinii\u3c/em\u3e Tree in Assam

Homestead agroforestry system is the most common production system in Assam. It varies with the agroclimatic zones and economic condition of the farmers. In lower Brahmaputra valley zone, generation of employment under such system varies from 16.5 to 19.1% whereas in upper Brahmaputra valley zone, it ranges from 30.6 to 64.1%. For increasing forage productivity homestead garden can play a major role in augmenting fodder production for year round supply of green forage through non competitive land use system. There is scope for growing suitable perennial grasses like Guinea, setaria and Congo-signal for increasing fodder production. However research information on the performance of setaria and Guinea grasses are not available in Assam under tree shade. Through the performance of Guinea grass under tree shade has already been tested and found to be feasible for growing. On the other hand in Assam there are many plantation areas where Machilus bombicina King (Family Lauraceae) locally known as “Som” tree is grown. This is a very common tree for Munga silk worm rearing (Dutta, 1985) which is middle to big tree with spreading crown. Wood is hard and used as ordinary timber. It is a good fire wood and suitable for making charcoal. The present study was proposed to study the productivity and quality of two perennial grasses viz. Setaria and Congo-signal at varying levels of nitrogen under tree shade of Machilus bombicia

Investigating the Potential of Surfactants in Improving the Performance of Stimulation Fluids in Ultra-tight Shales

Commercial recovery of oil and gas from ultra-tight shale formations depends significantly on the performance of hydraulic fracturing. Enhancing the performance of the stimulation treatment can improve the estimated ultimate recovery of the well. This study investigates the potential of surfactants in enhancing the performance of hydraulic fracturing fluids by altering wettability and improving the process of spontaneous imbibition in oil rich shales demonstrating nanodarcy range permeability. This study combines experimental work with numerical modeling and ties the lab findings to the wellhead performance in the field. A total of five different surfactants including nonionic and novel complex nano-surfactants were investigated in this study. Contact angle and interfacial tension measurements were performed at reservoir temperature to identify the state of native wettability and the impact of surfactants in altering wettability. Thereafter, spontaneous imbibition experiments were performed using computed tomography methods to understand the improvement in the magnitude of imbibition penetration due to surfactant addition. Overall, the complex nano-surfactants were more efficient in altering the wettability of the shale samples as compared to the nonionic surfactants. However, the results of the spontaneous imbibition experiments showed that one of the nonionic surfactants was just as effective in improving oil recovery as the complex nanosurfactants. Core scale numerical modeling was performed to explain the experimental findings and the results of the core scale model were used in a single well frac model to investigate the impact of wettability alteration due to surfactant on well performance after hydraulic fracturing. It was observed that addition of surfactant to frac fluid lowers cumulative oil recovery due to the presence of additional capillary force resulting from a preferential state of wettability, which counteracts the viscous force created by the applied pressure drawdown. The potential of surfactants in altering wettability in ultra-tight shales was verified in this study. Although wettability alteration during well stimulation was not found to be beneficial to the primary well performance, it might prove to be useful in other applications such as surfactant enhanced oil recovery in shales