Optimization of SSF parameters for natural red pigment production from Penicillium purpurogenum using cassava waste by central composite design

Pencillium purpurogenum 8904.12, a red pigment producer, was isolated from soil screened and selected based on the pigment production. The pigment production by P.purpurogenum was optimizedby using factorial design and Response Surface Methodology (RSM) in SSF. Cassava waste is a low cost and nutrient rich substrate used in this study as a substrate. RSM based central composite design was employed to obtain best combination of substrate concentration, inoculum volume, incubation time, initial moisture and initial pH. By the point prediction tool of Design-Expert 8.0, the optimum values of the factors for maximum red pigment production were determined. Under the optimized conditions (substrate concentration 10 g, inoculum volume 5 ml, 15 days incubation time, 50 % initial moisture and initial pH of 6), the red pigment yield was 28.33 colour value units / g of dry fermented substrate which agreed closely with the predicted yield. The model showed that the value of R2 (0.9936) was high and pvalue of interaction of variance was <0.0001. Hence the model can be said to be of highly significant. A significant Increase in red pigment production was achieved using RSM. Thus, utilization of cassava waste for red pigment production in this study could provide the most effective use of cassava resource, and lead to technology of development for its further utilization and value addition

Information vs. knowledge: A case study of knowledge management

Knowledge has widely been acknowledged as one of the most important factors for corporate competitiveness, and have witnessed an explosion of IS/IT solutions claiming to provide support for knowledge management (KM).A relevant question to ask, though, is how systems and technology intended for information such as the intranet can be able to assist in the managing of knowledge.To understand this, we must examine the relationship between information and knowledge.Building on Polanyi’s theories, all knowledge is tacit, and what can be articulated and made tangible outside the human mind is merely information.However, information and knowledge affect one another. By adopting a multi-perspective of the intranet where information, awareness, and communication are all considered, this interaction can best be supported and the intranet can become a useful and people inclusive KM environment.In this paper, seven enabling factors of organizational creativity are identified and discussed. These factors are then compared to the specific characteristics of intranet technology in order to find out when and how this environment may stimulate creativit

PHYTOCHEMICAL, GAS CHROMATOGRAPHY WITH MASS SPECTROMETRY ANALYSIS OF ANDROGRAPHIS SERPYLLIFOLIA METHANOL LEAF EXTRACT AND ITS ANTIOXIDANT AND ANTIBACTERIAL ACTIVITIES

Objective: The present study is to evaluate the preliminary study of phytochemical screening and biological applications of Andrographis serpyllifolia methanol leaf extracts. Methods: The methanol leaf extracts of A. serpyllifolia was prepared using Soxhlet apparatus and the extract was analyzed using gas chromatography with mass spectrometry (GC-MS). In vitro antioxidant activity was determined by superoxide dismutase, catalase, glutathione peroxidase, and glutathione S-transferase. Further, the antibacterial activity of methanolic leaf extract of A. serpyllifolia was tested against various human pathogens by using agar disc diffusion method. Results: Preliminary phytochemical screening and GC-MS results revealed phenols, aromatic carboxylic acids, and esters in the chloroform extract to be the molecules responsible for the antioxidant and antibacterial activity of A. serpyllifolia methanol extract and fractions showed the presence of various secondary metabolites present. Conclusion: The present study strongly recommended that the methanolic extract of A. serpyllifolia leaves possesses compounds that inhibit the growth of microbes as wells excellent antioxidant activities. The study further suggested the potential therapeutic use of these extract in cancer study

Siddhas' Tomb Shrines and the Power Fields

It can be known from literature that monumental stone has been worshipped in the name of soldiers who died in war since the Sangam period. Tomb shrine worship is worshipping the body of a siddha in the tomb. In Tamil Nadu, the Siddhas studied the body and mind and learned the art of suppressing life with the body and attained immortality. The Siddhas indirectly said that the separation of life from the body is death, and the bio-condensation of life with the body is eternal. To achieve this, if one receives the Kundalini spiritual enlightenment properly from the spiritual educator and performs the proper exercises, the mind becomes compressed and the magnetic energy of the soul expands, and eventually one attains the supreme state of spiritual enlightenment. This state is known as spiritual enlightenment. The Siddhas, who have attained spirituality and have attained mmortality, should bury the bodies of the sages and worship them according to the rules of sacred writings (Agamas). It is called a tomb shrine. The sacred writings tell us how the place of burial, the environment, and the structure of the burial should be. Doing so will benefit the country. If their bodies are burned or neglected, evil will occur. The sacred writings say that if the body of a sage is left unburied and rots and is eaten by foxes, then the land will be destroyed by enmity in the country where it is eaten by foxes. The conclusion of the sacred writings is that the funeral rites and other activities performed for the dead should not be performed for the bodies of sages who have attained spiritual attainment and are considered to be the shrine where the Lord resides and is worshiped. A magnetic energy field is felt in the shrines where spiritual attainers are enshrined. Practitioners of kundalini enlightenment can easily feel that energy and experience ecstasy. Analysts believe that such energy fields cross borders, time zones, and languages and are parallel to one another

Statistical optimization of culture medium for yellow pigment production by Thermomyces sp.

In present study, Thermomyces sp. were able to produce high yield of yellow pigments screened. Pigment production by Thermomyces sp was optimized by employing factorial design and response surface techniques in submerged fermentation. The variables evaluated were the concentrations of, sucrose, yeast extract, ammonium sulphate, magnesium sulphate and dipotassium hydrogen phosphate having as response pigment production. One factor at-a-time method was employed for the optimization of media components. Response surface methodology (RSM) optimized these nutrient parameters for maximum yellow pigment production (1387 OD units), which resulted at 35.5 g/L sucrose 5.5 g/L yeast extract, 2.5 g/L NH4SO4, 0.3 g/L MgSO4 and 1.0 g/L K2HPO4 in the medium. Response surface methodology (RSM) was further used to determine the optimum values of process variables for maximum yellow pigment production. The fit of the quadratic model was found to be significant. A significant increase in yellow pigment production was achieved using RSM

In vitro antioxidant and antimicrobial activity of carotenoid pigment extracted from Sporobolomyces sp. isolated from natural source

The aim of the present study was to isolate and study about the antioxidant and antibacterial activity of carotenoid pigment. Sporobolomyces sp. isolated from the phyllosphere surface of rice plant has found to produce carotenoid pigment. The present investigation was carried out for antioxidant assays viz., DPPH, iron reducing and metal chelating activity. A steady increase in the antioxidant activities was observed in the carotenoid pigment with raising the pigment concentration. In the present study, the maximum antioxidation characteristics of carotenoid by DPPH, iron reducing and metal chelating assays (75.04 %, 1.88 % and 59.32 %) were achieved by pigmentation of Sporobolomyces sp. at the concentration of 100 ?g ml-1. The antibacterial activity was studied on several organisms like Enterococcus sp., Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus faecalis, Bacillus subtilis, Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Among the six pathogens, the pigment was found to be more effective against E. coli (2.9 cm) and S. aureus (2.6 cm). This study revealed that yeast carotenoid pigment was a potential source for its use in food and pharmaceutical applications

Nanoscale Prediction of Graphite Surface Erosion by Highly Energetic Gas - Molecular Dynamics Simulation -

This paper was presented at the 4th Micro and Nano Flows Conference (MNF2014), which was held at University College, London, UK. The conference was organised by Brunel University and supported by the Italian Union of Thermofluiddynamics, IPEM, the Process Intensification Network, the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, the Heat Transfer Society, HEXAG - the Heat Exchange Action Group, and the Energy Institute, ASME Press, LCN London Centre for Nanotechnology, UCL University College London, UCL Engineering, the International NanoScience Community, www.nanopaprika.eu.In order to understand the fundamental essence in the erosion of graphite by hot gas molecules, in this study we investigate the mechanical properties of a single layer of graphite (e.g. graphene) and the bombardment of CO2 and H2O on graphene at high temperature by using extensive molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. The Reactive Empirical Bond Order (REBO) potential is employed to model the C-C bonds. The stress-strain curve shows that the stiffness of graphene decreases with increase in temperature. The strength of graphene at 2400 K is 60% less than the strength of graphene at 300 K. Also, we observe that the collision with CO2 and H2O provokes the bond breaking of C-C bonds in graphene at high temperature. The bombardment of gas molecules is carried out for different temperatures ranging between 300 K and 3000 K. Until 2400 K, both H2O and CO2 molecules are reflected back from the surface. However, at a critical temperature i.e., 2700 K and beyond, the bombardment of gas molecules breaks the C-C bond in the graphene. As the temperature increases, the graphene is destroyed quickly. This study shows that even the real gas molecules can induce the fracture of graphene at high temperature

Vertex Magic Total labeling in Hamiltonian graphs

A vertex magic total labeling on a graph with vertices and edges is a one - to - one map taking the vertices and edges onto the integers , , , … + with the property that the sum of the label on the vertex and the labels of its incident edges is constant, independent of the choice of the vertex. It is proved that all cycles have vertex magic total labeling. The Hamiltonian graphs have necessarily a cycle in it. Hence we study the relation of vertex magic total labeling in Hamiltonian graphs

Threshold grouping method to derive complex networks from time series

We propose a new method to derive complex networks from time series data. Each data point in the time series is treated as a single node and nodes are connected if their values differ by a value less than a threshold. The method is easy to implement and transforms periodic time series into regular networks, and random time series into random networks. Network specific properties such as scale freeness, small world effects and the presence of hubs are captured by this method. The method converts a chaotic time series into a scale-free network. The method is applied on a model time series (a chaotic time series of Henon map, a periodic time series and a random time series) and an experimental time series (fluctuating pressure time series measured from the combustor involving turbulent flow). The complex network derived from the Henon map obeys a power law degree distribution, highlighting the scale free behavior of the associated chaotic state. The motivation for proposing the present method is that the method is able to convert specific patterns in the dynamics of a time series into spatial structures in the complex network. We show this specialty of the present method by constructing a complex network from a time series of acoustic pressure measured from a combustor involving turbulent flow that exhibits intermittency. The intermittent bursts in the considered time series are converted into clusters in the corresponding complex network. Keywords: Time series analysis; Complex networks; Threshold grouping metho