Host resistance in black pepper (Piper nigrum L.) against root-knot and burrowing nematode

Crop resistance is a low-cost option for nematode control in subsistence agriculture and is most useful for low value crops which cannot support the cost of expensive pest management inputs. In this study an attempt has been made to screen the black pepper germplasm to locate resistance/tolerance to burrowing and root-knot nematodes. The germplasm materials collected from the field gene bank of Indian Institute of Spices Research were multiplied in a greenhouse under disease-free conditions for using in the screening studies. In the preliminary screening, 525 black pepper germplasm accessions including 100 wild, 213 each cultivated and 212 hybrids were screened against burrowing nematode. Out of these, 24 accessions showed resistance to R. similis which was confirmed by repeated inoculations. Similarly 431 black pepper accessions were inoculated with M. incognita. Sustainable resistance was observed in only 27 black pepper accessions. Out of these nine black pepper accessions were evaluated under field conditions for five years. All the R. similis-resistant lines viz. Hp 39, Acc. 820 (IC No. 316481), Acc. 1047 (IC No. 316602) and Acc. 1204 (IC No. 316690) were free from nematode infestation initially for two to three years. However, R. similis infection was noticed in all these lines subsequently, which has to be investigated further. However, among the short-listed root-knot nematode resistant lines only two accessions, Acc.1047 (IC No. 316602) and Acc. 1090 (IC No. 316635) were healthy and free from root-knot nematode infestation even after seven years of field planting. In the field evaluation trial, the highest yield was noticed for Acc. 820 and Hp 39

Microbial Degradation of Organic Wastes at Low Temperatures.

Microbial degradation of organic wastes mainly comprising animal and human wastes, is drastically reduced at extreme low temperatures. For the biodegradation of these wastes, technological inputs are required from disciplines like microbiology, biochemistry, molecular biology, digester modelling and heat transfer at extreme low temperature climates. Various steps in the process of biodegradation have to be studied to formulate an effective organic waste disposal method. Anaerobic digestion of organic wastes is preferred over aerobic waste treatment method, since it yields biogas as a by-product, which in turn can be utilised for heating the digester contents to increase its efficiency. Furthermore, one of the possibilities that can be explored is the utilisation of high rate anaerobic digesters which maintain temperature by means of artificial heating. It is either met by non-conventional energy sources, such as solar and wind energy, or by expending liquid fuels. In addition, insulation of the digester with polymeric materials and immobilisation of slow growing bacterial population may enhance the digester performance to a great extent. In spite of several developments, inoculum adaptation is considered to be one of the essential steps for low temperature anaerobic digestion to obtain methane as a by-product. With advancements in recombinant DNA technology, it may be possible to increase the efficiency of various microbial population that take part in the anaerobic digestion. However, till date, the options available for low temperature biodegradation are digester insulation, inoculum adaptation, and use of high rate/second-generation digesters

Psychrotrophic ~Iydrolytic Bacteria from Antarctica &,Other I. Low Temperature Habitats

Samples of water, soil,llake sediments and blue-green algal mats from Antarctica were'processed for enumeration, isolation and screening of psychrotrophic hydrolytic bacteria. Amylolytic bacteria were preponderant (75 per cent) in the blue-green algal htat samples. Protease, lipase, an1ylase and urerse producing/bacteria were also isolated from the samples. ,Biochemical characteristics indicated that the isolates ;mainly comprised Pseudomonas and Bacillus species. Proteases and lipases of antarctic bacterial strains preferably hydrolysed denatured protein substrate and water soluble monomeric synthetic lipid substrates, respectively

THE ROLE OF NEEDLE IN FORMULATION OF pH SENSITIVE SWELLABLE MICROBEADS PREPARED WITH HYDROPHILIC POLYMERS FOR ATORVASTATIN AND THEIR CHARACTERIZATION STUDIES

Objective: The aim of the study was to develop and characterize mucoadhesive microbeads for oral sustained release of atorvastatin by using hydrophilic polymers and application of different process variables in designing of pH sensitive swellable microbeads.Methods: Microbeads were prepared by ionic gelation method. The compatibility studies of atorvastatin with polymers were investigated by differential scanning calorimeter and fourier transform infrared spectroscopy studies. In this work process variable like optimization of curing agents and their quantity, effect of rpm, and their influence in drug entrapment were studied. Prepared beads were characterized for particle size, swelling index, erosion studies and drug release studies.Results: Mixture of alginate and carbopol 934 P at 3.3 % w/v shows sustained release and good mucoadhesive capacity. Furthermore, drug loading and swelling increased with the use of a combination of polymers. On basis of in vitro release studies and swelling studies, it was observed that sodium alginate coated with carbopol 934 P showed sustained release of 84.5 % at end of 10 h in 6.8 phosphate buffer. The optimised batch followed peppas and higuchi release mechanism and releasing the drug by non-fickian transport.Conclusion: The alginate beads with a combination of carbopol 934P showed a sustain release pattern. The release rate and swelling of atorvastatin beads could be adjusted by adding other hydrophilic polymers or by optimising curing agents, curing time and their volume. The zero order of drug release was confirmed for all the batches. The in vitro data was better fit to Higuchi's diffusion model and diffusion rate limited

Field evaluation of Trichoderma harzianum, Pochonia chlamydosporia and Pasteuria penetrans in a root knot nematode infested black pepper (Piper nigrum L.) garden in India

Two fungal bioagents (Trichoderma harzianum and Pochonia chlamydosporia) and a bacterial endoparasite (Pasteuria penetrans) were evaluated for biological control of nematodes in a black pepper garden in Waynad District of Kerala, India for five years (1998-2001) in a randomized block design with six treatments replicated thrice. The yellowing of vines in the experimental plot has decreased in all the treatments after the first year onwards. After four years, the lowest incidence of yellowing (15.25 %) was noticed in plots treated with phorate followed by plots treated with P. chlamydosporia (20.78 %) and P. penetrans (24.13 %). The highest mean yield (1.83 kg vine-1) was obtained in P. chlamydosporia treated plots followed by combined application of phorate and potassium phosphonate (1.50 kg vine-1). The lowest mean population of root-knot nematodes in black pepper roots was observed in phorate + potassium phosphonate treated plants followed by P. penetrans treated plants. The final nematode level was the lowest in P. chlamydosporia treated plots. The study has clearly proved the efficacy of these bioagents, especially P. chlamydosporia for managing root knot nematodes in black pepper gardens

Development of vapour compression refigeration system test rig and eavaluation of test data for R134A condensation in compact heat exchangers with serrated Fin

Papers presented to the 11th International Conference on Heat Transfer, Fluid Mechanics and Thermodynamics, South Africa, 20-23 July 2015.Two phase flow analysis for the condensation of refrigerants within the compact plate fin heat exchangers is an area of ongoing research. Compact plate fin heat exchangers are becoming very popular due to their high effectiveness and compactness. This paper presents the sizing of compact plate fin heat exchanger and development of test rig to generate the Refrigerant (R134a) condensation heat transfer coefficient and pressure drop in Brazed Compact Plate Fin Heat Exchangers (BCPHE) with Serrated (Lance&Offset) fins. Also the theoretical design, manufacturing and testing of BCPHE for generation of R134a condensation heat transfer coefficient has been presented. CFD methodolgy has been used to develop the Single phase water side heat transfer coefficient and friction factor correlations for Serrated fin using ANSYS Fluent 14.5. The heat balance analysis has been carried out for calibration of the test rig using measured test data on both circuits and recorded a maximum deviation of 8%. Heat transfer coefficient for condensation of refrigerant R134a in compact heat exchangers with serrated fin is estimated using measured experimental data.am201

In-vitro Characterization of Optimized Multi-Unit Dosage Forms of Theophylline and its Solid State Characterisation

The objective of this study is to compare the drug release profile of an optimized multi-unit dose (MU) tablet consisting of rapid and slow release components, a formulated sustained released tablet and two brands of sustained release tablet formulations in the market with a designed model. The fast release component consisted of conventional granules while the slow release component consisted of wax granules of theophylline. The optimized MU tablets was formed by mixing the conventional and matrix granules in ratio 1:1 and compressed. Parameters evaluated were tablet tensile strength and dissolution studies. The optimized formulation was characterized with Differential Scanning Calorimetry and Fourier-Transform Infrared Spectroscopy. Results showed that the optimized MU tablets gave dissolution profile that was comparable with that of the designed model. The following were the dissolution parameters of the optimized MU formulation: the maximum release (m 1e) = 91%, prompt release dose (mp) = 24%, time to attain maximum release (t 1e) = 12h and first order release rate constant (k) = 0.20 h-1 which is comparable with the release data for the model. The other formulations deviated by giving mp and t 1e that were too low compared with those of the model. There were also no drug/excipient interactions. The indication is that the prompt release dose was determined not only by the amount of the rapid release components in the MU dose formulation but also by the amount of sustained release components, attributable to the deformation of granules of rapid components into that of slow release components during tablet formulation

Influence of growth, yield and quality of guava (Psidium guajava L.) by drip irrigation and fertigation

A study was conducted during 2010-2015 at Central Institute of Agricultural Engineering, Bhopal, to find out effect of irrigation and fertigation scheduling on growth, yield and quality of guava (Psidium guajava ). The ex-periments were laid out in factorial randomized block design with six treatment combinations which include three irrigation level (100, 80 and 60 %) along with two fertigation level (100 and 75 % water soluble fertilizers) and repli-cated thrice. The nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium fertilizers were applied through fertigation as well as soil ap-plication to test various attributes of five six old guava cv. L-49. The investigation indicated that the maximum plant height, Periphery of rootstock, yield per plant (kg/plant) and yield (t/ha) were higher under D1F1 (100 % irrigation with 100 % fertigation) followed by D2F1 (80 % irrigation with 100 % fertigation) and minimum under D3F2 (60 % irrigation with 75 % fertigation). Interaction effect was non-significant at 0.05 % level due to plant height (3.90 m) and Periphery of rootstock (26.26 cm) but significantly influenced by yield per plant (27.65 kg/plant) and yield (7.65 t/ha). Physico-chemical properties like fruit diameter (6.76 cm), fruit weight (182.10 g) and pulp weight (134.38 g) were significantly at 0.05 % due to different irrigation and fertigation level as well as interaction effects but fruit length (7.45 cm), TSS (13.22 %) and ascorbic acid (54.32 mg/100 g pulp) were non-significant due to different level of irri-gation and fertigation as well as interaction effect

Cemental tear on the first maxillary premolar in the patient with facial palsy: an uncommon type of root fracture

A 56-year-old female patient came to the department complaining of pain in the upper right back tooth region. The patient reported a history of paralysis in the right half of the body. There is neither swelling nor inflammation in the gingiva. No sinus tract is present in the vestibular area. There were no noticeable caries lesions. Right first maxillary premolar with significant periodontal pocket and grade 2 mobility on palpation. There is tenderness in the percussion. The patient refused treatment alternatives and had the tooth extracted. The middle third of the root contains a completely detached fragment in the middle third. The root fragment was sent for biopsy for histological analysis. Cementum, dentin, and inflammatory cells were found during histological examination and were suggestive of cemental tear

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