new host plants of few parasitic angiosperms in karnataka

Parasitic flowering plants are a small group of dicotyledons yet among them there exists a great wealth of structural diversity that continues to fascinate botanists. They cause severe damage to important fruit trees, timber yielding, economic and aesthetic value plants. A total of 106 species belonging to 32 families of dicotyledons are recognized as hosts parasitized by parasitic angiosperms. The range of hosts species recorded were vary from 3-42 per parasitic plants. The highest number of hosts were recorded for Dendrophthoefalcata is 42 species. The present paper enlists the binomials and families of host plants parasitized by particular species of parasitic plants

Determination of Tellurium(IV) in Various Environmental Samples with Spectrophotometry

A rapid, simple and sensitive spectrophotometer method for the determination of traces and ultra traces of tellurium(IV) were studied. These method were based on either the oxidation of leuco methylene green (LMG) to its blue form of methylene green by tellurium in acidic medium, the formed dye shows an absorption maximum at 650 nm in acetate buffer medium (pH 3.0 to 5.0). Beer’s law were obeyed in the concentration range 0.4-2.5 µg mL-1, having molar absorptivity and Sandal’s sensitivity of 4.9×104 L mol-1 cm-2 , and 0.0026 µg cm-2, respectively. The optimum reaction conditions and other analytical parameters were investigated to enhance the sensitivity of the present method. The tolerance limit of various ions with this method has been studied. The proposed method was applied for the analysis of tellurium in spiked, river, lake, spring, waste water samples, plant materials and soil samples. The results obtained by the proposed method were superior to the reported method. The performances of proposed methods were evaluated in terms of student’s ‘t’-test and variance ratio ‘f’-test which indicates the significance of proposed methods over reported methods

In situ electrochemical characterization of a microbial fuel cell biocathode running on wastewater

Funding Information: FCT?Funda??o para a Ci?ncia e a Tecnologia, Portugal (Grant number grant No. FRH/BP D/33864/2009). This work was supported by the Associate Laboratory for Green Chemistry (LAQV) which is financed by national funds from FCT/MCTES (UIDB/50006/2020 and UIDP/50006/2020). Acknowledgments: S.V.R. acknowledges the financial support from FCT (Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology) for Postdoctoral Research grant No. FRH/BPD/33864/2009. This work was supported by the Associate Laboratory for Green Chemistry?LAQV which is financed by national funds from FCT/MCTES (UIDB/50006/2020 and UIDP/50006/2020).The electrochemical features of microbial fuel cells’ biocathodes, running on wastewater, were evaluated by cyclic voltammetry. Ex situ and in situ electrochemical assays were performed and the redox processes associated with the presence of microorganisms and/or biofilms were attained. Different controls using sterile media (abiotic cathode microbial fuel cell) and membranes covering the electrodes were performed to evaluate the source of the electrochemistry response (surface biofilms vs. biotic electrolyte). The bacteria presence, in particular when biofilms are allowed to develop, was related with the enhanced active redox processes associated with an improved catalytic activity, namely for oxygen reduction, when compared with the results attained for an abiotic microbial fuel cell cathode. The microbial main composition was also attained and is in agreement with other reported studies. The current study aims contributing to the establishment of the advantages of using biocathodes rather than abiotic, whose conditions are frequently harder to control and to contribute to a better understanding of the bioelectrochemical processes occurring on the biotic chambers and the electrode surfaces.publishersversionpublishe

Bioelectricity generation using long-term operated biocathode: RFLP based microbial diversity analysis

FRH/BPD/33864/2009 UIDB/50006/2020 UIDP/50006/2020In the present work, power generation and substrate removal efficiencies of long-term operated microbial fuel cells, containing abiotic cathodes and biocathodes, were evaluated for 220 days. Among the two microbial fuel cell (MFC) types, the one containing biocathode showed higher power density (54 mW/m2), current density (122 mA/m2) coulombic efficiency (33%), and substrate removal efficiency (94%) than the abiotic cathode containing MFC. Voltammetric analysis also witnessed higher and sustainable electron discharge for the MFC with biocathode, when compared with the abiotic cathode MFC. Over the tested period, both MFC have shown a cell voltage drop, after 150 and 165, days, for the MFC with biocathode and abiotic cathodes, respectively. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) based restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis identified 281 clones. Bacteria belonging to Acinetobacter, Acidovorax, Pseudomonas and Burkholderia were observed in the abiotic cathode MFC. Bacteria belonging to Geobacter, Cupriavidus and Acidobacteria were observed in the biocathode MFC. Almost similar types of archaea (Methanosarcinales, Methanolinea, Nitrososphaera and Methanomicrobiales) were observed in both MFCs.publishersversionpublishe

Design and Optimization of Microbial Fuel Cells and Evaluation of a New Air-Breathing Cathode Based on Carbon Felt Modified with a Hydrogel—Ion Jelly®

Funding Information: This research was funded by Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia projects DSAIPA/DS/0117/2020, UIDB/04565/2020, and UIDP/04565/2020, by the Associate Laboratory Institute for Health and Bioeconomy—i4HB project LA/P/0140/2020. This work was supported by the Associate Laboratory for Green Chemistry—LAQV financed by national funds from FCT/MCTES (UIDB/50006/2020). We also thank Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT) for funding (SFRH/BD/77568/2011 (R.N.L.C.); SFRH/BPD/80293/2011 (R.M.A.)). C.M.C. acknowledges FCT for the Ciência 2008 Program; S.V.R. acknowledges the financial support from FCT (Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology) for a postdoctoral research grant (FRH/BPD/33864/2009). This work was supported by the Associate Laboratory for Green Chemistry—LAQV, financed by national funds from FCT/MCTES (UIDB/50006/2020 and UIDP/50006/2020); the Institute for Bioengineering and Biosciences—iBB, financed by FCT (UID/BIO/04565/2013); and from Programa Operacional Regional de Lisboa 2020 (Project N. 007317). Publisher Copyright: © 2023 by the authors.The increased demand for alternative sustainable energy sources has boosted research in the field of fuel cells (FC). Among these, microbial fuel cells (MFC), based on microbial anodes and different types of cathodes, have been the subject of renewed interest due to their ability to simultaneously perform wastewater treatment and bioelectricity generation. Several different MFCs have been proposed in this work using different conditions and configurations, namely cathode materials, membranes, external resistances, and microbial composition, among other factors. This work reports the design and optimization of MFC performance and evaluates a hydrogel (Ion Jelly®) modified air-breathing cathode, with and without an immobilized laccase enzyme. This MFC configuration was also compared with other MFC configuration performances, namely abiotic and biocathodes, concerning wastewater treatment and electricity generation. Similar efficiencies in COD reduction, voltage (375 mV), PD (48 mW/m2), CD (130 mA/m2), and OCP (534 mV) were obtained. The results point out the important role of Ion Jelly® in improving the MFC air-breathing cathode performance as it has the advantage that its electroconductivity properties can be designed before modifying the cathode electrodes. The biofilm on MFC anodic electrodes presented a lower microbial diversity than the wastewater treatment effluent used as inocula, and inclusively Geobacteracea was also identified due to the high microbial selective niches constituted by MFC systems.publishersversionpublishe

Online) An Open Access

ABSTRACT Two models are said to be non-nested models, if one can not be derived as a special case of another. Much attention in classical statistics has been devoted to testing non-nested regression models. Within the classical framework, there are three alternative general approaches to test non-nested models namely, the use of specification error tests; the use of comprehensive model method; and the use of procedures based upon Keywords: Non-Nested Model, Studentized Residuals INTRODUCTION The selection of a good model is an art. The basic idea in statistics is how to select a good model for the purpose of the study. Once a model is given, however, there are statistical criteria to judge whether the given model is bad or not. Since, many models can explain the same set of data about equally well, a given set of data can be used to screen out bad models but not to generate good models, whatever statistical techniques are used. The subject of model selection is treated in classical statistics, which deals with the two topics of estimation and testing of hypotheses. The problem of determining an appropriate model based on a subset of the original set of variables contains three basic ingredients namely, i) The computational technique used to provide the information for the analysis; ii) The criterion used to analyze the variables and select a subset, if that is an appropriate; and iii) The estimation of coefficients in the final model. In model selection criteria, there may be two important problems those arising from nested and nonnested model structures. The nested models arise with, for instance, two models specified in such a way that one model is a special case of the other; the non-nested model arise when neither model follows as a special case of the other. The model selection criterion is a problem of choice among competing models. The choice of a model follows some preliminary data search. In the context of the linear model, it leads to the specification of explanatory variables that appear to be the most important on prior grounds. Often, some explanatory variables appear in one model and reappear in another model gives rise to the nested models; often again neither model, in the case of two models appears to be a special case of the other model gives rise to the non-nested models. In the process of choosing models, statisticians have developed a variety of diagnostic tests. These tests have been classified into two categories: (i) Tests of Nested Regression models, and (ii) Tests of Non-nested Regression models If a modelI can be derived as a special case of another modelII then modelI is said to be nested model within modelII. Two models are said to be non-nested models, if one can not be derived as a special case of another

Acoustic Emission Studies of Bearing Failure in Composites

Superior structural performance of composites has been widely known to the aircraft industry for a long time now. The availability of advanced composite materials and a wide variety of material forms have attracted aircraft designers to adopt composites for the development of large primary and secondary aircraft structures. This growth of composites technology has and their acoustic signatures as they occur in laminated composites. Traditionally, the role of Non-Destructive Testing in quality assurance has been limited to defect detection. With advances in technology, Non-Destructive Testing has evolved into a multi-disciplinary science and has a critical role in ensuring quality and reliability. Of all the available Non-destructive Testing techniques, Acoustic Emission (AE) is probably the only technique that can be applied for monitoring damage initiation and propagation in real-time. Researchers have verified AE as a successful technique for detecting different micro-failures necessitated improvements in quality assurance during both manufacturing and in-service