Scanning electron microscope studies on the radula teeth of four species of marine gastropods from the Gulf of Mannar, India

In this study scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was used to elucidate the surface morphology of radula teeth of four species of marine gastropods belonging to muricids and tonnoideans from the Gulf of Mannar. The species studied were Tonna dolium (Linne, 1758), Phalium glaucum (Linne, 1758), Murex virgineus (Roding, 1798) and Rapana rapiformis (Born, 1778). The radulae of muricid gastropods were of stenoglossan type (1+R+1) while the radulae of tonnoidean gastropods were of taenioglossate type (2+1+R+1+2). Very large radula and solid teeth in all four species indicate that they are well adapted to capture of prey and showed characteristic representation of the sharp and pointed apex. The shafts of the teeth of R. rapiformis, T. dolium and M virgeneus are thickened and expanded at the base to form a butt and the basal spur as well as their marginal and central teeth are sickle shaped. Radulae of both groups are well suited for tearing and rasping. The examination of the central tooth, the lateral and marginal ones, by SEM provides further information for species differentiation

Electric Field Effect in Diluted Magnetic Insulator Anatase Co:TiO2

An external electric field induced reversible modulation of room temperature magnetic moment is achieved in an epitaxial and insulating thin film of dilutely cobalt-doped anatase TiO2. This first demonstration of electric field effect in any oxide based diluted ferromagnet is realized in a high quality epitaxial heterostructure of PbZr0.2Ti0.8O3/Co:TiO2/SrRuO3 grown on (001) LaAlO3. The observed effect, which is about 15% in strength in a given heterostructure, can be modulated over several cycles. Possible mechanisms for electric field induced modulation of insulating ferromagnetism are discussed.Comment: 14 pages, 4 figure

Bitter Gourd (Momordica charantia) Peroxidase in Decolorization of Dyes from Tannery Effluent

Bitter Gourd (Momordica charantia) is a commonly available plant in India and its applications are limited to few medicinal properties in addition to being edible. The primary objective of this study is to evaluate the efficacy of Momordica charantia peroxidase in the degradation of dyes present in tannery effluents under various experimental conditions like pH, Temperature, Time intervals and Enzyme concentration on the basis of the one-factor-at-a-time (OFAT) method. The maximum decolorization was achieved at pH 5.0 – 6.0, 40oC temperature, in 4 hours with an enzyme concentration of 0.6 ml consisting of 4500 Units enzyme activity extracted from 0.5 g of Bitter Gourd. Present study results demonstrate that the Momordica charantia peroxidase is an effective biocatalyst for the treatment of effluents with dyes from tanning industries.ÂÂ

DIFFERENT ANALYTICAL TECHNIQUES FOR THE ANALYSIS OF ANTICANCER DRUGS-BOSUTINIB, ENCORAFENIB AND DABRAFENIB-A REVIEW

In this present situation there is an increase in the number of diseases has been observed but before this drug come to market, it must undergo several procedures. The validation and analytical methods are the important techniques that help in ensuring its purity and reliability. This process involves the use of various analytical techniques to collect data about the drug. This review includes various types of analytical techniques such as ultraviolet-visible Spectrophotometric and chromatography methods such as high-performance liquid chromatography, hyphenation techniques such as LC-MS for the estimation of selected anti-cancer drugs

How accurate are satellite estimates of precipitation over the north Indian Ocean?

Following the launch of the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Core Observatory in early 2014, motivated from the successful Tropical Rainfall Measurement Mission (TRMM) satellite, an advanced and sophisticated global multi-satellite precipitation product – Integrated Multi- satellitE Retrievals for GPM (IMERG) was released at finer spatio-temporal scales. This precipitation product has been upgraded recently after several refinements and supposed to be superior to other existing global or quasi-global multi-satellite precipitation estimates. In the present study, IMERG precipitation is comprehensively evaluated for the first time against moored buoy observations over the north Indian Ocean at hourly scale for the study period of March 2014 to December 2015. IMERG precipitation performs considerably better over the Bay of Bengal than the Arabian Sea in both detection and estimation. The systematic error in IMERG is appreciably lower by about 14%, however, it generally overestimates in-situ precipitation and also exhibits noticeable false alarms. Furthermore, IMERG essentially shows an improvement over the TRMM Multi-satellite Precipitation Analysis (TMPA) at a daily scale over the north Indian Ocean. IMERG precipitation estimates show overall promising error characteristics, but there is still a need of substantial efforts for improvement in the satellite-based precipitation estimation algorithms especially over data sparse regions such as north Indian Ocean

Case Report and Short Communication: Rectal prolapse associated with an unusual combination of pinworms and citrobacter species infection in FVB mice colony

Spontaneous cases of rectal prolapse in a breeding colony of FVB mice were found to be due to infection with Syphacia obvelata and Citrobacter freundii. Microbiology, biochemical and parasitological examination revealed Citrobacter freundii and eggs of Syphacia obvelata. After treatment with antibiotics, antihelminthic drugs and manual reduction prevented further occurrence

Interface characterization of all-perovskite oxide field effect heterostructures

All-oxide devices consisting of Niobium-doped Strontium Titanate (Nb:STO)/Strontium Titanate (STO)/Lanthanum Strontium Cuprous Oxide (LSCO) heterostructures were fabricated and characterized electrically for their interface properties through capacitance-voltage (C-V) and current-voltage (I-V) techniques, in the context of electric field effect studies. The C-V studies establish the occurrence of charge modulation in the LSCO channel. Absence of hysteresis in the C-V characteristic when the voltage is retraced suggests the absence of mobile ions in the gate oxide and slow interface traps. This is further corroborated by the absence of drift in the C-V characteristic and shift in the flat band voltage (V FB) when the device is subjected to temperature-bias aging. The interface state density obtained from V FB is ~1012/cm2. The uncompensated hole concentration in the LSCO channel calculated from the measured room temperature C-V data is ~1020/cm3 and is in good agreement with the expected hole concentration in LSCO. Current-time and current-voltage plots are invariant with respect to the polarity of the applied voltage up to ~5 V. This, in a structure with asymmetric interfaces, indicates that the electrical contacts to STO are non-blocking and the conduction through STO is bulk-limited in this voltage regime. Thickness dependent current and capacitance studies also corroborate the bulk-limited nature of conduction through the device in this voltage regime. However, I-V characteristic shows a rectifying nature beyond ~8 V indicating that the mechanism in this voltage regime could be interface limited

Antimicrobial Activity of Aegle marmelos Against Pathogenic Organism Compared with Control Drug

The aqueous and ethanolic extracts from the leaves of Aegle marmelos traditionally used in Indian system of Medicines were screened against Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus and Bacillus subtilis by using disc diffusion test technique. Bacillus subtilis exhibit about 22mm inhibition zone were considered resistant. The zone of inhibition of the extract was compared with the standard antibiotics such as Penicillin. The study suggests that the plant is promising development of phytomedicine for antimicrobial properties

Comparative molecular docking analysis of essential oil constituents as elastase inhibitors

Elastase is a protease or proteolytic enzyme, responsible for the breakdown of protein. There are eight human genes encoding for elastase, of which Elastase-1 (CELA-1) and Elastase-2 (ELANE) has significant implications on human diseases. Elastase-1 is primarily expressed in skin keratinocytes and is regarded as the major cause for the blistering in bullous pemphigoid, which affects the skin. On the other hand, Elastase-2 (ELANE), is expressed in the azurophil granules of neutrophils, is responsible for pulmonary emphysema and cyclic hematopoiesis a rare genetic disorder. Elastase is also produced by bacteria such as Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and forms the virulent factor in human. The ingredients from essential natural oils were found to have wound healing effects on non-healing wounds that is interfered by elastase due to microbial infection. Essential oils such as citral, citronellal, geranial, geraniol, and thymol were screened for their inhibitory activity on elastase produced by neutrophil, skin, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa by docking and were analyzed for their subcutaneous ADMET properties by ADME – TOX – Web server