In vitro study on screening antimicrobial and anti-oxidant potential of Ramalina fastigiata

The aim of the present study is to investigate the antimicrobial and anti-oxidant potential of lichen Ramalina fastigiata collected from Kolli hills, Eastern Gahts of Tamil Nadu, India. Phytochemical study revealed that acetone extract of Ramalina fastigiata confirmed the presence of flavonoids, glycosides and phenols. Acetone extract of Ramalina fastigiata was tested against human pathogens, which exposed antimicrobial activity against Klebsiella pneumonia and Candida krusei with the inhibition rate of 2.1 mm and 1.3 mm respectively. The acetone extract of lichen Ramalina fastigiata exhibited significant antioxidant activity as well. Radical scavenging ability of Ramalina fastigiata was reported in terms of 61.53 % inhibition. Keywords: Lichen, Ramalina fastigiata, acetone extract, antimicrobial activity, anti-inflammatory potentia

Effects of fiber loadings and lengths on mechanical properties of Sansevieria Cylindrica fiber reinforced natural rubber biocomposites

© 2023 The Author(s). Published by IOP Publishing Ltd. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY), https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/In this present investigation, Sansevieria cylindrica fiber was used as a reinforcement in a natural rubber matrix. Various biocomposite samples with different fiber contents (lengths and loadings) were fabricated, using compression molding process and vulcanizing technique by maintaining the temperature around 150 °C. From the results obtained, mechanical properties: tensile strength, modulus elongation at break and tear strength of 10.44 MPa, 2.36 MPa, 627.59% and 34.99 N respectively, were obtained from the optimum composite sample with length and loading of 6 mm and 20 wt% composition, respectively. The maximum hardness was observed at 76.85 Shore A from the composite sample of 6 mm and 40 wt%. The optimum properties can be attributed to the presence of strong interfacial adhesion between the Sansevieria cylindrica fiber and the natural rubber matrix. The mechanisms of failure of the biocomposites at their interfaces were examined and analyzed, using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The micrographs obtained from SEM further confirmed that the Sansevieria cylindrica fibers were surrounded with more amount of natural rubber which can exhibit strong interfacial bonding between fiber and matrix. The optimal composites of this work can be used in general, abrasion resistant conveyor belt.Peer reviewe

Economic evaluation of implementing a rapid point-of-care screening test for the identification of hepatitis C virus under National Viral Hepatitis Control Programme in Tamil Nadu, South India

Introduction: Viral hepatitis is a crucial public health problem in India. Hepatitis C virus (HCV) elimination is a national priority and a key strategy has been adopted to strengthen the HCV diagnostics services to ensure early and accurate diagnosis. Methods: To conduct an economic evaluation of implementing a rapid point-of-care screening test for the identification of HCV among the selected key population under the National Viral Hepatitis Control Programme in Tamil Nadu, South India. Economic evaluation of a point-of-care screening test for HCV diagnosis among the key population attending the primary health care centers. A combination of decision tree and Markov model was developed to estimate cost-effectiveness of point-of-care screening test for HCV diagnosis at the primary health care centers. Total costs, quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) of the intervention and comparator, and incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) were calculated. The model parameter uncertainties which would influence the cost-effectiveness outcome has been evaluated by one-way sensitivity analysis and probabilistic sensitivity analysis. Results: When compared to the tertiary level diagnostic strategy for HCV, the point-of-care screening for selected key population at primary health care level results in a gain of 57 undiscounted QALYs and 38 discounted QALYs, four undiscounted life years and two discounted life years. The negative ICER of the new strategy indicates that it is less expensive and more effective compared with the current HCV diagnosis strategy. Conclusions: The proposed strategy for HCV diagnosis in the selected key population in Tamil Nadu is dominant and cost-saving compared to the current strategy

Antimicrobial substances of potential biomedical importance from holothurian species

161-164Antibacterial and antifungal activities of alcoholic extracts of holothurian species such as Actinopyga echinites, A. miliaris. Holothuria atra and H. scabra of Tamil Nadu coast were studied. Bacteria such as Aeromonas hydrophila, Escherichia coli, Enterococcus sp., Klebsiella pneumoniae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Salmonella typhi, Staphylococcus aureus and Vibrio harveyi, and fish-borne mold, Aspergillus sp. were inhibited at varying levels by the extracts of A. miliaris, H. atra and H. scabra. Bacillus sp. was not affected by holothurian extracts. The results of the study revealed the presence of antimicrobial substances possibly steroidal sapogenins in holothuria. There exist a great potential for the extraction of bioactive substances of medical importance at a lower cost from marine holothurians

Traversing Middleboxes with the Host Identity Protocol

Abstract. The limited flexibility of the Internet to support mobility has motivated many researchers to look for alternative architectures. One such effort that combines security and multihoming together is the Host Identity Protocol (HIP). HIP is a signaling protocol that adds a new protocol layer to the Internet stack between the transport and the network layer. HIP establishes IPsec associations to protect subsequent data traffic. Though the security associations are established solely between the communicating end hosts, HIP also aims to interwork with middleboxes such as NATs and firewalls. This paper investigates this interworking aspect and proposes a solution for secure middlebox traversal

Ultra-performance liquid chromatography determination of related compounds of molindone in drug substances

Effective chromatographic separation was achieved on a phenyl-hexyl stationary phase (50×2.1 mm, 1.9 micron particles) with the economical and straightforward mobile phase combination delivered in isocratic mode at a flow rate of 0.6 mL/min at 254 nm using a ultra-performance liquid chromatography (UPLC) system. In the developed method, the resolution between molindone and its related compounds was more significant than 2.0. Regression analysis shows an r2 value (correlation coefficient) greater than 0.999 for molindone and its associated compounds. This method could detect related compounds of molindone at a level below 0.009% with respect to a test concentration of 500 µg/mL for a 2.0 µL injection volume. The method has shown good, consistent recoveries for related compounds (90-110%). The test solution was found to be stable in the diluent for 48 hours. The drug was subjected to stress conditions. The mass balance was found to be close to 99.3%