Biostimulatory Effect of Shilajeet on Wheat (Triticum astivum) Seed Germination

A presoaking treatment of Shilajeet at three different concentrations (10, 100 and 1000ppm) was given for 8 hours to surface sterilized (with 0.1 % HgCl2) seeds of wheat (Lokman variety).There was an increase of 12% and 24% in seed germination at third day of treatment with 10ppm and 100pm shilajeet concentrations, respectively. Enhanced growth of root and shoots were recorded on 6th day of germination. Enzymatic analysis of shilajeet treated germinated seeds revealed increase in activity of ?-amylase (EC, 3.2.1.1), Starch-phosphorylase (EC 2.4.1.1) and Hexokinase (EC 2.7.1.1), the indicator enzymes of seed germination. However, the 1000ppm treatment exhibited an inhibitory effect on percentage germination, seedling growth and on enzyme activities. Increased enzyme activities were also accompanied by the enhancement of water soluble protein in 10ppm and 100ppm shilajeet treated germinated seeds. Keywords: Seed germination, Enzymes, Shilajeet, Triticum astivu

Dynamic mechanical properties of geopolymer-polymer composites

Dynamic mechanical properties and rheology of the organic polymer modified inorganic polymer systems synthesized from metakaolin were studied and evaluated. These inorganic polymers, popularly known as geopolymers, possess a set of excellent characteristics which includes high compressive strength, high temperature and fire resistance, acid resistance, heavy ion fixation, low temperature curing, good surface finish, low cost raw materials and are environment friendly. Geopolymers are a relatively new class of engineering materials and are in the process of finding their way to industrial products. A few of the problems that are holding back the development of these materials are the control of curing rime, enhancement of their workability and knowledge of the dynamic mechanical properties of these systems. In this project the control of curing time, improvement in the workability and modification of the rheology was achieved by addition of organic polymers including poly (ethylene glycol) and carboxy methyl cellulose, to the geopolymer system. The dynamic mechanical properties of these systems were evaluated using dynamic mechanical analysis for the cured systems in the plaque form and a rheometer for the uncured systems as slurries. The effect of organic polymers on the geopolymer system was quantified using the same techniques. Poly (ethylene glycol) is commercially used as a plasticizer to increase the lubricity of the ceramic mass and has excellent spreading properties. Carboxy methyl cellulose, a modified polysaccharide, is commercially used as a viscosity modifier and has an excellent water retention capacity. These two organic polymers were added to the geopolymer system with an aim of modification of rheology, processability and dynamic mechanical properties before and after curing. Addition of these polymers to the geopolymer system varies the curing time of these systems in the range of 4 hours to 72 hours. Also the rheology of the uncured slurries is changed. This was quantified using the theological studies that show increase in the elastic and viscous moduli of the slurries after addition of the organic polymers. The elastic modulus varied between the range of 7 Pa to 54,600 Pa depending on the polymer and water content. Similarly, the viscous modulus also varied between 1 6 Pa and 25,400 Pa. The increase in the elastic modulus of the uncured slurry is significantly more than that of viscous modulus. The viscosity of these systems with respect to time and shear rate was also observed and showed change after addition of organic polymers. The viscosity varied within the range of 4 Pa.s to 580 Pa.s depending on polymer and water content. The composite slurry exhibited thixotropic behavior. These uncured slurries were cured to form cheesecloth-reinforced plaques. These plaques were used to study their elastic and viscous moduli with respect to temperature using the dynamic mechanical analysis technique. The results are encouraging and showed improvement in the moduli of the systems after addition of organic polymers for a selective loading range. But largely addition of organic polymers had a negative impact on the dynamic mechanical properties of geopolymer system. Addition of organic polymers also imparted flexibility to the cured samples opposing to the brittle nature of the pure geopolymer systems

Bilateral absence of fallopian tube segments: an uncommon condition

Congenital abnormalities of fallopian tube are rare among the abnormalities of female urogenital system. Bilateral absence of fallopian tube segments is an extremely uncommon condition. The authors report one such rare case diagnosed during diagnostic laparoscopy during evaluation of infertility. On one side, it was completely absent; while on the other side, it was partially absent simulating a formal tubal ligation. To the best of authors knowledge, this is an extremely unusual condition with very few reports available in literature

Anchorage of air bladder with the interspinous bone of the anal fin in Lactarius lactarius (Bloch and Schneider, 1801)

Specimens of the false trevally (Lactarius lactarius ), 127 to 221 mm in total length, were studied for the mode of anchorage of the air-bladder with the interspinous bone of the anal fin. The 1st and 2nd interspinous bones are fused together into a single piece (named here as the anchor bone) which pierces through the air-bladder, dividing it into two intercommunicating chambers at its upper end, and ultimately articulates with the 10th vertebral bone. The lower end of the bone is broad, fan like with one side affording articulation with the 1st and 2nd anal spines. This is an unique feature of great taxonomical importance to L. lactarius, the only species in the family Lactariidae. The anal fin counts (23-27) and vertebral counts (23) are also given

Effect of High Energy Materials on Sensitivity of Composite Modified Double Base CMDB Propellant System

The shock sensitivities (viz, impact and friction) of composite modified double-base (CMBD) ingredients, double-base (DB) matrix (SNC:CL) and the effect of high energy materials like ammonium perchlorate (AP), cyclotrimethylene trinitramine(RDX), cyclotetramethylene tetranitramine (HMX) and pentaerythritol tetranitrate (PTN) on a CMDB system, have been studied. Individual ingredients of DB matrix, i.e., spheroidal nitrocellulose (SNC) and desensitised nitroglycerine (casting liquid (CL), do not appear to be very sensitive to impact and friction, impact of 36.0 kg each. Various DB mixtures gave impact ranging between 56.5 to 61.5 cm and friction insensitivity of 36.0 kg for all the formulations. But addition of AP to DB matrix increases the impact and friction sensitivity tremendously, impact ranging from 15 to 24 cm and friction from 2.0 to 3.2 kg. Sensitivity-wise addition of RDX, HMX, and PETN to DB matrix follows AP while the addition of Al slightly reduces the sensitivity

On Hashing-Based Approaches to Approximate DNF-Counting

Propositional model counting is a fundamental problem in artificial intelligence with a wide variety of applications, such as probabilistic inference, decision making under uncertainty, and probabilistic databases. Consequently, the problem is of theoretical as well as practical interest. When the constraints are expressed as DNF formulas, Monte Carlo-based techniques have been shown to provide a fully polynomial randomized approximation scheme (FPRAS). For CNF constraints, hashing-based approximation techniques have been demonstrated to be highly successful. Furthermore, it was shown that hashing-based techniques also yield an FPRAS for DNF counting without usage of Monte Carlo sampling. Our analysis, however, shows that the proposed hashing-based approach to DNF counting provides poor time complexity compared to the Monte Carlo-based DNF counting techniques. Given the success of hashing-based techniques for CNF constraints, it is natural to ask: Can hashing-based techniques provide an efficient FPRAS for DNF counting? In this paper, we provide a positive answer to this question. To this end, we introduce two novel algorithmic techniques: Symbolic Hashing and Stochastic Cell Counting, along with a new hash family of Row-Echelon hash functions. These innovations allow us to design a hashing-based FPRAS for DNF counting of similar complexity (up to polylog factors) as that of prior works. Furthermore, we expect these techniques to have potential applications beyond DNF counting