In vitro root regeneration from Eucalyptus camaldulensis Dehnh. shoots

Multiple shoot regeneration was conducted to produce healthy shoots for mass propagation of superior genotypes of Eucalyptus camaldulensis. Sources of explants were selected based on good growth and selected fiber morphological characteristics. Healthy shootlets were further allowed to elongate on half strength of Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium supplemented with 1.0 mg L⁻¹ 6-Benzylaminopurine (BAP) for four weeks before root induction. In vitro rooting of these elongated shootlets were assessed using half strength of MS medium supplemented with eight concentrations viz 0, 0.1, 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, 2.0, 2.5 and 3.0 mg L⁻¹ of either α- Naphthalene Acetic Acid (NAA) or Indole Butyric Acid (IBA) i.e, 0, 0.1, 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, 2.0, 2.5 and 3.0 mg L⁻¹. Generally rooting ability showed better performance in all concentrations on medium supplemented with NAA than the ones with IBA. Those shootlets induced on 1.0 and 1.5 mg L⁻¹ showed prolific root growth. The highest rooting percentage of 90% was obtained in shootlets induced on medium supplemented with 1.0 mgL⁻¹ of NAA but the highest mean root number of 9.00 and the longest mean root length of 2.63 cm were recorded on those supplemented with 1.5 mgL⁻¹ of NAA. Healthy rooted plantlets were then acclimatized into polybags containing peat soil covered in plastic sheet and left under shade for one week before being finally transferred into growth medium containing 1:1:1 sand, top soil and coco peat. 70% of survival percentage was recorded 4 weeks after being raised under nursery condition. Thus inclusion of IBA and NAA are necessary for root induction of in vitro micropropagated shootlets to become complete plantlets

Alsolation and characterization of a heavy metalreducing enterobacteriaceae bacterium strain DRY 7 with the ability to assimilate phenol and diesel

Background/Objectives: Molybdenum, phenol and diesel are toxic to organism, and are part of global pollution. Their removal using microorganisms with multiple detoxification ability is being intensely sought as a cleaner and economic approach. Methods/Statistical analysis: A soil suspension was spread plated on a minimal salts media supplemented with molybdenum. Blue colonies, indicating molybdenum reduction was then screened for phenol and diesel degradation capabilities. Findings: A molybdenum-reducing bacterium locally isolated showed the ability to grow on phenol and diesel. The bacterium required pHs of between 5.8 and 6.3 and temperatures of between 30 and 40oC for optimal reduction. Among the carbon sources tested for supporting reduction, glucose was the best. A critical concentration of phosphate at just 5 mM was required, while molybdenum (sodium molybdate) was required between 15 and 25 mM. The absorption spectrum of the Mo-blue produced showed a characteristic maximum peak at 865 nm. The reduction of molybdenum was inhibited by the ions mercury, copper, chromium, lead and silver by 78.9, 78.4, 77.4, 53.5 and 36.8%, respectively. Analysis using phylogenetic analysis identifies the bacterium as Enterobacteriaceae bacterium strain DRY7. Growth on phenol and diesel as carbon sources showed that the optimal concentrations supporting growth was between 300 and 400 mg/L and between 300 and 500 mg/L, respectively. Application/Improvements: The capacity of this bacterium to detoxify a number of toxicants is an important property or bioremediation of soils contaminated with multiple toxicants

Allelopathic Potential of Rice Varieties against Spinach (Spinacia oleracea)

Two laboratory experiments were conducted to investigate the allelopathic effects of rice varieties on spinach (Spinacia aleracea L.). Fifteen rice varieties were included for evaluation. Two methods viz. Sandwich method and Relay seeding method were used to observe the allelopathic effects of rice varieties on seed germination, mean germination time, shoot and root length and dry matter production of spinach as a test crop. Average inhibition in spinach growth was calculated to evaluate the allelopathic potential of the rice varieties. All the selected varieties of rice were more or less detrimental to studied characters of spinach. WITA12 resulted in about 48% average percent inhibition of spinach growth. On the basis of average percent inhibition rice varieties ranked in order of WITA12>Dular>WITA3>BR26>BRRI dhan42>BRRI dhan39>BRRI dhan31>BRRI dhan44>BRRI dhan40>BR19>BRRI dhan43>BRRI dhan46>BRRI dhan47>BRRI dhan45>BRRI dhan28. Both the evaluation methods were positively correlated in determining percent reduction in most of the parameters of spinach due to allelopathic effects of rice

New flood risk index in tropical area generated by using SPC technique

This study applied four hydrology parameters. The findings from Principal ComponentAnalysis confirmed that all selected parameters were significant to be taken as main tools forfurther analysis with result of R2> 0.7. SPC set up a new control limit for all selectedparameters in the study area. For those data within or beyond the Upper Control Limit value, itwas being considered as high risk for flood occurrence. New flood risk index within rangefrom 0-100 was calculated using a combination of new algebraic equation and control limitvalues obtained from SPC analysis as variable. The accuracy of FRI was tested using ANN.The result showed the accuracy of FRI was more than 90%. It can be stipulated that thecombination of chemometric techniques and SPC can produce a new standard FRI which iscost effective, accurate and flexible to be applied for the purpose of flood risk control intropical area.Keywords: flood risk index; statistical process control; chemometric technique; tropical area;control limit; prediction performance

Biological Remediation of Cyanide: a Review

Cyanide and its complexes are produced by industries all over the world as waste or effluents. Biodegradation is considered to be the cheapest and the most effective method to get rid of cyanide in the environment. Several studies on different types of microorganisms that can degrade cyanide in the environment have been carried out. Hydrolytic, oxidative, reductive, and substitutive/transfer reactions are some of the common pathways used by microorganisms in cyanide degradation. Biodegradation of cyanide can occur aerobically or an-aerobically depending on the environmental conditions. Immobilised enzymes or microorganisms prove to be very effective method of degradation. Microorganisms such as Klebsiella oxytoca, Corynebacterium nitrophilous, Brevibacterium nitrophilous, Bacillus spp., Pseudomonas spp. and Rhodococcus UKMP-5M have been reported to be very effective in biodegradation of cyanide

Alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma of the neck in a two-months-old baby: diagnostic challenges

Rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS) is the most common soft tissue malignancy in children and adolescents. The rarity of its occurrence in infant poses a great difficulty in terms of diagnosis and management. Here, we report an aggressive case of alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma in an infant who presented with neck swelling and neurological complications. The Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) revealed a soft tissue swelling of the neck with intraspinal extension and spinal cord compression, raising the possibility of a neurogenic or malignant nerve sheath tumour. Histopathological examination revealed a primitive, small round cell tumour with no rhabdoid differentiation. The clinical presentation, neurological symptoms, tumor location and the histopathologic features were highly suggestive of neuroblastoma. However, the tumour cells were positive for desmin with focal and weak nuclear positivity for myogenin and MyoD1; immunoexpressions which were in favour of rhabdomyosarcoma. Fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) confirmed the presence of a translocation t(2;13)(q35;q14), supporting the diagnosis of alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma. Despite chemotherapy, patient succumbed to death after two months due to septic shock. Rhabdomyosarcoma is highly aggressive mesenchymal neoplasm which may present with diagnostic difficulty. This case highlights the importance of molecular studies in making an accurate diagnosis so that appropriate chemotherapy may be instituted

Improved Harmonic Performance of Seven-Level CHB Inverter using Multicarrier Modulation and Varying the Modulation Index

This paper proposed the design of a multicarrier modulation with symmetrical voltage input of a single phase seven-level cascaded H-Bridge multilevel inverter (CHBI). The selection of the topology is mainly due to the easy implementation as well as presence of lesser components. The simulation design of the inverter is done by using MATLAB Simulink. The modulation control technique for the power switches of the inverter is the multicarrier PWM technique which focuses specifically on PD technique. The modulation index is varied and the results are measured in terms of THD. The results obtained are analyzed and discussed in this article. The results indicate that the THD is decreasing for increasing values of modulation index

Structure, electrical transport and Magneto-Resistance properties of La5/8Ca3/8MnO3 manganite synthesized with different manganese precursors.

We synthesized the polycrystalline manganite of La5/8Ca3/8MnO3 with three different manganese routes prepared through a solid state reaction method. The effects of the manganese route selection on the structure, electrical transport and magneto-transport properties were examined in this study. The samples were characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and SEM to identify their structure and morphology. XRD analysis confirmed that all samples were in single phase with orthorhombic structure and belonged to the Pnma space group. The average grain sized samples with manganese route of Mn2O3 and MnCO3 had a grain size of 1.2–8.7 μm and 2–7.5 μm, respectively. For the MnO2 route, the sample had a small melt-like shape with higher porosity. The metal–insulator transition temperature, TMI, for LCMO (Mn2O3), LCMO (MnO2) and LCMO (MnCO3) samples were 270 K, 266 K and 258 K, respectively. All the samples showed negative magneto-resistance with significant increase in value near the TMI temperature. The highest CMR (colossal magneto-resistance) ratio was found in LCMO (Mn2O3), -22.06% at 270 K, followed by -16.69% for LCMO (MnO2) at 80 K, and 15.2% for LCMO (MnCO3) at 100 K in a 1 T magnetic field

Studies on seed germination and growth in weed species of rice field under salinity stress.

An investigation was made to see the salt tolerance of 10 weed species of rice. Properly dried and treated seeds of weed species were placed on 9 cm diameter petridishes lined with Whatman No. 1 filter paper under 6 salinity regimes, viz. 0 (control), 4, 8, 16, 24 and 32 dS m-1. The petri dishes were then kept in germinator at 25±1.0oC and 12 hr light. The number of germinated seeds were recorded daily. The final germination percentage, germination index (GI), seedling vigour index, mean germination time and time for 50% germination were estimated. Root and shoot lengths of the weed seedlings were measured at 20 days after salt application and relative growth values were calculated. Results revealed that salinity decreased final germination percentage, seed of germination as measured by GI, and shoot and root length in all the species. Germination of most of the weed seeds was completely arrested (0) at 32 dS m-1 salinity except in E. colona (12%) and C. iria (13.9%). The species C. iria, E. colona, J. linifolia and E. crusgalli showed better germination (above 30%) upto 24 dS m-1 salinity level and were regarded as salt-tolerant weed species. J. linifolia, F. miliacea, L. chinensis and O. sativa L. (weedy rice) were graded as moderately tolerant and S. zeylanica, S. grosus and C. difformis were regarded as least tolerant weed species