Environmental Impacts of Ship Breaking and Recycling Industry of Sitakunda, Chittagong, Bangladesh

Ship dismantling of Bangladesh is a reason of concern due to its economic values and environmental hazards. This study focuses on the Ship Breaking and Recycling Industry (SBRI) of Bangladesh to assess the environmental impacts. It was done by analyzing the water quality parameters like, Turbidity, Salinity, Electric conductivity (EC), Dissolved Oxygen (DO), pH, Total Dissolved Solids (TDS), Temperature, Ammonia-Nitrogen, Nitrate–Nitrogen, Phosphate concentrations of inside and surroundings of Ship Breaking Yard. Turbidity ranged from 7.71 to 119 FTU in and 4.07 to 41.74 FTU in inside and outside the ship breaking yard, respectively. Salinity ranged from 0.95 to 14.28 ppt and 0.06 to 0.79 ppt in insde and outside, respectively. Value of EC varied from1.75 to 1280 µs/cm in inside and 0.21 to 15.7 µs/cm in outside, DO ranged from 3.77 to 7.94 mg/l in inside and 1.95 to 5.34 mg/l in outside. TDS value ranged from1280 to 15340 mg/l in inside and 74 to 825 mg/l in outside of ship breaking yard. Ammonia-N value ranged from 0.46 to 7.046 mg/l, Nitrate-N value ranged from 0.10 to 6.9 mg/l and Phosphate value ranged from 0.175 to 4.75 mg/l in the analyzed water sample. Magnitude of environmental alteration by establishment of ship breaking industry was assessed by quantifying Environmental impact value of Study area and the value was found as -93, where ecological parameters value was found -72, Physico-chemical parameters value was -70 and human interest value was found +49 which indicate negative alteration on environment

Scaling of NonOhmic Conduction in Strongly Correlated Systems

A new scaling formalism is used to analyze nonlinear I-V data in the vicinity of metal-insulator transitions (MIT) in five manganite systems. An exponent, called the nonlinearity exponent, and an onset field for nonlinearity, both characteristic of the system under study, are obtained from the analysis. The onset field is found to have an anomalously low value corroborating the theoretically predicted electronically soft phases. The scaling functions above and below the MIT of a polycrystalline sample are found to be the same but with different exponents which are attributed to the distribution of the MIT temperatures. The applicability of the scaling in manganites underlines the universal response of the disordered systems to electric field

Prediction of anti-Alzheimer’s activity of flavonoids targeting acetylcholinesterase in silico

Introduction – Prenylated and pyrano-flavonoids of the genus Artocarpus J. R. Forster & G. Forster are well known for their acetylcholinesterase (AchE) inhibitory, anticholinergic, antiinflammatory, antimicrobial, antioxidant, antiproliferative and tyrosinase inhibitory activities. Some of these compounds have also been shown to be effective against Alzheimer’s disease. Objective – The aim of the in silico study was to establish protocols to predict the most effective flavonoid from prenylated and pyrano-flavonoid classes for AchE inhibition linking to the potential treatment of Alzheimer’s disease. Methodology – Three flavonoids isolated from Artocarpus anisophyllus Miq. were selected for the study. With these compounds, Lipinski filter, ADME/Tox screening, molecular docking and QSAR were performed in silico. In vitro activity was evaluated by bioactivity staining based on the Ellman’s method. Results – In the Lipinski filter and ADME/Tox screening, all test compounds produced positive results, but in the target fishing, only one flavonoid could successfully target AchE. Molecular docking was performed on this flavonoid, and this compound gained the score as -13.5762. From the QSAR analysis the IC50 was found to be 1659.59 nM. Again, 100 derivatives were generated from the parent compound and docking was performed. The derivative number 20 was the best scorer i.e., -31.6392 and IC50 was predicted as 6.025 nM. Conclusion – Results indicated that flavonoids could be efficient inhibitors of AchE and thus, could be useful in the management of Alzheimer’s disease

Registration of ICMR 356 Parental Line of Pearl Millet

The pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum) restorer line ICMR356 (PI591337), released in 1993, was developed from the cross B282 × J104. It is an elite inbred restorer line with grain yield ranging from 1477 to 3373 kg/ha, which is 51% higher than H77/833-2 but 34% lower than D23. It has a plant height of 109 to 172 cm and a flowering requirement of 49 to 54 days from time of planting. ICMR356 produces 3-7 basal tillers/plant and grains are medium-sized (1000-seed weight of 8.5 g). ICMR356 is more resistant to downy mildew (Sclerospora graminicola) than P7-04 in India and has similar resistance to P7-04 in western Africa

Gajah. Securing the Future for Elephants in India.

It is estimated that six in every ten wild Asian elephants live in India. This report by the Ministry of Environment and Forests in India outlines plans to safeguard the species and associated habitats in the face of rapid economic expansion and development pressures

Registration of ICMP 423 Parental Line of Pearl Millet

The pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum) parental line ICM423 (PI572306), released in 1988, is a downy mildew (Sclerospora graminicola) resistant restorer line of a single-cross hybrid cultivar, ICMH423. ICMP423 was derived from the first cycle of the ICRISAT Early Composite which was constituted by random mating of 194 geographically diverse lines, mostly of India origin, that flowered in <45 days from sowing at Patancheru during the 1973 rainy season. Selfed plants were advanced by bulking and a number of cycles of selection for phenotypic similarity and resistance to downy mildew were conducted. Some 1570 progenies with resistance to downy mildew were allowed to random mate. Seeds from the random mating were bulked to form ICMP143. ICMP143 is an elite restorer line with mean grain yield of 1750 kg/ha, medium height (147 cm) and a flowering time of 49 to 57 days from sowing. It produces 3-7 tillers/plant and has a 1000-grain weight of 7.5 g. In 11 disease nurseries in India and western Africa, it had higher levels of resistance to downy mildew than the resistant standard P7-4 (mean and ranges of 4% and 0 to 23% in ICMP423 and 7% and 0 to 49% in P7-4)