Identification of Medicinal Plants in Homam: a religious practice

In India, Homam is an important religious practice. The consecrated fire is the central element of the ritual homa. It is offered in many hindu temples in early morning before dawn. Apart from the temples, many hindus offer this practice during their home ceremonies also. The most beneficial factor of these homas, is that smoke not only purifies the atmosphere but also helps us to get rid of many diseases. In this paper, the local and scientific name, plant parts used in the Homam were identified and presented. Different plant parts like leaf, aerial root, fruit, seed, bark, root, flower, wood, tuber, rhizome and pericarp of fruits have been used in the practice. Some highly useful medicinal plants listed are Justicia adhatoda, Withania somnifera, Phyllanthus emblica, Tinospora cordifolia, Andrographis paniculata, Strychnos nux-vomica, Pongamia pinnata, Ficus benghalensis, Chrysopogon zizanioides and Curcuma aromatica.

Differential expression of Aedes aegypti salivary transcriptome upon blood feeding

Saliva of Aedes aegypti contains a complex array of proteins essential for both blood feeding and pathogen transmission. A large numbers of those proteins are classified as unknown in regard to their function(s). Understanding the dynamic interactions at the mosquito-host interface can be achieved in part by characterizing mosquito salivary gland gene expression relative to blood feeding. Towards this end, we developed an oligonucleotide microarray representing 463 transcripts to determine differential regulation of salivary gland genes. This microarray was used to investigate the temporal gene expression pattern of Ae. aegypti salivary gland transcriptome at different times post-blood feeding. Expression of the majority of salivary gland genes (77–87%) did not change significantly as a result of blood feeding, while 8 to 20% of genes were down-regulated and 2.8 to 11.6% genes were up-regulated. Up-regulated genes included defensins, mucins and other immune related proteins. Odorant-binding protein was significantly down-regulated. Among unknown function proteins, several were up-regulated during the first three hours post-blood feeding and one was significantly down-regulated. Quantitative real-time RT-PCR was used to substantiate differential expression patterns of five randomly selected genes. Linear regression analysis revealed a high degree of correlation (R2 > 0.89) between oligonucleotide microarray and quantitative RT-PCR data. To our knowledge, this is the first study to investigate differential expression of the Ae. aegypti salivary gland transcriptome upon blood feeding. A microarray provides a robust, sensitive way to investigate differential regulation of mosquito salivary gland genes

Effect of retwisting parameters of splicing on the retained splice strength

Effect of three crucial parameters of splicing, exclusivelyrelated to retwisting operation of splicing, namely air pressure,retwisting time and overlapping length on retained splicestrength (RSS) has been studied. During this study, theparameters related to untwisting are kept constant based on thevisual untwisting performance. Three-factor three-level Box-Behnken design is employed on three different cotton yarncounts (20s Ne, 40s Ne and 60s Ne), produced by ring spinning.Interactive effects of parameters have also been analyzedthrough contour plots and optimization conditions are achievedusing the statistical software called Minitab. The optimizationconditions can be used as a guide to set the splicer parameters. Itis observed that average retained splice strength of the yarnincreases with the increase in yarn count. Higher RSS can beobtained with the combination of lower compressed air pressurewith relatively higher retwisting time

Influence of coated tool electrode on drilling Inconel alloy 718 in Electrochemical micro machining

Since Inconel-718 alloy is high hardened material, it is very difficult to machine the alloy with complex shape using conventional machining process. In the present study, an endeavor has been made to drill the Inconel alloy 718 in micro level using electro chemical machining processes. It has been attempted to find the influence of coatings over copper tool electrode on performance criteria for enhancing the ECM process. From the experimental results, it has been observed that nickel coated copper electrode has produced 7.2% higher material removal whereas chromium coated electrode has produced 19% lower surface roughness over machined alloy specimens. (c) 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V

Multi performance optimization of electrochemical micro-machining process surface related parameters on machining Inconel 718 using Taguchi-grey relational analysis

Due to several merits such as higher machining rate and high machining accuracy, electrochemical micromachining (ECMM) is used to machine high strength materials with complex shapes. In this experimental investigation, Inconel 718 specimens have been machined with brass electrode of 500 pm diameter using ECMM. Since electrochemical micromachining involves many responses, Taguchi method along cannot give to find out unique optimum parameter combination of the ECMM process. Therefore, an attempt has been made in the present study to identify the optimum combination of process parameter using grey relational analysis with Taguchi method. The experimental investigation of the process has been conducted with input process parameters such as applied voltage, electrolyte concentration, micro-tool feed rate and duty ratio on material removal rate (MRR), surface roughness (SR) and overcut (OC) with different process level using two electrolytes such as sodium chloride (NaCI) and sodium nitrate (NaNO3). From the experimental results, it has been found that micro-tool feed rate is most influencing nature parameter for NaCI and applied voltage is most influencing nature parameter for NaNO3 in ECMM process

Analysis of Variability for Qualitative and Quantitative Traits in Coleus forskohlii Briq.

Thirty seven Coleus forskohlii genotypes collected from different regions of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka were subjected to diversity analysis based on NBPGR descriptors. Eleven qualitative and fourteen quantitative traits of C. forskohlii were evaluated to assess the morphological variations available among the collected genotypes. For qualitative traits, a large number of genotypes out of 37 clustered together at 74 % similarity in four different groups. The dendrogram contract based on fourteen quantitative traits for the same set of genotypes did not reveal a clear pattern in grouping and the genotypes were grouped into ten different clusters. Cluster analysis of various sets of data revealed different groups of genotypes for each of the data set. A poor congruence observed among data sets of qualitative and quantitative traits in the comparison indicated that the morphological traits are not suitable for precise discrimination of closely related genotypes in C. forskohlii

Diabetes Mellitus: Can Stem Cells be the Answer?

This review aims to enlighten the readers regarding the past, present and future of stem cells in the treatment of Diabetes. Diabetes is one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality, affecting more than 415 million people worldwide. It is estimated that one in ten adults will have diabetes by 2030. Diabetes is mainly due to reduction in β-cell mass which are responsible for insulin production. Exogenous administration of insulin is having good impact on restoring glucose homeostasis, but it does not entirely control the minute-to-minute fluctuations in systemic blood glucose. Recently cellular-based therapies have been established for exogenous insulin administration by modern pump technology. One of the most interesting therapies involves substitution of insulin producing islet cells by transplantation. But lack of donor material and lifelong immunosuppression made the technique unfeasible. These restrictions have led to exploration of other sources of β-cells, one of the prospects being the stem cells. Several types of stem cells have been used to make pancreatic β-cells, including human embryonic stem cells / induced pluripotent stem cells, pancreatic stem / progenitor cells, and non-pancreatic stem cells. There is also evidence of adult β-cells regeneration through β-cell replication and cellular reprogramming. Functional restoration of existing β-cells, transplantation of stem cells or stem cell-derived β-like cells might provide new opportunities for treatment. In conclusion it can be said that the research is still wide open to arrive at the efficient reprogramming of various types of stem cells to destine them towards functional β-cells

Empowering Fisherwomen

In this paper the authors trace the reasons for the marginalisatlon of fisherwomen in India in spite of their important role in post-harvest operations and in net making. Unfortunately most development programmes have been of little benefit, For their emancipation, the authors point out that fisherwomen first' need to be empowered with a positive self image and decision making capabilities. This paper sketches a profile offisherwomen of the country and deals with the concepl of empowerment

Purification of antifungal protein against blister bark pathogen of Casuarina equisetifolia J. R. Forster et G. Forster

Aprotein extract from the leaves of Andrographis paniculata (Acanthaceae) was found to inhibit the spore germination and hyphal extension of Trichosporium vesiculosum, the blister bark pathogen of Casuarina equisetifolia. The antifungal protein component was further purified from the crude extract and the molecular mass of the toxic protein was estimated to be 39.5 kDa

Design and performance of subirrigation system in maize (Zea mays) in Kumulur farm, Trichy district, Tamil Nadu, India

Subirrigation system can furnish water to plants. The upward flux and the discharge rate must satisfy the plant’s lifesaving irrigation needs during summer. The experiment was laid out in  A-block of Eastern farm, Agricultural Engineering College and Research Institute, Kumulur, Trichy, Tamil Nadu. Subirrigation system spacing was arrived using Moody's equation calculated as 10 m. The experiment was laid out in spilt plot design with three replications. Four drain spacing levels (7.5, 10, 12.5 and 15 m) were the main plot treatments and two levels of depth and diameter of drain pipes (75 cm, 60 cm & 75 mm, 63 mm) were the sub plot treatments. The highest volumetric water content was recorded in 7.5 m spacing + 45 cm soil depth + lower reach (S1T3T1). Capillary rise on water table management system under subirrigation mode was fixed as 33.5 cm and the average deep percolation loss was obtained in 0.3 cm/d at development stage of crop period. The highest maize yield (4.30 t/ha) was obtained in 7.5 m spacing + 60 cm drain depth + 75 mm diameter (S1D3). The highest water use efficiency of (0.86 kg/m3) was recorded in 7.5 m spacing + 60 cm drain depth + 75 mm drain diameter (S1D3). This subirrigation system could furnish water to plants due to upward flux and the same system also functioned efficiently under drainage modes and removed the waterlogging during wet periods.