The “Indo” in the “Indo-Pacific”—An Indian View

While some security arrangements exist in the Indo-Pacific, there is no overall regional security architecture, geopolitical headwinds are causing existing arrangements to wobble, and loose groupings of countries are emerging either to strengthen or to weaken those arrangements. India’s strategic stakes are growing, but it faces capacity and capability issues that impose prioritization constraints

A new design of square lattice photonic crystal fiber is made by borosilicate material with circular and square air holes to minimize dispersion

Volume 2 Issue 10 (October 2014

Somaclonal Variation in Oroxylum indicum (L.) Vent- an Endangered Tree Species

Optimum callus formation was observed from apical buds or axillary buds of in vitro grown seedling on Murashige and Skoogs’ (1962) medium supplemented with auxins 0.1-1 mg-1 of IBA, IAA, NAA and 2,4-D. Morphogenic callus was cultured on media supplemented with additives (CH & AgNO3 ) with BAP (1 mg-1). Maximum shoot regeneration  and elongation were achieved upon transferring the callus to medium containing BAP (1 mg-1) with AgNO3 (2 mg-1). Elongated shoots rooted on ½ MSM supplemented with IBA (mg-1) with AgNO3 (1 mg-1). Shoots regenerated from this protocol exhibited somaclonal variation in different characters viz. leaf shape, node size

Ichthyofaunal diversity in Bachan Gad and Kakda streams of the Mid-himalayan Ganga river system of Garhwal in relation to stream gradient and distance

The present study was carried out to investigate the comparative seasonal distribution and relative abundance of fish fauna of streams Bachan Gad of river Alaknanda and Kakda Gad of river Mandakini of Mid-himalayan Ganga river System. Total length of the Bachan Gad is 14.5 km from origin to the confluence at main river Alaknanda with an altitudinal variation from 605.94 to 1418.23m (a.s.1), whereas, total length of the Kakda Gad is 15.5 km. from origin to confluence at main river Mandakini with altitudinal variation from 984.50 to 1993.70 m (a.s.1). Total 23 species from Bachan Gad and 20 fish species were identified from Kakda Gad. The differences in the availability of fish-fauna were directly related to the nature of the profile and slope of tributaries; which affects the migration and breeding grounds of the fishes inhabited in the main river Alaknanda and Mandakini of Ganga river system. Variation in the availability of fishes has been recorded from different sites of the stream. In streams and rivers the changes take place along their length is directly related to the eco-physico-chemical nature (water depth, current, substratum etc). All these factors which change along the length of streams are also the factors which control the distribution of the various sections of the biotic fauna and flora

Emergent glassiness in disorder-free Kitaev model: Density matrix renormalization group study on a one-dimensional ladder setting

The complete phase diagram of the Kitaev model with a magnetic field remains elusive, as do the experimental results in the candidate material {\alpha}-RuCl3. Here, we study the Kitaev model on a one-dimensional ladder setting within the density-matrix renormalization group method in the presence of a magnetic field at zero temperature. We find five distinct phases with increasing magnetic field, which are characterized by a homogeneous flux phase, the Z2 vortex gas, solid and emergent glass phase, and finally, a spin-polarized phase. The emergent glassiness is confirmed by calculating correlation functions showing quasi-long-range behavior and ground state fidelity, showing a plethora of energetically accessible orthogonal saddle points corresponding to different flux configurations. This glassy behavior seems to arise from the slow dynamics of the Z2 fluxes, which is a consequence of the local constraints present in the underlying Hilbert space. This phenomenon can also be explored in other spin-liquid systems where the corresponding low-energy excitations are similarly retarded due to constraints.Comment: 12 pages including abstrac

Isolation and identification of azo dye degrading microbes using 16s r RNA sequencing

The aim of the present study was to isolate and identify azo dye degrading microbes using 16s r RNA sequencing. For this, ten effluent and fifty soil samples were collected from textile industry from a discharge panel of textile industries near Peenya and Magadi road Industrial area, Bengaluru, and dying industries near Kerur, Bagalkot, Karnataka, India. The pH, temperature, BOD, COD, Odor, Total dissolved solid (TDS), Total suspended solids (TSS), Chemical oxygen demand (COD), Biological oxygen demand (BOD), Dissolved Oxygen (DO), and Total Hardness values were very high when compared with the values given by the Bureau of Indian Standards. Pure cultures were screened on the basis of colony morphology. Three different types of unique cultures were selected and named as isolates S1, S2 and S3. Outof 6 dyes viz. Corafast blue, Corafast red, Red 3BN, Solophenyl Brown, RemazoleRG , Rubin M2B used, isolate S1 showed degradation on the maximum number of dyes Red 3BN, Corafast blue, Corafast red, in comparison to other isolates (isolates S2 and S3). Thus, isolate S1 was used for the further studies. For this study Red 3BN dye was chosen. The isolated bacterium was gram positive Bacilli. In the biochemical characterization, the isolate was partially confirmed as Bacillus sp. Further, the selected isolate was identified by sequencing the 16S rRNA sequencing. The bacterial isolate was identified as Bacillus species exhibiting 99% similarity, the phylogenic relationship of 16S ribosomal RNA gene, partial sequence of the isolated strain and species related to Bacillus species in the gene bank database. Thus, this organism may be used significantly in effluent treatment such as textile, paper, ink and other industries

REPRODUCTIVE AND DEVELOPMENTAL TOXICITY OF EURYCOMA LONGIFOLIA AQUEOUS EXTRACT (PHYSTA®) IN WISTAR RATS

Objective: Reproductive and developmental toxicities of Eurycoma longifolia aqueous extract (PHYSTA®) in male and female wistar rats were examined concerning its effect on male and female reproductive performance such as gonadal function, mating behavior, conception, development of the conceptus and parturition.Methods: Eurycoma longifolia aqueous extract at a dose of 250, 500 and 1000 mg/kg b. w. was administered daily by oral gavage during 14 day premating and 14 days mating period in both male and female, during gestation period and up to post natal day 3 in females. Animals were observed for clinical signs, morbidity, mortality, body weight development, food consumption and pub observation (number of live pups/litter, live birth index, implant sites, fetal resorption etc.). Male and females were sacrificed on day 29 and post natal day (PND) 4 respectively; then subjected to necropsy.Results: The result indicated non-significant predominant clinical signs, no mortality, and no toxicological relevance effect on body weight. In addition increased food consumption with no treatment related effect on litters, precoital interval and duration of gestation was observed. Pre and post natal data (Corpora lutea, implant sites, live pups, pre and post percent pre-implantation loss) remain unaffected. All pregnancies resulted in normal birth and delivery index remain unaffected. Survival of pups from PND 0 to PND 4 remained unaffected along with no treatment related gross external findings. No gross pathology findings and no statistically significant absolute and relative organ weight was observed. The histopathological evaluation does not revealed any lesions considered to be treatment related.Conclusion: In conclusion, the repeated dose administration of Eurycoma longifolia aqueous extract (PHYSTA®) to male Wistar rats for 28-29 days and female Wistar rats up to 54 days at dosages of 250, 500 and 1000 mg/kg b.w. revealed no major toxicological findings. As per the present investigation the non-observed-adverse event level (NOAEL) for Eurycoma longifolia aqueous extract (PHYSTA®) is believed to be 1000 mg/kg body weight for reproductive and developmental toxicity.Â

Medical expulsive therapy for the management of ureteric calculi

Ureteric stones in endemic areas if treated on OPD basis with helps of oral drugs saves hospitalization and economic burden to the patient and the hospital. A prospective study was carried out for 9 and half years in two medical colleges by offering two different regimes to patients on random basis and regular follow-up was done on OPD basis. The stone passage rate was highest in the lower ureter 1/3rd (80%) followed by middle 1/3rd (45%) and upper 1/3rd (40%). The patients who were offered regime 1 which included diuretics had less success rate then that with regime 2 which included drugs like nifedipine and steroids. Treatment of ureteric stones on OPD basis in endemic areas is a boon for the patients and for the health management system in terms of cost and health care system

Synthesis and Crystallization Studies of Thermo-plastic Polyster/Titania Nanocomposites

The present work reports the non-isothermal crystallization kinetics of PET-TiO2 nanocomposites. The average particle size of TiO2 nanoparticles, prepared by chemical route, has been calculated 32 nm using Debay-Scherrer’s formula in XRD peaks. PET-TiO2 nanocomposites have been synthesized using solution casting method. The investigation of non-isothermal crystallization behavior has been conducted by means of Differential Scanning Calorimeter (DSC). The crystallization temperature shift to lower temperature for both PET pristine and PET-TiO2 nanocomposites due to decrease in mobility of chain segments and heterogeneous nucleation. Also, the inclusion of TiO2 nanoparticles may accelerate nucleation rate in nanocomposites that causes the crystallization time and absolute crystallinity fraction. The thermal conductivity of inorganic filler TiO2 nanoparticles may affect the crystallization temperature