Elasticity-mediated self-organization and colloidal interactions of solid spheres with tangential anchoring in a nematic liquid crystal

Using laser tweezers and fluorescence confocal polarizing microscopy, we study colloidal interactions of solid microspheres in the nematic bulk caused by elastic distortions around the particles with strong tangential surface anchoring. The particles aggregate into chains directed at about 30 degrees to the far field director and, at higher concentrations, form complex kinetically trapped structures. We characterize the distance and angular dependencies of the colloidal interaction forces.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figure

Economic Empowerment of Women through Information Technology: A Case Study from an Indian State

It is universally accepted that Information Communication Technologies (ICT) offer immense opportunities for the comprehensive social and economic development of the people all over the world. Without its adoption, there is little chance for countries or regions to develop. However, the potential of ICT as a technology for promoting micro-enterprises by poor women is still unused in many countries. This article discusses the success story of a government project for poverty eradication using ICT. The case study on ‘ICT micro-enterprises by self-help group of poor women’ describes the story of a self-help group, which uses potential of ICT for poverty eradication through economic empowerment of poor women. It illustrates how ICT can effectively be used as a technology for micro-enterprises, which are promoted by poor women under self-employment scheme. The article also deals with SWOT analysis that identifies the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats for ICT based micro-enterprises. The article proves that if a country has the necessary enabling environment permitting the establishment of ICT micro-enterprises, poor women can promote such business for their economic empowerment

Golanudiplosis japonicus - a new midge attacking comstock mealybug in Japan (Diptera: Itonididae).

Die Mücke, die in Japan die Eier der Mehlwanze Pseudococcus comstocki befällt, wird als neue Gattung Golanudiplosis mit der typischen Art japonicus beschrieben. Sowohl Männchen wie Weibchen werden deskripiert, und ihre Stellung im System wird erörtert.Nomenklatorische Handlungenjaponicus Grover & Prasad, 1968 (Golanudiplosis), spec. n.Golanudiplosis Grover & Prasad, 1968 (Itonididae), gen. n.The midge found attacking eggs of the comstocki mealybug, Pseudococcus comstocki, in Japan is described as a new genus Golanudiplosis with japonicus as its type species. Both male and female are described in detail and their systematic position is discussed. Nomenclatural Actsjaponicus Grover & Prasad, 1968 (Golanudiplosis), spec. n.Golanudiplosis Grover & Prasad, 1968 (Itonididae), gen. n

Ion-Solvent Interaction of Potassium Iodide in N,N-Dimethylacetamide-Water Mixtures from Viscosity Data

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Purification and regulation of aspartate transcarbamylase from germinated mung bean (Vigna radiata) seedlings

Aspartate transcarbamylase (EC 2.1.3.2) was purified to homogeniety from germinated mung bean seedlings by treatment with carbamyl phosphate. The purified enzyme was a hexamer with a subunit molecular weight of 20,600. The enzyme exhibited multiple activity bands on Polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, which could be altered by treatment with carbamyl phosphate or UMP indicating that the enzyme was probably undergoing reversible association or dissociation in the presence of these effectors. The carbamyl phosphate stabilized enzyme did not exhibit positive homotropic interactions with carbamyl phosphate and hysteresis. The enzyme which had not been exposed to carbamyl phosphate showed a decrease in specific activity with a change in the concentration of both carbamyl phosphate and protein. The carbamyl phosphate saturation and UMP inhibition patterns were complex with a maximum and a plateau region. The partially purified enzyme also exhibited hysteresis and the hysteretic response, a function of protein concentration, was abolished by preincubation with carbamyl phosphate and enhanced by preincubation with UMP. All these observations are compatible with a postulation that the enzyme activity may be regulated by slow reversible association-dissociation dependent on the interaction with allosteric ligands

Interaction of Rose bengal with Mung bean Aspartate transcarbamylase

The fluorescein dye, rose bengal in the dark: (i) inhibited the activity of mung bean aspartate transcarbamylase (EC 2.1.3.2) in a non-competitive manner, when aspartate was the varied substrate; (ii) induced a lag in the time course of reaction and this hysteresis was abolished upon preincubation with carbamyl phosphate; and (iii) converted the multiple bands observed on polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of enzyme into a single band. The binding of the dye to the enzyme induced a red shift in the visible spectrum of dye suggesting that it was probably interacting at a hydrophobic region in the enzyme. The dye, in the presence of light, inactivated the enzyme and the inactivation was not dependent on pH. All the effects of the dye could be reversed by UMP, an allosteric inhibitor of the enzyme. The loss of enzyme activity on photoinactivation and the partial protection afforded by Nphosphonoacetyl- L-aspartate, a transition state analog and carbamyl phosphate plus succinate, a competitive inhibitor for aspartate, as well as the reversal of the dye difference spectrum by N-phosphonoacetyl-L-aspartate suggested that in the mung bean aspartate transcarbamylase, unlike in the case of Escherichia coli enzyme, the active and allosteric sites may be located close to each other

Efficacy of bipolar hemiarthroplasty in the elderly people: a study in a tertiary care centre

Background: Intertrochanteric fractures are associated with severe displacement and comminution are very common among the elderly patients especially women. Hemiarthroplasty is a procedure, where the head of the femur is replaced with a prosthetic implant. This study was performed to evaluate the efficacy of the bipolar hemiarthroplasty among the elderly patients with intra capsular fractures.Methods: Bipolar hemiarthroplasty with or without cement was performed on 77 patients above the age of 60 years with femoral neck fractures.Results: Out of the 77 patients, 79.2% were females and 20.8% were males. The mean age of all the patients was 68.4 years. Type IV was found to be most common among the elderly. The outcome of the surgery was excellent in more than 75% of the cases. Only one patient had a poor outcome. The most common complication of the surgery was limb shortening in 5.2% patients followed by superficial infections in 2.6%. Conclusions: Bipolar hemiarthroplasty for the unstable hip fractures in the elderly has good results with early mobilizations and minimal complications. This ultimately affects the general health of the patients and reduces morbidity and mortality