Evaluation of Nutritional, Phytochemical, and Mineral Composition of Selected Medicinal Plants for Therapeutic Uses from Cold Desert of Western Himalaya

The aim of this study was to determine the elemental and nutritive values of leaf parts of 10 selected wild medicinal plants, Acer pictum, Acer caecium, Betula utilis, Oxalis corniculata, Euphorbia pilosa, Heracleum lanatum, Urtica dioica, Berberis lycium, Berberis asiaticaand, and Quercus ilex, collected from the high hills of the Chitkul range in district Kinnaur, Western Himalaya. The nutritional characteristics of medicinal plant species were analyzed by using muffle furnace and micro-Kjeldahl methods, and the mineral content in plants was analyzed through atomic absorption spectrometry. The highest percentage of used value was reported in Betula utilis (0.42) and the lowest in Quercus ilex (0.17). In this study, it was found that new generations are not much interested in traditional knowledge of ethnomedicinal plants due to modernization in society. Therefore, there is an urgent need to document ethnomedicinal plants along with their phytochemical and minerals analysis in study sites. It was found that rural people in western Himalaya are dependent on wild medicinal plants, and certain steps must be taken to conserve these plants from extinction in the cold desert of Himalayan region. They are an alternative source of medicine because they contain saponin, alkaloid, and flavonoid etc. as well as minerals. The leaves used for analysis possesses good mineral content, such as Na, N, K, P, Zn, Fe, Cu, Mn, Ca, Mg, and S. Hence, in the current study it was observed that medicinal plants are not only used for therapeutic purposes, but they can also be used as nutritional supplements

City Profile: Hyderabad

The report documents the urban transformation of Hyderabad, from its founding in the sixteenth century to its present day positioning as a global centre, especially for Information Technology (IT)- and Life Sciences-based industries. Locating the city’s contemporary experience of climate in this history is important. While the city has been a key cultural and economic centre since its founding, its transformation into a global centre has dramatically altered the city’s spatial and demographic characteristics, and the texture of its built environment. Such transformations have profound implications for how heat is experienced and responded to in the city

Ethnomedicinal Plants Used in the Health Care System: Survey of the Mid Hills of Solan District, Himachal Pradesh, India

The study was performed in the mid hills of the Dharampur region in Solan district of Himachal Pradesh, India. At the study site, a total of 115 medicinal plants were documented (38 trees, 37 herbs, 34 shrubs, 5 climbers, 1 fern, and 1 grass). In the study region, extensive field surveys were performed between March 2020 and August 2021. Indigenous knowledge of wild medicinal plants was collected through questionnaires, discussions, and personal interviews during field trips. Plants with their correct nomenclature were arranged by botanical name, family, common name, habitat, parts used, routes used, and diseases treated. In the present study, the predominant family was Rosaceae, which represented the maximum number of plant species, 10, followed by Asteraceae and Lamiaceae, which represented 8 plant species. The rural inhabitants of the Dharampur region in the Solan district have been using local plants for primary health care and the treatment of various diseases for a longer time. However, information related to the traditional knowledge of medicinal plants was not documented. The rural inhabitants of the Dharampur region reported that the new generation is not so interested in traditional knowledge of medicinal plants due to modernization in society, so there is an urgent need to document ethnomedicinal plants before such knowledge becomes inaccessible and extinct

Volt/VAR management for transmission and distribution systems with wind energy

High integration of wind power generation is expected into electric power grid to meet the energy sustainability and security requirement supported by federal policies and state renewable portfolio standards. However, the presence of such renewable sources in the transmission and distribution networks need to be analyzed by sufficient system impact studies to ensure reliability of power supply. The associated influence of these technologies can easily affect the existing volt/VAr management schemes. Advanced wind generator units are capable of providing additional volt/VAr support to the grid due to their advanced power electronic interfaces. These can be operated in power factor control mode, voltage control mode and voltage regulating mode. Recent research and utility case studies have justified the need for additional VAr support in the network during normal and emergency operating conditions. Different management schemes must be formulated in order to v operate the transmission and distribution systems to meet their unique goals based on the operational objectives, network topologies and control mechanism. As a part of this work, coordinated volt/VAr management schemes are developed for the transmission and distribution network. Based on the lessons learnt from the Western Electricity Coordinating Council Regional Transmission Expansion Planning project, coordinated volt/VAr schemes are developed that optimize the transmission system loadability considering the voltage stability margin and utilizing Flexible AC Transmission System devices and wind generators reactive power capability

Design and Fabrication of Electric Portable Tiller for Agricultural Purpose

In Indian Agriculture, Generally tractors or cultivator machines are commonly used for ploughing. Before this method farmers uses the traditional method this is time consuming and hardworking and costly. Despite the massive mechanization of agriculture in some regions of the nation, the majority of agricultural activities in the country's bigger areas are carried out by hand utilizing rudimentary and traditional equipment and implements such as a wooden plough sickle, and so on. This low-cost portable battery-powered electric power tiller machine is a one-stop contemporary solution to improve traditional farming practices by reducing human labor at a very cheap cost through the use of a motorized tilling mechanism. Because design and manufacture are the keys of engineering, mechanical engineering education requires real design and production. Using a clever portable design, the electric power tiller helps minimize the time and expense required in tilling, consequently enhancing agricultural output and efficiency

Moisture rainout fraction over the Indian Ocean during austral summer based on O-18/O-16 ratios of surface seawater, rainwater at latitude range of 10 degrees N-60 degrees S

Oxygen isotope ratios () of surface seawater and rainwater samples from the Indian Ocean region () during austral summer collected onboard ORV Sagar Nidhi during 2011-2013 have been measured along with salinity, sea surface temperature and relative humidity. The rainwater is isotopically lighter (by compared to the equilibrium condensation of the vapour arising from the seawater at the ambient condition. The isotopic composition of the vapour at high altitude responsible for the rain formation at the sampling location is estimated from a global atmospheric water isotope model (IsoGSM2). The apparent deficit of 5 can be explained by invoking a high degree of rainout (on average, about 70% of the overhead atmospheric moisture) during transport of the source vapour to the sampling location undergoing a Rayleigh fractionation. The required rainout fraction is higher (80%) in the latitude belt compared to the equatorial belt (60%). The pattern of variation in the rainout fraction with latitude is consistent with the well-known evaporation/precipitation processes in the Indian Ocean

A review on current status of radioactivity monitoring in Indian nonnuclear industries

The distribution of naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORM) generated/discharged in nonnuclear industries such as coal combustion residuals from different coal-based power plants, fertilizer, construction, tobacco, and other industries into the environment, has not been reviewed in the Indian context. In the present review, systematic survey and analysis of the reported occurrence of U238, Th232, and K40 in these nonnuclear industrial sectors is discussed. Most of the data compiled and described in this review are sourced from major popularly referred, peer-reviewed scientific journal publications since the year 2005. Apart from radioactivity levels in products from nonnuclear industrial sectors different radiological indices such as absorbed dose, dose rate, etc., are also compared and discussed. Overall, this review presents a comprehensive analysis of NORMs in nonnuclear industrial sectors of India

A study of transobturator tape in stress urinary incontinence

Background: Stress urinary incontinence (SUI) is commonly encountered in gynecological practice. Nowadays, midurethral sling surgeries in the form of transobturator tape (TOT) surgery are recommended in its treatment. Aims and Objectives: To assess the outcome and patient satisfaction of TOT surgery in the treatment of SUI. Materials and Methods: A prospective study was undertaken for patients of SUI who underwent TOT surgery by the outside in method and followed up for 5 years. The patients were assessed clinically and by the Patient Global Impression of Improvement (PGI-I) preoperatively and at postoperative day 3, discharge and 3 months follow-up. Results: Successful surgical treatment with TOT was seen in all patients at the time of discharge. There was no recurrence of SUI seen up to 1 year, but at 5-year follow-up two patients had a recurrence of SUI on examination though they did not complain of SUI. Urinary retention, tape extrusion, and groin stitch infection were the commonly seen complications following surgery. On subjective assessment, 61 patients were completely satisfied at day 3, and all patients were completely satisfied at discharge and 3 months follow-up as per the PGI-I score. Conclusion: TOT gives an excellent outcome in the treatment of SUI

Remotely controllable supramolecular rotor mounted inside a porphyrinic cage

© 2021 Elsevier Inc.The confinement of molecular machines into nanostructured cages and controlling their functions by external stimuli holds great potential for the creation of smart functional materials that imitate the embodied intelligence of biological processes. Herein, we report the construction of a supramolecular rotor in a porous Zn-metallated porphyrinic cage (1) by encapsulation of a tetrazine-based linear axle (LA) via metal-ligand coordination bond, followed by post-assembly modification to append a controllable side arm to LA via inverse electron demand Diels-Alder (IEDDA) reaction. While the rotor alone shows nearly no motion, the addition of pyridine derivatives as a zinc coordinating ligand results in both 90° jump-like rotary motion of the rotor and slow tumbling motion of the rotor axle in a stochastic manner. Interestingly, the dual motions of the rotor can be reversibly controlled by the UV and visible light-induced coordination and dissociation of an azopyridine-based ligand with Zn centers as a signal transducer.11Nsciescopu