Evaluation of antagonistic fungi against charcoal rot of sunflower caused by Macrophomina phaseolina (Tassi) Goid.

In vitro, sensitivity of Macrophomina phaseolina (Tassi) Goid determined through inhibition zone technique to various antagonistic fungi viz., Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus flavus, Trichoderma viride, Trichoderma harzianum and Penicillium capsulatum amended into PDA medium. All the antagonists reduced the colony growth of M. Phaseolina significantly compared to the control A. flavus was proved to be the most effective (66.00%) in reducing the colony growth of M. Phaseolina followed by A. niger (55.55%), T. viride (51.11%), T. harzianum (26.67%) and P. capsulatum (11.11%) respectively over control. A. flavus due to it antifungal metabolites activities was the most effective while P. capsulatum was the least effective. Seeds of four varieties treated with the culture of A. flavus, A. niger, T. viride and P. capsulatum and there combinations were sown in pots having infested soil (M. phaseolina). Results showed reduction in disease incidence of charcoal rot on sunflower cultivar G-66 with antagonist, A. flavus (100%) followed by A. niger (64.86%) P. capsulatum (63.79%) and T. viride (31.89%) over control. Decrease in disease incidence over control was 100% where seed was treated with combination of A. niger and A. flavus while A. niger and T. viride combination was least effective on G-66 (30.80%). All antagonists reduced the disease incidence on G-66 (Highly resistant), HRBS-1, (Resistant), G-72 (Moderately susceptible) and G-51 (susceptible) but were most effective on highly resistant variety (G-66) while least effective on susceptible variety (G-51).Key words: Sunflowers, Macrophomina phaseolina, antagonistic fungi

Effect of Original Layer Thicknesses on the Interface Bonding and Mechanical Properties of Ti-Al Laminate Composites

It is of great significance in high-temperature aeroengine applications for large-surface-area TiAl laminate composites to be fabricated into Ti-Al3Ti parts by plastic forming and subsequent vacuum hot pressing. Then the original layer thicknesses have an important influence on the interface bonding and mechanical properties of TiAl laminate composites, but only few reports about it have been published so far. In the present study, vacuum hot pressing was employed to fabricate TiAl laminate composites using Ti and Al foils of different thickness. The resulting interface bond and mechanical properties of TiAl laminate composites were then studied to determine the optimum sheet configuration and thickness. To further assess their formability and develop a forming limit diagram (FLD), 0.1/0.15 TiAl laminate composites were operated on bending and forming tests to provide guidance for subsequent plastic forming of complex geometries. The results indicated that hot pressed laminates composed of alternating 0.1 (Al) and 0.15 (Ti) mm thick sheets exhibited enhanced superior interface bonding and mechanical properties compared with 0.2/0.25 and 0.4/0.4 sheets. The 0.1/0.15 TiAl laminate composites had excellent bending characteristics and reasonable formability. Fabrication of a drawn cup further confirms the potential for hot pressed TiAl laminate composites to be fabricated into complex shapes

Interaction of Ketotifen Fumarate with Anhydrous Theophylline in Simulated Gastric and Intestinal Media and Effect on Protein Binding

Purpose: The purpose of the present study was to investigate interaction between ketotifen fumarate and anhydrous theophylline in aqueous media of various pH.Methods: By using Job’s continuous-variation analysis and Ardon’s spectrophotomeric methods, the values of stability constants of theophylline with ketotifen were determined at a fixed temperature (37 0C) at each of the medium pH. In vitro study of protein (bovine albumin, fraction v) binding was carried out by equilibrium dialysis method at pH 7.4 to ascertain the influence of ketotifen on the protein binding of theophylline.Results: Stability constant, ranging between 5.07 and 6.35, were derived from Ardon’s plot, indicating that complexes formed, as a result of interaction between the drugs, were comparatively stable. However, following theophylline interaction with ketotifen, stability constant was < 1 at gastric pH (0.4 and 2.0) and 4.12 at intestinal pH. (6.0)The highest degree of protein binding by ketotifen was 98 % and the lowest 90 %. For theophylline, the highest and lowest degrees of protein binding were 90 and 85 %, respectively.Conclusion: Concurrent administration of ketotifen and theophylline would result in the formation of a stable complex and this is likely to reduce the therapeutic activities of both drugs. With regard to protein binding, the concentration of theophylline increased with decrease in ketotifen concentration.Keywords: Stability constant, Job’s method, Ardon’s method, Ketotifen fumarate, Complex formation, Protein binding, Theophyllin

EVALUATION OF ROOT AND LEAF OF ABUTILON THEOPHRASTI MEDIK FOR ANTIFUNGAL ACTIVITY

ABSTRACTThe investigation was aimed to carry out the antifungal activities of the methanol and aqueous extracts of Abutilon theophrasti against four fungalstrains (Microsporum gypseum, Penicillium spp., Fusarium spp., Aspergillus spp.). Antifungal activity of the extracts was determined by the discdiffusion method against various fungi with soubred dextrose agar as media. Methanolic extracts of A. theophrasti showed promising antifungalactivity compared to aqueous extracts against selected fungal species. Methanolic extract of leaf displayed the highest activity with zone of inhibition14 mm against Penicillium spp. which were totally concentration dependent; however, a poor activity was seen in aqueous extracts. Methanolicextracts of root displayed good antifungal activity, while as no activity was seen in aqueous extracts of root. The results obtained in the study showthat methanolic leaf extracts possess phytoconstituents with potent antifungal activity.Keywords: Abutilon, Methanol, Rhizopus, Penicillium

Directly Printable Organic ASK Based Chipless RFID Tag for IoT Applications

A chipless RFID tag with unique ASK encoding technique is presented in this paper. The coding efficiency is enhanced regarding tag capacity. The amplitude variations of the backscattered RFID signal is used for encoding data instead of OOK Strips of different widths are used to have amplitude variations. The ASK technique is applied using three different substrates of Kapton (R) HN, PET, and paper. To incorporate ASK technique, dual polarized rhombic shaped resonators are designed. These tags operate in the frequency range of 3.1-10.6 GHz with size of 70 x 42 mm(2). The presented tags are flexible and offer easy printability. The paper-based decomposable organic tag appears as an ultra low-cost solution for wide scale tracking. This feature enables them to secure a prominent position in the emerging fields of IoT and green electronics

Detecting 2-joins faster

2-joins are edge cutsets that naturally appear in the decomposition of several classes of graphs closed under taking induced subgraphs, such as balanced bipartite graphs, even-hole-free graphs, perfect graphs and claw-free graphs. Their detection is needed in several algorithms, and is the slowest step for some of them. The classical method to detect a 2-join takes $O(n^3m)$ time where $n$ is the number of vertices of the input graph and $m$ the number of its edges. To detect \emph{non-path} 2-joins (special kinds of 2-joins that are needed in all of the known algorithms that use 2-joins), the fastest known method takes time $O(n^4m)$. Here, we give an $O(n^2m)$-time algorithm for both of these problems. A consequence is a speed up of several known algorithms

Automated Conversion of Music Videos into Lyric Videos

Musicians and fans often produce lyric videos, a form of music videos that showcase the song's lyrics, for their favorite songs. However, making such videos can be challenging and time-consuming as the lyrics need to be added in synchrony and visual harmony with the video. Informed by prior work and close examination of existing lyric videos, we propose a set of design guidelines to help creators make such videos. Our guidelines ensure the readability of the lyric text while maintaining a unified focus of attention. We instantiate these guidelines in a fully automated pipeline that converts an input music video into a lyric video. We demonstrate the robustness of our pipeline by generating lyric videos from a diverse range of input sources. A user study shows that lyric videos generated by our pipeline are effective in maintaining text readability and unifying the focus of attention

The Coyote Universe I: Precision Determination of the Nonlinear Matter Power Spectrum

Near-future cosmological observations targeted at investigations of dark energy pose stringent requirements on the accuracy of theoretical predictions for the clustering of matter. Currently, N-body simulations comprise the only viable approach to this problem. In this paper we demonstrate that N-body simulations can indeed be sufficiently controlled to fulfill these requirements for the needs of ongoing and near-future weak lensing surveys. By performing a large suite of cosmological simulation comparison and convergence tests we show that results for the nonlinear matter power spectrum can be obtained at 1% accuracy out to k~1 h/Mpc. The key components of these high accuracy simulations are: precise initial conditions, very large simulation volumes, sufficient mass resolution, and accurate time stepping. This paper is the first in a series of three, with the final aim to provide a high-accuracy prediction scheme for the nonlinear matter power spectrum.Comment: 18 pages, 22 figures, minor changes to address referee repor