Evaluation of antioxidant activity of flower and seed oil of Azadirachta indica A. juss

The present study on evaluation of antioxidant activity of the flowers and seed oil of Neem plant Azardirachta indica A. Juss revealed that the ethanolic extract of flowers and seed oil at 200 ?g/ml producing the highest free radical scavenging activity i.e. 64.17±0.02% and 66.34±0.06% respectively. The Neem oil has the highest amount of total phenol content (132 ?g/ml) which is responsible for highest percentage of inhibition of DPPH radical. In conclusion Neem flower and seed oil have potential for use in human health which is used as food by common people and in diabetes and Neem seed oil is widely used for variety of diseases and also antioxidant potential for use in different pharmaceutical industries

Facile synthesis of mesoporous N doped zirconium titanium mixed oxide nanomaterial with enhanced photocatalytic activity under visible light

The present paper deals with a hydrazine mediated synthesis of high surface area and thermally stable N-doped zirconium titanium mixed oxide with enhanced photocatalytic activity towards reduction of selenium (VI) to metallic Se0 under visible light. Materials were synthesized at pH ¼ 2 by varying the hydrazine concentration and characterized by XRD, TEM, BET method, XPS, Raman spectroscopy and UV-vis solid state spectra. Presence of low amount of zirconium oxide (10 wt%) helps in phase stabilization and maintains the porous structure even at higher calcinations temperature in comparison to that of pure titania. XPS spectrum justifies the presence of nitrogen and Ti3+ in the material due to the decomposition reaction of hydrazine. Hydrazine controls the nitrogen content, surface area and the formation of oxygen vacancy in the material. Investigation of metal oxide to hydrazine ratio on the overall surface properties and photocatalytic activity indicates that the 1 : 6 ratio is the optimum composition for the best result. Surface area and pore volume increases to 298 m2/g and 0.323 cm3/g. The obtained material (TiZr-6N-400) is found to reduce selenium (VI) to selenium (0) under visible light within only 45 min of reaction. Increased photocatalytic activity under visible light is mostly due to the synergistic effect of substantial nitrogen doping, high surface area and presence of oxygen vacancy

Cryptanalytic Attacks on IDEA Block Cipher

International data encryption algorithm (IDEA) is a secret key or symmetric key block cipher. The purpose of IDEA was to replace data encryption standard (DES) cipher, which became practically insecure due to its small key size of 56 bits and increase in computational power of systems. IDEA cipher mainly to provide data confidentiality in variety of applications such as commercial and financial application e.g. pretty good privacy (PGP) protocol. Till 2015, no successful linear or algebraic weaknesses IDEA of have been reported. In this paper, author explained IDEA cipher, its application in PGP and did a systematic survey of various attacks attempted on IDEA cipher. The best cryptanalysis result which applied to all keys could break IDEA up to 6 rounds out of 8.5 rounds of the full IDEA cipher1. But the attack requires 264 known plaintexts and 2126.8 operations for reduced round version. This attack is practically not feasible due to above mention mammoth data and time requirements. So IDEA cipher is still completely secure for practical usage. PGP v2.0 uses IDEA cipher in place of BassOmatic which was found to be insecure for providing data confidentiality

The Multi‐Scale Dynamics of Groundwater Depletion

Unsustainable depletion of aquifer storage and diversion of groundwater from downstream users continue to be serious problems, even though their adverse effects are widely recognized. Groundwater depletion involves interactions between economically motivated pumping decisions and physical constraints. Here, we investigate these interactions by using optimal control techniques to describe the pumping decisions of economic agents who share an aquifer. Our approach relies on a multi-scale description of unconfined groundwater flow, applied to a computational experiment that illustrates some important impacts of aquifer development. We show that cooperative groundwater management can provide higher economic benefits, with less storage depletion, than an uncooperative alternative. However, demand for water still drives pumping decisions, even when users cooperate. In many aquifers the benefits of pumping are necessarily accompanied by a reduction in aquifer outflow and by depletion of the groundwater reserve, for both cooperative and uncooperative management. These benefits decrease significantly when pumping is limited by well yield constraints or when the diversion of aquifer outflow is restricted. Our overall analysis emphasizes the importance of viewing aquifer management as part of a larger resource allocation problem that considers the conflicting needs of well operators, downstream users, and future consumers of the resource

Effect of integrated nutrient management on growth and productivity of Withania somnifera (L.) Dunal in Kymore Plateau and Satpura hills of Madhya Pradesh, India

The field experiment was carried out at the Dusty Acres Farm, Jawaharlal Nehru Krishi Vishwa Vidyalaya (JNKVV), Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh to study the effect of integrated nutrient management for growth and yield of Withania somnifera (L.) Dunal (Variety: Jawahar Ashwagandha-134). Tallest plants (49.35 cm) were observed at harvest stage, whereas higher number of branches per plant (5.78) of W. somnifera was observed at 90 DAS with T11, respectively. The mean number of leaves per plant (125.40) and LAI (10.345) of W. somnifera was higher at 90 DAS with T11. Mean CGR was maximum (2.536 g m-2 week-1) and mean RGR was highest (0.098 gg-1 day-1) of W. somnifera at 90 DAS and thereafter decline at 120 DAS and harvest stage with T11. Whereas, mean dry matter (1392.60 kg/ha) production of W. somnifera was higher at harvesting stage of crop with T11. Significantly higher mean root length (16.30 cm), root girth (2.26 cm) and mean dry root yield (612.8 kg/ha) of W. somnifera was recorded under T11 than the rest of treatments. Mean number of berries per plant (30.78) and mean number of seeds per berry (194.17) of W. somnifera were significantly higher under T11. Higher mean seed yield (62.6 kg/ha) and harvest index (43.61%) of W. somnifera was observed under T11 as compared to other treatments. Therefore, 100% recommended dose of NPK through fertilizers along with vermicompost (2.5 t/ha), FYM (5.0 t/ha) and ZnSO4 20kg/ha (T11) followed by 50% recommended dose of NPK through fertilizers along with vermicompost (2.5 t/ha), FYM (5.0 t/ha) and ZnSO4 20kg/ha (T14) and 100% recommended dose of NPK through fertilizers along with vermicompost (2.5 t/ha) and ZnSO4 20kg/ha (T10) were found to be better integrated nutrient management for the cultivation of W. somnifera

Impact of torrential rain on coastal ecosystem at kalpakkam, southeast coast of India

1609-1615The present study focuses on the drastic changes observed in the coastal ecosystem at Kalpakkam during flooding event due to huge rainfall that occurred in and around northern Tamil Nadu during December 2015. A significant increase in hydrological parameters (nitrate, phosphate, silicate, total nitrogen and phosphorous) was recorded as compared to previous years (2006-2014). In the present instance, the coastal water salinity which was about 19 psu was the lowest as compared to the data available since 1979. The phytoplankton population density was severely affected by the runoff. The present observed density 1.4 x 104 cells l-1 was the lowest among the available data at this coast. Availability of green algae species in the coastal waters was significantly high (10 species, 17 % of total species) as compared to previous reports. One of the most interesting features of this study was the observation of epibiosis on zooplankton in massive numbers. A comparison of previous occurrences of epibiotic relationship in plankton community with the present observation showed a staggering increase in epibiosis to 38 % of zooplankton species as compared to 5-13 % during 2008-2014

Envisioning the future of behavioral decision-making: A systematic literature review of behavioral reasoning theory

Behavioral theories have been extensively referred to in consumer behavior literature to understand the factors influencing user intentions and behavior. Behavioral reasoning theory (BRT) is a relatively new theory that determines the linkage between beliefs, reasons, motives, intentions, and behavior. This study conducts a systematic literature review (SLR) to synthesize the existing body of knowledge around BRT. The present SLR critically examines the origin of this theory and its linkages with other behavioral theories, thus providing insightful knowledge on its foundations. Further, it presents the state-of-the-art research knowledge, research themes, implications, and future directions related to BRT literature. Our analysis shows that the reasons for and reasons against construct plays an important role in predicting consumer behavior. This study also finds that research related to BRT is growing rapidly and needs methodological advancements. These findings will enable scholars and practitioners to better understand how BRT works, what its strengths and potential are, the contexts in which it has been utilized, its existing limitations, and the sort of methodological advancements needed in future studies on marketing.</p

An assessment of water management measures for climate change adaptation of agriculture in Seewinkel

To develop appropriate climate change adaptation plans, evidence of the effectiveness of adaptation measures is required. At a regional scale, however, this information is usually lacking. The region of Seewinkel in Austria was taken as a case study because of its extensive agricultural industry and its unique ecosystem of saline lakes. The goal of the study was to provide stakeholders with evidence to support their climate change adaptation process. Adaptation measures discussed by local stakeholders were analyzed to determine their efficacy. A system dynamics (SD) based model was developed to serve as a tool for the water policy analysis and to be used in place of advanced hydrological models. The model was calibrated using observational data and forced with bias-adjusted EURO-CORDEX climate data for three representative concentration pathways (RCPs) (2010–2100). Three parameters in the model were changed to simulate adaptation measures. The results showed that combined measures, increasing irrigation efficiency and changing crops could reduce water demand by an average of 40 %, 23 % and 23 %, respectively, for all RCPs. The local aquifer's level could be increased above the historical average by an average of 0.43 m by combined measures, 0.20 m by increasing irrigation efficiency, 0.20 m by changing crops and 0.06 m by artificially recharging the aquifer

In vivo Antidiabetic and Antioxidant Potential of Stephania hernandifolia in Streptozotocin-Induced-Diabetic Rats

Stephania hernandifolia (Menispermaceae) is a medicinal plant, used by herbalists for treating various diseases, one of which is diabetes mellitus, in Darjeeling. However, its antidiabetic activity has not been scientifically investigated so far. The aim of this study, therefore, is to investigate the antidiabetic and antioxidant potential of the powdered corm of Stephania hernandifolia. This was tested in normal and Streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic rats, using oral administration of ethanol and an aqueous extract (400 mg/kg body weight) of Stephania hernandifolia corm. After the oral administration of water and ethanol extracts at doses of 400 mg/kg body weight, blood glucose levels were monitored at specific intervals and it was found that they were significant lowered. Glibenclamide was used as a standard drug at a dose of 0.25 mg/kg. The experimental data revealed that both extracts has significant antihyperglycemic and antioxidant activity in Streptozotocin-induced rats compared to the standard drug. The antioxidant activity in vitro was measured by means of the 1, 1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and Superoxide-free radical scavenging assay. Ascorbic acid, a natural antioxidant, was used as a control. The extracts of ethanol and aqueous were strongly scavenged DPPH radicals, with IC50 being 265.33 and 217.90 µg/ml, respectively. Although the extracts of ethanol and aqueous were moderately scavenged, the superoxide radical were with IC50 values of 526.87 and 440.89 µg/ml. The study revealed that the ethanolic extract exhibited more significant antidiabetic and antioxidant activity then the aqueous extract