Effect of microwave heating on ph and termite resistance of Pinus roxburghii wood

This study investigated the effect of microwave treatment on wood pH and termite resistance. Pinus roxburghii heartwood was exposed to four different microwave intensities at 2450 MHz frequency for 5 minutes. Preservative impregnation, pH variation and termite resistance of microwave-treated and control specimens were studied. Wood pH decreased from 4.6 (C1) to 3.9 (T4) and preservative uptake increased (i.e., 10.41 to 21.61 kgm-3) with increasing microwave treatment intensities. However, microwave treatment had little effect on termite resistance

Treatability of Melia composita using vacuum pressure impregnation

The performance of treated wood in the field is ultimately affected by retention and penetration of preservative in wood. In the present study, a new preservative system ZiBOC and a commercially used preservative copper-chrome-arsenate (CCA) were used for evaluation of treatability of Melia composita by the vacuum pressure method at different pressure levels in unsealed and end sealed specimens. The retention and penetration levels of both the preservatives were significantly different at (P< 0.05) in sapwood, heartwood and pith zones. Melia composita exhibited treatability class ‘C’ (21 – 42% penetration). The results revealed that longitudinal penetration in Melia composita was the dominant flow as examined by spot test for copper in unsealed and end sealed specimens

Role of interface morphology on the martensitic transformation in pure Fe

Using classical molecular dynamics simulations, we study austenite to ferrite phase transformation in iron, focusing on the role of interface morphology. We compare two different morphologies; a \textit{flat} interface in which the two phases are joined according to Nishiyama-Wasserman orientation relationship vs. a \textit{ledged} one, having steps similar to the vicinal surface. We identify the atomic displacements along a misfit dislocation network at the interface leading to the phase transformation. In case of \textit{ledged} interface, stacking faults are nucleated at the steps, which hinder the interface motion, leading to a lower mobility of the inter-phase boundary, than that of flat interface. Interestingly, we also find the temperature dependence of the interface mobility to show opposite trends in case of \textit{flat} vs. \textit{ledged} boundary. We believe that our study is going to present a unified and comprehensive view of martensitic transformation in iron with different interface morphology, which is lacking at present, as \textit{flat} and \textit{ledged} interfaces are treated separately in the existing literature.Comment: 10 pages, 9 figure

Morphological Evaluation and Grading of Human Embryo Quality from Day - 1 to Day - 3 Embryos for Optimum Conceiving Rate

A grading system of human embryo is very important for embryo selection & predicting blastocyst formation from day - 1, day 2, & day – 3, were sequentially explained. We were designed a methods for grading of embryos from day – 1 (zygote as a pronuclear evaluation, PN), day – 2 (cleavage stage) and day - 3 (evaluation of developmental stage according to cell size and fragmentation) embryo according to cell size and degree of fragmentation and early compaction. In the first grading system pronuclear study and poly-spermy, Second grading system is based on the blastomere / cell number and the observation of fragmentation pattern and selection for embryo transfer, embryos vitrification and pregnancy outcome. Assessment of embryo quality in order to select the embryos that have higher chance to give pregnancy, it is critical goal in IVF cycle or assisted reproductive technologies. ET current trend in human infertility treatment with IVF / ICSI embryo transfer (IVF / ICSI ET) is to increase the chance of higher pregnancy and reduce the multiple pregnancies after multiple embryo transfer according to patient age and endometrium thickness as well as own ART Laboratory protocol. Morphological evaluation & grading of human embryo as a reliable and no-invasive method that provides valuable information & prediction of IVF/ICSI embryos which has developmental potential to reach till early compaction or blastocyst. This research paper describes the current status of morphological embryo evaluation from zygote to eight cell blastomeres or early compaction on late day 3. We found higher embryo development potential and early compaction during in-vitro embryo culture conditions and higher implantation rate in Grade A embryos in comparison transferred of Grade B embryos. Overall embryo development in-vitro and conceiving rate was seen 48.06 % after embryo transfer of both grades A and Grade B embryos in 233 patients in different age group with different endometrium thickness and multiple embryos transfer in one uterus depend on patient previous history. 935Embryos was selected from 2702 developing embryos for embryo transfer (ET) was performed in 233 patients. After this study we found implantation rate (IR) was 48.06% based on embryo quality, morphology and grade.</p

Role of Organochlorine Pesticides in Chronic Kidney Diseases of Unknown Etiology

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) contributes to a significant burden on the healthcare system and economy worldwide. In the last two decades, a new form of CKD: chronic kidney disease of unknown etiology (CKDu) in which the disease is not attributed to known causes has emerged as a major health issue in different geographical areas over the world mainly from farming community and has become a global concern today. Despite intense and numerous research works dedicated to CKDu, very little is known with certainty regarding its etiology and the pathophysiology behind its development. Recent evidences are emerging in favor of possible role of agrochemicals and pesticides in the pathogenesis of CKDu. Organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) due to their longer half-life and lipophilic nature persist long in the environment and are known to be biomagnified through food chain. Some study reports by the authors and a few others constitute the important body of evidences depicting the association between chronic exposures to OCPs and occurrence of CKDu through environmental contamination in farming as well as non-farming communities in different geographical areas around the globe

High yield synthesis of electrolyte heating assisted electrochemically exfoliated graphene for electromagnetic interference shielding applications

Herein, we demonstrate a facile one pot synthesis of graphene nanosheets by electrochemical exfoliation of graphite. In the present study, we report a significant increase in the yield of graphene by electrolyte heating assisted electrochemical exfoliation method. The obtained results of heating assisted electrochemically exfoliated graphene (utilizing H2SO4 + KOH + DW) synthesis clearly exhibit that the yield increases similar to 4.5 times i.e. from similar to 17% (room temperature) to similar to 77% (at 80 degrees C). A plausible mechanism for the enhanced yield based on lattice expansion and vibration of intercalated ions has been put forward and discussed in details. The quality of graphene was examined by Raman, XPS, FTIR, AFM, SEM, TEM/HRTEM and TGA techniques. The Raman as well as morphogenesis results confirm the quality of the graphene nanosheets. We have used this graphene as electromagnetic interference shielding material where a comparatively large quantity of graphene is required. This graphene exhibits enhanced shielding effectiveness (46 dB at 1 mm thickness of stacked graphene sheets in frequency region 12.4 to 18 GHz) as compared to conventional electromagnetic interference shielding materials, which is greater than the recommended limit (similar to 30 dB) for techno-commercial applications. Thus the present work is suggestive for future studies on enhancement of yield of high quality graphene by proposed method and the use of synthesized graphene in electromagnetic interference shielding and other possible applications

High-performance field emission device utilizing vertically aligned carbon nanotubes-based pillar architectures

The vertical aligned carbon nanotubes (CNTs)-based pillar architectures were created on laminated silicon oxide/silicon (SiO2/Si) wafer substrate at 775 degrees C by using water-assisted chemical vapor deposition under low pressure process condition. The lamination was carried out by aluminum (Al, 10.0 nm thickness) as a barrier layer and iron (Fe, 1.5 nm thickness) as a catalyst precursor layer sequentially on a silicon wafer substrate. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) images show that synthesized CNTs are vertically aligned and uniformly distributed with a high density. The CNTs have approximately 2-30 walls with an inner diameter of 3-8 nm. Raman spectrum analysis shows G-band at 1580 cm(-1) and D-band at 1340 cm(-1). The G-band is higher than D-band, which indicates that CNTs are highly graphitized. The field emission analysis of the CNTs revealed high field emission current density (4mA/cm(2) at 1.2V/mu m), low turn-on field (0.6 V/mu m) and field enhancement factor (6917) with better stability and longer lifetime. Emitter morphology resulting in improved promising field emission performances, which is a crucial factor for the fabrication of pillared shaped vertical aligned CNTs bundles as practical electron source

An Improved Method for High Quality Metagenomics DNA Extraction from Human and Environmental Samples

To explore the natural microbial community of any ecosystems by high-resolution molecular approaches including next generation sequencing, it is extremely important to develop a sensitive and reproducible DNA extraction method that facilitate isolation of microbial DNA of sufficient purity and quantity from culturable and uncultured microbial species living in that environment. Proper lysis of heterogeneous community microbial cells without damaging their genomes is a major challenge. In this study, we have developed an improved method for extraction of community DNA from different environmental and human origin samples. We introduced a combination of physical, chemical and mechanical lysis methods for proper lysis of microbial inhabitants. The community microbial DNA was precipitated by using salt and organic solvent. Both the quality and quantity of isolated DNA was compared with the existing methodologies and the supremacy of our method was confirmed. Maximum recovery of genomic DNA in the absence of substantial amount of impurities made the method convenient for nucleic acid extraction. The nucleic acids obtained using this method are suitable for different downstream applications. This improved method has been named as the THSTI method to depict the Institute where the method was developed

Highly time-resolved chemical speciation and source apportionment of organic aerosol components in Delhi, India, using extractive electrospray ionization mass spectrometry

In recent years, the Indian capital city of Delhi has been impacted by very high levels of air pollution, especially during winter. Comprehensive knowledge of the composition and sources of the organic aerosol (OA), which constitutes a substantial fraction of total particulate mass (PM) in Delhi, is central to formulating effective public health policies. Previous source apportionment studies in Delhi identified key sources of primary OA (POA) and showed that secondary OA (SOA) played a major role but were unable to resolve specific SOA sources. We address the latter through the first field deployment of an extractive electrospray ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometer (EESI-TOF) in Delhi, together with a high-resolution aerosol mass spectrometer (AMS). Measurements were conducted during the winter of 2018/19, and positive matrix factorization (PMF) was used separately on AMS and EESI-TOF datasets to apportion the sources of OA. AMS PMF analysis yielded three primary and two secondary factors which were attributed to hydrocarbon-like OA (HOA), biomass burning OA (BBOA-1 and BBOA-2), more oxidized oxygenated OA (MO-OOA), and less oxidized oxygenated OA (LO-OOA). On average, 40 % of the total OA mass was apportioned to the secondary factors. The SOA contribution to total OA mass varied greatly between the daytime (76.8 %, 10:00–16:00 local time (LT)) and nighttime (31.0 %, 21:00–04:00 LT). The higher chemical resolution of EESI-TOF data allowed identification of individual SOA sources. The EESI-TOF PMF analysis in total yielded six factors, two of which were primary factors (primary biomass burning and cooking-related OA). The remaining four factors were predominantly of secondary origin: aromatic SOA, biogenic SOA, aged biomass burning SOA, and mixed urban SOA. Due to the uncertainties in the EESI-TOF ion sensitivities, mass concentrations of EESI-TOF SOA-dominated factors were related to the total AMS SOA (i.e. MO-OOA + LO-OOA) by multiple linear regression (MLR). Aromatic SOA was the major SOA component during the daytime, with a 55.2 % contribution to total SOA mass (42.4 % contribution to total OA). Its contribution to total SOA, however, decreased to 25.4 % (7.9 % of total OA) during the nighttime. This factor was attributed to the oxidation of light aromatic compounds emitted mostly from traffic. Biogenic SOA accounted for 18.4 % of total SOA mass (14.2 % of total OA) during the daytime and 36.1 % of total SOA mass (11.2 % of total OA) during the nighttime. Aged biomass burning and mixed urban SOA accounted for 15.2 % and 11.0 % of total SOA mass (11.7 % and 8.5 % of total OA mass), respectively, during the daytime and 15.4 % and 22.9 % of total SOA mass (4.8 % and 7.1 % of total OA mass), respectively, during the nighttime. A simple dilution–partitioning model was applied on all EESI-TOF factors to estimate the fraction of observed daytime concentrations resulting from local photochemical production (SOA) or emissions (POA). Aromatic SOA, aged biomass burning, and mixed urban SOA were all found to be dominated by local photochemical production, likely from the oxidation of locally emitted volatile organic compounds (VOCs). In contrast, biogenic SOA was related to the oxidation of diffuse regional emissions of isoprene and monoterpenes. The findings of this study show that in Delhi, the nighttime high concentrations are caused by POA emissions led by traffic and biomass burning and the daytime OA is dominated by SOA, with aromatic SOA accounting for the largest fraction. Because aromatic SOA is possibly more toxic than biogenic SOA and primary OA, its dominance during the daytime suggests an increased OA toxicity and health-related consequences for the general public.</p