Mass propagation and essential oil analysis of Artemisia vulgaris

Artemisia vulgaris L. (Mugwort) is a threatened and valuable medicinal plant. Attempts have been made in this research to mass propagate its plantlets through in vitro liquid culture technology using Murashige and Skoog (MS) basal medium supplemented with 6-benzyl adenine (BA) (0.44-8.88 microM). Initially, 22.6 shoots (99.9% shooting frequency) developed from shoot tip explants cultured in MS with 4.44 microM BA at 100 ml flask capacity. This was further subcultured at increasing flask capacity (150, 250, and 500 ml) for shoot proliferation. Of the different concentrations of BA and flask capacities tested, 4.44 microM BA and 500 ml flask capacity were found to produce a maximum of 85.5 shoots after 30 d of culture. Shoot proliferation was found to increase with increasing flask capacity whereas shoot number decreased with increasing BA concentration (>4.44 microM). Individual shoots were isolated and rooted on MS medium containing 8.56 microM indole-3-acetic acid (IAA). Then the plantlets were acclimatized under standard laboratory conditions and later under greenhouse conditions. Fresh leaves were collected from greenhouse-grown plants and subjected to essential oil analysis by the simultaneous distillation and extraction method. GC-MS results revealed the presence of 88 components and the extracted oil was rich in camphor (16.8%), alpha-thujone (11.3%), germacrene D (7.2%), camphene (6.5%), 1,8-cineole (5.8%) and beta-caryophyllene (5.4%). This in vitro strategy can be a reliable method for the steady production of a large number of plants for essential oil production, which is reported for the first time for A. vulgaris.     

Synthesis and characterisation of rubber seed oil trans-esterified biodiesel using cement clinker catalysts

The synthesis of biodiesel using rubber seed oil by a transesterification reaction using cement clinker catalysts was studied. The mineral composition and morphology of both the catalysts were analysed using X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy. The gas chromatography–mass spectrometry, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and nuclear magnetic resonance studies were used to find the Fatty acid methyl ester content and various compounds of esters in the synthesised biodiesel, which showed an efficient conversion of rubber seed oil to biodiesel. The highest yield of 80% was obtained from calcium oxide catalyst (1.5?g) activated at 50°C with a methanol-to-oil ratio of 6:1. The highest yield of 70% biodiesel was obtained using a cement clinker catalyst (0.5?g) activated at 50°C with a methanol-to-oil ratio of 6:1. The significant physical properties of biodiesel flash point, acid value and saponification value were found, and the results are within the American standard test method (ASTM D6751) limits.     

Electrochemical behavior of nanostructured graphene nickel phosphorus composite coating on copper

Journal of Applied Electrochemistry - The present work is focused on the effects of graphene addition on the electrochemical performance of environmentally benign nanostructured...     

Effects of baking conditions on colour,texture and crumb grain characteristics of Chhana Podo

Baking, the key step in the preparation of Chhana Podo, involves simultaneous heat and mass transfer that induces physicochemical and structural changes in the product. The effects of baking conditions on colour, texture and crumb grain development in the product were evaluated. The browning index of baked Podo increased from the initial value of 15.7 to 95, 101 and 112, at baking temperatures of 120, 135 and 150 °C, respectively. Browning kinetics followed the logistic model (R² > 0.98) with an activation energy of 17.81 kJ/mol. In general, crumb grain characteristics such as mean cell area, cell density and cell‐to‐total area ratio increased with increase in baking time and temperature. Textural attributes such as hardness, chewiness and gumminess increased with baking time and temperature while springiness, cohesiveness and resilience increased up to 40 min due to the filling‐up of pores water and liquid by fat and expanding water, but decreased thereafter.     

A data constrained approach for brain tumour detection using fused deep features and SVM

Multimedia Tools and Applications - The identification of MR images of the brain with tumours is one of the most critical tasks of any brain tumour (BT) detection system. Interestingly, because of...     

Paper mill sludge as a renewable substrate for the production of acetone-butanol-ethanol using Clostridium sporogenes NCIM 2337

In the present study, pre-treated paper mill sludge (PMS) was evaluated extensively as a substrate for production of acetone-butanol-ethanol using Clostridium sporogenes NCIM 2337. The PMS was subjected to three types of pre-treatment methods namely alkali, mechanical, and thermal treatment and was analyzed by SEM. The pre-treatment of PMS by alkali was observed to be more effective over the other pre-treatment methods. The alkali pre-treated sludge was then made to undergo fermentation, which showed the conventional process of acidogenesis followed by solventogenesis. The acetone, butanol, and ethanol concentration for 15% alkali pre-treated PMS was estimated to be maximum.     

Performance comparison between Chaos and quantum-chaos based image encryption techniques

Multimedia Tools and Applications - Today’s digital era has undertaken most of the responsibilities of public and private sectors, not only the industries or big organizations dependent on...     

Double Stage Gaussian Filter for Better Underwater Image Enhancement

Wireless Personal Communications - Major issue in marine environment imaging is the expulsion of hazy scenes caused by natural phenomena such as absorption and scattering in underwater images. The...     

Microstructure and mechanical properties of mechanically alloyed and spark plasma sintered amorphous–nanocrystalline Al65Cu20Ti15 intermetallic matrix composite reinforced with TiO2 nanoparticles

Multiphase Al₆₅Cu₂₀Ti₁₅ intermetallic alloy matrix composite, dispersed with 10 wt.% of TiO₂ nanoparticles, has been processed by mechanical alloying, followed by spark plasma sintering under pressure in the temperature range of 623–873 K. Differential scanning calorimetry and X-ray diffraction suggest that equilibrium crystalline phases evolve from the amorphous or intermediate crystalline phases. Transmission electron microscopy shows that the composite sintered at 873 K has partially amorphous microstructure, with dispersion of equilibrium, crystalline, intermetallic precipitates of Al₅CuTi₂, Al₃Ti, and Al₂Cu of 25–50 nm size, besides the TiO₂. The composite sintered at 873 K exhibits little porosity, hardness of 5.6 GPa, indentation fracture toughness in the range of 3.1–4.2 MPa√m, and compressive strength of 1.1 GPa. Indentation crack deflection by TiO₂ particle aggregates causes increase in fracture resistance with crack length, and suggests R-curve type behaviour. The study provides guidelines for processing high strength amorphous–nanocrystalline intermetallic composites based on the Al–Cu–Ti ternary system.