A Biologically Active Surface Enzyme Assembly that Attenuates Thrombus Formation

Activation of hemostatic pathways by blood‐contacting materials remains a major hurdle in the development of clinically durable artificial organs and implantable devices. Here, it is postulated that surface‐induced thrombosis may be attenuated by the reconstitution onto blood contacting surfaces of bioactive enzymes that regulate the production of thrombin, a central mediator of both coagulation and platelet activation cascades. Thrombomodulin (TM), a transmembrane protein expressed by endothelial cells, is an established negative regulator of thrombin generation in the circulatory system. Traditional techniques to covalently immobilize enzymes on solid supports may modify residues contained within or near the catalytic site, thus reducing the bioactivity of surface enzyme assemblies. In this report, a molecular engineering and bioorthogonal chemistry approach to site‐specifically immobilize a biologically active recombinant human TM fragment onto the luminal surface of small diameter prosthetic vascular grafts is presented. Bioactivity and biostability of TM modified grafts is confirmed in vitro and the capacity of modified grafts to reduce platelet activation is demonstrated using a non‐human primate model. These studies indicate that molecularly engineered interfaces that display TM actively limit surface‐induced thrombus formation.     

Integrated use of water resources in the Lower Bhavani Project in India

Current irrigation water releases from the Lower Bhavani Project are largely governed by the rainfall and inflow pattern rather than by the periodic water needs of the crops grown. The groundwater potential in the command area is also ignored when water release schedules are planned. In this paper a quantitative analysis is carried out to assess the impact of optimizing water resources use with and without supplementary groundwater use. The results validate the role of groundwater in improving the performance of the irrigation project.     

Optimum anamorphic image generation using image rotation and relative entropy

Multimedia Tools and Applications - Anamorphosis is related to the art that gives illusion (distortion) over the image or object when the viewer looks the original image or from the random...     

Impact of Ozone Treatment on Seed Germination – A Systematic Review

ABSTRACT

Rising world population necessarily increases the food requirement. At the same time, agricultural land has been reduced drastically due to the rapid urbanization and industrialization which severely affects the land availability for the growers. However, the enhancement of seed germination has the potential to secure the food safety of masses by improving crop production. The traditionally followed chemical methods to improve seed germination have major limitations including being environmentally unhealthy, time-consuming, and are labor-intensive. Of late the application of ozone on plant growth and seed germination has attained greater significance. This promising technique and its various potential applications in the food industry have started emerging. Ozone is a strong antimicrobial agent as well as a germination enhancer. Ozone, in limited quantity, enhances seed germination rate; on the other hand, excess ozone can also cause some negative effects. Generally, ozone is applied either in gaseous or aqueous phases; however, the method and treatment conditions of ozone vary with the subject samples. This review mainly discusses the impact of ozone treatment on seed germination, the quality changes that accompany the treatment as well as the factors affecting the efficiency of ozone.     

Efficiency enhancement of dye‐sensitized TiO2 solar cell based on ruthenium(II) terpyridyl complex photosensitizer

We theoretically investigated the influence of the ligands on the enhancement of the efficiency toward absorption in the solar spectrum of ruthenium(II) terpyridyl complex. In the present work, the NCS ligands of the parent black dye 4,4′,4″‐tricarboxy‐2,2′:6′,2″‐terpyridine)ruthenium(II) complex (BD0) were kept unchanged, while π‐conjugating spacers were introduced between the terpyridine ligands and the anchoring groups ―COOH. Molecular structures, electronic, and spectroscopic properties of four designed black dyes, in addition to the parent black dye (BD0), were examined. Compared with the parent black dye BD0, broad and intense absorption bands in the infrared and near‐infrared region (red‐shifted) were found, featuring the enhancement of the absorption efficiency resulting from the insertion of the proposed π‐conjugating spacers. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Complementary surface-enhanced resonance Raman spectroscopic biodetection of mixed protein solutions by chitosan- and silica-coated plasmon-tuned silver nanoparticles

Silver nanoparticles with identical plasmonic properties but different surface functionalities are synthesized and tested as chemically selective surface-enhanced resonance Raman (SERR) amplifiers in a two-component protein solution. The surface plasmon resonances of the particles are tuned to 413 nm to match the molecular resonance of protein heme cofactors. Biocompatible functionalization of the nanoparticles with a thin film of chitosan yields selective SERR enhancement of the anionic protein cytochrome b(5), whereas functionalization with SiO(2) amplifies only the spectra of the cationic protein cytochrome c. As a result, subsequent addition of the two differently functionalized particles yields complementary information on the same mixed protein sample solution. Finally, the applicability of chitosan-coated Ag nanoparticles for protein separation was tested by in situ resonance Raman spectroscopy.     

Pattern, sources and toxic potential of PAHs in the agricultural soils of Delhi, India

Surface soil (0-5 cm) from various agricultural sites in Delhi was analyzed to discern the contents of 16 priority polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Reference and deuterated standards were used for identification and quantification of PAHs by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with UV detection. summation operator(16)PAHs ranged from 830 to 3880 microg kg(-1) (dry wt.) with an arithmetic mean of 1910+/-1020 microg kg(-1) summation operator(16)PAHs values at the urban sites were 2-5 times higher as compared to the rural sites. In general, low molecular weight PAHs were predominant. Total organic carbon (TOC) was found to be significantly correlated with summation operator(16)PAHs. Isomer pair ratios and Principal component analysis (PCA) suggested biomass and fossil fuel combustion as the main sources of PAHs. The toxic equivalency factors (TEFs) were used to estimate benzo[a]pyrene-equivalent concentration (B[a]P(eq)). Therewith, PAH content of urban agricultural soil was found to have more carcinogenic potential.     

Synthesis,characterization of poly (4-benzyloxyphenylmethacrylate) and its copolymer with butyl methacrylate and determination of monomer reactivity ratios

The monomer 4-benzyloxyphenylmethacrylate (4-BOPMA) was synthesized by reacting 4-benzyloxy phenol dissolved in methylethylketone (MEK) with methacryloyl chloride in the presence of triethylamine. The homopolymer and various copolymers of 4-BOPMA with butylmethacrylate (BMA) were synthesized by the free radical polymerization in MEK at 70?±?1?°C in nitrogen atmosphere using benzoylperoxide as initiator. The homopolymer and copolymers were characterized by various spectral techniques like IR, ¹H-NMR, ¹³C-NMR spectroscopic techniques. The molecular weights of the polymers were determined by gel permeation chromatography. The glass transition temperatures of polymers were determined by differential scanning calorimeter. The thermal stability of the polymers was performed by thermo gravimetric analysis in inert atmosphere. The monomer reactivity ratios were determined using the conventional linearization methods such as Fineman–Ross (r₁?=?0.438, r₂?=?0.2323), Kelen Tüdös (r₁?=?0.4648, r₂?=?0.2992) and extended Kelen Tüdös (r₁?=?0.4489, r₂?=?0.2616).