Chemical composition and antifungal activity of essential oils from three Himalayan Erigeron species

Three Himalayan Erigeron (Asteraceae) species viz Erigeron mucronatus, Erigeron annuus and Erigeron karwinskianus growing in sub-alpine region revealed occurrence of isomeric polyacetylenic constituents viz., matricaria and lachnophyllum esters which accounted for 83.3%, 69.3% and 30.1% of the essential oils from these species, respectively, in addition to mono- and sesquiterpenoids as minor constituents. The antifungal activity tested by poisoned food (PF) techniques against Fusarium oxysporum, Helminthosporium maydis, Rhizoctonia solani, Alternaria solani and Sclerotinia sclerotiorum demonstrated significant inhibition of the mycelial growth of all strains (p < 0.05). The oils (500 μg/mL) showed significant antifungal effect against tested fungi in the growth inhibition range of 37.6–85.5% with respective IC₅₀ values ranging from 88.8 to 660.0 μg/mL as compared to standard fungicides (100% inhibition) with IC₅₀ value in the range of 32.2–129.4 μg/mL. Significant inhibition of spore germination was noticed for F. oxysporum, Curvularia lunata and Albugo candida which were highly susceptible to E. annuus oil with their IC₅₀ values 120.7, 253.5 and 300.4 μg/mL, respectively. Thus, the results obtained in this study demonstrate the potential of essential oils from Himalayan Erigeron species as non-toxic, eco-friendly and biodegradable natural fungicides.     

Influence of addition of insoluble solids,different yeast strains and pectinesterase enzyme on the quality of apple wine

Rate of fermentation and physico‐chemical characteristics of apple wines, owing to the addition of different yeast strains, insoluble solids and pectinesterase enzyme, were examined. The highest rates of fermentation and ethanol production were found in the wine fermented by yeast strain UCD 505, while strain UCD 595 gave the smallest amount of methanol. The addition of insoluble solids to the apple juice significantly increased the levels of methanol, vitamin C, amyl alcohol, total volatiles, rate of fermentation, tannins, colour units, Mn and Zn. Addition of insoluble solids decreased pH, titrable acidity, ethanol, total sugars, total esters, and K, Mg, Ca, Cu and Fe content of the wine. Addition of pectinesterase enzyme significantly increased all the parameters examined except for pH, vitamin C, total esters, Mn and Mg content. Application of cluster analysis to the results of rate of fermentation, reducing sugars, volatile acidity and ethanol showed that the influence of the yeast strains was more than the influence of insoluble solids or pectinesterase enzyme addition. Consideration of more parameters showed that there was a clear interaction between the yeast strain, insoluble solids and the pectinesterase enzyme. Addition of insoluble solids to the must led to the production of some undesirable quality characteristics. In contrast, specific yeast strains and enzyme addition improved various physico‐chemical characteristics of the wine. Pre‐settled or clarified juice was preferred to produce a quality apple wine. Copyright © 2013 The Institute of Brewing & Distilling     

Purification,characterization, antibacterial activity and N-terminal sequencing of buffalo-milk lysozyme

Lysozyme from buffalo milk was purified to homogeneity and its N-terminal amino acid sequence, biochemical properties and antibacterial spectrum were determined. The purification procedure, comprising ion-exchange chromatography using CM-cellulose and size-exclusion chromatography using Sephadex G-50, conferred 8622-fold purification and 39.3% recovery of lysozyme. The purified enzyme migrated as a single band on sodium dodecyl sulphate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) and native PAGE. Immunological purity of lysozyme preparation was confirmed by immuno-electrophoresis. Molecular weight of buffalo-milk lysozyme as determined by SDS-PAGE was 16 kDa and its amino acid composition was determined by reverse phase high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The sequence of 23 amino acid residues at the N-terminal end showed 56.5% homology with bovine milk lysozyme and 30.4% with equine milk lysozyme. The specific activity of buffalo milk lysozyme was ten-times that of bovine milk lysozyme. Buffalo-milk lysozyme was active over a wide range of pH and its activity was strongly influenced by molarity of the medium. Antibacterial activity of buffalo-milk lysozyme was determined against 11 species of bacteria; out of seven Gram-positive bacteria tested, four were inhibited, while Gram-negative bacteria were resistant.     

A comparative series solutions of Japanese encephalitis model using differential transform method and variational iteration method

In this study, a deterministic mathematical model involving the transmission dynamics of Japanese encephalitis (JE) is presented and studied. The biologically feasible equilibria and their stability properties have been discussed. This study investigates a series of solutions to the system of ordinary differential equations (ODEs) in the transmission dynamics of JE. To get approximate series solutions of the JE model, we employed the differential transform method (DTM) and variational iteration method (VIM). DTM utilizes the transformed function of the original JE model, while VIM uses the general Lagrange multiplier to develop the correction functional for the JE model. The results show that the VIM solution is more accurate than the DTM solution for short intervals of time. In addition, the fractional compartmental model of JE is briefly discussed. We illustrated the profiles of the solutions of each of the compartments, from which we found that the fourth-order Runge–Kutta method solutions are more accurate than the DTM and VIM solutions for long intervals of time.     

Comparative amino acid and fatty acid compositions of edible gums kondagogu (Cochlospermum gossypium) and karaya (Sterculia urens)

Gum karaya and gum kondagogu are the two important commercial tree gums of India. The amino acids and fatty acid profiles of gum kondagogu and gum karaya were investigated by preparing their corresponding N-O-bis(trimethylsilyl)trifluoroacetamide (BSTFA) derivatives for amino acids and direct trans-esterification of methyl esters for fatty acids and their subsequent analysis by a GC–MS method. The amino acids, such as, alanine, valine, methionine, tyrosine and tryptophan, were not detected in gum karaya as they were in gum kondagogu. Interestingly, the aspartic acid content (72.8 ± 3.45 μg/g) of gum kondagogu was higher than that of gum karaya (64.2 ± 2.44 μg/g). The ratios of saturated to unsaturated fatty acid in gum kondagogu and gum karaya were found to be 5:1, and 6.6:1, respectively. Among the unsaturated fatty acids, linoleic acid (1.8 ± 0.12 μg/g) and γ-linolenic acid (0.8 ± 0.05 μg/g) were detected only in gum kondagogu. Arachidic acid was not detected in gum karaya. Additionally, the presence of linoleic acid and γ-linolenic acid in gum kondagogu reinforces its nutritional value.     

Petrographic and chemical reactivity assessment of Indian high ash coal with different biomass in fluidized bed co-gasification

The reactivity of coal and biomass has been evaluated by comparing the optical and chemical changes in feed material prior and after the co-gasification. The proximate, ultimate, GCV, low-pressure N₂ sorption isotherm, micropetrography, SEM and EDX spectroscopy analyses are carried out to assess the reactivity of blends of high ash Indian coal and biomass. The relative changes in parameters like surface area, pore size, and pore volume have been correlated with reacted percentage area of coal macerals and cellulose-lignin cellular structures of biomass. The Optimas image processing software is being used to mark the reacted portion of organic constituents and calculated the reactivity percentage. The bottom ash of pure coal has shown the least reacted organic matters, indicating inefficiency of high ash coal due to a large amount of inorganic and inertinite contents that is resisting the oxidation. The reactivity percentage is determined by the petrographic and SEM images, and varies from 36.34 to 99.64% and 6.61–96.22%, respectively. It is summarised that the estimation of percentage alteration of macerals and other micro-organic constituents can be used as one of the practical approaches for the assessment of the reactivity of coal and biomass. The blending ratio 6:4 of coal and press mud has shown the highest reactivity (>99.64%). The values of petrographic and SEM reactivity have shown good correlations with the carbon contents, unreacted vitrinites, mineral matters and biomass remnants. These relations have been taken into account to formulate the proposed petrographic empirically calculated reactivity (R_PEC). The focus has also been made to investigate the influence of feed composition on carbon conversion and heating value of the product gas.     

Phase-pure Na3V2(PO4)2F3 embedded in carbon matrix through a facile polyol synthesis as a potential cathode for high performance sodium-ion batteries

In this study, a pseudo-layered Na super-ionic conductor of Na₃V₂(PO₄)₂F₃ (NVPF)/C cathode for sodium-ion batteries is prepared successfully using a facile polyol refluxing process without any impurity phases. The X-ray diffraction and Rietveld refinement results confirm that NVPF possesses tetragonal NASICON-type lattice with a space group of P₄₂/mnm. In this preparative method, polyol is utilized as a solvent as well as a carbon source. The presence of nanosized NVPF particles in the carbon network is confirmed by field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM). The existence of carbon is analyzed by Raman scattering and elemental analysis. When applied as a Na-storage material in a potential window of 2.0–4.3 V, the electrode exhibits two flat voltage plateaus at 3.7 and 4.2 V with an electrochemically active V³⁺/V⁴⁺ redox couple. In addition, Na₃V₂(PO₄)₂F₃/C composite achieved a retention capacity of ~ 88% even after 1,500 cycles at 15 C. Moreover, at high current densities of 30 and 50 C, Na₃V₂(PO₄)₂F₃/C cathode retains the specific discharge capacities of 108.4 and 105.9 mAh·g^–1, respectively, revealing the structural stability of the material prepared through a facile polyol refluxing method.

     

Controller Placement in Software Defined Internet of Things Using Optimization Algorithm

The current and future status of the internet is represented by the upcoming Internet of Things (IoT). The internet can connect the huge amount of data, which contains lot of processing operations and efforts to transfer the pieces of information. The emerging IoT technology in which the smart ecosystem is enabled by the physical object fixed with software electronics, sensors and network connectivity. Nowadays, there are two trending technologies that take the platform i.e., Software Defined Network (SDN) and IoT (SD-IoT). The main aim of the IoT network is to connect and organize different objects with the internet, which is managed with the control panel and data panel in the SD network. The main issue and the challenging factors in this network are the increase in the delay and latency problem between the controllers. It is more significant for wide area networks, because of the large packet propagation latency and the controller placement problem is more important in every network. In the proposed work, IoT is implementing with adaptive fuzzy controller placement using the enhanced sunflower optimization (ESFO) algorithm and Pareto Optimal Controller placement tool (POCO) for the placement problem of the controller. In order to prove the efficiency of the proposed system, it is compared with other existing methods like PASIN, hybrid SD and PSO in terms of load balance, reduced number of controllers and average latency and delay. With 2 controllers, the proposed method obtains 400 miles as average latency, which is 22.2% smaller than PSO, 76.9% lesser than hybrid SD and 91.89% lesser than PASIN.     

Polymer Doping Enables a Two‐Dimensional Electron Gas for High‐Performance Homojunction Oxide Thin‐Film Transistors

High‐performance solution‐processed metal oxide (MO) thin‐film transistors (TFTs) are realized by fabricating a homojunction of indium oxide (In₂O₃) and polyethylenimine (PEI)‐doped In₂O₃ (In₂O₃:x% PEI, x = 0.5–4.0 wt%) as the channel layer. A two‐dimensional electron gas (2DEG) is thereby achieved by creating a band offset between the In₂O₃ and PEI‐In₂O₃ via work function tuning of the In₂O₃:x% PEI, from 4.00 to 3.62 eV as the PEI content is increased from 0.0 (pristine In₂O₃) to 4.0 wt%, respectively. The resulting devices achieve electron mobilities greater than 10 cm² V^?1 s^?1 on a 300 nm SiO₂ gate dielectric. Importantly, these metrics exceed those of the devices composed of the pristine In₂O₃ materials, which achieve a maximum mobility of ≈4 cm² V^?1 s^?1. Furthermore, a mobility as high as 30 cm² V^?1 s^?1 is achieved on a high‐k ZrO₂ dielectric in the homojunction devices. This is the first demonstration of 2DEG‐based homojunction oxide TFTs via band offset achieved by simple polymer doping of the same MO material.     

Tailoring of Electromagnetic Absorption in Substituted Hexaferrites from 8.2 GHz to 12.4 GHz

Journal of Electronic Materials - Microwave absorbers are an important topic of interest to mitigate electromagnetic interference. Here, we have investigated electromagnetic absorption properties...