Energy transfer in 9 amino acridine hydrochloride hydrate to acriflavin and 9 amino acridine hydrochloride hydrate–acriflavin–rhodamine B-doped PVA films

In the present study, excitation energy transfer between the dye pair 9 amino acridine hydrochloride hydrate (9AAHH)–acriflavin and the ternary 9AAHH–acriflavin–rhodamine B (RB) dye system doped in poly-vinyl alcohol (PVA) films was investigated at room temperature. For 9AAHH–acriflavin dye pair, the energy transfer parameters, viz overlap integral Ω_DA and critical transfer distance R _OA, equalling 1.4×10^?13 l cm³ mol^?1 and 45.23 Å, respectively, have been obtained. Energy transfer from 9AAHH to RB via acriflavin has also been investigated. These two and three dyes doped transparent polymer films of PVA can be used as efficient materials in luminescent solar collectors.     

Physicochemical,Textural, Pasting,and In Vitro Digestion Properties of Some Basmati and Non-Basmati Rice Cultivars

Grain quality attribute tests based on physicochemical, textural, pasting, and in vitro digestion properties of eight different rice cultivars were studied. Basmati varieties showed higher values of amylose content, iodine absorption, blue value, hardness, cohesiveness, pasting temperature, and set back, whereas swelling power, solubility, adhesiveness, peak viscosity, and breakdown values were found to be higher in non-basmati varieties. The release of maltose from basmati rice flour (23.12–25.86 mg/g rice flour) was found to be slower as compared to non-basmati ones (27.43–28.36 mg/g rice flour). Amylose content showed significant correlations with different quality parameters at 5% level of significance.     

Comparative study of degumming of silk varieties by different techniques

Different varieties of silk differ from each other in their chemical composition as well as the physical, chemical and mechanical properties. Silk degumming is a primary important process, which needs to be carried out uniformly to a sufficient level to get good quality in further processes such as dyeing. In the present study, we have compared the efficiencies of five different degumming treatments for eri, tasar and mulberry silk fabrics using conventional, ultrasonic and microwave techniques. Among the various treatments, soda ash plus hydrogen peroxide and enzyme (papain) degumming recipies gave the best results in terms of weight loss and absorbency. As compared to the conventional technique, the treatments under ultrasonication and microwave enhanced the efficiency. The microwave technique was found to be superior, with the advantage of drastic reduction in treatment time, better retention of tensile strength and smooth appearance of silk. The dye uptake also increased after degumming. The molecular conformation of the different silk varieties, as estimated by FTIR spectroscopy, and the crystalline structure, as elucidated by X-ray diffraction, remained unchanged. SEM showed distinct morphological changes on degumming.     

Application of response surface methodology (RSM) for optimization of nutrient supplementation for Cr (VI) removal by Aspergillus lentulus AML05

Response surface methodology (RSM) involving central composite design (CCD) was employed to optimize the concentrations of different media components for growth and Cr (VI) removal (100 mg l(-1) initial concentration) by Aspergillus lentulus AML05 at pH 6.5. The interaction between five variables i.e. glucose, K(2)HPO(4), MgSO(4), yeast extract, NH(4)NO(3) was studied and modelled. The statistical analysis of the results showed that in the range studied, yeast extract had a significant effect on Cr (VI) removal and production of fungal biomass. The optimum combination predicted via RSM was confirmed through experiment, whereby almost complete removal (99.8%) of Cr (VI) was obtained within 120 h. The validation of these results in terms of field applicability was also tested by treating industrial effluent supplemented with key media components.     

Hepatoprotective effects of sea buckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides L.) against carbon tetrachloride induced liver injury in rats

BACKGROUND: Liver injuries induced by carbon tetrachloride are the best‐characterized system of xenobiotic‐induced hepatotoxicity and commonly used model for the screening of hepatoprotective activities of drugs. The present study evaluates the hepatoprotective activity of sea buckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides L.), family Elaeagnaceae, on carbon tetrachloride (CCl₄)‐induced liver injury in male albino rats. The study was performed on Sprague–Dawley male albino rats weighing about 180–200 g. The animals were pretreated with three different doses of leaf extract (50, 100 and 200 mg kg^?1 body weight) for 5 days. Hepatotoxicity was induced by single oral administration of 1.5 mL CCl₄ kg^?1 body weight on the fifth day. The animals were then sacrificed and assessed for various biochemical parameters. RESULTS: Administration of CCl₄ significantly enhanced glutamate oxaloacetate transferase (GOT), glutamate pyruvate transferase (GPT), alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and bilirubin, and decreased total protein levels in the serum. Treatment with CCl₄ also significantly decreased reduced glutathione (GSH), and decreased glutathione peroxidase and superoxide dismutase activity. CCl₄ treatment also caused a significant increase in hepatic lipid peroxidation as assessed by malondialdehyde (MDA) levels in the tissue. Pretreatment of leaf extract at a concentration of 100 and 200 mg kg^?1 body weight significantly (P < 0.05) protected the animals from CCl₄‐induced liver injury. The extract significantly restricted the CCl₄‐induced increase of GOT, GPT, ALP and bilirubin and better maintained protein levels in the serum. Further, it also enhanced GSH and decreased MDA levels. CONCLUSION: The results show that sea buckthorn leaf extract has significant hepatoprotective effects which might be due to its antioxidant activity and can be developed as a nutraceutical or food supplement against liver diseases. Copyright © 2008 Society of Chemical Industry     

Ciliary Proteins Repurposed by the Synaptic Ribbon: Trafficking Myristoylated Proteins at Rod Photoreceptor Synapses

The Unc119 protein mediates transport of myristoylated proteins to the photoreceptor outer segment, a specialized primary cilium. This transport activity is regulated by the GTPase Arl3 as well as by Arl13b and Rp2 that control Arl3 activation/inactivation. Interestingly, Unc119 is also enriched in photoreceptor synapses and can bind to RIBEYE, the main component of synaptic ribbons. In the present study, we analyzed whether the known regulatory proteins, that control the Unc119-dependent myristoylated protein transport at the primary cilium, are also present at the photoreceptor synaptic ribbon complex by using high-resolution immunofluorescence and immunogold electron microscopy. We found Arl3 and Arl13b to be enriched at the synaptic ribbon whereas Rp2 was predominantly found on vesicles distributed within the entire terminal. These findings indicate that the synaptic ribbon could be involved in the discharge of Unc119-bound lipid-modified proteins. In agreement with this hypothesis, we found Nphp3 (Nephrocystin-3), a myristoylated, Unc119-dependent cargo protein enriched at the basal portion of the ribbon in close vicinity to the active zone. Mutations in Nphp3 are known to be associated with Senior–Løken Syndrome 3 (SLS3). Visual impairment and blindness in SLS3 might thus not only result from ciliary dysfunctions but also from malfunctions of the photoreceptor synapse.     

Game theoretic approach for real-time data dissemination and offloading in vehicular ad hoc networks

Due to high velocity of the vehicles, data dissemination and mobile data offloading are most difficult tasks to be performed in vehicular ad hoc networks (VANETs). In recent years, due to an exponential increase in the data generated from various sources such as smart devices, gadgets, and actuators, there arises a need of usage of an efficient communication infrastructure to handle the aforementioned issues. Most of the earlier solutions reported in the literature for data offloading problem have used the cellular communication, which may be congested in handing a large number of requests from community of users. This may result a performance bottleneck in terms of call drops and data dissemination to the other vehicles in the VANET environment. Also, these schemes lack a comprehensive approach of data dissemination to meet the quality of service (QoS) in real time. Hence, to overcome this problem, some of the mobile data can be disseminated using the existing vehicular infrastructure and Wi-Fi access points (APs). In this paper, we propose a new schedule based on game theoretic approach where the APs and vehicles act as players in a game and compete for offloading the cellular data. The proposed scheme is based on the selection of the best vehicle or AP based on the utility of the players (vehicles and APs) in the game. The utility of vehicle and AP is decided based on the parameters such as distance, velocity, connectivity to destination, bandwidth, and area of the network. A novel algorithm has been designed using the proposed game theoretic approach for handling mobile data offloading and data dissemination. The proposed solution not only successfully offloads the data but also maintains QoS with respect to the parameters such as end-to-end delay, message progress, and message dissemination speed. Results obtained confirm the superiority of the proposal in comparison with the other existing schemes. Specifically, the proposed scheme achieves improvement of 4.16 and 20.5 % in message progress, 18.91 and 4.75 % in extra messages generated, 11.26 and 54.94 % in message dissemination speed, and 78.71 and 87.94 % in end-to-end delay in sparse network as compared to GyTAR and GPCR, respectively.     

An overview of spectrum sharing techniques in cognitive radio communication system

As the complexities of wireless technologies increase, novel multidisciplinary approaches for the spectrum sharing/management are required with inputs from the technology, economics and regulations. Recently, the cognitive radio technology comes into action to handle the spectrum scarcity problem. To identify the available spectrum resource, decision on the optimal sensing and transmission time with proper coordination among the users for spectrum access are the important characteristics of spectrum sharing methods. In this paper, we have technically overviewed the state-of-the-art of the various spectrum sharing techniques and discussed their potential issues with emerging applications of the communication system, especially to enhance the spectral efficiency. The potential advantages, limiting factors, and characteristic features of the existing cognitive radio spectrum sharing domains are thoroughly discussed and an overview of the spectrum sharing is provided as it ensures the channel access without the interference/collision to the licensed users in the spectrum.     

Differential Modulation of S1PR(1–5) and Specific Activities of SphK and nSMase in Pulmonary and Cerebral Tissues of Rats Exposed to Hypobaric Hypoxia

Recent preclinical and clinical studies have unfolded the potential of pharmacological modulation of activities of sphingosine‐1‐phosphate (S1P) receptors and S1P metabolizing enzymes for the development of therapeutic interventions against a variety of pathologies. An understanding of differential and temporal effects of hypoxia exposure on the key components of S1P signalling would certainly aid in designing improved drug development strategies in this direction. In view of this, the aim of the present study was to assess the effect of progressive hypobaric hypoxia exposure on expression of S1P receptors (S1PR_1–5) and specific activities of S1P synthesizing enzymes—neutral sphingomyelinase (nSMase) and sphingosine kinase (Sphk) in pulmonary and cerebral tissues of rats exposed to simulated altitude of 21,000 feet in an animal decompression chamber. Along with this, development of cerebral and pulmonary edema and markers of inflammation were studied at 12, 24, and 48 h to validate our study model of hypobaric hypoxia‐induced stress. The protein expression of S1PR_1–5 and activities of Sphk and nSMase enzymes were observed to be dramatically affected by simulated hypobaric hypoxia exposure, concurrent with deterioration of pathology, with 12 h of exposure appearing to be the most critical of the various time points studied.