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Stable silver nanoparticles of various sizes are synthesised using the aqueous extract of Tulsi (Ocimum tenuiflorum) as the reducing agent as well as a stabilising agent under the influence of light of wavelength ranging from 200 to 900 nm. The formation of silver nanoparticles is monitored using a UV-Visible spectrophotometer and the particle shape, size and stability are analysed using scanning electron microscopy, dynamic light scattering and zeta potential measurement techniques. It is observed that the size of the silver nanoparticles decreases on increasing the wavelength of irradiating light. The silver nanoparticles show antimicrobial activity against gram-positive (Bacillus subtilis), as well as gram-negative (Escherichia coli) bacteria. The antimicrobial activity shows an inverse relationship with the size of the silver nanoparticles. The bio-synthesised silver nanoparticles are successfully embedded in a polymeric film to act as an active antimicrobial film that can potentially release the active constituents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present paper deals with the properties of a Finsler space F* n whose met- ric is obtained from the metric of another Finsler space Fn defined over the same man- ifold, with the help of a contravariant vector vi(xj) satisfying the condition LCjkrvr = ηhjk, where L, hjk and Cjkr are metric function, angular metric tensor and Cartan tensor of Fn, respectively, and η is a scalar function of positional coordinates xi. Apart from obtaining expressions for different geometric objects of F* n, a subspace of F* n is studied. Apart from other results for the subspace of F* n, certain conditions for a subspace of F* n to be totally geodesic and projectively flat have been obtained. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: A deficient data is among the biggest obstacle facing planners and policy makers. Health data collection in the developing world is often hampered by the high costs and inefficiencies of traditional large-scale paper-based surveys. mHealth using Epi-Info is most appropriate tool to create, share, deploy health surveys and for strengthening of health systems. The program runs on free and open software, is easy to use, and can be downloaded to handheld devices to be used by workers in the field. Objectives: To find out the usefulness and limitations of data collection for mHealth by use of Epi Info™ software. Material and Methods: The devices used Epi Info 7.1.5 (Android version), which has been modeled as a database with variables of the traditional form. A cross sectional survey among adolescents regarding their health needs was carried out in a sample of 200 adolescents (purposive sampling) of rural hilly (Jaunpur block of Tehri Garhwal district) and plain (Doiwala block of Dehradun district) areas of Uttarakhand by the use of Android tablets with Epi Info™. Results: It was found that adolescent questionnaire tool developed in Epi Info™ android tablet application is a powerful tool for data collection having numerable practical advantages like: Interview Time Tracking (ITT) that gives the reality check in field studies along with cases Geographical presentation by GIS mapping. In addition to this complete filling of data in field so no left over or guessing for data entry operator, paperless, bio-friendly. Despite of Tablet cost, it is cost effective as tablet can be repeatedly used for other surveys. Conclusions: Epi Info™ is a developing open access software for primary data collection and analyzing data from the field, with advantageous benefits of epidemiological surveys. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Variance-preserving Power Spectra (VPS) from Research Moored Array for African-Asian-Australian Monsoon Analysis and Prediction (RAMA) observational platform depicting ocean parameters for the periods 2002-2006 at mooring location 90°E, 1.5 °S was investigated to understand the variability of ocean parameters. The VPS of 20° isothermal depth (d20) reveals fact that it has intra-seasonal, seasonal and semiannual oscillational trends. Zonal current's VPS show the intra-seasonal, biweekly and weekly characteristics. Meridional current's VPS gives biweekly and weekly oscillation and while the sea surface Zonal wind's VPS reveals fact that it has intra-seasonal, biweekly and weekly oscillation. These scientific findings are consistent with the results obtained from similar analysis of Triangle Trans Ocean Buoys Network (TRITON) data by other investigations. Therefore the use of RAMA in assimilation process in similar way to TRITON will increase the efficiency of Climate Forecast System (CFS) based on Global Ocean Data Assimilation (GODAS). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To enhance better understanding and improve the predictive capability for the ocean’s role in future climate change scenarios, Estimating the Circulation and Climate of the Ocean, Phase II (ECCO2) and National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) assimilation/reanalysis datasets were compared with the TRITON and RAMA mooring buoys observational data at the point 1.5ºS, 90ºE in the Indian Ocean. Root mean square deviation (rmsd) and bias values of the GODAS/NCEP reanalysis, and TRITON and RAMA observations were used for comparison of the meridional and zonal currents and salinity at the surface, and temperature at different depth of the mixed layer. On the basis of comparison we can say that the GODAS/NCEP reanalysis is not much satisfactory to use as input for the best prediction because its performance is not better in comparison to the observational data. It may also be concluded that the performance of the ECCO2 is better than the GODAS/NCEP on the basis of the comparison of the plots but still not very clear due to unavailability of equal ECCO2 temporal data set. We suggest that there might be certainly some forcing and assimilation techniques are missing to make better performance of the assimilation/ reanalysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One hundred fifty genotypes of wheat were screened for Karnal bunt resistance under artificial inoculation condition in field during 2009-10 rabi seasons. Significant variability in the incidence of disease was observed among genotypes where the per cent disease incidence ranged from 0.2-63.1 at grains harvest stage. Out of one hundred fifty genotypes screened, 12 were rated as highly resistant, 6 as resistant, 6 as moderately resistant and rest as moderately susceptible to highly susceptible genotypes against Karnal bunt of wheat. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]