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The growth rate of each plant (dry matter accumulation rate) mainly depends on sun’s energy interception (electromagnetic radiation) and leaf nitrogen (N) content for carbon assimilation. Radiation use efficiency (RUE) is an essential factor utilized by many of the simpler plant growing models to simulate the process of photosynthesis, i.e., conversion of light energy and carbon dioxide (CO2) to plant biomass. The productivity of crop is limited by its thermodynamic properties and the sustained climate of both the plant and its ecosystem. The application of industrial N fertilizers in agricultural production has enhanced the crop yield two to three times more in the last century to meet the rising worldwide population demands. This chapter is focused on the efficient use of solar radiations and integrated N management to enhance crop nitrogen production, taking into account soils, increased utilization of fertilizer, and better crop management strategies. Therefore, optimizing the efficiency of radiations and nitrogen use in agricultural systems is critical and yet to be explored.

Nanotechnology is an interdisciplinary stream of science which deals with the synthesis and application of nanoparticles (NPs) ranging from 1 to 100 nm. Nanotechnology is seen as a new tool for the various problems faced in agriculture and other allied sectors. Agriculture system is facing problems like generation of resistance among microbes due to excessive use of pesticides and deteriorating soil health by the abundant use of fertilizers, exhibiting damaging effect on the environment. A large quantum of applied fertilizers and pesticides get lost in the surrounding and not consumed by plants which limit the use of conventional methods. Nanoscience could be the potential solution to these limitations because bioactive compounds are encapsulated here and release at a controlled rate, providing input use efficiency. Diseases could be easily detected by the use of nanosensors at an early stage and thus also be controlled at the earliest for better productivity. Various disease controlling products are in use, such as nano-pesticides, nano-fungicides and nano-bactericides, to protect the crops from various kinds of biological stresses caused by different microorganisms. Small surface area to volume ratio of NPs contributes to their better absorption ability. Post-harvest techniques using nanosensors help check food quality with better packaging and transport which results in reduced post-harvest losses. The agriculture sector also contributes to a large amount of agriculture waste which is being transformed using nanomaterials and put into efficient use. Productivity in agriculture has been improved using nanobiotechnology by the use of nanocarriers to transfer the DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) fragment at the proper site and to bring the desired result. Thus, nanomaterials contribute to improved nutrients use efficiency. This chapter entails the use of nanomaterials in improving soil health, plant productivity, disease detection, control and treatment, genetic transformation, post-harvest value addition, and reducing agriculture waste. Along with these benefits, nanomaterials may cause harm to the environment, so proper hazard assessment and regulations should be brought in for the optimal use of nanotechnology. Use of nanomaterials can result in the achievement of sustainable agriculture, thus, could be promoted with proper regulation in place.

Digital, Arsenic (As) is a potentially toxic metalloid classified as a group 1 carcinogen, released in the soil environment because of natural as well as different anthropogenic activities. The presence of excess As content in soil and irrigation water enhances the As accumulation in rice grains. Millions of people who consume these contaminated grains are exposed to severe health issues. Increased arsenic uptake causes oxidative stress in plants, which combats by inducing the expression of several genes and signaling the biosynthesis of various antioxidants and phytochelatins. As toxicity reduces crop productivity, so it's critical to improve plant growth in As-contaminated environments while minimizing metal translocation to grains. Arbuscular mycorrhiza fungi (AMF) is considered a sustainable way to tolerate As toxicity. Organic pollutants metabolism by AMF, degradation of these soil contaminants by AMF exudation enzymes, and elimination of the pollutants by plant uptake and accumulation are the principal mechanisms of AMF mediated bioremediation. However, plant responses are established to vary with the host plant and the species of AMF. In our review, we showed that understanding the community composition, diversity, and gene regulation of AMF in the rice ecosystem played a critical role in maximizing As uptake and their potential in sustainable rice and other crops production. It has been reviewed that AMF has the potential to survive in an extremely As toxic condition and it potentially aids to improve the tolerance level of host plants., Ciencias Exactas y Naturales

In present paper pure and Ni-N-codoped TiO2 nanoparticles have been synthesized via sol gel technique. Crystal phase formation of as synthesized nanoparticles was determined from x-ray diffraction which confirms the existence of anatase phase of TiO2. The average crystalline size was determined from x-ray diffraction and estimated from Transmission Electron Micrographs found to vary from 24.8 nm to 10.2 nm. The morphology was studied by Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy and reveals that the synthesized nanoparticles are highly crystalline, spherical and small agglomerated. It is observed that on doping the agglomeration decreases and is due to relative rates of growth process. The band gap energy was calculated from UV–visible absorption spectroscopy and found to be 3.12, 1.81, 1.69 and 1.53 eV respectively. The appearance of emission bands at 453, 470, 483 and 494 nm in Photoluminescence spectra could be arising from defect energy states caused by oxygen vacancies within the forbidden region of TiO2.The structural formation of the synthesized nanoparticles is investigated from Fourier-transform-infrared and Energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy measurements. Photocatalytic degradation efficiency of as synthesized nanoparticles against two different dyes (Congo red and Methyl orange) was investigated under visible light source of wavelength 420–520 nm and is found to increase with dopant concentration (x). It is observed that the increase in Photocatalytic degradation efficiency of synthesized nanoparticles is attributed to decrease in carrier recombination rate arises from the decrease in band gap energy. On the basis of these observations it is concluded that the increase in Photocatalytic activity is due to increase in surface area arises from the decrease in average crystalline size of the synthesized nanoparticles.

InfraRed Thermography (IRT) is one of the non-destructive testing and evaluation (NDT&E) approach widely used for testing and evaluation of wide verity of materials such as metals, semiconductors and composites. Among the widely used Thermal NDT&E (TNDT&E) approaches for better depth resolution and sensitivity for detection of defects located at different depths inside the test specimen recently proposed correlation based approach gained importance due to its enhanced defect detection capabilities. The present paper introduces a novel one-dimensional analytical solution for the frequency modulated excitation scheme under adiabatic boundary conditions for detection of flat bottom holes as defects in a mild steel sample. The performance of the Pulse Thermography (PT), Lock-in Thermography (LT) and Frequency Modulated Thermal Wave Imaging (FMTWI) methods are highlighted their defect detection capabilities have been compared by adopting the recently introduced correlation based post-processing approach. Finally, the proposed analytical method has been validated with the results obtained from the commercially available finite element based software.

An approach based on the genetic algorithm is proposed to solve system of coupled differential equation with prescribed boundary conditions. Unsteady, viscous, 2-dimensional incompressible flow over a stretching sheet with outer velocity and aligned magnetic field is considered to illustrate the approach. Coupled partial differential equations are converted to equivalent ordinary differential equation using similarity transform. Results show that this approach may replace traditional shooting technique in solving complex boundary value problems. Comparison with existent methods have been made to show validation of the approach. Graphs and tables are depicted to show impact of aligned magnetic field, stretching parameter on flow and heat transfer over stretching surfaces.

Chickpea is one of the most economically important food legumes, and a significant source of proteins. It is cultivated in more than 50 countries across Asia, Africa, Europe, Australia, North America, and South America. Chickpea production is limited by various abiotic stresses (cold, heat, drought, salt, etc.). Being a winter-season crop in northern south Asia and some parts of the Australia, chickpea faces low-temperature stress (0–15°C) during the reproductive stage that causes substantial loss of flowers, and thus pods, to inhibit its yield potential by 30–40%. The winter-sown chickpea in the Mediterranean, however, faces cold stress at vegetative stage. In late-sown environments, chickpea faces high-temperature stress during reproductive and pod filling stages, causing considerable yield losses. Both the low and the high temperatures reduce pollen viability, pollen germination on the stigma, and pollen tube growth resulting in poor pod set. Chickpea also experiences drought stress at various growth stages; terminal drought, along with heat stress at flowering and seed filling can reduce yields by 40–45%. In southern Australia and northern regions of south Asia, lack of chilling tolerance in cultivars delays flowering and pod set, and the crop is usually exposed to terminal drought. The incidences of temperature extremes (cold and heat) as well as inconsistent rainfall patterns are expected to increase in near future owing to climate change thereby necessitating the development of stress-tolerant and climate-resilient chickpea cultivars having region specific traits, which perform well under drought, heat, and/or low-temperature stress. Different approaches, such as genetic variability, genomic selection, molecular markers involving quantitative trait loci (QTLs), whole genome sequencing, and transcriptomics analysis have been exploited to improve chickpea production in extreme environments. Biotechnological tools have broadened our understanding of genetic basis as well as plants' responses to abiotic stresses in chickpea, and have opened opportunities to develop stress tolerant chickpea.

Background: The pandemic due to severe acute respiratory syndrome corona virus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) has drawn worldwide worst effect with diagnostic challenge. Every investigation has its own importance for diagnosis, care, treatment and for management of corona virus disease-2019 (COVID-19) patients. Here this prospective study aimed to investigate the microbiological profile, prevalence of co-infection, and antibiotic susceptibility pattern of patients with confirmed SARS-CoV-2.Methods: A total of 336 samples were processed in COVID laboratory, Department of Microbiology. An array of serological investigations was done by rapid card screening test. C-Reactive protein (CRP) was analyzed by nephelometer. Blood culture was done by automated system and urine culture on Cystine-Lactose-Electrolyte-Deficient (CLED) Agar. Antibiotic susceptibility tests were done by Kirby Bauer disc diffusion method.Results: Out of 336 samples tested 76%were male and 24%were female. All samples tested were negative for HIV, HBsAg, HCV, syphilis, malarial parasite. CRP and Typhi -dot with IgM and IgG antibody were positive in 89.28% and 11.42% respectively. About 27% of COVID-19 patients showed bacterial and fungal co-infections. The most prevalent organisms were MR-CoNS (26%), K. pneumoniae (19%) and less prevalent were P. aeruginosa (6%) and A. baumannii (4%). C. albicans (11%) was the only isolated fungi. All gram positive isolates were 100% sensitive to Linezolid and vancomycin, among gram negative isolates, 100% were sensitive to colistin and polymyxin B.Conclusions: Microbiological investigation for presence of other co-infecting agents among patients with COVID-19 infection should be considered, and prompt treatment should be carried out accordingly.

Frequency modulated thermal wave imaging (FMTWI) has been considered as one of the promising non-destructive testing and evaluation approach due to its merits such as economical, safe, fast, sensitive and high depth resolvability. The present work provides a novel analytical solution for FMTWI using one-dimensional heat conduction equation with adiabatic (Neumann) boundary conditions. The temperature gradient over the glass fiber reinforced polymer specimen has been analyzed and validated with a commercially available three dimensional mathematical finite element model to retrieve the quantitative information regarding the subsurface defects. The efficiency of the proposed method is highlighted using matched filter based approach for a frequency modulated imposed heat flux. The depth resolvability of the proposed method has been studied from the obtained correlation lag and the time domain phase obtained for FMTWI technique.

This study deals with the dairy wastewater treatment using laboratory scale vertical flow (VF) constructed wetlands with the Canna indica plantation over wetland beds due to phytoremediation capabilities. Three laboratory scale VF CWs (CW-A, CW-B and CW-C) each with an area of 0.135 m2 filled with gravel (CW-A: 20 mm; CW-B:10 mm gravel) and sand (CW-C) receiving 0.04 m3 d-1 dairy wastewater were operated for the wastewater purification. Each unit was operated at three hydraulic retention times (HRTs) i.e. 12 h, 24 h and 48 h for assessing its effect on wastewater purification . Among all units, removal rates fluctuated as: total suspended solids (TSS): 64.2–74.5%; biochemical oxygen demand (BOD): 45.3 – 63.1%; ammonium nitrogen (NH4–N): 29.6 – 56.5% and phosphate phosphorous (PO4–P): 20.5 – 57.8% at different HRTs. Increase in HRT showed better removal of pollutants in all CWs. Moreover, maximum removal of pollutants excluding TSS and NH4-N was achieved in CW-B at 48 h HRT. CW-B with similar HRT provided maximum removal of PO4-P (57.8%), BOD (63.1%) and chemical oxygen demand (COD): 67.4%. Increase in the size of filter media, from sand (0.25 mm) to 20 mm gravel resulted in higher removal of NH4 -N from wastewater.

InfraRed Thermography is an expeditiously growing non-destructive testing and evaluation technique widely used to estimate the subsurface defect details in fibre reinforced polymer materials due to its remote, fast, easy, safe and wide area monitoring abilities. In order to explore the details of subsurface anomalies in active infrared thermography, a modulated heat flux with a predefined intensity and bandwidth is employed to excite the test sample. Among various widely used active infrared thermographic techniques for non-destructive testing and evaluation applications, pulse based and modulated lock-in thermography are predominantly in use. However, these conventional techniques limits their applicability due to high peak power heat source requirements (pulse based techniques) and poor resolution (modulated lock-in thermography) for detecting the defects located at various depths of different lateral dimensions. The present paper highlights a pulse compression favourable frequency modulated thermal wave imaging which can be carried out with moderate peak power heat sources in a limited span of time with improved test resolution and sensitivity. Further the proposed experimentation is validated with the analytical as well as numerical simulations on glass fibre reinforced polymer samples having flat bottom hole defects.

Non-destructive testing & evaluation plays a crucial role in various sectors for testing the reliability of materials. Of the different available non-destructive examination techniques, thermal non-destructive testing provides fast and remote inspection of the materials. Among various widely used thermal non-destructive testing techniques, frequency modulated thermal wave imaging gained its importance due to its higher test sensitivity and resolution. The adopted matched filter approach on the obtained temporal temperature distribution further concentrates supplied excitation energy into a narrow duration high peak power pulse. In this paper, the merits of the reconstructed high peak power pulsed data have been considered and emphasized in the context of independent component analysis. The obtained results clearly indicate that pulse compressed data improves defect detectability, reliability, memory usage, and computational complexity.

Thermal Non-Destructive Testing and Evaluation (TNDT&E) plays a crucial role in industrial quality control and structural health monitoring of a variety of materials. Among various TNDT&E modalities, active Infrared Thermography (IRT) has emerged as an extremely promising approach and has gained enormous significance due to its quick, whole field, non-contact and quantitative defect detection capabilities. Pulse Compression favourable Thermal Wave Imaging (PCTWI) especially Frequency Modulated Thermal Wave Imaging (FMTWI) has become popular among a number of active IRT techniques because of increment in defect detection sensitivity as well as test resolution. The present work attempts to explore the applicability of differential filtering post processing scheme for pulse compression favourable FMTWI for enhanced detection contrast, resolution and Probability of Detection (PoD). The proposed scheme has been applied on a Glass Fibre Reinforced Polymer (GFRP) sample with sub-surface flat bottom hole (FBH) defects located inside the sample at different depths. The results presented clearly demonstrate that the differential contrast approach enhances the defect detection probabilities by considering maximum and minimum deviation dip values as a figure of merit. Hence, pulse compression favourable FMTWI employing differential filtering manifests higher Probability of Detection (PoD) for defects located at different depths as compared to taking into account the peak Correlation Coefficient (CC) as a statistical figure of merit. Further Probability of Detection (PoD) of the pulse compression favourable FMTWI technique has been improved by differential filtering post-processing based scheme that reduces the memory requirement, computational cost as well as complexity.

Goldenhar's syndrome is a congenital defect caused by maldevelopment of the first and second brachial arch. This causes maldevelopment of the ears, nose, soft palate, mandible, and vertebral column. These patients pose a unique challenge to anesthetists in having difficult management of the airway and neuraxial blockade. This report describes two patients of Goldenhar syndrome who came for the surgery under anesthesia and their management.

Percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCNL) is a technique commonly used for renal stone disease. Supracostal approach is required many times for stone in upper renal calices, with significant risk of hydrothorax and pneumothorax. In this case report, we are discussing hydrothorax as a complication of PCNL performed via supracostal approach. Keywords: Massive Hydrothorax, Supracostal approach, Percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCNL), Pneumothorax.

Dairy farm releases large volume of wastewater which contains medium to high strength pollutants in the form of BOD, COD, phosphorous, ammonia, nitrogen, etc. Mostly these wastewaters are discharged into environment leading to environmental pollution. There are various wastewater treatment techniques, but most of these cannot be easily afforded by dairy farmers due to high installation and maintenance costs. This research work mainly focuses on treatment of dairy farm effluent using simple, cost-effective, and decentralized ‘Constructed wetland technology’. In this study, three vertical flow systems filled with 20 mm gravels were used with recirculation arrangement of 25%, 50%, and 75%. Results showed remarkable decrease in the average concentrations of all the pollutants. This paper discusses the performance and efficiency of VFCW system for removal of pollutants from dairy wastewater and also proposes the use of 20 mm gravels as an alternative treatment mechanism.

Cartilage-hair hypoplasia is an autosomal recessive disorder, characterized by short stature, metaphyseal dysplasia, hypotrichosis and immunodeficiency. More than 90 different biallelic mutations in RMRP gene have been identified to cause this condition. Three cases previously reported from India showed novel mutations in RMRP gene. The authors report two unrelated cases with the more common g.70A > G mutation, stressing the need to screen for this mutation in Indian population having features of cartilage-hair hypoplasia.

Solvent (Hexane, Ethanol, Methanol) extracts of Patchouli ( Pogostemon cablin ) and Geranium (Pelargonium graveolens ) were compared for their potential antibacterial activity against four bacterial species using disc diffusion assayed method. DMSO and Chloramphenicol were used as negative and positive controls respectively. The growth inhibitory effect of the various solvents on Escherichia coli, Bacillus subtilis, Staphylococcus aureus and Enterobacter aerogenes were obtained and the most effective extract was the hexane extract of Patchouli compared to that of Geranium, which showed a maximum zone of inhibition (18 to 21 mm) against S. aureus . Ethanol and methanol extracts of Geranium showed maximum zone of inhibition (10 to 11 mm) against S. aureus . There was no zone of inhibition for aqueous, ethanol and methanol extracts of patchouli with 20 to 80 µl concentration and no zone of inhibition for aqueous, hexane extracts of Geranium with 20 to 80 µl concentration. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) ranged from 40 to 80 µl for Patchouli hexane extract and MIC ranged from 60 to 80 µl for Geranium ethanol and methanol extracts. The potency of these extracts based on the zones of inhibition and MIC values were higher indicating that leaves have a potential broad spectrum antibacterial activity. The combination of these antimicrobial plant extracts can be used to treat infectious diseases in the near future. Keywords: Patchouli, geranium, plant extracts, disc diffusion, bacterial species, MIC, zone of inhibition, infectious diseases African Journal of Biotechnology , Vol 13(23) 2379-2384

Background and Aims: Regional analgesic techniques are difficult to use in tubercular spine patients due to distorted spinal anatomy and presence of infection. This study was conducted with the aim to evaluate analgesic efficacy of local wound infiltration before wound closure in tubercular spine patients. Methods: This pilot randomised double-blind controlled study was conducted in 32 American Society of Anesthesiologists I-III patients, age ≥15 years, undergoing elective surgery for spinal tuberculosis. All the patients received general anaesthesia using standard technique and intravenous morphine for intraoperative analgesia. They received wound infiltration with either normal saline (group C) or local infiltration analgesia with 0.375% ropivacaine 3 mg/kg, adrenaline 5 μg/mL and dexmedetomidine 1 μg/kg in a total volume of 0.8 mL/kg (group LIA) before wound closure. Patient-controlled analgesia using intravenous morphine provided postoperative analgesia. The primary objective was to study 24-h morphine consumption, whereas the secondary objectives included pain scores, complications and patient satisfaction. Repeated measures analysis of variance, Chi-square test and Mann–Whitney U test were used for statistical analysis. Results: Morphine requirement was lower in group LIA (6.7 ± 2.7 mg) than in group C (27.7 ± 7.9 mg);P < 0.001. Group LIA also had lower pain scores (P < 0.001), longer time to rescue analgesic (P < 0.001), better patient satisfaction to pain relief (P = 0.001) and lower incidence of postoperative nausea and vomiting than group C. Conclusion: Wound infiltration with ropivacaine, adrenaline and dexmedetomidine before wound closure provided good postoperative analgesia with lower morphine requirement.

Aims To determine the influence of location, seasonal variation and solvent system in production of phytochemicals and antioxidants from ginkgo leaves. Methods Total phenolic and flavonoid contents and antioxidant activity in ginkgo leaf extracts were estimated spectrophotometrically. Factorial analysis was performed to correlate the influence of location, season and solvent on production of phytochemicals and antioxidants. Results Total phenolic and flavonoid contents as well as the antioxidants were estimated maximum in autumn. Among solvents, acetone/water extracts gave best results for phenolic and flavonoid contents while methanolic extracts were best for antioxidants. Phenolic content, the predominant indicator of phytochemicals, showed significant correlation with antioxidant activity. Conclusion Factorial analysis among location, season and solvent with respect to the phytochemicals and antioxidants, was found to be statistically significant. Presence of phytochemicals along with the protective feature in the form of antioxidants is indicative of the importance of this species in pharmacological industry.

Plant litter decomposition is not a purely chemical or physical process, it is basically a biological one resulting from the diverse activities of microorganisms, protozoa and various other soil organisms like insects and worms. The bacteria and fungi play a very significant role in plant litter decomposition and humus formation. The fungi which colonized decaying substrates could use only simple substrates such as sugars and they referred as sugar fungi. Garrett suggested that the root infecting fungi open the way for a sequence of saprophytic sugar fungi, cellulose decomposers and finally lignin decomposers. The initial rates of losses of differrent components could be ranked as sugar > hemicelluloses> cellulose> lignin. During this succession, the substrates were found to become progressively depleted. This biochemically based succession was believed to be reflected in a taxonomic way as the Phycomycetes to be considered as sugar fungi, the Ascomycetes and Deuteromycetes as cellulolytic and finally Basidiomycetes as lignin decomposers. &nbsp

Though the fungi play a very significant role in the plant litter decomposition, studies revealed that the bacteria colonize the litters in the initial stages of decomposition. It has been observed that leaf species with low C:N ratio harbored higher number of bacteria than the more resistant species. The results of various workers outlined the development of the bacterial flora after litter fall due to improved moisture conditions but there is no change in the species composition. The plant litter decomposition by Streptomyces flavovirens has been evidenced by using radioactive CO2. The bacterial population development was observed in the L2 layer following penetration by the microflora, after that, the pine needles were actively tunneled by the enchytraeids, sciarid larvae and oribatid mites and at the same time, were nibbled on the epigenic earthworms. The role of fungi and soil animals in the process of pine litter decomposition revealed that the late decomposition phase after the collapse of the fungal community might be controlled by the utilization of refractory components such as lignin material by microbial and animal populations. Since the lignin degrading fungi need another carbon source to degrade lignin, the microbial activities in the late decomposition phase might be supplied by the cellulose exposed by the combination of soil animals.

Eight inorganic salts viz., ammonium molybdate, ammonium oxalate, cupric sulphate, EDTA, ferric chloride, ferrous sulphate, potassium meta bi sulphate and zinc sulphate were tested at 10mM concentration by membrane filter and steam sterilization methods against plant pathogenic fungi which damage the crop of potato(main food crop of farmers) viz., Fusarium solani, Fusarium oxysporum, Rhizoctonia solani and Phytophthora infestans. Out of these pathogens, Phytophthora infestans is major disease of potato and spreads epidemically through out the world. All chemicals are effective for R. solani and P. infestans while least effective for F. solani and F. oxysporum. &nbsp

World’s population is continuing to rise, the major target of modern agriculture has to a sustainable increase in yield that keeps pace with the increasing number of mouths to feed. This may be achieved by several approaches, not least by a significant reduction in pre and post harvest losses due to disease. In biotechnology different techniques such as proteomics, transcriptomics and metabolic are now proved to be useful in diagnosis of diseases. Biotechnological procedures can also be used to determine the type and sources of host resistance. In Biotechnology the multiplication and manipulation of genes in any living organisms occurs through novel techniques such as genetic engineering in order to produce new organisms or products that can be used in variety of ways. Conventional plant breeding methods used to developed resistant cultivars for various diseases but it is time consuming process while breeding through the markers i.e. marker assisted breeding may greatly increase the efficiency and effectiveness in plant breeding compared to conventional breeding. The identification of diseases in plant is required to design effective management strategies. Form the last few year Biotechnology offers radical alternatives to detect and enumerate the different diseases. The purpose of this chapter is to provide general information for the diseases diagnosis and its management of infectious diseases thorough biotechnology.

Present study focused on the response of two different varieties of wheat (Triticum aestivum. L) against salinity. Salinity treatments were made by measuring half the amount of NaCl ds m−1 needed to be prepared in distilled water. Anatomical alterations were seen in all treatments and the alterations increased as saline concentration increased. However, both the varieties managed to survive and bring about changes in stem, root and leaf. The anatomical features of both the varieties were observed under microscope and photographs were taken.

Plant tissue culture has been successfully integrated into plant transformation strategies. Meristem culture has become immensely popular as micro propagation technique for the rapid production of commercially viable plants at industrial level. Meristem culture is also significant for obtaining virus free plant and additionally, meristem culture in combination with other techniques is applied in plant improvement as in production of transgenic plants, plant germplasm storage, regeneration of quality planting material or seeds in association with aeroponic or hydroponic systems.

Lignin is the second most abundant aromatic biopolymer next to cellulose constituent of cell wall of vascular plants, where it acts as a structural component of support and conducting tissue. It is recalcitrant to degradation, and creates a barrier towards enzymatic attack by any microbes. It has been identified in primitive groups of plants such as ferns, club mosses and gymnosperms but absent in bryophytes and lower plants. To improve the processing of lignocellulosic feed stocks, humic compound in soil and CO2 Concentration in the environment, it's required to develop eco-friendly strategies. Lignin degradation has found in nature through the lignolytic enzymes of microbes. Enzymatic degradation of lignin involves five extracellular enzymes-(a) laccase; (b) lignin peroxidase (Lip); (c) manganese-dependent peroxidase (MnP); (d)Versatile peroxidase (VP) and (e) Dye-Decolorizing Peroxidase (DyP). In the present study we discuss the structure of lignin, chemical nature and Enzymology. Authors focus on degradation of lignin through microorganisms found in the plant residues and soil that are capable of producing lignolytic enzymes, which in turn release lignin fractions in soil, hence increase soil fertility through humification.

The analyses of plant litter revealed that generally cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin are the major constituents, being a part of structural framework. Therefore, carbohydrate biochemistry is likely to be the key factor in ecology. The pectic substances though constitute a little amount, are also important because these act as cementing material. It can be expected that the decomposition of a substrate by a fungus or a fungal community depends upon their capacity to produce enzymes which can degrade cell wall constituents of the substrates. Good enzyme-producing equipment as one of the important characteristic contributing towards successful colonization of a dead organic substrate by the fungi because of invasion of plant tissue by a fungus. The important characteristic is the rate at which it can penetrate successive cell walls in a cellular tissue.

Nanotechnology is a new emerging technology which has applications in different areas like it plays an important role in food sector and is used during food processing and food packaging. Nano-food may provide proper nutrient supplements like iron, vitamins, proteins and essential minerals. Nanotechnology is also self-assured to develop quality food packaging materials and can reduce plastic use. Scientists also going to develop nm sized salt grain particles that may increase surface area; hence our food materials require very less salt to give our taste buds that will cure high blood pressure. Beer bottles made by Plastics are used by many brewer SABMiller that contain a layer of nano-particles of clay that easily separable and filled more space in walls of beer and makes it harder for fizzy CO2 to free from the beer or for O2, that spoil the flavor of beer. There are many Government stakeholders and agencies to determine limitations and release demonstrative prescription and proclamation, as early as possible before-food packaging by nano materials that may have considerable impacts on health of human being. This review focused on the availability of nanofood packaging, processing and their supplements in the current market.

A study was undertaken to examine the effects of the acidophilic strain 62BN (pH 5.5) and alkalophilic strain 97AN (pH 9.0) on remediation of cadmium and their subsequent effects on soybean ( Glycine max var. PS-1347) in acidic and alkaline soils, respectively. The effect of cadmium on soybean plants was studied in acidic (pH 6.3 ± 0.2) and alkaline (8.5 ± 0.2) soil amended with 124 μM CdCl 2 concentration, respectively, and the cadmium toxicity was evident from stunted growth, poor rooting, and cadmium accumulation in each case. Furthermore, 16S ribosomal DNA (rDNA) sequencing identified 62BN as a Pseudomonas putida strain and 97AN as a Pseudomonas monteilli strain. In situ studies showed that on seed bacterization, both the P. putida 62BN strain and P. monteilli 97AN strain were able to enhance plant growth in terms of agronomical parameters, in the presence of cadmium in acidic and alkaline soils, respectively. Apart from this, strain 62BN and 97AN reduced cadmium concentration in plant and soil significantly ( p P. putida 62BN was more effective than P. monteilli 97AN strain in remediation of cadmium. The bacterial strains offer promise as inoculants to improve the growth of plants in the presence of toxic Cd concentrations in the environment with their optimum pH.

The copper-resistant (1318 microM CuSO(4).5H(2)O) strain KNP3 of Proteus vulgaris was isolated from soil near the Panki power plant, Kanpur, India, and was used to inoculate pigeon pea (Cajanus cajan var. UPS-120) seeds grown in soil for 60 days in the presence of 600 microM CuSO(4).5H(2)O. A study of siderophore production (126.34 +/- 0.52 microg ml(-1)) and its subsequent effects on plant growth promotion under in situ conditions was conducted. The parameters that were monitored included the plants' wet weight, dry weight, shoot length, chlorophyll content, and concentration of copper in plant roots and shoots. The results showed that the strain caused a significant (p < 0.05) increase in wet weight, dry weight, root length, shoot growth, and chlorophyll content (57.8%, 60%, 19.7%, 47.8%, and 36.3%, respectively) in the presence of copper. Furthermore, the strain reduced accumulation of Cu in the roots and shoots to 36.8% and 60.5%, respectively. Apart from this, copper concentration in the soil was measured on 0, 7, 15, 30, and 45 days consecutively and the results indicated that the bioinoculant KNP3 causes a significant decrease in Cu concentration in soil (55.6%), which was unlikely in the control (10.5%) treatment. The data suggested that the bacterial strain has the ability to protect plants against the inhibitory effects of copper besides reducing the copper load of the soil.

Hypertensive retinopathy is a retinal vascular damage caused by high blood pressure which results in loss of vision. In the present work, effort has been devoted to enhance and segment the retinal vasculature which is required to calculate its anatomical characteristics such as width, length for the quantitative measurement of arterio-venous ratio (AVR). Enhancement of the retinal fundus images is done using top-hat transform and segmentation of the vessels using iterative thresholding. The performance of the proposed method is tested on 50 digital fundus images of publicly available MESSIDOR dataset. The hypertensive retinopathy can be measured quantitatively by detecting the decrement in the ratio of width of retinal artery-vein to that of the normal images. The arterio-venous ratio obtained by applying the proposed methodology was found to be 0.62-0.735 in normal cases and 0.203-0.495 in case of patients suffering from hypertensive retinopathy on MESSIDOR dataset which was not performed earlier. This measurement of arterio-venous ratio will be further helpful to identify the stages of hypertensive retinopathy.

Background: Copper T 380 A is commonly used as PPIUCD as well as Interval contraception in rural areas of Chhattisgarh. Studies have reported that interval insertion of intrauterine device in women during their lactation period is associated with high risk of uterine perforation as compared to postpartum insertion similar as our study.Methods: 50 consecutive women were included, who came in family planning OPD of Chhattisgarh Institute of Medical Sciences (CIMS), a Government Medical College, with history of copper T insertion, during their lactation period, within one year of child birth. The copper T insertion was done by health workers at peripheral health centers with complains of pain lower abdomen, menstrual irregularities, missing thread, vaginal discharge, uterine perforation following Copper T 380 A insertion. Apart from patient’s characteristics such as age and parity etc. the method of detection of the perforation and details of management were analyzed.Results: There was one case of partial uterine perforation, one case of copper T lying in peritoneal cavity, two cases of expulsion and three cases had embedded copper T in the myometrium.Conclusions: The risk of perforation due to copper T 380A insertion in lactating women is slightly high, thus timing of insertion, proper counseling and providers training, which are vital factors for intrauterine device use during lactation period, should be considered seriously so as to minimize the complications.

Cellulose is the most abundant polysaccharide occurring in plant materials. The cellulose content of higher plant is never fixed and the concentration changes with the age and type of the plant. It is specially predominant in woody substances as well as in straw, stubble and leaves. Cellulose molecules are linear polymers (unbranched long chains) of β-D-glucopyranose residues linked by β(1, 4)-glycosidic bonds. The residues in the cellulose chain are stabilized by hydrogen bonds between hydroxyl groups of adjacent glucose residues. Cellulose is soluble in acids but insoluble in alkaline solutions. Cellulose-decomposing microorganisms are found abundantly in nature. Due to cellulolytic potential these play an important role in the carbon cycle by recycling CO2 fixed through photosynthesis. Cellulosedecomposing microbes include a variety of aerobes and anaerobes; mesophiles as well as thermophiles. Fungi and bacteria, however, are mainly responsible for cellulose degradation in nature. The details of the mechanism involved in the breakdown of cellulose have been the subject of investigation for a long time. As per currently accepted three-enzyme group hypothesis, the complete degradation of native cellulose to glucose requires three enzymes - (a) endo-β-1, 4-glucanase (EG) or cellulase (CEL, EC 3.2.1.4); (b) Cellobiohydrolase (CBH, or exo-glucanase, EC 3.2.1.91) and (c) β-glucosidase (BG, EC 3.2.1.21). EG first hydrolyses amorphous regions of cellulose fibrils. The non-reducing ends thus generated are then attacked by CBH thereby releasing cellobiose. The action of CBH then proceeds into the crystalline region. BG hydrolyses cellobiose to glucose. These enzymes work synergistically to hydrolyse cellulose. The cellulolytic activity of microbes is greatly affected by different factor viz. availability of nutrients, optimum pH, temperature and moisture contents have been found to be a major controlling factor in the production of cellulolytic enzymes.

Bio surfactants are a structurally diverse group of surface-active molecules synthesized by microorganisms. It's have attracted much attention because of advantageous characteristics such as structural diversity, low toxicity, higher biodegradability, better environmental compatibility and the higher substrate selectivity. Oil spreading technique, blood hemolysis test, foaming activity, and emulsification activity were performed for the screening of the biosurfactant producing bacteria, and found positive oil spreading technique in bacterial strain Bacillus subtilisand Pseudomonas aeruginosa.Pseudomonas aeruginosahas high emulsifying activity and it was 29.62% where as in Bacillus subtilis20.68%. Bacillus subtilisand Pseudomonas aeruginosashowed blood hemolysis test and it was observed that foaming stability in Pseudomonas aeruginosais higher than Bacillus subtilis.Pseudomonas aeruginosashowed gram negative and Bacillus subtilisshowed gram negative and they are in rod and circular shape respectivelyBacillus subtilis and Pseudomonas aeruginosaboth the organism have higher growth rate at pH 7 and Pseudomonas aeruginosashows more growth than Bacillus. Pseudomonas aeruginosashows higher growth rate as compare to Bacillus subtilis at 370C and the Pseudomonas aeruginosashows better growth rate than Bacillus subtilisat 37°C.

The present study is a retrospective analysis of 13 cases of deaths, which resulted from throwing of corrosives over the body. The cases were autopsied at the Department of Forensic Medicine, Maulana Azad Medical College & Associated Hospitals, Delhi, India, during a period of 13 years from July 1998 to June 2011. The cases represented approximately 0.1% of all autopsy cases during the same period. Data were analyzed with regard to the age, sex, place of occurrence, pattern of injury, survival period, and cause of death. Of these cases, 8 (61.54%) were male, and 5 (38.46%) were female. The most common age group of the victim was 21 to 30 years (46.15%). Six of the victims were attacked on the road side. Face and thorax were involved in all cases (100%). The average total body surface area of burn was 56.69%.The mean survival period was 28.2 days. In 53.85% of cases, the cause of death was septicemia.

Cadmium is a widespread toxic pollutant of occupational and environmental concern because of its diverse toxic effects: extremely protracted biological half-life (approximately 20-30 years in humans), low rate of excretion from the body and storage predominantly in soft tissues (primarily, liver and kidneys). It is an extremely toxic element of continuing concern because environmental levels have risen steadily due to continued worldwide anthropogenic mobilization. Cadmium is absorbed in significant quantities from cigarette smoke, food, water and air contamination and is known to have numerous undesirable effects in both humans and animals. Cadmium has a diversity of toxic effects including nephrotoxicity, carcinogenicity, teratogenicity and endocrine and reproductive toxicities. At the cellular level, cadmium affects cell proliferation, differentiation, apoptosis and other cellular activities. Current evidence suggests that exposure to cadmium induces genomic instability through complex and multifactorial mechanisms. Most important seems to be cadmium interaction with DNA repair mechanism, generation of reactive oxygen species and induction of apoptosis. In this article, we have reviewed recent developments and findings on cadmium toxicology.