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Design and development of an efficient and trustworthy e-business application using orchestration has number of issues. Some of them considered here are reducing complexity, higher flexibility and improving efficiency, quality attributes, ensuring trust, and processing over large datasets. The present paper considers the application of dynamic orchestration in e- Supply Chain Management System (SCMS), which is based on hybrid approach. An orchestration enabled e-SCMS process model is also proposed. The paper considers (a) layered-system architecture and (b) Quality of Service (QoS) attributes. The attribute enables an optimal web service selection scheme and takes into account the trust parameter of the service providers. The scheme also reduces the complexity. The results show reduced complexity, improved efficiency, and higher flexibility. An evaluation when considering the different criteria shows that the presented orchestration architecture offers an improved solution than existing approaches for designing a complex e-SCMS business process.

The continuous accumulation of recalcitrant xenobiotic compounds into the ecosystem released from various sources caused a serious global concern. Xenobiotics compounds are carcinogenic, mutagenic, causing teratogenic effect and persist over a long period of time in the environment. Therefore there is an urgent need for the detoxification of these compounds. Biodegradation is a technique that employs natural biological processes to completely degrade toxic contaminants from the environment. The microorganisms possess a wide range of catabolic biodegradation pathways and, thus, use these toxic xenobiotics as the sole source of carbon and energy. Bacteria and fungi are source of xenobiotic degradation. For the development of successful and improved bioremediation processes, understanding of the biochemical and molecular aspects of xenobiotics biodegradation is required. The chapter aims to provide an overview of xenobiotic compounds, factors affecting biodegradation, the metabolic pathways and genetic adaptation in microorganisms for degradation of recalcitrant xenobiotic compounds.

The temperature adaptation of α-amylase can be gained by different adjustments in protein structure with consecutive effects on the stability and flexibility of the protein. In this review, meso, thermo and cold-active α-amylases have been compared with respect to their structure and intramolecular interactions. With decrease in temperature, the number of ionic interactions also decreases, leading to greater flexibility of proteins. It has also been observed that the proline and arginine content is higher in thermophilic amylases as compared to meso and psychrophilic amylases, increasing the rigidity and structural stability of protein molecule.

In the present study, the commercial lipase from Himedia, Mumbai was immobilized on silica gel matrix in the presence of a cross-linking agent, glutaraldehyde. The silica immobilized lipase exposed to 2% glutaraldehyde showed 94.28% binding efficiency. The activities of the free and immobilized enzymes were investigated in the hydrolysis reaction of p-nitrophenyl palmitate. The activities of the free and the immobilized lipases were measured at different pH values and temperatures, and their thermal stability was also determined. The free and silica immobilized lipase possessed optimum hydrolytic activity at 40°C, pH 8.0 at 10 minutes of reaction time. Among p-nitrophenyl esters of fatty acids of different chain lengths, both free and silica immobilized showed maximum activity towards p-NPP with measured Km of free and immobilized lipase was found at 0.13 and 0.349 mM respectively whereas the Vmax of free and immobilized lipase was 5.08 μmol/min/mL and 10.38 μmol/min/mg respectively. The lipase activity was found to be stimulated only in the presence of Cu(2+) ions whereas other metal ions inhibited activity of the lipase. The silica immobilized lipase was quite stable at 55°C and 60°C. The immobilized lipase was recycled up to 6(th) cycle and it retained 52% of its original activity up to 5(th) cycle.

Background: This study was carried out to assess the clinical effectiveness of levonorgestrel releasing intrauterine device (LNG-IUS) in the treatment of menorrhagia due to either Dysfunctional Uterine Bleeding (DUB) or fibroid in Indian patients, and to assess patient satisfaction with this treatment modality. Methods: Sixty women with menorrhagia, 30 due to fibroid and 30 due to DUB, meeting inclusion criteria, received LNG-IUS and were prospectively followed up for 9 months with periodic clinical assessments and transvaginal ultrasounds. Patient satisfaction was assessed on a five-point scale. Results: One patient in DUB group was lost to follow-up. In DUB patients, the treatment failure rate was only 3.4% (1 out of 29 patients). The median PBAC score reduced by 95% at 9 months. Fibroid patients also had an equally impressive 97.7% reduction of PBAC score at 9 months, although the failure rate was higher (23.3%; 7 out of 30). Majority of patients were either ‘very satisfied’ or ‘satisfied’ with the treatment, although this percentage was more in DUB (82.8%) than in the fibroid group (66.7%). Haemoglobin and serum ferritin levels significantly increased in both groups. No major side effect was noted. Conclusions: LNG-IUS is an excellent treatment modality for patients of DUB, with good patient satisfaction. It is also a useful treatment option in non-submucosal small fibroids for the symptoms of menorrhagia, can reduce uterine volume and can help avoid hysterectomy, but there is no effect on fibroid volume. Majority of patients are satisfied, although satisfaction rates are less than in DUB patients.

A thermophilic bacterial isolate producing lipase was isolated from soil of hot spring and identified as Bacillus aerius (MTCC 10978). Peak lipase activity was observed when 30 h old inoculum was used and incubated in shaking conditions for 48 h. The optimal temperature and pH for the bacterial growth and lipase production was found to be 55°C and 8.0 respectively with cottonseed oil as carbon source, yeast extract and beef extract as nitrogen source. The enzyme produced by thermophilic Bacillus aerius (MTCC 10978) was purified to 9-fold with 7.2% recovery by ammonium sulfate precipitation and DEAE-Cellulose Column Chromatography. The enzyme was found to be a protein having a molecular weight of 33 kDa on SDS-PAGE. The Km and Vmax value of lipase using p-nitrophenyl palmitate as calculated from Lineweaver-Burk plot was 2.13 mM and 0.66 µmol/ml/min respectively.

Leptospirosis is one of the leading zoonotic infections worldwide. As with other infectious diseases, report of antimicrobial resistance to existing therapeutic arsenal poses challenges in the management of disease. Hence, identification of novel drug targets for the pathogen deems essential. Present study used combined approach of comparative and subtractive genomics to identify putative drug targets. Crucial genes of 16 pathogenic Leptospira strains were filtered and subjected to homology search via target identification tool "TiD". Thereafter, comparative analysis was performed for non-homologous, essential genes to accomplish the broad-spectrum drug target. Consequently, 37 essential genes were found to be conserved in at least 10 strains of Leptospira. Further, prioritization of resultant set of genes revealed 18 were hubs in protein-protein interaction network. Sixteen putative targets among the hub genes were conserved in all strains of Leptospira. Out of sixteen, fourteen were enzymes while 8 were novel and 4 were involved in virulence mechanism. In addition, genome scale metabolic network reconstruction and choke point analysis revealed cobA (porphyrin and chlorophyll metabolism) and thiL (thiamine metabolism) as chokepoints in their respective metabolic pathways. The proposed hub genes could act as putative broad-spectrum drug targets for Leptospira species, however, these putative targets should be validated to ensure them as real one prior to utilizing them for target based lead discovery.

After designing the team structure, we defined the roles of each member. The medical home committee met for 6 months to identify the clinic’s tasks and match the right work to the right person. We eliminated duplicative or inefficient duties, creating space for team members to take on expanded roles. For example, MAs now review patient records to identify healthcare maintenance gaps using the electronic health record (EHR). Though we had implemented standing orders for routine cancer screening, immunizations, and diabetic foot monofilament exams two years prior, they were not being completed consistently. With the MAs, we mapped out their healthcare maintenance workflows and found that hectic clinic flow was the major barrier. We reorganized MA schedules to provide each MA with 4 hours per week of dedicated chart preparation time and they are now consistently able to review patient records prior to clinic to identify healthcare maintenance gaps. As another example, team clerks make appointment confirmation calls to patients, which has resulted in a 30 % reduction in the clinic no-show rate. When we initially proposed confirmation calls, clerical staff expressed concern about being able to handle this new task. We eliminated less critical duties such as extraneous paperwork, creating space for them to take on this expanded role. After training the clerks with written telephone scripts, they are now more comfortable calling patients. Our patient advisory board members have declared our confirmation calls “the best thing that’s happened to GMC in years.” GMC patients have a high burden of psychosocial as well as medical complexity, and coordinating their care often overwhelmed part-time providers. To address these challenges, we did two things. First, we integrated behavioral health onto our care teams. Each team has one behavioral health clinician—a licensed clinical social worker or psychologist—who is co-located in clinic. We reconfigured the roles of these existing staff to be team-based: they attend daily huddles to discuss behavioral health needs of scheduled patients; take warm hand-offs, meaning they meet with patients during provider visits, as well as schedule independent follow-up visits; and are available for consultation about behavioral health needs of team patients. Integrating behavioral health has allowed team members to communicate and address patients’ psychosocial needs in a more coordinated manner. Second, we developed a complex care management team. Led by a registered nurse, this interdisciplinary team works intensively to decrease admissions and emergency department (ED) visits for our most frequently admitted patients. The team supports part-time providers by caring for patients between visits and focusing on time-intensive tasks such as self-management support. Patients in the program have 49 % fewer inpatient hospital days (9.6 to 4.9 days/patient/year) and 21 % fewer ED visits (3.4 to 2.7 visits/patient/year) compared to the year prior. Despite these successes, redefining roles requires a continual juggling of responsibilities. One ongoing issue is the high volume of patients who drop-in to clinic every day, consuming RN time. While valuable, addressing drop-in patient needs limit RN availability for other team roles such as chronic care management. We have been working to improve our drop-in process as well as advocating for additional RN staffing to create capacity for expanded nurse team roles in the coming year.

In the present study, muslin was modified by graft copolymerization with poly(4-vinyl pyridine) using γ-ray initiation method. The graft copolymers, thus synthesized, were further functionalized by reaction with 2-chloroethanol. The resultant materials, having pyridinium ring and exchangeable Cl−, were evaluated for the removal of fluoride ions from the simulated water samples. The materials exhibited high fluoride uptake and the maximum uptake was observed at pH 4.0, 20°C and 10 ppm of the fluoride ions. The maximum retention capacity of 7.7 mg/g was observed when fluoride uptake was studied up to 10 cycles. The data generated fit the pseudo-second-order kinetics and Langmuir isotherm. The efficacy of the functionalized muslin was evaluated as an antimicrobial agent against a bacterium (Bacillus aureus) and a fungus (Aspergillus niger). It was observed to be effective to inhibit the growth of both the microbes.

Pectinases are among the most widely distributed enzymes in bacteria, fungi, and plants. Almost all the commercial preparations of pectinases are produced from fungal sources. Mucor circinelloides ITCC-6025 produced polygalacturonase when grown in Riviere's medium containing pectin (methyl ester) as the sole source of carbon. Immobilization of purified polygalacturonase was done on silica gel with 86% efficiency. The enzyme took 60 Min to bind maximally on the support. The immobilized enzyme showed maximum activity at a temperature of 45°C (4.57 U/mg) and pH 5.4. The immobilized enzyme was reused for four cycles as it retained almost 55% of its activity. The immobilized enzyme treatment increased the formation of higher alcohols and phenolics during the course of wine formation from apple and plum juices, whereas there was a decrease in the amount of carbohydrates. The enzyme treatment also resulted in clarification of wine; there was an increase in transmittance at 650 nm (201.78% in the case of apple wine and 223.4% in the case of plum wine) as compared to the control (untreated wine).

Polygalacturonases are the pectinolytic enzymes that catalyze the hydrolytic cleavage of the polygalacturonic acid chain. In the present study, polygalacturonase from Aspergillus niger (MTCC 3323) was purified. The enzyme precipitated with 60% ethanol resulted in 1.68-fold purification. The enzyme was purified to 6.52-fold by Sephacryl S-200 gel-filtration chromatography. On SDS-PAGE analysis, enzyme was found to be a heterodimer of 34 and 69 kDa subunit. Homogeneity of the enzyme was checked by NATIVE-PAGE and its molecular weight was found to be 106 kDa. The purified enzyme showed maximum activity in the presence of polygalacturonic acid at temperature of 45 °C, pH of 4.8, reaction time of 15 min. The enzyme was stable within the pH range of 4.0-5.5 for 1 h. At 4 °C it retained 50% activity after 108 h but at room temperature it lost its 50% activity after 3h. The addition of Mn(2+), K(+), Zn(2+), Ca(2+) and Al(3+) inhibited the enzyme activity; it increased in the presence of Mg(2+) and Cu(2+) ions. Enzyme activity was increased on increasing the substrate concentration from 0.1% to 0.5%. The K(m) and V(max) values of the enzyme were found to be 0.083 mg/ml and 18.21 μmol/ml/min. The enzyme was used for guava juice extraction and clarification. The recovery of juice of enzymatically treated pulp increased from 6% to 23%. Addition of purified enzyme increased the %T(650) from 2.5 to 20.4 and °Brix from 1.9 to 4.8. The pH of the enzyme treated juice decreased from 4.5 to 3.02.

With the advent from the laboratory bench to patient bedside in last five decades, vesicular systems have now come to be widely accepted as pragmatic means for controlled delivery of drugs. Their success stories include those of liposomes, niosomes and even the lately developed ethosomes and transferosomes. Pharmacosomes, which, as delivery systems offer numerous advantages and have been widely researched, however, remain largely unacknowledged as a successful delivery system. Though a large number of drugs have been derivatized and formulated into self-assembled vesicular systems, the term pharmacosomes has not been widely used while reporting them. Therefore, their relative obscurity may be attributed to the non-usage of the nomenclature of pharmacosomes by the researchers working in the area. We present a review on the scenario that lead to origin of these bio-inspired vesicles composed of self-assembling amphiphilic molecules. Various drugs that have been formulated into pharmacosomes, their characterization techniques, their properties relative to those of other vesicular delivery systems, and the success achieved so far are also discussed.

Poor bioavailability is one of the major limitations in absorption of certain nutraceuticals after their oral intake. This is especially applicable to vitamins, phytoconstituents, enzymes, and certain antioxidants. A number of formulation strategies are being developed for overcoming the problems related to oral absorption and bioavailability of these nutraceuticals. Lipid-based formulations are one of the attractive choices for enhancing oral bioavailability. One such novel system that has been successfully explored is the self-emulsifying delivery systems (SEDS). These delivery systems offer advantages like improved solubility and increased bioavailability. SEDS are basically isotropic mixtures of drug, lipids (natural or synthetic oils), and emulsifiers (solid or liquid), usually with one or more of hydrophilic cosolvents/coemulsifiers. A number of SEDS have been developed for vitamins, enzymes, and phytoconstituents that find an application as dietary supplement or as adjuvants in various disease conditions. This chapter not only compiles the available data of various SEDS reported for delivery of nutraceuticals but also describes their future potential after critically viewing their advantages and limitations.

Biodiesel can be produced by transesterification of vegetable or waste oil catalysed by lipases. Biodiesel is an alternative energy source to conventional fuel. It combines environmental friendliness with biodegradability, low toxicity and renewability. Biodiesel transesterification reactions can be broadly classified into two categories: chemical and enzymatic. The production of biodiesel using the enzymatic route eliminates the reactions catalysed under acid or alkali conditions by yielding product of very high purity. The modification of lipases can improve their stability, activity and tolerance to alcohol. The cost of lipases and the relatively slower reaction rate remain the major obstacles for enzymatic production of biodiesel. However, this problem can be solved by immobilizing the enzyme on a suitable matrix or support, which increases the chances of re-usability. The main factors affecting biodiesel production are composition of fatty acids, catalyst, solvents, molar ratio of alcohol and oil, temperature, water content, type of alcohol and reactor configuration. Optimization of these parameters is necessary to reduce the cost of biodiesel production.

Complexes of composition [VO(Q)2−n(HL1,2)n] (I–IV) (where Q: C9H6NO− (quinolin-8-olato ion); HL1: [C6H4(OH)CONHO]− (salicyloylhydroxamate ion); HL2: [C6H3(OH)(5-Cl)CONHO]− (5-chlorosalicyloylhydrox...

Biotechnology is one of the fastest growing, knowledge-driven industries in India and is expected to play a key role in shaping India’s rapidly developing economy. Since its inception in 1986 the Department of Biotechnology (DBT) has been guiding to foster growth of Indian biotechnology with a range of initiatives. Indian biotechnology industry registered over 3.0 billion USD revenue generation in 2009–10, which constitutes about 2 % share of the global biotechnology market. More than 300 companies are engaged in different biotechnology sectors in India, majority of which are clustered in western and southern regions. Biopharmaceuticals is the largest biotechnology sector in India with about 62 % market share. Bioservices ranked second due to the upward trend in a range of service oriented research activities. Bioagriculture recorded highest growth in 2009–10 and is dominated by insect resistant transgenic cotton. Bioindustrial, which deals with production of enzymes for different industrial uses, is the smallest biotechnology sector in India with 6 % revenue share.

Now a day in regular emerging field of technology use of digital imaging grows. Digital image processing refers to processing of digital images by the digital computer to improve the quality of image and enhancing the image and their edges. DIP is vast area of work. This digital image processing is used in many fields like in photography, high se- curity number plate recognition system and in medical field also. This paper mainly focuses on pre- processing step of digital imaging, noise present in digital image and how filtering technique improves the quality of image and reduces the noise in synthesis medical images. In this paper we take ultrasound medical images for pre-processing on digital image processing. So the input is ultrasound image for pre-processing.

Anti-microbial polymers are an important class of materials which are catching attention of the researchers worldwide in view of the fast increase in resistance to antibiotics by the microbes. Factors like molecular weight of the polymer, hydrophobic nature or length of the side chain, and nature of the cation and anion mainly affect their efficacy. Structure-property relationship in polymers also affects their activity, and present work reports synthesis of a series of new class of anti-microbial polymers by chemoenzymatic route initially employing lipase as the biocatalyst. The pendant nitro groups of the monomer were reduced to amino groups and the monomer was subsequently polymerized and the amino groups were quaternized using different alkyl bromides. The bromide counter anions on the polymer were exchanged with OH-, CF3COO-, Cl-or HSCH2COO− to generate a series of new polymers. Properties of the synthesized polymers were characterized by XRD, SEM, FT-IR and NMR spectroscopy. Anti-microbial activity of these new polymers were also investigated against gram (-) bacterium (Citrobacter freundii) and fungi.

Vocal process avulsion is a rare condition in which laryngeal trauma causes a separation of the vocal process from the body of the arytenoid cartilage. Typically symptoms are dysphonia and shortness of breath during phonation. Strobovideolaryngoscopy, laryngeal electromyography, and laryngeal computed tomography are helpful in establishing this important and sometimes elusive diagnosis. Several treatment modalities have been reported with varying success. We report four new cases, review four cases reported previously by the senior author, and suggest approaches to diagnosis and optimal treatment of vocal process avulsion.

Vocal fold paresis has a multifactorial etiology and is idiopathic in many individuals. The incidence of thyroid-related neuropathy in the larynx has not been previously described. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of previously undiagnosed thyroid disease in patients with laryngeal neuropathy and to compare this prevalence with that in a cohort of patients with a neurotologic neuropathy.Case series with chart review; tertiary care, otolaryngology practice.Charts of 308 consecutive patients with dysphonia and vocal fold paresis and 333 consecutive patients with sensorineural hearing loss, who presented for evaluation during a 3-year period, were reviewed.One hundred forty-six of 308 (47.4%) patients with vocal fold paresis were diagnosed with concurrent thyroid disease, whereas 55 of 333 (16.5%) patients with sensorineural hearing loss were diagnosed with concurrent thyroid disease (P0.001, Pearson chi-square = 92.896; degrees of freedom = 5). Thyroid diagnoses among those with vocal fold paresis included benign growths (29.9%), thyroiditis (7.8%), hyperthyroidism (4.5%), hypothyroidism (3.6%), and thyroid malignancy (1.6%).Thyroid abnormalities are more prevalent in patients with dysphonia and vocal fold paresis than in patients with symptomatic sensorineural hearing loss, suggesting a greater association between previously undiagnosed thyroid abnormalities and laryngeal neuropathy than that between neurotologic neuropathy and thyroid disease.

Objectives/Hypothesis: To compare by meta-analysis the effect of recurrent laryngeal nerve (RLN) monitoring versus RLN identification alone on true vocal fold palsy rates after thyroidectomy. Study Design: Systematic review and meta-analysis. Methods: A search of MEDLINE (1966–July 2008), EMBASE (1980–July 2008), Cochrane Central Register of Clinical Trials (CENTRAL), Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, clinicaltrials.gov, and The National Guideline Clearinghouse databases was performed. References from retrieved articles, presentation data, and correspondence with experts was also included. All authors used a detailed list of inclusion/exclusion criteria to determine articles eligible for final inclusion. Two authors independently extracted data including study criteria, methods of vocal fold function assessment, laryngeal nerve monitor type, and surgical procedure. Odds ratios (OR) were pooled using a random-effects model. Associations with patient and operative characteristics were tested in subgroups. Results: One randomized clinical trial, seven comparative trials, and 34 case series evaluating 64,699 nerves-at-risk were included. The overall incidence of true vocal fold palsy (TVFP) was 3.52% for intraoperative nerve monitoring (IONM) versus 3.12% for nerve identification alone (ID) (OR 0.93; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.76-1.12]. No statistically significant difference in transient TVFP (2.74% IONM vs. 2.49% ID [OR 1.07, 95% CI, 0.95-1.20]), persistent TVFP (0.75% IONM vs. 0.58% ID [OR 0.99, 95% CI, 0.79-1.23]), or unintentional RLN injury (0.12% IONM vs. 0.33% ID [OR 0.50, 95% CI, 0.15-1.75]) was found. Conclusions: This meta-analysis demonstrates no statistically significant difference in the rate of true vocal fold palsy after using intraoperative neuromonitoring versus recurrent laryngeal nerve identification alone during thyroidectomy.

The application of immobilized enzyme for catalyzing various biotransformation processes is a widely used approach at present. This work mainly focused on the immobilization of polygalacturonase from Aspergillus niger Van Tieghem (MTCC 3323) on Nylon-6 by covalent binding, keeping in view its applicability in apple juice clarification. The immobilized enzyme was characterized in terms of kinetic parameters, thermal stability and reusability. The enzyme was immobilized onto glutaraldehyde-activated Nylon-6 by covalent binding and the efficiency of immobilization was found to be 40%. The immobilization yielded a protein loading of 70 μg g −1 of Nylon-6. Immobilized enzyme showed maximum activity at a temperature of 50 °C and pH 5.0. The enzyme was stable between pH 4.0–5.5. The immobilized enzyme could be reused through 4 cycles with almost 50% retention of its original activity. It had increased thermostability over its soluble form at 25 °C and 45 °C. Kinetic parameters K m and V max were found to be 7.6 ...

Aims: The aim of this study is to compare cumulative in vitro fertilization-intracytoplasmic sperm injection outcomes following two elective single embryo transfer (eSET) versus one double embryo transfer (DET) using blastocyst(s). Settings and Design: This was retrospective observational study. Study Period: The study was conducted during January 2015–December 2015. Subjects and Methods: Forty-one fresh + 25 frozen eSET versus 123 DET using self-oocytes and 68 fresh + 35 frozen eSET versus 184 DET using donor-oocytes were included in the study. All failing to achieve live birth after first eSET underwent frozen embryo transfer cycle with second blastocyst. Cumulative outcome after two eSET were compared with one DET. Statistical Analysis Used: The analysis was performed by Chi-square and t-test. Results: In self-oocytes group, higher but statistically nonsignificant cumulative clinical pregnancy rate (CPR) (58.5% vs. 57.7%, P = 0.92) and live birth rate (LBR) (48.7% vs. 44.7%, P = 0.65) with significantly lower multiple pregnancy rate (MPR) (4.2% vs. 45%, P = 0.0002) were obtained; whereas in donor-oocytes group, comparable cumulative CPR (73.5% vs. 65.7%, P = 0.24), significantly higher LBR (64.7% vs. 48.9%, P = 0.02) and significantly lower MPR (4% vs. 51.2%, P = 0.00005) were obtained after two eSET vs. one DET. In self-oocytes group, the incidence of prematurity (10% vs. 21.4%, P > 0.05) and low birth weight (25% vs. 45.6%, P > 0.05) were lower but statistically nonsignificant, whereas in donor-oocytes group, incidence of prematurity was lower but statistically nonsignificant (26.7% vs. 38.8%, P > 0.05) while of low birth weight was significantly lower (32.7% vs. 51.2%, P = 0.0038) after two eSET versus one DET. Conclusion: Cumulative LBR was higher with lower incidence of multiple births, prematurity and low birth weight after two eSET versus one DET using self- or donor-oocytes. Higher use of eSET improves reproductive outcomes in patients with good prognosis.

Many complex business-applications require the composition of tasks invoking multiple web services. The complexity of a composition process increases when a composition needs dynamic functionalities. Web services (WSs) of different service providers can be functionally identical, but have varying Quality of Service (QoS) attributes. A QoS optimisation is thus required at every stage in a composite web service (CWS). Maximising the overall utility functions are the need at both, component and composition levels. Local (task level) or global (composition using tasks in CWS) optimisation is currently used approach during the composition from the tasks. The present paper proposes a hybrid approach using the local as well as global optimisations. While local optimisation ensures the composition from the WSs in the trustworthy environment, the global optimisation satisfies the QoS constraints at the global level. The approach uses a hybrid orchestration structure. It maximises overall utility functions and reduces computational time related complexity.

A series of new bioactive polymers with pendant choline analogous group was prepared by anion exchange reaction direct at the quaternary nitrogen of the polycation. Poly(4-vinyl 2-hydroxyethyl pyridinium) chloride was prepared in situ by simultaneous polymerization and quaternization of 4-vinyl pyridine with 2-chloroethanol that also acts as catalyst. The counter anion (Cl−) of the polycation was exchanged by anion exchange reaction with Br−, −OH, −SH, NO3 −, BF4 − or CF3COO−. Evidence of anion exchange was obtained by the characterization of the resultant polymers. The nature of the counter anion has profound effect on their properties including strong anion-dependent anti-microbial activity against bacteria and fungus. Polymer containing −OH was observed to be the most potent anti-microbial agent with the lowest minimum inhibitory concentration against both the classes of microbes studied.

Microbial lipases (E.C. 3.1.1.3) are the preferred biocatalysts for the synthesis of various fragrance compounds, such as linalool acetate, citronellal acetate, and geranyl acetate, in organic solvents over chemical synthesis. In this study, a purified alkaline extracellular lipase of Pseudomonasaeruginosa MTCC-4713 was efficiently immobilized onto a synthetic poly(AAc-co-HPMA-cl-EGDMA) hydrogel by surface adsorption, and the bound lipase was evaluated for its hydrolytic potential toward various p-nitrophenyl acyl esters, which differed in their C-chain length. Among four series of hydrogels prepared by the variation of the concentrations of monomer and crosslinker, two hydrogels, namely, I5d and I20d, that exhibited relatively higher protein (lipase activity) bindings were selected to perform hydrolytic and synthetic (geranyl butyrate) reactions in aqueous and organic solvents. The hydrogel-bound lipase was highly hydrolytic toward p-nitrophenyl ester (C: 16; p-nitrophenyl palmitate). The hydrogel-immobilized lipase was quite stable and retained approximately 57.6% of its original hydrolytic activity after the fifth cycle of reuse under optimized conditions (pH 8.5, 65°C). The hydrogel-immobilized lipase when used to perform the esterification of geraniol/butyric acid (400 : 100 mM) in n-heptane resulted in 98.8 mM geranyl butyrate at 65°C under shaking (120 rpm) after 15 h of reaction time. The addition of a molecular sieve (3 A × 1.5 mm) to the reaction system at a concentration of 100 mg per reaction volume (1 mL) resulted in the complete conversion of the reactants into geranyl butyrate. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2008

An extracellular alkaline lipase of a thermo tolerant Bacillus coagulans BTS-3 was immobilized onto glutaraldehyde activated Nylon-6 by covalent binding. Under optimum conditions, the immobilization yielded a protein loading of 228 μg/g of Nylon-6. Immobilized enzyme showed maximum activity at a temperature of 55 °C and pH 7.5. The enzyme was stable between pH 7.5–9.5. It retained 88% of its original activity at 55 °C for 2 h and also retained 85% of its original activity after eight cycles of hydrolysis of p -NPP. Kinetic parameters K m and V max were found to be 4 mM and 10 μmol/min/ml, respectively. The influence of organic solvents on the catalytic activity of immobilized enzyme was also evaluated. The bound lipase showed enhanced activity when exposed to n -heptane. The substrate specificity of immobilized enzyme revealed more efficient hydrolysis of higher carbon length (C-16) ester than other ones.

A purified alkaline thermotolerant bacterial lipase from Bacillus coagulans BTS-3 was immobilized on nylon-6 matrix activated by glutaraldehyde. The matrix showed ∼ 70% binding efficiency for lipase. The bound lipase was used to perform transesterification in n-heptane. The reaction studied was conversion of vinyl acetate and butanol to butyl acetate and vinyl alcohol. Synthesis of butyl acetate was used as a parameter to study the transesterification reaction. The immobilized enzyme achieved ∼ 75% conversion of vinyl acetate and butanol (100 mmol/L each) into butyl acetate in n-heptane at 55°C in 12 h. When alkane of C-chain lower or higher than n-heptane was used as an organic solvent, the conversion of vinyl acetate and butanol to butyl acetate decreased. During the repetitive transesterification under optimal conditions, the nylon bound lipase produced 77.6 mmol/L of butyl acetate after third cycle of reuse. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 2007

This paper investigates adoption of Advanced Manufacturing Technologies (AMT) in India. AMT in India have been classified into three levels (simple – Level I, modest – Level II, and sophisticated – Level III) for the present analysis. A general conclusion can be reached that Indian firms we surveyed have high adoption degree of Level I technologies, are going to adopt moe Level II technologies, and are not yet ready to invest in Level III technologies. Factor Analysis is used to identify common components among 25 AMT that were surveyed. Out of these technologies, three are stand alone infrastructure technologies of computer network and therefore are treated individually. The remaining technologies can be nicely interpreted by four common factors: “expensive”, “social”, “production”, and “quality”. Discriminant Analysis is used to identify critical success factors that contribute significantly to the success of AMT adoption. The accuracy achieved is 81.1 per cent (7.9 per cent error rate) by using only four variables out of 19 critical success factors.These influential factors are pace of implementation, hands‐on training program, long‐term automation objectives, and external consultants. However, only pace of implementation has a positive effect on the success of AMT adoption, while both hands‐on training program and external consultants have negative effect, and the effect of long‐time automation objectives is small.

This paper is a delineated attempt to analyze the impact of media on Domestic violence in India. The purpose of the paper is to understand the meaning of domestic violence and to analyze various theories of causation of domestic violence as well as positive and negative impact of media. The author also attempts to highlight the main reliefs provided in the Protection of Women Against Domestic Violence Act 2005 The Author is also attempting to highlight the various psychological impact of media like printed and electronic media, with special reference to the Aristotle, Sigmund Freud (catharsis)and Bandura (imitation) behaviorism along with other psychologists and criminologists views on the impact of media on domestic violence. As media plays a very important role there is need for setting Agendas for more effective implementation of the media for curbing the domestic violence.

In this issue of JGIM, Johnson et al. used manual extraction of electronic health record data to examine the occurrence of lifestyle education in young adults (age 18–39 years) with incident hypertension in a large academic multidisciplinary group practice. They assessed all clinical staff encounter notes and patients’ after-visit instructions in order to identify lifestyle education, broadly defined as any mention of general lifestyle terms (e.g., “heart-healthy changes,” “lifestyle changes”); education on exercise, alcohol use, stress management, DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) diet, low salt/sodium, weight reduction, or tobacco cessation; notation of educational handouts and/or websites provided, or patient refusal of education. Even using a broad definition of lifestyle counseling, they found a limited occurrence of counseling, with only 55% of young adults with incident hypertension having documentation of lifestyle education within one year of diagnosis.1

Burnout and professional dissatisfaction are threats to the primary care workforce. We investigated the relationship between panel management capability, team culture, cynicism, and perceived "do-ability" of primary care among primary care providers (PCPs) and staff in primary care practices. We surveyed 326 PCPs and 142 staff members in 10 county-administered, 6 university-run, and 3 Veterans Affairs primary care clinics in a large urban area in 2013. Predictor variables included capability for performing panel management and perception of team culture. Outcome variables included 2 work experience measures--the Maslach Burnout Inventory cynicism scale and a 1-item measure of the "do-ability" of primary care this year compared with last year. Generalized Estimation Equation (GEE) models were used to account for clustering at the clinic level. Greater panel management capability and higher team culture were associated with lower cynicism among PCPs and staff and higher reported "do-ability" of primary care among PCPs. Panel management capability and team culture interacted to predict the 2 work experience outcomes. Among PCPs and staff reporting high team culture, there was little association between panel management capability and the outcomes, which were uniformly positive. However, there was a strong relationship between greater panel management capability and improved work experience outcomes for PCPs and staff reporting low team culture. Team-based processes of care such as panel management may be an important strategy to protect against cynicism and dissatisfaction in primary care, particularly in settings that are still working to improve their team culture.

A novel thermotolerant lipase fromBacillus aeriuswas immobilized on inexpensive silica gel matrix. The immobilized lipase was used for the synthesis of biodiesel using castor oil as a substrate in a solvent free system at 55°C under shaking in a chemical reactor. Several crucial parameters affecting biodiesel yield such as incubation time, temperature, substrate molar ratio, and amount of lipase were optimized. Under the optimized conditions, the highest biodiesel yield was up to 78.13%. The characterization of synthesized biodiesel was done through FTIR spectroscopy,1H NMR spectra, and gas chromatography.

Pectin methylesterase (PME) is the first enzyme acting on pectin, a major component of plant cell wall. PME catalyzes reactions according to the double-displacement mechanism. In plants, PMEs can be classified on the basis of presence or absence of the PRO domain in pectin methylesterase into Type 1 and Type II. Type1 contains one to three PRO domains and two or three introns, type II PMEs are without PRO domain and with five or six introns. Once PMEs are secreted into the cell wall, mature PMEs exhibit three different modes of action: single chain mechanism, multiple chain mechanism and multiple attack mechanism. For bacterial and plant PMEs, single chain and multiple chain mechanism is used and for fungal PMEs only multiple chain mechanism has been proposed. PME activity is regulated by differential expression both spatially and temporally.

A novel extra-cellular lipase from Bacillus coagulans MTCC-6375 was purified 76.4-fold by DEAE anion exchange and Octyl Sepharose chromatography. The purified enzyme was found to be electrophoretically pure by denaturing gel electrophoresis and possessed a molecular mass of approximately 103 kDa. The lipase was optimally active at 45 degrees C and retained approximately 50% of its original activity after 20 min of incubation at 55 degrees C. The enzyme was optimally active at pH 8.5. Mg2+, Cu2+, Ca2+, Hg2+, Al3+, and Fe3+ at 1mM enhanced hydrolytic activity of the lipase. Interestingly, Hg2+ ions resulted in a maximal increase in lipase activity but Zn2+ and Co2+ ions showed an antagonistic effect on this enzyme. EDTA at 150 mM concentration inhibited the activity of lipase but Hg2+ or Al3+ (10mM) restored most of the activity of EDTA-quenched lipase. Phenyl methyl sulfonyl fluoride (PMSF, 15 mM) decreased 98% of original activity of lipase. The lipase was more specific to p-nitrophenyl esters of 8 (pNPC) and 16 (pNPP) carbon chain length esters. The lipase had a Vmax and Km of 0.44 mmol mg(-1)min(-1) and 28 mM for hydrolysis of pNPP, and 0.7 mmol mg(-1)min(-1) and 32 mM for hydrolysis of pNPC, respectively.

Objective To compare the prevalence of resistance by adherence level in patients treated with non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NNRTI) or protease inhibitors (PI). Also to examine the mechanism of differential class-specific adherence-resistance relationships, focusing on the patient-derived capacity of wild-type and drug-resistant recombinant variants to replicate in vitro in the presence of variable drug levels. Methods Participants received unannounced pill count measures to assess adherence, viral load monitoring, and genotypic resistance testing. The replicative capacity of drug-susceptible and drug-resistant recombinants was determined using a single-cycle recombinant phenotypic susceptibility assay. Drug exposure was estimated using population-averaged pharmacological measurements adjusted by participant-specific levels of adherence. Results In the NNRTI-treated group, 69% had resistance at 0-48% adherence compared to 13% at 95-100% (P = 0.01). PI resistance was less common than NNRTI resistance at 0-48% adherence (69% versus 23%; P = 0.01). In multivariate analysis, the odds for PI resistance increased (P = 0.03) while the odds for NNRTI resistance decreased (P = 0.04) with improving adherence. Individuals with drug-resistant variants were more likely to have levels of drug exposure where the resistant variant was more fit than the drug-susceptible variant in vitro, while those with drug-susceptible virus were more likely to have levels of drug exposure where the drug-susceptible virus was more fit than the drug-resistant variant (P = 0.005). Conclusions NNRTI resistance was more common than PI resistance at low levels of adherence. Class-specific adherence-resistance relationships are associated with the relative replicative capacity of drug-resistant versus wild-type variants to replicate in the presence of clinically relevant drug levels.

Extracellular lipase from Bacillus coagulans BTS-3 was immobilized on activated (alkylated, 2.5% glutaraldehyde) and native (nonactivated) polyethylene powder, and its thermostability and esterification efficiency were studied. Immobilization on activated support was found to enhance thermostability as well as esterification efficiency. The optimum time for immobilization on activated (AS) and nonactivated (NS) polyethylene support was found to be 10 min, and the binding of the lipase was markedly higher on AS. Lipase was more efficiently bound to AS (64%) than to NS (30%) at an optimum temperature of 37°C. The pH and temperature optima for AS- and NS-bound lipase were 9.0 and 55°C and 8.5 and 55°C respectively. At 55°C the free lipase, which had a half-life of 2 h, lost most of its activity at elevated temperatures. In contrast, AS-bound lipase retained 60%–80% of its original activity at 55°C, 60°C, 65°C, and 70°C for 2 h. Exposure to organic solvents resulted in enhanced lipase activity in n-hexane (45%) and ethanol (30%). Both AS- and NS-bound biocatalysts were recyclable and retained more than 85% of their initial activity up to the fourth cycle of hydrolysis of p-nitrophenyl palmitate. The AS-bound lipase efficiently performed maximum esterification (98%) of ethanol and propionic acid (300 mM each, 1 : 1) in n-hexane at 55°C. With free or NS-bound lipase in similar conditions, the conversion of reactants into ester was relatively low (40%). © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 102: 3986–3993, 2006

A purified alkaline thermo-tolerant lipase from Pseudomonas aeruginosa MTCC-4713 was immobilized on a series of five noble weakly hydrophilic poly(AAc-co-HPMA-cl MBAm) hydrogels. The hydrogel synthesized by copolymerizing acrylic acid and 2-hydroxy propyl methacrylate in a ratio of 5 : 1 (HG5:1 matrix) showed maximum binding efficiency for lipase (95.3%, specific activity 1.96 IU mg−1 of protein). The HG5:1 immobilized lipase was evaluated for its hydrolytic potential towards p-NPP by studying the effect of various physical parameters and salt-ions. The immobilized lipase was highly stable and retained ∼92% of its original hydrolytic activity after fifth cycle of reuse for hydrolysis of p-nitrophenyl palmitate at pH 7.5 and temperature 55°C. However, when the effect of pH and temperature was studied on free and bound lipase, the HG5:1 immobilized lipase exhibited a shift in optima for pH and temperature from pH 7.5 and 55°C to 8.5 and 65°C in free and immobilized lipase, respectively. At 1 mM concentration, Fe3+, Hg2+, NH4+, and Al3+ ions promoted and Co2+ ions inhibited the hydrolytic activities of free as well as immobilized lipase. However, exposure of either free or immobilized lipase to any of these ions at 5 mM concentration strongly increased the hydrolysis of p-NPP (by ∼3–4 times) in comparison to the biocatalysts not exposed to any of the salt ions. The study concluded that HG5:1 matrix efficiently immobilized lipase of P. aeruginosa MTCC-4713, improved the stability of the immobilized biocatalyst towards a higher pH and temperature than the free enzyme and interacted with Fe3+, Hg2+, NH4+, and Al3+ ions to promote rapid hydrolysis of the substrate (p-NPP). © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 100: 4252–4259, 2006

Four series of noble networks were synthesized with acrylic acid (AAc) copolymerized with varying amount of 2-hydroxy propyl methacrylate or dodecyl methacrylate (AAc/HPMA or AAc/DMA; 5:1 to 5:5, w/w) in the presence of ethylene glycol dimethacrylate (EGDMA; 1, 5, 10, 15, and 20%, w/w) as a crosslinker and ammonium per sulfate (APS) as an initiator. Each of the networks was used to immobilize a purified lipase from Pseudomonasaeruginosa MTCC-4713. The lipase was purified by successive salting out with (NH4)2SO4, dialysis, and DEAE anion exchange chromatography. Two of the matrices, E15a, i.e. [poly (AAc5-co-DMA1-cl-EGDMA15)] and I15c, i.e. [poly (AAc5-co-HPMA3-cl-EGDMA15)], that showed relatively higher binding efficiency for lipase were selected for further studies. I15c-hydrogel retained 58.3% of its initial activity after 10th cycle of repetitive hydrolysis of p-NPP, and I15c was thus catalytically more stable and efficient than the other matrix. The I15c-hydrogel-immobilized enzyme showed maximum activity at 65°C and pH 9.5. The hydrolytic activity of free and I15c-hydrogel-immobilized enzyme increased profoundly in the presence of 5 mM chloride salts of Hg2+, NH4+, Al3+, K+, and Fe3+. The immobilized lipase was preferentially active on medium chain length p-nitrophenyl acyl ester (C:8, p-nitrophenyl caprylate). © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 100: 4636–4644, 2006

A purified alkaline thermo-tolerant bacterial lipase from Pseudomonas aeruginosa BTS-2 was immobilized on a poly (AAc-co-HPMA-cl-MBAm) hydrogel network. The hydrogel showed approximately 95% binding efficiency for lipase (specific activity 1.96 U mg−1). The immobilized enzyme achieved 65.1% conversion of ethanol and propionic acid (100 mM each) into ethyl propionate in n-nonane at 65 °C in 9 h. When alkane of C-chain length lower than n-nonane was used as the organic solvent, the conversion of ethanol and propionic acid into ethyl propionate decreased with a decrease in the log P value of alkanes. The immobilized lipase retained approximately 30% of its original catalytic activity after five cycles of reuse for esterification of ethanol and propionic acid into ethyl propionate at temperature 65 °C in 3 h. Addition of a molecular sieve (3 A) to the reaction mixture enhanced the formation of ethyl propionate to 89.3%. Moreover, ethanol and propionic acid when taken a molar ratio of 3:1 further promoted the conversion rate to 94%. However, an increase in the molar ratio of propionic acid with respect to ethanol resulted in a decline of ethyl propionate synthesis.

Pectinases or petinolytic enzymes, hydrolyze pectic substances. They have a share of 25% in the global sales of food enzymes. Pectinases are one of the most widely distributed enzymes in bacteria, fungi and plants. Protopectinases, polygalacturonases, lyases and pectin esterases are among the extensively studied pectinolytic enzymes. Protopectinases catalyze the solubilization of protopectin. Polygalacturonases hydrolyze the polygalacturonic acid chain by addition of water and are the most abundant among all the pectinolytic enzymes. Lyases catalyze the trans-eliminative cleavage of the galacturonic acid polymer. Pectinesterases liberate pectins and methanol by de-esterifying the methyl ester linkages of the pectin backbone. Pectinolytic enzymes are of significant importance in the current biotechnological era with their all-embracing applications in fruit juice extraction and its clarification, scouring of cotton, degumming of plant fibers, waste water treatment, vegetable oil extraction, tea and coffee fermentations, bleaching of paper, in poultry feed additives and in the alcoholic beverages and food industries. The present review mainly contemplates on the types and structure of pectic substances, the classification of pectinolytic enzymes, their assay methods, physicochemical and biological properties and a bird's eye view of their industrial applications.

Viscosities and densities of sucrose in aqueous alkali metal halide solutions of different concentrations in the temperature range 293.5 to 313.15 K have been measured. Partial molar volumes at infinite dilution (V 2 0 ) of sucrose determined from apparent molar volume (φ v ) have been utilized to estimate partial molar volumes of transfer (V 2,tr 0 ) for sucrose from water to alkali metal halide solutions. The viscosity data of alkali metal halides in purely aqueous solutions and in the presence of sucrose at different temperatures (293.15, 303.15 and 313.5 K) have been analysed by the Jones-Dole equation. The nature and magnitude of solute-solvent and solute-solute interactions have been discussed in terms of the values of limiting apparent molar volume (φ ), slope (S v ) and coefficients of the Jones-Dole equation. The structure-making and structure-breaking capacities of alkali metal halides in pure aqueous solutions and in the presence of sucrose have been ascertained from temperature dependence ofφ .

A thermophilic isolate Bacillus coagulans BTS-3 produced an extracellular alkaline lipase, the production of which was substantially enhanced when the type of carbon source, nitrogen source, and the initial pH of culture medium were consecutively optimized. Lipase activity 1.16 U/ml of culture medium was obtained in 48 h at 55 °C and pH 8.5 with refined mustard oil as carbon source and a combination of peptone and yeast extract (1:1) as nitrogen sources. The enzyme was purified 40-fold to homogeneity by ammonium sulfate precipitation and DEAE–Sepharose column chromatography. Its molecular weight was 31 kDa on SDS–PAGE. The enzyme showed maximum activity at 55 °C and pH 8.5, and was stable between pH 8.0 and 10.5 and at temperatures upto 70 °C. The enzyme was found to be inhibited by Al 3+ , Co 2+ , Mn 2+ , and Zn 2+ ions while K + , Fe 3+ , Hg 2+ , and Mg 2+ ions enhanced the enzyme activity; Na + ions have no effect on enzyme activity. The purified lipase showed a variable specificity/hydrolytic activity towards various 4-nitrophenyl esters.