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Wireless Sensor Networks are a collection of numerous nodes which contain tiny devices having low power and work with minimal cost. In such a network, the functioning of these nodes plays a very important role to sense data and also forward the sensed data to the target observer. For segregation of nodes in effective locations, there is a need to localize these nodes by combining location information with the sensed data for tracking and monitoring of malicious nodes, goods tracking etc. The approaches towards localization may be classified as range-free or rangebased, both having their own pros and cons. This paper presents a discussion on different localization approaches, followed by simulation results of localization using lognormal shadowing model for distance estimation and trilateration for location computation. The results depict the individual impacts of node density and area of sensed region on the localization error. The approach used is cost effective, since it uses loss in received power for distance computation and hence there is no cost overhead for additional hardware.

III- Nitride materials have radically changed the lighting industry allowing for the developments of high efficiency and brightness ultraviolet LED. In this paper, the characterised between electroluminescence spectra pick wavelength and QW thickness through simulations with presence on electric field. According the QCSE when electric field applied perpendicular to the QWs layers resulted in large read shifts in absorption. I have taken One Dimensional Drift Diffusion charge control solver (1D-DDCC) software for simulations that is solve Passion Schrodinger equation developed by Pro.Yuh-Renn WU of UM. This solver has many functions like- Tunnable parameters for all basic material, Hetrojunction simulation, Dopant activation energy, Eigen solve for Schrodinger equation.

Rapid incremental growth in population causes the virulence of infectious diseases worldwide. Due to this, health hazards with population growth raise pollution in the air, water, and soil and affect the immunity of individuals. To handle the situation, reliable and easy to reach healthcare services are required. The proliferation of connected technologies along with the Internet of Things (IoT) is providing modern healthcare with extensive care. All-pervading IoT technology gaining a very much attraction nowadays. This paper presents a brief about the E-Health Care System along with its framework. This attempt also presents the ontology approach as data produced by healthcare applications is vast and unstructured which needs to be organized in proper format with a smooth flow of data and also results in less request-response time. Further, this paper discusses the impact of the disease on senior citizens in the current scenario.

Internet of Thing (IoT) has given birth to several magnificent technologies like smart grids, smart parking systems, smart homes and smart agriculture etc. The designing of smart parking systems has resulted in reducing the hassle factor incorporated in locating or searching available parking slots thereby minimizing the traffic jam issues. It also results in enhancing the safety and security of the parked vehicles. This paper presents a fuzzy based methodology to design an energy aware WSN based framework for smart parking systems. The proposed work shows an increased stability period of the network by 91.75% in comparison to LEACH protocol and an enhancement of 39.45% in comparison to Quantum ABC protocol.

This article explores the issues arising from the refusal of a respondent to pay its share of the advance on costs in an arbitration, the claimant’s substituted payment in respect of it, and the claimant’s entitlement to immediate reimbursement by the respondent before the final award is rendered and costs are allocated. The article will discuss the position under various institutional rules and draw a comparative analysis between them. It will also explore the legal basis of a claim for reimbursement, consider the approach that arbitral tribunals should adopt when granting relief, and examine a recent partial award in a Doha-seated International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) arbitration which ordered the immediate reimbursement of a substituted payment of the advance on costs. arbitration, advance on costs, substituted payment, immediate reimbursement, award, order

In past few years, wireless sensor network (WSN) is considered as an essential and imperative way for efficient data communication in ubiquitous computing environment along with the fulfilment of objectives such as (i) lifetime enhancement and (ii) energy conservation. Till date, the research findings demonstrate that clustering of WSNs is an effective and pertinent approach. Moreover, designing of energy-aware routing schemes for clustered WSNs is a basic necessity due to resource-restricted nature of these sensor nodes. This study has a twofold contribution. First, the research dimensions of WSNs are explained by incorporating recent work carried out as per findings in real scenarios. Secondly, this study presents a comprehensive survey of existing clustering schemes for WSNs based on metaheuristic techniques. This study is beneficial for researchers of this domain as it surveys the literature over the period 2000–2020 on energy efficiency in clustered WSNs.

In real-time scenarios, wireless sensor network (WSN) suffers from severe constraints such as restricted power supply, short communication range, less bandwidth availability, and small memory storage. Owing to these severe constraints, the time complexity, space complexity, and cost complexity of these networks are very high. Hence, deploying a real sensor network environment for the testing of a newly designed protocol is a Herculean task. To overcome this issue, instead of doing live implementation of such networks, simulation modelling is accepted as an alternative approach. This study provides a comprehensive study about existing network simulators along with their advantages and weaknesses. This study also presented a case study for a preferable simulation methodology, i.e. MATLAB/Simulink. Firstly, this case study highlights prominent features of MATLAB/Simulink. Secondly, simulation results of implementing AODV (Adhoc on Demand Vector Protocol) in terms of simulation runtime using four simulators net simulator-2 (NS-2), NS-3, OMNet++, and MATLAB is presented. Thirdly, survey of few very well-known clustering protocols in WSNs is done. This study will prove to be beneficial for researchers of this domain as it surveys the literature over the period 2008–2020 focusing on simulation tools and simulation metrics used by researchers to simulate WSNs.

Clustering is an important method for extending the network life of each node in wireless sensor networks. Owing to the untrustworthy environment, these nodes unintentionally sacrifice their energy and lost their life which is a major challenge and requires appropriate attention for smooth communication. Thus energy efficiency and network life period both are major concerns in critical and sensitive real-life applications such as military applications, landslide monitoring etc. This study reviews and analyses existing trust-based clustering routing protocols for a complete understanding of research contribution to date made by researchers of this domain. In addition, a novel trust-based energy efficient protocol based on a Whale Optimisation Algorithm named WOATCA has been presented. This algorithm focuses on the selection of trust worthy nodes as cluster heads (CHs) by considering five parameters namely (i) node's residual energy, (ii) number of packets forwarded by a node, (iii) average cluster distance, (iv) transmission delay, and (v) node density. Simulation results and analysis demonstrate that WOATCA outperformed existing protocols by showing a percentage decrease of 87.85, 64.58 and 61.36% in the selection of compromised nodes as CH in comparison with existing trust-based schemes such as Adoptive LEACH Mobile (ALM), Topology Control Algorithm for node mobility (TCM), Q12 and secure CH selection protocols, respectively.

Proliferation of technologies in wireless sensor networks is grabbing huge attention across scientific community due to its vast coverage in real life applications. It has emerged as an important technology with lots of potential as it provides useful information to the end users about a target region through real time sensing. Wireless sensor networks due to their characteristics like infrastructure-less deployment, resource restricted nature introduce several issues which may affect the performance of the system. Among these issues, most challenging issues such as energy efficiency, appropriate cluster head selection, secure data delivery and network lifetime enhancement require important concern for enhancement of WSNs which is still herculean task. This paper introduces a secure and energy aware clustering algorithm named energy efficient trusted moth flame optimization and genetic algorithm based clustering algorithm (eeTMFO/GA). Selection of most deserving trustworthy head node (also known as cluster head) is done by using moth flame optimization in clustered WSN framework. In eeTMFO/GA, the fitness function is evaluated on the basis of five important parameters including direct trust metrics such as packet forwarding progress, residual energy of elected node, connected node density, average cluster distance and average delay of transmission. Simulation outcomes have shown significant improvement in energy conservation and network stability period enhancement for eeTMFO/GA in comparison to the existing clustering schemes by 60% in comparison to LEACH protocol, 56.09% when compared to HEED protocol and has shown 42.22% and 16.36% improvement in comparison to ABC and QABC protocols respectively.

Efficient energy utilisation is a fundamental challenge that needs to be dealt with while deploying a wireless sensor network (WSN). These networks consist of thousands of small-sized battery-operated devices called sensors. Sensors are resource-constrained devices, and hence have very limited energy available with them. By lessening the energy usage of these nodes, the life span of the whole network can be enhanced up to a great extent. Clustering of WSNs is a speedily flourishing research area. In clustered WSNs, the major concerns are choosing an appropriate number of clusters and then selecting a coordinator node called cluster head (CH) within each formed cluster. This study introduces a hybrid energy-efficient clustering based on fuzzy C means and differential evolution algorithm (EEFCM-DE) based on fuzzy clustering and fuzzy-based evolutionary technique. The idea is to use FCM for the cluster creation and then selecting the best node as a CH within each cluster formed, by using an evolutionary technique DE. For the CH selection, the fitness of each node is calculated through a designed fuzzy inference system. The simulation results validate the energy-efficient performance of EEFCM-DE in comparison with the other existing algorithms.

The transition caused by world heading towards urbanization influenced people in their economic growth and progress leading to innumerable problems like environmental pollution, high resource and energy consumption in urban cities. Increase in the commute time due to heavy traffic is becoming a huge problem in many cities. Virtual Traffic light organized by vehicles through VANET’s was recently introduced, served dual purpose in reducing congestion and improving energy consumption. This paper proposes a novel approach in selecting a leader in virtual traffic light based on current traffic load. This manuscript first formulates the VTL protocol and further presents an algorithm to minimize the problem of congestion in order to prioritize emergency vehicles. The implementation of proposed work was based on primary data of Rohini, India to highlight its efficiency.

A periodic leaky wave antenna having series fed 7-unit cell structure is proposed here. The design of the proposed antenna is mirrored E-shaped antenna. In this work, directivity and efficiency of the antenna are improved by etching rectangular-shaped patch added with small triangular patch and loading of balanced sorting pins. Antenna is working efficiently in range 21.1 GHz to 26 GHz having center frequency of 24 GHz. It is having a high scanning range 70° (from −30° to 40°) and improved directivity. Efficiency is the ratio of conversion of power of accepted RF signals into radiated signals, and efficiency of the designed antenna is 90%. Gain of the proposed antenna is 15.1 dBi. Circular polarization is also obtained at different frequencies, i.e., 21.1 GHz and 24.5 GHz. The working of proposed antenna is effective as well as efficient, and radiation is circularly polarized.

Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) are the networks comprised of tiny sensors that are characterized by restricted power supply. These node works collaboratively over wireless links to assemble semantically meaningful information regarding some physical phenomenon. Since, these nodes after deployment work autonomously in unattended areas, they are inclined to different kinds of active and passive attacks. In addition, since head nodes have very significant role in the overall performance of clustered WSNs so the selection of trustworthy node as a head node is very essential. Moreover, designing of trust management schemes is very much important to aid security in WSNs. This paper provides an analytical modeling of various trust based schemes proposed so far in literature. In addition, this paper also briefly describes different kinds of attacks faced by different layers in correspondence to the wireless sensor network architecture.

Energy consumption has emerged as a primary issue in the deployment of Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs). This issue arises due to the energy constraints associated with the Sensor Nodes (SNs) which are considered as their basic component. Since, the functioning of the WSNs completely relies on the sensing and communicating ability of the sensor nodes so the fore most challenge is how to minimize the power dissipation of these nodes. Clustering proved to be an appropriate mechanism to deal with this issue [1]. This paper investigates three partitional clustering algorithms namely K-means, K-medoids, Fuzzy C Means by incorporating an evolutionary technique Differential Evolution (DE). Performance comparison of the proposed algorithms has been done on the basis of the metrics like network throughput, network lifetime and dead nodes per round. The simulation results have shown that suggested algorithm, hybrid K-means/DE performs better than its counterparts.

For economic progress and growth, commuting has become requisite in our life. We move across by various modes however, our common mode of commuting is via roads. Overcrowded roads is infuriating and annoying. The volume of traffic has been growing swiftly in some years. This change could be accredited to numerous reasons such as increase in population, deficient resources, everyone’s craving for their private vehicle, urbanization, etc. Due to unendingly growing of vehicular volume, there is awful traffic bottleneck at junctions. Some of the junctions suffer with long and irritating traffic jams occasionally. Traditional traffic lights try to fix the situation but generally fails since fixed time slots of green signals undermine the presence of huge traffic volume. These traffic lights are predefined and even ignore the presence of emergency vehicles. Through our paper we do modelling and estimate congestion on road in Rohini by using Queuing Theory. This method tries to figure various parameters invoking congestion and tries to work on smooth traffic flow.

The exponential increase of traffic on roads has led to numerous disastrous consequences. These issues demand an adaptive solution that ensures road safety and decreases the traffic congestion on roads. New paradigms such as Cloud computing and internet of things are aiding in achievement of the inter-communication among the vehicles on road. VANETs are designed to provide effective and efficient communication systems to develop innovative solutions but are restricted due to mobility constraints. This chapter proposes an IP-based novel framework composed of open threads integrated with VANETs exchanging information to create a mesh network among vehicles. This novel Open Threads-based infrastructure can help in achieving a more economical, efficient, safer, and sustainable world of transportation which is safer and greener. This chapter also discusses and compares various thread-enabled microcontrollers by different vendors that can be utilized to create a mesh network.

The way educational institutions view certain technology has changed dramatically over the years, especially with the world lockdown in 2020. Understanding how digital technology is seen in an educational institution is the path to finding out how to improve and enhance the learning experience for students. A study by the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) showed “digitalisation has been one of the main drivers of innovation in educational practices in the classroom in the past decade.” (Vlies, 2020) The study examined how different members of a New Zealand tertiary education institution perceive digital technology in their respective areas of study. It examined how technology is viewed by students from differing degrees and levels, as well as how these views differ within the undergraduate and postgraduate levels of study. The perception of educators was also examined to see how different departments view the tools they use in their respective programmes and how it differs from both past and present students. The methodology behind the research was using a mixed-method research approach to gain both qualitative and quantitative data. This method would allow for the Sequential Explanatory Strategy (Terrell, 2012) to interpret the study. The strategy is done via the collection and analysis of quantitative data followed by the collection and analysis of qualitative data. The quantitative data collection used an online survey to collect a large, population of anonymous participants. The online survey was conducted using the Qualtrics software and was administered amongst the population of the university. A particular focus was put on the undergraduate population, being the largest group of students, given their reliance on distance learning as a result of the lockdowns in New Zealand in 2020/21. The survey featured a multitude of questions to collect a mix of quantitative and qualitative data. The findings from the initial survey highlighted departments at the institution that have a stronger positive outlook towards using a higher amount digital technology in their curriculum. There was a subgroup that still preferred a more practical, face-to-face approach. In response to a question regarding whether digital technology adoption may be lagging in certain programmes/disciplines, the majority of participants gave the unknown response with the second-highest group saying it was likely. The main reason participants gave for the lag of adoption of digital technology was the underfunding of programmes, with some participants further suggesting a possible correlation between underfunding, understaffing and inadequate training. The latter coheres with the OECD study, with training being one of two key aspects of education policies: “First, teachers need sufficient training to deploy and teach about digital technologies. Second, countries need a standard for digital skills and literacy for students.” (Vlies, 2020) Ongoing follow-up interviews are currently being conducted to supplement the data from the online survey results. This study will be of interest to curriculum developers, decision-makers, policymakers, future students, educators, technologists, and other educational institution staff.

Energy conservation is one of the critical design issues in Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs). WSN comprises of a huge collection of resource-restricted devices called sensor nodes (SNs). These nodes are deployed in network dimensions to sense and predict hazardous environmental conditions. Being dispersed randomly in unattended areas, these SNs face different challenges like rapid energy drainage, stability period, node localization, node deployment, clustering, etc. This study presents the potential of different soft computing paradigms namely Fuzzy Logic (FL), Evolutionary Algorithms (EA), Artificial Neural Networks (ANN), and Swarm Intelligence (SI) optimization in tackling with the issue of energy efficiency in WSNs.

In this presented paper the operation of Bridgeless SEPIC (Single ended primary inductance) for PFC is compared with conventional full bridge SEPIC topology, this presented converter for PFC has less active and passive component count, low conduction loss and less component are conducting during each mode of operation. The topology is designed in CCM (continuous mode) to attain high power factor, low THD in input current and improved voltage regulation. The detailed analysis of the presented model is validated through MATLAB Simulink.

Recently, Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) have come up as an efficient communication technology with the rapid increase in their wide variety of applications. Sensors are deployed in harsh and unattended regions to predict various environmental hazards, so that required safety measures must be taken before their occurrence. These sensors nodes are resource constrained and have very restricted energy available with them. As the time passes the energy of the sensor nodes keeps on draining that result into node failure and consequently the system failure. So, the primary concern in WSNs is their energy efficient performance. Clustering a wireless sensor network emerges as an efficient topology control approach to deal with both these issues. Clustering divides the network into small non overlapping sets called clusters. Within every cluster formed, a special node is picked as a head node to relay the useful information assembled by the remaining nodes to the sink. Consequently, it helps in minimizing the energy dissipation by the rest of the nodes. This paper focuses on how different metaheuristic approaches and their hybrids are playing very important role for the designing energy aware clustering algorithms. Also, an energy efficient clustering approach has been proposed in this paper.

Selecting a deserving node as a cluster head (CH) has a symbolic impact on the energy efficient working of Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs). With the reduction in network’s energy utilization, its lifetime can be increased up to a great extent. Clustering is a mechanism that helps in addressing both these issues efficiently. However, clustering also faces few challenges like making adequate decision during cluster head selection. This challenge arises due to the uncertain and dynamic nature of WSNs originated because of the random deployment of the sensor nodes in them. This paper tries to illustrate the potential of one of the soft computing paradigms i.e. fuzzy logic in overwhelming these issues in clustering WSNs. Since, Fuzzy Logic (FL) has the capability of simulating the mental process of human mind to observe, learn and understand things in the presence of uncertainty. So, this paper presents a systematic review of different fuzzy and hybrid fuzzy based approaches for handling clustering in WSNs.

In Wireless Ad Hoc Network environment, there are three ways to understand a routing protocol: (i) monitoring, (ii) simulation and (iii) modeling. In this paper, the different trust based secure routing protocols used in wireless ad hoc networks are analyzed, modeled and described by incorporating process flow diagrams. These process flow diagrams represent stepwise work flow activities and actions. It shows the overall flow of control of a process, program or a protocol. This paper focuses on the security aspects of routing by incorporating trust parameter into account and also highlights methodology used in secure routing protocols. Such protocols have been categorized based on the model used for enforcing security, methodology and information for making effective routing decisions. In this paper, we model, discuss and analyze trust based secure ad hoc routing schemes which do not require each network node to work in promiscuous mode. We propose and design a new protocol - Trust based Routing using Dominating Set Approach (TRDSA) which overcomes the shortcomings of existing protocols.

A variety of platinum(II) complexes of methimazole (2-mercapto-1-methylimidazole; HImS = neutral form and ImS = thiolate form), coordinated in both thione and thiolate forms, have been isolated by reacting methimazole with [PtCl(terpy)]Cl (terpy = 2,2′:6′,2″ terpyridine), [PtCl2(bipy)] (bipy = bipyridine), [PtCl2(o-phen)] (o-phen = o-phenanthroline), [PtCl2(CH3CN)2] and [PtCl2(COD)] (COD = 1,5-cyclooctadiene). These complexes were characterized by electronic absorption, IR and NMR (1H, 13C, 195Pt) spectroscopies. Molecular structure of [Pt(bipy)(HImS)2]Cl2·3H2O (3a·3H2O) has been established by single crystal X-ray crystallography. Platinum thiolate complex, [Pt(ImS)2(HImS)2] (5), could be obtained by treatment of [Pt(HImS)4]Cl2 with sodium methoxide in methanol. The solution of 5 in organic solvents yielded bi- and tri-nuclear platinum complexes. The effect of diimine ligands on oxidation of methimazole moiety in the complexes has been studied by electrochemical oxidation and pulse radiolytic oxidation employing specific one-electron oxidant, N 3 radical.

Dimethoxycurcumin (Dimc), a synthetic analogue of curcumin, that has been reported to exhibit better in vivo stability and anti-tumour activity, was investigated for its interaction with DNA, employing spectroscopic methods based on absorption, fluorescence, circular dichroism (CD), ethidium bromide (EtBr) competitive binding assay, 4'-6-diamidino-2-phenylindole (DAPI) displacement assay and fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) assay. The mean binding constant for its interaction with calf thymus DNA (ct-DNA) was estimated to be 4.4±0.8 × 10(4) m(-1) . The studies using CD revealed that Dimc did not cause unwinding of the ct-DNA helix or induce major conformational changes. The EtBr and DAPI assays indicated that Dimc is not an intercalator but a minor groove binder. FRET assay also confirmed that Dimc interacts with DNA strands. Furthermore, viscosity measurements of ct-DNA solutions in the presence of Dimc supported these spectroscopic observations. Addition of Dimc to MCF-7 cells showed nuclear localization as visualized by confocal microscopy. In conclusion, the present studies addressed the mode of interaction of Dimc with biomolecules, which may have implications in developing Dimc as a DNA-targeted drug.

Three curcumin analogues viz., bisdemethoxy curcumin, monodemethoxy curcumin, and dimethoxycurcumin that differ at the phenolic substitution were synthesized. These compounds have been subjected for free radical reactions with DPPH radicals, superoxide radicals (O(2)(•-)), singlet oxygen ((1)O(2)) and peroxyl radicals (CCl(3)O(2)(•)) and the bimolecular rate constants were determined. The DPPH radical reactions were followed by stopped-flow spectrometer, (1)O(2) reactions by transient luminescence spectrometer, and CCl(3)O(2)(•) reactions using pulse radiolysis technique. The rate constants indicate that the presence of o-methoxy phenolic OH increases its reactivity with DPPH and CCl(3)O(2)(•), while for molecules lacking phenolic OH, this reaction is very sluggish. Reaction of O(2)(•-) and (1)O(2) with curcumin analogues takes place preferably at β-diketone moiety. The studies thus suggested that both phenolic OH and the β-diketone moiety of curcumin are involved in neutralizing the free radicals and their relative scavenging ability depends on the nature of the free radicals.

Photo-degradation of curcumin in the presence of TiO 2 nanoparticles has been studied in water–methanol and water–acetonitrile mixed solvents. Curcumin was found to form charge transfer (CT) complexes with TiO 2 nanoparticles. The binding constant of the CT complexes has been determined. Curcumin was found to undergo photo-degradation under UV–vis and only visible light irradiations. Photo-degradation was investigated in the presence of external electron quenchers like methyl violegen and dissolved oxygen and hole quenchers like iodide ions in a de-aerated condition. The presence of oxygen was found to enhance the photo-degradation processes. The photo-degradation was found to be completely quenched in the presence of iodide ions in both the solvent mixtures in a de-aerated condition. A reaction pathway for the photo-degradation of curcumin in the presence of TiO 2 nanoparticles has been proposed. This study has been successfully applied to remove the yellow turmeric stain from cotton fabrics.

Caesalpinia digyna extracts/Free radical reactions/In vitro radioprotection/Polyphenolic content/ Bergenin. Two extracts E1and E2 were prepared from the dried root of the plant Caes alpinia digyna by extracting with solvents of different polarity. The extracts were standardized with respect to a polyphenol, bergenin, by LC- MS analysis and they were subjected to free radical scavenging activity and in vitro radioprotection studies. Free radical reactions were carried out with superoxide, hydroxyl, and peroxyl radicals and DPPH. In vitro radioprotecting activity wa s studied by following their effect on γ-radiation induced lipid peroxidation, protein carbonylation and DNA damage. The results indicated that E1 with higher free radical scavenging ability is also a more potent inhibitor of radiation induced damage to proteins, DNA and liposomes than E2. Comparing the results with those for bergenin indicated that bergenin alone is not responsible for the free radical scavenging ability and in vitro radioprotection. The s tudies also confirmed that the extracts enriched with bergenin are more effective than the isolated polyphenol, bergenin.

With the popularization of Internet and formation of wireless technologies provide significant impact on Internet and Communication Technologies. These technologies have support of one of famous technique known as Adhoc Network. Adhoc Networks are assortment of mobile nodes connected by wireless links and also receiving attention in the scientific community. In adhoc networks, routes may be disconnected due to dynamic movement of nodes. So, route selection and topology combination is very difficult and challenging issue. Such networks are more vulnerable to both internal and external attacks [1] [2] due to presence of bad neighbor nodes. Observed problem affects performance of routing protocol in adhoc networks. In this paper, impact of bad neighbor nodes in adhoc routing is briefly discussed and proposed a method (GNDA) for identifying good neighbor nodes in the network. Besides, this approach is extended by adding extra parameters i.e. signal strength, flow capacity and relative position of a node in to the account. Proposed method optimizes the routing issues by using AODV. The result of this paper is an appropriate solution against neighbor attacks.

Dimethoxycurcumin (Dimc), a synthetic analogue of curcumin, that has been reported to exhibit better in vivo stability and anti-tumour activity, was investigated for its interaction with DNA, employing spectroscopic methods based on absorption, fluorescence, circular dichroism (CD), ethidium bromide (EtBr) competitive binding assay, 4'-6-diamidino-2-phenylindole (DAPI) displacement assay and fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) assay. The mean binding constant for its interaction with calf thymus DNA (ct-DNA) was estimated to be 4.4±0.8 × 10(4) m(-1) . The studies using CD revealed that Dimc did not cause unwinding of the ct-DNA helix or induce major conformational changes. The EtBr and DAPI assays indicated that Dimc is not an intercalator but a minor groove binder. FRET assay also confirmed that Dimc interacts with DNA strands. Furthermore, viscosity measurements of ct-DNA solutions in the presence of Dimc supported these spectroscopic observations. Addition of Dimc to MCF-7 cells showed nuclear localization as visualized by confocal microscopy. In conclusion, the present studies addressed the mode of interaction of Dimc with biomolecules, which may have implications in developing Dimc as a DNA-targeted drug.

A Gymnema sylvestre leaves extract (GSE) rich in gymnemic acids was examined for its antioxidant activities through various in vitro assays, along with its radioprotective efficacy in mice brain. The IC(50) values of GSE for 2,2-diphenyl-1-picryl-hydrazyl scavenging assays, superoxide radical scavenging assays, inhibition of in vitro lipid peroxidation assays, and protein carbonyl formation assay were 238, 140, 99.46, and 28.03 microg/mL, respectively. Furthermore, the total phenolic content in GSE was equivalent to 18.06 microg/mL of Gallic acid. The rate of *OH radical scavenging activity of GSE is 0.46 times slower than SCN- derived from nanosecond pulse radiolysis studies. Results of in vivo studies showed that radiation (8 Gy)-induced augmentation in the levels of lipid peroxidation and depletion in glutathione and protein levels in mice brain were significantly ameliorated by GSE pretreatment. Results suggest that the radioprotective efficacy of GSE may be due to its antioxidant properties.

Foreign Aid Policy Analysis with Respect to Third World Countries. Are the Leading Third World Countries Following the Footsteps of the Developed Nations? If Yes, then What is the Difference between Us and Them. What About the Credibility of the Ethical Argument Raised by the Poor Nations? Where Does it Lead Us? Or the World Has Become Playground for Survival of the Fittest.

There has been much confusion about the word counterfeit in the secretly negotiated agreement (ACTA) by the developed nations. The agreement in fact not only covers counterfeits in general but goes on to extend the current IPR protection. It criminalizes various forms of infringements and enhances the border measures which could possibly raise a trade barrier of developing nations. The paper tries to reveal the hidden politics of the first world to negotiate ACTA in first place, taking into light the case of counterfeit medicines whose definition worldwide remains disputed. The need to change the debate from access to medicine to public health and safety which could adversely affect the generic manufacturers as they are caught in between.

Reactions of pulse radiolytically generated hydroxyl (()OH) radicals and one-electron specific oxidants, Br(2)(-) radicals with bergenin, a polyphenolic tannin derivative, were studied and the transients detected by absorption spectrometry. The transient absorption spectrum produced during the reaction of ()OH radicals with bergenin was broad, and pH dependent. Different modes of reactions of ()OH radicals with bergenin, viz., addition to the aromatic ring adduct and hydrogen abstraction was established by time resolved (5-400micros) transient absorption studies and also by the reaction of Br(2)(-) radicals. Comparing the transient spectra with ()OH radicals and Br(2)(-) radicals at pH 4.5 and 8.5, the absorption maximum of the phenoxyl radical was found to be at 440nm at pH 4.5 and 480nm at pH 8.5. Phenoxyl radicals are produced during ()OH radical reaction through the formation of ()OH radical adduct followed by water/OH(-) elimination. While the phenoxyl radicals of bergenin are oxidizing in nature, the hydroxyl radical adducts and the radicals produced from hydrogen abstraction are of reducing nature. The yield of the oxidizing radicals produced from the ()OH radical reaction with bergenin was determined to be 26.2% by secondary electron transfer reaction from TMPD. On the other hand the yield of reducing radicals produced from the ()OH radical reaction with bergenin was determined to be 74.1% by secondary electron transfer reaction to MV(2+). ()OH radical reactions with bergenin under oxygenated conditions and reaction with trichloro methyl peroxyl radicals with bergenin produced a new transient absorbing at 400nm, which is attributed to peroxyl type of radicals. The one-electron reduction potential for the formation of phenoxyl radical from bergenin was determined to be 0.938V versus NHE at pH 7, by electron transfer equilibrium between bergenin and chlorpromazine. The above results confirmed that reaction of ()OH radicals with bergenin, mainly produced radical adducts and one-electron oxidation accounts to only a minor process. The radical adducts may be converted to peroxyl radicals in presence of oxygen. Based on these results it can be concluded that although bergenin is a polyphenol, it may not act as a potent antioxidant, but may be act as pro-oxidant.