•Graphene oxide.•Sonochemical approach.•Stereoselective functionalization.•Thermal stability.•Antimicrobial activity.
Sonochemical waves as mechanochemical energy was employed to exfoliate graphite ...oxide and functionalized graphene oxide (GrO), through a reaction of solvent and accountable for top-down and bottom-up approach respectively. The in situ formation of ester intermediate was inferred and a polymeric surface of GrO was further functionalized with 6-Aminoindazole (6-AIND) through sonochemical nucleophilic substitution reaction. As compared to conventional method the effect of ultrasound was verified for the direct functionalization of GrO. The conventional hazardous acylation step for functionalization of GrO was deleted in ultrasound assisted formation of f-(6-AIND) GrO nanocomposite, prepared by stereoselective exploitation of carboxyl groups at edges of GrO. The characterization has ascertained a covalent attachment of 6-AIND onto GrO surface with ATR-FTIR, XPS, SSNMR, TGA, DSC, XRD, AFM, RAMAN, EDX, SEM, BET and elemental analyzer. A weight loss in TGA depicts enhanced thermal stability of f-(6-AIND) GrO and a thermally sensitive behavior. The f-(6-AIND) GrO was studied for in vitro antimicrobial activity to ensure health and environmental safety. Antibacterial activity was identified against human pathogenic gram-positive (Staphylococcus aureus; ATCC 25923) and gram-negative bacteria (Escherichia coli; ATCC 25922). The antifungal activity was observed against Candida albicans (ATCC 10231).
Sodium butyrate (NaBt) is the byproduct of anaerobic microbial fermentation inside the gastro-intestinal tract that could reach up to 20mM, and has been shown to inhibit the growth of various ...cancers. Herein, we evaluated its effect on mitochondrial fusion and associated induction of apoptosis in colorectal cancer cells (CRC). NaBt treatment at physiological (1-5mM) concentrations for 12 and 24h decreased the cell viability and induced G2-M phase cell cycle arrest in HCT116 (12h) and SW480 human CRC cells. This cell cycle arrest was associated with mitochondria-mediated apoptosis accompanied by a decrease in survivin and Bcl-2 expression, and generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS). Furthermore, NaBt treatment resulted in a significant decrease in the mitochondrial mass which is an indicator of mitochondrial fusion. Level of dynamin-related protein 1 (DRP1), a key regulator of mitochondrial fission and fusion where its up-regulation correlates with fission, was found to be decreased in CRC cells. Further, at early treatment time, DRP1 down-regulation was noticed in mitochondria which later became drastically reduced in both mitochondria as well as cytosol. DRP1 is activated by cyclin B1-CDK1 complex by its ser616 phosphorylation in which both cyclin B1-CDK1 complex and phospho-DRP1 (ser616) were strongly reduced by NaBt treatment. DRP1 was observed to be regulated by apoptosis as pan-caspase inhibitor showing rescue from NaBt-induced apoptosis also caused the reversal of DRP1 to the normal level as in control proliferating cells. Together, these findings suggest that NaBt can modulate mitochondrial fission and fusion by regulating the level of DRP1 and induce cell cycle arrest and apoptosis in human CRC cells.
Recent research on reinforcement learning (RL) based traffic management shows promising results, yet it is a significant issue due to increasing volume of traffic and lack of real time traffic ...information. Improvements of RL algorithms and vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communications technologies are creating new prospects to achieve better traffic efficiency. This paper proposes a new method, namely Vehicle-to-Infrastructure based Traffic Signal Control (V2I-TSC), to capture realistic traffic state using vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) communications under 5G-NR-V2X paradigm. It uses single agent RL framework to optimize a traffic signal control which is trained and evaluated through Simulation of Urban MObility (SUMO) simulator. The experimental results show that our proposed method enhances traffic efficiency at the intersection compared to the general traffic control method.
In his critique of the so-called Western guilt complex, the late Lamin Sanneh challenged scholars and Christians to consider the transmission of Christianity beyond the scope of Western perspectives. ...This article revisits Sanneh’s seminal work to discuss the ways the Western guilt complex undermines our ability to understand indigenous knowledge systems, which inform and stimulate religious sensibilities. In examining postcolonial reflections on Christian transmissions, this article considers grassroot perspectives as critical in interpreting Christianizing processes that are outside ecclesiastical authority and leadership.
Field experiments were conducted for 3 years to investigate an appropriate irrigation management strategy that would lead to increased cabbage productivity along with saving in irrigation water. ...Cabbage was grown with microsprinkler and drip irrigation methods with four irrigation levels based on crop evapotranspiration (ETc) as 0.8 ETc, 0.9 ETc, 1 ETc, and 1.1 ETc. It was found that cabbage crop performed better with the microsprinkler system than the drip system. All the growth‐ and yield‐contributing characters in the microsprinkler irrigation method were significantly superior over drip irrigation. The maximum yield of cabbage was obtained by the microsprinkler method (37 t ha−1) with irrigation scheduling at 1 ETc followed by 0.9 ETc (35.5 t ha−1). However, highest water use efficiency (114 kg ha−1 mm−1) was obtained in drip irrigation with 0.9 ETc irrigation level, and the highest net income per mm of water (Rs 622) was obtained in drip irrigation with 1 ETc irrigation level. Microsprinkling gave 7.30% more yield of cabbage than the drip method, whereas the drip method saved 32% more water than the microsprinkler method. It is therefore recommended to adopt the microsprinkler irrigation method to obtain a potential yield of cabbage. However, when water is a limiting factor, it is recommended to grow cabbage with the drip irrigation method.
Résumé
Des expériences sur le terrain ont été menées pendant trois ans pour étudier une stratégie de gestion de l'irrigation appropriée qui entraînerait une augmentation de la productivité du chou ainsi qu'une économie d'eau d'irrigation. Le chou a été cultivé avec des méthodes d'irrigation par micro‐aspersion et goutte à goutte avec quatre niveaux d'irrigation basés sur l'évapotranspiration des cultures (ETc) comme 0,8 ETc, 0,9 ETc, 1 ETc et 1,1 ETc. Il a été constaté que la récolte de chou fonctionnait mieux avec le système de micro‐aspersion que le système goutte à goutte. Tous les caractères contribuant à la croissance et au rendement dans la méthode d'irrigation par micro‐aspersion étaient significativement supérieurs à l'irrigation goutte à goutte. Le rendement maximum de chou a été obtenu par la méthode des microsprinkler (36,9 t ha−1) avec un calendrier d'irrigation à 1 ETc suivi de 0,9 ETc (35,5 t ha−1). Cependant, l'efficacité d'utilisation de l'eau la plus élevée (114 kg ha−1 mm−1) a été obtenue en goutte à goutte avec un niveau d'irrigation de 0,9 ETc et le revenu net le plus élevé par mm d'eau (Rs 622) a été obtenu en irrigation goutte à goutte avec un niveau d'irrigation de 1 ETc. Le micro‐aspersion a donné 7,30% de rendement en plus de chou que la méthode au goutte‐à‐goutte, tandis que la méthode au goutte‐à‐goutte a économisé 32% d'eau en plus par rapport à la méthode du micro‐aspersion. Il est donc recommandé d'adopter la méthode d'irrigation par micro‐aspersion pour obtenir un rendement potentiel en chou. Cependant, lorsque l'eau est un facteur limitant, il est recommandé de cultiver du chou avec la méthode d'irrigation goutte à goutte.
High temperature cooking operations like frying, roasting and baking using solar energy are normally carried out at the focus of parabolic dish concentrators. This leads to heat discomfort, risk of ...burns or eye damage to the user. A device which stores latent heat in a phase changing eutectic mixture called “solar salt” was designed and tested, which would enable its storage in an insulated container, and cooking in the shade of a kitchen when needed. It was able to successfully store heat at its melting point of 220 °C in a charging time of 110 min. Frying temperature of 170 – 180 °C for the oil was easily obtained during indoor cooking and 0.25 kg of potato chips were fried in 17 min from one charge of heat, while a total of about 0.6 kg of rice was cooked in two successive batches from one charge, taking 20 min each.
•Solar salt good phase change heat storage material for high temperature cooking.•One charge of solar heat stored in less than 2 h.•Rice can be cooked easily from stored heat.•Frying potato chips in oil at 170 °C achieved.
Study of the process of cancer initiation, growth and progression in altered gravity is of utmost importance considering the health status of researchers visiting in space and future scope of space ...tourism. Microgravity affects various cells in the body differently; however, the mechanisms of such effects are not understood completely. Therefore, it is imperative to explore various physiological and biochemical processes, particularly those which can influence the process of carcinogenesis. If the changes in physiological or biochemical processes do not revert back to normalcy even after returning from the space to earth, it may lead to various aberrations and morphological changes during the life span. Such changes could lead to pathological conditions including cancer. For example, microgravity is observed to suppress the activity of immune cells, which itself increases the risk of cancer development. It is little known how the microgravity affects cellular and molecular events that determine physiological and biological responses. There is also a possibility of changes in epigenetic signatures during microgravity exposure which remains unexplored. Herein, we have reviewed the effect of microgravity on relevant molecular and biological processes, and how it could influence the course of cancer development. In this regard, we have also highlighted the areas of research that require more attention to bridge the gap of understanding for such biological processes.
In the imbedded Markov chain (IMC) analysis of M/G/1 queuing system, X
1
, X
2
, ..., X
n
, ... form a sequence of i.i.d random variables. where X
n
denotes the number of customer arrivals during the ...service time of
customer. In the M/D/1 queue, the distribution of common random variable X is the Poisson distribution with mean ρ, the traffic intensity. This fact is utilized for maximum likelihood (ML) and uniformly minimum variance unbiased (UMVU) estimation of traffic intensity, performance measures, transition probabilities of IMC, and correlation functions of departure process, based on a sample of fixed size n from P(ρ) distribution. Also, consistent asymptotic normality (CAN) property of ML estimators (MLEs) is established. The MLEs and UMVUEs are compared.
Although chemopreventive action of Biochanin A against various cancers including that of prostate, breast, colon, and fore-stomach has been reported earlier, none of the studies was made in ...prepubertal subjects. The present study appears to be the first one on prepubertal rats that indicates the efficacy of the test compound in the prevention of tumorigenesis. The antioxidative status and xenobiotic metabolism were also evaluated to understand the mechanism of Biochanin A induced prevention of cancer. For the tumorigenesis study 500 μg/g bwt of Biochanin A or vehicle dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) s.c, was injected at 16th, 18th, and 20th days post-partum followed by the administration of dimethylbenzanthracene (DMBA) (80 μg/g bwt) at 50th day. In another set of experiments, to study the involvement of peroxidative process in the mechanism of action of test compound, different antioxidant parameters were studied following the administration of two different doses of Biochanin A (0.5 and 50 mg/kg bwt, through oral gavage for 10 days) in the prepubertal rats from day 16 post-partum. Results showed a significant reduction in the mammary tumors (more than 40%) in Biochanin A treated animals, as compared to animals treated with DMBA only. Spectrophotometric enzyme estimations revealed that the specific activities of antioxidant enzymes such as superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), glutathione peroxidase (GPx), glutathione transferase (GST), DT-diaphorase (DTD), and reduced glutathione (GSH) levels were increased, whereas specific activities of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and lipid peroxidation (LPO) were decreased significantly, both in liver as well as in mammary gland, in animals treated with Biochanin A prepubertally. These results reveal the possible involvement of the antioxidative and metabolic enzymes in the suppression of cancer burden and incidence in a prepubertal rat model suggesting that the intake of this phytoestrogen at an early stage may help in lowering the risk of mammary tumor.
This book offers current information on such topics as Green Technology for Sustainable Growth, Bioprospecting Medicinal plants, Soil Seed Bank Dynamics, Nanotechnology for Environmental ...Sustainability, Mathematical models in Sustainable development and more.
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