Abstract The use of novel active ingredients for the functional modification of chitosan nanoformulations has attracted global attention. In this study, chitosan has been functionalized via histidine ...to craft novel chitosan–histidine nanoformulation (C–H NF) using ionic gelation method. C–H NF exhibited elite physico-biochemical properties, influencing physiological and biochemical dynamics in Tomato. These elite properties include homogenous-sized nanoparticles (314.4 nm), lower PDI (0.218), viscosity (1.43 Cps), higher zeta potential (11.2 mV), nanoparticle concentration/ml (3.53 × 10 8 ), conductivity (0.046 mS/cm), encapsulation efficiency (53%), loading capacity (24%) and yield (32.17%). FTIR spectroscopy revealed histidine interaction with C–H NF, while SEM and TEM exposed its porous structure. Application of C–H NF to Tomato seedling and potted plants through seed treatment and foliar spray positively impacts growth parameters, antioxidant-defense enzyme activities, reactive oxygen species (ROS) content, and chlorophyll and nitrogen content. We claim that the histidine-functionalized chitosan nanoformulation enhances physico-biochemical properties, highlighting its potential to elevate biochemical and physiological processes of Tomato plant.
Little is known about biological significance of effects of dietary Boron (B) and Calcium (Ca) interaction on health and production of farm animals. This is a preliminary investigation to evaluate ...the effects of B supplementation in lambs fed diets with (normal) or without adequate (low) levels of Ca. Twenty-four crossbred ram lambs were randomly distributed into four groups with six animals each in a 2x2 factorial design namely, normal-Ca diet (NCa) and low-Ca diet (LCa) fed without or with 40 ppm B (NCaB-40 and LCaB-40). The lambs were fed paddy straw and hybrid napier hay-based total mixed ration (60 roughage: 40 concentrate) during 180 days experimental period. Compared to control, the LCa diet lowered (P<0.01) average daily gain of lambs, but B-supplementation (LCaB-40) of the same nullified the effect. The lowered (P<0.05) total antioxidant activity and humoral immune response in lambs fed LCa diet were restored (P>0.05) to become at par with the control (NCa) upon supplementation of B (LCaB-40). The mRNA expression of SOD1 was lowered (P<0.05) due to LCa diet feeding which too was normalized on B-supplementation to become at par (P>0.05) with the control (NCa). Further, B-supplementation restored lowered (P<0.05) SOD1 gene expression on LCa diet, but enhanced (P<0.05) that in NCaB-40 group, when compared to the control (NCa) diet fed animals. However, these variations were not reflected in the SOD activity in the erythrocytes. The cell-mediated immune response was higher (P<0.05) in lambs fed LCa and LCaB-40 groups and there was no significant interaction between the levels of either Ca or B in diets with the period of immune response measurement. B- supplementation of LCa diet ameliorated tissue degenerative changes in liver and kidney. It was concluded that feeding LCa diet to lambs resulted in reduced growth rate, total antioxidant activity, humoral immune response along with degenerative changes in liver and kidney tissues, but B-supplementation of such diet restored most of these changes and ameliorated histopathological alterations.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
The objectives of the present study were to highlight (i) how to diagnose fluorosis, due to fluoride ion (F) toxicity, in out-patient departments, by retrieving the history and through tests and (ii) ...the interventions available for recovery. In patients suspected of fluorosis, the F levels were investigated in samples of drinking water and body fluids (serum and urine), and fore-arm X-ray radiographs taken to assess the presence of interosseous membrane calcification. The haemoglobin (Hb) was tested for monitoring purposes. With the results obtained and the history retrieved, a correct diagnosis of fluorosis was arrived at. The meaning of any deviations in the results are discussed in three case studies. Recovery was obtained through two corrective measures: (i) diet editing and (ii) diet counselling. In diet editing F ingestion from all sources was withdrawn and in diet counselling an adequate consumption of essential nutrients, vitamins, antioxidants, and micronutrients through dietary sources was promoted. Pharmaceutical products were not recommended as recovery with them is slow. The first reassessment, scheduled at 4-6 weeks post-intervention, was a confidence building exercise for the patient. The disappearance of the health complaints and the subsequent recovery were related to the reduction in the F levels in the urine and a rise in the Hb. The study provides an overview of the clinical manifestations of fluorosis, diagnostic tests, differential diagnosis, interventions practised, monitoring, and recovery from the disease. The report highlights that kidney failure may occur in F toxicity and that diagnostic tests for fluorosis are helpful in the understanding of the occurrence of renal failure in association with fluorosis.
In the present study, adsorption of lead (II) ions from aqueous solution by alluvial soil of Bhagirathi River was investigated under batch mode. The influence of solution pH, sorbent dose, initial ...lead (II) concentration, contact time, stirring rate and temperature on the removal process were investigated. The lead adsorption was favored with maximum adsorption at pH 6.0. Sorption equilibrium time was observed in 60 min. The equilibrium adsorption data were analyzed by the Freundlich, Langmuir, Dubinin–Radushkevich and Temkin adsorption isotherm models. The kinetics of lead (II) ion was discussed by pseudo first-order, pseudo second-order, intra-particle diffusion, and surface mass transfer models. It was shown that the adsorption of lead ions could be described by the pseudo second-order kinetic model. The activation energy of the adsorption process (
E
a
) was found to be −38.33 kJ mol
−1
using the Arrhenius equation, indicating exothermic nature of lead adsorption onto alluvial soil. Thermodynamic parameters, such as Gibbs free energy (∆
G
0
), the enthalpy (∆
H
0
), and the entropy change of sorption (∆
S
0
) have also been evaluated and it has been found that the adsorption process was spontaneous, feasible, and exothermic in nature. The results indicated that alluvial soil of Bhagirathi River can be used as an effective and low cost adsorbent to remove lead ions from aqueous solutions.
An experimental setup consisting of 12 layers of glass Resistive Plate Chambers (RPCs) of size 2 m × 2 m has been built at IICHEP-Madurai (9
∘
56
′
14.5
′
′
N 78
∘
0
′
47.9
′
′
E) to study the long ...term performance and stability of RPCs produced on a large scale in Indian industry. This setup has been collecting data triggered by the passage of charged particles. The measurement of the multiplicity of charged particles due to cosmic ray interactions are presented here. Finally, the results are compared with different hadronic models of the CORSIKA simulation.
The glancing angle deposition technique has been employed to synthesize TiO2 nanowire (NW) arrays which have been characterized by x-ray diffraction, field emission-scanning electron microscopy and ...high resolution transmission electron microscopy. Optical absorption measurements show the absorption edge at 3.42 eV and 3.48 eV for TiO2 thin film (TF) and NW, respectively. The blue shift in absorption band is attributed to quantum confinement in NW structures. Photoluminescence measurement revealed oxygen-defect-related emission at 425 nm (∼2.9 eV). Ag/TiO2 (NW) and Ag/TiO2 (TF) contacts exhibit Schottky behaviour, and a higher turn-on voltage (∼6.5 V) was observed for NW devices than that of TF devices (∼5.25 V) under dark condition. In addition, TiO2-NW-based devices show twofold improvement in photodetection efficiency in the UV region, compared with TiO2-TF-based devices.
The study was conducted to assess nano zinc (ZnN) as a feed supplement with an aim to compare the supplemental dose of inorganic zinc (ZnI). ZnN was synthesized from 0.45 molar (M) zinc nitrate Zn(NO
...3
)
2
.6H
2
O and 0.9 M sodium hydroxide (NaOH) and was confirmed to be of ZnN by TEM-EDAX measurements. Wister albino rats (rats; 84, 53.6 ± 0.65 g) were divided into seven groups (4 replicate with 3 rats each) and given feed supplemented with zinc for 60 days with either of the following diets: (1) normal control (NC): basal diet (BD) + no supplemental Zn; (2) ZnI-25: BD + 25 mg/kg Zn from inorganic ZnO; (3) ZnN-25: BD + 25 mg/kg of ZnN; (4) ZnN-12.5: BD + 12.5 mg/kg of ZnN; (5) ZnN-6.25: BD + 6.25 mg/kg of ZnN; (6) ZnN-3.125: BD + 3.125 mg/kg of ZnN; (7) ZnN-50: BD + 50 mg/kg of ZnN. T
3
and insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) hormone levels were similar among groups (
P
> 0.05), whereas T
4
and testosterone were significantly affected, based on supplemented dose. Zn supplementation improved both cell-mediated and humoral immunity. However, both cell-mediated immunity at 24 h and humoral immunity were statistically similar in ZnI-25 and ZnN-6.25 groups. Superoxide dismutase 1 gene expression was found to be similar in all experimental groups. The vascular degeneration were found in liver tissues moderately in NC, mildly in ZnN-6.25 and ZnN-3.125 groups, and no observable changes were noticed in kidney and spleen tissues. However, there was a mild damage in intestinal epithelium of ZnN-25 group rats, hyperplasia of goblet cells, and moderate damage in intestinal villi were observed in ZnN-50 group rats. From the study, it can be concluded that ZnN at half the dose of ZnI showed similar or better responses in terms of immunity, SOD-1 expression, hormonal profiles, and the tissue architecture of vital organs in rats, i.e., 25 mg/kg of Zn from ZnI and 12.5 mg/kg of ZnN impacted similar biological responses like immunity, SOD-1 expression, hormonal profiles, and the tissue architecture of vital organs in rats.
Abstract
The glancing angle deposition technique has been employed to synthesize TiO
2
nanowire (NW) arrays which have been characterized by x-ray diffraction, field emission-scanning electron ...microscopy and high resolution transmission electron microscopy. Optical absorption measurements show the absorption edge at 3.42 eV and 3.48 eV for TiO
2
thin film (TF) and NW, respectively. The blue shift in absorption band is attributed to quantum confinement in NW structures. Photoluminescence measurement revealed oxygen-defect-related emission at 425 nm (∼2.9 eV). Ag/TiO
2
(NW) and Ag/TiO
2
(TF) contacts exhibit Schottky behaviour, and a higher turn-on voltage (∼6.5 V) was observed for NW devices than that of TF devices (∼5.25 V) under dark condition. In addition, TiO
2
-NW-based devices show twofold improvement in photodetection efficiency in the UV region, compared with TiO
2
-TF-based devices.
Abstract
INO-ICAL is a proposed underground experiment to study the oscillation parameters of neutrinos by detecting those produced in the atmospheric air showers. The Iron CALorimeter (ICAL) is to ...have 151 layers of iron plates stacked vertically corresponding to a height of ∼14.5 m, with active detector elements inserted between the iron layers. The iron layers will be magnetized with a maximum magnetic field of 1.5 T to enable the measurement of the charge and momentum of the
μ
-
(or
μ
+
) produced by
ν
μ
(or
ν̅
μ
) interactions inside the detector throughout the operation. Resistive Plate Chambers (RPCs) have been chosen as the active detector elements as they are amenable to large area coverage, as well as due to their high particle detection efficiency, long-term performance and low cost of production. The major factors that weigh in on the physics potential of the ICAL detector are the efficiency, position resolution and time resolution of the large area RPCs. A prototype detector called mini-ICAL (with 11 iron layers) was commissioned in order to understand the engineering challenges in building the large-scale electromagnet and its ancillary systems, and also to study the performance of the RPC detectors and readout electronics developed by the INO collaboration. As part of the performance study of the RPC detectors, an attempt is made to improve their position and time resolutions. The designed position resolution for the ICAL detector is of the order of 1 cm and the required time resolution is ∼1 ns. Even a small improvement in the position and time resolution will help to improve the measurements of momentum and directionality of the neutrinos in the ICAL detector. In ICAL detector simulation, where muons traverse in all directions with on average 20 RPC layers, a 30 % improvement in position resolution results in ∼10 % improvement in the momentum resolution at 3 GeV. Due to large iron materials in between two RPCs, the resolution is dominated by the effect of multiple scattering at this momentum. Also for a muon with 10 layer hit, the charge ambiguity reduces from 0.04 % to 0.001 % when the time resolution improves from 1 ns to 0.7 ns. The Time-over-Threshold (ToT) of the RPC pulses is recorded by the readout electronics. ToT is a measure of the pulse width and consequently the pulse amplitude. This information is used to improve the time and position resolution of RPCs and consequently INO's physics potential.
The magnetised Iron CALorimeter detector (ICAL), proposed to be built at the India-based Neutrino Observatory (INO), is designed to study atmospheric neutrino oscillations. The ICAL detector is ...optimized to measure the muon momentum, its direction and charge. A GEANT4-based package has been developed by the INO collaboration to simulate the ICAL geometry and propagation of particles through the detector. The simulated muon tracks are reconstructed using the Kalman Filter algorithm. Here we present the first study of the response of the ICAL detector to muons using this simulations package to determine the muon momentum and direction resolutions as well as their reconstruction and charge identification efficiencies. For 1-20 GeV/c muons in the central region of the detector, we obtain an average angle-dependent momentum resolution of 9-14%, an angular resolution of about a degree, reconstruction efficiency of about 80% and a correct charge identification of about 98%.
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