Jain Irrigation Systems (India)

Free radicals are common outcome of normal aerobic cellular metabolism. In-built antioxidant system of body plays its decisive role in prevention of any loss due to free radicals. However, imbalanced defense mechanism of antioxidants, overproduction or incorporation of free radicals from environment to living system leads to serious penalty leading to neuro-degeneration. Neural cells suffer functional or sensory loss in neurodegenerative diseases. Apart from several other environmental or genetic factors, oxidative stress (OS) leading to free radical attack on neural cells contributes calamitous role to neuro-degeneration. Though, oxygen is imperative for life, imbalanced metabolism and excess reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation end into a range of disorders such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, aging and many other neural disorders. Toxicity of free radicals contributes to proteins and DNA injury, inflammation, tissue damage and subsequent cellular apoptosis. Antioxidants are now being looked upon as persuasive therapeutic against solemn neuronal loss, as they have capability to combat by neutralizing free radicals. Diet is major source of antioxidants, as well as medicinal herbs are catching attention to be commercial source of antioxidants at present. Recognition of upstream and downstream antioxidant therapy to oxidative stress has been proved an effective tool in alteration of any neuronal damage as well as free radical scavenging. Antioxidants have a wide scope to sequester metal ions involved in neuronal plaque formation to prevent oxidative stress. In addition, antioxidant therapy is vital in scavenging free radicals and ROS preventing neuronal degeneration in post-oxidative stress scenario.

In temperate and boreal ecosystems, seasonal cycles of growth and dormancy allow perennial plants to adapt to winter conditions. We show, in hybrid aspen trees, that photoperiodic regulation of dormancy is mechanistically distinct from autumnal growth cessation. Dormancy sets in when symplastic intercellular communication through plasmodesmata is blocked by a process dependent on the phytohormone abscisic acid. The communication blockage prevents growth-promoting signals from accessing the meristem. Thus, precocious growth is disallowed during dormancy. The dormant period, which supports robust survival of the aspen tree in winter, is due to loss of access to growth-promoting signals.

Abstract Sulfonated chiral Mn(salen) catalyst immobilised onto various supports such as silica, LDH and resin afforded remarkably higher rates and ees of up to 96% for the asymmetric epoxidation of unfunctionalised olefins. The LDH and resin supported ( R,R )‐ 1 catalysts were recovered quantitatively by simple filtration and reused for several times with consistent ees and insignificant loss of activity.

Abstract BACKGROUND: The study is focused on (i) screening and taxonomic identity of a bacterial strain for biosurfactant production, and (ii) evaluation of its potential for production of a biosurfactant using agro‐based feedstock(s) and characterization of it for application in the removal of heavy metals. RESULTS: The production of biosurfactant by an isolate Pseudomonas aeruginosa AB4 (identified on the basis of 16S rRNA analysis) using various cost‐effective substrates were examined at conditions 40 °C, 120 rpm for 7 days. It revealed maximum (40 gL −1 ) rhamnolipids production and 46% reduction of initial surface tension. Its optimum production was achieved at (i) C:N ratio 10:0.6, (ii) pH 8.5 and (iii) 40 °C. The cell–free supernatant examined for biosurfactant activity by (i) haemolytic assay, (ii) CTAB‐ methylene blue assay, (iii) drop collapse test, (iv) oil spreading technique and (v) EI 24 assay showed its glycolipid nature and stable emulsification. Analysis of partially purified rhamnolipids by (i) thin layer chromatography (TLC), (ii) high performance thin layer chromatography (HPTLC), (iii) high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), (iv) Fourier transform infrared (FT‐IR) and (v) gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC‐MS) confirmed its structure as methyl ester of 3‐hydroxy decanoic acid (a glycolipid) with two major structural congeners (Rha‐C 10 ‐C 10 and Rha‐C 10 ‐C 8 ) of mono‐rhamnolipids. Finally, it showed sequestration of Cd and Pb, suggesting its application in biosurfactant‐assisted heavy metal bioremediation. CONCLUSION: This work has screened and identified a bacterium with superior biosurfactant production capabilities, characterized the glycolipidic biosurfactants as rhamnolipid and indicated the feasibility of biosurfactant production using novel renewable, relatively inexpensive and easily available resources such as non‐edible vegetable de‐oiled seed cakes and showed its utility in remediation of heavy metals. Copyright © 2010 Society of Chemical Industry

Abstract Polyaniline‐supported Sc, In, Pd, Os and Re catalysts were prepared by using a simple protocol and the thus prepared catalysts were well characterized using FTIR, XPS, UV‐Vis/DRS, TGA‐DTA. All the catalysts were successfully employed in a wide range of organic transformations such as cyanation and allylation of carbonyl compound, Suzuki coupling of aryl halides and boronic acids, and, most importantly, in asymmetric dihydroxylation of olefins to afford optically active vicinal diols. All the catalysts were separated from the reaction mixture by simple filtration and reused with consistent activity for five cycles without noticeable leaching of metal from the support.

Abstract Nanocrystalline magnesium oxide was found to be an effective heterogeneous, solid base catalyst for the one‐pot Wittig reaction to afford α,β‐unsaturated esters and nitriles in excellent yields with high E ‐stereoselectivity in the presence of triphenylphosphine under mild conditions.

Abstract The layered double hydroxides‐supported diisopropylamide (LDH‐DA) catalyst is found to be an efficient and selective solid base for aldol, Knoevenagel, Henry, Michael, transesterification and epoxidation reactions under liquid phase conditions. LDH‐DA is synthesized by the interaction of lithium diisopropylamide with LDH‐NO 3 (as‐synthesized) and calcined LDH‐NO 3 . The LDH‐DA (Mg/Al, 3/1) and their precursors are well characterized by using various instrumental techniques such as FT‐IR, TGA and DTA, powder XRD, solid state 27 Al MAS NMR spectroscopy, SEM and XPS (ESCA).

After introducing thermophilic anaerobic digestion (AD), characteristics of thermophilic methanogens are provided. Accordingly, (a) site of occurrence, (b) morphological characteristics (shape and motility), (c) biochemical characteristics (Gram character and % G+C profile), (d) nutritional characteristics (NaCl requirement and substrate specificity), and (e) growth characteristics (pH and temperature) of thermophilic methanogens are described. Some studies of the thermophilic AD are cited with their operational management problems. Subsequently, strategies to maximize net energy production are given, including mode of heating the bioreactors, role of agitation to promote AD performance and mode/intensity of mixing. Finally, advantages as well as drawbacks of AD under thermophilic conditions are given, concluding with its applications.

Abstract The selective oxidation of various alcohols into their corresponding aldehydes and ketones was achieved by ruthenium species stabilized on the nanocrystalline magnesium oxide (NAP‐MgO) by the incorporation of choline hydroxide, a basic ionic liquid, in excellent yields. The procedure is simple, efficient and environmentally benign. The catalyst can be used for four cycles with almost consistent activity.

In tropics, combined stresses of drought and heat often reduce crop productivity in plants like Musa acuminata L. We compared responses of two contrasting banana genotypes, namely the drought‐sensitive Grand Nain (GN; AAA genome) and drought tolerant Hill banana (HB; AAB genome) to individual drought, heat and their combination under controlled and field conditions. Drought and combined drought and heat treatments caused greater reduction in leaf relative water content and greater increase in ion leakage and H 2 O 2 content in GN plants, especially in early stages, while the responses were more pronounced in HB at later stages. A combination of drought and heat increased the severity of responses. Real‐time expression patterns of the A‐1 and A‐2 group DEHYDRATION‐RESPONSIVE ELEMENT BINDING (DREB) genes revealed greater changes in expression in leaves of HB plants for both the individual stresses under controlled conditions compared to GN plants. A combination of heat and drought, however, activated most DREB genes in GN but surprisingly suppressed their expression in HB in controlled and field conditions. Its response seems correlated to a better stomatal control over transpiration in HB and a DREB‐independent pathway for the more severe combined stresses unlike in GN. Most of the DREB genes had abscisic acid (ABA)‐responsive elements in their promoters and were also activated by ABA suggesting at least partial dependence on ABA. This study provides valuable information on physiological and molecular responses of the two genotypes to individual and combined drought and heat stresses.

Banana is an important day neutral food crop with a long flowering/fruiting cycle that is affected by hot summers or cold winters in different places. Manipulating its life cycle requires an understanding of its flowering time machinery to bypass these stresses. Twelve FLOWERING LOCUS T (FT) and two TWIN SISTER OF FT (TSF) members were isolated from banana and their organization and expression pattern studied during development in two varieties that differ in flowering time namely Grand Nain (AAA genotype) and Hill banana (AAB genotype). The expression of at least 3 genes namely MaFT1, MaFT2 and MaFT5 (and to some extent MaFT7) increases just prior to initiation of flowering. These four genes and five others (MaFT3, MaFT4, MaFT8, MaFT12 and MaTSF1 could suppress the delayed flowering defect in the Arabidopsis ft-10 mutant and induce early flowering upon over-expression in the Col-0 ecotype. Most genes are diurnally regulated and differentially expressed during development and in various vegetative and reproductive tissues suggesting roles besides flowering. Subtle amino acid changes in these FT/TSF-like proteins provide interesting insights into the structure/function relationships of banana FTs vis-à-vis Arabidopsis. The studies provide a means for manipulation of flowering in banana for better management of resources and to reduce losses through abiotic stresses.

Abstract Selective transfer hydrogenation of aromatic ketones and β‐keto esters to the corresponding alcohols was achieved by using ruthenium nanoclusters supported on alkali‐exchanged zeolite beta catalyst. The high activity and selectivity of the catalyst is due to the presence of highly dispersed ruthenium clusters in combination with the large number of Brønsted acidic sites of zeolite.

The agriculture subsidies are integral part of the farmers life in India. The agriculture subsidies plays very important role in agriculture sector in every country. The every year's government of India spends lot of money in various agriculture subsidies for growth of agriculture sector. The total arable & permanent cropland is 169,700 thousand hectors in India. The authors used only secondary data for research. This paper basically focuses on overview of agriculture subsidies in India with help of provisions of funds for agriculture in five years plans and annual budget. The authors also study types of agriculture subsidies and distribution criteria in India. Last few years the percent investment in agriculture sector is increases & percent of agriculture subsidies is decreases in India. To know the percentage agriculture subsidies in developed countries and developing countries, also number of dependent on agriculture sector.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Lignocaine in intravenous (IV) bolus dose has been used for minimising haemodynamic changes associated with intubation and extubation. Furthermore, IV infusion has been used for post-operative analgesia. We investigated whether IV peri-operative lignocaine (bolus and infusion) would be able to produce both the effects simultaneously in elective laparoscopic cholecystectomies. METHODS: In this randomised prospective study, 60 patients undergoing elective laparoscopic cholecystectomy were randomly divided into two groups of 30 each. In Group A, patients received 6 ml normal saline as bolus over 10 min followed by 6 ml/h infusion whereas in Group B, patients received preservative free 2% lignocaine 1.5 mg/kg IV bolus (made to a volume of 6 ml with normal saline) administered over a period of 10 min and thereafter an infusion at a rate of 1.5 mg/kg/h (pre-diluted in normal saline made to a volume of 6 ml/h. P < 0.05 was considered as significant. RESULTS: The rise in pulse rate (PR) and mean arterial pressure (MAP) were less in Group B as compared to the Group A (P < 0.05) during intubation as well as during extubation. Furthermore, the Group B had significant longer mean pain-free post-operative period of 5½ h as compared to 54.43 min in the Group A (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Administration of lignocaine infusion attenuates the rise in PR as well as MAP during the peri-intubation and peri-extubation period. Furthermore, infusion of lignocaine significantly increases the mean pain-free period post-operatively.

Abstract Nanosize CaSO 4 and Ca 3 (PO 4 ) 2 fillers were synthesized with an in situ deposition technique, and their sizes were confirmed by X‐ray diffraction. CaSO 4 was prepared in 12‐ and 22‐nm sizes, and Ca 3 (PO 4 ) 2 was prepared in 13‐ and 24‐nm sizes. Experimental variables, such as torque, shear viscosity, shear stress, and shear rate, of the nanofilled polypropylene (PP) composites were measured with torque rheometry and melt flow index (MFI) measurements. Torque versus time, shear viscosity versus weight percentage, and MFI versus weight percentage were plotted to investigate the rheological behavior of the nanofilled composites. The Cross–Williamson (CW) model was simulated with the MATLAB simulation package to study the thinning behavior of the PP composites. The experimental results show a decrease in the shear viscosity with increasing weight percentage of filler. Shear thinning in the molten PP composites was comparatively greater with decreasing nanosize of CaSO 4 and Ca 3 (PO 4 ) 2 . This kind of behavior was confirmed by the N parameter as determined from the CW model. The simulation of experimental data also showed similar trends as the theoretical data. At a certain stage, a violation of theoretical data was observed. This was because of practical limitations of the equation, as the equation does not include consideration of the physical situation of chain entanglements. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 100: 4190–4196, 2006

Little is known about the effect of air pollution on the gastrointestinal (GI) system. We investigated the association between long-term exposures to outdoor fine particles (PM2.5) and hospitalization for peptic ulcer diseases (PUDs) in a large cohort of Hong Kong Chinese elderly.A total of 66,820 subjects aged ≥65 years who were enrolled in all 18 Government Elderly Health Service centers of Hong Kong participated in the study voluntarily between 1998 and 2001. They were prospectively followed up for more than 10 years. Annual mean exposures to PM2.5 at residence of individuals were estimated by satellite data through linkage with address details including floor level. All hospital admission records of the subjects up to December 31, 2010 were retrieved from the central database of Hospital Authority. We used Cox regression to estimate the hazard ratio (HR) for PUD hospitalization associated with PM2.5 exposure after adjustment for individual and ecological covariates.A total of 60,273 subjects had completed baseline information including medical, socio-demographic, lifestyle, and anthropometric data at recruitment. During the follow-up period, 1991 (3.3%) subjects had been hospitalized for PUD. The adjusted HR for PUD hospitalization per 10 μg/m of PM2.5 was 1.18 (95% confidence interval: 1.02-1.36, P = 0.02). Further analysis showed that the associations with PM2.5 were significant for gastric ulcers (HR 1.29; 1.09-1.53, P = 0.003) but not for duodenal ulcers (HR 0.98; 0.78 to 1.22, P = 0.81).Long-term exposures to PM2.5 were associated with PUD hospitalization in elder population. The mechanism underlying the PM2.5 in the development of gastric ulcers warrants further research.

PURPOSE: To describe the technique of split-conjunctival grafts (SCG) for double-head pterygia and to evaluate its postoperative outcome. METHOD: A retrospective analysis of seven eyes with primary double-head pterygium was done. All eyes received pterygium excision with split-conjunctival grafts harvested from the superior quadrant. All patients were followed up for recurrence of the lesion and incidence of complications. RESULTS: No recurrence was noted with a mean follow-up of 17.7 +/- 6 months. CONCLUSION: Split-conjunctival graft is a useful procedure for double-head pterygium.

FLOWERING LOCUS T (FT) and TERMINAL FLOWER1/CENTRORADIALIS (TFL1/CEN) are the key regulators of flowering time in plants with FT promoting flowering and TFL1 repressing flowering. TFL1 also controls floral meristem identity and its maintenance. In this study we have characterized two pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) TFL1/CEN-like genes designated as PgTFL1 and PgCENa. The expression of PgTFL1 and PgCENa fluctuated through alternate pruning and flowering cycles, being highly expressed during the vegetative phase (immediately after pruning) and decreasing gradually in the months thereafter such that their lowest levels, especially for PgCENa coincided with the flowering phase. Both the genes are able to functionally suppress the Arabidopsis tfl1-14 mutant flowering defect. Their expression in Arabidopsis resulted in delayed flowering time, increased plant height and leaf number, branches and shoot buds as compared with wild type, suggesting that PgTFL1 and PgCENa are bonafide homologs of TFL1. However, both the genes show distinct expression patterns, being expressed differentially in vegetative shoot apex and floral bud samples. While PgTFL1 expression was low in vegetative shoot apex and high in flower bud, PgCENa expression showed the opposite trend. These results suggest that the two TFL1s in pomegranate may be utilized to control distinct developmental processes, namely repression of flowering by PgCENa and development and growth of the reproductive tissues by PgTFL1 via distinct temporal and developmental regulation of their expression.

Rural India derives its energy needs for cooking and heating through the use of fuel wood and for lighting and agricultural operations through kerosene and diesel. Use of fuel wood has aggravated the problem of de-forestation, while availability of kerosene and diesel cannot be guaranteed due to corrupt practices in the public distribution systems. In contrast, urban India derives its energy needs through LPG cylinders, petrol, and electricity. However, their cost and uncertainty rendered them beyond the reach of lower income population. This scenario is more or less true with many developing countries. To meet these objectives, biogas generation from biodegradable waste using anaerobic digestion (AD) appears to be a sustainable avenue as it could be used for (a) water and space heating of farmhouses, animal shelters, (b) generating steam for food processing plants, and (c) electricity generation, in addition to reducing the pollution/hazard potential of these wastes. Many of the underdeveloped and developing countries are in the temperate zone and thus mesophilic AD could provide a desired pathway to achieve a long delayed need of energy for comfortable living, farming, and industrial operations. Efforts made in this direction are reviewed in the present article.

Abstract The asymmetric epoxidation of unfunctionalised olefins to epoxides is realised by using manganese(III) complexes stabilised on nanocrystalline magnesium oxide in the presence (1 R ,2 R )‐(−)‐diaminocyclohexane as a chiral ligand in good yields and up to 91 % enantiomeric excess.