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The present work investigates the ability of robust biochar from Gracilaria Rhodophyta red weeds collected from the deep sea waters of the Bay of Bengal, for sequential removal of silver and Brilliant Green (BG) dye from contaminated water. The impacting operating parameters viz contact time, the dosage of biochar, pH, and initial Ag+ concentration are optimized using 24 factorial central composite design (CCD)-based statistical modeling. The analysis of variance (ANOVA) projected an excellent history match of model data with experimental through high correlation coefficients. The sequential batch adsorption studies performed at a temperature of 303 K projected an uptake of 4.7 mg/g and 17.8 mg/g at the optimal operating conditions of pH 5–7 and 6, biochar dosage 1.0 and 0.5 g/100 mL, initial concentration 50 mg Ag+ ions and 100 mg BG dye per liter, and operating time 45 and 60 min, respectively, for Ag+ ions and BG dye. Further, the surface morphology, elemental compositions, functional groups, depositional, and structural characteristics of the biochar analyzed using FESEM, EDX, FTIR, BET, and XRD respectively confirmed its ability to successfully treating the contaminants. Moreover, the isothermal, thermodynamic, and kinetic analysis established the Langmuir model-based mono-layered homogeneous physisorption of Ag+ and BG dye with pseudo-second-order depositional characteristics at the solid-solution interface. The biochar is regenerative enough and could remove substantial amounts of Ag+ and BG dye from industrial contaminated water bodies. Moreover, the present work aids in promoting seaweed harvesting as an alternate occupation for littoral fisher societies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Three different drying methods: hot-air-drying (HAD), dehumidified drying (DD) and freeze drying (FD) were used to dry Indian white button mushrooms (Agaricus bisporus). Dehumidified drying method has been proposed as an alternative technique to improve the quality of dehydrated mushroom. Mushroom powder obtained by DD method had 33.29% protein, 17.21% uronic acid, and 10.93% ash content. It was also a good source of ergosterol (422.18±5.80 mg/100 g dw), which is known as the precursor of Vitamin D2. Ethanolic extract of mushroom powder showed good antioxidant activity with lower DPPH IC50 value (7.16±0.23 mg/mL) and also lower EC50 value of ABTS (4.36±0.04 mg/mL). Mushroom powder is added to ready to cook green gram based chilla mix (vegetable omelette mix) at 10%, 20% and 30% levels. The effect of incorporation of mushroom powder on quality characteristics of the formulation was studied. The results showed that the ready to cook mix containing 20% of mushroom powder had protein: 23.33 g; total dietary fiber: 10.75 g; ergosterol: 79.08 mg and also important minerals like calcium: 99.57 mg; potassium: 1203.49 mg; magnesium: 137.80 mg and zinc: 2.23 mg in 100 g of formulation. The formulated products were shelf-stable at ambient temperature for three months. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We developed an improved hexagonal wurtzite ZnO and ZnO/C microflowers through the facile hydrothermal technique. The obtained nanostructures were characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) and UV–visible diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (UV–Vis DRS). The formation of flower-like material is confirmed using SEM and TEM analysis with an average diameter of about 2 µm composed of several plate-like nanostructures. The optical analysis results show that the presence of carbon particles with ZnO structures has significantly increased the light absorption ability of nanocomposite. The photocatalytic degradation ability of prepared nanostructures was examined using methylene blue as a model pollutant. The obtained results show that the photocatalytic degradation ability of ZnO/C nanostructures is approximately two times higher than the pristine ZnO microflowers. Based on the investigation, an enhancement of the photocatalytic ability of ZnO/C nanocomposite is achieved due to the synergistic effect between carbon particles and flower-like ZnO nanostructures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we synthesized the visible-light-driven photocatalytic activity of CdO nanowires and g-C3N4/CdO hybrid nanostructure by the hydrothermal method. X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectrometry, and UV–Vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy studies were carried out to compare the structural, morphological, and optical properties of CdO nanowires and g-C3N4/CdO hybrid nanostructure. Also, we investigated how CdO nanowires and g-C3N4/CdO hybrid nanostructure function as photocatalysts in the photocatalytic oxidation of RhB under visible light illumination, which revealed that g-C3N4/CdO hybrid nanostructure exhibits better photocatalytic oxidation on RhB than CdO nanowires with the first-order degradation kinetics. The prepared g-C3N4/CdO hybrid nanostructure can provide hybridized conduction band or valence band, which facilitates better charge transport and reduces recombination electron-hole charge carriers leading to higher photocatalytic performance. Hence, making hybrid nanostructures such as g-C3N4/CdO can be a potential approach to develop effective photocatalysts for treating effluents discharged from textile and dyeing industries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report the synthesis of hydroxyapatite (HAp)-based antibacterial biomaterials using a mussel shell as a calcium source and by the integration of silver ions via a wet precipitation method. The silver doping at 2 mol% can provide silver-doped carbonated HAp while at 10 mol% can offer silver-doped carbonated HAp/silver oxide nanocomposite. The synthesized Ag-integrated samples exhibit the H (263–903Mpa) and E (0.96–3.31GPa) almost similar to cancellous bone with good antibacterial inhibition on S. aureus (15 ± 02 mm) and E. coli (26 ± 02 mm) growth. Hence, they can be a potential precursor to make bone fillers for the treatment of bone infections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report the synthesis of silver-integrated silica nanostructures using rice hulls and silver chloride through a facile thermal combustion process. The formation of mesoporous silica nanomatrix embedded with silver nanoparticles (SiO2:Ag 5 wt% and SiO2:Ag 10 wt%) was confirmed by XRD, FTIR, EDX, BET, and TEM analysis. Also, the obtained results from the above studies revealed that the concentration of silver ions significantly increases the particle size and number of silver nanoparticles formed in the silica matrix. The electrochemical performance was studied using silver-integrated silica nanostructures as a working electrode in KOH electrolyte. The maximum specific capacitance of SiO2:Ag 5 wt%- and SiO2:Ag 10 wt%-coated electrode was found to be 517 and 580 F/g at current density of 1 A/g. It was also found that SiO2:Ag 10 wt% electrode exhibit an excellent stability with the capacitance retention of 94% than SiO2:Ag 5 wt% (capacitance retention of 85%) after 1000 cycles at a current density of 1 A/g. These results may be attributed to the inherent characteristic of more silver nanoparticles present in the silica nanomatrix in SiO2:Ag 10 wt%. The intrinsic characteristic of rice hull-derived silica nanostructures such as high surface area and mesoporous structure along with the advantage of silver nanoparticles (conductivity) can facilitate the Faradic redox processes at electrode surface which are responsible for the supercapacitive behavior of the prepared silver-integrated silica nanostructures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Certain materials that are used in industries to manufacture parts, components and sub-assemblies are difficult to machine using traditional machining processes. Abrasive water jet machining is a viable solution to such a problem, and its use is sought where precision is the requirement. The process involves many input controllable parameters that influence the performance characteristics of the process such as MRR, surface finish and kerf width. Inconel-625 is one such hard-to-machine material that finds many applications in industries. The objective of the present work is set to ascertain experimentally the influence of three input parameters on the three responses mentioned above through ANOVA. WASPAS and MOORA are two powerful techniques that are used for multi-objective optimization, and the ranks of both the MCDM methods were observed to be same. Traverse speed and abrasive mass flow rate are proven to be statistically significant on MRR and surface finish, whereas standoff distance along with the above two parameters is also significant on the response kerf width. Machined surface morphology is studied using scanning electron microscopy. From the SEM morphology, it was confirmed that the higher abrasive flow rate obtained rough surface finish. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Discrete groundwater level datasets are interpolated often using kriging group of models to produce a spatially continuous groundwater level map. There is always some level of uncertainty associated with different interpolation methods. Therefore, we developed a new trend function with the mean groundwater level as a drift variable in the regression kriging approach to predict the groundwater levels at the unvisited locations. Groundwater level data for 29 observation wells in Adyar River Basin were used to assess the performance of the developed regression kriging models. The cross-validation results shows that the proposed regression kriging method in the spatial domain outperforms other physical and kriging-based methods with R2 values of 0.96 and 0.98 during pre-monsoon and post-monsoon seasons, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mayonnaise was prepared by replacing refined sunflower oil with physically refined rice bran oil (RBO), filtered sesame oil (SO) and blends of both RBO:SO. Emulsions were formulated using xanthan gum as a replacer for egg. The effect of replacing xanthan gum on varying oil blends (RBO:SO) on the physicochemical properties such as texture (consistency), stability, viscosity, and bioactives (oryzanol and sesamol content) were also studied. Significant differences were observed in the fat content of the emulsions prepared. Xanthan gum based mayonnaise's had 63–65% fat, whereas control sample with egg had 78% fat. The spreadability ranged between 1.2 and 1.6 N and stability of these spreads was found to be better than that of control. Mayonnaise with the desired colour, optimum spreadability and excellent emulsion stability could be prepared using RBO, and blends of RBO:SO. Significant differences were seen in the instrumental consistency and rheological studies among the mayonnaises prepared. The present study focusses on the preparation of a healthy mayonnaise using rice bran and sesame oil and their blends which have beneficial health effects due to the presence of oryzanol and sesamol. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Monitoring of BTX natural attenuation in a fractured rock aquifer is highly challenging due to lack of knowledge about the influence of interaction of heterogeneous domains on transport processes. Contaminant transport in a fractured rock is commonly investigated using dual continuum models by considering fracture and its surrounding rock-matrix as two different continuums. In this study, a numerical multi-component transport model based on a triple continuum modeling approach is developed to investigate the transport of dissolved BTX in a discretely fractured aquifer with fracture-skin. A residual BTX source zone is considered to be present at the fracture inlet. A multi-component dissolution model is coupled with the present numerical model to simulate the dissolution of benzene, toluene and xylene at the residual BTX source. Dissolved BTX components are considered to undergo sorption and biodegradation in addition to advection and dispersion within the fracture. Dissolved BTX components diffusing to fracture-skin and rock-matrix are considered to undergo sorption and biodegradation in fracture-skin and rock-matrix. A novel sensitivity analysis approach based on spatial moments is introduced in the manuscript to investigate the sensitivity of various flow and transport parameters of fracture-skin and rock-matrix on dissolved BTX mass retained in fracture and matrix. The presence of fracture-skin is found to significantly affect the concentration distribution and mass retention of dissolved BTX components in a fractured aquifer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: To evaluate the application of extended nasolabial flap versus buccal fat pad graft in the surgical management of oral submucous fibrosis. Settings and Design: This prospective study was carried out in the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Tamil Nadu Government Dental College and Hospital, Chennai. Material and Methods: A total of 8 patients (6 men and 2 women) with age range from 21 to 65 years were selected for study. These 8 patients were randomly divided into two groups of four namely group 1 and group 2. In group 1 patients, reconstruction was planned with extended nasolabial flaps and in group 2 patients, reconstruction was planned with buccal fat pad graft respectively. Statistical Analysis Used: Paired t test, Independent sample t test, ANOVA test. Results: The mean preoperative mouth opening in group 1 was 8.5 mm and in group 2 was 11.75 mm. The mean increase in group 1 after one year of postoperative period was 21.50 mm and in group 2 was 24.75 mm. Conclusions: In the present study, buccal fat pad graft proved to give better results as the interposition material as it has good patient acceptance, rapid epithelization, minimal donor site morbidity and minimal intra and postoperative complications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The proximate composition and bioactive components were screened in eight wheat bran cultivars such as UAS (304, 415, 428), DWR (162, 185, 1006) and DDK (1025, 1029). The results showed that carbohydrate content ranged from 62.3 to 73.9%, protein 11-21%, fat 2.4-5.6%, ash content 5-6.5% among the wheat bran genotypes and dietary fiber content was found to be between 21 and 52%. Mineral content vary viz., Fe (0.7-2.45), Mg (4.78-8.36), K (16.47-44.58), Zn (0.78-1.44), Cu (3.35-15.79), Na (1.22-7.14) and Mn (21.77-70.09) μg/gm, highest being in UAS-428 variety, except for Ca content. Linoleic acid was the major fatty acid present to the extent of 47-53%. The antioxidant capacity of wheat bran extract through free radical scavenging showed the IC50 values (mg/mL) of 9.4 for UAS 428 and 10.55 for UAS 415 indicating higher activity. The steryl ferulates, total tocopherols and carotenoids were estimated as fat soluble nutraceuticals. Higher content of steryl ferulate was observed in DWR 185 (477 mg/100 g) followed by DDK 1025 (465 mg/100 g) and the least in UAS 415 (119 mg/100 g) variety. In conclusion genotypic wheat bran is an important source of dietary micronutrients like minerals especially in UAS variety with a potential free radical reducing ability. These varieties have health protective properties and can be incorporated in various food formulations for improved lifestyles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an analysis using temporal moments to study multi-species radionuclide transport along a single fracture with variable fracture aperture in a fracture-skin-matrix system. In the present study, a decay chain having three elements is considered and transport of each member in the decay chain is modeled by solving a coupled system of partial differential equations for fracture, fracture-skin, and rock matrix using explicit finite difference method. Having obtained the concentration distribution, lower order temporal moments of radionuclide distribution are computed to analyze the effective velocity and macro-dispersion coefficient of radionuclides in the fracture. In the present study, effect of varying fracture aperture on transport characteristics of radionuclides is also analyzed. It is found that the fracture aperture variation profile has significant impact on radionuclide distribution along the fracture. Sensitivity analysis is carried out in a fracture-skin-matrix system with sinusoidal fracture aperture to study the effect of various parameters like fracture aperture thickness, fracture-skin porosity, fracture-skin diffusion coefficient, flow rate, radioactive decay constant, and Freundlich sorption isotherm exponent on transport characteristics of radionuclide. The results suggest that the above mentioned parameters significantly influence concentration, distribution, mobility, and effective macro-dispersion coefficient of radionuclides along the fracture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A numerical model has been developed in this study for analysing the influence of Sips sorption isotherm on the contaminant transport mechanism in a coupled fracture matrix system. The implicit finite difference numerical technique has been used to solve the coupled non-linear governing equations. A varying grid is adopted at the fracture and rock matrix interface to capture the mass transfer at the interface. A constant continuous source of contaminants is assumed at the inlet of the fracture and the fracture is assumed to be saturated. Results suggest that the magnitude of the Sip's equilibrium constant in the fracture is extremely sensitive in deciding the resultant transport behaviour within the high permeable fracture. The magnitude of the Sip's model exponent within the high permeable fracture is highly sensitive in deciding the timing of zero concentration (exhaustion) within the high permeable fracture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper deals with the fuzzy set-valued functions of real variables on time scale whose values are normal, convex, upper semicontinuous and compactly supported fuzzy sets in $$\mathbb {R}^{n}$$ . We introduce and study the fundamental properties of new class of derivative called generalized delta derivative ( $$\Delta _{g}$$ -derivative) and generalized delta integral ( $$\Delta _{g}$$ -integral) for such fuzzy functions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to better understand nitrogen species transport and transformation in the saturated zone, it is essential to predict the contaminant concentration in the unsaturated zone as the concentration profiles estimated from unsaturated zone forms as the input for estimation of contaminant concentration in the saturated zone. Since the nitrogen transformations occur in the presence of bacteria, there is a need to account the influence of biological clogging to develop comprehensive model of nitrogen species transport. In this study, a one-dimensional numerical model is developed to investigate the nitrogen species transport in an unsaturated porous media along with microbial clogging process. Results suggest that hydraulic conductivity is enhanced initially due to increase in the water content followed by a significant reduction at larger simulation time resulting from bioclogging. As bioclogging mitigates the hydraulic conductivity significantly, a considerable delay is observed in the ammonium nitrogen and nitrate nitrogen transport with reference to the system without bioclogging. In addition, the effect of oxygen mass transfer coefficient on biological clogging was evaluated. Numerical results suggest that as the oxygen mass transfer is decreased the ammonium nitrogen and nitrate nitrogen concentration travels a larger depth. Further numerical results strongly suggest that nitrogen species transport in the unsaturated zone is significantly affected by the presence of biological clogging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Characterization of aquifers contaminated by petroleum hydrocarbons is limited by the use of dissolution mass transfer correlations developed for single compounds without considering the effects of the mass transfer limitations in presence of other components. A one-dimensional implicit numerical model is developed for the coupled mass transfer and transport processes and the results are analysed using existing mass transfer correlations for better understanding of the single and multicomponent dissolution processes. The mass transfer coefficient in the multicomponent system is found to be more nonlinear and extending with changing slope, unlike the exponential reduction for single compound system. During the initial phase, the dissolution rate of a soluble compound is very high due to the high concentration gradient, and as dissolution progresses, its effective solubility decreases with change in mole fraction. At higher pore volumes, the mole fractions of lower solubility fractions increase which can result in higher effective solubility. The kinetics of interphase mass transfer by dissolution and sorption is favoured by coupled biodegradation. However, mass transfer limitation for more soluble compounds under the conditions of low residual saturation and low mole fraction is observed to be due to low dissolution rate coefficient rather than decreasing concentration gradient. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The inclusion complexation behavior of phenoxyaliphatic acid derivatives of 3,3′-bis(indolyl)methane (BIMs 1-5) with β-cyclodextrin (β-CD) were investigated in both solution and solid state by means of UV-Visible, fluorescence spectroscopy, FT-IR and H NMR techniques. The nature of the host-guest inclusion complex between BIMs and β-CD has been elucidated. The experimental results confirmed the existence of 1:1 inclusion complex of BIMs with β-CD. The binding constants describing the extent of formation of the complexes have been determined using Benesi-Hildebrand plots using UV-Vis and fluorescence spectroscopy. BIMs exhibited an affinity for β-CD. The spectral studies suggested the phenyl ring along with alkyl substitutions of BIMs is present inside of β-CD cavity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A series of novel sulfonyl derivatives 3-(substituted benzylsulfonyl)-5-(4-isopropylthiazol-2-yl)-4-phenyl-4H-1,2,4-triazoles 4a- 4e, isopropyl thiazole-derived schiff bases 8a- 8l, and 2-(substituted benzylsulfonyl)-5-(4-isopropylthiazol-2-yl)-1,3,4-oxadiazoles 11a- 11e were synthesized and characterized by IR, H NMR, C NMR, elemental, and mass spectral analysis. All the compounds exhibited moderate to significant antibacterial and antifungal activities. Results of the antitubercular screening against Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv ascertain compounds 4e, 8b, and 8f as excellent antitubercular molecules, when compared with first line drug isoniazid (0.25 μg/mL). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A series of novel 4-isopropylthiazol-4-phenyl-1,2,4-triazol derivatives, N′-(substituted benzylidene)-2-(5-(4-isopropylthiazol-2-yl)-4-phenyl-4H-1,2,4-triazol-3-ylthio)acetohydrazides 4a-e, 4-isopropylthiazol-2-yl-4′-phenyl-4′H-1′, 2′,4′-triazol-3′-ylthio (substituted methyl benzylidene) acetohydrazides 5a-f, 3-(4-isopropylthiazol-2-yl)-4-phenyl-5-(5-substituted-1,3,4-oxadiazol-2-ylthio)-4H-1,2,4-triazole derivatives 6a-f and N-acetyl-5′-(4-isopropylthiazol-2-yl)-4′-phenyl-4′H-1,2,4-triazol-3′-ylthio) acetohydrazide 7 were synthesized and characterized by spectroscopy, elemental, and mass spectral analysis. These compounds were evaluated for their preliminary in vitro antibacterial, antifungal, and antitubercular activity against Mycobacterium tuberculosis ( M. tuberculosis) H37Rv strain by broth dilution assay method. All the compounds exhibited moderate to significant antibacterial and antifungal activities. Results of the antitubercular screening against Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv showed that compounds 4c and 6c exhibited good antitubercular activity when compared with first line drug isoniazid. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study deals with transport of solutes through a saturated sub-surface rock formation with well-defined horizontal parallel fractures. For this purpose, a simplified conceptual model consisting of a single fracture and its associated rock-matrix is considered in the presence of a fracture-skin in order to study the mobility and mixing of solutes along the fracture. In this paper, a coupled fracture-skin-matrix system is modeled numerically using finite difference method in a pseudo two-dimensional domain with a constant continuous source at fracture inlet. Flow and transport processes are considered parallel to the fracture axis, while the transport processes in fracture-skin as well as in rock-matrix are considered perpendicular to the fracture axis. Having obtained the concentration distribution along the fracture, method of spatial moments is employed to study the mobility and spreading of solutes. Sensitivity analyses have been done to understand the effect of various fracture-skin parameters like porosity, thickness, and diffusion coefficient. Further, the influence of non-linear sorption and radioactive decaying of solutes are carried out for different sorption intensities and decay constants. Results suggest that the presence of fracture-skin significantly influences the mobility and spreading of solutes along the fracture in comparison with a coupled fracture-matrix system without fracture-skin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, the behavior of thermal fronts along the fracture is studied in the presence of fracture-skin in a coupled fracture-matrix system. Cold water is injected into the fracture, which advances gradually towards production well, while extracting heat from the surrounding reservoir matrix. The heat conduction into the fracture-skin and the rock-matrix from the high permeability fracture is assumed to be one dimensional perpendicular to the axis of fluid flow along the fracture. Constant temperature cold water is injected through an injection well at the fracture inlet. The fluid flow takes place along the horizontal fracture which ensures connectivity between the injection and production wells. Since the rock-matrix is assumed to be tight, the permeability of fracture-skin as well as the rock-matrix is neglected. The present study focuses on the heat flux transfer at the fracture-skin interface as against the earlier studies on fracture-matrix interface, and the sensitivity of additional heterogeneity in the form of fracture skin in a conventional fracture-matrix coupled system is studied. The behavior of thermal fronts for various thermal conductivity values of the fracture-skin and rock-matrix is analyzed. Spatial moment analysis is performed on the thermal distribution profiles resulting from numerical studies in order to investigate the impact on mobility and dispersion behavior of the fluid in the presence of fracture-skin. The presence of fracture skin affects the heat transfer significantly in the coupled fracture-matrix system. The lower order spatial moments indicate that the effective thermal velocity increases with increase in skin thermal conductivity and a significant thermal dispersion is observed at the inlet of the fracture owing to the high thermal conductivity of the fracture-skin at the early stages. Furthermore the higher spatial moments indicate that the asymmetricity increases with decrease in skin thermal conductivity unlike the case with half fracture aperture and fluid velocity and the kurtosis is maximum with higher skin thermal conductivity which implies enhanced heat extraction from the fracture-skin into the fracture. Results suggest that the amount of heat extraction by the circulating fluid within the fracture from the reservoir not only depends on the rock-matrix module of the reservoir characteristics but also the fracture-skin characteristics of the system and subsequently influence the reservoir efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we obtain a necessary and sufficient condition for the existence of at least one Ψ-bounded solution and also obtained sufficient conditions for Ψ-(uniform) stability of the Kronecker product system associated with the matrix Lyapunov system X′( t)= A( t) X( t)+ X( t) B( t)+ F( t). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the present research, a series of 5,6-bis aryl 1,2,4-triazines 5a∼ 5f were synthesized by condensation of various benzils 4a∼ 4f with aminoguanidine bicarbonate and were screened in vivo, for their anticonvulsant and neurotoxicity studies. Compounds 5a, 5b and 5d were found to be potent molecules of this series, when compared with the reference drugs phenytoin sodium, diazepam and lamotrigine. The structures of these compounds were established by IR, 1H NMR, 13C NMR and mass spectroscopic data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Acanthamoeba sp. is a free-living amoeba known to cause chronic central nervous system infection or eye infection in humans. Many cases remain undetected for want of a good detection system. We report for the first time a rapid staining method to facilitate the identification of Acanthamoeba sp. using the modified Field's staining technique. A. castellanii, which was used in the present experiment, is maintained in our laboratory in mycological peptone medium (Gibco). The cultures were pooled together and smears were made on glass slides for staining purposes. Different types of stains such as Field's stain, modified Field's stain, Wright's stain, Giemsa stain, Ziehl-Neelsen stain, and trichrome stain were used to determine the best stain for the identification of this amoeba. The concentration of various stains and the duration of staining were varied to provide the best color and contrast for each stain. Acanthamoeba was also obtained from the brain of experimentally infected mice and was stained with various stains as mentioned above to determine the best stain for use in identifying the presence of this parasite in experimentally infected animals. The modified Field's stain gives a very good color contrast as compared with other stains. Furthermore, it takes only 20 s to be carried out using the least number of reagents, making it suitable for both laboratory and field use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The shedding pattern of the protozoan parasite, Blastocystis hominis, is investigated in man and in experimental animal infections. The shedding pattern of the vacuolar and cystic forms of Blastocystis hominis in infected individuals have been shown in the present study to be irregular. The study shows that there is marked fluctuation in the shedding of the parasite from day to day, varying from as high as 17 to 0 per ×40 microscopic field. The cystic stages when estimated in 8 Blastocystis-infected individuals ranged from as high as 7.4 × 105 cysts per gram of stool to 0. The shedding of cystic and vacuolar forms observed over a period of 20 days in experimentally-infected Wistar rats were not only shown to be irregular but the amount varied from host to host. The study has important diagnostic implications in that the stool samples must be collected more than once from patients showing clinical signs and symptoms to eliminate the cause of it to Blastocystis. The study also shows that there are asymptomatic individuals who pass a large amount of cysts as such individuals should be treated to prevent transmission to others. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is devoted to studying the existence and uniqueness of solutions of fuzzy nabla dynamic equations on time scales under Hukuhara differentiability. We apply the Banach contraction mapping principle to establish existence and uniqueness solution for fuzzy nabla initial value problems on time scales and also obtain existence result using Ascoli's theorem and Schauder's fixed point theorem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A one-dimensional numerical model is developed to simulate the nitrogen species in wastewater-applied agricultural field to investigate the effect of various isotherms of ammonium nitrogen and nitrate nitrogen. Results suggest that the ammonium nitrogen concentration reaches up to the depth of 40, 25 and 16 cm due to the linear, Freundlich and Langmuir isotherms of ammonium nitrogen, which is corresponding to the reduction in migration depth up to 37% by Freundlich isotherm and 55% by Langmuir isotherm as compared with linear isotherm. Similarly, the peak concentration of 25, 15 and 12 mg/l of nitrate nitrogen is observed during linear, Freundlich and Langmuir isotherms of NH4-N, respectively. Further, the results show that 4% peak concentration reduction is experienced for NO3-N due to the linear NH4-N sorption alone, 7% peak reduction is observed for NO3-N concentration by Freundlich NH4-N sorption alone, and 12.5% peak reduction is monitored for NO3-N concentration due to Langmuir NH4-N sorption alone compared with the combination of Freundlich NO3-N sorption. The numerical results suggest that the combination of Langmuir isotherm of NH4-N and Freundlich isotherm of NO3-N is identified as a best combination of isotherm scenario, which mitigates the NO3-N contamination in groundwater resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]