Search

The utilization of sunflower and corn stems in producing briquettes, combined with varying proportions of cassava starch as a binding agent, was investigated for its viability as an agricultural solid fuel. This study employed the briquetting technique to enhance the density of the briquettes, aiming for cost-effective applications. A range of agricultural materials including soda weed, rice husks, banana leaves, sawdust, groundnut shells, mango leaves, sugarcane leaves, maize straw and sugarcane bagasse were used as benchmarks to assess the physical characteristics. Comparative analysis was conducted between the proximate properties of sunflower and corn stem briquettes and those of established materials, such as fleshing, palm shells, water hyacinth, rice husks, mango leaves, bagasse, wheat straw, corn cob briquettes, coal and others. This comprehensive evaluation is aimed to gauge the efficiency and quality of briquettes, derived from sunflower and corn stems in relation to other biomass sources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rajappan Revathi,1 Ramachandran Venkatesha Perumal,2 Karkala Sreedhara Ranganath Pai,3 Govindakarnavar Arunkumar,4 Dharmarajan Sriram,5 Suvarna Ganesh Kini1 1Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Manipal College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Manipal University, Manipal, 2Bharathi College of Pharmacy, Bharathi Nagara, 3Department of Pharmacology, Manipal College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Manipal University, Manipal, 4Manipal Centre of Virus Research, Manipal University, Manipal, Karnataka, India; 5Pharmacy Group, Birla Institute of Technology and Science-Pilani, Hyderabad Campus, Hyderabad, India Abstract: Tuberculosis remains one of the major grievous diseases worldwide. The emergence of resistance to antituberculosis drugs emphasize the necessity to discover new therapeutic agents for preferential tuberculosis therapy. In this study, various novel 1-(1H-benzimidazol-2-ylmethyl)piperidin-4-imine derivatives were developed and checked for favorable pharmacokinetic parameters based on drug-likeness explained by Lipinski’s rule of five. All 20 of the novel chemical entities were found to possess a favorable pharmacokinetic profile since they were not violating Lipinski’s rule of five. The title compounds were also synthesized, characterized, and tested for ex vivo antitubercular activity against Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv (ATCC27294). The results revealed that four compounds (2-[1-(1H-benzimidazol-2-ylmethyl)piperidin-4-ylidene]hydrazinecarbothioamide, 2-[1-(1H-benzimidazol-2-ylmethyl)piperidin-4-ylidene]-N-hydroxyhydrazinecarbo-thioamide, 1-[1-(1H-benzimidazol-2-ylmethyl)piperidin-4-ylidene]guanidine, and 2-[1-(1H-benzimidazol-2-ylmethyl)piperidin-4-ylidene]hydrazinecarboxamide) were the most potent (minimum inhibitory concentration 6.25 µg/mL) antitubercular agents, with less toxicity (selectivity index more than 10). The molecules were also subjected to three-dimensional molecular docking on the crystal structure of enoyl-acyl carrier protein (EACP) reductase enzyme (code 1ZID, Protein Data Bank), which represents a good prediction of the interactions between the molecules and EACP reductase with minimum binding energy. Keywords: enoyl-acyl carrier protein reductase, Schiff’s reaction, benzimidazole, Mycobacterium tuberculosis

The soil salinization has led to degradation of agricultural soils that negatively impact crop growth and production. Crops which are sensitive to salinity gets affected severely by soil salinity. The endophyte aid their host to survive in harsh environmental conditions by adapting to environment along with host plant. With this background the study was conducted to evaluate the fungal endophytes isolated from the plants of North western Himalayan region to impart salinity stress tolerance in mung bean. Out of forty-eight fungal endophytes screened four were salt tolerant and they were identified as Ulocladium sp., Fusarium avenaceum, Chaetomium sp. and F. tricinctum. The fungal endophytes Fusarium avenaceum found superior over other endophytes in imparting salinity stress tolerance in Mung bean. The effect of fungal endophytes on seedling growth was more pronounced under salinity stress condition than in non-stress conditions. Under pot experiment the plants inoculated with Fusarium avenaceum recorded higher plant growth, yield and physiological parameters. Thus, the fungus was found as potential endophyte for imparting salinity stress tolerance in mung bean. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]