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Comparative Functional Genomics Studies for Understanding the Hypothetical Proteins in Mycobacterium tuberculosis KZN 1435
No full textThe prediction for the unknown proteins from Mycobacterium tuberculosis KZN 1435 were carried out for characterization of the proteins in their respective families. In Mycobacterium tuberculosis KZN 1435 out of 1560 genes for hypothetical proteins, functions were predicted for 1221 hypothetical protein whereas, structures for 803 unknown proteins were revealed. The Bioinformatics web tools like CDD-BLAST, INTERPROSCAN, PFAM and COGs were used for the prediction of functions in the proteins by searching protein databases for the presence of conserved domains; whereas, tertiary structures were constructed using PS2 Server-Protein Structure Prediction server. This study was helpful in understanding functional characteristics of hypothetical proteins in Mycobacterium tuberculosis KZN 1435 as well as their role in the life cycle of the bacterium
Dehydrogenation of methylcyclohexane over Pt/V2O5 and Pt/Y2O3 for hydrogen delivery applications
No full textDehydrogenation of methylcyclohexane (MCH) for hydrogen transportation and delivery application was carried out over 3 wt% Pt/V2O5 and 3 wt% Pt/Y2O3 catalyst. The catalytic activity was tested using a spray-pulse mode of reactor. Effective dehydrogenation of MCH under spray-pulse mode of reactant injection was observed. In terms of hydrogen evolu-tion rate at 60 min from start of reaction the activity of 958 mmol/g/min was obtained at temperature of 350 _C. Nearly 100% selectivity toward hydrogen was obtained. A relatively high conversion of 98% was observed with 3 wt% Pt/Y2O3 at 60 min using an advanced spray-pulse reactor system. The catalysts were characterized using x-ray diffraction pattern (XRD), CO-chemisorption metal analysis, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analysis
Photocatalytic hydrogen generation through water splitting on nano-crystalline LaFeO3 perovskite
No full textVisible light active ABO3 type photocatalyst with LaFeO3 composition was synthesized by
sol-gel method. The photocatalyst was characterized by different techniques such as X-ray
diffraction, BET surface area analysis, particle size analysis, scanning electron microscopy,
UVevisible diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (UVeVisible DRS), and photoluminescence
spectroscopy. LaFeO3 photocatalyst exhibited an optical band gap of 2.07 eV with the
absorption spectrum predominantly in visible region of the spectrum. The BET surface area
of photocatalyst LaFeO3 was observed as 9.5 m2/g, with the crystallite size of 38.8 nm as
calculated by the Debye-Scherer equation. The photocatalytic activity of LaFeO3 was
investigated for hydrogen generation through sacrificial donor assisted photocatalytic
water splitting reaction by varying conditions in feasible parametric changes using visible
light source, ethanol as a sacrificial donor and Pt solution of H2PtCl6 as a co-catalyst. The
rate of photocatalytic hydrogen evolution was observed to be 3315 mmol g�1 h�1 under
optimized conditions and using 1 mg dose of photocatalyst with reaction time of 4 h and
illumination of 400 W
Bacteriophages as a model for studying carbon regulation in aquatic system
Get PDFThe interconversion of carbon in organic, inorganic and refractory carbon is still beyond the grasp of present
environmentalists. The bacteria and their phages being the most abundant constituents of the aquatic environment, represents an ideal model for studing carbon regulation in
aquatic system. The refractory dissolved organic carbon (DOC) a recently coined terminology from the microbe-driven
conversion of bioavailable organic carbon into difficult-to-digest refractory DOC by microbial carbon pump (MCP) is suggested to have potential to revolutionize our view of carbon sequestration. It is estimated that about 95% of organic carbon is in the form of refractory DOC which is the largest pool of organic matter in the ocean. The refractory DOC is supposed to be the major factor in the global carbon cycle whose source is not yet well understood. A key element of the carbon cycle is the microbial conversion of dissolved organic carbon into inedible forms. The time studies of phagehost interaction under control conditions reveals their impact on the total carbon content of the source and their
interconversion among organic, inorganic and other forms of carbon with respect to control source. The TOC- analysis statistics stipulate increase in inorganic carbon content by 15-25 percent in the sample with phage as compared to sample without phage. The results signify 60-70 fold increase in inorganic carbon content in sample with phage, whereas,50-55 fold in the case of sample without phages as compared with
control. This increase in inorganic carbon content may be due to lysis of the host cell releasing its cellular constituents and utilization of carbon constituent for phage
assembly and development. It also provesthe role of phages in regulating the carbon flow in the aquatic systems like oceans where their concentration outnumbered other species
Photocatalytic degradation of phenolics by N-doped mesoporous titania under solar radiation
Get PDFIn this study, nitrogen-doped mesoporous titania was synthesized by templating method using chitosan. This biopolymer chitosan
plays the dual role of acting as a template (which imparts mesoporosity) and precursor for nitrogen. BET-SA, XRD, UV-DRS,
SEM, and FTIR were used to characterize the photocatalyst. The doping of nitrogen into TiO2 lattice and its state was substantiated
and measured by XPS. The photocatalytic activity of the prepared N-doped mesoporous titania for phenol and o-chlorophenol
degradation was investigated under solar and artificial radiation. The rate of photocatalytic degradation was observed to be higher
for o-chlorophenol than that of phenol. The photodegradation of o-chlorophenol was 98.62% and 72.2%, while in case of phenol,
degradation to the tune of 69.25% and 30.58% was achieved in solar and artificial radiation. The effect of various operating
parameters, namely, catalyst loading, pH, initial concentration and the effect of coexisting ions on the rate of photocatalytic
degradation were studied in detail
Catalytic dehydrogenation of cyclohexane over Ag-M/ACC catalysts for hydrogen supply
No full textDehydrogenation of cyclohexane to benzene has been carried out over Ag supported on activated carbon cloth (Ag/ACC) catalysts using a spray- pulse reactor. Hydrogen evolution was studied for hydrogen storage and supply system applications. The maximum rate of hydrogen evolution rate using monometallic Ag/ACC catalysts was 6.9 mmol/gmet/min for Ag loading of 10 wt%. An enhanced hydrogen evolution was observed by adding a small amount of noble metal (1 wt% Pt, Pd, Rh) to the Ag based catalysts. A synergistic effect was observed in the case of the Pt promoted catalysts on the hydrogen production were twice as compared to 10 wt% Ag catalyst only
Defluoridation of drinking water using chitosan based mesoporous alumina
No full textIn the present research study, mesoporous alumina (MA450) with improved properties has been synthesized
using biopolymer chitosan as a template and used for defluoridation of water. The adsorbent has
been characterized with XRD, SEM, FTIR and EDAX studies. It was observed that MA450 works effectively
over wide range of pH and showed a maximum adsorption capacity 8.264 mg g�1 at initial fluoride concentration
of 5 mg l�1 which is much better than the conventional alumina. The experimental data fitted
well in Langmuir isotherm and follows Pseudo-second order kinetics. Batch adsorption studies were performed
to study the effect of pH, adsorbent dose, initial fluoride concentration and co-existing anions.
Thermodynamic study reveals that fluoride adsorption on MA450 is spontaneous and exothermic process.
MA450 showed significantly high fluoride removal in field water. The performance of MA450 was
compared with many other reported adsorbent for fluoride removal and it was observed that the present
adsorbent is effective in terms of fluoride removal performance and also appears to be cost effective.
From the experimental data, it may be inferred that MA450 is a potential and indigenous adsorbent
for defluoridation
User perception study for performance evaluation of domestic defluoridation techniques for its application in rural areas
No full textFluoride concentrations in ground water have been monitored in rural areas of Dhar and Jhabua districts
in Madhya Pradesh, India. A correlation of fluoride concentration with pH, TDS and conductivity has been
estimated to identify surrogate monitoring parameter. Further, fluoride removal from drinking water has
been achieved by using adsorbents specially developed for domestic applications. These adsorbents have
been evaluated using three different methods namely; loose adsorbent, pre-packed sachet and packed
bamboo column. Comparative evaluation of these methods has been demonstrated in the laboratory and
field. The stringent limit of 1 mg/L for fluoride concentration in drinking water has been achieved by
use of specially designed adsorbents. A feedback from end-users in Tarapur and Ukala villages of Dhar
districts Madhya Pradesh regarding the adsorbents and its acceptability has been collected. User’s perception
regarding these household treatments reveals encouraging response for defluoridation methods.
According to user’s perception loose adsorbent approach emerged out as most simple, clean and safe
household defluoridation method
DNA repair gene polymorphisms at XRCC1, XRCC3, XPD, and OGG1 loci in Maharashtrian population of central India
No full textReduction in DNA repair capacity is associated with increased rates of birth defects, cancer, and accelerated
ageing. Genetic polymorphisms in DNA repair genes might influence the repair activities of the
enzymes predisposing individuals to cancer risk. Owing to the presence of these genetic variants,
inter-individual and ethnic differences in DNA repair capacity have been observed in various populations.
India harbors enormous genetic, cultural and linguistic diversity. The present study was undertaken to
determine the allele and genotype frequencies of four non-synonymous SNPs, XRCC1 Arg399Gln (C > T,
rs25487), XRCC3 Thr241Met (G > A, rs861539), XPD Lys751Gln (T > G, rs13181), and OGG1 Ser326Cys
(C > G, rs1052133) in the Maharashtrian population, residing in the Vidarbha region of central India
and to compare them with HapMap and other Indian populations. The variant alleles of these polymorphisms
have been found to be positively associated with different forms of cancer in several genetic epidemiological
studies. The basic prevalence of these polymorphisms in the general population must be
known to evaluate their significance in risk assessment in cancer and other phenotypes. About 215
healthy and unrelated individuals from the Maharashtrian population were genotyped for each of these
four polymorphisms using PCR–RFLP. The allele and genotype frequency distribution at the four DNA
repair gene loci among Maharashtrians revealed a characteristic pattern. To the best of our knowledge,
this is the first report of these DNA repair gene polymorphisms in a central Indian populatio