297 research outputs found
A prospect of moving towards free milk quota market in Ireland – will milk quota movement follow efficiency?
No full textQuota trade in Ireland is ‘ring fenced’ to milk processors where farmers are not allowed to trade milk quota outside their designated milk processor. This ensures milk production staying within a region but has implications for the efficiency of milk production. In this paper, we simulated a free milk quota market in Ireland and compared the results with a milk quota exchange which was ring fenced to determine if the quota move from an inefficient region to a more efficient region. The results show that quota indeed follow efficiency of production when there is restriction over trade area.Milk quota trade, Irish quota market, Farm level model, Agricultural and Food Policy,
Paying Obeisance to the Humble “Coconut”: A Short Commentary
No full textShort commentary on the occasion of World Coconut Day, celebrated on 2nd September every yea
A functional genomics investigation of clinically relevant heat-stress in Clostridium difficile strain 630
No full textClostridium difficile has raised significant public concern over the past few decades owing to its emergence as a serious and life-threatening nosocomial pathogen. C. difficile-associated disease is often precipitated due to persistent use of broad-spectrum antibiotics which eventually disrupts the normal colonic micro flora thereby promoting the spread of this toxin- producing organism. There are several classical signs and symptoms associated with C. difficile infection including profuse diarrhoea, abdominal cramps, nausea, and fever. The main objective of this investigation was to employ a systems biology approach in order to assess the response of C. difficile strain 630 when exposed to a clinically relevant heat-stress (4l0C relative to 37°C). This was achieved by carrying out gel-based and gel-free proteomic techniques to characterise the soluble subproteome of this bacterium. Several differentially expressed proteins were hence identified, functionally categorised, and physiochemically characterised which made it possible to comment upon the biochemistry of this organism when exposed to heat-stress conditions. Subsequently, in order to complement our proteomics dataset, whole-genome microarrays were performed to gain a transcriptomic overview of the same heat-stress response of C. difficile. Upon data analysis, it was revealed that in addition to several others, the gene expression and protein abundance levels of classical molecular chaperones such as GroEL and DnaK were significantly modulated. Therefore, genes encoding these chaperones were then targeted to attempt and isolate knockout mutants of C. difficile in order to assess the impact of such a disruption upon the overall physiology of this organism. The results obtained from this systems biology investigation provide a comprehensive overview of the heat-stress response of C. difficile and additionally reveals the importance of certain genes in maintaining cellular homeostasis not only upon exposing the organism to stressful environments, but also under optimal growth conditions.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo
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Novel catalytic materials for selective oxidation of carbon monoxide for use in fuel cells
No full textEThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo
DESIGNING AND OPTIMIZATION OF NAPROXEN SODIUM DEFORMABLE VESICULAR SYSTEMS THROUGH FACTORIAL DESIGN: BOX BEHENKEN MODEL
No full textObjective: The objective of this investigation was to develop and statistically optimize deformable vesicles such as transfersomes and transethosomes of Naproxen sodium by employing 33factorial designs through software Design expert version 12 (Box–Behnken design) for dermal delivery.
Methods: The levels of the drug, phosphatidylcholine, and span 80 (independent variables) were varied to study the influence on vesicle size and % entrapment efficiency (dependent variables) of transfersomes and for transethosomes, the levels of phosphatidylcholine, ethanol, and span 80 were selected as independent variables Second-order quadratic polynomial equation, 2D and 3D contour plots represented the relationship between variables and desired response. The optimization process was carried out using desirability plots and point prediction techniques.
Results: Results of the present study demonstrated that optimized transfersomes and transethosomes showed vesicle sizes of 114.91 nm and 102.91 nm respectively, while entrapment efficiency of 80.11 % and 86.97%, respectively. Both formulations showed high zeta potential values indicating the stability of the optimized formulation. ANOVA statistical results showed a significant difference (P<0.05).
Conclusion: The results indicated that the independent variable plays a crucial role in optimizing a formulation that can be used for further research studies. Present preliminary study data provided strong evidence that the optimized deformable vesicular formulations through box Behnken factorial design can be a potentially useful drug carrier for naproxen sodium dermal delivery with minimum vesicle size and efficient entrapment efficiency
The exponential series: an addendum
No full textIn the accompanying article, the author
(Gaurav Bhatnagar) presents a heuristic derivation
of the well-known series for the exponential function
Compositional Optimization of Photovoltaic Grade Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS) Films Synthesized by Colloidal Route
No full textIn recent years, kesterite structured Cu2ZnSn(S, Se)(4) materials have attracted significant interest as second generation solar cell material. However, the capability of reproducibly synthesizing these nanocrystal (NC) inks with accurately controlled and specific compositions is very crucial for making efficient solar cell devices. In this work rod shaped CZTS nanoparticles are synthesized by cost effective and rapid hot injection technique using TOPO-TOP as capping ligand for various Zn/ Sn precursor ratios. Since, for good solar cell device material (here, CZTS nanocrystals) higher zinc concentration are required so here, we varies zinc concentration and we find that mere increase in zinc amount in precursors for the synthesis of CZTS nanocrystals may not be necessarily advantageous for solar cell application. It should be optimized with respect to tin (Sn), phosphorus (P) and copper (Cu) for best PV properties and we find that incorporation of zinc into CZTS is higher in case where zinc amount is less in precursors. Different aspects of these nanorods are analyzed by EDAX, contact angle, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and photoluminescence spectroscopy respectively
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