Microbial aspects of acid generation and bioremediation with relevance to indian mining

The role of Acidithiobacillus group of bacteria in acid generation and heavy metal dissolution was studied with relevance to some Indian mines. Microorganisms implicated in acid generation such as Acidithiobacillus Acidithicibacillus thiooxidans and Leptospirillum ferrooxidans were isolated from abandoned mines, waste rocks and tailing dumps. Arsenite oxidizing Thiomonas and Bacillus group of bacteria were isolated and their ability to oxidize As (111) to As (V) established. Mine isolated Sulfate reducing bacteria were used to remove dissolved copper, zinc, iron and arsenic from solutions.

An HI study of three long-tailed irregular galaxies in the cluster Abell 1367

We present the results on the distribution and kinematics of HI gas with higher sensitivity and in one case of higher spectral resolution as well than reported earlier, of three irregular galaxies CGCG 097073, 097079 and 097087 (UGC 06697) in the cluster Abell 1367. These galaxies are known to exhibit long (50 - 75 kpc) tails of radio continuum and optical emission lines (H alpha) pointing away from the cluster centre and arcs of starformation on the opposite sides of the tails, These features as well as the HI properties, with two of the galaxies (CGCG 097073 and 097079) exhibiting sharper gradients in HI intensity on the side of the tails, are consistent with the HI gas being affected by the ram pressure of the intracluster medium. However the HI emission in all the three galaxies extends to much smaller distances than the radio-continuum and H alpha tails, and are possibly still bound to the parent galaxies. Approximately 20 - 30 per cent of the HI mass is seen to accumulate on the downstream side due to the effects of ram pressure.

A cooperative game theoretic approach to prototype selection

In this paper we consider the task of prototype selection whose primary goal is to reduce the storage and computational requirements of the Nearest Neighbor classifier while achieving better classification accuracies. We propose a solution to the prototype selection problem using techniques from cooperative game theory and show its efficacy experimentally.

Biotransformation of cholesterol to diosgenin by freely suspended and immobilised cells of Dioscorea bulbifera L.

The cell suspension cultures, established from the friable callus which was risen from the nodal segments of Dioscorea bulbifera L. in Murashige-Skoog (MS) medium supplemented with indole-3-butryic acid (20 mg L- 1), was examined for cell growth in MS medium fed with cholesterol (50 mg L- 1 and 100 mg L- 1) after 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, and 18 days of culture. The growth index of the cell suspension culture on the 8th day was 1.2 and gradually inclined to 1.9 on the 16th day and remained the same at the 18th day. There is no marked difference in the cell growth of cholesterol-treated and control cell suspension culture. The maximum accumulation of diosgenin was noticed on the 14th day in control and cholesterol-treated cell suspension culture and immobilised cell cultures. The highest concentration of diosgenin, 2.94% and 2.14% dry weight, was obtained in immobilised cell culture and cell suspension culture treated with 100 mg L- 1 cholesterol, respectively.

Detection of multicode STBC signals in frequency selective fading

Multicode operation in space-time block coded (STBC) multiple input multiple output (MIMO) systems can provide additional degrees of freedom in code domain to achieve high data rates. In such multicode STBC systems, the receiver experiences code domain interference (CDI) in frequency selective fading. In this paper, we propose a linear parallel interference cancellation (LPIC) approach to cancel the CDI in multicode STBC in frequency selective fading. The proposed detector first performs LPIC followed by STBC decoding. We evaluate the bit error performance of the detector and show that it effectively cancels the CDI and achieves improved error performance. Our results further illustrate how the combined effect of interference cancellation, transmit diversity, and RAKE diversity affect the bit error performance of the system.

ICI-ISI mitigation in cooperative SFBC-OFDM with carrier frequency offset

Synchronization issues pose a big challenge in cooperative communications. The benefits of cooperative diversity could be easily undone by improper synchronization. The problem arises because it would be difficult, from a complexity perspective, for multiple transmitting nodes to synchronize to a single receiver. For OFDM based systems, loss of performance due to imperfect carrier synchronization is severe, since it results in inter-carrier interference (ICI). The use of space-time/space-frequency codes from orthogonal designs are attractive for cooperative encoding. But orthogonal designs suffer from inter-symbol interference (ISI) due to the violation of quasi-static assumption, which can arise due to frequency- or time-selectivity of the channel. In this paper, we are concerned with combating the effects of i) ICI induced by carrier frequency offsets (CFO), and ii) ISI induced by frequency selectivity of the channel, in a cooperative communication scheme using space-frequency block coded (SFBC) OFDM. Specifically, we present an iterative interference cancellation (IC) algorithm to combat the ISI and ICI effects. The proposed algorithm could be applied to any orthogonal or quasi-orthogonal designs in cooperative SFBC OFDM schemes.

Leveraging Partially Enhanced Scan for Improved Observability in Delay Fault Testing

Enhanced Scan design can significantly improve the fault coverage for two pattern delay tests at the cost of exorbitantly high area overhead. The redundant flip-flops introduced in the scan chains have traditionally only been used to launch the two-pattern delay test inputs, not to capture tests results. This paper presents a new, much lower cost partial Enhanced Scan methodology with both improved controllability and observability. Facilitating observation of some hard to observe internal nodes by capturing their response in the already available and underutilized redundant flip-flops improves delay fault coverage with minimal or almost negligible cost. Experimental results on ISCAS'89 benchmark circuits show significant improvement in TDF fault coverage for this new partial enhance scan methodology.

Multi-Tone Testing of Linear and Nonlinear Analog Circuits using Polynomial Coefficients

A method of testing for parametric faults of analog circuits based on a polynomial representation of fault-free function of the circuit is presented. The response of the circuit under test (CUT) is estimated as a polynomial in the applied input voltage at relevant frequencies in addition to DC. Classification or Cur is based on a comparison of the estimated polynomial coefficients with those of the fault free circuit. This testing method requires no design for test hardware as might be added to the circuit fly some other methods. The proposed method is illustrated for a benchmark elliptic filter. It is shown to uncover several parametric faults causing deviations as small as 5% from the nominal values.

Arginase from Lathyrus sativus

The seeds of Lathyrus sativus contain the unusual amino acid homoarginine. The possible breakdown of homoarginine to lysine and urea has been investigated with enzyme extracts prepared from the seedlings of L. sativus. The results indicate that there is no separate homoarginase enzyme but that the arginase present has about 5 per cent activity towards Image -homoarginine as compared to that obtained with Image -arginine. The enzyme does not show an absolute dependence on Mn2+ for activity and maximal activation of the enzyme has been realized with Fe3+. It is concluded that the breakdown of homoarginine through the urea cycle may only represent a minor pathway for the catabolism of this compound in this plant.

Protein content and amino acid composition of some varieties of grain sorghum

Determination of the protein content and lysine levels of a number of nonhybrid varieties of grain sorghum indicates large variations in the protein content. Statistical analysis of data on amounts of lysine shows that a negative correlation exists between per cent lysine in the protein and per cent protein in the seed. The proportion of various protein fractions in endosperm of five varieties of grain sorghum of both low- and high-protein type has been determined. Results show that prolamine and glutelin are the principal protein fractions, and increased protein levels in sorghum varieties are correlated with an increase mainly in the prolamine fraction. Nine high- and low-protein varieties of grain sorghum have been analyzed for their amino acid composition by ion exchange procedures. One of the high-protein genetic varieties of sorghum has a high concentration of lysine in the seed. Amino acid composition of the protein fractions of two varieties is also reported. These data permit an evaluation of the nutritional quality of sorghum protein and factors that influence the quality of the protein.

Detection,amplification and sequence homology of sodC in clinical isolates of Salmonella sp

Background & objectives: Periplasmic copper and zinc superoxide dismutase (Cu,Zn-SOD or SodC) is an important component of the antioxidant shield which protects bacteria from the phagocytic oxidative burst. Cu,Zn-SODs protect Gram-negative bacteria against oxygen damage which have also been shown to contribute to the pathogenicity of these bacterial species. We report the presence of SodC in drug resistant Salmonella sp. isolated from patients suffering from enteric fever. Further sodC was amplified, cloned into Escherichia coli and the nucleotide sequence and amino acid sequence homology were compared with the standard strain Salmonella Typhimurium 14028. Methods: Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi (S. Typhi) and Salmonellaenterica serovar Paratyphi (S. Paratyphi) were isolated and identified from blood samples of the patients. The isolates were screened for the presence of Cu, Zn-SOD by PAGE using KCN as inhibitor of Cu,Zn-SOD. The gene (sodC) was amplified by PCR, cloned and sequenced. The nucleotide and amino acid sequences of sodC were compared using CLUSTAL X.Results: SodC was detected in 35 per cent of the Salmonella isolates. Amplification of the genomic DNA of S. Typhi and S. Paratyphi with sodC specific primers resulted in 519 and 515 bp amplicons respectively. Single mutational difference at position 489 was observed between thesodC of S. Typhi and S. Paratyphi while they differed at 6 positions with the sodC of S. Typhimurium 14028. The SodC amino acid sequences of the two isolates were homologous but 3 amino acid difference was observed with that of standard strain S. Typhimurium 14028.Interpretation & conclusions: The presence of SodC in pathogenic bacteria could be a novel candidate as phylogenetic marker.

Interrelations of micro-organisms and mulberry II. Phyllosphere microflora and nitrogen fixation in leaf and root surfaces

The mulberry leaves were shown to harbour substantial populations of bacteria, streptomycetes, yeasts, and moulds. Azotobacter and Beijerinckia were observed to contribute to nearly 5 to 10 per cent of the bacterial population. When grown in water culture under sterile conditions, Azotobacter inoculation on the leaf or root surface was found to increase plant growth, dry wt, and nitrogen content of the mulberry. The beneficial effect of Azotobacter was largely influenced by the presence of a carbon source in the plant nutrient solution. The root inoculation in comparison to leaf application was found to confer greater benefits to the growing plant. The presence of carbohydrates and amino acids in the leaf leachates of mulberry was shown. The mutual beneficial nature of the association of the plant and Azotobacter has been brought to light.

Accumulation of glycine in the fat body of the silkworm, bombyx mori L. [31]

INVESTIGATIONS of intestinal transport of amino-acids in the locust1,2 and silkworm3,4 have shown no evidence for active accumulation in a transport from the insect gut of amino-acids. When glycine-2-14C was administered in vivo to fifth instar larvae of the silkworm, 96 per cent of the radioactivity was incorporated into various tissues within 1 h whereas in vitro only 19 per cent of the activity was transported by the mid-gut of silkworm (unpublished work). These results suggested that continued absorption of glycine by the intestine could be aided by a facilitated diffusion mechanism in which amino-acids are rapidly removed from the site of absorption either by accumulation into other tissues or by degradation. Although the insect fat body has been assigned both accumulatory and dissimilatory roles5, the mechanism of accumulation of amino-acids has not been investigated. Our present experiments show that the silkworm fat body possesses an efficient mechanism for accumulating glycine and that both the accumulation and the release of glycine are metabolically controlled.

Interrelations of soil micro-orgamisms and mulberry I.Phytohormone production by soil and rhizosphere bacteria and their effect on plant growth

Bacteria isolated from the rhizosphere of mulberry (Morus indica) as well as from control soil were tested for their effects on the growth of mulberry seedlings and for phytohormone production. About 12.8 per cent of the rhizosphere and 9.7 per cent of the soil isolates produced phytohormones in cultures. Rhizosphere isolates were more active in hormone synthesis than their soil counterparts. Soaking mulberry stem cuttings in culture filtrates of phytohormone synthesisers hastened their rooting. Culture filtrates of many isolates — hormone producers or not — stimulated or inhibited the growth of shoot and/or root of plants. Many cultures could also inhibit the germination of mulberry seeds.

Drop formation studies in liquid—liquid systems

Benzene drops were formed in continuous media of water and glycerine of varying physical properties. The effect on drop volumes of variables like volumetric flow-rate, interfacial tension, continuous phase viscosity and capillary diameter was studied. An equation has been developed, based on a two stage drop formation mechanism, which predicts drop volumes within an average error of 7 per cent for the range of physical properties employed in this investigation.