Spatial distribution of oil in groundnut and sunflower seeds by nuclear magnetic resonance imaging

The nuclear magnetic resonance imaging technique has been used to obtain images of different transverse and vertical sections in groundnut and sunflower seeds. Separate images have been obtained for oil and water components in the seeds. The spatial distribution of oil and water inside the seed has been obtained from the detailed analysis of the images. In the immature groundnut seeds obtained commercially, complementary oil and water distributions have been observed. Attempts have been made to explain these results.

Purification and partial characterization of acyl carrier proteins from developing oil seeds of pisa (Actinodaphne hookeri) and ground nut (Arachis hypogaea)

Acyl carrier proteins (ACP) were purified to homogeneity in the active form from developing seeds of pisa (Actinodaphne hookeri) which synthesizes exclusively trilaurin and from ground nut (Arachis hypogaea) which synthesizes triacylglycerols containing long chain fatty acids. Two major isoforms of ACPs were purified from developing pisa seeds using DEAE-cellulose, Superose-6 FPLC and C-4 reversed phase HPLC chromatographic methods. In contrast, only a single form of ACP was present in ground nut seeds which was purified by anion-exchange and activated thiol-Sepharose 4B affinity chromatography. The two isoforms of ACPs from pisa showed nearly the same specific activity of 6,706 and 7,175 pmol per min per mg protein while ground nut ACP showed a specific activity of 3,893 pmol per min per mg protein when assayed using E. coli acyl-ACP synthetase and [1-C-14]palmitic acid. When compared with E. coli ACP, the purified ACPs from both the seeds showed considerable difference in their mobility in native PAGE, but showed similar mobility in SDS-PAGE under reducing conditions. In the absence of reducing agents formation of dimers was quite prominent. The ACPs from both the seed sources were acid- and heat-stable. The major isoform of pisa seed ACP and the ground nut ACP contain 91 amino acids with M(r) 11,616 and 1,228 respectively. However, there is significant variation in their amino acid composition. A comparision of the amino acid sequence in the N-terminal region of pisa and ground nut seed ACPs showed considerable homology between themselves and with other plant ACPs but not with E. coli ACP.

Phenomenological aspects of phase fluctuation in high Tc superconductors: Cooper pair droplets

We point out how fluctuation of the phase of the superconducting order parameter can play a key role in our understanding of high Te superconductors. A simple universal criterion is given which illustrates why all oxide superconductors in contrast to classical superconductors ought to behave as a lattice of cooper pairs. T-c is to be thought of as the temperature of phase coherence or the temperature above which the lattice of Cooperpair 'melts' into a phase of Cooper-pair droplets that starts forming at T approximate to T-* . This is the pseudo-gap region. Quantum fluctuation of the phase predicts a superconductor to insulator phase transition for all underdoped materials.

GC-MS study of Artabotrys odoratissimus fatty oil (leaves)

GC-MS study of two fatty oil fractions from Artabotrys odoratissimus (leaves) indicated the presence of fifteen compounds namely, nonanoic acid; methyl phenyl propanoate; decanoic acid; diethyl phthalate; dibutyl phthalate; 2 - amino-3-ethyl biphenyl; 5-methyl-9-phenylnonan-3-ol; hexadeca-2,7,11-triene; 2,6-dimethyl-1-phenylhepta-1-one; 2,5-dimethyltetradecahydrophenenthrene; 1-phenylundecane; 1-isopropyl-4,6-dimethyl naphthalene; 5-(2-butyl phenyl)pent-3-en-2-ol; 1-phenyideca-1-one and 1-phenylundecan-1-one. Some of the compounds are rare occurring and biologically active.

Studies on the effects of test gas on the flow field around large angle blunt cone flying at hypersonic Mach number

The effect of the test gas on the flow field around a 120degrees apex angle blunt cone has been investigated in a shock tunnel at a nominal Mach number of 5.75. The shock standoff distance around the blunt cone was measured by an electrical discharge technique using both carbon dioxide and air as test gases. The forebody laminar convective heat transfer to the blunt cone was measured with platinum thin-film sensors in both air and carbon dioxide environments. An increase of 10 to 15% in the measured heat transfer values was observed with carbon dioxide as the test gas in comparison to air. The measured thickness of the shock layer along the stagnation streamline was 3.57 +/- 0.17 mm in air and 3.29 +/- 0.26 mm in carbon dioxide. The computed thickness of the shock layer for air and carbon dioxide were 3.98 mm and 3.02 mm, respectively. The observed increase in the measured heat transfer rates in carbon dioxide compared to air was due to the higher density ratio across the bow shock wave and the reduced shock layer thickness.

The destabilization of human GCAP1 by a proline to leucine mutation might cause cone-rod dystrophy

Guanylate cyclase activating protein-1 (GCAP1) is required for activation of retinal guanylate cyclase-1 (RetGC1), which is essential for recovery of photoreceptor cells to the dark state. In this paper, experimentally derived observations are reported that help in explaining why a proline→leucine mutation at position 50 of human GCAP1 results in cone–rod dystrophy in a family carrying this mutation. The primary amino acid sequence of wild-type GCAP1 was mutated using site-directed mutagenesis to give a leucine at position 50. In addition, serine replaced a glutamic acid residue at position 6 to promote N‐terminal myristoylation, yielding the construct GCAP1 E6S/P50L. The enzyme was over-expressed in Escherichia coli cells, isolated and purified before being used in assays with RetGC1, characterized by circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy, and investigated for protease resistance and thermal stability. Assays of cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP) synthesis from guanosine triphosphate by RetGC1 in the presence of E6S/P50L showed that E6S/P50L could activate RetGC1 and displayed similar calcium sensitivity to wild-type GCAP1. In addition, E6S/P50L and wild-type GCAP1 possess similar CD spectra. However, there was a marked increase in the susceptibility to protease degradation and also a reduction in the thermal stability of E6S/P50L as observed by both the cGMP assay and CD spectroscopy. It is therefore suggested that although GCAP1 E6S/P50L has a similar activity and calcium dependency profile to the wild-type GCAP1, its lower stability could reduce its cellular concentration, which would in turn alter [Ca2+] and result in death of cells.

Lubricity of an oil in water emulsion in metal cutting: The effect of hydrophilic/lypophilic balance of emulsifiers

A steel disc is cut using a single point tool. The coefficient of friction of the nascent cut surface is measured by a spherical steel pin situated in close proximity of the point of cutting. The tool, disc and the friction pin are immersed in an oil in water emulsion bath during the experiment. The purpose of the experiments conducted here is to record the effect of hydrophilic/lypophilic balance (HLB) of the emulsifier on the lubricity experienced in the cutting operation. The more lypophilic emulsifiers were found to give greater lubricity than what is recorded when the emulsifier is more hydrophilic. XPS and FTIR spectroscopy are used to explore the tribofilm generated on the nascent cut surface to indicate a possible rationale for the effect. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Unsteady mixed convection flow from a rotating vertical cone with a magnetic field

An analysis is developed to study the unsteady mixed convection flow over a vertical cone rotating in an ambient fluid with a time-dependent angular velocity in the presence of a magnetic field. The coupled nonlinear partial differential equations governing the flow have been solved numerically using an implicit finite-difference scheme. The local skin friction coefficients in the tangential and azimuthal directions and the local Nusselt number increase with the time when the angular velocity of the-cone increases, but the reverse trend is observed for decreasing angular velocity. However, these are not mirror reflection of each other. The magnetic field reduces the skin friction coefficient in the tangential direction and also the Nusselt number, but it increases the skin friction coefficient in the azimuthal direction. The skin friction coefficients and the Nusselt number increase with the buoyancy force.

Synthesis, characterization, degradation of biodegradable castor oil based polyesters

A new family of castor oil based biodegradable polyesters was synthesized by catalyst free melt condensation reaction between two different diacids and castor oil with D-mannitol. The polymers synthesized were characterized by NMR spectroscopy, FF-IR and the thermal properties were analysed by DSC. The results of DSC show that the polymer is rubbery in physiological conditions. The contact angle measurement and hydration test results indicate that the surface of the polymer is hydrophilic. The mechanical properties, evaluated in the tensile mode, shows that the polymer has characteristics of a soft material. In vitro degradation of polymer in PBS solution carried out at physiological conditions indicates that the degradation goes to completion within 21 days and it was also found that the rate of degradation can be tuned by varying the curing conditions. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Estimation of missing data using windowed linear prediction in laterally truncated projection & in cone beam CT

In this paper, we address the reconstruction problem from laterally truncated helical cone-beam projections. The reconstruction problem from lateral truncation, though similar to that of interior radon problem, is slightly different from it as well as the local (lambda) tomography and pseudo-local tomography in the sense that we aim to reconstruct the entire object being scanned from a region-of-interest (ROI) scan data. The method proposed in this paper is a projection data completion approach followed by the use of any standard accurate FBP type reconstruction algorithm. In particular, we explore a windowed linear prediction (WLP) approach for data completion and compare the quality of reconstruction with the linear prediction (LP) technique proposed earlier.