Assessment of Genetic Stability and Instability of Tissue Culture-Propagated Plantlets of Aloe vera L. by RAPD and ISSR Markers

Efficient plantlet regeneration with and without intermediate callus phase was achieved for a selected genotype of Aloe vera L. which is sweet in test and used as a vegetable and source of food. Random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) and inter simple sequence repeats (ISSR) marker assays were employed to evaluate genetic stability of plantlets and validate the most reliable method for true-to-type propagation of sweet aloe, among two regeneration systems developed so far. Despite phenotypic similarities in plantlets produced through both regeneration systems, the differences in genomic constituents of plantlets produced through intermediate callus phase using soft base of inflorescence have been effectively distinguished by RAPD and ISSR markers. No polymorphism was observed in regenerants produced following direct regeneration of axillary buds, whereas 80% and 73.3% of polymorphism were observed in RAPD and ISSR, respectively, in the regenerants produced indirectly from base of the inflorescence axis via an intermediate callus phase. Overall, 86.6% of variations were observed in the plantlets produced via an intermediate callus phase. The occurrence of genetic polymorphism is associated with choice of explants and method used for plantlet regeneration. This confirms that clonal propagation of sweet aloe using axillary shoot buds can be used for commercial exploitation of the selected genotype where a high degree of fidelity is an essential prerequisite. On the other hand, a high degree of variations were observed in plantlets obtained through indirect regeneration and thus cannot be used for the mass multiplication of the genotype; however, it can be used for crop improvement through induction of somaclonal variations and genetic manipulations.     

All optical alternative approach of conducting NAND and NOR logic gates with phase encoding principle

All optical logic gates are the most important building blocks for conducting all optical digital and analog signal processing and computing. It has several uses in the high speed communication system. In last few years various non-linear properties of semiconductor optical amplifier have been utilized for realization of all optical logic gates exploiting different type's optical modulations. In such connection optical phase encoding technique drew more attention in last few years as it shows higher receiver sensitivity and extended tolerance limit in long-haul fiber transmission systems. In this communication the authors have proposed an alternative approach for conducting all optical logic gates with phase encoded inputs by the exploitation of the four wave mixing (FWM) property in semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA).     

Effect of environmental temperature and applied potential on water desalination performance using electrodialysis

Desalination of brackish water is a challenging task for higher recovery of water. In most of the cases, water recovery is low with high wastage. Electrodialysis (ED) provides a solution of water desalination with high recovery. Ion-exchange membranes are the main component for electrodialysis system. Here cation-exchange membrane and anion-exchange membrane were synthesized by free-radical polymerization for water desalination by ED. ATR-FTIR confirms the successful functionalization of the membranes and scanning electron microscopy technique reveals the dense morphology of the membranes. Here we used polyethylene as a binder and blow film extrusion for film formation, which is not only economically viable as well as large amount of membranes can be produced without using hazardous solvent. The desalination study reveals the improvement in desalination performance with slight increment in temperature which may be due to higher ionic mobility. The mechanical and thermal stability of the membranes was characterized to ensure the viability of membranes for desalination at higher temperatures. Effect of applied potential was also studied in the removal of pathogens during desalination and confirmed that 2 V/cell pair applied potential removes almost 97% pathogens during desalination in continuous mode.     

HPTLC Determination of Cefpodoxime Proxetil in Formulations

An HPTLC method has been developed that coelutes both the isomers of cefpodoxime proxetil (CFP). CFP was chromatographed on a silica gel 60 F₂₅₄ TLC plate using toluene:acetonitrile (6:4) as a mobile phase and was quantified at 234 nm. The method was validated with respect to linearity, accuracy, precision and specificity. The limit of detection and limit of quantification for CFP were found to be 0.150 and 0.4 μg spot^?1, respectively. The proposed method was successfully used to determine the amount of CFP present in the marketed tablets and self-nanoemulsifying systems.     

Data acquisition techniques in digital photoelasticity: a review

Advancements in the last two decades for data acquisition in digital photoelasticity have been brought out in this paper. Photoelasticity is an engineering tool and as an end user, one would like to know which of the techniques to be selected for a particular application. With this in view, the various techniques are reviewed and a brief summary of the steps involved in each of the techniques are also given. A need to capture the images in colour is indicated for full automation of data acquisition. Future directions of research in digital photoelasticity is also highlighted.     

Analysis of bioactive eicosanoids in equine plasma by stable isotope dilution reversed-phase liquid chromatography/multiple reaction monitoring mass spectrometry

Oxidative metabolites of arachidonic acid (AA) are implicated in inflammation. Thus, we evaluated cycloxygenases (COXs) and lipoxygenases (LOs) mediated metabolism of AA to eicosanoids in equine plasma. Eicosanoids were extracted from plasma by two liquid-liquid extraction (LLE) steps; first was by chloroform/isopropanol and second by methyl-tert-butyl ether. For identification and quantification of 25 eicosanoids, a highly specific, selective and sensitive stable isotope dilution liquid chromatography (LC) multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) mass spectrometric (MS) method was developed. To avoid artifact formation of eicosanoids, deferoxamine was added to plasma to chelate residual transition metal ions. The calibration curve showed excellent linearity within 0.1 to 10 ng/mL. Slopes of the calibration curves generated by adding known quantities of eicosanoids in plasma were higher than those prepared in methanol/mobile phase A. Addition of deferoxamine decreased the slope of calibration curves generated using plasma. Limit of detection (LOD) was 1-10 pg on-column for 25 different eicosanoids. Inter-day accuracy was 86-111%, whereas intra-day accuracy was from 88-110%, and precision did not exceed 15% for all quality control (QC) samples. To evaluate the formation of eicosanoids, AA was exogenously added or endogenous AA was released from esterified lipids by calcium ionophore (CI) A23187 treatment of equine whole blood. Pre-treatment of equine whole blood with dexamethasone (DEX) significantly inhibited AA or CI A23187- mediated formation of eicosanoids. The validated method is now employed in studies undertaken to better understand the mechanism of action and pharmacokinetics/pharmacodynamics of eicosanoids after administration of glucocorticoids to horses. This method is reliably reproducible.     

Duality for Convex Monoids

Every C*-algebra gives rise to an effect module and a convex space of states, which are connected via Kadison duality. We explore this duality in several examples, where the C*-algebra is equipped with the structure of a finite-dimensional Hopf algebra. When the Hopf algebra is the function algebra or group algebra of a finite group, the resulting state spaces form convex monoids. We will prove that both these convex monoids can be obtained from the other one by taking a coproduct of density matrices on the irreducible representations. We will also show that the same holds for a tensor product of a group and a function algebra.     

50 keV H+ ion beam irradiation of Al doped ZnO thin films: Studies of radiation stability for device applications

Thin films of Al doped ZnO (Al:ZnO) were deposited on two substrates (Si and glass) at room temperature and 300°C using DC magnetron sputtering. These films were bombarded with 50 keV H⁺ beam at several fluences. The pristine and ion beam irradiated films were analysed by X‐ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and UV‐Vis spectroscopy. The X‐ray diffraction analysis, Hall measurements, Raman and UV‐Vis spectroscopy confirm that the structural and transport properties of Al:ZnO films do not change substantially with beam irradiation at chosen fluences. However, in comparison to film deposited at room temperature, the Al:ZnO thin film deposited at 300°C shows increased transmittance (from 70% to approximately 90%) with ion beam irradiation at highest fluence. The studies of surface morphology by scanning electron microscopy reveal that the ion irradiation yields smoothening of the films, which also increases with ion fluences. The films deposited at elevated temperature are smoother than those deposited at room temperature. In the paper, we discuss the interaction of 50 keV H⁺ ions with Al:ZnO films in terms of radiation stability in devices.