Screening and detection of biomarkers in chickpea plants exposed to chromium and cadmium

A broad screening protocol, covering the most general phytochemical groups of compounds, was developed on the basis of high performance thin layer chromatography (HPTLC). A total of six TLC systems, comprising three derivatization reagents, two stationary phases and two mobile phases, were included. The screening method was applied for the identification of biomarkers in the chickpea plant exposed to cadmium and chromium. The biomarkers were selected on the basis of significant changes (0.26-4.6 fold) in concentration levels of phytochemicals. Totally, five different amino acids, three organic acids, one sulphur containing compound and one sugar were identified as biomarkers in chickpea exposed heavy metal.     

Climate change and local level disaster risk reduction planning: need, opportunities and challenges

The field of climate change is full of uncertainties that are limiting strategic disaster risk reduction planning. In this paper, however, we argued that there is lot to do before we get our hands on reliable estimates of future climate change impacts. It includes bringing together different stakeholders in a framework suggested in this paper, developing case studies that reflect long-term local impacts of climate change, capacity building of local stakeholders that enables them to take decisions under uncertainty etc. We proposed a simple scheme that brings together climate, disaster and policy community together to start a dialogue in a run-up to understanding wider aspects of long-term risk reduction at local level. Strategic thinking, which has only been restricted to national and regional planning to date, needs to be inculcated in local level disaster risk reduction and policy personnel as well. There is a need to move from the attitude of considering local level players as ‘implementers’ to ‘innovators’ for which developing a network of self learning and evolving organizations are required at the local level.     

Development and characterization of microwave composite cladding

The development of cladding through microwave radiation is recently explored and very few, initial studies were reported elsewhere. In order to explore more viability of process, (EWAC (Ni based) + 20% Cr₂₃C₆ powder) composite cladding has been developed on substrate austenitic stainless steel (SS-316). The experiments were conducted in domestic microwave oven and the clad of thickness, approximate 500 m has been developed by the exposure of microwave radiation at frequency 2.45 GHz for duration of 360 s. Typical clads cross sections of composite clads showed good metallurgical bonding with the substrate by partial dilution. The back scattered electron image of clad cross section showed the reinforced chromium carbide (Cr₂₃C₆) particles are uniformly distributed and well embedded in the Ni based matrix. The developed clad is free from visible solidification cracking and has significantly less porosity which is of the order of 0.90%. The XRD pattern of the developed clad showed the presence of FeNi₃, NiSi and Cr₂₃C₆ phases. The average Vicker's microhardness of developed clad was observed as 425 ± 140 Hv.     

Development of a scalable model for predicting arsenic transport coupled with oxidation and adsorption reactions

Understanding the fundamentals of arsenic adsorption and oxidation reactions is critical for predicting its transport dynamics in groundwater systems. We completed batch experiments to study the interactions of arsenic with a common MnO2(s) mineral, pyrolusite. The reaction kinetics and adsorption isotherm developed from the batch experiments were integrated into a scalable reactive transport model to facilitate column-scale transport predictions. We then completed a set of column experiments to test the predictive capability of the reactive transport model. Our batch results indicated that the commonly used pseudo-first order kinetics for As(III) oxidation reaction neglects the scaling effects with respect to the MnO2(s) concentration. A second order kinetic equation that explicitly includes MnO2(s) concentration dependence is a more appropriate kinetic model to describe arsenic oxidation by MnO2(s) minerals. The arsenic adsorption reaction follows the Langmuir isotherm with the adsorption capacity of 0.053micromol of As(V)/g of MnO2(s) at the tested conditions. The knowledge gained from the batch experiments was used to develop a conceptual model for describing arsenic reactive transport at a column scale. The proposed conceptual model was integrated within a reactive transport code that accurately predicted the breakthrough profiles observed in multiple column experiments. The kinetic and adsorption process details obtained from the batch experiments were valuable data for scaling to predict the column-scale reactive transport of arsenic in MnO2(s)-containing sand columns.     

Complex karyotypic mosaicism as a result of non-disjunction and subsequent centromere fission

Karyotypic discrepancy among four different cell types is described in tissues derived from a pregnancy terminated because of chromosomal anomalies. Chorionic villus cells demonstrated 46,XX (direct preparation) and 46, XX/47,XX,+marl (cultured cells) karyotypes, while fetal skin fibroblasts had a karyotype of 47,XX,+ 18 and the placenta showed a triple mosaicism of 47,XX, + 18/47,XX,+mar1/48,XX,+ 18,+mar2. The origin of this complex chromosomal distribution and its significance are discussed in comparison with findings in similar cases.     

Industrial energy prices and export competitiveness: evidence from India

Environmental Economics and Policy Studies - This paper empirically measures the impact of sectoral energy price differential between trading partners on Indian exports. Using dynamic gravity...     

Southwest monsoon influences the water quality and waste assimilative capacity in the Mandovi estuary (Goa state,India)

The monsoon-dominated Mandovi estuary is located in Goa state – a global tourist destination along the centralwest coast of India. In addition to factor analyses of water quality data, the water quality index (WQI), trophic state index (TSI) and percentage of freshwater volume in the estuary are calculated in order to infer the general waste assimilative capacity and prevailing water quality conditions. Factor analysis showed a dominance of PO₄–P, NO₂–N, NH₃–N, total suspended solids (TSS) and turbidity during southwest (SW) monsoon relative to other seasons. The WQI suggested that an increase in nutrients, turbidity and TSS during SW monsoon increase the WQI values beyond 2, rendering the water at some locations slightly polluted. During pre-monsoon, considerable increase in the WQI is observed at all the upstream stations rendering slightly polluted water at these stations. The TSI showed an average value of 46.95 during SW monsoon, 42.43 during post-monsoon and 48.42 during the pre-monsoon seasons, suggesting better productivity level during pre-monsoon, followed by SW monsoon, but the least during the post-monsoon. All the seasons, however, indicated a mesotrophic condition in the estuary and the assimilative capacity of the estuary is found to be in good to fairly good state (pre-monsoon?相似文献