Browse
Recent Submissions
Item Optimization of Fluoride Removal for Potable Water by Microalgal Biosorption(2016-12-09T09:43:42Z) Sherin, John; Shilpa, S; Shruthi K, SUrendran; Veena, ViondWater sustains life on earth. Humans utilize water for all purposes be it domestic, commercial or industrial. But the same water can affect human, animal, plant and environment when it comes with contaminants. The two most infamous ones are heavy metals and fluoride. Fluoride contamination is felt over in 24 countries around the world. And in India it is endemic affecting more than 62 million people in various states. Karnataka has 30-50% districts affected. Making dental and skeletal fluorosis common in India. Many effective systems are available in the market ready for installation. But most of them come with disadvantages like high treatment time, high reagents and chemicals cost, high installation and operational cost, chances of secondary pollution etc. An innovation in the field of biotechnology is emerging as the answer. Biosorption - Utilization of biological materials as agents for physio-chemical processes like adsorption, absorption, ion exchange, surface complexation etc. There is very scanty research in the field of Biosorption and microalgae a potential biosorbent has not been explored much. In the present study Microalgae was obtained from various freshwater sources and used as a biosorbent. Its large surface to volume ratio, rapid kinetics etc. help to bring about an effective removal of fluoride. The microalgae were characterized morphologically and by Scanning electron microscope. The project also made use of statistical tools like Response surface methodology to optimize the process. Factors considered were pH, contact time, sorbent dosage, and agitation within a range. RSM trials resulted in reduction of fluoride from 2mg/l to 0.55mg/l at 7pH 3 days, dosage 1.75ml & 150rpm. The optimized process was validated using ANN-Artificial neural network. Biosorption systems minimize or takes away the problems associated with conventional sources to a large extent. To confirm the Biosorption by microalgae samples were subjected to Energy dispersive X-ray analysis. And there is still large scope for improvement since very few biological materials have been studied, for example many microalgal species are yet to be discovered. This leaves large research opportunities in this emerging field. Same process can be duplicated for heavy metals too. Also the integration of such a process into a removal system is also possible.Item Studies on Isolation, Identification and Characterization of Crude Oil Degradign Bacteria(2016-12-09T09:39:27Z) Nagarajuna, V; Yamini, A; Geethanjali, P; Parvathy, MenonMany microorganisms have the ability to utilize hydrocarbons as sole sources of carbon as energy for metabolic activities and these microorganisms are Omnipresent and widely distributed in the nature. The microbial utilization of hydrocarbons depends on the chemical nature of the compounds within the petroleum mixture and on environmental determinants. ( Arpita G, et al.,2015) Hydrocarbons enter into the environment through waste disposal, accidental spills, as pesticides and via losses during transport, storage, and use. Hydrocarbon (petroleum)- degrading bacteria are reportedly ubiquitous in the environment and were widely distributed in marine, freshwater, soil habitats and their use in bioremediation of hydrocarbon-contaminated soils, which exploits their ability to degrade and/or detoxify organic contaminants, has been established as an efficient, economical, versatile and environmentally sound treatment. Due to extensive increase in environmental pollution, numerous biodegradative bacteria have been isolated in the past, and their physiology, biochemistry, and genetics have been intensively studied. Biodegradation, which is the destruction of organic compounds by microorganisms, is carried out largely by diverse bacterial populations, mostly by Pseudomonas speciesItem Green Synthesis of Silver Nanoparticles by Using the Aqueous bark Extract of Terminalia Arjuna(2016-12-09T09:33:07Z) Lakshmi, G S; Selva, Vinodha M; Vunshi Vijay, SaprooGreen synthesis of metal nanoparticles is been actively pursued in recent years as an alternative, efficient, inexpensive, and environmentally safe method for producing nanoparticles with specified properties. Terminalia arjuna, a known cardio tonic phytotherapeutic source has never been used for synthesis of nanoparticles and thus the present work aims at characterizing its nano forming ability. Silver nanoparticles where synthesized from AgNO3 using bark powder aqueous extracts of Terminalia arjuna. The bio-reduction and stabilization of the so formed silver nanoparticles was monitored by UV-Vis spectrophotometer and photomicrographs. The characterization of nanoparticles was done using XRD and FTIR. In vitro antioxidant assays such as nitric oxide, H2O2 and DPPH radical quenching analysis were performed using standard protocols. Nanoparticles are used in the delivery of drugs into the specific area of the human body, thereby, reducing the interaction with the surrounding parts, preventing harmful effects. Results of the present investigation gave an encouraging note of the formation of silver nanoparticles, which is primarily evident from the expected increase in color intensity, denoting the formation of silver nanoparticles. A comparison of the XRD and FTIR patterns of the bark powder extracts alone and the mixture of bark powder with AgNO3 leading to the formation of nanoparticles is expected to give a clue about the contribution rendered by the extract towards the formation of nanoparticles at molecular level. The results of radical scavenging (NO and H2O2) ability of the formed nanoparticles were encouraging.Item Bacteriocin Yield Optimization by Hybrid ANN+GA and the Antibacterial Screening of Bacteriocin Based Nanoparticles(2016-12-09T09:26:33Z) Aditya, S; Radha, Sukanya G; Rakshith, C; Saptadeepa, BiswasBacteriocins are considered to be a next generation antibiotics due to their broad spectrum antibiotic nature. No research document was found on optimization of Bacteriocins using hybrid method of Artificial Neural Network (ANN)-Genetic algorithm (GA) and also scanty research was reported on chitosan based bacteriocin nanoparticles. No research was documented on synthesis of CuO based Bacteriocins nanoparticles. With this lacuna, the aim of the present study is to initially optimize the newly isolated culture of lactobacillus species applying mathematical tools (RSM and hybrid ANN-GA), further the synthesis and characterization of Bacteriocins based nanoparticles and assessing their antibacterial efficiencies. Study, initially revived the preserved LAB isolates on the MRS plates. Further screened for purity and were tested under submerged fermentation (SmF) process for the Bacteriocins yield ability. Based on the yield Pediococuss Spp. isolates was selected for the optimization process. Four factors were optimized i.e- sucrose (carbon source), peptone (nitrogen source), pH and agitation using Response surface methodology-Central Composite Design (RSM-CCD) and the optimized results was validated using hybrid ANN and GA. The study found that RSM optimized trail yield 4 fold (2.4) higher than unoptimized process Bacteriocins yield (0.4). The optimized values of RSM were validated using ANN (Feed Forward Neural Network Method) and ANN error report (0.0001) indicates that the model applied in optimization of bacteriocin production was found to be significant. Genetic Algorithm (Gene hunter) results revealed that no mutations were occured during optimization process; intern indicates the stable yield of optimized Lab culture and suggests that the organism is genetically fit. Further produced bacteriocin was used to synthesize Nanoparticles namely, Copper oxide based (Cuo-B) and Chitosan based (Ch-B) and were characterized analytically (UV spectroscopy, X-Ray Diffraction and FTIR). Nano-particles were found to be of (Cuo-B) 23.3 nm and (Ch-B) 11.3 nm. The antibacterial efficiencies of nanoparticles confirmed the brad-spectrum antibiotic nature of the prepared nanoparticles In conclusion, the present study successfully achieved 4 fold increases () of Bacteriocin yield compare to the unoptimized process yield () by applying various Bio statistical tools (RSM-CCD, ANN, GA) for the newly isolated SmF cultures of lactobacillus species. The synthesized and characterized nanoparticles were proven their brad-spectrum antibiotic nature.Item Cardioprotective Activity Evaluation of Phytocompounds by Insilico Approach(2016-12-09T09:11:07Z) Aditya, S; Radha, Sukanya G; Rakshith, C; Saptadeepa, BiswasCardiovascular disease (CVD) is a chronic disorder developing insidiously throughout life and usually progressing to an advanced stage by the time symptoms occur. CVD is strongly connected to lifestyle, especially the use of tobacco, unhealthy diet habits, physical inactivity, and psychosocial stress. Cardiovascular disease is a class of diseases that involve the heart or blood vessels.[3] Atherosclerotic CVD, especially CHD, remains the leading cause of premature death worldwide. CVD affects both men and women; of all deaths that occur before the age of 75 years in Europe, 42% are due to CVD in women and 38% in men. CVD mortality is changing, with declining age-standardized rates in most European countries, which remain high in Eastern Europe. Prevention works: >50% of the reductions seen in CHD mortality relate to changes in risk factors, and 40% to improved treatments. Preventive efforts should be lifelong, from birth (if not before) to old age. Population and high-risk preventive strategies should be complementary; an approach limited to high-risk persons will be less effective; population education programmes are still needed. Despite gaps in our understanding, there is ample evidence to justify intensive public health and individual preventive efforts. There is still substantial room for improvement in risk factor control, even in individuals at very high risk.