Archives-j  

In the present study morphologic and morphometric analysis in the three pairs of otoliths: sagittae, asterisci and lapilli of the swordfish Xiphias gladius is carried out for the first time. X. gladius data were obtained from 2000 to 2002 in nine fishing cruises in two commercial vessels that arrived in Manzanillo, México. As with other billfishes, sagittae are characterized by having four bodies: a rostrum and antirostrum separated by the excisura major and a postrostrum and pararostrum separated by an excisura minor; being this a peculiar character observed in these species and in the dolphinfish. The growth of the three pairs of otoliths is eccentric to the core; a larger quantity of material is deposited in the dorsal areas and borders, in relation to the ventral areas. No statistically significant morphometric differences were observed between the right and left otolith and between sexes of X. gladius. Seasonal growth rings could not be observed in the sagittae, but were present in some asterisci. Results are discussed with those reported by other authors. It is recommended that studies of daily growth increases in one-year organisms or less be carried out. We suggest that a capture quota of this fishery is given to the commercial fishermen.

We are very happy to announce that from 10th May 2019, Mr. Ahmed Hind Ahmed Mohammed Roof has joined the team of Elixir Editorial Advisory Board. He/She will carry a special responsibility for dealing with manuscripts based on Physics. Mr. Ahmed Hind Ahmed Mohammed Roof is working as Lecturer, Department of Physics, College of Education for Pure Sciences, University of Babylon, Hilla, Iraq. The appointment of Mr. Ahmed Hind Ahmed Mohammed Roof as member Editorial Advisory Board strengthens the links and will make it easier for prospective authors to establish contact with the journal.

Bottle gourd (Lagenaria siceraria) also known as bottle squash is a delicious vegetable. Many fresh fruits, vegetables, spices and green and black tea have been found to contain natural antioxidants such as ascorbic acid, flavonoids, phenolic compounds like ferulic acid and catechins and can contribute significantly in scavenging free radicals if taken regularly in the diet. The present study aimed at assessing the effect of different processing methods and parts of the bottle gourd on antioxidant activities as well as determining the antioxidants present in different cultivars (organic and conventional) and developing value added products (tutte- fruity) from bottle gourd. Organic and conventional bottle gourds were used for the current study. The samples were collected from two different places of Coimbatore District. Organic bottle gourd was obtained from a certified organic farm located in Udumalpet. Conventional bottle gourd was purchased from a local market. Nutrient composition was determined in both the varieties with respect to fibre, vitamin- C, calcium, phosphorus and iron. Antioxidant activity was estimated using DPPH, FRAP and total phenols method. Shelf- life study was carried out for both the varieties and value addition of bottle gourd was done by preparing tutte- fruity and organoleptic evaluation was carried out. There was no significant difference between the fibre content of organic pulp and skin when compared to conventional pulp and skin. Organic whole bottle gourd showed slightly high values in fibre content than conventional sample. Calcium content of raw, boiled and steamed bottle gourd skin was high (12.50mg). This may be due to accumulation of calcium in skin portion. In all the three assays organic bottle gourd showed highest radical scavenging activity (331.4µM TE/g) when compared to conventional one (305.83µM TE/g). The difference between the values may be because of utilization of pesticides and fertilizers in conventional practice. Tutte- fruity prepared from the conventional bottle gourd was found to be similar to the commercially available ones. Thus inclusion of bottle gourd in our daily diet will promote health and well being through its micronutrients.

Copper is one of the essential trace nutrients in all high plants and animals. But it can be toxic in high concentration. In this study a Copper resistant bacteria, Bacillus pumilus was isolated from Marine water. A multi-step response surface methodology was successfully applied for the maximum removal of Cu(II) from the aqueous solutions using the live bacteria to optimize the following factors : pH of the solution(3.50-5.50), concentration of the copper solution(15-50mg l^-1), incubation time (14-46 hours) and to evaluate the effects and interactions of process variables. Based on the statistics analysis the optimum conditions were obtained from pH=6.18, copper concentration=32.50mg l^-1 of the media, contact time=30 hours and the copper removal was 60.264%. The higher value coefficient of determination (R²=0.9991) justified an excellent correlation between the process parameters. Finally the difference between the theoretical value and statistical value was very low.

In this paper Taguchi method is applied for determining the effect of process parameters on vortex tube made of Delrin material. An Experimental work is carried out to analyze the performance of vortex tube with five controllable input parameters namely diameter of the orifices, diameter of the nozzles, length of hot tube, tube diameter and inlet pressure. Cold temperature is considered as output parameter. The various parameters like S/N analysis, ANOVA and Optimal Cold Temperature were carried out in order to determine the effects of process parameters and optimal factor settings.

Present study deal with the investigation on parametric study on self supporting chimney considering in three different cities of India . The 65 m height and 80 m height of chimneys were selected and analyzed for wind force and seismic loadings for seismic zone III , IV and V, as per Indian standards (IS: 6533 -1989 ) and IS 1893(part 1) 2002. The wind loads were determined as per IS 875-1987 for the basic wind speed 47m/s, 50m/s and 55m/s. The thicknesses of the chimney were kept constant for this study. Significant increments were observed in displacement, bending moment and shear force for different seismic and wind zones. The results of self supporting steel chimney were obtained out with the above said parameters.

Deinking is an important step in recycling of waste paper and flotation is commonly used in this process. Conventional laboratory-scale flotation cell was used to study ink removal from waste printed papers. Different type of surfactants such as, cationic, anionic or non-ionic, were employed in pulping and flotation processes. Two surfactants of each type were used in this comparative study. The effect of concentration and type of surfactant, consistency, pH and temperature on the deinking was investigated. The efficiency of deinking process was determined by measuring of the brightness of hand sheets formed of deinked fibers. The highest brightness was achieved by using 2-octanol alcohol (as a non-ionic surfactant) in pulping and flotation stages. Under optimum conditions for this surfactant, a brightness of 86% is obtained from a feed of 44%.

Verbs which drives from “bayestan” (must,should),”tavanestan”(can) and “shodan” are simple modal verbs in Persian. Syntactically, these verbs are defective. Semantically ,these verbs at least receives two readings :epistemic modality and root reading. whenever they conveys concepts like “permission”, ”necessity” or “will” they have root reading, which divides into two sub_ classes root_ deontic and root_ dynamic. epistemic modality conveys “possibility” or “”probability”. Epistemic_ objective is based on scientific data but epistemic_ subjective is based on personal judgments .Root modality co-occurs with subjective forms and epistemic modality co-occurs with indicative forms.

The present work is an attempt to identify key structural features that govern the anti-malarial activity of Pyrido[1,2-a]benzimidazoles using pharmacophoric analysis. The work is based on a dataset of fifty-six molecules comprising diverse derivatives of Pyrido[1,2-a]benzimidazole. The structures were drawn, optimized and aligned using standard protocol. The final model was developed using aligned molecules. The analysis reveals that the anti-malarial activity of Pyrido[1,2-a]benzimidazoles is related with features. The analysis points out that in future modifications these features should be retained.

A simple, highly sensitive, accurate and selective method for determination of trace amounts of Pb(II) in water samples is presented. a novel ethylenediamine-functionalized multi-walled carbon nanotubes(E-MWCNTs) solid-phase extraction adsorbent was synthesized by covalently O-(7-azabenzotriazol-1-yl)-N,N,N´,N´-tetramethyluronium hexafluorophosphate onto the surfaces of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs). The stability of a chemically ethylenediamine-functionalized multi-walled carbon nanotubes(E-MWCNTs) especially in concentrated hydrochloric acid was studied which used as a recycling and pre-concentration reagent for further uses of (E-MWCNTs). The method is based on (E-MWCNTs) of Pb(II) on surfactant coated C18, modified with a ethylenediamine-functionalized multi-walled carbon nanotubes(E- MWCNTs). The retained ions were then eluted with 4 ml of 4 M nitric acid and determined by flame atomic absorption spectrometry (FAAS) at 283.3 nm for Pb. The influence of flow rates of sample and eluent solutions, pH, breakthrough volume, effect of foreign ions on chelation and recovery were investigated. 1.5 g of surfactant coated C18 adsorbs 40 mg of the Schiff’s base which in turn can retain 15.2±0.8mg of each of the two ions. The limit of detection(3?) for Pb(II) was found to be 3.20 ng l -1. The enrichment factor for both ions is 100. The mentioned method was successfully applied on determination of lead in different water samples. The ions were also speciated by means of three columns system.