Effect of tea dust residues to control root-knot nematode of tomato

In this research, control of tomato root- knot nematode (Meloidogyne incognita) was conducted using tea dust residues at different rates. First, the species and race of nematode were identified by employing diagnostic keys. Then, with 5 replications in complete randomized design. Tea dust residues were used at 9 treatments (0, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35 and 40 g/kg of soil). Statistical analysis on mean treatments rates showed that treatment with 25 g/kg soil economically was effective in growth rates and reduction in gall index.     

In-Silico and In-Vitro Evaluation of Antibacterial,Cytotoxic, and Apoptotic Activity and Structure of Modified CM11 Peptide

Drug-resistant infectious diseases have increased in recent years. Accordingly, plenty of researches are exploring novel approaches to overcome this problem. In this era, antimicrobial peptides have been identified as potential antibacterial agents. The Modified CM11 (mCM11) was designed with the C-terminal amidation and substitution of lysine with arginine. The designed peptide was synthesized by the solid-phase method and Rink amide p-methyl-benzhydryl amine resin. The synthesized peptide was evaluated using Mass Spectrometry (MS), High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC), and Circular Dichroism (CD). Finally, the antibacterial, cytotoxic, and apoptotic effect of the mCM11 peptide was investigated. The new peptide indicated a beta-sheet structure with a molecular weight of 1527.50 D and purity of 96%. The peptide exerted a potent antimicrobial activity against gram-negative and positive bacteria. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum bacterial concentration (MBC) ranged from 16 to 64 µg/ml, and 16 to 128 µg/ml, respectively. The IC₅₀ of mCM11 was 16 µg/ml and its cytotoxicity in SH-SY5Y cell line revealed a dose-dependent manner. Also, apoptosis analysis of eukaryotic cells revealed a decline in late apoptosis and necrosis in comparison with untreated cells. The mCM11 indicated a considerable antibacterial effect against a wide range of pathogenic bacterial strains. Further, it did not represent any late apoptotic and necrosis impact on the eukaryotic cell line. All of these findings may confirm the potential role of this new peptide as an effective therapeutic agent.

     

Mixing characteristics of sludge simulant in a model anaerobic digester

This study aims to investigate the mixing characteristics of a transparent sludge simulant in a mechanically agitated model digester using flow visualisation technique. Video images of the flow patterns were obtained by recording the progress of an acid–base reaction and analysed to determine the active and inactive volumes as a function of time. The doughnut-shaped inactive region formed above and below the impeller in low concentration simulant decreases in size with time and disappears finally. The ‘cavern’ shaped active mixing region formed around the impeller in simulant solutions with higher concentrations increases with increasing agitation time and reaches a steady state equilibrium size, which is a function of specific power input. These results indicate that the active volume is jointly determined by simulant rheology and specific power input. A mathematical correlation is proposed to estimate the active volume as a function of simulant concentration in terms of yield Reynolds number.