Abstract Objectives To evaluate different types of perianal fistulas and their complications on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and to compare plain, contrast, and jelly magnetic resonance fistulography findings. Materials and Methods This prospective study was performed in 30 patients who presented with perianal pus discharge or external fistulous opening. Magnetic resonance imaging of the perianal region before and after giving intravenous contrast and after injecting jelly through a percutaneous opening was performed on a 3T scanner and the results were correlated. Results The mean age of the patients was 40.13±13.88 years (range 19-75 years). The male to female ratio was 14:1. The most common type of fistula was St. James classification type I, which was seen in 13 patients (43%), followed by type IV in 30%, type III in 16%, type II in 6.66%, and type V in 3.33% of the patients. Using agreement analysis, we compared the number of primary and secondary tracts, internal openings, and horseshoe tracts and found a significant agreement between plain and post Jelly MRI fistulography (kappa statistic close to 1).When comparing plain and contrast MRI, there was significant agreement in the primary and secondary tracts, while statistically insignificant results were obtained (p>0.05) for the horseshoe tract and internal openings. Contrast injection was helpful in 7 subjects (23.3%) as peripheral enhancement of abscesses were better delineated. Conclusion Magnetic resonance imaging is the one stop diagnostic modality for perianal fistulas. Acquisition of axial (Ax) T2, axial T2 FS, coronal T2 and coronal T2 FS sequences without administering intravenous contrast or jelly is usually sufficient for the diagnosis of fistulas and their complications.

Abstract: The present study was carried out to evaluate the effects of microwave (MW) radiation on viability of wood decaying fungi. The white rot (Trametes versicolor) and brown rot (Rhodonia placenta) fungi were grown on bamboo culm-samples. The mycelium growths were observed in controlled as well as microwave treated samples. The results showed that the viability of fungi decreased according to the applied MW time. This study proved the ability of the microwaves and exposure time MW3 (180 seconds) to kill the fungal colonies and do not allow for the growth of fungal spores, means the rate of growth of fungal colonies is inversely proportional to time of microwave exposure.

Abstract: Liquefaction of ligno-cellulosic biomass is one of the chemical conversion technologies for developing new materials, adhesives and energy systems. The liquefaction process also provides an opportunity to utilize ligno-cellulosic wastes such as saw-dust, woody wastes, branches and twigs, agro-residues, etc. for the development of value added products. This paper presents the liquefaction behaviour of wood meal of twelve tropical hardwood species in phenol as liquefying media to produce chemically active liquid which has potential to be used as a raw material for developing different products. The liquefaction was carried out at 140°C temperatures for 120 minutes at different liquid ratios. In all the cases, a viscous and sticky black liquid was obtained after the stipulated reaction time. The liquefaction efficiency was found to vary with species and liquid ratio. The highest liquefaction efficiency of 93% was achieved in balsa wood at 1:3 (wood: phenol) liquid ratio. The liquefied wood and residues were characterized by FTIR spectroscopy. The liquefied wood was found to be highly acidic in nature. Viscosity of liquefied wood at higher liquid ratio was independent of wood species. Correlation analysis revealed a strong negative relationship between wood basic density and liquefaction efficiency.

Present study reports the validation (oxidation) of computationally predicted oxidation of xenobiotic contaminants by commercially available pure laccase from Trametes versicolor. Selected contaminants were predicted as potential targets for laccase oxidation by using in-silico docking tool. The oxidation by laccase was measured by change in absorbance at specific λ max of each compound. Sinapic acid and tyrosine were taken as positive and negative controls, respectively. Oxidation was observed in m-chlorophenol, 2,4 di-chlorophenol, 2,4,6 tri-chlorophenol, captan, atrazine and thiodicarb, except malathion, which showed no activity. It could be speculated that the predicted substrates showing oxidation shared homology at structural and chemical level with positive control compounds. In case of malathion, structural non-homology with sinapic acid could be attributed to its inactivity towards laccase that required further structural analysis. Thus, a remediation tool proposing an advanced remediation approach combining the application of theoretical in-silico method and subsequent experimental validation using pure laccase could be proposed. As number and type of xenobiotics increase, the unfeasibility to screen them experimentally for bioremediation also rise. This approach would be useful to reduce the time and cost required in other screening methods.

Diacylglycerol O-acyltransferase 1 (DGAT1) is a microsomal enzyme that catalyzes the final step of triglyceride synthesis. The DGAT1 gene is a strong functional candidate for determining milk fat content in cattle. In this work, we used PCR-SSCP (polymerase chain reaction-single-strand conformation polymorphism) and DNA sequencing to examine polymorphism in the region spanning exon 7 to exon 9 of the DGAT1 gene in Murrah and Pandharpuri buffaloes. Three alleles (A, B and C) and four novel single-nucleotide polymorphisms were identified in the buffalo DGAT1 gene. The frequencies of the alleles differed between the two buffalo breeds, with allele C being present in Murrah but not in Pandharpuri buffalo. The allele variation detected in this work may influence DGAT1 expression and function. The results described here could be useful in examining the association between the DGAT1 gene and milk traits in buffalo.

En Coffea arabica (café arabica), el fenotipo y la variabilidad genética son bajos debido a la estrecha base genética y la autofecundación de la especie. Por su alta similitud fenotípica entre la mayoría de las colecciones de arábica, la selección de líneas parentales para hibridación entre variedades, y la identificación de los híbridos resultantes en una fase inicial de crecimiento, es difícil. Para la identificación de variedades estrechamente relacionadas y sus híbridos, los marcadores de ADN son confiables, pero los polimorfismos de amplificación de secuencias relacionadas (SRAP, por sus siglas en inglés) constituyen una nueva tecnología de marcadores moleculares basada en PCR. En este trabajo, sesenta progenies arábica híbridas, pertenecientes a seis cruces, fueron analizadas utilizando 31 marcadores altamente polimórficos. El análisis reveló siete tipos de perfiles de marcadores que son útiles en la discriminación de los progenitores y los híbridos. El número de bandas amplificadas por pares de cebadores estuvo entre 6.13 a 8.58 con un promedio de siete bandas. Entre las seis combinaciones de híbridos, el porcentaje de bandas compartidas entre híbridos y sus progenitores estuvo entre 66.29% y 85.71% con bandas polimórficas que variaron entre 27.64% y 60.0%. El porcentaje de fragmentos híbridos específicos obtenidos en diversas combinaciones híbridas varió entre 0.71% y 10.86% lo que se atribuye a la recombinación meiótica. Con base en el cálculo del índice de similitud, se observó que los híbridos F1 compartieron un número máximo de bandas con el progenitor femenino que con el masculino. Los resultados obtenidos en este estudio muestran la eficacia de la técnica de SRAP en la identificación de cultivos e híbridos de esta especie de café.

In Coffea arabica (arabica coffee), the phenotypic as well as genetic variability has been found low because of the narrow genetic basis and self fertile nature of the species. Because of high similarity in phenotypic appearance among the majority of arabica collections, selection of parental lines for inter-varietals hybridization and identification of resultant hybrids at an early stage of plant growth is difficult. DNA markers are known to be reliable in identifying closely related cultivars and hybrids. Sequence Related Amplified Polymorphism (SRAP) is a new molecular marker technology developed based on PCR. In this paper, sixty arabica-hybrid progenies belonging to six crosses were analyzed using 31 highly polymorphic SRAP markers. The analysis revealed seven types of SRAP marker profiles which are useful in discriminating the parents and hybrids. The number of bands amplified per primer pair ranges from 6.13 to 8.58 with average number of seven bands. Among six hybrid combinations, percentage of bands shared between hybrids and their parents ranged from 66.29% to 85.71% with polymorphic bands varied from 27.64% to 60.0%. Percentage of hybrid specific fragments obtained in various hybrid combinations ranged from 0.71% to 10.86% and ascribed to the consequence of meiotic recombination. Based on the similarity index calculation, it was observed that F1 hybrids share maximum number of bands with the female parent compared to male parent. The results obtained in the present study revealed the effectiveness of SRAP technique in cultivar identification and hybrid analysis in this coffee species. Rev. Biol. Trop. 59 (2): 607-617. Epub 2011 June 01.

Degradation of halogenated organic compounds using nanoparticles is one of the innovative technologies in environmental remediation. In the present study, the synthesis, characterization and application of lepidocrocite (FeOOH) and magnetite (Fe3O4) nanoparticles for the remediation of water contaminated with carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) has been investigated. The synthesized nanoparticles were characterized by using advanced instrumental techniques such as field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The synthesized FeOOH and Fe3O4 nanoparticles were found to have an average crystallite size of 10.94 nm and 18.10 nm, respectively. Batch degradation experiments for the degradation of CCl4 were carried out separately using both of the above synthesized nanoparticles. The degradation reactions were found to be first-order while using Fe3O4 and second-order while using FeOOH nanoparticles. Moreover, the reactivity of freshly synthesized Fe3O4 nanoparticles was found to be much higher than that of FeOOH nanoparticles.

A systematic and comparative study has been made starting from a naturally-occurring chalcone nucleus to design effective antibacterial agents. The present investigation established 1,5-bis(2-hydroxyphenyl)pent-1,4-diene-3-one (lc)asalead compound with potential against a panel of pathogenic bacterial strains, Staphylococcus (coagulase negative), Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Acenetobacter sp. and Klebsiella pneumoniae. Gentamycine and tetracycline were used as reference drugs. The mode of antibacterial action of 1c was also studied by scanning electron microscopy, which showed membrane disruption and cell lysis of the organisms during the exposure of the tested compound. In vitro toxicity tests demonstrated that all the bioactive compounds showed far less toxicity against human erythrocytes.

Foi efetuada a fotoredução do verde de malaquita na presença de CdS como fotocatalizador e ácido ascorbico/EDTA como redutores. Foram estudados os efeitos de diferentes parâmetros como pH, concentração de verde de malaquita, redutores, quantidade de semicondutor e intensidade de luz, na velocidade da reação fotocatalítica. Levando em conta os dados obtidos propomos um de mecanismo.para a fotoredução do verde de malaquita.

The photoreduction of malachite green in presence of CdS as photocatalyst and ascorbic acid/EDTA as reductants has been carried out. The effect of different parameters like pH, concentration of malachite green, reductants, amount of semiconductor and light intensity on the rate of photocatalytic reaction has been studied. On the basis of observed data, a tentative mechanism for the photoreduction of malachite green has been proposed.

Este artigo trata da comunicação acústica do bubulco Pycnonotus cafer. Esta espécie emite uma grande variedade de sinais vocais que podem ser classificados com base nas suas características acústicas e no contexto de emissão. Os indivíduos vocalizaram ao longo do ano e muitos dos cantos foram distintos e estereotipados. Os cantos foram compostos de estrofes (frases) com mínimas variações estruturais de elementos, sons precedidos e seguidos por um espaço temporal (3 a 12s). Muitas estrofes foram compostas de 2 a 6 elementos que foram freqüentemente diferentes na estrutura e variaram de 0,98 a 4,5 kHz. A função biológica do canto parece ser para manutenção dos casais e sincronia das atividades reprodutivas. Diferentes tipos de gritos relacionados a contextos específicos foram identificados. Os indivíduos produziram gritos de alarme do Tipo-I (rápidos e de larga faixa de freqüência; 1,03 a 6,36 kHz) sob baixa pressão de predação e os gritos de alarme do Tipo-II (estreita faixa de freqüência; 1,37 a 3,39 kHz) sob alta pressão de predação. Gritos de congregação noturna foram rápidos e de larga faixa de freqüência, foneticamente similares aos gritos de alarme do Tipo-I. Três tipos de gritos de pedido de alimento/contato foram gravados em ninhegos/filhotes saídos do ninho. Gritos de cumprimento e gritos de vôo foram compostos por frases complexas, como o canto, mas foram curtos e usados para funções de proximidade.

This paper deals with acoustic communication in the Red-vented Bulbul Pycnonotus cafer. This species emits a high variety of vocal signals that can be classified on the basis of their acoustical features and context of production. Individuals sang throughout the year and most songs were discrete and stereotyped. The songs were composed of strophes (phrases) with minor structural variations of elements that were preceded and followed by a temporal gap (3 to 12s). Most strophes were composed of 2 to 6 elements that were often dissimilar in structure and ranging from 0.98 to 4.5 kHz. The biological function of the song appeared to be to maintain pair bonds and to synchronize breeding activities. Different types of context-specific calls were identified. Individuals produced Type-I alarm calls (fast and wide-band, 1.03 to 6.36 kHz) under low predation pressure andType-II calls (narrowfrequency range, 1.37 to 3.39 kHz) under high predation pressure. Roosting calls were fast and wide-band signals phonetically similar to Type-I alarm calls. Three types of begging/contact calls were recorded in nestlings/fledglings. Greeting calls and flight calls were composed of complex phrases, like song, but were short and used for proximate functions.