Faculty Publications
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Item Natural and anthropogenic factors controlling the dissolved organic carbon concentrations and fluxes in a large tropical river, India(2006) Balakrishna, K.; Kumar, I.A.; Srinikethan, G.; Mugeraya, G.Carbon studies in tropical rivers have gained significance since it was realized that a significant chunk of anthropogenic CO2 emitted into the atmosphere returns to the biosphere, that is eventually transported by the river and locked up in coastal sediments for a few thousand years. Carbon studies are also significant because dissolved organic carbon (DOC) is known to complex the toxic trace metals in the river and carry them in the dissolved form. For the first time, this work has made an attempt to study the variations in DOC concentrations in space and time for a period of 19 months, and estimate their fluxes in the largest peninsular Indian river, the Godavari at Rajahmundry. Anthropogenic influence on DOC concentrations possibly from the number of bathing ghats along the banks and domestic sewage discharge into the river are evident during the pre-monsoon of 2004 and 2005. The rise in DOC concentrations at the onset of monsoon could be due to the contributions from flood plains and soils from the river catchment. Spatial variations highlighted that the DOC concentrations in the river are affected more by the anthropogenic discharges in the downstream than in the upstream. The discharge weighted DOC concentrations in the Godavari river is 3-12 times lower than Ganga-Brahmaputra, Indus and major Chinese rivers. The total carbon fluxes from the Godavari into the Bay of Bengal is insignificant (0.5%) compared to the total carbon discharges by major rivers of the world into oceans. © Springer Science+Business Media, Inc. 2006.Item Isolation of Thiobacillus sp from aerobic sludge of distillery and dairy effluent treatment plants and its sulfide oxidation activity at different concentrations(Triveni Enterprises, 2007) Ravichandra, P.; Mugeraya, G.; Rao, A.G.; Ramakrishna, M.; Jetty, A.In the present study two strains of Thiobacillus sp were isolated from aerobic sludge of distillery and dairy effluent treatment plant using standard methods of isolation and enrichment. Experiments were conducted using isolated cultures in batch bioreactor with initial sulfide concentration of 75 and 150 mg/l. The effect of initial sulfide concentration on the activity of isolated Thiobacillus sp was studied. Sulfide oxidizing capacity was also determined at different initial sulfide concentrations. The results from the study indicate the possible isolation of Thiobacillus cultures from native source and application in the full-scale reactor. © Triveni Enterprises.Item Synthesis and antimicrobial activities of some novel 1,2,4-triazolo[3,4-b]-1,3,4-thiadiazoles and 1,2,4-triazolo[3,4-b]-1,3,4-thiadiazines carrying thioalkyl and sulphonyl phenoxy moieties(2007) Karabasanagouda, T.; Vasudeva Adhikari, A.V.; Shetty, N.S.Thirty one new 6-aryl-3-{(4-substituted phenoxy) methyl}-1,2,4-triazolo[3,4-b]-1,3,4-thiadiazoles (6a-s) and 6-aryl-3-{(4-substituted phenoxy methyl}-7H-1,2,4-triazolo[3,4-b]-1,3,4-thiadiazines (7a-l) have been synthesized from 4-thioalkyl phenols (1a-b) through a multi-step reaction sequence. Compounds 1a-b reacted with ethyl chloroacetate in presence of acetone and potassium carbonate to give ethyl [4-(thioalkyl) phenoxy] acetates (2a-b). Further, 2a was oxidized to [4-(methyl sulphonyl) phenoxy] acetate (2c) using hydrogen peroxide in acetic acid. Reactions of (2a-c) with hydrazine hydrate in alcoholic medium furnished 2-[4-thiosubstituted phenoxy] acetohydrazides (3a-b) and 2-[4-methyl sulphonyl phenoxy] acetohydrazide (3c) which on treatment with carbon disulphide and methanolic potassium hydroxide yielded corresponding potassium dithiocarbazates (4a-c). They were then converted to 4-amino-5-{(4-thioalkyl phenoxy) methyl}-4H-1,2,4-triazole-3-thiols (5a-b) and 4-amino-5-{(4-methyl sulphonyl phenoxy) methyl}-4H-1,2,4-triazole-3-thiol (5c) by refluxing them with aqueous hydrazine hydrate. The title compounds 6a-s were prepared by condensing 5a-c with various aromatic carboxylic acids in presence of phosphorus oxychloride. The intermediates 5a-c, on condensation with various substituted phenacyl bromides afforded a series of title compounds (7a-l). The structures of new compounds 2a-7l were established on the basis of their elemental analysis, IR, 1H NMR, 13C NMR and mass spectral data. All the title compounds were subjected to in vitro antibacterial testing against four pathogenic strains and antifungal screening against three fungi. Preliminary results indicate that some of them exhibited promising activities and they deserve more consideration as potential antimicrobials. © 2006 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.Item Performance of pulsed plate bioreactor for biodegradation of phenol(2007) Shetty K, K.V.; Kalifathulla, I.; Srinikethan, G.Biodegradation of phenol was carried out using Nocardia hydrocarbonoxydans immobilised on glass beads, in a pulsed plate bioreactor. The effect of operating parameters like frequency of pulsation and amplitude of pulsation on the performance of pulsed plate bioreactor for biodegradation of phenol in a synthetic wastewater containing 500 ppm phenol was studied. Axial concentration profile measurements revealed that the pulsed plate bioreactor shows continuous stirred tank behaviour. As the amplitude was increased, percentage degradation increased, reaching 100% at amplitude of 4.7 cm and higher. Introduction of pulsation is found to increase the percentage degradation. Percentage degradation has increased with increase in frequency and 100% degradation was achieved at 0.5 s-1 and above. Biofilms developed in a non-pulsed bioreactor were thicker than those in the pulsed plate bioreactor. But biofilm thickness remained almost constant with increasing frequency. Biofilm density was found to be influenced by pulsation. The time required to reach steady state was more for pulsed reactor than the non-pulsed reactor and this start-up time had increased with increase in frequency of pulsation. The performance studies reveal that the pulsed plate bioreactor with immobilized cells has the potential to be an efficient bioreactor for wastewater treatment. © 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.Item Biological phenol removal using immobilized cells in a pulsed plate bioreactor: Effect of dilution rate and influent phenol concentration(2007) Shetty K, K.V.; Ramanjaneyulu, R.; Srinikethan, G.The continuous aerobic biodegradation of phenol in synthetic wastewater was carried out using Nocardia hydrocarbonoxydans immobilized over glass beads packed between the plates in a pulsed plate bioreactor at a frequency of pulsation of 0.5 s-1 and amplitude of 4.7 cm. The influence of dilution rate and influent phenol concentration on start up and steady state performance of the bioreactor was studied. The time taken to reach steady state has increased with increase in dilution rate and influent phenol concentration. It was found that, as the dilution rate is increased, the percentage degradation has decreased. Steady state percentage degradation was also reduced with increased influent phenol concentration. Almost 100% degradation of 300 and 500 ppm influent phenol could be achieved at a dilution rate of 0.4094 h-1 and more than 99% degradation could be achieved with higher dilution rates. At a higher dilution rate of 1.0235 h-1 and at concentrations of 800 and 900 ppm the percentage degradation has reduced to around 94% and 93%, respectively. The attached biomass dry weight, biofilm thickness and biofilm density at steady state were influenced by influent phenol concentration and dilution rate. © 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.Item 4-(N,N-diethylamino) benzaldehyde thiosemicarbazone in the spectrophotometric determination of palladium(2007) Parameshwara, P.; Karthikeyan, J.; Nityananda Shetty, A.N.; Shetty, P.4-(N,N-diethylamino)benzaldehyde thiosemicarbazone(DEABT) is proposed as a sensitive and selective analytical reagent for the spectrophotometric determination of palladium(II). The reagent reacts with palladium (II) in a potassium hydrogen phthalate-hydrochloric acid buffer of pH 3.0, to form a yellow complex. Beer's law is obeyed in the concentration range up to 3.60 ?gmL-1. The optimum concentration range for minimum photometric error as determined by Ringbom plot method is 0.36-3.24 ?g mL-1. The yellow Pd(II)-DEABT complex shows a maximum absorbance at 408 nm, with molar absorptivity of 3.33 × 104 dm3 mol-1 cm-1 and Sandell's sensitivity of the complex from Beer's data, for D=0.001, is 0.0032 ?g cm-2. The composition of the Pd(II)-DEABT complex is found to be 1:2 (M:L). The interference of various cations and anions in the method were studied. The proposed method was successfully used for the determination of Pd(II) in alloys, catalysts, complexes and model mixtures with a fair degree of accuracy.Item Efficient shape descriptors for feature extraction in 3D protein structures(2007) Ranganath, A.; Shet, K.C.; Vidyavathi, N.Structural Genomics initiatives are generating an increasing number of protein structures with very limited biochemical characterization. Characterization of a protein's function and understanding the specific nature of a protein's binding is a critical part of both protein engineering and structure-based drug discovery. The accurate detection of binding site in these protein structures can be valuable in determining its function. As shape plays a crucial role in bimolecular recognition and function, the development of shape analysis techniques is important for understanding protein structure-function relationships. This paper describes the use of the continuous wavelet transforms (CWT) for characterizing shape features of 3D protein structures. The goal is to explore the CWT as a multiscale tool to generate rotation- and translation-invariant shape features. © 2007 IOS Press. All rights reserved.Item Anti-diarrheal potential of Aegle Marmelos Corr. root bark extract in rats(2007) Vrushabendra Swamy, S.B.M.; Nataraj, K.S.; Jayaveera, K.N.; Gopkumar, P.; Nayak, S.; Kumar, G.S.; Umachigi, S.P.A study was undertaken to evaluate the effect of methanolic extract of the rootbark of Aegle marmelos Corr. (MAMC) against several experimental models of diarrhoea in rats. MAMC treated animal's showed significant inhibitory effect against castor-oil induced diarrhea and PGE2 induced enteropooling in rats. The extract also showed a significant reduction in gastrointestinal motility in the charcoal meal test in rats. The results obtained to establish the efficacy and substantiate the folkare claim as an anti-diarrhoeal agent.Item Radioprotection by copper and zinc complexes of 5-aminosalicylic acid: A preliminary study(Begell House Inc., 2008) Mantena, S.K.; Unnikrishnan, M.K.; Chandrasekharan, K.The effect of copper and zinc complexes of 5-aminosalicylic acid (hereafter referred to as Cu-5ASA and Zn-5ASA, respectively) against whole-body gamma radiation-induced cytotoxicity was studied in Swiss albino mice. Protection against lethal irradiation was evaluated from 30 day mouse survival (10 Gy) and endogenous spleen colony assay (11 Gy); and against sublethal dose (4 Gy) was assessed from gamma irradiation (RT)-induced formation of micronuclei in the mouse bone marrow 24 h postirradiation. Pretreatment with either Cu-5ASA (2.5-9 mg/kg) or Zn-5ASA (3.5-14 mg/kg) intraperitoneally (i.p.) delayed and reduced percentage mortality in mice exposed to 10 Gy RT. The doses 9 mg/kg for Cu-5ASA and 7 mg/kg for Zn-5ASA were found to be the most effective dose in preventing RT-induced weight loss and reducing percentage mortality. Both the drugs also caused an increase in the endogenous spleen colonies in mouse exposed to 11 Gy RT. At sublethal doses of RT, pretreatment with either Cu-5ASA or Zn-5ASA resulted in a significant decrease in the RT-induced micronucleated polychromatic erythrocytes and normochromatic erythrocytes (MPCEs and MNCEs) and an increase in the ratio of PCE to NCE (P/N), at 24 h postirradiation. These results show that both Cu-5ASA and Zn-5ASA are effective in protecting normal tissues against lethal and sublethal doses of RT. Further pretreatment with either Cu-5ASA or Zn-5ASA enhanced the survival of tumor-bearing mice (Ehrlich's ascites carcinoma) exposed to 7.5 Gy RT. In fact, both the complexes caused an increase in the mean and average survival times (MST and AST) when compared to the irradiated control, suggesting a synergetic effect of these drugs with radiation in causing cytotoxicity to the tumor cells. The data clearly indicate that both Cu-5ASA and Zn-5ASA significantly reduced the deleterious effect of radiation and hence could be useful agents in reducing the side effects of therapeutic radiation. © 2008 by Begell House, Inc.Item Effect of media characteristics on performance of upflow aerobic biofilters(2008) Srinikethan, G.; Shrihari, S.; Pradeepan, V.S.Laboratory studies were conducted to assess the influence of media related factors such as porosity, pore size, particle size and specific surface area on the performance of upflow aerobic biofilters (ABFs). Three simple models of 8 litre capacity upflow submerged ABFs packed with support media of size 40 mm, 20 mm and 10 mm respectively were installed. The hydraulic retention time (HRT) was maintained as 12 hours. The study was carried out for a period of 90 days. The reactor performance indicated that the aerobic biofilter (ABF-3), associated with media of lowest porosity, pore size, particle size and highest specific surface area, demonstrating the highest BOD and COD removal efficiency of 93.32 % and 85.01 % respectively.