backpages scanned data - rltsc.edu.in

The Berar General Education Society’s

NAAC Reaccredited ‘A’ Grade with CGPA 3.12

Shri R.L.T. College of Science, Akola

InfoSCIENCE

Patrons Dr. Rajkumar B. Heda President

Shri Vijaykumar Toshniwal Sr. Vice President

Dr. Ravindra Jain Jr. Vice President

Adv. Motisingh G. Mohta Hon. Secretary

Shri Sharad Chaware Jt. Secretary

The Berar General Education Society, Akola

---------------------

Advisors Dr. Vijay D. Nanoty Principal


Dr. Rajendra L. Rahatgaonkar Co-ordinator IQAC


---------------------

Editors Dr. Sushil M. Nagrale Assistant Professor and Head

Department of Zoology


Mobile - 9370322456

Dr. Pradip P. Deohate Assistant Professor

Department of Chemistry


Mobile - 9890770318

Dr. (Mrs.) Anjali A. Sangole Assistant Professor

Department of Botany


Mobile - 8550979012

---------------------

Volume-01, No.-01 (2019)

InfoSCIENCE, Volume-01, No.-01, 2019

Contents

Research Articles

1. Relative Study of Biodiesel Preparation from Virgin and Waste Vegetable Oils 01

Ms. Vasundhara N. Dutonde and Dr. Pradip P. Deohate

2. A Study of Solid Waste Management 04

Ms. Kanchan N. Mangtani and Dr. Harish S. Malpani

3. Ginger Oil - The Herbal Solution 08

Ms. Apurva R. Shah and Dr. Poonam T. Agrawal

4. Effect of Spraying Fermented Extract Amaranthus spinosus on Growth of 10

Green Gram (Vigna radiata) - Pot Study

Ms. Krashna R. Laddha and Prof. Sonali N. Gawande

5. Dust Settler - An Economic Homemade Instrument, A Noble Approach to 13

Reduce the Rate of Pollution Level in the Atmosphere

Ms. Yoshita K. Veera and Prof. Shailesh R. Jaiswal

6. Assessment of Ground Water Quality of Some Villages in Akola District for 15

Irrigation Purpose

Mr. Balraj B. Khurania and Dr. Pradip P. Deohate

7. Production of Handmade Paper from Cotton Rags 18

Mr. Akhilesh A. Puranik, Dr. Sudhir R. Kohchale and Dr. Sushil M. Nagrale

8. Microcontroller Based TechEye System for Obstacle Detection and Ranging 20

to Assist Blind Person

Mr. Yash D. Vidyasagar and Prof. Ram G. Chavan

9. Arduino UNO Based Accident Avoiding System in Mountainous Area 21

Across U-Turn

Prof. Dattaraj S. Vidyasagar and Prof. Rajesh D. Chaudhari

Scientific Articles

10. Proficiency Test of OPCW and Role of Chemical Weapons Convention in the 23

World of Humanity

Prof. Vinod D. Deotale

11. Significance of Pollen Study 27

Dr. Anjali A. Sangole

12. Insect World - Diversity of Insects Thrips 29

Dr. Sushil M. Nagrale

13. Microwave Synthesis - A Potential Tool for Green Chemistry 32

Dr. Ashish G. Sarap

14. Acacia Arabica (Lamk.), Rarely Used Medicinal Plant Against Various Diseases 35

Dr. Pramod M. Khadse

15. Light Pollution - Effects on Health 38

Dr. Rajendra L. Rahatgaonkar

16. Cyber Security 40

Prof. Ram B. Ghayalkar

17. Nano-Spike Catalysts 44

Dr. Kavita M. Heda

18. The Mysterious Fruit - Hylocereus undatus (Dragon fruit) 46

Prof. Vaishali N. Badgujar


1

Relative Study of Biodiesel Preparation from Virgin and Waste

Vegetable Oils

Ms. Vasundhara N. Dutonde and Dr. Pradip P. Deohate

Department of Chemistry, Shri Radhakisan Laxminarayan Toshniwal College of Science, Akola,

444 001, INDIA

Biodiesel i.e. soybean oil methyl ester and rapeseed oil methyl ester are most common biodiesel blend.

Present work is related to preparation of biodiesel from soyabean, sunflower, groundnut virgin vegetable

oil and waste vegetable oil. Virgin vegetable oil biodiesel was compared with and waste vegetable oil

biodiesel on the basis of various parameters viz. yield, kinematic viscosity, density, acid number, cloud

point, pour point, flash point, fire point, pH, carbon residue.

Biodiesel is a cleaner burning

renewable alternative to diesel fuel made

from biological sources like vegetable oils,

animal fats and greases through a chemical

process. Modern biodiesel is made through

transesterification by converting vegetable

oils into fatty acid alkyl esters i.e. fatty acid

methyl esters (FAME) or fatty acid ethyl

esters (FAEE). Biodiesel offer carbon

neutral cycle. Concerns over environment,

global warming, energy security, use of

agro products brought the biodiesel to the

forefront. Biodiesel i.e. soybean oil methyl

ester (SOME) and rapeseed oil methyl ester

(ROME) are most common biodiesel blend.

In Asia, palm oil methyl ester (POME) is

most common biodiesel blend. In India,

biodiesel is exclusively prepared from non-

edible feedstock like jatropha, karanja,

neem, mahua, algae or waste cooking oil.

Biodiesel is renewable and energy

efficient. It reduces tailpipe emissions, air

toxics and prevents global warming. It is

nontoxic, biodegradable and suitable for

sensitive environments. It has higher flash

point than diesel. Biodiesel blends with

diesel are reported to reduce particulate,

HC and CO emissions. BD-10 is the most

common biodiesel blend.

Vegetable oil is a triglyceride

molecule. During transesterification, fatty

acids of triglyceride molecule are cleaved

and attach to alkyl group of alcohol to form

fatty acid alkyl esters in presence of

catalyst KOH/NaOH (Scheme-1). Waste

vegetable oil (WVO) is more acidic. Its

transesterification required more catalyst.

While frying the food in hot oil, some

water present in it reacts with triglyceride

molecule to form free fatty acid (FFA),

which consumes some KOH/NaOH to form

soap (Scheme-2).

In present work biodiesel was

prepared from soyabean, sunflower,

groundnut virgin vegetable oil (VVO) and

WVO. Virgin vegetable oil biodiesel

(VVOBD) was compared with and waste

vegetable oil biodiesel (WVOBD) on the

basis of various parameters viz. yield,

kinematic viscosity, density, acid number,

cloud point, pour point, flash point, fire

point, pH, carbon residue.

Biodiesel preparation

VVO of standard brands and WVO

of soyabean, sunflower, groundnut were

used. Chemicals i.e. KOH, methanol used

were of AR grade. Instruments used were

Ostwald’s viscometer, Redwood’s

viscometer, Pensky-Marten’s flash/fire

point apparatus, cloud/pour point

apparatus, Pyknometer.

Initially 100 gm of VVO was heated

to 600C. Separately, potassium methoxide

was prepared by stirring 1 gm of KOH with

20 ml of methanol. It was transferred to

preheated VVO and stirred for 1 hour

maintaining temperature at 600C. Two

layers of above reaction mixture were

allowed to separate in separating funnel

for 15 minute. Lower layer of glycerol was

CH2-O-CO

CH-O-CO

CH2-O-CO

CH2-O-CO-R

CH-O-CO-R

CH2-O-CO-R

C

C

C

+ H2O

discarded. Upper layer of cr

was washed with distilled wate

for about 1 minute to dissolv

methanol, traces of glycerol

soap. Again two layers were

separate for 30 minute. Lowe

discarded and upper layer of p

was transferred in bottle. This

extended to synthesize WVOBD

by adding additional KOH

predetermined FFA value (Figur

The results showed th

WVOBD was found to be som

than VVOBD but other param

quite promising. Almost all pa

soyabean, sunflower and

VVOBD and WVOBD were f

within the limits of BIS specifica

100 and comparable with AST

of diesel. The 10% blend so

Table 1 : Study of

InfoSCIENCE, Volume

O-R

O-R

O-R

CH2-OH

CH-OH

CH2-OH

+ 3 R'-OHKOH / NaOH

+ 3 R-CO-O-R

(Biodiesel

Scheme-1

CH2-OH

CH-O-CO-R

CH2-O-CO-R

+ R-CO-OH

(Soap)

KOH / NaOHR-CO-OK /

Scheme-2

f crude VVOBD

ater by swirling

solve unwanted

erol, KOH and

ere allowed to

ower layer was

of pure VVOBD

his method was

OBD from WVO

H as per the

Figure-1).

d that, yield of

somewhat less

arameters were

ll parameters of

nd groundnut

e found to be

cifications of BD-

ASTM standards

soyabean and

sunflower VVOBD and WVOB

to be most suitable and acce

In 10% blend groundnut WV

density, acid number, flash

were not within the l

specifications of BD-10 (Tab

Average biodiesel cost is arou

litre and would result in about

cost reduction.

Figure 1 : Schematic diagram o

biodiesel

y of parameters of 100% pure biodiesel : BD-10

me-01, No.-01, 2019

2

O-O-R'

esel)

p)

/ Na + H2O

VOBD were found

acceptable as fuel.

WVOBD; values of

lash and fire point

e limits of BIS

(Table-1) (Table-2).

around Rs. 20/- per

bout 50 to 60% fuel

m of preparation of

100

Table 2 : Stud

Conclusion - WVOBD can be

fuel and it is as good as VVO

performance, emission be

cost. Let’s use “Biodiesel”.

References 1. V. N. Ariharan, V. N. M

P. N. Prasad, Asian J. Ph

9(1), 123 (2016).

2. G. Vicente and M. M

Fuels, 20, 394 (2006).

3. S. P. Singh D. D. Singh,

InfoSCIENCE, Volum

tudy of parameters of 10% blend biodiesel : BD

n be used as blend

VVOBD with better

benefits and the

. Meena Devi and

J. Pharm. Clin. Res.,

. Martinez, Eng.

gh, Renewable and

Sustanable Eng. Review

4. U. Rashida, Biomass B

(2008).

5. A. George, Z. Ypatia,

K. Stamatis, Eng., 2, 3

6. D. Bajpai and V. K. T

55(10), 487 (2006).

7. A. K. Goswami and G.

Innov. Res. Sci. Engg

16287 (2014).

8. G. Antolin, F. Tinaut

Bioresour Tech., 83(2)

olume-01, No.-01, 2019

3

: BD-10

eviews, 14, 200 (2009).

ass Bioeng., 32, 1202

atia, S. Stamoulis and

2, 362 (2009).

K. Tyagi, J. Oleo Sci.,

d G. A. Usmani, Int. J.

Engg. & Tech., 3(9),

aut and A. Ramirez,

3(2), 111 (2002).


4

A Study of Solid Waste Management

Ms. Kanchan N. Mangtani and Dr. Harish S. Malpani

Department of Microbiology, Shri Radhakisan Laxminarayan Toshniwal College of Science, Akola,

444 001, INDIA

Solid waste management involves all the activities and actions required to manage waste from its

inception to its final disposal. Generally waste is of two major types i.e. biodegradable and non-

biodegradable. Some of the techniques like landfill, incineration are adopted for waste management but

these techniques have certain drawbacks like it can pollute environment. It can cause harmful diseases to

the peoples living in that area. The aim of this study is to protect health, well-being and the environment

by providing solutions. For the pilot study, survey was taken of 100 peoples and data was obtained that

peoples are facing problem regarding waste management. Some eco-friendly methods can be used for

proper management of waste like biogas plant should be installed. As we know plastic is used at many

places, spoon made from wheat rice and jowar flour can be used as great alternative. More awareness

regarding classification of garbage should be given to citizens. A nodal government agency should be

established that can properly check whether garbage is properly separated or not.

Waste management or waste

disposal are all the activities and actions

required to manage waste from its

inception to its final disposal. This includes

amongst other things collection, transport,

treatment and disposal of waste together

with monitoring and regulation. Waste can

take any form that is solid, liquid, or gas

and each have different methods of

disposal and management. Waste

management normally deals with all types

of waste whether it was created in forms

that are industrial, biological, household,

and special cases where it may pose a

threat to human health.

Types of waste - Our planet continues to

relentlessly grow in population. A

corresponding growth in waste products

also occurs. The two major categories of

waste are biodegradable and non-

biodegradable waste. Biodegradable

materials viz. human waste, animal waste,

plant products, wood, paper, food waste,

leaves, grass clippings, remains from death

of living creatures can be decomposed by

microorganisms. The materials having

properties that do not breakdown or decay

are called as non-biodegradable material.

Examples include glass, metals, plastics,

electronic devices, medical waste etc.

Current methods adopted for waste

management

Landfill - In this process, waste that cannot

be reused or recycled separated out and

spread as thin layer in some low-lying areas

across the city. A layer of soil added after

each layer of garbage. Once this process is

complete, this area declared unfit for

building construction for next 20 years

Incineration - Incineration is the process of

controlled combustion of garbage to

reduce it to incombustible matter; ash,

waste gas, and heat. The waste gasses thus

generated are then treated and released

into the environment. This process reduced

the volume of waste by 90 %. It is also

known as landfill in the sky. It release

dioxin gas which is very harmful, that can

cause cancer, skin disease and in children it

can affect the developing endocrine system,

nervous system and reproductive functions.

Drawbacks of current methods

• Landfill can pollute air, water and soil.

• Many insects, rodents are attracted to

landfills and result in dangerous disease.

• It can cause communicable diseases and illness in communities around landfill.

• Incineration pollutes the environment.

• Ash waste from incineration plant can

potentially harm people and the

environment.


5

Eco-friendly methods

Biogas plant - Biogas refers to a mixture of

different gases produced by breakdown of

organic matter in absence of oxygen.

Biogas can be produced from raw materials

such as agricultural waste, manure,

municipal waste, plant material, green

waste or food waste, sewage. In a biogas

process, large organic molecules viz.

proteins, sugars and fats are successively

broken down into methane and carbon

dioxide; a gas mixture called biogas.

Presence of several different microbial

communities is required for the biogas

process to work. In order to form biogas as

end product, these active microorganisms

also have to work together (Zinder 1986).

Eat with it and then eat it

Plastic is the most commonly used

cutlery in many gatherings. It contains

toxins and some of them being

carcinogenic. Toxins can leach into food,

which is dangerous to health. Scientific

research has given a good reason to think

carefully about the use of plastic. Be it the

pet bottles that store water at home or the

cutlery often used by street vendors,

plastic is everywhere and even in your

food. For cutlery, one of the following may

be used - cheap plastic, food grade plastic,

biodegradable plastic or coated plastic.

Food & Drug Administration (FDA) requires

that plastics used in food packaging be of

greater purity than plastics used for other

purposes. This is commonly referred to as

food grade plastic. According to Indian

guidelines, food grade plastic where

leaching of chemicals is less than 60 ppm is

considered safe. But, why should we

expose ourselves to even 1 ppm of

chemicals being leached into our food? If

we were to go by numbers, India uses

about 120 billion pieces of disposable

cutlery every year. We’ve used them at

birthday parties or many other events and

mostly at street stalls. Ironically, some

places may not even dispose the cutlery,

simply wash and reuse it promoting the

risk of bacterial contamination.

Jowar is rich in calcium, iron,

phosphorus, protein, vitamin and fibre

making it perfect snacks for people,

especially diabetics and it’s a good source

of energy for people of all ages. You may

think they’re fragile but jowar gives them a

hard and crisp texture. The material is

tough enough to retain most foods and

sauces, and is also easily digestible. When

immersed in liquid (hot or cold)

completely, they’d last for 10 minutes.

Kept sealed in air-tight containers, they’ll

stay fresh close to three months. Spoons

decompose naturally within 3 to7 weeks

and if eaten by insects or animals they do

not disrupt the food chain.

Most chopsticks are used in Japan

but produced in China. Since they’re made

of bamboo, there was mass deforestation

to create land for bamboo cultivation. On

other hand, it’s a Japanese ritual to burn

chopsticks after use. Forests are depleting

and carbon emissions are on a rise. With

edible and biodegradable chopsticks, we

can take a small step towards the

conservation of biodiversity. Edible cutlery

is an initiative to promote environment

friendly habits. Edible cutlery made out of

jowar is free of chemicals. Spoons do not

turn soggy when dipped into curries.

Advantages and disadvantages

Plastic Edible cutlery

• Durable for long

time.

• Harmful for

Environment.

• Chemical risk.

• Choking hazard.

• Bag degrades in

50 years.

• Harmful when

consumed by

animals.

• It remains fresh for

3 months.

• It is Eco-friendly.

• No chemical risk.

• No choking hazard.

• Bag decomposed

within 3 to 7 days.

• Easily digestible by

animals.

Clean India mission

Swachh Bharat Abh

or Swachh Bharat Mission

nation-wide campaign in Ind

period of 2014 to 2019 that a

up the streets, roads and infra

India's cities, smaller towns

areas. Swachh Bharat Ab

launched on 2nd October 2014

Jayanti. Swachh Bharat Mis

mobile app is being used by

government organizations for a

goals of Swachh Bharat Miss

government of India is bringin

to the people through advertise

The aim of this study

health, well-being and the env

providing solutions with objec

out which type of problems

waste management are fac

peoples.

Data collection - For data co

constructed a series of questio

topic which includes 10 questio

Population - Random 100 pe

taken as population for this res

Questionnaire - Following qu

included in questionnaire.

1. Do you separate dry and w

your home?

2. Are you aware about clas

garbage?

3. Do you think that, burnin

only solution?

4. Does garbage is collected

your area?

5. Are you satisfied with y

waste collection service?

6. Do you know, how your ser

disposes your collected wa

7. Do you mix bioh

pharmaceutical waste w

garbage?

8. Has anyone in your hou

from disease due to mism

of waste?

InfoSCIENCE, Volume

Abhiyan (SBA)

(SBM) is a

India for the

at aims to clean

infrastructure of

wns, and rural

Abhiyan was

2014 on Gandhi

Mission (SBM)

by people and

for achieving the

Mission. For this

nging awareness

rtisements.

dy is to protect

environment by

bjective to find

lems related to

faced by the

a collection, we

stions related to

estions.

0 peoples were

research work.

g questions are

nd wet waste at

classification of

rning garbage is

cted regularly in

th your current

r service provider

waste?

biohazard or

e with routine

house suffered

mismanagement

9. Do you think, waste man

environmental problem?

10. Do you want clean envir

clean India?

Data analysis - Following dat

from the analysis of above m

Questions

Do you separate dry and

wet waste at your home?

Are you aware about

classification of garbage?

Do you think that, burning

garbage is only solution?

Does garbage is collected

regularly in your area?

Are you satisfied with

your current waste

collection service?

Do you know, how your

service provider disposes

your collected waste?

Do you mix biohazard or

pharmaceutical waste

with routine garbage?

Has anyone in your house

suffered from disease

due to mismanagement

of waste?

Do you think, waste

management is an

environmental problem?

Do you want clean

environment and a clean

India?

me-01, No.-01, 2019

6

management is an

lem?

environment and a

data was obtained

e method.

Respond in %

Yes No Don’t

Know

59 37 4

63 33 4

38 50 12

68 28 4

56 32 12

32 68 0

56 30 14

se 27 54 19

77 17 6

92 8 0


7

The data regarding the solid waste

collection, storage, transportation and

disposal reveals that, in the study area the

system employed for the solid waste

management is inadequate.

Conclusion - Solid waste was not disposed

scientifically and till citizens are facing the

problems of solid waste. Open dumping of

garbage facilitates the breeding for disease

vectors such as flies, mosquitoes,

cockroaches, rats and other pests. The

lacks of knowledge, awareness and

cooperation have been identified. In the

study area, system employed for solid

waste management is inadequate

Recommendations - More awareness

regarding classification of garbage should

be given to citizens. A nodal government

agency should be established that can

properly check whether garbage is properly

separated or not. Some strict rules and

regulations should be framed and

implemented for separation of garbage

and reutilization should be properly done.

References 1. S. A. Toshniwal, Int. J. Innov. Res. Sci.

Engg. Tech., 6(2), 2513 (2017).

2. Science Direct, 33(1), 220 (2013).

3. The Hindu - Today’s Paper, Andhra

Pradesh, 12th May (2009).

4. P. V. Khandve and R. K. Rai, Int. J. Eng.

Sci., 2(2), 235 (2011).

5. S. A. Patil, Int. J. Engg. Adv. Tech., 4(1),

125 (2014).

6. S. Goel, J. Env. Sci. Engg., 50, 319 (2008).

7. http://epaperlokmat.in/archive/sub-

editions/hello%20akola%20gramin/20

18-12-11/1.

Ginger Oil - The Herbal

Ms. Apurva R. Shah and Dr. PoDepartment of Chemistry, Shri R

444 001, INDIA

Herbal formulation always has att

comparatively lesser or nil side effec

oil using ginger and neem and its eva

Dandruff is a com

condition that occurs when d

shade producing irritating whit

possibly an itchy scalp. Al

dandruff is associated with scal

may also appear on face, sho

eyebrows etc. Market is pro

range of chemical solution e

herbal cosmetics and hair ca

are now-a-days widely use by t

people because of lesser side

better safety.

Role of the herbs used i

Ginger - It has been proved

treatment of many disease

dandruff. It contains many phy

viz. gingerol, phellandrene,

gingerdiols, shogaols,

dihydroparadols etc. having

values as follows.

Neem - It has been proved be

for the skin diseases. Antif

inflammatory, antibacterial p

neem have been proved. Phy

present in neem are nimbin

InfoSCIENCE, Volume

bal Solution

. Poonam T. Agrawal

hri Radhakisan Laxminarayan Toshniwal College of

attracted considerable attention because of their g

effects. The objective of present study involves preparat

s evaluation for activity against dandruff.

common scalp

en dead skin is

white flakes and

Although the

scalp; the flakes

shoulder, nose,

providing wide

n even though

r care products

by the common

side effects with

sed is as follows.

ed effective for

eases including

phytochemicals

e, zingiberene,

, paradols,

ving medicinal

best treatment

ntifungal, anti-

l properties of

Phytochemicals

bin, quercetin,

salanin, gedunin, nimbidi

lemonoids etc.

In present study th

hair oil was evaluated an

parameters were checked.

Collection of plant part

preparation of hair oil fresh

and ginger were collected w

available.

Base ingredient - The pure o

oil was selected and use

ingredient.

Formulation of hair oil -

used in the formulation were

accurately weighed. These t

were added to the hot

separately in ratio of 1:2

ginger respectively. Once the

get cooled, were mixed and

were done.

Evaluation of the product

hair oil was subjected to

biological test as follows.

Sensitivity test - The prepar

applied to 1 cm of skin

exposed to sunlight for 4-5 m

me-01, No.-01, 2019

8

e of Science, Akola,

ir good activity and

aration of herbal hair

bidin, nimbolide,

y the formulated

and the various

part - For the

fresh neem leaves

d which are easily

re organic coconut

used as a base

The two herbs

were collected and

se two ingredients

hot coconut oil

1:2 as neem and

the two solutions

and further tests

- The prepared

to physical and

pared hair oil was

kin of hand and

5 min.


9

Color and odor - The product appear pale

yellow in color with a pleasant smell.

Test for pH value - The pH value of the

solution was measured by pH meter.

Saponification test - 0.5 N KOH solution

was prepared by dissolving the KOH pallets

in 95% of ethanol in stoppered volumetric

flask. Solution was kept overnight, filtered

it and standardized against 0.1 N oxalic

acid solution using phenolphthalein

indicator. In a 100 ml R.B. flask 0.5 to 0.7

gm of oil was accurately weighed and then

50 ml of standardized 0.5 N alcoholic KOH

was added. The mixture was refluxed on

water bath till solution becomes clear (2 to

3 hours). The reaction mixture was cooled

and diluted to 250 ml in a volumetric flask

using distilled water. 25 ml of this diluted

solution/mixture was titrated against 0.1 N

oxalic acid solution using phenolphthalein

as an indicator.

Saponification value of oil is defined

as the number of milligrams of KOH

required to hydrolyse (saponify) 1 gm of an

oil or fat completely. It is an indication of

the average molecular weight of the oil or

fat and of the length of carbon chain of

fatty acid. When fat or oil is heated with

excess of KOH (alkali) it gets hydrolyses to

glycerol and potassium salt of fatty acid.

The prepared formulation is pale

yellow in color with a pleasant smell of the

ingredients. Biological testing of the oil did

not show any erythema or edema, allergic

reaction which conforms that the oil is

non-irritant to human skin. Results of the

further physical test are noted in the table

given below.

Parameters Inference

Color Pale yellow

Odor pleasant

pH 7.65

Saponification test 291.33

Sensitivity test No irritation

Irritation test No irritation

The results obtained for evaluation

tests are under specified limits and for

physical parameters like specific gravity,

pH, acid value, saponification values are

according to standard values. In biological

evaluation the test on human skin did not

show any allergy.

Conclusion - Prepared formulation of

herbal hair oil using ginger and neem was

found to have good activity against

dandruff without any type of skin irritation

or allergy.

References 1. C. Singla, S. Drabu and M. Ali,

International Res. J. Pharm., 2(3), 16

(2011).

2. P. S. Banerjee, M. Sharma and R. K.

Nema, J. Chem. and Pharm. Res., 1(1),

261 (2009).

3. T. U. K. Reddy, G. Sindhu, S. Rajesh,

and K. S. Sandhya Rani, Indo American

J. Pharm. Sci., 4(6), 1540 (2017).


10

Effect of Spraying Fermented Extract Amaranthus spinosus on

Growth of Green Gram ( Vigna radiata) - Pot Study

Ms. Krashna R. Laddha and Prof. Sonali N. Gawande

Department of Microbiology, Shri Radhakisan Laxminarayan Toshniwal College of Science, Akola,

444 001, INDIA

Pot culture evaluation revealed that there was significant increase in growth parameters of green gram

due to spraying with Amaranthus spinosus fermented extract (AFE) when compared with unfermented as

well as naturally fermented extracts. Cow urine and lactic acid bacteria used for the fermentation.

Amaranthus extract with cow urine resulted in highest value of parameters. Its spraying twice was the

best treatment resulting in highest values. Spraying green gram seedlings with AFE significantly increased

the plant height and number of plant leaves. The highest plant leaves and plant height was obtained by

spraying twice with Amaranthus extracts. Thus, present investigation brought out the potential of AFE in

augmenting the growth attributes in green gram.

Amaranthus spinosus is a very

common Indian plant known for its

medicinal properties and commonly known

as “Spiny Amaranth” or “Pig Weed”

cultivated throughout India, Sri Lanka and

distributed throughout the tropics and

warm temperate regions of Asia from

Japan to Indonesia, pacific islands and

Australia as a weed in cultivated as well as

fallow lands. It is known as the rich source

of alkaloids, flavonoids, glycosides,

phenolic acids, steroids, amino acids,

terpenoids, lipids, saponin, batalain,

β-sitosterol, stigmasterol, linoleic acid,

rutin, catechuic, tannins and cartenoids.

The juice of A. spinosus is used by tribal of

Kerala, India to prevent swelling around

stomach while the leaves are boiled

without salt and consumed for 2-3 days to

cure jaundice. It is used as anti-

inflammatory, antimalarial, antibacterial,

antimicrobial, antidiuretic, antiviral and

hepatic disorders. Amaranthus spinosus

plant is useful in juvenile hormone of

insects. So we are seeing that it is useful

for plants or not.

Cow urine has been used in ancient

times for curing many ailments of human

beings. It is important and essential part of

“Panchgavya Chikitsa”. Cow urine in

combination with the plant extracts is

used to prepare disinfectant which is

biodegradable and eco-friendly with good

antibacterial action. Majority of people in

India use cow urine to get rid of various

diseases due to its therapeutic values. Cow

urine has several biological activities such

as antioxidant, antidiabetic, antitumor and

antiprotozoal.

Green gram (Vigna radiata) is one

of the main pulse crops in India. United

Nations has declared 2016 as the

international year of pulses (IYP-2016).

Fermentation with microorganisms

is known to yield high value products from

raw or low grade substrates. Fermentation

breaks down or converts the undesirable

substrates into compatible components

mediated by microbial enzymes, thereby

improving the substrates via production

and enrichment of bioactive compound.

Fermentation was carried out using

Lactobacillus sporogenes.

Hence, an attempt was made to

ferment Amaranthus spinosus using lactic

acid bacterial (LAB) isolates and to study

effect of fermented products on growth

and yield of green gram under pot cultures.

The materials used in present pot

study include Amaranthus spinosus

explants, fresh cow urine, pots, soil, green

gram, distilled water etc. and the steps

involved were as follows.

• Collection of plant Amaranthus spinosus

from market.

• Washing of plant Amara

with distilled water (three ti

• Extraction of the plant lea

• 30% fermentation of ext

cow urine (five Days).

• Spraying of extract

concentrations (5, 10, 15 ml

• Observation of effect

growth of green gram.

The Amaranthus sp

(30%) was prepared and

fermentation with cow ur

selected lactic acid bacteria

separately for five days and

Treatment

AFE fermented extract



NFE fermented extract



Amaranthus extract fresh



Cow urine fresh

Cow urine fresh

Cow urine fresh

Control pot

Conclusion - Amaranthus

effect on the growth of pla

useful to treat various disea

inflammatory, antidiabetic a

InfoSCIENCE, Volum

aranthus spinosus

e times).

t leaves.

extract with 70 ml

act of different

5 ml)

ct of extract on

s spinosus extract

and subjected to

urine using two

terial (LAB) isolates

and the fermented

extract filtrate were use

the pot. On first and seco

8 days of sowing) follow

observed.

Quantity

(ml)

Plant height after

1st

/2nd

spraying (cm)

No. of

after

1st

2nd

1st

5 6 6 75

10 7.5 7.5 80

15 9 9 85

5 5 5 68

10 6 6 72

15 8 8 85

5 5 5 83

10 6.5 6.5 82

15 7.5 7.5 85

5 5 5 70

10 7.5 7.5 85

15 9 9 90

--- 8.5 8.7 70

plants have its

f plants. These are

iseases. It has anti-

tic and antioxidant

properties. Study of Am

plays an important role in

of plant growth promoter

olume-01, No.-01, 2019

11

used for spraying in

econd spraying (after

llowing results were

. of leaves per plant

fter 1st

/2nd

spraying st

2nd

75 80

80 82

85 88

68 71

72 75

85 75

83 85

82 90

85 88

70 85

85 84

90 87

70 75

Amaranthus plant

le in the development

oter.


12

References 1. A. Sharma, R. A. Sharma and H. Singh,

Int. J. Pharm. Sci. Rev. Res., 20(1), 120

(2013).

2. M. L. Pathak and A. Kumar, Sachitra

Ayurveda, 5, 56 (2003).

3. K. Sharma, R. Rajesh, R. S. Chauhan

and T. Simmi, Int. J. Cow Sci., 1, 1

(2005).

4. R. P. Kumar, Int. J. Res. Pharm. Chem.,

4(3), 643 (2014).

5. A. O. Olumyaokun, R. O. Babatunde

and O. E. Temitope, Pharm. Bio., 42(7),

521 (2004).


13

Dust Settler - An Economic Homemade Instrument, A Noble Approach

to Reduce the Rate of Pollution Level in the Atmosphere

Ms. Yoshita K. Veera and Prof. Shailesh R. Jaiswal

Department of Physics, Shri Radhakisan Laxminarayan Toshniwal College of Science, Akola,

444 001, INDIA

Though the market is providing a great range of cleansing gadgets e.g. anti-smog guns, air purifier,

pollution absorb tower etc. but all the above gadgets cost minimum 20 to 25 lakhs. Everyone cannot

afford such devices in their societies or surroundings. This study is about a device i.e. dust settler which

can actually control the pollution rate to a greater extent. Dust settler is the best and cost effective

solution for increased pollution rate.

To reduce smog level in the

atmosphere, dust settler can be used. A

high pressure steam is created in the dust

settler system, which when released with

maintained pressure settles down the dust

and the pollution level can be reduced. The

same device can be used with some

modifications in various applications such

as steam cleaning, steam humidification,

steam baths etc.

We all are quite aware of the

pollution at Delhi and many other polluted

cities like Mumbai, Pune etc. These cities

are suffering from smog and smoke

problems. In winter days, due to pollution

smog and smoke are created on a high

level. To reduce this smog, big anti-smog

guns are being used. But it covers very less

radius of only 50 meters. Everyone cannot

afford it. Its minimum cost is about 20 to

25 lakh. Dust settler is most beneficial

device to solve this problem and its costing

is just about 5 hundred.

Most powerful source of energy on

the earth is steam energy. It is used for the

domestic purposes, electricity generation,

cleaning, concrete treatment, agriculture

etc. Dust settler works on the principle of

the steam power.

The materials used were coal

burner, cooker, pressure cork, excess

pressure release cork and pipe etc.

In this system of a dust settler, a

coal burner was used to provide heat

energy to the system. At maintained

temperature, a high pressure steam was

generated and then fine droplets of water

in the form of steam were released to

settle down the dust.


14

Dust settler was found to be used to

settle the dust, as steam guns, as steam

baths, for steam cleaning, steam

humidification, steam moisturization,

generation of electricity or as motive fluid

and propulsion/drive. It is home-made,

portable and cost effective. It saves the

electricity and can be best used in winters.

Conclusion - To reduce the increasing

pollution level dust settler device will be

most beneficial. It is cost effective and

portable.


15

Assessment of Ground Water Quality of Some Villages in Akola

District for Irrigation Purpose

Mr. Balraj B. Khurania and Dr. Pradip P. Deohate


444 001, INDIA

Assessment of ground water quality of Gram Kharap, Kapshi, Keliveli, Shivar and Bhourad of Akola district

of Maharashtra, India for irrigation purpose was carried out to determine the factors that regulate

ground water quality. In the month of September-2018, five ground water samples from open wells were

assessed for parameters i.e. temperature, colour, pH, EC, alkalinity, chloride, sulphate, calcium,

magnesium, sodium, potassium, TDS, COD, DO and BOD. Using SSP and SAR criteria, sodium hazard

associated with the irrigation water was evaluated. Results were compared with Bureau of Indian

Standards (BIS) limits. Based on the irrigation quality parameters, most of the samples were found to be

suitable for irrigation.

Water is the most essential and

prime necessity of life. Ground water

makes up about 20% of the world’s fresh

water supply. Water is the major source for

irrigation in India. Quality of irrigation

water is a crucial factor for long term soil

productivity. Good quality water has

potential to cause maximum yield whereas

poor can develop various soil and cropping

problems. Poor quality water may affect

irrigated crops by causing accumulation of

salts in root zone, by causing loss of

permeability of soil due to excess Na and

Ca leaching or by containing pathogens and

contaminants which are directly toxic to

plants or to consumers. Contaminants in

irrigation water may accumulate in the soil

and after a period of years render the soil

unfit for agriculture. Sources of ground

water are infiltration galleries/wells,

springs, open/dug/tube wells etc.

Quality of irrigation water is mostly

judged by some determining factors such

as soluble sodium percentage (SSP) and

sodium absorption ratio (SAR). It also

depends upon temperature, colour,

hydrogen ion concentration (pH), electrical

conductivity (EC), alkalinity (HCO32-, CO3

2-,

OH-), chloride (Cl-), sulphate (SO42-),

calcium (Ca2+), magnesium (Mg2+), sodium

(Na+), potassium (K+) present in water.

Total dissolved solids (TDS), chemical

oxygen demand (COD), dissolved oxygen

(DO) and biological oxygen demand (BOD)

also affects the quality of water.

SSP = [Na+]

[Ca2++Mg2++Na++K+]x 100

SAR = [Na+]

[Ca2++Mg2+] / 2

In present work assessment of

ground water quality of some villages in

Akola district for irrigation purpose was

carried out in the month of September-

2018. Instruments used were conductivity

meter, flame photometer,

spectrophotometer, colorimeter, pH-

meter, digital thermometer, hot air oven,

incubator etc. All weighings were done on

electronic balance. Reagents and chemicals

used were of AR grade.

Study area - Ground water of agricultural

land of Gram Kharap, Kapshi, Keliveli,

Shivar and Bhourad, Akola district,

Vidarbha, Maharashtra, India.

Collection of irrigation water samples -

Glass bottles with leak proof cap were

thoroughly cleaned before sampling. Water

samples from wells were collected directly

from pump discharge after pumps have

been run for 20 to 30 min. Bottles were

properly marked, labelled and brought to

laboratory. Few parameters like

temperature, colour etc. were measured at

the spot.


16

Methods - Titrimetric and instrumental.

Parameters like temperature, EC,

alkalinity, chloride, sulphate, calcium,

magnesium, sodium, potassium, COD, DO

and BOD of all samples were found to be in

desirable and permissible limit. Chlorides

and TDS of water sample W-01 were found

to be much more. Most of the water

samples were found to be acidic in nature

(Table-1 to 5).

Almost all water samples were

found to be suitable for irrigation purpose.

Table 1 : Assessment of ground water quality of irrigation water samples W-01 to W-05

Table 2: Water classes based on EC (US Salinity Laboratory)

Table 3: Water classes based on concentration of chloride

Parameters Ions BIS limits Results

W-01 W-02 W-03 W-04 W-05

Temperature --- 400C 26.2 28.1 29.0 29.1 27.8

Colour --- --- ----- Colourless and Transparent -----

pH --- 6.5 to 8.5 6.87 6.93 6.60 6.73 6.99

EC (Soluble salts) --- 3000 μS/cm 1580 750 960 1240 850

Alkalinity HCO3

2-, CO

3

2-, OH

- 40 meq/lit 9.44 6.00 9.52 7.48 7.04

Chloride Cl- 6 meq/lit 11.21 5.62 2.20 5.91 2.30

Sulphate SO4

2- 3.5 meq/lit 0.12 0.04 0.02 0.08 0.06

Calcium Ca2+

5 meq/lit 5.0 3.1 3.9 4.8 4.1

Magnesium Mg2+

4 meq/lit 4.0 1.5 2.3 3.1 1.3

Sodium Na+ 8.5 meq/lit 1.00 1.17 0.69 0.60 1.30

SSP Excellent, <20 9.98 20.10 10.01 7.05 19.40

SAR Excellent, <10 0.47 0.77 0.39 0.30 0.79

Potassium K+ 2.5 meq/lit 0.02 0.05 --- --- ---

TDS --- 600 mg/lit 1400 500 400 600 300

COD --- 250 mg/lit 132 116 144 96 148

DO --- 10 mg/lit 2.28 1.84 2.60 2.80 2.56

BOD --- 30 mg/lit 0.52 0.72 1.20 0.24 0.40

Class Water Quality EC (μS/cm) Suitability

C1

C2

C3

C4

Low salinity

Medium salinity

High salinity

Very high

salinity

< 250

250 to 750

750 to 2250

> 2250

Suitable for most soil

Suitable for moderate drainage soil

Unsuitable for restricted drainage soil

Unsuitable for irrigation under average conditions

Class Water Quality Chloride (meq/lit) Sulphate (meq/lit)

C1

C2

C3

Excellent

Good to injurious

Injurious to unsuitable

< 2

2 to 6

> 6

< 4

4 to 12

> 12


17

Table 4: Water classes based on SSP (US Salinity Laboratory)

Table 5: Water classes based on SAR (US Salinity Laboratory)

References 1. O. P. Verma, B. Khanan and S. Shukla,

J. Adv. Appl. Sci. Res., 3(3), 1531 (2012). 2. P. Gupta and M. Vishwakarma, Int. J.

Theor. & Appl. Sci., 1(2), 27 (2009).

3. T. B. Bhattacharya and N. Tuck, Int.

Res. J. Env. Sci., 19(1), 28 (2012).

4. S. M. Shah and N. J. Mistry, J. World

Acad. Sci. Engg. & Tech., 7(7), 1902

(2013).

5. P. Joshi and K. M. Kulkarni, J. Ecobio.,

24(4), 313 (2009).

6. A. J. Dhembare, J. Arch. Appl. Sci. Res.,

4(1), 348 (2012).

7. P. K. Chhonkar, S. P. Datta and H.

Pathak, J. Sci. & Ind. Res., 59, 350 (2000).

8. R. P. Jangir and B. S. Yadav, J. Sci. &

Ind. Res., 70, 622 (2011).

9. Z. Zouyban, J. Engg. Tech. & Appl. Sci.,

2(1), 7 (2012).

10. S. Susheela and K. Jagadish, J. Earth

Sci. & Geotech. Engg., 4(2), 91 (2014).

11. S. K. Pund and S. Tiwari, J. Nature &

Sci., 7(1), 1545 (2009).

Class Water Quality SSP

S1

S2

S3

S4

S5

Excellent

Good

Permissible

Doubtful

Unsuitable

< 20

20 to 40

40 to 60

60 to 80

> 80

Class Water Quality SAR Suitability

S1

S2

S3

S4

Low sodium

Medium sodium

High sodium

Very high sodium

< 10

10 to 18

18 to 26

> 26

Suitable for most soil

Suitable for coarse soil

Unsuitable for coarse soil

Unsuitable for most soil


18

Production of Handmade Paper from Cotton Rags

Mr. Akhilesh A. Puranik, Dr. Sudhir R. Kohchale and Dr. Sushil M. Nagrale

Department of Zoology, Shri Radhakisan Laxminarayan Toshniwal College of Science, Akola,

444 001, INDIA

Production of handmade paper from cotton rags by developing appropriate pulping and paper making

techniques can be used to reduce the amount of paper waste generated by offices, reduce the demand

for paper made from virgin wood fiber, to save our planet earth from global warming, greenhouse effect,

to stop deforestation and to save our forest reserves. Recycling one ton of paper can save 17 trees, 26497

litre of water, 1438 litre of oil, 3.3 cubic yards of landfill space and 4000 KW of energy.

The raw material i.e. cotton rags

can be used for the production of

handmade paper by developing

appropriate techniques of pulping and

paper making. These techniques can be

used for minimizing the paper waste

generated in offices, to reduce the demand

for paper which is made from virgin wood

fiber, to prevent the earth from global

warming, greenhouse effect and also to

stop the deforestation and to save forest

reserves.

The recycling of paper conserves

natural resources as well as save energy. It

reduces greenhouse gas emissions and

keeps landfill space free for other types of

trash that can’t be recycled. Recycling of

one ton of paper can be used to save the

17 trees, 26497 litre of water, 1438 litre of

oil, 3.3 cubic yards of landfill space and

4000 KW of energy which is enough to

power the average Indian home for about

4 months and reduce greenhouse gas

emissions by 1 metric ton of carbon

equivalent.

Benefits of paper recycling

• Use of non wood materials.

• Save trees.

• Pollution free method.

• Use of solar energy.

• Acid free technique.

• Higher tensile, bursting, tearing and

double fold strength as compared to

mill made paper.

• Fine and elegant quality of paper.

Steps involved in paper making

The steps involved in paper making

are rags sorting, rags cutting, pulping,

paper making, paper drying, paper cutting.

Rags sorting - Basic raw material for paper

making is cotton rags. Cotton rags are

waste material from hosiery mills. In rags

sorting unwanted material like button,

hooks, elastic, plastic is removed manually

and only good quality rags are used for

next process.

Rags cutting - Cotton hosiery which comes

from mills is not available in uniform length

so to avoid electric consumption these rags

are chopped into small pieces.

Pulping - In this process pulp is made by

using grinder. Required quality of pulp with

chemicals is made by using this process.


19

Paper making - In this process paper is

made by hand by using vat machine with

teak wood frame and screen.

Paper drying - In this process wet papers

are put for drying using wire ropes and

clips under roof.

Paper cutting - In this process paper is cut

in required size using paper cutting

machine.

Seed paper - Plantable paper is a

biodegradable eco-paper that is made with

post-consumer materials (no trees harmed

for this paper) and embedded with seeds.

When the paper is planted in a pot of soil,

the seeds grow and the paper composts

away. All that is left behind is flowers,

herbs or vegetables and no waste. The

seeds themselves can still germinate after

the papermaking process and they can

sprout when the paper is planted in soil.

Microcontroller Based

Ranging to Assist Blind

Mr. Yash D. Vidyasagar and ProDepartment of Electronics, Shri R

444 001, INDIA

Science is such a field of research wh

it makes our life easy. But what abo

project because this makes life of

Technology Eye enables the blind

accordingly. TechEye will prove to be

Currently blind people

huge problem when they are

place. They have stick in their

helps them a bit. But I modifie

and installed ultrasonic sensor

necessary hardware in it. Whi

blind person more efficiently a

sense the surrounding up to a

meters (which can be extende

need) and the device has pr

best assistant for the blind pe

the real time survey in blind sch

The TechEye enables

person the sense the surround

accordingly. Ones he/she sta

Block diagram of TechEye syst

Working of the system

The system works as giv

• So to help socially I

microcontroller based system.

uses Ultrasonic Waves to dete

around the blind person.

• When there is any kind of

front of the blind person

TechEye, the Ultrasonic Senso

the presence of the obstacle o

Then it calculates the relative d

the help of internal codin

produce different types of au

InfoSCIENCE, Volume

ed TechEye System for Obstacle De

ind Person

Prof. Ram G. Chavan


h which tends to make life of a human comfortable and

about these physically impaired people? I particularly c

of a blind person more efficient. My device TechEye

ind person to get known to his/her surroundings an

to be the best artificial assistant to that blind person.

ple are facing a

are in a public

heir hand which

dified that stick

nsors along with

Which helps the

tly and lets him

to a radius of 2

nded as per the

s proven as the

d person as per

d schools.

bles the blind

ounding and act

starts using it,

they feel no need of human

My first objective is

easy way of detecting obst

people, while walking. Seco

design a low cost i.e

instrument for the blind

they could afford. The d

instrument should be simp

and easy to use for the blin

instrument must give fairly a

while detecting the ob

instrument must work for a

the portable and rechargeab

lastly, the instrument must

and to the fullest possible ut

system for obstacle detection and ranging to assist

s given below.

I designed a

em. The system

detect obstacles

d of obstacle in

on holding the

nsor will detect

le or any object.

ive distance with

oding and will

f audio tones to

give audible alarm to the blin

• In this way a blind perso

system very accurately and e

References

1. D. Gadre, “Program

Customizing the AVR Micro

2. D. J. Pack, “Atmel AVR M

Primer: Programming and

3. “Introduction to AVR M

Atmega8, Atmega16, Atme

4. https://www.microchip.co

website, Atmel Corporatio

me-01, No.-01, 2019

20

Detection and


and less complicated,

rly came up with this

Eye which stands for

and he/she can act

an assistance.

e is to provide an

obstacles to blind

Secondly I had to

i.e. economical

nd people, which

e design of the

simple to operate

blind people. The

rly accurate results

obstacles. The

or a long time on

eable battery. And

ust work long life

e utility.

sist blind person

blind person.

erson can use this

nd effectively.

gramming and

Microcontroller”.

VR Microcontroller

and Interfacing”.

R Microcontrollers,

tmega32 (eBook)”.

ip.com/-dedicated

ration.

Arduino UNO Based A

Across U-Turn

Prof. Dattaraj S. Vidyasagar

Department of Electronics, Sh

444 001, INDIA

Where there is a U-turn either o

to accidents, particularly if the sp

horn and/light while taking the U

avoided using “Accident Avoiding

the typical use of Arduino UNO d

lamp driver circuits and two read

The setup of this s

understood with the help

diagram. Here consider on

mountainous area. The traff

both sides of the road an

disciplined system of traffi

traffic.

Suppose one ve

approaching from bottom

the U-turn and another

approaching from top roa

U-turn simultaneously. Ther

Ultrasonic

Sensor-Bsens

interfac

trigger pulse

echo

pulse

Ultrasonic

Sensor-ASens

interfac

trigger

pulse

echopulse

Block diagram of Arduino UNO

InfoSCIENCE, Volum

d Accident Avoiding System in Mou

gar and Prof. Rajesh D. Chaudhari

s, Shri Radhakisan Laxminarayan Toshniwal College

er on a ground level road or in mountainous area, the p

e speed of vehicles is more, banking of the road is mor

he U-turn on such places. However, the road accidents o

iding System in Mountainous Area Across U-Turn”. The s

NO dev. board along with two ultrasonic sensors, senso

read lamp posts on opposite sides of the U-turn area on

is system can be

help of following

r one U-turn in a

traffic may be from

d and there is no

raffic like one-way

vehicle (A) is

tom road towards

er vehicle (B) is

road towards the

There are two RED

lamp posts fixed at the

U-turn, as shown abov

controlled by sensor-A and

controlled by sensor-B.

vehicles will pass in-fron

the sensor system will

respective Redpost-1 or R

For example, sup

detected by sensor-A, the

the Redpost-1, i.e. th

opposite side of U-turn.

visual alarm to the vehic

other side of the mount

way, vehicle-B will be det

and it will switch on the R

lamppost on opposite sid

This will give a visual alarm

coming from other side of

sensor

nterface-B

Arduino UNO

Dev.Board

A0

an

alo

g

inp

ut

Sensor nterface-A

Lamp Post

DriverCircuit-B

Lamp Post

DriverCircuit-A

D0

dig

ita

l o

utp

ut

A1

an

alo

g

inp

ut

D1

dig

ital

ou

tpu

t

UNO based accident avoiding system in mountainous

olume-01, No.-01, 2019

21

ountainous Area

llege of Science, Akola,

the place becomes prone

more or non-signalling of

nts on such places can be

he suggested system use

ensor interfacing circuits,

on such places.

the starting points of

above. Redpost-1 is

and the Redpost-2 is

B. Whenever the

front of the sensors,

will switch ON the

or Redpost-2.

suppose vehicle-A is

, then it will switch on

the lamppost on

urn. This will give a

ehicle-B coming from

ountain. In the same

detected by sensor-B

the Redpost-2 i.e. the

e side of the U-turn.

alarm to the vehicle-A

e of the mountain.

Redpost-1

Redpost-2

ous area across U-turn


22

Brief working of the system

The working of the system can be

understood by considering two possible

conditions.

1. Only vehicle-A is approaching: In this

case, the US sensor-A will detect the

presence of the vehicle. It will send an

echo pulse to the sensor interface circuit-A.

Then the detected signal will be processed

inside the Arduino UNO dev. board as per

the stored code of the system and will

trigger the Lamp Post Driver Circuit-A. This

will switch on the Redpost-1 to give a visual

alarm on the other side of the mountain.

2. Only vehicle-B is approaching: In this

case, the US sensor-B will detect the

presence of the vehicle. It will send an

echo pulse to the sensor interface circuit-B.

Then the detected signal will be processed

inside the Arduino as per the stored code

of the system and it will trigger the Lamp

Post Driver Circuit-B. So the Redpost-1 will

be switched on to give a visual alarm on

the other side of the mountain.

References

1. J. Blum, “Exploring Arduino: Tools and

Techniques for Engineering Wizardry”,

Wiley Publishers, CA, USA.

2. R. Anderson and D. Cervo, “Pro Arduino:

Arduino Expert Topics and Techniques”,

A press Publishers, NY 10013, USA.

3. S. Panchal, “Mastering Arduino from

Beginners to Core Advance: Learning the

Concept of Physical Computing and

Embedded System”, Kindle Edition,

Amazon.com.

4. www.arduino.cc - dedicated website,

Arduino Inc. Creative Commons.


23

Proficiency Test of OPCW and Role of Chemical Weapons Convention

in the World of Humanity

Prof. Vinod D. Deotale


444 001, INDIA

The Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), which came into force in 1997, prohibits the development,

production, stockpiling and use of chemical weapons, it plays important role in international safety and

security, in present scenario CWC as a tool for combating chemical terrorism. Organization of Prohibition

of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) is technical part of CWC, which technically empowered to the laboratories.

Laboratory gets OPCW designation after accreditation from their respective national body. Getting and

maintaining the designation status of the laboratory and thus will help the country to have a designated

lab for OPCW activities. Safe multistep synthetic capability, analytical skill and advanced sophisticated

spectroscopic instruments makes capable to the laboratory to recognize by OPCW.

Chemical weapons are not new to

mankind and use of poisons is known since

ancient and medieval times. In 1675 of

French-German agreement decided not to

use poisons bullets in war. However, with

development of science, large-scale

production of toxic industrial chemicals

had become feasible. The Brussels

convention on the law and customs of war

(1874) prohibited the employment of

poisons or poisoned weapons and this was

followed by an agreement at the

international peace conference held in The

Hague in 1899 not to use projectiles filled

with chemicals. However, in World War I,

nearly 100,000 tons of chemicals, such as

chlorine, mustard gas and phosgene, were

diploid to kill soldier and civilians, and this

resulted in about 90,000 deaths and over a

million causalities. The horrors of World

War I made every country to think

seriously about prohibiting the use toxic

chemicals in war and this led to the 1925

Geneva Protocol for the Prohibition of the

use of Asphyxiating, poisonous or other

gases and bacteriological methods of

warfare. However the Geneva Protocol

only bans the use of toxic chemicals in war

but does not prohibit the development,

production or possession of such

chemicals. Many states who had signed the

Geneva Protocol had the option of using

them still against countries who had not

signed the protocols. After the World War

II, the Biological Weapons Convention was

initiated and made available for ratification

in the year 1972 and came in to force in

1975. The signatories of the convention

also committed themselves to evolve a

treaty for the prohibition of chemical

weapons. The Chemical Weapons

Convention (CWC) treaty was finalized in

the year 1992 and it prohibits the

development, production, stockpiling and

use of chemical weapons. The CWC treaty

was made open to all the countries in the

following year and came in force in the

Figure 1 : Depiction of the soman

conjugate of acetylcholinesterase. Nerve agents like soman inhibit the normal

actions of acetylcholinesterase, an enzyme

crucial to nervous systems (Protein Data Bank

Structure 2WFZ).


24

year 1997. Till 2016, all countries except

four have ratified this treaty. The state

parties who are signatories of the CWC

have to destroy all the stockpile of

chemical weapons by the year 2007. The

Organization for the Prohibition of

Chemical Weapons (OPCW) was

established at The Hague, The Netherlands

for the implementing the CWC. OPCW is an

international organization in area of arms

control and disarmaments dealing the

chemicals. It oversees the destruction of

stockpiles of chemical weapons and also

plays a major role in the case of alleged use

of toxic chemicals by any country.

Figure 2 : Old chemical munitions (Pierre

Bogaert, SID, Belgium)

One of the obligations of the OPCW

is to designate laboratories from the

member states for the off-site analysis of

chemical weapons and their degradation

products. In this context OPCW has

evolved Proficiency Testing (PT) schemes

with the help of many developed

countries. The purpose of the scheme is to

select, certify and train highly competent

laboratories for the analysis of chemicals

covered under CWC in different matrices at

trace levels. A brief summary of these test

in discussed here.

According to the CWC the potential

chemicals warfare agents and their

precursors have been classified into three

schedules of chemicals.

Schedule 1 includes chemicals that

are developed, produced, stockpiled or

used mainly for purposes other than

peaceful. They are highly toxic and some

examples are the nerve agents such as

Serine, Soman, Tabun, VX, and the blister

agents such as Sulphur Mustards, Nitrogen

Mustards and Lewisites. Schedule 1.A.1

includes approximately 24,000 compounds

and general formula is O-Alkyl (≤C10, incl.

cycloalkyl) alkyl (Me, Et, n-Pr or i-Pr)-

phosphonofluoridates. Schedule 1.A.2

includes approximately 60,000 chemical

compounds and general formula is O-Alkyl

(≤C10, incl. cycloalkyl) N,N-dialkyl (Me, Et,

n-Pr or i-Pr)-phosphoramidocyanidates.

Schedule 1.A.3 includes approximately

2400,000 chemical compounds and general

formula is O-Alkyl (H or ≤C10, incl.

cycloalkyl) S-2-dialkyl (Me, ET, n-Pr or i-Pr)-

aminoethyl alkyl (Me, ET, n-Pr or i-Pr)-

phosphonothiolates and corresponding

alkylated or protonated salts. Schedule

1.B.10 includes approximately 2400,000

chemical compounds and general formula

is O-Alkyl (H or ≤C10, incl. cycloalkyl) O-2-

dialkyl (Me, ET, n-Pr or i-Pr)-aminoethyl

alkyl alkyl (Me, Et, n-Pr or i-Pr)-

phosphonites and corresponding alkylated

or protonated salts.

Schedule 2 lists toxic chemicals that

are Amiton, PFIB and BZ, plus degradation

products and precursors of toxic chemicals

contained in Schedule 1 and 2. Schedule

2.B.4 compounds are millions. Chemicals

except for those listed in Schedule 1,

containing a phosphorous atom to which is

bonded one methyl, ethyl or propyl

(normal or iso) group but not further

carbon atoms such as methylphosphonyl

dichloride, dimethylphosphonate.

Schedule 3 lists four toxic chemicals

and thirteen precursors that are not listed

in the other two schedules and are

generally produced in large quantities for

purposes not prohibited under CWC such

as phosgene (COCl2), chloropicrin


25

(CCl3NO2), cyanogens chloride (ClCN) and

hydrogen cyanide (HCN).

Any laboratory who is seeking

designation status should be capable of

analyzing the above said compounds in

trace level (5-10 parts per million) and in

presence of various interfering matrices

such as mineral oil, sand, water, paints,

solvents, plastic materials, etc. The data

should be generated and reported within

15 calendar days as per the approved

guidelines and it should be unambiguous.

In order to fulfill these criteria and give

designation status to interested

laboratories, OPCW conducts two

proficiency test every year with the help of

designated laboratories, strictly following

the approved guidelines. Sample

preparation laboratory spikes the schedule

compounds, degradation products and

precursor in three different matrices at

1-10 nppm level. The spiking compounds

are selected based on the advice of OPCW.

In order to duplicate the scenario and also

to make the test more challenging,

masking chemicals such as diesel, poly

ethylene glycol and other similar chemicals

are also added in the matrices. Control

matrices with or without masking

chemicals for each matrices are also made

by the sample preparation laboratory. The

sample preparation laboratory also carries

out stability studies on the test samples. In

general three matrices are selected for

each test and different nature and number

of test chemicals are spiked. The number

and nature of test chemicals added to the

matrices are not known to the participating

laboratories. The day on which a

participating laboratory receives the

samples is taken as the starting day for the

corresponding laboratory. Each

participating laboratory has to complete

the analysis of the test samples within 15

days and send the report latest by 15th day

from the date of receipt of the samples.

The reports are evaluated by the

evaluating laboratory strictly following the

approved guidelines. A participating

laboratory gets ‘A’ grade when it identifies

all the spiked chemicals correctly with

sufficient analytical data. It gets ‘B’ grade

one of the spiking chemicals is not

identified. If two or upto less than half the

number of spiking chemicals are not

identified then the laboratory gets ‘C’

grade. If at least half of the chemicals are

not identified then the laboratory gets ‘D’

grade. ‘F’ grade is given to the laboratory

which reports an irrelevant chemical or a

false positive chemical or no report has

been submitted within the test timeline.

Sufficient analytical data is essential for

scoring. Identification compounds has to

be supported by at least two analytical

techniques such as, gas chromatography

(GC), high pressure liquid chromatography

(HPLC), mass spectrometry (MS), GC-EIMS,

GC-CIMS, NMR Spectroscopy, IR

spectroscopy, etc. Approved analytical data

provided by OPCW for different technique

can be used for comparison of the data

generated for the spiked chemical. If data

are not available then one has to

synthesize the suspect compound within

the test timeline and prove its structure

beyond doubt. A laboratory which receives

three consecutive ‘A’ grades or two ‘A’ and

one ‘B’ grade can apply for designation

status after getting accreditation from their

respective national body.

References

1. A. Verweij, C. E. A. M. Degenhardt and

H. L Boter, Chemosphere., 8, 115

(1979).

2. A. Kuksis and Vswakarma, Can. J.

Biochem. Physiol., 41, 2353 (1963).

3. L. Konopski, P. Liu, W. Wuryani and M.

Uliwakowski, The Scientific World J.,

542357, 25 (2014).

4. P. A. D’Agostino, J. R. Hancock and C. L.

Chenier, “Technical Report, DRDC

Suffield TR”, 097 (2005).


26

5. I. Jane and B. B. Wheals, J. Chromatogr.,

70, 151 (1972).

6. OPCW, The Hague, The Netherlands,

Fact sheet 4 (2017).

7. “Handbook - Chemical weapons

convention for Indian chemical

industry and chemical traders”,

Department of Chemicals and

Petrochemicals, Ministry of Chemicals

and Fertilizers, Govt. of India, New

Delhi (2010).

8. A. Lele “Challenges for the Chemical

Weapons Convention (CWC)”, Strategic

Analysis, 35(5), 752 (2011).

9. E. R. J. Wils and A. G. Hulst, J.

Chromatogr., 523, 151 (1990).


27

Significance of Pollen Study

Dr. Anjali A. Sangole

Department of Botany, Shri Radhakisan Laxminarayan Toshniwal College of Science, Akola,

444 001, INDIA

Pollen is the most known and remarkable subject of study. Through microscope, the individual grains of

pollen from different species can look like soccer balls, sponges, padded cushions, coffee beans or burr

balls from the sweetgum tree. Palynology is a useful tool for survey of atmospheric pollen and spore

production and dispersal, study of human allergies, archaeological excavation of shipwrecks and detailed

analysis of animal diets. Entomopalynology is the study of pollen found on the body or in the gut of

insects. Forensic palynology is used by Crime Scene Investigators around the world. The first time police

used pollen to solve a crime was in Austria in 1959.

Pollen is merely the best known

subject of study and the most remarkable.

Under a microscope, the individual grains

of pollen from different species can look

like soccer balls, sponges, padded cushions,

coffee beans or burr balls from the

sweetgum tree. Pollen surfaces are

covered with intricate geometric patterns,

all spikes, warts and reticulations. Pollen

has a sturdy, cuticular outer wall, called the

exine, and a delicate cellulose inner wall,

the intine. Both serve to protect the sperm

nucleus on the sometimes harrowing trip

by way of a bats nose or honey bees hind

end, from the male anther to the female

stigma (the spikes and the other surfaces

ornaments help the pollen hang on but

other kinds of pollen have wing like

structure for riding on the wind). The intine

soon decays. The exine not only survives this

trip, but if buried quickly, can last almost

forever, preserve in the fossil records.

The science of interpreting this

evidence is called palynology, from the

Greek meaning “the study of scattered

dust”. Because this branch of science also

encompasses spores, cysts and other

microscopic residues of ferns, fungi,

mosses, algae and even some animals. As

scientific evidence, pollen has the

advantage of being widely distributed,

produced in vast quantities “pollen rain”,

relatively easy for an expert to sort by

species and extraordinarily resistant to

decay.

Palynology is a useful tool in many

applications, including a survey of

atmospheric pollen and spore production

and dispersal (aerobiology), in the study of

human allergies, the archaeological

excavation of shipwrecks and detailed

analysis of animal diets. Entomopalynology

is the study of pollen found on the body or

in the gut of insects. It is useful for

determining insect feeding and migratory

habits, especially as it involves

economically important insects (as the boll

weevil or earwigs). Forensic palynology or

the use of pollen analysis in the solving of

crimes is used by Crime Scene Investigators

around the world.

The first time police used pollen to

solve a crime was in Austria in 1959. A

forensic scientist studying the mud on a

murder suspect’s boot found what turned

out to be a 20-million-year-old pollen grain

from a hickory tree. That species no longer

grew in Austria then but investigators were

able to locate a Miocene sediment outcrop


28

on the Danube River, from which such a

pollen grain could have become recycled

into the environment.

But for an impressive, if less

sensational, variety of purposes other than

forensics, pollen analysis has become a

standard tool. Government agencies

analyse the pollen content of fake Viagra

and other prescription drugs to determine

where they came from. Museums use

pollen to authenticate paintings by master

artists. Oil companies study fossil pollen to

locate hydrocarbon deposits.

Archaeologists study pollen to learn how

ancient human communities used plants,

and even the seasons at which they

occupied a particular site. Paleobotanists

study pollen evidence to reconstruct

former environments, thousands or even

millions of years into the past.

What studying pollen gives

scientists, in other words, is the means to

do what the poet William Blake once has

imagined -

To see a world in a grain of sand,

And a heaven in wild flower,

Hold infinity in the palm of your hand,

And eternity in an hour

Morning glory of Ipomea Sp.


29

Insect World - Diversity of Insects Thrips

Dr. Sushil M. Nagrale

Department of Zoology, Shri Radhakisan Laxminarayan Toshniwal College of Science, Akola,

444 001, INDIA

Thrips are minute insects which are usually a few millimeters long. It has fringed, banded wings as well as

asymmetrical sucking and piercing mouthparts in which only the left-hand side mandible is developed.

They enjoy a wide range of distribution, habits and ecological habitat most of them are phytophagous,

very few are predaceous feeding on mites, scales, pscoids and ericoccids respectively. While mycophagous

or fungus feeding thrips are more common. Order Thysanoptera divided into two suborders i.e.

Terebrantia and Tubulifera. The thrips shows many peculiarities in their behavior and life history.

Thrips are minute insects which are

usually a few millimeters long. In spite of

their small size, unattractive colouration

and obscure habit, thrips are endowed

with remarkable structural peculiarities

unobserved among the other insects. The

majority of the species has fringed, banded

wings as well as asymmetrical sucking and

piercing mouthparts in which only the left-

hand side mandible is developed.

They are distributed worldwide

predominating in tropical, subtropical, and

temperate regions. They enjoy a wide

range of distribution, habits and ecological

habitat. They occur on the tender,

succulent parts of the plants, or under the

barks of dead and drying twigs or among

decaying leaves of grass, feeding on fungus

spores and hypae. Some of them produce

and inhibit plant galls, while others are

inquilines living inside galls of thrips or

other insects. Though most of them are

phytophagous, very few are predaceous

feeding on mites, scales, pscoids and

ericoccids respectively. While mycophagous

or fungus feeding thrips are more

common. They feed on the spore of wheat

rust and coffee leaf rust and little other

plant infected fungus. A large number of

species are considered pest, because they

feed on plant with commercial value, while

some acts as a vectors of plants virus and

bacterial diseases. While some act as

predators of crop pests and also serve as

weed control agents.

In 1744, De Geer first described

these insects as Physapus, based on their

several unique and striking features, such

as nature of wing with long, fine fringes

along their margins, possessing

characteristic feeding apparatus, with a

striking asymmetry of component mouth

parts, vestigial right mandible, protrusible

bladder like structure at the end of tarsus

or physopoda, and the occurrence of a

prepupal stage during metamorphosis.

In 1836, Haliday ranked these

insects to the Order Thysanoptera, and

Linnaeus placed the species in a genus

called as Thrips. The species, however,

posses some common characteristics such

as fringed wings and bladder feet, which

have made them inclusion in the order

Thysanoptera, derived from the Greek

word meaning thysanos (fringe) and

pterons (wing). The common name thrips is

also derived from the Greek, meaning

wood louse. Other common names for

thrips include thunderflies, thunderbugs,

storm flies, thunderblight and corn lice.

Classification Diversity

Order Thysanoptera divided into two

suborders i.e. Terebrantia and Tubulifera.

Thrips belonging to Terebrantia posses a

distinct saw like ovipositor, fore wings

with a system of veins and sometime cross

veins, a distinct chaetotaxi and 2 to 8

segmented maxillary palp and the

maxillary stylate confined to the mouth

cone. Tubulifera are so called because the


30

10th abdominal segment is drawn into a

tube and in the species of this suborder the

ovipositor is internal and flexible structure.

The four wings without a system of veins,

cross veins and setae, the fringes nearly

straight, never wavy, maxillary palp always

two segmented and maxillary stylate always

retracted far back into head. Sigmoid setae

are also present on the abdominal tergites

to hold the wings while at rest.

The current list of the thrips in the

world contains about 7400 species and

1200 types are placed in a single order

Thysanoptera with nine families, eight of

these belonging to Terebrantia

(Uzelothripidae, Merothripidae,

Aeothripidae, Melanthripidae,

Adiheterothripiade, Faurillidae,

Heterothripidae, Thripidae) and Tubulifera

includes only a single family the

Phlaeothripidae. From India, more than

400 species of Thrips belonging to about

200 genera have so far been described by

various authors.

The suborder Tubulifera comprises

a single family, the Phlaeothripidae with

about 3500 described species, whereas the

suborder Terebrantia comprises about

2400 species in eight families.

Phlaeothripidae comprise two

subfamilies. The smaller subfamily,

Idolothripinae, includes fungal feeding

species which commonly exhibit

remarkable structural polymorphisms, both

within and between sexes, presumably

monophyletic, whereas Phlaeothripinae is

presumably paraphyletic with respect to

the larger group Species of Phlaeothripidae

are particularly diverse in their biologies. In

the Phlaeothripinae, are essentially fungus

feeders, presumably on fungal hyphae.

Whereas Idolothripinae are all considered

to feed on fungal spores having a

specialized spore-crushing device in foregut.

The morphosystematics of sub

family Idolothripinae comprise about 700

species in 160 genera, which have been

examined extensively. In contrast, the

relationships amongst the 2800 species

and 370 genera of sub family

Phlaeothripinae remain unclear.

Phlaeothripidae thrips shows various

stages of wing polymorphism.

Macropterous forms have long, fully

developed wings whereas micropterous

forms, which are rare, have shorter but

fully developed wings and brachypterous

forms always have wing pads representing

the fore wings but there may be no trace

left of the hind wings.

Morphological Diversity

In Thysanoptera, particularly in

Tubuliferan thrips oedymerism and

gynaecoidism types of structural variation

occur. Males tend to have a wider range of

atypical developmental variation than do

the females. Perhaps the female is less

subject to extraordinary body

development; in order that she may be

better able in disseminate eggs for the

assured continuance of the species.

Regardless of the reasons, females are

more often normal and winged. Individuals

are said to be minor forms if they are no

more developed than is the minimum for

the species. This is the normal form, the

gynaecoid form. A heavier, stouter-bodied

individual can be termed major form. In

particular the head, fore legs and

prothorax are greatly enlarged and

appendages or stout spines may develop

on various parts of the body including the

abdo men. These are the bizarre forms, the

oedymerous forms.


31

Behavioral and Life History

The thrips shows many peculiarities

in their behaviour and life history. These

thrips are found in leaf litter, on dead

branches, and on dead hanging leaves, and

the species on dead branches and in

bunches of dead leaves sometimes

produce colonies of hundreds of

individuals. Thrips are most diverse in

tropical areas, particularly the wet tropics,

and only a few species occur in temperate

parts of the world, and very few in arid

areas. Some of the larger species exhibit

sub-social behaviour, with males

competing with each other to protect

particular egg masses, and ovoviviparity

occurs in some species.

Most of the fungivorous thrips live

in aggregations. Eggs, young and adults

may be observed together, yet there does

not seem to be any social organization.

Perhaps in some of these groups

communication may be made by sounds

undetectable by the human ear. They are

very susceptible to environmental changes

and can survive only particular climatic or

microclimatic situation and requiring

proper conditions of the temperature and

humidity. Their abundance could be

correlated with types of plant formation

and food viability. Some time they undergo

hibernation or aestivation during their

developmental stages. Some species of

thrips also occurs on dead, decaying

vegetation and on the leaf litter surface.

Some species of thrips express a

specific matting behavior. In mating the

male grasps the female around the

pterothorax and mounts her. He then trails

his abdomen to one side. When in this

position both twist the terminal segments

of the abdomen sideways for copulation.

Except for a limited number of genera in

the Megathripinae (Idolothripinae), the

larvae hatch from deposited eggs. Few

genera related to Idolothripinae do not lay

eggs but give birth to active young.

References

1. T. N. Ananthakrishnan, Opusc.

Entomol. Suppl. 25, 1 (1964).

2. T. N. Anathakrishnan, Oriental Ins.,

2(1), 41 (1968).

3. T. N. Anathakrishnan, “Indian

Thysanoptera”, CSIR Zoological

Monograph No. 1 (1969).

4. T. N. Ananthakrishnan, “Bioecology of

Thrips”, Indira Publishing House, Oak

Park, Michigan (1984).

5. T. N. Anathakrishnan and S. Sen,

“Taxonomy of Indian Thysanoptera”,

Zoological Survey of India (Handbook

Series), 1, 1 (1980).

6. R. F. Chapman, “The Insects, Structure

and Functio”, University Press,

Cambride (1998).

7. S. Kumm, “Reproduction, Progenesis and

Embryogenesis of Thrips (Thysanoptera,

Insecta)”, Developmental Biology,

University of Halle-Wittenbreg, Halle

(2002).

8. T. Lewis, “Thrips as crop pests”, CAB

International, Owon, New York (1997).

9. L. A. Mound, “Biological Diversity. In:

Lewis, T. Thrips as Crop Pests”. CAB

International Oxon, New York (1997).

10. L. A. Mound, Annu. Rev. Entomol., 50,

247 (2005).

11. L. A. Mound, Zootaxa., 53, 1604 (2007).


32

Microwave Synthesis - A Potential Tool for Green Chemistry

Dr. Ashish G. Sarap


444 001, INDIA

Ideally, the application of green chemistry principles and practices renders regulation, control, clean-up,

and remediation of the environment. Green chemistry can diminish the need for other approaches to

environmental protection. Basic principle behind the heating in a microwave oven resides to the

interaction of the charged particles of the reaction material with electromagnetic waves of particular

frequency. The phenomena of producing heat by electromagnetic irradiation are either by collision or by

conduction and sometimes even by both. All the wave energy changes its polarity from positive to

negative with each cycle of the wave. This causes a rapid orientation and reorientation of molecules,

resulting to heating by collision. Current microwave reactors are able to translate small scale microwave

chemistry from milligram or gram scale to multi-kilogram scale using batch or continuous-flow

processing. However, many of the benefits of small scale microwave chemistry are lost when the

processes performed in larger batch reactors.

Microwave irradiation (MWI) has

become an established tool in chemical

synthesis because of the rate

enhancements, higher yields and often

improved selectivity with respect to the

conventional reaction conditions. In recent

years, solvent free reactions using either

organic or inorganic solid supports have

received increasing attention. There are

several advantages of performing synthesis

in dry media, (1) short reaction times, (2)

increased safety, (3) economic advantages

due to the absence of solvent. In addition,

solvent free MWI processes are also clean

and efficient. Synthesis of new chemical

entities is a major bottleneck in drug

discovery. Conventional methods for

various chemical syntheses are very well

documented and practiced. The methods

for synthesis of chemical compounds have

continuously been modified throughout

the decades. Now a day’s the microwave

technique is considered as an important

approach toward green chemistry, because

this technique is more environment

friendly. This technology is still under-used

in the laboratory and has the potential to

have a large impact on the fields of

screening, combinatorial chemistry,

medicinal chemistry and drug

development. Due to its ability to couple

directly with the reaction molecule and

by-passing thermal conductivity leading to

a rapid rise in the temperature, microwave

irradiation has been used to improve many

organic syntheses.

The concepts of atom economy and

energy factors have eventually become

guiding 11 principles of green chemistry.

These are embodied in the “12 Principles

of Green chemistry” which are as follows -

• Prevention of waste

• Atom economy

• Less hazardous chemical syntheses

• Design safer chemicals

• Safer solvents and auxiliaries

• Design for energy efficiency

• Use renewable feedstocks

• Reduce derivatives

• Catalysis

• Design for degradation

• Real-time analysis for pollution

prevention

• Inherently safer chemistry for accident

prevention

Microwave heating and principle - The

basic principle behind the heating in a

microwave oven resides to the interaction

of the charged particles of the reaction

material with electromagnetic waves of

particular frequency. The phenomena of

producing heat by electromagnetic

irradiation are either by collision or by


33

conduction, sometimes even by both. All

the wave energy changes its polarity from

positive to negative with each cycle of the

wave. This causes a rapid orientation and

reorientation of molecules, resulting to

heating by collision. If the charged particles

of the material are free to travel through

the material (e.g. electron in a sample of

carbon), a current will be induced which

will travel in phase with the field. If the

charged particles are bound within regions

of the material, the electric field

component will cause them to move until

opposing force balances the electric force.

Microwave for synthesis - In 19th century

the Bunsen burner was later superseded by

the isomantle, oil bath or hot plate as a

source of applying heat to a chemical

reaction. In the past few years, heating

chemical reactions by microwave energy

has been an increasingly popular theme in

the scientific community. Since the first

published reports on the use of microwave

irradiation to carry out organic chemical

transformations by the groups of Gedye,

more than 5000 articles have been

published in this fast moving and exciting

field, today generally referred to as

microwave assisted organic synthesis. In

the early days of microwave synthesis,

experiments were typically carried out in

sealed Teflon or glass vessels in a domestic

household microwave oven without any

temperature or pressure measurements.

Kitchen microwave ovens are not designed

for the rigors of laboratory usage - acids

and solvents corrode the interiors quickly

and there are no safety controls. The

results were often violent explosions due

to the rapid uncontrolled heating of

organic solvents under closed vessel

conditions. In the 1990's several groups

started to experiment with solvent-free

microwave chemistry (so-called dry-media

reactions), which eliminated the danger of

explosions. Here, the reagents were pre

adsorbed onto either a more or less

microwave transparent inorganic support

(i.e., silica, alumina or clay) or a strongly

absorbing one (i.e., graphite) that

additionally may have been doped with a

catalyst or reagent. In many of the

published examples, microwave heating

has been shown to dramatically reduce

reaction times, increase product yields and

improve product purities by reducing

unwanted side reactions compared to

conventional heating methods. The

advantages of this enabling technology

have more recently, also been exploited in

the context of multistep total synthesis and

medicinal chemistry / drug discovery and

have additionally penetrated related fields

such as polymer synthesis, material

sciences, nanotechnology and biochemical

processes. The use of microwave

irradiation in chemistry has thus become

such a popular technique in the scientific

community that it might be assumed that,

in a few years, most chemists will probably

use microwave energy to heat chemical

reactions on a laboratory scale. The

statement that, in principle, any chemical

reaction that requires heat can be

performed under microwave conditions

has today been generally accepted as a fact

by the scientific community.

Perspectives - The term “Green Chemistry”

is defined as the invention, design and

application of chemical products and

processes to reduce or eliminate the use

and generation of hazardous substances.

Green chemistry can diminish the need for

other approaches to environmental

protection. Ideally, the application of green

chemistry principles and practices renders

regulation, control, clean-up, and

remediation of the environment. Thus its

benefits can be expressed in terms of

economic impact. Current microwave

reactors are able to translate small scale

microwave chemistry from milligram or

gram scale to multi-kilogram scale using

batch or continuous-flow processing.


34

However, many of the benefits of small

scale microwave chemistry are lost when

the processes performed in larger batch

reactors. The second disadvantage is

equipment cost. Although the cost of

microwave reactors have dramatically

reduced in recent years, the current price

range is still many times higher than that of

conventional heating equipment,

considerably limiting the uptake of this

valuable technology.

In the future, with lower costs,

microwave synthesizers will become an

integral part of and a standard technology

in most synthetic laboratories and will

continually make valuable impact on both

organic synthesis and drug discovery.

References 1. P. T. Anastas and J. C. Warner, “Green

Chemistry, Theory and Practices”,

Oxford University Press, Oxford (1998).

2. M. Lancaster, “Green Chemistry : An

Introductory Text”, The Royal Society

of Chemistry, London (2002).

3. A. K. Nagariya, A. K. Meena Kiran, A. K.

Yadav, U. S. Niranjan, A. K. Pathak, B.

Singh and M. M. Rao, J. Pharm. Res.,

3(3), 575 (2010).

4. F. Toda, Acc. Chem. Res., 28, 480 (1995).

5. M. Kidwai, R. Venkataraman and B.

Dave, Green Chem., 3, 278 (2001).

6. D. Stuerga and P. Gaillard., Tetrahedron,

52, 5505 (1996).

7. M. Kidwai and P. Sapra, Synthesis, 10,

1509 (2001).

8. M. Kidwai, Pure Appl. Chem., 73, 147

(2001).

9. M. Csiba, J. Cleophax, A. Loupy, J.

Malthete and S. D. Gero, Tetrahedron

Lett., 34, 1787 (1993).

10. R. S. Varma, R. K. Saini and R. Dahiya.,

Tetrahedron Lett., 38, 7823 (1997).

Acacia Arabica (Lam

Diseases

Dr. Pramod M. Khadse

Department of Botany, Shri

444 001, INDIA

Acacia is the most significant g

‘Babool’ in India and ethnomedi

and tooth problems. Its scienti

gomifera, babul, babul acacia, ar

acacia. Worldwide, there are rou

and rest of spread around tropi

genus were reported in India.

Acacia is the most si

of family : Leguminosae

described by Linnaeus in

estimated that there are

species of Acacia worldwid

third of them native to Austr

spread around tropical a

regions of the world (Mas

Gamble, (1918) have repor

40 species of this genus in In

of Madras Presidency'.

Acacia species a

known as ‘Babool’ in

ethnomedicinally have long

the treatment of skin, sexua

tooth problems. Acacia nil

syn. Acacia arabica

(Mimosaceae) commonly kn

InfoSCIENCE, Volum

amk.), Rarely Used Medicinal Plant Ag

hri Radhakisan Laxminarayan Toshniwal College

nt genus of family: Leguminosae. Acacia species are c

edicinally have long been used for the treatment of s

entific name is Acacia arabica (L.) Delile and commo

, arabic tree, Indian gum-arabic-tree, gum arabic tree, t

roughly 1380 species of Acacia, about two-third of the

ropical and subtropical regions of the world. More th

st significant genus

osae, first of all

s in 1773. It is

are roughly 1380

dwide, about two-

ustralia and rest of

l and subtropical

Maslin B.R. et al).

eported more than

in India in his 'Flora

are commonly

in India and

long been used for

exual, stomach and

a nilotica (L.) Del.

(Lam.) Willd.

ly known as babul,

kikar or Indian gum Arab

recognized worldwide as

tree. It is widely distribute

and semi-arid zones of t

arabica has been prov

medicine in treatment

throat (aerial part) and

(Chopra R.N. et al) have

fertility activity of A. arabic

The methanolic

arabica pods have been

HIV-PR (Hussein G. et a

group of researchers

antiplasmodial activity of

acetate extract ag

chloroquine resistant and

of Plasmodium falciparum

parts of this species have

be most active against He

is an important multipurp

been used extensively for

various diseases e.g. c

diarrhoea, dysentery, bilio

piles and leucoderma.

Scientific name : Acacia ar

Common names : Acacia

babul acacia, arabic tr

arabic-tree, gum arab

mimosa, thorny acacia.

Morphological description

or tree, 2.5-10 (-20) m tall

aspects. Branches - spre

dense flat or rounded cro

olume-01, No.-01, 2019

35

t Against Various

ege of Science, Akola,

re commonly known as

of skin, sexual, stomach

mon names are Acacia

e, thorn-mimosa, thorny

them native to Australia

e than 40 species of this

Arabic tree has been

e as a multipurpose

buted throughout arid

of the world. Acacia

proved as effective

nt of malaria; sore

and toothache (bark)

ave tested the anti-

rabica pods and nuts.

lic extracts of A.

een claimed against

t al). Currently, one

rs has tested the

y of A. nilotica ethyl

against different

and sensitive strains

arum. The fresh plant

ave been reported to

st Hepatitis C virus. It

purpose tree that has

y for the treatment of

g. colds, bronchitis,

biliousness, bleeding

ia arabica (L.) Delile

acia gomifera, babul,

tree, Indian gum-

rabic tree, thorn-

tion : Perennial shrub

tall, variable in many

spreading, forming a

d crown with dark to


36

black coloured stems; branchlets - purple-

brown, shortly or densely pubescent, with

lenticels. Bark - thin, rough, fissured, deep

red-brown. Spines (thorns) - thin, straight,

light-grey in axillary pairs, usually in 3-12

pairs, 5-7.5 cm long in young trees, mature

trees commonly without thorns. Leaves -

bipinnate 30-40 mm long, often with 1-2

petiolar glands and other glands between all

or only the uppermost pinnae; pinnae 2-11

(-17) pairs, with 7-25 pairs of leaflets (1.5-7

mm long) per pinnae. Peduncles clustered

at nodes of leafy and leafless branchlets.

Flowers - prolific, golden yellow, in globulus

heads 1.2-1.5 cm in diameter. Pods -

straight or slightly curved, 5-15 cm long on a

pedicel, 0.5-1.2 cm wide, with constrictions

between the seeds giving the appearance of

a string of pearls, fleshy when young,

indehiscent, becoming black and hard at

maturity. Seeds - deep blackish-brown,

smooth, sub-circular, compressed areole

6-7 mm long, 4.5-5 mm wide.

Ethnobotanical Studies : The part of the

tree finds use in diabetes, skin diseases and

leucorrhoea. These are also used as an

antidiarrhoeal, antidysenteric, antidiabetic.

The stem bark is astringent, demulcent

used in diarrhoea, dysentery, diabetes as

astringent, antihelmentic, in skin disease,

cough and bleeding piles, gonorrhoea and

as an antiasthmatic. The tender twigs are

used as toothbrushes while the thorns are

used for joints pains. The gum is used in

diarrhoea, dysentery and diabetes, dry

cough in amoebic dysentery, as a tonic,

antiasthmatic analgesic and in oral cavity

lesions. Pharmacologically, GA has been

claimed to act as an anti-oxidant, and to

protect against experimental hepatic, renal

and cardiac toxicities in rats. These reports

could not be confirmed by others (Tripathi

R. N. et al).

The flowers are reported to reduce

the body temperature. These are also used

in earache and as a tonic, antidiarrhoeal,

antidysentary. The fruits are found to be

useful in diarrhoea, dysentery and

diabetes. The pods are use for impotency,

urino-genital disorder and in dry cough.

Pharmacological and Biological Studies :

Acacia nilotica (Linn.) Willd. Ex Delile ssp.

Indica (Benth.) Breanan syn. A. arabica

sensu Baker (major part); A. arabica auct.

Antidiabetic : Wadood et al., demonstrated

that Acacia arabica seeds contained a

substance(s) which depressed the blood

glucose level in normoglycemic but not in

alloxan-diabetic rabbits, suggesting that

the mechanism of action involved release

of insulin from pancreatic beta-cells. The

bark in the form of decoction (20 mg/kg) as

well as the standard drug talbutamide

produced a significant reduction in blood

glucose levels in mild alloxonised diabetic

rabbits fasted for 18 hr. The A. nilotica ssp.

Indica fed for one week were found to

exhibit hypoglycaemic effect (blood sugar

lowered by 25.05%,) in normal rats, but did

not show any significant hypoglycaemic

effect in alloxanised diabetic rats (blood

sugar lowered by 2.14%). The

hypoglycaemic effect of the legumes was

due to its direct or indirect stimulation of

β-cells of islets of langerhans to secrete

more insulin (Singh K.N. et al).

Antimutagenic : The methanolic extract of

the bark decreased the UV-induced

mutagenicity using the Escherichia coli

WP-2 in a dose of 5 mg/plate. This

decrease might be due to some enzymatic

action which reverted the formation of

pyrimidine dimmers (Jain A.K. et al).

Antifertility : The aqueous extract of the

flowers shoed 11.5 % abortifacient activity

in rats. It was further screened for

teratological abnormalities in failure cases

(where pregnancy was not prevented) in

pregnant rats. The foetuses showed gross

external morphological and skeletal defects.

Extract of stem bark at 2% concentration

revealed semen coagulant activity in a

preliminary screening (Bhatt B.P. et al).


37

Nutritional Value : Leaves contain 2.2-2.6%

N, 16.9-20.0% NDF, 13.3-14.1% ADF, 7.2-

8.7 MJ/kg energy, 10-21% crude fibre and

6-9% condensed tannins. Pod and seed

contain 1.6-2.2% N, 10 MJ/kg energy, 12-

18% crude fibre and 4-7% condensed

tannins. Pods alone contain 2% N, 25%

NDF, 17% ADF. In digestibility trials

conducted in Zimbabwe, of several species

browse species tested, intake of A. nilotica

was the lowest. Nutritional value of the

refined seed oils is done by rat bioassay

and using peanut oil as control. The

animals fed on 10 % seed oil diet showed

poor growth performance and low feed

efficiency ratio (Maity et al).

Abortifacient Activity : Aqueous or 90 %

ethanol extracts of the plants of interest

were studied in rats orally dosed for 10

days after insemination with special

reference to effects on foetal

development. Leaf extracts of Moringa

oleifera and Adhatoda vasica were 100%

abortive at doses equivalent to 175 mg/kg

of starting dry material. Only the flowers of

Acacia arabica and Hibiscus rosa-sinensis

appeared to lack teratologic potential at

the doses tested (Nath D. et al).

References 3. B. R. Maslin, J. T. Miller and D. S.

Seigle, Australian Sys. Bot., 16(1), 1

(2003).

2. R. N. Chopra, S. L. Nayar and I. C.

Chopra, “Glossary of Indian medicinal

plants”, CSIR, New Delhi, 1999, 2

(1956).

3. R. N. Tripathi, D. K. Pandey, N. N.

Tripathi and S. N. Dixit, Indian

Phytopathol., 35, 346 (1982).

4. K. N. Singh, V. Chandra and K. C.

Barthwal, Indian J. Physiol. Pharmacol.,

19, 167 (1975).

5. A. K. Jain, K. Shimoi, Y. Nakamura, T.

Kada and I. Tomita, Curr. Sci., 56, 1266

(1987).

6. B. P. Bhatt and M. S. Panwar, J. Econ.

Phytochem., 1, 33 (1990).

7. D. Nath, N. Sethi, R. K. Singh and A. K.

Jain, J. Ethnopharmaco., 36, 147

(1992).

Light Pollution - Effects

Dr. Rajendra L. RahatgaonkarDepartment of Zoology, Shri Ra

444 001, INDIA

Our bodies act according to a very

bodies sleep and produce various ch

fighting chemical that is best produc

levels of melatonin appear to redu

cancer. It is time to take action ag

ourselves, our loved ones and our en

Humans tend to think

health-giving and, to a very gre

is. However, humans have a lo

living in darkness at night, a f

human body has adapted t

millions of years we have b

planet. It is only within the

that humans have begun to

environment that has seen

amount of light at night, an inc

period of time for our bodies

this new nighttime’s enviro

bodies act according to a very a

known as the circadian rhythm

which our bodies sleep an

various chemicals to help us s

such chemical is melatonin,

fighting chemical that is best

the darkness of night. Resear

that reductions in the levels o

appear to reduce the body’s ab

cancers such as breast and pros

InfoSCIENCE, Volume

cts on Health

kar

i Radhakisan Laxminarayan Toshniwal College of

ery ancient cycle known as the circadian rhythm, a c

s chemicals to help us survive. One such chemical is me

duced in the darkness of night. Research indicates that

reduce the body’s ability to fight cancers such as bre

n against the waste and trespass of nightlight and in

r environment from the danger in the light!

hink of light as

great degree, it

a long history of

, a fact that the

d to over the

e been on this

the last century

to live in an

seen increasing

incredibly short

dies to adjust to

vironment. Our

ery ancient cycle

ythm, a cycle in

and produce

us survive. One

nin, a cancer-

est produced in

search indicates

els of melatonin

’s ability to fight

prostate cancer,

both of which have seen

increases in industrialized na

night lights. CBC News has

Danish government has

compensate women who de

cancer after long spells of

shifts.

The American Medic

recently accepted a propos

light pollution policy an

unanimously. Resolution 5

American Medical Associa

advocate that all future outd

of energy efficient designs to

of energy and production

gasses that result from this

use; (2) support light pollu

efforts and glare reduction

the national and state level

support efforts to ensur

streetlights be of a fully shie

similar non-glare design to

safety of our roadways

especially vision impaired

drivers. (Dr. Mario Motta, M

According to Dr. Motta, num

over the past 15 years hav

researchers to conclude th

increases the incidence of c

most notably breast can

researchers now estimate t

of breast cancers may be d

night suppressing circadian

World Health Organizat

declared circadian-rhythm d

a class 2A carcinogen - pla

me-01, No.-01, 2019

38

of Science, Akola,

a cycle in which our

s melatonin, a cancer-

that reductions in the

breast and prostate

d in doing so protect

seen tremendous

d nations that use

has reported, the

has begun to

o developed breast

of working night

edical Association

posal for an anti-

and passed it

n 516 asked the

ociation to - (1)

outdoor lighting be

ns to reduce waste

ion of greenhouse

this wasted energy

ollution reduction

ion efforts at both

evels and (3) AMA

nsure all future

shielded design or

n to improve the

ays for all, but

aired and older

ta, MD - sponsor)

numerous papers

have led medical

e that night light

of certain cancers,

cancer. In fact,

te that up to 30%

be due to light at

dian rhythm. The

nization recently

m disruption to be

placing it on the


39

same level of severity as the effects of

tobacco smoke on lung cancer. Repeated

exposure to light at night markedly

suppresses melatonin production. Previous

research has shown that this hormone

helps the immune system suppress the

development of several types of cancers.

The Danger in the Light - Considering the

results of recent research, there appears to

be far more danger in the light that

trespasses on our properties than that

which lies in the darkness of night. As our

bodies need sunlight for health, so too do

they need the darkness to complete our

circadian rhythms.

2010 estimates from the Canadian

Cancer Society indicate 2,500 men will

contract prostate cancer, and 2,100

women will suffer from breast cancer in

Alberta. For Canada, the estimates are

23,300 breast cancers in women with 100

for men. 24,600 men will contract prostate

cancer. For 2010 it is also estimated that

440 men will die of prostate cancer while

420 women will die of breast cancer in

Alberta. In Canada the estimate is that

there will be 4,300 deaths from prostate

cancer while 5,300 women and 50-100

men will die of breast cancer. No costs are

available for the distress caused by the

other light-caused illnesses, but these costs

must run into the millions per year in

Alberta alone, not to mention losses due to

time off and secondary illnesses and their

treatments.

Light-Efficient Communities (LEC’s) - LEC’s

help to make our environment more

healthy by reducing the total amount of

light being wasted while placing the light

where it is needed, when it is needed by

efficient, effective light fixtures. Our

communities should become more healthy

if we are not bombarded by unwanted light

trespass and are not exposed to the degree

we were previously. This should reduce the

amount of breast and prostate cancer in

our society.

Light pollution affects each living

thing in our environment in a multitude of

ways. For human beings, the personal costs

may be extremely high. For the Alberta

government, cancer-care costs were

approximately $200 Million for 2007 and

steadily increasing. It is time to take action

against the waste and trespass of nightlight

and in doing so protect ourselves, our

loved ones and our environment from the

danger in the light!


40

Cyber Security

Prof. Ram B. Ghayalkar

Department of Computer Science, Shri Radhakisan Laxminarayan Toshniwal College of Science,

Akola, 444 001, INDIA

Cyber security is the body of technologies, processes and practices designed to protect networks,

computers (or any devices), programs and data from attack, damage or unauthorized access. The cyber

crime may happen against individuals, organizations and at social levels. 5P Mantra for cyber security

include precaution, prevention, protection, preservation and perseverance.

Cyber security is the body of

technologies, processes and practices

designed to protect networks, computers

(or any devices), programs and data from

attack, damage or unauthorized access.

Computer security, also known as

cyber security or IT security is the

protection of information systems from

theft or damage to the hardware the

software and to the information on them,

as well as from disruption or misdirection

of the services they provide. It includes

controlling physical access to the hardware

as well as protecting against harm that may

come via network access, data and code

injection and due to malpractice by

operators, whether intentional, accidental,

or due to them being tricked into deviating

from secure procedures.

This field is of growing importance

due to the increasing reliance on computer

systems in most societies and the growth

of "smart" devices including smartphones,

televisions and tiny devices as part of the

internet of things and of the internet and

wireless network such as Bluetooth and

the Wi-Fi.

There are three main aims for

computer security aspect when designing a

secure system application.

• Secrecy - Information should not be

disclosed to unauthorized users.

• Integrity - Only authorized users should

be allowed to modify data.

• Availability - Authorized users should

not be denied access.

What is a cyber crime?

Cyber crime encompasses any

criminal act dealing with computers and

networks (called hacking). Additionally,

cyber crime also includes traditional crimes

conducted through the internet. A major

attack vector of cyber crime is to exploit

broken software.

Reasons for cyber crime

• Capacity to store data in comparatively

small space

• Easy to access

• Complex

• Negligence

• Loss of evidence

Cyber criminals

The cyber criminals constitute of

various groups / category. This division

may be justified on the basis of the object

that they have in their mind. The following

are the category of cyber criminals.

• Children and adolescents between the

age group of 6 to 18 years

• Organised hackers

• Professional hackers / crackers

• Discontented employees

Classification of cyber crime

The subject of cyber crime may be

broadly classified under following 3 groups.

• Against individuals

� their person

� their property of an individual

• Against organization

� Government

� Firm, company, group of individuals.

• Against society at large


41

Following are the crimes which can

be committed against the followings group.

• Against individuals

� Harassment via e-mails

� Cyber-stalking

� Dissemination of obscene material

� Unauthorized control / access over

computer system

� Indecent exposure

� Email spoofing

� Cheating and fraud

• Against individual property

� Computer vandalism

� Transmitting virus

� Intellectual property crimes

� Internet time thefts

• Against organization

� Unauthorized control / access over

computer system

� Possession of unauthorized information

� Cyber terrorism against government

organization

� Distribution of pirated software etc.

• Against society at large

� Pornography (basically related to child)

� Polluting the youth through indecent

exposure

� Trafficking

� Financial crimes

� Sale of illegal articles

� Online gambling

� Forgery

Various techniques used for secure

system are as follows.

• Automated theorem proving and other

verification tools can enable critical

algorithms and code used in secure

systems to be mathematically proven to

meet their specifications.

• Thus simple microkernel’s can be

written so that we can be sure they don't

contain any bugs. eg. EROS and Coyotos.

• Cryptographic techniques can be used

to defend data in transit between systems,

reducing the probability that data

exchanged between systems can be

intercepted or modified.

• Strong authentication techniques can be

used to ensure that communication end-

points are who they say they are.

• Mandatory access control can be used

to ensure that privileged access is

withdrawn when privileges are revoked.

For example, deleting a user account

should also stop any processes that are

running with that user's privileges.

• Anti-virus software consists of computer

programs that attempt to identify, thwart

and eliminate computer viruses and other

malicious software (malware).

• Firewalls are systems which help protect

computers and computer networks from

attack and subsequent intrusion by

restricting the network traffic which can

pass through them, based on a set of

system administrator defined rules.

• Access authorization restricts access to

a computer to group of users through the

use of authentication systems. These

systems can protect either the whole

computer such as through an interactive

logon screen or individual services, such as

an FTP server. There are many methods for

identifying and authenticating users, such

as passwords, identification cards, and

more recently, smart cards and biometric

systems.

• Encryption is used to protect the

message from the eyes of others. It can be

done in several ways by switching the

characters around, replacing characters

with others, and even removing characters

from the message. These have to be used

in combination to make the encryption

secure enough that is to say, sufficiently

difficult to crack. Public key encryption is a

refined and practical way of doing

encryption. It allows for example anyone to

write a message for a list of recipients, and

only those recipients will be able to read

that message.


42

Precaution

It is always better to take certain

precaution while operating the net. One

should make them his part of cyber life.

Everyone should keep in mind the

following things.

• To prevent cyber stalking, avoid

disclosing any information pertaining to

one self. This is as good as disclosing your

identity to strangers in public place.

• Always avoid sending any photograph

online particularly to strangers and chat

friends as there have been incidents of

misuse of the photographs.

• Always use latest and up detente virus

software to guard against virus attacks.

• Always keep back up volumes so that

one may not suffer data loss in case of

virus contamination.

• Never send your credit card number to

any site that is not secured, to guard

against frauds.

• Always keep a watch on the sites that

your children are accessing to prevent any

kind of harassment or depravation in

children.

• It is better to use a security programme

that gives control over the cookies and

send information back to the site as leaving

the cookies unguarded might prove fatal.

• Web site owners should watch traffic

and check any irregularity on the site.

Putting host-based intrusion detection

devices on servers may do this.

• Use of firewalls may be beneficial.

• Web servers running public sites must

be physically separate protected from

internal corporate network.

Prevention

• Security efforts to assure confidentiality,

integrity and availability can be divided into

those oriented to prevention and those

focused on detection. The latter aims to

rapidly discover and correct for lapses that

could not be (or at least were not)

prevented.

• The balance between prevention and

detection for depends on the

circumstances, and the available security

technologies. For example, many homes

have easily defeated door and window

locks, but rely on a burglar alarm to detect

(and signal for help after) intrusions

through a compromised window or door.

• Most information systems employ a

range of intrusion prevention methods, of

which user-IDs and passwords are only one

part. They also employ detection methods

like audit trails to pick up suspicious

activity that may signal an intrusion.

Protection

A layered approach is best to

protect your security and privacy.

• Use personal firewall, anti-spyware,

anti-virus, anti-Trojan, anti-spam, anti-

phishing, and privacy software on your

desktop computer.

• Update and tighten Windows before

installing new security software.

• To avoid conflicts, do not use two

software firewalls or two anti-virus

products at the same time. Completely

uninstall one before installing another.

• After installing any security software,

immediately check for updates at the

vendor's website.

Preservation

• This is also the main feature of secure

system or computer security that it must to

kept the information preserve as it is.

Database security or data integrity this

feature is very important for keeping the

information or data to secure.

Perseverance

• The activity of cyber crime is going on

very fastly and it requires systems that

provide security from these insecurities. So

this security system requires that it must

be perseverance.


43

Capacity of human mind is

unfathomable. This is the reason for

originating cyber crime from the cyber

space. It is quite possible to check them.

History is the witness that no legislation

has succeeded in totally eliminating crime

from the globe. The only possible step is to

make people aware of their rights and

duties (to report crime as a collective duty

towards the society) and further making

the application of the laws more stringent

to check crime. Undoubtedly the Act is a

historical step in the cyber world. Further I

all together do not deny that there is a

need to bring changes in the Information

Technology Act to make it more effective

to combat cyber crime. I would conclude

with a word of caution for the pro-

legislation school that it should be kept in

mind that the provisions of the cyber law

are not made so stringent that it may

retard the growth of the industry and

prove to be counter-productive.

Prevention is always better than

cure. It is always better to take certain

precaution while operating the internet on

computer or mobiles. Following are the 7

tips and 5P mantras which will help to

cyber security.

• Seven tips for cyber safety.

� Install OS/software updates

� Run anti-virus software (updated)

� Prevent identity theft

� Turn on personal firewalls

� Avoid spyware / adware

� Protect passwords

� Backup important files

• 5P mantras for cyber security are

Precaution, Prevention, Protection,

Preservation and Perseverance.

Nano-Spike Catalysts

Dr. Kavita M. Heda

Department of Chemistry, Shri R

444 001, INDIA

Herein report a common element,

CO2 to ethanol with high Faradaic

temperature and pressure. The cata

carbon nanospike film.

A new chemical pro

carbon dioxide into eth

commonly-found catalysts and

Though carbon dioxide is a wa

of combustion, it can also be

feedstock for the production

commodity organic chemica

that an efficient means to c

useful organic synthons can be

Herein report a comm

nanostructured catalyst for

electrochemical conversion

ethanol with high Faradaic

(63 % at −1.2 V vs RHE) and hig

(84 %) that operates in wa

ambient temperature and

Lacking noble metals or oth

expensive materials, the

comprised of Cu nanoparticles

textured, N-doped carbon nan

Electrochemical analysis an

functional theory (DFT)

suggest a preliminary mechani

active sites on the Cu nanopart

carbon nanospikes work in

control the electrochemical r

carbon monoxide dimer to a

InfoSCIENCE, Volume


nt, nanostructured catalyst for the direct electrochem

efficiency and high selectivity that operates in wate

catalyst is comprised of Cu nanoparticles on a highly t

process turns

ethanol using

and electricity.

a waste product

be a potential

tion of fine and

icals provided

o convert it to

be developed.

mmon element,

for the direct

on of CO2 to

daic efficiency

high selectivity

water and at

and pressure.

other rare or

e catalyst is

icles on a highly

nanospike film.

and density

T) calculations

hanism in which

particles and the

in tandem to

al reduction of

to alcohol. In a

sense, they’ve figured out a

genie back in the bottle.

The alchemic process

greenhouse gases into usab

appealing means of bot

climate change and providi

sources of energy. Conv

dioxide into energy and

products has been done be

process isn’t efficient or che

implement at a large scale

from the Oak Ridge Nation

however, say that they h

chemical reaction tha

hydrocarbons using just

catalyst, and they say it’s qui

The key to their meth

copper is arranged. First, th

create a scaffold made fro

nitrogen. The surface is co

spikes, each about 50 nan

The researchers then de

particles on to the surface, w

catalyst for the reaction. Wh

run through the material, th

concentrated at the very tips

they say, providing the ener

carbon dioxide dissolved in w

apart and reform as ethanol

They liken to proces

combustion reaction, whe

broken up in the presence

create CO2 and othe

backwards. The reaction

efficiency of 63 percent w

ethanol, using a power sup

me-01, No.-01, 2019

44


emical conversion of

ater and at ambient

ly textured, N-doped

t a way to put the

cess of converting

sable energy is an

both addressing

viding sustainable

onverting carbon

nd other useful

before, but the

r cheap enough to

scale. Researchers

tional Laboratory,

y have found a

that produces

st copper as a

quite efficient.

method is how the

t, the researchers

from carbon and

is covered in tiny

nanometres high.

deposit copper

ce, which acts as a

When electricity is

l, the reactions are

tips of the spikes,

nergy required for

in water to break

nol.

cess to running a

where ethanol is

nce of oxygen to

ther molecules,

n achieved an

nt when creating

supply of just 1.2


45

volts at room temperature. Copper is a

common catalyst for these kinds of

reactions, but it was usually only able to

form lighter hydrocarbons, and the

reactions usually yielded more than one

product, making it difficult to use for large-

scale processes. The Oak Ridge

researchers’ process, however, yields

mostly ethanol, thanks to the unique

structure of their nanospikes. Still, it’s a

technique that’s far from industrial scaling.

Just a step

Turning carbon dioxide into ethanol

won’t solve global warming, of course.

When we burn the ethanol, it will turn into

carbon dioxide again, leaving us right back

where we started. Making our own ethanol

is better than pulling it out of the ground

though, and could help level off our net

carbon emissions. The researchers also

suggest that it could function as a kind of

battery for electrical grids. If a grid is

producing excess power at any time, the

extra electricity could be used to fuel this

process, creating ethanol. When power is

needed, the ethanol could be used as fuel

to again create electricity. Even such a

process still consumes electricity, though,

and the researchers say more work needs

to be done to further understand the

process and make it even more efficient. It

may not be nuclear fusion, but making our

own hydrocarbons is an important step

towards weaning us off the limited natural

stores of fossil fuels that currently power

our civilization.

The team used a catalyst made of

carbon, copper and nitrogen and applied

voltage to trigger a complicated chemical

reaction that essentially reverses the

combustion process. With the help of the

nanotechnology-based catalyst which

contains multiple reaction sites, the

solution of carbon dioxide dissolved in

water turned into ethanol with a yield of

63 percent. Typically, this type of

electrochemical reaction results in a mix of

several different products in small

amounts. Given the technique's reliance on

low-cost materials and an ability to operate

at room temperature in water, the

researchers believe the approach could be

scaled up for industrially relevant

applications. For instance, the process

could be used to store excess electricity

generated from variable power sources

such as wind and solar.

"A process like this would allow you

to consume extra electricity when it's

available to make and store as ethanol",

Rondinone said. "This could help to

balance a grid supplied by intermittent

renewable sources". The researchers plan

to refine their approach to improve the

overall production rate and further study

the catalyst's properties and behaviour.


46

The Mysterious Fruit - Hylocereus undatus (Dragon fruit)

Prof. Vaishali N. Badgujar

Department of Botany, Shri Radhakisan Laxminarayan Toshniwal College of Science, Akola,

444 001, INDIA

Dragon fruit is one of the tropical fruit which has low calories and filled with various nutritious elements,

vitamins and antioxidants. In India it is cultivated by farmers in areas of Karjat, Solapur, Pune of

Maharashtra and in certain places of Hyderabad. Consumer prefers chemical free products especially

when it is related to food consumption. The albedo powder of dragon fruit can be used for food colouring.

Natural source of food additives

plays important role in food industry and

health of humans. Sometimes due to lack

of knowledge the applications of these

additives are not widely used.

Pitahaya (Hylocereus undatus) is

commonly called as Dragon fruit or

strawberry pear. Dragon fruit colouring

powder named (DFCP) as a natural food

additive using dragon fruit albedo, which is

nothing but thin layer of drgon fruit peel.

The albedo of dragon fruit was dried using

conventional methods to colour various

food stuffs. Using DFCF as natural food

colourant is healthy for humans and also

ecofriendly to society.

Dragon fruit is one of the tropical

fruit which has low calories and filled with

various nutritious elements, vitamins and

antioxidants. Though the dragon fruit is

popular in several American and South

Asian countries but due to its delicious

taste and health benefits it is becoming

popular in India too.

In India the crop is cultivated by

farmers in areas like Karjat, Solapur, and

Pune in Maharashtra and even in certain

places of Hyderabad. Since this plant is

from cactus family it requires less water.

Traditionally people use natural

colour which obtained from nature. We

use turmeric, saffron, various flower petals,

paprika and beet extracts as yellow,

orange, red etc. colours into the various

food stuffs which plays vital role for the

human health.

In the beginning of 20th Century,

numerous synthetic food additives had

been produced, however only few

synthetic colours approved to be used

since the banned items have been

identified as being potential cancer -

causing chemicals. According to FDA, since

1955, the trend of synthetic food

consumption has been stronger. The

excessive increase is due to higher

consumer on processed food, such as soft

drinks, breakfast cereals, candies, snacks

food, baked food, frozen desert, pickles,

salad dressing. Where synthetic colours

being used on large scale. However, it is

challenge how we replace synthetic food

colouring with natural one.

To overcome such problem using

dragon fruit albedo namely Dragon fruit

colouring powder (DFCP). It is

tremendously healthy and attractive

especially for consumers. Developing DFCP

as the natural food colorants is not healthy

for human body but also eco-friendly to

society. It is estimated to cost effective as

it is sourced from the only disposable part

(peel) of the fruit. The DFCP has several

properties compared to the extracted flesh

from fruit, which is feasible to carry,

packing and less space for storing.

“Red pitaya” or dragon fruit has rich

sources of vitamins eg. B1, B2, B3 and C,

minerals eg. potassium sodium, calcium,

iron, phosphorous and nutrients eg. fat,

protein carbohydrate, flavonoids, crude

fiber, thiamin, phytoalbumin, niacin,

pyridoxine, glucose, betacyanins,


47

phenolics, carotene and polyphenol . It has

relatively high antoxidant activity in

comparison with other subtropical fruits .

Betalins, for the first time extracted from

red beet (Beta vulgaris) and is used largely

for food colouring additives and the extract

includes red and yellow pigments namely

beta cyanins and betaxanthins respectively.

Due to unfavourable earthy flavour

of geosmin and pyrazine derivatives as

well as possibilities of carcinogenic

nitrosamines in red beet, there is a high

demand to replace this source ‘Betacyanin

is the main component (95%) of the red

pigment extract, in addition dragon fruit

peel includes betacyanin can make

contribution to produce beauty and health

products since dragon peel contains betalins

and lacks disadvantages of beet root, it can

be replaced as a new red dye. The flesh of

dargon fruit according to a study of Luders

and McMahon (2006), can be mixed with

milk, soft drink, ice used jellies.

Dragon fruit peel has a high

potential to be used as natural dye .The

inner layer of dragon fruit peel i.e. Albedo

can have high potential as a colour powder

and a natural food additive. A conventional

method was used to assess the albedo

powder as a food additive in a similar

process to Saffron as a food colouring.

The prepared solution of dragon

fruit albedo was then added to milk,

yogurt, pastry, juice and rice in order to

test dragon fruit albedo has ability to

change colour. DFCP is a natural food

additive by using dragon fruit albedo. In

the previous study it is found that the red

peel of dragon fruit contains varieties of

vitamins, minerals and nutrients with

remarkable amount to antioxidant

compounds compared to other subtropical

fruits. It has a source of functional

ingredients that provide nutrients to

prevent nutrition related diseases and

improvement and physical well-being of

the consumers.

Through a conventional method,

different parts of dragon fruit eg. outer

layer inner layer (albedo) and flesh were

used, however only the albedo part was

successful in the preparation of powder.

Concern study revealed that

consumer prefers chemical free products

especially when it is related to food

consumption. The process to prepare

dragon fruit powder is also believed to be

less time consuming. In the economics of

scale of the production, it is also expected

that they can produce with less time.

In conclusion, the albedo powder of

dragon fruit can be used for food

colouring. In order of mass production of

DFCP, where would be a need for future

research in wider perspective to introduce

this new product.

backpages scanned data - rltsc.edu.in

Documents