Aligarh Muslim University

About: Aligarh Muslim University is a education organization based out in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, India. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Adsorption. The organization has 8218 authors who have published 16416 publications receiving 289068 citations. The organization is also known as: AMU.

Bacterial toxicity of biomimetic green zinc oxide nanoantibiotic: insights into ZnONP uptake and nanocolloid–bacteria interface

Abstract: This study was aimed to fill the critical gap of knowledge regarding the interaction between green zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnONPs) and bacterial interface. Wurtzite phase ZnONPs with a band gap energy of 3.28 eV were produced by exploiting a simple and green biosynthesis method using an inexpensive precursor of A. indica leaf extract and zinc nitrate. ZnONPs were characterized using UV-Vis spectroscopy, XRD, FTIR, SEM, EDX, DLS, TEM, and zeta-potential analysis. The primary size obtained was 26.3 nm (XRD) and 33.5 ± 6.5 nm (TEM), whereas, the secondary size was found to be 287 ± 5.2 nm with -32.8 ± 1.8 mV ζ-potential denoting the physical colloid chemistry of ZnONPs. Crystallinity and the spherical morphology of ZnONPs were also evident with some sort of particle agglomeration. ZnONPs retained plant functional groups endorsing their hydrophilic character. The antibacterial and antibiofilm activity of ZnONPs was significant (p ≤ 0.05) and the MIC/MBC against most frequent clinical isolates of Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Staphylococcus aureus ranged from 0.5 to 1.0 (MIC)/1.0 to 1.5 mg ml-1 (MBC). The dissolution of ZnONPs to Zn2+ ions in a nutrient medium increased as a result of interaction with the bacterial surface and metabolites. Substantial surface binding of ZnONPs followed by intracellular uptake disrupted the cell morphology and caused obvious injury to the cell membrane. Interrupted bacterial growth kinetics, loss of cell respiration, enhanced production of intracellular ROS, and the leakage of the cytoplasmic content unequivocally suggested a strong interaction of ZnONPs with the exterior cell surface and intracellular components, eventually leading to cell death and destruction of biofilms. Overall, the results elucidated eco-friendly production of ZnONPs expressing a prominent interfacial correlation with bacteria and hence, prospecting the use of green ZnONPs as effective nanoantibiotics.

Kinetics, isotherm and thermodynamic investigations for the adsorption of Co(II) ion onto crystal violet modified amberlite IR-120 resin

Abstract: The adsorption characteristics of crystal violet (CY)-modified amberlite IRA-120 resin for the removal of Co(II) ion from aqueous medium at different experimental conditions were established by means of batch method. The adsorption uptake was increased with the increase in contact time and temperature. The adsorption process was controlled by pseudo-first-order kinetic model. Adsorption isotherms were expressed by Langmuir and Freundlich adsorption models. The Freundlich adsorption model fitted the experimental data reasonably well compared to the Langmuir model. A well-known thermodynamic equation was used to assess the ΔG 0 (standard free energy change), ∆H 0 (enthalpy change), and ∆S 0 (entropy change). The thermodynamic data was indicative of the spontaneous nature of the endothermic sorption process of Co(II) ion onto CY-modified amberlite IRA-120 resin.

Protective Effect of Kaempferol on the Transgenic Drosophila Model of Alzheimer's Disease.

Abstract: Background Alzheimer's disease (AD) is characterized by the accumulation and deposition of β-amyloid peptides leading to a progressive neuronal damage and cell loss. Besides several hypotheses for explaining the neurodegenerative mechanisms, oxidative stress has been considered to be one of them. Till date, there is no cure for AD, but the pathogenesis of the disease could be delayed by the use of natural antioxidants. In this context, we decided to study the effect of kaempferol against the transgenic Drosophila expressing human amyloid beta-42. Method The AD flies were allowed to feed on the diet having 10, 20, 30 and 40µM of kaempferol for 30 days. After 30 days of exposure, the amyloid beta flies were studied for their climbing ability and Aversive Phototaxis Suppression assay. Amyloid beta flies head homogenate was prepared for estimating the oxidative stress markers, Caspase and acetylcholinesterase activity. Results The results of the present study reveal that the exposure of AD flies to kaempferol delayed the loss of climbing ability, memory, reduced the oxidative stress and acetylcholinesterase activity. Conclusion Kaempferol could be used as a possible therapeutic agent against the progression of the Alzheimer's disease.

Study of optical band gap and carbonaceous clusters in swift heavy ion irradiated polymers with UV–Vis spectroscopy

Abstract: The formation of carbonaceous clusters in swift heavy ion irradiated polymer films has been investigated extensively. The information about these clusters may be obtained from Ultraviolet–Visible (UV−Vis) spectroscopic studies. The optical band gap ( E g ), calculated from the absorption edge of the UV spectra of these polymers can be correlated to the number of carbon atoms ( N ) in a cluster with the Tauc equation. Films of 50 μm, 80 μm, 125 μm, 250 μm thicknesses of PET, PTFE, PMMA and PES polymers, respectively, were irradiated with Si 8+ ions of energy 100 MeV to different fluences from 10 10 to 10 13 ions/cm 2 at Pelletron accelerator, Inter University Accelerator Centre, New Delhi, India. UV–Vis absorption studies show that optical energy gap decreases with transferred energy density of the ion beams. The energy band gap ( E g ) values were computed from the absorption edge in the 200–800 nm region with the Tauc relation. The values vary from 3.86 to 1.61 eV for the pristine and various irradiated polymer samples. Maximum change of 40% is observed in PES irradiated to 10 13 ions/cm 2 . The cluster size shows a variation in the range of 79–454 carbon atoms per cluster for the polymers studied here.

Growth, reproductive performance, muscle and egg composition in grass carp, Ctenopharyngodon idella (Valenciennes), fed hydrilla or formulated diets with varying protein levels

Abstract: Growth, reproductive performance, muscle and eggcomposition were investigated in grass carp, Cteno-pharyngodon idella(Valenciennnes), fed hydrilla orformulated diets with varying protein levels. Fiveexperimental diets, with varying levels (20%, 25%,30%,35%and40%)ofcrudeprotein(CP),wereused.One of the ¢sh groups was fed hydrilla. Fish(44.1 10.3 cm; 913 9g) were stocked (20tank )inoutdoorconcretetanks(20 10 1.5m)induplic-ate, and fed to satiation, twice daily, at 09:00 and17:00 hours for the experimental duration of 360days.High(Po0.05)weightgainwasrecordedin¢shfed30%and35%CPdiets.However,valuesforgona-dosomatic index (GSI), eggdiameter, relative fecund-ity (eggskg 1 body weight), fertilizability andhatchability (%) were comparable (P40.05) in ¢shat 25% of dietary protein intake. Hydrilla-fed ¢shexhibited lower (Po0.05) values for the measuredparameters. Crude protein content in muscle in-creased with dietary protein level. Highest (Po0.05)muscle proteinwas obtained in ¢sh fed 35% CPdiet.Muscle fat was comparable (P40.05) among ¢sh re-ceiving formulated diets. Ash content was not signi-¢cantly (P40.05) diierent among ¢sh of diierentdietary groups. Moisture content in ¢sh fed formu-lated diets, with the exception of 20% CP diet, didnot vary signi¢cantly (P40.05). Eggs of ¢sh fed for-mulated diets contained higher CP and fat contentsthan those of hydrilla-fed ¢sh. High (Po0.05) mois-turecontentwasnotedintheeggsofhydrilla-fed¢sh.Ctenopharyngodon idellafed formulated diet, with aminimumof25%CP,showedbetterreproductiveper-formancethanthosefedhydrilla.Keywords: dietary protein, hydrilla, Ctenopharyn-godon idella, reproductive performance, proximatecomposition, eggsIntroductionGrass carp, Ctenopharyngodon idella (Valenciennes),feeds naturallyon avariety of macrophytes and hasbeenwidely used for biological control of aquatic ve-getation in various parts of the world (Cross 1969;Chaudhuri, Murty, Dey & Reddy 1976; Leslie Jr, VanDyke, Hestand III & Thompson1987; Jagdish, Rana A Rath, Gupta & Dasgupta1999). Studies on b roodstock nutrition are relatively