Showing papers by "Indian Institute of Technology, Jodhpur published in 2012"

Cloning, sequence analysis, expression of Cyathus bulleri laccase in Pichia pastoris and characterization of recombinant laccase

Abstract: Laccases are blue multi-copper oxidases and catalyze the oxidation of phenolic and non-phenolic compounds. There is considerable interest in using these enzymes for dye degradation as well as for synthesis of aromatic compounds. Laccases are produced at relatively low levels and, sometimes, as isozymes in the native fungi. The investigation of properties of individual enzymes therefore becomes difficult. The goal of this study was to over-produce a previously reported laccase from Cyathus bulleri using the well-established expression system of Pichia pastoris and examine and compare the properties of the recombinant enzyme with that of the native laccase. In this study, complete cDNA encoding laccase (Lac) from white rot fungus Cyathus bulleri was amplified by RACE-PCR, cloned and expressed in the culture supernatant of Pichia pastoris under the control of the alcohol oxidase (AOX)1 promoter. The coding region consisted of 1,542 bp and encodes a protein of 513 amino acids with a signal peptide of 16 amino acids. The deduced amino acid sequence of the matured protein displayed high homology with laccases from Trametes versicolor and Coprinus cinereus. The sequence analysis indicated the presence of Glu 460 and Ser 113 and LEL tripeptide at the position known to influence redox potential of laccases placing this enzyme as a high redox enzyme. Addition of copper sulfate to the production medium enhanced the level of laccase by about 12-fold to a final activity of 7200 U L-1. The recombinant laccase (rLac) was purified by ~4-fold to a specific activity of ~85 U mg-1 protein. A detailed study of thermostability, chloride and solvent tolerance of the rLac indicated improvement in the first two properties when compared to the native laccase (nLac). Altered glycosylation pattern, identified by peptide mass finger printing, was proposed to contribute to altered properties of the rLac. Laccase of C. bulleri was successfully produced extra-cellularly to a high level of 7200 U L-1 in P. pastoris under the control of the AOX1 promoter and purified by a simple three-step procedure to homogeneity. The kinetic parameters against ABTS, Guaiacol and Pyrogallol were similar with the nLac and the rLac. Tryptic finger print analysis of the nLac and the rLac indicated altered glycosylation patterns. Increased thermo-stability and salt tolerance of the rLac was attributed to this changed pattern of glycosylation.

Table detection in document images using header and trailer patterns

Abstract: This paper presents a new approach to detect tabular structures present in document images and in low resolution video images. The algorithm for table detection is based on identifying the unique table start pattern and table trailer pattern. We have formulated perceptual attributes to characterize the patterns. The performance of our table detection system is tested on a set of document images picked from UW-III (University of Washington) dataset, UNLV dataset, video images of NPTEL videos, and our own dataset. Our approach demonstrates improved detection for different types of table layouts, with or without ruling lines. We have obtained correct table localization on pages with multiple tables aligned side-by-side.

Effect of control procedures on the evolution of entanglement in open quantum systems

Abstract: The effect of a number of mechanisms designed to suppress decoherence in open quantum systems are studied with respect to their effectiveness at slowing down the loss of entanglement. The effect of photonic band-gap materials and frequency modulation of the system-bath coupling are along expected lines in this regard. However, other control schemes, like resonance fluorescence, achieve quite the contrary: increasing the strength of the control leads to a faster decay of entanglement. The effect of dynamic decoupling schemes on two qualitatively different system-bath interactions are studied in depth. Dynamic decoupling control has the expected effect of slowing down the decay of entanglement in a two-qubit system coupled to a harmonic oscillator bath under a nondemolition interaction. However, nontrivial phenomena are observed when a Josephson charge qubit, strongly coupled to a random telegraph noise bath, is subject to decoupling pulses. The most striking of these reflects the resonance fluorescence scenario, in that an increase in the pulse strength decreases decoherence but also speeds up the sudden death of entanglement. This demonstrates that the behavior of decoherence and entanglement in time can be qualitatively different in the strong-coupling non-Markovian regime.

Laplacian matrices of weighted digraphs represented as quantum states

Abstract: Representing graphs as quantum states is becoming an increasingly important approach to study entanglement of mixed states, alternate to the standard linear algebraic density matrix-based approach of study. In this paper, we propose a general weighted directed graph framework for investigating properties of a large class of quantum states which are defined by three types of Laplacian matrices associated with such graphs. We generalize the standard framework of defining density matrices from simple connected graphs to density matrices using both combinatorial and signless Laplacian matrices associated with weighted directed graphs with complex edge weights and with/without self-loops. We also introduce a new notion of Laplacian matrix, which we call signed Laplacian matrix associated with such graphs. We produce necessary and/or sufficient conditions for such graphs to correspond to pure and mixed quantum states. Using these criteria, we finally determine the graphs whose corresponding density matrices represent entangled pure states which are well known and important for quantum computation applications. We observe that all these entangled pure states share a common combinatorial structure.

Entanglement Generation in Spatially Separated Systems Using Quantum Walk

Abstract: We present a scheme for generating entanglement between two spatially separated systems from the spatial entanglement generated by the interference effect during the evolution of a single-particle quantum walk. Any two systems which can interact with the spatial modes entangled during the walk evolution can be entangled using this scheme. A notable feature is the ability to control the quantum walk dynamics and its localization at desired pair lattice sites irrespective of separation distance resulting in a substantial control and improvement in the entanglement output. Implementation schemes to entangle spatially separated atoms using quantum walk on a single atom is also presented.

Negotiating Identities in a Dangerous Field

Abstract: Who the researcher is and where the research is conducted are the two key dimensions of fi eldwork. This note provides an account of how the researcher’s outsider ethnicity in Gujarat infl uenced the fi eldwork and ethnographic data. It further examines the multiple identities the researcher brings to the fi eld, and how these insights vary as the researcher switches between identities. The manner in which the researcher presents these identities and the manner in which they are perceived or decoded by participants and stakeholders in the village community or social group infl uence rapport formation, informants’ acceptance and access to ethnographic information.

Affine Almost Automorphic Actions on Compact Nilmanifolds

Abstract: We discuss conditions under which an affine automorphism of a compact nilmanifold is almost automorphic, and the structure of such automorphisms from a dynamical point of view.