Showing papers by "Kuvempu University published in 2012"

Human Protein Reference Database and Human Proteinpedia as resources for phosphoproteome analysis

Abstract: Human Protein Reference Database (HPRD) is a rich resource of experimentally proven features of human proteins. Protein information in HPRD includes protein–protein interactions, post-translational modifications, enzyme/substrate relationships, disease associations, tissue expression, and subcellular localization of human proteins. Although, protein–protein interaction data from HPRD has been widely used by the scientific community, its phosphoproteome data has not been exploited to its full potential. HPRD is one of the largest documentations of human phosphoproteins in the public domain. Currently, phosphorylation data in HPRD comprises of 95 016 phosphosites mapped on to 13 041 proteins. Additionally, enzyme–substrate reactions responsible for 5930 phosphorylation events were also documented. Significant improvements in technologies and high-throughput platforms in biomedical investigations led to an exponential increase of biological data and phosphoproteomic data in recent years. Human Proteinpedia, a community annotation portal developed by us, has also contributed to the significant increase in phosphoproteomic data in HPRD. A large number of phosphorylation events have been mapped on to reference sequences available in HPRD and Human Proteinpedia along with associated protein features. This will provide a platform for systems biology approaches to determine the role of protein phosphorylation in protein function, cell signaling, biological processes and their implication in human diseases. This review aims to provide a composite view of phosphoproteomic data pertaining to human proteins in HPRD and Human Proteinpedia.

Quantum discord and classical correlation can tighten the uncertainty principle in the presence of quantum memory

Abstract: Uncertainty relations capture the essence of the inevitable randomness associated with the outcomes of two incompatible quantum measurements. Recently, Berta et al. [Nature Phys. 6, 659 (2010)] have shown that the lower bound on the uncertainties of the measurement outcomes depends on the correlations between the observed system and an observer who possesses a quantum memory. If the system is maximally entangled with its memory, the outcomes of two incompatible measurements made on the system can be predicted precisely. Here, we obtain an uncertainty relation that tightens the lower bound of Berta et al. by incorporating an additional term that depends on the quantum discord and the classical correlations of the joint state of the observed system and the quantum memory. We discuss several examples of states for which our lower bound is tighter than the bound of Berta et al. On the application side, we discuss the relevance of our inequality for the security of quantum key distribution and show that it can be used to provide bounds on the distillable common randomness and the entanglement of formation of bipartite quantum states.

Electrochemical Synthesis and Photocatalytic Property of Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles

Abstract: Zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles of varying sizes (20, 44 and 73 nm) have been successfully synthesized by a hybrid electrochemical-thermal method using aqueous sodium bicarbonate electrolyte and sacrificial Zn anode and cathode in an undivided cell under galvanostatic mode at room temperature. The as-synthesized product was characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectra (XPS), Scanning electron microscopy along with Energy dispersive analysis of X-ray (SEM/EDAX), Transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Ultra Violet - Diffuse reflectance spectroscopic methods (UV-DRS). and UV-DRS spectral methods. The as-synthesized compound were single-crystalline and Rietveld refinement of calcined samples exhibited hexagonal (Wurtzite) structure with space group of P63mc (No.186). The band gaps for synthesized ZnO nanoparticles were 3.07, 3.12 and 3.13 eV, respectively, based on the results of diffuse reflectance spectra (DRS). The electrochemically synthesized ZnO powder was used as photocatalysts for UV-induced degradation of Methylene blue (MB). Photodegradation was also found to be function of exposure time and dye solution pH. It has been found that as-synthesized powder has excellent photocatalytic activity with 92% degradation of MB, indicating ZnO nanoparticles can play an important role as a semiconductor photocatalyst.

Electrochemical studies on Zn/nano-CeO2 electrodeposited composite coatings

Abstract: The Zn-CeO 2 composite coatings through electrodeposition technique were successfully fabricated on mild steel substrate. As a comparison pure zinc coating was also prepared. The concentration of CeO 2 nanoparticles was varied in the electrolytic bath and the composites were electrodeposited both in the presence and absence of cetyltriammonium bromide (CTAB). The performance of the CeO 2 nanoparticles towards the deposition, crystal structure, texture, surface morphology and electrochemical corrosion behavior was studied. For characterizations of the electrodeposits, the techniques such as X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were used. Both the additives ceria and surfactant polarize the reduction processes and thus influence the deposition process, surface nature and the electrochemical properties. The electrochemical experiments like potentiodynamic polarization and electrochemical impedance spectroscopic (EIS) studies carried out in 3.5 wt. NaCl solution explicit higher corrosion resistance by CeO 2 incorporated coating in the presence of surfactant. © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Majorana representation of symmetric multiqubit states

Abstract: As early as 1932, Majorana had proposed that a pure permutation symmetric state of N spin- $${\frac{1}{2}}$$ particles can be represented by N spinors, which correspond geometrically to N points on the Bloch sphere. Several decades after its conception, the Majorana representation has recently attracted a great deal of attention in connection with multiparticle entanglement. A novel use of this representation led to the classification of entanglement families of permutation symmetric qubits--based on the number of distinct spinors and their arrangement in constituting the multiqubit state. An elegant approach to explore how correlation information of the whole pure symmetric state gets imprinted in its parts is developed for specific entanglement classes of symmetric states. Moreover, an elegant and simplified method to evaluate geometric measure of entanglement in N-qubit states obeying exchange symmetry has been developed based on the distribution of the constituent Majorana spionors over the unit sphere. Multiparticle entanglement being a key resource in several quantum information processing tasks, its deeper understanding is essential. In this review, we present a detailed description of the Majorana representation of pure symmetric states and its applicability in investigating various aspects of multiparticle entanglement.

A pathway map of prolactin signaling

Abstract: Prolactin (PRL) is a pleiotropic polypeptide hormone secreted primarily by the lactotrophic cells of anterior pituitary gland in vertebrates (Freeman et al. 2000). This hormone family includes placental lactogen (PL) and growth hormone (GH) (Corbacho et al. 2002). Prolactin plays a major role in lactation and reproduction and has been shown to have a multitude of effects relating to growth, development, metabolism, immunoregulation and protection (Ben-Jonathan et al. 2006). The prolactin signaling pathway is initiated by the binding of prolactin with the prolactin receptor (PRLR), a member of class I cytokine receptor superfamily (Binart et al. 2000), which is expressed in a variety of tissues. The PRLR comprises of an extracellular ligand binding domain, a transmembrane domain and an intracellular domain. The PRLR lacks intrinsic kinase activity and transduces signal through kinases that interact with its cytoplasmic tail. Three constitutively active variants of the receptor have been reported in humans (Goffin et al. 2010). Though the signaling reactions downstream of the longest isoform of prolactin receptor have been well established, little is known about prolactin signaling initiated by six other isoforms (Bouilly et al. 2011). Studies also indicate that binding affinity of the human prolactin receptor to nonhuman prolactin is lower than human prolactin (Utama et al. 2009). The prolactin receptor also binds to hPL and hGH leading to the activation of downstream pathways. However, we have not considered these reactions in the current study. This study reports only those reactions, which occur upon stimulation of prolactin receptor with prolactin, based on the criteria described previously (Nanjappa et al. 2011). Availability of signaling pathway information is useful to the biomedical research community, especially for systems biology approaches. Considering this, we have developed ‘NetPath’ as a resource of ligand-receptor specific signal transduction pathways (Kandasamy et al. 2010). As a part of this, we have carried out manual annotation of available information from the published literature for ligand-receptor signaling pathways (Raju et al. 2011a; Nanjappa et al. 2011; Telikicherla et al. 2011; Goel et al. 2012). Similarly, in this study, we enriched publicly available information pertaining to prolactin-prolactin receptor dependent signaling pathways and also generated a graphic map depicting the prolactin signaling pathway.

Solid-State Synthesis and Effect of Temperature on Optical Properties of CuO Nanoparticles

Abstract: Modulation of band energies through size control offers new ways to control photoresponse and photoconversion efficiency of the solar cell. The P-type semiconductor of copper oxide is an important functional material used for photovoltaic cells. CuO is attractive as a selective solar absorber since it has high solar absorbance and a low thermal emittance. The present work describes the synthesis and characterization of semiconducting CuO nanoparticles via one-step, solid-state reaction in the presence of Polyethylene glycol 400 as size controlling agent for the preparation of CuO nanoparticles at different temperatures. Solid-state mechanochemical processing, which is not only a physical size reduction process in conventional milling but also a chemical reaction, is mechanically activated at the nanoscale during grinding. The present method is a simple and efficient method of preparing nanoparticles with high yield at low cost. The structural and chemical composition of the nanoparticles were analyzed by X-ray diffraction, field emission scanning electron microscopy and energy-dispersive spectrometer, respectively. Optical properties and band gap of CuO nanoparticles were studied by UV-Vis spectroscopy. These results showed that the band gap energy decreased with increase of annealing temperature, which can be attributed to the improvement in grain size of the samples.

Antimicrobial, analgesic, DPPH scavenging activities and molecular docking study of some 1,3,5-triaryl-2-pyrazolines

Abstract: A series of 1,3,5-triaryl-2-pyrazolines 2a–g were synthesized by the reaction of 4,4′-disubstituted chalcone with phenyl hydrazine. All these compounds were characterized by NMR, IR and mass spectral and single crystal XRD data. All the synthesized products were screened for their in vitro antimicrobial, analgesic and antioxidant properties. The docking studies were carried out for these compounds against the active site of methionyl-tRNA synthetase (metRS). Some of the tested compounds exhibited significant antimicrobial, analgesic, DPPH scavenging activities and molecular binding.

Voltammetric Determination of Diclofenac Sodium Using Tyrosine-Modified Carbon Paste Electrode

Abstract: The oxidative behavior of diclofenac sodium (DCF) has been investigated by cyclic voltammetric and differential pulse voltammetric techniques, using a Tyrosine-modified carbon paste electrode (TCPE). Cyclic voltammetry was used to study the influence of pH on the anodic peak current of DCF. The solution conditions and operating parameters were optimized. The phosphate buffer (PBS) of pH 7.0 was selected as a suitable analytical medium in which DCF exhibited a sensitive diffusion-controlled oxidative peak at 0.67 V (vs Ag/AgCl). The peak current varied linearly with DCF concentration in the range between 10 μM and 140 μM with a detection limit of 3.28 μM. The applicability of the proposed method was illustrated by the determination of DCF present in pharmaceutical samples and human urine samples. A mean recovery of DCF in the tablet was 99.5%, with a relative standard deviation of 1.15%.

Electrodeposition and corrosion behavior of Zn–Ni and Zn–Ni–Fe 2 O 3 coatings

Abstract: A thin film of Zn–Ni–Fe2O3 on steel substrates was prepared by electrodeposition technique using Zn–Ni alloy plating solution with nano-sized Fe2O3 particles The cathodic polarization and cyclic voltammetry techniques were used to explain deposition process The corrosion behavior of deposits was evaluated by polarization and impedance studies Scanning electron microscope (SEM) images were used to study the surface morphology of coating The grain size and amount of Fe2O3 particles present in composite coating were measured by X-ray diffraction pattern (XRD) and energy dispersive X-ray diffraction spectrometer (EDS), respectively

Hepatoprotective activity of Indian Phyllanthus

Abstract: Context: Phyllanthus (Euphorbiaceae) species are traditionally well-known for their medicinal properties including hepatoprotective activity.Objective: The study assessed the hepatoprotective and antioxidant activities of 11 Phyllanthus species, P. amarus Schumach., P. urinaria L., P. debilis Klein ex Willd, P. tenellus Roxb., P. virgatus G. Forst., P. maderaspatensis L., P. reticulatus Poir., P. polyphyllus Willd., P. emblica L., P. indofischerii Bennet. and P. acidus (L.) Skeels.Materials and methods: The dried leaves and stems of each plant species were extracted in methanol and successively in water. The extracts were screened for hepatoprotective activity at a concentration of 50 µg/mL against tert-butyl hydroperoxide (t-BH) induced toxicity in HepG2 cells. Seven extracts from five species that showed hepatoprotective activity were assessed for their 50% effective concentration (EC50) values and their antioxidant activity using a DPPH assay. Phyllanthin and hypophyllanthin contents were also determin...

A proteogenomic approach to map the proteome of an unsequenced pathogen - Leishmania donovani.

Abstract: Visceral leishmaniasis or kala azar is the most severe form of leishmaniasis and is caused by the protozoan parasite Leishmania donovani. There is no published report on L. donovani genome sequence available till date, although the genome sequences of three related Leishmania species are already available. Thus, we took a proteogenomic approach to identify proteins from two different life stages of L. donovani. From our analysis of the promastigote (insect) and amastigote (human) stages of L. donovani, we identified a total of 22,322 unique peptides from a homology-based search against proteins from three Leishmania species. These peptides were assigned to 3711 proteins in L. infantum, 3287 proteins in L. major, and 2433 proteins in L. braziliensis. Of the 3711 L. donovani proteins that were identified, the expression of 1387 proteins was detectable in both life stages of the parasite, while 901 and 1423 proteins were identified only in promastigotes and amastigotes life stages, respectively. In addition, we also identified 13 N-terminally and one C-terminally extended proteins based on the proteomic data search against the six-frame translated genome of the three related Leishmania species. Here, we report results from proteomic profiling of L. donovani, an organism with an unsequenced genome.

Electrochemical studies of LiMnPO4 as aqueous rechargeable lithium–ion battery electrode

Abstract: A study of the electrochemical behavior of LiMnPO4 prepared by RAPET method in different aqueous electrolytes using cyclic voltammetry (CV), galvanostatic charge–discharge experiments, and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy is reported. CV peak current is proportional to the square root of scan rate under 0.2 mV s−1. The system satisfied the required conditions for a reversible system with a resistive behavior. LiMnPO4 was found to undergo proton insertion at lower concentrations of electrolyte. At higher concentrations or saturated solutions of electrolytes, lithium insertion/de-insertion becomes the main reaction though the effect of proton insertion/de-insertion reaction cannot be ignored. Electrochemical insertion/de-insertion of lithium in LiMnPO4 was studied using EIS technique. The kinetic parameter, charge transfer resistance (R ct), obtained by simulating the experimental impedance data with an equivalent circuit showed a minimum at the potential close to the CV peak potential. The cell LiTi2(PO4)3/5 M LiNO3/LiMnPO4 delivers a discharge capacity of 84 mAh g−1 in the first cycle at an applied current of 0.2 mA cm−2 and it retains its initial capacity over 50 cycles with good rate capability.

Monogamy of quantum correlations in three-qubit pure states

Abstract: The limitation on the shareability of quantum entanglement over several parties, the so-called monogamy of entanglement, is an issue that has received considerable attention from the quantum information community over the last decade. A natural question of interest in this connection is whether monogamy of correlations is true for correlations other than entanglement. This issue is examined here by choosing quantum deficit, proposed by A. K. Rajagopal and R. W. Rendell [Phys. Rev. A 66, 022104 (2002)], an operational measure of correlations. In addition to establishing the polygamous nature of the class of three-qubit symmetric pure states characterized by two distinct Majorana spinors (to which the $W$ states belong), those with three distinct Majorana spinors [to which Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger (GHZ) states belong] are shown to either obey or violate monogamy relations. While the generalized $W$ states can be monogamous or polygamous, the generalized GHZ states exhibit monogamy with respect to quantum deficit. The issue of using monogamy conditions based on quantum deficit to witness the states belonging to stochastic local operations and classical communication (SLOCC) inequivalent classes is discussed in light of these results.