St. Joseph's College, Devagiri

About: St. Joseph's College, Devagiri is a based out in . It is known for research contribution in the topics: Dung beetle & Scarabaeinae. The organization has 61 authors who have published 71 publications receiving 778 citations. The organization is also known as: St. Joseph's College.

Species composition and community structure of dung beetles attracted to dung of gaur and elephant in the moist forests of South Western Ghats.

Abstract: The community structure of dung beetles attracted to dung of gaur, Bos gaurus (H Smith) (Artiodactyla: Bovidae) and Asian elephant, Elephas maximus Linnaeus (Proboscidea: Elephantidae), is reported from the moist forests of Western Ghats, in South India The dominance of dwellers over rollers, presence of many endemic species, predominance of regional species and higher incidence of the old world roller, Ochicanthon laetum, make the dung beetle community in the moist forests of the region unusual The dominance of dwellers and the lower presence of rollers make the functional guild structure of the dung beetle community of the region different from assemblages in the moist forests of south East Asia and Neotropics, and more similar to the community found in Ivory Coast forests The ability of taxonomic diversity indices to relate variation in dung physical quality with phylogenetic structure of dung beetle assemblage is highlighted Comparatively higher taxonomic diversity and evenness of dung beetle assemblage attracted to elephant dung rather than to gaur dung is attributed to the heterogeneous nature of elephant dung Further analyses of community structure of dung beetles across the moist forests of Western Ghats are needed to ascertain whether the abundance of dwellers is a regional pattern specific to the transitional Wayanad forests of south Western Ghats

Toughening of Epoxy Thermoset with Polystyrene-block-polyglycolic Acid Star Copolymer: Nanostructure–Mechanical Property Correlation

Abstract: A novel amphiphilic polystyrene-block-polyglycolic acid three-arm star copolymer (PS-b-PGA)3 was incorporated in epoxy thermoset to show reaction-induced microphase separation. The diblock copolymer was prepared by atom-transfer radical polymerization followed by chain end modification, and toward the end ring-opening polymerization was utilized to attach the polyglycolic acid moiety. The formation of polystyrene-block-polyglycolic acid was confirmed by using Fourier transform infrared analysis, gel permeation chromatography, and 1H NMR. The microphase separation of block copolymer resulted in the formation of ordered nanodomains in the epoxy thermoset. It was found that the block copolymer in epoxy thermoset displayed reaction-induced microphase separation behavior as evidenced by transmission electron microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and atomic force microscopy. The tensile strength and the toughness of the thermoset were increased by the incorporation of PGA, which has high glass transition an...

Poly(N‐isopropylacrylamide) hydrogel: Effect of hydrophilicity on controlled release of ibuprofen at different pH

Abstract: Stimuli-sensitive drug delivery systems (DDSs) have attracted considerable attention in medical and pharmaceutical fields; thermo-sensitive DDS dealing with poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAM) have been widely studied. Hydrogels composed of temperature-sensitive NIPAM and biocompatible and pH-sensitive maleic acid (MAc) were synthesized by sedimentation polymerization. Experiments on drug release from the crosslinked NIPAM-co-MAc hydrogel loaded with ibuprofen into different pH buffer solutions were successfully carried out at temperature swing between 25 and 40°C. The in vitro release studies have showed that the release rate depended on acidity or basicity (polarity) of the medium and the gel and swelling ratio of the gel network as a function of the environmental pH and temperature. The SEM image of the dry bead gave more insight into the surface architecture and the thermal studies shine light on the decomposition pattern and glass transition temperature of the gel. The mechanism of the drug release was discussed in relation to the diffusion rate and the abrupt change in the pH of the medium. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2011