Eriocaulon madayiparense (Eriocaulaceae) - A new species from the foot hills of the Western Ghats of India.

Eriocaulon madayiparense Swapna, Rajesh, Manju & Prakashkumar, sp. nov. is described and illustrated from the Madayipara, a lateritic hillock in the midland of Kannur District of Kerala. The species is allied to Eriocaulon eurypeplon Koernicke, in its two free male and female sepals, female sepals being keeled and acute and not exceeding the floral bracts, acuminate leaf apex and setiform seed appendages appearing in vertical rows, but differs mainly in having yellow seeds with solitary appendage arising from transverse radial walls, curved and connate with the adjacent ones of the same vertical row forming longitudinal parallel ribs on the surface of the seeds.

Symphysodontella madhusoodananii (Pterobryaceae, Moss) a new species from the Western Ghats of India.

Symphysodontella madhusoodananii Manju & Rajesh, sp. nov. an epiphytic pendant moss, with flagellate branches and long acuminate leaves with two short costa is described and illustrated from the tropical wet evergreen forests of the Western Ghats of India.

Synthesis, in vitro antioxidant, anthelmintic and molecular docking studies of novel dichloro substituted benzoxazole-triazolo-thione derivatives.

A novel 6,8-dichloro [1,2,4]triazolo [3,4-b] [1,3]benzoxazole-3(2H)-thione 4 and its derivatives 5a and 5b are synthesized from 5,7-dichloro-2-hydrazinyl-1,3-benzoxazole 3, obtained by reaction of hydrazine hydrate with ethyl [(5,7-dichloro-1,3-benzoxazol-2-yl)sulfanyl]acetate 2. The newly synthesized compounds are characterized by analytical (1)H NMR, (13)C NMR, LC-MS mass spectrometry and elemental analysis. All synthesized compounds are screened for in vitro antioxidant and anthelmintic activities. In correlation to anthelmintic activity, compounds are subjected to molecular docking studies for the binding to ß-Tubulin, target protein elite to the parasites. Compounds 3, 4 and 5a exhibited potential radical scavenging capacity with good anthelmintic activity. In molecular docking study also, compounds showed minimum binding energy and have good affinity toward the active pocket thus, they may be considered as good inhibitor of ß-Tubulin.

Electrospun polymer nanofibrous membrane for filtration.

Modern processing techniques in fiber technology combined with novel polymer materials results in new products. Electrospinning is one of the methods to prepare nanofibers of polymer or polymer composite materials. Membranes made out of these nanofibers can be used in variety of applications like filtration, tissue engineering, drug delivery etc. The membrane properties are governed by their surface properties and pore distribution, as well as their morphology. In this paper we are reporting the preparation and characterization of sulfonated poly(ether ether ketone) nanofibers and membrane made out of these fibers. The surface and cross sectional morphologies are characterized using scanning electron microscopy. Further the membrane is characterized for pore size distribution and pure water permeability. This work can be extended for exploring the use of electrospinning nanofibrous membranes for filter application.