Abstract The usage of wheeled robots in service robots such as planetary exploration robots, pick-and- place robots, cleaning robots, surveillance robots, etc., is continuously increasing day by day. The primary purpose of these service robots is to reduce human resources and minimize life risk of human in a hazardous environment. Therefore, in this article, the authors propose and design the all-terrain differential-driven caterpillar-wheeled based unmanned Fire Extinguisher Robot (FER), which can detect and monitor fire by using a gas (smoke) sensor and temperature sensor. Also, it can extinguish the fire by spreading the fire extinguisher gas. The proposed unmanned FER has been divided into two assembled units, one unit drives the FER, and the other is for spreading the fire extinguisher gas through the nozzle of the cylinder. The driving unit of unmanned FER consists of six DC geared motors, two dual DC motor drivers, caterpillar driving wheels, Arduino MEGA microcontroller, Bluetooth module, gas sensor, temperature sensor, and rechargeable lithium-polymer (LiPo) battery. Besides, one DC motor connected with a motor driver controls the fire extinguisher gas cylinder's opening and closure valve through a Bluetooth signal from an android phone. The specially designed chassis and caterpillar driving wheel arrangement help the FER to travel in any terrain, including stair climbing. Furthermore, the other advantage of this unmanned FER is that it can extinguish the fire from a distance of more than 200 cm by spreading the fire extinguisher gas through the nozzle of the cylinder. Real-time experimental tests have been carried out on the designed unmanned FER during the fire extinguishing process to prove the effectiveness of the developed FER.

Present study was aimed to prepare and characterize fluconazole loaded nanostructured lipid carriers (FLZ-NLCs) for the treatment of fungal infections. Fungal infections are tremendously widespread and are the often faced dermatological condition worldwide. FLZ-NLCs was prepared by ultrasonication emulsion technique using stearic acid (SA) as solid lipid, castor oil as liquid lipid and tween 20 as a surfactant. The mean diameter of optimized FLZ-NLCs were found to be 359.15 ± 9.83 nm. The drug content and entrapment efficiency of NLCs was found to be 102.97 ± 7.45% and 87 ± 0.59%, respectively. In vitro drug release studies of FLZ-NLCs showed 37.34 ± 2.08% drug release over a period of 72 h. The above studies confirmed the prepared FLZ-NLCs may be useful for the treatment of fungal infections.

En India los ambientes de agua dulce están experimentando una grave amenaza para la biodiversidad; ante esto es urgente investigar técnicas alternativas que promuevan la biodiversidad y manejo de los peces. El presente estudio se realizó con el objetivo de evaluar la biodiversidad de los peces dentro y fuera del área protegida del río Gerua, India, para evaluar si el área protegida provee beneficios a la biodiversidad de los peces fluviales. Para evaluar el patrón de diversidad de los peces de agua dulce y las condiciones físico-químicas se estudió el río entre abril 2000 y marzo 2004. Se realizó una comparación en un tramo de 15km de un área protegida (Santuario de Vida Silvestre Katerniaghat) y un tramo sin protección de 85km aguas abajo. En cada sitio se obtuvieron algunas variables fisicoquímicas, los peces fueron capturados con varias artes de pesca y se describió la diversidad por sitio. Nuestros resultados mostraron que la temperatura del agua es mayor como resultado de la temporada de pre-monzón (25ºC) y menor durante el invierno (14-15ºC), la turbidez varía considerablemente según la temporada. En el área protegida, se recolectaron un total de 87 especies pertenecientes a ocho órdenes, 22 familias y 52 géneros, mientras que un máximo de 59 especies pertenecientes a seis órdenes, 20 familias y 42 géneros se registraron en las áreas no protegidas. El género más abundante pertenece a los Ciprínidos y Salmostoma bacaila fue la especie más abundante en el área del santuario. Otras especies numerosas fueron: Eutropiichthys vacha, Notopterus notopterus, Clupisoma garúa y Bagarius bagarius. Los resultados indicaron más especies, mayores abundancias, individuos más grandes y mayor número de peces con categoría de peligro de extinción dentro del área del santuario cuando se compara con la zona no protegida. El análisis de la abundancia promedio de peces en peligro de extinción y vulnerables de las áreas evaluadas en el santuario frente a las desprotegidos indicó diferencias significativas (p<0.05). Los resultados mostraron que esta área protegida ribereña podría ser importante para la conservación y manejo de la diversidad de los peces en la región, especialmente para los residentes y las especies amenazadas.

In India, freshwater environments are experiencing serious threats to biodiversity, and there is an urgent priority for the search of alternative techniques to promote fish biodiversity conservation and management. With this aim, the present study was undertaken to assess the fish biodiversity within and outside a river protected area, and to evaluate whether the protected river area provides some benefits to riverine fish biodiversity. To assess this, the pattern of freshwater fish diversity was studied in river Gerua, along with some physicochemical conditions, from April 2000 to March 2004. For this, a comparison was made between a 15km stretch of a protected area (Katerniaghat Wildlife Sanctuary), and an unprotected one 85km downstream. In each site some physicochemical conditions were obtained, and fish were caught by normal gears and the diversity per site described. Our results showed that water temperature resulted warmest during the pre-monsoon season (25ºC) and low during the winter (14-15ºC); turbidity considerably varied by season. In the protected area, a total of 87 species belonging to eight orders, 22 families and 52 genera were collected; while a maximum of 59 species belonging to six orders, 20 families and 42 genera were recorded from the unprotected areas. Cyprinids were found to be the most dominant genera and Salmostoma bacaila was the most numerous species in the sanctuary area. Other numerous species were Eutropiichthys vacha, Notopterus notopterus, Clupisoma garua and Bagarius bagarius. The results indicated more species, greater abundances, larger individuals, and higher number of endangered fishes within the sanctuary area when compared to the unprotected area. Analysis on the mean abundance of endangered and vulnerable species for the evaluated areas in the sanctuary versus unprotected ones indicated significant differences in fish abundance (p<0.05). These results showed that this riverine protected area could be important for conservation and management of fish diversity in the region, especially for resident and threatened species.

The objective of the current study was to develop a direct, sensitive spectrophotometric method based on the oxidation of Ofloxacin using potassium permanganate in alkaline medium. The rate of change of absorbance was measured at 603 nm. The initial rate method and fixed time method (at 4 min) are utilised to construct calibration graphs for calculating the concentration of the drug. The results were validated through inter day and intraday precision assays according to the ICH guidelines and also through recovery studies. Statistical comparison of the proposed methods with that of reference method shows excellent agreement and indicates no significant difference in their accuracy and precision.

Se desarrolla un método espectrofotométrico directo y sensible basado en la oxidación de ofloxacina con permanganato de potasio en medio alcalino. La velocidad de cambio de la absorbancia fue de 603 nm. Fueron utilizados los métodos de velocidad inicial y el método de tiempo fijo (4 min) para construir las gráficas de calibración para calcular la concentración del fármaco. Los resultados fueron validados inter e intra- días por ensayos de precisión según las pautas ICH y por estudios de recuperación. La comparación estadística de los métodos propuestos con el método de referencia muestra una excelente concordancia y no existe diferencia significativa de su exactitud y precisión.