New Delhi :
Indian Institute of Technology, Tirupati (IIT Tirupati) has discovered a a safe and cost effective sterilization unit to clean Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs) to help frontline COVID-19 workers. The Unit will also help to reduce generation of hazardous waste from the PPEs.
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering have developed –
The team consisting of Dr Reetesh Kumar Gangwar and Dr Arijit Sharma from department of Physics and Dr Shihabudheen M Maliyekkal of department of Civil and Environmental Engineering have developed a hybrid sterilisation system consisting of a UV radiation cavity, cold plasma and H2O2 spray. Unlike the traditional UV systems, this unit follows the optical cavity concept to optimise the use of photon flux in the treatment area.
To help frontline #COVID-19 workers, faculty at @iit_tirupati have developed a safe and cost effective sterilisation unit to clean PPEs. The Unit will also help to reduce generation of hazardous waste from the PPEs.
A wonderful innovation, indeed!https://t.co/OaauP16sgZ pic.twitter.com/6OQGbpQ1mH— Ministry of Education (@EduMinOfIndia) November 25, 2020
Coherent operation of UV-C, cold plasma –
The system confines the UV radiation and enhances photon-flux and sterilisation efficacy. The coherent operation of UV-C, cold plasma, and H2O2 spray further strengthens the sterilisation efficiency due to more hydroxyl radical production.
Read this – MIT Senior Meghan Davis named 2022 Mitchell Scholar
Developed with the support of the SERB –
Dr Vasudharani Devanathan from IISER Tirupati is assisting the IITT team in evaluating the sterilising efficiency of the portable unit while Dr R Jayaprada of SVIMS tests the system’s effectiveness in the microbiology laboratory. It was developed with the support of the Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB) under the department of science and technology (DST).
Hybrid sterilisation system can decontaminate PPE –
Explaining the system, Dr Reetesh Kumar told The Hans India that this hybrid sterilisation system can decontaminate PPE necessary for combating Covid-19 easily and rapidly so that they can be used multiple times. This also helps prevent the generation of hazardous solid waste from PPEs.
Read More Article Here –
IISc Bangalore discovers five species of vine snakes
New Delhi :
Researchers at Indian Institute of Science, Banglore’s (IISc Bangalore) Centre for Ecological Sciences (CES) have discovered 5 new species of Asian vine snakes. The research was led by a former student of IISc, Ashok Mallik. Malik & the team carried out several field visits across the country to collect data & samples to understand the diversification of vine snakes.
Pre-urban areas has only added new dimensions to the species –
Though vine snakes are common in the country, especially the dry regions and Western Ghats, finding new species in the Pre-urban areas has only added new dimensions to the species. According to the report, the researchers found four distinct small-bodied and short-nosed species: the Northern Western Ghats vine snake (ahaetulla borealis), Farnsworth’s vine snake (ahaetulla farnsworthi), Malabar vine snake (ahaetulla malabarica) and Wall’s vine snake (ahaetulla isabellina) in the Western Ghats’ forests. They also found the long-nosed vine snake (ahaetulla oxyrhyncha) in the lowlands and drier parts of peninsular India. This snake is much larger and is morphologically distinct.
