St. Berchmans College, Changanassery (Autonomous), also known as SB College, is one of the first Autonomous Colleges in Kerala, India with 3000 students with 800 hostlers. Saint John Berchmans is the patron saint of the college and is venerated in the Church as the Patron of Students. It is a Syrian Catholic college. It is situated in the town of Changanassery 18 kilometers south of Kottayam. Established in 1922, the college celebrates its centenary in 2022. It has nineteen postgraduate and eight research departments and it offers 17 UG, 19 PG, 3 MPhil, and 9 doctoral programmes. Students and alumni of the college are referred to as ‘Berchmanites’. It is run by the Catholic Archdiocese of Changanassery, is affiliated to the Mahatma Gandhi University in Kottayam and is recognized by the University Grants Commission (UGC). The college was granted autonomy by the UGC on 13 June 2014.The college was ranked 79 in All India Ranking by National Institutional Ranking Framework in 2021.
A density functional theory (DFT) investigation was carried out to explore the detailed mechanism of silver-catalyzed olefination of aldehydes with siloxyalkynes. Two mechanistic pathways involving initial activation of either the alkyne or the aldehyde by the AgNTf₂ catalyst were examined. The computational results revealed that although the Ag–alkyne complex is thermodynamically more stable, the aldehyde-activated pathway has a significantly lower energy barrier (12.6 kcal/mol) than the alkyne-activated pathway (22.7 or 28.0 kcal/mol for pathways 1a or 1b). Substituent effects were also evaluated, which revealed that steric hindrance at the R1 position increases the reaction barrier, whereas smaller substituents favor high selectivity. Solvent effects were investigated via the SMD method, with toluene predicted to provide lower free energy barriers than dichloromethane. Analysis of the nucleophilic/electrophilic indices and noncovalent interactions further supported the predomi-nance of the aldehyde-activated pathway. These results provide new theoretical insights into the silver-catalyzed olefination mechanism and highlight the influence of electronic, steric, and solvent factors on the reaction selectivity and efficiency.
The present study aims to evaluate the functional significance of protogyny and herkogamy in fruit development in Goniothalamus wynaadensis by conducting floral morphological analyses and controlled pollination experiments. The results of the flower morphology analysis indicate that the flowers exhibit cauliflorous, pendent, solitary, herkogamous, and hermaphroditic characteristics. The fruit survival rates after four weeks were found to be lowest in the control group (66.20 +/- 1.10), followed by the self-pollinated group (97.60 +/- 0.55) and the crossed pollination group (98.5 +/- 1.0%). There was a statistically significant difference in the mean fruit set among the different manual pollination methods (F = 1861, P < 0.05). Zero fruit set percentage was observed in autogamy (bagging), while no significant difference (P > 0.05) in the mean number of monocarps at four weeks (F = 2.799, P > 0.05) and 17 weeks (10.80 +/- 1.92) was found between the control and selfing (P > 0.05) groups respectively. The absence of autogamy and the presence of herkogamy are the contributing factors for the lack of reproductive assurance in this IUCN red-listed species.
The covalent functionalization of the graphene surface is successfully employed using a silane coupling agent, 3-aminopropyl trimethoxy silane (APTMS). The silane modification increased the interlayer spacing between the rGO layers. The composite electrode loaded with 1.5 g APTMS displayed 97.3 % pseudocapacitance, implying the successful silylation of the oxygenated functional groups on the graphene structure. The silylation imparts a sheet-like internal morphology with sharp edges to rGO's morphology. Among binary electrodes, Si-rGO with 20 wt% loading of acid-treated multi-walled carbon nanotubes (A-CNT) (PSRC20 binary electrodes) show excellent electrochemical properties and the highest specific capacitance. PSRC20 binary electrode displayed 82.6 %
Polymer-carbon-ceramic hybrid systems offer a versatile platform for advancing high-performance electrochemical energy-storage materials. In this work, PANI/Carbon Black (CB) /BaTiO3 (BTO) nanocomposites were synthesized via rapid-mixing and ice-bath oxidative polymerization routes to finely tune interfacial polarization and electronic transport. The selected components -dielectric BTO nanoparticles and highly conductive CBprovide complementary functionalities that promote efficient charge accumulation and rapid electron mobility. Structural and spectroscopic analyses like XRD, FTIR, FESEM and BET confirmed homogeneous integration and a significant enhancement in surface area. A systematic series of PANI/CB (6 wt%)/BTO composites with varying BTO contents was evaluated, from which the PCB2 formulation (2 wt% BTO + 6 wt% CB, ice-bath route) delivered the best performance, achieving a specific capacitance of 373.22 F/g, an energy density of 74.64 Wh/ kg, a power density of 4010.74 W/kg, and a markedly reduced charge-transfer resistance of 67.02 Omega. These results demonstrate a synergistically engineered material platform with clear practical significance for nextgeneration high-power supercapacitors, portable energy modules, and compact storage systems in wearable, flexible, and miniaturized electronics.
Electrospinning represents a versatile nanofabrication approach for developing multifunctional materials with high surface area, tunable porosity, and efficient biomolecule entrapment. In this study, polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) nanofibrous mats encapsulating clove essential oil were fabricated via electrospinning to achieve sustained antioxidant and antimicrobial delivery. PVA, a hydrophilic, biodegradable, and biocompatible polymer, was selected as the matrix to stabilize clove oil phytochemicals and prevent their volatility and oxidative degradation. Optimized electrospinning parameters (15 kV voltage, 1 mL/h flow rate, and 15 cm tip-to-collector distance) produced smooth, bead-free, and uniform fibers with homogeneously distributed oil domains. FTIR analysis confirmed the presence of hydrogen bonding between eugenol-rich clove oil constituents and PVA chains without chemical alteration, while FE-SEM and TEM revealed continuous fibrous morphology and well-encapsulated internal reservoirs. Thermogravimetric and mechanical analyses indicated improved thermal resilience and flexibility (elongation at break ≈ 71
