Vinay Kumar - Academia.edu (original) (raw)
Papers by Vinay Kumar
Frontiers in Plant Science, 2015
Journal of Applied Physics, 2005
The wall conditioning of the ADITYA tokamak is usually done, by first producing an electron cyclo... more The wall conditioning of the ADITYA tokamak is usually done, by first producing an electron cyclotron resonance ͑ECR͒ plasma inside the vessel and then superimposing a pulsed ohmic discharge on the ECR background. Sometimes, helium gas is used as a working gas. In this article, the spectral line emissions of neutral helium for the two different plasmas-namely, the ECR and the pulsed discharge cleaning ͑PDC͒ plasmas-have been analyzed using a collisional-radiative ͑CR͒-model code to estimate the electron density and temperature. We are able to match the experimentally obtained relative intensity ratios with those predicted by the model under the assumption of ionizing plasma condition if the possible effects of the metastable states are not ignored. This has been done by using the populations of two metastable levels ͑2 1 S and 2 3 S͒ as independent parameters in addition to the ground states of neutrals and ions in the CR model under a quasisteady-state approximation. It is further seen that, it is the metastables and not the recombination ͑including dielectronic͒ processes that lead to a better fit with experimental observations. The column density of neutrals inferred from this analysis implies that the emission from the PDC discharge emanates from a large region of the vessel, while in the ECR discharge, the plasma responsible for the emission is restricted to a narrow region. This is also borne out by experimental observation.
Understanding of the transport in a Tokamak plasma is an important issue. Various mechanisms have... more Understanding of the transport in a Tokamak plasma is an important issue. Various mechanisms have been reported in the literature to relate the core phenomenon to edge phenomenon.
Journal of Physics B-atomic Molecular and Optical Physics, 2010
The feasibility of inferring the plasma parameters of a Penning discharge in helium, from the exp... more The feasibility of inferring the plasma parameters of a Penning discharge in helium, from the experimentally observed intensities of a number of spectral lines in the visible wavelength region, is explored. The collisional-radiative model of ADAS (atomic data analysis structure) code and database has been used for this analysis. The electron density, electron temperature, ground-state atom and ion densities and also the 2 3 S metastable state density are the parameters thus estimated. The results are encouraging. The derived plasma parameters are then used to obtain the intensities of a few lines in the vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) region. This has been compared with the observed VUV spectral lines, recorded simultaneously with the visible lines, using a VUV spectrometer for which intensity calibration was not available, to arrive at calibration factors. It is expected that this approach might provide an alternative to the 'branching ratio' method for calibration in the VUV region once the analysis is improved and the possible re-absorption of certain lines is accounted for.
Journal of Ethnopharmacology, 2010
Eulophia nuda L. (Orchidaceae) is a medicinally important terrestrial orchid used for the treatme... more Eulophia nuda L. (Orchidaceae) is a medicinally important terrestrial orchid used for the treatment of tumours and various health problems by the local healers throughout the Western Ghats region in Maharashtra (India).To isolate the active molecule from Eulophia nuda and to study its cytotoxic potential against human cancer cells.The crude methanolic extract of Eulophia nuda tubers was fractionated by stepwise gradient of the solvents—chloroform–methanol to isolate the pure compound. Isolated pure compound was assessed for its cytotoxic potential against human breast cancer cell lines, MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 using MTT assay. Structure elucidation of the isolated active compound was carried out by extensive spectroscopic analysis including 1H NMR, 13C NMR, NOESY, COSY, LC–MS and IR.The isolated active molecule was identified as phenanthrene derivative 9,10-dihydro-2,5-dimethoxyphenanthrene-1,7-diol. This compound showed good antiproliferative activity against human breast cancer cell lines MCF-7 (91%) and MDA-MB-231 (85%) at 1000 μg/ml concentration.9,10-Dihydro-2,5-dimethoxyphenanthrene-1,7-diol from Eulophia nuda tubers showed good growth suppressive effect against human cancer cell lines MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 making it a potential biomolecule against human cancer.A phenanthrene derivative 9,10-dihydro-2,5-dimethoxyphenanthrene-1,7-diol was isolated from Eulophia nuda and identified as a promising cytotoxic agent against human cancer cell lines MCF-7 (13% cell survival) and MDA-MB-231 (19% cell survival) at 100 μg/ml concentration.
Natural products and bioprospecting, 2014
Mature seeds of Helicteres isora L. were collected from seven geographical locations of Maharasht... more Mature seeds of Helicteres isora L. were collected from seven geographical locations of Maharashtra and Goa (India) and evaluated for diosgenin (a bioactive steroidal sapogenin of prime importance) extraction and quantification. Chemotypic variations were evidenced with diosgenin quantity ranging from 33 lg g -1 seeds (Osmanabad forests) to 138 lg g -1 (Khopoli region). Nodal and leaf explants from in vitro-raised seedlings were used for callus and Agrobacterium-mediated transformation, respectively. Compact, hard, whitish-green callus (2.65 g explant -1 ) was obtained on MS ? 13.32 lM BAP ? 2.32 lM Kin after 30 days of inoculation. Various parameters including types of explant and Agrobacterium strain, culture density, duration of infection and various medium compositions were optimized for hairy root production. A. rhizogenes strain ATCC-15834 successfully induced hairy roots from leaf explants (1 cm 2 ) with 42 % efficiency. Transgenic status of the roots was confirmed by PCR using rolB and VirD specific primers. Hairy roots showed an ability to synthesize diosgenin. Diosgenin yield was increased *8 times in hairy roots and *5 times in callus than the seeds of wild plants. Enhanced diosgenin content was associated with proline accumulation in hairy roots. This is the first report on induction of hairy roots in H. isora.
Journal of experimental botany, 2014
Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) fruit ripening-specific N-glycan processing enzyme, β-D-N-acetylhex... more Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) fruit ripening-specific N-glycan processing enzyme, β-D-N-acetylhexosaminidase (β-Hex), plays an important role in the ripening-associated fruit-softening process. However, the regulation of fruit ripening-specific expression of β-Hex is not well understood. We have identified and functionally characterized the fruit ripening-specific promoter of β-Hex and provided insights into its transcriptional regulation during fruit ripening. Our results demonstrate that RIPENING INHIBITOR (RIN), a global fruit ripening regulator, and ABSCISIC ACID STRESS RIPENING 1 (SlASR1), a poorly characterized ripening-related protein, are the transcriptional regulators of β-Hex. Both RIN and SlASR1 directly bound to the β-Hex promoter fragments containing CArG and C 2-3 (C/G)A cis-acting elements, the binding sites for RIN and SlASR1, respectively. Moreover, β-Hex expression/promoter activity in tomato fruits was downregulated once expression of either RIN or SlASR1 was suppressed; indicating that RIN and SlASR1 positively regulate the transcription of β-Hex during fruit ripening. Interestingly, RIN could also bind to the SlASR1 promoter, which contains several CArG cis-acting elements, and SlASR1 expression was suppressed in rin mutant fruits, indicating that RIN also acts as a positive regulator of SlASR1 expression during fruit ripening. Taken together, these results suggest that RIN, both directly and indirectly, through SlASR1, regulates the transcription of β-Hex during fruit ripening. The fruit ripening-specific promoter of β-Hex could be a useful tool in regulating gene expression during fruit ripening.
Journal of experimental botany, 2015
Genome editing is an approach in which a specific target DNA sequence of the genome is altered by... more Genome editing is an approach in which a specific target DNA sequence of the genome is altered by adding, removing, or replacing DNA bases. Artificially engineered hybrid enzymes, zinc-finger nucleases (ZFNs), and transcription activator-like effector nucleases (TALENs), and the CRISPR (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats)-Cas (CRISPR-associated protein) system are being used for genome editing in various organisms including plants. The CRISPR-Cas system has been developed most recently and seems to be more efficient and less time-consuming compared with ZFNs or TALENs. This system employs an RNA-guided nuclease, Cas9, to induce double-strand breaks. The Cas9-mediated breaks are repaired by cellular DNA repair mechanisms and mediate gene/genome modifications. Here, we provide a detailed overview of the CRISPR-Cas system and its adoption in different organisms, especially plants, for various applications. Important considerations and future opportunities for deployment of the CRISPR-Cas system in plants for numerous applications are also discussed. Recent investigations have revealed the implications of the CRISPR-Cas system as a promising tool for targeted genetic modifications in plants. This technology is likely to be more commonly adopted in plant functional genomics studies and crop improvement in the near future.
Spectrochimica acta. Part A, Molecular and biomolecular spectroscopy, Jan 27, 2014
2008 Congress on Image and Signal Processing, 2008
In this paper we propose a new method for companding a discrete signal, by a process we will call... more In this paper we propose a new method for companding a discrete signal, by a process we will call by the name of T - Law. When this data is processed according to the discussed technique, it gives much less average quantization noise than both µ and A-laws. The ...
SSRN Electronic Journal, 2000
Corporate Social Responsibility creates a landing place in the minds of the target consumers.Due ... more Corporate Social Responsibility creates a landing place in the minds of the target consumers.Due to global competition , increase in media clutter , less differentiation in brand companies are using different tools to increase the value of intangible assests. CSR not only creats the Brand awareness among the consumers but also leads to a positive Brand Image in the minds of the potential consumers. Brands must be inspirational in a socially responsible way to its stakeholders. To achieve the same Corporate Social Responsibility has become more common business practices.Now a days companies are strategically using CSR as a Marketing tool . The purpose of this paper is to understand how Corporate Social Responsibility can lead to the creation of better brand image & to understand the CSR activities carried down by Indian companies as a marketing strategy to build and sustain in a competitive advantage. This study is based on secondary data, information, books, journals, magazines and research reports and web sites. Different types of conceptual information presented in the study is the result of observation, in depth reading, experiences and rational judgement of the author.
SSRN Electronic Journal, 2000
Woman online shopping is under researched. The author found very few published contents on the to... more Woman online shopping is under researched. The author found very few published contents on the topic. This impelled the researcher to undergo a brief review of existing, although comparatively small, literature. The literature suggests that women have lesser trust in online shopping as compared to their male counterparts. The strata of women shoppers can be divided in three distinct group's viz., above 55 years of age, 36-55 years and 15-35 years. The growth in adaptation in online shopping has been observed in the age group of 15-35 years. The increased number of working lady in this group is one among the several reasons. Different types of conceptual information presented in the study are the result of observation, in depth reading, and rational judgement of the author.
2006 IEEE International Conference on Multimedia and Expo, 2006
Segmentation of foreground and background has been an important research problem arising out of m... more Segmentation of foreground and background has been an important research problem arising out of many applications including video surveillance. A method commonly used for segmentation is "background subtraction" or thresholding the difference between the estimated background image and current image. Adaptive Gaussian mixture based background modelling has been proposed by many researchers for increasing the robustness against environmental changes. However, all these methods, being computationally intensive, need to be optimized for efficient and real-time performance especially at a higher image resolution. In this paper, we propose an improved foreground/background segmentation method which uses Experiential Sampling technique to restrict the computational efforts in the region of interest. We exploit the fact that the region of interest in general is present only in a small part of the image, therefore, the attention should only be focused in those regions. The proposed method shows a significant gain in processing speed at the expense of minor loss in accuracy. We provide experimental results and detailed analysis to show the utility of our method.
ABSTRACT A simple design of omni-directional reflector based on one dimensional superconductor-se... more ABSTRACT A simple design of omni-directional reflector based on one dimensional superconductor-semiconductor photonic crystal has been proposed. The proposed structure consists of a periodic array of alternate layers of YBa2Cu3O7 or YBCO (superconductor) and Si (semiconductor) as the materials of low and high refractive indices respectively. The refractive indices of YBCO and Si layers are taken as the function of temperature and wavelength both. Therefore, this study may be considered to be more physically realistic. The propagation characteristics of the proposed structure are analyzed by the transfer matrix method.
Reviews in Chemical Engineering, 2013
Various polymers such as nylon, polypropylene, polystyrene, ethylene vinyl acetate, epoxy resins,... more Various polymers such as nylon, polypropylene, polystyrene, ethylene vinyl acetate, epoxy resins, polyurethanes, polyimides, and polyethylene terephthalate can be reinforced by adding nanofillers with dimensions < 100 nm. Fillers can be in the form of particles (minerals), sheets (exfoliated clay stacks), or fibers (carbon nanotubes or electrospun fibers). Polypropylene and clay are most widely used components for making nanocomposites. For proper dispersion of clay with polypropylene, maleic anhydride polypropylene is commonly used. The composites thus prepared have applications in food packaging, structural, chemical, electrical/electronic, and medical fields.
Frontiers in Plant Science, 2015
Journal of Applied Physics, 2005
The wall conditioning of the ADITYA tokamak is usually done, by first producing an electron cyclo... more The wall conditioning of the ADITYA tokamak is usually done, by first producing an electron cyclotron resonance ͑ECR͒ plasma inside the vessel and then superimposing a pulsed ohmic discharge on the ECR background. Sometimes, helium gas is used as a working gas. In this article, the spectral line emissions of neutral helium for the two different plasmas-namely, the ECR and the pulsed discharge cleaning ͑PDC͒ plasmas-have been analyzed using a collisional-radiative ͑CR͒-model code to estimate the electron density and temperature. We are able to match the experimentally obtained relative intensity ratios with those predicted by the model under the assumption of ionizing plasma condition if the possible effects of the metastable states are not ignored. This has been done by using the populations of two metastable levels ͑2 1 S and 2 3 S͒ as independent parameters in addition to the ground states of neutrals and ions in the CR model under a quasisteady-state approximation. It is further seen that, it is the metastables and not the recombination ͑including dielectronic͒ processes that lead to a better fit with experimental observations. The column density of neutrals inferred from this analysis implies that the emission from the PDC discharge emanates from a large region of the vessel, while in the ECR discharge, the plasma responsible for the emission is restricted to a narrow region. This is also borne out by experimental observation.
Understanding of the transport in a Tokamak plasma is an important issue. Various mechanisms have... more Understanding of the transport in a Tokamak plasma is an important issue. Various mechanisms have been reported in the literature to relate the core phenomenon to edge phenomenon.
Journal of Physics B-atomic Molecular and Optical Physics, 2010
The feasibility of inferring the plasma parameters of a Penning discharge in helium, from the exp... more The feasibility of inferring the plasma parameters of a Penning discharge in helium, from the experimentally observed intensities of a number of spectral lines in the visible wavelength region, is explored. The collisional-radiative model of ADAS (atomic data analysis structure) code and database has been used for this analysis. The electron density, electron temperature, ground-state atom and ion densities and also the 2 3 S metastable state density are the parameters thus estimated. The results are encouraging. The derived plasma parameters are then used to obtain the intensities of a few lines in the vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) region. This has been compared with the observed VUV spectral lines, recorded simultaneously with the visible lines, using a VUV spectrometer for which intensity calibration was not available, to arrive at calibration factors. It is expected that this approach might provide an alternative to the 'branching ratio' method for calibration in the VUV region once the analysis is improved and the possible re-absorption of certain lines is accounted for.
Journal of Ethnopharmacology, 2010
Eulophia nuda L. (Orchidaceae) is a medicinally important terrestrial orchid used for the treatme... more Eulophia nuda L. (Orchidaceae) is a medicinally important terrestrial orchid used for the treatment of tumours and various health problems by the local healers throughout the Western Ghats region in Maharashtra (India).To isolate the active molecule from Eulophia nuda and to study its cytotoxic potential against human cancer cells.The crude methanolic extract of Eulophia nuda tubers was fractionated by stepwise gradient of the solvents—chloroform–methanol to isolate the pure compound. Isolated pure compound was assessed for its cytotoxic potential against human breast cancer cell lines, MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 using MTT assay. Structure elucidation of the isolated active compound was carried out by extensive spectroscopic analysis including 1H NMR, 13C NMR, NOESY, COSY, LC–MS and IR.The isolated active molecule was identified as phenanthrene derivative 9,10-dihydro-2,5-dimethoxyphenanthrene-1,7-diol. This compound showed good antiproliferative activity against human breast cancer cell lines MCF-7 (91%) and MDA-MB-231 (85%) at 1000 μg/ml concentration.9,10-Dihydro-2,5-dimethoxyphenanthrene-1,7-diol from Eulophia nuda tubers showed good growth suppressive effect against human cancer cell lines MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 making it a potential biomolecule against human cancer.A phenanthrene derivative 9,10-dihydro-2,5-dimethoxyphenanthrene-1,7-diol was isolated from Eulophia nuda and identified as a promising cytotoxic agent against human cancer cell lines MCF-7 (13% cell survival) and MDA-MB-231 (19% cell survival) at 100 μg/ml concentration.
Natural products and bioprospecting, 2014
Mature seeds of Helicteres isora L. were collected from seven geographical locations of Maharasht... more Mature seeds of Helicteres isora L. were collected from seven geographical locations of Maharashtra and Goa (India) and evaluated for diosgenin (a bioactive steroidal sapogenin of prime importance) extraction and quantification. Chemotypic variations were evidenced with diosgenin quantity ranging from 33 lg g -1 seeds (Osmanabad forests) to 138 lg g -1 (Khopoli region). Nodal and leaf explants from in vitro-raised seedlings were used for callus and Agrobacterium-mediated transformation, respectively. Compact, hard, whitish-green callus (2.65 g explant -1 ) was obtained on MS ? 13.32 lM BAP ? 2.32 lM Kin after 30 days of inoculation. Various parameters including types of explant and Agrobacterium strain, culture density, duration of infection and various medium compositions were optimized for hairy root production. A. rhizogenes strain ATCC-15834 successfully induced hairy roots from leaf explants (1 cm 2 ) with 42 % efficiency. Transgenic status of the roots was confirmed by PCR using rolB and VirD specific primers. Hairy roots showed an ability to synthesize diosgenin. Diosgenin yield was increased *8 times in hairy roots and *5 times in callus than the seeds of wild plants. Enhanced diosgenin content was associated with proline accumulation in hairy roots. This is the first report on induction of hairy roots in H. isora.
Journal of experimental botany, 2014
Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) fruit ripening-specific N-glycan processing enzyme, β-D-N-acetylhex... more Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) fruit ripening-specific N-glycan processing enzyme, β-D-N-acetylhexosaminidase (β-Hex), plays an important role in the ripening-associated fruit-softening process. However, the regulation of fruit ripening-specific expression of β-Hex is not well understood. We have identified and functionally characterized the fruit ripening-specific promoter of β-Hex and provided insights into its transcriptional regulation during fruit ripening. Our results demonstrate that RIPENING INHIBITOR (RIN), a global fruit ripening regulator, and ABSCISIC ACID STRESS RIPENING 1 (SlASR1), a poorly characterized ripening-related protein, are the transcriptional regulators of β-Hex. Both RIN and SlASR1 directly bound to the β-Hex promoter fragments containing CArG and C 2-3 (C/G)A cis-acting elements, the binding sites for RIN and SlASR1, respectively. Moreover, β-Hex expression/promoter activity in tomato fruits was downregulated once expression of either RIN or SlASR1 was suppressed; indicating that RIN and SlASR1 positively regulate the transcription of β-Hex during fruit ripening. Interestingly, RIN could also bind to the SlASR1 promoter, which contains several CArG cis-acting elements, and SlASR1 expression was suppressed in rin mutant fruits, indicating that RIN also acts as a positive regulator of SlASR1 expression during fruit ripening. Taken together, these results suggest that RIN, both directly and indirectly, through SlASR1, regulates the transcription of β-Hex during fruit ripening. The fruit ripening-specific promoter of β-Hex could be a useful tool in regulating gene expression during fruit ripening.
Journal of experimental botany, 2015
Genome editing is an approach in which a specific target DNA sequence of the genome is altered by... more Genome editing is an approach in which a specific target DNA sequence of the genome is altered by adding, removing, or replacing DNA bases. Artificially engineered hybrid enzymes, zinc-finger nucleases (ZFNs), and transcription activator-like effector nucleases (TALENs), and the CRISPR (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats)-Cas (CRISPR-associated protein) system are being used for genome editing in various organisms including plants. The CRISPR-Cas system has been developed most recently and seems to be more efficient and less time-consuming compared with ZFNs or TALENs. This system employs an RNA-guided nuclease, Cas9, to induce double-strand breaks. The Cas9-mediated breaks are repaired by cellular DNA repair mechanisms and mediate gene/genome modifications. Here, we provide a detailed overview of the CRISPR-Cas system and its adoption in different organisms, especially plants, for various applications. Important considerations and future opportunities for deployment of the CRISPR-Cas system in plants for numerous applications are also discussed. Recent investigations have revealed the implications of the CRISPR-Cas system as a promising tool for targeted genetic modifications in plants. This technology is likely to be more commonly adopted in plant functional genomics studies and crop improvement in the near future.
Spectrochimica acta. Part A, Molecular and biomolecular spectroscopy, Jan 27, 2014
2008 Congress on Image and Signal Processing, 2008
In this paper we propose a new method for companding a discrete signal, by a process we will call... more In this paper we propose a new method for companding a discrete signal, by a process we will call by the name of T - Law. When this data is processed according to the discussed technique, it gives much less average quantization noise than both µ and A-laws. The ...
SSRN Electronic Journal, 2000
Corporate Social Responsibility creates a landing place in the minds of the target consumers.Due ... more Corporate Social Responsibility creates a landing place in the minds of the target consumers.Due to global competition , increase in media clutter , less differentiation in brand companies are using different tools to increase the value of intangible assests. CSR not only creats the Brand awareness among the consumers but also leads to a positive Brand Image in the minds of the potential consumers. Brands must be inspirational in a socially responsible way to its stakeholders. To achieve the same Corporate Social Responsibility has become more common business practices.Now a days companies are strategically using CSR as a Marketing tool . The purpose of this paper is to understand how Corporate Social Responsibility can lead to the creation of better brand image & to understand the CSR activities carried down by Indian companies as a marketing strategy to build and sustain in a competitive advantage. This study is based on secondary data, information, books, journals, magazines and research reports and web sites. Different types of conceptual information presented in the study is the result of observation, in depth reading, experiences and rational judgement of the author.
SSRN Electronic Journal, 2000
Woman online shopping is under researched. The author found very few published contents on the to... more Woman online shopping is under researched. The author found very few published contents on the topic. This impelled the researcher to undergo a brief review of existing, although comparatively small, literature. The literature suggests that women have lesser trust in online shopping as compared to their male counterparts. The strata of women shoppers can be divided in three distinct group's viz., above 55 years of age, 36-55 years and 15-35 years. The growth in adaptation in online shopping has been observed in the age group of 15-35 years. The increased number of working lady in this group is one among the several reasons. Different types of conceptual information presented in the study are the result of observation, in depth reading, and rational judgement of the author.
2006 IEEE International Conference on Multimedia and Expo, 2006
Segmentation of foreground and background has been an important research problem arising out of m... more Segmentation of foreground and background has been an important research problem arising out of many applications including video surveillance. A method commonly used for segmentation is "background subtraction" or thresholding the difference between the estimated background image and current image. Adaptive Gaussian mixture based background modelling has been proposed by many researchers for increasing the robustness against environmental changes. However, all these methods, being computationally intensive, need to be optimized for efficient and real-time performance especially at a higher image resolution. In this paper, we propose an improved foreground/background segmentation method which uses Experiential Sampling technique to restrict the computational efforts in the region of interest. We exploit the fact that the region of interest in general is present only in a small part of the image, therefore, the attention should only be focused in those regions. The proposed method shows a significant gain in processing speed at the expense of minor loss in accuracy. We provide experimental results and detailed analysis to show the utility of our method.
ABSTRACT A simple design of omni-directional reflector based on one dimensional superconductor-se... more ABSTRACT A simple design of omni-directional reflector based on one dimensional superconductor-semiconductor photonic crystal has been proposed. The proposed structure consists of a periodic array of alternate layers of YBa2Cu3O7 or YBCO (superconductor) and Si (semiconductor) as the materials of low and high refractive indices respectively. The refractive indices of YBCO and Si layers are taken as the function of temperature and wavelength both. Therefore, this study may be considered to be more physically realistic. The propagation characteristics of the proposed structure are analyzed by the transfer matrix method.
Reviews in Chemical Engineering, 2013
Various polymers such as nylon, polypropylene, polystyrene, ethylene vinyl acetate, epoxy resins,... more Various polymers such as nylon, polypropylene, polystyrene, ethylene vinyl acetate, epoxy resins, polyurethanes, polyimides, and polyethylene terephthalate can be reinforced by adding nanofillers with dimensions < 100 nm. Fillers can be in the form of particles (minerals), sheets (exfoliated clay stacks), or fibers (carbon nanotubes or electrospun fibers). Polypropylene and clay are most widely used components for making nanocomposites. For proper dispersion of clay with polypropylene, maleic anhydride polypropylene is commonly used. The composites thus prepared have applications in food packaging, structural, chemical, electrical/electronic, and medical fields.