Emerging Technologies in the Area of Defence Life Sciences

In the modern era world has experienced tremendous boost in the field of science and technology, realising its impact on the economic growth and people’s standard of living. India has also maintained its pace in the field of Science and technology. We are among the world’s top 10 nations in the number of scientific publications and patents. The government has made considerable investmentand encouraged public-private partnership to achieve self reliance in different sectors such as space, nuclear power, defence, agriculture, and healthcare. Although, India’s footprint in the life sciences is relatively small, it has taken giant strides to catch up with the rising economic wave to reckon itself as an international player in the life sciences. It has a strong presence in the field biotechnology, particularly related to agriculture, pharmaceuticals, health care, diagnostics, etc. A testimony to this is the accessibility of cutting edge technologies in the market

Looming Threat of Chemical and Biological Warfare Agents

In the recent past, a dramatic shift has been observed in the strategies of warfare from conventional to non-conventional. Now-a-days, traditional power is of less importance than it used to be earlier. Weapons of mass destruction, which comprise of nuclear weapons, and chemical and biological warfare agents, are posing a great peril to the world due to their devastating potential. Though, there are several bilateral as well as multilateral treaties to control the use and proliferation of these weapons, yet the risk of use of such agents by non-state actors cannot be overlooked. Chances of use of chemical and biological agents are more likely than the nuclear weapons. A comparison of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons in terms of technology, cost, signature, effectiveness on protected and un-protected troops shows that chemical and biological weapon programmes require much lower level of technology and cost than the nuclear weapon programme. Further, there is no or least distinctive and readily observable signature in biological weapon programme in comparison to nuclear and chemical weapon facilities. There can be two possibilities of use of these agents in terrorist attacks. First, there is a risk of transfer of material or know-how of these weapons to terrorists for using against the adversaries and second, the risk of these agents being pilfered due to poor security, thereby sabotaging the national security. The International Committee of Red Cross in February 1918 reckoned these agents as ‘barbarous inventions’ that can ‘only be called criminal’

The Humoral Immune Response to Various Domains of Protective Antigen of Bacillus anthracis in Cutaneous Anthrax Cases in India

Anthrax, caused by Bacillus anthracis is known to occur globally since antiquity. Besides being an important biothreat agent, it is an important public health importance pathogen also in countries like India. B. anthracis secretes three distinct toxins, namely protective antigen (PA), lethal factor (LF) and edema factor (EF). PA is the central moiety of the anthrax toxin complex and therefore has been a molecule of choice for vaccine development. PA has four different domains with different functions. In this study, the major domains of PA were cloned and expressed in bacterial system. The purified recombinant proteins were used to determine the humoral immune response by ELISA using 43 human cutaneous anthrax serum samples. The maximum immunoreactivity was observed with the whole PA protein followed by domain 2, 4 and 1. The study corroborated that in addition to full PA, individual domain 2 and 4 can also be good target for vaccine development as well as for serodiagnostic assays for cutaneous anthra

Finite Element Method-based Design and Simulations of Micro-cantilever Platform for Chemical and Bio-sensing Applications

Micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS)-based cantilever platform have capability for the detection of chemical and biological agents. This paper reports about the finite element method (FEM) based design and simulations of MEMS-based piezoresistor cantilever platform to be used for detection of chemical and biological toxic agents. Bulk micromachining technique is adopted for the realisation of the device structure. MEMS piezoresistive biosensing platforms are having potential for a field-based label-free detection of various types of bio-molecules. Using the MEMMECH module of CoventorWare® simulations are performed on the designed model of the device and it is observed that principal stress is maximum along the length (among other dimensions of the micro-cantilever) and remains almost constant for 90 per cent of the length of the micro-cantilever. The dimensions of piezoresistor are optimised and the output voltage vs. stress analysis for various lengths of the piezoresistor is performed using the MEMPZR module of the CoventorWare®

Bactericidal Efficacy of Allium sativum (garlic) Against Multidrug Resistant Vibrio cholerae O1 Epidemic Strains

In recent years, emerging trend of antibiotic resistance in Vibrio cholerae associated with cholera epidemics is a matter of serious concern for the management of the disease. Indiscriminate use of antibiotics generally results in selection of antibiotic resistant strains. Introduction of newer antibiotics is a challenging task for the researchers as bacteria soon attain resistance. Therefore, identifying natural compounds of medicinal importance for control of cholera would be the best alternative. Garlic (Allium sativum) was recognised for many centuries in early Chinese, Egyptian and Indian civilisations as an herbal or traditional medicine. In present study, garlic was selected for screening of antimicrobial efficacy against V. cholerae. A total of 55 V. cholerae strains isolated from various outbreaks/epidemics were subjected to antimicrobial testing as per CLSI, USA 2010 guidelines. Antimicrobial screening of garlic extract was performed against all the multidrug resistant strains of V. cholerae. The garlic extracts showed antibacterial activity against all the V. cholerae strains tested, irrespective of their origin, multidrug resistance and virulence. Antibacterial efficacy of garlic on V. cholerae was also evident from in vivo study on sealed adult mice model. Thus, the Garlic extract harnesses the potential to control infection of multidrug resistant V. cholerae, especially in outbreak like situations in remote and under developed areas where drug supply itself is a challeng

High-Temperature Lightweight Ceramics with Nano-sized Ferrites for EMI Shielding: Synthesis, Characterization, and Potential Applications

The present study focuses on the synthesis and characterisation of a lightweight ceramic material with electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding properties, achieved using mullite containing micrometre-sized hollow spheres (cenospheres) and CoFe2O4 nanoparticles. This research explores compositions with varying CoFe2O4 contents ranging from 0 up to 20 wt.%. Conventional sintering in an air atmosphere is carried out at a temperature between 1100 and 1300 °C. The addition of ferrite nanoparticles was found to enhance the process of sintering cenospheres, resulting in improved material density and mechanical properties. Furthermore, this study reveals a direct correlation between the concentration of ferrite nanoparticles and the electromagnetic properties of the material. By increasing the concentration of ferrite nanoparticles, the electromagnetic shielding effect of the material (saturation magnetisation (Ms ) and remanent magnetisation (Mr)) was observed to strengthen. These findings provide valuable insights into designing and developing lightweight ceramic materials with enhanced electromagnetic shielding capabilities. The synthe-sized ceramic material holds promise for various applications that require effective electromagnetic shielding, such as in the electronics, telecommunications, and aerospace industries

The burden of Malaria in the democratic Republic of the Congo

Despite evidence that older children and adolescents bear the highest burden of malaria, large malaria surveys focus on younger children. We used polymerase chain reaction data from the 2013-2014 Demographic and Health Survey in the Democratic Republic of Congo (including children aged <5 years and adults aged ≥15 years) and a longitudinal study in Kinshasa Province (participants aged 6 months to 98 years) to estimate malaria prevalence across age strata. We fit linear models and estimated prevalences for each age category; adolescents aged 10-14 years had the highest prevalence. We estimate approximately 26 million polymerase chain reaction-detectable infections nationally. Adolescents and older children should be included in surveillance studies

Efeitos da aplicação de prostaglandinas intervaladas de 10 dias sobre características reprodutivas de cabras leiteiras nulíparas cíclicas

Relataram-se os efeitos da aplicação de prostaglandina sobre características reprodutivas de cabras leiteiras nulíparas cíclicas. Cabras Alpinas (n=9) e Saanen (n=9) receberam duas doses de 22,5mg PGF2a com 10 dias de intervalo. A progesterona plasmática (ng/mL) foi determinada a partir de amostras de sangue coletadas nos dias 0 (primeira dose), 5, 10 (segunda dose), 15, 20, 25 e 30. Após início do segundo estro, as fêmeas foram monitoradas por ultrassonografia transretal a cada quatro horas até oito horas após a ovulação. A gestação foi verificada por ultrassonografia transretal nos dias 20, 25, 30, 35 e 90 após a segunda dose. As características estudadas foram semelhantes entre as raças (P>0,05). Animais em estro e o intervalo parto-estro de, respectivamente, 78,9% e 50,6±17,2h e 88,9% e 50,0±14,8h após a primeira e segunda administrações de prostaglandina, não diferiram (P>0,05). Todas as cabras ovularam e registraram-se valores do intervalo parto-ovulação após a segunda aplicação de prostaglandina de 64,5±19,5h e após início do estro de 18,0±9,1h, a taxa de ovulação de 1,3±0,5 e diâmetro do folículo ovulatório de 8,1±1,1mm. Perda embrionária ocorreu antes de 30 dias de gestação. O estro pode ser eficientemente sincronizado em cabras leiteiras núliparas com duas doses de prostaglandina intervaladas de 10 dias. _________________________________________________________________________________________ ABSTRACT: This study reported the effects of prostaglandin (PGF2a) administration 10 days apart on reproductive parameters of cyclic artificial inseminated (AI) nulliparous Alpine (n=9) and Saanen (n=9) goats. Animals received two doses of 22.5mg PGF2a 10 days apart. After 1st and 2nd PGF2a administrations, estrus was monitored at 12 h intervals, with a buck teaser. Plasma progesterone concentration (ng/mL) was determined from blood sampled on day 0 (1st PGF2a) and the following 5, 10 (2nd PGF2a), 15, 20, 25 and 30 days. After the onset of the second estrus, females were transrectally (5 MHz probe) scanned at 4 hour intervals until at least 8h after ovulation. Pregnancy was checked through transrectal ultrasound on days 20, 25, 30, 35 and 90 after insemination. All parameters studied did not differ between breeds (P>0.05). Estrous response and interval to estrus, respectively, after 1st (78.9% and 50.6±17.2h) and 2nd PGF2a (88.9% and 50.0±14.8h) administration did not differ (P>0.05). Overall animals ovulating (100.0%), interval to ovulation after 2nd PGF2a (64.5±19.5h) and after estrous onset (18.0±9.1h), ovulation rate (1.3±0.5), diameter of ovulatory follicle (8.1±1.1mm) were recorded. Embryo loss occurred before day 30 of pregnancy. Estrus can be efficiently synchronized in nulliparous Alpine and Saanen goats with two doses of prostaglandin 10 days apart