A feasibility study of dating Indo-Gangatic alluvium using thermoluminescence and infrared-stimulated luminescence techniques

Results of a successful maiden attempt to date the Indo-Gangetic alluvium using the luminescence dating technique are presented. The low equivalent dose for the surface sample indicates that these samples had experienced a solar resetting of geologically acquired luminescence. The infrared stimulated luminescence ages on other terraces range from ~ 2 to 15 ka and are stratigraphically consistent

ASSESSING IMPACTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE ON TEAK AND SAL LANDSCAPE USING MODIS TIME SERIES DATA

Climate change poses a severe threat to the forest ecosystems by impacting its productivity, species composition and forest biodiversity at global and regional level. The scientific community all over the world is using remote sensing techniques to monitor and assess the impact of climate change on forest ecosystems. The consistent time series data provided by MODIS is immensely used for developing a different type of Vegetation indices like NDVI (Normalized difference vegetation indices) products at different spatial and temporal resolution. These vegetation indices have significant potential to detect forest growth and health, vegetation seasonality and different phenological events like budding and flowering. The current study aims to understand the impact of climate change on Teak and Sal forest of STR (Satpura tiger reserve) in central India by using Landsat and MODIS time series data. The rationale for taking STR as study site was to attribute the changes exclusively to climate change as there is no anthropogenic disturbance in STR. A change detection analysis was carried out to detect changes between the period 2017 and 1990 using Landsat data of October month. To understand the inter-annual and seasonal variation of Teak and Sal forests, freely available MOD13Q1 product (250 m, 16 days’ interval) was used to extract NDVI values for each month and four seasons (DJF, JJAS, ON, MAM) for the period 2000 to 2015. The climatic data (rainfall and temperature) was sourced from IMD (India Meteorological Department) at different resolutions (1, 0.5 and 0.25 degree) for the given period of the study. A correlation analysis was done to establish a causal relationship between climate variable (temperature and rainfall) and vegetation health (NDVI) on a different temporal scale of annual, seasonal and month. The study found an increasing trend in annual mean temperature and no consistent trend in total annual rainfall over the period 2000 to 2015. The maximum percentage change was observed in minimum temperature over the period 2000 to 2015. The average annual NDVI of Teak and Sal forests showed an increasing trend however, no trend was observed in seasonal and monthly NDVI over the same period. The maximum and minimum NDVI was found in the post-monsoon months (ON) and summer months (MAM) respectively. As STR is a Teak and Sal dominated landscape, the findings of the current study can also be applied in developing silvicultural and adaptation strategies for other Teak and Sal dominated landscapes of central India

Policy of foreign direct investment liberalisation in India: implications for retail sector

This study has analysed the impact of liberalisation of Indian economy and FDI policy on the retail sector since its implementation in the 1990s. It also further analyses sub-categories by investigating its impact on the unorganised retail sector and the flow of FDI in single-brand retail and multi-brand retail sectors. A comprehensive and critical review of the existing evidence on the subject was carried out, and descriptive statistical analysis of data from 1991 to 2013 was performed which leads to conclude that the policy of FDI liberalisation has proved to provide diversification and sustainable development to the Indian economy and specifically retail sector which is considered to be one of the significant pillars of economy. Furthermore, for continuous growth of the economy, it seems vital to encourage more investment in other sectors by liberalising the restrictive policies

VERTICO: The Virgo Environment Traced in CO Survey

Galaxie

Ashwagandha Derived Withanone Targets TPX2-Aurora A Complex: Computational and Experimental Evidence to its Anticancer Activity

Cancer is largely marked by genetic instability. Specific inhibition of individual proteins or signalling pathways that regulate genetic stability during cell division thus hold a great potential for cancer therapy. The Aurora A kinase is a Ser/Thr kinase that plays a critical role during mitosis and cytokinesis and is found upregulated in several cancer types. It is functionally regulated by its interactions with TPX2, a candidate oncogene. Aurora A inhibitors have been proposed as anticancer drugs that work by blocking its ATP binding site. This site is common to other kinases and hence these inhibitors lack specificity for Aurora A inhibition in particular, thus advocating the need of some alternative inhibition route. Previously, we identified TPX2 as a cellular target for withanone that selectively kill cancer cells. By computational approach, we found here that withanone binds to TPX2-Aurora A complex. In experiment, withanone treatment to cancer cells indeed resulted in dissociation of TPX2-Aurora A complex and disruption of mitotic spindle apparatus proposing this as a mechanism of the anticancer activity of withanone. From docking analysis, non-formation/disruption of the active TPX2-Aurora A association complex could be discerned. Our MD simulation results suggesting the thermodynamic and structural stability of TPX2-Aurora A in complex with withanone further substantiates the binding. We report a computational rationale of the ability of naturally occurring withanone to alter the kinase signalling pathway in an ATP-independent manner and experimental evidence in which withanone cause inactivation of the TPX2-Aurora A complex. The study demonstrated that TPX2-Aurora A complex is a target of withanone, a potential natural anticancer drug