Isolation and Protein Characterization of Lindane Degrading Root Epiphytic Bacterium Arthrobacter sp. T16 from Typha latifolia

Lindane, extensively used as pesticide, causes severe environmental hazard and is a threat to the humanity. The present study aims to assess the capability and mechanism of root epiphytic bacteria of wetland plant Typha latifolia to degrade lindane. Isolation of lindane degrading root epiphytic bacteria was done by standard enrichment technique and lindane degradation analysis was done using Gas Liquid Chromatography. Bacterial strain Arthrobacter sp. T16 was isolated and identified, which showed maximum degradation of 71.2 ± 1.3% of 50 mg l-1 lindane. Lindane biodegradation was accompanied with decrease in pH, increase in chloride ions concentration of culture medium and a positive dechlorination assay. Biodegradation potential of Arthrobacter sp. T16 was also studied at different lindane concentrations. Maximum degradation was observed at 10 mg l-1 lindane followed by 50 mg l-1 and 100 mg l-1 lindane. Lindane biodegradation kinetics study inferred that the average rate of lindane degradation increased with increase in lindane concentration. Lindane induced proteins in Arthrobacter sp. T16 were studied by SDS-PAGE. Distinctive polypeptides came into view in the presence of lindane and were identified as putative ABC transporter periplasmic amino acid-binding protein, elongation factor Tu and trifunctional transcriptional regulator/proline dehydrogenase/pyrroline-5-carboxylate dehydrogenase, each expressed due to lindane stress. This study specifies the potential of phytoremediation in controlling the environmental contamination problem with the help of indigenous organisms present in roots of plants

Comparative study of serum urea, creatinine and C-reactive protein level in chronic kidney disease patients with healthy subjects

Background: Chronic diseases are a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in India. Globally, chronic kidney disease is the 12th cause of death and the 17th cause of disability, respectively. CKD is defined as kidney damage or glomerular filtration rate (GFR) <60 mL/min/1.73 m2 for 3 months or more, irrespective of cause. The present study aimed to find out correlation between serum urea, creatinine and C-reactive protein (CRP) level among patients suffering from chronic kidney disease in an urban based tertiary care hospital in Bikaner, western Rajasthan, India.Methods: This study was conducted at Sardar Patel Medical College and Associated Hospitals at Bikaner, Rajasthan from August 2015 to December 2016. There were 50 cases and 50 controls in the age groups from 10 to 60 yearrs. We took fresh samples and performed required tests following standard protocol. CRP has been done by Antigen Antibody reaction (latex method). RFT has been performed on semi-automatic analyzer.Results: Levels of serum urea and creatinine were significantly raised in CKD patients (p-value<0.005) and CRP level was raised in 52% cases. While 48% cases having normal level %), which requires further study.  Renal function tests were significantly higher in cases than controls.Conclusions: Serum creatinine and urea level were significantly higher in cases as compared to control group

Nutritional paradigm of vermicompost enhances tolerance to endosulfan in Cicer arietinum

A nutritional factor in vermicompost has been exploited suitably to stimulate growth of chickpea Cicer  arietinum. It was noticed that incorporating 12.5% of vermicompost stimulates the plant in every aspect of  growth and development. Germination rate decreased during 10 to 15 days of treatment. However, it becomes identical to the control after 20 days of treatment. The percentage of increase in total length, internode size,  emergence of leaf, emergence of flower and number of pod was 13% (40 days treatment), 205% (15 days  treatment), 43% (28 days treatment), 58% (65 days treatment) and 600% (80 days treatment),  respectively. Similar impact of vermicompost was also noticed during growth of the plant in 2.5, 5 and 7.5%  of endosulfan. An increase in germination to the extent of 6-fold was also noticed. Total length, internode size, emergence of leaf, emergence of flower and number of pod has been triple (5 days treatment in 15%  endosulfan), more than 450% (5 days treatment in 5% endosulfan), more than 550% (23 days of growth in  10% endosulfan), 300% (65 days growth in 10% endosulfan) and 600% (85 days growth in 5% endosulfan).  Hence, the results obtained partially support stimulation effect of vermicompost in chickpea plant growth. This can be attributed to, as one of the principles, adopted by Cicer arietinum in remediation of endosulfanKey words: Vermicompost, endosulfan, growth parameters, chickpea

Raman Signatures of Strong Kitaev Exchange Correlations in (Na1−x_{1-x}Lix_x)2_2IrO3_3 : Experiments and Theory

Inelastic light scattering studies on single crystals of (Na$_{1-x}$Li$_x$)$_2$IrO$_3$ ($x = 0, 0.05$ and $0.15$) show a polarization independent broad band at $\sim$~2750 cm$^{-1}$ with a large band-width $\sim 1800$~cm$^{-1}$. For Na$_2$IrO$_3$ the broad band is seen for temperatures $\leq 200$~K and persists inside the magnetically ordered state. For Li doped samples, the intensity of this mode increases, shifts to lower wave-numbers and persists to higher temperatures. Such a mode has recently been predicted (Knolle et.al.) as a signature of the Kitaev spin liquid. We assign the observation of the broad band to be a signature of strong Kitaev-exchange correlations. The fact that the broad band persists even inside the magnetically ordered state suggests that dynamically fluctuating moments survive even below $T_{N}$. This is further supported by our mean field calculations. The Raman response calculated in mean field theory shows that the broad band predicted for the spin liquid state survives in the magnetically ordered state near the zigzag-spin liquid phase boundary. A comparison with the theoretical model gives an estimate of the Kitaev exchange interaction parameter to be $J_K\approx 57$~meV.Comment: 14pages 4 figure

Exploring ethnic foodscape in food desert: the case of Kolasib, Northeast India

Of late, ‘Food deserts’,— places where there are no supermarkets for residents in the locality—are triggering policy debates among the policy-makers, academics, activists and media and advocating policy-led interventions to establish accessible new supermarkets. However, in some food deserts, local communities may traditionally follow their own indigenously adapted approaches for consumption of healthy diets. In this paper, we contend that policy-makers sometimes rather than strengthening in-situ opportunities may even rattle low-cost healthy food access pathways by new supermarket mediations. Based on qualitative tools, i.e., focused group discussion (FGD), the current study has delved into the availability of range of ethnic traditional cuisines from the foodscape of Kolasib, generally consumed by the Lushai tribe in Mizoram, Northeast India. Our study proposes new boulevards for conducting research and possible provision of financial impetus to prevailing community-based practices for establishing food banks and leveraging farm-to-market opportunities.

The effect of surveillance and appreciative inquiry on puerperal infections : a longitudinal cohort study in India

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Observations of trace gases and aerosols over the Indian Ocean during the monsoon transition period

Characteristics of trace gases (O3, CO, CO2, CH4 and N2O) and aerosols (particle size of 2.5 micron) were studied over the Arabian Sea, equatorial Indian Ocean and southwest part of the Bay of Bengal during the monsoon transition period (October-November, 2004). Flow of pollutants is expected from south and southeast Asia during the monsoonal transition period due to the patterns of wind flow which are different from the monsoon period. This is the first detailed report on aerosols and trace gases during the sampled period as the earlier Bay of Bengal Experiment (BOBMEX), Arabian Sea Monsoon Experiment (ARMEX) and Indian Ocean Experiments (INDOEX) were during monsoon seasons. The significant observations during the transition period include: (i) low ozone concentration of the order of 5 ppbv around the equator, (ii) high concentrations of CO2, CH4 and N2O and (iii) variations in PM2.5 of 5-20&#956;g/m3

Decline in subarachnoid haemorrhage volumes associated with the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic

BACKGROUND: During the COVID-19 pandemic, decreased volumes of stroke admissions and mechanical thrombectomy were reported. The study\u27s objective was to examine whether subarachnoid haemorrhage (SAH) hospitalisations and ruptured aneurysm coiling interventions demonstrated similar declines. METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional, retrospective, observational study across 6 continents, 37 countries and 140 comprehensive stroke centres. Patients with the diagnosis of SAH, aneurysmal SAH, ruptured aneurysm coiling interventions and COVID-19 were identified by prospective aneurysm databases or by International Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision, codes. The 3-month cumulative volume, monthly volumes for SAH hospitalisations and ruptured aneurysm coiling procedures were compared for the period before (1 year and immediately before) and during the pandemic, defined as 1 March-31 May 2020. The prior 1-year control period (1 March-31 May 2019) was obtained to account for seasonal variation. FINDINGS: There was a significant decline in SAH hospitalisations, with 2044 admissions in the 3 months immediately before and 1585 admissions during the pandemic, representing a relative decline of 22.5% (95% CI -24.3% to -20.7%, p\u3c0.0001). Embolisation of ruptured aneurysms declined with 1170-1035 procedures, respectively, representing an 11.5% (95%CI -13.5% to -9.8%, p=0.002) relative drop. Subgroup analysis was noted for aneurysmal SAH hospitalisation decline from 834 to 626 hospitalisations, a 24.9% relative decline (95% CI -28.0% to -22.1%, p\u3c0.0001). A relative increase in ruptured aneurysm coiling was noted in low coiling volume hospitals of 41.1% (95% CI 32.3% to 50.6%, p=0.008) despite a decrease in SAH admissions in this tertile. INTERPRETATION: There was a relative decrease in the volume of SAH hospitalisations, aneurysmal SAH hospitalisations and ruptured aneurysm embolisations during the COVID-19 pandemic. These findings in SAH are consistent with a decrease in other emergencies, such as stroke and myocardial infarction