Impact of Cropping Systems on Soil Microbial Load: Evidence from Wetland Ecosystems of Wayanad District, Kerala

This study enumerated the microbial communities in soil samples from rice, banana and arecanut from the wet lands of Wayanad district Kerala. The total viable bacterial count in the paddy field was 120x10-6 cfu, 121x10-6 cfu and 147x10-6 cfu in Nenmeni, Kaniyambatta and Pozhuthana Gramapanchayat and that of fungi was 30x10-3 cfu, 32 x10-3 cfu and 37 x10-3 cfu. Likewise, the total viable count of bacteria in areca nut at Nenmeni, Kaniyambatta and Pozhuthana Gramapanchayat was 66 x10-6 cfu, 80 x10-6 cfu, 118 x10-6 cfu and that of fungi was 14 x10-3 cfu, 18 x10-3 cfu, and 30 x10-3 cfu. The total viable count of bacteria in banana field at Nenmeni, and Pozhuthana was 51 x10-6 cfu and that of Kaniyambatta Gramapanchayath was 56 x10-6 cfu. The viable fungal colony at Nenmeni and Kaniyambatta was 18x10-3 cfu and that of Pozhuthana Gramapanchayath was 24 x10-6 cfu

AUGMENTED INSTANT MESSAGING COLLABORATION TOOL ASSISTANT

Collaboration applications, such as messaging applications, are broadly used among enterprises to provide employees with the ability to communicate, share ideas, etc. While useful in many enterprise environments, such messaging applications can be a distraction and may also lead to an inefficient use of time by enterprise employs. In order to address such issues, an instant-messaging collaboration tool assistant system is proposed herein that can be powered by an Artificial Intelligence (AI)/Machine Learning (ML) system, in which the collaboration tool assistant system can provide a personalized collaborative environment for business users by expanding instant messaging collaboration tool capabilities. Through various techniques proposed herein, a personalized, context-based instant-message display can be provided for an enterprise user through which notification recommendations can be provided for the user based on various factors, such as user interest and/or business priorities

Para-infectious brain injury in COVID-19 persists at follow-up despite attenuated cytokine and autoantibody responses

To understand neurological complications of COVID-19 better both acutely and for recovery, we measured markers of brain injury, inflammatory mediators, and autoantibodies in 203 hospitalised participants; 111 with acute sera (1–11 days post-admission) and 92 convalescent sera (56 with COVID-19-associated neurological diagnoses). Here we show that compared to 60 uninfected controls, tTau, GFAP, NfL, and UCH-L1 are increased with COVID-19 infection at acute timepoints and NfL and GFAP are significantly higher in participants with neurological complications. Inflammatory mediators (IL-6, IL-12p40, HGF, M-CSF, CCL2, and IL-1RA) are associated with both altered consciousness and markers of brain injury. Autoantibodies are more common in COVID-19 than controls and some (including against MYL7, UCH-L1, and GRIN3B) are more frequent with altered consciousness. Additionally, convalescent participants with neurological complications show elevated GFAP and NfL, unrelated to attenuated systemic inflammatory mediators and to autoantibody responses. Overall, neurological complications of COVID-19 are associated with evidence of neuroglial injury in both acute and late disease and these correlate with dysregulated innate and adaptive immune responses acutely

Reducing the environmental impact of surgery on a global scale: systematic review and co-prioritization with healthcare workers in 132 countries

Abstract Background Healthcare cannot achieve net-zero carbon without addressing operating theatres. The aim of this study was to prioritize feasible interventions to reduce the environmental impact of operating theatres. Methods This study adopted a four-phase Delphi consensus co-prioritization methodology. In phase 1, a systematic review of published interventions and global consultation of perioperative healthcare professionals were used to longlist interventions. In phase 2, iterative thematic analysis consolidated comparable interventions into a shortlist. In phase 3, the shortlist was co-prioritized based on patient and clinician views on acceptability, feasibility, and safety. In phase 4, ranked lists of interventions were presented by their relevance to high-income countries and low–middle-income countries. Results In phase 1, 43 interventions were identified, which had low uptake in practice according to 3042 professionals globally. In phase 2, a shortlist of 15 intervention domains was generated. In phase 3, interventions were deemed acceptable for more than 90 per cent of patients except for reducing general anaesthesia (84 per cent) and re-sterilization of ‘single-use’ consumables (86 per cent). In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for high-income countries were: introducing recycling; reducing use of anaesthetic gases; and appropriate clinical waste processing. In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for low–middle-income countries were: introducing reusable surgical devices; reducing use of consumables; and reducing the use of general anaesthesia. Conclusion This is a step toward environmentally sustainable operating environments with actionable interventions applicable to both high– and low–middle–income countries

Diversity and community structure of the agroecosystem avifauna in the Cauvery delta region, South India

Farmland bird populations have declined globally raising concerns over habitat loss for a wide range of species. In this study, we explored the significance of agroecosystems for birds at different temporal and spatial scales along the Cauvery delta region, South India. Our results recorded a wide range of 102 species, with passerines and wetland birds dominating the landscapes. Among the guild types, omnivores and insectivores were the well-represented groups followed by carnivores, granivores, frugivores, and nectarivores. Species richness and diversity were recorded higher during winter which could be associated with the maturing phase of rice paddies in the agroecosystem. There were significant differences recorded in spe- cies diversity and richness between the cropping period and the non-cropping periods, thus recognizing the high potential of paddy ecosystems in biodiversity conservation. The results of the multivariate analysis revealed that the diversity of birds in the agroecosystem was more influenced by the woody vegetation cover, crop cover, and field size; however, bird abundance was related to farm activities, plantations, and herbaceous cover surrounding the agroecosystem. Fewer generalist species revealed an interesting pattern of taxonomic homogenization with monoculture cropping patterns that could influence the adaptability and functional traits of the other species. The results of the study highlight that both HNV and the non-HNV zones attract a rich diversity of birds and the conservation of this traditional agricultural belt would aid in the conservation of threatened species and biodiversity globally

Temporal and spatial assemblages of invasive birds occupying the urban landscape and its gradient in a southern city of India

Common birds play an important role in regulating the functioning of urban ecosystems. Typically, a few common species have become invasive species threatening biodiversity worldwide. Our understanding of the dynamics of invasive birds in an Indian context is still in its infancy. Hence, we studied the gradual adaptation of invasive birds to novel habitats and their dispersal dynamics in a southern city of India. We tested the prediction that urban matrix are increasingly composed of invasive generalist species. The results illustrate the dominance of invasive species such as Corvus splendens, Acridotheres tristis, Acridotheres livia, and Milvus migrans in the urban environment. The significant abundance of C. splendens exhibited urbanization-induced homogenization. The land-use pattern showed more inclination toward the urban structures than the vegetative attributes. Specialist groups from the frugivore guild were found to decline from the urban environment, which may shed light on the ecological factors that constrain their distribution

FUNCTIONAL ASSEMBLAGES OF BIRDS IN HETEROGENEOUS LANDSCAPES ALONG AN URBAN-RURAL GRADIENT IN TIRUCHIRAPPALLI, INDIA

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Novel method for the preparation of lignin-rich nanoparticles from lignocellulosic fibers

Nanoparticle research in the field of biopolymers is significant from the perspective of efficient utilization of sustainable resources. The most abundant biopolymer in nature, cellulose, has been extensively studied. Lignin is the second most abundant natural renewable biopolymer that has immense potential and is undervalued largely due to structural and morphological heterogeneity. This limitation of lignin can be addressed by efficient methods; one of which could be conversion of lignocellulosic fibers to lignin nanoparticles. In this research work, we have prepared lignin-rich nanoparticles from lignocellulosic fibers of Indian ridge gourd (Luffa cylindrica) by the breakdown of the lignin-cellulose complex by specific enzymes. These nanoparticles are characterized by electron microscopy,X-Ray diffraction, thermal studies and spectroscopic measurements. Microscopy results indicate that the particle size is around 20-100 nm with a cuboidal shape. The X-ray diffraction data indicate reduced crystallinity upon enzymatic hydrolysis. The thermal and spectroscopic studies confirm that upon enzymatic hydrolysis, cellulosic content in nanoparticles is substantially reduced. The work highlights a method for obtaining unique cuboidal shaped lignin-rich nanoparticles that are uniform in size and shape. These lignin-rich nanoparticles have a potential for various applications across fields including automobile, pharmaceutical and polymer industries. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved