Jurassic frogs and the evolution of amphibian endemism in the Western Ghats

The diversity of frogs and toads (Anurans) in tropical evergreen forests has recently gained importance with reports of several new species1. We describe here a fossorial frog taxon related to the African Heleophrynidae and Seychellian Sooglossidae from the Western Ghats of India. This frog possesses a suite of unique ancient characters indicating that it is a transitional form between Archaeobatrachians and Neobatrachians. Molecular clock analysis based on the nucleotide diversity in mitochondrial 12S and 16S genes dates this frog as a Gondwana relic, which evolved 150–195 Mya during the mid-Jurassic period.With this taxon, the evolution of endemism in the Western Ghats and other Gondwana break up landmasses is now dated much before the Cretaceous–Tertiary boundary. We propose that sea level surges in the late Jurassic2 isolated tablelands creating insular amphibian fauna. Reduction in area may have promoted stochastic extinctions and resulted in amphibian endemism. Our study reinforces the conservation significance of the Western Ghats as major global hotspot of biodiversity. The habitat of this endemic amphibian lineage is currently endangered due to various upcoming dam projects, which is a cause of serious conservation concern

Suitability of vetiver (Vetiveria zizanioides) for removal of Cr (III) from tannery effluent using floating bed and rhizofiltration systems

Various physico-chemical methods have been employed in remediating heavy metals from wastewater, but most of them are expensive. While phytoremediation, is one cost-effective and eco-friendly technology, proves to be an alternate amongst which Vetiver, a unique tropical plant, is recognized for its large biomass and dense root system and has been proven for various remediation studies. The current research was conducted to assess the potential for Vetiver rhizofiltration of chromium. A pilot study was conducted in rhizobox wherein Vetiver was grown using sand as a medium and samples were collected from rhizobox port 1 and rhizobox port 2. Subsequently, the study was upscaled to a floating bed experiment. In both studies, Vetiver were grown under 500 mg L-1 Cr (III) solution and tannery effluent had a chromium concentration of 379 mg L-1 and the results were compared to control. Between the samples collected from port 1 and 2, the removal of chromium in port 1 was recorded to be higher than that of port 2. Moreover, the removal of chromium ions from the tannery effluent was relatively higher than the spiked solution. In both the ports, the highest removal of chromium concentration was recorded in T5 (Sand + Vetiver + Cr (III) @ 500 mg kg-1) with a removal percent of 12.59 and 10.38% in port 1 and 2, respectively. Hence, Vetiver grass has a great potential in removing pollutants like chromium from the wastewater.

Does pamidronate enhance the osteogenesis in mesenchymal stem cells derived from fibrous hamartoma in congenital pseudarthrosis of the tibia?

AbstractNeurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) is a commonly occurring genetic disorder in children. Mutation in the NF1 gene has its implication in poor osteoblastic capabilities. We hypothesised that pamidronate will enhance the osteoblastic potential of the mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) derived from lipofibromatosis tissue of children with congenital pseudarthrosis tibia (CPT) associated with NF1. In this study, bone marrow MSCs (BM MSCs) and CPT MSCs were obtained from three patients undergoing salvage surgeries/bone grafting (healthy controls) and those undergoing excision of the hamartoma and corrective surgeries respectively. The effects of pamidronate (0, 10nM, 100nM and 1μM) on cell proliferation, toxicity and differentiation potential were assessed and the outcome was measured by staining and gene expression. Our outcome showed that CPT MSCs had more proliferation rate as compared to BM MSCs. All 3 doses of pamidronate did not cause any toxicity to the cells in both the groups. The CPT MSCs showed less differentiation with pamidronate compared to the healthy control MSCs. This was quantitated by staining and gene expression analysis. Therefore, supplementation with pamidronate alone will not aid in bone formation in patients diagnosed with CPT. An additional stimulus is required to enhance bone formation

Automatic Kidney Stone Detection Using Deep learning Method

Kidney stone disease is a common urological illness that affects millions of people worldwide. The identification of kidney stones early and accurately is critical for timely intervention and effective management of this illness. Deep learning approaches have showed promising results in a variety of medical image processing jobs in recent years. This paper describes a novel deep learning-based approach for automatic kidney stone diagnosis utilising medical imaging data. A convolutional neural network (CNN) architecture is used in the suggested method to identify and classify kidney stones in medical photographs. A huge collection of kidney stone images is first collected and preprocessed to ensure homogeneity and improve feature extraction capabilities. To optimise its performance, the CNN model is trained on this dataset using a large number of annotated samples. The trained CNN model distinguishes kidney stone presence from healthy regions in medical pictures with good accuracy and robustness. It detects kidney stones of various sizes and shapes while overcoming hurdles given by different stone compositions and human anatomy. Furthermore, the deep learning model has fast processing speeds, making it suited for real-time clinical applications. Extensive validation and testing on an independent dataset are performed to evaluate the model's performance. The results show that the proposed deep learning method is effective in autonomous kidney stone identification, with sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy metrics comparable to or exceeding those of existing classical methods

A Novel Highly Nonlinear Quadratic System: Impulsive Stabilization, Complexity Analysis, and Circuit Designing

This work introduces a three-dimensional, highly nonlinear quadratic oscillator with no linear terms in its equations. Most of the quadratic ordinary differential equations (ODEs) such as Chen, Rossler, and Lorenz have at least one linear term in their equations. Very few quadratic systems have been introduced and all of their terms are nonlinear. Considering this point, a new quadratic system with no linear term is introduced. This oscillator is analyzed by mathematical tools such as bifurcation and Lyapunov exponent diagrams. It is revealed that this system can generate different behaviors such as limit cycle, torus, and chaos for its different parameters' sets. Besides, the basins of attractions for this system are investigated. As a result, it is revealed that this system's attractor is self-excited. In addition, the analog circuit of this oscillator is designed and analyzed to assess the feasibility of the system's chaotic solution. The PSpice simulations confirm the theoretical analysis. The oscillator's time series complexity is also investigated using sample entropy. It is revealed that this system can generate dynamics with different sample entropies by changing parameters. Finally, impulsive control is applied to the system to represent a possible solution for stabilizing the system

Multistable dynamics and control of a new 4D memristive chaotic Sprott B system

This work proposes and investigates the dynamic behavior of a new memristive chaotic Sprott B system. One of the interesting features of this system is that it has a bias term that can adjust the symmetry of the proposed model, inducing both homogeneous and heterogeneous behaviors. Indeed, the introduced memristive system can turn from rotational symmetry (RS) to rotational symmetry broken (RSB) system in the presence or the absence of this bias term. In the RS system (i.e., absence of the bias term), pairs of symmetric attractors are formed, and the scenario of attractor merging is observed. Coexisting symmetric attractors and bifurcations with up to four solutions are perfectly investigated. In the RSB system (i.e., the bias term is non-zero), many interesting phenomena are demonstrated, including asymmetric attractors, coexisting asymmetric bifurcations, various types of coexisting asymmetric solutions, and period-doubling transition to chaos. We perfectly demonstrate that the new asymmetric/symmetric memristive system exhibits the exciting phenomenon of partial amplitude control (PAC) and offset boosting. Also, we show how it is possible to control the amplitude and the offset of the chaotic signals generated for some technological exploitation. Finally, coexisting solutions (i.e., multistability) found in the novel memristive system are further controlled based on a linear augmentation (LA) scheme. Our numerical findings demonstrated the effectiveness of the control technic through interior crisis, reverse period-doubling scenario, and symmetry restoring crisis. The coupled memristive system remains stable with its unique survived periodic attractor for higher values of the coupling strength

Structural Characterisation of Printable Noble Metal/Poly(Vinyl-­Alcohol) Nanocomposites for Optical Applications

This work was conducted under the aegis of the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) of the United Kingdom (EP/I004173/1). Amin Abdolvand is an EPSRC Career Acceleration Fellow at the University of Dundee.In order to enable exploitation of noble metal/poly(vinyl-alcohol) nanocomposites for device fabrication, solutions of poly(vinyl-alcohol) suitable for piezo-driven inkjet printing techniques are identified and discussed in terms of their material properties. The printable poly(vinyl-alcohol) medium is then exploited as a host material through the formation of silver or gold nanoparticles in order to create nanocomposites that exhibit a surface plasmon resonance behaviour associated with the small metallic inclusions. To mitigate some of the material redistribution effects associated with the drying of printed droplets containing finely divided materials, the metallic nanoparticles are formed after the printing and drying process is completed, by way of an in-situ reduction of an appropriate metal salt by the poly(vinyl-alcohol)-host matrix itself, which takes place at modest temperatures compatible with most substrate materials. An obvious application for such nanocomposites is in optical elements whereby the surface plasmon resonance associated with the metal is the functional aspect of devices such as sensors or active optical elements. High Resolution Transmission Electron Microscopy was used to examine the dimensions, distribution, morphology and crystal structure of the silver and gold nanoparticles in detail allowing discussion of their suitability for these applications and what further optimisation may be necessary to adequately control their formation.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

An Insight into Knowledge, Perspective, and Practices of Indian Optometrists towards Childhood Myopia

The current understanding of clinical approaches and barriers in managing childhood myopia among Indian optometrists is limited. This research underscores the necessity and relevance of evidence-based practice guidelines by exploring their knowledge, attitude, and practice towards childhood myopia. A self-administered internet-based 26-item survey was circulated online among practicing optometrists in India. The questions assessed the demographics, knowledge, self-reported clinical practice behavior, barriers, source of information guiding their management, and extent of adult caregiver engagement for childhood myopia. Of 393 responses, a significant proportion of respondents (32.6–92.4%) were unaware of the ocular complications associated with high myopia, with less than half (46.5%) routinely performing ocular biometry in clinical practice. Despite the growing awareness of emerging myopia management options, the uptake remains generally poor, with single-vision distance full-correction spectacles (70.3%) being the most common mode of vision correction. Barriers to adopting optimal myopia care are medicolegal concerns, absence of clinical practice guidelines, and inadequate consultation time. Own clinical experience and original research articles were the primary sources of information supporting clinical practice. Most (>70%) respondents considered involving the adult caregiver in their child’s clinical decision-making process. While practitioners’ awareness and activity of newer myopia management strategies are improving, there is plenty of scope for its enhancement. The importance of evidence-based practice guidelines and continuing education on myopia control might help practitioners enhance their clinical decision-making skills

Hydrophilic Modified clay Nanocomposites: Effect of clay on Thermal and Vibrational Properties

ABSTRACT Epoxy (LY-556/HY-951) system filled with modified clay (MC) was synthesized by using mechanical shear mixing with the addition of hardener as tri-ethylene-tetra-amine (TETA). The effect of the fumed silica can be negated by the application of a shear force (e.g. mixing, brushing, spraying etc), allowing the liquid to flow, level out and permit the escape of entrapped air. The reinforcement effects of MC in the epoxy polymer on thermal, mechanical and vibration properties were studied. Curing study shows that the addition MC does not show any effect in the curing behavior of epoxy polymer. Thermogravimetry analysis (TGA) shows enhanced thermal stability for epoxy with MC fillers. The epoxy with MC fillers shows considerable improvement on tensile and impact properties over pure epoxy polymer. SEM studies shows that addition of clay significantly turns the epoxy system from brittle to ductile nature was played instrumental in scaling performance. The improvement in tensile and impact properties of nanocomposites is supported with the fracture surface studies. Epoxy with MC fillers shows enhanced vibration characteristics than that of the pure epoxy polymer. FTIR studies indicated the formation of C-H bonds on the surface of the nanocomposites

Novel multifunctional of magnesium ions (Mg++) incorporated calcium phosphate nanostructures

Magnesium ions incorporated calcium phosphate was synthesized by wet chemical route and followed by microwave assisted method. XRD analysis was confirmed that the presence of calcium phosphate (hydroxyapatite). TEM analysis was exhibited rod-like morphology. XRF results were showed the percentage of calcium, phosphate, magnesium and oxygen. There was a slight blue shift observed in magnesium ions based samples. Higher magnesium (0.1 Mg-HAp) was revealed the greater discharging time with capacitance voltage (0.55 V). Magnesium based calcium phosphate was showed prolonged rate of drug release. At higher frequency, the Nyquist plot was showed the electrochemical behavior, however at lower frequency, revealed mass transfer process. Magnesium ions tailor the specific capacitance of calcium phosphate. Therefore, magnesium ions based phosphate samples could be an outstanding multifunctional candidate for drug release and supercapacitor applications