Using distance sampling with camera traps to estimate the density of group-living and solitary mountain ungulates

This work is part of a project initiated under the National Mission for Sustaining the Himalayan Ecosystem (NMSHE) Programme funded by the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India (grant no.: DST/SPLICE/CCP/NMSHE/TF-2/WII/2014[G]). The Miriam Rothschild Travel Bursary Programme provided funding for a 4-week internship for R. Pal with S.T. Buckland at St Andrews University, UK.Throughout the Himalaya, mountain ungulates are threatened by hunting for meat and body parts, habitat loss, and competition with livestock. Accurate population estimates are important for conservation management but most of the available methods to estimate ungulate densities are difficult to implement in mountainous terrain. Here, we tested the efficacy of the recent extension of the point transect method, using camera traps for estimating density of two mountain ungulates: the group-living Himalayan blue sheep or bharal Pseudois nayaur and the solitary Himalayan musk deer Moschus leucogaster. We deployed camera traps in 2017-2018 for the bharal (summer: 21 locations; winter: 25) in the trans-Himalayan region (3,000-5,000 m) and in 2018-2019 for the musk deer (summer: 30 locations; winter: 28) in subalpine habitats (2,500-3,500 m) in the Upper Bhagirathi basin, Uttarakhand, India. Using distance sampling with camera traps, we estimated the bharal population to be 0.51 ± SE 0.1 individuals/km2 (CV = 0.31) in summer and 0.64 ± SE 0.2 individuals/km2 (CV = 0.37) in winter. For musk deer, the estimated density was 0.4 ± SE 0.1 individuals/km2 (CV = 0.34) in summer and 0.1 ± SE 0.05 individuals/km2 (CV = 0.48) in winter. The high variability in these estimates is probably a result of the topography of the landscape and the biology of the species. We discuss the potential application of distance sampling with camera traps to estimate the density of mountain ungulates in remote and rugged terrain, and the limitations of this method.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Investigation of DNA damage response and apoptotic gene methylation pattern in sporadic breast tumors using high throughput quantitative DNA methylation analysis technology

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background-</p> <p>Sporadic breast cancer like many other cancers is proposed to be a manifestation of abnormal genetic and epigenetic changes. For the past decade our laboratory has identified genes involved in DNA damage response (DDR), apoptosis and immunesurvelliance pathways to influence sporadic breast cancer risk in north Indian population. Further to enhance our knowledge at the epigenetic level, we performed DNA methylation study involving 17 gene promoter regions belonging to DNA damage response (DDR) and death receptor apoptotic pathway in 162 paired normal and cancerous breast tissues from 81 sporadic breast cancer patients, using a high throughput quantitative DNA methylation analysis technology.</p> <p>Results-</p> <p>The study identified five genes with statistically significant difference between normal and tumor tissues. Hypermethylation of <it>DR5 </it>(P = 0.001)<it>, DCR1 </it>(P = 0.00001)<it>, DCR2 </it>(P = 0.0000000005) and <it>BRCA2 </it>(P = 0.007) and hypomethylation of <it>DR4 </it>(P = 0.011) in sporadic breast tumor tissues suggested a weak/aberrant activation of the DDR/apoptotic pathway in breast tumorigenesis. Negative correlation was observed between methylation status and transcript expression levels for <it>TRAIL</it>, <it>DR4</it>, <it>CASP8</it>, <it>ATM</it>, <it>CHEK2</it>, <it>BRCA1 </it>and <it>BRCA2 </it>CpG sites. Categorization of the gene methylation with respect to the clinicopathological parameters showed an increase in aberrant methylation pattern in advanced tumors. These uncharacteristic methylation patterns corresponded with decreased death receptor apoptosis (P = 0.047) and DNA damage repair potential (P = 0.004) in advanced tumors. The observation of BRCA2 -26 G/A 5'UTR polymorphism concomitant with the presence of methylation in the promoter region was novel and emerged as a strong candidate for susceptibility to sporadic breast tumors.</p> <p>Conclusion-</p> <p>Our study indicates that methylation of DDR-apoptotic gene promoters in sporadic breast cancer is not a random phenomenon. Progressive epigenetic alterations in advancing tumors result in aberrant DDR-apoptotic pathway thereby promoting tumor development. We propose, since pathological epigenetic changes of the DDR-apoptotic genes are reversible modifications, these could further be targeted for therapeutic interventions.</p

Changes in ecological conditions may influence intraguild competition: inferring interaction patterns of snow leopard with co-predators

Background Large-scale changes in habitat conditions due to human modifications and climate change require management practices to consider how species communities can alter amidst these changes. Understanding species interactions across the gradient of space, anthropogenic pressure, and season provide the opportunity to anticipate possible dynamics in the changing scenarios. We studied the interspecific interactions of carnivore species in a high-altitude ecosystem over seasonal (summer and winter) and resource gradients (livestock grazing) to assess the impact of changing abiotic and biotic settings on coexistence. Methods The study was conducted in the Upper Bhagirathi basin, Western Himalaya, India. We analyzed around 4 years of camera trap monitoring data to understand seasonal spatial and temporal interactions of the snow leopard with common leopard and woolly wolf were assessed in the greater and trans-Himalayan habitats, respectively. We used two species occupancy models to assess spatial interactions, and circadian activity patterns were used to assess seasonal temporal overlap amongst carnivores. In addition, we examined scats to understand the commonalities in prey selection. Results The result showed that although snow leopard and wolves depend on the same limited prey species and show high temporal overlap, habitat heterogeneity and differential habitat use facilitate co-occurrence between these two predators. Snow leopard and common leopard were spatially independent in the summer. Conversely, the common leopard negatively influences the space use of snow leopard in the winter. Limited prey resources (lack of livestock), restricted space (due to snow cover), and similar activity patterns in winter might result in strong competition, causing these species to avoid each other on a spatial scale. The study showed that in addition to species traits and size, ecological settings also play a significant role in deciding the intensity of competition between large carnivores. Climate change and habitat shifts are predicted to increase the spatial overlap between snow leopard and co-predators in the future. In such scenarios, wolves and snow leopards may coexist in a topographically diverse environment, provided sufficient prey are available. However, shifts in tree line might lead to severe competition between common leopards and snow leopards, which could be detrimental to the latter. Further monitoring of resource use across abiotic and biotic environments may improve our understanding of how changing ecological conditions can affect resource partitioning between snow leopards and predators

Nanoparticle mediated copper(II) catalyzed oxidation of mercaptosuccinic acid by methylene blue in aqueous acetone medium: Non-Arrhenius behaviour

1183-1191The oxidation of mercaptosuccinic acid by methylene blue catalyzed by Cu(II) (ca. 2.0×10-5 M) in acidic medium leads to the formation of the corresponding disulphide and leuco dye. A half order kinetics is followed in methylene blue while the order in the substrate varies between half and unity. The rate constant increases linearly on increasing [Cu(II)] while remaining unaffected on varying [H+]. At lower concentrations of hydrogen ion, however, the reaction exhibits zero order kinetics in methylene blue. The reaction shows a non-Arrhenius behaviour between 20 °<span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt" lang="EN-GB">C and 30 °C but subsequently the rate constant increases at 35 °C and attains a limiting value. The rate of reaction increases on increasing the time of incubation of the catalyst. TEM, SEM, XRD and FTIR data indicate the participation of copper nanoparticles and XRD analysis suggests the population of (100), (111), (210) and (211) planes at 35 °<span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt" lang="EN-GB">C. A new active facet, (200), is created in the face centered cubic lattice of Cu on increasing the time of incubation. The non-Arrhenius behaviour is attributed to the temperature dependent changes in size and morphology of the nanoparticles and to a variation in the Fermi band gap energy. </span

Predicting microbial response to anthropogenic environmental disturbances using artificial neural network and multiple linear regression

A mathematical model that quantitively describes the combined effect of different environmental variables can be used to predict the growth dynamics of a microorganism. This study evaluates the potential of an artificial neural network (ANN) model to predict the growth of a bacterial strain, Klebsiella sp., during the treatment of diclofenac sodium contaminated wastewaters. Input parameters, temperature, pH, time, agitation and diclofenac sodium concentration were randomly combined to conduct the batch experiments. Experimental data sets obtained were used for the training and optimization of programme learning. The efficiency of the ANN model was demonstrated by comparing it with the multiple linear regression (MLR) model. Root mean squared error (RMSE) and coefficient of determination (R2) were used as model performance parameters. The results obtained depict that the ANN model with RMSE 0.0124 and R2 value 0.926 in the test phase exhibited higher prediction performance. In contrast, low prediction performance was exhibited by the MLR model with RMSE 0.0230 and R2 value of 0.710. The results of this study are expected to guide the development of appropriate operational conditions for bioremediation of wastewater and industrial scale-up of the process

The spectrum of renal diseases observed in native renal biopsies in a single North Indian tertiary care center

We analyzed the spectrum of biopsy-proven renal disease in a single tertiary care center in North India from 2007 to 2016. A total of 420 biopsies were analyzed. Patients were excluded if clinical details were unavailable or if either the histopathology core or the IF core was inadequate. In the final analysis, 359 biopsies were included. All clinical, laboratory, histopathological, and immunofluorescence (IF) findings were recorded in each case. The usefulness of IF in reaching a definitive diagnosis was also analyzed. The patients were in the age range of 2–94 years; 23.1% were children and 76.9% were adults. Males (60.4%) outnumbered females (39.6%) in all the disease categories except lupus nephritis (LN). Primary glomerular diseases (PGDs) (n = 297, 82.7%) were more common than secondary glomerular diseases (SGDs) (n = 46, 12.8%) and tubulointerstitial diseases (n = 16, 4.5%). The most common PGD was focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS) (23.4%), followed by minimal change disease (17%) and membranous nephropathy (12.5%), whereas the most common SGD was LN, seen in 9.2%. In the present study, IF helped in reaching the final diagnosis in 44.3%. The entities in which IF was most useful in reaching the final diagnoses were FSGS (31.5%) and IgA nephropathy (14.5%). The final pathological diagnosis correlated with the first clinical possibility in 207 of 359 (57.7%) cases. This 10-year study provides descriptive data and highlights the changing pattern of renal disease possibly due to an increased awareness and referral to higher centers

Ru(III)-catalyzed oxidation of <i>N</i>-acetyl-L-cysteine by methylene blue in absence and in presence of Cu(II) in acidic medium: influence of solvent and morphology

<p><i>N</i>-acetyl l-cysteine (NAC), the substrate used presently has got diverse medicinal applications and is widely used as a mucolytic agent. The oxidation of bioactive molecules, in general, involves metal ion catalysis facilitated by the participation of metal nanoparticles. In view of this, the oxidation of NAC by a phenothiazine dye methylene blue (MB), a model electron receptor, catalyzed by Ru(III) in the absence and in the presence of Cu(II) has been investigated in acidic medium. The concentration order in MB is zero, while the order in NAC is one and two in Ru(III)-catalyzed and Ru(III)-Cu(II)-catalyzed reactions, respectively. Hydrogen ions retard the rate in Ru(III)-Cu(II)-catalyzed reaction, whereas the rate increases linearly with increasing [Ru(III)] in both the systems. The rate increases with increasing [Cu(II)] and attains a limiting value. The addition of the reaction products does not affect the rate of reaction. The reaction is characterized by a large negative entropy of activation. The kinetic deviations of the reaction, explained by presuming the participation of a reactive form of the NAC molecule or its new conformational polymorph reported recently, indicate the regulatory influence of the morphology of nanoparticles.</p