Unleash the Potential of Mystery, Ghost & Paranormal Tourism through the lens of locals in Kuldhara, Rajasthan, India: A qualitative study

Mystery tourism is a novel topic related to travelling to events or destinations based on some stories, myths, beliefs of the host community or tourists. This also includes the myths and curiosity of locals and travelers about some known and unknown incidents or places. This paper aims to find out the experiences and perceptions of locals regarding mystery tourism in Kuldhara, Rajasthan. Ghost tours, paranormal investigations, and haunted stories have attracted many tourists to Kuldhara. In-depth interviews with 25 residents of Kuldhara, Rajasthan, reveal that residents have positive beliefs and ideologies regarding ghosts and paranormal activities. The study took in year (March 2022 to Feb 2023). The researchers identified purposive sampling and snow balling which has been used in previous studies too. This study is qualitative, and researchers employed thematic analysis techniques manually. Five major themes emerged from mystery tourism in Kuldhara, i.e., Myth & Tales, Perception of locals, Role of Government and Private bodies, Impact of mystery tourism and economic benefits. The study reveals that most locals face mysterious incidents and believe in ghosts and paranormal activities. This study generates curiosity among the readers and researchers to understand and explore the concepts of mystery tourism in a better way. Implications for developing mystery tourism attractions and support for resident well-being are offered

Two-Dimensional Flood Inundation Modeling in the Godavari River Basin, India—Insights on Model Output Uncertainty

Most flood inundation models do not come with an uncertainty analysis component chiefly because of the complexity associated with model calibration. Additionally, the fact that the models are both data-and compute-intensive, and since uncertainty results from multiple sources, adds another layer of complexity for model use. In the present study, flood inundation modeling was performed in the Godavari River Basin using the Hydrologic Engineering Center—River Analysis System 2D (HEC-RAS 2D) model. The model simulations were generated for six different scenarios that resulted from combinations of different geometric, hydraulic and hydrologic conditions. Thus, the resulted simulations account for multiple sources of uncertainty. The SRTM-30 m and MERIT90 m Digital elevation Model (DEM), two sets of Manning’s roughness coefficient (Manning’s n) and observed and estimated boundary conditions, were used to reflect geometric, hydraulic and hydrologic uncertainties, respectively. The HEC-RAS 2D model ran in an unsteady state mode for the abovementioned six scenarios for the selected three flood events that were observed in three different years, i.e., 1986, 2005 and 2015. The water surface elevation (H) was compared in all scenarios as well as with the observed values at selected locations. In addition, ‘H’ values were analyzed for two different structures of the computational model. The average correlation coefficient (r) between the observed and simulated H values is greater than 0.85, and the highest r, i.e., 0.95, was observed for the combination of MERIT-90 m DEM and optimized (obtained via trial and error) Manning’s n. The analysis shows uncertainty in the river geometry information, and the results highlight the varying role of geometric, hydraulic and hydrologic conditions in the water surface elevation estimates. In addition to the role of the abovementioned, the study recommends a systematic model calibration and river junction modeling to understand the hydrodynamics upstream and downstream of the junction. © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland

Multi-Spatial Resolution Rainfall-Runoff Modelling—A Case Study of Sabari River Basin, India

One of the challenges in rainfall-runoff modeling is the identification of an appropriate model spatial resolution that allows streamflow estimation at customized locations of the river basin. In lumped modeling, spatial resolution is not an issue as spatial variability is not accounted for, whereas in distributed modeling grid or cell resolution can be related to spatial resolution but its application is limited because of its large data requirements. Streamflow estimation at the data-poor customized locations is not possible in lumped modeling, whereas it is challenging in distributed modeling. In this context, semi-distributed modeling offers a solution including model resolution and estimation of streamflow at customized locations of a river basins with less data requirements. In this study, the Hydrologic Engineering Center-Hydrologic Modeling System (HEC-HMS) model is employed in semi-distribution mode on river basins of six different spatial resolutions. The model was calibrated and validated for fifteen and three selected flood events, respectively, of three types, i.e., single peak (SP), double peak (DP)-and multiple peaks (MP) at six different spatial resolution of the Sabari River Basin (SRB), a sub-basin of the Godavari basin, India. Calibrated parameters were analyzed to understand hydrologic parameter variability in the context of spatial resolution and flood event aspects. Streamflow hydrographs were developed, and various verification metrics and model scores were calculated for reference-and calibration-scenarios. During the calibration phase, the median of correlation coefficient and NSE for all 15 events of all six configurations was 0.90 and 0.69, respectively. The estimated streamflow hydrographs from six configurations suggest the model’s ability to simulate the processes efficiently. Parameters obtained from the calibration phase were used to generate an ensemble of streamflow at multiple locations including basin outlet as part of the validation. The estimated ensemble of streamflows appeared to be realistic, and both single-valued and ensemble verification metrics indicated the model’s good performance. The results suggested better performance of lumped modeling followed by the semi-distributed modeling with a finer spatial resolution. Thus, the study demonstrates a method that can be applied for real-time streamflow forecast at interior locations of a basin, which are not necessarily data rich. © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland

Prediction of Piezoelectric Tile Performance in Flat and Mountainous Terrains Through Deep Neural Network

Piezoelectric tiles harvest mechanical vibrations and convert them into electrical energy, making them an attractive energy-harvesting technology. However, their performance is heavily influenced by the terrain where they are installed. Traditional experimental methods for predicting their performance on different terrains are time-consuming, so a computational approach is necessary to improve efficiency. To address this, a machine learning-based approach is proposed using Artificial Neural network (ANN) and Deep neural network (DNN) with the Tanh activation function to predict piezoelectric tile performance in diverse terrains. The models are trained on an experimental dataset consisting of four terrains, including Flat terrain (FT) and Hilly Terrain (HT) 1, 2, 3 with road angles of 0, 3, 6, and 10 degrees. A finite element model is also established to optimize the piezoelectric tile and estimate the suitable parameter range to prevent damage to the tile during experiments. The results indicate that the DNN model performs better than the ANN model, achieving high accuracy in predicting piezoelectric tile performance on different terrains. These findings suggest that machine learning can provide a time and cost-effective way for predicting the performance of piezoelectric tiles in varied terrains, thereby facilitating betters installation and maintenance decisions for piezoelectric tile systems.</p

Triterpenoid Saponins from the Pericarps of Sapindus mukorossi

A novel acetylated triterpene bisdesmoside saponin is elucidated as named Hederagenin 3-O-α-L-rhamnopyranosyl (3→1)-[2,4-O-diacetyl-α-L-arabinopyranosyl]-28-O-β-D-glucopyranosyl-(2→1) [3-O-acetyl-β-D-glucopyranosyl] ester (1) along with two known saponins, hederagenin 3-O-(α-L-arabinopyranoside-(1→3)-α-L-rhamnopyranosyl-(1→2)-α-L-arabinopyranoside (2) and hederagenin 3-O-[β-D-xylopyranosyl-(1→3)-α-L-rhamnopyranosyl-(1→2)-α-L-arabinopyranoside] (3), from the pericarps of Sapindus mukorossi. The structures of these saponins were characterized by means of chemical and spectral methods including advanced 2D NMR studies

Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) and its Genetic Diversity in clinical Isolates from Uttarakhand Population

Hepatitis C is major cause of chronic liver disease. It has been recognised as a global health problem because of the progression to cirrhosis and hepatocellular cancer. Quantization and genotyping of HCV RNAs are important to determine the optimal duration of anti-viral therapy and predict likelihood of response. Total 77 samples were tested biochemically, serologically and molecular assay (Roche COBAS TaqMan 48 Real Time PCR). Out of 77 cases 33(42.85%) were with high viral load (&gt;103IU/ ml of HCV RNA) and low viral load (below 103IU/ml) 2 (2.59%) and 42 (54.54%) were target not detected (below 25 IU/ml). Genotype 3 was prevailed with 68.42% out of 35 cases followed by HCV genotype 15.78% in 1, 5.26% in 2 and 6, 2.63% in 1b and 4. In addition, our studies showed that genotype 1, 2, 4 and 6 (mixed genotype was detected in 1 cases with viral load 6.62 × 108IU/ml). Total protein content in serum in all the cases was average except 04 cases that was having low protein content. 02 cases were having low uric acid content that was having high viral load. From all high positive (high viral load) cases which were further diagnosed for their genotyping in which genotype 3 was prevalent following by genotype1, 1b, 2, 4 and &nbsp;6. Study signifies the gene based diagnosis and its clinical relevance for the proper management of the patients. Keywords: Hepatitis, Chronic, Real Time PCR, Hepatocellular Carcinoma, Serolog

A New Triterpenoid Saponin and Antimicrobial Activity of Ethanolic Extract from Sapindus mukorossi

A new acetylated triterpenoid saponin elucidated as hederagenin-3-O-β-D-xylopyranosyl (2→1)-[3-O-acetyl-α-L-arabinopyranosyl-28-O-α-L-rhamnopyranosylester has been isolated from pericarps of Sapindus mukorossi Gaertn. The structure of the compound was determined by means of chemical and spectral analysis including advanced 2D NMR studies. The ethanolic extract from pericarps of the plant showed significant in vitro antimicrobial activity against various test organisms by Agar well diffusion method

Chronic renal insufficiency among Asian Indians with type 2 diabetes: I. Role of RAAS gene polymorphisms

BACKGROUND: Renal failure in diabetes is mediated by multiple pathways. Experimental and clinical evidences suggest that renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS) has a crucial role in diabetic kidney disease. A relationship between the RAAS genotypes and chronic renal insufficiency (CRI) among type 2 diabetes subjects has therefore been speculated. We investigated the contribution of selected RAAS gene polymorphisms to CRI among type 2 diabetic Asian Indian subjects. METHODS: Twelve single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) from six genes namely-renin (REN), angiotensinogen (ATG), angiotensin converting enzyme I (ACE), angiotensin II type 1 receptor (AT1) and aldosterone synthase (CYP11B2) gene from the RAAS pathway and one from chymase pathway were genotyped using polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) method and tested for their association with diabetic CRI using a case-control approach. Successive cases presenting to study centres with type 2 diabetes of ≥2 years duration and moderate CRI diagnosed by serum creatinine ≥3 mg/dl after exclusion of non-diabetic causes of CRI (n = 196) were compared with diabetes subjects with no evidence of renal disease (n = 225). Logistic regression analysis was carried out to correlate various clinical parameters with genotypes, and to study pair wise interactions between SNPs of different genes. RESULTS: Of the 12 SNPs genotyped, Glu53Stop in AGT and A>T (-777) in AT1 genes, were monomorphic and not included for further analysis. We observed a highly significant association of Met235Thr SNP in angiotensinogen gene with CRI (O.R. 2.68, 95%CI: 2.01–3.57 for Thr allele, O.R. 2.94, 95%CI: 1.88–4.59 for Thr/Thr genotype and O.R. 2.68, 95%CI: 1.97–3.64 for ACC haplotype). A significant allelic and genotypic association of T>C (-344) SNP in aldosterone synthase gene (O.R. 1.57, 95%CI: 1.16–2.14 and O.R. 1.81, 95%CI: 1.21–2.71 respectively), and genotypic association of GA genotype of G>A (-1903) in chymase gene (O.R. 2.06, 95%CI: 1.34–3.17) were also observed. CONCLUSION: SNPs Met235Thr in angiotensinogen, T>C (-344) in aldosterone synthase, and G>A (-1903) in chymase genes are significantly associated with diabetic chronic renal insufficiency in Indian patients and warrant replication in larger sample sets. Use of such markers for prediction of susceptibility to diabetes specific renal disease in the ethnically Indian population appears promising

Ensuring nutritional security in India through wheat biofortification: A review

Undernourishment of nutrients, also known as hidden hunger, affects over 2 billion populace globally. Even though stunting among children below five years of age has decreased in India in the last ten years, India is home to roughly thirty percent of the world's population of stunted pre-schoolers. A significant improvement has been witnessed in the targeted development and deployment of biofortified crops; approximately 20 million farm households from developing counties benefit from cultivating and consuming biofortified crops. There is ample scope for including biofortified varieties in the seed chain, ensuring nutritional security. Wheat is a dietary staple in India, typically consumed as wholemeal flour in the form of flatbreads such as chapatti and roti. Wheat contributes to nearly one fifth of global energy requirements and can also provide better amounts of iron (Fe) and zinc (Zn). As a result, biofortified wheat can serve as a medium for delivery of essential micronutrients such as Fe and Zn to end users. This review discusses wheat biofortification components such as Fe and Zn dynamics, its uptake and movement in plants, the genetics of their buildup, and the inclusion of biofortified wheat varieties in the seed multiplication chain concerning India