Changes in behavioural and locomotory activities of freshwater fish, Cirrhinus mrigala (Hamilton) in response to sublethal exposure of Chlorpyrifos

The aim of the present study was to analyze the impact of sub-lethal toxicity of chlorpyrifos, one of the largest market selling agrochemical on physiological parameters of teleost fish, Cirrhinus mrigala addressing the possible causative involvement in behavioural and locomotion responses. Primarily, the acute toxicity (96h LC50) test was carried out and the value calculated by probit analysis was found to be 0.44 mg L-1. Further, one-fifth, one-tenth and one-twentieth of 96 h LC50 were selected as sublethal concentrations for sub acute studies. The experiment was carried out for 21 days and the alternative behaviour was recorded in terms of Air Ingulping (AI), Operculum Beat Frequency (OBF), Surfacing Movement (SM), Vertical Hanging (VH) and Tail Beat Frequency (TBF) on duration day 2, 4, 7, 14 and 21. Significant effect of both the concentrations and duration was observed in fishes treated with selected doses of chlorpyrifos. It was found that AI, OBF, SM, VH, TBF was highest on day 7 at 0.08 mg L-1 concentration of Chlorpyrifos. The findings revealed that there is a need to control the use of chlorpyrifos because of its toxicity. All the fish avoidance tests proved to be an important predictive and sensitive biomarker in aquatic monitoring and pollution management

Vertically Aligned Few-Layered Graphene-Based Non-Cryogenic Bolometer

In this study, we report the photoresponse of vertically aligned few-layered graphene (VAG) upon infra-red (IR) irradiation at room temperature. Four probe measurements showed the current−voltage (I−V) characteristic of electrical switching during pulsed IR irradiation. The photoresponse reported here for VAG was significantly higher than that reported for carbon nanotube (CNT) samples. Our investigation shows that such a photoresponse arose solely from the bolometric effect, where the conductivity changed with temperature. The resistance magnitude of the VAGs increased ~two fold for each 6 °C increase in temperature. Also, the Thermal Coefficient of Resistance (TCR) in this region was ~11%/K, which is the highest TCR value reported for any carbon nanomaterial

Saraca indica

Medicinal plants are used as a complementary and alternative medicine in treatment of various diseases including cancer worldwide, because of their ease of accessibility and cost effectiveness. Multicomposed mixture of compounds present in a plant extract has synergistic activity, increases the therapeutic potential many folds, compensates toxicity, and increases bioavailability. Saraca indica (family Caesalpiniaceae) is one of the most ancient sacred plants with medicinal properties, exhibiting a number of pharmacological effects. Antioxidant, antibreast cancer activity and toxicological evaluation of Saraca indica bark extract (SIE) were carried out in the present study. The results of the study indicated that this herbal preparation has antioxidant and antibreast cancer activity. Toxicological studies suggest that SIE is safer to use and may have a potential to be used as complementary and alternative medicine for breast cancer therapy

Alcoholic Extract of Eclipta alba

As per WHO estimates, 80% of people around the world use medicinal plants for the cure and prevention of various diseases including cancer owing to their easy availability and cost effectiveness. Eclipta alba has long been used in Ayurveda to treat liver diseases, eye ailments, and hair related disorders. The promising medicinal value of E. alba prompted us to study the antioxidant, nontoxic, and anticancer potential of its alcoholic extract. In the current study, we evaluated the in vitro cytotoxic and antioxidant effect of the alcoholic extract of Eclipta alba (AEEA) in multiple cancer cell lines along with control. We have also evaluated its effect on different in vivo toxicity parameters. Here, we found that AEEA was found to be most active in most of the cancer cell lines but it significantly induced apoptosis in human breast cancer cell lines by disrupting mitochondrial membrane potential and DNA damage. Moreover, AEEA treatment inhibited migration in both MCF 7 and MDA-MB-231 cells in a dose dependent manner. Further, AEEA possesses robust in vitro antioxidant activity along with high total phenolic and flavonoid contents. In summary, our results indicate that Eclipta alba has enormous potential in complementary and alternative medicine for the treatment of cancer

The Influence of Meteorology on the Spread of Influenza: Survival Analysis of an Equine Influenza (A/H3N8) Outbreak

The influences of relative humidity and ambient temperature on the transmission of influenza A viruses have recently been established under controlled laboratory conditions. The interplay of meteorological factors during an actual influenza epidemic is less clear, and research into the contribution of wind to epidemic spread is scarce. By applying geostatistics and survival analysis to data from a large outbreak of equine influenza (A/H3N8), we quantified the association between hazard of infection and air temperature, relative humidity, rainfall, and wind velocity, whilst controlling for premises-level covariates. The pattern of disease spread in space and time was described using extraction mapping and instantaneous hazard curves. Meteorological conditions at each premises location were estimated by kriging daily meteorological data and analysed as time-lagged time-varying predictors using generalised Cox regression. Meteorological covariates time-lagged by three days were strongly associated with hazard of influenza infection, corresponding closely with the incubation period of equine influenza. Hazard of equine influenza infection was higher when relative humidity was <60% and lowest on days when daily maximum air temperature was 20–25°C. Wind speeds >30 km hour−1 from the direction of nearby infected premises were associated with increased hazard of infection. Through combining detailed influenza outbreak and meteorological data, we provide empirical evidence for the underlying environmental mechanisms that influenced the local spread of an outbreak of influenza A. Our analysis supports, and extends, the findings of studies into influenza A transmission conducted under laboratory conditions. The relationships described are of direct importance for managing disease risk during influenza outbreaks in horses, and more generally, advance our understanding of the transmission of influenza A viruses under field conditions

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Not AvailableMungbean is affected by several diseases incited by viruses, fungi, bacteria and nematodes. In this study, coat-protein sequence was analyzed and modelled to explore properties and structure of Mungbean yellow mosaic India virus (MYMIV). Since no structural information is available for majority of pro tein sequenc es a vailable in Protein Data Bank, computational methods for protein structure prediction have been of much interest in recent years. Physico-chemical properties of the protein under study were computed. The grand average of hydropathy (GRAVY) value and instability index were found to be -0.646 and 45.75, respectively, supporting the protein to have better interaction with water. Comparative homology modelling was performed with ModWeb, ESyPred and Swiss Model. It was observed that the model generated by ModWeb was most acceptable with 90.2% of the residues in most favoured region. The model was validated using Structural Analysis and Verification Server (SAVS). Coat-protein struc ture of MYMIV obtained throug h computational modelling was found congruent with their protein structure obtained by X-ray crystallography or NMR.Not Availabl