Search results for: Sanjay Pandey

Authors: Rishi Richa, N. C. Shahi, J. P. Pandey, S. S. Kautkar

Abstract:

Citrus fruits rank third in area and production after banana and mango in India. Sweet oranges are the second largest citrus fruits cultivated in the country. Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, and Uttarakhand are the main sweet orange-growing states. Citrus fruits occupy a leading position in the fruit trade of Uttarakhand, is casing about 14.38% of the total area under fruits and contributing nearly 17.75 % to the total fruit production. Malta is grown in most of the hill districts of the Uttarakhand. Malta common is having high acceptability due to its attractive colour, distinctive flavour, and taste. The excellent quality fruits are generally available for only one or two months. However due to its less shelf-life, Malta can not be stored for longer time under ambient conditions and cannot be transported to distant places. Continuous loss of water adversely affects the quality of Malta during storage and transportation. Method of picking, packaging, and cold storage has detrimental effects on moisture loss. The climatic condition such as ambient temperature, relative humidity, wind condition (aeration) and microbial attack greatly influences the rate of moisture loss and quality. Therefore, different agro-climatic zone will have different moisture loss pattern. The rate of moisture loss can be taken as one of the quality parameters in combination of one or more parameter such as RH, and aeration. The moisture contents of the fruits and vegetables determine their freshness. Hence, it is important to maintain initial moisture status of fruits and vegetable for prolonged period after the harvest. Keeping all points in views, effort was made to store Malta at ambient condition. In this study, the response surface method and experimental design were applied for optimization of independent variables to enhance the shelf life of four months stored malta. Box-Benkhen design, with, 12 factorial points and 5 replicates at the centre point were used to build a model for predicting and optimizing storage process parameters. The independent parameters, viz., scavenger (3, 4 and 5g), polythene thickness (75, 100 and 125 gauge) and fungicide concentration (100, 150 and 200ppm) were selected and analyzed. 5g scavenger, 125 gauge and 200ppm solution of fungicide are the optimized value for storage which may enhance life up to 4months.

Keywords: Malta fruit, scavenger, packaging, shelf life

Procedia PDF Downloads 279

Authors: Sanjay Singh, Parameswara Rao Vuddanda

Abstract:

The aim of the present study is study the factual benefit of nano size and surface coating of p-gp efflux inhibitor on enhancement of bioavailability of Berberine chloride (BBR); a p-gp substrate. In addition, 28 days sub acute oral toxicity study was also conducted to assess the toxicity of the formulation on chronic administration. BBR loaded polymeric nanoparticles (BBR-NP) were prepared by nanoprecipitation method. BBR NP were surface coated (BBR-SCNP) with the 1 % w/v of vitamin E TPGS. For bioavailability study, total five groups (n=6) of rat were treated as follows first; pure BBR, second; physical mixture of BBR, carrier and vitamin E TPGS, third; BBR-NP, fourth; BBR-SCNP and fifth; BBR and verapamil (widely used p-gp inhibitor). Blood was withdrawn at pre-set timing points in 24 hrs study and drug was quantified by HPLC method. In oral chronic toxicity study, total four groups (n=6) were treated as follows first (control); water, second; pure BBR, third; BBR surface coated nanoparticles and fourth; placebo BBR surface coated nanoparticles. Biochemical levels of liver (AST, ALP and ALT) and kidney (serum urea and creatinine) along with their histopathological studies were also examined (0-28 days). The AUC of BBR-SCNP was significantly 3.5 folds higher compared to all other groups. The AUC of BBR-NP was 3.23 and 1.52 folds higher compared to BBR solution and BBR with verapamil group, respectively. The physical mixture treated group showed slightly higher AUC than BBR solution treated group but significantly low compared to other groups. It indicates that encapsulation of BBR in nanosize form can circumvent P-gp efflux effect. BBR-NP showed pharmacokinetic parameters (Cmax and AUC) which are near to BBR-SCNP. However, the difference in values of T1/2 and clearance indicate that surface coating with vitamin E TPGS not only avoids the P-gp efflux at its absorption site (intestine) but also at organs which are responsible for metabolism and excretion (kidney and liver). It may be the reason for observed decrease in clearance of BBR-SCNP. No toxicity signs were observed either in biochemical or histopathological examination of liver and kidney during toxicity studies. The results indicate that administration of BBR in surface coated nanoformulation would be beneficial for enhancement of its bioavailability and longer retention in systemic circulation. Further, sub acute oral dose toxicity studies for 28 days such as evaluation of intestine, liver and kidney histopathology and biochemical estimations indicated that BBR-SCNP developed were safe for long use.

Keywords: bioavailability, berberine nanoparticles, p-gp efflux inhibitor, nanoprecipitation method

Procedia PDF Downloads 388

Authors: M. R. Vijayakumar, K. Priyanka, Ramoji Kosuru, Lakshmi, Sanjay Singh

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Trans resveratrol (RES) is a non-flavonoid poly-phenolic compound proved for its therapeutic and preventive effect against various types of cancer. However, the practical application of RES in cancer treatment is limited because of its higher dose (up to 7.5 g/day in humans), low biological half life, rapid metabolism and faster elimination in mammals. PEGylated core-shell type lipid polymer hybrid nanoparticles are the novel drug delivery systems for long circulation and improved anti cancer effect of its therapeutic payloads. Therefore, the main objective of this study is to extend the biological half life (long circulation) and improve the therapeutic efficacy of RES through core shell type of nanoparticles. D-α-tocopheryl polyethylene glycol 1000 succinate (vitamin E TPGS), a novel surfactant is applied for the preparation of PEGylated lipid polymer hybrid nanoparticles. The prepared nanoparticles were evaluated by various state of the art techniques such as dynamic light scattering (DLS) technique for particle size and zeta potential, TEM for shape, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) for interaction analysis and XRD for crystalline changes of drug. Entrapment efficiency and invitro drug release were determined by ultracentrifugation method and dialysis bag method, respectively. Cancer cell viability studies were performed by MTT assay, respectively. Pharmacokinetic studies after i.v administration were performed in sprague dawley rats. The prepared NPs were found to be spherical in shape with smooth surfaces. Particle size and zeta potential of prepared NPs were found to be in the range of 179.2±7.45 to 266.8±9.61 nm and -0.63 to -48.35 mV, respectively. DSC revealed absence of potential interaction. XRD study revealed presence of amorphous form in nanoparticles. Entrapment efficiency was found to be 83.7 % and drug release was found to be in controlled manner. MTT assay showed low MEC and pharmacokinetic studies showed higher AUC of nanoformulaition than its pristine drug. All these studies revealed that the RES loaded PEG modified core-shell type lipid polymer hybrid nanoparticles can be an alternative tool for chemopreventive and therapeutic application of RES in cancer.

Keywords: trans resveratrol, cancer nanotechnology, long circulating nanoparticles, bioavailability enhancement, core shell nanoparticles, lipid polymer hybrid nanoparticles

Procedia PDF Downloads 470

Authors: Chiranjit Das, Sanjay Jharkharia

Abstract:

This study is focused on transport mode selection under lead time variability and emissions constraint. In order to reduce the carbon emissions generation due to transportation, organization has often faced a dilemmatic choice of transport mode selection since logistic cost and emissions reduction are complementary with each other. Another important aspect of transportation decision is lead-time variability which is least considered in transport mode selection problem. Thus, in this study, we provide a comprehensive mathematical based analytical model to decide transport mode selection under emissions constraint. We also extend our work through analysing the effect of lead time variability in the transport mode selection by a sensitivity analysis. In order to account lead time variability into the model, two identically normally distributed random variables are incorporated in this study including unit lead time variability and lead time demand variability. Therefore, in this study, we are addressing following questions: How the decisions of transport mode selection will be affected by lead time variability? How lead time variability will impact on total supply chain cost under carbon emissions? To accomplish these objectives, a total transportation cost function is developed including unit purchasing cost, unit transportation cost, emissions cost, holding cost during lead time, and penalty cost for stock out due to lead time variability. A set of modes is available to transport each node, in this paper, we consider only four transport modes such as air, road, rail, and water. Transportation cost, distance, emissions level for each transport mode is considered as deterministic and static in this paper. Each mode is having different emissions level depending on the distance and product characteristics. Emissions cost is indirectly affected by the lead time variability if there is any switching of transport mode from lower emissions prone transport mode to higher emissions prone transport mode in order to reduce penalty cost. We provide a numerical analysis in order to study the effectiveness of the mathematical model. We found that chances of stock out during lead time will be higher due to the higher variability of lead time and lad time demand. Numerical results show that penalty cost of air transport mode is negative that means chances of stock out zero, but, having higher holding and emissions cost. Therefore, air transport mode is only selected when there is any emergency order to reduce penalty cost, otherwise, rail and road transport is the most preferred mode of transportation. Thus, this paper is contributing to the literature by a novel approach to decide transport mode under emissions cost and lead time variability. This model can be extended by studying the effect of lead time variability under some other strategic transportation issues such as modal split option, full truck load strategy, and demand consolidation strategy etc.

Keywords: carbon emissions, inventory theoretic model, lead time variability, transport mode selection

Procedia PDF Downloads 432

Authors: Sanjay K. Behera, Debasish Saha, Paramesh Gadige, Ranjini Bandyopadhyay

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The zero shear viscosity (η₀) of a suspension of hard sphere colloids characterized by a significant polydispersity (≈10%) increases with increase in volume fraction (ϕ) and shows a dramatic increase at ϕ=ϕg with the system entering a colloidal glassy state. Fragility which is the measure of the rapidity of approach of these suspensions towards the glassy state is sensitive to its size polydispersity and stiffness of the particles. Soft poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAM) particles deform in the presence of neighboring particles at volume fraction above the random close packing volume fraction of undeformed monodisperse spheres. Softness, therefore, enhances the packing efficiency of these particles. In this study PNIPAM particles of a nearly constant swelling ratio and with polydispersities varying over a wide range (7.4%-48.9%) are synthesized to study the effects of polydispersity on the dynamics of suspensions of soft PNIPAM colloidal particles. The size and polydispersity of these particles are characterized using dynamic light scattering (DLS) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). As these particles are deformable, their packing in aqueous suspensions is quantified in terms of effective volume fraction (ϕeff). The zero shear viscosity (η₀) data of these colloidal suspensions, estimated from rheometric experiments as a function of the effective volume fraction ϕeff of the suspensions, increases with increase in ϕeff and shows a dramatic increase at ϕeff = ϕ₀. The data for η₀ as a function of ϕeff fits well to the Vogel-Fulcher-Tammann equation. It is observed that increasing polydispersity results in increasingly fragile supercooled liquid-like behavior, with the parameter ϕ₀, extracted from the fits to the VFT equation shifting towards higher ϕeff. The observed increase in fragility is attributed to the prevalence of dynamical heterogeneities (DHs) in these polydisperse suspensions, while the simultaneous shift in ϕ₀ is ascribed to the decoupling of the dynamics of the smallest and largest particles. Finally, it is observed that the intrinsic nonlinearity of these suspensions, estimated at the third harmonic near ϕ₀ in Fourier transform oscillatory rheological experiments, increases with increase in polydispersity. These results are in agreement with theoretical predictions and simulation results for polydisperse hard sphere colloidal glasses and clearly demonstrate that jammed suspensions of polydisperse colloidal particles can be effectively fluidized with increasing polydispersity. Suspensions of these particles are therefore excellent candidates for detailed experimental studies of the effects of polydispersity on the dynamics of glass formation.

Keywords: dynamical heterogeneity, effective volume fraction, fragility, intrinsic nonlinearity

Procedia PDF Downloads 163

Authors: Deepak Kumar, Ravi Rajwanshi, Mohd. Aslam Yusuf, Nisha Kant Pandey, Preeti Singh, Mukesh Saxena, Neera Bhalla Sarin

Abstract:

Global issues are leading to concerns over food security. These include climate change, urbanization, increase in population subsequently leading to greater energy and water demand. Futuristic approach for crop improvement involves gene pyramiding for agronomic traits that empower the plants to withstand multiple stresses. In an earlier study from the laboratory, the efficacy of overexpressing γ-tocopherol methyl transferase (γ-TMT) gene from the vitamin E biosynthetic pathway has been shown to result in six-fold increase of the most biologically active form, the α-tocopherol in Brassica juncea which resulted in alleviation of salt, heavy metal and osmoticum induced stress by the transgenic plants. The glyoxalase I (gly I) gene from the glyoxalase pathway has also been earlier shown by us to impart tolerance against multiple abioitc stresses by detoxification of the cytotoxic compound methylglyoxal in Brassica juncea. Recently, both the transgenes were pyramided in Brassica juncea lines through sexual crosses involving two stable Brassica juncea lines overexpressing γ-TMT and gly I genes respectively. The transgene integration was confirmed by PCR analysis and their mRNA expression was evident by RT-PCR analysis. Preliminary physiological investigations showed ~55% increased seed germination under 200 mM NaCl stress in the pyramided line and 81% higher seed germination under 200 mM mannitol stress as compared to the WT control plants. The pyramided lines also retained more chlorophyll content when the leaf discs were floated on NaCl (200, 400 and 600 mM) or mannitol (200, 400 and 600 mM) compared to the WT control plants. These plants had higher Relative Water Content and greater solute accumulation under stress compared to the parental plants having γ-TMT or the glyI gene respectively. The studies revealed the synergy of two components from different metabolic pathways in enhancing stress hardiness of the transgenic B. juncea plants. It was concluded that pyramiding of genes (γ-TMT and glyI) from diverse pathways can lead to enhanced tolerance to salt and mannitol stress (simulating drought conditions). This strategy can prove useful in enhancing the crop yields under various abiotic stresses.

Keywords: abiotic stress, brassica juncea, glyoxalase I, α-tocopherol

Procedia PDF Downloads 546

Authors: Sanjay Shukla

Abstract:

Excessive use of antibiotics is a main problem in the treatment of wounds and other chronic infections and antibiotic treatment is frequently non-curative, thus alternative treatment is necessary. Phage therapy is considered one of the most effective approaches to treat multi-drug resistant bacterial pathogens. Infections caused by Staphylococcus aureus are very efficiently controlled with phage cocktails, containing a different individual phages lysate infecting a majority of known pathogenic S. aureus strains. The aim of current study was to investigate the efficiency of a purified phage cocktail for prophylactic as well as therapeutic application in mouse model and in large animals with chronic septic infection of wounds. A total of 150 sewage samples were collected from various livestock farms. These samples were subjected for the isolation of bacteriophage by double agar layer method. A total of 27 sewage samples showed plaque formation by producing lytic activity against S. aureus in double agar overlay method out of 150 sewage samples. In TEM recovered isolates of bacteriophages showed hexagonal structure with tail fiber. In the bacteriophage (ØVS) had an icosahedral symmetry with the head size 52.20 nm in diameter and long tail of 109 nm. Head and tail were held together by connector and can be classified as a member of the Myoviridae family under the order of Caudovirale. Recovered bacteriophage had shown the antibacterial activity against the S. aureus in vitro. Cocktail (ØVS1, ØVS5, ØVS9 and ØVS 27) of phage lysate were tested to know in vivo antibacterial activity as well as the safety profile. Result of mice experiment indicated that the bacteriophage lysate was very safe, did not show any appearance of abscess formation which indicates its safety in living system. The mice were also prophylactically protected against S. aureus when administered with cocktail of bacteriophage lysate just before the administration of S. aureus which indicates that they are good prophylactic agent. The S. aureus inoculated mice were completely recovered by bacteriophage administration with 100% recovery which was very good as compere to conventional therapy. In present study ten chronic cases of wound were treated with phage lysate and follow up of these cases was done regularly up to ten days (at 0, 5 and 10 d). Result indicated that the six cases out of ten showed complete recovery of wounds within 10 d. The efficacy of bacteriophage therapy was found to be 60% which was very good as compared to the conventional antibiotic therapy in chronic septic wounds infections. Thus, the application of lytic phage in single dose proved to be innovative and effective therapy for treatment of septic chronic wounds.

Keywords: phage therapy, phage lysate, antimicrobial resistance, S. aureus

Procedia PDF Downloads 116

Authors: Haseen Siddiqui, Sanjay M. Mahajani

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Various important reactions in chemical and metallurgical industries fall in the category of gas-solid reactions. These reactions can be categorized as catalytic and non-catalytic gas-solid reactions. In gas-solid reaction systems, heat and mass transfer limitations put an appreciable influence on the rate of the reaction. The consequences can be unavoidable for overlooking such effects while collecting the reaction rate data for the design of the reactor. Pyrolysis reaction comes in this category that involves the production of gases due to the interaction of heat and solid substance. Pyrolysis is also an important step in the gasification process and therefore, the gasification reactivity majorly influenced by the pyrolysis process that produces the char, as a feed for the gasification process. Therefore, in the present study, a non-isothermal transient 1-D model is developed for a single biomass pellet to investigate the effect of heat and mass transfer limitations on the rate of pyrolysis reaction. The obtained set of partial differential equations are firstly discretized using the concept of ‘method of lines’ to obtain a set of ordinary differential equation with respect to time. These equations are solved, then, using MATLAB ode solver ode15s. The model is capable of incorporating structural changes, porosity variation, variation in various thermal properties and various pellet shapes. The model is used to analyze the effectiveness factor for different values of Lewis number and heat of reaction (G factor). Lewis number includes the effect of thermal conductivity of the solid pellet. Higher the Lewis number, the higher will be the thermal conductivity of the solid. The effectiveness factor was found to be decreasing with decreasing Lewis number due to the fact that smaller Lewis numbers retard the rate of heat transfer inside the pellet owing to a lower rate of pyrolysis reaction. G factor includes the effect of the heat of reaction. Since the pyrolysis reaction is endothermic in nature, the G factor takes negative values. The more the negative value higher will be endothermic nature of the pyrolysis reaction. The effectiveness factor was found to be decreasing with more negative values of the G factor. This behavior can be attributed to the fact that more negative value of G factor would result in more energy consumption by the reaction owing to a larger temperature gradient inside the pellet. Further, the analytical expressions are also derived for gas and solid concentrations and effectiveness factor for two limiting cases of the general model developed. The two limiting cases of the model are categorized as the homogeneous model and unreacted shrinking core model.

Keywords: effectiveness factor, G-factor, homogeneous model, lewis number, non-catalytic, shrinking core model

Procedia PDF Downloads 136

Authors: Sushma Ghildyal, Sanjay Kumar Singh

Abstract:

The present study was undertaken with the purpose to understand the relationship of lifestyle and Socio-Economic status with child obesity among 1000 boys aged from 16 to 18 years of Varanasi District of Uttar Pradesh State in India. The study was conducted in both urban and rural area of the District. Ten schools i.e. five from urban area and five from rural area were selected by using purposive sampling. Healthy boys of class 10th, 11th and 12th were taken as subjects for the study. Prior consent was obtained from school authority. Anthropometric measurements were taken from each subject. Anthropometric measurements were Standing Height, Weight, Biceps skin folds, Triceps skin folds, Sub-scapular skin folds and Supra-iliac skin folds taken by Lange’s skin fold caliper. Lifestyle and Socio-Economic Status were obtained by questionnaires. In order to assess the BMI, Body fat %, Lifestyle and Socio-Economic Status; descriptive analyses were done. To find out the significant association of obesity with lifestyle and Socio-Economic Status Chi-square test was used. To find out significant difference between obesity of Urban and Rural children t-test was applied. Level of significance was set at 0.05 level. The conclusions drawn were: (1) The result showed that in urban area Varanasi District of Uttar Pradesh 0.6% children were in very high level adaptive lifestyle, 6.2% were in high level adaptive lifestyle, 25.4% above average level adaptive lifestyle, 47.8% moderately adaptive lifestyle, 3.6% and 0.4% low and very low level adaptive lifestyle. (2) In rural area Varanasi District of Uttar Pradesh 0.00% children were in very high level adaptive lifestyle, 9.4% were in high level adaptive lifestyle, 24.8% average level adaptive lifestyle, 47.0% moderately adaptive lifestyle, 15.2% below average and 3.0% very low level adaptive lifestyle.(3) In urban area 12.8% were in upper class Socio-Economic Status, 56.6% in upper middle class Socio-Economic Status, 30.2% in middle class Socio-Economic Status and 0.2% in lower middle class Socio-Economic Status. (4) In rural area 1.4% were in upper class Socio-Economic Status, 15.2% in upper middle class Socio-Economic Status, 51.6% in middle class Socio-Economic Status and 0.8% in lower middle class Socio-Economic Status. (5) In urban area 21.2% children of 16-18 years were obese. (6) In rural area 0.2% children of 16-18 years were obese. (7) In overall Varanasi District of Uttar Pradesh 10.7% children of 16-18 years were obese. (8) There was no significant relationship of obesity with Lifestyle of urban area children of 16-18 years. (9) There was significant relationship of obesity with Socio-Economic Status of urban area children of 16-18 years (10) There was no significant relationship of obesity with Lifestyle of rural area children of 16-18 years of Varanasi District Uttar Pradesh. (11) There was significant relationship of obesity with Socio-Economic Status of rural area children of 16-18 years. (12) Results showed significant difference between urban and rural area children of 16-18 years in respect to obesity of Varanasi District of Uttar Pradesh.

Keywords: lifestyle, obesity, rural area, socio-economic status, urban area

Procedia PDF Downloads 479

Authors: Prashant Neupane, Asmi Pandey, Mumna Ehsan, Katie Davies, Richard Lowsby

Abstract:

Introduction/Background & aims: Safe and effective prescribing in hospitals, directly and indirectly, impacts the health of the patients. Even though digital prescribing in the National Health Service (NHS), UK has been used in lots of tertiary centers along with district general hospitals, a significant number of NHS trusts are still using paper prescribing. We came across lots of irregularities in our daily clinical practice when we are doing paper prescribing. The main aim of the study was to assess how safely and effectively are we prescribing at our hospital where there is no access to digital prescribing. Method/Summary of work: We conducted a prospective audit in the critical care department at Mid Cheshire Hopsitals NHS Foundation Trust in which 20 prescription charts from different patients were randomly selected over a period of 1 month. We assessed 16 multiple categories from each prescription chart and compared them to the standard trust guidelines on prescription. Results/Discussion: We collected data from 20 different prescription charts. 16 categories were evaluated within each prescription chart. The results showed there was an urgent need for improvement in 8 different sections. In 85% of the prescription chart, all the prescribers who prescribed the medications were not identified. Name, GMC number and signature were absent in the required prescriber identification section of the prescription chart. In 70% of prescription charts, either indication or review date of the antimicrobials was absent. Units of medication were not documented correctly in 65% and the allergic status of the patient was absent in 30% of the charts. The start date of medications was missing and alternations of the medications were not done properly in 35%of charts. The patient's name was not recorded in all desired sections of the chart in 50% of cases and cancellations of the medication were not done properly in 45% of the prescription charts. Conclusion(s): From the audit and data analysis, we assessed the areas in which we needed improvement in prescription writing in the Critical care department. However, during the meetings and conversations with the experts from the pharmacy department, we realized this audit is just a representation of the specialized department of the hospital where access to prescribing is limited to a certain number of prescribers. But if we consider bigger departments of the hospital where patient turnover is much more, the results could be much worse. The findings were discussed in the Critical care MDT meeting where suggestions regarding digital/electronic prescribing were discussed. A poster and presentation regarding safe and effective prescribing were done, awareness poster was prepared and attached alongside every bedside in critical care where it is visible to prescribers. We consider this as a temporary measure to improve the quality of prescribing, however, we strongly believe digital prescribing will help to a greater extent to control weak areas which are seen in paper prescribing.

Keywords: safe prescribing, NHS, digital prescribing, prescription chart

Procedia PDF Downloads 118

Authors: Sanjay Shukla, A. Nayak, R. K. Sharma, A. P. Singh, S. P. Tiwari

Abstract:

Excessive use of antibiotics is a major problem in the treatment of wounds and other chronic infections, and antibiotic treatment is frequently non-curative, thus alternative treatment is necessary. Phage therapy is considered one of the most promising approaches to treat multi-drug resistant bacterial pathogens. Infections caused by Staphylococcus aureus are very efficiently controlled with phage cocktails, containing a different individual phages lysate infecting a majority of known pathogenic S. aureus strains. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the efficacy of a purified phage cocktail for prophylactic as well as therapeutic application in mouse model and in large animals with chronic septic infection of wounds. A total of 150 sewage samples were collected from various livestock farms. These samples were subjected for the isolation of bacteriophage by the double agar layer method. A total of 27 sewage samples showed plaque formation by producing lytic activity against S. aureus in the double agar overlay method out of 150 sewage samples. In TEM, recovered isolates of bacteriophages showed hexagonal structure with tail fiber. In the bacteriophage (ØVS) had an icosahedral symmetry with the head size 52.20 nm in diameter and long tail of 109 nm. Head and tail were held together by connector and can be classified as a member of the Myoviridae family under the order of Caudovirale. Recovered bacteriophage had shown the antibacterial activity against the S. aureus in vitro. Cocktail (ØVS1, ØVS5, ØVS9, and ØVS 27) of phage lysate were tested to know in vivo antibacterial activity as well as the safety profile. Result of mice experiment indicated that the bacteriophage lysate were very safe, did not show any appearance of abscess formation, which indicates its safety in living system. The mice were also prophylactically protected against S. aureus when administered with cocktail of bacteriophage lysate just before the administration of S. aureuswhich indicates that they are good prophylactic agent. The S. aureusinoculated mice were completely recovered by bacteriophage administration with 100% recovery, which was very good as compere to conventional therapy. In the present study, ten chronic cases of the wound were treated with phage lysate, and follow up of these cases was done regularly up to ten days (at 0, 5, and 10 d). The result indicated that the six cases out of ten showed complete recovery of wounds within 10 d. The efficacy of bacteriophage therapy was found to be 60% which was very good as compared to the conventional antibiotic therapy in chronic septic wounds infections. Thus, the application of lytic phage in single dose proved to be innovative and effective therapy for the treatment of septic chronic wounds.

Keywords: phage therapy, S aureus, antimicrobial resistance, lytic phage, and bacteriophage

Procedia PDF Downloads 115

Authors: Vivek Bhat, Rohini Kelkar, Sanjay Biswas

Abstract:

Introduction: Cancer patients are at increased risk of bacterial infections. This may due to the disease process itself, the effect of chemotherapeutic drugs or invasive procedures such as catheterization. A wide variety of bacteria including some emerging pathogens are increasingly being reported from these patients. The incidence of multidrug-resistant organisms particularly in the Gram negative group is also increasing, with higher resistance rates seen to cephalosporins, β-lactam/β-lactam inhibitor combinations, and the carbapenems. This study documents the bacteriological spectrum of infections and their resistance patterns in cancer patients. Methods: This study includes all bacterial isolates recovered from infections cancer patients over a period of 18 months. Samples included Blood cultures, Pus/wound swabs, urine, tissue biopsies, body fluids, catheter tips and respiratory specimens such as sputum and bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL). All samples were processed in the microbiology laboratory as per standard laboratory protocols. Organisms were identified to species level and antimicrobial susceptibility testing was performed manually by the disc diffusion technique or in the Vitek-2 (Biomereux, France) instrument. Interpretations were as per Clinical laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) guidelines. Results: A total of 1150 bacterial isolates were cultured from 884 test samples during the study period. Of these 227 were Gram-positive and 923 were Gram-negative organisms. Staphylococcus aureus (99 isolates) was the commonest Gram-positive isolate followed by Enterococcus (79) and Gr A Streptococcus (30). Among the Gram negatives, E. coli (304), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (201) and Klebsiella pneumoniae (190) were the most common. Of the Staphylococcus aureus isolates 27.2% were methicillin resistant. Only 5.06% enterococci were vancomycin resistant. High rates of resistance to cefotaxime and ciprofloxacin were seen amongst E. coli (84.8% & 83.55%) and Klebsiella pneumoniae (71 & 62.1%) respectively. Resistance to carbapenems (meropenem) was high at 70% in Acinetobacter spp.; however all isolates were sensitive to colistin. Among the aminoglycosides, amikacin retained good efficacy against Escherichia coli (82.9%) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (78.1%). Occasional isolates of emerging pathogens such as Chryseobacterium indologens, Roseomonas, and Achromobacter xyloxidans were also recovered. Conclusion: The common infections in cancer patients include respiratory, wound, tract infections and sepsis. The commonest isolates include Staphylococcus aureus, Enterococci, Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. There is a high level of resistance to the commonly used antibiotics among Gram-negative organisms.

Keywords: bacteria, resistance, infection, cancer

Procedia PDF Downloads 297

Authors: Sidharth Talan, Sanjay Kumar Sharma, Eoin Joseph Wallace, Nikita Agrawal

Abstract:

Underground mining is at the core of rapidly evolving metals and minerals sector due to the increasing mineral consumption globally. Even though the surface mines are still more abundant on earth, the scales of industry are slowly tipping towards underground mining due to rising depth and complexities of orebodies. Thus, the efficient and productive functioning of underground operations depends significantly on the synchronized performance of key elements such as operating site, mining equipment, manpower and mine services. Production drilling is the process of conducting long hole drilling for the purpose of charging and blasting these holes for the production of ore in underground metal mines. Thus, production drilling is the crucial segment in the underground metal mining value chain. This paper presents the process mapping tool to evaluate the production drilling process in the underground metal mining operation by dividing the given process into three segments namely Input, Process and Output. The three segments are further segregated into factors and sub-factors. As per the study, the major input factors crucial for the efficient functioning of production drilling process are power, drilling water, geotechnical support of the drilling site, skilled drilling operators, services installation crew, oils and drill accessories for drilling machine, survey markings at drill site, proper housekeeping, regular maintenance of drill machine, suitable transportation for reaching the drilling site and finally proper ventilation. The major outputs for the production drilling process are ore, waste as a result of dilution, timely reporting and investigation of unsafe practices, optimized process time and finally well fragmented blasted material within specifications set by the mining company. The paper also exhibits the drilling loss matrix, which is utilized to appraise the loss in planned production meters per day in a mine on account of availability loss in the machine due to breakdowns, underutilization of the machine and productivity loss in the machine measured in drilling meters per unit of percussion hour with respect to its planned productivity for the day. The given three losses would be essential to detect the bottlenecks in the process map of production drilling operation so as to instigate the action plan to suppress or prevent the causes leading to the operational performance deficiency. The given tool is beneficial to mine management to focus on the critical factors negatively impacting the production drilling operation and design necessary operational and maintenance strategies to mitigate them. 

Keywords: process map, drilling loss matrix, SIPOC, productivity, percussion rate

Procedia PDF Downloads 214

Authors: Smita Mondal, Dinesh Kumar Pandey, Prakash Biswas

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During past two decades, considerable attention has been given to the value addition of biodiesel derived glycerol (~10wt.%) to make the biodiesel industry economically viable. Among the various glycerol value-addition methods, hydrogenolysis of glycerol to 1,2-propanediol is one of the attractive and promising routes. In this study, highly active and selective γ-Al₂O₃ supported bimetallic Cu-Ni catalyst was developed for selective hydrogenolysis of glycerol to 1,2-propanediol in the liquid phase. The catalytic performance was evaluated in a high-pressure autoclave reactor. The formation of mixed oxide indicated the strong interaction of Cu, Ni with the alumina support. Experimental results demonstrated that bimetallic copper-nickel catalyst was more active and selective to 1,2-PDO as compared to monometallic catalysts due to bifunctional behavior. To verify the effect of calcination temperature on the formation of Cu-Ni mixed oxide phase, the calcination temperature of 20wt.% Cu:Ni(1:1)/Al₂O₃ catalyst was varied from 300°C-550°C. The physicochemical properties of the catalysts were characterized by various techniques such as specific surface area (BET), X-ray diffraction study (XRD), temperature programmed reduction (TPR), and temperature programmed desorption (TPD). The BET surface area and pore volume of the catalysts were in the range of 71-78 m²g⁻¹, and 0.12-0.15 cm³g⁻¹, respectively. The peaks at the 2θ range of 43.3°-45.5° and 50.4°-52°, was corresponded to the copper-nickel mixed oxidephase [JCPDS: 78-1602]. The formation of mixed oxide indicated the strong interaction of Cu, Ni with the alumina support. The crystallite size decreased with increasing the calcination temperature up to 450°C. Further, the crystallite size was increased due to agglomeration. Smaller crystallite size of 16.5 nm was obtained for the catalyst calcined at 400°C. Total acidic sites of the catalysts were determined by NH₃-TPD, and the maximum total acidic of 0.609 mmol NH₃ gcat⁻¹ was obtained over the catalyst calcined at 400°C. TPR data suggested the maximum of 75% degree of reduction of catalyst calcined at 400°C among all others. Further, 20wt.%Cu:Ni(1:1)/γ-Al₂O₃ catalyst calcined at 400°C exhibited highest catalytic activity ( > 70%) and 1,2-PDO selectivity ( > 85%) at mild reaction condition due to highest acidity, highest degree of reduction, smallest crystallite size. Further, the modified Power law kinetic model was developed to understand the true kinetic behaviour of hydrogenolysis of glycerol over 20wt.%Cu:Ni(1:1)/γ-Al₂O₃ catalyst. Rate equations obtained from the model was solved by ode23 using MATLAB coupled with Genetic Algorithm. Results demonstrated that the model predicted data were very well fitted with the experimental data. The activation energy of the formation of 1,2-PDO was found to be 45 kJ mol⁻¹.

Keywords: glycerol, 1, 2-PDO, calcination, kinetic

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Authors: Osman Turkoglu, Alvin Estilo, Ritu Gupta, Liliam Pineda-Salgado, Rajesh Pandey

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Background: Hepatotoxicity can be linked to a variety of clinical symptoms and histopathological signs, posing a great challenge in the surveillance of suspected drug-induced liver injury (DILI) cases in the safety database. Additionally, the majority of such cases are rare, idiosyncratic, highly unpredictable, and tend to demonstrate unique individual susceptibility; these qualities, in turn, lend to a pharmacovigilance monitoring process that is often tedious and time-consuming. Objective: Develop a multifactorial algorithm to assist pharmacovigilance physicians in identifying high-risk hepatotoxicity cases associated with DILI from the sponsor’s safety database (Argus). Methods: Multifactorial selection criteria were established using Structured Query Language (SQL) and the TIBCO Spotfire® visualization tool, via a combination of word fragments, wildcard strings, and mathematical constructs, based on Hy’s law criteria and pattern of injury (R-value). These criteria excluded non-eligible cases from monthly line listings mined from the Argus safety database. The capabilities and limitations of these criteria were verified by comparing a manual review of all monthly cases with system-generated monthly listings over six months. Results: On an average, over a period of six months, the algorithm accurately identified 92% of DILI cases meeting established criteria. The automated process easily compared liver enzyme elevations with baseline values, reducing the screening time to under 15 minutes as opposed to multiple hours exhausted using a cognitively laborious, manual process. Limitations of the algorithm include its inability to identify cases associated with non-standard laboratory tests, naming conventions, and/or incomplete/incorrectly entered laboratory values. Conclusions: The newly developed multifactorial algorithm proved to be extremely useful in detecting potential DILI cases, while heightening the vigilance of the drug safety department. Additionally, the application of this algorithm may be useful in identifying a potential signal for DILI in drugs not yet known to cause liver injury (e.g., drugs in the initial phases of development). This algorithm also carries the potential for universal application, due to its product-agnostic data and keyword mining features. Plans for the tool include improving it into a fully automated application, thereby completely eliminating a manual screening process.

Keywords: automation, drug-induced liver injury, pharmacovigilance, post-marketing

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Authors: Raheel Shakoor Siddiqui, Shahbaz Malik, Manikandar Srinivas Cheruvu, Sanjay Narayana Murthy, Livio DiMascio

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Background: elderly traumatic hip fracture patients frequently present to trauma services globally. Rising low energy falls amongst an osteoporotic aging population is the commonest cause for injury. Hip fractures in this population are a major cause for severe pain, morbidity and mortality. The term hip fracture is interchangeable with neck of femur fracture, fractured neck of femur or proximal femur fracture. Hip fracture pain management protocols and guidelines suggest conventional analgesia, nerve block and opioid based treatment as rescue analgesia. There is a current global opioid crisis with overuse, abuse and dependence. Adverse opioid related complications in vulnerable elderly patients further adds to morbidity and mortality. Systematic reviews in literature have evidenced superiority of multimodal analgesia in osteoarthritic primary joint replacements compared to opioids however, this has not yet been conducted for elderly traumatic hip fracture patients. Aims: The primary aim of this systematic review is to provide standardised evidence following Cochrane and PRISMA guidance in determining advantages of perioperative multimodal analgesia over conventional opioid based treatments in elderly traumatic hip fractures. Methods: 5 databases were searched from January 2000-2023 which identified 8 randomised controlled trials and 446 total participants. These trials met defined PICOS eligibility criteria of patient mean age ≥ 65 years presenting with a unilateral traumatic fractured neck of femur for operative intervention. Analgesic intervention with perioperative multimodal analgesia has been compared to conventional opioid based analgesia. Outcomes of interest include, primarily, the change in postoperative opioid consumption within a 0-30 postoperative period and secondarily, the change in postoperative adverse events and complications. A qualitative synthesis has been performed due to clinical heterogenicity and variance amongst trials. Results: GRADE evidence of moderate quality supports perioperative multimodal analgesia leads to a reduction in postoperative opioid consumption however, low quality evidence supports a reduction of adverse effects and complications. Conclusion: Perioperative multimodal analgesia whether used preoperative, intraoperative and/or postoperative leads to a reduction in postoperative opioid consumption for elderly traumatic hip fracture patients. This review recommends the use of perioperative multimodal analgesia as part of hip fracture pain protocols however, caution and clinical judgement should be used as the risk of adverse effects may not be lower.

Keywords: trauma, orthopaedics, hip, fracture, neck of femur fracture, analgesia, multimodal analgesia, opioid

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Authors: Abhishek Sraw, Amit Sobti, Yamini Pandey, R. K. Wanchoo, Amrit Pal Toor

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Monocrotophos (MCP) is a widely used pesticide in India, which belong to an extremely toxic organophosphorus family, is persistent in nature and its toxicity is widely reported in all environmental segments in the country. Advanced Oxidation Process (AOP) is a promising solution to the problem of water pollution. TiO₂ is being widely used as a photocatalyst because of its many advantages, but it has a large band gap, due to which it is modified using metal and nonmetal dopant to make it active under sunlight and visible light. The use of nanosized powdered catalysts makes the recovery process extremely complicated. Hence the aim is to use low cost, easily available, eco-friendly clay material in form of bead as the support for the immobilization of catalyst, to solve the problem of post-separation of suspended catalyst from treated water. A recirculation type photocatalytic reactor (RTPR), using ultraviolet light emitting source (blue black lamp) was designed which work effectively for both suspended catalysts and catalyst coated clay beads. The bare, TiO₂ and W-TiO₂ coated clay beads were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), electron dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) and N₂ adsorption–desorption measurements techniques (BET) for their structural, textural and electronic properties. The study involved variation of different parameters like light conditions, recirculation rate, light intensity and initial MCP concentration under UV and sunlight for the degradation of MCP. The degradation and mineralization studies of the insecticide solution were performed using UV-Visible spectrophotometer, and COD vario-photometer and GC-MS analysis respectively. The main focus of the work lies in checking the recyclability of the immobilized TiO₂ over clay beads in the developed RTPR up to 30 continuous cycles without reactivation of catalyst. The results demonstrated the economic feasibility of the utilization of developed RTPR for the efficient purification of pesticide polluted water. The prepared TiO₂ clay beads delivered 75.78% degradation of MCP under UV light with negligible catalyst loss. Application of W-TiO₂ coated clay beads filled RTPR for the degradation of MCP under sunlight, however, shows 32% higher degradation of MCP than the same system based on undoped TiO₂. The COD measurements of TiO₂ coated beads led to 73.75% COD reduction while W-TiO₂ resulted in 87.89% COD reduction. The GC-MS analysis confirms the efficient breakdown of complex MCP molecules into simpler hydrocarbons. This supports the promising application of clay beads as a support for the photocatalyst and proves its eco-friendly nature, excellent recyclability, catalyst holding capacity, and economic viability.

Keywords: immobilized clay beads, monocrotophos, recirculation type photocatalytic reactor, TiO₂

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Authors: Apurva Singh, S. P. Jaiswar, Apala Priyadarshini, Akancha Pandey

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Objective: The aim of this study is to find the association of PON1 gene polymorphism with pesticides In RPL subjects. Background: Recurrent pregnancy loss (RPL) is defined as three or more sequential abortions before the 20th week of gestation. Pesticides and its derivatives (organochlorine and organophosphate) are proposed to accommodate a ruler chemical for RPL in the sub-humid region of India. The paraoxonase-1 enzyme (PON1) plays an important role in the toxicity of some organophosphate pesticides, with low PON1 activity being associated with higher pesticide sensitivity Methodology: This is a case-control study done in Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology & Department of Biochemistry, K.G.M.U, Lucknow, India. The subjects were enrolled after fulfilling the inclusion & exclusion criteria. Inclusion criteria: Cases- Subject having two or more spontaneous abortions & Control- Healthy female having one or more alive child was selected. Exclusion criteria: Cases & Control- Subject having the following disease will be excluded from the study Diabetes mellitus, Hypertension, Tuberculosis, Immunocompromised patients, any endocrine disorder and genital, colon or breast cancer any other malignancies. Blood samples were collected in EDTA tubes from cases & healthy control women & genomic DNA was extracted by phenol-chloroform method. The estimation of pesticides residue from blood was done by HPLC. Biochemical estimation was also performed. Genotyping of PON1 gene polymorphism was performed by RFLP. Statistical analysis of the data was performed using the SPSS16.3 software. Results: A sum of total 14 pesticides (12 organochlorine and 2 organophosphate) selected on the basis of their persistent nature and consumption rate. The significant level of pesticide (ppb) estimated by the Mann whiney test and it was found to be significant at higher level of β-HCH (p:0.04), γ-HCH (p:0.001), δ-HCH (p: 0.002), chloropyrifos (p:0.001), pp-DDD (p:0.001) and fenvalrate (p: 0.001) in case group compare to its control. The level of antioxidant enzymes were found to be significantly decreased among the cases. Wild homozygous TT was more frequent and prevalent among control groups. However, heterozygous group (Tt) was more in cases than control groups (CI-0.3-1.3) (p=0.06). Conclusion: Higher levels of pesticides with endocrine disrupting potential in cases indicate the possible role of these compounds as one of the causes of recurrent pregnancy loss. Possibly, increased pesticide level appears to indicate increased levels of oxidative damage that has been associated with the possible cause of Recurrent Miscarriage, it may reflect indirect evidence of toxicity rather than the direct cause. Since both factors are reported to increase risk, individuals with higher levels of these 'Toxic compounds' especially in 'high-risk genotypes' might be more susceptible to recurrent pregnancy loss.

Keywords: paraoxonase, pesticides, PON1, RPL

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Authors: Soumava Boral, Sanjay K. Chaturvedi, Ian Howard, Kristoffer McKee, V. N. A. Naikan

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Due to strict regulations from government to enhance the possibilities of sustainability practices in industries, and noting the advances in sustainable manufacturing practices, it is necessary that the associated processes are also sustainable. Maintenance of large scale and complex machines is a pivotal task to maintain the uninterrupted flow of manufacturing processes. Appropriate maintenance practices can prolong the lifetime of machines, and prevent associated breakdowns, which subsequently reduces different cost heads. Selection of the best maintenance strategies for such machines are considered as a burdensome task, as they require the consideration of multiple technical criteria, complex mathematical calculations, previous fault data, maintenance records, etc. In the era of the fourth industrial revolution, organizations are rapidly changing their way of business, and they are giving their utmost importance to sensor technologies, artificial intelligence, data analytics, automations, etc. In this work, the effectiveness of several maintenance strategies (e.g., preventive, failure-based, reliability centered, condition based, total productive maintenance, etc.) related to a large scale and complex gearbox, operating in a steel processing plant is evaluated in terms of economic, social, environmental and technical criteria. As it is not possible to obtain/describe some criteria by exact numerical values, these criteria are evaluated linguistically by cross-functional experts. Fuzzy sets are potential soft-computing technique, which has been useful to deal with linguistic data and to provide inferences in many complex situations. To prioritize different maintenance practices based on the identified sustainable criteria, multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) approaches can be considered as potential tools. Multi-Attributive Ideal Real Comparative Analysis (MAIRCA) is a recent addition in the MCDM family and has proven its superiority over some well-known MCDM approaches, like TOPSIS (Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution) and ELECTRE (ELimination Et Choix Traduisant la REalité). It has a simple but robust mathematical approach, which is easy to comprehend. On the other side, due to some inherent drawbacks of Intuitionistic Fuzzy Sets (IFS) and Pythagorean Fuzzy Sets (PFS), recently, the use of Fermatean Fuzzy Sets (FFSs) has been proposed. In this work, we propose the novel concept of FF-MAIRCA. We obtain the weights of the criteria by experts’ evaluation and use them to prioritize the different maintenance practices according to their suitability by FF-MAIRCA approach. Finally, a sensitivity analysis is carried out to highlight the robustness of the approach.

Keywords: Fermatean fuzzy sets, Fermatean fuzzy MAIRCA, maintenance strategy selection, sustainable manufacturing, MCDM

Procedia PDF Downloads 137

Authors: K. H. Reeta, Bhavana Prasher, Mitali Mukerji, Dhwani Dholakia, Sangeeta Khanna, Archana Vats, Shivam Pandey, Sandeep Seth, Subir Kumar Maulik

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Introduction Research has demonstrated a connection between coronary artery disease (CAD) and genetics. We did a deep literature mining using both bioinformatics and manual efforts to identify the susceptible polymorphisms in coronary artery disease. Further, the study sought to validate these findings in an Asian population. Methodology In first phase, we used an automated pipeline which organizes and presents structured information on SNPs, Population and Diseases. The information was obtained by applying Natural Language Processing (NLP) techniques to approximately 28 million PubMed abstracts. To accomplish this, we utilized Python scripts to extract and curate disease-related data, filter out false positives, and categorize them into 24 hierarchical groups using named Entity Recognition (NER) algorithms. From the extensive research conducted, a total of 466 unique PubMed Identifiers (PMIDs) and 694 Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs) related to coronary artery disease (CAD) were identified. To refine the selection process, a thorough manual examination of all the studies was carried out. Specifically, SNPs that demonstrated susceptibility to CAD and exhibited a positive Odds Ratio (OR) were selected, and a final pool of 324 SNPs was compiled. The next phase involved validating the identified SNPs in DNA samples of 96 CAD patients and 37 healthy controls from Indian population using Global Screening Array. ResultsThe results exhibited out of 324, only 108 SNPs were expressed, further 4 SNPs showed significant difference of minor allele frequency in cases and controls. These were rs187238 of IL-18 gene, rs731236 of VDR gene, rs11556218 of IL16 gene and rs5882 of CETP gene. Prior researches have reported association of these SNPs with various pathways like endothelial damage, susceptibility of vitamin D receptor (VDR) polymorphisms, and reduction of HDL-cholesterol levels, ultimately leading to the development of CAD. Among these, only rs731236 had been studied in Indian population and that too in diabetes and vitamin D deficiency. For the first time, these SNPs were reported to be associated with CAD in Indian population. Conclusion: This pool of 324 SNP s is a unique kind of resource that can help to uncover risk associations in CAD. Here, we validated in Indian population. Further, validation in different populations may offer valuable insights and contribute to the development of a screening tool and may help in enabling the implementation of primary prevention strategies targeted at the vulnerable population.

Keywords: coronary artery disease, single nucleotide polymorphism, susceptible SNP, bioinformatics

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Authors: Devendra Kumar Pandey, Debabrata Chakraborty

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The advancement in various concrete ingredients like plasticizers, additives and fibers, etc. has enabled concrete technologists to develop many viable varieties of special concretes in recent decades. Such various varieties of concrete have significant enhancement in green as well as hardened properties of concrete. A prudent selection of appropriate type of concrete can resolve many design and application issues in construction projects. This paper focuses on usage of self-compacting concrete, high early strength concrete, structural lightweight concrete, fiber reinforced concrete, high performance concrete and ultra-high strength concrete in the structures. The modified properties of strength at various ages, flowability, porosity, equilibrium density, flexural strength, elasticity, permeability etc. need to be carefully studied and incorporated into the design of the structures. The paper demonstrates various mixture combinations and the concrete properties that can be leveraged. The selection of such products based on the end use of structures has been proposed in order to efficiently utilize the modified characteristics of these concrete varieties. The study involves mapping the characteristics with benefits and savings for the structure from design perspective. Self-compacting concrete in the structure is characterized by high shuttering loads, better finish, and feasibility of closer reinforcement spacing. The structural design procedures can be modified to specify higher formwork strength, height of vertical members, cover reduction and increased ductility. The transverse reinforcement can be spaced at closer intervals compared to regular structural concrete. It allows structural lightweight concrete structures to be designed for reduced dead load, increased insulation properties. Member dimensions and steel requirement can be reduced proportionate to about 25 to 35 percent reduction in the dead load due to self-weight of concrete. Steel fiber reinforced concrete can be used to design grade slabs without primary reinforcement because of 70 to 100 percent higher tensile strength. The design procedures incorporate reduction in thickness and joint spacing. High performance concrete employs increase in the life of the structures by improvement in paste characteristics and durability by incorporating supplementary cementitious materials. Often, these are also designed for slower heat generation in the initial phase of hydration. The structural designer can incorporate the slow development of strength in the design and specify 56 or 90 days strength requirement. For designing high rise building structures, creep and elasticity properties of such concrete also need to be considered. Lastly, certain structures require a performance under loading conditions much earlier than final maturity of concrete. High early strength concrete has been designed to cater to a variety of usages at various ages as early as 8 to 12 hours. Therefore, an understanding of concrete performance specifications for special concrete is a definite door towards a superior structural design approach.

Keywords: high performance concrete, special concrete, structural design, structural lightweight concrete

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Authors: Amrisha Pandey

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Indian constitution has distributed the powers to govern and legislate between the centre and the state governments based on the list of subject-matter provided in the seventh schedule. By that schedule, the states are authorized to regulate the water resource within their territory. However, the centre/union government is authorized to regulate the inter-state water disputes. The powers entrusted to the union government mainly deals with the sharing of river water which flows through the territory of two or more states. For that purpose, a provision enumerated in Article 262 of the Constitution of India which empowers the parliament to resolve any such inter-state river water dispute. Therefore, the parliament has enacted the - ‘Inter-State River Water Dispute Tribunal, Act’, which allows the central/union government to constitute the tribunal for the adjudication of the disputes and expressly bars the jurisdiction of the judiciary in the concerned matter. This arrangement was intended to resolve the dispute using political or diplomatic means, without deliberately interfering with the sovereign power of the states to govern the water resource. The situation in present context is complicated and sensitive. Due to the change in climatic conditions; increasing demand for the limited resource; and the advanced understanding of the freshwater cycle, which is missing from the existing legal regime. The obsolete legal and political tools, the existing legislative mechanism and the institutional units do not seem to accommodate the rising challenge to regulate the resource. Therefore, resulting in the rise of the politicization of the inter-state water disputes. Against this background, this paper will investigate the inter-state river water dispute in India and will critically analyze the ability of the existing constitutional, and institutional units involved in the task. Moreover, the competence of the tribunal as the adjudicating body in present context will be analyzed using the long ongoing inter-state water dispute in India – The Cauvery Water Dispute, as the case study. To conduct the task undertaken in this paper the doctrinal methodology of the research is adopted. The disputes will also be investigated through the lens of sovereignty, which is accorded to the states using the theory of ‘separation of power’ and the ‘grant of internal sovereignty’, to its federal units of governance. The issue of sovereignty in this paper is discussed in two ways: 1) as the responsibility of the state - to govern the resource; and 2) as the obligation of the state - to govern the resource, arising from the sovereign power of the state. Furthermore, the duality of the sovereign power coexists in this analysis; the overall sovereign authority of the nation-state, and the internal sovereignty of the states as its federal units of governance. As a result, this investigation will propose institutional, legislative and judicial reforms. Additionally, it will suggest certain amendments to the existing constitutional provisions in order to avoid the contradictions in their scope and meaning in the light of the advanced hydrological understanding.

Keywords: constitution of India, federalism, inter-state river water dispute tribunal of India, sovereignty

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Authors: Jeet Chakraborty, Sanjay Dutta

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Antibiotic resistance by bacteria has proved to be a severe threat to mankind in recent times, and this fortifies an urgency to design and develop potent antibacterial small molecules/compounds with nonconventional mechanisms than the conventional ones. DNA carries the genetic signature of any organism, and bacteria maintain their genomic DNA inside the cell in a well-regulated compact form with the help of various nucleoid associated proteins like HU, HNS, etc. These proteins control various fundamental processes like gene expression, replication, etc., inside the cell. Alteration of the native DNA structure of bacteria can lead to severe consequences in cellular processes inside the bacterial cell that ultimately result in the death of the organism. The change in the global DNA structure by small molecules initiates a plethora of cellular responses that have not been very well investigated. Echinomycin and Triostin-A are biologically active Quinoxaline small molecules that typically consist of a quinoxaline chromophore attached with an octadepsipeptide ring. They bind to double-stranded DNA in a sequence-specific way and have high activity against a wide variety of bacteria, mainly against Gram-positive ones. To date, few synthetic quinoxaline scaffolds were synthesized, displaying antibacterial potential against a broad scale of pathogenic bacteria. QNOs (Quinoxaline N-oxides) are known to target DNA and instigate reactive oxygen species (ROS) production in bacteria, thereby exhibiting antibacterial properties. The divergent role of Quinoxaline small molecules in medicinal research qualifies them for the evaluation of their antimicrobial properties as a potential candidate. The previous study from our lab has given new insights on a 6-nitroquinoxaline derivative 1d as an intercalator of DNA, which induces conformational changes in DNA upon binding.7 The binding event observed was dependent on the presence of a crucial benzyl substituent on the quinoxaline moiety. This was associated with a large induced CD (ICD) appearing in a sigmoidal pattern upon the interaction of 1d with dsDNA. The induction of DNA superstructures by 1d at high Drug:DNA ratios was observed that ultimately led to DNA condensation. Eviction of invitro-assembled nucleosome upon treatment with a high dose of 1d was also observed. In this work, monoquinoxaline derivatives of 1d were synthesized by various modifications of the 1d scaffold. The set of synthesized 6-nitroquinoxaline derivatives along with 1d were all subjected to antibacterial evaluation across five different bacteria species. Among the compound set, 3a displayed potent antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus bacteria. 3a was further subjected to various biophysical studies to check whether the DNA structural alteration potential was still intact. The biological response of S. aureus cells upon treatment with 3a was studied using various cell biology processes, which led to the conclusion that 3d can initiate DNA damage in the S. aureus cells. Finally, the potential of 3a in disrupting preformed S.aureus and S.epidermidis biofilms was also studied.

Keywords: DNA structural change, antibacterial, intercalator, DNA superstructures, biofilms

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Authors: Sheikh Nawaz Ali, Pratima Pandey, P. Morthekai, Jyotsna Dubey, Md. Firoze Quamar

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The high mountain glaciers are one of the most sensitive recorders of climate changes, because they have the tendency to respond to the combined effect of snow fall and temperature. The Himalayan glaciers have been studied with a good pace during the last decade. However, owing to its large ecological diversity and geographical vividness, major part of the Indian Himalaya is uninvestigated, and hence the palaeoclimatic patterns as well as the chronology of past glaciations in particular remain controversial for the entire Indian Himalayan transect. Although the Himalayan glaciers are nourished by two important climatic systems viz. the southwest summer monsoon and the mid-latitude westerlies, however, the influence of these systems is yet to be understood. Nevertheless, existing chronology (mostly exposure ages) indicate that irrespective of the geographical position, glaciers seem to grow during enhanced Indian summer monsoon (ISM). The Himalayan mountain glaciers are referred to the third pole or water tower of Asia as they form a huge reservoir of the fresh water supplies for the Asian countries. Mountain glaciers are sensitive probes of the local climate, and, thus, they present an opportunity and a challenge to interpret climates of the past as well as to predict future changes. The principle object of all the palaeoclimatic studies is to develop a futuristic models/scenario. However, it has been found that the glacial chronologies bracket the major phases of climatic events only, and other climatic proxies are sparse in Himalaya. This is the reason that compilation of data for rapid climatic change during the Holocene shows major gaps in this region. The sedimentation in proglacial lakes, conversely, is more continuous and, hence, can be used to reconstruct a more complete record of past climatic variability that is modulated by changing ice volume of the valley glacier. The Himalayan region has numerous proglacial lacustrine deposits formed during the late Quaternary period. However, there are only few such deposits which have been studied so far. Therefore, this is the high time when efforts have to be made to systematically map the moraines located in different climatic zones, reconstruct the local and regional moraine stratigraphy and use multiple dating techniques to bracket the events of glaciation. Besides this, emphasis must be given on carrying multiproxy studies on the lacustrine sediments that will provide a high resolution palaeoclimatic data from the alpine region of the Himalaya. Although the Himalayan glaciers fluctuated in accordance with the changing climatic conditions (natural forcing), however, it is too early to arrive at any conclusion. It is very crucial to generate multiproxy data sets covering wider geographical and ecological domains taking into consideration multiple parameters that directly or indirectly influence the glacier mass balance as well as the local climate of a region.

Keywords: glacial chronology, palaeoclimate, multiproxy, Himalaya

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Authors: Sanjay Ranade

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Traditional film theory assumes the cinema audience in a darkened room where cinema is projected on to a white screen, and the audience suspends their sense of reality. Shifts in audiences due to changes in cultural tastes or trends have been studied for decades. In the past two decades, however, the audience, especially the youth, has shifted to digital media for the consumption of cinema. As a result, not only are audiences watching cinema on different devices, they are also consuming cinema in places and ways never imagined before. Public transport often crowded to the brim with a lot of ambient content, and a variety of workplaces have become sites for cinema viewing. Cinema is watched piecemeal and at different times of the day. Audiences use devices such as mobile phones and tablets to watch cinema. The cinema viewing experience is getting redesigned by the user. The emerging design allows the spectator to not only consume images and narratives but also produce, reproduce, and manipulate existing images and narratives, thereby participating in the process and influencing it. Spectatorship studies stress on the importance of subjectivity when dealing with the structure of the film text and the cultural and psychological implications in the engagement between the spectator and the film text. Indian cinema has been booming and contributing to global movie production significantly. In 2005 film production was 1000 films a year and doubled to 2000 by 2016. Digital technology helped push this growth in 2012. Film studies in India have had a decided Euro-American bias. The studies have chiefly analysed the content for ideological leanings or myth or as reflections of society, societal changes, or articulation of identity or presented retrospectives of directors, actors, music directors, etc. The one factor relegated to the background has been the spectator. If they have been addressed, they are treated as a collective of class or gender. India has a performative tradition going back several centuries. How Indians receive cinema is an important aspect to study with respect to film studies. This exploratory and descriptive study looked at 162 young media students studying cinema at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels. The students, speaking as many as 20 languages amongst them, were drawn from across the country’s media schools. The study looked at nine film societies registered with the Federation of Film Societies of India. A structured questionnaire was made and distributed online through media teachers for the students. The film societies were approached through the regional office of the FFSI in Mumbai. Lastly, group discussions were held in Mumbai with students and teachers of media. A group consisted of between five and twelve student participants, along with one or two teachers. All the respondents looked at themselves as spectators and shared their experiences of spectators of cinema, providing a very rich insight into Indian conditions of viewing cinema and challenges for cinema ahead.

Keywords: audience, digital, film studies, reception, reception spectatorship

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Authors: Rasmila Kawan, Sanjay Juvekar, Sandeep Salvi, Gufran Beig, Rainer Sauerborn

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Background: Indoor air pollution especially from the use of biomass fuels, remains a potentially large global health threat. The inefficient use of such fuels in poorly ventilated conditions results in high levels of indoor air pollution, most seriously affecting women and young children. Objectives: The main aim of this study was to measure and compare the lung function of the women exposed in the biomass fuels and LPG fuels and relate it to the indoor emission measured using a structured questionnaire, spirometer and filter based low volume samplers respectively. Methodology: This cross-sectional comparative study was conducted among the women (aged > 18 years) living in rural villages of Pune district who were not diagnosed of chronic pulmonary diseases or any other respiratory diseases and using biomass fuels or LPG for cooking for a minimum period of 5 years or more. Data collection was done from April to June 2017 in dry season. Spirometer was performed using the portable, battery-operated ultrasound Easy One spirometer (Spiro bank II, NDD Medical Technologies, Zurich, Switzerland) to determine the lung function over Forced expiratory volume. The primary outcome variable was forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1). Secondary outcome was chronic obstruction pulmonary disease (post bronchodilator FEV1/ Forced Vital Capacity (FVC) < 70%) as defined by the Global Initiative for Obstructive Lung Disease. Potential confounders such as age, height, weight, smoking history, occupation, educational status were considered. Results: Preliminary results showed that the lung function of the women using Biomass fuels (FEV1/FVC = 85% ± 5.13) had comparatively reduced lung function than the LPG users (FEV1/FVC = 86.40% ± 5.32). The mean PM 2.5 mass concentration in the biomass user’s kitchen was 274.34 ± 314.90 and 85.04 ± 97.82 in the LPG user’s kitchen. Black carbon amount was found higher in the biomass users (black carbon = 46.71 ± 46.59 µg/m³) than LPG users (black carbon=11.08 ± 22.97 µg/m³). Most of the houses used separate kitchen. Almost all the houses that used the clean fuel like LPG had minimum amount of the particulate matter 2.5 which might be due to the background pollution and cross ventilation from the houses using biomass fuels. Conclusions: Therefore, there is an urgent need to adopt various strategies to improve indoor air quality. There is a lacking of current state of climate active pollutants emission from different stove designs and identify major deficiencies that need to be tackled. Moreover, the advancement in research tools, measuring technique in particular, is critical for researchers in developing countries to improve their capability to study the emissions for addressing the growing climate change and public health concerns.

Keywords: black carbon, biomass fuels, indoor air pollution, lung function, particulate matter

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Authors: Kaushalendra Kumar, Abhishek Kumar, Chandra Moni, Sanjay Kumar, P. K. Singh, Ajeet Kumar

Abstract:

Present study investigated the dietary inclusion of Moringa oleifera leaf meal (MOLM) on production efficiency, hemato-biochemical profile and economy of Vanaraja birds under tropical condition. Experiment was conducted for a period of 56 days on 300 Vanaraja birds randomly divided in to five different experimental groups including control of 60 birds each group replicated with 20 chicks in each replicate. T1, T2, T3, T4, and T5 were offered with 0, 5, 10, 15, and 20% Moringa oleifera leaf meal along with basal ration. All the standard managemental practices were followed during experimental period including vaccination schedule. Locally available Moringa oleifera leaves were harvested at mature stage and allowed to dry under shady and aerated conditions. Thereafter, dried leaves were milled to make a leaf meal and stored in the airtight nylon bags to avoid any possible contamination from foreign material and use for experiment. Production parameters were calculated based on the amount of feed consumed and weight gain every weeks. The body weight gain of T2 group was significantly (P < 0.05) higher side whereas T3 group was comparable with control. The feed conversion ratio for T2 group was found to be significantly (P < 0.05) lower than all other treatment groups, while none of the group was comparable with each other. At the end of the experiment blood samples were collected from birds for haematology study while serum biochemistry performed using spectrophotometer following statndard protocols. The haematological attributes were significantly (P > 0.05) not differed among the groups. However, serum biochemistry showed significant reduction (P < 0.05) of blood urea nitrogen, uric acid and creatinine level with higher level of MOLM diet, indicates better utilization of protein supplemented through MOLM. The total cholesterol and triglyceride level was declined significantly (P < 0.05) as compare to control group with increased level of MOLM in basal diet, decreasing trend of serum cholesterol noted. However, value of HDL for T3 group was highest and for T1 group was lowest but no significant difference (P < 0.05) found among the groups. It might be due to presence of β-sitosterol a bioactive compound present in MOLM which causes lowering of plasma concentration of LDL. During experiment total, LDL and VLDL level was found to be decreased significantly (P < 0.05) as compare to control group. It was observed that the production efficiency of birds significantly improved with 5% followed by 10% Moringa oleifera leaf meal among the treatment groups. However, the maximum profit per kg live weight was noted in 10 % level and least profit observed in 20% MOLM fed group. It was concluded that the dietary inclusion of MOLM improved overall performances without affecting metabolic status and effective in reducing cholesterol level reflects healthy chicken production for human consumption.

Keywords: hemato biochemistry, Moringa oleifera leaf meal, performance, Vanaraja birds

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Authors: Vivek Mahadev, Manoj Kumar, Neelu Mathur, Brahm Dutt Pandey

Abstract:

Perimeter guarding and protection of critical installations require prompt intrusion detection and assessment to take effective countermeasures. Currently, visual and electronic surveillance are the primary methods used for perimeter guarding. These methods can be costly and complicated, requiring careful planning according to the location and terrain. Moreover, these methods often struggle to detect stealthy and camouflaged insurgents. The object of the present work is to devise a surveillance technique using seismic sensors that overcomes the limitations of existing systems. The aim is to improve intrusion detection, assessment, and characterization by utilizing seismic sensors. Most of the similar systems have only two types of intrusion detection capability viz., human or vehicle. In our work we could even categorize further to identify types of intrusion activity such as walking, running, group walking, fence jumping, tunnel digging and vehicular movements. A virtual fence of 60 meters at GCNEP, Bahadurgarh, Haryana, India, was created by installing four underground geophones at a distance of 15 meters each. The signals received from these geophones are then processed to find unique seismic signatures called features. Various feature optimization and selection methodologies, such as LightGBM, Boruta, Random Forest, Logistics, Recursive Feature Elimination, Chi-2 and Pearson Ratio were used to identify the best features for training the machine learning models. The trained models were developed using algorithms such as supervised support vector machine (SVM) classifier, kNN, Decision Tree, Logistic Regression, Naïve Bayes, and Artificial Neural Networks. These models were then used to predict the category of events, employing weighted ensemble voting to analyze and combine their results. The models were trained with 1940 training events and results were evaluated with 831 test events. It was observed that using the weighted ensemble voting increased the efficiency of predictions. In this study we successfully developed and deployed the virtual fence using geophones. Since these sensors are passive, do not radiate any energy and are installed underground, it is impossible for intruders to locate and nullify them. Their flexibility, quick and easy installation, low costs, hidden deployment and unattended surveillance make such systems especially suitable for critical installations and remote facilities with difficult terrain. This work demonstrates the potential of utilizing seismic sensors for creating better perimeter guarding and protection systems using multiple machine learning models in weighted ensemble voting. In this study the virtual fence achieved an intruder detection efficiency of over 97%.

Keywords: geophone, seismic perimeter surveillance, machine learning, weighted ensemble method

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Authors: Ajay Kumar Pandey

Abstract:

White grub (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae), locally known as Kurmula, Pagra, Chinchu, is a major destructive pest in western Himalayan region of Uttarakhand state of India. Various crops like cereals (up land paddy, wheat, and barley), vegetables (capsicum, cabbage, tomato, cauliflower, carrot etc) and some pulse (like pigeon pea, green gram, black gram) are grown with limited availability of primary resources. Among the various limitations in successful cultivation of these crops, white grub has been proved a major constraint in for all crops grown in hilly area. The losses incurred due to white grubs are huge in case of commercial crops like sugarcane, groundnut, potato, maize and upland rice. Moreover, it has been proved major constraint in potato production in mid and higher hills of India. Adults emerge in May-June following the onset of monsoon and thereafter defoliate the apple, apricot, plum, and walnut during night while 2nd and 3rd instar grubs feed on live roots of cultivated as well as non cultivated crops from August to January. Survey was conducted in hilly (Pauri and Tehri) as well as plain area (Haridwar district) of Uttarakhand state. Collection of beetle was done from various locations from August to September of five consecutive years with the help of light trap and directly from host plant. The grub was also collected by excavating one square meter area from different locations and reared in laboratory to find out adult. During the collection, the diseased or dead cadaver were also collected and brought in the laboratory and identified the causal organisms. Total 25 species of white grub was identified out of which Holotrichia longipennis, Anomala dimidiata, Holotrichia lineatopennis, Maladera insanabilis, Brahmina sp. make complex problem in different area of Uttarakhand where they cause severe damage to various crops. During the survey, it was observed that white grubs beetles have variation in preference of host plant, even in choice of fruit and leaves of host plant. It was observed that, a white grub species, which identified as Lepidiota mansueta Burmeister., was causing severe havoc to sugarcane crop grown in major sugarcane growing belt of Haridwar district. The study also revealed that Bacillus cereus, Beauveria bassiana, Metarhizium anisopliae, Steinernema, Heterorhabditis are major disease causing agents in immature stage of white grub under rain-fed condition of Uttarakhand which caused 15.55 to 21.63 percent natural mortality of grubs with an average of 18.91 percent. However, among the microorganisms, B. cereus found to be significantly more efficient (7.03 percent mortality) then the entomopathogenic fungi (3.80 percent mortality) and nematodes (3.20 percent mortality).

Keywords: Lepidiota, profiling, Uttarakhand, whitegrub

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Authors: Purva Nemavarkar, Badri Narain Pandey, Jitendra Kumar

Abstract:

Introduction: The objective was to understand the effect of various radioprotectors on DNA damage repair enzyme and survival in gamma-irradiated wild and cdc mutants of S. pombe (fission yeast) cultured under permissive and restrictive conditions. DNA repair process, as influenced by radioprotectors, was measured by activity of DNA polymerase in the cells. The use of single cell gel electrophoresis assay (SCGE) or Comet Assay to follow gamma-irradiation induced DNA damage and effect of radioprotectors was employed. In addition, studying the effect of caffeine at different concentrations on S-phase of cell cycle was also delineated. Materials and Methods: S. pombe cells grown at permissive temperature (250C) and/or restrictive temperature (360C) were followed by gamma-radiation. Percentage survival and activity of DNA Polymerase (yPol II) were determined after post-irradiation incubation (5 h) with radioprotectors such as Caffeine, Curcumin, Disulphiram, and Ellagic acid (the dose depending on individual D 37 values). The gamma-irradiated yeast cells (with and without the radioprotectors) were spheroplasted by enzyme glusulase and subjected to electrophoresis. Radio-resistant cells were obtained by arresting cells in S-phase using transient treatment of hydroxyurea (HU) and studying the effect of caffeine at different concentrations on S-phase of cell cycle. Results: The mutants of S. pombe showed insignificant difference in survival when grown under permissive conditions. However, growth of these cells under restrictive temperature leads to arrest in specific phases of cell cycle in different cdc mutants (cdc10: G1 arrest, cdc22: early S arrest, cdc17: late S arrest, cdc25: G2 arrest). All the cdc mutants showed decrease in survival after gamma radiation when grown at permissive and restrictive temperatures. Inclusion of the radioprotectors at respective concentrations during post irradiation incubation showed increase in survival of cells. Activity of DNA polymerase enzyme (yPol II) was increased significantly in cdc mutant cells exposed to gamma-radiation. Following SCGE, a linear relationship was observed between doses of irradiation and the tail moments of comets. The radioprotection of the fission yeast by radioprotectors can be seen by the reduced tail moments of the yeast comets. Caffeine also exhibited its radio-protective ability in radio-resistant S-phase cells obtained after HU treatment. Conclusions: The radioprotectors offered notable radioprotection in cdc mutants when added during irradiation. The present study showed activation of DNA damage repair enzyme (yPol II) and an increase in survival after treatment of radioprotectors in gamma irradiated wild type and cdc mutants of S. pombe cells. Results presented here showed feasibility of applying SCGE in fission yeast to follow DNA damage and radioprotection at high doses, which are not feasible with other eukaryotes. Inclusion of caffeine at 1mM concentration to S phase cells offered protection and did not decrease the cell viability. It can be proved that at minimal concentration, caffeine offered marked radioprotection.

Keywords: radiation protection, cell cycle, fission yeast, comet assay, s-phase, DNA repair, radioprotectors, caffeine, curcumin, SCGE

Procedia PDF Downloads 110