Mineralogy and whole-rock geochemistry of the Oligocene Barail Group of rocks of Belt of Schuppen,Northeast India:Implications for tectono-provenance and paleo-weathering

The petrographic and geochemical attributes of the Oligocene Barail Group of rocks are used to decipher the likely source area(s)or tectonic domains,as this sequence of rocks was deposited in a foreland basin governed by orogenic domain,namely the North-east Arunachal Himalayas.The river system that gave rise to the Brahmaputra River(Yarlung-Tsangpo),which flowed through several tectonic domains of the Himalayan ranges,primarily from BomiChayu,Gangadese Granitoid,Higher Himalayan Leucogranites,and Namche Barwa into the proto Bengal Basin now a part of Assam Arakan Basin and Naga Schuppen Belt,was the main source of the sandstone formation of the Barail Group.The purpose of sandstone petrography,which combines modal analysis with XRF(Major Oxides)and HR-ICPMS(Trace&Rare Earth Elements)research,is to identify the type of source rock(s),their weathering pattern,and its paleo-environmental circumstances.These sandstones were formed from recycled orogen and include lithic and sublithic arenite variants with advanced texture and chemical maturity.The sediments were felsic(Th/Co:1.38,Cr/Th:9.78,La/Lu:11.58,Th/Sc:0.99,Eu/Eu*:0.66,La/Sc:3.05,La/Co:4.18),with contributions from intermediate source rocks and low-rank metamorphics deposited in an active continental margin to a continental island arc setting.Climatic conditions impacted the sediments of Barails,characterised by being warm and semi-humid to humid which resulted in moderate to a high degree of chemical weathering,as shown by weathering indices like CIA(79.14),PIA(85.47),CIW(86.9),WIP(32.50),ICV(0.71),and Th/U(6.03),which were further additionally supported by C-Value(1.01),PF(1.20),Sr/Cu(2.04),and Rb/Sr(0.97).

Characterization of saline soil for the halophytes of largest inland saline wetland of India using geospatial technology

About 23%of the surface area and 44%of the volume of all the lakes are occupied by saline lakes in the world.Importantly,agricultural diversion,illegal encroachment,pollution,and invasive species could cause these lakes to dry up completely or partially by 2025.Illegal saltpan encroachment is causing Sambhar,India’s largest saline lake,to shrink by 4.23%every decade.This study aims to characterize the soil parameters where halophytes are growing.A literature survey was conducted for halophytes and soil characteristics.The study area was divided into four zones for stratified random sampling.Soil sampling was conducted in February 2021.The soil indicators for halophyte selected were pH,electrical conductivity,moisture,salinity,organic carbon,and organic matter.The obtained results were interpolated in the geospatial platform for soil characteristic mapping.It is found that no research is conducted on halophytes of the lake.Studies on soil are also inconsistent and only six common parameters could be identified.Results show that the pH ranged 9.37-7.66,electrical conductivity was 16.1-0.38,moisture 23.37%-1.2%,organic carbon 3.29%-0.15%,organic matter 5.6%-0.2%,and salinity 8.86%-0.72%.Though these results show improved condition as compared to last few years,in long term,the lake is desiccating.During the UN Decade of Ecosystem Restoration(2021-2030),if these causes are not addressed,the ecosystem may completely dry up.

Functional Role of miRNAs: Key Players in Soybean Improvement

Soybean(Glycine max(L.)Merr)is an agro-economic crop growing across the world to cater nutrition for both human and animal feed due to the high oil and protein content in its edible seeds.The genes and QTLs associated with important agronomic traits in this crop have already been identified and validated for soybean cyst nematode(SCN),Phytophthora root and stem rot,Pythium root rot and aphid resistance,seed quality,nutrient values,and also employed for genetic improvement in soybean.In the last decade,micro RNAs(miRNAs)have been considered the effector molecules,so the detection and characterization of novel miRNAs in soybean have been taken up by several workers.The advancement in the strategy of sequencing and tools of bioinformatics during last decade has contributed to the discovery of many soybean miRNAs,thus miRNA can be used as a tool in molecular breeding studies,and this has opened new vistas for miRNA mediated genetic improvement of soybean to augment crop productivity as well as nutritional quality.This review addresses the current state of understanding of miRNAmediated stress responses,nutrient acquisition,plant development and crop production processes in soybean.

Investigation of Surface Tryptophan of Protein by Selective Excitation at 305 nm

Intrinsic fluorescence of tryptophan is a powerful tool that is used to investigate structure, dynamics, and folding-unfolding of proteins. Here, we have signified the importance of selective monitoring of “surface” tryptophans from the “buried” tryptophans in a protein via selective excitation of surface tryptophan using light of 305 nm wavelength. We have also enlightened the effect of pH and temperature on the conformation of protein by selective excitation of surface tryptophan of protein using 305 nm light. The result concludes that this novel approach could be used to investigate surface tryptophan of protein selectively at diverse conditions.

Assessment of land use change and its effect on soil carbon stock using multitemporal satellite data in semiarid region of Rajasthan, India

Background:Land use change plays a vital role in global carbon dynamics.Understanding land use change impact on soil carbon stock is crucial for implementing land use management to increase carbon stock and reducing carbon emission.Therefore,the objective of our study was to determine land use change and to assess its effect on soil carbon stock in semi-arid part of Rajasthan,India.Landsat temporal satellite data of Pushkar valley region of Rajasthan acquired on 1993,2003,and 2014 were analyzed to assess land use change.Internal trading of land use was depicted throughmatrices.Soil organic carbon(SOC)stock was calculated for soil to a depth of 30 cm in each land use type in 2014 using field data collection.The SOC stock for previous years was estimated using stock change factor.The effect of land use change on SOC stock was determined by calculating change in SOC stock(t/ha)by deducting the base-year SOC stock from the final year stock of a particular land use conversion.Results:The total area under agricultural lands was increased by 32.14%while that under forest was decreased by 23.14%during the time period of 1993–2014.Overall land use change shows that in both the periods(1993–2003 and 2003–2014),7%of forest area was converted to agricultural land and about 15%changes occurred among agricultural land.In 1993–2003,changes among agricultural land led to maximum loss of soil carbon,i.e.,4.88 Mt C and during 2003–2014,conversion of forest to agricultural land led to loss in 3.16 Mt C.Conclusion:There was a continuous decrease in forest area and increase in cultivated area in each time period.Land use change led to alteration in carbon equity in soil due to change or loss in vegetation.Overall,we can conclude that the internal trading of land use area during the 10-year period(1993–2003)led to net loss of SOC stock by 8.29 Mt C.Similarly,land use change during 11-year period(2003–2014)caused net loss of SOC by 2.76 Mt C.Efforts should be made to implement proper land use management practices to enhance the SOC content.

Wormhole Attack Behaviour in Monte-Carlo Localization for Mobile Sensor Networks

Localization is the basic requirement for network management in Wireless Sensor Networks as it helps nodes find their absolute position coordinates and in gathering information relevant to their locations. A localization algorithm has to be dynamic, scalable and should not impose high computation or communication overhead. The localization systems are also prone to attacks. We target a localization scheme for mobile sensor networks called Monte-Carlo Localization, which study its behavior under the most dangerous attack on localization called Wormhole Attack, also known as Collusion Attack and propose a modified algorithm that can help the localization system retain its accuracy level even in the presence of attacks. Our algorithm has communication cost almost equal to that of original localization algorithm (in this case MCL) in the absence of attacks.

Population and development:impacts on environmental performance

Population growth and development patterns have a significant impact on the environmental performance.The issue of concern is whether population growth or the consumption/production patterns are responsible for environmental deterioration.This paper is an attempt to capture the impact of technological development,affluence,and population on environmental performance index,while previous stuthes had captured the impact of these three factors on environment only through CO_2emissions.The analysis reveals that technological development and population size have a negative impact on environmental performance,whereas measures to improve affluence have a positive impact.Technological development has increased the production of energy efficient products but at the same time consumption of these products has increased manifold leading to environmental deterioration.Demographic attributes need specific attention to improve environmental performance.This paper concludes on some policy reflections on slowing the population growth as well as persuades individuals and economies to relook to their consumption and production patterns and channelize their efforts to protect the environment.

Improved Attribute Chain Sampling Plan for Darna Distribution

Recently,the Darna distribution has been introduced as a new lifetime distribution.The two-parameter Darna distribution represents is a mixture of two well-known gamma and exponential distributions.A manufacturer or an engineer of products conducts life testing to examine whether the quality level of products meets the customer’s requirements,such as reliability or the minimum lifetime.In this article,an attribute modified chain sampling inspection plan based on the time truncated life test is proposed for items whose lifetime follows the Darna distribution.The plan parameters,including the sample size,the acceptance number,and the past lot result of the proposed sampling plan,are determined with the help of the two-point approach considering the acceptable quality level(AQL)and the limiting quality level(LQL).The plan parameters and the corresponding operating characteristic functions of a new plan are provided in tabular form for various Darna distribution parameters.Also,a few illustrated examples are presented for various distribution parameters.The usefulness of the proposed attribute modified chain sampling plan is investigated using two real failure time datasets.The results indicate that the proposed sampling plan can reduce the sample size when the termination ratio increases for fixed values of the producer’s risk and acceptance number.Hence,the proposed attribute modified chain sampling inspection plan is recommended to practitioners in the field.

Transmission in mobile cloudlet systems with intermittent connectivity in emergency areas

The recent development of Mobile Cloud Computing has helped in solving numerous real-life problems. The rate of growth of mobile devices has been increasing at a very high pace. Mobile devices have made substantial contributions in managing emergency situations. Owing to the mobility of mobile devices, cloudlets, and their intermittent connectivity, it may become very difficult to handle emergency situations. To address this problem, a transmission model is proposed for mobile cloudlet systems, where a mobile device is used to designate a cloudlet by using the Borda scores Method and the mobile device can offload a part of its application to this cloudlet. The simulation results demonstrated that the proposed work makes a significant comtribution toward alleviating the problems associated with emergency situations.

Multi-polarized Radarsat-2 satellite sensor in assessing forest vigor from above ground biomass

Accurate estimates of forest biomass are increasingly important in relation to sequestration of carbon by forest trees. Satellite remote sensing is a useful tool for biomass estimation and monitoring of forest ecological processes. Microwave synthetic aperture radar （SAR） can increase the accuracy of estimations of forest biomass in comparison to optical remote sensing, due to the unique capacities of SAR, including high penetrability, volumetric scattering, interaction with surface roughness, and dielectric property. We studied the potential of multi-polarized C-band Radarsat-2, a SAR technology, with HH, HV and VV polarization for estimating biomass of moist tropical Indian forest. Backscatter values are correlated with fieldbased biomass values and axe regressed to generate models for estimating biomass. HH polarization provided maximum information regarding tree biomass. A coefficient of determination of 0.49 was calculated for HH polarized C-band image with in situ measurements. An exponential model was proved to be best suited for estimating forest biomass. Correlation of 0.62 and RMSE of 24.6 t ha-1 were calculated for the relationship between estimated and predicted biomass values for the best fit model. The aver- age absolute accuracy of the model was 61%, while Willmott＇s index of agreement was 0.87. Results suggest that most of the biomass of the area ranged within 70 t ha-1 a probably due to the saturation of C-band around 60-70 t ha-1 for tropical forests.

Corrigendum to'Cancer chemotherapy and beyond:Current status,drug candidates,associated risks and progress in targeted therapeutics'[Genes&Diseases 10(2023)1367-1401]

In the published article,there was an error in the affiliation information about the first author Uttpal Anand[a].Instead of"Department of Life Sciences,Ben-Gurion University of the Negev,Beer-Sheva 84105,Israel",it should be"CytoGene Research&Development LLP,K-51,UPSIDA Industrial Area,Kursi Road(Lucknow),Dist.Barabanki,225001,Uttar Pradesh,India".The authors would like to apologize for any inconvenience caused and state that this does not change the scientific conclusions of thearticle inanyway.

Structural,optical and dielectric investigations on RECr_(0.85)Mn_(0.15)O_(3)(RE=Ho,Gd and Pr) nanoparticles

We hereby report the room-temperature structural and optical characterization of RECr_(0.85)Mn_(0.15)O_(3)(RECMO,RE=Ho,Gd and Pr) compounds synthesized by the auto-combustion sol-gel route.Their low temperature dielectric properties are also presented.The RECMO compounds crystallize in an orthorhombic Pbnm symmetry with an average grain size range of 51-80 nm.Structural analysis reveals an increase in the structural distortion compared to that of the undoped bulk compounds.Optical measurements exhibit a significant reduction in bandgap values for RECMO nanoparticles when compared with their undoped bulk compounds.Further,from the absorbance measurements various optical parameters such as skin depth,extinction coefficient,refractive index and optical conductivity were also calculated.The dielectric analysis confirms the lower values of the dielectric permittivity and dielectric loss than those of their corresponding bulk compounds.AC conductivity versus frequency and temperature data are fitted according to the Jonscher's power law and Arrhenius law,respectively.The small polaron hopping is responsible for the electric conduction in these compounds.The tunability of the optical and dielectric properties as a result of substitution and particle size reduction makes these materials useful for various potential applications in photocatalysis,optoelectronics and low permittivity dielectrics.

Critical Review on Balanites aegyptiaca Delile:Phytoconstituents,Pharmacological Properties and Nanointerventions

Balanites aegyptiaca Delile(BA)is an enduring xerophytic woody and spinous flowering tree and is commonly known as desert date or Ingudi(Hingot).It belongs to the family Zygophyllaceae,which is specific to be drought areas of Nigeria,Africa,South Asia and India(Rajasthan).In Ayurveda,this traditional medicinal plant is reported for the management of jaundice,syphilis,yellow fever,metabolic disorders,liver,and spleen problems.The main aim of the review is to compile its medicinal uses and further advancements to showcase the promises inherited in various parts of the plant for the benefit of mankind.As per the literature survey,various researchers have focused on the detailed investigation of BA including the phytopharmacological evidence,chemical constituents,nano-formulations,commercialized products,and clinical trials.Several remarkable scaffolds and isolated compounds like diosgenin,yamogenin,balanitin1/2,balanitin 3,bal4/5,bal6/7,rutin-3-glycosides,3,7-diglycosides,(3,12,14,16)–(12-hydroxycholest-5-ene-3,16-diyl-bis)-D-glucopyranoside and balanitoside have been identified.Additionally,this traditional plant has been scientifically proven by in vitro and in vivo.Based on the complete review of this plant,most of the compounds have been isolated from the fruit and kernel part.Additionally,based on the literature,a histogram was developed for pharmacological activity in which antidiabetic study was found to be more compared to other pharmacological activity.As a spinous desert dates,this plant needs to be explored more to bring out newer phytochemicals in the management of various diseases.

Microbial Degradation of Organophosphate Pesticides： A Review

Pesticides have become an inevitable part of the modern environment as they are widely used in agriculture,household,and public health sectors and,hence,are extensively distributed throughout most ecosystems.Currently,organophosphate pesticides are the most commercially favored group of pesticides,with large application areas all over the world.Depending on their fate,these organophosphorus compounds may become bioavailable for microbial degradation.Environmental microbes,such as Aspergillus,Pseudomonas,Chlorella,and Arthrobacter,are capable of coupling a variety of physical and biochemical mechanisms for the degradation of organophosphate pesticides,including adsorption,hydrolysis of P–O alkyl and aryl bonds,photodegradation,and enzymatic mineralization.Enzymes,such as esterase,diisopropyl fluorophosphatase,phosphotriesterase,somanase,parathion hydrolase,and paraoxonase,have been isolated from microbes to study and understand the catabolic pathways involved in the biotransformation of these xenobiotic compounds.This review highlights various aspects of biodegradation of organophosphate pesticides along with biological and molecular characterization of some organophosphate pesticide-degrading bacteria.

Natural compounds in the regulation of proteostatic pathways: An invincible artillery against stress, ageing, and diseases

Cells have different sets of molecules for performing an array of physiological functions.Nucleic acids have stored and carried the information throughout evolution,whereas proteins have been attributed to performing most of the cellular functions.To perform these functions,proteins need to have a unique conformation and a definite lifespan.These attributes are achieved by a highly coordinated protein quality control(PQC)system comprising chaperones to fold the proteins in a proper threedimensional structure,ubiquitin-proteasome system for selective degradation of proteins,and autophagy for bulk clearance of cell debris.Many kinds of stresses and perturbations may lead to the weakening of these protective cellular machinery,leading to the unfolding and aggregation of cellular proteins and the occurrence of numerous pathological conditions.However,modulating the expression and functional efficiency of molecular chaperones,E3 ubiquitin ligases,and autophagic proteins may diminish cellular proteotoxic load and mitigate various pathological effects.Natural medicine and small molecule-based therapies have been well-documented for their effectiveness in modulating these pathways and reestablishing the lost proteostasis inside the cells to combat disease conditions.The present article summarizes various similar reports and highlights the importance of the molecules obtained from natural sources in disease therapeutics.

Global Dynamics of a Multi-group SEIR Epidemic Model with Infection Age

Consider the heterogeneity(e.g.,heterogeneous social behaviour,heterogeneity due to different geography,contrasting contact patterns and different numbers of sexual partners etc.)of host population,in this paper,the authors propose an infection age multigroup SEIR epidemic model.The model system also incorporates the feedback variables,where the infectivity of infected individuals may depend on the infection age.In the direction of mathematical analysis of model,the basic reproduction number R_0 has been computed.The global stability of disease-free equilibrium and endemic equilibrium have been established in the term of R_(0).More precisely,for R_(0)≤1,the disease-free equilibrium is globally asymptotically stable and for R_(0)>1,they establish global stability of endemic equilibrium using some graph theoretic techniques to Lyapunov function method.By considering a numerical example,they investigate the effects of infection age and feedback on the prevalence of the disease.Their result shows that feedback parameters have different and even opposite effects on different groups.However,by choosing an appropriate value of feedback parameters,the disease could be eradicated or maintained at endemic level.Besides,the infection age of infected individuals may also change the behaviour of the disease,global stable to damped oscillations or damped oscillations to global stable.

Latitudinal fluctuation in global concentration of CO2 and CH4 from shortwave infrared spectral observation by GOSAT during COVID-19

Various countries have rapidly implemented strict actions to slow the blowout of COVID-19.Many events were dis-regarded,and anthropogenic activities such as industrial and transport systems were at a stoppage.Many countries were on lockdown,including the largest emitters of carbon dioxide.Due to these lockdowns,anthropogenic activities have been reduced and reported that air quality improves at a regional scale in many countries,including India.Therefore,the current study using Greenhouse Gases Observing Satellite(GOSAT/IBUKI)datasets to monitor the fluctuation of the average global concentration of dry mole fractions of atmospheric Methane(CH_(4))and Carbon Dioxide(CO_(2))during these pandemic lockdowns from January to June 2020.Outputs emphasize no significant reduction in the average concentration of dry mole fractions of atmospheric CH_(4) over the globe,but a minor reduction was observed in global CO_(2) engagement.The average concentration of both gases compares at each ten-degree latitude.The study reveals that,against the regional breakdowns,these short time lockdowns are not enough to control the concentration of these greenhouse gases at a larger scale,such as 10°latitude and globally,except for a minor reduction in CO_(2) concentration.

Hematological, antioxidant and protective performance of Usnea longissima on chemical induced hepatotoxicity in experimental animals

Objective: To investigated the hematological, antioxidant and protective performance of Usnea longissima (U. longissima) on CCl4 induced hepatotoxicity in experimental animals. Methods: Hepatotoxicity was induced by CCl4 (1 mL/kg body weigt 1:1 CCl4 i.p.), ethanolic U. longissima extracts at a doses (200 and 400 mg/kg body weigt) were administered to and compared with Silymarin (25 mg/kg body weigt) and hematological, antioxidant and enzymatic, non-enzymatic parameters were assessed through the liver functions test. All the observation was also supplemented with histopathological examination of liver sections. Results: Phytochemical investigation showed that ethanolic extract contains poly phenolic compounds tannins, flavonoids, alkaloids and saponins and acute toxicity study shows that ethanolic extract was safe up to 2000 mg/kg body weight. The toxicant induced a rise in the plasma enzyme levels of ALT, AST, ALP and total bilirubin level. This increased level was significantly decreased by the extract at 400 mg/kg body weight than 200 mg/kg body weight. The animals were prevented (partly or fully) which was showed in the histopathological changes using ethonolic U. longissima extract. Conclusions: The outcome of this study reveals that, there is a powerful antioxidant and hepatoprotective activity of U. longissima. It is believed that the present constituents are responsible for courting the hepatic disease and alternative components have the power to act as free radical scavenging properties.

Solid state anaerobic digestion of water poor feedstock for methane yield:an overview of process characteristics and challenges

Solid state anaerobic digestion(SSAD)of water poor feedstock may be a promising technology for energy recovery.Feedstocks having high solid concentration like lignocellulosic biomass,crop residues,forestry waste and organic fraction of municipal waste may be the appropriate feedstock for its biochemical conversion into energy carries like biomethane through SSAD.Compared to liquid state anaerobic digestion(LSAD),SSAD can handle higher organic loading rates(OLR),requires less water and smaller reactor volume and may have lower energy demand for heating or stirring and higher volumetric methane productivity.Besides these,pathogen inactivation may also be achieved in SSAD of biodegradable waste.Around 60%of recently built AD systems have adopted SSAD technology.However,the process stability of an SSAD system may have several constraints like limited mass transfer,process inhibitors and selection of digester type and should be addressed prior to the implementation of SSAD technology.In this article,a comprehensive overview of the key aspects influencing the performance of SSAD is discussed along with the need for mathematical modelling approaches.Further to this,reactor configuration for SSAD and digestate management requirement and practice for solid-state condition are reviewed for a better insight of SSAD technology.

Cancer chemotherapy and beyond:Current status,drug candidates,associated risks and progress in targeted therapeutics

Cancer is an abnormal state of cells where they undergo uncontrolled proliferation and produce aggressive malignancies that causes millions of deaths every year.With the new understanding of the molecular mechanism(s)of disease progression,our knowledge about the disease is snowballing,leading to the evolution of many new therapeutic regimes and their successive trials.In the past few decades,various combinations of therapies have been pro-posed and are presently employed in the treatment of diverse cancers.Targeted drug therapy,immunotherapy,and personalized medicines are now largely being employed,which were not common a few years back.The field of cancer discoveries and therapeutics are evolving fast as cancer type-specific biomarkers are progressively being identified and several types of cancers are nowadays undergoing systematic therapies,extending patients’disease-free survival thereafter.Although growing evidence shows that a systematic and targeted approach could be the future of cancer medicine,chemotherapy remains a largely opted therapeutic option despite its known side effects on the patient’s physical and psychological health.Chemother-apeutic agents/pharmaceuticals served a great purpose over the past few decades and have remained the frontline choice for advanced-stage malignancies where surgery and/or radiation therapy cannot be prescribed due to specific reasons.The present report succinctly reviews the existing and contemporary advancements in chemotherapy and assesses the status of the enrolled drugs/pharmaceuticals;it also comprehensively discusses the emerging role of specific/targeted therapeutic strategies that are presently being employed to achieve better clinical success/survival rate in cancer patients.