Prehistoric human migration between Sundaland and South Asia was driven by sea-level rise.

Rapid sea-level rise between the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) and the mid-Holocene transformed the Southeast Asian coastal landscape, but the impact on human demography remains unclear. Here, we create a paleogeographic map, focusing on sea-level changes during the period spanning the LGM to the present-day and infer the human population history in Southeast and South Asia using 763 high-coverage whole-genome sequencing datasets from 59 ethnic groups. We show that sea-level rise, in particular meltwater pulses 1 A (MWP1A, ~14,500-14,000 years ago) and 1B (MWP1B, ~11,500-11,000 years ago), reduced land area by over 50% since the LGM, resulting in segregation of local human populations. Following periods of rapid sea-level rises, population pressure drove the migration of Malaysian Negritos into South Asia. Integrated paleogeographic and population genomic analysis demonstrates the earliest documented instance of forced human migration driven by sea-level rise.

Impact of a Narrow Coastal Bay of Bengal Sea Surface Temperature Front on an Indian Summer Monsoon Simulation.

A dry bias in climatological Central Indian rainfall plagues Indian summer monsoon (ISM) simulations in multiple generations of climate models. Here, using observations and regional climate modeling, we focus on a warm coastal Bay of Bengal sea surface temperature (SST) front and its impact on Central Indian rainfall. The SST front, featuring sharp gradients as large as 0.5 °C/100 km, is colocated with a mixed layer depth (MLD) front, in a region where salinity variations are known to control MLD. Regional climate simulations coupling a regional atmospheric model with an ocean mixed layer model are performed. A simulation with observed MLD climatology reproduces SST, rainfall, and atmospheric circulation associated with ISM reasonably well; it also eliminates the dry bias over Central India significantly. Perturbing MLD structure in the simulations, we isolate the SST front's impact on the simulated ISM climate state. This experiment offers insights into ISM climatological biases in the coupled NCEP Climate Forecast System version-2. We suggest that the warm SST front is essential to Central Indian rainfall as it helps to sustain deep and intense convection in its vicinity, which may be a source for the vortex cores seeding the monsoon low-pressure systems.

A review on bio-synthesized zinc oxide nanoparticles using plant extracts as reductants and stabilizing agents.

In the age of technology, nanoparticles have proven to be one of the essential needs for development. These nanoparticles have the potential to be used for a wide variety of applications, thereby, development in improving the quality of nanoparticles, to make them more application specific, is still under research. In this regard, an important point to note is that the procedures employed in synthesizing nanoparticles require to be cost-effective and less-steps involved and have an additional advantage, i.e. they should be eco-friendly. This means that the synthesis procedure needs avoiding the use of harmful chemicals, and negligible generation of any noxious by-products. The green synthesis (biosynthesis) method employs simple procedures, easily available raw materials and ambiance for the synthesis process, where the precursors used are safe, with minute possibility for the production of harmful by-products. Considering these advantages, the current review includes a brief description on the various chemical and physical synthesis method of zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles with emphasis on the biosynthesis of ZnO nanoparticles using plant extracts (and briefly microbes), the phytochemicals present in the plant extracts, the plausible mechanisms involved in the formation of ZnO nanoparticles and applications of the as-synthesized ZnO nanoparticles as photocatalysts and microbial inhibitors.

Sequence-dependent structural dynamics of primate adenosine-to-inosine editing substrates.

Humans have the highest level of adenosine-to-inosine (A-to-I) editing amongst primates, yet the reasons for this difference remain unclear. Sequence analysis of the Alu Sg elements (A-to-I RNA substrates) corresponding to the Nup50 gene in human, chimp, and rhesus reveals subtle sequence variations surrounding the edit sites. We have developed three constructs that represent human (HuAp5), chimp (ChAp5), and rhesus (RhAp5) Nup50 Alu Sg A-to-I editing substrates. Here, 2-aminopurine (2-Ap) was substituted for edited adenosine (A5) so as to monitor the fluorescence intensity with respect to temperature. UV and steady-state fluorescence (SSF) T(M) plots indicate that local and global unfolding are coincident, with the human construct displaying a T(M) of approximately 70°C, compared to 60°C for chimp and 54°C for rhesus. However, time-resolved fluorescence (TRF) resolves three different fluorescence lifetimes that we assign to folded, intermediate(s), and unfolded states. The TRF data fit well to a two-intermediate model, whereby both intermediates (M, J) are in equilibrium with each other, and the folded/unfolded states. Our model suggests that, at 37°C, human state J and the folded state will be the most heavily populated in comparison to the other primate constructs. In order for adenosine deaminase acting on RNA (ADAR) to efficiently dock, a stable duplex must be present that corresponds to the human construct, globally. Next, the enzyme must "flip out" the base of interest to facilitate the A-to-I conversion; a nucleotide in an intermediate-like position would enhance this conformational change. Our experiments demonstrate that subtle variations in RNA sequence might contribute to the high A-to-I editing levels found in humans.

2-(2'-Pyridyl)benzimidazole as a fluorescent probe of hydration of nafion membranes.

2,2'-(Pyridyl)benzimidazole is used as a probe to explore proton transfer through nafion membranes. The probe marks the availability of water in native as well as cation-exchanged membrane. Using steady state and time-resolved fluorescence studies, it has been shown that the rotation of the pyridyl and benzimidazole rings with respect to each other, which is ultrafast in higher water contents, is hindered as the water content in the membranes is decreased. In cation-exchanged membranes, it is observed that the formation of the ESPT (excited state proton transfer) state is reduced to a large extent. Thus, it may be inferred that the proton transport is observed to be hindered even in molecular dimensions of one water molecule thereby bolstering the contention that it may not be essential for water channels to break for proton conductivity to decrease.