Clinical profile of children with influenza like illness during pre-monsoon at coastal Karaikal, Puducherry, India.

Influenza infections in developing countries are under reported and WHO estimates that nearly 99% of influenza deaths worldwide occur in children under-five years of age in Asian and African countries. Consequently, this study aims to analyze the use of clinical profile and easily available laboratory parameters to aid identification of the possible viral etiology in the setting of pre-monsoon ILI. A cross-sectional study was carried out for three months among children with ILI attending fever clinic of a tertiary care hospital in Karaikal, South India. In the study population the prevalence of ILI was highest in the age group four to five years followed by school aged children. Adolescents were affected the least. Influenza B was most common virus causing ILI in this region, followed by covid-19 infection. Laboratory parameters depicted a significantly high ESR in COVID-19 infected ILI children. They also exhibited leucopenia and normal platelet counts. Clinical symptoms and laboratory parameters which are easily available and cheaper can be used in resource poor settings of healthcare to identify possible influenza and COVID-19 infected children amongst cases presenting with ILI.

Angiogenesis Assay for Live and Fixed Zebrafish Embryos/Larvae.

Angiogenesis is the process of new blood vessel formation from preexisting vasculature. It is an integral component in normal embryonic development and tissue repair. Dysregulation of angiogenesis might lead to tissue ischemia (resulting from reduced blood vessel formation) or major diseases such as cancer (abnormal vascular growth). This makes angiogenesis an excellent area of research for cancer therapeutics, and various animal models including zebrafish are used to study blood vessel development. As most of the techniques used to study angiogenesis are complex and cumbersome, in this chapter, we provide two simple assays to study angiogenesis with live and fixed zebrafish embryos/larvae.

Finite-time stability analysis and control of stochastic SIR epidemic model: A study of COVID-19.

Finite-time stability analysis is a powerful tool for understanding the long-term behavior of epidemiological models and has been widely used to study the spread of infectious diseases such as COVID-19. In this paper, we present a finite-time stability analysis of a stochastic susceptible-infected-recovered (SIR) epidemic compartmental model with switching signals. The model includes a linear parameter variation (LPV) and switching system that represents the impact of external factors, such as changes in public health policies or seasonal variations, on the transmission rate of the disease. We use the Lyapunov stability theory to examine the long-term behavior of the model and determine conditions under which the disease is likely to die out or persist in the population. By taking advantage of the average dwell time method and Lyapunov functional (LF) method, and using novel inequality techniques the finite-time stability (FTS) criterion in linear matrix inequalities (LMIs) is developed. The finite-time stability of the resultant closed-loop system, with interval and linear parameter variation (LPV), is then guaranteed by state feedback controllers. By analyzing the modified SIR model with these interventions, we are able to examine the efficiency of different control measures and determine the most appropriate response to the COVID-19 pandemic and demonstrate the efficacy of the suggested strategy through simulation results.

A Simple Blood Vessel Imaging Protocol for Live Zebrafish Larva.

Zebrafish larva is a simple model system to study blood vessel development because of its excellent optical properties. Current methods to study blood vessels in zebrafish involve utilizing either blood vessel-specific transgenic lines or specialized techniques such as microangiography and video capillaroscopy. In this study, we have developed a simple protocol using ImageJ to observe the blood vessels of live zebrafish larva at different developmental stages, namely 1- to 4-day postfertilization (dpf). To validate this protocol, we treated 1 dpf zebrafish embryos with 100 µM quercetin, and analyzed the impaired development of subintestinal vein in the quercetin-treated 3 dpf larvae.

A diagnostic to measure neutral-atom density in fusion-research plasmas.

A femtosecond two-photon-absorption laser-induced-fluorescence (TALIF) diagnostic was designed, installed, and operated on the Princeton-Field-Reversed Configuration-2 device to provide non-invasive measurements of the time and spatially resolved neutral-atom densities in its plasmas. Calibration of the Ho density was accomplished by comparison with Kr TALIF. Measurements on plasmas formed of either H2 or Kr fill gases allowed examination of nominally long and short ionization mean-free-path regimes. With multi-kW plasma heating and H2 fill gas, a spatially uniform Ho density of order 1017 m-3 was measured with better than ±2 mm and 10 µs resolution. Under similar plasma conditions but with Kr fill gas, a 3-fold decrease in the in-plasma Kr density was observed.

Evaluation of a collisional radiative model for electron temperature determination in hydrogen plasma.

A collisional-radiative (CR) model that extracts the electron temperature, Te, of hydrogen plasmas from Balmer-line-ratio measurements is examined for the plasma electron density, ne, and Te ranges of 1010-1015 cm-3 and 5-500 eV, respectively. The CR code, developed and implemented in Python, has a forward component that computes the densities of excited states up to n = 15 as functions of Te, ne, and the molecular-to-atomic neutral ratio r(H2/H). The backward component provides ne and r(H2/H) as functions of the Balmer ratios to predict the Te. The model assumes Maxwellian electrons. The density profiles of the electrons and of the molecular and atomic hydrogen neutrals are shown to be of great importance, as is the accuracy of the line-ratio measurement method.

Structure-property relationships in critically connected (GeTe4)100-x(As2Se3)x glasses.

Thermal, optical, mechanical and structural studies were carried out on glasses in the pseudo-binary joint GeTe4-As2Se3 prepared by a melt quenching method. (GeTe4)100-x(As2Se3)x glasses in the entire composition range of 0 ≤ x ≤ 100 have an average coordination number (Zav) = 2.4, where the glass forming ability is found to be maximum. In general, for Zav ≤ 2.4, the glass transition is found to be dominated by the network connectivity and the chemical composition effects are minimal. Although Zav of Ge20Te80 (GeTe4) and As2Se3 (As40Se60) is 2.4, GeTe4 is a poor glass former and As2Se3 is an excellent glass former. The glass-forming ability is expected to increase with the addition of As2Se3. Surprisingly, the glass forming ability is found to decrease with the initial addition of As2Se3 and then shows an increasing trend. Glass transition (Tg) shows a large variation from 175 °C for x = 0 to 108 °C for x = 30. Based on the variation in the properties, the tie-line can be divided into three regions: region I (0 ≤ x ≤ 20) where Tg shows a decreasing trend, region II (25 ≤ x ≤ 55) where Tg remains almost constant and region III (60 ≤ x ≤ 100) where Tg shows an increasing trend. Hardness measurement also shows a similar trend in the three regions. Thermal stability shows a continuous increase with the increase of As2Se3. The fragility index varies between 15 and 30 for all these glasses except for x = 0 (GeTe4) indicating the strong nature of the melts containing As2Se3. Raman studies indicate that the glassy network is dominated mainly by GeTe(4/2) in region I and in region III the network is dominated by AsSe(3/2) based structures. Glasses in region II are found to be dominated by AsTe3/2 based structures. This study brings out the dominance of chemical composition effects over the network connectivity in a critically coordinated network. These glasses are also found to transmit IR light up to 18 µm and offer a wide composition range to prepare bulk glasses to be useful for infrared applications.

Sulfur-doped graphitic carbon nitride incorporated bismuth oxychloride/Cobalt based type-II heterojunction as a highly stable material for photoelectrochemical water splitting.

Cobalt incorporated sulfur-doped graphitic carbon nitride with bismuth oxychloride (Co/S-gC3N4/BiOCl) heterojunction is prepared by an ultrasonically assisted hydrothermal treatment. The heterojunction materials have employed in photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting. The PEC activity and stability of the materials are promoted by constructing an interface between the visible light active semiconductor photocatalyst and cocatalysts. The photocurrent density of Co-9% S-gC3N4/BiOCl has attained 393.0 µA cm-2 at 1.23 V vs. RHE, which is 7-fold larger than BiOCl and ~3-fold higher than 9% S-gC3N4/BiOCl. The enhanced PEC activity can be attributed to the improved electron-hole charge separation and the boosted charge transfer is confirmed by photoluminescence (PL) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) analysis. The fabricated Co/S-gC3N4/BiOCl nanohybrid material has exhibited high stability of up to 10,800 s (3 h) at 1.23 V vs. RHE during PEC water splitting reaction and the obtained photo-conversion efficiency is 3.7-fold greater than S-gC3N4/BiOCl and 17-fold higher than BiOCl. The FESEM and HRTEM images have revealed the formation of heterojunction interface between S-gC3N4 and BiOCl and the elemental mapping has confirmed the presence of cobalt over S-gC3N4/BiOCl. The heterojunction interface has facilitated the photo-excited charge separation and transport across the electrode/electrolyte interface and also the flat-band potential, which is confirmed by Mott-Schottky analysis.

CoS2 engulfed ultra-thin S-doped g-C3N4 and its enhanced electrochemical performance in hybrid asymmetric supercapacitor.

This work demonstrates a high-performance hybrid asymmetric supercapacitor (HASC) workable in very high current density of 30 A g-1 with in-situ pyrolytic processed sulfur-doped graphitic carbon nitride/cobalt disulfide (S-gC3N4/CoS2) materials and bio-derived carbon configuration and achievement of high electrochemical stability of 89% over 100,000 cycles with the coulombic efficiency of 99.6%. In the electrochemical studies, the S-gC3N4/CoS2-II electrode showed a high specific capacity of 180 C g-1 at 1 A g-1 current density in the half-cell configuration. The HASC cell was fabricated using S-gC3N4/CoS2-II material and orange peel derived activated carbon as a positive and negative electrode with a maximum operating cell potential of 1.6 V, respectively. The fabricated HASC delivered a high energy density of 26.7 Wh kg-1 and power density of 19.8 kW kg-1 in aqueous electrolyte. The prominent properties in specific capacity and cycling stability could be attributed to the CoS2 nanoparticles engulfed into the S-gC3N4 framework which provides short transport distance of the ions, strong interfacial interaction, and improving structural stability of the S-gC3N4/CoS2-II materials.

Nickel sulfide-incorporated sulfur-doped graphitic carbon nitride nanohybrid interface for non-enzymatic electrochemical sensing of glucose.

A nickel sulfide-incorporated sulfur-doped graphitic carbon nitride (NiS/S-g-C3N4) nanohybrid was utilized as an interface material for the non-enzymatic sensing of glucose in an alkaline medium (0.1 M NaOH). The precursors used in the preparation of NiS/S-g-C3N4 hybrid were thiourea and nickel nitrate hexahydrate as the sulfur and nickel sources, respectively. The HRTEM results reveal that NiS nanoparticles incorporated on the S-g-C3N4 nanosheet surface could enhance the electrocatalytic activity and electrical conductivity. The prepared NiS/S-g-C3N4 crystalline nature, surface functionalities, graphitic nature, thermal stability and surface composition were investigated using XRD, FT-IR, Raman spectroscopy, TGA and XPS analyses. The NiS/S-g-C3N4 modified electrode was used for the non-enzymatic sensing of glucose at an applied potential of 0.55 V vs. Ag/AgCl with a detection limit of 1.5 µM (S/N = 3), sensitivity of 80 µA mM-1 cm-2 and the response time of the fabricated sensor was close to 5 s. Different inorganic ions and organic substances did not interfere during glucose sensing. The NiS/S-g-C3N4 nanohybrid material could be extended for a real sample analysis and open the way for diverse opportunities in the electrochemical sensing of glucose.

Ultrasonically assisted synthesis of barium stannate incorporated graphitic carbon nitride nanocomposite and its analytical performance in electrochemical sensing of 4-nitrophenol.

We describe the ultrasonic assisted preparation of barium stannate-graphitic carbon nitride nanocomposite (BSO-gCN) by a simple method and its application in electrochemical detection of 4-nitrophenol via electro-oxidation. A bath type ultrasonic cleaner with ultrasonic power and ultrasonic frequency of 100 W and 50 Hz, respectively, was used for the synthesis of BSO-gCN nanocomposite material. The prepared BSO-gCN nanocomposite was characterized by employing several spectroscopic and microscopic techniques such as X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, fourier transform infra-red, field emission scanning electron microscopy, and high resolution transmission electron microscopy, to unravel the structural and electronic features of the prepared nanocomposite. The BSO-gCN was drop-casted on a pre-treated glassy carbon electrode (GCE), and their sensor electrode was utilized for electrochemical sensing of 4-nitrophenol (4-NP). The BSO-gCN modified GCE exhibited better electrochemical sensing behavior than the bare GCE and other investigated electrodes. The electroanalytical parameters such as charge transfer coefficient (α = 0.5), the rate constant for electron transfer (ks = 1.16 s-1) and number of electron transferred were calculated. Linear sweep voltammetry (LSV) exhibited increase in peak current linearly with 4-NP concentration in the range between 1.6 and 50 µM. The lowest detection limit (LoD) was calculated to be 1 µM and sensitivity of 0.81 µA µM-1 cm-2. A 100-fold excess of various ions, such as Ca2+, Na+, K+, Cl-, I-, CO32-, NO3, NH4+ and SO42- did not able to interfere with the determination of 4-NP and high sensitivity for detecting 4-NP in real samples was achieved. This newly developed BSO-gCN could be a potential candidate for electrochemical sensor applications.

Prevalence of gastrointestinal parasites in bonnet macaque and possible consequences of their unmanaged relocations.

Relocation is one of the mitigating measures taken by either local people or related officers to reduce the human-bonnet macaque Macaca radiata conflict in India. The review on relocations of primates in India indicates that monkeys are unscreened for diseases or gastrointestinal parasites (henceforth endoparasites) before relocation. We collected 161 spatial samples from 20 groups of bonnet macaque across their distribution range in south India and 205 temporal samples from a group in Chiksuli in the central Western Ghats. The isolation of endoparasite eggs/cysts from the fecal samples was by the centrifugation flotation and sedimentation method. All the sampled groups, except one, had an infection of at least one endoparasite taxa, and a total of 21 endoparasite taxon were recorded. The number of helminth taxon (16) were more than protozoan (5), further, among helminths, nematodes (11) were more common than cestodes (5). Although the prevalence of Ascaris sp. (26.0%), Strongyloides sp. (13.0%), and Coccidia sp. (13.0%) were greater, the load of Entamoeba coli, Giardia sp., Dipylidium caninum and Diphyllobothrium sp. were very high. Distant groups had more similarity in composition of endoparasites taxon than closely located groups. Among all the variables, the degree of provisioning was the topmost determinant factor for the endoparasite taxon richness and their load. Temporal sampling indicates that the endoparasite infection remains continuous throughout the year. Monthly rainfall and average maximum temperature in the month did not influence the endoparasite richness. A total of 17 taxon of helminths and four-taxon of protozoan were recorded. The prevalence of Oesophagostomum sp., and Strongyloides sp., and mean egg load of Spirurids and Trichuris sp. was higher than other endoparasite taxon. The overall endoparasite load and helminth load was higher in immatures than adults, where, adult females had the highest protozoan load in the monsoon. The findings indicate that relocation of commensal bonnet macaque to wild habitat can possible to lead transmission of novel endoparasites that can affect their population. Thus, we suggest avoidance of such relocations, however, if inevitable the captured animals need to be screened and treated for diseases and endoparasites before relocations.

Optimization of factors influencing microinjection method for Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated transformation of tomato.

A simple and efficient protocol for Agrobacterium-mediated genetic transformation of tomato was developed using combination of non-tissue culture and micropropagation systems. Initially, ESAM region of 1-day-old germinated tomato seeds were microinjected for one to five times with Agrobacterium inoculums (OD(600) = 0.2-1.0). The germinated seeds were cocultivated in the MS medium fortified with (0-200 mM) acetosyringone and minimal concentrations of (0-20 mg L(-1)) kanamycin, and the antibiotic concentration was doubled during the second round of selection. Bacterial concentration of OD(600) = 0.6 served as an optimal concentration for infection and the transformation efficiency was significantly higher of about 46.28 %. In another set of experiment, an improved and stable regeneration system was adapted for the explants from the selection medium. Four-day-old double cotyledonary nodal explants were excised from the microinjected seedlings and cultured onto the MS medium supplemented with 1.5 mg L(-1) thidiazuron, 1.5 mg L(-1) indole-3-butyric acid, 30 mg L(-1) kanamycin, and 0-1.5 mg L(-1) adenine sulphate. Maximum of 9 out of 13 micropropagated shoots were shown positive to GUS assay. By this technique, the transformation efficiency was increased from 46.28 to 65.90 %. Thus, this paper reports the successful protocol for the mass production of transformants using microinjection and micropropagation techniques.

Serological study of rickettsial diseases in human and rodent population in Chittoor dist. (A.P.).

In India the presence of Rickettsial disease in human is documented in many states however, the data on presence of Rickettsial infection in Andhra Pradesh is very scare. Therefore, a study was undertaken in Chittoor district (A.P.) to see the prevalence of Rickettsial infection in human and rodent population. 3-5 ml of human blood samples were collected from the patients attending the nearest hospitals of Tirumala, Tirupathi, Palmner and Chittoor areas. Live rodents were trapped and blood samples were collected from them during January and February 2008. Sera was separated and tested by Weil Felix test. Two hundred human sera samples were tested. Of these 39 samples were found reactive with Weil Felix antigen. Of the 39 reactive, 31 were male and 8 female. All the human samples were showing reactivity at 1:20 dilution. Out of the 343 rodents samples tested, only 24 samples were showing reactivity. These were reactive at 1:20, 1:40 and 1:80 dilutions with different types of Weil Felix antigens. Eight rodent sera samples were having titer 1:80 with Proteus OXK which is suggestive of presence of Scrub typhus in this region.

Biological activity of sea anemone proteins: I. Toxicity and histopathology.

The crude as well as partially purified protein fractions from anemone species viz. Heteractis magnifica, Stichodactyla haddoni and Paracodylactis sinensis, collected from the Gulf of Mannar, south east coast of India were found to be toxic at different levels to mice. The mice showed behavioral changes such as loss of balance, opaque eyes, tonic convulsions, paralysis, micturiction, flexing of muscles, prodding (insensitive to stimulii), foaming from mouth and exophthalmia. The toxic proteins upon envenomation produced several chronic and lethal histopathological changes like formation of pycnotic nuclii and glial nodules in the brain; heamolysis, thrombosis and myocardial haemorrhage in the heart; granulomatous lesions, and damage to the hepatic cells in the liver and haemorrhage throughout the kidney parenchyma and shrinkage of glomerular tufts in the kidney. The toxins proved to be neurotoxic, cardiotoxic, nephrotoxic and hepatotoxic by their action on internal organ systems. The toxins were also thermostable till 60 degrees C and had considerable shelf life.

Biological activity of sea anemone proteins: II. Cytolysis and cell line toxicity.

Potent cytolytic activity was exhibited by proteins extracted from three sea anemones viz. Heteractis magnifica, Stichodactyla haddoni and Paracodylactis sinensis by affecting the red blood corpuscles (RBC) and the mouse fibroblast cell line (L929) and leukemia cell line (P388). Crude toxin of all the three anemone species induced spontaneous hemolysis of chicken, goat and human erythrocytes. The crude toxin of H. magnifica (0.98 mg/ml) elicited hemolysis at levels of 4096, 512 and 4096 HU (hemolytic unit) in chicken, goat and human erythrocytes respectively. Subsequently, the crude toxin of S. haddoni (0.82 mg/ml) exhibited a hemolytic activity of 256, 128 and 512 HU and that of P. sinensis (0.60 mg/ml) had a hemolytic activity of 128, 4096 and 512 HU. Most of the partially purified proteins of these anemones also exhibited the activity against the three different erythrocytes. The viability of L929 and P388 was adversely affected on adding the crude toxins. The symptoms of toxicity shown by the cells were rounding, lysis and detachment from the substratum. These effects were the least in S. haddoni, as compared to those the crude toxins of the other two species. Inhibition of growth of L929 exhibited by the toxin of the three species ranged between 61.08 and 93.38%. Similarly, inhibition of the growth of P388 ranged between 51.32 and 86.16%. The present investigation reveal the cytotoxic nature of anemone toxins.