We report the synthesis of a metal-free chemosensor for highly selective sensing of pyrophosphate (PPi) anion in physiological medium. The novel phenylbenzimidazole functionalized imine containing ...chemosensor (L; 2,6-bis(((4-(1H-benzodimidazol-2-yl)phenyl)imino) methyl)-4 methyl phenol) could sense PPi anion through “turn-on” colorimetric and fluorimetric responses in a very competitive environment. The overall sensing mechanism is based on the aggregation-induced emission (AIE) phenomenon. Moreover, a real time in-field device application was demonstrated by sensing PPi in paper strips coated with L. Interestingly, detection of intracellular PPi ions in model human cells could also be possible by fluorescence microscopic studies without any toxicity to these cells.
A diformyl-quinoline based receptor (L 1 ) exhibits selective colorimetric and fluorometric sensing of Zn2+ in aqueous medium at pH 7.4 based on the intraligand charge transfer (ICT) process. The in ...situ formed phenoxo-bridged complex, L 1 ·2Zn can selectively and specifically sense PPi among all the other biologically important anions including ATP through reversible binding. The detection limit for Zn2+ and PPi were found to be approximately 56 and 2 ppb, respectively. The unique selectivity of the PPi by the L 1 -Zn ensemble could be used as an analytical tool to probe PPi generation in a prototype polymerase chain reaction (PCR) setup and track DNA amplification with higher sensitivity as compared to conventional agarose gel electrophoresis. Interestingly, the principle of PPi estimation in PCR rendered rapid estimation of bacterial cell numbers with a limit of detection of 10 CFU of Escherichia coli MTCC 433 in as early as 10 PCR cycles. The proposed method of PPi sensing offers interesting application potential in PCR-based rapid diagnostics for pathogenic agents and microbiological quality control.
The Northern Hemisphere winter-season wet day climatology is extremely important to hydrological and agricultural processes of the Himalayan region (HR). However, knowledge of expected changes in the ...winter-season wet day climatology under global warming is significantly limited. Hence, this study attempts to quantify the expected changes in winter-season wet day climatological patterns for HR during 2020–2099 in comparison to a baseline period of 1980–2000 under two different warming scenarios, these being representative concentration pathways 4.5 and 8.5 (RCP 4.5 and RCP 8.5). Five climate model products covering the southern Asian region were obtained from the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization initiated Coordinated Regional Climate Downscaling Experiment (CORDEX) of the World Climate Research Programme and used for this purpose. Model biases are estimated with respect to observations for a base line period of 1980–2000. Model ensemble non-linear trends of the winter-season wet days for the periods 2020–2040, 2041–2070, and 2071–2099 are estimated using Sen’s slope estimator, while ensemble average future changes in the number of winter-season wet days are estimated, and attempts made to identify the topographical ranges that are expected to be mostly affected by the changing winter-season wet day climatology. The results show that the CORDEX-regional climate models have a positive bias, ranging between 1 and 30 days, across the high altitudes of the entire Himalayas, and model performance improves with an increasing number of wet days per season. Although the impact of stronger warming (i.e. under RCP 8.5) is noted to enhance the area averaged non-linear trend of wet days over northwestern (0.014) and eastern (0.005) Himalaya during 2071–2099, the model ensemble predicted area-averaged reduction in the frequency of wet days of 0.3 to 1.0 day is highly likely by the end of this century. It is also observed that the Himalayan region within the range of 1000–2500 m above sea level may experience a decline in winter-season wet days by up to 0.8 to 3.2 days under the warming scenarios of both RCP 4.5 and 8.5.
Indian summer monsoon has the characteristics of nonlinear dynamical systems. This study verifies the hypothesis that monsoon-season heavy rainy-day climatology over northwest Himalaya would exhibit ...certain degree of determinism, and expected to modify in its future state due to warming. Hence, recurrence quantification analysis (RQA) leading to quantification of recurrence rate (RR) and determinism (DET) are used. The monsoon-season heavy rainy-day climatologies are computed by area averaging heavy rainy-day (i.e. any day having rainfall ≥35.5 mm) of northwestern Indian Himalaya of Uttarakhand (UK), Himachal Pradesh (HP), and Union Territory of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh (JKL). Nonlinear characteristics are identified for a baseline period of 1970–2005 using APHRODITE data, and a bias corrected ensemble data for the future period of 2041–2099 produced using five CORDEX experiments under two warming scenarios, RCP 4.5 and 8.5. The heavy rainy-day climatology during 1970–2005 is having a correlation dimension of 1.5 indicating fractal geometry of the system in phase space. Similarly, occurrences of diagonal lines in the recurrence plots of baseline period over JKL, HP, and UK indicated the system is governed by a nonlinear chaotic attractor. A higher recurrence rate during 1970–2005 over HP (RR = 0.123, DET = 0.83) indicated greater determinism than JKL (RR = 0.119, DET = 0.78) and UK (RR = 0.121, DET = 0.75). Mean prediction time of the nonlinear dynamical trajectories controlling heavy rainy-day climatology of 1970–2005 is noted to be higher over UK. Furthermore, the RQA patterns under warmer climates of RCP 4.5 and 8.5 during 2041–2099 over UK and JKL indicate gradual reduction in the deterministic structures in the phase space. Therefore, it can be inferred that the nonlinear dynamical system governing the monsoon-season heavy rainy-day climatology is expected to lose determinism over certain regions of northwestern Himalaya under warmer climates of RCP 4.5 and 8.5.
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•Monsoon season heavy rainy day data are analyzed for normal and warm climate.•Nonlinear properties of monsoon season heavy rainy day data are quantified using RQA.•The heavy rainy day climatology is noted to have a correlation dimension of 1.5.•RQA indicates gradual reduction in the deterministic structures under warmer climate.•Warmer climate would result more fluctuating heavy rainy day dynamical system.
The lack of a standardized database of eddy covariance observations has been an obstacle for data-driven estimation of terrestrial carbon dioxide fluxes in Asia. In this study, we developed such a ...standardized database using 54 sites from various databases by applying consistent postprocessing for data-driven estimation of gross primary productivity (GPP) and net ecosystem carbon dioxide exchange (NEE). Data-driven estimation was conducted by using a machine learning algorithm: support vector regression (SVR), with remote sensing data for 2000 to 2015 period. Site-level evaluation of the estimated carbon dioxide fluxes shows that although performance varies in different vegetation and climate classifications, GPP and NEE at 8 days are reproduced (e.g., r (exp 2) =0.73 and 0.42 for 8 day GPP and NEE). Evaluation of spatially estimated GPP with Global Ozone Monitoring Experiment 2 sensor-based Sun-induced chlorophyll fluorescence shows that monthly GPP variations at subcontinental scale were reproduced by SVR (r (exp 2)=1.00, 0.94, 0.91, and 0.89 for Siberia, East Asia, South Asia, and Southeast Asia, respectively). Evaluation of spatially estimated NEE with net atmosphere-land carbon dioxide fluxes of Greenhouse Gases Observing Satellite (GOSAT) Level 4A product shows that monthly variations of these data were consistent in Siberia and East Asia; meanwhile, inconsistency was found in South Asia and Southeast Asia. Furthermore, differences in the land carbon dioxide fluxes from SVR-NEE and GOSAT Level 4A were partially explained by accounting for the differences in the definition of land carbon dioxide fluxes. These data-driven estimates can provide a new opportunity to assess carbon dioxide fluxes in Asia and evaluate and constrain terrestrial ecosystem models.
There are two models for the surface layer in the convective boundary layer (CBL). First is the standard Monin–Obukhov similarity theory, and second is the McNaughton–Laubach model (Laubach and ...McNaughton 2009, Boundary-Layer Meteorology 133:219–252; hereafter MNL model) developed based on the complex dynamical system approach to address characteristics of the unstable surface layer. The fundamental difference between the Monin–Obukhov similarity theory and the MNL model is the use of local and non-local parameters for analyzing surface-layer spectra in the CBL. However, there is a need to check applicability of this new model at various flow conditions before the model could be extensively used. Subsequently, applicability of the MNL model is tested in comparison to the standard model using CBL observations from three different regions with increasing terrain complexity (i.e. over flat-terrain, onslope, and ridge-top sites). The MNL model is tested by estimating and using the non-local scaling parameters to collapse the power spectra of velocity and temperature on the frequency–amplitude scale under the generalized hypothesis that convective surface layer depends on non-local outer variables. We find that the
u
and
v
spectra for all sites indicate run-to-run similarity of each spectra with MNL scaling irrespective of the height limiting role of local buoyancy on the shape of the spectra. Similarly,
w
spectra from all sites indicate transitions between the surface friction layer and the outer layer are governed by flow in the entire CBL. The temperature spectra collapse using
(
z
ϵ
o
)
2
/
3
H
0
-
2
as amplitude scaling and
k
z
i
1
/
2
z
1
/
2
as wavenumber scaling, is a new observation within the surface friction layer, where the streamwise wavenumber is
k
, measurement height is
z
, CBL height is
z
i
, the dissipation rate of turbulence energy in the outer CBL is
ϵ
o
, and the surface heat flux is
H
0
. These observations corroborate well with the MNL model conjecture that the convective temperature spectra do not depend only on local stability, and CBL parameters affect spectra when a subset of local factors remains constant.
Background: At present snakebite has become a serious health problem in India. The actual incidence of mortality and morbidity related to the snakebite are not reported properly. Further, the most ...neglected part is the long term endocrine dysfunctions in survivors of snake bite.
Aims and Objectives: To evaluate serum fT4, TSH, cortisol, prolactin, and testosterone levels in snake bite survivors after 3 and 6 months of snakebite.
Materials and Methods: Forty-five survivors of russels viper bite patients were selected for the study according to inclusion and exclusion criteria. Admitted patients were treated accordingly and discharged in stable condition. The hormonal status were analysed and they have been followed up after 3 and 6 months.
Results: Significant decrease in serum cortisol and prolactin were observed in survivors of russels viper bite patients particularly in them whose mean serum creatinine was more than 1.2 mg/dl and systolic blood pressure was <110 mm of Hg and diastolic Blood pressure was < 70 mm of Hg.
Conclusion: Measurement of long term hormonal status like serum cortisol and prolactin can be beneficial in survivors of hematotoxic snake bite patients.
High-resolution regional model simulation of CO
2
may be more beneficial to reduce the uncertainty in estimation of CO
2
source and sink via inverse modeling. However, the study of atmospheric CO
2
...transport with regional models is rare over India. Here, weather research and forecasting chemistry model adjusted for CO
2
(WRF-CO
2
) is used for simulating vertical profile of CO
2
and its assessment is performed over Delhi, India (27.4–28.6° N and 77–96° E) by comparing aircraft observations (CONTRAIL) and a global model (ACTM) data. During August and September, the positive vertical gradient (~ 13.4 ppm) within ~ 2.5 km height is observed due to strong CO
2
uptake by newly growing vegetation. A similar pattern (~ 4 ppm) is noticed in February due to photosynthesis by newly growing winter crops. The WRF-CO
2
does not show such steep increasing slope (capture up to 5%) during August and September but same for February is estimated ~ 1.7 ppm. Generally, CO
2
is quite well mixed between ~ 2.5 and ~ 8 km height above ground which is well simulated by the WRF-CO
2
model. During stubble burning period of 2010, the highest gradient within 2.5 km height above ground was recorded in October (− 9.3 ppm), followed by November (− 7.6 ppm). The WRF-CO
2
and ACTM models partially capture these gradients (October − 3.3 and − 2.7 ppm and November − 3.8 and − 4.3 ppm respectively). A study of the seasonal variability of CO
2
indicates seasonal amplitudes decrease with increasing height (amplitude is ~ 21 ppm at the near ground and ~ 6 ppm at 6–8 km altitude bin). Correlation coefficients (CC) between the WRF-CO
2
model and observation are noted to be greater than 0.59 for all the altitude bins. In contrast to simulated fossil CO
2
, the biospheric CO
2
is in phase with observed seasonality, having about 80% at the lowest level and gradually declines with height due to mixing processes, reaching around 60% at the highest level. The model simulation reveals that meteorology plays a significant role of the horizontal and vertical gradient of CO
2
over the region.
Pediocin (PE) is an antimicrobial peptide possessing a plethora of applications in food preservation. In this study, an economical and sustainable method for the production of PE by
Pediococcus ...pentosaceus
CRA51 was achieved by utilizing low-cost renewable feedstocks and industrial by-products viz., Palmyra palm jaggery (PJ), Cassava fibrous waste hydrolysate (CFWH) and Whey protein hydrolysate (WPH)) as substrates. WPH served as an elite nitrogen source yielding a 1.75-fold increment in the PE titer than the conventional glucose-based medium. In addition, the kinetics of growth, concomitant production kinetics of lactic acid and PE by
P. pentosaceus
CRA51 were investigated by employing different substrate-independent mathematical models such as Modified Logistic, Gompertz, Richards, and Schnute. Based on the overall model fitting parameters and statistical significance obtained on various carbon and nitrogen substrates, Richards model exhibited the best fit with the predictions close to the experimental data. The insights derived from kinetic studies and medium-based techno-economic analysis demonstrates that the utilization of PJ and WPH as alternate carbon and nitrogen source would be an economically viable strategy for the enhanced production of PE. It is envisaged that the maximum specific growth rate (
μ
m
)
and biomass yield (
Y
X
/
S
)
obtained on PJ (0.346 h
−1
, 0.257 g g
−1
) and WPH-based media (0.204 h
−1
, 0.141 g g
−1
) can be leveraged for the optimization of high cell density fermentation, and further for the large-scale economic production of PE by
P. pentosaceus
CRA51.
Graphical Abstract
Supraglacial debris cover greatly influences glacier dynamics. The present study combines field and remote sensing observations acquired between 2000 and 2020 to understand debris characteristics, ...area and terminus changes, surface velocity, and mass balance of the Companion Glacier, Central Himalaya, along with a systematic investigation of its supraglacial morphology. According to field observations, the glacier’s lower ablation zone has very coarse and thick debris (1–3 m). Owing to thick debris and consequent protected margins, the glacier could maintain its geometry during the study (2000–2020) showing much less area loss (0.07% ±0.1% a
−1
) and terminus retreat (1.2 ±1.9 m a
−1
) than other glaciers in the study region. The average mass balance (−0.12 ±0.1 m w. e. a
−1
; 2000–2020) was also less negative than the regional trend. Interestingly, in contrast to widespread regional velocity reduction, Companion’s average velocity increased (by 21%) from 6.97 ±3.4 (2000/01) to 8.45 ±2.1 m a
−1
(2019/20). Further, to investigate supraglacial morphology, the glacier ablation zone is divided into five zones (Zone-I to V; snout-to-up glacier) based on 100 m altitude bins. Analysis reveals that stagnation prevails over Zone-I to Zone-III, where despite slight acceleration, the velocity remains <∼8 m a
−1
. Zone-V is quite active (12.87 ±2.1 m a
−1
) and has accelerated during the study. Thus, Zone-IV with stable velocity, is sandwiched between fast-moving Zone-V and slow-moving Zone-III, which led to bulging and development of mounds. Debris slides down these mounds exposing the top portion for direct melting and the meltwater accumulates behind the mounds forming small ponds. Thus, as a consequence of changing morphology, a new ablation mechanism in the form of spot-melting has dominated Zone-IV, leading to the highest negative mass balance here (−0.5 ±0.1 m w. e. a
−1
). The changing snout and supraglacial morphology, active mound-top’s melting and formation of ponds likely promote relatively higher glacier wastage in the future.
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