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Bacillus anthracis, the causative agent of anthrax is one of the most potent listed biological warfare agents. The conventional microbiological methods of its detection are labor intensive and time consuming, whereas molecular assays are fast, sensitive and specific. PCR is one of the most reliable diagnostic tools in molecular biology. The combination of PCR with lateral flow strips can reduce the diagnostic/detection time. It gives an alternative to gel electrophoresis and offers easy and clear interpretation of results. In the present study, a PCR Lateral flow (PCR-LF) assay targeting cya gene present on pXO1 plasmid of B. anthracis has been developed. The forward and reverse primers were tagged with 6-carboxyflourescein (6-FAM) and biotin, respectively, at 5′ end. The dual labeled PCR products were detected using lateral flow (LF) strips developed in this study. The PCR-LF assay could detect ≥ 5 pg of genomic DNA and ≥ 500 copies of target DNA harboured in a recombinant plasmid. The assay was able to detect as few as 103 and 10 CFU/mL of B. anthracis Sterne cells spiked in human blood after 6 and 24 h of enrichment, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bacillus anthracis, the causative agent of anthrax is a Gram-positive, non-motile, spore forming bacterium. Its spores can persist in soil and water for years and can also be aerosolized. A rapid, sensitive and specific method to detect B. anthracis is important for clinical management and preventing spread of anthrax. Loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) assay is a rapid technique that amplifies target DNA in isothermal conditions with high sensitivity and specificity. In this study, a LAMP assay set targeting a chromosomal and two plasmid markers was developed. The individual assays of the LAMP set targeting pXO1 plasmid (lef), pXO2 plasmid (capB), and chromosome (BA5345) sequences could detect 10, 250, and 100 fg of genomic DNA and 10, 100, and 50 copies of the DNA targets harboured in recombinant plasmids, respectively. The lef and capB LAMP assays could detect ≥ 1 × 103 CFU per mL of bacteria in spiked human blood samples, while BA5345 LAMP assay could detect ≥ 1 × 104 CFU of bacteria per mL of spiked blood. The amplification was monitored in real-time by turbidimeter, and visual detection was also accomplished under normal and UV light after adding SYBR Green 1 dye on completion of the reaction. The assay set was found to be highly sensitive and did not cross-react with the closely related Bacillus spp. and other bacterial strains used in the study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the present study, the chromosomes of three species of tribe Eristalini (family Syrphidae) were studied for karyotypic details, morphometric data, C-banding and meiosis. Two species Eristalinus laetus and E. obscuritarsis showed 2n = 10 diploid chromosome number and the remaining third species E. obliquus revealed 2n = 12 chromosomes as diploid number. All the three species exhibited XY sex mechanism in males. The morphology of Y chromosome was similar in all the three species studied. C-banding revealed the presence of constitutive heterochromatin at pericentromeric locations and established the euchromatic or heterochromatic nature of sex chromosomes. Meiotic observations included leptotene, pachytene, diplotene, metaphase-II and anaphase-II. The study is useful in chromosomal evolution and in the solution of taxonomic problems within the family Syrphidae. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chlorophyll-a (Chl-a) and Suspended Solid Concentration (SSC) shows the productivity of water and their surrounding environment. These parameters can be effectively estimated through several remote sensing techniques. From the recent reports on the Gulf of Thailand, it is found that Chl-a and SSC are increasing in coastal areas due to changing environment caused by variations in the global carbon cycle, climate change and water pollution linking to anthropogenic conditions such as high population density and rapid urbanization in neighbouring coastal areas deteriorating the coastal and marine environment. Various models are evaluated in this study for estimation of marine Chl-a and SSC by employing Ocean Colour Monitor-2 sensor of Oceansat-2 satellite for Northern Gulf of Thailand. The retrieval of Chl-a and SSC by the atmospheric correction of visible bands from 400 to 700 nm to attain normalized water-leaving radiances and then a suitable algorithm is applied. The In-situ reflectance values of sea waters are measured using the ASD spectroradiometer. The reflectance values of the spectroradiometer are correlated for the same day atmospherically corrected satellite reflectance and the analysis offers high correlation R2 0.73. Satellite derived, Chl-a and SSC are correlated with observed in situ Chl-a and SSC. This analysis offered better correlation of R2 0.86 and 0.85 respectively with the algorithms of Chl-a and SSC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the present study, the chromosomes of a defoliator beetle, Zygogramma bicolorata were studied from Jammu region (J&K). These beetles are bio-control agents for controlling the populations of poisonous weed Parthenium hysterophorus. Chromosome morphology, karyotype and morphometric data of chromosomes was done and the diploid number of the species was found to be 24. Meiotic observations included the pachytene, diplotene, late diakinesis and metaphase I bivalent stage. The sex chromosomes (XY) included the submetacentric X chromosome and a small acrocentric Y chromosome. The study is useful in chromosomal evolution in the family Chrysomelidae and evolution of sex chromosomes in Coleoptera. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Essential oils from 35 aromatic and medicinal plant species of Gorakhpur Division (U. P., India) were evaluated for their repellent activity against pulse bruchids Callosobruchus chinensis L. and C. maculatus F. of stored pigeon pea seeds. The oil concentration was at 0.36 μl/ml. Out of 35 essential oils, Adhatoda vasica Ness and Chenopodium ambrosioides L. oils showed absolute (100 %) insect repellency. Chenopodium oil exhibited 100 % mortality for both the test insects at 10 μl concentration (LD = 2.8 μl for C. chinensis & 2.5 μl for C. maculatus) and more toxic than Adhatoda oil (LD = 6.8 μl for C. chinensis & 8.4 μl for C. maculatus). During in vivo evaluation, 0.29 and 0.58 μl/ml of Chenopodium oil significantly enhanced feeding deterrence in insects and reduced the seed damage as well as weight loss of fumigated pigeon pea seeds up to 6 months of storage as compared to control set. Thus, Chenopodium oil can be used as an effective option of commercial fumigants for the storage of pigeon pea seeds against pulse bruchids. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The unprecedented urban growth especially in developing countries has laid immense pressure on wetlands, finally threatening their existence altogether. A long-term monitoring of wetland ecosystems is the basis of planning conservation measures for a sustainable development. Deepor Beel, a Ramsar wetland and major storm water basin of the River Brahmaputra in the northeastern region of India, needs particular attention due to its constant degradation over the past decades. A rule-based classification algorithm was developed using Landsat (2011)-derived indices, namely Normalised Difference Water Index (NDWI), Modified Normalised Difference Water Index (MNDWI), Normalised Difference Pond Index (NDPI), Normalised Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and field data as ancillary information. Field data, ALOS AVNIR and Google Earth images were used for accuracy assessment. A fuzzy accuracy assessment of the classified data sets showed an overall accuracy of 82 % for MAX criteria and 90 % for RIGHT criteria. The rules were used to classify major wetland cover types during low water season (January) in 1989, 2001 and 2012. The statistical analysis of the classified wetland showed heavy manifestation in aquatic vegetation and other features indicating severe eutrophication over the past 23 years. This degradation was closely related to major contributing anthropogenic factors, such as a railway line construction, growing croplands, waste disposal and illegal human settlements in the wetland catchment. In addition, the landscape development index (LDI) indicated a rapid increase in the impact of the surrounding land use on the wetland from 1989 to 2012. The techniques and results from this study may prove useful for top-down landscape analyses of this and other freshwater wetlands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cytogenetic study of the Indian Bullfrog, Hoplobatrachus tigerinus was carried out using both conventional staining and banding methods, from Jammu and Kashmir. Karyotypes prepared by conventional staining in both male and female specimens showed diploid chromosome number as 2 n = 26 and fundamental arm number as NF = 52. Karyotypes of both the sexes comprised of 13 pairs of biarmed chromosomes divided into two groups: first group of five pairs of larger metacentric or submetacentric chromosomes and second group of eight pairs of smaller metacentric or submetacentric chromosomes. Pair number 2, 3, and 4 among the first group and 8 and 9 among the second group were submetacentric chromosomes. All the other chromosomes in both the groups were metacentric. Meiotic stages observed were leptotene, diakinesis, metaphase-I and metaphase- II, from testicular cells of males. C-banding analysis of the species showed presence of centromeric C-bands in all the chromosomes of both male and female karyotypes. Female karyotype showed presence of completely heterochromatic homologue of the pair no. 8, which represented ZZ/ZW sex chromosome system in the species. NOR-banding showed presence of a pair of nucleolar organizer regions on the long arm of 6th pair in both the sexes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mineral nitrogen (MN), belowground (root) biomass (BGB), soil nitrogen (N) mineralization (NM), microbial biomass N (MBN) and mine dump stability of a revegetated mine spoil were studied after 2, 6, 10 and 12 years of re-vegetation on coal mine spoil site. MN in revegetated mine spoil ranged from 7.4 to 11.6 kg ha, NM from 38.4 to 252 kg ha year, MBN from 86 to 426 kg ha, and BGB from 380 to 3,750 kg ha. Mining caused decline of physico-chemical characteristics of soil like MN by 46 %, N-mineralization by 92 %, MBN values by 91 %, respectively compared to forest ecosystems and reduction of total plant biomass (above ground and below ground). Revegetation of mine spoil caused increase in MN values by 12, 36 and 76 %, BGB values by 380, 1770 and 3750 times, NM values by 0.6, 3.58 and 9.5 times and MBN values by 0.43, 2.77, and 6.07 times in 2, 6 and 12 years, respectively. BGB was highly correlated with MN and MBN. Clay content was positively correlated to MN, NM, and the age of revegetation ( P < 0.01). Numerical modelling indicated that revegetation increased the dump slope stability with a factor of safety from 1.2 to 1.4, 1.7, 1.9 and 2.1 after 2, 6, 10 and 12 years, respectively. Thus, long-term revegetation was found to enhance the dump stability and the soil fertility status in mine spoil, where plant biomass and microbial biomass provide major contributions in ecological redevelopment of the mine spoil. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dust from haul and transport roads are the major source of air pollution in opencast coal mining areas. Dust generated during mining operations pollutes air which causes different health problems. Various available techniques are implemented in the field to minimize and control dust in mining areas. However, they are not very effective because dust deposited on road surfaces are not removed by these techniques. For effective control of dust in opencast mining areas, it has to be regularly collected from road surfaces and may be converted into solid form, and subsequently can be used as a domestic fuel considering its physicochemical properties. The present paper describes a comparative study of qualitative and quantitative aspects of road dust samples of four coalfields of India. The pH of the dust was found to be in the range of 5.1-7.7. Moisture, ash, volatile matter, fixed carbon, water-holding capacity, bulk density, and specific gravity of dust samples were found to be in the range of 0.5-3.0%, 45-76%, 12.6-20.0%, 10.2-45.3%, 21.17-31.71%, 1.15-1.70, and 1.73-2.30 g cm, respectively. Observing the overall generation and characteristics of coal dust, it is suggested that coal dust from haul and transport roads of mining areas can be effectively collected and used as domestic fuel. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using the Brock and Bird relation and the Flory statistical theory, the surface tension of five binary mixtures of 1,1,2,2-tetrachloroethane with benzene, toluene, p-xylene, acetone and cyclohexane have been evaluated at 298.15 K. The values of surface tension thus obtained have been utilized to compute ultrasonic velocity via the Auerbach relation. Theoretical values have been compared with experimental data and deviations in the ultrasonic velocity have been interpreted in terms of intermolecular interactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The spatial distribution of the prevalence of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) remains under the influence of a wide array of environmental, climatic, and socioeconomic determinants. However, a large proportion of these influences remain unexplained. In completion, this study examined the spatial associations between asthma/COPD morbidity and their determinants using ordinary least squares (OLS) and geographically weighted regressions (GWR). Inpatient records collected from the secondary and tertiary care hospitals in Kandy from 2010 to 2014 were considered as the dependent variable. Potential risk factors (explanatory variables) were identified in four distinguished classes: 1) meteorological factors, (2) direct and indirect factors of air pollution, (3) socioeconomic factors, and (4) characteristics of the physical environment. All possible combinations of candidate explanatory variables were evaluated through an exploratory regression. A comparison between the regression models was also explored. The best OLS regression models revealed about 55% of asthma variation and 62% of COPD variation while GWR models yielded 78% and 74% of the variation of asthma and COPD occurrences respectively. Relative humidity, proximity to roads (0–200 m), road density, use of firewood as a source of fuel, and elevation play a vital role in predicting morbidity from asthma and COPD. Both local and global regression models are important in assessing spatial relationships of asthma and COPD. However, the local models exhibit a better prediction capability for assessing non-stationary relationships of asthma and COPD than global models. The geostatistical aspects used in this study may also provide insights for evaluating heterogeneous environmental risk factors in other epidemiological studies across different spatial settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Surface array protein (Sap) can be an important biomarker for specific detection of Bacillus anthracis, which is released by the bacterium during its growth in culture broth. In the present work, we have cloned and expressed Sap in Escherichia coli. The culture conditions and cultivation media were optimized and used in batch fermentation process for scale up of Sap in soluble form. The recombinant Sap was purified employing affinity chromatography followed by diafiltration. The final yield of purified protein was 20 and 46 mg/l of culture during shake flasks and batch fermentation, respectively. The protein purity and its reactivity were confirmed employing SDS-PAGE and Western blot, respectively. The antibodies raised against purified Sap were evaluated by Western blotting for detection of Sap released by B. anthracis. Our results showed that the Sap could be a novel marker for detection and confirmation of B. anthracis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An abstract of the article "New Report on the Chemical Composition of the Essential Oil From Leaves of Clausena Pentaphylla From India," by Abhay K. Pandey, Pooja Singh, Manindra Mohan and N. N. Tripathi is presented.