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"Hari, P."
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Cyber security threats and challenges facing human life
\"Cyber Security Threats and Challenges: A Comprehensive Coverage proposes to provide a comprehensive view of the issues, threats, and challenges that are faced in the cyber security domain with a detailed analysis of effective countermeasures and mitigations. The financial sector, Healthcare, digital manufacturing and social media are some of the important areas where cyber-attacks are frequent and cause great harm. Hence, special emphasis will be given to study and analyze the cyber security challenges and countermeasures in these three important areas, apart from other sectors\"-- Provided by publisher.
Book
Characterization and management of human-wildlife conflicts in mid-hills outside protected areas of Gandaki province, Nepal
With the intent to better management human wildlife conflict (HWC) and wildlife conservation in mid-hills outside protected areas of Gandaki province, Nepal, we analyzed the patterns and drivers of HWC. Using data collected from literature, government records and questionnaire survey, we investigated temporal, seasonal and spatial distribution of human casualties caused by wildlife attacks. We also appraised the perception of local people towards wildlife conservation. We have recorded 77 cases (69 human injuries and 8 mortalities) during the period of nine year between 2011 and 2019. The number of wildlife attacks increased over this period. Wildlife attacks were more frequent in winter with 50% (42) of attacks occurred between September and December. Common leopard ( Panthera pardus ) and Himalayan black bear ( Ursus thibetanus laniger ) were the major species involved in these conflicts. Common leopard was the most feared species that causes highest number of human mortalities (87%, n = 67); the most severe type of HWC outcome. Forty-eight percent (n = 37) attacks were reported at human settlement areas followed by 27% attacks in agriculture land (n = 21) and 24% (n = 19) in forest. Generalized linear model analysis on spatial variables showed that the probability of human attacks increases with decreasing elevation (β = -0.0021, Z = -1.762, p = 0.078) and distance from the forest (β = -0.608, Z = -0.789, p = 0.429). We recommend to decrease habitat degradation / fragmentation, carry out habitat management program within forest to increase prey availability to decrease the wildlife invasion into human settlement area, and decrease dependency of people on forest resources by providing alternative livelihood opportunities. Simplified relief fund distribution mechanism at local level also helps alleviate the impact of HWC. The knowledge obtained by this study and management measures are important for better human-wildlife co-existence.
Journal Article
Uridine-derived ribose fuels glucose-restricted pancreatic cancer
Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDA) is a lethal disease notoriously resistant to therapy
1
,
2
. This is mediated in part by a complex tumour microenvironment
3
, low vascularity
4
, and metabolic aberrations
5
,
6
. Although altered metabolism drives tumour progression, the spectrum of metabolites used as nutrients by PDA remains largely unknown. Here we identified uridine as a fuel for PDA in glucose-deprived conditions by assessing how more than 175 metabolites impacted metabolic activity in 21 pancreatic cell lines under nutrient restriction. Uridine utilization strongly correlated with the expression of uridine phosphorylase 1 (UPP1), which we demonstrate liberates uridine-derived ribose to fuel central carbon metabolism and thereby support redox balance, survival and proliferation in glucose-restricted PDA cells. In PDA,
UPP1
is regulated by KRAS–MAPK signalling and is augmented by nutrient restriction. Consistently, tumours expressed high
UPP1
compared with non-tumoural tissues, and
UPP1
expression correlated with poor survival in cohorts of patients with PDA. Uridine is available in the tumour microenvironment, and we demonstrated that uridine-derived ribose is actively catabolized in tumours. Finally, UPP1 deletion restricted the ability of PDA cells to use uridine and blunted tumour growth in immunocompetent mouse models. Our data identify uridine utilization as an important compensatory metabolic process in nutrient-deprived PDA cells, suggesting a novel metabolic axis for PDA therapy.
A metabolite screen of pancreatic cells shows that pancreatic cancer cells metabolize uridine-derived ribose via UPP1, supporting redox balance, survival and proliferation.
Journal Article
Immunogenic potential of DNA vaccine candidate, ZyCoV-D against SARS-CoV-2 in animal models
Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), initially originated in China in year 2019 and spread rapidly across the globe within 5 months, causing over 96 million cases of infection and over 2 million deaths. Huge efforts were undertaken to bring the COVID-19 vaccines in clinical development, so that it can be made available at the earliest, if found to be efficacious in the trials. We developed a candidate vaccine ZyCoV-D comprising of a DNA plasmid vector carrying the gene encoding the spike protein (S) of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. The S protein of the virus includes the receptor binding domain (RBD), responsible for binding to the human angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE-2) receptor. The DNA plasmid construct was transformed into E. coli cells for large scale production. The immunogenicity potential of the plasmid DNA has been evaluated in mice, guinea pig, and rabbit models by intradermal route at 25, 100 and 500 µg dose. Based on the animal studies proof-of-concept has been established and preclinical toxicology (PCT) studies were conducted in rat and rabbit model. Preliminary animal study demonstrates that the candidate DNA vaccine induces antibody response including neutralizing antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 and also elicited Th-1 response as evidenced by elevated IFN-γ levels.
Journal Article
Inclusion of Pseudomonas fluorescens into soil-like fraction from municipal solid waste management park to enhance plastic biodegradation
Single-use facial masks which are predominantly made out of polypropylene is being used and littered in large quantities during post COVID-19 situation. Extensive researches on bioremediation of plastic pollution on soil led to the identification of numerous plastic degrading microorganisms. These organisms assimilate plastic polymers as their carbon source for synthesizing energy. Pseudomonas fluorescens (PF) is one among such microorganism which is being identified to biodegrade plastic polymers in controlled environment. The natural biodegradation of facial mask in soil-like fraction collected from municipal waste management site, bioaugmentation of the degradation process with Pseudomonas fluorescens, biostimulation of the soil with carbonless nutritional supplements and combined bioaugmentation with biostimulation process were studied in the present work. The study has been conducted both in controlled and in natural condition for a period of 12 months. The efficiency of the degradation was verified through FTIR analyses using carbonyl index, bond energy change, Loss in ignition (LOI) measurement along with CHNS analyses of residual substances. The analysis of results reported that carbonyl index (in terms of transmittance) was reduced to 46% of the control batch through the inclusion of PF in natural condition. The bioaugmented batch maintained in natural condition showed 33% reduction of LOI with respect to the control batch. The unburnt carbon content of the residual matter obtained from the furnace were analysed using CHNS analyser and indicated the lowest carbon content in the same bioaugmented batch. In this study, an attempt is made to verify the feasibility of enhancing biodegradation of single-use facial mask by bioaugmentation of soil-like fraction available in solid waste management park with Pseudomonas fluorescens under natural condition. CHNS and FTIR analysis assures the biodegradation of plastic waste in the soil-like fraction using Pseudomonas fluorescens under both controlled and natural environmental condition.
Journal Article
Theoretical studies on the mechanism, kinetics, and degradation pathways of auxin mimic herbicides by •OH radical in aqueous media
The kinetics and mechanism in the oxidative degradation pathways of the
•
OH radical reaction with seven auxin mimic aromatic acid-based herbicides were investigated with the help of various theoretical methods. Various global and local reactivity parameters such as ionization energy, molecular hardness, electrophilicity, condensed Fukui function, and total energies were determined to predict the reactivity of these herbicides towards the
•
OH radical. Geometry optimization was performed at the CAM–B3LYP/6–311 + G(d) level of theory including the solvent effect using the polarizable continuum model (PCM) incorporating the integral equation formalism (IEF) with water as solvent. Single point energies of various species were calculated at ROMP2/aug–cc–pVDZ level of theory for better accuracy. The
pK
a
values for these acid-based herbicides allow them to exist in the deprotonated form in aqueous condition. Hence, the calculations are also performed for the deprotonated form apart from the neutral species. The most reactive site for the
•
OH radical reaction is predicted and validated for neutral and deprotonated species. Once the most reactive site is known, the reaction rate constants are calculated theoretically by the traditional transition–state theory using one-dimensional tunneling corrections. The solvent effect on the reaction rate constant is implemented through Collins–Kimball formulations.
Journal Article
Forage Height and Above-Ground Biomass Estimation by Comparing UAV-Based Multispectral and RGB Imagery
Crop height and biomass are the two important phenotyping traits to screen forage population types at local and regional scales. This study aims to compare the performances of multispectral and RGB sensors onboard drones for quantitative retrievals of forage crop height and biomass at very high resolution. We acquired the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) multispectral images (MSIs) at 1.67 cm spatial resolution and visible data (RGB) at 0.31 cm resolution and measured the forage height and above-ground biomass over the alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) breeding trials in the Canadian Prairies. (1) For height estimation, the digital surface model (DSM) and digital terrain model (DTM) were extracted from MSI and RGB data, respectively. As the resolution of the DTM is five times less than that of the DSM, we applied an aggregation algorithm to the DSM to constrain the same spatial resolution between DSM and DTM. The difference between DSM and DTM was computed as the canopy height model (CHM), which was at 8.35 cm and 1.55 cm for MSI and RGB data, respectively. (2) For biomass estimation, the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) from MSI data and excess green (ExG) index from RGB data were analyzed and regressed in terms of ground measurements, leading to empirical models. The results indicate better performance of MSI for above-ground biomass (AGB) retrievals at 1.67 cm resolution and better performance of RGB data for canopy height retrievals at 1.55 cm. Although the retrieved height was well correlated with the ground measurements, a significant underestimation was observed. Thus, we developed a bias correction function to match the retrieval with the ground measurements. This study provides insight into the optimal selection of sensor for specific targeted vegetation growth traits in a forage crop.
Journal Article
Impact of Urbanization on the Simulation of Extreme Rainfall in the City of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
The city of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, is characterized by a hot and arid desert climate. On occasion, however, extreme precipitation events have led to flooding that caused extensive damage to human life and infrastructure. This study investigates the effect of incorporating an urban canopy model and urban land cover when simulating severe weather events over Jeddah using the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) Model at a convective-permitting scale (1.5-km resolution). Two experiments were conducted for 10 heavy rainfall events associated with the dominant large-scale patterns favoring convection over Jeddah: (i) an “urban” experiment that included the urban canopy model and modern-day land cover and (ii) a “desert” experiment that replaced the city area with its presettlement, natural land cover. The results suggest that urbanization plays an important role in modifying rainfall around city area. The urban experiment enhances the amount of rainfall by 26% on average over the Jeddah city area relative to the desert experiment in these extreme events. The changes in model-simulated precipitation are primarily tied to a nocturnal heat-island effect that modifies the planetary boundary layer and atmospheric instability of the convective events.
Journal Article
Factors that influence the plant use knowledge in the middle mountains of Nepal
An account of total of 58 plant species including 57 genera and 43 families was reported as useful in ethnomedicine from semi-structured questionnaire survey to the 76 participants of Kaski and Baitadi districts, Nepal. Fieldwork and participatory meetings were carried out between September 2017 and January 2018. A total of 419 emic use reports including 150 from Kaski and 269 from Baitadi were reported from 58 ethnomedicinal plant species. Each species was reported for 2–43 use reports and each participant recorded 1–12 use reports. About 25% (n = 104) use reports were associated with the treatment of digestive system disorders followed by 83 for general complaints. Of the species assessed, 53 species had IASc value < 0.25 and only five species had > 0.25. Species Swertia chirayita , Paris polyphylla , Bergenia ciliata , Valeriana jatamansi and Centella asiatica with > 0.25 IASc were found to be highly consented; however they were incongruent between the sample groups and sites. Divergent plant use knowledge specific to each sample district and group was corresponding to the heterogeneity of socio-economy and culture of the sites. Gender, ethnicity, household economy and food availability of the respondents were leading factors affecting the plant use knowledge. Despite the sites were relatively homogenous in eco-physiography, they possessed the distinct plant use knowledge, hinted that the socio-economic factors are more explanatory in plant use knowledge.
Journal Article
Tilted spin current generated by the collinear antiferromagnet ruthenium dioxide
Symmetry plays a central role in determining the polarization of spin currents induced by electric fields. It also influences how these spin currents generate spin-transfer torques in magnetic devices. Here we show that an out-of-plane damping-like torque can be generated in ruthenium dioxide (RuO
2
)/permalloy devices when the Néel vector of the collinear antiferromagnet RuO
2
is canted relative to the sample plane. By measuring characteristic changes in all three components of the electric-field-induced torque vector as a function of the angle of the electric field relative to the crystal axes, we find that the RuO
2
generates a spin current with a well-defined tilted spin orientation that is approximately parallel to the Néel vector. A maximum out-of-plane damping-like spin torque efficiency per unit electric field of 7 ± 1 × 10
3
Ω
−1
m
−1
is measured at room temperature. The observed angular dependence indicates that this is an antiferromagnetic spin Hall effect with symmetries that are distinct from other mechanisms of spin-current generation reported in antiferromagnetic and ferromagnetic materials.
The collinear antiferromagnet ruthenium dioxide (RuO
2
) can generate an electric-field-induced spin current with a well-defined tilted spin orientation that is approximately parallel to the Néel vector.
Journal Article