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Aldehyde dehydrogenase 2 (ALDH2) enzyme is required for alcohol detoxification. ALDH2 belongs to the aldehyde dehydrogenase family, the most important oxidative pathway of alcohol digestion. Two main liver isoforms of aldehyde dehydrogenase are cytosolic and mitochondrial. Approximately 50% of East Asians have ALDH2 deficiency (inactive mitochondrial isozyme), with lysine (K) for glutamate (E) substitution at position 487 (E487K). ALDH2 deficiency is also known as Alcohol Flushing Syndrome or Asian Glow. For people with an ALDH2 deficiency, their face turns red after drinking alcohol, and they are more susceptible to various diseases than ALDH2-normal people. This study performed a machine learning analysis of ALDH2 sequences of thirteen other species by comparing them with the human ALDH2 sequence. Based on the various quantitative metrics (physicochemical properties, secondary structure, Hurst exponent, Shannon entropy, and fractal dimension), these fourteen species were clustered into four clusters using the unsupervised machine learning (K-means clustering) algorithm. We also analyze these species using hierarchical clustering (agglomerative clustering) and draw the phylogenetic trees. The results show that Homo sapiens is more closely related to the Bos taurus and Sus scrofa species. Our experimental results suggest that the testing for discovering medicines may be done on these species before being tested in humans to alleviate the impacts of ALDH2 deficiency.

Abstract Dachigam-Dara catchment feeding the world-famous Dal Lake was assessed and evaluated for water quality and anthropogenic impacts using physico-chemical and biological data from 2016 to 2018. Seven sites belonging to Dachigam (DACZ) and Dara zone (DARZ) catchment, three sites from the confluence zone (WANZ), and two sites at the downstream end (TELZ) were selected characterized by varying degrees of anthropogenic pressures. Biological Monitoring Working Program, and Average Score Per Taxon at the upstream zones (DACZ, DARZ, and WANZ) recorded significantly higher scores with water quality indices falling within the good category than the downstream zone (TELZ). Taxa richness, and diversity indices of benthic macroinvertebrates recorded higher values at the upstream zones (DACZ, and DARZ), and confluence zone (WANZ), compared to the downstream zone (TELZ). Results revealed that phylum Arthropoda was most dominant contributing 37 invertebrate families (constituting 90% of the total macroinvertebrate community, including Crustacea and Arachnida) while phylum Mollusca and Annelida constitute 5% each. Macroinvertebrate families Baetidae, Erpobdellidae, Gammaridae, Chironomidae, and Heptagenidae contributed significantly to the similarity and dissimilarity between the sampling zones. The best subset of environmental variables (BIOENV) test revealed that the distribution of benthic macroinvertebrate assemblage in the Dachigam-Dara catchment is driven by pH, electrical conductivity, dissolved oxygen, and phosphate phosphorous. The upstream zones (DACZ, and DARZ) and confluence zone (WANZ), compared to the downstream zone (TELZ) suggest progressive shift of pollution sensitive macroinvertebrate taxa to pollution tolerant taxa in response to anthropogenic activities in the stream ecosystem over time.

Coliform pollution for the last three decades in major river systems of the world has resulted in far ranging impacts on water quality. In this context, the present study aimed to assess the levels of indicator bacteria like total Coliform (TC), fecal Coliform (FC) and fecal Streptococcus (FS) in major watersheds of Kashmir valley. Sampling was carried out for a period of 2 years (summer 2017 to spring 2019) along several upstream, midstream and downstream reaches of Jhelum River Basin (JRB), while analysis was carried out by multiple tube fermentation technique involving Most Probable Number (MPN). Major highlights of the results revealed high levels of TC, FC and FS among downstream sites with pronounced seasonal variations between summer and winter. TC was highest at all the reaches and during all the seasons followed by FC and FS. Non-metric multidimensional scaling (NMDS) revealed more variation in Coliform count among reaches as compared to seasons. Mantle test revealed that environmental factors like observable environmental pressure (OEP) ( r : 0.235, p < 0.0001), DO ( r : 0.2815, p < 0.0001) and temperature ( r : 0.04419, p = 0.0104) had prominent effect on Coliform distribution as compared to geographical factors. The study thus highlights the prevalence of Coliform bacteria along JRB resulting from fecal sources. Due to growing urbanization and lack of adequate sewage treatment facilities, there is an increase in the levels of Coliform bacteria along downstream reaches especially those residing within lower Jhelum and Dara watershed, which could jeopardize water quality and public health.

This study investigates the impact of environmental factors on benthic Chlorophyll-a (Chl-a) concentrations in river ecosystems, focusing on the Jhelum River Basin (JRB). It assesses the influence of hydro-chemical variables on Chl-a levels and trophic status across 59 sites spanning upstream, midstream, and downstream sections. The trophic status based on the mean and maximum concentration of Chl-a at various sites reveals the oligotrophic (76%) to mesotrophic (24%) nature of the JRB. Whereas, the concentration of total phosphorus (TP) revealed the mesotrophic (42%) to eutrophic (58%) nature of the JRB. Hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) of data sets resulted in the formation of three distinct clusters. Cluster I was dominated by upstream sites (72%), cluster II was dominated by mid and downstream sites (71%), while cluster III was represented by main river and downstream sites (84%). Multiple linear regression (MLR) model ( p˂ 0.05) revealed TP (30-554 µg/l) and dissolved oxygen (DO) (5–13 mg/l) as major parameters influencing Chl-a content. MLR also highlighted that ammoniacal nitrogen (NH 3 –N), nitrite nitrogen (NO 2 -N), electrical conductivity (EC), current velocity (V), discharge (D) and water temperature have significant relation ( p˂ 0.05) with Chl-a concentration but differ seasonally. Water quality index (WQI) on the basis of NH 3 -N, TP, DO, Chl-a and Faecal Coliform (FC) highlighted excellent to good for majority of upstream sites and poor to water unsuitable for all downstream sites respectively. The study offers clear signs of nutrient enrichment and increasing algal biomass downstream of JRB.

High altitude lakes (HALs) of Kashmir Himalaya are the important ecosystems in the mountain ecology of the broader Hindukush Himalayan region. This article provides a comprehensive information about the plankton (phytoplankton and periphyton) assemblages, water quality (WQ), bathymetry, morphometry, and land use land cover (LULC) of some select high altitude mountain lakes of Kashmir Himalaya. LULC analysis revealed that the catchment of the lakes spread over an area of about 16179 ha, is covered by different land cover types dominated by pastures (50.8%), followed by barren rocky (32.6%), snow and glaciers (11.9%), lakes (2.5%), forest (2%), and streams (0.2%). Bathymetric and morphometric analysis revealed that the Gangbal Lake is the deepest (84 m) and largest (162.4 ha) among the investigated lakes. The water quality index revealed that all the HALs have the excellent water quality category. Statistical analysis (Wilk’s λ) depicted that nitrate-nitrogen (NO 3 − -N), nitrite nitrogen (NO 2 − -N), ammoniacal nitrogen (NH 3 -N), total phosphorus (TP), and magnesium hardness (Mg-H) are responsible for major variability between all HALs sites. The cations followed the order of Ca 2+ > Mg 2+ > Na + > K + while as anions followed the order as HCO 3− > Cl − > SO4 2− . Algal composition (phytoplankton and periphyton) assessment revealed the presence of 61 taxa belonging to Bacillariophyceae (45), Chlorophyceae (14), Cyanophyceae (1), and Xanthophyceae (1). The higher dominance of Bacillariophyceae indicates oligotrophic nature of the lakes. Canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) highlighted the role of various water quality parameters like pH, EC, and TDS on the composition of phytoplankton and periphyton species among the lakes. The present study therefore generated a baseline database for some of the HALs of Kashmir Himalaya that can act as a precursor for more research on future changes in the lake ecosystems of the region.