Gaurav Sharma

Bio: Gaurav Sharma is an academic researcher from Shenzhen University. The author has contributed to research in topics: Medicine & Photocatalysis. The author has an hindex of 82, co-authored 1244 publications receiving 31482 citations. Previous affiliations of Gaurav Sharma include Northeastern University & D. E. Shaw & Co..

Floral diversity and limnological studies in and around Dholbaha dam (Punjab Shivalik, India)

Abstract: A detailed study on the floral diversity and limnological parameters were carried out at Dholbaha dam, Punjab, India during 2002-04. The study area has a moist deciduous forest surrounding it. A total of 82 plant species, including 15 algaes, 6 pteridophytes, 1 gymnosperm and 60 angiosperms (13 trees, 8 shrubs, 4 climbe rs, 1 parasite, 9 herbs, 10 grasses and 15 aquatic & wetland vegetation) were recorded during the study period.

Collection of damselflies and dragonflies (Odonata : Insecta) in National Pusa collection, division of entomology, Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi, India

Abstract: The Division of Entomology was established in 1905 as one of the five major Divisions of the Imperial Agricultural Research Institute located at Pusa, Bihar, it moved to New Delhi in 1936. Faunistic surveys led to the establishment of the National Pusa Collection (NPC), one of the largest collections of its kind in the world. This collection houses more than half a million specimens of which 0.1 million comprising about 17,500 species are authentically identified. In that, 273 species of Zygoptera/damselflies (125 species: 10 families), Anisozygoptera (1 species: 1 family) and Anisoptera/dragonflies (147 species: 5 families) belongs to 16 families of order Odonata were studied during 2006-07. All the insects collection and specimens are well preserved and maintained in the National Pusa Collection. This vast collection of odonates species in one place, will provide grand opportunity and help to professional odonatologists/ researchers in their studies/reference. Approximately 6,000 species and subspecies belonging to 630 genera in 28 families are known from all over the world (Tsuda, 1991), out of which 499 species and subspecies of Odonata under 139 genera in 17 families, are represented in India (Prasad and Varshney, 1995). They are among the dominant invertebrate predators in any ecosystem. Being predators both at larval and adult stages, they play a significant role in the food chain of forest ecosystem. In addition, their value as indicators of quality of the biotope is being increasingly recognized.

Pneumomediastinum and Cervical Soft Tissue Emphysema as an Important Vital Sign in Hanging: An Autopsy Based Prospective Study

Abstract: Objective: To determine the frequency and reliability of cervical soft tissue emphysema and pneumomediastinum in autopsy cases of hanging. Material and Method: We prospectively studied 30 autopsy cases of hanging including 18 males and 12 females with age ranging from 19 to 65 years. The control group consisted of age and sex matched 30 cases that died due to various natural pathologies. Along with this, a small group of five cases consisting of homicidal asphyxial deaths from ligature and manual strangulation was also studied for this purpose. Various other known vital phenomenon in hanging were also recorded in the form of hemorrhages in the subcutaneous tissues, laryngeal hyoid skeleton fractures, conjunctival and facial petechial hemorrhages, hemorrhages over clavicular origin of sternocleidomastoid muscle, carotid intimal tears (Amussat’s sign), Simon’s bleeding and hemorrhages in the respiratory auxiliary muscles of respiration. The dissection and preparation of the neck was done in layers. None of the cases underwent cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Signs of putrefaction were absent. Results: The soft tissue emphysema was seen in 22 cases (73.3%) of hanging as fine soapy air bubbles in the mediastinum that could be traced further in the superficial and deep tissues of the neck up to the level of ligature mark beyond which it was missing. Among two other groups, 3 controls depicted this finding while no traces of emphysema were seen in any of the strangulation cases. Conclusion: Cervical soft tissue emphysema along with pneumomediastinum is a frequent and important vital finding in cases of death due to hanging. Whenever possible, the vitality of the sign should be considered in conjunction with other known vital signs of hanging. However a proper care should be taken during dissection of cervical and thoracic structures to avoid artefactual introduction of air in the soft tissues. The interpretation must be based on sound medical grounds and observations.

Pain medicine as a career

Abstract: Pain is one of the most common causes of seeking medical care. In the day to day clinical practice, incidence of pain of some origin is next only to common cold. The average life span of an Indian has also increased and this population is vulnerable to chronic and cancer pain. Anaesthesiologists are well-versed with the art and science of treating pain and their role as pain physician is a natural extension of the professional work. 'Pain Medicine' is growing as a speciality. Last two decades have seen an explosive growth in the scientific study of pain and anaesthesiologists taking up pain medicine as a career. Postgraduate students can certainly adopt this super speciality. This article highlights the merits and depicts various aspects of 'pain medicine' as a career.

I and i

Abstract: There is, I think, something ethereal about i —the square root of minus one. I remember first hearing about it at school. It seemed an odd beast at that time—an intruder hovering on the edge of reality. Usually familiarity dulls this sense of the bizarre, but in the case of i it was the reverse: over the years the sense of its surreal nature intensified. It seemed that it was impossible to write mathematics that described the real world in …

SPAdes, a new genome assembly algorithm and its applications to single-cell sequencing ( 7th Annual SFAF Meeting, 2012)

Abstract: The lion's share of bacteria in various environments cannot be cloned in the laboratory and thus cannot be sequenced using existing technologies. A major goal of single-cell genomics is to complement gene-centric metagenomic data with whole-genome assemblies of uncultivated organisms. Assembly of single-cell data is challenging because of highly non-uniform read coverage as well as elevated levels of sequencing errors and chimeric reads. We describe SPAdes, a new assembler for both single-cell and standard (multicell) assembly, and demonstrate that it improves on the recently released E+V-SC assembler (specialized for single-cell data) and on popular assemblers Velvet and SoapDeNovo (for multicell data). SPAdes generates single-cell assemblies, providing information about genomes of uncultivatable bacteria that vastly exceeds what may be obtained via traditional metagenomics studies. SPAdes is available online ( http://bioinf.spbau.ru/spades ). It is distributed as open source software.