Showing papers by "Jadavpur University published in 2016"
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present a set of guidelines for the selection and interpretation of methods for use by investigators who aim to examine macro-autophagy and related processes, as well as for reviewers who need to provide realistic and reasonable critiques of papers that are focused on these processes.
Abstract: In 2008 we published the first set of guidelines for standardizing research in autophagy. Since then, research on this topic has continued to accelerate, and many new scientists have entered the field. Our knowledge base and relevant new technologies have also been expanding. Accordingly, it is important to update these guidelines for monitoring autophagy in different organisms. Various reviews have described the range of assays that have been used for this purpose. Nevertheless, there continues to be confusion regarding acceptable methods to measure autophagy, especially in multicellular eukaryotes.
For example, a key point that needs to be emphasized is that there is a difference between measurements that monitor the numbers or volume of autophagic elements (e.g., autophagosomes or autolysosomes) at any stage of the autophagic process versus those that measure flux through the autophagy pathway (i.e., the complete process including the amount and rate of cargo sequestered and degraded). In particular, a block in macroautophagy that results in autophagosome accumulation must be differentiated from stimuli that increase autophagic activity, defined as increased autophagy induction coupled with increased delivery to, and degradation within, lysosomes (in most higher eukaryotes and some protists such as Dictyostelium) or the vacuole (in plants and fungi). In other words, it is especially important that investigators new to the field understand that the appearance of more autophagosomes does not necessarily equate with more autophagy. In fact, in many cases, autophagosomes accumulate because of a block in trafficking to lysosomes without a concomitant change in autophagosome biogenesis, whereas an increase in autolysosomes may reflect a reduction in degradative activity. It is worth emphasizing here that lysosomal digestion is a stage of autophagy and evaluating its competence is a crucial part of the evaluation of autophagic flux, or complete autophagy.
Here, we present a set of guidelines for the selection and interpretation of methods for use by investigators who aim to examine macroautophagy and related processes, as well as for reviewers who need to provide realistic and reasonable critiques of papers that are focused on these processes. These guidelines are not meant to be a formulaic set of rules, because the appropriate assays depend in part on the question being asked and the system being used. In addition, we emphasize that no individual assay is guaranteed to be the most appropriate one in every situation, and we strongly recommend the use of multiple assays to monitor autophagy. Along these lines, because of the potential for pleiotropic effects due to blocking autophagy through genetic manipulation, it is imperative to target by gene knockout or RNA interference more than one autophagy-related protein. In addition, some individual Atg proteins, or groups of proteins, are involved in other cellular pathways implying that not all Atg proteins can be used as a specific marker for an autophagic process. In these guidelines, we consider these various methods of assessing autophagy and what information can, or cannot, be obtained from them. Finally, by discussing the merits and limits of particular assays, we hope to encourage technical innovation in the field.
5,187 citations
TL;DR: This paper shows the problems associated with the R2 based validation metrics commonly used in QSAR studies, and proposes a guideline for determining the quality of predictions based on MAE and its standard deviation computed from the test set predictions after omitting 5% high residual data points to obviate the influence of any rarely occurring high prediction errors.
527 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a new approach for multi-attribute group decision-making problems is proposed by extending the technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution to single-valued neutrosophic environment.
Abstract: A single-valued neutrosophic set is a special case of neutrosophic set. It has been proposed as a generalization of crisp sets, fuzzy sets, and intuitionistic fuzzy sets in order to deal with incomplete information. In this paper, a new approach for multi-attribute group decision-making problems is proposed by extending the technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution to single-valued neutrosophic environment. Ratings of alternative with respect to each attribute are considered as single-valued neutrosophic set that reflect the decision makers' opinion based on the provided information. Neutrosophic set characterized by three independent degrees namely truth-membership degree (T), indeterminacy-membership degree (I), and falsity-membership degree (F) is more capable to catch up incomplete information. Single-valued neutrosophic set-based weighted averaging operator is used to aggregate all the individual decision maker's opinion into one common opinion for rating the importance of criteria and alternatives. Finally, an illustrative example is provided in order to demonstrate its applicability and effectiveness of the proposed approach.
304 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a review of the recent developments of encapsulation technology by drying is presented, including spray drying, freeze drying, and fluidized bed coating, which can achieve excellent properties of protection, stabilization, solubility and controlled release of the bioactive compounds.
Abstract: Drying is an important process parameter for preservation of food components and it is widely applicable in food sectors. Nowadays, encapsulation by drying technology is of growing interest to provide many useful effects in food industry. Encapsulation of several drying techniques (spray drying, freeze drying, and fluidized bed coating) is a challenge to incorporate food component, antioxidant, colorant, cells and enzymes in powder form in food products. By drying, encapsulation achieves excellent properties of protection, stabilization, solubility and controlled release of the bioactive compounds. There are many reasons to apply encapsulation technology by drying, so recent developments of encapsulation are discussed in this review. Controlled release of food component at the right place at right time is a key functionality that can be provided by encapsulation. Drying improves effectiveness of food additives, broadens the application range of food ingredients, enhances shelf life of the food and lowers cost of the food products.
267 citations
TL;DR: This paper investigates the operation of a hybrid power system through a novel fuzzy control scheme employed and its parameters are tuned with a particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm augmented with two chaotic maps for achieving an improved performance.
Abstract: This paper investigates the operation of a hybrid power system through a novel fuzzy control scheme. The hybrid power system employs various autonomous generation systems like wind turbine, solar photovoltaic, diesel engine, fuel-cell, aqua electrolyzer etc. Other energy storage devices like the battery, flywheel and ultra-capacitor are also present in the network. A novel fractional order (FO) fuzzy control scheme is employed and its parameters are tuned with a particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm augmented with two chaotic maps for achieving an improved performance. This FO fuzzy controller shows better performance over the classical PID, and the integer order fuzzy PID controller in both linear and nonlinear operating regimes. The FO fuzzy controller also shows stronger robustness properties against system parameter variation and rate constraint nonlinearity, than that with the other controller structures. The robustness is a highly desirable property in such a scenario since many components of the hybrid power system may be switched on/off or may run at lower/higher power output, at different time instants.
251 citations
TL;DR: The data indicate that the microbial community structure and dynamics play an important role in the biochemistry of the fermentation of the beverage and a significantly higher D-saccharic acid-1,4-lactone content and caffeine degradation property compared to previously described Kombucha tea fermentations.
240 citations
TL;DR: The superior sensing properties in conjunction with mechanical flexibility, integrability, and robustness of nanofibers enabled real-time monitoring of sound waves as well as detection of different type of musical vibrations and ANG promises to use as an ultrasensitive pressure sensor, mechanical energy harvester, and effective power source for portable electronic and wearable devices.
Abstract: We report an efficient, low-cost in situ poled fabrication strategy to construct a large area, highly sensitive, flexible pressure sensor by electrospun Ce(3+) doped PVDF/graphene composite nanofibers. The entire device fabrication process is scalable and enabling to large-area integration. It can able to detect imparting pressure as low as 2 Pa with high level of sensitivity. Furthermore, Ce(3+)-doped PVDF/graphene nanofiber based ultrasensitive pressure sensors can also be used as an effective nanogenerator as it generating an output voltage of 11 V with a current density ∼6 nA/cm(2) upon repetitive application of mechanical stress that could lit up 10 blue light emitting diodes (LEDs) instantaneously. Furthermore, to use it in environmental random vibrations (such as wind flow, water fall, transportation of vehicles, etc.), nanogenerator is integrated with musical vibration that exhibits to power up three blue LEDs instantly that promises as an ultrasensitive acoustic nanogenerator (ANG). The superior sensing properties in conjunction with mechanical flexibility, integrability, and robustness of nanofibers enabled real-time monitoring of sound waves as well as detection of different type of musical vibrations. Thus, ANG promises to use as an ultrasensitive pressure sensor, mechanical energy harvester, and effective power source for portable electronic and wearable devices.
207 citations
TL;DR: Much research is required to find out new therapeutic agent/strategies for an adequate pharmacotherapy of diabetes nephropathy, where the involvement of multiple mechanisms makes it difficult to choose an optimum therapeutic agent.
195 citations
TL;DR: Reversible mRNA methylation adds another layer of regulation at the post‐transcriptional level in the gene expression programme of eukaryotes that finely sculpts a highly dynamic proteome in order to respond to diverse cues during cellular differentiation, immune tolerance, and neuronal signalling.
Abstract: N6-methyladenosine (m(6) A) modification in mRNA is extremely widespread, and functionally modulates the eukaryotic transcriptome to influence mRNA splicing, export, localization, translation, and stability. Methylated adenines are present in a large subset of mRNAs and long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs). Methylation is reversible, and this is accomplished by the orchestrated action of highly conserved methyltransferase (m(6) A writer) and demethylase (m(6) A eraser) enzymes to shape the cellular 'epitranscriptome'. The engraved 'methyl code' is subsequently decoded and executed by a group of m(6) A reader/effector components, which, in turn, govern the fate of the modified transcripts, thereby dictating their potential for translation. Reversible mRNA methylation thus adds another layer of regulation at the post-transcriptional level in the gene expression programme of eukaryotes that finely sculpts a highly dynamic proteome in order to respond to diverse cues during cellular differentiation, immune tolerance, and neuronal signalling.
167 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the microstructural and morphological evolution of fly ash geopolymer have been studied in relation to synthesis condition, and the variable parameters for synthesis were NaOH concentration (6, 8 and 10M) and curing temperature (27, 45 and 60°C).
157 citations
TL;DR: An efficient bio-piezoelectric nanogenerator (BPNG) is fabricated from the fish swim bladder (FSB), composed of well-aligned natural collagen nano-fibrils as discussed by the authors.
TL;DR: In this paper, a set of solutions describing the interior of a compact star under the theory of gravity which admits conformal motion is generated, and the physical validity and acceptability of the present model within the specified observational constraint in connection to a dozen of the compact star candidates are quite satisfactory.
Abstract: In the present paper we generate a set of solutions describing the interior of a compact star under $$f(R,\mathcal {T})$$
theory of gravity which admits conformal motion. An extension of general relativity, the $$f(R,\mathcal {T})$$
gravity is associated to Ricci scalar R and the trace of the energy-momentum tensor $$\mathcal {T}$$
. To handle the Einstein field equations in the form of differential equations of second order, first of all we adopt the Lie algebra with conformal Killing vectors (CKV) which enable one to get a solvable form of such equations and second we consider the equation of state (EOS) $$p=\omega \rho $$
with $$0<\omega <1$$
for the fluid distribution consisting of normal matter, $$\omega $$
being the EOS parameter. We therefore analytically explore several physical aspects of the model to represent behavior of the compact stars such as—energy conditions, TOV equation, stability of the system, Buchdahl condition, compactness and redshift. It is checked that the physical validity and the acceptability of the present model within the specified observational constraint in connection to a dozen of the compact star candidates are quite satisfactory.
TL;DR: Highly fluorescent nitrogen and phosphorus-doped carbon dots with a quantum yield 59% have been successfully synthesized from citric acid and di-ammonium hydrogen phosphate by single step hydrothermal method and applied for intercellular sensing of Fe(3+) ions as well as cancer cell imaging.
Abstract: Highly fluorescent nitrogen and phosphorus-doped carbon dots with a quantum yield 59% have been successfully synthesized from citric acid and di-ammonium hydrogen phosphate by single step hydrothermal method. The synthesized carbon dots have high solubility as well as stability in aqueous medium. The as-obtained carbon dots are well monodispersed with particle sizes 1.5-4 nm. Owing to a good tunable fluorescence property and biocompatibility, the carbon dots were applied for intercellular sensing of Fe(3+) ions as well as cancer cell imaging.
TL;DR: The study found that As exposed women with severe skin lesions had adversely affected their pregnancies and villagers urgently need provision of As-safe water for drinking and cooking, awareness about the danger of As toxicity, and nutritious food.
TL;DR: In this paper, the main objective of this paper is to review such models related to MSW generation using economic, socio-demographic or management-oriented data and identify possible factors that will help in selecting the crucial design options within the framework of mathematical modeling.
Abstract: Development of a Municipal Solid Waste Management (MSWM) plan is a complex process. As a foundation and prerequisite for efficient MSWM plan, quantification and prediction of Solid Waste (SW) generation is very much essentials. Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) prediction cannot be done directly and depends on so many factors. In actual practices, due to uncertainties and unavailability of sufficient data, modelling methods are needed for prediction of MSW generation. A number of researchers have predicted SW generation using various modeling methods. The main objective of this paper is to review such models related to MSW generation using economic, socio-demographic or management-orientated data and identify possible factors that will help in selecting the crucial design options within the framework of mathematical modeling. Five characteristic classification criteria, namely, modeling method, area covered, time series, independent variables and waste streams are focused in this review. The entire published models are diverse in nature for application from whole country to households. Successful modeling depends significantly on selection of waste stream. From the review and discussion of models the research aims to identify the limitations of previous models which will help in identifying the crucial design options within the framework of modeling. The study is concluded with a few fruitful suggestions.
TL;DR: In this article, an efficient flexible bio-piezoelectric nanogenerator (BPNG) is demonstrated, where "bio-waste" transparent fish scale (FSC), composed of self-assembled and ordered collagen nano-fibrils, serves as a self-poled PE component, exhibiting intrinsic PE strength of −5.0 pC/N.
Abstract: Energy harvesting performance of an efficient flexible bio-piezoelectric nanogenerator (BPNG) is demonstrated, where “bio-waste” transparent fish scale (FSC), composed of self-assembled and ordered collagen nano-fibrils, serves as a self-poled piezoelectric active component, exhibiting intrinsic piezoelectric strength of −5.0 pC/N. The dipolar orientation (∼19%) of the self-polarized FSC collagen is confirmed by the angular dependent near edge X-ray absorption fine structure spectroscopy. The BPNG is able to scavenge several types of ambient mechanical energies such as body movements, machine and sound vibrations, and wind flow which are abundant in living environment. Furthermore, as a power source, it generates the output voltage of 4 V, the short circuit current of 1.5 μA, and the maximum output power density of 1.14 μW/cm2 under repeated compressive normal stress of 0.17 MPa. In addition, serially integrated four BPNGs are able to produce enhanced output voltage of 14 V that turn on more than 50 blue light emitting diodes instantly, proving its essentiality as a sustainable green power source for next generation self-powered implantable medical devices as well as for personal portable electronics with reduced e-waste elements.
TL;DR: A flexible hybrid piezoelectric generator based on native cellulose microfiber and polydimethylsiloxane with multi wall carbon nanotubes as conducting filler is presented, suggesting that HPG may have greater potential in biomedical applications such as implantable power source in human body.
Abstract: A flexible hybrid piezoelectric generator (HPG) based on native cellulose microfiber (NCMF) and polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) with multi wall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) as conducting filler is presented where the further chemical treatment of the cellulose and traditional electrical poling steps for piezoelectric voltage generation is avoided. It delivers a high electrical throughput that is an open circuit voltage of ∼30 V and power density ∼9.0 μW/cm3 under repeated hand punching. We demonstrate to power up various portable electronic units by HPG. Because cellulose is a biocompatible material, suggesting that HPG may have greater potential in biomedical applications such as implantable power source in human body.
TL;DR: Pandey et al. as discussed by the authors presented a new anisotropic solution of Einstein's field equations for compact-star models and obtained the physical parameters like energy density, radial and transverse pressure.
Abstract: We have presented a new anisotropic solution of Einstein’s field equations for compact-star models. Einstein’s field equations are solved by using the class-one condition (S.N. Pandey, S.P. Sharma, Gen. Relativ. Gravit. 14, 113 (1982)). We constructed the expression for the anisotropy factor (
$ \Delta$
by using the pressure anisotropy condition and thereafter we obtained the physical parameters like energy density, radial and transverse pressure. These models parameters are well-behaved inside the star and satisfy all the required physical conditions. Also we observed the very interesting result that all physical parameters depend upon the anisotropy factor (
$ \Delta$
. The mass and radius of the present compact-star models are quite compatible with the observational astrophysical compact stellar objects like Her X-1, RXJ 1856-37, SAX J1808.4-3658(SS1), SAX J1808.4-3658(SS2).
TL;DR: An integrated algorithm for simultaneous feature selection (FS) and designing of diverse classifiers using a steady state multiobjective genetic programming (GP), which minimizes three objectives: 1) false positives (FPs); 2) false negatives (FNs); and 3) the number of leaf nodes in the tree.
Abstract: We present an integrated algorithm for simultaneous feature selection (FS) and designing of diverse classifiers using a steady state multiobjective genetic programming (GP), which minimizes three objectives: 1) false positives (FPs); 2) false negatives (FNs); and 3) the number of leaf nodes in the tree. Our method divides a ${c}$ -class problem into ${c}$ binary classification problems. It evolves ${c}$ sets of genetic programs to create ${c}$ ensembles. During mutation operation, our method exploits the fitness as well as unfitness of features, which dynamically change with generations with a view to using a set of highly relevant features with low redundancy. The classifiers of $i$ th class determine the net belongingness of an unknown data point to the $i$ th class using a weighted voting scheme, which makes use of the FP and FN mistakes made on the training data. We test our method on eight microarray and 11 text data sets with diverse number of classes (from 2 to 44), large number of features (from 2000 to 49 151), and high feature-to-sample ratio (from 1.03 to 273.1). We compare our method with a bi-objective GP scheme that does not use any FS and rule size reduction strategy. It depicts the effectiveness of the proposed FS and rule size reduction schemes. Furthermore, we compare our method with four classification methods in conjunction with six features selection algorithms and full feature set. Our scheme performs the best for 380 out of 474 combinations of data sets, algorithm and FS method.
TL;DR: The kinetics of curcumin self-degradation has been found to be fairly dependent on salt (NaCl) concentration, and the reversibility of the steady state fluorescence anisotropy ofCurcumin on heating and cooling conditions has been examined.
Abstract: In aqueous solution, curcumin is photodegradable (light sensitive), it is also self-degradable in the dark. In basic medium, the second process is enhanced. The dark process has been studied in water and also in a number of protic and aprotic solvents, and aqueous solutions of ionic liquids, pluronics, reverse micelles and salt. The kinetics of the process followed the first order rate law; a comparative as well as individual assessment of which has been made. The kinetics of curcumin self-degradation has been found to be fairly dependent on salt (NaCl) concentration. Curcumin molecules in solution may remain in the enol or keto-enol form. From the visible spectral analysis, an estimate of the proportions of these forms in aqueous ethanol medium has been made. The temperature effect on the visible and fluorescence spectra of curcumin has been also studied. The steady state fluorescence anisotropy of the photoactive curcumin has been evaluated in different solvent and solution media. The reversibility of the steady state fluorescence anisotropy of curcumin on heating and cooling conditions has been examined. The results herein presented are new and ought to be useful as the study of physicochemistry of curcumin has been gaining importance in the light of its biological importance.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors demonstrate a facile and scalable approach for accelerated removal of condensate on a vertical plate during condensation of water vapor in the presence of non-condensable gases.
TL;DR: Ytterbium (Yb3+) assisted porous polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) composite film comprising flexible ferroelectretic nanogenerator (FTNG) is highlighted where traditional poling treatment is completely avoided.
TL;DR: The proposed quasi-oppositional differential evolution (QODE) employs quasi-Oppositional based learning (QOBL) for population initialization and also for generation jumping to solve reactive power dispatch problem of a power system.
TL;DR: The simultaneous mechanical energy harvesting and visible-light detection capabilities of the PNG are attractive for futuristic self-powered optoelectronic smart sensors and devices.
Abstract: Plasmonic characteristics of graphene-silver (GAg) nanocomposite coupled with piezoelectric property of Poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) have been utilized to realize a new class of self-powered flexible plasmonic nanogenerator (PNG). A few layer graphene has been prepared in a facile and cost-effective method and GAg doped PVDF hybrid nanocomposite (PVGAg) is synthesized in a one-pot method. The PNG exhibits superior piezoelectric energy conversion efficiency (∼15%) under the dark condition. The plasmonic behavior of GAg nanocomposite makes the PNG highly responsive to the visible light illumination that leads to ∼50% change in piezo-voltage and ∼70% change in piezo-current, leading to enhanced energy conversion efficiency up to ∼46.6%. The piezoelectric throughput of PNG (e.g., capacitor charging performance) has been monitored during the detection of the different wavelengths of visible light illumination and showed maximum selectivity to the green light. The simultaneous mechanical energy harvesting a...
TL;DR: In this article, the authors simulated the air flow through fin-tube type heat exchangers with rectangular winglet pairs (RWP) of half the channel height as vortex generators (VG).
TL;DR: In this article, the friction and wear of aluminum matrix composites reinforced with TiB2 micro particles processed through the stir casting method rather than in-situ techniques adopted by earlier studies was considered.
Abstract: The present study considers friction and wear of aluminium matrix composites reinforced with TiB2 micro particles processed through the stir casting method rather than in-situ techniques adopted by earlier studies. Different weight percentages of TiB2 powders having average sizes of 5 - 40 micron were incorporated into molten LM4 aluminium matrix by stir casting method. The friction and wear behavior were studied for Al-TiB2 composites prepared according to specific dimensions by using a block-on-roller type multi-tribotester at room temperature. Normal loads of 25 - 75 N and rotational speed of 400 – 600 rpm were used for determination of friction and wear behavior. It is found that friction and wear decrease with increase in percentage of TiB2 reinforcement in the composite, while friction and wear increase with applied load and speed. Scanning electron microscopy studies the reveal presence of both abrasive and adhesive wear mechanisms with abrasive wear being predominant.
TL;DR: In arsenic and fluoride affected areas in India, crisis is not always having too little safe water to satisfy the authors' need, it is the crisis of managing the water.
TL;DR: A multi-objective region sampling methodology for isolated handwritten Bangla characters and digits recognition has been proposed and an AFS theory based fuzzy logic is utilized to develop a model for combining the pareto-optimal solutions from two multi- objective heuristics algorithms.
TL;DR: In this article, the synthesis and characterization of p-CuO/n-ZnO heterojunction nanocomposites and their application as a broad spectrum photocatalyst were reported.
TL;DR: The study highlights the potential of developing multifunctional upconversion NMOFs for simultaneous targeted cellular imaging with delivery of anticancer drugs.
Abstract: In this work, a new theranostic nanoplatform is developed to construct an anticancer drug carrier by integrating the distinct advantages of upconversion nanoparticles (UCNPs) and metal organic frameworks (MOFs) encapsulated with a targeting ligand. Here NaYF4:Yb3+,Er3+ is chosen as an upconversion nanoparticle for its high luminescence properties. Then, folic acid encapsulated Zeolitic Imidazolate Framework-8 (ZIF-8) is directly coated on UCNPs in one step to form a monodispersed core–shell structured nanocomposite (labeled as UCNPs@ZIF-8/FA). The synthesized upconversion nanoscale MOFs (NMOFs) are simultaneously used as a targeted anticancer drug carrier and in cellular imaging. The UCNP@ZIF-8/FA nanocomposites are found to be nontoxic towards the human cervix adenocarcinoma (HeLa) and mouse fibroblast (L929) cell lines via a cell viability assay. It is worthwhile noting that, the anticancer drug 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) is absorbed into UCNP@ZIF-8/FA nanocomposites (loading amount 685 mg g−1) and also pH responsive drug release is observed. The as-prepared 5-FU loaded UCNP@ZIF-8/FA nanocomposites exhibited greater cytotoxicity towards HeLa cells due to the folate receptor-mediated endocytosis. Our study highlights the potential of developing multifunctional upconversion NMOFs for simultaneous targeted cellular imaging with delivery of anticancer drugs.