Jawaharlal Nehru University

About: Jawaharlal Nehru University is a education organization based out in New Delhi, India. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Candida albicans. The organization has 6082 authors who have published 13455 publications receiving 245407 citations. The organization is also known as: JNU.

Geochemical processes and multivariate statistical analysis for the assessment of groundwater quality in the Swarnamukhi River basin, Andhra Pradesh, India

Abstract: With rapid increase of human population, swift growth of industries and intensive irrigation activities, groundwater quality is being increasingly endangered by agricultural chemicals and indiscriminate disposal of urban and industrial wastes. Hence, in water management, assessment of groundwater quality is as important as quantity especially in the arid and semi-arid regions. Evaluation of hydrogeochemical parameters and solute acquisition process controlling water chemical composition was studied by collecting 66 groundwater samples in pre-monsoon and post-monsoon seasons in the Swarnamukhi River basin, Andhra Pradesh, India. Geologically, the study area comprises granite and granitic gneisses, quartzite and alluvium. The total dissolved solids classification reveals that majority of the groundwater samples are desirable for drinking, and all are useful for irrigation purposes. Major ion chemistry reveals the ionic dominance pattern among cations and anions is in the order: Na > Ca > Mg > K and Cl > HCO3 > NO3 > SO4 > CO3 > F > PO4 in both the seasons. 85 and 89 % of samples are very hard water in pre- and post-monsoon, respectively which needs softening for domestic uses. 48 and 42 % and 34 and 41 % of the samples of the study area are found having sodium (200 mg/l) and nitrate content (50 mg/l) in pre- and post-monsoon seasons, respectively, more than permissible limits which is not good for human consumption. Natural and anthropogenic sources of the solutes have been categorized with the help of different ionic ratios, plots and correlation matrix. Potential salinity sources include deep saline upcoming and wastewater infiltration. Salinity mapping shows brackish to fresh brackish water predominance in the study area. The plot of major ion in the Piper diagram reveals that majority of samples belongs to mixed type followed by Na–Cl facies. Four principal components were extracted from chemical data to explain the major sources and processes responsible for chemical characteristics of groundwater. It shows that silicate weathering, agricultural runoff (fertilizer input), municipal wastewater infiltration play a vital role in the enrichment of ionic constituents. Average water quality index shows that majority of the samples are good to permissible for drinking purpose. Various irrigation indices show good to permissible use of groundwater in agricultural activities. As per the LSI and RSI values, groundwater of the area is considered very aggressive and substantial corrosion is possible.

Susceptibility Pattern and Molecular Type of Species-Specific Candida in Oropharyngeal Lesions of Indian Human Immunodeficiency Virus-Positive Patients

Abstract: was conducted over a period of 15 months. This study revealed that 75% of the HIV/AIDS patients had OPC. MIC testing revealed that 5% of the Candida isolates were fluconazole resistant. A correlation between CD4-T-cell counts and development of OPC in HIV/AIDS patients was also observed. Molecular typing of C. albicans isolates showed that all were genetically unrelated. Oropharyngeal candidiasis (OPC) was at the top of the list of opportunistic infections in Indian human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)/AIDS patients before the era of highly active antiretroviral therapy (1, 20, 27, 33). Although the incidences of opportunistic infection have been reduced around the globe by highly active antiretroviral therapy, the situation remains the same in most developing countries, including India, where patients can hardly afford this treatment. World Health Organization predictions have put India as one of the biggest repositories of HIV/AIDS patients in the coming decades (38, 39). In order to get an insight into the present scenario of OPC in an Indian hospital, in the present prospective study, an attempt was made to characterize the Candida species isolated from OPC over a period of 15 months in HIV/AIDS patients, mainly to know (i) the spectrum of isolates and (ii) its in vitro pattern of susceptibility to fluconazole (FLC), a common antifungal used for prophylaxis and treatment of OPC. In addition, the genetic relatedness of the isolates was also investigated to get some idea about the primary source of infection. All of the isolates included in this study were collected from 125 randomly selected HIV/AIDS patients. Whereas 100 patients showed clinical signs of OPC, 25 patients reported discomfort or pain during chewing. All of them were attending the clinic as outpatients of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India, from December 1999 to March 2001. These patients were attending the clinic for the first time and had no history of prior treatment with antifungal and antiretroviral drugs. Samples were collected with two sterile cotton swabs. One swab was used to detect the presence of any yeast by Gram staining, and the other was used to test growth on Sabouraud dextrose agar slants containing 2 g of gentamicin per ml and 0.5% cycloheximide. In the case of positive growth, yeast identification was done by conventional methods. The method used was the germ tube production test, which was done by inoculation of a single colony into 0.5 ml of horse serum, followed by incubation at 37°C for 2 h. Morphology testing for the presence of chlamydospores, pseudohyphae, true mycelium, and blastospore arrangement was done on corn meal agar. An enzymatic triphenyl tetrazolium chloride reduction test was performed in which each Candida species grows with a distinct texture and color. For further characterization, each isolate was subjected to carbohydrate assimilation and fermentation tests (2, 3). To differentiate Candida albicans from C. dubliniensis, all C. albicans isolates (confirmed by conventional methods) were subjected to growth at 45°C and a Tween 80 opacity test (13, 31). Out of 100 samples, 75 were found to be positive for Candida species infection by direct microscopy and culture. This value (75% positive) is lower than that reported (90%) in western populations (5, 10, 23, 35), and one can speculate that the Candida carriage rate in the Indian population is probably lower. Species identification revealed that C. albicans (86%) was the most predominant species; as reported earlier (20), a small percentage of other species has also been identified, i.e., C. parapsilosis (8%) and C. glabrata and C. krusei (3%). The most interesting fact is that C. tropicalis and C. dubliniensis were not isolated. This is a surprising observation in view of reports from developed countries, where non-C. albicans candidiasis is a major problem in HIV/AIDS patients (9, 11, 12, 18, 19). Antifungal drug prophylaxis is rarely practiced in India, and this may be the reason for this observation. Currently, the most widely used drug for treating candidiasis is FLC (16, 17, 24, 28, 36). In vitro FLC susceptibility testing of all of the isolates was done by microdilution susceptibility assay (22). More than 93% of the Candida isolates were found to be susceptible, with MICs of 8 g/ml; 2% were found to be dose-dependently susceptible, with MICs of 16 to 32 g/ml; and only 5% (two isolates of C. albicans and one each of C. glabrata and C. krusei) were found to be resistant, with MICs of 64 g/ml. The resistant strains (5%) were from patients who never took FLC. These resistant isolates can be described as primarily or intrinsically resistant strains. It is

Cross-Layer Energy Optimization for IoT Environments: Technical Advances and Opportunities

Abstract: Energy efficiency is a significant characteristic of battery-run devices such as sensors, RFID and mobile phones. In the present scenario, this is the most prominent requirement that must be served while introducing a communication protocol for an IoT environment. IoT network success and performance enhancement depend heavily on optimization of energy consumption that enhance the lifetime of IoT nodes and the network. In this context, this paper presents a comprehensive review on energy efficiency techniques used in IoT environments. The techniques proposed by researchers have been categorized based on five different layers of the energy architecture of IoT. These five layers are named as sensing, local processing and storage, network/communication, cloud processing and storage, and application. Specifically, the significance of energy efficiency in IoT environments is highlighted. A taxonomy is presented for the classification of related literature on energy efficient techniques in IoT environments. Following the taxonomy, a critical review of literature is performed focusing on major functional models, strengths and weaknesses. Open research challenges related to energy efficiency in IoT are identified as future research directions in the area. The survey should benefit IoT industry practitioners and researchers, in terms of augmenting the understanding of energy efficiency and its IoT-related trends and issues.

Isothiocyanates: a class of bioactive metabolites with chemopreventive potential

Abstract: In recent years, growing interest has been focused on the field of chemoprevention using natural therapies. The reason to turn toward “natural” remedies is associated with diverse beneficial pharmacological properties of natural compounds. Isothiocyanates (ITCs), the major pharmacological active constituents of cruciferous vegetables, are derived from the enzymatic hydrolysis of glucosinolates (GSLs). ITCs govern many intracellular targets including cytochrome P 450 (CYP) enzymes, proteins involved in antioxidant response, tumorigenesis, apoptosis, cell cycle, and metastasis. Investigation of the mechanisms of anti-cancer drugs has given important information regarding the use of natural chemopreventive compounds. This extensive review covers various molecular aspects of the interactions of ITCs with their recognized cellular targets involved in cancer treatment in order to enhance anti-tumor outcome with decreased toxicity to patients.