Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Technology, Mumbai

About: Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Technology, Mumbai is a based out in . It is known for research contribution in the topics: Computer science & Feature extraction. The organization has 676 authors who have published 535 publications receiving 2340 citations.

Nano-Biofungicides: Emerging Trend in Insect Pest Control

Abstract: Application of pesticides, which encompasses insecticides, fungicides, herbicides, nematicides etc., being used for plant defence mechanisms, embarrasses pest organisms. Although, pesticides eliminate the problem of pests, the use of synthetic pesticides has resulted in unsustainable management of our soil resources. This can be explained as due to the development of resistance by the pest organisms on continuous exposure to the pesticides, thus posing a challenge which leads to development of new classes of pesticides. These pesticides, apart from targeting the pest organisms, causes undesirable effects to all matrices of the environment-viz, soil, water, air, biota etc., Hence, the need for the development of ecofriendly pesticides becomes immediate inevitability. However, there is no one single method for efficient command on insect pests. Among the various classes of pesticides, fungicides form a major group of domineering plant diseases of fungal origin, either by inhibiting the growth of the fungi or by complete biocidal activity. The significance of fungicides is due to the fact that fungal diseases stands first in crop thrashing world wide. Currently, apart from the existing synthetic fungicides in the market, biofungicides occupies an unique position in controlling target diseases of fungal origin. An advanced technology in the field of biopesticides is the employment of engineered nanomaterials. These nanomaterials are more reactive can conjugate with biofungicides forming covalent bonds. This unique property of nanomaterials are exploited to manage the plant-pest chain. Therefore, this manuscript focus on nanobiofungicides as a powerful alternative for eco-friendly management of insect pests, in the coming decade.

Eugenol, α-pinene and β-caryophyllene from Plectranthus barbatus essential oil as eco-friendly larvicides against malaria, dengue and Japanese encephalitis mosquito vectors.

Abstract: Mosquito-borne diseases represent a deadly threat for millions of people worldwide. Eco-friendly mosquitocides are a priority. In Ayurvedic medicine, Plectranthus species have been used to treat heart disease, convulsions, spasmodic pain and painful urination. In this research, we evaluated the acute toxicity of essential oil from Plectranthus barbatus and its major constituents, against larvae of the malaria vector Anopheles subpictus, the dengue vector Aedes albopictus and the Japanese encephalitis vector Culex tritaeniorhynchus. The chemical composition of P. barbatus essential oil was analyzed by gas chromatography–mass spectroscopy. Nineteen components were identified. Major constituents were eugenol (31.12 %), α-pinene (19.38 %) and β-caryophyllene (18.42 %). Acute toxicity against early third-instar larvae of An. subpictus, Ae. albopictus and Cx. tritaeniorhynchus was investigated. The essential oil had a significant toxic effect against larvae of An. subpictus, Ae. albopictus and Cx. tritaeniorhynchus, with 50 % lethal concentration (LC50) values of 84.20, 87.25 and 94.34 μg/ml and 90 % lethal concentration (LC90) values of 165.25, 170.56 and 179.58 μg/ml, respectively. Concerning major constituents, eugenol, α-pinene and β-caryophyllene appeared to be most effective against An. subpictus (LC50 = 25.45, 32.09 and 41.66 μg/ml, respectively), followed by Ae. albopictus (LC50 = 28.14, 34.09 and 44.77 μg/ml, respectively) and Cx. tritaeniorhynchus (LC50 = 30.80, 36.75 and 48.17 μg/ml, respectively). Overall, the chance to use metabolites from P. barbatus essential oil against mosquito vectors seems promising, since they are effective at low doses and could be an advantageous alternative to build newer and safer mosquito control tools.

Classification of Brain Cancer using Artificial Neural Network

Abstract: A Brain Cancer Detection and Classification System has been designed and developed. The system uses computer based procedures to detect tumor blocks or lesions and classify the type of tumor using Artificial Neural Network in MRI images of different patients with Astrocytoma type of brain tumors. The image processing techniques such as histogram equalization, image segmentation, image enhancement, morphological operations and feature extraction have been developed for detection of the brain tumor in the MRI images of the cancer affected patients. The extraction of texture features in the detected tumor has been achieved by using Gray Level Co-occurrence Matrix (GLCM). These features are compared with the stored features in the Knowledge Base. Finally a Neuro Fuzzy Classifier has been developed to recognize different types of brain cancers. The whole system has been tested in two phases firstly Learning/Training Phase and secondly Recognition/Testing Phase. The known MRI images of affected brain cancer patients obtained from Radiology Department of Tata Memorial Hospital (TMH) were used to train the system. The unknown samples of brain cancer affected MRI images are also obtained from TMH and were used to test the system. The system was found efficient in classification of these samples and responds any abnormality.

Combinatorial nanocarrier based drug delivery approach for amalgamation of anti-tumor agents in breast cancer cells: an improved nanomedicine strategy.

Abstract: Combination therapy of multiple drugs through a single system is exhibiting high therapeutic effects. We investigate nanocarrier mediated inhibitory effects of topotecan (TPT) and quercetin (QT) on triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) (MDA-MB-231) and multi drug resistant (MDR) type breast cancer cells (MCF-7) with respect to cellular uptake efficiency and therapeutic mechanisms as in vitro and in vivo. The synthesized mesoporous silica nanoparticle (MSN) pores used for loading TPT; the outer of the nanoparticles was decorated with poly (acrylic acid) (PAA)-Chitosan (CS) as anionic inner-cationic outer layer respectively and conjugated with QT. Subsequently, grafting of arginine-glycine-aspartic acid (cRGD) peptide on the surface of nanocarrier (CPMSN) thwarted the uptake by normal cells, but facilitated their uptake in cancer cells through integrin receptor mediated endocytosis and the dissociation of nanocarriers due to the ability to degrade of CS and PAA in acidic pH, which enhance the intracellular release of drugs. Subsequently, the released drugs induce remarkable molecular activation as well as structural changes in tumor cell endoplasmic reticulum, nucleus and mitochondria that can trigger cell death. The valuable CPMSNs may open up new avenues in developing targeted therapeutic strategies to treat cancer through serving as an effective drug delivery podium.

A secure and trust based on-demand multipath routing scheme for self-organized mobile ad-hoc networks

Abstract: A mobile ad hoc network (MANET) is a self-configurable network connected by wireless links. This type of network is only suitable for provisional communication links as it is infrastructure-less and there is no centralized control. Providing QoS and security aware routing is a challenging task in this type of network due to dynamic topology and limited resources. The main purpose of secure and trust based on-demand multipath routing is to find trust based secure route from source to destination which will satisfy two or more end to end QoS constraints. In this paper, the standard ad hoc on-demand multi-path distance vector protocol is extended as the base routing protocol to evaluate this model. The proposed mesh based multipath routing scheme to discover all possible secure paths using secure adjacent position trust verification protocol and better link optimal path find by the Dolphin Echolocation Algorithm for efficient communication in MANET. The performance analysis and numerical results show that our proposed routing protocol produces better packet delivery ratio, reduced packet delay, reduced overheads and provide security against vulnerabilities and attacks.