Evaluation of exercise performance is an integral component of every medical history. Currently, ... more Evaluation of exercise performance is an integral component of every medical history. Currently, it is accomplished by means of subjective history taking. Routine exercise testing adds very little information; however, the addition of gas analysis (or cardio pulmonary exercise [CPX] testing) provides the crucial objective assessment by analyzing breath-by-breath oxygen uptake, carbon dioxide production, and anaerobic threshold (AT). Cardiac and pulmonary causes can be reliably differentiated, e.g., cardiac patients cross AT and attain VO2max, use less than 50% of maximal voluntary ventilation (MVV) at peak exercise, and do not develop desaturation. Pulmonary patients, on the contrary, fail to cross AT or achieve VO2max, utilize more than 70% of MVV at peak exercise, and develop arterial desaturation. In the current cost-conscious health care system, CPX proves to be a better cost-effective test because it is objective and more directly targeted to the issues than the conventional exercise test. CPX provides an important link between the disease process and its effect on exercise performance, which is crucial to a comprehensive clinical evaluation, diagnosis, prognosis, exercise prescription, and follow-up after medical or surgical intervention in patients with various diseases causing cardiopulmonary dysfunction.
Phytoplasma, plant pathogenic Mollicutes that have a trans-kingdom life cycle, are insect transmi... more Phytoplasma, plant pathogenic Mollicutes that have a trans-kingdom life cycle, are insect transmittedand have been found to be associated with yield affecting traits in a large number of taxa. Many peculiar symptoms observed in the host taxa are often results of dramatic alterations in the normal development program that are generally controlled at the meristematic regions located in the shoot apices. Phytoplasma being vasculature limited are thus able to bring about genetic reprogramming in the regions of host plant that are far removed from their natural niche namely sieve elements of the phloem. Several proteins secreted by phytoplasma in the host plants have been identified and termed as effector molecules namely SAP54, SAP11, TENGU, SAP21 etc. that enable the colonisation, survival, spread of phytoplasma and also bring about dramatic alterations in the host plant. Nevertheless, the mechanisms underlying these peculiar phenomena are far from understood and remain a challenging a...
Alopecia areata an autoimmune disease of the hair follicle is most efficiently cured by contact s... more Alopecia areata an autoimmune disease of the hair follicle is most efficiently cured by contact sensitizers (Delayed type hypersenstivity). The curative effect is the expansion of myeloid derived suppressor cells which can suppress the autoreactive T cells and induce apoptosis via mitochondrial pathway. Another aspect is by hindrance of the antigen presentation to lymphocytes. CD44 with CD49d plays an important role in homing of lymphocytes and blockade of these can help cure Alopecia areata.
The human influences on biodiversity and ecosystem functioning have deleterious impacts resulting... more The human influences on biodiversity and ecosystem functioning have deleterious impacts resulting in significant changes in land and resource sustainability. Ecological restoration is the process of overcoming damage caused by humans to the diversity and dynamics of an ecosystem. This can be done more successfully using artificial interventions if they mimic and accelerate the natural processes. A holistic approach is required to mitigate the impact of anthropogenic activities such as mining operations on the natural habitats. Purnapani, a valley situated in Sundargarh district of Odisha had an abandoned open cast limestone and dolomite quarry; without any restoration efforts for the last about 40 years. In order to initiate an effective restoration effort, community analysis was conducted to generate a base line status of the degraded abandoned site. Two sites were selected viz., a 40 years old abandoned overburden dump and a nearby stabilized area as a reference site. The analysis of community structure revealed a general decrease in species richness with an increase in disturbance. Species composition markedly varied among both the sites. Invasive plants like Chromalaena odorata (L.) R.M.King & H.Rob., Parthenium hysterophorus L. and Ludwigia octovalvis L. sp. were the dominant taxa to invade the over-burdened site. Also, it was evident that Margalef and Menhinick indices along with rank-abundance curve were the useful indicators for detecting and quantifying the extent of damage to the disturbed site.
Purpose of reviewTo provide neurologists with an update on the proposed mechanisms of action (MOA... more Purpose of reviewTo provide neurologists with an update on the proposed mechanisms of action (MOAs) of disease-modifying therapies (DMTs) for the treatment of relapsing MS, and their effect on peripheral blood leukocytes, in order to inform treatment decisions.Recent findingsDMTs have vastly differing MOAs, including effects on peripheral blood leukocyte counts, particularly lymphocytes. The clinical implications of changes in lymphocyte counts need to be understood in the context of the underlying MOAs of each respective DMT, with treatment tailored to individual patient needs.SummaryDMTs can alter lymphocyte counts, subsets, activation, and distribution, and thus can influence immune surveillance. Serial monitoring of total leukocytes and absolute lymphocyte counts (ALCs) is advisable in patients receiving DMTs. ALCs should be interpreted regarding expected immunologic changes and individual patient characteristics. Any decision to switch DMTs should consider these factors, along ...
The sesame crop is highly susceptible to infection by phytoplasmas, a class of cell wall-less pla... more The sesame crop is highly susceptible to infection by phytoplasmas, a class of cell wall-less plant pathogenic bacteria (Mollicutes), which is responsible for widespread loss of sesame crops in both North and South India in recent years. Therefore, characterizing the pathogen population is required before the control measures can be devised and implemented. With molecular tools based on nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays, sequencing, restriction profiling, and phylogenetic analysis, phyllody-affected sesame plants collected from nine different states of India were found to be infected by phytoplasmas belonging to two 16Sr groups, namely 16SrI and II. Two subgroups of phytoplasma −16SrI-B and 16SrII-D— were prevalent in symptomatic sesame samples collected from North India, whereas phytoplasma of only the 16SrII group was found in South India. However, the latter samples were diverse, belonging to three different subgroups (16SrII-A, II-C, and II-D). In addition, yearly phyllody-affected sesame samples from Delhi for 4 consecutive years (2007–2010) showed variation in the infecting phytoplasma: the subgroup 16SrII-D was detected in samples collected in 2007, and 16SrI-B was predominantly found in the samples collected in the subsequent years. The study also provides molecular evidence for the association between 16SrI-B phytoplasma and different symptoms in sesame crops such as fasciation, little leaf, and stunting. This is the first study to report the association of the phytoplasma subgroups 16SrII-A and II-D with sesame crops in India. This study provides a baseline for designing specific detection and molecular analysis strategies for quarantine purposes. It also highlights the need for examining the dynamics of seasonal or location-specific variation in vector populations to determine the pattern of infection outbreaks.
Sesame (Sesamum indicum L.) economically valued worldwide for its seeds and seed oil has been des... more Sesame (Sesamum indicum L.) economically valued worldwide for its seeds and seed oil has been designated as ‘queen of oilseeds’. Antioxidants such as lignans and their derivatives prevent oxidation of the oil and provide longer shelf life making sesame oil one of the most stable oils. Due to the presence of several bioactive compounds it has been often listed among the world’s healthiest foods. However, the attempts to improve sesame crop remain scanty resulting in lack of superior genotypes having high yield potential and resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses. Further, traits such as indeterminate growth habit and capsule shattering are also responsible for its reduced yields making it less favorable for large-scale farming. Wild relatives of sesame are important reservoir of useful genes and need to be exploited for sesame improvement. These wild species exhibit crossability with the cultivated gene pool to varying extents and can be utilized for transferring the desirable traits using conventional breeding approaches assisted with modern techniques. Extensive research efforts are therefore desirable in several aspects such as identification of different gene pools of sesame genetic resources, phylogenetic relationships, assessment of genetic diversity in the cultivated gene pool, etc. Molecular approaches to develop genetic map, hybrid testing, identification of core collections, DNA fingerprinting are already underway. Biotechnological interventions required for the successful production of transgenic plants have also been initiated. Recently, most of the genes and biosynthetic pathways involved in oil and other useful components of sesame seeds have been unraveled. An integrated approach based on conventional and modern tools for identification and utilization of useful genes followed by their successful incorporation in the cultivated gene pool is desirable for large-scale cultivation of sesame, to meet the increasing demands of healthy food crops due to the ever increasing heath awareness world over.
2015 1st International Conference on Next Generation Computing Technologies (NGCT), 2015
Landslide disasters tend to occur suddenly at any point in time and causes huge damages to human ... more Landslide disasters tend to occur suddenly at any point in time and causes huge damages to human life and resources. Constant monitoring of mountainous regions and an efficient prediction system is a necessity for saving many lives. Uttarkashi district of the Uttarakhand state has been chosen as the region of study as the place tends to receive frequent landslides. Past data of landslides and its causes has been collected and a model for analyzing and predicting landslide susceptibility is been proposed. Dynamic maps are created with the use of QGIS(open source) software. Real time data of rainfall levels must be captured by the sensors installed at the locations. The system has been trained to predict future possibility of any occurrence of landslide by applying machine learning techniques. K-means clustering algorithm is used for creating clusters defining different rainfall levels and ID3 decision tree learning classification is applied to predict alert level in a susceptible area. Alerts are generated on appearance of any risks. System administrators are able to view alerts in the map and perform other related queries.
Proceedings of 3rd International Conference on Reliability, Infocom Technologies and Optimization, 2014
ABSTRACT Accurate Load Forecasting is crucial in Power System operation and planning both for Reg... more ABSTRACT Accurate Load Forecasting is crucial in Power System operation and planning both for Regulated and De-regulated electricity markets. Short Term Load Fore-casting (STLF) is a tough job to handle because of the nonlinear behaviors of the electrical loads, climatic conditions. There is always a need for the sophisticated methods for STLF due to its complexity. This paper presented three models with neural network for both hour basis and day ahead prediction. The past load data as well as the weather data were collected and clustering technique is used for cleansing the data. The whole purified data is divided into three modules: Training data, Testing data and Validation data. The three NN models proposed were trained and tested by using the corresponding datasets. The presented models predicted the electric load, both daily and hourly, with high accuracy. The models proposed in this paper have been simulated using data obtained from State Load Dispatch Centre, Dehradun for the duration August 2011 to March 2013. The models are tested, results are compared with the actual load and Mean Absolute Percentage Error (MAPE) will be calculated.
... Recommendations of the second Indo-US health summit on prevention and control of cardiovascul... more ... Recommendations of the second Indo-US health summit on prevention and control of cardiovascular disease among Asian Indians. Enas EA, Singh V, Munjal YP, Gupta R, Patel KC, Bhandari S, Agarwal AK, Joshi SR, Anoop M, Prabhakaran D, Shah B, Reddy S, Sharma B ...
Sesame plants (Sesamum indicum) showing from severe yellowing disease were observed during the pe... more Sesame plants (Sesamum indicum) showing from severe yellowing disease were observed during the period of July to September 2010 in North Delhi, India. To investigate the associated pathogen genomic DNA was used in PCR assays with primers specific for spiroplasma abc protein b-subunit (designed in the current study) and for 16S rDNA of phytoplasma. Affected plants tested positive for both spiroplasma and phytoplasma in 84% cases by showing the presence of ~0.5kb and ~1.25kb amplicon, respectively. Sequence analysis showed 99% matches with Spiroplasma citri and ‘Candidatus Phytoplasma asteris’ members. Phylogenetic reconstruction performed using MEGA version 4.1 confirmed the above classification. So far, this is the first report of coexistence of these two mollicutes in sesame from the Asiatic region.
Evaluation of exercise performance is an integral component of every medical history. Currently, ... more Evaluation of exercise performance is an integral component of every medical history. Currently, it is accomplished by means of subjective history taking. Routine exercise testing adds very little information; however, the addition of gas analysis (or cardio pulmonary exercise [CPX] testing) provides the crucial objective assessment by analyzing breath-by-breath oxygen uptake, carbon dioxide production, and anaerobic threshold (AT). Cardiac and pulmonary causes can be reliably differentiated, e.g., cardiac patients cross AT and attain VO2max, use less than 50% of maximal voluntary ventilation (MVV) at peak exercise, and do not develop desaturation. Pulmonary patients, on the contrary, fail to cross AT or achieve VO2max, utilize more than 70% of MVV at peak exercise, and develop arterial desaturation. In the current cost-conscious health care system, CPX proves to be a better cost-effective test because it is objective and more directly targeted to the issues than the conventional exercise test. CPX provides an important link between the disease process and its effect on exercise performance, which is crucial to a comprehensive clinical evaluation, diagnosis, prognosis, exercise prescription, and follow-up after medical or surgical intervention in patients with various diseases causing cardiopulmonary dysfunction.
Phytoplasma, plant pathogenic Mollicutes that have a trans-kingdom life cycle, are insect transmi... more Phytoplasma, plant pathogenic Mollicutes that have a trans-kingdom life cycle, are insect transmittedand have been found to be associated with yield affecting traits in a large number of taxa. Many peculiar symptoms observed in the host taxa are often results of dramatic alterations in the normal development program that are generally controlled at the meristematic regions located in the shoot apices. Phytoplasma being vasculature limited are thus able to bring about genetic reprogramming in the regions of host plant that are far removed from their natural niche namely sieve elements of the phloem. Several proteins secreted by phytoplasma in the host plants have been identified and termed as effector molecules namely SAP54, SAP11, TENGU, SAP21 etc. that enable the colonisation, survival, spread of phytoplasma and also bring about dramatic alterations in the host plant. Nevertheless, the mechanisms underlying these peculiar phenomena are far from understood and remain a challenging a...
Alopecia areata an autoimmune disease of the hair follicle is most efficiently cured by contact s... more Alopecia areata an autoimmune disease of the hair follicle is most efficiently cured by contact sensitizers (Delayed type hypersenstivity). The curative effect is the expansion of myeloid derived suppressor cells which can suppress the autoreactive T cells and induce apoptosis via mitochondrial pathway. Another aspect is by hindrance of the antigen presentation to lymphocytes. CD44 with CD49d plays an important role in homing of lymphocytes and blockade of these can help cure Alopecia areata.
The human influences on biodiversity and ecosystem functioning have deleterious impacts resulting... more The human influences on biodiversity and ecosystem functioning have deleterious impacts resulting in significant changes in land and resource sustainability. Ecological restoration is the process of overcoming damage caused by humans to the diversity and dynamics of an ecosystem. This can be done more successfully using artificial interventions if they mimic and accelerate the natural processes. A holistic approach is required to mitigate the impact of anthropogenic activities such as mining operations on the natural habitats. Purnapani, a valley situated in Sundargarh district of Odisha had an abandoned open cast limestone and dolomite quarry; without any restoration efforts for the last about 40 years. In order to initiate an effective restoration effort, community analysis was conducted to generate a base line status of the degraded abandoned site. Two sites were selected viz., a 40 years old abandoned overburden dump and a nearby stabilized area as a reference site. The analysis of community structure revealed a general decrease in species richness with an increase in disturbance. Species composition markedly varied among both the sites. Invasive plants like Chromalaena odorata (L.) R.M.King & H.Rob., Parthenium hysterophorus L. and Ludwigia octovalvis L. sp. were the dominant taxa to invade the over-burdened site. Also, it was evident that Margalef and Menhinick indices along with rank-abundance curve were the useful indicators for detecting and quantifying the extent of damage to the disturbed site.
Purpose of reviewTo provide neurologists with an update on the proposed mechanisms of action (MOA... more Purpose of reviewTo provide neurologists with an update on the proposed mechanisms of action (MOAs) of disease-modifying therapies (DMTs) for the treatment of relapsing MS, and their effect on peripheral blood leukocytes, in order to inform treatment decisions.Recent findingsDMTs have vastly differing MOAs, including effects on peripheral blood leukocyte counts, particularly lymphocytes. The clinical implications of changes in lymphocyte counts need to be understood in the context of the underlying MOAs of each respective DMT, with treatment tailored to individual patient needs.SummaryDMTs can alter lymphocyte counts, subsets, activation, and distribution, and thus can influence immune surveillance. Serial monitoring of total leukocytes and absolute lymphocyte counts (ALCs) is advisable in patients receiving DMTs. ALCs should be interpreted regarding expected immunologic changes and individual patient characteristics. Any decision to switch DMTs should consider these factors, along ...
The sesame crop is highly susceptible to infection by phytoplasmas, a class of cell wall-less pla... more The sesame crop is highly susceptible to infection by phytoplasmas, a class of cell wall-less plant pathogenic bacteria (Mollicutes), which is responsible for widespread loss of sesame crops in both North and South India in recent years. Therefore, characterizing the pathogen population is required before the control measures can be devised and implemented. With molecular tools based on nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays, sequencing, restriction profiling, and phylogenetic analysis, phyllody-affected sesame plants collected from nine different states of India were found to be infected by phytoplasmas belonging to two 16Sr groups, namely 16SrI and II. Two subgroups of phytoplasma −16SrI-B and 16SrII-D— were prevalent in symptomatic sesame samples collected from North India, whereas phytoplasma of only the 16SrII group was found in South India. However, the latter samples were diverse, belonging to three different subgroups (16SrII-A, II-C, and II-D). In addition, yearly phyllody-affected sesame samples from Delhi for 4 consecutive years (2007–2010) showed variation in the infecting phytoplasma: the subgroup 16SrII-D was detected in samples collected in 2007, and 16SrI-B was predominantly found in the samples collected in the subsequent years. The study also provides molecular evidence for the association between 16SrI-B phytoplasma and different symptoms in sesame crops such as fasciation, little leaf, and stunting. This is the first study to report the association of the phytoplasma subgroups 16SrII-A and II-D with sesame crops in India. This study provides a baseline for designing specific detection and molecular analysis strategies for quarantine purposes. It also highlights the need for examining the dynamics of seasonal or location-specific variation in vector populations to determine the pattern of infection outbreaks.
Sesame (Sesamum indicum L.) economically valued worldwide for its seeds and seed oil has been des... more Sesame (Sesamum indicum L.) economically valued worldwide for its seeds and seed oil has been designated as ‘queen of oilseeds’. Antioxidants such as lignans and their derivatives prevent oxidation of the oil and provide longer shelf life making sesame oil one of the most stable oils. Due to the presence of several bioactive compounds it has been often listed among the world’s healthiest foods. However, the attempts to improve sesame crop remain scanty resulting in lack of superior genotypes having high yield potential and resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses. Further, traits such as indeterminate growth habit and capsule shattering are also responsible for its reduced yields making it less favorable for large-scale farming. Wild relatives of sesame are important reservoir of useful genes and need to be exploited for sesame improvement. These wild species exhibit crossability with the cultivated gene pool to varying extents and can be utilized for transferring the desirable traits using conventional breeding approaches assisted with modern techniques. Extensive research efforts are therefore desirable in several aspects such as identification of different gene pools of sesame genetic resources, phylogenetic relationships, assessment of genetic diversity in the cultivated gene pool, etc. Molecular approaches to develop genetic map, hybrid testing, identification of core collections, DNA fingerprinting are already underway. Biotechnological interventions required for the successful production of transgenic plants have also been initiated. Recently, most of the genes and biosynthetic pathways involved in oil and other useful components of sesame seeds have been unraveled. An integrated approach based on conventional and modern tools for identification and utilization of useful genes followed by their successful incorporation in the cultivated gene pool is desirable for large-scale cultivation of sesame, to meet the increasing demands of healthy food crops due to the ever increasing heath awareness world over.
2015 1st International Conference on Next Generation Computing Technologies (NGCT), 2015
Landslide disasters tend to occur suddenly at any point in time and causes huge damages to human ... more Landslide disasters tend to occur suddenly at any point in time and causes huge damages to human life and resources. Constant monitoring of mountainous regions and an efficient prediction system is a necessity for saving many lives. Uttarkashi district of the Uttarakhand state has been chosen as the region of study as the place tends to receive frequent landslides. Past data of landslides and its causes has been collected and a model for analyzing and predicting landslide susceptibility is been proposed. Dynamic maps are created with the use of QGIS(open source) software. Real time data of rainfall levels must be captured by the sensors installed at the locations. The system has been trained to predict future possibility of any occurrence of landslide by applying machine learning techniques. K-means clustering algorithm is used for creating clusters defining different rainfall levels and ID3 decision tree learning classification is applied to predict alert level in a susceptible area. Alerts are generated on appearance of any risks. System administrators are able to view alerts in the map and perform other related queries.
Proceedings of 3rd International Conference on Reliability, Infocom Technologies and Optimization, 2014
ABSTRACT Accurate Load Forecasting is crucial in Power System operation and planning both for Reg... more ABSTRACT Accurate Load Forecasting is crucial in Power System operation and planning both for Regulated and De-regulated electricity markets. Short Term Load Fore-casting (STLF) is a tough job to handle because of the nonlinear behaviors of the electrical loads, climatic conditions. There is always a need for the sophisticated methods for STLF due to its complexity. This paper presented three models with neural network for both hour basis and day ahead prediction. The past load data as well as the weather data were collected and clustering technique is used for cleansing the data. The whole purified data is divided into three modules: Training data, Testing data and Validation data. The three NN models proposed were trained and tested by using the corresponding datasets. The presented models predicted the electric load, both daily and hourly, with high accuracy. The models proposed in this paper have been simulated using data obtained from State Load Dispatch Centre, Dehradun for the duration August 2011 to March 2013. The models are tested, results are compared with the actual load and Mean Absolute Percentage Error (MAPE) will be calculated.
... Recommendations of the second Indo-US health summit on prevention and control of cardiovascul... more ... Recommendations of the second Indo-US health summit on prevention and control of cardiovascular disease among Asian Indians. Enas EA, Singh V, Munjal YP, Gupta R, Patel KC, Bhandari S, Agarwal AK, Joshi SR, Anoop M, Prabhakaran D, Shah B, Reddy S, Sharma B ...
Sesame plants (Sesamum indicum) showing from severe yellowing disease were observed during the pe... more Sesame plants (Sesamum indicum) showing from severe yellowing disease were observed during the period of July to September 2010 in North Delhi, India. To investigate the associated pathogen genomic DNA was used in PCR assays with primers specific for spiroplasma abc protein b-subunit (designed in the current study) and for 16S rDNA of phytoplasma. Affected plants tested positive for both spiroplasma and phytoplasma in 84% cases by showing the presence of ~0.5kb and ~1.25kb amplicon, respectively. Sequence analysis showed 99% matches with Spiroplasma citri and ‘Candidatus Phytoplasma asteris’ members. Phylogenetic reconstruction performed using MEGA version 4.1 confirmed the above classification. So far, this is the first report of coexistence of these two mollicutes in sesame from the Asiatic region.
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