Prevalence of, and antigenic variation in, serotype G10 rotaviruses and detection of serotype G3 strains in diarrheic calves: Implications for the origin of G10P11 or P11 type reassortant asymptomatic strains in newborn children in India

Previous studies have shown predominant association of G10P11 type bovine rotavirus-derived reassortant strains with asymptomatic infections in newborn children in India. To understand the epidemiological and genetic basis for the origin of these strains in humans, the relative frequencies of different serotypes among bovine rotaviruses (BRVs) isolated from southern, western and central regions of the country were determined by subgroup and serotype analysis as well as nucleotide (nt) sequence analysis of the genes encoding the outer capsid proteins VP4 and VP7. Since the human G10P11 asymptomatic neonatal strain I321 possessed NSP1 from a human rotavirus, to determine its genetic origin in the bovine strains, comparative analysis of partial gene sequences from representative G10P11 strains was also carried out. The following observations were of great epidemiological significance, (i) G10P11 strains predominated in all the three regions with frequencies ranging between 55.6% and 85.2%. In contrast to the high prevalence of G6 strains in other countries, only one G6 strain was detected in this study and G8 strains represented 5.8% of the isolates, (ii) among the G10 strains, in serotyping ELISA, four patterns of reactivity were observed that appeared to correlate with the differences in electropherotypic patterns and amino acid (aa) sequence of the VP7, (iii) surprisingly, strains belonging to serotype G3 were detected more frequently (10.7%) than those of serotypes G6 and G8 combined, while strains representing the new serotype (G15) were observed in a single farm in Bangalore, and (iv) about 3.9% of the isolates were nontypeable as they exhibited high cross-reactivity to the serotyping MAbs used in the study. Comparative analysis of the VP7 gene sequence from the prototype G3 MAb-reactive bovine strain J63 revealed greatest sequence relatedness (87.6% nt and 96.0% aa) with that of serotype G3 rhesus-monkey strain RRV. It also exhibited high sequence homology with the VP7 from several animal and animal rotavirus-related human G3 strains (Simian SA11; equine ERV316 and FI-14. canine CU-1 and K9; porcine 4F; Feline Cat2 and human HCR3, YO and AU1). Partial nucleotide sequence analysis of the NSP1 gene of J63 showed greatest nt sequence homology (95.9%) to the NSP1 gene allele of the Indian G8 strain, isolated from a diarrheic child, which is likely to have been transmitted directly from cattle and 92.6% homology to that of the bovine G8 strain A5-10 suggesting the likely origin of J63 by gene reassortment between a bovine G8 strain and a G3 animal strain. Prevalence of G10P11 strains in cattle and G10P11 or P11 type reassortant strains in asymptomatic neonates as well as detection of G8P[1] strains in diarrheic children support our hypothesis for bidirectional transmission of rotaviruses between humans and cattle and origin of novel strains catalyzed by the age-old traditions and socio-economic conditions in India.

Network Rhythms Influence the Relationship between Spike-Triggered Local Field Potential and Functional Connectivity

Characterizing the functional connectivity between neurons is key for understanding brain function. We recorded spikes and local field potentials (LFPs) from multielectrode arrays implanted in monkey visual cortex to test the hypotheses that spikes generated outward-traveling LFP waves and the strength of functional connectivity depended on stimulus contrast, as described recently. These hypotheses were proposed based on the observation that the latency of the peak negativity of the spike-triggered LFP average (STA) increased with distance between the spike and LFP electrodes, and the magnitude of the STA negativity and the distance over which it was observed decreased with increasing stimulus contrast. Detailed analysis of the shape of the STA, however, revealed contributions from two distinct sources-a transient negativity in the LFP locked to the spike (similar to 0 ms) that attenuated rapidly with distance, and a low-frequency rhythm with peak negativity similar to 25 ms after the spike that attenuated slowly with distance. The overall negative peak of the LFP, which combined both these components, shifted from similar to 0 to similar to 25 ms going from electrodes near the spike to electrodes far from the spike, giving an impression of a traveling wave, although the shift was fully explained by changing contributions from the two fixed components. The low-frequency rhythm was attenuated during stimulus presentations, decreasing the overall magnitude of the STA. These results highlight the importance of accounting for the network activity while using STAs to determine functional connectivity.

When should fig fruit produce volatiles? Pattern in a ripening process

Ripe fruit need to signal their presence to attract dispersal agents. Plants may employ visual and/or olfactory sensory channels to signal the presence of ripe fruit. Visual signals of ripe fruit have been extensively investigated. However, the volatile signatures of ripe fruit that use olfactorily-oriented dispersers have been scarcely investigated. Moreover, as in flowers, where floral scents are produced at times when pollinators are active (diurnal versus nocturnal), whether plants can modulate the olfactory signal to produce fruit odours when dispersers are active in the diel cycle is completely unknown. We investigated day night differences in fruit odours in two species of figs, Ficus racemosa and Ficus benghalensis. The volatile bouquet of fruit of F.racemosa that are largely dispersed by bats and other mammals was dominated by fatty acid derivatives such as esters. In this species in which the ripe fig phase is very short, and where the figs drop off soon after ripening, there were no differences between day and night in fruit volatile signature. The volatile bouquet of fruit of F. benghalensis that has a long ripening period, however, and that remain attached to the tree for extended periods when ripe, showed an increase in fatty acid derivatives such as esters and of benzenoids such as benzaldehyde at night when they are dispersed by bats, and an elevation of sesquiterpenes during the day when they are dispersed by birds. For the first time we provide data that suggest that the volatile signal produced by fruit can show did l differences based on the activity period of the dispersal agent. (C) 2011 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

Fast Robust Pattern Classification Algorithms for Real Time Neuro-Motor Prosthetic Applications

In this paper, we give a brief review of pattern classification algorithms based on discriminant analysis. We then apply these algorithms to classify movement direction based on multivariate local field potentials recorded from a microelectrode array in the primary motor cortex of a monkey performing a reaching task. We obtain prediction accuracies between 55% and 90% using different methods which are significantly above the chance level of 12.5%.

Radiative effects of elevated aerosol layer in Central Himalayas

Systematic observations of light detection and ranging (LIDAR) to detect elevated aerosol layer were carried out at Manora Peak (29.4 degrees N, 79.5 degrees E, similar to 1960 m a.s.l), Nainital, in the Central Himalayas during January-May 2008. In spite of being a remote, high-altitude site, an elevated aerosol layer is observed quite frequently in the altitude range of 2460-4460 m a.s.l with a width of similar to 2 km during the observation period. We compare these profiles with the vertical profiles observed over Gadanki (13.5 degrees N, 79.2 degrees E, similar to 370 m a.s.l), a tropical station, where no such elevated aerosol layer was found. Further, there is a steady increase in aerosol optical depth (AOD) from January (winter) to May (summer) from 0.043 to 0.742, respectively, at Manora Peak, indicating aerosol loading in the atmosphere. Our observations show north-westerly winds indicating the convective lifting of aerosols from far-off regions followed by horizontal long-range transport. The presence of strongly absorbing and scattering aerosols in the elevated layer resulted in a relatively large diurnal mean aerosol surface radiative forcing efficiency (forcing per unit optical depth) of about -65 and -63 W m(-2) and the corresponding mean reduction in the observed net solar flux at the surface (cooling effect) is as high as -22 and -30 W m(-2). The reduction of radiation will heat the lower atmosphere by redistributing the radiation with heating rate of 1.13 and 1.31 K day(-1) for April and May 2008, respectively, in the lower atmosphere.

Luteinizing hormone regulates inhibin-alpha subunit expression through multiple signaling pathways involving steroidogenic factor-1 and beta-catenin in the macaque corpus luteum

We employed different experimental model systems to define the role of GATA4, beta-catenin, and steroidogenic factor (SF-1) transcriptional factors in the regulation of monkey luteal inhibin secretion. Reverse transcription polymerase chain reactions and western blotting analyses show high expression of inhibin-alpha, GATA4, and beta-catenin in corpus luteum (CL) of the mid-luteal phase. Gonadotropin-releasing hormone receptor antagonist-induced luteolysis model suggested the significance of luteinizing hormone (LH) in regulating these transcriptional factors. Inducible cyclic AMP early repressor mRNA expression was detected in the CL and no change was observed in different stages of CL. Following amino acid sequence analysis, interaction between SF-1 and beta-catenin in mid-stage CL was verified by reciprocal co-immunoprecipitation experiments coupled to immunoblot analysis. Electrophoretic mobility shift analysis support the role of SF-1 in regulating luteal inhibin-alpha expression. Our results suggest a possible multiple crosstalk of Wnt, cAMP, and SF-1 in the regulation of luteal inhibin secretion.

Northeast monsoon over India: variability and prediction

South peninsular India experiences a large portion of the annual rainfall during the northeast monsoon season (October to December). In this study, the facets of diurnal, intra-seasonal and inter-annual variability of the northeast monsoon rainfall (the NEMR) over India have been examined. The analysis of satellite derived hourly rainfall reveals that there are distinct features of diurnal variation over the land and oceans during the season. Over the land, rainfall peaks during the late afternoon/evening, while over the oceans an early morning peak is observed. The harmonic analysis of hourly data reveals that the amplitude and variance are the largest over south peninsular India. The NEMR also exhibits significant intra-seasonal variability on a 20-40 day time scale. Analysis also shows significant northward propagation of the maximum cloud zone from south of equator to the south peninsula during the season. The NEMR exhibits large inter-annual variability with the co-efficient of variation (CV) of 25%. The positive phases of ENSO and the Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) are conducive for normal to above normal rainfall activity during the northeast monsoon. There are multi-decadal variations in the statistical relationship between ENSO and the NEMR. During the period 2001-2010 the statistical relationship between ENSO and the NEMR has significantly weakened. The analysis of seasonal rainfall hindcasts for the period 1960-2005 produced by the state-of-the-art coupled climate models, ENSEMBLES, reveals that the coupled models have very poor skill in predicting the inter-annual variability of the NEMR. This is mainly due to the inability of the ENSEMBLES models to simulate the positive relationship between ENSO and the NEMR correctly. Copyright (C) 2012 Royal Meteorological Society

Defluoridation of Drinking Water and Rainwater Harvesting Using a Solar Still

When people drink water having a fluoride (F-) concentration >1-1.5 mg/L for a long period of time, various ailments that are collectively referred to as fluorosis occur. Based on the design of Thomas (http://www.planetkerala.org), an inclined basin-type solar still containing sand and water has been used at Bangalore for defluoridation. For water samples having a fluoride concentration in the range 5-20 mg/L, the fluoride concentration in the distillate was usually <1.5 mg/L. During the periods October 2006 May 2007 and October 2007 May 2008, the volume of distillate showed a significant diurnal variation, ranging from 0.3 to 4.0 L/m(2).day. Based on the figures for 2006, the cost of the still was about Rs. 850 (US$16) for collector areas in the range 0.50-0.57 m(2). The occurrence of F- in the distillate merits further investigation. Overall, the still effectively removes F-, but a large area of the collector, in the range 2.5-25 m(2), is needed to produce about 10 L of distilled water for cooking and drinking. Rainwater falling on the upper surface of the still was collected, and its fluoride concentration was found to be below the desirable limit of 1 mg/L. Hence it can also be used for cooking and drinking.

Reactive power and voltage control in grid connected wind farms

Wind power, as an alternative to fossil fuels, is plentiful, renewable, widely distributed, clean, produces no greenhouse gas emissions during operation, and uses little land. In operation, the overall cost per unit of energy produced is similar to the cost for new coal and natural gas installations. However, the stochastic behaviour of wind speeds leads to significant disharmony between wind energy production and electricity demand. Wind generation suffers from an intermittent characteristics due to the own diurnal and seasonal patterns of the wind behaviour. Both reactive power and voltage control are important under varying operating conditions of wind farm. To optimize reactive power flow and to keep voltages in limit, an optimization method is proposed in this paper. The objective proposed is minimization of the voltage deviations of the load buses (Vdesired). The approach considers the reactive power limits of wind generators and co-ordinates the transformer taps. This algorithm has been tested under practically varying conditions simulated on a test system. The results are obtained on a system of 50-bus real life equivalent power network. The result shows the efficiency of the proposed method.

Diel variation in fig volatiles across syconium development: making sense of scents

Plants produce volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in a variety of contexts that include response to abiotic and biotic stresses, attraction of pollinators and parasitoids, and repulsion of herbivores. Some of these VOCs may also exhibit diel variation in emission. In Ficus racemosa, we examined variation in VOCs released by fig syconia throughout syconium development and between day and night. Syconia are globular enclosed inflorescences that serve as developing nurseries for pollinating and parasitic fig wasps. Syconia are attacked by gallers early in their development, serviced by pollinators in mid phase, and are attractive to parasitoids in response to the development of gallers at later stages. VOC bouquets of the different development phases of the syconium were distinctive, as were their day and night VOC profiles. VOCs such as alpha-muurolene were characteristic of the pollen-receptive diurnal phase, and may serve to attract the diurnally-active pollinating wasps. Diel patterns of release of volatiles could not be correlated with their predicted volatility as determined by Henry's law constants at ambient temperatures. Therefore, factors other than Henry's law constant such as stomatal conductance or VOC synthesis must explain diel variation in VOC emission. A novel use of weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) on the volatilome resulted in seven distinct modules of co-emitted VOCs that could be interpreted on the basis of syconium ecology. Some modules were characterized by the response of fig syconia to early galling by parasitic wasps and consisted largely of green leaf volatiles (GLVs). Other modules, that could be characterized by a combination of syconia response to oviposition and tissue feeding by larvae of herbivorous galler pollinators as well as of parasitized wasps, consisted largely of putative herbivore-induced plant volatiles (HIPVs). We demonstrated the usefulness of WGCNA analysis of the volatilome in making sense of the scents produced by the syconia at different stages and diel phases of their development.

Treatment efficacy of algae-based sewage treatment plants

Lagoons have been traditionally used in India for decentralized treatment of domestic sewage. These are cost effective as they depend mainly on natural processes without any external energy inputs. This study focuses on the treatment efficiency of algae-based sewage treatment plant (STP) of 67.65 million liters per day (MLD) capacity considering the characteristics of domestic wastewater (sewage) and functioning of the treatment plant, while attempting to understand the role of algae in the treatment. STP performance was assessed by diurnal as well as periodic investigations of key water quality parameters and algal biota. STP with a residence time of 14.3 days perform moderately, which is evident from the removal of total chemical oxygen demand (COD) (60 %), filterable COD (50 %), total biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) (82 %), and filterable BOD (70 %) as sewage travels from the inlet to the outlet. Furthermore, nitrogen content showed sharp variations with total Kjeldahl nitrogen (TKN) removal of 36 %; ammonium N (NH4-N) removal efficiency of 18 %, nitrate (NO3-N) removal efficiency of 22 %, and nitrite (NO2-N) removal efficiency of 57.8 %. The predominant algae are euglenoides (in facultative lagoons) and chlorophycean members (maturation ponds). The drastic decrease of particulates and suspended matter highlights heterotrophy of euglenoides in removing particulates.

Getting a kick out of it: multimodal signalling during male–male encounters in the foot-flagging frog Micrixalus aff. saxicola from the Western Ghats of India

Several anuran species use multimodal signals to communicate in diverse social contexts. Our study describes acoustic and visual behaviours of the Small Torrent Frog (Micrixalus aff. saxicola), a diurnal frog endemic to the Western Ghats of India. During agonistic interactions males display advertisement calls, foot-flagging and tapping (foot lifting) behaviours to signal the readiness to defend perching sites in perennial streams. Results from a quantitative video analysis of male–male interactions indicate that footflagging displays were used as directional signals toward the opponent male, but were less abundant than calls. The acoustic and visual signals were not functionally linked. The call of Micrixalus aff. saxicola thereby did not act as an alert signal. Analysis of behavioural transitions revealed that kicking behaviours (physical attacks) significantly elicited kicks from interacting males. We suggest that foot-flagging displays ritualized from this frequently observed fighting technique to reduce physical attacks.

Delineating Ecological Boundaries of Hanuman Langur Species Complex in Peninsular India Using MaxEnt Modeling Approach

Hanuman langur is one of the widely distributed and extensively studied non-human diurnal primates in India. Until recently it was believed to be a single species - Semnopithecus entellus. Recent molecular and morphological studies suggest that the Hanuman langurs consists of at least three species S. entellus, S. hypoleucos and S. priam. Furthermore, morphological studies suggested that both S. hypoleucos and S. priam have at least three subspecies in each. We explored the use of ecological niche modeling (ENM) to confirm the validity of these seven taxa and an additional taxon S. johnii belonging to the same genus. MaxEnt modeling tool was used with 19 bioclimatic, 12 vegetation and 6 hydrological environmental layers. We reduced total environmental variables to 14 layers after testing for collinearity and an independent test for model prediction was done using ENMTools. A total of 196 non-overlapping data points from primary and secondary sources were used as inputs for ENM. Results showed eight distinct ecological boundaries, corroborating the eight taxa mentioned above thereby confirming validity of these eight taxa. The study, for the first time provided ecological variables that determined the ecological requirements and distribution of members of the Hanuman langur species complex in the Indian peninsula.

Getting a kick out of it: multimodal signalling during male-male encounters in the foot-flagging frog Micrixalus aff. saxicola from the Western Ghats of India

Several anuran species use multimodal signals to communicate in diverse social contexts. Our study describes acoustic and visual behaviours of the Small Torrent Frog (Micrixalus aff. saxicola), a diurnal frog endemic to the Western Ghats of India. During agonistic interactions males display advertisement calls, foot-flagging and tapping (foot lifting) behaviours to signal the readiness to defend perching sites in perennial streams. Results from a quantitative video analysis of male-male interactions indicate that foot-flagging displays were used as directional signals toward the opponent male, but were less abundant than calls. The acoustic and visual signals were not functionally linked. The call of Micrixalus aff. saxicola thereby did not act as an alert signal. Analysis of behavioural transitions revealed that kicking behaviours (physical attacks) significantly elicited kicks from interacting males. We suggest that foot-flagging displays ritualized from this frequently observed fighting technique to reduce physical attacks.

Pre-clinical toxicity & immunobiological evaluation of DNA rabies vaccine & combination rabies vaccine in rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta)

Background & objectives: Pre-clinical toxicology evaluation of biotechnology products is a challenge to the toxicologist. The present investigation is an attempt to evaluate the safety profile of the first indigenously developed recombinant DNA anti-rabies vaccine DRV (100 mu g)] and combination rabies vaccine CRV (100 mu g DRV and 1.25 IU of cell culture-derived inactivated rabies virus vaccine)], which are intended for clinical use by intramuscular route in Rhesus monkeys. Methods: As per the regulatory requirements, the study was designed for acute (single dose - 14 days), sub-chronic (repeat dose - 28 days) and chronic (intended clinical dose - 120 days) toxicity tests using three dose levels, viz. therapeutic, average (2x therapeutic dose) and highest dose (10 x therapeutic dose) exposure in monkeys. The selection of the model i.e. monkey was based on affinity and rapid higher antibody response during the efficacy studies. An attempt was made to evaluate all parameters which included physical, physiological, clinical, haematological and histopathological profiles of all target organs, as well as Tiers I, II, III immunotoxicity parameters. Results: In acute toxicity there was no mortality in spite of exposing the monkeys to 10XDRV. In sub chronic and chronic toxicity studies there were no abnormalities in physical, physiological, neurological, clinical parameters, after administration of test compound in intended and 10 times of clinical dosage schedule of DRV and CRV under the experimental conditions. Clinical chemistry, haematology, organ weights and histopathology studies were essentially unremarkable except the presence of residual DNA in femtogram level at site of injection in animal which received 10X DRV in chronic toxicity study. No Observational Adverse Effects Level (NOAEL) of DRV is 1000 ug/dose (10 times of therapeutic dose) if administered on 0, 4, 7, 14, 28th day. Interpretation & conclusions: The information generated by this study not only draws attention to the need for national and international regulatory agencies in formulating guidelines for pre-clinical safety evaluation of biotech products but also facilitates the development of biopharmaceuticals as safe potential therapeutic agents.