The present paper discusses the evolution of the coal bearing sequences of Tharad Formation of Cambay Basin (Gujarat) based on coal petrological and organic geochemical signatures. Cambay Basin is a craton margin rift basin of Late Cretaceous age which is narrow and elongated. This north-south trending graben hosts huge sub-surface lignite/coal deposits of Early to Middle Eocene age. These coals have been petrographically and geochemically characterized to understand the type of flora, coal facies, depositional environment and coalification. Thickening of seams with depth is towards central part. Vitrinite rich Cambay Basin coals contain a considerable amount of liptinite indicating their derivation from the forest type of vegetation that grew under humid tropical climate while its high resin content indicates growth of conifers and gum-producing plants. High collodetrinite relates to soft woody tissues from herbaceous/bushy plant sources. Abundance of bioclasts in the western flank of the Sanchore low occur in stack indicating poor transportation and abrupt drop in bathymetry under tidal flat environment. The palynofloral assemblages indicate tidal deposition. Gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy (GC-MS) studies indicate low amount of oleanane suggesting a terrestrial source. The microlithotypes suggest limnic and telmatic mixed environment with typical forest floral input with intermittently changing water table conditions. The maceral composition of the coals indicates terrestrial origin having high tree-density. Marine influence caused influx of calcium rich water promoting decomposition of organic matter due to high bacterial activity and high pH values with depth. The ground water flow index (GWI) values indicate ombrotrophic hydrological condition while the vegetation index (VI) values support herbaceous plants. The swamp, therefore, suffered oxic and anoxic condition alternatingly with influence of reed marshes favouring the growth of anaerobic bacteria in high bathymetric region. The depth of burial of coal seams in Sanchore is extrapolated to be 1350–1800m with a temperature range of 40–80°C.

Owing to a rapid rate of depletion of conventional energy resources and to keep pace with the ever increasing energy demand, scientists all over the world are looking for some alternate source. Coal bed methane (CBM) is one of them. With the discovery of coalbed gas from an oil and gas producing basin- the San Juan basin in Colorado and New Mexico by AMOCO in early 1980's, the attention of world-wide hydrocarbon industry shifted to evaluation of CBM potential of Tertiary basins. The Tertiary Cambay basin in Gujarat is a known onland hydrocarbon province of India and has been producing oil since 1958. During drilling for petroleum, thick Eocene coal seams are encountered at varied depths in Mehsana area and further north. In 2004, few coalbed methane (CBM) blocks were awarded in northern Cambay basin and contagious Barmer Basin. The present paper entails the results of investigation carried out for CBM in the deep-seated coals of Sanchore and Tharad area in north Cambay basin. The methane content of the desorbed gases varies from 20–68%. The stable carbon isotope study (δ13C) shows that the desorbed gas is dominantly biogenic but the compositional analysis of desorbed gas reveals significant fractions of ethane (C2) and butane (C3) indicating the gases to be of mixed origin. Further, presence of high CO2 content is observed which varies from 20–45% of the total volume of desorbed gas. The estimated mean CBM resource of the study area is ∼ 46 billion cubic meters.

The potential of cellulose nanocomposites in the new-generation super-performing nanomaterials is huge, primarily in medical and environment sectors, and secondarily in food, paper, and cosmetic sectors. Despite substantial illumination on the molecular aspects of cellulose synthesis, various process features, namely, cellular export of the nascent polysaccharide chain and arrangement of cellulose fibrils into a quasi-crystalline configuration, remain obscure. To unleash its full potential, current knowledge on nanocellulose dispersion and disintegration of the fibrillar network and the organic/polymer chemistry needs expansion. Bacterial cellulose biosynthesis mechanism for scaled-up production, namely, the kinetics, pathogenicity, production cost, and product quality/consistency remain poorly understood. The bottom-up bacterial cellulose synthesis approach makes it an interesting area for still wider and promising high-end applications, primarily due to the nanosynthesis mechanism involved and the purity of the cellulose. This study attempts to identify the knowledge gap and potential wider applications of bacterial cellulose and bacterial nanocellulose. This review also highlights the manufacture of bacterial cellulose through low-cost substrates, that is, mainly waste from brewing, agriculture, food, and sugar industries as well as textile, lignocellulosic biorefineries, and pulp mills.

Diesel exhaust particulates (DEPs) affect lung physiology and cause serious damage to the lungs. A number of studies have demonstrated that eosinophils play a very important role in the development of lung tissue remodelling and fibrosis. However, the exact mechanism of its pathogenesis is not known. We for the first time demonstrate that, Interleukin-13 plays a very important role in the development of tissue remodelling and fibrosis. We demonstrate that, Diesel exhaust particle significantly induce eosinophils cell proliferation and interleukin-13 release in invitro culture conditions. Supernatant collected from DEP induced eosinophils cells significantly restrict cell proliferation of epithelial cells due to exposure of diesel exhast particles. Furthermore, purified interleukin-13 decreases the proliferation of A549 cells. Notably, Etoricoxib (selective COX-2 inhibitor) did not inhibit DEP-triggered release of interleukin-13, suggesting another cell signalling pathway. In, vivo exposer of DEP to the mice lung, resulted in the high level of eosinophils degranulation as depicted by the EPX-1 immunostaining and altered level of mRNA expressions of inflammatory genes. We also found that, a-SMA, fibroblast specific protein (FSP-1) has been changed in response to DEP in the mice lungs along with the mediators of inflammation. Altogether, we elucidated the mechanistic role of eosinophils in the DEP triggered proliferation of lungs cells thus providing an inside in the pathophysiology of tissue remodelling and fibrosis of lungs.

The present study was carried out to compare the proteomic profiles of spermatogenic cells of crossbred and zebu cattle in an effort to understand the possible reasons for a higher incidence of sub-fertility in crossbred bulls. The spermatogenic cells collected from the testes of pre-pubertal (6 mo) and adult (24 mo) crossbred and zebu males through fine needle aspiration were proliferated in vitro, and proteomic profiling was done using a shotgun proteomics approach. The age- and species-specific variations in the expression level of proteins were identified in spermatogenic cells. The number of differentially expressed proteins (DEPs) identified in pre-pubertal zebu and crossbred was 546, while 579 DEPs were identified between adult zebu and crossbred bulls. Out of these, 194 DEPS were common to these groups and 40 DEPs displayed a fold change ≥2. However, only 20 proteins exhibited similar expression variation trends (upregulated or downregulated) among pre-pubertal as well as adult zebu and crossbred bulls. Out of these 20 DEPs, 13 proteins were upregulated, and 7 proteins were downregulated in spermatogenic cells of zebu compared to crossbred bulls. Among the upregulated proteins were RPLP2, PAXIP1, calumenin, prosaposin, GTF2F1, TMP2, ubiquitin conjugation factor E4A, COL1A2, vimentin, protein FAM13A, peripherin, GFPT2, and GRP78. Seven proteins that were downregulated in zebu bulls compared to crossbred included APOA1, G patch domain-containing protein 1, NAD P transhydrogenase mitochondrial, glutamyl aminopeptidase, synaptojanin 1 fragment, Arf GAP with SH3 domain ANK repeat and PH domain-containing protein 1, and protein transport protein sec16B. It was inferred that the proteins associated with sperm function and fertilization processes, such as calumenin, prosaposin, vimentin, GRP78, and APOA1 could be studied further to understand the precise cause of subfertility in crossbred bulls.

A study on the biomethanation potential of codigested sheep manure (SM) and kitchen refuse (KR) was carried out. Both the substrates varied in their C:N ratio, cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin contents, although they had very similar moisture and volatile solid (VS) contents. Anaerobic codigestion to balance the C:N ratio thereby making the process more efficient to help enhance biomethanation is a universally accepted strategy. Various combinations (80:20, 60:40, 40:60, 20:80) were used for biogas production alongside pure SM (100:0) and KR (0:100) to arrive at an efficient ratio using the digested slurry from an active biodigestor as the microbial inoculum. A 40-day experiment was set at 40 °C and pH 7.0 initial conditions, and the effect of the codigestion on the pH, volatile fatty acids (VFA) and the C:N ratio was evaluated. It was observed that the biogas and methane generation were maximal at SM:KR::40:60 combination with 7.0–7.5 pH, 23.3 C:N ratio, and a balanced VFA production and utilisation. The maximum cumulative biogas and methane generated were 2575 mL and 1660 mL, and the calculated biogas and methane generation based on the VS content were 209.35 and 135.13 mL/g VS. Based on the results obtained from the study, it is suggested that sheep manure and kitchen refuse codigestion could help enhance biogas production at 40:60 combination. Although reports on codigestion of other such biogasifiable substrates exist, similar studies could be tried for numerous other nonconventional organic biogasifiable substrates to validate their biomethanation potentials and enhancements.

Biological materials derived from extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins have garnered interest as their composition is very similar to that of native tissue. Herein, we report the use of human cornea derived decellularized ECM (dECM) microparticles dispersed in human fibrin sealant as an accessible therapeutic alternative for corneal anterior stromal reconstruction. dECM microparticles had good particle size distribution (≤10 µm) and retained the majority of corneal ECM components found in native tissue. Fibrin–dECM hydrogels exhibited compressive modulus of 70.83 ± 9.17 kPa matching that of native tissue, maximum burst pressure of 34.3 ± 3.7 kPa, and demonstrated a short crosslinking time of ~17 min. The fibrin–dECM hydrogels were found to be biodegradable, cytocompatible, non-mutagenic, non-sensitive, non-irritant, and supported the growth and maintained the phenotype of encapsulated human corneal stem cells (hCSCs) in vitro. In a rabbit model of anterior lamellar keratectomy, fibrin–dECM bio-adhesives promoted corneal re-epithelialization within 14 days, induced stromal tissue repair, and displayed integration with corneal tissues in vivo. Overall, our results suggest that the incorporation of cornea tissue-derived ECM microparticles in fibrin hydrogels is non-toxic, safe, and shows tremendous promise as a minimally invasive therapeutic approach for the treatment of superficial corneal epithelial wounds and anterior stromal injuries.

Purpose: To validate an animal model of corneal stromal opacity by using objective vision-independent in vivo imaging metrics. Methods: This was a prospective study, with two arms: (i) observational human arm which included 14 patients with healed unilateral ulcerative keratitis; and (ii) experimental rabbit arm, which included 6 New Zealand white rabbits. A 3-mm central wound was created in the left eye of the rabbits by manually removing 200-250 mu m of the superficial stroma, followed by rotating-burr application. Both groups underwent photography, high resolution anterior segment optical coherence tomography, and Scheimpflug imaging using similar diagnostic platforms and standardized image capturing protocols. Parameters studied were relative change in (i) corneal thickness; (ii) corneal epithelial: stromal (E:S) reflectivity ratio; (iii) corneal stromal light scattering using densitometry; and (iv) central corneal keratometry. Results: In the experimental arm, there was a significant decrease in corneal thickness (273 51.3 vs. 407.3 +/- 10.3 mu m, p = 0.0038), E:S reflectivity ratio (0.71 +/- 0.09 vs. 0.99 +/- 0.06, p = 0.0018), and keratometry (40.4 +/- 2.3 vs. 45.8 +/- 0.9D, p = 0.0033) and increase in densitometry (54.2 +/- 11.65 vs.18.7 +/- 3.8 GSU, p = 0.0001) from baseline, which stabilized at 4 to 8-weeks post-wounding (p > 0.3632). At 8-weeks, the relative change from baseline in corneal thickness (28.4 +/- 13.5% vs.22.4 +/- 13%, p = 0.368), E:S reflectivity ratio (28.1 +/- 11.5% vs. 30.6 +/- 8.9%, p = 0.603), corneal densitometry (204.17 +/- 97.3% vs. 304.9 +/- 113.6%, p = 0.1113), and central corneal keratometry (13.6 +/- 6.9% vs. 18.9 +/- 7.4%, p = 0.1738) in rabbits was similar to human corneal scars. Conclusion: The animal model of corneal opacification was objectively comparable to human post-keratitis scars and can be valuable for in vivo evaluation of emerging therapies for corneal opacities.

A novel strain KIIT BE-1 isolated from a specialized environment, screened through starch iodine test from a set of eighty-five biodigestate isolates, produced amylase maximally when cultured for 48 h at 37 °C. The molecular and biochemical characterization confirmed it as a strain of Bacillus aryabhattai. It exhibited optimal amylase activity (3.20 U/ml) at 36 h post incubation with a media combination of starch and yeast extract for C-N source respectively. Statistical optimisation by response surface modeling showed R2 values of 0.9645 for biomass and 0.9831 for amylase activity, suggesting the significance of the model. The optimised medium (10.25% starch, 5.0% peptone, 5.18% yeast extract, pH 7.3) enhanced the enzyme activity to 4.16 U/ml (1.39-fold) from 3.20 U/ml of un-optimised medium. Further, the biomass yield and the enzymatic activity in optimized medium and process conditions increased by 1.14 and 1.21 folds subjected to a 5 l scaled-up operation in a lab-scale bioreactor.

Over the last two decades, drug delivery systems have evolved at a tremendous pace. Synthetic nanoparticles have played an important role in vaccine design and delivery as these have shown improved safety and efficacy over conventional formulations. Nanocarriers formulated by natural, biological building blocks have become an important tool in biomedicine. A successful nanocarrier must possess specific properties like evading the host immune system, target specificity, cellular entry, escape from endosomes, and the ability to release the active material into the cytoplasm. The virus can perform some or all of these functions, making it a suitable candidate as a naturally occurring nanocarrier. Viruses could be made non-infectious and non-replicative without compromising their ability to penetrate cells, making them useful for a vast spectrum of applications. Currently, many such carrier molecules as bio-nanocapsules are at various development stages. This review covers the advances in the field of viruses as potential nanocarriers and discusses the related technologies and strategies to target specific cells by using virus-inspired nanocarriers. These virus-based nanocarriers could provide solutions to address pressing and emerging concerns in infectious diseases in the future.

The current study analyzed and optimized the concentration of NaOH for alkaline pretreatment of kitchen refuse for biogas production. Also, the benefits of microwave assistance in enhanced biogasification of kitchen refuse were evaluated. The TS, VS and structural changes were compared using standard experimental techniques. Molecular dynamics was investigated for the molecular level changes leading to higher biogasification in NaOHmicrowave combined pretreatment. The methane and biogas yields were calculated to validate the benefits of microwave assistance in efficient biogasification. The NaOH-microwave combined pretreatment showed higher VS production. Microwave treatment degraded and removed lignin more efficiently. Molecular dynamics studies revealed the induction of configurational instability in lignin and cellulose molecules with variable temperatures. The methane and biogas production increased with 6% NaOH concentration, and decreased at higher NaOH concentration till 10%. Microwave assistance declined the required NaOH concentration further to 4%. Thus, as compared to 6% NaOH concentration required for an efficient pretreatment, the kitchen refuse was efficiently pretreated with 4% NaOH concentration when combined with a 30 min duration microwaving. The experimental and computational data provided a detailed analysis proposing an optimized, novel and promising method to pretreat kitchen refuse for efficient and enhanced biogas production.

With advances in therapeutic methods, there is a high survival rate among leukemia patients, of an extent more than 80%. However, chemotherapeutic drugs used to treat these patients have adverse effects on their overall health profile including fertility. The primary aim of this study was to identify differentially expressed proteins in seminal plasma of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) survivors compared to age-matched healthy controls, which can provide molecular basis of idiopathic infertility in such survivors. Differential proteome profiling was performed by 2D-differential in-gel electrophoresis, protein spots were identified by mass spectrometry and selective differentially expressed proteins (DEPs) were validated by western blotting and ELISA method. Out of eight DEPs identified, five proteins (isocitrate dehydrogenase 1, semenogelin 1, lactoferrin, prolactin-inducible protein, and human serum albumin) were upregulated and three (pepsinogen, prostate specific antigen and prostatic acid phosphatase) were downregulated. Expression profiles of these proteins are suggestive of reduction in semen quality in ALL survivors and can further be explored to determine their fertility status.

A study to compare biogas production potentials of wheat straw, sugarcane bagasse and pressmud was conducted at pH 8.0, temperature 40 degrees C and substrate concentration 20 g/L. Raw substrates were thermogravimetrically and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopically characterised. TGA showed the weight loss of samples attributable to moisture, hemicellulose, cellulose and lignin losses. FTIR analysis indicated functional groups characteristics of hemicellulose, cellulose and lignin. Biogas production was the maximum between 10th and 25th day for all the tests. WS with 10% inoculum showed the highest cumulative biogas production of 370 mL/g followed by the SB (316 mL/g) and PM (211 mL/g) counterparts. The corresponding values with 5% inoculum were 303 mL/g (WS), 244 mL/g (SB) and 152 mL/g (PM). The inoculum volume also positively affected the cumulative biogas production (22.1, 29.5 and 38.8% respectively). The higher volatile fatty acids as observed in case of WS which further facilitated higher biogas production could be due to its maximum volatile solids content (88.9%) and water swelling capacity (7.37). A consistently increasing trend in the methane content (varying between 54 and 61%) in all the tests was observed till the 20th day. The biogas (7.7-21.7 mL/g) and the methane (35-42%) contents showed a decreasing trend thereafter, the lowest being observed during the 35-40-day period.

Amylase is one of the leading enzymes used in industry from decades. The preliminary function of this enzyme is the hydrolysis of the starch molecule into glucose units and oligosaccharides. Amylases have spectacular application in broad spectrum of industries such as food, detergent, pharmaceutical and fermentation industries. Among different type of amylases α- amylase is in utmost demand because of its striking features. This particular enzyme is a good substitute over the chemicals catalyst used in industries. α- amylases can be acquired from different sources such as microorganism, animals and plants. Microorganisms are the major source of production of amylase because of the ease of availability, manipulation and operation. The starch converting enzymes is basically generated using submerged fermentation. Some of the prominent characteristics of amylase are its mode of action, substrate specificity and operating condition (temperature and pH). Amylases from different bacterial sources contribute differently to the particular trait of the enzyme. Bacillus amylases have been studied and applied so far because of their robustness in nature and easy accessible pure form of it. Thus this makes it more specific and fit for distinct application in the industry. The purpose of this manuscript was the comparative analysis of the physical and chemical features of α amylases from Bacillus species. It also focuses on the unique characteristics of this enzyme and their industrial applications.Int J Appl Sci Biotechnol, Vol 4(1): 3-14

The global presence and rapid dissemination of Beijing genotype of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, makes it an important issue of public health. Its presence and association with multi-drug resistance has been shown in many settings. In present study we tried to find its prevalence and association with drug resistance in North India. One hundred and twenty four M. tuberculosis isolates were analyzed with spoligotyping, further drug susceptibility testing was done by 1% proportional method. Out of these, 11 (8.9%) M. tuberculosis isolates were identified as Beijing and 113 (91.1%) as non-Beijing genotypes. While looking at their drug susceptibility patterns, 6 (54.5%) & 22 (19.5%) were found to be multi drug resistant (MDR) among Beijing and non-Beijing isolates respectively. Our study concluded that the Beijing strains were not so common in north India and these strains do not fully associate with MDR.

Algae are a very large and diverse group of organisms with huge significance, having many applications ranging from food products to biofuel production due to their ability to profitably accumulate huge content of beneficial macromolecules (such as, proteins, lipids, etc.). The city of Bhubaneswar in Khordha district of Odisha is in the east coast of India. It is recognised as the temple city and has a lot of ponds and other water bodies around, many of which are of religious significance. In the present study the algal species present in the water bodies dotting the city were identified up to the genus level. Eleven samples were collected from various freshwater habitats in the city. After microscopic observations of the samples the organisms were identified using relevant monographs under various algal groups. The algal species identified indicated that their growth was favoured by the hot and humid tropical savanna climate of the city. Such algal diversity analysis helps in indentifying the potential algal species that could be screened, isolated and their favored growth in such an agro-climatic condition can be capitalised for beneficial use.