Enter records

ID: 66255
Title: Energy intake and expenditure as determinants of foraging decision in alfalfa pollinating carpenter bee Chalicodoma cephalotes Smith
Author: D. P. Abrol
Editor: S.K.Satheesh
Year: 2025
Publisher: Current Science Association and Indian Academy of Sciences.
Source: ENVIS, CES & EWRG, CES
Reference: Reference: Current Science Vol. 128 (9) 935-939 10 May (2025)
Subject: Energy intake and expenditure as determinants of foraging decision in alfalfa pollinating carpenter bee Chalicodoma cephalotes Smith
Keywords: Chalicodoma cephalotes, cultivated crops, energy budget, pollination.
Abstract: The energetics of foraging behaviour of alfalfa pollinating carpenter bee Chalicodoma (ex. Megachile) cephalotes F. was studied in relation to foraging on sunflower, Helianthus annus, Medicago sativa, Parkinsonia aculeata, Cajanus cajan and Pongamia glabra. Laboratory assessments of physiological energetics were combined with field observations on the time budget and energy intake of Chalicodoma cephalotes Smith to estimate its daily energy expenditure. The energy balance varied from day to day and across different crops. Overall, the foraging efficiency of C. cephalotes followed this order: C. cajan > P. glabra > P. aculeate > M. sativa > H. annuus. It was evident that C. cajan, P. glabra and P. aculeata provided more energy for the bees under the conditions of the present study.
Location: T E 15 New Biology building
Literature cited 1: Ashman, T. L., Pollen limitation of plant reproduction: ecological and evolutionary causes and consequences. Ecology, 2004, 85, 2408–2421. Aguilar, R., Ashworth, L., Galetto, L. and Aizen, M. A., Plant reproductive susceptibility to habitat fragmentation: a review and synthesis through a meta-analysis. Ecol. Lett., 2006, 9, 968–980.
Literature cited 2: Michaud, R., Lehman, E. F. and Rambaugh, M. D., World distribution historical development. In Alfalfa and Alfalfa Improvement (eds Hanson, A. A., Barnes D. K. and Hill, R. R.), American Society for Agronomy, Madison, Wisconsin, USA, 1988, pp. 25–91. Ghaderpour, O., Rafiee, S., Sharifi, M. and Mousavi-Avval, S. H., Quantifying the environmental impact of alfalfa production in different farming systems. Sustain Energy Technol. Assess, 2018, 27, 109– 118

ID: 66254
Title: Gold, silver and platinum mineralisation in radioactive quartz-pebble conglomerate of Phuljhari Formation of Dhanjori basin along Chatanipani–Bhadalodih– Jajagora tract, East Singhbhum district, Jharkhand, India
Author: Ashim Jana, Parvej Alam , V. R. Akhila , Debashis Bhattacharya and Kalyan Chakrabarti
Editor: S.K.Satheesh
Year: 2025
Publisher: Current Science Association and Indian Academy of Sciences.
Source: ENVIS, CES & EWRG, CES
Reference: Reference: Current Science Vol. 128 (9) 927-934 10 May (2025)
Subject: Gold, silver and platinum mineralisation in radioactive quartz-pebble conglomerate of Phuljhari Formation of Dhanjori basin along Chatanipani–Bhadalodih– Jajagora tract, East Singhbhum district, Jharkhand, India
Keywords: Dhanjori, gold, quartz-pebble conglomerate, Phuljhari, radioactive
Abstract: Significant gold, silver and platinum mineralisation is reported from the Archean quartz-pebble conglomerate (QPC) horizon of the Phuljhari Formation of Dhanjori basin of Singhbhum-Orissa Craton at Chatanipani, Bhadalodih, Haludbani and Jajagora areas, East Singhbhum district, Jharkhand. The gold content of QPC samples (n = 25) ranges from <10 to 10,000 ppb, silver content (n = 11) ranges from 30 to 1,820 ppb and platinum content (n = 11) ranges from <25 to 414 ppb. The QPC samples are physically assayed up to 0.012% U3O8 and 83 ppm ThO2 (n = 32) in these areas. Electron-probe microanalysis reveals the presence of discrete gold in QPC. The petrographic study also shows the presence of native gold and silver in the QPC. This communication presents a brief account of the association of gold, silver and platinum with uranium and the characteristics of the radioactive QPC.
Location: T E 15 New Biology building
Literature cited 1: Radhakrishna, B. P. and Curtis, L. C., Gold in India, Geological Society of India, Bengaluru, 1999, p. 307. Jana, A., Chakrabarti, K., Akhila V. R., Sarkar B. C. and Sinha, D. K., Uranium and gold mineralisation in quartz pebble conglomerates of Singhbhum-Orissa Craton, India: an update on exploration. Exp. Res. Atom. Min., 2021, 29, 38–51.
Literature cited 2: Haque, M. W. and Dutta, S. K., Gold in conglomerates of Dhanjori basin, Singhbhum district: Pre-workshop volume. In National Workshop on Exploration and Exploration of Gold Resources in India, National Geophysical Research Institute, Hyderabad and Geological Society of India, Bengaluru, 1996, p. 8. Yadav, P. K. and Das, M., Gold, uranium and thorium mineralization in Paleoproterozoic quartz-pebble conglomerate of Dhanjori Group, Singhbhum Craton, India. Indian J. Geosci., 2018, 72(2), 139–150

ID: 66253
Title: Long-term rainfall trend analysis for six homogeneous monsoon regions of India
Author: Meenakshi Ramola , Prabhash K. Mishra , Purna C. Nayak, and Aradhana Thakur
Editor: S.K.Satheesh
Year: 2025
Publisher: Current Science Association and Indian Academy of Sciences.
Source: ENVIS, CES & EWRG, CES
Reference: Reference: Current Science Vol. 128 (9) 915-926 10 May (2025)
Subject: Long-term rainfall trend analysis for six homogeneous monsoon regions of India
Keywords: Entropy, homogeneous monsoon regions, Mann–Kendall, rainfall trend, Sen’s slope.
Abstract: Rainfall recharges natural sources of water, which directly or indirectly impacts India’s economy. Rainfall-induced natural calamities coupled with climate change have a vast impact on water resources. The present study attempts to examine the spatial and temporal variability of rainfall across six homogeneous monsoon regions of India, viz. Central Northeast, Northeast, Northwest, South Peninsular, West Central and Hilly. In this study, the non-parametric Mann Kendall (MK) test, Sen’s slope estimator (SSE) and entropy method have been used for trend analysis of 100-year gridded rainfall data. Here, monthly, seasonal and annual trends were analysed with the help of Zstatistics, Sen’s slope, marginal disorder index (MDI) values, and for visualisation of results, box plot and GIS-based Kriging approaches were used. Rainy-day trends were also considered in the analyses. Thus, Central Northeast, West Central and Hilly regions showed decreasing annual and monsoon trends, whereas Northeast, Northwest, South Peninsular regions showed increasing annual and monsoon trends. The Central Northeast region was the only region that showed a significant decreasing rainfall trend at a 5% level of significance, with a Z-statistics of –3.31. Trends of remaining regions were not significant. The North west region, comprising dry, arid region, showed an increasing rainy-day trend with a Z-statistics of corrected as 0.89. Entropy-based variability analysis indicated the Northwest region with maximum variability with an MDI value of 0.04 each, for monsoon and annual rainfall series. The maximum MDI value was found for Northwest region, indicating highest variability in the rainy-day series.
Location: T E 15 New Biology building
Literature cited 1: Gadgil, S., The Indian monsoon and its variability. Annu. Rev. Earth Planet. Sci., 2003, 31(1), 429–467. Webster, P., Maga˜na, V. O., Palmer, T., Shukla, J., Thomas, R. A., Yanai, M. U. and Yasunari, T., Monsoons: processes, predictability, and the prospects for prediction. J. Geophys. Res., 1998, 103, 14451–14510.
Literature cited 2: Parthasarathy, B. and Dhar, O. N., Secular variations of regional rainfall over India. Q. J. Roy. Meteor. Soc., 1974, 100, 245–257. Parthasarathy, B., Munot, A. A. and Kothawale, D. R., Indian summer monsoon rainfall indices: 1871–1990. Meteorol. Mag., 1992, 121, 174–186

ID: 66252
Title: Structural, thermal, dielectric and modulus studies on magnesium-doped tamarind seed polysaccharide based biopolymer electrolytes
Author: P. V. N. M. Kaushik , N. Krishna Jyothi , M. Gnana Kiran , Mahantappa S. Jogad, and K. Vijaya Kumar
Editor: S.K.Satheesh
Year: 2025
Publisher: Current Science Association and Indian Academy of Sciences.
Source: ENVIS, CES & EWRG, CES
Reference: Reference: Current Science Vol. 128 (9) 908-914 10 May (2025)
Subject: Structural, thermal, dielectric and modulus studies on magnesium-doped tamarind seed polysaccharide based biopolymer electrolytes
Keywords: Biopolymers, biopolymer electrolyte, electric modulus, impedance, tamarind seed polysaccharide, storage devices.
Abstract: We report the X-ray diffraction (XRD) profile, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) plots and measurements of ionic conductivity, dielectric parameters and electric modulus parameters for different compositions of magnesium chloride (MgCl2)-doped tamarind seed polysaccharide (TSP) biopolymer electrolyte films. Different compositions of the biopolymer and dopant salt were used in the ratios of TSP : MgCl2 (90 : 10, 80 : 20, 70 : 30 and 60 : 40 wt.%). The XRD and DSC plots confirmed the highest amorphous nature for the optimum composition TSP : MgCl2 (70 : 30 wt.%). AC impedance spectroscopy was used to determine the ionic conductivities of the prepared films. For TSP : MgCl2 (70 : 30 wt.%), a maximum conductivity of 1.27 × 10–5 S cm–1 was reported at 303 K and 2.09 × 10–5 S cm–1 at 363 K. The values of the dielectric constant and dielectric loss were higher at lower frequencies and gradually declined with the frequency for all the films. The highest values of the dielectric constant and dielectric loss for the composition TSP : MgCl2 (70 : 30 wt.%) were reported to be 3.87 × 104 and 2.08 × 105 respectively. Studies of the electric modulus spectra revealed the relaxation process that occurs in biopolymer electrolyte systems.
Location: T E 15 New Biology building
Literature cited 1: Das, A., Ringu, T., Ghosh, S. and Pramanik, N., A comprehensive review on recent advances in preparation, physicochemical characterization, and bioengineering applications of biopolymers. Polym. Bull., 2023, 80, 7247–7312. Lu, D. et al., Ligand-channel-enabled ultrafast Li-ion conduction. Nature, 2024, 627, 101–107.
Literature cited 2: Pierdoná Antoniolli, J. F., Grespan, G. L. and Rodrigues, D., Challenges and recent progress on solid‐state batteries and electrusing qualitative systematic analysis. A short review. ChemSusChem, 2024, 17, e202301808. Le, C. V. and Yoon, H., Advances in the use of conducting polymers for healthcare monitoring. IJ

ID: 66251
Title: Automatic extraction of economically important forest tree species using deep learning and image processing techniques
Author: Anju Bajpai, A. O. Varghese, T. P. Girish Kumar and G. Sreenivasan
Editor: S.K.Satheesh
Year: 2025
Publisher: Current Science Association and Indian Academy of Sciences.
Source: ENVIS, CES & EWRG, CES
Reference: Current Science Vol. 128 (9) 899-907 10 May (2025)
Subject: Automatic extraction of economically important forest tree species using deep learning and image processing techniques
Keywords: Deep learning, machine learning, NTFP, OBIA, Pléiades, timber trees.
Abstract: Trees are crucial for the structure and functioning of forests and play a significant ecological and economic role. Certain tree species in forests have a key economic impact by providing timber and non-timber forest products (NTFPs) and contributing to the economic productivity and the livelihood of forest-dependent communities. Therefore, it is vital to accurately identify and quantify these economically important species to prioritise resource allocation and support rural livelihoods. While previous studies have focused on identifying tree species in more uniform temperate forest regions, few studies have concentrated on tropical, heterogeneous forests. Trees like Madhuca longifolia (Mahua), Dendrocalamus strictus (Bamboo), Tectona grandis (Teak), and Hardwickia binata (Anjan) are widely found in the Central regions of India. This study aimed to automatically identify economically important tree species using object-based image processing techniques, such as segmentation, object-based image classification, graphic analysis of spectral reflectance curve, and deep learning methods applied to Pléiades Neo Satellite data. Trees possess specific crown characteristics, tone, texture, pattern and shadows, which produce distinctive spectral and spatial signatures. The study automatically extracted the targeted trees from India's highly diverse tropical forests, achieving an intersection over union (IoU) of 0.806. The Kappa coefficient turned out to be 0.81321, with omission error of 3% and commission error of 8%
Location: T E 15 New Biology building
Literature cited 1: Angelsen, A. et al., Environmental income and rural livelihoods: a global-comparative analysis. World Dev., 2014, 64, S12–S28; doi:10.1016/j.worlddev.2014.03.006. Shackleton, C. M. and Pullanikkatil, D., Considering the links between non-timber forest products and poverty alleviation. In Poverty Reduction Through Non-Timber Forest Products. Sustainable Development Goals Series (eds Pullanikkatil, D. and Shackleton, C.), Springer, Cham, 2019, pp. 15–28; https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3- 319-75580-9_2.
Literature cited 2: Egli, S. and Höpke, M., CNN-based tree species classification using high resolution RGB image data from automated UAV observations. Remote Sensing, 2020, 12, 3892; https://doi.org/10.3390/ rs12233892. Onishi, M. and Ise, T., Explainable identification and mapping of trees using UAV RGB image and deep learning. Sci. Rep., 2021, 11, 903; https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-79653-9

ID: 66250
Title: Plant growth promoting bacteria as source of secondary metabolites: an emergent principle in plant science
Author: Amandeep Singh Sidhu , Charanjit Singh Aulakh , Sukhveer Singh Bhullar , Harmanjot Kaur, Gulab Pandove , Amanpreet Singh and Anuj Choudhary
Editor: S.K.Satheesh
Year: 2025
Publisher: Current Science Association and Indian Academy of Sciences.
Source: ENVIS, CES & EWRG, CES
Reference: Current Science Vol. 128 (9) 885-898 10 May (2025)
Subject: Plant growth promoting bacteria as source of secondary metabolites: an emergent principle in plant science
Keywords: Biofertilizers, metabolites, plant growth promoting rhizobacteria, phytohormone, stress.
Abstract: The biological phenomena of soil consist of life, macro and microfauna and flora which make a big contribution to soil health and fertility. Soil, plant and rhizosphere microorganisms have a strong relationship to sustain plant growth and development. Bacteria and fungi constitute the most abundant groups in the rhizosphere. The beneficial rhizobacteria have a number of positive effects on the environment, soil conditions, and plant growth and are known as plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR). PGPR have positive effects on plant physiology and growth when used as biofertilizer and biocontrol, root colonization, induced systemic resistance, phytopathogen biocontrol, etc. The use of PGPR or other microbial-based products is increasing as the most suitable option for reducing the use of chemicals and to sustain productivity as well as soil health. However, there are a few bottlenecks such as biotic and abiotic stresses and commercialization of PGPR. In this review, we have therefore discussed the mechanisms of PGPR, different secondary metabolites that are being produced by Bacillus and Pseudomonas; their synthesis pathways and ecological interactions in nature.
Location: T E 15 New Biology building
Literature cited 1: Belnap, J., Weber, B. and Büdel, B., Biological Soil Crusts as an Organizing Principle in Drylands, Springer International Publishing, Southwest Biological Science Centre, 2016, pp. 3–13. Beneduzi, A., Ambrosini, A. and Passaglia, L. M., Plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR): their potential as antagonists and biocontrol agents. Genet. Mol. Biol., 2012, 35(4), 1044–1051
Literature cited 2: Tian, P., Razavi, B. S., Zhang, X., Wang, Q. and Blagodatskaya, E., Microbial growth and enzyme kinetics in rhizosphere hotspots are modulated by soil organics and nutrient availability. Soil Biol. Biochem., 2020, 141, 107662. Prashar, P., Kapoor, N. and Sachdeva, S., Rhizosphere: its structure, bacterial diversity and significance. Rev. Environ. Sci. Biotechnol., 2014, 13(1), 63–77.

ID: 66249
Title: Indian beamline at Photon Factory, high-energy accelerator research organization (KEK), Tsukuba, Japan
Author: Poonam Yadav and Sebastian C. Peter
Editor: S.K.Satheesh
Year: 2025
Publisher: Current Science Association and Indian Academy of Sciences.
Source: ENVIS, CES & EWRG, CES
Reference: Current Science Vol. 128 (9) 880-884 10 May (2025)
Subject: Indian beamline at Photon Factory, high-energy accelerator research organization (KEK), Tsukuba, Japan
Keywords: Indian beamline, materials, Photon Factory, synchrotron, X-ray diffraction, X-ray scattering
Abstract: Synchrotron X-ray sources play a vital role in the detailed structural characterization of new materials and in advancing our understanding of structure–property relationships in advanced materials. Recognizing the absence of intense X-ray synchrotron sources and the pressing nationwide demand for access to radiation sources to propel nanoscience and materials research forward, a national program was launched by Nano Mission, Department of Science and Technology, India. As part of this initiative, the Indian Beamline was established at the High-Energy Accelerator Research Organization (KEK) in Tsukuba, Japan, representing a flagship cooperative endeavour. This facility operates at 2.5 GeV with a storage ring current of 450 mA, providing around 4000 hours of user time annually across six different experiment types. The operational efficiency of this synchrotron facility, with an impressive ratio of actual user time to scheduled user time maintained at 96–98%, stands as a critical benchmark for the planning and execution of synchrotron-related experiments.
Location: T E 15 New Biology building
Literature cited 1:
Literature cited 2:

ID: 66248
Title: Rethinking science and mathematics pedagogy in Indian higher education
Author: Aahana Ganguly, Divya Uma, Proteep Mallik, Sravanti Uppaluri and Tulsi Srinivasan
Editor: S.K.Satheesh
Year: 2025
Publisher: Current Science Association and Indian Academy of Sciences.
Source: ENVIS, CES & EWRG, CES
Reference: Current Science Vol. 128 (9) 874-879 10 May (2025)
Subject: Rethinking science and mathematics pedagogy in Indian higher education
Keywords: Interdisciplinarity, local context, science education, self-directed learning, undergraduate pedagogy.
Abstract: Undergraduate science and mathematics curricula in India are still mostly centred around content, and the pedagogy on delivering this content. This does not serve the needs of a diverse student body, nor the needs of these disciplines. Keeping in mind the multiple constraints that undergraduate teachers face, we provide some pedagogical principles for student-centred learning, and some examples illustrating these principles that we believe can be carried out in different contexts.
Location: T E 15 New Biology building
Literature cited 1: Ministry of Education, All India Survey on Higher Education 2021– 22, 2022; https://aishe.gov.in/aishe-final-report/. Freeman, S., Eddy, S. L., McDonough, M., Smith, M. K., Okoroafor, N., Jordt, H. and Wenderoth, M. P., Active learning increases student performance in science, engineering, and mathematics. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci., 2014, 111(23), 8410–8415.
Literature cited 2: Theobald, E. J., Hill, M. J., Tran, E., Agrawal, S., Arroyo, E. N., Behling, S. and Freeman, S., Active learning narrows achievement gaps for underrepresented students in undergraduate science, technology, engineering, and math. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci., 2020, 117(12), 6476–6483. King, D. and Ritchie, S. M., Learning science through real-world contexts. In Second International Handbook of Science Education (eds Fraser, B., Tobin, K. and McRobbie, C.), Springer, Dordrecht, 2012, vol. 24, pp. 69–79; https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-9041- 7_6.

ID: 66247
Title: Occurrence of Leucism in Xylophis perroteti (Serpentes: Pareidae: Xylophiinae) in Nilgiris, Western Ghats, India
Author: Palanisamy Santhoshkumar, Ravikumar Cleamant Kumar Kiran Samson Arockianathan
Editor: S.K.Satheesh
Year: 2025
Publisher: Current Science Association and Indian Academy of Sciences.
Source: ENVIS, CES & EWRG, CES
Reference: Current Science Vol. 128 (9) 872-873 10 May (2025)
Subject: Occurrence of Leucism in Xylophis perroteti (Serpentes: Pareidae: Xylophiinae) in Nilgiris, Western Ghats, India
Keywords: None
Abstract: Different types of inherited colours have been reported in snakes, such as melanism, leucism and albinism1–3 . Leucism is expressed as the almost total decolouration of certain or whole parts of the body but preserving the typical colour of eyes, nails and skin4,5 . The few available reports document leucism in snakes6 . The present study reports leucism in Xylophis perroteti in the Nilgiris of Western Ghats, India. Striped narrow-headed snake X. perroteti has restricted distribution and is found at altitudes from 1000 to 2500 m in the Nilgiri hills of Southern Western Ghats7 .
Location: T E 15 New Biology building
Literature cited 1: Bechtel, H. B., Int. J. Dermatol., 1991, 30, 243–246. Krecsak, L., Rus. J. Herpetol., 2008, 15(2), 97–102.
Literature cited 2: Castella, B., Golay, J., Monney, J. C., Golay, P., Mebert, K. and Dubey, S., J. Zool., 2013, 290(4), 273–280. Bensch, S., Hansson, B., Hasselquist, D. and Nielsen, B., Hereditas, 2000, 133, 167–170.

ID: 66246
Title: Mixed farming of catfish and carps: a model for higher productivity and income
Author: Md. Aklakur Udipta Roy Md. Imran Shah Kamlesh Kumar Md Amjad Vikash Kumar
Editor: S.K.Satheesh
Year: 2025
Publisher: Current Science Association and Indian Academy of Sciences.
Source: ENVIS, CES & EWRG, CES
Reference: Current Science Vol. 128 (9) 867-871 10 May (2025)
Subject: Mixed farming of catfish and carps: a model for higher productivity and income
Keywords: None
Abstract: Aquaculture has promises for feeding to the burgeoning population of the world. Inland production through aquaculture is growing very fast and carp fishes have a huge contribution to fisheries around 70.6% of the total production1 . The demand in local market and high consumer preference made the carp-based aquaculture more prominent in India. The most commonly preferred carp varieties in Bihar and other Indian states are as follows: Catla (Catla catla), Rohu (Labeo rohita), Grass Carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella), Common Carp (Cyprinus carpio), Big Head (Hypophthal michthys nobilis), Mrigal (Cirrhinus mrigala), Silver Carp (Hypophthalmichthys molitrix), Black Carp (Labeo calbasu) and Bata (Labeo bata), etc. Farmers’ prefer these species for their higher growth, natural food acceptance, polyculture and composite culture potential in pond-based systems. Generally, the productivity of carps in pond-based systems can range from 0.8 to 3.2 tonnes per acre, which can be achieved in six months2 . In Andhra Pradesh, various polyculture models for carp culture are followed. In one system, Catla and Rohu fingerlings are stocked at the density of 8,000–10,000/ha at a ratio of Catla : Rohu (1 : 10) and within one-year culture cycle, 1–2 kg fishes are harvested with 85–90% survival rate, which accounted around 10–13 tonnes/ha/year production3 . In another practice, farmers use three-species stocking, with 5000 Rohu, 500 Catla and 250 Mrigal per hectare and within one year culture duration, growth of Catla can be achieved 2.5–3.5 kg, Rohu 1.5–2.5 kg and Mrigal 1.0–1.5 kg, can be with an overall yield of 9–11 MT/ha/year. In West Bengal, most of the farmers follow composite fish farming to utilize all ecological niches of pond ecosystem to fetch higher returns where six species are stocked at a ratio of 30–40% surface feeders (Silver Carp and Catla), 30–35% column feeders (Rohu and Grass Carp) and 30–40% bottom feeders (Common Carp and Mrigal). Some farmers include bottom feeding freshwater prawns instead of Common Carp and Mrigal to fetch higher returns. The core objective of such inclusion is to make culture system more feasible than major carp polyculture alone4–6
Location: T E 15 New Biology building
Literature cited 1: Allsopp, W., In Global Trends in Fisheries Management, American Fisheries Society, Symposium, 1999, vol. 20, pp. 153–166. Yadava, M., Ranjanb, R. and Shahc, T. B., Aquacult. J., 2023, 14(1), 1D.
Literature cited 2: Bhanu Prakash, C. H., Khairnar, S. O., Mandal, A., Kumar, A. and Kumar, B., Int. J. Fisher. Aquat. Stud., 2018, 6(4), 545– 550. Dora, K. C., Freshwater Fish Seed Production and Nursery Rearing in West Bengal, India. In International Training Programme for Cambodian Trainees, 2012.

ID: 66245
Title: Recombinant bovine enzyme destroys biofilm shield of emerging ‘superbug’ pathogen
Author: Yousuf Khan
Editor: S.K.Satheesh
Year: 2025
Publisher: Current Science Association and Indian Academy of Sciences.
Source: ENVIS, CES & EWRG, CES
Reference: Current Science Vol. 128 (9) 865-866 10 May (2025)
Subject: Recombinant bovine enzyme destroys biofilm shield of emerging ‘superbug’ pathogen
Keywords: None
Abstract: Antimicrobial resistance (AMR), the phenomenon of pathogenic microbes evolving characteristics to impede the action of drugs, is an alarming healthcare concern. In 2023, the Indian National AMR Surveillance Network Report documented an 83% increase in AMR cases in public healthcare centres since 2017 (ref. 1). In his Nobel Prize lecture, Alexander Fleming warned about his serendipitous discovery: ‘The time may come when penicillin can be bought by anyone in the shops. Then there is the danger that the ignorant man may easily underdose himself, and by exposing his microbes to non-lethal quantities of the drug make them resistant’ 2 . Soon enough, cases of multidrug resistant bacteria were reported, giving a glimpse of the dark side of this ‘wonder drug’ class. Widespread overuse of antibiotics, antimicrobial pollution and ineffective infection control have compounded the problem, producing a steady growth in AMR-resistant strains3 . Discovery of new drugs capable of countering them requires massive time and capital investment with a low probability of success
Location: T E 15 New Biology building
Literature cited 1: NCDC, Annual Report National Antimicrobial Surveillance Network, National Centre for Disease Control, Govt of India, 2023; https://ncdc.mohfw.gov.in/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Final-Annual-Report-2023-06_ 08_2024.pdf. Fleming, A., Nobel Lecture, NobelPrize. org, 1945; https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/medicine/1945/fleming/lecture (accessed on 15 November 2024)
Literature cited 2: Holmes, A. H. et al., Lancet, 2016, 387(10014), 176–187. Struelens, M. J., BMJ, 1998, 317(7159), 652–654.

ID: 66244
Title: Efficient Gaussian Sugeno fuzzy vector with bidirectional lucidity network for gas turbine
Author: Ravindra S. Surase, K. Rama Krishna and Ramchandra P. Chopade
Editor: S.K.Satheesh
Year: 2025
Publisher: Current Science Association and Indian Academy of Sciences.
Source: ENVIS, CES & EWRG, CES
Reference: Current Science Vol. 128 (8) 802-817 25 April (2025)
Subject: Efficient Gaussian Sugeno fuzzy vector with bidirectional lucidity network for gas turbine
Keywords: Azeotropic mixtures, catalyst deactivation, combined gas turbine plant, condenser system, exergy destruction, selective catalytic reduction systems
Abstract: In the realm of power generation, the integration of gas turbine technology with complementary components in a combined gas turbine (CGT) plant demands meticulous examination of exergy destruction and NOx reduction to ascertain its pivotal performance metrics. Hence, a novel Gaussian Sugeno vector network with a bidirectional lucidity network has been introduced. In the condenser, azeotropic mixtures in the working fluid reveal different heat-transfer characteristics which affect condenser effectiveness and contribute to higher exergy destruction. Thus, a novel Gaussian–Sugeno– Swarm vector network has been implemented, which mitigates the complexities introduced by azeotropic mixtures, reducing exergy destruction and significantly improving the overall effectiveness of the condenser. Furthermore, selective catalytic reduction (SCR) systems exhibit non-linear behaviour due to catalyst deactivation, causing incomplete NOx reduction due to difficulty in predicting and controlling temperature changes. So, a novel bidirectional niching fuzzy lucidity network has been introduced, which provides a comprehensive solution to address the limitations of current control algorithms, ensuring a complete reduction in NOx emissions in SCR systems. The proposed method demonstrates excellence in condenser and SCR systems by achieving a high prediction accuracy of 0.94, precision of 0.96, NOx reduction of 0.97 and low heat loss of 0.02.
Location: T E 15 New Biology building
Literature cited 1: Latif, A., Hussain, S. M. S., Das, D. C. and Ustun, T. S., State-of the-art of controllers and soft computing techniques for regulated load frequency management of single/multi-area traditional and renewable energy based power systems. Appl. Energy, 2020, 266, 114858. Hashmi, M. B., Majid Mohd A. A. and Lemma, T. A., Combined effect of inlet air cooling and fouling on performance of variable geometry industrial gas turbines. Alexandria Eng. J., 2020, 59(3), 1811–1821.
Literature cited 2: Ahmad, N., Ghadi, Y., Adnan, M. and Ali, M., Load forecasting techniques for power system: research challenges and survey. IEEE Access, 2022, 10, 71054–71090. Moradzadeh, A., Mohammadi-Ivatloo, B., Abapour, M., AnvariMoghaddam, A. and Roy, S. S., Heating and cooling loads forecasting for residential buildings based on hybrid machine learning applications: a comprehensive review and comparative analysis. IEEE Access, 2021, 10, 2196–2215.

ID: 66243
Title: Ionomic analysis of citrus scion–rootstock combinations: implications for sodium chloride stress tolerance
Author: Kripa Shankar , O. P. Awasthi, V. K. Sharma , N. Devachandra , Sandeep Kumar and Ashok Kumar
Editor: S.K.Satheesh
Year: 2025
Publisher: Current Science Association and Indian Academy of Sciences.
Source: ENVIS, CES & EWRG, CES
Reference: Current Science Vol. 128 (8) 789-795 25 April (2025)
Subject: Ionomic analysis of citrus scion–rootstock combinations: implications for sodium chloride stress tolerance
Keywords: Citrus, correlation, ionomics, PCA, salinity, scion–rootstock.
Abstract: The objective of the present study was to assess the impact of 30 and 60 mM of sodium chloride (NaCl) stress on sweet orange cultivar Pusa Sharad (PS) grafted on 11 different citrus rootstocks, i.e., Jatti Khatti (JK), X-639 (X9), CRH-12 (C12), NRCC-1 (N1), NRCC-2 (N2), NRCC-3 (N3), NRCC-4 (N4), NRCC-5 (N5), Troyer citrange (TC), CRH-47 (C47) and Cleopatra mandarin (CM) compared with control treatment. The nitrogen (N) concentration in leaves and roots decreased by 10–40%, phosphorus (P) by 11–34%, potassium (K) by 7–49%, calcium (Ca) by 4– 43% and magnesium (Mg) by 8–29% as the NaCl in the irrigation water spiraled from control to 60 mM of NaCl stress depending upon the sensitivity of rootstocks. The PS grafted on C12 and JK, N4 and N2 had greater Cl− and Na+ in the root as compared to leaf. However, The PS grafted on CM and X9 had least Na+ and Cl− concentration in leaf and root at 30 and 60 mM of NaCl concentration thus suggesting that CM and X9 rootstocks are more tolerant to salt stress than JK, C12, N4 and N2 and have potential for imparting tolerance in the sweet orange scion cv. Pusa Sharad.
Location: T E 15 New Biology building
Literature cited 1: MoAFW, Area and Production of Horticulture Crops (2nd Advance Estimate), Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Government of India, Directorate of Economics and Statistics, New Delhi, India, 2023. Storey, R. and Walker, R. R., Citrus and salinity. Sci Hortic., 1999, 87, 39–81.
Literature cited 2: Alam, A., Ullah, H., Attia, A. and Datta, A., Effects of salinity stress on growth, mineral nutrient accumulation and biochemical parameters of seedlings of three citrus rootstocks. Int. J. Fruit Sci., 2020, 20(4), 786–804. Banuls, J., Legaz, F. and Primo-Millo, E., Salinity-calcium interactions on growth and ionic concentration of citrus plants. Plant Soil, 1991, 133, 39–46

ID: 66242
Title: Identification of admixtures in Melia dubia germplasm as revealed by Bayesian analysis
Author: Neha Singh Panwar, Ashok Kumar and Ravindra Singh
Editor: S.K.Satheesh
Year: 2025
Publisher: Current Science Association and Indian Academy of Sciences.
Source: ENVIS, CES & EWRG, CES
Reference: Current Science Vol. 128 (8) 785-788 25 April (2025)
Subject: Identification of admixtures in Melia dubia germplasm as revealed by Bayesian analysis
Keywords: Admixture, Bayesian, membership likelihood, Melia dubia, mixing
Abstract: Melia dubia, an important agroforestry tree species, although it has its diversity hotspot in north-eastern states of India, it has been found to be dispersed in various other states as well. Therefore, to detect gene flow between populations, 185 genotypes from different geographical origins were sampled to identify and study the occurrence of admixtures using 60 Simple Sequence Repeats (SSRs) generating definite and reproducible bands. Bayesian structure analysis grouped genotypes into 6 (best ∆K = 6) genetic groups. Through membership likelihoods (Q >/< 0.60), admixture analysis revealed 175 genotypes to be highly pure, whereas the remaining 10 were mixed indicating genetic mixing. The present study highlights the efficiency of SSRs for the molecular portrayal of M. dubia and assessing its genetic diversity for genetic improvement through effective breeding schemes.
Location: T E 15 New Biology building
Literature cited 1: Porras-Hurtado, L., Ruiz, Y., Santos, C., Phillips, C., Carracedo, A. and Lareu, M. V., An overview of STRUCTURE: applications, parameter settings, and supporting software. Front. Genet., 2013, 98(4), 1–13; https://doi.org/10.3389/fgene.2013.00098. Khan, M. M. H., Rafii, M. Y., Ramlee, S. I., Jusoh, M., Mamun, M. A. and Halidu, J., DNA fingerprinting, fixation-index (Fst), and admixture mapping of selected Bambara groundnut (Vigna subterranea [L.] Verdc.) accessions using ISSR markers system. Sci. Rep., 2021, 14527(11), 1–23; https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021- 93867-5.
Literature cited 2: Kumar, A., Shrivastava, P., Sharma, S., Dobhal, S., Rana, A. and Kumar, R., Development of high yielding varieties of Melia dubia Cav. Indian Forest., 2017, 143(11), 1203–1206. Daryal, U., Dobhal, S., Kumar, A. and Panwar, N. S., Genetic diversity of Melia dubia as revealed by molecular markers. Res. Square, 2023, preprints; https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-2430522/v1

ID: 66241
Title: Optimisation-based weighted ensemble algorithm for predicting prices of spices
Author: Ankit Kumar Singh , Md Yeasin , Ranjit Kumar Paul, H. S. Roy, Prakash Kumar , A. K. Paul and Anita Sarkar
Editor: S.K.Satheesh
Year: 2025
Publisher: Current Science Association and Indian Academy of Sciences.
Source: ENVIS, CES & EWRG, CES
Reference: Current Science Vol. 128 (8) 755-757 25 April (2025)
Subject: Optimisation-based weighted ensemble algorithm for predicting prices of spices
Keywords: Accuracy, ensemble, forecasting, machine learning, spices
Abstract: India plays a significant role in global agriculture production, including spices. Spices play an important role in cultural significance and economic trade relations while providing nutritional and medicinal benefits. The volatility and complexity of the price of spices require improved forecasting methods to support informed decision-making in agricultural markets. Recently, researchers have focused on using the traditional time series model as well as machine learning (ML) model to forecast the price of agricultural commodities. Using a standalone model struggles to capture the complex pattern in time series data. To overcome this challenge, ensemble machine learning approaches based on fixed weight (FW-ensemble) have been proposed. The ML models like artificial neural networks (ANN), random forest (RF), k-nearest neighbours (kNN), extreme gradient boosting (XGBoost), support vector regression (SVR) and the stochastic model, e.g. autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) model have been used. The outputs of these models are ensembled using optimised fixed weights. In this study, the prices of two important spices, namely turmeric and coriander, from 2010 to 2024, collected from AGMARKNET (https:// agmarknet.gov.in/) were considered. The MCS algorithm was used to select the better-performing model. The empirical performance of the ensemble method was compared with that of the stochastic model (ARIMA), ML techniques (ANN, RF, kNN, XGBoost, SVR) and deep learning techniques, e.g. long short-term memory (LSTM) and gated recurrent unit (GRU), based on several accuracy measures. It revealed that the FW-ensemble approach significantly outperformed the other candidate models in terms of prediction accuracy.
Location: T E 15 New Biology building
Literature cited 1: Zhang, Y. and Na, S., A novel agricultural commodity price forecasting model based on fuzzy information granulation and MEA‐ SVM model. Math. Prob. Eng., 2018, 1, 2540681. Mitra, D. and Paul, R. K., Hybrid time-series models for forecasting agricultural commodity prices. Model Assist. Stat. Appl., 2017, 12(3), 255–264
Literature cited 2: Paul, R. K. and Garai, S., Performance comparison of waveletsbased machine learning technique for forecasting agricultural commodity prices. Soft Comput., 2021, 25(20), 12857–12873. Sankaran, S., Demand forecasting of fresh vegetable product by seasonal ARIMA model. Int. J. Oper. Res., 2014, 20(3), 315–330.