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Exploration was conducted in the study area of Coimbatore district by collecting 60 samples from the agricultural belt. The groundwater is neutral to alkaline in character with pH varying from 6.70 to 9.02 among the mean of 7.37. Elevated electrical conductivity (EC) was observed in upstream parts of the study area. Water quality for irrigation is determined by several key components like electrical conductivity (EC), total suspended solids (TDS), residual sodium carbonate (RSC), chloro alkali Indices (CA I & CAII), sodium adsorption ratio (SAR), percent sodium (%Na), Kelley’s ratio (KR), magnesium hazard (MH), permeability index (PI) and soluble sodium percent (SSP). In total, six samples were found to be with high salinity hazard. The mean value of SAR was found to be 5.24, maximum sample falls under C2S1 to C4S1 category as per USSL Salinity diagram. As per Piper diagram in the anionic regime, Cl dominates HCO3-, CO32- and SO42-. Higher magnesium hazard in the groundwater is owing to the consequence of dyeing and bleaching industries. Magnesium hazard value indicates that 51 samples out of 60 are unsuitable for irrigation. According to the study, it is revealed that groundwater in the study area is contaminated by both natural factors and anthropogenic activities.

Antagonizing TNF-α signaling attenuates chronic inflammatory disease, but is associated with adverse effects on the cardiovascular system. Therefore the impact of TNF-α on basal control of redox signaling events needs to be understand in more depth. This is particularly important for the Keap1/Nrf2 pathway in the heart and in the present study we hypothesized that inhibition of a low level of TNF-α signaling attenuates the TNF-α dependent activation of this cytoprotective pathway. HL-1 cardiomyocytes and TNF receptor1/2 (TNFR1/2) double knockout mice (DKO) were used as experimental models. TNF-α (2–5 ng/ml, for 2 h) evoked significant nuclear translocation of Nrf2 with increased DNA/promoter binding and transactivation of Nrf2 targets. Additionally, this was associated with a 1.5 fold increase in intracellular glutathione (GSH). Higher concentrations of TNF-α (>10–50 ng/ml) were markedly suppressive of the Keap1/Nrf2 response and associated with cardiomyocyte death marked by an increase in cleavage of caspase-3 and PARP. In vivo experiments with TNFR1/2-DKO demonstrates that the expression of Nrf2-regulated proteins (NQO1, HO-1, G6PD) were significantly downregulated in hearts of the DKO when compared to WT mice indicating a weakened antioxidant system under basal conditions. Overall, these results indicate that TNF-α exposure has a bimodal effect on the Keap1/Nrf2 system and while an intense inflammatory activation suppresses expression of antioxidant proteins a low level appears to be protective.

This report deals with the fabrication of NiO nanoparticle (NiO Nps) dispersed alkyd coating and its antimicrobial activity. NiO Nps is prepared by novel sol-gel technique using pectic polysaccharides as a gelling agent. The gelling agent converts the hydroxo-metal network into a gel within 4 h of time. After calcination, the FESEM and TEM micrograph of the obtained NiO Nps shows cubic and irregular shaped structures with size ranging from 30 to 200 nm. The structural characterizations have been evaluated through XRD, FTIR, UV-vis and VSM studies. The antimicrobial activity of NiO Nps has been carried out against both gram negative and gram positive bacteria namely Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumonia and Proteus vulgaris, Streptococcus mutans, Bacillus subtilis, and Staphylococcus aureus. The findings of the present study indicate that the NiO Nps permeate the bacterial cell wall, accumulated inside thereby facilitating the synergistic impact against the growth of bacterial strains. The experimental outcomes suggest the potential use of NiO as pigments in the alkyd coating. Alkyd coating consisting of NiO Nps exhibits considerable reduction in bacterial viability when it comes in contact against microbial strains, proving the efficacy of the coating. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The complex interaction between surface waves and muddy sea bottom is pivotal for wave evolution studies in coastal regions. Considerable absorption of wave energy resulting in decreased wave height had been observed in numerous geographical locations which include countries like China, India, South Korea and Louisiana (Gulf of Mexico), USA. Strong dissipative effects of cohesive sedimentary environments on waves are well known, but little understood. The spectral action balance equation used in numerical wave modeling expresses evolution of wave energy as a function of frequency and direction, balanced by various source and sink mechanisms. In this research paper, we propose an improved parameterization of bottom induced wave attenuation which is an inherent limitation in the existing state-of-the-art third generation wave models. We explain through theoretical formulations wave propagation and attenuation in heterogeneous environments, where significant wave damping over entire wavelength is observed in bottom strata having mixture of sand with mud (hereafter referred to as slurry). In the context of engineering relevance, such a mixture is termed "slurry" commonly referred in dredging technology. Hence, in this work we propose and incorporate a parameterization form of wave attenuation in the action balance equation which accounts for dissipative mechanism for slurry dominated bottoms. The attenuation coefficient is thereby determined and a comparison is made with the theoretical formulation due to slurry and sand for a one-dimensional case. The study also addresses implication of such wave attenuation on coastal structures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tsunami waves are considered the most dangerous natural hazard affecting the population of the world living near the coastal belts. With the increasing intensity of economic exploitation of coasts there is also an increase in socio-economic consequences resulting from the hazardous action of tsunami waves generated from submarine seismic activity and other causes. On 26 December 2004, the countries within the vicinity of East Indian Ocean experienced the most devastating tsunami in recorded history. This tsunami was triggered by an earthquake of magnitude 9.0 on the Richter scale at 3.4°N, 95.7°E off the coast of Sumatra in the Indonesian Archipelago at 06:29 hrs IST (00:59 hrs GMT). As of now (September, 2005), the only Tsunami Warning System (TWS) that is in existence is the one for the Pacific Ocean, which began in the late 1940s. Following the recent disastrous tsunami of 26 December 2004 in the Indian Ocean, the nations around the Indian Ocean rim are now working together to establish a tsunami warning system which should become operational in the near future. One of the most basic information that an Indian Ocean tsunami warning center should have at its disposal, is information on tsunami travel times to various coastal locations surrounding the Indian Ocean rim, as well to several island locations. Devoid of this information, no ETA's (expected times of arrival) can be included in the real-time tsunami warnings. The importance of ETA for tsunami warning system motivated the computation of arrival times comprising 250 representative coastal locations from 35 countries, showing the feasibility of developing a TWS in a relatively short time-span. Numerical accuracy in computating arrival times for this energetic event has been verified from in situ tide gauge data and satellite track data from Jason-I and Topex/Poseidon in the Indian Ocean and also from coastal stations off South Africa. The expected outcome of this work is to develop a widely distributed tsunami travel time (TTT) atlas which can serve as a valuable information database to reduce warning time in the event of tsunamis in the Indian Ocean and promote awareness among the population dwelling in the littoral belts of the South-Asian countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The differences of PBDE absorption, accumulation, and metabolism in different cultivars of the same crop are rarely explored. This study used 14 C tracing to fully demonstrate the uptake and transformation of soil-borne BDE209 in three rice cultivars, including two indica (HHZ and YD1) and one japonica cultivars (NJ3). Results showed that about 6.9, 17.2, and 17.4% of the applied 14 C-BDE209 were transformed to 14 C-metabolites in soils planted with HHZ, YD1, and NJ3, respectively. The 14 C-BDE209 and its 14 C-metabolites in soil could be absorbed by the rice and gradually transported to its root, stem, leaf, and grain, with the total whole-plant uptake of 8.52, 4.55 and 3.43 nmol for HHZ, YD1, and NJ3, respectively. The cultivar of HHZ had the greatest whole-plant 14 C absorption but the lowest ΣPBDEs residues in its grain, with the ΣPBDEs of 421.8, 454.2 and 967.0 ng g -1 for HHZ, YD1, and NJ3, respectively. BDE-209 accounted for 90%, 31% and 50% of the ΣPBDEs in the grain from HHZ, YD1, and NJ3, respectively. The estimated daily intake (EDI) amounts of ΣPBDEs were 928, 1056, and 2675 ng kg -1  bw d -1 via consuming rice grains from HHZ, YD1, and NJ3, respectively, which were below the safe threshold limits for human consumption. This study proved the different BDE-209 absorption, accumulation and transformation in different rice cultivars, which potentially suggests the need of considering cultivar differences in assessing the dietary risks of PBDEs., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

A homologous series of 1-alkyl-(N,N-dimethylamino)pyridinium bromides, termed compounds 1-11, was synthesized and studied for antibacterial and antifungal activity. Of these, compound 8, containing a ten-carbon alkyl chain, showed maximum inhibition against all the tested bacterial strains. The highest antibacterial activity using a disc diffusion method was recorded against Mycobacterium smegmatis [zone of inhibition (ZOI): 45.75±0.25 mm], followed by Escherichia coli, Proteus mirabilis, Vibrio cholerae, Staphylococcus aureus and Salmonella typhi. In addition to antibacterial activity, compounds 3-11 displayed good inhibitory action against the human opportunistic yeast pathogens Cryptococcus neoformans and various Candida spp. The maximum ZOI was observed against Cryptococcus neoformans (51.5±0.5 mm) using compound 8, with ZOIs of 23.5±0.5, 32.0±0.0, 27.75±0.25 and 41.5±0.5 mm against Candida albicans, Candida glabrata, Candida tropicalis and Candida krusei, respectively. Furthermore, compound 8 caused inhibition of the candidal yeast-hyphae transition at a concentration of 0.29 µM and also inhibited the secretion of extracellular hydrolytic enzyme such as secreted aspartyl proteinase at subinhibitory concentrations. Compound 8 showed very little haemolytic activity at a concentration of 0.58 µM (1.315±0.75 %), with its highest haemolytic activity (47.806±2.32 %) observed at a concentration of 2.9 µM.