The spatial concentration of heavy metals (Mn, Ni, Cu, Co, Zn, Cd, and Pb) was studied in coastal areas (n = 9) including water (n = 27) and sediment (n = 27) in the Palk Bay, India to understand the metal pollution due to prevailing natural and anthropogenic activities. Pollution indices like metal index (MI), geoaccumulation index (Igeo), contamination factor (CF), pollution load index (PLI) and potential ecological risk (PER) were calculated based on the background/reference value. The values of MI index indicated that water was free of metals, whereas Igeo, CF, PLI and PER indicated moderate contamination of sediment in monsoon.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSubtropical forests are important ecosystems globally due to their extensive role in carbon sequestration. Extreme climate events are known to introduce disturbances in the ecosystem that cause long-term changes in carbon balance and radiation reflectance. However, how these ecosystem function changes contribute to global warming in terms of radiative forcing (RF), especially in the years following a disturbance, still needs to be investigated.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe diurnal and seasonal variation of soil carbon dioxide (CO) flux was measured in the Pichavaram mangrove forest, the Southeast coast of India from February 2016 to October 2016 using an automated soil CO flux chamber system. Maximum soil CO efflux reached at 14:00 h and minimum at 00:00 h. The surface soil CO concentration ranged from 375 to 532 ppm with the mean 405 ± 18 ppm.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: We previously reported the association of the Z-2 allele of the promoter dinucleotide repeat in the Aldose reductase (ALR2) gene, the (CCTTT)₁₅ allele in the promoter of inductible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) gene, and the (GT)₁₃ promoter polymorphism in the tumor necrosis factor β (TNFB) gene with an increased risk for diabetic retinopathy (DR), and the Gly82Ser polymorphism in the receptor for advanced glycation end products (RAGE) gene and the (GT)₉ allele of the TNFB gene with low-risk for DR in a hospital-based self-reported type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients. We have repeated the study in a population-based south Indian cohort to validate the same variations in these genes.
Materials And Methods: Type 2 diabetic patients with and without retinopathy (DR+ and DR- respectively) were recruited.
Purpose: Polymorphisms in protein kinase C beta (PRKCB1) and pigment epithelium derived factor (PEDF) genes have been associated with diabetic nephropathy and retinopathy respectively. Association of promoter polymorphisms-1504C/T and-1440G/T in PRKCB1 gene and sequence variations in exon 4 of PEDF gene are studied with diabetic retinopathy (DR) in a south Indian population based cohort.
Methods: Type 2 diabetic patients with and without retinopathy (DR+ and DR- respectively) were recruited.