Wave induced coastal flooding along the southwest coast of India during tropical cyclone Tauktae.

The coastal flood during the tropical cyclone Tauktae, 2021, at Chellanam coast, Kerala, India, has invited wide attention as the wave overtopping severely affected coastal properties and livelihood. We used a combination of WAVEWATCHIII and XBeach to study the coastal inundation during high waves. The effect of low-frequency waves and the rise in the coastal water level due to wave setup caused the inundation at Chellanam, even during low tide with negligible surge height. Wave setup raised the water level at the coast with steep slopes to more than 0.6 m and peaked during low tide, facilitating wave breaking at the nearshore region. The coastal regions adjacent to these steep slopes were subjected to severe inundation. The combined effect of long and short waves over wave setup formed extreme wave runups that flooded inland areas. At gently sloping beaches, the longwave component dominated and overtopped the seawalls and damaged households along the shoreline. The study emphasizes the importance of longwave and wave setup and its interaction with nearshore bathymetry during the high wave. The present study shall lead to the development of a coastal inundation prediction system for the low-lying hot spots using the combination of WAVEWATCHIII and XBeach models.

The influence of boreal summer intra-seasonal oscillations on Indo-western Pacific Ocean surface waves.

The present study examines the influence of Boreal Summer Intra-Seasonal Oscillation (BSISO) on Tropical Indian Ocean surface waves using the latest version of ECMWF reanalysis (ERA5) during summer monsoon months June through August (JJA). BSISO is a distinct mode of ISO during JJA having a northward and eastward movement from the equatorial Indian Ocean to the western Pacific Ocean. Composite analysis of anomalies of significant wave heights (SWH), wind sea, swell, and mean wave period for 8 phases of BSISO has been carried out to understand its influence. SWH anomalies in response to BSISO's are phase-dependent. Negative SWH anomalies are noticed with strong northward and weak eastward propagation during the phases 1-3 in response to the easterly wind anomalies over the north Indian Ocean (NIO). During phases 5-7, high positive SWH anomalies (~ 0.5 m) in response to the westerly wind anomalies with northward and weak eastward propagation over NIO. Phases 4 and 8 behave like transition phases. In addition, enhanced (suppressed) SWH anomalies (~ 0.5 m) are seen during the active (break) spells of BSISO over NIO. Over the southern tip of India, negative (positive) SWH anomalies prevail during the active (break) conditions. This study clearly suggests that the wave forecast advisories during intra-seasonal time scales would be more useful for offshore and coastal activities during the summer monsoon.

Characterisation of virulence genes associated with pathogenicity in Klebsiella pneumoniae.

Purpose: This study was undertaken to characterise the virulence factors in clinical strains of Klebsiella pneumoniae and analyse their association with various infections caused and also to determine the association between virulence factors and antimicrobial resistance profile. Materials and Methods: A total number of 370 clinically significant, non-duplicate isolates of K. pneumoniae isolated from both hospitalised patients and patients attending clinics were included in this study. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was carried out for the detection of various virulence genes such as mucoviscosity-associated gene A (magA), gene associated with allantoin metabolism (allS), Klebsiella ferric iron uptake(Kfu), capsule-associated gene A (K2A), regulator of mucoid phenotype A (rmpA), enterobactin (entB), yersiniabactin (YbtS), aerobactin, Fimbrial adhesin (FimH) and uridine-diphosphate galacturonate 4-epimerase (uge). Antimicrobial susceptibility testing and PCR-based detection of beta-lactamase-encoding genes such as extended-spectrum beta-lactamases, AmpCs and carbapenemases were performed. Univariate analysis was done to find the association between virulence genes and mortality. Results: The siderophore, entB, was present in most (90.5%) of the isolates. Of the 370 isolates, 345 carried multiple virulence genes; 15 harboured single virulence genes and 10 did not harbour any of the studied virulence genes. The most common combination of occurrence was entB and FimH. A mortality rate of 12.75% (38/298) was observed among hospitalised patients. None of the virulence genes had any significant association with mortality. Conclusion: Pathogenic K. pneumoniae can harbour single to multiple virulence genes. Invasive infection with even a single virulence gene-harbouring K. pneumoniae can lead to poor outcomes. Both multidrug-resistant (MDR) and non-MDR K. pneumoniae can harbour a variety of virulence genes. None of the virulence genes have a significant association with mortality.

Coconut (Cocos nucifera l.) pollen cryopreservation.

BACKGROUND: Coconut genetic resources are threatened by pests and pathogens, natural hazards and human activities. Cryopreservation is the only method allowing the safe and cost-effective long-term conservation of recalcitrant seed species such as coconut. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this work was to test the effect of cryopreservation and of cryostorage duration on coconut pollen germination and fertility. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Pollen of two coconut varieties (West Coast Tall WWCTW and Chowghat Orange Dwarf CODC) was collected in March-May over three successive years, desiccated to 7.5 % moisture content (FW) and cryopreserved by direct immersion in liquid nitrogen. RESULTS: Germination and pollen tube length (PTL) of desiccated and cryopreserved pollen were not significantly different for both WCT and COD over the three harvest months of the three consecutive years of study. Pollen germination ranged from 24 to 32 % in desiccated pollen whereas it was between 26 and 29 % in cryopreserved COD pollen. In the case of WCT, germination ranged from 30 to 31 % in desiccated pollen, while it was between 28 and 32 % in cryopreserved pollen. PTL of cryopreserved pollen ranged between 224-390 nm and 226-396 mm for COD and WCT, respectively. Germination of COD pollen varied between 29.0 and 44.1 % after 4 years and 1.0/1.5 years cryostorage, respectively. Germination of WCT pollen did not change significantly between 0 and 6 years cryostorage, being comprised between 32 (24 h) and 40 % (1.5 years). Germination and vigour of cryopreserved pollen were generally higher compared to that of pollen dried in oven and non-cryopreserved. Normal seed set was observed in COD and WCT palms using pollen cryostored for 6 months and 4 years. Cryopreserved pollen of five Tall and five Dwarf accessions displayed 24-31 % and 25-49 % germination, respectively. CONCLUSION: These results show that it is now possible to establish pollen cryobanks to contribute to coconut germplasm long-term conservation.

Spectroscopic and density functional theory studies of trans-3-(trans-4-imidazolyl)acrylic acid.

The structural parameters, thermodynamic properties and vibrational frequencies of the optimised geometry of trans-3-(trans-4-imidazolyl)acrylic acid have been determined from B3LYP methods with 6-311++G(**) and cc-pVTZ basis sets. The effects of substituents (acrylyl group) on the imidazole vibrational frequencies are analysed. The vibrational frequencies of the fundamental modes of trans-3-(trans-4-imidazolyl)acrylic acid have been precisely assigned and analysed and the theoretical results are compared with the experimental vibrations. (1)H and (13)C NMR isotropic chemical shifts are calculated and the assignments made are compared with the experimental values. The energies of important MO's of the compound are also determined from DFT method. The total electron density and electrostatic potential of the compound are determined by natural bond orbital analysis. Various reactivity and selectivity descriptors such as chemical hardness, chemical potential, softness, electrophilicity, nucleophilicity and the appropriate local quantities employing natural population analysis (NPA) are calculated.

A new look into conformational, vibrational and electronic structure analysis of 3,4-dimethoxybenzonitrile.

The FTIR and FT-Raman spectra of 3,4-dimethoxybenzonitrile (34DMBN) have been analysed. Quantum chemical studies were performed with B3LYP method using 6-311++G(d,p), 6-31G(d,p) and cc-pVTZ basis sets. The electron donating effect of -OCH3 and electron withdrawing effect of -C≡N groups on the ring parameters were thoroughly analysed. The structural parameters, energies, thermodynamic properties, vibrational frequencies and the NBO charges of 34DMBN were determined. The (1)H and (13)C chemical shifts with respect to TMS were investigated and also calculated theoretically using the gauge independent atomic orbital method and compared with the experimental data. The delocalisation energy of different types of bonding interactions was investigated.

Photodegradable iron(III) cross-linked alginate gels.

Biocompatible photoresponsive materials are of interest for targeted drug delivery, tissue engineering, 2D and 3D protein patterning, and other biomedical applications. We prepared light degradable hydrogels using a natural alginate polysaccharide cross-linked with iron(III) cations. The "hard" iron(III) cations used to cross-link the alginate hydrogel were found to undergo facile photoreduction to "soft" iron(II) cations in the presence of millimolar concentrations of sodium lactate. The "soft" iron(II) cations have a decreased ability to cross-link the alginate which results in dissolution of the hydrogel and the formation of a homogeneous solution. The photodegradation is done using long wave UV or visible light at neutral pH. The very mild conditions required for the photodegradation and the high rate at which it occurs suggest applications for iron(III) cross-linked alginate hydrogels as light-controlled biocompatible scaffolds.

1D molecular ladder of the ionic complex of terbium-4-sebacoylbis(1-phenyl-3-methyl-5-pyrazolonate) and sodium dibenzo-18-crown-6: synthesis, crystal structure, and photophysical properties.

On the basis of the novel heterocyclic beta-diketone, 4-sebacoylbis(1-phenyl-3-methyl-5-pyrazolone (H 2SbBP), three new lanthanide complexes Tb 2(SbBP) 3(H 2O) 2 ( 1), Gd 2(SbBP) 3(H 2O) 2 ( 2), and [Tb(SbBP) 2] [Na(DB18C6)H 2O] ( 3) have been synthesized and characterized by various spectroscopic techniques. The single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis of 3 reveals that the complex crystallizes in the monoclinic space group C2/ c with a = 25.300(6) A, b = 19.204(7) A, c = 15.391(3) A, beta = 93.17(3) degrees , and V = 7466(4) A (3). The crystal structure of 3 is heterodinuclear and features a Tb (3+) center surrounded by two tetradentate bispyrazolone ligands in a somewhat distorted square-antiprismatic geometry. The Na (+) coordination environment is distorted hexagonal pyramidal and involves six oxygen atoms furnished by DB18C6 and one oxygen atom from a water molecule. The X-ray diffraction study of 3 also revealed an interesting 1D molecular ladder structure based on C-H/pi, intra- and intermolecular hydrogen-bonding interactions. The photophysical properties of 1 and 3 in solid state have been investigated, and the quantum yields and (5)D 4 lifetimes were found to be 4.82 +/- 0.01% and 18.13 +/- 0.82% and 1.11 +/- 0.01 and 2.82 +/- 0.02 ms, respectively.