Browsing by Author "Dhiraj Kumar"

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Age-related expression of Neurexin1 and Neuroligin3 is correlated with presynaptic density in the cerebral cortex and hippocampus of male mice
(Kluwer Academic Publishers, 2015) Dhiraj Kumar; M.K. Thakur
Neurexin1 (Nrxn1) and Neuroligin3 (Nlgn3) are cell adhesion proteins, which play an important role in synaptic plasticity that declines with advancing age. However, the expression of these proteins during aging has not been analyzed. In the present study, we have examined the age-related changes in the expression of these proteins in cerebral cortex and hippocampus of 10-, 30-, 50-, and 80-week-old male mice. Reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) analysis indicated that messenger RNA (mRNA) level of Nrxn1 and Nlgn3 significantly increased from 10 to 30 weeks and then decreased at 50 weeks in both the regions. However, in 80-week-old mice, Nrxn1 and Nlgn3 were further downregulated in cerebral cortex while Nrxn1 was downregulated and Nlgn3 was upregulated in hippocampus. These findings were corroborated by immunoblotting and immunofluorescence results. When the expression of Nrxn1 and Nlgn3 was correlated with presynaptic density marker synaptophysin, it was found that synaptophysin protein expression in cerebral cortex was high at 10 weeks and decreased gradually up to 80 weeks, whereas in hippocampus, it decreased until 50 weeks and then increased remarkably at 80 weeks. Furthermore, Pearson’s correlation analysis showed that synaptophysin had a strong relation with Nrxn1 and Nlgn3 in cerebral cortex and with Nlgn3 in hippocampus. Thus, these findings showed that Nrxn1 and Nlgn3 are differentially expressed in cerebral cortex and hippocampus which might be responsible for alterations in synaptic plasticity during aging. © 2015, American Aging Association.
Analysis of morphometric characteristics and prioritization of micro watersheds of Karamnasa River Basin using remote sensing & GIS technique
(Taylor and Francis Ltd., 2024) Sumit Kumar; Dhiraj Kumar; V.K. Chandola; Niraj Kumar Sonkar; Anuj Kumar Dwivedi; C.S.P. Ojha
The Karamnasa River, originating in Bihar’s Kaimur district, serves as a vital water resource in the region. This research, conducted at coordinates 25°30’54’‘N latitude and 83°52’30’’ E longitude, aimed to identify optimal sites for water conservation structures within the Karmanasa River Basin (KRS) using Remote Sensing and GIS techniques. By analysing morphometric parameters (MP) of the basin, including slope, stream length, and drainage density, the study delineated the basin into seven sub-watersheds and five stream orders. The comprehensive analysis revealed SW2 as the most critical sub-watershed, necessitating immediate conservation efforts. Assigning ranks to parameters like bifurcation ratio and circulatory ratio, SW2 emerged as the priority sub-watershed. Fifteen potential conservation sites were identified, comprising 9 farm ponds, 3 percolation tanks, and 3 check dams. The research underscores the significance of prioritizing sub-watersheds based on morphometric characteristics, with lower parameter values indicating higher priority. The study’s drainage network analysis, conducted through remote sensing and GIS, enhances understanding of the KRS hydrological features. This research highlights sustainable development through effective water resource use and targeted conservation in the Karamnasa River Basin, emphasizing community engagement and participatory methods for enduring, resilient environmental stewardship and successful land management. © 2024 Indian Society for Hydraulics.
Anxiety like behavior due to perinatal exposure to Bisphenol-A is associated with decrease in excitatory to inhibitory synaptic density of male mouse brain
(Elsevier Ireland Ltd, 2017) Dhiraj Kumar; M.K. Thakur
Bisphenol-A (BPA) is a synthetic endocrine disruptor which causes anxiety like behavior in rodents, though the underlying mechanism is not clearly understood. As excitatory-inhibitory synaptic proteins are the key regulators of anxiety, we have examined the effect of perinatal exposure to BPA on this behavior and the expression of excitatory (PSD95), inhibitory (gephyrin) and presynaptic density marker (synaptophysin) proteins in cerebral cortex and hippocampus of 3 and 8 weeks postnatal male mice. In open field (OF) test, BPA exposure reduced the time spent, number of entries and distance travelled in the central zone as compared to control in 8 weeks mice. On the other hand, elevated plus maze (EPM) results showed decrease in time spent and number of entries to the open arms. Immunoblotting and immunofluorescence analysis showed significant downregulation of PSD95 and synaptophysin, but upregulation of gephyrin, leading to reduction in excitatory to inhibitory protein ratio and synaptic density in postnatal 3 and 8 weeks mice. Thus, our findings show that the anxiety like behavior due to perinatal exposure to BPA is associated with decrease in excitatory to inhibitory synaptic density in postnatal male mice. © 2017 Elsevier B.V.
Correction to: Age-related expression of Neurexin1 and Neuroligin3 is correlated with presynaptic density in the cerebral cortex and hippocampus of male mice (AGE, (2015), 37, 2, (17), 10.1007/s11357-015-9752-6)
(Springer, 2019) Dhiraj Kumar; M.K. Thakur
The corresponding author noticed in his published paper that the images (30 weeks, CC, 10, 30 and 50 weeks DG) of Fig. 3b are inadvertently duplicated with the images of Fig. 3a. Now, these images have been replaced in the corrected panel (Fig. 3b) below. © 2019, American Aging Association.
Developing Standard Treatment Workflows—way to universal healthcare in India
(Frontiers Media SA, 2023) Ashoo Grover; Balram Bhargava; Saumya Srivastava; Lokesh Kumar Sharma; Jerin Jose Cherian; Nikhil Tandon; Sudha Chandershekhar; Roderico H. Ofrin; Henk Bekedam; Deepika Pandhi; Aparna Mukherjee; Rupinder Singh Dhaliwal; Manjula Singh; Kavitha Rajshekhar; Sudipto Roy; Reeta Rasaily; Deepika Saraf; Dhiraj Kumar; Neeraj Parmar; Sushil Kumar Kabra; Dhruva Chaudhry; Ashok Deorari; Radhika Tandon; Rajdeep Singh; Binod Khaitan; Sandeep Agrawala; Sudeep Gupta; Satish Chandra Goel; Anil Bhansali; Usha Dutta; Tulika Seth; Neeta Singh; Shally Awasthi; Amlesh Seth; Jeyaraj Pandian; Vivekanand Jha; Sudhanshu Kumar Dwivedi; Reva Tripathi; Alok Thakar; Surinder Jindal; Banglore Nanjudaiah Gangadhar; Anjali Bajaj; Mohan Kant; Aniket Chatterjee
Primary healthcare caters to nearly 70% of the population in India and provides treatment for approximately 80–90% of common conditions. To achieve universal health coverage (UHC), the Indian healthcare system is gearing up by initiating several schemes such as National Health Protection Scheme, Ayushman Bharat, Nutrition Supplementation Schemes, and Inderdhanush Schemes. The healthcare delivery system is facing challenges such as irrational use of medicines, over- and under-diagnosis, high out-of-pocket expenditure, lack of targeted attention to preventive and promotive health services, and poor referral mechanisms. Healthcare providers are unable to keep pace with the volume of growing new scientific evidence and rising healthcare costs as the literature is not published at the same pace. In addition, there is a lack of common standard treatment guidelines, workflows, and reference manuals from the Government of India. Indian Council of Medical Research in collaboration with the National Health Authority, Govt. of India, and the WHO India country office has developed Standard Treatment Workflows (STWs) with the objective to be utilized at various levels of healthcare starting from primary to tertiary level care. A systematic approach was adopted to formulate the STWs. An advisory committee was constituted for planning and oversight of the process. Specialty experts' group for each specialty comprised of clinicians working at government and private medical colleges and hospitals. The expert groups prioritized the topics through extensive literature searches and meeting with different stakeholders. Then, the contents of each STW were finalized in the form of single-pager infographics. These STWs were further reviewed by an editorial committee before publication. Presently, 125 STWs pertaining to 23 specialties have been developed. It needs to be ensured that STWs are implemented effectively at all levels and ensure quality healthcare at an affordable cost as part of UHC. Copyright © 2023 Grover, Bhargava, Srivastava, Sharma, Cherian, Tandon, Chandershekhar, Ofrin, Bekedam, Pandhi, Mukherjee, Dhaliwal, Singh, Rajshekhar, Roy, Rasaily, Saraf, Kumar, Parmar, Kabra, Chaudhry, Deorari, Tandon, Singh, Khaitan, Agrawala, Gupta, Goel, Bhansali, Dutta, Seth, Singh, Awasthi, Seth, Pandian, Jha, Dwivedi, Tripathi, Thakar, Jindal, Gangadhar, Bajaj, Kant and Chatterjee.
Effect of perinatal exposure to bisphenol-A on DNA methylation and histone acetylation in cerebral cortex and hippocampus of postnatal male mice
(Japanese Society of Toxicology, 2017) Dhiraj Kumar; Mahendra Kumar Thakur
Bisphenol-A (BPA) is an estrogenic endocrine disruptor mostly used for the production of polycarbonate plastics and epoxy resins. Recently we have reported that perinatal BPA exposure impaired spatial memory through upregulation of synaptic proteins Neurexin1 and Neuroligin3 in male mice. As epigenetic mechanism is a key regulator of memory, we hypothesized that BPA might influence memory through epigenetic regulation of gene expression. Here we provide evidence that perinatal exposure to BPA decreased 5-mC DNA but increased histone H3 acetylation in cerebral cortex and hippocampus of postnatal 3 and 8 weeks male mice. BPA exposure also increased mRNA levels of DNMT1 and DNMT3a in cerebral cortex of 3 and 8 weeks; whereas in hippocampus DNMT1 mRNA increased in 3 weeks but decreased in 8 weeks and DNMT3a showed no change. Further, HDAC2 mRNA and protein increased in cerebral cortex of both ages and in hippocampus it increased in 3 weeks but decreased in 8 weeks. Altogether, our results demonstrate that the perinatal BPA exposure induces epigenetic changes that possibly underlie the enduring effect of BPA on brain function and behavior. © 2017, Japanese Society of Toxicology. All rights reserved.
Enhancing Rental Bike Count and Availability Prediction Using Regression Modelling
(Springer Science and Business Media Deutschland GmbH, 2023) Dhiraj Kumar; Diptirtha Chatterjee; Bibek Upadhyaya; Shailendra Nath Yadav; Jyoti Singh Kirar
Sharing Bike has become a new concept now a days where one doesn’t have to buy a bike to enjoy their daily ride. Currently it has been introduced in many countries for the betterment of public transportation and other activities. One can rent bikes on several basis like hourly, daily, monthly etc. It has a significant role to the rising issues related to the global warming, climate change, carbon emission and many more environmental anomalies. It is very much necessary to make a system or model which facilitates the availability of rental bikes to the customer at the right time to avoid any delay. In this work, we have used “Linear Regression” and “Polynomial Regression” modelling to predict the rental bike count required at each hour very efficiently. We have used a publicly available dataset of Seoul city, the capital of South Korea containing the rental bike count and other climate related variables. The experimental outcomes of this work shows the efficacy of the proposed method. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.
Exploratory Data Analysis for Credit Card Fraud Detection
(Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc., 2021) Jyoti Singh Kirar; Dhiraj Kumar; Diptirtha Chatterjee; Prasoon Singh Patel; Shailendra Nath Yadav
In this modern era where everything is online, making a transaction is not safe anymore, so it is duty of every bank to check the transaction details and analyse them whether it's a fraud transaction or not which is not an easy task and very time consuming in the era where time is money here comes Data Science and Machine Learning algorithm to rescue us from this vital problem. This project includes to give a complete view how to solve this problem using very sophisticated Machine Learning algorithm with Credit Card Fraud Detection, which includes modelling with the past records of Credit Card Transactions with the ones who have the Fraud Transactions. Here we want to classify all the correct Fraud Transactions to avoid any misclassifications. In this project, first we have focused in data pre-processing and data transformation, then we have performed various Classification algorithm to get a model having maximum accuracy score © 2021 IEEE.
Gender Matters: Reappraising the Issues of Equity, Participation and Ownership in Watershed Management
(SAGE Publications Inc., 2022) Dhananjay Kumar; Dhiraj Kumar
Equal share in governance of managing natural resources is one of the strategic aspects of neoliberal developmentalism. Additionally, this process of natural resource governance (NRG) considers communities as a homogeneous entity by ignoring the cultural politics of gender division to maintain the latency and equilibrium of the existing gendered order and regime. Watershed developmental project is no exceptional in this regard. The existing empirical literature shows that the gender governance (GG) issues in development projects such as watershed is disproportionate between men and women. This article talks about GG by discussing the issues of equity, participation and ownership in NRG, and it argued that GG cannot be synonymous with gender mainstreaming. Watershed development in India has been taken to address the issues of conservation and production, but it doesn’t address the cultural politics of gendered division. Women are more inclined to be marginalized in the governance of watershed management due to the cultural politics of control and access over the ownership of the natural resource (land) which comes under the hegemonic control of their male counterparts. Women participation in watershed activities is merely for fulfilling the custom of the official quota. Considering the potential function of women participation in watershed activities, the present article seeks to explore the issues and approaches through which the participatory institutions must meet the emerging challenges. This study concludes that the role of women participation in NRG will help in the integration of various form of capital more effectively. © 2022 Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad.
Perinatal exposure to bisphenol-A impairs spatial memory through upregulation of neurexin1 and neuroligin3 expression in male mouse brain
(Public Library of Science, 2014) Dhiraj Kumar; Mahendra Kumar Thakur
Bisphenol-A (BPA), a well known endocrine disruptor, impairs learning and memory in rodents. However, the underlying molecular mechanism of BPA induced impairment in learning and memory is not well known. As synaptic plasticity is the cellular basis of memory, the present study investigated the effect of perinatal exposure to BPA on the expression of synaptic proteins neurexin1 (Nrxn1) and neuroligin3 (Nlgn3), dendritic spine density and spatial memory in postnatal male mice. The pregnant mice were orally administered BPA (50 μg/kgbw/d) from gestation day (GD) 7 to postnatal day (PND) 21 and sesame oil was used as a vehicle control. In Morris water maze (MWM) test, BPA extended the escape latency time to locate the hidden platform in 8 weeks male mice. RT-PCR and Immunoblotting results showed significant upregulation of Nrxn1 and Nlgn3 expression in both cerebral cortex and hippocampus of 3 and 8 weeks male mice. This was further substantiated by in-situ hybridization and immunofluorescence techniques. BPA also significantly increased the density of dendritic spines in both regions, as analyzed by rapid Golgi staining. Thus our data suggest that perinatal exposure to BPA impairs spatial memory through upregulation of expression of synaptic proteins Nrxn1 and Nlgn3 and increased dendritic spine density in cerebral cortex and hippocampus of postnatal male mice. © 2014 Kumar, Thakur.
Political ecology of everyday resistance and state building: A case of the Ho of Jharkhand
(Taylor and Francis, 2023) Dhiraj Kumar
Resource extraction and conflicts over natural resources are a global phenomenon, including in India. Indigenous tribes, like the Ho community in Jharkland, are affected by these dynamics, as their cultural practices and livelihoods are intertwined with the local ecology. This book explores the process of state formation through developmental intervention in the resource-rich areas of Jharkhand in eastern India which are inhabited by the indigenous Ho community. The conflict in Jharkhand is intertwined with State development projects and capitalist interventions. This book examines the history of these projects and the issues of territorialization, dispossession, accumulation, and marginalization which communities have been fighting against for many decades. It examines the process of development policies and projects shaping and restructuring the resource-rich ecology in the region and addresses the interrelated issues of development-induced dispossession, resistance, ecological transformation, governance, illegalities, and state-building. It focuses on the questions: what do development projects bring to the Ho community; what induces them to resist and negotiate? How do State decentralization schemes and local governance in resource conflict areas strengthen State capacities? The book highlights the consequences on the livelihoods and cultural practices of the local people because of ecological transformation and everyday resistance. Comprehensive and important, this book will be of interest to students and researchers of anthropology, sociology, political ecology, social work, development studies, ecology, developmental sociology, indigenous studies, law, and economic anthropology. © 2024 Dhiraj Kumar. All rights reserved.
Post kala-azar dermal leishmaniasis: A threat to elimination program
(Public Library of Science, 2020) Mallikarjuna Rao Gedda; Bhawana Singh; Dhiraj Kumar; Abhishek Kumar Singh; Prasoon Madhukar; Shreya Upadhyay; Om Prakash Singh; Shyam Sundar
Leishmaniasis remains a public health concern around the world that primarily affects poor folks of the developing world spanning across 98 countries with mortality of 0.2 million to 0.4 million annually. Post kala-azar dermal leishmaniasis (PKDL) is the late skin manifestation of visceral leishmaniasis (VL). It has been reported that about 2.5% to 20% of patients recovered from VL develop PKDL having stilted macular or nodular lesions with parasites. In the Indian subcontinent (ISC), it manifests a few months after recovery from VL, though in Africa it can occur simultaneously with VL or a little later. New cases of PKDL are also observed without prior VL in the ISC. These individuals with PKDL represent an important but largely neglected reservoir of infection that perpetuates anthroponotic Leishmania donovani transmission in the ISC and can jeopardize the VL elimination program as these cases can infect the sand flies and spread the endemic. Therefore, it becomes imperative to eradicate PKDL as a part of the VL elimination program. With the limited treatment options besides little knowledge on PKDL, this review stands out in focusing on different aspects that should be dealt for sustained VL elimination. © 2020 Gedda et al.
Recovery of age-related memory loss: Hopes and challenges
(Springer Singapore, 2016) Mahendra Kumar Thakur; Arpita Konar; Dhiraj Kumar; Meghraj Singh Baghel; Padmanabh Singh
Advancing age is associated with drastic decline in memory and is a predisposing factor for neurodegenerative and neuropsychiatric disorders. Such decline results from aging of the brain involving loss of morphological integrity, alterations at the level of genes, enzymes and hormones, metabolism, oxidative stress, protein processing and synaptic function. Multiple biological scales ranging from genes to neural network and behavior and the individual variability that span age associated memory loss have added complexity to the recovery strategies. However, recent advancement in neuroscience research has not only removed the myth of unrecoverable memory loss during aging but also proposed a multitude of recovery approaches. These approaches include herbal interventions, dietary restrictions, antioxidant supplementation, environmental enrichment, lifestyle modulation and molecular targeting. Our laboratory is particularly interested in unraveling the molecular mechanism of age related memory loss and delineate therapeutic targets. Studies on animal models and humans reveal drastic changes in the expression and function of a wide array of molecules including chromatin modifying enzymes, immediate early genes, neurotrophins, presynaptic and postsynaptic proteins and neurite growth markers in vulnerable brain regions of cerebral cortex and hippocampus during aging. Such molecular changes are well translated into behavioral paradigms of memory impairment. In this chapter, we review age associated changes in brain, mechanisms of memory loss and recovery strategies. Essentially, we highlight the molecular correlates of brain aging and their potential as therapeutic targets for age associated memory loss. © Springer Science+Business Media Singapore 2017.
Role of Political and Civil Society in Kalinga Nagar Resistance Movement in Odisha, India
(Sage Publications India Pvt. Ltd, 2025) Dinabandhu Sahoo; Dhiraj Kumar
The presence of neoliberal developmentalism is insidious and ubiquitous, and it has naturalized displacement. Odisha, a resource-rich state, has also experienced developmental discontent in the form of displacement, everyday tyranny, resistance, and dispossession. Displacement causes widespread multiple discontent among the local affected people, and it is being resisted in local place-based struggles in Odisha. These kinds of local place-based struggles give birth to many political societies, where they play multiple roles in the struggle. Besides, the resistance has sought the support and solidarity of civil society. The article is based on ethnographic fieldwork carried out in the Kalinga Nagar Industrial Complex in Odisha, followed by interviews and group discussions with affected and displaced people, civil and political society members, government and industry officials, and other members involved in the movement. Secondary sources of data were collected from newspaper reports, government documents, movement letters, leaflets, pamphlets, booklets, leaders’ affidavits, police FIRs, and personal diaries of leaders. Drawing from Partha Chatterjee’s concepts of political society and civil society, the article locates the roles of political and civil societies in the resistance movement. The article discusses the emergence of political clientelism as an essential element in political society, which also delimited the space of civil society in the resistance movement. © 2025 Oriental Institute of Cultural and Social Research and SAGE Publications.