Mahesh Shindikar - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Mahesh Shindikar

Social Science Research Network, Nov 30, 2009

ABSTRACT A habitat-based plant diversity assessment was carried out in order to appraise the curr... more ABSTRACT A habitat-based plant diversity assessment was carried out in order to appraise the current status of the mangroves of Thane creek (Maharashtra, India) for appropriate measures for conservation of the fragile ecosystem. ‘Partially protected’ and ‘disturbed’ are the two major categories of habitat recognized during the study. In addition, mangrove vegetation of each habitat is quantitatively analyzed for its diversity (species richness and distribution) and growth parameters (above ground biomass). Habitat is found to be responsible for the physicochemical setup of mangrove swamps, which decides a community pattern in mangroves. Out of the 18 species recorded from the Maharashtra coast, Thane creek exhibits eight mangroves, viz., Avicennia marina Vahl., Avicennia officinalis L., Bruguiera cylindrica Bl., Sonneratia apetala Buch.-Ham., Ceriops tagal Robin, Excoecaria agallocha L., Acanthus ilicifolius L. and Aegiceras corniculatum Blanco. No zonation pattern could be recognized within the present day mangrove forest. In general, the vegetation is dominated by Avicennia marina, which has an ecologically successful Importance Value Index (IVI) of 157.29 and is most resistant to biotic and abiotic stresses, while others are susceptible to environmental stress and gradually shrink. The results exhibited significant diversity and distribution in partially protected areas. In severely degraded areas, A. ilicifolius grows in abundance, indicating secondary succession.

Quaternary Research, Nov 1, 2005

The organic deposits derived from the mangrove swamps form reliable stratigraphic markers within ... more The organic deposits derived from the mangrove swamps form reliable stratigraphic markers within the Late Quaternary sequence of Kerala–Konkan Basin. Three generations of such deposits have been identified. The older one is dated to around 43,000–40,000 14C yr B.P., with a few dates beyond the range of radiocarbon. The younger ones date from the Middle Holocene to latest Pleistocene (10,760–4540 14C yr B.P.) and the Late Holocene (<4000 14C yr B.P.). Pollen analyses confirm that the deposits are mostly derived from the mangrove vegetation. Peat accumulation during the period 40,000–28,000 14C yr B.P. can be correlated with the excess rainfall, 40–100% greater than modern values, of the Asian summer monsoon. The low occurrence of mangrove between 22,000 and 18,000 14C yr B.P. can be attributed to the prevailing aridity and/or reduced precipitation associated worldwide with Last Glacial Maximum, because exposure surfaces and ferruginous layers are commonly found in intervals representing this period. The high rainfall of 11,000–4000 14C yr B.P. is found to be the most significant as the mangrove reached an optimum growth around 11,000 14C yr B.P. but with periods of punctuated weaker monsoons. From the present and previous studies, it has been observed that after about 5000 or 4000 14C yr B.P., the monsoons became gradually reduced leading to drying up of many of the marginal marine mangrove ecosystems. A case study of Hadi profile provided an insight to the relevance of magnetic susceptibility (χ) to record the ecological shift in Late Holocene.

Zoos' print journal, Sep 21, 2003

Mangrove swamps along Thane Creek (Mumbai), Maharashtra Coast were surveyed to study plant galls.... more Mangrove swamps along Thane Creek (Mumbai), Maharashtra Coast were surveyed to study plant galls. Avicennia marina, Sonneratia apetala and Salvadora persica (a mangrove associate) were found subjected to gall formation.

Social Science Research Network, 2022

Communications in computer and information science, 2022

2022 International Conference on Signal and Information Processing (IConSIP)

arXiv (Cornell University), Nov 29, 2022

Skull Stripping is a requisite preliminary step in most diagnostic neuroimaging applications. Man... more Skull Stripping is a requisite preliminary step in most diagnostic neuroimaging applications. Manual Skull Stripping methods define the gold standard for the domain but are time-consuming and challenging to integrate into processing pipelines with a high number of data samples. Automated methods are an active area of research for head MRI segmentation, especially deep learning methods such as U-Net architecture implementations. This study compares Vanilla, Residual, and Dense 2D U-Net architectures for Skull Stripping. The Dense 2D U-Net architecture outperforms the Vanilla and Residual counterparts by achieving an accuracy of 99.75% on a test dataset. It is observed that dense interconnections in a U-Net encourage feature reuse across layers of the architecture and allow for shallower models with the strengths of a deeper network.

Journal of Threatened Taxa

Philately is one of the most popular hobbies since its inception and there are millions of known ... more Philately is one of the most popular hobbies since its inception and there are millions of known philatelists across the globe. Other than just a hobby, it can also be seen as a tool for reflecting social, political, natural specialities of the country for internal and external demonstration. It is an effective medium to display the richness of natural diversity, customs, and traditions and also the man-made wonders for its users. Stamps and other philatelic items can be viewed as conservation tool. They not only sensitize the public to the fate of the threatened environment or biota but also help in raising funds. Mangroves represent one of the most diverse coastal ecotonal wetlands of tropics and subtropics. They are the ecosystems inhabited by diverse group of floral, faunal, and microbial elements. Though neglected initially, these forests have attracted the global attention after understanding their role in coastal ecology and economy. The current study is a modest attempt to...

Maharashtra's flora is heterogeneous in composition. Bio-geographically and agro-climatic... more Maharashtra's flora is heterogeneous in composition. Bio-geographically and agro-climatically it can be divided into five regions i.e. konkan - a narrow coastal strip to the west of Sahyadris; Madhya Maharashtra or Desh or central plateau of Deccan Peninsula lying to the east of Sahyadri; Khandesh - comprising the east and west Khandesh; Marathwada and Vidarbha. The natural vegetation and climate in general vary among these five geographical regions. Because of its central position and great diverse geographical and climatic conditions, the Maharashtra state shows rich floristic components. Out of total 3,700 higher plants (wild and naturalized) reported from Maharashtra state, about 687 are known to be endemic (Tetali et.al, 2000).

European Journal of Biology and Biotechnology, 2021

The interaction between plant-aphid is phenomenal and complex. Aphids possess efficient mouthpart... more The interaction between plant-aphid is phenomenal and complex. Aphids possess efficient mouthparts which feed on plant sap intensively. Adaptation to host plants and successful feeding is achieved through the strategic ability of aphids to reproduce sexually and asexually (parthenogenesis). Aphid infestation damages the plant in diverse ways and induces plant defense. Though plant elicit direct and indirect defense to resist aphid feeding, the effectiveness of plant resistance depends largely on the aphid infestation rate and quality of the host plant. To control aphid infestation and plant damage, dependency on insecticides is undesirable due to insecticidal resistance of aphids and environmental pollution. The approach towards the development of the genetically engineered crops which are aphid resistant can be the considerable potential to aphid control..

IOSR Journal of Environmental Science, Toxicology and Food Technology, 2016

Large amount of lingo-cellulosic waste generated by forestry, agricultural practices, paper-pulp ... more Large amount of lingo-cellulosic waste generated by forestry, agricultural practices, paper-pulp industries and textile dye-stuff industries poses a severe environmental pollution problem. Paper factory effluent is one of the major pollutants on the earth because it is highly coloured. The persistent dark brown colour is due to dissolved lignin based synthetic, aromatic and chlorinated compounds derived from the blow heat condensate, pulp decker washing, chlorine and alkali bleach waste, black liquor spillage and foul evaporator condensate. Selection of correct and ecofriendly treatment method for paper-pulp mill waste-water prior to discharge into the environment is still a matter of concern. In the present study, the application of the lignin peroxidase enzyme as crude extracts of the bacterial isolate cultures was reported as an effective tool in biobleaching and biodegradation of paper pulp mill effluent which was measured spectrophotometrically. The isolates Sphingomonas paucimobilis and Corynebactrium jeikeium were found to be an efficient biobleaching agent as compared to the other isolates studied. They showed 91.32%, 86.57%, 84.21% and 83.82%, 82.43% and 78.94% biobleaching respectively when applied as axenic cultures while the mixed consortia being the most effective showed the biobleaching in the range of 91.61%, 89.47% and 86.84% of the effluent 50%, 75% and 100% respectively.

Flyash is a waste product generated from coal based thermal power plants. Globally, disposal of f... more Flyash is a waste product generated from coal based thermal power plants. Globally, disposal of fly ash is a great challenge for the planners. Dumping the ash in nearby wastelands is most preferred disposal method adopted by the agencies. In India, such depositions are often transformed in to varying sizes of ponds that are known as fly ash ponds. Out of the 8 major thermal power plants of Maharashtra, fly ash ponds associated with Nashik Thermal Power Station were explored as habitats for the faunal diversity. Despite the toxic nature of flyash, these sites harbour significant avian diversity (128 species). Interestingly, these ponds are situated in close proximity with Nandur-Madhyameshwar Bird Sanctuary along the Nandur-Madhyameshwar dam. This in fact encouraged a comparative study of avian diversity of both these man-made wetlands. The analysis based on field observations made during 2007-2011, shows high similarity value (0.75) between these habitats. Present study signifies th...

A habitat-based plant diversity assessment was carried out in order to appraise the current statu... more A habitat-based plant diversity assessment was carried out in order to appraise the current status of the mangroves of Thane creek (Maharashtra, India) for appropriate measures for conservation of the fragile ecosystem. ‘Partially protected’ and ‘disturbed’ are the two major categories of habitat recognized during the study. In addition, mangrove vegetation of each habitat is quantitatively analyzed for its diversity (species richness and distribution) and growth parameters (above ground biomass). Habitat is found to be responsible for the physicochemical setup of mangrove swamps, which decides a community pattern in mangroves. Out of the 18 species recorded from the Maharashtra coast, Thane creek exhibits eight mangroves, viz., Avicennia marina Vahl., Avicennia officinalis L., Bruguiera cylindrica Bl., Sonneratia apetala Buch.-Ham., Ceriops tagal Robin, Excoecaria agallocha L., Acanthus ilicifolius L. and Aegiceras corniculatum Blanco. No zonation pattern could be recognized within...

Zoos' Print Journal, 2005

ABSTRACT Hydrogen gas with the highest gravimetric energy density of all known fuels produces ene... more ABSTRACT Hydrogen gas with the highest gravimetric energy density of all known fuels produces energy without giving rise to the notorious carbon emissions that damage the environment. A promising next-generation non-conventional resource, hydrogen yields energy to the tune of about 122kJ/g. Biological processes for hydrogen production proffer distinct advantages such as clean and green energy that may be economically attractive. Among several known processes, two processes viz. direct and indirect biohydrogen production are reported in algae and cyanobacteria, respectively. In the direct process, photosystem II (PSII) dependent and PSII independent reaction cascades operate, out of which the PSII independent process appears to be more efficient and economical. Here, under anoxic conditions (induced by blockage of PSII) electrons derived from endogenous substrates such as proteins and carbohydrates are channelized via cytochrome b 6 f to PSI. The absorbance of light by reactive center of PSI subsequently allows transfer of the electrons to ferrodoxin and then to an active hydrogenase enzyme on the outer face of the thylakoid membrane. Under oxygen limiting conditions the hydrogenase is active and utilizes the electrons to reduce protons that are released out of the thylakoid membrane during ATP (Adenosine Triphosphate Synthesis). Attractive as it may seem, recent breakthroughs in H 2 photoproduction have been able to tap only about 15% of the theoretical maximum, suggesting room for substantial improvement in the energy yield. Urgent steps need to be taken in order to develop the technology for commercial scale production of biohydrogen. Certain approaches appear to be promising in this regard, viz. (i) reducing antenna size to minimize shading effect and to avoid loss of energy during transfer of photons from antenna to the reaction center with the overall effect of increasing conversion efficiency, (ii) enriching the quality of endogenous substrate that would enhance generation of electrons, (iii) enhancing the release of hydrogen ions entrapped in thylakoid membrane by using protonophores. Additionally in a fourth approach, efforts need to be taken for designing photobioreactors that will minimize loss of photons and ensure availability of specific wavelengths of light for hydrogen production. Experimental data pertaining to some of these approaches will be discussed in the presentation.

Quaternary Research, 2005