Engaging with the Local Narrative of Hagiography in Kashmir

Muhammad Maroof Shah,Aasif Shah 부산대학교 한국민족문화연구소 2013 Localities Vol.- No.3

Local narratives when they contradict dominant episteme of the age may not be academically respectable. They may be discussed as something curious or interesting or for purely historical reasons or as a species of antique collections dumped into the wastebasket of history. And when these are about local beliefs and mythopoetic experiences they are more incredible to the scholarly. And historians today are trained not to take note of local narratives at face value and somehow appropriate their queerness. Often people’s gullibility or hagiographer’s zeal or faith is invoked to explain what appears to be scandalous to reason or received understanding of science. Once upon a time the world of angels, fairies and djinns were part of experience or explanatory framework to which people naturally subscribed. But in the secular age it is no longer a case. All these things appear relics of a bygone age of faith. Today hagiographers too have mostly succumbed to the fashions of the age and write as if ordinary stories of ordinary men. Engaging with traditional hagiographic accounts in the face of all these epistemic shifts resulting in either skewed reading in light of what appears as distorting mirror of rationalist framework and casting doubts on the claims of hagiographers may well be questioned on account of greater sensitivity shown, in the postmodern era, to other forms of rationality that better accommodate local narrative not fitting in the Grand Narratives of Enlightenment and Secular Humanism. Taking the test case of local narrative of belief in saints and their miraculous performances in Kashmir we argue that modernist historiography as practized in Kashmir seems to be guilty of epistemic violence while applying modernist tools to a traditional culture.

Identification and characterization of low density polyethylenedegrading bacteria isolated from soils of waste disposal sites

Lalina Maroof,Ibrar Khan,Han Sang Yoo,Suji Kim,Hong-Tae Park,Bashir Ahmad,Sadiq Azam 대한환경공학회 2021 Environmental Engineering Research Vol.26 No.3

The current study focused on an environment friendly method for degradation of Low Density Polyethylene (LDPE) using bacteria. A total of 36 bacterial strains were isolated from waste disposal sites in which six strains showed potential biodegradation activities. In this study, we reported 2 new strains i.e. Bacillus siamensis and Bacillus wiedmannii for LDPE degradation. The percent weight loss of LDPE films for isolates was; B. siamensis (8.46 ± 0.3%), B. cereus (6.33 ± 0.2%), B. wiedmannii (5.39 ± 0.3%), B. subtilis (3.75 ± 0.1%), P. aeruginosa (1.15 ± 0.1%) and A. iwoffii (0.76 ± 0.1%) after 90 d of incubation. The LDPE films showed slight surface disruption as observed in Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FE-SEM) and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) showed formation of typical carbonyl peaks which were markedly reduced after incubation as measured by carbonyl index. The X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) analysis presented an increase in percent crystallinity and there was no apparent change in total carbon percentage. Different genes responsible for degradation of LDPE like Laccase (167 bp), Alk1 (330 bp) and Alk2 (185 bp) were identified in bacterial isolates and further sequenced. The low degradation values in this study indicate that LDPE degradation is a slow, continuous and time dependent process.

Engaging with the Local Narrative of Hagiography in Kashmir

Muhammad Maroof Shah Aasif Shah 부산대학교 한국민족문화연구소 2013 Localities Vol.- No.3

Local narratives when they contradict dominant episteme of the age may not be academically respectable. They may be discussed as something curious or interesting or for purely historical reasons or as a species of antique collections dumped into the wastebasket of history. And when these are about local beliefs and mythopoetic experiences they are more incredible to the scholarly. And historians today are trained not to take note of local narratives at face value and somehow appropriate their queerness. Often people’s gullibility or hagiographer’s zeal or faith is invoked to explain what appears to be scandalous to reason or received understanding of science. Once upon a time the world of angels, fairies and djinns were part of experience or explanatory framework to which people naturally subscribed. But in the secular age it is no longer a case. All these things appear relics of a bygone age of faith. Today hagiographers too have mostly succumbed to the fashions of the age and write as if ordinary stories of ordinary men. Engaging with traditional hagiographic accounts in the face of all these epistemic shifts resulting in either skewed reading in light of what appears as distorting mirror of rationalist framework and casting doubts on the claims of hagiographers may well be questioned on account of greater sensitivity shown, in the postmodern era, to other forms of rationality that better accommodate local narrative not fitting in the Grand Narratives of Enlightenment and Secular Humanism. Taking the test case of local narrative of belief in saints and their miraculous performances in Kashmir we argue that modernist historiography as practized in Kashmir seems to be guilty of epistemic violence while applying modernist tools to a traditional culture.

Leukotriene Biosynthesis Inhibitor MK886 Impedes DNA Polymerase Activity

Ketkar, Amit,Zafar, Maroof K.,Maddukuri, Leena,Yamanaka, Kinrin,Banerjee, Surajit,Egli, Martin,Choi, Jeong-Yun,Lloyd, R. Stephen,Eoff, Robert L. American Chemical Society 2013 Chemical research in toxicology Vol.26 No.2

<P>Specialized DNA polymerases participate in replication stress responses and in DNA repair pathways that function as barriers against cellular senescence and genomic instability. These events can be co-opted by tumor cells as a mechanism to survive chemotherapeutic and ionizing radiation treatments and as such, represent potential targets for adjuvant therapies. Previously, a high-throughput screen of ∼16,000 compounds identified several first generation proof-of-principle inhibitors of human DNA polymerase kappa (hpol κ). The indole-derived inhibitor of 5-lipoxygenase activating protein (FLAP), MK886, was one of the most potent inhibitors of hpol κ discovered in that screen. However, the specificity and mechanism of inhibition remained largely undefined. In the current study, the specificity of MK886 against human Y-family DNA polymerases and a model B-family DNA polymerase was investigated. MK886 was found to inhibit the activity of all DNA polymerases tested with similar IC<SUB>50</SUB> values, the exception being a 6- to 8-fold increase in the potency of inhibition against human DNA polymerase iota (hpol ι), a highly error-prone enzyme that uses Hoogsteen base-pairing modes during catalysis. The specificity against hpol ι was partially abrogated by inclusion of the recently annotated 25 a.a. N-terminal extension. On the basis of Michaelis–Menten kinetic analyses and DNA binding assays, the mechanism of inhibition by MK886 appears to be mixed. <I>In silico</I> docking studies were used to produce a series of models for MK886 binding to Y-family members. The docking results indicate that two binding pockets are conserved between Y-family polymerases, while a third pocket near the thumb domain appears to be unique to hpol ι. Overall, these results provide insight into the general mechanism of DNA polymerase inhibition by MK886.</P><P><B>Graphic Abstract</B> <IMG SRC='http://pubs.acs.org/appl/literatum/publisher/achs/journals/content/crtoec/2013/crtoec.2013.26.issue-2/tx300392m/production/images/medium/tx-2012-00392m_0005.gif'></P><P><A href='http://pubs.acs.org/doi/suppl/10.1021/tx300392m'>ACS Electronic Supporting Info</A></P>

Human Rev1 polymerase disrupts G-quadruplex DNA

Eddy, Sarah,Ketkar, Amit,Zafar, Maroof K.,Maddukuri, Leena,Choi, Jeong-Yun,Eoff, Robert L. Oxford University Press 2014 Nucleic acids research Vol.42 No.5

<P>The Y-family DNA polymerase Rev1 is required for successful replication of G-quadruplex DNA (G4 DNA) in higher eukaryotes. Here we show that human Rev1 (hRev1) disrupts G4 DNA structures and prevents refolding <I>in vitro</I>. Nucleotidyl transfer by hRev1 is not necessary for mechanical unfolding to occur. hRev1 binds G4 DNA substrates with <I>K</I><SUB>d,DNA</SUB> values that are 4–15-fold lower than those of non-G4 DNA substrates. The pre-steady-state rate constant of deoxycytidine monophosphate (dCMP) insertion opposite the first tetrad-guanine by hRev1 is ∼56% as fast as that observed for non-G4 DNA substrates. Thus, hRev1 can promote fork progression by either dislodging tetrad guanines to unfold the G4 DNA, which could assist in extension by other DNA polymerases, or hRev1 can prevent refolding of G4 DNA structures. The hRev1 mechanism of action against G-quadruplexes helps explain why replication progress is impeded at G4 DNA sites in Rev1-deficient cells and illustrates another unique feature of this enzyme with important implications for genome maintenance.</P>

Phalaris canariensis L. (Poaceae): A new alien plant record for Kashmir Himalaya, India

Shugufta Rasheed,Anzar Ahmad Khuroo,Maroof Hamid,Aijaz Hassan Ganie,Akhtar Hussain Malik,Ghulam Hassan Dar 국립중앙과학관 2016 Journal of Asia-Pacific Biodiversity Vol.9 No.1

The correct taxonomic identification assumes first and foremost priority in the scientific documentation of biodiversity. The Kashmir Himalaya, located in the north-western side of the Himalayan biodiversity hotspot, is well-known for its diverse flora which merits immediate scientific documentation. In this context, the present study reports Phalaris canariensis L. (Poaceae) as a new alien plant record to the flora of Kashmir Himalaya, India. In this paper, a detailed description, photographs, and comparison of diagnostic characters with allied species are provided to scientifically validate this alien plant record for this Himalayan region.

Assessing Metal Content in Halophila stipulacea Seagrass as an Indicator of Metal Pollution in the Northern Gulf of Aqaba, Red Sea

Tariq Al-Najjar,Mohammad Wahsha,Mwaffaq Al-Khushman,Maroof Khalaf,Kyle Hardage,Wissam Hayek,Khalid Abu Khadra,Adina Paytan 한국해양과학기술원 2021 Ocean science journal Vol.56 No.4

To assess the utility of the seagrass (Halophila stipulacea) for biomonitoring of metal pollution, seagrass samples were collected from four sites along the Jordanian coast of the Gulf of Aqaba between April and July 2017. Concentrations of trace metals (Cr, Mn, Fe, Ni, Zn, and Pb) in leaves, rhizomes, and roots were compared to published data on sediment trace metal and organic carbon content at the same sites to assess the degree of their fidelity in recording local trace metal pollution. The results of this study indicated that the roots of the seagrass H. stipulacea accumulated higher metal concentrations of Cd, Pb, Cr, Ni, Zn, Mn, and Fe than rhizomes and leaves. Concentrations in H. stipulacea varied significantly between sites for Mn, Fe, Zn, Cd, and Pb but not for Cr and Ni. Higher levels of seagrass trace metals in the Hotels Area and Old Phosphate Port sampling sites compared to other sampled sites are likely related to the sites' proximity to tourist and boating activity and city infrastructure which may contribute to metals accumulating in the tissues of this seagrass. In contrast to other studies, when all the data are considered, no clear trend between sediment metal concentration and seagrass metals is observed, suggesting physiological control on metal uptake by H. stipulacea and thus limiting the utility of H. stipulacea for biomonitoring of pollution.

Marker-assisted identification of resistance genes to soybean mosaic virus in soybean lines

Moon, Jung-Kyung,Jeong, Soon-Chun,Van, Kyujung,Maroof, M. A. Saghai,Lee, Suk-Ha Springer-Verlag 2009 Euphytica Vol.169 No.3

The expression of cyanobacterial glycolate–decarboxylation pathway genes improves biomass accumulation in Arabidopsis thaliana

Misbah Bilal,Anum Zeb Abbasi,Ghazal Khurshid,Charilaos Yiotis,Jamshaid Hussain,Mohammad Maroof Shah,Tatheer Naqvi,권석윤,박연일,Bruce Osborne,Raza Ahmad 한국식물생명공학회 2019 Plant biotechnology reports Vol.13 No.4

Transgenic Arabidopsis thaliana plants expressing cyanobacterial decarboxylation genes GLCD1 (GLYCOLATE DEHYDROGENASE I), HDH (HYDROXYACID DEHYDROGENASE), ODC (OXALATE DECARBOXYLASE) alone, and HDH::ODC simultaneously were successfully developed. Plants independently expressing GLCD1, HDH, ODC, and HDH::ODC were referred to as GD, HD, OX, and HX plants, respectively. The single-copy homozygous GD, HD, OX, and HX plants exhibited appreciable expression of chimeric genes. Phenotypic characterization demonstrated that rosette diameter of GD, HD, OX, and HX was 20, 22, 17, and 16% higher than wild-type (WT) plants. Total numbers of leaves were 32, 35, 37, and 34% more than WT plants after 32 days of sowing. Similarly, all transgenic plants produced more cauline branches than WT plants. All transgenic plants gained more height as compared to WT when recorded after 42 days of growth except HX transgenic plants. Plants vegetative dry biomass was 43% (GD), 35% (HD), 42% (OX), and 36% (HX) higher than WT plants. This is the first report on characterization of cyanobacterial decarboxylation pathway genes, which will pave the way for transformation of complete pathway in plants for better biomass accumulation.

Fusarium mangiferae as New Cell Factories for Producing Silver Nanoparticles

( Haider M. Hamzah ),( Reyam F. Salah ),( Mohammed N. Maroof ) 한국미생물생명공학회(구 한국산업미생물학회) 2018 Journal of microbiology and biotechnology Vol.28 No.10

Finding a safe and broad-spectrum medication is a goal of scientists, pharmacists, and physicians, but developing and fabricating the right medicine can be challenging. The current study describes the formation of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) by Fusarium mangiferae. It involves the antibiofilm activity of the nanoparticles against Staphylococcus aureus. It also involves cytotoxic effect against mammalian cell lines. Well-dispersed nanoparticles are formed by F. mangiferae. The sizes of the nanoparticles were found to range from 25 to 52 nm, and UV-Vis scan showed absorption around 416-420 nm. SEM, TEM, and AFM results displayed spherical and oval shapes. Furthermore, the FTIR histogram detected amide I and amide II compounds responsible for the stability of AgNPs in an aqueous solution. AgNPs were observed to decrease the formation of biofilm at 75% (v/v). DNA reducing, smearing, and perhaps fragmentation were noticed after treating the bacterial cells with 50% (v/v). Additionally, cell lysis was detected releasing proteins in the supernatant. It was also observed that the AgNPs have the ability to cause 59% cervical cancer cell line (HeLa) deaths at 25% (v/v), however, they showed about 31% toxicity against rat embryo fibroblast transformed cell lines (REF). The results of this study prove the efficiency of AgNPs as an antibiofilm against S. aureus, suggesting that AgNPs could be an alternative to antibiotics. It must also be emphasized that AgNPs displayed cytotoxic behavior against mammalian cell lines. Further studies are needed for assessing risk in relation to the possible benefit of prescribing AgNPs.