Academic

Dr. V. Prathyusha, Assistant Professor, Department of Chemistry, SSSIHL, Anantapur was recently awarded the ‘Young Scientist Award 2020’ by the Andhra Pradesh Akademi of Sciences (APAS) for her contribution in the field of Chemical Sciences. In addition, Dr. Prathyusha has also been admitted as ‘Associate Fellow’ of the A.P. Akademi of Sciences for the year 2020.

The Young Scientist Awards, was instituted by the Andhra Pradesh Akademi of Sciences, in recognition of the notable research contributions and outstanding work of the young scientists of Andhra Pradesh working in different fields of Science and technology which includes Physical and Mathematical/Engineering Sciences/ Earth, Ocean, Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences/ Medical, Health and Sciences/Chemical Sciences/Life Sciences including Agricultural Sciences.

The computational chemistry research team headed by Dr. V. Prathyusha, comprises two research scholars, Mr. Abhishek. H and K.V. S Mani Chandrika and have been actively working on bio-inspired molecules as potential adsorbents, potent bio-active molecules and the SERS of neurotransmitters in the presence of silver clusters. These studies will find useful applications in the field of medicine and environment. The computational studies are also being complemented by synthesis of the bio-active compounds, fabrication of materials and substrates in-house, and experimental SERS studies.

Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning (SSSIHL) congratulates Dr. V. Prathyusha and the team for the above recognition and for making the University proud.

For more on Dr. V.Prathyusha visit https://www.sssihl.edu.in/faculty/v-prathyusha/
 

Identifying the Issue

While there are vector-host models developed to study the dengue virus at population level, very few works performed to understand the dengue viral dynamics in human body. None of the current models as per our study has considered the role of innate immune response in the defence to the dengue viral attack until recently one of them by Rotem Ben-Shachar and Katia Koelle, introduced innate immune response and showed that it can reproduce the characteristic features of the primary infection.

In this paper, a non-linear model is proposed which incorporates innate and adaptive (both cellular and humoral) immune responses, studying the Dengue virus at cellular level using a mathematical model.

Objective of the Research

• We propose to study the dynamics of within-host epidemic model of dengue infection which incorporates both innate immune response and adaptive immune response (Cellular and Humoral)
• The proposed model also incorporates the time delay for production of antibodies from B cells and understand the dynamics of this model using the dynamical systems approach by performing the stability and sensitivity analysis
• Both the above can help detect and control the dengue virus better and understand the dengue viral dynamics in human body

Who should read this?

Those working in the field of Mathematics, Bio-Mathematics, Mathematical Modeling, research, and other related academic fields, and Doctors, especially Physicians.

Solution

The critical level of the antibody recruitment rate(q) was found to be responsible for the existence and stability of various steady states. The stability of endemic state was found to be dependent on time delay. The sensitivity analysis identified the production rate of antibodies (q) to be highly sensitive parameter.

• The existence and stability conditions for the equilibrium states of the disease have been obtained
• The threshold value of time delay has been computed which is critical for change in stability of the endemic state

Key Features and Benefits

• It has been observed that that innate response co-relates with the virus titer in the early stages of the infection which can help in an early detection of a serious disease
• The production rate of antibodies (q) was found to be highly sensitive
• It was observed that the burst rate of virus particles (k) has a predictable behaviour and the rate of infection(β1) is sensitive only in some interval range

Impact

• The works presented in this paper could enhance our understanding of this complex immune response
• The model can help in detection of the disease in the early stages of the infection

Team

• Deva Siva Sai Murari Kanumoori: University of L’Aquila, L’Aquila, Italy
• D Bhanu Prakash: Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning – SSSIHL, India
• D. K. K. Vamsi: Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning – SSSIHL, India
• Carani B Sanjeevi: Vice-Chancellor, Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning -SSSIHL

Paper Published In: Computational and Mathematical Biophysics 9, no. 1 (2021): 66-80

Read Paper Here: https://doi.org/10.1515/cmb-2020-0118

Mr. Rohan Yashraj Gupta and Mr. S R Pranav Sai, Doctoral Research Scholars in Actuarial Science, DMACS, SSSIHL had the honour to present their individual research works at the 3rd Insurance Data Science Conference at City, University of London on 17th and 18th of June 2021.

The Insurance Data Science Conference 2021 brought together academics and practitioners in areas including data science, analytics, machine learning, artificial intelligence, computational statistics, and software, as applied in the insurance industry. The exchange mainly focused on applications in insurance pricing, reserving, risk assessment and modelling, customer analytics, capital management, catastrophe, and econometric modelling.

Several leading Actuaries and Data Scientists in the Insurance industry submit their works every year. After a rigorous selection process select high-quality works would be selected for the presentation at the conference. SSSIHL Doctoral Research Scholars presented on the following topics:

A comparative study of using various Machine Learning and Deep Learning-based fraud detection models for Universal Health Coverage schemes and assessing the impact of COVID-19 in healthcare fraud (Rohan Yashraj Gupta)

Capturing the power of ensemble learning using GLM and Artificial Neural Network for insurance pricing (S R Pranav Sai)

SSSIHL congratulates Mr. Rohan Yashraj Gupta and Mr. S R Pranav Sai for the honour and appreciates their deep commitment to research in Actuarial Data Science, inspiring others into this new stream of research.

Congratulations to Mr. Sankar Krishna for receiving the 2021 CAS Trust Scholarship award!

Mr. Sankar Krishna has two actuarial papers to his credit from IFoA, UK. He wrote his third year BSc (Hons) Mathematics exams and will be pursuing MSc Maths (Actuarial stream) with focus on Property & Casualty risks. He spent the summer of 2020 interning at Tech Actuarial, focusing on claims analytics and pricing tool for group insurance products. He participated in the CAS Independent Summer Program and Actuarial Data Science workshop at the University. He is a theatre and cricket enthusiast, and plays the Trombone in the University Brass Band.

We wish him good luck in continuing actuarial education at SSSIHL.

ABOUT CAS

The Casualty Actuarial Society (CAS) is a leading international organization for credentialing and professional education. Founded in 1914, the CAS is the world’s only actuarial organization focused exclusively on property and casualty risks and serves over 9,100 members worldwide. CAS members are experts in property and casualty insurance, reinsurance, finance, risk management, and enterprise risk management. Professionals educated by the CAS empower business and government to make well-informed strategic, financial and operational decisions.

CAS TRUST SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM

The objective of the scholarship is to further students’ interest in the property/casualty actuarial profession and to encourage the pursuit of the CAS designations.
Scholarships are awarded on the basis of individual merit. The CAS Trust Scholarship Program will award up to eight scholarships to deserving students for the 2021-2022 academic year. Scholarships will range from $2,500 (4 Awards) to $5,000 (4 Awards).

Letter from CAS Trust Scholarship Committee

Every year, 14 November is marked as World Diabetes Day to coincide with the birthday of Sir Frederick Banting, who co-discovered insulin along with Charles Best in 1922.

The Dept. of Food & Nutritional Sciences, SSSIHL conducted a one-day webinar on 14 November 2020 led by Dr. V Mohan, Chairman and Chief of Diabetology, Dr. Mohan’s Diabetes Specialities Centre, Chennai. Dr. Mohan is also Member, Board of Trustees, Sri Sathya Sai Central Trust, Prasanthi Nilayam. He is ranked among the 2% Scientists in the world and #1 Scientist in India in the field of Endocrinology and Metabolism by the Stanford University Global Ranking.

The topic of the webinar was: Are carbohydrates the main reason for the diabetes epidemic in India?

The session began with the welcome address by Dr. N Srividya, Head, Dept. of Food & Nutritional Sciences, SSSIHL, followed by an introduction by Prof. (Dr.) C B Sanjeevi, Vice Chancellor, SSSIHL.

Dr. Mohan, in his talk, elaborated about the correlation between carbohydrates and diabetes with scientific evidence. The highlights of his talk include: a revealing historical account of the increase in prevalence of diabetes in India, a holistic approach of restricting carbohydrate intake, adding sufficient protein and good fats to prevent diabetes, suitable alternatives to white rice, importance of physical activity etc.

Following the talk, a very interesting and informative question and answer session shed light on various queries of the audience.

#SSSIHLFoodNutritionalSciences #SSSIHL

Dr. Ross Jackson, a Danish-Canadian economist, author and philanthropist, visited Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning and spoke to teachers and students of the Dept. of Management & Commerce about the Global Ecovillage Network (GEN), which envisions a world of empowered citizens and communities, designing and implementing their own pathways to a sustainable future, and building bridges of hope and international solidarity. They do this by creating self-sustaining human settlements, which are in harmony with all aspects of life, including the cultural, ecological and spiritual dimensions. Several such communities across India and the world are now in existence, though a series of through grants and proactive initiatives.

The effort is part of Gaia Trust, a Danish-based charitable association that he founded in 1987 to help promote a new, global consciousness which sees our entire planet as a living organism with Humankind as an integral part of the entity. To read more about the Trust, visit https://gaia.org

#SSSIHLManagementCommerce #SSSIHL

The workshop brought together distinguished professors and scientists in the areas of Biosciences and Medicine.

Talks and discussions cantered on various topics: The importance of translational research and its applications, Green Chemistry: Plants as a Source of Bioactive Metabolites, Stem Cells: Their scope in Regenerative Research, How do we tackle resurgent drug-resistant Tuberculosis, Pharmaceuticals to Nutraceuticals – Why This Paradigm Shift, Oxylipid signaling in Health and Disease in plants and animals, and Hybridoma Technology in Health Care.

External experts and guests from: North Maharashtra University, National Institute of Nutrition, Indian Institute of Science, Central Food Technological Research Institute, University of Hyderabad, Defence Food Research Laboratory, DRDO