Academic

Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning (SSSIHL) appreciates Casualty Actuarial Society for awarding the 2022 Individual Research Grant to the Actuarial Data Science group, Department of Mathematics and Computer Science.

The project team is led by Professor Pallav Kumar Baruah and Satya Sai Mudigonda.

About Individual Grants Competition:

The Casualty Actuarial Society (CAS) and the Society of Actuaries’ (SOA) Committee on Knowledge Extension Research (CKER) announce the 2022 Individual Grants Competition to support the advancement of knowledge in actuarial science and contribute in an important way to areas of interest to the actuarial profession.

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.

About SSSIHL Actuarial Data Science:

SSSIHL is actively involved in actuarial data science research, specifically in the area of fraud detection. It has to its credit about 30 research papers/book chapters, 20 dissertations in non-life actuarial stream and 2 PhDs awarded in the area of actuarial data science. In fact, SSSIHL is one of the first University to award PhD in Actuarial Science in India.

About the Project:

The project is in the area of Insurance Fraud Detection using Actuarial and Data Science techniques. The project commenced on 1st June 2022 and will end by March 2023.

We wish the SSSIHL Actuarial Data Science Team all the best for the execution of this project.

A ‘Special Appreciation Prize’ was awarded to Ms. Sai Sruthi Shree K. K, Doctoral Research Scholar, DFNS, for her presentation under the ‘Basic Science’ category at ‘The Chellaram Foundation Diabetes Research Awards’ held on 4-6 March, during the 6th International Diabetes Summit (Virtual) – 2022.

The paper entitled ‘Designing and evaluation of a low-GI pigmented rice-based vegan gluten-free protein formulation suitable for malnutrition modulated and lean T2-diabetes mellitus’ was co-authored by Prof. N. Srividya, Research Supervisor & Head, DFNS, and Ms. Ashrita C. Haldipur, Research Scholar, DFNS.

In the study, low-GI pigmented rice and plant protein isolates were used as novel ingredients to scientifically design a gluten-free protein formulation. The nutritional analysis revealed the formulation to be a cost-effective dietary supplement suitable for preventing and managing lean T-2 diabetes mellitus.

Organized by the Chellaram’s Diabetes Institute (CDI), Pune, the event hosted best-in-class experts in the field of diabetes from leading national and global diabetes institutions and had over 9000 participants.

Congratulations to Ms. Sai Sruthi Shree on the recognition, and we wish her the very best for many more to come in the future.

When science meets art, the outcome could want to make you say OMG!

A few years ago, when Dr. Balaram Khamari brought his love for art into the BioScience lab at SSSIHL, he discovered a new form of expression through a recently popular unusual art form called ‘Agar art‘.

Fascinated with his unusual yet amazing talent, the History TV18 channel has now featured Dr. Balaram and his work on their popular show OMG! Yeh Mera India, which showcases stories of Indians with extraordinary and unique talents. Balaram was featured in episode 7, season 8 of the show that was aired on 7 March 2022.

A student of BioScience from Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning, Balaram completed his B.Sc. (Hons) in 2014 and his M.Sc. with a Gold medal in 2016. He later went on to complete his Ph.D. in 2021 under the supervision of Dr. B.E. Pradeep, Associate Professor, Department of Biosciences, Prasanthi Nilayam campus and is currently the Project Coordinator in a BIRAC funded project, AMR Laboratory, Department of Biosciences at the Prasanthi Nilayam campus of Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning.

In 2020, Dr. Balaram received 2nd place in the annual Agar art contest organised by the American Society for Microbiology (ASM) for his work ‘Microbial Peacock’.

What is Agar art?

Agar is a jelly-like substance made from seaweed. When used as a medium to grow or culture micro-organisms (bacteria, yeast, fungi, or protists) into specific patterns/forms, it is called Agar art and those practicing are known as Agar artists.

Chosen for their colors, the microbes arranged on the Agar plate (canvas) lend their color to the intricate pattern/design as they grow, creating stunning visuals/pictures

View video: https://youtu.be/TwDmi57zCG0

We congratulate Dr.Balaram Khamari for his achievements and for making us proud and wish him many more in the future.

Identifying the Issue

COVID -19 pandemic has caused the most severe health problems to adults over 60 years of age, with particularly fatal consequences for those over 80. In this case, age-structured mathematical modelling could be useful to determine the spread of the disease and to develop a better control strategy for different age groups. In this study, we first propose an age-structured model considering two different age groups, the first group with population age below 30 years and the second with population age above 30 years, and discuss the stability of the equilibrium points and the sensitivity of the model parameters. In the second part of the study, we propose an optimal control problem to understand the age-specific role of treatment in controlling the spread of COVID -19 infection.

Objective of the Research

• We propose to study the stability analysis of an age-structured model incorporating the saturation in medical treatment
• We propose to study the optimal control problem to study the effectiveness of treatment in reducing COVID-19 infection

Who should read this?

Academics, Mathematics, Bio-Mathematics, Mathematical Modelling, Doctors-Physicians, Research

Solution

In this research article we work on age-structured models considering two different age groups, the first group with population age below 30 years and the second with population age above 30 years. The results and findings of the modelling studies shows that infection decreases with the implementation of an optimal treatment strategy namely a combined treatment strategy considering treatment for both age groups is effective in keeping cumulative infection low in severe epidemics. Cumulative infection was found to increase with increasing saturation in medical treatment.

Key Features and Benefits

• It is found that the behaviour of the system depends on the value of basic reproduction number. Stability changes based on the value of basic reproduction number
• The results from the optimal control study suggests that with optimal treatment COVID-19 infection can be decreased

Impact

• The work presented in this paper could enhance our understanding of complex COVID-19 dynamics
• It can help physicians with decision making in the treatment of life-threatening COVID-19 pneumonia

Team

• Sri Bishal Chhetri, Research Scholar, Dept. of Mathematics & Computer Science, SSSIHL
• Dr. D K K Vamsi, Asst. Professor, Dept. of Mathematics & Computer Science, SSSIHL
• Prof. (Dr) Carani B Sanjeevi, Vice-Chancellor, SSSIHL

Paper Published in: Differential Equations and Dynamical Systems

Title of paper: Optimal Control Studies on Age Structured Modeling of COVID-19 in Presence of Saturated Medical Treatment of Holling Type III

Read Paper Here: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12591-022-00593-z

This chapter is part of the Book titled “Pandemic and Problems: Lessons for Recovery and Resilience” released by The Tamil Nadu Dr. MGR Medical University.

Identifying the Issue

In this work, we discuss the within-host, the between-host and the multi-scale mathematical models for COVID-19 viral infections. We also present the outcomes of our study.

Objective of the Research

We propose to study the natural history of COVID-19 model and also the role and efficacies of various control strategies including the antiviral drugs and immunomodulators.

Who should read this?

Academics, Mathematics, Bio-Mathematics, Mathematical Modelling, Doctors-Physicians, Research

Solution

In this work, we discuss the within-host, the between-host and the multi-scale mathematical models for COVID-19 viral infections. The results from the natural history of the within-host model suggests that the proposed model undergoes trans-critical bifurcation when the value of basic reproduction number is one. Results from optimal control theory suggests that combined drug therapy is the best strategy to be used to contain the spread of infection at within-host level. At the between-host level, combined use of vaccination and treatment is found to be effective in lowering infection at the population level. From multi-scale work it is found that the spread of infection at community level is influenced by the within-host parameters.

Key Features and Benefits

• It is observed that the viral load decreases the most when antiviral drugs and immunomodulators are used together. This could help doctors and physicians to look for combination therapy as one of the alternative to stop the multiplication of virus in the body
• Vaccination along with treatments can reduce COVID-19 infection
• The spread of infection at community level is influenced by the within-host parameters

Impact

• The work presented in this paper could enhance our understanding of complex interplay of immune response and virus particles in the body
• It can help physicians with decision making in the treatment of life-threatening COVID-19 pneumonia

Team

• Sri Bishal Chhetri, Research Scholar, Dept. of Mathematics & Computer Science, SSSIHL
• Dr. D K K Vamsi, Asst. Professor, Dept. of Mathematics & Computer Science, SSSIHL
• Prof. (Dr) Carani B Sanjeevi, Vice -Chancellor, SSSIHL

Chapter Title: Mathematical Modelling Studies with Reference to COVID-19 Pandemic

Book Title: Pandemic and Problems: Lessons for Recovery and Resilience

The book was released by the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, Shri M K Stalin at the Annual Convocation of The Tamil Nadu Dr MGR Medical University, Chennai, held on 20 December 2021.

Identifying the Issue

• While there are many predator-prey models developed to study the dynamics of populations of species, there are very few works done to study the controllability aspects to reach the desired state in finite time. None of the current models have developed control strategies based on the quality of additional food for predator-prey systems with type IV response (inhibitory effect f prey). Furthermore, we have considered two models for covering the various approaches in providing food supplements
• In this work, we have also examined the role of the inhibitory effect of prey species in achieving the desired outcome

Objective of the Research

• We consider two different models of the additional food provided prey-predator systems involving Holling type IV functional response (with the inhibitory effect of prey)
• The main objective is to drive the system to a desired state in minimum (finite) time. We wish to achieve bio-conservation and bio-control by providing optimal quality of additional food as a control
• Both the models are relevant

Who should read this?

Academicians, Mathematics, Bio-Mathematics, Mathematical Modelling, Eco-Managers, Experimental Ecologists

Solution

In this work, we formulate and study optimal control problems to achieve the desired outcomes in minimum (finite) time. We consider two different models of additional food provided prey-predator systems involving Holling type IV functional response (with the inhibitory effect of prey). In the first scenario, additional food is incorporated implicitly into the predator’s functional response with a possibility of achieving biological conservation through the co-existence of species and biological control by maintaining prey at a level that is least harmful to the system. In the second, the effect of additional food is incorporated explicitly into the predator’s compartment with the goal of pest management by maintaining prey density at a very minimal damaging level. For both cases, appropriate optimal control strategies are derived and the theoretical findings are illustrated by numerical simulation.

Key Features and Benefits

• When additional food supplements are provided to the predators, the quantity of additional food is generally determined by the gut volume of the species. Thus, it is important to ensure that the quality of additional food is monitored regularly. In this work, we provide strategies to the eco-managers based on the quality of additional food.
• Both biological conservation and bio-control can be achieved in finite time.

Impact

• The work presented in this paper provides a minimum-time approach to drive predator-prey systems towards biological conservation and pest management
• Eco-Managers could benefit from the findings of this work in supplying appropriate quality of additional food provided to achieve the desired outcome

Team

• Sri Ananth V S, Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, SSSIHL
• Dr. D K K Vamsi, Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, SSSIHL

Paper Published in: Acta Biotheoretica, Volume 70, Article Number5 (2022) (Impact Factor: 1.74, SCI Indexed)

Title: Achieving Minimum-Time Biological Conservation and Pest Management for Additional Food provided Predator-Prey Systems involving Inhibitory Effect: A Qualitative Investigation

Read Paper Here: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10441-021-09430-2

Identifying the Issue

Alcohol based fuel cell require a catalyst that efficiently breaks down alcohol molecules at the electrode surface for generating energy. The catalyst must also be environmentally benign, have high energy efficiency, and operate at ambient temperatures.

Objective of the Research

• Synthesize gold-based nanocomposites using simple organic molecules
• Adopt a cost-effective and energy efficient electrochemical synthesis yielding small size gold nanoparticles exhibiting excellent catalytic activity
• Provide an alternate to earlier reported metal-polymer composites serving as catalysts for oxidation of alcohols

Who should read this?

Anyone in industry/academia, working directly or indirectly on synthesis of efficient catalysts to be used for various electrochemical applications such as alcohol oxidation, sensors, hydrogen evolution reaction or oxygen evolution/reduction reactions.

Solution

Gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) possess tuneable size- and shape-dependent properties that are ideal for catalytic properties for many applications. However, the challenge lies in the synthesis of highly stable and ultra-small NPs. We report an energy-efficient galvanostatic route to engineer gold-curcumin (Au-CM) nanocomposites constituting small-sized (~2 nm) AuNPs enveloped by a porous network of curcumin. During electrolytic deposition, the in situ formed Au-CM complexes are the key for the low current involved in our electrosynthesis, which ultimately deposits as CM-enveloped AuNPs at the cathode (Au-CM/GCE).

The DFT study also presented high binding energy (18.76 eV) of Au-CM complex in the solvent phase. The Au-CM/GCE nanocomposite exhibited excellent stability (~200 cycles), facile electron transfer ability, catalytic activity, and low Arrhenius energy of 42 and 45 kJ mol−1, respectively, towards electrooxidation of EtOH and MeOH in alkaline medium. The oxidation kinetics are comparable to those of the best gold-polymer composites. This study points the way for one-pot green synthesis of other engineered electrocatalysts for different applications.

Key Features and Benefits

• Usage of very low current (100-1000 times lower than earlier reported values) for direct synthesis of gold nanoparticles using simple, natural organic molecules
• Electrodeposition of small-sized gold nanoparticles (~2 nm) embedded in a porous curcumin network
• The synthesised catalyst is highly stable during repeated use towards electro-oxidation of alcohols
• The reported gold-curcumin catalyst exhibits low activation energy for oxidation of alcohols

Impact

The research work presents an efficient and stable gold based electrocatalyst that can be used in design of ethanol based fuel cells. The reported catalyst serves as a suitable alternate to metal-polymer based catalysts

Team

• Sai Prasad Nayak, Department of Chemistry, Brindavan campus, SSSIHL
• Dr. Lakshman K. Ventrapragada, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Clemson Nanomaterials Institute, Clemson University, USA
• Dr. Sai Sathish Ramamurthy, STAR Laboratory, Department of Chemistry, SSSIHL
• Dr. J. K. Kiran Kumar, Department of Chemistry, Brindavan campus, SSSIHL
• Prof. Apparao M. Rao, Bowen Professor of Physics, Department of Physics and Astronomy; Director, Clemson Nanomaterials Institute, Clemson University, USA

Paper Published in: Nano Energy (The impact factor for the journal is in excess of 17)

Title: Green synthesis of a novel porous gold-curcumin nanocomposite for super-efficient alcohol oxidation

Read Paper Here: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nanoen.2022.106966

Identifying the Issue

• While there are many vector-host models developed to study the spread of COVID-19 at population level, there are very few works done to understand the interplay of the immune response and the virus particles in the body. Also there is no mathematical modelling studies that talks about the time optimal control studies on COVID-19
• In this work, firstly, a mathematical model is developed incorporating inter-cellular time delay and the stability analysis of the equilibrium points admitted by the model is performed. Secondly, an optimal control problem is studied with antiviral agents and second-line drugs as control measures incorporating the adverse events caused by antiviral drugs. Lastly, a time-optimal control problem is formulated with the objective to drive the system from any given initial state to the desired infection-free equilibrium state in minimal time

Objective of the Research

• We propose to study the role and efficacies of the first line and second line drugs in reducing COVID-19 burden by framing an optimal control problem
• We propose to perform the stability analysis of the equilibrium points and find the condition for the global stability of the infection-free state
• We propose to frame and study the time-optimal control problem to drive the system from any given initial state to the desired infection-free equilibrium state in minimal time

Who should read this?

Academics, Mathematics, Bio-Mathematics, Mathematical Modelling, Doctors-Physicians, Research

Solution

In this study, we first develop SIV model at within-host level by incorporating the intercellular time delay and analyzing the stability of equilibrium points. The model dynamics admits a disease-free equilibrium and an infected equilibrium with their stability based on the value of the basic reproduction number $R_0$. We then formulate an optimal control problem with antiviral drugs and second-line drugs as control measures and study their roles in reducing the number of infected cells and viral load. The comparative study conducted in the optimal control problem suggests that if the first-line antiviral drugs show adverse effects, considering these drugs in reduced amounts along with the second-line drugs would be very effective in reducing the number of infected cells and viral load in a COVID-19 infected patient. Later, we formulate a time-optimal control problem with the goal of driving the system from any initial state to the desired infection-free equilibrium state in finite minimal time. Using Pontryagin’s Minimum Principle, it is shown that the optimal control strategy is of the bang-bang type, with the possibility of switching between two extreme values of the optimal controls. Numerically, it is shown that the desired infection-free state is achieved in a shorter time when the higher values of the optimal controls. The results of this study may be very helpful to researchers, epidemiologists, clinicians and physicians working in this field.
 

Key Features and Benefits

• When the first line antiviral drugs starts showing adverse events, considering first line antiviral drugs in reduced quantity along with the second line drug is found to be highly effective in reducing the infected cells and viral load in a COVID infected patients and this alternative also proved to be cost effective
• It is found that with higher values of first line and second line drugs the time to reach the desired infection free state decreases. This would imply that the infected cells and viral load in the body of a COVID infected individual becomes zero in short period of time with the higher values of the first line and second line drugs

Impact

• The work presented in this paper could enhance our understanding of complex interplay of immune response and virus particles in the body
• It can help physicians with decision making in the treatment of life-threatening COVID-19 pneumonia

Team

Bishal Chhetri, Vijay M. Bhagat, Swapna Muthusamy, Ananth V S, D. K. K. Vamsi, Carani B Sanjeevi

Paper Published in: RSC Advances (Royal Society of Chemistry)

Title: Time Optimal Control Studies on COVID-19 Incorporating Adverse Events of the Antiviral Drugs

Read Paper Here: Computational and Mathematical Biophysics, 2021, 9:214 – 241

Identifying the Issue

COVID-19 is the largest global pandemic currently and it has emerged as the deadliest infection of the century. It’s still critical to find novel compounds that can inhibit viral replication, in turn reducing the pace of infection.

Objective of the Research

• To design and synthesise benzoxazole-thiazolidinone hybrids (B-T hybrids) using a facile synthetic route.
• To analyse the inhibitory potential of designed B-T hybrids against the SARS-CoV-2 proteases using an in-silico approach.

Who should read this?

COVID-19 Researchers, Medicinal Chemists and Pharmaceutical Industry.

Solution

Hybrid molecules represent a relatively recent area in drug research with promising results.

The two scaffolds (benzoxazole and thiazolidinone) exhibit a wide spectrum of pharmacological activities and showed antiviral efficacy (both in vitro and in vivo) against a variety of viruses.

The hybrids derived from these two scaffolds share a similarity (structurally) with some of the active compounds screened in vitro against SARS-CoV-2.

This motivated us to screen the benzoxazole–thiazolidinone hybrids as SARS-CoV-2 protease inhibitors. In order to achieve this, a combination of docking, dynamics, and free energy studies were employed in this study.

Key Features and Benefits

• Established the key interactions between the B-T hybrids and SARS-CoV-2 proteases.
• A simple four-step synthetic procedure was developed to synthesise the B-T hybrids.
• Identifying a novel compound (MBT9) that could act as an allosteric inhibitor of PLp, thus inhibits viral replication, in turn reducing the pace of infection.

Impact

• This study is related to the COVID-19 research and contributes to the understanding of SARS-CoV-2.
• The in-vivo and in-vitro studies could be carried out to further evaluate the therapeutic potential of the proposed ligands.
• The potential of the B-T hybrids as covalent binders to 3CLp can also be explored, as the conjugate amide group present in the thiazolidinone scaffold of the molecule can serve as a Michael acceptor.

Team

Vijay Sai Krishna Cheerala, Research Scholar, Department of Chemistry, Brindavan Campus, SSSIHL

Prasanth Ghanta, Research Scholar, Department of Biosciences, Prasanthi Nilayam Campus, SSSIHL

Prof. C N Sundaresan, Professor (Hon.), Department of Chemistry, Brindavan Campus, SSSIHL

Paper Published in: RSC Advances (Royal Society of Chemistry)

Title: Design, synthesis and in silico screening of benzoxazole–thiazolidinone hybrids as potential inhibitors of SARS-CoV-2 proteases

Read Paper Here: https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2021/ra/d1ra07504g