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Pi (π) interactions originating from the N-H bond of amine and ethylene moiety have been explored on the mechanism of aromatic nucleophilic substitution (ArSN) of the nitro group of 4-methylene-5,7-dinitroquinazoline with methylamine in the gas phase and solvent media within DFT framework. The free energy profiles confirmed that the amination should take place at peri-position and calculations support the one-step mechanism through a transition state with no intermediate in the reaction route. Stabilisation of peri-transition state by intramolecular weak interaction akin to hydrogen bonding N-H—CH2 = C leads to the regioselective amination at peri-position of 4-methylene-5,7-dinitroquinazoline. The intramolecular hydrogen bond interactions at N-H—CH2 = C in the peri-transition state are strongly supported by a red shift in N-H stretching vibrations in simulated IR spectra and are confirmed by studying energetics of amination of structural/electronic analogues of 4-methylene-5,7-dinitroquinazoline. The present study established that ethylene plays an important role as an efficient H-bond acceptor in fixing the regioselectivity at peri-position in the amination of 4-methylene-5,7-dinitroquinazoline. This is the first-ever report for the exploration of the role of ethylene moiety as a hydrogen bond acceptor in mediating the regioselectivity of organic reactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Membrane proteins (MPs) are functionally important but structurally complex. In particular, MPs often carry three structural features, i.e., transmembrane domains (TMs), disulfide bonds (SSs), and N-glycosylation (N-GLYCO). All three features have been intensively studied; however, how the three features potentially correlate has been less addressed in the literature. With the growing accuracy from computational prediction, we used publicly available information on SSs and N-GLYCO and analyzed the potential relationships among post-translational modifications (PTMs) and the predicted membrane topology in the human proteome. Our results suggested a very close relationship between SSs and N-GLYCO that behaved similarly, whereas a complementary relation between the TMs and the two PTMs was also revealed, in which the high SS and/or N-GLYCO presence is often accompanied by a low TM occurrence in a protein. Furthermore, the occurrence of SSs and N-GLYCO in a protein heavily relies on the protein length; however, TMs seem not to possess such length dependence. Finally, SSs exhibits larger potential dynamics than N-GLYCO, which is confined by the presence of sequons. The special classes of proteins possessing extreme or unique patterns of the three structural features are comprehensively identified, and their structural features and potential dynamics help to identify their susceptibility to different physiological and pathophysiological insults, which could help drug development and protein engineering. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The introduction of fluorinated moieties into drugs as well as the increase of their overall three‐dimensionality have become key strategies amongst medicinal chemists to generate sets of compounds with favorable drug‐like properties. However, the introduction of fluorinated cyclopropane ring systems which combines both strategies is not widely exploited to date. This paper reports synthetic strategies exploiting the reactivity of gem‐difluorocyclopropenes in dipolar cycloaddition reactions with azomethine ylides to afford sets of new fluorine‐containing 3‐azabicyclo[3.1.0]hexanes. In addition, the unexpected formation of complex trifluorinated scaffolds arising from proline esters and gem‐difluorocyclopropenes is highlighted along with computational studies to elucidate the underlying mechanism. This study presents new avenues towards pharmaceutically relevant fluorinated 3‐azabicyclo[3.1.0]hexanes that are accessible via robust and short synthetic sequences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Head and neck cancers of the oropharyngeal subsite can be driven by the human papillomavirus (HPV). In countries such as the United States, the incidence of HPV-associated oropharyngeal cancer has exceeded that of HPV-associated cervical cancer. HPV vaccination is currently the main preventative approach for HPV-associated oropharyngeal cancer. Globally, both the epidemiology of HPV-associated oropharyngeal cancer and HPV vaccine policy vary. This paper aims to describe regional variations in HPV-associated oropharyngeal cancer, variations in gender-neutral vaccine policy, and future areas of policy-relevant research. Global trends in human papillomavirus (HPV)-associated head and neck cancers (HNC), specifically in the oropharynx subsite, have been dynamically changing, leading to new staging and treatment paradigms. Epidemiologic studies have noted regional variations in HPV-associated oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (OPSCC). While HPV vaccination remains the main preventative approach, vaccination policy in relation to gender neutrality is heterogeneous and particularly sparse in low- and middle-income countries, where the burden of global cancer cases and HPV-associated HNC are not well-characterized in certain regions. This review summarizes the existing literature on regional variations of HPV-associated OPSCC and gender-neutral vaccine policies. Based on available data, the incidence of HPV-associated OPSCC is highest in North America, Europe, and Oceania. As of 2022, 122 of 195 (63%) World Health Organization (WHO) member states had incorporated HPV vaccinations nationally; of these, 41 of 122 (34%) member states have introduced gender-neutral vaccine coverage. Future research is needed to describe continued evolving trends in HPV-associated OPSCC, understand underlying risk factors leading to regional variation in disease, and implement gender-neutral policy more broadly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the onset of pandemics and accrescent stress among people, heart disease has become one of the leading contributors to premature deaths worldwide. Early prognosis of this disorder is the most viable strategy for increasing the prospects of individuals' survival. Numerous methods exploiting machine learning algorithms for heart disease prediction have been reported in the literature, but they all suffer from overfitting problems. Conspicuously, to improve the prediction accuracy, in this research work, an efficient meta‐heuristic‐based feature selection technique, namely NSGA‐II, is employed. The proposed solution aims to reduce the feature set and thus improve the prediction accuracy supported by intelligent machine learning models. The presented classifier is trained and validated using a comprehensive heart disease dataset by utilizing NSGA‐II selected features with 10‐fold cross‐validation. For performance validation, the results of the proposed model are compared with the state‐of‐the‐art machine learning algorithms, such as a k‐nearest neighbour, support vector machine, Bayesian belief networks, random forest, and naive bayes. The simulation results highlight the improved performance of the proposed model with NSGA‐II and achieve a high prediction accuracy of 97.32%. Furthermore, results of sensitivity (92.84%), specificity (92.60%), precision (91.25%), and F‐measure (92.17%) prove the utility of the proposed approach for heart disease prediction over all other variants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Viral encephalitis is a contagious disease that causes life insecurity and is considered one of the major health concerns worldwide. It causes inflammation of the brain and, if left untreated, can have persistent effects on the central nervous system. Conspicuously, this paper proposes an intelligent cyber-physical healthcare framework based on the IoT–fog–cloud collaborative network, employing soft-computing technology and information fusion. The proposed framework uses IoT-based sensors, electronic medical records, and user devices for data acquisition. The fog layer, composed of numerous nodes, processes the most specific encephalitis symptom-related data to classify possible encephalitis cases in real time to issue an alarm when a significant health emergency occurs. Furthermore, the cloud layer involves a multi-step data processing scheme for in-depth data analysis. First, data obtained across multiple data generation sources are fused to obtain a more consistent, accurate, and reliable feature set. Data preprocessing and feature selection techniques are applied to the fused data for dimensionality reduction over the cloud computing platform. An adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system is applied in the cloud to determine the risk of a disease and classify the results into one of four categories: no risk, probable risk, low risk, and acute risk. Moreover, the alerts are generated and sent to the stakeholders based on the risk factor. Finally, the computed results are stored in the cloud database for future use. For validation purposes, various experiments are performed using real-time datasets. The analysis results performed on the fog and cloud layers show higher performance than the existing models. Future research will focus on the resource allocation in the cloud layer while considering various security aspects to improve the utility of the proposed work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a functional gastrointestinal disorder characterized by altered bowel habits and recurrent abdominal pain. The Rome III criteria are the main mainstay for its diagnosis. The reliability on any biochemical markers is reduced provided all warning signs have been excluded. The aim of our study was to assess the prevalence of IBS among medical students in our region (Western Punjab) and to investigate the lifestyle, sociodemographic and clinical factors associated with IBS. Materials and Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted among Indian medical students. Participants (first- to fifth year medical students from different courses) were invited to complete an anonymous questionnaire addressing social, demographic and clinical characteristics. 456 medical students were recruited in this study. Rome III criteria were used to identify patients with IBS. This questionnaire was used to gather baseline information like the family history of irritable bowel syndrome, socio-demographic data, history of chronic disease, previous diagnosis of IBS, daily sleep hours, smoking, food habits etc. Results: This study included 268 male medical students and 188 were female medical students. Approximately two third of the (69.2%) were in the age group 21 to 24 years and 26.3% had the age between 18 and 20 year and very few among age group of 24-27 years. IBS was diagnosed among 276 out of 456 participants based on Rome III Criteria. The profiles for symptoms were characterized by constipation predominant (IBS-C) (45.6%), diarrhea predominant (IBS-D) (44.7%), and others as mixed type (9.7%). The prevalence of IBS was reported as 72.3% among the female medical students studying at various medical colleges in Punjab and 53.7% among male students. Conclusion: In conclusion, 60.5% of medical students, in this study, met the Rome III criteria for IBS diagnosis. Risk factors for IBS among them included depression, anxiety, low fruits and vegetables intake, taking caffeine and any chronic medication's intake. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The prediction of lifestyle diseases is a vital domain in healthcare informatics research. This task is primarily achieved using the widely available machine learning algorithms. However, the highdimensionality of data amplifies the computation complexity and significantly reduces the models’ efficiency. Conspicuously, we presented a multi-disease prediction strategy for intelligent decision support using ensemble learning. The proposed work leverages genetic algorithm-based recursive feature elimination and AdaBoost to predict two prominent lifestyle diseases. Alongside the proposed approach, various benchmark machine learning techniques are also trained and validated using selected features under k-fold cross-validation. The results reveal the effectiveness of the proposed methodology in predicting multiple diseases in comparison to past works. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, effects of tumor shape on magnetic nanoparticle hyperthermia (MNPH) are investigated and evaluated using four categories (spherical, oblate, prolate, and egg-shape) of tumor models having different morphologies. These tumors have equal volume; however, due to the differences in their shapes, they have different surface areas. The shape of tumors is quantified in terms of shape factor (?). Simulations for MNPH are done on the physical model constituting tumor tissue enclosed within the healthy tissue. Magnetic hyperthermia is applied (frequency 150 kHz, and magnetic field amplitude 20.5 kA/m) to all tumor models, for 1 h, after injection of magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) at the respective tumor centroids. The distribution of MNPs after injection is considered Gaussian. The governing model (Pennes' bioheat model) of heat transfer in biological media is solved with the finite volume-immersed boundary (FV-IB) method to simulate MNPH. Therapeutic effects are calculated using the Arrhenius tissue damage model, cumulative equivalent minutes at 43 °C (CEM 43), and heterogeneity in temperature profiles of the tumors. Results show that the therapeutic effects of MNPH depend significantly on the shape of a tumor. Tumors with higher shape factors receive less therapeutic effects in comparison to the tumors having lower shape factors. An empirical thermal damage model is also developed to assess the MNPH efficacy in real complex-shaped tumors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The nucleophilic aromatic substitution reactions of 4,6-dinitroisoindoline-1,3-dione with 1,2,3-triazole isomers, i.e., 1H-1,2,3-triazole and 2H-1,2,3-triazole, have been investigated theoretically using DFT/B3LYP calculations employing 6-31G(d,p) basis set in gas phase as well as in solvent phase. The computational studies have supported the formation of transition states via one-step concerted mechanism for the nucleophilic aromatic displacement of nitro groups with 1,2,3-triazoles rather than intermediate formation via two-step addition-elimination mechanism. The amination of 4,6-dinitroisoindoline-1,3-dione with 1,2,3-triazole isomers have revealed regioselectivity of peri-attack despite sterically favorable para-attack. The regioselectivity is attributed to the stabilization of the transition state through intra-molecular hydrogen bond C-H···O=C. This work presents the role of C-H bond as an effective hydrogen bond donor. The molecular interactions through hydrogen bonding have been investigated using AIM method. This work shall result in the synthesis of new regioselective 1,2,3-triazole-derived phthalimide compounds possessing potential biological candidature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We have investigated the effect of Ta insertion thickness on perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (PMA) in [Co/Pt multi-layers]/Ta/CoFeB (Hard/Soft) composite free layer. For insertions less than 0.6 nm thick, the ferromagnetic exchange was strong enough to switch the two layers together. The exchange turned from ferromagnetic to anti-ferromagnetic in nature for Ta insertion thickness above 0.7 nm. We observed increase in PMA with increasing Ta insertion thickness. It was noticed that this increase in PMA was caused by the enhancement of CoFeB/MgO interface anisotropy. The interface anisotropy increased by more than 0.9 erg/cm2 as the Ta insertion thickness increased from 0 nm to 0.5 nm. The Hk value for the composite free layer with 0.5 nm thick Ta insertion is around 11 kOe leading to a high thermal stability factor, estimated around 152 for 20 nm nano-dots. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Herein, we have developed a new route towards the enantioselective synthesis of chiral amines without any chiralcatalyst through SN2 nucleophilic substitution reaction of 5-dichloromethyl-4-difluoromethylene-2,3-dimethyl-3,4-dihydro-quinazoline [A] with methylamine using Density Functional Theory (DFT) framework. DFT results reveal that the formation of both the enantiomers are exothermic in nature. The activation energy for R- and S-enantiomer comes out to be 52.02 and 37.15 kcal/mol respectively. Also, the bond distance of hydrogen bonding (N1–H-----F–C=C–) in S-enantiomer comes out to be 2.10 Ǻ which is not feasible in R-enantiomer. Thus, the free energy profiles and structural parameters along the reaction coordinates provide enough evidence to conclude that amination will result in the enantioselective formation of S-enantiomer and this stereoselectivity is accredited to intramolecular H bonding (N–H-----F–C = C–) involved in the transition state corresponding to the formation of S-enantiomer. To the very best of our information, this is the first report proposing enantioselectivity in SN2 reaction without any chiral catalyst/chiral auxiliary through intramolecular hydrogen bonding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bounds on the frequency domain behavior of electrically small antennas are adapted to assess the time-domain distortion or fidelity achievable by simple linear time-invariant (LTI) systems. Rigorous expressions for a TM01 spherical shell are used as a direct analog to the well-known Chu limit on an antenna’s bandwidth-efficiency product. These expressions are shown to agree with results obtained using narrowband single resonance approximations, allowing for the analysis of arbitrary small dipole-like structures through bounds on their single-frequency Q-factor and efficiency. The resulting expressions are used as a basis for assessing the performance gains of electrically small non-LTI (e.g., direct antenna modulation) transmitters for which Q-factor and impedance bandwidth are not defined but which can be analyzed directly in the time domain via distortion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There has been an increasing trend of moving computing activities closer to the edge of the network, particularly in smart city applications (e.g., vehicle-to-everything – V2X). Such a paradigm allows the end user’s requests to be handled/processed by nodes at the edge of the network; thus, reducing latency, and preserving privacy of user data/activities. However, there are a number of challenges in such an edge computing ecosystem. Examples include (1) potential inappropriate utilization of resources at the edge nodes, (2) operational challenges in cache management and data integrity due to data migration between edge nodes, particularly when dealing with vehicular mobility in a V2X application, and (3) high energy consumption due to continuous link breakage and subsequent reestablishment of link(s). Therefore in this paper, we design a blockchain-based secure data processing framework for an edge envisioned V2X environment (hereafter referred to as BloCkEd). Specifically, a multi-layered edge-enabled V2X system model for BloCkEd is presented, which includes the formulation of a multi-objective optimization problem. In addition, BloCkEd comprises an optimal container-based data processing scheme, and a blockchain-based data integrity management scheme, designed to minimize link breakage and reducing latency. Using Chandigarh City, India, as the scenario, we implement and evaluate the proposed approach in terms of its latency, energy consumption, and service level agreement compliance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Goss's bacterial wilt and leaf blight is a disease of maize caused by the gram positive bacterium Clavibacter michiganensis subsp. nebraskensis (Cmn). First discovered in Nebraska, Goss's wilt has now spread to major maize growing states in the United States and three provinces in Canada. Previous studies conducted using elite maize inbred lines and their hybrids have shown that resistance to Goss's wilt is a quantitative trait. The objective of this study was to further our understanding of the genetic basis of resistance to Goss's wilt by using a combined approach of genome-wide association mapping and gene co-expression network analysis. Genome-wide association analysis was accomplished using a diversity panel consisting of 555 maize inbred lines and a set of 450 recombinant inbred lines (RILs) from three bi-parental mapping populations, providing the most comprehensive screening of Goss's wilt resistance to date. Three SNPs in the diversity panel and 10 SNPs in the combined dataset, including the diversity panel and RILs, were found to be significantly associated with Goss's wilt resistance. Each significant SNP explained 1-5% of the phenotypic variation for Goss's wilt (total of 8-11%). To augment the results of genome-wide association mapping and help identify candidate genes, a time course RNA sequencing experiment was conducted using resistant (N551) and susceptible (B14A) maize inbred lines. Gene co-expression network analysis of this time course experiment identified one module of 141 correlated genes that showed differential regulation in response to Cmn inoculations in both resistant and susceptible lines. SNPs inside and flanking these genes explained 13.3% of the phenotypic variation. Among 1,000 random samples of genes, only 8% of samples explained more phenotypic variance for Goss's wilt resistance than those implicated by the co-expression network analysis. While a statistically significant enrichment was not observed (P, 0.05), these results suggest a possible role for these genes in quantitative resistance at the field level and warrant more research on combining gene co-expression network analysis with quantitative genetic analyses to dissect complex disease resistance traits. The results of the GWAS and co-expression analysis both support the complex nature of resistance to this important disease of maize. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the exponential growth of technologies such as IoT, edge computing, and 5G, a tremendous amount of structured and unstructured data is being generated from different applications in the smart citiy environment in recent years. Thus, there is a need to develop sophisticated techniques that can efficiently process such huge volumes of data. One of the important components of smart cities, ITS, has led to many applications, including surveillance, infotainment, real-time traffic monitoring, and so on. However, its security, performance, and availability are major concerns facing the research community. The existing solutions, such as cellular networks, RSUs, and mobile cloud computing, are far from perfect because these are highly dependent on centralized architecture and bear the cost of additional infrastructure deployment. Also, the conventional methods of data processing are not capable of handling dynamic and scalable data efficiently. To mitigate these issues, this article proposes an advanced vehicular communication technique where RSUs are proposed to be replaced by edge computing platforms. Then secure V2V and V2E communication is designed using the Quotient filter, a probabilistic data structure. In summary, a smart security framework for VANETs equipped with edge computing nodes and 5G technology has been designed to enhance the capabilities of communication and computation in the modern smart city environment. It has been experimentally demonstrated that use of edge nodes as an intermediate interface between vehicle and cloud reduces access latency and avoids congestion in the backbone network, which allows quick decisions to be made based on the traffic scenario in the geographical location of the vehicles. The proposed scheme outperforms the conventional vehicular models by providing an energy-efficient secure system with minimum delay. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigated the effect of interlayer exchange coupling parameter on switching current density and switching time in the [CoPt-ML]/Ta/CoFeB composite free layer. The fundamental parameters for the micromagnetic model were extracted from experimental results and ab-initio calculations of the Fe/MgO and Fe/Ta interfaces. We found that the critical current density and switching current decrease with decreasing interlayer exchange coupling. It was observed experimentally that perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (PMA) increases with increasing thickness of Ta insertion due to enhancement of CoFeB/MgO interfacial anisotropy, whereas the interlayer exchange coupling strength decreases. Therefore, our modeling and experimental results indicate that the optimized Ta insertion in the composite layer leads to improved thermal stability via combined interface and bulk anisotropies, lower critical current density, and reduced switching time as compared to the composite layer without Ta insertion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mental disorders are major problems and influence the thought of suicide, so it needs to be diagnosed and treated earlier. Detecting the symptoms of mental disorders is highly significant as they are considered a life-threatening task. Hence, this paper plans to implement new mental depression recognition by analyzing the tweet media text to secure the lives of the affected individuals. In the standard dataset, the text tweet data is collected. The gathered text data are used in the bags of n-grams and glove embedding for extracting the text features. Here, the extracted features are considered for the weighted feature selection, where the weight optimization takes place using the Awareness Probability-based Crow Black Widow Search algorithm. Finally, the weighted features are used for the recognition phase using the Convolutional Neural Network-Ensemble learning, where the final layer of CNN is replaced by the "Support Vector Machine (SVM), Random Forest (RF), Long Short Term Memory (LSTM) and Artificial Neural Network (ANN)" for classification. Here, parameter optimization occurs in the classifiers to improve the evaluation of the designed method. The experimental outcomes show the efficient performance of the developed method when compared with the other baseline approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Gustilo IIIB tibial fractures are associated with high rates of infection and nonunion. This study evaluates the impact of factors such as patient demographics, mechanism of injury, time to the first debridement, and time to flap coverage on the union and infection rates. Materials and Methods: A retrospective analysis was performed on all patients with open tibial fractures who presented to our tertiary trauma center over 13 years from April 2000 to August 2013. All patients were followed for at least 6 months and continued till radiographic evidence of union (maximum 72 months). Time to fracture union was based on radiological evidence of callus bridging at least three cortices. Information on infection rates and the presence of microbes were evaluated. Results: A total of 120 patients were analyzed. The mean time to fracture union was 33.8 weeks. Younger age was associated with a lower risk of nonunion with the mean age being 30.4 years in union group compared to 38.2 in the delayed-union group. Smoking was associated with an increased risk of delayed union with revision surgery being needed in 61.5% of smokers compared to 36.4% in nonsmokers. Rates of infection were high at 30.3%. Smoking was associated with an increased risk of infection (65.4% vs. 24.7%). Conclusion: High-energy open tibia fractures required an average of 8.5 months to heal and delayed or nonunion at an earlier juncture cannot be assumed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the last few years, we have witnessed an exponential increase in the computing and storage capabilities of smart devices that has led to the popularity of an emerging technology called edge computing. Compared to the traditional cloud-computing- based infrastructure, computing and storage facilities are available near end users in edge computing. Moreover, with the widespread popularity of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), huge amounts of information will be shared between edge devices and UAVs in the coming years. In this scenario, traffic surveillance using UAVs and edge computing devices is expected to become an integral part of the next generation intelligent transportation systems. However, surveillance in ITS requires uninterrupted data sharing, cooperative decision making, and stabilized network formation. Edge computing supports data processing and analysis closer to the deployed machines (i.e., the sources of the data). Instead of simply storing data and missing the opportunity to capitalize on it, edge devices can analyze data to gain insights before acting on them. Transferring data from the vehicle to the edge for real-time analysis can be facilitated by the use of UAVs, which can act as intermediate aerial nodes between the vehicles and edge nodes. However, as the communication between UAVs and edge devices is generally done using an open channel, there is a high risk of information leakage in this environment. Keeping our focus on all these issues, in this article, we propose a data-driven transportation optimization model where cyber-threat detection in smart vehicles is done using a probabilistic data structure (PDS)- based approach. A triple Bloom filter PDS- based scheduling technique for load balancing is initially used to host the real-time data coming from different vehicles, and then to distribute/collect the data to/from edges in a manner that minimizes the computational effort. The results obtained show that the proposed system requires comparatively less computational time and storage for load sharing, authentication, encryption, and decryption of data in the considered edge-computing-based smart transportation framework. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

KEY POINTS: Patients treated with pembrolizumab experience an increase in paranasal sinus inflammationUse of topical triamcinolone in carboxymethylcellulose is a treatment option for such patients [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the present study, solar air heater duct roughened with non-uniform cross-section saw tooth rib has been numerically investigated for Nusselt number and friction factor. The investigation has been carried in 3-D with computational fluid dynamics software. The parameters, Reynolds number and relative roughness pitch ranged from 3000 to 15000 and 4 to 30 respectively. The relative roughness height and saw-tooth angle were 0.043 and 45° respectively. The renormalization group (RNG) k-ε turbulence model was selected for analysis. At relative roughness pitch of 16, both the Nusselt number and friction factor were maximum for the investigated Reynolds number range. The contours of turbulent dissipation rate, turbulent kinetic energy, static temperature and static pressure have also been plotted. The maximum Nusselt number and friction factor enhancement over smooth duct was 2.18 and 3.34 respectively at Reynolds number of 15000 and relative roughness pitch of 16. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Due to the complex process of designing and manufacturing new plant tissue culture vessels through conventional means there have been limited efforts to innovate improved designs. Further, development and availability of low cost, energy efficient LEDs of various spectra has made it a promising light source for plant growth in controlled environments. However, direct replacement of conventional lighting sources with LEDs does not address problems with uniformity, spectral control, or the challenges in conducting statistically valid experiments to assess the effects of light. Prototyping using 3D printing and LED based light sources could help overcome these limitations and lead to improved culture systems. Results: A modular culture vessel design in which the fluence rate and spectrum of light are independently controlled was designed, prototyped using 3D printing, and evaluated for plant growth. This design is compatible with semi-solid and liquid based culture systems. Observations on morphology, chlorophyll content, and chlorophyll fluorescence based stress parameters from in vitro plants cultured under different light spectra with similar overall fluence rate indicated different responses in Nicotiana tabacum and Artemisia annua plantlets. This experiment validates the utility of 3D printing to design and test functional vessels and demonstrated that optimal light spectra for in vitro plant growth is species-specific. Conclusions: 3D printing was successfully used to prototype novel culture vessels with independently controlled variable fluence rate/spectra LED lighting. This system addresses several limitations associated with current lighting systems, providing more uniform lighting and allowing proper replication/randomization for experimental plant biology while increasing energy efficiency. A complete procedure including the design and prototyping of a culture vessel using 3D printing, commercial scale injection molding of the prototype, and conducting a properly replicated experiment are discussed. This open source design has the scope for further improvement and adaptation and demonstrates the power of 3D printing to improve the design of culture systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dizziness and its subtype vertigo are common complaints occurring in all age groups after teenage but, it become a major health problem in elderly because of the frequency with which it affects the elder population and leads to direct and indirect consequences. Causes of vertigo in the elderly are not totally different from young population but to some extent they are different too. In elderly, the causation of dizziness and vertigo is interplay multiple factors, so its diagnosis and management differs from other age groups. This review is aimed at highlighting the special aspects of dizziness and vertigo in the elderly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Comparison and quantification of effects of MNP injection rates on MNP distribution pattern. • Comparison and quantification of effects tumor physiological aspects in terms of diffusion coefficient on MNP distribution pattern. • Temperature profile evaluation based on different MNP distribution profiles. Effects of injection rate and tumor physiology on the diffusion of magnetic nano-particles (MNPs) and temperature profile during magnetic hyperthermia are investigated in this work. The study considers three injection rates (2.5 μL/min, 10 μL/min, and 40 μL/min), and two MNP diffusion coefficients (10−9 m2/s and 10−11 m2/s). The simulation of this physics has been done on 3D tumor surrounded by healthy tissue. Transient MNP distribution in tissue is evaluated using Darcy's flow model and the MNP transport (convection-diffusion) equation. The temperature profile in the tumor model is computed by solving Penne's bioheat transfer equation (PBHTE). Results show tumors with high collagen content (with low MNP diffusivity) are more restrictive towards MNP transport than tumors having low collagen content. Thus, tumors with low MNP diffusivity need a higher injection rate to increase the homogeneity of MNP concentration as well as temperature profile during thermo-therapy. Results also show that, MNP fluid injected with a higher injection rate produces a more uniform MNP concentration up to greater depth than the lower injection rate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

N-Benzylthiazolidine-2-thione is the key for the synthesis of pharmaceutically important compounds. A novel route for the synthesis of N-benzylthiazolidine-2-thione through of CS2 with N-benzylaziridine in the presence of 1,3-di-tert-butylimidazolium-2-dithocarboxylate ( catalyst I) has been proposed by reliable computations performed within the formalism of density functional theory. The mechanism of the proposed reaction is similar to the of tertiary aziridines and using a recyclable catalyst that is reported to provide access to 3-substituted 2-oxazolidones with excellent yield. Because the rate determining step needs to surmount a high energy barrier, the reaction route has been deciphered in high boiling solvent (1, 2-ethanediol). The highlight of the mechanistic route detailed here is that the proposed pathway is a cyclic process that is exothermic in nature with the regeneration of the catalyst and involves simple reagents. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Goss's wilt and leaf blight is a bacterial disease of maize (Zea mays L.) caused by the Gram-positive bacterium Clavibacter michiganen-sis subsp. nebraskensis. Goss's wilt has re-emerged as an important disease in the western United States and is spreading to other areas. Although the reasons for this re-emergence are not completely known, it is important to understand the genetic basis of resistance to Goss's wilt. The objective of this study was to map the quantitative trait loci (QTL) underlying resistance to Goss's wilt. To achieve this objective, joint linkage and linkage mapping in 3 of the 25 nested association mapping families were used. Three biparental linkage mapping families including 'B73' x 'Oh43', B73 x 'HP301', and B73 x 'P39' were evaluated for Goss's wilt in Nebraska. Eleven QTL were detected on chromosomes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 10 through joint linkage mapping. The joint linkage model explained 45% of the phenotypic variation for Goss's wilt. Linkage mapping in each of the three families identified nine, six, and four QTL in the families B73 x Oh43, B73 x HP301, and B73 x P39, respectively. Joint linkage and linkage analysis were also conducted within each environment to detect any environment-specific QTL. However, most of the QTL were colocalized with QTL detected in across environment joint linkage and linkage mapping. These results will help us to understand the genetic basis of resistance to Goss's wilt better and may facilitate maize breeding programs to incorporate resistance to Goss's wilt into the maize germplasm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Potassium dichromate is commonly used chemical in various industrial and laboratory operations. It is highly toxic compound which normally proves fatal when ingested orally as its fatal dose is very small. Its oral ingestion occurs accidently, or knowingly with suicidal intention. Because of high fatality rate, it is of utmost importance to start treatment at the earliest. Treatment is mostly supportive and symptomatic, but there are many other treatment modalities employed by various clinicians and reports of saving the patient from certain death are there with these modalities. This article intends to review all the treatment options available at hand of an emergency doctor in case of a potassium dichromate poisoning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Present study is among the first attempts to prioritize the prominent Indian states for better utilization of available solar resources. In this context, potentiality indices are performed on the basis of six prime factors that influence the effective utilization of solar energy and ranking is done accordingly. Firstly, in order to determine the weightage and hierarchy of the evaluation parameters modified digital logic (MDL) approach is employed. Availability of solar radiation is found to be the most influential parameter. Thereafter, fuzzy-analytical hierarchy process (AHP) is used for determination of the potentiality index and the corresponding ranking of different states. The ranks thus obtained are compared to current installed capacity ranks. It is found that a few states despite of high potential for the exploitation of solar energy are not getting proper attention by their respective governments. In order to promote the solar energy exploitation in such states it becomes vital to identify the vital parameters that may lead to the improvement in the current ranking. In this direction, sensitivity analysis is performed to determine the percentage change in distinct parameters which is required for the upgradation in the ranking. Such studies are capable to make a paradigm shift in technology utilization and formulation of energy policies as the proposed approach provides a concrete layout for re-evaluation of current policies as well as formulation of newer ones. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There are many benefits of utilizing OFDM like robustness and high spectral efficiency against ISI but still there are some disadvantages. The main problem that arises in OFDM systems is high PAPR. There are many techniques available for reduction of PAPR like tone reservation (TR), clipping and filtering, partial transmit sequence (PTS), active constellation scheme, interleaving and selected mapping (SLM). Clipping and filtering are the easiest techniques but they are not suitable when large number of sub-carriers are present. The most common techniques used for PAPR reduction are PTS and SLM. PTS and SLM algorithms have achieved good performance in PAPR reduction. A new method is proposed in this paper which is hybrid combination of PTS and SLM and this method has also reduced the PAPR from 6 to 5. The results are compared with the already available techniques and this method achieves better results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ever increasing demand for energy sources and reduction of non-renewable fossil fuel reserves have lead to exploration of alternative and renewable energy sources. Due to wide distribution, agronomic suitability, and desirable oil properties, J. curcas has been identified as a renewable and alternative energy source of biodiesel. Large scale commercial cultivation of this crop would not only be environmentally friendly and be worthwhile in carbon sequestration but also in decreasing the energy supply pressures. Wide adaptation across geographic regions, short gestation period compared to most tree species, rapid growth, hardiness, optimum plant size, and easy propagation in combination make this species suitable for large scale cultivation on barren lands. The limited information of the genetics and inheritance of desirable traits, unpredictable and low yields, the limited diversity and susceptibility to diseases and insects are however, key limitations in fruitful farming of J. curcas . In this review, an effort is made to project the current biotechnology and molecular biology tools employed in the direction of, evaluating the genetic diversity and phylogeny revelation of Jatropha spp., identification of genetic markers for desirable traits, development of efficient micropropagation and regeneration system, and genetic transformation methods for J. curcas . [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Castor ( Ricinus communis L.), one of the most important crops of the family Euphorbiaceae, is grown widely for its oleaginous seeds which yield the much valued castor oil. Because of its unique chemical properties, the oil from castor seeds has wide variety of uses and therefore makes castor an industrially important crop. Castor, though being monotypic, has good variability for most of the morphological and agronomic traits, and this variability has also been exploited for its improvement. Great scope still exists for genetic improvement of castor through conventional breeding methods like inter-specific hybridization and induced mutations. However, narrow information of genetics of little and unpredictable yields and susceptibility to diseases and insects are major challenges in successful breeding of castor. Biotechnology offers alternative and effective tools for genetic improvement of castor. The current status of development and use of genetic markers in castor genetic improvement is reviewed. Genetic transformation is also likely to play an important role in future genetic improvement effort in castor. The efforts for development of efficient in vitro propagation system, which is reproducible, rapid, and applicable to a wide range of genotypes, and genetic transformation, are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the last decade there are new developments in site-specific formulations for targeting drug to the colon. Colon has proved to be a site for the absorption of poorly soluble drugs. Micro carriers as colon drug delivery System has gained importance for the delivery of the drug in the colon because of their increase biocompatibility, controlled release of drug and higher stability. This review is discusses in brief about introduction to colon, Micro Carrier as colon drug delivery system. Micro carrier mayinclude Microspheres, Nanoparticles, and Granules etc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of the present studies was to prepare and characterize and evaluate the colon targeted microsphere of ornidazole for the treatment and management of Amoebasis. The microsphere was prepared by the Emulsion dehydration method. The microspheres were coated with Eudragit S-100 by the solvent evaporation technique to prevent drug release in the stomach. The prepared microspheres were evaluated for Surface morphology, entrapment efficiency, drug loading, micrometric properties and in-vitro drug release. Micrometric properties showed good flow properties and packability of prepared micorspheres. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The mechanistic pathways for nucleophilic aromatic substitution of the nitro groups of 5,7-dinitro-3H-quinazolin-4-one and 1,3-dinitro-10H-dibenzo[b,f][1,4]oxazepin-11-one with 1H-1,2,3-triazole have been studied in both gas and solvent phase employing DFT/B3LYP calculations using 6-31G(d,p) basis set. The energetic parameters, i.e., free energy profiles along the reaction route and H-bond energy, charge analysis, and structural parameters have supported mechanistic pathway involving one-step concerted mechanism via formation of transition state during the reaction course. Despite substantial steric hindrance at adjacent position to fusion point, the regioselective attack of 1H-1,2,3-triazole has been observed at peri-position of benzannulated heterocycles. This regioselectivity is credited to intramolecular hydrogen bond C–H···O = C which stabilizes peri-transition state formation rather than para-transition state. The hydrogen bond acceptor–donor interactions have been studied using AIM method. The DFT and AIM analysis-derived results are compared for different sized dinitro-substituted benzannulated heterocycles and these studies have confirmed the contribution of substantial steric hindrance at peri-position with increased size of heterocycle. As benzannulated heterocycles are quite significant from the perspective of medicinal and natural product chemistry, this work will fulfill the need to find an efficient synthetic method for benzannulated heterocycles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Acute abdomen constitute one of surgical emergencies for surgeons worldwide. Acute onset of abdominal symptoms that possibly threatens life thus demands early diagnosis as well as early treatment. Key to successful diagnosis is high level of suspicion and frequent physical examination with close observation added with diagnostic evaluation. Objectives: To study the proportion of occurrence of various causes of non-traumatic acute abdomen with respect to its various parameters like age, sex, clinical features, surgical treatment and complications of the treated patients. Methods: The data for this prospective study was obtained from 1st April 2020 to 31st March, 2021 with a follow-up period of 1 month in patients diagnosed to have acute abdomen and undergoing treatment in Guru Nanak Dev Hospital, attached Govt. Medical College, Amritsar. Permission was taken for the study from the institutional ethical committee. Results: There was male preponderance as compared to females and the male to female ratio is 1.6:1.Majority of patients were seen in the age group 31 to 40 years. All the cases 100% have pain as major symptom, followed by fever which was present in 78 % cases. The most common sign that can be observed in cases of acute abdomen was tenderness and majority of cases were Appendicitis in 35% of cases followed by perforation peritonitis and cholecystitis 23% each. Conclusion: Acute abdominal pain usually represents a spectrum of conditions including benign and self-limited disease to surgical emergencies. Evaluation of abdominal pain requires an approach that mostly relies on the likelihood of disease, patient history, physical examination, and investigations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

3-Substituted-2-oxazolidones are the key building blocks in the synthesis of many pharmaceutically important compounds and are capable of acting as chiral auxiliaries. Utilization of CO in the synthesis of valuable compounds is an important process in terms of synthetic challenges and environmental issues as CO is nontoxic, inexpensive, and highly abundant. We have studied the microcosmic mechanism of cycloaddition of N-substituted aziridines with CO assisted by catalyst 1,3-di-tert-butylimidazolium-2-carboxylate, which is a novel and versatile route for the production of 3-substituted-2-oxazolidones. The theoretical study at B3LYP/6-31g (d,p) level of DFT in gas phase as well as in solvent media of varying polarities rationalizes the experimental reactivity trends. Nucleophilic attack of CO moiety on N-benzylaziridine ring is identified as the rate-limiting step of the reaction. Based on the understanding of rate-limiting step, the study proposes an efficient alternate silicon-based catalyst for cycloaddition of N-substituted aziridines with CO to produce 3-substituted-2-oxazolidones Graphical abstract: [Figure not available: see fulltext.] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Quaternary ammonium salt obtained from the Menshutkin reaction between DABCO and benzyl chloride has been used in the synthesis of a novel Bronsted acidic ionic liquid (IL), namely 1-benzyl-4-(sulfobutyl)-diaza-bicyclo-octane hydrogen sulfate. The reaction of DABCO with benzyl chloride is a crucial step in the synthesis of this IL. Density functional theory calculations at B3LYP/6-31G(d,p) level have been employed to investigate the mechanism of Menshutkin reaction by calculating the energy barriers through possible transition states i.e., five-membered ring transition state and S2 transition state in gas phase and in diethyl ether as a solvent. It was found that while DABCO reacts with benzyl chloride through the well-known S2 transition state mechanism, the corresponding reaction with chlorodiphenylmethane can proceed through both S2 and five-membered ring transition state mechanism. However, S2 transition state mechanism is still the strongly preferred one out of the two possible mechanisms. The electronic structure analysis shows that solvent effects and enhanced resonance stabilization may play a decisive role in guiding the reaction pathway. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The microcosmic mechanism of the Menshutkin reaction between DABCO and benzyl fluoride/fluorodiphenylmethane has been investigated in both the gas and solvent phase by performing DFT calculations at B3LYP/6-31G(d,p) level of theory. The Gibbs free energy profiles to reach the possible transition states, i.e., five-membered ring transition state and S2 transition state show that the reaction between DABCO and benzyl fluoride proceeds through S2 transition state in accordance with previously reported studies, while the reaction between DABCO and fluorodiphenylmethane proceeds through five-membered ring transition state contrary to earlier literature. The role of solvent has been elucidated by reoptimizing the structures using SMD model of solvation. Hydrogen bonding and steric hinderance have been identified as the key factors in guiding the reaction pathway of commercially important Menshutkin reaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the current study, a total of 214 blood samples from dogs in and around Ludhiana, Punjab (India), suspected for canine babesiosis were examined with conventional and molecular assays. Examination of Giemsa-stained peripheral thin blood smears revealed an overall prevalence of 7.47% (16/214) for canine babesiosis encompassing 0.93% (2/214) of large Babesia and 6.54% (14/214) of Babesia gibsoni. However, molecular diagnosis revealed 15.42% (33/214) samples positive for B. gibsoni infection as evident by the presence of 671 bp amplicon. The results of multivariate analysis showed that the prevalence of B. gibsoni was associated with various risk factors, namely, age (P < 0.001; OR: 0.398; CI 95%: 0.080-1.799), sex (P = 0.022; OR: 0.849; CI 95%: 0.403-1.791), breed of host (P = 0.371; OR: 3.345; CI 95%: 1.045-10.710), and season (P = 0.230; OR: 2.143; CI 95%: 0.788-5.830). The prevalence of B. gibsoni was higher in summer as compared to winter season and in younger dogs, while breed and sex of the host were not significantly associated with the occurrence of the disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The lithiation of 2-picoline (1a) and 2,3-lutidine (1b) in diethyl ether has been investigated with and without prior complexation with BF3. The reactions of the BF3 adduct of these moieties (2a and 2b) with lithium diisopropylamide (LDA) and subsequent trapping with benzaldehyde or dimethyl disulfide gave products corresponding to exclusive lithiation at the α-methyl carbon. The yields obtained with these reactions were far superior to that obtained with the lithiation of uncomplexed 1a and 1b. The dilithiation of 2a and 2b has also been investigated and a convenient and efficient synthesis of the diiodo derivatives of 1,2-bis(pyridin-2-yl)ethane has been provided. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The BF3-directed lithiation of 3-chloro- and 3-bromopyridine (1a and 1b, respectively) has been investigated. The reactions of 3-chloro- or 3-bromopyridine–BF3 adduct with LDA (1.3/1.1 equiv) followed by quenching with benzaldehyde or iodine exclusively gave the C-2 substituted products. However, when 2.2 equiv of LDA and dimethyl disulfide was used, a C-6 substituted product was obtained. Dilithiation of 1a and 1b has been studied with and without the involvement of BF3 complexation. The role of Li⋯F(BF3) interactions has been investigated by experimental and DFT calculations. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

• Spacer/insertion layers, for instance, Ta, have been intensively researched in pMTJs. • We have studied low damping V and Zr spacer layers in a hard/soft composite stack. • The PMA increased with increasing spacer thickness for both V and Zr. • We performed micromagnetic simulations to study the switching characteristics. • Low damping was not seen to be critical for the hard/soft composite structure. We have experimentally investigated the effect of V and Zr insertion thickness on perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (PMA) in [Co/Pt multilayers]/[Zr, V]/CoFeB (Hard/Soft) composite structures. Micromagnetic simulations have been performed to study the effect of the Gilbert damping constant on the switching characteristics in a hard/soft composite structure for weak and strong interlayer exchange coupling. The V and Zr insertions are studied due to their low Gilbert damping constant with the CoFeB interface. For both insertions, the interlayer exchange coupling remained ferromagnetic in nature for all the thicknesses studied. We observed an increase in PMA with increasing V and Zr insertion thicknesses. The composite layer with V insertion provides thermal stability comparable to the previously reported Ta insertion. From micromagnetic simulations, we observed that the effect of the Gilbert damping constant on switching characteristics is largest for thinner insertions (strong ferromagnetic coupling) and the effect diminishes with increasing insertion thickness (weak ferromagnetic coupling). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigate the effect of the micromagnetic exchange tensor on the magnetization switching in bi-layer rectangular dots. The micromagnetic model adopted in this work is used to calculate the in-plane and out-of-plane hysteresis loops based on the fundamental magnetic parameters of hcp CoCrPt for a wide range of elemental compositions corresponding to magnetically hard and semi-hard cases. The exchange interaction term in micromagnetic energy functional is constructed to capture the results of the first principles calculations that show large difference between the in-plane and out-of-plane constants of the micromagnetic exchange tensor for hcp Co. In our calculations we compare two cases for in-plane and perpendicular exchange constants: (a) A\Vert = A\bot and (b) A\Vert = 0.5\ A\bot, and find that the athermal coercive force for 30\,\times\,30 nm bi-layer rectangular dots differs for these two cases. Further, we find that the magnetization switching changes from curling mode in the case (a) to the vortex formation in the case (b). We also find that these differences in magnetization switching become more pronounced if interface exchange between hard and soft layers is increased to the bulk value. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Bis(4,5-dimethyl-2-pyridyl)-, bis(5-methyl-2-pyridyl)- and bis(4-methyl-2-pyridyl) diselenide have been synthesized directly from 3,4-lutidine (1a), 3-picoline (1b) and 4-picoline (1c) respectively via BF3 aided lithiation reaction. The lithiation of 3,4-lutidinium-, 3- and 4-picolinium-BF3 adduct (2a/2b/2c) gives the corresponding carbanion (3a/3b/3c) which on subjecting to selenium insertion reaction followed by aerial oxidation affords the related diselenide in good yield. Reaction of BF3 complexed pyridylselenolate anion (4a/4b/4c) with diiodomethane gives the corresponding bis(2-pyridylseleno)methane. The dilithiation of 4-picolinium-/pyridinium-BF3 adduct (2c/2d) followed by reaction with 2.2equiv. of selenium and iodomethane affords the related 2,6-bis(methylselenenyl)pyridine and 2-(methylselenenyl)pyridine in varying proportions. Preparation of tris(methylselenenyl) derivatives of 1a and 1c have been given in the present study. LiAlH4 has also been utilized to synthesize unsymmetrical monoselenides from the corresponding diselenides. Single crystal X-ray studies of bis(4,5-dimethyl-2-pyridyl) diselenide (5a), 3,4-dimethyl-2,6-bis(methylselenenyl)pyridine (9a), 4-methyl-2,6-bis(methylselenenyl)pyridine (9c), 2,6-bis(methylselenenyl)pyridine (9d) and 4-methyl-2,6-bis(methylselenenyl)-4-(methylselenenylmethyl)pyridine (12a) have also been carried out. The crystal data of these compounds reveals that the instances of Se⋯Se secondary interactions decreases with the increase in the number of methyl group attached to the pyridine ring. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The synthesis of 3,5-lutidinyl chalcogen and -dichalcogen compounds has been described by a method involving selective mono- and dilithiation of 3,5-lutidine (1) ring. The selective mono- and dilithiation of 1 has been achieved by reacting BF3-complexed 3,5-lutidine (2) with 1 and 2equiv of LTMP/LDA respectively. The subsequent insertion of elemental selenium followed by aerial oxidation or quenching with iodomethane leads to the formation of bis(3,5-dimethyl-2-pyridyl) diselenide (5) and 2,6-bis(selenomethyl)-3,5-lutidine (7) respectively. In addition, sequential incorporation of sulfur and selenium atom in the same lutidine ring has been reported for the first time. Single-crystal X-ray studies of (5), having a rare C–Se–Se–C torsion angle of 180°(4), and (7) have also been reported. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Terminalia belerica is classified as expectorant and laxative in Ayurveda. The plant abounds in tannins predominantly; gallic and ellagic acid. The plant has demonstrated several pharmacological activities including antimicrobial, hypolipidemic, antioxidant, antidiabetic and hepatoprotective. Clinical data on the plant is obscure except efficacy in diarrhea. The review summarizes materia medica, pharmacological and nutritional properties of the medicinal plant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The recent outbreak of novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has resulted in healthcare crises across the globe. Moreover, the persistent and prolonged complications of post-COVID-19 or long COVID are also putting extreme pressure on hospital authorities due to the constrained healthcare resources. Out of many long-lasting post-COVID-19 complications, heart disease has been realized as the most common among COVID-19 survivors. The motivation behind this research is the limited availability of the post-COVID-19 dataset. In the current research, data related to post-COVID complications are collected by personally contacting the previously infected COVID-19 patients. The dataset is preprocessed to deal with missing values followed by oversampling to generate numerous instances, and model training. A binary classifier based on a stacking ensemble is modeled with deep neural networks for the prediction of heart diseases, post-COVID-19 infection. The proposed model is validated against other baseline techniques, such as decision trees, random forest, support vector machines, and artificial neural networks. Results show that the proposed technique outperforms other baseline techniques and achieves the highest accuracy of 93.23%. Moreover, the results of specificity (95.74%), precision (95.24%), and recall (92.05%) also prove the utility of the adopted approach in comparison to other techniques for the prediction of heart diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Synthetic biology is an advanced form of genetic manipulation that applies the principles of modularity and engineering design to reprogram cells by changing their DNA. Over the last decade, synthetic biology has begun to be applied to bacteria that naturally produce biomaterials, in order to boost material production, change material properties and to add new functionalities to the resulting material. Recent work has used synthetic biology to engineer several Komagataeibacter strains; bacteria that naturally secrete large amounts of the versatile and promising material bacterial cellulose (BC). In this review, we summarize how genetic engineering, metabolic engineering and now synthetic biology have been used in Komagataeibacter strains to alter BC, improve its production and begin to add new functionalities into this easy-to-grow material. As well as describing the milestone advances, we also look forward to what will come next from engineering bacterial cellulose by synthetic biology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigate the effect of crystal symmetry driven tensor form of micromagnetic exchange stiffness A on switching properties of L10 FePt composite nano-structures. The exchange interaction term in micromagnetic energy functional have been constructed to capture the results of the first principle calculations for magnetic excitations in [001] and [100] directions. We find that out-of-plane (OP) exchange component (A\bot) is about two times weaker as compared to the in-plane (IP) component (A\Vert). We study the effect of this difference between principal axis elements of A tensor on the M-H loops using micromagnetic simulations. We compare two cases for IP and OP exchange constants: (a) A\bot = A\Vert (limited case) and (b) A\bot = 0.5\ A\Vert (based on ab-initio calculations), and find that the athermal coercive force for 30\,\times\,30 nm bi-layer rectangular dots differs for these two cases. Further, we find that the coercive force difference between two cases decreases as the external field goes from OP to IP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]