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Background: People with a history of complex traumatic events typically experience trauma and stressor disorders and additional mental comorbidities. It is not known if existing evidence-based treatments are effective and acceptable for this group of people. Objective: To identify candidate psychological and non-pharmacological treatments for future research. Design: Mixed-methods systematic review. Participants: Adults aged ≥ 18 years with a history of complex traumatic events. Interventions: Psychological interventions versus control or active control; pharmacological interventions versus placebo. Main outcome measures: Post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms, common mental health problems and attrition. Data sources: Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL) (1937 onwards); Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) (from inception); EMBASE (1974 to 2017 week 16); International Pharmaceutical Abstracts (1970 onwards); MEDLINE and MEDLINE Epub Ahead of Print and In-Process & Other Non-Indexed Citations (1946 to present); Published International Literature on Traumatic Stress (PILOTS) (1987 onwards); PsycINFO (1806 to April week 2 2017); and Science Citation Index (1900 onwards). Searches were conducted between April and August 2017. Review methods: Eligible studies were singly screened and disagreements were resolved at consensus meetings. The risk of bias was assessed using the Cochrane risk-of-bias tool and a bespoke version of a quality appraisal checklist used by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence. A meta-analysis was conducted across all populations for each intervention category and for population subgroups. Moderators of effectiveness were assessed using metaregression and a component network meta-analysis. A qualitative synthesis was undertaken to summarise the acceptability of interventions with the relevance of findings assessed by the GRADE-CERQual checklist. Results: One hundred and four randomised controlled trials and nine non-randomised controlled trials were included. For the qualitative acceptability review, 4324 records were identified and nine studies were included. The population subgroups were veterans, childhood sexual abuse victims, war affected, refugees and domestic violence victims. Psychological interventions were superior to the control post treatment for reducing post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms (standardised mean difference –0.90, 95% confidence interval –1.14 to –0.66; number of trials = 39) and also for associated symptoms of depression, but not anxiety. Trauma-focused therapies were the most effective interventions across all populations for post-traumatic stress disorder and depression. Multicomponent and trauma-focused interventions were effective for negative self-concept. Phase-based approaches were also superior to the control for post-traumatic stress disorder and depression and showed the most benefit for managing emotional dysregulation and interpersonal problems. Only antipsychotic medication was effective for reducing post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms; medications were not effective for mental comorbidities. Eight qualitative studies were included. Interventions were more acceptable if service users could identify benefits and if they were delivered in ways that accommodated their personal and social needs. Limitations: Assessments about long-term effectiveness of interventions were not possible. Studies that included outcomes related to comorbid psychiatric states, such as borderline personality disorder, and populations from prisons and humanitarian crises were under-represented. Conclusions: Evidence-based psychological interventions are effective and acceptable post treatment for reducing post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms and depression and anxiety in people with complex trauma. These interventions were less effective in veterans and had less of an impact on symptoms associated with complex post-traumatic stress disorder. Future work: Definitive trials of phase-based versus non-phase-based interventions with long-term follow-up for post-traumatic stress disorder and associated mental comorbidities. Study registration: This study is registered as PROSPERO CRD42017055523. Funding: This project was funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Health Technology Assessment programme and will be published in full in Health Technology Assessment; Vol. 24, No. 43. See the NIHR Journals Library website for further project information.

Abstract Background Acute pulmonary embolism (APE) is a potentially life‐threatening disorder, emphasizing the importance of accurate risk stratification and survival prognosis. The exploration of imaging biomarkers that can reflect patient survival holds the potential to further enhance the stratification of APE patients, enabling personalized treatment and early intervention. Therefore, in this study, we develop computed tomography pulmonary angiography (CTPA) radiomic signatures for the prognosis of 7‐ and 30‐day all‐cause mortality in patients with APE. Methods Diagnostic CTPA images from 829 patients with APE were collected. Two hundred thirty‐four features from each skeletal muscle (SM), intramuscular adipose tissue (IMAT) and both tissues combined (SM + IMAT) were calculated at the level of thoracic vertebra 12. Radiomic signatures were derived using 10 times repeated three‐fold cross‐validation on the training data for SM, IMAT and SM + IMAT for predicting 7‐ and 30‐day mortality independently. The performance of the radiomic signatures was then evaluated on held‐out test data and compared with the simplified pulmonary embolism severity index (sPESI) score, a well‐established biomarker for risk stratification in APE. Predictive accuracy was assessed by the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) with a 95% confidence interval (CI), sensitivity and specificity. Results The radiomic signatures based on IMAT and a combination of SM and IMAT (SM + IMAT) achieved moderate performance for the prediction of 30‐day mortality on test data (IMAT: AUC = 0.68, 95% CI [0.57–0.78], sensitivity = 0.57, specificity = 0.73; SM + IMAT: AUC = 0.70, 95% CI [0.60–0.79], sensitivity = 0.74, specificity = 0.54). Radiomic signatures developed for predicting 7‐day all‐cause mortality showed overall low performance. The clinical signature, that is, sPESI, achieved slightly better performance in terms of AUC on test data compared with the radiomic signatures for the prediction of both 7‐ and 30‐day mortality on the test data (7 days: AUC = 0.73, 95% CI [0.67–0.79], sensitivity = 0.92, specificity = 0.16; 30 days: AUC = 0.74, 95% CI [0.66–0.82], sensitivity = 0.97, specificity = 0.16). Conclusions We developed and tested radiomic signatures for predicting 7‐ and 30‐day all‐cause mortality in APE using a multicentric retrospective dataset. The present multicentre work shows that radiomics parameters extracted from SM and IMAT can predict 30‐day all‐cause mortality in patients with APE.

In this article, the Montgomery identity and Ostrowski inequality are established for univariate first-order diamond-alpha differentiable functions. We also investigate the generalization of Ostrowski-type inequalities for bivariate functions with bounded second-order diamond-alpha derivatives by applying integration by parts for $ \diamondsuit_\alpha $-integrals. Moreover, some extensions of dynamic trapezoid- and Grüss-type inequalities are also obtained by using the Montgomery identity.

Abstract Personalized treatment strategies based on non-invasive biomarkers have potential to improve patient management in patients with newly diagnosed glioblastoma (GBM). The residual tumour burden after surgery in GBM patients is a prognostic imaging biomarker. However, in clinical patient management, its assessment is a manual and time-consuming process that is at risk of inter-rater variability. Furthermore, the prediction of patient outcome prior to radiotherapy may identify patient subgroups that could benefit from escalated radiotherapy doses. Therefore, in this study, we investigate the capabilities of traditional radiomics and 3D convolutional neural networks for automatic detection of the residual tumour status and to prognosticate time-to-recurrence (TTR) and overall survival (OS) in GBM using postoperative [11C] methionine positron emission tomography (MET-PET) and gadolinium-enhanced T1-w magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). On the independent test data, the 3D-DenseNet model based on MET-PET achieved the best performance for residual tumour detection, while the logistic regression model with conventional radiomics features performed best for T1c-w MRI (AUC: MET-PET 0.95, T1c-w MRI 0.78). For the prognosis of TTR and OS, the 3D-DenseNet model based on MET-PET integrated with age and MGMT status achieved the best performance (Concordance-Index: TTR 0.68, OS 0.65). In conclusion, we showed that both deep-learning and conventional radiomics have potential value for supporting image-based assessment and prognosis in GBM. After prospective validation, these models may be considered for treatment personalization.

Introduction: Cannabidiol (CBD) has several potential benefits and therapeutic uses, especially in pain, inflammation, and anxiety. CBD has high hydrophobicity and very low solubility in water. CBD has also shown exceptionally low oral-gastrointestinal (oral-GI) bioavailability. In this study, we aimed to examine the oral gastrointestinal absorption and subsequent bioavailability of CBD in a nanoemulsion formulation prepared by Pressure BioSciences’ UltraShearTM technology. Methods: CBD nanoemulsion (2%) was provided by Pressure BioSciences, Inc. (South Easton, MA), and CBD pharmacokinetic parameters were evaluated in male Sprague-Dawley rats using LC-MS/MS technology. Results: Bioavailability of orally delivered CBD UltraShear nanoemulsion was calculated to be 18.6% at 6 h and 25.4% at 24 h. While oral-GI bioavailability is unsurprisingly limited by first-pass metabolism, it is nonetheless notable that CBD bioavailability for oral-GI UltraShear nanoemulsion CBD is roughly 3–4x higher than the typical bioavailability for oral-GI CBD delivered in oil solution or conventional edible formats. Conclusion: This study has provided a compelling demonstration of unprecedented speed and efficiency of oral-GI CBD absorption of CBD UltraShear nanoemulsions, achieving 10% of levels achieved for direct IV injection within 30 min and 80% of IV levels in 24 h. Notably, within just the first hour post-administration, the bioavailability of oral CBD from UltraShear nanoemulsion formulation exceeded the typical 6% total CBD oral bioavailability benchmarks reported for CBD edibles and ultimately achieved 3–4X these levels within 6–24 h.

Solid waste management (SWM) is one of the biggest concerns of society and agricultural waste is generated in vast amounts. In this study removal of Cu and Cr from wastewater using chemically modified apple peels was studied by following batch sorption experiments. Effects of metal concentration, adsorbent dose, pH, temperature and contact duration on the adsorption of Cu & Cr were investigated by using atomic adsorption spectrophotometer (AAS). SEM & EDX analysis of the adsorbents were recorded to study the morphology of the prepared adsorbents. Qmax value of apple peels is 25 for Cr and 22 for Cu, while for apple peel charcoal it is 33 for Cr and 47 for Cu, for treated apple peels Qmax is 50 for Cr and 52 for Cu adsorption. The data was processed using pseudo first, second order kinetic and intraparticle diffusion. Results depicted that the calculated adsorption capacities (qe cal) were found to be close to the experimental values (qe cal) by following pseudo-second-order kinetics. The applicability of the Langmuir and Freundlich adsorption isotherms was tested. Results showed that the Langmuir model is best fitted on adsorption data because regression factor R2 values are good for the Langmuir model. HIGHLIGHTS This study focuses on efficient removal of Cr and Cu from wastewater using solid waste.; These prepared adsorbents are eco-friendly and non hazardous.; Maximum adsorption capacity (Qmax) up to 50 for Cr and 52 for Cu for treated apple peels is observed.; Calculated adsorption capacities (qe cal) were found to be close to the experimental values (qe cal) by following pseudo-second-order kinetics.;

Abstract The aim of current study was to develop the transdermal transfersomes of glucosamine for better drug delivery. Stretch ability and plasticity of transfersomes membranes mitigate the risk of vesicle rupture in the skin and allows the drug carrying transfersome to pass through the epidermis following the natural water gradient. Transdermal delivery of Glucosamine has an advantage over oral route, having greater local concentration and fewer systemic effects. Thin Film Rotary method was use to prepare transfersomes, and characterization was carried out physio-chemically using electron microscopic studies, zeta potential evaluation, entrapment efficiency studies. To add on in the stability, development of a secondary topical vehicle using Carbopol 940 was carried out to enhance the shelf life of transfersomes. Furthermore, in vivo studies on rabbits were also carried out using the papain induced arthritis model to support the effectiveness of treatment. The radiology studies of knee joint of rabbits proved the effectiveness of glucosamine loaded transfersomes in healing the osteoarthritis with the blood plasma analysis remain unaltered. In vitro characterization showed the successful development of nano-deformable entities with good entrapment efficiency but with little stability, therefore modified into a gel. In a nut shell this modified new dosage from can be best alternative to other conventional options that owe lot of demerits.

As the global population raises, developing countries seem to have issues with the productivity of the construction projects due to high demand. Therefore, this paper aims to examine the effect of extrinsic diversity aspects impacting the construction worker efficiency. The data collection was made by a questionnaire sent to construction stakeholders working in the Punjab region of Pakistan. A comparison was drawn based on varied employee characteristics i.e., experiences and ages. It was found that old workers were negatively impacted by the distant location of the construction site. The young employees were most inclined towards holidays when working away from home. The access to basic amenities during a construction project was regarded as a major setback for the workers' productivity. Experienced workers preferred working within the vicinity and easy access to their houses. Based on the ethnicity factor while selecting the workforce, newcomers faced hurdles while entering the construction sector.

In this study, MoO3 nanostructures were prepared, doped with various concentrations of graphene oxide (2 and 4% GO) and a fixed amount of polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) using the co-precipitation method. The motive of this study was to examine the catalytic and antimicrobial efficacy with evidential molecular docking analyses of GO/PVP-doped MoO3. GO and PVP were utilized as doping agents to reduce the exciton recombination rate of MoO3 by providing more active sites that increase the antibacterial activity of MoO3. The prepared binary dopant (GO and PVP)-dependent MoO3 was used as an effective antibacterial agent against Escherichia coli (E. coli). Notably, 4% GO/PVP-doped MoO3 showed good bactericidal potential against E. coli at higher concentrations in comparison to ciprofloxacin. Furthermore, in silico docking revealed the possible inhibitory impact of the synthesized nanocomposites on folate and fatty acid synthesis enzymes, dihydrofolate reductase and enoyl-[acyl carrier protein] reductase, respectively.

In this research work, pristine and various concentrations (2.4 wt%) of graphene oxide (GO)/carbon sphere (CS)–doped Al2O3 nanostructures (NSs) were synthesized with the chemical sol–gel method. Aluminum oxide (Al2O3) exhibits quick recombination of electrons and holes with a low specific surface to limit catalytic and antibacterial activities. Al2O3 doped with CS is good in wastewater treatment and reduces the size of NSs. The incorporation of graphene oxide (GO) into Al2O3 at different concentrations (2 and 4 wt%) enhances both the structural and chemical stabilities of the resulting material while concurrently decreasing the number of charge carriers and reducing the band gap energy. This modified Al2O3-GO composite exhibits promising potential for utilization in dye degradation and antibacterial activity. A series of characterizations were performed to investigate the structural, morphological, and optical properties. The NSs exhibited excellent catalytic activity (CA) against rhodamine B (RhB) dye in acidic, basic, and neutral media. The antimicrobial activity was tested against Escherichia coli. Pairs of electrons and holes are the primary building blocks for the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS), which causes bacteria to die. The significant inhibition zones against E. coli were calculated to be approximately 5.65 mm when compared to ciprofloxacin. Moreover, in silico investigations have revealed the possible inhibitory impact of produced nanomaterials (GO/CS-doped Al2O3) on DNA gyrase and FabI enzymes of fatty acid biosynthesis.

This research lays the groundwork for preparing graphene oxide (GO)-doped CaO nanocomposites for efficient antibacterial potential and dye degradation. The study aimed to reduce the recombination rate of the electron hole (e−/h+) of CaO and improve charge transfer. This issue can be minimized by doping high-surface area GO into CaO quantum dots (QDs). Herein, the one-pot co-precipitation technique has prepared various concentrations (1, 3, and 5 wt%) of GO-doped CaO. Characterization techniques were used to investigate optical, elemental analysis, microstructural, functional, and morphological properties. The addition of GO into QDs showed excellent catalytic activity (CA) to control sample CaO against methylene blue (MB) in basic and acidic media compared to the neutral media. The synergistic effect of morphological alternation attributed to an increase in the mechanism of CA upon doping. Various concentrations of GO to QDs promised remarkable bactericidal potency against Escherichia coli.

Abstract Radiomics analyses commonly apply imaging features of different complexity for the prediction of the endpoint of interest. However, the prognostic value of each feature class is generally unclear. Furthermore, many radiomics models lack independent external validation that is decisive for their clinical application. Therefore, in this manuscript we present two complementary studies. In our modelling study, we developed and validated different radiomics signatures for outcome prediction after neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (nCRT) in patients with locally advanced rectal cancer (LARC) based on computed tomography (CT) and T2-weighted (T2w) magnetic resonance (MR) imaging datasets of 4 independent institutions (training: 122, validation 68 patients). We compared different feature classes extracted from the gross tumour volume for the prognosis of tumour response and freedom from distant metastases (FFDM): morphological and first order (MFO) features, second order texture (SOT) features, and Laplacian of Gaussian (LoG) transformed intensity features. Analyses were performed for CT and MRI separately and combined. Model performance was assessed by the area under the curve (AUC) and the concordance index (CI) for tumour response and FFDM, respectively. Overall, intensity features of LoG transformed CT and MR imaging combined with clinical T stage (cT) showed the best performance for tumour response prediction, while SOT features showed good performance for FFDM in independent validation (AUC = 0.70, CI = 0.69). In our external validation study, we aimed to validate previously published radiomics signatures on our multicentre cohort. We identified relevant publications on comparable patient datasets through a literature search and applied the reported radiomics models to our dataset. Only one of the identified studies could be validated, indicating an overall lack of reproducibility and the need of further standardization of radiomics before clinical application.

The progressive trend of utilizing bioactive materials constitutes diverse materials exhibiting biocompatibility. The innovative aspect of this research is the tuning of the thermo-mechanical behavior of polyurethane (PU) composites with improved biocompatibility for vibrant applications. Polycaprolactone (CAPA) Mn = 2000 g-mol−1 was used as a macrodiol, along with toluene diisocyanate (TDI) and hexamethylene diisocyanate (HMDI), to develop prepolymer chains, which were terminated with 1,4 butane diol (BD). The matrix was reinforced with various concentrations of chitosan (1–5 wt %). Two series of PU composites (PUT/PUH) based on aromatic and aliphatic diisocyanate were prepared by varying the hard segment (HS) ratio from 5 to 30 (wt %). The Fourier-transformed infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy showed the absence of an NCO peak at 1730 cm−1 in order to confirm polymer chain termination. Thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA) showed optimum weight loss up to 500 °C. Dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) showed the complex modulus (E*) ≥ 200 MPa. The scanning electron microscope (SEM) proved the ordered structure and uniform distribution of chain extender in PU. The hemolytic activities were recorded up to 15.8 ± 1.5% for the PUH series. The optimum values for the inhibition of biofilm formation were recorded as 46.3 ± 1.8% against E. coli and S. aureus (%), which was supported by phase contrast microscopy.

Abstract Nitrogen (N) and carbon nitride (C3N4)-doped TiO2 nanostructures were prepared using co-precipitation route. Fixed amount of N and various concentrations (0.1, 0.2, 0.3 wt%) of C3N4 were doped in TiO2 lattice. Through multiple techniques, structural, chemical, optical and morphological properties of samples were thoroughly investigated. XRD results verified anatase TiO2 presence along the substitutional doping of N, while higher degree of crystallinity as well as increased crystallite size were noticed after doping. HR-TEM study revealed formation of nanostructures incorporated on two dimensional (2D) C3N4 nanosheet surface. Elemental composition was checked out using EDS technique which confirmed the presence of dopant in product. Optical characteristics were evaluated with UV–vis spectroscopy which depicted representative redshift in absorption spectra resulted in a reduction in bandgap energy in N/C3N4-doped TiO2 samples. The formation of Ti–O–Ti bonds and different molecular vibrations were disclosed by FTIR. Trap sites and charge carrier’s migration in the materials were evaluated with PL spectroscopy. Multiple catalytic activities (photo, sono and photo-sono) were undertaken to evaluate the dye degradation performance of prepared specimen against methylene blue and ciprofloxacin. Further, antimicrobial activity was analyzed against Escherichia coli (E. coli) and Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) bacteria.

Abstract Endoglucanase (EC 3.2.1.4) catalysing the hydrolysis of β-1.4-glycosidic linkage of cellulose molecules is an enzyme of tremendous industrial importance. The present study describes a response surface methodology based predicted model to deduce a set of fermentation conditions for optimum growth and activity of recombinant endoglucanase in E. coli BL21 (DE3). Numerous significant parameters including fermentation media composition, temperature (Celsius), pH and agitation rate (rpm) were analysed systemically by employing central composite design. This effort reports highly efficient recombinant endoglucanase overproduction (6.9 gl−1 of biomass) with 30% expression by E. coli in modified M9NG media incubated at 37 °C and pH 7 agitated at 200 rpm. Addition of 3 mM glucose and 24 mM glycerol in the M9NG media has shown positive effect on the enzyme yield and activity. The CMCase activity experimentally estimated was found to be 1185 U/mg with the optimized parameters. The outcomes of both the responses by the predicted quadratic model were found in consensus with the obtained values. Our results well depicted the favourable conditions to further scale-up the volumetric yield of other relevant recombinant enzymes and proteins.

Cancer is the second death causing disease worldwide after cardiovascular abnormalities. The difficulty in treating tumor cells with more precise targeted interventions and recurrence of cancer after treatment may pose great difficulty in developing sustainable therapeutic regimens. These limitations have prompted the need to explore several compounds with ability to cease tumor growth while at the same time induce apoptosis of tumor cells. Several studies have emphasized the use of natural compounds as antitumor agents due to their high efficacy against cancer cells and low toxicity in normal cells. Salvianolic acid B (SAB), a naturally occurring phenolic compound extracted from the radix of Chinese herb Salvia miltiorrhiza can induce apoptosis in different types of tumor cells. It can be used to treat cardiovascular and neurodegenerative disorders, hepatic fibrosis, and cancers. Several studies have shown that SAB can mitigate tumorigenesis by modulating MAPK, PI3K/AKT, and NF-ĸB signaling pathways. It also sensitizes the tumor cells to different anti-cancer agents by reversing the multi-drug resistance mechanisms found in tumor cells. This review summarizes the studies showing antitumor potential of SAB in different types of cancer cell lines, animal models and highlights the possible mechanisms through which SAB can induce apoptosis, inhibit growth and metastasis in tumor cells. Moreover, the possible role of nano-technological approaches to induce targeted delivery of SAB to eradicate tumor cells has been also discussed.

Abstract Phyto-synthesized nanoparticles (NPs) having reduced chemical toxicity have been focused globally and become essential component of nanotechnology recently. We prepared green phytochemically (ginger and garlic) reduced NiO-NPs to replace synthetic bactericidal and catalytic agent in textile industry. NPs were characterized using ultra-violet visible spectroscopy (UV-Vis), X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The synthesis of NPs was confirmed by XRD and UV-Vis having strong absorption at 350 nm with size ranged between 16–52 nm for ginger and 11–59 nm for garlic. Scanning and transmission electron microscopy confirmed pleomorphism with cubic- and more spherical-shaped NPs. Moreover, exact quantities of garlic and ginger extracts (1:3.6 ml) incorporated to synthesize NiO-NPs have been successfully confirmed by FTIR. Phytochemically reduced NPs by garlic presented enhanced bactericidal activity against multiple drug-resistant Staphylococcus aureus at increasing concentrations (0.5, 1.0 mg/50 μl) and also degraded methylene blue (MB) dye efficiently. Conclusively, green synthesized NiO-NPs are impending activists to resolve drug resistance as well as environment friendly catalytic agent that may be opted at industrial scale.

Background: This study evaluated the feasibility of reducing the radiation dose in abdominal imaging of urolithiasis with a clinical photon-counting CT (PCCT) by gradually lowering the image quality level (IQL) without compromising the image quality and diagnostic value. Methods: Ninety-eight PCCT examinations using either IQL70 (n = 31), IQL60 (n = 31) or IQL50 (n = 36) were retrospectively included. Parameters for the radiation dose and the quantitative image quality were analyzed. Qualitative image quality, presence of urolithiasis and diagnostic confidence were rated. Results: Lowering the IQL from 70 to 50 led to a significant decrease (22.8%) in the size-specific dose estimate (SSDE, IQL70 4.57 ± 0.84 mGy, IQL50 3.53 ± 0.70 mGy, p < 0.001). Simultaneously, lowering the IQL led to a minimal deterioration of the quantitative quality, e.g., image noise increased from 9.13 ± 1.99 (IQL70) to 9.91 ± 1.77 (IQL50, p = 0.248). Radiologists did not notice major changes in the image quality throughout the IQLs. Detection rates of urolithiasis (91.3–100%) did not differ markedly. Diagnostic confidence was high and not influenced by the IQL. Conclusions: Adjusting the PCCT scan protocol by lowering the IQL can significantly reduce the radiation dose without significant impairment of the image quality. The detection rate and diagnostic confidence are not impaired by using an ultra-low-dose PCCT scan protocol.

Species of the genus Nicotiana (Solanaceae), commonly referred to as tobacco plants, are often cultivated as non-food crops and garden ornamentals. In addition to the worldwide production of tobacco leaves, they are also used as evolutionary model systems due to their complex development history tangled by polyploidy and hybridization. Here, we assembled the plastid genomes of five tobacco species: N. knightiana, N. rustica, N. paniculata, N. obtusifolia and N. glauca. De novo assembled tobacco plastid genomes had the typical quadripartite structure, consisting of a pair of inverted repeat (IR) regions (25,323–25,369 bp each) separated by a large single-copy (LSC) region (86,510–86,716 bp) and a small single-copy (SSC) region (18,441–18,555 bp). Comparative analyses of Nicotiana plastid genomes with currently available Solanaceae genome sequences showed similar GC and gene content, codon usage, simple sequence and oligonucleotide repeats, RNA editing sites, and substitutions. We identified 20 highly polymorphic regions, mostly belonging to intergenic spacer regions (IGS), which could be suitable for the development of robust and cost-effective markers for inferring the phylogeny of the genus Nicotiana and family Solanaceae. Our comparative plastid genome analysis revealed that the maternal parent of the tetraploid N. rustica was the common ancestor of N. paniculata and N. knightiana, and the later species is more closely related to N. rustica. Relaxed molecular clock analyses estimated the speciation event between N. rustica and N. knightiana appeared 0.56 Ma (HPD 0.65–0.46). Biogeographical analysis supported a south-to-north range expansion and diversification for N. rustica and related species, where N. undulata and N. paniculata evolved in North/Central Peru, while N. rustica developed in Southern Peru and separated from N. knightiana, which adapted to the Southern coastal climatic regimes. We further inspected selective pressure on protein-coding genes among tobacco species to determine if this adaptation process affected the evolution of plastid genes. These analyses indicate that four genes involved in different plastid functions, including DNA replication (rpoA) and photosynthesis (atpB, ndhD and ndhF), came under positive selective pressure as a result of specific environmental conditions. Genetic mutations in these genes might have contributed to better survival and superior adaptations during the evolutionary history of tobacco species.

This study was aimed to evaluate the impact of surfactants used for nanostructured lipid carriers (NLCs) to provide enzymatic protection for incorporated peptides. Insulin as a model peptide was ion paired with sodium dodecyl sulfate to improve its lipophilicity. Three NLC formulations containing polyethylene glycol ester (PEG-ester), polyethylene glycol ether (PEG-ether), and polyglycerol ester (PG-ester) surfactants were prepared by solvent diffusion method. NLCs were characterized regarding particle size, polydispersity index, and zeta potential. Biocompatibility of NLCs was assessed on Caco-2 cells via resazurin assay. In vitro lipolysis study was performed using a standard lipid digestion method. Proteolytic studies were performed in simulated gastric fluid containing pepsin and simulated intestinal fluid containing pancreatin. Lipophilicity of insulin in terms of log Poctanol/water was improved from −1.8 to 2.1. NLCs were in the size range of 64–217 nm with a polydispersity index of 0.2–0.5 and exhibited a negative surface charge. PG-ester NLCs were non-cytotoxic up to a concentration of 0.5%, PEG-ester NLCs up to a concentration of 0.25% and PEG-ether NLC up to a concentration of 0.125% (w/v). The lipolysis study showed the release of >90%, 70%, and 10% of free fatty acids from PEG-ester, PG-ester, and PEG-ether NLCs, respectively. Proteolysis results revealed the highest protective effect of PEG-ether NLCs followed by PG-ester and PEG-ester NLCs for incorporated insulin complex. Findings suggest that NLCs bearing substructures less susceptible to degrading enzymes on their surface can provide higher protection for incorporated peptides toward gastrointestinal proteases.

The chloroplast genome provides insight into the evolution of plant species. We de novo assembled and annotated chloroplast genomes of four genera representing three subfamilies of Araceae: Lasia spinosa (Lasioideae), Stylochaeton bogneri, Zamioculcas zamiifolia (Zamioculcadoideae), and Orontium aquaticum (Orontioideae), and performed comparative genomics using these chloroplast genomes. The sizes of the chloroplast genomes ranged from 163,770 bp to 169,982 bp. These genomes comprise 113 unique genes, including 79 protein-coding, 4 rRNA, and 30 tRNA genes. Among these genes, 17–18 genes are duplicated in the inverted repeat (IR) regions, comprising 6–7 protein-coding (including trans-splicing gene rps12), 4 rRNA, and 7 tRNA genes. The total number of genes ranged between 130 and 131. The infA gene was found to be a pseudogene in all four genomes reported here. These genomes exhibited high similarities in codon usage, amino acid frequency, RNA editing sites, and microsatellites. The oligonucleotide repeats and junctions JSB (IRb/SSC) and JSA (SSC/IRa) were highly variable among the genomes. The patterns of IR contraction and expansion were shown to be homoplasious, and therefore unsuitable for phylogenetic analyses. Signatures of positive selection were seen in three genes in S. bogneri, including ycf2, clpP, and rpl36. This study is a valuable addition to the evolutionary history of chloroplast genome structure in Araceae.

Cancer is one of the greatest causes of mortality worldwide. The prevalence rates of different types of cancer is increasing around the world as well. Limitations in chemotherapy and radiotherapy, owing to multiple side effects including cytotoxic effects of antitumor compounds on normal cells as well as the development of resistance to these treatment options in patients, create a serious threat to successful treatment of cancer. The use of natural compounds to prevent and treat cancers has been found to be quite effective, with fewer adverse effects found in patients. Umbelliprenin (UMB) is a naturally occurring sesquiterpene compound found in Ferula species and recently in Artemisia absinthium. Many studies have highlighted the antitumor potential of UMB in different cancer cell lines as well as in animal models. UMB exerts its anticancer actions by regulating extrinsic and intrinsic apoptotic pathways; causing inhibition of the cell cycle at the G0/G1 phase; and attenuating migration and invasion by modulating the Wnt signaling, NF-ĸB, TGFβ, and Fox3 signaling pathways. UMB also affects the key hallmarks of tumor cells by attenuating tumor growth, angiogenesis, and metastasis. This review provides an insight into the role of UMB as a potential antitumor drug for different malignancies and highlights the signaling cascades affected by UMB treatment in diverse tumor cell lines and preclinical models.

The paper proposes a sensors platform to control a barrier that is installed for vehicles entrance. This platform is automatized by image-based license plate recognition of the vehicle. However, in situations where standardized license plates are not used, such image-based recognition becomes non-trivial and challenging due to the variations in license plate background, fonts and deformations. The proposed method first detects the approaching vehicle via ultrasonic sensors and, at the same time, captures its image via a camera installed along with the barrier. From this image, the license plate is automatically extracted and further processed to segment the license plate characters. Finally, these characters are recognized with the help of a standard optical character recognition (OCR) pipeline. The evaluation of the proposed system shows an accuracy of 98% for license plates extraction, 96% for character segmentation and 93% for character recognition.

A prospective study was carried out to evaluate the role of troponin I in risk stratification of non-ST-elevation myocardial infarction in 40 smoker and 40 non-smoker patients. The troponin I was significantly higher (p

A prospective study was carried out to evaluate the role of troponin I in risk stratification of non-ST-elevation myocardial infarction in 40 smoker and 40 non-smoker patients. The troponin I was significantly higher (p