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Ferrocene is an accidentally discovered organometallic compound that serves as a crucial redox probe in investigating electrochemical charge transfer dynamics. Besides solution phase studies, ferrocene derivatives are well-explored in molecular thin films, including self-assembled monolayers on various electrodes for understanding on-surface redox behavior, and in molecular electronics, and charge storage applications. Heterogeneous charge transfer is an imperative parameter for efficient charge transport in spin-dependent electrochemistry, photoelectrochemistry, and molecular electronic devices. In this work, we aim to study the electrochemical charge transfer of ferrocene on various electrodes such as commercially obtained glassy carbon, graphite rod, indium tin oxide (ITO), and as-prepared gold, and nickel to determine the impact of the nature of the working electrode on the electron transfer rate, diffusion coefficient, and reversibility of the redox process. Both the direct current and alternating current-based electrochemical experiments are performed, followed by digitization of the experimental results. The kinetics of electron transfer and electrochemical reversibility reveal a strong dependence on the nature of the working electrode, as the electrochemically driven oxidation and reduction of the material of interest are directly related to the Fermi energy and electronic structure of the working electrode., (© 2024 Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)

Background: Hand injuries pose challenges due to complexity and aesthetic-functional concerns. Dorsum of hand injuries are difficult to treat due to thin skin cover and increased propensity to exposure of underlying structures. Perforator-based flaps can provide better outcomes with minimal donor site morbidity. This study aims to bridge the gap in anatomical knowledge and explore the potential benefits of dorsal carpal artery perforator flap., Materials and Methods: A prospective study was done from July 2021 to June 2023, focused on study of dorsal carpal artery perforators on 12 fresh frozen cadaveric hands. Anatomical study involved injection of red latex into arteries at the wrist, followed by dissection and measurements. During the clinical phase, we used the inferences gained from the anatomical study to identify and mark perforator of dorsal carpal arteries. We performed V-Y advancement flap based on the DCPs in 5 patients who had dorsum of hand defects due to trauma., Results: The study was carried out on 6 fresh frozen cadavers (12 hands). Anatomical findings revealed the anatomical location, caliber, and consistent number of dorsal carpal artery perforators supplying the dorsum of the hand arranged in 2 rows. Clinically, we applied this insight to create V-Y flaps in 5 patients with successful outcomes, thus, offering DCP-based flap as an alternative to distant flaps., Conclusion: DCP-based flaps offer an efficient solution for reconstructing proximal hand defects over the dorsum, with minimal complications, enhancing our understanding of hand reconstruction options. The study's comprehensive anatomical insights and clinical outcomes contribute to improving hand defect management and surgical techniques., (Copyright © 2024 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.)

The aminotroponiminate (ATI) ligand stabilized germylene cation [(i-Bu) 2 ATIGe][B(C 6 F 5 ) 4 ] (2) is found to be an efficient low-valent main-group catalyst for the cyanosilylation of aldehydes and ketones (ATI=aminotroponiminate). It was synthesized by reacting [(i-Bu) 2 ATIGeCl] (1) with Na[B(C 6 F 5 ) 4 ]. The catalytic cyanosilylation of diverse aliphatic and aromatic carbonyl compounds (aldehydes and ketones) using 0.075-0.75 mol% of compound 2 was completed within 5-45 min. The catalytic efficiency seen with aliphatic aldehydes was around 15,800 h -1 , making compound 2 a capable low-valent main-group catalyst for the aldehyde and ketone cyanosilylation reactions. Further, DFT calculations reveal a pronounced charge localization at the germanium atom of compound 2, leading to its superior catalytic performance., (© 2024 Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

In growing plant population, effect of stress is a perturb issue affecting its physiological, biochemical, yield loss and developmental growth. Protein-L-isoaspartate-O-methyltransferase (PIMT) is a broadly distributed protein repair enzyme which actuate under stressful environment or aging. Stress can mediate damage converting protein bound aspartate (Asp) residues to isoaspartate (iso-Asp). This spontaneous and deleterious conversion occurs at an elevated state of stress and aging. Iso-Asp formation is associated with protein inactivation and compromised cellular survival. PIMT can convert iso-Asp back to Asp, thus repairing and contributing to cellular survival. The present work describes the isolation, cloning, sequencing and expression of PIMT genes of Carica papaya ( Cp pimt ) and Ricinus communis ( Rc pimt ) Using gene specific primers, both the pimts were amplified from their respective cDNAs and subsequently cloned in prokaryotic expression vector pProEXHTa. BL21(DE3) strain of E. coli cells were used as expression host. The expression kinetics of both the PIMTs were studied with various concentrations of IPTG and at different time points. Finally, the PIMT supplemented BL21(DE3) cells were evaluated against different stresses in comparison to their counterparts with the empty vector control.

Interfacial electron transport in multicomponent systems plays a crucial role in controlling electrical conductivity. Organic-inorganic heterostructures electronic devices where all the entities are covalently bonded to each other can reduce interfacial electrical resistance, thus suitable for low-power consumption electronic operations. Programmed heterostructures of covalently bonded interfaces between ITO-ethynylbenzene (EB) and EB-zinc ferrite (ZF) nanoparticles, a programmed structure showing 67 978-fold enhancement of electrical current as compared to pristine NPs-based two terminal devices are created. An electrochemical approach is adopted to prepare nearly π-conjugated EB oligomer films of thickness ≈26 nm on ITO-electrode on which ZF NPs are chemically attached. A "flip-chip" method is employed to combine two EB-ZnFe 2 O 4 NPs-ITO to probe electrical conductivity and charge conduction mechanism. The EB-ZnFe 2 O 4 NPs exhibit strong electronic coupling at ITO-EB and EB-NPs with an energy barrier of 0.13 eV between the ITO Fermi level and the LUMO of EB-ZF NPs for efficient charge transport. Both the DC and AC-based electrical measurements manifest a low resistance at ITO-EB and EB-ZF NPs, revealing enhanced electrical current at ± 1.5 V. The programmed heterostructure devices can meet a strategy to create well-controlled molecular layers for electronic applications toward miniaturized components that shorten charge carrier distance, and interfacial resistance., (© 2024 Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)

Handwritten signatures in biometric authentication leverage unique individual characteristics for identification, offering high specificity through dynamic and static properties. However, this modality faces significant challenges from sophisticated forgery attempts, underscoring the need for enhanced security measures in common applications. To address forgery in signature-based biometric systems, integrating a forgery-resistant modality, namely, noninvasive electroencephalography (EEG), which captures unique brain activity patterns, can significantly enhance system robustness by leveraging multimodality's strengths. By combining EEG, a physiological modality, with handwritten signatures, a behavioral modality, our approach capitalizes on the strengths of both, significantly fortifying the robustness of biometric systems through this multimodal integration. In addition, EEG's resistance to replication offers a high-security level, making it a robust addition to user identification and verification. This study presents a new multimodal SignEEG v1.0 dataset based on EEG and hand-drawn signatures from 70 subjects. EEG signals and hand-drawn signatures have been collected with Emotiv Insight and Wacom One sensors, respectively. The multimodal data consists of three paradigms based on mental, & motor imagery, and physical execution: i) thinking of the signature's image, (ii) drawing the signature mentally, and (iii) drawing a signature physically. Extensive experiments have been conducted to establish a baseline with machine learning classifiers. The results demonstrate that multimodality in biometric systems significantly enhances robustness, achieving high reliability even with limited sample sizes. We release the raw, pre-processed data and easy-to-follow implementation details., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Malaria caused by Plasmodium falciparum (Pf) is an illness that contributes significantly to the global health burden. Pf makes significant alterations to the host cell to meet its metabolic demands and escape the immune response of the host. These include the export of a large number of parasite proteins to the infected Red Blood Cells (iRBC). Variable Surface Antigens (VSAs), which are highly polymorphic protein families with important roles in immune evasion, form an important component of the exported proteins. A total of five protein families constitute the VSAs, viz. PfEMP1 (Pf erythrocyte membrane protein 1), RIFIN (repetitive interspersed family), STEVOR (sub-telomeric open reading frame), SURFIN (surface-associated interspersed gene family), and PfMC-2TM (Pf Maurer's cleft two transmembrane). With orthologues present in various simian-infecting species, VSAs take up a variety of domain topologies and organizational structures while exhibiting differential expressions throughout the parasite life cycle. Their expression varies across clinical isolates and laboratory strains, which suggests their crucial role in host cell survival and defense. Members of VSAs are reported to contribute significantly to disease pathogenesis through immune evasion processes like cytoadherence, iRBC sequestration in the host vasculature, rosetting, reduced erythrocyte deformability, and direct immunosuppression. In this study, we have gathered information on various aspects of VSAs, like their orthologues, domain architecture, surface topology, functions and interactions, and three-dimensional structures, while emphasizing discoveries in the field. Considering the vast repertoire of Plasmodial VSAs with new emergent functions, a lot remains unknown about these families and, hence, malaria biology., (Copyright© Bentham Science Publishers; For any queries, please email at epub@benthamscience.net.)

Assessment of water availability in sub-humid regions is important due to distinct climatic and environmental conditions. In this study, Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) and Hydrologic Engineering Center-Hydrologic Modeling System (HEC-HMS) models have been assessed in simulating streamflows in the sub-humid tropical Kabini basin in Kerala, India, spanning 1260 km 2 . Calibration and validation utilized daily weather data from 1997 to 2015 from the Muthankera gauging station. The study investigated the impact of routing methods on runoff simulation in the ArcSWAT, exploring Muskingum and Variable Storage methods. Evaluation metrics encompassed Nash-Sutcliffe Efïciency (NSE), Coefficient of Determination (R 2 ), Percent bias (PBIAS), RMSE-observations standard deviation ratio (RSR), and Peak Percent Threshold Statistics (PPTS) approach for high-flow values. The result indicates that HEC-HMS outperforms SWAT concerning R 2 and NSE values during daily calibration and validation. Monthly simulations showed HEC-HMS closely aligning with SWAT (Variable storage), outperforming SWAT (Muskingum). The PPTS approach proved effective in simulating high-flow values. Both models exhibited proficiency in streamflow analysis within the study area, promising predictive potential for future hydrological studies in sub-humid regions., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Background  Early detection of free flap compromise is critical for salvage of the flap. Various methods of free flap monitoring have been described, but clinical assessment is the standard method for among all. In this study, role of infrared thermography is evaluated for free flap monitoring. Materials and Methods  In patients undergoing free flap surgery, monitoring was done using standard clinical parameters and infrared thermography as per our institutional protocol. Mean temperature difference (∆T) between the flap and the surrounding skin was calculated using the temperature readings from the thermal images intra- and postoperatively. The accuracy of infrared thermography in flap monitoring was assessed in comparison to the standard clinical protocol. Results  Forty-one flaps were included in the analysis, out of which five flaps got compromised. It was observed that the mean temperature difference was higher (mean ∆T 0.20-0.59 vs. 2.38-3.32) when there was a flap compromise, and this temperature difference was evident even before the development of clinical signs. The temperature difference in venous thrombosis (mean ∆T 1.0-2.7) was found to be slightly lower than in arterial insufficiency (mean ∆T 2.1-4.4). For a ∆T cutoff value of 2°C, the thermal camera had a sensitivity of 88.6%, specificity of 98.9%, positive predictive value of 93.9%, and negative predictive value of 97.7%. Conclusion  Infrared thermography is a valuable and noninvasive objective tool in free flap monitoring, which can detect flap compromise (increasing value of ∆T) even before it becomes clinically evident., Competing Interests: Conflict of Interest None declared., (Association of Plastic Surgeons of India. This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ ).)

Competing Interests: Conflict of interestNo conflict of interest. The case report has not been presented in any conference or social media. No research grant was received.

Floral biochemistry and stress physiology is an underexplored aspect of mangroves, which should be investigated as part of preservation and restoration efforts. A thriving true mangrove tree (Bruguiera gymnorrhiza (L.) Lamk.) and a threatened mangrove-associate species (Heritiera fomes Buch. Ham.) were studied in the Sundarban region of India for seasonal variations in floral odours, non-volatile phytochemicals, antioxidant enzyme activities, and surface water chemistry in surrounding habitat. Both species were found to exhibit significant differences in floral volatilomes, protein contents, antioxidant enzyme activities, total flavonoids, and total phenolic contents between spring and autumn blooms. The bird-pollinated flowers of B. gymnorrhiza also showed considerable seasonal differences in floral anthocyanin and proline contents, indicating vulnerability of the post-anthesis open flowers to environmental factors. Contrarily to previous findings, B. gymnorrhiza floral bouquet appeared to be enriched in various classes of volatiles - dominated by sulphurous compounds in bud stage and terpenoids in open stage. Floral anthocyanins, contributing to the striking colouration of the calyx, were found to comprise cyanidin and delphinidin derivatives. Other glycosides of cyanidin and delphinidin were detected in H. fomes flowers, contributing to visual guides to potential food rewards for pollinating insects. Floral tissue in H. fomes was found to be protected by densely overlapping layers of stellate trichomes containing sesquiterpenoids as phytoprotectants. Comparison of the two floral species suggested that H. fomes flowering is optimized to oligohaline (but not freshwater) vernal conditions; whereas B. gymnorrhiza blooms are adapted for biologically enriched (including abundant herbivores and microbial growth), mesohaline forest habitats., (© 2024. The Author(s) under exclusive licence to The Botanical Society of Japan.)

Controlling chemical functionalization and achieving stable electrode-molecule interfaces for high-performance electrochemical energy storage applications remain challenging tasks. Herein, we present a simple, controllable, scalable, and versatile electrochemical modification approach of graphite rods (GRs) extracted from low-cost Eveready cells that were covalently modified with anthracene oligomers. The anthracene oligomers with a total layer thickness of ∼24 nm on the GR electrode yield a remarkable specific capacitance of ∼670 F g -1 with good galvanostatic charge-discharge cycling stability (10 000) recorded in 1 M H 2 SO 4 electrolyte. Such a boost in capacitance is attributed mainly to two contributions: (i) an electrical double-layer at the anthracene oligomer/GR/electrolyte interfaces, and (ii) the proton-coupled electron transfer (PCET) reaction, which ensures a substantial faradaic contribution to the total capacitance. Due to the higher conductivity of the anthracene films, it possesses more azo groups (-N[double bond, length as m-dash]N-) during the electrochemical growth of the oligomer films compared to pyrene and naphthalene oligomers, which is key to PCET reactions. AC-based electrical studies unravel the in-depth charge interfacial electrical behavior of anthracene-grafted electrodes. Asymmetrical solid-state supercapacitor devices were made using anthracene-modified biomass-derived porous carbon, which showed improved performance with a specific capacitance of ∼155 F g -1 at 2 A g -1 with an energy density of 5.8 W h kg -1 at a high-power density of 2010 W kg -1 and powered LED lighting for a longer period. The present work provides a promising metal-free approach in developing organic thin-film hybrid capacitors., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper. RG, AM, and PCM have filed a provisional Indian patent application (Application No. 202211060927) lodged with the IIT Kanpur based on the work reported here., (This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry.)

Scirpophaga incertulas Walker (Lepidoptera: Crambidae, yellow stem borer, YSB) is a monophagous insect pest that causes significant yield loss in rice (Oryza staiva L.). Semiochemical based pest management is being sought as an alternate to chemical pesticides to reduce pesticide footprints. We hypothesized differential release of volatiles from host rice and two companion non-host weeds, Echinochloa colona and Echinochloa crus-galli could be responsible for oviposition and biology of YSB and these chemicals could be used for YSB management. Number of eggs laid, and number of larvae hatched were significantly higher in rice plant as compared to weeds. YSB could only form dead hearts in rice plants. YSB significantly preferred host-plant volatiles compared to the non-host plants both in choice and no-choice tests in an Y-tube olfactometer. 2-Hexenal, hexanal, 2,4-hexadienal, benzaldehyde, nonanal, methyl salicylate and decanal were found in the leaf volatolomes of both the host and non-host plants in HS-SPME-GC-MS (Headspace-Solid phase micro extraction-Gas chromatography-Mass spectrometer). Pentene-3-one, 2-pentyl furan, 2,4-heptadienal, 2-octenal, 2-octenol and menthol were present only in the non-host plants. Fourteen rice unique compounds were also detected. The built-in PCA (Principal Component Analysis) and PLS-DA (Partial least squares-discriminant analysis) analysis in the MS-DIAL tool showed that the volatiles emitted from TN1 formed a cluster distinct from Echinochloa spp. and 2-octenal was identified as a unique compound. Olfactometer bioassays using synthetic compounds showed that rice unique compounds, like xylene, hexanal served as attractants whereas non-host unique compounds, like 2-pentylfuran, 2-octenal acted as repellent. The results indicate that the rice unique compounds xylene, hexanal along with other volatile compounds could be responsible for higher preference of YSB towards rice plants. Similarly, the non-host unique compounds 2-pentylfuran, 2-octenal could possibly be responsible for lower preference and defence against YSB. These compounds could be utilised for devising traps for YSB monitoring and management., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are a specific class of hybrid, crystalline, nano-porous materials made of metal-ion-based 'nodes' and organic linkers. Most of the studies on MOFs largely focused on porosity, chemical and structural diversity, gas sorption, sensing, drug delivery, catalysis, and separation applications. In contrast, much less reports paid attention to understanding and tuning the electrical properties of MOFs. Poor electrical conductivity of MOFs (~10 -7 -10 -10  S cm -1 ), reported in earlier studies, impeded their applications in electronics, optoelectronics, and renewable energy storage. To overcome this drawback, the MOF community has adopted several intriguing strategies for electronic applications. The present review focuses on creatively designed bulk MOFs and surface-anchored MOFs (SURMOFs) with different metal nodes (from transition metals to lanthanides), ligand functionalities, and doping entities, allowing tuning and enhancement of electrical conductivity. Diverse platforms for MOFs-based electronic device fabrications, conductivity measurements, and underlying charge transport mechanisms are also addressed. Overall, the review highlights the pros and cons of MOFs-based electronics (MOFtronics), followed by an analysis of the future directions of research, including optimization of the MOF compositions, heterostructures, electrical contacts, device stacking, and further relevant options which can be of interest for MOF researchers and result in improved devices performance., (© 2024 The Authors. Angewandte Chemie International Edition published by Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

Aqueous fluoride ( F - ) pollution is a global threat to potable water security. The present research envisions the development of novel adsorbents from indigenous Limonia acidissima L. (fruit pericarp) for effective aqueous defluoridation. The adsorbents were characterized using instrumental analysis, e.g., TGA-DTA, ATR-FTIR, SEM-EDS, and XRD. The batch-mode study was performed to investigate the influence of experimental variables. The artificial neural network (ANN) model was employed to validate the adsorption. The dataset was fed to a backpropagation learning algorithm of the ANN (BPNN) architecture. The four-ten-one neural network model was considered to be functioning correctly with an absolute-relative-percentage error of 0.633 throughout the learning period. The results easily fit the linearly transformed Langmuir isotherm model with a correlation coefficient ( R 2 ) > 0.997. The maximum F - removal efficiency was found to be 80.8 mg/g at the optimum experimental condition of pH 7 and a dosage of 6 g/L at 30 min. The ANN model and experimental data provided a high degree of correlation ( R 2 = 0.9964), signifying the accuracy of the model in validating the adsorption experiments. The effects of interfering ions were studied with real F - water. The pseudo-second-order kinetic model showed a good fit to the equilibrium dataset. The performance of the adsorbent was also found satisfactory with field samples and can be considered a potential adsorbent for aqueous defluoridation., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Design-Make-Test-Analyse (DMTA) is the discovery cycle through which molecules are designed, synthesised, and assayed to produce data that in turn are analysed to inform the next iteration. The process is repeated until viable drug candidates are identified, often requiring many cycles before reaching a sweet spot. The advent of artificial intelligence (AI) and cloud computing presents an opportunity to innovate drug discovery to reduce the number of cycles needed to yield a candidate. Here, we present the Predictive Insight Platform (PIP), a cloud-native modelling platform developed at AstraZeneca. The impact of PIP in each step of DMTA, as well as its architecture, integration, and usage, are discussed and used to provide insights into the future of drug discovery., (Copyright © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

The development of automated methods for analyzing medical images of colon cancer is one of the main research fields. A colonoscopy is a medical treatment that enables a doctor to look for any abnormalities like polyps, cancer, or inflammatory tissue inside the colon and rectum. It falls under the category of gastrointestinal illnesses, and it claims the lives of almost two million people worldwide. Video endoscopy is an advanced medical imaging approach to diagnose gastrointestinal disorders such as inflammatory bowel, ulcerative colitis, esophagitis, and polyps. Medical video endoscopy generates several images, which must be reviewed by specialists. The difficulty of manual diagnosis has sparked research towards computer-aided techniques that can quickly and reliably diagnose all generated images. The proposed methodology establishes a framework for diagnosing coloscopy diseases. Endoscopists can lower the risk of polyps turning into cancer during colonoscopies by using more accurate computer-assisted polyp detection and segmentation. With the aim of creating a model that can automatically distinguish polyps from images, we presented a modified DeeplabV3+ model in this study to carry out segmentation tasks successfully and efficiently. The framework's encoder uses a pre-trained dilated convolutional residual network for optimal feature map resolution. The robustness of the modified model is tested against state-of-the-art segmentation approaches. In this work, we employed two publicly available datasets, CVC-Clinic DB and Kvasir-SEG, and obtained Dice similarity coefficients of 0.97 and 0.95, respectively. The results show that the improved DeeplabV3+ model improves segmentation efficiency and effectiveness in both software and hardware with only minor changes., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare no conflict of interests. There is no financial help from any organization., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

The electrochemical conversion of oxygen holds great promise in the development of sustainable energy for various applications, such as water electrolysis, regenerative fuel cells, and rechargeable metal-air batteries. Oxygen electrocatalysts are needed that are both highly efficient and affordable, since they can serve as alternatives to costly precious-metal-based catalysts. This aspect is particularly significant for their practical implementation on a large scale in the future. Herein, highly porous polyhedron-entrapped metal-organic framework (MOF)-assisted CoTe 2 /MnTe 2 heterostructure one-dimensional nanorods were initially synthesized using a simple hydrothermal strategy and then transformed into ZIF-67 followed by tellurization which was used as a bifunctional electrocatalyst for both the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). The designed MOF CoTe 2 /MnTe 2 nanorod electrocatalyst exhibited superior activity for both OER (η = 220 mV@ 10 mA cm -2 ) and ORR ( E 1/2 = 0.81 V vs RHE) and outstanding stability. The exceptional achievement could be primarily credited to the porous structure, interconnected designs, and deliberately created deficiencies that enhanced the electrocatalytic activity for the OER/ORR. This improvement was predominantly due to the enhanced electrochemical surface area and charge transfer inherent in the materials. Therefore, this simple and cost-effective method can be used to produce highly active bifunctional oxygen electrocatalysts.

This paper presents the results of two proficiency testing (PT) rounds conducted by the Export Inspection Agency (EIA) Chennai laboratory in 2021 for food testing laboratories in India. The PT program was designed in accordance with ISO/TS 22117, a standard for proficiency testing in food microbiology, and targeted Listeria monocytogenes and Salmonella spp as the organisms of focus. The samples were found to be stable and recoverable during the analysis, and all PT sample packages were delivered to participant laboratories in good condition. The participant laboratories reported high sensitivity rates of 100% for PT round 061021 M and 96.49% for PT round 050721 M. The accuracy rate in PT round 061021 M was 91.89% and 92.10% in case of PT round 050721 M. However, there were some false positive and false negative results reported by some participant laboratories in both PT rounds, which may have been caused by operational errors or inconsistencies in analysis. During the PT round 061021 M, out of a total of 38 participant laboratories, five laboratories reported false positive results and one laboratory reported a false negative result. Similarly, during the PT round 050721 M, six laboratories reported false positive results which resulted in their results being deemed unsatisfactory., Competing Interests: Conflict of interestThe authors declare that there is no Conflict of interest., (© Association of Food Scientists & Technologists (India) 2023. Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.)

The apicomplexan pathogenic parasite 'Plasmodium falciparum ' (Pf) is responsible for most of the malaria related mortality. It resides in and refurbishes the infected red blood cells (iRBCs) for its own survival and to suffice its metabolic needs. Remodeling of host erythrocytes involves alteration of physical and biochemical properties of the membrane and genesis of new parasite induced structures within the iRBCs. The generated structures include knobs and solute ion channels on the erythrocyte surface and specialized organelles i.e. Maurer's clefts (MCs) in the iRBC cytosol. The above processes are mediated by exporting a large repertoire of proteins to the host cell, most of which are transported via MCs, the sorting stations in parasitized erythrocytes. Information about MC biogenesis and the molecules involved in maintaining MC architecture remains incompletely elucidated. Here, we have compiled a list of experimentally known MC resident proteins, several of which have roles in maintaining its architecture and function. Our short review covers available data on the domain organization, orthologues, topology and specific roles of these proteins. We highlight the current knowledge gaps in our understanding of MCs as crucial organelles involved in parasite biology and disease pathogenesis., (Copyright© Bentham Science Publishers; For any queries, please email at epub@benthamscience.net.)

The present research work approaches the accumulation of fluoride ions from contaminated water using an aquatic plant Monochoria hastate L. in hydroponic culture. A design of experiment (DOE) has been adopted and an analysis of variance has been conducted to establish the statistical significance of various process parameters. The different experimental factors are root and shoot (Factor A), fluoride concentration (Factor B), and experimental days (Factor C) largely influence the output response. Plants treated with 5 mg/L of fluoride solutions accumulated the highest concentration in root biomass 1.23 mg/gm, and shoot biomass 0.820 mg/gm, dry weight after 21 days' experimentation. The accumulation mechanism and potentiality of treated plants depend on root cells of the plasma membrane and energy-capturing molecules of adenosine triphosphate. Monochoria hastate L. root biomass was characterized to confirm the accumulation of fluoride ions in the experimented plants using scanning electron micrographs-energy dispersive spectrum (SEM-EDS), and Fourier transforms infrared analysis (FTIR) analysis.

Introduction: MKT-077 and its derivatives are rhodacyanine inhibitors that hold potential in the treatment of cancer, neurodegenerative diseases and malaria. These allosteric drugs act by inhibiting the ATPase action of heat shock proteins of 70 kDa (HSP70). MKT-077 accumulates in the mitochondria and displays differential activity against HSP70 homologs., Methods: The four Plasmodium falciparum HSP70s (PfHSP70) are present in various subcellular locations to perform distinct functions. In the present study, we have used bioinformatics tools to understand the interaction of MKT-077 at the ADP and HEW (2-amino 4 bromopyridine) binding sites on PfHSP70s. Our molecular docking experiments predict that the mitochondrial and endoplasmic reticulum PfHSP70 homologs are likely to bind MKT-077 with higher affinities at their ADP binding sites., Results: Binding analysis indicates that the nature of the identified interactions is primarily hydrophobic. We have also identified specific residues of PfHSP70s that are involved in interacting with the ligand., Conclusion: Information obtained in this study may form the foundation for the design and development of MKT-077-based drugs against malaria., (Copyright© Bentham Science Publishers; For any queries, please email at epub@benthamscience.net.)

The hepatitis A virus (HAV), which causes hepatitis A, is a contagious liver ailment. The infections are not specifically treated by any medications. Therefore, the development of less harmful, more effective and cost-effective antiviral agents are necessary. The present work highlighted the in-silico activity of phytocompounds from tinospora cordifolia against HAV. The binding interaction of HAV with the phytocompounds was analyzed through molecular docking. Molecular docking revealed that chasmanthin, malabarolide, menispermacide, tinosporaside, and tinosporinone compounds bind with HAV more efficiently than other compounds. Further evaluation using 100 ns molecular dynamics simulation, MM/GBSA and free energy landscape indicated that all phytocompounds studied here were found to be most promising drug candidate against hepatitis A virus. Our computational study will encourage promoting in further investigation for in vitro and in vivo clinical trials.Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma.

Background: This systematic review evaluated the available medical literature on the prevalence and trends of waterpipe tobacco smoking among adolescents and youth in jurisdictionally representative populations., Methods: PubMed, Embase, and Scopus were searched for relevant studies from inception until 31 December 2022 that reported the burden of waterpipe smoking among adolescents and youth (10-24 years of age). We extracted qualitative data on the demographic characteristics, burden, and correlates of waterpipe smoking (PROSPERO ID: CRD42022310982)., Results: A total of 2,197 articles were screened and 62 were included in the analysis. The majority (29) of the studies was from the United States of America and there were no studies from the south-east Asian region. The prevalence of ever waterpipe smoking among the 10-24 years age group was noted to be 18.16% (95% CI, 18.03-18.29). The prevalence of current (30-day) waterpipe smoking was 6.43% (95% CI, 6.34-6.50). The age of initiation of waterpipe smoking was variable. The prevalence of waterpipe smoking was higher among males, among those who belong to the high- and middle-income groups, and among university students. The common risk factors of waterpipe smoking included cigarette smoking, alcohol, and substance use. Waterpipe smoking resulted in increased susceptibility to the use of conventional forms of tobacco (e.g. smoking) among those who were never smokers., Conclusion: Waterpipe smoking usage was significantly high among adolescents and young adults. Developing regulatory guidelines for water-pipe smoking, surveillance of its use, intervention, and specific policy frameworks may be considered a public health priority.

A new conceptual framework based on satellite data, including chlorophyll (CHL), sea surface temperature (SST) fronts, relative winds, current vectors, Ekman transport, and eddies, has been developed to identify potential fishing zones (PFZ) in the Bay of Bengal (BoB). The framework aims to provide persistent forecasts, even under cloudy conditions, based on feature propagation. The validation of the PFZ was carried out using fish catch data collected by the Fishery Survey of India (FSI) between 2016 and 2018. Hooking rates (HR) from longlines and catch per unit effort (CPUE) from trawl nets were used to analyse the data points in hook rate categories (1.0-3.0 and > 3.0) and CPUE categories (50-100 kg and > 100 kg) and interpret them with the PFZ maps. The analysis showed that the high fish catch locations were consistent with persisting features in the BoB, such as high chlorophyll patches, SST fronts, and cyclonic eddies. The high fish catch locations based on hook rate and high CPUE were found to be collocated with the high chlorophyll persisting features and thermal gradients in the BoB. The regression analysis shows that availability of the food (CHL) had the strongest correlation with fish catch, followed by the comfort condition (fronts and eddies)., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.)

A design of a photonic crystal nanocavity based bio-sensor having a footprint of 12×8µ m 2 is proposed to detect different blood components. A finite difference time domain (FDTD) numerical technique has been used to characterize the sensor by evaluating its frequency response. The shift in resonant wavelength of the proposed cavity is utilized to detect blood refractive index fluctuation due to the presence of various components. The obtained numerical findings show that the maximum sensitivity for a shift in resonant wavelength is reported as 760 nm/RIU for various blood components. Moreover, the fabrication of PhC is always prone to the fabrication induced disorders. Hence, the impact of fabrication imperfections on the sensor's performance also has been included in the analysis.

We describe here the fabrication of large-area molecular junctions with a configuration of ITO/[Ru(Phen) 3 ]/Al to understand temperature- and thickness-dependent charge transport phenomena. Thanks to the electrochemical technique, thin layers of electroactive ruthenium(II)-tris(phenanthroline) [Ru(Phen) 3 ] with thicknesses of 4-16 nm are covalently grown on sputtering-deposited patterned ITO electrodes. The bias-induced molecular junctions exhibit symmetric current-voltage (j-V) curves, demonstrating highly efficient long-range charge transport and weak attenuation with increased molecular film thickness (β = 0.70 to 0.79 nm -1 ). Such a lower β value is attributed to the accessibility of Ru(Phen) 3 molecular conduction channels to Fermi levels of both the electrodes and a strong electronic coupling at ITO-molecules interfaces. The thinner junctions (d = 3.9 nm) follow charge transport via resonant tunneling, while the thicker junctions (d = 10-16 nm) follow thermally activated (activation energy, E a ∼ 43 meV) Poole-Frenkel charge conduction, showing a clear "molecular signature" in the nanometric junctions.

Background: Okhaldhunga is a hilly district with fragile socioeconomic conditions, limited access to health care, social stigma, and poor resource management, where most people rely on medicinal plants for primary health care. The use of medicinal plants for primary health care varies with socioeconomic attributes. Following the intra-cultural analysis, we documented and tested the hypothesis that use of medicinal plants in Champadevi, Okhaldhunga, Nepal, depends on socioeconomic variables., Methods: We interviewed 224 respondents, 53.12% female and 46.88% male, including 31 Brahmin, 157 Chhetri, 13 Dalit, and 23 Janajati, and conducted three focused group discussions and seven key informant interviews to record the ethnomedicinal plants used in Champadevi rural municipality, Okhaldhunga District. The relative frequency of citation (RFC) was computed to know the importance of the species. A generalized linear model (GLM) was used to see the relationship between medicinal plants reported with the sociocultural variables, which include age, gender, occupation, education, ethnicity, and religion., Results: We documented 149 medicinal plants, including 69 herbs, 22 shrubs, nine climbers, 48 trees, and one parasitic plant, belonging to 68 families and 130 genera, and used to treat 48 distinct diseases and ailments. Plant parts, leaf, and digestive disorders were frequently treated during healing. Curcuma angustifolia was the most cited species with RFC 0.9554. The respondents' knowledge of medicinal plant use varied significantly with age (p = 0.0001) and occupation (p = 0.003). Changes in land use, population decline of medicinal plant species, and unsustainable harvesting practices constituted the local threats to medicinal plants and associated knowledge. Elders died without passing on their knowledge to the younger generations during sociocultural transformation, and youth disinterest coupled with the free availability of allopathic medicine led to knowledge erosion., Conclusions: The use of medicinal plants in Champadevi, Okhaldhunga, was significantly depended on two socioeconomic variables age and occupation. Ethnomedicinal plants are essential in the primary healthcare system in Nepal; however, their availability and practices are declining. Thus, plans regulating land use change and human migration, acknowledging traditional healthcare practices, and raising awareness of the significance of traditional medical practices as complementary healthcare practices should be strengthened., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

Objective: To evaluate the efficacy of three jaw adventitia holding (TADH) microclamps in end-to-end microvascular anastomosis., Background: Acland clamps, though highly efficacious, require a steep learning curve and are associated with complications such as back walling and incomplete bites., Methods: A single center, parallel group, 30-patient randomized clinical trial was conducted with a 1:1 allocation ratio in Acland and TADH microclamp groups. Primary outcome was time taken for microvascular anastomosis in terms of arterial and venous clamping and suturing time. Secondary outcomes included ease of use, need for clamp flipping and adventitia trimming, and need for assistance and flap survival., Results: TADH microclamps were found to be beneficial when compared to Acland microclamps in end-to-end microvascular anastomosis, in terms of artery clamp time (19.07 ± 3.751 min, 95% CI 10.058-17.942, p < 0.001), artery suture time (15.87 ± 3.357 min, 95% CI 10.660-17.206, p < 0.001), vein clamp time (21.50 ± 3.849 min, 95% CI 12.131-19.469, p < 0.001), and vein suture time (16.58 ± 3.147 min, 95% CI 13.232-20.368, p < 0.001). The TADH microclamps did not require flipping to enable suturing of the posterior walls of the vessel. Statistically significant difference was found in surgeon-reported ease of use with TADH microclamps (Chi-square value 9.867, p < 0.001). Statistically significant difference was found in relation to the need for assistance with TADH microclamps (Chi-square value 19.286, p < 0.001)., Conclusion: This study found TADH microclamps to be faster, easier to use, and clinically efficacious in reducing the anastomosis time compared to those of the Acland clamps., (Copyright © 2023 British Association of Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgeons. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

In the past few decades, the Nepali government has endorsed several nutritional policies, strategies, and guidelines. Given the lack of a comprehensive review of such policy documents, this review aims to describe the nutrition and food security policies and understand the existing policy gaps in Nepal. Findings from this study can be used to develop policies and programs to address Nepal's current and future nutritional needs. Policies relevant to nutrition and food security were identified by searching government websites and directly approaching relevant government ministries. Thematic analysis was conducted using framework methods under 8 predetermined themes: nutrition intervention, food security, food system, capacity building of human resources, nutrition education, nutrition governance, research, and monitoring and evaluation. The contents of each document reviewed were manually extracted in a spreadsheet stratified by the themes, and the findings were summarized for the respective themes. A total of 30 policy documents were reviewed. Most policies have focused on undernutrition; only a few have addressed overnutrition and diet-related noncommunicable diseases. Food security through a sustainable food system has been considered a key policy area in Nepal. Other areas in the food and nutrition policy landscape are capacity building for human resources, behavior change practices, nutrition governance, monitoring, and evaluation. Policy gaps have been identified in the quality and sustainability of nutrition programs; access to health care services; competent human resources for nutrition; intersectoral coordination and commitment; and support for monitoring, evaluation, and research activities. Most policies have tried to address a wide range of components of food and nutrition security; however, strategies focused on overnutrition and diet-related noncommunicable diseases are lacking. Several gaps are identified in this policy review; the findings can guide the policymakers to address these gaps via further policy development., (© The Author(s) 2023. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the International Life Sciences Institute.)

Cu 2 ZnSnS 4 (CZTS) active material-based resistive random-access memory (RRAM) devices are investigated to understand the impact of three different Cu, Ag, and Al top electrodes. The dual resistance switching (RS) behaviour of spin coated CZTS on ITO/Glass is investigated up to 10 2 cycles. The stability of all the devices (Cu/CZTS/ITO, Ag/CZTS/ITO, and Al/CZTS/ITO) is investigated up to 10 3  sec in low- (LRS) and high- (HRS) resistance states at 0.2 V read voltage. The endurance up to 10 2 cycles with 30 msec switching width shows stable write and erase current. Weibull cumulative distribution plots suggest that Ag top electrode is relatively more stable for set and reset state with 33.61 and 25.02 shape factors, respectively. The charge carrier transportation is explained by double logarithmic plots, Schottky emission plots, and band diagrams, substantiating that at lower applied electric field intrinsic copper ions dominate in Cu/CZTS/ITO, whereas, at higher electric filed, top electrodes (Cu and Ag) dominate over intrinsic copper ions. Intrinsic Cu + in CZTS plays a decisive role in resistive switching with Al electrode. Further, the impedance spectroscopy measurements suggest that Cu + and Ag + diffusion is the main source for the resistive switching with Cu and Ag electrodes., (© 2023 Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

Viologens are fascinating redox-active organic compounds that have been widely explored in electrochromic devices (ECDs). However, the combination of electrochromic and resistive random-access memory in a single viologen remains unexplored. We report the coexistence of bistate electrochromic and single-resistor (1R) memory functions in a novel viologen. A high-performance electrochromic function is achieved by combining viologen (BzV 2+ 2PF 6 ) with polythiophene (P3HT), enabling a "push-pull" electronic effect due to the efficient intermolecular charge transfer in response to an applied bias. The ECDs show high coloration efficiency (ca. 1150 ± 10 cm 2 C -1 ), subsecond switching time, good cycle stability (>10 3 switching cycles), and low-bias operation (±1.5 V). The ECDs require low power for switching the color states (55 μW cm -2 for magenta and 141 μW cm -2 for blue color). The random-access memory devices (p +2 -Si/BzV 2+ 2PF 6 /Al) exhibit distinct low and high resistive states with an ON/OFF ratio of ∼10 3 , bipolar and nonvolatile characteristics that manifest good performances, and "Write"-"Read"-"Erase" (WRE) functions. The charge conduction mechanism of the RRAM device is elucidated by the Poole-Frenkel model where SET and RESET states arise at a low transition voltage ( V T = ±1.7 V). Device statistics and performance parameters for both electrochromic and memory devices are compared with the literature data. Our findings on electrochromism and nonvolatile memory originated in the same viologen could boost the development of multifunctional, smart, wearable, flexible, and low-cost optoelectronic devices.

For the last few decades, air pollution in developing country like India is increasing, and it is a matter of huge concern due to its associated human health impacts. In this region, the burgeoning population, escalating urbanization and industrialization, has been cited as the major reason for such a high air pollution. The present study was carried out for health risk assessment of aerosol particles (PM 10 and PM 2.5 ) and its associated heavy metals of an agriculture farm site at Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI) considered to be green urban area in Delhi, India. The concentrations of both PM 10 and PM 2.5 varied significantly from 136 to 177 µg/m 3 and 56 to 162 µg/m 3 , respectively at the site. In the present case, the highest PM 10 and PM 2.5 levels were reported in January, followed by December. The levels of ambient PM 10 and PM 2.5 are influenced by wind prevailing meteorology. These levels of PM 10 and PM 2.5 are more than the permissible limits of WHO guidelines of 15 and 5 µg/m 3 , respectively, thereby leading to high aerosol loadings specifically in winters. The PM concentration of the atmosphere was found to be negatively correlated with temperature during the sampling period. The concentrations of surface ozone O 3 and NO x in the present study were observed to be high in February and March, respectively. The increasing air pollution in the city of Delhi poses a great risk to the human health, as the particulate matter loaded with heavy metals can enter humans via different pathways, viz., ingestion, inhalation, and absorption through skin. The mean hazard index for metals (Zn, Pb, Cd, As, Cr, and Ni) was observed within the acceptable limit (HI < 1), thereby indicating negligible non-carcinogenic effects to residing population. The carcinogenic risk assessment was conducted for Cd, Pb, and As only, as the concentrations for other metals were found to be quite low. The carcinogenic risk values were also within the limits of USEPA standards, indicating no carcinogenic risks to the health of children and adults residing near the site. This information about the PM pollution at the agricultural site and health risk assessment will serve as a baseline data in assessment of human health impacts due to air pollution at the local scale and can be used for development of mitigation strategies for tackling air pollution., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.)

Alkaline proteases from microbial sources have been found suitable for diverse industrial applications, with serine proteases being the most common enzymes used in the detergent industry. In the present study, we have purified and characterized an extracellular alkaline serine protease from Microbacterium paraoxydans sp. SKS10. The protease was purified using ammonium sulfate precipitation followed by different chromatography techniques (fold purification 6.919). K m and V max for the protease were determined to be 0.183 mg/mL and 4.904 U/mL, respectively. This enzyme is a thermostable high molecular weight (∼109.4 kDa) protease which has maximal activity at 60°C, and above pH 10. Inhibitor assays revealed the enzyme to be a serine protease whose activity increased by 2.5-fold in the presence of EDTA. This enzyme remained active in the presence of various metal salts and organic solvents and was compatible with commercially available laundry detergents highlighting its potential for use in the detergent industry., (© 2023 International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Inc.)

Mitapivat, a first-in-class, oral, small-molecule, allosteric activator of the red blood cell-specific form of pyruvate kinase (PKR), was approved for the treatment of hemolytic anemia in adults with pyruvate kinase (PK) deficiency. In this phase I mass balance study in healthy males, we administered a single ~120 mg oral dose of [ 14 C]mitapivat and a concomitant intravenous ~0.1 mg microdose of [ 13 C 6 ]mitapivat. We determined (1) the routes of total radioactivity excretion, including the mass balance of total radioactivity in urine and feces; (2) the pharmacokinetics of mitapivat and [ 13 C 6 ]mitapivat in plasma and total radioactivity in whole blood and plasma; (3) the absolute oral bioavailability of mitapivat; and (4) the metabolite profiles in plasma and excreta. Mean recovery of the radioactive dose was 89.1% (49.6% in urine and 39.6% in feces). [ 14 C]Mitapivat was rapidly absorbed and extensively metabolized as <4% of the total radioactive dose was excreted unaltered in urine and feces. Mean absolute oral bioavailability was 72.7%. A total of 17 metabolites were identified. Mitapivat accounted for 57% and 34% of plasma radioactivity in AUC 0-24 and AUC 0-72 pooled samples, respectively. The remaining radioactivity was attributable to several metabolites, each representing <10% of the total radioactivity in pooled samples; none were disproportionate metabolites as defined by the US Food and Drug Administration and International Conference on Harmonisation M3 guidelines. Metabolite structures suggest that the primary metabolic pathways for [ 14 C]mitapivat in humans include N-dealkylation of the cyclopropylmethyl moiety, oxygenation of the quinoline-8-sulfonamide, oxidation/unsaturation, scission of the piperazine moiety, and amide hydrolysis., (© 2023 Agios, Inc. Clinical and Translational Science published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of American Society for Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics.)

Background: The effectiveness of a biological control agent depends on how well it can control pests and how compatible it is with pesticides. Therefore, we reported the multigenerational effect of a commonly used insecticide, imidacloprid, on the functional response of a widely acclaimed egg parasitoid, Trichogramma chilonis Ishii, to different densities of the host Corcyra cephalonica Stainton eggs. The study investigated the outcomes of the median lethal concentration (LC 50 ) and sublethal concentrations (LC 5 , LC 30 ), along with control treatments for five continuous generations (F 1 to F 5 )., Results: The results showed that the F 5 generation of LC 30 , both of the F 1 and F 5 generations of LC 50 , and the control all had a Type II functional response. A Type I functional response was exhibited for the F 1 generation of LC 30 and both generations of LC 5 . The attack rate on host eggs treated with LC 5 and LC 30 did not change (decrease) with the shift in the type of functional response as compared to the control. A significant increase in the searching efficiency (a) was observed in the later generation (F 5 ) under the exposure of LC 5 and LC 30 imidacloprid concentrations. A lower handling time (T h ) in both generations of the LC 5 followed by LC 30 treated individuals was observed when compared with the control and LC 50 treatments. The per capita parasitization efficiency (1/T h ) and the rate of parasitization per handling time (a/T h ) were also considerably higher in both the generations of LC 5 and LC 30 than in the control and LC 50 , thereby implying positive effects of imidacloprid on the parasitization potential of T. chilonis., Conclusion: Altogether, these multigenerational outcomes on the functional response of T. chilonis could be leveraged to control the intractable lepidopteran pests under the mild exposure of imidacloprid in integrated pest management (IPM) programs as well as in the mass rearing of the parasitoid, T. chilonis. © 2023 Society of Chemical Industry., (© 2023 Society of Chemical Industry.)

Ossicular chain defects secondary to Chronic otitis media most frequently involves the incudo-stapedial joint. This study observes the effect of incudo-stapedial joint reconstruction using conchal cartilage interposition graft on hearing of the patient. Fifty-three patients with chronic otitis media of inactive mucosal type with incudostapedial necrosis of less than half of long process of incus were posted for tympanoplasty with incudostapedial joint reconstruction using autologus conchal cartilage. Their hearing outcome was analysed by comparing the pre-operative and 12 weeks post-operative Pure Tone Audiogram. A statistically significant improvement is seen in air conduction by 14.66 dB after incudo-stapedial joint reconstruction using conchal cartilage ( p value 0.0001), whereas improvement seen in bone conduction was statistically insignificant. 52 (98.1%) patients had ≤ 40 dB post-op AC and 1 (1.9%) had > 40  dB.. Conchal cartilage is an easy-to-harvest, biocompatible and cost effective graft material. It gives hearing results comparable to other materials., Competing Interests: Conflict of interest All authors confirm they have no Conflict of Interest, financial or otherwise. Each of the authors confirms that this manuscript has not been previously published and is not under consideration by any other journal currently. Additionally, all of the authors have approved to the contents of the paper and have agreed to the journal’s submission policies. This manuscript is not under consideration for publication elsewhere, that its publication is approved by all authors and tacitly or explicitly by the responsible authorities where the work was carried out, and if accepted, it will not be published elsewhere in the same form, in English or in any other language, including electronically without the written consent of the copyright-holder., (© Association of Otolaryngologists of India 2023. Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.)

We study the intricate interplay between ecological and evolutionary processes through the lens of the prisoner's dilemma game. But while previous studies on cooperation amongst selfish individuals often assume instantaneous interactions, we take into consideration delays to investigate how these might affect the causes underlying prosocial behavior. Through analytical calculations and numerical simulations, we demonstrate that delays can lead to oscillations, and by incorporating also the ecological variable of altruistic free space and the evolutionary strategy of punishment, we explore how these factors impact population and community dynamics. Depending on the parameter values and the initial fraction of each strategy, the studied eco-evolutionary model can mimic a cyclic dominance system and even exhibit chaotic behavior, thereby highlighting the importance of complex dynamics for the effective management and conservation of ecological communities. Our research thus contributes to the broader understanding of group decision-making and the emergence of moral behavior in multidimensional social systems., (© 2023. Springer Nature Limited.)

We demonstrated the resistive random access memory characteristics for Cu (top contact)/BFO/PMMA (active layer)/ITO (bottom electrode)/PET sheet as a flexible substrate device configuration. The device showed non-volatile bipolar resistive switching characteristics with good repeatability and the coexistence of NDR for 100 cycles or more with 0.28/3.43 mW power consumption for 1 st /100 th cycles. The device retains its read state for 10 4 s or more and switches from LRS to HRS or vice versa for 10 3 cycles with a pulse width of 100 ms for a write-read-erase-read pulse without affecting the memory characteristics. The Weibull distribution suggests that a set state is more stable than the reset state with shape factor β = 25.20. The device follows Ohmic behavior for the lower applied external field and Child square and Schottky emission for the higher external fields. The Joule heating, Sorets, and Fick's forces are responsible for the formation and rupturing of ionic filament. The coexistence of resistive switching and flexible strength of the device sustains the bending curvature of infinity, 0.2 cm, 1 cm, 1.7 cm, and 2.2 cm. The memory characteristics are retained under tensile conditions for 100 cycles or more. More interestingly, the power consumption for sustaining the NDR region with bending (19 μW) is much lower than without bending (0.19 mW). Thus, this study provides the possibility of integrating BFO with flexible substrates suitable for hybrid organic/inorganic memory structures.

Species diversification from major to minor carps for their sturdiness and initial higher growth, and also a quest for antibiotic-free aqua farming in the subcontinent, mandates search for and evaluation of alternatives. An experiment was performed to investigate the potential of fructooligosaccharide (FOS) and Bacillus subtilis (BS) (alone or as synbiotics) in promoting growth and immunity against infections in Labeo fimbriatus fingerlings. Six iso-nitrogenous and iso-lipidic diets containing combinations of two levels of FOS (0% and 0.5%) and three levels of BS (0, 10 4 , 10 6  CFU/g feed) were fed to fish for 60 days. At the end of the feeding trial, twenty-four fish from each group were injected intra-peritoneally with pathogenic strain of Aeromonas hydrophila O:18 to test the immunoprotective efficacy of the supplements against bacterial infection. BS, but not FOS, significantly improved (P < 0.05) growth and feed utilisation attributes like percentage weight gain (PWG), specific growth rate (SGR) and feed conversion ratio (FCR). There were interactive effects of FOS and BS on PWG, SGR and FCR; however, the effects were not additive in nature. These beneficial effects of BS, alone or in combination with FOS, were corroborated by increased protease activity, microvilli density and diameter and number of goblet cells. Overall beneficial effects of FOS and BS included improved erythrocyte (RBC), hemoglobin (Hb), total protein and globulin levels. Total leucocyte (WBC) count and immunological parameters like respiratory burst activity of leucocytes (NBT reduction), lysozyme activity, albumin: globulin ratio and post-challenge survival were significantly improved by both FOS and BS, and their dietary combination yielded the highest improvement in these parameters. Synergistic effects of FOS and BS as dietary supplements indicate that a combination of 10 6  CFU/g BS and 0.5% FOS is optimal to improve growth, feed utilisation, immune functions, and disease resistance in L. fimbriatus fingerlings., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

Owing to the increased population and their overuse, estrogens are being detected in the environment at alarming levels. They act as endocrine disrupting compounds (EDC's) posing adverse effects on animals and humans. In this study, a strain belonging to Enterobacter sp. strain BHUBP7 was recovered from a Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) situated in Varanasi city, U.P., India, and was capable of metabolizing both 17 α-Ethynylestradiol (EE2) and 17 β-Estradiol (E2) separately as a sole carbon source. The strain BHUBP7 exhibited high rates of E2 degradation as compared to EE2 degradation. The degradation of E2 (10 mg/L) was 94.3% after four days of incubation, whereas the degradation of EE2 (10 mg/L) under similar conditions was 98% after seven days of incubation. The kinetics of EE2 and E2 degradation fitted well with the first-order reaction rate. FTIR analysis revealed the involvement of functional groups like C = O, C-C, C-OH during the degradation process. The metabolites generated during degradation of EE2 and E2 were identified using HRAMS and a plausible pathway was elucidated. It was observed that metabolism of both E2 and EE2 proceeded with the formation of estrone, which was then hydroxylated to 4-hydroxy estrone, followed by ring opening at the C4-C5 position, and was further metabolized by the 4,5 seco pathway leading to the formation of 3-(7a-methyl-1,5-dioxooctahydro-1H-inden-4-yl) propanoic acid (HIP). It is the first report on the complete pathway of EE2 and E2 degradation in Enterobacter sp. strain BHUBP7. Moreover, the formation of Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) during the degradation of EE2 and E2 was observed. It was concluded that both hormones elicited the generation of oxidative stress in the bacterium during the degradation process., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature B.V.)

Quercetin is a polyphenolic bioactive compound highly enriched in dietary fruits, vegetables, nuts, and berries. Quercetin and its derivatives like rutin and hyperoside are known for their beneficial effects in various neurological conditions including epilepsy. The clinical studies of quercetin and its derivatives in relation to epilepsy are limited. This review provides the evidence of most recent knowledge of anticonvulsant properties of quercetin and its derivatives on preclinical studies. Additionally, the studies demonstrating antiseizure potential of various plants extracts enriched with quercetin and its derivatives has been included in this review. Herein, we have also discussed neuroprotective effect of these bioactive compound and presented underlying mechanisms responsible for anticonvulsant properties in brief. Finally, limitations of quercetin and its derivatives as antiseizure compounds as well as possible strategies to enhance efficacy have also been discussed., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)

In the current global warming scenario, it is imperative to develop crops with improved heat tolerance or acclimation, for which knowledge of major heat stress-tolerant genes or genomic regions is a prerequisite. Though several quantitative trait loci (QTLs) for heat tolerance have been mapped in rice, candidate genes from these QTLs have not been reported yet. The meta-analysis of microarray datasets for heat stress in rice can give us a better genomic resource for the dissection of QTLs and the identification of major candidate genes for heat stress tolerance. In the present study, a database, RiceMetaSys-H, comprising 4227 heat stress-responsive genes (HRGs), was created using seven publicly available microarray datasets. This included in-house-generated microarray datasets of Nagina 22 (N22) and IR64 subjected to 8 days of heat stress. The database has provisions for searching the HRGs through genotypes, growth stages, tissues, and physical intervals in the genome, as well as Locus IDs, which provide complete information on the HRGs with their annotations and fold changes, along with the experimental material used for the analysis. The up-regulation of genes involved in hormone biosynthesis and signalling, sugar metabolism, carbon fixation, and the ROS pathway were found to be the key mechanisms of enhanced heat tolerance. Integrating variant and expression analysis, the database was used for the dissection of the major effect of QTLs on chromosomes 4, 5, and 9 from the IR64/N22 mapping population. Out of the 18, 54, and 62 genes in these three QTLs, 5, 15, and 12 genes harboured non-synonymous substitutions. Fifty-seven interacting genes of the selected QTLs were identified by a network analysis of the HRGs in the QTL regions. Variant analysis revealed that the proportion of unique amino acid substitutions (between N22/IR64) in the QTL-specific genes was much higher than the common substitutions, i.e., 2.58:0.88 (2.93-fold), compared to the network genes at a 0.88:0.67 (1.313-fold) ratio. An expression analysis of these 89 genes showed 43 DEGs between IR64/N22. By integrating the expression profiles, allelic variations, and the database, four robust candidates (LOC&#95;Os05g43870, LOC&#95;Os09g27830, LOC&#95;Os09g27650, andLOC&#95;Os09g28000) for enhanced heat stress tolerance were identified. The database thus developed in rice can be used in breeding to combat high-temperature stress.

Iron-induced experimental epilepsy in rodents reproduces features of post-traumatic epilepsy (PTE) in humans. The neural network of the brain seems to be highly affected during the course of epileptogenesis and determines the occurrence of sudden and recurrent seizures. The aim of the current study was to evaluate astroglial and neuronal response as well as dendritic arborization, and the spine density of pyramidal neurons in the cortex and hippocampus of epileptic rats. We also evaluated the effect of exogenous administration of a neuroactive steroid, dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), in epileptic rats. To induce epilepsy, male Wistar rats were given an intracortical injection of 100 mM solution (5 µL) of iron chloride (FeCl 3 ). After 20 days, DHEA was administered intraperitoneally for 21 consecutive days. Results showed epileptic seizures and hippocampal Mossy Fibers (MFs) sprouting in epileptic rats, while DHEA treatment significantly reduced the MFs' sprouting. Astroglial activation and neuronal loss were subdued in rats that received DHEA compared to epileptic rats. Dendritic arborization and spine density of pyramidal neurons was diminished in epileptic rats, while DHEA treatment partially restored their normal morphology in the cortex and hippocampus regions of the brain. Overall, these findings suggest that DHEA's antiepileptic effects may contribute to alleviating astroglial activation and neuronal loss along with enhancing dendritic arborization and spine density in PTE.

Untreated and Fe (III)-treated pine needle biochar (PNB) were evaluated at different pH for the removal of toxic crystal violet (CV) dye from synthetic wastewaters. Adsorption kinetics followed the pseudo-first-order kinetics involving intra-particle diffusion process. The adsorption rate constant increased with Fe treatment of PNB especially at pH 7.0. Adsorption data of CV conformed well to Freundlich adsorption isotherms and both adsorption capacity (ln K) and order of adsorption (1/n) of CV were nearly doubled with Fe (III) treatment of PNB at pH 7.0. Desorption of adsorbed CV from both untreated and Fe (III)-treated PNB could be accounted satisfactorily by third-degree polynomial equations. An increase in ionic strength and temperature enhanced dye adsorption onto untreated and Fe (III)-treated PNB. Adsorption of CV was an endothermic and spontaneous reaction with an increase in entropy of the system. FTIR spectra revealed that C = O of carboxylic acid aryls and C = O and C-O-C in lignin residues of PNB reacted with Fe (III) besides the formation of some iron oxyhydroxide minerals. The changes in FTIR confirmed the possible bonding of positively charged moiety of CV with the untreated and Fe-treated PNB. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) revealed the porous surfaces of PNB with clear accumulation of Fe (III) after treatment and deposition of CV dye on surfaces and pores of PNB. Iron (III)-treated PNB at pH 7.0 can serve as an ecofriendly and cost-effective adsorbent for the efficient removal of CV dye from wastewaters., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.)

The fractional order SEIQRD compartmental model of COVID-19 is explored in this manuscript with six different categories in the Caputo approach. A few findings for the new model's existence and uniqueness criterion, as well as non-negativity and boundedness of the solution, have been established. When RCovid19<1 at infection-free equilibrium, we prove that the system is locally asymptotically stable. We also observed that RCovid 19<1, the system is globally asymptotically stable in the absence of disease. The main objective of this study is to investigate the COVID-19 transmission dynamics in Italy, in which the first case of Coronavirus infection 2019 (COVID-19) was identified on January 31st in 2020. We used the fractional order SEIQRD compartmental model in a fractional order framework to account for the uncertainty caused by the lack of information regarding the Coronavirus (COVID-19). The Routh-Hurwitz consistency criteria and La-Salle invariant principle are used to analyze the dynamics of the equilibrium. In addition, the fractional-order Taylor's approach is utilized to approximate the solution to the proposed model. The model's validity is demonstrated by comparing real-world data with simulation outcomes. This study considered the consequences of wearing face masks, and it was discovered that consistent use of face masks can help reduce the propagation of the COVID-19 disease., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist., (Copyright: © 2023 Paul et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)

Delayed-release dimethyl fumarate (DMF), Tecfidera ® , is approved globally for treating relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis. The disposition of DMF was determined in humans after administration of a single oral dose of [ 14 C]DMF, and the total recovery was estimated to be between 58.4% to 75.0%, primarily through expired air.The absorption of [ 14 C]DMF-derived radioactivity was rapid, with Tmax at 1h postdose. Glucose was the predominant circulating metabolite, accounting for ∼60% of the total extractable radioactivity. Cysteine and N -acetylcysteine conjugates of mono- or di-methyl succinate were found to be the major urinary metabolites. In vitro studies showed that [ 14 C]DMF was mainly metabolised to MMF, and fumarase exclusively converted fumaric acid to malic acid and did not catalyse the conversion of fumaric acid esters to malic acid. DMF was observed to bind with human serum albumin through Michael addition to the Cys-34 residue when exposed to human plasma.These findings indicate that DMF undergoes metabolism via hydrolysis, GSH conjugation, and the TCA cycle, leading to the formation of citric acid, CO 2 , and water. These ubiquitous and well-conserved metabolism pathways minimise the risk of drug-drug interactions and reduce variability related to pharmacogenetics and ethnicity.