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Endometrial cancer (EC), endometriosis (ENDO), and obesity (OBY) are interconnected conditions in women that may share underlying genetic pathways. This study aimed to identify shared genetic pathways and differential gene expressions across these conditions to uncover potential therapeutic targets. A bioinformatics pipeline was applied using gene expression datasets from the GEO database, incorporating differential expression analysis, functional and pathway enrichment, PPI network construction, survival analysis, and mutational profiling across 198 samples. The analysis revealed 26 shared differentially expressed genes (DEGs), with IGF-1, CREBBP, EP300, and PIAS1 identified as key hub genes. Elevated IGF-1 expression was significantly linked to poorer survival outcomes in EC patients ( p  < .05). Frequent mutations were observed in these hub genes, suggesting their critical role in disease mechanisms. This study highlights genetic links among EC, ENDO, and OBY, emphasizing high IGF-1 expression as a potential prognostic marker in EC and recurrent alterations in hub genes as promising therapeutic targets. These findings provide insights into the shared genetic underpinnings of these conditions and present new avenues for targeted therapies.

Escherichia coli strain, AKS1GF ICAR-CIFRI, was isolated from a thermally contaminated water with average water temperatures of 45°C ± 2.5°C in river Ganga, India. The draft genome sequence is of 4.7 MB consisting of 44 contigs. The strain contains 4,314 protein coding genes and 96 RNA genes., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

In water, Ru-catalyzed annulation of N -chlorobenzamides with unsymmetrical internal alkynes bearing aryl, hydroxy, ester, and sulfonyl functionalities has been accomplished to afford isoquinolone scaffolds under external oxidant-free conditions at room temperature. Use of water as reaction medium, redox-neutral conditions, regioselectivity, and substrate scope are important practical features.

Objective: Carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii (CRAB) is a common cause of ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP). Some in vitro data favour various combination antibiotic therapy. However, there is a need for more in vivo studies for the management of VAP caused by CRAB. This retrospective study was done to evaluate the effectiveness of various combination antibiotic therapy including sulbactam on outcomes of VAP caused by CRAB., Methods: Adult patients (age ≥18 years) diagnosed with VAP caused by CRAB were included. Patients with polymicrobial infections were excluded from the study. Patients with CRAB associated VAP who were given sulbactam based antibiotic combinations were observed for outcomes. The primary outcome was 28-day mortality after diagnosis of VAP caused by CRAB. Reduction in serum HsCRP (High sensitivity C-reactive protein) during treatment and requirement of inotropes were the secondary outcomes. Outcomes were compared between various sulbactam based antibiotic combination therapies., Results: A total of 103 patients were included. A total of 44 (42.7 %) patients received sulbactam and minocycline or sulbactam and polymyxin B dual antibiotic combination, and 59 (57.3 %) patients received sulbactam, polymyxin B and minocycline triple antibiotic combination. The percentage difference in 28 days mortality was 27.51 % (95 % CI 8.03 %-44.06 %; p = 0.005) in dual vs triple sulbactam based antibiotic combination therapy. The percentage difference in requirement of inotropes during therapy and HsCRP reduction after 7 days of therapy was 23.65 % (95 % CI 6.43 %-38.3 %; p = 0.007) and 25.1 % (95%CI 10.1 %-38.2 %; p < 0.001) respectively when compared between dual vs triple sulbactam based antibiotic combination therapy., Conclusion: Treatment with sulbactam, polymyxin B and minocycline combination antibiotic therapy was associated with significantly lower 28-day mortality. Moreover, the lower requirement of inotropes during treatment and a significant reduction in HsCRP level favours this combination antibiotic therapy in VAP caused by CRAB., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests:Deepak Kumar reports financial support was provided by Indian Council of Medical Research. If there are other authors, they declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Indian Association of Medical Microbiologists. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Rice yield is greatly constrained by drought stress. In Arabidopsis, XYLEM NAC DOMAIN 1 (XND1) gene regulates the xylem formation, efficiency of water transport, and the delicate equilibrium between drought tolerance and resistance to pathogens. However, diversity and the role of rice homologs of OsXND1 is not reported so far. This study hypothesized that the rice homolog of OsXND1 also regulates drought stress tolerance through modulation of root architecture. Initially, phylogenetic analysis identified two OsXND1 homologs (Os02g0555300 and Os04g0437000) in rice. Further, 14 haplotypes were identified in the OsXND1 of which Hap1 and Hap3 were major haplotypes. The association analysis of OsXND1 with 16 different traits, including 10 root traits, showed three SNPs (Chr02:20972728-Promoter variant; Chr02:20972791-5' UTR variant, and Chr02:20973745-3' UTR variant) were significantly associated with root area, root surface area, total root length, and convex hull area only under drought stress in indica rice. Besides, the superior haplotype of OsXND1 increased the root area, root surface area, total root length, and convex hull area by 46%, 40%, 38%, and 42%, respectively, under drought stress conditions. Therefore, the identified superior haplotype of OsXND1 can be utilized in haplotype breeding programs for the improvement of drought tolerance in rice., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Visceral obesity (VO), characterized by excess fat around internal organs, is a recognized risk factor for gynecological tumors, including benign uterine leiomyoma (ULM) and malignant uterine leiomyosarcoma (ULS). Despite this association, the shared molecular mechanisms remain underexplored. This study utilizes an integrated bioinformatics approach to elucidate common molecular pathways and identify potential therapeutic targets linking VO, ULM, and ULS. We analyzed gene expression datasets from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) to identify differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in each condition. We found 101, 145, and 18 DEGs in VO, ULM, and ULS, respectively, with 37 genes overlapping across all three conditions. Functional enrichment analysis revealed that these overlapping DEGs were significantly enriched in pathways related to cell proliferation, immune response, and transcriptional regulation, suggesting shared biological processes. Protein-protein interaction network analysis identified 14 hub genes, of which TOP2A, APOE, and TYMS showed significant differential expression across all three conditions. Drug-gene interaction analysis identified 26 FDA-approved drugs targeting these hub genes, highlighting potential therapeutic opportunities. In conclusion, this study uncovers shared molecular pathways and actionable drug targets across VO, ULM, and ULS. These findings deepen our understanding of disease etiology and offer promising avenues for drug repurposing. Experimental validation is needed to translate these insights into clinical applications and innovative treatments., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Background: Gallbladder cancer (GBC) is a highly aggressive malignant tumor with a poor prognosis. Despite being first described two centuries ago, there are no targeted therapies available beyond conventional cytotoxic therapy. Epidemiological studies have shown that the incidence of gallbladder cancer is higher in females than males. This suggests that the gallbladder may be a female sex hormone-responsive organ, and these hormones might be involved in the pathogenesis of gallbladder cancer. Therefore, we aimed to analyze the expression of ERα and PR in GBC and correlate their expression with clinicopathological variables and overall survival., Patients and Methods: A total of 235 histopathologically diagnosed GBC cases were included in this hospital-based cross-sectional study. Clinicopathological data were collected, and the expression of ERα and PR was evaluated by immunohistochemistry., Results: The mean age of this study population was 55.47 ± 8.45 with range 28-87 years. Females were predominated over male with a male-to-female ratio of 1:3.5. Positive nuclear expression of the ERα and PR was found in 13 (5.5%) and eight (3.4%) cases, respectively. Apart from nuclear staining, cytoplasmic expression of ERα and PR was found in three (1.2%) and 31 (13.2%) cases, respectively. Higher percentage of positive nuclear expression of ER was found in < 50 years age (p value = 0.04), parity > 4 (p value = 0.02), advanced pT stage (T3) (p value = 0.01), lymphovascular invasion (p value = 0.02), and liver invasion (p value = 0.04) which were statistically significant. Higher percentage of PR expression was also observed in < 50 years age (p value = 0.01), and tumor associated with gallstone (p value = 0.04). There was no significant correlation between cytoplasmic expression of ER, PR, and clinicopathological variables. In multivariate analysis, there was no significant correlation between ER or PR positive expression and overall survival., Conclusion: Although nuclear expression of ERα was significantly associated with progressive disease factors but the positive expression was found in very small percentage of GBC cases. So anti-hormone therapy might be an option in patient with ER α positive gallbladder carcinoma., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)

Rice blast disease is the most devastating disease constraining crop productivity. Vertical resistance to blast disease is widely studied despite its instability. Clusters of genes or QTLs conferring blast resistance that offer durable horizontal resistance are important in resistance breeding. In this study, we aimed to refine the reported QTLs and identify stable meta-QTLs (MQTLs) associated with rice blast resistance. A total of 435 QTLs were used to project 71 MQTLs across all the rice chromosomes. As many as 199 putative rice blast resistance genes were identified within 53 MQTL regions. The genes included 48 characterized resistance gene analogs and related proteins, such as NBS-LRR type, LRR receptor-like kinase, NB-ARC domain, pathogenesis-related TF/ERF domain, elicitor-induced defense and proteins involved in defense signaling. MQTL regions with clusters of RGA were also identified. Fifteen highly significant MQTLs included 29 candidate genes and genes characterized for blast resistance, such as Piz, Nbs-Pi9, pi55-1, pi55-2, Pi3/Pi5-1, Pi3/Pi5-2, Pikh, Pi54, Pik/Pikm/Pikp, Pb1 and Pb2. Furthermore, the candidate genes (42) were associated with differential expression (in silico) in compatible and incompatible reactions upon disease infection. Moreover, nearly half of the genes within the MQTL regions were orthologous to those in O. sativa indica, Z. mays and A. thaliana, which confirmed their significance. The peak markers within three significant MQTLs differentiated blast-resistant and susceptible lines and serve as potential surrogates for the selection of blast-resistant lines. These MQTLs are potential candidates for durable and broad-spectrum rice blast resistance and could be utilized in blast resistance breeding., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Fuel cells are at the forefront of modern energy research, with graphene-based materials emerging as key enhancers of performance. This overview explores recent advancements in graphene-based cathode materials for fuel cell applications. Graphene's large surface area and excellent electrical conductivity and mechanical strength make it ideal for use in different solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) as well as proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs). This review covers various forms of graphene, including graphene oxide (GO), reduced graphene oxide (rGO), and doped graphene, highlighting their unique attributes and catalytic contributions. It also examines the effects of structural modifications, doping, and functional group integrations on the electrochemical properties and durability of graphene-based cathodes. Additionally, we address the thermal stability challenges of graphene derivatives at high SOFC operating temperatures, suggesting potential solutions and future research directions. This analysis underscores the transformative potential of graphene-based materials in advancing fuel cell technology, aiming for more efficient, cost-effective, and durable energy systems.

Prediction of suspended sediment load (SSL) in streams is significant in hydrological modeling and water resources engineering. Development of a consistent and accurate sediment prediction model is highly necessary due to its difficulty and complexity in practice because sediment transportation is vastly non-linear and is governed by several variables like rainfall, strength of flow, and sediment supply. Artificial intelligence (AI) approaches have become prevalent in water resource engineering to solve multifaceted problems like sediment load modelling. The present work proposes a robust model incorporating support vector machine with a novel sparrow search algorithm (SVM-SSA) to compute SSL in Tilga, Jenapur, Jaraikela and Gomlai stations in Brahmani river basin, Odisha State, India. Five different scenarios are considered for model development. Performance assessment of developed model is analyzed on basis of mean absolute error (MAE), root mean squared error (RMSE), determination coefficient (R 2 ), and Nash-Sutcliffe efficiency (E NS ). The outcomes of SVM-SSA model are compared with three hybrid models, namely SVM-BOA (Butterfly optimization algorithm), SVM-GOA (Grasshopper optimization algorithm), SVM-BA (Bat algorithm), and benchmark SVM model. The findings revealed that SVM-SSA model successfully estimates SSL with high accuracy for scenario V with sediment (3-month lag) and discharge (current time-step and 3-month lag) as input than other alternatives with RMSE = 15.5287, MAE = 15.3926, and E NS  = 0.96481. The conventional SVM model performed the worst in SSL prediction. Findings of this investigation tend to claim suitability of employed approach to model SSL in rivers precisely and reliably. The prediction model guarantees the precision of the forecasted outcomes while significantly decreasing the computing time expenditure, and the precision satisfies the demands of realistic engineering applications., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

The CRISPR-Cas genome editing tools are revolutionizing agriculture and basic biology with their simplicity and precision ability to modify target genomic loci. Software-predicted guide RNAs (gRNAs) often fail to induce efficient cleavage at target loci. Many target loci are inaccessible due to complex chromatin structure. Currently, there is no suitable tool available to predict the architecture of genomic target sites and their accessibility. Hence, significant time and resources are spent on performing editing experiments with inefficient guides. Although in vitro-cleavage assay could provide a rough assessment of gRNA efficiency, it largely excludes the interference of native genomic context. Transient in-vivo testing gives a proper assessment of the cleavage ability of editing reagents in a native genomic context. Here, we developed a modified protocol that offers highly efficient protoplast isolation from rice, Arabidopsis, and chickpea, using a sucrose gradient, transfection using PEG (polyethylene glycol), and validation of single guide RNAs (sgRNAs) cleavage efficiency of CRISPR-Cas9. We have optimized various parameters for PEG-mediated protoplast transfection and achieved high transfection efficiency using our protocol in both monocots and dicots. We introduced plasmid vectors containing Cas9 and sgRNAs targeting genes in rice, Arabidopsis, and chickpea protoplasts. Using dual sgRNAs, our CRISPR-deletion strategy offers straightforward detection of genome editing success by simple agarose gel electrophoresis. Sanger sequencing of PCR products confirmed the editing efficiency of specific sgRNAs. Notably, we demonstrated that isolated protoplasts can be stored for up to 24/48 h with little loss of viability, allowing a pause between isolation and transfection. This high-efficiency protocol for protoplast isolation and transfection enables rapid (less than 7 days) validation of sgRNA cleavage efficiency before proceeding with stable transformation. The isolation and transfection method can also be utilized for rapid validation of editing strategies, evaluating diverse editing reagents, regenerating plants from transfected protoplasts, gene expression studies, protein localization and functional analysis, and other applications., Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s42994-024-00139-7., Competing Interests: Conflict of interestThe authors declare no conflict of interest., (© The Authors 2024.)

There are limitations to traditional treatment approaches in addressing the needs of individuals with dual comorbidity of TB and SUD. The concept of harm reduction as a distinct approach to addressing substance use, focusing on minimising the negative consequences associated with it rather than advocating for complete abstinence. Different harm reduction strategies, such as opioid substitution therapy, needle and syringe programmes, testing for viral infections etc. have been effectively employed for SUDs in past. Similarly, TB risk minimization approaches like improving housing and nutrition and focused testing strategies are considered as harm reduction strategies for TB management. The relationship between tuberculosis (TB) and substance use disorders (SUDs) involves a complex interplay of biopsychosocial factors. It is crucial to prioritise integrated and closely monitored care in order to address the treatment challenges and potential drug interactions that may arise. In light of the acknowledged challenges like limited awareness, infrastructure, drug resistance, and stigma, it is imperative to explore potential avenues for the implementation of harm reduction strategies targeting individuals with comorbid TB and SUD in India. Potential strategies for addressing the issue includes a range of measures, such as augmenting investments in healthcare, integrating policies, tackling social determinants, and establishing shared platforms for psychosocial rehabilitation., Competing Interests: Conflicts of interest The authors have none to declare., (Copyright © 2023 Tuberculosis Association of India. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The coupling of diaziridines with donor-acceptor aziridines (DAAs) has been achieved using Zn-catalysis to furnish imidazopyrazole-4,4-dicarboxylates via [1,4]-hydride shift. The use of Zn-catalysis, [1,4]-hydride shift, natural product modification and a late-stage molecular docking study are important practical features.

Background: Growth-regulating factors (GRFs) are crucial in rice for controlling plant growth and development. Among the rice cultivation practices, aerobic methods are water efficient but result in significant yield reduction relative to non-aerobic cultivation. Therefore, mechanistic insights into aerobic rice cultivation are important for improving the aerobic performance of rice., Objectives: This study aimed to examine the evolution of GRFs in different rice species, analyse the phenotypic differences between aerobic and non-aerobic conditions in three rice varieties, and assess the expression of GRFs in these varieties under both aerobic and non-aerobic conditions., Materials and Methods: This study comprehensively examined the GRFs gene family in 11 rice species ( Oryza barthii , Oryza brachyantha , Oryza glaberrima , Oryza glumipatula , Oryza sativa subsp. indica , Oryza longistaminata , Oryza meridionalis , Oryza nivara , Oryza punctata , Oryza rufipogon , Oryza sativa subsp. japonica ) focusing on phylogenetic analysis. Additionally, the expression patterns of 12 GRFs were investigated in three distinct genotypes of O. sativa subsp. indica rice, under both non-aerobic and aerobic conditions., Results: Three major phylogenetic clades were formed based on conserved motifs in the 123 GRFs proteins in eleven rice species. Further, novel motifs were identified especially in O. longistaminata indicative of the species level evolutionary differences in rice. Among the trait performance, the number of tillers was reduced by ~ 36% under aerobic conditions, but the reduction was found to be less in CR Dhan 201, an aerobic variety. Besides, three GRFs namely GRF3, GRF4, and GRF7 were found to be distinct in expression between aerobic and non-aerobic conditions., Conclusion: Three GRF genes namely GRF3, GRF4, and GRF7 could be associated with the aerobic adaptation in rice., Competing Interests: No conflict of interests, (Copyright: © 2021 The Author(s); Published by Iranian Journal of Biotechnology.)

In this report, we present our studies on mRNA, which was modified by introducing various halogen substituents at the C(5) position of the pyrimidine base. Specifically, we synthesized C(5)-halogenated (F, Cl, Br, I) pyrimidine ribonucleoside triphosphates and incorporated them into mRNA during in-vitro transcription. The efficiency of the in-vitro transcription reaction of halogenated pyrimidine was observed to decrease as the size of the halogen substituent increased and the electronegativity thereof decreased (F > Cl > Br) except for iodine. Interestingly, we found that, among the C(5)-halogenated pyrimidine ribonucleotides, mRNA incorporating C(5)-halogenated cytidine (5-F rCTP and 5-Cl rCTP) exhibited more prominent protein expression than mRNA modified with C(5)-halogenated uridine and unmodified mRNA. In particular, in the case of mRNA to which fluorine (5-F rCTP) and chlorine (5-Cl rCTP) were introduced, the protein was dramatically expressed about 4 to 5 times more efficiently than the unmodified mRNA, which was similar to pseudouridine (ψ). More interestingly, when pseudouridine(ψ) and fluorocytidine nucleotides (5-F rCTP), were simultaneously introduced into mRNA for dual incorporation, the protein expression efficiency dramatically increased as much as tenfold. The efficiency of cap-dependent protein expression is much higher than the IRES-dependent (internal ribosome entry site) expression with mRNA incorporating C(5)-halogenated pyrimidine ribonucleotide. We expect these results to contribute meaningfully to the development of therapeutics based on modified mRNA., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest 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., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

The cytochrome P450 (CYP450) gene family plays a critical role in plant growth and developmental processes, nutrition, and detoxification of xenobiotics in plants. In the present research, a comprehensive set of 105 OsCYP71 family genes was pinpointed within the genome of indica rice. These genes were categorized into twelve distinct subfamilies, where members within the same subgroup exhibited comparable gene structures and conserved motifs. In addition, 105 OsCYP71 genes were distributed across 11 chromosomes, and 36 pairs of OsCYP71 involved in gene duplication events. Within the promoter region of OsCYP71 , there exists an extensive array of cis-elements that are associated with light responsiveness, hormonal regulation, and stress-related signaling. Further, transcriptome profiling revealed that a majority of the genes exhibited responsiveness to hormones and were activated across diverse tissues and developmental stages in rice. The OsCYP71P6 gene is involved in insect resistance, senescence, and yield-related traits in rice. Hence, understanding the association between OsCYP71P6 genetic variants and yield-related traits in rice varieties could provide novel insights for rice improvement. Through the utilization of linear regression models, a total of eight promoters were identified, and a specific gene variant (Ser33Leu) within OsCYP71P6 was found to be linked to spikelet fertility. Additionally, different alleles of the OsCYP71P6 gene identified through in/dels polymorphism in 131 rice varieties were validated for their allelic effects on yield-related traits. Furthermore, the single-plant yield, spikelet number, panicle length, panicle weight, and unfilled grain per panicle for the OsCYP71P6- 1 promoter insertion variant were found to contribute 20.19%, 13.65%, 5.637%, 8.79%, and 36.86% more than the deletion variant, respectively. These findings establish a robust groundwork for delving deeper into the functions of OsCYP71 -family genes across a range of biological processes. Moreover, these findings provide evidence that allelic variation in the promoter and amino acid substitution of Ser33Leu in the OsCYP71P6 gene could potentially impact traits related to rice yield. Therefore, the identified promoter variants in the OsCYP71P6 gene could be harnessed to amplify rice yields.

Although most of the early events of the hepatitis C virus (HCV) life cycle are well characterized, our understanding of HCV egress is still unclear. Some reports implicate the conventional endoplasmic reticulum (ER)-Golgi route, while some propose noncanonical secretory routes. Initially, the envelopment of HCV nucleocapsid occurs by budding into the ER lumen. Subsequently, the HCV particle exit from the ER is assumed to be mediated by coat protein complex II (COPII) vesicles. COPII vesicle biogenesis also involves the recruitment of cargo to the site of vesicle biogenesis via interaction with COPII inner coat proteins. We investigated the modulation and the specific role of the individual components of the early secretory pathway in HCV egress. We observed that HCV inhibits cellular protein secretion and triggers the reorganization of the ER exit sites and ER-Golgi intermediate compartments (ERGIC). Gene-specific knockdown of the components of this pathway such as SEC16A, TFG, ERGIC-53, and COPII coat proteins demonstrated the functional significance of these components and the distinct role played by these proteins in various aspects of the HCV life cycle. SEC16A is essential for multiple steps in the HCV life cycle, whereas TFG is specifically involved in HCV egress and ERGIC-53 is crucial for HCV entry. Overall, our study establishes that the components of the early secretory pathway are essential for HCV propagation and emphasize the importance of the ER-Golgi secretory route in this process. Surprisingly, these components are also required for the early stages of the HCV life cycle due to their role in overall intracellular trafficking and homeostasis of the cellular endomembrane system. IMPORTANCE The virus life cycle involves entry into the host, replication of the genome, assembly of infectious progeny, and their subsequent release. Different aspects of the HCV life cycle, including entry, genome replication, and assembly, are well characterized; however, our understanding of the HCV release is still not clear and subject to debate due to varied findings. Here, we attempted to address this controversy and enhance our understanding of HCV egress by evaluating the role of the different components of the early secretory pathway in the HCV life cycle. To our surprise, we found that the components of the early secretory pathway are not only essential for HCV release but also contribute to many other earlier events of the HCV life cycle. This study emphasizes the importance of the early secretory pathway for the establishment of productive HCV infection in hepatocytes., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Due to the disastrous socio-economic impacts of flood hazards and estimated rise of its occurrences in the near future, there has been an increase in the importance of flood prediction worldwide. Artificial intelligence (AI) models have contributed significantly by giving cost-effective solutions for simulating physical processes of flood events and improving accuracy in prediction over the last few decades. This paper presents a novel conjoint model to forecast river flood discharge (Q FD ) considering data from four gauging stations of River Brahmani, Odisha India. The developed hybridised metaheuristic algorithm, i.e. ANFIS-PSOSMA, improves exploration capability of Slime mould algorithm (SMA) by integrating it with particle swarm optimisation (PSO). Performance of novel hybrid model is assessed by utilising quantitative statistical measures like the coefficient of correlation (R 2 ), Nash-Sutcliffe Model Efficiency (N SE ), root mean square error (RMSE), and mean absolute error (MAE). The proposed hybrid ANFIS model using optimisation algorithm provided the best performance values with N SE of 0.9952, R 2 of 0.9946, RMSE of 0.0485, and MAE of 0.0265 during training and N SE of 0.9736, R 2 of 0.9731, RMSE of 8.4236, and MAE of 4.3197 during testing at Jenapur gauging station, indicating the prospective of utilising the developed models in forecasting flood discharge. The present study's importance lies in integrating several input parameters, and AI algorithms have been utilised for developing flood prediction model. In addition, the attained results indicated that combining the optimisation algorithms with ANFIS enhanced its performance in modelling monthly flood discharge time series., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Purpose: Invasive cerebral aspergillosis (ICA) is a rare but fatal infection affecting neutropenic immunocompromised patients. Recently cases have been reported in non-neutropenic settings also. We hereby present a series of ICA cases in non-neutropenic patients diagnosed at our tertiary care centre in Western India between March to October 2021., Methods: All patients with clinico-radiological suspicion of CNS infections were analysed. Data regarding Clinico-radiological features, diagnosis, treatment and outcome were collected. After ruling out bacterial, viral and mycobacterial causes, appropriate samples were sent for KOH (potassium hydroxide) wet mount, fungal culture, histopathology and serum/CSF galactomannan., Results: A total of four patients were diagnosed with ICA with a mean age of 43.5 years. Three patients had significant comorbidities; Diabetes mellitus, chronic liver disease and COVID-19 pneumonia treated with dexamethasone, respectively. One patient had no known predisposing factor. Radiologically, one patient presented with a frontal brain abscess and two patients had multiple subcortical hyperintensities. Three patients were diagnosed based on CSF galactomannan (Platelia™ Aspergillus antigen, Bio-Rad, France) with OD >1 and one patient had high serum galactomannan (OD >2). CSF culture grew Aspergillus species in two patients. All patients were treated with Voriconazole. One patient recovered, and the remaining three succumbed due to delayed presentation and extensive cerebral involvement., Conclusion: Even in non-neutropenic patients, a high index of suspicion is warranted for cerebral aspergillosis. CSF galactomannan can be considered a reliable marker for diagnosing ICA in non-neutropenic settings. Early diagnosis allows timely antifungal therapy, which could be a key to improving the outcomes., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest None, (Copyright © 2023 SFMM. Published by Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.)

Bacterial blight (BB) is a devastating disease of rice in the tropics of Indian sub-continent, where the presence of Xoo races with varying levels of genetic diversity and virulence renders disease management extremely challenging. In this context, marker-assisted improvement of plant resistance has been proven as one of the most promising approaches for the development of sustainable rice cultivars. The present study demonstrates the marker-assisted introgression of the three BB resistant genes ( Xa21 + xa13 + xa5 ) into the background of HUR 917, a popular aromatic short grain (ASG) rice cultivar in India. The performance of the resulting improved products (near isogenic lines (NILs), HR 23-5-37-83-5, HR 23-5-37-121-10, HR 23-5-37-121-14, HR 23-65-6-191-13, HR 23-65-6-237-2, HR 23-65-6-258-10 and HR 23-65-6-258-21) establishes the utility of marker-assisted selection (MAS) approach for accelerated trait introgression in rice. The MAS-bred lines carrying three introgressed genes showed broad spectrum BB resistance (lesion length, LL of 1.06 ± 1.35 cm to 4.61 ± 0.87 cm). Besides, these improved lines showed the complete product profile of recurrent parent HUR 917 along with the enhanced level of durable BB resistance. The improved introgression lines with durable BB resistance would contribute to sustainable rice production in India, particularly in the Indo-Gangetic plane that has substantial acreage under HUR 917.

Introduction: Omentectomy is an essential part of cytoreductive surgery (CRS). However, removal of perigastric arcade (PGA) of the omentum is a controversial aspect of omentectomy in view of the fear of injury, vascular compromise and gastroparesis. Hence, we conducted a study to evaluate the necessity and effect of removal of PGA during omentectomy., Methods: The nature of the study was a prospective observational study. The study period was for 1 year between 1.3.2019 and 29.2.2020. Patients with stage III to IV serous epithelial ovarian cancers - chemo naive/post neoadjuvant chemotherapy, without macroscopic involvement of the PGA were included in the study. Patients were divided into two groups - those who had PGA removed (group 1) and those whose PGA was preserved (group 2). Pre, intra and postoperative factors between the two groups were compared using standard statistical methods., Results: Micrometastasis to PGA was present in 36.4% of the patients in group 1. The predictors for this involvement included gross involvement and microscopic involvement of the mobile part of the omentum ( p < 0.001), pre surgery Meyer's score ( p < 0.05) and requirement of peritonectomy ( p < 0.05) during the CRS implying that higher the peritoneal carcinomatosis, more are the chances of microscopic involvement of PGA. On comparing postoperative outcomes between the two groups, we noted a statistically significant difference in intra-operative time ( p < 0.01), prolonged recovery time with increased intensive care unit and hospital stay ( p < 0.001) in group 1, although all with small absolute difference. However, there was no significant difference in major post-operative complications or time taken to tolerate soft diet., Conclusion: Micrometastasis to PGA was noted in significant number of cases. Its removal is also a safe procedure with minimal morbidity and good postoperative outcomes especially in cases with significant peritoneal carcinomatosis. Hence, it should be considered, provided we are achieving a complete cytoreduction otherwise., Competing Interests: There are no conflicts of interest or disclosures., (© the authors; licensee ecancermedicalscience.)

A crucial necessity in integrated water resource management is flood forecasting. Climate forecasts, specifically flood prediction, comprise multifaceted tasks as they are dependant on several parameters for predicting the dependant variable, which varies from time to time. Calculation of these parameters also changes with geographical location. From the time when Artificial Intelligence was first introduced to the field of hydrological modelling and prediction, it has produced enormous attention in research aspects for additional developments to hydrology. This study investigates the usability of support vector machine (SVM), back propagation neural network (BPNN), and integration of SVM with particle swarm optimization (PSO-SVM) models for flood forecasting. Performance of SVM solely depends on correct assortment of parameters. So, PSO method is employed in selecting SVM parameters. Monthly river flow discharge for a period of 1969 - 2018 of BP ghat and Fulertal gauging sites from Barak River flowing through Barak valley in Assam, India were used. For obtaining optimum results, different input combinations of Precipitation (P t ), temperature (T t ), solar radiation (Sr), humidity (H t ), evapotranspiration loss (E l ) were assessed. The model results were compared utilizing coefficient of determination (R 2 ) root mean squared error (RMSE), and Nash-Sutcliffe coefficient (N SE ). The most important results are highlighted below.•First, the inclusion of five meteorological parameters improved the forecasting accuracy of the hybrid model.•Second, model comparison specifies that hybrid PSO-SVM model executed superior performance with RMSE- 0.04962 and NSE- 0.99334 compared to BPNN and SVM models for monthly flood discharge forecasting.•Third, applied optimization algorithm has easy implementation, simple theory, and high computational efficacy. Results revealed that PSO-SVM could be utilised as an improved alternate method for flood forecasting as it provided a higher degree of reliability and accurateness., 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., (© 2023 The Author(s).)

The inheritance of the mitochondria genome and its diversity is unique for genetic and evolutionary studies relative to nuclear genomes. Northeast India and Himalayan regions are considered as one of the centres of indica rice origin. Also, rice diversity in northeast India is very distinct and highly suited for evolutionary studies. Although reports are available on the genetic diversity of indigenous northeast rice landraces, its relationship with the wild relatives is not yet properly explored and understood. In an attempt, mitochondrial markers were used to study the evolutionary relationship between the 68 landraces of northeast India and wild relatives ( O. rufipogon and O. nivara ) along with IR64 ( indica ) and Nipponbare ( japonica ) were taken as reference cultivars. Phylogenetically, the findings include two distinct clusters in the indigenous northeast India landraces representing indica and japonica groups. Further, the wild relatives and ~60% of northeast India landraces were identified to be closely related to the Nipponbare cluster. Besides, landraces of northeast India grouping with the indica group (IR64) are characterized by the absence of wild relatives. This indicates that there are two distinct evolutionary paths in the origin of northeast Indian rice landraces based on mitochondrial markers diversity and it is proposed that the inheritance of mitochondria, mitonuclear genome interactions, and bottleneck events could have genetically separated these two phylogenetically unique groups of northeast rice landraces.

Several biochemical and thermochemical routes including pyrolysis, liquefaction, combustion and gasification are used to convert biomass to several bioproducts and green fuels. The current investigation included two important biomass namely, little millet stem (LMS) and sunflower stem (SS), whose potentiality as useful feedstocks is largely unexplored. The presence of considerable level of cellulose accumulation (approx. 30 %), volatiles (approx. 67 %) and high heating value (approx. 14 MJ/kg) in both the biomass, inferred their potentiality to be used as feedstocks in the pyrolysis process. The estimate of activation energy for LMS was reported as 191.14 kJ/mol (FWO), 191.46 kJ/mol (KAS) whereas for SS, the activation energy was estimated as 166.52 kJ/mol (FWO) and 162.68 kJ/mol (KAS). The difference between change in enthalpy and activation energy was small (5 to 6 kJ/mol) for both the biomasses, indicating the feasibility of combustion process. From Z(α) analyses, the experimental curve was seen passing through different theoretical curves, indicating complex nature of pyrolysis process for both the biomass., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest 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., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Utilizing agro-industrial waste and herbal products to create a circular bioeconomy is becoming increasingly popular. Terminalia arjuna is a significant ethnomedicinal plant that has not yet been exploited in animal feed. In the present study, nutritional Terminalia arjuna bark powder-based fish feed was created and supplied to a candidate fish species Labeo rohita at varied levels: 0% (0 g/kg), 0.5% (5 g/kg), 1% (10 g/kg), and 1.5% (15 g/kg). These treatment groups are denoted as CT, T1, T2, and T3, respectively. Utilizing a contemporary comprehensive biomarker response strategy, the study clarified the genomic influence of dietary herb inclusion. In response to bacterial infection, the immunogenic genes, STAT 1 (signal transducer and activator of transcription 1), ISG 15 (interferon stimulating gene), and Mx "myxovirus resistance gene", were shown to be elevated. The results of densitometry demonstrated a dose-dependent increase in STAT 1 and ISG 15, with Mx exhibiting maximal values at 1 g/kg TABP ( Terminalia arjuna bark powder-based feed). This is the first study to identify TABP as an immunomodulator in fish and established the IBR (Integrated Bio-marker Response) as a reliable marker in evaluating the impact of multiple drivers in a holistic manner. Thus, the present study cleared the path for TABP to be utilized as an effective feed additive which enhances the specific adaptive immune system of the fish for the production of the Green fish product for a sustainable circular bioeconomy.

Introduction: The Bethesda System for Reporting Thyroid Cytopathology (TBSRTC) was introduced for unifying the terminology and morphologic criteria along with the corresponding risk of malignancy, leading to more consistent management approaches. The aim of this study was to study the utility and reproducibility of TBSRTC in reporting thyroid cytology in a referral cancer center., Methods: The fine-needle aspiration (FNA) of all thyroid nodules were included for a period of 5 years, from January 2016 to December 2021, in this cancer center. They were retrospectively reviewed and recategorized according to TBSRTC by two experienced pathologists. Cytohistopathological correlation was done for the cases which underwent surgical resection., Results: 522 fine-needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) of thyroid swellings were evaluated and categorized according to TBSRTC. There was agreement in the cytological diagnosis of 512 cases, of which 260 (50.78%) were benign lesions, 189 (36.91%) were malignant, 5 (0.97%) were unsatisfactory/nondiagnostic, 41 (8.01%) were follicular neoplasm/suspicious for neoplasm, 13 (2.53%) were suspicious for malignancy, and 4 (0.78%) cases were reported as atypia of undetermined significance. Two cytopathologists were in agreement in 512 cases (98%) of cases. Almost complete concordance was noted in the malignant (99%) and benign categories (98%). Disagreement was seen in 10 cases. Histological follow-up was available in 201 cases with an overall malignancy rate of 62.68% (126/201)., Conclusion: TBSRTC proved to be a very simple and effective reporting system for thyroid FNAC, especially in the setting of a cancer center. This enables proper triaging of cases with thyroid masses into those who require surgical intervention and those who can avoid it, thereby preventing unnecessary morbidity., Competing Interests: There are no conflicts of interest., (Copyright: © 2022 Journal of Microscopy and Ultrastructure.)

Mitochondrial fitness is governed by mitochondrial quality control pathways comprising mitochondrial dynamics and mitochondrial-selective autophagy (mitophagy). Disruption of these processes has been implicated in many human diseases, including viral infections. Here, we report a comprehensive analysis of the effect of dengue infection on host mitochondrial homeostasis and its significance in dengue disease pathogenesis. Despite severe mitochondrial stress and injury, we observed that the pathways of mitochondrial quality control and mitochondrial biogenesis are paradoxically downregulated in dengue-infected human liver cells. This leads to the disruption of mitochondrial homeostasis and the onset of cellular injury and necrotic death in the infected cells. Interestingly, dengue promotes global autophagy but selectively disrupts mitochondrial-selective autophagy (mitophagy). Dengue downregulates the expression of PINK1 and Parkin, the two major proteins involved in tagging the damaged mitochondria for elimination through mitophagy. Mitophagy flux assays also suggest that Parkin-independent pathways of mitophagy are also inactive during dengue infection. Dengue infection also disrupts mitochondrial biogenesis by downregulating the master regulators PPARγ and PGC1α. Dengue-infected cells release mitochondrial damage-associated molecular patterns (mtDAMPs) such as mitochondrial DNA into the cytosol and extracellular milieu. Furthermore, the challenge of naive immune cells with culture supernatants from dengue-infected liver cells was sufficient to trigger proinflammatory signaling. In correlation with our in vitro observations, dengue patients have high levels of cell-free mitochondrial DNA in their blood in proportion to the degree of thrombocytopenia. Overall, our study shows how defective mitochondrial homeostasis in dengue-infected liver cells can drive dengue disease pathogenesis. IMPORTANCE Many viruses target host cell mitochondria to create a microenvironment conducive to viral dissemination. Dengue virus also exploits host cell mitochondria to facilitate its viral life cycle. Dengue infection of liver cells leads to severe mitochondrial injury and inhibition of proteins that regulate mitochondrial quality control and biogenesis, thereby disrupting mitochondrial homeostasis. A defect in mitochondrial quality control leads to the accumulation of damaged mitochondria and promotes cellular injury. This leads to the release of mitochondrial damage-associated molecular patterns (mt-DAMPs) into the cell cytoplasm and extracellular milieu. These mt-DAMPs activate the naive immune cells and trigger proinflammatory signaling, leading to the release of cytokines and chemokines, which may trigger systemic inflammation and contribute to dengue disease pathogenesis. In correlation with this, we observed high levels of cell-free mitochondrial DNA in dengue patient blood. This study provides insight into how the disruption of mitochondrial quality control in dengue-infected cells can trigger inflammation and drive dengue disease pathogenesis.

Low light intensity affects several physiological parameters during the different growth stages in rice. Plants have various regulatory mechanisms to cope with stresses. One of them is the differential and temporal expression of genes, which is governed by post-transcriptional gene expression regulation through endogenous miRNAs. To decipher low light stress-responsive miRNAs in rice, miRNA expression profiling was carried out using next-generation sequencing of low-light-tolerant (Swarnaprabha) and -sensitive (IR8) rice genotypes through Illumina sequencing. Swarnaprabha and IR8 were subjected to 25% low light treatment for one day, three days, and five days at the active tillering stage. More than 43 million raw reads and 9 million clean reads were identified in Swarnaprabha, while more than 41 million raw reads and 8.5 million clean reads were identified in IR8 after NGS. Importantly, 513 new miRNAs in rice were identified, whose targets were mostly regulated by the genes involved in photosynthesis and metabolic pathways. Additionally, 114 known miRNAs were also identified. Five novel ( osa-novmiR1 , osa-novmiR2 , osa-novmiR3 , osa-novmiR4 , and osa-novmiR5 ) and three known ( osa-miR166c-3p , osa-miR2102-3p , and osa-miR530-3p ) miRNAs were selected for their expression validation through miRNA-specific q RT-PCR. The expression analyses of most of the predicted targets of corresponding miRNAs show negative regulation. Hence, miRNAs modulated the expression of genes providing tolerance/susceptibility to low light stress. This information might be useful in the improvement of crop productivity under low light stress., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Background: Phenotypically identified Candida parapsilosis is actually a complex of 3 member species named Candida parapsilosis sensu stricto (CPSS), Candida orthopsilosis (CO), and Candida metapsilosis (CM), which can be identified only by molecular methods and automated methods such as MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry (MS). This study was undertaken to evaluate the VITEK MS, which uses the principle of MALDI-TOF MS for the identification of member species of C. parapsilosis complex (CPC)., Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 126 presumptively identified and stocked isolates of CPC were included. Definite identification to species level was done by VITEK MS and PCR as the gold standard method. Clinico-demographic characters and risk factors were analyzed. Antifungal susceptibility testing was performed for fluconazole and voriconazole., Results: Twelve isolates were not identified as CPC either by VITEK MS or PCR and hence were excluded from the analysis. Out of 114 CPC isolates, 89 (78.1%), 18 (15.8%), and 7 (6.1%) isolates were identified as CPSS, CO, and CM, respectively, by VITEK MS. PCR identified 84 (79.2%), 15 (14.2%), and 7 (6.6%) isolates as CPSS, CO, and CM, respectively. However, PCR did not detect 8 isolates of CPSS detected by VITEK MS. VITEK MS showed 95.3% agreement in species identification and showed a kappa coefficient of 0.87, which is almost perfect agreement. Predominant isolations of all 3 species were from blood. Resistance was observed more in CPSS for both the azoles., Conclusion: MALDI-TOF MS can be used as a rapid, reliable, cost-effective method to identify the species of CPC., (© American Association for Clinical Chemistry 2022. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.)

Rice is critical to global food security which demands immediate attention to meet the ever-growing population. Development of improved variety is the major focus area of research, in which doubled haploid (DH) technology plays a vital role. Since, androgenesis shows its potential in DH production, this method was not capitalized specially in indica rice due to due to its recalcitrant nature to tissue culture. Success of androgenesis is governed by many important factors such as stage of anther, pre-treatment conditions, accurate concentrations of media, and plant growth regulators. Though reports of androgenesis are abundant in rice, most of them either used japonica or a specific cultivar of indica rice ecotypes. In this study, a media combination was established which is successful in producing doubled haploids from F1s of Savitri x Pokkali, IR20 x Mahulata along with the popular indica hybrids of Arize 8433DT, Arize 6453, Arize Bold, and Swift Gold. Out of 12 different media combinations tested, and 5 different durations of cold-treatments studied, N6 media with 2,4-D (2.0 mg/l) and BAP (0.5 mg/l) with 7th day cold pre-treatment was found to be most effective in all of the F1s for callus induction. Among all the F1s, rice hybrid, Arize 8433DT showed highest of 52% callus induction. In case of green shoot regeneration, MS media with NAA (0.5 mg/l), BAP (2.0 mg/l) and Kn (1.0 mg/l) (MS+C4) was found to be the most efficient of six treatments studied with highest of 58.25% regeneration in Arize 8433DT. Further, MS+C4 in combination with proline (5.0 mg/l) increased the regeneration rate to 85.99%. Besides, MS media with NAA (1.0 mg/l), Kn (0.1 mg/l) and 50 g/l sucrose was found to be most efficient for supporting root induction in all F1s. This study claims the establishment of genotype independent androgenic protocol for indica rice which could be capitalized in indica rice improvement., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

The landscape of fungal endocarditis (FE) has constantly been evolving in the last few decades. Despite the advancement in diagnostic methods and the introduction of newer antifungals, mortality remains high in FE. This systematic review aimed to evaluate the epidemiology, clinical features, diagnostic and therapeutic interventions in patients with FE. We also aim to examine the aforementioned factors as a determinant of mortality in FE. A literature search was performed in PubMed, Google Scholar and Scopus, and all patients ≥18 years with proven fungal endocarditis were included. A total of 220 articles (250 patients) were included in the final analysis. Candida was the commonest aetiology (49.6%), followed by Aspergillus (30%) and Scedosporium species (3.2%). The proportion of prosthetic valve endocarditis (PVE) and intravenous drug users was 35.2% and 16%, respectively. The overall mortality rate was 40%. On multivariate analysis, Aspergillus endocarditis (HR 3.7, 95% CI 1.4-9.7; p = .009) and immunocompromised state (HR 2.8, 95% CI 1.24-6.3; p = .013) were independently associated with mortality. Patients treated with surgery along antifungals had better survival (HR 0.20, 95% CI 0.09-0.42; p < .001) compared to those treated with antifungals alone. Recurrence of FE was reported in 10.4% of patients. In conclusion, FE carries significant mortality, particularly in immunodeficient and Aspergillus endocarditis. We advocate the use of surgery combined with antifungals to improve clinical outcomes., (© 2021 Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

Background: The potential of paddy breeding has reached its pinnacle, and hybrids have been the principal research outcome. Hence, our hypothesis was based on improvising the callus induction efficiency of recalcitrant Oryza sativa sub. indica hybrids by intervening into their cellular functions like cell division and histone regulation for the production of doubled haploids, a better output compared to hybrids., Methodology and Results: Insight into the mechanism of cell division is the foremost concern in altering the same and hence studies on evolution, expression and action of histone deacetylase and its 12 genes (9 HDA and 3 HD-tunin genes) were chosen in the hypothesis. Expression of HDA genes at three stages (anther dehiscence, 1st callusing and second callusing stages) with inhibitor (trichostatin-A) interventions indicated 1st callusing stage as the most important in influencing callus induction and also the genes HDA19, 6, 15 and 5 were the most important. TSA alone had a significant impact on the regulation of the genes HDT 702, HDA19, HDA9, and HDA6. Higher expression of HDA19 and HDA6 was involved in maximizing callus induction; HDA15 had an antagonistic expression compared to HDA19/6 and might be involved in chlorophyll regulation during regeneration. Results of evolutionary analysis on histone deacetylases indicated a long and single lineage of origin denoting its importance in the basic cellular functions. The tubulin deacetylation gene HDA5, which was exclusively found in dicotyledons, had a recent evolutionary history only from terrestrial plants, and also had significant conservation in its motifs and NLS region., Conclusion: By combating the recalcitrant nature of Indica cultivars, molecular editing on a combination of HDA genes will enhance the callus induction and regeneration efficiency of the next generation of doubled haploids, therby improving the total yield., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature B.V.)

Spinal cord injury (SCI) causes significant mortality and morbidity. Currently, no FDA-approved pharmacotherapy is available for treating SCI. Previously, low doses of estrogen (17β-estradiol, E2) were shown to improve the post-injury outcome in a rat SCI model. However, the range of associated side effects makes advocating its therapeutic use difficult. Therefore, this study aimed at investigating the therapeutic efficacy of Premarin (PRM) in SCI. PRM is an FDA-approved E2 (10%) formulation, which is used for hormone replacement therapy with minimal risk of serious side effects. The effects of PRM on SCI were examined by magnetic resonance imaging, immunofluorescent staining, and western blot analysis in a rat model. SCI animals treated with vehicle alone, PRM, E2 receptor antagonist (ICI), or PRM + ICI were graded in a blinded way for locomotor function by using the Basso-Beattie-Bresnahan (BBB) locomotor scale. PRM treatment for 7 days decreased post-SCI lesion volume and attenuated neuronal cell death, inflammation, and axonal damage. PRM also altered the balance of pro- and anti-apoptotic proteins in favor of cell survival and improved angiogenesis and microvascular growth. Increased expression of estrogen receptors (ERs) ERα and ERβ following PRM treatment and their inhibition by ER inhibitor indicated that the neuroprotection associated with PRM treatment might be E2-receptor mediated. The attenuation of glial activation with decreased inflammation and cell death, and increased angiogenesis by PRM led to improved functional outcome as determined by the BBB locomotor scale. These results suggest that PRM treatment has significant therapeutic implications for the improvement of post-SCI outcome.

Stable carbon (δ 13 C) and nitrogen (δ 15 N) isotopes of organic matter (OM) in bed sediments and suspended solids are thoroughly investigated in the Pulicat lagoon, India, in pre-South West (SW) monsoon (June 2018) and post-North East (NE) monsoon (March 2019) to understand the response of OM in salt stress conditions. A near absence of an external supply of water and intense evaporation, as suggested by higher hydrogen and oxygen isotope values (δD and δ 18 O) of the lagoon water, led to hypersaline conditions in the lagoon. Despite a long period of osmotic stress, a high OM concentration in suspended solids in post-NE monsoon suggests that autochthonous production is unaffected by salt stress conditions. Locally at different sites, the difference in δ 13 C (-4.9‰ to +1.4‰) and δ 15 N (-4.1‰ to +1.6‰) values of OM between suspended solids and bed sediments are higher in pre-SW monsoon compared to post-NE monsoon. The negative isotopic difference is caused by benthic respiration of OM and cation exchange with clay bound ammonium in bed sediments, whereas the positive difference is the result of cellulose decomposition in areas dominated by seagrasses. However, in post-NE monsoon, wind-induced re-suspension of bed sediments reduce the differences in δ 13 C (-2.3‰ to -0.1‰) and δ 15 N (-2.1‰ to +3‰) values. The source apportionments of δ 15 N values suggest inputs from sewage and fertilizers. Additionally, seagrass-detritus dislodged by fishing activities favors primary production. Overall, we suggest that the impact of the hypersaline conditions on in-situ productivity can be suppressed if wind activity and nutrient re-cycling are dominant. The present study is unique as it addresses the processes that operate in a hypersaline lagoon during the short-term failure of monsoon., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest 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., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Background: The higher mortality rate in COVID-19 patients is still a concern. Though some studies mention that elderly patients with co-morbidities are at higher risk of mortality, some others report uneventful outcomes in young patients even without co-morbidities. Secondary bacterial and fungal infections, especially with nosocomial pathogens are known to be associated with worse outcome in the ongoing pandemic as well as in the previous viral outbreaks. In such a scenario, the outcome of hospitalized COVID-19 patients can be improved by timely identification of secondary infections using appropriate biomarkers and by following appropriate infection control measures to prevent the spread of nosocomial pathogens., Objective: The study aims to find out the prevalence of bloodstream infections (BSI) among hospitalized COVID-19 patients and to analyze their laboratory markers and outcome by comparing them with those without BSI., Methods: In this descriptive cross-sectional study, the prevalence of secondary BSI was determined among the hospitalized COVID-19 patients by including 388 blood culture bottles collected from 293 patients, which were received in the microbiology lab within the study period., Results: The overall prevalence of BSI in COVID-19 patients was 39.5% (116/293), out of which 35.5% (104/293) infections were bacterial, and 4.1% (12/293) were fungal, while 8.9% (26/293) patients grew contaminants, and 51.5% (151/293) were sterile. Common causative agents of secondary BSI were found to be MDR Klebsiella pneumoniae (10.9%) and Acinetobacter baumannii (8.8%) followed by Candida species (4.1%). Patients with co-morbidities like diabetes, hypertension and COPD were at higher risk of developing BSI with significantly higher levels of sepsis markers such as Creactive protein (CRP), procalcitonin, ferritin and Interleukin-6 (IL-6). The mortality rate was significantly higher (60.2%) in patients with BSI compared to the group of patients without BSI., Conclusion: Our findings suggest the necessity of early diagnosis of the secondary infections using appropriate biomarkers and following proper infection control measures to prevent the spread of the nosocomial infections and improve the outcome of hospitalized COVID-19 patients., (Copyright© Bentham Science Publishers; For any queries, please email at epub@benthamscience.net.)

Background and Purpose: Rapid surge of invasive mucormycosis has surprised the Indian healthcare system amidst the coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) pandemic. Hence, there is an urgent need to find the risk factors for the sudden rise in cases of invasive mucormycosis among COVID-19 patients. This study aimed to find crucial risk factors for the sudden surge of invasive mucormycosis in India., Materials and Methods: This case-control study included 77 cases of COVID-19 associated mucormycosis (CAM) who matched the controls (45 controls) in terms of age , gender, and COVID-19 disease severity. The control group included subjects that matched controls without mucormycosis confirmed by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction at our tertiary care center during April-May 2021. Probable predisposing factors, such as duration of diabetes mellitus (DM), history of recent hospitalization, duration of hospital stay, mode of the received oxygen supplementation, and use of steroids, zinc, vitamin c, and any other specific drugs were collected and compared between the two groups. Moreover, the laboratory parameters, like glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c), highly sensitive C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), and erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) were analyzed to find out the significant association with CAM., Results: DM (Odds ratio=7.7, 95% CI 3.30-18.12; P =<0.0001) and high glycated hemoglobin level (HbA1c>7.5 gm %) (odds ratio=6.2, 95% CI 1.4-26.7; P =0.014) were significant risk factors for the development of invasive mucormycosis among the COVID-19 cases. A higher number of mild COVID-19 cases developed CAM, compared to the moderate to severe cases (59.7% vs 40.3%). Use of systemic corticosteroids (odd ratio=5 with 95% CI 1.5-16.9; P =0.007) was found to be a risk factor for invasive mucormycosis only in mild COVID-19 cases. Use of oxygen, zinc, and vitamin C supplementation, and proprietary medicine did not lead to a significant risk of invasive mucormycosis in cases, compared to controls. Cases with invasive mucormycosis had a higher level of inflammatory markers (hs-CRP and ESR, P =<0.001 and 0.002, respectively), compared to the controls., Conclusion: Uncontrolled and new-onset DM and the use of systemic corticosteroids in mild cases were significantly associated with a higher risk of invasive mucormycosis in COVID-19 cases. There should be a strong recommendation against the use of systemic corticosteroids in mild COVID-19 cases., (Copyright: © Current Medical Mycology.)

Introduction: Gallbladder cancer (GBC) is the most common malignancy, representing 80-95% of biliary tract cancers. Although ultrasonography-guided fine-needle aspiration cytology (USG-FNAC) has emerged as an effective diagnostic the tool for the precise diagnosis of gallbladder lesions, data on its diagnostic utility and cytomorphological categorization of gallbladder lesions are lacking., Aims: To study the diagnostic utility of USG-FNAC in gallbladder lesions., Materials and Methods: This study was the conducted prospectively on patients who came with clinical and radiological evidence of gallbladder space-occupying lesion and then advised to USG-FNAC over 2 years and 6 months from January 2018 to June 2020., Results: A total of 314 cases were included. The mean age was 56 years, with a range of 17-88 years. Women predominated over men (Male:Female = 1:2.3). Primary adenocarcinoma of the gallbladder was most common. On cyto-histological correlation, the sensitivity, specificity, and diagnostic accuracy of USG-FNAC of gallbladder lesions were found to be 98.82, 87.23, and 96.3%, respectively., Conclusion: The USG-FNAC of gallbladder lesion was found to be an easy, quick, cost-effective, and presumptive diagnostic procedure. It should be opted as an initial preoperative diagnostic modality in high incidence areas to avoid inappropriate management with unnecessary morbidity and cost. Moreover, a close cytological examination of the architectural pattern and the cytomorphological features would help in the sub-typing and prognosticating the tumor., Competing Interests: There are no conflicts of interest., (Copyright: © 2021 Journal of Cytology.)

In its commitment towards Sustainable Development Goals, India envisages comprehensive primary health services as a key pillar in achieving universal health coverage. Embedded in siloed vertical programmes, their lack of interoperability and standardisation limits sustainability and hence their benefits have not been realised yet. We propose an enterprise architecture framework that overcomes these challenges and outline a robust futuristic digital health infrastructure for delivery of efficient and effective comprehensive primary healthcare. Core principles of an enterprise platform architecture covering four platform levers to facilitate seamless service delivery, monitor programmatic performance and facilitate research in the context of primary healthcare are listed. A federated architecture supports the custom needs of states and health programmes through standardisation and decentralisation techniques. Interoperability design principles enable integration between disparate information technology systems to ensure continuum of care across referral pathways. A responsive data architecture meets high volume and quality requirements of data accessibility in compliance with regulatory requirements. Security and privacy by design underscore the importance of building trust through role-based access, strong user authentication mechanisms, robust data management practices and consent. The proposed framework will empower programme managers with a ready reference toolkit for designing, implementing and evaluating primary care platforms for large-scale deployment. In the context of health and wellness centres, building a responsive, resilient and reliable enterprise architecture would be a fundamental path towards strengthening health systems leveraging digital health interventions. An enterprise architecture for primary care is the foundational building block for an efficient national digital health ecosystem. As citizens take ownership of their health, futuristic digital infrastructure at the primary care level will determine the health-seeking behaviour and utilisation trajectory of the nation., Competing Interests: Competing interests: None declared., (© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2021. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.)

Climate change could impact nutrient bioavailability in aquatic environment. To understand the interaction of nutrient bioavailability and elevated CO 2 , Chlorella vulgaris cells were grown in ambient air or 5% CO 2 in different concentrations of nitrogen and phosphorus in a photobioreactor. The chlorophyll content, photosynthesis and respiration rates increased in 5% CO 2 to support higher biomass production. The nutrient limitation in the growth media resulted in reduced photosynthetic rates of the algal cells and their PSI, PSII, and whole chain electron transport rates and biomass production. Conversely, their lipid content increased partly due to upregulation of expression of several lipid biosynthesis genes. The order of downregulation of photosynthesis and upregulation in lipid production due to nutrient limitation was in the order of N > P. The N-50 and 5% CO 2 culture had only 10% reduction in biomass and 32% increase in lipids having 85% saturated fat required for efficient biofuel production. This growth condition is ideal for generation of biodiesel required to reduce the consumption of fossil fuel and combat global warming.

In this study, influence of feeding habits of fish on the activity of collagenolytic proteases (CP) has been investigated. CP from the visceral waste of freshwater fish (Pangas, Rohu and Common carp) of different feeding habits was isolated and partially purified by 2-steps, (NH 4 ) 2 SO 4 fractionation and dialysis. Enzymatic activity and purification fold was determined in each step. The molecular mass of the enzymes were close to that of serine collagenases. Enzyme was assayed for temperature and pH optima, effect of sodium chloride and inhibitors. Optimum temperature and pH was 40 °C and 7-8 respectively. Soybean trypsin inhibitor inhibited the enzyme activity, whereas, EDTA exerted no effect, led to confirmation of serine collagenases. CP of carnivore was more active over a wide range of temperature and pH compared to herbivore and omnivore. The study revealed that the feeding habit of fish play decides the optimal physiological conditions for maximum activity of CP., (© Association of Food Scientists & Technologists (India) 2020.)

Plants being sessile have evolved numerous mechanisms to meet the changing environmental and growth conditions. Plant pathogens are responsible for devastating disease epidemics in many species. Transporter proteins are an integral part of plant growth and development, and several studies have documented their role in pathogen disease resistance. In this review, we analyze the studies on genome-wide identifications of plant transporters like sugars will eventually be exported transporters (SWEET), multidrug and toxic compound extrusion (MATE) transporters, ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters, natural resistance-associated macrophage proteins (NRAMP), and sugar transport proteins (STPs), all having a significant role in plant disease resistance. The mechanism of action of these transporters, their solute specificity, and the potential application of recent molecular biology approaches deploying these transporters for the development of disease-resistant plants are also discussed. The applications of genome editing tools, such as CRIPSR/Cas9, are also presented. Altogether the information included in this article gives a better understanding of the role of transporter proteins during plant-pathogen interaction., (© 2021 Scandinavian Plant Physiology Society.)

Purpose: To evaluate the choroidal vascularity index of eyes for acute and chronic central serous chorioretinopathy patients using swept-source optical coherence tomography generated en-face scans., Methods: This was a retrospective study, in which slabs of en-face optical coherence tomography scans, at 5 μm intervals, spanning from the retina to choroid, were binarized using a validated algorithm to calculate choroidal vascularity index. The choroidal vascularity index was defined as the ratio between the choroidal vascular luminal area and the total choroidal area. Choroidal vascularity index was calculated for all the slabs of every subject in both the groups., Results: A total of 30 eyes for each acute and chronic central serous chorioretinopathy groups were recruited. The mean choroidal vascularity index of the acute group was 45.21% ± 2.25% at the choriocapillaris, which increased to the maximal value of 48.35% ± 2.06% at 75% depth of the choroidal thickness and 45.31% ± 3.27% at the choroidoscleral interface; whereas for the chronic group, the mean choroidal vascularity index was 44.76% ± 2.60% at the choriocapillaris, which maximized at 50% choroidal depth (48.70% ± 1.32%) and then returned to 45.41% ± 6.02% at the choroidoscleral interface., Conclusion: For both groups, the choroidal vascularity index increased from choriocapillaris to maximum values at mid-choroid and returned to almost the choriocapillaris value at the choroidoscleral interface.

An immense increase in human population along with diminished lands necessitates the increase of rice production since, it serves the human population as a staple food. Though rice hybrids (RH) are showing considerable yield enhancement over inbreds in terms of both quality and quantity, farmers' adoption of hybrid rice technology has been much slower than expected because of several constraints such as seed cost and quality. Doubled haploid (DH) technology was considered useful for the development of inbred lines from rice hybrids in a single generation. Androgenesis shows its significance in development of DHs in rice which requires an efficient method to establish the production of large population. To start the anther culture, anthers are the main component of androgenesis to be isolated from unopened spikes. However, the duration of spikes availability for anther culture coupled with the segregation of rice hybrids in the next generation requires the main crop be ratooned to reduce the cost of cultivation. Therefore, the efficiency of the androgenic method was tested in main crop using a quality indica rice hybrid, 27P63 and its ratooned ones. The effects of various factors such as cold temperature pre-treatment of boots, treatment duration, and different combination of plant growth regulators (PGR) on callus response along with shoot regeneration were tested for development of DHs from both ratooned and non-ratooned plants. The N6 medium supplemented with 2.0 mg/L 2,4-D (2,4-dichlrophenoxy acetic acid), 0.5 mg/L BAP (6-benzylamino purine), and 30 g/L maltose was found to be most effective for callusing as compared to MS (Murashige and Skoog) medium. The N6 media inducted calli showed maximum response rate for green shoot regeneration in MS media supplemented with 0.5 mg/L NAA (1-napthaleneacetic acid), 0.5 mg/L Kn (Kinetin; 6-furfurylaminopurine), 1.5 mg/L BAP and 30 g/L sucrose after 2 weeks of culture. The pre-treatment of spikes at 10 °C for 2 d followed by a 7th and 8th d were found to be most effective for callusing as well as for regeneration, producing a total of 343 green plants from ratooned and main rice hybrid, 27P63. Morpho-agronomic trait-based assessment of ploidy status revealed 94.46% diploids, 3.49% polyploids, 0.58% mixploids, and 1.45% haploids. Microsatellite markers could authenticate all 324 fertile diploids as true DHs. Though this study shows a reduction in generation of DHs from ratooned plants as compared to the main crop, manipulation of chemical factors could optimize the method to enhance the production of considerable number of DHs. Utilization of ratooned of hybrid rice in androgenesis would save time and cost of cultivation.