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Background: Diabetes is a chronic medical condition with severe complications, mainly caused by unhealthy lifestyles in genetically susceptible individuals. There has been a growing interest in the role of mobile health technologies in achieving better self-efficacy in managing diabetes. This study attempts to assess the impact of a web-based model on improving the diabetes status among Type 2 diabetic patients attending a tertiary care hospital in southern India. Methods: A longitudinal study was conducted among patients with type 2 diabetes attending the outpatient department of a tertiary care hospital in Mysuru, southern India, for 6 months. Diabetes Care (https://www.diabetes-care.co.in/), which is an online website that can be used as a risk prediction tool for uncontrolled diabetes and recommends lifestyle changes, was used by 456 diabetes patients for 6 months. We assessed the change in glycosylated haemoglobin levels at the beginning and after 6 months of using the software. Results: The mean HbA1c value at the start of the study was 8.039% ± 1.981. The HbA1c value assessed after 6 months post-intervention showed an improvement of 7.794% ± 1.853 with a mean difference of 0.245. A paired T-test showed a statistically significant association with a P value of 0.049. Conclusions: Evidence from this study suggests that intervention using a web-based model focusing on risk prediction and educational intervention showed an improvement in the diabetic status of the patients with T2DM.

Soilless agriculture is one of the advanced techniques to cultivate plants without soil, with minimal water and nutrients, and helps in vertical growth of agricultural technology. It is an eco-friendly approach widely used for commercial cultivation of quality vegetables. An experiment was conducted at University of Agricultural Sciences, GKVK, Bengaluru, Karnataka during 2017–19 to evaluate the potentiality and suitability of the hydroponics (M2) and aeroponics (M3) methods over conventional method (M1) for hybrid seed production of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.). The experiment had 12 treatments comprising 3 methods of production, 2 parental lines (TAG 1F and TAG 2F) and 2 seed treatments (S1: Control and S2: thiram @2g/kg + chlorpyrifos @3g/kg). Hoagland nutrient solution with pH 5.5–6.5 was used for soilless systems. The results revealed that, among the parental lines, TAG 1F performed better under all the methods of hybrid seed production. Seed treatment increased the per cent survival rate to the tune of 3.26%. Aeroponics and hydroponics performed better than conventional method. Aeroponics showed significantly higher plant height (140.94 cm), fruit weight (124.54 g), total biomass (106.44 g) and test weight (0.39 g) while, hydroponics showed significantly higher number of fruit/plant (45.84) and SVI (2821). It is inferred that soilless agriculture could be a promising tool for quality and year-round healthy hybrid tomato seed production under protected cultivation.

Background: Diabetes is a chronic medical condition with severe complications, mainly caused by unhealthy lifestyles in genetically susceptible individuals. There has been a growing interest in the role of mobile health technologies in achieving better self-efficacy in managing diabetes. This study attempts to assess the impact of a web-based model on improving the diabetes status among Type 2 diabetic patients attending a tertiary care hospital in southern India. Methods: A longitudinal study was conducted among patients with type 2 diabetes attending the outpatient department of a tertiary care hospital in Mysuru, southern India, for 6 months. Diabetes Care (https://www.diabetescare. co.in/), which is an online website that can be used as a risk prediction tool for uncontrolled diabetes and recommends lifestyle changes, was used by 456 diabetes patients for 6 months. We assessed the change in glycosylated haemoglobin levels at the beginning and after 6 months of using the software. Results: The mean HbA1c value at the start of the study was 8.039% ± 1.981. The HbA1c value assessed after 6 months post-intervention showed an improvement of 7.794% ± 1.853 with a mean difference of 0.245. A paired T-test showed a statistically significant association with a P value of 0.049. Conclusions: Evidence from this study suggests that intervention using a webbased model focusing on risk prediction and educational intervention showed an improvement in the diabetic status of the patients with T2DM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The computerized examination of brain tumors is critical in the early and correct diagnosis of neurological illnesses. This study proposes a new approach that combines image processing techniques and machine learning algorithms for the automatic detection and categorization of brain tumors in medical pictures. The proposed system uses advanced image processing algorithms to enhance and preprocess magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans of the brain. Preprocessing processes include noise reduction, contrast enhancement, and segmentation to extract the regions of interest. Following that, a feature extraction procedure is used to extract significant features from the preprocessed pictures, collecting key properties indicative of tumor existence and type. During the machine learning phase, a robust classification model is trained on a broad collection of annotated brain images. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drastic variation in the thermodynamic properties of supercritical fluids near the pseudo critical point hinders the use of commercial computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software. However, with the increase in computational abilities, along with the use of Artificial Neural Networks (ANN), turbulence heat transfer characteristics of supercritical fluids can be very accurately predicted. In the present work, heat transfer characteristics for a vertically downward flow of carbon dioxide in a pipe are studied for a wide range of heat flux and mass flux values. Firstly, six different turbulent models available in the commercial CFD software - Ansys Fluent are validated against the experimental results. The k-? Standard model with enhanced wall treatment is found to be the best-suited turbulence model. When experimental results were validated in CFD, an average error of 1% in the bulk fluid temperature and 2% in the wall temperature were recorded. Further, K-? Standard Turbulence Model is used in CFD for parametric analysis to generate the data for ANN studies. Mass flux range of 238 to 1038 kg/m2s, and heat flux range of 26 kW/m2 to 250 kW/m2 are used to generate 81,432 data samples. These samples were fed into the ANN program to develop an equation that can predict the heat transfer coefficient. It was found that ANN can predict the heat transfer coefficient for the considered range of values within the absolute average relative deviation of 2.183 %. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although acid-base titrations can be done using numerous indicators which are either synthetic or semi-synthetic, the investigation was started for natural compounds as the former ones result in polluting the habitat despite their limited availability, complicated method of preparation, and expensiveness. Equivalence point determination is the point of interest in neutralization titrations. With the change in pH, the indicators which are natural, usually end up giving a sharp color change. Plant-derived pigments that are of various shades and tints generally vary in their dyeing nature by altering pH. An indicator is a substance that exhibits the property of interchangeable color of the reaction mixture when reaching the vicinity of point with the change in pH. Acid-base titration indicators are normally weak acids or bases. Hibiscus rosa-sinensis, Ipomoea biloba, Dahlia pinnata, etc. are among the typical neutralization indicators that are extracted from plants. These natural Indicators are easily available and economical. In this review, we are discussing an overview of plant extracts, and natural pH indicators, and their significance in correspondence to analytical chemistry is illustrated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract A nanocomposite of CaO:MgAl2O4 was synthesized through a straightforward and cost-effective sol–gel method. The investigation of the novel CaO:MgAl2O4 nanocomposite encompassed an examination of its morphological and structural alterations, as well as an exploration of its photocatalytic activities and electrochemical characteristics. XRD analysis revealed a nanocomposite size of 24.15 nm. The band gap, determined through UV studies, was found to be 3.83 eV, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) illustrated flake-like morphological changes in the CaO:MgAl2O4 samples. TEM, HRTEM, and SAED studies of a CaO:MgAl2O4 nanocomposite would reveal important details about its morphology, crystallography, and nanostructure. Photocatalytic activity was quantified by studying the degradation of Acid Red-88 (AR-88) dye in a deionized solution, achieving a 70% dye degradation under UV irradiation in 120 min. Plant growth examinations were carried out using dye degraded water to test its suitability for agriculture. The electrochemical energy storage and sensing applications of the prepared nanocomposite were examined using CaO:MgAl2O4 modified carbon paste electrode through cyclic voltammetry (CV) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). In conclusion, the synthesized CaO:MgAl2O4 nanocomposite demonstrated promising morphological and structural characteristics, efficient photocatalytic activity, and potential applications in electrochemical energy storage, highlighting its versatility for various technological and environmental applications. Graphical abstract

The transition from radicle emergence to seedling growth in maize is a crucial phase in the plant's life cycle, where rapid physiological and biochemical changes occur to facilitate successful development. In this study, we conducted a comparative transcriptomic analysis to gain a deeper understanding of the molecular processes driving this critical transition. The early divergence in gene expression patterns highlighted the upregulation of a substantial number of genes during radicle emergence. During radicle emergence, gene ontology (GO) term enrichment analysis unveiled active participation in biological processes such as chromatin assembly, cellular response to abiotic stress, and hormone signaling. This indicates that the initial stages of growth are marked by cellular expansion and adaptation to environmental stimuli. Conversely, in the seedling growth stage, GO analysis demonstrated a shift toward processes such as photosynthesis, nitrogen metabolism, and secondary metabolite biosynthesis, reflecting a transition to energy production and enhanced growth. In contrast, seedling growth was characterized by pathways related to photosynthesis and the production of gibberellins, crucial for robust seedling development. Hormonal regulation and starch metabolism were also prominent during radicle emergence, with various hormones, including auxins, diterpenoids, and brassinosteroids, driving processes like cell enlargement and stem growth. Moreover, starch and sucrose metabolism genes were expressed to mobilize stored reserves for energy during this stage. These findings offer valuable insights into the dynamic regulation of genes and pathways during this critical phase of maize development., 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., (© 2024 Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

An easy and efficient large-scale synthesis of 1, 2,-di-O-acetyl-5-O-benzoyl-3-O-methyl-d-ribofuranose (8) was accomplished from commercial 1,2:5,6-di-O-isopropylidene-α-d-allofuranose in 7-steps and 30 % overall yield. The utility of protected 8 was demonstrated via synthesis of 9-(3'-O-methyl-β-d-ribofuranosyl)-6-chloropurine (21) and six other nucleoside analogues in good yields. A library of five novel base modified nucleosides were generated starting from purine nucleoside 21 via functional group manipulations. The 3'-O-modified nucleosides are known to act as chain terminator exerting antiviral activity. The synthesis strategy described herein offers direct access to 3'-O-alkylated nucleosides with wide range of applications, including cap analogues for mRNA vaccine production. This protocol provides a route to exclusive synthesis of 3'-O-alkylated nucleosides, devoid of isomeric 2'-O-alkylated products essential for both therapeutic and biological research., 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 Ltd. All rights reserved.)