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The metallic nanomaterials synthesized using green nanotechnology have recently gained attention for their low-cost, simple preparation methods, and environmental sustainability. In this study, biogenic copper oxide nanosheets (CuO NS) were synthesized using the seed extract of Celastrus paniculatus, and characterized by various advanced instrumentation techniques including FTIR, XRD, FESEM, and TEM analysis. Docking simulation studies demonstrated that the interaction between CuO NS and the Staphylococcus aureus receptor (2I80) was strong, with docking scores ranging from −4.0 to −5.1 and a free binding energy of −24.48 ± 0.63 kcal/mol. The antibacterial activity of CuO NS against Staphylococcus aureus and Enterobacter aerogenes was analyzed by well diffusion method. In addition to that, antibiofilm, ROS generation, growth kinetics, and anticancer efficacy of CuO NS was also evaluated. The anticancer results indicated that CuO NS effectively reduced the cell viability of both cancer cell lines (MCF 7 & MDA MB 231). The findings from the antibacterial and anticancer studies suggest that the biologically synthesized CuO NS could serve as a promising alternative for bacterial diseases and cancer treatments.

Introduction: Globally, COVID-19 pandemic has a significant impact on mental health. In Nepal, COVID-19 positive cases have to self-isolate at home in multi-generational and multi-family households. This could be strongly associated with depression, anxiety, and stress-related health outcomes. Additionally, COVID-19 related stigma and fear of transmission may intensify depression, anxiety, and stress symptoms. This study determined the prevalence of depression, anxiety, and stress symptoms and their association with presence of COVID-19 symptoms and comorbid conditions among home isolated COVID-19 positives in the Karnali province, Nepal. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study to assess depression, anxiety, and stress symptoms among 402 home isolated COVID-19 patients of Karnali province from January to May 2021 using “Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale-21 (DASS-21)”. We interviewed patients to collect socio-demographic, DASS-21, COVID-19 symptoms, comorbid conditions, and self-treatment. We conducted a telephonic interview using a standardized questionnaire using Kobotoolbox. We calculated the prevalence of depression, anxiety, and stress symptoms. We utilized univariate and multivariate logistic regression to determine their association with the presence of COVID-19 symptoms and comorbid conditions. In multivariate logistic regression, we adjusted sociodemographic factors (age, gender, ethnicity, marital status, monthly family income, education level), smoking status and history of self-treatment. We reported adjusted odds ratios (aOR) with 95% confidence intervals. All analyses were conducted in R (version: 4.0.3). Results: The prevalence of depression, anxiety and stress symptoms among home isolated COVID-19 patients were 8.0% (95% CI: 5.5 to 11.1), 11.2% (95% CI: 8.3 to 14.7), and 4.0% (95% CI: 2.3 to 6.4) respectively. Higher odds of depression symptoms (aOR: 2.86; 95% CI: 1.10–7.44, p = 0.03), anxiety symptoms (aOR: 3.81; 95% CI: 1.62 to 8.93; p =

During the whole lifespan from seedling to the mature stage, the plant produces a range of complex compounds usually known as Secondary Metabolites (SMs) for their cellular and physiological process. The quality and quantity of SMs in plants are influenced by various factors, including environmental conditions and abiotic/biotic stress. These metabolites play a crucial role in helping the plant to adapt and survive in harsh environments. Moreover, SMs are the exclusive source of various bioactive compounds and are applied in a variety of commercially valuable products, including those in pharmacy, cosmetics, agriculture, and food/feed production and also offer huge opportunities for the development of new drugs against several diseases. As SMs have a broad range of applications, it is becoming increasingly important to explore and develop new strategies to increase their production in plants. The biosynthesis of these compounds occurs by various metabolic pathways. The regulation and plant content of SMs is significantly influenced by several elicitors. Enhanced production of SMs, a process known as elicitation, is an important area of research that has the potential to benefit the pharmaceutical and therapeutic industries. Elicitation can be achieved through a variety of abiotic and biotic elicitors. Furthermore, nowadays, Nanotechnology has emerged as a promising tool for enhancing the production of SMs in plants. Nanomaterials/Nanoparticles have great potential as abiotic elicitors for the synthesis of plant SMs. By using these methods to increase the yield of SMs in plants, researchers may be able to develop a new and more effective range of bioactive compounds. This review focused on plant SMs, abiotic elicitors (light, temperature, drought, salinity, ozone), biotic elicitors (bacteria, fungi, phytohormones, polysaccharides, and plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria), and also highlights nanoparticles as potential elicitors for enhancing the production of various SMs, as well as challenges and opportunities associated with the use of exogenous elicitors as a tool to enhance the production of SMs.

The Urban Development Plans (UDPs) prepared in Bhutan usually lack priority investment plans and Cost Benefit Analysis (CBA) of the proposed investments. While analyzing economic returns and conducting CBA form an integral part of other projects in Bhutan, especially donor funded projects, such analyses have never been never been prioritized in the preparation of the UDPs . Only those UDPs that are outsourced to experts have to be accompanied by phase wise investment plans and the CBA of the proposed interventions.This is simply because of the lack of an Urban Economist and Investment Planner in the human settlement planning sector. Subsequently, there was no awareness or any priority given to such requirements either during the planning phase or after implementation. The Spatial Planning Standards (SPS) 2017 is the only guiding document that specifies the minimum requirements for public facilities and amenities depending on the population. All plans prepared from 2017 onwards have been based on the SPS while plans prepared prior to 2017 were based on other national and international standards.The proposed investment pattern varies depending on how the UDPs are formulated. Sometimes, despite the area and the population density of an area, it has been observed that investment in smaller areas is higher than in some of the bigger towns. Therefore, this study aims to highlight such inconsistencies through the case studies of six UDPs by considering several analyses. Finally, the study provides recommendations on how to achieve uniformity while carrying out population projections, and demand calculation for public facilities and amenities to come up with a consistent, fairly accurate, and an implementable investment plan.

A-kinase anchoring protein (AKAP) comprises a family of scaffold proteins, which decides the subcellular localisation of a combination of signalling molecules. Spoonbill (Spoon) is a putative A-kinase anchoring protein in Drosophila. We have earlier reported that Spoon suppresses ribonuclear foci formed by trinucleotide repeat expanded transcripts associated with Spinocerebellar Ataxia 8 neurodegeneration in Drosophila. However, the role of Spoonbill in cellular signalling was unexplored. In this report, we have unravelled a novel function of Spoon protein in the regulation of the apoptotic pathway. The Drosophila TNFα homolog, Eiger, induces apoptosis via activation of the JNK pathway. We have shown here that Spoonbill is a positive regulator of the Eiger-induced JNK signalling. Further genetic interaction studies show that the spoon interacts with components of the JNK pathway, TGF-β activated kinase 1 (Tak1 - JNKKK), hemipterous (hep - JNKK) and basket (bsk - JNK). Interestingly, Spoonbill alone can also induce ectopic activation of the JNK pathway in a context-specific manner. To understand the molecular mechanism underlying Spoonbill-mediated modulation of the JNK pathway, the interaction between Spoon and Drosophila JNK was assessed. basket encodes the only known JNK in Drosophila. This serine/threonine-protein kinase phosphorylates Jra/Kay, which transcriptionally regulate downstream targets like Matrix metalloproteinase 1 (Mmp1), puckered (puc), and proapoptotic genes hid, reaper and grim. Interestingly, we found that Spoonbill colocalises and co-immunoprecipitates with the Basket protein in the developing photoreceptor neurons. Hence, we propose that Spoon plays a vital role in JNK-induced apoptosis. Furthermore, stress-induced JNK activation underlying Parkinson's Disease was also examined. In the Parkinson’s Drosophila model of neurodegeneration, depletion of Spoonbill leads to a partial reduction of JNK pathway activation, along with improvement in adult motor activity. These observations suggest that the putative scaffold protein Spoonbill is a functional and physical interacting partner of the Drosophila JNK protein, Basket. Spoon protein is localised on the outer mitochondrial membrane (OMM), which may perhaps provide a suitable subcellular niche for activation of Drosophila Basket protein by its kinases which induce apoptosis.

Urbanization is gaining pace worldwide and is the most elemental cause of global land transformation. This necessitates land use land cover change to be analyzed on various spatial and temporal scales to understand its potential impacts on the environment. This work focuses on the urbanization in the area of Gandhinagar district, Gujarat, India which encloses Gandhinagar, the capital city of Gujarat. Though a capital, the city has seen limited growth and development since its formation in 1961. Land use change was analyzed from 1995 to 2016 and land change modeling was attempted to generate future prediction scenarios in 2025 using the IDRISI TERRSET Land change modeler. The change analysis revealed vast growth in rural and urban built-up, majorly, at the expense of agriculture, slightly contributed by the decline in scrubland. There is much scope for urban densification as urban built-up occupies only about 5% of the total land cover as observed by the land use land cover map of 2016. The growth of the city has been very slow as compared to the other cities of its time due to a state-centric approach. But the projected scenario discovered a faster sprawl-like built-up growth towards the urban areas in the west and the south instead of an isodiametric aggregation around the capital city due to an arbitrary planning system. We recommend bringing all the talukas in Gandhinagar under one roof and considering the development of the whole district in scope for better policy and management.

The main aim of the present work is to optimize highly conducting solid polymer electrolytes by doping of ionic liquid in a Poly-ethylene oxide (PEO) polymer complexed Sodium Iodide (NaI) matrix. Solution casting method has been used to synthezis solid polymer electrolytes. Electrical, thermal, structural, and optical studies confirm the homogenous complexation of polymer electrolytes with ionic liquid. Furthermore, the electric double-layer capacitors (EDLCs) device and Dye Sensitized Solar Cell (DSSC) has been developed using high conducting ionic liquid (IL) polymer electrolyte with maximum conductivity, demonstrating that ionic liquids have a potential possibility to choose as an electrolyte in developed energy devices.

Background: While cardiac-specific troponin (cTn) allows for rapid diagnosis of acute type 1 myocardial infarction (T1MI), its performance to differentiate acute myocardial injury (AI) or type 2 myocardial infarction (T2MI) is limited. The objective was to combine biomarkers to improve discrimination of different myocardial infarction (MI) aetiologies. Methods: We determined levels of cardiac troponin T and I (cTnT, cTnI), cardiac myosin-binding protein C (cMyBP-C), NT-proBNP and ten miRNAs, known to be associated with cardiac pathology in a total of n = 495 serial plasma samples at three time points (on admission, after 1 h and 3 h) from 57 NSTEMI (non-ST-elevation myocardial infarction), 18 AI, and 31 STEMI patients, as defined by fourth universal definition of MI (UDMI4) and 59 control individuals. We then applied linear mixed effects model to compare the kinetics of all molecules in these MI sub-types. Results: Established (cTnT, cTnI) and novel (cMyBP-C) cardiac necrosis markers failed in differentiating T1MI vs T2MI at early time points. All cardiac necrosis markers were higher in T1MI than in T2MI at 3 h after admission. Muscle-enriched miRNAs (miR-1 and miR-133a) were correlated with cardiac necrosis protein markers and did not offer better discrimination. Established cardiac strain marker NT-proBNP differentiated AI and T1MI at all time points but failed to discriminate T2MI from T1MI. However, the combination of NT-proBNP and cTnT along with age returned an overall AUC of 0.76 [95 % CI 0.67–0.84] for differentiating T1MI, T2MI and AI. Conclusions: Rather than using single biomarkers of myocardial necrosis, a combination of clinical biomarkers for cardiac necrosis (troponin) and cardiac strain (NT-proBNP) might aid in differentiating T1MI, T2MI and AI.

Carbonation is one of the significant durability properties of cement mortar. Conventional mortar is generally made up of cement and sand, but blended mortar is formed by partial substitution of cement with certain pozzolanic materials. Consumption of industrial-by-products in developing of mortar is a footstep towards economic and sustainable construction and it also results in probable reduction of excessive carbon footprint and simultaneously deals with major environmental problems i.e., safe disposal of industrial by-products, reduction of pollution by dropping the amount of Portland Cement (PC) and lowering the exploitation of natural resources. The studies investigating carbonation resistance of mortar blended with industrial-by-products are uncommon till date. The current literature reviews the carbonation resistance of blended mortar made with incorporation of various industrial by-products (namely- silica fume-SF, fly ash-FA, ground granulated blast furnace slag-GGBS, coal bottom ash-CBA etc.). Out of all industrial by-products blended mortars containing SF exhibit highest carbonation resistance followed by FA, GGBS and CBA. The carbonation depth has been decreased up-to the range of 10% with the incorporation of various industrial mortars. Based on the existing trends, the current area requires more devotion as significant number of investigations has favoured the use of aforesaid by-products as partial replacement of PC in refining carbonation resistance.

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) remains the most challenging breast cancer subtype. In the presented work, we have combined several emerging technologies to build up a nanoplatform for TNBC treatment: photothermal therapy, prodrug design and tumor cell camouflage formulation. First, we synthesized a paclitaxel (PTX) based prodrug PTX-SS, and then conjugated it to the surface of gold nanorod (Au NR) @ mesoporous silica (MSN) core-shell nanoparticles (Au@MSN-NH2 NPs). Subsequently, doxorubicin (DOX) was loaded into the Au@PTXSS-MSN NPs and further coated with cell membranes isolated from MDA-MB-231 cells to form cell camouflaged Au@PTXSS-MSN/DOX@CM NPs. The Au@PTXSS-MSN/DOX@CM NPs exhibited very good DOX loading capacity and the prodrug strategy enabled the precise adjustability of PTX-SS loading to achieve the optimized ratio between PTX and DOX to maximize the synergistic effect of these two drugs, as well as enabled GSH-responsive intracellular drug release. More interestingly, the cell membrane coating not only protected the drug from premature release, but also significantly improved the targeting ability of NPs to breast cancer MDA-MB-231 cells. The NPs also showed good photothermal responsiveness with clear improvement in inhibiting MDA-MB-231 cell proliferation under laser irradiation. The in vivo studies further confirmed the effectiveness of Au@PTXSS-MSN/DOX@CM NPs on TNBC tumor inhibition in 4T1 cell grafted tumor mice model.

Graphene is a two-dimensional material with sp2 hybridization that has found its broad-spectrum potentialities in various domains like electronics, robotics, aeronautics, etc.; it has recently gained its utilities in the biomedical domain. The unique properties of graphene and its derivatives of graphene have helped them find their utilities in the biomedical domain. Additionally, the sudden outbreak of SARS-CoV-2 has immensely expanded the research field, which has also benefitted graphene and its derivatives. Currently, the world is facing a global pandemic due to the sudden outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), also known as COVID-19, from its major onset in Wuhan city, China, in December 2019. Presently, many new variants and mutants appear, which is more harmful than previous strains. However, researchers and scientists are focused on understanding the target structure of coronavirus, mechanism, causes and transmission mode, treatment, and alternatives to cure these diseases in this critical pandemic situation; many findings are achieved, but much more is unknown and pending to be explored. This review paper is dedicated to exploring the utilities of graphene and its derivatives in combating the SARS-CoV-2 by highlighting their mechanism and applications in the fabrication of biosensors, personal protection equipment (PPE) kits, 3-D printing, and antiviral coatings. Further, the paper also covers the cytotoxicity caused by graphene and its derivatives and highlights the graphene-based derivatives market aspects in biomedical domains. Thus, graphene and graphene-derived materials are our new hope in this pandemic time, and this review helps acquire broad knowledge about them.

In the present study we compared the community composition, structure, regeneration status and carbon stock of a human managed arboretum (restoration site) during three decades with a natural forest in western Himalaya. Results reveal that ecological restoration activities in the arboretum enhanced the species richness of woody plants by 66.4% with a total of 125 species as compared to 42 species in natural forest. Similarly, above ground carbon stock in the arboretum was ∼38% higher (49.5 Mg/ha) as compared to the natural forest (30.8 Mg/ha). Plantation success in the arboretum was ∼52% with a higher survival rate for temperate and Himalayan native species. Tree density in the arboretum was 322.6/ha with 50% higher density of small girth trees (

Vermicomposting of Biomedical waste ash (BA) by the earthworm Eisenia fetida was studied with cow dung (CD) as nutrient medium. For 105 days, experiment was carried out in seven vermireactors containing varying ratios of BA and CD. Earthworm activity significantly reduced the pH (8.61–7.24), Electrical conductivity (EC) (4.1–1.62), Total organic carbon (TOC) (38.6–14.92), and Carbon and nitrogen (C/N ratios) (145.4–8.2) of all BA ratios. Levels of Total kjeldahl nitrogen (TKN) (0.26–1.82), Total available phosphorus (TAP) (0.22–0.64), Total potassium (TK) (2.05–12.08), and Total sodium (TNa) (47.53–92.26) were found to be increasing in the postvermicompost mixture. Although heavy metals content decreased from initial to final, it becomes below the permissible limits in the end product. The results showed that earthworm growth and fecundity were best in vermireactors containing 10–25% of BA. The best reproduction and growth of earthworms, demonstrate the vermicomposting's ability to manage hazardous solid wastes like BA. Use of vermitechnology to manage BA has not been performed yet in any kind of the research. Finally, it was determined that vermicomposting can be incorporated into overall plan for BA management. Thus nutrient-rich, detoxified, and physiochemically stable product may be used safely in agricultural processes.

The major forces driving farm-level production for the ever-growing global population have relied upon mechanized farming techniques, synthetic inputs, and developing high-yielding crop varieties. Recently, however, there has been a gradual shift toward developing sustainable approaches addressing the potential use of beneficial traits of the soil-plant microbiome to establish a sustainable food supply as well as to maintain soil and plant health. The intricate relationship of the soil-plant microbiome complex often faces difficulty in the efficient translation for the broad spectrum of audiences across society. In recent years, there has been a growing need to formulate strategies and streamline the global sharing of the generated information on plant microbiome interactions. In this review, we discuss novel and emerging strategies to use indigenous microbial consortia and engineered exogenous microbial inoculants for rhizosphere engineering. In addition, this review also details the use of these microbial consortia to improve crop yields and environmental protection that are currently in practice.

Objectives: The emergence and outbreak of colistin-resistant CRKP (carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae) have been the major global public threat in recent years. Present study emphasized the genome-wide distribution, characterization of drug resistance virulence genes in an extremely drug-resistant (XDR) Klebsiella pneumoniae strain isolated from a patient with drug-induced hepatitis, hospitalized in a tertiary care facility in India. Methods: The total genomic DNA was sequenced using the Illumina Hiseq platform. De novo assembly of reads was done using CLC genomics workbench. Genome annotation was performed using PROKKA. Sequence typing (ST), virulence-related genes and antimicrobial resistance genes were predicted from genome sequences. Phenotypic evaluation of efflux pump function was done in presence of colistin and efflux pump inhibitor (EPI). Result: Antibiogram analysis confirmed the isolate to be XDR. The number of contigs in assembly file was found to be 867 with a total of 6,060,836 bases and a total of 5547 coding sequences. The isolate exhibited high resistance to colistin due to mutations in two-component systems and predicted to be efflux mediated. The sequence typing of Klebsiella pneumoniae SDL79 is assigned to ST147. Conclusion: This is the first whole genome analysis of XDR Klebsiella pneumoniae ST147 from a hospital conferring co-resistance to last resort drugs. However, the detailed molecular mechanism behind the drug resistance will be carried out in our future endeavors.

The present study has been carried out to evaluate antihemorrhoidal activity of bark of Acacia ferruginea DC. The total phenolic, total flavonoid and saponins were determined. Anti-hemorrhoidal potential of bark extract was determined by levels of inflammatory cytokines such as TNF-α, IL-6, PGE2 and recto-anal coefficient (RAC). The histopathological examination was done to evaluate the severity score in the treated and untreated groups. The results of phytochemical screening of the hydroalcoholic extract of A. ferruginea revealed the presence of alkaloids, flavonoids, triterpenoid, saponins, tannins and phenolic compounds The total phenolic, flavonoid and saponin contents were found to be 438.8mg/g GAE, 66.6mg/gRE and 34%w/w respectively. Hydroalcoholic extract of bark of A. ferruginea significantly reduced the inflammatory cytokines {TNF-α(8.40±0.188), IL-6(3.95±0.181), PGE2(53.27±2.956) and RAC(0.998±0.094)}as compared to positive control group{TNF-α(13.36±0.141), IL-6(7.25±0.161), PGE2(82.34±3.395) and RAC(1.131 ± 0.008)}. Noticeably the results were comparable to that of standard pilex granules {TNF-α (7.12±0.166), IL-6(3.01±0.156), PGE2(42.51±2.157) and RAC (0.968±0.084)}. Molecular docking and structure based pharmacophore mapping further confirmed the anti-inflammatory mediated antihemorrhoidal activity of the hydroalcoholic extract. The antihemorrhoidal activity of hydroalcoholic extract of A. ferruginea may attribute to the flavonoids. Keywords: Acacia ferruginea, Anti-hemorrhoidal, Total phenolic content, Molecular docking

Aim: The aim of this study was to determine the effect of moderate aerobic exercise on heart rate variability (HRV) in obese adults with type 2 diabetes. Methods: Forty-one obese adults with type 2 diabetes participated in this study. Anthropometric and metabolic parameters were measured, and resting electrocardiogram (ECG) for the HRV analysis at spontaneous respiration was recorded for 5 min in supine position before and after six months of supervised aerobic training given thrice-a-week. Results: The mean age, body mass index (BMI), and duration of diabetes of the study population were 44.1 ± 4.5 years, 30.94 ± 1.36 kg/m2, and 16.3 ± 2.7 years, respectively. In time domain variables, standard deviation of all RR intervals (SDNN), the square root of the mean of the sum of the squares of differences between adjacent RR intervals (RMSSD) and percentage of consecutive RR intervals that differ by more than 50 ms (pNN50) were significantly increased after exercise. In frequency domain variables, high frequency (HF) (ms2) and HF (nu) were significantly increased while low frequency (LF) (ms2) and LF/HF ratio were significantly decreased after exercise. But LF (nu) was unaffected after exercise. Conclusion: This study suggests that thrice-a-week moderate intensity aerobic exercise for six months improves cardiac rhythm regulation as measured by HRV in obese adults with type 2 diabetes Keywords: Heart rate variability, Type 2 diabetes, Obesity, Aerobic exercise

Identifying and prioritising naturally occurring within-species diversity, which may correlate with local adaptations or vicariance, is an integral part of conservation planning. Using non-invasive sampling and a panel of 11 microsatellites on 158 individual tigers from a pan India sample, our evaluation revealed three population clusters in India: unique North-Eastern tigers, a combined cluster of Western Ghats, Western India and Terai tigers, and a mixed cluster from Central India. At further population division, tigers from Odisha, Valmiki and southern Western Ghats were distinct. Central Indian tigers were most diverse, but showed the highest level of local structuring, suggestive of human induced fragmentation. We show that tigers in India are genetically structured and some clusters are unique. Considering a combined analysis of population size, genetic diversity and uniqueness, tigers from the North-East hills, and southern Western Ghats emerge as conservation priorities. We propose reintroductions and supplementation of tigers be done among the same broad genetic clusters. Restoration and management of habitat corridors is vital for anthropogenically fragmented Central Indian populations. This study suggests a paradigm shift from indiscriminately doubling tiger numbers to prioritising conservation of naturally occurring diversity amongst tigers, to retain their full evolutionary potential, while managing to mitigate anthropogenic induced genetic structuring. Keywords: Conservation priority, Divergence, Diversity, Microsatellites, Population structure, Panthera tigris

The present study was carried out to evaluate analgesic and anti-inflammatory activities in Inula cuspidata stem and root extracts along with heavy metals estimation in stem and root powder. Stem and roots were extracted with chloroform (ICSCE, ICRCE) and methanol (ICSME, ICRME). Acute oral toxicity of all extracts was determined by OECD guidelines 425. Analgesic activity was investigated by using hot plate and acetic acid induced writhing models. Anti-inflammatory activity (acute) of all extracts was evaluated by carrageenan induced paw edema model. In addition, root and stem powder was screened for heavy metals (As, Pb, Cd, Hg) estimation using atomic absorption spectroscopy. In acute toxicity study no mortality was observed when each extract was orally administered with 2.0 g/kg. At the doses (100 and 200 mg/kg) ICRME followed by ICSME showed significant and dose dependent analgesic and anti-inflammatory effects compared with chloroform extracts. The heavy metals concentration in stem and root powders was found to be within the permissible limits as recommended by WHO for herbal raw materials. The findings of the present study validated the folkloric use of Inula cuspidata as analgesic and anti-inflammatory. In addition, the results intimate that heavy metals present in raw material were found to be within the defined limits, and it exhibits that the therapeutic efficacy of plant may not be effected, which can be otherwise possibly effected if the plant sequester high concentration of heavy metals from the polluted environment as well as from the soil rich in pesticides and sewage sludge etc.

Porous carbon (PC) has attracted considerable attention for various applications including sensing due to its accessible specific surface area, tunable surface chemistry, and short diffusion pathways for rapid mass transfer. This report details fabrication of a highly sensitive enzymatic glucose biosensor that uses a composite of PC and Prussian blue (PB). Melamine foam, a low-cost material was used as a precursor for the synthesis of PC that acted as an excellent matrix for efficient loading of glucose oxidase (GOx). The high specific surface area and efficient electrical wiring in the PB embedded tetrapod architecture of PC composite improved the catalytic activity of this device for glucose sensing. When glucose contacts this biosensor, alterations occur in both cathodic (due to consumption of O2) and anodic (due to release of H2O2) currents during cyclic voltammetry measurements. Due to the synergistic effect between PC and PB, the cathodic region (−0.05V) had the highest sensitivity (218.78μAmM−1cm−2) among all PC-based biosensors for glucose detection with a lower detection limit of 0.03mM. The anodic region (+0.7V) had a good sensitivity of 50.63μAmM−1cm−2 and a lower detection limit of 0.2mM which is comparable to most of the enzymatic glucose biosensors that involve complex fabrication procedures. The high selectivity of this biosensor enabled accurate glucose level detection in serum samples. The PCPB composite-based sensing platform uses inexpensive precursors, is simple to fabricate, and displays excellent performance, suggesting potential for construction of sensors that release or consume oxygen during the analyte recognition process. Keywords: Porous carbon, Prussian blue, Glucose, Glucose oxidase, Biosensor

This data article contains data related to the research article entitled “Substrate topography: A valuable in vitro tool, but a clinical red herring for in vivo tenogenesis” [1]. We report measurements on tenocyte viability, metabolic activity and proliferation on substrates with different topographies. We also report the effect of substrates with different topographies on host cells in a subcutaneous model.