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Heavy metal pollution is a significant global health concern, posing risks to both the environment and human health. Exposure to heavy metals happens through various channels like contaminated water, food, air, and workplaces, resulting in severe health implications. Heavy metals also disrupt the gut's microbial balance, leading to dysbiosis characterized by a decrease in beneficial microorganisms and proliferation in harmful ones, ultimately exacerbating health problems. Probiotic microorganisms have demonstrated their ability to adsorb and sequester heavy metals, while their exopolysaccharides (EPS) exhibit chelating properties, aiding in mitigating heavy metal toxicity. These beneficial microorganisms aid in restoring gut integrity through processes like biosorption, bioaccumulation, and biotransformation of heavy metals. Incorporating probiotic strains with high affinity for heavy metals into functional foods and supplements presents a practical approach to mitigating heavy metal toxicity while enhancing gut health. Utilizing probiotic microbiota and their exopolysaccharides to address heavy metal toxicity offers a novel method for improving human health through modulation of the gut microbiome. By combining probiotics and exopolysaccharides, a distinctive strategy emerges for mitigating heavy metal toxicity, highlighting promising avenues for therapeutic interventions and health improvements. Further exploration in this domain could lead to groundbreaking therapies and preventive measures, underscoring probiotic microbiota and exopolysaccharides as natural and environmentally friendly solutions to heavy metal toxicity. This, in turn, could enhance public health by safeguarding the gut from environmental contaminants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work presents a comprehensive study on the dielectric properties of shellac-based composites with varying filler concentrations of (SiC) and iron (Fe) particles, complemented by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis. Shellac, a natural biopolymer known for its excellent film-forming abilities, biodegradability, and insulating properties, was chosen as the matrix material. The dielectric properties, including permittivity and dielectric loss, are measured by LCR Meter across a frequency range from 100 Hz to 8 MHz to evaluate the effects of filler concentration. This study reveals that the incorporation of SiC and Fe particles significantly enhances the dielectric constant and exhibits complex frequency-dependent behavior in dielectric loss. SEM analysis provided insights into the microstructural changes induced by the fillers, correlating with the observed dielectric properties. The results indicate that the dielectric performance of shellac composites can be effectively tailored through the precise control of SiC and Fe particle concentrations, attributed to interfacial polarization and Maxwell-Wagner-sillars effects. This work underscores the potential of shellac composites as sustainable, high performance dielectric materials for advanced electronic applications, contributing to the development of eco-friendly electronic devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The utilization of smart contracts enables the integration of blockchain technology to provide incentives for the gathering of electronic trash. Traditional blockchain-based Internet of Things (IoT)-E-Waste Tracking systems have challenges such as data privacy issues, significant delays, and low transaction per second (TPS) rates. In order to tackle these difficulties, the proposed approach utilizes a blockchain-based technology called IoT-enabled Efficient Practical Byzantine Consensus-based Reputation (EPBCR). This approach effectively monitors the post-production business processes of electronic devices by using hybrid consensus and reputation optimization algorithms. As a result, it enhances transparency, traceability, and privacy. The system efficiently regulates and oversees electronic gadgets throughout its supply chain by employing smart contracts on an unchangeable distributed ledger. The methodology is supported by analyzing the gas usage of Smart contracts on the Ethereum network. This results in the creation of, efficient, and high-throughput system that assists participants in conducting economic transactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The demand for pellets in blast furnaces has recently increased because of their uniform shape and size, controlled chemistry, iron-enriched feed, high strength, and quality consistency. To meet this demand, low- and medium-grade iron ore fines with alumina (> 3.5 wt%) must be used for pelletization because of the limited availability of high-grade ore. The alumina present in the ore has an adverse effect on the pellet properties because of its refractory nature. Therefore, a study was conducted to optimize the firing temperature and chemistry of the feed blend to produce pellets with good pellet properties. Firing temperature (1280 °C, 1300 °C, and 1320 °C), carbon (1 and 1.2%) in the form of coke fines, and MgO (0.60 and 0.80%) in the form of dolomite were used to optimize the pellet-making process for high-alumina iron ore fines. The best result was obtained for feed blend with 1.2% carbon and 0.80% MgO fired at 1300 °C to produce pellets of cold compressive strength more than 300 kg/pellet, reduction degradation index (− 6.33 mm) near 7%, and porosity near 20%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An aptamer-based electrochemical sensor for the sensitive detection of staphylococcal enterotoxin type A (SEA) is presented. The truncated aptamer AptSEA1.4 used in this work was screened using computational techniques, which reduced the cost of the SELEX screening process. The aptamer-SEA interactions were confirmed by employing circular dichroism (CD) and fluorescence spectroscopy. Afterwards, for developing an electrochemical aptasensor, a fabricated GNR/FTO aptasensor was prepared and characterized using scanning electron microscopy-energy-dispersive X-ray analysis (SEM–EDX), atomic force microscopy (AFM), cyclic voltammetry (CV), and square wave voltammetry (SWV). A detailed investigation of aptamer and SEA interaction in the presence of various experimental conditions was also conducted through SWV and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). The aptamer exhibits a strong affinity for SEA, with a dissociation constant (Kd) of 19.93 nM. The aptasensor is sensitive, with a lower limit of detection of 12.44 pg mL−1. It has good stability, repeatability, and specificity and has displayed highly specific and sensitive detection SEA in spiked packaged mixed fruit juice and milk, with a recovery of 95–110%. The aptasensor has high promise for detecting SEA in other food items. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current investigation involved the isolation of 13 endophytic fungi from Taxus sp. collected in Himachal Pradesh, India. Among these, isolate PAT-3 produced 195.13 mg/L of Taxol in reformative medium broth using microbial fermentation as an alternative source. The PAT-3 isolate was characterized as Mucor circinelloides through morphologic and molecular techniques. The PAT-3 isolate was the only one to exhibit positive results for the Taxol biosynthesis-related genes 10-deacetylbaccatin-III-10-O-acetyltransferase (dbat), Baccatin-III, 3: amino, 3 phenylpropanol transferase (bapt), and taxadienol-acetyltransferase (tat). Furthermore, human breast cancer (MCF-7) and human melanoma cancer (SKMEL-28) cell lines demonstrated the cytotoxicity of Taxol extracted from isolate PAT-3, with IC50 values of 80.32 µg/mL and 77.21 µg/mL, respectively. To our knowledge, this is the first study that demonstrates the ability of the endophytic fungus M. circinelloides from Taxus sp. in the northern Himalayan region to produce paclitaxel. The study's findings show that Mucor circinelloides is an excellent alternative source of Taxol, and they may pave the way for the production of Taxol at the industrial level in future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In computer vision, image dehazing is a low-level task that employs algorithms to analyze and remove haze from images, resulting in haze-free visuals. The aim of Salient Object Detection (SOD) is to locate the most visually prominent areas in images. However, most SOD techniques applied to visible images struggle in complex scenarios characterized by similarities between the foreground and background, cluttered backgrounds, adverse weather conditions, and low lighting. Identifying objects in hazy images is challenging due to the degradation of visibility caused by atmospheric conditions, leading to diminished visibility and reduced contrast. This paper introduces an innovative approach called Dehaze-SOD, a unique integrated model that addresses two vital tasks: dehazing and salient object detection. The key novelty of Dehaze-SOD lies in its dual functionality, seamlessly integrating dehazing and salient object identification into a unified framework. This is achieved using a conditional Generative Adversarial Network (cGAN) comprising two distinct subnetworks: one for image dehazing and another for salient object detection. The first module, designed with residual blocks, Dark Channel Prior (DCP), total variation, and the multiscale Retinex algorithm, processes the input hazy images. The second module employs an enhanced EfficientNet architecture with added attention mechanisms and pixel-wise refinement to further improve the dehazing process. The outputs from these subnetworks are combined to produce dehazed images, which are then fed into our proposed encoder–decoder framework for salient object detection. The cGAN is trained with two modules working together: the generator aims to produce haze-free images, whereas the discriminator distinguishes between the generated haze-free images and real haze-free images. Dehaze-SOD demonstrates superior performance compared to state-of-the-art dehazing methods in terms of color fidelity, visibility enhancement, and haze removal. The proposed method effectively produces high-quality, haze-free images from various hazy inputs and accurately detects salient objects within them. This makes Dehaze-SOD a promising tool for improving salient object detection in challenging hazy conditions. The effectiveness of our approach has been validated using benchmark evaluation metrics such as mean absolute error (MAE), peak signal-to-noise ratio (PSNR), and structural similarity index measure (SSIM). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The facial canal (FC) is an extensive bony canal that houses the facial nerve and occupies a central position in the petrous part of temporal bone. It is of utmost significance to otologists due to its dehiscence and relationship to the inner or middle ear components. The main objectives of current investigation are to detect variations in the reported values ​​of FC anatomy that may occur due to different methodology and to elucidate the influence of age and ethnic factors on the morphological features of FC. Methods: The methodology is adapted to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. Pooled weighted estimation was performed to calculate the mean length, angle, and prevalence of dehiscence. Results: The cross-sectional shape of FC varied from circular to ellipsoid index and is 1.45 [95% CI, 0.86–2.6]. The mean length of the FC is 34.42 mm [95% CI, 27.62–40.13 mm] and the mean width or diameter is 1.35 mm [95% CI, 1.013–1.63 mm]. The length of the FC in fetuses and children is 21.79 mm [95% CI, 18.44–25.15 mm], and 26.92 mm [95% CI, 23.3–28.3 mm], respectively. In meta-regression, age is observed as a predictor and accounts for 36% of the heterogeneity. The prevalence of FC dehiscence in healthy temporal bones is 29% [95% CI, 20–40%]. Conclusion: The different segments of the FC exhibit significant variability and an unusually high incidence of dehiscence, which could potentially have clinical implications for the etiopathogenesis of facial nerve dysfunction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the present work, the cathode of the fabricated microbial fuel cell (MFC) was optimised with a coating of tin oxide (SnO2) nanoparticles, and subsequently the MFC was used to develop a urea sensor; application of the MFC configuration for urea sensing has been reported for the first time. Chronoamperometry technique was employed for the coating of SnO2 on the copper (Cu) electrode used as an electron acceptor on the cathode side of the MFC. X-ray diffraction (XRD) was used to study the structure, field emission-scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) was used to study the morphology, and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy was used to study the elemental composition. Electrochemical analysis was performed using cyclic voltammetry, linear sweep voltammetry, and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. Current–voltage (I–V) analysis was done to generate polarisation curves in the MFC, which exhibited better results with SnO2-coated Cu-cathode in comparison to the bare Cu-electrode. Additionally, the MFC device fabricated with the SnO2-coated Cu-cathode exhibited better energy generation in comparison to the bare Cu-electrode, highlighting the application of the compost-based MFC as a multifunctional device. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Diffusers are mechanical devices that recover static pressure at the expense of the kinetic energy of flowing fluid. The present study is intended about the different design of S-shaped diffusers and its performance characteristics using ANSYS FLUENT17.1 software. The characteristics have been achieved for design of turning angle 62.50/62.50for constant circular center line length 600 mm, constant inlet cross-sectional area 100 × 100 mm2 with constant aspect ratio 2.0 at the outlet for different design of area ratio i.e., 2, 4, and 6 respectively. Incompressible flow analysis has been made at Mach number 0.1176 at the entry of the duct using realizable k-ɛ, standard k-ɛ, and renormalized group k-ɛ model. It has been discovered that flow separation increases, flow uniformity at the exit decreases and overall static pressure loss coefficient (CP) value increases by increasing area ratio for all the design considered. It is also noticed that crossflow velocity is more prominent in the case of the renormalized group k-ɛ turbulent model. Finally, it is found that for the design of an area ratio 2 and 6 the present model gives the best performance in terms of stagnation pressure loss coefficient (CL) and static pressure loss coefficient (CP) respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the rampant usage of antibiotics as growth promoters (AGPs) in poultry sector, there has been alarming concerns of antimicrobial resistant microbes such as Escherichia coli. Diversification of poultry farming due to consumer demand for safer products with higher protein content, turkey production is gaining popularity. Feed additives such as formic acid (FA) and thymol (TH) are effectively replacing AGPs due to their antimicrobial action. This directed the researchers to find alternatives to antibiotics such as thymol and formic acid because of their strong antimicrobial, anti-oxidative, digestive-stimulating properties. To assess the efficacy of FA and TH as growth promoters and their effect on the antimicrobial resistance (AMR) load, the current study (0–12 weeks) was conducted in CARI VIRAT turkey poults (n = 256; unsexed) those were randomly distributed into eight treatment groups: control(T1), AGP (T2), graded levels of FA (T3 to T5) @ 2.5, 5 and 7.5 ml/kg and TH (T6 to T8) @ 120, 240 and 350 mg/kg. Cloacal swab samples were collected at 0, 4th, 8th and 12th week interval and processed further for isolation, identification and assessment of resistance profile of E. coli. The final body weight, cumulative gain and FCR were significantly (p < 0.05) better for birds under supplementation. The Total plate count (TPC) and coliforms showcased a significant (p < 0.001) reduction in the FA and TH supplement groups as compared to control and AGP group. The resistance profile indicated E. coli isolates from AGP group with significantly (p < 0.001) highest resistivity against antibiotics (viz. chloramphenicol, tetracycline, nalidixic acid, chlortetracycline) while isolates from FA (T5) and TH (T8) groups were the least resistant. blaAmpC gene was significantly (p < 0.001) harbored in T2 isolates whereas least detected in T5 and T8. It was inferred that formic acid (7.5 ml/kg) and thymol (360 mg/kg) can effectively replace AGPs and lower AMR burden in poultry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pine needle waste biomass is a troublesome forest biomass from the mid Himalayan region. Every year, it causes number of forest fire incidents causing a significant damage to the Himalayan ecology and environment. However, this forest waste biomass may be utilized to produce various value-added products, including biofuels. Pine needle waste biomass (PNWB) obtained from the Himalayan forests was chopped, ground, and subjected to physico-chemical pre-treatments (1.0% NaOH + Microwave (900 W for 12 min) that resulted in 72.58 ± 0.46% wt/v lignin removal. Saccharification of the resultant lignin-free PNWB with xylanase from Bacillus pumilus XRL5 and cellulase from Bacillus subtilis CPS-66 enzymes (2:4 U/g of pine needles) for 48 h at 45 °C produced 25.64 ± 2.36 mg/ml of fermentable sugars. Subsequent 1.5 l co-fermentation of PNWB fermentable sugars with Schizosaccharomyces sp. EF-3 and Kluyveromyces marxianus MTCC 1498 produced 17.65 g/l ethanol with 86.6% purity and 91.22% fermentation efficiency. Findings of the present study suggest that pine needle waste biomass from the forest could be utilized as an important bioresource for bioethanol production, which will not only help in protecting the Chir-Pine forests from devastating forest fires but will also help in protecting the biodiversity and environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Even though the excited state lifetimes can be found out experimentally using well-known time-resolved spectroscopy but low signal to noise ratio leading to lack of data points on the hyperbolic curves makes it difficult to clearly reproduce the individual exponentials simply by fitting to further analyse the decay curves. Keeping these things in mind, in this work, time-resolved photoluminescent emission decay curves were simulated for aluminium doped zinc oxide [ZnO:Al (0.1–3.0%)] nanophosphors and europium doped cadmium-zinc sulphide [Cd1−xZnxS:Eu (0.01–10.00%, x = 0–0.5)] nanocomposite phosphor using FORTRAN-77 subroutines for three different lifetimes. Excited state lifetime is the most important parameter of nanophosphors to investigate for the purpose of opto-electronic applications, among emission intensity and wavelength. Experimentally obtained excited state lifetimes were used as the primary input to study the effect of various parameters like cut-off intensity, dopant concentration and nanocomposite composition on the decay nature of emission intensities from individual excited states, and the decay nature of total emission intensity. Decay curves generated for the ZnO:Al (0.1–3.0%) nanophosphors displayed the lifetime shortening and enhanced emission due to increasing Al-doping at all simulated arbitrary intensities for all excited state lifetimes. Decay curves generated for the Cd1−xZnxS:Eu (0.01–10.00%, x = 0–0.5) nanocomposite phosphors similarly displayed the trend of lifetime shortening with increasing Zn-concentration and Eu-doping for every individually simulated exponential. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, the separation of micron-size particles from a liquid slug is achieved by using a passive mechanism through Taylor's flow. We have exploited the recirculation of a fluid along the travelling air–liquid interfaces to align particles in a streamline. Recirculation of concentrated particles is achieved along the centre of the microchannel that aligns with the maximum velocity plane across the channel. The microchannel is fabricated through a four-step manufacturing process to achieve the necessary dimensions and surface chemistry along the side wall of the microchannel. For a flow of liquid, a fully developed flow regime can be witnessed by observing the parabolic velocity profile. The symmetric profile with maximum velocity along the center line of the channel is a depiction of the no-slip boundary at the channel wall. A liquid-repellent solid wall, or a superhydrophobic solid wall, changes the parabolic profile and subsequently, the magnitude and position of maximum velocity changes. Along a channel with one wall of superhydrophobic coating, the profile becomes asymmetric and the shifts location of the maximum velocity from the center of the channel. After introducing a bubble of the same size as the channel width, the bubble also experiences this asymmetry. As famously Taylor flow depicts, the traveling bubble concentrates the particles along a maximum velocity profile which is along the center of the channel towards the wall with slp condition. However, for one wall with slip condition, it facilitates the shift of the stream of particles on the desired side of the center of the channel. This shift is used to guide particles towards one arm of the Y section of the channel located downstream of the flow. To demonstrate this shift in the particle stream, we conducted experiments along two different channels: one with no slip condition, and the second with a coating that exhibits slip condition along the wall. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present work aims at the optimum design and the optimum operating condition of a S-shaped diffuser by studying the effect of inlet velocity, turning angle and area ratio using Computational Fluid Dynamics. Fluent 17.1 software has been used for this simulation work. It is found that the static pressure recovery coefficient (Cp) increases and the total pressure loss coefficient (Cl) decreases as the inlet velocity increases. It is also found that cross-flow velocity becomes more prominent as turning angle increases and the magnitude of in-plane velocity increases with the increase in area ratio. It is further found that flow separation at the bottom wall increases with the increment in area ratio and decreases with the increase in turning angle. Finally, it is found that AR 4 is the optimum area ratio and 75°/75° is the optimum turning angle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In present work, a new hybrid metal matrix composite (MMC) using powder metallurgy (P/M) technique has fabricated and tested using an electric discharge machine (EDM) to reduce tool wear rate (TWR). MMC was developed using Cu as the matrix material, with W, Si, and Mn as reinforcement. The Taguchi approach was employed to build the experimental runs for this work, which was useful in determining the optimal (Cu–W–Si–Mn) MMC combination. For the current analysis, each element was separated into four levels. To conduct this study, the MMC material used as a tool electrode and kept the EDM machining parameters constant. The Cu matrix material is employed in 16 distinct experiments with varying Si, W, and Mn percentages. The fabricated electrode was used to machine a circular hole in heat-treated EN-24 strong steel. ANOVA proved very useful in determining if those regression models were suitable for the current investigation. The Taguchi and EDM experiments yielded critical data. The studies discovered that W is the most important factor in TWR regulation, but when Mn in the MMC electrode grows, TWR also increases, and Mn helps to increase the quantity of material removed from the object. To optimize the tool's TWR by fabricating a metal matrix composite tool electrode with a greater W–Si–Mn ratio, it was discovered that 9% W, 9% Mn, and 6% Si were optimal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Salmonella enterica serovar Kentucky is one of the food-borne zoonotic pathogens which is isolated in high frequency from poultry meat in the recent decades and is known for its multidrug resistance. The current study was aimed to isolate and characterize a bacteriophage against S. enterica serovar Kentucky isolate, 5925, which showed resistance to at least seven antibiotics and to study its efficiency to decontaminate S. Kentucky from chicken skin. The bacteriophage against S. enterica serovar Kentucky was isolated and was named vB_SenS_Ib_psk2 representing the place, source, and host. Electron microscopy revealed that the phage possesses isometric head and contractile tail, indicative of Siphoviridae family. Molecular detection of major capsid protein E gene yielded 511 bp, and NCBI blast analysis revealed that the phage belonged to the genus chivirus. The optimum temperature and pH for phage survival and multiplication were found to be − 20 to 42 °C and 6–10, respectively. One-step growth curve experiment of vB_SenS_Ib_psk2 revealed a latent period of 20 min and burst size of 253 phages/bacterial cell. The host susceptibility studies revealed that 83% of MDR isolates of S. enterica were susceptible to vB_SenS_Ib_psk2. Artificial spiking studies on chicken skin revealed that high multiplicity of infection (MOI) of phages of 106 pfu/mL is required for significant reduction (p ≤ 0.01) of bacterial concentration (0.14 ± 0.04) after 24-h incubation at 8 °C compared to group 1 (2.55 ± 0.89 cfu/mL). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Legumes are important clade of commercially important family Leguminosae that mainly include medicinal, flowering and edible plants. Although the genomic sequence of legumes is accessible, only the limited number of effective simple sequence repeat markers has been identified by prior research. Additional polymorphic simple sequence repeats marker discovery will aid in the genetics and breeding of legumes. In this study, 13 complete genome sequences were screened for the identification of chromosome-wise simple sequence repeats (SSRs) and 1,866,861 SSRs were identified. Based on the study, it was observed that the number of SSRs in non-coding region was more as compared to coding region and frequency of mononucleotides was highest followed by di-nucleotides while penta- and hexa-nucleotide repeats were least frequent one. The identified genome-wide SSRs and newly developed SSR markers, primers and their mapping will provide a powerful means for genetic researches across Leguminosae plants, including genetic diversity and evolutionary origin analysis, fingerprinting, QTL mapping and marker-assisted selection for breeding as well as comparative genomic analysis studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bionanocomposites are the gifts to present and future generations and can be utilized to tackle the issues of environment and sustainability. Bionanocomposites are basically hybrid materials, composed of natural polymers and some inorganic nanoparticle. In the present study, silver nanoparticle (AgNP) embedded gum acacia-tragacanth-cl-poly(acrylic acid) bionanocomposite has been synthesized, characterized and studied for dye adsorption. Three-dimensional cross-linked (AgNP) embedded gum acacia-tragacanth-cl-poly(acrylic acid) bionanocomposite structure has been confirmed with scanning electron micrography (SEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction investigations, and thermal degradation studies. Various factors such as time, nano-composite weight, dye concentration, and temperature were thoroughly investigated for efficient removal of textiles dyes like Crystal violet, Methylene blue, and Rhodamine-B. When compared to hydrogel, silver bionanocomposite demonstrated reduced swelling but a better dye adsorption capability (up to 94%). Furthermore, this bionanocomposite was tested for antimicrobial activity and it was found that GA-GT-cl-poly(AAc)/Ag bionanocomposite had far better antimicrobial activity in comparison to GA-GT-cl-poly(AAc) hydrogels. The excellent adsorption properties, along with natural antimicrobial activity make this bionanocomposite an efficient tool for the remediation of polluted water. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Ultrasound imaging of optic sheath nerve diameter [ONSD] is reported to reflect changes consistent with intracranial pressure changes seen in traumatic brain injury and also in documented serum hyponatremia. We hypothesized that hyponatremia and hypervolemia seen during trans urethral resection of prostate [TURP] surgery may also have some association with different ONSD readings from the baseline perioperatively, resulting in early detection of TURP syndrome. In this prospective observational study, 50 adult male patients scheduled for TURP surgery meeting inclusion criteria were included and the ONSD measurements were serially recorded perioperatively. Patients with measurements ≥ 5.2 mm with either clinical symptoms or electrolyte changes suggested TURP syndrome were taken as true positive. Results: The sensitivity, specificity, area under the curve, positive predictive, and negative predictive value at 95%CI of ONSD for early detection of TURP syndrome was {100% [15.81 to 100.00%], 91.67% [80.02 to 97.68%], 0.96 [0.86 to 0.99%], 33.33% [4.33 to 77.72%], 100% [91.96 to 100.00%]} with a diagnostic accuracy of 95.83%. In univariate logistic regressions, the duration of surgery had a positive association with TURP syndrome [odd ratio 1.066, β coefficient 0.064, p = 0.015]. In multivariate logistic regression, we could not validate the association between these factors and TURP syndrome [p > 0.050]. Conclusions: The ONSD measurements have good diagnostic accuracy for detecting TURP syndrome, but we advocate more multi-centric studies with large sample sizes to validate this association in the multivariate regression model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To investigate a potential new antibacterial agent to combat increasing antimicrobial resistance, undoped and 1% manganese doped Zinc Sulphide quantum dots (ZnS and Zn0.99Mn0.01S QDs, respectively) were synthesised by co-precipitation method and capped with increasing amounts of Zinc Oxide and Silica in aqueous media to prepare ZnS@ZnO, Zn0.99Mn0.01S@ZnO, and Zn0.99Mn0.01S@SiO2 nanostructures. P-XRD analysis confirmed the cubic zinc-blende phase of the seed ZnS QDs, Zn0.99Mn0.01S QDs, and Zn0.99Mn0.01S@SiO2 nanostructures, and the wurtzite phase of the ZnO in the ZnS@ZnO and Zn0.99Mn0.01S@ZnO nanostructures, further confirmed using TEM studies, which also revealed the size of the largest nanostructures to be in the range of a hundred nanometres. FTIR spectroscopy illustrated the quenching of characteristic ZnS peaks with increasing capping material. UV–Visible absorption spectroscopy and subsequent Tauc analysis illustrated the strong size confinement of the synthesised ZnS and Zn0.99Mn0.01S QDs; Brus equation calculations revealed that the particle size of the samples increases with increasing capping material. Photoluminescent emission spectroscopy illustrated the tuneable emission properties of the prepared nanostructures; manganese doping induced the characteristic orange emission in the Zn0.99Mn0.01S QDs, which was enhanced by ZnO, but quenched by SiO2. The antimicrobial activity of all the prepared samples was qualitatively evaluated using well known Agar well diffusion method against six human pathogenic bacteria: Gram positive Bacillus subtilis and Staphylococcus aureus; Gram negative Salmonella Typhi, Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Qualitative antibacterial assay confirmed the high antibacterial potential of the synthesised ZnS and Zn0.99Mn0.01S QDs, especially against E. coli. Increasing ZnO amount improves the antibacterial activity of the nanostructures against different Gram-positive bacterial strains, while increasing SiO2 amount improves the antibacterial activity of the nanostructures against both Gram positive strains and three of the four Gram negative bacterial strains. Thus, the positive results suggest that the prepared ZnS@ZnO, Zn0.99Mn0.01S@ZnO, and Zn0.99Mn0.01S@SiO2 nanostructures should be further studied as antimicrobial agents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The proper disposal of large stockpiles of tire wastes has become a major challenge today. Through this study, an attempt was made to effectively utilize the large chunk of tire wastes as a reinforcement for improving the bearing capacity of shallow foundations subjected to purely inclined loads. The study was accomplished in two phases. In the first phase, the tests were conducted on reinforced beds by varying the quantity of tire chips, the thickness of the reinforced zone, the inclination of loading, and the equivalent relative density of the reinforced zone. The bearing capacity ratio (BCR) was used as a factor to quantify the gains. It was observed that the optimum quantity and thickness of the reinforced zone were 20% by weight and 1B, respectively, where B is the width of the footing. Improvements were found significant at both loose and dense equivalent relative densities. The BCR values under inclined loads were higher than in central vertical loading conditions indicating that the technique is more useful in the latter. The study also compares the environmental impacts generated from tire chip and geogrid foundations in terms of various midpoint and endpoint impact categories using cradle-to-gate LCA. Midpoint environmental impacts have been shown in climate change, freshwater ecotoxicity, fossil depletion, ozone depletion, and water depletion, and endpoint impacts are represented in terms of damage to ecosystem quality, damage to human health, and damage to resources. The study found that foundation prepared with waste tire chips is less polluting to the environment compared to geogrid foundation. In addition to this, landfill of waste tires will be reduced by this technology which will further help in the reduction of the total environmental impact of the system. Henceforth, by adopting the current technology into construction practices, the large stockpiles of discarded tires can be disposed of in a sustainable way. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lumpy skin disease (LSD) is a notifiable re-emerging transboundary viral disease of bovines that inflicts heavy losses in affected livestock farms. Genetic variations contribute substantially to the inter-individual differences in the immune response against disease agents. The present study aimed to evaluate the genetic basis of differential immune response in Vrindavani cattle by comparing the hematological, biochemical and cytokine genes' expression profiles of LSD-affected and unaffected animals. After 21 days of the outbreak at the farm, the animals were grouped as affected (those who developed symptoms) and unaffected/healthy (those who did not). Standard hematological and biochemical parameters were evaluated in both the groups. Expression profiling of important Th1 (IL2, INFG and GMCSF) and Th2 (IL4, IL6 and IL10) cytokines was also performed via a relative quantification approach using real-time PCR. Erythrogram and leucogram analyses revealed significant differences in total leucocyte count (TLC: 14.18 ± 0.74 versus 11.38 ± 0.68 x103/µL), hemoglobin (Hb: 8.66 ± 0.42 versus 10.84 ± 0.17 g%) and percentage of neutrophils (46.40 ± 1.98 versus 35.40 ± 2.11%), lymphocytes (49.40 ± 1.99 versus 62.40 ± 1.86) and monocytes (4.20 ± 0.37 versus 2.40 ± 0.40) between the affected and healthy animals, respectively. The production of liver enzymes (SGOT and SGPT) was significantly higher in affected animals (74.18 ± 4.76 and 59.51 ± 2.75) when compared to the healthy counterparts (65.95 ± 9.18 and 39.21 ± 3.31). The expression profiling of Th1 and Th2 cytokines revealed significant differences between the two groups, except IL10. The expression of IL2, GMCSF and IL6 were upregulated in healthy animals while that of INFG, IL4 and IL10 were upregulated in LSD-affected animals. The highest abundance was observed for IL2 transcripts in healthy animals among all assessed cytokines with log2fold change of 1.61 as compared to affected counterparts. Overall, the immune response in healthy animals (after exposure to LSD virus) was predominated by the expression of Th1 cell proliferation and there was an increased production of pro-inflammatory cytokines as compared to the affected counterparts. The results revealed that the effective immune response to LSD in cattle consists of changes in hematological and biochemical parameters and altered expression profile of cytokines with enhanced phagocytosis and lymphocyte recruitment. Furthermore, optimal expression of Th1 cytokines is required for maintaining optimal health against infectious insult with LSD virus in cattle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To understand the effect of end-groups of thiol-molecules on the structural, absorption, and photoluminescence (PL) properties, CdTe quantum dots (QDs) were synthesized with the capping of thioglycolic acid (TGA), mercaptoethylamine (MEA), l-cysteine (l-Cys) and glutathione (GSH) in aqueous medium. The growth kinetics of the nanocrystals with the variation in the end-groups of thiols has also been spectroscopically investigated. The average sizes of the nanocrystals ranged from 2 to 5 nm, which is well within the quantum confinement regime. The size and phase purity of the QDs were determined by XRD and HRTEM. With respect to size-distribution, the temporal evolution of QDs was found to involve three stages, namely focusing, defocusing and equilibrium. Hydrodynamic sizes were also measured using DLS system. FTIR spectra revealed that the thiol end of the capping agent binds to the particle–surface while the carboxyl or amine group remain free. The multi-colour photoluminescence illustrated the excellent size-tunable optical properties of the QDs. Zeta-potential for TGA-capped CdTe QDs was measured to be − 45 mV, indicating high surface charge and hence greater colloidal stability. Such QDs are well suited for bioimaging and therapeutic applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Xylan, second most abundant natural polysaccharide after cellulose, has tremendous applications in various industrial processes. There are several xylan degrading catalysts available, but, still, there is continuous quest among the scientific community to search for new hyperactive xylanases. In the present study, the catalytic potential of xylanase from Bacillus sp. XPB-11 was improved using various mutagens. 5-Bromo-Uracil proved to be the best mutagen resulting in stable and hyperactive mutant BU-7 that showed maximum xylanase activity, i.e., 154.16 ± 2.23 U/mg protein. Further, optimizing the various parameters resulted in 20% enhancement and overall twofold increase in the xylanase activity of mutant, i.e.188.24 ± 1.80 U/mg protein. This hyperactive mutant released 26.8 ± 2.17 mg/ml of C-5 sugar from microwave + 0.5 N NaOH pretreated pine needle waste biomass that on fermentation using Kluyveromyces marxianus MTCC 1498 produced 5.34 g/l of bioethanol with 3.89% yield and 93.5% purity. The hyperactive xylanase from Bacillus sp. XPB-11 mutant BU-7, developed in the present study to release C-5 sugar from pine needle waste biomass and its subsequent biotransformation into bioethanol, is of commercial significance to utilize one of the problematic waste biomass from Himalayan Region for its conversion into second-generation biofuel i.e. bioethanol. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Metallopolymeric functional nanomaterials have been gained the significant interest of researchers because of their exclusive properties, commercial, biodegradability, high elasticity and efficient nature for their various applications in different fields. These materials are useful for the fabrication of economical energy conversion and optoelectronic devices. The domain of the applicability of these materials is very large such as energy devices, sensor/ actuators, biomedical applications, photodetectors and micromechanical devices. Energy conversion devices like photodetectors, photovoltaic solar cells, and light-dependent resistors can be manufactured by metallopolymer nanomaterials. When polymers are conjugated with the metals, they offer advanced functional opportunities for the advancement of the various energy harvesting materials with their enhanced properties. This article contains the recent accomplishments of the ongoing challenges for the metallopolymeric functional materials for their advanced solar energy applications which can affect human life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Petrochemicals are important hydrocarbons, which are one of the major concerns when accidently escaped into the environment. On one hand, these cause soil and fresh water pollution on land due to their seepage and leakage from automobile and petrochemical industries. On the other hand, oil spills occur during the transport of crude oil or refined petroleum products in the oceans around the world. These hydrocarbon and petrochemical spills have not only posed a hazard to the environment and marine life, but also linked to numerous ailments like cancers and neural disorders. Therefore, it is very important to remove or degrade these pollutants before their hazardous effects deteriorate the environment. There are varieties of mechanical and chemical methods for removing hydrocarbons from polluted areas, but they are all ineffective and expensive. Bioremediation techniques provide an economical and eco-friendly mechanism for removing petrochemical and hydrocarbon residues from the affected sites. Bioremediation refers to the complete mineralization or transformation of complex organic pollutants into the simplest compounds by biological agents such as bacteria, fungi, etc. Many indigenous microbes present in nature are capable of detoxification of various hydrocarbons and their contaminants. This review presents an updated overview of recent advancements in various technologies used in the degradation and bioremediation of petroleum hydrocarbons, providing useful insights to manage such problems in an eco-friendly manner. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article deals with the synthesis, structural and optical characterizations of vanadium ion-doped ZnO nanoparticles. Four nanosized samples with a generic composition Zn1–xVxO (x = 0.00, 0.02, 0.04 and 0.06) were prepared using standard co-precipitation method. X-ray diffraction studies confirmed the existence of hexagonal wurtzite crystal structure and phase purity of prepared samples. Mean crystallites size within the range of 25 ± 3 nm was obtained from Scherrer's formula. The compressive microstrain in the pure ZnO sample as obtained from Williamson–Hall plot ensured the presence of vacancies inside the nanocrystals. The surface morphology of doped ZnO nanocrystals was studied using field-emission scanning electron microscope image. Undoped ZnO nanoparticles showed a strong optical absorption near 390 nm. A redshift in direct bandgaps with increasing vanadium ions in ZnO matrix was noticed. Vanadium ions were present in three different oxidation states (+2, +3 and +4) within the host ZnO structure as obtained from X-ray photoelectron spectra. Photoluminescence studies also detected the existence of both zinc and oxygen vacancies in the synthesized nanoparticles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report a simple route to design highly sensitive triangular silver nanoplates (TSNPs)-based SERS substrate for the trace-level detection of explosive molecules. The size-dependent localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) tunability for the synthesis of TSNPs is achieved by controlling reaction kinetics and seed volume in a modified seed-mediated approach. The computed extinction spectra of TSNP, using the finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method, are in excellent agreement with the experimental results, therefore assisting further in the investigation of the plasmonic properties of TSNP. The higher electric field enhancement offered by TSNP is systematically investigated by performing the FDTD simulations for various sizes and corner rounding of TSNP. The FDTD results show that the dipolar plasmon resonance wavelength, size, and corner rounding of TSNP are the principal contributing factors for designing the high-performance SERS substrate. Herein, we have used a portable Raman system for the SERS-based detection of three important explosive molecules: picric acid (PA), ammonium nitrate (AN), and 2, 4-dinitrotoluene (DNT). The TSNP-based SERS substrates display excellent intensity enhancement factors of ~ 107 for rhodamine 6G (R6G) and PA and ~ 105 for AN. The high sensitivity of SERS substrate with limit-of-detection (LOD) of value 2.3 × 10−11 M for PA and 3.1 × 10−8 M for AN and effective batch-to-batch reproducibility for DNT, thus offering its potentials for field detection of explosive molecules at trace-level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The sternalis muscle (SM) is an anatomical variant that lies subcutaneously and is superficial to the pectoralis major muscle or sternum. The present meta-analysis was conducted to analyze the prevalence, anatomical features, and variance of the SM in different population. In total, 98 studies were included for this meta-analysis. Eighty-two studies dealt with adult subjects, and sixteen studies with fetuses. The worldwide prevalence of SM was observed to be 6% or 0.06 [0.05–0.7, 95% CI] in 27,470 adults, whereas it was 0.29 [0.20–0.39, 95% CI] in 673 fetuses. In 259 anencephalic fetuses, the prevalence was 44% or 0.44 [0.26–0.63, 95% CI], while the same in 414 fetuses without anencephaly was 16% or 0.16 [0.06–0.27, 95% CI]. The reported prevalence rate in Asian mongoloid population (9.1% = 0.091) was three times that of the Asian Caucasian population (3.33% = 0.0333). The prevalence in European descent was 3.93%. Interestingly, the reported prevalence rates in North and South American populations were 3.44% and 3.66%, almost being equivalent. The cadaveric investigations revealed that the SM had an overall prevalence of 5.96% in adults based on 76 studies, which was higher than other modalities of investigations. The multi-detector computerized tomography (MDCT) had shown the prevalence of approximately 4.33%. The same was reported in surgical studies and mammographic studies as 0.47% and 0.02%, respectively. The SM is not an unusual variant of the chest wall musculature. MDCT could be a new method to precisely demonstrate the morphology, course, and size of the SM in vivo. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The overexploitation of natural freshwater resources has been observed in recent years, leading not only to a depletion of the groundwater table but also to degradation in the groundwater quality. This situation is more serious in the arid to hyper-arid regions. To ensure sustainable management of groundwater, it is essential to investigate the improved mechanism for the integrated use of groundwater for rural and urban communities. With the fast advancement in the area of remote sensing (RS) and geographical information systems (GIS), it has now become possible to make an estimate of the Earth's resources with high accuracy both spatially and temporally. The current study attempts to describe potential zones of the availability of groundwater and its quality status based upon the water quality parameters' spatial distribution by applying a GIS approach integrated with remote sensing technique. All suitable data has been created by developing thematic layers of critical parameters such as rainfall, land use, soil map, slope, land cover, drainage density, and Digital Elevation Model (DEM) using Landsat 8 imagery from Earth Explorer, United State Geological Survey (USGS), and other conventional datasets. Groundwater maps have been prepared using GIS by keeping in view the relative importance of thematic layers. The outcomes of the study will allow users to identify, visualize, understand, assess, and analyze the suitability of groundwater quality as well as quantity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The polyhydroxyalkanoate was discovered almost around a century ago. Still, all the efforts to replace the traditional non-biodegradable plastic with much more environmentally friendly alternative are not enough. While the petroleum-based plastic is like a parasite, taking over the planet rapidly and without any feasible cure, its perennial presence has made the ocean a floating island of life-threatening debris and has flooded the landfills with toxic towering mountains. It demands for an immediate solution; most resembling answer would be the polyhydroxyalkanoates. The production cost is yet one of the significant challenges that various corporate is facing to replace the petroleum-based plastic. To deal with the economic constrain better strain, better practices, and a better market can be adopted for superior results. It demands for systems for polyhydroxyalkanoate production namely bacteria, yeast, microalgae, and transgenic plants. Solely strains affect more than 40% of overall production cost, playing a significant role in both upstream and downstream processes. The highly modifiable nature of the biopolymer provides the opportunity to replace the petroleum plastic in almost all sectors from food packaging to medical industry. The review will highlight the recent advancements and techno-economic analysis of current commercial models of polyhydroxyalkanoate production. Bio-compatibility and the biodegradability perks to be utilized highly efficient in the medical applications gives ample reason to tilt the scale in the favor of the polyhydroxyalkanoate as the new conventional and sustainable plastic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gastric electrical stimulation is a minimally invasive and alternative treatment modality for patients suffering from motility disorders and obesity. The idea of inducing motility and correcting dysrhythmia by the application of an appropriate stimulation (also referred to as electrical stimulation) has gained interest among the clinicians. Injecting current at the acupuncture points via needle (electroacupuncture) or surface electrodes (transcutaneous electroacupuncture) is an emerging field of study for motility disorders. With reference to the clinical studies, the usefulness of the method is considered for their efficacy in symptomatic control and disease management. Although electrical stimulation is shown be a promising technology in the recent years, their use as a treatment option is not encouraging since the mechanism of action and efficacy on reducing symptoms is not clear. A multilateral study involving theoretical modelling and computer simulation proves useful in understanding the mechanisms involved in the therapeutics. In this article, we review the electrical stimulation as an alternative approach for management of the patients suffering from motility dysfunctions and obesity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to assess the viability of waste tire chips as sand reinforcement for enhancing the performance of shallow foundations. Detailed experimental investigation is carried out to analyze the behavior of model footing placed on sand reinforced with waste tire chips, and the observed improvement is quantified in terms of a non-dimensional factor, bearing capacity ratio (BCR). The influence of variation of several factors such as the content of tire-chip reinforcement, the extent of tire reinforced sand zone, footing shape, the effect of submergence, and scale effects on BCR has also been studied. Test results indicate significant improvement in BCR validating the effectiveness of tire chips in improving the bearing capacity of sand. The optimum tire content, depth of reinforced zone, and width of the reinforced zone are recommended as 30%, 1B-2B, and 3B-5B, respectively (B is the width of the footing), where BCR increased to more than 5 under both low strain and high strain conditions. It was also established that submergence of the reinforced soil and shape and size of footing did not have a significant influence on the BCR. Moreover, the performance of tire chip–reinforced sand is found to be better than both fiber- and geogrid-reinforced sand. Bearing capacity increase of up to 1.89 times and 2.40 times was observed in tire chip–reinforced sand in comparison to fiber- and geogrid-reinforced sand, respectively. On the whole, the significant improvement in BCR and the better performance of tire chips over other alternatives ascertain that bulk utilization of tire wastes in shallow foundations has immense potential for effective waste management of large stockpiles of tires and can prove to be an economical and sustainable solution for the construction industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We study zero-sum combinatorial games within the framework of so-called Richman auctions (Lazarus et al., in Games No Chance 29:439–449, 1996). We modify the alternating play scoring ruleset Cumulative Subtraction (Cohensius et al., in Electron J Combin 26(P4):52, 2019), to a discrete bidding scheme, similar to Develin and Payne (Electron J Combin 17(1):85, 2010). Players bid to move, and the player with the highest bid wins the move and hands over the winning bid amount to the other player. The new game is dubbed Bidding Cumulative Subtraction. In so-called unitary games, players remove exactly one item out of a single heap of identical items, until the heap is empty, and their actions contribute to a common score, which increases or decreases by one unit depending on whether the maximizing player wins the turn or not. We show that there is a unique bidding equilibrium for a much larger class of games that generalize standard scoring play. We prove that for all sufficiently large heap sizes, the equilibrium outcomes of unitary games are eventually periodic, with period 2. We show that the periodicity appears at the latest for heaps of sizes quadratic in the total budget. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present work deals with the green synthesis of silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) from bio-reduction of Ag nitrate using different concentrations of medicinal plant extracts, namely, Mentha arvensis, Bryophyllum pinnatum and Dalbergia sissoo. The bio-synthesis route with a non-toxic approach is an attractive research topic in the area of nano-biomedicine and material science. Eco-friendly Ag NPs have been confirmed from the brown color of the solutions, and via UV–Vis spectroscopy. Further, Ag NP-conjugated l-cysteine capped ZnS:Mn quantum dots have been developed successfully. This prepared conjugation aims at antimicrobial activity using antibiotic-resistant gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria, namely, Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli, respectively. In anti-microbial studies, a zone of inhibition (antibiotic sensitivity) was found to vary significantly with the varied concentration of Ag NPs that also depends on the specific type of plant extract. These studies may open the door for non-toxic material to synthesize plasmonic NPs for biosensors and detectors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The waste management of large quantities of waste tires has become a major environmental concern over the years. To provide a viable and sustainable substitute to the current waste tire disposal techniques, attempts have been made for their possible utilization in geoengineering. The current study proposes a novel technique for the application of tire chips-reinforced sand as fill below foundations subjected to eccentric inclined loads. Model footings tests were performed on a strip footing subjected to eccentric inclined loading conditions by varying reinforcement quantity reinforcement depth, eccentricity, and inclination. It was observed that the inclusion of waste tire chips substantially enhances the bearing capacity of sand with observed improvements more than 20 times that of unreinforced sand. The observed performance under eccentric inclined was better than central vertical loading conditions indicating that it is more beneficial under eccentric inclined loading conditions. Furthermore, the tilt and horizontal displacements of the footing resting on reinforced sand reduced considerably compared to the unreinforced case. At last, a statistical model based on the test results was developed for quick estimation of the bearing capacity of tire chips-reinforced sand. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ZnO-SiO2 nanocomposite thin films were synthesized using a facile and cost-effective chemical bath deposition for different growth durations, under alkaline conditions on microscopic glass slides. Effect of deposition time on the morphological and optical properties were thoroughly investigated using x-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive x-ray analysis (EDX), transmittance and time-resolved photoluminescence studies, etc. XRD patterns confirmed the formation of ZnO and diffused ZnO-Silica phases of hetero-structures at a particular growth time starting from the amorphous silica phase. SEM micrographs revealed an appreciable change in morphology of the particles with increasing growth time. Uniform porous films with improved surface coverage resulted on the substrate after an incubation period of 2 h. The EDX spectra confirmed that the thin films composed of ZnO and silica co-exist without any other impurities. It was observed that transmittance of the films decreased with increase in growth duration, whereas a slight variation in band gap was observed. The observed diminutive red shift in the band gap is due to a slight change in the transmission cut off edge. Laser-induced, time-resolved photoluminescence studies were conducted using pulse excitation in the nano-sec time domain. It showed an appreciable decrease in deep defect level emission at higher deposition duration, which arose due to unintentional doping in ZnO, creating a large number of native defects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The proximal insertion beyond coracoid process of pectoralis minor is considered as hidden culprit of rotator cuff disorders. The ectopic insertion is also associated with thoracic outlet syndrome. The current review was conducted to provide a comprehensive evidence-based assessment of the anatomical characteristics of ectopic insertion of pectoralis minor. Materials and methods: A through systematic search was conducted on the major electronic database, PubMed, EMBASE, Google Scholar and Journals of Anatomy, orthopedics, plastic surgery, sports medicine. The primary outcome was to measure the prevalence of ectopic insertion of pectoralis minor tendons. The data extraction was conducted for pooled estimation and metanalysis. Results: A total of 25 studies were included for systematic review. The overall pooled estimate of ectopic insertion of Pectoralis Minor was 19.27% (95% CI 15–24%). The prevalence rate in dissected specimen was 21% (CI 15–28%) and in arthroscopic evaluation was 22% (95% CI 5–59%) which was marginally higher with wide confidence interval due small sample size. The prevalence rate in MRI and USG were 15 and 12%, because MRI and USG have almost similar sensitivity in the detection of anomalous insertion of Pectoralis Minor. The distribution of subtypes of anomalous or ectopic insertion based on Le Double classification was 34% for type I, 42 and 9% for Type III. The incidence of ectopic insertion of pectoralis minor was highest in Japanese population. The female and left side have slightly higher incidence at insignificant level. Conclusion: The preoperative MRI or at least USG evaluation of shoulder joint must be conducted for appropriate surgical planning, because the prevalence of ectopic insertion is around 20%. The preoperative detection of anomalous insertion of pectoralis minor can be crucial in minimizing the incidences of iatrogenic injuries of tendon or post-operative complications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Inspired by the feeding mechanisms of a nematode, a novel two-indenter (2I) micro-pump is analyzed theoretically for transport and mixing of a non-Newtonian fluid for the purpose of lab-on-a-chip applications. Considering that the viscous forces dominate the flows in microscopic regime, the concept lubrication theory was adopted to device the two-dimensional flow model of the problem. By approximating the movements of the indenter as a sinusoidal function, the details of the flow were investigated for variations in—frequency of contraction of the first value keeping the second valve at higher occlusion, and occlusion. The study indicates that occlusive nature of the second valve leads to the large pressure barrier which prevents the fluid to enter into the neighboring compartment. Transport occurs as the lumen opens to develop a suction pressure. Pressure barrier is found to be highest for dilatants followed by Newtonian and pseudo-plastics. Shear stress dependency on frequency the contraction of the first value is highest for lower values of flow behavior index. In conclusion, the study provides details connecting the flows resulting from the indentation of the front-end indenter to the frequency of indentation, geometry and rheology of the fluid, thus facilitating optimal design of the micro-pumps. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]