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The bis(azolium) salt [L1‐H2]Br2 was found to serve as a suitable platform for accessing the heterobimetallic IrIII‐M (M=PdII/AuI) and PdII‐IrIII complexes. Initially, selective mono‐metalation of [L1‐H2]Br2 yielded an orthometalated IrIII‐ or non‐orthometalated PdII‐complex. Sequential metalation of the mono‐IrIII complex resulted in the formation of heterobimetallic IrIII‐PdII/AuI complexes. Similarly, a distinct heterobimetallic PdII‐IrIII complex was synthesized starting from the mono‐PdII complex. Further, the corresponding homobimetallic IrIII‐IrIII and PdII‐PdII complexes were directly obtained from [L1‐H2]Br2. Additionally, monometallic PdII and IrIII analogues were synthesized from [L2‐H]Br and [L3‐H]Br, respectively. The heterobimetallic IrIII‐PdII and PdII‐IrIII complexes were then evaluated as catalysts in various one‐pot tandem catalytic reactions in which they demonstrated superior activity than the mixtures of both their corresponding homobimetallic IrIII‐IrIII/PdII‐PdII and monometallic IrIII/PdII counterparts, under the constant concentrations of metal centers. Moreover, while comparing complexes IrIII‐PdII and PdII‐IrIII, the former exhibits higher activity in all the studied reactions. All these findings suggest the presence of some form of cooperativity between the two metal centers (Ir and Pd) connected by a single ligand framework in IrIII‐PdII and PdII‐IrIII complex, with IrIII‐PdII displaying better cooperativity that has been validated by electrochemical, NMR, and DFT studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Effective access to azolium salts with varying stereoelectronic properties has always fascinated the organometallic chemists. Herein, we described a Ru(II)‐catalyzed one‐step access to diverse meta‐alkylated N‐aryl (benz)imidazolium salts (>40 examples) via σ‐bond activation strategy starting from the readily available azolium salts using alkyl bromide. Notably, the present method is compatible with a wide range of azolium salts and secondary/tertiary alkyl bromides, including the biologically relevant motifs. Various control experiments along with the DFT calculation established the reaction pathway of orthometalated Ru(II)‐NHC complex (6) formation followed by the generation of a Ru(III)‐intermediate, which controls the observed meta‐selectivity, via single electron transfer. Crucially, detailed insight of the reaction mechanism helped to comprehend why some substrates are challenging for this methodology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The polarimetric Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) data sets have been widely exploited for land use land cover (LULC) classification due to their sensitivity to the structural and dielectric properties of the imaging target. In this study, the potential of fully polarimetric L‐ and S‐band Airborne SAR (LS‐ASAR) data sets were explored for the machine‐learning‐based classification of Urban, Vegetation, Waterbody, and Open Ground. This work was done by utilizing dual‐frequency L‐ and S‐band airborne data of Santa Barbara, California, USA, acquired under the Airborne SAR (LS ASAR) campaign, a precursor airborne mission to the space‐borne NASA‐ISRO (NISAR) mission. The LS‐ASAR polarimetric information was utilized for LULC classification using the SVM classifier. The roll‐invariant Barnes, and eigenvalue/eigenvector‐based Cloude and H/A/Alpha decomposition were implemented to retrieve the scattering parameters. The backscatter response of classes was studied, and separability analysis was done to reduce the misclassification error between six class pairs‐ Vegetation—Urban, Vegetation—Waterbody, Vegetation—Open Ground, Urban—Waterbody, Urban—Open Ground, and Water—Open Ground. The decomposition models failed to achieve the desirable separability index for all six class pairs; consequently, the classification of Barnes, Cloude, H/A/Alpha decomposition showed misclassification between vegetation‐urban class, and waterbody‐open ground class for both L‐ and S‐band data sets. The effort was made toward improving the classification accuracy by integrating the roll‐invariant and eigenvalue‐eigenvector scattering parameters of the multifrequency L‐ and S‐band data set. This method presented the desirable separability index for all class‐pair; eventually highest classification accuracy was achieved i.e. 93.35% (kc ${k}_{c}$ = 0.91) by significantly reducing the misclassification error between class pairs. Key Points: Implementation of Barnes, Cloude & H/A/Alpha polarimetric decomposition models on dual‐frequency polarimetry SAR L‐ and S‐band data setsSupport Vector Machine classification of scattering parameters and generation of confusion matrices for Accuracy AssessmentImproving the classification accuracy by integrating the polarimetric scattering components of L‐ and S‐band data sets [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Analysis of protein thermostability is vital in protein science to aid the understanding of evolutionary aspects of organic life as well as in protein engineering for modern day industrial applications. In the present study, supervised machine learning (ML) algorithms are employed to unravel potential patterns behind protein thermostability. This computational analysis conclusively shows inverse gamma turns, VIII turns, and the propensity of cysteine (Cys) to be the most important biophysical–biochemical attributes responsible for protein thermostability. From the propensity analysis of amino acids, polar residues, specifically glutamine (Gln) and serine (Ser), and charged residues, specifically glutamic acid (Glu) and lysine (Lys), are found to favor the enhancement of protein thermostability. The study demonstrates the feasibility of assigning quantifiable descriptors of thermostability which is expected to aid protein engineering. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The discrete multinuclear AgI−NHC complexes [Agn(1)n)](X)n; (n=3 or 4, X=BF4, PF6), synthesized from a bis‐NHC ligand 1 and AgI ions via multiligand self‐assembly, were observed to be in equilibrium between two forms (tri‐ and tetranuclear) in solution on the NMR timescale, which is unprecedented in CNHC‐donor based chemistry. The existence of both the species was confirmed by various studies such as NMR (1H, VT, 2D‐DOSY) and ESI‐MS analysis along with concentration studies. Importantly, replacing AgI with other coinage metals (AuI and CuI) was found to alter the phenomenon entirely: a slow exchange from the tetra‐ to trinuclear species was noticed for the AuI complexes (4 a, b), whereas no such process was detected in case of the CuI complexes (5 a, b). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The discrete multinuclear AgI−NHC complexes [Agn(1)n)](X)n; (n=3 or 4, X=BF4, PF6), synthesized from a bis‐NHC ligand 1 and AgI ions via multiligand self‐assembly, were observed to be in equilibrium between two forms (tri‐ and tetranuclear) in solution on the NMR timescale, which is unprecedented in CNHC‐donor based chemistry. The existence of both the species was confirmed by various studies such as NMR (1H, VT, 2D‐DOSY) and ESI‐MS analysis along with concentration studies. Importantly, replacing AgI with other coinage metals (AuI and CuI) was found to alter the phenomenon entirely: a slow exchange from the tetra‐ to trinuclear species was noticed for the AuI complexes (4 a, b), whereas no such process was detected in case of the CuI complexes (5 a, b). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The polarimetric distortions present in the polarimetric SAR (PolSAR) data sets leads to unexpected results from the polarimetric decomposition and classification models, which in turn result in the ground target misinterpretation. The most important polarimetric distortions in airborne PolSAR data sets are the channel imbalance and crosstalk. The minimization of these polarimetric distortions using polarimetric calibration techniques is very important to carry out the quantitative analysis using PolSAR data and time series analysis and to compare results between different sensors. In the current state of the art, the spatial variability of the polarimetric distortions at different slant‐range positions in the data set was not completely analyzed and also the temporal variability of the polarimetric distortions using multiple data sets needs to be more investigated. Therefore, the main objectives of this study were to develop an operational processor to perform the external polarimetric calibration of the L‐band Uninhibited Aerial Vehicle Synthetic Aperture Radar system and to analyze the spatio‐temporal behavior of the polarimetric distortions. The polarimetric distortion matrix (PDM) was formulated after considering the crosstalk and channel imbalance polarimetric distortions to derive the scattering matrix free from all kinds of polarimetric distortions from the observed scattering matrix. The Quegan, improved Quegan, and Ainsworth methods for polarimetric calibration were implemented to solve the PDM. The residual channel imbalance and crosstalk after polarimetric calibration were estimated to compare the calibration efficiency of these methods. After that, a spatio‐temporal analysis was carried out with several data sets to assess the spatio‐temporal behavior of these polarimetric distortions. The polarimetric signatures and the coherency matrix behavior of the trihedral corner reflectors were used to analyze the ground target characterization improvement after polarimetric calibration. The results obtained from this study revealed that the crosstalk is the major cause for the polarimetric distortions and the channel imbalance and phase bias present in the data sets were not high. From the spatio‐temporal analysis, it was found that the variability of these polarimetric distortions both in spatial and temporal domains was minimum and can be discarded without causing any considerable error in the polarimetric calibration process. Key Points: The major cause for the polarimetric distortions in the UAVSAR data sets was due to the crosstalkThe channel imbalance and phase bias distortions were not high for all the data setsPolSAR calibration involves the use of Quegan, Improved Quegan, and Ainsworth methods in this study [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The versatile application of different functional groups such as alcohols (1° and 2°), alkyl arenes, and (aryl)olefins to construct carbon‐oxygen bond via oxidation is an area of intense research. Here, we report a reusable heterogeneous V2O5@TiO2 catalyzed selective oxidation of various functionalities utilizing different mild and eco‐compatible oxidants under greener reaction conditions. The method was successfully applied for the alcohol oxidation, oxidative scission of styrenes, and benzylic C−H oxidation to their corresponding aldehydes and ketones. The utilization of mild and eco‐friendly oxidizing reagents such as K2S2O8, H2O2 (30 % aq.), TBHP (70 % aq.), broad substrate scope, gram‐scale synthesis, and catalyst recyclability are notable features of the developed protocol. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a novel dual current mirror based CMOS circuit for design and development of highly sensitive CMOS‐MEMS integrated pressure sensors. The proposed pressure sensing structure has been designed using piezoresistive effect in MOSFETs and 5 μm standard CMOS technology parameters. The proposed structure includes six p‐ and n‐channel MOSFETs and two square silicon diaphragms. MOSFETs MP1 and MN1 are the reference transistors and are placed on the substrate. The pressure sensing MOSFETs MP2 and MP3 are integrated at the mid of fixed edge and at the centre of the diaphragm‐1 to sense the maximum tensile and compressive stress developed due to applied pressure. Similarly, the pressure sensing MOSFETs MN2 and MN3 are embedded at the mid of fixed edge and at the centre of the diaphragm‐2. COMSOL Multiphysics and LTspice softwares are used for the design and simulation of proposed sensor. The sensitivity of proposed sensor is found to be approximately 7.7 mV/kPa for an input pressure ranging from 0–200 kPa. The output voltage of the sensor has a temperature sensitivity of approximately −0.2 mV/°C for an operating temperature ranging from −50 to 100 °C at 200 kPa. This CMOS circuit may be an alternative to traditional Wheatstone bridge circuits in future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polarimetric Synthetic Aperture Radar (PolSAR) calibration is an essential preprocessing step that must be performed to ensure that the data quality is adequate. This, in turn, helps to minimize the propagation of errors in any further data processing or information extraction. Crosstalk and channel imbalance are two major distortions found to be present in the uncalibrated polarimetric SAR data. The PolSAR calibration mainly aims to reduce these two distortions revealing the true scattering pattern of the targets. In this regard, Quegan's algorithm and Ainsworth algorithm are two widely used algorithms for the PolSAR calibration. In this study, the accuracy and efficiency of these two algorithms have been thoroughly compared using suitable metrics. It has been shown that the Ainsworth algorithm performs better than Quegan's in terms of accuracy at the cost of poor computational efficiency. The data quality metrics also highlight the better calibration accuracy of the Ainsworth algorithm. The issue of higher computational complexity has been effectively addressed by coupling both of these algorithms. Evidently, the computational cost has been reduced in the case of the proposed algorithm. The polarization orientation angle (POA) shift is another distortion caused by the topographic variations present in the target scene. Therefore, correction of POA shift has been incorporated in this research by coupling it with the PolSAR calibration. Subsequently, the improvement in the scattering has been observed. In essence, the proposed algorithm coupled with the correction of POA shift rectifies the major polarimetric distortions with adequate accuracy and computational efficiency. Key Points: A computationally efficient algorithm for Polarimetric Synthetic Aperture Radar (PolSAR) calibrationEstimation and comparison of PolSAR data quality before and after the calibrationComparison of existing PolSAR calibration algorithms [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses the synthesis and catalytic activity of heterobimetallic complexes bridged by an unsymmetrical bis(NHC) ligand. The complexes, IrIII−M (M=PdII/AuI), were found to exhibit enhanced catalytic activity in one-pot tandem catalytic reactions compared to homobimetallic and monometallic catalysts. The improved activity was attributed to better communication and cooperativity between the two different metal centers, as supported by NMR, electrochemical, and theoretical studies. The full research article provides more detailed information on this topic. [Extracted from the article]

Polarimetric synthetic‐aperture radar (SAR) remote sensing has been widely used for structural and biophysical parameters retrieval of forest vegetation. It has been found that the combination of polarimetric properties and interferometric characteristics of SAR remote sensing provides the capacity to retrieve forest height. The prime objective of this research was to investigate the potential of Polarimetric Synthetic Aperture Radar Tomography (PolTomSAR) for the forested and river region of Mondah National Park, Gabon. SAR tomography is an improved method for acquiring the height of geographical features. UAVSAR L‐band fully polarimetric multibaseline data have been used in this research (1.275 GHz). SAR data and ground data over the area have been collected in the year 2016. With the superresolution‐based Capon algorithm, multiple scatterers located at a different vertical position in the same azimuth range cell has been resolved and reconstructed. This work provides a framework for Capon‐based tomographic processing of multibaseline UAVSAR data for vertical profile retrieval of forest vegetation. The height profile of the forest patch having sparse, as well as dense vegetation, were retrieved. The vertical profile for a single azimuthal bin was obtained in range direction. The tomographic profile obtained was cross‐checked with the field‐measured forest height for the 16 locations in Mondah National Park, Gabon. To check the accuracy of the applied method, the statistical method of R2 and root‐mean‐square error (RMSE) is employed. The obtained RMSE of the result is 4.21 m and R2 is 0.92. The obtained results were concluded to find the potential of the Capon algorithm for the tomographic reconstruction of UAVSAR data. Key Points: PolSAR Tomography of UAVSAR data for forest height retrievalAn analysis of tomographic profiles for forest vegetation and water bodyAccuracy assessment of PolSAR tomography‐based forest height retrieval [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Target characterization is an essential aspect of polarimetric decomposition. This technique is capable of categorizing polarimetric signatures for different types of targets based on the scattering mechanisms they follow, enabling straightforward physical interpretation of the targets. The geometric anomalies associated with human‐made targets escalate the degree of randomness in the scattering process, which causes scattering ambiguity for such targets. The second‐order model descriptors do not relate to the actual physical structure and yield predominant volume scattering power. Such urban targets are decomposed as natural targets leading to irrelevant decomposition results. The methods developed to curb the problem are unable to maintain the consistency in the decomposition modeling as they underestimate volume scattering powers for natural landcover. A hybrid decomposition model is proposed herein to solve the problem of predominant volume scattering observed from urban targets by preserving volume scattering powers for natural targets. The model uses eigenvalue‐based decomposition parameters and polarimetric interferometric synthetic aperture radar (PolInSAR) coherence to decompose ambiguous targets. The proposed model has been tested on NISAR UAVSAR PolInSAR data acquired over the Greenville region, MS, USA. The proposed model has increased the double‐bounce scattering from the urban targets and enhanced the volume scattering from natural landcover as well. By comparing the results with existing decomposition models, it is observed that the proposed model gives a more robust representation of the landcover than the compared decomposition models. Plain Language Summary: The SAR sensor illuminates the surface with polarized microwaves and receives the interacted backscattered wave. The backscattered wave is transformed into information, which is represented by a scattering matrix. Due to different geophysical properties of the targets, there is a change in the backscattered wave. Polarimetric SAR decomposition is a technique that can relate the change in backscatter to the physical structure of the target, enabling simple and robust classification of the landcover. The techniques decompose or disintegrate the scattering matrix into scattering mechanisms, and each scattering mechanism represents a broad category of different landcover. Owning to the random nature of real‐world observations, the backscatter for two different categories of landcover can be the same, such as a building and a tree. Therefore, for such cases, the polarimetric decomposition yields inaccurate classification results, and from the polarimetric point of view, this problem is referred to as overestimation of volume scattering. The reason for this is the assumptions and the design of the model. Various modifications have been proposed to solve the problem of overestimation. We find that direct modification may yield inconsistent decomposition results, which can be critical for different utilities of polarimetric decompositions. We propose a new model that associates SAR interferometry with polarimetric decompositions to solve the problem of predominant volume scattering. The new model has been tested on L‐band simulated NISAR UAVSAR data acquired over the Greenville region, MS, USA. Key Points: PolInSAR coherence to characterize targets as permanent or dynamic featuresEntropy describes the randomness of the scattering processModel‐based decompositions have been proposed for the scattering‐based characterization of manmade and natural features [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A closed‐form feedback solution to finite‐time optimal control problems for input‐affine non‐linear systems is presented here. Based on the state‐dependent Riccati equation (SDRE) framework, this suboptimal solution, called balanced‐cost SDRE (BCSDRE), is proposed to minimise the overall control effort required for driving the system from an arbitrary initial condition to an acceptable neighbourhood around origin, within a pre‐specified final time. The state error is dynamically penalised to balance the overall state error and the control cost, resulting in a modified SDRE. Unlike the existing finite‐horizon SDRE methods, the proposed technique does not require to solve algebraic Riccati and Lyapunov equations at every time step, which makes this approach computationally efficient. Based on the Lyapunov theory, the origin of the BCSDRE controlled system is shown to be locally exponentially stable. Furthermore, the state profile is also shown to be locally predefined time ultimately bounded, under appropriate tuning of the proposed controller. The proposed technique is implemented to design a controller for the Van der Pol oscillator and impact angle guidance design problem, and its performance is compared with the existing finite‐horizon SDRE‐based techniques. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: This study was aimed to evaluate the association of maternal determinants with birth weight (BW) of babies in tea garden workers (TGW) and housewives (HW). Methods: A total of 175 subjects were recruited from Assam Medical College, Dibrugarh, India. In this cross‐sectional study, maternal determinants, BW of babies and placental weight were explored in TGW (n = 102) and HW (n = 73). These factors were assessed and correlated by logistic regression models. Results: A higher incidence of low birth weight (LBW) was found in mothers working in the tea garden (48.04%) as compared to HW (10.96%). Activity of plucking of leaves in tea garden by women had a higher risk for LBW babies (adjusted odd ratio [AOR] 4.33, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.38–13.57, P = 0.012) and decreased placental weight (AOR 11.42, 95% CI 1.18–126.02, P = 0.036) as compared to HW considered as reference group. Women who worked continuously in the tea garden during 9 months of pregnancy also revealed an elevated risk for LBW (AOR 5.32, 95% CI 1.34–21.09, P = 0.017). Conclusion: This study suggests the activity of plucking of tea leaves by women is associated with LBW of babies and decreased placental weight. Particularly, if mothers worked continuously in the tea garden during 9 months of pregnancy, it also increased the risk of delivering LBW babies. This exploratory study provides an important platform for further prospective studies, which could be focused on the potential consequences of maternal occupational exposures during pregnancy on fetal development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The potential of single date fully Polarimetric RADARSAT‐2 data in retrieving crop biophysical parameters using Machine Learning techniques was investigated. Various polarimetric parameters along with coherent and incoherent decomposition techniques were assessed for its sensitivity toward crop parameters like Wet and Dry Biomass, Crop Height, Leaf Area Index and Vegetation Water Content. A set of 39 polarimetric observables extracted from the Quad‐Pol data were used for regression analysis. In this study two Machine Learning techniques Random Forest Regression (RFR) and Multiple Linear Regression (MLR) models were assessed for the prediction of Wet Biomass (gm−2) and Height (cm). The most significant (6 out of 39) variables were applied for prediction. The results revealed that RFR algorithm performed better than MLR. The coefficient of determination (R2) and root‐mean‐square‐error of estimating wet biomass and height were 0.646, 655.65 (gm−2) and 0.71, 14.5 (cm) respectively in RFR and 0.566, 683.86 (gm−2) and 0.65, 16.14 (cm) respectively in MLR. Thus this study explored the effective application of quad‐pol data for assessing sensitivity and accurate retrieval of parameters using optimum PolSAR observables. Key Points: Important polarimetric observables and their sensitivity toward biophysical parameters were analyzedEffective retrieval of crop parameters from a single‐date polarimetric data using Random Forest and Multiple Linear Regression was explored [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Artemisinin is highly effective against multidrug-resistant strains of Plasmodium falciparum, the aetiological agent of the most severe form of malaria. However, a low level of accumulation of artemisinin in Artemisia annua is a major limitation for its production and delivery to malaria endemic areas of the world. While several strategies to enhance artemisinin have been extensively explored, enhancing storage capacity in trichome has not yet been considered. Therefore, trichome density was increased with the expression of β-glucosidase ( bgl1) gene in A. annua through Agrobacterium-mediated transformation. Transgene ( bgl1) integration and transcript were confirmed by molecular analysis. Trichome density increased up to 20% in leaves and 66% in flowers of BGL1 transgenic plants than Artemisia control plants. High-performance liquid chromatography, time of flight mass spectrometer data showed that artemisinin content increased up to 1.4% in leaf and 2.56% in flowers (per g DW), similar to the highest yields achieved so far through metabolic engineering. Artemisinin was enhanced up to five-fold in BGL1 transgenic flowers. This study opens the possibility of increasing artemisinin content by manipulating trichomes' density, which is a major reservoir of artemisinin. Combining biosynthetic pathway engineering with enhancing trichome density may further increase artemisinin yield in A. annua. Because oral feeding of Artemisia plant cells reduced parasitemia more efficiently than the purified drug, reduced drug resistance and cost of prohibitively expensive purification process, enhanced expression should play a key role in making this valuable drug affordable to treat malaria in a large global population that disproportionally impacts low-socioeconomic areas and underprivileged children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Marker genes are essential for the selection and identification of rarely occurring transformation events generated in biotechnology. This includes plastid transformation, which requires that multiple copies of the modified chloroplast genome be present to obtain genetically stable transplastomic plants. However, the marker gene becomes dispensable when homoplastomic plants are obtained. Here, we demonstrate the precise excision of attP- and attB-flanked DNA from the plastid genome mediated by the large serine recombinase Bxb1. We transformed the tobacco plastid genome with the pTCH-PB vector containing a stuffer fragment of DNA flanked by directly oriented nonhomologous attP and attB recombinase recognition sites. In the absence of the Bxb1 recombinase, the transformed plastid genomes were stable and heritable. Nuclear-transformed transgenic tobacco plants expressing a plastid-targeted Bxb1 recombinase were crossed with transplastomic pTCH-PB plants, and the T1 hybrids exhibited efficient excision of the target sequence. The Bxb1- att system should prove to be a useful tool for site-specifically manipulating the plastid genome and generating marker-free transplastomic plants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Apolipoprotein E (ApoE) has been associated with several diseases including Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's and multiple sclerosis. ApoE also has documented immunomodulatory functions. We investigated gene expression in circulating monocytes and in bone marrows of patients with visceral leishmaniasis (VL) living in an endemic area in Bihar, India, and contrasted these with control healthy subjects or other diagnostic bone marrows from individuals in the same region. Samples from VL patients were obtained prior to initiating treatment. Our study revealed significant upregulated expression of the apoE transcript in patients with VL. Furthermore, the levels of ApoE protein were elevated in serum samples of subjects with VL compared with healthy endemic controls. These observations may provide clues regarding the complex interactions between lipid metabolism and immunoregulation of infectious and inflammatory diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Upper gastrointestinal hemorrhage is one of the more important complications of cirrhosis. Most of the available data regarding the prevalence of upper and lower gastrointestinal sites of bleeding in cirrhotic patients have been obtained in individuals with alcoholic cirrhosis evaluated in the course of an acute gastrointestinal bleeding episode. Few data exist, however, as to the prevalence of either potential bleeding sites or of normal endoscopic findings in hemo-dynamically stable individuals with cirrhosis of any etiology. Five hundred ten cirrhotic subjects, who were evaluated for possible liver transplantation (OLTx) between January 1985 and June 1987, were included in this study. Seventy-five had alcoholic cirrhosis and 435 had nonalcoholic cirrhosis of various etiologies. Of these 510 patients, 412 underwent combined upper and lower gastrointestinal endoscopy and 98 underwent upper gastrointestinal endoscopy alone. Gastritis, gastric and duodenal ulcer disease were found significantly (each at least p < 0.025) more often in patients with alcoholic liver disease than in those with nonalcoholic liver disease. The prevalence of the various lower gastrointestinal lesions in both groups was similar. Of particular interest is the fact that in alcoholic cirrhotics, the prevalence of gastritis, gastric ulcer and duodenal ulcer disease was unrelated to the degree of portal hypertension, whereas in the nonalcoholic cirrhotics the prevalence of gastritis and duodenal ulcer disease but not gastric ulcer disease was associated significantly with the degree of portal hypertension as assessed by the presence or absence of large esophageal varices, ascites, and hepatic encephalopathy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Algae have been explored for renewable energy, nutraceuticals, and value‐added products. However, low lipid yield is a significant impediment to its commercial viability. Genetic engineering can improve the fatty acid profile of algae without compromising its growth. This study introduced the diacylglycerol acyltransferase (BnDGAT) gene from Brassica napus into Chlorella sorokiniana‐I, a fast‐growing and thermotolerant natural strain isolated from wastewater, which increased its intracellular lipid accumulation. Hygromycin‐resistant cells were selected, and enhanced green florescence protein fluorescence was used to distinguish pure transgenic cell lines from mixed cultures. Compared to the wild type, BnDGAT expression in transgenic C. sorokiniana‐I caused a threefold increase in non‐polar lipid and a twofold increase in polyunsaturated fatty acids. Nile red staining reaffirmed the presence of higher intracellular lipid bodies in transgenic cells. There was a substantial alteration in the fatty acid profile of transgenic alga expressing BnDGAT. The non‐essential omega 9 (C18: 1) fatty acid decreased (5%–7% from 18%), while alpha‐linolenic acid, an essential omega 3 fatty acid (C18: 3), was increased (23%–24% from 11%). This study substantiates a valuable strategy for enhancing essential omega‐3 fatty acids and neutral lipids to improve its nutritional value for animal feed. The increased lipid productivity should reduce the cost of producing fatty acid methyl esters (FAME). Improved FAME quality should address the clouding issues in cold regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Amphiregulin (AREG), which acts as one of the ligands for epidermal receptor growth factor receptor (EGFR), plays a crucial role in tissue repair, inflammation, and immunity. AREG is synthesized as membrane‐anchored pre‐protein, and is excreted after proteolytic cleavage, and serves as an autocrine or paracrine factor. After engagement with the EGFR, AREG triggers a cascade of signaling events required for many cellular physiological processes including metabolism, cell cycle, and proliferation. Under different inflammatory and pathogenic conditions, AREG is expressed by various activated immune cells that orchestrate both tolerance and host resistance mechanisms. Several factors including xenobiotics, cytokines, and inflammatory lipids have been shown to trigger AREG gene expression and release. In this review, we discuss the structure, function, and regulation of AREG, its role in tissue repair, inflammation, and homeostasis as well as the potential of AREG as a biomarker and therapeutic target. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Higher lipid biosynthesis and accumulation are important to achieve economic viability of biofuel production via microalgae. To enhance lipid content, Chlamydomonas reinhardtii was genetically engineered with a key enzyme diacylglycerol acyltransferase ( Bn DGAT2) from Brassica napus, responsible for neutral lipid biosynthesis. The transformed colonies harbouring aph7 gene, screened on hygromycin-supplemented medium, achieved transformation frequency of ~120 ± 10 colonies/1 × 106 cells. Transgene integration and expression were confirmed by PCR, Southern blots, staining lipid droplets, proteins and spectro-fluorometric analysis of Nile red-stained cells. The neutral lipid is a major class (over 80% of total lipids) and most significant requirement for biodiesel production; this was remarkably higher in the transformed alga than the untransformed control. The levels of saturated fatty acids in the transformed alga decreased to about 7% while unsaturated fatty acids increased proportionately when compared to wild type cells. Polyunsaturated fatty acids, especially α-linolenic acid, an essential omega-3 fatty acid, were enhanced up to 12% in the transformed line. Nile red staining confirmed formation of a large number of lipid globules in the transformed alga. Evaluation of long-term stability and vitality of the transgenic alga revealed that cryopreservation produced significantly higher quantity of lipid than those maintained continuously over 128 generations on solid medium. The overexpression of Bn DGAT2 significantly altered the fatty acids profile in the transformed alga. Results of this study offer a valuable strategy of genetic manipulation for enhancing polyunsaturated fatty acids and neutral lipids for biofuel production in algae. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]