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Key Clinical Message: Tickborne diseases have become the threats to the health of people worldwide, accounting for nearly 80% patients with vectorborne diseases in the United States. Early diagnosis and proper treatment play a significant role in the management. Close contacts should be screened for delayed symptoms associated with tickborne diseases. This study describes a rare case of a 72‐year‐old Chinese man presented with a 5‐day history of painful nodules on the perianal region, indicating tick bite. Tickborne diseases become the threats to the health of people worldwide. Untreated cases may result in several serious inflammatory complications. Manual removal of ticks with fine forceps is effective for preventing the transmission of tickborne infections. People (who have been bitten by a tick) and close contacts should be screened for delayed symptoms associated with tickborne diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article compares cryptocurrency price forecasting methods by evaluating Auto-Regressive Integrated Moving Average (ARIMA) and Seasonal ARIMA (SARIMA) against Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) and Gated Recurrent Unit (GRU) networks. It discusses model effectiveness, optimization for various cryptocurrencies, and evaluates performance using metrics like Mean Squared Error (MSE), Mean Absolute Error (MAE), Root Mean Squared Error (RMSE), and Mean Absolute Percentage Error (MAPE).

Ticks are blood-sucking arthropod ectoparasites of vertebrates, which are vectors of many diseases. They cause varied skin manifestations, which occur either due to the attachment of the tick to the host or due to the infections it spreads. Dermoscopy serves as a precise diagnostic tool for tick bites and also helps in ensuring complete removal of the tick. Prompt removal and identification of the tick, along with appropriate antibiotic therapy, are important aspects of the management of this condition. Herein, we present a case series of nine patients with tick bites, by ticks of similar morphology but at different body sites and with varied predisposing factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aquatic animals are an important source of food for humans, yet little is known about their potential to transfer zoonotic viruses. Multiple recent cases of SARS-CoV-2 from cold-chain aquatic food and environmental samples has evoked worldwide concerns, and even though these cases pale in comparison to poultry and livestock. To investigate the potential threat of food from aquatic animals, we map their transcriptomes to the genomes of human respiratory- and intestine-related viruses. Analyses only find an influenza virus sequence in a salmon (Salmo salar) skin transcriptome. BLAST and phylogenetic analyses identify this sequence as influenza A, and this likely owes to contamination from a worker. Thus, when prepared properly, aquatic animals can provide great nutritional benefits to humans while posing minimal health risks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context. Carbon monosulphide (CS) is among the few sulphur-bearing species that have been widely observed in all environments, including in the most extreme, such as diffuse clouds. Moreover, CS has been widely used as a tracer of the gas density in the interstellar medium in our Galaxy and external galaxies. Therefore, a complete understanding of its chemistry in all environments is of paramount importance for the study of interstellar matter. Aims. Our group is revising the rates of the main formation and destruction mechanisms of CS. In particular, we focus on those involving open-shell species for which the classical capture model might not be sufficiently accurate. In this paper, we revise the rates of reactions CH + S → CS + H and C2 + S → CS + C. These reactions are important CS formation routes in some environments such as dark and diffuse warm gas. Methods. We performed ab initio calculations to characterize the main features of all the electronic states correlating to the open shell reactants. For CH+S, we calculated the full potential energy surfaces (PESs) for the lowest doublet states and the reaction rate constant with a quasi-classical method. For C2+S, the reaction can only take place through the three lower triplet states, which all present deep insertion wells. A detailed study of the long-range interactions for these triplet states allowed us to apply a statistic adiabatic method to determine the rate constants. Results. Our detailed theoretical study of the CH + S → CS + H reaction shows that its rate is nearly independent of the temperature in a range of 10–500 K, with an almost constant value of 5.5 × 10−11 cm3 s−1 at temperatures above 100 K. This is a factor of about 2–3 lower than the value obtained with the capture model. The rate of the reaction C2 + S → CS + C does depend on the temperature, and takes values close to 2.0 × 10−10 cm3 s−1 at low temperatures, which increase to ~ 5.0 × 10−10 cm3 s−1 for temperatures higher than 200 K. In this case, our detailed modeling - taking into account the electronic and spin states – provides a rate that is higher than the one currently used by factor of approximately 2. Conclusions. These reactions were selected based on their inclusion of open-shell species with many degenerate electronic states, and, unexpectedly, the results obtained in the present detailed calculations provide values that differ by a factor of about 2–3 from the simpler classical capture method. We updated the sulphur network with these new rates and compare our results in the prototypical case of TMC1 (CP). We find a reasonable agreement between model predictions and observations with a sulphur depletion factor of 20 relative to the sulphur cosmic abundance. However, it is not possible to fit the abundances of all sulphur-bearing molecules better than a factor of 10 at the same chemical time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Atlantic tarpon Megalops atlanticus are highly migratory sportfish that support recreational fisheries throughout their range. In US waters, juveniles can be found in coastal and estuarine habitats along the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic seaboard, with temperature limiting their northern latitudinal distribution. Juveniles may overwinter in these areas during the first several years of life. Low temperatures are known to cause mortality in adults, but the challenges of temperature are less understood for juveniles. Furthermore, salinity, which can change dramatically in these habitats, may have a synergistic effect with temperature. To examine the physiological effects of temperature and salinity on juvenile tarpon, wild fish were acclimated to a range of conditions that potentially occur in the northern range of their estuarine habitats. The haematology of juvenile tarpon was examined in two salinity (≤2 and ≥30 ppt) and temperature (15 and 25°C) treatments, followed by a low‐temperature tolerance test. After 2 weeks in treatment conditions, blood samples were analysed for haematocrit, pH, red blood cell concentration, haemoglobin content and plasma osmolality. Increased plasma osmolality was observed in fish at low temperature (15°C compared to 25°C) and at high salinity (≥30 ppt compared to ≤2 ppt). Blood pH was increased at 15°C compared to 25°C, with the highest pH at 15°C and low salinity. Haemoglobin, haematocrit and red blood cell concentration were higher at 25°C than 15°C, with haemoglobin lowest at 15°C and low salinity. For the low‐temperature tolerance test, all fish were acclimated to 15°C for 2 weeks, then transferred to separate tanks where temperature was gradually decreased at 0.9 ± 0.1°C/h until fish lost equilibrium. Fish at low salinity lost equilibrium more rapidly (1 ppt, 12.65 ± 0.46°C) than fish at high salinity (30 ppt, 11.26 ± 0.14°C). The results indicate juvenile tarpon are susceptible to low temperature, which is exacerbated by low salinity, findings useful in the assessment of juvenile tarpon overwintering habitat. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Surface reflectance (SR) is one of the most important components for deriving different biophysical parameters from remotely sensed data. For accurate retrieval of SR, it is essential to accurately estimate the degree of atmospheric alteration to the target signals reaching at-sensor. Simplified and robust SR estimation method (SREM) is one such approximate estimation method that could demonstrate the retrieval of SR from top-of-atmosphere (ToA) signals, without using any precalculated LUTs or aerosol information. The present study attempts to assess the accuracy of the SREM algorithm over varied Indian land surfaces using data from Landsat 8, Sentinel 2, AWiFS and LISS III. The results indicate that while SREM performs quite well for Sentinel 2 over most land surface types, the performance is good for Landsat 8 as well except over water and in coastal aerosol band. SREM retrievals also show high correlation for AWiFS and LISS III but the estimated values are much lower than level 2 SR due to smaller ToA reflectance values. Furthermore, while aerosol load does impact the performance adversely, it is least impactful for Sentinel 2 and LISS III datasets and most over Landsat 8, particularly over water. Additionally, while AWiFS and LISS III SR retrievals are underestimated at all spectral bands, retrieval is slightly underestimated from green to SWIR band in case of Sentinel 2 and SWIR band in case of Landsat 8. Overall, the findings demonstrate that while SREM will need to be modified to adapt to LISS III and AWiFS retrievals, it can, nevertheless, be readily used as a simplified method for quick and approximate estimation of SR over the Indian region using data from Landsat 8 and Sentinel 2. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Access to essential information resources through mobile devices has become a routine activity. From smart portable notebooks to tablets, smartphones to embedded devices, mobile databases are emerging as a key factor in the mobile computing ecosystem. These devices are handy and user-friendly; users can access information regardless of their geographic location, anytime, utilizing wireless and cellular communications. In addition to the convenience they offer, modern mobile systems exhibit the potential to promote the green computing paradigm and by extension a safer environment for humanity to thrive. The paper presents a concise but concrete review of mobile database systems in the green mobile computing ecosystem. The data source comprises 343 papers from notable repositories: IEEE Xplore, ACM Digital library, Springer and Science Direct. 43 papers were selected for analysis based on meeting the two preset suitability criteria: mobile databases and green computing. The study shows that there is not much literature on mobile database systems vis-à-vis the green computing ecosystem, hence, a promising research niche. The paper concludes that mobile databases are evolving rapidly and there is every possibility that their progress towards maturity could further reduce the energy consumption of mobile devices whose fundamental data store relies on these mobile databases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Barracuda fish (Sphyraena sp.) bone and fins could be a source of aquatic collagen. Marine collagen has recently gained popularity due to its lack of infectious infections. This collagen extraction yields 1.99 % acetic acid-soluble collagen (AAC), 2.36 % lactic acid-soluble collagen (LAC), and 3.26 % citric acid-soluble collagen (CAC). AAC has a high L* value compared to LAC and CAC, indicating great brightness in color. For hydroxyproline content, the amount of collagen was 82.70, 81.31, and 80.93 for AAC, LAC, and CAC. AAC and LAC have maximum collagen solubility at pH 3, and CAC at pH 5. The effects of collagen solubility on NaCl concentrations drop substantially at 30 g/L for all collagen samples. All extracted collagen structures are type I collagen consisting of two chains (a1 and a2) based on SDS-PAGE analysis and possessing a complete triple helical structure based on UV absorption (229.5 nm) and Fourier Transformation Infrared Spectrometry (ATR-FTIR) showed all collagen samples had amide A, B, amide I, II, and III peaks. All collagens demonstrate strong heat resistance and structural stability as Tmax is above 30°C. LAC demonstrated higher absorption of water (0.50 0.01±mL/mg) and oil (0.70±0.07 mL/mg) than AAC and CAC. At pH 7, CAC and AAC reduced foam and foam case capacity. In emulsion properties, only AAC does not demonstrate important emulsion stability. AAC showed superior collagen than LAC and CAC based on physicochemical and functional qualities. Therefore, all collagen samples can be employed as replacements for terrestrial collagen in diverse applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A thin film's microstructural and optical properties are essential for the development of optoelectronic devices. As a result, the thermal evaporation of selenium-rich Ge15Se85 (SR-GeSe with thickness of 250 nm) thin films was investigated for improving these properties. The films fabricated in a pure nitrogen-rich atmosphere were annealed in the thermal temperature range between 200oC and 300oC for 30 minutes. The microstructural, compositional, and optical characteristics of these films were investigated using X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) coupled with the energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDXA), and UV-Vis-INR spectrophotometers. In accordance with the XRD patterns, the as-prepared films were in an amorphous state, while the annealed films were in the polycrystalline style. In annealed films, crystalline phases with hexagonal orientations were formed. Crystallographic parameters were significantly affected by thermally induced effects. As seen from the surface morphology, the films were nearly densely packed, homogeneous, smooth, uniform, and free from holes and voids. In the thin films of SR-GeSe, the band gap and Urbach energies behaved oppositely. Amorphouscrystalline transitions and the Mott-Davis model were used to explain the studied optical properties. The single oscillator for Wimple-DiDomenico (WDD) model described the refractive index scattering whose parameters were determined as a function of annealing temperature. By adjusting the thermal annealing process, the microstructural and optical properties of SR-GeSe thin films were improved, indicating their suitability for thermo-optic applications. On the other side, the electronic parameters including the energies of Plasmon, Penn, Fermi and the number of active electrons were computed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Land use and land cover (LULC) changes in many parts of river basins have caused water shortages, flood risks, land degradation, soil loss, biodiversity loss, and ecosystem deterioration. LULC change and topography are the main factors that cause land degradation and soil erosion in the Ethiopian highlands. The aim was to evaluate the rate of the LULC change and its effects on runoff and sediment yield in the semihumid subtropical Awash watershed using the SWAT + model. The land use maps of 2000, 2010, and 2020, along with constant climate data from 1992 to 2020, were used to investigate the effects of LULC dynamics on runoff and sediment yields. Agriculture and urbanization both increased at 7.1% and 7.95%, respectively. In contrast, the forest area decreased by 8.8% and shrubland by 3.25% from 2000 to 2020. Bare soil and urban areas covered the majority of the landscape units that were labeled as potential runoff generators. The majority of the soil erosion-prone areas that were classified as severe in the second and third scenarios covered a sizable area of urban, agricultural, and shrubland. These soil erosion hotspots covered an area of 3,777.3 ha (3.18%) and 13,413.1 ha (11.3%), with a total annual sediment yield of 361.93 m/ton and 1239.24 m/ton, respectively. In general, the change in LULC results in the annual sediment yield, with mean annual amounts of 241.8 tons/ha, 408.7 tons/ha, and 732.4 tons/ha for each scenario in the sequence. The model performance was tested using R2 = 0.88, NSE = 0.9, and PBIAS = −2.36, which indicate good agreement between simulated and observed flow, and R2 = 0.82, NSE = 0.86, and PBIAS = 4.38 for the simulated against recorded sediment yield. The increases in sediment yields have serious implications for reservoir siltation downstream of the watershed and warn land use managers to take action. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Brain tumors can always result in seizures when involving the cortical neurons or their circuits, and they were found to be one of the most common etiologies of intractable focal seizures. The low-grade epilepsy-associated neuroepithelial tumors (LEAT), as a special group of brain tumors associated with seizures, share common clinicopathological features, such as seizure onsets at a young age, a predilection for involving the temporal lobe, and an almost benign course, including a rather slow growth pattern and thus a long-term history of seizures. Ganglioglioma (GG) and dysembryoplastic neuroepithelial tumor (DNET) are the typical representatives of LEATs. Surgical treatments with complete resection of tumors and related epileptogenic zones are deemed the optimal way to achieve postoperative seizure control and lifetime recurrence-free survival in patients with LEATs. Although the term LEAT was originally introduced in 2003, debates on the tumor spectrum and the diagnosis or classification of LEAT entities are still confusing among epileptologists and neuropathologists. In this review, we would further discuss these questions, especially based on the updated classification of central nervous system tumors in the WHO fifth edition and the latest molecular genetic findings of tumor entities in LEAT entities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Power utilities must track their power networks to respond to changing demand and availability conditions to ensure effective and efficient operation. As a result, several power companies continuously employ phase measuring units (PMUs) to continuously check their power networks. Supervising an electric power system with the fewest possible measurement equipment is precisely the vertex covering graph-theoretic problems otherwise a variation of the dominating set problem, in which a set D is defined as a power dominating set (PDS) of a graph if it supervises every vertex and edge in the system with a couple of rules. If the distance vector eccentrically characterizes each node in G with respect to the nodes in R, then the subset R of V (G) is a resolving set of G. The problem of finding power dominating set and resolving set problems are proven to be NP-complete in general. The finite subset R of V (G) is said to be resolving-power dominating set (RPDS) if it is both resolving and power dominating set, which is another NP-complete problem. The ηp (G) is the minimal cardinality of an RPDS of a graph G. A neural network is a collection of algorithms that tries to figure out the underlying correlations in a set of data by employing a method that replicates how the human brain functions. Various neural networks have seen rapid progress in multiple fields of study during the last few decades, including neurochemistry, artificial intelligence, automatic control, and informational sciences. Probabilistic neural networks (PNNs) offer a scalable alternative to traditional back-propagation neural networks in classification and pattern recognition applications. They do not necessitate the massive forward and backward calculations that ordinary neural networks entail. This paper investigates the resolving-power domination number of probabilistic neural networks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the shape of the object is reconstructed based on the fiber Bragg grating (FBG) flexible sensor encapsulated by polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) material, and the influence of the number and layout of the sensors on the reconstruction accuracy of the object is studied. The COMSOL simulation software is used to verify the accuracy of the algorithm, and four sensors are prepared to measure and reconstruct the bent aluminum plate under set conditions. The maximum relative error of the shape reconstruction span is 1.203%, and the maximum relative error of the height is 2.802%. The research results provide the application basis for the shape detection of soft robots. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The adoption of circular production and consumption patterns that counteract the current issues related to the depletion of natural resources, global warming, and environmental pollution is one of the most pressing global challenges that faces our society. Considering the potential of organic waste and residue streams to be transformed into valuable products, much effort is now being directed to foster circular bio-economy strategies. The valorisation of organic waste reduces the pressure on non-renewable resources and avoids the generation of waste. Organic waste valorisation has attracted much attention from fundamental and applied fields, given its wide availability and versatility. This review aims to provide an insight into valorisation of organic waste of aquatic, agricultural, forestry and animal origin to polymeric matrices, bionanoparticles and their combination. An introductory analysis dealing with state-of-the-art circular bioeconomy, recycling and upcycling is provided. Then, a literature review in the context of biopolymers and derived nanoparticles is provided, emphasizing toxicity and biodegradability aspects. The environmental impacts of valorisation processes are analyzed according to life cycle assessment. The establishment of organic waste conversion routes will lead to innovative bio-based industries, opening new market opportunities for bio-based products and achieving efficient resource utilisation. However, the social, economic and political barriers still encountered must be overcome. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The antioxidant activity of marine clam, Meretrix casta (Chemnitz) protein hydrolysates prepared from different organs (body, foot and viscera), using the commercial enzymes (pepsin, trypsin and papain) were determined. The protein hydrolysate had a high antioxidant activity where, pepsin hydrolysate of viscera and trypsin hydrolysate of body and foot showed good activity. The viscera pepsin hydrolysate and foot trypsin hydrolysates were purified using FPLC on ion exchange and gel filtration chromatography procedure and activity was determined by DPPH radical scavenging and reducing ability assays. Further the amino acid content of the purified fractions was analyzed using HPLC. Active fractions contained good quantity of both essential and non-essential amino acids. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the present study, protein of muscles of commercially important marine fishes Nemipterus japonicus and Exocoetus volitans were extracted by trypsin and their hydrolysis conditions viz., temperature, time, and enzyme to substrate concentration on degree of hydrolysis were studied by response surface methodology. The optimum values for N. japonicus was found as temperature, 30°C, hydrolysis time of 100 min an enzyme/substrate concentration of 1.59% whereas, for E. volitans muscle protein, optimum hydrolysis conditions were temperature, 30°C, hydrolysis time of 115 min and enzyme/substrate concentration of 1.67%. Furthermore, amino acid sequence of antioxidant peptides derived after chromatographic purification was identified by ESI-MS/MS. The analysis of peptides showed sequences as Glu-Ser-Asp-Arg-Pro (620.3 Da) and Gly-Trp-Met-Gly-Cys-Trp (747.3) for N. japonicus and E. volitans muscle, respectively. The peptides contained important antioxidant amino acids and acted as good antioxidant peptides to scavenge free radicals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the current study, two peptides with antioxidant properties were purified from skin protein hydrolysates of horse mackerel ( Magalaspis cordyla) and croaker ( Otolithes ruber) by consecutive chromatographic fractionations including ion exchange chromatography and gel filtration chromatography. By electron spray ionization double mass spectrometry (ESI-MS/MS), the sequence of the peptide from the skin protein hydrolysate of horse mackerel was identified to be Asn-His-Arg-Tyr-Asp-Arg (856 Da) and that of croaker to be Gly-Asn-Arg-Gly-Phe-Ala-Cys-Arg-His-Ala (1101.5 Da). The antioxidant activity of these peptides was tested by electron spin resonance (ESR) spectrometry using 1-diphenyl-2-picryl hydrazyl (DPPH) and hydroxyl (OH) radical scavenging assays. Both peptides exhibited higher activity against polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) peroxidation than the natural antioxidant α-tocopherol. These results suggest that the two peptides isolated from the skin protein hydrolysates of horse mackerel and croaker are potent antioxidants and may be effectively used as food additives and as pharmaceutical agents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The sulphated polysaccharide from the widespread Tridax procumbens plant was studied for the anticoagulant, antiherpetic and antibacterial activity. The anticoagulant activity was determined by the activated partial thromboplastin time assay. The sulphated polysaccharide from T. procumbens represented potent anticoagulant reaching the efficacy to heparin and chondroitin sulphate. Moreover, the sulphated polysaccharide extracted from T. procumbens was found non-toxic on Vero cell lines up to the concentration of 200 μg/ml. Sulphated polysaccharide exhibited detectable antiviral effect towards HSV-1 with IC value 100-150 μg/ml. Furthermore, sulphated polysaccharide from T. procumbens was highly inhibitory against the bacterial strains Vibrio alginolyticus and Vibrio harveyi isolated from oil sardine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary In our present investigation, Nemipterus japonicus and Exocoetus volitans backbone protein were hydrolysed by proteases like trypsin and pepsin, respectively. The protein hydrolysates were purified by different chromatographic methods, and the resulted purified peptides were analysed for their amino acid sequences by electrospray ionisation-MS/MS. The analysis of peptides showed sequences as Gly-His-Met-Ser (451.8 Da) and Leu-Glu-Val-Lys-Pro (596.9 Da) for N. japonicus and E. volitans muscle, respectively. The presence of hydrophobic amino acids contributes more to the antioxidant activities of peptides than other amino acids. Moreover, sequence of amino acids in peptides plays an important role in their antioxidant activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We have investigated the antioxidant activity of protein hydrolysates prepared from backbones of two commercially important fishes; seela ( Sphyraena barracuda) and ribbon fish ( Lepturacanthus savala). Pepsin and trypsin hydrolysates were found more potent to inhibit lipid peroxidation in case of ribbon and seela fish respectively and were further purified by using fast protein liquid chromatography on anion exchange and gel filtration chromatography. The active peaks after gel filtration chromatography of seela fish was able to scavenge 2,2-diphenyl-1-picryhydrazyl and hydroxyl radicals by 61 ± 2.3 and 58.7 ± 2.3% and ribbon fish hydrolysate by 60.0 ± 2.6 and 55.6 ± 1.8% as measured by ESR spectroscopy. And the active fractions showed presence of both essential and non-essential amino acids with high percentages of arginine (11.95 and 12.76%) and lysine (13.49 and 13.89%). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current study aims at the isolation and characterization of the peptides, believed to have antioxidant activity, from Conus betulinus by using different types of enzymes. The body and viscera of C. betulinus were treated with three enzymes viz. trypsin, pepsin and papain to obtain peptide hydrolysates. The activities of the hydrolysates were analyzed by DPPH and hydroxyl radical assay by using electron spin resonance (ESR) device. Active hydrolysates were purified using ion exchange chromatography followed by gel filtration chromatography. The activity of the separated fractions was analyzed by ESR; in which the result showed that trypsin hydrolysate of body (28.48 and 76.00%) and viscera (38.45 and 83.00%) respectively have high activity than the other hydrolysates. The HPLC result of purified fraction showed, presence of active amino acids viz., metheonine, cystine, histidine etc. This purified peptide has more antioxidant activity that could reduce the excess free radicals in body in order to prevent free radical induced diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study was to evaluate antioxidant, antiproliferative and antimicrobial properties of flying fish ( Exocoetus volitans) backbone hydrolysed by three different enzymes namely papain, pepsin and trypsin. The in vitro antioxidant potencies of hydrolysates and purified peptides against 1, 1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl, superoxide and hydroxyl radicals were evaluated by electron spin resonance spectroscopy. The peptic protein hydrolysate showed maximum free radical scavenging potential and lipid peroxidation inhibition and was further purified by DEAE XK 26/20 anion exchange chromatography followed by G-25 gel permeation chromatography. The amino acid composition of potent purified fraction was determined by HPLC, contains essential and nonessential amino acids with glutamic acid (24.10%), lysine (23.62%), glycine (12.05%) and threonine (10.41%) as the dominant amino acids. The potent purified fraction was tested for cell cytotoxicity on Vero and Hep G cell lines. It was found that fraction IIIb did not show any cytotoxic effect for Vero cell lines and exerted a significant antiproliferative effect on Hep G cell lines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Soil erosion is currently a global problem that causes land degradation and long-lasting challenges in Ethiopia. Sediment yield is influenced by the watershed characteristics such as land cover, soil class, and slope, which are considered the drivers of soil erosion in the basin. The middle Awata watershed is highly susceptible to soil erosion due to its topographical features. This study is therefore aimed at estimating sediment yield, examining its spatial distribution, and evaluating the selected Best Management Practices (BMPs) to reduce soil erosion-prone areas at downstream. The model simulation was done by dividing the total watershed area of 1912 km2 into 37 subbasins and 294 hydrologic response units (HRUs) for 31 years (1988–2018). The model's uncertainty evaluation was carried out on monthly basis using the Sequential Uncertainty Fitting (SUFI-2) algorithm. The performance of the model was evaluated by statistical parameters that gave R2 = 0.76, NSE = 0.75, RSR = 0.51, and PBIAS = 5.6% for calibration and R2 = 0.75, NSE = 0.74, RSR = 0.51, and PBIAS = 2.7% for validation of streamflow. Meanwhile, sediment yield in the watershed was also simulated with R2 = 0.69, NES = 0.66, RSR = 0.58, and PBIAS = 3.7% for calibration and R2 = 0.67, NES = 0.65, RSR = 0.61, and PBIAS = 5.6% for validation of sediment distribution. The simulated annual average sediment yield was 34.543 × 103 ton/year at the outlet of the middle Awata watershed. The developed spatial distribution of sediment yield identified the first twelve upstream subwatersheds as being soil erosion-prone areas. Following an evaluation of the four selected BMPs, it was determined that parallel terracing is the most recommended method for soil erosion reduction option in all critical subbasins found in the watershed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

MXenes-Ti3C2Tx, based on their versatile surface characteristics, has rapidly advanced as an interactive substrate to develop electrochemical sensors for clinical applications. Herein, Ni embedded Ti3C2Tx (MX−Ni) composites were prepared using a self-assembly approach where Ti3C2Tx sheets served as an interactive conductive substrate as well as a protective layer to nickel nanoparticles (Ni NPs), preventing their surface oxidation and aggregation. The composite displayed a cluster-like morphology with an intimate interfacial arrangement between Ni, Ti3C2Tx and Ti3C2Tx-derived TiO2. The configuration of MX−Ni into an electrochemical sensor realized a robust cathodic reduction current against methylmalonic acid (MMA), a biomarker to vitamin B12 deficiency. The synergism of Ni NPs strong redox characteristics with conductive Ti3C2Tx enabled sensitive signal output in wide detection ranges of 0.001 to 0.003 µM and 0.0035 to 0.017 µM and a detection sensitivity down to 0.12 pM of MMA. Importantly, the sensor demonstrated high signal reproducibility and excellent operational capabilities for MMA in a complex biological matrix such as human urine samples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Stevia rebaudiana, cultivated as a sweetener, also contains numerous phenolic compounds with strong antioxidant activities. Here, the antioxidant effects of Stevia rebaudiana leaf (SRL) and stem (SRS) extracts on lipid oxidation in salted Pacific saury (Cololabis saira) fillets throughout the salting and drying process are investigated. Fish fillets treated with SRL and SRS extracts are monitored for lipid oxidation and physicochemical characteristics. The results show that both SRL and SRS extract treatment significantly retard lipid oxidation in the fish, shown by reductions in the levels of peroxide, conjugated diene, and thiobarbituric acid reactive substances. These effects can be attributed to both the antioxidant activity of the extracts and the possible inhibition of the fish lipoxygenase by the SRL and SRS extracts. Interestingly, the SRS extract has stronger activities than the SRL extract in inhibiting lipid oxidation during the fish drying process, despite having relatively lower DPPH radical scavenging activity, ferrous ion‐chelating ability, and reducing power. Notably, the SRS extract is more effective at hydroxyl radical scavenging than the SRL extract, suggesting the importance of hydroxyl radical scavenging during the fish drying process. Consequently, stevia extracts can be a source of natural antioxidants to minimize lipid oxidation in salted fish. Practical applications: Current work demonstrates the antioxidant effect of the aqueous extracts of stevia leaf and stem against the lipid oxidation in salted Pacific saury during salting and drying process. The results open the way to the potential utilization of extracts from stevia leaf and stem, a by‐product of the sweetener industry, as alternative source of natural antioxidants for salted fish and meat. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fucoidan, a natural sulfated polysaccharide extracted from seaweed, has been widely used in pharmaceutical field due to its excellent biological activities including antiviral, anticancer, antioxidant, anticoagulant, etc. Therefore, investigating the new natural sources of fucoidan has been received growing attention recently. This study reported for the first time the isolation, purification, characterization, and biological activities of fucoidan from Ceratophyllum submersum (FCS). The molecular weight of obtained FCS was 9.7 kDa, composed of fucose (42.11%) and sulfate (16.38%). The FCS contained (1→3)-α-L-Fucopyranose and β-D-galactose bond in the structure. In addition, FCS showed strong antioxidant properties against 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl, 2,2-azinobis (3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid), and reactive oxygen species radicals with inhibitory concentration 50 values were 765.48 ppm, 845.31 ppm, and 1760.00 ppm, respectively. The FCS also performed good antibacterial, antifungal, anticoagulant and anti-inflammatory activityies. Especially, it expressed a better inhibition activity on breast cancer cell line (MCF-7) than that on liver cancer cells (HepG2), lung cancer cells (NCI-H460), and cervical cancer cells (HeLa). FCS demonstrated potential utility in functional food, cosmeceutical, and pharmaceutical industries. In the trend of discovering new sources for fucoidan with outstanding bioactivities, this report would contribute a basic platform and valuable information for further studies on fucoidan from C. Submersum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In recent years, the implantable cardiac monitors (ICM) have enhanced the recognition ability of atrial fibrillation (AF), which makes ICM have a new application in AF detection. We conducted a meta-analysis to determine the total incidence of newly found AF detected by ICM after cryptogenic stroke and to evaluate the factors related to the detection of AF. Methods: A literature search was conducted in the PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science, and Cochrane library databases until March 1, 2020. Studies that reported the detection rate of AF using ICM in cryptogenic stroke patients with negative initial AF screening were analyzed. Results: A total of 23 studies were included. The overall proportion of AF detected by ICM in cryptogenic stroke patients was 25% (95% confidence interval [CI], 22–29%). The rate of AF detected by ICM was independently related to both cardiac monitoring time (coefficient = 0.0003; 95% CI, 0.0001–0.0005; P = 0.0001) and CHA2DS2-VASc score (coefficient = 0.0834; 95% CI, 0.0339–0.1329; P = 0.001). In subgroup analysis, we found a significant difference in the detection rate of AF for monitoring duration (< 6 months: 9.6% [95% CI, 4.4–16.4%]; ≥ 6 and ≤ 12 months: 19.3% [95% CI, 15.9–23.0%]; > 12 and ≤ 24 months: 23.6% [95% CI, 19.9–27.5%]; > 24 months and ≤ 36 months: 36.5% [95% CI, 24.2–49.9%]; P < 0.001), and continent (Europe: 26.5% [95% CI, 22.2–31.0%]; North America: 16.0% [95% CI, 10.3–22.6%]; Asia: 17.4% [95% CI, 12.4–23.0%]; P = 0.005). Conclusions: The longer the time of ICM monitoring after cryptogenic stroke, the higher the detection rate of AF. Further research is still needed to determine the optimal duration of long-term cardiac monitoring. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The glass samples with composition (30 SiO2-5 TeO2-1.0 Dy2O3-(65-x) B2O3-xBi2O3) where x = 5, 15, 25, 35, 45 and 50 mol% were prepared by melt quenching method. The glassy state was confirmed by the X-ray diffraction. Fourier transformation infrared, physical properties (density, ion concentration, molar volume, Polaron radius, inter-nuclear distance, refractive index, optical bandgap) absorption spectra, excitation, and emission spectra have been analyzed. The absorption spectrum shows five bands with a hypersensitive transition corresponding to 6H9/2 (7911 cm−1) at 1256 nm. The emission spectra showed two intense emission bands around 480 nm and 575 nm corresponding to the 4F9/2 → 6H15/2 and 4F9/2 → 6H13/2 transition. PL intensity decreases with increasing the Bi2O3 content. All values of the fundamental parameters (The color coordinates, Y/B ratio, and color rendering index (CRI)) are very close to the standard value for the glass samples with high Bi2O3 content. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Owing to the shortage of raw milk in Russia, a rational method for processing secondary raw materials, such as whey, is essential. More than 50% of milk solids and 80% of whey proteins with high bioavailability pass into whey from milk. However, allergenicity is a limiting factor for its application in food technologies. This study aimed to select enzymes and optimize the bioconversion of β-lactoglobulin (β-LG) in the ultrafiltration (UF) concentrate of cheese whey to obtain a hydrolyzate with attractive organoleptic properties and minimal residual antigenicity. The properties of raw materials and finished products were studied according to standard methods. Studies on single-celled microorganisms indicated no adverse effects of β-LG hydrolyzate on the generative reaction, chemotactic response, motion, motility, morphological and biochemical indicators, and survival rate of Tetrahymena pyriformis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current objective was framed on isolation of two angiotensin-I converting enzyme inhibitory peptides from coastal trashes of squilla muscle (Harpiosquilla raphidea) prepared by enzymatic hydrolysis using alcalase, thermolysin and trypsin, which showed the highest degree of hydrolysate in 12th h hydrolysate 87.9 ± 1.6%, 63.1 ± 1.1% and 91.1 ± 2.7% respectively. Among these three hydrolysates, alcalase 5th h (64.8 ± 0.3) and thermolysin 6th h (68.4 ± 1.0) found to be maximum ACE-I inhibition activity. Initial separation was performed by ultra filtration (10–3 kDa) into three different fractions, alcalase (below 3 kDa) fraction observed maximum ACE-I inhibition activity with 75.2 ± 3.5% and thermolysin (3–10 kDa) with 79.5 ± 1.0% inhibition. Further, these two fractions have taken to ion exchange and gel filtration chromatography, the identified ACE-I inhibitory fractions (AC-A2 and TH-A2) also examined for its antioxidant properties. Further, these fractions were determined to be non-toxic against cell lines, functional activities by various assays and characterized into tri peptides MSN (Met-Ser-Asn) and MTH (Met-Thr-His) with a molecular weight of 350 Da and 388 Da respectively using LC–MS/MS. These low molecular weight peptides from natural sources may act as potential ingredient for nutraceutical and pharmaceutical industries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The random discharge of marine fish waste into the coast generates environmental pollution. However, a better valorization of these by-products leads to the extraction of sustainable biomolecules. Chitosan is a natural biopolymer that can be produced from various marine by-products, in particular the crustacean shells, crabs, and fish scales. The aim of this current study is the extraction of chitin and characterization of chitosan obtained after a deacetylation reaction from sardine scales (S. pilchardus) as a new marine source. The β form of chitin extracted undergoes deacetylation in 40% NaOH at 121°C for 20 min. The chemical structure of obtained chitosan was characterized based on Fourier transforms infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), Scanning electron microscope (SEM), and Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS). The physicochemical properties of obtained chitosan such as the ash, moisture, nitrogen, solubility, molecular weight, fat, and water-binding capacity were also determined. According to the results of FTIR and XRD analysis, the degree of deacetylation (DDA), and the crystalline index (CrI) value of obtained chitosan is respectively about 87% and 95%. The SEM and EDS analysis revealed respectively fibrillar and pleated morphology with the presence of three major elements characterizing the chitosan, which are C, O, and N. The physicochemical analysis showed that the rate of ash, moisture, and nitrogen in obtained chitosan were respectively about 0.10, 0.34, and 7%. The solubility, molecular weight, fat, and water-binding capacity of produced chitosan were found to be 93%, 5.86 kDa, 310, and 510% respectively. Sardina pilchardus scales could be considered a promising and alternative source of chitin and chitosan, which will be applicable in a large number of fields. Implications: Direct rejection of marine biowaste as fish scales in nature, port, or fish processing plants, is a dramatic problem that is growing day after day. These uncontrollable discharges cause marine pollution and promote bacterial growth, which leads to a degradation of the soil and air quality. Taking into account the objectives of sustainable development, better development of these by-products would make it possible to produce valuable biomaterials that will be applied in various fields and which have benefits for the environment and humans. The central objective of this research is accentuated on the enhancement of Sardina pilchardus scales; by the conversion of chitin into chitosan and the determination of its physicochemical characterization. The obtained chitosan from Sardina pilchardus scales could be applied in the agricultural and food industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) is one of the latest noninvasive brain function measuring technique that has been used for the purpose of brain-computer interfacing (BCI). In this paper, we compare and analyze the effect of six most commonly used filtering techniques (i.e., Gaussian, Butterworth, Kalman, hemodynamic response filter (hrf), Wiener, and finite impulse response) on classification accuracies of fNIRS-BCI. To conclude with the best optimal filter for a specific cortical task owing to a specific cortical region, we divided our experimental tasks according to the three main cortical regions: prefrontal, motor, and visual cortex. Three different experiments were performed for prefrontal and motor execution tasks while one for visual stimuli. The tasks performed for prefrontal include rest (R) vs mental arithmetic (MA), R vs object rotation (OB), and OB vs MA. Similarly, for motor execution, R vs left finger tapping (LFT), R vs right finger tapping (RFT), and LFT vs RFT. Likewise, for the visual cortex, R vs visual stimuli (VS) task. These experiments were performed for ten trials with five subjects. For consistency among extracted data, six statistical features were evaluated using oxygenated hemoglobin, namely, slope, mean, peak, kurtosis, skewness, and variance. Combination of these six features was used to classify data by the nonlinear support vector machine (SVM). The classification accuracies obtained from SVM by using hrf and Gaussian were significantly higher for R vs MA, R vs OB, R vs RFT, and R vs VS and Wiener filter for OB vs MA. Similarly, for R vs LFT and LFT vs RFT, hrf was found to be significant p < 0.05 . These results show the feasibility of using hrf for effective removal of noises from fNIRS data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Excessive and unwise use of synthetic fertilizers is a threat to the soil, aerial and human health. In this scenario, eco-friendly alternatives to synthetic fertilizers for maximizing peanut (Arachis hypogea L.) production under arid regions are necessary. Use of biochar and the plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPRs) along with reduce doses of synthetic fertilizers has emerged as an eco-friendly way of reducing the dose of synthetic fertilizers for crop production. In this 2-year study, we evaluated the role of PGPRs and biochar with reduce doses of synthetic fertilizers on peanut productivity on a sandy loam soil under an arid climate. The experiment comprised of eight experimental treatments viz. (i) control, (ii) recommended dose of synthetic fertilizer (32-80-32 NPK kg ha−1), (iii) plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR; SR-5), (iv) biochar (10 t ha−1), (v) PGPR + half dose of synthetic fertilizer (i.e., 16-40-16 NPK kg ha−1), (vi) biochar (10 t ha−1) + half dose of synthetic fertilizer, (vii) PGPR + biochar (10 tha−1) and (viii) PGPR + biochar (10 t ha−1) + half dose of synthetic fertilizer. The highest pod yield (1.94 Mg ha−1), seed yield (1110 kg ha−1) and oil contents (52.6%) were recorded when biochar was applied in combination with PGPRs with half dose of synthetic fertilizers which was attributed to a greater number of pods per plant and highest seed weight in this treatment. In crux, biochar application along with PGPRs might be a pragmatic option to boost peanut yield in arid regions with reduce doses of NPK. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]