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Abstract To assess utility of neutrophilCD64 (nCD64) expression in differentiating bacterial infection from inflammation in patients with severe alcoholic hepatitis (SAH) fulfilling systemic inflammatory response syndrome criteria. Patients with SAH and infection (n = 58), SAH without infection (n = 70), and healthy controls (n = 20) were included. Neutrophil CD64 expression by flowcytometry, serum Procalcitonin (ELISA) and C-reactive protein (Nephelometry) and neutrophil–lymphocyte ratio (NLR) were studied. Percentage of neutrophils with CD64 expression (nCD64%) was significantly higher in patients with SAH and infection than in those without infection and controls [76.2% (56.9–86.5) vs. 16% (12.6–23.1) vs. 7.05% (1.4–9.5), p

For many years, the impact of Particulate Matter (PM) in the ambient air has been one of the major concerns for the environment and human health. The consideration of the heterogeneity and complexity of different size fractions is notably important for the assessment of PM toxicological effects. The aim of the study was to present a comprehensive size-composition-morphology characterization and to assess the oxidative potential, genotoxicity, and mutagenicity of the atmospheric PM fractions, collected by using MOUDI near a busy roadside in Lucknow, India. Physicochemical characterization of ambient coarse particles (1.8–10 µm), fine particles (0.32–1.8 µm), quasi-ultrafine (0.1–0.32 µm) and ultrafine particles (≤0.1 µm) along with SRM 1649b was done using TEM, SEM, DLS, NTA, ICP-MS, and IC in parallel with the estimation of exogenous Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) by acellular assays. In this study, two different acellular assays, dithiothreitol (DTT) and the CM-H2DCFDA assay, indicated stronger mass-normalized bioactivity for different size ranges. Enrichment factor analysis indicated that the different size fractions were highly enriched with elements of anthropogenic origin as compared to elements of crustal origin. The endotoxin concentration in different size fractions was also estimated. Cellular studies demonstrated significant uptake, cytotoxicity, ultrastructural changes, cellular ROS generation, and changes in the different phases of the cell cycle (Sub G1, G1, S, G2/M) exposed to different size fractions. The Comet assay and the Micronucleus assay were used to estimate genotoxicity. Mutagenic potential was revealed by the HGPRT gene forward mutation assay in V-97 cells. Conclusively, our results clearly indicate that the genotoxic and mutagenic potential of the coarse PM was greater than the other fractions, and interestingly, the ultrafine PM has higher bioactivity as compared to quasi-ultrafine PM.

The modeling of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapies has been mostly focused on immunodeficient models. However, there are many advantages in studying CAR-T cell biology in an immunocompetent setting. We generated a fully murine CAR targeting CD105 (endoglin), a component of the TGFβ receptor expressed on the surface of certain solid tumors and acute leukemias. CD105-targeted CAR-T cells can be grown from various murine backgrounds, tracked in vivo by congenic marks, and be activated by CD105 in isolation or expressed by tumor cells. CD105-targeted CAR-T cells were toxic at higher doses but proved safe in lower doses and modestly effective in treating wild-type B16 melanoma-bearing mice. CAR-T cells infiltrating the tumor expressed high levels of exhaustion markers and exhibited metabolic insufficiencies. We also generated a human CD105 CAR, which was efficacious in treating human melanoma and acute myeloid leukemia in vivo. Our work details a new murine model of CAR-T cell therapy that can be used from immunologists to further our understanding of CAR-T cell biology. We also set the foundation for further exploration of CD105 as a possible human CAR-T cell target.

Temple tree (Plumeria rubra f. acutifolia), an important fragrant-flower tree extensively used in the urban landscaping is known to be infected with a tobamovirus, frangipani mosaic virus (FrMV). In this study, we describe another tobamovirus, Plumeria mosaic virus (PluMV) infecting temple tree in India. PluMV was isolated from an old temple tree co-infected with FrMV. The presence of another tobamovirus was initially realized based on the distinct symptoms on Gomphrena globosa (globe amaranth), a non-host of FrMV. PluMV was highly transmissible through simple rub-inoculation. In host-range study, brinjal (Solanum melongena), chilli (Capsicum annuum), datura (Datura stramonium), globe amaranth and tobacco (Nicotiana benthamiana, N. glutinosa, N. tabacum cv. Xanthi) could differentiate PluMV from FrMV. The complete genome sequence of PluMV was determined (6,688 nucleotides [nt], GenBank KJ395757), which showed the genome structure typical of tobamovirus encoding four proteins: small replicase (3,549 nt/130 kDa), large replicase (5,061 nt/188 kDa), movement protein (770 nt/29 kDa) and coat protein (527 nt/19 kDa). The 5′ and 3′ UTR of PluMV contained 91 and 284 nt, respectively. The PluMV genome was 45 nts longer than that of FrMV and shared only 71.4–71.6% sequence identity with FrMV and

Gullele Botanical Garden (GBG) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia is a joint venture of Addis Ababa government and the university. The garden has been built mainly to conserve the endemic plants and to advance the research on the endemic and non-endemic plants collected from different part of Ethiopia. Many traditional healers from the environs of GBG and different subcities of Addis Ababa depend on the garden for their practice of traditional medicine but there is no systematic documentation of the traditional medicinal knowledge of these healers. The main objective of the present study is to comprehensively document the ethnobotanical and ethnomedicinal information from the traditional healers of different ethnic and cultural groups depending on GBG and to create a database of the endemic plants used by these healers. The ethnobotanical and ethnomedicinal data obtained from 60 traditional healers have been analyzed both qualitatively and quantitatively. A total of 81 medicinal plants belonging to 47 families have been identified. Majority of the plants used belonged to Asteraceae (12) family. The most frequently used plant form and plant parts are herbs and leaves. The major method adopted by the healers for preparation and administration of traditional medicine is crushing and topical, respectively. Skin and general diseases are the most important ailments treated by the healers. The three most cited plants used to treat diseases are Echinops kebericho Mesfin (60), Hagenia abyssinica (Bruce) J.F.Gmel (60) and Laggera tomentosa (A.Rich.) Sch.Bip. ex Oliv. & Hiern (58). The present study is the first systematic, qualitative, and quantitative ethnobotanical analysis and documentation done on the use of the medicinal plants from GBG for traditional medicine. In addition, our study reveals that E. kebericho is endemic and endangered plant and is highly used in traditional medicine. Therefore, GBG authorities should take steps for the propagation and restoration of this plant. Further it is suggested that the pharmacological properties of the roots and leaves of E. kebericho should be compared to find the possibility of use of leaves in place of roots for the preparation of traditional medicine which would help in conserving this endemic plant of Ethiopia.

Rice plants display a unique root ecosystem comprising oxic-anoxic zones, harboring a plethora of metabolic interactions mediated by its root microbiome. Since agricultural land is limited, an increase in rice production will rely on novel methods of yield enhancement. The nascent concept of tailoring plant phenotype through the intervention of synthetic microbial communities (SynComs) is inspired by the genetics and ecology of core rhizobiome. In this direction, we have studied structural and functional variations in the root microbiome of 10 indica rice varieties. The studies on α and β-diversity indices of rhizospheric root microbiome with the host genotypes revealed variations in the structuring of root microbiome as well as a strong association with the host genotypes. Biomarker discovery, using machine learning, highlighted members of class Anaerolineae, α-Proteobacteria, and bacterial genera like Desulfobacteria, Ca. Entotheonella, Algoriphagus, etc. as the most important features of indica rice microbiota having a role in improving the plant’s fitness. Metabolically, rice rhizobiomes showed an abundance of genes related to sulfur oxidation and reduction, biofilm production, nitrogen fixation, denitrification, and phosphorus metabolism. This comparative study of rhizobiomes has outlined the taxonomic composition and functional diversification of rice rhizobiome, laying the foundation for the development of next-generation microbiome-based technologies for yield enhancement in rice and other crops.

Ultrasound has a deep penetrating ability with minimal or no tissue injury, while cancer-mediated complications during diagnosis, therapy, and surgery have become a serious challenge for clinicians and lead to the severity of the primary condition (cancer). The current study highlights the importance of ultrasound imaging and focused ultrasound therapy during cancer diagnosis, pain reduction, guidance for surgical resection of cancer, and the effectiveness of chemotherapy. We performed the bibliometric analysis on research domains involving ultrasound, cancer management, pain, and other challenges (chemotherapy, surgical guidance, and postoperative care), to observe the trend by which the research field has grown over the years and propose a possible future trend. The data was obtained from the Web of Science, processed, and exported as plain text files for analysis in the Bibliometrix R web interface using the Biblioshiny package. A total of 3248 documents were identified from 1100 journal sources. A total of 390 articles were published in 2022, with almost a 100% growth rate from previous years. Based on the various network analysis, we conclude that the outcome of the constant research in this domain will result in better patient care during the management of various diseases, including cancer and other co-morbidities.

The Grey Wolf Optimizer (GWO) is a very recently developed and emerging swarm-intelligent algorithm. The GWO algorithm was inspired by the social dominance hierarchy and hunting strategy of the grey wolves that has been successfully tailored to tackle various discrete and continuous optimization problems. During its practical implementation, however, it may be stuck in sub-optimal solutions (stagnation in local optima) due to its less exploration in the early stages that show the main drawback of this algorithm. Therefore, this research work enhances the hunting and attacking mechanism in order to modify the corresponding position updated equation and exploitation equation, respectively, to propose a novel algorithm, called Weighted Grey Wolf Optimizer with Improved Convergence Rate (WGWOIC). The effectiveness of the proposed algorithm (WGWOIC) is investigated by testing it an 33 different and fairly popular numerical benchmark functions. Although, these test functions are considered from two different benchmark datasets to assess the strength and robustness of the proposed algorithm regarding the unknown search space of the problem. In order to carry out performance analysis, moreover, the WGWOIC’s results are compared against many other state-of-the-art meta-heuristic algorithms, such as Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO), Moth-Flame Optimization (MFO), Whale Optimization Algorithm (WOA), Grey Wolf Optimizer (GWO) and very recent variants of GWO. The comparative study for WGWOIC concludes that the proposed algorithm provides very competitive results against other studied meta-heuristic algorithms. Furthermore, the hybridization of the WGWOIC meta-heuristic optimization algorithm with a Multi- Layer Perceptron (MLP) neural network is employed to improve the accuracy of the classification problem. WGWOIC trainer provides the optimal values for weight and biases to the MLP network. Further, the performance is tested in terms of classification accuracy on five popular classification datasets and assesses the efficiency of the WGWOIC trainer is assessed against many other meta-heuristics trainers. The results show that the proposed algorithm eventually provides very competitive outcomes, implying that the WGWOIC algorithm offers a better exploitation, explores the search space and effectively solves several different classification problems.

Abstract Background Traditional plant protection strategies have an integral part of food production system in North Eastern state Tripura, India, which has bestowed with rich heritage and biodiversity. However, there is no comprehensive report on the indigenous plant protection practices (IPPPs) specific to insect and vertebrate pest management, being followed by the inhabitants of the region for centuries. The present study was conducted to investigate, collect, and document the vulnerable IPPP practices followed by the native people from far flung locations of the Tripura. Methods The study aimed to document the IPPP following semi-structured questionnaires, participatory interaction, and direct observations with a total of 200 informants. We have calculated the relative frequencies of citation (RFC) for IPPP and estimated principal component analysis to link the status of IPPP with socio-demographic factors of the informants. The relationship between the field of IPPP used and different covariates (age, education, occupation, gender, location, and house type) was assessed using the Kruskal–Wallis test and Chi-square test. The relationship between adoption level and the respondents’ characteristics was analyzed using count regression analysis. Results The study found that the status of the IPPP has increased for mitigating pest issues. A total of 39 indigenous practices were recorded specifically to pest management from the ethnic people of Tripura, India. People acquired pretty knowledge about IPPP, and these were inherited from ancestors. The respondents in the study developed notable innovations for the management of many pest issues using locally available resources that warrant cost-effective and eco-friendly. Seed drying before storage to protect grain commodities was the most cited IPPP with a frequency of citation 0.675. In the field of IPPP used, the people primarily practiced agriculture + horticulture + storage category. An important implication from the study is the identification of two IPPP strategies in this region for the first time. Furthermore, the recorded IPPP used field was significantly associated with age, education, occupation, gender, locality, and house type. Likewise, the respondents’ socio-demographic variables were coupled considerably with the adoption of specific IPPP. Conclusion The reported IPPP for alleviating pest problems reflects the wisdom and generosity of the ethnic growers of Tripura, India. The study suggests the IPPP has strong potential in an integrated pest management approach passed down from generation to generation. The vulnerable practices largely remained unexplored due to inadequate scientific scrutiny and authenticity, yet in danger of being lost if not documented systematically. This study provides the first step toward accessing the valuable technology of untapped Tripura in IPPP and could be viable in paving action paradigm for their preservation, diffusion, and application with advanced pest management options.

Soil salinity is one of the major global issues affecting soil quality and agricultural productivity. The plant growth-promoting halophilic bacteria that can thrive in regions of high salt (NaCl) concentration have the ability to promote the growth of plants in salty environments. In this study, attempts have been made to understand the salinity adaptation of plant growth-promoting moderately halophilic bacteria Chromohalobacter salexigens ANJ207 at the genetic level through transcriptome analysis. In order to identify the stress-responsive genes, the transcriptome sequencing of C. salexigens ANJ207 under different salt concentrations was carried out. Among the 8,936 transcripts obtained, 93 were upregulated while 1,149 were downregulated when the NaCl concentration was increased from 5 to 10%. At 10% NaCl concentration, genes coding for lactate dehydrogenase, catalase, and OsmC-like protein were upregulated. On the other hand, when salinity was increased from 10 to 25%, 1,954 genes were upregulated, while 1,287 were downregulated. At 25% NaCl, genes coding for PNPase, potassium transporter, aconitase, excinuclease subunit ABC, and transposase were found to be upregulated. The quantitative real-time PCR analysis showed an increase in the transcript of genes related to the biosynthesis of glycine betaine coline genes (gbcA, gbcB, and L-pro) and in the transcript of genes related to the uptake of glycine betaine (OpuAC, OpuAA, and OpuAB). The transcription of the genes involved in the biosynthesis of L-hydroxyproline (proD and proS) and one stress response proteolysis gene for periplasmic membrane stress sensing (serP) were also found to be increased. The presence of genes for various compatible solutes and their increase in expression at the high salt concentration indicated that a coordinated contribution by various compatible solutes might be responsible for salinity adaptation in ANJ207. The investigation provides new insights into the functional roles of various genes involved in salt stress tolerance and oxidative stress tolerance produced by high salt concentration in ANJ207 and further support the notion regarding the utilization of bacterium and their gene(s) in ameliorating salinity problem in agriculture.

Tuberculosis is common in chronic kidney disease (CKD). There are reports of adults with CKD experiencing hypertensive crises and an increase in dosages and number of antihypertensive drugs after starting antitubercular therapy (ATT). Studies have demonstrated that rifampicin could increase the metabolism of beta-blockers, calcium channel blockers, and prazosin. There are no studies or reports of worsening blood pressure (BP) control in children with CKD after starting ATT. Here, we report three cases of children who developed hypertensive crises after starting ATT. All patients presented in emergency with the acute severe rise of BP with breathlessness and or visual blurring. All of them showed retinal changes suggestive of malignant hypertension. They needed parenteral therapy to control BP. They also needed the escalation of antihypertensives and the addition of other drugs. One patient needed a withdrawal of rifampicin. It is suggested that children with CKD should be monitored for BP control after instituting ATT.

Microbial interactions with plant roots play an imperial role in tomato plant growth and defense against the Rhizoctonia solani. This study performed a field experiment with two antagonistic bacteria (Pseudomonas and Bacillus) inoculated in healthy and Rhizoctonia solani treated soil in tomato rhizosphere to understand the metabolic pattern and microbial function during plant disease suppression. In the present study, we assessed soil and microbial enzymes, bacterial and fungal cell forming unit (CFU), and carbon utilization profiling through Bio-Eco plates of rhizoplane samples. Antagonist bacteria and pathogen interaction significantly (p < 0.05) influenced the bacterial count, soil enzymes (chitinase and glucanase), and bacterial function (siderophore and chitinase production). These results indicated that these variables had an imperial role in disease suppression during plant development. Furthermore, the metabolic profiling showed that carbon source utilization enhanced under fruit development and ripening stages. These results suggested that carbon sources were essential in plant/pathogen/antagonist interaction. Substrates like β-methyl-D-glucoside, D-mannitol, D-galacturonic acid, N-acetyl-D-glucosamine, and phenylethylamine strongly connect with the suppuration of root rot disease. These carbon sources may help to propagate a healthy microbial community to reduce the pathogen invasion in the plant root system, and these carbon sources can be stimulators of antagonists against pathogens in the future.

As the population grows, so does waste generation, which is a major concern, particularly in developing countries. Although composting and vermicomposting are environmentally friendly methods of managing organic waste, one of the major downsides is the release of greenhouse gases (GHGs). The most essential elements influencing GHG generation are aeration, C/N ratio, temperature, pH, bulking agent, and moisture content, all of which are thoroughly explained in this review. Vermicomposting emits less GHGs than composting in many cases mostly in reduction of methane (CH4) emissions; however, earthworms are also significant contributors to nitrous oxide (N2O) during vermicomposting, imposing the need to juxtapose both processes in context to GHGs emission (GHGsE). Effective GHGsE measuring methodologies allows for the calculation of emissions while also assisting in the identification of the critical elements relevant to GHGs emission reduction. Various methodology implemented for GHGs measurement and among them chamber method is the most common method used. Finally, the review also discussed the already existing mitigation measures as well as perspectives.

Wilt caused by Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. ciceris (Foc) is one of the major diseases of chickpea affecting the potential yield significantly. Productivity and biotic stress resilience are both improved by the association and interaction of Streptomyces spp. with crop plants. In the present study, we evaluated two Streptomyces araujoniae strains (TN11 and TN19) for controlling the wilt of chickpea individually and as a consortium. The response of Foc challenged chickpea to inoculation with S. araujoniae TN11 and TN19 individually and as a consortium was recorded in terms of changes in physio-biochemical and expression of genes coding superoxide dismutase (SOD), peroxidase, and catalase. Priming with a consortium of TN11 and TN19 reduced the disease severity by 50–58% when challenged with Foc. Consortium primed-challenged plants recorded lower shoot dry weight to fresh weight ratio and root dry weight to fresh weight ratio as compared to challenged non-primed plants. The pathogen-challenged consortium primed plants recorded the highest accumulation of proline and electrolyte leakage. Similarly, total chlorophyll and carotenoids were recorded highest in the consortium treatment. Expression of genes coding SOD, peroxidase, and catalase was up-regulated which corroborated with higher activities of SOD, peroxidase, and catalase in consortium primed-challenged plants as compared to the challenged non-primed plants. Ethyl acetate extracts of TN11 and TN19 inhibited the growth of fungal pathogens viz., Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. ciceris. Macrophomina phaseolina, F. udum, and Sclerotinia sclerotiarum by 54–73%. LC–MS analyses of the extracts showed the presence of a variety of antifungal compounds like erucamide and valinomycin in TN11 and valinomycin and dinactin in TN19. These findings suggest that the consortium of two strains of S. araujoniae (TN11 and TN19) can modulate defense response in chickpea against wilt and can be explored as a biocontrol strategy.

Accurate and timely disease detection plays a critical role in achieving sustainable crop protection. Globally, rice has been a staple crop for centuries plagued by the diseases that greatly hamper its productivity. Sheath rot, an emerging disease of rice caused by the seed-borne pathogen Sarocladium oryzae, has reportedly caused heavy losses to agricultural produce in recent years. Our study has led to the development and validation of a LAMP assay for early detection of S. oryzae, the causal agent of sheath rot from the live-infected tissues, seeds, weeds, and environmental samples. The assay could detect as low as 1.6 fg/μl of the pathogen in 15 min. The assay was implemented to bio-surveil the presence of this pathogen by testing it on three weed species (Echinochloa colona, Echinochloa crus-galli, and Cyperus teneriffae) growing around the rice fields. The results showed the presence of the pathogen in two of the weed species viz. E. colona and E. crus-galli. The assay was used to test 13 different rice varieties for the presence of S. oryzae in seeds. In total, three of the varieties did not show the presence of S. oryzae in their seeds while the rest were found to harbor the pathogen. The developed assay can effectively be used to detect and screen the presence of S. oryzae in live samples including seeds and field soil.

OBJECTIVES:. Optimal time for ICU diary delivery and impact on mental health (MH), anxiety-depression, post-traumatic stress symptoms (PTSS), quality of life (QOL), and memories is unclear. We evaluated the effect of ICU diaries, dispatched at different time points, on outcomes in an Indian cohort. DESIGN:. Double-blind randomized controlled trial. SETTING:. A 1,000-bedded teaching hospital in East India. PATIENTS:. Mechanically ventilated (>24 hr) adults were recruited, excluding those dead or incapable of meaningful-communication at discharge or follow-up. Eighty-three patients, aged 46.2 ± 17.2 years, Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II scores 13.7 ± 4.9 were assessed. Length of ICU stay was 8.2 ± 7.1 days with 3.7 ± 3.2 ventilator days. INTERVENTION:. Of 820 screened, 164 had diaries created. Including photographs, diaries were comaintained by healthcare workers and family members. Ninety patients were randomized at 1-month follow-up: diary sent to 45 at 1 month (group ID1) and to 45 at 3 months (ID3). MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS:. Anxiety-depression, memory, and QOL were assessed telephonically or home visits by a psychologist using the Hospital Anxiety-Depression Scale (HADS) and other tools at ICU discharge, 1-month (prerandomization), and 3 months of discharge. ID3 was reassessed after receiving diaries at 3.5 months. Primary outcome was anxiety-depression; secondary outcomes included PTSS, QOL, and memories. There was 100% follow-up. At 3 months, ID1 patients had a significant (p < 0.001) reduction in HADS from baseline when compared with ID3 that had not received diaries (4.16 ± 2.9 vs 2.15 ± 1.8; 95% CI, 2.8–1.2). PTSS scores were likewise better (p < 0.001). ID3 patients demonstrated significant improvement (p < 0.01) in QOL and memories along with HADS and PTSS when assessed at 3.5 months. CONCLUSIONS:. ICU diaries improve MH but not QOL when delivered at 1 month and assessed 2 months thereafter. Assessed after 15 days, delayed exposure at 3 months significantly improved QOL and memories in addition to MH.

The study is based on secondary data on lac production during the XI (2007-08 to 2011-12) and XII plans (2012-13 to 2016-17). Some econometric parameters, viz. Minimum, maximum, mean production, growth rate, percentage changes in mean during the XII plan over the XI plan period, and instability were rated. The state of Chhattisgarh, which contributed 30.21 per cent of national production during the XI plan period, decreased during the XII plan to 16.03%. During the XII plan, there is a 39.49 per cent reduction in the mean value. The negative growth rate recorded during the XI plan of 25.17 per cent decreased to 4.32 per cent during XII plan. The district-related percentage change in the mean from the XI to the XII plan showed that only the Bastar district recorded an increase of 39.18 per cent. The mean value decreased in the rest of the districts. Highest decline was recorded in Rajnandgaon (-72.23 %) followed by Raipur (-57.06%), Korba (-46.55%), Dhamtari (-41.97%), Bilaspur (-40.06%), Bastar (-39.18%), Durg (-34.05%), Kanker (-28.89 %), Janjgir- Champa (-22.44 %), Mahasamund (-17.61%), and Surguja district (-7.65%). In respect of instability in production during the XII plan, only Bastar and Janjgir districts recorded lower instability than states record of 14.85 per cent. Crop wise lac production data for different lac growing districts were also analyzed to assess major suffered districts during XI and XII plan periods in Chhattisgarh.

Tillage plays an important role in modifying soil hydraulic properties. The objective of the present study was to evaluate the effect of conservation tillage practices in a maize-wheat cropping system on near-saturated soil hydraulic properties and pore characteristics in the North-West Himalayan region, India. Three treatments viz. conventional tillage (CT), minimum tillage (MT), and zero tillage (ZT) were evaluated in terms of field saturated hydraulic conductivity (ks), unsaturated hydraulic conductivity k(h), the inverse of capillary length (α), flow-weighted mean pore radius (r0), numbers of pores per square meter (n0) and water-conducting macroporosity (Ɛ). The above hydraulic conductivity and pore characteristics were derived from steady-state water flux (q) measured using hood infiltrometer at 0, −1, and −3 cm pressure head for each treatment after seven years of establishment of this tillage experiment. Results revealed significantly (p 0.50 mm conducted about 63.60, 68.01, and 75.97 % of total flow (at 0 cm pressure head) in the corresponding water-conducting macroporosity of 0.00030, 0.00044, and 0.00069 % of soil volume under CT, MT, and ZT, respectively. Overall, zero-tillage based agriculture system was found to improve near-saturated soil hydraulic properties.

The main theme of this research is to find the numerical results of stagnation point flow of micropolar fluid over a porous stretchable surface due to the physical effects of internal heat generation/absorption, melting heat transfer and chemical reaction via Keller-Box method (KBM). The graphs and tables are depicted and explained for various embedded parameters. The range of melting heat transfer parameter is 0≤M≤3, the range of chemical reaction parameter is 0≤Kr≤1 whereas the values of space-temperature dependent heat source/sink parameters lies in −0.4≤Q≤0.4 and −2≤Q∗≤2. The upshots of the current problem illustrate that at fluid-solid interface, rate of HMT (heat and mass transfer) declined on escalating the values of stretching parameter. Moreover, as the values of internal heat source/sink parameter increases, heat transfer rate declines at fluid-solid interface.

In many solid tumors including triple‐negative breast cancer (TNBC), upregulation of the interleukin‐4 receptor (IL‐4R) has been shown to promote cancer cell proliferation, apoptotic resistance, metastatic potential, and a Th2 response in the tumor microenvironment (TME). Since immunosuppressive cells in the TME and spleen including myeloid‐derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) and tumor‐associated macrophages (TAMs) also express the IL‐4R, we hypothesized that selective depletion of IL‐4R‐bearing cells in TNBC would result in the direct killing of tumor cells and the depletion of immunosuppressive cells and lead to an enhanced antitumor response. To selectively target IL‐4R+ cells, we employed DABIL‐4, a fusion protein toxin consisting of the catalytic and translocation domains of diphtheria toxin fused to murine IL‐4. As anticipated, DABIL‐4 has potent cytotoxic activity against TNBC cells both in vitro and in vivo. We demonstrate in the murine 4T1 TNBC model that DABIL‐4 significantly reduces tumor growth, splenomegaly, and lung metastases. Importantly, we also show that the administration of DABIL‐4 results in the selective depletion of MDSCs, TAMs, and regulatory T cells in treated mice, with a concomitant increase in IFN‐γ+ CD8 effector T cells in the TME. Since the 4T1 antitumor activity of DABIL‐4 was largely diminished in IL‐4R knockout mice, we postulate that DABIL‐4 functions primarily as an immunotherapeutic by the depletion of MDSCs, TAMs, and regulatory T cells. NanoString analysis of control and treated tumors confirmed and extended these observations by showing a marked decline of mRNA transcripts that are associated with tumorigenesis and metastasis. In conclusion, we demonstrate that DABIL‐4 targeting of both tumor and immunosuppressive host cells likely represents a novel and effective treatment strategy for 4T1 TNBC and warrants further study.

Abstract Introduction The emergence of drug resistance and cross-resistance to existing drugs has warranted the development of new antivirals for Herpes simplex viruses (HSV). Hence, we have designed this study to evaluate the anti-viral activity of 1-[(2-methyl benzimidazole-1-yl) methyl]-2-oxo-indolin-3-ylidene] amino] thiourea (MBZM-N-IBT), against HSV-1. Method Molecular docking was performed to assess the affinity of MBZM-N-IBT for HSV-1 targets. This was validated by plaque assay, estimation of RNA and protein levels as well as time of addition experiments in vitro. Result Molecular docking analysis suggested the inhibitory capacity of MBZM-N-IBT against HSV-1. This was supported by the abrogation of the HSV-1 infectious viral particle formation with the IC50 value of 3.619 µM. Viral mRNA levels were also reduced by 72% and 84% for UL9 and gC respectively. MBZM-N-IBT also reduced the protein synthesis for gC and ICP8 significantly. While mRNA of ICP8 was not significantly affected, its protein synthesis was reduced by 47%. The time of addition experiment revealed the capacity of MBZM-N-IBT to inhibit HSV-1 at early as well as late stages of infection in the Vero cells. Similar effect of MBZM-N-IBT was also noticed in the Raw 264.7 and BHK 21 cells after HSV-1 infection. Supported by the in silico data, this can be attributed to possible interference with multiple HSV targets including the ICP8, ICP27, UL42, UL25, UL15 and gB proteins. Conclusion These results along with the lack of acute oral toxicity and significant anti-inflammatory effects suggest its suitability for further evaluation as a non-nucleoside inhibitor of HSV.

Background Dexmedetomidine, an alpha-2 agonist, has been used for attenuation of hemodynamic response to laryngoscopy but not through the nebulized route. We evaluated the effects of preoperative dexmedetomidine nebulization on the hemodynamic response to laryngoscopy and intubation and examined the intraoperative anesthetic-analgesic requirements and recovery outcomes. Methods Overall, 120 American Society of Anesthesiologists I & II adult patients (of either gender) undergoing elective surgeries and requiring tracheal intubation, were randomized to receive nebulized dexmedetomidine (1 µg/kg in 3–4 ml of 0.9% saline) or 0.9% saline (3–4 ml), 30 min before anesthesia induction. Heart rate (HR) and non-invasive systolic blood pressure (SBP) were monitored for 10 min following laryngoscopy. Results After laryngoscopy, linear mixed effect modelling showed significantly lower trend of increase in HR in the dexmedetomidine group versus saline (P = 0.012); however, there was no difference in the SBP changes between the two groups (P = 0.904). Induction dose of propofol (P < 0.001), intraoperative fentanyl consumption (P = 0.007), and isoflurane requirements (P = 0.013) were significantly lower in the dexmedetomidine group. There was no difference in the 2 h incidence of postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV) (P = 0.612) or sore-throat (P = 0.741). Conclusions Nebulized dexmedetomidine at 1 µg/kg attenuated the increase in HR but not SBP following laryngoscopy and reduced the intraoperative anesthetic and analgesic consumption. There was no effect on early PONV, sore-throat, or increase in incidence of adverse effects. Nebulized dexmedetomidine may represent a favorable alternative to the intravenous route in short duration surgeries.

Abstract Several comorbidities have been shown to be associated with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) related severity and mortality. However, considerable variation in the prevalence estimates of comorbidities and their effects on COVID-19 morbidity and mortality have been observed in prior studies. This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to determine geographical, age, and gender related differences in the prevalence of comorbidities and associated severity and mortality rates among COVID-19 patients. We conducted a search using PubMed, Scopus, and EMBASE to include all COVID-19 studies published between January 1st, 2020 to July 24th, 2020 reporting comorbidities with severity or mortality. We included studies reporting the confirmed diagnosis of COVID-19 on human patients that also provided information on comorbidities or disease outcomes. We used DerSimonian and Laird random effects method for calculating estimates. Of 120 studies with 125,446 patients, the most prevalent comorbidity was hypertension (32%), obesity (25%), diabetes (18%), and cardiovascular disease (16%) while chronic kidney or other renal diseases (51%, 44%), cerebrovascular accident (43%, 44%), and cardiovascular disease (44%, 40%) patients had more COVID-19 severity and mortality respectively. Considerable variation in the prevalence of comorbidities and associated disease severity and mortality in different geographic regions was observed. The highest mortality was observed in studies with Latin American and European patients with any medical condition, mostly older adults (≥ 65 years), and predominantly male patients. Although the US studies observed the highest prevalence of comorbidities in COVID-19 patients, the severity of COVID-19 among each comorbid condition was highest in Asian studies whereas the mortality was highest in the European and Latin American countries. Risk stratification and effective control strategies for the COVID-19 should be done according to comorbidities, age, and gender differences specific to geographical location.

Halotolerant bacteria produce a wide range of bioactive compounds with important applications in agriculture for abiotic stress amelioration and plant growth promotion. In the present study, 17 biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs) were identified in Exiguobacterium profundum PHM11 belonging to saccharides, desmotamide, pseudaminic acid, dipeptide aldehydes, and terpene biosynthetic pathways representing approximately one-sixth of genomes. The terpene biosynthetic pathway was conserved in Exiguobacterium spp. while the E. profundum PHM11 genome confirms the presence of the 1-deoxy-d-xylulose 5-phosphate (DXP) pathway for the isopentenyl diphosphate (IPP) synthesis. Further, 2,877 signal peptides (SPs) were identified using the PrediSi server, out of which 592 proteins were prophesied for the secretion having a transmembrane helix (TMH). In addition, antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) were also identified using BAGEL4. The transcriptome analysis of PHM11 under salt stress reveals the differential expression of putative secretion and transporter genes having SPs and TMH. Priming of the rice, wheat and maize seeds with PHM11 under salt stress led to improvement in the root length, root diameters, surface area, number of links and forks, and shoot length. The study shows that the presence of BGCs, SPs, and secretion proteins constituting TMH and AMPs provides superior competitiveness in the environment and make E. profundum PHM11 a suitable candidate for plant growth promotion under salt stress.

Abstract The accelerating energy demands of the increasing global population and industrialization has become a matter of great concern all over the globe. In the present scenario, the world is witnessing a considerably huge energy crisis owing to the limited availability of conventional energy resources and rapid depletion of non-renewable fossil fuels. Therefore, there is a dire need to explore the alternative renewable fuels that can fulfil the energy requirements of the growing population and overcome the intimidating environmental issues like greenhouse gas emissions, global warming, air pollution etc. The use of microorganisms such as bacteria has captured significant interest in the recent era for the conversion of the chemical energy reserved in organic compounds into electrical energy. The versatility of the microorganisms to generate renewable energy fuels from multifarious biological and biomass substrates can abate these ominous concerns to a great extent. For instance, most of the microorganisms can easily transform the carbohydrates into alcohol. Establishing the microbial fuel technology as an alternative source for the generation of renewable energy sources can be a state of art technology owing to its reliability, high efficiency, cleanliness and production of minimally toxic or inclusively non-toxic byproducts. This review paper aims to highlight the key points and techniques used for the employment of bacteria to generate, biofuels and bioenergy, and their foremost benefits.

Abstract The assessment of melting heat transfer and non-uniform heat source on magnetic Cu–H2O nanofluid flow through a porous cylinder was studied. The transformed differential equations describing the motion of Cu–H2O fluid together with pertinent boundary conditions were handled numerically with the assistance of Keller box method. The ranges of volume fraction of copper particles were taken as 0–25%. The impacts of various governing parameters on the physical measures such as Nusselt number, surface drag force, temperature and velocity were analyzed by representing through graphs and tables. It was noted that the flow was influenced accordingly with the governing parameters. The outcomes showed that the rate of heat exchange improved with elevated Reynolds number, space and temperature-dependent internal heat source and melting parameters. The comparison of our data in relation to those of previous works has been shown.

Abstract Background Despite established benefits, exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) rate remains poor in India. This study measured the rate of early initiation of breastfeeding and EBF up to 42 days postpartum period and the reasons associated with early interruption of it. Methods In this study we followed a cohort 319 mother-newborn dyads, on a scheduled day of each week for six postpartum weeks (42 postpartum days), during May 2017 – March 2019. We used standard maternal 24 h recall method to collect data on newborn feeding practices. Additionally, using content the analysis method, we analysed the data captured through open ended question on current breastfeeding practice and reasons to identify the sociocultural facilitators/barriers of exclusive breastfeeding . Results Of the retained 306 newborns, early initiation of breastfeeding rate was 60% (184/306), whereas, EBF rate was 47% (143/306). Mothers’ educational level did not emerge as a risk for unsuccessful breastfeeding practices, whereas, father being not the major earner of the family (Relative risk [RR] 2.4; 95% Confidence interval [CI] 1.7,3.3), mothers who did not believe that effect of breastfeeding is longstanding (RR 1.8; 95% CI 1.3, 2.1) emerged as a risk for unsuccessful EBF practices. Lack of self-conviction about EBF among mothers; significant family members’ influence; cultural beliefs; emerged as major socio-environmental barriers of early interruption of exclusive breastfeeding. Repeated counselling by the healthcare provider particularly focusing on exclusive breastfeeding, supportive family environment in terms of the elders being aware of the positive health outcomes of it, and prior positive experience emerged as the socio-environmental facilitators for successful EBF until 42 postpartum days. Conclusions We conclude that the socio-environmental causes need to be addressed through the present healthcare delivery system for ensuring better infant feeding outcome.

Context : Thyroid hormone deficiency is known to occur after cardiac surgery and known as nonthyroid illness (NTI). The beneficial role perioperative thyroid hormone supplementation in children has been debatable more so with oral supplementation. Aims : The aim is to evaluate the role of pre-operative oral thyroid hormone therapy in preventing NTI. To assess its effect on post-operative thyroid hormone levels, hemodynamic parameters, and cardiac function of infants and small children undergoing pediatric cardiac surgery. Settings and Design : Prospective randomized, double-blinded controlled trial at a tertiary level pediatric cardiothoracic center. Materials and Methods : Sixty-five children aged under 18 months undergoing corrective surgeries on cardiopulmonary bypass were included. Patients were randomized into two equal groups: placebo group (given placebo) and thyroxine group (given thyroxine tablet 10 μg/kg) orally once a day starting on the preoperative evening till the fifth postoperative day. The postoperative hemodynamics, inotropic requirement, ventilatory requirement, and cardiac function on echocardiography were observed. Statistical Tests : Shapiro–Wilk test, Mann–Whitney/t-test, Chi-square test, ANOVA with Tukey correction were used. Results : Serum triiodothyronine and thyroxine levels postoperatively were significantly higher in the thyroxine group than in the placebo group. There was no significant difference in left ventricular ejection fraction, hemodynamic variables, extubation time, and length of intensive care unit (ICU) stay between the two groups. Conclusions : In infants and small children undergoing corrective cardiac surgery, perioperative oral thyroid hormone therapy reduces the severity of postoperative NTI. It increases the serum level of thyroid hormones but the therapy does not translate to better hemodynamics, reduced inotropic requirement, reduced ventilatory requirement, improved myocardial function or reduced ICU stay when compared to placebo.

Objectives: Acute-on-chronic liver failure (ACLF), which develops in patients with underlying alcoholic liver disease (ALD), is characterized by acute deterioration of liver function and organ failures are secondary to that. The clear understanding of metabolic pathways perturbed in ALD-ACLF patients can greatly decrease the mortality and morbidity of patients through predicting outcome, guiding treatment, and monitoring response to treatment. The purpose of this study was to investigate the metabolic disturbances associated with ACLF using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR)-based serum metabolomics approach and further to assess if the serum metabolic alterations are affected by the severity of hepatic impairment. Materials and Methods: The serum-metabolic profiles of 40 ALD-ACLF patients were compared to those of 49 age and sex-matched normal-control (NC) subjects making composite use of both multivariate and univariate statistical tests. Results: Compared to NC, the sera of ACLF patients were characterized by significantly decreased serum levels of several amino acids (except methionine and tyrosine), lipid, and membrane metabolites suggesting a kind of nutritional deficiency and disturbed metabolic homeostasis in ACLF. Twelve serum metabolic entities (including BCAA, histidine, alanine, threonine, and glutamine) were found with AUROC (i.e., area under ROC curve) value >0.9 suggesting their potential in clinical diagnosis and surveillance. Conclusion: Overall, the study revealed important metabolic changes underlying the pathophysiology of ACLF and those related to disease progression would add value to standard clinical scores of severity to predict outcome and may serve as surrogate endpoints for evaluating treatment response.

In this paper, we analyze the performance of an energy harvesting (EH)-assisted overlay cognitive non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA) system. The underlying system consists of a primary transmitter-receiver pair accompanied by an energy-constrained secondary transmitter (ST) with its intended receiver. Accordingly, ST employs a time switching (TS) based receiver architecture to harvest energy from radio-frequency signals of the primary transmissions, and thereby uses this energy to relay the primary information and to transmit its own information simultaneously using the NOMA principle. For this, we propose two cooperative spectrum sharing (CSS) schemes based on incremental relaying (IR) protocol using amplify-and-forward (AF) and decode-and-forward (DF) strategies, viz., CSS-IAF and CSS-IDF, and compare their performance with the competitive fixed relaying based schemes. The proposed IR-based schemes adeptly avail the degrees-of-freedom to boost the system performance. Thereby, considering the realistic assumption of the NOMA-based imperfect successive interference cancellation, we derive the expressions of outage probability for the primary and secondary networks under both CSS-IAF and CSS-IDF schemes subject to the Nakagami-m fading. In addition, we quantify the throughput and energy efficiency for the considered system. The obtained theoretical findings are finally validated through numerous analytical and simulation results to reveal the advantages of the proposed CSS schemes over the baseline direct link transmission and orthogonal multiple access schemes.

Background: Lack of male spouse involvement can affect the delays in the decision to take health care facilities, these are the main contributing factor for increasing maternal mortality and child death ratio. Men involvement in reproductive and sexual health including child health is important in reducing teenage pregnancy, maternal mortality, infant mortality, risky abortions, and total fertility rate. This study aimed to assess the awareness and practices of male spouse in maternal care services in rural areas. Methods: This is a community-based and cross-sectional study which was undertaken in randomly selected four villages of Kashi Vidyapeeth block, Varanasi. Total enumeration of women from the selected villages delivered within last 3 years was done and their husbands were interviewed by using a pre-designed, pretested interview schedule. Data on socioeconomic and demographic characteristics, awareness of various aspects and antenatal and postnatal care were collected and analyzed with SPSS 20 trial version. Results: Out of the total 130 interviewed male spouse (respondents), only 9.8% knows about minimum four antenatal visits. 26.9% were aware about the health related problems during pregnancy and only 7.7% were aware about the danger signs. Janani Suraksha Yojna was known to 11.5% only. 22.4% respondents accompanied their wife for antenatal registration and36.2% for T. T vaccination but 70.2% were present in the hospital during delivery. Logistic regression analysis shows that education of respondents is a key determinant of their involvement during pregnancy. Conclusions: This study identified overall low awareness of male spouse about antenatal visits and involvement during antenatal care. Therefore, there is a strong need to re-strategize the involvement of male spouse in reproductive health including antenatal period.

Aims: In this study, we aim to describe the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the burden and pattern of hospitalization from the COVID-19-unrelated illnesses among children in Barbados. Materials and Methods: This is a population-based prospective clinical audit. It included children (Age

Background and Aims: High flow nasal cannula (HFNC) has numerous advantages against conventional oxygen therapy delivery systems. However, there is limited evidence supporting the use of HFNC in endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) under procedural sedation. The aims of this study is to evaluate the efficacy of two different oxygen delivery devices, that is,HFNCand conventional nasal cannula on the oxygenation status of patients during procedural sedation for EUS. Material and Methods: Sixty adult patients undergoing EUS for various ailments were randomized to two groups group HFNC (n=30) and group nasal cannula [NC (n = 30)]. HFNC (AIRVO2, Fisher and Paykel Healthcare, New Zealand) was used on patients in the group HFNC. Respiratory status of the patients was assessed using pulse oximetry, respiratory rate, procedural airway complications, and oxygen therapy adjustments. The endoscopist assessed the ease of performing EUS at the end of the procedure and patient satisfaction score (PSS) was assessed by using a Likert score in the post-anesthesia care unit. Results: SpO2 measurements in the HFNC group during the procedure were marginally better compared to the NC group but this failed to reach statistical significance. Also, no significant association was found between both groups while comparing desaturation events (P = 0.499), patient satisfaction score (PSS) and endendoscopist's satisfaction score (ESS) (P = 0.795). Both the groups were comparable in terms of airway manipulation, use of airway adjuncts, need to increase oxygen flow rate, endoscope removal, apneic episodes, hypotension, and bradycardia. No major complications were observed in either group. Conclusion: HFNC use in patients undergoing EUS is not superior when compared to conventional nasal cannula oxygen therapy. HFNC failed to show any significant impact on decreasing the risk of desaturation events and airway manipulation during the procedure.

This research presents a highly sensitive surface plasmon resonance (SPR) optical salinity sensor based on angular interrogation method for the quantification of salinity and desalination of sea water. The proposed salinity sensor structure composed of prism-silver (Ag)-silicon (Si)-Franckeite-sensing medium. To achieve the best possible performance i. e. sensitivity, detection accuracy, and quality factor, the sensor is designed and simulated at different wavelengths of 633 nm, 643.8 nm, 690 nm, 700 nm, and 720 nm. The performance of the sensor has also been optimized for different thickness of Ag layer, Si layer, and no. of layer of 2D franckeite. An enhanced maximum sensitivity of 305 deg./RIU is obtained with detection accuracy 0.41 deg.−1 and quality factor 63.92 RIU−1. As the sensor provides high grade of performance, this can be used as a salinity sensor for the desalination of seawater.

Abstract A high bituminous shale horizon from the Gurha mine in the Bikaner sub-basin of the Rajasthan District, NW India, was studied using a collection of geochemical and petrological techniques. This study investigated the nature and environmental conditions of the organic matter and its relation to the unconventional oil-shale resources of the bituminous shale. The analyzed shales have high total organic carbon and total sulfur contents, suggesting that these shale sediments were deposited in a paralic environment under reducing conditions. The dominant presence of organic matter derived from phytoplankton algae suggests warm climatic marine environment, with little connection to freshwater enhancing the growth of algae and other microorganisms. The analyzed bituminous shales have high aquatic-derived alginite organic matters, with low Pr/Ph, Pr/n-C17, and Ph/n-C18 ratios. It is classified as Type II oil-prone kerogen, consistent with high hydrogen index value. Considering the maturity indicators of geochemical Tmax (

Abstract Rhizoctonia solani is one of the most devastating pathogens. R. solani AG-1 IA causes sheath blight in rice, maize, and other Gramineous plants. Accurate identification is essential for the effective management of this pathogen. In the present study, a set of four primers were designed viz. RSPG1, RSPG2, RSPG4, and RSPG5 for polygalacturonase (PG) gene, an important virulence factor in phytopathogenic fungi. All four primer sets showed specific amplification of 300 bp (RSPG1F/R), 375 bp (RSPG2F/R), 500 bp (RSPG4F/R) and 336 bp (RSPG5F/R) amplicons. q-PCR detection using each primer sets could detect up to 10 pg of DNA. We also designed six primers (RS_pg_F3_1/RS_pg_B3_1, RS_pg_FIP_1.1/RS-pg_BIP_1.1, and RS_pg_LF_1/RS_pg_LB_1) for PG gene. Further, a colorimetric LAMP assay developed yielded visual confirmation of the pathogen within 45 min of sample collection when coupled with rapid high throughput template preparation method (rHTTP) from infected samples. The sensitivity of the LAMP assay was as low as 1.65 fg/µl of template DNA and could effectively detect R. solani AG-1 IA from diseased plant tissues and soil samples. The LAMP assay was highly specific for R. solani as it did not show any amplification with other AG groups of R. solani and closely related fungal and bacterial outgroups. This study will help in designing an effective point of care diagnostic method for early monitoring of R. solani and thereby planning timely preventive measures against the pathogen.