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In this paper, we have developed some common fixed point theorems satisfying generalized F-contraction for multivalued maps in Dynamic programming in the context of b-metric-like spaces. We have also discussed an example to validate our results. Finally, we have evinced our work with an application to prove the existence theorem for the system of functional equations and Voltera-type integral equations. • In this article, we have achieved to introduce the notion of a new class of F-HRS type contraction in b-metric-like space with dynamic programming. • Within the above mentioned frame work, we have studied the existence of hybrid fixed point results for multivalued maps. • We have extended and unified our results by discussing there applications in the system of functional equation via dynamic programming and Volterra type integral inclusion. • We have also constructed a nontrivial example to support and validate our main result. • The theorems and corollaries presented in this article cannot be directly procured from the correlative metric space versions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Several samples of magnesium fluoro-germanate doped with Mn 4 + were prepared by solid state synthesis with a different water vapor content in the synthesis atmosphere. A significant decrease in quantum yield and emission intensity was observed with the increase in water vapor content during synthesis. Although there was little effect on the emission spectra, the changes in excitation spectra indicate the dominance of magnesium germanate instead of magnesium fluoro-germanate at high water vapor content. X-ray diffraction (XRD) results show that the pure phase was only achieved with the least amount of water vapor. Refinement of XRD data estimates the quantities of different phases present. The effect on the grain size and morphology is also remarkable, as demonstrated by scanning electron microscopy imaging. The reason behind the changes is discussed in detail. The temperature dependence of the photoluminescence spectra was measured between room temperature and 500 °C where the luminescence is quenched to nearly 3% of its initial value. Image 1 • Properties of Mg 28 Ge 7.5 O 38 F 10 : Mn 4 + is heavily dependent on H 2 O vapor during synthesis. • PL intensity of Mg-fluoro-germanate declines with increasing humidity in synthesis. • Good crystallinity and QY is achieved only with synthesis in dry air atmosphere. • Secondary phases appear if synthesis is performed in high water vapor content. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The direct carbon fuel cell (DCFC) is an efficient device that converts the carbon fuel directly into electricity with 100% theoretical efficiency contrary to practical efficiency around 60%. In this paper four perovskite anode materials La 0.4 Sr 0.6 M 0.09 Ti 0.91 O 3-δ (M = Ni, Fe, Co, Zn) have been prepared using sol-gel technique to measure the performance of the device using solid fuel. These materials have shown reasonable stability and conductivity at 700 °C. Further structural analysis of as-prepared anode material using XRD technique reveals a single cubic perovskite structure with average crystallite size roughly 47 nm. Walnut and almond shells biochar have also been examined as a fuel in DCFC at the temperature range 400–700 °C. In addition, Elemental analysis of walnut and almond shells has shown high carbon content and low nitrogen and sulfur contents in the obtained biochar. Subsequently, the superior stability of as-prepared anode materials is evident by thermogravimetric analysis in pure N 2 gas atmosphere. Conversely, the LSFT anode has shown the highest electronic conductivity of 7.53Scm−1 at 700 °C. The obtained power density for LSFTO 3-δ composite anode mixed in sub-bituminous coal, walnut and almond shells biochar is of 68, 55, 48 mWcm−2 respectively. A significant improvement in performance of DCFC (78 mWcm−2) was achieved. Image 1 • Potential titanate based anodes La 0.4 Sr 0.6 M 0.09 Ti 0.91 O 3-δ for DCFC. • LSFTO 3-δ anode exhibits the best electrical conductivity of 7.53Scm−1 at 700 °C. • The best performance of 78 mWcm−2 achieved with Sub-bituminous fuel. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Correction for 'Synthesis of glycerol carbonate using Li/Mg/K modified zeolite beta: a kinetic study' by Priyanka Gautam et al., New J. Chem., 2024, https://doi.org/10.1039/d3nj05074b. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A typical 1100 MWe pressurized water reactor (PWR) is a second unit installed at the coastal site of Pakistan. In this paper, verification analysis of reactivity control worth by means of rod cluster control assemblies (RCCAs) for startup and operational conditions of this typical nuclear power plant (CNPP) has been performed. Neutronics analysis of fresh core is carried out at beginning of life (BOL) to determine the effect of grey and black control rod clusters on the core reactivity for startup and operating conditions. The combination of WIMS/D4 and CITATION computer codes equipped with JENDL-3.3 data library is used for the first time for core physics calculations of neutronic safety parameters. The differential and integral worth of control banks is derived from the computed results. The effect of control bank clusters on core radial power distribution is studied precisely. Radial power distribution in the core is evaluated for numerous configurations of control banks fully inserted and withdrawn. The accuracy of computed results is validated against the reference values of Nuclear Design Report (NDR) of 1100 MWe typical CNPP. It has been observed that WIMS-D4/CITATION shows its capability to effectively calculate the reactor physics parameters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P. aeruginosa) is a critical healthcare challenge due to its ability to cause persistent infections and the acquisition of antibiotic resistance mechanisms. Lack of preventive vaccines and rampant drug resistance phenomenon has rendered patients vulnerable. As new antimicrobials are in the preclinical stages of development, mining for the unexploited drug targets is also crucial. In the present study, we designed a B- and T-cell multi-epitope vaccine against P. aeruginosa using a subtractive proteomics and immunoinformatics approach. A total of five proteins were shortlisted based on essentiality, extracellular localization, virulence, antigenicity, pathway association, hydrophilicity, and low molecular weight. These include two outer membrane porins; OprF (P13794) and OprD (P32722), a protein activator precursor pra (G3XDA9), a probable outer membrane protein precursor PA1288 (Q9I456), and a conserved hypothetical protein PA4874 (Q9HUT9). These shortlisted proteins were further analyzed to identify immunogenic and antigenic B- and T-cell epitopes. The best scoring epitopes were then further subjected to the construction of a polypeptide multi-epitope vaccine and joined with cholera toxin B subunit adjuvant. The final chimeric construct was docked with TLR4 and confirmed by normal mode simulation studies. The designed B- and T-cell multi-epitope vaccine candidate is predicted immunogenic in nature and has shown strong interactions with TLR-4. Immune simulation predicted high-level production of B- and T-cell population and maximal expression was ensured in E. coli strain K12. The identified drug targets qualifying the screening criteria were: UDP-2-acetamido-2-deoxy-d-glucuronic acid 3-dehydrogenase WbpB (G3XD23), aspartate semialdehyde dehydrogenase (Q51344), 2-amino-4-hydroxy-6-hydroxymethyldihydropteridine pyrophosphokinase (Q9HV71), 3-deoxy-D-manno-octulosonic-acid transferase (Q9HUH7), glycyl-tRNA synthetase alpha chain (Q9I7B7), riboflavin kinase/FAD synthase (Q9HVM3), aconitate hydratase 2 (Q9I2V5), probable glycosyltransferase WbpH (G3XD85) and UDP-3-O-[3-hydroxylauroyl] glucosamine N-acyltransferase (Q9HXY6). For druggability and pocketome analysis crystal and homology structures of these proteins were retrieved and developed. A sequence-based search was performed in different databases (ChEMBL, Drug Bank, PubChem and Pseudomonas database) for the availability of reported ligands and tested drugs for the screened targets. These predicted targets may provide a basis for the development of reliable antibacterial preventive and therapeutic options against P. aeruginosa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The incidence rate of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection in Pakistan is very high. In this study, we evaluated the genetic heterogeneity of HCV hypervariable region 1 (HVR1) from the HCV-infected Pakistani population and compare the isolated genotypes with representative sequences from internationally diverse geographic regions. We also investigated potential transmission events in non-high-risk HCV patients. Next-generation sequencing (NGS) data from the E1-HVR1 region from 30 HCV patients were used for phylogenetic analysis. Reference sequences were retrieved from the Los Alamos HCV and GenBank databases. NGS data were analyzed to examine HCV HVR1 sequence diversity and identify transmission links among HCV-infected individuals using Global Hepatitis Outbreak and Surveillance Technology (GHOST). Phylogenetic analysis showed the predominance of HCV genotype 3a (86.6%), followed by 1a (6.6%), 1b (3.3%), and 3b (3.3%). NGS of HVR1 displayed significant genetic heterogeneity of HCV populations within each patient. The average nucleotide sequence diversity for HVR1 was 0.055. JR781281 was found to be the most diverse (0.14) of the specimens. Phylogenetic analysis demonstrated that all HCV specimens sequenced in this study were more similar to each other and showed variations from the representative sequences. The GHOST results suggested genetic relatedness between two (6.6%) HCV cases, possibly defining an incipient outbreak in a non-high-risk population. We urge rigorous countrywide investigation of outbreaks to identify transmission clusters and their sources to incorporate preventive measures for disease control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The urgent need for effective and sustainable electrocatalytic nitrate reduction to mitigate global water contamination and foster fossil-free ammonia generation has driven extensive exploration of bimetallic non-noble metals in electrochemical applications. Herein, we present the development of an electrocatalyst, namely FeCu phosphide (Fe–CuP), which demonstrates high efficiency in the reduction of nitrate. The prepared samples exhibit exceptional catalytic activity in the electrocatalytic reduction of nitrate to NH3 in a neutral electrolyte. It is noteworthy that the Faraday efficiency reaches an impressive 89% at −1.5 V (vs. SCE), with NH3 yield of 0.6 mmol h−1 cm−2, surpassing the performance of the FeCu alloy. This superior performance can be attributed to the distinct surface morphology of the catalyst and its ability to facilitate rapid charge transfer, which is enhanced by the presence of phosphorus. Moreover, the Fe–CuP catalyst also demonstrates remarkable long-term stability making it an excellent candidate for practical applications. Thus, this work not only introduces a novel synthesis method for Fe–CuP but also establishes the efficacy of phosphorus in promoting nitrate reduction to NH3. These findings provide valuable insights into the advancement of electrocatalytic technologies for sustainable water treatment and ammonia synthesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polypeptoids with well-designed structures have the ability to self-assemble into nanomaterials, which have wide potential applications. In this study, a series of diblock copolypeptoids were synthesized via ring-opening polymerization followed by click chemistry and exhibited both temperature and pH stimulation responsiveness. Under specific temperature and pH conditions, the responsive blocks in the copolypeptoids became hydrophobic and aggregated to form micelles. The self-assembly process was monitored using the UV-Vis and DLS methods, which suggested the reversible transition of free molecules to micelles and bigger aggregates upon instituting temperature and pH changes. By altering the length and proportion of each block, the copolypeptoids displayed varying self-assembly characteristics, and the transition temperature could be tuned. With good biocompatibility, stability, and no cytotoxicity, the polypeptoids reported in this study are expected to be applied as bionanomaterials in fields including drug delivery, tissue engineering, and intelligent biosensing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of nontoxic and efficient antifreeze agents for organ cryopreservation is crucial. However, the research remains highly challenging. In this study, we designed and synthesized a series of peptoid oligomers using the solid-phase submonomer synthesis method by mimicking the amphiphilic structures of antifreeze proteins (AFPs). The obtained peptoid oligomers showed excellent antifreeze properties, reducing the ice crystal growth rate and inhibiting ice recrystallization. The effects of the hydrophobicity and sequence of the peptoid side chains were also studied to reveal the structure–property relationship. The prepared peptoid oligomers were detected as non-cytotoxic and considered to be useful in the biological field. We hope that the peptoid oligomers presented in this study can provide effective strategies for the design of biological cryoprotectants for organ preservation in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study focused on the optimal energy operation of the stand-alone electrical distribution grid based on technical and economic indices under uncertainty of the load demand and renewable energy sources. The two reserve strategies consisting of (1) power-to-gas (P2G) technology as a storage system and (2) load curtailment strategy (LCS) are taken into account as proposed approaches to improvement of the technical and economic indices at operation time. Using P2G technology, stored natural gas can be applied to backup generators to meet demand at peak times. As well, LCS is implemented subject to bid prices to consumers for demand reduction at emergency times. The multi-objective functions such as (1) minimizing the operation cost, (2) maximizing the reliability, and (3) improving the voltage profile are considered as main economic and technical objectives. The optimization of the proposed approach is carried out by the ant colony algorithm. On the other side, by the TOPSIS decision-making method, the desired optimal solution is obtained in non-dominated solutions. Finally, in order to represent the effectiveness and validation of proposed reserve strategies, the mentioned strategies are applied to the IEEE-33 bus as an electrical distribution grid in three case studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding the film lifting and draining of fluid on a vertical belt with surface tension is crucial for improving predictive models in coating and lubrication processes. This paper presents a theoretical study on the film lifting and drainage of a third-grade fluid with surface tension. The driving mechanisms on a vertical belt are the belt’s upward movement, the gradient of surface tension, and gravity. The formulated nonlinear ordinary differential equation (ODE) is solved for a series-form solution using the Adomian decomposition method. Numerical computations are used to determine the stationary point placements and the thickness of the uniform film. The study elucidated that lift velocity shows a decreasing trend, while drainage velocity exhibits an increasing trend with increasing values of inverse capillary number C and Stokes number St. The lift velocity shows an increase, whereas the drainage velocity demonstrates a decrease with an increase in the Deborah number De. With increasing values of St and C, the stationary points shift away from the fluid–air interface, while an increase in De causes them to move towards the interface. Surface tension plays a role in supporting drainage and leads to a shift in the stationary points towards the belt. Newtonian and third-grade fluids are also compared in terms of velocity, stationary points, uniform film, and surface tension, providing insight into their behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rechargeable zinc batteries are promising choices for eco‐friendly, safe and cost‐effective energy storage solutions. However, their commercial adoption faces challenges such as low Coulombic efficiency (CE) and poor reversibility of Zn anodes. To address these issues, a new green electrolyte based on N,N'‐Dimethylpropyleneurea (DMPU) has been developed, affording a robust, dendrite‐free Zn anode with over 5000 h of cycle stability and a high average CE of 98.49%. Zn anode in DMPU‐electrolyte significantly outperforms aqueous electrolyte with 67 times longer cycle life, demonstrating excellent anode stability. Moreover, ultra‐stable Zn anode in DMPU‐electrolyte cycled for over 10 000 cycles at 1.0 mA cm−2 showcases excellent reversibility. The Dimethylpropyleneurea‐triflate anion generated solid electrolyte interphase enables homogeneous and rapid Zn2+‐diffusion at the electrode interface, leading to a structured hexagonal Zn deposit. Furthermore, as electrolyte additive, DMPU significantly stabilizes Zn anode at severe conditions (5.0 and 10.0 mA cm−2) along with remarkable enhancement in CE (99.12%). This study offers valuable insights into the development of hybrid and organic electrolytes to advance Zn battery technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In an attempt to meet the global demand, renewable energy systems (RES) have gained an interest in it due to the availability of the resources, especially solar photovoltaic system that has been an importance since many years because of per watt cost reduction, improvement in efficiency, and abundant availability. Photovoltaic system in remote and rural areas is very useful where a grid supply is unavailable. In this scenario, power electronic converters are an integral part of the renewable energy systems particularly for electronic devices which are operated from renewable energy sources and energy storage system (fuel cell and batteries). In this article, a new topology of charge pump capacitor (CPC) which is based on high voltage gain technique DC-DC boost converter (DCBC) with dynamic modeling is proposed. To testify the efficacy of the introduced topology, a prototype has been developed in a laboratory, where input was given 10VDC and 80VDC output voltage achieved at the load side. Furthermore, the experimental result shows that the voltage stress of MOSFET switches is very less in comparison with the conventional boost converter with the same parameters as the proposed converter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

HCV is key pathological factor for inducting insulin resistance. Such HCV‐induced insulin resistance is linked with metabolic syndrome, type 2 diabetes mellitus, extrahepatic manifestations, hepatic fibrosis progression and development of hepatocellular carcinoma. DNA methylation alterations can cause developmental abnormalities, tumours and other diseases. In our study, PBMCs were isolated and genomic DNA was extracted. DNA fragmentation was achieved by sonication to 200‐400 bp; subsequently, end repair and adenylation was performed. Manufacturer's guidelines were followed to ligate Cytosine‐methylated barcodes to sonicated DNA. EZ DNA Methylation‐GoldTM Kit was then employed to treat these DNA segments twice with bisulphite. A Library was maintained, sequenced on an Illumina platform and 150/125 bp paired‐end reads generated. GO seq R package was used to perform Gene Ontology (GO) enrichment analysis for genes linked to DMRs and DMPs; gene length bias was corrected. We identified 12 945 significant hypermethylated DMRs among all samples that were screened as those with at least 0.1 methylation level differences and P‐value less than 0.05. Fisher's exact test with FDR multiple test correction is used for identification of DMPs and DMRs. High throughput bisulphite sequencing (Illumina) was carried out, and bioinformatics analysis was performed to analyse methylation status. Gene ontology (GO) and KEGG pathway enrichment analysis showed differentially methylated regions enriched in various pathways that include PI3K‐AKT/IRS1 signalling pathway, metabolic pathway, oxidative phosphorylation, Renin‐angiotensin system that are all involved in developing type‐2 diabetes (T2D). Our study provides supporting evidence for significant involvement of HCV infection in development of epigenetic modifications in regulation of metabolic disorders like T2D and its complications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A consortium managed project in the Upper Indus Basin of Gilgit-Baltistan , Pakistan, supported the creation of women's collective farming. The component of the project related to water resource management for agriculture was implemented in Hunza district, where in three sites, the communities encouraged women farmers to engage in the pilot interventions related to innovative water resource management technologies and improved farming practices to overcome climate-induced issues for farmers. This paper analyzes the situation of women as collective farmers and its contributions to women's agency. The study used a gender analysis framework, and data was collected through quantitative and qualitative research methodologies in the project site areas. The study's findings show that climate change has created issues more for women farmers being at the forefront in handling and tackling the impacts through various measures. It shows that collective farming and networking is an appropriate tool for women to challenge norms and stereotypes that hinder them from being part of the decision-making at various levels. Furthermore, it helps women to minimize drudgery by sharing burdens, using appropriate technology, and sharing their successes and issues while working together. Based on the findings, this study suggests that policy decisions to implement such initiatives at a more macro level will help involve women at various levels of decision-making, minimize their drudgery, expand the choices of women farmers, and overall contribute to the agency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Interface α-MnO 2 /Bi 2 WO 6 heterostructure synthesized with abundant Mn3+/Mn4+ defect. • Boosted visible light by surface oxygen vacancies, defects sites. • O 2 − and 1O 2 were the main ROS for TC-HCl degradation, Cr6 reduction. • DFT calculation reveals high charge density at the built-in-interface. • Mechanistic insights into Z-scheme charge transfer. The construction of visible-light-driven hybrid heterostructure photocatalysts is of great significance for environmental remediation, although the utilization of strong visible-light response photocatalysts with high efficiency and stability remains a major challenge. On the other hand, defect engineering is an excellent way to introduce metal cation vacancies in materials, thereby ensuing in highly enhanced catalytic performance. Inspired by this, we effectively constructed a built-in interface α-MnO 2 /Bi 2 WO 6 heterostructure with abundant intimate interfaces and defective Mn3+/Mn4+ active sites for photocatalytic tetracycline hydrochloride (TC-HCl), hexavalent chromium Cr6+ reduction, and Escherichia coli (E. coli) inactivation. The experimental results, such as the active species test and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, indicated that the defective sites Mn3+/Mn4+, surface oxygen vacancies, and Bi(3+x)+ boosted the visible light absorption, and highly enhanced the photoinduced charge separation/transfer. Furthermore, experimental and DFT calculations reveal the high charge density at the built-in interface heterostructure and the Z-scheme charge transfer mechanism during the photocatalytic process. The results further reveal that O 2 − and 1O 2 are the main reactive active species contributing to the photocatalytic reaction. The exceptional TC-HCl decomposition activity of the α-MnO 2 /Bi 2 WO 6 heterostructure (97.56%, 2.31, and 2.04 times higher than bulk), enhanced reaction kinetics (K app = 0.041 min−1, 6.4, and 5.2 times higher than bulk), removal rate of 80.3%, Cr6+ reduction to Cr3+ (98.56%, K app = 0.0599 min−1), and almost 100% bacterial inactivation compared to bulk α-MnO 2 (42.22%) and Bi 2 WO 6 (47.76%), were mainly due to the enhanced charge separation/transfer at the built-in interface and high charge density. This study opens new horizons for constructing Z-scheme MnO-based interface heterostructures with abundant defect sites for exceptional photocatalytic applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nature-inspired hydrophobic coatings have caught great attention due to their repellency to corrosive mediums and less interaction between substrate and chemical species. Aluminum is considered one of the metals having superior properties against corrosion due to passive film formation. It can further be enhanced by the formation of a hierarchical structure through 2nd step anodization. In previous studies, carbon infiltrated in anodized alumina pores through CVD method (chemical vapor deposition) was quite an expensive and complex method. The fabrication of anti-corrosion coating with a simple and cost-effective method will broaden the aluminum alloy applications in the chemical, petrochemical, and aerospace industries, etc. In this research, pyrolytic carbon is infiltrated in porous alumina through pyrolysis at three different temperatures for 30 min under a controlled environment by using flaxseed oil as a source of carbon. The surface morphology along with chemical composition and wetting angle were studied through SEM (Scanning Electron Microscope), EDX (Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy), and Sessile drop method. It was found that both low surface energy and high roughness participate in increasing the wetting angle. Nanocomposite coating having maximum carbon content has a maximum wetting angle with inorganic liquid. Based on the electrochemical behavior determined by Tafel and EIS (Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy) analysis, the hydrophobic coating containing 57.5% carbon content having a contact angle of 95° exhibits maximum corrosion resistance of around 28,000 kohm as compared to anodized aluminum having minimum corrosion resistance of around 4.26 kohm. The results and the cost-effective method could be beneficial in aircraft parts as well as in aeronautical applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) is a significant global crop and a vital raw material for industries. Studying existing cotton germplasm is crucial for discovering new genetic resources for future breeding. In this study, the effectiveness of EST-SSRs and ISSRs markers were compared for assessing genetic variation among 45 Pakistani Bt and non-Bt cotton varieties. ISSR and EST-SSR primers yielded 108 and 28 loci, respectively. The polymorphism was found 32.40% for ISSR, while 89.28% was recorded for SSR primers. Cluster analysis revealed a high level of genetic similarity for ISSR (average 0.92) and EST-SSR (average 0.85) among cotton genotypes. The mean polymorphic information content (PIC) value was 0.25 for ISSR, whereas it was recorded 0.48 for EST-SSRs. Confusion probability (Cj) exhibited a negative association with discriminating power (Dj), while Dj displayed a positive association with PIC. Marker discriminating statistics showed that EST-SSRs have a high expected heterozygosity of polymorphic loci (Hep) as compared to ISSR, along with a higher marker index value (MI). The effective multiplex ratio for ISSRs (1.40) was greater than EST-SSRs (1.12). The structural analysis revealed 6 sub-clusters for EST-SSRs and 4 sub-clusters for ISSRs. This phylogenetic study is crucial for identifying promising genotypes for breeding programs, especially given the limited genetic diversity in cotton breeding. The study showed that Bt cotton genotypes share a high genetic similarity, emphasizing the need for introducing diverse or exotic genotypes into breeding programs to enrich genetic diversity. Additionally, marker-discriminating indices can aid in selecting effective markers to assess genetic variation, facilitating the development of improved cotton varieties with desired traits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this study is to assess the role of intrathecal and topical vancomycin in the prevention of ventriculoperitoneal shunt infection. Infections of the ventriculoperitoneal (VP) shunt are a frequent consequence of shunt surgery. Different strategies, and protocols in addition to prophylactic intravenous antibiotic administration have been described to limit the infection rate, but the burden still remains high. The use of intrathecal Vancomycin along with topical application can be implemented as an additional measure to limit shunt-related infections. The study includes 105 patients who underwent ventriculoperitoneal shunt insertions for different reasons. Apart from the standard operative protocols used for shunt surgeries, intraoperatively intrathecal and topical vancomycin were administered to all the patients. Postoperatively, all the patients were followed for three months to assess shunt-related infections The study showed that the infection rate after administration of intrathecal and topical Vancomycin was found to be low, which is 4.7%, which shows a reduction of 5.8% from our baseline infection rate of 10.5%. We also found that patients having tuberculous meningitis were more at risk of developing shunt-related infections, the p-value being significant (0.001*). Therefore, we conclude that as part of a standardized shunt operation routine, Intrathecal and topical vancomycin treatment may be an appropriate option for preventing pediatric shunt infections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common form of dementia. Early and accurate detection of AD is crucial to plan for disease modifying therapies that could prevent or delay the conversion to sever stages of the disease. As a chronic disease, patient's multivariate time series data including neuroimaging, genetics, cognitive scores, and neuropsychological battery provides a complete profile about patient's status. This data has been used to build machine learning and deep learning (DL) models for the early detection of the disease. However, these models still have limited performance and are not stable enough to be trusted in real medical settings. Literature shows that DL models outperform classical machine learning models, but ensemble learning has proven to achieve better results than standalone models. This study proposes a novel deep stacking framework which combines multiple DL models to accurately predict AD at an early stage. The study uses long short-term memory (LSTM) models as base models over patient's multivariate time series data to learn the deep longitudinal features. Each base LSTM classifier has been optimized using the Bayesian optimizer using different feature sets. As a result, the final optimized ensembled model employed heterogeneous base models that are trained on heterogeneous data. The performance of the resulting ensemble model has been explored using a cohort of 685 patients from the University of Washington's National Alzheimer's Coordinating Center dataset. Compared to the classical machine learning models and base LSTM classifiers, the proposed ensemble model achieves the highest testing results (i.e., 82.02, 82.25, 82.02, and 82.12 for accuracy, precision, recall, and F1-score, respectively). The resulting model enhances the performance of the state-of-the-art literature, and it could be used to build an accurate clinical decision support tool that can assist domain experts for AD progression detection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Three new mononuclear heteroleptic copper(I) halide complexes, [CuL(PPh3)2X] (X = Cl, Br, I), based on 3-phenyl-5-(pyridin-4-yl)-1,2,4-triazole (L) and triphenylphosphine (PPh3) ligands, have been prepared by reaction of CuX (X = Cl, Br, I), L and PPh3 in a molar ratio of 1 : 1 : 2 in MeCN solutions. The synthesized complexes exhibit blue light emission in solutions and bright green emission in the crystal state with quantum yields of up to 100%. The luminescence decay analysis and density functional theory calculations revealed that the emission of solid samples at room temperature corresponds to the thermally activated delayed fluorescence, while that at 77 K is assigned to phosphorescence. Utilizing the studied complexes in OLED heterostructures resulted in high-performing green-emitting devices with an external quantum efficiency of up to 13.4%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents photographs showing blooming flower in misty left atrium.

In this paper, a novel astrophysics-based prediction framework is developed for estimating the binding affinity of a glucose binder. The proposed framework utilizes the molecule properties for predicting the binding affinity. It also uses the astrophysics-learning strategy that incorporates the concepts of Kepler's law during the prediction process. The proposed framework is compared with 10 regression algorithms over ZINC dataset. Experimental results reveal that the proposed framework provides 99.30% accuracy of predicting binding affinity. However, decision tree provides the prediction with 97.14% accuracy. Cross-validation results show that the proposed framework provides better accuracy than the other existing models. The developed framework enables researchers to screen glucose binder rapidly. It also reduces computational time for designing small glucose binding molecule. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the spherically symmetric gravitational collapse of anisotropic fluid in the presence of charge in metric f (R) theory is analyzed. We consider the static and non static spherically symmetric spacetimes for outer and inner regions of collapsing object respectively. For the smooth matching of inner and outer regions, the Senovilla as well as Darmois matching conditions are utilized. The closed form solutions are obtained from field equations. Moreover, we examine the apparent horizons and their physical significance. The effect of cosmological constant and f (R) term is same and the collapsing rate speeds up as compared to that of anisotropic fluid case when the electromagnetic field is introduced. Electromagnetic charge also affects the time interval of singularities and cosmological horizons. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Esterification of glycerol with acetic acid was carried out over cerium-modified ZSM-5 zeolites to synthesize monoacetin (MA) and diacetin (DA). The modified zeolite catalyst was characterized. The effect of reaction process parameters such as acetic acid to glycerol mole ratio (1–11), reaction temperature (30–120 °C), and catalyst weight (2–8 wt %) on the selectivity of the product was investigated. At 120 °C reaction temperature, 8 wt % catalyst, and 9:1 acetic acid to glycerol mole ratio, about 98.32% conversion of glycerol were obtained. This reaction follows pseudo-first-order reaction kinetics and the activation energy was found to be 63.72 kJ mol−1. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The section presents photographs of a patient with tendon xanthomas as an indicator of premature coronary artery disease.

The application of magnetic nanoparticles as an adsorbent and a catalyst support in solving the environmental issues has recently received great attention due to their unique physical and chemical properties, such as high surface area, ease of anchoring the functional groups, lower processing cost, high stability and ease of separation under an external magnetic field. In the present study, a magnetic catalyst was prepared by embedding magnetite (Fe3O4) within the silica shell on which sulfate ions were anchored (Fe3O4@SiO2@SO42−). The catalyst was successfully employed for glycerol esterification with acetic acid to obtain 100% selectivity towards triacetin within 45 min of reaction duration at 80 °C. The catalyst was successfully isolated from the reaction medium magnetically and reused for six consecutive reaction cycles while retaining 90% glycerol conversion levels and 50% triacetin selectivity in the reaction cycles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The solar collector's efficiency is directly depended upon the solar radiation intensity falling on its surface. In order to increase the solar concentration over the collector, side reflectors are introduced which will concentrate both diffuse and direct radiations from the sun toward the collector surface. Therefore, in this study the influence of side (left and right) reflectors on efficiency improvement of the flat plate solar collector (FPSC) was analyzed. For determining the optimum tilt angles of side reflector and collector, a simulation model was developed by using TRNSYS software. The results obtained from simulation were validated with the experimental results for whole year during the daytime of semiarid Asir region of Saudi Arabia. Both simulation and experimental results indicate that optimal left side reflector angle is lowest in winter with the value of 38° and highest in summer with the value of 68°, while the optimal angle of right side reflector is lowest in summer with the value of 43° and highest in winter with the value of 74.5°. The thermal efficiency of FPSC has been improved significantly by adding side reflectors. The average thermal efficiency of FPSC without reflector was 46% which was increased to 58% by adding side reflectors. The addition of side reflectors increases the concentration of solar radiation falling on the collector surface and thus increases the output temperature of water by 12 °C as compared to input water temperature. Thus, the effective size of the system was reduced by adding side reflectors as thermal efficiency was enhanced which implies less space requirement for heating an appropriate quantity of water. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To determine the eff ects of azathioprine on germinal epithelium and evaluate the possible protection provided by co-administration of zinc chloride. Design: A prospective experimental study. Place of study: Anatomy Department, Basic Medical Sciences Institute, Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre, Karachi from January 2016 till January 2017. Material and Methods: For this study 60-male adult albino rats of 90-120 days of age were selected and distributed into three equal groups A, B and C. Th ey were further divided into four sub-groups for 1st, 3rd, 6th and 8th weeks of the treatment. Group-A served as control, received only injection 0.9 % normal saline intraperitoneally daily, group-B received Inj. azathioprine 15mg/kg body weight intra-peritoneally daily and group-C received Inj. azathioprine 15mg/ kg body weight plus Inj. zinc chloride 1mg/kg body weight intra-peritoneally daily. At the end of respective period of treatment animals were sacrifi ced. Both testes were excised, fi xed in Bouin's solution for 24 hours. Aft er processing in ascending grades of alcohol, cleared in xylene and fi xed in paraffi n, 5 μ thick sections were cut and stained with PAS-Iron Haematoxylin for study of seminiferous tubules morphology and micrometry. Results: Th e tubules were compact, regularly arranged with intact basement membrane. Th e lumens of germinal epithelium contain mature spermatozoa in control group-A. Th e spaces between seminiferous tubules were increased with area of necrosis, the basement membrane of most of tubules were distorted and ruptured, the vacuoles between the germinal epithelium were appeared and the lumen contain slough without spermatozoa in group-B. Th ere was widening of intertubular spaces, the tubules were wavy but basement membrane intact. Lumens were narrow and contained spermatozoa without slough in group-C, otherwise features similar to control. Conclusion: Azathioprine produced germinal epithelium toxicity which is more pronounced with time period and provided protection by zinc chloride. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Demand of special combination of different properties of the materials instigated the development of metal matrix composite. The carbon nanotubes being renowned for their excellent physical and mechanical properties are one of the major choices as strengthen material for metal matrix composites. To benefit their properties, the carbon nanotubes should be thoroughly dispersed and have wetting with the matrix. In the present study, a precursor of aluminum-carbon nanotubes was prepared by coating the nanotubes with titanium and used to fabricate the composite by induction melting. The precursor provided easy wetting, while induction melting facilitated dispersion of the nanotubes readily. Consequently, the composite exhibited noticeable augmentations in yield and tensile strength from 64 to 193 MPa and 81 to 227 MPa, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Agricultural sector is an important component of the Pakistan economy. It has blessed with four seasons, therefore its soil is rich to produce all kinds crops, fruits and vegetables. Agriculture sector contributes to the economic benefit of the farming community in Pakistan, therefore analyzing its potential remain major focus in various studies. Current study has been designed with main aim to estimate the allocative efficiency of onion production in District swat. Using multistage sampling technique cross sectional data was collected from 105 sample respondents in three villages (Aboha, Manyar and Parrai) of Tehsil Barikot, district Swat. Simple Linear Regression Model was employed to individual input contribution in total output. The concept of Marginal Value Products and Marginal Factor Cost was used to calculate Allocative Efficiency. Ordinary Least Square technique was used to drive linear production function. The results revealed that Tractor (hrs), Labor (M-days), FYM (kg), chemical fertilizer (kg), pesticide/weedicide (ml), and irrigation numbers have positive effects on onion production in the research area. Allocative efficiency estimates showed that tractor hours, FYM, chemical fertilizer, and pesticide/weedicide are under-utilized having ratios of 22.15, 8.65, 5.49 and 34.69 respectively. Similarly, seed rate and irrigation numbers are over utilized having values of 0.14 and 0.76 respectively. The allocative efficiency value for labor days was 1.07suggests almost near to allocative efficient level. The study recommends season long trainings for optimal resource allocation, availability of inputs at reasonable prices and facilitation of growers in marketing of output, in order to enhance allocative efficiency of onion growers in the study area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Malnutrition is generally considered as a state in which body does not receive proper nutritional elements required for its proper functioning. In Asian countries like Pakistan, India and Sri Lanka, micronutrient deficiency is one of the major causes of overall undernourishment among farmwomen. Therefore, this paper aims to identify the level of awareness about nutritional status and effects of malnutrition on women and their children in rural areas of Pakistan. Sample size comprised of 164 respondents who were selected by simple random sampling method by taking 41 respondents from each of the randomly selected villages. A pre-tested and well-structured interview schedule was developed for data collection. The results indicated that various diseases were present among rural families due to malnutrition. The diseases were lethargy, rapid heartbeat, underweight, weak muscles, kwashiorkor, rickets, depression, tiredness, iron deficiency, dizziness, headache, deficiency of protein and unusually pale skin. Pearson correlation coefficient shows significant and positive relation between nutritional awareness and proper diet P<0.05. Results also indicated that diseases and malnutrition were directly related with lack of awareness regarding balanced diet, which was also associated with insufficient micronutrient intake. Low-income, early age marriages, family size, family structure, education level, low access to health facilities were found to be causes of malnutrition among the respondents. There is dire need to take the situation as national nutritional emergency and should make mass level campaigns with the use of media as a tool of communication regarding awareness of coping strategies against malnutrition among rural masses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In healthcare, the analysis of patients' activities is one of the important factors that offer adequate information to provide better services for managing their illnesses well. Most of the human activity recognition (HAR) systems are completely reliant on recognition module/stage. The inspiration behind the recognition stage is the lack of enhancement in the learning method. In this study, we have proposed the usage of the hidden conditional random fields (HCRFs) for the human activity recognition problem. Moreover, we contend that the existing HCRF model is inadequate by independence assumptions, which may reduce classification accuracy. Therefore, we utilized a new algorithm to relax the assumption, allowing our model to use full-covariance distribution. Also, in this work, we proved that computation wise our method has very much lower complexity against the existing methods. For the experiments, we used four publicly available standard datasets to show the performance. We utilized a 10-fold cross-validation scheme to train, assess, and compare the proposed model with the conditional learning method, hidden Markov model (HMM), and existing HCRF model which can only use diagonal-covariance Gaussian distributions. From the experiments, it is obvious that the proposed model showed a substantial improvement with p value ≤0.2 regarding the classification accuracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The earth's nitrogen cycle relies on the effective conversion of nitrogen (N 2) to ammonia (NH 3). As a result, the research and development of catalysts that are earth-abundant, inexpensive, and highly efficient but do not need precious metals is of the utmost significance. In this investigation, we present a controlled synthesis technique to the fabrication of an iron oxide (Fe 2 O 3) nanosheet array by annealing at temperatures ranging from 350 to 550 °C. This array will be used for the electrochemical reduction of atmospheric N2 to NH3 in electrolytes. The Fe 2 O 3 nanosheet array that was produced as a result displays outstanding electrochemical performance as well as remarkable stability. When compared to a hydrogen electrode working under normal temperature and pressure conditions, the Fe 2 O 3 nanosheet array produces an impressive NH3 production rate of 18.04 g per hour per mg of catalytically active material in 0.1 M KOH electrolyte, exhibiting an enhanced Faradaic efficiency (FE) of 13.5% at −0.35 V. This is accomplished by exhibiting an enhanced Faradaic efficiency (FE) of 0.1 M KOH electrolyte. The results of experiments and electrochemical studies reveal that the existence of cation defects in the Fe 2 O 3 nanosheets plays an essential part in the enhancement of the electrocatalytic activity that takes place during nitrogen reduction reactions (NRR). This study not only contributes to the expanding family of transition-metal-based catalysts with increased electrocatalytic activity for NRR, but it also represents a substantial breakthrough in the design of catalysts that are based on transition metals, so it's a win-win. In addition, the use of Fe 2 O 3 nanosheets as electrocatalysts has a lot of potential in algal membrane bioreactors because it makes nitrogen fixation easier, it encourages algae growth, and it makes nitrogen cycling more resource-efficient. [Display omitted] • The Fe 2 O 3 nanosheets (Fe 2 O 3 -NS) were developed for NRR. • The electrocatalyst delivered excellent catalytic activity in 0.1 M KOH. • The highest FE of ∼13.5% and NH 3 yield of ∼18.04 μg h−1 mg−1 cat at −0.3 V was obtained. • The cation defects predominantly increase the active sites. • The potential of defect engineering on 2D materials for catalytic NRR was explored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Full solar-light-spectrum active V-Bi 2 S 3-x Se x photocatalyst was prepared for the first time. • Doped and defected endowed the superb photocatalytic activity over bare counterparts. • High Cr(VI) reduction and H 2 O 2 generation efficiencies are achieved under illumination. • Both ESR and species trapping analysis reveal the photocatalysis mechanism. Heterogeneous photocatalysis has been demonstrated as a highly effective approach in addressing the difficulties encountered by conventional technologies in environmental remediation. Herein, for the first time, a novel hierarchical photocatalyst of selenium-doped Bi 2 S 3 (Bi 2 S 3-x Se x) was successfully synthesized through a one-spot hydrothermal route followed by a vacancy engineering process (V-Bi 2 S 3-x Se x). The photocatalytic reduction of Cr(VI) and in-situ generation of hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2) under simulated solar-light irradiation were performed to evaluate the catalytic activity of the as-prepared samples. The catalytic activity of as-prepared samples was evaluated toward the photocatalytic reduction of Cr(VI) and in-situ generation of H 2 O 2 under simulated solar-light irradiation. Notably, V-Bi 2 S 3-x Se x (V-BSSe-5, as optimum sample) exhibited a photo-reduction of Cr(VI) at a rate of 97.04% during 150 min, which was 1.53- and 1.39-fold higher than those of pure Bi 2 S 3 and Bi 2 Se 3 , respectively. Interestingly, the V-Bi 2 S 3-x Se x photocatalyst not only harvested more incident light in the UV–vis and near-infrared (NIR) regions but also supplied many active sites, improving the promotion of photo-generated charge-carriers, inhibiting charge recombination, and thus enhancing the photocatalytic activity. In addition, V-BSSe-5 showed greater photocatalytic efficiency for H 2 O 2 generation, which was 15.69, 10.07, and 1.79 times higher than those of Bi 2 S 3 , Bi 2 Se 3 , and BSSe-5, respectively. The charge-carrier migration pathway and possible photocatalytic mechanisms were systematically discussed by assisting the electron spin resonance and ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy analyses. The findings of this study demonstrate that doping and defect engineering strategies have the potential to be a significant advancement in the development of visible- and NIR-light responsiveness photocatalysts, thereby providing a solution to current environmental and energy challenges. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, the interest in generating power through hybrid power generation systems has increased. In this study, a hybrid power generation system including an internal combustion engine (ICE) and a solar system based on flat plate collectors to generate electricity is investigated. To benefit from the thermal energy absorbed by solar collectors, an organic Rankine cycle (ORC) is considered. In addition to the solar energy absorbed by the collectors, the heat source of the ORC is the wasted heat through exhaust gases and the cooling system of the ICE. A two-pressure configuration for ORC is proposed for optimal heat absorption from the three available heat sources. The proposed system is installed to produce power with a capacity of 10 kW. A bi-objective function optimization process is carried out to design this system. The objective of the optimization process is to minimize the total cost rate and maximize the exergy efficiency of the system. The design variables of the present problem include the ICE rated power, the number of solar flat plate collectors (SFPC), the pressure of the high-pressure (HP) and low-pressure (LP) stage of the ORC, the degree of superheating of the HP and LP stage of the ORC, and its condenser pressure. Finally, it is observed among the design variables the most impact on total cost and exergy efficiency is related to the ICE rated power and the number of SFPCs. [Display omitted] • A hybrid power generation system is investigated. • A multi-objective optimization process is conducted. • A parametric study is performed and exergy efficiency and total cost rate are evaluated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

OBJECTIVE: To determine the effectiveness of nursing educational interventions on patients with post PCI non-ischemic chest pain. METHODOLOGY: This experimental study was conducted from December 2017 to May 2018 on 100 post PCI patients. Patients who came with post PCI non-ischemic chest pain and on initial screening on the Numerical Rating Scale (NRS) patients scored 5 to 10 were included. Those who had post PCI ischemic chest pain with complications were excluded from the study. The Short McGill Pain Questionnaire (SMPQ) was used to assess the effectiveness of nursing educational interventions. Data analysis was performed using SPSS version 26. Percentages were used for categorical variables, and inferential statistics were calculated using the Mann-Whitney Test. Median and range were calculated at baseline, week two, week four and week six for experimental and non-experimental groups. A P-value of <0.05 was considered significant. RESULTS: This study showed that most participants (74%) were males, and almost all (99%) were married. The P-value is significant at different intervals between the experimental and control groups at two, four and six weeks with P-values <0.001, <0.001, and <0.001, respectively. CONCLUSION: The findings of this study revealed that nursing interventions help to reduce post PCI non-ischemic chest pain levels. This study demonstrates that after nurse-led educational interventions, there were significant differences in scores between interventional and non-interventional groups at different levels after PCI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common form of dementia. Early and accurate detection of AD is crucial to plan for disease modifying therapies that could prevent or delay the conversion to sever stages of the disease. As a chronic disease, patient's multivariate time series data including neuroimaging, genetics, cognitive scores, and neuropsychological battery provides a complete profile about patient's status. This data has been used to build machine learning and deep learning (DL) models for the early detection of the disease. However, these models still have limited performance and are not stable enough to be trusted in real medical settings. Literature shows that DL models outperform classical machine learning models, but ensemble learning has proven to achieve better results than standalone models. This study proposes a novel deep stacking framework which combines multiple DL models to accurately predict AD at an early stage. The study uses long short-term memory (LSTM) models as base models over patient's multivariate time series data to learn the deep longitudinal features. Each base LSTM classifier has been optimized using the Bayesian optimizer using different feature sets. As a result, the final optimized ensembled model employed heterogeneous base models that are trained on heterogeneous data. The performance of the resulting ensemble model has been explored using a cohort of 685 patients from the University of Washington's National Alzheimer's Coordinating Center dataset. Compared to the classical machine learning models and base LSTM classifiers, the proposed ensemble model achieves the highest testing results (i.e., 82.02, 82.25, 82.02, and 82.12 for accuracy, precision, recall, and F1-score, respectively). The resulting model enhances the performance of the state-of-the-art literature, and it could be used to build an accurate clinical decision support tool that can assist domain experts for AD progression detection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Haemorrhagic septicaemia (HS) is a highly fatal and predominant disease in livestock, particularly cattle and buffalo in the tropical regions of the world. Pasteurella multocida (P. multocida), serotypes B:2 and E:2, are reported to be the main causes of HS wherein serotype B:2 is more common in Asian countries including Pakistan and costs heavy financial losses every year. As yet, very little molecular and genomic information related to the HS-associated serotypes of P. multocida isolated from Pakistan is available. Therefore, this study aimed to explore the characteristics of novel bovine isolates of P. multocida serotype B:2 at the genomic level and perform comparative genomic analysis of various P. multocida strains from Pakistan to better understand the genetic basis of pathogenesis and virulence. Results: To understand the genomic variability and pathogenomics, we characterized three HS-associated P. multocida serotype B:2 strains isolated from the Faisalabad (PM1), Peshawar (PM2) and Okara (PM3) districts of Punjab, Pakistan. Together with the other nine publicly available Pakistani-origin P. multocida strains and a reference strain Pm70, a comparative genomic analysis was performed. The sequenced strains were characterized as serotype B and belong to ST-122. The strains contain no plasmids; however, each strain contains at least two complete prophages. The pan-genome analysis revealed a higher number of core genes indicating a close resemblance to the studied genomes and very few genes (1%) of the core genome serve as a part of virulence, disease, and defense mechanisms. We further identified that studied P. multocida B:2 strains harbor common antibiotic resistance genes, specifically PBP3 and EF-Tu. Remarkably, the distribution of virulence factors revealed that OmpH and plpE were not present in any P. multocida B:2 strains while the presence of these antigens was reported uniformly in all serotypes of P. multocida. Conclusion: This study's findings indicate the absence of OmpH and PlpE in the analyzed P. multocida B:2 strains, which are known surface antigens and provide protective immunity against P. multocida infection. The availability of additional genomic data on P. multocida B:2 strains from Pakistan will facilitate the development of localized therapeutic agents and rapid diagnostic tools specifically targeting HS-associated P. multocida B:2 strains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Infectious diseases have been tremendously increasing as the organisms of even normal flora become opportunistic and cause an infection, and Escherichia coli (E. coli EQ101) is one of them. Urinary tract infections are caused by various microorganisms, but Escherichia coli is the primary cause of almost 70%–90% of all UTIs. It has multiple strains, possessing diverse virulence factors, contributing to its pathogenicity. Furthermore, these virulent strains also can cause overlapping pathogenesis by sharing resistance and virulence factors among each other. The current study is aimed at analyzing the genetic variants associated with multi-drug-resistant (MDR) E. coli using the whole genome sequencing platform. The study includes 100 uropathogenic Escherichia coli (UPEC) microorganisms obtained from urine samples out of which 44% were multi-drug-resistant (MDR) E. coli. Bacteria have been isolated and antimicrobial susceptibility test (AST) was determined by disk diffusion method on the Mueller-Hinton agar plate as recommended by the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) 2020, and one isolate has been selected which shows resistance to most of the antibiotics, and that isolate has been analyzed by whole genome sequencing (WGS), accompanied by data and phylogenetic analysis, respectively. Organisms were showing resistance against ampicillin (10 μg), cefixime (5 μg), ceftriaxone (30 μg), nalidixic acid (30 μg), ciprofloxacin (5 μg), and ofloxacin (5 μg) on antimicrobial susceptibility test. WGS were done on selected isolate which identified 25 virulence genes (air, astA, chuA, fyuA, gad, hra, iha, irp2, iss, iucC, iutA, kpsE, kpsMII_K1, lpfA, mchF, ompT, papA_F43, sat, senB, sitA, terC, traT, usp, vat, and yfcV) and seven housekeeping genes (adk, fumC, gyrB, icd, mdh, purA, and recA). Among resistance genes, seven genes (TolC, emrR, evgA, qacEdelta1, H-NS, cpxA, and mdtM) were identified to be involved in antibiotic efflux, three AMR genes (aadA5, mphA, and CTX-M-15) were involved in antibiotic inactivation, and two genes (sul1 and dfrA14) were found to be involved in antibiotic drug replacement. Our data identified antibiotic resistance and virulence genes of the isolate. We suggest further research work to establish region-based resistance profile in comparison with the global resistance pattern. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Topological indices are valuable tools in predicting properties of chemical compounds. This study focuses on degree-based topological indices, which have shown strong correlations with various physico-chemical properties such as boiling points and strain energy. Specifically, we applied these indices to titania nanotubes T i O 2 and explored the vertex and edge versions of the Mostar index. These findings provide insights into the properties of T i O 2 nanotubes and contribute to the development of topological indices for predicting the behavior of other chemical compounds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Yersinia pestis, the causative agent of plague, is a Gram-negative bacterium. If the plague is not properly treated it can cause rapid death of the host. Bubonic, pneumonic, and septicemic are the three types of plague described. Bubonic plague can progress to septicemic plague, if not diagnosed and treated on time. The mortality rate of pneumonic and septicemic plague is quite high. The symptom-defining disease is the bubo, which is a painful lymph node swelling. Almost 50% of bubonic plague leads to sepsis and death if not treated immediately with antibiotics. The host immune response is slow as compared to other bacterial infections. Clinical isolates of Yersinia pestis revealed resistance to many antibiotics such as tetracycline, spectinomycin, kanamycin, streptomycin, minocycline, chloramphenicol, and sulfonamides. Drug discovery is a time-consuming process. It always takes ten to fifteen years to bring a single drug to the market. In this regard, in silico subtractive proteomics is an accurate, rapid, and cost-effective approach for the discovery of drug targets. An ideal drug target must be essential to the pathogen's survival and must be absent in the host. Machine learning approaches are more accurate as compared to traditional virtual screening. In this study, k-nearest neighbor (kNN) and support vector machine (SVM) were used to predict the active hits against the beta-ketoacyl-ACP synthase III drug target predicted by the subtractive genomics approach. Among the 1012 compounds of the South African Natural Products database, 11 hits were predicted as active. Further, the active hits were docked against the active site of beta-ketoacyl-ACP synthase III. Out of the total 11 active hits, the 3 lowest docking score hits that showed strong interaction with the drug target were shortlisted along with the standard drug and were simulated for 100 ns. The MD simulation revealed that all the shortlisted compounds display stable behavior and the compounds formed stable complexes with the drug target. These compounds may have the potential to inhibit the beta-ketoacyl-ACP synthase III drug target and can help to combat Yersinia pestis-related infections. The dataset and the source codes are freely available on GitHub. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Anthropogenic activities, such as industrial expansion, smelting, mining and agricultural practices, have intensified the discharge of potentially toxic trace elements (PTEs) into the environment, threatening human health and other organisms. To assist phytoremediation by sorghum in soil contaminated by smelters/mines in Feng County (FC), a pot experiment was performed to examine the phytoremediation potential of Streptomyces pactum (Act12) + biochar. The results showed that root uptake of Zn and Cd was reduced by 45 and 22%, respectively, while the uptake of Pb and Cu increased by 17 and 47%, respectively. The shoot and root dry weight and chlorophyll content improved after Act12 inoculation. β-glucosidase, alkaline phosphatase and urease activities in soil improved and antioxidant activities (POD, PAL, PPO) decreased after application of Act12 + biochar due to a reduction in stress from PTEs. BCF, TF and MEA confirmed the role of Act12 in the amelioration and translocation of PTEs. PCA analysis showed a correlation between different factors that affect the translocation of PTEs. Overall, Act12 promoted the phytoremediation of PTEs. Field experiments on Act12 + biochar may provide new insights into the rehabilitation and restoration of soils contaminated by mines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors reflect on the anthesis in male plants of sea buckthorns. They state that male flowers of the plant are borne in tight racemes which vary between four and 18 per inflorescence and about 20 percent of male plants show the dual mode of anther dehiscence. They also studied about the pollination methods used by buckthorns including lateral opening of flowers and insect pollination.

We propose a cost proficient approach to generate Optical Frequency Comb (OFC) lines with Intensity Modulators (IM) in cascaded configuration. The proposed OFC setup utilizes a Directly Modulated Laser (DML) source instead of a conventional approach of using continuous wave laser. A single phase modulator and two Mach Zehnder modulators are used in cascaded connectivity and configured with best parametric values to generate the maximum amount of flat comb lines. The RF source is determined by a sine wave with a signal frequency of 25 GHz where the driving force of the source is 26.9 dBm. The DML is directed by a pseudorandom bit sequence generator and a non-return-to-zero pulse generator having a frequency of 193.1 THz. 78 Comb lines have been achieved successfully having high tone to noise ratio, which is an enormous number of comb lines given the scenario. The proposed scheme is then applied at the OLT side of a coherent 4-Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (QAM) transmission system where 20 Gbps data is transmitted across each carrier frequency for downlink transmission. Overall, 1.56 Tbps data has been successfully transmitted across 25 km, and 60 km SSMF having minimum power penalties, good optical signal to noise ratio with neat and clear constellation diagrams ensuring the transmission. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Phytoremediation plant waste was disposed via pyrolysis. • PTMs were more sensitive to leaching time in low-temperature biochar. • High-temperature pyrolysis was beneficial for PTMs and biochar stabilization. Thermal conversion of phytoremediation plant waste into biochar was performed as a safe approach for organic waste management. In this work, a promising phytoremediation plant― Silphium perfoliatum L. was pyrolyzed for biochar production at 350, 550 and 750 °C. The long-term leaching risk of potentially toxic metals (PTMs) in the derived biochars and the oxidation resistance of the biochars were investigated. The results showed that PTMs in the biochar could transform into more stable and less toxic forms with the elevated pyrolysis temperature. PTMs leaching behavior in the 350 °C biochar was considerably sensitive to the leaching while that in the 750 °C biochar was not affected. The biochar produced at a higher temperature possessed a greater oxidation resistance with little amount of C loss, and the stronger oxidation resistance would prevent the release of metals bound to the organic matter. The findings of this study demonstrated that high-temperature pyrolysis was able to reduce the potential risk of PTMs and ensure carbon stability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]