Search

BackgroundDespite established vaccination programs, vaccine-preventable diseases persist among about 900,000 Forcibly Displaced Myanmar Nationals (FDMN)/Rohingya refugees in the world's largest refugee settlement in Bangladesh. Health service providers (HSPs) play a key role in the delivery of childhood vaccination programs. This study explored their views on individual and context barriers and drivers to childhood vaccination in this setting.MethodsInformed by the theoretical framework of the Capability-Opportunity-Motivation-Behavior (COM-B) model for behavior change, this qualitative study collected data through eight focus group discussions (FGDs) with community health workers (CHWs) and vaccinators in selected camps with high or low vaccination coverage rates, and through 11 in-depth interviews (IDIs) with key informants working in strategic, management, and administrative roles.FindingsBarriers and drivers were evident across all COM factors for HSPs and caregivers. Among HSPs, knowledge around vaccination acted both as a barrier and driver, while communication skills and confidence in vaccination served as drivers. Caregivers' lack of awareness of vaccination, concerns and mistrust were described as main barriers. Context barriers included information system deficiencies, family dynamics, HSPs' working conditions, and vaccination site accessibility. Context drivers included effective communication, mobilization, and incentives. Differences between high and low coverage camps in Cox's Bazar included variations in HSPs' knowledge, communication strategies, incentive use, and stakeholder collaboration.DiscussionFor better vaccination coverage in the camps, context-related changes regarding collaboration, health workforce and the use of incentives seem necessary. Caregivers' mistrust toward vaccination needs to be considered under the social and historical background of the Rohingya community, and further addressed with targeted communication and campaigning.

The objective of the paper is to look at the propagation and reflection of plane waves in a thermo-diffusion isotropic medium. The reflection of plane waves in a thermo-diffusion medium was investigated in this study with reference to triple phase lag thermo-elasticity. The memory dependent derivative (MDD) is applied for this investigation. The fundamental equations are framed and solved for a particular plane. The four plane waves that are propagating across the medium are, shown namely: longitudinal displacement, P-wave, thermal diffusion T-wave, mass diffusion MD-wave and shear vertical SV-wave. These four plane wave velocities are listed for a specific medium, illustrating the impact of the diffusion coefficient and are graphically represented. Expressions for the reflection coefficient for the incidence plane wave are produced from research on the reflection of plane waves from the stress-free surface. It should be noted that these ratios are graphically represented and shown when diffusion and memory dependent derivative (MDD) factors are in play. The new model is relevant to many different fields, including semiconductors, earth- engineering, and electronics, among others, where thermo-diffusion elasticity is significant. Diffusion is a technique that can be applied to the production of integrated circuits, MOS transistors, doped polysilicon gates for the base and emitter in transistors, as well as for efficient oil extraction from oil reserves. Wave propagation in a thermos-diffusion elastic media provides crucial information about the presence of fresh and enhanced waves in a variety of technical and geophysical contexts. For experimental seismologists, developers of new materials, and researchers, this model might be useful in revising earthquake estimates.

Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) is among the busiest railways reservation systems since the Indian Railways (IR) is the vital and economical mode of transportation in India. Hence, rating of the trains seems to be critical aspect for selecting an appropriate train for travelling. In this study, we have considered 7 vital attributes of 500 popular trains and rate their performance based on 7 important related attributes. For this purpose, we have employed 2 different approaches to analyse of the train attributes, which eventually contribute to the overall performance of the trains. Here, we have developed a rule based rough set decision support system to analyse the criticality of the train attributes while rating the train performance. Furthermore, we have also used 3 Machine Learning (ML) model estimators: Extra Trees Classifier (ETC), Support Vector Machine Classifier (SVMC) and Multinomial Naive Bayes Classifier (MNBC) and perform their comparative analysis with respect to 7 performance metrics while predicting the overall train rating based.

Classroom deliberations in an inclusive environment is challenging yet rewarding. Teaching students with varied needs under the same roof provides the teachers with the opportunity to bring out their best and to help students to attain an optimum level of learning. The purpose set for this paper is to conduct a rigorous review of inclusive teaching-learning practices across countries to understand and present the best ways of conducting an inclusive classroom. To explore the stated objective the researchers opted for an extensive desk review method to review the available related literature in a systematic manner. As a result of conducting a systematic review analysis, certain themes have emerged under which plausible inclusive practices have been presented as a finding of the research. The study presented five categories of best teaching practices that emerged from the review. This paper presented a concise and accumulated version of the best practices and methods adopted by the practitioners in inclusive education across the world. Amalgamated findings present that using ICT, individualised learning and various classroom management techniques, collaboration and curriculum adaptations provide the best ways to promote inclusion.

Peer review is the backbone of academia and humans constitute a cornerstone of this process, being responsible for reviewing submissions and making the final acceptance/rejection decisions. Given that human decision-making is known to be susceptible to various cognitive biases, it is important to understand which (if any) biases are present in the peer-review process, and design the pipeline such that the impact of these biases is minimized. In this work, we focus on the dynamics of discussions between reviewers and investigate the presence of herding behaviour therein. Specifically, we aim to understand whether reviewers and discussion chairs get disproportionately influenced by the first argument presented in the discussion when (in case of reviewers) they form an independent opinion about the paper before discussing it with others. In conjunction with the review process of a large, top tier machine learning conference, we design and execute a randomized controlled trial that involves 1,544 papers and 2,797 reviewers with the goal of testing for the conditional causal effect of the discussion initiator's opinion on the outcome of a paper. Our experiment reveals no evidence of herding in peer-review discussions. This observation is in contrast with past work that has documented an undue influence of the first piece of information on the final decision (e.g., anchoring effect) and analyzed herding behaviour in other applications (e.g., financial markets). Regarding policy implications, the absence of the herding effect suggests that the current status quo of the absence of a unified policy towards discussion initiation does not result in an increased arbitrariness of the resulting decisions.

The most frequent neurodegenerative illness among senior people and the main cause of dementia is Alzheimer’s disease. The present dementia medications available only help with the symptoms of cognitive deficits and have several negative effects. The current study’s goal is to assess the effects of curcumin and coenzyme Q10, two herbal medicines, both separately and in combination, on learning and memory before comparing them to the industry standard drug. A total of 42 adult healthy Wistar rats were used in our study. In this experiment, rats were given daily doses of 2.5 mg/kg of body weight of scopolamine hydrobromide for 7 days to induce Alzheimer’s disease. On the eighth day, behavioural testing was conducted. Following testing, scopolamine and the test medications were given daily for the following 21 days. On days 29 and 30, behavioural testing was conducted once more, and then animals were slaughtered. Brain homogenate was produced for the estimation of molecular and biochemical markers. Curcumin has demonstrated a dose–response relationship, with a higher dose (200 mg/kg b.w. p.o.) being more effective than a lower dose (100 mg/kg b.w. p.o.). Similar to the greater dose of curcumin, coenzyme Q10 (200 mg/kg b.w. p.o.) has also been found to improve memory and learning. Higher doses of curcumin and coenzyme Q10 had more pronounced and meaningful effects. Acetylcholinesterase and TNF levels increased in scopolamine-induced memory impairment, but these effects were restored by the test medications, and improved by the combined therapy. These outcomes are comparable to those of the common medication memantine. As a result, we may infer from our results that curcumin at higher doses and its combination with coenzyme Q10 (200 mg/kg b.w. p.o.) have a significant impact on cognitive impairment in animal models of Alzheimer’s disease and can be utilised alone or as an add-on therapy for the condition.

Accommodation is one of the necessities of tourists and travel agencies' significant responsibilities. With the growing competition and profit-making various tour organising companies have started providing attractive accommodation options to the travellers to win their choices. Present research performs a case study on accommodation providing hotels through designing a strategy to enhance their profit earrings by welcoming more and more tourists. The methodology comprises rough set theory (RST) using the Dominance Based rough set theory (DRST) on the collected data of selected variables such as location, facility, value for money, etc., of hotels. Correspondingly, if and then decision rule has been used to classify these variables. The statistical methods regression analysis has also been used to define each variable's relationship and influence on concerned authorities' decision-making. The results show that hotels and tourists can benefit from the proposed strategy and help in decision making by understanding tourist behaviour, increasing profit, improving services, and quality of hotels.

Background: COVID-19 and associated lockdown have had some detrimental effects on the health care professionals. With the maximum fear of getting infected and further transmitting the infection, dentists are suffering from the psychological meltdown along with the physical changes due to altered lifestyle. Aim and Objectives: To evaluate the psychological and physical effects of COVID-19 and consequential lockdown on dentists and to understand the possible reasons for the problems they were facing amidst lockdown due to the changes in their lifestyle. Settings and Design: A questionnaire-based survey to evaluate disaster mental health and analysis of musculoskeletal symptoms was designed and sent to the various groups of dentists. A total of 453 respondents completed the survey. Materials and Method: Cluster sampling method was used and the dentists were segregated into four groups. The responses were evaluated for Post-traumatic stress disorder, Depression, Anxiety and Pain or discomfort. Statistical Analysis: Chi Square test was applied to statistically assess the association of responses. Results: Out of 453 respondents 65.1% were females and 34.9% were males. Based on profession, 23% were academicians, 18.8% private practitioners, 16.8% post-graduate students and 41.5% undergraduates. Females were significantly affected and showed a tendency towards Post traumatic stress disease (PTSD) and potential depression along with pain and discomfort. All the three groups except undergraduate students showed potential symptoms. Conclusion: COVID-19 and the lockdown exhibited significant psychological and physical effects on the dentists. Counselling centers or helplines/portals need to be set up to avoid any grave consequences and untoward losses.

Self-assembly is an unparalleled step in designing macromolecular analogs of nature's simple amphiphiles. Tailoring hydrogel systems – a material with ample potential for wound healing applications – to simultaneously alleviate infection and prompt wound closure is vastly appealing. The poly (DEAEMA-co-AAc) (PDEA) is examined with a cutaneous excisional wound model alterations in wound size, and histological assessments revealed a higher wound healing rate, including dermis proliferation, re-epithelialization, reduced scar formation, and anti-inflammatory properties. Moreover, a mechanism for the formation of spherical and worm-like micelles (WLMs) is delineated using a suite of characterizations. The excellent porosity and ability to absorb exudates impart the PDEA with reliable wound healing. Altogether, this system demonstrates exceptional promise as an infection-mitigating, cell-stimulating, homeostasis-maintaining dressing for accelerated wound healing. The aim and objective of this study is to understand the mechanism of self-assembly in synthesized WLMs from PDEA and their application in wound healing.

Adoption of Integrated Farming System (IFS) leads to sustainability and stability in farm income through multiple enterprises that aim at maximum utilization of available natural resources to meet the family needs. It aims at generating a threshold level of farm income required for the farm family to maintain sustained interest in farming thus preventing migration of people from the farming sector. Integrated Farming System which combines activities of food-crop farming with horticulture, animal husbandry, fisheries, forestry and other science related to farming on the same field at the same or almost the same time needs to be developed as a solution to food security problem resulting from decreasing food productivity and climate change. IFS itself is important for sustainable development of farmer by improving yield, economic return, employment generation, nutritional security and livelihood.

Mitochondria play a vital role in cellular metabolism and are central mediator of intracellular signalling, cell differentiation, morphogenesis and demise. An increasingly higher number of pathologies is linked with mitochondrial dysfunction, which can arise from either genetic defects affecting core mitochondrial components or malfunctioning pathways impairing mitochondrial homeostasis. As such, mitochondria are considered an important target in several pathologies spanning from neoplastic to neurodegenerative diseases as well as metabolic syndromes. In this review we provide an overview of the state-of-the-art in mitochondrial pharmacology, focusing on the novel compounds that have been generated in the bid to correct mitochondrial aberrations. Our work aims to serve the scientific community working on translational medical science by highlighting the most promising pharmacological approaches to target mitochondrial dysfunction in disease.

A cloud computing environment offers a simplified, centralized platform or resources for use when needed at a low cost. One of the key functionalities of this type of computing is to allocate the resources on an individual demand. However, with the expanding requirements of cloud user, the need of efficient resource allocation is also emerging. The main role of service provider is to effectively distribute and share the resources which otherwise would result into resource wastage. In addition to the user getting the appropriate service according to request, the cost of respective resource is also optimized. In order to surmount the mentioned shortcomings and perform optimized resource allocation, this research proposes a new Agent based Automated Service Composition (A2SC) algorithm comprising of request processing and automated service composition phases and is not only responsible for searching comprehensive services but also considers reducing the cost of virtual machines which are consumed by on-demand services only.

Objective and Study Design: Early identification of high-risk disease could greatly reduce both mortality and morbidity due to oral cancer. Hence, screening of such lesions and their early detection could improve prognosis. Metachromatic dye toluidine blue, which stains nuclear material in dysplastic epithelium, is widely used for screening of potentially malignant lesions. Visually enhanced lesion scope (VELscope) that identifies reduction in tissue fluorescence in dysplasia can also prove to be effective in screening for potentially malignant lesions. Hence, this study was done to compare the reliability of VELscope and toluidine blue as a screening tool in the diagnosis of malignant and potentially malignant lesions as compared to histopathological diagnosis which is gold standard. Materials and Methods: 90 patients with tobacco associated hyperkeratotic red and white lesion, ulcerative lesion, and frank malignancy included in study. Patients were subject to Tissue Autofluorescence (Visually Enhanced Lesion Scope) and Toluidine Blue stain tests. Nature of Autofluorescence and Toluidine Blue staining of tissue was recorded. Based on findings tissue was biopsied and examined under microscope from confirmatory diagnosis. Results: In this study, ninety patients with malignant and potentially malignant lesions were studied, VELscope showed 85.36% sensitivity and 75% specificity as compared to toluidine blue which showed 83.13% sensitivity and 87.5% specificity. The results were statistically significant (P < 0.001) with a mean deviation of ± 3. Conclusion: From the study, we concluded that VELscope was more effective as a screening tool for the detection of oral malignant lesions as compared to toluidine blue.

Selective autophagy contributes to the wellbeing of eukaryotic cells by recycling cellular components, disposing damaged organelles, and removing pathogens, amongst others. Both the quality control process of selective mitochondrial autophagy (Mitophagy) and the defensive process of intracellular pathogen-engulfment (Xenophagy) are facilitated via protein assemblies which have shared molecules, a prime example being the Tank-Binding Kinase 1 (TBK1). TBK1 plays a central role in the immunity response driven by Xenophagy and was recently shown to be an amplifying mechanism in Mitophagy, bring to attention the potential cross talk between the two processes. Here we draw parallels between Xenophagy and Mitophagy, speculating on the inhibitory mechanisms of specific proteins (e.g., the 18 kDa protein TSPO), how the preferential sequestering toward one of the two pathways may undermine the other, and in this way impair cellular response to pathogens and cellular immunity. We believe that an in depth understanding of the commonalities may present an opportunity to design novel therapeutic strategies targeted at both the autonomous and non-autonomous processes of selective autophagy.

Periapical osseous dysplasia (POD) and florid osseous dysplasia (FOD) are benign jaw conditions with normal architecture of bone replaced by fibroblast, collagen fibers and mineralized material. We are presenting a case of FOD with Klebsiella infection that rarely infects the jaws and a case of POD with rare maxillary involvement and role of cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) in its diagnosis. Evaluation with conventional and higher imaging was done. Pus culture was done for FOD associated infection. The case with POD was followed-up for 2 years to differentiate it from FOD. Case with extensive multiquadrant swellings and discharging sinus was diagnosed as FOD with Klebsiella infection and minor surgery performed successfully under antibiotic coverage. Another case was diagnosed as POD with CBCT, which revealed maxillary lesions not seen in two-dimensional imaging. Diagnosis was confirmed after a long follow-up due to its limited extent. Elective surgery can be performed under antibiotic coverage in FOD. POD can be seen in maxilla, and CBCT and long follow-up have important role in diagnosis.

BackgroundIndividuals who exhibit large‐magnitude blood pressure (BP) reactions to acute psychological stressors are at risk for hypertension and premature death by cardiovascular disease. This study tested whether a multivariate pattern of stressor‐evoked brain activity could reliably predict individual differences in BP reactivity, providing novel evidence for a candidate neurophysiological source of stress‐related cardiovascular risk. Methods and ResultsCommunity‐dwelling adults (N=310; 30–51 years; 153 women) underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging with concurrent BP monitoring while completing a standardized battery of stressor tasks. Across individuals, the battery evoked an increase systolic and diastolic BP relative to a nonstressor baseline period (M ∆systolic BP/∆diastolic BP=4.3/1.9 mm Hg [95% confidence interval=3.7–5.0/1.4–2.3 mm Hg]). Using cross‐validation and machine learning approaches, including dimensionality reduction and linear shrinkage models, a multivariate pattern of stressor‐evoked functional magnetic resonance imaging activity was identified in a training subsample (N=206). This multivariate pattern reliably predicted both systolic BP (r=0.32; P

Quantifying differences or similarities in connectomes has been a challenge due to the immense complexity of global brain networks. Here we introduce a noninvasive method that uses diffusion MRI to characterize whole-brain white matter architecture as a single local connectome fingerprint that allows for a direct comparison between structural connectomes. In four independently acquired data sets with repeated scans (total N = 213), we show that the local connectome fingerprint is highly specific to an individual, allowing for an accurate self-versus-others classification that achieved 100% accuracy across 17,398 identification tests. The estimated classification error was approximately one thousand times smaller than fingerprints derived from diffusivity-based measures or region-to-region connectivity patterns for repeat scans acquired within 3 months. The local connectome fingerprint also revealed neuroplasticity within an individual reflected as a decreasing trend in self-similarity across time, whereas this change was not observed in the diffusivity measures. Moreover, the local connectome fingerprint can be used as a phenotypic marker, revealing 12.51% similarity between monozygotic twins, 5.14% between dizygotic twins, and 4.51% between none-twin siblings, relative to differences between unrelated subjects. This novel approach opens a new door for probing the influence of pathological, genetic, social, or environmental factors on the unique configuration of the human connectome.

Bcakground: Extracts obtained from natural sources such as plants are of immense importance for humans. Methods: Therefore this study was conducted to obtain essential oil from the seeds of T. ammi by conventional and non-conventional methods. Hydrodistillation (HD), Solvent Extraction (SE), Ultrasonication (US), and Supercritical Carbon-dioxide (SC-CO2) extraction techniques were used to extract essential oil from the powdered seeds of T. ammi. A quality control method for each extracted oil was developed using HPTLC, FTIR, and GC-MS. The optimization process was carried out using fractional factorial design (FFD) under which three parameters were considered: pressure (150, 175, and 300 bar), temperature (25, 30, and 40 °C), and CO2 flow rate (5, 10, 15 g/min). Results: The yield of essential oil obtained from the HD, SE, US, and SC-CO2 methods were 1.20%, 1.82%, 2.30%, and 2.64% v/w, respectively. Antioxidant activity was determined by the DPPH and superoxide scavenging methods and the IC50 (Inhibition Concentration) values of the T. ammi oil sample were found to be 36.41 and 20.55 µg mL−1, respectively. Conclusion: The present paper reported that different extraction methods lead to different yields of essential oils and the choice of a suitable method is extremely important to obtain more preferred compounds. The yield was higher in the SC-CO2 method and it is a sustainable and green extraction technique. Many important constituents were detected in analytical techniques. Antioxidant activities carried out showed that essential oil extracted from T. ammi seeds possess significant antioxidant activity.

Synonymous codon usage bias is an inevitable phenomenon in organismic taxa across the three domains of life. Though the frequency of codon usage is not equal across species and within genome in the same species, the phenomenon is non random and is tissue-specific. Several factors such as GC content, nucleotide distribution, protein hydropathy, protein secondary structure, and translational selection are reported to contribute to codon usage preference. The synonymous codon usage patterns can be helpful in revealing the expression pattern of genes as well as the evolutionary relationship between the sequences. In this study, synonymous codon usage bias patterns were determined for the evolutionarily close proteins of albumin superfamily, namely, albumin, α-fetoprotein, afamin, and vitamin D-binding protein. Our study demonstrated that the genes of the four albumin superfamily members have low GC content and high values of effective number of codons (ENC) suggesting high expressivity of these genes and less bias in codon usage preferences. This study also provided evidence that the albumin superfamily members are not subjected to mutational selection pressure.

BACKGROUND: Dengue is a mosquito-borne viral disease caused by four closely related serotypes of Dengue viruses (DENVs). This disease whose symptoms range from mild fever to potentially fatal haemorrhagic fever and hypovolemic shock, threatens nearly half the global population. There is neither a preventive vaccine nor an effective antiviral therapy against dengue disease. The difference between severe and mild disease appears to be dependent on the viral load. Early diagnosis may enable timely therapeutic intervention to blunt disease severity by reducing the viral load. Harnessing the therapeutic potential of RNA interference (RNAi) to attenuate DENV replication may offer one approach to dengue therapy. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We screened the non-translated regions (NTRs) of the RNA genomes of representative members of the four DENV serotypes for putative siRNA targets mapping to known transcription/translation regulatory elements. We identified a target site in the 5' NTR that maps to the 5' upstream AUG region, a highly conserved cis-acting element essential for viral replication. We used a replication-defective human adenovirus type 5 (AdV5) vector to deliver a short-hairpin RNA (shRNA) targeting this site into cells. We show that this shRNA matures to the cognate siRNA and is able to inhibit effectively antigen secretion, viral RNA replication and infectious virus production by all four DENV serotypes. CONCLUSION/SIGNIFICANCE: The data demonstrate the feasibility of using AdV5-mediated delivery of shRNAs targeting conserved sites in the viral genome to achieve inhibition of all four DENV serotypes. This paves the way towards exploration of RNAi as a possible therapeutic strategy to curtail DENV infection.