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Background: Acute abdomen is a frequent occurrence in emergency department settings and often necessitates prompt diagnosis and urgent surgical intervention. Owing to the overlapping symptoms of many serious and benign intra-abdominal conditions, identifying life-threatening situations early in their progression can be challenging. The current study aimed to assess the diagnostic effectiveness of abdominal ultrasound in identifying common conditions presenting as an acute abdomen. Methods: This prospective comparative study included patients presenting with an acute abdomen at the Emergency Department of CDSIMER. Clinical diagnoses were established, followed by abdominal ultrasound. Ultrasound findings were compared with intraoperative observations and histopathological results, or in cases in which surgery was not performed, based on CT scan findings. Various diagnostic performance parameters, including sensitivity, specificity, Positive Predictive Value (PPV), Negative Predictive Value (NPV), and accuracy, were used for the statistical analysis. Results: A total of 77 patients with acute abdominal pain were included in the study. Appendicitis was the most common diagnosis (33.77%), followed by cholecystitis (20.77%), pancreatitis (16.88%), intestinal obstruction (12.98%), and enteric perforation (15.58%). USG may have moderate accuracy for some conditions, such as appendicitis, acute intestinal obstruction, and acute cholecystitis, where it has shown acceptable sensitivity. CT scans are likely to have higher overall accuracy; across different conditions, CT scans are generally expected to be more accurate than USG for diagnosing acute abdominal conditions because of their ability to provide more detailed anatomical images. Conclusion: Ultrasound is a highly effective imaging modality for accurate diagnosis of acute appendicitis, acute intestinal obstruction, and acute cholecystitis. Even in hospitals lacking highly advanced imaging facilities, clinical assessment combined with ultrasound results can provide reliable diagnostic accuracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Carbazole derivatives are widely used to make highly efficient optoelectronic materials. In this context, we developed a method for synthesizing conjugated carbazole derivatives using bimetallic Pd–Cu nanoparticles (NPs) immobilized on reduced graphene oxide (rGO) sheets. Pd–Cu NPs were synthesised in a one-pot wet chemical process with ascorbic acid as the reducing agent. The Pd–Cu NPs have an average diameter of 3.8 ± 1.2 nm. X-ray diffraction, SEM, TEM, EDS, and cyclic voltammetry were used to characterise the structure and morphology of the Pd–Cu@rGO NPs. N-Protected-3-aryl/heteroaryl carbazoles were efficiently synthesized using the Pd–Cu@rGO catalyst, which enabled the Suzuki–Miyaura (SM) cross-coupling reaction between N-protected-3-bromo-carbazoles and a range of aryl/heteroaryl boronic acids. The prepared compounds were characterized by NMR (1H & 13C) and HRMS spectra. For the SM reaction, the catalytic performance of the monometallic Pd@rGO and bimetallic Pd–Ni@rGO and Pd–Cu@rGO catalysts were studied with various metal loadings. In comparison to the monometallic Pd@rGO and bimetallic Pd–Ni@rGO catalysts, the bimetallic Pd–Cu@rGO heterogeneous catalyst (L3) demonstrated improved catalytic performance with yields of up to 98%. The material exhibits excellent recyclability and can be reused up to five times without experiencing any decline in its effectiveness. The electronic structure modification offered by the Pd–Cu ensemble on rGO may be responsible for its higher catalytic efficiency. UV and fluorescence spectra were used to investigate the optoelectronic properties of the produced carbazole compounds. Among the compounds studied, 5f, 5n, and 5h exhibited superior UV absorption and fluorescence emission due to the presence of auxochromes and extended conjugation. This study explores the efficacies of the reduced graphene oxide-supported Pd–Cu bimetallic system with different weight% for milder SM reactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to the increased quantity and variety of cyber-attacks against networks, the conventional firewalls and encrypting data technologies are no longer sufficient to meet the network security requirements. As a consequence of this, the idea of using intrusion detection systems to combat network threats has been advocated. Machine learning aids common intrusion detection methods which show poor detection rates and requires wider feature engineering. This research offers the random synthetic over-sampling (RSO) Linguistic algorithm for detecting network intrusion and to identify communication anomalies. Deep learning method for network security is combined with an attention mechanism and bidirectional long short-term memory (Bi-LSTM) network. Frequent pattern stream characteristics were retrieved using CNN network and weights in each channel are changed. Hyperparameter tuning techniques like improvised elephant herding optimization algorithm is employed to increase the Bi-LSTM's efficiency. The training process, the number of hidden layers and epochs are chosen optimally using these strategies. The RSOA-IEHO-BiLSTM model's effectiveness testing showed that it outperformed the competing techniques. With NSLKDD dataset model, an accuracy of 98.36% and an F-measure of 99.05% were achieved both of which point to an increase in the accuracy of malicious node detection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Three simple and affordable UV spectrophotometric methods have been proposed for the simultaneous determination of chlorthalidone and nebivolol in a synthetic mixture, as well as a combined dosage form. Method I use the simultaneous equation methodology and has a linearity range of 5–25 μg/mL for chlorthalidone at 233 nm and 5–90 μg/mL for nebivolol at 280 nm respectively. The linearity ranges for chlorthalidone at 228–238 nm and nebivolol at 275–285 nm were found to be 5–60 and 5–100 μg/mL respectively, using method II, the area under the curve method. The linearity range for method III, the first derivative method, is 10–35 μg/mL for chlorthalidone at 227 nm and 10–35 μg/mL for nebivolol at 275 nm. The two diagnostic plot residuals normal probability plot and residuals versus expected values plot are utilized for the verification of outcome data and found to be optimal for three methods. The method has been validated for accuracy, precision, recovery studies, linearity, specificity, and stability studies according to the International Council of Harmonisation guideline Q2R1. These developed methods have been utilized in routine analysis for the simultaneous determination of chlorthalidone and nebivolol without pre-extraction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Alcohol use disorder (AUD) and cirrhosis are key outcomes of excessive alcohol use, and a genetic influence in these outcomes is increasingly recognized. While 80–90% of heavy alcohol users show evidence of fatty liver, only 10–20% progress to cirrhosis. There is currently no clear understanding of the causes of this difference in progression. The aim of this study is to evaluate genetics and epigenetics at the aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH2) locus in patients with AUD and liver complications. Study participants were inpatients from the clinical services of Gastroenterology and Psychiatry at St. John's Medical College Hospital (SJMCH) and the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS), Bangalore, India. Men diagnosed as having AUD with cirrhosis (AUDC+ve, N = 136) and AUD without cirrhosis (AUDC−ve, N = 107) were assessed. FibroScan/sonographic evidence was used to rule out fibrosis in the AUDC−ve group. Genomic DNA was used for genotyping at the ALDH2 (rs2238151) locus. A subset of 89 samples was used for DNA methylation (AUDC+ve, N = 44; and AUDC−ve, N = 45) analysis at long interspersed nucleotide element 1 (LINE-1) and ALDH2 cytosine–phosphate–guanine (CpG) loci by pyrosequencing. ALDH2 DNA methylation was significantly lower in the AUDC+ve group compared with the AUDC−ve group (p < 0.001). Lower methylation was associated with a risk allele (T) of the ALDH2 locus (rs2238151) (p = 0.01). Global (LINE-1) DNA methylation levels were also significantly lower in the AUDC+ve group compared with the AUDC−ve group (p = 0.01). Compromised global methylation (LINE-1) and hypomethylation at the ALDH2 gene was observed in patients with cirrhosis compared with those without cirrhosis. DNA methylation could be explored as a biomarker for cirrhosis and liver complications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the significant improvement in the treatment modalities, cancer is one of the fastestgrowing chronic disease conditions all over the world. Genetic and Epigenetic alterations in the normal physiology of the cell are the key factor for tumor development. These changes can trigger the production of abnormal protein expressions through stimulation of different signaling pathways and can deeply affect normal cell growth and proliferation. Any altered protein expression, genetic variation, micro-RNA or post-translational protein modifications that indicate tumorigenesis can act as an early signal termed as biomarker. Cancer, being a multistep process with accumulating genetic and epigenetic alterations, could be detected early with suitable biomarkers. There are several proteins such as AFP, CA-125, PSA, troponin, CEA, osteopontin, CA 19-9 that act as biomarkers which help in early detection, prognosis, and monitoring of disease progression, a hunt for newer biomarkers with higher specificity and sensitivity is still ongoing. Tumor-specific growth factor (TSGF) is one such budding and prevailing tumor biomarker used for the early-stage detection of several types of carcinomas. TSGF is a gene that helps in tumor angiogenesis and gets released during the preliminary stages from cancer cells that ensure the vascular proliferation of the same. In this review, the clinical investigations of TSGF in different kinds of malignancy is discussed in detail and suggests the possibility of using TSGF as a biomarker in early diagnosis of cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Locoregional therapies such as surgical resection, liver transplantation, and ablative techniques are preferred for early-stage HCC management. However, 70–80% of patients report HCC recurrence within 5 years of curative treatment. During the initiation and establishment of carcinogenesis, malignant cells suppress the anti-tumor immune surveillance system of the host. Therefore, modification of the immune contexture plays a crucial role in prognosis and recurrence. Following curative treatment, enhancement of effector immune cells confers effective anti-tumor immunity and good prognosis, while suppression of effector immune cells and enrichment of immunosuppressant cells promotes poor prognosis and recurrence. A combination of immunotherapeutic approaches with curative or systemic treatment may enrich effector immune molecules, surpass the immunosuppressive signals, and improve the treatment response. Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is often recognized as an inflammation-linked cancer, which possesses an immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment. Curative treatments such as surgical resection, liver transplantation, and percutaneous ablation are mainly applicable in the early stage and demonstrate significant improvement of survival rate in most patients. However, 70–80% of patients report HCC recurrence within 5 years of curative treatment, representing an important clinical issue. However, there is no effective recurrence marker after surgical and locoregional therapies, thus, tumor size, number, and histological features such as cancer cell differentiation are often considered as risk factors for HCC recurrence. Host immunity plays a critical role in regulating carcinogenesis, and the immune microenvironment characterized by its composition, functional status, and density undergoes significant alterations in each stage of cancer progression. Recent studies reported that analysis of immune contexture could yield valuable information regarding the treatment response, prognosis and recurrence. This review emphasizes the prognostic value of tumors associated with immune factors in HCC recurrence after curative treatment. In particular, we review the immune landscape and immunological factors contributing to early-stage HCC recurrence, and discuss the immunotherapeutic interventions to prevent tumor recurrence following curative treatments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Mucormycosis is a fungal infection with an aggressive clinical course, especially in high-risk patients with co-morbidities. During the second wave of COVID-19, there was an exponential increase in mucormycosis infection. Aim: This study aimed to determine the clinicohistopathological profile of post-COVID-19 mucormycosis. Settings and Design: Hospital-based observational cross-sectional study for 2 months. Materials and Methods: Post-COVID-19 mucormycosis patients who were admitted to the hospital and underwent surgeries were included in the study. The surgical samples were grossly examined followed by tissue processing and staining with hematoxylin and eosin (H and E), special stains with periodic acid Schiff (PAS) were performed followed by microscopic examination. Results: The present study included 117 patients with post-COVID-19 mucormycosis. The mean age group in the study was 48 years with male preponderance (77.78%). The common clinical presentations of mucormycosis in the present study were facial swelling and headache (43.59%), ocular swelling (31.62%), and facial pain (30.76%). Corticosteroids were used in 67.52% of patients during COVID-19 treatment. In all, 89.74% of the total patients were diabetics. Blood counts revealed neutrophilic leukocytosis in 49.57% of patients. The maxillary sinus was the most commonly involved anatomical site (90.54%). On histopathological examination, pyogranulomatous inflammation was the most frequently observed type of inflammatory reaction in the surgical specimens. Coagulative necrosis was seen in 81.2%, thrombosis in 61.54%, angioinvasion in 37.6%, and perineural invasion seen in 12.82% of the patients. Statistical Analysis: Data were analyzed using Microsoft Excel, 2010. Conclusion: Thrombosis seems to be the consistent finding leading to coagulative necrosis. Angioinvasion is a significant finding in the pathology of mucormycosis. Identifying co-morbidities and risk factors, prompt diagnosis and treatment are imperative for the successful management of this deadly fungal infection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: India accounts for approximately half of the worldwide snakebite deaths. It is often a neglected public health problem and particularly in Jharkhand region where medical facilities are limited. Epidemiological and clinical profile-related studies are scarce. The present study aims to assess the epidemiological profile and clinical features of snakebites encountered in a tertiary-care teaching hospital at Jamshedpur, Jharkhand, India. Aims and Objective: The aim of this study was to assess the clinical profile, outcome and epidemiological factors of snakebite cases, admitted to a tertiary care hospital in Jamshedpur. Material and Methods: This was a retrospective study from 2014 to 2021 wherein a total of 427 snakebite patients were admitted and had received treatment for snakebite at a tertiary-care teaching hospital at Jamshedpur, Jharkhand. All patients who reported with a history of snakebite were included in this study. The demographic and clinical details of each case were obtained and analysed. Result: A total of 427 snakebite cases were admitted to the hospital during the study period. The victims were predominantly males. Majority of the bite cases encountered were from rural areas and were in the second quarter of the year. The site of the bite was largely on the lower limb and the upper limb had fewer bites. The Glasgow Coma Scale was normal in those who presented early. Acute kidney injury, neutrophilic leucocytosis and deranged liver enzymes were associated with bad prognosis. Timely intervention with anti-snake venom offered good result. Conclusion: We had more male patients (69.55%), belonging to rural areas (67.91%), more bites in lower limbs and more cases in the second quarter of the year. Mortality rate was 0.7%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The World Health Organization has declared the novel coronavirus (COVID‐19) outbreak a global pandemic and emerging threat to people in the 21st century. SARS‐CoV‐2 constitutes RNA‐Dependent RNA Polymerase (RdRp) viral proteins, a critical target in the viral replication process. No FDA‐approved drug is currently available, and there is a high demand for therapeutic strategies against COVID‐19. In search of the anti‐COVID‐19 compound from traditional medicine, we evaluated the active moieties from Nilavembu Kudineer (NK), a poly‐herbal Siddha formulation recommended by AYUSH against COVID‐19. We conducted a preliminary docking analysis of 355 phytochemicals (retrieved from PubChem and IMPPAT databases) present in NK against RdRp viral protein (PDB ID: 7B3B) using COVID‐19 Docking Server and further with AutoDockTool‐1.5.6. MD simulation studies confirmed that Orientin (L1), Vitexin (L2), and Kasuagamycin (L3) revealed better binding activity against RdRp (PDB ID: 7B3B) in comparison with Remdesivir. The study suggests a potential scaffold for developing drug candidates against COVID‐19. Practical applications: Nilavembu Kudineer is a poly‐herbal Siddha formulation effective against various diseases like cough, fever, breathing problems, etc. This study shows that different phytoconstituents identified from Nilavembu Kudineer were subjected to in silico and ADME analyses. Out of the former 355 phytochemical molecules, Orientin (L1), Vitexin (L2), and Kasuagamycin (L3) showed better binding activity against RdRp viral protein (PDB ID: 7B3B) in comparison with the synthetic repurposed drug. Our work explores the search for an anti‐COVID‐19 compound from traditional medicine like Nilavembu Kudineer, which can be a potential scaffold for developing drug candidates against COVID‐19. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mobile edge computing (MEC) is an emerging paradigm that decreases the computational burden of mobiles by task offloading. MEC is regarded as an effective method to offer computing capacities in close proximities to mobile users. The major issue in MEC is how to offload the heterogeneous task of mobile apps effectively from the user equipment to the MEC host. Some of the existing techniques contain feeble adaptability to new circumstance due to minimum sample effectiveness and require complete retraining. The purpose of MEC is to efficiently solve offloading issues such as network load and latency. In this paper, a deep belief network is proposed for solving the offloading issue in the clusters of numerous service node and several dependencies for a mobile task in huge-scale heterogeneous mobile edge computing. The deep belief network's weight is tuned optimally using Adaptive Harris Hawks optimization (AHHO) algorithm for solving the offloading issue optimally in the MEC environment. An AHHO algorithm is employed to improve the search performances of the standard algorithm. The limitations of the standard algorithm are poor stability among exploitation as well as exploration. Hence, two schemes such as the Gaussian mutation scheme and the cuckoo search are combined so as to form an adaptive Harris hawks optimization to enhance this stability. The task offloading issues are implemented using Google cluster trace and iFogSim. Furthermore, the simulation results depict that the offloading scheme based on the deep belief network-based adaptive Harris Hawks optimization approach has better results with respect to measures such as load balancing, energy consumption, average execution time, and latency than any other approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Child sexual abuse (CSA) is a worldwide problem. The safety of children is everybody's responsibility. Parental and family involvement is crucial in the CSA prevention process. Parental lack of knowledge may increase the risk of abuse among children. Educating parents is crucial as children are mostly dependent on them. The role of mothers in educating children on CSA is of relevance as they are identified as more sensitive and responsible caregivers. The present study aimed to promote knowledge and attitude towards CSA prevention among mothers through a psychoeducation program. A pre‐ and posttest design (n = 67) was used with an intervention based on Protection Motivation Theory (PMT). A CSA knowledge and attitude scale was developed for the assessment of the participants for the study. There were significant changes in knowledge and attitude among the participants after the intervention. The prevention of CSA will be effective with knowledge gains after the PMT‐based intervention. The intervention programs that involve mothers in CSA education have benefits. The findings of this study can be helpful to incorporate public health approaches to devise evidence‐based parental programs in community settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Body mass index (BMI) is a traditional measurement practice that divides a person's weight by their height to find out whether they have a healthy range of weight. The objective of this study is to understand the relation between BMI and prevalence of diabetes mellitus, hypertension, and dyslipidemia. Material and Methods: BMI distribution among these patients was compared with and without hypertension and dyslipidemia. The improper of secretion of insulin leads to changes in metabolism of lipids, proteins, and carbohydrates also characterized hyperglycemia generally considered as diabetes mellitus (DM). Results: The excessive formation of free radicals induces oxidative stress, and the antioxidant defense system becomes weaken and hence arises diabetic disorder and overproduction of malondialdehyde (MDA). In cells, the polyunsaturated fatty acid peroxidation is considered as the final product and marker of oxidative stress. Conclusion: In this study, significantly increased BMI is observed in diabetic victims in comparison with control group. A significant positive correlation was noticed between glycated hemoglobin, cholesterol, and MDA. In conclusion, for the prevention and management of vascular complication in type 2 diabetes mellitus, maintaining normal levels of MDA and body weight are very important. Further large-scale studies are required to confirm it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

What is Sleep Disordered Breathing? What are the causes of Sleep Disordered Breathing? What role does an Orthodontist play? The article aims at answering such questions and spreading the ideology and seriousness of this disorder. Normal sleep involves air passing through and going directly down to the lungs. With an obstructed airway, the structures in the back of the throat occlude the airway due to an inadequate motor tone of the tongue and airway dilator muscles, and thus, prevent the air from passing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Lung involvement is one of the known complications of thalassaemia. This study was undertaken to assess the predominant type of pulmonary dysfunction. Most studies show pulmonary function abnormalities but the results are conflicting. Aim: To study Pulmonary Function Tests (PFTs) in multitransfused children with thalassaemia and compare them with normal children. Materials and Methods: This was a case-control study conducted from May 2012 to June 2013 at MS Ramaiah Medical College, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India, which included 35 children in the age group of 3-16 years with ß-thalassaemia major and on regular transfusion as cases and 35 age and sex matched healthy children participated as controls. PFTs were done in 35 children with ß-thalassaemia major, using Spirobank G and within three days of blood transfusion. Following parameters were recorded: Forced Vital Capacity (FVC), Forced Expiratory Volume in 1 second (FEV1), Ratio of Forced Expiratory Volume in 1 second to Forced Vital Capacity (FEV1/FVC), Peak Expiratory Flow Rate (PEFR), and Forced Expiratory Flow (FEF25%-75). Student's' test was used for statistical analysis. Results: Percentage abnormalities of PFT in thalassaemia children were observed, 20 (57.14%) children had normal PFTs. Among the remaining children 9 (25.71%), 5 (14.29%) and 1 (2.86%) had restrictive, obstructive and mixed pattern of abnormalities respectively. Conclusion: Pulmonary function appeared to be affected in a majority of subjects with thalassaemia. Abnormal patterns of lung function were common in which restrictive type was predominant. No respiratory symptoms was found in any of these children. Studies are needed to establish the precise cause of pulmonary dysfunction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Brucellosis is regarded as one of the highest burden zoonotic diseases to persist in many regions globally. While sustained vaccination against B. abortus in an endemic setting can markedly reduce the prevalence of large ruminant and human brucellosis and benefit local livelihoods, the implementation of effective and sustainable control programmes has often failed in the worst affected areas. In a cross-sectional study of 728 peri-urban dairy farmers in nine areas of six West and Central African countries, levels of commercialization and farm characteristics were examined alongside B. abortus seroprevalence estimates to hypothesize the most appropriate model for brucellosis vaccination delivery in each country. Demographic and economic data were collated and used to describe the farming systems currently in place. Furthermore, these data were utilized in a likelihood assessment to generate a quantitative score to hypothesize which of three private-public partnership (PPP) vaccine delivery models, that is 1) transformative, 2) transactional or 3) collaborative, would be most appropriate in each setting. The study sites had substantial differences in their levels of dairy commercialization and the farming practices employed; the heterogeneity across the study sites was evident in the conclusions of which models would be appropriate for vaccination delivery. While Lomé (Togo) had a strong indication for a transformative PPP model, Burkina Faso had strong indication for the collaborative PPP model. Of the remaining study sites, the scores were less dominant for any one model with Cameroon and Ivory Coast sites only just scoring highest on the transformative model and Senegal and Mali sites only just scoring highest on the collaborative model. Interestingly, none of the countries included in the study scored highest on the transactional model which currently is the most commonplace delivery model in the majority of sub-Saharan African countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Canine bufavirus (CBuV), a novel protoparvovirus of dogs that is associated with enteric and respiratory symptoms, has been reported only in Italy and China. The enteric prevalence of CBuV in India was investigated, and the nearly complete genome sequence (4292 bp) was amplified and reconstructed for one strain. A nucleotide sequence alignment indicated 93.42–98.81% identity to the other available CBuV sequences and 70.88–73.39% and 54.4–54.8% identity to human bufavirus and canine parvovirus 2 (CPV-2), respectively. The current strain is most closely related to Chinese CBuV strains, which together form an Asian lineage. This first report of the prevalence of CBuV in India emphasizes the need for further epidemiological surveillance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is the most common hepatic disease. It is rapidly emerging as the frequent cause for liver transplantation with the risk of disease recurrence, even after transplantation. Clinical evidence showed an abnormally altered expression of different peroxisome proliferator‐activated receptor (PPAR) isotypes (PPAR‐α/γ/δ) in NAFLD with an involvement in the induction of insulin resistance, hepatic steatosis, reactive oxygen species (ROS) formation, and hepatic inflammation. Recently, several dual PPAR‐γ/α agonists were developed to simultaneously achieve the insulin‐sensitizing effect of PPAR‐γ as well as lipid catabolizing effect of PPAR‐α. PPAR‐α activation could counterbalance the steatogenic and adipogenic effects of PPAR‐γ. But most of the drugs were ended in the initial level itself due to harmful adverse effects. In the present review, we discuss the possible mechanism of telmisartan, a typical angiotensin receptor blocker with excellent safety and pharmacokinetic profile, as a PPAR‐γ/α dual agonist in the treatment of NAFLD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The role of mast cells, traditionally recognized for their involvement in immediate hypersensitivity reactions, has garnered significant attention in liver diseases. Studies have indicated a notable increase in mast cell counts following hepatic injury, underscoring their potential contribution to liver disorder pathogenesis. Predominantly situated in connective tissue that envelops the hepatic veins, bile ducts, and arteries, mast cells are central to both initiating and perpetuating liver disorders. Additionally, they are crucial for maintaining gastrointestinal barrier function. The gut-liver axis emphasizes the complex, two-way communication between the gut microbiome and the liver. Past research has implicated gut microbiota and their metabolites in the progression of hepatic disorders. This review sheds light on how mast cells are activated in various liver conditions such as alcoholic liver disease (ALD), non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), viral hepatitis, hepatic fibrogenesis, and hepatocellular carcinoma. It also briefly explores the connection between the gut microbiome and mast cell activation in these hepatic conditions. Role of mast cells in the gut-liver axis during the progression of liver disease and its therapeutic implications. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Baicalein attenuates motor-cognitive abnormalities of QA induced striatal lesion. • Brain neurotrophins levels were augmented after baicalein administration. • QA reverses GABAergic inhibition studied via TH immunohistochemical analysis. • Baicalein restrained the antioxidant disturbance due QA lesion in striatal region. Huntington Disease (HD), a predominant Neurodegenerative Disorder which might be induced by endogenous neurotoxin called Quinolinic Acid (QA), an N-methyl-D aspartate receptor (NMDAR) agonist, the bilaterally intrastriatal administration (200 nm/2 μL of saline) offers rise to the toxic events like neuronal death, neuroinflammation by inflicting excitotoxicity and oxidative stress in the striatum of male Wistar rats by exhibiting the behavioural changes which was accessed by rotarod, open field analysis. In this study, the neuropharmacological effect of Baicalein (BC) against QA induced HD was evaluated. Baicalein (BC), scientifically 5,6,7 trihydroxy flavone present naturally in the edible plants like Scutellaria baicalensis and Oroxylum indicum possess a better neuroprotective effect in the dosage of 10 mg/kg and 30 mg/kg intraperitoneally in the striatum of HD induced rats. This study proved that BC is efficient to revive the level of enzymatic & non-enzymatic antioxidants and mitochondrial complexes by decreasing the number of inflammatory mediators such as MDA, protein carbonyls and Nitric Oxide at the significance of P < 0.01 and restores the amount of BDNF and GDNF thereby preventing the neurophysiological changes which were analysed by haematoxylin & eosin staining. Thus finally, the protective effect of Baicalein displays the up-gradation of psychological and behavioural changes induced by QA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Rehabilitation outcomes in cardiac arrest survivors are largely unknown, with no data comparing out-of-hospital cardiac arrests (OHCA) and in-hospital cardiac arrests (IHCA). This study aimed to describe and compare inpatient rehabilitation outcomes in these patients who were admitted from intensive care units (ICU).Methods: A retrospective linkage and analysis of cardiac arrest patients in the Australian and New Zealand Intensive Care Society Adult Patient Database and the Australasian Rehabilitation Outcomes Centre inpatient dataset discharged to inpatient rehabilitation between January 2017 and June 2018. Primary outcome was the functional improvement during rehabilitation (difference between the Functional Independence Measurement (FIM) score on admission and discharge). Multivariate regression analyses were performed to determine factors associated with functional improvement.Results: In the 240 (84 OHCA and 156 IHCA) patients included, the median length of inpatient rehabilitation was 15 days [1st-3rd quartile (Q1-Q3): 9-24]. OHCA patients were more likely to be admitted to rehabilitation for neurological issues (41.7%) and IHCA for medical reasons (51.9%). Median (Q1-Q3) change in total FIM scores was similar between the two groups (24.5[10-37]) vs 21[11-31], adjusted p = 0.20), with most of the FIM change seen in the motor items, and this was only associated with a lower admission FIM score. The majority of OHCA and IHCA patients were discharged home (91.5% and 89.7%, respectively), although with an increased need for a carer at home compared to baseline (27.2% to 55.6%).Conclusion: Patients discharged from ICU following OHCA and IHCA achieved reasonable and similar functional improvement during inpatient rehabilitation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The phenomenon of reduced energy capability of power metal–oxide–semiconductor field-effect transistors (MOSFETs) at high avalanche currents is investigated in commercial 1.2-kV 4H-SiC MOSFETs. Unclamped inductive switching (UIS) measurements as well as electrical transport simulations are used to identify the current paths and maximum avalanche currents, providing insight into the design limits. The investigated devices show a reduced energy capability for avalanche current above 52 A due to the latching of the parasitic bipolar junction transistor (BJT). The BJT also limits the maximum switchable current to ≤102 A. Based on the measurements and simulations, a procedure utilizing UIS measurements for identification of design limits is presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coronavirus (COVID-19) being a pandemic has affected us by affecting our mental health, creating confusion and uncertainties. Every human being is different and thus each of us reacts differently. It can be a positive or negative feeling. It is important to understand what we are feeling and how do we lead to a change. A simple understanding of how every action will have a positive side toward it will lead us to a happier and healthier place to live. Certainly, this COVID-19 has given us a cleaner and greener environment and that is a positive takeaway from this pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Orofacial pain is one the commonest chronic oral health disorder. Yet, its complete management is still a researchable matter as it is a disorder which is caused due to various factors. It is very rare is find a single etiology leading to orofacial pain. It often encompasses multiple etiological factors. Hence it is important to understand that not one but multiple healthcare professionals are needed for its successful outcome and thus forming an interprofessional management team becomes important. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Spices are dietary agents with immense potential for cancer chemo‐prevention. A wide variety of spices are extensively used as food flavoring agents which possess potent antioxidant, anti‐inflammatory, and anticancer properties due to the presence of certain bio‐active compounds in them. In vitro, in vivo studies and clinical trials of selected spices against various types of cancer are being specified in this review. Effect of certain putative dietary spices namely turmeric, clove, garlic, ginger, fennel, black cumin, cinnamon, pepper, saffron, rosemary, and chilli along with its role in cancer are being discussed. Literature search was conducted through PubMed, Google scholar, Science direct, and Scopus using the keywords "spice," "cancer," "natural medicine," "herbal compound," "bioactive compounds." About 4,000 published articles and 127 research papers were considered to grab the brief knowledge on spices and their anticancer potential on a predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria. Practical application: Historically, spices and herbs are known for its traditional flavor, odor, and medicinal properties. Intensified risk of chronic and pervasive clinical conditions and increased cost of advanced drug treatments have developed a keen interest among researchers to explore the miscellaneous properties of herbal spices. Cancer is one of the deleterious causes of mortality affecting a huge number of populations worldwide. Arrays of cancer treatments including surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy are used to compromise the disease but effective only when the size of the tumor is small. So, an effective treatment need to be developed that produces less side effects and herbal spices are found to be the promising agents. In this review, we illustrate about different in vitro, in vivo, and clinical studies of wide range of culinary spices having antineoplastic potential. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study high lights on the anticoagulant, fibrino (geno) lytic and antiplatelet activities of Aqueous Extract of raw Tender Mango Seed (RGMS). RGMS showed varied molecular weight proteins bands from the range 65kDa to 14.3 kDa on SDS-PAGE under reduced and non-reduced condition in a similar way. When, RGMS was analyzed for its probable carbohydrate content using PAS-staining, only single protein at the low molecular weight region taken up the PAS stain. RGMS digested casein with the specific activity of 1.106 units/mg/min at 37°C. The proteolytic activity was inhibited by only 1, 10, Phenanthrolene but IAA, PMSF, EDTA and EGTA did not affect the activity, suggesting the presence of zinc dependent metalloprotease. Furthermore, RGMS showed strong anticoagulant effect in plasma coagulation time by extending the clotting time from control 250 sec to 1200sec. RGMS hydrolyzed only Aα chain of the fibrinogen without affecting Bβ and γ chains. In addition, RGMS degraded all the chains of fibrin clot in a dose dependent manner. Above all, RGMS also exhibited antiplatelet activity by inhibiting agonists ADP and epinephrine induced platelet aggregation of platelet-rich plasma. The platelet aggregation inhibition was an extent of 80% 96% respectively. Moreover, RGMS was non toxic to Red Blood Cells. Taken an account of said properties, RGMS could be further exploit in the treatment of thrombotic disorders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Sorafenib is the sole FDA approved drug conventionally used for the treatment of advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Despite of the beneficial use of sorafenib in the treatment of HCC, multidrug resistance still remains a challenge. HCC is inherently known as chemotherapy resistant tumor due to P-glycoprotein (P-gp)-mediated multidrug resistance. Methods: We studied the interaction energy of kaempferol with human multidrug resistance protein-1 (RCSB PDB ID: 2CBZ) using in silico method with the help of BIOVIA Discovery Studio. HepG2 and N1S1 liver cancer cell lines were treated in suitable cell culture media to evaluate the efficacy of kaempferol in chemo-sensitizing liver cancer cells towards the effect of sorafenib. Cell viability study was performed by MTT assay. Results: In silico analysis of kaempferol showed best docking score of 23.14 with Human Multi Drug Resistant Protein-1 (RCSB PDB ID: 2CBZ) compared with positive control verapamil. In in-vitro condition, combination of sub-toxic concentrations of both kaempferol and sorafenib produced 50% cytotoxicity with concentration of 2.5 µM each which indicates that kaempferol has the ability to reverse the MDR by decreasing the over-expression of P-gp. Conclusion: Kaempferol is able to sensitize the HepG2 and N1S1 against the sub-toxic concentration of sorafenib. Hence, we consider that the efficacy of sorafenib chemotherapy can be enhanced by the significant approach of combining the sub-toxic concentrations of sorafenib with kaempferol. Thus, kaempferol can be used as a better candidate molecule along with sorafenib for enhancing its efficacy, if validated through preclinical studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Milk is a nutrient-rich food that makes an important contribution to diets in several Low and Middle Income Countries such as Senegal. Milk can also harbour several pathogenic microorganisms. As in other low and middle income countries, the dairy industry in Senegal is growing, with an expansion of farms to meet rapidly growing demand in the cities. However, most of the production still happens in the informal sector, and little is known about consumption of milk and milk products, or knowledge, awareness and practices of actors in informal dairy supply chains.Methods: We conducted structured focus group discussions with dairy farmers and milk processors in three selected regions (Dakar, Thies and Fatick) in Senegal to investigate the consumption practices, awareness of milk borne hazards, and practices relevant to the risk of milk contamination to gain a deeper understanding of drivers of milk-borne diseases. Data on the consumption of milk and milk products were also collected using a closed questionnaire.Results: Results indicate that milk is an important part of the diet in the study regionsand raw milk consumption is very common. The most common milk product consumed was fermented milk. Awareness of milk borne hazards was limited. Several farmers and processors reported risky practices, despite being aware of better practices, due to cultural beliefs. In households, children, pregnant women and older people were prioritised when milk and milk products were distributed. Dairy farmers and milk processors were more concerned with the lack of food for animals, low production and seasonality of production than the safety of the milk and milk products.Conclusions: Lack of awareness of milk borne infections and some traditional practices put milk and milk product consumers in the study area at high risk of milk borne diseases.. Prioritising certain sub population at households (Pregnant women and children) makes then vulnerable to milk-borne hazards. It will be challenging to change the risky practices as they are motivated by cultural beliefs hence the best strategy to promote milk safety will be to encourage the boiling of milk by consumers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Esophageal cancer is the eighth most common cancer and the sixth most common cause of cancer death globally. Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) accounts for 70%–90% of esophageal cancers worldwide, 5% are adenocarcinoma, and 5% represent rare malignancies and metastases from other organs. We present a case where a 54-year-old lady, with multiple readmissions for persistent dry cough and respiratory symptoms, turns out to be an esophageal malignancy. CECT thorax revealed an enhancing wall thickening of the esophagus with paraoesophageal fat stranding, mediastinal lymphadenopathy, and subsegmental right lobe atelectasis, suggestive of a probable esophageal malignancy. An upper gastrointestinal endoscopy showed a circumferential esophageal growth which on biopsy and histopathological examination turned out to be a moderately differentiated squamous cell carcinoma of esophagus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Repeated absorption of emitted photons, also called photon recycling, in large crystals and thick films of perovskites leads to delayed photoluminescence (PL) and decrease of PL intensity. The role of distinct band gaps, which act as donors and acceptors of energy, and nonradiative energy transfer on such delayed, low intensity emission is yet to be rationalized. Here we report delayed emission by nonradiative energy transfer across a distribution of energy states in close‐packed crystallites of cesium lead bromide CsPbBr3, formamidinium lead bromide FAPbBr3, or the mixed halide FAPb(BrI)3 perovskite synthesized in the form of thick pellets by the piezochemical method. The PL lifetime of the bromide‐rich domain in the mixed halide pellet is considerably decreased when compared with a pure FAPbBr3 pellet. Here the domains with higher bromide composition act as the energy donor, whereas the iodide‐rich domains are the acceptors. Time‐resolved PL measurements of CsPbBr3, FAPbBr3, and the mixed halide FAPb(BrI)3 perovskite pellets help us to clarify the role of nonradiative energy transfer on photon recycling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In the current investigation, we explored the impact of swimming training and dietary fortification of Hemidesmus indicus (HI) extract on markers of oxidative stress (OS) and antioxidant capacity in the middle-aged Wistar rats. Materials and Methods: Male rats received oral supplementation of HI at a dosage of 50 and 100 mg/kg B.W and swim trained for 30 min/day with 3% intensity, 6 days/week for a duration of 84 days. Results: Training and dietary intake of 100 mg/Kg B.W HI extract enhanced antioxidant enzyme activities in the discrete regions of the brain. The OS indicators were attenuated in response to single or combined interventions. The levels of thiols were significantly upregulated in SW-T (+HI2) group. Conclusion: Our findings suggest that both interventions improve antioxidant status, by attenuating the OS markers, which can be used as a therapeutic strategy in preventing age-associated neurological disorders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research Question: Do patients with dual diagnosis (DD) with an early initiation of substance use and subsequent early onset substance use disorder (EOS) differ from those with late onset substance use disorder (LOS) regarding characteristics, sex-related risk behaviors, course, and outcome? Objectives: The aim is to study EOS and LOS groups of patients with DD attending a treatment center with regard to clinical characteristics, type of psychiatric disorders, risk behaviors, and short-term outcome. Materials and Methods: Retrospective chart review of patients diagnosed with DD (n = 307) with regard to the above variables. Diagnoses of both substance use disorders (SUDs) and psychiatric disorders were made by qualified psychiatrists as per the International Classification of Diseases, 10th revision. Results: Among 307 participants with DD, 100 were in EOS group (onset of SUD before 18 years of age as assessed clinically) and 207 in LOS group. Cannabis as the primary substance was more prevalent in the EOS (30%) than that of the LOS group (12%). Psychotic disorders were more prevalent in the EOS group (41%) followed by mood disorders (30%), while the reverse was true in the LOS group (27.5% and 56.5%, respectively). When compared to the LOS group, the EOS group had higher number of psychiatric admissions, reported higher prevalence of risky sexual behaviors (unprotected sexual intercourse, multiple sexual partners, and history of sexual intercourse with commercial sex workers), showed poorer treatment adherence, and worse outcome regarding both psychiatric disorder and SUD (all differences significant at P < 0.05). Conclusions: DD patients differ significantly based on the age of onset of substance use. These may have therapeutic and management implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electrocardiogram (ECG) is an electrical signal that contains data about the state and functions of the heart and can be used to diagnose various types of arrhythmias effectively. The modeling and simulation of ECG under different conditions are significant to understand the function of the cardiovascular system and in the diagnosis of heart diseases. Arrhythmia is a severe peril to the patient recovering from acute myocardial infarction. The reliable detection of arrhythmia is a challenge for a cardiovascular diagnostic system. As a result, a considerable amount of research has focused on the development of algorithms for the accurate diagnosis of arrhythmias. In this paper, a system for the classification of arrhythmia is developed by employing the probabilistic principal component analysis (PPCA) model. Initially, the cluster head is selected for the effective transmission of ECG signals of patients using the adaptive fractional artificial bee colony algorithm, and multipath routing for transmission is selected using the fractional bee BAT algorithm. Features such as wavelet features, Gabor transform, empirical mode decomposition, and linear predictive coding features are extracted from the ECG signal with high dimension (which are reduced using PPCA) and finally given to the proposed classifier called adaptive genetic-bat (AGB) support vector neural network (which is trained using the AGB algorithm) for arrhythmia detection. The experimentation of the proposed system is done based on evaluation metrics, such as the number of alive nodes, normalized network energy, goodput, and accuracy. The proposed method obtained a classification accuracy of 0.9865 and a goodput of 0.0590 and provides a better classification of arrhythmia. The experimental results show that the proposed system is useful for the classification of arrhythmias, with a reasonably high accuracy of 0.9865 and a goodput of 0.0590. The validation of the proposed system offers acceptable results for clinical implementation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The compact antipodal Vivaldi antenna (AVA) with regular rectangular slots in the taper region is presented in this paper intended for electronic warfare applications. The antenna has a simple configuration with compact size. Micro strip line feeding is employed. The rectangular slots at regular intervals and terminal elliptical shaping of taper on top and bottom layers of antenna substrate enhance impedance bandwidth. The slot loading in the taper portion also enhances the gain. The novel feature of this antenna is its small aperture size which is 25 mm. Small aperture size is required for array applications to avoid grating lobes and element pattern nulls. A return loss of less than −10 dB (VSWR <2.0) is obtained over 6 to 18 GHz. The antenna is designed using Ansoft HFSS software and the same is implemented in hardware. Return loss, radiation patterns, and gain have been measured and results reported. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Aims: The aim of the study was to evaluate the efficacy and usefulness of the current practice of various investigations and consultations being done during preanesthetic evaluation in patients undergoing oncosurgical procedures in our hospital. We also evaluated the delay caused due to these and its value in predicting postoperative complications. Material and Methods: The preanesthetic charts of 300 elderly patients >65 years of age were reviewed, and the incidence of abnormal investigations and number of consultations advised were noted. The incidence and predictive values of these were assessed. Results: More than half the number of patients had more than one comorbidity and were advised various consultations based on history, National Institute of Clinical and Health Excellence (NICE) guidelines, and institutional protocol. Multiple visits to preanesthetic clinic were required in patients who had abnormal thyroid tests or respiratory complaints which was the main reason for delay in scheduling surgery. However, despite multiple comorbidities not more than 12.7% of the blood tests ordered were found to be abnormal. Abnormal blood tests were not significantly associated with higher incidence of postoperative complications. Conclusion: Blood investigations do not predict postoperative complication rate and do not influence anesthetic management of elderly patients undergoing oncosurgical procedures but are rather influenced by surgical procedure and presence of comorbidities. Hence, preanesthetic clinic should assess patients based on other predictive tests rather than relying on blood investigations alone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To assess non-verbal reactions to commodities, services, or products, sentiment analysis is the technique of identifying exhibited human emotions utilizing artificial intelligence-based technology. The facial muscles flex and contract differently in response to each facial expression that a person makes, which facilitates the deep learning AI algorithms' ability to identify an emotion. Facial emotion analysis has numerous applications across various industries and domains, leveraging the understanding of human emotions conveyed through facial expressions, so it is very much required in healthcare, security and survelliance, Forensics, Autism and cultural studies etc,.. In this study, facially expressed sentiments in real-time photographs as well as in an existing dataset are classified using object detection techniques based on deep learning. Fast Region-based Convolution Neural Network (R-CNN) is an object detection system that uses suggested areas to categorize facial expressions of emotion in real-time. Using a high-quality video collection made up of 24 actors who were photographed facially expressing eight distinct emotions (Happy, Sad, Disgust, Anger, Surprise, Fear, Contempt and Neutral). The Fast R-CNN and Mouth region-based feature extraction and Maximally Stable Extremal Regions (MSER) method used for classification and feature extraction respectively. In order to assess the deep network's performance, the proposed work builds a confusion matrix. The network generalizes to new images rather well, as seen by the average recognition rate of 97.6% for eight emotions. The suggested deep network approach may deliver superior recognition performance when compared to CNN and SVM methods, and it can be applied to a variety of applications including online classrooms, video game testing, healthcare sectors, and automated industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The renovation of eggshell wastage into nanocrystalline CaO by solution combustion method under microwave irradiation is vital process. Microwaves influenced to get high surface area, increase in active sites density with morphological difference than the conventional calcinations method. Accordingly various types of catalysts from egg shells such as CaO-M (microwave combustion), CaO-F (combustion in furnace), CaO-C (calcinations of waste egg shells) were synthesized. The obtained catalyst were characterized using XRD, SEM, TPD-CO2, TGA and BET surface area instruments to know the physico-chemical characteristics. The catalytic evolution of these catalysts showed record activity and recyclability at lower temperature for the glycerol carbonate synthesis under the microwave irradiation method. Under the optimize reaction condition CaO-M showed maximum yield of glycerol carbonate of 94%. Thereby catalytic activity of CaO-M showed better performance when compared with CaO-F, CaO-C and commercially obtained CaO. Better catalytic activity of CaO-M is due to higher surface area with lower particle size and increase in active sites. CaO-C showed decreased in activity due to mask of active sited by CO2. The term active site approach was coined; this concept is to develop the catalysts for the industrial applications. Accordingly, various factors such as surface area, particle size and active sites were compared and correlated with the yield of glycerol carbonate. The distribution of active sites on the each nano particle confirms more activity for CaO-M of 93%. and the r value 0.97 showed better correlation within active site approach influence on the product formation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reliability represents a very important factor for the design of Silicon Carbide (SiC) power metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistors (MOSFETs). Ruggedness of the device during abnormal operating conditions like the short circuit (SC) and avalanche conduction (during unclamped inductive switching - UIS) is an important aspect of reliability. Often, variation in design parameters to improve ruggedness during SC and UIS shows negative impact on the nominal operating performance. This paper presents a comprehensive analysis of the impact of modification of p-base doping on the performance of a 1.2 kV SiC MOSFET during SC and UIS by means of TCAD simulations. The improvement in MOSFET ruggedness by optimizing the p-base doping and its influence on the nominal operating performance is evaluated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Green synthesized metal nanoparticles play a significant role in biomedical applications. This investigation focused on eco-friendly synthesized iron nanoparticles using marine brown algae Spatoglossum asperum which was evaluated for its anticancer and free radical scavenging activity against glioblastoma. The formation of iron nanoparticles confirmed the surface plasmon resonance (SPR) peak at 400 nm by UV visible Spectrum. X-ray diffraction spectroscopy analysis confirmed the crystalline structure of iron nanoparticles. Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy analysis was used to identify the functional groups in the algae extract that are involved in the ferrous ion oxidation into iron nanoparticles (Fe3O4NPs). Scanning electron microscope images indicated that the produced nanoparticles were spherical and 16 nm in size, as had been predicted. The S. asperum-mediated Fe3O4NP has shown potential antioxidant activities against 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrayl and H2O2 activity and its scavenging inhibition was 80.13% and 62.21% determined at 50 µg/mL. The anticancer activity of the synthesized Fe3O4NP against human glioblastoma cells (LN-18) was analyzed and the Fe3O4NPs half inhibitory concentration was found to be 19.24 µg/mL. The findings of the investigation evaluated the binding affinities of different proteins expressed in glioblastoma with bioactive compounds in the S. asperum by performing molecular docking by autodock vina version 4.2. The results of the present investigation revealed that S. asperum-mediated iron oxide nanoparticles exhibited antioxidant potential and effectively suppressed the proliferation of glioblastoma cancer cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the absence of epidemiological, microbiological or outbreak data, systematic identification of the hazards and food products posing the higher risk to the consumers is challenging. It is usually in Low- and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs), where the burden of foodborne disease is highest that data tend to be particularly scarce. In this study, we propose qualitative risk-ranking methods for pathogens and food products that can be used in settings where scarcity of data on the frequency/concentration of pathogens in foodstuff is a barrier towards the use of classical risk assessment frameworks. The approach integrates the existing knowledge on foodborne pathogens, manufacturing processes and intrinsic/extrinsic properties of food products with key context-specific information regarding the supply chain(s), characteristics of the Food Business Operators (FBOs) and cultural habits to identify: (i) the pathogens that should be considered as a "High" food safety priority and (ii) the food products posing the higher risk of consumer exposure to microbiological hazards via the oral (ingestion) route. When applied to the dairy sector of Andhra Pradesh (India) as a case study, Shiga toxin-producing E. coli , Salmonella spp., S. aureus and L. monocytogenes were identified as a "High" food safety priority across all FBOs. C. sakazakii was identified as a "High" priority for the FBOs producing infant formula/milk powder whilst Shigella spp., and Cryptosporidium spp. a "High" priority when considering the FBOs operating in the unregulated sector. Given the diversity of dairy products considered in the assessment, cluster analysis was used to identify products that shared similar intrinsic/extrinsic features known to drive the microbiological risk. The risk ranking was then done integrating the results of the cluster analysis with context-specific information. Products manufactured/retailed by FBOs in the informal market were considered as posing a "High" risk for the consumers due to a widespread lack of compliance to sanitary regulations. For dairy products produced by FBOs operating in the middle and formal end of the formal-informal spectrum, the risk of consumers exposure to microbiological hazards ranged from "Moderate" to "Extremely low" depending on the FBO and the intrinsic/extrinsic properties of the products. While providing risk estimates of lower precision if compared to data-driven risk assessments, the proposed method maximises the value of the information that can be easily gathered in LMICs and provide informative outputs to support food safety decision-making in contexts where resources to be allocated for prevention of foodborne diseases are limited and the food system is complex. • A method for risk ranking of pathogens/food products in settings where microbiological data is lacking is proposed. • Informed, systematic and transparent food safety decisions can be made in absence of microbiological data. • Sociocultural behaviours & context-specific characteristics of the food chain are major drivers for exposure to microbial hazards [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Methanotrophs have multiple methane monooxygenases that are well known to be regulated by copper, i.e., a "copper switch." At low copper/biomass ratios the soluble methane monooxygenase (sMMO) is expressed while expression and activity of the particulate methane monooxygenase (pMMO) increases with increasing availability of copper. In many methanotrophs there are also multiple methanol dehydrogenases (MeDHs), one based on Mxa and another based on Xox. Mxa-MeDH is known to have calcium in its active site, while Xox-MeDHs have been shown to have rare earth elements in their active site. We show here that the expression levels of Mxa-MeDH and Xox-MeDH in Methylosinus trichosporium OB3b significantly decreased and increased, respectively, when grown in the presence of cerium but the absence of copper compared to the absence of both metals. Expression of sMMO and pMMO was not affected. In the presence of copper, the effect of cerium on gene expression was less significant, i.e., expression of Mxa-MeDH in the presence of copper and cerium was slightly lower than in the presence of copper alone, but Xox-MeDH was again found to increase significantly. As expected, the addition of copper caused sMMO and pMMO expression levels to significantly decrease and increase, respectively, but the simultaneous addition of cerium had no discernible effect on MMO expression. As a result, it appears Mxa-MeDH can be uncoupled from methane oxidation by sMMO in M. trichosporium OB3b but not from pMMO. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Methanotrophs have multiple methane monooxygenases that are well known to be regulated by copper, i.e., a "copper switch." At low copper/biomass ratios the soluble methane monooxygenase (sMMO) is expressed while expression and activity of the particulate methane monooxygenase (pMMO) increases with increasing availability of copper. In many methanotrophs there are also multiple methanol dehydrogenases (MeDHs), one based on Mxa and another based on Xox. Mxa-MeDH is known to have calcium in its active site, while Xox-MeDHs have been shown to have rare earth elements in their active site. We show here that the expression levels of Mxa-MeDH and Xox-MeDH in Methylosinus trichosporium OB3b significantly decreased and increased, respectively, when grown in the presence of cerium but the absence of copper compared to the absence of both metals. Expression of sMMO and pMMO was not affected. In the presence of copper, the effect of cerium on gene expression was less significant, i.e., expression of Mxa-MeDH in the presence of copper and cerium was slightly lower than in the presence of copper alone, but Xox-MeDH was again found to increase significantly. As expected, the addition of copper caused sMMO and pMMO expression levels to significantly decrease and increase, respectively, but the simultaneous addition of cerium had no discernible effect on MMO expression. As a result, it appears Mxa-MeDH can be uncoupled from methane oxidation by sMMO in M. trichosporium OB3b but not from pMMO. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The adequacy of setup margins for various sites in patients treated with helical tomotherapy was investigated. A total of 102 patients were investigated. The breakdown of the patients were as follows: Twenty-five patients each in brain, head and neck (H and N), and pelvis, while 12 patients in lung and 15 in craniospinal irradiation (CSI). Patients were immobilized on the institutional protocol. Altogether 2686 megavoltage computed tomography images were analyzed with 672, 747, 622, 333, and 312 fractions, respectively, from brain, H and N, pelvis, lung, and CSI. Overall systematic and random errors were calculated in three translational and three rotational directions. Setup margins were evaluated using van Herk formula. The calculated margins were compared with the margins in the clinical use for various directions and sites. We found that the clinical isotropic margin of 3 mm was adequate for brain patients. However, in the longitudinal direction it was found to be out of margin by 0.7 mm. In H and N, the calculated margins were well within the isotropic margin of 5 mm which is in clinical use. In pelvis, the calculated margin was within the limits, 8.3 mm versus 10 mm only in longitudinal direction, however, in vertical and lateral directions the calculated margins were out of clinical margins 11 mm versus 10 mm, and 8.7 mm versus 7.0, mm respectively. In lung, all the calculated margins were well within the margins used clinically. In CSI, the variation was found in the middle spine in the longitudinal direction. The clinical margins used in our hospital are adequate enough for sites H and N, lung, and brain, however, for CSI and pelvis the margins were found to be out of clinical margins. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]