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SiOx-based resistive switching (RS) cells composed of Cu as the active electrode were fabricated on flexible muscovite mica flakes using DC and radio frequency magnetron sputtering techniques. In one set of the metal–insulator–metal (MIM) devices, Cu-nanoparticles (Cu-NPs) have been embedded into the SiOx layer and their RS properties have been compared with the devices without the Cu-NPs. All the devices exhibited forming free bipolar RS characteristics. Room temperature DC current–voltage (I–V) measurements suggest improved resistance windows for the Cu-NP-embedded MIM devices. Analysis of the DC I–V characteristics suggests electrochemical metallization-driven RS, where current conduction follows Ohmic and space-charge-limited conductions mechanism for low and high resistance states, respectively. The resistance windows of the Cu-NPs-embedded MIM structures tested for multiple cycles do not degrade under different bending conditions, indicating their mechanical robustness for potential flexible device applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Phosphate Solubilizing Bacteria (PSB) has the natural ability to liberate unavailable phosphorus (as a result of microbial metabolism extracellularly) from soil, rocks, and mines thereby increasing its availability for plants. The main mechanism behind this is the production of mineral dissolving compounds, such as organic acids, protons, hydroxyl ions, and CO2. The current study was conducted to explore the potential of a phosphate solubilizing bacteria which are isolated from rock phosphate mine in Rajasthan for enhancing the growth of Zea mays (maize) plants. Out of total of 137 bacterial isolates, one bacterial isolate RJ-11 was found to have multiple plant growth promoting (PGP) properties. Its phosphate solubilization ability was observed with solubility index (PSI) of 5.15. The potential isolate RJ-11 was found to solubilize tri calcium phosphate (Ca3(PO4)2) at a rate of 790.67 mg L-1. RJ-11 was found positive for potash solubilization, zinc solubilization, and siderophore production. On the basis of morphological and molecular characterization, isolate RJ-11 was identified as Gram positive bacterium, Bacillus altitudinis. LabID-B197 was assigned to B. altitudinis for further greenhouse pot experiments. Greenhouse pot experiments demonstrated that maize plants inoculated with B197 incorporated more phosphate which was observed as increase in germination percentage, increased shoot length (155%) and root length (45%), and much higher biomass weights than those plants without any added bacteria or controls. The result of present study indicates that B. altitudinis is a unique bacterium with multiple plant growth promoting properties and could act as potential bio fertilizer to improve the plant growth and develop cost-effective and sustainable agriculture practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Byline: Gauri. Gangakhedkar, Pallavi. Gaur, Anita. Shetty, Pallavi. Waghalkar, Amit. Dalvi Patients coming for atlantoaxial dislocation surgery represent a unique subset of difficult intubation. In addition to having restricted neck [...]

Cornelia de Lange syndrome presents with various problems which include anatomical anomalies of face and extremities, cardiopulmonary and endocrine disorders, renal dysfunction, epileptic EEG waves, and mental retardation. Difficult airway and aspiration risk due to gastroesophageal reflux and poor esophageal motility are the main challenges in anesthesia management. The choice of anesthetic procedure must be carefully considered in view of these abnormalities. We report a 14 years old male child who was a known case of Cornelia De Lange Syndrome for dental extraction with restorations under general anesthesia. The uneventful course of the anesthesia in the presented case was due to the thorough systemic evaluation and careful anesthetic strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the newest and strongest members of intercellular communicators, the Extracellular vesicles (EVs) and their enclosed RNAs; Extracellular RNAs (exRNAs) have been acknowledged as putative biomarkers and therapeutic targets for various diseases. Although a very deep insight has not been possible into the physiology of these vesicles, they are believed to be involved in cell-to-cell communication and host-pathogen interactions. EVs might be significantly helpful in discovering biomarkers for possible target identification as well as prognostics, diagnostics and developing vaccines. In recent studies, highly bioactive EVs have drawn attention of parasitologists for being able to communicate between different cells and having likeliness of reflecting both source and target environments. Next-generation sequencing (NGS) has eased the way to have a deeper insight into these vesicles and their roles in various diseases. This article arises from bioinformatics-based analysis and predictive data mining of transcriptomic (RNA-Seq) data of EVs, derived from different life stages of Trypanosoma cruzi ; a causing agent of neglected Chagas disease. Variants (Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs)) were mined from Extracellular vesicular transcriptomic data and functionally analyzed using different bioinformatics based approaches. Functional analysis showed the association of these variants with various important factors like Trans-Sialidase (TS), Alpha Tubulin, P-Type H+-ATPase, etc. which, in turn, are associated with disease in different ways. Some of the 'candidate SNPs' were found to be stage-specific, which strengthens the probability of finding stage-specific biomarkers. These results may lead to a better understanding of Chagas disease, and improved knowledge may provide further development of the biomarkers for prognosis, diagnosis and drug development for treating Chagas disease., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no competing interests.