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Abstract High temperature stress influences plant growth, seed yield, and fatty acid contents by causing oxidative damage. This study investigated the potential of thiourea (TU) to mitigate oxidative stress and restoring seed oil content and quality in canola. The study thoroughly examined three main factors: (i) growth conditions—control and high temperature stress (35 °C); (ii) TU supplementation (1000 mg/L)—including variations like having no TU, water application at the seedling stage, TU application at seedling stage (BBCH Scale-39), water spray at anthesis stage, and TU application at anthesis stage (BBCH Scale-60); (iii) and two canola genotypes, 45S42 and Hiola-401, were studied separately. High temperature stress reduced growth and tissue water content, as plant height and relative water contents were decreased by 26 and 36% in 45S42 and 27 and 42% Hiola-401, respectively, resulting in a substantial decrease in seed yield per plant by 36 and 38% in 45S42 and Hiola-401. Seed oil content and quality parameters were also negatively affected by high temperature stress as seed oil content was reduced by 32 and 35% in 45S42 and Hiola-401. High-temperature stress increased the plant stress indicators like malondialdehyde, H2O2 content, and electrolyte leakage; these indicators were increased in both canola genotypes as compared to control. Interestingly, TU supplementation restored plant performance, enhancing height, relative water content, foliar chlorophyll (SPAD value), and seed yield per plant by 21, 15, 30, and 28% in 45S42; 19, 13, 26, and 21% in Hiola-401, respectively, under high temperature stress as compared to control. In addition, seed quality, seed oil content, linoleic acid, and linolenic acid were improved by 16, 14, and 22% in 45S42, and 16, 11, and 23% in Hiola-401, as compared to control. The most significant improvements in canola seed yield per plant were observed when TU was applied at the anthesis stage. Additionally, the research highlighted that canola genotype 45S42 responded better to TU applications and exhibited greater resilience against high temperature stress compared to genotype Hiola-401. This interesting study revealed that TU supplementation, particularly at the anthesis stage, improved high temperature stress tolerance, seed oil content, and fatty acid profile in two canola genotypes.

ABSTRACT: Aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) is an unavoidable environmental toxin. The accumulation of AFB1 and its metabolites in the liver poses a threat to both human and animal health. Curcumin exhibits anti-oxidative, anti-tumor, and anti-inflammatory properties. There is no report on the mechanism regarding how curcumin relived liver necroptosis in chickens induced by AFB1 based on the regulatory network of ceRNA. To explore this, we performed transmission electron microscopy and sequenced lncRNA and mRNA in chicken livers treated with AFB1 and/or curcumin for 28 d in vivo. We observed substantial alterations in the lncRNA and mRNA expression profiles within the chicken liver, indicating that curcumin can mitigate AFB1-induced necroptosis both in vivo and in vitro. Further analysis, including the establishment of an lncRNA-miRNA-mRNA network and the utilization of a dual luciferase reporter assay, revealed that LOC769044 acts as a competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) for miR-1679. In addition, STAT1 was identified as a direct target of miR-1679. Modulating miR-1679 levels through overexpression, and silencing LOC769044 and STAT1, effectively reversed the necroptotic effects induced by AFB1, a reversal that was also observed with curcumin supplementation. In conclusion, our data demonstrate that curcumin alleviates AFB1-induced liver necroptosis through the LOC769044/miR-1679/STAT1 signaling axis. This study suggests that LOC769044 may serve as a novel therapeutic target for managing AFB1-mediated liver toxicity.

Abstract Micronutrient malnutrition is one of the major causes of human disorders in the developing world. Iron (Fe) is an important micronutrient due to its use in human metabolism such as immune system and energy production. Estimates indicate that above 30% of the global population is at risk of Fe deficiency, posing a particular threat to infants and pregnant women. Plants have adapted various strategies for uptake, transport, accumulation, and storage of Fe in tissues and organs which later can be consumed by humans. Biofortification refers to increase in micronutrient concentration in edible parts of plants and understanding the pathways for Fe accumulation in plants. Conventional plant breeding, transgenics, agronomic interventions, and microbe‐mediated biofortification are all potential methods to address Fe deficiency. This review article critically evaluates key aspects pertaining to Fe biofortification in cereal crops. It encompasses an in‐depth analysis of the holistic presence of Fe, its significance in both human and plant contexts, and the diverse strategies employed in Fe uptake, transport, accumulation, and storage in plant parts destined for human consumption. Additionally, the article explores the bioavailability of Fe and investigates strategies for biofortification, with a specific emphasis on both traditional methods and recent breakthroughs aimed at enhancing the Fe content in food crops. Keeping in view the significance of Fe for human life, appropriate biofortification strategies may serve better to eliminate hidden hunger rather than its artificial supplementation.

OBJECTIVES To ascertain the prevalence of left ventricular hypertrophy in individuals diagnosed with ischemic stroke. METHODOLOGY A cross-sectional study was undertaken in the Department of Medicine, Hayatabad Medical Complex, Peshawar, from October 1, 2020, to April 30, 2021, after obtaining ethical approval. The study included 143 individuals who had evidence of ischemic stroke on a CT scan. These patients were assessed for the presence or absence of left ventricular hypertrophy using transthoracic echocardiography. RESULTS The average age of the participants in the study was 57 years, with a standard deviation of 7.9 years. The sample consisted of 67.8% males and 32.2% females. The average BMI was calculated to be 25.3 + 3.3kg/m2, and 39.9% of the patients were from urban areas. Left ventricular hypertrophy was observed in 16.8% of patients who had experienced an ischemic stroke, with the greatest occurrence rate of 39.9% found in the age range of 50-60 years. There was no significant correlation observed between hypertension, diabetes, location of residence, age, and smoking. CONCLUSION Early and precise identification of the modifiable risk factors during the illness, followed by proper intervention, has the potential to decrease the incidence of debilitating stroke greatly. It is necessary to conduct large-scale population screening studies inside our local community. TTE should be carried out in all acute ischemic stroke patients to optimize the management of these patients.

Babesiosis, a zoonotic blood protozoal disease, threatens humans and animals and is difficult to treat due to growing antimicrobial resistance. The study aimed to investigate the therapeutic efficacy of artesunate (AS), a well-known derivative of artemisinin, against Babesia microti (B. microti) using a murine infection model. Male BALB/c mice (6 weeks old; 15 per group) were chosen and randomly divided into 1) the control group, 2) the B. microti group, and 3) the B. microti + artesunate treatment groups. AS treatment at 2 mg/kg, 4 mg/kg, and 8 mg/kg of body weight significantly (p

Handwritten signature verification is challenging because there is a huge variation between the orientation thickness and appearance of handwritten signatures. A strong signature verification system is essential to refine the accuracy of confirming user authentication. This investigation introduces an inclusive framework for training and evaluating hybrid vision transformer models on diverse signature datasets, aiming to refine the accuracy in confirming user authentication. In previous studies, transformer & MobileNet were used for computer vision classification and signature verification separately. Drawing inspiration from the Convolutional Neural Network (CNN), the hybrid model is proposed as a deep-learning model (ResNet-18 & MobileNetV2) with the Vision Transformer model (proposed method 1 & proposed method 2).To bring originality to this study, we excluded the final layer of the feature extractor and smoothly integrated it with the initial layer of the vision transformer. In the scope of this research, we introduced a unique hybrid vision transformer model. Furthermore, we incorporated swish and tangent hyperbolic (tanh) activation functions into the validation model to enhance its performance. Experimental results showcase the effectiveness of the proposed hybrid model, achieving notable accuracies on various datasets, including 92.33% accuracy on Bhsig-Bengali, 99.89% accuracy on Bhsig-Hindi, 99.96% accuracy on Cedar, and 74.09% accuracy on UTsig-Persian datasets, respectively. The practical implications of this research extend to real-time signature verification for secure and efficient user authentication, particularly in mobile applications. This advancement in signature verification technology presents new possibilities for practical use in diverse scenarios beyond academia.

Numerous fuzzy structures have been created and studied up to this point in order to investigate objects under ambiguity. Among them, the structure of complex spherical fuzzy set is significant because it can define the four prospective aspects of an expert's viewpoint using the membership degree, non membership degree, abstinence, and rejection in a two-dimensional space. It is never easy to aggregate information, particularly when the input arguments are connected. In order to handle such situations, the goal of this study is to create the idea of the Hamy mean operator because it integrates data in ambiguous environments and takes into account the relationships between the input arguments. In this manuscript, we investigated the notion of Hamy mean and dual Hamy mean operators in the setup of complex spherical fuzzy sets and described their applications for engineering activities. We created the complex spherical fuzzy Hamy mean (CSFHM) and complex spherical fuzzy Dual Hamy mean (CSFDHM) operators and looked into the validity of each. To assess the effectiveness of the enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems using complex spherical fuzzy data, we created the multi attribute decision making technique based on the CSFHM and CSFDHM operators. The impacts of the related parameters are examined using a numerical example to assess the effectiveness of ERP systems. In comparison to conventional aggregation operators, the recommended aggregated results utilizing CSFHM and CSFDHM operators are observed to be reliable because they consider the interdependence of the input data. The suggested operators are compared in this study as well.

Plants communicate underground by secreting multiple amino acids (AAs) through their roots, triggering defense mechanisms against cadmium (Cd) stress. However, the specific roles of the individual AAs in Cd translocation and detoxification remain unclear. This study investigated how exogenous AAs influence Cd movement from the roots to the shoots in Cd-resistant and Cd-sensitive Chinese cabbage cultivars (Jingcui 60 and 16-7 cultivars). The results showed that methionine (Met) and cysteine (Cys) reduced Cd concentrations in the shoots of Jingcui 60 by approximately 44% and 52%, and in 16-7 by approximately 43% and 32%, respectively, compared to plants treated with Cd alone. However, threonine (Thr) and aspartic acid (Asp) did not show similar effects. Subcellular Cd distribution analysis revealed that AA supplementation increased Cd uptake in the roots, with Jingcui 60 preferentially storing more Cd in the cell wall, whereas the 16-7 cultivar exhibited higher Cd concentrations in the organelles. Moreover, Met and Cys promoted the formation of Cd-phosphate in the roots of Jingcui 60 and Cd-oxalate in the 16-7 cultivar, respectively. Further analysis showed that exogenous Cys inhibited Cd transport to the xylem by downregulating the expression of HMA2 in the roots of both cultivars, and HMA4 in the 16-7 cultivar. These findings provide insights into the influence of exogenous AAs on Cd partitioning and detoxification in Chinese cabbage plants.

OBJECTIVES This study aimed to find the frequency of indications for Transthoracic echocardiography and its impact on non-cardiac patient management in Peshawar, Pakistan. METHODOLOGY A cross-sectional study was conducted in Medical B Ward, Department of Internal Medicine at Hayatabad Medical Complex, Peshawar, Pakistan, over six months from July to 31st December 2020. A non-consecutive probability sampling technique was used. The sample size was calculated using an Openepi calculator, keeping 25.9 % as the frequency of requesting heart failure as an indication of echocardiography, 6.15 % as the confidence limit, and 95 % as a confidence interval. RESULTS A total of 195 patients were included in the study. The mean age of the patients was 483 years, with 59% females and 41% males. The major indication for TTE was assessing left ventricular systolic function in 146 (75%) patients and then finding the cause of the observed arrhythmias in 15 (7.5%) patients. A major proportion (95%) of the evaluated patients had no major change in the ongoing management plan following TTE. The working diagnosis in evaluated patients was changed by 12.7%, whereas new management plans were devised in only 4.9% of the cases. CONCLUSION Designing a randomized study to fully elaborate on the utility of TTE in patients admitted to acute medical wards while trying to address all confounding variables is an extremely difficult task.

Using the Jacobi elliptic function expansion method, which is improved by the novel use of truncated M-fractional derivatives, we thoroughly analyze the improved modified Korteweg-de Vries problem in this paper. Not only does this method provide new insight into the improved modified Korteweg-de Vries Equation, but it also represents a giant leap forward for nonlinear differential equations. Periodic, solitary, and trigonometric waves are among the answers found by us; all of them have important consequences for mathematical physics and engineering. The MATLAB-generated visual representations of our results are crucial because they provide a concrete shape to the once intangible mathematical ideas. In addition to showing the solutions, these images highlight the waves' dynamic behaviors and stability under various conditions, providing a better understanding of the physical processes that the improved modified Korteweg-de Vries equation attempts to explain. The graphic representations in this study demonstrate how the equation can be used to simulate complicated systems in many scientific disciplines. The relevance of our findings goes beyond only theoretical studies. Our study lays the groundwork for more accurate predictive models in fields including quantum physics, optical fibers, and fluid dynamics by giving exact and concrete solutions to the improved modified Korteweg-de Vries equation. The combination of the Jacobi Elliptic Function Expansion Method with truncated M-fractional derivatives provides a robust framework for solving comparable complicated differential equations, which in turn opens up new research and development opportunities. Overall, this research both deepens our understanding of the Improved Modified Korteweg-de Vries equation and provides more evidence that theoretical mathematics can be useful in solving practical problems. Mathematical modeling and computational visualization have the potential to make substantial contributions to engineering and the sciences, and our results support a multidisciplinary approach to study.

The improved modified Sardar sub-equation method is used in this study to look into the complex domain of the unstable nonlinear Schrödinger equation, which is a basic idea in quantum physics. Our main goal is to obtain new and exact solutions for the unstable nonlinear Schrödinger equation, which includes various mathematical structures such as rational, exponential, trigonometric, and hyperbolic trigonometric forms. These solutions provide insight into the complex mechanics that control wave events and their nonlinear behavior. By employing MATLAB, we display visual depictions of these solutions in different dimensions, improving the direct examination of the occurrences. This study enhances the existing knowledge of mathematical methods for solving nonlinear differential equations, which can be applied to other nonlinear wave equations in other scientific fields. The findings from this work not only enhance our comprehension of the unstable nonlinear Schrödinger equation but also open up new possibilities for studying nonlinear phenomena in several physical systems, including optics, condensed matter physics, and quantum information science.

Multifunctional THz meta-devices are the demand of modern communication systems and have received a lot of attention recently. Most studies have concentrated on either linear-to-linear or linear-to-circular polarization conversion. However, to simultaneously achieve both in a wide bandwidth with high conversion efficiency remains a key factor. This paper introduces a reflective-type metasurface that operates in the THz frequency range and is capable of wideband dual-polarization conversion in multi-band. The basic component of the suggested converter consists of a three-quarter circular structure with an embedded X-shape. It has the ability to convert linearly polarized (LP) electromagnetic (EM) waves into circularly polarized (CP) waves with axial ratio less than 3 dB at frequencies of 1.83–2.93 THz (RHCP), 3.56–3.68 THz (LHCP), and 3.90–3.93 THz (LHCP), with fractional bandwidth (FBW) of 46.21 %, 3.31 %, and 0.76 %, respectively. The reflected waves exhibit a phase difference of approximately ±90° and ±270° between their cross- and co-coefficients. Besides, the converter is capable of achieving cross-polarization conversion (CPC) with a polarization conversion efficiency (PCE) that exceeds 97 % within the frequency ranges of 3.18–3.42 THz and 3.96–3.97 THz. The fractional bandwidth (FBW) for these ranges is 7.27 % and 0.25 % respectively. Furthermore, the investigation of surface current distribution patterns at different frequencies is conducted to analyze the conversion phenomena. The proposed polarizer has applications in electromagnetic measuring, THz sensing, antennas, imaging, and stealth technologies.

Modern stealth application systems require integrated meta-devices to operate effectively and have gained significant attention recently. This research paper proposes a 1-bit coding metasurface (CM) design. The fundamental component of the proposed CM is integrated to convert linearly polarized incoming electromagnetic waves into their orthogonal counterpart within frequency bands of 12.37–13.03 GHz and 18.96–32.37 GHz, achieving a polarization conversion ratio exceeding 99%. Furthermore, it enables linear-to-circular polarization conversion from 11.80 to 12.29, 13.17 to 18.44, and 33.33 to 40.35 GHz. A second element is produced by rotating a fundamental component by 90°, introducing a phase difference of π (pi) between them. Both elements are arranged in an array using a random aperiodic coding sequence to create a 1-bit CM for reducing the radar cross-section (RCS). The planar structure achieved over 10 dB RCS reduction for polarized waves in the frequency bands of 13.1–13.8 GHz and 20.4–30.9 GHz. A prototype was fabricated and tested, with the experimental results showing a good agreement with the simulated outcomes. The proposed design holds potential applications in radar systems, reflector antennas, stealth technologies, and satellite communication.

This study delves into the complex dynamics of ethical leadership's influence on employees' pro-social rule-breaking behavior, taking into account the mediating role of psychological capital and the moderating effect of moral identity. Using data collected from nursing staff in Pakistani hospitals and analyzed through PLS SEM, the study yielded unexpected results. Contrary to the initial hypotheses, the findings reveal a positive relationship between ethical leadership and employees' pro-social rule-breaking behavior within organizational settings. Furthermore, the study identifies psychological capital as a key mediator in this relationship, while moral identity emerges as a crucial moderator. These results challenge the conventional perception of ethical leadership as an exclusively positive form of leadership and underscore its unintended consequences. Moreover, they underscore the significance of employees' psychological processes and individual differences in unraveling this paradoxical relationship. These results have the potential to reshape how organizations view ethical leadership and consider the unintended outcomes it may generate. Future research can build upon these findings to explore the boundaries and contextual factors that influence the effects of ethical leadership, ultimately contributing to a more comprehensive understanding of leadership dynamics in diverse organizational settings.

Objective: To determine the frequency of gall bladder carcinoma after cholecystectomy for symptomatic gallstone disease and to determine the most commonly affected age group and its gender-based predominance in our population. Study Design: Cross sectional study. Place and Duration of Study: Histopathology Lab, Tertiary Care Teaching Hospital, Peshawar Pakistan, from Jan 2015 to Jan 2021. Methodology: A total of 995 patients of all age groups and of either gender were included in our study. The demographics, clinical data of the patient (signs, symptoms and ultrasound report), and histopathology findings were recorded. Results: The mean age of our study participants was 41.5±15 years. Cholecystitis was found in 807(81.1%) patients, acute cholecystitis in 101(10.2%) patients, and chronic cholecystitis with cholesterols in 72(7.2%) patients. Benign polyps were found in 6(0.6%) patients, while carcinoma gall bladder was found in 9(0.9%) patients. The frequency of gall bladder carcinoma was high in females (n=774, 66.7%). The most commonly affected age group affected by gall bladder carcinoma was 51 to 60 years. Conclusion: Routine histopathology of all grossly looking normal gall bladder specimens after cholecystectomy should be done as it is the only measure to detect carcinoma gall bladder at early stages.

AbstractThis study examines the day-of-the-week and January effects on the top performing cryptocurrencies with the highest capitalization during the sample period. The study uses the daily closing returns of selected currencies for 7 August 2015 to 20 August 2020. The day-of-the-week results indicate that the Monday effect in the daily analysis generated a positive and significant coefficient for all five currencies and this anomaly is present in the cryptocurrency market. However, for all currencies, the December returns showed a significantly higher pattern as compared to January. This tendency indicates some prospects of lucrative trading. However, the evidence of negative Monday returns in this period is somewhat consistent with the relevant empirical literature. The study has some implications for investors, in that they can formulate strategies to produce abnormal returns. Investors and market analysts can form diverse portfolios by combining various cryptocurrencies using the intraday price statistics, and can devise strategies based on the intraday patterns using a similar analysis as that in this study.

Ethical leadership, widely recognized as a positive leadership style, has shown inconsistent relationships with employees' unethical pro-organizational behavior in the workplace. This study draws on the social cognitive theory to investigate the paradoxical impact of ethical leadership on employees' unethical pro-organizational behavior. It also examines the mediating role of employees' psychological empowerment and the moderating effect of moral identity. The study collects data from 515 nursing staff working in public and private hospitals in Pakistan at three different time intervals, and analyzed using PLS SEM. Contrary to the previous studies and our initial hypothesis, the findings reveal a positive relationship between ethical leadership and employees' unethical pro-organizational behavior. Additionally, the study demonstrates that employees' psychological empowerment positively mediates the relationship between ethical leadership and employees' unethical pro-organizational behavior. This underscores the significance of employees' psychological processes. Furthermore, the relationship between ethical leadership and employees' psychological empowerment is moderated by employees' moral identity. This highlights the role of the individual differences in shaping employees’ behavior within the workplace. Overall, these results challenge the universal perception of ethical leadership as a positive form of leadership, shedding light on the unintended consequences and paradoxical impact it can have in organizations.

Photoacoustic imaging is a good method for biological imaging, for this purpose, materials with strong near infrared (NIR) absorbance are required. In the present study, machine learning models are used to predict the light absorption behavior of polymers. Molecular descriptors are utilized to train a variety of machine learning models. Building blocks are searched from chemical databases, as well as new building blocks are designed using chemical library enumeration method. The Breaking Retrosynthetically Interesting Chemical Substructures (BRICS) method is employed for the creation of 10,000 novel polymers. These polymers are designed based on the input of searched and selected building blocks. To enhance the process, the optimal machine learning model is utilized to predict the UV/visible absorption maxima of the newly designed polymers. Concurrently, chemical similarity analysis is also performed on the selected polymers, and synthetic accessibility of selected polymers is calculated. In summary, the polymers are all easy to synthesize, increasing their potential for practical applications.

Multifunctional integrated meta-devices are the demand of modern communication systems and are given a lot of attention nowadays. Most of the research has focused on either cross-polarization conversion (CPC) or linear-to-circular (LP–CP) conversion. However, simultaneously realizing multiple bands with good conversion efficiency remains crucial. This paper proposes a multiband and multifunctional dual reflective polarization converter surface capable of converting a linearly polarized (LP) wave into a circularly polarized (CP) wave, in frequency bands of 12.29–12.63 GHz, 16.08–24.16 GHz, 27.82–32.21 GHz, 33.75–38.74 GHz, and 39.70–39.79 GHz, with 3 dB axial ratio bandwidths of 2.7%, 40.15%, 14.6%, 13.76%, and 0.2%, respectively. Moreover, the converter is capable of achieving CPC with a polarization conversion ratio (PCR) that exceeds 95%, within the frequency ranges of 13.10–14.72 GHz, 25.43–26.00, 32.46–32.56 GHz, and 39.14–39.59 GHz. In addition, to identify the fundamental cause of the CPC and LP–CP conversion, a comprehensive theoretical investigation is provided. Furthermore, the surface current distribution patterns at different frequencies are investigated to analyze the conversion phenomena. A sample prototype consisting of 20 × 20 unit cells was fabricated and measured, verifying our design and the simulated results. The proposed structure has potential applications in satellite communications, radar, stealth technologies, and reflector antennas.

Improving nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) without compromising yield remains a crucial agroecological challenge in theory and practice. Some meta-analyses conducted in recent years investigated the impact of nitrogen (N) fertilizer on crop yield and gaseous emissions, but most are region-specific and focused on N sources and application methods. However, various factors affecting yield and N fertilizer efficiency in wheat crops on a global scale are not extensively studied, thus highlighting the need for a comprehensive meta-analysis. Using 109 peer-reviewed research studies (published between 2000 and 2022) from 156 experimental sites (covering 36.8, 38.6 and 24.6% of coarse, medium, and fine texture soils, respectively), we conducted a global meta-analysis to elucidate suitable N management practices and the key factors influencing N fertilization efficiency in wheat as a function of yield and recovery efficiency and also explained future perspectives for efficient N management in wheat crop. Overall, N fertilization had a significant impact on wheat yield. A curvilinear relationship was found between N rates and grain yield, whereas maximum yield improvement was illustrated at 150-300 kg N ha-1. In addition, N increased yield by 92.18% under direct soil incorporation, 87.55% under combined chemical and organic fertilizers application, and 72.86% under split application. Site-specific covariates (climatic conditions and soil properties) had a pronounced impact on N fertilization efficiency. A significantly higher yield response was observed in regions with MAP > 800 mm, and where MAT remained < 15 °C. Additionally, the highest yield response was observed with initial AN, AP and AK concentrations at < 20, < 10 and 100-150 mg kg-1, respectively, and yield response considerably declined with increasing these threshold values. Nevertheless, regression analysis revealed a declining trend in N recovery efficiency (REN) and the addition of N in already fertile soils may affect plant uptake and RE. Global REN in wheat remained at 49.78% and followed a negative trend with the further increase of N supply and improvement in soil properties. Finally, an advanced N management approach such as “root zone targeted fertilization” is suggested to reduce fertilizer application rate and save time and labor costs while achieving high yield and NUE.

ABSTRACT: It has been reported that dietary administration of Bacillus subtilis KC1 is effective in alleviating lung injury induced by Mycoplasma gallisepticum (MG) infection in chickens. However, the underlying molecular mechanism of B. subtilis KC1 against MG infection is still unclear. The purpose of this study was to determine whether B. subtilis KC1 could alleviate MG infection-induced lung injury in chickens by regulating their gut microbiota. The results of this study indicate that B. subtilis KC1 supplementation has the potential to alleviate MG infection-induced lung injury as reflected by reduced MG colonization, reduced pathologic changes, and decreased production of pro-inflammatory cytokines. In addition, B. subtilis KC1 supplementation was partially effective in alleviating the gut microbiota disorder caused by MG infection. Importantly, B. subtilis KC1 enriched the beneficial Bifidobacterium animalis in gut and thus reversed indole metabolic dysfunction caused by MG infection. B. subtilis KC1 supplementation increased levels of indole, which enhanced aryl hydrocarbon receptor activation, improving barrier function and alleviating lung inflammation caused by MG. Overall, this study indicates that B. subtilis KC1 has a “gut-lung axis” mechanism that can reduce the severity of MG infection by enriching intestinal B. animalis and regulating indole metabolism.

A frequent cause of auto accidents is disregarding the proximal traffic of an ego-vehicle during lane changing. Presumably, in a split-second-decision situation we may prevent an accident by predicting the intention of a driver before her action onset using the neural signals data, meanwhile building the perception of surroundings of a vehicle using optical sensors. The prediction of an intended action fused with the perception can generate an instantaneous signal that may replenish the driver’s ignorance about the surroundings. This study examines electromyography (EMG) signals to predict intention of a driver along perception building stack of an autonomous driving system (ADS) in building an advanced driving assistant system (ADAS). EMG are classified into left-turn and right-turn intended actions and lanes and object detection with camera and Lidar are used to detect vehicles approaching from behind. A warning issued before the action onset, can alert a driver and may save her from a fatal accident. The use of neural signals for intended action prediction is a novel addition to camera, radar and Lidar based ADAS systems. Furthermore, the study demonstrates efficacy of the proposed idea with experiments designed to classify online and offline EMG data in real-world settings with computation time and the latency of communicated warnings.

Background: Leishmaniasis is the second and fourth highest cause of mortality and morbidity respectively among all tropical diseases. Recurrence in the onset of leishmaniasis is a major problem that needs to be addressed to reduce the case fatality rate and ensure timely clinical intervention. Here we are investigating the association of risk factors with recurrent cutaneous leishmaniasis to address this issue. Material and methods: Patients received by Nasser Ullah Khan Babar Hospital in Peshawar, Pakistan from March 2019 to July 2020 were enrolled in this study. Those patients who developed symptoms after completion of treatment were included in Group-A while those who had atypical scars like leishmaniasis but were negative for cutaneous leishmaniasis were included in the comparison group tagged as Group B. All those individuals who had completed six weeks of treatment for CL but had normal complete blood counts (CBC) were included to avoid other underlying immunological pathologies, while we excluded those participants who had co-morbidities like diabetes, liver disease, cardiac disease, and pregnant and lactating women through their history Association was tested between Group-A and Group-B with other explanatory variables through chi-square test. The regression model was proposed to determine the predictors. Result: A total of 48 participants of both sexes were included in the study with a mean age of 32.2 ± 15.10. The data suggest that females are overrepresented among the patients with recurrent leishmaniasis [21(53.8 %,); p = 0.07]. Compared to patients; healthy participants had a higher proportion of adults (19–59 years) versus adolescents (13–18 years) [26(66.7 %) vs 07(17.9), p = 0.004]. Multivariate logistic regression analysis shows that females are 2.1 times more prone to infections among cases as compared to healthy individuals [unadjusted OR 2.20, 95 % confidence interval (CI) 1.5–10.6, p = 0.02; adjusted OR 2.1, 95 % CI 1.50–10.69, p = 0.02]. We propose that patients receiving intradermal were less likely to be infected as compared to those receiving intralesional injections [unadjusted OR 0.07.0, 95 % confidence interval (CI) 1.18–3.37, p = 0.03; adjusted OR 0.06, 95 % CI 1.18–3.38, p = 0.03]. Conclusion: Old age (adults) and sex (females) were the strongest predictors to be associated with recurrent leishmaniasis. Similarly, the choice of intradermal as compared to intralesional injection and the prolonged treatment duration were strongly associated with greater chances of recurrence.