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Wound healing is a complex and intrinsic process that implicates various stages in skin tissue regeneration, may further improvise using secondary metabolites. During a screening of plants traditionally utilized for wound healing, especially by tribals, we encountered Bryophyllum pinnatum (Lam.) Oken Plant. Further, we considered the leaf extract of Bryophyllum pinnatum (Lam.) Oken in various solvents for In vivo characterization of wound healing. The leaf extracts were prepared in petroleum ether, ethyl acetate, and ethanol and further identified the phytochemicals via advanced analytical techniques. The solvent extracts in the ointment base (1 % and 2 % w/w) were prepared and tested against the acute and burn wound models along with control and positive control (Cipladine 1 %). The ethanolic extract had higher phytochemical constituents was tested against the rat model, was found that 2 % w/w ethanolic ointment base stimulated the wound healing area, hydroxyproline content, and wound index and simultaneously reduced the epithelization period compared to the control. The present study concluded that the Ethanolic extract of Bryophyllum pinnatum leaves loaded ointment further promote the % of wound contraction rate, epithelization, and promotion of angiogenesis, exhibited the potential to be utilized to treat wounds. [Display omitted] • Wound healing is multifactorial process involved various stages in tissue regeneration. • Secondary metabolites from plants effective for faster wound healing. • Extraction and isolation of Bryophyllum pinnatum leaves for wound healing activity. • Identification of Quercetin and Gallic acid via NMR, responsible for wound healing. • 2 % w/w EEBP ointment resulted wound healing at 20th day in burn wound excision model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Interaction study between sulfanilamide (SM) and sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) in an aqueous environment has been conducted using electrical conductivity, emission, and absorption spectroscopy techniques. Conductivity measurements were performed over the temperature range of (288.15 to 318.15) K and SM concentrations ranging from (c=0.005 to 0.03) mol ⋅ L−1. Thermodynamic parameters: Gibbs free energy (ΔGom), enthalpy (ΔHom), and entropy (ΔSom) associated with micellization have been calculated. To further investigate the interactions between (SM and SDS), the absorption and emission spectroscopy were employed at premicellar concentrations of SDS. Resulting SM‐SDS conjugate was then utilized to examine its interaction behavior with electrolytes and vitamins commonly found in biofluids namely chlorides and sulfates of sodium, potassium, magnesium, and calcium, along with L‐ascorbic acid (LAA) and nicotinic acid (NA). Moreover, SM drug has been transformed into its nanoaggregates (SMNA). These nanoaggregates have been characterized using dynamic light scattering (DLS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Interactions between SMNA‐SDS conjugates were also studied in the presence of the above‐mentioned electrolytes and vitamins. The findings of this study have been interpreted within the context of the interactions occurring in the solution phase. This research provides valuable insights into the complicated interactions between SM, SDS, electrolytes, and vitamins in aqueous system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Public highways are, in reality, the cornerstone of the country's transportation system. Accidents are unavoidable with this mode of transportation. Collisions involving resting livestock on national highways occur in most countries around the world. It endangers both the drivers and the animals. This paper proposes a method for mitigating the risk of accidents caused by deceased animals, notably cattle that are generating traffic and congestion on national highways and may constitute a safety risk. We have proposed an Internet of Things (IoT) fog-based framework for reclining livestock identification techniques for roadways, data are collected using the IoT-enabled video recording surveillance cameras. We use feature extraction, characteristic expression, assessment criteria, and an unrestricted approach for detecting deceased livestock (such as cows or buffalos), as well as recommendations on whether their placement is harmful to highway traffic. In this study, you only look once (YOLO) image recognition algorithm is implemented for reclining cattle on roadways using the fog layer for training and evaluating datasets. The performance parameters of the proposed framework, such as accuracy, recall, precision, mean average precision (mAP), and interference time, have been measured, and a comparison with existing state-of-the-art techniques has been presented. The obtained findings indicate that the suggested framework surpasses the present approaches, with a higher accuracy of 98% and an interference time of 4.68 ms. Artificially intelligent surveillance system can spot reclined livestock utilizing surveillance videos on roadways. This will ensure passenger safety as well as the safety of roadside cattle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since recent years, double‐skin tube column sections formed from two parallel, concentrically spaced steel casings, with the sandwiched area between the casings packed with concrete infill, have been employed extensively. The cross‐sectional shapes of the inner and outer casings might be the same or different, such as round, square, octagonal, etc. These concrete‐filled double‐skin steel tubular (CFDST) columns act similarly to concrete‐filled steel tubular (CFST) sections but have less self‐weight and better stiffness. The present study evaluated the response of CFDST column stiffened with orbicular rings under axial compression. It consists of inner and outer steel tubes stiffened by orbicular rings near both ends of columns. The orbicular rings were provided at different locations as L/3, L/4, and L/5, and a series of tests were conducted to obtain the performance of CFDST columns stiffened with orbicular rings with regard to the maximum load‐carrying capacity, load–strain behavior, and load‐deformation behavior. Furthermore, a parametric study was conducted by varying the diameter to thickness ratio, hollowness ratio, the thickness of orbicular rings, yield strength, and location of orbicular rings. The results showed that CFDST column stiffened with orbicular rings have higher ultimate load capacity than unstiffened CFDST. Stiffened CFDST with orbicular rings showed more ductile response than CFDST column and helps to improve the outer steel tube's restraint on sandwiched concrete. In order to estimate the load‐bearing capacity of CFDST columns stiffened with orbicular rings under axial compression, an empirical equation was proposed. The experimental results and findings of the suggested equations were found to be in good agreement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator modulators have revolutionized cystic fibrosis (CF) care in the past decade. This study explores the CF-related mortality trends in the US from 1999 to 2020. We extracted CF-related mortality data from the CDC WONDER database. CF age-standardized mortality rates (ASMRs) were identified by ICD-10 code E84 and were stratified by demographic and geographical variables. Temporal trends were analyzed using Joinpoint modeling. CF-related ASMRs decreased from 1.9 to 1.04 per million population (p = 0.013), with a greater reduction in recent years. This trend was replicated in both sexes. The median age of death increased from 24 to 37 years. CF mortality rates decreased across sex, white race, non-Hispanic ethnicity, census regions, and urbanization status. Incongruent trends were reported in non-white races and Hispanic ethnicity. A lower median age of death was observed in women, non-white races, and Hispanic ethnicity. SARS-CoV-2 infection was the primary cause of death in 1.7% of CF decedents in 2020. The national CF-related mortality rates declined and the median age of death among CF decedents increased significantly indicating better survival in the recent years. The changes were relatively slow during the earlier period of the study, followed by a greater decline lately. We observed patterns of sex, ethnic, racial, and geographical disparities associated with the worsening of the gap between ethnicities, narrowing of the gap between races and rural vs. urban counties, and closing of the gap between sexes over the study period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Penicillium species are an industrially important group of fungi. Cyclophilins are ubiquitous proteins and several members of this family exhibit peptidyl-prolyl cis–trans isomerase (PPIase) activity. We had earlier demonstrated that the salt-induced PPIase activity in a halotolerant strain of P. oxalicum was associated with enhanced expression of a cyclophilin gene, PoxCYP18. Cloning and characterization of PoxCYP18 revealed that its cDNA consists of 522 bp encoding a protein of 173 amino acid residues, with predicted molecular mass and pI values of 18.91 kDa and 8.87, respectively. The recombinant PoxCYP18 can catalyze cis–trans isomerization of peptidyl-prolyl bond with a catalytic efficiency of 1.46 × 107 M−1 s−1 and is inhibited specifically only by cyclosporin A, with an inhibition constant of 5.04 ± 1.13 nM. PoxCYP18 consists of two cysteine residues at positions − 45 and − 170, and loses its activity under oxidizing conditions. Substitution of these residues alone or together by site-directed mutagenesis revealed that the PPIase activity of PoxCYP18 is regulated through a redox mechanism involving the formation of disulfide linkages. Heterologous expression of PoxCYP18 conferred enhanced tolerance to salt stress in transgenic E. coli cells, implying that this protein imparts protection to cellular processes against salt-induced damage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Double-skin tube column sections have been used extensively in recent years. These sections are composed of two adjacent, coaxially spaced steel casings, and the space in the middle of them is occupied with concrete. These CFDST columns behave similarly to CFST sections but are more rigid and have a lesser self-weight. The behavior of a novel type of CFDST column, the orbicular anchored CFDST column, was assessed under axial compression in the current research. It comprises an inside and an outside steel tube with orbicular rings near the ends of the columns. The orbicular rings were positioned at various spots such as L / 3 , L / 4 , and L / 5 , and a wide range of tests were accomplished to evaluate the functionality of orbicular anchored CFDST columns in respect of maximum load-bearing capability, load-strain behavior, and load-deformation behavior. A FE model was developed and its accuracy was authenticated by comparing its findings with experimental results. Furthermore, a parametric investigation was carried out employing the authenticated FE model to examine the functioning of the proposed CFDST to variations in orbicular position, cross-sectional dimensions of rings, yield strength of orbicular ring, etc. The outcomes of the study indicated that orbicular anchored CFDST columns had 15% higher ultimate load capacity than unstiffened counterparts. The orbicular anchorage improved the ductile response and increased the axial stiffness of the CFDST column. Further, it was concluded that orbicular rings enhanced the constraining effect of external steel casing on sandwiched concrete and improved the composite action of CFDST specimens. The design formula to ascertain the load-bearing ability of columns was also developed and can be employed amid preliminary designs of proposed column sections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Colored shade nets are known to alter the light quality and quantity and thus can influence plant growth and nutritional quality of crops. Lettuce (‘Lollo Antonet’ and ‘Green Forest’) and basil (‘Aroma-2’ and ‘Genovese’) were grown in ebb-and-flow hydroponic tables for 4 weeks. Colored shade nets of aluminet, black, pearl, and red with 50% shading intensity along with a control (no-shade) were used in this experiment. Data for plant growth and leaf quality attributes were collected at harvest time. The no-shade treatment showed increased shoot fresh and dry weight, sugar, and relative chlorophyll content in both lettuce and basil cultivars, whereas plant height and net photosynthesis rates were increased under aluminet, pearl, and red nets. In basil, calcium and sulfur were greatest under no-shade, whereas zinc and copper were greatest under aluminet. Zinc, iron, calcium, magnesium, and manganese concentrations were greatest under no-shade in lettuce. The pearl-colored net increased leaf soluble solids content. No-shade produced the greatest starch values in basil, whereas pearl shade net produced the greatest starch in ‘Lollo Antonet’ in the fall. Light spectra varied with shade net resulting in 90%, 65%, 50%, 30%, and 70% of incident light occurring between 400 and 700 nm for no-shade, pearl, aluminet, black, and red shade nets, respectively. Overall, lettuce and basil plants under no-shade (daily light integral of 20 to 24 mol·m−2·d−1 and temperature of 26 to 30 °C) had increased plant growth and leaf quality in late spring and fall, compared with colored shade nets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Anterior maxillary distraction osteogenesis (AMDO) is often used for the correction of maxillary retrognathia in select cleft lip and palate cases. The restoration of alveolar arch continuity is desirable before the initiation of AMDO in these cleft maxillary deformities; however, AMDO is technically difficult in a patient with coexisting alveolar cleft where there is a discontinuity of the defect that presents a challenge in terms of adequate vector control of the movement of the anterior segment and the potential risk of tipping of teeth, which already have compromised anchorage/bone support on the cleft side. The treatment becomes more challenging when ongoing management is compounded by failed previous alveolar cleft grafting procedures, along with the patient's reluctance to undergo further grafting of alveolar clefts. This technical note demonstrates a novel application of the modification of the Hyrax screw where an initially fully opened Hyrax screw was utilised as an interim assembly for accomplishing the single-step closure of a small alveolar cleft before the commencement of anterior maxillary distraction osteogenesis. This technique may prove to be feasible for patients presenting with alveolar cleft defects of smaller widths of up to 5 mm and relatively well-aligned upper arches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Penicillium species are an industrially important group of fungi. Cyclophilins are ubiquitous proteins and several members of this family exhibit peptidyl-prolyl cis–trans isomerase (PPIase) activity. We had earlier demonstrated that the salt-induced PPIase activity in a halotolerant strain of P. oxalicum was associated with enhanced expression of a cyclophilin gene, PoxCYP18. Cloning and characterization of PoxCYP18 revealed that its cDNA consists of 522 bp encoding a protein of 173 amino acid residues, with predicted molecular mass and pI values of 18.91 kDa and 8.87, respectively. The recombinant PoxCYP18 can catalyze cis–trans isomerization of peptidyl-prolyl bond with a catalytic efficiency of 1.46 × 107 M−1 s−1 and is inhibited specifically only by cyclosporin A, with an inhibition constant of 5.04 ± 1.13 nM. PoxCYP18 consists of two cysteine residues at positions − 45 and − 170, and loses its activity under oxidizing conditions. Substitution of these residues alone or together by site-directed mutagenesis revealed that the PPIase activity of PoxCYP18 is regulated through a redox mechanism involving the formation of disulfide linkages. Heterologous expression of PoxCYP18 conferred enhanced tolerance to salt stress in transgenic E. coli cells, implying that this protein imparts protection to cellular processes against salt-induced damage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Penicillium species are an industrially important group of fungi. Cyclophilins are ubiquitous proteins and several members of this family exhibit peptidyl-prolyl cis–trans isomerase (PPIase) activity. We had earlier demonstrated that the salt-induced PPIase activity in a halotolerant strain of P. oxalicum was associated with enhanced expression of a cyclophilin gene, PoxCYP18. Cloning and characterization of PoxCYP18 revealed that its cDNA consists of 522 bp encoding a protein of 173 amino acid residues, with predicted molecular mass and pI values of 18.91 kDa and 8.87, respectively. The recombinant PoxCYP18 can catalyze cis–trans isomerization of peptidyl-prolyl bond with a catalytic efficiency of 1.46 × 107 M−1 s−1 and is inhibited specifically only by cyclosporin A, with an inhibition constant of 5.04 ± 1.13 nM. PoxCYP18 consists of two cysteine residues at positions − 45 and − 170, and loses its activity under oxidizing conditions. Substitution of these residues alone or together by site-directed mutagenesis revealed that the PPIase activity of PoxCYP18 is regulated through a redox mechanism involving the formation of disulfide linkages. Heterologous expression of PoxCYP18 conferred enhanced tolerance to salt stress in transgenic E. coli cells, implying that this protein imparts protection to cellular processes against salt-induced damage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Parents of the children and adolescents with intellectual disability (ID) are prone to psychological distress than as compared to parents of normally developing children and adolescents. Various biopsychosocial factors affect the perception and manifestation of this stress and influences difference in quality and severity in psychological outcomes. When a couple faces stress of caregiving as a unit, it is worthwhile to know and assess distribution pattern amongst the primary care giver and the other parent. Aim: The aim of the study is to evaluate the proportional distribution of depression and anxiety in primary care giver and the other parent in parents of children and adolescents with ID. Materials and Methods: Using a Cross-sectional observational study design, 99 parents (99 fathers and 98 mothers) of 99 children and adolescents (up to 18 yrs of age) with Intellectual Disability were assessed for Depressive and Anxiety symptoms using Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). Comparison of proportional distribution of psychiatric morbidity among fathers and mothers (primary care giver) was done using 2 independent sample proportion tests. Results: The mothers were found to be the primary care givers. 35.4% of fathers and 66.3% of mothers had significant depressive symptoms. 57.6% of fathers and 91.8% of mothers had significant anxiety symptoms. In 33 couples, fathers did not report anxiety or depressive symptoms but corresponding 27 mothers reported significant anxiety or depressive symptoms or both. In rest of the couples in whom fathers reported anxiety and/or depressive symptoms, the corresponding mothers also reported. In six couples where mothers did not report anxiety or depression, the fathers also did not report any anxiety or depressive symptoms. Conclusion: Depressive and Anxiety symptoms are very prevalent in parents of children with ID. Their proportion is significantly high in primary care giver (mother) as comparedto corresponding other parent (father). There is unequal distribution of anxiety and depression in these parents with a skew towards mother. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Public transport is a promising way to solve urban mobility problems such as traffic congestion and vehicular emissions. However, in order to encourage commuters to use the public transport facility, operators need to provide a high level of service to ensure their satisfaction, which is one of the crucial factors influencing the mode choice of commuters. Despite this, there is limited understanding of the factors influencing passenger satisfaction in public transportation, especially in developing countries like India. To address this gap in knowledge, the present study explores the factors affecting passenger satisfaction on bus rapid transit system (BRTS), and examines the differences in the perception of satisfaction for passengers of different age and gender groups. The present study utilizes Principal component analysis (PCA) and Partial Least Square Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) to explore passengers' satisfaction based on 26 key attributes of the BRTS. PCA uncovers six dimensions explaining the overall satisfaction of passengers, i.e., connectivity, comfort & convenience, safety, cleanliness, station facilities, and operations and the results of PLS-SEM reveal that all these dimensions positively influence passenger satisfaction. The results of multigroup analysis reveal that there exist heterogeneity in the perception of satisfaction for passengers of different gender and age groups. Unlike female passengers, who perceived connectivity and comfort & convenience higher, male passengers perceived operations and station facilities higher. Furthermore, it was found that passengers with age ≥ 40 perceived station facilities and cleanliness higher than passengers with age <40. Taking into account the heterogeneity among passengers of different groups. the study suggests various measures to ensure passenger satisfaction on the BRTS based on Importance Performance Map analysis (IPMA). • Determinants of passenger satisfaction on BRTS are explored using PCA and PLS-SEM. • Examined heterogeneity among age and gender groups using PLS multigroup analysis. • Results revealed disparity in passenger satisfaction among age and gender groups. • Based on IPMA, gender and age-specific countermeasures are proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator modulators have revolutionized cystic fibrosis (CF) care in the past decade. This study explores the CF-related mortality trends in the US from 1999 to 2020. We extracted CF-related mortality data from the CDC WONDER database. CF age-standardized mortality rates (ASMRs) were identified by ICD-10 code E84 and were stratified by demographic and geographical variables. Temporal trends were analyzed using Joinpoint modeling. CF-related ASMRs decreased from 1.9 to 1.04 per million population (p = 0.013), with a greater reduction in recent years. This trend was replicated in both sexes. The median age of death increased from 24 to 37 years. CF mortality rates decreased across sex, white race, non-Hispanic ethnicity, census regions, and urbanization status. Incongruent trends were reported in non-white races and Hispanic ethnicity. A lower median age of death was observed in women, non-white races, and Hispanic ethnicity. SARS-CoV-2 infection was the primary cause of death in 1.7% of CF decedents in 2020. The national CF-related mortality rates declined and the median age of death among CF decedents increased significantly indicating better survival in the recent years. The changes were relatively slow during the earlier period of the study, followed by a greater decline lately. We observed patterns of sex, ethnic, racial, and geographical disparities associated with the worsening of the gap between ethnicities, narrowing of the gap between races and rural vs. urban counties, and closing of the gap between sexes over the study period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Of the various non invasive imaging methods available, carotid artery intima media thickness(CIMT) measurement by B mode ultrasound is recommended by American heart association. Measurement of the carotid intima media thickness by B mode ultrasound is relatively safe, non invasive and inexpensive method of assessment of subclinical atherosclerosis and being and independent predictor of atherosclerosis events. Material and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 50 patients in the department of Medicine, Government Medical College, Amritsar. The study protocol was approved by the institutional ethics committee and the patients were enrolled in the study after obtaining written informed consent. The patients underwent basic history taking, clinical examination and relevant blood investigations including HbA1C and lipid profile were done. Patients were subjected to Carotid artery Doppler to measure carotid artery intima media thickness. Results: A multivariate analysis was performed to assess the various factors influencing the increase in the thickness of CIMT and among that we found a significant correlation occurred with factors like Age,FBS, HbA1c, total cholesterol, serum triglycerides, serum HDL, serum LDL, serum VLDL. All these parameters showed a positive correlation with CIMT which was statistically significant(p<0.05). Conclusion: The carotid intima media thickness is significantly increased in people with dyslipidemia. Lipid profile is associated with cerebral ischemia by increasing carotid intima media thickness. Chronic hyperglycemia and dyslipidemia both independently and cumulatively influence the Carotid intima media thickness [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) are a subgroup of retrovirus which cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). HIV infection leads to low levels of CD4+ T cells causing a weakened immune system, and consequently making the patients prone to opportunistic infection. The present study was conducted to monitor the correlation of opportunistic infections with CD4 counts and viral load in HIV patients. Materials & Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 100 patients in the department of Medicine, Government Medical College, Amritsar. The study protocol was approved by the institutional ethics committee and the patients were enrolled in the study after obtaining written informed consent. All the patients were clinically examined, along with detailed history taking. CD4 count was measured with Sysmex CyFlow Counter System with CD4 easy count kit using the flow cytometry method. The results were then analyzed. Results: In the present study, the mean age of the patients was 34.6±10.29 years. There was a male preponderance (82% male vs 18% female patients). The majority of individuals (69.0%) were in WHO Stage IV and 31.0% of patients were in WHO Stage III. The mean CD4 count of patients was 115.27±60.46 cells/mm3 while the mean HIV viral load of patients was 98021.45±20236.58 copies/ml. HIV viral load has a positive correlation with opportunistic infection (r=.572, p=0.000). A significant negative correlation was found between CD4 and opportunistic infections (r=-.672, p=0.000). Conclusion: CD4 count and HIV viral load are essential biomarkers of HIV disease severity. CD4 counts are inversely related to the HIV viral loads. Monitoring the CD4 counts and HIV viral loads help monitor the HIV disease progression and can guide the prevention and treatment of various opportunistic infections on time and consequently providing a better quality of life to HIV patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present an experimental study of multiple-electron capture-induced fragmentation dynamics of Ar 2 m + (4 ≤ m ≤ 7) dimer ions in 4 keV/u Ar8+–Ar2 collisions. The fragment recoil ion pairs and the charge-changing projectiles are coincidentally measured using a double coincidence technique. The branching ratios between the different charge-sharing fragmentation channels show an inherent enhancement of the asymmetric channels. The kinetic energy release (KER) distributions for the associated electron capture process show a shift in the mean KER values toward the higher side with increasing capture stabilization. The interplay between the different projectile autoionization processes sheds light on the energy depositions to the system during collisions. The Coulomb potential energy curves give a physical insight into the role of the projectile final states in the dimer fragmentation dynamics. The dimer-axis orientation-dependent cross sections for the asymmetric fragmentation channels reveal a forward–backward asymmetry that arises from the geometry of the collision system. Our findings thus give insight into the impact parameter-controlled fragmentation dynamics of multiply charged Ar 2 m + dimer ions in highly charged ion–dimer slow collisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Acute encephalitis syndrome (AES) or acute febrile encephalopathy is a clinical condition characterized by altered mental status occurring after or along with a short febrile illness. In developing countries, infections are the predominant cause of AES. Prominent infections known to cause AES include viruses (such as herpes simplex virus [HSV], Japanese Encephalitis [JE] virus, dengue, enteroviruses [EVs]), bacteria, fungus, and parasites. In the present study, we aim to analyze the etiology, clinical features, and predictors of mortality in patients presenting with acute febrile encephalopathy or acute encephalitic syndrome. The present study was a prospective observational study conducted at Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research a tertiary care center in Chandigarh, India. Methods: A total of 105 patients with ≥18 years of age with fever (body temperature >101° F for duration ≤14 days) and altered sensorium (Glasgow coma scale [GCS] score ≤10) lasting for more than 24 h, either accompanying the fever or following it were enrolled. Demographic and clinical details were recorded on pro forma. Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) analysis was performed for all the enrolled patients at admission for cytology, CSF glucose to blood glucose ratio, protein levels, gram stain and culture sensitivity, adenosine deaminase levels, polymerase chain reaction for HSV/EV/mycobacterium tuberculosis (TB) and immunoglobulin M Enzyme‑linked immune assay for JE. Computed tomography of the brain was done in all patients while magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the brain was carried out in 75 patients. Results: Among the 105 patients, tubercular meningitis was seen in 27 (25.7%) patients followed by acute pyogenic meningitis in 18 (17.1%) patients. Probable viral encephalitis was present in 12 (11.4%) cases. Septic encephalopathy (n = 10) and scrub typhus encephalitis (n = 8), HSV encephalitis (n = 6), dengue encephalitis (n = 4), leptospirosis(n = 3) were the other infections causing acute febrile encephalitis in our study. In addition to fever and altered sensorium common symptoms observed were headache (52.4%), vomiting (35.2%), and seizures (29.5%). The factors predicting increased mortality were female gender, fever of more than 38°C at admission, GCS <7, MRI showing disease‑related findings like altered signal intensity bilateral medial temporal and insular area in herpes simplex encephalitis, etc., changes, and the group of patients where a definite diagnosis could not be established during the hospital stay. Conclusions: Tubercular meningitis/central nervous system TB is the predominant cause of acute febrile encephalopathy in developing countries. Scrub and dengue encephalitis are emerging as an important cause of acute febrile encephalopathy and occur predominantly in postmonsoon seasons. Acute febrile encephalopathy remains an important cause of mortality in patients presenting to Emergency Department (ER). The strongest predictors of mortality are low GCS and undiagnosed cases of AES. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scrub typhus infection is reemerging leading cause of acute febrile illnesses in post rainy or monsoon season in Southeast Asia. It is caused by Orientia tsutsugamushi and spread by the bite of chiggers, larval forms of trombiculid mites. The clinical picture can range from simple acute febrile illness to multiorgan dysfunction. Neurological manifestations also vary from aseptic meningitis, meningoencephalitis, cerebral infarction, acute disseminated encephalomyelitis, transverse myelitis, and psychiatric manifestations. Here, we present a case series of eight cases of scrub meningoencephalitis diagnosed based on clinical, laboratory, and radiological criteria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Precision agriculture is crucial for ensuring food security in a growing global population. Nutrients, their presence, concentration, and effectiveness, are key components in data-driven agriculture. Assessing macro and micro-nutrients, as well as factors such as water and pH, helps determine soil fertility, which is vital for supporting healthy plant growth and high crop yields. Insufficient soil nutrient assessment during continuous cropping can threaten long-term agricultural viability. Soil nutrients need to be measured and replenished after each harvest for optimal yield. However, existing soil testing procedures are expensive and time-consuming. The proposed research aims to assess soil nutrient levels, specifically nitrogen and phosphorus concentrations, to provide critical information and guidance on restoring optimal soil fertility. In this research, a novel chip-level colorimeter is fabricated to detect the N and P elements of soil onto a handheld colorimeter or spectrophotometer. Chemical reaction with soil solution generates color in the presence of nutrients, which are then quantitatively measured using sensors. The test samples are collected from various farmlands, and the results are validated with laboratory analysis of samples using spectrophotometers used in laboratories. ANOVA test has been performed in which F value > 1 in our study indicates statistically significant differences between the group means. The alternate hypothesis, which proposes the presence of significant differences between the groups, is supported by the data. The device created in this paper has crucial potential in terms of environmental and biological applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract In the present review article, different advanced liquid chromatographic techniques and the advanced techniques other than liquid chromatography that are used to estimate the pesticide residues from different plant-based samples are presented. In the beginning of the article, details of pesticides, their health effects and various cell lines used for the related study has been outlined. Afterward, detailed descriptions regarding pesticides classification are inscribed. In the end, recent advancements in the area of analysis of pesticides for herbal drugs are explained. Solid phase micro extraction (SPME) and solid-phase extraction (SPE) are considered as most common method of sample preparation for pesticides and its residual analysis. The most commonly used analytical separation technique for pesticide analysis is liquid chromatography (LC) integrated with mass spectrometry (MS) and MS/MS as Triple Quadrupole Mass Spectrometer (QqQ) for the samples analysis where high level of sensitivity and accuracy is required in quantification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Native valve infective endocarditis during pregnancy or the peripartum period is a rare entity with significant morbidity and mortality. Rheumatic heart disease was previously considered a significant risk factor, changing to intravenous drug abuse in recent decades. We hereby report a case of tricuspid native valve endocarditis complicating the peripartum period in a young female without underlying traditional risk factors, who improved with medical therapy alone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Traditional formation evaluation via laboratory testing and wireline logging of horizontal wells and deep formations face challenges due to several reasons and lead to uncertain results. Real-time cuttings and drilling data analysis of horizontal wells is an actively developing alternative approach to formation evaluation that can overcome several challenges faced by laboratory testing and wireline logging in providing improved estimates of formation parameters relevant to reservoir and completion quality. This study presents a state-of-the-art review of the latest methods and technologies in drill cuttings analysis to enable real-time characterization of the entire suite of formation properties, including chemical composition, densities and porosity, permeability, lithology, geomechanical properties, and characterization of fracture patterns. Specifically, the methods/techniques that enable characterizing drill cuttings in real-time and critically reviewed in this study include Raman spectroscopy for chemical composition, nuclear magnetic resonance for densities and porosity, liquid pressure pulse for permeability, deep learning for rock classification, 7 different methods for geomechanical properties, and mud loss signatures for characterization of fracture patterns. Benchmark comparison of drill cuttings analysis with the measurements from the core samples at similar depths is also reviewed. Key learnings are provided in 4 areas: to address the uncertainties in estimates of specific parameters affected by physical deformations due to drill bits, minimum cutting size for reliable nuclear magnetic resonance data, sweet spot identification, and power and network considerations for real-time analysis, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an experimental study carried out to evaluate the influence of air swirl vane angles on pollutants in a heavy oil fuel fired furnace with a recuperator. A novel burner system with a range of concentric air swirl generators (vane angles of 15°, 20°, 30°, 45°, 60°, and 90°) was ultimately incorporated to the combustion chamber of a 250 kg crucible furnace. This study examined the thermal efficiency and the polluting emission parameters of CO2, HC, CO, and NOx. According to the results, preheated air-fuel and air swirl generators with vane angles of 45° and 30° emit the least HC and CO, whereas air swirl vane angles of 90° emit the most. A preheated primary air swirl vane angle of 45° results in the lowest NOx emission (25 ppm) value. Furthermore, with larger air swirl vane angles of 45° results in increased temperature and premixed combustion, as well as a raise in NOx emission. To ensure accurate airflow for complete combustion, secondary air entry area kept twice the primary air entry area in the novel burner. The results showed that when the temperature of the preheated primary and secondary air and heavy oil fuel combination increased, so did the mean effective temperature of the combustion gases. Conversely, when the vane angle is reduced and no preheated air-fuel combination is present, the mean temperature of the combustion gas drops dramatically. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effect of a combination of two pesticides, carbendazim (CBZ) and imidacloprid (IMI), was investigated on mesenchymal stem cells derived from the bone marrow of buffalo (bMSCs). The bMSCs were exposed to the CBZ (2.25 µM, 4.49 µM, and 8.98 µM) and IMI (0.81 mM, 1.61 mM, and 3.22 mM) alone as well as in combinations. The bMSCs were found to be positive for the stem cell markers, AP, CD73, and OCT4. The bMSCs showed a significant reduction (p ≤ 0.05) in cell viability, and status of anti-oxidants while a significant increase (p ≤ 0.05) in the level of LDH, ALP, and CK-MB in CBZ and IMI-treated groups. A significant increase (p ≤ 0.05) was noticed in LPO, O2─ radical, total ROS, loss of ΔΨm, apoptotic index, and DNA damage in CBZ and IMI-treated groups. A low-dose combination group showed an elevated effect compared to the groups treated with the single pesticide. The interaction index was calculated for CBZ-IMI combined treatment groups on various parameters that showed the majority of antagonist effects. Present findings confirmed that CBZ and IMI-induced cytotoxicity in bMSCs was mediated via ROS production, altered ΔΨm and LPO along with depressed antioxidant status which was responsible for cell apoptosis and cell damage. This study suggested that CBZ and IMI had a dose-dependent toxic effect when the pesticides were used alone, while, co-exposure to both the pesticides simultaneously had an antagonist or non-additive effect on buffalo bMSCs at lower dose combinations and they induced a potentiating effect at high-dose combination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis is usually considered a rapidly progressive fatal illness with poor outcomes. It is of two types: primary or familial and secondary. In patients with HIV, opportunistic infections are the secondary triggers of HLH. First line of management of infection associated HLH is treatment of the underlying infection. Here, we present a case of HLH in HIV infection due to disseminated histoplasmosis managed with liposomal amphotericin B, who required immunosuppressive therapy with intravenous immunoglobulin and dexamethasone due to nonresponse to primary therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, design and development of an energy-efficient oil-fired tilting furnace with an innovative recuperator are reported. During the melting of metals, it is reported that around 50% of the total energy is lost in flue gases. Therefore, there is always a need to improve upon the efficiency of the furnaces. The design of the recuperator is based upon the application of all the three basic modes of heat transfer to preheat the incoming air. Financial and environmental aspects were also evaluated after upgradation with the recuperator. The internal hollow pipe of the proposed recuperator is so designed that at its exterior cylindrical surface, multiple turns of a guide way are welded in a spiral fashion. This increases the heat transfer between the flue gas and ambient air to the burner. The study shows that the efficiency of the oil-fired tilting furnace got enhanced by 50% after implementing the proposed recuperator. Specific fuel consumption without the recuperator was 0.166 kg/kWh, which was reduced to 0.138 kg /kWh with the recuperator. The principle of increasing thermal efficiency and limiting fuel consumption was based on heat recovery from the combustion products to preheat the cold incoming fuel mixture. Therefore, this study focuses on the relations between combustion and heat exchanges on a large scale. The exergy evaluation technique was used constructively to estimate the furnace's efficiency since the exergy efficiency is an additional sustainable appraisal in real situations. A channel for flue gases is provided in the developed furnace, which helps to divert hazardous gases away from the working environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Artificial neural network-trained models were used to predict gas hydrate saturation distributions in permafrost-associated deposits in the Eileen Gas Hydrate Trend on the Alaska North Slope (ANS), USA and at the Mallik research site in the Beaufort-Mackenzie Basin, Northwest Territories, Canada. The database of Logging-While-Drilling (LWD) and wireline logs collected at five wells (Mount Elbert, Iġnik Sikumi, and Kuparuk 7–11–12 wells at ANS, plus 2L-38 and 5L-38 wells at the Mallik research site) includes more than 10,000 depth points, which were used for training, validation, and testing the machine learning (ML) models. Data used in training the ML models include the well logs of density, porosity, electrical resistivity, gamma radiation, and acoustic wave velocity measurements. Combinations of two or three out of these five well logs were found to reliably predict the gas hydrate saturation with accuracy varying between 80 and 90% when compared to the gas hydrate saturations derived from Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR)-based technique. The ML models trained on data from three ANS wells achieved high fidelity predictions of gas hydrate saturation at the Mallik site. The results obtained in this study indicate that ML models trained on data from one geological basin can successfully predict key reservoir parameters for permafrost-associated gas hydrate accumulations within another basin. A generalized approach for selecting a well log combination that can improve model accuracy is discussed. Overall, the study outcome supports earlier work demonstrating that ML models trained on non-NMR well logs are a viable alternative to physics-driven methods for predicting gas hydrate saturations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Infections caused by the bacteria Enterococcus faecalis (also known as E. faecalis) are common in hospitals. This bacterium is resistant to a wide range of medicines and causes a variety of nosocomial infections. An increase in the number of infections caused by multidrug‐resistant (MDR) bacteria is causing substantial economic and health issues around the world. Consequently, new therapeutic techniques to tackle the growing threat of E. faecalis infections must be developed as soon as possible. In this regard, we have targeted a protein that is regarded to be critical for the survival of bacteria in this experiment. Homoserine kinase (HSK) is a threonine metabolism enzyme that belongs to the GHMP kinase superfamily. It is a crucial enzyme in threonine metabolism. This enzyme is responsible for a critical step in the threonine biosynthesis pathway. Given the important function that E. faecalis Homoserine Kinase (ESK) plays in bacterial metabolism, we report here cloning, expression, purification and structural studies of E. faecalis HSK using homology modelling. In addition, we have reported on the model's molecular docking and Molecular Dynamic Stimulation (MD Stimulation) investigations to validate the results of the docking experiments. The results were promising. In silico investigations came up with the conclusion: pheniramine has good binding affinity for the E. faecalis HSK. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Direct seeded rice (DSR) cultivation is an attractive non-conventional technology for growing rice. It saves labor, water, energy, and takes 5 to 7 days for early crop maturity. The yield advantage in DSR can be obtained by implementing various cultural practices including proper sowing time and seed rate, selection of suitable cultivars with appropriate management of weeds and water. The present study involves the agronomic and molecular screening of advanced breeding lines under direct seeded as well as transplanted conditions, so as to identify DSR adapted genotypes. Significant variations among genotypes have been observed for most of the traits measured in the present study. The yield under DSR was comparable to TPR but the grain quality was not comparable, and poor milling and head rice recovery were observed. Molecular characterization using 106 Kompetitive Allele-Specific PCR assays (KASP) was performed. The best performing genotypes with different allele combinations under DSR were PAU 6456-8-2-1-1-1, PAU 5187-RIL1649-F8, PAU 6456-8-1-1-1-3, PAU 6456-8-2-1-1-2, NVSR 2107, and PAU 6778-12-1-4-1-1. The selected genotypes performed better in terms of traits associated with seedling establishment, root architecture, yield, and yield-related traits. The identified promising breeding lines may serve as novel donors to be further used in a marker-assisted selection program which target improving the grain yield and adaptability under DSR. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Machine learning algorithms are widely applied to biomedical data to classify the samples of patients and healthy persons. The high‐dimensional biomedical datasets contain a large number of features to represent a sample. However, such datasets may have redundant, noisy and irrelevant features, influencing machine learning algorithms' classification performance and increasing computation overhead. Therefore, data normalization and feature selection techniques are introduced to reduce the impact of noisy features and accurately identify the patterns in features to improve the predictive accuracy of diagnosis. This work proposes an efficient feature selection and parameter optimization method to classify high‐dimensional biomedical datasets. In the proposed method, a binary version of the improved elephant herding optimization (IEHO) algorithm is introduced to select features and optimize the C and γ parameters of the support vector machine classifier. Further, four variants of the proposed method are presented based on data normalization techniques: Z‐score normalization (ZN), Pareto‐scaling (PS), tan h‐based normalization (TN), and variant of tan h‐based normalization (VTN). The proposed variants reduce the dominance of noisy features and explore the feature space to obtain the optimal feature set that maximizes the classification accuracy and minimizes the time complexity. The performance of the proposed variants is evaluated on 15 high‐dimensional biomedical datasets. Friedman's mean rank test is applied to check the statistical difference between proposed variants. Results show that the proposed Z‐score normalization‐IEHO (ZN‐IEHO) variant performed significantly better than the other proposed variants for classification accuracy, false‐positive rate and f‐score metrics. Moreover, the performance of the proposed ZN‐IEHO variant is compared with 18 state‐of‐the‐art feature selection methods. The experimental results expressed the effectiveness of the proposed ZN‐IEHO variant in finding the best combination of features and parameters to classify the biomedical datasets accurately. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tunneled indwelling pleural catheters (IPCs) are frequently used to palliate symptomatic dyspnea due to recurrent pleural effusions. The drainage valve of IPCs is an important component of the catheter as fracture of the valve leads to malfunctioning of the IPCs. Replacement of the catheter includes risks such as pain, infection, pneumothorax, and procedure cost. We report two cases of malfunctioning tunneled IPC drainage valves repaired by our noninvasive method and discuss the need for a repair kit and a standardized approach to this repair in case of nonavailability of repair kits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Heat shock protein 90 (Hsp90) is one of the major guardians of cellular protein homeostasis, through its specialized molecular chaperone properties. While Hsp90 has been extensively studied in many prokaryotic and higher eukaryotic model organisms, its structural, functional, and biological properties in parasitic protozoans are less well defined. Hsp90 collaborates with a wide range of co-chaperones that fine-tune its protein folding pathway. Co-chaperones play many roles in the regulation of Hsp90, including selective targeting of client proteins, and the modulation of its ATPase activity, conformational changes, and post-translational modifications. Plasmodium falciparum is responsible for the most lethal form of human malaria. The survival of the malaria parasite inside the host and the vector depends on the action of molecular chaperones. The major cytosolic P. falciparum Hsp90 (PfHsp90) is known to play an essential role in the development of the parasite, particularly during the intra-erythrocytic stage in the human host. Although PfHsp90 shares significant sequence and structural similarity with human Hsp90, it has several major structural and functional differences. Furthermore, its co-chaperone network appears to be substantially different to that of the human host, with the potential absence of a key homolog. Indeed, PfHsp90 and its interface with co-chaperones represent potential drug targets for antimalarial drug discovery. In this review, we critically summarize the current understanding of the properties of Hsp90, and the associated co-chaperones of the malaria parasite. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: There is increasing public interest in probiotic healthcare products since their discovery by I lye Metchnikoff in the early 20th century. This trend is not only visible in supermarkets and dental practices, but also in the scientific world. An increasing number of clinical trials and laboratory investigations are being conducted to validate the claims made about these products with regards to their antifungal properties. Aim: To evaluate the antifungal properties of commercially available Probiotic, anticaries toothpaste, Purexa, against Candida albicans in-vitro. Materials and Methods: An in-vitro study was carried out for a period of three months from December 2021 to February 2022 in the Department of Microbiology Baba Jaswant Singh Dental College and Research Institute, Patiala, Punjab, India. Two wells were prepared in each blood agar plate containing lawn cultures of Candida albicans. The plates were incubated at 37˚C for 24 hours. Purexa toothpaste was poured into one well as test material. The second well was filled with distilled water to act as control. A total of 10 sample plates were made. Antifungal activity was assessed by measuring the Zone of Inhibition (ZOI) in millimeters (mm) using a digital vernier caliper after 24, 48 and 72 hours, and then after one week. Increasing width of zones of inhibition indicated definite antifungal activity of Purexa toothpaste. A p-value <0.05 was considered to be statistically significant. Results: All the sample plates showed definite zones of inhibition at 24 hours, 48 hours, 72 hours and one week intervals around the wells containing the test material, which indicated antifungal efficacy of Purexa probiotic toothpaste. No inhibition zones were seen around the wells containing distilled water. The mean width if ZOI was the highest at day 7 (28.71 mm), followed by day 2 (26.66 mm), day 3 (26.36 mm) and least on day 1 (25.25 mm). Conclusion: The preliminary data obtained from the present study indicates the prospective use of Purexa probiotic toothpaste in cases where antifungal activity of toothpaste is desirable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work Al-ZnO-Y2O3 hybrid composites were fabricated utilizing powder metallurgy and hybrid microwave sintering approach from the powder blend of Al, ZnO and Y2O3. Depth sensing nano-indentation technique was adopted to assess the nano-hardness and elastic modulus of the composite material. Thermal analysis of the composite materials was done to gain an insight into surface decomposition and phase transformation behaviour. A strong interfacial bonding with clear interface between matrix and reinforcement was observed during the microstructural analysis of the composite material. The results of the current study exhibit ~89% improvement in the nano-hardness and ~11% improvement in the elastic modulus value. The improvement in the material response is attributed to the reasonably uniform distribution of ZnO and Y2O3 in the hybrid composite materials. The results of this study validate the capability of combined presence of ZnO and Y2O3 reinforcements to enhance the hardness and elastic modulus of aluminium. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

COVID-19 was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO) on March 11, 2020. Since then, efforts were initiated to develop safe and effective vaccines. Till date, 11 vaccines have been included in the WHO's emergency use list. The emergence and spread of variant strains of SARS-CoV-2 has altered the disease transmission dynamics, thus creating a need for continuously monitoring the real-world effectiveness of various vaccines and assessing their overall impact on disease control. To achieve this goal, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) along with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India, took the lead to develop the India COVID-19 Vaccination Tracker by synergizing three different public health databases: National COVID-19 testing database, CoWIN vaccination database and the COVID-19 India portal. A Vaccine Data Analytics Committee (VDAC) was constituted to advise on various modalities of the proposed tracker. The VDAC reviewed the data related to COVID-19 testing, vaccination and patient outcomes available in the three databases and selected relevant data points for inclusion in the tracker, following which databases were integrated, using common identifiers, wherever feasible. Multiple data filters were applied to retrieve information of all individuals ≥18 yr who died after the acquisition of COVID-19 infection with or without vaccination, irrespective of the time between vaccination and test positivity. Vaccine effectiveness (VE) against the reduction of mortality and hospitalizations was initially assessed. As compared to the hospitalization data, mortality reporting was found to be much better in terms of correctness and completeness. Therefore, hospitalization data were not considered for analysis and presentation in the vaccine tracker. The vaccine tracker thus depicts VE against mortality, calculated by a cohort approach using person-time analysis. Incidence of COVID-19 deaths among one- and two-dose vaccine recipients was compared with that among unvaccinated groups, to estimate the rate ratios (RRs). VE was estimated as 96.6 and 97.5 per cent, with one and two doses of the vaccines, respectively, during the period of reporting. The India COVID-19 Vaccination Tracker was officially launched on September 9, 2021. The high VE against mortality, as demonstrated by the tracker, has helped aid in allaying vaccine hesitancy, augmenting and maintaining the momentum of India's COVID-19 vaccination drive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports the physical, structural, optical and luminescence properties of Er 3 + doped borophosphate glasses. The samples were prepared with melt quenching technique at 1250 ∘ C by varying the concentration of Er 2 O 3 from 0.1 to 0.5 mol%. Density is measured by Archimedes principle and variation in density with erbium's concentration established its participation in the glass structure. X-ray diffraction affirmed the amorphous nature of the prepared glasses. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy spectra revealed the structural units such as P--O--P , B--O--B and BO 4 present due to stretching and bending vibrations of various bonds. Ultra-violet-visible absorption spectra displayed various absorption peaks/bands originating from ground state of erbium 4 I 15 / 2 to 2 K 15 / 2 , 4 G 9 / 2 , 4 G 11 / 2 , 2 G 9 / 2 , 4 F 5 / 2 , 4 F 7 / 2 , 2 H 11 / 2 , 4 S 3 / 2 and 4 F 9 / 2 . The indirect optical band gap values varied between 2.56 and 3.19 eV. Judd Ofelt parameters ( Ω 2 , Ω 4 , Ω 6 ) were evaluated and they followed Ω 2 > Ω 4 > Ω 6 trend. These parameters helped to calculate radiative transition probability, stimulated emission cross section and gain bandwidth. For luminescence studies, the glass samples were excited at 379 nm and emission occured in the visible region showing peaks at 405 nm, 485 nm and 517 nm. Commission International de I'Eclairage (CIE) coordinates (x and y) were calculated for the glass samples and these coordinates lie in the blue region of CIE chromaticity diagram. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Case Presentation: A 31-year-old Asian male never-smoker living in the upper Midwest with a past medical history of congenital bilateral hearing loss sought treatment with a 1-week history of fever, fatigue, right-sided pleuritic chest pain, shortness of breath, productive cough with mild intermittent hemoptysis, night sweats, and unintentional 10-lb weight loss over 4 weeks. He was adopted from South Korea as an infant, and thus the family history was unknown. He worked in the heating, ventilation, and air conditioning business, performing installations and repairs. There was no known exposure to animals, caves, rivers, lakes, or wooded areas. He travelled to South Korea and New Hampshire approximately 9 months previously. He did not take any medication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The periodic breakdowns of stripe rust resistance due to emergence of new virulent and more aggressive pathotypes of Puccinia striiformis f. sp. tritici have resulted in severe epidemics in India. This necessitates the search for new and more durable resistance sources against stripe rust. The three bread wheat cultivars PBW 343 (carries Yr9 and Yr27), PBW 621 (carries Yr17) and HD 2967 (gene not known) were highly popular among the farmers after their release in 2011. But presently all three cultivars are highly susceptible to stripe rust at seedling as well as at adult plant stages as their resistance has been broken down due to emergence of new pathotypes of the pathogen (110S119, 238S119). In previous study, the crosses of PBW 621 with PBW 343 and HD 2967 and evaluation of further generations (up to F4) against pathotype 78S84 resulted in resistant segregants. In the present study, the F5 and F6 RIL populations have been evaluated against new pathotypes of Pst. The RILs categorized based on the disease severity on the P (Penultimate leaf) and F (flag) leaf into three categories i.e., high, moderate and low level of APR (adult plant resistance) having 1–200, 201–400 and >400 values of AUDPC, respectively, upon infection with stripe rust. The various APR components (latent period, lesion growth rate, spore production and uredial density) were studied on each category, i.e., resistant, moderately resistant and susceptible. The values of APR parameters decreased as the level of resistance increased. Based on molecular analysis, the lines (representing different categories of cross PBW 621 X PBW 343) containing the genes Yr9 and Yr17 due to their interactive effect provide resistance. Based on BSA using 35k SNPs and KASP markers association with phenotypic data of the RIL population (PBW 621 X HD 2967) showed the presence of two QTLs (Q.Pst.pau-6B, Q.Pst.pau-5B) responsible for the residual resistance and two SNPs AX-94891670 and AX-94454107 were found to be associated with the trait of interest on chromosome 6B and 5B respectively. The present study concludes that in the population of both the crosses (PBW 621 X PBW 343 and PBW 621 X HD 2967) major defeated gene contributed towards residual resistance by interacting with minor gene/QTLs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current study is focused on the microstructure, phase transition, and mechanical properties of the aluminum yttrium oxide (Al–Y2O3) composite material. Microwave hybrid sintering using Y2O3 nanoparticles as reinforcement at various (i.e., 0.5, 2, 3.5 and 5) wt% was used. Simultaneous thermal analysis (STA) and X-ray photoelectric spectroscopy (XPS) were used to investigate the chemical interaction between Al and Y2O3. This research will aid in gaining a better knowledge of the changes in thermal characteristics and compositional changes that occur throughout the microwave hybrid sintering process. The insight into material properties reveals that intermetallic Al3Y and Al2O3 are generated during the synthesis process, which was substantiated by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDX) analysis. The Al–Y2O3 composite material has a well-consolidated microstructure and improved mechanical characteristics. To further understand material behaviour, a robust and non-destructive depth sensing nano-indentation technology was being used. With the addition of 5 wt% Y2O3, the microhardness of composite material is enhanced by 1.62 times. Furthermore, with 5 wt% Y2O3, the produced composite's nano hardness and elastic modulus augmented by 2.43 and 1.8 times, respectively. It is caused by the presence of intermetallic in the composite material, as well as the prevalence of uniform reinforcement distribution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Phytotoxins are poisonous substances synthesized by plants or plant pathogens through naturally occurring biochemical reactions. Plants use them as defensive agents against predators (pests, insects, stress, etc.) and diseases. These substances are commonly produced as secondary metabolites and exhibit high versatility in their properties (e.g., mode of toxicity, structure, and chemical composition). Based on their structures and biosynthetic pathways, phytotoxins can be classified as ribosome inactivating proteins, non-protein amino acids, alkaloids, terpenes, or cyanogenic glycosides. The present work uses a holistic approach to identify different classes of phytotoxins from both plant and microbial origins. It also discusses the application of phytotoxins to agriculture (development of herbicides and biopesticides), plant protection against biotic and abiotic stress, healthcare (anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anti-venom properties), pharmacology (clinical toxicology assessment), and biomedicine (development of drugs and vaccines). In short, phytotoxins can be beneficial in many applications. Future research should focus on identifying and using phytotoxins for crop enhancement and in the environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The presence of zearalenone (ZEN) toxin in agricultural foods and animal feed ingredients has become a global public health concern due to its pathogenic effects. As a result, the development of novel, highly accurate, rapid, and reliable analytical methods for ZEN detection is essential for ensuring food safety. In the present work, a highly sensitive aptasensor for ZEN was developed using UiO-66-NH 2 metal-organic framework (MOF) and graphene oxide (GO). A highly fluorescent UiO-66-NH 2 MOF, conjugated with ZEN aptamer, was employed as a fluorescent signal probe (λ ex/em = 330/430 nm) while GO functioned as a quencher in the assay. In the presence of ZEN, the fluorescence intensity of the MOF increased significantly as the aptamer-UiO-66-NH 2 showed its affinity toward ZEN, releasing the GO. Under the optimal experimental conditions, the assay displayed excellent specificity, repeatability, and linearity over the ZEN concentration range of 0.01–100 ng/mL, yielding a low detection limit of 5 pg/mL. In addition, the developed sensor also demonstrated satisfactory performance with recoveries from 85 to 114% in the spiked samples of wheat and corn flour. In general, the developed sensing strategy provides a new approach for the rapid, inexpensive, and sensitive fluorescent detection of ZEN in food matrices. [Display omitted] • A novel 'turn-on' aptasensor based on UiO-66-NH 2 and GO was developed. • UiO-66-NH 2 and GO served as fluorescent donor and acceptor, respectively. • The aptasensor showed a LOD of 5 pg/mL for ZEN detection. • It was successfully demonstrated to detect ZEN in wheat and corn flour. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Machine learning algorithms generally assume that the data are balanced in nature. However, medical datasets suffer from the curse of dimensionality and class imbalance problems. The medical datasets are obtained from the patient information which creates an imbalance in class distribution as the number of normal persons is more than the number of patients and contains a large number of features to represent a sample. It tends to the machine learning algorithms biased toward the majority class which degrades their classification performance for minority class samples and increases the computation overhead. Therefore, oversampling, feature selection and feature weighting-based four strategies are proposed to deal with the problems of class imbalance and high dimensionality. The key idea behind the proposed strategies is to generate a balanced sample space along with the optimal weighted feature space of the most relevant and discriminative features. The Synthetic Minority Oversampling Technique is utilized to generate the synthetic minority class samples and reduce the bias toward the majority class. An Improved Elephant Herding Optimization algorithm is applied to select the optimal features and weights for reducing the computation overhead and improving the interpretation ability of the learning algorithms by providing weights to relevant features. In addition, thirteen methods are developed from the proposed strategies to deal with the problems of high-dimensionality and imbalanced data. The optimized k\documentclass[12pt]{minimal}\usepackage{amsmath}\usepackage{wasysym}\usepackage{amsfonts}\usepackage{amssymb}\usepackage{amsbsy}\usepackage{mathrsfs}\usepackage{upgreek}\setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt}\begin{document}$$k$$\end{document}-Nearest Neighbor (k\documentclass[12pt]{minimal}\usepackage{amsmath}\usepackage{wasysym}\usepackage{amsfonts}\usepackage{amssymb}\usepackage{amsbsy}\usepackage{mathrsfs}\usepackage{upgreek}\setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt}\begin{document}$$k$$\end{document}-NN) learning algorithm is utilized to perform classification. The performance of the proposed methods is evaluated and compared for sixteen high-dimensional imbalanced medical datasets. Further, Freidman’s mean rank test is applied to show the statistical difference between the proposed methods. Experimental and statistical results show that the proposed Feature Weighting followed by the Feature Selection (FW–FS) method performed significantly better than the other proposed methods for classification accuracy, g-mean, f-score, and AUC metrics. In addition, the performance of the proposed FW–FS method is compared with eleven state-of-the-art algorithms. The results express the effectiveness of the proposed FW–FS method in dealing with high-dimensional imbalanced medical datasets than other state-of-the-art algorithms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]