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Additional file 1: Figure S1. The editing efficiencies of A3A-CBE, A3A (Y130F)-CBE, and rAPOBEC1(R33A)-CBE for converting C-to-T at (A) T1 ~ T7 target sites, and (B) T8 ~ T14 target sites. The editing efficiencies were calculated from three independent replicates' deep sequencing analysis results.

Additional file 3: Figure S3. The editing efficiencies of A3A-CBE, A3A (Y130F)-CBE, and rAPOBEC1(R33A)-CBE for converting C-to-A at (A) T1 ~ T7 target sites, and (B) T8 ~ T14 target sites. The editing efficiencies were calculated from three independent replicates' deep sequencing analysis results.

Additional file 7: Figure S7. The editing efficiencies of A3A-CBE, A3A (Y130F)-CBE, and rAPOBEC1(R33A)-CBE for converting C-to-T at C1 ~ C20 sites (except C2 site) of different NC motifs based on the results of deep sequencing analysis.

Additional file 6: Figure S6. Editing efficiency estimation of binary vectors A3A-CBE and slEF1α-A3A-CBE for converting C-to-T. (A) The schematic diagrams of A3A-CBE, and slEF1α-A3A-CBE. The detail base sequences of the slEF1α-A3A-CBE were shown in Figure S11. (B) Sanger sequencing peak map of the T1 target site, and the red boxes represent the edited base induced by CBEs. (C) The editing efficiencies were calculated from three independent replicates' sanger sequencing analysis results.

Additional file 8: Figure S8. The sequence of the A3A-CBE editing vector. Different colors represented different elements.

Additional file 11: Figure S11. The sequence of the slEF1α-A3A-CBE editing vector. Different colors represented different elements.

Additional file 2: Figure S2. The editing efficiencies of A3A-CBE, A3A (Y130F)-CBE, and rAPOBEC1(R33A)-CBE for converting C-to-G at (A) T1 ~ T7 target sites, and (B) T8 ~ T14 target sites. The editing efficiencies were calculated from three independent replicates' deep sequencing analysis results.

Additional file 10: Figure S10. The sequence of the rAPOBEC1(R33A)-CBE editing vector. Different colors represented different elements.

Additional file 4: Figure S4. The indel frequencies of A3A-CBE, A3A (Y130F)-CBE, and rAPOBEC1(R33A)-CBE for converting C-to-delete at (A) T1 ~ T7 target sites, and (B) T8 ~ T14 target sites. The editing frequencies were calculated from three independent replicates' deep sequencing analysis results.

Additional file 9: Figure S9. The sequence of A3A(Y130F)-CBE editing vector. Different colors represented different elements.

Additional file 5: Figure S5. The editing efficiencies of A3A-CBE, A3A (Y130F)-CBE, and rAPOBEC1(R33A)-CBE for converting C-to-N at (A) T1 ~ T7 target sites, and (B) T8 ~ T14 target sites. The editing efficiencies were calculated from three independent replicates' deep sequencing analysis results.

Water and nitrogen (N) deficiencies are the major limitations to crop production, particularly when they occur simultaneously. By supporting metabolism, even when tissue water capacity is lower, nitrogen and priming may reduce drought pressure on plants. Therefore, the current study investigates the impact of nitrogen and priming on wheat to minimize post-anthesis drought stress. Plant morphology, physiology, and biochemical changes were observed before, during, and after stress at the post-anthesis stage. The plants were exposed to three water levels, i.e., well watering (WW), water deficit (WD), and priming at jointing and water deficit (PJWD) at the post-anthesis stage, and two different nitrogen levels, i.e., N180 (N1) and N300 (N2). Nitrogen was applied in three splits, namely, sowing, jointing, and booting stages. The results showed that the photosynthesis of plants with N1 was significantly reduced under drought stress. Moreover, drought stress affected chlorophyll (Chl) fluorescence and water-related parameters (osmotic potential, leaf water potential, and relative water content), grain filling duration (GFD), and grain yield. In contrast, PJWD couple with high nitrogen treatment (N300 kg ha–1) induced the antioxidant activity of peroxidase (37.5%), superoxide dismutase (29.64%), and catalase (65.66%) in flag leaves, whereas the levels of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and superoxide anion radical (O2–) declined by 58.56 and 66.64%, respectively. However, during the drought period, the primed plants under high nitrogen treatment (N300 kg ha–1) maintained higher Chl content, leaf water potential, and lowered lipid peroxidation (61%) (related to higher activities of ascorbate peroxidase and superoxide dismutase). Plants under high nitrogen treatment (N300 kg ha–1) showed deferred senescence, improved GFD, and grain yield. Consequently, the research showed that high nitrogen dose (N300 kg ha–1) played a synergistic role in enhancing the drought tolerance effects of priming under post-anthesis drought stress in wheat.

Climate model output has progressively increased in size over the past decades and is expected to continue to rise in the future. Consequently, the research time expended by Early Career Researchers (ECRs) on data-intensive activities is displacing the time spent in fostering novel scientific ideas and expanding the frontiers of climate sciences. Here, we highlight an urgent need for a better balance between data-intensive and foundational climate science activities, more open-ended research opportunities that reinforce the scientific freedom of the ECRs, and strong coordinated action to provide infrastructure and resources to the ECRs working in under-resourced environments.

Climate model output has progressively increased in size over the past decades and is expected to continue to rise in the future. Consequently, the research time expended by Early Career Researchers (ECRs) on data-intensive activities is displacing the time spent in fostering novel scientific ideas and expanding the frontiers of climate sciences. Here, we highlight an urgent need for a better balance between data-intensive and foundational climate science activities, more open-ended research opportunities that reinforce the scientific freedom of the ECRs, and strong coordinated action to provide infrastructure and resources to the ECRs working in under-resourced environments.

We investigated the impact of the number of induction/consolidation cycles on outcomes of 3113 adult AML patients who received allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (allo-HCT) between 2008 and 2019. Patients received allo-HCT using myeloablative (MAC) or reduced-intensity (RIC) conditioning in first complete remission (CR) or with primary induction failure (PIF). Patients who received MAC allo-HCT in CR after 1 induction cycle had 1.3-fold better overall survival (OS) than 2 cycles to CR and 1.47-fold better than ≥3 cycles. OS after CR in 2 or ≥3 cycles was similar. Relapse risk was 1.65-fold greater in patients receiving ≥3 cycles to achieve CR. After RIC allo-HCT, the number of induction cycles to CR did not affect OS. Compared to CR in 1 cycle, relapse risk was 1.24-1.41-fold greater in patients receiving 2 or ≥3 cycles. For patients receiving only 1 cycle to CR, consolidation therapy prior to MAC allo-HCT was associated with improved OS vs. no consolidation therapy. Detectable MRD at the time of MAC allo-HCT did not impact outcomes while detectable MRD preceding RIC allo-HCT was associated with an increased risk of relapse. For allo-HCT in PIF, OS was significantly worse than allo-HCT in CR after 1-3 cycles.

Chimeric antigen receptor T cell (CAR-T) therapy has shown unprecedented response rates in patients with relapsed/refractory (R/R) hematologic malignancies. Although CAR-T therapy gives hope to heavily pretreated patients, the rapid commercialization and cumulative immunosuppression of this therapy predispose patients to infections for a prolonged period. CAR-T therapy poses distinctive short- and long-term toxicities and infection risks among patients who receive CAR T-cells after multiple prior treatments, often including hematopoietic cell transplantation. The acute toxicities include cytokine release syndrome and immune effector cell-associated neurotoxicity syndrome. The long-term B cell depletion, hypogammaglobulinemia, and cytopenia further predispose patients to severe infections and abrogate the remission success achieved by the living drug. These on-target-off-tumor toxicities deplete B-cells across the entire lineage and further diminish immune responses to vaccines. Early observational data suggest that patients with hematologic malignancies may not mount adequate humoral and cellular responses to SARS-CoV-2 vaccines. In this review, we summarize the immune compromising factors indigenous to CAR-T recipients. We discuss the immunogenic potential of different SARS-CoV-2 vaccines for CAR-T recipients based on the differences in vaccine manufacturing platforms. Given the lack of data related to the safety and efficacy of SARS-CoV-2 vaccines in this distinctively immunosuppressed cohort, we summarize the infection risks associated with Food and Drug Administration-approved CAR-T constructs and the potential determinants of vaccine responses. The review further highlights the potential need for booster vaccine dosing and the promise for heterologous prime-boosting and other novel vaccine strategies in CAR-T recipients. © 2021 American Society for Transplantation and Cellular Therapy. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Additional file 1: Figure 1. Proforma of the Survey to assess the publication outcomes of the abstracts presented at the Annual PSCP conferences.

Oleo-gum-resin is a complex mixture of essential oils, polysaccharides, and resin acids. The objectives of the present study were to evaluate the variation in chemical components and antimicrobial activity of essential oils extracted by superheated steam at various temperatures. The optimum essential oil yield was obtained at the highest superheated steam temperature (210 °C). In total, twenty-one compounds were quantified by GC-MS with α-pinene as the major compound, followed by α-thujene, trans-verbenol, β-thujone, p-cymene, m-cymene, and sabinene. Antimicrobial activity was performed by disc diffusion, resazurin microtitre-plate and micro-dilution broth susceptibility assays in which essential oil extracted at 150 °C and 180 °C revealed the highest antibacterial and antifungal activity, respectively. It is concluded that superheated steam is an effective method for the isolation of essential oil from oleo-gum-resin that improves the recovery of essential oil as well as antimicrobial activity.

With the advent of increasing connectivity and social interaction, consumers are becoming more concerned about their self and social identities. They want to create identities that help them to establish their unique position in society. Consumer identity reflects the consumption patterns through which individuals describe and express themselves in their social environment. Consumers construct their identities through different products categories such as fashion clothing. Young consumers (hereafter referred to as consumers), particularly in closed or restrictive societies (i.e., South Asia), are fixated with creating unique identities through the latest or Western fashion styles. They consider that identity construction using Western styles signifies that they belong to liberal and elite families. However, identity construction through Western fashion is problematic in restrictive societies since the majority of the social values of these societies contradict with Western fashion styles. Because of differences in social values, consumers face serious social ramifications, including physical assault, when they adopt Western styles. Although consumers in socially restrictive environments are obsessed to create their unique identities through Western fashion, they need to adhere to their cultural and religious values to cope with social pressures. In such a situation, consumers combine and integrate their current social clothing with Western fashions to ensure adherence to their social values and decrease the risk of adopting Western fashion norms and values. For this purpose, the concept of 'consumer bricolage' is introduced in this thesis. Here, consumer bricolage is conceptualised as a consumer's capability to creatively mix, match, combine, and customise different fashion elements (e.g., clothes, footwear, watch, handbag, purse, belt, glasses, and jewellery) to construct the desired identity. Apart from consumers engage in bricolage to align Western styles with their social values, they also use their bricolage skills to form their unique identity through personalised fashion styles. Despite the prevalent adoption of bricolage in consumer behaviours, prior literature remains silent as regards unpacking the role of consumer bricolage in consumer identity construction. Also, the literature which examines how and why consumers engage in bricolage to construct their desired impressions is scarce. The purpose of this research is to unpack the consumer identity construction process and examine the role of consumer bricolage practices in this process, as well as to identify the factors that encourage consumers to engage in consumer bricolage. This thesis follows the thesis by publication approach and develops three distinct but inter-related studies. The first study explores the role of consumer bricolage in consumer identity construction and examines the ways through which bricolage help consumers to cope with their social pressures in their restrictive social environments. This study further identifies the underlying reasons that stimulate consumers to engage in consumer bricolage. Data were sourced from South Asian consumers through 40 face-to-face in-depth semi-structured interviews and 138 open-ended online surveys. The findings shed light on seven stages in the consumer identity construction process and five bricolage practices that consumers use in the identity construction process. Further, the results identify specific factors that motivate consumers to engage in bricolage. This study advances the literature of bricolage and consumer identity by unpacking the role of consumer bricolage practices in the consumer identity construction process. The second study focuses on the conceptualisation, operationalisation, and measurement of bricolage in the context of fashion clothing. To conceptualise and measure consumer bricolage, a series of studies were conducted. First, a qualitative study was conducted, study 1, which interviewed 25 fashion designer and fashion conscious consumers to conceptualise and work toward operationalising consumer bricolage and to generate a pool of items. The item development process was followed by conducting three quantitative studies: study 2, scale purification (N = 327); study 3, scale validation (N = 407); and study 4, nomological validity (N = 325). Findings demonstrate that consumer bricolage is a second-order multidimensional construct with four first-order dimensions. The results indicate that consumer bricolage occupies a unique position in the nomological network of its related constructs such as fashion consciousness and identity distinctiveness. This study contributes to the bricolage literature by measuring it in a consumer behaviour context. The third study draws on impression management theory to investigate how environmental stimuli (i.e., social media influence and susceptibility to interpersonal influence) encourage fashion conscious consumers to engage in consumer bricolage. This study also empirically investigates the role of consumer bricolage in creating consumers' desired impressions. To address the purpose of this study, data were sourced from a survey of 626 consumers in Pakistan. The results indicate that the impact of consumer fashion consciousness on consumer bricolage is contingent on social media influence and susceptibility to interpersonal influence. Further, findings demonstrate that consumer bricolage significantly contributes to creating consumers' impressions of fashion innovativeness, identity distinctiveness, and fashion opinion leadership. This study contributes to the debate of bricolage in consumer behaviour from an interpretive discussion to an empirical investigation. These three integrated studies, that are the foundation of this thesis, will advance the consumer behaviour literature by identifying the consumer identity construction process, revealing consumer bricolage practices, proposing a multidimensional consumer bricolage scale, and empirically examining the consumer bricolage model in socially restrictive societies such as South Asian countries.

In this study, banana peel powder (BPP) was used to remove carcinogenic crystal violet (CV) dye from aqueous solution. The BPP adsorbent was characterized by Fourier-Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). In batch sorption experiments, the maximum removal of CV was recorded 93% at optimum levels of operating parameters, i.e., pH 7.0, adsorbent dosage 0.1 g, contact time 10 min, initial adsorbate concentration 90 ppm and temperature 20 C o. The kinetics of the adsorption process was found best to follow the pseudo first order model with high value of R2 (0.9999) and low values of error functions. The Langmuir isotherm model was the best fit with high R2 (0.9552) low values of error models. The plots of Freundlich and D-R isotherms confirmed the feasibility (n = 1.3109 L g−1) and the physisorption nature (Es= 0.1107 kJ mol−1) of the process respectively. The negative values of thermodynamic parameters (ΔG & ΔH) revealed that the adsorption was spontaneous and exothermic in nature respectively. The results of the desorption study showed that 91% of the adsorbent was regenerated. The novelty of the present research is that no work has been reported till date to remove crystal violet dye by using banana peel specifically. The high adsorption and desorption efficiencies (>90%) suggest that BPP possesses characteristics to be used as an effective, fast and low-cost adsorbent for adsorption of CV dye from industrial effluents. HIGHLIGHTSAdsorption technique was employed to remove crystal violet dye by using banana peel powder.The hydroxyl (OH−) & carboxylate (OH−) groups on adsorbent surface provided excellent binding with adsorbate molecules.Equilibrium attainment in 10 min at neutral pH.93% adsorption and 91% desorption. Adsorption technique was employed to remove crystal violet dye by using banana peel powder. The hydroxyl (OH−) & carboxylate (OH−) groups on adsorbent surface provided excellent binding with adsorbate molecules. Equilibrium attainment in 10 min at neutral pH. 93% adsorption and 91% desorption.

Supplemental material, sj-docx-4-eae-10.1177_0958305X221133256 for Design islanded hybrid micro-grid and analyzing its socio-economic technical and environmental aspects for off-grid electrification in developing countries by Saleem Ullah, Muhammad Yousif, Muhammad Zeeshan Abid, Muhammad Numan and Mubashar Aslam Kataria in Energy & Environment

Supplemental material, sj-docx-4-eae-10.1177_0958305X221133256 for Design islanded hybrid micro-grid and analyzing its socio-economic technical and environmental aspects for off-grid electrification in developing countries by Saleem Ullah, Muhammad Yousif, Muhammad Zeeshan Abid, Muhammad Numan and Mubashar Aslam Kataria in Energy & Environment

Supplemental material, sj-docx-1-eae-10.1177_0958305X221133256 for Design islanded hybrid micro-grid and analyzing its socio-economic technical and environmental aspects for off-grid electrification in developing countries by Saleem Ullah, Muhammad Yousif, Muhammad Zeeshan Abid, Muhammad Numan and Mubashar Aslam Kataria in Energy & Environment

The rapid growth in the population of major cities is causing an increase in energy consumption. Several approaches, including the use of recent technological advancements, are becoming increasingly important. IoT-based applications are becoming more common in addressing a variety of real-time issues. The central idea of the project in collaborating with this new technology is the human-machine interaction. Furthermore, the proposed architecture enables energy-saving applications that perform the following primary functions: estimating energy utilization of the home environment using metering devices; and applying user-defined limits that cut off boundaries providing if it exceeds energy limits. The Internet serves as an interactive medium between servers and home appliances, monitoring and controlling energy consumption remotely. For the purpose, android platform is used to design a mobile application. Raspberry Pi is dedicated for the server that maintains the database of each controllable unit. The proposed idea is successfully tested in the laboratory environment with synthetic load and in real-time over a running energy meter, to evaluate the efficiency and effectiveness.

Millimeter Wave (mm-wave) has been considered as significant importance in various communication systems. It has achieved a greater attention to meet the capacity requirement of the future 5G network. Since mm-wave has a high frequency (30 to 300 GHz) using orthodox technologies for mm wave is more challenging. Thus advanced technology i.e. Deep Learning (DL) is a pragmatic approach to analyze a massive amount of data. Firstly, to find out how DL has beaten traditional approaches, this review briefly explores, the different methods of DL for mm wave are. Secondly, the review of the multiple applications in mm wave such as beam and blockages prediction, beam spacing, beamforming for mm wave OFDM system, precoding for mm-wave, channel estimation for mm-wave, sparse channel estimation, and hybrid precoding and fingerprinting-based indoor localization with mm wave is concisely explained. Last but not least, several studies have proved that DL has superior efficiency for mm wave than conventional approaches.

Background Kiwifruit (Actinidia Lindl.) is considered an important fruit species worldwide. Due to its temperate origin, this species is highly vulnerable to freezing injury while under low-temperature stress. To obtain further knowledge of the mechanism underlying freezing tolerance, we carried out a hybrid transcriptome analysis of two A. arguta (Actinidi arguta) genotypes, KL and RB, whose freezing tolerance is high and low, respectively. Both genotypes were subjected to − 25 °C for 0 h, 1 h, and 4 h. Results SMRT (single-molecule real-time) RNA-seq data were assembled using the de novo method, producing 24,306 unigenes with an N50 value of 1834 bp. Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) enrichment analysis of DEGs showed that they were involved in the ‘starch and sucrose metabolism’, the ‘mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling pathway’, the ‘phosphatidylinositol signaling system’, the ‘inositol phosphate metabolism’, and the ‘plant hormone signal transduction’. In particular, for ‘starch and sucrose metabolism’, we identified 3 key genes involved in cellulose degradation, trehalose synthesis, and starch degradation processes. Moreover, the activities of beta-GC (beta-glucosidase), TPS (trehalose-6-phosphate synthase), and BAM (beta-amylase), encoded by the abovementioned 3 key genes, were enhanced by cold stress. Three transcription factors (TFs) belonging to the AP2/ERF, bHLH (basic helix-loop-helix), and MYB families were involved in the low-temperature response. Furthermore, weighted gene coexpression network analysis (WGCNA) indicated that beta-GC, TPS5, and BAM3.1 were the key genes involved in the cold response and were highly coexpressed together with the CBF3, MYC2, and MYB44 genes. Conclusions Cold stress led various changes in kiwifruit, the ‘phosphatidylinositol signaling system’, ‘inositol phosphate metabolism’, ‘MAPK signaling pathway’, ‘plant hormone signal transduction’, and ‘starch and sucrose metabolism’ processes were significantly affected by low temperature. Moreover, starch and sucrose metabolism may be the key pathway for tolerant kiwifruit to resist low temperature damages. These results increase our understanding of the complex mechanisms involved in the freezing tolerance of kiwifruit under cold stress and reveal a series of candidate genes for use in breeding new cultivars with enhanced freezing tolerance.

Nutrition exerts considerable effects on health, and dietary interventions are commonly used to treat diseases of metabolic aetiology. Although cancer has a substantial metabolic component

Cold stress poses a serious treat to cultivated kiwifruit since this plant generally has a weak ability to tolerate freezing tolerance temperatures. Surprisingly, however, the underlying mechanism of kiwifruit’s freezing tolerance remains largely unexplored and unknown, especially regarding the key pathways involved in conferring this key tolerance trait. Here, we studied the metabolome and transcriptome profiles of the freezing-tolerant genotype KL (Actinidia arguta) and freezing-sensitive genotype RB (A. arguta), to identify the main pathways and important metabolites related to their freezing tolerance. A total of 565 metabolites were detected by a wide-targeting metabolomics method. Under (−25°C) cold stress, KEGG (Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes) pathway annotations showed that the flavonoid metabolic pathways were specifically upregulated in KL, which increased its ability to scavenge for reactive oxygen species (ROS). The transcriptome changes identified in KL were accompanied by the specific upregulation of a codeinone reductase gene, a chalcone isomerase gene, and an anthocyanin 5-aromatic acyltransferase gene. Nucleotides metabolism and phenolic acids metabolism pathways were specifically upregulated in RB, which indicated that RB had a higher energy metabolism and weaker dormancy ability. Since the LPCs (LysoPC), LPEs (LysoPE) and free fatty acids were accumulated simultaneously in both genotypes, these could serve as biomarkers of cold-induced frost damages. These key metabolism components evidently participated in the regulation of freezing tolerance of both kiwifruit genotypes. In conclusion, the results of this study demonstrated the inherent differences in the composition and activity of metabolites between KL and RB under cold stress conditions.

Capacity control for heat pump (HP) systems is essential to efficiently meet variable heating loads in domestic buildings. A low-to-medium temperature hot water supply within a 30 oC-55 oC range is commonly required for domestic heating load applications. In this study, the performance of a variable speed air source heat pump (ASHP) system was studied in the laboratory under a series of ambient conditions at -2 oC, 2 oC, 7 oC and 15oC, examining performance at different water supplying temperatures (WST) of 30 oC, 35 oC, 40 oC, 45 oC, 50 oC, and 55 oC. The performance of the variable speed HP system was evaluated in a conditioning chamber at the above-mentioned ambient temperatures and corresponding humidity levels as per BS EN 14511 standards. The HP performance at six different heating capacities of 18kW, 15kW,12kW, 9kW, 6kW, and 3kW was measured and evaluated via coefficient of performance (CoP) values. The CoP values changes according to the load, water supply temperature (WST) and ambient temperature conditions. The CoP values for fixed ambient temperature conditions and WST i.e., 7 oC and WST 30 oC (7A30W) at 15kW, 12kW, 9kW, 6kW, and 3kW were found to be 3.56, 3.83,4.35, 4.19, and 3.39, respectively. The corresponding frequency of operation was 112.25Hz, 105.87Hz, 81.57Hz, 61.05Hz, 37.64Hz, 18.75 Hz with an absolute percentage difference of 87.01%, 76.45%, 35.95%, 1.75%, 37.26%, and 68.75% to that of the nominal frequency of 60Hz. The trend was similar by changing WST to 35 oC, 40 oC, 45 oC, 50 oC and 55 oC, but with lower CoP values and a smaller variation range. The difference between water inlet and supply temperature (delta T) is another important parameter in domestic heat load applications, and this study also presents results of comparative testing of delta T of 5, 10 and 20 at ambient conditions of 15 oC for WST of 40 oC, 45 oC, 50 oC, and 55 oC. The experimental results indicate that this variable speed-based HP system has the potential to meet different domestic heating demands within a range of WST and ambient conditions.

Bolted composite joints are one of the most common joining methods used in aerospace industry for joining of parts and sub-assemblies, where there is a need to transfer high load with consistency a...

Curd is the most widespread traditional fermented milk product used by a large population and is a good source of vitamin B, protein, and calcium. In this study, the isolation of exopolysaccharide (EPS)‐producing strains of Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus from curd samples was carried out. Identification of EPS‐producing strains was done by Gram staining, catalase activity, sugar fermentation test, API 50 CHL, and PCR analysis. These EPS‐producing strains were subjected for the estimation of technological properties such as titratable acidity, curdling time, acidification rate, and texture. The strains best in their technological properties were selected for the production of yogurt in combination with EPS‐ or non‐EPS‐producing strains of Streptococcus thermophilus. The EPS concentration range was from 41 to 268 mg/L in the yogurt. The highest value of EPS concentration was detected in S. thermophilus and non‐EPS‐producing Lb. bulgaricus after 14 days of storage.

Although genetic transformation has opened up a new era for cotton molecular breeding, it still suffers from the limitation problem of long transformation periods, which slows down the generation of new cotton germplasms. In this study, LT gene (SV40 large T antigen), which promotes the transformation efficiency of animal cells, was codon-optimized. Its overexpression vector was transformed into cotton. It was observed that EC (embryogenic callus) formation period was 33% shorter and transformation efficiency was slightly higher in the LT T0 generation than that of control. RNA-seq data of NEC (non-embryonic callus) and EC from LT and control revealed that more DEGs (differential expression genes) in NEC were identified than that of EC, indicating LT mainly functioned in NEC. Further KEGG, GO, and transcription factor analyses showed that DEGs were significantly enriched in brassinosteroid biosynthesis pathways and that bHLH, MYB, and AP2/ERF were the top three gene families, which are involved in EC formation. In addition, the key genes related to the auxin pathway were differentially expressed only in LT overexpression NEC, which caused early response, biosynthesis, and transportation of the hormone, resulting in EC earlier formation. In summary, the results demonstrated that LT can promote somatic embryogenesis in cotton, which provides a new strategy for improving cotton transformation and shortening EC formation time.

Real-world graphs are massive in size and we need a huge amount of space to store them. Graph compression allows us to compress a graph so that we need a lesser number of bits per link to store it. Of many techniques to compress a graph, a typical approach is to find clique-like caveman or traditional communities in a graph and encode those cliques to compress the graph. On the other side, an alternative approach is to consider graphs as a collection of hubs connecting spokes and exploit it to arrange the nodes such that the resulting adjacency matrix of the graph can be compressed more efficiently. We perform an empirical comparison of these two approaches and show that both methods can yield good results under favorable conditions. We perform our experiments on ten real-world graphs and define two cost functions to present our findings., Comment: 12 Pages, 4 Figures, 3 Tables

Channel estimation (CE) plays a crucial role in establishing a wireless link, specifically at the receiver node. Most of the receivers that estimate the channel is in the presence of AWGN. However, these schemes perform expressively worse when the impulsive noise is added in AWGN which is introduced by manmade sources (pressure cooker, motorbike, electric supply) as well as natural noises (earthquakes and thundering). The major contribution of this research is to analyze the channel estimation schemes in the Gaussian mixture model (GMM) environment. The performance of channel estimation schemes has been compared in terms of mean square error (MSE) and bit error rate (BER). Four channel estimation schemes e.g., MMSE, DFT, correlation- based methods like Gauss-Seidel (GS) and Successive Over- Relaxation (SOR), are studied and analyzed. The study reveals that the correlation scheme based on the method of SOR is more effective as compared to the methods of DFT, MMSE and GS because of faster convergence rate along with the minimum number of iteration. SOR shows sustainable results up to the probability of an impulsive element of 5 Percent.

Beta-amylase (BAM) plays an important role in plant resistance to cold stress. However, the specific role of the BAM gene in freezing tolerance is poorly understood. In this study, we demonstrated that a cold-responsive gene module was involved in the freezing tolerance of kiwifruit. In this module, the expression of AaBAM3.1, which encodes a functional protein, was induced by cold stress. AaBAM3.1-overexpressing kiwifruit lines showed increased freezing tolerance, and the heterologous overexpression of AaBAM3.1 in Arabidopsis thaliana resulted in a similar phenotype. The results of promoter GUS activity and cis-element analyses predicted AaCBF4 to be an upstream transcription factor that could regulate AaBAM3.1 expression. Further investigation of protein-DNA interactions by using yeast one-hybrid, GUS coexpression, and dual luciferase reporter assays confirmed that AaCBF4 directly regulated AaBAM3.1 expression. In addition, the expression of both AaBAM3.1 and AaCBF4 in kiwifruit responded positively to cold stress. Hence, we conclude that the AaCBF-AaBAM module is involved in the positive regulation of the freezing tolerance of kiwifruit.

Under-water wireless communication link has been a topic of higher interest due to an increase in various underwater operations. Such operations demand higher bandwidth with a fast velocity. This paper presents the experimental and FEM based simulations to investigate the radio waves based wireless link because of its higher magnitude in bandwidth and speed as compared to acoustic and optical technologies. Conduction current method is employed to transmit and receive the data in a conductive medium (Saltwater) with varying propagation heights. The investigations reveal that at the shallow water (less than the length of dipole, below sea level) produce significant surface waves (Airwaves) resulting in unidentified data reception. The height below sea level, more than the dipole length has resulted in the least BER as such it may be called an authentic data reception model.

In modern homes, energy consumption accounts for most of the economic aspects and environmental sustainability. Intelligent energy management and its control play an important role in energy supply and demand; and it will change behavior and environmental changes. For energy management and its control, a hybrid Internet of Things (IoT) and personal wireless network-based devices have been developed. In terms of the need-side-management approach, the use of energy can be intelligently controlled by the device for greater durability. In this study, electricity consumption and utilization are categorized accurately based on data collected from consumer behavior in energy consumption and utilization. First, the data cut through the device is used to identify and summarize the power consumption patterns hidden in the data. Second, the different linear mode algorithms extracted from the Schick-Lear Python library will be used for energy consumption and its intelligent power control. By analyzing different algorithms, the predictive score is found to be sufficiently efficient for the recurrence prediction, while the multi-step and lead-time technique proved to be suitable for multidimensional energy prediction. Results show that root squared mean error (RSME) performance of the predictive model increased by 35% in the lead time approach. Similarly, in per day approach it is 33% more efficient than the recursive model when residual energy forecasting is utilized.

Background: Hepatitis B is the disease of liver caused by a virus (HBV) that can lead to cirrhosis of liver and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). In this study we studied and compared knowledge, attitude and practices regarding safety, transmission of Hepatitis B in junior doctors. Methods: This descriptive cross sectional study was conducted in Lahore General Hospital, Lahore, Pakistan started from April 2019 and completed in August 2019. Our study subjects were junior doctors and paramedical staff. 204 people were engaged in our study after being explained with the whole study process and informed consent from them. Results: We studied on a population of 204. 84 (41.2%) were males and 120 (58.8%) were females. 196 (96.1%) of our total subjects knew that Hepatitis transmits from exposure to blood or blood products. 192 (94.1%) knew that all children do need Hepatitis B vaccine. About protection from Hepatitis B by wearing gloves, 179 (87.7%) had opinion that it does protect. 146 (71.6%) participants thought that Hepatitis B is a contagious disease, 53 (26.0%) had idea as hepatitis not being a contagious disease. 175 (85.8%) subjects had their perspective as blood test is the only way to rule out if the person is having Hepatitis B or not. 202 (99.0%) said that the safe disposal of needles is important in control of Hepatitis. 191 (93.6%) of population knew that Hepatitis can cause serious liver disease. 174 (85.3%) subjects said that Hepatitis B can cause liver cirrhosis. 158 (77.5%) said that Hepatitis B can cause Liver Cancer. 176 (86.3%) knew that death can be caused by Hepatitis B. 157 (77.0%) subjects said that there is a treatment available for Hepatitis B. 167 (81.9%) were vaccinated against Hepatitis B. 175 (85.8%) had concept about booster dose. The families of 139 (68.1%) had screening for Hepatitis B. Conclusions: Our study population had knowledge about the transmission and various risks and preventive factors of Hepatitis B Keywords: Hepatitis B, Knowledge and attitude, Junior Doctors.Abeera Ejaz, Kainat Abid, Muhammad Usman, Azhar Hussain

Conjugated microporous polymers (CMPs) have conjugated skeleton and permanent porosity, and exhibit huge potential in developing novel functional materials for resolving the challenging energy and environment issues. Metal-containing CMPs often exhibited unique properties. In the present manuscript, ferrocene-based conjugated microporous polymers (FcCMPs) were designed and synthesized with 1,1'-dibromoferrocene and 5,10,15,20-Tetrakis(4- bromophenyl) porphyrin (FcCMP-1) or Tetra (p-bromophenyl) methane (FcCMP-2) as building units via Yamamoto coupling. FcCMPs were amorphous, and exhibited excellent thermal and physicochemical&nbsp, stability.&nbsp, The BET surface area of FcCMP-1 and FcCMP-2 was 638 m2/g and 422 m2/g, respectively. In comparison with FcCMP-2, FcCMP-1 displayed better gas storage capacity due to higher porosity. FcCMPs were also used as an adsorbent for removal of methyl violet from aqueous solution, and exhibited excellent adsorption properties due to the interaction between electron-rich conjugated structure of the polymers and methyl violet with cationic groups. Moreover, FcCMPs could be extracted and regenerated by an eluent and then re-used for high efficient removal of methyl violet.

Additional file 1: Fig. S1 Genetic map of G. arboreum genome. Fig. S2 Arrangement of G. arboreum scaffolds within reassembled G. arboreum chromosome 12 (A_A12). Fig. S3 Collinearity among homologous chromosomes 12 of three cotton species. Fig. S4 Alignments of reassembled G. arboreum chromosome A_A12 with the whole genome of G. hirsutum.Fig. S5 Dotplot representation with the previously assembled G. arboreum chromosome.

Generating effective communication links in an offshore environment is a vital need for the oil and gas industry as well as the military domain. The highly conductive medium of the environment is yet the biggest hurdle to develop the channel. Focusing towards the challenges lies in underwater communication channel, this paper first presents an efficient transmitter and receiver design using the conduction current method. Subsequent to the design development, a comparative analysis is presented that can be used to model an optimum underwater communication channel through electromagnetic conduction. Effect of different channel characterization parameters is discussed such as conductivity, frequency and transmitter and receiver antenna separation. Through an efficient circuit design for transmitter and receiver, increasing frequencies increased the signal strength is proved. Further statistical analysis revealed that in the developed experimental setup, 100 kHz has a greater possibility in designing an efficient demodulation circuit design. The promising results have proved the possibilities in way forward for the technology.

The main objective of this paper is to develop improved robust control techniques for an active suspension system utilizing an improved mathematical model. For that purpose, Euler Lagrange equation is used to obtain a mathematical model for vehicle active suspension system. The dynamics of driver’s seat are included to get a more appropriate model. Robust H∞ controllers are designed for the system to minimize the effect of road disturbances on vehicle and passengers. The performance of active suspension system is determined by measuring the heave acceleration of driver’s seat and rotational acceleration of vehicle around its center of gravity. Effectiveness of the proposed controllers is validated by simulation results. Keywords: Active suspension system, Robust control, 8 Degrees freedom, Road disturbance

Recently, there has been a tremendous increase in the cultivated area of kiwifruit in China. However, the low tolerance of most cultivars to waterlogging largely halted its expansion in waterlogged areas. Previously, some genotypes from Actinidia valvata, like KR5, were proved to be highly tolerant for waterlogging stress. ERF transcription factors, belong to the AP2/ERF superfamily, have played key roles in adaptation to waterlogging stress in numerous plant species. In this study, a total of 131 AvERF genes were identified based on the full-length transcriptome analysis data from KR5. By clustering with Arabidopsis thaliana ERFs, 131 AvERF proteins were sorted into eleven clades and renamed as AvERF1 to AvERF131. Within the same group, similar motifs for AvERFs were found in all members by MEME online tool. According to FPKM analysis, the expression of AvERF-VIIs in KR5 under waterlogging conditions was strongly promoted compared to other group members. Six genes from AvERF-VIIs (AvERF73, AvERF75, AvERF77, AvERF78, AvERF79, and AvERF80) were chosen based on the higher fold changes in their expression against waterlogging. Moreover, their expression was evaluated in two tolerant genotypes: KR5 and KR1 from A. valvata, and two sensitive genotypes ‘Xuxiang’ and ‘Hayward’ from A. chinensis var. deliciosa during waterlogging stress by qRT-PCR. AvERF73 and AvERF78 were specifically induced in waterlogging-tolerant genotypes, but relatively low in the sensitive genotypes, indicating their positive roles in waterlogging tolerance. Both AvERF73 and AvERF78 had transcriptional activation activity. In the present study, we identified and characterized AvERFs into KR5 to reveal their importance in determining the waterlogging tolerance of kiwifruit.

Information and communication technology (ICT) is an essential component of Value Based Health Care (VBHC). However, there has been a limited research on the use of ICT in VBHC. The aim of this systematic literature review is to explore the research work performed in the field of ICT usage in VBHC from January 1st, 2010 till September 31st, 2018. As per the researchers’ knowledge and so forth there has been no similar review previously addressing the issue of ICT usage in VBHC. Our study showed that use of ICT has shown promising evidence to improve the healthcare outcomes, positive experience of the patients, increased efficiency of the current health systems and potential impact on patient safety. This evidence is depending on many factors including the type of outcome, place of implementation, willingness to accept the use the ICT, infrastructure and clinician reimbursement. However, there is still a need for more in-depth researches for successful integration of ICT solutions in VBHC.

It is commonly believed that real networks are scale-free and fraction of nodes $P(k)$ with degree $k$ satisfies the power law $P(k) \propto k^{-γ} \text{ for } k > k_{min} > 0$. Preferential attachment is the mechanism that has been considered responsible for such organization of these networks. In many real networks, degree distribution before the $k_{min}$ varies very slowly to the extent of being uniform as compared with the degree distribution for $k > k_{min}$ . In this paper, we proposed a model that describe this particular degree distribution for the whole range of $k>0$. We adopt a two step approach. In the first step, at every time stamp we add a new node to the network and attach it with an existing node using preferential attachment method. In the second step, we add edges between existing pairs of nodes with the node selection based on the uniform probability distribution. Our approach generates weakly scale-free networks that closely follow the degree distribution of real-world networks. We perform comprehensive mathematical analysis of the model in the discrete domain and compare the degree distribution generated by these models with that of real-world networks., 16 Pages, 4 Figures, Pre-print