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The COVID-19 pandemic has had a catastrophic impact on public health, extending to the food system and people's livelihoods worldwide, including Bangladesh. This study aimed to ascertain the COVID-19 pandemic impacts on livelihood assets in the North-Western areas (Rajshahi and Rangpur) of Bangladesh. Primary data were collected from 320 farmers engaged in high-value agriculture using a multistage sampling method. The data were analysed using first-order structural equation modelling. The findings reveal a significant impact (p < 0.01) of the pandemic on all livelihood assets in Bangladesh. Notably, human assets exhibited the highest impact, with a coefficient of 0.740, followed sequentially by financial (0.709), social (0.684), natural (0.600), physical (0.542), and psychological (0.537) assets. Government-imposed lockdowns and mobility restrictions were identified as the major causes of the pandemic's negative effects on livelihoods, which included lost income, rising food prices, decreased purchasing power, inadequate access to food and medical supplies, increased social insecurity, and a rise in depression, worry, and anxiety among farmers. The effects of COVID-19 and associated policy measures on the livelihoods of high-value crop farmers have reversed substantial economic and nutritional advances gained over the previous decade. This study suggests attention to the sustainable livelihoods of farmers through direct cash transfer and input incentive programs to minimize their vulnerability to a pandemic like COVID-19 or any other crisis in the future., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

The pelagic shrimp Lucensosergia lucens is a commercially important species in Japan, predominantly harvested in Suruga Bay. It has been suggested that a marked decrease in the wild population over recent years is associated with an increased concentration of suspended particles. We tested the hypothesis that suspended inorganic particles (kaolinite) negatively affect the hatching ratio of fertilized eggs, and the survival, growth, and metamorphosis of nauplius and elaphocaris larvae. The relative hatching ratio of eggs decreased from 100 to 57.7% at 139 mg L -1 of kaolinite particles. Similarly, the relative survival ratio of nauplius larvae progressively decreased from 100% in filtered seawater to 73.6% after 72 h of exposure to 139 mg L -1 of kaolinite particles. Consequently, the survival ratio of elaphocaris larvae was greatly reduced at high particle concentrations. Exponential growth in the standard lengths of elaphocaris larvae occurred at particle concentrations < 6.9 mg L -1 , but growth was inhibited at kaolinite concentrations > 20 mg L -1 ., (© 2022. The Author(s).)

Inorganic arsenic (iAs) exposure has been reported to have an impact on cardiovascular diseases (CVD). However, there is not much known about the cardiac tissue injury of CVD patients in relation to iAs exposure and potential role of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of genes related to iAs metabolism, oxidative stress, endothelial dysfunction and inflammation which may play important roles in such CVD cases. In this dual center cross-sectional study, based on the exclusion and inclusion criteria, we have recruited 50 patients out of 270, who came from known arsenic-affected and- unaffected areas of mainly Chittagong, Dhaka and Rajshahi divisions of Bangladesh and underwent open-heart surgery at the selected centers during July 2017 to June 2018. We found that the patients from arsenic affected areas contained significantly higher average iAs concentrations in their urine (6.72 ± 0.54 ppb, P = 0.028), nail (529.29 ± 38.76 ppb, P < 0.05) and cardiac tissue (4.83 ± 0.50 ppb, P < 0.05) samples. Patients' age, sex, BMI, hypertension and diabetes status adjusted analysis showed that patients from arsenic-affected areas had significantly higher iAs concentration in cardiac tissue (2.854, 95%CI 1.017-8.012, P = 0.046) reflecting higher cardiac tissue injury among them (1.831, 95%CI 1.032-3.249, P = 0.039), which in turn allowed the analysis to assume that the iAs exposure have played a vital role in patients' disease condition. Adjusted analysis showed significant association between urinary iAs concentration with AA (P = 0.012) and AG (P = 0.034) genotypes and cardiac iAs concentration with AA (P = 0.017) genotype of AS3MT rs10748835. The AG genotype of AS3MT rs10748835 (13.333 95%CI 1.280-138.845, P = 0.013), AA genotype of NOS3 rs3918181 (25.333 95%CI 2.065-310.757, P = 0.002), GG genotype of ICAM1 rs281432 (12.000 95%CI 1.325-108.674, P = 0.010) and AA genotype of SOD2 rs2758331 (13.333 95%CI 1.280-138.845, P = 0.013) were found significantly associated with CVD patients from arsenic-affected areas. Again, adjusted analysis showed significant association of AA genotype of AS3MT rs10748835 with CVD patients from arsenic affected areas. In comparison to the reference genotypes of the selected SNPs, AA of AS3MT 10748835, AG of NOS3 rs3918181 and AC of rs3918188, GG of ICAM1 rs281432, TT of VCAM1 rs3176867, AA of SOD2 rs2758331 and GT of APOE rs405509 significantly increased odds of cardiac tissue injury of CVD patients from arsenic affected areas. The results showed that the selected SNPs played a susceptibility role towards cardiac tissue iAs concentration and injury among CVD patients from iAs affected areas.

Cancer stem cells (CSCs) are a class of cancer cells characterized by self-renewal, differentiation and tumorigenic potential. We previously established a model of CSCs by culturing mouse induced pluripotent stem cells (miPSCs) for four weeks in the presence of a conditioned medium (CM) of cancer cell lines, which functioned as the tumor microenvironment. Based on this methodology of developing CSCs from miPSCs, we assessed the risk of 110 non-mutagenic chemical compounds, most of which are known as inhibitors of cytoplasmic signaling pathways, as potential carcinogens. We treated miPSCs with each compound for one week in the presence of a CM of Lewis lung carcinoma (LLC) cells. However, one-week period was too short for the CM to convert miPSCs into CSCs. Consequently, PDO325901 (MEK inhibitor), CHIR99021 (GSK-3β inhibitor) and Dasatinib (Abl, Src and c-Kit inhibitor) were found to confer miPSCs with the CSC phenotype in one week. The tumor cells that survived exhibited stemness markers, spheroid formation and tumorigenesis in Balb/c nude mice. Hence, we concluded that the three signal inhibitors accelerated the conversion of miPSCs into CSCs. Similarly to our previous study, we found that the PI3K-Akt signaling pathway was upregulated in the CSCs. Herein, we focused on the expression of relative genes after the treatment with these three inhibitors. Our results demonstrated an increased expression of pik3ca, pik3cb, pik3r5 and pik3r1 genes indicating class IA PI3K as the responsible signaling pathway. Hence, AKT phosphorylation was found to be up-regulated in the obtained CSCs. Inhibition of Erk1/2, tyrosine kinase, and/or GSK-3β was implied to be involved in the enhancement of the PI3K-AKT signaling pathway in the undifferentiated cells, resulting in the sustained stemness, and subsequent conversion of miPSCs into CSCs in the tumor microenvironment.

A new approach to controlling the flow of a plasmatic electron packet at the interface between metallic and dielectric layers is described. The proposed metamaterial structure operates in the optical frequency range and can be used as a digital processing filter. It exhibits two double negative resonances and one special passband region, while the existence of a metal-dielectric nano-tunnel enhances electromagnetic wave-metal interactions. The structural arrangement of this metamaterial coupled with the tunnel layer can effectively control the electric field and allows digital encoding of electron packets.

The opportunistic fish pathogen, Enterococcus faecalis has been reported to cause mass mortality in several fish species in different countries. The objectives of this study were to (i) identify E. faecalis from the diseased fishes through molecular techniques; (ii) assess the antibiotic susceptibility profile of E. faecalis isolates; and (iii) control disease in tilapia fish by treatment with medicinal plant extracts. A total of 48 isolates were phenotypically identified as Enterococcus species from tilapia, stinging catfish and walking catfish cultivated in several fish farms in Gazipur. Ten randomly selected isolates were identified as E. faecalis by 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Artificial infection revealed that most of the isolates caused moderate to high mortality in fishes with characteristic disease symptoms. These isolates exhibited resistance to multiple antibiotics in vitro. Bioassay revealed that organic extracts of Tamarindus indica and Emblica officinalis leaves, Allium sativum bulb, and Syzygium aromaticum bud inhibited the growth of E. faecalis. Methanol extracts of A. sativum and methanol and acetone extracts of S. aromaticum significantly reduced the mortality of fish artificially infected with E. faecalis as both preventive and therapeutic agents. This is the first report on molecular identification, and herbal control of fish pathogenic E. faecalis in Bangladesh.

Skin cancer (SC) is an important medical condition that necessitates prompt identification to ensure timely treatment. Although visual evaluation by dermatologists is considered the most reliable method, its efficacy is subjective and laborious. Deep learning-based computer-aided diagnostic (CAD) platforms have become valuable tools for supporting dermatologists. Nevertheless, current CAD tools frequently depend on Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) with huge amounts of deep layers and hyperparameters, single CNN model methodologies, large feature space, and exclusively utilise spatial image information, which restricts their effectiveness. This study presents SCaLiNG, an innovative CAD tool specifically developed to address and surpass these constraints. SCaLiNG leverages a collection of three compact CNNs and Gabor Wavelets (GW) to acquire a comprehensive feature vector consisting of spatial–textural–frequency attributes. SCaLiNG gathers a wide range of image details by breaking down these photos into multiple directional sub-bands using GW, and then learning several CNNs using those sub-bands and the original picture. SCaLiNG also combines attributes taken from various CNNs trained with the actual images and subbands derived from GW. This fusion process correspondingly improves diagnostic accuracy due to the thorough representation of attributes. Furthermore, SCaLiNG applies a feature selection approach which further enhances the model's performance by choosing the most distinguishing features. Experimental findings indicate that SCaLiNG maintains a classification accuracy of 0.9170 in categorising SC subcategories, surpassing conventional single-CNN models. The outstanding performance of SCaLiNG underlines its ability to aid dermatologists in swiftly and precisely recognising and classifying SC, thereby enhancing patient outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the present study, the inhibition performance of some medicinal plants (i.e. Yarrow, Wormwood, Maurorum, Marjoram, and Ribes rubrum) was theoretically and experimentally investigated for mild steel immersed in 1M HCl. In this way, the obtained extracts characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and the electrochemical and theoretical techniques were used to study the inhibition mechanisms of the extracts for the immersed electrode in the acidic solution. In addition, the microstructure of the electrode surface immersed in the blank and inhibitor-containing solutions characterized by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), and Violet-visible (UV–Vis) spectroscopy was used to confirm the adsorption of the compounds on the electrode surface. The obtained electrochemical results revealed that the inhibition performance of the green inhibitors increased by increasing their dosage in the electrolyte. In addition, it was proved that Marjoram plant extract possessed the most inhibition efficiency (up to 92%) among the under-studied herbal extracts. Marjoram extract behaved as a mixed-type inhibitor in the hydrochloric acid solution, and the adsorption process of the extract on the steel surface followed the Langmuir adsorption model. Adsorption of the compounds on the steel surface was also studied using density functional theory (DFT), and it was found that the protonated organic compounds in the extract have a high affinity for adsorption on the electrode surface in the acidic solution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Preserving the quality of groundwater has become Bangladesh's primary challenge in recent years. This study explores temporal trend variations in groundwater quality on a broader scale across 18 stations within the Dhaka division over 35 years. The data set encompasses an analysis of 15 distinct water quality parameters. Modified Mann-Kendal, Sens Slope and Mann-Kendal tests were performed to determine the trend's variation and slope. In addition, the spatial–temporal changes in the quality of groundwater are studied through Geographic Information System (GIS) mapping and Piper diagram was applied to identify the unique hydrochemical properties. This is the first study conducted on this area using various trends analysis and no in-depth study is available highlighting the trends analysis of groundwater quality on a larger magnitude. In contrast, the correlation matrix reveals a high association between Mg2+ and SO42−, Na+ and Cl− that affects salinity and overall hardness at the majority of sites. The Piper diagram also demonstrates that the groundwater in Madaripur Sadar has major salinity issues. The analysis reveals a distinctive dominance of bicarbonate (HCO3−) ions across all sampling stations, with (HCO3−) equivalent fractions consistently ranging from 0.70 to 0.99 which can cause a significant impact on groundwater uses. This extensive analysis of long-term groundwater quality trends in the Dhaka Division enables researchers to comprehend the overall transition of groundwater quality for hardness related complications in future. Moreover, it can be a baseline study considering the valuable implications and future steps for sustainable water resource management in this region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bats are not only ecologically valuable mammals but also reservoirs of zoonotic pathogens. Their vast population, ability to fly, and inhabit diverse ecological niches could play some role in the spread of antibiotic resistance. This study investigated non-aureus staphylococci and Mammaliicoccus colonization in the Hipposideros bats at Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria. Pharyngeal samples (n = 23) of the insectivorous bats were analyzed, and the presumptive non-aureus staphylococcal and Mammaliicoccus isolates were confirmed by matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS). The isolates were characterized based on antibiotic susceptibility testing and whole-genome sequencing (WGS). Six bacterial genomes were assembled, and three species were identified, including Mammaliicoccus sciuri (n = 4), Staphylococcus gallinarum (n = 1), and Staphylococcus nepalensis (n = 1). All the isolates were resistant to clindamycin, while the M. sciuri and S. gallinarum isolates were also resistant to fusidic acid. WGS analysis revealed that the M. sciuri and S. gallinarum isolates were mecA-positive. In addition, the M. sciuri isolates possessed some virulence (icaA, icaB, icaC, and sspA) genes. Multi-locus sequence typing identified two new M. sciuri sequence types (STs) 233 and ST234. The identification of these new STs in a migratory mammal deserves close monitoring because previously known ST57, ST60, and ST65 sharing ack (8), ftsZ (13), glpK (14), gmk (6), and tpiA (10) alleles with ST233 and ST234 have been linked to mastitis in animals. Moreover, the broad host range of M. sciuri could facilitate the dispersal of antibiotic resistance genes. This study provides evidence of the importance of including migratory animals in monitoring the development and spread of antibiotic resistance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two new series of oxadiazole and pyrazoline derivatives were designed and synthesized as promising EGFR-TK inhibitors. The in vitro antiproliferative activity was studied against three human cancer cell lines; HCT116, HepG-2 and MCF7 using MTT assay. Compound 10c showed the most potent anticancer activity against all cancer cell lines, with IC50 range of 1.82 to 5.55 μM, while proving safe towards normal cells WI-38 (IC50 = 41.17 μM) compared to the reference drug doxorubicin (IC50 = 6.72 μM). The most active candidates 5a, 9b, 10a, 10b and 10c were further assessed for their EGFR-TK inhibition. The best of which, compounds 5a and 10b showed IC50 of 0.09 and 0.16 μM respectively compared to gefitinib (IC50 = 0.04 μM). Further investigation against other EGFR family members, showed that 5a displayed good activities against HER3 and HER4 with IC50 values 0.18 and 0.37 µM, respectively compared to gefitinib (IC50 = 0.35 and 0.58 µM, respectively). Furthermore, 5a was evaluated for cell cycle distribution and apoptotic induction on HepG-2 cells. It induced mitochondrial apoptotic pathway and increased accumulation of ROS. Molecular docking study came in agreement with the biological results. Compounds 5a and 10b showed promising drug-likeness with good physicochemical properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite a global call to action, many deaths occur yearly in developing nations from contagious diseases due to poor sanitation and hygiene. Although hand hygiene (HH) behavior was critical in preventing the COVID-19 pandemic, the sustainability of such practices is still questionable. Therefore, the current systematic review and meta-analysis investigated the prevalence and determinants of HH behavior among the Indian population (PROSPERO registration ID: CRD42022344961). Systematic searches on electronic databases, including ScienceDirect, Scopus, Web of Science, JSTOR, PubMed, and Google Scholar, targeted qualitative and quantitative studies that report HH behaviors in India. Pooled effect sizes were calculated with the inverse-variance method using random-effects models, acknowledging the study heterogeneity. Out of 1053 studies, 15 studies that met eligibility criteria were included in the qualitative synthesis. Among them, five studies were included in the meta-analyses. The overall prevalence of HH before food was 55% (95% CI = 31–78), and after the toilet was 84% (95% CI = 65–96). Subgroup analysis showed that before-food HH prevalence pre- and post-COVID-19 was 61% and 36%, respectively, whereas after-toilet HH prevalence was 91% and 74%, respectively. Meta-regression revealed statistically non-significant results for COVID-19 status. While it could not adequately explain the heterogeneity of the ‘before-food prevalence’ studies (Adj. R2 = − 34.80%), it did account for more than 19% in ‘after-toilet prevalence’ (Adj. R2 = 19.72%). This systematic review highlights various demographic, psychosocial, and environmental determinants of HH behavior. The results offer the potential for a deeper comprehension of the key factors influencing HH in India and could find implications for developing viable interventions. This aids in planning efficient promotional campaigns to enhance personal hygiene and control infectious diseases in the nation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cu2ZnSn(S,Se)4 is a non-toxic, earth-abundant photovoltaic absorber. However, its efficiency is limited by a large open circuit voltage (VOC) deficit occurring due to its antisite defects and improper band alignment with toxic CdS buffer. Therefore, finding an absorber and non-toxic buffers that reduce VOC deficit is crucial. Herein, for the first time, Ag2BaTiSe4 is proposed as an alternative absorber using SCAPS-1D wherein a new class of alkaline earth metal chalcogenide such as MgS, CaS, SrS, and BaS is applied as buffers, and their characteristics are compared with CdS to identify their potential and suitability. The buffer and absorber properties are elucidated by tuning their thickness, carrier concentration, and defect density. Interestingly, optimization of the buffer's carrier concentration suppressed the barrier height and accumulation of charge carriers at the absorber/buffer interface, leading to efficiencies of 18.81%, 17.17%, 20.6%, 20.85%, 20.08% in MgS, CaS, SrS, BaS, and CdS-based solar cells respectively. Upon optimizing Ag2BaTiSe4, MoSe2, and interface defects maximum efficiency of > 28% is achieved with less VOC loss (~ 0.3 V) in all solar cells at absorber's thickness, carrier concentration, and defect density of 1 µm, 1018 cm−3, 1015 cm−3 respectively, underscoring the promising nature of Ag2BaTiSe4 absorber and new alkaline earth metal chalcogenide buffers in photovoltaics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The timely and accurate diagnosis of candidemia, a severe bloodstream infection caused by Candida spp., remains challenging in clinical practice. Blood culture, the current gold standard technique, suffers from lengthy turnaround times and limited sensitivity. To address these limitations, we propose a novel approach utilizing an Electronic Nose (E-nose) combined with Time Series-based classification techniques to analyze and identify Candida spp. rapidly, using culture species of C. albicans, C.kodamaea ohmeri, C. glabrara, C. haemulonii, C. parapsilosis and C. krusei as control samples. This innovative method not only enhances diagnostic accuracy and reduces decision time for healthcare professionals in selecting appropriate treatments but also offers the potential for expanded usage and cost reduction due to the E-nose's low production costs. Our proof-of-concept experimental results, carried out with culture samples, demonstrate promising outcomes, with the Inception Time classifier achieving an impressive average accuracy of 97.46% during the test phase. This paper presents a groundbreaking advancement in the field, empowering medical practitioners with an efficient and reliable tool for early and precise identification of candidemia, ultimately leading to improved patient outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Spatiotemporal rainfall trend analysis as an indicator of climatic change provides critical information for improved water resource planning. However, the spatiotemporal changing behavior of rainfall is much less understood in a tropical monsoon-dominated country like Bangladesh. To this end, this research aims to analyze spatiotemporal variations in rainfall for the period 1980–2020 over Bangladesh at seasonal and monthly scales using MAKESENS, the Pettitt test, and innovative trend analysis. Multilayer Perception (MLP) neural network was used to predict the next 8 years' rainfall changes nationally in Bangladesh. To investigate the spatial pattern of rainfall trends, the inverse distance weighting model was adopted within the ArcGIS environment. Results show that mean annual rainfall is 2432.6 mm, of which 57.6% was recorded from July to August. The Mann–Kendall trend test reveals that 77% of stations are declining, and 23% have a rising trend in the monthly rainfall. More than 80% of stations face a declining trend from November to March and August. There is a declining trend for seasonal rainfall at 82% of stations during the pre-monsoon, 75% during the monsoon, and 100% during the post-monsoon. A significant decline trend was identified in the north-center during the pre-monsoon, the northern part during the monsoon, and the southern and northwestern portions during the post-monsoon season. Predicted rainfall by MLP till 2030 suggests that there will be little rain from November to February, and the maximum fluctuating rainfall will occur in 2025 and 2027–2029. The ECMWF ERA5 reanalysis data findings suggested that changing rainfall patterns in Bangladesh may have been driven by rising or reducing convective precipitation rates, low cloud cover, and inadequate vertically integrated moisture divergence. Given the shortage of water resources and the anticipated rise in water demand, the study's findings have some implications for managing water resources in Bangladesh. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent discoveries have revealed that indium tin oxide (ITO), due to the presence of an epsilon-near-zero (ENZ) point and suitable carrier concentration and mobility, can be used to modulate the refractive index, confine fields in the nanoscale, enhance nonlinear effects, achieve ultrafast light switching or to construct so-called time-varying media. While this potential positions ITO as a key material for future nanophotonic devices, producing ITO films with precisely engineered properties remains a significant challenge. Especially when the device's complex geometry or incorporated materials require the fabrication process to be conducted at substrate temperatures below 100 °C and without any post-annealing treatment. Here we present a comprehensive study on the low-temperature deposition of 70 nm thick ITO films using an e-beam PVD system. The nanolayers evaporated under different conditions were characterized by SEM and AFM microscopy, Hall effect measurement system as well as spectroscopic ellipsometry. We discuss the factors influencing the optical, electrical, and morphological properties of ITO films. We show that smooth nanolayers of similar quality to annealed samples can be obtained at 80 °C by controlling the oxygen plasma parameters, and the ENZ wavelength can be tuned throughout the NIR spectral range. Finally, we show that using the proposed methodology, we fabricated ITO films with resistivity as low as 5.2 × 10–4 Ω cm, smooth surface with RMS < 1 nm, high carrier concentration reaching 1.2 × 1021 cm−3 and high transmittance (85%) in the Vis/NIR spectrum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new practical imaging technique was presented for metamaterial characterization and investigation by visualizations of the magnetic microwave near-field (H-MWNF) distributions on a metamaterial's surface using the method of thermo-elastic optical indicator microscopy (TEOIM). ITO-based transparent and ceramic-based opaque metamaterial structures were designed for magnetic near-field visualization. Depending on the incident microwave field polarization, the TEOIM system allows the characterization of the metamaterial properties and microwave interaction behavior. The working principle of the periodic structures was investigated through numerical simulations, and the obtained results exhibited strong agreement when compared with experimental observations. Moreover, the visualization of the H-MWNF revealed the potential to characterize and evaluate the absorption and transmission properties effectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A cross-sectional study was conducted among 239 randomly selected meat handlers working in butcher shop in southern Ethiopia to assess factors associated with meat hygiene knowledge and practices. A binary logistic regression analysis with a 95% confidence interval (CI) and a p-value < 0.05 was used to identify factors that were significantly associated with good level of meat hygiene knowledge and practices. The findings revealed that 38.5% [95% CI: 32.2–44.8%] and 25.1% [95% CI: 19.7–30.5%] of meat handlers have good levels of meat hygiene knowledge and practices, respectively. Good level of meat hygiene knowledge was significantly (p < 0.05) associated with educational level, having meat hygiene training, and having regular supportive supervision by health workers, whereas good level of meat handling practice was significantly associated with work experience, educational level, have regular supportive supervision by health professionals, and having meat hygiene training. In conclusion, the majority of meat handlers have poor knowledge and practices regarding meat hygiene among meat handlers. Educational level, meat hygiene training, and supportive supervision by a health professionals were all independent predictors of meat hygiene knowledge and practice among meat handlers. As a result, health professionals should give regular training, butcher shop inspections, and supportive supervision for meat handlers in order to improve meat hygiene knowledge and practices among meat handlers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Principal component analysis (PCA) is widely used in various genetics studies. In this study, the role of classical PCA (cPCA) and robust PCA (rPCA) was evaluated explicitly in genome-wide association studies (GWAS). We evaluated 294 wheat genotypes under well-watered and rain-fed, focusing on spike traits. First, we showed that some phenotypic and genotypic observations could be outliers based on cPCA and different rPCA algorithms (Proj, Grid, Hubert, and Locantore). Hubert's method provided a better approach to identifying outliers, which helped to understand the nature of these samples. These outliers led to the deviation of the heritability of traits from the actual value. Then, we performed GWAS with 36,000 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) based on the traditional approach and two robust strategies. In the conventional approach and using the first three components of cPCA as population structure, 184 and 139 marker-trait associations (MTAs) were identified for five traits in well-watered and rain-fed environments, respectively. In the first robust strategy and when rPCA was used as population structure in GWAS, we observed that the Hubert and Grid methods identified new MTAs, especially for yield and spike weight on chromosomes 7A and 6B. In the second strategy, we followed the classical and robust principal component-based GWAS, where the first two PCs obtained from phenotypic variables were used instead of traits. In the recent strategy, despite the similarity between the methods, some new MTAs were identified that can be considered pleiotropic. Hubert's method provided a better linear combination of traits because it had the most MTAs in common with the traditional approach. Newly identified SNPs, including rs19833 (5B) and rs48316 (2B), were annotated with important genes with vital biological processes and molecular functions. The approaches presented in this study can reduce the misleading GWAS results caused by the adverse effect of outlier observations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aerobic rice cultivation progresses water productivity, and it can save almost 50% of irrigation water compared to lowland rice with the appropriate development of genotypes and management practices. Two field trials were conducted during 2020, and 2021 seasons to determine the validation of different rice varieties under aerobic cultivation based on their plant defense system, physio-morphological traits, stress indices, grain yield, and water productivity. The experiments were designed in a split-plot design with four replications. Two planting methods, transplanting and aerobic cultivation, were denoted as the main plots, and ten rice genotypes were distributed in the subplots. The results revealed that the planting method varied significantly in all measured parameters. The transplanting method with well watering had the highest value of all measured parameters except leaf rolling, membrane stability index, antioxidant, proline, and the number of unfilled grains. EHR1, Giza179 and GZ9399 as well as A22 genotypes a chief more antioxidant defense system that operated under aerobic conditions. Giza179, EHR1, GZ9399, and Giza178 showed high cell membrane stability and subsequently high validation under such conditions, and also showed efficiency in decreasing water consumption and improving water use efficiency. In conclusion, this study proves that Giza179, EHR1, GZ9399, Giza178, and A22 are valid genotypes for aerobic conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Asymmetric Configuration (As-Co) in the electrochemical noise (EN) was used to evaluate Ranunculus Arvensis / silver nanoparticles (RA/Ag NPs) as corrosion inhibitor for aluminum alloy (AA 2030) when gets exposed to 3.5% NaCl media. The ECN results of Asymmetric Configuration (As-Co) and Symmetric Configuration (Sy-Co) were interpreted using wavelet and statistical methods. The standard deviation of partial signal (SDPS) plots derived using of wavelet. The SDPS plot of As-Co demonstrated that the quantity of electric charge (Q) decreased with the addition of the inhibitor up to the optimum amount (200 ppm) due to the decreased corrosion rate. Moreover, the use of As- Co leads to record signal of one electrode and prevent recording extra signals arising from two identical electrodes which confirmed by the statistical parameters. The As-Co made of Al alloys were more satisfactory for estimating inhibiting effect of RA/Ag NPs compared to Sy-Co. Besides, aqueous extract of Ranunculus Arvensis (RA) plant as reducing agent mediates the synthesis of silver nanoparticles (RA/Ag NPs). The prepared NPs have been elaborately characterized using Field-Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FESEM), X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) analysis, and Fourier-Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR) that revealed suitable synthesize of the RA/Ag NPs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined the occurrence of V. parahaemolyticus from ready-to-eat (RTE) food in Delta State, Nigeria. It also characterized antibiotic resistance and virulence gene profile patterns to determine the associated health risk hazard. Food samples total of 380 were collected randomly and assessed for V. parahaemolyticus. V. parahaemolyticus isolates were characterized for their virulence and antibiogram potentials using a phenotypic and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) approach. A total of 42 (11.1%) samples were contaminated with V. parahaemolyticus. In 17/42 (40.5%) of the V. parahaemolyticus-positive samples, the densities were < 10 MPN/g. However, 19/42 (45.2%) and 6/42 (14.3%) of the samples had densities of 10 – 102 and > 102 MPN/g, respectively. A total of 67 V. parahaemolyticus isolates were identified using PCR; 54(80.6%) isolates were multidrug resistant. A total of 22 (32.8%), 39 (58.2%), and 67 (100%) of the V. parahaemolyticus harbored the tdh, trh, and tlh toxin genes, respectively. The T3SS1 gene (vcrD1) was detected in 67 (100%) of the isolates. The T3SS2α genes which were vcrD2, vopB2, and vopT were detected in 21 (31.3%), 11 (16.4%) and 30 (44.8%) of the isolates respectively. Some of the V. parahaemolytics strains harbored the orf8 gene 20 (29.9%), and a combination of orf8 + tdh genes 12 (17.9%), categorized as pandemic strains. The antibiotic resistance genes detected in this study include blaTEM 33 (49.3), tetM 19 (28.4), cmlA 32(47.8) and sul1 14 (20.9). The concentration levels and prevalence of V. parahaemolyticus in RTE foods indicate contamination of ready-to-eat foods, particularly street foods consumed in the Delta State of Nigeria, threatening public health and consumer safety. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cholera remains a global public health threat in regions where social vulnerabilities intersect with climate and weather processes that impact infectious Vibrio cholerae. While access to safe drinking water and sanitation facilities limit cholera outbreaks, sheer cost of building such infrastructure limits the ability to safeguard the population. Here, using Yemen as an example where cholera outbreak was reported in 2016, we show how predictive abilities for forecasting risk, employing sociodemographical, microbiological, and climate information of cholera, can aid in combating disease outbreak. An epidemiological analysis using Bradford Hill Criteria was employed in near-real-time to understand a predictive model's outputs and cholera cases in Yemen. We note that the model predicted cholera risk at least four weeks in advance for all governorates of Yemen with overall 72% accuracy (varies with the year). We argue the development of anticipatory decision-making frameworks for climate modulated diseases to design intervention activities and limit exposure of pathogens preemptively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Malaria cases and deaths keep being excessively high every year. Some inroads gained in the last two decades have been eroded especially due to the surge of resistance to most antimalarials. The search for new molecules that can replace the ones currently in use cannot stop. In this report, the synthesis of benzimidazole derivatives guided by structure–activity parameters is presented. Thirty-six molecules obtained are analyzed according to their activity against P. falciparum HB3 strain based on the type of substituent on rings A and B, their electron donor/withdrawing, as well as their dimension/spatial properties. There is a preference for electron donating groups on ring A, such as Me in position 5, or better, 5, 6-diMe. Ring B must be of the pyridine type such as picolinamide, other modifications are generally not favorable. Two molecules, 1 and 33 displayed antiplasmodial activity in the high nanomolar range against the chloroquine sensitive strain, with selectivity indexes above 10. Activity results of 1, 12 and 16 on a chloroquine resistance strain indicated an activity close to chloroquine for compound 1. Analysis of some of their effect on the parasites seem to suggest that 1 and 33 affect only the parasite and use a route other than interference with hemozoin biocrystallization, the route used by chloroquine and most antimalarials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Food associated diseases pose significant public health threat in the United States. Health risks associated with food-borne pathogens drive the need for constant monitoring of food products. An efficient method that can diagnose food-borne pathogens rapidly will be invaluable and in high demand. In this study, we showed the feasibility of a novel rapid detection platform based on fluorescence imaging/detection that combines a user-friendly, portable loop mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) reaction device and a smartphone-based detection system. The proposed platform was used to detect Staphylococcus aureus which is one of the most important food-borne pathogen especially dairy products. The complete protocol is quicker; the reaction is performed under isothermal conditions and completed in 1 h or less. Experimental results show that LAMP assays were ten-fold more sensitive than PCR-based detection. The proposed smartphone detection system was able to detect and quantify LAMP assay samples containing three different concentrations of S. aureus from 109 CFU/mL down to 103 CFU/mL. The present proof-of-concept study demonstrated that this platform offers a portable, easy to use method for measuring target pathogens with LAMP amplification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dry days at varied scale are an important topic in climate discussions. Prolonged dry days define a dry period. Dry days with a specific rainfall threshold may visualize a climate scenario of a locality. The variation of monthly dry days from station to station could be correlated with several climatic factors. This study suggests a novel approach for predicting monthly dry days (MDD) of six target stations using different machine learning (ML) algorithms in Bangladesh. Several rainfall thresholds were used to prepare the datasets of monthly dry days (MDD) and monthly wet days (MWD). A group of ML algorithms, like Bagged Trees (BT), Exponential Gaussian Process Regression (EGPR), Matern Gaussian Process Regression (MGPR), Linear Support Vector Machine (LSVM), Fine Trees (FT) and Linear Regression (LR) were evaluated on building a competitive prediction model of MDD. In validation of the study, EGPR-based models were able to better capture the monthly dry days (MDD) over Bangladesh compared to those by MGPR, LSVM, BT, LR and FT-based models. When MDD were the predictors for all six target stations, EGPR produced highest mean R2 of 0.91 (min. 0.89 and max. 0.92) with a least mean RMSE of 2.14 (min. 1.78 and max. 2.69) compared to other models. An explicit evaluation of the ML algorithms using one-year lead time approach demonstrated that BT and EGPR were the most result-oriented algorithms (R2 = 0.78 for both models). However, having a least RMSE, EGPR was chosen as the best model in one year lead time. The dataset of monthly dry–wet days was the best predictor in the lead-time approach. In addition, sensitivity analysis demonstrated sensitivity of each station on the prediction of MDD of target stations. Monte Carlo simulation was introduced to assess the robustness of the developed models. EGPR model declared its robustness up to certain limit of randomness on the testing data. The output of this study can be referred to the agricultural sector to mitigate the impacts of dry spells on agriculture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The core–shell non-enzymatic glucose sensors are generally fabricated by chemical synthesis approaches followed by a binder-based immobilization process. Here, we have introduced a new approach to directly synthesis the core–shell of Au@Cu and its Au@CuxO oxides on an FTO electrode for non-enzymatic glucose detection. Physical vapor deposition of Au thin film followed by thermal annealing has been used to fabricate Au nanocores on the electrode. The Cu shells have been deposited selectively on the Au cores using an electrodeposition method. Additionally, Au@Cu2O and Au@CuO have been synthesized via post thermal annealing of the Au@Cu electrode. This binder-free and selective-growing approach has the merit of high electrooxidation activity owing to improving electron transfer ability and providing more active sites on the surface. Electrochemical measurements indicate the superior activity of the Au@Cu2O electrode for glucose oxidation. The high sensitivity of 1601 μAcm−2 mM−1 and a low detection limit of 0.6 μM are achieved for the superior electrode. Additionally, the sensor indicates remarkable reproducibility and supplies accurate results for glucose detection in human serums. Moreover, this synthesis approach can be used for fast, highly controllable and precise fabrication of many core–shell structures by adjusting the electrochemical deposition and thermal treatment parameters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Broadband absorbers are required for solar energy harvesting because they efficiently absorb the incident photon in the wide-ranging solar spectrum. To ensure high absorption of photons, metamaterial absorbers (MMAs) have been a growing area of interest in recent years. In this article, an MMA is proposed using a metal–insulator–metal (MIM) structure (Ni–SiO2–Ni) that shows a near-unity broadband absorption of wavelengths from 300 to 1600 nm, with a 95.77% average absorption and a peak absorption of 99.999% at 772.82 nm. The MMA is polarization insensitive as well as wide incident angle stable. Analysis of the effects of mechanical bending on the absorption of the proposed structure shows that absorption holds satisfactory values at different degrees of mechanical loading. The suggested MMA unit cell structure was computationally simulated using the Finite Integration Technique (FIT) and verified using the Finite Element Method (FEM). To analyze the feasibility of the proposed MMA as a solar cell, it is investigated with the universal AM 1.5 solar spectrum characteristics. Besides solar energy harvesting, the proposed MMA unit cell may be employed in a variety of diverse optical applications, including sensors, detectors, and imaging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nitrogen and phosphorus budgeting is considered to be a key tool for policy makers and stakeholders when dealing with nutrient contamination issues, however no unified method has been employed in countries affected by this eutrophication problem. The current study offers a detailed insight into the estimations of nutrient loads and their distribution between different sources for a middle-sized agricultural catchment, with the use of two approaches: mass balance (static) and modelling (dynamic). Both methods revealed similar contributions of analysed nutrient sources, although the final estimates in the chosen calculation profile were divergent due to the various reasons related to the methods' specificity. The advantages and disadvantages of both approaches have been specified in our study, and a hybrid solution on a local and country wide scale has been proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this research work, the development of the metamaterial unit cell is used to investigate multifunctional characteristics, exhibit preferable and capable adjustability, reconfigurable by changing the phase response of applied electromagnetic wave. This proposed metamaterial unit cell is analysed by modifying the geometric design of the metallic structure which mitigates the design to reduce the cost for the commercialisation. The resonant frequencies are located from 1.87, 2.55, 4.32, 5.46 GHz. The interaction with the electric field and magnetic field exhibit the polarisation in both planes which enhances the left handed characteristics. The field distribution of electric, magnetic, and surface current is presented with vector fields in different planes to observe the polarisation state. Different thicknesses of dielectric material are utilised to observe the impact of time varying electric and magnetic fields through the proposed metamaterial. The different substrate materials are described the degree of freedom for the implementation in different fields within the functional microwave frequency range. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lung cancer is considered to account for approximately one-fifth of all malignant tumor-related deaths worldwide and is therefore one of the most lethal malignancies. Pyrazole scaffold possesses a wide range of biological and pharmacological activities, which play important roles in medicinal chemistry. The present study reports the synthesis and in vitro biological characterization of nine pyrazoles derived from chalcones as potential anticancer agents for non-small cell lung cancer A-549, H226, and H460 cell lines. Most of the compounds efficiently inhibited the growth of all the tested cancer cell lines at micromolar concentrations. One of the most active compounds (PCH-1) was further evaluated for its effect on cell cycle distribution, apoptosis, migration, epithelial–mesenchymal transition, and oxidative stress. Furthermore, studies on the mechanism of action revealed that PCH-1 disrupts microtubule assembly, leading to cancer cell death. Molecular modeling studies confirmed the potent interaction of PCH-1 with the vinblastine binding site on tubulin. Overall, this study provides novel opportunities to identify anticancer agents in the pyrazole series. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current study was directed toward developing a new series of fused heterocycles incorporating indazolylthiazole moiety. The newly synthesized compounds were characterized through elemental analysis and spectral data (IR, 1H-NMR, 13C-NMR, and Mass Spectrometry). The cytotoxic effect of the newly synthesized compounds was evaluated against normal human cells (HFB-4) and cancer cell lines (HepG-2 and Caco-2). Among the synthesized compounds, derivatives 4, and 6 revealed a significant selective antitumor activity, in a dose-dependent manner, against both HepG-2 and Caco-2 cell lines, with lower risk toward HFB-4 cells (normal cells). Derivative 8 revealed the maximum antitumor activity toward both tumor cell lines, with an SI value of about 26 and IC50 value of about 5.9 μg/mL. The effect of these derivatives (8, 4, and 6) upon the expression of 5 tumor regulating genes was studied through quantitative real-time PCR, where its interaction with these genes was simulated through the molecular docking study. Furthermore, the antimicrobial activity results revealed that compounds 2, 7, 8, and 9 have a potential antimicrobial activity, with maximum broad-spectrum activity through compound 3 against the three tested pathogens: Streptococcus mutans, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Candida albicans. The newly prepared compounds also revealed anti-biofilm formation activity with maximum activity against Streptococcus mutans, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Candida albicans, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cancer stem cells (CSCs) are suggested to be responsible for drug resistance and aggressive phenotypes of tumors. Mechanisms of CSC induction are still under investigation. Our lab has established a novel method to generate CSCs from iPSCs under a cancerous microenvironment mimicked by the conditioned medium (CM) of cancer-derived cells. Here, we analyzed the transcriptome of CSCs, which were converted from iPSCs with CM from pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma cells. The differentially expressed genes were identified and used to explore pathway enrichment. From the comparison of the CSCs with iPSCs, genes with elevated expression were related to the ErbB2/3 signaling pathway. Inhibition of either ErbB2 with lapatinib as a tyrosine kinase inhibitor or ErbB3 with TX1-85-1 or siRNAs arrested cell proliferation, inhibited the in vitro tumorigenicity, and lead to loss of stemness in the converting cells. The self-renewal and tube formation abilities of cells were also abolished while CD24 and Oct3/4 levels were reduced, and the MAPK pathway was overactivated. This study shows a potential involvement of the ErbB2/ErbB3 pathway in CSC generation and could lead to new insight into the mechanism of tumorigenesis and the way of cancer prevention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Serine phosphorylation is one type of protein post-translational modifications (PTMs), which plays an essential role in various cellular processes and disease pathogenesis. Numerous methods are used for the prediction of phosphorylation sites. However, the traditional wet-lab based experimental approaches are time-consuming, laborious, and expensive. In this work, a computational predictor was proposed to predict serine phosphorylation sites mapping on Schizosaccharomyces pombe (SP) by the fusion of three encoding schemes namely k-spaced amino acid pair composition (CKSAAP), binary and amino acid composition (AAC) with the random forest (RF) classifier. So far, the proposed method is firstly developed to predict serine phosphorylation sites for SP. Both the training and independent test performance scores were used to investigate the success of the proposed RF based fusion prediction model compared to others. We also investigated their performances by 5-fold cross-validation (CV). In all cases, it was observed that the recommended predictor achieves the largest scores of true positive rate (TPR), true negative rate (TNR), accuracy (ACC), Mathew coefficient of correlation (MCC), Area under the ROC curve (AUC) and pAUC (partial AUC) at false positive rate (FPR) = 0.20. Thus, the prediction performance as discussed in this paper indicates that the proposed approach may be a beneficial and motivating computational resource for predicting serine phosphorylation sites in the case of Fungi. The online interface of the software for the proposed prediction model is publicly available at http://mollah-bioinformaticslab-stat.ru.ac.bd/PredSPS/. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rice cultivation by transplanting requires plenty of water. It might become a challenging task in future to grow rice by transplanting due to the climatic change, water and labor scarcities. Direct-sown rice (DSR) is emerging as a resource-conserving and climate-smart alternative to transplanted rice (TPR). However, no specific variety has been bred for dry/direct-sown conditions. The present study was undertaken to decipher the molecular basis of genetic plasticity of rice under different planting methods. Comparative RNA-seq analysis revealed a number (6133) of genes exclusively up-regulated in Nagina-22 (N-22) leaf under DSR conditions, compared to that (3538) in IR64 leaf. Several genes up-regulated in N-22 were down-regulated in IR64. Genes for growth-regulation and nutrient-reservoir activities, transcription factors, translational machinery, carbohydrate metabolism, cell cycle/division, and chromatin organization/epigenetic modifications were considerably up-regulated in the leaf of N-22 under DSR conditions. Complementary effects of these factors in rendering genetic plasticity were confirmed by the agronomic/physiological performance of rice cultivar. Thus, growth-regulation/nutrient-reservoir activities, transcription factors, and translational machinery are important molecular factors responsible for the observed genetic plasticity/adaptability of Nagina-22 to different planting methods. This might help to develop molecular markers for DSR breeding, replacing TPR with DSR for better water-productivity, and minimizing greenhouse-gas emission necessary for negative emission agriculture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The global economic activities were completely stopped during COVID-19 lockdown and continuous lockdown partially brought some positive effects for the health of the total environment. The multiple industries, cities, towns and rural people are completely depending on large tropical river Damodar (India) but in the last few decades the quality of the river water is being significantly deteriorated. The present study attempts to investigate the river water quality (RWQ) particularly for pre- lockdown, lockdown and unlock period. We considered 20 variables per sample of RWQ data and it was analyzed using novel Modified Water Quality Index (MWQI), Trophic State Index (TSI), Heavy Metal Index (HMI) and Potential Ecological Risk Index (RI). Principal component analysis (PCA) and Pearson's correlation (r) analysis are applied to determine the influencing variables and relationship among the river pollutants. The results show that during lockdown 54.54% samples were brought significantly positive changes applying MWQI. During lockdown, HMI ranged from 33.96 to 117.33 with 27.27% good water quality which shows the low ecological risk of aquatic ecosystem due to low mixing of toxic metals in the river water. Lockdown effects brought river water to oligotrophic/meso-eutrophic condition from eutrophic/hyper-eutrophic stage. Rejuvenation of river health during lockdown offers ample scope to policymakers, administrators and environmentalists for restoration of river health from huge anthropogenic stress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Metamaterial with negative permittivity demonstrate excellent performance in cutting-edge technology. Thus, this study modified the double dumbbell-shaped split-ring resonator (MDD-SRR) based negative permittivity for satellite communications. The proposed MDD-SRR unit cell comprises a square-shaped split-ring resonator and two dumbbell-shaped rings. Some parts of the outer square ring were extended to enlarge the electrical length which altered the inductance of the metamaterial unit cell. The dimension of the proposed unit cell is 9 × 9 × 1.524 mm3, fabricated on a Rogers RT6002 (lossy) substrate material. Based on the results, five resonances for the transmission coefficient were achieved at frequencies of 2.896 GHz, 8.11 GHz, 9.76 GHz, 12.48 GHz and 13.49 GHz, including the S, X and Ku band satellite communication frequency bands through numerical simulation in a high-frequency electromagnetic simulator Computer Simulation Technology (CST) microwave studio. Negative permittivity at frequencies ranging from 2.896–3.76 GHz, 8.11–8.592 GHz, 9.76–10.784 GHz, 12.496–12.768 GHz, 13.504–14.4 GHz, were observed and extracted using the Robust and Nicolson–Ross–Weir (NRW) methods. Meanwhile, an effective medium ratio (EMR) measured at 11.51 to 2.896 GHz specified the goodness of the metamaterial unit cell for satellite communication with higher bandwidth and gain. The simulated, circuit model and measured results that were compared for validation purposes indicated that the simulation results, the equivalent circuit model results and measured results occupied each other. Moreover, the numerical simulation of the double dumbbell-shaped metamaterial unit cell was performed using a High-Frequency Structure Simulator (HFSS) to confirm the results. To evaluate the parametric study, the proposed unit cell was subjected to change different substrate types, change of split gap of rings, change of direction of electromagnetic field propagation, and structural optimization. In conclusion, the S, X and Ku-bands in the proposed metamaterial are competent for satellite communications as they are also investigated using an array of a unit cell. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We study a minimal model of the stress-driven p53 regulatory network that includes competition between active and mutant forms of the tumor-suppressor gene p53. Depending on the nature and level of the external stress signal, four distinct dynamical states of p53 are observed. These states can be distinguished by different dynamical properties which associate to active, apoptotic, pre-malignant and cancer states. Transitions between any two states, active, apoptotic, and cancer, are found to be unidirectional and irreversible if the stress signal is either oscillatory or constant. When the signal decays exponentially, the apoptotic state vanishes, and for low stress the pre-malignant state is bounded by two critical points, allowing the system to transition reversibly from the active to the pre-malignant state. For significantly large stress, the range of the pre-malignant state expands, and the system moves to irreversible cancerous state, which is a stable attractor. This suggests that identification of the pre-malignant state may be important both for therapeutic intervention as well as for drug delivery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Allantoin (ALL) is a phytochemical possessing an impressive array of biological activities. Nonetheless, developing a nanostructured delivery system targeted to augment the gastric antiulcerogenic activity of ALL has not been so far investigated. Consequently, in this survey, ALL-loaded chitosan/sodium tripolyphosphate nanoparticles (ALL-loaded CS/STPP NPs) were prepared by ionotropic gelation technique and thoroughly characterized. A full 24 factorial design was adopted using four independently controlled parameters (ICPs). Comprehensive characterization, in vitro evaluations as well as antiulcerogenic activity study against ethanol-induced gastric ulcer in rats of the optimized NPs formula were conducted. The optimized NPs formula, (CS (1.5% w/v), STPP (0.3% w/v), CS:STPP volume ratio (5:1), ALL amount (13 mg)), was the most convenient one with drug content of 6.26 mg, drug entrapment efficiency % of 48.12%, particle size of 508.3 nm, polydispersity index 0.29 and ζ-potential of + 35.70 mV. It displayed a sustained in vitro release profile and mucoadhesive strength of 45.55%. ALL-loaded CS/STPP NPs (F-9) provoked remarkable antiulcerogenic activity against ethanol-induced gastric ulceration in rats, which was accentuated by histopathological, immunohistochemical (IHC) and biochemical studies. In conclusion, the prepared ALL-loaded CS/STPP NPs could be presented to the phytomedicine field as an auspicious oral delivery system for gastric ulceration management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Overweight and obesity are worldwide health concerns leading to many physiological disorders. Recent data highlighted their deleterious effects on brain homeostasis and plasticity, but the mechanisms underlying such disruptions are still not well understood. In this study, we developed and characterized a fast and reliable diet-induced overweight (DIO) model in zebrafish, for (1) studying the effects of overfeeding on brain homeostasis and for (2) testing different preventive and/or therapeutic strategies. By overfeeding zebrafish for 4 weeks, we report the disruption of many metabolic parameters reproducing human overweight features including increased body weight, body mass index, fasting blood glucose levels and liver steatosis. Furthermore, DIO fish displayed blood–brain barrier leakage, cerebral oxidative stress, neuroinflammation and decreased neurogenesis. Finally, we investigated the preventive beneficial effects of A. borbonica, an endogenous plant from Reunion Island. Overnight treatment with A. borbonica aqueous extract during the 4 weeks of overfeeding limited some detrimental central effects of DIO. In conclusion, we established a relevant DIO model in zebrafish demonstrating that overfeeding impairs peripheral and central homeostasis. This work also highlights the preventive protective effects of A. borbonica aqueous extracts in DIO, and opens a way to easily screen drugs aiming at limiting overweight and associated neurological disorders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Human papillomavirus (HPV) is the most common sexually transmitted infection in the world and the main cause of cervical cancer. Nowadays, the virus-like particles (VLPs) based on L1 proteins have been considered as the best candidate for vaccine development against HPV infections. Two commercial HPV (Gardasil and Cervarix) are available. These HPV VLP vaccines induce genotype-limited protection. The major impediments such as economic barriers especially gaps in financing obstructed the optimal delivery of vaccines in developing countries. Thus, many efforts are underway to develop the next generation of vaccines against other types of high-risk HPV. In this study, we developed DNA constructs (based on L1 and L2 genes) that were potentially immunogenic and highly conserved among the high-risk HPV types. The framework of analysis include (1) B-cell epitope mapping, (2) T-cell epitope mapping (i.e., CD4+ and CD8+ T cells), (3) allergenicity assessment, (4) tap transport and proteasomal cleavage, (5) population coverage, (6) global and template-based docking, and (7) data collection, analysis, and design of the L1 and L2 DNA constructs. Our data indicated the 8-epitope candidates for helper T-cell and CTL in L1 and L2 sequences. For the L1 and L2 constructs, combination of these peptides in a single universal vaccine could involve all world population by the rate of 95.55% and 96.33%, respectively. In vitro studies showed high expression rates of multiepitope L1 (~57.86%) and L2 (~68.42%) DNA constructs in HEK-293T cells. Moreover, in vivo studies indicated that the combination of L1 and L2 DNA constructs without any adjuvant or delivery system induced effective immune responses, and protected mice against C3 tumor cells (the percentage of tumor-free mice: ~66.67%). Thus, the designed L1 and L2 DNA constructs would represent promising applications for HPV vaccine development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The role of grain size and strain rate on the corrosion behavior of plastically-deformed Ti-stabilized austenitic stainless steel (AISI 321) in saline media was investigated. The as-received coarse-grained alloy (CG: ~37 µm) was subjected to thermomechanical processing to develop fine (FG: ~3 µm) and ultrafine (UFG: ~0.24 µm) grained structures. These samples were deformed under high (dynamic) and low (quasi-static) strain-rate conditions to a similar true strain of ~0.86. Microstructural analyses on specimens after deformation prior to corrosion study suggests a shift from the estimated stacking fault energy value of the steel. Electrochemical tests confirm the highest corrosion resistance for UFG specimens due to the formation of the most stable adsorbed passive film. This is followed by FG and CG specimens in that order. For the three grain sizes, the corrosion resistance of specimen deformed under quasi-static loading condition is higher than that subjected to dynamic impact loading while the corrosion resistance of undeformed samples is the least. This work also confirms the non-detrimental effect of TiCs in AISI 321 austenitic stainless steel on its corrosion resistance. However, TiNs were observed to be detrimental by promoting pitting corrosion due to galvanic coupling of TiNs with their surrounding continuous phase. The mechanism of pitting in AISI 321 in chloride solution is proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]