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In recent years, advances in nanotechnology have significantly influenced electronics manufacturing, industrial processes, and medical research. Various industries have seen a surge in the use of nanomaterials. However, several researchers have raised the alarm about the toxicological nature of nanomaterials, which appear to be quite different from their crude forms. This altered nature can be attributed to their unique physicochemical profile. They can adversely affect human health and the environment. Nanomaterials that have been released into the environment tend to accumulate over time and can cause a significant impact on the ecosystem and organisms with adverse health effects. Increased use of nanoparticles has led to increased human exposure in their daily lives, making them more vulnerable to nanoparticle toxicity. Because of their small size, nanomaterials can readily cross biological membranes and enter cells, tissues, and organs. Therefore, the effect of nanomaterials on the human environment is of particular concern. The toxicological effects of nanomaterials and their mechanisms of action are being researched worldwide. Technological advances also support monitoring new nanomaterials marketed for industrial and household purposes. It is a challenging area because of the exceptional physicochemical properties of nanomaterials. This updated review focuses on the diverse toxicological perspective of nanomaterials. We have discussed the use of different types of nanoparticles and their physiochemical properties responsible for toxicity, routes of exposure, bio-distribution, and mechanism of toxicity. The review also includes various in vivo and in vitro methods of assessing the toxicity of nanomaterials. Finally, this review will provide a detailed insight into nano material-induced toxicological response, which can be beneficial in designing safe and effective nanoparticles.

Background: COVID-19 is primarily known as a respiratory illness; however, many patients present to hospital without respiratory symptoms. The association between non-respiratory presentations of COVID-19 and outcomes remains unclear. We investigated risk factors and clinical outcomes in patients with no respiratory symptoms (NRS) and respiratory symptoms (RS) at hospital admission. Methods: This study describes clinical features, physiological parameters, and outcomes of hospitalised COVID-19 patients, stratified by the presence or absence of respiratory symptoms at hospital admission. RS patients had one or more of: cough, shortness of breath, sore throat, runny nose or wheezing; while NRS patients did not. Results: Of 178,640 patients in the study, 86.4 % presented with RS, while 13.6 % had NRS. NRS patients were older (median age: NRS: 74 vs RS: 65) and less likely to be admitted to the ICU (NRS: 36.7 % vs RS: 37.5 %). NRS patients had a higher crude in-hospital case-fatality ratio (NRS 41.1 % vs. RS 32.0 %), but a lower risk of death after adjusting for confounders (HR 0.88 [0.83–0.93]). Conclusion: Approximately one in seven COVID-19 patients presented at hospital admission without respiratory symptoms. These patients were older, had lower ICU admission rates, and had a lower risk of in-hospital mortality after adjusting for confounders.

The COVID-19 pandemic has become a significant global issue in terms of public health. While it is largely associated with respiratory complications, recent reports indicate that patients also experience neurological symptoms and other health issues. The objective of this study is to examine the network of protein-protein interactions (PPI) between SARS-CoV-2 proteins and human host proteins, pinpoint the central genes within this network implicated in disease pathology, and assess their viability as targets for drug development.The study adopts a network-based approach to construct a network of 29 SARS-CoV-2 proteins interacting with 2896 host proteins, with 176 host genes being identified as interacting genes with all the viral proteins. Gene ontology and pathway analysis of these host proteins revealed their role in biological processes such as translation, mRNA splicing, and ribosomal pathways. We further identified EEF2, RPS3, RPL9, RPS16, and RPL11 as the top 5 most connected hub genes in the disease-causing network, with significant interactions among each other. These hub genes were found to be involved in ribosomal pathways and cytoplasmic translation. Further a disease-gene interaction was also prepared to investigate the role of hub genes in other disorders and to understand the condition of comorbidity in COVID-19 patients. We also identified 13 drug molecules having interactions with all the hub genes, and estradiol emerged as the top potential drug target for the COVID-19 patients. Our study provides valuable insights using the protein-protein interaction network of SARS-CoV-2 proteins with host proteins and highlights the molecular basis of manifestation of COVID-19 and proposes drug for repurposing.As the pandemic continues to evolve, it is anticipated that investigating SARS-CoV-2 proteins will remain a critical area of focus for researchers globally, particularly in addressing potential challenges posed by specific SARS-CoV-2 variants in the future.

The purpose of the study is to inhibit the corrosion rate using the (LSP) laser shock processing technology with an ND-YAG laser utilizing the Q-switched technique with a wavelength of 1046 nm for stainless steel 304 alloy. Laser shock processing (LSP) is a novel surface treatment approach for strengthening metal materials that use a high peak power, a brief pulse, and cold hardening. The laser parameters’ effect includes laser pulse energy and pulse repetition rate on the surface properties. The qualities of sample surfaces were investigated, including surface roughness and micro-hardness. The X-ray fluorescence technique was used to analyze the chemical composition of this alloy. The corrosion rate was measured using the polarization method. In particular, pitting corrosion was the option we picked. According to the findings, laser shock processing appears to considerably boost the micro-hardness of the LSP-treated sample. The corrosion causes a decrease in the rate. The result revealed that the corrosion current density was decreased, and the corrosion potential was shifted when the laser pulse energy and the pulse repetition rate were increased. When the laser energy was 920 mj and the pulse repetition rate was 6 Hz, we discovered the lowest rate of corrosion. Digital images are usually achieved by changing continuous signals to digital format. Many factors can affect the quality of an image, such as knowledge requirements, causing noise, low contrast, and badly-defined boundaries, among others. Specifically, we compared the results with those of the image processing.

BackgroundHelicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection, a type I carcinogen, affects approximately 50% of the global population, correlating with various gastric pathologies. Notably, diagnostic sensitivities of non-invasive methods, such as the stool antigen test (HpSA), Serology, and Urea Breath Test (UBT), have been suggested to be less effective in older age groups. This study systematically reviews and meta-analyzes the diagnostic accuracy of these tests within the elderly population.MethodsA comprehensive literature search was performed across multiple databases, including PubMed, Medline, and Web of Science, up to July 2023. Data were pooled and analyzed using random-effects models. Sensitivity, specificity, and Diagnostic Odds Ratios (DOR) were computed for the tests. Heterogeneity and risk of bias were assessed.ResultsEight studies involving diverse geographic locations and totaling between 46 and 1,441 participants per study were included. The pooled sensitivity and specificity for HpSA were 72.5 and 94.7%, for Serology 83.7 and 73.3%, and for UBT 96.4 and 88.3%, respectively. DOR for UBT, HpSA, and Serology were 94.5, 47.9, and 14.2, respectively. High levels of heterogeneity were observed across the studies.ConclusionUBT and HpSA proved effective for diagnosing H. pylori in those over 60, while serology showed lower specificity. Despite methodological variations in available studies, these non-invasive tests offer reliable alternatives, especially for older patients who recently undergone endoscopy or without an indication for it, warranting consideration by healthcare practitioners.

The current study proposes a developing surface plasmon resonance (SPR) sensor that has been widely employed to detect viruses, such as environmental analytes, biological and chemical analytes, and monitoring and medical diagnostics. Optical waveguides have much potential for developing new chemical and biological sensors. Graphene is the world's most vital substance and can be used to enhance other materials. A composite silver film-based SPR sensor with the waveguide. To enhance the silver film's stability, detect the best thickness with the best resonance using different types of analyte: air than 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, and water. The resonance wavelength numerically calculated, loss, sensitivity, Figure of merit FOM, and Refractive index using Lumerical FDE. The numerical data showed the differences in the electric field of SPR in the number of refractive indexes after applying the silver coating layer, and the performance parameters improved. Moreover, Graphene has much promise, yet almost most of it is still unexplored. The fundamentals of graphene-based waveguides and devices were investigated using two layers with FDE. The primary purpose of this study is to show the effective thickness of the Graphene and the analyte's refractive index to get high absorption.

Colloidal semiconductor nanocrystals (NCs) or quantum dots (QDs) have shown great potential for solution-processable photodetector due to their exceptional optical and electronic properties. However, broadband and sensitive photodetection from single QDs- based devices is quite challenging. Nano-heterojunction with proper band alignment based on two different materials offers significant advantages for developing broadband photodetector. Herein, we report ultraviolet–visible (UV–Vis) to near-infrared (NIR) light-responsive photodetector based on solution-processed nano-heterojunction of visible light absorber CsPbBr _3 perovskite NCs and wide absorption range, environment-friendly Bi _2 S _3 QDs. Our results demonstrate that the CsPbBr _3 –Bi _2 S _3 nano-heterojunction-based photodetector has higher responsivity (380 μ A/W at a wavelength of 532 nm) and higher specific detectivity (1.02 × 10 ^5 Jones), as compared to the individual CsPbBr _3 or Bi _2 S _3 QDs based devices. Interestingly, the detection wavelength range of our heterojunction device is further extended to the near-infrared region (1064 nm) due to the broadband absorption range of Bi _2 S _3 QDs, which is not observed in the visible light absorber CsPbBr _3 devices. Remarkably, the responsivity of the heterojunction device is 90 μ A W ^−1 . The enhanced specific detectivity and the broadband response of hybrid devices are attributed to the improved charge carrier generation, efficient charge separation and transfer at the interface between CsPbBr _3 and Bi _2 S _3 QDs.

Introduction: In the light of the disruption caused by the coronavirus pandemic on medical education systems worldwide, several institutions switched to online mode of teaching-learning. Therefore, this study was planned to evaluate the perception, difficulties faced, and preference of second year medical/dental students and their teachers toward the online learning and live-streamed lectures during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: This was a cross-sectional, questionnaire based observational study. Data were collected by administering pretested, self-administered, online circulated, structured questionnaire via Google Forms. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize the study results. Results: In this study, 198 and 77 responses were obtained from MBBS and BDS students, respectively, and 14 responses from their teachers. Most students agreed that it was a good idea to conduct online teaching during lockdown. Majority of the students were able to adapt even without previous experience. “GoToWebinar” and “Cisco Webex” were reported as good online teaching platforms. Smart phones or tablets were most commonly used to attend classes. Major challenges reported were related to lack of skills, interest, attention, time management, resources (including internet connectivity), and poor communication among others. The students felt that the optimum duration of lectures should be 30 to 45 minutes. Majority of students and teachers alike felt that online teaching is a good option to be adopted for repeat classes or to gain extra knowledge in the future. Overall rating of online teaching (out of 10) was reported as good by both students (MBBS students mean score: 7.49 ± 1.57) and teachers (mean score: 7 ± 1.58). Conclusions: The situation arising out of the pandemic gave rise to a situation where online resources had to be used for teaching. The shift of medical education to online platforms presented a spectrum of issues for educators and students alike. It would be worth considering addressing these issues, so as to strengthen electronic learning processes in the institute.

The world has witnessed of many pandemic waves of SARS-CoV-2. However, the incidence of SARS-CoV-2 infection has now declined but the novel variant and responsible cases has been observed globally. Most of the world population has received the vaccinations, but the immune response against COVID-19 is not long-lasting, which may cause new outbreaks. A highly efficient pharmaceutical molecule is desperately needed in these circumstances. In the present study, a potent natural compound that could inhibit the 3CL protease protein of SARS-CoV-2 was found with computationally intensive search. This research approach is based on physics-based principles and a machine-learning approach. Deep learning design was applied to the library of natural compounds to rank the potential candidates. This procedure screened 32,484 compounds, and the top five hits based on estimated pIC50 were selected for molecular docking and modeling. This work identified two hit compounds, CMP4 and CMP2, which exhibited strong interaction with the 3CL protease using molecular docking and simulation. These two compounds demonstrated potential interaction with the catalytic residues His41 and Cys154 of the 3CL protease. Their calculated binding free energies to MMGBSA were compared to those of the native 3CL protease inhibitor. Using steered molecular dynamics, the dissociation strength of these complexes was sequentially determined. In conclusion, CMP4 demonstrated strong comparative performance with native inhibitors and was identified as a promising hit candidate. This compound can be applied in-vitro experiment for the validation of its inhibitory activity. Additionally, these methods can be used to identify new binding sites on the enzyme and to design new compounds that target these sites.

We introduce the class of unbounded M-weakly compact operators and the class of unbounded L-weakly compact operators. We investigate some properties for this new classification of operators, and we study the relation between them and M-weakly compact and L-weakly compact operators. We also present an operator characterization of Banach lattices with an ordered continuous norm.

In this paper, crystalline optical fibers were used as a sensor for sensing the zinc ion concentration using the image processing technique. The image of the laser spot transmitted through the optical fiber crystal sensor for each concentration of zinc ion solution. The sensor was made by welding a piece of LMA-10 crystal optical fiber from both ends of a single-mode optical fiber to obtain an SM-PCF-SM type sensor. And it is possible to distinguish between one concentration and another by studying the change of the images obtained as a result of changing the concentration of the zinc ion. The sensitivity of the manufactured sensor was about 73.47%.

Lung cancer presents one of the most challenging carcinomas with meager 5-year survival rates (less than 20%), high metastasis and high recurrence due to chemo- and radio- resistance. An alternative or complementation to existing prognosis modalities is the use of phytochemicals such as silibinin, which targets essential cytokines, angiogenic factors and transcription factors for a profound anti-tumor effect. However, the problems of low solubility in an aqueous physiological environment, poor penetration, high metabolism and rapid systemic clearance limit the therapeutic use of silibinin. Conjugation of gold nanoparticles (GNPs) with silibinin may overcome the above challenges along with distinct advantages of biocompatibility, optical properties for monitoring and causation of cytotoxicity in cancer cells. The current study thus aims to develop silibinin conjugated gold nanoparticles (Sb-GNPs) with pH responsive release in the cancer microenvironment, optimizing several parameters for its higher activity and further evaluate the nanoplatform for their efficacy in inducing cell death in vitro against A549 lung cancer cells. GNPs was synthesized using trisodium citrate dihydrate as the reducing agent and further used for the conjugation of silibinin. The synthesized GNPs were found to be monodispersed and spherical in shape. The silibinin was successfully conjugated with gold nanoparticles and long-term stability of GNPs and Sb-GNPs nanoconjugates in suspension phase was confirmed by FTIR and DLS. Anticancer properties of Sb-GNPs were confirmed by different assay using MTT, Trypan blue dye exclusion assay and cell cycle analysis assay. After conjugation of silibinin with GNPs, the efficacy of silibinin increased 4–5 times in killing the cancer cells. This is the first report on using silibinin gold nanoconjugate system for lung cancer therapy with promising future applications.

The aim of this comment paper is to identify a technical error in the published article of Nizam Chew et al. [...]

Emotions are a crucial part of our daily lives, and they are defined as an organism’s complex reaction to significant objects or events, which include subjective and physiological components. Human emotion recognition has a variety of commercial applications, including intelligent automobile systems, affect-sensitive systems for customer service and contact centres, and the entertainment sector. In this work, we present a novel deep neural network of the Convolutional Neural Network - Bidirectional Gated Recurrent Unit (CNN-RNN) that can classify six basic emotions with an accuracy of above 95%. The deep model was trained on human gait data captured with body-mounted inertial sensors. We also proposed a reduction in the input space by utilizing 1D magnitudes of 3D accelerations and 3D angular velocities (maga^, magω^), which not only minimizes the computational complexity but also yields better classification accuracies. We compared the performance of the proposed model with existing methodologies and observed that the model outperforms the state-of-the-art.

Kraniotomi adalah sebuah prosedur operasi umum divisi bedah saraf yang melibatkan pembuatan lubang yang cukup pada tempurung kepala atau tengkorak (cranium) untuk akses optimal ke intrakranial. Nyeri pasca kraniotomi adalah komplikasi berulang dari prosedur bedah saraf dan sulit untuk dikelola. Manajemen nyeri akut sangat penting untuk menghindari terjadinya nyeri kronik serta komplikasi seperti hipertensi dan muntah, yang dapat menyebabkan peningkatan tekanan intrakranial maupun perdarahan intrakranial, outcome pasien yang tidak baik, dan perpanjangan masa rawat inap. Pemilihan obat dalam manajemen nyeri akut pasien pasca kraniotomi merupakan hal yang sangat penting dikarenakan dapat menentukan morbiditas dan mortalitas pasien.

In this study, co-gasification of palm kernel shell (PKS) and low-rank Malaysian coal (MB) was carried out in a fixed bed reactor. For the pretreated samples, PKS was torrefied at 270°C (PKSTo) and MB was preheated at 250°C (MBPr) for 1 h, respectively, prior to co-gasification at 767°C, with a biomass blending ratio of 52% and a steam flow rate of 55 mL/min. The effect of different blending combinations was investigated towards product yields, namely gas, tar, char and gases composition. The co-gasification on both pretreated (PKSTo/MBPr) and catalyst-pretreated (Cat-PKSTo/MBPr) produced a greater gas yield, with lesser tar and char yield than both untreated PKS and MB (PKSUn/MBUn) and pretreated PKS and untreated MB (PKSTo/MBUn). The PKSTo/MBPr was found to enhance the H2 production by 63.9% and 41% than PKSUn/MBUn and PKSTo/MBUn, respectively, at 45 min of reaction time. Thus, the pretreatment on both samples had a significant impact on the distribution and composition of product yields during co-gasification. As a conclusion, the pretreated sample, which has been upgraded on characteristics such as higher carbon and lower oxygen content than the untreated sample was revealed to enhance gas yield and H2 production during co-gasification.

Ramin Haghighi,1 Abdolah Razi,1 Ashkan Haghighi,2 Navid Ebrahimipour,3 Ali Teimouri4 1Department of Urology, Faculty of Medicine, North Khorasan University of Medical Sciences, Bojnord, Iran; 2Student Research Committee, North Khorasan University of Medical Sciences, Bojnord, Iran; 3Department of Emergency Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, North Khorasan University of Medical Sciences, Bojnord, Iran; 4Department of Emergency Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, IranCorrespondence: Ali TeimouriDepartment of Emergency Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, IranEmail ali.teimouri.1994@gmail.comAbstract: The objective of this case report is to highlight treatment by LAT-PCNL in a patient with horseshoe kidney. A 51-year-man with hematuria presented to the emergency department with moderate abdominal pain starting 7 hrs ago. He did not report a history of previous urological disease. Renal stone and horseshoe kidney malformation were diagnosed based on the plain abdominal film, intravenous urogram (IVU), non-contrast computed tomography (CT-IVU), and ultrasound findings. Due to the larger stone bulk and renal malformation, it was not possible to perform extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (ESWL) monotherapy or ESWL sandwich therapy. Moreover, since percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCNL) had some challenges and limitations due to high skin-to-stone distance, special anatomy, dispersion stones, and possible consequent internal organs injuries, we performed LAT-PCNL on our patient. We did not observe any perioperative complication. Postoperative control abdominal x-ray revealed only a medium ureteral stone that was extracted while removing the Double-J stent a month later. The patient was discharged on the third postoperative day with normal laboratory values. At 3-month follow-up, the patient was stone-free with normal renal function and renal ultrasonography. Laparoscopy-assisted transperitoneal PCNL seems to be a safe and minimally invasive technique that can be used as an alternative approach in the management of renal stones in special cases of horseshoe kidneys.Keywords: horseshoe kidney, laparoscopy-assisted, percutaneous nephrolithotomy

Sepsis is a serious health concern globally, which necessitates understanding the root cause of infection for the prevention of proliferation inside the host’s body. Phytochemicals present in plants exhibit antibacterial and anti-proliferative properties stipulated for sepsis treatment. The aim of the study was to determine the potential role of Carica papaya leaf extract for sepsis treatment in silico and in vitro. We selected two phytochemical compounds, carpaine and quercetin, and docked them with bacterial proteins, heat shock protein (PDB ID: 4PO2), surfactant protein D (PDB ID: 1PW9), and lactobacillus bacterial protein (PDB ID: 4MKS) against imipenem and cyclophosphamide. Quercetin showed the strongest interaction with 1PW9 and 4MKS proteins. The leaves were extracted using ethanol, methanol, and water through Soxhlet extraction. Total flavonoid content, DPPH assay, HPTLC, and FTIR were performed. In vitro cytotoxicity of ethanol extract was screened via MTT assay on the J774 cell line. Ethanol extract (EE) possessed the maximum number of phytocomponents, the highest amount of flavonoid content, and the maximum antioxidant activity compared to other extracts. FTIR analysis confirmed the presence of N-H, O-H, C-H, C=O, C=C, and C-Cl functional groups in ethanol extract. Cell viability was highest (100%) at 25 µg/mL of EE. The present study demonstrated that the papaya leaves possessed antibacterial and cytotoxic activity against sepsis infection.

The growing number of deaths related to sepsis has become a major concern for past few years. Sepsis is a complex pathological reactions that is explained by series of host response to microbial insult. The resulted systemic reactions are manifested by early appearance of proinflammatory cytokines leading to hyperinflammatory phase which is followed by septic shock and death of the patient. The present study has revealed that antibiotics are not self-sufficient to control the complex mechanism of sepsis. Moreover prolonged and unnecessary administration of antibiotics may lead to antibiotic resistance to pathogens. In addition to this, immunosuppressive medications are selective and have targeted approach to certain study population. Drugs from herbal origin have shown to possess a mammoth of immunomodulatory potential by suppressing proinflammatory and anti-inflammatory cytokines exhibiting no or minimal unwanted secondary responses. Concomitantly, herbal plants tend to modulate oxidative stress level and haematological imbalance during inflammatory diseased conditions. Natural compounds have gained much attention for the treatment of several clinical complications. Considering the promising responses of medicinal plants with less/no side effects and easy procurement, comprehensive research on herbal plants to treat sepsis should be contemplated.

Dengue fever is one of the significant fatal mosquito-borne viral diseases and is considered to be a worldwide problem. Aedes mosquito is responsible for transmitting various serotypes of dengue viruses to humans. Dengue incidence has developed prominently throughout the world in the last ten years. The exact number of dengue cases is underestimated, whereas plenty of cases are misdiagnosed as alternative febrile sicknesses. There is an estimation that about 390 million dengue cases occur annually. Dengue fever encompasses a wide range of clinical presentations, usually with undefinable clinical progression and outcome. The diagnosis of dengue depends on serology tests, molecular diagnostic methods, and antigen detection tests. The therapeutic approach relies completely on supplemental drugs, which is far from the real approach. Vaccines for dengue disease are in various stages of development. The commercial formulation Dengvaxia (CYD-TDV) is accessible and developed by Sanofi Pasteur. The vaccine candidate Dengvaxia was inefficient in liberating a stabilized immune reaction toward different serotypes (1–4) of dengue fever. Numerous promising vaccine candidates are now being developed in preclinical and clinical stages even though different serotypes of DENV exist that worsen the situation for a vaccine to be equally effective for all serotypes. Thus, the development of an efficient dengue fever vaccine candidate requires time. Effective dengue fever management can be a multidisciplinary challenge, involving international cooperation from diverse perspectives and expertise to resolve this global concern.

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is caused by a positive-stranded RNA virus called severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), belonging to the Coronaviridae family. This virus originated in Wuhan City, China, and became the cause of a multiwave pandemic that has killed 3.46 million people worldwide as of May 22, 2021. The havoc intensified with the emergence of SARS-CoV-2 variants (B.1.1.7; Alpha, B.1.351; Beta, P.1; Gamma, B.1.617; Delta, B.1.617.2; Delta-plus, B.1.525; Eta, and B.1.429; Epsilon etc.) due to mutations generated during replication. More variants may emerge to cause additional pandemic waves. The most promising approach for combating viruses and their emerging variants lies in prophylactic vaccines. Several vaccine candidates are being developed using various platforms, including nucleic acids, live attenuated virus, inactivated virus, viral vectors, and protein-based subunit vaccines. In this unprecedented time, 12 vaccines against SARS-CoV-2 have been phased in following WHO approval, 184 are in the preclinical stage, and 100 are in the clinical development process. Many of them are directed to elicit neutralizing antibodies against the viral spike protein (S) to inhibit viral entry through the ACE-2 receptor of host cells. Inactivated vaccines, to the contrary, provide a wide range of viral antigens for immune activation. Being an intracellular pathogen, the cytotoxic CD8+ T Cell (CTL) response remains crucial for all viruses, including SARS-CoV-2, and needs to be explored in detail. In this review, we try to describe and compare approved vaccines against SARS-CoV-2 that are currently being distributed either after phase III clinical trials or for emergency use. We discuss immune responses induced by various candidate vaccine formulations; their benefits, potential limitations, and effectiveness against variants; future challenges, such as antibody-dependent enhancement (ADE); and vaccine safety issues and their possible resolutions. Most of the current vaccines developed against SARS-CoV-2 are showing either promising or compromised efficacy against new variants. Multiple antigen-based vaccines (multivariant vaccines) should be developed on different platforms to tackle future variants. Alternatively, recombinant BCG, containing SARS-CoV-2 multiple antigens, as a live attenuated vaccine should be explored for long-term protection. Irrespective of their efficacy, all vaccines are efficient in providing protection from disease severity. We must insist on vaccine compliance for all age groups and work on vaccine hesitancy globally to achieve herd immunity and, eventually, to curb this pandemic.

Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is a global pandemic. The COVID-19 outbreak caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has overloaded healthcare systems that need medication to be rapidly established, at least to minimize the incidence of COVID-19. The coinfection with other microorganisms has drastically affected human health. Due to the utmost necessity to treat the patient infected with COVID-19 earliest, poor diagnosis and misuse of antibiotics may lead the world where no more drugs are available even to treat mild infections. Besides, sanitizers and disinfectants used to help minimize widespread coronavirus infection risk also contribute to an increased risk of antimicrobial resistance. To ease the situation, zinc supplements’ potentiality has been explored and found to be an effective element to boost the immune system. Zinc also prevents the entry of the virus by increasing the ciliary beat frequency. Furthermore, the limitations of current antiviral agents such as a narrow range and low bioavailability can be resolved using nanomaterials, which are considered an important therapeutic alternative for the next generation. Thus, the development of new antiviral nanoagents will significantly help tackle many potential challenges and knowledge gaps. This review paper provides profound insight into how COVID-19 and antimicrobial resistance (AMR) are interrelated and the possible implications and current strategies to fight the ongoing pandemic.

The ongoing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak in Wuhan, China, was triggered and unfolded quickly throughout the globe by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The new virus, transmitted primarily through inhalation or contact with infected droplets, seems very contagious and pathogenic, with an incubation period varying from 2 to 14 days. The epidemic is an ongoing public health problem that challenges the present global health system. A worldwide social and economic stress has been observed. The transitional source of origin and its transport to humans is unknown, but speedy human transportation has been accepted extensively. The typical clinical symptoms of COVID-19 are almost like colds. With case fatality rates varying from 2 to 3 percent, a small number of patients may experience serious health problems or even die. To date, there is a limited number of antiviral agents or vaccines for the treatment of COVID-19. The occurrence and pathogenicity of COVID-19 infection are outlined and comparatively analyzed, given the outbreak’s urgency. The recent developments in diagnostics, treatment, and marketed vaccine are discussed to deal with this viral outbreak. Now the scientist is concerned about the appearance of several variants over the globe and the efficacy of the vaccine against these variants. There is a need for consistent monitoring of the virus epidemiology and surveillance of the ongoing variant and related disease severity.

In recent times, nanoparticles (NPs) have found increasing interest owing to their size, large surface areas, distinctive structures, and unique properties, making them suitable for various industrial and biomedical applications. Biogenic synthesis of NPs using microbes is a recent trend and a greener approach than physical and chemical methods of synthesis, which demand higher costs, greater energy consumption, and complex reaction conditions and ensue hazardous environmental impact. Several microorganisms are known to trap metals in situ and convert them into elemental NPs forms. They are found to accumulate inside and outside of the cell as well as in the periplasmic space. Despite the toxicity of NPs, the driving factor for the production of NPs inside microorganisms remains unelucidated. Several reports suggest that nanotization is a way of stress response and biodefense mechanism for the microbe, which involves metal excretion/accumulation across membranes, enzymatic action, efflux pump systems, binding at peptides, and precipitation. Moreover, genes also play an important role for microbial nanoparticle biosynthesis. The resistance of microbial cells to metal ions during inward and outward transportation leads to precipitation. Accordingly, it becomes pertinent to understand the interaction of the metal ions with proteins, DNA, organelles, membranes, and their subsequent cellular uptake. The elucidation of the mechanism also allows us to control the shape, size, and monodispersity of the NPs to develop large-scale production according to the required application. This article reviews different means in microbial synthesis of NPs focusing on understanding the cellular, biochemical, and molecular mechanisms of nanotization of metals.

The purpose of the study conducted was an analysis of the influence of pulse density per area unit of LSP on (7277AL Alloy) regarding the surface characterization, roughness achieved and microhardness. The samples, which were used in this investigation, are 7277Al Alloy. Specify the laser parameter used in this study effect on sample surface properties were studied. Such as laser energy, and laser pulses number the results reveal that the microhardness enhancement by 80%, while the surface roughness increased by 69% when laser energy of 360mj and the number of laser pulses of 100 pulse were applied. X-ray fluorescence analyses and optical microscope were carried out for all samples.

In the recent times, nanomaterials have emerged in the field of biology, medicine, electronics, and agriculture due to their immense applications. Owing to their nanoscale sizes, they present large surface/volume ratio, characteristic structures, and similar dimensions to biomolecules resulting in unique properties for biomedical applications. The chemical and physical methods to synthesize nanoparticles have their own limitations which can be overcome using biological methods for the synthesis. Moreover, through the biogenic synthesis route, the usage of microorganisms has offered a reliable, sustainable, safe, and environmental friendly technique for nanosynthesis. Bacterial, algal, fungal, and yeast cells are known to transport metals from their environment and convert them to elemental nanoparticle forms which are either accumulated or secreted. Additionally, robust nanocarriers have also been developed using viruses. In order to prevent aggregation and promote stabilization of the nanoparticles, capping agents are often secreted during biosynthesis. Microbial nanoparticles find biomedical applications in rapid diagnostics, imaging, biopharmaceuticals, drug delivery systems, antimicrobials, biomaterials for tissue regeneration as well as biosensors. The major challenges in therapeutic applications of microbial nanoparticles include biocompatibility, bioavailability, stability, degradation in the gastro-intestinal tract, and immune response. Thus, the current review article is focused on the microbe-mediated synthesis of various nanoparticles, the different microbial strains explored for such synthesis along with their current and future biomedical applications.

Coronavirus disease (COVID)-19, as a result of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection, has been the direct cause of over 2.2 million deaths worldwide. A timely coordinated host-immune response represents the leading driver for restraining SARS-CoV-2 infection. Indeed, several studies have described dysregulated immunity as the crucial determinant for critical illness and the failure of viral control. Improved understanding and management of COVID-19 could greatly reduce the mortality and morbidity caused by SARS-CoV-2. One aspect of the immune response that has to date been understudied is whether lipid mediator production is dysregulated in critically ill patients. In the present study, plasma from COVID-19 patients with either severe disease and those that were critically ill was collected and lipid mediator profiles were determined using liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry. Results from these studies indicated that plasma concentrations of both pro-inflammatory and pro-resolving lipid mediator were reduced in critically ill patients when compared with those with severe disease. Furthermore, plasma concentrations of a select group of mediators that included the specialized pro-resolving mediators (SPM) Resolvin (Rv) D1 and RvE4 were diagnostic of disease severity. Interestingly, peripheral blood SPM concentrations were also linked with outcome in critically ill patients, where we observed reduced overall concentrations of these mediators in those patients that did not survive. Together the present findings establish a link between plasma lipid mediators and disease severity in patients with COVID-19 and indicate that plasma SPM concentrations may be linked with survival in these patients.

The Ka-Band Radar Interferometer (KaRIn) instrument on the Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) mission is a single-pass synthetic aperture radar (SAR) interferometer tasked with, among others, measuring ocean topography to within a few centimeters over kilometer scale resolutions. A SAR interferometer relies on very precise phase difference measurements between two spatially distant antennas to estimate topography. Multipath phase caused by unintended scattering off the spacecraft structure is a known error source for radar interferometers and takes up a significant portion of the KaRIn error budget. This paper outlines some analytical multipath models that were used for instrument design, performance analysis and mitigation of the multipath signal.

We introduce an RF-photonics receiver concept enabling the next generation of ultra-compact millimeter wave radars suitable for cloud and precipitation profiling, planetary boundary layer observations, altimetry and surface scattering measurements. The RF-photonics receiver architecture offers some compelling advantages over traditional electronic implementations, including a reduced number of components and interfaces, leading to reduced size, weight and power (SWaP), as well as lower system noise, leading to improved sensitivity. Low instrument SWaP with increased sensitivity makes this approach particularly attractive for compact space-borne radars. We study the photonic receiver front-end both analytically and numerically and predict the feasibility of the greater than unity photonic gain and lower than ambient effective noise temperature of the device. The receiver design is optimized for W-band (94 GHz) radars, which are generally assessed to be the primary means for observing clouds in the free troposphere as well as planetary boundary layer from space.

In the past few years, the Optical Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (O-OFDM) has been deliberated as a promising future in high data transmission technology. OFDM is a special case of FDM technology, which is a multi-carrier-modulation (MCM). OFDM has been developed in the wireless as well as wireline systems, for that reason it is popularly used in optical transmission systems. O-OFDM system is simulated with Optisystem V14.0 program from @Optiwave company. This paper provides an examination of O-OFDM system using different cyclic prefix length to eliminate the effect of ICI and ISI, on the other hand using different values of effective area of the optical fiber and observe its effect on the bit error rate of the system. The best transmission performance (best BER) at a length of 1000Km of optical fiber of the system is at a cyclic prefix of 1/16 (6.25%) at the effective area of 150 μm2.

Objectives: To assess the effectiveness of corticosteroids in the prophylaxis of postoperative atrial fibrillation (AF) in patients undergoing elective coronary artery bypass grafting or valvular heart surgery in terms of reducing its incidence and decreasing the length of hospital stay. Methods: This prospective double blinded randomized study was conducted at Queen Alia Heart Institute (Amman, Jordan) from June 2014 to June 2015 on 340 patients who underwent their first on-pump elective coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) alone or combined with valvular surgery. Inclusion criteria consisted of elective first time CABG or combined with valvular surgery, use of β-adrenergic blockade, and normal sinus rhythm. Exclusion criteria included a history of heart block, previous episodes of AF or flutter, uncontrolled diabetes mellitus, history of peptic ulcer disease, systemic bacterial or mycotic infection, permanent pacemaker, and any documented or suspected supraventricular or ventricular arrhythmias. Patients were randomized into two equal groups (n = 170 each), then each group was subdivided into patients who underwent CABG alone (n = 120), and patients underwent valvular heart surgery with or without CABG (n = 50). In the treatment group, patients were given 1 g of methylprednisolone before cardiopulmonary bypass then 100 mg of hydrocortisone every 8 hours for the first 3 days postoperatively. The primary endpoint was the overall occurrence of postoperative AF. Results: AF developed in 21.1% (36 patients) in the treatment group in contrast to 38.2% (65 patients) in the control group (p