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Salinity is a major abiotic stress that negatively impacts plant health and soil microbiota. ACC (1-aminocyclopropane carboxylic acid) deaminase producing microorganisms act as natural stress busters that protect plants from different kinds of stresses. The study focused on the isolation of potent, indigenous, multi-trait ACC deaminase producers. The shortlisted ACC deaminase producers were checked for their ability to promote growth of Cajanus cajan, and mitigate stress under laboratory conditions followed by validation of their potency in naturally saline field conditions. Physiological stress markers were assessed to evaluate the impact of salinity in plants treated with ACC deaminase producer, compared to controls. Further, the contribution of ACC deaminase in stress mitigation was demonstrated by using a chemical inhibitor for ethylene biosynthesis. This study presents a polyphasic approach, transitioning from the rhizospheric soil to the laboratory to validation in the field, and puts forth a promising eco-friendly alternative for sustainable agriculture.

Nutrient elements play essential roles in plant growth, development, and reproduction. Balanced nutrition is critical for plant health and the ability to withstand biotic stress. Treatment with essential elements has been shown to induce disease resistance in certain cases. Understanding the functional mechanisms underlying plant immune responses to nutritional elements has the potential to provide new insights into crop improvement. In the present study, we investigated the effect of various elements—potassium (K), calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), and sodium (Na)—in promoting resistance against the necrotrophic fungus Botrytis cinerea and the hemibiotrophic bacterium Xanthomonas euvesicatoria in tomato. We demonstrate that spray treatment of essential elements was sufficient to activate immune responses, inducing defense gene expression, cellular leakage, reactive oxygen species, and ethylene production. We report that different defense signaling pathways are required for induction of immunity in response to different elements. Our results suggest that genetic mechanisms that are modulated by nutrient elements can be exploited in agricultural practices to promote disease resistance.

Plant–microbiome interactions are significant determinant for plant growth, fitness and productivity. Depending upon the specific habitat, plants' microbial communities are classified as the rhizo-, phyllo-, and endospheric regions. Understanding the plant microbiome interactions could provide an opportunity to develop strategies for sustainable agricultural practices. There is a necessity to decipher the complex structural and functional diversity within plant microbiomes to reveal its immense potential in agriculture. The plant microbiota harbors enormous microbial communities that defy analytical methodologies to study dynamics underlying plant microbiome interactions. Findings based on conventional approaches have ignored many beneficial microbial strains, which creates a serious gap in understanding the microbial communications along with the genetic adaptations, which favors their association with host plant. The new era of next generation sequencing techniques and modern cost-effective high-throughput molecular approaches can decipher microbial community composition and function. In this review, we have presented the overview of the various compartments of plants, approaches to allow the access to microbiome and factors that influence microbial community composition and function. Next, we summarize how plant microbiome interactions modulate host beneficial properties particularly nutrient acquisition and defense, along with future agricultural applications. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at. 10.1007/s12298-021-00927-1.

Sustainable management practices are the need of the hour to counter the ever-deteriorating environmental conditions in agro-ecosystems. While bioinoculants have served as eco-friendly means to mitigate stresses, their survivability and competitiveness in field conditions have been a major challenge. The present study aimed to adopt a multi-generational approach to adapt the rhizospheric microbiome of Vigna radiata, a legume consumed worldwide, under salt stress. A multi-generational plant growth experiment was set-up with induced salinity stress, employing the rhizosphere of best-performing plants from the preceding generation as inoculum for the next generation. The plant health and mitigation of salinity stress by the adapted microbiome was analyzed using plant biometrics, bacterial diversity, and stress markers. Decreased levels of salt-induced stress markers, and simultaneous improvement in plant attributes were observed with the progression of the generations. The shifts in bacterial community were prominent upon inoculation of the adapted microbiome. The treatments with the adapted microbiome in the presence of salinity stress were closer to the control sets compared to salinity-stressed treatments, indicating the efficiency of the adapted microbiome towards mitigation of salinity stress. The study demonstrates the promising potential of such an eco-friendly, microbiome-based approach for plant growth promotion and mitigation of salinity stress.

Plant hormones act as chemical messengers, transducing cellular and organ-level cues, executing plant growth, development, reproduction, metabolism, and response to environmental stress. In addition to the production of hormones by plants, fungi can also produce compounds that are similar to phytohormones, and may modulate growth, physiology, and immunity in both plants and fungi. The "classical" plant growth hormone, cytokinin (CK) is known to have roles in plant-fungi interactions. In plants, CKs are involved in various processes including plant growth and development, seed germination, apical dominance, balance between shoot and root tissue, leaf senescence, and plant-pathogen-interactions. We recently reported that CK can also affect fungal development. CK is not produced solely by plants, as can be synthesized by plant-associated microorganisms such as bacteria and fungi. Fungal phytopathogens may also activate plant CK signalling/sensing via secretion of effector molecules. Fungal CKs secreted by (hemi)biotrophic pathogens can serve as virulence factors, however, most necrotrophic fungal plant pathogens have not been reported to secrete CKs during plant infection. Though a lifestyle-dependent role for CK signalling/perception was suggested for fungal plant pathogens, little is known about CK perception, sensing, and signalling in fungal organisms. In this review, we focus on the production of fungal CKs and their role in development and virulence, as well as the possibilities for CK perception and signalling in the fungal kingdom, where CHASE-domain containing proteins are largely absent.

SARS-CoV-2 triggers a complex systemic immune response in circulating blood mononuclear cells. The relationship between immune cell activation of the peripheral compartment and survival in critical COVID-19 remains to be established. Here we use single-cell RNA sequencing and Cellular Indexing of Transcriptomes and Epitomes by sequence mapping to elucidate cell type specific transcriptional signatures that associate with and predict survival in critical COVID-19. Patients who survive infection display activation of antibody processing, early activation response, and cell cycle regulation pathways most prominent within B-, T-, and NK-cell subsets. We further leverage cell specific differential gene expression and machine learning to predict mortality using single cell transcriptomes. We identify interferon signaling and antigen presentation pathways within cDC2 cells, CD14 monocytes, and CD16 monocytes as predictors of mortality with 90% accuracy. Finally, we validate our findings in an independent transcriptomics dataset and provide a framework to elucidate mechanisms that promote survival in critically ill COVID-19 patients. Identifying prognostic indicators among critical COVID-19 patients holds tremendous value in risk stratification and clinical management.

Recent advancement in wearable and robot-assisted healthcare technology gives rise to the demand for smart interfaces that allow more efficient human-machine interaction. In this paper, a hydrogel-based soft sensor for subtle touch detection is proposed. Adopting the working principle of a biomedical imaging technology known as electrical impedance tomography (EIT), the sensor produces images that display the electrical conductivity distribution of its sensitive region to enable touch detection. The sensor was made from a natural gelatin hydrogel whose electrical conductivity is considerably less than that of human skin. The low conductivity of the sensor enabled a touch-detection mechanism based on a novel short-circuiting approach, which resulted in the reconstructed images being predominantly affected by the electrical contact between the sensor and fingertips, rather than the conventionally used piezoresistive response of the sensing material. The experimental results indicated that the proposed sensor was promising for detecting subtle contacts without the necessity of exerting a noticeable force on the sensor.

The plant hormone cytokinin (CK) is an important developmental regulator, promoting morphogenesis and delaying senescence. Previous work by us and others has demonstrated that CKs also mediate plant immunity and disease resistance. Some phytopathogens have been reported to secrete CKs, and may manipulate CK signaling to regulate the host cell cycle and nutrient allocation, to improve their pathogenic abilities. In a recent work, we demonstrated that CK directly inhibits the growth, development, and virulence of fungal phytopathogens, by down regulating the cell cycle and reducing cytoskeleton organization and cellular trafficking in the fungus. Here, focusing on Botrytis cinerea (Bc), we report that the effect of CK on Bc is tied to nutrient availability; CK strongly inhibits Bc growth and de-regulated cytoskeleton organization in a nutrient rich environment, but has a diminished effect when nutrients are scarce. Using biochemical assays and transgenic redox sensitive botrytis lines, we examined the effect of CK on energy consumption in the fungus, and demonstrate that CK promotes glycolysis and energy consumption in Bc, both in vitro and in planta. Here, glycolysis and increased oxidation were stronger with waning nutrient availability. Transcriptomic data further supports our findings, demonstrating significant upregulation to glycolysis, oxidative phosphorylation, and sucrose metabolism, upon CK treatment. The metabolic effects of CK on the fungus likely reflect the role of plant CK during early infection by necrotrophic pathogens, which are known to have an initial, short biotrophic phase. In addition to the plant producing CK during its interaction with the pathogen for defense priming and pathogen inhibition, the pathogen may take advantage of this increased CK to boost its metabolism and energy production, in preparation for the necrotrophic phase of the infection. Thus, the role of CK in controlling senescence can be exploited by diverse phytopathogens to their advantage.Author summaryCytokinin (CK) is one of the primary plant developmental hormones, regulating many developmental processes. Several works have highlighted the involvement of CK in plant defense. We recently reported that CK can directly inhibit fungal plant pathogens. CK inhibits Botrytis cinerea growth by arresting the cell cycle and de-regulating cytoskeleton organization and cellular trafficking. Here, we report that CK positively regulates B. cinerea energy consumption, causing an increase in glycolytic rates and energy consumption. The effect of CK on B. cinerea was dependent on nutrient availability, with CK causing stronger increases in glycolysis and lower growth inhibition when nutrient availably was low, and weaker glycolytic increases coupled with stronger growth inhibition in a high nutrient environment. We propose that CK can be viewed as a bidirectional signaling molecule in plant pathogen interactions: CK acts as a signal to the fungus that plant tissue is present, causing it to activate sugar and energy metabolism pathways to take advantage of the available food source, while at the same time, CK is employed by the plant to inhibit the attacking pathogen.

Salinity and drought are the major abiotic stresses that limit agricultural productivity. Application of plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) is an attractive technology but with the bottlenecks of reduced efficacy and survivability in the environment. For increased efficiency of PGPR strains, the impact of stresses on the native bacterial community needs to be studied. Experimentally induced stresses would be ideal to assess the immediate perturbances in the structure of soil bacterial community. Hence, the study focused on the effect of experimentally-induced salinity, and drought stress on rhizospheric bacterial community of Cajanus cajan. A plant growth experiment was set up to induce salinity and drought stresses. Shifts in the bacterial community were assessed by a culture-independent technique of denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis using 16S ribosomal RNA gene and transcript as markers, leading to a comparison of the resident with the active bacterial community. The impact on plant was evaluated by measurement of plant biometrics. Further, salinity and drought-stressed conditions led to distinct shifts in native and active rhizospheric bacterial community, corresponding to the higher decline at induction of stresses, and stabilization at later time points. The study encompasses the perturbations in the active and resident rhizospheric bacterial community caused by the induction of two different abiotic stresses along the plant's growth.

Suicide has its own trends and path. An emotional set back may leads to suicide is seemed to happen instantly but it is not true, it takes times to complete .All most all of us have to experience death wishes but never reach to that point when said completed. Very few will reach to that point where assessed. This study has aim to decide the path by which completion occurs. Study has used the various discrete data of various studies freely available on internet. They were analyzed and arranged logically in sequence to set the path and trends. Conclusion: Everyone in their life at least has to wish to die but very few complete it. It progress in certain path as wish further strengthen by idea following celebrate self-harm may repeat or accidentally completed if not further proceeded to take attempt. It may be completed or rest as further are risk of suicide.

There is a rapid increase in plantar pressure from the infant to toddler stage, yet little is known about the reasons for this change. More information about plantar pressure distribution can help clinicians identify early-stage foot-related diseases that may occur during transitions from childhood to adulthood. This information also helps designers create shoes that adapt to different needs. This research describes the development of a low-cost, built-in shoe plantar pressure measurement system that determines foot pressure distribution in toddlers. The study aimed to improve and provide data on pressure distribution during foot growth. This was accomplished by implementing a plantar pressure capacitive measurement system within shoes. The capacitive sensors were laminated using a copper tape sheet on plastic backing with adhesive, elastomer layers, and a combination of conductive and non-conductive fabrics. Constructed sensors were characterized using compression tests with repeated loads. Results demonstrated that the sensors exhibited rate-independent hysteresis in the estimation of pressure. This enabled a calibration model to be developed. The system can mimic more expensive plantar pressure measurement systems at lower fidelity. This emerging technology could be utilized to aid clinicians, researchers, and footwear designers interested in how pressure distribution changes from infants to toddlers.

Arsenic poisoning through groundwater is the world's greatest normal groundwater catastrophe which got an immense effect on worldwide general wellbeing. India is confronting the outcomes of arsenic poisoning in the zone of Ganga Brahmaputra alluvial plains. In Bihar out of 38 districts, 18 districts are exceptionally influenced with groundwater arsenic defilement. In the present study, we have assessed the current situation of arsenic exposure in Sabalpur village of Saran district of Bihar after reporting of breast, renal, skin and thyroid cancer cases from this village along with typical symptoms of arsenicosis. Such cancer patients were identified at our institute and were taken for the study. The present investigation deals with the quantification of arsenic in groundwater, hair and nail samples as well as the survey of entire village to know the overall health status of the village people. Altogether, 128 groundwater samples through handpumps, 128 human hair and nail samples respectively were collected from over 520 households. Using the Graphite Furnace Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer (GF-AAS), all the samples were analysed. The investigation resulted that the 61% of the analysed samples particularly the groundwater had the arsenic levels more than the permissible limit of WHO (>10µg/L) with 244.20µg/L as the greatest arsenic contamination in one of the groundwater sample. The exposure effect of hair sample was worst as 88% of all the collected samples were having high arsenic levels more than the permissible limit (>0.2mg/Kg). In case of nails samples, 92% of the samples were having high arsenic concentration more than the permissible limit (>0.5mg/Kg). The health survey study uncovered the exceptionally chronic weakness status of the village populace as individuals were experiencing the issues like asthma, anaemia, hepatomegaly, diabetes, cardiac problem, skin fungal infections, breathlessness, mental disability, etc. Few cancer cases of renal, skin, breast and cervix were also found among the population of this village. The percentage of cancer cases in this village was 0.94% that is low but it would be an aggravated situation in the near future if people will continue drinking arsenic contaminated water. Therefore, a mitigation intervention was done in March 2020 by installing an arsenic filter plant. The health situation in the present scenario is hope to restore in the village in the coming years. However, motivation and awareness among the village population is still required.

SARS-CoV-2, the virus that has caused the COVID-19 pandemic, robustly activates the host immune system in critically ill patients. Understanding how the virus engages the immune system will facilitate the development of needed therapeutic strategies. In this study, we demonstrate both in vitro and in vivo that the SARS-CoV-2 surface proteins spike (S) and envelope (E) activate the key immune signaling IFN pathway in both human and mouse immune and epithelial cells independent of viral infection and replication. These proteins induce reactive oxidative species generation and increases in human- and murine-specific, IFN-responsive cytokines and chemokines, similar to their upregulation in critically ill COVID-19 patients. Induction of IFN signaling is dependent on canonical but discrepant inflammatory signaling mediators, as the activation induced by S is dependent on IRF3, TBK1, and MyD88, whereas that of E is largely MyD88 independent. Furthermore, these viral surface proteins, specifically E, induced peribronchial inflammation and pulmonary vasculitis in a mouse model. Finally, we show that the organized inflammatory infiltrates are dependent on type I IFN signaling, specifically in lung epithelial cells. These findings underscore the role of SARS-CoV-2 surface proteins, particularly the understudied E protein, in driving cell specific inflammation and their potential for therapeutic intervention.

SARS-CoV-2, the virus that has caused the COVID-19 pandemic, robustly activates the host immune system in critically ill patients. Understanding how the virus engages the immune system will facilitate the development of needed therapeutic strategies. Here we demonstrate both in vitro and in vivo that the SARS-CoV-2 surface proteins Spike (S) and Envelope (E) activate the key immune signaling interferon (IFN) pathway in both immune and epithelial cells independent of viral infection and replication. These proteins induce reactive oxidative species generation and increases in human and murine specific IFN-responsive cytokines and chemokines, similar to their upregulation in critically ill COVID-19 patients. Induction of IFN signaling is dependent on canonical but discrepant inflammatory signaling mediators as the activation induced by S is dependent on IRF3, TBK1, and MYD88 while that of E is largely MYD88 independent. Furthermore, these viral surface proteins, specifically E, induced peribronchial inflammation and pulmonary vasculitis in a mouse model. Finally we show that the organized inflammatory infiltrates are dependent on type I IFN signaling, specifically in lung epithelial cells. These findings underscore the role of SARS-CoV-2 surface proteins, particularly the understudied E protein, in driving cell specific inflammation and their potential for therapeutic intervention.Author SummarySARS-CoV-2 robustly activates widespread inflammation, but we do not understand mechanistically how the virus engages the immune system. This knowledge will facilitate the development of critically needed therapeutic strategies to promote beneficial immune responses will dampening harmful inflammation. Here we demonstrate that SARS-CoV-2 surface proteins spike and envelope alone activated innate cell function and the interferon signaling pathway. This activation occurred in both immune and epithelial cells, and mechanistic studies demonstrated dependence on known key inflammatory signaling mediators, IRF3, TBK1, and MYD88. In animal studies, we showed that these viral surface proteins induce epithelial cell IFN-dependent lung pathology, reminiscent to acute COVID-19 pulmonary infection. These findings underscore the need for further investigation into the role of SARS-CoV-2 surface proteins, particularly the understudied E protein, in driving cell specific inflammation.

Recent advances in hemodynamic monitoring have seen the advent of non-invasive methods which offer ease of application and improve patient comfort. Bioimpedance Analysis or BIA is one of the currently employed non-invasive techniques for hemodynamic monitoring. Impedance Cardiography (ICG), one of the implementations of BIA, is widely used as a non-invasive procedure for estimating hemodynamic parameters such as stroke volume (SV) and cardiac output (CO). Even though BIA is not a new diagnostic technique, it has failed to gain consensus as a reliable measure of hemodynamic parameters. Several devices have emerged for estimating CO using ICG which are based on evolving methodologies and techniques to calculate SV. However, the calculations are generally dependent on the electrode configurations (whole body, segmental or localised) as well as the accuracy of different techniques in tracking blood flow changes. Blood volume changes, concentration of red blood cells, pulsatile velocity profile and ambient temperature contribute to the overall conductivity of blood and hence its impedance response during flow. There is a growing interest in investigating limbs for localised BIA to estimate hemodynamic parameters such as pulse wave velocity. As such, this paper summarises the current state of hemodynamic monitoring through BIA in terms of different configurations and devices in the market. The conductivity of blood flow has been emphasized with contributions from both volume and velocity changes during flow. Recommendations for using BIA in hemodynamic monitoring have been mentioned highlighting the suitable range of frequencies (1 kHz–1 MHz) as well as safety considerations for a BIA setup. Finally, current challenges in using BIA such as geometry assumption and inaccuracies have been discussed while mentioning potential advantages of a multi-frequency analysis to cover all the major contributors to blood’s impedance response during flow.

Arsenic contamination in ground water is a serious and widespread global public health problem. It is estimated that more than 300 millions of population worldwide while about 180 million people in the Ganga–Meghna–Brahmaputra plains are exposed to arsenic poisoning. Out of 38 districts of Bihar, 18 are highly affected with ground water arsenic poisoning. A flood plain village of river Ganga Gyaspur Mahaji in Patna district was undertaken in the present study. The study deals with the survey of the entire village households with ground water arsenic quantification with special attention to know the health status of the arsenic-exposed population. The study revealed high arsenic concentration in the ground water of the village. The general health status of the village population was very poor as the subjects were exhibiting typical arsenicosis symptoms. Apart from this, they also had gastrointestinal problems, constipation, anaemia, loss of appetite, breathlessness, mental disability, etc. There were also reports of two cancer incidences from the village: one subject with squamous cell carcinoma of skin and the other with medullary breast cancer along with arsenicosis symptoms. The village population are getting infected and hence are at very high risk and may be impacted if they continue to drink arsenic-contaminated water in the future. Therefore, a proper strategy is urgently required for arsenic mitigation in this arsenic-exposed village through supply of safe drinking water.

Isolated diaphragmatic injury in blunt trauma occurs acutely and can be associated with other life-threatening organ injuries. A sudden increase in abdominal pressure causes injury in the membranous or muscular part of the diaphragm. Isolated left diaphragmatic injury after blunt trauma is rarely seen, its diagnosis can be overlooked frequently. Early diagnosis is the most important step in the treatment thereby reducing morbidity and mortality. The most critical point during the diagnosis is the suspicion for clinical diaphragm injury like respiratory distress. Single or serial plain chest radiographs with a high index of suspicion are diagnostic in most cases. Computed tomography of the abdomen and thorax can be a guide for identifying the size of diaphragmatic injury and the contents. In this case report, we presented an isolated left side diaphragmatic rupture after blunt abdominal trauma and treated with an urgent surgical operation.

Differentiated thyroid cancer make up the vast majority of thyroid cancers with papillary thyroid cancer representing 84% of all thyroid cancer diagnoses. Papillary carcinoma of the thyroid presenting primarily as lateral neck swelling is rare. In the absence of thyroid swelling further evaluation should be done to exclude the primary tumors of scalp and head and neck region. Diagnosis of this condition is made by ultrasound guided FNAC. Surgery is the main treatment modality of choice. Here, we reported a case of an adult female who presented with isolated cervical lymphadenopathy and FNAC revealed metastatic papillary carcinoma of thyroid. Total thyroidectomy with central and posterolateral cervical neck dissection was done, with histology confirming as papillary thyroid carcinoma with local lymphnode metastasis.

Scrotal involvement is extremely rare complication of acute necrotising pancreatitis. It presents as scrotal swelling and skin color change, which mimics the presentations of testicular torsion, epididymitis, and testicular tumor. Early diagnosis can significantly reduce the associated mortality both with necrotising pancreatitis and Fournier gangrene. Thorough clinical examination along with abdominopelvic Computed Tomography provides a useful means of diagnosing this complication. Here, we are presenting a case of acute necrotising pancreatitis with collection in left pararenal space tracking all the way to reach the left inguinal canal till the root of scrotum, being managed successfully after early diagnosis with early debridement and application of vacuum assisted drainage.

The polygalacturonases (PG) is one of the important members of pectin-degrading glycoside hydrolases of the family GH28. In plants, PG represents multigene families associated with diverse processes. In the present study, an attempt has been made to investigate the diversity of PG genes among monocots and dicots with respect to phylogeny, gene duplication and subcellular localization to get an insight into the evolutionary and functional attributes. The genome-wide assessment of Medicago truncatula, Vitis vinifera Sorghum bicolor, and Oryza sativa L. ssp. japonica genomes revealed 53, 49, 38 and 35 PG-like (PGL) genes, respectively. The predominance of glyco_hydro_28 domain, hydrophilic nature and genes with multiple introns were uniformly observed. The subcellular localization showed the presence of signal sequences targeting the secretory pathways. The phylogenetic tree constructed marked uniformity with three distinct clusters for each plant irrespective of the variability in the genome sizes. The site-specific selection pressure analysis based on K a/K s values showed predominance of purifying selection pressures among different groups identified in these plants. The functional divergence analysis revealed significant site-specific selective constraints. Results of site-specific selective pressure analysis throw light on the functional diversity of PGs in various plant processes and hence its constitutive nature. These findings are further strengthened by functional divergence analysis which reveals functionally diverse groups in all the four species representing monocots and dicots. The outcome of the present work could be utilized for deciphering the novel functions of PGs in plants.

Polygalacturonases represents an important member of pectin-degrading glycoside hydrolases of the family GH28 and is widely distributed among fungi, bacteria, yeasts, plants and some plant parasitic nematodes. Microbial polygalacturonases are widely used in food industry to clarify fruit and vegetable juice by degrading pectin. An exo- polygalacturonase from Aspergillus flavus MTCC 7589 was purified, biochemically characterized and its utility in clarification of orange juice was elucidated. The enzyme was purified by acetone precipitation (0–60%), CM- cellulose column chromatography and Gel filtration chromatography using Sephadex G-100 resulting in 8.24 fold purification with specific activity of 26.8 IU/mg protein and yield of 0.9%. A single band corresponding to a relative molecular mass of approximately 29.0 kDa was revealed by SDS-PAGE. The enzyme showed pH and temperature optima of 5 and 40 °C respectively. The K m and kcat values of purified enzyme were 2.08 mg/mL and 96 s − 1 respectively. The metal ions Co 2+ , Cu 2+ and K + were found to stimulate PG activity while Ca 2+ , Ag + and Hg 2+ ions were inhibitory. The preliminary study revealed its potential in clarification of orange juice.

A highly alkaline pectin lyase (PNL) produced by Fusarium lateritum MTCC 8794 using solid-state fermentation was purified and biochemically characterized. The enzyme was purified to homogeneity by comparatively simple method involving ammonium sulfate precipitation and cation exchange chromatography resulting in a final purification fold of 5.5 with specific activity of 1.9 U/mg and yield of 3.42%. The SDS-PAGE of the purified enzyme revealed a single protein band of approximately 16 kDa. The pH optimum was found to be 10.0, while the enzyme was stable in the pH range 6.0–10.0. The optimum temperature of the purified PNL was 40 °C, the enzyme being stable upto 50 °C for 30 min. The Km value calculated by Michaelis-Menten curve was found to be 0.79 mg/mL, while Vmax and kcat of the purified enzyme were found to be 0.57 international unit and 41.6 s−1, respectively. The enzyme showed inhibition by most of the divalent cations at 1 mM concentration.

Pectinases are a group of enzymes that degrade pectic substances present in plant cell walls. Depending upon their nature, whether acidic or alkaline, they play an important role in fruit juice and textile industries. Recent studies on these enzymes deciphered their other industrial applications such as oil extraction, coffee and tea fermentation, treatment of industrial wastewater, and biobleaching of pulp. Use of pectinases over chemicals in these industries makes the whole process environment-friendly. This chapter focuses on the applications of microbial pectinases in the food, agriculture, and environment sectors.

Tissue-mimicking materials for phantoms are fabricated for research purposes to simulate the mechanical or electrical properties of real human tissues and promote better understanding of their properties. This research investigated the dielectric properties (from 20 Hz to 100 kHz) of five promising muscle mimicking materials including matrix materials (gelatin powder and agar powder), and fillers (sodium chloride, glycine and aluminum powder) for the development of muscle phantoms. The mechanical behaviors were verified as well. This research determined the effects of electrode polarization (EP) on the dielectric properties of each material and then used a mathematical model to reduce these unwanted effects. Additionally, the results indicated the very low dielectric properties of gels-only samples. Both electrical conductivity and relative permittivity increased with increasing concentrations of fillers. Moreover, all fillers had their own capabilities to alter the levels and trends in the increments of dielectric values, which provide a wider selection to muscle-mimicking materials. Theoretically, it is feasible to achieve desired dielectric properties by mixing these fillers together with certain ratios. In this way, low-cost muscle phantoms can be produced and used as experimental subjects for biopotential sensing application.

We demonstrate the current state-of-the-art of a web-based photovoltaic simulation platform, which is developed within the Solar Energy Research Institute of Singapore (SERIS). This platform shall allow us to (1) dynamically upload a variety of measurements from a measurement tool within our cleanroom into a user centric database, (2) dynamically upload and execute internally and externally developed computer programs to simulate such measurements, (3) compare simulation to measurement, using automated data fitting, (4) Test/deploy machine learning applications.Using calibrated computer simulations, a large number of "simulated measurement data" can be generated, as required for the computation extensive training of an artificial neural network. However, the deployment of the neural network (prediction in a "forward modelling" as well as in a "reverse modelling" direction) is fast. Thus, using artificial neural networks, predictions and optimizations deploying machine learning will be possible.

This work aims to investigate the feasibility of employing multi-frequency bioimpedance analysis for hemodynamic assessment. Towards this, we aim to explore one of its implementations, electrical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), for estimating changes in radial artery diameter due to blood flow. Following from our previous investigations, here, we use a commercial device—the Quadra® Impedance Spectroscopy device—for impedance measurements of the forearm of three subjects under normal conditions and occluding the artery with a cuff. This was performed simultaneously with ultrasound measurements as a reference. The impedance spectra were measured over time, yielding waveforms reflecting changes due to blood flow. Contributions from the fat/muscle domains were accounted for using the occluded impedance response, resulting in arterial impedance. A modified relationship was approximated to calculate the diameter from the arterial impedance, which showed a similarity with ultrasound measurements. Comparison with the ultrasound measurements revealed differences in phase and amplitude, primarily due to the approximated relationship between impedance and diameter and neglecting the impedance phase analysis. This work shows the potential of EIS, with improvements, towards estimating blood flow-induced variation in arteries. Further analysis and improvements could help place this technology in mainstream clinical practice for hemodynamic monitoring.

Plant pathogenic fungi are a major threat to food security and impose a severe economic burden, thus there is a continuous need to develop new strategies to manage them. NAD+ is a co-factor in numerous enzymatic activities and determines the metabolic fate of the cell. Therefore, maintenance of NAD+ concentration is important for cellular viability. Consequently, the NAD+ biosynthetic pathway and redox homeostasis was suggested as a target for antifungal development. We aimed to study how Fusarium oxysporum senses and responds to nicotinaldehyde (NA), an inhibitor of Pnc1, a key enzyme in the salvage pathway of NAD+ biosynthesis. We were able to show that NA was inhibitory in high concentrations to several fungal plant pathogens, with much milder effects on tomato growth. Under low nutrient conditions NA reduced the total amounts of NAD+ in the fungal cell, a trend that was also observed in rich media, although without statistical significance. In low and high nutrient availability NA dramatically reduced the NAD+/NADH ratio. After exposure to NA, NADH levels were increased and NAD+ levels and the biomass were greatly reduced. Cells responded to NA by up-regulation of oxidoreductases, with hardly any up-regulation of the classic response to oxidative stress. Direct measurement of oxidative stress response showed that unlike formaldehyde and hydrogen peroxide, NA caused reductive rather than oxidative stress. Surprisingly, alcohol dehydrogenases were significantly up-regulated more than any other dehydrogenases, including aldehyde dehydrogenases. We propose that conidia of F. oxysporum efficiently detoxified the aldehyde group of NA by reducing NAD+ to NADH; the high concentrations of the latter provoked the expression of alcohol dehydrogenases that in yeast can act to reduce NADH and increase NAD+ amounts, respectively. Overall, the results suggest that targeting NAD+ biosynthesis pathway and redox homeostasis can be a potential approach to manage fungal plant pathogens. Many of the natural antifungal compounds produced by bio-control agents or even the natural biome are aldehydes, and thus the results presented here predict the possible response of Fusarium to wide sources of toxicity in the environment.

Tissue phantoms are widely used as substitute materials for real tissue validation of various newly emerging biomedical technologies such as ultrasound (US), computed tomography (CT), and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). However, there is no specific recipe for fabricating skin-mimicking phantoms which can mimic both the mechanical and dielectric properties of human skin at lower frequency ranges. The objective of this paper is to present a variety of tissue-mimicking materials for filling this research gap in the lower frequency range from 20 Hz to 300 kHz. The starting point of our experiments is based on the oil-in-gelatin based tissue-mimicking materials (TMMs) that have shown to mimic the dielectric properties of human skin in higher frequency ranges. This paper examines the mechanical and dielectric performance of five major classes of tissue-mimicking materials (1) Oil-in-gelatin, (2) lignin and graphene nanopowder in gelatin, (3) gelatin and distilled water, (4) mixed oil in gelatin and distilled water, and (5) lignin in gelatin and distilled water. Mechanical and electrical testing was performed using compression testing and parallel plate method respectively. The effect of electrode polarization was considered in the measured data and the intrinsic impedance values were found to be following the Cole-Cole equation. The Young's modulus range of all tissue-mimicking materials was within the range of skin.

This work aims to compile various measurement and calibration techniques for Electroencephalogram (EEG). The objective is to provide an assessment of different components of an EEG and their significance in understanding different types of responses to stimuli. This review provides an overview of recommended electrode positions and lead systems for EEG with calibration and activation procedures. The different components of an EEG according to frequency bands – Gamma, Beta, Alpha, Theta and Delta have been discussed with emphasis on their interpretation and their role in several applications. The motivation behind this study is to provide a basic understanding of the composition of EEG, understanding the significance of each brain wave and the locations at which they are most prominent.

Lignin is the most abundant aromatic compound and second to cellulose as the most abundant source of carbon on earth. It is synthesized in vascular plant cells by combination of three basic hydroxycinnamoyl alcohol or monolignols. Lignin degradation by microorganisms is restricted by the fact that the polymer is extremely large and highly branched, ligninolytic mechanisms must be extracellular. Also, its structure lacks any hydrolyzable linkage which indicates that degrading enzymes should be oxidative in nature. Wood-rot basidiomycetes are most efficient organisms for lignin degradation in nature. They secrete large number of extracellular enzymes such as laccases and peroxidases which can degrade lignin through low molecular weight-free radicals such as OH−, depolymerize the phenolic and non-phenolic lignin polymer, and mineralize the insoluble lignin. Lignin degradation is not only an important part of carbon cycle but also has a potential application in environment friendly technologies for the pulp and paper industry and for the treatment of many xenobiotic compounds, stains, and dyes.

Plant pathogenic fungi are a major threat to food security and impose a severe economic burden, thus there is a continuous need to develop new strategies to manage them. NAD+ is a co-factor in numerous enzymatic activities and determines the metabolic fate of the cell. Therefore, maintenance of NAD+ concentration is important for cellular viability. Consequently, the NAD+ biosynthetic pathway and redox homeostasis was suggested as a target for antifungal development. We aimed to study how Fusarium oxysporum senses and responds to nicotinaldehyde (NA), an inhibitor of Pnc1, a key enzyme in the salvage pathway of NAD+ biosynthesis. We were able to show that NA was inhibitory in high concentrations to several fungal plant pathogens, with much milder effects on tomato growth. Under low nutrient conditions NA reduced the total amounts of NAD+ in the fungal cell, a trend that was also observed in rich media, although without statistical significance. In low and high nutrient availability NA dramatically reduced the NAD+/NADH ratio. After exposure to NA, NADH levels were increased and NAD+ levels and the biomass were greatly reduced. Cells responded to NA by up-regulation of oxidoreductases, with hardly any up-regulation of the classic response to oxidative stress. Direct measurement of oxidative stress response showed that unlike formaldehyde and hydrogen peroxide, NA caused reductive rather than oxidative stress. Surprisingly, alcohol dehydrogenases were significantly up-regulated more than any other dehydrogenases, including aldehyde dehydrogenases. We propose that conidia of F. oxysporum efficiently detoxified the aldehyde group of NA by reducing NAD+ to NADH; the high concentrations of the latter provoked the expression of alcohol dehydrogenases that in yeast can act to reduce NADH and increase NAD+ amounts, respectively. Overall, the results suggest that targeting NAD+ biosynthesis pathway and redox homeostasis can be a potential approach to manage fungal plant pathogens. Many of the natural antifungal compounds produced by bio-control agents or even the natural biome are aldehydes, and thus the results presented here predict the possible response of Fusarium to wide sources of toxicity in the environment.