Search

The study conducted in Patna district of Bihar State has investigated the supply chain of Arize 6444 seed based on the data collected in the field survey from 100 respondents. The study has used Henry Garrett’s test for analysis. The study focused on the different constraints involved in the marketing of Arize 6444. The study has revealed that factors such as price, availability, certification problems, transportation, quality problems, competitors, communication gaps, and communication gaps hold a 1 to 7 ranking, respectively. This indicates that price is a major concern that should be considered first. It is also suggested that promotional activities like demonstrations, farmer meetings, and company co-official field visits be done at regular intervals to overcome the constraints.

The study conducted in the Nainital district of Uttarakhand state investigated the consumers’ buying behaviour towards organic food products based on the data collected from 110 respondents. The study used Henry Garrett's ranking test for analysis. The study focused on finding out the factors affecting consumer behaviour while purchasing organic products. The study has revealed that factors availability, price, quality, reference from others, environmental concern, brand, advertisement, awareness and personal experience hold 1 to 9 rankings respectively. This indicates availability is a major concern that should be considered first.

Background Chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyposis (CRSwNP) is a multifactorial inflammatory condition that remains poorly understood. Over the past decade, we have witnessed impressive scientific advancements that have allowed us to better understand the molecular and cellular mechanisms that underlie the inflammatory processes in mucosal diseases including asthma, allergic rhinitis, and CRSwNP. Objective The present review aims to summarize and highlight the most recent scientific advancements that have enriched our understanding of CRSwNP. Methods A comprehensive review of the available literature on the use of new scientific techniques in CRSwNP was performed. We evaluated the most recent evidence from studies using animal models, cell cultures, and genome sequencing techniques and their impact on our understanding of CRSwNP pathophysiology. Results Our understanding of CRSwNP has rapidly progressed with the development of newer scientific techniques to interrogate various pathways involved in its pathogenesis. Animal models remain powerful tools and have elucidated the mechanisms behind esinophilic inflammation in CRSwNP; however, animal models reproducing polyp formation are relatively sparse. 3D cell cultures have significant potential to better dissect the cellular interactions with the sinonasal epithelium and other cell types in CRS. Additionally, some groups are starting to utilize single-cell RNA sequencing to investigate RNA expression in individual cells with high resolution and on a genomic scale. Conclusion These emerging scientific technologies represent outstanding opportunities to identify and develop more targeted therapeutics for different pathways that lead to CRSwNP. An additional understanding of these mechanisms will be critical for developing future therapies for CRSwNP.

Self medication is a self care practice, in which anseparate takes medicines on own without proper knowledge of medication. The most frequent disease for self medication are fever, headache, cough, cold etc., Self medication not only means purchasing non-prescribed drugs but also refers to self medicating oneself over food or other substances like caffeine and alcohol. This study was assumed to regulate the details for self-medication and the pattern of self-medication amongst medical, engineering and arts students. To implement machine learning techniques self medication practices among medical and non medical students in South India. The current study was a cross-sectional study which was showed for a period of one year between patients hospitalized at RVSIMS Chittoor, Andhra Pradesh. Sample size taken was 744 and the sample size was collected by google forms. Data was composed using a consistentsurvey. Data entered in MS Excel and analyzed using Weka 3.8.3 and results interpreted. The machine learning algorithm recommends that a novel approaches of self medicine practices among medical and non medical students in South India. The present study was conducted to discover knowledge, occurrence and attitude of self medicine among medical and nonmedical students of RVSIMS Chittoor, Andhra Pradesh.

Organ donation is an integral part of medical ethics worldwide, including Saudi Arabia. Although the Saudi community has a positive attitude toward the concept of organ donation and transplantation, several factors prevent people from agreeing to donate organs and tissues. This study aimed to explore and evaluate the knowledge and attitudes medical students in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia have toward organ donation and transplantation.A cross-sectional study among 722 medical students in the Eastern Province. The questionnaire consisted of 3 parts: sociodemographic questions, organ donation and transplantation knowledge questions, and questions on attitudes toward organ donation and reasons for consenting or refusing to donate.Both men and women had positive attitudes toward organ donation. The level of knowledge of organ donation and related procedures did not differ significantly among men (13.07%) and women (13.60%) (P.027). The motives for donation were the desire to help others (88.8%) (P = .02) and sympathy (59.8%). The main source of information on organ donation for respondents was television, followed by the internet and relatives and/or friends.While medical students are generally supportive of organ donation and transplantation, they may lack basic knowledge on organ donation. Due to lack of basic knowledge, they become hesitant to make the decision to donate. It is recommended that additional organ donation modules be included in the student curriculum to increase the knowledge of future health care providers. Most of the participants would not change their attitudes toward organ donation based on the Saudi government initiatives to register for the Saudi Center for Organ Transplantation organ donation program.

This article suggests that Milton’s representation of Satanic ingratitude in book 4 of Paradise Lost imports into his epic poem some of his previous thoughts on unchangeable affections in the divorce tracts. Satan’s inability to repent in the soliloquy on Mount Niphates is routed through an experience of emotional fixity; he fails to feel gratitude for divine beneficence even though he knows he ought to feel it. In the divorce tracts, Milton bases his argument for divorce on the claim that certain affections, even negative ones, could not be changed because they originate in a person’s innermost nature. Satan’s soliloquy, I propose, explores the possibility that a similar emotional immutability may preclude certain persons from participating in virtue.

The first wave of COVID-19 pandemic may have significantly impacted antimicrobial consumption in hospitals. The objective of this study was to assess the evolution of carbapenem consumption and describe the implemented measures during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic.We calculated carbapenem consumption for all the hospital and for intensive care units (ICU) for three periods: baseline (before COVID-19 cases, January 2019-February 2020), and the period of COVID-19 cases as a pre-intervention (March-August 2020) and a post-intervention phase (September 2020-December 2021).During the study period, the percentage of admitted COVID-19 patients increased in the months of April-August of 2020 (pre-intervention period) from 5 to 26% of total admitted patients. The consumption of carbapenems (DDD/1000 patient days) increased from a mean of 67.1 at baseline to 142.9 pre-intervention. In ICUS, there was an increase in the mean from 125.7 to 240.8 DDD/1000 patient days. After interventions, the DDD/1000 patient days decreased by 49.5% overall the hospital and by 36% in ICUs. For the post-intervention period, there was a correlation between COVID-19 cases and carbapenem usage in the ICU but not the overall hospital.An increase in the antimicrobial consumption during the first wave of COVID-19 pandemic was noticed, especially in the ICU. Antimicrobial stewardship programs are essential to reduce consumption rate.

Objective To evaluate the diagnostic utility of ‘Susceptibility Weighted Angiogram’ (SWAN) in brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) by identifying venous angiomas causing epileptic seizures. Method and Materials A retrospective observational study was performed in the Radiology department at King Fahad Military Medical Complex (KFMC) hospital in Dhahran from January 2016 to 2021. All consecutive adult patients who underwent brain MRIs for epilepsy with SWAN were included. Patients with brain tumors, traumatic brain injuries, and post-surgical cases were excluded. The presence of tuft of small deep parenchymal veins draining into a more prominent (transcortical or subependymal) collector vein as seen on SWAN image was considered a venous angioma and confirmed on either contrast-enhanced studies or cerebral angiograms. Two experienced neuroradiologists interpreted the studies with mutual consensus. The significance of such finding was considered if SWAN-detected venous malformation corresponded to an epileptiform focus on respective electroencephalogram (EEG). Findings were compared with incidentally detected venous angiomas in normal brain MRIs in patients without indications of seizures (control group, n=112). Proportion analysis (Z-test) was used to determine significance. Results Out of 112 patients, 64 were females (57%), and 48 were males (43%), with a mean age of 19.24 (range, 5-45 years). Twenty-three patients (epilepsy group) were found to have venous malformations while three (control group) had venous angiomas (Z-value, 3.93; P-value, 0.0008). Out of 23 patients, 20.53% were SWAN-detected venous angiomas, 5 corresponded to epileptiform foci on respective EEGs compared to none of 3 incidentally detected venous angiomas in the control group (p-value, 0.0005). Conclusion Venous angiomas are usually asymptomatic when detected incidentally. However, adding a SWAN sequence in routine brain MRI for epilepsy patients may help to detect venous angiomas, which may cause focal seizure activity in these patients.

India’s biodiversity coupled with its vast resources including competitive workforce, highly intelligent scientific and rich business community make our country the best choice for growing vegetable crops like mushroom for world market. The field of mushroom crops is assuming importance because of growing demand for mushroom throughout the world. India is not a major producer of any particular variety of the mushroom, but it does cultivate mushrooms and has great potential as an important producer in the future. From a production standpoint, the white button mushroom has the highest growth rate and potential for production. However, the cultivation of oyster mushrooms has been more common since the end of the last century, when the infrastructure of oyster mushroom was much improved, therefore capital requirements went down as compared to requirements for white button mushroom cultivation.

Introduction: The ligand-activated transcription factors, nuclear hormone receptors (NHRs), remain unexplored in hematological malignancies except for retinoic acid receptor alpha (RARA).Methods: Here we profiled the expression of various NHRs and their coregulators in Chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) cell lines and identified a significant differential expression pattern between inherently imatinib mesylate (IM)-sensitive and resistant cell lines.Results: Retinoid-X-receptor alpha (RXRA) was downregulated in CML cell lines inherently resistant to IM and in primary CML CD34+ cells. Pre-treatment with clinically relevant RXRA ligands improved sensitivity to IM in-vitro in both CML cell lines and primary CML cells. This combination effectively reduced the viability and colony-forming capacity of CML CD34+ cells in-vitro. In-vivo, this combination reduced leukemic burden and prolonged survival. Overexpression (OE) of RXRA inhibited proliferation and improved sensitivity to IM in-vitro. In-vivo, RXRA OE cells showed reduced engraftment of cells in the bone marrow, improved sensitivity to IM, and prolonged survival. Both RXRA OE and ligand treatment markedly reduced BCR::ABL1 downstream kinase activation, activating apoptotic cascades and improving sensitivity to IM. Importantly, RXRA OE also led to the disruption of the oxidative capacity of these cells.Conclusion: Combining IM with clinically available RXRA ligands could form an alternative treatment strategy in CML patients with suboptimal response to IM.

The Present studywas conducted in the year 2022-2023 with asampleof100Soyabean farmers in Block of Pohri district of Shivpuri. The study reveals that the market share of UPL Ltd in Shivpuri district was found to be the maximum total of 1,03,000 viz. Herbicide, followed by Insecticides, and Fungicides. The market share and key existing competitors ofIRIS herbicide was found to be Patela, Sugam, Shaked, Fusiflex, Odyssey. While studying the customers it was found that customers buy agrochemicals maximum on the basis of relation with the dealers contributing followed by the quality of product, brand image, and price of the product and other source. The major constraints ofmarketing of IRIS herbicide were High cost of herbicide, lack of availability of information at farm level, quality of herbicide, lack of awareness and lack of field work and others.

Progression of leaf senescence consists of both degenerative and nutrient recycling processes in crops including wheat. However, the levels of metabolites in flag leaves in spring-cultivated wheat, as well as biosynthetic pathways involved under different nitrogen fertilization regimes, are largely unknown. Therefore, the present study employed a widely untargeted metabolomic profiling strategy to identify metabolites and biosynthetic pathways that could be used in a wheat improvement program aimed at manipulating the rate and onset of senescence by handling spring wheat (Dingxi 38) flag leaves sampled from no-, low-, and high-nitrogen (N) conditions (designated Groups 1, 2, and 3, respectively) across three sampling times: anthesis, grain filling, and end grain filling stages. Through ultrahigh-performance liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry, a total of 826 metabolites comprising 107 flavonoids, 51 phenol lipids, 37 fatty acyls, 37 organooxygen compounds, 31 steroids and steroid derivatives, 18 phenols, and several unknown compounds were detected. Upon the application of the stringent screening criteria for differentially accumulated metabolites (DAMs), 28 and 23 metabolites were differentially accumulated in Group 1_vs_Group 2 and Group 1_vs_Group 3, respectively. From these, 1-O-Caffeoylglucose, Rhoifolin, Eurycomalactone;Ingenol, 4-Methoxyphenyl beta-D-glucopyranoside, and Baldrinal were detected as core conserved DAMs among the three groups with all accumulated higher in Group 1 than in the other two groups. Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathway analysis revealed that tropane, piperidine, and pyridine alkaloid biosynthesis; acarbose and validamycin biosynthesis; lysine degradation; and biosynthesis of alkaloids derived from ornithine, lysine, and nicotinic acid pathways were the most significantly (p < 0.05) enriched in Group 1_vs_Group 2, while flavone and flavonol as well as anthocyanins biosynthetic pathways were the most significantly (p < 0.05) enriched in Group 1_vs_Group 3. The results from this study provide a foundation for the manipulation of the onset and rate of leaf senescence and N remobilization in wheat.

The present study entitled “Analyze the marketing efficiency, share and margin of (NPH-X4) Hybrid Paddy in Rohtas District of Bihar” was undertaken to study overview, marketing cost, margins and price spread, problems in different supply chains and preferences of farmers in Rohtas District of Bihar. Combinations of purposive stratified and random sampling technique were used for market functionaries and farmer selection required for the purpose of study. The data for the present study pertained to Agricultural year 2022- 2023. Secondary data was collected from secondary sources like marketing committee office APMC, Rohtas, Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE), India state etc. The data on family composition, participation of family members in farming activities, input-output coefficients in the production of hybrid paddy, yields, marketing costs, and prices collected from farmers and value addition, market margin and marketing costs were collected from market functionaries using pre tested questionnaires of these purposes. The data collected was subjected to various analytical tools apart from simple averages. Cost concepts were used to determine cost of market of hybrid paddy, market margin and price spread of hybrid paddy. Two important Supply chains were identified which operate through APMC Rohtas, Supply chain-l the produce is traded from Producer through Trader, Wholesaler, Retailer, and finally delivered to consumer and Supply chain the produce is traded from Producer, through Trader, Wholesaler, Retailer, and finally delivered to consumer. In both Supply chains price is determined in presence of Commission agents, Producers, and Traders or Processors. The study on problems associated with marketing of hybrid paddy shows that Cultivation Problem and knowledge barrier are two major problems according to farmers., {"references":["1.\tAhuja, S. S., Pramod Rikhi, Baldev Dogra. 2007. Economies of harvesting and threshing of wheat and paddy in Northern India. Journal of Agricultural Engineering (New Delhi). 44(2): 14-19. 2.\tAbey, P. Philp, (2008). \"An analytical study of market integration hypothesis for natural rubber cultivation of Kerala\". ICFAI University Journal of Agricultural Economics. 3.\tAloyce, R.M., Kaliba, Hugo, V. And Wilfred M., 2000, Factors affecting adoption of improved maize seeds and use of inorganic fertilizer for maize production in the intermediate and lowland zones of Tanzania. J. Agric. Appl. Econ., 32(1):35–47. 4.\tAchchuthan, S. And Kajananthan, R., 2012, A study on value chain analysis in Paddy Sector: Special Reference to Kilinochchi District, Sri Lanka. Glob. J. Manage. Bus. Res., 12(18): 13-22. 5.\tBhide, S., Chowdhury, A., Heady, E. O. And Muralidharan, M. A., 1981, Structural changes in an agriculture assembling markets: A case study of recant market in Mangalore, Karnataka state. Ind. J. Agric. Econ., 36(2): 25-34. 6.\tBrumfield, R. O., Adekya, A. O. And Liminger., 1993, Consumer tastes, preference and behavior in purchasing of fresh tomatoes. J. Am. Soc. Hort. Sci., 118 (3): 433-438"]}

Herbicides are used in agricultural and wildland ecosystems to reduce the density of weeds and promote the growth of desirable species. Use of herbicides in agroecosystems may change composition of weed populations. In wildlands, herbicides may increase the diversity of native species. Threats to plant biodiversity caused by habitat loss and invasive species are far greater than threats by use of herbicides. This article reviews concepts of weeds; principles of weed management; and categories, action, and fate of herbicides. Impacts of herbicides on biodiversity of target and nontarget species and the role of weed control in preserving biodiversity are also discussed. The increase and indiscriminate use of personal care products, food products, fertilizers, pesticides, and health products, among others, have resulted/are resulting in extensive environmental contamination. Most of these products contain traces of widespread chemicals, usually known as emerging pollutants (EPs) or pollutants of emerging concern (PEC). However, there is a gap in information related to the distribution of EPs in the environment of this region, with very few existing review texts exploring this issue. Therefore, this present paper advances this approach. The study shows that the wide distribution and recorded levels of these pollutants in the continental environment are potential risks to human health, mainly through food and drinking water ingestion. Besides that, pharmaceutical products and pesticides are compounds of high consumption worldwide, being environmental contamination a real and ongoing possibility. Finally, gaps and future research needs are deeply pointed out. Herbicides are one of the most recurring pollutants in the aquatic system due to their widespread usage in the agriculture sector for weed control. Semiconductor-based photocatalysts have gained recognition due to their ability to degrade and mineralize pollutants into harmless by-products completely. Lately, many studies have been done to design photocatalysts with efficient separation of photogenerated charge carriers and enhanced light absorption., {"references":["1.\tAli, M, Sabir, S. Mohy-ud-din, Q, and Ali, MA. 2004.International Journal of Agricultural Biology.6:647–51. 2.\tBartels, R. M. (2013). Capitalizing on India's Herbicide Boom. Farm Chemicals International. October 3.\tBartels, R. M. (2013). Capitalizing on India's Herbicide Boom. Farm Chemicals International. October 11. 4.\tBir SS, Sidhu M. In (1979). New Botanist.;6:79– 5.\tBinswanger, H.P., and S. V. R. Shetty. (1977) Economic aspects of weed control. In semi- arid tropical areas of India. International crop. Research institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics, Patancheru , Hyderabad, India, 6.\tOccasional paper Banga, R.S., et.al. (2003). Bio efficacy of flufenacet and sulfosulfuron alone and in Combination against weed flora in wheat. Indian J Weed Sci. 35[3]:179-182. 7.\tChatrath, R., et al. (2006). Yield potential survey – India. International Symposium on Wheat Yield Potential: Challenges to International. Wheat Breeding. 8.\tCIMMYT Dixit, A and Varshney, J.G. 2009. Herbicide use in field crops. P. 145 quoted from www.nrcws.org 9.\tAaker David, 2000, Building strong brands. The Free Press, New York."]}

This study surveys the advancement of horticultural automation, especially farm haulers, in India. In doing as such, it gives a few harsh marks of the degree of motorization (especially the spread of farm truck use) at various recorded stages, accentuating that India's encounters up to 1990 are essentially as significant as the illustrations from that point forward. The paper features the development of assorted examples of custom-employing administration arrangement, as well as heterogeneity in the speed of automation development across locales and agro natural zones. It additionally sums up the advancement of key related approaches in India that are probably going to have impacted farm hauler imports, supply, funding, producing, and related information sources like fuel and power.

This study surveys the advancement of horticultural automation, especially farm haulers, in India. In doing as such, it gives a few harsh marks of the degree of motorization (especially the spread of farm truck use) at various recorded stages, accentuating that India's encounters up to 1990 are essentially as significant as the illustrations from that point forward. The paper features the development of assorted examples of custom-employing administration arrangement, as well as heterogeneity in the speed of automation development across locales and agro natural zones. It additionally sums up the advancement of key related approaches in India that are probably going to have impacted farm hauler imports, supply, funding, producing, and related information sources like fuel and power., {"references":["1.\tAtkociuniene V and Zemeckis R. (2015). Characteristics of Modern Farm. Research for Rural Development. 2: 230-236. 2.\tAtkociuniene V and Zemeckis R .2015. Characteristics of Modern Farm. Research for Rural Developent2:230-236. 3.\tBihari B and Singh U. 2015. Adoption of Improved Agriculture Technology among Tribal Farmers Meghalaya's. Indian Journal of Extension Education 41:76-69. 4.\tCA et. al,(2014). Agricultural Mechanisation: A Strategy for Food Sufficiency. Scholarly Journal of Agricultural Science4(3): 152-156 5.\tDevi PI. 2012. Dynamics of Farm Labour Use-An Empirical Analysis. Agricultural Economics Research Review 25:317-326. 6.\tDiaoX , Silver J and Takeshima H (eds.). 2016. Agricultural Mechanization and Agricultural Transformation. African Transformation Report 2016: Transforming Africa's Agriculture.58p.Economic Development for Small Scale Farms in Adamawa State.The International Journal of Engineering and Science2(1):91-96"]}

Makhana or gorgon nut(Euryale ferox) is an aquatic crop belongs to Nymphaeaceae family and is grown in some district of North Bihar. The present study was under taken to study overview of marketing cost, marketing margin and price spread, constraints faced by farmers in Darbhanga district of Bihar. Combination of purposive stratified and random sampling technique were used for market functionaries and farmer selection were required for the purpose of the study. The data for the present study pertained to agriculture year 2021-2022. Secondary data was collected from secondary source like Market intermediate, market committee office, Research centre for makhana etc. The results revealed that on an average the marketing cost of the four different channel i.e, channel I, II, III, IV are Rs. 180.5, Rs. 335.5, Rs 786.5, and Rs. 1259. The average market margin of four different channel are Rs 50, Rs 240, Rs 680 and marketing efficiency of different channels are 20.39%, 11.99%, 5.53% & 4.95%. Cultivation of makhana has immense potential for enhancing the economic status of mallah community who are particularly engaged in its cultivation. Makhana cultivation is promoted to state government along with NRC, Darbhanga and training cum demonstration programme on cultivation practices should be imparted for efficient cultivation. Cultivation of makhana is fully organic and it should be promoted in developed countries of the world to increase export., {"references":["1.\tChaitanya A. GI 211 portfolio analysis for enhancing income of makhana growers in Bihar, project report PGDM, NAARM, 2.\tJain A, Singh HB, Kinjal PB2010. economics of Fox nut cultivation. A case study from Manipur in North eastern India. Indian journal for natural product and resource 3.\tJha S N, Parshad S. 1996 .gorgon fruit or makhana- Its cultivation and processing. Indian horticulture; 39(2): 18-20."]}

Chiral metasurface with orthogonal nanohelical metal arrays provide strong optical rotation but demands multi-step nanofabrication at low-pressure and/or high-temperature conditions, which is incompatible with many substrates and high-throughput assessment. Submillimeter local photonic patterns with various optical polarization were also hitherto unattainable over the same substrate. Here, we demonstrate direct substrate-tolerant printing of silver nanohelicoids with a locally variable optical activity using circularly polarized light (CPL), producing centimeter-scale chiral metasurface within minutes. The light-illuminated sites on the substrate immersed in an aqueous silver ion solution are activated for heterogeneous nucleation at room temperature. Subsequent CPL-induced asymmetric site-selective deposition and self-assembly of the silver nanoparticles (NPs) sculpt the orthogonal silver helicoids at the interface as one-pot synthesis. The ellipticity and wavelength of the incident photons control the handedness and size of the printed silver helicoids, realizing on-the-fly modulation of optical polarization while printing local patterns. Processing simplicity, high polarization rotation, and fine spatial resolution of the light-driven printing can provide a pathway to the sustainable production of chiral plasmonic metasurfaces, accelerating the development of chiral photonics for health and information technologies.

Psychosocial stressors are indicative of challenges associated with the social and environmental conditions an individual is subjected to. In a bid to clearly understand the present gaps in school sanitation, this cross-sectional study aimed to identify the sanitation-related psychosocial stressors experienced by students in a Nigerian peri-urban community and their associated impacts. A three-stage sampling technique was used to select 400 students from 10 schools. The students to toilet ratio were 1,521:0 and 1,510:0 for the public-school boys and girls, respectively, and 74:1 and 70:1 for the private-school boys and girls, respectively. Furthermore, public-school students had a significantly higher average stress level (P < 0.001, η2p = 0.071) and a significantly higher proportion of students experiencing school absenteeism (P < 0.001; odds ratio [OR] = 4.8; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 2.7–8.2), missed classes (P < 0.001; OR = 5.8; CI = 2.8–12.0), long urine/fecal retention time (P < 0.001; OR = 2.9; CI = 1.8–4.7), open defecation practice (P < 0.001; OR = 4.2; CI = 2.5–7.1), and open defecation-related anxiety (P < 0.001; OR = 3.6; CI = 2.0–6.5). Moreover, the inability to practice menstrual hygiene management was significantly associated with student-reported monthly school absence among girls (P < 0.001; OR = 4.5; CI = 2.2–9.4). Overall, over 50% of the respondents had reportedly been subjected to at least 14 of the 17 stressors outlined. The most prevalent stressors identified were concerns about disease contraction, toilet cleanliness, toilet phobia, privacy, and assault/injury during open defecation/urination. In conclusion, results show that the absence of functional sanitation facilities purportedly has a grievous effect on the mental, physical, social, and academic well-being of the students. This was clearly seen among public-school students. Subsequent sanitation interventions need to be targeted at ameliorating identified stressors.

Iron-sulfur clusters are ubiquitous cofactors required for various essential metabolic processes. Conservation of proteins required for their biosynthesis and trafficking allows for simple bacteria to be used as models to aid in exploring these complex pathways in higher organisms. Cyanobacteria are among the most investigated organisms for these processes, as they are unicellular and can survive under photoautotrophic and heterotrophic conditions. Herein, we report the potential role of Synechocystis PCC6803 NifU (now named SyNfu) as the principal scaffold protein required for iron-sulfur cluster biosynthesis in that organism. SyNfu is a well-folded protein with distinct secondary structural elements, as evidenced by circular dichroism and a well-dispersed pattern of 1H–15N HSQC NMR peaks, and readily reconstitutes as a [2Fe–2S] dimeric protein complex. Cluster exchange experiments show that glutathione can extract the cluster from holo-SyNfu, but the transfer is unidirectional. We also confirm the ability of SyNfu to transfer cluster to both human ferredoxin 1 and ferredoxin 2, while also demonstrating the capacity to deliver cluster to both monothiol glutaredoxin 3 and dithiol glutaredoxin 2. This evidence supports the hypothesis that SyNfu indeed serves as the main scaffold protein in Synechocystis, as it has been shown to be the only protein required for viability in the absence of photoautotrophic conditions. Similar to other NFU-type cluster donors and other scaffold and carrier proteins, such as ISCU, SyNfu is shown by DSC to be structurally less stable than regular protein donors, while retaining a relatively well-defined tertiary structure as represented by 1H–15N HSQC NMR experiments.

To determine the prevalence of May-Thurner syndrome (MTS) in left lower limb deep venous thrombosis (DVT) cases and to analyze the outcome of endovascular intervention in these patients.A record-based descriptive study was carried out in Radiology Department, King Fahad Military Medical Complex, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, including patients who underwent lower limb duplex ultrasounds between January 2015-2021. Patients with bilateral DVTs, known pelvic masses, and pelvic surgeries were excluded. All patients positive for DVTs were identified and further imaging was reviewed. Left common iliac vein compression of 50% or more on computed tomography (CT) was considered positive for MTS. Endovascular interventions (venoplasty alone or with stenting) were evaluated and success recorded by observing patency of vein on follow-up imaging or improvement of symptoms on follow-up visits.Of 182 patients with left lower limb duplex studies, 51 patients were positive for DVTs. A total of 37 patients had CTs and 21 patients had MTS (17 females, 3 males). A total of 15 patients underwent endovascular interventions, 2 patients had venoplasties alone (one successful) and 13 patients had venoplasties with stenting (10 successful).Patients with MTS as cause of DVT may benefit from early endovascular intervention.

Copper-bound fucose-binding peptide removes cellular sLex antigen that has been linked to cell adhesion and cancer metastasis. Catalytic and mass spectrometry assays further demonstrate degradation of native sLex tetrasaccharide in solution.

Additive manufacturing (AM), or 3D printing, of metals is transforming the fabrication of components, in part by dramatically expanding the design space, allowing optimization of shape and topology. However, although the physical processes involved in AM are similar to those of welding, a field with decades of experimental, modeling, simulation, and characterization experience, qualification of AM parts remains a challenge. The availability of exascale computational systems, particularly when combined with data-driven approaches such as machine learning, enables topology and shape optimization as well as accelerated qualification by providing process-aware, locally accurate microstructure and mechanical property models. We describe the physics components comprising the Exascale Additive Manufacturing simulation environment and report progress using highly resolved melt pool simulations to inform part-scale finite element thermomechanics simulations, drive microstructure evolution, and determine constitutive mechanical property relationships based on those microstructures using polycrystal plasticity. We report on implementation of these components for exascale computing architectures, as well as the multi-stage simulation workflow that provides a unique high-fidelity model of process–structure–property relationships for AM parts. In addition, we discuss verification and validation through collaboration with efforts such as AM-Bench, a set of benchmark test problems under development by a team led by the National Institute of Standards and Technology.

The first installment of this three-part series provided a procedure for quickly recording acceptable fluorescence spectra with classic commercial spectrofluorometers for most samples in common 1-cm pathlength cuvettes. Part 2 described how to correct for instrument response so data can be compared properly between laboratories. This part describes sample-specific concerns that could require modifications of our basic procedure to prevent our data from being inconsistent.

Supplemental material, sj-docx-1-asp-10.1177_00037028231181593 for Filter Fluorometer Calibration Without the Fluorometer by Caitlyn M. English, Zechariah B. Kitzhaber, Kazi Ragib I. Sanim, Nikolaos Vitzilaios, Michael E. Hodgson, Tammi L. Richardson and Michael L. Myrick in Applied Spectroscopy

Background: COVID-19 has become a serious public health issue throughout the world’s healthcare system due to its rapid spread. Because COVID-19 is so contagious, workers must be properly trained to prevent the virus from spreading to them. Protective clothing, sanitised gloves, and respirators are just a few examples of the safety precautions that need to be taken. Dental institutions and their affiliated health centres and research stations have been severely impacted by the coronavirus outbreak. According to the World Health Organisation (2020), the risk of fast infection is higher among individuals who are close to or who operate near the COVID-19 patients, for instance, family members or health practitioners. This research was conducted to determine the level of knowledge, preparedness, and perception of COVID-19 among dentists in the private and public dental sectors. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted that used a non-probability sampling method. The data were collected through online questionnaires between February 2021 and June 2021, where standardized close-ended questions were asked via Google forms from dentists in public and private dental sectors in five regions of Saudi Arabia. A total of 145 people responded to the questionnaire; three of them decided not to participate in the study, while 30 respondents failed to select the correct answer to the quality assurance question. The remaining 112 respondents were included in the analysis. This study was approved by the Ethics Committee of Prince Sultan Military College of Health Sciences (IRB-2021-DOH-021). Results: The findings showed that most dentists (58%) had high knowledge of COVID-19, which was followed closely by those who had average knowledge (34.8%), while the rest (7.1%) had insufficient knowledge about COVID-19. In terms of evaluating the level of preparedness, which included the method of prevention and practice of dentists while dealing with COVID19, results showed that most of the respondents (42.9%) indicated that they have the highest preparedness level. Concerning the level of perception of dentists toward COVID-19, the results showed that the majority (48.2%) of dentists had the highest perception. However, the perception level was higher compared to their level of preparedness but lower compared to their level of knowledge. Conclusion: Dentists in KSA have enough understanding of COVID-19 transmission and general information. As the number of COVID-19 cases in KSA and other countries continue to grow, dentists must stay up to date on the latest information concerning the disease. Continuous educational programs are required to improve the understanding of infection management.

We construct a spatially-compartmental individual-based model of the spread of Covid-19 in indoor spaces. The model can be used to predict the infection rates in a variety of locations when various non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) are introduced. Tasked by the Welsh Government, we apply the model to secondary schools and Further and Higher Education environments. Specifically, we consider student populations mixing in a classroom and in halls of residence. We focus on assessing the potential efficacy of Lateral Flow Devices (LFDs) when used in broad-based screens for asymptomatic infection or in ‘test-to-release’ scenarios in which individuals who have been exposed to infection are released from isolation given a negative result. LFDs are also compared to other NPIs; we find that, although LFD testing can be used to mitigate the spread of Covid-19, it is more effective to invest in personal protective equipment, e.g. masks, and in increasing ventilation quality. In addition, we provide an open-access and user-friendly online applet that simulates the individual-based model, complete with user tutorials to encourage the use of the model to aid educational policy decisions as input infection data evolves (https://bit.ly/CV19_INTER_IBM).

Part 1 of this three-part series provided a procedure for quickly recording acceptable fluorescence spectra with classic commercial spectrofluorometers for most samples in common 1-cm-pathlength cuvettes. Part 2 of the series describes instrument-specific concerns that require modifications to our initial procedure if we want spectra that can be accurately reproduced in other laboratories. Part 3 will discuss how the sample itself can make reproducibility between instruments challenging.

Introduction: The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was one of the first countries to implement a COVID-19 vaccination program. This study estimated the safety and reactogenicity of the ChAdOx1-S vaccine after the first dose administered to adults. Methods: This cross-sectional study included 1592 randomly selected vaccinees from April to May 2021. A questionnaire was delivered to the vaccinees via phone calls 7 and 21 days after the first vaccine dose. Results: Of the 1592 vaccinees who had the first dose, the mean age was 37.4 (± 9.6) years and 81% were males. Of all the vaccinees, 553 (34.7%) reported an adverse reaction on the first telephone call. The most common symptoms were: pain at the site of injection (485, 30.5%), musculoskeletal symptoms (438, 27.5%), skin rash (307, 19.2%), gastrointestinal symptoms (379, 23.8%) and fever (498, 31.3%). Men were more likely to report fever (76.9% vs. 23.1%; P = 0.005), skin rash (81.1% vs. 18.9%, P = 0.005) and pain at the injection site (77.3% vs. 22.7%, P < 0.0001). Post-vaccine COVID-19 infection was 0.5% and there were no hospitalizations. Conclusion: This study observed no major side effects of the ChAdOx1-S vaccine and no reported breakthrough infection during the observation period.

A growing body of literature have emphasized the effects of fertilization regimes on soil respiration and microbial community in the semiarid region, however, fertilization treatment effects on the soil CO2 emission, soil bacterial community, and their relationships from long-term experiments is lacking. In the present study, we investigated the effects of long-term fertilization regimes on soil bacterial community and thereafter on soil CO2 emission. A 9-year field experiment was conducted with five treatments, including no fertilizer (NA) and four fertilization treatments (inorganic fertilizer (CF), inorganic plus organic fertilizer (SC), organic fertilizer (SM), and maize straw (MS)) with equal N input as N 200 kg hm–2. The results indicated that CO2 emission was significantly increased under fertilization treatments compared to NA treatment. The bacterial abundance was higher under MS treatment than under NA treatment, while the Chao1 richness showed opposite trend. MS treatment significantly change soil bacterial community composition compared to NA treatment, the phyla (Alphaproteobacteria and Gammaproteobacteria) and potential keystone taxa (Nitrosomonadaceae and Beijerinckiaceae) were higher, while the Acidobacteriota was lower under MS treatment than under NA treatment. CO2 emission was positively correlated with the abundance of Alphaproteobacteria, Gammaproteobacteria, and keystone taxa, negatively correlated with these of Acidobacteriota. Random forest modeling and structural equation modeling determined soil organic carbon, total nitrogen, and the composition and network module III of the bacterial community are the main factors contribute to CO2 emission. In conclusion, our results suggest that the increased CO2 emission was affected by the varied of soil bacterial community composition derived from fertilization treatments, which was related to Alphaproteobacteria, Gammaproteobacteria, Acidobacteriota, and potential keystone taxa (Nitrosomonadaceae and Beijerinckiaceae), and highlight that the ecological importance of the bacterial community in mediating carbon cycling in the semiarid Loess Plateau.

Background: Gender-based violence (GBV) has been identified to be one of the ripple effects of the global pandemic. In countries like Nigeria, the situation is hypothesized to be worse because of widespread poverty and gender inequalities. Objective: To examine the exposure of females to GBV during the first 3 months of the COVID-19 lockdown. Method: This cross-sectional study was conducted in a low-income community in Lagos. Semi-structured questionnaires were administered to 130 respondents selected via systematic random sampling. Results: The mean age of the respondents was 26.89 ± 8.67 years. Majority worked informal jobs, while only 50% had attained beyond primary education. Within the period, the respondents had been subjected to sexual (54.6%), physical (52.3%), verbal assault (41.5%), and online sexual harassment (45.4%); of which only 30% reported to the police. Furthermore, respondents subjected to sexual (p=0.004) and physical assault (p=0.032) during the period earned significantly less money than other respondents. Conclusion: The fact that over 1 out of every 2 females was subjected to at least one form of GBV within the short timeframe shows how unsafe girls and women in low-income communities are. This calls for proactive community-level interventions to curb the GBV menace. Keywords: Gender-based violence; COVID-19; women; girls; assault.

Soil biosolarization (SBS) is an alternative technique for soil pest control to standard techniques such as soil fumigation and soil solarization (SS). By using both solar heating and fermentation of organic amendments, faster and more effective control of soilborne pathogens can be achieved. A circular economy may be created by using the residues of a given crop as organic amendments to biosolarize fields that produce that crop, which is termed circular soil biosolarization (CSBS). In this study, CSBS was employed by biosolarizing soil with amended tomato pomace (TP) residues and examining its impact on tomato cropping under conditions of abiotic stresses, specifically high salinity and nitrogen deficiency. The results showed that in the absence of abiotic stress, CSBS can benefit plant physiological performance, growth and yield relative to SS. Moreover, CSBS significantly mitigated the impacts of abiotic stress conditions. The results also showed that CSBS impacted the soil microbiome and plant metabolome. Mycoplana and Kaistobacter genera were found to be positively correlated with benefits to tomato plants health under abiotic stress conditions. Conversely, the relative abundance of the orders RB41, MND1, and the family Ellin6075 and were negatively correlated with tomato plants health. Moreover, several metabolites were significantly affected in plants grown in SS- and CSBS-treated soils under abiotic stress conditions. The metabolite xylonic acid isomer was found to be significantly negatively correlated with tomato plants health performance across all treatments. These findings improve understanding of the interactions between CSBS, soil ecology, and crop physiology under abiotic stress conditions.

We describe the control and interfacing of a fluorometer designed for aerial drone-based measurements of chlorophyll- a using an Arduino Nano 33 BLE Sense board. This 64 MHz controller board provided suitable resolution and speed for analog-to-digital (ADC) conversion, processed data, handled communications via the Robot Operating System (ROS) and included a variety of built-in sensors that were used to monitor the fluorometer for vibration, acoustic noise, water leaks and overheating. The fluorometer was integrated into a small Uncrewed Aircraft System (sUAS) for automated water sampling through a Raspberry Pi master computer using the ROS. The average power consumption was 1.1 W. A signal standard deviation of 334 µV was achieved for the fluorescence blank measurement, mainly determined by the input noise equivalent power of the transimpedance amplifier. An ADC precision of 130 µV for 10 Hz chopped measurements was achieved for signals in the input range 0-600 mV.