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The present study reports the cloudy grouper, Epinephelus erythrurus for the first time from off Odisha coast. The species was confirmed by using morphometric analyses and COI gene sequencing. Hence the study updates the fish species diversity along the Odisha coast by adding another Epinephelus species to the family Epinephelidae faunal composition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A menippid crab Myomenippe hardwickii (Gray, 1831) was obtained in the macrobenthic collections from Hukitola, a mangrove-associated Bay located south of Bhitarkanika, Odisha, on the east coast of India. Although the crab was reported from the coastal waters adjoining Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal, documentation of the species from Odisha remained elusive until the current study. Therefore, species diagnosis with suitable illustrations and ecological details are provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As of now, SRAM-based FPGAs are mainly preferred in the non-safety applications of NPPs. If the susceptibility to radiation effects of SRAM-FPGAs improves further, then the reliability of the applications can be improved. This experimental study investigates the radiation absorbed dose effects in SRAM-based FPGAs. The irradiation experiments have been conducted by keeping the device in both the power-on and power-off states inside a gamma radiation chamber of Co-60 source. In some applications, the device is deployed in the radiation environments and remains in the power-off condition for substantial period. At the time of need, the device may not function properly as demanded by the system due to the cumulative dose effect on SRAM-based FPGA. So the study of irradiation experiments on SRAM-FPGAs in the power-off state has its significant importance the same as the power-on state. The power supply current variation and the functionality failure of the device are monitored in both cases. In the power-on test, the device is configured with particular functionality and the parameters are measured continuously, but in the power-off test, the performance variations of the device are captured after configuring the device at particular time intervals during the course of the experiment. Along with the power supply current variation, we used an indirect method of measuring the propagation delay based on ring oscillator implementation. The device has been irradiated up to a dose level of 2.5 Mrad in power-on test and up to 50 Mrad in the power-off test. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Present study was envisaged to examine existence of genetic group x THI in crossbred cows at institute herd of ERS, ICAR-NDRI, Kalyani, West Bengal. 1041 fertility records each on service period (SP) and conception rate (CR) and weather parameters spanned over 22 years (1994-2015) were collected; arranged under three THI groups; thermal comfort (THI<72), two heat stress zones (THI 72-78) and THI>78 and six genetic groups.SP was longest (163.61 ± 6.83 days) when THI>78and lowest (149.27±6.69 days) during THI<72. CR was lowest (65.66±2.73 %) when THI>78 and highest (70.54±2.8 %) at THI<72. Genetic group x THI was non-significant on SP and CR. However, there was re-ranking of genetic groups across three THI zones. Genetic group bearing 50% Jersey + 50% Tharparkar followed by 50% Jersey + 50% Red Sindhi exhibited least increase in SP (5.09 and 6.37 days) when THI>78.Cows bearing 50% Jersey and 50% indigenous cattle inheritance followed by 50% Jersey + 50% Red Sindhi and 50% Jersey + 50% Tharparkar depicted least drop in CR at THI>78 (-2.38, -2.40 and -3.6%) in comparison to THI<72. The genetic group with>75% Jersey depicted maximum increase in SP (15.33 days) and drop in CR (-7.43%) at THI>78. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this letter, for the first time, we propose a unified framework based on attentive cycle-generative adversarial network for the synthesis of electrocardiogram (ECG) signals from the seismocardiogram (SCG) signals. The proposed attentive cycle generative adversarial network exploits dual generators and dual discriminators to learn the pattern for the synthesis of ECG from SCG and vice versa. The proposed framework is evaluated on publicly available combined measurement of ECG, breathing and seismocardiogram (CEBS) database. Subjective visual analysis and objective performance metrics demonstrate that the proposed framework can accurately derive the ECG signal from SCG signal. Since, the SCG can be recorded using a wearable and non-adhesive modality, it can provide comfort to the patients by avoiding adhesive ECG electrodes. Further, the derived ECG can help in better cardiac rhythm and arrhythmia analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gynecological cancers are currently a major public health concern due to increase in incidence and mortality globally. PIWI-interacting RNA (piRNA) are small non-coding RNA consisting of 24-32 nucleotides that plays regulatory role by interacting with piwi family of protein. Recent studies have revealed that piRNAs are expressed in various kinds of human tissues and influences key signalling pathways at transcriptional and post transcriptional levels. Studies have also that suggested piRNA and PIWI proteins display frequently altered expression in several cancers. Recent research has indicated that abnormal expression of piRNA may play a significant role in development and progression of gynecological cancers. Clinical studies suggested that, abnormally expressed piRNAs may serve as diagnostic and prognostic marker, and as potential therapeutic targets in these cancers. In the present review article, we discussed the emerging role of piRNA and their utility as diagnostic and prognostic marker in gynecological cancers., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest All the authors declare that there are no potential conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Lung carcinoma was the ace cause of cancer deaths globally in 2022, with non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC) accounting for 81% of the burden. Due to promising tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) trials, NSCLC patients harboring epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) gene mutations are of interest. Our aim was to determine EGFR mutation prevalence in north India and its histologic and demographic correlations. We investigated the frequency of EGFR mutations in 40 patients with histologically confirmed NSCLC using real-time polymerase chain reaction. A 15% mutation frequency was observed in the study sample, involving 32 males and 8 females with a median age of 59 years. Squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) patients had only EXON20 (T790M, exon20 insertion) mutations, while adenocarcinoma patients had mutations in both EXON20 (T790M) and 21 (L858R) with mutation frequencies of 22% and 10%, respectively. 28% of the SCC patients were non-smokers, and 60% of these non-smokers had an EGFR mutation. South Indian and Asian studies have identified EXON19 (19-Del) and EXON21 (L858R) mutations as "common mutations" that account for nearly 80-90% of all mutations and respond well to TKIs. Interestingly, "common mutations" were found seldom in our study population, while the uncommon variants constitute 83% of all mutations, which we assume is due to diverse Indian genetics and ethnicity and co-existing signature mutations that involve the tyrosine kinase domain of EXON20. We suggest future genome-wide association studies to identify plausible genetic polymorphisms responsible for interethnic differences in EGFR mutation, which will contribute to better treatment and prevention of NSCLCs.

Aged patients with melanoma (>65 years old) have more aggressive disease relative to young patients (<55 years old) for reasons that are not completely understood. Analysis of the young and aged secretome from human dermal fibroblasts identified >5-fold levels of IGF-binding protein 2 (IGFBP2) in the aged fibroblast secretome. IGFBP2 functionally triggers upregulation of the PI3K-dependent fatty acid biosynthesis program in melanoma cells. Melanoma cells co-cultured with aged dermal fibroblasts have higher levels of lipids relative to those co-cultured with young dermal fibroblasts, which can be lowered by silencing IGFBP2 expression in fibroblasts prior to treating with conditioned media. Conversely, ectopically treating melanoma cells with recombinant IGFBP2 in the presence of conditioned media from young fibroblasts or overexpressing IGFBP2 in melanoma cells promoted lipid synthesis and accumulation in melanoma cells. Treatment of young mice with rIGFBP2 increases tumor growth. Neutralizing IGFBP2 in vitro reduces migration and invasion in melanoma cells, and in vivo studies demonstrate that neutralizing IGFBP2 in syngeneic aged mice reduces tumor growth and metastasis. Our results suggest that aged dermal fibroblasts increase melanoma cell aggressiveness through increased secretion of IGFBP2, stressing the importance of considering age when designing studies and treatment., Significance: The aged microenvironment drives metastasis in melanoma cells. This study reports that IGFBP2 secretion by aged fibroblasts induces lipid accumulation in melanoma cells, driving an increase in tumor invasiveness. Neutralizing IGFBP2 decreases melanoma tumor growth and metastasis., (©2024 The Authors; Published by the American Association for Cancer Research.)

Introduction: Endodontic retreatment is essential for periapical healing, involving the removal of inadequate fillings, thorough cleaning, and new filling application to prevent leakage. This study compares the dissolving abilities of Eucalyptus, Orange, and Castor oils in the re-treatment of resin-based endodontic fillings using conventional and rotary techniques., Methodology: Thirty single-rooted human teeth were prepared and filled with gutta-percha and AH Plus sealer. They were divided into three groups (n=10) based on the solvent used (Eucalyptus, Orange, or Castor oil) and further subdivided based on the techniques used (conventional and rotary). Standardised re-treatment procedures were performed, and the amount of residual material was measured., Results: A significant difference (p<0.001) was found among the groups, indicating that both the type of solvent and the technique significantly affected the amount of residual material. The rotary technique generally left less residual material compared to the conventional technique for all solvents. Eucalyptus oil with the rotary technique showed the least residual material (mean = 5.8), while Castor oil with the conventional technique showed the most (mean = 10.2)., Conclusion: Eucalyptus oil, especially when used with rotary techniques, is highly effective in removing resin-based endodontic fillings, providing a viable and safer alternative to traditional solvents. The study underscores the importance of selecting appropriate solvents and techniques for successful endodontic re-treatment., Competing Interests: Human subjects: Consent was obtained or waived by all participants in this study. S. Nialingappa Institute of Dental Sciences and Research Institutional Ethics Committee issued approval HKES/SNIDSR/IEC/SS/10/22. S. Nialingappa Institute of Dental Sciences and Research Institutional Ethics Committee reviewed and discussed your application to conduct clinical research and approved the trial to be conducted in its present form. Animal subjects: All authors have confirmed that this study did not involve animal subjects or tissue. Conflicts of interest: In compliance with the ICMJE uniform disclosure form, all authors declare the following: Payment/services info: All authors have declared that no financial support was received from any organization for the submitted work. Financial relationships: All authors have declared that they have no financial relationships at present or within the previous three years with any organizations that might have an interest in the submitted work. Other relationships: All authors have declared that there are no other relationships or activities that could appear to have influenced the submitted work., (Copyright © 2024, Siraparapu et al.)

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of different irrigating solutions as well as their combination and activation modes on root canal dentin microhardness. The protocol was registered in PROSPERO and PRISMA guidelines were followed. The structured question was as follows: "Which type of irrigating solution used in endodontic treatment causes more change in dentin microhardness?" The literature was screened via PubMed, Google Scholar, Scopus, and Science Direct. The last search was carried out in February 2023 with English language restriction. Two reviewers independently performed screening and evaluation of articles. A total of 470 articles were retrieved from all the databases, whereas only 114 articles were selected for full-text analysis. After applying eligibility criteria, 44 studies were evaluated and included in this review. The results showed that with increased contact time with irrigants, dentin microhardness decreases. Increased contact time with sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl) was associated with more reduction in dentin microhardness compared with other irrigants. Other irrigants, with the exception of distilled water, including EDTA, citric acid, herbal irrigants, glycolic acid, phytic acid, etc., in this study significantly decreased dentin microhardness. The maximum reduction in dentin microhardness was seen with 2.5% NaOCl after 15 min of contact time. The use of irrigating solutions alters the chemical composition of dentin, thereby decreasing its microhardness, which affects the clinical performance of endodontically treated teeth.

Background and Objectives: RNA viruses are complex pathogens in terms of their genetic makeup, mutation frequency, and transmission modes. They contain the RNA helicase enzyme, which plays a crucial role in the viral genome replication process. This work aims to develop and screen a potential molecule that could function as a dengue virus (DENV) RNA helicase inhibitor., Methods: The present study was performed by taking 26 potential derivatives of gedunin phytochemicals from the PubChem database as ligands. The binding study of the compounds were analyzed by in silico docking method considering DENV RNA helicase enzyme as the receptor., Results: After a thorough analysis of the docking scores, toxicity, and physicochemical properties, compound tetrahydrogedunin was obtained as the best. Based on tetrahydrogedunin molecular structure, 100 drug-like molecules were designed using the Data Warrior tool. After the screening process for drug-likeness and ADMET properties, the derivative number 42 was considered as the promising. Further comparative docking of derivative 42 and a standard inhibitor molecule ST-610 with DENV RNA helicase enzyme showed binding affinity as -10.0 kcal/mol and -9.6 kcal/mol, respectively. The favorable interaction between DENV RNA helicase and derivative 42 was further validated by 50 nanoseconds molecular dynamics simulation and MM-GBSA analysis., Interpretation Conclusion: Since the antiviral activity of derivative 42 has not been reported till date, the compound was predicted as a novel therapeutic molecule that can act against the dengue virus (DENV) RNA helicase enzyme., (Copyright © 2024 Copyright: © 2024 Journal of Vector Borne Diseases.)

Objective: Tuberculosis (TB) remains a major health problem, especially in the developing countries. Fine-needle aspiration cytology is the first line of investigation for tubercular lymphadenitis as it is easy to perform, less invasive, quick, and economical. The typical cytopathological features of tuberculosis TB include epithelioid cell granulomas with Langhans giant cells and caseous necrosis. The present study aimed to evaluate the cytomorphological features of newly diagnosed cases of tubercular lymphadenitis confirmed by GeneXpert., Material and Methods: This was a retrospective study in which all fine-needle aspirates from newly diagnosed cases of tubercular lymphadenitis confirmed by GeneXpert over a 1-year period from July 2022 to July 2023 were included in the study. The May-Grunwald-Giemsa stained smears from these aspirates were categorized into three patterns-epithelioid cell granulomas with necrosis, epithelioid granulomas without necrosis, and necrosis only. The granulomas were further categorized into well-formed, ill--formed, and splintered. The background of the aspirate which included a reactive lymphoid background, lymphocytes, eosinophils, and neutrophils was tabulated for all the cases., Results: Out of the three cytomorphological patterns, epithelioid granulomas with necrosis were the most predominant (67.5%), followed by necrosis only (20.8%) and granulomas without necrosis (11.6%). An acid-fast bacilli (AFB) positivity of 53.3% (64 cases) was seen on the Ziehl-Neelsen stain. Well-composed, poorly formed, and splintered granulomas were seen in 55 (57.9%), 42 (44.2%), and 21 (22.1%) cases, respectively. Neutrophils were the most common background population (42, 35%) followed by lymphocytes (36, 30%). Reactive lymphoid cells and eosinophils were seen in 12 (10%) and 3 (2.5%) cases, respectively., Conclusion: Fine-needle aspiration cytology is a rapid inexpensive minimally invasive test for tubercular lymphadenitis as epithelioid cell granulomas along with caseous necrosis are highly suggestive of TB. However, manual acid-fast AFB detection has a low sensitivity as is illustrated in the present study where only AFBwas demonstrated in only 53.3% of cases., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest and amongst authors, the authors affiliated in Vardhman Mahavir Medical College and Safdarjung Hospital claims no conflict of interest., (© 2024 The Author(s). Published by Scientific Scholar.)

A significant health issue, reproductive toxicity is mostly linked to exposure to various environmental heavy metals. A pervasive toxin that occurs naturally in the environment is arsenic (As). This research was done to determine the effects of various doses of inorganic As supplements on the reproductive organs of adult male white Pekin ducks. A total of 240 numbers of 14-days-old male white Pekin ducks were weighed and randomly assigned into 4 experimental groups with six replicates (10 ducklings in each replicate). The experimental groups were as follows: (T-1) basal diet along with normal drinking water (control group); (T-2 to T-4) basal diet along with As in the form of sodium-meta-arsenite at 7, 14, and 28 ppm of drinking water respectively. The results showed reduction in body weight and testicular weight, disruption of spermatogenesis, reduction in follicular-stimulating hormone (FSH), leutinizing hormone (LH), and testosterone levels and histopathological alterations as compared to control. Additionally, there was not only a significant decrease in various antioxidant parameters in testis tissue, like catalase (CAT), reduced glutathione (GSH), super oxide dismutase (SOD), and ferric-reducing antioxidant power (FRAP), but also a significant increase in oxidative parameters of testis like lipid peroxidation (LPO), myloperoxidase (MPO), nitric oxide (NO), and super oxide anion radical (O 2 - ) in As-treated groups, in comparison with T-1. A significantly higher level of As content in testis was observed in all the 3 As-treated groups, with highest level recorded in T-4 birds. Besides that, there was upregulation of nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB), heat shock proteins (Hsps) and pro-inflammatory cytokines like interlukin (IL) series, i.e., IL-2, IL-6, IL-18, IL-1β and tumor necrosis factor- α (TNF-α) levels, whereas anti-inflammatory parameters like IL-4 and IL-10 levels showed downregulation in testis of As-treated groups. Together, these findings provide deeper understandings of the roles played by oxidative stress, NF-κB and Hsps in the progression of testicular injury, which may help to explain how the As induced male sterility, in ducks, due to exposure., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)

Present study was conducted to investigate the impact of temperature humidity index (THI) on expected breeding value (EBV) for daily milk yield (DMY) and monthly test day fat% (MTDF%) and monthly test day SNF% (MTDSNF%) of Murrah buffaloes at ICAR-National Dairy Research Institute, Karnal. 302,101 records of DMY and 9864 records each on MTDF% and MTDSNF% buffaloes spanned over 20 years (1994 to 2013) from NDRI, Karnal, and meteorological were collected from ICAR-CSSRI, Karnal. The year was classified into three zones: non-heat stress (NHSZ), heat stress (HSZ), and critical heat stress zone (CHSZ) based on THI. The heritability (h 2 ) estimates for DMY, MTDF%, and MTDSNF% in NHSZ were 0.432 ± 0.054, 0.090 ± 0.004, and 0.070 ± 0.002; in HSZ 0.491 ± 0.073, 0.112 ± 0.003, and 0.052 ± 0.001; and in CHSZ 0.524 ± 0.077, 0.116 ± 0.004, and 0.092 ± 0.003, respectively. The repeatability (r) for DMY, MTDF%, and MTDSNF% in NHSZ were 0.528 ± 0.006, 0.166 ± 0.007, and 0.135 ± 0.007; in HSZ 0.572 ± 0.007, 0.198 ± 0.006, and 0.077 ± 0.006; and in CHSZ 0.599 ± 0.008, 0.217 ± 0.004, and 0.156 ± 0.009, respectively. EBV for DMY and MTDF% was maximum in NHSZ (8.85 kg and 7.85%) and in HSZ (7.27 kg and7.78%) and lowest (6.90 kg and 7.77%) at CHSZ. For MTDSNF%, EBV was highest during NHSZ (9.6403), declined to 9.6265 at HSZ, and marginally elevated to 9.6271 at CHSZ. Impact of climatic factors on milk production and constituent traits is vital, and proper management should be followed during the heat stress and critical heat stress periods to improve the production performance of Murrah buffaloes., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature B.V.)

The incessant accumulation of pharmaceutically active compounds (PhACs) in various environmental compartments represents a global menace. Herein, an equimolar high entropy alloy (HEA), i.e., FeCoNiCuZn, is synthesized via a facile and scalable method, and its effectiveness in eliminating four different PhACs from aqueous matrices is rigorously examined. Attributing to its relatively low bandgap and multielement active sites, the as-synthesized quinary HEA demonstrates more pronounced photocatalytic decomposition efficiency, towards tetracycline (86%), sulfamethoxazole (94%), ibuprofen (80%), and diclofenac (99%), than conventional semiconductor-based photocatalysts, under visible light irradiation. Additionally, radical trapping assays are conducted, and the dissociation intermediates are identified, to probe the plausible photocatalytic degradation pathways. Further, the end-products of FeCoNiCuZn-mediated photocatalysis are apparently non-toxic, and the HEA can be successfully recycled repeatedly, with no obvious leaching of heavy metal ions. Overall, the findings of this study testify the applicability of FeCoNiCuZn as a visible light-active photocatalyst, for treating wastewaters contaminated with PhACs., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper, (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Background. Fibro-adipose vascular anomaly (FAVA) is a rare benign mesenchymal lesion. Characterized primarily by intramuscular vascular malformation with secondary overgrowth of other mesenchymal elements, particularly fibro-adipose tissue, the condition is sometimes complicated by nonspecific clinical and imaging features, causing diagnostic dilemma. Herein, we attempted to outline and correlate the clinical characteristics, imaging findings, and histopathological features of this unusual entity. Method. The study design was retrospective in nature. Computerized database of our institute was searched for tumors, and archived slides were reviewed. Pertinent clinical data including imaging findings and treatment details were also recovered for correlation. Result. Among total of 24 patients identified, mean age was approximately 16 years, with the presence of nearly equal gender distribution. Pain along with swelling was most common symptoms with the presence of movement limitation, in few. Most lesions were long-standing and anatomically confined to lower limb with no side predilection. Using imaging, the majority of the lesions were identified as vascular anomaly or venous malformation, with FAVA being a differential diagnosis in few lesions. However, in a couple of patients, likelihood of mesenchymal tumors was also suggested, radiologically. On histology, the lesions showed the presence of clustered back to back, abnormal thin-walled, variably dilated, blood-filled sac-like vessels amid skeletal muscle bundles, along with extensive fibro-adipose tissue and variably atrophic skeletal muscle bundles, at the periphery, diagnostic of FAVA. Conclusion. Owing to the presence of overlapping clinical and imaging features, FAVA is often misdiagnosed, causing dilemma in clinical management. Clinical, radiological, and histopathological correlation is thereby warranted for clinching the correct diagnosis., Competing Interests: Declaration of Conflicting InterestsThe author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Boron monoxide (BO), prepared by the thermal condensation of tetrahydroxydiboron, was first reported in 1955; however, its structure could not be determined. With the recent attention on boron-based two-dimensional materials, such as borophene and hexagonal boron nitride, there is renewed interest in BO. A large number of stable BO structures have been computationally identified, but none are supported by experiments. The consensus is that the material likely forms a boroxine-based two-dimensional material. Herein, we apply advanced 11 B NMR experiments to determine the relative orientations of B(B)O 2 centers in BO. We find that the material is composed of D 2 h -symmetric O 2 B-BO 2 units that organize to form larger B 4 O 2 rings. Further, powder diffraction experiments additionally reveal that these units organize to form two-dimensional layers with a random stacking pattern. This observation is in agreement with earlier density functional theory (DFT) studies that showed B 4 O 2 -based structures to be the most stable.

Mitochondrial dysfunction is one of the fundamental causes of ischemia reperfusion (I/R) damage. I/R refers to the paradoxical progression of cellular dysfunction and death that occurs when blood flow is restored to previously ischemic tissues. I/R causes a significant rise in mitochondrial permeability resulting in the opening of mitochondrial permeability transition pores (MPTP). The MPTP are broad, nonspecific channels present in the inner mitochondrial membrane (IMM), and are known to mediate the deadly permeability alterations that trigger mitochondrial driven cell death. Protection from reperfusion injury occurs when long-term ischemia is accompanied by short-term ischemic episodes or inhibition of MPTP from opening via mitochondrial ATP dependent potassium (mitoK ATP ) channels. These channels located in the IMM, play an essential role in ischemia preconditioning (PC) and protect against cell death by blocking MPTP opening. This review primarily focuses on the interaction between the MPTP and mitoK ATP along with their role in the I/R injury. This article also describes the molecular composition of the MPTP and mitoK ATP in order to promote future knowledge and treatment of diverse I/R injuries in various organs., Competing Interests: Conflict of interest statement There are no conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2023. Published by Elsevier Masson SAS.)

Developing materials for controlled hydrogen production through water splitting is one of the most promising ways to meet current energy demand. Here, we demonstrate spontaneous and green production of hydrogen at high evolution rate using gadolinium telluride (GdTe) under ambient conditions. The spent materials can be reused after melting, which regain the original activity of the pristine sample. The phase formation and reusability are supported by the thermodynamics calculations. The theoretical calculation reveals ultralow activation energy for hydrogen production using GdTe caused by charge transfer from Te to Gd. Production of highly pure and instantaneous hydrogen by GdTe could accelerate green and sustainable energy conversion technologies., Competing Interests: The authors declare no competing interests., (© 2023.)

The present study aimed to explore haplotype structure, runs of homozygosity (ROH), effective population size and persistence of gametic phase among three indigenous dairy cattle breeds, viz., Sahiwal (n = 19), Tharparkar (n = 17), and Gir (n = 16) by using BovineHD single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) genotyping assay. The filtered SNPs after quality control ranged from 44% in Sahiwal to 53% in Gir. The highest number of haplotype blocks was observed in Tharparkar (15,640) and the lowest in Sahiwal (8027) spanning 17.3% and 7.8% of genome, respectively. The average block length was found close to 26 kb which suggests that multiple recombination events fragmented the ancestral haplotypes into smaller sizes. Gir cattle had the largest number of runs of homozygosity (ROH) regions (1762) followed by Tharparkar (1528) and Sahiwal (1138). Without pedigree information, inbreeding coefficients estimated from ROH (F ROH ) revealed that Gir had the highest F ROH (0.099) proposing more inbreeding rate in this population. Effective population size (N e ) decreased slowly over the last 60 generations and at 13 generations ago; N e was estimated as 70 for all the three dairy breeds. The highest gametic phase correlation (r = 0.78) was observed for Sahiwal and Tharparkar breed pair suggesting formulation of multi-breed reference population for successful implementation of genomic selection among dairy breeds. The decline in effective population size among native Indian cattle breeds may help in formulating strategies for conservation and genetic improvement of native germplasm for future use., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature B.V.)

Prenyldiphosphate synthases catalyze the reaction of allylic diphosphates with one or more isopentenyl diphosphate molecules to form compounds such as farnesyl diphosphate, used in, e.g., sterol biosynthesis and protein prenylation, as well as longer "polyprenyl" diphosphates, used in ubiquinone and menaquinone biosynthesis. Quinones play an essential role in electron transport and are associated with the inner mitochondrial membrane due to the presence of the polyprenyl group. In this work, we investigated the synthesis of the polyprenyl diphosphate that alkylates the ubiquinone ring precursor in Toxoplasma gondii, an opportunistic pathogen that causes serious disease in immunocompromised patients and the unborn fetus. The enzyme that catalyzes this early step of the ubiquinone synthesis is Coq1 (TgCoq1), and we show that it produces the C35 species heptaprenyl diphosphate. TgCoq1 localizes to the mitochondrion and is essential for in vitro T. gondii growth. We demonstrate that the growth defect of a T. gondii TgCoq1 mutant is rescued by complementation with a homologous TgCoq1 gene or with a (C45) solanesyl diphosphate synthase from Trypanosoma cruzi (TcSPPS). We find that a lipophilic bisphosphonate (BPH-1218) inhibits T. gondii growth at low-nanomolar concentrations, while overexpression of the TgCoq1 enzyme dramatically reduced growth inhibition by the bisphosphonate. Both the severe growth defect of the mutant and the inhibition by BPH-1218 were rescued by supplementation with a long-chain (C30) ubiquinone (UQ 6 ). Importantly, BPH-1218 also protected mice against a lethal T. gondii infection. TgCoq1 thus represents a potential drug target that could be exploited for improved chemotherapy of toxoplasmosis. IMPORTANCE Millions of people are infected with Toxoplasma gondii, and the available treatment for toxoplasmosis is not ideal. Most of the drugs currently used are only effective for the acute infection, and treatment can trigger serious side effects requiring changes in the therapeutic approach. There is, therefore, a compelling need for safe and effective treatments for toxoplasmosis. In this work, we characterize an enzyme of the mitochondrion of T. gondii that can be inhibited by an isoprenoid pathway inhibitor. We present evidence that demonstrates that inhibition of the enzyme is linked to parasite death. In addition, the inhibitor can protect mice against a lethal dose of T. gondii. Our results thus reveal a promising chemotherapeutic target for the development of new medicines for toxoplasmosis.

This study aimed to determine the prevalence and quality of endodontic treatment, by radiographically assessing the periapical periodontitis and endodontic treatment status in patients with cardiovascular disease (CVD) and cardiovascular risk (CVR) factors. Patients who visited the Out Patient Department of Institute of Dental Sciences and Department of Cardiology, Institute of Medical Sciences and SUM Hospital, Siksha 'O' Anusandhan University, Bhubaneswar, from August 2021 to February 2022, for a check-up or dental problem were considered as participants in this study. After obtaining informed consent, the participants were enrolled on the Oral Infections and Vascular Disease Epidemiology Study (INVEST) IDS, BHUBANESWAR. After testing negative for COVID-19, patients' demographic details, such as age and gender were recorded, followed by a panoramic radiographic examination (OPG). A total sample of 408 patients were divided into three groups: Group 1/control (without any cardiovascular manifestation) consisting of 102 samples, group 2 of 222 CVR patients, and group 3 of 84 CVD cases. The CVR and CVD groups had a preponderance of elderly age groups between 60 to 70 years, with a significantly higher proportion of males. Co-morbidities such as diabetes mellitus, hypertension, and dyslipidemia were significantly associated with the CVR and CVD groups. From OPG interpretation, it was observed that the periapical radiolucency was greater in the CVR and CVD groups than in the control group ( p = 0.009). The prevalence of endodontically treated teeth was higher in CVR and CVD than in the control group ( p = 0.028). A high prevalence of dental caries, about 70%, was reported in all three groups ( p = 0.356). The presence of dental restoration among all the groups was low ( p = 0.079). The proportion of periodontal bone loss in the control group was significantly lower than CVR and CVD ( p = 0.000). There was a strong association between periapical radiolucency, endodontically treated teeth, and periodontal bone loss in CVR and CVD patients. Notably, the associations reported herein do not reflect a cause-effect relationship; however, individuals with endodontic pathologies may accumulate additional risk factors predisposing them to hypertension or other CVDs. The results emphasize that eliminating local infections may decrease the systemic infection burden.

The molecular origin of two- (2PA) and three-photon absorption (3PA) activity in three experimentally studied chromophores, prototypical dipolar systems, is investigated. To that end, a generalized few-state model (GFSM) formula is derived for the 3PA transition strength for nonhermitian theories and employed at the coupled-cluster level of theory. Using various computational techniques such as molecular dynamics, linear and quadratic response theories, and GFSM, an in-depth analysis of various optical channels involved in 2PA and 3PA processes is presented. It is found that the four-state model involving the second and third excited singlet states as intermediates is the smallest model among all considered few-state approximations that produces 2PA and 3PA transition strengths (for S 0 → S 1 transition) close to the reference results. By analyzing various optical channels appearing in these models and involved in studied multiphoton processes, we found that the 2PA and 3PA activities in all the three chromophores are dominated and hence controlled by the dipole moment of the final excited state. The similar origins of the 2PA and the 3PA in these prototypical dipolar chromophores suggest transferability of structure-property relations from the 2PA to the 3PA domain.

Metal oxide nanoparticles have been extensively studied for their toxicological impacts. However, accurate tracing/quantification of the nanomaterials and their biological responses are difficult to measure at low concentrations. To overcome the challenge, we developed a dual-labelling technique of CuO nanoparticles with a stable isotope of 65 Cu, and with rhodamine dye. In vivo experiments on C. elegans were performed using natural feeding of Rhodamine B isothiocyanate-(3 aminopropyl) triethoxysilane functionalized 65 CuO nanoprobes (RBITC-APTES@ 65 CuO) (size = 7.41 ± 1 nm) within the range of Predicted Environmental Concentration (PEC) of CuO nanoparticles in soil and sediments. Fluorescence emission (570 nm) was detected in the lumen of the intestine and the pharynx of C. elegans with no impact of nanoparticle exposure on the brood size and life span of worms. The ingested fluorescent labelled RBITC-APTES@ 65 CuO nanoprobes did not enter the reproductive system and were distributed in the alimentary canal of C. elegans. Strong fluorescent signals from the ingested RBITC-APTES@ 65 CuO nanoprobes were achieved even after 24 h of exposure demonstrating the high stability of these nanoprobes in vivo. The net accumulation measured of 65 Cu in C. elegans after background subtraction was 0.001 μg mg -1 (3.52 %), 0.005 μg mg -1 (1.76 %) and 0.024 μg mg -1 (1.69 %) for an exposure concentration of 0.0284 μg mg -1 , 0.284 μg mg -1 , and 1.42 μg mg -1 of 65 Cu, respectively. Using C. elegans as a model organism, we demonstrated that RBITC-APTES tagged 65 CuO nanoparticles acted as novel nanoprobes for measuring the uptake, accumulation, and biodistribution through quantification and imaging the nanoprobes at a very low exposure concentration ( 65 CuO concentration: 0.033 μg mg -1 )., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

The present experiment was carried out with the objectives to study the effects of antioxidants superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), and glutathione reductase (GSH) on cryopreservation of Black Bengal buck semen. Semen ejaculates (n = 60) were collected from eight bucks by artificial vagina method and diluted with Tris citrate egg yolk glycerol extender. To study the effect of antioxidants, SOD was added @ 0, 100, and 150 IU/ml; CAT was added @ 0, 200, and 400 IU/ml while GSH was added @ 0, 1, and 2 mM of diluted semen. Semen samples were equilibrated and vapor frozen in liquid nitrogen. Semen samples were evaluated after 48 h of storage for post thaw in vitro characters such as motility, viability, functional membrane integrity, and acrosome integrity. Semen extenders supplemented with SOD @ 100 and 150 IU/ml and GSH @ 1 and 2 mM had a higher (p < 0.01) number of motile cells, viable cells, HOST reacted cells, and acrosome intact cells than their respective controls. Further, semen extenders added with catalase @ 200 and 400 IU/ml had more (p < 0.05) number of viable, HOST reacted cells and significantly higher (p < 0.01) acrosome intact sperm cells than its control group. It can be concluded that supplementation of antioxidants SOD, GSH, and CAT had a beneficial effect on cryopreservation of Black Bengal buck semen., (© 2021. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature B.V.)