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Abstract Studies on the neural correlates of navigation in 3D environments are plagued by several issues that need to be solved. For example, experimental studies show markedly different place cell responses in rats and bats, both navigating in 3D environments. In this study, we focus on modelling the spatial cells in rodents in a 3D environment. We propose a deep autoencoder network to model the place and grid cells in a simulated agent navigating in a 3D environment. The input layer to the autoencoder network model is the HD layer, which encodes the agent’s HD in terms of azimuth (θ) and pitch angles (ϕ). The output of this layer is given as input to the Path Integration (PI) layer, which computes displacement in all the preferred directions. The bottleneck layer of the autoencoder model encodes the spatial cell-like responses. Both grid cell and place cell-like responses are observed. The proposed model is verified using two experimental studies with two 3D environments. This model paves the way for a holistic approach using deep neural networks to model spatial cells in 3D navigation.

Ionic liquids (ILs) represent an exciting and promising solution for advancing drug delivery platforms. Their unique properties, including broad chemical diversity, adaptable structures, and exceptional thermal stability, make them ideal candidates for overcoming challenges in transdermal drug delivery. Despite encountering obstacles such as side reactions, impurity effects, biocompatibility concerns, and stability issues, ILs offer substantial potential in enhancing drug solubility, navigating physiological barriers, and improving particle stability. To propel the use of IL-based drug delivery in pharmaceutical innovation, it is imperative to devise new strategies and solvents that can amplify drug effectiveness, facilitate drug delivery to cells at the molecular level, and ensure compatibility with the human body. This review introduces innovative methods to effectively address the challenges associated with transdermal drug delivery, presenting progressive approaches to significantly improve the efficacy of this drug delivery system.

Pigeonpea [Cajanus cajan (L.) Millspaugh] is a widely grown pulse with high seed protein content that contributes to food and nutritional security in the Indian subcontinent. The majority of pigeonpea varieties cultivated in India are of medium duration (

In this study, BaO nanorods (NRs) were synthesized with inherent surface defects using the chemical coprecipitation process. The rich oxygen defect BaO NRs exhibited enhanced light sensitivity and effectively interacted with the organic pollutant methylene blue (MB) dye under UV-light illumination for wastewater treatment. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis confirmed the highly crystalline tetragonal structure of the BaO NRs. Microstructural characteristics were examined using theoretical approaches such as Debye-Scherrer (DS), Williamson-Hall (W-H), and Size-Strain Plot (SSP), revealing an average crystallite size of approximately 30 nm. Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) revealed the rod-shaped structure of the BaO nanorods, with particles aligned on top of each other. UV–visible absorption studies demonstrated an increased optical bandgap in the BaO NRs compared to the bulk material. Photoluminescence spectroscopy revealed the presence of oxygen traps and surface defects, which aided the photodegradation process. The photocatalytic activity of the BaO NRs was assessed by degrading MB dye. We found that a concentration of 150 mg of BaO NRs exhibited the highest degradation efficiency at 85 %.

In the dynamic field of electrochemical biosensors, the demand for facile yet highly sensitive electrode materials is paramount. This study presents an innovative electrochemical biosensor material designed for the detection of biologically crucial molecules-Tryptophan (Trp) and Bovine Serum Albumin (BSA) utilizing ZrO2 nanoparticles (NPs). Through a successful hydrothermal synthesis, nanosized ZrO2 was employed to modify a glassy carbon electrode (GCE), constituting a novel electrochemical biosensor material. Characterization techniques, including XRD, FE-SEM, EDS, and FT-IR, elucidated the monoclinic crystalline structure, cauliflower-like surface morphology, elemental composition, and chemical state of the prepared NPs. Optical properties were explored using UV–Visible and photoluminescence spectroscopic methods. The electrochemical sensing ability of ZrO2 NPs modified GCE were evaluated through cyclic voltammetry (CV) techniques with meticulous optimization of measurement parameters, revealing a modified GCE shows superior electrocatlytic property towards detection of Trp and BSA molecules as compared to bare GCE due to the large specific surface area of the ZrO2 NPs. The ZrO2 NPs modified GCE exhibited exceptional electrochemical signals, showcasing a linear response within concentration ranges of 1–16 μM for Trp and 1.50–42 nM for BSA. Impressively low detection limits of 0.49 μM and 0.90 nM for Trp and BSA, respectively, were achieved. The electro-oxidation mechanism of Trp were investigated by varying the scan rates and the relation between peak and scan rate revealed that, oxidation process of Trp at ZrO2 NPs modified GCE is an adsorption-controlled process. Further, the effect of interference substance on detection of Trp and BSA were conducted by linear sweep volatmmetry measurements in the absence and presence of interfering compounds, and results endorse that, ZrO2 modified GCE has good selectivity in detection of Trp and BSA. This novel electrochemical sensor demonstrated significant sensitivity, selectivity and a low detection limit, underscoring the potential for ZrO2 NPs in advancing the development of biosensor devices.

Background: Lack of interest has been cited by many studies as the predominant cause for students undervaluing the subject of Community Medicine. However, there are few valid and reliable tools that could measure this interest. To develop and validate a questionnaire to measure a medical student's interest in the subject of Community Medicine. Material and Methods: Cross-sectional study conducted at MTMC Jamshedpur. The Community Medicine Interest Questionnaire (CMIQ) was developed in two phases: item generation and item reduction. Items were generated through a review of the literature, focused group discussions, and in-depth interviews. In the item reduction phase, the content and construct validity of the questionnaire were ascertained. Content validity was carried out by a group of experts based on three parameters: the interrater agreement on the representativeness of the item, the interrater agreement on the clarity of the items, and the content validity index. The construct validity was ascertained through pilot testing of 480 responses from undergraduate medical students. Exploratory factor analysis through principal axis factoring and Promax rotation. Results: Twenty-five items were generated. Three of these items were removed following expert validation. Furthermore, three items were removed after pilot testing. The resulting CMIQ consisted of 19 items distributed over three dimensions: feeling, value, and predisposition to reengage toward the subject. The internal consistency of each of the subscales was ascertained. Conclusions: CMIQ is a valid and reliable tool that can be used to measure such interest for providing educational interventions.

Due to massive data traffic, wireless network congestion is inevitable, causing network performance deterioration and data transmission quality reduction. By adjustingthe traffic flow at the source node along the optimal path, Wireless sensor networks strive to evade and overcome congestion. Recently, numerous evolutionary approaches for congestion detection and avoidance have been presented, although they do not improve WSN performance. A hybrid evolutionary approach is attempted to avoid congestion in WSN and improve network performance. We present an optimum cluster-based congestion aware multipath routing protocol (OCC-MP). An improved atom search optimization (IASO) approach for efficient clustering is introduced initially in OCC-MP. Then the HSIPO method is used for decision making, which computes each node's trust degree. The HSIPO algorithm selects the cluster head (CH) from a group of nodes. Then a deep recurrent neural network (DRNN) is used to monitor congestion and provide congestion aware routing. Finally, multiple simulation situations like various node densities andat various simulation rounds supported our proposed OCC-MP techniqueoutperformedcurrent methodologies with respect to energy consumption, throughput, traffic load overflow, delivery ratio, and number of nodes alive.

Nitrogen (N) is one of the primary macronutrients required for crop growth and yield. This nutrient is especially limiting wheat yields in the dry and low fertile agro-ecologies having low N in the root zone soil strata. Moreover, majority of farmers in India and South Asia are small to marginal with meagre capacity to invest in costly nitrogen fertilizers. Therefore, there is an immense need to identify lines that use nitrogen efficiently. A set of 50 diverse wheat genotypes consisting of indigenous germplasm lines (05), cultivars released for commercial cultivation (23) and selected elite lines from CIMMYT nurseries (22) were evaluated in an alpha-lattice design with two replications, a six-rowed plot of 2.5m length for 24 agro morphological, physiological and NUE related traits during two consecutive crop seasons in an N-depleted precision field under two different N levels of 50%-N50 (T1) and 100%-N100 (T2) of recommended N, i.e., 100 kg/ha. Analysis of variance revealed significant genetic variation among genotypes for all the traits studied. About 11.36% yield reduction was observed at reduced N levels. Significant correlations among NUE traits and yield component traits were observed which indicated pivotal role of N remobilization to the grain in enhancing yield levels. Among N-insensitive genotypes identified based on their yielding ability at low N levels, UASBW13356, UASBW13358, UASBW13354, UASBW13357 and KRL1-4 showed their inherent genotypic plasticity toward N application. The genotypes with more yield and high to moderate NUtE can be used as parents for the breeding of N efficient genotypes for marginal agro-ecologies. Low N tolerant genotypes identified from the current investigation may be further utilized in the identification of genomic regions responsible for NUE and its deployment in wheat breeding programs. The comprehensive data of 24 traits under different nitrogen levels for diverse genotypes from India and global sources (mainly CIMMYT) should be useful for supporting breeding for NUE and thus will be of great help for small and marginal farmers in India and South Asia.

The landfill is a cheap way of solid waste management in developing countries. The majority of landfills are non-sanitary and work as open garbage dumping sites and pose threats to public and environmental health. Therefore, an in-depth understanding of the chemistry and microbiology of landfills is imperative to develop the right policies for landfill management. In the current study, we investigated the chemistry and microbiology of three Indian landfill sites using culture-based and culture-independent molecular approaches. Our data indicate that the nature of landfills varies from site to site in terms of chemistry, pollutants, and pathogens. We also enriched and cultivated three methanogens using an optimized medium and constructed two high-quality draft genomes from enriched microbiomes using metagenome-assembled genome approaches. The phylogenomic study of one draft genome showed the highest 93% sequence similarity with members of Methanomassiliicoccaceae and was always enriched with Acholoplasma and Anaerohalosphaera lusitana. Despite all the efforts, we did not isolate it in pure culture and hypothesized that for the cultivation of some not-yet-cultured methanogen, the presence of other organisms plays an important role, and their syntrophic interaction must be discerned for its successful cultivation in the future. Co-cultivation of amino acid-degrading organisms indicates that their co-culture can assist in boosting the growth of methanogens. In addition, our data indicated that landfill leachate contains a heavy load of pollutants and treatment is a must before discharge in nature or use in irrigation or biofertilizer.

Assessing children's pain using patient-based pain scales can be challenging. Hence, there is a need of new version Artificial Intelligence Child Dental Anxiety Scale (AI-CDAS) to scale and test its psychometric properties (validity and reliability). This study was conducted to evaluate the validity and reliability of Artificial Intelligence version of the Child Dental Anxiety Scale (AI-CDAS) for anxiety detection scale in children using face as a response set from October 2022 to December 2023. Aim of this study was to examine the reliability and validity of Artificial Intelligence based Child Dental Anxiety Scale (AI-CDAS) using a wide range of age samples in dental clinics. A total of 100 outpatients (Age 03-09 years) from Bharati Vidyapeeth Deemed to be University Dental College and Hospital, Pune, India participated in this study. Dental anxiety was assessed using the Artificial Intelligence Child Dental Anxiety Scale (AI-CDAS) and comparing with a valid and reliable scale of Colored Version of Modified Facial Affective Scale. Reliability and validity was good and significant correlations were found between the AI-CDAS and the Colored Version of Modified Facial Affective Scale. This study suggests that the Artificial Intelligence based Child Dental Anxiety Scale (AI-CDAS) is a valid and reliable measure for assessing children's dental anxiety and may help encourage dentists to formally assess dental anxiety scale in day to day practice. Self-report measures are commonly employed in dental anxiety assessments. One advantage of self report measures is the ease of administration, taking relatively short period of time to complete. They can also assess the reaction to different aspects of the dental experience.

A severe and progressive interstitial lung disease (ILD) known as idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) has an unknown etiology with poorly defined mechanisms of development. Among the currently prescribed pharmacological interventions for IPF, nintedanib demonstrates the ability to decelerate the deterioration of lung function and yield positive clinical outcomes. Multiple randomized placebo-controlled trials have confirmed the efficacy and acceptable safety profile of nintedanib. Real-world evidence studies also support the use of nintedanib in IPF, being an efficient and well-tolerated treatment option. It has the potential to stabilize the disease progression in patients with ILD. Patients with IPF frequently have comorbidities like diabetes and hypertension, which can exacerbate the course of disease, reduce quality of life, and decrease treatment adherence. For well-informed decision-making, it is important for healthcare professionals to recognize the position of nintedanib therapy in IPF with comorbidities. The gastrointestinal adverse effects, notably diarrhea, dominate the nintedanib safety profile. These can be effectively controlled by closely monitoring side effects, administering anti-diarrheal and anti-emetic drugs, reducing the nintedanib dose, and discontinuing it in case of severe symptoms with an option to reintroduce the treatment after side effects subside. Symptomatic interventions and monitoring of liver enzymes may reduce the occurrence of permanent treatment discontinuations., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Human norovirus (HuNoV) infection is a global health and economic burden. Currently, there are no licensed HuNoV vaccines or antiviral drugs available. The protease encoded by the HuNoV genome plays a critical role in virus replication by cleaving the polyprotein and is, therefore, an excellent target for developing small molecule inhibitors. While rupintrivir, a potent small-molecule inhibitor of several picornavirus proteases, effectively inhibits GI.1 protease, it is an order of magnitude less effective against GII protease. Other GI.1 protease inhibitors also tend to be less effective against GII proteases. To understand the structural basis for the potency difference, we determined the crystal structures of proteases of GI.1, pandemic GII.4 (Houston and Sydney), and GII.3 in complex with rupintrivir. These structures show that the open substrate pocket in GI protease binds rupintrivir without requiring significant conformational changes, whereas, in GII proteases, the closed pocket flexibly extends, reorienting arginine-112 in the BII-CII loop to accommodate rupintrivir. Structures of R112A protease mutants with rupintrivir, coupled with enzymatic and inhibition studies, suggest R112 is involved in displacing both substrate and ligands from the active site, implying a role in the release of cleaved products during polyprotein processing. Thus, the primary determinant for differential inhibitor potency between the GI and GII proteases is the increased flexibility in the BII-CII loop of the GII proteases caused by H-G mutation in this loop. Therefore, the inherent flexibility of the BII-CII loop in GII proteases is a critical factor to consider when developing broad-spectrum inhibitors for HuNoV proteases., Importance: Human noroviruses are a significant cause of sporadic and epidemic gastroenteritis worldwide. There are no vaccines or antiviral drugs currently available to treat infections. Our work elucidates the structural differences between GI.1 and GII proteases in response to inhibitor binding and will inform the future development of broad-spectrum norovirus protease inhibitors.

Human noroviruses (HuNoVs) are a significant cause of epidemic and sporadic acute gastroenteritis worldwide. The lack of a reproducible culture system hindered the study of HuNoV replication and pathogenesis for almost a half-century. This barrier was overcome with our successful cultivation of multiple HuNoV strains in human intestinal enteroids (HIEs), which has significantly advanced HuNoV research. We optimized culture media conditions and generated genetically-modified HIE cultures to enhance HuNoV replication in HIEs. Building upon these achievements, we now present new insights to this culture system, which involve testing different media, unique HIE lines, and additional virus strains. HuNoV infectivity was evaluated and compared in new HIE models, including HIEs generated from different intestinal segments of individual adult organ donors, HIEs from human intestinal organoids produced from directed differentiation of human embryonic stem cells into intestinal organoids that were transplanted and matured in mice before making enteroids (H9tHIEs), genetically-engineered (J4 FUT2 knock-in [ KI ], J2 STAT1 knock-out [ KO ]) HIEs, as well as HIEs derived from a patient with common variable immunodeficiency (CVID) and from infants. Our findings reveal that small intestinal HIEs, but not colonoids, from adults, H9tHIEs, HIEs from a CVID patient, and HIEs from infants support HuNoV replication with segment and strain-specific differences in viral infection. J4 FUT2-KI HIEs exhibit the highest susceptibility to HuNoV infection, allowing the cultivation of a broader range of GI and GII HuNoV strains than previously reported. Overall, these results contribute to a deeper understanding of HuNoVs and highlight the transformative potential of HIE cultures in HuNoV research., Importance: HuNoVs cause global diarrheal illness and chronic infections in immunocompromised patients. This manuscript reports approaches for cultivating HuNoVs in secretor positive human intestinal enteroids (HIEs). HuNoV infectivity was compared in new HIE models, including ones from i) different intestinal segments of single donors, ii) human embryonic stem cell-derived organoids transplanted into mice, iii) genetically-modified lines, and iv) a patient with chronic variable immunodeficiency disease. HIEs from small intestine, but not colon, support HuNoV replication with donor, segment and strain-specific variations. Unexpectedly, HIEs from one donor are resistant to GII.3 infection. The genetically-modified J4 FUT2-KI HIEs enable cultivation of a broad range of GI and GII genotypes. New insights into strain-specific differences in HuNoV replication in HIEs support this platform for advancing understanding of HuNoV biology and developing potential therapeutics.

Background: Depressive symptoms are rising in the general population, but their associated factors are unclear. Although the link between sleep disturbances and depressive symptoms severity (DSS) is reported, the predictive role of sleep on DSS and the impact of anxiety and the brain on their relationship remained obscure., Methods: Using three population-based datasets (N = 1813), we trained the machine learning models in the primary dataset (N = 1101) to assess the predictive role of sleep quality, anxiety problems, and brain structural (and functional) measurements on DSS, then we tested our models' performance in two independent datasets (N = 378, N = 334) to test the generalizability of our findings. Furthermore, we applied our model to a smaller longitudinal subsample (N = 66). In addition, we performed a mediation analysis to identify the role of anxiety and brain measurements on the sleep quality and DSS association., Findings: Sleep quality could predict individual DSS (r = 0.43, R 2  = 0.18, rMSE = 2.73), and adding anxiety, contrary to brain measurements, strengthened its prediction performance (r = 0.67, R 2  = 0.45, rMSE = 2.25). Importantly, out-of-cohort validations in other cross-sectional datasets and a longitudinal subsample provided robust similar results. Furthermore, anxiety scores, contrary to brain measurements, mediated the association between sleep quality and DSS., Interpretation: Poor sleep quality could predict DSS at the individual subject level across three datasets. Anxiety scores not only increased the predictive model's performance but also mediated the link between sleep quality and DSS., Funding: The study is supported by Helmholtz Imaging Platform grant (NimRLS, ZTI-PF-4-010), the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, GE 2835/2-1, GE 2835/4-1), the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation)-Project-ID 431549029-SFB 1451, the programme "Profilbildung 2020" (grant no. PROFILNRW-2020-107-A), an initiative of the Ministry of Culture and Science of the State of Northrhine Westphalia., Competing Interests: Declaration of interests The authors declare no conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is one of the most common anovulatory disorder observed in women presenting with infertility. Several high and low throughput studies on PCOS have led to accumulation of vast amount of information on PCOS. Despite the availability of several resources which index the advances in PCOS, information on its etiology still remains inadequate. Analysis of the existing information using an integrated evidence based approach may aid identification of novel potential candidate genes with a role in PCOS pathophysiology. This work focuses on integrating existing information on PCOS from literature and gene expression studies and evaluating the application of gene prioritization and network analysis to predict missing novel candidates. Further, it assesses the utility of evidence-based scoring to rank genes for their association with PCOS. The results of this study led to identification of ∼2000 plausible candidate genes associated with PCOS. Insilico validation of these identified candidates confirmed the role of 938 genes in PCOS. Further, experimental validation was carried out for four of the potential candidate genes, a high-scoring (PROS1), two mid-scoring (C1QA and KNG1), and a low-scoring gene (VTN) involved in the complement and coagulation pathway by comparing protein levels in follicular fluid in women with PCOS and healthy controls. While the expression of PROS1, C1QA, and KNG1 was found to be significantly downregulated in women with PCOS, the expression of VTN was found to be unchanged in PCOS. The findings of this study reiterate the utility of employing insilico approaches to identify and prioritize the most promising candidate genes in diseases with a complex pathophysiology like PCOS. Further, the study also helps in gaining clearer insights into the molecular mechanisms associated with the manifestation of the PCOS phenotype by contributing to the existing repertoire of genes associated with PCOS., 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 © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

This article describes a dataset comprising 16,426 real-world urban photographs, capturing vehicles, cyclists, motorbikes, and pedestrians across Morning, Evening, and Night scenes. The dataset is valuable for machine learning tasks in traffic analysis, urban planning, and public safety. It enables the development and validation of algorithms for pedestrian detection, traffic flow analysis, and infrastructure optimization. Our main goal is to assist academics, urban planners, and decision-makers in creating sophisticated models for pedestrian safety, traffic control, and accident avoidance. This dataset is a useful resource for training and verifying algorithms targeted at boosting real-time traffic monitoring systems, optimizing urban infrastructure, and raising overall road safety because of its high variability and significant volume. This dataset represents a major advancement for smart city projects and the creation of intelligent transportation systems., (© 2024 The Author(s).)

The Natural Pothole Dataset within River Environments is an extensive collection of 3992 high-resolution images [1] documenting various natural potholes located in riverine settings. Each image has been rigorously annotated utilizing the YOLO (You Only Look Once) object detection framework, which ensures precise bounding box coordinates and accurate class labels for identified potholes. The annotations are provided in XML format, facilitating seamless integration with machine learning algorithms and computer vision applications. This dataset is particularly valuable for researchers and professionals in Geomorphology, Hydrology, River Science, Machine Learning, Environmental Science, and geospatial analysis, offering a robust foundation for tasks such as pothole detection, classification, and predictive modelling. By focusing exclusively on the natural occurrence of potholes, the dataset captures the diversity in shapes, sizes, and environmental contexts, thereby enriching the study and understanding of riverine geomorphological processes., (© 2024 The Authors.)

Human intestinal enteroids (HIEs) are gaining recognition as physiologically relevant models of the intestinal epithelium. While HIEs from adults are used extensively in biomedical research, few studies have used HIEs from infants. Considering the dramatic developmental changes that occur during infancy, it is important to establish models that represent infant intestinal characteristics and physiological responses. We established jejunal HIEs from infant surgical samples and performed comparisons to jejunal HIEs from adults using RNA sequencing (RNA-Seq) and morphologic analyses. We then validated differences in key pathways through functional studies and determined whether these cultures recapitulate known features of the infant intestinal epithelium. RNA-Seq analysis showed significant differences in the transcriptome of infant and adult HIEs, including differences in genes and pathways associated with cell differentiation and proliferation, tissue development, lipid metabolism, innate immunity, and biological adhesion. Validating these results, we observed a higher abundance of cells expressing specific enterocyte, goblet cell, and enteroendocrine cell markers in differentiated infant HIE monolayers, and greater numbers of proliferative cells in undifferentiated 3D cultures. Compared to adult HIEs, infant HIEs portray characteristics of an immature gastrointestinal epithelium including significantly shorter cell height, lower epithelial barrier integrity, and lower innate immune responses to infection with an oral poliovirus vaccine. HIEs established from infant intestinal tissues reflect characteristics of the infant gut and are distinct from adult cultures. Our data support the use of infant HIEs as an ex vivo model to advance studies of infant-specific diseases and drug discovery for this population., Importance: Tissue or biopsy stem cell-derived human intestinal enteroids are increasingly recognized as physiologically relevant models of the human gastrointestinal epithelium. While enteroids from adults and fetal tissues have been extensively used for studying many infectious and non-infectious diseases, there are few reports on enteroids from infants. We show that infant enteroids exhibit both transcriptomic and morphological differences compared to adult cultures. They also differ in functional responses to barrier disruption and innate immune responses to infection, suggesting that infant and adult enteroids are distinct model systems. Considering the dramatic changes in body composition and physiology that begin during infancy, tools that appropriately reflect intestinal development and diseases are critical. Infant enteroids exhibit key features of the infant gastrointestinal epithelium. This study is significant in establishing infant enteroids as age-appropriate models for infant intestinal physiology, infant-specific diseases, and responses to pathogens., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

The improper wearing or absence of helmets represents a significant contributing factor to fatal accidents in motorcycle driving. This dataset serves the purpose of detecting whether individuals have correctly or incorrectly worn helmets through camera-based analysis. The Helmet dataset has been curated, comprising a total of 28,736 images featuring various helmet types, including Full-Face, Half-Face, Modular, and Off-Road Helmets, in both correct and incorrect configurations. Captured using an iPhone 13 and Mi10T mobile phones, the images exhibit diverse climatic conditions, ranging from daytime to night-time scenarios. Subsequent to image acquisition, a pre-processing phase was undertaken to standardize the dataset. This involved renaming the images and adjusting their dimensions to a uniform 768 × 576 resolution, after which they were organized into respective folders. The uniqueness of this dataset lies in its incorporation of diverse environmental conditions, comprehensive helmet types, variability in helmet orientations, and its status as a large and balanced dataset, thereby presenting a realistic representation of real-world scenarios. The dataset's utility extends to various machine learning tasks, including image classification, object detection, and pose estimation specifically geared towards helmet recognition. Its scientific value lies in its potential to advance research and development in the realm of safety measures associated with motorcycle helmet usage., (© 2024 The Author(s).)

Background: Among the most common mucosal viral infections in infants are rotavirus, one of the main causes of severe gastroenteritis in infants and children up to 5 years, and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), one of the leading causes of lower respiratory tract infections. Both human milk and bovine milk derived factors may provide protection against mucosal viral infections. More recently, a similar activity of milk derived proteins was suggested for SARS-CoV-2. The goal of the current study was to test antiviral activity of the bovine milkfat globule membrane (MFGM) against rotavirus, RSV and SARS-CoV-2 and to further characterize MFGM-enriched whey to identify which components in MFGM-enriched whey may contribute to the inhibitory activity., Methods: The effects of MFGM-enriched whey, its whey protein isolate counterpart (WPI, obtained from the same production process) and a conventional whey protein concentrate (WPC) on rotavirus (strains Wa and SA114F), RSV (strain RSV-A2) and SARS-CoV-2 (Alpha variant) infectivity were determined using MA104 cells, human alveolar basal epithelial (A549) cells and monkey kidney (Vero E6) cells, respectively. The compounds were characterized in detail by LC-MS/MS and 31 P-NMR to determine protein and phospholipid composition, respectively., Results: Relative to its WPI counterpart, MFGM-enriched whey demonstrated a dose-dependent inhibition for both rotavirus and RSV whereas for SARS-CoV-2 inhibition was only observed at the highest concentration tested. Label-free quantification (LFQ) and intensity based absolute quantification (iBAQ) of identified proteins revealed a clear difference between MFGM-enriched whey and its controls including enrichment of known MFGM proteins and non-MFGM proteins that are enriched simultaneously, some of which have previously been demonstrated to display anti-viral activity. Although not completely absent from other whey protein preparations, MFGM-enriched whey had the highest specific and total phospholipid levels., Conclusion: MFGM-enriched whey displayed antiviral activity against multiple viruses of clinical importance. This study provides insights into the active components in MFGM-enriched whey and may contribute to previous clinical observations with MFGM-enriched formula demonstrating reduced respiratory and gastrointestinal infections in formula fed infants., Competing Interests: EK, VT, JB and TTL are employed by FrieslandCampina. MM is employed by Virology Research Services Ltd. The funder was involved in the study design, analysid, interpretation of the data, the writing of this article or the decision to submit it for publication. The remaining authors declared that they were an editorial board member of Frontiers, at the time of submission. This had no impact on the peer review process and the final decision., (Copyright © 2024 Kramer, Patil, Triantis, Bastiaans, Mazzon, Ramani and Lambers.)

Introduction: Multiparametric MRI (mpMRI) parameters of pT3a prostate cancer have not been examined in large cohort studies. Therefore, we aimed to identify factors associated with up-staging of mpMRI cT3a in post-operative histopathological confirmation., Methods: Retrospective analysis of a prospectively maintained database of a single UK cancer centre. Only cT3a cases who underwent robotic-assisted radical prostatectomy (RARP) were included (N = 383). MRI and specimen histopathology was reviewed independently by expert uro-radiologists and uro-histopathologists, respectively. Factors included age, BMI, prostate-specific antigen (PSA) level, biopsy international society of urological pathology (ISUP) grade, Prostate Imaging Reporting & Data System (PI-RADS ® ) score, tumour size, tumour coverage of gland (%), gland weight and surgical margins were analysed as predictors of pT3a prostate cancer., Results: N = 383. Mean age 66 years (58-71), mean BMI 27.1 kg/m 2 (25.0-30.0). 314 (82.0%) cases down- unchanged or down-staged, and 69 (18.0%) cases upstaged. PSA level (P = 0.002), PI-RADS score (P < 0.001) and ISUP grade (P < 0.001) are positively associated with upstage categories. ISUP grade ≥3 (OR 5.45, CI 1.88, 9.29, P < 0.002), PI-RADS score ≥4 (OR 3.92, CI 1.88-9.29, P < 0.001) and tumour coverage (OR 1.06, CI 1.05-1.08, P < 0.001) significantly positively associated with upstaging disease, with concurrent decreased probability of downstaging (OR 0.55, 0.14, 0.44, respectively, P < 0.05). Tumour coverage was positively correlated with increasing positive surgical margins (P < 0.05). Capsular contact > 15 mm was very unlikely to be upstaged (OR 0.36, CI 0.21-0.62, P < 0.001), aligning with published results past the widely accepted significant level for extracapsular disease on MRI., Conclusion: The study has identified PSA level, ISUP, PI-RADS score, tumour volume and percentage coverage are key predictive factors in cT3a upstaging. This study uniquely shows tumour coverage percentage as a predictor of cT3a upstaging on mpMRI. ISUP is the strongest predictor, followed by PI-RADS score and tumour coverage of gland. Multi-institutional studies are needed to confirm our findings., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Apixaban, an anticoagulant, is limited in its efficacy due to poor solubility, low bioavailability, and extensive metabolism. This study investigates the application of nanostructured lipid carriers (NLCs) to enhance the bioavailability of Apixaban. NLCs were prepared using the high-pressure homogenization method. The influence of independent variables, viz., the amount of Tween 80, HPH pressure, and the number of HPH cycles, were studied using a 2 3 factorial design. The average particle size, PDI, zeta potential, and entrapment efficiency of the optimized NLCs were found to be 232 ± 23 nm, with 0.514 ± 0.13 PDI and zeta potential of about -21.9 ± 2.1 mV, respectively. Additionally, concerning the thermal and crystallographic properties of the drug, the NLCs showed drug entrapment without altering its potency. The in-vitro drug release studies revealed an immediate release pattern, followed by sustained release for up to 48 h. In-vivo pharmacokinetic experiments demonstrated that Apixaban-loaded NLCs exhibited higher values of t 1/2 (27.76 ± 1.18 h), AUC 0-∞ (19,568.7 ± 1067.6 ng·h/mL), and C max (585.3 ± 87.6 ng/mL) compared to free drugs, indicating improved bioavailability. Moreover, a decrease in the elimination rate constant (Kel) reflected the sustained effect of Apixaban with NLCs. NLCs offer improved oral absorption rates and enhanced therapeutic impact compared to free drugs, potentially reducing dose frequency and improving patient outcomes.

Ankyloglossia, which is a congenital condition also referred to as tongue-tie, is described as a small lingual frenum that restricts tongue movement and its function. The main purpose of the frenum is to restrict the movement of the cheek, lip muscles, and tongue throughout the development of fetuses and maintain equilibrium between the developing bones, lip musculature, and tongue. The constriction of the buccal musculature counteracts the outward pressure that the tongue applies to the teeth. Arch width maintenance requires a state of equilibrium between these two muscle groups. Therefore, altering tongue position might additionally have an impact on a mandible's position. A 20-year-old female patient presented to the Periodontics Department with moderate ankyloglossia (Kotlow Class II). For the correction of the tongue-tie, conventional surgery with sutures was scheduled under local anesthesia. One week, one month, and three months follow-up, the patient demonstrated good healing. There was an improvement in speech clarity and tongue movements., Competing Interests: Human subjects: Consent was obtained or waived by all participants in this study. 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, Sawai et al.)

Introduction: Atrial fibrillation (AF) is associated with an elevated risk of cognitive impairment and dementia. Understanding the cognitive sequelae and brain structural changes associated with AF is vital for addressing ensuing health care needs., Methods and Results: We examined 1335 stroke-free individuals with AF and 2683 matched controls using neuropsychological assessments and multimodal neuroimaging. The analysis revealed that individuals with AF exhibited deficits in executive function, processing speed, and reasoning, accompanied by reduced cortical thickness, elevated extracellular free-water content, and widespread white matter abnormalities, indicative of small vessel pathology. Notably, brain structural differences statistically mediated the relationship between AF and cognitive performance., Discussion: Integrating a comprehensive analysis approach with extensive clinical and magnetic resonance imaging data, our study highlights small vessel pathology as a possible unifying link among AF, cognitive decline, and abnormal brain structure. These insights can inform diagnostic approaches and motivate the ongoing implementation of effective therapeutic strategies. Highlights We investigated neuropsychological and multimodal neuroimaging data of 1335 individuals with atrial fibrillation (AF) and 2683 matched controls. Our analysis revealed AF-associated deficits in cognitive domains of attention, executive function, processing speed, and reasoning. Cognitive deficits in the AF group were accompanied by structural brain alterations including reduced cortical thickness and gray matter volume, alongside increased extracellular free-water content as well as widespread differences of white matter integrity. Structural brain changes statistically mediated the link between AF and cognitive performance, emphasizing the potential of structural imaging markers as a diagnostic tool in AF-related cognitive decline., (© 2024 The Author(s). Alzheimer's & Dementia published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of Alzheimer's Association.)

Alimentary tract duplications are uncommon abnormalities. They are mostly found in the terminal ileum, and most develop symptoms before the age of two. Abdominal mass, intestinal blockage, intussusception, rectal hemorrhage, and abdominal pain are possible presenting signs. Intra-abdominal duplications are typically discovered during surgical examinations of the problems; preoperative diagnosis is typically challenging. Our unusual adult male patient, age 32, had an asymptomatic ileal-caecal junction duplication cyst that was linked to a non-complicated acute appendicitis., Competing Interests: Human subjects: Consent was obtained or waived by all participants in this study. 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, Dnyanmote et al.)

In vitro models, such as primary cells and continuous cell lines routinely used for evaluating drug candidates, have limitations in their translational relevance to human diseases. Organotypic cultures are increasingly being used to assess therapeutics for various cancers and infectious diseases. Monitoring drug cytotoxicity in cell cultures is crucial in drug development, and several commercially available kits for cytotoxicity assessment offer distinct advantages and limitations. Given the complexity of organoid cultures, including donor-driven variability, we investigated drug-treated, tissue stem cell-derived human intestinal organoid responses with commonly used cell cytotoxicity assay kits. Using seven different compounds, we compared the cytotoxicity assay performance of two different leaky membrane-based and two metabolism-based assays. Significant variability was seen in reported viability outcomes across assays and organoid lines. High baseline activity of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) in four human intestinal organoid lines required modification of the standard LDH assay protocol. Additionally, the LDH assay reported unique resilience to damage in a genetically-modified line contrasting results compared to other assays. This study highlights factors that can impact the measurement of cell cytotoxicity in intestinal organoid models, which are emerging as valuable new tools for research and pre-clinical drug testing and suggest the need for using multiple assay types to ensure reliable cytotoxicity assessment., Competing Interests: “M.K.E. is named as an inventor on patents related to cloning of the Norwalk virus genome and HuNoV cultivation and has received research funding from Takeda Vaccines Business Unit (Cambridge, MA, USA) and Hillevax, Inc. and has served as a consultant to Hillevax, Inc. R.L.A. is named as an inventor on patents related to HuNoV cultivation and has received research support from Takeda Vaccines Business Unit (Cambridge, MA, USA) and Hillevax, Inc. and has served as a consultant to Hillevax, Inc. This does not alter our adherence to PLOS ONE policies on sharing data and materials.”, (Copyright: © 2024 Lewis et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)

Human noroviruses (HuNoVs) are the leading cause of acute gastroenteritis worldwide. Currently, there are no targeted antivirals for the treatment of HuNoV infection. Histo-blood group antigens (HBGAs) on the intestinal epithelium are cellular attachment factors for HuNoVs; molecules that block the binding of HuNoVs to HBGAs thus have the potential to be developed as antivirals. Human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs) are glycans in human milk with structures analogous to HBGAs. HMOs have been shown to act as decoy receptors to prevent the attachment of multiple enteric pathogens to host cells. Previous X-ray crystallography studies have demonstrated the binding of HMO 2'-fucosyllactose (2'FL) in the same pocket as HBGAs for some HuNoV strains. We evaluated the effect of 2'FL on the replication of a globally dominant GII.4 Sydney [P16] HuNoV strain using human intestinal enteroids (HIEs) from adults and children. A significant reduction in GII.4 Sydney [P16] replication was seen in duodenal and jejunal HIEs from multiple adult donors, all segments of the small intestine from an adult organ donor and in two pediatric duodenal HIEs. However, 2'FL did not inhibit HuNoV replication in two infant jejunal HIEs that had significantly lower expression of α1-2-fucosylated glycans. 2'FL can be synthesized in large scale, and safety and tolerance have been assessed previously. Our data suggest that 2'FL has the potential to be developed as a therapeutic for HuNoV gastroenteritis.

Background: The use of intravenous (IV) sotalol loading following recent U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval of a 1-day loading protocol has reduced the obligatory 3-day hospital stay for sotalol initiation when given orally. Several studies have recently demonstrated the safety and feasibility of IV loading for patients with atrial arrhythmias. However, there is a paucity of data on the feasibility and safety of IV sotalol loading for patients with ventricular arrhythmias. This study aims to assess the safety, feasibility, and length of stay (LOS) outcomes of IV sotalol loading for the prevention of ventricular arrhythmias., Methods: A retrospective analysis was performed of all patients undergoing IV sotalol loading and oral sotalol initiation for ventricular arrhythmias, or IV sotalol loading for atrial arrhythmias between August 2021 and December 2023 at Northwestern University. Baseline characteristics, success of sotalol initiation/loading, changes in heart rate (HR) and QT/QTc, safety, and LOS were compared between patients undergoing sotalol loading/initiation for ventricular arrhythmias (IV vs. PO) and between patients undergoing IV sotalol loading for ventricular arrhythmias vs. for atrial arrhythmias., Results: A total of 28 patients underwent sotalol loading/initiation for ventricular arrhythmias (N = 15 IV and N = 13 PO) and 41 patients underwent IV sotalol loading for atrial arrhythmias. Baseline characteristics of congestive heart failure history and left ventricular ejection fraction were worse in the ventricular arrhythmias group. There was no significant difference in the successful completion of IV sotalol loading for ventricular arrhythmias compared to oral sotalol initiation for ventricular arrhythmias or IV sotalol loading for atrial arrhythmias (86.7% vs. 92.3% vs. 90.2%, p = 0.88). There was a significant increase in ΔQTc following IV sotalol infusion for ventricular arrhythmias compared to following PO sotalol initiation for ventricular arrhythmias (46.4 ± 29.2 ms vs. 8.9 ± 32.6 ms, p = 0.004) and following IV sotalol infusion for atrial arrhythmias (46.4 ± 29.2 ms vs. 24.0 ± 25.1 ms, p = 0.018). ΔHR following IV sotalol infusion for ventricular arrhythmias was similar to ΔHR following PO sotalol initiation for ventricular arrhythmias and ΔHR following IV sotalol infusion for atrial arrhythmias (- 7.5 ± 8.7 bpm vs. - 8.5 ± 13.9 bpm vs. - 8.3 ± 13.2 bpm, p = 0.87). There were no significant differences in discontinuation for QTc prolongation (6.7% vs. 1.7% vs. 2.4%, p = 0.64) and bradycardia (13.3% vs. 7.7% vs. 9.8%, p = 0.88) between IV sotalol loading for ventricular arrhythmias, PO sotalol initiation for ventricular arrhythmias, and IV sotalol loading for atrial arrhythmias. There were no instances of hypotension, life-threatening ventricular arrhythmias, heart failure, or death. Length of stay was significantly shorter for IV sotalol loading compared to PO sotalol initiation for ventricular arrhythmias (1.1 ± 0.36 days vs. 4.2 ± 1.0 days, p < 0.0001)., Conclusion: IV sotalol loading appears feasible and safe for use in ventricular arrhythmias and results in a decreased length of stay. Despite increased comorbidities and greater increase in QTc interval following IV sotalol infusion in the ventricular arrhythmias group, there were no significant differences in successful completion of loading or adverse outcomes when compared to PO sotalol initiation for ventricular arrhythmias and IV loading for atrial arrhythmias., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)

As the economic burden associated with vision loss and ocular damage continues to rise, there is a need to explore novel treatment strategies. Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are enriched with various biological cargo, and there is abundant literature supporting the reparative and immunomodulatory properties of stem cell EVs across a broad range of pathologies. However, one area that requires further attention is the reparative effects of stem cell EVs in the context of ocular damage. Additionally, most of the literature focuses on EVs isolated from primary stem cells; the use of EVs isolated from human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT)-immortalized stem cells has not been thoroughly examined. Using our large-scale EV-manufacturing platform, we reproducibly manufactured EVs from hTERT-immortalized mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) and employed various methods to characterize and profile their associated cargo. We also utilized well-established cell-based assays to compare the effects of these EVs on both healthy and damaged retinal pigment epithelial cells. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to establish proof of concept for reproducible, large-scale manufacturing of hTERT-immortalized MSC EVs and to investigate their potential reparative properties against damaged retinal cells. The results from our studies confirm that hTERT-immortalized MSC EVs exert reparative effects in vitro that are similar to those observed in primary MSC EVs. Therefore, hTERT-immortalized MSCs may represent a more consistent and reproducible platform than primary MSCs for generating EVs with therapeutic potential.

Introduction Non-metric dental traits (NMDTs) are a fundamental data source in forensic dentistry. Nevertheless, the insufficiency of data regarding the occurrence of these traits has instigated the present research endeavor aimed at ascertaining the prevalence, sexual dimorphism, and extent of inter-trait correlations within the Maharashtrian population of India. The secondary objective was to determine the correlations between NMDTs, dentoskeletal malocclusion, and ABO blood groups. Materials and methods This prospective, observational study included 528 individuals aged 18-30 years with dentoskeletal Class I, II, and III malocclusions. NMDTs such as the presence of Cusp of Carabelli (CoC) on the upper first molars, hypocone on the upper second molars, and tri- or bicuspid lower second premolars were observed on the dental casts of all individuals. The dental relationship was assessed clinically according to Angle's system for the classification of malocclusion. The skeletal relationship was assessed using lateral cephalograms of the individuals. ABO blood groups were obtained from their medical records. The Chi-square test of independence was used to assess the associations between various variables. The correlation between each measurement was determined using Spearman's correlation test. Multivariate analysis enabled the identification of parameters that exhibited independent associations with NMDTs. A multinomial logistic regression model was constructed using NMDTs as the outcome variable. Results The mean age of males was 20.82 ± 1.71 years and 21.15 ± 1.76 years was in females. NMDTs were predominantly seen in females (n=394, 75%), with Class II dentoskeletal malocclusion (n=265, 50%) and B blood group ((n=199, 38%). All traits showed bilateral predominance. A statistically significant association was found between CoC, dentoskeletal malocclusion, hypocone, and tricuspid lower second premolars (p <0.05). All NMDTs showed a negative correlation with sex, a positive correlation between age and the presence of hypocones and CoC, a negative correlation between age and tricuspid lower second premolars, a strong positive correlation with dentoskeletal malocclusion, and a weak positive correlation with ABO blood groups. Multinomial logistic regression model analysis revealed that none of the independent variables were statistically significant predictors of the presence of CoC and tricuspid lower second premolars, while dentoskeletal malocclusion and sex were significant predictors of the presence of the hypocone trait. Conclusion NMDTs showed a female predilection with bilateral predominance. A significant association was observed between these traits and dentoskeletal malocclusions. The most commonly observed NMDT was the presence of a hypocone on the upper second molars, followed by the tricuspid lower second premolars and the CoC., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist., (Copyright © 2024, Gade et al.)

Due to a lack of evidence-based standards for cage-change intervals for antelope ground squirrels (AGS, Ammospermophilus leucurus ), we evaluated cage ammonia accumulation in our colony of adult, wild-caught AGS and identified factors that influenced ammonia levels. Intracage ammonia was measured daily in singly housed AGS in static caging that contained a running wheel and 1/2, 3/4, 1, or 2 quart (qt) of corncob bedding. Cages were changed when ammonia levels reached greater than 50ppm, our upper acceptable limit for ammonia based on mouse studies of ammonia aversion and toxicity. We also measured average daily water consumption over 2 wk to examine any correlation between water use and ammonia accumulation. We hypothesized that the desert-dwelling AGS would not reach intracage ammonia levels of greater than 50ppm in a 2-wk interval at any bedding volume. Our data showed that intracage ammonia was highly variable among individuals and was significantly associated with water consumption and bedding volumes. Seventeen percent of AGS on 1/2qt of bedding and 18% on 3/4qt of bedding reached greater than 50ppm ammonia before 7 d. All AGS on 1 and 2qt of bedding remained below 50ppm ammonia for 1 wk. Even when maintained on 2qt of bedding, not all AGS remained below 50ppm ammonia for 2 wk. Therefore, we concluded that the most appropriate option was weekly cage change for singly housed AGS on 1qt of bedding in static caging.

Sous-videcooking is a growing trend among retailers and consumers. Foodborne pathogens may survive the cooking if nonvalidated parameters are used or if pathogens have enhanced thermalresistance. Pathogen inactivation from sous-vide cooking was determined when introduced directly to beef products or via contaminated spices, and with or without a finishing step. Beef products (ground beef, tenderized, and nontenderized steaks) were inoculated with pathogens (Salmonella Montevideo and Escherichia coli O157:NM) in three ways: 1) directly onto the meat 2) ground black pepper incorporated into the recipe 3) ground pepper equilibrated at 30% RH (4 d) prior to incorporation. Beef samples were vacuum-packaged and submerged in a 62.5°C water bath for 120 min. Samples were sampled at 5, 10, 20, and 120 min (recommended from a partner quality study), and a duplicate was grilled to a specific internal temperature (74°C for ground beef, 57°C for steaks) and sampled. Sous-vide cooking reduced pathogen populations by >5 log CFU/g after most treatment times, but less than grilled counterparts (ca. 1-2 log CFU/g difference; p < 0.05).There were no statistically significant differences between inoculation methods, but the tenderization of steaks resulted in significantly lower reductions of pathogens from sous-vide cooking (p < 0.05). Thisresearch challenged sous-vide cooking parameters (120 min, 62.5°C). It showed sous-vide alone lowered pathogens by >4 log CFU/g after most 20-min treatments, but 120-min sous-vide treatments or grilling would be needed for >5-log reductions.Contaminated pepper led to less consistent reductions during the cooking process, yet 2-h sous-vide still achieved a 5-log reduction. Sous-vide cooking instructions must be validated as more products and recipes are marketed., 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 © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

The United Nations advocates for sustainable urban planning and design, emphasizing green infrastructure initiatives to mitigate urban heat island effects and enhance the resilience and livability of cities globally. To address urban heat challenges, a study was conducted in Chennai, India, from April to June 2023. The study focused on assessing temperature dynamics on a building's terrace by comparing a well-maintained garden area with an exposed region. Temperature and humidity sensors were deployed in both the garden and exposed areas of the terrace, as well as within rooms beneath it, to monitor hourly temperature fluctuations. The findings indicate a significant reduction in internal room temperatures in areas with rooftop gardens, ranging from 4 to 11 °C, depending on the time of year and sun's position, compared to rooms with fully exposed roof configurations. Additionally, simulation studies were performed to validate these findings, suggesting that optimizing the distribution of soil beds and plant density across the roof could yield an additional temperature reduction of 3-4 °C, resulting in an overall difference of up to 14-15 °C. The study highlights the efficacy of rooftop gardens in providing cooling effects during daylight hours and maintaining temperature parity post-sunset. Through analysis of sensor data, the research elucidates the intricate relationship between green infrastructure and thermal comfort, offering insights for energy-efficient building design and resilient urban planning. The findings underscore the potential of rooftop gardens in fostering a more comfortable, energy-efficient, and sustainable urban living environment., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

In recent years quantum dot (QDs) based resistive switching devices(memristors) have gained a lot of attention. Here we report the resistive switching behavior of nitrogen-doped graphene quantum dots/Polyvinyl alcohol (N-GQDs/PVA) degradable nanocomposite thin film with different weight percentages (wt.%) of N-GQDs. The memristor device was fabricated by a simple spin coating technique. It was found that 1 wt% N-GQDs/PVA device shows a prominent resistive switching phenomenon with good cyclic stability, high on/off ratio of ~10 2 and retention time of ∼10 4 s. From a detailed experimental study of band structure, we conclude that memristive behavior originates from the space charge controlled conduction (SCLC) mechanism. Further transient property of built memristive device was studied. Within three minutes of being submerged in distilled water, the fabricated memory device was destroyed. This phenomenon facilitates the usage of fabricated memristor devices to develop memory devices for military and security purposes., (© 2024 IOP Publishing Ltd.)

Objective: To report the incidence of malignancy in gynaecological organs removed during radical cystectomy (RC)., Patients and Methods: A retrospective multicentre study of 1600 RCs at three high-volume institutions between January 2009 and March 2022 was performed. Pathological findings in gynaecological organs in female RC specimens were reviewed. Multivariable logistic regression analyses were used to identify predictors of malignant gynaecological organ involvement (GOI) at time of RC., Results: Overall, 302 females with a median (interquartile range) age of 68 (61-75) years underwent RC for clinical (c)Ta-T4 bladder cancer. In all, 56 patients (18.5%) received neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Malignant GOI was seen in 20 patients (6.6%); the most common single sites of GOI were the uterus (five patients) and vaginal wall (four), followed by cervix (one), and ovaries (one). Nine patients had involvement of more than one gynaecological organ. No females had a primary gynaecological malignancy detected incidentally at RC. Patients with GOI were more likely to have cT3/T4 stage (P < 0.001), preoperative hydronephrosis (P = 0.004), lymphovascular invasion (P = 0.002), and squamous cell carcinoma (P = 0.005) than those without GOI. On multivariable analysis, cT4 stage was an independent predictor of malignant GOI (odds ratio 88.3, 95% confidence interval 10.1-1214; P < 0.001)., Conclusion: To our knowledge, we present the largest multi-institutional study examining malignant GOI in females with bladder cancer undergoing RC. The rate of GOI at the time of RC is low and associated with higher clinical stage. In the absence of clinical or radiological evidence of sexual organ involvement, our results do not support their routine removal at the time of RC., (© 2023 BJU International.)

Background: Low-dose emicizumab can potentially offer a cost-effective treatment option in persons with hemophilia A, especially in developing countries., Objectives: To compare the efficacy and safety of low-dose emicizumab with those on low-dose factor (F)VIII prophylaxis via chart review., Methods: After ethics approval, chart data of 2 groups of patients were reviewed: group 1 (low-dose emicizumab, n = 10; 3 mg/kg monthly without a loading dose) and group 2 (low-dose FVIII prophylaxis, n = 10; 10-20 IU/kg of FVIII concentrates twice a week). Outcomes were target joints, annual bleeding rate, annual joint bleeding rate, Hemophilia Joint Health Score, nonactivated thromboelastometry-rotational thromboelastometry clotting time, plasma emicizumab levels, and direct costs of treatment., Results: All outcome measures were significantly better in the low-dose emicizumab group than in the low-dose FVIII prophylaxis group. For nonactivated thromboelastometry-rotational thromboelastometry, median values after 6 months in the low-dose emicizumab group were comparable with values seen in patients with mild hemophilia, while the values in the low-dose FVIII prophylaxis group were similar to those of patients with moderate hemophilia. The direct cost of low-dose emicizumab was found to be approximately US $6000 and that for low-dose recombinant FVIII prophylaxis used in our study was US $6282 (the cost may range from US $3432 to $7920 depending on the type of factor) when compared to approximately US $15 000 for standard-dose emicizumab., Conclusion: Low-dose emicizumab offers a cost-effective treatment option and can improve access in developing countries. These findings need to be confirmed in a larger and better-controlled study., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interests There are no competing interests to disclose., (Copyright © 2024 International Society on Thrombosis and Haemostasis. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Chryseobacterium demonstrates a diverse environmental presence and a significant pathogenic potential across various ecosystems. This clinical case showcases a rare instance of bacterial infection in a 75-year-old male with untreated diabetes and recurrent urinary tract infections (UTIs). The patient presented symptoms of abdominal pain, burning urination, fever, and an elevated eosinophil count. A subsequent urine culture identified a Chryseobacterium-related bacterium as the causative agent, exhibiting sensitivity to piperacillin/tazobactam, trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole, and nitrofurantoin, which led to successful treatment using oral nitrofurantoin. Analysis of the 16S rRNA gene sequence of APV-1 T revealed a close relationship of 98.2% similarity to Chryseobacterium gambrini strain 5-1St1a T (AM232810). Furthermore, comparative genome analysis, incorporating Average Nucleotide Identity (ANI), Digital DNA-DNA Hybridization (dDDH) values, and comprehensive phylogenetic assessments utilizing 16S rRNA gene sequences, core genes, and amino acid sequences of core proteins, highlighted the unique phylogenetic positioning of APV-1 T within the Chryseobacterium genus. Distinct carbon utilization and assimilation patterns, along with major fatty acid content, set APV-1 T apart from C. gambrini strain 5-1St1a T . These findings, encompassing phenotypic, genotypic, and chemotaxonomic characteristics, strongly support the proposal of a novel species named Chryseobacterium urinae sp. nov., with APV-1 T designated as the type strain (= MCC 50690 = JCM 36476). Despite its successful treatment, the strain displayed resistance to multiple antibiotics. Genomic analysis further unveiled core-conserved genes, strain-specific clusters, and genes associated with antibiotic resistance and virulence. This report underscores the vital importance of elucidating susceptibility patterns of rare pathogens like Chryseobacterium, particularly in immunocompromised individuals. It advocates for further analyses to understand the functional significance of identified genes and their implications in treatment and pathogenesis., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

This dataset presents a comprehensive collection of images representing both dried and live samples from eight distinct Thai cannabis classes. The dataset includes a total of 14,094 images, with images depicting dried and healthy specimens. These images serve as a valuable resource for researchers engaged in botanical exploration, machine learning, and computer vision studies. Additionally, the dataset facilitates investigations into the medicinal properties of Thai cannabis. Interdisciplinary collaboration is encouraged, providing opportunities for innovative insights spanning biology, horticulture, and data science. Beyond fundamental research, this dataset holds practical implications for agriculture, technology development, and disease prevention, offering insights into both dried and live states of Thai cannabis plants across various strains., (© 2024 The Author(s).)

Sugarcane, a vital crop for the global sugar industry, is susceptible to various diseases that significantly impact its yield and quality. Accurate and timely disease detection is crucial for effective management and prevention strategies. We persent the "Sugarcane Leaf Dataset" consisting of 6748 high-resolution leaf images classified into nine disease categories, a healthy leaves category, and a dried leaves category. The dataset covers diseases such as smut, yellow leaf disease, pokkah boeng, mosale, grassy shoot, brown spot, brown rust, banded cholorsis, and sett rot. The dataset's potential for reuse is significant. The provided dataset serves as a valuable resource for researchers and practitioners interested in developing machine learning algorithms for disease detection and classification in sugarcane leaves. By leveraging this dataset, various machine learning techniques can be applied, including deep learning, feature extraction, and pattern recognition, to enhance the accuracy and efficiency of automated sugarcane disease identification systems. The open availability of this dataset encourages collaboration within the scientific community, expediting research on disease control strategies and improving sugarcane production. By leveraging the "Sugarcane Leaf Dataset," we can advance disease detection, monitoring, and management in sugarcane cultivation, leading to enhanced agricultural practices and higher crop yields., (© 2024 The Author(s).)

The prevalent symptoms of oral submucous fibrosis (OSMF) are a burning sensation and trismus. The aim of the present study was to compare the efficacy of placentrex, hyaluronidase and dexamethasone, and their combination in the treatment of OSMF. For this purpose, 160 patients with OSMF were divided into four groups (each with 40 patients at a 1:1:1:1 allocation ratio). The patients in group 1 (control) received only oral supplements, along with regular mouth-opening exercises; patients in group 2 received an injection of placental extract; patients in group 3 were injected with hyaluronidase and dexamethasone; and patients in group 4 received a combination of injections from groups 2 and 3. The injections were administered once weekly for 12 weeks and patients were followed-up for 12 months. The data of the patients (mouth opening ability and a burning sensation) were analyzed using ANOVA and the Kruskal-Wallis test. The maximum increase in mouth opening (7.30±0.80 mm) was noted in group 4, and the lease increase was observed in the control group (0.37±0.16 mm), from baseline levels to the end of the 12th week. The maximum relapse in mouth opening of 1.62±0.45 mm was noted in group 2, and a minimum relapse of 0.20±0.08 mm was noted in group 4. On the whole, the present study demonstrates that the intralesional injection of a combination of the three drugs (placentrex, hyaluronidase and dexamethasone) in addition to the use of oral supplements and mouth opening exercises has a high level of efficacy in improving trismus and burning sensation in patients with OSMF., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no competing interests., (Copyright: © 2024 Goyal et al.)

Mycosis Fungoides (MF) and Sézary Syndrome (SS) belong to a wide spectrum of T cell lymphoproliferative disorders collectively termed cutaneous T cell lymphomas (CTCL). CTCLs represent an archetype of heterogeneous and dynamically variable lymphoproliferative neoplasms typified by distinct clinical, histological, immunophenotypic, and genetic features. Owing to its complex dynamics, the pathogenesis of CTCL remains elusive. However, in recent years, progress in CTCL classification combined with next-generation sequencing analyses has broadened the genetic and epigenetic spectrum of clearly defined CTCL entities such as MF and SS. Several large-scale genome studies have identified the polygenic nature of CTCL and unveiled an idiosyncratic mutational landscape involving genetic aberrations, epigenetic alterations, cell cycle dysregulation, apoptosis, and the constitutive activation of T cell/NF-κB/JAK-STAT signaling pathways. In this review, we summarize the evolving insights on how the intrinsic epigenetic events driven by dysregulated miRNAs, including the oncogenic and tumor-suppressive miRNAs, influence the pathogenesis of MF and SS. We also focus on the interplay between the JAK/STAT pathway and miRNAs in CTCL as well as the significance of the miRNA/STAT axis as a relevant pathogenetic mechanism underlying CTCL initiation and progression. Based on these biologic insights, the current status and recent progress on novel therapies with a strong biological rationale, including miRNA-targeted molecules and JAK/STAT-targeted therapy for CTCL management, are discussed., Competing Interests: Conflict of interest The authors declare no conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2022 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Background and Aims: Ketamine use as a recreational drug is becoming more popular nowadays. Ketamine-induced uropathy (KIU) is a late finding observed with long-term use of ketamine. A systematic review of Ketamine-Induced Uropathy was performed to emphasise its key clinical manifestations, mechanism of action and establish an effective treatment pathway., Methods and Results: A literature search was conducted in MEDLINE via Pubmed and Cochrane using the keywords ketamine and bladder, ketamine and uropathy, and ketamine and epidemiology. The search strategy was limited to articles published from 2000 to 2023. Both animal and human studies were included. A total of 101 papers were reviewed based on topic relevance from the title and abstracts available. While ketamine is a controlled drug in the United Kingdom (UK) and other countries, 283 ketamine-related deaths have been reported in the UK. There is no definite pathogenesis but multiple potential mechanisms that cause KIU and its related symptoms. KIU involves chronic inflammation of the bladder, ureteral wall thickening, hydronephrosis and finally, chronic renal failure. A multidisciplinary approach is paramount when managing these patients to break the vicious cycle. The mainstay of medical and surgical treatment pathways is continued abstinence to prevent symptom relapse. This review included the pathophysiology, novel medical treatments and surgical management of KIU., Conclusion: KIU is a rare but significantly disabling condition often seen among ketamine abusers. With the rising trend in drug addiction, KIU is expected to be more common. Unfortunately, it is a late complication in chronic ketamine abusers and is only partially reversible even with abstinence. This review discusses this rare entity's newer medical treatments and surgical options., 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.

This article introduces a dataset of 10,042 Lemongrass ( Cymbopogon citratus ) leaf images, captured with high quality camera of a mobile phone in real-world conditions. The dataset classifies leaves as "Dried," "Healthy," or "Unhealthy," making it useful for machine learning, agriculture research, and plant health analysis. We collected the plant leaves from the Vishwakarma University Pune herbal garden and the captured the images in diverse backgrounds, angles, and lighting conditions. The images underwent pre-processing, involving batch image resizing through FastStone Photo Resizer and subsequent operations for compatibility with pre-trained models using the 'preprocess&#95;input' function in the Keras library. The significance of the Lemongrass Leaves Dataset was demonstrated through experiments using well-known pre-trained models, such as InceptionV3, Xception, and MobileNetV2, showcasing its potential to enhance machine learning model accuracy in Lemongrass leaf identification and disease detection. Our goal is to aid researchers, farmers, and enthusiasts in improving Lemongrass cultivation and disease prevention. Researchers can use this dataset to train machine learning models for leaf condition classification, while farmers can monitor their crop's health. Its authenticity and size make it valuable for projects enhancing Lemongrass cultivation, boosting crop yield, and preventing diseases. This dataset is a significant step toward sustainable agriculture and plant health management., (© 2024 The Author(s).)

Introduction: Traumatic mandibular fractures are the most common fractures of the facial region and are associated with loss of neurosensation in the inferior alveolar nerve (IAN). The present study aimed to compare IAN recovery after traumatic mandibular fractures between the open and closed reduction methods., Materials and Methods: The study included 90 patients with traumatic mandibular fractures of the body, angle, and symphysis, divided into two groups of 45 patients: group 1 was treated with closed reduction and fixation with rich arch-bar fixation under local anesthesia, and group 2 was treated with open reduction and rigid internal fixation with 2-mm titanium mini plates and monocortical screws (6 mm), and the plate was fixed to the fractured bony fragments. All patients underwent neurosensory testing using the Zuniga and Essick algorithm at baseline (preoperative), one week after surgery (postoperative), at three months, and at six months of follow-up., Results: No statistically significant differences were observed in IAN recovery between the groups. The most common site of fracture was the body (44% in group 1 and 56% in group 2). The maximum recovery was observed in the younger age group (25-30 years). At baseline, functional nerve recovery was observed in 40 cases (88%) in group 1 and 38 cases (84%) in group 2, and the difference was not statistically significant. Levels A and B tests were affected by surgical management and improved after three months. The total recovery in group 1 ranged from 60% to 80%, and that in group 2 ranged from 56% to 72%., Conclusion: Based on the findings of the current study, both methods are recommended for surgical management of traumatic mandibular fractures with IAN recovery in 60-80% of cases six months postoperatively., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist., (Copyright © 2024, Mundepi et al.)

The influence of anthropogenic pollution on the distribution of bacterial diversity, antibiotic-resistant bacteria (ARBs), and antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) was mapped at various geo-tagged sites of Mini River, Vadodara, Gujarat, India. The high-throughput 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing analysis revealed a higher relative abundance of Planctomycetota at the polluted sites, compared to the pristine site. Moreover, the relative abundance of Actinobacteriota increased, whereas Chloroflexi decreased in the water samples of polluted sites than the pristine site. The annotation of functional genes in the metagenome samples of Mini River sites indicated the presence of genes involved in the defence mechanisms against bacitracin, aminoglycosides, cephalosporins, chloramphenicol, streptogramin, streptomycin, methicillin, and colicin. The analysis of antibiotic resistome at the polluted sites of Mini River revealed the abundance of sulfonamide, beta-lactam, and aminoglycoside resistance. The presence of pathogens and ARB was significantly higher in water and sediment samples of polluted sites compared to the pristine site. The highest resistance of bacterial populations in the Mini River was recorded against sulfonamide (≥ 7.943 × 10 3  CFU/mL) and ampicillin (≥ 8.128 × 10 3  CFU/mL). The real-time PCR-based quantification of ARGs revealed the highest abundance of sulfonamide resistance genes sul1 and sul2 at the polluted sites of the Mini River. Additionally, the antimicrobial resistance genes aac(6')-Ib-Cr and blaTEM were also found abundantly at polluted sites of the Mini River. The findings provide insights into how anthropogenic pollution drives the ARG and ARB distribution in the riverine ecosystem, which may help with the development of antimicrobial resistance mitigation strategies., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.)