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Acinetobacter baumannii is an opportunistic pathogen known for high morbidity and mortality. It causes life-threatening infections, such as ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP), bacteremia, meningitis, wound and urinary tract infections (UTI). Increase in carbapenem resistance exhibited by A. baumannii has accentuated the need for novel targets for effective treatment. Despite the pronounced relevance of PPK2 as a pathogenicity determinant in several pathogens, it has not been explored as a drug target in A. baumannii. The present study was piloted to investigate the substrate binding by A. baumannii PPK2 (AbPPK2), a two-domain Class II polyphosphate kinase 2. A homology model of AbPPK2 was developed and validated for molecular docking of ATP and ADP in the predicted binding pocket. Further analysis of AbPPK2 revealed a set of common residues in the catalytic cleft interacting with ATP and ADP which would be useful for the screening of inhibitors against A. baumannii.

Autologous stem cell transplant (ASCT) is a standard therapy for transplant eligible patients of multiple myeloma (MM). To evaluate impact of time to transplant on subsequent outcomes, we analyzed data on consecutive MM patients who received novel agents-based induction prior to transplant.Between 2006 and 2019, 363 MM patients underwent ASCT. Patients' median age was 52 years, ranging from 20 to 72 years, 233 (64.2%) were males. Median interval from diagnosis to transplant was 11.5 months (range, 4-67.5); 201 (55.4%) patients underwent ASCT within 12 months (early) and 162 (44.6%) beyond 12 months since diagnosis (delayed ASCT). Primary objective was progression-free survival. Secondary objectives were-response rate to transplant, overall survival (OS), and transplant-related mortality (TRM).Post-ASCT complete response (CR) (77.1% vs. 64.8%; P.025) and CR+ very good partial response rate (89% vs. 81.5%; P.03) was higher for early ASCT cohort. Engraftment characteristics, regimen-related toxicities, and day +100 TRM (3.5% vs 3.7%; P = .564) were similar in 2 cohorts. Median OS for early versus late cohort from date of diagnosis is 127.0 (95% CI, 98.9-155.1) versus 104.5 months (95% CI, 79.3-129.6; P = .356) and from date of transplant is 119.0 (95% CI, 93.4-144.6) versus 89.5 months (95% CI, 57.4-121.6), P.02. Median PFS is better for early transplant cohort; 69.5 (95% CI, 56.7-82.3) versus 50.0 months (95% CI, 35.6-64.4), P.05, respectively.Early transplant for myeloma is associated with higher response rate and better progression-free survival.

Every industry need helps to modify its working style quickly with the improvement of existing technology. New developing technologies improve production speed, reduce industrial process costs, etc. Technical specialists carry out continuous research and development to increase efficiency. A significant advance in 4D printing over 3D Printing is its capacity to alter shape over time because external elements such as pressure, air, heat, water, etc., use controlled impact. 4D Printing has one "D" instead of 3D Printing, and the fourth aspect is time. Therefore, its capacity to alter shape over time is a significant advancement of 4D printing over 3D printing technologies. It is evident that 4D printing will be of tremendous value to manufacturers regarding features and advances in dentistry. Its applications cover medical modelling, surgical guides manufacture, prosthodontics, dentistry, orthodontics, implantology, and dentistry instruments. This paper is brief about 4D printing and its printing of smart materials through 4D printing. Process workflow and Bio-Oriented 4D printable smart materials for dentistry are presented diagrammatically. Further, the paper identifies and discusses the significant potential of 4D printing for dentistry. 4D printing is an innovative technology that uses the inputs from smart materials, and the 3D printed item becomes another structure via the impact of external energy sources such as temperature, light, or other environmental stimuli. The objective is to integrate technology and design to create self-assembly and programmable material technologies that better design, production, and performance.

The application of video processing techniques are useful for the safety of nuclear power plants by tracking the people online on video to estimate the dose received by staff during work in nuclear plants. Nuclear reactors remotely visually controlled to evaluate the plant's condition using video processing techniques. Internal reactor components should be frequently inspected but in current scenario however involves human technicians, who review inspection videos and identify the costly, time-consuming and subjective cracks on metallic surfaces of underwater components. In case, if any frame of the inspection video degraded/corrupted/missed due to noise or any other factor, then it may cause serious safety issue. The problem of missing/degraded/corrupted video frame estimation is a challenging problem till date. In this paper a systematic literature review on video processing techniques is carried out, to perform their suitability analysis for NPP applications. The limitation of existing approaches are also identified along with a roadmap to overcome these limitations.

The propagation of waves in shallow waters is affected by the bottom topography unlike deep water waves of the coastal environment. Due to the interaction of the wave with bed topography, the wave transformation processes occur. Refraction, diffraction, shoaling, and breaking are the wave transformation processes that occur in the coastal environment. The significant wave height over rugged topography is a standardized statistics to denote the characteristic height of the random waves in a sea state. Therefore, the objective of the present study is to predict the significant wave height over rugged topography. The SWAN standalone and SWAN DHH platform are used to predict significant wave height over rugged topography in Mehamn harbour, Norway. The SWAN model results are almost similar to the lab data of Vold and Lothe (2009) for all the 22 scenarios at all the output locations. Further, the four cases reported by Taehun (2011) and lab data from Vold and Lothe (2009) for that four cases are compared with the SWAN model results. It is observed that the SWAN model results are much closer to the lab data of Vold and Lothe (2009).

The Internet of Healthcare Things (IoHT) consists of a wide variety of resource-restricted, heterogeneous, IoT-enabled, wearable/non-wearable medical equipment (things) that connect over the internet to transform traditional healthcare into a smart, connected, proactive, patient-centric healthcare system. The pivotal functions of the 6LoWPAN protocol stack enable comprehensive integration of such networks from wearable wireless sensor networks (W-WSN) to IoHT, as TCP/IP does not suffice the requirements of IoHT networks. As a result, the congestion in the IoHT network increases with a growing number of devices, resulting in loss of critical medical information due to buffer loss and channel loss, which is unacceptable. In this paper, we explored different applications of patient-centric IoHT architectures to draw a realistic resource-limited topological layout of IoHT for congestion estimation. After critically reviewing existing congestion schemes for 6LoWPANs, we proposed an effective buffer-loss estimation model based on the Queuing Theory to determine the number of packets lost at the node’s buffer. The buffer is modeled as an M/M/1/K Markov Chain Queue. The M/M/1/K Queue equilibrium equation is used to establish a relationship between the probabilities of the buffer being empty or completely filled. We derived the expressions for total buffer-loss probability and expected mean packet delay for the resource-constraint IoHT network. Furthermore, to validate the buffer-loss estimation, an analytical model is used to compare buffer-loss probabilities, the number of packets dropped at leaf/intermediate nodes and the number of packets successfully received at the local sink node. The results show a close correlation between both the models on varying values of the number of leaf nodes, buffer size, offered packet load and available channel capacity. Thus, in resource-restrictive IoHT, the proposed model performs better than two related works.

Primary surgical management is successful as the sole therapeutic modality in the majority of women with early-stage cervical, vaginal and vulvar cancer, but the presence of certain risk factors in the surgico-pathological specimen indicates a poorer prognosis. Adjuvant treatment can improve overall survival in such cases. Important risk factors in cervical cancer include intermediate-risk factors (large tumor size, deep cervical stromal invasion, lymph-vascular space invasion) and high-risk factors (positive or close margins, lymph nodes, or parametrial involvement). In vulvar cancer, positive margins and lymph nodes are the two most important factors for adjuvant therapy. Radiation therapy has been the mainstay of adjuvant therapy in these cancers, supplemented by chemotherapy. Recent advances have witnessed the inclusion of newer therapeutic modalities such as immunotherapy. This review addresses the current status of various adjuvant therapeutic modalities for these gynecological cancers.

To assess the radiological properties of racemosa wooden dust (RWD) and Poly (methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) for design and fabrication of a thoracic phantom for radiation dose verification in mega-voltage X-ray beam. The computed tomography images of RWD and PMMA were used to determine the radiological properties viz., Hounsfield units (HUs), relative electron density (RED) and mass density (MD). The estimated HUs, RED and MD were −828.2 ± 11.9, 0.172 ± 0.012, 0.150 ± 0.012 g/cc and 108.5 ± 7.3, 1.104 ± 0.004, 1.088 ± 0.005 g/cc for RWD and PMMA, respectively. The radiological properties of RWD and PMMA were in congruence with the value detailed in literature for lung tissue and muscle tissue of human body. Therefore, a phantom was design and fabricated using the combination of RWD and PMMA for radiation dose verification prior to radiation delivery to the cancer patients. The average deviation between dose computation engine and Ion-chamber estimations were within the stipulated tolerance (±3%). Thus, it was culminated that RWD and PMMA can be utilized for design and fabrication of phantom, which vindicates precise information about the quality assurance program for thoracic cancer patient treated using mega-voltage X-ray beam.

The primary objective of this article is to explore effects of latest development in the area of three dimensional (3D) printing & to assess its abilities, and further undertake helpful reporting. Here the focus is to assess advantages of 3D printing in orthopedics and analyze how 3D printed models help solve complex 3D orthopedics distortions. This study identified that 3D models manufactured by 3D printing models reduce medical parts development cost and surgical planning time. Integrating 3D printing with orthopaedics helps in understanding the conditions of problems and achieving the operation successfully. This technology can enable doctors/surgeons to design, produce, recreate and plan operations more accurately, carefully, and economically. 3D models can assist specialists with a visual comprehension of the patient-particular pathology and life structures. Innovation in 3D printing initiated a scaffold for the virtual outline and execution of medical procedures. This research proposes the utilisation of 3D printers as an elective procedure for the fabrication of parts. It empowers surgeons/patients for better training, education and research. In the future, there is a foreseeable expansion of additive manufacturing in orthopedics.

Instrumentation and Control systems (I&C) play a significant role in nuclear power plants (NPP) and other safety critical systems (SCS). We have conducted a rigorous study and discussions with experienced practitioners worldwide the strategy for the development of I&C systems to investigate the several aspects related to their dependability. We discussed with experienced practitioners that work on nuclear domain with the intention of knowing their approach, they use day-to-day for the development of such systems. The aim of this research is to obtain to provide guidance to those building I&C systems of NPP and have implications on state engineering licensure boards, in the determination of legal liability, and in risk assessment for policymakers, corporate governors, and insurance executives.

To date, although the microscopic alterations present in Alzheimer's disease (AD) have been well known for over a century only a handful of symptomatic treatments have been developed which are a far cry from a full cure providing volatile benefits. In this context, the intervention of stem cell therapy (SCT) has been proposed as an auxiliary treatment for AD as suggested by the rising number of pre-clinical studies that stem cell engraftment could provide an exciting future treatment regimen against neurodegeneration. Although, most of the primary enthusiasm about this approach was based on replacing deteriorating neurons, the latest studies have implied that the positive modulations fostered by stem cells are fuelled by bystander effects. Present review provides a detailed update on stem cell therapy for AD along with meticulous discussion regarding challenges in developing different stem cells from an aspect of experiment to clinical research and their potential in the milieu of AD hallmarks. Specifically, we focus and provide in depth view on recent advancements in the discipline of SCT aiming to repopulate or regenerate the degenerating neuronal circuitry in AD using stem-cell-on-a-chip and 3D bioprinting techniques. The focus is specifically on the successful restoration of cognitive functions upon engraftment of stem cells on in vivo models for the benefit of the current researchers and their understanding about the status of SCT in AD and finally summarizing on what future holds for SCT in the treatment of AD.