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MicroRNAs (miRNAs), known as a translational regulator, are evolutionary conserved, small, and noncoding RNA. They have played a vital role in disease biology through the host-virus-miRNA-interaction. In this study, novel miRNAs of naturally occurring, virus-free disease-resistant and disease-susceptible Penaeus monodon were identified and characterized. In disease-susceptible samples, 45 homologous mature miRNAs and 28 homologous precursor miRNAs were identified. In disease-resistant samples, 52 homologous mature miRNAs and 87 homologous precursor miRNAs were identified. In disease-susceptible samples, 33 novel mature miRNAs and 33 novel precursor miRNAs were identified. In disease-resistant samples, 523 novel mature miRNAs and 141 novel precursor miRNAs were identified. Differential expression study revealed the up-regulated and down-regulated miRNAs in disease-resistant and disease-susceptible P. monodon. Gene ontology pathway of known and novel miRNAs revealed that P. monodon miRNAs might have a potential and specific role in signal transduction, cell-to-cell signaling, innate immune response and defense response to different pathogens.

The paper deals with f ( R ) gravity theory in the background of inhomogeneous FLRW-type space–time model. With proper choice of the inhomogeneous metric function it is possible to have an emergent scenario for the f ( R ) -cosmology. Explicit form of f ( R ) is obtained for power law expansion. It has been shown that the present f ( R ) gravity model is equivalent to some particle creation mechanism in Einstein gravity. Further a complete cosmic evolution from inflation to present late time acceleration is possible with proper continuous choices of the f ( R ) -functions. Finally, in the perspective of thermodynamical analysis a form of f ( R ) has been evaluated using the unified first law.

The paper deals with a non--minimally coupled scalar field in the background of homogeneous but anisotropic Kantowski--Sachs space--time model. The form of the coupling function of the scalar field with gravity and the potential function of the scalar field are not assumed phenomenologically, rather they are evaluated by imposing Noether symmetry to the Lagrangian of the present physical system. The physical system gets considerable mathematical simplification by a suitable transformation of the augmented variables $(a, b, \phi)\rightarrow (u, v, w)$ and by the use of the conserved quantities due to the geometrical symmetry. Finally, cosmological solutions are evaluated and analyzed from the point of view of the present evolution of the Universe., Comment: Accepted in "Annals of Physics"

Porous magnesium has the potential to be used as degradable bone scaffolds. In this study, porous magnesium scaffolds were fabricated through powder metallurgy route utilizing spherical naphthalene particle as porogen. Porogen was removed at 120 °C for 24 h followed by sintering at 550 °C for 2 h in argon atmosphere. Micro-computed tomography (micro CT) results indicated that scaffolds have interconnected porous structure with an equivalent pore diameter of nearly 60 µm. Compressive strength of the scaffolds was found in the range of 24 ± 4.54 MPa to 184 ± 9.9 MPa and decreased with increasing porogen content. In vitro degradation study in phosphate buffered saline (PBS) showed that scaffold degradation behavior was governed by its porosity content. Our results indicate that modulating the porogen content we can tailor the mechanical and degradation behavior of the Mg scaffolds to the application need.

Modern reduced order models (ROMs) have widespread applicability in computational science and engineering as they allow accurate simulation of complex, nonlinear problems with minimal computational cost. In this paper, we introduce a Python-based implementation of a suite of data-driven ROM techniques for dynamical systems governed by time-dependent, nonlinear partial differential equations (PDEs). The versatility and accuracy of the presented ROM frameworks have been demonstrated with various numerical experiments in multiple publications. Therefore, this module is suitable not only as a tool for users in the industry, but it also provides a framework for researchers in academia to pursue further development.

Objective Surgical margin status is an important prognostic factor in oral squamous cell carcinoma. The primary aim of the surgeon is to achieve a microscopically complete surgical resection during initial surgery. As there are no definite guidelines, a few surgeons use frozen section (FS) for margin assessment whereas others use gross examination (GE). Study Design This is a retrospective analysis of prospectively collected data from the electronic medical records of 435 oral cavity cancer patients. As per the operating surgeon's preference, margin assessment was done using GE in 239 (54.94%) specimens, and FS was used in 196 (45.05%) specimens. Surgery was the primary modality of treatment for all patients, followed by adjuvant therapy. Results Close/positive margins were seen in 6.63% of patients in the FS group and in 6.69% of patients in the GE group (P = .855). The sensitivity and specificity were 45.45% and 98.8%, respectively, for FS and 61.9% and 88.32% for GE. We found no survival benefit when FS was used for margin assessment (disease-free survival: P = .469; overall survival: 0.325). Incidence of inadequate margins was similar in both the groups (P = .608) even in patients with some form of previous treatment. Conclusion We propose the judicious use of FS rather than routine use for margin assessment. The study reports that GE is an well-tolerated oncologic alternative to FS.

Chemical enhanced oil recovery by surfactantpolymer (SP) flooding has been studied in two space dimensions. A new global pressure for incompressible, immiscible, multicomponent two-phase porous media flow has been derived in the context of SP flooding. This has been used to formulate a system of flow equations that incorporates the effect of capillary pressure and also the effect of polymer and surfactant on viscosity, interfacial tension and relative permeabilities of the two phases. The coupled system of equations for pressure, water saturation, polymer concentration and surfactant concentration has been solved using a new hybrid method in which the elliptic global pressure equation is solved using a discontinuous finite element method and the transport equations for water saturation and concentrations of the components are solved by a Modified Method Of Characteristics (MMOC) in the multicomponent setting. Numerical simulations have been performed to validate the method, both qualitatively and quantitatively, and to evaluate the relative performance of the various flooding schemes for several different heterogeneous reservoirs.

Outdoor natural images captured in turbid weather are subject to produce low visibility which may cause fatal problem in computer vision applications. Single image visibility improvement is the most difficult of all model used in visibility improvement and mostly depends on restoration based optical image formation model. Existing dehazing techniques estimate atmospheric light (AL) and transmission by some prior information. In this work, we examined the strength of the Cuckoo Search Algorithm(CSA) in tuning a new multi-objective image performance function PCS for adaptable dehazing which estimates and balance between noise, contrast and geometrical information of image . Two parameters, AL and Otsu’s quantisation thresholding level in Depth Map (DM), are optimised with levy steps in search space of CSA to produce best dehazed image . GT O-Haze, DerainNet, Frida synthetic dataset have been used for evaluations and our method is compared with ten state-of-the art methods qualitatively and qualitatively for dehazing obtaining satisfactory results.

Paper mill sludge (PMS), a lignocellulosic waste from paper industry, is an ecological burden of environmental concern. Present study explored PMS as substrate for prodigiosin production in solid state fermentation (SSF) and concurrent source of cellulose for Cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) preparation, using Serratia marcescens NITDPER1. Batch studies revealed maximum pigment production 47 ± 3.2 mg/L after 60 h and ligninolytic potentials via kraft lignin degradation (59 % after 72 h), lignin-mimicking dye decolourization and lignin monomer utilization. In SSF, highest yield was 30.05 ± 1.7 mg/g (24 h) with growth-associated (α = 20.84) and non-growth associated (β = 0.63) parameters determined through Luedeking-Piret model. Lambda max (535 nm), Thin-Layer Chromatography (TLC) (Rf = 0.9), High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) (RT = 2.865), Fourier-transform infrared spectra (FT-IR) and Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) confirmed it as prodigiosin that exhibited antioxidant potential (IC50 = 47 ± 3.5 μg/mL). After SSF, the delignified (54 %) residual PMS was utilized for preparing CNCs, that displayed particle size 130.8 nm, zeta potential -13.4 mv, polydispersity index 0.404, stability upto 490 °C and revealed desirable properties in Field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), FT-IR and X-ray diffraction (XRD). Phytotoxicity studies confirmed both prodigiosin and CNCs as non-toxic. This study unveiled biorefinery perspectives for paper industries through production of two commercially important commodities from waste using eco-friendly approach.

Arsenic (As), cited as the most hazardous substance by the U.S. Agency for Toxic Substance and Disease Registry (ATSDR, 2005), is an ubiquitous metalloid which when ingested for prolonged periods cause extensive health effects leading to ultimate untimely death. Plants and microbes can help mitigate soil and groundwater As problem since they have evolved elaborate detoxification machineries against this toxic metalloid as a result of their coexistence with this since the origin of life on earth. Utilization of the phytoremediation and bioremediation potential of the plants and microbes, respectively, is now regarded as two innovative tools that encompass biology, geology, biotechnology and allied sciences with cutting edge applications for sustainable mitigation of As epidemic. Discovery of As hyperaccumulating plants that uptake and concentrate large amounts of this toxic metalloid in their shoots or roots offered new hope to As phytoremediation, solar power based nature's own green remediation. This review focuses on how phytoremediation and bioremediation can be merged together to form an integrated phytobial remediation which could synergistically achieve the goal of large scale removal of As from soil, sediment and groundwater and overcome the drawbacks of the either processes alone. The review also points to the feasibility of the introduction of transgenic plants and microbes that bring new hope for more efficient treatment of As. The review identifies one critical research gap on the importance of remediation of As contaminated groundwater not only for drinking purpose but also for irrigation purpose and stresses that more research should be conducted on the use of constructed wetland, one of the most suitable areas of application of phytobial remediation. Finally the review has narrowed down on different phytoinvestigation and phytodisposal methods, which constitute the most essential and the most difficult part of pilot scale and field scale applications of phytoremediation programs. Keywords: Arsenic, Bioremediation, Phytoremediation, Rhizoremediation, Hyperaccumulation, Transgenic, Constructed wetland

Genetic transformation of Pusa Basmati 1, a high yielding scented indica rice variety has been successfully achieved using AmSOD gene housed in a binary vector pSFSOD1 under the transcription control of ubiquitin promoter and nos terminator through microprojectile bombardment for increased tolerance towards salinity stress. Initially the protocol was optimized with binary vector pCAMBIA1305.2 harbouring GUS Plus™ reporter gene involving embryogenic calli developed from mature embryos of three rice varieties viz., Pusa Basmati 1, Taraori Basmati and one new plant type-super rice variety- IR70485–15–3-2 using PDS He 2000. The reporter gene showed significant GUS expression, which indicates maximum transformation efficiency at transient level under optimized parameters such as helium pressure-1100 psi, internal vacuum pressure-28″, flight distance-9 cm, microcarrier-1 μM diameter, particle volume-15 μl and microcarrier launch assembly at 6 cm for efficient bombardment of the embryogenic calli. The bombarded calli were transferred to MS medium supplemented with mannitol (0.2 M) and sorbitol (0.2 M) for 4 h, found to be most appropriate osmoticum in bombardment shock recovery and their proliferation. This best optimized protocol was used to dispense AmSOD gene for development of transgenic lines of the most in vitro culture responsive variety Pusa Basmati 1 to impart tolerance to salinity. Putative transgenic plants were developed from the bombarded calli, which were acclimatized, hardened and grown to maturity and analyzed by using molecular, physiological and biochemical assays to determine the introgression of the transgene into the variety. Further, inheritance study showed typical Mendelian ratio for monogenic dominant transgene in the segregating T2 generation. Among progenies tested, PBT 3–2, PBT 6–4 and PBT 8–9 were found to be appreciably tolerant to salinity stress with high yield at different growth stages, which prospects amply for more production and profitability to attain farm prosperity by large-scale cultivation of transgenic Pusa Basmati 1 on saline soils.

In this present work, bioactive glass (BG) reinforced magnesium (Mg) Mg/BG composites were prepared using hot press sintering and the effects of BG content on composite hardness, degradation behaviour and cytocompatibility were studied. Simultaneous increase in temperature and applied pressure in hot press sintering resulted in a unique Mg-BG microstructure where BG partially coated Mg particles. The result was an 6.8 times increase in corrosion resistance of Mg-10 wt% BG compared to pure Mg. The high corrosion resistance of Mg-10 wt%BG had also reduced pH rise of the degradation media and hydrogen evolution, a significant concern for Mg based degradable biomaterials. Degradation behaviour of Mg-BG composites were also studied using micro-CT (µ-CT) which showed lowest porosity increase for Mg-10BG after immersion in PBS for 168 h. In vitro cytocompatibility studies were performed, by extract assay method, using MG-63 cells. The Live/Dead imaging and alamar blue assay indicated that Mg-10BG composites had higher cell viability and proliferation compared to other composites. The present result indicates that in situ BG coating, as prepared by hot press sintering, is an efficient way to increase corrosion resistance and cytocompatibility of Mg based biomaterials.

The Euler equations with two controls are discretized by using the bilinear transformation method. The discrete equations are explicit and exhibit a sufficient number of conserved quantities for integrability. The explicit solution to the discrete controlled Euler top are deduced in terms of elliptic functions.

The effect of aging on photoluminescence (PL) of porous silicon has been studied for different storage media with a view to find suitable conditions for stabilizing the PL spectra. IR studies have been performed on both initially oxidized and oxide-free porous silicon samples to get an insight of the possible chemical changes in the porous layer after treating it in a number of environments. The changes in the PL spectra, both blue shift and red shift in appropriate environments, are ascribed to growth in Si=O bonds leading to trapped electron states at the Si/SiO2 interface in conformity with the recently proposed model [M.V. Wolkin et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 82 (1999) 197]. In addition, a mechanism and a theoretical model for oxidation of silicon nanocrystallites in porous silicon have been proposed to explain the observed experimental results. An excellent agreement between the observed rate of shift of PL peak wavelength with storage time and that calculated from the proposed model has been found. Possibility of stabilizing the PL intensity and peak wavelength by keeping it in a non-oxidizing environment and to tune the PL peak wavelength with different storage media have also been discussed.

This paper considers the problem of selecting the optimum capacities of the links in a computer communication network which employs unreliable links. Given the nodes, links, link probabilities, grade of service and cost functions of the network, the objective of this problem is to find the optimum link capacities that minimize the network design cost, subject to the constraint equation involving the grade of service. This is essentially a combinatorial optimization problem. A general methematical model for this problem is formulated and a set of feasible solutions is obtained using Lagrangean relaxation and subgradient optimization techniques. A simulation study has been performed to verify the model, and favourable results obtained for a variety of nontrivial networks.