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Early and precise pregnancy diagnosis can reduce the calving interval by minimizing postpartum period. The present study explored the differential urinary metabolites between pregnant and non-pregnant Murrah buffaloes (Bubalus bubalis) during early gestation to identify potential pregnancy detection biomarkers. Urine samples were collected on day 0, 10, 18, 35 and 42 of gestation from the pregnant (n = 6) and on day 0, 10 and 18 post-insemination from the non-pregnant (n = 6) animals. 1H-NMR-based untargeted metabolomics followed by multivariate analysis initially identified twenty-four differentially expressed metabolites, among them 3-Hydroxykynurenine, Anthranilate, Tyrosine and 5-Hydroxytryptophan depicted consistent trends and matched the selection criteria of potential biomarkers. Predictive ability of these individual biomarkers through ROC curve analyses yielded AUC values of 0.6–0.8. Subsequently, a logistic regression model was constructed using the most suitable metabolite combination to improve diagnostic accuracy. The combination of Anthranilate, 3-Hydroxykynurenine, and Tyrosine yielded the best AUC value of 0.804. Aromatic amino acid biosynthesis, Tryptophan metabolism, Phenylalanine and Tyrosine metabolism were identified as potential pathway modulations during early gestation. The identified biomarkers were either precursors or products of these metabolic pathways, thus justifying their relevance. The study facilitates precise non-invassive urinary metabolite-based pen-side early pregnancy diagnostics in buffaloes, eminently before 21 days post-insemination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A simple, efficient and eco-friendly procedure for the synthesis of isoxazole derivatives (4a–4h) using one-pot three-component reaction between substituted aldehydes (1a), methyl acetoacetate (2a) and hydroxylamine hydrochloride (3a) has been achieved in presence of Cocos nucifera L. juice, Solanum lycopersicum L. juice and Citrus limetta juice respectively. The homogeneity of synthesized compounds was confirmed by melting point and thin layer chromatography. The synthesized compounds were characterized by using 1H NMR, FTIR and CHN analyses and evaluated for in vitro herbicidal activity against Raphanus sativus L. (Radish seeds). The compounds (4a–4h) were also screened for their fungicidal activity against Rhizoctonia solani and Colletotrichum gloeosporioides. Antibacterial activity was also tested against Erwinia carotovora and Xanthomonas citri. From bio-evaluation data, it was found that compound 4b was most active against Raphanus sativus L. (root) and Raphanus sativus L. (shoot) respectively. Compound 4b was also found most active against both the fungus viz. R. solani and C. gloeosporioides showing maximum percentage growth inhibition i.e. 90.00 against R. solani and 82.45 against C. gloeosporioides at 2000 µg/mL concentration. Compound 4 h has shown maximum inhibition zone i.e. 3.00–9.60 mm against Erwinia carotovora at 2000 µg/mL concentration. Maximum Xanthomonas citri growth was also inhibited by compound 4 h showing inhibition zone 1.00–5.00 mm at highest concentration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The energy harvesting methods enable WSNs nodes to last potentially forever with the help of energy harvesting subsystems for continuously providing energy, and storing it for future use. The energy harvesting techniques can use various potential sources of energy, such as solar, wind, mechanical, and variations in temperature. Energy-constrained sensor nodes are small in size. Therefore, some mechanisms are required to reduce energy consumption and consequently to improve the network lifetime. The clustering mechanism is used for energy efficiency in WSNs. In the clustering mechanism, the group of sensor nodes forms the clusters. The performance of the clustering process depends on various factors such as the optimal number of clusters formation and the process of cluster head selection. In this paper, we propose a hybrid whale and grey wolf optimization (WGWO)-based clustering mechanism for energy harvesting wireless sensor networks (EH-WSNs). In the proposed research, we use two meta-heuristic algorithms, namely, whale and grey wolf to increase the effectiveness of the clustering mechanism. The exploitation and exploration capabilities of the proposed hybrid WGWO approach are much higher than the traditional various existing metaheuristic algorithms during the evaluation of the algorithm. This hybrid approach gives the best results. The proposed hybrid whale grey wolf optimization-based clustering mechanism consists of cluster formation and dynamically cluster head (CH) selection. The performance of the proposed scheme is compared with existing state-of-art routing protocols. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An efficient and facile synthesis of substituted novel benzimidazoles (3a–3h) mediated by fruit juices viz. Cocos nucifera L. juice, Citrus limetta juice and Citrus sinensis L. juice, via condensation of substituted aldehydes (1a–1h) and o-phenylenediammine (2a) under solvent-free condition at room temperature is presented in this paper. The purity of compounds was confirmed by melting point and thin layer chromatography. All synthesized compounds (3a–3h) were fully characterized via NMR and FTIR spectral data and evaluated for in vitro herbicidal activity against Raphanus sativus L. (Radish) seeds. The compounds (3a–3h) were also evaluated for their antibacterial activity against Erwinia cartovora and Xanthomonas citri by inhibition zone method. Antifungal activity was also determined against Rhizoctonia solani and Colletotrichum gloeosporioides by poisoned food techniques method. From activity data, it was found that compounds 3d and 3e were most active against R. sativus L. (root) and R. sativus L. (shoot), respectively. Compound 3g has shown maximum inhibition zone i.e. 8.00 mm against E. cartovora at 2000 µg/mL concentration. Maximum X. citrii growth was inhibited by compounds 3a showing inhibition zone 5.20 mm at highest concentration. Compound 3f was found most active against R. solani and C. gloeosporioides fungus at 2000 µg/mL concentration. In comparison with the conventional methods, the present method complies with several key requirements of green chemistry principles such as the utilization of renewable feedstock, auxiliary aqueous conditions and reduces waste with the use of nature-derived catalyst. Therefore, the present method offers an attractive option because of its ecological safety, environmental acceptance, cost effective and easy workup process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]