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One of the few synthetic resins from petroleum-based sources that are biodegradable and can reduce the environmental pollution is polyvinyl alcohol (PVA). PVA film is non-toxic, transparent, and biocompatible in line with green ecologically friendly requirements. It is completely biodegradable and possesses good mechanical properties, chemical resistance, and gas barrier. PVA's hydroxyl groups, however, decrease its mechanical and thermal properties and make it water-soluble, which limits its use. However, it is possible to control the water solubility or absorption by partially cross-linking the polymer chains. This work aims to enhance the mechanical properties while making an insoluble film through cross-linking with oxalic acid (OA). In the present investigation, PVA film was cross-linked with OA (with variable weight percentage (wt%) of OA) to limit its ability to absorb moisture. Tensile testing was utilized to evaluate the mechanical properties of the films, revealing their ultimate tensile strength, % elongation, and Young's modulus. With increase in wt% of OA, % elongation of PVA-based films decreases, whereas maximum tensile strength was observed at 10 wt% of OA configuration. In comparison to neat PVA, the differential thermo-gravimetric analysis peak migrated towards the higher temperature side with an increase in the OA concentration. The peak value of tan δ curve also increased and shifted towards higher temperature side as the OA concentration increased. This concludes that prepared films have high damping coefficient and can absorb impact load. Finally, the films' creep-recovery behaviour was also examined in detail. To represent the potential application of these films as packaging materials, anti-microbial tests were also conducted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Smokeless tobacco (SLT) is certainly one of the major risk factors associated with oral cancer. Disruption of oral microbiota-host homeostasis contributes to the progression of oral cancer. Here, we profiled SLT users' oral bacterial composition and inferred their functions by sequencing 16S rDNA V3-V4 region and PICRUSt2, respectively. Oral bacteriome of SLT users (with or without oral premalignant lesions), SLT with alcohol co-users, and non-SLT consumers were compared. Oral bacteriome is shaped primarily by SLT use and the incidence of oral premalignant lesions (OPL). A significantly increased bacterial α-diversity was monitored in SLT users with OPL compared to in SLT users without OPL and non-users, whereas β-diversity was significantly explained by OPL status. Overrepresented genera were Prevotella, Fusobacterium, Veillonella, Haemophilus, Capnocytophaga, and Leptotrichia in SLT users having OPL. LEfSe analysis identified 16 genera as a biomarker that were differentially abundant in SLT users having OPL. The functional prediction of genes significantly increased for several metabolic pathways, more importantly, were nitrogen metabolism, nucleotide metabolism, energy metabolism, and biosynthesis/biodegradation of secondary metabolites in SLT users having OPL. Furthermore, HPV-16 and EBV, but not HPV-18, were considerably connected with the SLT users having OPL. Overall, this study provides evidence that SLT utilization and OPL development are associated with oral bacteriome dysbiosis indicating the enrichment of bacterial species known for their contribution to oral carcinogenesis. Therefore, delineating the cancer-inducing bacterial population in SLT users will facilitate the future development of microbiome-targeted therapies. Key points: • SLT consumption significantly elevates oral bacterial diversity. • Prevalent significant genera are Prevotella, Veillonella, and Haemophilus in SLT users with OPL. • SLT promotes the occurrence of the cancer-inducing bacterial population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Tuberous sclerosis is an autosomal dominant neurocutaneous disorder characterized by hamartoma formation in various organ systems leading to highly variable clinical presentation. These patients pose a challenge to anesthesiologists due to multisystem involvement. Case presentation: Herein, we report the successful anesthetic management of a 25-year-old parturient with tuberous sclerosis who underwent an emergency cesarean section in view of cephalopelvic disproportion. She had a seizure disorder, bilateral renal angiomyolipomas, angiofibroma over the cheeks, periungual fibroma on the right toe, and nodular lesions near the base of the tongue and oropharynx. We opted for regional anesthesia to avoid airway instrumentation, drug interaction, and renal insult. Conclusions: Anesthetic management of tuberous sclerosis depends upon the extent and severity of the involvement of various organs. Careful assessment, thorough evaluation, and preoperative planning are crucial for dealing with the difficulties and complications encountered during the management of these cases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Uziflies (Family: Tachinidae) are dipteran endoparasites of sericigenous insects which cause major economic loss in the silk industry globally. Here, we are presenting the first full mitogenome of Blepharipa sp. (Acc: KY644698, 15,080 bp, A + T = 78.41%), a dipteran parasitoid of Muga silkworm (Antheraea assamensis) found in the Indian states of Assam and Meghalaya. This study has confirmed that Blepharipa sp. mitogenome gene content and arrangement is similar to other Tachinidae and Sarcophagidae flies of Oestroidea superfamily, typical of ancestral Diptera. Although, Calliphoridae and Oestridae flies have undergone tRNA translocation and insertion, forming unique intergenic spacers (IGS) and overlapping regions (OL) and a few of them (IGS, OL) have been conserved across Oestroidea flies. The Tachinidae mitogenomes exhibit more AT content and AT biased codons in their protein-coding genes (PCGs) than the Oestroidea counterpart. About 92.07% of all (3722) codons in PCGs of this new species have A/T in their 3rd codon position. The high proportion of AT and repeats in the control region (CR) affects sequence coverage, resulting in a short CR (Blepharipa sp.: 168 bp) and a smaller tachinid mitogenome. Our research unveils those genes with a high AT content had a reduced effective number of codons, leading to high codon usage bias. The neutrality test shows that natural selection has a stronger influence on codon usage bias than directed mutational pressure. This study also reveals that longer PCGs (e.g., nad5, cox1) have a higher codon usage bias than shorter PCGs (e.g., atp8, nad4l). The divergence rates increase nonlinearly as AT content at the 3rd codon position increases and higher rate of synonymous divergence than nonsynonymous divergence causes strong purifying selection. The phylogenetic analysis explains that Blepharipa sp. is well suited in the family of insectivorous tachinid maggots. It's possible that biased codon usage in the Tachinidae family reduces the effective number of codons, and purifying selection retains the core functions in their mitogenome, which could help with efficient metabolism in their endo-parasitic life style and survival strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Smokeless tobacco (SLT) alters the oral microbiome of smokeless tobacco users. Dysbiosis of oral bacteriome has been determined; however, the mycobiome of SLT users has not been characterized. The oral mycobiome was assayed by amplification and sequencing of the fungal internal transcribed spacer (ITS1) region from oral swab samples of non-SLT users, SLT users (with or without oral lesions), and SLT with alcohol users. We observed that the richness and diversity of oral mycobiome were significantly decreased in SLT with oral lesions users than in non-users. The β-diversity analysis showed significant dissimilarity of oral mycobiome between non-users and SLT with oral lesions users. Linear discriminant analysis effect size and random forest analysis of oral mycobiome affirm that the genus Pichia was typical for SLT with oral lesions users. Prevalence of the fungal genus Pichia correlates positively with Starmerella, Mortierella, Fusarium, Calonectria, and Madurella, but is negatively correlated with Pyrenochaeta, Botryosporium, and Alternaria. Further, the determination of oral mycobiome functionality showed a high abundance of pathotroph-saprotroph-symbiotroph and animal pathogen-endophyte-epiphyte-undefined saprotroph at trophic and guild levels, respectively, indicating possibly major changes in normal growth repression of types of fungi. The oral mycobiome in SLT users was identified and comprehensively analyzed for the first time. SLT intake is associated with oral mycobiome dysbiosis and such alterations of the oral mycobiome may contribute to oral carcinogenesis in SLT users. This study will provide a basis for further large-scale investigations on the potential role of the mycobiome in SLT-induced oral cancer. Key points: • SLT induces dysbiosis of the oral microbiome that can contribute to oral cancer. • Oral mycobiome diversity is noticeably reduced in SLT users having oral lesions. • Occurrence of Pichia can be used as a biomarker for SLT users having oral lesions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To determine the prevalence of unintentional injuries and its associated factors among under-five children in Rural Delhi. Methods: This community based cross-sectional study was conducted in Pooth Khurd village of Delhi during 2018 among under-five children and their care givers. Primary caregivers of the child in the randomly selected households were interviewed using a semi-structured pretested questionnaire. Data related to unintentional injuries in past 12 months and its associated factors were collected. Results: Unintentional injuries were prevalent in 29.3% (95% CI: 25.8–32.9) of the 650 under-five children included. Male children had 1.4 times increased prevalence of injuries (aPR=1.4, 95% CI: 1.1–1.7). As the age increases from 2 years to 5 years the prevalence of injuries increased constantly from 29% to 50%. The prevalence of unintentional injuries was significantly higher among children of working mothers (aPR=1.7, 95% CI: 1.4–2.1), family with more than 3 children (aPR=1.6, 95% CI: 1.1–2.4), household without a separate kitchen (aPR=1.6, 95% CI: 1.2–2.2) and household with inadequate lighting (aPR=1.8, 95% CI: 1.4–2.3). Conclusions: The factors significantly associated with unintentional injuries were male gender, higher age of the children, maternal occupation, increased number of children in the family, not having a separate kitchen and inadequate lighting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chondrosarcoma of nasal cavity is a rare entity, and only few case reports exist. Diagnosis is made on histopathological analysis. Differentiating chondrosarcoma from chondromas can be challenging. Surgical excision remains the treatment of choice. We report a case of a 73-year-old male who presented to us with complaints of bilateral nasal obstruction. Histopathology reported as moderately differentiating chondrosarcoma. Patient subsequently underwent excision of tumor by craniofacial resection with adjuvant radiotherapy. Patient is on regular follow-up and has shown no evidence of recurrence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many health diagnostic systems demand noninvasive sensing of respiratory rate, respiratory volume, and heart rate with high user comfort. Previous methods often require multiple sensors, including skin-touch electrodes, tension belts, or nearby off-the-body readers, and hence are uncomfortable or inconvenient. This paper presents an over-clothing wearable radio-frequency sensor study, conducted on 20 healthy participants (14 females) performing voluntary breathing exercises in various postures. Two prototype sensors were placed on the participants, one close to the heart and the other below the xiphoid process to couple to the motion from heart, lungs and diaphragm, by the near-field coherent sensing principle. We can achieve a satisfactory correlation of our sensor with the reference devices for the three vital signs: heart rate (r = 0.95), respiratory rate (r = 0.93) and respiratory volume (r = 0.84). We also detected voluntary breath-hold periods with an accuracy of 96%. Further, the participants performed a breathing exercise by contracting abdomen inwards while holding breath, leading to paradoxical outward thorax motion under the isovolumetric condition, which was detected with an accuracy of 83%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Arsenic (As), a toxic metalloid, is finding its route to human through intake of As-contaminated water and consumption of food grown on contaminated soil. Rice is the most As-affected crop. Present study is aimed to assess the impact of stabilized orthosilicic acid (a proprietary formulation for plant-available silicon (Si) and earlier used as fertilizer for rice to enhance growth and yield) in reducing the accumulation of As in rice grains. Application of arsenic in the form of arsenate (AsV) and arsenite (AsIII) significantly affected plant growth in a dose-dependent manner. Higher doses of AsV and AsIII (50 and 25 mg L−1 respectively) significantly decreased the yield attributes leading to lower yield. A significant accumulation of As in grain was observed in both AsV- and AsIII-exposed plants in a dose-dependent manner. Arsenic exposure also increased the level of Si in rice grains. Application of Si, either in soil or on leaves (foliar), greatly reduced grain As accumulation (up to 67% in AsV and 78% in AsIII) and enhanced the growth and yield of plants under As stress. The level of thiols and activities of antioxidant enzymes were also enhanced under Si application. Foliar Si application was more effective in increasing grain Si level and reducing grain As than soil Si. The level of other trace elements was also significantly enhanced by Si application irrespective of the presence or absence of As in comparison with control. Arsenic exposure constrained some of the trace elements, such as Zn and Co, which were restored by Si application. Results of the present study showed that the application of currently used Si formulation may effectively reduce grain As level even in highly As-contaminated soil and improve grain quality of rice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel automated system for the identification of alcoholic subjects using electroencephalography (EEG) signals is proposed in this study. The proposed system employed dual-tree complex wavelet transform (DTCWT)-based features and sequential minimal optimization support vector machine (SMO-SVM), least square support vector machine (LS-SVM), and fuzzy Sugeno classifiers (FSC) for the automated identification of alcoholic EEG signals. The EEG signals are decomposed into several sub-bands (SBs) using DTCWT. The features extracted from DTCWT-based SBs are fed to FSC, SMO-SVM, and LS-SVM classifiers to evaluate the best performing classifier. The tenfold cross-validation scheme is used to mitigate the overfitting of the model. We have obtained the highest classification accuracy (CAC) of 97.91%, the area under receiver operating characteristic curve (AU-ROC) of 0.999 and Matthews correlation coefficient (MCC) of 0.958 for our proposed alcoholic diagnosis model. Our alcoholism detection system performed better than the existing systems in terms of all three measures: CAC, AU-ROC, and MCC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nattokinase (NK) is a potent fibrinolytic enzyme with the potential for fighting against cardiovascular diseases. In this study, UV mutated Pseudomonas aeruginosa CMSS was used for production, purification and to study the stability of the enzyme. The enzyme was subjected to step by step purification by ammonium sulphate precipitation, dialysis, ion-exchange chromatography and gel filtration chromatography. The purified NK showed 91.84 % of clot lysis, comparable to standard streptokinase. The stability of the purified enzyme was analysed by different parameters such as pH, temperature, metal ions, surfactants and organic solvents. The molecular weight of the enzyme was determined as 27 kDa by SDS-PAGE and confirmed by fibrin zymography. The enzyme obtained its highest activity at pH 5 and at 45 °C. The present study showed the presence of fibrinolytic enzyme by its specificity. Further analysis of the biochemical properties and the precise mechanism of fibrinolytic enzymes will expand the scope of research for development of therapeutic agents to treat thrombosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) were synthesized by sonication using ethanolic leaf extract of Andrographis paniculata. We investigated the optimum parameters for AuNP synthesis and functionalization with polycaprolactone-gelatin (PCL-GL) composites. The AuNPs were characterized with various biophysical techniques such as TEM, XRD, FT-IR and EDX spectroscopy. TEM images showed that nanoparticles were spherical in shape with a size range from 5 to 75 nm. EDX analysis revealed the presence of molecular oxygen and carbon on the surface of AuNPs. The synthesized AuNPs were tested for their effect on HeLa (human cervical cancer) and MCF-7 (human breast cancer) cell lines and found to be nontoxic and biocompatible, which are potential carriers for hydrophobic drugs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To study the types and frequency of problems related to menstruation in adolescent girls and the effect of these problems on daily routine. Girls in the age group 13–19 years who had had menarche for at least one year at the time of study. 198 adolescent girls have been studied. Data was collected by personal interviews on a pre-tested, semi-structured questionnaire. The questions covered menstrual problems, regularity of menses in last three cycles of menstruation and the effect of these problems on the daily routine. Analysis was done using SPSS version 12. Percentages were calculated for drawing inferences. More than a third (35.9%) of the study subjects were in the age group 13–15 years followed by 17–19 years, 15–17 years respectively. Mean age of study participants was calculated to be 16.2 years. Dysmenorrhea (67.2%) was the commonest problem and (63.1%) had one or the other symptoms of Pre-menstrual syndrome (PMS). Other related problems were present in 55.1% of study subjects. Daily routine of 60% girls was affected due to prolonged bed rest, missed social activities/commitments, disturbed sleep and decreased appetite. 17.24% had to miss a class and 25% had to abstrain from work. Mothers and friends were the most common source of information on the issue. Screen adolescent girls for menstruation related problems and provide them with counseling services and relevant information on possible treatment options. Besides, there is a need to emphasize on designing menstrual health programmes for adolescents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The efficacy of Tiron (4,5-dihydroxybenzene 1,3-disulfonic acid disodium salt) was examined in the treatment of beryllium-induced maternal and developmental toxicity in rats. Single administration of beryllium nitrate at a dose of 50 mg/kg (i.m.) on day 13 of gestation caused reductions in fetal and placental weights, the number of implantation sites and number of corpora lutea, as well as causing post-implantation loss, stunted growth, increase in the number of resorptions, and also a disturbed sex ratio. Maternal toxicity was demonstrated by reduction in body weight gain. Administration of beryllium also showed significant alteration in the hematological and biochemical indices of the mother as well as the fetus. Marked decreases were recorded in hemoglobin percentage, blood sugar levels, serum protein contents and serum alkaline phosphatase activity. By contrast, significant elevation was found in the activity of transaminases (aspartate aminotransferase and alanine aminotransferase). Tissue protein contents, glycogen contents, activities of alkaline phosphatase, adenosine triphosphatase and succinic dehydrogenase of kidney, lungs and uterus, and maternal and fetal liver all showed significantly decreased values after beryllium exposure, and remarkable elevation was observed in acid phosphatase, glucose-6-phosphatase and hepatic lipid peroxidation. These parameters were restored considerably with administration of 471 mg/kg i.m. Tiron from days 14 to 18 of gestation. Atomic absorption spectrophotometry also revealed a high concentration of beryllium in different organs of pregnant rats. Interestingly, a small amount of metal ion was also detected in the fetus and reduced accumulation of beryllium was noticed after Tiron treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]