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To develop a green nanomaterial for specialty applications, spherical nanocellulose (SNC) was functionalized to a semicarbazone-Schiff base via a polymer analogous reaction. Firstly, SNC was synthesized from cellulose extracted from huge forest biomass, pine needles (PNs). The glucopyranose ring of SNC was oxidatively cleaved at C2-C3 to form SNC-dialdehyde (SNC-DA) by periodate oxidation. Both the aldehydic groups generated were reacted with semicarbazide to form a semicarbazone-Schiff base, referred to as functional spherical nanocellulose (FSNC). All the materials synthesized were characterized by FTIR, FESEM, EDS, TEM, and XRD studies. The FSNC was evaluated as an adsorbent for [Hg.sup.2+] ions. The adsorption adhered to pseudo-second order kinetics and Langmuir adsorption isotherm having a maximum adsorption capacity/Lungmuir adsorption capacity of 172.412 mg/g at 60 min. The selectivity of FSNC for [Hg.sup.2+] ions was confirmed from its appreciable removal (82%) from solution in tap water and 70% with other metal ions. FSNC exhibited bifunctional nature as it possesses antimicrobial activity against bacteria, that is, Gram (+) (Bacillus aereus) and Gram (--) (Escherichia coll and Salmonella typhi), and a fungus Byssochlamys fiilva. FSNC showed good recyclability up to eight sorption-desorption cycles. Thus, we have valorized biomass into an eco-friendly and low-cost bifunctional material as an adsorbent for [Hg.sup.2+] ions cum antimicrobial agent. Highlights * Spherical nanocellulose (SNC) prepared via acidic hydrolysis from pine needles * SNC functionalized to semicarbazone-based bifunctional Schiff base * The Schiff base is a rapid and efficient [Hg.sup.2+] ions adsorbent * The Schiff base has good antimicrobial activities against Gram (-) bacteria * Biowaste-based adsorbent has the potential to sustain the bio-circular economy KEYWORDS antimicrobial, pine needles, Schiff base, semicarbazone, spherical nanocellulose, 1 | INTRODUCTION The sustainability development goals have a deep link with the failing water quality and low availability of drinkable water across the world. (1) Among different pollutants, dyes [...]

Introduction: Menopause is an inevitable phase of a woman’s natural ageing process, marked by cessation of ovarian function. Hormonal changes during the phase causes derangement of lipid metabolism and thereby increasing cardiovascular risk in postmenopausal women. Diet plays a major role in influencing serum lipids. Aim: To determine and compare lipid profile, Atherogenic Index of Plasma (AIP) and non High-Density Lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-c) in pre and postmenopausal women based on vegetarian and non vegetarian diet. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was comprised of 92 women (46 were premenopausal and 46 were postmenopausal) carried out at AJ Institute of Medical Sciences and Research Centre, Mangaluru, Karnataka, India between December 2019-May 2020. The groups were further divided into vegetarian and non vegetarians. Fasting lipid profile was determined by enzymatic methods. AIP and non HDL levels were calculated. Comparison of means between two groups was done using student t-test. Association between categorical variables was analysed using Chi-square test. Statistical significance was considered at p

Introduction: Identifying suitable predictive biomarkers is critical for preventing recurrence and improving the survival rate in individuals with Oral Squamous Cell Carcinomas (OSCC). HOTAIR is a novel type of long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) that has been linked to initiation and progression in OSCC. Most previous studies on HOTAIR have included a small number of OSCC cohorts, only a few studies have performed multivariate analyses adjusting for confounding factors, and there has been little emphasis on HOTAIR's potential to predict loco-regional recurrence. Methodology: The study included 96 OSCC Formalin Fixed Paraffin Embedded (FFPE) tissue samples and gender and age-matched 30 normal mucosa who had received surgical therapy. HOTAIR expression in OSCC was analysed using qRT-PCR and correlated with clinic-pathological variables, risk practices, loco-regional recurrence, and Overall Survival (OS). Results: HOTAIR was overexpressed in OSCC compared to NM. High HOTAIR expression was related to regional lymph node metastases, perineural invasion, and locoregional recurrence. The Kaplan-Meier curve followed by Log-rank test survival estimates revealed a significantly associated with high HOTAIR expression and poor OS (p<0.05). In multivariate analysis, lymph node metastasis (Hazard ratio 4.39, p ≤ 0.001, 95% confidence interval, 1.775-10.886) and high HOTAIR expression (Hazard ratio 3.337, p ≤ 0.001, 95% confidence interval, 1.396-7.973) were the independent predictors of poor OS. Age, TNM staging, and high HOTAIR expression were all independent predictors of loco regional recurrence. Conclusion: The current study establishes HOTAIR as a novel prognostic marker for OSCC and suggests a therapeutic strategy for targeted therapy of OSCC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Guidelines were developed by the Australian Society of Endodontology Inc. with the intent to describe relevant aspects of contemporary evidence‐based root canal treatment. The document aims to support clinicians by describing a Standard of Practice in the Australian context. The presented guidelines refer to Competence criteria and Quality standards for the main steps in root canal treatment. While the intent is not to replace individual clinical decision‐making, it is envisaged that these periodically reviewable guidelines may help to improve clinical outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A key mutational process in cancer is structural variation, in which rearrangements delete, amplify or reorder genomic segments that range in size from kilobases to whole chromosomes.sup.1-7. Here we develop methods to group, classify and describe somatic structural variants, using data from the Pan-Cancer Analysis of Whole Genomes (PCAWG) Consortium of the International Cancer Genome Consortium (ICGC) and The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), which aggregated whole-genome sequencing data from 2,658 cancers across 38 tumour types.sup.8. Sixteen signatures of structural variation emerged. Deletions have a multimodal size distribution, assort unevenly across tumour types and patients, are enriched in late-replicating regions and correlate with inversions. Tandem duplications also have a multimodal size distribution, but are enriched in early-replicating regions--as are unbalanced translocations. Replication-based mechanisms of rearrangement generate varied chromosomal structures with low-level copy-number gains and frequent inverted rearrangements. One prominent structure consists of 2-7 templates copied from distinct regions of the genome strung together within one locus. Such cycles of templated insertions correlate with tandem duplications, and--in liver cancer--frequently activate the telomerase gene TERT. A wide variety of rearrangement processes are active in cancer, which generate complex configurations of the genome upon which selection can act. Whole-genome sequencing data from more than 2,500 cancers of 38 tumour types reveal 16 signatures that can be used to classify somatic structural variants, highlighting the diversity of genomic rearrangements in cancer., Author(s): Yilong Li [sup.1] [sup.2] , Nicola D. Roberts [sup.1] , Jeremiah A. Wala [sup.3] [sup.4] [sup.5] , Ofer Shapira [sup.3] [sup.4] [sup.5] , Steven E. Schumacher [sup.3] [sup.4] [sup.5] [...]

Purpose To compare the effect of 'intermittent' central venous oxygen saturation (ScvO.sub.2) monitoring with 'continuous' ScvO.sub.2 monitoring on shock resolution and mortality in children with septic shock. Methods Primary outcome was the achievement of therapeutic goals or shock resolution in the first 6 h. We randomly assigned children < 17 years' age with septic shock to 'intermittent ScvO.sub.2' or 'continuous ScvO.sub.2' groups. All children were subjected to subclavian/internal jugular line insertion and managed as per Surviving Sepsis Campaign Guidelines. To guide resuscitation, we used ScvO.sub.2 estimated at other clinical and laboratory parameters were monitored similarly in both groups. Results We enrolled 75 and 77 children [median (IQR) age: 6 (1.5-10) years] in the 'intermittent' and 'continuous' groups, respectively. Baseline characteristics were comparable between the groups. When compared to the 'continuous' group, fewer children in the 'intermittent' group achieved shock resolution within first 6 h [19% vs. 36%; relative risk (RR) 0.51; 95% CI 0.29-0.89; risk difference - 18.0%; 95% CI - 32.0 to - 4.0]. The lower bound of confidence interval, however, crossed the pre-specified non-inferiority margin. There was no difference in the proportion of children attaining shock resolution within 24 h (63% vs. 69%; RR 0.86; 95% CI 0.68-1.08) or risk of mortality between the groups (47% vs. 43%; RR 1.06; 95% CI 0.74-1.51). Conclusions Given that a greater proportion of children attained therapeutic end points in the first 6 h, continuous monitoring of ScvO.sub.2 should preferably be used to titrate therapy in the first few hours in children with septic shock. In the absence of such facility, intermittent monitoring of ScvO.sub.2 can be used to titrate therapy in these children, given the lack of difference in the proportion of patients achieving shock resolution at 24 h or in risk of mortality between the intermittent and continuous groups., Author(s): Jhuma Sankar [sup.1], Man Singh [sup.1], Kiran Kumar [sup.1], M. Jeeva Sankar [sup.1], Sushil Kumar Kabra [sup.1], Rakesh Lodha [sup.1] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.413618.9, 0000 0004 1767 6103, Department [...]

In the face of recent advances in Cervical cancer (CC) treatment, therapeutic and surgical procedures for CC management are still inadequate. In the current study for the first time Andrographolide (Andro) has been explored for its multitarget therapeutic efficacy on NF-kB, COX-2, and PI3K/AKT expressions together in CC. The expression levels of NF-kB, COX-2, PI3K and PTEN in the CC patient samples, both at mRNA and protein levels have shown significant association with poor survival and increased tumor aggressiveness. The binding efficacy of Andro was investigated using molecular docking and molecular dynamic simulations, and the protein and ligand complex for NF-kB and COX-2 has shown high binding energy. Andro displayed cytotoxicity by impeding the in-vitro proliferation of CC cells. Andro significantly supressed the NF-kB, COX-2, and PI3K expression and enhanced the expression levels of PTEN at protein levels in-vitro. Andro induced apoptosis in a dose dependent manner and significantly inhibited the migration and invasion of CC cells. Andro exhibited similar activity in-vivo and suppressed the CC tumor growth in xenograft C57BL/6 mice model. The anti-tumor activity of Andro, both in-vitro and in-vivo has shown considerable downregulation of NF-kB and COX-2 and induced apoptosis through impeding the PI3K/AKT signalling pathway. These findings from the above study projects, administration of Andro as an effective alternate safe compound to curtail and impede cervical cancer progression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The need for mobile-based ambulatory heart rhythm monitoring arises from its potential to provide convenient and continuous tracking of heart rhythms, improving early detection and management of cardiac issues while accommodating patients' active lifestyles. The present study aims to compare and validate the 24 h ECG monitoring between the traditional Holter and Vigo Heart wearable patch. Method: One hundred and nineteen patients with a workup of pre-diagnosed arrhythmias or suspicious arrhythmic episodes were evaluated. Each participant wore both devices simultaneously, and the cardiac rhythm was monitored for 24 h. Selective ECG parameters were compared between the two devices and the cardiologist independently compared the diagnoses of each device. Results: The indication for ECG monitoring in the ent study was patients who were presented with suspicious arrhythmia-related symptoms (47.8%). The Vigo Heart ECG showed a negligible amount of mean noise percentage (1.94 ±6.68%) when compared with the traditional Holter 17.84±23.95% of the total recording time. For the maximum heart rate, there was significant correlation between the Holter monitoring and Vigo Heart patch (129.69 ± 22.5 vs. 113.31 ± 23.6 beats/min, p = 0.02). The results also showed significant correlation for the average heart rates (74.85 ± 10.8 vs. 76 ± 10.3 beats/min, p = 0.02) and minimum heart rates (47.94 ± 9.5 vs. 59.21 ± 8.9 beats/min, p = 0.02), for the Vigo Heart ECG and Holter monitoring, respectively. The cardiologist made coherent clinical diagnoses for all the 119 study participants using both the ECG monitoring devices. The findings also revealed comparable coherent detection of cardiac arrhythmias in both the ECG monitoring devices. Conclusion: The single-lead adhesive device presents itself as a viable and acceptable alternative for conducting ambulatory ECG monitoring in individuals with arrhythmia or suspicious symptoms of arrhythmias. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the present study, we report the chemical modification of the dried and fallen pine needles (PNs) via a simple protocol using KMnO4 oxidation. The oxidized PNs (OPNs) were evaluated as adsorbents using some cationic and anionic dyes. The successful synthesis of OPNs adsorbent was characterized by various techniques to ascertain its structural attributes. The adsorbent showed selectivity for the cationic dyes with 96.11% removal (Pr) for malachite green (MG) and 89.68% Pr for methylene blue (MB) in 120 min. Kinetic models namely, pseudo-first order, pseudo-second order, and Elovich were applied to have insight into adsorption. Additionally, three adsorption isotherms, i.e., Langmuir, Freundlich, and Temkin were also applied. The dye adsorption followed a pseudo-second-order kinetic model with R² > 0.99912 for MG and R² > 0.9998 for MB. The adsorbent followed the Langmuir model with a maximum adsorption capacity (qm) of 223.2 mg/g and 156.9mg/g for MG and MB, respectively. Furthermore, the OPNs showed remarkable regeneration and recyclability up to nine adsorption-desorption cycles with appreciable adsorption for both the dyes. The use of OPNs as an adsorbent for the removal of dyes from wastewater, therefore, provides an ecologically benign, low-cost, and sustainable solution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]