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Optimism and the practice of any religion are known to reduce depression and anxiety in cancer patients. In the present study, the specific role of Muslim religiosity, optimism, depression, and death anxiety in cancer patients has been explored. The sample of this study consisted of 200 cancer patients from different hospitals of the districts Faisalabad and Lahore (Pakistan). The sample's average age was 26.6 years. Parallel mediation findings show that optimism and depression are significant mediators between Muslim religiosity and death anxiety among cancer patients. Muslim religiosity is positively associated with optimism, and it helps to decrease the level of death anxiety, while depression is negatively associated with Muslim religiosity, and high depression increases the death anxiety level of cancer patients. In conclusion, Muslim religiosity and optimism play significant roles in managing depressive symptoms and death anxiety among cancer patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Cancer is a common worldwide illness; it evokes psychological distress at different stages, during chemotherapy patient perceives a variety of psychiatric symptoms due to various medication side-effects and psychological distress. Studies have shown a significant impact of cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) in the management of psychiatric symptoms during chemotherapy. This study aims to investigate the effectiveness of CBT for depression, anxiety, stress, death anxiety, satisfaction with life, and self-esteem among cancer patients during chemotherapy (CPdC). Methods: Place and duration of the study: Department of Applied Psychology, Government College University Faisalabad in collaboration with Department of Oncology, Allied Hospital Faisalabad from November 20, 2020 and July 31, 2021. A total of 90 cancer patients were enrolled. 70 out of 90 met the eligibility criteria and 60 participants fulfilled all requirements. Participants were randomly allocated to four different groups. The pre-assessment screening was started along with the first trial of chemotherapy. The CBT-based treatment plan was formulated and one session per week was given to each patient for 3 to 4 months. Participants' age range was 18–65 years (M ± SD = 47.51 ± 12.36. Demographic form, Depression Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS), Death Anxiety Scale (DAS), Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS), and Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES) were administered. Descriptive, t-test, and repeated measure ANOVA statistics were used to investigate the findings. Results: Results indicated significant mean difference on the variable of depression, anxiety and stress across four conditions (i.e. F(2, 56) = 39.55, p <.000, η2 =.679; F(2,56) = 73.32, p <.000, η2 =.797; F(2,56) = 119.77, p <.000, η2 =.865 respectively). On death anxiety significant difference across four conditions was found (F(2,56) = 22.71, p <.000, η2 =.549) with large effect size. Furthermore, findings indicated significant mean difference on the variable of satisfaction with life and self-esteem across four conditions was found (F(2,56) = 22.05, p <.000, η2 =.542; F(2,56) = 36.19, p <.000, η2 =.660) with large effect size. Conclusion: It is concluded that CBT played a very effective role to reduce depression, anxiety, and stress-related psychiatric symptoms. CBT reduces the level of death anxiety and improving the quality of life and level of self-esteem among CPdC. Trial Registration: The study trial was registered in the Thai Clinical Trial Registry-TCTR (TCTR20201113002). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Salmonella enterica, sub specie enterica, serovar Enteritidis is still one of the major zoonotic serotypes responsible for infection in poultry and humans worldwide. For the tracking of bacterial sources and to determine the distribution of Salmonella from infected people, typing technologies are highly essential. Multilocus sequence typing is one of the subtyping techniques based on sequencing of three to seven well conserved housekeeping genes within the bacterial genome. It is a valuable tool for exploring the genetic diversity of known serovars and the identification of genetic clusters of Salmonella. The present study was conducted in Lahore from January 2019 to June 2019. A total of 320 samples were collected from poultry (n=250) and human sources (n=70). Salmonella was phenotypically confirmed by biochemical tests and molecularly by targeting the ompc gene for genus and sdfl gene for serovar Enteritidis. MLST was performed on three Salmonella Enteritidis, and three untyped isolates. All the S. Enteritidis isolates fall in ST (11) with eBG4. MLST identified the untyped isolates as Salmonella Infantis (ST 32), Salmonella Agona (ST13), and Salmonella Brederny (ST505). The results of MLST showed the clonal relationship between S. Enteritidis isolated from poultry and human sources. MLST scheme resulted in total of 4 ST's with all S. Enteritidis fall in (ST 11). Phylogenetic analysis revealed the same genetic lineage between all S. Enteritidis and a different lineage for other isolated serovars. In conclusion the results of present study suggested that MLST can be used as a subtyping technique to find out clonal relationship between seovars and can also be used as alternative method for serotyping of Salmonella. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Consecutive monoculture of Rehmannia glutinosa results in severe replant disease and remarkably reduces the yield and quality. Rhizosphere microbiome plays a crucial role in soil health and plant performance. In this study, high-throughput pyrosequencing combined with a culture-dependent approach were applied to analyze the changes in rhizosphere microbiome structure and bacteria-fungi inter-kingdom associations under R. glutinosa consecutive monoculture. The results revealed a distinct separation between the newly planted (NP) and the two-year monocultured (SM). R. glutinosa consecutive monoculture resulted in a significant decline in the Shannon and Simpson diversity indices for the fungal community, and a significant decrease in relative abundances of the phyla Actinobacteria , Chloroflexi and Basidiomycota. The relative abundances of the genera Streptomyces , Arthrobacter , Bacillus , Nocardioides and Lysobacter were significantly higher in NP than in SM, while the opposite was true for Fusarium. Quantitative PCR confirmed a significant reduction in the phylum Actinobacteria and the genus Bacillus , and a significant increase in Fusarium oxysporum. Furthermore, the abundances of Actinobacteria and Bacillus strains with antagonistic activities against Fusarium oxysporum were lower in extended monoculture soils. Most of the isolated antagonistic bacteria were found to be positive for different plant growth promotion activities such as solubilization of phosphate and potassium, production of siderophore and indolic compounds. In addition, it was found that phenolic acid mixture and catalpol, identified in the root exudates of R. glutinosa , could selectively inhibit or stimulate different microbes. Moreover, the culture filtrate and volatile organic compounds produced by F. oxysporum could in turn suppress the growth of certain antagonistic bacteria. In conclusion, these findings highlight the close association between R. glutinosa replant disease and rhizosphere microbiome assembly, which was mediated by root exudates and microbe-microbe interactions. • Consecutive cropping of Rehmannia glutinosa affects rhizosphere microbiome assembly. • Consecutive cropping significantly decreased rhizosphere fungal community diversity. • Abundances of some plant-growth-promoting rhizobacteria decreased under monoculture. • Proliferation of Fusarium oxysporum inhibited the growth of beneficial bacteria. • Root exudates modulated the dysbiosis of rhizosphere microbiota. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cystic echinococcosis is a zoonotic disease of livestock having serious economic setbacks. The etiological agents of the disease belong to Echinococcus granulosus sensu lato. Despite of worldwide distribution of the disease, the molecular studies mainly employ amplification of cox 1, nad 1 and nad 5 genes. To further strengthen the knowledge about significance of other molecular markers and to investigate the genetic diversity and population structure of Echinococcus species in Pakistan, the current study was designed in which full length mitochondrial cyt b, atp 6 and nad 2 genes were amplified. Based on BLAST searches of the generated cyt b, atp 6 and nad 2 gene sequences from a total of 18 hydatid cysts collected from cattle, 12 isolates were identified as E. granulousus G3 and 6 as E. granulosus (G1). The phylogeny inferred by the Bayesian method using nucleotide sequences of cyt b- atp 6- nad 2 further confirmed their identity. The diversity indices indicated a high haplotype and a low nucleotide diversity. The negative values of Tajima's D and Fu's Fs test demonstrated deviation from neutrality suggesting a recent population expansion. To the best of our knowledge, the present study described the genetic variation of E. granulosus population for the first time in Pakistan using full-length cyt b, atp 6 and nad 2 mitochondrial genes. The findings on the genetic variation of E. granulosus in Pakistan will constitute useful baseline information for future studies on the prevalence and population structure of E. granulosus based on full-length cyt b, atp 6 and nad 2. • We describe genetic diversity of Echinococcus granulosus (sensu stricto) based on complete cyt b, atp 6 and nad 2 gene sequences. • The diversity indices indicated a high haplotype and a low nucleotide diversity. • The negative values of neutrality indices suggested a recent population expansion. • The results will constitute useful baseline information for future studies on the population structure of E. granulosus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

SNAREs (Soluble N -ethylmaleimide-sensitive factor attachment protein receptors) help intracellular vesicle trafficking and membrane fusion among eukaryotes. They are vital for growth and development of phyto-pathogenic fungi such as Fusarium graminearum which causes Fusarium Head Blight (FHB) of wheat and barley. The SNARE protein Syn8 and its homologues play many roles among different organisms. Here, we have characterized FgSyn8 in F. graminearum as a homologue of Syn8. We have integrated biochemical, microbiological and molecular genetic approaches to investigate the roles of this protein. Our results reveal that FgSyn8 is indispensable for normal vegetative growth, conidiation, conidial morphology and pathogenicity of F. graminearum. Deoxynivalenol (DON) biochemical assay reveals active participation of this protein in DON production of F. graminearum. This has further been confirmed by the production of bulbous structures among the intercalary hyphae. FgSyn8 mutant strain produced defects in perithecia formation which portrays its role in sexual reproduction. In summary, our results support that the SNARE protein FgSyn8 is required for vegetative growth, sexual reproduction, DON production and pathogenicity of F. graminearum. • SNAREs help intracellular vesicle trafficking and membrane fusion. • The SNARE protein Syn8 play many roles in different organisms. • Here, we have characterized FgSyn8 in F. graminearum. • The results reveal that FgSyn8 is indispensable for different roles of F. graminearum. • Deoxynivalenol (DON) reveals active participation of FgSyn8 in DON production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fish protein hydrolysates (FPH) are inherently unstable in their liquid form, necessitating either freezing or dewatering for stabilization. Gentle methods such as freeze concentration can be used to remove water, this can be achieved by freezing water in solution by decreasing the bulk temperature below freezing point and separating pure ice crystals from concentrated solution. This approach serves as an alternative to techniques like evaporation and reverse osmosis for concentrating solutions that have high water content, significant nutritional value, and thermolabile compounds. This is crucial as many bioactive compounds degrade when exposed to elevated temperatures. Another notable advantage of this technology is its potential to reduce energy consumption by up to 40% when integrated into the FPH drying process. Although this technology is currently industrialized primarily for juices, it can achieve concentrations of up to 60°Brix and manage viscosities up to 400 mPa.s. Numerous studies have been dedicated to enhancing design and processes, leading to a 35% reduction in the system's capital cost and a 20% reduction in energy consumption. Moreover, freeze concentration can synergize with other concentration techniques, creating more efficient hybrid processes. This review aims to introduce freeze concentration as a superior option for preserving fish protein hydrolysates, enhancing their stability, and maintaining their nutritional and bioactive qualities., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare no competing interests or relationships that could influence this work., (Copyright © 2024. Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

The global demand for an enhanced quality of life and extended lifespan has driven significant advancements in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. These fields utilize a range of interdisciplinary theories and techniques to repair structurally impaired or damaged tissues and organs, as well as restore their normal functions. Nevertheless, the clinical efficacy of medications, materials, and potent cells used at the laboratory level is always constrained by technological limitations. A novel platform known as adaptable microneedles has been developed to address the abovementioned issues. These microneedles offer a solution for the localized distribution of various cargos while minimizing invasiveness. Microneedles provide favorable patient compliance in clinical settings due to their effective administration and ability to provide a painless and convenient process. In this review article, we summarized the most recent development of microneedles, and we started by classifying various microneedle systems, advantages, and fundamental properties. Subsequently, it provides a comprehensive overview of different types of microneedles, the material used to fabricate microneedles, the fundamental properties of ideal microneedles, and their applications in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine, primarily focusing on preserving and restoring impaired tissues and organs. The limitations and perspectives have been discussed by concluding their future therapeutic applications in tissue engineering and regenerative medicines., (© 2024 IOP Publishing Ltd. All rights, including for text and data mining, AI training, and similar technologies, are reserved.)

In view of their exceptional approach, excellent inherent biocompatibility and biodegradability properties, and interaction with the local extracellular matrix, protein-based polymers have received attention in bone tissue engineering, which is a multidisciplinary field that repairs and regenerates fractured bones. Bone is a multihierarchical complex structure, and it performs several essential biofunctions, including maintaining mineral balance and structural support and protecting soft organs. Protein-based polymers have gained interest in developing ideal scaffolds as emerging biomaterials for bone fractured healing and regeneration, and it is challenging to design ideal bone substitutes as perfect biomaterials. Several protein-based polymers, including collagen, keratin, gelatin, serum albumin, etc., are potential materials due to their inherent cytocompatibility, controlled biodegradability, high biofunctionalization, and tunable mechanical characteristics. While numerous studies have indicated the encouraging possibilities of proteins in BTE, there are still major challenges concerning their biodegradability, stability in physiological conditions, and continuous release of growth factors and bioactive molecules. Robust scaffolds derived from proteins can be used to replace broken or diseased bone with a biocompatible substitute; proteins, being biopolymers, provide excellent scaffolds for bone tissue engineering. Herein, recent developments in protein polymers for cutting-edge bone tissue engineering are addressed in this review within 3-5 years, with a focus on the significant challenges and future perspectives. The first section discusses the structural fundamentals of bone anatomy and ideal scaffolds, and the second section describes the fabrication techniques of scaffolds. The third section highlights the importance of proteins and their applications in BTE. Hence, the recent development of protein polymers for state-of-the-art bone tissue engineering has been discussed, highlighting the significant challenges and future perspectives.

Bone is a dynamic tissue that can always regenerate itself through remodeling to maintain biofunctionality. This tissue performs several vital physiological functions. However, bone scaffolds are required for critical-size damages and fractures, and these can be addressed by bone tissue engineering. Bone tissue engineering (BTE) has the potential to develop scaffolds for repairing critical-size damaged bone. BTE is a multidisciplinary engineered scaffold with the desired properties for repairing damaged bone tissue. Herein, we have provided an overview of the common carbohydrate polymers, fundamental structural, physicochemical, and biological properties, and fabrication techniques for bone tissue engineering. We also discussed advanced biofabrication strategies and provided the limitations and prospects by highlighting significant issues in bone tissue engineering. There are several review articles available on bone tissue engineering. However, we have provided a state-of-the-art review article that discussed recent progress and trends within the last 3-5 years by emphasizing challenges and future perspectives., (© 2024 IOP Publishing Ltd. All rights, including for text and data mining, AI training, and similar technologies, are reserved.)

The skin is at risk for injury to external factors since it serves as the body's first line of defense against the external environment. Hydrogels have drawn much interest due to their intrinsic extracellular matrix (ECM) properties and their biomimetic, structural, and durable mechanical characteristics. Hydrogels have enormous potential use in skin wound healing due to their ability to deliver bioactive substances easily. In this study, composite hydrogels were developed by blending guar gum (GG), polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), and carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) with crosslinker TEOS for skin wound treatment. The structural, surface morphology, surface roughness, and stability features of the composite hydrogels were characterized by several techniques, such as FTIR, SEM-EDX, AFM, and DSC. The increasing ZiF-8 causes more surface roughness, with decreased swelling in different media (Aqueous > PBS > NaCl). The increasing ZiF-8 amount causes less hydrophilic behavior and biodegradation with increasing gel fraction. The cytocompatibility of Zinc imidazolate framework-8 (ZiF-8) based composites was evaluated against fibroblast cell lines by cell viability, proliferation, and cell morphology. The increasing ZiF-8 caused more cell viability and proliferation with proper cell morphology. Hence, the results show that synthesized composite hydrogels may be a potential candidate for numerous wound repair applications.

Protein-based wound dressings have garnered increasing interest in recent years owing to their distinct physical, chemical, and biological characteristics. The intricate molecular composition of proteins gives rise to unique characteristics, such as exceptional biocompatibility, biodegradability, and responsiveness, which contribute to the promotion of wound healing. Wound healing is an intricate and ongoing process influenced by multiple causes, and it consists of four distinct phases. Various treatments have been developed to repair different types of skin wounds, thanks to advancements in medical technology and the recognition of the diverse nature of wounds. This review has literature reviewed within the last 3-5 years-the recent progress and development of protein in wound dressings and the fundamental properties of an ideal wound dressing. Herein, the recent strides in protein-based state-of-the-art wound dressing emphasize the significant challenges and summarize future perspectives for wound healing applications.

Wound healing is a critical but complex biological process of skin tissue repair and regeneration resulting from various systems working together at the cellular and molecular levels. Quick wound healing and the problems associated with traditional wound repair techniques are being overcome with multifunctional materials. Over time, this research area has drawn significant attention. Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), owning to their peculiar physicochemical characteristics, are now considered a promising class of well-suited porous materials for wound healing in addition to their other biological applications. This detailed literature review provides an overview of the latest developments in MOFs for wound healing applications. We have discussed the synthesis, essential biomedical properties, wound-healing mechanism, MOF-based dressing materials, and their wound-healing applications. The possible major challenges and limitations of MOFs have been discussed, along with conclusions and future perspectives. This overview of the literature review addresses MOFs-based wound healing from several angles and covers the most current developments in the subject. The readers may discover how the MOFs advanced this discipline by producing more inventive, useful, and successful dressings. It influences the development of future generations of biomaterials for the healing and regeneration of skin wounds., (© 2024 IOP Publishing Ltd.)

Tissue engineering is currently one of the fastest-growing areas of engineering, requiring the fabrication of advanced and multifunctional materials that can be used as scaffolds or dressings for tissue regeneration. In this work, we report a bilayer material prepared by electrospinning a hybrid material of poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) and bacterial cellulose (BC NFs) (top layer) over a highly interconnected porous 3D gelatin-PVA hydrogel obtained by a freeze-drying process (bottom layer). The techniques were combined to produce an advanced material with synergistic effects on the physical and biological properties of the two materials. The bilayer material was characterized using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and a water contact measurement system (WCMS). Studies on swelling, degradability, porosity, drug release, cellular and antibacterial activities were performed using standardized procedures and assays. FTIR confirmed cross-linking of both the top and bottom layers, and SEM showed porous structure for the bottom layer, random deposition of NFs on the surface, and aligned NFs in the cross section. The water contact angle (WCA) showed a hydrophilic surface for the bilayer material. Swelling analysis showed high swelling, and degradation analysis showed good stability. The bilayer material released Ag-sulfadiazine in a sustained and controlled manner and showed good antibacterial activities against severe disease-causing gram + ive and -ive ( Escherichia coli , Staphylococcus aureus , and Pseudomonas aeruginosa ) bacterial strains. In vitro biological studies were performed on fibroblasts (3T3) and human embryonic kidneys (HEK-293), which showed desirable cell viability, proliferation, and adhesion to the bilayer. Thus, the synergistic effect of NFs and the hydrogel resulted in a potential wound dressing material for wound healing and soft tissue engineering., Competing Interests: The authors declare no competing financial interest., (© 2024 The Authors. Published by American Chemical Society.)

Assessing pain in non-verbal patients is challenging, often depending on clinical judgment which can be unreliable due to fluctuations in vital signs caused by underlying medical conditions. To date, there is a notable absence of objective diagnostic tests to aid healthcare practitioners in pain assessment, especially affecting critically-ill or advanced dementia patients. Neurophysiological information, i.e., functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) or electroencephalogram (EEG), unveils the brain's active regions and patterns, revealing the neural mechanisms behind the experience and processing of pain. This study focuses on assessing pain via the analysis of fNIRS signals combined with machine learning, utilising multiple fNIRS measures including oxygenated haemoglobin (ΔHBO2) and deoxygenated haemoglobin (ΔHHB). Initially, a channel selection process filters out highly contaminated channels with high-frequency and high-amplitude artifacts from the 24-channel fNIRS data. The remaining channels are then preprocessed by applying a low-pass filter and common average referencing to remove cardio-respiratory artifacts and common gain noise, respectively. Subsequently, the preprocessed channels are averaged to create a single time series vector for both ΔHBO2 and ΔHHB measures. From each measure, ten statistical features are extracted and fusion occurs at the feature level, resulting in a fused feature vector. The most relevant features, selected using the Minimum Redundancy Maximum Relevance method, are passed to a Support Vector Machines classifier. Using leave-one-subject-out cross validation, the system achieved an accuracy of 68.51%±9.02% in a multi-class task (No Pain, Low Pain, and High Pain) using a fusion of ΔHBO2 and ΔHHB. These two measures collectively demonstrated superior performance compared to when they were used independently. This study contributes to the pursuit of an objective pain assessment and proposes a potential biomarker for human pain using fNIRS.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a chronic illness marked by increasing cognitive decline and nervous system deterioration. At this time, there is no known medication that will stop the course of Alzheimer's disease; instead, most symptoms are treated. Clinical trial failure rates for new drugs remain high, highlighting the urgent need for improved AD modeling for improving understanding of the underlying pathophysiology of disease and improving drug development. The development of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) has made it possible to model neurological diseases like AD, giving access to an infinite number of patient-derived cells capable of differentiating neuronal fates. This advance will accelerate Alzheimer's disease research and provide an opportunity to create more accurate patient-specific models of Alzheimer's disease to support pathophysiological research, drug development, and the potential application of stem cell-based therapeutics. This review article provides a complete summary of research done to date on the potential use of iPSCs from AD patients for disease modeling, drug discovery, and cell-based therapeutics. Current technological developments in AD research including 3D modeling, genome editing, gene therapy for AD, and research on familial (FAD) and sporadic (SAD) forms of the disease are discussed. Finally, we outline the issues that need to be elucidated and future directions for iPSC modeling in AD., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

Biopolymer-based bioactive hydrogels are excellent wound dressing materials for wound healing applications. They have excellent properties, including hydrophilicity, tunable mechanical and morphological properties, controllable functionality, biodegradability, and desirable biocompatibility. The bioactive hydrogels were fabricated from bacterial cellulose (BC), gelatin, and graphene oxide (GO). The GO-functionalized-BC (GO- f -BC) was synthesized by a hydrothermal method and chemically crosslinked with bacterial cellulose and gelatin using tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS) as a crosslinker. The structural, morphological, and wettability properties were studied using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and a universal testing machine (UTM), respectively. The swelling analysis was conducted in different media, and aqueous medium exhibited maximum hydrogel swelling compared to other media. The Franz diffusion method was used to study curcumin (Cur) release (Max = 69.32%, Min = 49.32%), and Cur release kinetics followed the Hixson-Crowell model. Fibroblast (3T3) cell lines were employed to determine the cell viability and proliferation to bioactive hydrogels. Antibacterial activities of bioactive hydrogels were evaluated against infection-causing bacterial strains. Bioactive hydrogels are hemocompatible due to their less than 0.5% hemolysis against fresh human blood. The results show that bioactive hydrogels can be potential wound dressing materials for wound healing applications., Competing Interests: The authors declare no competing financial interest., (© 2023 The Authors. Published by American Chemical Society.)

Pain is a highly unpleasant sensory experience, for which currently no objective diagnostic test exists to measure it. Identification and localisation of pain, where the subject is unable to communicate, is a key step in enhancing therapeutic outcomes. Numerous studies have been conducted to categorise pain, but no reliable conclusion has been achieved. This is the first study that aims to show a strict relation between Electrodermal Activity (EDA) signal features and the presence of pain and to clarify the relation of classified signals to the location of the pain. For that purpose, EDA signals were recorded from 28 healthy subjects by inducing electrical pain at two anatomical locations (hand and forearm) of each subject. The EDA data were preprocessed with a Discrete Wavelet Transform to remove any irrelevant information. Chi-square feature selection was used to select features extracted from three domains: time, frequency, and cepstrum. The final feature vector was fed to a pool of classification schemes where an Artificial Neural Network classifier performed best. The proposed method, evaluated through leave-one-subject-out cross-validation, provided 90% accuracy in pain detection (no pain vs. pain), whereas the pain localisation experiment (hand pain vs. forearm pain) achieved 66.67% accuracy.Clinical relevance- This is the first study to provide an analysis of EDA signals in finding the source of the pain. This research explores the viability of using EDA for pain localisation, which may be helpful in the treatment of noncommunicable patients.

Critically ill patients often lack cognitive or communicative functions, making it challenging to assess their pain levels using self-reporting mechanisms. There is an urgent need for an accurate system that can assess pain levels without relying on patient-reported information. Blood volume pulse (BVP) is a relatively unexplored physiological measure with the potential to assess pain levels. This study aims to develop an accurate pain intensity classification system based on BVP signals through comprehensive experimental analysis. Twenty-two healthy subjects participated in the study, in which we analyzed the classification performance of BVP signals for various pain intensities using time, frequency, and morphological features through fourteen different machine learning classifiers. Three experiments were conducted using leave-one-subject-out cross-validation to better examine the hidden signatures of BVP signals for pain level classification. The results of the experiments showed that BVP signals combined with machine learning can provide an objective and quantitative evaluation of pain levels in clinical settings. Specifically, no pain and high pain BVP signals were classified with 96.6% accuracy, 100% sensitivity, and 91.6% specificity using a combination of time, frequency, and morphological features with artificial neural networks (ANNs). The classification of no pain and low pain BVP signals yielded 83.3% accuracy using a combination of time and morphological features with the AdaBoost classifier. Finally, the multi-class experiment, which classified no pain, low pain, and high pain, achieved 69% overall accuracy using a combination of time and morphological features with ANN. In conclusion, the experimental results suggest that BVP signals combined with machine learning can offer an objective and reliable assessment of pain levels in clinical settings.

This study explores the relationship between distress tolerance and depression with mediating role of anxiety-related symptoms and stress among dropout and non-dropout university students. This cross-sectional study was conducted from October 2019 to December 2020. Participants' age ranged between 20-40 years. Data was collected using the Distress Tolerance Scale and Depression Anxiety and Stress Scale. Descriptive, t-test, and mediation analyses were performed to calculate the results. A sample of 500 respondents was recruited. A significant difference was noted between dropout and non-dropout students on CGPA (p<0.001), depression (p<.001), anxiety (p<0.001), stress (p<0.001), tolerance (p<.001), absorption (p<0.001), appraisal (p<0.001), and distress tolerance (p<0.001). Mediation analysis reveals that stress and anxiety significantly mediates between distress tolerance and depressive symptoms (i.e., F (498) = 31.14, p<0.001; F (498) =34.14, p<0.001; F (496) = 161.21, p<0.001). It is concluded that low distress tolerance increases stress and anxiety, triggering depressive symptoms.

Biopolymer-based hydrogels have several advantages, including robust mechanical tunability, high biocompatibility, and excellent optical properties. These hydrogels can be ideal wound dressing materials and advantageous to repair and regenerate skin wounds. In this work, we prepared composite hydrogels by blending gelatin and graphene oxide- functionalized bacterial cellulose (GO- f -BC) with tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS). The hydrogels were characterized using Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), atomic force microscope (AFM), and water contact angle analyses to explore functional groups and their interactions, surface morphology, and wetting behavior, respectively. The swelling, biodegradation, and water retention were tested to respond to the biofluid. Maximum swelling was exhibited by GBG-1 (0.01 mg GO amount) in all media (aqueous = 1902.83%, PBS = 1546.63%, and electrolyte = 1367.32%). All hydrogels were hemocompatible, as their hemolysis was less than 0.5%, and blood coagulation time decreased as the hydrogel concentration and GO amount increased under in vitro standard conditions. These hydrogels exhibited unusual antimicrobial activities against Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacterial strains. The cell viability and proliferation were increased with an increased GO amount, and maximum values were found for GBG-4 (0.04 mg GO amount) against fibroblast (3T3) cell lines. The mature and well-adhered cell morphology of 3T3 cells was found for all hydrogel samples. Based on all findings, these hydrogels would be a potential wound dressing skin material for wound healing applications., Competing Interests: The authors declare no competing financial interest., (© 2023 The Authors. Published by American Chemical Society.)

Globally, people suffering from bone disorders are steadily increasing and bone tissue engineering is an advanced approach to treating fractured and defected bone tissues. In this study, we have prepared polymeric nanocomposite by free-radical polymerization from sodium alginate, hydroxyapatite, and silica with different GO amounts. The porous scaffolds were fabricated using the freeze drying technique. The structural, morphological, mechanical, and wetting investigation was conducted by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscope, universal tensile machine, and water contact angle characterization techniques. The swelling, biodegradation, and water retention were also studied. The biological studies were performed (cell viability, cell adherence, proliferation, and mineralization) against osteoblast cell lines. Scaffolds have exhibited different pore morphology SAG-1 (pore size = 414.61 ± 56 μm and porosity = 81.45 ± 2.17 %) and SAG-4 (pore size = 195.97 ± 82 μm and porosity = 53.82 ± 2.45 %). They have different mechanical behavior as SAG-1 has the least compression strength and compression modulus 2.14 ± 2.35 and 16.51 ± 1.27 MPa. However, SAG-4 has maximum compression strength and compression modulus 13.67 ± 2.63 and 96.16 ± 1.97 MPa with wetting behavior 80.70° and 58.70°, respectively. Similarly, SAG-1 exhibited the least and SAG-4 presented maximum apatite mineral formation, cell adherence, cell viability, and cell proliferation against mouse pre-osteoblast cell lines. The increased GO amount provides different multifunctional materials with different characteristics. Hence, the fabricated scaffolds could be potential scaffold materials to treat and regenerate fracture bone tissues in bone tissue engineering., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest All authors have declared no conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Advanced biomaterials are required with enhanced antibacterial and anticancer activities to obtain desirable biocompatibility during and after scaffold implantation in tissue engineering. Here, we report the development of a nanosystem by the hydrothermal method using different zinc (Zn) amounts and reduced graphene oxide (GO). Arabinoxylan, the nanosystem (Zn@rGO), and nanohydroxyapatite polymeric nanocomposites ARX- g -(Zn@rGO)/HAp were prepared by the free radical polymerization method, and porous bioactive scaffolds were fabricated via the freeze-drying technique. The structural, morphological, and elemental analyses of the bioactive scaffolds were conducted using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and energy-dispersive X-ray analysis. The wetting behavior was studied by a water contact meter and swelling in aqueous and phosphate-buffered saline solutions at 37 °C. The degradation was also studied in the phosphate-buffered saline solution at 37 °C. The increase in Zn content increased the pore size, and hydrophobic behavior shifted to hydrophilic (AGZ-1 = 131.40° at 0 s and 120.60° at 10 s to AGZ-1 = 81.30° at 0 s and 69.20° at 10 s) with the increase in contact time. Maximum swelling was observed in deionized water (AGZ-1 = 52.87%, AGZ-4 = 90.20%), followed by phosphate-buffered saline (PBS; AGZ-1 = 44.80%, AGZ-4 = 67.90%) and electrolyte (AGZ-1 = 32.40%, AGZ-4 = 63.47%), and biodegradation in PBS media increased (AGZ-1 = 36.80%, AGZ-4 = 55.92%). Antimicrobial activities against severe infection-causing pathogens and antitumor activity against U87 cell lines showed exceptional results. Cell viability and cell proliferation studies were conducted against preosteoblast cell lines, and increased cell viability and proliferation were observed from AGZ-1 to AGZ-4. Antimicrobial and anticancer activities were enhanced with the increase of Zn content in the Zn@rGO system. The bioactive scaffolds with different formulations could be potential biomaterials to treat and regenerate defected bone tissue.

The shrinkage of cement-based materials is a critical dimensional property that needs proper attention as it can influence the corresponding characteristics especially when the preparation of such cement-based material is done in hot weather. Studies have shown that the casting or curing conditions influence the performance of concrete. However, there is limited understanding of the combined role of casting temperature and curing conditions, especially for concrete made with unconventional binders. In this study, five supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs) were utilized as the substitute of the ordinary Portland cement (OPC) at different ratios to produce greener concrete and improve its characteristics and sustainability. The influence of four casting temperatures (i.e., 25 °C, 32 °C, 38 °C, and 45 °C) and two curing regimes (i.e., covering of samples using wet burlap and applying curing compound on the surface of samples) on the corresponding compressive strength and drying shrinkage at various ages was studied. The outcomes of this research revealed that the composition of the binders has a substantial impact on the characteristics of concrete. In addition, the casting temperature and curing regimes also have a huge role on the compressive strength of concrete produced with binary binders. For example, the compressive strength at 3 days of concrete made at 25 °C made with binary binders was reduced up to 31% compared to that made with only OPC as the binder when cured using wet burlap. Nonetheless, less than 38 ℃ was suitable to minimize the durability issues in the studied blended cement mixes., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Improving chilling tolerance at the seedling stage in rice is essential for agricultural research. We combined a physiological analysis with transcriptomics in a variety Dular subjected to chilling followed by recovery at normal temperature to better understand the chilling tolerance mechanisms of rice. Chilling inhibited the synthesis of chlorophyll and non-structural carbohydrate (NSC) and disrupted the ion balance of the plant, resulting in the impaired function of rice leaves. The recovery treatment can effectively reverse the chilling-related injury. Transcriptome results displayed that 21,970 genes were identified at three different temperatures, and 11,732 genes were differentially expressed. According to KEGG analysis, functional categories for differentially expressed genes (DEGs) mainly included ribosome (8.72%), photosynthesis-antenna proteins (7.38%), phenylpropanoid biosynthesis (11.41%), and linoleic acid metabolism (10.07%). The subcellular localization demonstrated that most proteins were located in the chloroplasts (29.30%), cytosol (10.19%), and nucleus (10.19%). We proposed that some genes involved in photosynthesis, ribosome, phenylpropanoid biosynthesis, and linoleic acid metabolism may play key roles in enhancing rice adaptation to chilling stress and their recovery capacity. These findings provide a foundation for future research into rice chilling tolerance mechanisms.

Tissue engineering is a cutting-edge approach for using advanced biomaterials to treat defective bone to get desired clinical results. In bone tissue engineering, the scaffolds must have the desired physicochemical and biomechanical natural properties in order to regenerate complicated defective bone. For the first time, polymeric nanocomposite material was developed using cellulose and co-dispersed nanosystem (Fe 3 O 4 /GO) by free radical polymerization to fabricate porous polymeric scaffolds via freeze drying. Various characterizations techniques, such as Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM)/energy dispersive X-ray (EDX), and universal testing machine (UTM) were used to investigate structural, morphological, and mechanical properties. Swelling, biodegradation, and wetting analysis were also performed to evaluate their physicochemical behavior. Intercalation of Fe 3 O 4 nanoparticles into GO-sheets promoted their dispersion into the polymeric matrix. All porous scaffolds possessed a well-interconnected porous structure, while the synergistic effect of Fe 3 O 4 /GO reinforces the mechanical strength of porous scaffolds. The compressive strength and Young's modulus were increased by increasing Fe 3 O 4 amount, and maximum mechanical strength was found in HFG-4 and least in HFG-1. However, these porous scaffolds have different swelling and biodegradation behavior due to the variable Fe 3 O 4 intercalations into GO-sheets. Antibacterial activities of porous scaffolds were studied against severe Gram-positive and Gram-negative pathogens and increased Fe 3 O 4 amount in nanosystem increased the antibacterial activities. The cell viability and morphology of pre-osteoblast ( MC3T3-E1 ) cell lines were studied against porous scaffolds and increased cell viability and proliferation were observed from HFG-1 to HFG-4. Hence, the electroactive material could be the potential material for bone tissue engineering.

Clostridium perfringens produces core virulence factors that are responsible for causing hemorrhagic abomasitis and enterotoxemia making food, animals, and humans susceptible to its infection. In this study, C. perfringens was isolated from necropsied intestinal content of buffalo and cattle belonging to four major bovine-producing regions in the Punjab Province of Pakistan for the purpose offind out the genetic variation. Out of total 160 bovine samples ( n : 160), thirty-three ( n : 33) isolates of C. perfringens were obtained from buffalo ( Bubales bubalis ) and cattle ( Bos indicus ) that were further subjected to biochemical tests; 16S rRNA based identification and toxinotyping was done using PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction) and PFGE (Pulse Field Gel Electrophoresis) pulsotypesfor genetic diversity. Occurrence of C. perfringens was found to be maximum in zone-IV (Bhakkar and Dera Ghazi Khan) according to the heatmap. Correlation was found to be significant and positive among the toxinotypes (α -toxin , and ε -toxin ). Response surface methodology (RSM) via central composite design (CCD) and Box-Behnken design (BBD) demonstrated substantial frequency of C. perfringens based toxinotypes in all sampling zones. PFGE distinguished all isolates into 26 different pulsotypes using SmaI subtyping. Co-clustering analysis based on PFGE further decoded a diversegenetic relationship among the collected isolates. This study could help us to advance toward disease array of C. perfringens and its probable transmission and control. This study demonstrates PFGE patterns from Pakistan, and typing of C. perfringens by PFGE helps illustrate and mitigate the incidence of running pulsotypes., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2022 Zafar Khan, Khalid, Humza, Yang, Alvi, Munir, Ahmad, Iqbal, Tahir, Liu and Zhang.)

Biopolymer-based composite hydrogels have attracted tremendous attention for tissue regeneration and antitumor applications. Since sodium alginate is a biopolymer, they offer excellent therapeutic options with long-term drug release and low side effects. To prepare multifunctional composite hydrogels with anticancer and tissue regeneration capabilities, sodium alginate (SA) and graphene oxide (GO) were covalently linked and crosslinked with tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS) by the solvothermal method. The structural and morphological results show that the hydrogels exhibit the desired functionality and porosity. The swelling of hydrogels in an aqueous and PBS medium was investigated. SGT-4 had the highest swelling in both aqueous and PBS media. Swelling and biodegradation of the hydrogel were inversely related. The drug release of SGT-4 was determined in different pH media (pH 6.4, 7.4, and 8.4) and the kinetics of drug release was determined according to the Higuchi model (R2 = 0.93587). Antibacterial activities were evaluated against severe infectious agents. Uppsala (U87) and osteoblast (MC3T3-E1) cell lines were used to determine the anticancer and biocompatibility of the composite hydrogels, respectively. These results suggest that the composite hydrogels could be used as potential biomaterials for tissue regeneration and antitumor applications., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Polymeric materials have been essential biomaterials to develop hydrogels as wound dressings for sustained drug delivery and chronic wound healing. The microenvironment for wound healing is created by biocompatibility, bioactivity, and physicochemical behavior. Moreover, a bacterial infection often causes the healing process. The bacterial cellulose (BC) was functionalized using graphene oxide (GO) by hydrothermal method to have bacterial cellulose-functionalized-Graphene oxide (BC- f -GO). A simple blending method was used to crosslink BC- f -GO with polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) by tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS) as a crosslinker. The structural, morphological, wetting, and mechanical tests were conducted using Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), Scanning electron microscope (SEM), water contact angle, and a Universal testing machine (UTM). The release of Silver-sulphadiazine and drug release kinetics were studied at various pH levels and using different mathematical models (zero-order, first-order, Higuchi, Hixson, Korsmeyer-Peppas, and Baker-Lonsdale). The antibacterial properties were conducted against Gram-positive and Gram-negative severe infection-causing pathogens. These composite hydrogels presented potential anticancer activities against the U87 cell line by an increased GO amount. The result findings show that these composite hydrogels have physical-mechanical and inherent antimicrobial properties and controlled drug release, making them an ideal approach for skin wound healing. As a result, these hydrogels were discovered to be an ideal biomaterial for skin wound healing.

Wound healing is an important physiological process involving a series of cellular and molecular developments. A multifunctional hydrogel that prevents infection and promotes wound healing has great significance for wound healing applications in biomedical engineering. We have functionalized arabinoxylan and graphene oxide (GO) using the hydrothermal method, through cross-linking GO-arabinoxylan and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) with tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS) to get multifunctional composite hydrogels. These composite hydrogels were characterized by FTIR, SEM, water contact angle, and mechanical testing to determine structural, morphological, wetting, and mechanical behavior, respectively. Swelling and biodegradation were also conducted in different media. The enhanced antibacterial activities were observed against different bacterial strains ( E. coli , S. aureus , and P. aeruginosa ); anticancer activities and biocompatibility assays were found effective against U-87 and MC3T3-E1 cell lines due to the synergic effect of hydrogels. In vivo activities were conducted using a mouse full-thickness skin model, and accelerated wound healing was found without any major inflammation within 7 days with improved vascularization. From the results, these composite hydrogels might be potential wound dressing materials for biomedical applications., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2022 Khan, Razak, Hassan, Qureshi, Stojanović and Ihsan-Ul-Haq.)

Porcine circovirus 2 (PCV2) has been recognized as an immunosuppressive pathogen. However, the crosstalk between this virus and its host cells in related signaling pathways remains poorly understood. In this study, the expression profiles of 84 genes involved in transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-β) signaling pathway were probed in PCV2b-infected primary porcine alveolar macrophages (PAMs) by using an RT 2 profiler PCR array system. The protein expression levels of cytokines involved in the TGF-β signaling pathway were determined with a RayBiotech fluorescent Quantibody ® porcine cytokine array system. Results showed that 48, 30, and 42 genes were differentially expressed at 1, 24, and 48 h after infection, respectively. A large number of genes analyzed by a co-expression network and implicated in transcriptional regulation and apoptosis were differentially expressed in PCV2b-infected PAMs. Among these genes, TGF-β, interleukin-10, CCAAT/enhancer-binding protein beta (C/EBPB), growth arrest, and DNA-damage-inducible 45 beta (GADD45B), and BCL2 were upregulated. By contrast, SMAD family member 1 (smad1) and smad3 were downregulated. These results suggested that the TGF-β signaling pathway was repressed in PAMs at the early onset of PCV2 infection. The inhibited apoptosis was indicated by the upregulated C/EBPB, GADD45B, and BCL2, and by the downregulated smad1 and smad3, which possibly increased the duration of PCV2 replication-permissive conditions and caused a persistent infection. Our study may provide insights into the underlying antiviral functional changes in the immune system of PCV2-infected pigs.

This study aims to analyze molecular characterization and phylogenetic analysis of earthworm species collected from different soil habitats of Poonch division Azad Kashmir Pakistan by using CO1 gene partial sequencing methodology. Samples gathered randomly from 18 study sites (127 localities) by digging and hand sorting methods were preserved in pure ethanol at -20°C. The modified CTAB (Cetyltrimethyl ammonium bromide) method extracted high quality DNA from region of representative earthworm's caudal region. This extracted DNA was used to amplify the 700 bp partial region of the cytochrome oxidase I (COI) gene with LCO1490 and HCO2198 universal primers. All of the obtained amplified gene sequences were aligned, edited and analyzed using MEGA X software to characterize different species of earthworms. Thirty-eight (38) Barcoding sequences belonging to 11 different strains of earthworms were successfully generated. Their phylogenetic analysis revealed that 7 Barcoding sequences gave maximum similarity with the available online database, while the rest of the 4 sequences gave lower similarity than the maximum threshold level. The collected DNA barcode sequences were also clustered together by the maximum likelihood method and the resultant phylogenetic tree revealed they belong to different family lineages. Moreover the identified earthworm species have a close evolutionary link with the earthworm fauna of south and central Asia instead of Europe, which might be due to similar climate of both regions.

Coronary Artery Diseases (CADs) are a dominant cause of worldwide fatalities. The development of accurate and timely diagnosis routines is imperative to reduce these risks and mortalities. Coronary angiography, an invasive and expensive technique, is currently used as a diagnostic tool for the detection of CAD but it has some procedural hazards, i.e., it requires arterial puncture, and the subject gets exposed to iodinated radiation. Phonocardiography (PCG), a non-invasive and inexpensive technique, is a modality employing heart sounds to diagnose heart diseases but it requires only trained medical personnel to apprehend cardiac murmurs in clinical environments. Furthermore, there is a strong compulsion to characterize CAD into its types, such as Single vessel coronary artery disease (SVCAD), Double vessel coronary artery disease (DVCAD), and Triple vessel coronary artery disease (TVCAD) to assist the cardiologist in decision making about the treatment procedure followed. This paper presents a computer-aided diagnosis system for the categorization of CAD and its types based on Phonocardiogram (PCG) signal analysis. The raw PCG signals were denoised via empirical mode decomposition (EMD) to remove redundant information and noise. Next, we extract MFCC and proposed 1D-Adaptive Local Ternary Patterns (1D-ALTP) and fused them serially to get a strong feature representation of multiple PCG signal classes. Features were further reduced through Multidimensional Scaling (MDS) and subjected to several classification methods such as support vector machines (SVM), Decision Tree (DT), and K-nearest neighbors (KNN) in a comparative fashion. The best classification performances of 98.3% and 97.2% mean accuracies were obtained through SVM with the cubic kernel for binary and multiclass experiments, respectively. The performance of the proposed system is comprehensively tested through 10-fold cross-validation and hold-out train-test techniques to avoid model overfitting. Comparative analysis with existing approaches advocates the superiority of the proposed approach., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Objective: To investigate the role of religiosity, optimism, depression, death anxiety and differences in demographic characteristics among cancer patients., Methods: The cross-sectional study was conducted from July 2018 to July 2019 in three different hospitals of Lahore and Faisalabad, Pakistan, and comprised patients with diagnosed stage 1 and 2 cancer. Non-cancer subjects were enrolled as the control group. Data was collected using the Short Muslim Practice and Brief Scale, the Siddiqui-Shah Depression Scale, Death Anxiety Scale and the revised version of Life Orientation Test. One-way analysis of variance and other tests were used for data analyses., Results: Of the 400 subjects, 200(50%) each were cases and controls. Among the cases, 100(50%) each were males and females. There was a significant difference between cancer and non-cancer subjects on the variables of religiosity, optimism, depression and death anxiety (p<0.05). Significant gender differences were found on the variables of religiosity, depression and death anxiety (p<0.05), while the difference on the construct of optimism was non-significant among cancer patients (p>0.05). Cancer patients of rural and urban areas were significantly different on the variables of religiosity, depression and death anxiety (p<0.05), but the difference was non-significant on the optimism scale (p>0.05). Also, the differences on death anxiety scale were significantly related to the type of cancer (p<0.05)., Conclusions: There was a greater role of religiosity and optimism in controlling the level of depression and fear of death among cancer patients. Also, the role of gender, residential area and type of cancer was significant.

Pyomyositis is a relatively infrequent, sub-acute primary bacterial muscle infection, which due to its non specific clinical findings is unlikely to be early diagnosed especially in diabetic patients. This diagnostic delay may be fatal. Therefore, early diagnosis and prompt treatment are imperative. We present a poorly-controlled diabetic patient who was referred to our Nuclear Medicine department for a bone scan to evaluate osteomyelitis. Routine three-phase-planar-scintigraphy was falsely positive for osteomyelitis in the left fibula, however, single photon emission tomography (SPET/CT) images clearly showed abnormal uptake in the calf muscles rather than the bone with evidence of low-attenuation lesions in these muscles. SPET/CT and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) provided essential information to the clinicians to consider other diagnoses rather than osteomyelitis. MRI showed inter and intra-muscular collections consistent with multiple abscesses. Based on medical history, SPET/CT and MRI findings, the diagnosis of pyomyositis was established. The patient underwent successfully multiple incision-drainage procedures with subsequent intravenous antibiotic treatment and was discharged after complete recovery. In conclusion we advocate the use of SPET/CT for the detection of pyomyositis.