Search

Abstract Landslide susceptibility map (LSM) plays an important role in providing the knowledge of slopes prone to future landslides. However, the applicability of LSM is often hindered due to high cost of data collection especially in mountainous region such as Himalayas. Therefore, this study proposes transfer learning approach (TL) to improve the performance of LSM by transferring the information from the data rich region (source) to data scare region (target). Two machine learning based model are trained in source area which is then transferred for prediction in target area and a source trained model combined with the knowledge of target is used for the prediction in the target area. The applicability of the proposed approach is tested considering Mandi district as source area and Kullu and Rudraprayag districts as target areas. Independent variables which included 11 landslide conducive factors from the source and target area, the independence was critically analysed using multi-collinearity test, while the geomorphic similarity was assessed using KL divergence method. Efficient machine learning method such as random forest (RF) and multi-layer perceptron (MLP) was used to train the models in both areas, statistical measure such as AUC-ROC, precision, recall, F-score, and accuracy were used to evaluate the performance of the LSMs. The results demonstrated the proposed approach for target area 1, the AUC value increased from 0.908 (Target trained on itself), to 0.942 (Target-Transfer Learned (TL)) and 0.959 (Target Combined) for RF and 0.896, 0.907 and 0.946 for MLP. Additionally, an increase in the precision was observed in RF while all other statistical measures increased to 0.023 for precision, 0.022 for recall, 0.023 for F-score and 0.066 for accuracy in the case of MLP. While on the other hand, in the case of target area 2, the AUC value for RF, ranged from 0.95 (Target area trained on itself), 0.80 (target TL) and 0.98 (target combined) and for MLP the AUC ranged from 0.82 for the source trained model while 0.84 for LSM obtained when both target and source data was used. Thus, the results revealed that proposed TL approach can be effective in improving the performance of LSM in data scare region in Himalayan region, thereby providing a promising approach in overcoming the issue of data limitation.

High-entropy alloys (HEAs) have gained significant attention from researchers due to their exceptional mechanical properties. While most the reported lightweight high-entropy alloys have Body Centered Cubic (BCC), Hexagonal Close Packed (HCP), and complex intermetallic phases, there is growing interest in development of Face Centered Cubic (FCC) based Lightweight High-Entropy Alloys (LWHEA) for applications prioritizing energy efficiency. In this study, a design strategy for synthesizing a stable FCC-based LWHEA through multivariate optimization of elements and thermodynamic parameters was presented. A novel Al30Ti35Mg5V10Fe8Cr12 LWHEA was designed and processed through a mechanical alloying route with a theoretical density of 4.5 g/cc. The compaction of the alloy was performed by spark plasma sintering (SPS) at 890 ℃ and 60 MPa for 15 minutes. The hardness of sintered sample was found to be 550 ± 18 HV (5.3 GPa). Microstructural evolution of the alloy was studied using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The microstructural analysis of alloy revealed that a combination of FCC and BCC phases are present in milled sample as well as sintered sample. The phase stability was explained through Gibbs free energy calculations of competing phases.

Male breast cancer (MBC), one of the rare types of cancer among men where the global incidence rate is 1.8% of all breast cancers cases with a yearly increase in a pace of 1.1%. Since the last 10 years, the incidence has been increased from 7.2% to 10.3% and the mortality rate was decreased from 11% to 3.8%. Nevertheless, the rate of diagnoses has been expected to be around 2.6% in the near future, still there is a great lack in studies to characterize the MBC including the developed countries. Based on our search, it is evidenced from the literature that the number of risk factors for the cause of MBC are significant, which includes the increase in age, family genetic history, mutations in specific genes due to various environmental impacts, hormonal imbalance and unregulated expression receptors for specific hormones of high levels of estrogen or androgen receptors compared to females. MBCs are broadly classified into ductal and lobular carcinomas with further sub-types, with some of the symptoms including a lump or swelling in the breast, redness of flaky skin in the breast, irritation and nipple discharge that is similar to the female breast cancer (FBC). The most common diagnostic tools currently in use are the ultrasound guided sonography, mammography, and biopsies. Treatment modalities for MBC include surgery, radiotherapy, chemotherapy, hormonal therapy, and targeted therapies. However, the guidelines followed for the diagnosis and treatment modalities of MBC are mostly based on FBC that is due to the lack of prospective studies related to MBC. However, there are distinct clinical and molecular features of MBC, it is a need to develop different clinical methods with more multinational approaches to help oncologist to improve care for MBC patients.

The rising demand for electrical energy, coupled with the running down of conventional energy sources, has prompted vast research into renewable energy sources (RES) for power generation. Wind and solar photovoltaic energies are among the most critical resources, despite their susceptibility to fluctuating climatic conditions. Power electronics have been helpful in the integration of renewable energy sources (RESs) with grid, and multilevel inverters (MLIs) have arisen as critical components for the effective utilization of energy from RES and the enhancement of power quality. This paper provides an extensive overview of the latest developments in MLI topologies and how they have been applied in different industries. Optimal MLI designs for various applications will be identified by a thorough investigation of performance parameters including component count, total harmonic distortion (THD), and overall efficiency. Additionally, the paper explores the role of MLIs in diverse sectors including RES, microgrids, and residential applications. By synthesizing insights from recent literature and performance evaluations, this review aims to provide valuable guidance for researchers and practitioners in selecting the most suitable MLI topology for specific applications.

The prevalence of plant parasitic nematodes (PPN) in the Irish peatlands was investigated in five different peatland habitats—raised bog, cutover scrub/woodlands, fens and peat grasslands, which were further sub-categorised into fourteen different sub-habitats. Within the raised bog habitat were healthy bog hummock (HBH), healthy bog lawn (HBL), degraded bog hummock (DBH) and degraded bog lawn (DBL) and the fen habitats were fen peat (FP) and rich fen peat (R-FP). Cutover scrub or woodland habitat included cutover scrub rewetted (C-RW), cutover scrub non-rewetted (C-NRW), woodlands rewetted (W-RW) and woodlands non-rewetted (W-NRW). Grassland included wasted peat (WP), rough grazing (RG-I) and improved fen peat grassland (IFPG-RW and IFPG-NRW). Soil samples from peatlands were all collected between July and December 2023 when the temperature ranged from 12 to 20 °C. One half of each sample was used for molecular nematode analysis and the other half for morphological identification of nematodes. For the morphological identification, a specific nematode extraction protocol was optimised for peatland soils, and the extracted nematodes were fixed onto slides to be studied under a high-power light microscope. Subsequently, the other part of the soil was processed to isolate total DNA, from which the 18S rRNA gene was sequenced for the identification of nematode taxa. The extracted DNA was also used for randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) fingerprinting analysis to determine banding patterns that could classify different bog habitats based on PPN random primers. Compared to that in the climax habitats (HBH, HBL, DBH, DBL, FP, R-FP), PPN prevalence was recorded as being higher in grasslands (WP, RG-I, IFPG-RW and IFPG-NRW) and scrub/woodland ecosystems (C-RW, C-NRW, W-RW, W-NRW). The results indicate that nematode populations are different across the various bog habitats. Emerging and current quarantine PPN belonging to the families Pratylenchidae, Meloidogynidae, Anguinidae and Heteroderidae were noted to be above the threshold limits mentioned under EPPO guidelines, in grassland and wooded peatland habitats. Future actions for PPN management may need to be considered, along with the likelihood that these PPN might impact future paludiculture and other crops and trees growing in nearby agricultural lands.

In the direction of developing new and reliable prognostic tools, metamaterial-based biosensor device is an emergent potential field. The special design of metamaterial provides signature frequency features of healthy or diseased tissues. In the current work we have studied the single split resonance device (SSR) using graphene oxide (GO) as probe for the accelerated and selective detection of bovine serum albumin (BSA). Further, we have used different band gap GO to interpret the structure-property relationship. Spectroscopy methods have been employed to further support the SSR results. 1 ppm solution of mGO-0.5 (band gap ∼1.35 eV) shows sequential increase in sensitivity on increasing amount of BSA. Figure-of-merit (FoM) of SSR biosensor also increased from 57 to 82 and highest Q-factor calculated for mGO-1 is ∼47 making it a good candidate as probe molecule. This work lays out a correlation of degree of GO functionalization with a physical parameter, i.e., band gap for activity towards protein molecules. Also, as the SSR devices use large wavelength radiation with high resolution and accuracy for quantitative estimation of analyte, these are potential non-invasive point-of-use portable diagnostic and early disease diagnosis devices.

The present study aims to efficiently predict the wear volume of a journal bearing under start–stop operating conditions. For this purpose, the wear data generated with coupled mixed-elasto-hydrodynamic lubrication (mixed-EHL) and a wear simulation model of a journal bearing are used to develop a neural network (NN)-based surrogate model that is able to predict the wear volume based on the operational parameters. The suitability of different time series forecasting NN architectures, such as Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM), Gated Recurrent Unit (GRU), and Nonlinear Autoregressive with Exogenous Inputs (NARX), is studied. The highest accuracy is achieved using the NARX network architectures.

INTRODUCTION: Modern obstetrics aims to achieve the best quality of life for both the mother and her unborn child. Birth weight is an important predictor of neonatal outcome, and its prenatal estimation plays a significant role in the comprehensive evaluation and management of high-risk pregnancies. This study aims to estimate fetal weight using different clinical methods and ultrasonography and compare these methods with the actual birth weight. METHODS: A prospective cross-sectional comparative study of 200 full-term pregnant women admitted to the Northern Railway Central Hospital, New Delhi, between June 2014 and June 2015 was conducted. Patients in whom delivery was anticipated and completed within 1 week were included. Fetal weights were estimated clinically using Insler’s and Johnson’s formula and ultrasound using Hadlock’s formula. Estimates were then compared with actual birth weight. RESULTS: Both the clinical methods showed underestimation of fetal weight, while ultrasound estimation of fetal weight showed overestimation. Clinical methods had a lower average error in fetal weight estimation than ultrasonography methods. Reliability statistics showed a better prediction of fetal weight if all three methods were used in conjunction. CONCLUSION: Clinical methods were found to be better than the ultrasonography method for fetal weight estimation. Clinical methods are easy and cost-effective for the patients, so all relevant health workers should be taught how to undertake this skill competently. However, all the methods must be used in conjunction.

The number of fatalities caused by multidrug-resistant (MDR) bacteria is over 700,000 annually due to widespread antibiotic usage. So, there is a need of new antibiotics, materials that work like antibiotics, or combinations of antibiotics with nanomaterials that could help in treating the infections which is caused by MDR bacteria. The present study describes the synthesis of ZnO nanoflakes using a co-precipitation method. The ZnO nanoflakes and ZnO nanoflakes combinations with carbapenem antibiotics were tested against carbapenem-resistant (CR) clinical isolates. The SEM analysis showed surface morphology of the synthesized nanoflakes-like structure of ZnO. All 67 CR isolates were tested and showed inhibitory action at varying concentrations of ZnO nanoflakes. ZnO nanoflakes were found to have an inhibitory effect against Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae at lowest concentration of 1.25 mg.ml-1 of ZnO NPs with average zone size (mean ±SD) 1.91±2.94 mm and 2.00±4.14 mm and the average zone size of ZnO nanoflakes against Acinetobacter baumanni and Pseudomonas aeruginosa was 9.89±0.76 mm and 10.17±0.39 mm at 2.5 mg.ml-1 concentration. The combined action of ZnO nanoflakes with Meropenem 10 mcg demonstrated synergetic activity against CR pathogens, with an average zone of inhibition measuring 15.2 mm in diameter. ZnO nanoflakes illustrated considerable antibacterial activity against MBL-producing gram-negative clinical isolates at the lowest concentration. Chemically synthesized ZnO nanoflakes may offer a superior future expectation as a nano-antibiotic to treat the infection caused by CRE bacteria.The number of fatalities caused by multidrug-resistant (MDR) bacteria is over 700,000 annually due to widespread antibiotic usage. So, there is a need of new antibiotics, materials that work like antibiotics, or combinations of antibiotics with nanomaterials that could help in treating the infections which is caused by MDR bacteria. The present study describes the synthesis of ZnO nanoflakes using a co-precipitation method. The ZnO nanoflakes and ZnO nanoflakes combinations with carbapenem antibiotics were tested against carbapenem-resistant (CR) clinical isolates. The SEM analysis showed surface morphology of the synthesized nanoflakes-like structure of ZnO. All 67 CR isolates were tested and showed inhibitory action at varying concentrations of ZnO nanoflakes. ZnO nanoflakes were found to have an inhibitory effect against Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae at lowest concentration of 1.25 mg.ml-1 of ZnO NPs with average zone size (mean ±SD) 1.91±2.94 mm and 2.00±4.14 mm and the average zone size of ZnO nanoflakes against Acinetobacter baumanni and Pseudomonas aeruginosa was 9.89±0.76 mm and 10.17±0.39 mm at 2.5 mg.ml-1 concentration. The combined action of ZnO nanoflakes with Meropenem 10 mcg demonstrated synergetic activity against CR pathogens, with an average zone of inhibition measuring 15.2 mm in diameter. ZnO nanoflakes illustrated considerable antibacterial activity against MBL-producing gram-negative clinical isolates at the lowest concentration. Chemically synthesized ZnO nanoflakes may offer a superior future expectation as a nano-antibiotic to treat the infection caused by CRE bacteria.

Background: Medical education in developing country like India is undergoing progressive changes in teaching modalities. Introduction of various new modalities of innovative teachings are considered to fulfil student's needs to make them lifelong learner. Aim and Objectives: To study the learning effectiveness of seven-pronged blended learning model versus traditional teaching in competency-based curriculum. Material and Methods: Entire batch of first year MBBS students participated in the study. The study included 74 participants in Group A, who underwent the seven-pronged blended learning model and 72 participants in Group B, who underwent traditional teaching methods. After the initial phase, groups were crossed over. Learning effectiveness were judged using theory and practical examination. Results: The results showed that the seven-pronged blended learning group had statistically significant higher mean scores for theory as compared to the traditional teaching group. The mean scores obtained for practical examination were similar in both the groups. Conclusion: These findings suggest that incorporating a blended learning approach can be beneficial in improving student's theoretical understanding, but it may not necessarily have a significant impact on their practical skills.

With rising awareness regarding human and environmental safety, the use of sustainable resources for the functionalisation of natural textile fibers are highly demanded. The present study investigates a novel process for the development of multifunctional cotton using the azoic dyeing method. Preparation of azoic dyes was performed using ethyl anthranilate (EA), a safe mosquito-repellent, and Terminalia chebula natural dye as the coupling component. The novel method of in-situ azoic dyeing using Terminalia chebula and ethyl anthranilate for functional coloration of cotton is explored. The developed shades were found satisfactory in terms of fastness and color strength. The novel method resulted in mosquito-repellent cotton with 100% mosquito repellency, which was found durable until at least 20 washes. Additional functional properties such as antibacterial activity (more than 94%), antioxidant activity (>87%) and UV protection (UPF >50) were also confirmed.

One intriguing approach for studying the dynamical evolution of galaxy clusters is to compare the spatial distributions among various components such as dark matter, member galaxies, gas, and intracluster light (ICL). Utilizing the recently introduced weighted overlap coefficient (WOC), we analyze the spatial distributions of components within 174 galaxy clusters ( M _tot > 5 × 10 ^13 M _⊙ , z = 0.625) at varying dynamical states in the cosmological hydrodynamical simulation Horizon Run 5. We observe that the distributions of gas and the combination of ICL with the brightest cluster galaxy (BCG) closely resembles the dark matter distribution, particularly in more relaxed clusters, characterized by the half-mass epoch. The similarity in spatial distribution between dark matter and BCG+ICL mimics the changes in the dynamical state of clusters during a major merger. Notably, at redshifts >1, BCG+ICL traced dark matter more accurately than the gas. Additionally, we examined the one-dimensional radial profiles of each component, which show that the BCG+ICL is a sensitive component revealing the dynamical state of clusters. We propose a new method that can approximately recover the dark matter profile by scaling the BCG+ICL radial profile. Furthermore, we find a recipe for tracing dark matter in unrelaxed clusters by including the most massive satellite galaxies together with the BCG+ICL distribution. Combining the BCG+ICL and the gas distribution enhances the dark matter tracing ability. Our results imply that the BCG+ICL distribution is an effective tracer for the dark matter distribution, and the similarity of the spatial distribution may be a useful probe of the dynamical state of a cluster.

Introduction: Despite an agricultural country, India confronting malnutrition as a major public health challenge, where every second child is at risk of malnutrition. The nation ranking second in population with disproportionate rural and urban demography, further poor penetration of government assisted programs in remote, underserved areas fuelling the malnutrition in rural areas.Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in Department of Community Medicine of Rohilkhand Medical College and Hospital. Total 465 schoolchildren in rural and urban areas of Bareilly district were screened for malnutrition and their socio-demographic profiles were studied.Results: Overall, the prevalence of malnutrition in schoolchildren of Bareilly district was 40.2%. Fraction contributed by urban and rural territories was 35.2% and 43%, respectively. The prevalence of malnutrition was found higher in rural area as compared to urban area and the difference was statistically significant (P

Mosquito-borne diseases are a great concern for human health, and an increment in urbanization causes a rise in the population of mosquitoes. The efficient methods and products for countering mosquito bites are the urgent need of the hour. To protect against mosquitoes, mosquito repellent textiles are an attractive substrate. An impartment of simultaneous dyeing and finishing effects on nylon is an urgent requirement as it can enhance its applicability in various technical applications. The present study reports the preparation of a mosquito repellent-cum-UV protective nylon using a novel reactive dye. The synthesis of dye involves the reaction of cyanuric chloride with H-acid (sodium 4-amino-5-hydroxy-2,7-naphthalene disulfonic acid) to generate cyanuric-H-acid, which was further reacted with diazotised 4-amino-N, N-diethyl-3-methylbenzamide (DEET-NH2) to synthesise a novel cold brand reactive dye. Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), proton nuclear magnetic resonance (1H NMR), elemental analysis (CHN analyser), UV–vis spectroscopy, and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) were used to characterise the synthesised dye. The colouration of nylon was done in an infrared lab dyeing machine. The exhaustion and fixation of dye on nylon and the colouration properties (L*, a*, b*, C*, K/S) of dyed nylon were explored. Functional properties (mosquito repellency and UV protection) were evaluated even after laundering treatments. The dyed fabrics were also characterised using TGA and scanning electron microscope (SEM) analysis. An outstanding mosquito repellency (100 %) and good UV protection were achieved.

Potato cyst nematodes (PCN) cause an overall 9% yield loss of total potato production worldwide. Research on sustainable management of PCN is still under progress. Two microbial fermentation products (MFPs) from Alltech, a proprietary blend formulated with a bacterial fermentation media and a Cu component (MFP5075), and a microbial based product (MFP3048), were evaluated against the PCN Globodera rostochiensis. In laboratory tests, effectiveness of the MFPs was recorded in terms of PCN juveniles (J2) hatching from cysts, J2 mortality and their attraction toward potato roots using pluronic gel. Greenhouse trials were conducted to study the effect of the products on PCN infestation in potato plants and a pilot scale experiment was conducted to study the impact of these MFPs on nematode biodiversity in garden soil. All treatments were performed within a concentration range of 0, 0.5, 1, and 2% (v/v) MFP5075 and 2, 6, 10, and 20 g/10 ml (w/v) MFP3048. The attraction assay, juvenile hatching and the PCN infestation in plants results were compared with those in an untreated control and a commercial nematicide (Nemguard™) treatment. After 24 h of treatment with 0.5 and 1% MFP5075, a 13-fold and 43-fold reduction, respectively, relative to J2 survival was recorded compared to that of untreated control. However, no J2 survived at 2% and above concentration of the MFP5075 treatment. Treatment with MFP3048 was effective in causing mortality of J2 only after 48-h. In the attraction assay, a 20-fold and 8-fold reduction in number of J2 attracted toward potato roots was observed, when treated with MFP5075, compared to the untreated and the Nemguard™ treatment, respectively. Subsequently, 30–35 PCN cysts were treated with both products dissolved in potato root diffusate and the results were recorded in terms of number of J2 hatched in each treatment after 10 days. No J2 hatched in the MFP5075 treatment, whereas mean numbers (±SE) of 243 ± 11.5, 30 ± 2.5, and 1.3 ± 0.6 J2 were noted in the untreated control, MFP3048, and the Nemguard™ treatment, respectively. The treatment with the MFPs compromised the integrity of the unhatched J2, which looked granular, whereas the internal organs of the unhatched J2 could be clearly identified in the untreated control. In plant infestation studies, treatment with MFP3048 and MFP5075 caused 90.6 and 84.9 percent reduction in PCN infestation, respectively, in terms of cysts developed on roots compared to untreated control. Overall, results indicate that the MFPs could potentially provide a promising alternative for sustainable PCN management.

This paper derives a new family of implicit–explicit time-marching methods for PDEs with the second-order derivative in time. The present implicit method is based on the two-derivative Runge–Kutta–Nyström methods, which use a third-order time derivative of the solution. Although the current approach is implicit, it does not need to invert the coefficient matrix of the discretized system of equations. The stability properties are assessed using Fourier analysis for the model test problems by considering space–time discretizations together. The present methods are validated by comparing to some of the most widely used time-marching methods available in the literature. In addition, to assess the robustness and efficiency of the present methods, we have also performed numerical simulations of acoustic wave propagation in two- and three-layered heterogeneous media and sine-Gordon solitons for damped and undamped cases. Computed results match very well with the exact and numerical solutions noted in the literature.

Two formulations of Alltech Crop Science products (ACS), a proprietary blend of fermentation products and plant extracts with micronutrients (ACS5075), and a microbial based product (ACS3048), were tested to understand (1) their impact on the tomato plant immune response and (2) whether they are priming a resistance response in plants against root knot nematodes (RKN). Research findings reported previously indicate that tomato plants pre-treated with ACS5075 and ACS3048 were found less sensitive to Meloidogyne javanica infection. In the current study, the expression of six defence-related genes (PR-1, PR-3, PR-5T, ACO, CAT and JERF 3), relative to a housekeeping gene, were monitored via RT-PCR. Results suggest that the treatment with ACS5075 enhanced ACO and PR-1 gene expression levels, both post- treatment and post-infection with M. javanica. Reduced M. javanica infestation that was reported in the previous study could be attributed to the increased expression of these genes in the ACS5075-treated plants. Tomato plants treated with ACS3048, but without RKN infection, also demonstrated higher levels of ACO and PR-1 gene expression. Subsequently, 2D-gel electrophoresis was performed to study the differential protein expression in leaf tissues of treated tomato plants in an effort to elucidate a possible mechanism of action for these products. Protein spot 1 was identified as ‘disease resistance protein RPP13-like’, protein spot 2 as ‘phosphatidylinositol 4-phosphate 5-kinase 2’, spot 3 as ‘protein SABRE like’ and protein spot 4 as ‘uncharacterized protein’. Overall research findings indicate that the ACS products could be used as plant immunity-boosting agents, as they play a significant role in the expression of certain genes and proteins associated with plant defence.

Purpose: To provide real-world data on the world-wide-web for patient and doctor awareness. Methods: From December 2017 to January 2020, consecutive patients with choroidal melanoma (CM), iris ciliary body melanoma (ICM), and ocular surface squamous carcinoma (OSSC) had specific outcomes recorded at each return visit. Each result was anonymized, entered in an online portal, and sent to a unique software program where it was used to create real-world data of number of patients, mean vision, local tumor control, eye salvage, systemic metastases, and length of follow-up for our eye cancer center. Results: A HIPAA compliant, internet-based software program was developed and linked to public access web page to collect and analyze near-real-time data pertaining to the treatment, vision, life, and follow-up time of patients. During this period, CM radiation plaque tumor control was 99.7%, median vision 20/25 (mean 20/50) and eye salvage 95.8%. ICM tumor control was 99.1% and the median vision 20/20 (mean 20/20). OSSC tumor control was 100% and the most common vision was 20/20 (mean 20/25). Rates of primary enucleation as treatment were 4.2% for CM, 2.8% for ICM, and 0% for OSSC. All patient results were updated by the ophthalmic oncology fellow at each patient visit as to reflect near-real-time outcomes at our center. Conclusion: Prospective data collection of returning patients was found to be a simple method to reflect patient care outcomes. This method of reporting doctor outcomes offers a measure of transparency for patients and an opportunity to compare results with other clinical practices.

Over the past two decades, unique and comprehensive cancer treatment has ushered new hope in the holistic management of the disease. Cancer immunotherapy, which harnesses the immune system of the patient to attack the cancer cells in a targeted manner, scores over others by being less debilitating compared to the existing treatment strategies. Significant advancements in the knowledge of immune surveillance in the last few decades have led to the development of several types of immune therapy like monoclonal antibodies, cancer vaccines, immune checkpoint inhibitors, T-cell transfer therapy or adoptive cell therapy (ACT) and immune system modulators. Intensive research has established cancer immunotherapy to be a safe and effective method for improving survival and the quality of a patient’s life. However, numerous issues with respect to site-specific delivery, resistance to immunotherapy, and escape of cancer cells from immune responses, need to be addressed for expanding and utilizing this therapy as a regular mode in the clinical treatment. Development in the field of nanotechnology has augmented the therapeutic efficiency of treatment modalities of immunotherapy. Nanocarriers could be used as vehicles because of their advantages such as increased surface areas, targeted delivery, controlled surface and release chemistry, enhanced permeation and retention effect, etc. They could enhance the function of immune cells by incorporating immunomodulatory agents that influence the tumor microenvironment, thus enabling antitumor immunity. Robust validation of the combined effect of nanotechnology and immunotherapy techniques in the clinics has paved the way for a better treatment option for cancer than the already existing procedures such as chemotherapy and radiotherapy. In this review, we discuss the current applications of nanoparticles in the development of ‘smart’ cancer immunotherapeutic agents like ACT, cancer vaccines, monoclonal antibodies, their site-specific delivery, and modulation of other endogenous immune cells. We also highlight the immense possibilities of using nanotechnology to accomplish leveraging the coordinated and adaptive immune system of a patient to tackle the complexity of treating unique disease conditions and provide future prospects in the field of cancer immunotherapy.

In the present construction industry, the utilization of ceramic materials is growing day by day in the form of ceramic tiles, electrical insulators, sanitary ware fittings, etc. But a huge quantity of ceramic materials goes to waste during manufacturing, transporting, processing, and placing due to its brittle nature. Waste ceramic (WC) is produced majorly by ceramic industry. WC has different types like ceramic tile, waste ceramic powder (WCP), sanitary ware, and ceramic electrical insulator waste. Ceramic tiles are manufactured by firing natural materials such as clay, quartz, feldspar, sand, etc. at high temperatures. The utilization of WC in concrete can decrease the utilization of natural raw materials, which leads to sustainability and economic competence of the construction industry. This review discusses and analyses its fresh properties, hard properties, durability properties, and other properties of concrete. Consequences show that utilizing the pozzolanic nature of ceramic materials and appropriate admixtures can increase slump and increase the workability of concrete. Concrete incorporating WC decrease the fresh density and hardened density, and it reduce linearly with the increase in the ceramic content. The hardened properties of concrete commonly reduce as the ceramic content incorporated is increased. However, the compressive, flexural, split tensile strength (STS) and modulus of elasticity of ceramic concrete, which is slightly above of reference concrete (RC). Ceramic concrete has more water absorption than RC. WC materials exhibit high freeze–thaw resistance, abrasion resistance, electrical resistance, resistance to sulphuric and sulphate attack. The depth of chloride-ion penetration reduces with increase in ceramic content in concrete. Electrical resistivity increases with increasing the quantity of WC in concrete. The durability properties of concrete generally increase with the increase in ceramic content.

Summary: Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is a critical process that occurs during the embryonic development, wound healing, organ fibrosis and the onset of malignancy. Emerging evidence suggests that the EMT is involved in the invasion and metastasis of cancers. The inflammatory reaction antecedent to fibrosis in the onset of oral submucous fibrosis (OSF) and the role of EMT in its malignant transformation indicates a hitherto unexplored involvement of EMT. This review focuses on the role of EMT markers which are regulators of the EMT mediated complex network of molecular mechanisms involved in the pathogenesis of OSF and OSCC. Further the gene enrichment analysis and pathway analysis supports the association of the upregulated and downregulated genes in various EMT regulating pathways.

Background: Surgical treatment for esophageal cancer is a high-risk procedure. Prediction of postoperative adverse events could aid in the stratification of patients, thus improving outcomes as well as achieving optimal use of resources. The Physiological and Operative Severity Score for the Enumeration of Mortality and Morbidity (POSSUM) is a prediction model that utilizes both physiological and surgical parameters to assess risk. This study evaluates the effectiveness of POSSUM, Portsmouth-POSSUM (P-POSSUM), and esophagogastric-POSSUM (O-POSSUM) scoring systems in predicting postoperative morbidity and mortality in Indian patients operated for esophageal cancers. Patients and Methods: It is a retrospective study conducted in a tertiary care teaching hospital with data collected from esophagectomies performed from January 2015 to January 2019. The calibration and discriminative abilities of the scores to predict 30-day morbidity and mortality were analyzed using the Hosmer–Lemeshow test, observed to predicted ratios (observed/expected [O/E]), and the receiver operating characteristic curve tests. Results: A total of sixty patients were included. The 30-day mortality and morbidity were 6.67% (4/60) and 46.66% (28/60), respectively. POSSUM morbidity showed proper calibration and discrimination (O/E: 0.86) with a modest predictive ability (area under the curve [AUC]: 0.701). While analyzing mortality, though all scores displayed good calibration, O-POSSUM displayed superior predictive ability (O/E: 1.02). The POSSUM score overpredicted mortality by nearly twice (O/E: 0.52), whereas P-POSSUM underpredicted it (O/E: 1.71). All scores showed moderate discrimination with P-POSSUM outperforming other tests (AUC: 0.825). Conclusions: The POSSUM scoring system was useful in predicting morbidity risk following esophageal resection for cancer, with O-POSSUM more accurate for mortality prediction in this group of patients.

Background: Hospitals are adopting electronic medical records (EMRs) in larger numbers; however, the barrier to derive its full utility is the low acceptance by physicians. Aims and Objectives: This study is done with an objective to identify the factors to overcome the barriers preventing the adoption of EMR by physicians. Materials and Methods: This study is cross sectional in natures and a self-administered questionnaire is developed based on the Technology Acceptance Model. Results: The four identified factors are positive attitude toward EMR, reliability, difficulty to use, and adaptability, these factors together, have explained 62.54 percent variance in the data set. Conclusion: The physician's acceptance for EMRs can be improved by focusing on the identified four factors, which are “positive attitude toward electronic medical records,” reliability of electronic medical records,” “difficulty level of use,” and “adaptability of electronic medical records.”

We use the Horizon Run 5 cosmological simulation to study the effect of galaxy intrinsic properties and the local environment on active galactic nuclei (AGNs) characterized by their threshold of the accretion rate. We select galaxies in the stellar mass range ${10}^{9.5}\leqslant {M}_{* }^{}/{M}_{\odot }^{}\leqslant {10}^{10.5}$ in the snapshot at redshift z = 0.625. Among various intrinsic properties, we find that the star formation rate of the host galaxy is most correlated to the AGN activity. To quantify the environment, we use background galaxy number density (large-scale environment) and distance and morphological type of the nearest neighbors (small-scale environment), and study their relative effects on the AGN properties. We find that, compared to the background density, the nearest neighbor environment is the dominant quantity determining the bolometric luminosity, star formation rate, and kinematic properties of AGNs and better dictates the gas mass of the host galaxy. We show that the cold gas content in the host galaxies is crucial in triggering AGN activity. However, when the nearest neighbor environment effects start to act at the neighbor distance of less than about half the virial radius of the neighbor, the neighbor environmental effects are the most dominant factor for quasar activity.

We, herein, present an extremely rare case of an esophageal atresia (EA) with distal tracheoesophageal fistula (TEF) with additional perforated membrane at the lower one-third of fistula. A neonate presented with difficulty in breathing and excessive frothing from the mouth. Radiograph with red rubber catheter in situ(obstruction at 10 cm from the gum margins) suggested EA with distal TEF. During thoracotomy, after ligation of fistula, a 6 Fr infant feeding tube was introduced into the distal esophagus which revealed obstruction at the lower one-third. An esophagotomy was performed; a membrane with opening at the center was identified. Following its excision, the esophageal end became dusky necessitating esophagostomy and feeding gastrostomy. A high index of suspicion for membranous obstruction at the lower one-third of fistula should be kept in mind while dealing with EA with distal TEF.

Background: Ciliary body tumors can remain undetected and achieve large dimensions. Pigmented ciliary body tumors include: melanoma, leiomyoma and melanocytoma, however correct diagnosis may require tissue diagnosis with immunohistochemical stains. Case presentation: Two men presented with identical ciliochoroidal tumors. Both had darkly pigmented dome-shaped anterior uveal masses, exudative retinal detachments and transillumination shadowing. Ocular PET-CT imaging revealed that both were metabolically active consistent with a diagnosis of cancer. However, immunohistochemical examination revealed one a leiomyoma and the other melanoma. Conclusion: Uveal leiomyoma can be an indistinguishable doppelgänger to ciliochoroidal melanoma, where the diagnosis can only be established by immunohistopathology.

Non-availability of standard clonal rootstocks in mango (Mangifera indica L.) is considered as an important hurdle, which has significant impact on orchard productivity. To obtain grafted mango plants, it is important to use polyembryonic rootstocks since they produce a zygotic and several nucellar plantlets from their seed, which are trueto- the type and also uniform. It is therefore imperative to device some reliable approach to ascertain the nucellar origin of seedlings to be used as rootstocks and thus culling out the variable zygotic seedlings in a polyembryonic genotypes for their use as uniform clonal rootstock. Differentiation of zygotic and nucellar seedlings using SSR markers in mango rootstock genotypes was undertaken during 2012-2015. Of the 42 SSRs used, 9 primer pairs (LMMA1, LMMA2, LMMA8, LMMA15, ESTD1, ESTD2, ESTD6, ESTD9 and ESTD10) were found to be informative, while 33 primer pairs were monomorphic. These nine primer pairs were used for differentiating zygotic and nucellar seedlings. In Olour rootstock, LMMA1, LMMA2, LMMA8, ESTD6 and ESTD10 primer pairs were informative and ascertained the zygotic and nucellar origin of seedlings. In Kurukkan rootstock, ESTD1, ESTD2, ESTD6 and ESTD9 primer pairs differentiated zygotic from nucellar seedlings. In 13-1 rootstock, LMMA8, LMMA15 and ESTD9 discriminated nucellars from zygotic seedlings. It is concluded that SSR markers were useful in differentiating the zygotic and nucellar seedlings in polyembryonic mango rootstocks and can be used in combinations to ascertain the origin of seedlings in polyembryonic mango rootstocks.

Abstract Background Ethnomedicinal knowledge of the Indian Himalayas is very interesting because of the wide range of medicinal plants used in traditional medical practice. However, there is a danger of knowledge being lost because the knowledge sharing is very limited and passed on orally. The present study is the first ethnomedicinal study in Jakholi area of Rudraprayag district of Northwestern India. The aim of present study was to identify traditional medicinal plants used by the inhabitants to treat different ailments and document the associated knowledge of these medicinal plants. Methods An ethnomedicinal survey was carried out in 72 of 133 villages and alpine pastures of Jakholi block (800–4000 m asl). Door to door surveys and group discussions, applying semi-structured questionnaires were conducted with traditional healers and villagers in local language (Garhwali). Informant Consensus Factor (ICF) was computed to analyse collected ethnomedicinal data. Results A total of 78 species (Gymnosperms 3 species, Monocotyledons 12 and 63 Dicotyledons) belonging to 73 genera in 46 families were identified to treat 14 different ailments categories. Most dominant family is Asteraceae (5 species). In disease treated categories, Diseases of the skin (DE) have the highest proportion (29.55%) followed by Gastro- intestinal disorder (GA) (25.89%). The most life form of plants used was herb (56%) followed by tree (23%) while root was the most frequently used part of the plants and the traditional preparation was mainly applied in the form of paste (37%). The highest ICF value (0.99) was found for hair ailments (HA) followed ophthalmologic complaints (OP) and mental afflictions (MA) (0.98). Conclusions The present study provides valuable information about traditional knowledge of medicinal plants of Jakholi Block in the Northwestern Himalaya, India. Local communities still possess large traditional knowledge of plants and their therapeutic uses and that the link of that traditional knowledge to modern research could be of importance for the isolation of new phytotherapeutic compounds leading to the development of novel therapeutic active agents. Some of the ethnomedicinal plants are facing high threats and are becoming rare, and conservation initiatives are needed to conserve them for sustainable management in the region.

The present study was carried out to investigate the mass transfer kinetics of Aloe Vera gel cubes during osmo-convective and convective drying and its quality evaluation. Aloe Vera leaves were washed and cut into 25 x 25 x 25 mm cubes and were osmotically dehydrated in different concentration (43.2, 50, 60, 70, 76.8 ° Brix) and process temperature (43.2, 50, 60, 70, 76.8 °C) with syrup to gel ratio (4.3:1, 5:1, 6:1, 7:1, 7.7:1) for 4 hr duration of osmosis. Central Composite Rotatable Design was used to analyse osmotic dehydration process. The osmosed and untreated Aloe Vera gel cubes were dried in tray dryer at 50 °C, 60 °C and 70 °C and hot air dryer at 60 °C, 70 °C and 80 °C. The effect of osmosis, sugar concentration and process temperature of syrup on mass reduction, water loss and sugar gain were studied during osmotic dehydration. It was found that mass reduction, water loss increased with increase of sugar concentration and process temperature while solid gain decreased with increase in sugar concentration and process temperature.

Experiments were conducted for development, quality evaluation and storage stability of multigrain flour biscuits made of different flours i.e, wheat flour, maize flour, barley flour, pearl millet flour and gram flour. The biscuits were formulated by taking different treatments and at different proportion of multigrain flours in the ratio of (C) 100:0:0:0:0, (S• ) 90:2.5:2.5:2.5:2.5, (S‚ ) 80:5.0:5.0:5.0:5.0 and (Sƒ ) 70:7.5:7.5:7.5:7.5, respectively. Biscuits were packaged in Low density polyethylene after preparation. All the samples were stored at room temperature for 30 and 60 days for quality evaluation. Sensory evaluation results were determined on the basis of the hedonic table. Results of the study revealed that the control sample were awarded overall score of 7.00 (like slightly) and biscuits prepared in the various flour ratio (S• ) 2.5%, (S‚ ) 5% and (Sƒ ) 7.5% were rated as 7.45 (like moderately), 7.80 (like very much) and 8.00 (like very much) respectively just after baking.