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Every second, individuals with physical and cognitive disabilities struggle so much to do some actions that normal people easily do within seconds. Assistive Technologies (AT) are those modules or sets of arrangements that aim to make life easy for disabled people, by stopping blockage and improving their mental and physical power. They improve their working capability, confidence, standard of living, and optimism. In modern times, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and technologies are developing rapidly, and new machines, motors, and mostly electronic devices powered by powerful batteries are being built every second. These are making it possible for disabled people to become self-dependent. Today, Assistive technology devices are efficient and suitable for disabled people. This chapter aims to provide in-depth knowledge about various types of disabilities, how disabled people face different problems and challenges, and how they can select and use assistive devices and mobile apps to live independently and comfortably.

This paper contains the secular equation of Rayleigh waves in a prestressed semi-infinite space of orthotropic material which is covered by a prestressed elastic layer of orthotropic material. The semi-infinite space and layer are treated as in spring contact to each other. This paper treats the surface of layer as rigid. The effect of tensile and compressional stress on velocity curve is depicted in form of graphs. Particular cases for perfect and sliding interface is discussed and secular equation is derived. Comparison of velocity curve for welded and spring contacts has been examined graphically. MATLAB programming language is used to plot the graphs. Effect of stiffness constants on velocity of Rayleigh waves has been shown graphically.

Bacteria produce a large number of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) into the environment. VOCs are species-specific and their emission depends on environmental conditions, such as growth medium, pH, temperature, incubation time and interaction with other microorganisms. These VOCs can enhance plant growth, suppress pathogens and act as signaling molecules during plant-microorganism interactions. Bacterial VOCs have been reported to show strong antimicrobial, nematicidal, pesticidal, plant defense, induced tolerance and plant-growth-promoting activities under controlled conditions. Commonly produced antifungal VOCs include dimethyl trisulfide, dimethyl disulfide, benzothiazole, nonane, decanone and 1-butanol. Species of Bacillus, Pseudomonas, Arthrobacter, Enterobacter and Burkholderia produce plant growth promoting VOCs, such as acetoin and 2,3-butenediol. These VOCs affect genes involved in defense and development in plant species (i.e., Arabidopsis, tobacco, tomato, potato, millet and maize). VOCs are also implicated in altering pathogenesis-related genes, inducing systemic resistance, modulating plant metabolic pathways and acquiring nutrients. However, detailed mechanisms of action of VOCs need to be explored. This review summarizes the bioactive VOCs produced by diverse bacterial species as an alternative to agrochemicals, their mechanism of action and challenges for employment of bacterial VOCs for sustainable agricultural practices. Future studies on technological improvements for bacterial VOC application under greenhouse and open field conditions are warranted.

Viruses utilize clever strategies of interacting with various cellular factors, to remodel an organelle function, for the establishment of successful infection. In recent decades, numerous studies revealed the exploitation of the peroxisomal compartment by viruses. Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is a ubiquitous virus linked with various cancers and neurological disorders. Till now, there is no report regarding the impacts of EBV infection on peroxisomal compartment. Therefore, we investigate the modulation of peroxisomal proteins in EBV transformed cell lines and during acute EBV infection. EBV positive Burkitt lymphoma cells of different origins as EBV transformed cells along with EBV negative Burkitt lymphoma cells as a control were used in this study. For acute EBV infection experiments, we infected peripheral blood mononuclear cells with EBV for three days. Thereafter, analyzed the gene expression patterns of peroxisomal proteins using qPCR. In addition, quantification of lipid content was performed by using fluorescence microscopy and biochemical assay. Our results revealed that, the peroxisomal proteins were distinctly regulated in EBV transformed cells and during acute EBV infection. Interestingly, PEX19 was significantly upregulated in EBV infected cells. Further, in correlation with the altered expression of peroxisomes proteins involved in lipid metabolism, the EBV transformed cells showed lower lipid abundance. Conversely, the lipid levels were increased during acute EBV infection. Our study highlights the importance of investigating the manipulation of the peroxisomal compartment by putting forward various differentially expressed proteins upon EBV infection. This study provides a base for further investigation to delve deeper into EBV and peroxisomal interactions. The future research in this direction could provide involvement of novel signaling pathways to understand molecular changes during EBV mediated pathologies.

Sign Deaf people use sign language to communicate with others. There are numerous languages because of countries and their cultural variations. So, every country carries its sign language to serve the impaired people. In this paper, we have outlined data collections and research challenges for our system. The data is collected related to “DD news with hearing-impaired people” from YouTube. To get the news data into script format, we used the Downsub site. This site supports script format into different languages script but according to our requirements, we downloaded news scripts into English. Then scripts are converted into unique unigram words by using the wordlist online tool. We have analyzed each word one by one and eliminated unwanted (articles, helping verb, inflections, etc.) words and finally, unique words are converted into Sign Language with the help of ISL experts.

Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), a known tumorigenic virus, is associated with various neuropathies, including multiple sclerosis (MS). However, there is no anti-EBV FDA-approved drug available in the market. Our study targeted EBV protein EBV nuclear antigen 1 (EBNA1), crucial in virus replication and expressed in all the stages of viral latencies. This dimeric protein binds to an 18 bp palindromic DNA sequence and initiates the process of viral replication. We chose phytochemicals and FDA-approved MS drugs based on literature survey followed by their evaluation efficacies as anti-EBNA1 molecules. Molecular docking revealed FDA drugs ozanimod, siponimod, teriflunomide, and phytochemicals; emodin; protoapigenone; and EGCG bound to EBNA1 with high affinities. ADMET and Lipinski's rule analysis of the phytochemicals predicted favorable druggability. We supported our assessments of pocket druggability with molecular dynamics simulations and binding affinity predictions by the molecular mechanics generalized Born surface area (MM/GBSA) method. Our results establish a stable binding for siponimod and ozanimod with EBNA1 mainly via van der Waals interactions. We identified hot spot residues like I481', K477', L582', and K586' in the binding of ligands. In particular, K477' at the amino terminal of EBNA1 is known to establish interaction with two bases at the major groove of the DNA. Siponimod bound to EBNA1 engaging K477', thus plausibly making it unavailable for DNA interaction. Computational alanine scanning further supported the significant roles of K477', I481', and K586' in the binding of ligands with EBNA1. Conclusively, the compounds showed promising results to be used against EBNA1.

The present investigation was carried out to determine the different physical properties of various types of timbers used for agricultural implements in India. This study provides information for selection criteria of wood to make a different component of agriculture implement and tools. This article consists of detailed material and methods used in the study. This study was mainly targeted on utilization of different type of wood for their use to make different components of agricultural implements and tools.