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PurposeThe study's objective is to examine the consumers' intention to buy counterfeit brand shoes. A conceptual model is developed to test the risk-taking and word-of-mouth (WOM) as a moderator in the relationship between status consumption, brand image, and consumer intention to buy counterfeit shoes.Design/methodology/approachBased on the theory of reasoned action (TRA) and signaling theory (ST), this research was conducted in the Indian National Capital Region. Using a structured instrument, the data was collected from 240 respondents. After checking the psychometric properties of the survey instrument using the Lisrel package of structural equation modeling, Hayes's PROCESS macros were used for testing the hypotheses.FindingsThe findings from the study indicate that (1) status consumption and brand image are positively associated with purchase intention of counterfeit brand shoes, and (2) risk-taking moderates the relationship between (1) status consumption and purchase intention, and (2) brand image and purchase intension, (3) significant three-way interaction between WOM, risk-taking and status consumption on purchase intention, and (4) significant three-way interaction between brand image, WOM, and risk-taking on purchase intention of counterfeit brand shoes.Research limitations/implicationsAs with any survey research, this study has common method variance as a potential problem. However, through the latent variable method and Harman's single-factor analysis, the common method variance was checked. The study has several implications for managers, e-marketers, and consumers.Practical implicationsThe study has several implications for marketers selling counterfeit products and managers intending to protect their branded products.Originality/valueA conceptual model showing two-way and three-way interactions between status consumption, risk-taking, and WOM influencing the consumer purchase intention of counterfeit products was discussed. This is the first of its kind in India to explore such relationships.

Premenstrual syndrome is a physiological disorder that affects a woman's physical, emotional, and behavioural health and starts many days before menstrual bleeding begins. PMS is the abbreviation for premenstrual syndrome. PMS has been shown to have negative impacts on a woman's subjective and psychological well-being, leading to changes in her activities, incompatibility in marriage, and inappropriate behaviour with children. PMS symptoms are divided into two categories: physical and psychological. Feeling burdened, prone to stress, difficulties concentrating, decreased social contact, loneliness, performance impairment, substance abuse, angry outbursts, and death wishes are all examples of psychological conditions.

This study was aimed to explore the relationship between premenstrual symptoms and general health among young adolescent girls. In the view of importance of premenstrual symptoms and general health, present research was undertaken in Ranchi Jharkhand India. The sample for the study consisted of 802 adolescent girls in the age group of 14-18. Purposive sampling technique was used for the sample selection. A premenstrual symptoms checklist and general health questionnaire were administered; obtained data statistically analyzed. Results of the research revealed that 53.9% adolescent girls reported high menstrual symptoms which are positively correlated with various sub domains of general health namely somatic complaints; social dysfunction, depression, anxiety and insomnia, and a statistically significant P value .05 and .01 level. The result of this study replicates the previous result. A positive correlation was found between Premenstrual symptoms and sub-domain of General Health in adolescent girls. It can be considered as a silent and latent problem that needs serious preventive and treatment strategies.

This paper aims to explore the attitude-intention-purchase behavior mechanism for the online purchase of apparel. Using the theory of planned behavior (TPB) as an underpinning theory, the moderating effects of electronic word of mouth (EWOM), perceived risk, and perceived behavioral control in the relationships have been examined. Data were collected from 432 online apparel consumers using a survey questionnaire. First, the instrument's psychometric properties were checked, and then data was analyzed using Hayes's PROCESS macros. The results indicate that online purchase intention mediates the relationship between consumers' attitudes toward online shopping and actual purchase behavior. In addition, the results found strong support for the three-way interactions between attitude, perceived risk, and EWOM on purchase intention, and (ii) attitude, EWOM, and perceived behavioral control on actual purchase behavior mediated through purchase intention. The three-way interactions involving the double-moderation of EWOM make significant contributions to the growing literature on online buying. 2023 Elsevier Inc. Scopus

Female sexual dysfunction (FSD) is a common disease that affects many women, and there are few therapeutic options available. Female sexual dysfunction is a progressive and prevalent illness that affects more women as they get older. Reduced vaginal lubrication, soreness and discomfort during intercourse, a decreased sense of excitement, and difficulties achieving orgasm are all common signs of female sexual dysfunction. Only a small percentage of women seek medical help. In comparison to the vast amount of study and treatment for erectile dysfunction in men, female sexual dysfunction has received far less attention, with treatment mostly consisting of psychological therapy. The aim of the chapter is to provide the most current knowledge on female sexual dysfunction, advances in basic science addressing this dysfunction, and explore developing therapeutic options.

Introduction: WHO has declared COVID-19 as a global pandemic on 11th March 2020. The Corona Virus Disease 2019 (COVID19) has rapidly spread worldwide. First case of COVID-19 was reported on 30th January 2020 in Kerala state, India. The first COVID-19 case was reported to Government Allopathic medical College Banda on 1st April 2020, and thereafter many COVID-19 cases were admitted and treated. This study was conducted to find the epidemiological variables affection mortality among hospitalised COVID-19 patients. Materials and Methods: Study design: This study was a hospital based cross-sectional study. The outbreak of second wave started and the period was 1st April 2021 to 30th June 2021. Socio-demographic data, clinical signs and symptoms present, history of co-morbidities and vaccination history etc. were taken at the time of admission. Adjusted odds ratio with a 95% confidence interval was estimated for all the potential covariates associated with death. The p-value less than 0.05 considered statistically significant. Results: Maximum number of cases was found in the age group of 41-60 years (463) followed by 21-40 year age group (379). Out of 1226 cases, 795 (64.8%) cases were males respectively. The covariates marital status, sore throat, breathlessness and vaccination status were found to be significantly associated with mortality. Conclusion: Breathlessness, cough, sore throat and fever were the important clinical findings of this study. Also comorbidity was one of the significant risk factors. The COVID death can be minimized by vaccination;therefore there is a need of awareness and health education about COVID vaccine in community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of International Journal of Medicine & Public Health is the property of SCIBIOLMED.ORG and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Chikungunya virus (CHIKV), an arthropod-borne Alphavirus is responsible for chikungunya disease. Arthralgia and arthritis are the major symptom. Some patients recover early while others for a very long time. This study provides, epidemiology and molecular characterization of three whole-genome sequences of CHIKV and assessed phylogenetic analysis, physiological properties, antigenicity, and B-cell epitope prediction by in silico. We report the clinical epidemiology of 325 suspected patients. Of these, 118 (36.30%) were confirmed CHIKV positive by either PCR or ELISA. Clinical analysis showed joint pain, joint swelling and headache were frequent and significant features. Phylogenie analysis showed the currently circulating strain is in close clustring to Africa, Uganda, and Singapore CHIKV strains. Molecular characterization by WGS was done. Thirty eight amino acid changes in the nonstructural proteins were found with respect to the S27 (ECSA) strain. Of these five located in nsP2. Similarly, 34 amino acid changes in structural proteins were observed. The major change was notice; in E3 protein hydropathicity -0.281 to -0.362, in E2 isoelectric point (pI) 8.24 to 8.37, instability index 66.08 to 71.062, aliphatic index varied from 74.69 to 68.59 and E3 75.79 to 70.05. In nsP1 protein pI varies from 6.62 to 8.04, while no other change was observed in structural and nonstructural protein. The linear B-cell epitopes, position, and number varied with the mutation. The molecular characterizations of WGS demonstrate the observation of protein, antigenicity with respect to the mutation.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic is a global emergency. AEFIs reporting and assessment should be done with high priority as they could change the benefit-risk profile of the vaccine. Objective: To assess adverse effects after COVID-19 vaccination. Methods: This cross-sectional study conducted among 605 heath functionaries taken part from January 2021 to March 2021. Results: The most common AEFI reported was pain at injection site (51.9%). Gender, previous COVID status and perception before vaccination were significantly associated with AEFI. Conclusion: There was no serious adverse event after vaccination. COVID vaccine has a good safety profile. © 2021, Indian Association of Preventive and Social Medicine. All rights reserved.

Dengue virus (DENV) exploits various cellular pathways including autophagy to assure enhanced virus propagation. The mechanisms of DENV mediated control of autophagy pathway are largely unknown. Our investigations have revealed a novel role for high-mobility group box1 protein (HMGB1) in regulation of cellular autophagy process in DENV-2 infected A549 cell line. While induction of autophagy by rapamycin treatment resulted in enhanced DENV-2 propagation, the blockade of autophagy flux with bafilomycin A1 suppressed viral replication. Furthermore, siRNA-mediated silencing of HMGB1 significantly abrogated dengue induced autophagy, while LPS induced HMGB1 expression counteracted these effects. Interestingly, silencing of HMGB1 showed reduction of BECN1 and stabilization of BCL-2 protein. On the contrary, LPS induction of HMGB1 resulted in enhanced BECN1 and reduction in BCL-2 levels. This study shows that the modulation of autophagy by DENV-2 is HMGB1/BECN1 dependent. In addition, glycyrrhizic acid (GA), a potent HMGB1 inhibitor suppressed autophagy as well as DENV-2 replication. Altogether, our data suggests that HMGB1 induces BECN1 dependent autophagy to promote DENV-2 replication.

Dengue infection is a world-wide public health threat infecting millions of people annually. Till date no specific antiviral or vaccine is available against dengue virus. Recent evidence indicates that targeting host STAT3 could prove to be an effective antiviral therapy against dengue infection. To explore the potential of STAT3 inhibition as an antiviral strategy, we utilized a STAT3 inhibitor stattic as antiviral agent and performed whole proteome analysis of mammalian cells by mass spectrometry. Differentially expressed proteins among the infected and stattic treated groups were sorted based on their fold change expression and their functional annotation studies were carried out to establish their biological networks. The results presented in the current study indicated that treatment with stattic induces several antiviral pathways to counteract dengue infection. Together with this, we also observed that treatment with stattic downregulates pathways involved in viral transcription and translation thus establishing STAT3 as a suitable target for the development of antiviral interventions. This study establishes the role of STAT3 inhibition as an alternative strategy to counteract DENV pathogenesis. Targeting STAT3 by stattic or similar molecules may help in identifying novel therapeutic interventions against DENV and probably other flaviviruses.

Dengue and Chikungunya are two major arboviral infections transmitted worldwide by the mosquitoes, Aedes aegypti and Ae. albopictus. India suffers enormously with both Dengue and Chikungunya as they pose a great public health challenge. The present study aims to evaluate the prevalence of Dengue Virus (DENV), Chikungunya Virus (CHIKV) and DENV/CHIKV co-infection (by Reverse-Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR)/Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA), their clinical features, DENV serotypes and CHIKV specific Immunoglobulin G (IgG) within a 7 years gap in the Delhi population. The study sample included clinically suspected febrile patients (?7 days) sera collected during 2017-2018 (n=87) and during 2008-2010 (n=623) from Delhi. Captured ELISA was performed for CHIKV IgG screening and nested PCR was done for DENV serotyping. The percentage prevalence for DENV was significantly higher than CHIKV with 41.38% (n=87) and 16.1% (n=87), respectively; interestingly, DENV/CHIKV co-infection was detected in 10.34% (n=9/87) cases during 2017-2018. Similarly, a high DENV prevalence was observed during 2008-2010 with the prevalence rate of 38.3% (69/180), 34.65% (35/101) and 47.07% (161/342), respectively. DENV 1 and DENV 3 were dominant serotype during 2008-2010 and 2017-2018 respectively. We have noticed a high prevalence (36.67%, 22/60) of the CHIKV IgG antibody in the 2017-2018 samples. Joint pain was more preferential to CHIKV mono-infection and DENV/CHIKV co-infection compared to DENV mono-infection. The present study highlights the need for active surveillance simultaneously for both DENV and CHIKV and to evaluate the role of CHIKV/DENV co-infections in disease severity in the endemic regions.

Biotin protein ligase catalyses the post-translational modification of biotin carboxyl carrier protein (BCCP) domains, a modification that is crucial for the function of several carboxylases. It is a two-step process that results in the covalent attachment of biotin to the ɛ-amino group of a conserved lysine of the BCCP domain of a carboxylase in an ATP-dependent manner. In Leishmania, three mitochondrial enzymes, acetyl-CoA carboxylase, methylcrotonyl-CoA carboxylase and propionyl-CoA carboxylase, depend on biotinylation for activity. In view of the indispensable role of the biotinylating enzyme in the activation of these carboxylases, crystal structures of L. major biotin protein ligase complexed with biotin and with biotinyl-5′-AMP have been solved. L. major biotin protein ligase crystallizes as a unique dimer formed by cross-handshake interactions of the hinge region of the two monomers formed by partial unfolding of the C-terminal domain. Interestingly, the substrate (BCCP domain)-binding site of each monomer is occupied by its own C-terminal domain in the dimer structure. This was observed in all of the crystals that were obtained, suggesting a closed/inactive conformation of the enzyme. Size-exclusion chromatography studies carried out using high protein concentrations (0.5 mM) suggest the formation of a concentration-dependent dimer that exists in equilibrium with the monomer.

The COVID-19 pandemic caused by SARS-CoV-2 has emerged as a global catastrophe. The virus requires main protease for processing the viral polyproteins PP1A and PP1AB translated from the viral RNA. In search of a quick, safe and successful therapeutic agent; we screened various clinically approved drugs for the in-vitro inhibitory effect on 3CLPro which may be able to halt virus replication. The methods used includes protease activity assay, fluorescence quenching, surface plasmon resonance (SPR), Thermofluor® Assay, Size exclusion chromatography and in-silico docking studies. We found that Teicoplanin as most effective drug with IC50 ~ 1.5 μM. Additionally, through fluorescence quenching Stern–Volmer quenching constant (KSV) for Teicoplanin was estimated as 2.5 × 105 L·mol−1, which suggests a relatively high affinity between Teicoplanin and 3CLPro protease. The SPR shows good interaction between Teicoplanin and 3CLPro with KD ~ 1.6 μM. Our results provide critical insights into the mechanism of action of Teicoplanin as a potential therapeutic against COVID-19. We found that Teicoplanin is about 10–20 fold more potent in inhibiting protease activity than other drugs in use, such as lopinavir, hydroxychloroquine, chloroquine, azithromycin, atazanavir etc. Therefore, Teicoplanin emerged as the best inhibitor among all drug molecules we screened against 3CLPro of SARS-CoV-2., Highlights • 3CLPro protease is an attractive drug target to halt the viral replications of SARS-CoV-2. • Screening of approved molecules against 3CLPro protease of SARS-CoV-2 • Biochemical activity and biophysical analysis of molecules against 3CLPro protease • Teicoplanin found to be an effective inhibitor of 3CLPro protease of SARS-CoV-2

Chikungunya virus; the pathogen for chikungunya febrile and arthritic disease, having 11.8 kb positive-sense RNA genome encodes polyproteins for structural and non-structural regions. The polyprotein (P1234) corresponding to the non-structural part from 5′ end gets auto-cleaved by the action of nsP2 protease, which leads to the generation of individual functional enzymatic proteins like nsP4, nsP1, nsP2 and nsP3. Thus, nsP2 protein initiates viral replication. Targeting nsP2 to block virus replication has always been the foremost strategy to develop antivirals. Plant-based molecules are one of the top choices to develop as inhibitor due to their less toxicity and wide availability. Using a combination of receptor-based docking and MD simulations, we identified a flavanone glycoside- naringin, which binds to nsP2 protease at nM affinity. The biomolecular interaction between naringin and nsP2 was established through SPR. As discerned through FTIR and intrinsic fluorescence studies, upon binding with naringin, a global structural change in nsP2 occurs. This structural modulation in nsP2 due to binding of naringin is likely to interfere with the normal functioning of this enzyme during the viral life cycle. In conclusion, this report highlights the potential of naringin as an anti-viral agent against Chikungunya.

Coal is heterogeneous in nature, and thus the characterization of coal is essential before its use for a specific purpose. Thus, the current study aims to develop a machine vision system for automated coal characterizations. The model was calibrated using 80 image samples that are captured for different coal samples in different angles. All the images were captured in RGB color space and converted into five other color spaces (HSI, CMYK, Lab, xyz, Gray) for feature extraction. The intensity component image of HSI color space was further transformed into four frequency components (discrete cosine transform, discrete wavelet transform, discrete Fourier transform, and Gabor filter) for the texture features extraction. A total of 280 image features was extracted and optimized using a step-wise linear regression-based algorithm for model development. The datasets of the optimized features were used as an input for the model, and their respective coal characteristics (analyzed in the laboratory) were used as outputs of the model. The R-squared values were found to be 0.89, 0.92, 0.92, and 0.84, respectively, for fixed carbon, ash content, volatile matter, and moisture content. The performance of the proposed artificial neural network model was also compared with the performances of performances of Gaussian process regression, support vector regression, and radial basis neural network models. The study demonstrates the potential of the machine vision system in automated coal characterization.

Chikungunya has re-emerged as an epidemic with global distribution and high morbidity, necessitating the need for effective therapeutics. We utilized already approved drugs with a good safety profile used in other diseases for their new property of anti-chikungunya activity. It provides a base for a fast and efficient approach to bring a novel therapy from bench to bedside by the process of drug-repositioning. We utilized an in-silico drug screening with FDA approved molecule library to identify inhibitors of the chikungunya nsP2 protease, a multifunctional and essential non-structural protein required for virus replication. Telmisartan, an anti-hypertension drug, and the antibiotic novobiocin emerged among top hits on the screen. Further, SPR experiments revealed strong in-vitro binding of telmisartan and novobiocin to nsP2 protein. Additionally, small angle x-ray scattering suggested binding of molecules to nsP2 and post-binding compaction and retention of monomeric state in the protein-inhibitor complex. Protease activity measurement revealed that both compounds inhibited nsP2 protease activity with IC50 values in the low micromolar range. More importantly, plaque formation assays could show the effectiveness of these drugs in suppressing virus propagation in host cells. We propose novobiocin and telmisartan as potential inhibitors of chikungunya replication. Further research is required to establish the molecules as antivirals of clinical relevance against chikungunya.

The COVID-19 disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 has emerged as a worldwide pandemic and caused huge damage to the lives and economy of more than hundred countries. As on May 10, 2020, more than 4,153,300 people stand infected from the virus due to an unprecedented rate of transmission and 282,700 have lost their lives because of the disease. In this context, medicinal plants may provide a way to treat the disease by targeting specific essential proteins of the virus. We screened about 51 medicinal plants and found that Tea (Camellia sinensis) and Haritaki (Terminalia chebula) has potential against SARS-COV-2 3CLpro , with an IC50 for Green Tea as 8.9 ± 0.5 µg/ml and Haritaki 8.8 ± 0.5 µg/ml. The in-silico studies suggested that Tea component Thearubigins binds to the cysteine 145 of protease active site and could be a pharmacoactive molecule. We predict that the inhibition in protease activity may be able to halt the SARS-CoV-2 replication cycle and therefore, we propose Green Tea, Black Tea, and Haritaki plant extracts as potential therapeutic candidates for SARS-CoV-2 infection. Further investigation on role of bioactive constituents of extracts is needed to establish the molecular basis of inhibition and towards expedited drug discovery.

Mitragyna parvifolia (Roxb.) Korth., commonly known as “Kadam,” is an endangered and pharmaceutically valued tree of the family Rubiaceae. The numerous medicinal properties are attributed to the various alkaloids of this plant. Poor seedling survival (due to very small size of seeds, approximately 10,000 per gm), overexploitation and habitat destruction are the major constraints in conserving the wild stocks of this species. This paper reports a significant, improved, and repeatable micropropagation protocol of M. parvifolia using nodal explants of a mature tree. Nodal explants harvested during spring season from the lopped tree differentiated the maximum number of axillary shoots (5.3 ± 0.82 per node) on full-strength Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium containing 3.0 mg L−1 6-benzylaminopurine (BAP) and additives (25 mg L−1 each of adenine sulfate, L-arginine, and citric acid and 50 mg L−1 ascorbic acid). Shoots were amplified in vitro through (1) recurrent transfer of mother explants and (2) subculturing on fresh nutrient medium. The greatest number of shoots (13.4 ± 1.26) with an average length of 6.2 ± 1.03 cm was produced after 4 wk on MS medium containing 0.5 mg L−1 BAP, 0.25 mg L−1 kinetin (Kin), 0.1 mg L−1 Indole-3-acetic acid (IAA), additives, 100 mg L−1 activated charcoal (AC), and 0.8% (w/v) agar. This is the first report of concurrent ex vitro rooting and acclimatization (CEVRA) in M. parvifolia. About 90% micropropagated shoots rooted ex vitro on pulse treatment of 500 mg L−1 Indole-3-butyric acid (IBA; for 5 min) and produced 8.5 ± 0.97 roots per shoot with an average length of 9.40 ± 1.06 cm, after 5 wk. Over 80% of CEVRA plantlets were successfully transplanted to the soil in field. The defined protocol can be employed for conservation ex situ and restoration/rehabilitation/reintroduction in situ of M. parvifolia. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1007/s11627-020-10089-6) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Bean common mosaic virus (BCMV) causes severe disease in Phaseolus vulgaris plants. One of its non structural protein, the helper-component proteinase (HcPro) involves in multiple roles in aphid transmission, RNA binding, suppression of gene silencing and protease activity. The multifunctional role of HcPro hint towards its regulation at multiple host cellular sites. The mechanisms of these regulatory activities are poorly understood. Therefore, it is very important to study the molecular level interaction of HcPro with different cellular components. In this study, we demonstrate that the HcPro interacts with RuBisCo, an enzyme of chloroplast origin which might plays a crucial role in virus infection. A further line of experiments were carried out with factors of nuclear origin. Due to nucleic acid binding activity of HcPro, it showed interaction with dsDNA of nucleosome, as ascertained through electrophoretic mobility shift assay (EMSA). Interestingly, HcPro interacts with host nucleoprotein histones, H3 and H4. The gel-overlay assay and native electrophoresis-western blot analysis (NEWeB) revealed a direct interaction of BCMV HcPro with host nucleosome and with histones. These findings suggest that the BCMV through HcPro, not only utilize the host cytoplasmic components but also use host nuclear factors for its propagation and disease development.

Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) has emerged as a major viral threat, affecting over a million people worldwide per year. It is a vector borne disease transmitted to the human by Ades mosquitoes and primarily affect people by causing viral fever, severe joint pain and other symptoms, like rash, joint swelling, muscle pain and in rare cases can be fatal. CHIKV is a deadly virus, with its mutation rate found to be significantly higher as compared to other viruses. To date, there has been no reported FDA approved drug against this virus. Thus, keeping in mind the urgent need to scrutinize potential therapies against CHIKV, the present study identified twenty plant bioactive compounds that are available at low price and do not have associated adverse effect. For identification of active potentials molecules the pharmacoinformatics-based perspective was applied against CHIKV structural (E1) and non-structural (nsP2) proteins using molecular docking and scoring. The selected compounds were further studied for pharmacokinetics (PK) and pharmacodynamics (PD) associated parameters such as initial absorption, then distribution and later on metabolism excretion and toxicity (ADMET) profiles based on in silico study. The results reveal five potential lead compounds having high binding energy that can help in the development of commercial drugs with favorable ADMET characteristic. Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma

The prolyl hydroxylase 3 (PHD3) protein is less abundant in normal oxygen conditions (normoxia) but increases under deficient oxygen condition (hypoxia). Since cancerous cells often thrive in hypoxic conditions and predominantly express the Pyruvate kinase isoforms 2 (PKM2), the PHD3/PKM2 interaction might be particularly important in cancer development. In the present study, the PHD3/PKM2 complex was co-expressed and purified by size-exclusion chromatography. The interaction of PHD3 with PKM2 was confirmed in Native gel as well as western blot analysis. The PHD3/PKM2 complex formed discreet crystals under suitable conditions, and diffraction data revealed that crystal belonged to the P1 space group with 3.0 Å resolution. This is the first crystal report of PHD3/PKM2 complex as well as this study demonstrates a direct physical binding through protein-protein interaction. The structural analysis of complex will provide the information regarding the amino acid residues critical for the catalytic mechanism. Based on the structural information thus obtained, pharmacological interference with the PHD3/PKM2 interaction could be used as a novel strategy to reduce the cancer progression.

Diabetes mellitus Type 2 happens to be one of the most challenging health concerns in recent times and has spiked an alarming rise taking it into epidemic category. For management of this epidemic, sulphonylureas have been cornerstone in its treatment. The inefficiency and impairment of insulin to function has been compensated by treatment with anti-hyperglycemic agents (glibenclamide). However, this has been linked with cases of hypoglycemia. In order to rectify this, the present study focuses on development of better drug analogue. Sulphonylurea receptor (SUR1) was modeled with reliable efficiency and confirmed for structural validation. The docking results were strongly supported by molecular dynamics data and molecular mechanics-generalized born surface area (MM-GBSA) calculations. Successful docking of predicted sulphonylurea receptor with designed analogue (C24H26ClN3O4S) was illustrated with stronger binding energy (− 8.3 kcal/mol) having seven hydrophobic contacts and two hydrogen bonds (Ile103and Leu116) with the receptor protein. In case of SUR1-glibenclamide complex, a binding energy of − 7.1 kcal/mol was contributed from four hydrophobic contacts and three hydrogen bonds. The predicted molecule when scrutinized for pharmacophore and QSAR properties, like polar surface area, molar refractivity, oral bioavailability, solubility, transport across the gut, resistance to blood brain barrier and intestinal absorption, showed values mostly falling in prescribed range. It also highlighted that the inhibitor is non-toxic and non-carcinogenic property. Therefore, C24H26ClN3O4S can be used as a better and potent drug for treatment of diabetes Type 2 in comparison to glibenclamide.

The present study focused on the association of stress and sexual problems among married Indian Males. Stress is defined as a state of negative emotions, anxiety and insecurity which could be caused by lack of fulfillment of physical, social and psychological demands of the body that could result into negative behavioral and mental health problems. The specific objective of the study was to explore the relationship of stress and sexual problems in terms of symptom distress, social and interpersonal among 3 sample groups, viz., Psychosexually deviated, dysfunctional group and healthy subjects. The present associative, cross-sectional and comparative study was conducted at different hospitals located in Urban area of Indore and Nagpur with a sample size of 225 males (75 psychosexually deviated, 75 psychosexually dysfunctional, 75 psychosexually healthy married males) in the age group of 20-40 years by adminitering Outcome Questionnaire®-45.2 (OQ®-45.2) developed by Dr. Michael Lambert.The study indicated that significant high symptom distress existed among psychosexually dysfunctional group as compared to the deviation and the healthy group. The results showed that stress had a significant association wih Psychosexually dysfunctional group as compared to the deviation and the healthy group.

Chikungunya, a mosquito-borne viral disease is now a global public health problem. In tropical countries such as India, periodic chikungunya outbreaks can occur due the high prevalence of the mosquito vector, circulation of virus and the high population density. To curtail the virus in outbreak situation, a ready to use drug for chikungunya is necessary. Using the literature mentioned plant extracts, we used four assays to screen and identify indigenous plants with CHIKV inhibitory activity. Our results showed that the aqueous extract of five plant extracts exhibited anti-CHIKV activity by inhibiting viral attachment, four plant extracts exhibited replication inhibition through inhibition of helicase activity, two plants showed inhibition of protease activity. Two plant extracts showed both viral attachment inhibition and replication inhibition and also exhibited dose dependent response in virus replication inhibition assay. These findings warrant further investigation to standardize these plant extracts as antiviral formulation for chikungunya infection.

A novel approach of in vitro shoot amplification and ex vitro rooting for cloning of mature plants of Punica granatum cv. Jalore seedless/soft-seeded has been defined. Surface-sterilized nodal shoots were cultured for axillary meristem activation, bud breaking and shoot amplification. Multiple shoots differentiated by bud breaking from 82.8% of the explants on Murashige and Skoog (Physiol Plant 15:473–497, 1962) MS medium with 13.32 µM 6-benzylaminopurine (BAP). These were amplified by subculturing of fresh shoots and by repeated transfer of mother explants on MS medium + BAP or Kinetin (Kin)/Furfurylaminopurine (FAP) in combination with Indole acetic acid (IAA) or α-naphthalene acetic acid (NAA). MS medium with BAP 2.22 µM + IAA 0.57 µM was found to be most suitable for shoot (14.2 ± 1.03 shoots per culture vessel) multiplication. On half-strength MS medium with 9.84 µM of Indole butyric acid (IBA) and 16.65 µM of activated charcoal (AC), 72.9% of the micro-shoots rooted. Alternatively, base(s) of the micro-shoots treated with 1476 µM of IBA for 300 s. and transplanted on autoclaved soilrite (moistened with one-fourth strength of MS macro-salts) in glass bottles (420 ml; 70 mm diameter × 130 mm height). More than 85% of the IBA-treated shoots rooted ex vitro in a greenhouse. Ex vitro rooting of cloned shoots is a new approach for propagation of pomegranate. The process described is different and superior to all the described tissue culture methods for cloning of pomegranate. This is faster, cost-effective and saves resources enabling acclimatization/hardening with ease while minimizing microbial contamination, thus ensuring quick field transfer of hardened plantlets. This can be applied for mass and clonal propagation of selected genotypes and also for long-term conservation of germplasm of P. granatum.

The aim of the present study is to analysing the effect of water absorption on iron ore samples in the performances of SVM-based machine vision system. Two types of SVM-based machine vision system (classification and regression) were designed and developed, and performances were compared with dry and wet ore sample images. The images of the ore samples were captured in both the conditions (wet and dry) to examine the proposed model performance. A total of 280 image features were extracted and optimised using sequential forward floating selection (SFFS) algorithm for model development. The iron ore samples were collected from an Indian iron ore mine (Guamine), and image capturing system was fabricated in the laboratory for executing the proposed study. The results indicated that a different set of optimised features obtained for dry and wet sample images in both the models (classification and regression). Furthermore, the performance of both the models with dry sample images was found to be relatively better than the wet sample images.

Aim This research study focused on exploring the impact of resilience on COVID‐19 phobia (C19P) among individuals from different nations including a cluster of European countries, India, Indonesia, Pakistan and the United States of America (USA). Method We recruited research participants via disseminating an electronic survey on Facebook Messenger (FM) that included 812 participants. The electronic survey assessed unidentifiable demographic information, the COVID‐19 Phobia Scale (C19P‐S; Arpaci et al., 2020) and the Brief Resilience Scale (BRS; Smith et al, 2008). Results Based on simple linear regression, resilience had a statistically significant negative affect on all four C19P factors including psychological, psychosomatic, economic and social factors (p

Cloud computing has become an essential need in our daily life, especially in our present days after the pandemic of our era COVID-19 and the need to conduct all business and meetings from our home and remotely. The emergence of the Internet and the concepts of parallel distributed/networked computing have changed the face of the world. Also, the current situation indicates that the future of information technology will be closely related to the use of the cloud. The need has become more urgent to access resources, applications, massive storage capabilities and data processing from anywhere, flexibly and securely. To send data securely from one place to another, the data has to send in an encrypted form. In this paper, we provide a sufficient theoretical background of cloud computing and analyze the performance of the encryption algorithms (ECC and RSA) of cloud computing. Our simulation result shows that ECC performs better than RSA in total time.

Nucleosomes are substrates for a broad range of factors, including those involved in transcription or chromosome maintenance/reorganization and enzymes that covalently modify histones. Given the heterogeneous nature of nucleosomes in vivo (i.e., varying histone composition, post-translational modifications, DNA sequence register), understanding the specificity and activities of chromatin-interacting factors has required in vitro studies using well-defined nucleosome substrates. Here, we provide detailed methods for large-scale PCR preparation of DNA, assembly of nucleosomes from purified DNA and histones, and purification of DNA and mononucleosomes. Such production of well-defined nucleosomes for biochemical and biophysical studies is key for studying numerous proteins and protein complexes that bind and/or alter nucleosomes and for revealing inherent characteristics of nucleosomes. © 2020 Wiley Periodicals LLC. Basic Protocol 1: Large-scale PCR amplification of DNA Basic Protocol 2: DNA and nucleosome purification using a Bio-Rad Mini Prep Cell/Prep Cell Basic Protocol 3: Nucleosome reconstitution via linear gradient salt dialysis.

Capsids of several RNA viruses are reported to have unconventional roles attributed to their subcellular trafficking property. The capsid of CHIKV is also found to localize in the nucleus, but the rationale is not yet clear. To understand the role of the nuclear-localized capsid, we examined the nucleic acid binding and cargo delivery activity of the CHIKV capsid. We used bacterially purified capsid protein to probe the binding affinity with CHIKV genome-specific and non-specific nucleic acids. We found that the capsid was able to bind non-specifically to different forms of nucleic acids. The successful transfection of GFP-tagged plasmid DNA by CHIKV capsid protein shows the DNA delivery ability of the protein. Further, we selected and investigated the DNA binding and cargo delivery activity of commercially synthesized Nuclear Localization Signal sequences (NLS 1 and NLS2) of capsid protein. Both peptides showed comparable DNA binding affinity, however, only the NLS1 peptide was capable of delivering plasmid DNA inside the cell. Furthermore, the cellular uptake study using the FITC-labelled NLS1 peptide was performed to highlight the membrane penetrating ability. Structural analysis was performed using circular dichroism and NMR spectroscopy to elucidate the transfection ability of the NLS1 peptides. Our findings suggest that the capsid of CHIKV might influence cellular trafficking in the infected cell via non-specific interactions. Our study also indicates the significance of NLS sequences in the multifunctionality of CHIKV capsid protein.

The emergence of drug-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) stains has escalated the need for developing more efficient drugs and therapeutic strategies against tuberculosis. Here we functionally annotate a secretory mycobacterial asparaginase Rv1538c (MtA) and describe its biochemical properties. MtA primarily existed as dimer along with a minor population of multimers. Circular dichroism and fluorescence spectroscopy demonstrated a compact structure in Tris HCl buffer at pH 8.0. Under these conditions it also displayed optimum activity. It retained ∼40% activity at pH 5.5, supporting its physiological relevance in acidic phagosomal environment. MtA contravened classical Michaelis-Menten kinetics and exhibited product inhibition profile, yielding a Kcat of 869.4 s−1 and an apparent Km of 8.36 mM. We report the presence of several antigenic epitopes and a C-terminal YXXXD/E motif in MtA, hinting towards its potential to interact or influence host immune system. This was supported by our observation of morphological changes in MtA-treated human B lymphoblasts. We propose that MtA is a dual purpose enzyme used by Mtb to survive inside its host by; 1) ammonia-mediated neutralization of the phagosomal acidic pH and 2) inducing stress to primary immune cells and compromising the host immune response. Overall, this study contributes to our understanding of the biological role of mycobacterial asparaginase opening avenues for developing effective TB therapeutics.

Dengue virus (DENV) is most prevalent arthropod-borne human pathogen belongs to Flaviviridae family causes thousands of deaths annually. HMGB1 is highly conserved, ubiquitously expressed, non-histone nuclear protein which plays important role in diseases like metabolic disorders, cancer, and viral infections. However, the importance of HMGB1 in DENV infection is understudied. In this study, we observed that DENV-2 induces cytoplasmic translocation and secretion of HMGB1. Interestingly, inhibition of HMGB1 secretion by ethyl pyruvate (EP) enhanced viral propagation while silencing of HMGB1 resulted in abrogated viral replication in DENV-2 infected A549 cells. RNA-Electrophoretic mobility shift assay and immunoprecipitation showed that HMGB1 interacts with 5'-3' UTRs of DENV-2 genome. This interaction further stimulates production of proinflammatory cytokines like TNF-α, IL-6 and IL-1β which have been implicated in pathogenesis of severe DENV disease. Together, our finding suggests that DENV-2 modulates HMGB1 translocation and HMGB1-DENV-2 UTRs RNA interaction further induces proinflammatory cytokines production in A549 cells. This study discloses HMGB1 as an important host factor contributing to disease pathogenesis and hence can be targeted as an alternative approach for antiviral development against DENV virus infection.

The mineral industry needs fast and efficient mineral quality monitoring equipment, and a machine vision system could be a suitable alternative to the traditional quality monitoring system. This study attempts to develop a machine vision-based expert system using support vector machine regression (SVR) model for the online quality monitoring of iron ores (hereafter known as ore grades). The images of the ore samples were captured during the run of condition on the fabricated conveyor belt transportation system. A total of 280 image features were extracted from each of the selected captured images in order to evaluate its suitability in object identification. A sequential forward floating selection (SFFS) algorithm was developed using the support vector machine regression (SVR) as a criterion function for selecting the optimum set of image features. The optimised feature subset was used as input, and the iron ore grade value was used as an output parameter for the model development. The grade of iron ore corresponding to each captured image was analysed in the laboratory using X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) for grade estimation. The model was trained using 70% of the dataset and tested using 30% of the sample dataset. The model performance was evaluated using a test dataset with the five indices viz. the sum of squared errors (SSE), root mean squared error (RMSE), normalised mean squared error (NMSE), R-square (R2) and bias. The SSE, RMSE, NMSE and bias values of the model were obtained as 537.5367, 5.9863, 0.0063, and 0.8875, respectively. The R2 value of the model was obtained as 0.9402. The results indicate that the model performs satisfactorily for the iron ore grade prediction from the image collected in a controlled laboratory environment. The performance of the proposed model was compared with other models used in the previous studies. It was observed that the proposed model performs better than the other studied models (Gaussian Process Regression and Artificial Neural Network).

There is a paucity of literature on caregiver burden and expressed emotion among persons with bipolar affective disorder and its correlates in Indian settings. Data was collected from outpatient department of psychiatry, Institute of Mental Health and Hospital, Agra, regarding socio-demographic characteristics (e.g. age, gender, domicile), followed by Burden Assessment Scale (BAS), Family emotional involvement and criticism scale, and young mania rating scale from patients of bipolar affective disorder in manic episode and their caregivers. Descriptive statistics like mean, standard deviation and unpaired “t” test was applied for continuous data and Chi square for categorical data. Spearman correlation was used to find the correlation. The mean age of patients with mania and their caregivers were 35.9 (SD = 9.8) and 43.5 (SD = 12.9) respectively. The mean total BAS score was 76.7 (12.3), which reflect a significant amount of caregiver burden. Age of the caregivers was positively correlated with total BAS scale respectively. Marital status of caregivers was negatively correlated with external support (− 0.6, p

Tinospora cordifolia (Willd.) Miers, is an important medicinal climber of family Menispermaceae. This plant is principally known for its medicinal properties in Ayurvedic system of medicines. Poor seed setting coupled with low seed germination limit its natural propagation through seeds. This paper reports an improvised micropropagation system of T. cordifolia using nodal explants. The maximum numbers of axillary shoots (3.8 ± 0.63) were differentiated on MS medium containing 6-benzylaminopurine (BAP; 2.0 mg l−1). The numbers of shoots were further amplified using repetitive transfer of original explants and through subculturing techniques. The greatest numbers of shoots (15.3 ± 1.05) of an average length (5.5 ± 0.84 cm) were achieved on 0.8% agar-gelled Modified MS medium supplemented with 0.5 mg l−1 each of BAP and kinetin, and IAA (0.1 mg l−1) in screw-cap culture bottles, within 5–6 weeks. In rooting experiments, we developed a concurrent ex vitro rooting and acclimatization (CEVRA) method for the first time in T. cordifolia. About 87.6% of the micropropagated shoots rooted ex vitro on pulse-treatment with indole-3-butyric acid (200 mg l−1) for 3 min. More than 80% of the concurrently ex vitro rooted and acclimatized plantlets were successfully hardened in a greenhouse and transplanted to the soil. The discussed micropropagation system can be used for the large-scale offsite propagation of this medicinally important perennial climber, T. cordifolia.

Background: Caregiver burden and expressed emotion have been studied in patients with schizophrenia but literature is less regarding these in bipolar affective disorder (BPAD). No study could be found which compared the caregiver burden and expressed emotion in these two patient groups. Hence, the study is conducted to investigate and compare the caregiver burden and expressed emotion in caregivers of patients with schizophrenia and BPAD. Materials and Methods: Data were collected from outpatient department of psychiatry, Institute of Mental Health and Hospital, Agra regarding sociodemographic characteristics (e.g., age, gender, domicile), followed by burden assessment schedule, family emotional involvement and criticism scale, positive and negative syndrome scale, Young mania rating scale, and hamilton depression rating scale (HDRS) from patients of schizophrenia and BPAD and their caregivers. Descriptive statistics such as mean and standard deviation (SD) and unpaired t test were applied for continuous data and chi square for categorical data. Spearman correlation was used to find correlation. Results: No statistically significant difference between the sociodemographic variable of either patient of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder or their caregivers was observed. Significantly higher total burden (P = 0.01) with mean value of 82.8 (SD = 8.8) in caregivers of patients with schizophrenia compared to BPAD with mean value of 76.7 (SD = 12.3) was noted. Emotional over-involvement was significantly more in patients with BPAD compared to patients with schizophrenia (P = 0.0007). Spearman correlation shows positive correlation among age of caregivers, education, and burden of care in both the groups (P < 0.05 in both groups). Conclusion: The presence of significant amount of burden of care and expressed emotion point out to the need for psychosocial support to the family members for mitigation of the burden and reduction in the expressed emotion, which in turn could reduce the relapse rates and facilitate the caregivers to effectively cope and manage the ill family member.

Background: Breastfeeding is a basic human activity, vital to infant and maternal health and it has massive economic value to households and societies. It has been proved that early initiation of breastfeeding lowers the risk of postpartum hemorrhage and anemia to the mothers, boosts their immunity and reduces the incidence of certain diseases like diabetes and cancer. In this study we assess the socio-demographic characteristics, knowledge, attitude and practice of the mothers regarding breast feeding.Methods: This was a cross-sectional study. It was conducted for a period of nine month from July 2019 to March 2020 at Government Allopathic Medical College, Banda. Total 160 children in the age group of 0-6 months came at immunization clinic of pediatric OPD.Results: Total numbers of children studied during the study period were 160 out of which 54.37% were male and 46.62% were females. Maximum number of mothers (38.75%) belong to the age group of 25-30 years followed by 21-25 years (26.87%). 38.12% of the mothers start breastfeeding within one hour, 46.87% between 1-6 hour and 60% of the mothers breastfed their babies on demand.Conclusions: The participants had good knowledge and attitude regarding breastfeeding but there was a noticeable deficit in the use of this knowledge in the breastfeeding practices which points towards the gap in the education and counselling of women regarding breast feeding.