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Introduction: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has affected the healthcare delivery system in both developed and developing countries. Many antenatal women skipped their regular antenatal check-ups due to fear of viral contamination and lack of transport facilities. Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS), which plays a major role in antenatal care, also suffered a great deal during the pandemic., Objectives: 1. To assess knowledge and utilization of ICDS services by antenatal women during the COVID-19 pandemic. 2. To determine factors influencing the knowledge and utilization of ICDS services by antenatal women. 3. To determine the barriers to utilization of ICDS services during the pandemic., Methodology: This study was conducted as a descriptive study in a tertiary care center. Antenatal women whose pregnancy period coincided with the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic were interviewed using a structured questionnaire. The sample size was calculated as 198. Data were entered in Microsoft Excel and analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS)., Results: Around 61% of the study population had adequate knowledge about ICDS services. The proportion of antenatal women utilizing ICDS services reduced from 87.8% to 69.6% during the pandemic. Only a few of the mothers were followed up by the Anganwadi workers during the pandemic. The main barriers to not utilizing ICDS services were fear of the spread of the pathogen and lack of awareness about the availability of services during the pandemic., Conclusion: There has been a reduction in the utilization of ICDS services by antenatal women during the COVID-19 pandemic. Measures should be taken by the government to ensure undisrupted care for antenatal women during such hard times., Competing Interests: There are no conflicts of interest., (Copyright: © 2024 Journal of Family Medicine and Primary Care.)

Herein, the performance of asymmetric supercapacitors (ASC) fabricated using ZnCo 2 O 4 (ZCO) nano-hexagons and orange peel-derived activated carbon (OPAC) as electrodes was studied. ZCO was prepared by a double hydroxide method and OPAC was prepared from orange peel followed by KOH activation. For ZCO, the calcination temperature was determined using TGA analysis. The XRD showed the presence of a cubic spinel structure. The chemical structure was analyzed using XPS, FTIR, and Raman spectroscopy respectively. For OPAC, the presence of an amorphous nature was inferred; FTIR and Raman studies indicate the presence of functional groups and defect structure in the material. The presence of ZCO nano-hexagons was observed from SEM and TEM respectively. For OPAC, an interconnected pore structure was observed from the SEM image. The specific capacitance for ZCO and OPAC was found to be 194 F.g -1 and 159 F.g -1 at a current density of 0.25 A.g -1 . Further, an ASC was fabricated using ZCO as a positive and OPAC as a negative electrode in 2M KOH-soaked separator. A cell voltage of 1.2 V was achieved and the specific capacitance was calculated to be 64 F.g -1 at 0.25 A.g -1 . Further, the cyclic stability and the changes at the electrode/electrolyte interface were studied., (© 2024 The Authors. Chemistry - An Asian Journal published by Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

Enhanced thermal, chemical, and mechanical properties of different metal nanoparticle morphologies integrated with metal oxides have been reported in multiple instances. The chemical and material robustness of metal nanoparticles incorporated surficially and into the bulk of distinct as well as spontaneously formed morphologies of metal oxides through solution-based and microwave-based approaches are investigated in this study. These composites were tested for their chemical and material robustness by exposing films formed on quartz substrates to high temperatures (800 °C) in an air ambient as well as to extreme conditions of pH, often encountered in harsh environment applications such as sensing and catalysis. The changes in the optical properties and crystallinity have been studied using in situ absorption and ex situ X-ray diffraction analyses and electron microscopy. The trends observed with respect to the changes in the plasmonic absorbance were validated theoretically and found to be in reasonable agreement with the experimental data. Confirmations of the phenomena occurring in different morphologies and architectures were thereby corroborated through careful interpretations from experiments and predictions from theoretical models. We, therefore, report a simple solution-based process for achieving engineered harsh environment-compatible nanocomposites through studies specifically tailored for such applications such as catalysis, sensing, energy storage, and enhanced luminescence.

Drugs that selectively kill senescent cells (senolytics) improve the outcomes of cancer, fibrosis and age-related diseases. Despite their potential, our knowledge of the molecular pathways that affect the survival of senescent cells is limited. To discover senolytic targets, we performed RNAi screens and identified coatomer complex I (COPI) vesicle formation as a liability of senescent cells. Genetic or pharmacological inhibition of COPI results in Golgi dispersal, dysfunctional autophagy, and unfolded protein response-dependent apoptosis of senescent cells, and knockdown of COPI subunits improves the outcomes of cancer and fibrosis in mouse models. Drugs targeting COPI have poor pharmacological properties, but we find that N-myristoyltransferase inhibitors (NMTi) phenocopy COPI inhibition and are potent senolytics. NMTi selectively eliminated senescent cells and improved outcomes in models of cancer and non-alcoholic steatohepatitis. Our results suggest that senescent cells rely on a hyperactive secretory apparatus and that inhibiting trafficking kills senescent cells with the potential to treat various senescence-associated diseases., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

Musculoskeletal chronic pain is prevalent in individuals with Alzheimer's disease (AD); however, it remains largely untreated in these patients, raising the possibility that pain mechanisms are perturbed. Here, we utilise the TASTPM transgenic mouse model of AD with the K/BxN serum transfer model of inflammatory arthritis. We show that in male and female WT mice, inflammatory allodynia is associated with a distinct spinal cord microglial response characterised by TLR4-driven transcriptional profile and upregulation of P2Y12. Dorsal horn nociceptive afferent terminals release the TLR4 ligand galectin-3 (Gal-3), and intrathecal injection of a Gal-3 inhibitor attenuates allodynia. In contrast, TASTPM mice show reduced inflammatory allodynia, which is not affected by the Gal-3 inhibitor and correlates with the emergence of a P2Y12 - TLR4 - microglia subset in the dorsal horn. We suggest that sensory neuron-derived Gal-3 promotes allodynia through the TLR4-regulated release of pro-nociceptive mediators by microglia, a process that is defective in TASTPM due to the absence of TLR4 in a microglia subset., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

The application of plasmonic nanoparticles is motivated by the phenomenon of surface plasmon resonance. Owing to the tunability of optothermal properties and enhanced stability, these nanostructures show a wide range of applications in optical sensors, steam generation, water desalination, thermal energy storage, and biomedical applications such as photothermal (PT) therapy. The PT effect, that is, the conversion of absorbed light to heat by these particles, has led to thriving research regarding the utilization of plasmonic nanoparticles for a myriad of applications. The design of conventional nanomaterials for PT conversion has focussed predominantly on the manipulation of photon absorption through bandgap engineering, doping, incorporation, and modification of suitable matrix materials. Plasmonic nanomaterials offer an alternative and attractive approach in this regard, through the flexibility in the excitation of surface plasmons. Specific advantages are the considerable improved bandwidth of the absorption, a higher efficiency of photon absorption, facile tuning, as well as flexibility in the synthesis of plasmonic nanomaterials. This review of plasmonic PT (PPT) research begins with a theoretical discussion on the plasmonic properties of nanoparticles by means of the quasi-static approximation, Mie theory, Gans theory, generic simulations on common plasmonic material morphologies, and the evaluation processes of PT performance. Further, a variety of nanomaterials and material classes that have potential for PPT conversion are elucidated, such as plasmonic metals, bimetals, and metal-metal oxide nanocomposites. A detailed investigation of the essential, but often ignored, concept of thermal, chemical, and aggregation stability of nanoparticles is another part of this review. The challenges that remain, as well as prospective directions and chemistries, regarding nanomaterials for PT conversion are pondered on in the final section of the article, taking into account the specific requirements from different applications., (Copyright © 2023, Indhu et al.)

The mammalian skeletal system shows sex differences in structure, functions, ageing and disease incidences. The role of blood vessels in physiological, regenerative and pathological bone functions indicates the requisite to understanding their sex specificity. Here, we find oestrogen regulates blood vessel physiology during pregnancy and menopause through oestrogen receptor alpha (ERα) and G-protein coupled oestrogen receptor-1 (Gper1) but not ERβ-dependent signalling in mice. Oestrogen regulates BECs' lipid use and promotes lipolysis of adipocytes and FA uptake from the microenvironment. Low oestrogen conditions skew endothelial FA metabolism to accumulate lipid peroxides (LPO), leading to vascular ageing. High ferrous ion levels in female BECs intensify LPO accumulation and accelerate the ageing process. Importantly, inhibiting LPO generation using liproxstatin-1 in aged mice significantly improved bone heath. Thus, our findings illustrate oestrogen's effects on BECs and suggest LPO targeting could be an efficient strategy to manage blood and bone health in females., Competing Interests: Competing Interests Statement The authors declare no competing financial interests

Cohesin and CTCF are major drivers of 3D genome organization, but their role in neurons is still emerging. Here, we show a prominent role for cohesin in the expression of genes that facilitate neuronal maturation and homeostasis. Unexpectedly, we observed two major classes of activity-regulated genes with distinct reliance on cohesin in mouse primary cortical neurons. Immediate early genes (IEGs) remained fully inducible by KCl and BDNF, and short-range enhancer-promoter contacts at the IEGs Fos formed robustly in the absence of cohesin. In contrast, cohesin was required for full expression of a subset of secondary response genes characterized by long-range chromatin contacts. Cohesin-dependence of constitutive neuronal genes with key functions in synaptic transmission and neurotransmitter signaling also scaled with chromatin loop length. Our data demonstrate that key genes required for the maturation and activation of primary cortical neurons depend on cohesin for their full expression, and that the degree to which these genes rely on cohesin scales with the genomic distance traversed by their chromatin contacts., Competing Interests: LC, FW, JB, MO, RG, YW, TC, GD, WG, KT, Vd, CW, MU, AF, JP, MM No competing interests declared, (© 2022, Calderon et al.)

Field-effect transistor biosensors (Bio-FET) have attracted great interest in recent years owing to their distinctive properties like high sensitivity, good selectivity, and easy integration into portable and wearable electronic devices. Bio-FET performance mainly relies on the constituent components such as the bio-recognition layer and the transducer, which ensures device stability, sensitivity, and lifetime. Nanomaterial-based Bio-FETs are excellent candidates for biosensing applications. This review discusses the basic concepts, function, and working principles of Bio-FETs, and focuses on the progress of recent research in Bio-FETs in the sensing of neurotransmitters, glucose, nucleic acids, proteins, viruses, and cancer biomarkers using nanomaterials. Finally, challenges in the development of Bio-FETs, as well as an outlook on the prospects of nano Bio-FET-based sensing in various fields, are discussed., Competing Interests: Conflict of interestThe authors declare no conflict of interest., (© The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society 2022.)

Noble metal nanoparticles like Au have long been admired for their brilliant colour, significantly influenced by plasmon resonance. When embedded in metal oxides, they exhibit unique properties which make them an excellent choice for sensing in high-temperature and harsh environment atmospheres. In this review, the various morphologies of Au nanoparticles (AuNPs) used in combination with metal oxides for sensing gases at temperatures greater than 300 °C are discussed. Theoretical discussions on the plasmon resonance properties of AuNPs as well as computational techniques like finite difference time domain (FDTD), are often used for understanding and correlating their extinction spectra and are briefed initially. The sensing properties of AuNPs embedded on a metal oxide matrix (such as TiO 2 , SiO 2 , NiO etc) for quantifying multiple analytes are then elucidated. The effect of high temperature as well as gas environments including corrosive atmospheres on such nanocomposites, and the different approaches to comprehend them are presented. Finally, techniques and methods to improve on the challenges associated with the realization and integration such Au-metal oxide plasmonic nanostructures for applications such as combustion monitoring, fuel cells, and other applications are discussed., (© 2021 Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

Cornelia de Lange Syndrome (CdLS) is a human developmental disorder caused by mutations that compromise the function of cohesin, a major regulator of 3D genome organization. Cognitive impairment is a universal and as yet unexplained feature of CdLS. We characterize the transcriptional profile of cortical neurons from CdLS patients and find deregulation of hundreds of genes enriched for neuronal functions related to synaptic transmission, signalling processes, learning and behaviour. Inducible proteolytic cleavage of cohesin disrupts 3D genome organization and transcriptional control in post-mitotic cortical mouse neurons, demonstrating that cohesin is continuously required for neuronal gene expression. The genes affected by acute depletion of cohesin belong to similar gene ontology classes and show significant numerical overlap with genes deregulated in CdLS. Interestingly, reconstitution of cohesin function largely rescues altered gene expression, including the expression of genes deregulated in CdLS.