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SummaryThe years 2016-2019 witnessed the expansion of Yellow Fever Virus (YFV) circulation area in Brazil. Deforestation and mutations in the nsp genes were presumed responsible for the reemergence of YFV in brazil. However, our data analysis involving 200 clinical isolates worldwide including vaccine strains showed two amino acids substitutions exclusively in the Brazilian strains at critical positions (V318A and I335M) in the ED III domain of E protein. Our molecular dynamics analysis involving reference and mutant structures suggests that the mutations significantly changed the conformational rearrangement and folding of the YFV-EDIII domain as revealed by RMSF, PCA, Porcupine plots and secondary structure analysis. Briefly, the regions 324-330, 339-346 and 347-359 had a higher fluctuation than the wild, while regions 313-318 and 379-384 had a lower fluctuation. As reported earlier that the residues E325 and E380 are part of vaccine epitopes and any mutations in these residues reduced the binding of vaccine generated mabs to the epitopes. Hence, it may be speculated from our porcupine plot data analysis that that the commercial YFV vaccines may not be fully effective against the Brazilian strains in particular owing to the fluctuations of these residues. However, future investigation is required to validate the observations.

This article describes the synthesis and characterization of a novel hydrogel formed through maleimide-thiol conjugation. The hydrogel is produced by combining two precursors: chitosan functionalized with thiol groups and polyethylene glycol (PEG) functionalized with maleimide groups, both of which were analyzed using NMR. The hydrogel was then subjected to several tests to evaluate its properties, including gelation time, swelling behavior, viscoelasticity, and degradation rate. The results showed that the gelation time of the hydrogel could be adjusted by changing the weight percentage of the precursors, as evidenced by the gelation time test. Additionally, the optimal formula for gelation was determined based on references and was used in subsequent experiments. The hydrogel demonstrated excellent flexibility in the swelling study, and the degradation test confirmed that it was biodegradable. The viscoelastic test revealed that the hydrogel was an elastic solid. Overall, the results suggest that this novel hydrogel has potential for biomedical applications.

This article synthesized and characterized a novel hydrogel, which is formed using maleimide–thiol conjugation. Two precursors chitosan functionalized thiol groups and dextran functionalized maleimide groups prepared and characterized by NMR. The hydrogel studied by gelation time, swelling studies, viscoelastic properties, degradation rate. From gelation time result, we found that formed hydrogel gelation time could be changed with diffident weight percentage of precursors. Based on references, we found the best formular for the gelation and it was also determined for other studies. The swelling study indicated hydrogel has good flexibility and the degradation test indicated hydrogel is biodegradable. The viscoelastic test indicated hydrogel is elastic solid. From these studies, this a novel hydrogel could be potential for biomedical applications.

Mycobacterium abscessus complex is a group of nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM). The NTM may involve skin, soft tissue, and other organs like the eye and central nervous system. Clinically may mimic multidrug resistance. Here, we present a case of a 29‐year man with a history of multiple scalp swellings with mild symptoms. He had undergone multiple triamcinolone acetonide injections on his scalp to stop hair fall and baldness 2 months prior. As there was a history of injections on the scalp and lesions associated with minimal symptoms, we suspected the possibility of NTM and fungal infections. As a part of treatment and obtaining a sample for investigation, lesions were aspirated with a needle. The swellings contained gelatinous material, which was sent for microscopic examination, and revealed the presence of acid‐fast bacilli (AFB). Xpert MTB/RIF assay was negative for mycobacteria (MTB complex), but culture revealed NTM was identified as M. abscessus complex by line probe assay. Based on the diagnosis, the patient was treated with an injection of amikacin, moxifloxacin, and azithromycin. The lesions improved. The patient has completed over a year of follow-up with no recurrence noted. Mycobacterium abscessus, a rapidly growing NTM, has been occasionally reported to cause cutaneous soft tissue infection when injected with nonsterile medicine or needles. Therefore, a high index of suspicion for NTM infection is warranted in patients with cutaneous scalp abscess following scalp injections for hair loss.

Osteoarticular tuberculosis (OATB) is a severe form of extrapulmonary tuberculosis (TB), which causes notable morbidity and warrants a high index of suspicion for prompt management. The diagnosis of OATB poses a challenge, because of the difficulty of collecting the samples and, secondarily, the paucibacillary nature of lesion, which gives poor sensitivity and reproducibility, with long turnaround time of routine/conventional laboratory tests and the requirement for invasive procedures and expertise. The Xpert MTB/RIF assay has been approved by the World Health Organization as a rapid diagnostic tool for diagnosing pulmonary and extrapulmonary TB.To emphasize the diagnostic efficiency of gene Xpert for OATB in suspected patients in a tertiary care hospital of Eastern India.This retrospective study was conducted in the Department of Microbiology and Orthopaedics by analyzing the data of the gene Xpert assay over a 3-year duration from January 2018 to February 2021. Demographic and clinical data were recorded. The diagnostic efficiency of gene Xpert was evaluated against the composite reference standard (CRS).A total of 37 cases fell into positive, probable, and possible categories of osteoarticular TB out of 112 patients included in the study by CRS; gene Xpert result was positive in 35 out of the 37 different CRS categorized cases. Of the 112 cases, culture was put in 40 cases, and, of these cultures, 5 cases showed the growth of MTB. Of these, 4 cases were included in the 35 cases diagnosed by gene Xpert. Smear microscopy was positive in 6 out of 37 CRS categorized cases. When compared with CRS, the sensitivity of gene Xpert assay, culture, and smear was found to be 94.6%, 13.5%, and 16.2%, respectively, while specificity in all the three types of tests was 100%. When kappa statistics were applied, the percentage of agreement gene Xpert, culture, and microscopy with CRS was found to be 95%, 20%, and 22.6%, respectively. Follow-up of the gene Xpert positive patients after getting anti-tubercular treatment revealed improved conditions.Gene Xpert could detect 31 extra cases with a low and very low mycobacterial load that were missed by the routine culture methods. Hence, more samples should be processed for molecular diagnostic methods like gene Xpert along with other conventional methods for the validation of the molecular test prospectively for the timely diagnosis of osteoarticular TB.

The transport and cytotoxicity of molybdenum-based drugs have been explained with the concept of chemical transformation, a very important idea in inorganic medicinal chemistry that is often overlooked in the interpretation of the biological activity of metal-containing systems. Two monomeric, [MoO2(L1)(MeOH)] (1) and [MoO2(L2)(EtOH)] (2), and two mixed-ligand dimeric MoVIO2 species, [{MoO2(L1-2)}2(?-4,4?-bipy)] (3-4), were synthesized and characterized. The structures of the solid complexes were solved through SC-XRD, while their transformation in water was clarified by UV-vis, ESI-MS, and DFT. In aqueous solution, 1-4 lead to the penta-coordinated [MoO2(L1-2)] active species after the release of the solvent molecule (1 and 2) or removal of the 4,4?-bipy bridge (3 and 4). [MoO2(L1-2)] are stable in solution and react with neither serum bioligand nor cellular reductants. The binding affinity of 1-4 toward HSA and DNA were evaluated through analytical and computational methods and in both cases a non-covalent interaction is expected. Furthermore, the in vitro cytotoxicity of the complexes was also determined and flow cytometry analysis showed the apoptotic death of the cancer cells. Interestingly, ?-4,4?-bipy bridged complexes 3 and 4 were found to be more active than monomeric 1 and 2, due to the mixture of species generated, that is [MoO2(L1-2)] and the cytotoxic 4,4?-bipy released after their dissociation. Since in the cytosol neither the reduction of MoVI to MoV/IV takes place nor the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) through Fenton-like reactions of 1-4 with H2O2 occurs, the mechanism of cytotoxicity should be attributable to the direct interaction with DNA that happens with a minor-groove binding which results in cell death through an apoptotic mechanism.

A huge quantity of toxic hexavalent chromium (Cr-VI or Cr6+) was released into the environment through mine effluent at the South Kaliapani chromite mining area during different mining activities. The present in situ bioremediation approach was conducted to assess the remediation potential of a well-known aquatic weed water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes (Mart.) Solms-Laub) for attenuating Cr(VI) from mine wastewater. The study correlates the bio-concentration factors (BCF) of Cr with the reduction percentage. The percent reduction of Cr content in mine effluent was maximum (53.5%) at 100 days after treatment (DAT) followed by 40.7% at 75 DAT after passage through 2,000 sq. ft. area covering four water hyacinths populated (1350 plants) ponds. Reduction in Cr content if OMC discharged mine effluent varies with plant age as well as with the distance of passage. A constant increase in root biomass was recorded with increased passage distance and days of treatment of contaminated mine effluent. The plants could not survive after 125 days of treatment but could show an increasing trend in shoot biomass up to 100 DAT. After 75 days of treatment, it was noted that Cr concentration in roots decreased from 200 to 148 ppm and from 76 to 21 ppm in shoots after passage through the 2000 sq. ft area at 100 (DAT). Water hyacinth roots exhibit maximum Cr bioaccumulation at 75 DAT whereas this was highest in shoots at 100 DAT.

Improvements in the material characteristics of bandgap semiconductors allow the use of high-temperature, high-voltage, and fast switch rates in power devices. Another good reason for creating new Si power converter devices is that previous models perform poorly. The implementation of novel power electronic converters means high energy efficiency but a more logical use of electricity. At this moment, titanium dioxide and gallium nitride are the most prospective semiconductor materials because of their great features, established technology, and enough supply of raw components. This study is focused on providing an in-depth look at recent developments in manufacturing Si-C- and high-powered electronic components and showcasing the whole scope of the newly developing product generation.

Nickel is an important mineral trace nutrient found at low concentrations in most natural soils as a heavy metal. However, it may reach toxic levels in certain areas and affect a number of biochemical and physiological processes in plants. The present study reports nickel (Ni) induced phytotoxic alterations in plant growth, physiology and antioxidative enzyme activities in rice (Oryza sativa L cv. NDR-97) seedlings under applications of Ni2+ ions. Hydroponically grown 7 days old rice seedlings were studied for the impact of different concentrations of Ni+2 (10µM to100 µM). The seedlings showed stimulated growth when supplemented with 10μM of Ni+2 and where as growth retardation was observed beyond 10μM of Ni+2 treatments which were evidenced from their respective total chlorophyll values. Catalase and peroxidase activity exhibits a concentration dependent increase with elevated Ni+2 treatments. Ni Phytotoxicity assessment in developing rice crops will reveal the extent of negative impacts of Ni in response to its physiological and biochemical parameters. References Alloway B. J. 1995. Heavy metals in soils, 2nd Edition, Springer 1995, pp: 384. Behbahaninia, A., Mirbagheri, S.A., Khorasani, N., Nouri, J. and Javid, A.H. 2009. Heavy metal contamination of municipal effluent in soil and plants. J Food Agric. Environ. 7 (3-4): 851-856. Dey, S.K., Jena, P.P. and Kunelu, S. 2009. Antioxidative efficiency of Triticum aestivum L. exposed to chromium stress. J. Environ. Biol. 30: 539-544 Dudka, S. and Adriano, D.C. 1997. Environmental impacts of metal ore mining and processing: a review. J. Environ. Qual. 26: 590-602. Girard, M.C., Walter, C., Remy, J.C., Berthelin, J. and. Morel, J.L. 2005. Sols et environnement, Editions Dunod, Paris, 2005. Grataq, P.L., Polle, A., Lea P.J. and Azevedo, A. 2005. Making the life of leaves metal stressed plants a little easier. Func. Plant Biol. 32: 481-494. Kabata-Pendias, A. and Pendias, H. 2001.Trace elements in soils and plants, 3rd Edition, CRC Press LLC, pp. 413. Kribek, B., Majer, V., Veselovsky, F. and Nyambe, I. 2010. Discrimination of lithogenic and anthropogenic sources of metals and sulphur in soils of the central-northern part of the Zambian Copperbelt Mining District: A top soil vs. subsurface soil concept. doi: 10.1016/j.gexplo.2009.12.005. Macnair, M.R., Tilstone, G.H., and Smith, S.E. 2000. The genetics of metal tolerance and accumulation in higher plants. In: Phytotremediation of contaminated soil and water (Eds.: N. Terry, G. Banuelos), CRC Press, LLC 235-250. Mohanty, M. and Patra, H.K. 2012. Effect of Chelate assisted Hexavalent Chromium on Physiological changes, Biochemical alterations and Cr Bioavailability in Crop Plants - An in vitro Phytoremediation Approach. Bioremediat. J. 16(3): 147–155.

Biotechnology plays an important role in mitigation of various pollution in a cost effective manner by using the complex chemistry of living organisms, various cell manipulations and their approaches for environmental cleanup along with environmental sustainability. One such technology is phytoremediation technology or green technology which has emerged and evolved as a novel tool for remediation of toxic contaminants from environment. Plants with its diverse range show a remarkable range of their phytoremediation potentiality for establishing a sustainable environment. There is a huge exploitation of natural resources through expanded industrialization, urbanization, modern agricultural development, energy generation to fulfill the never-ending human desires and need. This disturbs the balance in nature where we reside and leads to progressive deterioration of the environment. There are several biotechnological advances which are employed for combating both the biotic and abiotic stress problems caused due to toxic contaminants in the environment. Various biotechnological interventions such as bioinformatics, proteomics, genomics, metallomics and metabolomics play a crucial role and open new avenue in this context. This omics approach is now integrated with bioinformatics to serve as a novel tool in phytoremediation technology. This smart technology provides insights into the complex behavior of enzymes, proteins and metabolites action and their biochemical pathways for degradation of wastes. This leads towards deriving a sustainable solution for environmental pollution.

Ventricular arrhythmias such as ventricular tachycardia (VT) and ventricular fibrillation (VF) are the main life-threatening arrhythmias which have to be detected accurately by designing automated system. In this work, we propose a novel method based on ensemble empirical mode decomposition to decompose the ECG signal and classified with decision tree classifier and support vector machine (SVM) for discriminating the VT/VF conditions using informative ranked features. Total fifty-seven records of ECG signals from Creighton University Ventricular Tachyarrhythmia Database (CUDB) and the MIT-BIH Malignant Ventricular Arrhythmia Database (VFDB) database of PhysioNet were taken for evaluation. We obtained the sensitivity of 97.74%, specificity of 99% and accuracy of 98.69% in C4.5 classifier, whereas the accuracy of 90.52% was achieved with SVM classifier. These results indicate that the C4.5 algorithm is a superior approach for identification of cardiac arrhythmia class. The proposed system is an effective method that may be used to assist in decision support system in clinical practice for accurate recognition of ventricular arrhythmias.

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a disturbing neuro-developmental disorder affecting the behavioural ability and communication skills of an individual. Early detection of such prevalent abnormalit...

Two new μ

Three new mixed-ligand oxidovanadium(IV) complexes [VIVOL1–2(LN–N)] (1–3) have been synthesized using two tridentate bi-negative –ONS chelating dithiocarbazate ligands, H2L1-2, where H2L1 = S-methyl 3-(2-hydroxynaphthyl)methylenedithiocarbazate, and H2L2 = 4-chloro-S-benzyl 3-(2-hydroxy-4-diethylaminophenyl)methylenedithiocarbazate and neutral N,N-donor bases (LN–N) like 1,10-phenanthroline (phen) (1 and 2) and 2,2′-bipyridine (bipy) (3) as a co-ligand. All the ligands and their corresponding metal complexes have been successfully characterized using several physicochemical (elemental analysis), spectroscopic (UV-vis, IR and EPR), spectrometric (ESI-MS) and electrochemical (cyclic voltammetry) methods. The geometry of the complexes was determined by X-ray diffraction analysis and also optimized using density functional theory (DFT) calculations, which revealed that the compounds possess a distorted octahedral geometry with tridentate dianionic L1-2 in the meridional arrangement and bidentate co-ligand LN–N with an equatorial–axial coordination. To evaluate the biological activity of the oxidovanadium(IV) species, their interactions with calf thymus-DNA (CT-DNA) and human serum albumin (HSA) were studied through UV-vis absorption titration and fluorescence spectral methods. The results indicated that all the complexes have moderate binding affinity towards both DNA and HSA. Finally, the in vitro antiproliferative activity of all the complexes was evaluated against human cervical cancer (HeLa) and mouse embryonic fibroblast (NIH-3T3) cell lines by MTT assay and the results suggested that the complexes were significantly active compared to various clinically reported drugs.

This chapter highlights on the design, operation, and comparative analysis of different types of wind turbine systems with respect to steady state and transient phenomenal activities under rapid wind speed variations. Here, Type I, which is fixed speed induction generator based, and Type II, which is DFIG based, variable speed operated systems are initially compared. In the next part, Type III wind turbine system is presented, which uses DFIG; later, it is compared with the Type IV WT system, which uses permanent magnet synchronous generator. This chapter provides a comparative overview on existing wind power systems including an analytic discussion of key principles and innovations for wind turbines. In this energy conversion system, various designs of wind turbines, pitch angle controlled based variable speed wind turbines governed by help of electronic power converters, were preferred. This scope of dynamic simulation-based study is implemented using MATLAB Simulink to convey the feasibility of the proposed wind turbine models.

In this work, one oxidomethoxidovanadium(V) [V

Three new anionic dioxidovanadium(V) complexes (HNEt3)[VO2(L)1–3] (1–3) of tridentate binegative aroylhydrazone ligands containing the azobenzene moiety were synthesized and structurally characterized. The aroylhydrazone ligands (H2L1–3) were derived from the condensation of 5-(arylazo) salicylaldehyde derivatives with the corresponding aroyl hydrazides. All the synthesized ligands and metal complexes were successfully characterized by several physicochemical techniques, namely, elemental analysis, electrospray ionization mass spectrometry, spectroscopic methods (IR, UV-vis and NMR), and cyclic voltammetry. Single-crystal X-ray diffraction crystallography of 1–3 revealed five-coordinate geometry, where the ligand coordinates to the metal centre in a binegative tridentate O, N, O coordinating anion and two oxido-O atoms, resulting in distortion towards the square pyramidal structure. The complexes were further evaluated for their in vitro cytotoxicity against HeLa and HT-29 cancer cell lines. All the complexes manifested a cytotoxic potential that was found to be comparable with that of clinically referred drugs, while complex 3 proved to be the most cytotoxic among the three complexes for both cell lines, which may be due to the synergistic effect of the naphthyl substituent in the azohydrazone ligand environment coordinated to the vanadium metal. The synthesized complexes 1–3 were probed as catalysts for the oxidative bromination of thymol and styrene as a functional mimic of vanadium haloperoxidases (VHPOs). All the reactions provided high percentages of conversion (>90%) with a high turnover frequency (TOF) in the presence of the catalysts 1–3. In particular, for the oxidative bromination of thymol, the percentage of conversion and TOF were in the ranges of 98–99% and 5380–7173 (h−1), respectively. Besides, 3 bearing the naphthyl substituent showed the highest TOF among all the complexes for the oxidative bromination of both thymol and styrene.

OBJECTIVE: The unprecedented demand for testing for the ongoing coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic caused by SARS-CoV-2 has led to an acute shortage and limited availability of test reagents for which pooling of samples has been recommended in areas with low prevalence. Considering the possibility of dilution factor in pool testing, an attempt was made to find out possibility of any true positive sample/s in pools with late amplification. METHODS: The study was conducted on samples received from various collection centres in different districts of Odisha as well as from patients attending the screening clinic or admitted in COVID ward of the hospital. Nasal/nasopharyngeal/throat swabs received in viral transport media in cold chain were subjected to RT-PCR testing in a Biosafety Laboratory level-2 by including uniform volume of 4 units (samples) per pool. All confirmed and probable positive pools in screening assay were de-convoluted and individual samples tested for confirmatory assay. RESULT: Inclusion of an additional criteria of probable positive pool (Ct value >35 with non-sigmoid amplification curve or showing a line of amplification towards the end of the cycle) yielded 39 (15.5%) more true positive samples out of a total of 251 positive samples that would otherwise have been missed if only the classical criteria of positive (Ct within 35 with proper sigmoid curve) had been considered. CONCLUSION: The study highlights the importance of considering any indication of late amplification in the RT-PCR test to label a pool as positive to avoid missing any true positive sample in the pool. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Ventricular fibrillation (VF) and ventricular tachycardia (VT) are the main causes of sudden cardiac deaths. It can be prevented by the appropriate application of automated external defibrillators (AEDs) by recognizing the severity of cardiac arrhythmias using complex algorithms. In this paper, we propose a novel algorithm based on empirical mode decomposition (EMD) to decompose the electrocardiogram (ECG) signal. Initially, we have applied the EMD technique to decompose VF and VT signals into five sub-bands, respectively. A total of 15 time–frequency features were extracted from each sub-band, and the classification via regression (CVR) and multilayer perceptron (MLP) classifier were used for the classification of the VT/VF conditions. This feature set has been validated with the projected data in the open database gotten from PhysioNet database. The anticipated algorithm results in an accuracy of 90.86% in MLP classifier and 95.61% in CVR classifier. The results demonstrate that the time–frequency data representations that are provided to the classifiers deliver greater performance values.

The aim of this paper is to investigate the design computation and prototype model implementation of a Modified Mechanical Structure (MMS) Electric Bike (E-Bike). It is the technology that allows the vehicle to operate with the assistance of electrical energy. All conventional cars will be converted to electric vehicles (EVs) in the future. EVs will be affordable to all types of people, allowing them to fly comfortably and safely. As a result, this paper proposes a design estimate and model implementation of the MMS E-Bike with the smallest number of parts, lowest expense, and lightest weight possible. The most important parts of the designed MMS E-Bike are the battery, MMS, BLDC motor, and electronic commutator with their controller. Because of its adapted mechanical frame nature, the designed E-Bike is low in cost and weight, and it can also go up to 25 kmph. Furthermore, the rider will be able to ride the built MMS E-Bike without any pain to their bodies and should be able to sit comfortably during their journey. In comparison to the Ampere Angel and DMW Electra 20 E-Bikes, the performance of the developed model is tested under various operating conditions, as well as their battery backup.

The reaction of 2-{2-(benzo[1,3]dioxol-5-yl)- diazo}-4-methylphenol (HL) with [Ru(PPh3)3Cl2] in ethanol resulted in the carbonylated ruthenium complex [RuL(PPh3)2(CO)] (1), wherein metal-assisted d...

The synthesis and characterization of one oxidoethoxidovanadium(V) [V

The present era accentuate the use of alternative medicines as drugs extracted from several plant parts. These herbal medicines otherwise called ethnomedicines are now the source of many imperative drugs in this contemporary world. Furthermore with ever rising oral problems by luxurious lifestyle in this modern society, there is a soaring need for use of potent medicinal plants like horse radish (Moringa oleifera Lam.) against various oral ailments. Therefore, use of herbal medicines in reducing the adverse effects of various conventional allopathic medicines and harmful side effects of conventional antibiotics has emerged as an evolved technique in pharmaceutical science. The present review emphasizes the antipathogenic potentiality of M. oleifera along with their known therapeutic properties through biologically active compounds (phytoconstituents) and ethnomedicinal uses. Various ethno-pharmacological studies of the plant parts with their nutritional value and multifarious medicinal uses including oral health care are being quoted in present review. This review will foster future research on phytoconstituent analysis, bioefficacy assessment for oral micro flora and ethno-pharmaceutical importance of M. oleifera in the field of medical science with special reference to dentistry. Consequently, this innovative ethnomedicinal approach for oral health care may supplement the modern medicine through its potent phytoconstituents.