Search

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) and its associated chronic liver disease pose a significant health hazard. Chronic HBV infection is a major contributor to the development of liver cirrhosis, liver fibrosis, and liver cancer. This study focused on ISG12a and its inhibitory effect in Huh7 cells on HBV gene expression and replication. The mammalian hepatoma cells Huh7 were transfected with the pHBV1.3 vector (pCAGGS) or HA-tagged ISG12a to determine the overexpression, to test this hypothesis further, we did knockdown or silencing by transducing Huh7 cells with lentiviruses containing shRNAs targeting ISG12a or scramble control shRNA (shControl). The expression of ISG12a was evaluated through western blot analysis. The HBsAg and HBeAg secretion in the Huh7 cells’ culture media was examined using an ELISA test. The qRT-PCR confirmed the mRNA and 3.5 mRNA Kb of ISG12a. The HBV total RNA was extracted and evaluated through a Northern blot. The isolated DNA was detected through qPCR. Additionally, a mechanistic study of enhancer II (EnhII/Cp) was examined through luciferase reporter testing. Our research findings indicate that ISG12a, an interferon-stimulated gene (ISG), plays a crucial role in suppressing the replication and gene expression of HBV. According to our study using the Huh7 cell system, overexpression of ISG12a resulted in a notable reduction in HBV protein levels as well as intracellular core-associated DNA and RNA levels. On the other hand, silencing ISG12a in Huh7 cells resulted in increased HBV RNA transcripts, DNA, and secreted proteins, indicating that ISG12a plays a role in suppressing HBV replication. Additionally, the research revealed that ISG12a inhibits the function of the EnhII/Cp promoter, which results in reduced HBV gene expression. The EnhII/Cp promoter is involved in regulating HBV gene expression, and the study showed that ISG12a restricts its activity. ISG12a may have a regulatory role in controlling the expression of HBV genes. These findings highlight the importance of ISG12a in HBV gene expression and provide valuable insights for understanding its antiviral function.

Sclerotinia sclerotiorum (Lib.) de Bary is the causative agent of stem white mold disease which severely reduces major crop productivity including soybean and rapeseed worldwide. The current study aimed to explore plant growth-promoting traits and biocontrol of new isolated Bacillus subtilis BS-2301 to suppress S. sclerotiorum through various mechanisms. The results indicated that the BS-2301 exhibited strong biocontrol potential against S. sclerotiorum up to 74% both in dual culture and partition plate experiments. The BS-2301 and its crude extract significantly suppressed S. sclerotiorum growth involving excessive reactive oxygen species (ROS) production in mycelia for rapid death. Furthermore, the treated hyphae produced low oxalic acid (OA), a crucial pathogenicity factor of S. sclerotiorum. The SEM and TEM microscopy of S. sclerotiorum showed severe damage in terms of cell wall, cell membrane breakage, cytoplasm displacement, and organelles disintegration compared to control. The pathogenicity of S. sclerotiorum exposed to BS-2301 had less disease progression potential on soybean leaves in the detached leaf assay experiment. Remarkably, the strain also demonstrated broad-range antagonistic activity with 70%, and 68% inhibition rates against Phytophthora sojae and Fusarium oxysporum, respectively. Furthermore, the strain exhibits multiple plant growth-promoting and disease-prevention traits, including the production of indole-3-acetic acid (IAA), siderophores, amylases, cellulases and proteases as well as harboring calcium phosphate decomposition activity. In comparison to the control, the BS-2301 also showed great potential for enhancing soybean seedlings growth for different parameters, including shoot length 31.23%, root length 29.87%, total fresh weight 33.45%, and total dry weight 27.56%. The antioxidant enzymes like CAT, POD, SOD and APX under BS-2301 treatment were up-regulated in S. sclerotiorum infected plants along with the positive regulation of defense-related genes (PR1-2, PR10, PAL1, AOS, CHS, and PDF1.2). These findings demonstrate that the BS-2301 strain possesses a notable broad-spectrum biocontrol potential against different phytopathogens and provides new insight in suppressing S. sclerotiorum through various mechanisms. Therefore, BS-2301 will be helpful in the development of biofertilizers for sustainable agricultural practices.

Abstract Background Dengue fever caused by dengue virus is a tropical disease and is among the deadliest vector-borne diseases. The humid and hot summers of Pakistan support the probation of the vectors responsible for the transmission of viral and other parasitic diseases. Methodology A retrospective study, from 2012- 2019, of dengue infected individuals from the Punjab province of Pakistan was carried out to analyze epidemiology, clinical and laboratory findings of subjects with dengue virus infection. Data was derived from National Institute of Health (NIH) followed by Dengue control program of Pakistan, covering the incidence rate in 36 districts of Punjab and Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) respectively. Patients data including the presence of dengue specific antigen or/and antibodies such as NS1 and IgG/IgM were observed. The study also included the analysis of demographic data, geographic data, and the month-wise distribution of dengue cases to examine seasonal trends. Results We analyzed 25,682 dengue infected individuals. The statistical analysis revealed a significant association between genders in which male population was more affected by dengue than females. It was also noted that the middle age group was the most affected age group while the highest number of cases were reported in October. Rawalpindi and Lahore were the most affected cities in Punjab province while Islamabad represented the highest number of cases during the recent outbreak in 2019. The IgM and IgG antibodies were highly prevalent among the infected patients. Conclusion Dengue is endemic in Pakistan, circulating throughout the year. Highest number of cases were observed in the month of October, September and November respectively. Association between climate change and vector-borne diseases need to be investigated in Pakistan as they significantly influence the timing and intensity of dengue and other disease outbreaks. Further exploration of hematological parameters is required to better diagnose and treat the disease. For the effective control of dengue outbreaks, awareness campaigns on sewage management and vector control along with social factors are strongly recommended for better control and eradication of the disease.

The effect of domestic cooking techniques such as boiling, frying, microwaving, and freezing on the phenolic profile of spinach, and mustard was studied using high performance liquid chromatography with diode array detection (HPLC-DAD). Nitric oxide, superoxide anion scavenging activity, and anti-choline esterase activity were studied using spectroscopic methods. Results showed 12 phenolic compounds in spinach and 13 in mustard leaves. Microwaving significantly enhanced the amounts of most of the phenolic compounds. Conversely, boiling has an enervating effect on the amounts of phenolic compounds. Raw spinach and mustard leaves have the highest nitric oxide inhibition activities of 42.4 and 62.7%, respectively, followed by microwaving and freezing. Similarly, the highest % superoxide anion scavenging activity was determined in raw spinach and mustard. The applied cooking techniques had deleterious effects on anti-cholinesterase activities. In conclusion, different processing conditions affected phenolic availability, and the antioxidant and anti-cholinesterase activities of the selected vegetable leaves.

Plant parasitic nematodes (PPNs) pose a significant threat to global crop productivity, causing an estimated annual loss of US $157 billion in the agriculture industry. While synthetic chemical nematicides can effectively control PPNs, their overuse has detrimental effects on human health and the environment. Biocontrol agents (BCAs), such as bacteria and fungi in the rhizosphere, are safe and promising alternatives for PPNs control. These BCAs interact with plant roots and produce extracellular enzymes, secondary metabolites, toxins, and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) to suppress nematodes. Plant root exudates also play a crucial role in attracting beneficial microbes toward infested roots. The complex interaction between plants and microbes in the rhizosphere against PPNs is mostly untapped which opens new avenues for discovering novel nematicides through multi-omics techniques. Advanced omics approaches, including metagenomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, and metabolomics, have led to the discovery of nematicidal compounds. This review summarizes the status of bacterial and fungal biocontrol strategies and their mechanisms for PPNs control. The importance of omics-based approaches for the exploration of novel nematicides and future directions in the biocontrol of PPNs are also addressed. The review highlighted the potential significance of multi-omics techniques in biocontrol of PPNs to ensure sustainable agriculture.

Zinc (Zn) malnutrition is a major concern to many crops and human health in terms of food security. In addition to the Zn deficiency, there was also a serious climate threat to wheat cultivation with global warming causing severe droughts. There is a dire need to develop the synergistic use of organic and inorganic stimulants in enhancing tolerance and nutrient uptake under arid zone agricultural environments. Recently, moringa leaf extract (MLE30) obtained prominence emerging as an organic bio-stimulant and its combined ue with zinc solution (ZnSO4·7H2O) may have potential results in producing the Zn biofortified wheat grains. Two years of field research trials were planned for improving the tolerance with Zn bio-fortified grains by inducing the Zn application via MLE30 as a novel agronomic biofortification approach in Cholistan's arid environment. The experiments laid out by following the various factors including Zn application techniques having treatments control (dry seed), hydro-priming, Zn-priming MLE30, Zn-foliar MLE30, Zn-soil MLE30; wheat cultivars having Ghazi-2019, Zincol-2016; terminal drought stress having treatments normalCondition (irrigation was applied at tillering, booting, grain formation, milking stages), terminal droughtTillering, terminal droughtMilking in experimental research area, Arid Zone Research Institute, Bahawalpur, Pakistan during the winter season 2021–2022 and 2022–2023. A randomized complete block design was used with three factorial designs and replicated thrice. Data revealed the significant interaction of applied various treatments of Zn with MLE30 in wheat cultivars under terminal drought conditions during both years of trials. It was observed that Zn-priming MLE30 improved the morphological growth and yield attributes of the Zincol-16 cultivar under the induced terminal droughtTillering and Milking after normalCondition during year-II as per year-I. Seed Zn-priming MLE30 achieved the maximum results in anti-oxidant contents production against terminal droughtMilking following Tillering as compared to normalCondition in Zincol-16 as per Ghazi-19 wheat plants during the second year of the experiment. Observation illustrated that grains Zn contents obtained the highest values by the applied treatment of seed Zn-priming MLE30 followed by Zn-foliar MLE30, Zn-soil MLE30, hydropriming under the induced terminal droughtTillering as compared to normalCondition during both years of trials. Average economic analysis depicted the best benefit-cost ratio of seed Zn-priming MLE30 treatment under normalCondition followed by terminal droughtMilking in Zincol-16 as compared to Ghazi-19 wheat cultivar. So, the findings of this project research suggested that seed Zn-priming MLE30 with wheat Zincol-16 is the most cost-effective and easily adaptable approach for healthy Zn biofortified grains production during unfavorable terminal drought conditions.

The increasing demand for thermal management due to the high heat density heat exchangers for different technological and industrial processes draw the attention of researchers in heat transfer analysis to investigate the simultaneous solution to this problem. Keeping this in mind, the current work addressed the utilization of ternary hybrid nanofluid, a mixture of graphene oxide with silver and copper, to examine the heat and mass transfer enhancement of MHD Maxwell fluid. In the current model, the author discussed heat and mass transfer analysis of Maxwell MHD ternary hybrid nanofluid flow across a porous medium over an extending sheet. The energy and concentration equations are expressed to include the effects of Brownian motion and thermophoretic diffusion. Additionally, the effects of thermal radiation, activation energy, chemical reactions, and convective boundary conditions are considered. The similarity transformations are used to convert the nonlinear PDEs into ODEs. The impact of embedded factors on velocity, temperature, and concentration profiles is perceived graphically and mathematically by using the HAM technique. The convergence of computed solutions is ensured by h-curves. The significant outcomes from the analysis expressed that the flow distribution increases with slip and suction/injection factors. The concentration of the ternary hybrid nanofluid increases with an increase in thermophoretic diffusion (0.1–0.5), thermal biot number, and solutal biot number (0.1–0.5), however, a declining behavior is perceived with rising quantity of Schmidt number (0.6–0.8) and Brownian motion (0.1–0.5) parameters. Nusselt number shows a dominant behaviour with a higher magnetic factor. Similarly, the skin friction increases with an increase in thermal biot number and thermophoresis factor. It is revealed that the skin friction along x− direction increases from (0.78138, 0.833702, 0.897022, and 0.972526) for ternary hybrid nanofluid. Nusselt number increases from 2 to 5% (0.208936, 0.214288, 0.219799, 0.22555) when the volume fraction varies from 0.01 to 0.04 respectively.

The current study was designed to investigate the potential of a synthetic therapeutic agent for better management of pain and inflammation, exhibiting minimal to non-existent ulcerogenic effects. The effect of 1-(2-chlorobenzoyl)-3-(2,3-dichlorophenyl) thiourea was assessed through model systems of nociception and anti-inflammatory activities in mice. In addition, the ulcerogenic potential was evaluated in rats using the NSAID-induced pyloric ligation model, followed by histopathological and biochemical analysis. The test was conducted on eight groups of albino rats, comprising of group I (normal saline), groups II and III (aspirin® at doses of 100 mg/kg and 150 mg/kg, respectively), groups IV and V (indomethacin at doses of 100 mg/kg and 150 mg/kg, respectively), and groups VI, VII, and VIII (lead-compound at 15 mg/kg, 30 mg/kg and 45 mg/kg doses, respectively). Furthermore, molecular docking analyses were performed to predict potential molecular target site interactions. The results showed that the lead-compound, administered at doses of 15, 30, and 45 mg/kg, yielded significant reductions in chemically and thermally induced nociceptive pain, aligning with the levels observed for aspirin® and tramadol. The compound also effectively suppressed inflammatory response in the carrageenan-induced paw edema model. As for the ulcerogenic effects, the compound groups displayed no considerable alterations compared to the aspirin® and indomethacin groups, which displayed substantial increases in ulcer scores, total acidity, free acidity, and gastric juice volume, and a decrease in gastric juice pH. In conclusion, these findings suggest that our test compound exhibits potent antinociceptive, anti-inflammatory properties and is devoid of ulcerogenic effects.

In this study, a flexible and fully printable four element patch antenna array bent on a cylindrical-shaped surface for main beam steering is proposed. The individual phases of the microstrip patches in the array are varied by using novel planar phase shifters constituted of microstrip composite right/left-handed (CRLH) lines ingrained with microparticles. The reinforcement of newly introduced microparticles in the CRLH transmission line structure makes it a variable phase shifter, which is fabricated on a flexible substrate in completely planar and conformal configurations. The magnetic particles-based CRLH-TL phase shifter (MP-CRLH) consists of multiple cavities in the substrate filled with micron-sized silver-coated ferrite particles. These particles in the cavity are magnetically aligned by a small magnet placed beneath the cavity. A particular phase shift can be achieved by activating particles in multiple cavities in the MP-CLRH phase shifter. The optimum locations of the cavities partially filled with magnetic particles for a particular phase shift have been explored after extensive 3D simulations in the frequency domain using CST Studio Suite. The main advantage of using the MP-CRLH phase shifter is that it can be conformed to non-planar surfaces, such as cylindrical-shaped in this scenario. As compared to conventional IC/discrete components-based phase shifters, the working of the novel MP-CRLH phase shifter is independent of external SMT and lumped circuit components for its biasing. The four unit-cell cascaded MP-CRLH phase shifter is then integrated with a four-element patch array on a cylindrical-shaped surface with radii of 30 cm and 10 cm. The main pattern of the array has been successfully scanned at 0°, −15°, and +30° using the integrated MP-CRLH phase shifter at.2.45 GHz. The full-wave simulation results are validated with the measured radiation patterns in a fully anechoic chamber facility. The conformal phased array integrated with MP-CRLH phase shifters on a flexible substrate can be used for applications like on-body communication systems, wearable devices, flexible electronics, and aircraft communication systems.

Abstract Background During the past two decades, the correlation between oxidative stress and a variety of serious illnesses such as atherosclerosis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), Alzheimer disease (AD) and cancer has been established. Medicinal plants and their derived phytochemicals have proven efficacy against free radicals and their associated diseases. The current work was aimed to evaluate the phytochemical constituents of Rhamnus pentapomica R. Parker via Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC–MS) and its antioxidant and anti-glioblastoma potentials. Methods The bioactive compounds were analysed in Rhamnus pentapomica R. Parker stem bark extracts by GC–MS analysis, and to evaluate their antioxidant and anti-glioblastoma effects following standard procedures. The stem bark was extracted with 80% methanol for 14 days to get crude methanolic extract (Rp.Cme) followed by polarity directed fractionation using solvents including ethyl acetate, chloroform, butanol to get ethyl acetate fraction (Rp.EtAc), chloroform fraction (Rp.Chf) and butanol fraction (Rp.Bt) respectively. Antioxidant assay was performed using DPPH free radicals and cell viability assay against U87 glioblastoma cancer cell lines was performed via MTT assay. Results In GC-MS analysis, thirty-one compounds were detected in Rp.Cme, 22 in Rp.Chf, 24 in Rp.EtAc and 18 compounds were detected in Rp.Bt. Among the identified compounds in Rp.Cme, 9-Octadecenoic acid (Z)-methyl ester (7.73%), Octasiloxane (5.13%) and Heptasiloxane (5.13%), Hexadecanoic acid, methyl ester (3.76%) and Pentadecanoic acid, 14-methyl-, methyl Ester (3.76%) were highly abundant.. In Rp.Chf, Benzene, 1,3-dimethyl- (3.24%) and in Rp.EtAc Benzene, 1,3-dimethyl-(11.29%) were highly abundant compounds. Antioxidant studies revealed that Rp.Cme and Rp.EtAc exhibit considerable antioxidant potentials with IC50 values of 153.53 μg/ml and 169.62 μg/ml respectively. Both fractions were also highly effective against glioblastoma cells with IC50 of 147.64 μg/ml and 76.41ug/ml respectively. Conclusion Phytochemical analysis revealed the presence of important metabolites which might be active against free radicals and glioblastoma cells. Various samples of the plant exhibited considerable antioxidant and anti-glioblastoma potentials warranting further detailed studies.

Conservation Voltage Reduction (CVR) is a potential energy management approach for increasing computer system energy efficiency. This study uniquely contributes to the field by thoroughly investigating the impact of CVR on computing devices, filling a significant gap in the existing literature. The research employs a novel experimental approach, considering the temporal variations in energy use behavior, and presents a comprehensive benchmark analysis of desktop PCs and laptops. Notable gains in processing efficiency are observed, with specific instances such as Desktop 1’s 1.53% Single-Core performance improvement and Desktop 3’s 3.19% total performance boost. Despite variations, the thermal performance of CVR-equipped devices, particularly Desktop 3 and Laptop 3, consistently demonstrates lower temperatures, indicating thermal management enhanced by 3.19% and 1.35%, respectively. Additionally, the study introduces the CVR Performance Enhancement Ratio (%), providing a unique metric for evaluating the trade-offs between energy efficiency and system performance. This research highlights the dual impact of CVR on thermal and computational elements, emphasizing its broad advantages. Integrating CVR emerges as a viable strategy for developing more durable, efficient, and sustainable computing devices, setting the stage for advancements in voltage regulation.

Abstract Maize (Zea mays) is an influential crop in its production across the world. However, the invasion of many phytopathogens greatly affects the maize crop yield at various hotspot areas. Of many diseases, bacterial stalk rot of maize caused by Dickeya zeae results in severe yield reduction, thus the need for efficient management is important. Further, to produce epidemiological information for control of disease outbreaks in the hot spot regions of Sialkot District, Punjab Pakistan, extensive field surveys during 2021 showed that out of 266 visited areas, the highest disease incidence ranging from 66.5 to 78.5% while the lowest incidence was ranging from 9 to 20%. The Maxent modeling revealed that among 19 environmental variables, four variables including temperature seasonality (bio-4), mean temperature of the wettest quarter (bio-8), annual precipitation (bio-12), and precipitation of driest month (bio-14) were significantly contributing to disease distribution in current and coming years. The study outcomes revealed that disease spread will likely increase across four tehsils of Sialkot over the years 2050 and 2070. Our findings will be helpful to policymakers and researchers in devising effective disease management strategies against bacterial stalk rot of maize outbreaks in Sialkot, Pakistan.

In this paper, a four unit cell micron-sized magnetic particles embedded composite right/left-handed (CRLH) transmission line metamaterial phase shifter is proposed. The variable phases are achieved by activating the micron-sized magnetic particles along the length of stub transmission lines of the CRLH transmission line structure. This causes to effectively change the inductance of stub transmission lines, which changes the phase of the RF signal. These structures can be activated in a symmetric or asymmetrical manner to obtain wide range of phase shifts. A prototype of cascaded four unit cell CRLH transmission line phase shifter with embedded silver-coated ferrites (magnetic particles) is designed, fabricated and tested for phase shifters applications. The measured phase response of the proposed phase shifter is in close agreement with the simulated phase response. Next, for the performance analysis of proposed phase shifter, a 1 × 4 conformal curved-shaped phased array operating at 5.8 GHz is fed with the four unit cell cascaded phase shifter in CST full-wave simulator. The conformal phased array with proposed integrated phase shifters was simulated for broadside pattern correction and main beam scanning at 20 degree on curved-shaped surface with different bend angles. The radiation pattern results obtained with the proposed integrated phase shifters are in close agreement with those obtained with direct excitation of the array.

Background: Multi Drugs Resistance (MDR) is among the most worrisome healthcare issues resulting from inappropriate and indiscriminate utilization of antimicrobial agents which has compromised the efficacy and reliability of antimicrobial agents (AMAs). This has not only put a huge burden on the health care system but also is a major cause of morbidity and mortality. This project was designed to evaluate the prevalence of various microbial strains among patients admitted to various teaching hospitals and to assess their susceptibility and resistance towards clinically approved antibiotics. Methods: The study was conducted during August 2021-February 2022 to determine the prevalence of common resistant strains of bacteria and to analyze their susceptibility pattern to the commonly prescribed antibiotics using standard procedures. One hundred and thirty biological samples including urine, blood, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), wound swabs, pus and sputum were collected from the site of infection from the patients admitted at different wards of North West General Hospital (NWGH), Peshawar, Pakistan, Khyber Teaching Hospital (KTH), Peshawar Pakistan, and Hayat Abad Medical Complex (HMC) Peshawar Pakistan. Samples were collected and cultured following standard hospital procedures. The cultured samples were subjected to identification procedures including Gram staining, morphological characterization of bacterial colonies and biochemical assessments. The identified bacteria were tested for their susceptibility using Kirby-Bauer disc diffusion method. The diameter of Inhibitory Zones (DIZ) was analyzed following Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) criteria. Minimum Inhibitory Concentrations (MICs) were evaluated using agar dilution method. Antimicrobials sensitivity were presented as antibiogram following CLSI M39 standard. Results: A total of one hundred and thirty biological samples were collected, out of which one hundred and nine samples were positive for bacterial growth and were further processed for detailed analysis. The frequency and type of bacteria isolated from various cultures indicated that Gram negative bacteria (n = 92/109) were more dominant than Gram-positive (n = 17/109) pathogens. The most prevalent bacteria isolated was Escherichia coli (29.35 %), followed by Staphylococcus aureus (15.59 %), and Klebsiella spp, (12.84 %). In addition, other pathogens including, Enterobacter spp, Citrobacter spp, and Acinetobacter spp. showed a prevalence of 9.175 %, 8.25 %, and 5.50 % respectively. As indicated in the antbiogram, several organisms exhibited considerble decline in the sensitivies towards various antibiotics. A high percentage of resistance was observed against some antibiotics including trimethoprim, co-trimoxazole, amoxicillin/clavulanate, ciprofloxacin, piperacillin/tazobactam, cefotaxime and ceftazidime. Conclusion: The prevalence of resistant strains of pathogens is increasing day by day, while the antibiotics commonly prescribed against them are losing their efficacy, which is pushing the world to the era of pre-antibiotics. Unfortunately, the discovery of novel antibiotics is limited and researchers speculate that the is pushing towards pre-antibiotics era. Subsequently, efforts must be directed towards ensuring rational antibiotics use to prevent emergence of MDR pathogens. Our findings indicated that Gram negative bacteria including Escherichia coli was most prevalent. Other bacterial strains including S. aureus, Klebsiella spp, Enterobacter spp, Citrobacter spp, and Acinetobacter spp. were found among the causative agents. Unfortunately, considerable decline in the sensitivities of various bacterial isolated were observed towards the tested antibiotics. Previous studies reported the high prevalence of E. coli and S. aureus in clinical samples of Pakistani hospitals including hospitals in Peshawar and thus our findings are in agreement with the previous reports. Pharmacists being experts can play their role by promoting the optimal use of antimicrobial agents and educating healthcare professionals, patients and the public.

Social needs refer to the needs associated with the downstream influence of sociocultural and economic determinants affecting the availability of basic amenities, services, and health and social care programs and policies. Social needs are instrumental in shaping the lives and health behaviours of individuals with multimorbidity. Previous reviews explored the care needs, treatment, and support in individuals with multimorbidity. However, the social needs of this population are poorly understood. This review aimed to develop a comprehensive understanding social needs of individuals living with multimorbidity. A meta-synthesis was conducted. Literature was searched within eight databases including gray literature databases. In total, 31 studies published from January 2010 to May 2023 were included in the synthesis. Thematic synthesis approach was used to develop analytical themes and the themes were then mapped to Bradshaw's (1972) taxonomy of social needs. The felt needs included: Requiring strong social network to combat disease-associated challenges and combat social isolation & Need for readily available health and social care assistance. The expressed and comparative needs included: Need for improved health insurance to compensate for disease related expenses and need for social action to address unfair societal behaviors. Individuals with multimorbidity sought improved social connectedness and access to readily available health and social care resources. Social stigma associated with disease, race, disability, and physical appearance affects the meeting of individuals' general and health care related social needs.

Researchers are paying close attention to Casson fluid due to their noteworthy applications in industries. Among the non-Newtonian substances, the Casson fluid is one of the most important types. In this paper, the flow of sodium alginate-based Casson hybrid nanofluid flow mixed with copper and alumina nanoparticles across a stretching sheet is investigated. The slips and convective boundary conditions are assumed in the problem. Moreover, the flow of the hybrid nanofluid is magnetically influenced. Additionally, the consequences of viscous dissipation are considered. Through similarity variables, the leading nonlinear PDEs are converted into ODEs, which are then simplified by the homotopy analysis method (HAM). The variations in velocities, temperature, skin friction, and Nusselt number are exhibited in the figures. With the help of figures, the convergence analysis of the present model has been shown. The result reveals that the Casson factor has a declining consequence on the velocity profile along the x − direction and y − directions. An improvement behavior is observed in the velocity plot in the y − direction through the stretching ratio parameter. The Casson parameter has a declining effect on the velocity profile along x-direction and ydirections. It is noticed that the temperature plot shows an escalating behavior through the Eckert number and magnetic parameter. From the numerical result, it is concluded that the Skin friction and Nusselt number of hybrid nanofluid is maximum as compared to nanofluid.

Abstract In the last few decades, rising prices of agricultural commodities have been an area of concern for most countries owing to high population growth, increased unemployment, and per capita food needs. The current study intends to examine the positive and negative shocks of agricultural product prices, credit disbursement, and the labor force’s impact on the agricultural growth of Pakistan. The nonlinear autoregressive distributed lag (NARDL) method was applied using secondary data sources from 1970 to 2018. The results revealed that positive and negative price shocks contribute positively to agriculture growth; however, positive price shock has a more stimulating effect than negative prices. Furthermore, credit disbursement and labor force significantly positively impact agricultural value added in the short and long run. Finally, the study’s findings have far-reaching consequences for policymakers dealing with Pakistan’s asymmetric relationship between agricultural credit disbursement, commodity prices, and agricultural growth.

Abstract Background The Hippo pathway plays a critical role in controlled cell proliferation. The tumor suppressor Merlin and large tumor suppressor kinase 1 (LATS1) mediate activation of Hippo pathway, consequently inhibiting the primary effectors, Yes-associated protein (YAP) and transcriptional coactivator with PDZ-binding motif (TAZ). Phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate (PIP2), a lipid present in the plasma membrane (PM), binds to and activates Merlin. Phosphatidylinositol 4-phosphate 5-kinase α (PIP5Kα) is an enzyme responsible for PIP2 production. However, the functional role of PIP5Kα in regulation of Merlin and LATS1 under Hippo signaling conditions remains unclear. Methods PIP5Kα, Merlin, or LATS1 knockout or knockdown cells and transfected cells with them were used. LATS1, YAP, and TAZ activities were measured using biochemical methods and PIP2 levels were evaluated using cell imaging. Low/high cell density and serum starvation/stimulation conditions were tested. Colocalization of PIP5Kα and PIP2 with Merlin and LATS1, and their protein interactions were examined using transfection, confocal imaging, immunoprecipitation, western blotting, and/or pull-down experiments. Colony formation and adipocyte differentiation assays were performed. Results We found that PIP5Kα induced LATS1 activation and YAP/TAZ inhibition in a kinase activity-dependent manner. Consistent with these findings, PIP5Kα suppressed cell proliferation and enhanced adipocyte differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells. Moreover, PIP5Kα protein stability and PIP2 levels were elevated at high cell density compared with those at low cell density, and both PIP2 and YAP phosphorylation levels initially declined, then recovered upon serum stimulation. Under these conditions, YAP/TAZ activity was aberrantly regulated by PIP5Kα deficiency. Mechanistically, either Merlin deficiency or LATS1 deficiency abrogated PIP5Kα-mediated YAP/TAZ inactivation. Additionally, the catalytic domain of PIP5Kα directly interacted with the band 4.1/ezrin/radixin/moesin domain of Merlin, and this interaction reinforced interaction of Merlin with LATS1. In accordance with these findings, PIP5Kα and PIP2 colocalized with Merlin and LATS1 in the PM. In PIP5Kα-deficient cells, Merlin colocalization with PIP2 was reduced, and LATS1 solubility increased. Conclusions Collectively, our results support that PIP5Kα serves as an activator of the Hippo pathway through interaction and colocalization with Merlin, which promotes PIP2-dependent Merlin activation and induces local recruitment of LATS1 to the PIP2-rich PM and its activation, thereby negatively regulating YAP/TAZ activity. Video Abstract

This paper assesses the state of Islam in Post-Soviet Kyrgyzstan. It examines the challenges Islam faces due to the diversity of ideologies bequeathed by the Soviet Union. Although Islam emerged as a dominant religious belief in post-Soviet Kyrgyzstan, due to the internal elements of secularism, Tengrism, and other indigenous ideologies, and the interpretation of Islamic lore coupled with the Soviet ideology of atheism, Islam remains syncretic with some loose extremism fuelled by home-grown socio-political factors and imported fundamentalism. It, therefore, concludes that the challenge to Islam and Islamic religious identity in contemporary Kyrgyzstan is a sort of ‘Muslimo-phobia’ rather than ‘Islamo-phobia’ because the challenge to Islam is clearly unleashed by the Muslims themselves and not the minority non-Muslim population.

This paper mainly addressed the study of the transmission dynamics of infectious diseases and analysed the effect of two different types of viruses simultaneously that cause immunodeficiency in the host. The two infectious diseases that often spread in the populace are HIV and measles. The interaction between measles and HIV can cause severe illness and even fatal patient cases. The effects of the measles virus on the host with HIV infection are studied using a mathematical model and their dynamics. Analysing the dynamics of infectious diseases in communities requires the use of mathematical models. Decisions about public health policy are influenced by mathematical modeling, which sheds light on the efficacy of various control measures, immunization plans, and interventions. We build a mathematical model for disease spread through vertical and horizontal human population transmission, including six coupled nonlinear differential equations with logistic growth. The fundamental reproduction number is examined, which serves as a cutoff point for determining the degree to which a disease will persist or die. We look at the various disease equilibrium points and investigate the regional stability of the disease-free and endemic equilibrium points in the feasible region of the epidemic model. Concurrently, the global stability of the equilibrium points is investigated using the Lyapunov functional approach. Finally, the Runge-Kutta method is utilised for numerical simulation, and graphic illustrations are used to evaluate the impact of different factors on the spread of the illness. Critical factors that effect the dynamics of disease transmission and greatly affect the rate and range of the disease's spread in the population have been determined through a thorough analysis. These factors are crucial in determining the expansion of the disease.

The World Health Organization (WHO) estimated that pathogens like Escherichia coli, primarily linked to food and water contamination, are associated with 485,000 deaths from diarrheal diseases annually, translating to a staggering worldwide economic loss of nearly 12 billion USD per annum. International organizations like the WHO and United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) have established related guidelines and criteria for pathogenic detection technologies and driving the search for innovative and efficient detection methods. This comprehensive review examines the trajectory of waterborne pathogenic bacteria detection technologies from traditional techniques, i.e., culture-based methods, to current detection methods including various forms of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) techniques [qualitative real-time PCR, digital PCR, ELISA, loop-mediated isothermal amplification, next-generation sequencing (NGS)] and to emerging techniques, i.e., biosensors and artificial intelligence (AI). The scope of the review paper focuses on waterborne pathogenic bacteria that are recognized as human pathogens, posing tangible threats to public health through waterborne. The detection techniques’ merits, constraints, research gaps and future perspectives are critically discussed. Advancements in digital droplet PCR, NGS and biosensors have significantly improved sensitivity and specificity, revolutionizing pathogen detection. Additionally, the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) with these technologies has enhanced detection accuracy, enabling real-time analysis of large datasets. Molecular-based methods and biosensors show promise for efficient water quality monitoring, especially in resource-constrained settings, but on-site practical implementation remains a challenge. The pairwise comparison metrics used in this review also offer valuable insights into quick evaluation on the advantages, limitations and research gaps of various techniques, focusing on their applicability in field settings and timely analyses. Future research efforts should focus on developing robust, cost-effective and user-friendly techniques for routine waterborne bacteria monitoring, ultimately safeguarding global water supplies and public health, with AI and data analysis playing a crucial role in advancing these methods for a safer environment.

Underwater wireless sensor networks possess considerable potential to monitor large and hostile underwater environments by reliably sensing, collecting, and forwarding data toward the surface sinks. Although the research community has made promising efforts, barriers such as continuous node mobility, longer delays, unavailability of location information, and energy limitations must be addressed. Taking this into account, this research aims to develop a hybrid and intelligent data collection scheme that considers node position and network characteristics during data forwarding. To accomplish the objective, the network is divided into two layers. The top layer, considered more dynamic, follows a hop-by-hop data forwarding scheme. The lower layer, experiencing stable water currents, follows a clustering-based data collection method. The proposed scheme, called Multilayer Dynamic Data Forwarding (MD2F), is suitable for large and deep underwater areas. MD2F is scalable as it uses a multi-sink architecture, while single or multiple autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) can be utilized depending on the area being monitored. Implementing hop-by-hop transmission and clustering-based data collection at different layers balances the network load, thereby increasing the network life. Results show that MD2F exhibits better performance when compared with Multilayer Cluster-based Energy Efficient (MLCEE) and Energy efficient and link reliable routing (E2LR) schemes, both are very close in working behavior. The results are encouraging in terms of delivery ratio, network throughput, and end-to-end delays. Alongside achieving these targets, the network also exhibits less energy consumption through load balancing.

Abstract Hyphaene thebaica fruits were used for the fabrication of spherical erbium oxide nanoparticles (HT-Er2O3 NPS) using a one-step simple bioreduction process. XRD pattern revealed a highly crystalline and pure phase with crystallite size of ~ 7.5 nm, whereas, the W–H plot revealed crystallite size of 11 nm. FTIR spectra revealed characteristic Er-O atomic vibrations in the fingerprint region. Bandgap was obtained as 5.25 eV using K-M function. The physicochemical and morphological nature was established using Raman spectroscopy, reflectance spectroscopy, SAED and HR-TEM. HT-Er2O3 NPS were further evaluated for antidiabetic potential in mice using in-vivo and in-vitro bioassays. The synthesized HT-Er2O3 NPS were screened for in vitro anti-diabetic potentials against α-glucosidase enzyme and α-amylase enzyme and their antioxidant potential was evaluated using DPPH free radical assay. A dose dependent inhibition was obtained against α-glucosidase (IC50 12 μg/mL) and α-amylase (IC50 78 μg/mL) while good DPPH free radical scavenging potential (IC50 78 μg mL−1) is reported. At 1000 μg/mL, the HT-Er2O3 NPS revealed 90.30% and 92.30% inhibition of α-amylase and α-glucosidase enzymes. HT-Er2O3 NPs treated groups were observed to have better glycemic control in diabetic animals (503.66 ± 5.92*** on day 0 and 185.66 ± 2.60*** on day 21) when compared with positive control glibenclamide treated group. Further, HT-Er2O3 NPS therapy for 21 days caused a considerable effect on serum total lipids, cholesterol, triglycerides, HDL and LDL as compared to untreated diabetic group. In conclusion, our preliminary findings on HT-Er2O3 NPS revealed considerable antidiabetic potential and thus can be an effective candidate for controlling the post-prandial hyperglycemia. However, further studies are encouraged especially taking into consideration the toxicity aspects of the nanomaterial.

New and innovative wearable IoT devices for health monitoring systems (HMS) have been invented one after another. However, most of these devices are resource-constrained with restricted energy and computation power. The HMS data need to be processed via mobile edge computing (MEC) to improve the response time to fulfill the latency-sensitive and computation-intensive applications and to reduce bandwidth consumption. This paper presents an efficient task scheduling and resource allocation mechanism in MEC to meet these demands in contemplating emergency conditions under HMS. We propose a priority-based task-scheduling and resource-allocation (PTS-RA) mechanism that can assign different priorities to different tasks by considering the tasks' emergency levels computed with respect to the data aggregated from a patient's smart wearable devices. The mechanism can optimally determine whether a task should be processed locally at the hospital workstations (HW) or in the cloud. This is aimed to reduce the total task processing time and the bandwidth cost as much as possible. The proposed approach is to ensure that tasks related to the emergency are given higher priorities and to run first. After the tasks’ computations, results are sent to the doctor to response promptly with quick decisions. The proposed PTS-RA was benchmarked against state-of-the-art algorithms concerning average latency, task scheduling efficiency, task execution time, network usage, CPU utilization, and energy consumption. The benchmarking results are promising as PTS-RA is capable to manage the emergency conditions and is meeting the latency-sensitive tasks' requirements with reduced bandwidth cost.