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Background To date, studies investigating the inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) patient experience with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) have consistently reported that the observed rate of COVID-19 within this population is similar to the general population. Limited research has suggested that corticosteroid use in the IBD population may be associated with worse COVID-19 outcomes, but it is still yet to be determined if specific IBD-related clinical factors are associated with worse outcomes. Our goal was to describe clinical COVID-19 outcomes for IBD patients and to identify the clinical factors that may be associated with worse outcomes. Methods In this retrospective study, we utilized the inpatient database within the largest hospital network in the New York City Metropolitan area to identify all IBD patients with confirmed COVID-19. Results Of 83 IBD/COVID-19 patients presenting to a hospital network emergency room, 56 were hospitalized. Overall, 19.6% of hospitalized IBD patients died, compared with 22.2% of all hospital system COVID-19 patients during the time period. There was no association between pre-admission corticosteroid use or biologic treatment with a severe course of COVID-19. Conclusions In contrast to some prior reports, we did not observe an association of pre-admission corticosteroid use and adverse outcomes. While the mortality rate was high for IBD/COVID-19 patients, it was not greater than that for hospitalized COVID-19 patients generally. Though our results are encouraging, we continue to support the recommendations of the leading gastrointestinal and IBD societies to regard our patients as “at risk”, and to observe caution in their care.

Functional chest pain, functional heartburn, and reflux hypersensitivity are 3 functional esophageal disorders defined by the Rome IV criteria. Specific criteria, combining symptoms and the results of objective testing, allow for an accurate diagnosis of these conditions. Management may include medications targeted at optimizing acid suppression or neuromodulation, as well as a host of complementary or alternative treatment options. Psychological and behavioral interventions, such as cognitive behavioral therapy and hypnotherapy, have displayed substantial benefits in the treatment of functional chest pain and functional heartburn. Acid suppression and focused neuromodulation are key evidence-based treatment options for reflux hypersensitivity.

The scope of this paper is to outline the main marks and performances of the MagneDyn beamline, which was designed and built to perform ultrafast magnetodynamic studies in solids. Open to users since 2019, MagneDyn operates with variable circular and linear polarized femtosecond pulses delivered by the externally laser-seeded FERMI free-electron laser (FEL). The very high degree of polarization, the high pulse-to-pulse stability, and the photon energy tunability in the 50-300 eV range allow performing advanced time-resolved magnetic dichroic experiments at the K-edge of light elements, e.g., carbon and at the M- and N-edge of the 3d-transition-metals and rare earth elements, respectively. To this end, two experimental end-stations are available. The first is equipped with an in situ dedicated electromagnet, a cryostat, and an extreme ultraviolet Wollaston-like polarimeter. The second, designed for carry-in user instruments, hosts also a spectrometer for pump-probe resonant x-ray emission and inelastic spectroscopy experiments with a sub-eV energy resolution. A Kirkpatrick-Baez active optics system provides a minimum focus of similar to 20x20 mu m(2) FWHM at the sample. A pump laser setup, synchronized with the FEL-laser seeding system, delivers sub-picosecond pulses with photon energies ranging from the mid-IR to near-UV for optical pump-FEL probe experiments with a minimal pump-probe jitter of few femtoseconds. The overall combination of these features renders MagneDyn a unique state-of-the-art tool for studying ultrafast magnetic and resonant emission phenomena in solids. Published under an exclusive license by AIP Publishing.

Regulation of cellular redox homeostasis determines the fate of the cell. Perturbation in redox status is known to elicit multiple cellular pathways. Role of oxidative stress modulation in channelizing the cell towards apoptosis or rescuing the cell by activating pro-survival pathways, depends on the levels of generated oxidative stress. High levels of generated oxidative stress induce cell death pathways whereas mild and low levels are known to elicit the cell survival pathways. Generation of ROS for a short duration of time inducing Redox ticking also triggers the pro-survival pathways inside the cell. Nrf2 is the redox sensitive prosurvival transcription factor which acts as master regulator of redox equilibrium. Nrf2 and its dependent genes including HO-1, GCLC, NQO1 etc. are involved in maintaining the cellular redox homeostasis. Role of Nrf2 as dual edges sword has been highlighted in past decade. The cross talk between the Nrf2 and NF-κB is at the focal point of building the redox response network. The present chapter is aimed at providing the insight on the role of Nrf2 and NF-κB as redox sensitive transcription factors in regulating cellular redox status. Further, the chapter brings in light the therapeutic potential of targeting Nrf2 under multiple clinical settings.

In this paper, we report the existence of defect induced intrinsic room-temperature ferromagnetism (RTFM) in Cu doped ZnO synthesized via a facile sol–gel route. The wurtzite crystal structure of ZnO remained intact up to certain Cu doping concentrations under the present synthesis environment as confirmed by the Rietveld refined X-ray diffraction pattern with the average crystallite size between 35 and 50 nm. Field emission scanning electron microscopy reveals the formation of bullet-like morphologies for pure and Cu doped ZnO. Diffuse reflectance UV-vis shows a decrease in the energy band gap of ZnO on Cu doping. Further, these ZnO samples exhibit strong visible photoluminescence in the region of 500–700 nm associated with defects/vacancies. Near-edge X-ray absorption fine-structure measurements at Zn, Cu L3,2- and O K-edges ruled out the existence of metallic Cu clusters in the synthesized samples (up to 2% doping concentration) supporting the XRD results and providing the evidence of oxygen vacancy mediated ferromagnetism in Cu : ZnO systems. The observed RTFM in Cu doped ZnO nanostructures can be explained by polaronic percolation of bound magnetic polarons formed by oxygen vacancies. Further, extended X-ray absorption fine-structure data at Zn and Cu K-edges provide the local electronic structure information around the absorbing (Zn) atom. The above findings for ZnO nanostructures unwind the cause of magnetism and constitute a significant lift towards realizing spin-related devices and optoelectronic applications.

Understanding how a spin current flows across metal-semiconductor interfaces at pico- and femtosecond time scales is of paramount importance for ultrafast spintronics, data processing, and storage applications. However, the possibility to directly access the propagation of spin currents, within such time scales, has been hampered by the simultaneous lack of both ultrafast element-specific magnetic sensitive probes and tailored well-built and characterized metal-semiconductor interfaces. Here, by means of a novel free-electron laser-based element-sensitive ultrafast time-resolved Kerr spectroscopy, we reveal different magnetodynamics for the Ni M 2 , 3 and Si L 2 , 3 absorption edges. These results are assumed to be the experimental evidence of photoinduced spin currents propagating at a speed of ∼ 0.2 nm/fs across the Ni/Si interface.

Lack of research data is one of the major challenges identified in traditional medicine (TM). Further, there is an urgent need to strengthen and streamline clinical research processes as well as develop research databases in TM. The Clinical Trials Registry-India (CTRI), a free, online primary register of the WHO's International Clinical Trials Registry Platform, undertakes registration of all clinical trials being conducted in India, including TM trials. However, as the CTRI data set items are primarily designed to capture information of interventional trials of the conventional system of medicine, key fields relevant to the TM system are not adequately captured in the CTRI.The current study was conceptualized with the objective to review the type and quality of trials registered in the CTRI as well as identify the specific data set items in CTRI which may be customized as perThe trials registered from July 1, 2018, to March 31, 2020, were analyzed to decipher the kind of research being undertaken in the field ofThe fields which were identified and need tweaking and customization were the fields "health condition" and "intervention/comparator agent."These modifications in the CTRI would enable the capture of more effective

Covid-19 Pandemic has challenged the every aspect of human life. Everybody is talking about the negative impact of corona virus, but every cloud has a silver lining. This situation of pandemic has required for exceptional levels of socio-political responsibility, dynamic leadership and agility of institutions. Even if we refer the last century history, we can see every global economic crisis has provided the better opportunities in disguise. Business activities around the world have been impacted by the global pandemic. However, COVID-19's economic impact differed by region, and the implications were mostly determined by a region's economic situation. In spite of Covid-19 crisis, Indian entrepreneurial spirit is high. In these tough circumstances, many small companies are stepping up for the community and supporting one another to help generate a more positive influence. Several small enterprises and entrepreneurs have been spotted collaborating with the government and local organisations to help financially disadvantaged populations cope with the effects of the crisis. The main objectives of this article to analyse all the aspects related to Indian entrepreneurship and majorly the positive impact of pandemic on Indian entrepreneurs at middle/small levels. The article also explores the new opportunities and challenges for India entrepreneur in coming times.

Diabetes mellitus is a major health pandemic effecting mankind since ancient times. It is a well-known multifactorial metabolic disorder characterized by abnormally high blood glucose levels due to absolute or relative lack of insulin. The incidence of Diabetes has increased drastically in the recent times because of sedentary lifestyle and unhealthy dietary habits, which happens to be the main etiological factors for this disease. Latest IDF data shows that currently 72.9 million people are living with diabetes in India. In ancient Ayurvedic texts this disease is described as Madhumeha, a form of Vataja Prameha, characterized by passing of excessive amount of sweet urine. The present case study is of a 51 years old male patient visiting Ayurvedic Clinic, Delhi with the chief complaints of body ache, sweet taste of mouth, burning sensation at sole, excessive hunger, excessive thirst, excessive mental stress and increased frequency of micturition. On the basis of physical findings and investigations the diagnosis of Madhumeha (Diabetes mellitus, type-2) was made. The treatment plan opted was use of Sanshamana aushadhi along with modification of diet and lifestyle. Regular follow up visits at the interval of seven days were done for a period of 1 month. After 1 month of treatment significant responses was observed.

In this study, X-ZnO/ZnO/Si(100) (X = Co, Ni and Cu) bilayer structure is fabricated using low energy ion implantation technique. Five different fluences 1 × 1015, 5 × 1015, 1 × 1016, 2.5 × 1016 and 5 × 1016 ions/cm2 with 100 keV ion-beam energy were selected in order to implant the ions up to the depth of ≈44 nm as calculated through Stopping Range of Ion in Matter and Transport Range of Ions in Matter software. Structural modification was investigated by high resolution X-ray diffraction measurements in ZnO bilayer system. An observed systematic 2θ shift in (002) peak with increasing fluence implies increased density of implanted metal ions in ZnO matrix revealing the substitution of implanted ion at Zn-site. The mechanism of bilayer formation by ion-beam implantation technique has been discussed for metal-ions by investigating their interface properties. Atomic force microscopy reveals the morphological modification after ion implantation. Near-edge X-ray absorption fine-structure (NEXAFS) measurements at metal K- and L3,2-edges have been used to investigate the nature of implanted ions in terms of their valance state and local electronic environment. Further, O K-edge NEXAFS measurement for Ni-ZnO/ZnO/Si bilayer is highly sensitive to incident beam angles whereas no spectral change is seen for Zn L-edge measurements. The magnetic measurements were performed via vibrating sample magnetometer that showed the films are ferromagnetic at room temperature. The origin of ferromagnetism has been understood through defect mediated bound magnetic polaron model. Further, perpendicular magnetic anisotropy is also observed for Ni-ZnO/ZnO/Si bilayer structure at room temperature, which is correlated with the angle dependent O K-edge NEXAFS measurements. Fabrication of ZnO bilayer via ion implantation and investigation of above properties may prove useful in spin related and optoelectronic applications.

In the present work, vanadium doped ZnO nanostructure, Zn1-xVxO (x = 0.00, 0.01, 0.02, 0.03) have been synthesized using sol-gel route. Rietveld refined X-ray diffraction confirms the single wurtzite phase for all the prepared samples with crystallite size ranging from 20 to 40 nm. UV-Diffuse reflectance spectroscopy shows the decrease in band gap energy from 3.20 to 3.17 eV on V doping and and Photoluminescence (PL) measurements has a strong visible emission region in the range 500–700 nm. PL broad peak in the visible region is further deconvoluted to study the defect states in the V:ZnO system. V doped ZnO nanostructure shows the room temperature ferromagnetism measured through Vibrating Sample Magnetometer hysteresis curve. The magnetic moment ( μ B ) is found to vary from 0.012 to 0.018 μ B per V-atom as x changes from 0.01 to 0.03 in Zn1-xVxO matrix. Magnetic structure properties are correlated with electronic transitions at different atomic levels using near-edge X-ray absorption fine-structure (NEXAFS) spectroscopy. NEXAFS spectral features at OK-, V/Zn L 3,2 - edge reveals the hybridization of V(3d)-O(2p) orbitals and absence of V-metallic clusters in V:ZnO system. These investigations further envisage the existence of +5 state of vanadium in Zn1-xVxO nanostructure.

Metal-Organic Framework (MOF) is a highly crystalline 3D material where metal ions and polydentate organic linkers are joined to form a highly stable mesoporous network. Its meritorious applications (like catalysis, gas storage, adsorption etc.) has motivated the researchers to work toward chemical sensor devices. In this work, synthesis of transition metal Zn/Ni nitrates and terephthalic acid (BDC) as a precursor dissolved in dimethylformamide (DMF) by solvothermal technique is reported. The prepared MOF samples consist of Zn4O acting as a secondary building unit, which are coordinated to BDC, a bidentate ligand dissolved individually in DMF to form a 3D structure. The excess of water molecules were removed using diethanol-amine (DEA), while the reaction energy was provided by citric acid. X-ray diffraction (XRD) pattern revealed the crystalline nature of as-synthesized and Ni-doped MOF-5 samples. XRD studies further tells about the variation in crystallite size in Ni-doped MOF-5. Surface morphology revealed the well-ordered structure with a large number of pores in mesoscale. The nucleation and growth mechanism is generalised for the formation of these nanostructure. Photoluminescence measurements have unveiled the luminescent nature of the synthesized MOF, which is vital for chemical sensor applications. Device application of the MOF samples as an adsorbent based chemical sensor is proposed with the sensing mechanism for NO2 gas.

Global climate change has displayed prominent impact on the distinct nutrient transformations carried out in the soil ecosystem. Climate change intensifies seasonal variations and could even exaggerate to extreme actions. Carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, sulfur, and potassium are the essential macronutrients essential for the survival and development of living beings. These nutrients are being cycled within the biosphere through the biogeochemical networking supported by diverse and versatile soil microbial populations. The soil environment as well as the biological reactions concerning nutrient availability occurring in soil regimes is considerably disturbed under the collective effects of climate change, biological invasions, and anthropogenic alterations of the environment. The soil microbiota are the originators and extenuators of the greenhouse gases (GHGs) represented as the chief contributors to the ongoing global warming. Environmental nutrient variability is an integral part of unavoidable disturbances. Sustainable agriculture management strategies such as no tillage, crop rotations, and soil organic amendments could not only assist in preventing nutrient loss but also encourage nutrient management making farmers and their agricultural practices smart.

Breast cancer has produced an immense data set such as electronic medical records, metabolomics analysis and report which includes patient health history and disorders. However, the data ought to be analyzed and integrated if needed to produce models about physiological mechanisms of pathogens, the use of machine learning along with Image Analysis is to predict the survival rate among the breast cancer patients. The mammographic image of the breast is taken among cancer patients and normal person to diagnose the diff between the cancerous cell and normal cell using the image analysis. This will help to detect the early sign of breast cancer among the patient and also the analysis of mammographic image at different stage of breast cancer will help in depicting the survival rate among the patients. The mammographic data set is analyzed through various filters of image search like median, average and Gaussian filter. The methodologies are used on mammographic data set.

The incorporation of metallic nanostructures into the active layers of oligomer solar cells is the most promising light trapping approach. The size and relative arrangement of nanostructures are the key factors for enhanced light trapping. The present letter reports the formation of plasmonic silver (Ag)-nanoparticles using low-energy 150 keV argon ( Ar + )-beam irradiated Indium-tin-oxide (ITO)/Poly3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene:Poly-styrenesulfonate (PEDOT:PSS)/Ag thin-film system for solar cell application. The multilayer oligomer and Ag thin-films were deposited on ITO using spin-coating and e - -beam evaporation system, respectively. X-ray diffraction measurement shows the change in the crystalline nature of irradiated films and the optical studies performed using ultraviolet–visible, diffuse reflectance spectroscopy and microscopy exhibit 30% enhancement in the light trapping corresponding to the visible region of the solar spectrum. The significant decrease in the optical-band-gap confirms the formation of endotaxial plasmonic Ag nanostructures in the polymer/ITO substrate.

ZnO films grown on Si(100) substrate through radio frequency (RF) sputtering are subjected to 100 keV Ni ion beam at different fluence ( 1 × 10 16 , 2.5 × 10 16 and 5 × 10 16 ions/cm2). High resolution X-ray diffraction revealed the increase in crystallite size and development of stress gradient in the ZnO thin films with the increasing Ni ion fluence. Ni implanted ZnO/Si(100) films exhibits room temperature ferromagnetism (RTFM) which is discussed via defect induced bound magnetic polaron model. Near-edge X-ray absorption fine-structure (NEXAFS) measurements at Ni L 3 , 2 -edge confirm the nature of implanted Ni ion inside the ZnO matrix. Further, NEXAFS at O K-edge revealed the onset of O(2p) with Ni(3d) orbital states, which is correlated with the observed RTFM.

Chylous ascites (CA) is a rare form of ascites that results from the leakage of lipid-rich lymph into the peritoneal cavity. This usually occurs due to trauma and rupture of the lymphatics or increased peritoneal lymphatic pressure secondary to obstruction. The underlying etiologies for CA have been classified as traumatic, congenital, infectious, neoplastic, postoperative, cirrhotic or cardiogenic. Since malignancy and cirrhosis account for about two-thirds of all the cases of CA in Western countries, in this article we have attempted to reclassify CA based on portal and non-portal etiologies. The diagnosis of CA is based on the distinct characteristic of the ascitic fluid which includes a milky appearance and a triglyceride level of >200 mg/dL. The management consists of identifying and treating the underlying disease process, dietary modification, and diuretics. Some studies have also supported the use of agents such as orlistat, somatostatin, octreotide and etilefrine. Paracentesis and surgical interventions in the form of transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (commonly known as TIPS), peritoneal shunt, angiography with embolization of a leaking vessel, and laparotomy remain as treatment options for cases refractory to medical management.

Herein, the work aims at providing an insight to the effect of Cr3+ ion substitution on structural and magnetic properties of nanocrystalline zinc doped cobalt ferrite nanoparticles. The formation of single phase Cr substituted Zn–Co (Zn0.5Co0.5CrxFe2−xO4) nanoparticles consisting of Fd 3 m space group with crystallite size ranging from 37 to 45 nm is confirmed by X-ray Diffraction. The cation distribution calculated using Reitvield refinement confirmed that Cr3+ ion prefers the octahedral site. The desired stoichiometric ratio of the elements is confirmed using Energy dispersive X-ray analysis. The Infra Red spectra unveiled the presence of two absorption bands i.e. tetrahedral and octahedral bands, associated with spinel ferrites. The magnetic behaviour of Cr substituted Zn–Co system with the increment in Cr concentration is analyzed using Vibrating sample magnetometer technique and is further pursued using Mossbauer spectroscopy. The correlation between cation distribution and magnetic behaviour of the system is also discussed in detail.

Continuing our research efforts in developing mesoporous silicon nanoparticle-based biomaterials for cancer therapy, we employed here porous silicon nanoparticles as a nanocarrier to deliver contrast agents to diseased cells. Nanoconfinement of small molecule Gd-chelates (L1-Gd) enhanced the T 1 contrast dramatically compared to distinct Gd-chelate (L1-Gd) by virtue of its slow tumbling rate, increased number of bound water molecules, and their occupancy time. The newly synthesized Gd-chelate (L1-Gd) was covalently grafted on silicon nanostructures and conjugated to an antibody specific for epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) via a hydrazone linkage. The salient feature of this nanosized contrast agent is the capability of EGFR targeted delivery to cancer cells. Mesoporous silicon nanoparticles were chosen as the nanocarrier because of their high porosity, high surface area, and excellent biodegradability. This type of nanosized contrast agent also performs well in high magnetic fields. Refereed/Peer-reviewed

The objective of the present study is to investigate the current status of heavy metal pollution in River Yamuna, Delhi stretch. The concentrations of Nickel, Cadmium, Chromium, Copper, Iron, Lead, and Zinc in water samples have been studied during December 2013–August 2015. The overall mean concentration of heavy metals was observed in the following order Fe > Cu > Zn > Ni > Cr > Pb > Cd. Correlation analysis formed two distinct groups of heavy metals highlighting similar sources. This was further corroborated by results from principal components analysis that showed similar grouping of heavy metals (Ni, Zn, Fe, Pb, Cd) into PC1 having one common source for these heavy metals and PC2 (Cu, Cr) having another common source. Further, our study pointed out two sites i.e. Najafgarh drain and Shahdara drain outlet in river Yamuna as the two potential sources responsible for the heavy metal contamination. Based on heavy metal pollution index value (1491.15), we concluded that our study area as a whole is critically polluted with heavy metals under study due to pollutant load from various anthropogenic activities.

INTRODUCTION Cirrhotic patients are at a higher risk for sustaining orthopedic fractures with a reported prevalence of 5% to 20%. Cirrhosis also affects wound healing and bleeding risk, and hence, impacts the postoperative outcomes after fracture repair. However, there is limited data available on the postoperative risk factors and clinical outcomes of fractures in patients with chronic liver disease (CLD). METHODS Data from the National Inpatient Sample for the years 2012 to 2015 were analyzed. Patients were identified using ICD-9 codes for any fracture. ICD-9 codes for CLD were used to categorize patients into CLD and non-CLD groups. Primary outcomes included inpatient mortality, length of stay (LOS), and total hospital charges. Secondary outcomes included complications such as postoperative infection, prosthetic failure, bleeding, and improper wound healing. RESULTS A total of 931,193 patient encounters for orthopedic fractures were identified and divided into 17,388 with CLD and 913,806 without CLD (non-CLD). The inpatient mortality in patients with CLD was almost twice that of non-CLD patients (odds ratio, 1.95; 95% confidence interval, 1.8-2.1). Patients with CLD also had a longer mean LOS at 7.4±8.6 days versus 5.6±7.2 days (P

Magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJ) are promising candidates for the spintronic devices. They are not only important for the futuristic memory devices but also interesting for their fundamental effects such as tunneling, magnetoresistance, and spin-transfer torque. Thus attempts are made to develop good quality junctions. As the fabrication process is the crucial step to decide the device performance. Therefore, this chapter focuses on the methodology developed for the fabrication of MTJ. To fabricate these devices, first, various layers of MTJ are grown using any method of deposition such as molecular beam epitaxy, radio frequency (RF) sputtering, e-beam evaporation, and ion beam sputtering methods. Thereafter, these grown structures are fabricated to the devices of the size of few nanometers using lithography techniques. Another approach for designing these devices is to use pseudo-masking/metal masking, which is free from lithography process. However, mask formation still need lithography to fabricate devices of smaller size.

Nanoparticle radiosensitization has been demonstrated well to enhance the effects of radiotherapy,motivate the improvement of therapeutic ratios, and decrease morbidity in cancer treatment. A significant challenge existsin optimizing formulations and translation due to insufficient knowledge of the associated mechanisms, which have historically been limited to physical concepts. Here, we investigated a concept for the role of biological mechanisms.The mere presence of gold nanoparticles led to a down regulation of thymidylate synthase, important for DNA damage repair in the radioresistant S-phase cells. By developing a cross-correlative methodology to reveal probabilistic gold nanoparticle uptake by cell sub-populations and the associated sensitization as a function of the uptake, a number of revealing observations have been achieved.Surprisingly, for low numbers of nanoparticles, a desensitization action was observed. Sensitization was discovered to preferentially impact S-phase cells, in which impairment of the DNA damage response by the homologous recombination pathway dominates. This small but radio resistant cell population correlates with much greater proliferative ability. Thus, aparadigm is presented whereby enhanced DNA damage is not necessarily due to an increase in the number of DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) created but can be from a nanoparticle-induced impairment of the damage response by down-regulating repair proteins such as thymidylate synthase. Refereed/Peer-reviewed

Active compounds of biological origin and their synthetic derivatives are in high demand for crop protection over conventional pesticides since synthetic chemicals have reduced availability, adverse toxicological effects, and resistance and pest resurgence issues. Insecticides of biological origin (biopesticides) are less toxic and effective in small quantities and decompose quickly, leaving not much burden on environment. These are mostly target-specific and do not affect nontarget organisms much. Many of the bacteria, fungi, viruses, nematodes, protozoans, plants or plant-derived products (botanicals), pathogen/predator systems, insect pheromones, and plant-incorporated protectants (PIPs) are widely used as biological control agents for insect pest management (IPM). Among all, Bacillus thuringiensis-based biological insecticide has been primarily developed and commercialized. Biotechnological approaches such as transgenic technology and nanotechnology have recently come up that have potential to enhance expression and delivery mechanisms of biopesticide. Though the list is huge, only a limited number of living system-derived compounds have been used commercially, which are amenable to mass production and affordable to the growers. This chapter addresses the recent status of microbial control agents as biopesticides, which is used to improve agricultural productivity by restricting pest infestation.

In this paper, Zn1-xCoxO (x = 0, 0.005, 0.01, 0.02, 0.03, and 0.05) nanostructure exhibiting room temperature ferromagnetic (RTFM) properties were synthesized via chemical solution route. Rietveld refined X-ray diffraction measurements revealed the successful incorporation of Co ions in ZnO matrix without changing the hexagonal wurtzite structure of ZnO nanocrystals and with average crystallite size in the range 35–43 nm. Photoluminescence (PL) measurements revealed the defect related red-shifted broad visible emission peak in the region 500–750 nm on doping that play a key role in ferromagnetism. Systematic magnetic and electronic structure measurements revealed that the nature of the defects and incorporated Co2+ ions plays a significant role in attaining the ferromagnetic ordering. Near-edge X-ray absorption fine-structure (NEXAFS) and Extended edge X-ray absorption fine-structure (EXAFS) data were measured at OK-, Co and Zn K- and L 3,2 -edges to understand the nature of defects and interactions giving rise to RTFM. These findings will be helpful in better understanding and realizing the RTFM in Co:ZnO system for spintronics and optoelectronic applications.

The occurrence of resistant bacteria to specific heavy metals can be associated with increasing load of the metals in the environment. River Yamuna is polluted by various toxic heavy metals discharged by several industrial and agricultural sources. Therefore, the use of heavy metal-resistant bacteria as an indicator of metal pollution was tested in the present study. For the purpose of the study, the heavy metal resistance status of 42 Escherichia coli strains isolated from River Yamuna water from 7 sampling sites within a span of 2 years was determined using growth curves and plate dilution method in terms of minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values by comparing with MIC value of control strain. Seasonally, the lowest mean MIC value was observed for bacterial strains isolated in post-monsoon (December) 2013 and highest mean MIC value was observed for bacterial strains isolated in monsoon (August) 2015. Site-wise analysis of the maximum mean MIC values for all the isolated strains showed the highest mean Ni MIC value for the bacterial strains isolated from site S4 (ITO), highest mean Cu MIC, Cr MIC, and Fe MIC values for the bacterial strains isolated from site S2 (Najafgarh drain intermixing zone) and highest mean Cd MIC, Pb MIC, and Zn MIC values for the bacterial strains isolated from site S7 (Shahdara drain intermixing zone). Correlation analysis between mean MIC site-wise results with mean heavy metal site-wise concentrations showed significant positive correlation indicating that the higher the mean concentration of a given heavy metal at a given site, the higher the mean MIC value for the strains isolated from the same site indicating higher level of resistance. Overall, the present study has shown that the presence of heavy metals in River Yamuna caused due to indiscriminate discharge of various effluents from different kind of sources as well as due to insufficient treatment capacity of sewage treatment plants as well as common effluent treatment plants, has serious impacts on its bacterial microflora as it leads to the development of resistant strains.

Background Multidrug resistance-associated protein 1 (MRP1) overexpression plays a major role in chemoresistance in glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) contributing to its notorious deadly nature. Although MRP1-siRNA transfection to GBM in vitro has been shown to sensitise the cells to drug, MRP1 silencing in vivo and the phenotypic influence on the tumour and normal tissues upon MRP1 down-regulation have not been established. Here, porous silicon nanoparticles (pSiNPs) that enable high-capacity loading and delivery of siRNA are applied in vitro and in vivo. Result We established pSiNPs with polyethyleneimine (PEI) capping that enables high-capacity loading of siRNA (92 µg of siRNA/mg PEI-pSiNPs), and optimised release profile (70% released between 24 and 48 h). These pSiNPs are biocompatible, and demonstrate cellular uptake and effective knockdown of MRP1 expression in GBM by 30%. Also, siRNA delivery was found to significantly reduce GBM proliferation as an associated effect. This effect is likely mediated by the attenuation of MRP1 transmembrane transport, followed by cell cycle arrest. MRP1 silencing in GBM tumour using MRP1-siRNA loaded pSiNPs was demonstrated in mice (82% reduction at the protein level 48 h post-injection), and it also produced antiproliferative effect in GBM by reducing the population of proliferative cells. These results indicate that in vitro observations are translatable in vivo. No histopathological signs of acute damage were observed in other MRP1-expressing organs despite collateral downregulations. Conclusions This study proposes the potential of efficient MRP1-siRNA delivery by using PEI-capped pSiNPs in achieving a dual therapeutic role of directly attenuating the growth of GBM while sensitising residual tumour cells to the effects of chemotherapy post-resection. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s12951-018-0365-y) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.