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This research investigated the mechanisms and contextual factors influencing the relationship between servant leadership tailored to specific environments and environmental citizenship behavior, considering the Conservation of Resource Theory as a theoretical lens. Data collection was collected from 300 employees and their supervisors, including several organizations within the Pakistani Hospitality and Tourism sector, and the data underwent analysis using PLS-SEM. Empirical findings showed that the relationship between environmental-specific servant leadership and organizational environmental citizenship behavior is mediated by harmonious environmental passion. The green work climate positively moderates the indirect effects of harmonious environmental passion on organizational environmental citizenship behavior, suggesting that this effect is strengthened when employees have a higher green work climate than with a lower green work climate. Guidelines for future research are provided., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare no conflict of interests., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

A 7-year-old male child presented with complaints of lagophthalmos and lid retraction of the right eye since birth. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed diffuse thickening of right superior rectus and levator-palpebrae complex along with a hypointense, irregular, and ill-defined lesion in the adjoining fat abutting the lacrimal gland. Biopsy from the lesion showed diffuse orbital fibrosis. Another 3-year-old female child presented with complaints of her right eye appearing smaller and inability to move the right eye freely since birth. MRI showed thickening of right superior and medial recti with diffuse retrobulbar hypointense fibrotic strands. The findings were suggestive of orbital fibrosis. Congenital orbital fibrosis is an extremely rare orbital pathology with very few cases described in the literature. The most common clinical features are motility restriction, restrictive strabismus, upper lid retraction, enophthalmos, and proptosis. The diagnosis can be made on imaging but requires biopsy for confirmation. Management is mostly conservative in the form of refractive and amblyopia therapy.

The increasing global utilization of biodegradable plastics due to stringent regulations on traditional plastics has caused a significant rise in microplastic (MPs) pollution in aquatic ecosystems from biodegradable products. However, the environmental behavior of biodegradable MPs remains inadequately elucidated. This study explored the aging processes of polylactic acid (PLA) and polystyrene (PS) under a heat-activated potassium persulfate (K 2 S 2 O 8 ) system, as well as their adsorption characteristics towards tetracycline (TCs). In comparison to PS, the surface structure of PLA experienced more pronounced changes over aging, exhibiting evident pits, cracks, and fragmentation. The carbonyl index (CI) and oxygen/carbon ratio (O/C) of PS displayed exponential growth over time, whereas the values for PLA showed linear and exponential increases, respectively. The adsorption capacity of TCs by PS and PLA aged for 6 days increased from 0.312 mg‧g -1 and 0.457 mg‧g -1 for original PS and PLA, respectively, to 0.372 mg‧g -1 and 0.649 mg‧g -1 . Meanwhile, the adsorption rate (k 2 values) for TCs decreased by 42.03 % for PS and 79.64 % for PLA compared to their initial values. The findings indicated that biodegradable PLA-MPs may exhibit higher tetracycline carrying capacities than PS, potentially increasing environmental and organismal risks, particularly in view of aging effects., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that there are no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that may have impacted the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Cyclo (Phe-Pro) (cFP), a cyclic dipeptide with notable antifungal, antibacterial, and antiviral properties, shows great promise for biological control of plant diseases. Produced as a byproduct by non-ribosomal peptide synthetases (NRPS), the regulatory mechanism of cFP biosynthesis remains unclear. In a screening test of 997 Tn5 mutants of Burkholderia seminalis strain R456, we identified eight mutants with enhanced antagonistic effects against Fusarium graminearum (Fg). Among these, mutant 88's culture filtrate contained cFP, confirmed through HPLC and LC-MS, which actively inhibited Fg. The gene disrupted in mutant 88 is part of the Dct transport system (Dct-A, -B, -D), responsible for C4-dicarboxylate transport. Knockout mutants of Dct genes exhibited higher cFP levels than the wild type, whereas complementary strains showed no significant difference. Additionally, the presence of exogenous C4-dicarboxylates reduced cFP production in wild type R456, indicating that these substrates negatively regulate cFP synthesis. Given that cFP synthesis is related to NRPS, we previously identified an NRPS cluster in R456, horizontally transferred from algae. Specifically, knocking out gene 2061 within this NRPS cluster significantly reduced cFP production. A Fur box binding site was predicted upstream of gene 2061, and yeast one-hybrid assays confirmed Fur protein binding, which increased with additional C4-dicarboxylates. Knockout of the Fur gene led to up-regulation of gene 2061 and increased cFP production, suggesting that C4-dicarboxylates suppress cFP synthesis by enhancing Fur-mediated repression of gene 2061., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Vesicular transport is a critical cellular process responsible for the proper organization and functioning of eukaryotic cells. This mechanism relies on specialized vesicles that shuttle macromolecules, such as proteins, across the cellular landscape, a process pivotal to maintaining cellular homeostasis. Disruptions in vesicular transport have been linked to various disease mechanisms, including cancer and neurodegenerative disorders. In this study, we present vesiMCNN, a novel computational approach that integrates pre-trained protein language models with a multi-window scanning convolutional neural network architecture to accurately identify vesicular transport proteins. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to leverage the power of pre-trained language models in combination with the multi-window scanning technique for this task. Our method achieved a Matthews Correlation Coefficient (MCC) of 0.558 and an Area Under the Receiver Operating Characteristic (AUC-ROC) of 0.933, outperforming existing state-of-the-art approaches. Additionally, we have curated a comprehensive benchmark dataset for the study of vesicular transport proteins, which can facilitate further research in this field. The remarkable performance of our model, combined with the comprehensive dataset and novel deep learning model, marks a significant advancement in the field of vesicular transport protein research., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest I, Le Van The, hereby declare that I have no financial interests or relationships with any organizations that could potentially influence the subject matter of this work. I also confirm that I do not hold any professional or personal affiliations that may be perceived as affecting the impartiality and objectivity of my research. I have received no funding, grants, or honoraria related to the research presented in this work. Additionally, I have no personal relationships or collaborations that might pose a conflict of interest. This work is conducted with complete transparency, and I am committed to upholding the highest standards of integrity in my scholarly contributions., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

In this study, the free space approach is utilized to calculate the relative permittivity of FR4 by utilizing the Nicholson-Ross-Weir Conversion. By examining the scattering characteristics, the free space technique offers a practical tool for describing dielectric materials. The simulations were run on CST-2019, and the frequency range of 8.5 GHz to 11.5 GHz was chosen. Experimental measurements were carried out utilizing a Vector Network Analyzer, To further reduce outside influences and assure accurate measurements in a controlled setting, an anechoic chamber was used. The outcomes of the simulations and actual measurements show the significance of the Nicholson- Ross-Weir Conversion and free space approach in calculating the relative permittivity of FR4. The correctness and dependability of the suggested technique are confirmed by the good agreement between the simulated and measured outcomes. This study makes a contribution to the field of electromagnetic characterization and offers a useful method for figuring out FR4's dielectric characteristics. The results of this study have substantial effects on PCB design and optimization as well as other high-frequency electronic devices that operate in the frequency band under consideration., Competing Interests: NO authors have competing interests., (Copyright: © 2024 Ali et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)

Abstract: Cancer development takes 10 to 50 years, and epigenetics plays an important role. Recent evidence suggests that ~80% of human cancers are linked to environmental factors impinging upon genetics/epigenetics. Because advanced metastasized cancers are resistant to radiation/chemotherapeutic drugs, cancer prevention by relatively nontoxic "epigenetic modifiers" will be logical. Many dietary phytochemicals possess powerful antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties that are hallmarks of cancer prevention. Dietary phytochemicals can regulate gene expression of the cellular genome via epigenetic mechanisms. In this review, we will summarize preclinical studies that demonstrate epigenetic mechanisms of dietary phytochemicals in skin, colorectal, and prostate cancer prevention. Key examples of the importance of epigenetic regulation in carcinogenesis include hypermethylation of the NRF2 promoter region in cancer cells, resulting in inhibition of NRF2-ARE signaling. Many dietary phytochemicals demethylate NRF2 promoter region and restore NRF2 signaling. Phytochemicals can also inhibit inflammatory responses via hypermethylation of inflammation-relevant genes to block gene expression. Altogether, dietary phytochemicals are excellent candidates for cancer prevention due to their low toxicity, potent antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, and powerful epigenetic effects in reversing procarcinogenic events., Competing Interests: Conflicts of Interest and Source of Funding: The authors have disclosed that they have no significant relationships with, or financial interest in, any commercial companies pertaining to this article. This work was supported in part by institutional funds and by R01 AT009152 from the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, R01 CA200129 from the National Cancer Institute, and P30 ES005022 from the National Institute of Environmental Health., (Copyright © 2024 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.)

Competing Interests: The author has no financial or conflicts of interest to disclose.

Diabetes's effects on wound healing present a major treatment challenge and increase the risk of amputation. When traditional therapies fail, new approaches must be investigated. With their submicron size and improved cellular internalisation, nanoparticles present a viable way to improve diabetic wound healing. They are attractive options because of their innate antibacterial qualities, biocompatibility, and biodegradability. Nanoparticles loaded with organic or inorganic compounds, or embedded in biomimetic matrices such as hydrogels, chitosan, and hyaluronic acid, exhibit excellent anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, and antioxidant properties. Drug delivery systems (DDSs)-more precisely, nanodrug delivery systems (NDDSs)-use the advantages of nanotechnology to get around some of the drawbacks of traditional DDSs. Recent developments show how expertly designed nanocarriers can carry a variety of chemicals, transforming the treatment of diabetic wounds. Biomaterials that deliver customised medications to the wound microenvironment demonstrate potential. Delivery techniques for nanomedicines become more potent than ever, overcoming conventional constraints. Therapeutics for diabetes-induced non-healing wounds are entering a revolutionary era thanks to precisely calibrated nanocarriers that effectively distribute chemicals. This review highlights the therapeutic potential of nanoparticles and outlines the multifunctional nanoparticles of the future that will be used for complete wound healing in diabetics. The investigation of novel nanodrug delivery systems has the potential to revolutionise diabetic wound therapy and provide hope for more efficient and focused therapeutic approaches., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Competing Interests: The authors have no financial or conflicts of interest to disclose.

In recent years, deep learning (DL) has emerged as a powerful tool in clinical imaging, offering unprecedented opportunities for the diagnosis and treatment of neurological disorders (NDs). This comprehensive review explores the multifaceted role of DL techniques in leveraging vast datasets to advance our understanding of NDs and improve clinical outcomes. Beginning with a systematic literature review, we delve into the utilization of DL, particularly focusing on multimodal neuroimaging data analysis-a domain that has witnessed rapid progress and garnered significant scientific interest. Our study categorizes and critically analyses numerous DL models, including Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs), LSTM-CNN, GAN, and VGG, to understand their performance across different types of Neurology Diseases. Through particular analysis, we identify key benchmarks and datasets utilized in training and testing DL models, shedding light on the challenges and opportunities in clinical neuroimaging research. Moreover, we discuss the effectiveness of DL in real-world clinical scenarios, emphasizing its potential to revolutionize ND diagnosis and therapy. By synthesizing existing literature and describing future directions, this review not only provides insights into the current state of DL applications in ND analysis but also covers the way for the development of more efficient and accessible DL techniques. Finally, our findings underscore the transformative impact of DL in reshaping the landscape of clinical neuroimaging, offering hope for enhanced patient care and groundbreaking discoveries in the field of neurology. This review paper is beneficial for neuropathologists and new researchers in this field., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest We confirm that our work belongs to the scope of the journal. It’s not been published anywhere and also authors don’t have any conflicts of interest in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) cause significant global morbidity, mortality and public health burden annually. CVD alters richness, diversity, and composition of Gut microbiota along with RAS and histopathological differences. Present study explores Metformin role in mitigating doxorubicin induced cardiovascular toxicity/remodeling. Animals were divided into 4 groups with n=6: Group I (N. Control) free access to diet and water; Group II (MET. Control) on oral Metformin (250 mg/kg) daily; Group III (DOX. Control) alternate day intraperitoneal Doxorubicin (3 mg/kg) totaling 18 mg/kg; Group IV (DOX. MET. Control) received both daily oral Metformin (250 mg/kg) and alternate day Doxorubicin (3 mg/kg). Gut microbial analysis was made from stool before animals were sacrificed for biochemical and histopathological analysis. Significant alterations were observed in ɑ and β-diversity with new genus from Firmicutes, specifically Clostridia&#95;UCG-014, Eubacterium ruminantium, and Tunicibacter, were prevalent in both the DOX. Control and DOX.MET groups. Proteobacteria, represented by Succinivibrio, were absent in all groups. Additionally, Parabacteroides from the Bacteroidia phylum was absent in all groups except the N. control. In the DOX.MET Control group, levels of Angiotensin II ( 7.75± 0.49 nmol/min, p<0.01) and Renin (2.60±0.26 ng/ml/hr) were significantly reduced. Conversely, levels of CK-MB, Fibrinogen, Troponin, CRP ( p < 0.0001), and TNFɑ (p < 0.05) were elevated. Histopathological examination revealed substantial cardiac changes, including Fibrinogen and fat deposition and eosinophilic infiltration, as well as liver damage characterized by binucleated cells and damaged hepatocytes, along with altered renal tissues in the DOX.MET.Control group. The findings suggest that MET. significantly modifies gut microbiota, particularly impacting the Firmicutes and Proteobacteria phyla. The reduction in Angiotensin II levels, alongside increased inflammatory markers and myocardial damage, highlights the complex interactions and potential adverse effects associated with MET therapy on cardiovascular health., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interest or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this manuscript., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Masson SAS.. All rights reserved.)

Objectives: Plasma C-terminal agrin-fragment-22 (CAF22), a breakdown product of neuromuscular junction, is a potential biomarker of muscle loss. However, its levels from adolescence to octogenarians are unknown., Methods: We evaluated young (18-34 years, n = 203), middle-aged (35-59 years, n = 163), and old men (60-87 years, n = 143) for CAF22, handgrip strength (HGS), appendicular skeletal-mass index (ASMI), and gait speed., Results: We found an age-associated increase in CAF22 from young (100.9 ± 29 pmol) to middle-aged (128.3 ± 38.7 pmol) and older men (171.5 ± 35.5 pmol) (all p<0.05). This was accompanied by a gradual reduction in HGS (37.7 ± 6.1 kg, 30.2 ± 5.2 kg, and 26.6 ± 4.7 kg, for young, middle-aged, and old men, respectively), ASMI (8.02 ± 1.02 kg/m 2 , 7.65 ± 0.92 kg/m 2 , 6.87 ± 0.93 kg/m 2 , for young, middle-aged, and old men, respectively), and gait speed (1.29 ± 0.24 m/s, 1.05 ± 0.16 m/s, and 0.81 ± 0.13 m/s, for young, middle-aged, and old men, respectively). After adjustment for age, we found negative regressions of CAF22 with HGS (- 0.0574, p < 0.001) and gait speed (- 0.0162, p < 0.001) in the cumulative cohort. The receiver operating characteristics analysis revealed significant efficacy of plasma CAF22 in diagnosing muscle weakness (HGS < 27 kg) (middle-aged men; AUC = 0.731, 95% CI = 0.629-0.831, p < 0.001, Older men; AUC = 0.816, 95% CI = 0.761-0.833, p < 0.001), and low gait speed (0.8 m/s) (middle-aged men; AUC = 0.737, 95% CI = 0.602-0.871, p < 0.001, older men; AUC = 0.829, 95% CI = 0.772-0.886, p < 0.001), and a modest efficacy in diagnosing sarcopenia (middle-aged men; AUC = 0.701, 95% CI = 0.536-0.865, p = 0.032, older men; AUC = 0.822, 95% CI = 0.759-0.884, p < 0.001) in middle-aged and older men., Conclusion: Altogether, CAF22 increases with advancing age and may be a reliable marker of muscle weakness and low gait speed., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.)

Generating poetry using machine and deep learning techniques has been a challenging and exciting topic of research in recent years. It has significance in natural language processing and computational linguistics. This study introduces an innovative approach to generate high-quality Pashto poetry by leveraging two pre-trained transformer models, LaMini-Cerebras-590M and bloomz-560m. The models were trained on an extensive new and quality Pashto poetry dataset to learn the underlying complex patterns and structures. The trained models are then used to generate new Pashto poetry by providing them with a seed text or prompt. To evaluate the quality of the generated poetry, we conducted both subjective and objective evaluations, including human evaluation. The experimental results demonstrate that the proposed approach can generate Pashto poetry that is comparable in quality to human-generated poetry. The study provides a valuable contribution to the field of Pashto language and poetry generation and has potential applications in natural language processing and computational linguistics., Competing Interests: Khursheed Aurangzeb is an Academic Editor for PeerJ., (© 2024 Ullah et al.)

NS1 is an elusive dengue protein, involved in viral replication, assembly, pathogenesis, and immune evasion. Its levels in blood plasm are positively related to disease severity like thrombocytopenia, hemorrhage, and vascular leakage. Despite its pathogenic roles, NS1 is being used in various vaccine formulations due to its sequence conservancy, ability to produce protective antibodies and low risk for inducing antibody-dependent enhancement. In this study, we have used bioinformatics tools and reported literature to develop an NS1 variant (dNS1). Molecular docking studies were performed to evaluate the receptor-binding ability of the NS1 and dNS1 with TLR4. NS1 and dNS1 (153 to 312 amino acid region) genes were cloned, expressed and protein was purified followed by refolding. Docking studies showed the binding of NS1 and dNS1 with the TLR4 receptor which suggests that N and C-terminal sequences of NS1 are not critical for receptor binding. Antibodies against NS1 and dNS1 were raised in rabbits and binding affinity of anti-dNS1 anti-NS1 sera was evaluated against both NS1 and dNS1. Similar results were observed through western blotting which highlight that N and C-terminal deletion of NS1 does not compromise the immunogenic potential of dNS1 hence, supports its use in future vaccine formulations as a substitute for NS1., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Stimuli-responsive drug delivery carriers, particularly those exhibiting pH sensitivity, have attracted significant scholarly interest due to their promising potential in anticancer therapeutic applications. This phenomenon can primarily be ascribed to the inherently acidic nature of tumor microenvironments. However, pH-responsive carriers frequently require the incorporation of functional groups or materials sensitive to pH changes. Given the pH-sensitive characteristics of metal coordination with natural small-molecule drugs, organometallic supramolecules present a facile and effective strategy for integrating pH-responsive behavior into these systems. Meanwhile, utilizing the natural compound luteolin in conjunction with iron ions (Fe 3+ ) through the advanced engineering technique of flash nanoprecipitation (FNP) results in the synthesis of stable, highly loaded nanoparticles (NPs) exhibiting a supramolecular photothermal effect. Our experimental findings substantiate that the photothermal effect persists over time, even after the pH-responsive release phase has ended. Consequently, these polymeric pH-responsive metallic supramolecular nanoparticles integrate chemotherapy and photothermal therapy, creating a synergistic approach to cancer treatment. This bifunctional platform, which exhibits both pH-responsive and photothermal properties, presents a highly promising avenue for biomedical applications, particularly in the area of tumor therapies. Its dual function offers a potentially efficacious approach to tumor treatment.

Mitochondrial carriers (MCs) are essential proteins that transport metabolites across mitochondrial membranes and play a critical role in cellular metabolism. ADP/ATP (adenosine diphosphate/adenosine triphosphate) is one of the most important carriers as it contributes to cellular energy production and is susceptible to the powerful toxin bongkrekic acid. This toxin has claimed several lives; for example, a recent foodborne outbreak in Taipei, Taiwan, has caused four deaths and sickened 30 people. The issue of bongkrekic acid poisoning has been a long-standing problem in Indonesia, with reports as early as 1895 detailing numerous deaths from contaminated coconut fermented cakes. In bioinformatics, significant advances have been made in understanding biological processes through computational methods; however, no established computational method has been developed for identifying mitochondrial carriers. We propose a computational bioinformatics approach for predicting MCs from a broader class of secondary active transporters with a focus on the ADP/ATP carrier and its interaction with bongkrekic acid. The proposed model combines protein language models (PLMs) with multiwindow scanning convolutional neural networks (mCNNs). While PLM embeddings capture contextual information within proteins, mCNN scans multiple windows to identify potential binding sites and extract local features. Our results show 96.66% sensitivity, 95.76% specificity, 96.12% accuracy, 91.83% Matthews correlation coefficient (MCC), 94.63% F1-Score, and 98.55% area under the curve (AUC). The results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach in predicting MCs and elucidating their functions, particularly in the context of bongkrekic acid toxicity. This study presents a valuable approach for identifying novel mitochondrial complexes, characterizing their functional roles, and understanding mitochondrial toxicology mechanisms. Our findings, that utilize computational methods to improve our understanding of cellular processes and drug-target interactions, contribute to the development of therapeutic strategies for mitochondrial disorders, reducing the devastating effects of bongkrekic acid poisoning.

Soil is the backbone of the agricultural economy of any country. Soil salinity refers to the higher concentration of soluble salts in the soil. Soil salinity is a ruinous abiotic stress that has emerged as a threatening issue for food security. High salt concentration causes an ionic imbalance that hampers water uptake, affecting photosynthesis and other metabolic processes, ultimately resulting in inferior seed germination and stunted plant growth. A wide range of strategies have been adopted to mitigate the harmful effects of salinity such as efficient irrigation techniques, soil reclamation, habitat restoration, flushing, leaching or using salt-tolerant crops, but all the methods have one or more limitations. An alternative and effective strategy is the exploitation of salt-tolerant plant growth-promoting bacteria (ST-PGPB) to mitigate salt stress and improve crop productivity. ST-PGPB can survive in salinity-tainted environments and perform their inherent plant growth-promoting and biocontrol functions effectively. Additionally, ST-PGPB can rescue plants via stress-responsive mechanisms including production of growth regulators, maintenance of osmotic balance, aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate (ACC) deaminase activity, exopolysaccharides (EPS) activity, improvement in photosynthesis activity, synthesis of compatible solutes, antioxidant activity and regulation of salt overly sensitive (SOS) signaling pathway. Several well-known ST-PGPB, specifically Azospirillum, Bacillus, Burkholderia, Enterobacter, Pseudomonas and Pantoea, are used as bioinoculants to improve the growth of different crops. The application of ST-PGPB allows plants to cope with salt stress by boosting their defense mechanisms. This review highlights the impact of salinity stress on plant growth and the potential of ST-PGPB as a biofertilizer to improve crop productivity under salt stress., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)

Climate change threatens global agriculture, impacting plant health and crop yield, while plant microbiomes offer potential solutions to enhance resilience. In this forum, we discuss the prospects of single cell multiome and network science in understanding intricate plant-microbe interactions, providing insights for sustainable agriculture and improved crop productivity for global food security., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Plant diseases caused by microbial pathogens pose a severe threat to global food security. Although genetic modifications can improve plant resistance; however, environmentally sustainable strategies are needed to manage plant diseases. Nano-enabled immunomodulation involves using engineered nanomaterials (ENMs) to modulate the innate immune system of plants and enhance their resilience against pathogens. This emerging approach provides unique opportunities through the ability of ENMs to act as nanocarriers for delivering immunomodulatory agents, nanoprobes for monitoring plant immunity, and nanoparticles (NPs) that directly interact with plant cells to trigger immune responses. Recent studies revealed that the application of ENMs as nanoscale agrochemicals can strengthen plant immunity against biotic stress by enhancing systemic resistance pathways, modulating antioxidant defense systems, activating defense-related genetic pathways and reshaping the plant-associated microbiomes. However, key challenges remain in unraveling the complex mechanisms through which ENMs influence plant molecular networks, assessing their long-term environmental impacts, developing biodegradable formulations, and optimizing targeted delivery methods. This review provides a comprehensive investigation of the latest research on nano-enabled immunomodulation strategies, potential mechanisms of action, and highlights future perspectives to overcome existing challenges for sustainable plant disease management., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2024 Masood, Qi, Zahid, Li, Ahmad, Lv, Shahid, Ali, Ondrasek and Qi.)

Salt marshes are highly dynamic and biologically diverse ecosystems that serve as natural habitats for numerous salt-tolerant plants (halophytes). We investigated the bacterial communities associated with the roots and leaves of plants growing in the coastal salt marshes of the Bayfront Beach, located in Mobile, Alabama, United States. We compared external (epiphytic) and internal (endophytic) communities of both leaf and root plant organs. Using 16S rDNA amplicon sequencing methods, we identified 10 bacterial phyla and 59 different amplicon sequence variants (ASVs) at the genus level. Bacterial strains belonging to the phyla Proteobacteria , Bacteroidetes , and Firmicutes were highly abundant in both leaf and root samples. At the genus level, sequences of the genus Pseudomonas were common across all four sample types, with the highest abundance found in the leaf endophytic community. Additionally, Pantoea was found to be dominant in leaf tissue compared to roots. Our study revealed that plant habitat (internal vs. external for leaves and roots) was a determinant of the bacterial community structure. Co-occurrence network analyses enabled us to discern the intricate characteristics of bacterial taxa. Our network analysis revealed varied levels of ASV complexity in the epiphytic networks of roots and leaves compared to the endophytic networks. Overall, this study advances our understanding of the intricate composition of the bacterial microbiota in habitats (epiphytic and endophytic) and organs (leaf and root) of coastal salt marsh plants and suggests that plants might recruit habitat- and organ-specific bacteria to enhance their tolerance to salt stress.

Bentonite plastic concrete (BPC) is extensively used in the construction of water-tight structures like cut-off walls in dams, etc., because it offers high plasticity, improved workability, and homogeneity. Also, bentonite is added to concrete mixes for the adsorption of toxic metals. The modified design of BPC, as compared to normal concrete, requires a reliable tool to predict its strength. Thus, this study presents a novel attempt at the application of two innovative evolutionary techniques known as multi-expression programming (MEP) and gene expression programming (GEP) and a boosting-based algorithm known as AdaBoost to predict the 28-day compressive strength ( ) of BPC based on its mixture composition. The MEP and GEP algorithms expressed their outputs in the form of an empirical equation, while AdaBoost failed to do so. The algorithms were trained using a dataset of 246 points gathered from published literature having six important input factors for predicting. The developed models were subject to error evaluation, and the results revealed that all algorithms satisfied the suggested criteria and had a correlation coefficient (R) greater than 0.9 for both the training and testing phases. However, AdaBoost surpassed both MEP and GEP in terms of accuracy and demonstrated a lower testing RMSE of 1.66 compared to 2.02 for MEP and 2.38 for GEP. Similarly, the objective function value for AdaBoost was 0.10 compared to 0.176 for GEP and 0.16 for MEP, which indicated the overall good performance of AdaBoost compared to the two evolutionary techniques. Also, Shapley additive analysis was done on the AdaBoost model to gain further insights into the prediction process, which revealed that cement, coarse aggregate, and fine aggregate are the most important factors in predicting the strength of BPC. Moreover, an interactive graphical user interface (GUI) has been developed to be practically utilized in the civil engineering industry for prediction of BPC strength., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

The use of cinnamaldehyde and Vitamin C can improve immunity and intestinal health. A two-way factorial design was employed to investigate the main and interactive effects of cinnamaldehyde and vitamin C on the growth, carcass, and intestinal health of broiler chickens. A total of 288 one-day-old female Arbor Acres broiler chicks were randomly distributed among four treatment groups, consisting of six replicate cages with 12 birds each. Four treatments were basal diet or control (CON), supplemental cinnamaldehyde (CA) 300 g/ton (g/t), vitamin C (VC) 300 g/t, and cinnamaldehyde 300 g/t, and vitamin C 300 g/t (CA + VC), respectively. The results showed that supplemental CA did not affect the growth performance or slaughter performance of broilers at 21 days (d), 42 days (d), and 1-42 days (d); however, it could improve intestinal barrier function at 42 d of age and reduce the mRNA expression of inflammatory factors in the intestine at 21 d and 42 d of age. Supplemental VC showed a trend towards increasing body weight gain (BWG) at 21 d ( p = 0.094), increased breast muscle rate (at 21-d 5.33%, p < 0.05 and at 42-d 7.09%, p = 0.097), and decreased the abdominal fat (23.43%, p < 0.05) and drip loss (20.68%, p < 0.05) at 42-d. Moreover, VC improves intestinal morphology and intestinal barrier function and maintains a balanced immune response. The blend of CA and VC significantly upregulated the mRNA expression of myeloid differentiation factor 88 ( MyD-88 ) in the intestine at 21 d of age, the mRNA expression of catalase ( CAT ), Occludin , Claudin-1 , Mucin-2 , nuclear factor-kappa B ( NF-κB ) and toll-like receptor 4 ( TLR-4 ) in the intestine at 42 d of age ( p < 0.01), and downregulated the mRNA expression of interleukin 10 ( IL-10 ), interleukin 6 ( IL-6 ), tumor necrosis factor-alpha ( TNF-α ) in the intestine at 21-d and 42-d of age, and interleukin-1 beta ( IL-1β ) mRNA in intestine at 42 d of age ( p < 0.01). This study suggested that the combination of CA and VC had the potential to regulate intestinal health and result in better carcass character of broilers.

CPSF30, a key polyadenylation factor, also serves as an m 6 A reader, playing a crucial role in determining RNA fate post-transcription. While its homologs mammals are known to be vital for viral replication and immune evasion, the full scope of CPSF30 in plant, particular in viral regulation, remains less explored. Our study demonstrates that CPSF30 significantly facilitates the infection of turnip mosaic virus (TuMV) in Arabidopsis thaliana , as evidenced by infection experiments on the engineered cpsf30 mutant. Among the two isoforms, CPSF30-L, which were characterized with m 6 A binding activity, emerged as the primary isoform responding to TuMV infection. Analysis of m 6 A components revealed potential involvement of the m 6 A machinery in regulating TuMV infection. In contrast, CPSF30-S exhibited distinct subcellular localization, coalescing with P-body markers (AtDCP1 and AtDCP2) in cytoplasmic granules, suggesting divergent regulatory mechanisms between the isoforms. Furthermore, comprehensive mRNA-Seq and miRNA-Seq analysis of Col-0 and cpsf30 mutants revealed global transcriptional reprogramming, highlighting CPSF30's role in selectively modulating gene expression during TuMV infection. In conclusion, this research underscores CPSF30's critical role in the TuMV lifecycle and sets the stage for further exploration of its function in plant viral regulation.

Magnesium oxide nanoparticles (MgO NPs) have gained significant importance in biomedicine and variety of nanotechnology-based materials used in the agriculture and biomedical industries. However, the release of different nanowastes in the water ecosystem becomes a serious concern. Therefore, this study was executed to evaluate the toxic impacts of MgO NPs on grass carp. A total of 60 grass carp were randomly divided in three groups (G0, G1, and G2). Fish reared in group G0 were kept as control while fish of groups G1 and G2 were exposed to 0.5 mg/L and 0.7 mg/L MgO NPs, respectively, mixed in water for 21 days. The 96h median lethal concentration (LC 50 ) of MgO NPs was found to be 4.5 mg/L. Evaluation of oxidative stress biomarkers, antioxidant enzymes, DNA damage in different visceral organs and the presence of micronuclei in erythrocytes were determined on days 7, 14, and 21 of the trial. Results revealed dose- and time-dependent significantly increased values of reactive oxygen species, lipid peroxidation product, DNA damage in multiple visceral organs and formation of micronuclei in the erythrocytes of treated fish (0.7 mg/L). The results on antioxidant profile exhibited significantly lower amounts of total proteins, catalase, superoxide dismutase, and peroxidase in visceral organs of the fish exposed to MgO NPs (0.5 and 0.7 mg/L) at day 21 of trial compared to control group. In conclusion, it has been recorded that MgO NPs severely influence the normal physiological functions of the grass carp even at low doses.

The utilization of Self-compacting Concrete (SCC) has escalated worldwide due to its superior properties in comparison to normal concrete such as compaction without vibration, increased flowability and segregation resistance. Various other desirable properties like ductile behaviour, increased strain capacity and tensile strength etc. can be imparted to SCC by incorporation of fibres. Thus, this study presents a novel approach to predict 28-day compressive strength (C-S) of FR-SCC using Gene Expression Programming (GEP) and Multi Expression Programming (MEP) for fostering its widespread use in the industry. For this purpose, a dataset had been compiled from internationally published literature having six input parameters including water-to-cement ratio, silica fume, fine aggregate, coarse aggregate, fibre, and superplasticizer. The predictive abilities of developed algorithms were assessed using error metrices like mean absolute error (MAE), a20-index, and objective function (OF) etc. The comparison of MEP and GEP models indicated that GEP gave a simple equation having lesser errors than MEP. The OF value of GEP was 0.029 compared to 0.031 of MEP. Thus, sensitivity analysis was performed on GEP model. The models were also checked using some external validation checks which also verified that MEP and GEP equations can be used to forecast the strength of FR-SCC for practical uses., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Lahore (Pakistan), being an industrial city, has high emission of aerosols that affects and contaminates the air quality. Therefore, the abatement/inactivation of aerosols is necessary to restrict their infectious activities. In this project, ionic wind isolated from dielectric barrier discharge plasma (DBD plasma) has been utilized to abate the aerosols trapped in the Surgical Mask and KN95 Respirator. To infer the chemical and elemental detection of ambient aerosols, FTIR and LIBS have been employed. "From the results, it is noteworthy that abatement/removal of aerosols has been successfully carried out by the ionic wind irradiation and highlights the potential of DBD plasma technology in removing the aerosols pollution.", Competing Interests: The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article., (© The Author(s) 2024.)

Background: There is a dearth of specialized mental health workforce in low- and middle-income countries. Use of mobile technology by frontline community health workers (CHWs) is gaining momentum in Pakistan and needs to be explored as an alternate strategy to improve mental well-being., Objective: The aim of this study is to assess the feasibility, acceptability, and usefulness of an app-based counseling intervention delivered by government lady health workers (LHWs) to reduce anxiety and depression in rural Pakistan., Methods: Project mPareshan is a single-arm, pre- and posttest implementation research trial in Badin District, Sindh, using mixed methods of data collection executed in 3 phases (preintervention, intervention, and postintervention). In the preintervention phase, formative qualitative assessments through focus group discussions and in-depth interviews assess the acceptability and appropriateness of intervention through perceptions of all concerned stakeholders using a specific interview guide. A REDCap (Research Electronic Data Capture)-based baseline survey using Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) and Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 Scale (GAD-7) determines the point prevalence of depression and anxiety among consenting men and women older than 18 years. Individuals with mild and moderate anxiety and depression are identified as screen positives (SPs) and are eligible for mPareshan app-based intervention. Mental health literacy of health workers is improved through customized training adapting the World Health Organization's Mental Health Gap Action Programme guide 2.0. The intervention (mPareshan app) consists of tracking, counseling, and referral segments. The tracking segment facilitates participant consent and enrollment while the referral segment is used by LHWs to transfer severe cases to the next level of specialist care. Through the counseling segment, identified SPs are engaged during LHWs' routine home visits in 6 face-to-face 20-minute counseling sessions over 6 months. Each session imparts psychoeducation through audiovisual aids, breathing exercises, and coping skills to reduce stress. Clinical and implementation outcomes include change in mean anxiety and depression scores and identification of facilitators and barriers in intervention uptake and rollout., Results: At the time of this submission (April 2024), we are analyzing the results of 366 individuals who participated in the baseline prevalence survey, the change in knowledge and skills of 72 health workers who took the mPareshan training, change in anxiety and depression scores of 98 SPs recruited for app-based counseling intervention, and perceptions of stakeholders pre- and postintervention gathered through 8 focus group discussions and 18 in-depth interviews., Conclusions: This trial will assess the feasibility of early home-based mental health screening, counseling, and prompt referrals by frontline health workers to reduce anxiety and depression in the community. The study findings will set the stage for integrating mental health into primary health care., Trial Registration: Australian New Zealand Clinical Trial Registry ACTRN12622000989741; https://tinyurl.com/5n844c8z., International Registered Report Identifier (irrid): DERR1-10.2196/54272., (©Fauziah Rabbani, Javeria Nafis, Samina Akhtar, Muhammad Shahid Khan, Saleem Sayani, Amna Siddiqui, Sameen Siddiqi, Zul Merali. Originally published in JMIR Research Protocols (https://www.researchprotocols.org), 23.07.2024.)

Obstructive jaundice occurs when an obstruction in the bile duct system prevents bile from flowing from the liver into the intestine, accumulating bilirubin in the blood. This condition can result from various causes, including gallstones, tumors, or inflammation of the bile ducts. The management of obstructive jaundice depends on the underlying cause (malignant obstructions such as cholangiocarcinoma or pancreatic cancer), indicating the need for surgical intervention. The Whipple procedure (pancreaticoduodenectomy) is the standard curative approach for resectable distal common bile duct (CBD) adenocarcinoma. Doctors usually recommend adjuvant chemotherapy to reduce the risk of recurrence. We report the case of a 70-year-old male with a history of untreated hypertension, type 2 diabetes, and long-term smoking, who presented with classic signs of obstructive jaundice, including yellowing of the eyes, itching, right upper quadrant pain, and intermittent fevers. Laboratory findings revealed elevated inflammatory markers, bilirubin, liver enzymes, and leukocyte count, indicative of an inflammatory and obstructive biliary condition. Imaging studies confirmed a distal CBD stricture, including abdominal ultrasound, computed tomography scans, and endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP). Brush cytology obtained during ERCP revealed a well-differentiated adenocarcinoma of the distal CBD. The patient's treatment plan included preoperative optimization, surgical resection via the Whipple procedure, and postoperative adjuvant therapy. This case emphasizes the importance of a thorough diagnostic workup and a multidisciplinary treatment strategy in managing complex cases of obstructive jaundice in the elderly, highlighting the need for personalized care to achieve optimal outcomes., Competing Interests: Human subjects: Consent was obtained or waived by all participants in this study. Conflicts of interest: In compliance with the ICMJE uniform disclosure form, all authors declare the following: Payment/services info: All authors have declared that no financial support was received from any organization for the submitted work. Financial relationships: All authors have declared that they have no financial relationships at present or within the previous three years with any organizations that might have an interest in the submitted work. Other relationships: All authors have declared that there are no other relationships or activities that could appear to have influenced the submitted work., (Copyright © 2024, Anwar et al.)

Ion implantation of laser induced graphite plasma has been performed for modifications in surface, optical, electrical and structural properties of CR-39. KrF Excimer laser (248 nm, 18 ns, 120 mJ), at an irradiance of 2.5 × 10 8  W cm -2 is utilized for the production of graphite plasma. The energy and fluence of graphite ions are estimated by Thomson parabola technique. The targets are implanted with energy of 710 KeV graphite ions for four fluences ranging from 26 × 10 12 to 92 × 10 15 ions/cm 2 , in presence of magnetic field of strength 90 mT. The digital optical analysis reveals well-arranged dendritic and island like structure formation on irradiated polymer surface. Confocal microscopic investigation illustrates the growth of nano/micro sized craters and hillocks for various ion fluences. Dissociation of bonds along with formation of new bonds is confirmed from Raman analysis. UV-Vis spectral analysis reveals that the optical transmittance values for visible regions of CR-39 are drastically reduced from 90 % to 68 % for maximum laser fluence of 92 × 10 15 ions.cm -2 . Significant improvement in electrical conductivity is achieved from 10 -9 to 10 -7 Scm -1 for lowest fluence value of graphite ions. SRIM software is utilized for the measurement of stopping power or Linear Energy Transfer (LTE) of 710 Kev graphite ions, is about, 55.53 eV/Ǻ, in the CR-39 targets., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests: Ali Mohammad Alshehri reports financial support was provided by 10.13039/501100007446King Khalid University. Ali Mohammad Alshehri reports a relationship with 10.13039/501100007446King Khalid University that includes: employment and funding grants. Nill If there are other authors, they declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (© 2024 Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

In delay tolerant networks (DTNs) the messages are often not delivered to the destination due to a lack of end-to-end connectivity. In such cases, the messages are stored in the buffer for a long time and are transmitted when the nodes come into the range of each other. The buffer size of each node has a limited capacity, and it cannot accommodate the new incoming message when the buffer memory is full, and as a result network congestion occurs. This leads to a low delivery probability and thus increases the overhead ratio. In this research work, a new buffer management scheme called Range Aware Drop (RAD) is proposed which considers metrics such as message size and time to live (TTL). RAD utilizes TTL as an important metric and as a result, reduces the unnecessary message drop. Simulation results reveal that RAD performs significantly better than drop oldest (DOA) and size aware drop (SAD) in terms of delivery probability and overhead ratio. The obtained results also revealed that the hop-count average of SAD is 3.9 and DOA is 3.4 while the hop-count average of RAD is just 1.7. Also, the message drop ratio of the RAD is 36.2% while SAD and DOA have message drop ratios of 73.3% and 84.9% respectively., Competing Interests: Khursheed Aurangzeb is an Academic Editor for PeerJ., (© 2024 Khan et al.)

Plant extract-mediated fabrication of metal nanocomposites is used in cell proliferation inhibition and topical wound treatment, demonstrating significant effectiveness. Salvia hispanica L. (chia) seed extract (CE) is used as the reaction medium for the green fabrication of ecofriendly ZnO (CE) nanoparticles (NPs) and Ag/Ag 2 O (CE) and ZnO/Ag/Ag 2 O (CE) nanocomposites. The resultant nanoparticles and nanocomposite materials were characterized using UV-visible, Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX) techniques. In the context of antioxidant studies, ZnO/Ag/Ag 2 O (CE) exhibited 57% reducing power and 86% 2,2, diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) free radical scavenging. All three materials showed strong antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus ( S. aureus ), Escherichia coli ( E.coli ), and Bacillus subtilis ( B. subtilis ) bacterial strains. Additionally, ZnO (CE) , Ag/Ag 2 O (CE) , and ZnO/Ag/Ag 2 O (CE) also revealed 64.47%, 42.56%, and 75.27% in vitro Michigan Cancer Foundation-7 (MCF7) cancer cell line inhibition, respectively, at a concentration of 100 μg/mL. Selectively, the most effective composite material, ZnO/Ag/Ag 2 O (CE) , was used to evaluate in vivo wound healing potential in rat models. The study revealed 96% wound closure in 10 days, which was quite rapid healing compared to wound healing using clinically available ointment. Therefore, in conclusion, the ZnO/Ag/Ag 2 O (CE) nanocomposite material could be considered for further testing and formulation as a good anticancer and wound healing agent., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2024 Rafique, Amjad, Janjua, Naqvi, Hassan, Abdullah, Nazir, Ali, Alshihri, Momenah, Mansour, Bajaber and Alalwiat.)

Background: The importance of including bioethics in the medical curricula has been recognized globally. Certain countries including Pakistan continue to lag behind although some developments have occurred recently., Objectives: The research aimed to provide a snapshot of bioethics education in undergraduate medical colleges in Karachi, Pakistan. The secondary objectives included identifying factors promoting or inhibiting integration of bioethics into the curriculum., Methods: A two-pronged strategy was used to collect data including a website review of medical colleges, in existence for more than ten years, recognized by the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC), the regulating body for undergraduate medical education in Pakistan. The other arm employed in-depth interviews with medical educationists in colleges fulfilling inclusion criteria. Data from the website was analyzed and presented as frequencies. Qualitative data was analyzed using content analysis method which involved coding of transcripts, multiple readings and arriving at subthemes and themes iteratively., Results: Thirteen medical colleges were included for the website review, of which four were from public sector. Three medical colleges used the word "ethics" in their vision and mission statement and four had provided a detailed curriculum for ethics on their website. Thematic framework included four broad themes: 1) Need for Bioethics Education, 2) Current Status of Bioethics Education 3) Challenges in integration of bioethics in medical curriculum and 4) Recommendations for integration of bioethics in the Curriculum. Participants were in agreement that bioethics was important in development of future physicians. Participants identified various challenges, foremost being shortage of trained faculty, lack of institutional buy-in and overcrowded curriculum., Conclusion: The study identified sporadic inclusion of bioethics in undergraduate medical curricula, left to the discretion of individual institutions. Since Karachi is a cosmopolitan city, the findings may reasonably reflect the situation in other parts of the country. While bioethics is recognized as an important field, it will continue to remain an orphan subject in the curricula unless the regulatory and accreditation bodies make it compulsory for institutions to include ethics in their curricula., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Purpose: To conduct a comprehensive narrative review of the evidence for radiotherapy target volumes to the neck, after neck dissection, for head and neck squamous cell carcinoma from an unknown primary (HNSCCUP). Inclusion or exclusion of mucosal irradiation is not the focus of interest for this review article., Materials and Methods: Literature (PubMed-Medline, EMBASE database and Cochrane library) was searched using the relevant keywords. The search results were limited to the studies published in year 2000 or after., Results: Eight studies met the inclusion criteria. All studies were retrospective in nature. The incidence of contralateral recurrence rates in the untreated neck when the involved neck only is treated remains very low (0%-10%). Survival has improved over the past two decades, most likely due to improved diagnostic techniques and the increase in incidence of HPV-related disease., Conclusion: Given the rarity of disease, level one evidence from randomised controlled trials is lacking. Available data are retrospective but support unilateral post-operative radiotherapy as a treatment option in selected cases., (© 2024 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

In this research, a novel nano-biocomposite material, namely, tungsten trioxide-Butea monosperma leaf powder (WO 3 @BLP), is an effective and eco-friendly adsorbent used for the mitigation of congo red (CR) and crystal violet (CV) dyes from its aqueous phase. The as-prepared WO 3 @BLP was characterized using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), DLS analysis, and TGA. Many factors such as solution pH, WO 3 @BLP dose, temperature, contact time, and initial CR/CV dye concentrations were exploited to monitor the adsorption efficiency of WO 3 @BLP composites. The biosorption of both CR and CV dyes followed the Langmuir isotherm, with maximum adsorption capacities (q max ) reaching 84.91 mg g -1 for CR at pH 2.3 and 162.75 mg g -1 for CV at pH 8, fitting of kinetics data to the PSO model with closed values of q e exp (mg g -1 ) and q e cal (mg g -1 ), i.e., 25.69 to 25.38 mg g -1 for CR dye and 29.06 to 29.08 mg g -1 for CV dye. The interaction mechanism behind the adsorption of CR and CV dyes onto the WO 3 @BLP bionanocomposite includes electrostatic interaction and surface complexation. The synthesized materials were tested for antifungal activity against three different Candida cells, i.e., C. albicans ATCC 90028, C. glabrata ATCC 90030, and C. tropicalis ATCC 750, by using broth dilution method on the minimum inhibiting concentration (MIC). Furthermore, the cytotoxicity of nano-formulated WO 3 @BLP was studied by in vitro hemolytic assay on a human host. Overall, this research presents a pioneering nano-biocomposite, WO 3 @BLP, as a sustainable adsorbent for CR and CV dye removal, adhering to Langmuir isotherm and pseudo-second-order kinetics. Its multifaceted approach includes elucidating interaction mechanisms, demonstrating antifungal activity, and assessing cytotoxicity, marking a significant advancement in environmental remediation., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

This study delves into the prediction of protein-peptide interactions using advanced machine learning techniques, comparing models such as sequence-based, standard CNNs, and traditional classifiers. Leveraging pre-trained language models and multi-view window scanning CNNs, our approach yields significant improvements, with ProtTrans standing out based on 2.1 billion protein sequences and 393 billion amino acids. The integrated model demonstrates remarkable performance, achieving an AUC of 0.856 and 0.823 on the PepBCL Set&#95;1 and Set&#95;2 datasets, respectively. Additionally, it attains a Precision of 0.564 in PepBCL Set 1 and 0.527 in PepBCL Set 2, surpassing the performance of previous methods. Beyond this, we explore the application of this model in cancer therapy, particularly in identifying peptide interactions for selective targeting of cancer cells, and other fields. The findings of this study contribute to bioinformatics, providing valuable insights for drug discovery and therapeutic development., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest I, Van The Le, hereby declare that I have no financial interests or relationships with any organizations that could potentially influence the subject matter of this work. I also confirm that I do not hold any professional or personal affiliations that may be perceived as affecting the impartiality and objectivity of my research. I have received no funding, grants, or honoraria related to the research presented in this work. Additionally, I have no personal relationships or collaborations that might pose a conflict of interest. This work is conducted with complete transparency, and I am committed to upholding the highest standards of integrity in my scholarly contributions., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

The bifunctional enzyme, 5-aminoimidazole-4-carboxamide ribonucleotide (AICAR) transformylase/inosine monophosphate (IMP) cyclohydrolase (ATIC) is involved in catalyzing penultimate and final steps of purine de novo biosynthetic pathway crucial for the survival of organisms. The present study reports the characterization of ATIC from Candidatus Liberibacer asiaticus (CLasATIC) along with the identification of potential inhibitor molecules and evaluation of cell proliferative activity. CLasATIC showed both the AICAR Transformylase (AICAR TFase) activity for substrates, 10-f-THF (K m , 146.6 μM and V max , 0.95 μmol/min/mg) and AICAR (K m , 34.81 μM and V max , 0.56 μmol/min/mg) and IMP cyclohydrolase (IMPCHase) activitiy (K m , 1.81 μM and V max , 2.87 μmol/min/mg). The optimum pH and temperature were also identified for the enzyme activity. In-silico study has been conducted to identify potential inhibitor molecules through virtual screening and MD simulations. Out of many compounds, HNBSA, diosbulbin A and lepidine D emerged as lead compounds, exhibiting higher binding energy and stability for CLasATIC than AICAR. ITC study reports higher binding affinities for HNBSA and diosbulbin A (Kd, 12.3 μM and 34.2 μM, respectively) compared to AICAR (Kd, 83.4 μM). Likewise, DSC studies showed enhanced thermal stability for CLasATIC in the presence of inhibitors. CD and Fluorescence studies revealed significant conformational changes in CLasATIC upon binding of the inhibitors. CLasATIC demonstrated potent cell proliferative, wound healing and ROS scavenging properties evaluated by cell-based bioassays using CHO cells. This study highlights CLasATIC as a promising drug target with potential inhibitors for managing CLas and its unique cell protective, wound-healing properties for future biotechnological applications., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Melanocyte stem cells (McSCs) of the hair follicle are a rare cell population within the skin and are notably underrepresented in whole-skin, single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) datasets. Using a cell enrichment strategy to isolate KIT+/CD45- cells from the telogen skin of adult female C57BL/6J mice, we evaluated the transcriptional landscape of quiescent McSCs (qMcSCs) at high resolution. Through this evaluation, we confirmed existing molecular signatures for qMcCS subpopulations (e.g., Kit+, Cd34+/-, Plp1+, Cd274+/-, Thy1+, Cdh3+/-) and identified novel qMcSC subpopulations, including two that differentially regulate their immune privilege status. Within qMcSC subpopulations, we also predicted melanocyte differentiation potential, neural crest potential, and quiescence depth. Taken together, the results demonstrate that the qMcSC population is heterogeneous and future studies focused on investigating changes in qMcSCs should consider changes in subpopulation composition., (© 2024 The Authors. Pigment Cell & Melanoma Research published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Purpose: Sarcopenia or age-associated muscle loss is common in patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD). We have previously demonstrated the contribution of a leaky gut to sarcopenia in AD. Here, we asked whether resistant exercise (RE) reduces the sarcopenia phenotype by repairing intestinal leakage in patients with AD., Method: A prospective, single-center study of older adults, including healthy controls and patients with AD (n = 44-51/group), was conducted to measure plasma zonulin and claudin-3 (markers of intestinal leakage), handgrip strength (HGS), and short physical performance battery (SPPB) as a measure of functional capacity. Measurements in patients with AD were performed at baseline and after 12 weeks of RE., Results: At baseline, patients with AD had higher plasma zonulin and claudin-3 and lower HGS, gait speed, and SPPB scores than controls. RE reduced plasma zonulin and claudin-3 levels and improved HGS, SPPB scores, and gait speed. Regression analysis revealed robust relationships between changes in plasma zonulin and claudin-3 with HGS. Plasma zonulin was also positively associated with SPPB scores. In addition, RE downregulated plasma markers of inflammation and oxidative stress. However, the prevalence of sarcopenia based on low HGS and muscle atrophy or low SPPB was not affected by RE., Conclusion: Taken together, disruption of the intestinal mucosal barrier may contribute to functional decline and sarcopenia in AD, which is incompletely recovered by RE. Circulating levels of zonulin and claudin-3 may be valuable in predicting sarcopenia and functional capacity in older adults with AD., (Copyright © 2024. Published by Elsevier Inc.)

The rapid growth of Islamic fintech in Indonesia necessitates a comprehensive examination of the policy and regulatory framework from a legal perspective. This study explores the legal landscape of Islamic fintech in Indonesia, analyzing the current policies and regulations governing this emerging sector. Using normative legal research with a statutory approach and conceptual approach. The primary and secondary legal materials, including government reports and scholarly articles, this research evaluates recent policy developments and regulatory initiatives supporting Islamic fintech. It identifies gaps and areas for improvement, drawing from best practices and regulatory approaches adopted by other countries with successful Islamic fintech ecosystems. Based on the findings, this research proposes recommendations to enhance the policy and regulatory framework. These include collaboration between regulatory bodies and industry stakeholders, tailored licensing frameworks, enhanced consumer protection mechanisms, and promotion of innovation in Shariah-compliant financial products and services. This study contributes to understanding the legal landscape of Islamic fintech in Indonesia, offering a comprehensive analysis of existing policies and regulations. By addressing challenges and proposing solutions, it aims to facilitate the growth of Islamic fintech and foster an inclusive and sustainable financial ecosystem in Indonesia., Competing Interests: No competing interests were disclosed., (Copyright: © 2024 Fidhayanti D et al.)

Aspect-Based Sentiment Analysis (ABSA) represents a fine-grained approach to sentiment analysis, aiming to pinpoint and evaluate sentiments associated with specific aspects within a text. ABSA encompasses a set of sub-tasks that together facilitate a detailed understanding of the multifaceted sentiment expressions. These tasks include aspect and opinion terms extraction (ATE and OTE), classification of sentiment at the aspect level (ALSC), the coupling of aspect and opinion terms extraction (AOE and AOPE), and the challenging integration of these elements into sentiment triplets (ASTE). Our research introduces a comprehensive framework capable of addressing the entire gamut of ABSA sub-tasks. This framework leverages the contextual strengths of BERT for nuanced language comprehension and employs a biaffine attention mechanism for the precise delineation of word relationships. To address the relational complexity inherent in ABSA, we incorporate a Multi-Layered Enhanced Graph Convolutional Network (MLEGCN) that utilizes advanced linguistic features to refine the model's interpretive capabilities. We also introduce a systematic refinement approach within MLEGCN to enhance word-pair representations, which leverages the implicit outcomes of aspect and opinion extractions to ascertain the compatibility of word pairs. We conduct extensive experiments on benchmark datasets, where our model significantly outperforms existing approaches. Our contributions establish a new paradigm for sentiment analysis, offering a robust tool for the nuanced extraction of sentiment information across diverse text corpora. This work is anticipated to have significant implications for the advancement of sentiment analysis technology, providing deeper insights into consumer preferences and opinions for a wide range of applications., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

The classification of medical images is crucial in the biomedical field, and despite attempts to address the issue, significant challenges persist. To effectively categorize medical images, collecting and integrating statistical information that accurately describes the image is essential. This study proposes a unique method for feature extraction that combines deep spatial characteristics with handmade statistical features. The approach involves extracting statistical radiomics features using advanced techniques, followed by a novel handcrafted feature fusion method inspired by the ResNet deep learning model. A new feature fusion framework (FusionNet) is then used to reduce image dimensionality and simplify computation. The proposed approach is tested on MRI images of brain tumors from the BraTS dataset, and the results show that it outperforms existing methods regarding classification accuracy. The study presents three models, including a handcrafted-based model and two CNN models, which completed the binary classification task. The recommended hybrid approach achieved a high F1 score of 96.12 ± 0.41, precision of 97.77 ± 0.32, and accuracy of 97.53 ± 0.24, indicating that it has the potential to serve as a valuable tool for pathologists., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2024 Iqbal, Qureshi, Alhussein, Aurangzeb, Choudhry and Anwar.)

Extrachromosomal circular DNA (eccDNA) is genetic material that exists outside of chromosomes and holds potential for next-generation genetic engineering in plant biology. By improving plant resilience, growth, and productivity, eccDNA offers a promising solution to global challenges in food security and environmental sustainability, making this a transformative era in agricultural biotechnology., Competing Interests: Declaration of interests The authors declare no competing interests., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)