Chromene-chromene Schiff base as a fluorescent chemosensor for Th4+ and its application in bioimaging of Caenorhabditis elegans.

The manuscript presents the synthesis of a new di-chromene Schiff base (COM-CH) by combining 7-(diethylamino)-2-oxo-2H-chromene-3-carbohydrazide and 4-oxo-4H-chromene-3-carbaldehyde, and its characterization using various analytical techniques. The probe COM-CH functional group contains a hard donor atom that selectively complexes with Th4+ ions. This report investigated COM-CH's sensing ability towards Th4+ chromogenic and fluorogenic methods in ACN: H2O (8:2, v/v) with Th4+ ions. The COM-CH-Th4+ complex was excited at 430 nm, resulting in a bright emission band at 475 nm with a 45 nm Stokes shift. The COM-CH probe demonstrated the highest performance at pH 4.0 to 8.0, with a sensitivity of 18.7 nM. The complex formation of COM-CH with Th4+ was investigated using NMR, FTIR spectrometry, and density functional theory calculations. The COM-CH and Th4+ are bound with 2:1 stoichiometry and an association constant of 1.92 × 108 M-2. The probe's performance enabled the analysis of monazite sand and water samples for Th4+ content. The probe successfully detected Th4+ content in Caenorhabditis elegans, marking the first Th4+ detection in animal models.

Extractive Spectrophotometric Detection of Sn(II) Using 6-bromo-3-hydroxy-2-(5-methylfuran-2-yl)-4H-chromen-4-one.

For the determination of tin(II) traces, an extractive spectrophotometric approach is devised. The applied method serves a powerful tool for determination of tin(II), involves the formation of yellow colored complex after the binding of 6-bromo-3-hydroxy-2-(5-methylfuran-2-yl)-4H-chromen-4-one (BHMF) and tin(II) in 1:2 stiochiometry in a slightly acidic medium (HCl). The complex shows absorbance at 434 nm with respect of the blank reagent. The outcomes of spectral investigation for complexation showed a Beer's range of 0-1.3 µg Sn mL-1, molar absorptivity, specific absorptivity and Sandell's complex sensitivity are 9.291 × 104 L mol-1 cm-1, 0.490 mL g-1 cm-1 and 0.002040 µg cm-2 at 434 nm that was stable for two days. The interferences study results showed that this method is free from interferences, when tested with metal ions including Ag, Be, Bi, Ca, Cd, Ce, Co, Hg, Mo, Re, Pt, Se,Ti, U, V, W and other common cations, anions, and complexing agents. The applied method is quite simple, highly selective, and sensitive with good re-producibility. This method has been satisfactorily by utilizing the proposed procedure, and its applicability has been tested by analyzing synthetic samples and an alloy sample of gunmetal. The procedure assumes this because of the scarcity of better methods for determining tin(II). The results are in good agreement with the certified value.

Evaluation of ultrasonication and carbonation-ultrasonication assisted convective drying techniques for enhancing the drying rates and quality parameters of ripe and raw banana (Musa) peel.

Raw and ripe banana (Musa Cavendish) peel slices were dried by application of ultrasonication (U) and carbonation-ultrasonication (CU) as pre-treatments for tray drying (T) at 60 °C. Lesser drying time and higher diffusivity was noticed in CU + T dried samples followed by U + T and T dried samples. Model 'Wang and Singh' was identified as the excellently fitting model to experimental data. SEM images of dried samples revealed the microchannels formation due to U treatment, which were more couloir after CU treatment. Water and oil holding capacity (WHC and OHC) for raw peel powders was higher than ripened peel powders at 40, 60 and 80 °C. WHC and OHC increased significantly after U + T drying or CU + T drying as compared to T drying for ripe and raw peel powder samples. Back extrusion force (BEF) varied from 67.42 to 69.22 N and from 84.6 to 86.02 N for ripe and raw peel samples respectively. Given treatments resulted in lesser colour change and Browning Index. But U + T or CU + T treatment did not affect BEF significantly. CU + T was deemed to be the appropriate drying technique for ripe and raw banana peel drying. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s13197-022-05535-9.

Antibacterial potential of hive bees honey from Himachal Pradesh, India.

This paper presents a pioneer study on the microbial diversity and antibacterial potential of hive bees (Apis cerana and A. mellifera) honey collected from Himachal Pradesh. In total, 26 bacteria (14 from A. cerana and 12 from A. mellifera) but no fungal isolate were recovered. Bee species and locations comparison in terms of bacterial load (log CFU/g) revealed maximum loads of 3.74 and 3.99 in the honey from A. cerana and Mandi location, respectively. The most prevalent strains (HC3, HC5, HC6, HC8 and HM2) were identified (16S rRNA ribotyping) as Staphylococcus haemolyticus (MT742636), "Bacillus subtilis subsp. stecoris" (MT742637), Bacillus safensis subsp. safensis (MT742638), "Bacillus zanthoxyli" (MT742639) and Bacillus safensis subsp. safensis (MT938911). The apiary honey displayed good to excellent inhibitory activity against Escherichia coli ATCC1041 whereas, fair to good against Bacillus subtilis ATCC6633, Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC10662, Salmonella typhi NCTC786 and Klebsiella pneumoniae ATCC13883, highlighting its use as a therapeutic agent. Furthermore, it can be effective in minimizing numerous side effects associated with the consumption of synthetic drugs for treating bacterial infections thereby signifying the role of honey as a healthier substitute for synthetic drugs.

Modified SIRD Model for COVID-19 Spread Prediction for Northern and Southern States of India.

The Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SAR-CoV-2) is the strain of coronavirus that causes coronavirus disease (COVID-19), the respiratory illness that resulted in COVID-19 pandemic in early December 2019. Due to lack of knowledge of the epidemiological cycle and absence of any type of vaccine or medications, the Government issued various non-pharmacological measures to end the COVID-19 pandemic. Several researchers applied the Susceptible-Infected-Recovered-Deceased (SIRD) compartmental epidemiology process model to identifying the effect of different governments intervention methods enforced to mollify the spread of COVID-19 epidemic. In this paper, we aim to provide a modified SIRD model for COVID-19 spread prediction. We have analyzed the data of the Northern and Southern states of India from January 30, 2020, to October 24, 2020 using the proposed SIRD model and existing SIRD model. We have made the predictions with reasonable assumptions based on real data, considering that the precise course of an epidemic is highly dependent on how and when quarantine, isolation, and precautionary measures were imposed. The proposed method gives better approximation values of new cases, R0 (Reproductive Number), daily deaths, daily infectious, transmission rate, and recovered individuals.Through the analysis of the reported results, the proposed SIRD model can be an effective method for investigating the effect of government interventions on COVID-19 associated transmission and mortality rate at the time of epidemic.

Orifice Preserving Double Opposing Z-Plasty for Partial Split Ear Lobe Repair: A Review of 25 Cases.

BACKGROUND: Surgeons often come across split earlobe (SEL) deformities in their clinical practice which usually result from wearing heavy earrings for a long duration. It is of utmost importance to achieve a satisfactory repair with increased strength in one go. OBJECTIVE: To describe a strong repair for partial SEL with preservation of the orifice. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study is a retrospective review of 25 patients (36 earlobes), who underwent repair of partial SEL deformity with an orifice preserving double opposing Z-plasty in the hospital, from January 2014 to June 2015. The duration of follow-up was 12 months. RESULTS: Adequate cosmetic results were obtained in all patients with no need for revision surgery due to recurrence or scar dehiscence. Patients did not report any difficulty in wearing earrings and were satisfied with the aesthetic outcome. CONCLUSION: The orifice preserving double opposing Z-plasty technique seems to offer an efficacious method of repair of partial SEL deformity with an acceptable scar. The technique is simple and reproducible with good aesthetic outcomes and minimal complications.

Edible films developed from carboxylic acid cross-linked sesame protein isolate: barrier, mechanical, thermal, crystalline and morphological properties.

Films were developed from sesame protein crosslinked with three different carboxylic acids (malic acid, citric acid and succinic acid) at 1, 3 and 5% (w/w, on protein isolate basis). The effect of crosslinking on physical, mechanical, thermal and morphological properties was studied. Succinic acid crosslinked films exhibited least water vapor permeability the highest tensile strength and overall showed superlative properties among other films. X-ray diffraction showed single main crystalline reflection at 20° indicating amorphous structure of films. DSC curves of films indicated single melting peak in the range of 103-161 °C. All films exhibited weight loss in three stages. FTIR exhibited peak at 1700 cm-1 confirming crosslinking reaction between carboxylic acids and protein. Crosslinked films were compact, nonporous and smooth as compared to film from native sesame protein isolate.

Food caramels: a review.

Caramel, defined as coloring agent and as an antioxidant, is being used in several kinds of food products. It has been classified into 4 classes to satisfy the requirement of several food and beverage systems. The variation in its consistency owing to its basic content of milk solids, sugars, and fat has been studied. Several methods have been found to estimate the amount of color provided by caramel in food products. Various formulations have been cited for the production of caramel by eradicating the frequent areas of problems during its processing. Caramel has been used as a synthetic colorant replacer in the baking and beverage industries. Researchers have aimed to ascertain the contribution to the antioxidant activity of some caramel-containing soft drinks. The Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) has established an acceptable daily intake (ADI) of Class I caramel color as "not specified"; that of Class II as 0-160 mg/kg body weight; that of Class III as 0-200 mg/kg body weight; and that of Class IV as 0-200 mg/kg body weight. This paper is an overview of the classification, physicochemical nature, formulations, coloring properties, antioxidant properties, and toxicity of caramel in different food systems.

Effect of storage conditions of egg on rheological properties of liquid whole egg.

In the present work the effect of storage conditions of egg on rheological properties of Liquid Whole Egg (LWE) prepared from stored eggs were evaluated using a Brookfield. Newtonian model and Ostwald-of-Waele (Power Law) model were fitted to the rheological data obtained by experiments, both represented a good adjustment to the rheological data. The Newtonian model has shown an R(2)value between 0.984 and 0.993 (P < 0.05) and 0.991 and 0.995 (P < 0.05) for LWE samples prepared from eggs stored at room temperatures and refrigerated temperatures. The Ostwald-of-Waele (Power Law) resulted in the best adjustment, presenting an average R(2) values higher than 0.99 in all the cases and further statistical analysis showed that power law model was appropriate to explain the correct rheological behaviour of LWE prepared from stored eggs. All the LWE samples showed pseudoplastic and thixiotropic behaviour in the experimental conditions.

Prevalence and Impact of Concomitant Atrial Fibrillation in Patients Undergoing Percutaneous Coronary Intervention for Acute Myocardial Infarction.

Background: Concomitant atrial fibrillation (AF) is associated with an adverse prognosis in patients with acute myocardial infarction (MI). However, it remains unclear whether this is due to a causal effect of AF or whether AF acts as a surrogate marker for comorbidities in this population. Furthermore, there are limited data on whether coronary artery disease distribution impacts the risk of developing AF. Methods: Consecutive patients admitted with acute MI and treated using percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) at a single centre were retrospectively identified. Associations between AF and major adverse cardiac and cerebrovascular events (MACCEs) over a median of five years of follow-up were assessed using Cox regression, with adjustment for confounding factors performed using both multivariable modelling and a propensity-score-matched analysis. Results: AF was identified in N = 65/1000 (6.5%) of cases; these patients were significantly older (mean: 73 vs. 65 years, p < 0.001), with lower creatinine clearance (p < 0.001), and were more likely to have a history of cerebrovascular disease (p = 0.011) than those without AF. In addition, patients with AF had a greater propensity for left main stem (p = 0.001) or left circumflex artery (p = 0.004) involvement. Long-term MACCE rates were significantly higher in the AF group than in the non-AF group (50.8% vs. 34.2% at five years), yielding an unadjusted hazard ratio (HR) of 1.86 (95% CI: 1.32-2.64, p < 0.001). However, after adjustment for confounding factors, AF was no longer independently associated with MACCEs, either on multivariable (adjusted HR: 1.25, 95% CI: 0.81-1.92, p = 0.319) or propensity-score-matched (HR: 1.04, 95% CI: 0.59-1.82, p = 0.886) analyses. Conclusions: AF is observed in 6.5% of patients admitted with acute MI, and those with AF are more likely to have significant diseases involving left main or circumflex arteries. Although unadjusted MACCE rates were significantly higher in patients with AF, this effect was not found to remain significant after adjustment for comorbidities. As such, this study provided no evidence to suggest that AF is independently associated with MACCEs.

Erratum to Correct Informed Patient Consent Statement.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.17925/EE.2023.19.2.6.].

Memetic Spider Monkey Optimization for Spam Review Detection Problem.

Spider monkey optimization (SMO) algorithm imitates the spider monkey's fission-fusion social behavior. It is evident through literature that the SMO is a competitive swarm-based algorithm that is used to solve difficult real-life problems. The SMO's search process is a little bit biased by the random component that drives it with high explorative searching steps. A hybridized SMO with a memetic search to improve the local search ability of SMO is proposed here. The newly developed strategy is titled Memetic SMO (MeSMO). Further, the proposed MeSMO-based clustering approach is applied to solve a big data problem, namely, the spam review detection problem. A customer usually makes decisions to purchase something or make an image of someone based on online reviews. Therefore, there is a good chance that the individuals or companies may write spam reviews to upgrade or degrade the stature or value of a trader/product/company. Therefore, an efficient spam detection algorithm, MeSMO, is proposed and tested over four complex spam datasets. The reported results of MeSMO are compared with the outcomes obtained from the six state-of-art strategies. A comparative analysis of the results proved that MeSMO is a good technique to solve the spam review detection problem and improved precision by 3.68%.

Investigating the Effect of Supercritical Carbon Dioxide Treatment on the Rheological, Thermal, and Functional Properties of Plum (Prunus domestica L.) Kernel Protein Isolates.

Plum kernels are a promising source of dietary proteins that are irretrievably lost during processing. The recovery of these underexploited proteins could be eminently vital for human nutrition. Plum kernel protein isolate (PKPI) was prepared and exposed to a targeted supercritical carbon dioxide (SC-CO2) treatment to diversify its effectiveness in industrial applications. The impacts of SC-CO2 treatment at different processing temperatures (30-70 °C) on dynamic rheology, microstructure, thermal, and techno-functional characteristics of PKPI were investigated. The results revealed that the dynamic viscoelastic characteristics of SC-CO2-treated PKPIs showed higher storage modulus, loss modulus, and lower tan δ value than native PKPI, indicating greater strength and elasticity of the gels. Microstructural analysis showed that the proteins experienced denaturation at elevated temperatures and resulted in the formation of soluble aggregates, which increased the heat requirement for thermal denaturation of SC-CO2-treated samples. SC-CO2-treated PKPIs demonstrated a decline of 20.74% and 30.5% in crystallite size and crystallinity. PKPIs treated at 60 °C showed the highest dispersibility, which was 1.15-fold higher than the native PKPI sample. SC-CO2 treatment offers a novel path to improve the techno-functional properties of PKPIs and extend its use in food and non-food applications.

Structural modification of plum (Prunus domestica L) kernel protein isolate by supercritical carbon-dioxide treatment: Functional properties and in-vitro protein digestibility.

The effect of supercritical carbon dioxide (SC-CO2) treatment at different processing temperatures (30-70 °C) on the physico-functional properties, structural features, and in-vitro digestibility (IVPD) of plum kernel protein isolates (PKPI) was examined. The results revealed remarkable changes in the secondary structures of SC-CO2-treated PKPIs, including a decrease in α-helix proportion, a concomitant increase in ß-sheet content, and a considerable variation in random coils and ß-turn structures. The temperature rise increased the negative zeta potential to a maximum of 31.35 mV at 60 °C, exhibiting the colloidal stability of PKPI dispersions. SDS-PAGE analysis showed variations in the intensities of protein bands, indicating denaturation and aggregation at higher temperatures. These structural and molecular changes improved water-binding capacity (1.22-fold) and oil binding capacity (1.11-fold), wettability (1.12-fold), and the highest value in all the properties was recorded at 60 °C. Moreover, the highest IVPD value (21.58 %) and a distinguishable colour difference (∆E) of 8.11 was also obtained at 60 °C of the processing temperature. Therefore, SC-CO2 treatment-induced modification of PKPI contributed to the enhanced digestibility and techno-functional properties, which offered new prospects to extend its use in food applications.

Intra-coronary physiology in contemporary percutaneous coronary intervention and anginal therapy with a focus on microvascular disease.

Coronary physiological measurements have transformed the treatment of coronary artery disease (CAD), with increasing evidence supporting the use of pressure wire guided revascularisation. Advances in microvascular assessment have enabled clinicians to discern angina aetiology even in patients without obstructive epicardial coronary artery disease, paving the way for more effective tailored therapy. In this article, the authors will examine pressure wire indices, their role in influencing clinical outcomes and future directions.

Management of secondary mitral regurgitation: from drugs to devices.

Severe secondary mitral regurgitation carries a poor prognosis with one in five patients dying within 12 months of diagnosis. Fortunately, there are now a number of safe and effective therapies available to improve outcomes. Here, we summarise the most up-to-date treatments. Optimal guideline-directed medical therapy is the mainstay therapy and has been shown to reduce the severity of mitral regurgitation in 40-45% of patients. Rapid medication titration protocols reduce heart failure hospitalisation and facilitate earlier referral for device therapy. The pursuit of sinus rhythm in patients with atrial fibrillation has been shown to significantly reduce mitral regurgitation severity, as has the use of cardiac resynchronisation devices in patients who meet guideline-directed criteria. Finally, we highlight the key role of mitral valve intervention, particularly transcatheter edge-to-edge repair (TEER) for management of moderate-severe mitral regurgitation in carefully selected patients with poor left ventricular systolic function, with a number needed to treat of 3.1 to reduce heart failure hospitalisation and 5.9 to reduce all-cause death. To slow the rapid accumulation of morbidity and mortality, we advocate a proactive approach with accelerated medical optimisation, followed by management of atrial fibrillation and cardiac resynchronisation therapy if indicated, then, rapid referral to the Heart Team for consideration of mitral valve intervention in patients with ongoing symptoms and at least moderate-severe mitral regurgitation. Mitral TEER has been shown to be 'reasonably cost-effective' (but not cost-saving) in the UK in selected patients, although TEER remains underused with only 6.5 procedures per million population (pmp) compared with Germany (77 pmp), Switzerland (44 pmp) and the USA (32 pmp).

Siamese-Based Architecture for Cross-Lingual Plagiarism Detection in English-Hindi Language Pairs.

The cross-lingual plagiarism detection (CLPD) is a challenging problem in natural language processing. Cross-lingual plagiarism is when a text is translated from any other language and used as it is without proper acknowledgment. Most of the existing methods provide good results for monolingual plagiarism detection, whereas the performances of existing methods for the CLPD are very limited. The reason for this is that it is difficult to represent the text from two different languages in a common semantic space. In this article, a novel Siamese architecture-based model is proposed to detect the cross-lingual plagiarism in English-Hindi language pairs. The proposed model combines the convolutional neural network (CNN) and bidirectional long short-term memory (Bi-LSTM) network to learn the semantic similarity among the cross-lingual sentences for the English-Hindi language pairs. In the proposed model, the CNN model learns the local context of words, whereas the Bi-LSTM model learns the global context of sentences in forward and backward directions. The performances of the proposed models are evaluated on the benchmark data set, that is, Microsoft paraphrase corpus, which is converted in the English-Hindi language pairs. The proposed model outperforms other models giving 67%, 72%, and 67% weighted average precision, recall, and F1-measure scores. The experimental results show the effectiveness of the proposed models over the baseline models because the proposed model is very efficient in representing the cross-lingual text very efficiently.

Antithrombotic therapy following transcatheter aortic valve intervention.

Transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) is increasingly being performed to treat symptomatic patients with aortic stenosis and annual procedure volume has overtaken surgical aortic valve replacement in the United States. However, current international guidelines were written prior to the publication of several important recent studies. Furthermore, European and American guidelines differ in their recommendations of antithrombotic therapy following TAVR. Consequently, there is a need to examine the literature to provide clinicians guidance on the optimum antithrombotic strategy, particularly as different patient populations exist. In this review, we examine the data for antiplatelet and anticoagulation therapy post-TAVR.

Recent advances in biomacromolecule-based nanocomposite films for intelligent food packaging- A review.

In food packaging, biopolymer films are biodegradable films made from biomacromolecule-based natural materials, while biocomposite films are hybrids of two or more materials, with at least one being biodegradable. Bionanocomposites are different than the earlier ones, as they consist of various nanofillers (both natural and inorganic) in combination with biomacromolecule-based biodegradable materials to make good compostable bionanocomposites. In this regard, a new type of material known as bionanocomposite has been recently introduced to improve the properties and performance of biocomposite films. Bionanocomposites are primarily developed for active packaging, but their use in intelligent packaging is also noteworthy. For example, bionanocomposites developed using a hybrid of anthocyanin and carbon dots as intelligent materials have shown their high pH-sensing properties. The natural nanofillers (like nanocellulose, nanochitosan, nanoliposome, cellulose nanocrystals, cellulose nanofibers, etc.) are being employed to promote the sustainability, degradability and safety of bionanocomposites. Overall, this article comprehensively reviews the latest innovations in bionanocomposite films for intelligent food packaging over the past five years. In addition to packaging aspects, the role of nanofillers, the importance of life cycle assessment (LCA) and risk assessment, associated challenges, and future perspectives of bionanocomposite intelligent films are also discussed.

Predictors and clinical implications of residual mitral regurgitation following left ventricular assist device therapy.

BACKGROUND: Correction of mitral regurgitation (MR) at the time of left ventricular assist device (LVAD) implantation remains controversial. There is conflicting evidence regarding the clinical impact of residual MR, and studies have not examined whether MR aetiology or right heart function impacts the likelihood of residual MR. METHODS: This is a retrospective single-centre study of 155 consecutive patients with LVAD implantation from January 2011 to March 2020. Exclusion criteria were no MR pre-LVAD (n=8), inaccessible echocardiography (n=9), duplicate records (n=10) and concomitant mitral valve repair (n=1). Statistical analysis was performed using STATA V.16 and SPSS V.24. RESULTS: Carpentier IIIb MR aetiology was associated with more severe MR pre-LVAD (severe 18/27 (67%) vs non-severe 32/91 (35%), p=0.004) and a higher likelihood of residual MR (8/11 (72%) vs 30/74 (41%), p=0.045). Of 95 patients with significant MR pre-LVAD, 15 (16%) had persistent significant MR, which was associated with higher mortality (p=0.006), post-LVAD right ventricle (RV) dilatation (10/15 (67%) vs 28/80 (35%), p=0.022) and RV dysfunction (14/15 (93%) vs 35/80 (44%), p<0.001). Aside from ischaemic aetiology, other pre-LVAD parameters that were associated with significant residual MR included left ventricular end-systolic diameter (LVESD) (6.9 cm (5.7-7.2) vs 5.9 cm (5.5-6.5), p=0.043), left atrial volume index (LAVi) (78 mL/m2 (56-88) vs 57 mL/m2 (47-77), p=0.021), posterior leaflet displacement (2.5 cm (2.3-2.9) vs 2.3 cm (1.9-2.7), p=0.042) and basal right ventricular end-diastolic diameter (RVEDD) (5.1±0.8 cm vs 4.5±0.8 cm, p=0.010). CONCLUSION: LVAD therapy improves MR and tricuspid regurgitation severity in the majority, but 14% have persistent significant residual MR, associated with right ventricular dysfunction and higher long-term mortality. This may be predicted pre-LVAD by greater LVESD, RVEDD and LAVi and by ischaemic aetiology.