Access to Sterically Hindered Thioethers (α-Thioamides) Under Mild Conditions Using α-Halohydroxamates: Application toward 1,4-Benzothiazinones and 4,1-Benzothiazepinones.

Herein, we report a new and highly efficient approach for synthesizing congested α-thioamides under mild reaction conditions (mild base, room temperature, and short duration) using α-halo hydroxamates as direct alkylating agents. The reaction works well with both (hetero)aryl and alkyl thiols, tolerating a broad functional group and diverse substrate scope, including benzeneselenol for selenoether construction. The strategy enables efficient synthesis of biologically relevant 1,4 benzothiazinone and 4,1-benzothiazepinone cores, along with various other functionalized sulfur-based scaffolds of biological importance.

Synthetic strategies for the construction of C3-fluorinated oxindoles.

C3-fluorinated oxindoles are important scaffolds known to demonstrate various biological properties. As bio-isosteres of oxindoles, these compounds have shown tremendous potential in drug research discovery programs. Besides, they also serve as starting materials for synthesizing other fluorine-containing new architectures, thus launching research for developing new methods for their synthesis. Consequently, various approaches have been developed over the years to synthesize C3-fluorinated oxindoles. This review highlights the strategies developed to date to access C3-difluoro and monofluorooxindoles via intermolecular and intramolecular approaches. The key findings of the strategies developed are discussed along with the prevailing mechanism.

Heteroarylation of Congested α-Bromoamides with Imidazo-Heteroarenes and Indolizines via Aza-Oxyallyl Cations: Enroute to Dibenzoazepinone and Zolpidem Analogues.

Herein, we report a highly efficient and unprecedented approach for heteroarylation of congested α-bromoamides via electrophilic aromatic substitution of imidazo-heteroarenes and indolizines under mild reaction conditions (room temperature, metal, and oxidant free). The participation of an in situ generated aza-oxyallyl cation as an alkylating agent is the hallmark of this transformation. The method was readily adapted to synthesize novel imidazo-heteroarene-fused dibenzoazepinone architectures of potential medicinal value.

Joint Communication and Sensing: A Proof of Concept and Datasets for Greenhouse Monitoring Using LoRaWAN.

In recent years, greenhouse-based precision agriculture (PA) has been strengthened by utilization of Internet of Things applications and low-power wide area network communication. The advancements in multidisciplinary technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) have created opportunities to assist farmers further in detecting disease and poor nutrition of plants. Neural networks and other AI techniques need an initial set of measurement campaigns along with extensive datasets as a training set to baseline and evolve different applications. This paper presents LoRaWAN-based greenhouse monitoring datasets over a period of nine months. The dataset has both the network and sensing information from multiple sensor nodes for tomato crops in two different greenhouse environments. The goal is to provide the research community with a dataset to evaluate performance of LoRaWAN inside a greenhouse and develop more efficient PA monitoring techniques. In this paper, we carried out an exploratory data analysis to infer crop growth by analyzing just the LoRaWAN signals and without inclusion of any extra hardware. This work uses a multilayer perceptron artificial neural network to predict the weekly plant growth, trained using RSSI value from sensor data and manual measurement of plant height from the greenhouse. We developed this proof of concept of joint communication and sensing by using generated dataset from the "Proefcentrum Hoogstraten" greenhouse in Belgium. Results for the proposed method yield a root mean square error of 10% in detecting the average plant height inside a greenhouse. In future, we can use this concept of landscape sensing for different supplementary use-cases and to develop optimized methods.

Residual immune activation in HIV-Infected individuals expands monocytic-myeloid derived suppressor cells.

HIV-infected individuals on combined antiretroviral therapy (ART) with virologic suppression exhibit sustained immune dysfunction. Our recent work has highlighted that monocytic myeloid derived suppressor cells (M-MDSC) are elevated in these individuals and suppress immune responses. Factors responsible for M-MDSC expansion in vivo are unknown. Here we compared circulating frequency of M-MDSC in HIV-infected persons from the US and India where HIV subtype-B or -C predominate, respectively. We further investigated soluble mediators of residual immune activation in two cohorts and determined their correlation with M-MDSC expansion. Our findings show that M-MDSC are elevated and correlate with plasma levels of IL-6 in both cohorts. Chemokines CXCL10, CCL4 and CXCL8 were also elevated in HIV-infected individuals, but did not correlate with M-MDSC. These findings support that IL-6 is important in M-MDSC expansion which is independent of HIV subtype.

Leveraging LoRaWAN Technology for Precision Agriculture in Greenhouses.

The technology development in wireless sensor network (WSN) offers a sustainable solution towards precision agriculture (PA) in greenhouses. It helps to effectively use the agricultural resources and management tools and monitors different parameters to attain better quality yield and production. WSN makes use of Low-Power Wide-Area Networks (LPWANs), a wireless technology to transmit data over long distances with minimal power consumption. LoRaWAN is one of the most successful LPWAN technologies despite its low data rate and because of its low deployment and management costs. Greenhouses are susceptible to different types of interference and diversification, demanding an improved WSN design scheme. In this paper, we contemplate the viable challenges for PA in greenhouses and propose the successive steps essential for effectual WSN deployment and facilitation. We performed a real-time, end-to-end deployment of a LoRaWAN-based sensor network in a greenhouse of the 'Proefcentrum Hoogstraten' research center in Belgium. We have designed a dashboard for better visualization and analysis of the data, analyzed the power consumption for the LoRaWAN communication, and tried three different enclosure types (commercial, simple box and airflow box, respectively). We validated the implications of real-word challenges on the end-to-end deployment and air circulation for the correct sensor readings. We found that temperature and humidity have a larger impact on the sensor readings inside the greenhouse than we initially thought, which we successfully solved through the airflow box design.

Energy Consumption Analysis of LPWAN Technologies and Lifetime Estimation for IoT Application.

The spectrum of Internet of Things (IoT) applications is exponentially growing, driving the demand for better energy performance metrics. In conjunction, Low Power Wide Area Networks (LPWAN) have evolved as long-range connectivity enabler with low management cost. The integration of LPWAN communication assists in reliable IoT operation with extended lifetime. Notable LPWAN technologies that contend for many of the IoT applications are LoRaWAN, DASH7, Sigfox, and NB-IoT. Most of the end-devices such as sensors and actuators are battery powered, therefore investigating energy consumption becomes crucial. To estimate the consumed power, it is important to analyze the energy consumption in wireless communication. This paper describes an empirical evaluation of energy consumption for LPWAN wireless technologies. We measure the current consumption of LoRaWAN, DASH7, Sigfox, and NB-IoT and derive the respective battery lifetime. These measurements help to quantify the energy performance of different protocols. We observe that LoRaWAN and DASH7 are more energy efficient when compared to Sigfox and NB-IoT. Finally, a case study on energy consumption is done on precision agriculture in the greenhouse, showing that battery lifetime in real applications can drop significantly from the ideal case. These results can be used for increasing the effectiveness of the IoT application by selecting the right technology and battery capacity.

Pediatric pelvic fracture urethral distraction defect causing complete urethrovaginal avulsion.

Pelvic fracture with urethral injury in girls is an uncommon entity that is usually associated with concomitant vaginal lacerations. Management options vary from immediate exploration and urethral anastomosis to delayed urethroplasty. We report our experience of managing a 10-year old girl presenting 6 months after a pelvic fracture with urethrovaginal injury and a completely obliterated urethral meatus managed successfully with a single-stage bladder tube repair.

Targeting progesterone metabolism in breast cancer with l-proline derived new 14-azasteroids.

Breast cancer cell proliferation is promoted by a variety of mitogenic signals. Classically estrogen is considered as most predominant mitogenic signal in hormone-dependent breast cancer and progesterone is primarily considered to have protective effect. However, it is suggested that some progesterone metabolite may promote breast cancer and progesterone metabolites like 5α-pregnane and 4-pregnene could serve as regulators of estrogen-responsiveness of breast cancer cells. Here, we estimated the potential of alternate targeting of breast cancer via progesterone signalling. l-Proline derived novel 14-azasteroid compounds were screened against MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 cell lines using MTT assay. In silico studies, cell cycle, Annexin-V-FITC/PI, JC-1 mitochondrial assay, ROS analysis were performed to analyse the impact of hit compound 3b on breast cancer cells. Further, we analysed the impact of hit 3b on the progesterone, its metabolites and enzymes responsible for the conversion of progesterone and its metabolites using ELISA. Data suggests that compound 3b binds and down regulates of 5α-reductase by specifically inhibiting production of progesterone metabolites that are capable of promoting breast cancer proliferation, epithelial mesenchymal transition and migration. This study establishes the proof of concept and generation of new leads for additional targeting of breast cancer.

Intramolecular C(sp(3))H amination of arylsulfonyl azides with engineered and artificial myoglobin-based catalysts.

The direct conversion of aliphatic CH bonds into CN bonds provides an attractive approach to the introduction of nitrogen-containing functionalities in organic molecules. Following the recent discovery that cytochrome P450 enzymes can catalyze the cyclization of arylsulfonyl azide compounds via an intramolecular C(sp(3))H amination reaction, we have explored here the CH amination reactivity of other hemoproteins. Various heme-containing proteins, and in particular myoglobin and horseradish peroxidase, were found to be capable of catalyzing this transformation. Based on this finding, a series of engineered and artificial myoglobin variants containing active site mutations and non-native Mn- and Co-protoporphyrin IX cofactors, respectively, were prepared to investigate the effect of these structural changes on the catalytic activity and selectivity of these catalysts. Our studies showed that metallo-substituted myoglobins constitute viable CH amination catalysts, revealing a distinctive reactivity trend as compared to synthetic metalloporphyrin counterparts. On the other hand, amino acid substitutions at the level of the heme pocket were found to be beneficial toward improving the stereo- and enantioselectivity of these Mb-catalyzed reactions. Mechanistic studies involving kinetic isotope effect experiments indicate that CH bond cleavage is implicated in the rate-limiting step of myoglobin-catalyzed amination of arylsulfonyl azides. Altogether, these studies indicate that myoglobin constitutes a promising scaffold for the design and development of CH amination catalysts.

Need for integration of gender equity in family planning services.

The family planning programme of India has shown many significant changes since its inception five decades back. The programme has made the contraceptives easily accessible and affordable to the people. Devices with very low failure rate are provided free of cost to those who need it. Despite these significant improvements in service delivery related to family planning the programme cannot be said to achieve success at all levels. There are many issues with the family planning services available through the public health facilities in India. Failure to adopt the latest technology is one of these. But the most serious drawback of the programme is that it has never been able to bridge the gap between the two genders related to contraceptives. The programme gave emphasis to women-centric contraceptive and thus women were seen as their clients. The choice to adopt a contraceptive though is 'cafeteria approach' in family planning lexicon; it is the choice of the husband that is ultimately practiced. There is not enough dialogue between husband and wife and husband and health worker to discuss the use of one contraceptive over another. The male gender needs to be taken in confidence while promoting the family planning practice. The integration of gender equity is to be done carefully so as not to make dominant gender more powerful. Only when there is equity between genders while using family planning services the programme will achieve success.

Heteroannulation of Arynes with α-Bromodifluorohydroxamates: An Efficient and General Approach to Access 2,2-Difluoro Indoxyls.

Herein, we report the first general approach to access N-alkoxy-2,2-difluoro indoxyls, via formal 3 + 2 cycloaddition of aryne and (putative) fluorinated-aza-oxyallyl cation. This transition-metal/oxidant-free transformation occurs under mild reaction conditions with a short reaction time. Mechanistic investigation indicates the possible involvement of the closed form of fluorinated-aza-oxyallyl cation, viz., α-lactam, in the current transformation.

Converging optical and electrochemical detection strategies for multimodal hydrazine sensing: insights into substituent-driven diverse response.

A pair of pyrene-based chalcogen derivatives have been developed, which demonstrate multimodal ratiometric response towards hydrazine. Although these probes share a common pyrene core and differ primarily in the electronic nature of their terminal side arms, they display distinct photophysical properties. Notably, both probes undergo significant spectral changes upon the addition of hydrazine, but probe 1 exhibits a more pronounced interaction (∼5-fold fluorescence enhancement) than probe 2, attributed to the higher level of aggregation in probe 2, rendering the binding site less accessible to the incoming analyte. Additionally, we have explored electrochemical techniques, including cyclic voltammetry (CV) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), for hydrazine detection. Our molecular design strategy relies on ratiometric-responsive specific cyclization triggered by hydrazine, leading to the disruption of the π-conjugated system and the subsequent suppression of intramolecular charge transfer (ICT) processes, along with dis-assembly of the aggregated probe molecules. These probes enable the nakеd-eye detection of hydrazine, with a low detection limit of 7.33 ppb and 7.58 ppb for probe 1 and 2, respectively. Furthermore, we have investigated cost-effective probe-coatеd paper strips for the detection of hydrazine in water.

Gender-violence and health care: How health system can step in.

Gender-violence also known as domestic violence, domestic abuse, spousal abuse or intimate partner violence, can be broadly defined as a pattern of abusive behaviors by one or both partners in an intimate relationship such as marriage, dating, family, friends or cohabitation. It can manifest as physical aggression, sexual abuse, emotional abuse, intimidation, stalking and economic and food deprivation. In most countries gender violence is a crime; though scope of the domestic or gender violence act and severity of punishment varies considerably between the countries.

Assessment of Frequency, Patterns, and Causes of Blunt Abdominal Trauma in a North Indian Cohort: An Autopsy-Based Study.

Introduction The abdomen is one of the most frequently damaged areas in trauma patients and is commonly encountered in road traffic accidents (RTAs). The present study evaluates the frequency, etiology, causation, and form of injury in blunt abdominal trauma (BAT) cases who had autopsies. Method An autopsy-based observational prospective study was conducted at the Department of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology, Nalanda Medical College and Hospital Patna, India, during the period from October 2018 to September 2020, which included a total of 940 autopsy cases showing blunt abdominal injuries. A predesigned proforma for the postmortem evaluation of BAT victims was used to collect the required information on the cases. Descriptive statistics were performed, and the data were presented as frequency (%) and mean±SD. Chi-square tests were performed to compare categorical variables between groups. Results BAT accounted for 120 (12.76%) cases of all autopsies performed. The majority of victims were male (92.48%). Victims aged 21-30 years (31, 25.83%) were the ones most usually engaged in BAT cases. Among the mechanisms accountable for BAT, RTAs were the most common (99, 82.50%), followed by assault (16, 13.30%). In most of the cases, the liver was injured (107, 89.16%), followed by the spleen (60, 50.00%) and kidney (24, 20.00%). The majority of blunt abdominal injury-related deaths were accidental (100, 83.33%), followed by homicidal (15, 12.5%) and suicidal cases (5, 4.17%). Hemorrhage and neurogenic shock were the most prevalent causes of mortality, particularly if the individual died within a few hours. Conclusion RTAs are the most frequent cause of BAT in autopsy cases, and the liver is the most affected organ. The majority of deaths occur within the first 24 hours of injury. Since blunt abdominal injuries have the propensity to increase morbidity and mortality, appropriate emphasis on their precise diagnosis and satisfactory therapy is mandated.

Disposable Miniaturized Electrochemical Sensing Platform With Laser-Induced Reduced Graphene Oxide Electrodes for Multiplexed Biochemical Analysis.

Metabolic biomarkers, such as Dopamine (DA), Uric acid (UA), and Ascorbic acid (AA), have significant roles in determining the physiological functioning of the human body. These are often analyzed through clinical lab-based procedures which are bulky and require skilled technicians. In view of this, the design, development, and fabrication of a portable, cost-effective, user-friendly, and disposable device for electro-analytical detection, leading to point-of-care (POC) detection of these metabolic biomarkers is a pressing need. This work reports a laser-induced reduced graphene oxide (LIrGO) based miniaturized paper device fabricated by laser ablation of a lab-grade paper using a blue diode laser (450 nm). A three-electrode electrochemical platform was designed with the LIrGO electrodes, whereby bare rGO electrodes were employed as working and counter electrodes, and Ag/AgCl ink-coated rGO was used as the reference electrode. The device was characterized morphologically by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and electrochemically by a potentiostat. The prepared device was subjected to electrochemical sensing of Dopamine (DA), Uric Acid (UA), and Ascorbic Acid (AA). Furthermore, the effects of several sensory parameters, such as concentration, pH, and interference, were analyzed. A linear range of 10- [Formula: see text] was obtained for all three analytes with the limit of detection (LoD) being [Formula: see text], [Formula: see text], [Formula: see text], and the limit of quantification (LoQ) being [Formula: see text], [Formula: see text], [Formula: see text] for DA, UA and AA, respectively. Finally, the device was tested for non-interference with co-analytes and validated by testing a real sample of human blood serum. This work demonstrates a proof-of-principle of utilizing bare LIrGO for selective sensing which will open door to multiplexed and POC sensing.

Perception regarding COVID-19 vaccine and COVID appropriate behavior among adolescents at a tertiary hospital, West Bengal: A longitudinal survey.

Background: Vaccination against COVID 19 and observing COVID appropriate behavior are effective measures to control, manage and prevent COVID-19 infection. With India starting its adolescent vaccination program, this study aimed to explore the adolescents' perception of vaccination, their COVID-appropriate behavior, compliance with two doses of COVID-19 vaccines and the experienced side effects following vaccination. Methods: A longitudinal survey was conducted among 440 adolescents visiting the COVID Vaccination Center (CVC) of a tertiary hospital in West Bengal. In the survey, adolescents were asked about family socio-demographic characteristics, their opinions on COVID-19 vaccines, and COVID-19 Appropriate Behavior (CAB) practices. Voluntary participants were given a questionnaire to fill and a telephonic interview was taken regarding side effects experienced following the vaccination and their compliance to both doses of vaccine. Results: The majority of adolescents (99.3%) had taken vaccines by their own wish. The reason for willingness to take the vaccine was the fear of being infected with COVID-19 infection (50.5%). Maximum adolescents got information regarding the COVID vaccination program through the internet (41.8%) followed by family members (30.5%). The majority of adolescents (70.9%) had a good perception of COVID-19 vaccination. A significant number of adolescents (44.8%) strongly disagreed with the statement that they don't need to follow COVID appropriate behavior after vaccination. Conclusion: The majority of adolescents had a good perception regarding COVID-19.

Feasibility of Including Hands-On Microteaching in the Medical Faculty Development Program in India: A Mixed-Methods Study.

Background Medical faculty development programs (FDPs) often lack hands-on training in teaching skills. Microteaching, a short, focused teaching practice, could be a feasible way to bridge this gap. This study aimed to explore the feasibility of including hands-on microteaching in a medical FDP in India. Methodology This mixed-methods study involved fresh medical faculty members who never attended FDP on the basics of medical education technologies, stakeholders, and students from a recently established autonomous medical institute of national importance in India. Participants completed a pre-test survey on their teaching skills and received a hands-on microteaching session during an FDP. After the session, participants completed a post-test survey and provided feedback on the feasibility and acceptability of hands-on microteaching in the program. Program evaluation was done by application of Kirkpatrick's Model levels one, two, and three. Results According to the Kirkpatrick Model of Evaluation level one (Reaction), the participants reported improved teaching skills and greater confidence in their ability to teach after the microteaching session. They also reported that hands-on microteaching was an effective way to learn teaching skills and receive feedback. Stakeholders opined that microteaching is a very effective tool for improving teaching skills and should be a part of FDP. Evaluation at level two (Learning) shows that there was a significant improvement in the mean score of post-tests. As per level three (Behaviour Change) evaluation, the majority of the students informed that there is observable improvement in the effectiveness of teaching of faculties in the past two months, i.e., since the participation of faculty in hands-on microteaching in FDP. Conclusions Hands-on microteaching could be a feasible and effective way to enhance the teaching skills of medical faculty members in India. The study findings suggest that including hands-on microteaching in FDPs could help bridge the gap between theoretical knowledge and practical teaching skills.

Review and Perspective: Gas Separation and Discrimination Technologies for Current Gas Sensors in Environmental Applications.

Presently, numerous state-of-the-art approaches are being adapted for gas sensing and monitoring. These include hazardous gas leak detection as well as ambient air monitoring. Photoionization detectors, electrochemical sensors, and optical infrared sensors are a few of the commonly widely used technologies. Extensive reviews on the current state of gas sensors have been summarized. These sensors, which are either nonselective or semiselective, are affected by unwanted analytes. On the other hand, volatile organic compounds (VOCs) can be heavily mixed in many vapor intrusion situations. To determine the individual VOCs in a highly mixed gas sample using nonselective or semiselective gas sensors, gas separation and discrimination technologies are highly warranted. These technologies include gas permeable membranes, metal-organic frameworks, microfluidics and IR bandpass filters for different sensors, respectively. The majority of these gas separation and discrimination technologies are currently being developed and evaluated in laboratory-controlled environments and have not yet been extensively utilized in the field for vapor intrusion monitoring. These technologies show promise for continued development and application in the field for more complex gas mixtures. Hence, the present review focuses on the perspectives and a summary of the existing gas separation and discrimination technologies for the currently popular reported gas sensors in environmental applications.

Status of drug resistant tuberculosis among patients attending a tuberculosis unit of West Bengal: A record based cross-sectional study.

Context: Tuberculosis (TB) is one of the main causes of death due to infectious diseases worldwide. Multidrug resistance/rifampicin resistance (MDR/RR) TB remains a public health crisis. India has the highest burden of tuberculosis and multidrug resistant TB (MDR TB) in the world. There is wide geographical variation in the epidemic and its trends that can be updated by regular reporting and sound surveillance systems. The current study tries to fill this gap by analyzing the data of TB patients from a Tuberculosis Unit, studying socio-demographic and clinical profile from December 2017 to November 2019 in Nadia district of West Bengal. Aims: The aims of this work were to study socio-demographic and clinical profile of TB patients attending Tuberculosis Unit of West Bengal, and to find out factors associated with drug-resistant TB. Settings and Design: Record-based study from Tuberculosis Unit. Methods: Records of all patients who undergo CBNAAT in TU are stored as monthly unit. We randomly selected 10 months from a period of December 2017 to November 2019 by using lot method. Data of all patients undergoing CBNAAT at Kalyani - Gayeshpur Tuberculosis Unit during randomly selected 10 months were accessed. Statistical Analysis Used: Monthly data was entered in Microsoft Excel and descriptive tests of significance, proportions and Chi-square were applied. Results: There was male preponderance for testing of tuberculosis. Seven percent of the TB suspects were HIV positive. The positivity rate of MTB by CBNAAT was 23%. Four percent of the samples were Rifampicin resistance. Tobacco consumption, contact with TB case and Diabetes were common risk factors of TB. Most of the information was missing in the records. Conclusions: Most of Rifampicin Resistant cases showed very low Ct value in CBNAAT. Previous history of TB treatment and positive HIV status was significantly associated with RR TB. There is a need to capture complete information on the records of presumptive TB cases.