Genome-wide association studies of salinity tolerance in local aman rice.

The present study aimed to identify and characterize new sources of salt tolerance among 94 rice varieties from varied geographic origins. The genotypes were divided into five groups based on their morphological characteristics at both vegetative and reproductive stages using salinity scores from the Standard Evaluation System (SES). The experiment was designed as per CRD (Completely Randomized Design) with 2 sets of salinity treatments for 8 dS/meter and 12 dS/meter, respectively compared with one non-salinized control set. Using a Soil Plant Analysis Development (SPAD) meter, assessments of the apparent chlorophyll content (greenness) of the genotypes were done to comprehend the mechanism underlying their salt tolerance.  To evaluate molecular genetic diversity, a panel of 1 K RiCA SNP markers was employed. Utilizing TASSEL 5.0 software, 598 filtered SNPs were used for molecular analysis. Whole-genome association studies (GWAS) were also used to investigate panicle number per plant (pn, tiller number per plant (till), SPAD value (spad), sterility (percent) (str), plant height (ph) and panicle length (pl. It is noteworthy that these characteristics oversee conveying the visible signs of salt damage in rice. Based on genotype data, diversity analysis divided the germplasm groups into four distinct clusters (I, II, III and IV). For the traits studied, thirteen significant marker-trait associations were discovered. According to the phenotypic screening, seven germplasm genotypes namely Koijuri, Asha, Kajal, Kaliboro, Hanumanjata, Akundi and Dular, are highly tolerant to salinity stress. The greenness of these genotypes was found to be more stable over time, indicating that these genotypes are more resistant to stress. Regarding their tolerance levels, the GWAS analysis produced comparable results, supporting that salinity-tolerant genotypes having minor alleles in significant SNP positions showed more greenness during the stress period. The Manhattan plot demonstrated that at the designated significant SNP position, the highly tolerant genotypes shared common alleles. These genotypes could therefore be seen as important genomic resources for accelerating the development and release of rice varieties that are tolerant to salinity.

Deployment of fine and coarse grain rice cultivars in time and space for increased productivity.

To examine the impact of mixture ratio and temporal deployment of fine and coarse grain cultivars on rice productivity and profitability, two experiments were carried out at Bangladesh Agricultural University. In both investigations, two monsoon rice cultivars viz., Binadhan-13 (a tall, late-maturing, fine-grained) and Dhani Gold (a semi-dwarf, mid-maturing, coarse-grained) were utilized. In the 1st experiment, rice cultivars were planted in different mixture ratios viz., sole Binadhan-13, sole Dhani Gold, 1:1, 2:3, 3:2, 2:4 and 4:2 ratio of Binadhan-13 to Dhani Gold. The second study included the introducing time of Dhani Gold viz., seven days before or after or same day of Binadhan-13, sole Binadhan-13 and sole Dhani Gold. Three replications of the randomized complete block design were used for both trials. In the first experiment, both cultivars produced more when grown in mixtures as opposed to solitary cultures. Even though Dhani Gold's sole culture had the greatest yield, it was statistically equivalent to combined yields when Binadhan-13 and Dhani Gold were grown together in mixtures at 2:1, 3:1, or 4:1 ratios. The maximum net return and benefit cost ratio (BCR) were achieved when Binadhan-13 and Dhani Gold were planted in mixture following a 4:2 ratio as opposed to when Binadhan-13 was grown solely. In the second experiment, a sole cultivar generated less yield than cultivars that were transplanted on the same day, before, and after another cultivar. Cultivation of sole Binadhan-13 produced the lowest net return and minimum BCR (1.37), while the highest net return and BCR (1.81) was recorded when Dhani Gold was planted seven days before Binadhan-13 in mixture. A clear economic advantage of mixed culture with temporal deployment over the sole culture of either cultivar was evident. Therefore, transplanting Dhani Gold in a 1:1 ratio seven days before Binadhan-13 may be advised for greater output and economic return.

Millets: The future crops for the tropics - Status, challenges and future prospects.

Millets are small-grained nutritious minor cereal crops that are resistant to different abiotic stresses resulting from climate change. Despite their many benefits, millets have received limited attention in agricultural research, policies, and markets. Considering the importance of millets, recently the government many tropical countries including India and Bangladesh give more emphasis to millets cultivation and improvement. Moreover, Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO) declared 2023 to be the "International Years of Millets". In these connections, a details and updated review of the pros and cons of millets cultivation and its improvement in this region warrant due attention. The review therefore, examines the potential and main barriers to the adoption and promotion of millet cultivation in this region. These include limited research and development efforts, inadequate infrastructure and inputs, weak market linkages and demand, and insufficient awareness and knowledge about millets' nutritional and environmental benefits. This review also highlighted the prospects and strategies for scaling up millet cultivation in this region especially in Bangladesh. These include increasing public and private investment in research and extension services, strengthening farmers' organizations and market linkages, promoting millet-based value chains and products, and integrating millets into nation's food policy. The review concludes that millets might support equitable and sustainable agricultural growth, which would contribute to global food and nutritional security and could help attain the sustainable development goals (SDGs). However, achieving this potential will require concerted efforts from multiple stakeholders, including farmers, researchers and policymakers. The review emphasizes the need for a multi-disciplinary and multi-stakeholder approach that prioritizes innovation, inclusiveness, and sustainability. Lastly, the review highlights more investigation into the socioeconomic, environmental, and nutritional effects of millet production in this region with special emphasis on Bangladesh in order to support evidence-based policies and practices.

Association of recent respiratory illness and influenza with acute myocardial infarction among the Bangladeshi population: A case-control study.

Current evidence suggests that recent acute respiratory infections and seasonal influenza may precipitate acute myocardial infarction (AMI). This study examined the potential link between recent clinical respiratory illness (CRI) and influenza, and AMI in Bangladesh. Conducted during the 2018 influenza season at a Dhaka tertiary-level cardiovascular (CV) hospital, it included 150 AMI cases and two control groups: 44 hospitalized cardiac patients without AMI and 90 healthy individuals. Participants were matched by gender and age groups. The study focused on self-reported CRI and laboratory-confirmed influenza ascertained via quantitative real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) within the preceding week, analyzed using multivariable logistic regression. Results showed that cases reported CRI, significantly more frequently than healthy controls (27.3% vs. 13.3%, adjusted odds ratio (aOR): 2.21; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.05-4.06), although this was not significantly different from all controls (27.3% vs. 22.4%; aOR: 1.19; 95% CI: 0.65-2.18). Influenza rates were insignificantly higher among cases than controls. The study suggests that recent respiratory illnesses may precede AMI onset among Bangladeshi patients. Infection prevention and control practices, as well as the uptake of the influenza vaccine, may be advocated for patients at high risk of acute CV events.

Exploring the Phenotypic and Genetic Variabilities in Yield and Yield-Related Traits of the Diallel-Crossed F5 Population of Aus Rice.

Rice (Oryza sativa) is a major crop and a main food for a major part of the global population. Rice species have derived from divergent agro-climatic regions, and thus, the local germplasm has a large genetic diversity. This study investigated the relationship between phenotypic and genetic variabilities of yield and yield-associated traits in Aus rice to identify short-duration, high-yielding genotypes. Targeting this issue, a field experiment was carried out to evaluate the performance of 51 Aus rice genotypes, including 50 accessions in F5 generation and one short-duration check variety BINAdhan-19. The genotypes exhibited a large and significant variation in yield and its associated traits, as evidenced by a wide range of their coefficient of variance. The investigated traits, including days to maturity (DM), plant height (PH), panicle length (PL) and 1000-grain weight (TW) exhibited a greater genotypic coefficient of variation than the environmental coefficient of variation. In addition, the high broad-sense heritability of DM, PH, PL and TW traits suggests that the genetic factors significantly influence the observed variations in these traits among the F5 Aus rice accessions. This study also revealed that the grain yield per hill (GY) displayed a significant positive correlation with PL, number of filled grains per panicle (FG) and TW at both genotype and phenotype levels. According to the hierarchical and K-means cluster analyses, the accessions BU-R-ACC-02, BU-R-ACC-08 and R2-36-3-1-1 have shorter DM and relatively higher GY than other Aus rice accessions. These three accessions could be employed in the ongoing and future breeding programs for the improvement of short-duration and high-yielding rice cultivars.

Interfacial Interactions of a Myoglobin/DOPC Hybrid System at the Air-Water Interface and Its Physicochemical Properties.

In the present study, the intermolecular interactions between a water-insoluble phospholipid (DOPC) and water-soluble protein (myoglobin) and the interaction among themselves were investigated at the air-water interface using the Langmuir and Langmuir-Blodgett techniques. The effects of changes in physicochemical factors, like pH and temperature, on these interactions were also examined. Surface pressure-molecular area (π-A) isotherms of the DOPC monolayer at the air-water interface, with and without myoglobin (Myo) revealed the evolution of various physical properties, such as elastic, thermodynamic, and hysteric properties, in response to changes in subphase pH and temperature. With the increment of subphase pH from 5 to 7 at a fixed temperature (20 °C), the DOPC isotherm expanded, and the in-plane elasticity (CS-1) decreased, but no significant presence of hysteresis was encountered in either of the pH values. On the other hand, a diminution of temperature (from 20 to 5 °C) leads to an expansion of monolayers yielding low elasticity and significant hysteresis. The incorporation of Myo molecules within the DOPC monolayer decreased the CS-1 value of the DOPC monolayer. Such a decrement in CS-1 was also encountered while increasing the pH and decreasing the temperature (T) of the subphase in the absence of Myo. Systematic expansion of DOPC isotherm and increased hysteric area with the increase in Myo proportion were observed and the atomic force microscopy (AFM) observations suggested a strong conjugation between Myo and DOPC in the mixed monolayer. The denaturation effect of Myo molecules was studied using AFM at different temperatures. Furthermore, the Myo molecules were found to be most surface active at pH = 7, which is very close to its isoelectric point. These observations come up with the interaction mechanism between biomolecules under dynamically varied conditions.

Molecular characterization and antibiotic resistance profile of ESBL-producing Escherichia coli isolated from healthy cow raw milk in smallholder dairy farms in Bangladesh.

Background and Aim: The emergence of antimicrobial-resistant bacteria, such as Escherichia coli in milk, is a serious public health concern as milk is considered a complete food and an important part of daily human diet worldwide, including in Bangladesh. However, there have been no reports on the molecular characterization and antibiotic resistance profile of extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL)-producing E. coli from milk of healthy cows in Bangladesh. Therefore, this study aimed to detect and characterize ESBL-producing E. coli (ESBL-Ec) in milk samples from healthy cows in smallholder dairy farms in Mymensingh district, Bangladesh, and assess the potential risk of consuming this milk. Materials and Methods: A total of 100 milk samples were collected from apparently healthy cows on smallholder dairy farms. Escherichia coli was isolated from the collected samples using standard methods. The detection of ESBL-Ec was performed phenotypically using cultural methods and genotypically by ESBL genetic determinants using multiplex polymerase chain reaction. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing of the ESBL-Ec isolates was performed using the disk diffusion method with 15 common antimicrobials. Results: In this study, out of the 100 samples tested, 70 (70%) were found to be positive for E. coli. Among these, 41 (58.6%) strains were identified as ESBL-producing, both phenotypically and genotypically, with the presence of blaCTX-M, blaTEM, and blaSHV individually or combined (blaCTX-M plus blaTEM plus blaSHV). The antibiogram of these ESBL-positive isolates revealed high resistance against commonly used antibiotics, such as ampicillin, cefotaxime, and gentamicin (100%), azithromycin (88%), oxytetracycline (27%), nalidixic acid, cotrimoxazole/trimethoprim (24%), and streptomycin (22%). In addition, one isolate showed resistance to 4th generation of cephalosporin (cefepime). Most importantly, extensive multidrug resistance was found in many ESBL-Ec isolates. However, the isolates were highly sensitive to drugs such as ceftriaxone (100%) and imipenem (100%). This is the first study to detect ESBL-Ec in raw milk from healthy cows on smallholder dairy farms in Bangladesh. Conclusion: More than 58% of the E. coli isolated from raw milk of healthy cows tested positive for ESBL production and showed resistance to most commonly used antimicrobials which may be alarming for human health. A limitation of our study is that we had a small size of sample collected from one district in Bangladesh. Therefore, a larger sample size covering a wider geographic area, and using multi-locus sequence typing and whole genome sequencing could provide a more comprehensive understanding of the prevalence and characteristics of ESBL-Ec in Bangladesh.

Optical Response, Lithium Doping, and Charge Transfer in Sn-Based 312 MAX Phases.

The optical response, lithium doping, and charge transfer in three Sn-based existing M3SnC2 MAX phases with electron localization function (ELF) were investigated using density functional theory (DFT). Optical calculations show a slight optical anisotropy in the spectra of different optical parameters in some energy ranges of the incident photons. The peak height is mostly slightly higher for the polarization ⟨001⟩. The highest peak shifts toward higher energy when the M-element Ti is replaced by Zr and then by Hf. Optical conductivity, refractive index, extinction coefficient, and dielectric functions reveal the metallic nature of Ti3SnC2, Zr3SnC2, and Hf3SnC2. The plasma frequencies of these materials are very similar for two different polarizations and are 12.97, 13.56, and 14.46 eV, respectively. The formation energies of Li-doped Zr3SnC2 and Hf3SnC2 are considerably lower than those of their Li-doped 211 MAX phase counterparts Zr2SnC and Hf2SnC. Consistently, the formation energy of Li-doped Ti3SnC2 is lower than that of the corresponding 2D MXene Ti3C2, which is a promising photothermal material. The Bader charge is higher in magnitude than the Mulliken and Hirschfeld charges. The highest charge transfer occurs in Zr3SnC2 and the lowest charge transfer occurs in Ti3SnC2. ELF reveals that the bonds between carbon and metal ions are strongly localized, whereas in the case of Sn and metal ions, there is less localization which is interpreted as a weak bond.

Preliminary report on the comparative weed suppressibility of Bangladeshi Wheat varieties.

A key and ecologically sound strategy for integrated weed management is the use of varieties of weed-competitive crops. Utilizing wheat cultivars that are weed-competitive can lessen weed pressure and inordinate herbicide usage in wheat fields by a substantial amount. To assess the weed suppressibility of Bangladeshi wheat varieties, a field test was carried out in 2018 throughout the winter season at the Agronomy Field Laboratory, Bangladesh Agricultural University, Bangladesh. Tests on a total of 18 selected Bangladeshi wheat cultivars were conducted in both "weedy" and "weed-free" environments. Additionally, weed monoculture plots (without wheat) were kept. The experiment was replicated three times using a randomized complete block design (RCBD). The results demonstrated that wheat varieties' weed interference and production capabilities differed greatly. BARI Gom 22 permitted the most weed growth (35 m-2), whereas BARI Gom 23 allowed the least (15 m-2) at 60 DAS among the wheat types under study. Grain yield ranged between 4.42 t ha-1 (BARI Gom 20) and 5.45 t ha-1 (BARI Gom 26) in weed-free settings, whereas it fluctuated from 2.48 t ha-1 (BARI Gom 21) to 3.93 t ha-1(BARI Gom 33) in weedy condition. The extent of the relative yield loss brought on by weeds ranged from 24 to 53%, with BARI Gom 33 suffering the least and Binagom-1 suffering the most. The weed competitive index varied from 0.48 to 1.47 for the examined wheat types. Among the cultivars, Binagom-1 had the lowest WCI and BARI Gom 29 had the highest. Although BARI Gom 33 was the best yielder in weedy condition and had the lowest relative yield loss, its interference against weed was moderate. Relative to the other varieties under consideration, comparatively BARI Gom 33 was the best in terms of yield and weed interference, but it is also advocated that breeders should continually focus on developing a variety that has both excellent producing potential and robust weed suppression.

A gradient boosting classifier for purchase intention prediction of online shoppers.

Early purchase prediction plays a vital role for an e-commerce website. It enables e-shoppers to enlist consumers for product suggestions, offer discount and for many other interventions. Several work has already been done using session log for analyzing customer behavior whether he performs a purchase on the product or not. In most cases, it is difficult to find out and make a list of customers and offer them discount when their session ends. In this paper, we propose a customer's purchase intention prediction model where e-shoppers can detect customer's purpose earlier. First, we apply feature selection technique to select best features. Then the extracted features are fed to train supervised learning models. Several classifiers like support vector machine (SVM), random forest (RF), multilayer perceptron (MLP), decision tree (DT), and XGBoost classifiers have been applied along with oversampling method for balancing the dataset. The experiments were performed on a standard benchmark dataset. Experimental results show that XGBoost classifier with feature selection techniques and oversampling method has the significantly higher area under ROC curve (auROC) score and are under precision-recall curve (auPR) score which are 0.937 and 0.754 respectively. On the other hand accuracy achieved by XGBoost and Decision tree are significantly improved and they are 90.65% and 90.54% respectively. Overall performance of the gradient boosting method is significantly improved compared to other classifiers and state-of-the-art methods. In addition to this, a method for explainable analysis on the problem was outlined.

The Rise of 212 MAX Phase Borides: DFT Insights into the Physical Properties of Ti2PB2, Zr2PbB2, and Nb2AB2 [A = P, S] for Thermomechanical Applications.

In this article, ab initio calculations of unexplored Ti2PB2, Zr2PbB2, and Nb2AB2 [A = P, S] were performed wherein Ti2PB2 along with its 211 boride phase Ti2PB was predicted for the first time. The stability was confirmed by calculating the formation energy, phonon dispersion curve, and elastic stiffness constants. The obtained elastic constants, elastic moduli, and Vickers hardness values of Ti2PB2, Zr2PbB2, and Nb2AB2 [A = P, S] were found to be significantly larger than those of their counterparts 211 borides and carbides. The studied compounds are brittle, like most MAX and MAB phases. The electronic band structure and density of states revealed the metallic nature of the titled borides. Several thermal parameters were explored, certifying the suitability of Ti2PB2, Zr2PbB2, and Nb2AB2 [A = P, S] to be used as efficient thermal barrier coating materials. The response of Ti2PB2, Zr2PbB2, and Nb2AB2 [A = P, S] to the incident photon was studied by computing the dielectric constant (real and imaginary parts), refractive index, absorption coefficient, photoconductivity, reflectivity, and energy loss function. In this work, we have explored the physical basis of the improved thermomechanical properties of 212 MAX phase borides compared to their existing carbide and boride counterparts.

The Climatic Impact-Driver Framework for Assessment of Risk-Relevant Climate Information.

The climate science and applications communities need a broad and demand-driven concept to assess physical climate conditions that are relevant for impacts on human and natural systems. Here, we augment the description of the "climatic impact-driver" (CID) approach adopted in the Working Group I (WGI) contribution to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Sixth Assessment Report. CIDs are broadly defined as "physical climate system conditions (e.g., means, events, and extremes) that affect an element of society or ecosystems. Depending on system tolerance, CIDs and their changes can be detrimental, beneficial, neutral, or a mixture of each across interacting system elements and regions." We give background information on the IPCC Report process that led to the development of the 7 CID types (heat and cold, wet and dry, wind, snow and ice, coastal, open ocean, and other) and 33 distinct CID categories, each of which may be evaluated using a variety of CID indices. This inventory of CIDs was co-developed with WGII to provide a useful collaboration point between physical climate scientists and impacts/risk experts to assess the specific climatic phenomena driving sectoral responses and identify relevant CID indices within each sector. The CID Framework ensures that a comprehensive set of climatic conditions informs adaptation planning and risk management and may also help prioritize improvements in modeling sectoral dynamics that depend on climatic conditions. CIDs contribute to climate services by increasing coherence and neutrality when identifying and communicating relevant findings from physical climate research to risk assessment and planning activities.

Exploration of the physical properties of the newly synthesized kagome superconductor LaIr3Ga2 using different exchange-correlation functionals.

LaIr3Ga2 is a kagome superconductor with a superconducting temperature (Tc) of 5.16 K. Here, we present the physical properties of the LaIr3Ga2 kagome superconductor computed via the DFT method wherein six different exchange-correlation functionals were used. The lattice parameters obtained using different functionals are reasonable, with a slight variation compared to experimental values. The bonding nature was explored. The elastic constants (Cij), moduli (B, G, Y), and Vickers hardness (Hv) were computed to disclose the mechanical behavior. The Hv values were estimated to be 2.56-3.16 GPa using various exchange-correlation functionals, indicating the softness of the kagome material. The Pugh ratio, Poisson's ratio, and Cauchy pressure revealed the ductile nature. In addition, mechanical stability was ensured based on the estimated elastic constants. The anisotropic mechanical behavior was confirmed via different anisotropic indices. The Debye temperature (ΘD), melting temperature (Tm), and minimum thermal conductivity (kmin) were calculated to characterize the thermal properties and predict the potential of LaIr3Ga2 as a thermal barrier coating material. The electronic density of states was investigated in detail. The McMillan equation was used to estimate Tc, and the electron-phonon coupling constant (λ) was calculated to explore the superconducting nature. The important optical constants were also calculated to explore its possible optoelectronic applications. The values of reflectivity in the IR-visible region are about 62% to 80%, indicating that the compound under study is suitable as a coating to reduce solar heating. The obtained parameters were compared with previously reported parameters, where available.

Nanostructured Hybrid Hydrogels for Solar-Driven Clean Water Harvesting from the Atmosphere.

The scarcity of useable water is severe and increasing in several regions of the Middle East, Central and Southern Asia, and Northern Africa. However, the earth's atmosphere contains 37.5 million billion gallons of water in the invisible vapor phase with fast replenishment. The United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification reports that by 2025 about 2.4 billion people will suffer from a lack of access to safe drinking water. Extensive research has been conducted during the last two decades to develop nature-inspired nanotechnology-based atmospheric water-harvesting technology (atmospheric water generator, AWG) to provide clean water to humanity. However, the performance of this technology is humidity sensitive, particularly when the relative humidity (RH) is high (>~80% RH). Moreover, the fundamental design principle of the materials system for harvesting atmospheric water is mostly unknown. In this work, we present a promising technology for solar energy-driven clean water production in arid and semi-arid regions and remote communities. A polymeric electrospun hybrid hydrogel consisting of deliquescent salt (CaCl2) and nanomaterials was fabricated, and the atmospheric water vapor harvesting capacity was measured. The harvested water was easily released from the hydrogel under regular sunlight via the photothermal effect. The experimental tests of this hybrid hydrogel (PAN/AM/graphene/CaCl2) demonstrated the feasibility of around 1.04 L of freshwater production per kilogram of the hydrogel (RH 60%). The synergistic effect enabled by photothermal materials and deliquescent salt in the hydrogel network architecture presents controllable interaction with water molecules, simultaneously realizing efficient water harvesting. This technology requires no additional input of energy. When considering the global environmental challenges and exploring the available technologies, a sustainable clean water supply for households, industry, and agriculture can be achieved from the air using this economical and practical technology.

DFT insights into the electronic structure, mechanical behaviour, lattice dynamics and defect processes in the first Sc-based MAX phase Sc2SnC.

Here we employed the density functional theory calculations to investigate some physical properties of first Sc-based MAX phase Sc2SnC including defect processes to compare with those of existing M2SnC phases. The calculated structural properties are in good agreement with the experimental values. The new phase Sc2SnC is structurally, mechanically and dynamically stable. Sc2SnC is metallic with a mixture of covalent and ionic character. The covalency of Sc2SnC including M2SnC is mostly controlled by the effective valence. Sc2SnC in M2SnC family ranks second in the scale of deformability and softness. The elastic anisotropy level in Sc2SnC is moderate compared to the other M2SnC phases. The hardness and melting point of Sc2SnC, including M2SnC, follows the trend of bulk modulus. Like other members of the M2SnC family, Sc2SnC has the potential to be etched into 2D MXenes and has the potential to be a thermal barrier coating material.

Allelopathic Properties of Lamiaceae Species: Prospects and Challenges to Use in Agriculture.

Herbicide resistance due to the increasing reliance on herbicides is a near-term challenge for the world's agriculture. This has led to a desire to develop new herbicides with a novel mode of action, to address resistance in weed species. Lamiaceae, a large dicotyledonous plant family, is very well known for the multitudinous pharmacological and toxicological properties of its member species. Moreover, many species of this family are significant for their allelopathic activity in natural and laboratory settings. Thus, plants in Lamiaceae have the potential to be sources of alternative herbicides. However, gaps in our knowledge need to be addressed prior to adopting these allelopathic activities in agriculture. Therefore, we review the existing state of knowledge about the Lamiaceae family, the reported allelopathic properties of plant extracts, and their isolated allelochemicals under laboratory, greenhouse, and field conditions. In addition, we offer a perspective on existing challenges and future opportunities for adopting the allelopathic properties of Lamiaceae plant species for green agriculture.

Alkaline-Earth Metal Effects on Physical Properties of Ferromagnetic AVO3 (A = Ba, Sr, Ca, and Mg): Density Functional Theory Insights.

The effects of alkaline-earth metals on electronic, optical, thermodynamic, and physical properties of ferromagnetic AVO3 (A = Ba, Sr, Ca, and Mg) have been investigated by first-principles calculations within the GGA+U formalism based on density functional theory. The optimized structural parameters are in good agreement with the available experimental results that evaluate the reliability of our calculations. The cell and mechanical stability is discussed using the formation energy and Born stability criteria, respectively. The mechanical behaviors of AVO3 are discussed on the basis of the results of elastic constants, elastic moduli, Peierls stress, and Vickers hardness. The nature of the ductile-brittle transition of AVO3 compounds was confirmed by the values of Pugh's ratio, Poisson's ratio, and Cauchy pressure. The electronic band structures, as well as density of states, reveal the half-metallic behavior of BaVO3 and SrVO3. However, CaVO3 and MgVO3 exhibit spin-gapless and magnetic semiconductor characteristics, respectively. The microscopic origin of the transition from the half-metallic to semiconductor nature of AVO3 is rationalized using electronic properties. The presence of covalent, ionic, and metallic bonds in AVO3 compounds is found by the analysis of bonding properties. The single-band nature of half-metallic AVO3 is seen by observing hole-like Fermi surfaces in this study. Furthermore, the various thermodynamic and optical properties are calculated and analyzed. The refractive index suggests that AVO3 could be a potential candidate for applications to high-density optical data storage devices.

Cardiac myxomas: A narrative review.

Cardiac myxomas are common primary neoplasms of the heart. They are biologically benign but "functionally malignant" because of the potential for embolization. They arise most commonly from the left atrium, but no chambers of the heart are immune. They may be sporadic in the majority but also familial as a part of the Carney complex. Two morphological forms exist: polypoid and papillary. Polypoid myxomas often present with obstructive features, while the papillary forms are more prone to embolization. Histogenesis is still controversial; the current view centres around origin from the primitive pluripotent mesenchymal cells. They may be of giant proportion, be calcified or get infected. Clinical presentation typically involves the triad of intracardiac obstruction, embolic events and constitutional symptoms. Precordial examination findings may simulate those of mitral or tricuspid stenosis. The presence of tumour plop and change of the physical findings with changing position may help differentiation between the two. Echocardiography is the investigation of choice. Echogenic polypoid or papillary mobile mass within the atrial cavity remaining attached to the interatrial septum through a stalk are the tell-tale echocardiographic features. Cardiac magnetic resonance and computed tomographic scanning may have incremental diagnostic value. Histopathological examination reveals abundant loose myxoid stroma with scattered round, polygonal or stellate cells with dense irregular nuclei. Genetic testing may detect mutations in the PRKAR1A gene in the familial form of cardiac myxoma, i.e. the Carney complex. Surgical excision is the mainstay of treatment with low operative mortality, excellent postoperative survival and low recurrence rate. The current trend favours minimal-access surgery with or without robotic assistance. Physicians should have appropriate preparedness to make a timely diagnosis and enthusiastic treatment to avoid potentially fatal complications.

Coping with pandemics using social network sites: A psychological detachment perspective to COVID-19 stressors.

Prior research has often portrayed information technology (IT) as a stressor. In this paper, we propose and demonstrate that IT can also be an effective means of coping with life stressors, including those induced by pandemics such as COVID-19. We thus deviate from the common IT-as-a-stressor perspective and adopt an IT-as-a-coping-mechanism viewpoint. To this end, we apply the stressor-detachment model from organisational psychology to the use of social network sites (SNSs) in coping with stressors wrought by the COVID-19 pandemic. We examine psychological well-being as our dependant variable and introduce psychological detachment through SNS use as a mediator and moderator of the associations between psychological well-being and two COVID-19 stressors: work-family conflict and perceived isolation. We used structural equation modelling and tested this model with survey data collected from 398 professionals who were in lockdown and working from home during the pandemic. The results indicated that psychological detachment through SNS uses increased psychological well-being and that heightened work-family conflict motivated this detachment strategy. In contrast, consistent with helplessness and motivation-opportunity theories, perceived isolation as a stressor did not influence psychological detachment through SNS use. While perceived isolation directly reduced individual well-being, the effect of work-family conflict on well-being was contingent upon users' levels of psychological detachment through SNS use. These findings suggest that while psychological detachment through SNS use is an effective means of improving one's well-being, it can be positively or negatively affected by stressors. Our study contributes to research on technology-mediated strategies for coping with stress and the psychosocial implications of global pandemics.

BanglaSER: A speech emotion recognition dataset for the Bangla language.

The speech emotion recognition system determines a speaker's emotional state by analyzing his/her speech audio signal. It is an essential at the same time a challenging task in human-computer interaction systems and is one of the most demanding areas of research using artificial intelligence and deep machine learning architectures. Despite being the world's seventh most widely spoken language, Bangla is still classified as one of the low-resource languages for speech emotion recognition tasks because of inadequate availability of data. There is an apparent lack of speech emotion recognition dataset to perform this type of research in Bangla language. This article presents a Bangla language-based emotional speech-audio recognition dataset to address this problem. BanglaSER is a Bangla language-based speech emotion recognition dataset. It consists of speech-audio data of 34 participating speakers from diverse age groups between 19 and 47 years, with a balanced 17 male and 17 female nonprofessional participating actors. This dataset contains 1467 Bangla speech-audio recordings of five rudimentary human emotional states, namely angry, happy, neutral, sad, and surprise. Three trials are conducted for each emotional state. Hence, the total number of recordings involves 3 statements × 3 repetitions × 4 emotional states (angry, happy, sad, and surprise) × 34 participating speakers = 1224 recordings + 3 statements × 3 repetitions × 1 emotional state (neutral) × 27 participating speakers = 243 recordings, resulting in a total number of recordings of 1467. BanglaSER dataset is created by recording speech-audios through smartphones, and laptops, having a balanced number of recordings in each category with evenly distributed participating male and female actors, and would serve as an essential training dataset for the Bangla speech emotion recognition model in terms of generalization. BanglaSER is compatible with various deep learning architectures such as Convolutional neural networks, Long short-term memory, Gated recurrent unit, Transformer, etc. The dataset is available at https://data.mendeley.com/datasets/t9h6p943xy/5 and can be used for research purposes.