Diagnosis and combating COVID-19 using wearable Oura smart ring with deep learning methods.

Since the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak keeps on spreading all through the world, scientists have been crafting varied technologies mainly focusing on AI for an approach to acknowledge the difficulties of the epidemic. In this current worldwide emergency, the clinical business is searching for new advancements to screen and combat COVID-19 contamination. Strategies used by artificial intelligence can stretch screen the spread of the infection, distinguish highly infected patients, and be compelling in supervising the illness continuously. The artificial intelligence anticipation can further be used for passing dangers by sufficiently dissecting information from past sufferers. International patient support with recommendations for population testing, medical care, notification, and infection control can help fight this deadly virus. We proposed the hybrid deep learning method to diagnose COVID-19. The layered approach is used here to measure the symptom level of the patients and to analyze the patient image data whether he/she is positive with COVID-19. This work utilizes smart AI techniques to predict and diagnose the coronavirus rapidly by the Oura smart ring within 24 h. In the laboratory, a coronavirus rapid test is prepared with the help of a deep learning model using the RNN and CNN algorithms to diagnose the coronavirus rapidly and accurately. The result shows the value 0 or 1. The result 1 indicates the person is affected with coronavirus and the result 0 indicates the person is not affected with coronavirus. X-Ray and CT image classifications are considered here so that the threshold value is utilized for identifying an individual's health condition from the initial stage to a severe stage. Threshold value 0.5 is used to identify coronavirus initial stage condition and 1 is used to identify the coronavirus severe condition of the patient. The proposed methods are utilized for four weighting parameters to reduce both false positive and false negative image classification results for rapid and accurate diagnosis of COVID-19.

Correction to: Diagnosis and combating COVID-19 using wearable Oura smart ring with deep learning methods.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1007/s00779-021-01541-4.].

Draft Genome Analysis of Acinetobacter indicus Strain UBT1, an Efficient Lipase and Biosurfactant Producer.

Acinetobacter indicus strain UBT1 has shown efficient lipase (243 U ml-1) and biosurfactant (61.1% E24% emulsification and surface tension reduction to 37.7 mN m-1) production capabilities using agro-industrial waste as sole carbon source. We report here the draft genome sequence of A. indicus strain UBT1 having genome size of 2.97 Mb with 45.90% GC content. Total 2721 coding genes were predicted using National Center for Biotechnology Information-Prokaryotic Genome Annotation Pipeline (NCBI-PGAP). The whole genome shotgun project sequence data are accessible through NCBI Gene Bank under accession no. JABFOI000000000. PGAP annotation revealed the presence of the triacylglycerol lipase, phospholipase etc., that circuitously confers the oil consumption competency to the strain UBT1. Rapid Annotation using the Subsystem Technology (RAST) server used for mapping the genes to the subsystem resulted in 278 subsystem with 30% subsystem coverage. The draft genome data can be used to exploit the A. indicus strain UBT1 for its advance biotechnological application and also for further comparative genomic studies.

Quantitative correlation of lumbar foraminal stenosis with local morphological metrics.

PURPOSE: Clinical evaluation of lumbar foraminal stenosis typically includes qualitative assessments of perineural epidural fat content around the spinal nerve root and evaluation of nerve root impingement. The present study investigates the use of several morphological MRI-derived metrics as quantitative predictors of foraminal stenosis grade. METHODS: 62 adult patients that underwent lumbar spine MRI evaluation over a 1-month duration in 2018 were included in the analysis. Radiological gradings of stenosis were captured from the existing clinical electronic medical record. Clinical gradings were recorded using a 0-5 scale: 0 = no stenosis, 1 = mild stenosis, 2 = mild-moderate stenosis, 3 = moderate stenosis, 4 = moderate-severe stenosis, 5 = severe stenosis. Quantitative measures of perineural epidural fat volume, nerve root cross-sectional area, and lumbar pedicle length were derived from T1 weighted sagittal spine MRI on each side of all lumbar levels. Spearman correlations of each measured metric at each level were then computed against the stenosis gradings. RESULTS: A total of 347 volumetric segmentation and radiological foraminal stenosis grade sets were derived from the 62-subject study cohort. Statistical analysis revealed significant correlations (p < 0.001) between the volume of perineural fat and stenosis grades for all lumbar vertebral levels. CONCLUSION: The results of the study have demonstrated that segmented volumes of perineural fat predict the severity of clinically scored foraminal stenosis. This finding motivates further development of automated perineural fat segmentation methods, which could offer a quantitative imaging biometric that yields more reproducible diagnosis, assessment, and tracking of foraminal stenosis.

In vitro propagation of infectious myonecrosis virus in C6/36 mosquito cell line.

Infectious myonecrosis (IMN) is an important shrimp viral disease caused by infectious myonecrosis virus (IMNV). Based on previous reports, an attempt was made to propagate IMNV in apparently healthy C6/36 subclone of Aedes albopictus cell line. The confirmatory assays such as RT-PCR, real-time PCR and bioassay revealed that C6/36 cells were found to be susceptible to IMNV and these cells could be used easily for isolation and propagation of IMNV. The results of real-time PCR assay showed that a lower CT value of 22.25 in IMNV-infected cells was obtained on 10 day post-infection (d p.i.), whereas the higher CT value of 35.21 was obtained in IMNV-infected cells on 2 d p.i. There is no significant difference between CT values of IMNV production in vitro using C6/36 cell line and in vivo using shrimp. The IMNV propagated in C6/36 cells is capable of infecting shrimp and caused 100% mortality in shrimp. Clinical signs observed in shrimp injected with IMNV propagated in C6/36 cell line were found to be similar to naturally infected shrimp.

Silencing of prophenoloxidase (proPO) gene in freshwater prawn, Macrobrachium rosenbergii, makes them susceptible to white spot syndrome virus (WSSV).

Prophenoloxidase (proPO) is very important to protect the invertebrates from microbial infections. Our previous studies revealed that proPO was up-regulated in WSSV-injected Macrobrachium rosenbergii and is responsible for protecting M. rosenbergii from WSSV. In order to prove this mechanism, an attempt was made in the present study to silence the proPO gene in freshwater prawn by injection of dsRNA-proPO followed by WSSV challenge. Two partial fragments of proPO with the size of 251 and 331 bp were used to synthesize dsRNA using LITMUS38i vector and E. coli. The bacterially synthesized dsRNA-proPO was used to silence proPO gene to determine its involvement in developing resistance in prawn against WSSV. In proPO gene-silenced prawn, 100% mortality was observed after WSSV challenge whereas no mortality was observed in prawn injected with WSSV alone. The WSSV infection in gene-silenced prawn was confirmed by PCR, and its propagation was quantified by ELISA and real-time PCR at different time intervals. Real-time PCR assay revealed a significant reduction in the expression of proPO gene in WSSV-challenged proPO-silenced prawn when compared to normal prawn. Level of proPO was reduced significantly in the haemolymph of proPO-silenced prawn when compared to prawn injected with PBS.

Multiple infections caused by white spot syndrome virus and Enterocytozoon hepatopenaei in pond-reared Penaeus vannamei in India and multiplex PCR for their simultaneous detection.

White leg shrimp, Penaeus vannamei, were collected on a monthly basis from grow-out ponds located at Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh states along the east coast of India for screening of viral and other pathogens. Totally 240 shrimp samples randomly collected from 92 farms were screened for white spot syndrome virus (WSSV), infectious hypodermal and haematopoietic necrosis virus (IHHNV), infectious myonecrosis virus (IMNV) and Enterocytozoon hepatopenaei (EHP). The number of shrimp collected from shrimp farms ranged from 6 to 20 based on the body weight of the shrimp. All the shrimp collected from one farm were pooled together for screening for pathogens by PCR assay. Among the samples screened, 28 samples were WSSV-positive, one positive for IHHNV and 30 samples positive for EHP. Among the positive samples, four samples were found to be positive for both WSSV and EHP, which indicated that the shrimp had multiple infections with WSSV and EHP. This is the first report on the occurrence of multiple infections caused by WSSV and EHP. Multiplex PCR (m-PCR) protocol was standardized to detect both pathogens simultaneously in single reaction instead of carrying out separate PCR for both pathogens. Using m-PCR assay, naturally infected shrimp samples collected from field showed two prominent bands of 615 and 510 bp for WSSV and EHP, respectively.

Cervical Cancer Identification with Synthetic Minority Oversampling Technique and PCA Analysis using Random Forest Classifier.

Cervical cancer is the fourth most communal malignant disease amongst women worldwide. In maximum circumstances, cervical cancer indications are not perceptible at its initial stages. There are a proportion of features that intensify the threat of emerging cervical cancer like human papilloma virus, sexual transmitted diseases, and smoking. Ascertaining those features and constructing a classification model to categorize, if the cases are cervical cancer or not is an existing challenging research. This learning intentions at using cervical cancer risk features to build classification model using Random Forest (RF) classification technique with the synthetic minority oversampling technique (SMOTE) and two feature reduction techniques recursive feature elimination and principle component analysis (PCA). Utmost medical data sets are frequently imbalanced since the number of patients is considerably fewer than the number of non-patients. For the imbalance of the used data set, SMOTE is cast-off to solve this problem. The data set comprises of 32 risk factors and four objective variables: Hinselmann, Schiller, Cytology and Biopsy. Accuracy, Sensitivity, Specificity, PPA and NPA of the four variables remains accurate after SMOTE when compared with values obtained before SMOTE. An RSOnto ontology has been created to visualize the progress in classification performance.

A new strain of white spot syndrome virus affecting Litopenaeus vannamei in Indian shrimp farms.

White spot syndrome virus (WSSV)-infected shrimp samples collected from grow-out ponds located at Nellore, Andhra Pradesh, India, showed WSSV negative and positive by PCR using primer sets specific to ORF119 and VP28 gene of WSSV, respectively. This indicated the deletion of genetic fragments in the genome of WSSV. The WSSV isolate along with lab strain of WSSV was subjected to next-generation sequencing. The sequence analysis revealed a deletion of 13,170 bp at five positions in the genome of WSSV-NS (new strain) relative to WSSV-TH and WSSV-LS (lab strain). The PCR analysis using the ORF's specific primer sets revealed the complete deletion of 10 ORFs in the genome of WSSV-NS strain. The primer set was designed based on sequence covering ORF161/162/163 to amplify a product of 2,748 bp for WSSV-LS and 402 bp for WSSV-NS. Our surveillance programme carried out since 2002 revealed the replacement of WSSV-LS by WSSV-NS in Indian shrimp culture system.

Biochemical changes and tissue distribution of Enterocytozoon hepatopenaei (EHP) in naturally and experimentally EHP-infected whiteleg shrimp, Litopenaeus vannamei (Boone, 1931), in India.

Stunted growth in pond-reared Litopenaeus vannamei was observed in different farms located in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, India. No mortality was associated with stunted growth. PCR assay on these samples revealed the presence of Enterocytozoon hepatopenaei (EHP) in stunted shrimp. Tissue distribution of EHP in naturally and experimentally infected shrimp was studied by PCR and histology. Histological examination revealed the presence of EHP in hepatopancreas and gut, but not in other organs. The PCR assay revealed the presence of EHP in all the organs tested in both naturally and experimentally infected shrimp. Healthy shrimp were challenged with E. hepatopenaei by intramuscular injection and oral route, and no mortality was observed in both routes after 30 days post-challenge. Different developmental stages of the microsporidian parasite were observed in the hepatopancreatic epithelial cells. Biochemical parameters such as total protein, albumin, aspartate transaminase (AST), alanine transaminase (ALT) and alkaline phosphatase were measured in the haemolymph of naturally and experimentally EHP-infected shrimp. All biochemical parameters mentioned were found to be significantly higher in EHP-infected shrimp when compared to normal shrimp. This is the first report relating AST and ALT levels to EHP infection in naturally and experimentally infected shrimp.

Studies on the occurrence of infectious myonecrosis virus in pond-reared Litopenaeus vannamei (Boone, 1931) in India.

Whiteleg shrimp, Litopenaeus vannamei, with clinical sign of muscle opaqueness with reddish colour at the distal abdominal segments were observed in farms located in West Bengal State, India. The mortality of shrimp in all disease outbreak ponds ranged from 20% to 50%, and mortality increased gradually. The RT-PCR assay of these samples using primer sets specific to infectious myonecrosis virus (IMNV) revealed its presence in the disease outbreak ponds. The IMNV infection was reproduced in healthy shrimp by intramuscular injection to satisfy River's postulates. The virus caused mortality in intramuscularly challenged shrimp, but failed to cause mortality by oral route. Tissue distribution of IMNV in infected shrimp by RT-PCR assay revealed the presence of this virus in haemolymph, gill, hepatopancreas and muscle. This study confirms that the disease outbreak which occurred in the shrimp farms located at Purba Medinipur District, West Bengal, India, was due to IMNV.

Kinetic and thermodynamic characterization of a halotolerant ß-galactosidase produced by halotolerant Aspergillus tubingensis GR1.

ß-Galactosidase from halotolerant Aspergillus tubingensis GR1 was purified by two-step purification process comprising ammonium sulfate precipitation followed by size exclusion chromatography (SEC). The recovery of ß-galactosidase after SEC was found to be 1.40% with 58.55-fold increase in specific activity. The molecular weight of ß-galactosidase protein was found to be 93 kDa by SDS-PAGE. Activation energy for O-nitrophenol ß-D-galactopyranoside (ONPG) hydrolysis was 32.88 kJ mol(-1), while temperature quotient (Q(10)) was found to be 1.375. The enzyme was found to be stable over wide pH range and thermally stable at 60-65°C up to 60 min of incubation while exhibited maximum activity at 65°C with pH 3.0. V(max), K(m), and K(cat) for ONPG were found to be 2000 U ml(-1), 8.33 mM (ONPG), and 101454 s(-1), respectively. Activation energy for irreversible inactivation Ea(d) of ß-galactosidase was 100.017 kJ mol(-1). Thermodynamic parameters of irreversible inactivation of ß-galactosidase and ONPG hydrolysis were also determined. However, ß-galactosidase enzyme activity was activated significantly in the presence of 15% NaCl and hence shows activity up to 30% NaCl concentration.

Neutralization of cobra venom by cocktail antiserum against venom proteins of cobra (Naja naja naja).

Naja naja venom was characterized by its immunochemical properties and electrophoretic pattern which revealed eight protein bands (14 kDa, 24 kDa, 29 kDa, 45 kDa, 48 kDa, 65 kDa, 72 kDa and 99 kDa) by SDS-PAGE in reducing condition after staining with Coomassie Brilliant Blue. The results showed that Naja venom presented high lethal activity. Whole venom antiserum or individual venom protein antiserum (14 kDa, 29 kDa, 65 kDa, 72 kDa and 99 kDa) of venom could recognize N. naja venom by Western blotting and ELISA, and N. naja venom presented antibody titer when assayed by ELISA. The neutralization tests showed that the polyvalent antiserum neutralized lethal activities by both in vivo and in vitro studies using mice and Vero cells. The antiserum could neutralize the lethal activities in in-vivo and antivenom administered after injection of cobra venom through intraperitoneal route in mice. The cocktail antiserum also could neutralize the cytotoxic activities in Vero cell line by MTT and Neutral red assays. The results of the present study suggest that cocktail antiserum neutralizes the lethal activities in both in vitro and in vivo models using the antiserum against cobra venom and its individual venom proteins serum produced in rabbits.

Production of recombinant capsid protein of Macrobrachium rosenbergii nodavirus (r-MCP43) of giant freshwater prawn, M. rosenbergii (de Man) for immunological diagnostic methods.

White tail disease (WTD) caused by Macrobrachium rosenbergii nodavirus (MrNV) and extra small virus (XSV) is a serious problem in prawn hatcheries. The gene for capsid protein of MrNV (MCP43) was cloned into pRSET B expression vector. The MCP43 protein was expressed as a protein with a 6-histidine tag in Escherichia coli GJ1158 with NaCl induction. This recombinant protein, which was used to raise the antiserum in rabbits, recognized capsid protein in different WTD-infected post-larvae and adult prawn. Various immunological methods such as Western blot, dot blot and ELISA techniques were employed to detect MrNV in infected samples using the antiserum raised against recombinant MCP43 of MrNV. The dot blot assay using anti-rMCP43 was found to be capable of detecting MrNV in WTD-infected post-larvae as early as at 24 h post-infection. The antiserum raised against r-MCP43 could detect the MrNV in the infected samples at the level of 100 pg of total protein. The capsid protein of MrNV estimated by ELISA using anti-rMCP43 and pure r-MCP43 as a standard was found to increase gradually during the course of infection from 24 h p.i. to moribund stage. The results of immunological diagnostic methods employed in this study were compared with that of RT-PCR to test the efficiency of antiserum raised against r-MCP43 for the detection of MrNV. The Western blot, dot blot and ELISA detected all MrNV-positive coded samples as detected by RT-PCR.

In vitro cytotoxic, genotoxic and oxidative stress of cypermethrin on five fish cell lines.

The indiscriminate use of pesticides and herbicides to enhance crop production has aroused great concern, because these products are likely to reach the aquatic environment, thereby posing a health concern for humans and aquatic species. Cypermethrin (CYP), a type II pyrethroid insecticide, is widely used in agriculture and for other purposes. Therefore a study was conducted for the assessment of cytotoxic, genotoxic and oxidative stress of CYP in IEG, CB, ICG, LRG and CSG cell lines at 24h exposure. The cytotoxic effect of CYP in IEG, CB, ICG, LRG and CSG cell lines was assessed using MTT, NR, AB and CB assays. Linear correlations between each EC50 values, of CYP resulting in 50% inhibition of cytotoxicity parameters after 24h exposure to CYP were calculated for IEG, CB, ICG, LRG and CSG cell lines using MTT, NR, AB and CB assays. Statistical analysis revealed good correlation with R(2)=0.90-0.939 for all combinations between endpoints employed. The percentage of DNA damage was assessed by comet assay in IEG, CB, ICG, LRG and CSG cells exposed to CYP. The results of antioxidant parameters obtained show a significant increase in lipid peroxidation (LPO) level and decreased level of GSH, SOD and CAT in IEG, CB, ICG, LRG and CSG cell lines after exposure to increasing CYP in a concentration-dependent manner. This work proves that fish cell lines could be used not only for cytotoxicity and genotoxicity studies but also for studying oxidative stress when exposed to environmental contaminants such as pesticides and other pollutants.

Some critical aspects of FT-IR, TGA, powder XRD, EDAX and SEM studies of calcium oxalate urinary calculi.

Urinary calculi constitute one of the oldest afflictions of humans as well as animals, which are occurring globally. The calculi vary in shape, size and composition, which influence their clinical course. They are usually of the mixed-type with varying percentages of the ingredients. In medical management of urinary calculi, either the nature of calculi is to be known or the exact composition of calculi is required. In the present study, two selected calculi were recovered after surgery from two different patients for detailed examination and investigated by using Fourier-Transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), thermo-gravimetric analysis (TGA), powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive analysis of X-rays (EDAX) techniques. The study demonstrated that the nature of urinary calculi and presence of major phase in mixed calculi could be identified by FT-IR, TGA and powder XRD, however, the exact content of various elements could be found by EDAX only.

Kinetic and Thermodynamic Characterization of Glucoamylase from Colletotrichum sp. KCP1.

Extracellular glucoamylase of Colletotrichum sp. KCP1 produced through solid state fermentation was purified by two steps purification process comprising ammonium sulphate precipitation followed by gel permeation chromatography (GPC). The Recovery of glucoamylase after GPC was 50.40 % with 19.3-fold increase in specific activity. The molecular weight of enzyme was found to be 162.18 kDa by native-PAGE and was dimeric protein of two sub-units with molecular weight of 94.62 and 67.60 kDa as determined by SDS-PAGE. Activation energy for starch hydrolysis was 26.45 kJ mol(-1) while temperature quotient (Q 10 ) was found to be 1.9. The enzyme was found to be stable over wide pH range and thermally stable at 40-50 °C up to 120 min while exhibited maximum activity at 50 °C with pH 5.0. The pKa1 and pKa2 of ionisable groups of active site controlling V max were 3.5 and 6.8, respectively. V max , K m and K cat for starch hydrolysis were found to be 58.82 U ml(-1), 1.17 mg (starch) ml(-1) and 449 s(-1), respectively. Activation energy for irreversible inactivation (E a(d)) of glucoamylase was 74.85 kJ mol(-1). Thermodynamic parameters of irreversible inactivation of glucoamylase and starch hydrolysis were also determined.

Artificial intelligence in neuroimaging: Opportunities and ethical challenges.

The integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into neuroimaging represents a transformative shift in the diagnosis and treatment of neurodegenerative diseases. AI algorithms, particularly deep learning models, have demonstrated remarkable capabilities in analyzing complex neuroimaging data, leading to enhanced diagnostic accuracy and personalized treatment strategies. This letter discusses the opportunities AI presents in neuroimaging, including improved disease detection, predictive modeling, and treatment planning. However, the rapid adoption of AI technologies also raises significant ethical challenges. Issues such as algorithmic bias, data privacy, and the interpretability of AI-driven insights must be addressed to ensure that these technologies are used responsibly and equitably. As neuroimaging continues to evolve, a collaborative approach involving researchers, clinicians, and ethicists is essential to navigate these challenges and maximize the benefits of AI in improving patient outcomes in neurodegenerative diseases.

Studies on Anticancer Effect of Methanolic Leaf Extract of Justicia gendarussa on Lung Cancer Cell Line.

Objective: The aim of study's goal was to look into the anticancer efficacy of a methanolic extract of Justicia gendarussa against a lung cancer cell line. Materials and Methods: Cell viability assays and cell and nuclear morphology examinations were used to evaluate the anticancer efficacy against methanolic extract of Justicia gendarussa on lung cancer cell lines. The IC50 doses were calculated using different concentrations of Justicia gendarussa extract (0, 10, 20, 40, 60, and 80 µg/mL). Results: The results of MTT (3-[4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl]-2,5-diphenyl-tetrazolium bromide) assay revealed that the percentage of viability in treated cells was significantly lower as compared with untreated control groups, which represented as 100%, and an inhibitory concentration of 40 µg/mL was observed. Under a phase-contrast microscope, morphological changes revealed cell shrinkage and cytoplasmic membrane blebbing. The apoptotic nuclei (intensely colored, broken nuclei, and compacted chromatin) were examined under a fluorescence microscope. Conclusions: The outcome of the research work on Justicia gendarussa was investigated for anticancer properties. The results revealed the proapoptotic and cytotoxic effects of Justicia gendarussa extract on lung cancer cell lines. From the above results and findings, it could be concluded that the Justicia gendarussa methanolic leaf extract exhibited potent anticancer activity against a lung cancer cell line. Further study needs to be conducted to investigate the active chemicals in the extract as well as the molecular mechanisms underlying its anticancer benefits.