kcnj13 regulates pigment cell shapes in zebrafish and has diverged by cis-regulatory evolution between Danio species.

Teleost fish of the genus Danio are excellent models to study the genetic and cellular bases of pigment pattern variation in vertebrates. The two sister species Danio rerio and Danio aesculapii show divergent patterns of horizontal stripes and vertical bars that are partly caused by the divergence of the potassium channel gene kcnj13. Here, we show that kcnj13 is required only in melanophores for interactions with xanthophores and iridophores, which cause location-specific pigment cell shapes and thereby influence colour pattern and contrast in D. rerio. Cis-regulatory rather than protein coding changes underlie kcnj13 divergence between the two Danio species. Our results suggest that homotypic and heterotypic interactions between the pigment cells and their shapes diverged between species by quantitative changes in kcnj13 expression during pigment pattern diversification.

Growth-regulated co-occupancy of Mediator and Lsm3 at intronic ribosomal protein genes.

Mediator is a well-known transcriptional co-regulator and serves as an adaptor between gene-specific regulatory proteins and RNA polymerase II. Studies on the chromatin-bound form of Mediator revealed interactions with additional protein complexes involved in various transcription-related processes, such as the Lsm2-8 complex that is part of the spliceosomal U6 small nuclear ribonucleoprotein complex. Here, we employ Chromatin Immunoprecipitation sequencing (ChIP-seq) of chromatin associated with the Lsm3 protein and the Med1 or Med15 Mediator subunits. We identify 86 genes co-occupied by both Lsm3 and Mediator, of which 73 were intron-containing ribosomal protein genes. In logarithmically growing cells, Mediator primarily binds to their promoter regions but also shows a second, less pronounced occupancy at their 3'-exons. During the late exponential phase, we observe a near-complete transition of Mediator from these promoters to a position in their 3'-ends, overlapping the Lsm3 binding sites ∼250 bp downstream of their last intron-exon boundaries. Using an unbiased RNA sequencing approach, we show that transition of Mediator from promoters to the last exon of these genes correlates to reduction of both their messenger RNA levels and splicing ratios, indicating that the Mediator and Lsm complexes cooperate to control growth-regulated expression of intron-containing ribosomal protein genes at the levels of transcription and splicing.

Ultrafast Dynamics of Self-Trapped Excitons in Cs2AgInCl6:Al3+ Double Perovskite Nanocrystals.

It is a huge challenge to increase the photoluminescence (PL) of lead-free halide perovskites, and understanding the mechanism behind exciton dynamics can provide a valuable solution. Herein, we achieved enhanced broad-band emission at ambient conditions in Cs2AgInCl6 by tuning self-trapped excitons (STEs) through Al3+ doping. Cryogenic measurements showed an inhomogeneous nature of STE emission due to the presence of defect states and is subject to thermal quenching. An increased Huang-Rhys factor (S-factor) resulted in better electron-phonon coupling and high-density STE states post Al3+ doping. Femtosecond transient absorption (fs-TA) results provided insights into the distribution dynamics of excitons, which occurs through gradient energy levels from free excitons (FE) to STEs, where each STE state potentially possesses higher quantized energy states. Overall, this study aims to comprehend the origins of self-trapping and decay of STEs in Cs2AgInCl6:Al3+ and emphasizes the potential of compositional engineering to mitigate self-trapping in this material.

Genetics in Drug Discovery.

Drug discovery is a complex process with high attrition rate: only about half of the compounds in advanced preclinical stages actually enter human trials. Key to these failures is our lack of understanding of human biology and the difficulties in translating our preclinical knowledge into cures. Here, we examine how genetics can be leveraged in drug discovery to understand and alter human biology.

Activated Mn-MACHO Complexes Form Stable CO2 Adducts.

Manganese(I) carbonyl complexes bearing a MACHO-type ligand (HN(CH2 CH2 PR2 )2 ) readily react in their amido form with CO2 to generate 4-membered {Mn-N-C-O} metallacycles. The stability of the adducts decreases with the steric demand of the R groups at phosphorous (R=isopropyl>adamantyl). The CO2 -adducts display generally a lower reactivity as compared to the parent amido complexes. These adducts can thus be interpretated as masked forms of the active amido catalysts and potentially play important roles as off-loop species or branching points in catalytic transformations of carbon dioxide.

Toward Rational Design of Mononuclear Nickel Complexes as Water Oxidation Catalysts Exploring the Ligand Effects on the Rate-Determining Step.

The major impediment in realizing a carbon-neutral hydrogen fuel economy is the cost and inadequacy of contemporary electrochemical water splitting approaches towards the energy intensive oxygen evolution reaction (OER). The O-O bond formation in the water oxidation half-cell reaction is both kinetically and thermodynamically challenging and amplifies the overpotential requirement in most of the active water oxidation catalysts. Herein, density functional theory is employed to interrogate 20 Ni(II) complexes, out of which 17 are in silico designed molecular water oxidation catalysts, coordinated to electron-rich tetra-anionic redox non-innocent phenylenebis(oxamidate) and dibenzo-1,4,7,10-tetraazacyclododecane-2,3,8,9-tetraone parent ligands and their structural analogues, and identify the role of substituent changes or ligand effects in the order of their reactivity. Importantly, our computational mechanistic analyses predict that the activation free energy of the rate-determining O-O bond formation step obeys an inverse scaling relationship with the global electrophilicity index of the intermediate generated on two-electron oxidation of the starting complex. Additionally, the driving force is directly correlated with this OER descriptor which enables two-dimensional volcano representation and thereby extrapolation towards the ideal substitution with the chosen ligand. Our study, therefore, establish fundamental insights to overcome the imperative overpotential issue with simple and precise computational rationalization preceding experimental validation.

Pathway Complexity in Supramolecular Copolymerization and Blocky Star Copolymers by a Hetero-Seeding Effect.

This study unravels the intricate kinetic and thermodynamic pathways involved in the supramolecular copolymerization of the two chiral dipolar naphthalene monoimide (NMI) building blocks (O-NMI and S-NMI), differing merely by a single heteroatom (oxygen vs sulfur). O-NMI exhibits distinct supramolecular polymerization features as compared to S-NMI in terms of its pathway complexity, hierarchical organization, and chiroptical properties. Two distinct self-assembly pathways in O-NMI occur due to the interplay between the competing dipolar interactions among the NMI chromophores and amide-amide hydrogen (H)-bonding that engenders distinct nanotapes and helical fibers, from its antiparallel and parallel stacking modes, respectively. In contrast, the propensity of S-NMI to form only a stable spherical assembly is ascribed to its much stronger amide-amide H-bonding, which outperforms other competing interactions. Under the thermodynamic route, an equimolar mixture of the two monomers generates a temporally controlled chiral statistical supramolecular copolymer that autocatalytically evolves from an initially formed metastable spherical heterostructure. In contrast, the sequence-controlled addition of the two monomers leads to the kinetically driven hetero-seeded block copolymerization. The ability to trap O-NMI in a metastable state allows its secondary nucleation from the surface of the thermodynamically stable S-NMI spherical "seed", which leads to the core-multiarmed "star" copolymer with reversibly and temporally controllable length of the growing O-NMI "arms" from the S-NMI "core". Unlike the one-dimensional self-assembly of O-NMI and its random co-assembly with S-NMI, which are both chiral, unprecedentedly, the preferred helical bias of the nucleating O-NMI fibers is completely inhibited by the absence of stereoregularity of the S-NMI "seed" in the "star" topology.

Two-Dimensional Halide Pb-Perovskite-Double Perovskite Epitaxial Heterostructures.

Epitaxial heterostructures of two-dimensional (2D) halide perovskites offer a new platform for studying intriguing structural, optical, and electronic properties. However, difficulties with the stability of Pb- and Sn-based heterostructures have repeatedly slowed the progress. Recently, Pb-free halide double perovskites are gaining a lot of attention due to their superior stability and greater chemical diversity, but they have not been successfully incorporated into epitaxial heterostructures for further investigation. Here, we report epitaxial core-shell heterostructures via growing Pb-free double perovskites (involving combinations of Ag(I)-Bi(III), Ag-Sb, Ag-In, Na-Bi, Na-Sb, and Na-In) around Pb perovskite 2D crystals. Distinct from Pb-Pb and Pb-Sn perovskite heterostructures, growths of the Pb-free shell at 45° on the (100) surface of the lead perovskite core are observed in all Pb-free cases. The in-depth structural analysis carried out with electron diffraction unequivocally demonstrates the growth of the Pb-free shell along the [110] direction of the Pb perovskite, which is likely due to the relatively lower surface energy of the (110) surface. Furthermore, an investigation of anionic interdiffusion across heterostructure interfaces under the influence of heat was carried out. Interestingly, halide anion diffusion in the Pb-free 2D perovskites is found to be significantly suppressed as compared to Pb-based 2D perovskites. The great structural tunability and excellent stability of Pb-free perovskite heterostructures may find uses in electronic and optoelectronic devices in the near future.

The management of depression: the evidence speaks for itself.

Comparing the recommendations of two recently published national clinical practice guidelines for depression, this editorial highlights the concordance of advice concerning the selection and sequencing of therapies. Lifestyle and psychological interventions feature prominently and there is broad agreement regarding medication choice and optimisation strategies. The guidelines are therefore a useful resource.

PTPAMP: prediction tool for plant-derived antimicrobial peptides.

The emergence of antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) as a potential alternative to conventional antibiotics has led to the development of efficient computational methods for predicting AMPs. Among all organisms, the presence of multiple genes encoding AMPs in plants demands the development of a plant-based prediction tool. To this end, we developed models based on multiple peptide features like amino acid composition, dipeptide composition, and physicochemical attributes for predicting plant-derived AMPs. The selected compositional models are integrated into a web server termed PTPAMP. The designed web server is capable of classifying a query peptide sequence into four functional activities, i.e., antimicrobial (AMP), antibacterial (ABP), antifungal (AFP), and antiviral (AVP). Our models achieved an average area under the curve of 0.95, 0.91, 0.85, and 0.88 for AMP, ABP, AFP, and AVP, respectively, on benchmark datasets, which were ~ 6.75% higher than the state-of-the-art methods. Moreover, our analysis indicates the abundance of cysteine residues in plant-derived AMPs and the distribution of other residues like G, S, K, and R, which differ as per the peptide structural family. Finally, we have developed a user-friendly web server, available at the URL: http://www.nipgr.ac.in/PTPAMP/ . We expect the substantial input of this predictor for high-throughput identification of plant-derived AMPs followed by additional insights into their functions.

Bi2Te2Se and Sb2Te3 heterostructure based photodetectors with high responsivity and broadband photoresponse: experimental and theoretical analysis.

Topological insulators have emerged as one of the most promising candidates for the fabrication of novel electronic and optoelectronic devices due to the unique properties of nontrivial Dirac cones on the surface and a narrow bandgap in the bulk. In this work, the Sb2Te3 and Bi2Te2Se materials, and their heterostructure are fabricated by metal-organic chemical vapour deposition and evaporation techniques. Photodetection of these materials and their heterostructure shows that they detect light in a broadband range of 600 to 1100 nm with maximum photoresponse of Sb2Te3, Bi2Te2Se and Sb2Te3/Bi2Te2Se at 1100, 1000, and 1000 nm, respectively. The maximum responsivity values of Sb2Te3, Bi2Te2Se, and their heterostructure are 183, 341.8, and 245.9 A W-1 at 1000 nm, respectively. A computational study has also been done using density functional theory (DFT). Using the first-principles methods based on DFT, we have systematically investigated these topological insulators and their heterostructure's electronic and optical properties. The band structures of Sb2Te3 and Bi2Te2Se thin films (3 QL) and their heterostructure are calculated. The bandgaps of Sb2Te3 and Bi2Te2Se are 26.4 and 23 meV, respectively, while the Sb2Te3/Bi2Te2Se heterostructure shows metallic behaviour. For the optical properties, the dielectric function's real and imaginary parts are calculated using DFT and random phase approximation (RPA). It is observed that these topological materials and their heterostructure are light absorbers in a broadband range, with maximum absorption at 1.90, 2.40, and 3.21 eV.

CuMoO4 nanorods-based acetone chemiresistor-enabled non-invasive breathomic-diagnosis of human diabetes and environmental monitoring.

A nano-enabled low-trace monitoring system for acetone has the potential to revolutionize breath omics-based non-invasive diagnosis of human diabetes and environmental monitoring technologies. This unprecedented study presents the state-of-the-art facile and economic template-assisted hydrothermal route to fabricate novel CuMoO4 nanorods for room temperature breath and airborne acetone detection. Physicochemical attribute analysis reveals the formation of crystalline CuMoO4 nanorods with diameters ranging from 90 to 150 nm, and an optical band gap of approximately 3.87 eV. CuMoO4 nanorods-based chemiresistor demonstrates excellent acetone monitoring performance, with a sensitivity of approximately 33.85 at a concentration of 125 ppm. Acetone detection is rapid, with a response time of 23 s and fast recovery within 31 s. Furthermore, the chemiresistor exhibits long-term stability and selectivity towards acetone, compared to other interfering volatile organic compounds (VOCs) commonly found in human breath such as ethanol, propanol, formaldehyde, humidity, and ammonia. The linear detection range of acetone from 25 to 125 ppm achieved by the fabricated sensor is well-suited for human breath-based diagnosis of diabetes. This work represents a significant advancement in the field, as it offers a promising alternative to time-consuming and costly invasive biomedical diagnostics, with the potential for application in cleanroom facilities for indoor contamination monitoring. The utilization of CuMoO4 nanorods as sensing nanoplatform opens new possibilities for the development of nano-enabled, low-trace acetone monitoring technologies for non-invasive diabetes diagnosis and environmental sensing applications.

Double transplantation as a climate resilient and sustainable resource management strategy for rice production in eastern Uttar Pradesh, north India.

-Enhancing the productivity of rainfed crops, especially rice, while coping with climate adversities and saving critical natural resources is essential for ensuring the food and nutrition security of a growing population. With this context, the present study was undertaken to validate promising farm innovation and adaptation practices used by small-medium landholding farmers for rice cultivation in eastern Uttar Pradesh (UP), north India, as well as to examine the sustainability of innovative practices for large-scale adoption. For this, a 3-year study comprising extensive field surveys and experiments was undertaken to compare single transplantation (ST) and double transplantation (DT) in rice along with organic addition (farm-yard manure, FYM) on crop growth, yield, climate resilience, soil quality, and overall sustainability i.e., social (women involvements and labour productivity), environmental (water productivity and nutrient use efficiency), and economic (benefit:cost ratio) dimensions of sustainability. Field experiments were conducted in triplicate using two local rice varieties (MotiNP-360 and Sampurna Kaveri) in two agroclimatic zones, namely the middle Gangetic plains and the Vindhyan zone, in the Mirzapur district of eastern Uttar Pradesh. The DT practices of rice with and without farm yard manure (FYM) (replacing at a dose of 25% NPK) were evaluated over conventional methods of rice cultivation (i.e., ST, as control) and analysis was done periodically. The DT practice improved growth (p < 0.05), percent fertile tiller and grain (p < 0.05), and rice yield (15-20% higher than ST), while also improving soil quality, yield indices, water and labour productivity, and the benefit-cost ratio. The DT practice also resulted in early maturity (10-15 days earlier than ST), created more labour days for women, decreased lodging and pest/disease incidence, as well as a subsequent reduction in the use of synthetic chemical pesticides and associated environmental costs. Importantly, the residual effects of FYM application significantly improved (p < 0.05) the grain yield in subsequent years of cropping. Optimizing DT cultivation practices, preferably with FYM input for various agro-climatic regions, is essential for large-scale sustainable rice production under changing climatic conditions.

A Density Functional Study on Ethylene Trimerization and Tetramerization Using Real Sasol Cr-PNP Catalysts.

To gain molecular-level insight into the intricate features of the catalytic behavior of chromium-diphosphine complexes regarding ethylene tri- and tetramerizations, we performed density functional theory (DFT) calculations. The selective formation of 1-hexene and 1-octene by the tri- and tetramerizations of ethylene are generally accepted to follow the metallacycle mechanism. To explore the mechanism of ethylene tri- and tetramerizations, we used a real Sasol chromium complex with a nitrogen-bridged diphosphine ligand with ortho- and para-methoxyaryl substituents. We explore the trimerization mechanism for ethylene first and, later on for comparison, we extend the potential energy surfaces (PES) for the tetramerization of ethylene with both catalysts. The calculated results reveal that the formation of 1-hexene and 1-octene with the ortho-methoxyaryl and para-methoxyaryl Cr-PNP catalysts have nearly similar potential energy surfaces (PES). From the calculated results important insights are gained into the tri- and tetramerizations. The tetramerization of ethylene with the para-methoxyaryl Cr-PNP catalyst lowers the barrier height by ~2.6 kcal/mol compared to that of ethylene with the ortho-methoxyaryl Cr-PNP catalyst. The selectivity toward trimerization or tetramerization comes from whether the energy barrier for ethylene insertion to metallacycloheptane is higher than ß-hydride transfer to make 1-hexene. The metallacycle mechanism with Cr (I)-Cr (III) intermediates is found to be the most favored, with the oxidative coupling of the two coordinated ethylenes to form chromacyclopentane being the rate-determining step.

Multipurpose Benefits of an Underexplored Species Purslane (Portulaca oleracea L.): A Critical Review.

Sustainable food production through integrating knowledge of indigenous and local communities has significance for meeting the UN-SDGs (sustainable development goals). The majority of the food supply comes from cereal crops, which are exceptionally delicate to changing weather and climate conditions. Therefore, climate-resilient underutilized local crops may be a good option to be considered as potential crops for dietary diversification. The present review on Portulaca oleracea L. commonly called Purslane, having remarkable nutritional, medicinal, and pharmacological, and phytoremediation properties show significance. It is highly nutritious and has all essential minerals, vitamins, and proteins. About 93% of water, 3% of carbohydrates, and 2% of protein are present in raw Purslane. It contains dietary minerals like potassium, magnesium, calcium, phosphorus, iron, etc. Potassium is the most abundant electrolyte present in Purslane. It contains the highest content of vitamin among green leafy vegetables. There are four different types of omega-3 fatty acids found in Purslane. This is required for typical wellbeing, improvement and anticipation of various cardiovascular illnesses, and upkeep of a sound resistant framework. Purslane (Portulaca oleracea L.) species is highly nutritious and can be easily grown with high production efficiency in tropical, subtropical, and underdeveloped districts of the world. The species can be easily cultivated and act as an ideal substitute for resource-poor farmers in the developing region. Considering immense nourishing benefits, this species has great potential for its utilization in the future under changing climate. Further, the species has a huge scope that can be advantageous for accomplishing the food and health benefits at the local and regional levels and may preserve agro-biodiversity for sustainable development.

Post-COVID-19 Arterial Thrombotic Events among Three Major Permutations of COVID-19.

BACKGROUND: Post-COVID-19 thrombotic events are a crucial trouble of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection, affecting hundreds of thousands of people internationally. Further proof is needed at the chance of putting up COVID-19 thrombotic activities after infection with specific editions of COVID-19. In the gift state of affairs, when the maximum of human beings gets vaccinated, COVID-19 sickness is less likely. However, the remnants of preceding COVID-19 infections are nonetheless a sizeable fitness burden. METHODS: This prospective, observational, comparative, and analytical look at a total of 3,220 COVID-19 sufferers who visited the medical institution. We covered 1,050 sufferers of α-variants; 1,275 sufferers of δ-variants; 895 sufferers of Omicron variations; from June to November 2020, March to July 2021, and January to April 2022, respectively. The affected person's records concerning demography, clinical profile, comorbidities, the severity of the disorder, clinic stay, and vaccination repute were accrued and all sufferers have been accompanied up for 6 months of duration. The sufferers who evolved post-COVID-19 thrombotic events have been approached to gather records regarding demography, comorbidities, the severity of the disease, and vaccination assay. All accumulated information has been tabulated, compiled, and analyzed to examine the post-COVID-19 thrombotic occasions among exceptional variants of COVID-19. RESULTS: A complete of 246 (7.48%) patients [190 (14.90%) of the δ-variant, 41 (3.90%) of the α-variant, and 15 (1.68%) of Omicron version] evolved post-COVID-19 thrombotic occasions at some stage in their comply with-up period. In this observation, distinctly popular post-COVID-19 thrombotic occasions changed into coronary artery ailment (50.00%) which turned followed via cerebral vascular sickness (38.61%), abdominal vessels disease (5.69%), and peripheral artery disease (5.69%). These thrombotic occasions were not unique to any variations of SARS-CoV-2. The distinction of implying the age of patients suffering from post-COVID-19 thrombotic activities became statistically giant (p < 0.05) in comparison amongst all versions. At the time of analysis of COVID-19, 86.17% of sufferers with put-up COVID-19 thrombotic occasions had slight to excessive sickness whilst 13.82% had slight to asymptomatic disorder. The common time length to develop and publish COVID-19 thrombotic events for δ 137.18, Omicron 145.18, and α-version turned 149.85 days. CONCLUSION: Sufferers inflamed with the δ-variant of COVID-19 are greater vulnerable to developing submit COVID-19 thrombotic events with minimum hazard within the Omicron version and intermediate risk within the α-version. The hazard of submitting COVID-19 thrombotic activities is directly proportional to the severity of the sickness.

Microscopic and Transcriptomic Analyses of Dalbergoid Legume Peanut Reveal a Divergent Evolution Leading to Nod-Factor-Dependent Epidermal Crack-Entry and Terminal Bacteroid Differentiation.

Root nodule symbiosis (RNS) is the pillar behind sustainable agriculture and plays a pivotal role in the environmental nitrogen cycle. Most of the genetic, molecular, and cell-biological knowledge on RNS comes from model legumes that exhibit a root-hair mode of bacterial infection, in contrast to the Dalbergoid legumes exhibiting crack-entry of rhizobia. As a step toward understanding this important group of legumes, we have combined microscopic analysis and temporal transcriptome to obtain a dynamic view of plant gene expression during Arachis hypogaea (peanut) nodule development. We generated comprehensive transcriptome data by mapping the reads to A. hypogaea, and two diploid progenitor genomes. Additionally, we performed BLAST searches to identify nodule-induced yet-to-be annotated peanut genes. Comparison between peanut, Medicago truncatula, Lotus japonicus, and Glycine max showed upregulation of 61 peanut orthologs among 111 tested known RNS-related genes, indicating conservation in mechanisms of nodule development among members of the Papilionoid family. Unlike model legumes, recruitment of class 1 phytoglobin-derived symbiotic hemoglobin (SymH) in peanut indicates diversification of oxygen-scavenging mechanisms in the Papilionoid family. Finally, the absence of cysteine-rich motif-1-containing nodule-specific cysteine-rich peptide (NCR) genes but the recruitment of defensin-like NCRs suggest a diverse molecular mechanism of terminal bacteroid differentiation. In summary, our work describes genetic conservation and diversification in legume-rhizobia symbiosis in the Papilionoid family, as well as among members of the Dalbergoid legumes.[Formula: see text] Copyright © 2022 The Author(s). This is an open access article distributed under the CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license.

Synthesis, Biological Activity and Molecular Docking Studies of Heterocyclic Chalcones.

Nineteen heterocyclic chalcones were synthesized from 4-acetyl-5-methylquinolylpyrazole and heteroaryl (imidazole, pyrazole, thiophene, indole and triazole) aldehydes and were screened in vitro using four tumor cell lines for their cytotoxic capability and for antimicrobial activity. The chalcone 5b exhibited the highest activity with IC50 values 2.14 µM against colon (HCT-116) and 5.0 µM, against prostate (PC-3) cancer cell lines and also displayed good activity against fungal strain (A. niger) with MIC value 9.1 µM. The chalcones 5q and 5p displayed good activity against bacterial strains (S. aureus) having MIC value 2.6 µM and fungal strain (C. albicans) having MIC value 5.4 µM, respectively. The molecular docking outcome revealed that the synthesized heterocyclic chalcones demonstrated hydrogen bond, hydrophobic and electrostatic interactions with their respective biochemical targets.

Comparative physiological, biochemical and transcriptomic analysis of hexaploid wheat (T. aestivum L.) roots and shoots identifies potential pathways and their molecular regulatory network during Fe and Zn starvation.

The combined effect of iron (Fe) and zinc (Zn) starvation on their uptake and transportation and the molecular regulatory networks is poorly understood in wheat. To fill this gap, we performed a comprehensive physiological, biochemical and transcriptome analysis in two bread wheat genotypes, i.e. Narmada 195 and PBW 502, differing in inherent Fe and Zn content. Compared to PBW 502, Narmada 195 exhibited increased tolerance to Fe and Zn withdrawal by significantly modulating the critical physiological and biochemical parameters. We identified 25 core genes associated with four key pathways, i.e. methionine cycle, phytosiderophore biosynthesis, antioxidant and transport system, that exhibited significant up-regulation in both the genotypes with a maximum in Narmada 195. We also identified 26 microRNAs targeting 14 core genes across the four pathways. Together, core genes identified can serve as valuable resources for further functional research for genetic improvement of Fe and Zn content in wheat grain.

Establishment of SMS Dengue Severity Score.

BACKGROUND: Dengue infection is a disease that progresses rapidly to life-threatening conditions. Our goal was to develop a practical scoring system based on clinical profiles and routine tests to predict the severity of infection. METHODS: This cross-sectional observational study included 500 patients with dengue infection. Patient demographics, clinical symptoms, regular laboratory tests, and results were collected. Dengue infections are divided into three classes, depending on their severity: dengue fever (DF), dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF), and dengue shock syndrome (DSS). Based on the total score, patients were divided into three severities. RESULTS: Patients with DSS and DHF scored higher with worsening clinical features and routine laboratory tests compared to DF. Clinical predictors of severity include older age, increased white blood cell (WBC) count, increased hematocrit, increased prothrombin time, decreased platelet count, decreased blood pressure, presence of peri-gallbladder (GB) edema, third space loss, hepatomegaly, and other organ involvement. The severity range is 0-12, and the score is 0-3 for DF, 4-8 for DHF, and 9-12 for DSS. Based on the derived scores, patients were classified according to their original severity in 63% of cases. CONCLUSION: This dengue infection severity scores correctly classified patients according to their original severity grade of DF, DHF, or DSS. This scoring system helps to quickly assess dengue infections and start treatment according to the correct severity category.