Exploring the influence of invasive weed biochar on the sorption and dissipation dynamics of imazethapyr in sandy loam soil.

The management of invasive weeds on both arable and non-arable land is a vast challenge. Converting these invasive weeds into biochar and using them to control the fate of herbicides in soil could be an effective strategy within the concept of turning waste into a wealth product. In this study, the fate of imazethapyr (IMZ), a commonly used herbicide in various crops, was investigated by introducing such weeds as biochar, i.e., Parthenium hysterophorus (PB) and Lantana camara (LB) in sandy loam soil. In terms of kinetics, the pseudo-second order (PSO) model provided the best fit for both biochar-mixed soils. More IMZ was sorbed onto LB-mixed soil compared to PB-mixed soil. When compared to the control (no biochar), both PB and LB biochars (at concentrations of 0.2% and 0.5%) increased IMZ adsorption, although the extent of this effect varied depending on the dosage and type of biochar. The Freundlich adsorption isotherm provided a satisfactory explanation for IMZ adsorption in soil/soil mixed with biochar, with the adsorption process exhibiting high nonlinearity. The values of Gibb's free energy change (ΔG) were negative for both adsorption and desorption in soil/soil mixed with biochar, indicating that sorption was exothermic and spontaneous. Both types of biochar significantly affect IMZ dissipation, with higher degradation observed in LB-amended soil compared to PB-amended soil. Hence, the findings suggest that the preparation of biochar from invasive weeds and its utilization for managing the fate of herbicides can effectively reduce the residual toxicity of IMZ in treated agroecosystems in tropical and subtropical regions.

Interaction and Stability of Nanobubbles and Prenucleation Calcium Clusters during Ultrasonic Treatment of Hard Water.

To investigate the stability of nanobubbles in natural hard water, a series of eight samples ranging in hardness from 0 to 332 mg/L CaCO3 were sonicated for periods of 5-45 min with an ultrasonic horn. Conductivity, temperature, ζ-potential, composition, and pH of the water were analyzed, together with the crystal structure of any calcium carbonate precipitate. Quasi-stable populations of bulk nanobubbles in Millipore and soft water are characterized by a ζ-potential of -35 to -20 mV, decaying over 60 h or more. After sonicating the hardest waters for about 10 min, they turn cloudy due to precipitation of amorphous calcium carbonate when the water temperature reaches 40 °C; the ζ-potential then jumps from -10 to +20 mV and remains positive for several days. From an analysis of the change of conductivity of the hard water before and after sonication, it is estimated that 37 ± 5% of calcium was not originally in solution but existed in nanoscale prenucleation clusters, which decorate the nanobubbles formed in the early stages of sonication. Heating and charge screening in the nanobubble colloid cause the decorated bubbles to collapse or disperse, leaving an amorphous precursor of aragonite. Sonicating the soft supernatant increases its conductivity and pH and restores the negative ζ-potential associated with bulk nanobubbles, but there is no further precipitation. Our study of the correlation between nanobubble production and calcium agglomeration spanning the hardness and composition ranges of natural waters shows that the sonication method for introducing nanobubbles is viable only for hard water if it is kept cold; the stability of the nanobubble colloid will be reduced in any case by the presence of dissolved calcium and magnesium.

Safety and efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines: A systematic review and meta-analysis of controlled and randomized clinical trials.

Vaccines against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) have been discovered within a very small duration of time as compared to the traditional way for the development of vaccines, which raised the question about the safety and efficacy of the approved vaccines. The purpose of this study is to look at the effectiveness and safety of vaccine platforms against the incidence of COVID-19. The literature search was performed on PubMed/Medline, Cochrane, and clinical trials.gov databases for studies published between 1 January 2020 and 19 February 2022. Preferred Reporting Items for Systemic Review and Meta-Analysis Statement guidelines were followed. Among 284 articles received by keywords, a total of 11 studies were eligible according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria (studies in special populations, e.g., pregnant women, paediatric patients, editorials, case reports, review articles, preclinical and in vitro studies) of the study. A total of 247,186 participants were considered for randomisation at baseline, among them, 129,572 (52.42%) were provided with vaccine (Intervention group) and 117,614 (47.58%) with the placebo (Control group). A pooled fold change estimation of 0.19 (95% CI: 0.12-0.31, p < 0.0001) showed significant protection against the incidence of COVID-19 in the vaccines received group versus the placebo group. mRNA based, inactivated vaccines and non-replicating viral vector-based vaccines showed significantly protection against the incidence of COVID-19 compared to placebo with pooled fold change estimation was 0.08 (95% CI: 0.06-0.10), 0.20 (95% CI: 0.14-0.29) and 0.36 (95% CI: 0.28-0.46), respectively. Injection site discomfort and fatigue were the most common side effect observed in mRNA, non-replicating viral vector, inactivated, and protein subunit-based vaccines. All the approved vaccines were found safe and efficacious but mRNA-based vaccines were found to be more efficacious against SARS-CoV-2 than other platforms.

Transformer-based tool recommendation system in Galaxy.

BACKGROUND: Galaxy is a web-based open-source platform for scientific analyses. Researchers use thousands of high-quality tools and workflows for their respective analyses in Galaxy. Tool recommender system predicts a collection of tools that can be used to extend an analysis. In this work, a tool recommender system is developed by training a transformer on workflows available on Galaxy Europe and its performance is compared to other neural networks such as recurrent, convolutional and dense neural networks. RESULTS: The transformer neural network achieves two times faster convergence, has significantly lower model usage (model reconstruction and prediction) time and shows a better generalisation that goes beyond training workflows than the older tool recommender system created using RNN in Galaxy. In addition, the transformer also outperforms CNN and DNN on several key indicators. It achieves a faster convergence time, lower model usage time, and higher quality tool recommendations than CNN. Compared to DNN, it converges faster to a higher precision@k metric (approximately 0.98 by transformer compared to approximately 0.9 by DNN) and shows higher quality tool recommendations. CONCLUSION: Our work shows a novel usage of transformers to recommend tools for extending scientific workflows. A more robust tool recommendation model, created using a transformer, having significantly lower usage time than RNN and CNN, higher precision@k than DNN, and higher quality tool recommendations than all three neural networks, will benefit researchers in creating scientifically significant workflows and exploratory data analysis in Galaxy. Additionally, the ability to train faster than all three neural networks imparts more scalability for training on larger datasets consisting of millions of tool sequences. Open-source scripts to create the recommendation model are available under MIT licence at https://github.com/anuprulez/galaxy_tool_recommendation_transformers.

Synthesis of Hidden Subgroup Quantum Algorithms and Quantum Chemical Dynamics.

We describe a general formalism for quantum dynamics and show how this formalism subsumes several quantum algorithms, including the Deutsch, Deutsch-Jozsa, Bernstein-Vazirani, Simon, and Shor algorithms as well as the conventional approach to quantum dynamics based on tensor networks. The common framework exposes similarities among quantum algorithms and natural quantum phenomena: we illustrate this connection by showing how the correlated behavior of protons in water wire systems that are common in many biological and materials systems parallels the structure of Shor's algorithm.

Effect of glucocorticoids on the development of COVID-19-associated pulmonary aspergillosis: A meta-analysis of 21 studies and 5174 patients.

COVID-19-associated pulmonary aspergillosis (CAPA) remains a high mortality mycotic infection throughout the pandemic, and glucocorticoids (GC) may be its root cause. Our aim was to evaluate the effect of systemic GC treatment on the development of CAPA. We systematically searched the PubMed, Google Scholar, Scopus and Embase databases to collect eligible studies published until 31 December 2022. The pooled outcome of CAPA development was calculated as the log odds ratio (LOR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) using a random effect model. A total of 21 studies with 5174 patients were included. Of these, 20 studies with 4675 patients consisting of 2565 treated with GC but without other immunomodulators (GC group) and 2110 treated without GC or other immunomodulators (controls) were analysed. The pooled LOR of CAPA development was higher for the GC group than for the controls (0.54; 95% CI: 0.22, 0.86; p < .01). In the subgroups, the pooled LOR was higher for high-dose GC (0.90; 95% CI: 0.17, 1.62: p = .01) and dexamethasone (0.71; 95% CI: 0.35, 1.07; p < .01) but had no significant difference for low-dose GC (0.41; 95% CI: -0.07, 0.89; p = .09), and non-dexamethasone GC (0.21; 95% CI: -0.36, 0.79; p = .47), treated patients versus controls. GC treatment increases the risk of CAPA development, and this risk is particularly associated with the use of high-dose GC or dexamethasone treatment.

Arterial cannulation in adult critical care patients: A comparative study between ultrasound guidance and palpation technique / Canulación arterial en pacientes adultos de cuidados críticos: un estudio comparativo entre la guía ecográfica y la técnica palpatoria

Objective To compare first attempt success rate for ultrasound-guided (USG) versus direct palpation (DP) for radial, femoral, and dorsalis pedis artery cannulations in adult intensive care unit (ICU) patients. Design Prospective randomized clinical trial. Setting Mixed adult ICU of a University Hospital. Participants Adult patients (≥18 years) admitted to the ICU requiring invasive arterial pressure monitoring were included. Exclusion criteria were patients with a pre-existing arterial line and cannulated with other than a 20-gauge cannula for radial and dorsalis pedis artery. Intervention Comparison of arterial cannulation by USG versus palpation technique in radial, femoral and dorsalis pedis arteries. Main variables of interest Primary outcome was first attempt success rate, secondary outcomes were assessing time for cannulations, number of attempts, overall success rate, complications, and comparison of two techniques on patients requiring vasopressor. Results 201 patients were enrolled in study, with 99 randomized to DP group and 102 to USG group. Arteries (radial, dorsalis pedis, femoral) cannulated in both groups were comparable (P = .193). Arterial line was placed on first attempt in 85 (83.3%) in USG group versus 55 (55.6%) in DP group (P = .02). Cannulation time in USG group was significantly shorter compared to DP group. Conclusions In our study, USG arterial cannulation, compared to palpatory technique, had a higher success rate at first attempt and a shorter cannulation time (AU)

Objetivo Comparar la tasa de éxito al primer intento de la técnica eco-dirigida (USG) versus la técnica palpatoria para la canulación de la arteria radial, femoral y dorsal del pie en pacientes adultos de la unidad de cuidados intensivos (UCI). Diseño Ensayo clínico aleatorizado prospectivo. Ámbito UCI mixta de adultos de un Hospital Universitario. Participantes Se incluyeron pacientes adultos (≥18 años) ingresados en la UCI que requirieron monitorización invasiva de la presión arterial. Los criterios de exclusión fueron la presencia de un catéter arterial preexistente y canulados con una cánula distinta del calibre 20 para la arteria radial y dorsal del pie. Intervención Comparación de la canulación arterial por USG versus la técnica palpatoria en la arteria radial, femoral y pedia. Principales variables de interés El resultado primario fue la tasa de éxito al primer intento; los resultados secundarios fueron evaluar el tiempo requerido para lograr una canulación exitosa, el número de intentos, la tasa de éxito general, las complicaciones y la comparación de dos técnicas en pacientes que requirieron vasopresores. Resultados 201 pacientes fueron reclutados en el estudio, con 99 aleatorizados al grupo DP y 102 al grupo USG. El número de canulaciones en las tres arterias fue similar entre ambos grupos (P = ,193). La línea arterial se colocó en el primer intento en 85 (83,3%) en el grupo USG versus 55 (55,6%) en el grupo DP (P = ,02). El tiempo de canulación en el grupo USG fue significativamente menor en comparación con el grupo de DP. Conclusiones En nuestro trabajo, la canulación arterial ecodirigida, en comparación con la técnica palpatoria, tuvo una mayor tasa de éxito al primer intento y un menor tiempo de canulación (AU)

Use of appropriate statistical tools in biomedical research: Current trend & status.

Background & objectives: Due to lack of appropriate statistical knowledge, published research articles contain various errors related to the design, analysis and interpretation of results in the area of biomedical research. If research contains statistical error, however, costly, it may be of no use and the purpose of the investigation gets defeated. Many biomedical research articles published in different peer reviewed journals may retain several statistical errors and flaws in them. This study aimed to examine the trend and status of application of statistics in biomedical research articles. Study design, sample size estimation and statistical measures are crucial components of a study. These points were evaluated in published original research articles to understand the use or misuse of statistical tools. Methods: Three hundred original research articles from the latest issues of selected 37 journals were reviewed. These journals were from the five internationally recognized publication groups (CLINICAL KEY, BMJ Group, WILEY, CAMBRIDGE and OXFORD) accessible through the online library of SGPGI, Lucknow, India. Results: Among articles assessed under present investigation, 85.3 per cent (n=256) were observational, and 14.7 per cent (n=44) were interventional studies. In 93 per cent (n=279) of research articles, sample size estimation was not reproducible. The simple random sampling was encountered rarely in biomedical studies even though none of the articles was adjusted by design effect and, only five articles had used randomized test. The testing of assumption of normality was mentioned in only four studies before applying parametric tests. Interpretation & conclusions: In order to present biomedical research results with reliable and precise estimates based on data, the role of engaging statistical experts need to be appreciated. Journals must have standard rules for reporting study design, sample size and data analysis tools. Careful attention is needed while applying any statistical procedure as, it will not only help readers to trust in the published articles, but also rely on the inferences the published articles draw.

A Randomized Controlled Study of Robot-Assisted versus 3D Laparoscopic Radical Prostatectomy in Patients with Carcinoma Prostate.

Materials and Methods: A prospective randomized comparative study was performed from 1st January 2020 to 30th June 2021. All patients included were diagnosed with localized/locally advanced ca prostate. 60 patients fulfilling the inclusion and exclusion criteria were randomized into 2 groups. Groups A and B included patients who underwent robot-assisted radical prostatectomy and 3D laparoscopic transperitoneal radical prostatectomy, respectively. Various demographic, intraoperative, postoperative, and follow-up parameters were collected. Outcomes were evaluated in the form of the trifecta (continence, potency, and BCR-free status) and pentafecta rates (trifecta with no perioperative complications and negative surgical margins) in between the two groups. Results: The mean operative time in Group A was 137.83 mins ± 17.27 compared to 148.20 mins ± 26.16 in Group B. Trifecta rates in Group A and Group B were 43.3%, 63.3%, and 76.6% and 40%, 53.3%, and 70% at 1, 3, and 6 months. Pentafecta rates in Group A and Group B were 36.6%, 53.3%, and 70% and 33.3%, 40%, and 53.3% at 1, 3, and 6 months. Complication rates were 10% in Group A and 13.3% in Group B, respectively. Only one patient in our study (Group B) had a positive surgical margin. Conclusions: We conclude from our comparative study, that both robot-assisted and 3D laparoscopic transperitoneal radical prostatectomy are feasible and efficacious treatment modalities for achieving acceptable trifecta and pentafecta rates in managing ca prostate with earlier continence and shorter urethrovesical anastomosis time in the robotic arm.

Cost-Efficacy Analysis of Use of Frozen Section Histology for Margin Assessment During Breast Conservation Surgery in Breast Cancer Patients.

BACKGROUND: Margin assessment is an essential component of breast conservation surgery (BCS). Re-excision of infiltrated margin(s) detected on paraffin section histology (PSH) needs reoperation, adding time, inconvenience and cost. Intra-operative assessment of margins using frozen section histology (IFSH) can potentially obviate need for re-operation, thus facilitating one-step oncologically complete BCS. METHODS: IFSH and PSH reports of consecutive patients undergoing BCS (2010-2020) were reviewed. Accuracy and cost-efficacy of IFSH were assessed, considering PSH as gold standard. Cost of achieving oncologically complete BCS in whole cohort with IFSH (Scenario-A) was calculated and compared using appropriate statistical tests, with hospital costs for the cohort in a hypothetical Scenario-B, where IFSH was presumed not to have been used and all patients with infiltrated margin(s) on PSH would have been re-operated. RESULTS: Of the 367 patients screened, 39 were excluded due to incomplete IFSH data. Of 328 patients analyzed, 59 (18%) had one or more margins were reported infiltrated on IFSH, managed by re-excision or mastectomy in the same sitting, thus avoiding a reoperation. Additional 8 (2.4%) had involved margins on PSH (False negative IFSH). Significantly higher number of reoperations (p < 0.001) would have been needed in scenario-B. Average cost of the first operation with use of IFSH was Indian Rupees (INR) 25791 which included INR660 as IFSH cost. The average cost of reoperation was INR23724 which could be avoided in 59 (18%) by use of IFSH. The average cost per patient to achieve oncologically complete surgery in scenario A utilizing IFSH was significantly lower (p = 0.001) by INR3101 (11.7%), c.w. that in scenario B. Significant cost-saving with IFSH was maintained in cost-efficacy analysis undertaken with various higher and lower costs assumptions. CONCLUSIONS: Use of IFSH facilitates one-step oncologically complete BCS in majority of patients and results in considerable cost saving, resulting in avoidance of reoperations, besides preventing patient anxiety and delay in adjuvant treatment. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Clinical Trials Registry-India (CTRI/2021/08/035896).

Effect of soil amendments on the sorption behavior of atrazine in sandy loam soil.

The sorption behavior of pesticides applied during cultivation of crops is affected by amendments such as farm yard manure (FYM) and vermicompost (VC) during land preparation. Among pesticides, atrazine, a widely used herbicide in many crops, was analyzed for its kinetics and sorption behavior through the addition of FYM and VC in sandy loam soil. The pseudo-second-order (PSO) model best fit the kinetics results in the recommended dose of FYM and VC mixed soil. More atrazine was sorbed onto VC mixed soil than FYM mixed soil. In comparison to control (no amendment), both FYM and VC (1, 1.5, and 2%) increased atrazine adsorption, but the effect varied with dosage and type of amendment. The Freundlich adsorption isotherm adequately explained atrazine adsorption in soil/soil + (FYM/VC) mixtures, and the adsorption was highly nonlinear. The values of Gibb's free energy change (ΔG) were negative for both adsorption and desorption in soil/soil + (FYM/VC) mixtures, suggesting sorption was exothermic and spontaneous in nature. The results revealed that the application of amendments used by farmers interferes the availability, mobility, and infiltration of atrazine in the soil. Therefore, the findings of this study suggest that amendments such as FYM and VC can be effectively used to minimize the residual toxicity of atrazine-treated ago-ecosystems in tropical and sub-tropical regions.

Grid and Image Intensifier Improve Arthroscopic ACL Tunnel Position and Patient-Reported Outcomes.

Purpose: To evaluate the accuracy in the femoral and tibial tunnel placement after the use of fluoroscopy along with an indigenously designed grid method to assist in arthroscopic anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction as compared with the tunnel placement without using them and to validate the findings with computed tomography scan performed postoperatively along with assessing the functional outcome at a minimum of 3 years of follow-up. Methods: This was a prospective study conducted on patients who underwent primary anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction. Patients were included and segregated into a nonfluoroscopy (group B) and a fluoroscopy group (group A), and both had postoperative computed tomography scans so that femoral and tibial tunnel position could be evaluated. Scheduled follow-up occurred 3, 6, 12, 24, and 36 months' postoperatively. Patients were evaluated objectively with the Lachman test, measurement of range of motion, and functional outcome using patient-reported outcome measures, i.e., Tegner Lysholm Knee score, Knee injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score, and International Knee Documentation Committee subjective knee score. Results: A total of 113 subjects were included. There were 53 in group A and 60 in group B. The average location of femoral tunnel showed significant differences between the 2 groups. However, the variability in femoral tunnel location was significantly lower in group A as compared with group B for proximal-distal planes only. The average location of the tibial tunnel as per the grid of Bernard et al. showed significant differences in both the planes. The variability in tibial tunnel was greater in the medial-lateral plane as compared with the anterior-posterior plane. There was a statistically significant difference in mean value of the 3 scores among the 2 groups. The variability of the scores was greater in group B as compared with group A. None of the patient was reported as a failure. Conclusions: The results of our study suggests that fluoroscopy-guided positioning using a grid technique increases the accuracy of anterior cruciate ligament tunnel positioning with decreased variability and is associated with better patient-reported outcomes 3 years after surgery compared with tunnel positioning using landmarks. Level of Evidence: Level II, prospective, comparative therapeutic trial.

Arterial cannulation in adult critical care patients: A comparative study between ultrasound guidance and palpation technique.

OBJECTIVE: To compare first attempt success rate for ultrasound-guided (USG) versus direct palpation (DP) for radial, femoral, and dorsalis pedis artery cannulations in adult intensive care unit (ICU) patients. DESIGN: Prospective randomized clinical trial. SETTING: Mixed adult ICU of a University Hospital. PARTICIPANTS: Adult patients (≥18 years) admitted to the ICU requiring invasive arterial pressure monitoring were included. Exclusion criteria were patients with a pre-existing arterial line and cannulated with other than a 20-gauge cannula for radial and dorsalis pedis artery. INTERVENTION: Comparison of arterial cannulation by USG versus palpation technique in radial, femoral and dorsalis pedis arteries. MAIN VARIABLES OF INTEREST: Primary outcome was first attempt success rate, secondary outcomes were assessing time for cannulations, number of attempts, overall success rate, complications, and comparison of two techniques on patients requiring vasopressor. RESULTS: 201 patients were enrolled in study, with 99 randomized to DP group and 102 to USG group. Arteries (radial, dorsalis pedis, femoral) cannulated in both groups were comparable (P = .193). Arterial line was placed on first attempt in 85 (83.3%) in USG group versus 55 (55.6%) in DP group (P = .02). Cannulation time in USG group was significantly shorter compared to DP group. CONCLUSIONS: In our study, USG arterial cannulation, compared to palpatory technique, had a higher success rate at first attempt and a shorter cannulation time. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRY OF INDIA NUMBER: CTRI/2020/01/022989.

Migrated K-wire in the urinary bladder not causing symptoms: A rare case report.

INTRODUCTION AND IMPORTANCE: Kirschner wires (K-wires) are commonly used implants in the treatment of bony fracture. The migration of K-wire has been reported in the literature, but such migration into the urinary bladder is extremely rare. PRESENTATION OF CASE: We report a case of an asymptomatic patient with a migrating K-wire in the urinary bladder, who came to our follow-up clinic after treatment of a hip fracture. The patient was absolutely fine but follow-up image showed K-wire in the urinary bladder. In view to prevent further migration and injuries, the laparotomy was planned and wire has been removed under the C-arm image guidance. Postoperative period was uneventful and patient was discharged. CLINICAL DISCUSSION: The aim of reporting this case was to spread the awareness about mandatory follow-up after K-wire placement, its migration, and the recommendation to remove it at earliest. As per my best knowledge, this is the first and unique case of K-wire migration into the urinary bladder, detected on follow-up image without symptoms. CONCLUSION: Bending the end of the K-wires after insertion, the restriction of joint movement, and removal of migrated K-wires at earliest are the key points in a patients with K-wire insertion. The mandatory follow-up in cases of K-wire placement for treatment of bone fracture, and early diagnosis prevent the potentially fatal complications.

A comparative gene expression matrix in Apoe-deficient mice identifies unique and atherosclerotic disease stage-specific gene regulation patterns in monocytes and macrophages.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Atherosclerosis is a systemic and chronic inflammatory disease propagated by monocytes and macrophages. Yet, our knowledge on how transcriptome of these cells evolves in time and space is limited. We aimed at characterizing gene expression changes in site-specific macrophages and in circulating monocytes during the course of atherosclerosis. METHODS: We utilized apolipoprotein E-deficient mice undergoing one- and six-month high cholesterol diet to model early and advanced atherosclerosis. Aortic macrophages, peritoneal macrophages, and circulating monocytes from each mouse were subjected to bulk RNA-sequencing (RNA-seq). We constructed a comparative directory that profiles lesion- and disease stage-specific transcriptomic regulation of the three cell types in atherosclerosis. Lastly, the regulation of one gene, Gpnmb, whose expression positively correlated with atheroma growth, was validated using single-cell RNA-seq (scRNA-seq) of atheroma plaque from murine and human. RESULTS: The convergence of gene regulation between the three investigated cell types was surprisingly low. Overall 3245 differentially expressed genes were involved in the biological modulation of aortic macrophages, among which less than 1% were commonly regulated by the remote monocytes/macrophages. Aortic macrophages regulated gene expression most actively during atheroma initiation. Through complementary interrogation of murine and human scRNA-seq datasets, we showcased the practicality of our directory, using the selected gene, Gpnmb, whose expression in aortic macrophages, and a subset of foamy macrophages in particular, strongly correlated with disease advancement during atherosclerosis initiation and progression. CONCLUSIONS: Our study provides a unique toolset to explore gene regulation of macrophage-related biological processes in and outside the atheromatous plaque at early and advanced disease stages.

Entropy Generation and Thermal Radiation Analysis of EMHD Jeffrey Nanofluid Flow: Applications in Solar Energy.

This article examines the effects of entropy generation, heat transmission, and mass transfer on the flow of Jeffrey fluid under the influence of solar radiation in the presence of copper nanoparticles and gyrotactic microorganisms, with polyvinyl alcohol-water serving as the base fluid. The impact of source terms such as Joule heating, viscous dissipation, and the exponential heat source is analyzed via a nonlinear elongating surface of nonuniform thickness. The development of an efficient numerical model describing the flow and thermal characteristics of a parabolic trough solar collector (PTSC) installed on a solar plate is underway as the use of solar plates in various devices continues to increase. Governing PDEs are first converted into ODEs using a suitable similarity transformation. The resulting higher-order coupled ODEs are converted into a system of first-order ODEs and then solved using the RK 4th-order method with shooting technique. The remarkable impacts of pertinent parameters such as Deborah number, magnetic field parameter, electric field parameter, Grashof number, solutal Grashof number, Prandtl number, Eckert number, exponential heat source parameter, Lewis number, chemical reaction parameter, bioconvection Lewis number, and Peclet number associated with the flow properties are discussed graphically. The increase in the radiation parameter and volume fraction of the nanoparticles enhances the temperature profile. The Bejan number and entropy generation rate increase with the rise in diffusion parameter and bioconvection diffusion parameter. The novelty of the present work is analyzing the entropy generation and solar radiation effects in the presence of motile gyrotactic microorganisms and copper nanoparticles with polyvinyl alcohol-water as the base fluid under the influence of the source terms, such as viscous dissipation, Ohmic heating, exponential heat source, and chemical reaction of the electromagnetohydrodynamic (EMHD) Jeffrey fluid flow. The non-Newtonian nanofluids have proven their great potential for heat transfer processes, which have various applications in cooling microchips, solar energy systems, and thermal energy technologies.

Adenoviral Vector-Based Vaccine Platform for COVID-19: Current Status.

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) breakout had an unimaginable worldwide effect in the 21st century, claiming millions of lives and putting a huge burden on the global economy. The potential developments in vaccine technologies following the determination of the genetic sequence of SARS-CoV-2 and the increasing global efforts to bring potential vaccines and therapeutics into the market for emergency use have provided a small bright spot to this tragic event. Several intriguing vaccine candidates have been developed using recombinant technology, genetic engineering, and other vaccine development technologies. In the last decade, a vast amount of the vaccine development process has diversified towards the usage of viral vector-based vaccines. The immune response elicited by such vaccines is comparatively higher than other approved vaccine candidates that require a booster dose to provide sufficient immune protection. The non-replicating adenoviral vectors are promising vaccine carriers for infectious diseases due to better yield, cGMP-friendly manufacturing processes, safety, better efficacy, manageable shipping, and storage procedures. As of April 2022, the WHO has approved a total of 10 vaccines around the world for COVID-19 (33 vaccines approved by at least one country), among which three candidates are adenoviral vector-based vaccines. This review sheds light on the developmental summary of all the adenoviral vector-based vaccines that are under emergency use authorization (EUA) or in the different stages of development for COVID-19 management.

The Utility of High-Flow Nasal Oxygen Therapy in a Patient with Pneumonia Undergoing Lower Limb Orthopaedic Surgery: A Case Report.

A high-flow nasal cannula is commonly used to manage hypoxic respiratory failure. High-flow nasal cannula not only reduces respiratory effort and work of breathing but also provides better patient comfort. It lowers mortality compared to standard oxygen therapy or non-invasive ventila tion and is associated with more ventilator-free days. A 60-year-old female presented for the correction of ankle fracture with pneumonia and successfully underwent lower limb orthopaedic surgery under the subarachnoid block with the use of high-flow nasal oxygen therapy. High-flow nasal cannula may be considered as one of the useful options for intraoperative management of pneumonia in patients undergoing lower limb surgery under regional anaesthesia.