This paper proposes a Graph regularized Lpsmooth non-negative matrix factorization(GSNMF) method by incorporating graph regularization and L_p smoothing constraint, which considers the intrinsic geometric information ...This paper proposes a Graph regularized Lpsmooth non-negative matrix factorization(GSNMF) method by incorporating graph regularization and L_p smoothing constraint, which considers the intrinsic geometric information of a data set and produces smooth and stable solutions. The main contributions are as follows: first, graph regularization is added into NMF to discover the hidden semantics and simultaneously respect the intrinsic geometric structure information of a data set. Second,the Lpsmoothing constraint is incorporated into NMF to combine the merits of isotropic(L_2-norm) and anisotropic(L_1-norm)diffusion smoothing, and produces a smooth and more accurate solution to the optimization problem. Finally, the update rules and proof of convergence of GSNMF are given. Experiments on several data sets show that the proposed method outperforms related state-of-the-art methods.展开更多
AIM: To evaluate the prevalence of markers of hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) among blood donors in Kolkata, Eastern India for two consecutive years and to co...AIM: To evaluate the prevalence of markers of hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) among blood donors in Kolkata, Eastern India for two consecutive years and to conduct a pilot study to explore the presence of HBV DNA among hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) negative but anti-HBc positive blood donors. METHODS: Seroprevalence of HBsAg, anti-HCV and anti-HIV was studied among 113 051 and 106 695 voluntary blood donors screened in 2004 and 2005, respectively. Moreover, a pilot study on 1027 HBsAg negative donors was carried out for evaluating the presence of HBV DNA by PCR on HBsAg negative/anti- HBc positive donors. RESULTS: A statistically significant increase in the prevalence of HBV (1448 vs 1768, P < 0.001), HIV (262 vs 374, P < 0.001), HCV (314 vs 372, P = 0.003) and syphilis (772 vs 853, P = 0.001) infections was noted among blood donors of Kolkata West Bengal in 2005 as compared to 2004. Moreover, the exploratory study on 1027 HBsAg negative donors revealed that 188 (18.3%)of them were anti-HBc positive out of which 21% were positive for HBV DNA. CONCLUSION: The findings of this study underscore the significantly increasing endemicity of hepatitis viruses, syphilis and HIV among the voluntary blood donors of our community. The pilot study indicates a high rate of prevalence of HBV DNA among HBsAg negative/anti-HBc positive donors and thus emphasizes the need for a more sensitive and stringent screening algorithm for blood donations.展开更多
AIM: To analyze changes in myocardial glucose metabolism using fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG)-positron emission tomography (PET) in patients treated with adriamycin and to investigate the clinical significance of these chan...AIM: To analyze changes in myocardial glucose metabolism using fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG)-positron emission tomography (PET) in patients treated with adriamycin and to investigate the clinical significance of these changes.METHODS: Considering that FDG-PET scanning has the ability to show changes in glucose metabolism in the myocardium, we retrospectively analyzed the FDGPET studies of 18 lymphoma patients treated with adriamycin-based chemotherapy in both the preand posttherapy setting. Cardiac contractile parameters such as left ventricular ejection fraction were not available for correlation in all patients due to the short duration and the level of cumulative dose administered in these patients during the time of the follow-up FDG-PET study. The change in myocardial glucose utilization was estimated by change in standard uptake values (SUV) in the myocardium.RESULTS: We observed a significant change in SUVmean values in the myocardium (defined as more than change in cardiac SUVmean between pre-and post-chemotherapy PET) in 1 patients, whereas 6 patients did not show any significant cardiac FDG uptake in both preand post-therapy PET scans. Patients were divided into three groups based on the changes observed in myocardial tracer uptake on the followup 18 F-FDG-PET study. Group A (n = 8): showed an increase in cardiac 18 F-FDG uptake in the post-therapy scan compared to the baseline scan carried out prior to starting adriamycin-based chemotherapy. Group B (n = 6): showed no significant cardiac 18 F-FDG uptake in post-therapy and baseline PET scans, and group C (n = 4): showed a fall in cardiac 18 F-FDG uptake in the posttherapy scan compared to the baseline scan. Mean cumulative adriamycin dose (in mg/m 2 ) received during the time of the follow-up FDG-PET study was 256. 25, 250 and 137.5, respectively.CONCLUSION: Our study shows three different trends in the change in myocardial glucose metabolism in patients undergoing adriamycin-based chemotherapy. A further prospective study with prolonged follow-up of ventri展开更多
The Annapurna Conservation Area (ACA), the first conservation area and the largest protected area (PA) in Nepal, is incredibly rich in biodiversity. Notwithstanding this, orchids in the ACA have not been explored enou...The Annapurna Conservation Area (ACA), the first conservation area and the largest protected area (PA) in Nepal, is incredibly rich in biodiversity. Notwithstanding this, orchids in the ACA have not been explored enough yet thus making the need for ambitious research to be carried out. Previous study only included 81 species of orchids within ACA. This study aims to update the record of species and genera richness in the ACA. In total 198 species of orchids, belonging to 67 genera (40% and 62% of the total recorded orchid species and genera in Nepal) has been recorded in ACA. This represents an increase of 144% in species and 56% in genera over the previous data. Out of the 198 species, 99 were epiphytes, 6 were holomycotrophic and 93 were terrestrial. Among the 67 genera, Bulbophyllum (17) species were dominant, followed by Dendrobium (16), Herminium (10), Coelogyne, Plantanthera (9 each), Eria, Habenaria, Oberonia (8 each), Calanthe (7), and Liparis (6). Fifty-six species were found to be ornamentally significant and 85 species medicinally significant.展开更多
The continuous increase of global atmospheric CO_(2) concentrations brutally damages our environment. A series of methods have been developed to convert CO_(2) to valuable fuels and value-added chemicals to maintain t...The continuous increase of global atmospheric CO_(2) concentrations brutally damages our environment. A series of methods have been developed to convert CO_(2) to valuable fuels and value-added chemicals to maintain the equilibrium of carbon cycles. The electrochemical CO_(2) reduction reaction(CO_(2)RR) is one of the promising methods to produce fuels and chemicals, and it could offer sustainable paths to decrease carbon intensity and support renewable energy. Thus, significant research efforts and highly efficient catalysts are essential for converting CO_(2) into other valuable chemicals and fuels. Transition metal-based single atoms catalysts(TM-SACs) have recently received much attention and offer outstanding electrochemical applications with high activity and selectivity opportunities. By taking advantage of both heterogeneous and homogeneous catalysts, TM-SACs are the new rising star for electrochemical conversion of CO_(2) to the value-added product with high selectivity. In recent years, enormous research effort has been made to synthesize different TM-SACs with different M–Nxsites and study the electrochemical conversion of CO_(2) to CO. This review has discussed the development and characterization of different TMSACs with various catalytic sites, fundamental understanding of the electrochemical process in CO_(2) RR,intrinsic catalytic activity, and molecular strategics of SACs responsible for CO_(2)RR. Furthermore, we extensively review previous studies on 1 st-row transition metals TM-SACs(Ni, Co, Fe, Cu, Zn, Sn) and dual-atom catalysts(DACs) utilized for electrochemical CO_(2) conversions and highlight the opportunities and challenges.展开更多
Maintaining the balance between eliciting immune responses against foreign pro-teins and tolerating self-proteins is crucial for maintenance of homeostasis.The functions of programmed death protein 1(PD-1)and its liga...Maintaining the balance between eliciting immune responses against foreign pro-teins and tolerating self-proteins is crucial for maintenance of homeostasis.The functions of programmed death protein 1(PD-1)and its ligand programmed death ligand 1(PD-L1)are to inhibit immune responses so that over-reacting immune cells does not cause any damage to its own body cells.However,cancer cells hijack this mechanism to attenuate immune cells functions and create an immunosuppressive environment that fuel their continuous growth and proliferation.Over the past few years’rapid development in cancer immunotherapy has opened a new avenue in cancer treatment.Blockade of PD-1 and PD-L1 has become a potential strategy that rescue the functions of immune cells to fight against cancer with high efficacy.Initially,immune checkpoint monotherapies were not very successful,making breast cancer less immunogenic.Although,recent reports support the presence of tumor infiltrating lympho-cytes(TILs)in breast cancer that make it favorable for PD-1/PD-L1 mediated immunotherapy,which is effective in PD-L1 positive patients.Recently,anti-PD-1(pembrolizumab)and anti-PD-L1(atezolizumab)gets FDA approval for breast cancer treatment and make PD-1/PD-L1 immunotherapy is meaningful for further research.Likewise,this article gathered understand-ing of PD-1 and PD-L1 in recent years,their signaling networks,interaction with other mole-cules,regulations of their expressions and functions in both normal and tumor tissue microenvironments are crucial to find and design therapeutic agents that block this pathway and improve the treatment efficacy.Additionally,authors collected and highlighted most of the important clinical trial reports on monotherapy and combination therapy.展开更多
According to the United Nations Environmental Programme(UNEP),the world loses 1.0×106hm2forest land through deforestation annually.About 1.6×106people who depend on forests for livelihood are negatively affe...According to the United Nations Environmental Programme(UNEP),the world loses 1.0×106hm2forest land through deforestation annually.About 1.6×106people who depend on forests for livelihood are negatively affected by deforestation and forest degradation.The paper attempts to study the impact of forest governance,enforcement and socio-economic factors on deforestation and forest degradation at the local level in West Bengal State,India.The study was based on questionnaire survey data during 2020–2021 collected from three western districts(Purulia,Bankura,and Paschim Medinipur)where deforestation and poverty rates are higher than other districts in West Bengal State.The total number of selected villages was 29,and the total sample households were 693.A stratified random sampling technique was used to collect data,and a questionnaire was followed.Forest governance and enforcement indices were constructed using United Nation Development Programme(UNDP)methodology and a step-wise logistic regression model was used to identify the factors affecting deforestation and forest degradation.The result of this study showed that four factors(illegal logging,weak forest administration,encroachment,and poverty)are identified for the causes of deforestation and forest degradation.It is observed that six indices of forest governance(rule of law,transparency,accountability,participation,inclusiveness and equitability,and efficiency and effectiveness)are relatively high in Purulia District.Moreover,this study shows that Purulia and Bankura districts follow medium forest governance,while Paschim Medinipur District has poor forest governance.The enforcement index is found to be highest in Purulia District(0.717)and lowest for Paschim Medinipur District(0.257).Finally,weak forest governance,poor socio-economic conditions of the households,and weak enforcement lead to the deforestation and forest degradation in the study area.Therefore,governments should strengthen law enforcement and encourage sustainable forest certification schemes展开更多
Traumatic Spinal Cord Injury (TSCI) remains a significant cause of human suffering. The World Health Organization estimates that there are between 250,000 to 500,000 new cases every year. Magnetic Resonance Imaging (M...Traumatic Spinal Cord Injury (TSCI) remains a significant cause of human suffering. The World Health Organization estimates that there are between 250,000 to 500,000 new cases every year. Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) has been an important advancement in the diagnosis and management of TSCI. Nevertheless, there is a lack of literature correlating the radiological abnormalities and histopathological findings in the first hour (i.e., hyperacute period) after injury. The aim of this preliminary study is to elucidate the relationship between the MRI abnormalities and histopathological abnormalities in the hyperacute time period. In this study, a non-human primate model (NHP) primate model is used to characterize the histopathological and radiological features. Specifically, an experimental TSCI is created with an epidural catheter. This is followed by MRI imaging. The subject is then humanely euthanized and a post-mortem examination is completed. These results suggest that the noted radiological abnormalities are consistent with a combination of hemorrhage, edema as well as eosinophilic cellular matter in the central canal.展开更多
Ferrite features in the simulated transition zone welded with CaF_(2)-SiO_(2)-MnO fluxes containing various MnO contents have been investigated.Confocal laser scanning microscopy has been applied to simulate the therm...Ferrite features in the simulated transition zone welded with CaF_(2)-SiO_(2)-MnO fluxes containing various MnO contents have been investigated.Confocal laser scanning microscopy has been applied to simulate the thermal cycling of the transition zone and the phase transformations during cooling have been in-situ observed.It has been found that the appearance temperature for ferrite side plate decreases with increasing Mn content in the weld metals caused by MnO content increasing.Meanwhile,growth rates for both ferrite side plate and acicular ferrite are significantly enhanced with a higher Mn content of weld metal.Furthermore,from the statistical fractions of salient microstructures,for all samples,the acicular ferrite,grain boundary ferrite,and polygonal ferrite take over more than 90%.It has also been demonstrated that with the increase in Mn content,the ferrite side plate fraction increases slightly from 5%to 10%and the acicular ferrite fraction shows a tendency of first increasing and then decreasing,which experiences the maximum with the flux containing 30 wt.%MnO.This phenomenon is believed to be controlled by the O and Mn contents in weld metals synergistically.展开更多
In the restructured electricity market,microgrid(MG),with the incorporation of smart grid technologies,distributed energy resources(DERs),a pumped-storage-hydraulic(PSH)unit,and a demand response program(DRP),is a sma...In the restructured electricity market,microgrid(MG),with the incorporation of smart grid technologies,distributed energy resources(DERs),a pumped-storage-hydraulic(PSH)unit,and a demand response program(DRP),is a smarter and more reliable electricity provider.DER consists of gas turbines and renewable energy sources such as photovoltaic systems and wind turbines.Better bidding strategies,prepared by MG operators,decrease the electricity cost and emissions from upstream grid and conventional and renewable energy sources(RES).But it is inefficient due to the very high sporadic characteristics of RES and the very high outage rate.To solve these issues,this study suggests non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm Ⅱ(NSGA-Ⅱ)for an optimal bidding strategy considering pumped hydroelectric energy storage and DRP based on outage conditions and uncertainties of renewable energy sources.The uncertainty related to solar and wind units is modeled using lognormal and Weibull probability distributions.TOU-based DRP is used,especially considering the time of outages along with the time of peak loads and prices,to enhance the reliability of MG and reduce costs and emissions.展开更多
The widespread availability of abdominal ultrasound has revealed the common occurrence of asymptomatic gallstones.While the treatment for symptomatic gallstones is clear,the benefits of minimally invasive laparoscopic...The widespread availability of abdominal ultrasound has revealed the common occurrence of asymptomatic gallstones.While the treatment for symptomatic gallstones is clear,the benefits of minimally invasive laparoscopic cholecystectomy have sparked debate about the best approach to managing silent gallstones.The potential for asymptomatic gallstones to become symptomatic or lead to complications complicates the decision-making process regarding surgical intervention,as it's uncertain when or which patients might develop complications.Consequently,risk stratification appears to play a critical role in guiding decisions about silent gallstones.However,there is no definitive evidence to direct management,and a consensus-based on high-quality evidence is yet to be established.展开更多
Gold complexes have emerged as promising anticancer metallodrugs due to their efficient thioredoxin reductase(TrxR)inhibition,which disturbs the redox balance of cancer cells.However,in this model,the role of the liga...Gold complexes have emerged as promising anticancer metallodrugs due to their efficient thioredoxin reductase(TrxR)inhibition,which disturbs the redox balance of cancer cells.However,in this model,the role of the ligand(s)coordinated to gold is often overlooked.In this work,we present a series of tetrapyridyl Au(Ⅲ)complexes that exhibit thiol-induced release of a Au(Ⅰ)ion and a tetrapyridyl ligand.The formation of a free Au(Ⅰ)center is responsible for the expected TrxR inhibition.Additionally,the released ligand,which was visible in cells due to its intense blue fluorescence,showed excellent binding properties to the hERG potassium channel.Moreover,these ligands ended up in the lysosomes,resulting in significant lysosome damage.Altogether,the Au(Ⅲ)complexes presented in this work showed broad-spectrum anticancer properties,both in hypoxic 2D monolayers and 3D tumor spheroids.We suggest that the interaction of the released Au(Ⅰ)center and the tetrapyridyl ligand with two different protein targets may combine into prodrugs that overcome hypoxia-induced drug deactivation.展开更多
Psoas muscle metastasis, though rare, is the commonest site of skeletal muscle involvement in cervical carcinoma. The appropriate clinical management of this condition, particularly of the pain related to malignant ps...Psoas muscle metastasis, though rare, is the commonest site of skeletal muscle involvement in cervical carcinoma. The appropriate clinical management of this condition, particularly of the pain related to malignant psoas syndrome, is still evolving and the diagnostic features on conventional morphological imaging modalities are often non specific, with the differential diagnosis lying between sarcoma, hematoma, and abscess. In this report, a comparison of various morphofunctional imaging modalities was made. Fluorodeoxyglucosepositron emission tomography(FDG-PET)/computed tomography(CT) was the first to suspect disease involvement of the psoas muscle, demonstrating intense FDG uptake(compared with the contralateral muscle), while ultrasound showed heterogeneous echotexture, and magnetic resonance imaging(MRI) showed subtle altered signal intensity in the right psoas muscle. Both anatomical imaging modalities and non contrast CT of the PET-CT examination demonstrated a bulky psoas muscle, without any focal abnormality. On diffusionweighted imaging of MRI(DWI-MRI), restricted diffusion of the involved muscle was an important observation. The psoas muscle metastatic involvement was proven histopathologically. Thus, enhanced glucose metabolism and restricted diffusion in the newer noninvasive molecular imaging modalities(e.g., PET/CT and DWI-MRI) could serve as valuable adjunctive parameters in diagnosing this entity in the absence of a focal abnormality in the anatomical modalities. In the treatment response monitoring scenario, FDG-PET/CT demonstrated near complete resolution following administration of 3 cycles of systemic chemotherapy and local external radiotherapy.展开更多
Credit card fraudulent data is highly imbalanced, and it has presented an overwhelmingly large portion of nonfraudulent transactions and a small portion of fraudulent transactions. The measures used to judge the verac...Credit card fraudulent data is highly imbalanced, and it has presented an overwhelmingly large portion of nonfraudulent transactions and a small portion of fraudulent transactions. The measures used to judge the veracity of the detection algorithms become critical to the deployment of a model that accurately scores fraudulent transactions taking into account case imbalance, and the cost of identifying a case as genuine when, in fact, the case is a fraudulent transaction. In this paper, a new criterion to judge classification algorithms, which considers the cost of misclassification, is proposed, and several undersampling techniques are compared by this new criterion. At the same time, a weighted support vector machine (SVM) algorithm considering the financial cost of misclassification is introduced, proving to be more practical for credit card fraud detection than traditional methodologies. This weighted SVM uses transaction balances as weights for fraudulent transactions, and a uniformed weight for nonfraudulent transactions. The results show this strategy greatly improve performance of credit card fraud detection.展开更多
Herpesvirus-associated ubiquitin-specific protease(HAUSP)is a USP family deubiquitinase.HAUSP is a protein of immense biological importance as it is involved in several cellular processes,including host-virus interact...Herpesvirus-associated ubiquitin-specific protease(HAUSP)is a USP family deubiquitinase.HAUSP is a protein of immense biological importance as it is involved in several cellular processes,including host-virus interactions,oncogenesis and tumor suppression,DNA damage and repair processes,DNA dynamics and epigenetic modulations,regulation of gene expression and protein function,spatio-temporal distribution,and immune functions.Since its discovery in the late 1990s as a protein interacting with a herpes virus regulatory protein,extensive studies have assessed its complex roles in p53-MDM2-related networks,identified numerous additional interacting partners,and elucidated the different roles of HAUSP in the context of cancer,development,and metabolic and neurological pathologies.Recent analyses have provided new insights into its biochemical and functional dynamics.In this review,we provide a comprehensive account of our current knowledge about emerging insights into HAUSP in physiology and diseases,which shed light on fundamental biological questions and promise to provide a potential target for therapeutic intervention.展开更多
Objective The present study was designed to investigate the effects of subchronic low level microwave radiation （MWR） on cognitive function, heat shock protein 70 （HSP70） level and DNA damage in brain of Fischer r...Objective The present study was designed to investigate the effects of subchronic low level microwave radiation （MWR） on cognitive function, heat shock protein 70 （HSP70） level and DNA damage in brain of Fischer rats. Methods Experiments were performed on male Fischer rats exposed to microwave radiation for 90 days at three different frequencies： 900, 2800, and 2450 MHz. Animals were divided into 4 groups： Group I： Sham exposed, Group I1： animals exposed to microwave radiation at 900 MHz and specific absorption rate （SAR） 5.953 x 10-4 W/kg, Group II1： animals exposed to 1800 MHz at SAR 5.835 x 20-4 W/kg and Group IV： animals exposed to 2450 MHz at SAR 6.672 x 10-4 W/kg. All the animals were tested for cognitive function using elevated plus maze and Morris water maze at the end of the exposure period and subsequently sacrificed to collect brain tissues. HSP70 levels were estimated by ELISA and DNA damage was assessed using alkaline comet assay. Results Microwave exposure at 900-2450 MHz with SAR values as mentioned above lead to decline in cognitive function, increase in HSP70 level and DNA damage in brain. Conclusion The results of the present study suggest that low level microwave exposure at frequencies 900, 2800, and 2450 MHz may lead to hazardous effects on brain.展开更多
Microorganisms represent a substantial portion of the earth’s biodiversity and biomass, and the plant rhizosphere is an innate reservoir teeming with heterogeneous microbes predominated by bacterial communities. Rhiz...Microorganisms represent a substantial portion of the earth’s biodiversity and biomass, and the plant rhizosphere is an innate reservoir teeming with heterogeneous microbes predominated by bacterial communities. Rhizospheric microbial diversity (genetic, phenotypic, and metabolic) has been extensively studied to understand the key ecological roles played by the microbial members, including plant growth promotion. The application of 16S rRNA gene sequencing and next-generation sequencing (NGS) technologies has revolutionized the discovery of novel bacterial groups that have remained undetected by traditional cultivation-based approaches. Such technological advancements have opened new vistas in our current understanding of predominant but concealed and missed bacterial diversity referred to as difficult-to-culture bacterial lineages, especially the predominant phyla Acidobacteria, Verrucomicrobia,Planctomycetes, and Gemmatimonadetes. Regardless of their ubiquity and prevalence, little is known about their ecophysiology because of the non-availability of culturable members. More recently, there has been increased interest in understanding the cosmopolitan distribution and diversity of the difficult-to-culture bacteria, focusing on their role in driving complex plant-microbial interactions and mobilizing nutrients in soil and their potential as sources of novel bioactive metabolites. As an initial step, we review the distribution and significance of such bacterial phyla in soil, their ecophysiological roles, and their hidden plant growth promoting potential. The ability to select and deploy plant probiotic bacteria from the difficult-to-culture fraction of the bacterial community might open new avenues for improving crop health.展开更多
The Traveling Salesman Problem (TSP) and its allied problems like Vehicle Routing Problem (VRP) are one of the most widely studied problems in combinatorial optimization. It has long been known to be NP-hard and hence...The Traveling Salesman Problem (TSP) and its allied problems like Vehicle Routing Problem (VRP) are one of the most widely studied problems in combinatorial optimization. It has long been known to be NP-hard and hence research on developing algorithms for the TSP has focused on approximate methods in addition to exact methods. Tabu search is one of the most widely applied metaheuristic for solving the TSP. In this paper, we review the tabu search literature on the TSP and its variations, point out trends in it, and bring out some interesting research gaps in this literature.展开更多
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(61702251,61363049,11571011)the State Scholarship Fund of China Scholarship Council(CSC)(201708360040)+3 种基金the Natural Science Foundation of Jiangxi Province(20161BAB212033)the Natural Science Basic Research Plan in Shaanxi Province of China(2018JM6030)the Doctor Scientific Research Starting Foundation of Northwest University(338050050)Youth Academic Talent Support Program of Northwest University
文摘This paper proposes a Graph regularized Lpsmooth non-negative matrix factorization(GSNMF) method by incorporating graph regularization and L_p smoothing constraint, which considers the intrinsic geometric information of a data set and produces smooth and stable solutions. The main contributions are as follows: first, graph regularization is added into NMF to discover the hidden semantics and simultaneously respect the intrinsic geometric structure information of a data set. Second,the Lpsmoothing constraint is incorporated into NMF to combine the merits of isotropic(L_2-norm) and anisotropic(L_1-norm)diffusion smoothing, and produces a smooth and more accurate solution to the optimization problem. Finally, the update rules and proof of convergence of GSNMF are given. Experiments on several data sets show that the proposed method outperforms related state-of-the-art methods.
基金grants partly from West Bengal State AIDS Prevention & Control Society, Kolkata and partly by Indian Council of Medical Research, New Delhi. Partha Kumar Chandra received a research associateship from West Bengal State AIDS Prevention & Control Society, Kolkata. Arup Banerjee received a senior research fellowship from Indian Council of Medical Research New Delhi Sibnarayan Datta received a senior research fellowship from University Grants Commission, New Delhi
文摘AIM: To evaluate the prevalence of markers of hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) among blood donors in Kolkata, Eastern India for two consecutive years and to conduct a pilot study to explore the presence of HBV DNA among hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) negative but anti-HBc positive blood donors. METHODS: Seroprevalence of HBsAg, anti-HCV and anti-HIV was studied among 113 051 and 106 695 voluntary blood donors screened in 2004 and 2005, respectively. Moreover, a pilot study on 1027 HBsAg negative donors was carried out for evaluating the presence of HBV DNA by PCR on HBsAg negative/anti- HBc positive donors. RESULTS: A statistically significant increase in the prevalence of HBV (1448 vs 1768, P < 0.001), HIV (262 vs 374, P < 0.001), HCV (314 vs 372, P = 0.003) and syphilis (772 vs 853, P = 0.001) infections was noted among blood donors of Kolkata West Bengal in 2005 as compared to 2004. Moreover, the exploratory study on 1027 HBsAg negative donors revealed that 188 (18.3%)of them were anti-HBc positive out of which 21% were positive for HBV DNA. CONCLUSION: The findings of this study underscore the significantly increasing endemicity of hepatitis viruses, syphilis and HIV among the voluntary blood donors of our community. The pilot study indicates a high rate of prevalence of HBV DNA among HBsAg negative/anti-HBc positive donors and thus emphasizes the need for a more sensitive and stringent screening algorithm for blood donations.
文摘AIM: To analyze changes in myocardial glucose metabolism using fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG)-positron emission tomography (PET) in patients treated with adriamycin and to investigate the clinical significance of these changes.METHODS: Considering that FDG-PET scanning has the ability to show changes in glucose metabolism in the myocardium, we retrospectively analyzed the FDGPET studies of 18 lymphoma patients treated with adriamycin-based chemotherapy in both the preand posttherapy setting. Cardiac contractile parameters such as left ventricular ejection fraction were not available for correlation in all patients due to the short duration and the level of cumulative dose administered in these patients during the time of the follow-up FDG-PET study. The change in myocardial glucose utilization was estimated by change in standard uptake values (SUV) in the myocardium.RESULTS: We observed a significant change in SUVmean values in the myocardium (defined as more than change in cardiac SUVmean between pre-and post-chemotherapy PET) in 1 patients, whereas 6 patients did not show any significant cardiac FDG uptake in both preand post-therapy PET scans. Patients were divided into three groups based on the changes observed in myocardial tracer uptake on the followup 18 F-FDG-PET study. Group A (n = 8): showed an increase in cardiac 18 F-FDG uptake in the post-therapy scan compared to the baseline scan carried out prior to starting adriamycin-based chemotherapy. Group B (n = 6): showed no significant cardiac 18 F-FDG uptake in post-therapy and baseline PET scans, and group C (n = 4): showed a fall in cardiac 18 F-FDG uptake in the posttherapy scan compared to the baseline scan. Mean cumulative adriamycin dose (in mg/m 2 ) received during the time of the follow-up FDG-PET study was 256. 25, 250 and 137.5, respectively.CONCLUSION: Our study shows three different trends in the change in myocardial glucose metabolism in patients undergoing adriamycin-based chemotherapy. A further prospective study with prolonged follow-up of ventri
文摘The Annapurna Conservation Area (ACA), the first conservation area and the largest protected area (PA) in Nepal, is incredibly rich in biodiversity. Notwithstanding this, orchids in the ACA have not been explored enough yet thus making the need for ambitious research to be carried out. Previous study only included 81 species of orchids within ACA. This study aims to update the record of species and genera richness in the ACA. In total 198 species of orchids, belonging to 67 genera (40% and 62% of the total recorded orchid species and genera in Nepal) has been recorded in ACA. This represents an increase of 144% in species and 56% in genera over the previous data. Out of the 198 species, 99 were epiphytes, 6 were holomycotrophic and 93 were terrestrial. Among the 67 genera, Bulbophyllum (17) species were dominant, followed by Dendrobium (16), Herminium (10), Coelogyne, Plantanthera (9 each), Eria, Habenaria, Oberonia (8 each), Calanthe (7), and Liparis (6). Fifty-six species were found to be ornamentally significant and 85 species medicinally significant.
基金BRNS,Mumbai,India(No-2013/37P/67/BRNS),MNRE,New Delhi,India(No-102/87/2011-NT),and CSIR,New Delhi,India{YSP-02(P-81-113),OLP-95}for the financial supportUGC,New Delhi,for a fellowship。
文摘The continuous increase of global atmospheric CO_(2) concentrations brutally damages our environment. A series of methods have been developed to convert CO_(2) to valuable fuels and value-added chemicals to maintain the equilibrium of carbon cycles. The electrochemical CO_(2) reduction reaction(CO_(2)RR) is one of the promising methods to produce fuels and chemicals, and it could offer sustainable paths to decrease carbon intensity and support renewable energy. Thus, significant research efforts and highly efficient catalysts are essential for converting CO_(2) into other valuable chemicals and fuels. Transition metal-based single atoms catalysts(TM-SACs) have recently received much attention and offer outstanding electrochemical applications with high activity and selectivity opportunities. By taking advantage of both heterogeneous and homogeneous catalysts, TM-SACs are the new rising star for electrochemical conversion of CO_(2) to the value-added product with high selectivity. In recent years, enormous research effort has been made to synthesize different TM-SACs with different M–Nxsites and study the electrochemical conversion of CO_(2) to CO. This review has discussed the development and characterization of different TMSACs with various catalytic sites, fundamental understanding of the electrochemical process in CO_(2) RR,intrinsic catalytic activity, and molecular strategics of SACs responsible for CO_(2)RR. Furthermore, we extensively review previous studies on 1 st-row transition metals TM-SACs(Ni, Co, Fe, Cu, Zn, Sn) and dual-atom catalysts(DACs) utilized for electrochemical CO_(2) conversions and highlight the opportunities and challenges.
基金supported by the Department of Science and Technology(Nano Mission:DST/NM/NT/2018/105(G),SERB:EMR/2017/000992/HS&EMR/2017/001183)Council of Scientific and Industrial Research[(FBR Project No.31-2(274)2020e21),HCP-40],Govt.of India.
文摘Maintaining the balance between eliciting immune responses against foreign pro-teins and tolerating self-proteins is crucial for maintenance of homeostasis.The functions of programmed death protein 1(PD-1)and its ligand programmed death ligand 1(PD-L1)are to inhibit immune responses so that over-reacting immune cells does not cause any damage to its own body cells.However,cancer cells hijack this mechanism to attenuate immune cells functions and create an immunosuppressive environment that fuel their continuous growth and proliferation.Over the past few years’rapid development in cancer immunotherapy has opened a new avenue in cancer treatment.Blockade of PD-1 and PD-L1 has become a potential strategy that rescue the functions of immune cells to fight against cancer with high efficacy.Initially,immune checkpoint monotherapies were not very successful,making breast cancer less immunogenic.Although,recent reports support the presence of tumor infiltrating lympho-cytes(TILs)in breast cancer that make it favorable for PD-1/PD-L1 mediated immunotherapy,which is effective in PD-L1 positive patients.Recently,anti-PD-1(pembrolizumab)and anti-PD-L1(atezolizumab)gets FDA approval for breast cancer treatment and make PD-1/PD-L1 immunotherapy is meaningful for further research.Likewise,this article gathered understand-ing of PD-1 and PD-L1 in recent years,their signaling networks,interaction with other mole-cules,regulations of their expressions and functions in both normal and tumor tissue microenvironments are crucial to find and design therapeutic agents that block this pathway and improve the treatment efficacy.Additionally,authors collected and highlighted most of the important clinical trial reports on monotherapy and combination therapy.
文摘According to the United Nations Environmental Programme(UNEP),the world loses 1.0×106hm2forest land through deforestation annually.About 1.6×106people who depend on forests for livelihood are negatively affected by deforestation and forest degradation.The paper attempts to study the impact of forest governance,enforcement and socio-economic factors on deforestation and forest degradation at the local level in West Bengal State,India.The study was based on questionnaire survey data during 2020–2021 collected from three western districts(Purulia,Bankura,and Paschim Medinipur)where deforestation and poverty rates are higher than other districts in West Bengal State.The total number of selected villages was 29,and the total sample households were 693.A stratified random sampling technique was used to collect data,and a questionnaire was followed.Forest governance and enforcement indices were constructed using United Nation Development Programme(UNDP)methodology and a step-wise logistic regression model was used to identify the factors affecting deforestation and forest degradation.The result of this study showed that four factors(illegal logging,weak forest administration,encroachment,and poverty)are identified for the causes of deforestation and forest degradation.It is observed that six indices of forest governance(rule of law,transparency,accountability,participation,inclusiveness and equitability,and efficiency and effectiveness)are relatively high in Purulia District.Moreover,this study shows that Purulia and Bankura districts follow medium forest governance,while Paschim Medinipur District has poor forest governance.The enforcement index is found to be highest in Purulia District(0.717)and lowest for Paschim Medinipur District(0.257).Finally,weak forest governance,poor socio-economic conditions of the households,and weak enforcement lead to the deforestation and forest degradation in the study area.Therefore,governments should strengthen law enforcement and encourage sustainable forest certification schemes
文摘Traumatic Spinal Cord Injury (TSCI) remains a significant cause of human suffering. The World Health Organization estimates that there are between 250,000 to 500,000 new cases every year. Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) has been an important advancement in the diagnosis and management of TSCI. Nevertheless, there is a lack of literature correlating the radiological abnormalities and histopathological findings in the first hour (i.e., hyperacute period) after injury. The aim of this preliminary study is to elucidate the relationship between the MRI abnormalities and histopathological abnormalities in the hyperacute time period. In this study, a non-human primate model (NHP) primate model is used to characterize the histopathological and radiological features. Specifically, an experimental TSCI is created with an epidural catheter. This is followed by MRI imaging. The subject is then humanely euthanized and a post-mortem examination is completed. These results suggest that the noted radiological abnormalities are consistent with a combination of hemorrhage, edema as well as eosinophilic cellular matter in the central canal.
基金the Spring Sunshine Plan(Chunhui)Research Project of Ministry of Education of China(Grant No.HZKY20220437)the State Key Laboratory of Refractories and Metallurgy(Grant No.G202206)+1 种基金the National Natural Science FoundationofChina(Grant Nos.U20A20277 and 52150610494)the National Key Research and Development Program of China(Grant No.2022YFE0123300).
文摘Ferrite features in the simulated transition zone welded with CaF_(2)-SiO_(2)-MnO fluxes containing various MnO contents have been investigated.Confocal laser scanning microscopy has been applied to simulate the thermal cycling of the transition zone and the phase transformations during cooling have been in-situ observed.It has been found that the appearance temperature for ferrite side plate decreases with increasing Mn content in the weld metals caused by MnO content increasing.Meanwhile,growth rates for both ferrite side plate and acicular ferrite are significantly enhanced with a higher Mn content of weld metal.Furthermore,from the statistical fractions of salient microstructures,for all samples,the acicular ferrite,grain boundary ferrite,and polygonal ferrite take over more than 90%.It has also been demonstrated that with the increase in Mn content,the ferrite side plate fraction increases slightly from 5%to 10%and the acicular ferrite fraction shows a tendency of first increasing and then decreasing,which experiences the maximum with the flux containing 30 wt.%MnO.This phenomenon is believed to be controlled by the O and Mn contents in weld metals synergistically.
文摘In the restructured electricity market,microgrid(MG),with the incorporation of smart grid technologies,distributed energy resources(DERs),a pumped-storage-hydraulic(PSH)unit,and a demand response program(DRP),is a smarter and more reliable electricity provider.DER consists of gas turbines and renewable energy sources such as photovoltaic systems and wind turbines.Better bidding strategies,prepared by MG operators,decrease the electricity cost and emissions from upstream grid and conventional and renewable energy sources(RES).But it is inefficient due to the very high sporadic characteristics of RES and the very high outage rate.To solve these issues,this study suggests non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm Ⅱ(NSGA-Ⅱ)for an optimal bidding strategy considering pumped hydroelectric energy storage and DRP based on outage conditions and uncertainties of renewable energy sources.The uncertainty related to solar and wind units is modeled using lognormal and Weibull probability distributions.TOU-based DRP is used,especially considering the time of outages along with the time of peak loads and prices,to enhance the reliability of MG and reduce costs and emissions.
文摘The widespread availability of abdominal ultrasound has revealed the common occurrence of asymptomatic gallstones.While the treatment for symptomatic gallstones is clear,the benefits of minimally invasive laparoscopic cholecystectomy have sparked debate about the best approach to managing silent gallstones.The potential for asymptomatic gallstones to become symptomatic or lead to complications complicates the decision-making process regarding surgical intervention,as it's uncertain when or which patients might develop complications.Consequently,risk stratification appears to play a critical role in guiding decisions about silent gallstones.However,there is no definitive evidence to direct management,and a consensus-based on high-quality evidence is yet to be established.
基金the China Scholarship Council for a personal financial grant(no.201606200045)supported by the European Research Council via a Starting GrantDutch Research Council(NWO)for a VICI grant to S.Bonnet.
文摘Gold complexes have emerged as promising anticancer metallodrugs due to their efficient thioredoxin reductase(TrxR)inhibition,which disturbs the redox balance of cancer cells.However,in this model,the role of the ligand(s)coordinated to gold is often overlooked.In this work,we present a series of tetrapyridyl Au(Ⅲ)complexes that exhibit thiol-induced release of a Au(Ⅰ)ion and a tetrapyridyl ligand.The formation of a free Au(Ⅰ)center is responsible for the expected TrxR inhibition.Additionally,the released ligand,which was visible in cells due to its intense blue fluorescence,showed excellent binding properties to the hERG potassium channel.Moreover,these ligands ended up in the lysosomes,resulting in significant lysosome damage.Altogether,the Au(Ⅲ)complexes presented in this work showed broad-spectrum anticancer properties,both in hypoxic 2D monolayers and 3D tumor spheroids.We suggest that the interaction of the released Au(Ⅰ)center and the tetrapyridyl ligand with two different protein targets may combine into prodrugs that overcome hypoxia-induced drug deactivation.
文摘Psoas muscle metastasis, though rare, is the commonest site of skeletal muscle involvement in cervical carcinoma. The appropriate clinical management of this condition, particularly of the pain related to malignant psoas syndrome, is still evolving and the diagnostic features on conventional morphological imaging modalities are often non specific, with the differential diagnosis lying between sarcoma, hematoma, and abscess. In this report, a comparison of various morphofunctional imaging modalities was made. Fluorodeoxyglucosepositron emission tomography(FDG-PET)/computed tomography(CT) was the first to suspect disease involvement of the psoas muscle, demonstrating intense FDG uptake(compared with the contralateral muscle), while ultrasound showed heterogeneous echotexture, and magnetic resonance imaging(MRI) showed subtle altered signal intensity in the right psoas muscle. Both anatomical imaging modalities and non contrast CT of the PET-CT examination demonstrated a bulky psoas muscle, without any focal abnormality. On diffusionweighted imaging of MRI(DWI-MRI), restricted diffusion of the involved muscle was an important observation. The psoas muscle metastatic involvement was proven histopathologically. Thus, enhanced glucose metabolism and restricted diffusion in the newer noninvasive molecular imaging modalities(e.g., PET/CT and DWI-MRI) could serve as valuable adjunctive parameters in diagnosing this entity in the absence of a focal abnormality in the anatomical modalities. In the treatment response monitoring scenario, FDG-PET/CT demonstrated near complete resolution following administration of 3 cycles of systemic chemotherapy and local external radiotherapy.
文摘Credit card fraudulent data is highly imbalanced, and it has presented an overwhelmingly large portion of nonfraudulent transactions and a small portion of fraudulent transactions. The measures used to judge the veracity of the detection algorithms become critical to the deployment of a model that accurately scores fraudulent transactions taking into account case imbalance, and the cost of identifying a case as genuine when, in fact, the case is a fraudulent transaction. In this paper, a new criterion to judge classification algorithms, which considers the cost of misclassification, is proposed, and several undersampling techniques are compared by this new criterion. At the same time, a weighted support vector machine (SVM) algorithm considering the financial cost of misclassification is introduced, proving to be more practical for credit card fraud detection than traditional methodologies. This weighted SVM uses transaction balances as weights for fraudulent transactions, and a uniformed weight for nonfraudulent transactions. The results show this strategy greatly improve performance of credit card fraud detection.
基金This work was supported by grants received from Council of Scientific and Industrial Research(CSIR),DST(DST-Nanomission-SR/NM/NS-1058/2015)DBT(Bio-cluster,Kolkata),Govt.of India.
文摘Herpesvirus-associated ubiquitin-specific protease(HAUSP)is a USP family deubiquitinase.HAUSP is a protein of immense biological importance as it is involved in several cellular processes,including host-virus interactions,oncogenesis and tumor suppression,DNA damage and repair processes,DNA dynamics and epigenetic modulations,regulation of gene expression and protein function,spatio-temporal distribution,and immune functions.Since its discovery in the late 1990s as a protein interacting with a herpes virus regulatory protein,extensive studies have assessed its complex roles in p53-MDM2-related networks,identified numerous additional interacting partners,and elucidated the different roles of HAUSP in the context of cancer,development,and metabolic and neurological pathologies.Recent analyses have provided new insights into its biochemical and functional dynamics.In this review,we provide a comprehensive account of our current knowledge about emerging insights into HAUSP in physiology and diseases,which shed light on fundamental biological questions and promise to provide a potential target for therapeutic intervention.
基金Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR),New Delhi for grant in the form of the extramural research project vide sanction letter No.5/8/4-4(env) 07-NCD-I dated 3-08-09One of the authors Pravin Suryakantrao Deshmukh is grateful to ICMR for Senior Research Fellowship (SRF) support
文摘Objective The present study was designed to investigate the effects of subchronic low level microwave radiation （MWR） on cognitive function, heat shock protein 70 （HSP70） level and DNA damage in brain of Fischer rats. Methods Experiments were performed on male Fischer rats exposed to microwave radiation for 90 days at three different frequencies： 900, 2800, and 2450 MHz. Animals were divided into 4 groups： Group I： Sham exposed, Group I1： animals exposed to microwave radiation at 900 MHz and specific absorption rate （SAR） 5.953 x 10-4 W/kg, Group II1： animals exposed to 1800 MHz at SAR 5.835 x 20-4 W/kg and Group IV： animals exposed to 2450 MHz at SAR 6.672 x 10-4 W/kg. All the animals were tested for cognitive function using elevated plus maze and Morris water maze at the end of the exposure period and subsequently sacrificed to collect brain tissues. HSP70 levels were estimated by ELISA and DNA damage was assessed using alkaline comet assay. Results Microwave exposure at 900-2450 MHz with SAR values as mentioned above lead to decline in cognitive function, increase in HSP70 level and DNA damage in brain. Conclusion The results of the present study suggest that low level microwave exposure at frequencies 900, 2800, and 2450 MHz may lead to hazardous effects on brain.
文摘Microorganisms represent a substantial portion of the earth’s biodiversity and biomass, and the plant rhizosphere is an innate reservoir teeming with heterogeneous microbes predominated by bacterial communities. Rhizospheric microbial diversity (genetic, phenotypic, and metabolic) has been extensively studied to understand the key ecological roles played by the microbial members, including plant growth promotion. The application of 16S rRNA gene sequencing and next-generation sequencing (NGS) technologies has revolutionized the discovery of novel bacterial groups that have remained undetected by traditional cultivation-based approaches. Such technological advancements have opened new vistas in our current understanding of predominant but concealed and missed bacterial diversity referred to as difficult-to-culture bacterial lineages, especially the predominant phyla Acidobacteria, Verrucomicrobia,Planctomycetes, and Gemmatimonadetes. Regardless of their ubiquity and prevalence, little is known about their ecophysiology because of the non-availability of culturable members. More recently, there has been increased interest in understanding the cosmopolitan distribution and diversity of the difficult-to-culture bacteria, focusing on their role in driving complex plant-microbial interactions and mobilizing nutrients in soil and their potential as sources of novel bioactive metabolites. As an initial step, we review the distribution and significance of such bacterial phyla in soil, their ecophysiological roles, and their hidden plant growth promoting potential. The ability to select and deploy plant probiotic bacteria from the difficult-to-culture fraction of the bacterial community might open new avenues for improving crop health.
文摘The Traveling Salesman Problem (TSP) and its allied problems like Vehicle Routing Problem (VRP) are one of the most widely studied problems in combinatorial optimization. It has long been known to be NP-hard and hence research on developing algorithms for the TSP has focused on approximate methods in addition to exact methods. Tabu search is one of the most widely applied metaheuristic for solving the TSP. In this paper, we review the tabu search literature on the TSP and its variations, point out trends in it, and bring out some interesting research gaps in this literature.
