Optimal design of a wheelchair-mounted robotic arm for activities of daily living.

Purpose: The increasing prevalence of upper limb dysfunctions due to stroke, spinal cord injuries, and multiple sclerosis presents a critical challenge in assistive technology: designing robotic arms that are both energy‑efficient and capable of effectively performing activities of daily living (ADLs). This challenge is exacerbated by the need to ensure these devices are accessible for non‑expert users and can operate within the spatial constraints typical of everyday environments. Despite advancements in wheelchair‑mounted robotic arms (WMRAs), existing designs do not achieve an optimal balance-minimizing energy consumption and space while maximizing kinematic performance and workspace.

Characterization of microalgal β-carotene and astaxanthin: exploring their health-promoting properties under the effect of salinity and light intensity.

Microalgae are promising sources of valuable carotenoids like β-carotene and astaxanthin with numerous health benefits. This review summarizes recent studies on producing these carotenoids in microalgae under different salinity and light-intensity conditions, which are key factors influencing their biosynthesis. The carotenoid biosynthesis pathways in microalgae, involving the methylerythritol phosphate pathway in chloroplasts, are described in detail.

DOTAGEL: a hydrogen and amide bonded, gelatin based, tunable, antibacterial, and high strength adhesive synthesized in an unoxidized environment.

The development of bioadhesives that concurrently exhibit high adhesion strength, biocompatibility, and tunable properties and involve simple fabrication processes continues to be a significant challenge. In this study, a novel bioadhesive named DOTAGEL is synthesized by crosslinking gelatin (GA), dopamine (DA), and tannic acid (TA) in an unoxidized environment due to the advantage of controlling the degree of protonation in GA and TA, as well as controlling the degree of intermolecular amide and hydrogen bonding in the acidic medium. DOTAGEL (DA + TA + GA) shows superior adhesion strengths of 104.

Development of a Three-Finger Adaptive Robotic Gripper to Assist Activities of Daily Living.

A significant number of individuals in the United States use assistive devices to enhance their mobility, and a considerable portion of those who depend on such aids require assistance from another individual in performing daily living activities. The introduction of robotic grippers has emerged as a transformative intervention, significantly contributing to the cultivation of independence. However, there are few grippers in the fields, which help with mimicking human hand-like movements (mostly grasping and pinching, with adoptive force control) to grasp and carry objects.

Deciphering molecular regulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and reactive nitrogen species (RNS) signalling networks in Oryza genus amid environmental stress.

The Oryza genus, containing Oryza sativa L., is quintessential to sustain global food security. This genus has a lot of sophisticated molecular mechanisms to cope with environmental stress, particularly during vulnerable stages like flowering.

Rare coexistence of hypopituitarism with osteogenesis imperfecta - A double-trouble for bone.

Osteogenesis imperfecta (OI) commonly involving defects in COL1A1 and COL1A2 is a rare hereditary disease of bone fragility affecting 6-7 per 100,000 population. On the other hand, hypopituitarism is a separate entity that manifests with reduced levels of pituitary hormones. The cooccurrence of these two is seldom reported previously in literature as a deviation from Occam's razor.

Harnessing weedy rice as functional food and source of novel traits for crop improvement.

A relative of cultivated rice (Oryza sativa L.), weedy or red rice (Oryza spp.) is currently recognized as the dominant weed, leading to a drastic loss of yield of cultivated rice due to its highly competitive abilities like producing more tillers, panicles, and biomass with better nutrient uptake.

Recent advancements in multifaceted roles of flavonoids in plant-rhizomicrobiome interactions.

The rhizosphere consists of a plethora of microbes, interacting with each other as well as with the plants present in proximity. The root exudates consist of a variety of secondary metabolites such as strigolactones and other phenolic compounds such as coumarin that helps in facilitating communication and forming associations with beneficial microbes in the rhizosphere. Among different secondary metabolites flavonoids (natural polyphenolic compounds) continuously increasing attention in scientific fields for showing several slews of biological activities.

Endoscopic spraying of smectite to prevent esophageal stricture after endoscopic submucosal dissection.

Esophageal stenosis after ESD has been recorded high for large-scale esophageal lesion. Risk factors for increasing the occurrence of stenosis includes long type lesions, lesions infiltrating into the muscularis mucosa and muscular layer injury. In this case, postoperative stricture of the patient was highly likely occurred.

Intra-operative drug level monitoring of pre-operative antibiotic for surgical prophylaxis in the patients of elective spinal surgery.

Objectives: Single dose prophylaxis is good enough for general surgery with low risk patients. However, the evidence for the effectiveness of single dose anti-microbial prophylaxis (AMP) is not conclusive in high risk patients and spinal surgeries requiring instrumentation or the use of implants in particular. No studies have explored the various concentration of ceftriaxone in plasma and tissue as well during an ongoing spinal surgery.

Understanding the genomic selection for crop improvement: current progress and future prospects.

Although increased use of modern breeding techniques and technology has resulted in long-term genetic gain, the pace of genetic gain must be sped up to satisfy global agricultural demand. However, marker-assisted selection has proven its potential for improving qualitative traits with large effects regulated by one to few genes. Its contribution to the improvement of the quantitative traits regulated by a number of small-effect genes is modest.

Multifarious Responses of Forest Soil Microbial Community Toward Climate Change.

Forest soils are a pressing subject of worldwide research owing to the several roles of forests such as carbon sinks. Currently, the living soil ecosystem has become dreadful as a consequence of several anthropogenic activities including climate change. Climate change continues to transform the living soil ecosystem as well as the soil microbiome of planet Earth.

Efficiency of microbial bio-agents as elicitors in plant defense mechanism under biotic stress: A review.

Numerous harmful microorganisms and insect pests have the ability to cause plant infections or damage, which is mostly controlled by toxic chemical agents. These chemical compounds and their derivatives exhibit hazardous effects on habitats and human life too. Hence, there's a need to develop novel, more effective and safe bio-control agents.

Molecular interaction of nitrate transporter proteins with recombinant glycinebetaine results in efficient nitrate uptake in the cyanobacterium Anabaena PCC 7120.

Nitrate transport in cyanobacteria is mediated by ABC-transporter, which consists of a highly conserved ATP binding cassette (ABC) and a less conserved transmembrane domain (TMD). Under salt stress, recombinant glycinebetaine (GB) not only protected the rate of nitrate transport in transgenic Anabaena PCC 7120, rather stimulated the rate by interacting with the ABC-transporter proteins. In silico analyses revealed that nrtA protein consisted of 427 amino acids, the majority of which were hydrophobic and contained a Tat (twin-arginine translocation) signal profile of 34 amino acids (1-34).

Novel major QTLs associated with low soil phosphorus tolerance identified from the Indian rice landrace, Wazuhophek.

With an objective of mapping novel low soil P (Phosphorus) tolerance loci in the non-Pup1 type donor rice line, Wazuhophek, we screened a recombinant inbred line (RIL) mapping population consisting of 330 lines derived from the cross Wazuhophek x Improved Samba Mahsuri (which is highly sensitive to low soil P) in a plot with low soil P for tolerance associated traits. Molecular mapping with SSR markers revealed a total of 16 QTLs (seven major and nine minor QTLs), which are associated with low soil P tolerance related traits. Interestingly, a QTL hotspot, harbouring 10 out of 16 QTLs were identified on the short arm of chromosome 8 (flanked by the makers RM22554 and RM80005).

Nickel and cadmium phytoextraction efficiencies of vetiver and lemongrass grown on Ni-Cd battery waste contaminated soil: A comparative study of linear and nonlinear models.

A comparative assessment of the phytoremediation efficiency of two tolerant grass species viz. vetiver and lemongrass were performed in pots against simulated Ni-Cd battery electrolyte waste (EW) contaminated soil (EW1%, EW2% and EW4% w/w). Ni (μg g) accumulation was higher in shoots (36.

Endophytic Nanotechnology: An Approach to Study Scope and Potential Applications.

Nanotechnology has become a very advanced and popular form of technology with huge potentials. Nanotechnology has been very well explored in the fields of electronics, automobiles, construction, medicine, and cosmetics, but the exploration of nanotecnology's use in agriculture is still limited. Due to climate change, each year around 40% of crops face abiotic and biotic stress; with the global demand for food increasing, nanotechnology is seen as the best method to mitigate challenges in disease management in crops by reducing the use of chemical inputs such as herbicides, pesticides, and fungicides.

A Novel Modified Super-Twisting Control Augmented Feedback Linearization for Wearable Robotic Systems Using Time Delay Estimation.

The research presents a novel controller designed for robotic systems subject to nonlinear uncertain dynamics and external disturbances. The control scheme is based on the modified super-twisting method, input/output feedback linearization, and time delay approach. In addition, to minimize the chattering phenomenon and ensure fast convergence to the selected sliding surface, a new reaching law has been integrated with the control law.

A Lightweight CNN Model for Detecting Respiratory Diseases From Lung Auscultation Sounds Using EMD-CWT-Based Hybrid Scalogram.

Listening to lung sounds through auscultation is vital in examining the respiratory system for abnormalities. Automated analysis of lung auscultation sounds can be beneficial to the health systems in low-resource settings where there is a lack of skilled physicians. In this work, we propose a lightweight convolutional neural network (CNN) architecture to classify respiratory diseases from individual breath cycles using hybrid scalogram-based features of lung sounds.

PGPR-mediated induction of systemic resistance and physiochemical alterations in plants against the pathogens: Current perspectives.

Plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) are diverse groups of plant-associated microorganisms, which can reduce the severity or incidence of disease during antagonism among bacteria and soil-borne pathogens, as well as by influencing a systemic resistance to elicit defense response in host plants. An amalgamation of various strains of PGPR has improved the efficacy by enhancing the systemic resistance opposed to various pathogens affecting the crop. Many PGPR used with seed treatment causes structural improvement of the cell wall and physiological/biochemical changes leading to the synthesis of proteins, peptides, and chemicals occupied in plant defense mechanisms.

Cyanobacteria as a source of biofertilizers for sustainable agriculture.

Continuous increase in global human population and depletion of natural resources of energy posing threat to environment needs, sustainable supply of food and energy. The most ecofriendly approach 'green technology' has been exploited for biofertilizer preparation. Cyanobacteria are the most successful and sustained prokaryotic organism during the course of evolution.

Regulation of L-proline biosynthesis, signal transduction, transport, accumulation and its vital role in plants during variable environmental conditions.

Background: In response to various environmental stresses, many plant species synthesize L-proline in the cytosol and accumulates in the chloroplasts. L-Proline accumulation in plants is a well-recognized physiological reaction to osmotic stress prompted by salinity, drought and other abiotic stresses. L-Proline plays several protective functions such as osmoprotectant, stabilizing cellular structures, enzymes, and scavenging reactive oxygen species (ROS), and keeps up redox balance in adverse situations.

Physiological responses to salt stress of salt-adapted and directly salt (NaCl and NaCl+NaSO mixture)-stressed cyanobacterium Anabaena fertilissima.

Soil salinity in nature is generally mixed type; however, most of the studies on salt toxicity are performed with NaCl and little is known about sulfur type of salinity (NaSO). Present study discerns the physiologic mechanisms responsible for salt tolerance in salt-adapted Anabaena fertilissima, and responses of directly stressed parent cells to NaCl and NaCl+NaSO mixture. NaCl at 500 mM was lethal to the cyanobacterium, whereas salt-adapted cells grew luxuriantly.

Toxins: Potential Virulence Factors and Genes Related to Pathogenesis.

is an important fungus to study due to their different life style from saprophytes to endophytes and a very successful fungal pathogen that causes diseases to a number of economically important crops. species have been well-characterized for the production of different host-specific toxins (HSTs) and non-host specific toxins (nHSTs) which depend upon their physiological and morphological stages. The pathogenicity of species depends on host susceptibility or resistance as well as quantitative production of HSTs and nHSTs.

Isolation, characterization and toxicological potential of Alternaria-mycotoxins (TeA, AOH and AME) in different Alternaria species from various regions of India.

Alternaria species produce various sorts of toxic metabolites during their active growth and causes severe diseases in many plants by limiting their productivity. These toxic metabolites incorporate various mycotoxins comprising of dibenzo-α-pyrone and some tetramic acid derivatives. In this study, we have screened out total 48 isolates of Alternaria from different plants belonging to different locations in India, on the basis of their pathogenic nature.