Preparation and Evaluation of pH-Sensitive Chitosan/Alginate Nanohybrid Mucoadhesive Hydrogel Beads: An Effective Approach to a Gastro-Retentive Drug Delivery System.

Background: Despite extensive research over the decades, cancer therapy is still a great challenge because of the non-specific delivery of chemotherapeutic agents, which could be overcome by limiting the distribution of chemotherapeutic agents toward cancer cells.

Objective: To reduce the cytolytic effects against cancer cells, graphene oxide (GO) nanoparticles (NPs) can load anticancer medicines and genetic tools.

Methodology: During the current study, folic-acid-conjugated graphene oxide (Fa-GO) hybrid mucoadhesive chitosan (CS)-based hydrogel beads were fabricated through an "ion-gelation process", which allows for regulated medication release at malignant pH.

Understanding the socio-demographic and programmatic factors associated with adolescent motherhood and its association with child undernutrition in Bangladesh.

Background: Worldwide, a significant number of girls become mothers during adolescence. In Bangladesh, adolescent childbirth is highly prevalent and has adverse effects on children's health and undernutrition. We aimed to identify the relationship between the undernutrition of children and adolescent motherhood, the factors associated with adolescent mothers' age at first birth, and to examine the programmatic factors and gaps influencing children's undernutrition in Bangladesh.

Comparative role of calcium oxide nanoparticles and calcium bulk fertilizer to alleviate cadmium toxicity by modulating oxidative stress, photosynthetic performance and antioxidant-defense genes expression in alfalfa.

Cadmium (Cd) toxicity poses a significant threat to soil health and sustainable food production. Its bioaccumulation in plant tissues induces phytotoxicity by affecting physiological and biochemical attributes, leading to a reduction in plant biomass and production. Recently, nanotechnology has emerged as a promising approach for addressing heavy metal toxicity in an eco-friendly manner to enhance crop production.

Receptor-like cytoplasmic kinase 58 reduces tolerance of maize seedlings to low magnesium via promoting HO over-accumulation.

ZmRLCK58, a negative growth regulator, reduces tolerance of maize seedlings to low Mg via enhancing HO accumulation in the shoot. Magnesium (Mg) deficiency is one of critical limiting factors for crop production in widespread acidic soils worldwide. However, the molecular mechanism of crop response to Mg deficiency is still largely unclear.

Optimizing lornoxicam-loaded poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) and (polyethylene glycol) nanoparticles for transdermal delivery: / inflammation evaluation.

This study focused on developing a topical gel incorporating lornoxicam-loaded poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) and polyethylene glycol (PLGA-PEG) blend nanoparticles to mitigate gastrointestinal (GIT) side effects and enhance therapeutic efficacy. Synthesized nanoparticles were subjected to characterization, permeation studies, and acute oral toxicity analysis post-incorporation into the gel using a S/O/W double emulsion solvent. The nanoparticles displayed a smooth, spherical morphology (170-321 nm) with increased entrapment efficiency (96.

Impact of educational intervention on hypertension management by primary care physician: A randomized control trial.

Objective: The current study aimed to observe hypertension educational intervention's effect on general physicians (GPs) to improve blood pressure control and patient outcomes indirectly.

Methods: This randomized control trial includes 42 GPs divided into 2 groups. GPs in group 1 receive face-to-face education with structured educational material on hypertension management strategies by a senior cardiologist.

Examining the implementation of facility-based integrated management of childhood illness and insecticide treated nets in Bangladesh: lessons learned through implementation research.

Background: Bangladesh significantly reduced under-5 mortality (U5M) between 2000 and 2015, despite its low economic development and projected high mortality rates in children aged under 5 years. A portion of this success was due to implementation of health systems-delivered evidence-based interventions (EBIs) known to reduce U5M. This study aims to understand how Bangladesh was able to achieve this success between 2000 and 2015.

Left atrial appendage thrombus with severe mitral stenosis: Responders and non-responders to anticoagulation.

Introduction And Objective: Mitral stenosis (MS) is one of the most frequently observed valvular heart lesions in developing countries and is due to different etiologies. The effects of anticoagulation in different types of left atrial appendage (LAA) are unknown. The current study aimed to determine the resolution of LAA thrombus on transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) after three months of optimal anticoagulation in patients with different types of LAA at baseline cardiac computed tomography of patients with severe MS.

Internet of Vehicles (IoV)-Based Task Scheduling Approach Using Fuzzy Logic Technique in Fog Computing Enables Vehicular Ad Hoc Network (VANET).

The intelligent transportation system (ITS) relies heavily on the vehicular ad hoc network (VANET) and the internet of vehicles (IoVs), which combine cloud and fog to improve task processing capabilities. As a cloud extension, the fog processes' infrastructure is close to VANET, fostering an environment favorable to smart cars with IT equipment and effective task management oversight. Vehicle processing power, bandwidth, time, and high-speed mobility are all limited in VANET.

Smart Resource Allocation in Mobile Cloud Next-Generation Network (NGN) Orchestration with Context-Aware Data and Machine Learning for the Cost Optimization of Microservice Applications.

Mobile cloud computing (MCC) provides resources to users to handle smart mobile applications. In MCC, task scheduling is the solution for mobile users' context-aware computation resource-rich applications. Most existing approaches have achieved a moderate service reliability rate due to a lack of instance-centric resource estimations and task offloading, a statistical NP-hard problem.

pH-sensitive docetaxel-loaded chitosan/thiolated hyaluronic acid polymeric nanoparticles for colorectal cancer.

This study aimed to develop and evaluate pH-sensitive docetaxel-loaded thiolated hyaluronic acid (HA-SH) nanoparticles (NPs) for targeted treatment of colon cancer. HA-SH, synthesized via oxidation and subsequent covalent linkage to cysteamine, served as the precursor for developing HA-SH NPs through polyelectrolyte complexation involving chitosan and thiol-bearing HA. HA-SH NPs displayed favorable characteristics, with small particle sizes (184-270 nm), positive zeta potential (15.

The noncanonical nucleotide binding site 1 of the bile salt export pump is optimized for proper function of the transporter.

The bile salt export pump (ABCB11/BSEP) is a hepatocyte plasma membrane-resident protein translocating bile salts into bile canaliculi. The sequence alignment of the four full-length transporters of the ABCB subfamily (ABCB1, ABCB4, ABCB5 and ABCB11) indicates that the NBD-NBD contact interface of ABCB11 differs from that of other members in only four residues. Notably, these are all located in the noncanonical nucleotide binding site 1 (NBS1).

Context-dependent accuracy of the cobas plasma separation card for HCV RNA viral load measurement.

Collection and preservation of plasma are challenging in remote or under-resourced settings. The cobas® Plasma Separation Card (PSC) is an alternative specimen type for blood-borne pathogen nucleic acid quantitation. We assessed PSC as a specimen type for HCV RNA quantitation in Pakistan.

Barriers and Strategies for Hepatitis B and C Elimination in Pakistan.

Background: Pakistan has a high hepatitis burden for both hepatitis C virus (HCV) and hepatitis B virus (HBV). To achieve World Health Organization (WHO) 2030 targets for hepatitis elimination, there is a need to constitute progress in the country, find the barriers and strategies for HCV elimination, and take actions to address the gaps.

Methods: We collected data from (1) WHO estimates in 2020, (2) midterm review questionnaire of the WHO regional action plan, and (3) WHO estimates on immunization.

BBSF: Blockchain-Based Secure Weather Forecasting Information through Routing Protocol in Vanet.

A vehicular ad hoc network (VANET) is a technique that uses vehicles with the ability to sense data from the environment and use it for their safety measures. Flooding is a commonly used term used for sending network packets. VANET may cause redundancy, delay, collision, and the incorrect receipt of the messages to their destination.

Hepatitis C prevalence and elimination planning in Pakistan, a bottom-up approach accounting for provincial variation.

In Pakistan, substantial changes to hepatitis C virus (HCV) programming and treatment have occurred since the 2008 nationwide serosurvey estimated a 4.8% anti-HCV prevalence. In the absence of an updated national study, this analysis uses provincial data to estimate a national prevalence and the interventions needed to achieve elimination.

Girl child marriage and the social context of displacement: a qualitative comparative exploration of Syrian refugees in Jordan and Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh.

Background: There is growing global evidence that girl child marriage (CM) increases during humanitarian crises. Norms, attitudes, and policies that sustain CM are deeply entrenched within families and communities, and may be further exacerbated by conflict and displacement. The purpose of this study is to understand how the social and normative environment influences attitudes and practices related to CM in two diverse humanitarian settings.

Antagonistic impact on cadmium stress in alfalfa supplemented with nano-zinc oxide and biochar via upregulating metal detoxification.

Eco-toxicological estimation of cadmium induced damages by morpho-physiological and cellular response could be an insightful strategy to alleviate negative impact of Cd in agricultural crops. The current study revealed novel patterns of Cd-bioaccumulation and cellular mechanism opted by alfalfa to acquire Cd tolerance under various soil applied zinc oxide nanoparticles (nZnO) doses (0, 30, 60, 90 mg kg), combined with 2% biochar (BC). Herein, the potential impact of these soil amendments was justified by decreased Cd and increased Zn-bioaccumulation into roots by 38 % and 48 % and shoots by 51 % and 72 % respectively, with co-exposure of nZnO with BC.

An assessment of influential factors developing the intention to use social media sites: A technology acceptance model based approach.

The aim of this study is to elaborate the different factors which attract users to use social media sites. These main factors are subjective norms, image, efficiency and satisfaction along with the mediating role of perceived usefulness. Survey method was used to collect data from B2B fashion brands in Pakistan.

Association mapping for abiotic stress tolerance using heat- and drought-related syntenic markers in okra.

Background: Considerable production losses are caused by heat and drought stress in okra. Germplasm evaluation at genetic level is essential for the selection of promising genotypes. Lack of genomic information of okra limits the use of genetic markers.

Exogenous melatonin promotes the growth of alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) under NaCl stress through multiple pathways.

Salinity is one of the most common factors affecting alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.), and NaCl is one of the main factors of salinity stress which can cause heavy losses in agricultural production in the world. The application of exogenous melatonin (MT) plays a major role in numerous plants against various stress environments.