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Bipolar disorder (BD), one of the most debilitating mental disorders, is associated with increased morbidity and mortality. Lithium is the first line of treatment option for BD and is often used for maintenance therapy. Recently, the neuroprotective action of lithium has gained tremendous attention, given that BD is associated with structural and functional abnormalities of the brain. However, the precise molecular mechanism by which lithium exerts its neuroprotective action is not clearly understood. In hippocampal neurons, the effects of lithium (1 and 2 mM) on neuronal viability against glutamate-induced cytotoxicity, dendritic length and number, and expression and methylation of BDNF promoter exons and expression of apoptotic regulatory genes were studied. In rat hippocampal neurons, lithium not only increased dendritic length and number, but also neuronal viability against glutamate-induced cytotoxicity. While lithium increased the expression of BDNF as well as genes associated with neuroprotection such as Bcl2 and Bcl-XL, it decreased the expression of pro-apoptotic genes Bax, Bad, and caspases 3. Interestingly, lithium activated transcription of specific exon IV to induce BDNF gene expression. This was accompanied by hypomethylation of BDNF exon IV promoter. This study delineates mechanisms by which lithium mediates its effects in protecting neurons.

Over a decade of genome-wide association, studies have made great strides toward the detection of genes and genetic mechanisms underlying complex traits. However, the majority of associated loci reside in non-coding regions that are functionally uncharacterized in general. Now, the availability of large-scale tissue and cell type-specific transcriptome and epigenome data enables us to elucidate how non-coding genetic variants can affect gene expressions and are associated with phenotypic changes. Here, we provide an overview of this emerging field in human genomics, summarizing available data resources and state-of-the-art analytic methods to facilitate in-silico prioritization of non-coding regulatory mutations. We also highlight the limitations of current approaches and discuss the direction of much-needed future research.

With the rise of e-vehicles there is a rapid growth in the use of lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) throughout the world. Thus, there is rapid depletion of lithium and other rare earth metals for manufacturing of LIBs. As a result, it has become extremely important to develop and sustainably implement circular economy (CE) of LIBs throughout the world. We conducted semi-structured interviews with various organisations working on the development of LIBs to investigate the current policies and practices in the CE of LIBs. We considered India as a focus country due to its large potential market and diversity in context of LIBs. This helped us to investigate various impacts and dynamics in the political and practical field. The results helped in recommending certain policies that should be adopted by the Government of India to enhance CE of LIBs in the nation. These policies will help in the sustainable usage of resources used to manufacture LIBs.

The reduced performance of a diesel engine with biodiesel can be overcome by inclusion of nanoparticles. This study uses a novel binary mixture of Prosopis juliflora biodiesel (PJB) and 200 ppm of metal-based nanoparticles [cerium oxide (CeO 2 ), manganese dioxide (MnO 2 ), and titanium dioxide (TiO 2 )], to operate and examine the behaviour of a four-stroke, one-cylinder, naturally aspirated, water-cooled diesel engine. The work comprises a new comparison of energy, exergy, and sustainability performance through energy distribution and utilisation inside the engine using first and second laws of thermodynamics for the fuel samples PJB0, PJB100, PJB100Ce, PJB100Mn, and PJB100Ti. The boundary conditions for the analysis are set to a compression ratio of 17.5, an engine speed of 1500 rpm, and injection timing of 23° crank angle bTDC. The addition of various nanoparticles into the pure PJB fuel increased the energy and exergy efficiency by 6.1–7.3%, the exergy performance coefficient by 9.9–14.6%, and the sustainability index by 3.6–6.8% and reduced the exergy destruction by 3.5–6.4% at full engine load. Among the various blends analysed, PJB100Ti performed superiorly as compared to others. From the detailed analysis, energy, exergy, and sustainability provide insightful information about the engine’s operation and its impact on the engine system. The adoption of nanoparticle-enhanced biodiesel is not only a promising alternative in the search for cleaner but also more effective energy sources. This study suggests more investigation and development in the areas of alternative fuels, engine optimization, and the development of sustainable energy solutions. Graphical abstract

To tackle the risk of emerging and re-emerging diseases, it is critical for countries with limited resources to prioritize endemic and emerging zoonotic diseases of greatest national concern. One Health is an integrated, unifying approach that aims to sustainably balance and optimize the health of people, animals, and ecosystems. In India, as a first step toward a multidisciplinary, multisectoral, One Health approach to preventing and detecting zoonotic disease outbreaks, a national-level multistakeholder zoonotic disease prioritization workshop was organized to identify a list of zoonotic diseases of greatest national concern for India. We followed the Good Reporting of a Mixed Methods Study guidelines to finalize a list of priority zoonotic diseases through a participatory action research approach involving 50 experts in zoonotic diseases. We used a prioritization process based on the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's semiquantitative One Health Zoonotic Disease Prioritization process, with modifications per country need. We ranked 40 zoonotic diseases based on 5 criteria: severity of illness in humans, the economic burden of the diseases, pandemic potential, capacity for prevention and control, and potential for introduction or increased transmission in India. The final list of zoonotic diseases ranked in the order of national significance included the following top 10 priority zoonotic diseases: zoonotic influenza (zoonotic influenza A viruses), anthrax, Japanese encephalitis, leptospirosis, brucellosis, dengue fever, rabies, scrub typhus, plague, and Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever. We conducted a sensitivity analysis to assess the impact of each criterion on the prioritized list; this analysis showed minimal changes in ranking for the top 10 diseases. For the successful adoption of One Health practices in India, multisectoral collaboration is critical at all levels-national, state, and provincial. This collaborative prioritization process conducted at the national level has the potential to fast track India's one health efforts and enhance zoonotic disease prevention and detection efforts at the state and local levels across India. RR2-10.1101/2024.02.26.24303393.

An experimental investigation of the role of coherent structures and their effect on hydrodynamic forces responsible for inception of sediment motion has been carried out using a laboratory flume. Two types of experiments, namely, movable and fixed ball, were conducted using spherical roughness element beds with particle image velocimetry used to measure the instantaneous flow velocity field. Movable ball experiments revealed the predominance of large sweep structures at the instant of entrainment for both shielded and exposed particles. Fixed ball experiments involving simultaneous measurements of hydrodynamic forces and velocity on the particle at entrainment conditions revealed the significance of impulse in initiating sediment entrainment such that an optimum combination of force and duration is required to produce the threshold impulse. Short‐duration lift forces of magnitudes greater than the submerged weight are thought to be responsible for partial lifting of the completely shielded particle. Quadrant analysis and probability distribution function plots of the dominant hydrodynamic force reveal the higher probability of occurrence of high‐magnitude force induced by sweep (Q4) events.

The goal of this study was to determine the coefficient of permeability as well as the rate of carbonation of concrete constructed with rice husk ash (RHA) as a partial replacement for cement (i.e., 5%, 10%, and 15%) and two different concentrations of soap solutions (i.e., 1 percent and 2 percent). The microstructural studies of RHA, and carbonated samples have been conducted by using Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) and X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) analysis. According to this study, the carbonation depth of concrete made with 1% and 2% soap solution concentration and without rice husk ash decreased by 11.89% and 46.55%, respectively. From the results, it may also be observed that the carbonation depth of concrete made with up to 10% replacement of cement by rice husk ash led to maximum carbonation resistance, while more than 10% replacement of cement showed higher carbonation depth. It is also observed that the coefficient of permeability of concrete with 2% soap solution significantly decreased as compared to the 1% soap solution and control mix. It may be observed from the SEM images that 0% soap solution (M1) concrete has a very rough concrete surface which may indicate more voids. However, 2% soap solution concrete has a much smoother surface, which indicates a smaller number of voids. Furthermore, the SEM images showed that the soap solution helps in filling the voids of concrete which ultimately helps in reduction in permeability. Energy Dispersive X-Ray Analysis (EDX) of concrete with 0% (M1) and 2% (M6) soap solution disclosed that the concrete with 2% soap solution (M6) exhibited more silica element formation than the concrete with no soap solution (M1).

There is an absolute necessity for healthcare providers, including hospitals and primary care physicians, to keep patient data secure inside their existing healthcare systems. These systems incorporate electronic health records (EHRs), which store detailed medical histories including diagnoses, treatments, and diagnostic tests as well as demographic information like gender, weight, age, and insurance coverage. Sharing this sensitive medical data securely while avoiding unauthorized access and potential breaches is the biggest challenge. One possible solution to this problem is the use of the cryptographic hashing algorithm SHA256 in conjunction with the IoT. By making it difficult for enemies to understand hashed information, SHA256 strengthens data security. To top it all off, SHA256 works well with verified keys, so you can quickly compare created passwords to existing ones to be sure they're legitimate. Better performance metrics are shown by proposed procedures that use SHA256 compared to existing techniques. The average block creation time, total execution time, and blockchain memory capacity are all significantly lower with these new approaches than with their predecessors, which bodes well for healthcare system efficiency and scalability. Essentially, healthcare systems implementing SHA256 represent a significant step toward improving data security and protecting patient information, leading to a more trustworthy healthcare system overall.

An experimental study of lift force on a spherical sediment particle at different exposures was conducted in a laboratory flume. It is found that the functional form of the theoretical probability density function (pdf) of lift force similar to that of drag force is inadequate. An improved expression for the pdf based on the normal error law is provided which matches the measured data up to ±3 times the standard deviation of lift force for all exposures. The skewness of the measured lift force is found to increase with increase in exposure. In addition, the kurtosis of the measured lift force is found to be higher than that for a normal distribution for all exposures, resulting in higher probability of occurrence of extreme events (beyond ±3 times standard deviation). A spectral density function of lift force as a function of streamwise and stream‐normal velocity is developed and validated using the measured lift force data. The spectrum predicted by the proposed model closely follows the measured spectrum for exposures 7.5 mm and 10 mm while it over predicts at frequencies below 1 Hz for exposures 0 mm and 2.5 mm because of poor coherence between lift force and streamwise velocity. The time history plots of measured lift at lower exposures showed that the high‐frequency positive and negative fluctuations of lift correspond to strongly positive streamwise velocity fluctuations, a phenomenon not captured by the predictive model. Predominance of fluctuating Bernoulli's lift over lift due to stream‐normal velocity fluctuations is observed at all exposures, more so in the case of lower exposures. Key Points Hydrodynamic forces on bed sediment particle Probability density function of lift force Spectral density function of lift force