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The convergence of genome editing and sustainability has positioned CRISPR-Cas technologies as transformative tools across agriculture and pharmacy. In crop protection, CRISPR-based diagnostics and resistance breeding are advancing sustainable strategies to mitigate plant diseases, reduce chemical pesticide use, and enhance food security. In parallel, CRISPR-Cas systems are accelerating the discovery and biosynthesis of plant-derived natural products with pharmaceutical relevance, offering greener pathways for drug development and functional foods. Miniature CRISPR effectors further expand the potential of portable, low-resource diagnostic platforms, strengthening applications in both field-based plant health monitoring and clinical settings. By integrating agricultural biotechnology with pharmaceutical innovation, CRISPR-Cas systems contribute to a circular bioeconomy and a sustainable future for global health. This review synthesizes recent advances, challenges, and opportunities at the interface of plant science and pharmacy, providing a roadmap for the next generation of sustainable biotechnology. Graphical abstract Highlights CRISPR-Cas tools advance sustainable crop protection and diagnostics. Genome editing accelerates natural product discovery for pharmacy. Miniature Cas effectors enable portable, low-resource applications. Integrating plant science and pharmacy supports a sustainable bioeconomy.

We aimed to present the frequency of computed tomography (CT) signs of diaphragmatic rupture and the differences between blunt and penetrating trauma. The CT scans of 23 patients with surgically proven diaphragmatic tears (both blunt and penetrating) were retrospectively reviewed for previously described CT signs of diaphragmatic injuries. The overall frequency of CT signs was reported; frequency of signs in right- and left-sided injuries and blunt and penetrating trauma were separately tabulated and statistically compared. The discontinuous diaphragm sign was the most common sign, observed in 95.7% of patients, followed by diaphragmatic thickening (69.6%). While the dependent viscera sign and collar sign were exclusively observed in blunt-trauma patients, organ herniation (P = 0.05) and dangling diaphragm (P = 0.0086) signs were observed significantly more often in blunt trauma than in penetrating trauma. Contiguous injury on either side of the diaphragm was observed more often in penetrating trauma (83.3%) than in blunt trauma (17.7%). Knowledge of the mechanism of injury and familiarity with all CT signs of diaphragmatic injury are necessary to avoid a missed diagnosis because there is variability in the overall occurrence of these signs, with significant differences between blunt and penetrating trauma.

Background Laparoscopic inguinal hernia repair is still not the gold standard for patients with inguinal hernia. The aim of this study was to compare testicular dysfunction, incidence and factors influencing chronic groin pain, and quality of life after laparoscopic and open mesh repair. Methods One hundred twenty patients were studied in a prospective randomized trial. One hundred seventeen patients completed the required follow-up, 60 following laparoscopic repair and 57 following open repair. Testicular functions were assessed by testicular volume, blood flow, and hormones, and quality of life was assessed with Short Form 36 version 2 preoperatively and postoperatively at 3 months. Pain was assessed at different time intervals preoperatively and postoperatively. Results Preoperative profiles of both groups were well matched. A significant decrease in testicular volume ( p  =  0.01) and less improvement in blood flow ( p    =   0.048) was seen after open repair. There was also a significant reduction in serum testosterone level ( p   =   0.02) with a significant increase in FSH and LH level ( p   <  0.001); however, there was no testicular atrophy. Incidence and severity of chronic groin pain were significantly less after laparoscopic repair during normal and strenuous activities, though they were similar to those after open repair during rest after 3 months postoperatively. Age, preoperative pain, pain at 1 week, and open repair were found to be independent risk factors for chronic pain on multivariate analysis. Quality of life was significantly better postoperatively in terms of physical functions, role physical, bodily pain, and general health after laparoscopic repair. Conclusion Laparoscopic repair seems favorable in terms of better preservation of testicular functions, lower incidence of acute and chronic groin pain, and significant improvement in quality of life when compared to open repair. Younger age, preoperative pain, pain after 1 week postoperatively, and open mesh repair were found to be significant risk factors for chronic groin pain.

PURPOSEWe have described unidentified bright objects of spleen (UBOS), a hitherto undescribed entity, as hyperdense areas on arterial phase (AP) computed tomography (CT) seen in relation to splenic lacerations and are isodense to the normal parenchyma on portal venous phase with no correlate on digital subtraction angiography (DSA). UBOS mimic splenic vascular injuries like active contrast extravasation and pseudoaneurysm and need to be differentiated from them as it would have implications on patient management. We undertook this study to identify CT features of UBOS that can differentiate them from splenic vascular injuries and to calculate their diagnostic accuracy.METHODSThis retrospective study was approved by the institutional ethical committee and the need for informed consent was waived. Patients with splenic injury who had undergone dual-phase CT and DSA were included. All the lesions that were hyperdense on AP were evaluated for their outline, their relation to the adjacent/parallel margins of a laceration (margin sign), string of beads appearance, and the presence of adjacent normal parenchyma (adjacent parenchyma sign). The Hounsfield unit (HU) of the lesion and the aorta on the AP were also noted. The diagnostic accuracy of various signs for distinguishing UBOS from splenic vascular injuries was calculated using DSA as the reference standard.RESULTSOf 48 patients, 5 were excluded due to suboptimal quality of the examination or a time difference of more than 6 hours between the CT and DSA. A total of 54 hyperdense lesions were detected on AP in 43 patients. These were classified as vascular injuries (pseudoaneurysm, n=11; active contrast extravasation, n=11) and UBOS (n=32) based on DSA. The margin sign, string of beads appearance, and ill-defined outline had high specificity (95%, 86%, and 82%, respectively) but low sensitivity (50%, 65%, and 63%, respectively). The adjacent parenchyma sign had a moderate sensitivity and specificity of 84% and 77%, respectively. ROC analysis showed that a difference of 50 HU between the aorta and the lesion had a high sensitivity and specificity of 88.9% and 90.6%, respectively, with an area under the curve of 0.90.CONCLUSIONAn attenuation difference of over 50 HU between the aorta and the lesion and the presence of normal adjacent parenchyma had the highest diagnostic accuracy, while an ill-defined outline, string of beads appearance, and margin sign had high specificity but low sensitivity for differentiating UBOS from splenic vascular injuries.

Demand for fuel energy is continually on the rise. There is also a constant challenge involved to ensure that all our energy needs are fulfilled. Persistent overconsumption of conventional fossil fuels due to the rise in global population aided by economic expansion has resulted in reduction of fossil fuel reserves. This has fuelled the need to boost research efforts on renewable and sustainable bioenergy feedstocks. Since bioenergy utilizes organic matter; therefore, it is an economically viable and clean solution, which can minimize our reliance on non-renewable resources. The bioprocessing of lignocellulosic biomass to produce bio-based products under biorefinery setup is gaining global attention. The main challenge however remains to strike a balance between energy harvesting and economic viability with minimum environmental impacts. The development of zero-waste lignocellulosic biorefinery aligns completely with the idea of sustainable development without increasing carbon footprint. This concept is self-sustainable. It also advocates re-usage or recycling of waste; of which using lignocellulosic biomass waste is a major thrust. Improving the techno-economic efficiency of currently employed pretreatment methods and looking for combined pretreatment strategies will prove to be a stepping stone in the commercialization of zero-waste lignocellulosic biorefineries. This review investigates the most widespread pretreatment types, highlighs their advantages/disadvantages, and reviews the current status and technological advances in the bioconversion process of LCB into bioenergy in a biorefinery set-up.

Background Mutations in TSC1 or TSC2 gene cause tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC), an autosomal dominant disorder characterized by the formation of non-malignant hamartomas in multiple vital organs. TSC1 and TSC2 gene products form TSC heterodimer that senses specific cell growth conditions to control mTORC1 signalling. Methods In the present study 98 TSC patients were tested for variants in TSC1 and TSC2 genes and 14 novel missense variations were identified. The pathogenecity of these novel variations was determined by applying different bioinformatics tools involving computer aided protein modeling. Results Protein modelling could be done only for ten variants which were within the functional part of the protein. Homology modeling is the most reliable method for structure prediction of a protein. Since no sequence homology structure was available for the tuberin protein, three dimensional structure was modeled by a combination of homology modeling and the predictive fold recognition and threading method using Phyre2 threading server. The best template structures for model building of the TSC1 interacting domain, tuberin domain and GAP domain are the crystal structures of clathrin adaptor core protein, Rap1GAP catalytic domain and Ser/Thr kinase Tor protein respectively. Conclusions In this study, an attempt has been made to assess the impact of each novel missense variant based on their TSC1 - TSC2 hydrophobic interactions and its effect on protein function.

This study illustrated the biochar utilization as an adsorbent to remove the Malachite Green (MG) dye which is known to cause toxic and hazardous effects. The present research aimed to determine how well biochar adsorbs malachite green dye and comprehend the fundamental principles driving adsorption. The iron-impregnated biochar was synthesized using waste biomass of Teak (Tectona speciose), which is a timber tree, by pyrolysis process at 500 °C. The synthesized biochar was used to remove MG dye from a synthetically prepared MG solution to evaluate its adsorption efficiency. The bioadsorbent was characterized using Particle Size Analysis (PSA), Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), point of zero charges (pHZPC), Energy Dispersive X-ray (EDX). A batch adsorption experiment for the MG adsorption onto the MB-t surface was also conducted and it was found that the adsorption rate of MG was highly affected by the dose of biochar, temperature, working solution pH, time of contact and primary dye concentration. Isotherm study showed that the Temkin was the best-fit isotherm model to the adsorption process and the Qmax value was discovered to be 73.539 mg/g. Pseudo-second-order kinetics was best suited to the process of adsorption, indicating that the chemisorption was the rate-limiting factor. In contrast, the adsorption process was exothermic, which was determined through a thermodynamic study. The effective removal (89.05 %) of MG dye onto biochar (synthesized from Teak biomass the first time applied for dye removal) within 1 hr proved the bioadsorbent as a promising material for treating contaminated water.  

Purpose The objective of this study was to evaluate endothelial function and carotid intima media thickness (CIMT) in moderate to severe obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) without comorbidities. Methods It is an observational case control study in which endothelial function was assessed using flow-mediated dilatation (FMD) and peripheral arterial tonometry (PAT), and carotid artery ultrasound was used to measure CIMT in study group subjects that included 20 normotensive, non-diabetic, treatment naïve, and moderate to severe OSA patients, and 20 normotensive, non-diabetic, and non-OSA subjects served as a control group. Study was conducted in Polysomnography Laboratory, Department of Internal Medicine, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Hospital, New Delhi. Results FMD was significantly lower in the moderate to severe OSA group compared to non-OSA group (mean ± SD, 8.3 ± 2.8 vs. 13.4 ± 4.1 %; p  = 0.0001). Reactive hyperemia index (RHI) was also significantly lower in the OSA group (1.55 ± 0.27 vs. 2.01 ± 0.48, p  = 0.0007). CIMT was observed to be significantly higher in the OSA group compared to the non-OSA group (0.54 ± 0.09 vs. 0.48 ± 0.08 mm; p  = 0.049). In the OSA group, FMD, RHI, and CIMT did not show a significant correlation with OSA disease severity indices [apnea hypopnea index (AHI), oxygen desaturation index (ODI), and minimum O 2 saturation]. Conclusion Endothelial function in macrovascular and microvascular circulation is significantly impaired in moderate to severe OSA patients without comorbidities. These patients also show evidence of subclinical atherosclerosis, in the form of increased CIMT.

We aimed to assess the performance of computed tomography (CT) in localizing site of traumatic gastrointestinal tract (GIT) injury and determine the diagnostic value of CT signs in site localization. CT scans of 97 patients with surgically proven GIT or mesenteric injuries were retrospectively reviewed by radiologists blinded to surgical findings. Diagnosis of either GIT or mesenteric injuries was made. In patients with GIT injuries, site of injury and presence of CT signs such as focal bowel wall hyperenhancement, hypoenhancement, wall discontinuity, wall thickening, extramural air, intramural air, perivisceral infiltration, and active vascular contrast leak were evaluated. Out of 97 patients, 90 had GIT injuries (70 single site injuries and 20 multiple site injuries) and seven had isolated mesenteric injury. The overall concordance between CT and operative findings for exact site localization was 67.8% (61/90), partial concordance rate was 11.1% (10/90), and discordance rate was 21.1% (19/90). For single site localization, concordance rate was 77.1% (54/70), discordance rate was 21.4% (15/70), and partial concordance rate was 1.4% (1/70). In multiple site injury, concordance rate for all sites of injury was 35% (7/20), partial concordance rate was 45% (9/20), and discordance rate was 20% (4/20). For upper GIT injuries, wall discontinuity was the most accurate sign for localization. For small bowel injury, intramural air and hyperenhancement were the most specific signs for site localization, while for large bowel injury, wall discontinuity and hypoenhancement were the most specific signs. CT performs better in diagnosing small bowel injury compared with large bowel injury. CT can well predict the presence of multiple site injury but has limited performance in exact localization of all injury sites.