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In the world of cellular dynamics, adaptability is paramount. Cells, embedded in constantly changing environments, have evolved mechanisms to detect and respond to both internal and external forces. These adaptive responses, shaped by natural selection, allow cells to maintain function and structural integrity amid shifting conditions. This delicate task hinges upon the coordinated involvement of specialized adhesion proteins strategically positioned at sites where cells attach to their extracellular matrix or neighbouring cells. These proteins serve as the sentinel gatekeepers of an intricate signalling network, activated by their environment. Once triggered, certain signaling cascades initiate a sequence of events that can lead to significant changes in the structure and organization of the actin cytoskeleton—a dynamic scaffold within the cell. These specific signals enable precise rearrangement of actin, supporting processes like cell movement and adaptation to environmental cues. This metamorphosis is coordinated primarily through the action of actin polymerization—a process through which actin protein subunits align and fuse, generating new filaments or enhancing existing ones. However, the significance of this process is magnified by the fact that the collective force generated by the actin network exceeds the simple sum of forces exerted by individual filaments. In this context, force refers to the mechanical push or pull exerted by actin filaments on cellular membranes or other structures, driving processes like cell movement and shape changes. A cooperative phenomenon thus emerges, where these individual forces coalesce, giving rise to a cumulative force that stands as a testament to the synergy of the system. In this mini review article, we go straight into the interactions between actin polymerization and force generation, un-ravelling the detailed mechanisms that explain this synergy. This article provides new insights into the molecular mechanism of actin polymerization, highlighting recent discoveries in how specific signaling pathways interconnect and the unique role of adhesion proteins in orchestrating this process.

This essay explores the life and work of Dr. Yellapragada Subba Rao, an Indian scientist whose contributions to medical science have profoundly impacted the world. From his early days in India to his time at Harvard University, Subba Rao’s innovative research led to the development of several important drugs, including the first chemotherapy agent for leukemia and the discovery of diethylcarbamazine for filariasis treatment. Despite his many achievements, Subba Rao never received the recognition he deserved during his lifetime. However, his legacy lives on through the countless lives he has saved and the ongoing research inspired by his work. This essay sheds light on the critical contributions of Subba Rao to medical science and the remarkable impact his work has had on society.

Copper Zinc Tin Sulphide (CZTS) is a propitious semiconductor for active absorber material in thin-film solar cells (SCs). Here, SC architecture comprising FTO/ZnS/CZTS/variable HTLs/Au is discussed. Fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) and gold (Au) are used as front and back contacts, respectively. Zinc sulphide (ZnS) is used as an active electron transport layer (ETL), while different Cu-based materials (Cu 2 O, CuO, CuI, and CuSCN) are used as hole transport layers (HTL). A one-dimensional solar cell capacitance simulator (SCAPS-1D) is utilized to simulate the SC structure. Among different Cu-based HTLs, Cu 2 O is preferred as a potential candidate for high cell performance of CZTS-based SC. The effects of various layer parameters such as thickness, doping density, and carrier concentrations, electron affinity of HTL and absorber, respectively, are also discussed. After optimization of the device, variation of operating temperature and the effect of series and shunt resistance are also taken into consideration. The optimized results of thickness and acceptor concentration (N A ) of absorber material are 1.5 µm and approx. 1.0 × 10 19  cm −3 , respectively. In addition, the function of HTL (with and without) in the designed SC structure is also studied. Capacitance–voltage (C–V) characteristics are also discussed to get an insight of built-in potential. We have achieved cell performances viz. efficiency = 31.86%, short circuit current density = 32.05 mA/cm 2 , open circuit voltage = 1.19 V, and fill factor = 83.37%.

ZnO nanowires have been synthesized by thermal oxidation of magnetron sputtered Zn thin films over Si substrates. Surface morphology, structural and optical properties of as-grown ZnO nanowires were examined by scanning electron microscope (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), high-resolution transmission electron microscope (HRTEM), photoluminescence (PL) and cathodoluminescence (CL) measurements. HRTEM and XRD studies have revealed that ZnO nanowires have hexagonal wurtzite phase having single-crystalline structure with the preferred growth along < 0001 >  c -axis direction. Low temperature PL measurement of ZnO nanowires has shown the strong near band edge emission along with the presence of other structural defects. Spatial and spectrally resolved CL spectroscopy of ZnO nanowires have revealed that luminescence signal is only due to nanowires and the appearance of several CL emissions have confirmed that structural defects are distributed along ZnO nanowires. The driving force for the ZnO nanowire growth is believed to be due to compressive stress caused by the formation of top ZnO layer as a result of thermal annealing of Zn thin film and the growth mechanism is proposed to be stress-induced atomic transport along the grain boundaries followed by surface diffusion to result in nanowire formation.

There have been significant advances in our understanding of how changes in the fluidity and permeability of the cell membrane can affect drug resistance in cancer. Research has shown that cancer cells often have changes in the fluidity and permeability of their cell membrane that contribute to their resistance to drugs used to treat cancer. These changes may be due to changes in the composition and organization of the lipid bilayer that makes up the membrane, as well as changes in the expression or localization of proteins and other molecules embedded in the membrane. The lipid composition in the tumor cell membrane changes with drug resistance, which can affect the fluidity and permeability of the cell membrane. Reversal of drug resistance can be achieved by altering cell membrane fluidity and permeability. In recent years, there have been numerous studies aimed at understanding the mechanisms underlying these changes and identifying strategies to overcome drug resistance in cancer. This research has led to the development of new drugs and drug delivery systems that are designed to target specific changes in the cell membrane of cancer cells and improve the effectiveness of chemotherapy. Overall, the advances in our understanding of the role of cell membrane fluidity and permeability in drug resistance in cancer have led to the development of new approaches to treat cancer and improve patient outcomes and further research is needed to continue to improve the understanding of these mechanisms and to identify new strategies to overcome drug resistance in cancer. This article highlights the research status and detection methods of cell membrane fluidity and permeability affecting tumor drug resistance.

In humans particularly in children, adenovirus is one of the most common viruses that cause respiratory illnesses. Knowing how to detect adenovirus proficiently and rapidly will help reinforce surveillance of adenovirus infections, detect epidemic situations in real-time, and understand the trend of virus epidemics, which will allow effective actions to be taken quickly. The rapid detection of antiviral antibodies or viral antigens in clinical samples can be achieved by molecular diagnostic techniques like PCR, Real-Time PCR, LAMP, mPCR-RLB, PCR-ELISA, Tem-PCR, Gene Chip, and so on. Some of the molecular diagnostic methods are relatively economical, exceedingly sensitive and explicit. There are several commercially accessible molecular diagnostic techniques that enable their use in clinical laboratories all over the world. In this review, the principles, characteristics, and applications of molecular biology surveillance methods commonly used in labs and clinics for the detection of human adenoviruses are examined and highlighted.

In the present work, NiO nanoparticles are synthesized using chemical co-precipitation method which is an easy and cost-effective approach. Aqueous solutions of the precursors containing Ni(NO 3 ) 2 . 6H 2 O and NaOH pellets are calcined at 300 °C for 2 h. The structural, morphological, compositional, optical study, and thermal analysis of the synthesized powdered product was investigated using X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), UV–vis absorption spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and thermo-gravimetric analysis. FTIR study shows the presence of functional groups in the synthesized NiO nanoparticles. The powder XRD pattern along with Rietveld refinement data reveals that the prepared sample is NiO with face-centered cubic (fcc) structure (Fm-3 m space group) having average crystallite size ranging from 4 to 6 nm. The optical band gap of the synthesized NiO nanoparticles (estimated from Tauc’s plot) is found to be ~ 3.20 eV which is less than the bulk NiO clearly showing red shift. This could be attributed due to the presence of chemical defects or vacancies resulting in the formation of some trap states.

Counterfactual explanations are increasingly vital for understanding and trusting machine learning models. This paper presents Desirability Rating-based Counterfactual (DeRaC), which is a generalized framework for generating valid counterfactual explanations applicable to classification problems with complex output spaces, including single and multi-output classification with binary and multi-class outputs. By expanding the definition of counterfactual validity through a novel “desirability rating,” the approach addresses limitations in existing methods regarding complex output spaces. The framework introduces concepts such as partially valid counterfactuals and a quantitative measure of output desirability. It can be integrated with various objective functions to identify counterfactuals that satisfy properties such as similarity, proximity, and validity. Experiments demonstrate the feasibility of systematically generating counterfactuals using existing optimization techniques, achieving varying degrees of validity and similarity; specifically, Genetic Algorithm produces consistently higher counterfactual desirability albeit at the expense of longer computation times. We observed a higher average counterfactual desirability rating of 0.871 across all tested optimization methods with Powell’s method combined with DeRaC achieving the lowest average distance of 0.897 when using a mixed-objective function. The research emphasizes the context-dependent nature of counterfactuals and lays the foundation for more transparent and trustworthy machine learning systems.

Introduction: Since Covid-19 has emerged as a pandemic, it has taken innumerable lives and caused havoc in the developing as well as developed countries. The health facilities throughout the world have taken a toll and to counter this some immediate alternative measures have to be taken. Utilization of the plant-based products from the Indian traditional medicine can be one such measure. Methods: NCBI, Pubchem and PDB databases were used to obtain the structures of the relevant protein targets and plant-based ligands. Apart from this, softwares such as Open Babel, UCSF Chimera, PatchDock and FireDock were used for the purpose of interconversion of file formats, visualization of the structures and docking respectively. Results: After the screening of 9 plant-based products against the 3 main protein targets (spike protein, hemagglutinin, nucleocapsid) of corona virus we found that glucoraphanin showed the best binding energy against spike protein (-51.44 KJ/mol), alpha amyrin showed the best binding energy against hemagglutinin (-31.76 KJ/mol) and beta-sitosterol showed best binding energy against nucleocapsid (-55.44 KJ/mol). Conclusion: This study would aid in the speedy recovery and better immune response of the corona virus infected patients.

Cryptococcosis is a potentially fatal fungal disease which has aggrandized with the emergence of AIDS and antifungal resistance. The currently used antifungals lack the broad-spectrum activity and result in several toxicities during long treatment regimens. Thus, the present study aims to evaluate the antifungal activity of cinnamaldehyde against Cryptococcus neoformans var. grubii, the etiological agent of the disease. Quantitative and qualitative in vitro fungal susceptibilities were carried out by minimum inhibitory concentration assay, flow cytometric analysis, and confocal microscopy. Micromorphological alterations were studied through scanning electron and light microscopies. “In vivo” antifungal efficacy of cinnamaldehyde was assessed. Cinnamaldehyde showed antifungal activity against C. neoformans in a dose-dependent manner. A concentration of 1.37 mg/mL of cinnamaldehyde was found to be inhibitory and fungicidal while the low concentration (0.68 mg/mL) was found to induce micromorphological changes and formation of giant/titan-like cells in this pathogen. The reparative activity of cinnamaldehyde and its ability to prolong the life even after the advent of cryptococcal meningitis in mice was also noticed. This study suggests potent anti-cryptococcal activity of cinnamaldehyde. Though, it has a couple of limitations like allergy and low bioavailability. However, these problems can be circumvented by developing suitable analogs of the compound. It, therefore, could be used as a therapeutic option against cryptococcosis and cryptococcal meningitis. Moreover, the evaluation of its pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic properties is desirable.