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In South Asia, tick transmits Kyasanur Forest Disease Virus (KFDV), a flavivirus that causes severe hemorrhagic fever with neurological manifestations such as mental disturbances, severe headache, tremors, and vision deficits in infected human beings with a fatality rate of 3-10%. The disease was first reported in March 1957 from Kyasanur forest of Karnataka (India) from sick and dying monkeys. Since then, between 400 and 500 humans cases per year have been recorded; monkeys and small mammals are common hosts of this virus. KFDV can cause epizootics with high fatality in primates and is a level-4 virus according to the international biosafety rules. The density of tick vectors in a given year correlates with the incidence of human disease. The virus is a positive strand RNA virus and its genome was discovered to code for one polyprotein that is cleaved post-translationally into 3 structural proteins (Capsid protein, Envelope Glycoprotein M and Envelope Glycoprotein E) and 7 non-structural proteins (NS1, NS2A, NS2B, NS3, NS4A, NS4B, and NS5). KFDV has a high degree of sequence homology with most members of the TBEV serocomplex. Alkhurma virus is a KFDV variant sharing a sequence similarity of 97%. KFDV is classified as a NIAID Category C priority pathogen due to its extreme pathogenicity and lack of US FDA approved vaccines and therapeutics; also, the infectious dose is currently unknown for KFD. In India, formalin-inactivated KFDV vaccine produced in chick embryo fibroblast is being used. Nevertheless, further efforts are required to enhance its long-term efficacy. KFDV remains an understudied virus and there remains a lack of insight into its pathogenesis; moreover, specific treatment to the disease is not available to date. Environmental and climatic factors involved in disseminating Kyasanur Forest Disease are required to be fully explored. There should be a mapping of endemic areas and cross-border veterinary surveillance needs to be developed in high-risk regions. The involvement of both animal and health sector is pivotal for circumscribing the spread of this disease to new areas.

Thermoelectric (TE) materials produce electrical energy when exposed to a thermal gradient and so have unsurprisingly gathered increasing interest as a promising tool in the route to reduced carbon energy emissions. However, many synthetic routes currently involve high‐temperatures, oxygen‐free environments and harsh chemical reagents. Electrochemistry offers an attractive alternate synthetic route for similar materials at greatly reduced temperatures, without the need for strong chemical reductants. This review looks at recent developments in the electrodeposition of TE materials, highlighting promising materials and techniques. It also outlines key challenges that must be addressed in order to advance the readiness of this technology for wider implementation. Thermoelectric (TE) materials produce electrical energy when exposed to a thermal gradient. This review presents the opportunities of electrochemistry as a synthetic route for promising TE materials, highlighting the materials scopes and synthetic strategies toward high‐performing electrochemically synthesized TE materials.

Prion diseases are a group of infectious diseases characterized by multiple neuropathological changes, yet the mechanisms that preserve function and protect against prion-associated neurodegeneration are still unclear. We previously reported that the repressor element 1-silencing transcription factor (REST) alleviates neurotoxic prion peptide (PrP106-126)-induced toxicity in primary neurons. Here we confirmed the findings of the model in 263K infected hamsters, an model of prion diseases and further showed the relationships between REST and related signaling pathways. REST was depleted from the nucleus in prion infected brains and taken up by autophagosomes in the cytoplasm, co-localizing with LC3-II. Importantly, downregulation of the Akt-mTOR and at least partially inactivation of LRP6-Wnt-β-catenin signaling pathways correlated with the decreased levels of REST in the brain of 263K-infected hamsters and in PrP106-126-treated primary neurons. Overexpression of REST in primary cortical neurons alleviated PrP106-126 peptide-induced neuronal oxidative stress, mitochondrial damage and partly inhibition of the LRP6-Wnt-β-catenin and Akt-mTOR signaling. Based on our findings, a model of REST-mediated neuroprotection in prion infected animals is proposed, with Akt-mTOR and Wnt-β-catenin signaling as the key pathways. REST-mediated neuronal survival signaling could be explored as a viable therapeutic target for prion diseases and related neurodegenerative diseases.

The presence of specular highlights can hide underlying features of a scene within an image and can be problematic in many application scenarios. In particular, this poses a significant challenge for applications where image stitching is used to create a single static image of a scene from inspection footage of pipes, gas tubes, train tracks and concrete structures. Furthermore, they can hide small defects in the images causing them to be missed during inspection. We present a method which exploits additional information in neighbouring frames from video footage to reduce specularity from each frame. The technique first automatically determines frames which contain overlapping regions before the relationship that exists between them is exploited in order to suppress the effects of specular reflections. This results in an image that is free from specular highlights provided there is at least one frame present in the sequence where a given pixel is present in a diffuse form. The method is shown to work well on greyscale as well as colour images and effectively reduces specularity and significantly improves the quality of the stitched image, even in the presence of noise. While applied to the challenge of reducing specularity in inspection videos, the method improves upon the state-of-the-art in specularity removal, and its applications are wide-ranging as a general purpose pre-processing tool.

ABSTRACT The dietary effect of vitamin E supplementation on fingerlings of Labeo rohita during refrigerated storage was investigated. Six graded levels of vitamin E, between 0\"125 mg/kg vitamin E, were fed to fish. After 60\"day feeding trial, fish were sacrificed, fillets were stored in refrigerator at\"20°C and analyzed on 0, 15 and 30th day of storage. Upon refrigeration the vitamin E fed fish showed reduced level of Thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) at all storage days. The enzyme activities were improved by elevating the levels of vitamin E in diet as well as by storage period (P < 0.05) for all treatments. Fatty acid profile indicated that n\"3, n\"6 fatty acids and the ratios of ARA/EPA and n\"3/n\"6 were increased by increasing vitamin E supplementation and decreased with an increase in the storage period. Conclusively, the dietary vitamin E reduced lipid peroxidation and improved the fillet quality of stored fish.

I propose and test a dynamic model of corporate fraud pyramid using tax fraud, accounting and management compensation controversies (MCC). The pyramid facets represent the explanatory dimensions of corporate governance mechanisms, quality of audit and regulatory regimes, and executive compensation. I find that large-sized firms with bigger boards invariably indulge in tax fraud. Conversely, older firms, firms paying higher executive compensation, exhibiting greater audit committee expertise and greater board meeting frequency curtail tax fraud incidence. Increased board meeting frequency, firm age, senior executive compensation and firm size is associated with increase in accounting controversies. Conversely, increased gender diversity curtails accounting fraud. Increase in firm size, senior executive compensation and outsider director's compensation is associated with increased MCC incidence. CEO duality, single biggest owner, regulatory quality, rising EPS and operating profit margin, linking CEO compensation with total shareholder return and audit committee management independence significantly curtail MCC incidence. Increased stock-based compensation is accompanied by an increase in MCC. Audit and nomination committees and board members may not be truly independent. Firms audited by Big4 auditors have the least chance of getting entangled in accounting controversies. However, firms paying higher audit fee have a greater tendency of indulging in accounting fraud. Firms exposed to better regulatory quality environment have a much greater chance of getting involved in tax fraud controversies. Various explanatory variables behaved differently before, during and after the financial crisis. Univariate analyses support the majority of results of multivariate analyses.

Dengue virus has now become a serious threat to humans. As yet no vaccine and proper treatment is available for dengue virus so control of vector is the only option left to control dengue infection. Aedes mosquitoes are well known vectors for this virus but some studies show that dengue virus can also survive in Culex mosquitoes. A total of 370 adult Aedes (n=166) and Culex (n=204) mosquitoes were collected from selected localities of Urban Lahore. Total five pools of mosquitoes were found positive for dengue serotype2. There is need to conduct detailed studies to establish the vectorial role of Culex for dengue virus.

In this work, fabrication of gold coated glass substrate, growth of ZnO nanorods and potentiometric response of lactic acid are explained. The biosensor was developed by immobilizing the lactate oxidase on the ZnO nanorods in combination with glutaraldehyde as a cross linker for lactate oxidase enzyme. The potentiometric technique was applied for the measuring the output (EMF) response of L-lactic acid biosensor. We noticed that the present biosensor has wide linear detection range of concentration from 1 × 10−4–1 × 100 mM with acceptable sensitivity about 41.33 ± 1.58 mV/decade. In addition, the proposed biosensor showed fast response time less than 10 s, a good selectivity towards L-lactic acid in presence of common interfering substances such as ascorbic acid, urea, glucose, galactose, magnesium ions and calcium ions. The present biosensor based on immobilized ZnO nanorods with lactate oxidase sustained its stability for more than three weeks.

Surgical management of Crohn's disease (CD) is common. Postoperative complications include anastomotic stricturing (AS). The natural history and risk factors for AS have not been elucidated. A retrospective cohort study of patients with CD who underwent ileocolonic resection (ICR) with ≥1 postoperative ileocolonoscopy between 2009 and 2020. Postoperative ileocolonoscopies with corresponding cross-sectional imaging were evaluated for evidence of AS without neoterminal ileal extension. Severity of AS and endoscopic intervention at time of detection were collected. Primary outcome was development of AS. Secondary outcome was time to AS detection. A total of 602 adult patients with CD underwent ICR with postoperative ileocolonoscopy. Of these, 426 had primary anastomosis, and 136 had temporary diversion at time of ICR. Anastomotic configuration consisted of 308 side-to-side, 148 end-to-side, and 136 end-to-end. One hundred ten (18.3%) patients developed AS with median time of 3.2 years to AS detection. AS severity at time of detection was associated with need for repeat surgical resection for AS. On multivariable Cox proportional hazard regression, anastomotic configuration and temporary diversion were not associated with risk of or time to AS. Preoperative stricturing disease was associated with decreased time to AS (adjusted hazard ratio 1.8; P = 0.049). Endoscopic ileal recurrence before AS was not associated with subsequent AS detection. AS is a relatively common postoperative CD complication. Patients with previous stricturing disease behavior are at increased risk of AS. Anastomotic configuration, temporary diversion, and ileal CD recurrence do not increase risk of AS. Early detection and intervention for AS may help prevent progression to repeat ICR.

Calcium (Ca) is a macronutrient and works as a modulator to mitigate oxidative stress induced by heavy metals. In this study, we investigated the role of Ca to ameliorate the Cd toxicity in Zea mays L. by modulating the growth, physio-biochemical traits, and cellular antioxidant defense system. Maize genotype Sahiwal-2002 was grown under a controlled glasshouse environment with a day/night temperature of 24 ± 4°C/14 ± 2°C in a complete randomized design with three replications and two Cd levels as (0 and 150 μM) and six regimes of Ca (0, 0.5, 1, 2.5, 5, and 10 mM). Maize seedlings exposed to Cd at 150 μM concentration showed a notable decrease in growth, biomass, anthocyanins, chlorophylls, and antioxidant enzymes activities. A higher level of Cd (150 μM) also caused an upsurge in oxidative damage observed as higher electrolyte leakage (increased membrane permeability), H 2 O 2 production, and MDA accumulation. Supplementation of Ca notably improved growth traits, photosynthetic pigments, cellular antioxidants (APX, POD, and ascorbic acid), anthocyanins, and levels of osmolytes. The significant improvement in the osmolytes (proteins and amino acids), and enzymatic antioxidative defense system enhanced the membrane stability and mitigated the damaging effects of Cd. The present results concluded that exogenously applied Ca potentially improve growth by regulating antioxidants and enabling maize plants to withstand the Cd toxicity.