The development of combined simple metal oxides and binary metal oxides on a flexible conductor has been needed as a novel approach for energy storage sources. Here, we demonstrate a simple and ...versatile strategy towards the synthesis of a NiZn2O4–NiO nanoflower array (NFA) composite effectively deposited into a nickel (Ni) foam conductor for energy storing applications to achieve better electrochemical results. The morphology and other physical properties of the as-developed composite were analyzed, and the results suggest that the NiO nanoparticles have been effectively anchored into the binary NiZn2O4 nanoleaves array surface. The composite NiZn2O4–NiO NFAs nanoarchitecture combines superior surface area with huge numbers of active sites to boost electrochemical reactions and excellent transport between electrons and ions, as compared to NiZn2O4 nanoleaf arrays (NLAs). Meanwhile, taking into consideration electrochemical studies, the composite NiZn2O4–NiO NFAs exhibited extraordinary faradaic redox progress, which was different from the metal oxide based electrode profiles. Cyclic voltammetry and galvanostatic charge–discharge plateaus from the NiZn2O4 NLAs and NiZn2O4–NiO NFAs electrodes exhibit faradaic battery-type redox behavior, which is distinct from the profiles of carbon-based materials. As a battery-type electrode, the composite NiZn2O4–NiO NFAs electrode exhibited a greater supercapacitor activity with a higher specific capacitance of 482.7 C g−1 at 1 A g−1 and also yielded the best life-span with up to 98.14% capacity retained after 5000 cycles (vs. 253.4 C g−1 at 1 A g−1 and 91.4% retention of capacity after 5000 cycles for NiZn2O4 NLAs), which was the best result or comparable to recently reported composites of simple metal oxides/binary metal oxides-based electrode materials. Thus, with the above findings, the battery-type NiZn2O4–NiO NFAs electrode material has remarkable application potential and could be effectively applied in other energy storage technologies.
•Chromium treatment inhibited the growth and activation of antioxidative defense system in rice.•Pre-soaking treatment of EBL to Cr treated rice seedlings, lowered metal uptake and stress indices ...significantly.•Applications of EBL to stressed rice seedling strengthened defense system by up-regulating gene expression
The present research paper is aimed to study the effect of 24-epibrassinolide (EBL) on growth of seedling, metal uptake, stress markers, antioxidative enzyme activity and gene expression in chromium (Cr) stressed rice seedlings variety Ratna. The exogenous application of EBL caused a significant reduction in Cr accumulation and improved the growth of seedlings. However, the results also showed that antioxidative enzymes activity and mRNA expression of these genes (Mn-SOD, Cu/Zn-SOD, Cat A, Cat B, APX and GR) significantly increased in seedlings treated with Cr ions under the influence of EBL. Taken together, our results demonstrate that exogenous application of EBL is more effective to ameliorate the Cr metal stress by up-regulating the activity of antioxidative enzymes.
Financial protection is a key dimension of universal health coverage. Catastrophic health expenditure (CHE) has increased in India over time. The overall figures mask the subnational heterogeneity ...crucial for designing insurance coverage for 1.3 billion population across India. We estimated CHE in every state of India and the changes over a decade.
We used National Sample Survey data on health care utilisation in 2004 and 2014. The states were placed in four groups based on epidemiological transition level (ETL), defined on the basis of ratio of disability-adjusted life-years from communicable diseases to those from non-communicable diseases and injuries combined, with a low ratio denoting high ETL state group. CHE was defined as the proportion of households that had out-of-pocket payments for health care equalling or exceeding 10% of the household expenditure. We assessed variation in the magnitude and distribution of CHE between ETL state groups and between states of India.
In 2014, CHE was higher in the high (30.3%, 95% confidence interval: 28.5 to 32.1) and higher-middle (27.4%, 26.3 to 28.6) ETL state groups than the low (21.8%, 20.8 to 22.8) and lower-middle (19.0%, 17.1 to 21.0) groups. From 2004 to 2014, CHE increased only in the high and higher-middle ETL groups (1.19 and 1.34 times, respectively). However, the individual states with substantial increase in CHE were spread across all ETL groups. The gap between the highest CHE of an individual state and the lowest was 8-fold in 2014. CHE was disproportionately concentrated among the rich in 2004 for most of India, but in 2014 CHE was distributed equally among the rich and poor because of the substantial increase in CHE among the poor over time.
Better provision of quality health care should be accompanied by financial protection measures to safeguard the poor from increasing CHE in India. The state-specific CHE trends can provide useful input for the planning of the recently launched National Health Protection Mission such that it meets the requirement of each state.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
•Machine learning techniques enhance data-driven decision-making in agricultural supply chains.•Systematic literature review based on 93 papers on machine learning applications in agricultural supply ...chains.•Machine learning applications supports in developing sustainable agriculture supply chains.•A machine learning applications framework is proposed and related future perspectives are presented.
Agriculture plays an important role in sustaining all human activities. Major challenges such as overpopulation, competition for resources poses a threat to the food security of the planet. In order to tackle the ever-increasing complex problems in agricultural production systems, advancements in smart farming and precision agriculture offers important tools to address agricultural sustainability challenges. Data analytics hold the key to ensure future food security, food safety, and ecological sustainability. Disruptive information and communication technologies such as machine learning, big data analytics, cloud computing, and blockchain can address several problems such as productivity and yield improvement, water conservation, ensuring soil and plant health, and enhance environmental stewardship. The current study presents a systematic review of machine learning (ML) applications in agricultural supply chains (ASCs). Ninety three research papers were reviewed based on the applications of different ML algorithms in different phases of the ASCs. The study highlights how ASCs can benefit from ML techniques and lead to ASC sustainability. Based on the study findings an ML applications framework for sustainable ASC is proposed. The framework identifies the role of ML algorithms in providing real-time analytic insights for pro-active data-driven decision-making in the ASCs and provides the researchers, practitioners, and policymakers with guidelines on the successful management of ASCs for improved agricultural productivity and sustainability.
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•SSF emerged as a promising bioprocess for microbial secondary metabolites production.•Certain SMs are produced in SSF with impressive yield compared to SmF.•Novel bioreactor ...designing is major requisite for large scale application of SSF.•Scale-up, heat dissipation and mass transfer are major challenges of SSF processing.
Microbial secondary metabolites (SMs) are the intermediate or the product of metabolism produced during fermentation process. SMs are produced during stationary phase and play a major role in competition, antagonism and self defence mechanisms. These metabolites finds application in the pharmaceuticals, food, cosmetics etc. These are produced besides primary key metabolites (e.g., amino acids, lipids, carbohydrates etc.). Growth condition in solid-state fermentation (SSF) resembles microorganism’s own native environment allowing the microorganisms to adapt best. Recent developments in bioprocessing has identified specific SSF practices that have a significant impact on SMs production. The practice of SSF, representing new opportunities to design better bioprocessing with potential genetic development goals for expanding the list of exciting SMs. Current updates cover advanced techniques on SSF to improve microbial SMs production and their ease of operation and cost-effective production strategies. Various factors affecting the SSF have been discussed with respect to sustainable development of novel SSF strategies for SMs production.
Oxidative stress plays an essential role in the pathogenesis of chronic diseases such as cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, neurodegenerative diseases, and cancer. Long term exposure to increased ...levels of pro-oxidant factors can cause structural defects at a mitochondrial DNA level, as well as functional alteration of several enzymes and cellular structures leading to aberrations in gene expression. The modern lifestyle associated with processed food, exposure to a wide range of chemicals and lack of exercise plays an important role in oxidative stress induction. However, the use of medicinal plants with antioxidant properties has been exploited for their ability to treat or prevent several human pathologies in which oxidative stress seems to be one of the causes. In this review we discuss the diseases in which oxidative stress is one of the triggers and the plant-derived antioxidant compounds with their mechanisms of antioxidant defenses that can help in the prevention of these diseases. Finally, both the beneficial and detrimental effects of antioxidant molecules that are used to reduce oxidative stress in several human conditions are discussed.
A large number of structurally diverse natural compounds containing azole nucleus constitute an important class of biologically active heterocycles that are gaining more attention in the field of ...medicinal chemistry. Among azoles, pyrazoles are rarely found in nature probably due to difficulty in the formation of N–N bond by living organisms. However, they exhibit numerous biological activities, including anti-diabetic, antiviral, anticancer, anti-inflammatory, antibacterial and antifungal activities. The present review is an attempt to understand the chemistry along with medicinal importance of pyrazole containing natural products reported till date which would certainly help the scientific community to bring further developments in the isolation and synthetic methodologies for pyrazole based novel bioactive compounds.
Pyrazole containing natural products exhibit important biological properties. The present review describes the medicinal importance and different strategies used for isolation and total synthesis of pyrazole containing natural products. Display omitted
•The review highlights the isolation, medicinal importance and synthetic routes towards natural pyrazoles.•Pyrazoles are rarely found natural chemical entities due to difficulty in formation of N–N bond by the living organisms.•Most of the existing natural pyrazoles displayed a wide spectrum of biological activities.
In this academic research, we report the polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) assisted synthesis of a Ni3S2 electrode material containing a plentiful number of active sites on Ni foam by a novel hydrothermal ...approach. Interestingly, the Ni3S2 electrode is a highly efficient electroactive material, as evidenced by the physical and electrochemical characterization. Based on the physical characterization, the constructed Ni3S2 nano architecture exhibited plentiful electroactive sites, quick charge/discharge transportation and better maximum conductivity, which gave rise to enhanced electrochemical activity for large-scale supercapacitors (SCs). Besides, the electrochemical characterization of the as-developed Ni3S2 electrode obviously displayed a faradaic battery-based redox profile, which is distinct from the profiles of carbon-type materials. The battery-based PVP-assisted Ni3S2 electrode achieved impressive electrochemical activity, namely exceptional SC activity with a superior specific capacity of ∼316.8 mA h g−1 at 2 A g−1 current density, high rate capability with ∼91.4% of capacity retained at 20 A g−1, and superb cycling performance with ∼96.7% of capacity retained at 6 A g−1 after 4000 cycles. Thus, considering the best findings above, the as-developed PVP-assisted Ni3S2 is a highly efficient candidate for SCs and could effectively serve in various advanced energy storage applications.
Limbal stem cell deficiency (LSCD) is the loss of limbal stem cells that reside in the corneoscleral junction resulting in vision loss or blindness. Bilateral LSCD is usually treated by allogeneic ...corneal transplantation, with instances of tissue rejection or failure in long‐term follow‐up. This study aims to use adipose mesenchymal stem cells (ASC) as an alternative autologous cell source for treating bilateral limbal deficiency conditions. ASCs derived from rabbit fat tissue were differentiated into corneal epithelial lineage using limbal explant condition media. Apart from transdifferentiation, ASC sheets were developed to facilitate effective delivery of these cells to the damage site. A thermoresponsive polymer N‐isopropylacrylamide‐co‐glycidylmethacrylate (NGMA) was synthesized and characterized to demonstrate ASC sheet formation. Transdifferentiated ASCs showed positive expression of corneal epithelial marker CK3/12 on immunostaining, supported by gene expression studies. in vivo studies by transplanting cell sheet in rabbit models of corneal injury showed clear and smooth cornea in comparison to the sham models. Histology revealed a sheet of cells aligned and integrated on to the injured corneal surface, 1 month posttransplantation. Identifying ASCs as an alternative cell source along with cell sheet technology will be a novel step in the field of corneal surface therapies.
This study investigated the growth of
Euphorbia tithymaloides
L. in soil contaminated with Cr (VI), focusing on plant development, Cr (VI) accumulation in the plant, and associated rhizosphere ...bacterial communities. Plants were cultivated in pots for a period of 123 days with varying Cr (VI) levels (0, 10, 20, 30, and 40 mg-kg
−1
) in the soil. As Cr (VI) concentration increased, plant growth indicators such as fresh weight, dry weight, root length, and shoot length were observed to be decreasing. The Cr (VI) concentration peaked in plant tissues under the 40 mg-kg
−1
treatment, with concentrations of 397.5 mg-kg
−1
, 98.12 mg-kg
−1
, and 62.32 mg-kg
−1
in roots, stems, and leaves respectively. Whereas, the total Cr (VI) accumulation was maximum in the 30 mg-kg
−1
treatment due to higher plant biomass. Further, the phytoremediation efficiency of the plant was evaluated through the bio-concentration factor (BCF) and translocation factor (TF). The BCF indicated soil-to-plant heavy metal uptake capacity exceeding 1, while the TF showed root-to-shoot translocation below 1 for all treatments, implying effective phytostabilisation potential. Metagenomic analysis of rhizospheric soil highlighted dominant bacterial phyla of Firmicutes, Proteobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Actinobacteria, and Acidobacteria. Many observed bacterial taxa are metal-tolerant and commonly found in heavy metal-contaminated soil, suggesting a potential contribution to mitigating metal toxicity and enhancing plant growth. However, a comprehensive investigation into microbial communities' roles during phytoremediation requires further in-depth research.
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