Recombinant vaccines:Current updates and future prospects

Recombinant technology-based vaccines have emerged as a highly effective way to prevent a wide range of illnesses.The technology improved vaccine manufacturing,rendering it more efficient and economical.These vaccines have multiple advantages compared to conventional vaccines.The pandemic has heightened awareness of the advantages of these vaccine technologies;trust and acceptance of these vaccines are steadily growing globally.This work offers an overview of the prospects and advantages associated with recombinant vaccines.Additionally,it discusses some of the challenges likely to arise in the future.Their ability to target diverse pathogen classes underscores their contributions to preventing previously untreatable diseases(especially vector-borne and emerging diseases)and hurdles faced throughout the vaccine development process,especially in enhancing the effectiveness of these vaccines.Moreover,their compatibility with emerging vaccination platforms of the future like virus-like particles and CRISPR/Cas9 for the production of next-generation vaccines may offer many prospects.This review also reviewed the hurdles faced throughout the vaccine development process,especially in enhancing the effectiveness of these vaccines against vector-borne diseases,emerging diseases,and untreatable diseases with high mortality rates like AIDS as well as cancer.

Pumpkin seeds as nutraceutical and functional food ingredient for future:A review

Pumpkin belongs to the family of Cucurbitaceae,which comprises several species that has economical as well as agronomical importance.All parts of pumpkin are edible and laden with beneficial neutraceutical compounds.Pumpkin seeds are valuable source protein which can help in eradicating protein malnutrition and lipids(rich in PUFAs)contains essential as well as non essential fatty acids which prevents from various ailments like cancer and other cardiovascular diseases.Since,seeds of pumpkin are abundant in macro(magnesium,phosphorous,potassium,sodium and calcium)and micro minerals(iron,copper,manganese,zinc and selenium),they can be used as an incredible dietary supplement which in turn helps in curbing various deficiency disorders.This review enlightens the characteristics of pumpkin seeds,process of valorization of pumpkin seeds and the effect of processing on their nutritional composition which have been studied currently with the aim to use this wonder seeds for human wellbeing.Pumpkin seeds possess many bioactive compounds like polyphenols,flavonoids,phytosterols and squalene which makes it a lucrative raw material for pharmacological and food industries.Pumpkin seeds work as anti-depressant and helps majorly in the treatment of benign prostate hyperplasia(BHP).Daily consumption of pumpkin seeds can reduce the chances of Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease.Pumpkin seeds are rich in tocopherols and can be used for oil extraction for edible purposes and utilized in other food formulations for future use.

Chikungunya encephalitis:A case report

Rationale:Transmitted to humans via the Aedes mosquito,Chikungunya virus(CHIKV)is associated with multi-system complications,sometimes collectively referred to as“atypical features.”However,a disorder of the nervous system appears to be the most common severe complication of CHIKV infection.Patient’s Concern:A seventy-five-year-old patient from India presented to the hospital with fever,chills,rigors,and multiple joint pains for which he was worked up.Diagnosis:CHIKV encephalitis.Interventions:The patient was treated initially on supportive therapy with antipyretics,intravenous fluids;however,during his hospital stay,the patient had altered sensorium during which he was managed in the intensive care unit;required mechanical ventilation.Outcomes:The patient sccumbed to his illness.Lessons:Treating clinicians should keep CHIKV disease in the differential diagnosis in cases of febrile exanthems associated with disabling arthritis,especially in a CHIKV-endemic country like India.

Experimental Modal Analysis of Stator Overhangs of a Large Turbogenerator

Modal analysis of engg. structure for comprehending/resolving the vibration related issues/problems are well known. Two classical techniques-analytical (Finite Element Method-FEM) and experimental (Impact testing/Natural Frequency Test-NFT/Bump test) are generally used as complementary as well as stand-alone depending on the time, nature of structure, availability of the analysis tools, cost etc. In the present study, experimental technique was used in mitigating the endwinding vibration problem of a turbogenerator. In one of the Turbogenerators of 50 Hz variant, an increasing vibration trend was observed with system frequency sweep in almost whole of the endwinding basket particularly more on exciter end during sustained short / open circuit conditional runs. Experimental modal analysis was carried out of the overhangs. Frequency response functions (FRFs) were generated in local and global modes. The analysis thereon indicated global resonance of stator overhangs. Accordingly, appropriate remedial measures were planned and implemented. Consequently, global resonance frequency was shifted to higher zone, which in turn, resulted into substantial reduction in endwinding vibration levels.

Clinical benefit and tolerability of adjuvant intraperitoneal chemotherapy in patients who have or have not received neoadjuvant chemotherapy for advanced ovarian cancer

BACKGROUND Adjuvant chemotherapy using intraperitoneal(IP)treatment has demonstrated survival benefit over intravenous(IV)therapy alone in patients treated with upfront debulking surgery for advanced stage ovarian cancer.Neoadjuvant chemotherapy followed by interim surgery and adjuvant chemotherapy has similar outcome in survival as compared to upfront surgery followed by adjuvant IV chemotherapy.IP chemotherapy has not been widely adopted in clinical practice for a number of reasons.Whether IP chemotherapy delivered in the patients who received neoadjuvant chemotherapy can be well tolerated or confers any clinical benefit has not been well studied.AIM To evaluate the experience of adjuvant IP chemotherapy in the community cancer clinic setting,and the clinical benefit and tolerability of incorporating IP chemotherapy in patients who received neoadjuvant treatment.METHODS We retrospectively evaluated toxicities and outcomes of patients with stage III and IV ovarian cancer diagnosed at our institution between 07/2007 and 07/2015 who received intraperitoneal chemotherapy after cytoreductive surgery(group 1)or after neoadjuvant chemotherapy followed by interim surgery(group 2).RESULTS Thirty eight patients were treated with IP chemotherapy,median age was 54 years old(range 38.6 to 71 years).In group 1(n=25),12(48%)of the patients completed 4 or more cycle of IP treatment after upfront debulking surgery;while in group 2(n=13),8(61.5%)of the patients completed all 3 cycles of the assigned IP chemotherapy after receiving neoadjuvant IV chemotherapy followed by surgery,and 2(15.4%)more patients tolerated more than 3 cycles.In those patients who did not get planned IP chemotherapy,most of them were treated with substitutional IV chemotherapy,and the completion rate for 6 cycles of IV+IP was 92%.Abdominal pain,(64%in group 1 and 38%in group 2),vomiting,(36%in group 1 and 30.8%in group 2),dehydration(16%in group 1 and 15.4%in group 2),and hypomagnesemia(12%in group 1 and 15.4%in group 2)were the most common adverse effects in all patients,while patients who have received neoadjuvant chemotherapy were more likely to get hypokalemia,fatigue and renal insufficiency.Progression free survival(PFS)was 26.5 mo(95%CI 14.9,38.0)in group 1 and 27.6 mo(95%CI 13.1,42.1)in group 2.The overall survival was 100.2 mo(95%CI 67.9,132.5)for group 1 and 68.2 mo(95%CI 32.2,104.0)for group 2.For the entire cohort,PFS was 26.5 mo(95%CI 15.9,37.0)and OS was 78.8 mo(95%CI 52.3,105.4).CONCLUSION The use of IP/IV chemotherapy can be safely administrated in the community cancer clinic setting.The use of IP/IV chemotherapy in patients who have received neoadjuvant chemotherapy followed by surgery is feasible and tolerable.Despite various modification of the IP regimen,incorporation of IP chemotherapy in the adjuvant setting appears to be associated with improved PFS and overall survival.

COVID-19:Review on Its Etiology,Pathogenesis,and Existence in Humans

The world is facing a new healthcare crisis with the rise and spread of novel coronavirus since December 2019.Also known as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Corona Virus-2(SARS-CoV-2),the disease associated with SARSCoV-2 is even called COVID-19.COVID-19 is having a pulverizing impact on the scientific community.As of August 13,2020,the number of confirmed cases had reached up to 20,439,814 and the death toll to 744,385,affecting more than 188 territories across the globe.In these difficult times,the world is looking towards research and clinical work from different scientific communities to lead the way to a solution to the issue.In this review,we are focusing on COVID-19 emergence,pathogenicity,and existence in humans,as well as the SARS-CoV-2 infection mechanism and its similarities to previous coronavirus strains.

Strong Convergence of a New Three Step Iterative Scheme in Banach Spaces

In this paper, we suggest a new type of three step iterative scheme called the CR iterative scheme and study the strong convergence of this iterative scheme for a certain class of quasi-contractive operators in Banach spaces. We show that for the aforementioned class of operators, the CR iterative scheme is equivalent to and faster than Picard, Mann, Ishikawa, Agarwal et al., Noor and SP iterative schemes. Moreover, we also present various numerical examples using computer programming in C++ for the CR iterative scheme to compare it with the other above mentioned iterative schemes. Our results show that as far as the rate of convergence is concerned 1) for increasing functions the CR iterative scheme is best, while for decreasing functions the SP iterative scheme is best;2) CR iterative scheme is best for a certain class of quasi-contractive operators.

Rescue with intravitreal bevacizumab in aggressive posterior retinopathy of prematurity poorly responsive to laser treatment

Successful management of a case of aggressive posterior retinopathy of prematurity(APROP)poorly responsive to laser therapy with intravitreal bevacizumab(IVB)is discussed.IVB is useful as rescue therapy in such cases,if given within the correct window period post laser therapy.

Angiogenic peptide hydrogels for treatment of traumatic brain injury

Traumatic brain injury(TBI)impacts over 3.17 million Americans.Management of hemorrhage and coagulation caused by vascular disruption after TBI is critical for the recovery of patients.Cerebrovascular pathologies play an important role in the underlying mechanisms of TBI.The objective of this study is to evaluate a novel regenerative medicine for the injured tissue after brain injury.We utilized a recently described synthetic growth factor with angiogenic potential to facilitate vascular growth in situ at the injury site.Previous work has shown how this injectable self-assembling peptide-based hydrogel(SAPH)creates a regenerative microenvironment for neovascularization at the injury site.Supramolecular assembly allows for thixotropy;the injectable drug delivery system provides sustained in vivo efficacy.In this study,a moderate blunt injury model was used to cause physical vascular damage and hemorrhage.The angiogenic SAPH was then applied directly on the injured rat brain.At day 7 post-TBI,significantly more blood vessels were observed than the sham and injury control group,as well as activation of VEGF-receptor 2,demonstrating the robust angiogenic response elicited by the angiogenic SAPH.Vascular markers von-Willebrand factor(vWF)andα-smooth muscle actin(α-SMA)showed a concomitant increase with blood vessel density in response to the angiogenic SAPH.Moreover,blood brain barrier integrity and blood coagulation were also examined as the parameters to indicate wound recovery post TBI.Neuronal rescue examination by NeuN and myelin basic protein staining showed that the angiogenic SAPH may provide and neuroprotective benefit in the long-term recovery.

Evolving role of biomaterials in diagnostic and therapeutic radiation oncology

Radiation therapy to treat cancer has evolved significantly since the discovery of x-rays.Yet,radiation therapy still has room for improvement in reducing side effects and improving control of cancer.Safer and more effective delivery of radiation has led us to novel techniques and use of biomaterials.Biomaterials in combination with radiation and chemotherapy have started to appear in pre-clinical explorations and clinical applications,with many more on the horizon.Biomaterials have revolutionized the field of diagnostic imaging,and now are being cultivated into the field of theranostics,combination therapy,and tissue protection.This review summarizes recent development of biomaterials in radiation therapy in several application areas.

Cells and material-based strategies for regenerative endodontics

The carious process leads to inflammation of pulp tissue.Current care options include root canal treatment or apexification.These procedures,however,result in the loss of tooth vitality,sensitivity,and healing.Pulp capping and dental pulp regeneration are continually evolving techniques to regenerate pulp tissue,avoiding necrosis and loss of vitality.Many studies have successfully employed stem/progenitor cell populations,revascularization approaches,scaffolds or material-based strategies for pulp regeneration.Here we outline advantages and disadvantages of different methods and techniques which are currently being used in the field of regenerative endodontics.We also summarize recent findings on efficacious peptide-based materials which target the dental niche..

N-doped mesoporous alumina for adsorption of carbon dioxide

N-doped mesoporous alumina has been synthesized using chitosan as the biopolymer template. The adsorbent has been thoroughly investigated for the adsorption of CO2 from a simulated flue gas stream （15% CO2 balanced with N2） and compared with commercially available mesoporous alumina procured from SASOL, Germany. CO2 adsorption was studied under different conditions of pre- treatment and adsorption temperature, inlet CO2 concentration and in the presence of oxygen and moisture. The adsorption capacity was determined to be 29.4 nag CO2/g of adsorbent at 55℃. This value was observed to be 4 times higher in comparison to that of commercial mesoporous alumina at a temperature of 55℃. Basicity of alumina surface coupled with the presence of nitrogen in template in synthesized sample is responsible for this enhanced CO2 adsorption. Adsorption capacity for CO2 was retained in the presence of oxygen; however moisture had a deteriorating effect on the adsorption capacity reducing it to nearly half the value.

Clinical Significance of Liver Function Abnormality in Patients with COVID-19:A Single-center Experience from Western India

Background and Aims:The impact of coronavirus disease-2019(COVID-19)on liver function remains to be fully elucidated.This study was designed to investigate such and determine the clinical significance in determining mortality risk.Methods:A retrospective study was conducted in patients with COVID-19 from March 2020 to July 2020.Clinical details were retrieved from electronic medical records to obtain clinical characteristics,medical history,laboratory tests,therapeutic intervention,and outcome data.Results:A total of 184 patients with COVID-19 were included(median age:45.5 years),comprised of 62.5%men.In total,22(12.0%)patients had severe infection and 162(88.0%)had mild to moderate infection.Overall,95(51.6%)showed abnormal liver function test(LFT)and 17(9.2%)showed normal LFT at admission.The median age,hospital stay,and LFT were significantly higher in severe vs.non-severe infection(p<0.001).Out of 12 deaths,the majority were due to severe infection(n=11).Deaths were also due to acute respiratory distress syndrome(n=5),cardiac reasons(n=3),and sepsis with multiorgan failure(n=3).The median age,hospital stay and number of intensive care unit admissions were higher in patients having abnormal LFT compared to normal LFT.Incidence of elevated aspartate aminotransferase(42.8%and 40.4%),alanine transaminase(43.7%and 41.6%),and hypoalbuminemia(71.4%and72.7%)at admission and discharge were more common in severe infection.The mean survival was significantly lower in severe infection compared to those with non-severe disease(17.2 vs.52.3 days;p<0.001).Conclusions:Incidence of abnormal liver function was higher in patients with severe COVID-19 and was associated with prolonged hospital stay;mortality was associated with severity of COVID-19.For ruling out the risk of liver injury,it is crucial to vigilantly monitor the liver function parameters in patients with COVID-19 admitted to hospital.

Ethnomedicinal, phytochemical and pharmacological updates on Hygrophila auriculata (Schum.) Hiene： an overview

This article explores the most recent evidence-based information on ethnomedicinal, phytochemical and pharmacological understanding of Hygrophila auriculata for the treatment of various diseases and health conditions. Various ethnomedicinal writings suggest the use of the plant or its parts for the treatment of jaundice, oedema, gastrointestinal ailments, diarrhoea, dysentery, urinogenital disorder, gall stones, urinary calculi, kidney stone, leucorrhoea, rheumatism, tuberculosis, anaemia, body pain, constipation, skin disease, and as an aphrodisiac. The plant has been reported to contain flavonoids （apigenin, luteolin, ellagic acid, gallic acid and quercetin）, alkaloids （asteracanthine and asteracanthicine）, triterpenes （lupeol, lupenone, hentricontane and betulin）, sterols （stigmasterol and asterol）, minerals, amino acids, fatty acids, aliphatic esters and essential oils. Extracts and bioactive compounds from the plant have been found to possess antimicrobial, anthelmintic, antitermite, nephroprotective, hepatoprotective, central nervous system protective, antitumour, antidiabetic, anticataract, antioxidant, haematopoietic, diuretic, antinociceptive, anti-inflammatory, antipyretic, antimotility, aphrodisiac, neuroprotection, anti- endotoxin and anti-urolithiatic activities. For this paper, we reviewed patents, clinical studies, analytical studies and marketed formulations from the earliest found examples from 1887 to the end of 2017.

Recent advances in transition-metal catalyzeddirected C–H functionalization with fluorinatedbuilding blocks

The increasing demand for the development of unprecedented routes to access fluorinated molecules hasled researchers to perform intriguing research around the world. In this context, fluorinating reagents andfluorinated building blocks have been the two pillars for the generation of diverse organic scaffolds.Moreover, synthetic approaches involving transition-metal catalyzed C–H functionalization have tremendously evolved in the past two decades. Looking towards the great potential of the C–H functionalizationstrategy to maximize atom- and step-economy, the approach has been utilized for the synthesis of fluorinated molecules. Moreover, Fluorinated building blocks have been used in organic synthesis over the pastseveral decades;however newer strategies to use these building blocks have recently been explored. In thisreview, we have presented the advances made in the recent past in transition-metal catalyzed directed C–Hfunctionalization with various fluorinated building blocks. The understanding of the mechanistic aspects ofdirected C–H activation has led to efficient design of newer protocols for cross-couplings involving fluorinated building blocks as one of the coupling partners. Furthermore, it has been observed that in almost allcases the outcome of the reaction is greatly influenced by the effect of fluorine.

Utility of starchy,lignocellulosics and cellulosics hydrolysates on cellulase production under liquid state fermentation

Starch is one of the most abundant renewable carbohydrate reserves of higher plants.It can be used to produce many valuable food products in the food processing industry.Furthermore,starch is also used as an important feedstock in the fermentation industry to produce value-added products.Lignocellulosic materials such as agriculture and forestry wastes are considered as a renewable feedstock for bioenergy production through a biochemical conversion process.Converting lignocellulosic biomass into fuels and chemicals entail a physicochemical pretreatment of the biomass,followed by enzymatic hydrolysis of the polysaccharide components such as cellulose and hemicellulose into monomeric sugars.These sugars can then be further fermented into other desired compounds of interest.During the deconstruction processes,various inhibitory compounds are released due to the partial over-degradation of lignocellulose biomass,which inhibits the cell growth and metabolic capacity of fermenting strains.Cellulosic materials such as waste paper in large quantities can also be used as potentially cheap feedstock for sustainable production of value-added products.The present investigation is mainly focused on the utility of starchy hydrolysates(wheat,potato,and rice)and lignocellulosics hydrolysates(bagasse and wheat straw)in cellulase production under liquid state fermentation.It also depicts the potential of cellulosic hydrolysate(waste newspaper)in product formation.