β-Caryophyllene Induces Apoptosis and Inhibits Angiogenesis in Colorectal Cancer Models

Beta-Caryophyllene (BCP), a naturally occurring sesquiterpene abundantly found in cloves, hops, and cannabis, is the active candidate of a relatively new group of vascular-inhibiting compounds that aim to block existing tumor blood vessels. Previously, we have reported the anti-cancer properties of BCP by utilizing a series of in-vitro anti-tumor-related assays using human colorectal carcinoma cells. The present study aimed to investigate the effects of BCP on in-vitro, ex-vivo, and in-vivo models of anti-angiogenic assays and evaluate its anti-cancer activity in xenograft tumor (both ectopic and orthotopic) mice models of human colorectal cancer. Computational structural analysis and an apoptosis antibody array were also performed to understand the molecular players underlying this effect. BCP exhibited strong anti-angiogenic activity by blocking the migration of endothelial cells, tube-like network formation, suppression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) secretion from human umbilical vein endothelial cells and sprouting of rat aorta microvessels. BCP has a probable binding at Site#0 on the surface of VEGFR2. Moreover, BCP significantly deformed the vascularization architecture compared to the negative control in a chick embryo chorioallantoic membrane assay. BCP showed a remarkable reduction in tumor size and fluorescence molecular tomography signal intensity in all the mice treated with BCP, in a dose-dependent relationship, in ectopic and orthotopic tumor xenograft models, respectively. The histological analysis of the tumor from BCP-treated mice revealed a clear reduction of the density of vascularization. In addition, BCP induced apoptosis through downregulation of HSP60, HTRA, survivin, and XIAP, along with the upregulation of p21 expressions. These results suggest that BCP acts at multiple stages of angiogenesis and could be used as a promising therapeutic candidate to halt the growth of colorectal tumor cells.     

基于水溶性PEG/PMMA黏结剂的316L不锈钢注射成形研究

目的 针对316L不锈钢注射成形，研究一种环境友好型的水溶性黏结剂，并探究水脱脂温度对PEG脱除率的影响。方法 配置不同PEG/PMMA比例的黏结剂，通过成形后的形貌及SEM确定黏结剂的比例，对成形完整的生坯进行流变性能测试，最后将生坯放入水浴锅中脱脂，通过SEM观察形貌。结果 通过注射成形得出76%(质量分数，下同)PEG、79% PEG和82% PEG 3种喂料能够注出完整的生坯，同时根据SEM观察发现316L不锈钢粉末被黏结剂均匀包裹。在160 ℃、剪切速率10²~10⁵ s⁻¹条件下，3种喂料黏度均低于1 000 Pa.s，符合注射成形的要求。在生坯脱脂过程中，PEG脱除率随着脱脂温度的升高而升高。PEG的脱除使生坯内部形成大量孔隙，有利于后续热脱脂与预烧结的进行。结论 与其他成分相比，成分为79% PEG+19% PMMA+5% SA的黏结剂喂料具有较好的流动性，适合注射成形，成形出的生坯形貌完整，内部孔洞较少，并且经过脱脂后仍能保持原始形状，无外部缺陷。生坯在60 ℃水温下脱脂，PEG脱除率最大，经过10 h脱脂后PEG脱除率达到80%。     

Termites as human foods—A comprehensive review

Global food production is anticipated to rise along with the growth of the global population. As a result, creative solutions must be devised to ensure that everyone has access to nutritious, affordable, and safe food. Consequently, including insects in diets has the potential to improve global food and nutrition security. This paper aims to share recent findings by covering edible termites as the main aspect, from their consumption record until consumer acceptance. A total of 53 termite species are reported as edible ones and distributed in 6 biogeographic realms. Generally, termites have a nutrient composition that is suitable for human consumption, and cooked termites are a better dietary choice than their raw counterparts. Besides, increasing customer interest in eating termite-based food can be achieved by making it more palatable and tastier through various cooking processes, that is, boiling, frying, grilling, roasting, smoking, and sun-drying. Moreover, edible termites can also be used as a new source of medication by exhibiting antimicrobial activity. Regarding their advantages, it is strongly encouraged to implement a seminatural rearing system to sustain the supply of edible termites. Overall, this paper makes it evident that termites are an important natural resource for food or medicine. Hence, the long-term objective is to stimulate scientific inquiry into the potential of edible insects as an answer to the problem of global food security.     

Blockchain and IIoT Enabled Solution for Social Distancing and Isolation Management to Prevent Pandemics

Pandemics have always been a nightmare for humanity, especially in developing countries. Forced lockdowns are considered one of the effective ways to deal with spreading such pandemics. Still, developing countries cannot afford such solutions because these may severely damage the country’s economy. Therefore, this study presents the proactive technological mechanisms for business organizations to run their standard business processes during pandemic-like situations smoothly. The novelty of this study is to provide a state-of-the-art solution to prevent pandemics using industrial internet of things (IIoT) and blockchain-enabled technologies. Compared to existing studies, the immutable and tamper-proof contact tracing and quarantine management solution is proposed. The use of advanced technologies and information security is a critical area for practitioners in the internet of things (IoT) and corresponding solutions. Therefore, this study also emphasizes information security, end-to-end solution, and experimental results. Firstly, a wearable wristband is proposed, incorporating 4G-enabled ultra-wideband (UWB) technology for smart contact tracing mechanisms in industries to comply with standard operating procedures outlined by the world health organization (WHO). Secondly, distributed ledger technology (DLT) omits the centralized dependency for transmitting contact tracing data. Thirdly, a privacy-preserving tracing mechanism is discussed using a public/private key cryptography-based authentication mechanism. Lastly, based on geofencing techniques, blockchain-enabled machine-to-machine (M2M) technology is proposed for quarantine management. The step-by-step methodology and test results are proposed to ensure contact tracing and quarantine management. Unlike existing research studies, the security aspect is also considered in the realm of blockchain. The practical implementation of the proposed solution also obtains the results. The results indicate the successful implementation of blockchain-enabled contact tracing and isolation management using IoT and geo-fencing techniques, which could help battle pandemic situations. Researchers can also consider the 5G-enabled narrowband internet of things (NB-IoT) technologies to implement contact tracing solutions.     

Role of foliar spray of plant growth regulators in improving photosynthetic pigments and metabolites in <i>Plantago ovata</i> (Psyllium) under salt stress–A field appraisal

Salinity is one of the major abiotic factors that limit the growth and productivity of plants. Foliar application of plant growth regulators (PGRs) may help plants ameliorate the negative impacts of salinity. Thus, a field experiment was conducted at the Botanical Garden University of Balochistan, Quetta, to explore the potential role of PGRs, i.e., moringa leaf extract (MLE; 10%), proline (PRO; 1 µM), salicylic acid (SA; 250 µM), and thiourea (TU; 10 mM) in ameliorating the impacts of salinity (120 mM) on Plantago ovata, an important medicinal plant. Salinity hampered plant photosynthetic pigments and metabolites but elevated oxidative parameters. However, foliar application of PGRs enhanced photosynthetic pigments, including Chl b (21.11%), carotenoids (57.87%) except Chl a, activated the defense mechanisms by restoring and enhancing the metabolites, i.e., soluble sugars (49.68%), soluble phenolics (33.34%), and proline (31.47%), significantly under salinity stress. Furthermore, foliar supplementation of PGRs under salt stress led to a decrease of about 43.02% and 43.27% in hydrogen peroxide and malondialdehyde content, respectively. Thus, PGRs can be recommended for improved photosynthetic efficiency and metabolite content that can help to get better yield under salt stress, with the best and most effective treatments being those of PRO and MLE to predominately ameliorate the harsh impacts of salinity.     

Bacterial endotoxins in periodontal health and diseases

Bacterial endotoxins are a major concern in periodontal health and diseases owing to their structure and biological activity. With up-to-date knowledge of endotoxins and the recent findings about the influence of endotoxins in dental health, their probable mode of pathogenesis, and standard detection methods, this review analyzes the potential efficacy and benefits of probiotics in combination with conventional and contemporary treatment measures. In the oral cavity, Gram-negative bacteria are documented to predominate in the pulpal lesions with radiolucent areas and in the root canal with pulp necrosis, where they pose an absolute threat by promoting a series of inflammatory reactions. Endotoxin, a constituent of Gram-negative bacteria establishes a nexus between cytokine stimulation and proinflammatory reactions, therefore plays a critical role in decaying dental pulp and modulating periodontal diseases. Currently, the treatment regimen involves several biochemical preparations. In addition, probiotics have been reported to control endotoxin in gingivitis and contribute to the overall improvement of dental health. A potential benefit of a combination of probiotics as a complementary treatment along with the conventional treatment warrant more empirical evidence to elucidate its role and mechanism in resolving the clinical manifestations associated with endotoxins in the periodontal region.     

Interleukin-1 receptor antagonist: From synthesis to therapeutic applications

The cytokine channel’s mechanism for self-regulation involves the application of antagonistic cytokines that are synthesized to connect to the receptors and release soluble cytokine receptors. The very first receptor antagonist of cytokine that was naturally present was interleukin-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1Ra). The IL-1Ra protein forms are disinfected from supernatants of cultured monocytes on stacked IgG. The family of IL-1 consists of IL-1α, IL-1β and IL-1Ra. Human monocytes regulate the production of IL-Ra. IL-Ra takes part in normal physiological functions by using specific antibodies, and acts as an anti-inflammatory agent. IL-Ra is synthesized in the tissues during the period of active disease and can be systematically measured and/or estimated. Maintenance of the levels of IL-Ra and IL-1 is the main factor for host resistance in patients during diseased conditions, as IL-Ra acts as an inherent regulator of various inflammatory responses. In this article, we focuse on how IL-Ra is synthesized and performs its functions once the inflammatory responses are activated.     

Stochastic Investigations for the Fractional Vector-Host Diseased Based Saturated Function of Treatment Model

The goal of this research is to introduce the simulation studies of the vector-host disease nonlinear system (VHDNS) along with the numerical treatment of artificial neural networks (ANNs) techniques supported by Levenberg-Marquardt backpropagation (LMQBP), known as ANNs-LMQBP. This mechanism is physically appropriate, where the number of infected people is increasing along with the limited health services. Furthermore, the biological effects have fading memories and exhibit transition behavior. Initially, the model is developed by considering the two and three categories for the humans and the vector species. The VHDNS is constructed with five classes, susceptible humans , infected humans , recovered humans , infected vectors , and susceptible vector based system of the fractional-order nonlinear ordinary differential equations. To solve the number of variations of the VHDNS, the numerical simulations are performed using the stochastic ANNs-LMQBP. The achieved numerical solutions for solving the VHDNS using the stochastic ANNs-LMQBP have been described for training, verifying, and testing data to decrease the mean square error (MSE). An extensive analysis is provided using the correlation studies, MSE, error histograms (EHs), state transitions (STs), and regression to observe the accuracy, efficiency, expertise, and aptitude of the computing ANNs-LMQBP.     

磁流变弹性体的性能研究

以天然橡胶为基体制备磁流变弹性体（MRE），研究MRE的Payne效应及磁感应强度和磁流变效应。电子显微镜分析得出，对于羰基铁粉质量分数最大（81.67%）的MRE，羰基铁粉分布密集，出现羰基铁粉团聚现象。流变仪测试结果表明：随着羰基铁粉质量分数的增大，MRE的Payne效应和磁流变效应增强；随着应变的增大，MRE的储能模量减小，损耗因子增大。     

Molecular characterization of sweet potato (<i>Ipomoea batatas</i> [L.] Lam) germplasms for desirable traits by using simple sequence repeats markers

Every breeding program that aims to create new and improved cultivars with desired traits mostly relies on information related to genetic diversity. Therefore, molecular characterization of germplasms is important to obtain target cultivars with desirable traits. Sweet potato [Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam] is widely considered the world’s most important crop, with great diversity in morphological and phenotypic traits. The genetic diversity of 20 sweet potato germplasms originating from Bangladesh, CIP, Philippines, Taiwan, and Malaysia were compared, which was accomplished by genetic diversity analysis by exploring 20 microsatellite DNA markers for germplasm characterization and utilization. This information was effective in differentiating or clustering the sweet potato genotypes. A total of 64 alleles were generated using the 20 primers throughout the 20 germplasm samples, with locus IBS97 having the highest number of alleles (5), whereas locus IbU33 had the fewest alleles (2). The alleles varied in size from 105 (IbU31) to 213 base pairs (IBS34). The Polymorphism Information Content (PIC) values for the loci IbL46 and IBS97 varied from 0.445 to 0.730. IBS97 has the highest number of effective alleles (3.704), compared to an average of 2.520. The average Shannon’s diversity index (H) was 1.003, ranging from 0.673 in IbU3 to 1.432 in IBS97. The value of gene flow (Nm) varied between 0.000 and 0.005, with an average of 0.003, whereas genetic differentiation (FST-values) ranged between 0.901 and 1.000. The sweet potato germplasm included in this study had a broad genetic base. SP1 vs. SP9 and SP12 vs. SP18 germplasm pairings had the greatest genetic distance (GD = 0.965), while SP1 vs. SP2 germplasm couples had the least genetic diversity (GD = 0.093). Twenty genotypes were classified into two groups in the UPGMA dendrogram, with 16 genotypes classified as group “A” and the remaining four genotypes, SP10, SP18, SP19, and SP20, classified as group “B.” According to cluster analysis, the anticipated heterozygosity (gene diversity) of Nei (1973) was 0.591 on average. In summary, SSR markers successfully evaluated the genetic relationships among the sweet potato accessions used and generated a high level of polymorphism. The results of the present study will be useful for the management of germplasm, improvement of the current breeding strategies, and the release of new cultivars as varieties.