EVALUATION OF CALCIUM OXIDE NANOPARTICLES TO ENHANCE HEAVY METAL STRESS TOLERANCE IN PLANTS

Heavy metal contamination is a severe environmental problem affecting global food production and safety. Heavy metal stress due to its toxicity, bioaccumulation, and non-biodegradability, it become quite serious in nature. The available strategies for preventing heavy metal contamination are not frequently used because of their inefficient and time- or money-consuming properties. Recent developments in nanotechnology have been made based on ameliorative strategies which have a potential alternative to physic-chemical methods. Under heavy metal stress, the application of calcium oxide nanoparticles (CaO-NPs) significantly boosts plant biomass, anti-oxidative enzyme activities (such as catalase (CAT), ascorbate peroxidase (APX), superoxide dismutase (SOD), and glutathione reductase (GR)), and the level of non-enzymatic antioxidants (ascorbate and glutathione). Additionally, CaO-NPs enhance the gene expression linked to anti-oxidative enzymes. It can be suggested that CaO-NPs could be used as a potential chemical to reduce heavy metal uptake and toxicity in the plants grown under heavy metal contaminated soil. This review provides an overview of plant-CaO-NPs research in increasing heavy metal stress tolerance in plants. View Article DOI: 10.47856/ijaast.2022.v10i01.00

Detection of spontaneous hemoperitoneum in a pregnancy complicated with endometriosis during caesarean section - a case report

Endometriosis is defined as the presence of endometrial glands and stroma outside the uterus. During pregnancy endometriosis and its related pain symptoms improve due to various metabolic, hormonal, immune and angiogenesis changes that occur in pregnancy. Spontaneous hemoperitoneum in pregnancy (SHiP) is a rare but serious pregnancy complication, which is associated with high rates of maternal and foetal morbidity and mortality. Endometriosis may be a potential risk factor for SHiP. Preformation of IVF on women with endometriosis may be a potential risk factor for SHiP. In gravid females with a history of endometriosis, severe abdominal pain, and a reduction of haemoglobin, physicians should always suspect SHiP because it is a life-threatening condition for both the mother and the baby. We are reporting a case of a primigravida with term gestation, taken up for emergency caesarean section in view of non-reassuring foetal heart rate. Intraoperatively there was evidence of hemoperitoneum and multiple endometriotic lesions on the posterior surface of uterus and Pouch of Douglas, Bilateral ovaries were adherent to the endometriotic growth on the posterior surface of uterus. Postoperatively, patient was stable and was discharged on postoperative day 4

A study to assess and evaluate the gingival response during and after the fixed orthodontics treatment experienced by adult patients

Objective: The purpose of this research was to examine patients' periodontal health before, during, and after treatment using a fixed orthodontic device. Methods: Forty normal teenagers with full sets of permanent teeth and a clinical need for fixed orthodontics participated. Individuals were chosen from the Class I population who would benefit from utilizing traditional orthodontic braces and techniques that did not need extractions. Respondents were sent to the periodontist for required checkups after the placement of a fixed orthodontic device at 3-, 6-, 12-, and 24-month intervals, respectively, till the conclusion of orthodontic treatment. Results: After having a fixed orthodontic device put in place, patients had a rise in the average values of the Plaque Index and Sulcus Bleeding Index at each checkup. Keeping an eye on the progression three months, six months, a year, and two years after the initiation of orthodontic treatment reveals a statistically significant difference in the presence of gingival hyperplasia. Conclusion: Patients' periodontal health before, during, and after fixed orthodontic treatment shows the need for close collaboration between the orthodontist and the periodontis

Prediction of Loops in G Protein-Coupled Receptor Homology Models: Effect of Imprecise Surroundings and Constraints

In the present study, we explored the extent to which inaccuracies inherent in homology models of the transmembrane helical cores of G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) can impact loop prediction. We demonstrate that loop prediction in homology models is much more difficult than loop reconstruction in crystal structures because of the imprecise positioning of loop anchors. Deriving information from 17 recently available GPCR crystal structures, we estimated all of the possible errors that could occur in loop anchors as the result of comparative modeling. Subsequently, we performed an exhaustive analysis to decipher the effect of these errors on loop modeling using ICM High Precision Sampling. The influence of the presence of other extracellular loops was also explored. Our results reveal that the error space of modeled loop residues is much larger than that of the anchor residues, although modeling a particular extracellular loop in the presence of other extracellular loops provides constraints that help in predicting near-native loop conformations observed in crystal structures. This implies that errors in loop anchor positions introduce increased uncertainty in the modeled loop coordinates. Therefore, for the success of any GPCR structure prediction algorithm, minimizing errors in the helical end points is likely to be critical for successful loop modeling

A study to assess knowledge, attitude, and perception of dental practitioners on minimally invasive dentistry concepts

Background: Minimally invasive dentistry (MID) includes caries detection using caries risk assessment (CRA), early localization of nascent carious sores including necessary and voluntary avoidance, and remineralization of demineralized veneer and dentin when diagnosed early for these reasons. Although the dentistry curriculum prioritizes the benefits of MID in tooth protection, this research is seldom included in classroom instruction. Aim: The purpose of this research was to gauge the level of understanding that dental professionals have about MID ideas. Methods: An online questionnaire measuring MID knowledge and application was used to compile the data. The Chi-square tests were run for statistical analysis in the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS). Results: Just 42.2% of the dentists who replied had MID training during their undergraduate or internship years, and the majority of that training came via lectures (45.2%). The majority (almost 81%) of respondents believed that CRA should be performed on all patients. Differences in knowledge and experience with atraumatic restorative therapy and the sandwich approach for treating caries in permanent teeth and high caries risk children were shown to be statistically significant (P 0.05). Conclusion: Dentists know about the benefits of MID, but their patients are not reaping those benefits since so many dentists still use the old methods of treating complete caries

The CMS Statistical Analysis and Combination Tool: COMBINE

International audienceThis paper describes the COMBINE software package used for statistical analyses by the CMS Collaboration. The package, originally designed to perform searches for a Higgs boson and the combined analysis of those searches, has evolved to become the statistical analysis tool presently used in the majority of measurements and searches performed by the CMS Collaboration. It is not specific to the CMS experiment, and this paper is intended to serve as a reference for users outside of the CMS Collaboration, providing an outline of the most salient features and capabilities. Readers are provided with the possibility to run COMBINE and reproduce examples provided in this paper using a publicly available container image. Since the package is constantly evolving to meet the demands of ever-increasing data sets and analysis sophistication, this paper cannot cover all details of COMBINE. However, the online documentation referenced within this paper provides an up-to-date and complete user guide

Dark sector searches with the CMS experiment

Astrophysical observations provide compelling evidence for gravitationally interacting dark matter in the universe that cannot be explained by the standard model of particle physics. The extraordinary amount of data from the CERN LHC presents a unique opportunity to shed light on the nature of dark matter at unprecedented collision energies. This Report comprehensively reviews the most recent searches with the CMS experiment for particles and interactions belonging to a dark sector and for dark-sector mediators. Models with invisible massive particles are probed by searches for signatures of missing transverse momentum recoiling against visible standard model particles. Searches for mediators are also conducted via fully visible final states. The results of these searches are compared with those obtained from direct-detection experiments. Searches for alternative scenarios predicting more complex dark sectors with multiple new particles and new forces are also presented. Many of these models include long-lived particles, which could manifest themselves with striking unconventional signatures with relatively small amounts of background. Searches for such particles are discussed and their impact on dark-sector scenarios is evaluated. Many results and interpretations have been newly obtained for this Report.Astrophysical observations provide compelling evidence for gravitationally interacting dark matter in the universe that cannot be explained by the standard model of particle physics. The extraordinary amount of data from the CERN LHC presents a unique opportunity to shed light on the nature of dark matter at unprecedented collision energies. This Report comprehensively reviews the most recent searches with the CMS experiment for particles and interactions belonging to a dark sector and for dark-sector mediators. Models with invisible massive particles are probed by searches for signatures of missing transverse momentum recoiling against visible standard model particles. Searches for mediators are also conducted via fully visible final states. The results of these searches are compared with those obtained from direct-detection experiments. Searches for alternative scenarios predicting more complex dark sectors with multiple new particles and new forces are also presented. Many of these models include long-lived particles, which could manifest themselves with striking unconventional signatures with relatively small amounts of background. Searches for such particles are discussed and their impact on dark-sector scenarios is evaluated. Many results and interpretations have been newly obtained for this Report

Search for CPCP violation in D0^0→\to KS0^0_\mathrm{S}KS0^0_\mathrm{S} decays in proton-proton collisions at s\sqrt{s} = 13 TeV

International audienceA search is reported for charge-parity D$^0$$\to$ K$^0_\mathrm{S}$K$^0_\mathrm{S}$$CP$ violation in D$^0$$\to$ K$^0_\mathrm{S}$K$^0_\mathrm{S}$ decays, using data collected in proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV recorded by the CMS experiment in 2018. The analysis uses a dedicated data set that corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 41.6 fb$^{-1}$, which consists of about 10 billion events containing a pair of ẖadrons, nearly all of which decay to charm hadrons. The flavor of the neutral D meson is determined by the pion charge in the reconstructed decays D$^{*+}$$\to$ D$^0\pi^+$ and D$^{*-}$$\to$ D$^0\pi^-$. The D$^0$$\to$ K$^0_\mathrm{S}$K$^0_\mathrm{S}$$CP$ asymmetry in D$^0$$\to$ K$^0_\mathrm{S}$K$^0_\mathrm{S}$ is measured to be $A_{CP}$( K$^0_\mathrm{S}$K$^0_\mathrm{S}$) = (6.2 $\pm$ 3.0 $\pm$ 0.2 $\pm$ 0.8)%, where the three uncertainties represent the statistical uncertainty, the systematic uncertainty, and the uncertainty in the measurement of the D$^0$ $\to$ K$^0_\mathrm{S}$K$^0_\mathrm{S}$ $CP$ asymmetry in the D$^0$ $\to$ K$^0_\mathrm{S}\pi^+\pi^-$ decay. This is the first D$^0$ $\to$ K$^0_\mathrm{S}$K$^0_\mathrm{S}$ $CP$ asymmetry measurement by CMS in the charm sector as well as the first to utilize a fully hadronic final state