Harnessing advanced extraction and profiling technologies for sustainable phytomolecule-based pest management

For decades, pest control has primarily relied on the use of synthetic chemicals. Although effective, this method has led to serious issues such as environmental pollution, prompting resistance in pests and posing health risks to beneficial organisms and even humans. Traditional methods used to extract plant-based compounds, such as maceration, Soxhlet extraction and hydrodistillation, are often outdated and inefficient, requiring large volumes of solvents and subjecting sensitive compounds to damaging heat. These ongoing challenges underscore the urgent need to seek safer, more sustainable solutions not only for managing pests but also for obtaining natural bioactive compounds. These methods are associated with high solvent consumption, poor selectivity, thermal degradation of heat-sensitive compounds and low recovery rates of active constituents, which limit the full potential of plant-derived bioactive compounds in pest management. Advanced extraction technologies are increasingly being adopted to overcome these challenges. Techniques such as ultrasound-assisted extraction, microwave-assisted extraction, supercritical fluid extraction and pressurized liquid extraction employ innovative physical principles that enhance mass transfer, protect thermally sensitive bioactives and significantly improve extraction yields. These methods preserve the structural integrity and bioactivity of the compounds, making them highly suitable for further development. Additionally, modern analytical tools, such as high-performance liquid chromatography, mass spectrometry and metabolomic profiling, provide precise chemical characterization and quantification of the phytochemicals. The combination of advanced extraction techniques with chemical and metabolomic profiling ensures the high purity, efficacy and safety of phytomolecule-based insect-control agents. This review presents a novel extract-to-characterize framework integrating green extraction and metabolomic profiling to enhance phytochemical recovery and scalability of plant-based biopesticides

On-Device Intelligence for AI-Enabled Bio-Inspired Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs)

This paper introduces an innovative approach to underwater exploration by integrating Artificial Intelligence (AI) into Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs). This collaboration between AI and biomimicry marks a new era for AUVs, enabling them to emulate marine creatures’ graceful and efficient movements. By infusing AI capabilities into AUVs, AUVs are empowered to learn and adapt, making autonomous real-time decisions without human intervention. This dynamic integration equips AUVs to effectively navigate complex underwater terrains, evade obstacles, and seamlessly interact with marine life. Inspired by the remarkable propulsion mechanisms found in marine organisms, this work proposes a pioneering propulsion system tailored for AUVs. Taking cues from the locomotion of creatures like cuttlefish, the biomechanics is translated into a robotic propulsion system. The result is a fluid and energy-efficient propulsion method that mitigates the harmful effects of cavitation, thereby reducing noise pollution and minimizing disruption to marine ecosystems. This research evaluates the performance of on-device AI models for analyzing the sensing environment around the AUV and taking real-time images. This automated sensing and navigation method can help the AUVs independently navigate to the desired location along the water table. The propulsion is achieved by building a crankshaft mechanism and a unified mechanical design to convert rotational motion from a motor into a sinusoidal wave motion to replicate the cuttlefish locomotion pattern. The proposed underwater vehicle, Aquabot, is designed using Fusion 360 simulation and ANSYS software. The results demonstrate the accuracy and efficiency of the autonomous underwater vehicle based on the environmental conditions, thus reducing energy consumption and enhancing aquatic vehicle efficiency

Cancer is a Preventable Disease that Requires Major Lifestyle Changes

This year, more than 1 million Americans and more than 10 million people worldwide are expected to be diagnosed with cancer, a disease commonly believed to be preventable. Only 5–10% of all cancer cases can be attributed to genetic defects, whereas the remaining 90–95% have their roots in the environment and lifestyle. The lifestyle factors include cigarette smoking, diet (fried foods, red meat), alcohol, sun exposure, environmental pollutants, infections, stress, obesity, and physical inactivity. The evidence indicates that of all cancer-related deaths, almost 25–30% are due to tobacco, as many as 30–35% are linked to diet, about 15–20% are due to infections, and the remaining percentage are due to other factors like radiation, stress, physical activity, environmental pollutants etc. Therefore, cancer prevention requires smoking cessation, increased ingestion of fruits and vegetables, moderate use of alcohol, caloric restriction, exercise, avoidance of direct exposure to sunlight, minimal meat consumption, use of whole grains, use of vaccinations, and regular check-ups. In this review, we present evidence that inflammation is the link between the agents/factors that cause cancer and the agents that prevent it. In addition, we provide evidence that cancer is a preventable disease that requires major lifestyle changes

Robust estimation of bacterial cell count from optical density

Optical density (OD) is widely used to estimate the density of cells in liquid culture, but cannot be compared between instruments without a standardized calibration protocol and is challenging to relate to actual cell count. We address this with an interlaboratory study comparing three simple, low-cost, and highly accessible OD calibration protocols across 244 laboratories, applied to eight strains of constitutive GFP-expressing E. coli. Based on our results, we recommend calibrating OD to estimated cell count using serial dilution of silica microspheres, which produces highly precise calibration (95.5% of residuals <1.2-fold), is easily assessed for quality control, also assesses instrument effective linear range, and can be combined with fluorescence calibration to obtain units of Molecules of Equivalent Fluorescein (MEFL) per cell, allowing direct comparison and data fusion with flow cytometry measurements: in our study, fluorescence per cell measurements showed only a 1.07-fold mean difference between plate reader and flow cytometry data

Towards fair decentralized benchmarking of healthcare AI algorithms with the Federated Tumor Segmentation (FeTS) challenge

Computational competitions are the standard for benchmarking medical image analysis algorithms, but they typically use small curated test datasets acquired at a few centers, leaving a gap to the reality of diverse multicentric patient data. To this end, the Federated Tumor Segmentation (FeTS) Challenge represents the paradigm for real-world algorithmic performance evaluation. The FeTS challenge is a competition to benchmark (i) federated learning aggregation algorithms and (ii) state-of-the-art segmentation algorithms, across multiple international sites. Weight aggregation and client selection techniques were compared using a multicentric brain tumor dataset in realistic federated learning simulations, yielding benefits for adaptive weight aggregation, and efficiency gains through client sampling. Quantitative performance evaluation of state-of-the-art segmentation algorithms on data distributed internationally across 32 institutions yielded good generalization on average, albeit the worst-case performance revealed data-specific modes of failure. Similar multi-site setups can help validate the real-world utility of healthcare AI algorithms in the future

Duration of androgen deprivation therapy with postoperative radiotherapy for prostate cancer: a comparison of long-course versus short-course androgen deprivation therapy in the RADICALS-HD randomised trial

Background Previous evidence supports androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) with primary radiotherapy as initial treatment for intermediate-risk and high-risk localised prostate cancer. However, the use and optimal duration of ADT with postoperative radiotherapy after radical prostatectomy remains uncertain. Methods RADICALS-HD was a randomised controlled trial of ADT duration within the RADICALS protocol. Here, we report on the comparison of short-course versus long-course ADT. Key eligibility criteria were indication for radiotherapy after previous radical prostatectomy for prostate cancer, prostate-specific antigen less than 5 ng/mL, absence of metastatic disease, and written consent. Participants were randomly assigned (1:1) to add 6 months of ADT (short-course ADT) or 24 months of ADT (long-course ADT) to radiotherapy, using subcutaneous gonadotrophin-releasing hormone analogue (monthly in the short-course ADT group and 3-monthly in the long-course ADT group), daily oral bicalutamide monotherapy 150 mg, or monthly subcutaneous degarelix. Randomisation was done centrally through minimisation with a random element, stratified by Gleason score, positive margins, radiotherapy timing, planned radiotherapy schedule, and planned type of ADT, in a computerised system. The allocated treatment was not masked. The primary outcome measure was metastasis-free survival, defined as metastasis arising from prostate cancer or death from any cause. The comparison had more than 80% power with two-sided α of 5% to detect an absolute increase in 10-year metastasis-free survival from 75% to 81% (hazard ratio [HR] 0·72). Standard time-to-event analyses were used. Analyses followed intention-to-treat principle. The trial is registered with the ISRCTN registry, ISRCTN40814031, and ClinicalTrials.gov , NCT00541047 . Findings Between Jan 30, 2008, and July 7, 2015, 1523 patients (median age 65 years, IQR 60–69) were randomly assigned to receive short-course ADT (n=761) or long-course ADT (n=762) in addition to postoperative radiotherapy at 138 centres in Canada, Denmark, Ireland, and the UK. With a median follow-up of 8·9 years (7·0–10·0), 313 metastasis-free survival events were reported overall (174 in the short-course ADT group and 139 in the long-course ADT group; HR 0·773 [95% CI 0·612–0·975]; p=0·029). 10-year metastasis-free survival was 71·9% (95% CI 67·6–75·7) in the short-course ADT group and 78·1% (74·2–81·5) in the long-course ADT group. Toxicity of grade 3 or higher was reported for 105 (14%) of 753 participants in the short-course ADT group and 142 (19%) of 757 participants in the long-course ADT group (p=0·025), with no treatment-related deaths. Interpretation Compared with adding 6 months of ADT, adding 24 months of ADT improved metastasis-free survival in people receiving postoperative radiotherapy. For individuals who can accept the additional duration of adverse effects, long-course ADT should be offered with postoperative radiotherapy. Funding Cancer Research UK, UK Research and Innovation (formerly Medical Research Council), and Canadian Cancer Society

Kartagener's syndrome presenting with secondary spontaneous pneumothorax: A rare case report

Kartagener's syndrome (KS) is a part of a larger family of diseases classified as primary ciliary dyskinesia (PCD). The triad of KS consists of bronchiectasis, chronic sinusitis, and situs inversus, which is likely underdiagnosed, as a limited amount of centers have resources to provide an accurate diagnosis. Symptoms are more prevalent in children that too in the first decade of life. Pneumothorax might be one of the rare complications of the PCD. A review of literature revealed that few patients are diagnosed with PCD complicated with secondary spontaneous pneumothorax. In this case report, we describe a PCD patient with spontaneous pneumothorax and how we treated him in our institution