Boron-Salphen Conjugate based Molecular Probe Exhibiting Fluorescence On-Off-On Response in Detection of Cu2+ and ATP through Displacement Approach.

Synthesis and photophysical properties of a fluorescent probe HBD is described. Probe upon interaction with metal ions, anions and nucleoside pyrophosphates (NPPs) showed fluorescence quenching with Cu2+ due to chelation enhanced quenching effect (CHEQ). Moreover, interaction of ensemble HBD.Cu2+ with anions and NPPs showed fluorescence "turn-On" response with ATP selectively. "On-Off-On" responses observed with Cu2+ and ATP is attributed to an interplay between ESIPT and TICT processes. Cyclic voltammogram of probe exhibited quasi-reversible redox behaviour with three oxidation and two reduction potentials and the change in band gaps of probe suggested the interaction with Cu2+ and ATP. The 2 : 1 and 1 : 1 binding stoichiometry for an interaction between probe and Cu2+ (LOD, 62 nM) and ensemble, HBD.Cu2+ with ATP (LOD, 0.4 µM) respectively are realised by Job's plot and HRMS data. Cell imaging studies carried out to detect Cu2+ and ATP in HeLa cells. Also, the output emission observed with Cu2+ and ATP is utilized to construct an implication (IMP) logic gate. Test paper strips showed naked-eye visible color responses to detect Cu2+ and ATP. In real water samples probe successfully detected copper (0.03 µM) between 5-6.5 ppb level (ICP-MS method).

Fear effect in a three-species food chain model with generalist predator.

Within the framework of a food web, the foraging behavior of meso-carnivorous species is influenced by fear responses elicited by higher trophic level species, consequently diminishing the fecundity of these species. In this study, we investigate a three-species food chain model comprising of prey, an intermediate predator, and a top predator. We assume that both the birth rate and intraspecies competition of prey are impacted by fear induced by the intermediate predator. Additionally, the foraging behavior of the intermediate predator is constrained due to the presence of the top predator. It is essential to note that the top predators exhibit a generalist feeding behavior, encompassing food sources beyond the intermediate predators. The study systematically determines all feasible equilibria of the proposed model and conducts a comprehensive stability analysis of these equilibria. The investigation reveals that the system undergoes Hopf bifurcation concerning various model parameters. Notably, when other food sources significantly contribute to the growth of the top predators, the system exhibits stable behavior around the interior equilibrium. Our findings indicate that the dynamic influence of fear plays a robust role in stabilizing the system. Furthermore, a cascading effect within the system, stemming from the fear instigated by top predators, is observed and analyzed. Overall, this research sheds light on the intricate dynamics of fear-induced responses in shaping the stability and behavior of multi-species food web systems, highlighting the profound cascading effects triggered by fear mechanisms in the ecosystem.

A mathematical model for the impact of disinfectants on the control of bacterial diseases.

Here, we investigate a mathematical model to assess the impact of disinfectants in controlling diseases that spread in the population via direct contacts with the infected persons and also due to bacteria present in the environment. We find that the disease-free and endemic equilibria of the system are related via a transcritical bifurcation whose direction is forward. Our numerical results show that controlling the transmissions of disease through direct contacts and bacteria present in the environment can help in reducing the disease prevalence. Moreover, fostering the recovery rate and the death rate of bacteria play significant roles in disease eradication. Our numerical observations convey that reducing the bacterial density at the source discharged by the infected population through the use of chemicals has prominent effect in disease control. Overall, our findings manifest that the disinfectants of high quality can completely control the bacterial density and the disease outbreak.

Impact of social media advertisements on the transmission dynamics of COVID-19 pandemic in India.

In this paper, we propose a mathematical model to assess the impact of social media advertisements in combating the coronavirus pandemic in India. We assume that dissemination of awareness among susceptible individuals modifies public attitudes and behaviours towards this contagious disease which results in reducing the chance of contact with the coronavirus and hence decreasing the disease transmission. Moreover, the individual's behavioral response in the presence of global information campaigns accelerate the rate of hospitalization of symptomatic individuals and also encourage the asymptomatic individuals for conducting health protocols, such as self-isolation, social distancing, etc. We calibrate the proposed model with the cumulative confirmed COVID-19 cases for the Republic of India. We estimate eight epidemiologically important parameters, and also the size of basic reproduction number for India. We find that the basic reproduction number for India is greater than unity, which represents the substantial outbreak of COVID-19 in the country. Sophisticated techniques of sensitivity analysis are employed to determine the impacts of model parameters on basic reproduction number and symptomatic infected population. Our results reveal that to reduce disease burden in India, non-pharmaceutical interventions strategies should be implemented effectively to decrease basic reproduction number below unity. Continuous propagation of awareness through the internet and social media platforms should be regularly circulated by the health authorities/government officials for hospitalization of symptomatic individuals and quarantine of asymptomatic individuals to control the prevalence of disease in India.

Dynamics of coronavirus pandemic: effects of community awareness and global information campaigns.

The effects of social media advertisements together with local awareness in controlling COVID-19 are explored in the present investigation by means of a mathematical model. The expression for the basic reproduction number is derived. Sufficient conditions for the global stability of endemic equilibrium are obtained. We perform sensitivity analysis to identify the key parameters of the model having great impacts on the prevalence and control of COVID-19. We calibrate the proposed model to fit the data set of COVID-19 cases for India. Our simulation results show that dissemination rate of awareness among susceptible individuals at community level and individual level plays pivotal role in curtailing the COVID-19 disease. Moreover, we observe that the global information distributing from social media and local awareness coming from mouth-to-mouth communication between unaware susceptible and aware people, together with hospitalization of symptomatic individuals and quarantine of asymptomatic individuals, are much beneficial in reducing COVID-19 cases in India. Our study suggests that both global and local awareness must be implemented effectively to manage the burden of COVID-19 pandemic.

Delay in budget allocation for vaccination and awareness induces chaos in an infectious disease model.

In this paper, we propose a model to assess the impacts of budget allocation for vaccination and awareness programs on the dynamics of infectious diseases. The budget allocation is assumed to follow logistic growth, and its per capita growth rate increases proportional to disease prevalence. An increment in per-capita growth rate of budget allocation due to increase in infected individuals after a threshold value leads to onset of limit cycle oscillations. Our results reveal that the epidemic potential can be reduced or even disease can be eradicated through vaccination of high quality and/or continuous propagation of awareness among the people in endemic zones. We extend the proposed model by incorporating a discrete time delay in the increment of budget allocation due to infected population in the region. We observe that multiple stability switches occur and the system becomes chaotic on gradual increase in the value of time delay.

Quality of life of type 2 diabetes mellitus patients attending a tertiary care hospital of Northern India: A cross sectional study.

INTRODUCTION: Diabetes mellitus is a chronic and progressive metabolic disorder. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) there is "an apparent epidemic of diabetes, which is strongly related to lifestyle and economic change." Objective of the study was to assess the quality of life of people living with type 2 diabetes mellitus and factors associated with quality of life. METHODS: A hospital-based cross-sectional study was conducted on 215 patients with diabetes mellitus. Quality of life was assessed using a generic instrument SF 36. The data was analyzed using SPSS, version 24.0. An independent t test and analysis of variance (ANOVA) were used to compare the means of each domain of quality of life within groups of various independent variables. RESULTS: The mean age of respondents was 52.5 ± 11.0 years. The majority (87.4%) of the patients were married, Hindu by religion (88.8%), and belonged to upper socio economic class (28.8%). The mean duration since diagnosis of diabetes was 7.82 ± 6.0 years, and 80.4 percent of patients were on oral hypoglycemic agents. Hypertension was found to be the most common (24.6%) comorbidity. Age, education, socioeconomic status, duration of diabetes, type of treatment, complication of diabetes, comorbidities, and body mass index (BMI) were found to be significantly associated with various domains of SF-36. CONCLUSIONS: Diabetes has an adverse effect on quality of life of patients with diabetes. The most affected domain in male and female patients was vitality domain followed by general health domain of quality of life.

Mathematical model of COVID-19 with comorbidity and controlling using non-pharmaceutical interventions and vaccination.

Pandemic is an unprecedented public health situation, especially for human beings with comorbidity. Vaccination and non-pharmaceutical interventions only remain extensive measures carrying a significant socioeconomic impact to defeating pandemic. Here, we formulate a mathematical model with comorbidity to study the transmission dynamics as well as an optimal control-based framework to diminish COVID-19. This encompasses modeling the dynamics of invaded population, parameter estimation of the model, study of qualitative dynamics, and optimal control problem for non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) and vaccination events such that the cost of the combined measure is minimized. The investigation reveals that disease persists with the increase in exposed individuals having comorbidity in society. The extensive computational efforts show that mean fluctuations in the force of infection increase with corresponding entropy. This is a piece of evidence that the outbreak has reached a significant portion of the population. However, optimal control strategies with combined measures provide an assurance of effectively protecting our population from COVID-19 by minimizing social and economic costs.

Sequential restoration of external limiting membrane and ellipsoid zone after intravitreal anti-VEGF therapy in diabetic macular oedema.

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: To study the mechanism of restoration of retinal photoreceptor ellipsoid zone (EZ), after intravitreal bevacizumab (IVB) therapy, in diabetic macular oedema (DMO). SUBJECTS/METHODS: Forty-four consecutive patients aged 40-65 years having type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM) with DMO were prospectively recruited for IVB therapy. It comprised of three doses (1.25 mg in 0.05 ml) of IVB at monthly intervals. Patients with other ocular and systemic diseases affecting retinal vessels and earlier ophthalmological interventions were excluded. Visual acuity (logMAR VA) was recorded. Spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) was performed pre and post intervention. Central sub-foveal thickness (CST) and grades of disorganization of retinal inner layers (DRIL), external limiting membrane (ELM) and EZ were assessed. Data were statistically analysed on SPSS software. Clinical trials registry: CTRI/2019/03/018135. RESULTS: Mean logMAR VA decreased after IVB therapy from 1.78 ± 0.07 pre-intervention to 0.42 ± 0.05 post intervention (p < 0.001). Similarly, CST reduced from 354.23 ± 15.0 µm pre-intervention to 233.18 ± 7.88 µm post intervention (p < 0.001). Among qualitative variables, DRIL decreased from 93.2% pre-intervention to 13.6% post intervention. Likewise, global ELM disruption reduced from 81.8 to 9.1% and global EZ disruption reduced from 79.5 to 11.4%. ELM restoration preceded EZ restoration. CONCLUSION: Anti-VEGF therapy restores the barrier effect of ELM. It causes ELM to restore first followed by EZ restoration in DMO.

Modeling the effect of literacy and social media advertisements on the dynamics of infectious diseases.

Education empowers humans and gets them ready to face challenges of life efficiently. Literacy and social media campaigns make people aware of the tools and techniques requisite for protection against the emerging diseases. In this paper, we investigate the combined impacts of literacy and social media on the dynamics of infectious diseases spreading through direct contact. Normalized forward sensitivity indices explore the impacts of parameters on basic reproduction number. We perform global sensitivity analysis for the infective population with respect to some controllable epidemiologically important parameters. If the growth rate of broadcasting informations through social media is very high, the system shows limit cycle oscillations. On the other hand, the baseline number of social media advertisements stabilize the system by evacuating persistent oscillations and ultimately settling the system from stable endemic equilibrium to stable disease-free state. The dissemination of awareness among literate people also suppresses the prevalence of limit cycle oscillations and drives the system to disease-free zone. An extension in model is made by assuming the growth rate of social media advertisements as periodic function of time. The simulation results show that the nonautonomous system showcases periodic as well as higher periodic solutions on the increase in the growth rate of advertisements. Our results evoke that media and education play a tremendous role in mounting awareness among the population leading to elimination of disease in the society.

A sensitive TICT Probe exhibiting ratiometric fluorescence repose to detect hydrazine in solution and gas phase.

A twisted intramolecular charge transfer (TICT) based probe, dicyanovinyl-9-phenylanthracene (DPA) has been designed and synthesized for the detection of hydrazine (N2H4) with good limit of detection (LOD, 7.85 nM (0.25 ppb)). Upon interaction with hydrazine the terminal electron withdrawing dicyanovinyl function is changed to electron donating amino/hydrazone function. Consequently, the significant change in the photophysical property of the probe is attributed to a change in orientation of charge propagation. The probe with hydrazine shows ratiometric fluorescence "turn-on" response as well as naked-eye sensitive color change in the medium. The surface morphology studies (SEM and TEM) suggested about amorphousness and crystalline nature of the probe DPA and derivative DPA-HDz, respectively. The conducting behavior of the probe decreases upon interaction with hydrazine because of decrease in amorphousness of the matrix and increase in relatively more rigid crystalline structure. Additionally, the probe been utilized to detect hydrazine vapor in solution and on test paper strip with good naked-eye sensitive responses.

A case control study of clinical and biochemical parameters of metabolic syndrome with special attention among young and middle aged population.

BACKGROUND: Metabolic syndrome (MS) increases the risk of heart disease, stroke, and other complications. AIM: The aim of this study was to assess the clinical and biochemical parameters of MS and its complications (cerebrovascular accidents, cardiovascular accidents, DN or chronic kidney disease (CKD) compared with healthy controls especially among the younger population in Northern India. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A total of 245 (healthy, MS and it's complicated) aged 18-70 years participated in the Open-Label, Single Centered; hospital-based random selection case-control comparative study. All anthropometric and biochemical assessment was done after proper consent. The metabolic syndrome was determined by IDF criteria. RESULTS: The key risk parameters in three groups i.e. Control, Metabolic syndrome, and Complicated was TG (96.5 ±â€¯46.9, 194.1 ±â€¯87.8, 148.0 ±â€¯102.2). LDL (91.2 ±â€¯27.2, 114.0 ±â€¯31.8, 69.1 ±â€¯42.5, BP (120.1 ±â€¯9.9, 139.3 ±â€¯13.3, 132.1 ±â€¯15.0) and high fasting glucose (81.1 ±â€¯13.7, 164.5 ±â€¯84.3, 138.0 ±â€¯74.5). The hs-CRP is also significantly increased in the complicated group. The subanalysis of data also indicates that younger middle age (36-55 years) group both male and female is obese, hypertensive, diabetic with lipid abnormality according to IDF criteria. CONCLUSION: The risk factors like high TG, low HDL, high BP, and high fasting glucose were found higher particularly in younger population which may lead to diagnosis & complications of diabetes, hypertension and lipid abnormality. Due to changing physiology in young and middle age population these individuals are moving towards metabolic syndrome easily and needs frequent monitoring, preventive checkups, and lifestyle changes to prevent complications.

Modeling the impact of sanitation and awareness on the spread of infectious diseases.

Sanitation and awareness programs play a fundamental role and are much effective public health interventions to control the spread of infectious diseases. In this paper, a nonlinear mathematical model for the control of infectious diseases, such as typhoid fever is proposed and analyzed by considering budget required for sanitation and awareness programs as a dynamic variable. It is assumed that the budget allocation regarding the protection against the disease to warn people and for sanitation increases logistically and its per-capita growth rate increases with the increase in number of infected individuals. In the model formulation, it is assumed that the susceptible individuals contract infection through the direct contact with infected individuals as well as indirectly through bacteria shed in the environment. It is further assumed that a fraction of budget is used to warn people via propagating awareness whereas the remaining part is used for sanitation to reduce the density of bacteria. The condition when budget should spend on sanitation/awareness to reduce the number of infected individuals is obtained. Model analysis reveals that the sanitation and awareness programs have capability to reduce the epidemic threshold and thus control the spread of infection. However, delay in providing funds destabilizes the system and may cause stability switches through Hopf-bifurcation. Numerical simulations are also carried out to support analytical findings.

Modeling the control of infectious diseases: Effects of TV and social media advertisements.

Public health information through media plays an important role to curb the spread of various infectious diseases as most of the populations rely on what media projects to them. Social media and TV advertisements are important mediums to communicate people regarding the spread of any infectious disease and methods to prevent its spread. Therefore, in this paper, we propose a mathematical model to see how TV and social media advertisements impact the dynamics of an infectious disease. The susceptible population is assumed vulnerable to infection as well as information (through TV and social media ads). It is also assumed that the growth rate of TV and social media ads is proportional to the number of infected individuals with decreasing function of aware individuals. The feasibility of possible equilibria and their stability properties are discussed. It is shown that the increment in growth rate of TV and social media ads destabilizes the system and periodic oscillations arise through Hopf-bifurcation. It is also found that the increase in dissemination rate of awareness among susceptible population also gives rise interesting dynamics about the stability of endemic equilibrium and causes stability switch. It is observed that TV and social media advertisements regarding the spread of infectious diseases have the potential to bring behavioral changes among the people and control the spread of diseases. Numerical simulations also support analytical findings.

Dual Fluorophore Containing Efficient Photoinduced Electron Transfer Based Molecular Probe for Selective Detection of Cr3+ and PO43- Ions through Fluorescence " Turn-On-Off" Response in Partial Aqueous and Biological Medium: Live Cell Imaging and Logic Application.

The present work describes a new photoinduced electron transfer (PET) based molecular probe in which naphthalimide (NPI) and anthracene (AN) chromophores are linked through a molecular bridge of piperazine and triazole units by the Click reaction. A typical meaningful structural variation has made the present probe highly selective for Cr3+ ion (limit of detection (LOD), 5.567 × 10-8 M) that displayed enhanced, " turn-On" emission (due to the PET- Off photophysical mechanism) and naked-eye sensitive bright green color fluorescence in the environment of interfering and competitive ions, in Tris-HCl buffer. The minimum energy structure obtained through theoretical calculations (density functional theory (DFT) and time-dependent (TD)-DFT) revealed a "tub" shape structure for probe 10. Upon complexation, the conformation of piperazine fragment changes from chair to boat in which the triazole and piperazine units create a cavity to tether Cr3+. Moreover, the probe showed excellent biocompatibility and cell permeability to sense Cr3+ sensitively in live cells and, thus, holds great promise for application in biological and environmental sciences. Additionally, the sensitive " Off-On-Off" sensing behavior of probe 10 providing two chemical inputs (Cr3+ and PO43-) helps to construct an INHIBIT logic gate. Also the probe has been utilized as printing material to decode secret information through the Cr3+ ion containing "marker ink" under UV light.

Diagnostic accuracy of urinary neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin in patients with septic acute kidney injury.

BACKGROUND: Sepsis is the most common cause of acute kidney injury (AKI). Very few studies have investigated the predictive properties of urinary neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (uNGAL) as a marker of AKI in septic patients. The aim of this study is to examine uNGAL in septic patients with and without AKI and to evaluate its predictive value. METHODS: We prospectively studied 155 patients with sepsis over a period of 1 year. Urine was analyzed for neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin at 12, 24, and 48 hours after admission. Patients with <24-hour stay and those with chronic kidney disease were excluded. AKI was classified according to the Acute Kidney Injury Network guidelines. RESULTS: The differences in mean change of uNGAL at 12, 24, and 48 hours were 80.00±7.00 ng/mL and 128.13±22.46 ng/mL, respectively in septic AKI, and 02.07±0.80 ng/mL and 26.13±15.12 ng/mL, respectively in septic non-AKI. At baseline or 12 hours, the cutoff value of 34.32 ng/mL had a sensitivity and specificity of 86.36 and 80.60, respectively and an area under curve of 0.81 (95% CI: 0.73-0.89) for predicting AKI. At the cutoff value 199.99 ng/mL sensitivity and specificity of 90.0 and 64.66, respectively and an area under curve of 0.82 (95% CI, 0.75-0.88) for predicting AKI. CONCLUSION: The baseline or 12-hour uNGAL is highly sensitive but a less specific predictor of AKI in septic patients.

Off-On-Off fluorescence behavior of an intramolecular charge transfer probe toward anions and CO2.

The photophysical behavior of a newly developed fluorescent probe, tricyanoethylphenyl phenanthroimidazole (TCPPI) has been studied. Upon interaction of different class of anions TCPPI displayed naked-eye sensitive fluorescence "turn-on" response to detect selectively F(-) (0.98µM, 18.62ppb) and CN(-) (1.12µM, 29.12ppb) anions in acetonitrile (MeCN). Job's plot analysis revealed a 1:1 binding stoichiometry between probe and anions. The spectral data analysis and 1H NMR titration studies suggested about the affinity of F(-) and CN(-) anions with moderately acidic -NH fragment of imidazolyl unit of probe through deprotonation and H-bonding interaction. Moreover, the anion activated probe upon interaction with CO2 revived photophysical properties of probe, "On-Off-On" type fluorescence and enabled anion-induced CO2 sensing in the medium.

Highly sensitive cell imaging "Off-On" fluorescent probe for mitochondria and ATP.

A smart Off-On molecular scaffold/fluorescent probe 1 has been designed and synthesized. The probe has shown considerable photostability, cell permeability, organelle specificity and selectivity for ATP. The multicolor live cell imaging experiments in HeLa cells showed high selectivity of probe 1 for mitochondria with fluorescence "turn-on" response. As a proof of concept and promising prospects for application in biological sciences probe 1 has been utilized to detect ATP sensitively in a partial aqueous medium and intracellularly in HeLa cells. The favorable interaction between triphosphate unit of ATP and piperazine N atoms of probe 1 is attributed to synergistic effects of H-bonding and electrostatic interactions that encouraged the CH-π and π→π stacking between anthracene and purine rings. Consequently, the observed enhanced "turn-on" emission and a naked-eye sensitive blue-green color in the medium is attributable to arrest in photoinduced electron transfer (PET) process.

Selective naked-eye detection of Hg²âº through an efficient turn-on photoinduced electron transfer fluorescent probe and its real applications.

A simple molecular fluorescent probe 5 has been designed and synthesized by appending anthracene and benzhydryl moieties through a piperazine bridge. The probe upon interaction with different metal ions showed high selectivity and sensitivity (2 ppb) for Hg(2+) through fluorescence "turn-on" response in HEPES buffer. The significant fluorescence enhancement (~10-fold) is attributable to PET arrest due to complexation with nitrogen atoms of the piperazine unit and Hg(2+) in 1:2 stoichiometry, in which a naked-eye sensitive fluorescent blue color of solution changed to a blue-green (switched-on). As a proof of concept, promising prospects for application in environmental and biological sciences 5 have been utilized to detect Hg(2+) sensitively in real samples, on cellulose paper strips, in protein medium (like BSA), and intracellularly in HeLa cells. Moreover, the optical behavior of 5 upon providing different chemical inputs has been utilized to construct individual logic gates and a reusable combinational logic circuit. The combinational circuit (switch ON mode; OR logic gate) is easily resettable to the original position (switch OFF mode; INHIBIT logic gate) by applying reset chemical inputs (OH(-) and PO4(3-)) with great reproducibility.