Screening of sugarcane germplasm against Sporisorium scitamineum and its effects on setts germination and tillering.

Sugarcane smut is the most damaging disease that is present almost across the globe, causing mild to severe yield losses depending upon the cultivar types, pathogen races and climatic conditions. Cultivation of smut-resistant cultivars is the most feasible and economical option to mitigate its damages. Previous investigations revealed that there is a scarcity of information on early detection and effective strategies to suppress etiological agents of smut disease due to the characteristics overlapping within species complexes. In this study, 104 sugarcane cultivars were screened by artificial inoculation with homogenate of all possible pathogen races of Sporisorium scitamineum during two consecutive growing seasons. The logistic smut growth pattern and the disease intrinsic rate were recorded by disease growth curve. Variable levels of disease incidence i.e., ranging from 0 to 54.10% were observed among these sugarcane cultivars. Besides, pathogen DNA in plant shoots of all the cultivars was successfully amplified by PCR method using smut-specific primers except 26 cultivars which showed an immune reaction in the field trial. Furthermore, the plant germination and tillering of susceptible sugarcane cultivars were greatly influenced by pathogen inoculation. In susceptible cultivars, S. scitamineum caused a significant reduction in setts germination, coupled with profuse tillering, resulting in fewer millable canes. Correlation analysis demonstrated that there was a positive relationship between reduction in setts germination and increase in the number of tillers. The present study would be helpful for the evaluation of smut resistance in a wide range of sugarcane germplasm, especially from the aspects of setts germination and tillers formation, and it also screened out several excellent germplasm for potential application in sugarcane breeding.

Probabilistic classification of the severity classes of unhealthy air pollution events.

Air pollution events can be categorized as extreme or non-extreme on the basis of their magnitude of severity. High-risk extreme air pollution events will exert a disastrous effect on the environment. Therefore, public health and policy-making authorities must be able to determine the characteristics of these events. This study proposes a probabilistic machine learning technique for predicting the classification of extreme and non-extreme events on the basis of data features to address the above issue. The use of the naïve Bayes model in the prediction of air pollution classes is proposed to leverage its simplicity as well as high accuracy and efficiency. A case study was conducted on the air pollution index data of Klang, Malaysia, for the period of January 01, 1997, to August 31, 2020. The trained naïve Bayes model achieves high accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity on the training and test datasets. Therefore, the naïve Bayes model can be easily applied in air pollution analysis while providing a promising solution for the accurate and efficient prediction of extreme or non-extreme air pollution events. The findings of this study provide reliable information to public authorities for monitoring and managing sustainable air quality over time.

The effect of oral anticoagulants on the incidence of dementia in patients with atrial fibrillation: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Dementia is a recognized complication of atrial fibrillation (AF). Oral anticoagulant (OAC) therapy can potentially be protective against this complication. Methods: A comprehensive search of MEDLINE and Embase for comparative observational studies reporting the efficacy of OAC therapy for the incidence of dementia in patients with AF was conducted from its inception until March 2023. Studies that had patients with prior use of OAC or with a previous history of dementia were excluded. Results: A total of 22 studies were included in this review involving 617,204 participants. The pooled analysis revealed that OAC therapy, including direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) and vitamin K antagonists (VKAs), was associated with a reduced incidence of dementia in AF patients. Specifically, compared to non-OAC treatment, OACs demonstrated a significant reduction in dementia incidence (HR 0.68, 95 % CI [0.58, 0.80], p < 0.00001), with similar findings observed for DOACs (HR 0.69, 95 % CI [0.51, 0.94], p = 0.02) and VKAs (HR 0.73, 95 % CI [0.56, 0.95], p = 0.02). The comparison of DOAC vs VKA revealed that DOACs are associated with reduced risk of dementia (HR 0.87, 95 % CI [0.79, 0.96], p = 0.004). Conclusion: Our SR and meta-analysis showed that the use of OAC therapy is associated with a reduced risk of dementia in individuals with AF. However, our results are limited by the potential influence of confounding bias and significant heterogeneity in the analyses.

Assessing the potential of nano-formulated chlorfenapyr and clothianidin insecticides-treated sugar baits against Anopheles funestus, Anopeles coluzzii and Culex quinquefasciatus mosquitoes.

Mosquitoes serve as vectors for various diseases like malaria, dengue fever, yellow fever, and lymphatic filarial diseases causing significant global health problems, highlighting the importance of vector control. The study was conducted to assess the effectiveness of nanoformulated clothianidin and chlorfenapyr insecticides treated with ATSB in controlling three mosquito strains. The development of a natural thiolated polymer-coated ATSB nano formulation involved incorporating nano-carriers to deliver insecticides. Field- collected mosquito strains were subjected to laboratory-based bioassays using 1 % and 1.5 % concentrations of each conventionally used and nanoformulated insecticide with ATSB solution. Adult mosquitoes were left overnight to contact with N-ATSB and efficacy was recorded after 36 and 72 h. The results showed that nanoformulated chlorfenapyr was significantly more effective as compared to clothianidin against An. funestus and Cx. quinquefasciatus but the results were not significantly different against An. coluzzii (100 %). An. coluzzii was found to be the most susceptible strain followed by An. funestus and showed 100 % and ∼ 98 % mortality against nanoformulated chlorfenapyr (1.5 %). Nanoformulated clothianidin induced more than 92 % and ∼ 100 % mortality against An. funestus and An. coluzzii respectively. However, Cx. quinquefasciatus significantly showed less mortality against nanoformulated clothianidin (88 %) and chlorfenapyr (>95 %) as compared to Anopheline strains. Furthermore, results indicate that nanoformulated insecticides significantly caused greater and prolonged fatality as compared to conventional form, suggesting effective and suitable strategies for vector management.

Understanding the mechanistic basis of plant adaptation to salinity and drought.

Plant growth and development is adversely affected by environmental constraints, particularly salinity and drought. Climate change has escalated the effect of salinity and drought on crops in varying ways, affecting agriculture and most importantly crop productivity. These stressors influence plants across a wide range of levels, including their morphology and physiological, biochemical, and molecular processes. Plant responses to salinity and drought stress have been the subject of intense research being explored globally. Considering the importance of the impact that these stresses can have on agriculture in the short term, novel strategies are being sought and adopted in breeding programs. Better understanding of the molecular, biochemical, and physiological responses of agriculturally important plants will ultimately help promote global food security. Moreover, considering the present challenges for agriculture, it is critical to consider how we can effectively transfer the knowledge generated with these approaches in the laboratory to the field, so as to mitigate these adversities. The present collection discusses how drought and salinity exert effects on plants.

Adaptive changes in tumor cells in response to reductive stress.

Reductive stress is characterized by an excess of cellular electron donors and can be linked with various human pathologies including cancer. We developed melanoma cell lines resistant to reductive stress agents: rotenone (ROTR), n-acetyl-L-cysteine, (NACR), or dithiothreitol (DTTR). Resistant cells divided more rapidly and had intracellular homeostatic redox-couple ratios that were shifted towards the reduced state. Resistance caused alterations in general cell morphology, but only ROTR cells had significant changes in mitochondrial morphology with higher numbers that were more isolated, fragmented and swollen, with greater membrane depolarization and decreased numbers of networks. These changes were accompanied by lower basal oxygen consumption and maximal respiration rates. Whole cell flux analyses and mitochondrial function assays showed that NACR and DTTR preferentially utilized tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle intermediates, while ROTR used ketone body substrates such as D, L-ß-hydroxybutyric acid. NACR and DTTR cells had constitutively decreased levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS), although this was accompanied by activation of nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2), with concomitant increased expression of the downstream gene products such as glutathione S-transferase P (GSTP). Further adaptations included enhanced expression of endoplasmic reticulum proteins controlling the unfolded protein response (UPR). Although expression patterns of these UPR proteins were distinct between the resistant cells, a trend implied that resistance to reductive stress is accompanied by a constitutively increased UPR phenotype in each line. Overall, tumor cells, although tolerant of oxidative stress, can adapt their energy and survival mechanisms in lethal reductive stress conditions.

ZnSe-rGO nanocomposites as photocatalysts for purification of textile dye contaminated water: A green approach to use wastewater for maize cultivation.

Disputes about the probable availability of safe water and the efficacy of processed wastewater are key issues that necessitate a suitable solution to enhance the quality of clean water. The current research emphasizes the synthesis of ZnSe-reduced graphene oxide nanocomposites (ZnSe:rGO) with different weight ratios of rGO (represented as X = 0.6, 1 and 1.6 g)via one-step hydrothermal method. The photocatalytic performance for the degradation of methyl violet (MV) dye was investigated under visible light irradiation by varying the reaction parameters. The crystal structure, elemental composition, surface functionality and morphology of the synthesized ZnSe-XrGO nanocomposites were estimated by powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and scanning electron microscopic (SEM) techniques. UV-visible spectroscopy was used to investigate the optical properties. The highest efficiency is obtained for ZnSe-XrGO in 1:1 and it showed pseudo 1st order behavior with rate constant of 0.0167min-1and 94 % photodegradation of MV in just 3 h. Furthermore, hazardous effects of MV were investigated on the germination and growth of Zea mays seeds by giving them aqueous solution of MV (0, 8, 12, 24 and 48 ppm) and the decontaminated water after photodegradation of MV with the synthesized photoactive composite. The results showed profound negative effect on both germination and seedling growth at higher concentration (>12 ppm) of the dye solution. No hazardous effects were observed on both these parameters when it was given the dye degraded water which reflects the practical use of the synthesized catalyst for water remediation. The current study fulfills the goal of designing an efficient visible-light active nano-photocatalyst and its direct applicability on life sciences for water purification.

Investigation of structural, electronic, mechanical, & optical characteristics of Ra based-cubic hydrides RbRaX3 (X= F and cl) perovskite materials for solar cell applications: First principle study.

Perovskite materials are considered the gateway of various physical applications to meet the production and consumption of energy and medical fields. Density Functional Theory (DFT) becomes the most important field in the modern era to investigate perovskite materials for various physical properties. DFT nowadays is used to explore the perovskite materials for a lot of applications like photocatalytic, optoelectronic, and photovoltaics. We discussed radium based cubic hydrides RbRaX3 (while X = F & Cl) perovskite material's electrical, optical, elastic, & physical characteristics with the help of DFT-based CASTEP code with PBE exchange-correlation efficient of GGA. The RbRaF3 & RbRaCl3 have three-dimensional nature by means of space group 221 (Pm3 m). According to electronic characteristics, the direct bandgap of RbRaF3 RbRaCl3 are 3.18eV and 2.209eV, respectively. Both compounds are brittle in nature via Poisson's ratio & Pugh's criteria. Thus, our novel RbRaX3 (X = F and Cl) compounds have excellent applications for solar cell and medical areas.

Spike learning based Privacy Preservation of Internet of Medical Things in Metaverse.

With the rising trend of digital technologies, such as augmented and virtual reality, Metaverse has gained a notable popularity. The applications that will eventually benefit from Metaverse is the telemedicine and e-health fields. However, the data and techniques used for realizing the medical side of Metaverse is vulnerable to data and class leakage attacks. Most of the existing studies focus on either of the problems through encryption techniques or addition of noise. In addition, the use of encryption techniques affects the overall performance of the medical services, which hinders its realization. In this regard, we propose Generative adversarial networks and spike learning based convolutional neural network (GASCNN) for medical images that is resilient to both the data and class leakage attacks. We first propose the GANs for generating synthetic medical images from residual networks feature maps. We then perform a transformation paradigm to convert ResNet to spike neural networks (SNN) and use spike learning technique to encrypt model weights by representing the spatial domain data into temporal axis, thus making it difficult to be reconstructed. We conduct extensive experiments on publicly available MRI dataset and show that the proposed work is resilient to various data and class leakage attacks in comparison to existing state-of-the-art works (1.75x increase in FID score) with the exception of slightly decreased performance (less than 3%) from its ResNet counterpart. while achieving 52x energy efficiency gain with respect to standard ResNet architecture.

Experimental and theoretical investigation of the mechanisms of drying during CO2 injection into saline reservoirs.

A viable CO2 storage resource must have sufficient storage capacity, reliable containment efficiency and adequate well injectivity. Deep saline formations stand out in terms of storage capacity and containment efficiency. However, formation brine dry-out and salt precipitation in the near well region could impair CO2 injectivity in deep saline reservoirs, thus reducing their potential for CO2 storage. Core-flood experiments and analytical modelling were used to investigate various mechanisms of external and internal salt precipitation. Particularly, the impact of the extension of the dry-out region on CO2 injectivity was investigated. It was found that, for high permeability rocks, injection of CO2 at relatively low injection rates could result in salt cake deposition at the injection inlet especially under high salinity conditions. It was also found that extension of the dry-out region does not have significant impact on CO2 injectivity. Although the magnitude of CO2 injectivity impairment increased more than two-fold when initial brine salinity was doubled, real-time changes in CO2 injectivity during the drying process was found to be independent of initial brine salinity. We have shown that the bundle-of-tubes model could provide useful insight into the process of brine vaporization and salt deposition in the dry-out region during CO2 injection. This work provides vital understanding of the effect of salt precipitation on CO2 injectivity.

Comparative Evaluation of Chlorella vulgaris and Anabaena variabilis for Phycoremediation of Polluted River Water: Spotlighting Heavy Metals Detoxification.

This study investigated the phycoremediation abilities of Chlorella vulgaris (microalga) and Anabaena variabilis (cyanobacterium) for the detoxification of polluted river water. Lab-scale phycoremediation experiments were conducted for 20 days at 30 °C using the microalgal and cyanobacterial strains and water samples collected from the Dhaleswari river in Bangladesh. The physicochemical properties such as electrical conductivity (EC), total dissolved solids (TDS), biological oxygen demand (BOD), hardness ions, and heavy metals of the collected water samples indicated that the river water is highly polluted. The results of the phycoremediation experiments demonstrated that both microalgal and cyanobacterial species significantly reduced the pollutant load and heavy metal concentrations of the river water. The pH of the river water was significantly raised from 6.97 to 8.07 and 8.28 by C. vulgaris and A. variabilis, respectively. A. variabilis demonstrated higher efficacy than C. vulgaris in reducing the EC, TDS, and BOD of the polluted river water and was more effective at reducing the pollutant load of SO42- and Zn. In regard to hardness ions and heavy metal detoxification, C. vulgaris performed better at removing Ca2+, Mg2+, Cr, and Mn. These findings indicate that both microalgae and cyanobacteria have great potential to remove various pollutants, especially heavy metals, from the polluted river water as part of a low-cost, easily controllable, environmentally friendly remediation strategy. Nevertheless, the composition of polluted water should be assessed prior to the designing of microalgae- or cyanobacteria-based remediation technology, since the pollutant removal efficiency is found to be species dependent.

Eukaryotic splicing machinery in the plant-virus battleground.

Plant virual infections are mainly caused by plant-virus parasitism which affects ecological communities. Some viruses are highly pathogen specific that can infect only specific plants, while some can cause widespread harm, such as tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) and cucumber mosaic virus (CMV). After a virus infects the host, undergoes a series of harmful effects, including the destruction of host cell membrane receptors, changes in cell membrane components, cell fusion, and the production of neoantigens on the cell surface. Therefore, competition between the host and the virus arises. The virus starts gaining control of critical cellular functions of the host cells and ultimately affects the fate of the targeted host plants. Among these critical cellular processes, alternative splicing (AS) is an essential posttranscriptional regulation process in RNA maturation, which amplify host protein diversity and manipulates transcript abundance in response to plant pathogens. AS is widespread in nearly all human genes and critical in regulating animal-virus interactions. In particular, an animal virus can hijack the host splicing machinery to re-organize its compartments for propagation. Changes in AS are known to cause human disease, and various AS events have been reported to regulate tissue specificity, development, tumour proliferation, and multi-functionality. However, the mechanisms underlying plant-virus interactions are poorly understood. Here, we summarize the current understanding of how viruses interact with their plant hosts compared with humans, analyze currently used and putative candidate agrochemicals to treat plant-viral infections, and finally discussed the potential research hotspots in the future. This article is categorized under: RNA Processing > Splicing Mechanisms RNA Processing > Splicing Regulation/Alternative Splicing.

Amidated Pectic Polysaccharides (Pectin) as Methane Hydrate Inhibitor at Constant Cooling and Isobaric Condition.

This study aims to address the environmental impact of using common commercial hydrate inhibitors such as Methanol (MeOH) in extremely cold oil and gas environments. As a greener alternative, Pectic Polysaccharides (pectin) can act as a kinetic hydrate inhibitor (KHI) to delay hydrate formation. We evaluated the performance of amidated pectin (AMP), a type of pectin with higher electronegative functional groups, using a high-pressure micro-differential scanning calorimeter (HP µ-DSC) under isobaric conditions with constant cooling. We compared AMP to low-methoxylated pectin (LMP) and high-methoxylated pectin (HMP) and found that AMP was the best KHI among the tested pectin types. At a concentration of 1.0 wt.%, the AMP Relative Inhibitor Performance (RIP) was 0.10, and at 0.1 wt.%, it had an RIP of 0.07, which were the only positive RIPs obtained amongst the tested KHIs. The results suggest that AMP can be a sustainable KHI option in extremely cold environments where the KHI effectiveness typically declines.

A comprehensive review of protein-based carriers with simple structures for the co-encapsulation of bioactive agents.

The rational design and fabrication of edible codelivery carriers are important to develop functional foods fortified with a plurality of bioactive agents, which may produce synergistic effects in increasing bioactivity and functionality to target specific health benefits. Food proteins possess considerable functional attributes that make them suitable for the delivery of a single bioactive agent in a wide range of platforms. Among the different types of protein-based carriers, protein-ligand nanocomplexes, micro/nanoparticles, and oil-in-water (O/W) emulsions have increasingly attracted attention in the codelivery of multiple bioactive agents, due to the simple and convenient preparation procedure, high stability, matrix compatibility, and dosage flexibility. However, the successful codelivery of bioactive agents with diverse physicochemical properties by using these simple-structure carriers is a daunting task. In this review, some effective strategies such as combined functional properties of proteins, self-assembly, composite, layer-by-layer, and interfacial engineering are introduced to redesign the carrier structure and explore the encapsulation of multiple bioactive agents. It then highlights success stories and challenges in the co-encapsulation of multiple bioactive agents within protein-based carriers with a simple structure. The partition, protection, and release of bioactive agents in these protein-based codelivery carriers are considered and discussed. Finally, safety and application as well as challenges of co-encapsulated bioactive agents in the food industry are also discussed. This work provides a state-of-the-art overview of protein-based particles and O/W emulsions in co-encapsulating bioactive agents, which is essential for the design and development of novel functional foods containing multiple bioactive agents.

Global Analysis of Dark- and Heat-Regulated Alternative Splicing in Arabidopsis.

Alternative splicing (AS) is one of the major post-transcriptional regulation mechanisms that contributes to plant responses to various environmental perturbations. Darkness and heat are two common abiotic factors affecting plant growth, yet the involvement and regulation of AS in the plant responses to these signals remain insufficiently examined. In this study, we subjected Arabidopsis seedlings to 6 h of darkness or heat stress and analyzed their transcriptome through short-read RNA sequencing. We revealed that both treatments altered the transcription and AS of a subset of genes yet with different mechanisms. Dark-regulated AS events were found enriched in photosynthesis and light signaling pathways, while heat-regulated AS events were enriched in responses to abiotic stresses but not in heat-responsive genes, which responded primarily through transcriptional regulation. The AS of splicing-related genes (SRGs) was susceptible to both treatments; while dark treatment mostly regulated the AS of these genes, heat had a strong effect on both their transcription and AS. PCR analysis showed that the AS of the Serine/Arginine-rich family gene SR30 was reversely regulated by dark and heat, and heat induced the upregulation of multiple minor SR30 isoforms with intron retention. Our results suggest that AS participates in plant responses to these two abiotic signals and reveal the regulation of splicing regulators during these processes.

Effect of Dietary Supplementation of Zinc Nanoparticles Prepared by Different Green Methods on Egg Production, Egg Quality, Bone Mineralization, and Antioxidant Capacity in Caged Layers.

The present study was planned to evaluate the effect of dietary zinc-oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles synthesized by different plant extracts on egg production, egg quality, bone mineralization, and antioxidant capacity in caged layers. Nanoparticles of ZnO were synthesized by using extracts of Allium sativum (AS), Aloe vera (AV), Curcuma longa (CL), and Zingiber officinale (ZO). Different sources of nano ZnO (AS, AV, CL, and ZO) with varying levels (35, 70, or 105 ppm) were tested on 288 caged LSL layers of 25 weeks of age. Each diet was offered to 4 replicates of 6 birds each level and the duration of trial was 8 weeks. Daily egg production, feed consumption, and fortnightly egg quality parameters were recorded. Egg quality parameters (egg weight, egg mass, shape index, yolk index, albumen index, Haugh unit score, specific gravity, and eggshell thickness) were determined fortnightly by taking 2 eggs from each replicate randomly. Antioxidant capacity and bone mineralization were determined at the end of the trial. Results showed that the nano ZnO preparations were not effective (P < 0.05) on laying performance but additional levels (70 ppm) improved egg production, feed conversion ratio, egg mass, Haugh unit score, and antioxidant capacity of chickens. An interaction was found among nanoparticles prepared by Allium sativum and Zingiber officianale extracts with 70 ppm level regarding total antioxidant capacity and egg production (P > 0.05). Interaction among source and level was not found regarding feed intake, feed conversion ratio, egg quality, bone characteristics, and concentration of Zn. Results of the present study suggest that nano ZnO sources may not be a factor that affects performance, but level affects the birds' physiology. Thus, it is concluded that nano ZnO with 70 ppm concentration is sufficient to optimize the laying performance.

Production performance, protein digestibility, gut health and economic efficiency in sexed broilers with super dozing of lysine.

Modern commercial broiler is growing very rapidly and its amino acid requirement is not fulfilling. An experimental trial was conducted to study the effect of super-dosing of lysine in fish meal-based diets (50% fish meal and 50% SBM) on production performance, protein digestibility and economic efficiency in male and female broiler chickens. Four hundred and eighty (480) one-day-old male and female broiler chicks were divided into forty experimental units of 12 birds each. Five levels of dietary lysine i.e. 90, 100, 110, 120 and 130% of Ross-308 recommendation in male and female birds were separately used. Weight gain and feed intake were higher (p < 0.05) in birds received 100 and 110% recommended lysine than other levels. Feed conversion ratio and EPEF were improved (p < 0.05) in birds received 100% recommended lysine than other levels. Higher (p < 0.05) CP digestibility and lower production cost per kg live weight were noted for birds fed diet containing lysine 100, 110 and 120% than 90 and 130%. Male birds had higher (p < 0.05) WG, FI, EPEF, protein digestibility and lower production cost per kg live weight than female birds. In conclusion, lysine levels below 100% and above 110% of Ross recommended levels had poor production performance, protein digestibility and economic efficiency.

Microbiome-mediated signal transduction within the plant holobiont.

Microorganisms colonizing the plant rhizosphere and phyllosphere play crucial roles in plant growth and health. Recent studies provide new insights into long-distance communication from plant roots to shoots in association with their commensal microbiome. In brief, these recent advances suggest that specific plant-associated microbial taxa can contribute to systemic plant responses associated with the enhancement of plant health and performance in face of a variety of biotic and abiotic stresses. However, most of the mechanisms associated with microbiome-mediated signal transduction in plants remain poorly understood. In this review, we provide an overview of long-distance signaling mechanisms within plants mediated by the commensal plant-associated microbiomes. We advocate the view of plants and microbes as a holobiont and explore key molecules and mechanisms associated with plant-microbe interactions and changes in plant physiology activated by signal transduction.

Resilience and psychological distress among burn survivors.

INTRODUCTION: Burn is one of the highly occurring injuries worldwide. In case of an acid attack, survivors are considered an embarrassing element for the family. In other words, survivors' dignity is judged by the scars on their faces and bodies. Burn survivors experience physical pain of wounds, along with unseen psychological agony. Here, resilience is the most captivating phenomenon that can lead the survivor to normalcy in life after experiencing such traumas. The current study is aimed to explore the role of resilience in the psychological distress of burn survivors. METHOD: 160 burn survivors were selected with an age bracket of 18-78 years from indoor hospital settings. To explore resilience, Urdu translated version of the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC) by Naz (2011) was used and for symptoms of psychological distress, Urdu version of Depression Anxiety Stress Scale- 21 (DASS-21) by Aslam and Kamal (2017). was also used. The data were analyzed via SPSS 23. RESULTS: Findings revealed that there is a significant negative relationship between resilience and psychological distress among burn survivors. Moreover, resilience predicted psychological distress. A significant difference was found between types of burn on depression and anxiety. Furthermore, the relationship between resilience to stress and depression is moderated by age of the burn survivor at the time of the incidence. A significant negative relationship between age with psychological distress among burn survivors was observed. The treatment period was associated positively with resilience and negatively with stress among burn survivors. Results also revealed no significant gender difference. However, a significant difference was found between types of burn on depression and anxiety. CONCLUSION: The findings of current study would be helpful for the medical professionals, mental healthcare providers, and policymakers who can help to develop and implement rehabilitation programs and mental health demands for the said population and can initiate and plan resilience promoting programs that would help promote adaptive coping to deal with trauma.

Influence of VO2 based structures and smart coatings on weather resistance for boosting the thermochromic properties of smart window applications.

Vanadium dioxide (VO2)-based energy-saving smart films or coatings aroused great interest in scientific research and industry due to the reversible crystalline structural transition of VO2 from the monoclinic to tetragonal phase around room temperature, which can induce significant changes in transmittance and reflectance in the infrared (IR) range. However, there are still some obstacles for commercial application of VO2-based films or coatings in our daily life, such as the high phase transition temperature (68 °C), low luminous transmittance, solar modulation ability, and poor environmental stability. Particularly, due to its active nature chemically, VO2 is prone to gradual oxidation, causing deterioration of optical properties during very long life span of windows. In this review, the recent progress in enhancing the thermochromic properties of VO2-hybrid materials especially based on environmental stability has been summarized for the first time in terms of structural modifications such as core-shell structures for nanoparticles and nanorods and thin-films with single layer, layer-by-layer, and sandwich-like structures due to their excellent results for improving environmental stability. Moreover, future development trends have also been presented to promote the goal of commercial production of VO2 smart coatings.