Ziauddin University

Dengue, an Aedes mosquito-borne viral infection, is on the rise with climate and demographic change. In 2023, WHO declared dengue its highest grade of emergency, following the largest number of cases and deaths in recorded history. This emergency highlighted the absence of safe and effective dengue-specific treatments as a gap in the product landscape for care for people with dengue. To accelerate development of dengue-specific treatments for wide implementation and access in all dengue-endemic countries, WHO conducted a landscape analysis of the dengue therapeutics pipeline and convened a global expert and public consultation to develop target product profiles for treatments for non-severe and severe dengue. These target product profiles provide strategic guidance for product developers, regulators, procurement agencies, and funders on the intended use, target populations, and key product characteristics of dengue-specific treatments required to meet public health needs, setting clear targets to drive development of dengue drugs accessible to those who need them the most.

N-acetyl-L-leucine (NALL), a stereospecific derivative of the essential amino acid L-leucine, has attracted increasing attention as a candidate therapy for neurological disorders. Preclinical and clinical studies suggest both symptomatic and neuroprotective effects. This review summarizes evidence on the mechanisms of action, preclinical findings, and clinical outcomes of NALL, and discusses its therapeutic prospects in neurological health and disease. A structured literature search of PubMed, Scopus, and Google Scholar was conducted to identify preclinical and clinical studies evaluating N-acetyl-L-leucine (NALL) in neurological disorders. Preclinical studies demonstrated that NALL enhances mitochondrial bioenergetics, reduces oxidative stress, restores lysosomal and autophagic function, and modulates neuroinflammation. In rodent models, NALL improved motor coordination, neuronal survival, and recovery following traumatic brain injury. Clinical trials in Niemann-Pick disease type C and GM2 gangliosidoses showed improvements in motor function, quality of life, and disease progression, with sustained benefit during extension phases. Preliminary evidence also suggests possible roles in multiple sclerosis, ataxia telangiectasia, Parkinson’s disease, and multiple sulfatase deficiency. NALL was consistently well tolerated with a favorable safety profile. NALL shows multimodal mechanisms and promising translational potential for both rare and common neurological disorders. While early evidence is encouraging, larger randomized trials are required to confirm efficacy, define optimal dosing, and determine its place in neurological therapeutics.

Fat replacement in different food products, including analog cheese, is gaining importance because of health concerns. The present research, therefore, examined the use of native potato starch (NPS) and hydroxypropylated potato starch (HPS) as a fat replacer (FR) at 2%, 5%, and 8% levels based on fat (dry basis) in mozzarella cheese imitation (MCI). The MCIs made by replacing fat with NPS and HPS resulted in significantly lower pH 5.73-6.36 and moisture contents 46.45%-52.52% compared to control (pH = 6.48, moisture = 54.23%). However, NPS at fat replacement level (5%), resulted in insignificant pH (6.45) and significantly higher moisture content (56.61%) compared to control. The stretchability of HPS containing MCIs were closer to or greater than 20 cm compared to NPS containing MCIs, which exhibited less than 20 cm stretch. Similarly, the spreadability of MCIs containing HPS was observed to be significantly higher 2.08-3.07 cm compared to MCIs made with NPS, which exhibited (<2 cm) spread. Moreover, MCIs made with HPS were more shear stable, as evident by significantly higher critical strain (CS) values between 16.14% and 20.20% in amplitude sweep measurements. However, the textural analysis showed that the HPS significantly outperformed NPS for hardness, except for FHPS-8 (1476.25 g), which demonstrated an insignificant difference with its native counterpart MCI. In terms of sensory analysis, the MCI made with HPS was significantly preferred for stretch and melt. While taste, texture, and color of the HPS-based MCIs were insignificantly different in comparison to control. The results of the study clearly justify the potential of HPS for replacing fat in analog cheese without affecting the sensorial properties.

The utilization of locally available raw materials, along with appropriate modifications and reinforcement strategies, is important for the development of flexible films and addressing the challenges of plastic pollution. Nanocellulose has shown exceptional reinforcing properties in nanocomposite systems and can be safely applied in food-contact materials following international regulatory standards. Therefore, this study was designed to develop guar gum (GG)-based films by incorporating sawdust-derived cellulose nanofibrils (CNFs) to overcome GG’s inherent drawbacks, including low mechanical strength, high water sensitivity and poor barrier performance, thus enhancing its physicochemical and barrier performance. The prepared CNFs exhibited a yield of 43.6

Abstract The relationship between Fintech and Financial inclusion has emerged dramatically in the last five years as this study presents detailed bibliometric research on the interactions between Fintech and financial inclusion. The major goal of this study was to map the intellectual trends, influential work, and current research topics in this fast-developing field. Based on the data obtained from the Scopus database (2020–2025) and processed using VOSviewer, this study elaborates on descriptive, keyword co-occurrence, and bibliographic coupling analyses. The most important findings are that there has been immense growth in Fintech-FI research since 2020, and the research is mainly concentrated in China, India, and the USA, where most research and articles have been published. This study identified nine thematic clusters such as decentralized finance and AI in banking and the significance of financial literacy. The fast increase in publication but a gap appears between the number of publications and the number of publications that are impacted, which means that there is still a necessity to make some significant, long-lasting contributions. It would be curious to explore the use of behavioral finance, regional comparisons of the regulatory environment, EFT application in empowering SMEs and embracing ESG, and the significance of ethics in the context of digital finance in improving fair and sound financial systems in the world in future.