Next-generation sequencing (NGS) technology has revolutionized cancer research and treatment by enabling comprehensive analysis of genetic mutations, alterations, and expression profiles. It allows for the identification of cancer-driving mutations, helping in the development of targeted therapies. NGS provides detailed insights into tumor heterogeneity, resistance mechanisms, and clonal evolution. Its high-throughput capacity facilitates large-scale studies, improving our understanding of cancer genomics. By enabling personalized treatment plans based on individual genetic profiles, NGS holds promise for more effective and tailored cancer therapies. Early reviews on cancer genomics often lacked comprehensive coverage of emerging technologies. They missed in-depth analysis of NGS advancements, their impact on cancer research, and clinical applications. The review addresses this gap by reviving a thorough examination of NGS methods, their role in identifying genetic mutations, and their potential in personalized cancer treatment, thus providing essential insights into the evolving landscape of cancer genomics. The article covers the advancements in technology and bioinformatic approaches for NGS data analysis. It delves into NGS applications in research and diagnostics, particularly for solid cancer diagnosis. The review highlights specific cancer types, including hereditary breast cancer, melanoma, prostate cancer, thyroid cancer, lung cancer, and colorectal cancer. It explores NGS contribution in understanding the genetic basis of these cancers and its potential for enhancing personalized diagnosis and treatment strategies. This review rectifies early lacunas by providing a comprehensive and updated examination of NGS technology, addressing gaps in previous analyses and emphasizes bioinformatic approaches for NGS data analysis, crucial for interpreting vast genomic data accurately. The review meets the current need for a thorough understanding of NGS’s role in personalized cancer treatment and research.

Lemongrass (Cymbopogon citratus) is a widely recognized aromatic herb which is popularly used in traditional medicine and culinary practices across the globe. This research study presents a comprehensive GC-MS analysis of lemongrass leaves, aimed to identify its bioactive compounds. The study explores the chemical composition of lemongrass leaves, focusing on potential applications in pharmaceutical, cosmetic and food industries. The analysis reveals various volatile and non-volatile compounds, shedding light on the therapeutic properties and potential commercial applications of this aromatic plant.

Genetic variability is the most important factor for the success of any crop improvement program. Hence, the evaluation of genotypes has to be conducted as a preliminary step to study the extent of variability available in the genotypes and to identify suitable high-yielding genotypes that can be utilized in the crop improvement program. The present investigation was carried out to estimate genetic variability, heritability, and genetic advance for yield and yield contributing characters among 38 genotypes of mungbean for eleven quantitative traits. Significant differences were observed among genotypes for all eleven characters studied. The high degree of genetic variability along with high heritability and high genetic advance as percent of mean were recorded for seed yield per plant, harvest index, number of pods per plant, plant height, and the number of branches per plant which indicates that these characteristics were under the control of additive gene action and therefore, form the basis of selection for the mungbean improvement program.

Autophagy is a catabolic mechanism crucial for sustaining cellular homeostasis, and in this process, encapsulated degraded inside repurposed to facilitate metabolic processes. In cancer, autophagy has a dual role: it acts as a tumor suppressor by preventing the buildup of damaged cellular components, but also as a survival mechanism, that supports tumor growth under stress. Cancer cells often trigger autophagy to manage the increased metabolic demands of rapid growth. This stress tolerance allows tumor cells to maintain energy production, contributing to both tumor progression and resistance to treatment. Preclinical studies have shown that autophagy inhibition reinstates chemotherapeutic sensitivity and increases tumor cell mortality. These findings indicate that targeting autophagy may represent a viable therapeutic approach, with early-phase clinical trials exploring the use of hydroxychloroquine alongside chemotherapy or targeted treatments. As comprehension of autophagy in oncology advances, there is an increasing interest in creating more targeted and efficacious autophagy inhibitors for therapeutic applications.

This study focuses on the mechanism of DMZ (dead metal zone) creation, as well as the impact of cutting edge geometries (sharp, chamfered, double chamfered, and blunt edges), cutting speed, and coefficient of friction on DMZ formation while milling Inconel 718 material (FEM). A non-contact type sensor called a laser doppler vibrometer (LDV) is used to monitor the vibration of rotating surfaces. In current research work, the LDV is used to measure the mill cutter vibration in micro-milling of Inconel 718 in terms of acoustic optic emission signals. A FFT (fast fourier transformer) is used for signals processing in to frequency domain. Design of experiments as per Taguchi, experiments were performed on the alloy at three levels of spindle speeds, depth of cuts, feed rates. Experimental results on the amplitude o vibration of tool along X and Y directions, surface roughness were measured and analysed using response surface methodology. Analysis obtained from the variance was used to recognize the significant parameters which effect the vibration of tool and roughness of surface. RSM was implemented and optimized process parameters for the minimum vibration amplitude and surface roughness.

Alumina is a ceramic bio inert biomaterial having purity 99.5% Aluminium oxide (Al2O3) and 0.5% Magnesium oxide (MgO), find its wide application in dental implant due to good bio-compatible property with adjacent tissue, better wear and aesthetic characteristics. This paper represents the in-vitro tests conducted to evaluation toxicity by cell culturing on Alumina biomaterial used in the dental implant by both direct contact and extraction method. In the present study in-vitro assessment of tissue bio compatibility was conducted on L929 cell line (mouse fibroblast). In-vitro test, the toxicity of Alumina specimen was done by computing percentage of viability in a cell cultured medium. An MTT system was used to measure the active cell activities with mitochondrial-dehydrogenases, which is an easy method which gives accurate and precision results. The results of biocompatibility in-vitro test by both Direct and Extraction methods confirmed that Alumina exhibits a highest cell growth of 93.05% and resulted with zero grade cytotoxicity. Alumina having good aesthetic characteristics i.e., colour of the implant matches with the tooth colour. Hence Alumina is a best candidate alternate implant material compared to other metal implants.

This study represents the work carried out on the study of corrosion behavior of SS316L and Ti-6Al-4V that are used as implants in dental applications. This work was carried out to determine the corrosion performance and corrosion resistance of implant materials in physiological conditions of the human body. The results were evaluated through precision measurement of parameters, namely, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and open circuit potential (OCP). The corrosion test was carried out in a three-electrode cell system for a time duration of 3 h at 37◦C in Hanks’ balanced salt solution that was used as the corrosion testing media. The results showed that the corrosion potential (Ecorr) is increasing and reached a maximum value of 0.147 and 0.108 for SS316L and Ti-6Al-4V, respectively. Hence, the study revealed that SS316L exhibits better corrosion properties than Ti-6Al-4V to overcome problems encountered with vanadium.

Abstract Zirconia Toughened Alumina (ZTA) is an advanced ceramic bio-inert biomaterial comprising of 80% Alumina and 20% Yttria stabilised Zirconia. These bio-inert biomaterial is used in the field of medical applications specifically in total hip joint due to its unique characteristics of minimum interaction with surrounding tissue and good compatibility. This paper presents the Triboligical behaviour or Wear behaviour of ZTA pin and ZTA Plate when subjected to wear test. Ducom Linear Reciprocating Tribometer was used for testing the wear in ZTA Pin and ZTA Plate specimens. The test results confirmed that the average wear rate of ZTA pin and ZTA plate specimen was minimum as 6.2498x10-9 g/Nm. The coefficient of friction of ZTA pin on ZTA plate was found to be 0.333, frictional force was found to be 6.666 N and operating temperature was 37 ± 0.2o C. The above parameters were within the admissible limits as per ASTM standards used for implant material. Hence Zirconia toughened Alumina Bio-inert material is agood candidate implant biomaterial for Total hip joint replacement and other medical applications.

In this research work high density polyethylene (HDPE) and silica nanoparticles (SiO2 NPs) were studied. Samples having 0-10 % composition variation were prepared by injection molding. HDPE and Sio2 NPs constituents were combined at microscopic level and they are insoluble into each other. This phase is called as “Reinforcing” Phase. Soft and ductile phase is called Matrix phase. Matrix phase provides base support to the reinforcing phase and it is protecting the reinforcing phase from the hot environment against the degradation of Polymer Matrix Composites (PMC). Silica dioxide Particle in the form of powder was examined by Electron microscopic method (46.69% silica &53.31% oxygen) with size 2-20 nm. It has large specific surface area/surface energy. Sample of HDPE/SiO2 NPs composites were characterized by mechanical and thermal analysis. It was concluded that the including the SiO2 NPs into HDPE resulted in higher tensile and flexural properties. It has increased the impact strength of composite by 23.58% (5% by wt. addition of silica nanoparticles) and 46.42% (10% by wt. addition of silica nanoparticles).

Pearl millet breeding programs can use this heterotic group information on seed and restorer parents to generate new series of pearl millet hybrids having higher yields than the existing hybrids. Five hundred and eighty hybrid parents, 320 R- and 260 B-lines, derived from 6 pearl millet breeding programs in India, genotyped following RAD-GBS (about 0.9 million SNPs) clustered into 12 R- and 7 B-line groups. With few exceptions, hybrid parents of all the breeding programs were found distributed across all the marker-based groups suggesting good diversity in these programs. Three hundred and twenty hybrids generated using 37 (22 R and 15 B) representative parents, evaluated for grain yield at four locations in India, showed significant differences in yield, heterosis, and combining ability. Across all the hybrids, mean mid- and better-parent heterosis for grain yield was 84.0% and 60.5%, respectively. Groups G12 B × G12 R and G10 B × G12 R had highest heterosis of about 10% over best check hybrid Pioneer 86M86. The parents involved in heterotic hybrids were mainly from the groups G4R, G10B, G12B, G12R, and G13B. Based on the heterotic performance and combining ability of groups, 2 B-line (HGB-1 and HGB-2) and 2 R-line (HGR-1 and HGR-2) heterotic groups were identified. Hybrids from HGB-1 × HGR-1 and HGB-2 × HGR-1 showed grain yield heterosis of 10.6 and 9.3%, respectively, over best hybrid check. Results indicated that parental groups can be formed first by molecular markers, which may not predict the best hybrid combination, but it can reveal a practical value of assigning existing and new hybrid pearl millet parental lines into heterotic groups to develop high-yielding hybrids from the different heterotic groups.

Drugs of abuse, such as opiates, have been widely associated with enhancing HIV replication, accelerating disease progression and diminishing host-immune responses, thereby making it harder to effectively manage HIV infection. It is thus important to study the effects of drugs of abuse on HIV-infection and immune responses. Here, we develop mathematical models that incorporate the effects of morphine-altered antibody responses on HIV/SIV dynamics. Based on fitting the model to experimental data from simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) infections in control and morphine-addicted macaques, we found that two of the most significant effects of virus specific antibodies are neutralizing viral particles and enhancing viral clearance. Using our model, we quantified how morphine alters virus-specific antibody responses, and how this alteration affects the key components of virus dynamics such as infection rate, virus clearance, viral load, CD4+ T cell count, and CD4+ T cell loss in SIV-infected macaques under conditioning with morphine. We found that in a subpopulation of SIV-infected morphine addicted macaques, the presence of drugs of abuse may cause significantly diminished antibody responses, resulting in more severe infection with increased SIV infectivity, a decreased viral clearance rate, increased viral load, and higher CD4+ T cell loss.

The production and consumption of oil and other petroleum products have been increasing rapidly over the years, which led to the scarcity of easily retrieved oil due to urbanization. As a result, oil producers are motivated to go to deeper ocean to extract oil and other resources. Offshore platforms in deep water like TLPs are used for exploration of oil and gas from under seabed. But it is challenging to design precisely such type of giant structure in deep sea. It experiences huge forces, motion and other environmental loads which are non-linear, need sophisticated solution techniques and expensive to apply. In the present study, wave exciting forces and motions of free floating TLP are carried out in frequency domain analysis using three-dimensional source distribution techniques within the scope of linear wave theory where six degrees of freedom have been considered. The same geometrical data are used as an input to HydroStar, which is based on linear wave theory. Results obtained from the developed program are compared with the results obtained from HydroStar. The comparison shows a very good agreement. The results obtained from the developed program and HydroStar are also validated with the published results. Forces and motions prediction of TLP is emphasized which has been done precisely in the present work. In future, it will help us to design the TLPs as well as the tendon system in deep sea. Finally, a number of recommendations have been made for further research based on the present study.

Among medical care equipments Stethoscope is one of the most frequently used device. Stethoscopes are mainly used by the health professionals for the assessment of the patients and have been reported to be one of the common vectors for the nosocomial infection in various parts of the world. The contamination of Stethoscope particularly the diaphragm is mainly reported due to the lack of regular disinfection. The objective of this study was Isolation and identification of the microorganisms responsible for nosocomial infection from the stethoscopes used by health care professionals and to know the antibiotic resistance pattern of the isolated microorganisms. The prospective study was conducted in the Department of Microbiology, Government Medical College, Azamgarh. Samples were collected from the 100 stethoscopes of the clinicians and other health care personnel working in the Government Medical College, Azamgarh. Swab samples were taken from the surface of the diaphragm of each 100 stethoscopes. Swabs were cultured onto appropriate culture media, biochemical tests were performed for identification and antibiotic susceptibility test was done to know the pattern of resistance and multi drug resistant isolates. Out of 100, 88 stethoscopes were found to be contaminated with different microorganisms. CONS was the most frequently isolated organism followed by S. aureus, Micrococci, Bacillus spp, Candida spp, Pseudomonas spp, Aspergillus spp and Enterobacter spp. Gram positive isolates showed resistance towards Gentamicin, Clindamycin and Erythromycin. It is necessary to disinfect the stethoscope after each use. This is the only way to prevent dissemination.

BACKGROUND Thalassemia major is an inherited disease, caused by abnormal hemoglobin synthesis that results from alteration in the rate of globin chain production. Blood transfusion in beta-thalassemia patient is essential for prolonging life. There may be an overload of iron with repeated blood transfusion and inadequate iron chelation therapy, which can lead to various endocrine complications such as hypothyroidism, cardiomyopathy, growth hormone deficiency, diabetes mellitus, hypoparathyroidism and hypogonadotropic gonadism. We wanted to study the incidence of Hypothyroidism in children with thalassemia major on regular blood transfusion and its correlation with serum ferritin levels that indicate iron overload in thalassemia patients. METHODS 50 children with beta-thalassemia major, who received regular blood transfusion therapy for at least two years and was selected with a ferritin level greater than 1000 mu gm/dl. Important history with clinical examination of each patient was recorded. Thyroid function tests and serum ferritin value were recorded from the patient's data and analysed. RESULTS 24% of patients were subclinical hypothyroidism and 2% had overt hypothyroidism. Incidence of hypothyroidism has no direct correlation with serum ferritin level in this study. CONCLUSIONS Hypothyroidism was seen in about 26% of children with thalassemia major in our study. Detecting hypothyroidism is important for patient because effective thyroid hormone replacement therapy is easy and possible. Therefore, thyroid function test should be monitored from time to time, especially when there are complications related to iron overload. With early identification and prevention of various endocrine complications it is possible to maintain the life of these children fairly comfortably and also increase the life expectancy.

The technical and economic benefits derived from lowering the reflow temperatures have motivated the evaluation of new SnBi low temperature alloys for soldering. Eutectic Sn-Bi alloy is usually described as having a brittle nature, not being able to sustain mechanical shock and thermal cycling stresses as well as Sn3Ag30.5Cu (SAC305) solder. A new non-eutectic Sn-Bi solder with 2 wt.% additives (generally called here as alloy A) is evaluated here and compared with other eutectic Sn-Bi alloys and SAC305.Tensile tests at -55 oC, -25 oC, +25 oC, +75 oC and +125oC were performed to provide insights on their relative mechanical properties. Mechanical drop shock tests of BGA84 and LGA84 were performed as per the JESD22-B111 standard, while thermal cycling tests were performed from -40oC (10 min) to +125oC (10 min) as per the IPC 9701 standard. The BGA84 was used for thermal cycling in situ monitoring, while BGA169, SOT223, QFP44 and 1206 chip resistors were also used for evaluating the effect of thermal cycling on IMC thickness, shear strength and tin whiskers. The results show that, for the aforementioned packages, assembly and testing conditions, alloy A is a viable replacement for SAC305. The joints formed with alloy A have the mechanical (drop) shock and thermal cycling performance as good as, or, in some cases, better than the same joints formed with SAC305.

Present work deals with process refinement, fabrication, and testing of a novel contoured passive thermal protection system (TPS), based on aluminosilicate fiber reinforced silica matrix composite. Taguchi method-based statistical approach was employed to understand the effect of process parameters such as thickness, layer density, stacking sequence and firing temperature on dielectric properties, flexural strength, and bulk density of composites. Analysis of variance was performed to ensure the statistical significance. The developed TPS was characterized for thermal insulation properties by testing under infrared heating conditions. The science behind the insulation characteristics of the TPS was analyzed using FTIR, XRD, and SEM to understand the associated high-temperature phase transitions. Present study has shown that, the back-face temperature exponentially decays with TPS thickness. For TPS having 9 mm thickness, the back-face temperature was found to be below 100 degrees C when the front face was exposed to 1000 degrees C. The insulation index was found to be increasing with increase in temperature and TPS thickness. Improved thermal insulation characteristics of TPS are due to energy consuming processes such as crystalline changes and micro cracks formation.

Cytokines and chemokines circulate in plasma and may be transferred to distant sites, via exosomes. HIV infection is associated with dysregulation of cytokines and chemokines, which subsequently contribute to the pathogenesis of HIV. Alcohol and tobacco exposure, which are prevalent in HIV-infected individuals, may induce changes in the expression of cytokines and chemokines. Therefore, our aim in this study was to quantify plasma exosomal cytokines and chemokines that we expect to exacerbate toxicity or disease progression in HIV-positive drug abusers. We measured the levels of cytokines and chemokines in the plasma and plasma exosomes of 39 patients comprising six groups: HIV-negative and HIV-positive non drug abusers, HIV-negative and HIV-positive alcohol users, and HIV-negative and HIV positive tobacco smokers. We measured six cytokines (TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-8, IL-6, IL-1ra, IL-10) and two chemokines (MCP-1 and RANTES). All were present in exosomes of healthy subjects, but their levels varied between different study groups. HIV-positive alcohol drinkers had higher levels of plasma IL-8 compared to those of HIV-positive non-drinkers. The IL-1ra level was significantly higher in exosomes of non-HIV-infected alcohol drinkers compared to those of HIV-positive alcohol drinkers. Interestingly, the IL-10 level was higher in exosomes compared with their respective plasma levels in all study groups except HIV-positive non-alcohol drinkers. IL-10 was completely packaged in exosomes of HIV-positive smokers. HIV-positive smokers had significantly higher levels of plasma IL-8 compared with HIV-positive non-smokers and significantly higher exosomal IL-6 levels compared with HIV-negative subjects. HIV-positive smokers had significantly increased plasma levels of IL-1ra compared to HIV-positive non-smokers. The MCP-1 levels in the plasma of HIV-positive smokers was significantly higher than in either HIV-positive non-drug abusers or HIV-negative smokers. Overall, the findings suggest that plasma cytokines and chemokines are packaged in exosomes at varying degrees in different study groups. Exosomal cytokines and chemokines are likely to have a significant biological role at distant sites including cells in the brain.

An experiment was conducted to study the suitability of arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi for inoculation of four Leucaena species, namely L. collinsii, L. shannoni, L. diversifolia and L. leucocephala for assessing their effect on growth and seedling quality index (SQI) at nursery stage. Study consisted of three mycorrhizal treatments (Acaulospora scrobiculata, Rhizophagus irregularis and A. scrobiculata + R. irregularis) and a control. Inoculation of A. scrobiculata significantly increased only root length, while inoculation of R. irregularis increased almost all studied parameters. Among tested Leucaena species, L. collinsii and L. leucocephala showed better response towards inoculated fungi. Plants inoculated with R. irregularis showed higher mycorrhizal dependency (20.75%) than other inoculants. L. leucocephala recorded maximum mycorrhizal dependency (MD) followed by L. collinsii. R. irregularis increased SQI significantly, irrespective of tested Leucaena species. Thus, the results suggested that the seeds of two Leucaena species viz., L. leucocephala and L. collinsii may be inoculated with R. irregularis to obtain more vigorous seedlings.