Wheat production is increasingly threatened by high-temperature stress. The Tarai belt of eastern India, a non-traditional wheat-growing region, remains understudied regarding heat stress impacts. This study evaluated five wheat cultivars under late-sowing-induced terminal heat stress (THS) condition, assessing physiological, biochemical, and agronomic traits and their interrelationships. Three late-sowing environments (LSE) were tested: 15-day (LSE-I), 30-day (LSE-II), and 45-day (LSE-III) delay, compared to timely-sown control (NSE). A 15-day delay had minimal impacts, whereas 30- and 45-day delays significantly reduced grain number per ear, ear length, and 1000-grain weight, resulting in 24% and 51% yield losses, respectively. Under LSE-II and LSE-III, substantial increases were recorded in flag leaf catalase (166-214%), peroxidase (191-227%), and proline (88-105%), while membrane stability index (MSI), relative water content (RWC), and chlorophyll index (SPAD) declined by 23-28%, 9-14%, and 7-17%, respectively. Prominent changes in antioxidant enzyme activities, proline, and phenol content were observed between anthesis and the soft-dough stage. Multivariate linear regression models indicated that yield was positively associated with RWC, MSI, SPAD, and canopy temperature, whereas enzymatic and secondary metabolite effects on yield were comparatively less pronounced. Among the cultivars, HD 2967 and K 0370 performed best under late-sown conditions, with HD 2967 showing the highest stability. Overall, the results highlight that sowing before 5 December and selecting suitable cultivars are essential for alleviating THS in the Tarai region of eastern India. RWC, MSI, and SPAD emerge as key physiological traits conferring resilience to THS, warranting their validation across a broader genotypic pool in future studies.

The pyritization of microfossils serves as a key indicator of paleoenvironmental conditions, yet the controlling factors on pyrite morphology and composition remain poorly constrained. This study encountered different pyrite morphology (framboids and patches) from the foraminiferal tests retrieved from the marine sediment samples of Ocean Drilling Program Hole 763A, southeastern Indian Ocean, during different geological time slices. We hypothesize that distinct microenvironments and controlling factors might have influenced the morphology. Detailed investigations of the morphology, mineralogy and geochemistry of Fe-S coatings within and on foraminiferal tests suggest the dynamics of paleoredox conditions during the Middle Pleistocene and Upper Miocene. The comprehensive geochemical overview and the presence of Ni and Ba associated with Fe-S coatings and sediments suggest deoxygenation of deep-sea sediments driven by climatic shifts rather than hydrothermal activities. The stable anoxic deep ocean setting during the Middle Pleistocene, evidenced by increased organic matter flux and ocean stratification, contributed to low bottom-water oxygen levels. The geochemical evidence from the Upper Miocene samples indicates predominantly oxidising conditions, as shown by the altered reddish-yellow foraminiferal tests, which are mainly composed of calcite. However, localized reducing conditions are evidenced by patches of pyrite associated with foraminiferal shells, suggesting the presence of transitional redox conditions within the oxidising sediments during the Upper Miocene.

Introduction: Studies examining carbapenemase producing carbapenem resistant Enterobacterales (CP-CRE) transmission incorporating clinical and genomic data in Indian hospitals are lacking. We investigated the prevalence, risk factors for CP-CRE peri-rectal colonization on admission and acquisition during hospital stay and genomic epidemiology of CP-CRE isolates in an adult surgical intensive care unit (SICU) in a tertiary-care hospital in India. Methods: SICU patients admitted from July 31 to November 30, 2023 were prospectively enrolled. Peri-rectal swabs (PRS) were collected at SICU admission and discharge, and hospital discharge. Environmental sampling of sinks was performed. Swabs were plated on selective agar (CHROMagarTMmSuperCARBATM) for CP-CRE isolation. Whole genome sequencing of CP-CRE isolates was performed to investigate antimicrobial resistance gene (ARG) abundance, strain typing (ST), and relatedness classified by community-associated (CA), healthcare-associated (HCA), hospital-acquired (HA), and environmental isolates. Results: 56 (28%) of 203 enrolled patients were colonized with CP-CRE on SICU admission. Among 147 admission-negative patients, 113 had repeat PRS testing > = 1 times during their stay; 43 (29%; 43/147) acquired CP-CRE (Figure 1). The predominant organism in admission and acquisition cases was Escherichia coli (52%) and Klebsiella pneumoniae (37%), respectively (Figure 2). Previous hospitalization = 2 antibiotics (aOR 2.77; 95%CI 1.12-6.82) were associated with admission CP-CRE colonization (Figure 3). In Cox regression analysis hospital stay before SICU admission was associated with CP-CRE acquisition in the SICU, but no risk factor was associated with acquisition during the entire hospital stay (Figure 4). Abundance of ARGs was lower in CA CP-CRE isolates compared to HCA, HA and environmental isolates (Figure 5). blaNDM and blaOXA genes were present in 79% (99/126) and 29% (36/126) of isolates, respectively; blaNDM-5 was the most common carbapenemase [65 (52%) of 126 isolates] (Figure 6A). E. coli ST410, which was associated with HA and HCA classifications was the most frequent ST (n=17) and 70% (12/17) carried NDM (Figure 6B). Twenty-seven E. coli and 17 K. pneumoniae isolates were separated by 20 or fewer core genome single-nucleotide polymorphisms, indicating potential relatedness amongst CP-CRE (Figure 7). Conclusion: More than 25% of SICU patients were colonized with CP-CRE on admission and also acquired CP-CRE during hospital stay. Healthcare-related CP-CRE isolates carried more resistances genes with NDM being the most commonly detected resistance gene in this cohort. Small sample size limited our understanding of risk factors associated with CP-CRE acquisition in hospital.

This paper presents a metamaterial-inspired, left-handed circularly polarized (LHCP), high-gain, and miniaturized antenna with a radiation efficiency of 92.8%. A properly arranged metamaterial containing a 4 × 4 array of unit cells is placed on the ground plane of the microstrip antenna to increase the antenna’s gain up to 12.8 dBi at 10.3 GHz. Both the unit cell and the antenna are designed on an FR4 substrate with a loss tangent of 0.02 and a relative permittivity of 4.4. The overall dimensions of the designed antenna are 0.88λ0 × 0.88λ0 × 0.052λ0, where λ0 is the free-space wavelength at 9.8 GHz. The simulated bandwidth of the prototype antenna is 2.8 GHz (9.9–12.7 GHz), while the measured bandwidth is 3.2 GHz (9.8–13 GHz). The maximum simulated and measured gains are 14.4 and 12.8 dBi, respectively, at frequencies of 10.4 and 10.3 GHz. Achieving such high gain in a small LHCP antenna is the novelty of our antenna design. The bandwidth of the proposed antenna lies within the upper X-band and lower Ku-band. Therefore, this antenna is suitable for applications such as weather monitoring and air traffic control systems.

This study investigates the epidemiology of adolescent suicide in India, addressing the limited research on the subject. Data on adolescent suicide (14–17 years) by sex and state were obtained from the National Crimes Records Bureau for 2014–2019, which included acquiring unpublished data from 2016 to 2019. Crude suicide rates for the period 2014–2019 were calculated by sex and state. Rate ratios (RRs) by sex and state were also calculated to assess changes over time, comparing suicide rates from 2017–2019 to 2014–2016. Female adolescent suicide rates, which ranged between 9.04 and 8.10 per 100,000 population, were consistently higher than male adolescent suicide rates, which ranged between 8.47 and 6.24 per 100,000 population. Compared to the first half of the study period (2014–2016), adolescent suicide rates significantly increased between 2017 and 2019 among less developed states (RRs = 1.06, 95% uncertainty interval [UI] = 1.03–1.09) and among females in these states (RRs = 1.09, 95% UI = 1.05–1.14). Male suicide rates aligned with global averages, while female rates were two to six times higher than in high-income and Southeast Asian countries. Findings highlight the urgent need for comprehensive surveillance and targeted suicide prevention strategies to address this critical public health issue.

This study from a South Indian tertiary care hospital found a 41% peri-rectal Carbapenem-resistant Enterobacterales colonization prevalence at intensive care unit admission, with New Delhi metallo-β-lactamase as the predominant carbapenemase. It underscores the need for contextually appropriate, cost-effective infection prevention strategies to mitigate the spread of resistant organisms in Indian healthcare settings.

Gravito–capillary waves at free surfaces are ubiquitous in several natural and industrial processes involving quiescent liquid pools bounded by cylindrical walls. These waves emanate from the relaxation of initial interface distortions, which often take the form of a cavity (depression) centred on the symmetry axis of the container. The surface waves reflect from the container walls leading to a radially inward propagating wavetrain converging (focussing) onto the symmetry axis. Under the inviscid approximation and for sufficiently shallow cavities, the relaxation is well-described by the linearised potential-flow equations. Naturally, adding viscosity to such a system introduces viscous dissipation that enervates energy and dampens the oscillations at the symmetry axis. However, for viscous liquids and deeper cavities, these equations are qualitatively inaccurate. In this study, we decompose the initial localised interface distortion into several Bessel functions and study their time evolution governing the propagation of concentric gravito–capillary waves on a free surface. This is carried out for inviscid as well as viscous liquids. For a sufficiently deep cavity, the inward focussing of waves results in large interfacial oscillations at the axis, necessitating a second-order nonlinear theory. We demonstrate that this theory effectively models the interfacial behaviour and highlights the crucial role of nonlinearity near the symmetry axis. This is rationalised via demonstration of the contribution of bound wave components to the interface displacement at the symmetry axis Contrary to expectations, the addition of slight viscosity further intensifies the oscillations at the symmetry axis although the mechanism of wavetrain generation here is quite different compared with bubble bursting where such behaviour is well known (Duchemin et al., Phys. Fluids, vol. 14, issue 9, 2002, pp. 3000–3008). This finding underscores the limitations of the potential flow model and suggests avenues for more accurate modelling of such complex free-surface flows.

A knowledge, attitudes and control practices (KAP)-based study on ticks and tick-borne diseases (TTBD) and resistance development in ticks was conducted in Dhar district of Madhya Pradesh covering 200 livestock owners using a questionnaire. Based on our scoring criteria, results indicated only 25% (19.16–31.60) respondents possessing basic knowledge of TTBDs while 75% (68.40–80.84) respondents were not aware of TBDs. Due to lack of proper awareness of TTBDs, about 1.28 times more respondents (OR 95% CI 0.42–3.86) were having heavy tick infestations in their animals. However, about 36.5% (29.82–43.58) respondents showed a favourable attitude towards the adoption of different tick control practices; consequently, their animals showed low-level infestation. Amongst various feeding systems for animals, a mixed type of feeding system was mostly adopted by 57.5% respondents followed by manger system (37.5%) while grazing was the least adopted method (5%). Results indicated that the grazing animals were 6 times (OR 95% CI 2.93–12.28) more susceptible to ticks and possessed heavy tick infestation. Resistance status of collected tick isolates of Rhipicephalus microplus and Hyalomma anatolicum was assessed and revealed that both tick species were found resistant to deltamethrin. The goals of this study were to assess some of the underlying causes of ticks and TBD in livestock in Dhar district of Madhya Pradesh state using the KAP survey and resistance characterization of ticks.

Human gut microbial species are crucial for dietary metabolism and biosynthesis of micronutrients. Digested products are utilised by the host as well as several gut bacterial species. These species are influenced by various factors such as diet, age, geographical location, and ethnicity. India is home to the largest human population in the world. It is spread across diverse ecological and geographical locations. With variable dietary habits and lifestyles, Indians have unique gut microbial composition. This review captures contrasting and common trends of gut bacterial community establishment in infants (born through different modes of delivery), and how that bacterial community manifests itself along infancy, through old age between Indian and global populations. Because dysbiosis of the gut community structure is associated with various diseases, this review also highlights the common and unique bacterial species associated with various communicable as well as noncommunicable diseases such as diarrhoea, amoebiasis, malnutrition, type 2 diabetes, obesity, colorectal cancer, inflammatory bowel disease, and gut inflammation and damage to the brain in the global and Indian population.

A new species of congrid eel genus, Ariosoma is described here based on two mature female specimens collected from trawl by-catch landings at Thoothukudi fishing harbour, off Thoothukudi, Bay of Bengal. The new species can be easily distinguished from its congeners in having pre-anal length 48.7–49.1% TL; dorsal-fin origin just before pectoral-fin insertion; body bicoloured, pale brown dorsally and silvery white ventrally; preopercular portion dark; pectoral fin reddish with dark spot at the base; SO canal with six pores; pre-dorsal vertebrae 10–11; pre-anal vertebrae 61–64; total vertebrae 162–163. Further, the new species differs from all the congeners of Indian waters in having more total vertebrae, except A. albimaculatum (162–163 vs 129–153 in others; 161–164 in A. albimaculatum). The new species identity was also supported by molecular analyses using the mitochondrial COI gene and the result revealed that the new species is closely related to Ariosoma maurostigma and Ariosoma albimaculatum with a pair-wise genetic distance of 11.4% and 11.6% followed by A. melanospilos with 16.8%.

Indigofera oblongifolia Forssk. locally known as ‘Goilia or Jhil’, is an important underutilized leguminous browse shrub for small ruminants in hot arid region of India and traditionally utilized for its medicinal value. Its irregular patchy distribution was observed in depression of rocky areas, bunds of farmer fields and along the depression on the road sides in Jaisalmer and Pali district during collection. Soil samples collected from Pali district have high level of pH and electrical conductivity as compared to Jaisalmer which indicates its suitability to saline areas. It exhibited good plant growth under Jodhpur conditions with respect to plant height (171.5 cm), number of branches (47.9) and canopy diameter (100–210 and 115–180 cm in north-south and east-west direction, respectively) after 12 months of planting in fields under protected condition. Morphological characterization showed the presence of high coefficient of variation (%) in the number of raceme per branch (27.3) followed by raceme length (22.9), pod length (21.0) and least in pod width (8.1). Phytochemical results revealed that leaves of I. oblongifolia contained considerable amounts of total phenols (31.44 mg g−1), flavonoids (29.73 mg g−1) and antioxidant capacity (6.26 FRU g−1) which make its suitability as a browse species to ruminants in rangelands. Along with these finding, its traditional knowledge and utilization are detailed in this paper as to hasten further research on its various aspects for its sustainable utilization in rangelands or in alternate land use systems in the Indian hot arid region.

Availability of resistance sources among cultivated varieties helps in easy utilization as donor owing to no deleterious linkage drag. In the present investigation, 121 rice varieties were screened for their resistance against a virulent isolate of Fusarium fujikuroi (Ff-10) and genotyped using reported microsatellite markers. Among 121 varieties, only eight varieties, namely Luna Sankhi, Improved Tapaswini, Sarasa, Sadabahar, CR-311, Kshira, Wifa-10 and Binadhan-8, were found to be highly resistant (HR), seven varieties were resistant (R), 31 were moderately resistant (MR), 10 were moderately susceptible (MS), 11 were susceptible (S) and the rest 54 were highly susceptible (HS). The allele diversity of molecular markers classified the population into three clusters. The highly resistant varieties were grouped in major clusters II and III, whereas the remaining genotypes were distributed in all three clusters. Analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) resulted in 95% of the maximum diversity within the test population and 5% diversity between populations. Population structure analysis grouped the genotypes into two sub-populations based on relatedness, where most of the resistant genotypes were grouped into one sub-population and other genotypes were distributed among sub-populations. Re-examination of reported markers' trait associations with bakanae resistance in the experimental population identified marker RM-3698 as associated with resistance accounting 8.4% explained phenotypic variation. This study shows that simple sequence repeat markers can be used to assess allelic diversity and population structure of bakanae resistance in rice varieties. The highly resistant genotypes, along with resistance markers, could be used as donors in marker-assisted bakanae improvement breeding programmes.

We develop a dynamic model of corporate investment and financing, in which shocks to the value of collateralizable assets generate variation in firms’ debt capacity. We show that the degree of similarity among firms’ financial flexibility forecasts cross-sectional variation in return correlation. We test the implications of the model with firm-level data in two empirical analyses using i) an instrumental variable approach based on shocks to the value of collateralizable corporate assets and ii) the outbreak of the COVID-19 crisis as an event study. We find that firms in the same percentile of the cross-sectional distribution of financial flexibility have 62% higher correlation in stock-return residuals than firms 50 percentiles apart.

In this article, an innovative design of a broadband circularly polarized compact planar antenna for RFID (radio frequency identification) receivers is presented. The suggested structure used the concept of slots loaded parasitic element printed underneath a coplanar waveguide-fed radiator to achieve the circularly polarized (CP) radiation and size reduction. A parasitic element loaded with F-slot and L-slot, and a window-type slotted ground plane was used to achieve resonance at 2.45 GHz with right-handed circularly polarized radiation for RFID handheld reader application. Experimental results confirmed that the designed antenna of size 16.5 × 14.8 × 1.6 mm3 attained a −10 dB impedance bandwidth of 15.8% (from 2.330 to 2.716 GHz) and 3 dB AR bandwidth of 3.43% (from 2.410 to 2.494 GHz). An axial ratio of 0.43 dB was achieved in the boresight of the antenna at the 2.45 GHz RFID band. The concept of electric field distribution on the antenna was used to elaborate the excitation of CP radiation in the antenna.

Cardiac hypertrophy is the enlargement of cardiomyocytes in response to persistent release of catecholamine which further leads to cardiac fibrosis. Chrysin, flavonoid from honey, is well known for its multifarious properties like antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-fibrotic and anti-apoptotic. To investigate the cardioprotective potential of chrysin against isoproterenol (ISO), cardiac hypertrophy and fibrosis are induced in rats. Acclimatised male albino Wistar rats were divided into seven groups (n 6): normal (carboxymethyl cellulose at 0·5 % p.o.; as vehicle), hypertrophy control (ISO 3 mg/kg, s.c.), CHY15 + H, CHY30 + H & CHY60 + H (chrysin; p.o.15, 30 and 60 mg/kg respectively + ISO at 3 mg/kg, s.c.), CHY60 (chrysin 60 mg/kg in per se) and LST + H (losartan 10 mg/kg p.o. + ISO 3 mg/kg, s.c.) were treated for 28 d. After the dosing schedule on day 29, haemodynamic parameters were recorded, after that blood and heart were excised for biochemical, histological, ultra-structural and molecular evaluations. ISO administration significantly increases heart weight:body weight ratio, pro-oxidants, inflammatory and cardiac injury markers. Further, histopathological, ultra-structural and molecular studies confirmed deteriorative changes due to ISO administration. Pre-treatment with chrysin of 60 mg/kg reversed the ISO-induced damage to myocardium and prevent cardiac hypertrophy and fibrosis through various anti-inflammatory, anti-apoptotic, antioxidant and anti-fibrotic pathways. Data demonstrated that chrysin attenuated myocardial hypertrophy and prevented fibrosis via activation of transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-β)/Smad signalling pathway.