Hydrothermal Assisted Biogenic Synthesis of Silver Nanoparticles And Their Anticandidal Activity On Virulent Candida Isolates From COVID-19 Patients

Till now the exact mechanism and effect of biogenic silver nanoparticles on fungus is an indefinable question. To focus on this issue, we prepared hydrothermal assisted thyme coated silver nanoparticles (T/AgNPs) and their toxic effect on Candida isolates is described. The role of thyme (Thymus Vulgaris) in the reduction of silver ions and stabilization of T/AgNPs are estimated by Fourier transforms infrared spectroscopy, structure and size of present silver nanoparticles were detected via atomic force microscopy as well as high-resolution transmission electron microscopy. The biological activity of T/AgNPs was observed against Candida isolates from COVID-19 Patients. Testing of virulence of Candida species using Multiplex PCR. T/AgNPs proved highly effective against Candida albicans, Candida kruzei, Candida glabrata and MIC values ranging from 156.25 to 1,250 µg/mL and MFC values ranging from 312.5 to 5,000 µg/mL. The structural and morphological modifications due to T/AgNPs on Candida albicans were detected by TEM. It was highly observed that when Candida albicans cells were subjected to 50 and 100 µg/mL T/AgNPs, a remarkable change in the cell wall and cell membrane was observed.

Potassium-Induced Drought Tolerance of Potato by Improving Morpho-Physiological and Biochemical Attributes

Potato (Solanum tuberosum) is the third and fourth most important tuberous crop in terms of human consumption and production, respectively. However, its growth and development are affected by drought, which is an emerging threat to agriculture especially in arid and semiarid areas. Potassium (K) is a well-known macronutrient that improves the performance of crops under drought. Therefore, the present study was enacted with the aim of evaluating the impact of K fertilizer on potato crop growth, productivity, and drought tolerance under full root irrigation (FRI) and partial root irrigation (PRI) conditions. Two potato cultivars (Lady Rosetta and Hermes) were grown under normal field conditions followed by FRI and PRI applications. Potassium sulfate was applied in three doses (T0 = 50 kg·ha−1, T1 = 75 kg·ha−1, and T2 = 100 kg·ha−1). The experiment was laid out under randomized complete block design (RCBD) with split plot arrangement. The main plot was allocated to irrigation, along with a subplot to potassium and a sub-subplot to potato cultivars. The results indicated that K application significantly improved the plant growth and yield by exhibiting better performance in morpho-physiological and biochemical attributes under FRI and PRI conditions; however, a more remarkable change was noticed under PRI compared with FRI. K application alleviated drought stress regardless of cultivars. This study suggests that K application at the rate of 100 kg·ha−1 is an effective approach for inducing drought tolerance in potato crops.

Influence of Beijing Winter Olympic Games Construction on Vegetation Coverage around Zhangjiakou Competition Zone

There is a rising concern that Olympic venue construction may affect the surrounding environment. The construction of Winter Olympic venues and competition zones is more likely to degrade the surrounding natural environment than the summer counterpart, considering the prominent land use change and extensive vegetation disturbance during the construction of ski trails in mountainous areas. Scientific assessment of the impact of this Winter Olympic Games construction on the surrounding ecological environment can be of significance for the construction of a Green Olympics. At this stage, the main framework of venue and competition construction in Zhangjiakou for the Beijing Winter Olympic Games is essentially completed, so we assessed the vegetation coverage change conditions based on the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and the Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI) from 2000 to 2020. Our results show that the construction of venues, roads, and other facilities for the 2022 Olympic Games led to a remarkable change in land use, but the impacts on vegetation coverage were negligible in the surrounding area. Due to the intensive reforestation activities since the year that Beijing won the race to host the Winter Olympics, vegetation coverage continued to increase in the Zhangjiakou area, even in the core area of Winter Olympic Games construction zones. This study provides support to the belief in hosting a Green Olympics.

The value of cell-free circulating tumour DNA profiling in advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) management

Liquid biopsy (LB) has boosted a remarkable change in the management of cancer patients by contributing to tumour genomic profiling. Plasma circulating cell-free tumour DNA (ctDNA) is the most widely searched tumour-related element for clinical application. Specifically, for patients with lung cancer, LB has revealed valuable to detect the diversity of targetable genomic alterations and to detect and monitor the emergence of resistance mechanisms. Furthermore, its non-invasive nature helps to overcome the difficulty in obtaining tissue samples, offering a comprehensive view about tumour diversity. However, the use of the LB to support diagnostic and therapeutic decisions still needs further clarification. In this sense, this review aims to provide a critical view of the clinical importance of plasma ctDNA analysis, the most widely applied LB, and its limitations while anticipating concepts that will intersect the present and future of LB in non-small cell lung cancer patients. Graphical Abstract

Assessing and Simulating Impacts of Land Use Land Cover Changes on Land Surface Temperature in Mymensingh City, Bangladesh

Urban developments in the cities of Bangladesh are causing the depletion of natural land covers over the past several decades. One of the significant implications of the developments is a change in Land Surface Temperature (LST). Through LST distribution in different Land Use Land Cover (LULC) and a statistical association among LST and biophysical indices, i.e., Urban Index (UI), Bare Soil Index (BI), Normalized Difference Builtup Index (NDBI), Normalized Difference Bareness Index (NDBaI), Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), and Modified Normalized Difference Water Index (MNDWI), this paper studied the implications of LULC change on the LST in Mymensingh city. Landsat TM and OLI/TIRS satellite images were used to study LULC through the maximum likelihood classification method and LSTs for 1989, 2004, and 2019. The accuracy of LULC classifications was 84.50, 89.50, and 91.00 for three sampling years, respectively. From 1989 to 2019, the area and average LST of the built-up category has been increased by 24.99% and 7.6ºC, respectively. Compared to vegetation and water bodies, built-up and barren soil regions have a greater LST each year. A different machine learning method was applied to simulate LULC and LST in 2034. A remarkable change in both LULC and LST was found through this simulation. If the current changing rate of LULC continues, the built-up area will be 59.42% of the total area, and LST will be 30.05ºC on average in 2034. The LST in 2034 will be more than 29ºC and 31ºC in 59.64% and 23.55% areas of the city, respectively.

Finding Out Suitable Index for Wetland Mapping in Barind Plain of India and Predicting Dynamics of Its Area and Depth

Remote Sensing and GIS play an important role in mapping and monitoring natural resources and their management. The present study attempts to delineate wetland in the lower Tangon river basin in the Barind flood plain region using suitable water body extraction indices. The main objectives of this present study are mapping and monitoring the flood plains wetlands along with the future status of wetland areas of 2028 and 2038 using the advanced Artificial Neural Network-based Cellular Automata (ANN-CA) model. Apart from wetland area prediction, wetland depth simulation and prediction are also carried out using statistical (Adaptive Exponential Smoothing) as well as advanced machine learning algorithms such as Bagging, Random subspace, Random forest, Support vector machine, etc. for the year 2028. The result shows a remarkable change in the overall wetland area in the upcoming two decades. The small wetland patches away from the master stream are expected to dry out during the forecast period, where the major wetland patches nearer to the master stream with greater depth are rather sustainable but their depth of water may be reduced in the next decades. All models show satisfactory performance for wetland depth mapping, but the Random subspace model was identified as the best-suited depth predicting method and machine learning models explored better results that adaptive exponential smoothing. This recent study will definitely be very helpful for the policymakers for managing wetland landscape as well as the natural environment.

628. Pharmacokinetics, Safety and Tolerability of Co-administration of Nacubactam and β-lactams after Multiple Doses in Japanese Healthy Subjects

Background Increase of carbapenem-resistant Enterobacterales (CRE) is a serious problem in the clinical setting and drugs which can treat patients with CRE are still limited. Nacubactam (OP0595) is a novel diazabicyclooctane-type β-lactamase inhibitor and being developed as a standalone drug to be co-administered with cefepime or aztreonam. Methods A randomized, double-blind multiple dose study of nacubactam in co-administration with cefepime (Cohort 1) or aztreonam (Cohort 2) in Japanese healthy subjects was performed to assess pharmacokinetics, safety, and tolerability of co-administrations of nacubactam and cefepime or aztreonam. In each cohort, 6 subjects received 2 g of nacubactam and 2 g of concomitant drug (cefepime or aztreonam) and 2 subjects received placebo (saline) intravenously over 60 minutes, three times daily every 8 hours for 7 days. Plasma samples were collected and concentrations of each drug were analyzed by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). Safety and tolerability assessments included treatment-emergent adverse events (TEAEs) and the evaluation of changes from baseline in safety laboratory test results, 12-lead electrocardiograms (ECGs), vital signs, and physical examinations. Results Profiles of Cmax, tmax, AUC0-8, AUC0-∞ and t1/2 for nacubactam, cefepime and aztreonam are summarized in Table 1. Summary of Ctrough for nacubactam, cefepime and aztreonam are summarized in Table 2. Plasma concentrations of nacubactam, cefepime and aztreonam reached the steady-state by Day 4, and the mean accumulation ratios of Cmax and AUC0-8 on Day 7 to those of Day 1 were in the range of 0.91 to 1.10. As for the safety, no serious adverse event was observed in this study. There was 1 TEAE (seborrhoeic dermatitis) leading to the discontinuation in 1 subject in nacubactam/cefepime group, but it was judged as “Not related to study drug”. Table 1. PK profiles of nacubactam and concomitant drugs on Day 1 and Day 7 Table 2. Summary of Ctrough of nacubactam and concomitant drugs Conclusion In conclusion, no remarkable change in pharmacokinetics was observed in each drug with multiple concomitant administration for 7 days and safety and tolerability of co-administrations of nacubactam and cefepime or aztreonam were confirmed. Based on these results, nacubactam is currently under further development. Disclosures All Authors: No reported disclosures

EFFECTS OF FUNCTIONAL GAMES USING NEUROFEEDBACK ON COGNITIVE FUNCTIONS AND ELECTROENCEPHALOGRAPHY FOR PEOPLE WITH DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of functional games using neurofeedback on cognitive function and changes in brain waves of people with developmental disabilities. Toward this goal, the MiND RACER program developed by Minders Co., Ltd. in 2018 was used for 5 people with developmental disabilities enrolled in the continuing education course at D University in Gyeongsangbuk-do, Korea. It was carried out once a week from October 13 to December 15, 2020; pre- and post-tests were conducted one week before the program execution and one week after the program execution. Electroencephalography measurements were performed 3 times as pre, intermediate, and posttest. As a result, the functional game using neurofeedback showed a remarkable change in the cognitive function of the person with developmental disabilities and significant changes in [Formula: see text] waves.

German Transplants in Estonian Tort Law: General Duties to Maintain Safety

The jurisprudence and case-law approach of German tort law – and, more broadly, German-school legal thinking in general – has found its way into Estonian case law on torts and into Estonia’s scholarly texts on jurisprudence. From among the catalogue of transplants from German tort law that have reached Estonian law or legal practice, the paper focuses on one whose importance cannot be overestimated: the concept of tort liability based on breach of the general duty to maintain safety. This domain has witnessed remarkable change since the beginning of the 2000s, when an analogous concept of liability was still unfamiliar to many Estonian lawyers. The article examines whether and to what extent the concept of liability based on the general duty to maintain safety has become recognised in Estonian legal practice in the years since. Also assessed is the relevant case law to date, for ascertainment of whether any adoption of an equivalent concept of liability has been successful and, in either event, what problems remain to be resolved. The importance of this issue extends far beyond that of individual questions: the recognition of general duties to maintain safety affects our understanding of the very structure of tort law, of that of the general composition of tort, and of the connections that link the individual prerequisites for tort liability. Furthermore, this constellation influences our thought in the field of tort law more generally and our approach to the cases emerging in real-world legal practice.

Effects of Malic Acid and Sucrose on the Fermentation Parameters, CNCPS Nitrogen Fractions, and Bacterial Community of Moringa oleifera Leaves Silage

The present study investigated the effects of malic acid, sucrose, and their mixture on the fermentation parameters, Cornell Net Carbohydrate and Protein System (CNCPS) nitrogen fractions, and bacterial community of Moringa oleifera leaves (MOL) silages. The trial was divided into four treatments and labeled as CON (control group) and MLA, SUC, and MIX (respectively denoting the addition of 1% malic acid, 1% sucrose, and 1% malic acid + 1% sucrose to the fresh weight basis). The silage packages were opened on the 2nd, 5th, 10th, 20th, and 40th days of ensiling for subsequent determination. Malic acid and sucrose increased the lactic acid content (p < 0.05) and pH value, and the acetic acid contents of MLA and MIX were lower than those in CON (p < 0.05). Compared with sucrose, malic acid had a better capacity to preserve nutrients and inhibit proteolysis, and thus exerted better effects on the CNCPS nitrogen fractions. The results of 16S rRNA showed that the dominant phyla were Firmicutes and Proteobacteria and that the dominant genera were Lactobacillus and Weissella. With the application of silage additives and the processing of fermentation, there was a remarkable change in the composition and function of the bacterial community. The variation of the fermentation parameters and CNCPS nitrogen fractions in the MOL silages caused by malic acid and sucrose might be attributed to the dynamic and dramatic changes of the bacterial community.