Conduction Band Convergence and Modular Nanostructures: Driving High Thermoelectric Performance in n-Type PbSe.

n-type lead chalcogenides showing high thermoelectric performance are rare due to the larger energy offset between the two lowest energy conduction bands minima, leaving ample opportunity to modulate electronic structure for improving their thermoelectric performance. Here, we present a remarkable thermoelectric figure of merit (zT) of ∼1.8 at 873 K in n-type PbSe doped with MoCl by modulation of the conduction bands, while simultaneously suppressing the phonon transport.

Advancing precision in Hall effect through localized heating with a compact design.

We have developed a versatile, fully automated Hall measurement setup for operations between room temperature and 750 K and in magnetic fields up to ±10 kOe. Our compact sample holder design with localized heating and minimal heat losses enables precise temperature stability (better than ±10 mK at 750 K) and low power consumption (20-25 W). The setup is housed within a 26 mm air gap between the pole pieces of an electromagnet.

Livogrit mitigates ANIT-induced cholestasis-like symptoms in an model by curbing hepatic inflammation and regulating BAX, TGF-β, MMP-9 and α-SMA gene expression.

Bile duct constriction disrupts bile acid flow causing cholestasis, hepatic necrosis, fibrosis, and cirrhosis. The study investigated hepatoprotective effectiveness of Ayurvedic prescription herbal medicine "Livogrit" commercially available in India, against α-naphtylisothiocyanate (ANIT)-induced cholestasis-like symptoms in male Sprague-Dawley rats. Livogrits's phytochemical profiling showed the presence of Gallic acid, Methyl Gallate, Catechin, Corilagin, Ellagic acid, Rutin, and Cinnamic acid.

Multipronged strategy for protection and motivation of healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic: a real-life study.

Objective: We aimed to assess risk of COVID-19 infection & seroprotection status in healthcare workers (HCWs) in both hospital and community settings following an intensive vaccination drive in India.

Setting: Tertiary Care Hospital.

Methods: We surveyed COVID-19 exposure risk, personal protective equipment (PPE) compliance, vaccination status, mental health & COVID-19 infection rate across different HCW cadres.

Anomalous lattice contraction and emerging topological phases in Bi-substituted SmIrO.

We demonstrate that substituting Bi for Sm in the pyrochlore Sm$_2$Ir$_2$O$_7$ induces an anomalous lattice contraction, with $\Delta a \sim -0.012$~\AA~observed at 10\% Bi substitution, where 'a' denotes the lattice constant. Beyond 10\% Bi substitution, the lattice expands according to Vegard's law.

In mouse model of mixed granulocytic asthma with corticosteroid refractoriness, Bronchom mitigates airway hyperresponsiveness, inflammation and airway remodeling.

Background: Asthma is a heterogeneous, inflammatory disease with several phenotypes and endotypes. Severe asthmatics often exhibit mixed granulocytosis with reduced corticosteroid sensitivity. Bronchom is a newly developed Ayurvedic prescription medicine, indicated for the treatment of obstructive airway disorders.

Iso-structural phase transition in pyrochlore iridates (Sm _{1-x}$Bi)IrO(= 0, 0.02, and 0.10): high-pressure Raman and x-ray diffraction studies.

The pyrochlore iridates,IrO, show a wide variety of structural, electronic, and magnetic properties controlled by the interplay of different exchange interactions, which can be tuned by external pressure. In this work, we report pressure-induced iso-structural phase transitions at ambient temperature using synchrotron-based x-ray diffraction (up to ∼20 GPa) and Raman-scattering measurements (up to ∼25 GPa) of the pyrochlore series (Sm_{1-x}Bi)IrO(= 0, 0.02, and 0.

Spatial-Temporal Analysis of Neural Desynchronization in Sleeplike States Reveals Critical Dynamics.

Sleep is characterized by nonrapid eye movement sleep, originating from widespread neuronal synchrony, and rapid eye movement sleep, with neuronal desynchronization akin to waking behavior. While these were thought to be global brain states, recent research suggests otherwise. Using time-frequency analysis of mesoscopic voltage-sensitive dye recordings of mice in a urethane-anesthetized model of sleep, we find transient neural desynchronization occurring heterogeneously across the cortex within a background of synchronized neural activity, in a manner reminiscent of a critical spreading process and indicative of an "edge-of-synchronization" phase transition.

Detecting the effect of genetic diversity on brain composition in an Alzheimer's disease mouse model.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is broadly characterized by neurodegeneration, pathology accumulation, and cognitive decline. There is considerable variation in the progression of clinical symptoms and pathology in humans, highlighting the importance of genetic diversity in the study of AD. To address this, we analyze cell composition and amyloid-beta deposition of 6- and 14-month-old AD-BXD mouse brains.

Information-theory analysis of mouse string-pulling agrees with Fitts's Law: Increasing task difficulty engages multiple sensorimotor modalities in a dual oscillator behavior.

Mouse string pulling, in which a mouse reels in a string with hand-over-hand movements, can provide insights into skilled motor behavior, neurological status, and cognitive function. The task involves two oscillatory movements connected by a string. The snout oscillates to track the pendulum movement of the string produced by hand-over-hand oscillations of pulling, and so the snout guides the hands to grasp the string.

Single-molecule analysis of osmolyte-mediated nanomechanical unfolding behavior of a protein domain.

The small organic molecules, known as osmolytes being ubiquitously present in different cell types, affect protein folding, stability and aggregation. However, it is unknown how the osmolytes affect the nanomechanical unfolding behavior of protein domain. Here, we show the osmolyte-dependent mechanical unfolding properties of protein titin immunoglobulin-27 (I27) domain using an atomic force microscopy (AFM)-based single-molecule force spectroscopy.

Spatio-temporal analysis of changes occurring in land use and its impact on land surface temperature.

This study shows how remote sensing and Geographic Information System (GIS) can extract land surface temperature (LST) from the Landsat 5, 7, and 8 datasets. In this research, LST over Kharun's lower catchment, located in Chhattisgarh, India, has been estimated. LST data from 2000, 2006, 2011, 2016, and 2021 were analyzed to see how the LULC pattern changed and how that changed LST.

Gate and Temperature Driven Phase Transitions in Few-Layer MoTe.

MoTe has a stable hexagonal semiconducting phase (2H) as well as two semimetallic phases with monoclinic (1T') and orthorhombic (T) structures. A structural change can thus be accompanied by a significant change in electronic transport properties. The two semimetallic phases are connected by a temperature driven transition and could exhibit topological properties.

Detecting the effect of genetic diversity on brain composition in an Alzheimer's disease mouse model.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is characterized by neurodegeneration, pathology accumulation, and progressive cognitive decline. There is significant variation in age at onset and severity of symptoms highlighting the importance of genetic diversity in the study of AD. To address this, we analyzed cell and pathology composition of 6- and 14-month-old AD-BXD mouse brains using the semi-automated workflow (QUINT); which we expanded to allow for nonlinear refinement of brain atlas-registration, and quality control assessment of atlas-registration and brain section integrity.

Leveraging genetic diversity in mice to inform individual differences in brain microstructure and memory.

In human Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients and AD mouse models, both differential pre-disease brain features and differential disease-associated memory decline are observed, suggesting that certain neurological features may protect against AD-related cognitive decline. The combination of these features is known as brain reserve, and understanding the genetic underpinnings of brain reserve may advance AD treatment in genetically diverse human populations. One potential source of brain reserve is brain microstructure, which is genetically influenced and can be measured with diffusion MRI (dMRI).

Momentum-resolved spin-conserving two-triplon bound state and continuum in a cuprate ladder.

Studying multi-particle elementary excitations has provided unique access to understand collective many-body phenomena in correlated electronic materials, paving the way towards constructing microscopic models. In this work, we perform O -edge resonant inelastic X-ray scattering (RIXS) on the quasi-one-dimensional cuprate with weakly-doped spin ladders. The RIXS signal is dominated by a dispersing sharp mode ~ 270 meV on top of a damped incoherent component ~ 400-500 meV.

Synergistic Approach Toward a Reproducible High zT in n-Type and p-Type Superionic Thermoelectric AgTe.

Recently, superionic thermoelectrics have attracted enormous attention due to their ultralow thermal conductivity and high figure-of-merit (zT). However, their high zT is generally obtained deep inside the superionic phase, e.g.

Numerical groundwater modelling for studying surface water-groundwater interaction and impact of reduced draft on groundwater resources in central Ganga basin.

Water resources in India's Indo-Gangetic plains are over-exploited and vulnerable to impacts of climate change. The unequal spatial and temporal variation of meteorological, hydrological and hydrogeological parameters has created additional challenges for field engineers and policy planners. The groundwater and surface water are extensively utilized in the middle Gangetic plain for agriculture.

X-ray photoemission and absorption study of the pyrochlore iridates (Eu1-xBi)IrO, 0 ⩽ ⩽ 1.

The pyrochlore iridates (Eu1-xBi)IrO(0⩽⩽1) undergo an anomalous negative lattice expansion for small Bi-doping (x⩽0.035) (region I) and a normal lattice expansion forx⩾0.1(region II); this is accompanied by a transition from an insulating (and magnetically ordered) to a metallic (and with no magnetic ordering) ground state.

Sex-Dependent Effects of Intestinal Microbiome Manipulation in a Mouse Model of Alzheimer's Disease.

Mechanisms linking intestinal bacteria and neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease (AD) are still unclear. We hypothesized that intestinal dysbiosis might potentiate AD, and manipulating the microbiome to promote intestinal eubiosis and immune homeostasis may improve AD-related brain changes. This study assessed sex differences in the effects of oral probiotic, antibiotics, and synbiotic treatments in the mouse model of AD.

Antiarthritic activity of OA-DHZ; a gastroprotective NF-κB/MAPK/COX inhibitor.

Arthritis, a primary autoimmune disorder having a global incidence of 2.03% person/year, is presently being treated by many commercially available drugs that treat symptomatically or improve the disease's clinical state; however, all the therapies pose varying amount of side effects. Therefore, it has become a fundamental need to search for therapeutics that offer better efficacy and safety profile, and the natural or nature-derived products are known for their outstanding performance in this arena.

Isotopes (δO, δD and H) variations in groundwater with emphasis on salinization in the state of Punjab, India.

The state of Punjab has a dominant agrarian economy and is considered India's bread basket. However, it is now under the problem of falling agro-economy primarily because of pervasive depletion of groundwater levels and deteriorating groundwater quality in south-west Punjab, but increasing salinity is a major concern. The irrigation requirements of crops are fulfilled by groundwater and canal water but the introduction of canal irrigation has led to waterlogging and subsequent salinization rendering large fertile-land areas becoming unproductive mainly in the south-western part of Punjab.

Floodplains landforms, clay deposition and irrigation return flow govern arsenic occurrence, prevalence and mobilization: A geochemical and isotopic study of the mid-Gangetic floodplains.

This article attempts to understand the evolution of groundwater chemistry in the mid Gangetic floodplain through the identification of hydrogeochemical processes including the impact of surface recharge and geological features. Isotopic investigations identified that irrigation return flow is partly responsible for arsenic (As) enrichment through preferential vertical recharge. Further, the floodplain geomorphological attributes and associated As hydrogeochemical behaviour traced through isotopes tracers highlighted that meandering and ox-bow like geomorphological features owing to clay deposition leads to the anoxic condition induced reductive microbial dissolution of As-bearing minerals causing the arsenic contamination in the investigated aquifer of the mid-Gangetic plain (MGP).

Prenatal stress dysregulates resting-state functional connectivity and sensory motifs.

Prenatal stress (PS) can impact fetal brain structure and function and contribute to higher vulnerability to neurodevelopmental and neuropsychiatric disorders. To understand how PS alters evoked and spontaneous neocortical activity and intrinsic brain functional connectivity, mesoscale voltage imaging was performed in adult C57BL/6NJ mice that had been exposed to auditory stress on gestational days 12-16, the age at which neocortex is developing. PS mice had a four-fold higher basal corticosterone level and reduced amplitude of cortical sensory-evoked responses to visual, auditory, whisker, forelimb, and hindlimb stimuli.

Safranal inhibits NLRP3 inflammasome activation by preventing ASC oligomerization.

NLRP3 inflammasome is involved in several chronic inflammatory diseases. The inflammatory effect of the NLRP3 inflammasome is executed through IL-1β and IL-18. Therefore, IL-1β is one of the primary targets in chronic inflammatory conditions.