Utkal University

Gastric cancer poses a significant global health burden, particularly in advanced human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-negative cases where prognosis remains poor despite advances in immunochemotherapy. The recent study by Yao et al introduces a nomogram model integrating programmed death ligand 1 expression, microsatellite status, tumor-node-metastasis stage, tumor differentiation, neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio, and C-reactive protein-albumin-lymphocyte index to predict progression-free and overall survival. This letter discusses the model’s strengths, limitations, and its alignment with recent developments in biomarkers and therapies, emphasizing its potential for personalized medicine.

Nutrition literacy is the degree to which a person can obtain, process, and grasp basic dietetic information and services to make healthy food choices. This study explores a nutrition literacy initiative based on Paulo Freire's critical consciousness approach, integrated into an agricultural intervention aimed at improving nutrition outcomes in tribal communities in Odisha, through dialogic pedagogy. The action research is conducted across 1,575 households in 47 villages within Mathpada and Doraguda Panchayats, located in Boipariguda Block, Koraput district, Odisha, Eastern India. The program trained 108 adult participants, designated Community Hunger Fighters (CHFs), in two intensive residential modules totalling five days over two months. Using facilitated dialogue, the CHFs critically examined the causes of low dietary diversity within their communities, identifying interconnected social, economic, and cultural obstacles to adequate food intake amidst poverty. They collaboratively engaged in planning agricultural activities sensitive to nutritional needs. Researchers documented transformative behaviours among the CHFs using qualitative methods (observations, interviews, focus groups) and specific indicators. The dialogic approach successfully stimulated community-wide discourse on food security. CHFs distilled key messages from their discussions and disseminated them creatively to fellow villagers. This process of critical analysis enabled participants to recognise gender inequalities, pinpoint constraints in local food production, adopt lifestyle changes to improve dietary intake, and express demand for agricultural technical training. Outcomes included 38 CHFs establishing nutri-gardens and many assuming leadership roles on broader community issues beyond food security. This experience demonstrates that employing dialogue as a core educational strategy within agricultural nutrition programs can effectively catalyse critical reflection on the socio-cultural and economic barriers hindering both food production and consumption. This reflection, in turn, can empower communities and drive transformative actions towards improved food security and nutrition.

Caregivers are essential in influencing developmental patterns and treatment outcomes in children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD); nevertheless, caregiver mental health has not been adequately integrated into the autism intervention literature and practice. They were based on the family-centered and transactional development frameworks, and this study analyzed the direct and indirect connections between the mental health of caregivers, therapeutic engagement, and adaptive skills among children with ASD. The cross-sectional type of quantitative design was adopted, which entailed a total of 312 caregivers with a confirmed diagnosis of ASD and children aged between 3 and 12 years. Mental health mental health of the caregiver (stress, anxiety, and depressive syndrome) and therapeutic contact (attendance, in-session participation, and home-based implementation) and adaptive skills of the child (communication, daily skills, and socialization) were measured using standardized measures. The analysis of data was done with descriptive statistics, Pearson correlations, multiple regression analysis, and mediation analysis with bootstrapping. The findings showed that greater amounts of caregiver psychological distress were strongly linked with reduced levels of therapeutic engagement and poor adaptive functioning in all domains. There was a positive relationship between therapeutic engagement and adaptive communication, daily living skills, and socialization. Mediation analyses revealed that therapeutic engagement mediated the relationship between caregiver mental health and child adaptive skills with significant indirect effects found among all adaptive domains. Interestingly, mental health of caregivers remained having a considerable direct effect on adaptive outcomes, which implies a direct and an engagement-mediated influence. These results emphasize the role of caregiver mental health as a severe determinant of intervention participation and development of adaptive skills in the children with ASD. By incorporating mental health assistance of caregivers into the services of autism intervention, it can be expected that therapeutic adherence and maximization of functional outcomes might be achieved.

Chlorpyrifos and malathion are both widely used pesticides that pose significant hazards to the environment. Siliceous MCM-48 functionalized with 3-Aminopropyltriethoxysilane modification (AMCM-48) was employed as a highly efficient adsorbent, achieving removal capacities of 957 and 540 mg g-1 for chlorpyrifos and malathion, respectively. The presence of characteristic XRD patterns in the range 2θ = 2-5°, along with BET surface areas of 787 and 593 m2 g-1, ascertained the retention of the mesoporous structure during functionalization. A subsequent drop in the surface area to 197 and 191 m2 g-1 indicates that chlorpyrifos and malathion are, respectively, adsorbed onto the internal pores of AMCM-48. FTIR and EDX characterization confirmed the uptake of pesticide molecules by AMCM-48. The maximum removal efficiency of CP (90.02%) was obtained within 27 min, when 90 mg L-1 of CP was contacted with 40 mg of AMCM-48, at 31 °C. MTH uptake was 86.24% when 12 mg L-1 was contacted with 35 mg of adsorbent at 41 °C, optimized by RSM-CCD. The adsorption parametric studies fitted well into the Langmuir model and pseudo-second order kinetics. The thermodynamic parameters (ΔG°, ΔH°, and ΔS°) indicated the exothermic and spontaneous nature of adsorption. The above analyses indicated that the adsorption was primarily driven by high surface area, hydrogen bonding, dipole-dipole interactions, and electrostatic forces. Desorption at higher pH achieved approximately 85% recovery, reflecting reversible physical interactions. AMCM-48 demonstrated excellent reusability, maintaining significant adsorption capacities for both pesticides over seven consecutive cycles. Overall, AMCM-48 is a simple and sustainable adsorbent for efficient pesticide removal.

This manuscript investigates thermosolutal mixed convection flow in a vertical pipe within a porous medium, subject to a transverse magnetic field. The fluid is considered to be fully developed, electrically conducting, and heat-generating/absorbing. The non-Darcy Brinkman-Forchheimer-extended model is used to characterise the flow in the porous medium. Numerical solutions for the coupled differential equations are obtained using the Chebyshev spectral-collocation approach. It is observed that, under limiting conditions, our numerical results show good agreement with existing numerical data. The impact of various parameters, such as the Hartmann number (M), heat absorption/generation parameter (Q), and Forchheimer number (F), on the velocity, temperature, and concentration profiles has been analysed. An unusual deviation is observed in both the velocity and temperature profiles beyond a certain value of the heat generation parameter. Initially, increasing the magnetic field strength reduces the fluid velocity. However, beyond a threshold, the velocity profile flattens across the domain, while the temperature profile increases and the concentration profile decreases. Elevated drag forces within the medium result in smoother and flatter velocity profiles. An increase in the heat absorption parameter leads to higher peak temperatures and concentrations.