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Clarifying how increased atmospheric CO2 concentration (eCO2) contributes to accelerated land carbon sequestration remains important since this process is the largest negative feedback in the coupled carbon–climate system. Here, we constrain the sensitivity of the terrestrial carbon sink to eCO2 over the temperate Northern Hemisphere for the past five decades, using 12 terrestrial ecosystem models and data from seven CO2 enrichment experiments. This constraint uses the heuristic finding that the northern temperate carbon sink sensitivity to eCO2 is linearly related to the site-scale sensitivity across the models. The emerging data-constrained eCO2 sensitivity is 0.64 ± 0.28 PgC yr−1 per hundred ppm of eCO2. Extrapolating worldwide, this northern temperate sensitivity projects the global terrestrial carbon sink to increase by 3.5 ± 1.9 PgC yr−1 for an increase in CO2 of 100 ppm. This value suggests that CO2 fertilization alone explains most of the observed increase in global land carbon sink since the 1960s. More CO2 enrichment experiments, particularly in boreal, arctic and tropical ecosystems, are required to explain further the responsible processes.

One-bath dyeing and antibacterial finishing of cotton fabric using reactive dye as colorant and silver chloride (AgCl) as an antibacterial agent was conducted to streamline the process and enhance its economic efficiency. The effectiveness of the antibacterial agent in reactive dyeing of cotton fabric, was evaluated through exhaust method with 0.5% AgCl and continuous (pad dry cure) method with 5 g/l of AgCl, utilizing various dye concentrations (1%, 3%, 5% for exhaust; 1g/l, 3g/l, 5g/l for pad dry cure) according to a standard reactive dye recipe. Characterization of the one-bath dyed, and antibacterial finished cotton fabric was performed using K/S values to determine the optimal dye shade concentration and antibacterial activity was evaluated using agar diffusion method. It was observed that the exhaust method revealed an optimum dye concentration at (AgCl 0.5% and dye 5%), while pad dry cure method showed optimal dye concentration at (AgCl 5g/l and dye 5g/l). Antibacterial tests were conducted on the optimal specimens from both methods (AgCl 0.5%, 0.2%, dye 0.5% for exhaust; dye 5g/l, AgCl 5g/l, 2g/l for pad dry cure), showcasing resistance against bacterial growth. While inhibition zones were observed on treated specimens of the exhaust method, whereas the treated specimens of the pad dry cure method exhibited complete resistance to bacterial growth around the specimen. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To evaluate the quality and standard of hand-written operative notes in a teaching institute. Methods: This prospective study was carried out in the department of surgery, Fatima Hospital, Baqai Medical University, from January 2023 till May 2023. One hundred fifty operative notes from general surgery domain were considered. These notes were evaluated according to the guidelines of Royal College of Surgeons, with added-on a few variables by the author. Results: All 150 notes were handwritten. Resident surgeon wrote the operative notes under the supervision of primary surgeon. There was a deficiency in mentioning medical record number, procedure starting time and duration of surgery. An important statement about the hemostasis is that it is secured-per-operatively was not documented. The residents were reluctant to explain the surgical procedures diagrammatically. The operative room number was missing in all notes. Post operative instructions lacked the information for nothing per oral, blood pressure, temperature, pulse rate, and input and output charting. Conclusion: It is observed that the operative surgical notes were however explainable about the procedure, but quality and standard was not matchable with that of Royal College of Surgeons notes. Hence, a lack of formal training for the resident surgeons in operative notes writing was observed. This study is a thought provoker to the surgeons and a guide to resident trainees, and hospital management to provide a handful operative notes writing theme in the form of performa provided in the department. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

SUMMARY: Many viral diseases affect the poultry industry worldwide and pose a devastating economic impact in terms of morbidity and mortality. Generally, there is no treatment for these viral infections, but vaccines are used to control these diseases as prophylaxis. The CRISPR/Cas9 (Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats/CRISPR-associated protein9), a novel and cost-effective gene editing technique, has recently opened new horizons to find new treatments for viral infections by altering the genome of the host or virus. Moreover, this approach can be used to characterise host-virus affinity, elucidate the role of the viral genome, develop recombinant viral vaccines, modify the viral genome to discover antiviral therapies, and disease resistance. The development of several innovative vaccines against viral infections has been made possible by successful CRISPR/Cas9 editing of viral genomes. However, this gene-editing method has some side effects, one of which is off-target mutations. This manuscript summarises the ability of CRISPR/Cas9 to prevent and treat viral diseases in birds using recombinant vaccines and antiviral approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cellulose nanofibers, a sustainable and promising material with widespread applications, exhibit appreciable strength and excellent mechanical and physicochemical properties. The preparation of cellulosic nanofibers from food or agricultural residue is not sustainable. Therefore, this study was designed to use three halophytic plants (Cressa cretica, Phragmites karka, and Suaeda fruticosa) to extract cellulose for the subsequent conversion to cellulosic nanofibers composites. The other extracted biomass components including lignin, hemicellulose, and pectin were also utilized to obtain industrially valuable enzymes. The maximum pectinase (31.56 IU mL−1), xylanase (35.21 IU mL−1), and laccase (15.89 IU mL−1) were produced after the fermentation of extracted pectin, hemicellulose, and lignin from S. fruticosa, P. karka, and C. cretica, respectively. Cellulose was methylated (with a degree of substitution of 2.4) and subsequently converted into a composite using polyvinyl alcohol. Scanning electron microscopy and Fourier‐transform infrared spectroscopy confirmed the successful synthesis of the composites. The composites made up of cellulose from C. cretica and S. fruticosa had a high tensile strength (21.5 and 15.2 MPa) and low biodegradability (47.58% and 44.56%, respectively) after dumping for 3 months in soil, as compared with the composite from P. karka (98.79% biodegradability and 4.9 MPa tensile strength). Moreover, all the composites exhibited antibacterial activity against gram‐negative bacteria (Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae) and gram‐positive bacteria (Staphylococcus aureus). Hence, this study emphasizes the possibility for various industrial applications of biomass from halophytic plants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates and compares the physiological and behavioral characteristics of Kundhi buffalo bull calves focusing on the impact of age and size. Ten bull calves, aged between 14 to 18 months were selected and categorized into two groups: Group A: young (up to 14 months), with 210kg average body weight, and Group B: smaller (up to 18 months) with 305kg average body weight. The body weight of Kundhi buffalo calves linearly increased from the 1st to the 7th fortnight, with significant differences (p<0.05) observed between the two groups. The final body weight was higher in Group B (344.72 kg) when compared to Group A (262.04 kg). Similarly, scrotal circumference, girth, and length exhibited linear increases throughout the experiment with significant differences between the groups (p<0.05). Group B consistently showed larger scrotal circumferences (21.96 cm), girths (66.28 cm), and lengths (51.54 cm) compared to Group A (18.38 cm, 60.36 cm, and 47.44 cm, respectively). While testosterone and estradiol concentrations were non-significant (p>0.05) between the groups, they were higher in Group B (0.1504 ng/ml and 2.4724 pg/ml) than in Group A (0.1082 ng/ml and 2.2724 pg/ml). Behavioral observations, including nuzzling, sniffing, licking, bellowing, protrusion, and mounting, indicated higher scores in Group B. In both groups, mean nuzzling scores were (3.71 and 5.00), sniffing (0.28 and 1.28), licking (3.14 and 4.14), bellowing (0.85 and 2.14), protrusion (0.00 and 0.42), and mounting (0.00 and 1.28) in the "yes" category. These findings offer comprehensive insights into the physiological and behavioral differences influenced by age and size in Kundhi buffalo bull calves. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Advancements in science and technology have resulted in a noteworthy improvement in the productive performance of poultry birds. This improvement has been achieved using balanced nutritional practices, the use of feed additives that enhance growth and effective disease prevention or control. Emulsifiers are frequently used food additives in animal and poultry feed to improve growth performance and overall health. One of the benefits of emulsifiers is aiding in the mixing and stabilisation of fats and oils in feed, which can enhance the digestibility and absorption of nutrients. Emulsifiers commonly used in avian feed include bile salt, soy-lecithin, lysophatidyl choline, lecithin, Gglycerol polyethylene glycol ricinolate (E 484), and sodium stearoyl-2-lactylate (SSL). These emulsifiers are used to enhance fat digestibility and enhance productivity performance. Lecithin has recently gained interest as a possible fat emulsifier because of its several health benefits. Lecithin, derived from plants, is widely used as an emulsifier in the livestock and poultry feed industry. It comprises over 45 naturally occurring lipids, half of which are phospholipids. The addition of lecithin to the diet has demonstrated eenhanced effects on production performance and nutrient digestibility in avian birds, apart from improving their health status and thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) activity. Research has demonstrated that lecithin increases lipid metabolism and alleviates the negative effects of fatty liver haemorrhagic syndrome (FLHS) in laying birds. Feeding broilers, a diet containing 2% lecithin significantly reduces their blood cholesterol levels and improves their growth performance. This review offers an overview of lecithin's practical usefulness in poultry feed formulation and provides insight into its feasibility and efficacy with respect to fat digestion in poultry birds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The discovery of antibiotics has been one of the greatest milestones in the field of medical science that has played a pivotal role in advancing the progress and performance of the livestock and poultry sector. Antibiotics have been used in poultry diets at sub-therapeutic doses for growth promotion and at therapeutic levels for disease treatment. Inappropriate and indiscriminate use of antimicrobials leads to antibiotic resistance and transmission of resistant genes either directly or through bacteria from animal feed, or the environment. In fact, numerous feed supplements have been proposed over the years as antibiotic alternatives, to improve the health status, welfare and productive performance of poultry birds. However, organic acids (OA) have emerged as a potential antibiotic replacement due to their antimicrobial nature. Although, OA are abundant in nature as conventional components of animal and plant tissues, whereas, few of them are produced by microbial fermentation in the hindgut of animals. Interestingly, supplementation of several types of OA such as formic acid, lactic acid, fumaric acid, butyric acid, citric acid and tartaric acid have been shown to significantly improve the health status and production performance of poultry birds. At the same time, OA have also been investigated for their multiple therapeutic effects on pathological disorders, as antimicrobial, antifungal, antiprotozoal, and anticoccidial agents. In addition, OA provide protection by improving the immune system, physiology and morphology of the gastrointestinal tract (GIT). The prime objective of the present review is to highlight the therapeutic potential and beneficial uses of OA as an alternative to antibiotics in the poultry industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]