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Abstract The utilization of biochar’s as soil amendments for enhancing nutrient retention in subsoils present potential limitations. To address this issue, we conducted a greenhouse experiment to assess the effects of various biochar’s derived from animal manures (swine manure, poultry litter, cattle manure) and plant residues (rice straw, soybean straw, corn straw) when applied to surface of an acidic soil. Our study focused on wheat crops under a no-tillage system, with a subsequent evaluation of the residual impacts on soybeans. The experimental design involved the application of biochar’s at different rates i.e. 10 and 20 Mg ha−1, followed by the assessment of their influence on NPK levels, pH, and exchangeable Al in stratified soil layers (0–5, 5–10, 10–15, and 15–25 cm). Furthermore, we investigated the interplay between biochar doses and the application of nitrogen (N) in the top 5 cm of soil, specifically examining $${\text{NO}}_{{3}}^{ - }$$ NO 3 - , $${\text{NH}}_{{4}}^{ + }$$ NH 4 + , P and K levels. Our findings revealed that in the top 5 cm of soil, biochar doses and N application significantly affected $${\text{NO}}_{{3}}^{ - }$$ NO 3 - , $${\text{NH}}_{{4}}^{ + }$$ NH 4 + , P and K concentrations. However, in deeper soil layers, no significant differences were observed among biochar doses with or without N application. Interestingly, K levels were impacted throughout all soil depths, regardless of the presence or absence of N application. Moreover, biochar application up to a 5 cm depth induced favorable changes in soil pH and reduced exchangeable Al. In contrast, deeper layers experienced a decrease in soil pH and an increase in exchangeable Al following biochar treatment. In conclusion, our study demonstrates that biochar’s can effectively retain NPK nutrients, enhance soil pH, and decrease exchangeable Al, independent of the type and dosage of application under a no-tillage system. Nonetheless, the efficacy of biochar amendments may vary with soil depth and type of nutrient, warranting careful consideration for maximizing their benefits in sustainable agricultural practices.

Objective The prevalence of postnatal anxiety is high among women during the first year of childbirth globally. Rates are higher in low and middle-income countries (LMICs), that is, 24%. Existing literature on maternal mood and its impact on child development has largely focused on postnatal depression. Postnatal anxiety has been recognised to have significant independent effects similar to those of postnatal depression, including negative effects on various aspects of maternal well-being including quality of life, parent–child interaction and child development. The evidence exploring lived experiences of postnatal anxiety is limited from LMICs. This study explored the lived experiences of anxiety in postnatal mothers in Pakistan.Design A phenomenological approach was used for this qualitative study. The audio-recorded interviews were transcribed and analysed using the process of thematic analysis.Settings The study was conducted in two community settings in Karachi, Pakistan; the Bin Qasim and Gadap town.Participants Women who were 18 years of age or older, had a live childbirth within the previous 12 months and had a score of 10 or higher on the Generalised Anxiety Disorder-7.Results In-depth, one-to-one interviews were conducted with 10 participants. The qualitative data comprised of three themes. Theme one: Factors perceived to be associated with postnatal anxiety, Theme two: The perceived impact of postnatal anxiety and Theme three: Support needs. The first theme was further subdivided into two subthemes, that is, Mothers’ perception of navigating domestic responsibilities and sociocultural norms of motherhood and financial constraints.Conclusion Despite the high prevalence of postnatal anxiety in LMICs there is not any published evidence on exploring this phenomenon through in-depth research in Pakistan. Understanding the lived experiences will help health professionals to identify women at risk of developing postnatal anxiety and to develop effective culturally appropriate interventions for women with anxiety during this postnatal period.

الأهداف: يعد الابيضاض من الأمراض المتزايدة حول العالم، ونظراً إلى أن الخلايا الورمية تعتمد على تحلل السكر اللاهوائي لاستهلاك الطاقة الذي يؤدي إلى ارتفاع تراكيز LDH المصلية، مما دفعنا لدراسة الأهمية الإنذارية لهذا الأنزيم بهدف البحث عن واسم نوعي، سهل التحليل وقليل التكلفة. الطرق: اشتملت الدراسة على 105 مشارك: 75 مريضاً مشخصين حديثاً بابيضاض دم حاد (40 مريضاً مصاباً بابيضاض نقوي حاد و35 مريضاً مصاباً بابيضاض لمفاوي حاد)، و30 مشاركاً من الأشخاص الأصحاء ظاهرياً. تمت معايرة مستويات الـ LDH بتقنية المعايرة الطيفية الضوئية بواسطة جهاز Mindray. تم تقسيم عينات المرضى وفقاً لمستويات LDH المصل إلى ثلاث مجموعات: المجموعة A لديهم مستويات LDH أقل من ضعفي القيمة الطبيعية، المجموعة B لديهم مستويات LDH بين ضعفي إلى خمس أضعاف القيمة الطبيعية أما المجموعة C لديهم مستويات LDH أكبر من خمس أضعاف القيمة الطبيعية. النتائج: كانت معدلات البقيا الإجمالية والبقيا الخالية من النكس أعلى بشكل هام إحصائياً في المجموعة ذات مستويات LDH الأقل، حيث لوحظ فرقاً إحصائياً هاماً بين مجموعات المرضى الثلاث التي تم تقسيمها وفقاً لمستويات LDH، فكانت نسبة البقيا الإجمالية والبقيا الخالية من النكس (93.8% و68.6%) على التوالي في المجموعة A. الاستنتاجات: تعتبر مستويات LDH المصل قبل العلاج مشعراً تنبؤياً هاماً لدى مرضى الابيضاض، وتترافق المستويات العالية من الـ LDH مع إنذارية سيئة ومعدل بقيا منخفض، ويمكن الاعتماد عليه كفحص روتيني غير مكلف وسهل التحليل.

Abstract A potent napin protein has been thoroughly characterized from seeds of rocket salad (Eruca sativa). Eruca sativa napin (EsNap) was purified by ammonium sulfate precipitation (70%) and size-exclusion chromatography. Single intact 16 kDa EsNap band was reduced to 11 and 5 kDa bands respectively on SDS-PAGE. Nano LC–MS/MS yielded two fragments comprising of 26 residues which showed 100% sequence identity with napin-3 of Brassica napus. CD spectroscopy indicated a dominant α-helical structure of EsNap. Monodispersity of EsNap was verified by dynamic light scattering, which also confirmed the monomeric status with a corresponding hydrodynamic radius of 2.4 ± 0.2 nm. An elongated ab initio shape of EsNap was calculated based on SAXS data, with an Rg of 1.96 ± 0.1 nm. The ab initio model calculated by DAMMIF with P1 symmetry and a volume of approx. 31,100 nm3, which corresponded to a molecular weight of approximately 15.5 kDa. The comparison of the SAXS and ab initio modeling showed a minimized χ2-value of 1.87, confirming a similar molecular structure. A homology model was predicted using the coordinate information of Brassica napus rproBnIb (PDB ID: 1SM7). EsNap exhibited strong antifungal activity by significantly inhibiting the growth of Fusarium graminearum. EsNap also showed cytotoxicity against the hepatic cell line Huh7 and the obtained IC50 value was 20.49 µM. Further, strong entomotoxic activity was experienced against different life stages of stored grain insect pest T. castaneum. The result of this study shows insights that can be used in developing potential antifungal, anti-cancerous and insect resistance agents in the future using EsNap from E. sativa.

Temperature is a key factor influencing plant growth and productivity, but its sudden rise can cause severe consequences on crop performances. Early sowing and application of growth promoting agents as a foliar spray can be a sustainable approach to cope with high temperature stress at grain filling stage of cereal crops. Therefore, a test was designed to explore the potential of different growth helping agents including sorghum water extract (SWE, 10 ml L-1), moringa leaf extract (MLE, 3%), hydrogen peroxide (H2O2, 2 μM), salicylic acid (SA, 50 mg L-1) and ascorbic acid (ASA, 50 mg L-1) as foliar agents at different sowing dates (early and optimum) to cope with temperature stress in maize. The results stated that foliar application of growth promoting substances successfully persuaded high temperature tolerance at reproductive phase of maize in early and optimum sowings when compared to control. However, SWE + ASA, MLE + H2O2 and SWE + ASA + SA + H2O2 were the best combinations for improving growth, development, and physiological variables under both sowing dates even under suboptimal temperature. All foliar applications significantly increased maize grain and biological yields while maximum was observed in SWE + ASA followed by SWE + ASA + SA + H2O2 or MLE + H2O2 that were statistically at par with ASA + SA + H2O2 but plants without spray or distilled water application did not improve grain and biological yields. Overall, the foliar applications of growth promoting substances enable the plant to enhance its growth, development, morphology, yield and biochemical variables.

While antimicrobial resistance (AMR) continues to be a major public health problem in Pakistan, data regarding trends of resistance among pathogenic bacteria remains scarce, with few studies presenting long-term trends in AMR. This study was therefore designed to analyze long-term AMR trends at a national level in Pakistan. We report here results of a comprehensive analysis of resistance, among pathogens isolated from blood and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), between 2011 and 2015. Susceptibility data was obtained from a local laboratory with collection points all across Pakistan (Chughtai Laboratory). Resistance proportions to most commonly used antimicrobials were calculated for each pathogen over a period of five years. While Acinetobacter species demonstrated highest resistance rates to all tested antimicrobials, a sharp increase in carbapenem resistance was the most noticeable (50%-95%) between 2011-2015. Our results also highlight the presence of third and fourth generation cephalosporins resistance in Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi in Pakistan. Interestingly, where rise in AMR was being observed in some major invasive pathogens, decreasing resistance trends were observed in Staphylococcus aureus, against commonly used antimicrobials. Overall pathogens isolated from blood and CSF between 2011-2015, showed an increase in resistance towards commonly used antimicrobials.

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper.

Cotton leaf curl Multan virus (CLCuMuV) is a serious and economically important viral disease agent in cotton and ornamental plants like Hibiscus in many regions of the world, especially in South Asia. CLCuMuV is transmitted exclusively by Bemisia tabaci cryptic species complex. This virus was recently recorded in southern China, presumably an invasion from South Asia. This study was performed to estimate the efficiency of three species of the B. tabaci whitefly complex (tentatively named as MEAM1, MED and Asia II 7, respectively) to transmit CLCuMuV and Cotton leaf curl multan virus betasatelite (CLCuMuB). Transmission assays and real-time quantitative PCR were conducted using three cultivars of cotton, Gossypium hirsutum, including 112-2, Xinhai-21 and Zhongmian-40. The results indicated that Asia II 7 was able to transmit the virus to two of the cotton cultivars, i.e. 112-2 and Xinhai-21, with the highest transmission efficiencies of 40% and 30%, respectively, but was unable to transmit the virus to the cotton cultivar Zhongmian-40. MEAM1 and MED failed to transmit CLCuMuV and CLCuMuB to any of the three cotton cultivars. After the three cryptic species of whiteflies had fed on virus-infected cotton plants for 48 h, the relative quantity of CLCuMuV in Asia II 7 was detected to be significantly higher than that in both MEAM1 and MED (P

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0040884.].

Background: Pollination has a great effect on the yield of fruit trees. Blow flies are considered as an effective pollinator compared to hand pollination in fruit orchards. Therefore, this study was designed to evaluate the effect of different pollination methods in mango orchards. Methodology: The impact of pollination on quantity and quality of mango yield by blow flies was estimated by using three treatments, i.e., open pollinated trees, trees were covered by a net in the presence of blow flies for pollination, and trees were covered with a net but without insects. Results: The maximum number of flowers was recorded in irregular types of inflorescence, i.e., 434.80 flowers/inflorescence. Fruit setting (bud) was higher in open pollinated mango trees (i.e. 37.00/inflorescence) than enclosed pollination by blow flies (i.e. 22.34/inflorescence). The size of the mango fruit was the highest (5.06 mm) in open pollinated tree than those pollinated by blow flies (3.93 mm) and followed by without any pollinator (3.18 mm) at marble stage. We found that the maximum weight of mango fruit (201.19 g) was in open pollinated trees. Discussion: The results demonstrated that blow flies can be used as effective mango pollinators along with other flies and bees. The blow flies have shown a positive impact on the quality and quantity of mango. This study will be helpful in future and also applicable at farm level to use blow flies as pollinators that are cheap and easy to rear.

Marine debris is a growing problem for wildlife, and has been documented to affect more than 267 species worldwide. We investigated the prevalence of marine debris ingestion in 115 sea turtles stranded in Queensland between 2006-2011, and assessed how the ingestion rates differ between species (Eretmochelys imbricata vs. Chelonia mydas) and by turtle size class (smaller oceanic feeders vs. larger benthic feeders). Concurrently, we conducted 25 beach surveys to estimate the composition of the debris present in the marine environment. Based on this proxy measurement of debris availability, we modeled turtles' debris preferences (color and type) using a resource selection function, a method traditionally used for habitat and food selection. We found no significant difference in the overall probability of ingesting debris between the two species studied, both of which have similar life histories. Curved carapace length, however, was inversely correlated with the probability of ingesting debris; 54.5% of pelagic sized turtles had ingested debris, whereas only 25% of benthic feeding turtles were found with debris in their gastrointestinal system. Benthic and pelagic sized turtles also exhibited different selectivity ratios for debris ingestion. Benthic phase turtles had a strong selectivity for soft, clear plastic, lending support to the hypothesis that sea turtles ingest debris because it resembles natural prey items such as jellyfish. Pelagic turtles were much less selective in their feeding, though they showed a trend towards selectivity for rubber items such as balloons. Most ingested items were plastic and were positively buoyant. This study highlights the need to address increasing amounts of plastic in the marine environment, and provides evidence for the disproportionate ingestion of balloons by marine turtles.