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Background: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is suspected to mainly be more deleterious in patients with underlying cardiovascular diseases (CVD). There is a strong association between hypertension and COVID-19 severity. The binding of SARS-CoV-2 to the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) leads to deregulation of the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS) through down-regulation of ACE2 with subsequent increment of the harmful Ang II serum levels and reduction of the protective Ang-(1–7). Both angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs) and angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEIs) are commonly used to manage hypertension. Objective: Objective was to illustrate the potential link between hypertension and COVID-19 regarding the role of angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs) and angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEIs) in hypertensive patients with COVID-19. Methods: We carried out comprehensive databases search from late December 2019 to early January 2021 by using online engines of Web of Science, Research gate, Scopus, Google Scholar, and PubMed for published and preprinted articles. Results: The present study's findings showed that hypertension is regarded as an independent risk factor for COVID-19 severity. Both ACEIs and ARBs are beneficial in managing hypertensive patients. Conclusion: This study concluded that hypertension increases COVID-19 severity due to underlying endothelial dysfunctions and coagulopathy. COVID-19 might augment the hypertensive complications due to down-regulation of ACE2. The use of ACEIs or ARBs might be beneficial in the management of hypertensive patients with COVID-19.

Abstract Background Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a possible risk factor for chronic kidney disease (CKD). Renal resistive index (RRI) which is a ratio of peak systolic and end diastolic velocity can test arterial stiffness and endothelial renal dysfunction. The aim of the work is to detect the relation between NAFLD and RRI as an indicator of early renal affection and its relation to the disease severity. This study included 150 subjects divided into 3 groups: patients with NASH, simple steatosis, and control group (50 patients each). All patients were subjected to full history taking, clinical examination, laboratory investigations, abdominal ultrasound examination, and RRI measurement. Results 6.0% of NASH patients had significant fibrosis by NAFLD fibrosis score. RRI was significantly higher in NASH patients with fibrosis (mean = 0.74) than NASH patients without fibrosis (mean = 0.65) and patients with simple steatosis (mean = 0.63). It was the lowest in normal controls (mean = 0.61). There were significant correlations between RRI and age, BMI, serum lipids, liver enzymes, and NAFLD fibrosis score. Multiple linear regression analysis found that age and serum cholesterol were significant independent factors of increased RRI (p

Salt stress is considered one of the major constraints limiting plant growth. Here, tomato plants were grown in hydroponic culture with two salt sodium chloride concentrations (S1 = 2.8 dS m−1 and S2 = 4.8 dS m−1). Under salt treatment, a significant decrease in chlorophyll content index and shoot and root dry weight were observed. We found that copper (Cu) was accumulated significantly in the shoot and sodium (Na) was significantly accumulated in the root. Furthermore, a significant nutrient imbalance indicated by a decrease in phosphorus (P), and potassium (K) uptake was measured. These decreases were accompanied by an increase in Na and Cu contents. A decrease in chlorophyll fluorescence yield was also observed indicating an inhibition at photosystem I acceptor sites. It seems that the downregulation of the electron transport between photosystem II and photosystem II under salt stress could be due to an imbalance in nutrient uptake.

The intensive care unit (ICU) admits the most seriously ill patients requiring extensive monitoring. Early ICU mortality prediction is crucial for identifying patients who are at great risk of dying and for providing suitable interventions to save their lives. Accordingly, early prediction of patients at high mortality risk will enable their provision of appropriate and timely medical services. Although various severity scores and machine-learning models have recently been developed for early mortality prediction, such prediction remains challenging. This paper proposes a novel stacking ensemble approach to predict the mortality of ICU patients. Our approach is more accurate and medically intuitive compared to the literature work. Data were prepared and feature selection was processed under the supervision of the ICU domain expert. The data were split into six modalities based on the expert's decisions. For the prediction process, a separate classifier was selected for each modality based on the performance of the classifiers. We utilized the most popular and diverse classifiers in the literature, including linear discriminant analysis, decision tree (DT), multilayer perceptron, k-nearest neighbor, and logistic regression (LR). Then, a stacking ensemble classifier was constructed and optimized based on the fusion of these five classifier decisions. The framework was evaluated using 10,664 patients from the medical information mart for intensive care (MIMIC III) benchmark dataset. To predict patient mortality, extensive experiments were conducted using the patients' time series data of different lengths. For each patient, the first 6, 12, and 24 hours of the first stay were tested. The results indicate that our model outperformed the state-of-the-art approaches in terms of accuracy (94.4%), F1 score (93.7%), precision (96.4%), recall (91.1%), and area under the receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curve (93.3%). These results demonstrate the ability and efficiency of our approach to predict ICU mortality.

Recently, deep learning techniques demonstrated efficiency in building better performing machine learning models which are required in the field of offline Arabic handwriting recognition. Our ancient civilizations presented valuable handwritten manuscripts that need to be documented digitally. If we compared between Latin and the isolated Arabic character recognition, the latter is much more challenging due to the similarity between characters, and the variability of the writing styles. This paper proposes a multi-stage cascading system to serve the field of offline Arabic handwriting recognition. The approach starts with applying the Hierarchical Agglomerative Clustering (HAC) technique to split the database into partially inter-related clusters. The inter-relations between the constructed clusters support representing the database as a big search tree model and help to attain a reduced complexity in matching each test image with a cluster. Cluster members are then ranked based on our new proposed ranking algorithm. This ranking algorithm starts with computing Pyramid Histogram of Oriented Gradients (PHoG), and is followed by measuring divergence by Kullback-Leibler method. Eventually, the classification process is applied only to the highly ranked matching classes. A comparative study is made to assess the effect of six different deep Convolution Neural Networks (DCNNs) on the final recognition rates of the proposed system. Experiments are done using the IFN/ENIT Arabic database. The proposed clustering and ranking stages lead to using only 11% of the whole database in classifying test images. Accordingly, more reduced computation complexity and more enhanced classification results are achieved compared to recent existing systems.

Abstract The aim of the research was to compare the impact of short-term deprivation of selected macronutrients (Ca, K, Mg and P) on the photosynthetic characteristics, transpiration and pigment content in maize. The strongest inhibition of photosynthesis was caused by a deprivation of Mg, which was visible as a decrease in the photosynthetic and transpiration rates, stomatal conductance, photosystem II (PSII) performance, chlorophyll and flavonol content with a simultaneously increased content of anthocyanins. In the K-deprived plants, a decrease in the photosynthetic rate was observed. However, the transpiration rate and stomatal conductance did not differ significantly compared with the control. In the K-deprived plants, a decrease in chlorophyll and an increase in the anthocyanin content were also observed. We showed that Ca starvation resulted in a decrease in the photosynthetic and transpiration rates, stomatal conductance and PSII performance, while the pigment content was not significantly different compared with the control. In the case of P-deprived plants, we observed a decrease in the photosynthetic and transpiration rates. Interestingly, the inhibition of stomatal conductance was the strongest in the P-deprived plants compared with all of the investigated elements. However, the performance of PSII was not significantly affected by P starvation compared with the control. Our results present for the first time a comprehensive analysis of the effect of short-term macronutrient deprivation on photosynthesis and transpiration in maize plants.

Abstract Background Results of percutaneous balloon mitral valvuloplasty (BMV) are basically dependent on suitable patient selection. Currently used two-dimensional (2D) echocardiography (2DE) scores have many limitations. Three-dimensional (3D) echocardiography (3DE)-based scores were developed for better patient selection and outcome prediction. We aimed to compare between 3D-Anwar and 2D-Wilkins scores in mitral assessment for BMV, and investigate the additive value of 3DE in prediction of immediate post-procedural outcome. Fifty patients with rheumatic mitral stenosis and candidates for BMV were included. Patients were subjected to 2D- and real-time 3D-transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) before and immediately after BMV for assessing MV area (MVA), 2D-Wilkins and 3D-Anwar score, commissural splitting, and mitral regurgitation (MR). Transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) was also undertaken immediately before and intra-procedural. Percutaneous BMV was performed by either multi-track or Inoue balloon technique. Results The 2DE underestimated post-procedural MVA than 3DE (p = 0.008). Patients with post-procedural suboptimal MVA or significant MR had higher 3D-Anwar score compared to 2D-Wilkins score (p = 0.008 and p = 0.03 respectively). The 3D-Anwar score showed a negative correlation with post-procedural MVA (r = − 0.48, p = 0.001). Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis for both scores revealed superior prediction of suboptimal results by 3D-Anwar score (p < 0.0001). The 3DE showed better post-procedural posterior-commissural splitting than 2DE (p = 0.004). Results of both multi-track and Inoue balloon were comparable except for favorable posterior-commissural splitting by multi-track balloon (p = 0.04). Conclusion The 3DE gave valuable additive data before BMV that may predict immediate post-procedural outcome and suboptimal results.

Background and Aim: Ivermectin (IVM) has been used in veterinary practice to control different parasitic infestations over the past two decades. This study aimed to re-assess the acaricidal effects of IVM, as well as to evaluate its efficacy against Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) annulatus by determining the mortality rate, γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) level, and oxidative/ antioxidative homeostasis (malondialdehyde [MDA] levels and glutathione S-transferase [GST] activities). Materials and Methods: Adult females of Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) annulatus were picked from cattle farms in El-Beheira Governorate, Egypt. Ticks were equally allocated to seven experimental groups to assess the acaricidal potential of IVM chemotherapeutics in controlling R. (B.) annulatus. IVM was prepared at three concentrations (11.43, 17.14, and 34.28 μM of IVM). Results: Mortality rate was calculated among the treated ticks. In addition, GABA, GST, and MDA biomarker levels were monitored. The data revealed a noticeable change in GST activity, a detoxification enzyme found in R. (B.) annulatus, through a critical elevation in mortality percentage. Conclusion: IVM-induced potent acaricidal effects against R. (B.) annulatus by repressing GST activity for the initial 24 h after treatment. Collectively, this paper reports the efficacy of IVM in a field population of R. (B.) annulatus in Egypt.

Abstract Sorting an array of n elements represents one of the leading problems in different fields of computer science such as databases, graphs, computational geometry, and bioinformatics. A large number of sorting algorithms have been proposed based on different strategies. Recently, a sequential algorithm, called double hashing sort (DHS) algorithm, has been shown to exceed the quick sort algorithm in performance by 10–25%. In this paper, we study this technique from the standpoints of complexity analysis and the algorithm’s practical performance. We propose a new complexity analysis for the DHS algorithm based on the relation between the size of the input and the domain of the input elements. Our results reveal that the previous complexity analysis was not accurate. We also show experimentally that the counting sort algorithm performs significantly better than the DHS algorithm. Our experimental studies are based on six benchmarks; the percentage of improvement was roughly 46% on the average for all cases studied.

Our investigation includes the synthesis of new naphthalene-bis-triazole-bis-quinolin-2(1H)-ones 4a–e and 7a–e via Cu-catalyzed [3 + 2] cycloadditions of 4-azidoquinolin-2(1H)-ones 3a–e with 1,5-/or 1,8-bis(prop-2-yn-1-yloxy)naphthalene (2) or (6). All structures of the obtained products have been confirmed with different spectroscopic analyses. Additionally, a mild and versatile method based on copper-catalyzed [3 + 2] cycloaddition (Meldal–Sharpless reaction) was developed to tether quinolinones to O-atoms of 1,5- or 1,8-dinaphthols. The triazolo linkers could be considered as anti and syn products, which are interesting precursors for functionalized epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) inhibitors with potential apoptotic antiproliferative action. The antiproliferative activities of the 4a–e and 7a–e were evaluated. Compounds 4a–e and 7a–e demonstrated strong antiproliferative activity against the four tested cancer cell lines, with mean GI50 ranging from 34 nM to 134 nM compared to the reference erlotinib, which had a GI50 of 33 nM. The most potent derivatives as antiproliferative agents, compounds 4a, 4b, and 7d, were investigated for their efficacy as EGFR inhibitors, with IC50 values ranging from 64 nM to 97 nM. Compounds 4a, 4b, and 7d demonstrated potent apoptotic effects via their effects on caspases 3, 8, 9, Cytochrome C, Bax, and Bcl2. Finally, docking studies show the relevance of the free amino group of the quinoline moiety for antiproliferative action via hydrogen bond formation with essential amino acids.

Genus Angelica is one of the widely distributed and well-known genera of family Umbelliferae. It is utilized mainly by Chinese and Korean populations especially in their folk medicine. Angelica comprises a lot of medicinally important phytoconstituents such as coumarins, furanocoumarins, flavonoids, essential oils, verbascosides, polysaccharides, etc. Members of this genus play important roles, namely antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-microbial, anti-diabetic, skin-whitening, cytotoxic, hepatoprotective, and many others. This review draws attention to many species of genus Angelica with much focus on A. dahurica being one of the highly medicinally used species within this genus.

Stem cells are a versatile source for cell therapy. Their use is particularly significant for the treatment of neurological disorders for which no definitive conventional medical treatment is available. Neurological disorders are of diverse etiology and pathogenesis. Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is caused by abnormal protein deposits, leading to progressive dementia. Parkinson’s disease (PD) is due to the specific degeneration of the dopaminergic neurons causing motor and sensory impairment. Huntington’s disease (HD) includes a transmittable gene mutation, and any treatment should involve gene modulation of the transplanted cells. Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune disorder affecting multiple neurons sporadically but induces progressive neuronal dysfunction. Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) impacts upper and lower motor neurons, leading to progressive muscle degeneration. This shows the need to try to tailor different types of cells to repair the specific defect characteristic of each disease. In recent years, several types of stem cells were used in different animal models, including transgenic animals of various neurologic disorders. Based on some of the successful animal studies, some clinical trials were designed and approved. Some studies were successful, others were terminated and, still, a few are ongoing. In this manuscript, we aim to review the current information on both the experimental and clinical trials of stem cell therapy in neurological disorders of various disease mechanisms. The different types of cells used, their mode of transplantation and the molecular and physiologic effects are discussed. Recommendations for future use and hopes are highlighted.

Lung cancer is the second most commonly diagnosed cancer in the world. In terms of the diagnosis of lung cancer, combination carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) and cancer antigen 125 (CA125) detection had higher sensitivity, specificity, and diagnostic odds ratios than CEA detection alone. Most individuals with elevated serum CA125 levels had lung cancer that was either in stage 3 or stage 4. Serum CA125 levels were similarly elevated in lung cancer patients who also had pleural effusions or ascites. Furthermore, there is strong evidence that human lung cancer produces CA125 in vitro, which suggests that other clinical illnesses outside of ovarian cancer could also be responsible for the rise of CA125. MUC16 (CA125) is a natural killer cell inhibitor. As a screening test for lung and ovarian cancer diagnosis and prognosis in the early stages, CA125 has been widely used as a marker in three different clinical settings. MUC16 mRNA levels in lung cancer are increased regardless of gender. As well, increased expression of mutated MUC16 enhances lung cancer cells proliferation and growth. Additionally, the CA125 serum level is thought to be a key indicator for lung cancer metastasis to the liver. Further, CA125 could be a useful biomarker in other cancer types diagnoses like ovarian, breast, and pancreatic cancers. One of the important limitations of CA125 as a first step in such a screening technique is that up to 20% of ovarian tumors lack antigen expression. Each of the 10 possible serum markers was expressed in 29–100% of ovarian tumors with minimal or no CA125 expression. Therefore, there is a controversy regarding CA125 in the diagnosis and prognosis of lung cancer and other cancer types. In this state, preclinical and clinical studies are warranted to elucidate the clinical benefit of CA125 in the diagnosis and prognosis of lung cancer.

Synthesis of thiazolidinone based on quinolone moiety was established starting from 4-hydroxyquinol-2-ones. The strategy started with the reaction of ethyl bromoacetate with 4-hydroxyquinoline to give the corresponding ethyl oxoquinolinyl acetates, which reacted with hydrazine hydrate to afford the hydrazide derivatives. Subsequently, hydrazides reacted with isothiocyanate derivatives to give the corresponding N,N-disubstituted thioureas. Finally, on subjecting the N,N-disubstituted thioureas with dialkyl acetylenedicarboxylates, cyclization occurred, and thiazolidinone derivatives were obtained in good yields. The two series based on quinolone moiety, one containing N,N-disubstituted thioureas and the other containing thiazolidinone functionalities, were screened for their in vitro urease inhibition properties using thiourea and acetohydroxamic acid as standard inhibitors. The inhibition values of the synthesized thioureas and thiazolidinones exhibited moderate to good inhibitory effects. The structure−activity relationship revealed that N-methyl quinolonyl moiety exhibited a superior effect, since it was proved to be the most potent inhibitor in the present series achieving (IC50 = 1.83 ± 0.79 µM). The previous compound exhibited relatively much greater activity, being approximately 12-fold more potent than thiourea and acetohydroxamic acid as references. Molecular docking analysis showed a good protein−ligand interaction profile against the urease target (PDBID: 4UBP), emphasizing the electronic and geometric effect of N,N-disubstituted thiourea.

Plants are a promising source of bioactive compounds that can be used to tackle many emerging diseases both infectious and non-infectious. Among different plants, Acacia is a very large genus and exhibits a diverse array of bioactive agents with remarkable pharmacological properties against different diseases. Acacia, a herb found all over the world, contains approximately more than 1200 species of the Fabaceae family. In the present review, we have collected detailed information on biochemical as well as pharmacological properties. The data were retrieved using different databases, such as Elsevier, PubMed, Science Direct, Google Scholar, and Scopus, and an extensive literature survey was carried out. Studies have shown that Acacia possesses several secondary metabolites, including amines, cyanogenic glycosides, flavonoids, alkaloids, seed oils, cyclitols, fluoroacetate, gums, non-protein amino acids, diterpenes, fatty acids, terpenes, hydrolyzable tannins, and condensed tannins. These compounds exhibit a wide range of pharmaceutical applications such as anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antidiarrheal, antidiabetic, anticancer, antiviral, liver protective effects, and so on. Thus, the literature shows the tremendous phytochemical impact of the genus Acacia in medicine. Overall, we recommend that more research should be conducted on the medicinal value and isolation and purification of the effective therapeutic agents from Acacia species for the treatment of various ailments.

Fipronil (FIP) is an N-phenylpyrazole insecticide that is used extensively in public health and agriculture against a wide range of pests. Exposure to FIP is linked to negative health outcomes in humans and animals including promoting neuronal cell injury, which results in apoptosis through the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS). Therefore, the purpose of the current study was to investigate the neuroprotective effects of cerium oxide nanoparticles (CeNPs) on neuronal dysfunction induced by FIP in albino rats. Male rats were randomly classified into four groups: control, FIP (5 mg/kg bwt), CeNPs (35 mg/kg bwt), and FIP + CeNPs (5 (FIP) + 35 (CeNPs) mg/kg bwt), which were treated orally once daily for 28 consecutive days. Brain antioxidant parameters, histopathology, and mRNA expression of genes related to brain function were evaluated. The results revealed oxidative damage to brain tissues in FIP-treated rats indicated by the elevated levels of malondialdehyde (MDA) and nitric oxide (NO) levels and reduced activities of antioxidant enzymes such as superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GPx). On the other hand, the FIP’s group that was treated with CeNPs showed decrease in MDA and NO levels and increase in SOD and GPx enzymes activity. Besides, FIP-treated rats showed decreased butyrylcholinesterase (BuChE) activity in comparison to the FIP + CeNPs group. Moreover, FIP caused up-regulation of the expression of neuron-specific enolase (NSE), caspase-3, and glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) but down-regulation of B-cell lymphoma-2 (BCL-2) expression. But the FIP + CeNPs group significantly down-regulated the GFAP, NSE, and caspase-3 and up-regulated the gene expression of BCL-2. Additionally, the FIP-treated group of rats had clear degenerative lesions in brain tissue that was reversed to nearly normal cerebral architecture by the FIP + CeNPs treatment. Immunohistochemical examination of brain tissues of rats-treated with FIP showed abundant ionized calcium-binding adaptor molecule 1 (Iba-1) microglia and caspase-3 and apoptotic cells with nearly negative calbindin and synaptophysin reaction, which were countered by FIP + CeNPs treatment that revealed a critical decrease in caspase-3, Iba-1 reaction with a strong calbindin positive reaction in most of the Purkinje cells and strong synaptophysin reaction in the cerebrum and cerebellum tissues. Based on reported results herein, CeNPs treatment might counteract the neurotoxic effect of FIP pesticide via an antioxidant-mediated mechanism.

Stevens Johnsons syndrome (SJS) is a mucocutaneous disorder caused by an autoimmune response most commonly to medications. Unless it is properly managed in the acute setting, this entity can affect the ocular surface causing chronic cicatrizing conjunctivitis with limbal stem cell deficiency and lid anomalies which ultimately result in corneal opacities that may limit patients' visual acuity. When this stage is reached, some patients might need to undergo some form of corneal and/or limbal stem cell transplantation that exposes an already sensitized immune system to a new alloantigen. While the innate immunity plays a role in corneal graft survival, adaptive immune responses play a major part in corneal graft rejection and failure, namely through CD4+ T cell lymphocytes. Hence, the management of the immune response to surgical transplant procedures in SJS patients, involves a dual approach that modulates the inflammatory response to a new alloantigen in the context of an autoimmune sensitized patient. This review will explore and discuss current perspectives and future directions in the field of ocular immunology on how to manage SJS immune responses to ocular surgical procedures, reviewing systemic and local immunosuppressive therapies and protocols to adequately manage this debilitating condition.

Macrolides (e.g., erythromycin, fidaxomicin, clarithromycin, and azithromycin) are a class of bacteriostatic antibiotics commonly employed in medicine against various gram-positive and atypical bacterial species mostly related to respiratory tract infections, besides they possess anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory effects. Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an infectious disease caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome of coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). It was first detected in Wuhan, Hubei, China, in December 2019 and resulted in a continuing pandemic. Macrolides have been extensively researched as broad adjunctive therapy for COVID-19 due to its immunostimulant abilities. Among such class of drugs, azithromycin is described as azalide and is well-known for its ability to decrease the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines, including matrix metalloproteinases, tumor necrosis factor-alpha, interleukin (IL)-6, and IL-8. In fact, a report recently published highlighted the effectiveness of combining azithromycin and hydroxychloroquine for COVID-19 treatment. Indeed, it has been underlined that azithromycin quickly prevents SARS-CoV-2 infection by raising the levels of both interferons and interferon-stimulated proteins at the same time which reduces the virus replication and release. In this sense, the current review aims to evaluate the applications of macrolides for the treatment of COVID-19.

In recent years, utilization of Rhus coriaria L. (sumac) is upgrading not only in their culinary use and human nutrition, but also in the pharmaceutical industry, food industry and veterinary practices. This is driven by accumulating evidence that support the ethnobotanical use of this plant; in particular, advanced knowledge of the content of nutritional, medicinal and techno-functional bioactive ingredients. Herein, we discuss polyphenolic compounds as the main bioactive ingredients in Rhus coriaria L., which contribute mainly to the significance and utility of this spice. Most of the antioxidant potential and therapeutic roles of sumac are increasingly attributed to its constituent tannins, flavonoids, and phenolic acids. Hydroxyphenyl pyranoanthocyanins and other anthocynins are responsible for the highly desired red pigments accounting for the strong pigmentation capacity and colorant ability of sumac. Certain polyphenols and the essential oil components are responsible for the peculiar flavor and antimicrobial activity of sumac. Tannin-rich sumac extracts and isolates are known to enhance the food quality and the oxidative stability of animal products such as meat and milk. In conclusion, polyphenol-rich sumac extracts and its bioactive ingredients could be exploited towards developing novel food products which do not only address the current consumers’ interests regarding organoleptic and nutritional value of food, but also meet the growing need for ‘clean label’ as well as value addition with respect to antioxidant capacity, disease prevention, and health promotion in humans.

Strawberry is one of the plants sensitive to salt and alkalinity stress. Light quality affects plant growth and metabolic activities. However, there is no clear answer in the literature on how light can improve the performance of the photosynthetic apparatus of this species under salt and alkalinity stress. The aim of this work was to investigate the effects of different spectra of supplemental light on strawberry (cv. Camarosa) under salt and alkalinity stress conditions. Light spectra of blue (with peak 460 nm), red (with peak 660 nm), blue/red (1:3), white/yellow (1:1) (400-700 nm) and ambient light were used as control. There were three stress treatments: control (no stress), alkalinity (40 mM NaHCO3), and salinity (80 mM NaCl). Under stress conditions, red and red/blue light had a positive effect on CO2 assimilation. In addition, blue/red light increased intrinsic water use efficiency (WUEi) under both stress conditions. Salinity and alkalinity stress decreased OJIP curves compared to the control treatment. Blue light caused an increase in its in plants under salinity stress, and red and blue/red light caused an increase in its in plants under alkalinity. Both salt and alkalinity stress caused a significant reduction in photosystem II (PSII) performance indices and quantum yield parameters. Adjustment of light spectra, especially red light, increased these parameters. It can be concluded that the adverse effects of salt and alkalinity stress on photosynthesis can be partially alleviated by changing the light spectra.

It is already known that there are many factors responsible for the successful grafting process in plants, including light intensity. However, the influence of the spectrum of light-emitting diodes (LEDs) on this process has almost never been tested. During the pre-grafting process tomato seedlings grew for 30 days under 100 μmol m-2 s-1 of mixed LEDs (red 70%+ blue 30%). During the post-grafting period, seedlings grew for 20 days under the same light intensity but the lightening source was either red LED, mixed LEDs (red 70% + blue 30%), blue LED or white fluorescent lamps. This was done to determine which light source(s) could better improve seedling quality and increase grafting success. Our results showed that application of red and blue light mixture (R7:B3) caused significant increase in total leaf area, dry weight (total, shoot and root), total chlorophyll/carotenoid ratio, soluble protein and sugar content. Moreover, this light treatment maintained better photosynthetic performance i.e. more effective quantum yield of PSII photochemistry Y(II), better photochemical quenching (qP), and higher electron transport rate (ETR). This can be partially explained by the observed upregulation of gene expression levels of PsaA and PsbA and the parallel protein expression levels. This in turn could lead to better functioning of the photosynthetic apparatus of tomato seedlings and then to faster production of photoassimilate ready to be translocated to various tissues and organs, including those most in need, i.e., involved in the formation of the graft union.

It is already known that the process of photosynthesis depends on the quality and intensity of light. However, the influence of the new light sources recently used in horticulture, known as Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs), on this process is not yet fully understood. Chlorophyll a fluorescence measurement has been widely used as a rapid, reliable, and noninvasive tool to study the efficiency of the photosystem II (PSII) and to evaluate plant responses to various environmental factors, including light intensity and quality. In this work, we tested the responses of the tomato photosynthetic apparatus to different light spectral qualities. Our results showed that the best performance of the photosynthetic apparatus was observed under a mixture of red and blue light (R7:B3) or a mixture of red, green and blue light (R3:G2:B5). This was demonstrated by the increase in the effective photochemical quantum yield of PSII (Y[II]), photochemical quenching (qP) and electron transport rate (ETR). On the other hand, the mixture of red and blue light with a high proportion of blue light led to an increase in non-photochemical quenching (NPQ). Our results can be used to improve the production of tomato plants under artificial light conditions. However, since we found that the responses of the photosynthetic apparatus of tomato plants to a particular light regime were cultivar-dependent and there was a weak correlation between the growth and photosynthetic parameters tested in this work, special attention should be paid in future research.

In recent years, much effort has been devoted to understanding the response of plants to various light sources, largely due to advances in industry light-emitting diodes (LEDs). In this study, the effect of different light modes on rocket (Eruca sativa. Mill.) photosynthetic performance and other physiological traits was evaluated using an orthogonal design based on a combination between light intensity, quality, and photoperiod factors. Some morphological and biochemical parameters and photosynthetic efficiency of the plants were analyzed. Plants grew in a closed chamber where three light intensities (160, 190, and 220 μmol m-2 s-1) provided by LEDs with a combination of different ratios of red, green, and blue (R:G:B- 7:0:3, 3:0:7, and 5:2:3) and three different photoperiods (light/dark -10/14 h, 12/12 h, and 14/10 h) were used and compared with white fluorescent light (control). This experimental setup allowed us to study the effect of 9 light modes (LM) compared to white light. The analyzes performed showed that the highest levels of chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, and carotenoids occurred under LM4, LM3, and LM1, respectively. Chlorophyll a fluorescence measurement showed that the best effective quantum yield of PSII photochemistry Y(II), non-photochemical quenching (NPQ), photochemical quenching coefficient (qP), and electron transport ratio (ETR) were obtained under LM2. The data showed that the application of R7:G0:B3 light mode with a shorter photoperiod than 14/10 h (light/dark), regardless of the light intensity used, resulted in a significant increase in growth as well as higher photosynthetic capacity of rocket plants. Since, a clear correlation between the studied traits under the applied light modes was not found, more features should be studied in future experiments.

Tree pruning is carried out to reduce conflict with infrastructure, buildings, and any other human activity. However, heavy pruning may result in a diminished tree crown capacity for sugar production and exposure to fungal infection. This risk leads to a decrease in tree stability or vigour. In this work, we analysed the effect of heavy pruning of roadside trees on the photosynthetic performance process compared to neighbouring unpruned trees. Four years of tree crown growth was studied by terrestrial imaging. Tree vitality (Roloff's classification) and risk (Visual Tree Assessment) were evaluated. Over-pruned trees showed intensified photosynthetic efficiency during the growing season following pruning. Particularly ET0/TR0 and PIABS tended to increase in pruned trees while higher Fv/Fm was noted only in late October, suggesting delayed leaf senescence. After four years, pruned trees rebuilt their crowns, however not in their entirety. Results obtained from biometric, vitality, and risk assessment showed high differentiation in pruned tree crown recovery. Our results revealed that despite the intensified efforts of trees to recover from wounding effects, severe pruning evokes dieback occurrence and a higher risk of failure in mature trees.

Background: The COMBO stent is a biodegradable-polymer sirolimus-eluting stent with endothelial progenitor cell capture technology for faster endothelialization. Objective: We analyzed COMBO stent outcomes in relation to bleeding risk using the PARIS bleeding score. Methods: MASCOT was an international registry of all-comers undergoing attempted COMBO stent implantation. We stratified patients as low bleeding-risk (LBR) for PARIS score ≤ 3 and intermediate-to-high (IHBR) for score > 3 based on baseline age, body mass index, anemia, current smoking, chronic kidney disease and need for triple therapy. Primary endpoint was 1-year target lesion failure (TLF), composite of cardiac death, myocardial infarction (MI) not clearly attributed to a non-target vessel or clinically-driven target lesion revascularization (TLR). Bleeding was adjudicated using the Bleeding Academic Research Consortium (BARC) definition. Dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT) cessation was independently adjudicated. Results: The study included 56% (n = 1270) LBR and 44% (n = 1009) IHBR patients. Incidence of 1-year TLF was higher in IHBR patients (4.1% vs. 2.6%, p = 0.047) driven by cardiac death (1.7% vs. 0.7%, p = 0.029) with similar rates of MI (1.8% vs. 1.1%, p = 0.17), TLR (1.5% vs. 1.6%, p = 0.89) and definite/ probable stent thrombosis (1.2% vs. 0.6%, p = 0.16). Incidence of 1-year major BARC 3 or 5 bleeding was significantly higher in IHBR patients (2.3% vs. 0.9%, p = 0.0094), as was the incidence of DAPT cessation (29.3% vs. 22.8%, p

Abstract Introduction Pseudocyst of the pinna is a rare condition that occurs when fluid accumulates in the intercartilagenous space of the auricle. The main goal when treating this condition is to keep acceptable cosmetic results with no recurrence rate. Objective To demonstrate the superior impact of incision and drainage of auricular pseudocysts with the insertion of a catheter drain and daily irrigation as the treatment of this condition. Methods A total of 42 patients with auricular pseudocysts were enrolled in the present study in the period between May 2011 and May 2017. All of the patients were treated with incision and drainage with compression. The average follow-up time reached ∼ 6 months in all of the cases. Results All of the patients had satisfactory cosmetic results with no recurrence and no complications. Conclusion Among the different methods of surgical treatment of pseudocyst of the pinna, incision and drainage with daily irrigation is a significantly efficient method both for the eradication of auricular pseudocysts and for good cosmetic results.

This paper develops a virtual reality education system for mobile devices through mobile virtual reality technology with virtual reality glasses. The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of mobile Virtual interactive e-learning environment on 3D operating system course learning motivation. The paper aims to increase students’ interest and enhance their learning motivation for understanding CPU process scheduling algorithms in an operating systems course. A total of 110 students from the department of computer sciences at Sadat Academy were invited to participate. A 5-point scale was adopted based on the ARCS model to stimulate learning to collect student data. A one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed to assess if the apparent difference was significant. Perform a data factor analysis to determine the appropriate factor (p = 0.000 < 0.05). The results show that mobile virtual reality game-based learning is an effective pedagogical tool for operating systems education, and it can promote students’ motivation and interest in learning 3D animation.

Objective: To assess the relationship between serum endostatin (ES) and coronary artery calcification (CAC) in type 2 diabetic (T2DM) patients. Methods: The study included 110 participants with coronary artery disease (CAD); 55 with T2DM, for serum ES levels by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and CAC by contrast-enhanced spiral computed tomography (CT). Results: Mean serum ES value was 66.54 ng/mL [95% confidence interval (CI), 61.77–71.32 ng/mL]. Serum ES levels positively correlated with Agatston score index [ASI; r = 0.701, p

Background The aim of the study was to evaluate the relationship between serum Sestrin2, Insulin resistance (IR), metabolic syndrome (MetS), and diabetic nephropathy (DN) in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Patients and methods The study group consisted of 155 patients with T2DM who were recruited and evaluated for DN. IR was evaluated by the homeostasis model assessment-insulin resistance (HOMA-IR). Sestrin2 levels were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Results Serum Sestrin2 levels showed significant positive correlations with tumor necrosis factor-α (r=0.247, P=0.018), triglycerides (r=0.178, P=0.021), total cholesterol (r=0.33, P=0.007), fasting c-peptide (r=0.164, P=0.035), and systolic blood pressure (r=0.171, P=0.041). A significant negative correlation was found between Sestrin2 levels and serum adiponectin (r=0.247, P=0.018). Also, Sestrin2 levels were positively correlated HOMA-IR (r=0.188, P=0.026). There was a progressive significant increase of mean HOMA-IR through Sestrin2 tertiles (P=0.001). A significant increase of mean serum Sestrin2 levels was found in relation to the presence of DN or MetS. Conclusion Serum Sestrin2 levels are significantly associated with IR, MetS, and DN in patients with T2DM.

In Egypt’s arid and semi-arid lands where the main olive production zone is located, evapotranspiration is higher than rainfall during winter. Limited research has used nanomaterials, especially nano-silicon (nSi) to improve the growth, development, and productivity of drought-stressed fruit trees, amid the global water scarcity problem. To assess the role of nSi on drought-sensitive ‘Kalamata’ olive tree growth, and biochemical and physiological changes under drought conditions, a split-plot experiment was conducted in a randomized complete block design. The trees were foliar sprayed with nSi in the field using nine treatments (three replicates each) of 0, 150, and 200 mg·L−1 under different irrigation regimes (100, 90, and 80% irrigation water requirements ‘IWR’) during the 2020 and 2021 seasons. Drought negatively affected the trees, but both concentrations of nSi alleviated drought effects at reduced irrigation levels, compared to the non-stressed trees. Foliar spray of both concentrations of nSi at a moderate level (90% IWR) of drought resulted in improved yield and fruit weight and reduced fruit drop percentage, compared to 80% IWR. In addition, there were reduced levels of osmoprotectants such as proline, soluble sugars, and abscisic acid (ABA) with less membrane damage expressed as reduced levels of malondialdehyde (MDA), H2O2 and electrolyte leakage at 90% compared to 80% IWR. These results suggest that ‘Kalamata’ olive trees were severely stressed at 80% compared to 90% IWR, which was not surprising as it is classified as drought sensitive. Overall, the application of 200 mg·L−1 nSi was beneficial for the improvement of the mechanical resistance, growth, and productivity of moderately-stressed (90% IWR) ‘Kalamata’ olive trees under the Egyptian semi-arid conditions.

Cotton (Gossypium hirsutum) is a global cash crop which has gained importance in earning foreign exchange for each country. Bacterial blight caused by Xanthomonascitri subsp. malvacearum (Xcm) has been a seriousdisease in Pakistan’s cotton belt on multiple occasions. Bacterium was isolated and identified through various biochemical and diagnostic tests wherehypersensitivity reaction, Gram staining, KOH (potassium hydroxide), catalase, starch hydrolysis, lecithinase and Tween 80 hydrolysis tests confirmed bacterium as Gram-negative and plant pathogenic. Xcm perpetuation assays wereevaluated on various cotton varieties under glasshouse conditions in completely randomized design by three different methods, wherein the scratch method proved to be the best upon CIM-496 and showed 83.33% disease incidence as compared with the other two methods, where Bt-3701 responded with 53.33% incidence via the spray gun method, and 50% with the water splash method on CIM-616, as compared with the control. Similarly, for disease severity percentage, Bt-3701 was pragmatic with 47.21% through scratch method, whereas, in the spray gun method, 45.51% disease severity was noted upon Bt-802, and 31.27% was calculated on Cyto-179 through the water splash method. Owing to the unique antibacterial properties of aqueous plant extracts, the poison food technique showed Aloe vera, Mentha piperita, Syzygiumcumini and Azadirachta indica with 17.77, 29.33, 18.33 and 20.22 bacterial colonies counted on nutrient agarmedium petri plate, respectively, as compared with the control. Measurement of the inhibition zone by disk diffusion technique showed Mentha piperita, Syzygiumcumini, Citrus limon, Moringa oleifera and Syzygium aromaticum to present the most promising results by calculating the maximum diameter of the inhibition zone, viz., 8.58, 8.55, 8.52, 8.49 and 8.41 (mm), respectively, at the highest tested concentration (75 ppm, parts per million) compared with the control. It is probable that the decoction’s interaction with the pathogen population on the host plant will need to be considered in future experiments. However, at this moment, more research into the effective management of cotton bacterial blight by plant extracts in terms of concentration determination and development of biopesticides will provide future avenues to avoid environmental pollution.

Watermelon (Citrullus lanatus) is a popular crop worldwide. Compared to diploid seeded watermelon, triploid seedless watermelon cultivars are in great demand. Grafting in triploid and tetraploid watermelon produces few seedlings. To learn more about how genome duplication affects graft compatibility, we compared the transcriptomes of tetraploid and diploid watermelons grafted on squash rootstock using a splicing technique. WGCNA was used to compare the expression of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between diploid and tetraploid watermelon grafted seedlings at 0, 3, and 15 days after grafting (DAG). Only four gene networks/modules correlated significantly with phenotypic characteristics. We found 11 genes implicated in hormone, AOX, and starch metabolism in these modules based on intramodular significance and RT-qPCR. Among these genes, two were linked with IAA (r2 = 0.81), one with ZR (r2 = 0.85) and one with POD (r2 = 0.74). In the MElightsteelblue1 module, Cla97C11G224830 gene was linked with CAT (r2 = 0.81). Two genes from the MEivory module, Cla97C07G139710 and Cla97C04G077300, were highly linked with SOD (r2 = 0.72). Cla97C01G023850 and Cla97C01G006680 from the MEdarkolivegreen module were associated with sugars and starch (r2 = 0.87). Tetraploid grafted seedlings had higher survival rates and hormone, AOX, sugar, and starch levels than diploids. We believe that compatibility is a complicated issue that requires further molecular research. We found that genome duplication dramatically altered gene expression in the grafted plants’ IAA and ZR signal transduction pathways and AOX biosynthesis pathways, regulating hormone levels and improving plant survival.

Toxic effects of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) on photosynthetic processes and biomass were investigated in aquatic plant Lemna gibba, and the plants were exposed to different concentrations of AgNPs for 7 days. At 7 day of exposure, a direct negative impact on the physiological state of plant was indicated by the decrease of chlorophyll (Chl) synthesis, the deterioration of photosynthetic activity and the change in biomass. When L. gibba was treated to 1 mg L−1 of AgNPs, total Chl content and the biomass decreased respectively by 66 and 51% compared to the control (P < 0.05). Under this condition, the alteration of photosystem II (PSII) photochemical reactions was indicated by a significant change compared to control of different studied fluorescence parameters value: FV/FM (35%), ET/RC (63%), VJ (61%), qP (57%) and NPQ (102%). Therefore, Chl a fluorescence measurements showed strong evidence of inhibitory effects on energy transfer from light harvesting complexes to reaction centers, the deterioration of the PSII water splitting system and the inactivation of PSII reaction centers at 1 mg L−1. In conclusion, our results demonstrated that AgNPs induced an inhibitory mechanism on photosynthetic processes and biomass of L. gibba plant. Keywords: Silver nanoparticles, Photosynthetic electron transport, Chlorophyll fluorescence, Lemna gibba, Photosystem II

The present study has been considered in heat, mass transfer and the reversal flow occurrence inside the annulus of concentric vertical cylinders numerically. Both the thermal buoyancy and the buoyancy due to different concentrations are of equal magnitude and direction. The forced flow direction effect is investigated. The problem is considered a laminar flow and steady state. The influencing parameters are identified for the problem are Richardson number, Lewis number, and length to gap ratio and Radius ratio. The dimensionless gap is kept constant at unity. The Richardson number is varied from 0.1 to 10, dimensionless length from 5 to 25, the dimensionless radius ratio from 1.5 to 11 and the lewis number from 0.1 to 10. The dimensionless temperature and concentration distributions are illustrated at various range of parameters. In addition, the average values concerning Nusselt as well as Sherwood numbers are correlated. The reverse flow is examined at both aiding and opposing flows. The reverse flow existence is affected by the Richardson number and the length to gap ratio. The value concerning thermal Grashof number is stable at 104. Keywords: Double diffusion, Reverse flow, Vertical cylinder, Annulus gap

Aim of this study: To evaluate the diagnostic utility of DW-MRI with ADC and colored maps, as well as DCE-MRI with subtraction and perfusion color-coded maps for evaluation of the tumor response after LRT in patients with HCC. Patients and methods: 56 patients with 74 pathologically proven HCC lesions, treated with LRTs (TACE or RFA), were enrolled in this study. They were subjected to multi-parametric functional MRI with semi-quantitative post-processing tools, initially and 4 follow-ups over one year. This protocol consisted of non contrast MRI sequences including the DW-MRI with quantitative ADC and colored maps, as well as the DCE-MRI with digital subtraction and semi-quantitative color-coded perfusion maps. Results: The DW-MRI (with ADC data and colored maps) showed low accuracy (94.87%) and specificity (92.90%), but high sensitivity (98.96%). The DCE-MRI (with digital subtraction and color-coded perfusion maps) yielded very high accuracy (98.06%), specificity (100%). and sensitivity (98.65%). The combined use of both sequences revealed 100% sensitivity, 100% specificity, and 99.09% accuracy. Conclusion: The use of DW-MRI (with ADC data and colored maps) and the DCE-MRI (with digital subtraction and color-coded perfusion maps) can be considered as in-vivo digital biomarkers for evaluating the response to LRT in patients with HCC. Keywords: Apparent diffusion coefficient, Loco-regional therapy, Dynamic subtraction, Hepatocellular, Carcinoma

Abstract Amyloidosis is a heterogeneous group of diseases characterized by accumulation of amyloid protein in different organs of the body. Localized affection of the larynx by amyloid deposits is a rare event. This is a case of localized laryngeal amyloidosis in a 24-year-old female patient presented with hoarseness of voice. The amyloid mass was occupying the anterior part of the subglottic region and reaching up between both the vocal folds. Complete excision was achieved by cold instruments. Localized laryngeal amyloidosis despite being rare should be kept in mind as one of the causes of mass lesions in the larynx.

The interaction of nandrolone decanoate drug dissolved in (2%) [BMIM]BF4 or [BMIM]PF6 with human serum albumin (HSA) at different temperatures in the range of 285 – 310 K was examined by fluorescence quenching. Stern-Volmer equation and its modified form were used to determine the interaction parameters K and n. The results revealed that binding affinities of HSA for nandrolone decanoate drug in 2% [BMIM]BF4 or [BMIM]PF6 are in the order of 105 M-1 and the number of bound drug molecules per HSA macromolecule are approximated to 1 at all temperatures studied. The thermodynamic parameters: free energy change (DGo), enthalpy change (DHo) and entropy change (DSo) for HSA– nandrolone decanoate/ionic liquid were calculated according to van’t Hoff equation. Data analysis indicated that both electrostatic interactions and hydrophobic ineractions played important roles in the interaction of nandrolone decanoate drug with HSA.

Abstract Background Cucumis sativus L. (cucumber), from the family Cucurbitaceae, is a therapeutic plant with various pharmacological benefits, broadly utilized as a part of complementary medicine (e.g., Unani, Ayurveda, Siddha, and Traditional Chinese). In light of past research discoveries, this plant had been chosen to consider its potential antibacterial action. Methods Extracts were purified by dialysis and ion exchange chromatography strategy and then assayed for antibacterial activity against four standard pathogenic bacterial strains known to cause foodborne infections and spoilage of food and herbal drugs. Antimicrobial peptides were extracted from seeds using a sodium phosphate citrate (pH 7.2) - CTAB cradle (pH 6.0). Results The highest protein concentration was seen with elute fractions 1 and 3 (370 mg/mL) compared with elute fractions 2 and 4 (340 mg/mL). Among the bacteria utilized, E. coli was clearly the most sensitive out of selected four strains. Conclusion Our results suggest that Cucumis sativus L seeds extracts have significant potentials as new antimicrobial agents.

Plant growth, development, and productivity are adversely affected under drought conditions. Previous findings indicated that 5-aminolevulinic acid (ALA) and 24-epibrassinolide (EBL) play an important role in the plant response to adverse environmental conditions. This study demonstrated the role of ALA and EBL on oxidative stress and photosynthetic capacity of drought-stressed ‘Williams’ banana grown under the Egyptian semi-arid conditions. Exogenous application of either ALA or EBL at concentrations of 15, 30, and 45 mg·L−1 significantly restored plant photosynthetic activity and increased productivity under reduced irrigation; this was equivalent to 75% of the plant’s total water requirements. Both compounds significantly reduced drought-induced oxidative damages by increasing antioxidant enzyme activities (superoxide dismutase ‘SOD’, catalase ‘CAT’, and peroxidase ‘POD’) and preserving chloroplast structure. Lipid peroxidation, electrolyte loss and free non-radical H2O2 formation in the chloroplast were noticeably reduced compared to the control, but chlorophyll content and photosynthetic oxygen evolution were increased. Nutrient uptake, auxin and cytokinin levels were also improved with the reduced abscisic acid levels. The results indicated that ALA and EBL could reduce the accumulation of reactive oxygen species and maintain the stability of the chloroplast membrane structure under drought stress. This study suggests that the use of ALA or EBL at 30 mg·L−1 can promote the growth, productivity and fruit quality of drought-stressed banana plants.

Alternaria is a ubiquitous fungal genus in many ecosystems, consisting of species and strains that can be saprophytic, endophytic, or pathogenic to plants or animals, including humans. Alternaria species can produce a variety of secondary metabolites (SMs), especially low molecular weight toxins. Based on the characteristics of host plant susceptibility or resistance to the toxin, Alternaria phytotoxins are classified into host-selective toxins (HSTs) and non-host-selective toxins (NHSTs). These Alternaria toxins exhibit a variety of biological activities such as phytotoxic, cytotoxic, and antimicrobial properties. Generally, HSTs are toxic to host plants and can cause severe economic losses. Some NHSTs such as alternariol, altenariol methyl-ether, and altertoxins also show high cytotoxic and mutagenic activities in the exposed human or other vertebrate species. Thus, Alternaria toxins are meaningful for drug and pesticide development. For example, AAL-toxin, maculosin, tentoxin, and tenuazonic acid have potential to be developed as bioherbicides due to their excellent herbicidal activity. Like altersolanol A, bostrycin, and brefeldin A, they exhibit anticancer activity, and ATX V shows high activity to inhibit the HIV-1 virus. This review focuses on the classification, chemical structure, occurrence, bioactivity, and biosynthesis of the major Alternaria phytotoxins, including 30 HSTs and 50 NHSTs discovered to date.

The increasing use of Internet of Things (IoT) applications in various aspects of our lives has created a huge amount of data. IoT applications often require the presence of many technologies such as cloud computing and fog computing, which have led to serious challenges to security. As a result of the use of these technologies, cyberattacks are also on the rise because current security methods are ineffective. Several artificial intelligence (AI)-based security solutions have been presented in recent years, including intrusion detection systems (IDS). Feature selection (FS) approaches are required for the development of intelligent analytic tools that need data pretreatment and machine-learning algorithm-performance enhancement. By reducing the number of selected features, FS aims to improve classification accuracy. This article presents a new FS method through boosting the performance of Gorilla Troops Optimizer (GTO) based on the algorithm for bird swarms (BSA). This BSA is used to boost performance exploitation of GTO in the newly developed GTO-BSA because it has a strong ability to find feasible regions with optimal solutions. As a result, the quality of the final output will increase, improving convergence. GTO-BSA’s performance was evaluated using a variety of performance measures on four IoT-IDS datasets: NSL-KDD, CICIDS-2017, UNSW-NB15 and BoT-IoT. The results were compared to those of the original GTO, BSA, and several state-of-the-art techniques in the literature. According to the findings of the experiments, GTO-BSA had a better convergence rate and higher-quality solutions.

Reliance on inorganic fertilizers with less or no use of organic fertilizers has impaired the productivity of soils worldwide. Therefore, the present study was conducted to quantify the effects of integrated nutrient management on rice yield, nutrient use efficiency, soil fertility, and carbon (C) sequestration in cultivated land. The experiment was designed with seven treatments comprising of a zero input control, recommended inorganic fertilizers (RD), poultry manure (PM) (5 t ha−1) + 50% RD, PM (2.5 t ha−1) + 75% RD, vermicompost (VC) (5 t ha−1) + 50% RD, VC (2.5 t ha−1) + 75% RD, and farmers’ practice (FP) with three replications that were laid out in a randomized complete block design. The highest grain yield (6.16–6.27 t ha−1) was attained when VC and PM were applied at the rate of 2.5 t ha−1 along with 75% RD. Uptake of nutrients and their subsequent use efficiencies appeared higher and satisfactory from the combined application of organic and inorganic fertilizers. The addition of organic fertilizer significantly influenced the organic carbon, total carbon, total nitrogen, ammonium nitrogen, nitrate nitrogen, soil pH, phosphorus, potassium, sulfur, calcium, and magnesium contents in post-harvest soil, which indicated enhancement of soil fertility. The maximum value of the organic carbon stock (18.70 t ha−1), total carbon stock (20.81 t ha−1), and organic carbon sequestration (1.75 t ha−1) was observed in poultry manure at the rate of 5 t ha−1 with 50% RD. The soil bulk density decreased slightly more than that of the control, which indicated the improvement of the physical properties of soil using organic manures. Therefore, regular nourishment of soil with organic and inorganic fertilizers might help rejuvenate the soils and ensure agricultural sustainability.

Objective The aim of the study was to evaluate the value of the N-terminal prohormone of brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) as an early diagnostic marker for chronic heart failure (CHF) in hypothyroid patients with ischemic heart disease (IHD). Materials and methods A total of 120 patients with an age range between 42 and 64 years participated in the study. All patients were classified into four groups: the master first group includes 30 patients with IHD, CHF functional class II–III and hyperthyroidism; the second group includes 30 patients with IHD and CHF functional class II–III, but with normal thyroid function; the third group includes 30 hyperthyroid patients without CHF or IHD; and the fourth group includes 30 hyperthyroid patients with IHD, without CHF. All patients were subjected to the following: full clinical and functional assessment, measurement of NT-proBNP, echocardiography, and the 6-min walk test. Results NT-proBNP levels were high in all studied groups. NT-proBNP levels showed no significant difference between patients of second and fourth group. The master first group had the highest significant NT-proBNP concentrations than other studied groups. Thyroid hyperfunction in patients with IHD appears to stimulate the natriuretic peptides secretion at a level exceeding what is recommended for the initial diagnosis of CHF. Conclusion The highest NT-proBNP level in hyperthyroid patients with IHD apparently is caused by stimulation of natriuretic peptide secretion by both thyroid hyperfunction and myocardial ischemic changes, which determine the need to check out the cut-off value of NT-proBNP level as a serological marker for the initial diagnosis of heart failure of such patients’ category.

Satureja khuzistanica Jamzad is a valuable and endemic medicinal plant. Boron and zinc are essential elements for the vegetative and reproductive growth of plants and have significant effects on yield, essential oil composition and the seed production of plants. To investigate the effects of the foliar application of zinc and boron on the growth, yield, seed production and phytochemical properties of S. khuzistanica, a study was conducted in a factorial experiment with three replicates in two consecutive years based on a randomized complete block design. The foliar application of boron (B) at three concentrations (control or distilled water, 0.4% and 0.8% as H3BO3) and zinc (Zn) at three concentrations (control or distilled water, 0.3% and 0.6% as ZnSO4) was carried out. Our results showed that the foliar application of B resulted in a significant increase in the fresh and dry weights of plants, the dry weight of stems, drug yield, seed yield, seed germination and 1000-seed weight. At the same time, the application of B resulted in a significant decrease in seed emptiness. The fresh and dry weights of plants, drug yield, seed yield, 1000-seed weight and seed germination were also significantly improved by Zn foliar spraying compared to the control. Application of 0.8% B resulted in a significant decrease in seed emptiness by 14.16% and 22.37%, as compared to the control. The foliar spraying of B and Zn improved the total phenolic content, the essential oil content and the yield and antioxidant activity of S. khuzistanica. Moreover, B application generally concentrated more carvacrol in the essential oil (in the first experimental year). In contrast, no significant differences were observed between Zn treatments in carvacrol content and total flavonoids. The use of several microelements, such as B and Zn, could improve both the quantity and quality of S. khuzistanica. Additionally, improvement of seed set and seed quality by the foliar spraying of Zn and B may be useful for growing plants in arid and semi-arid areas.

Natural water reservoirs are very important ecosystems thus they should be under continuous monitoring and protection. In water of low quality, the algal blooms develop develops vastly. The knowledge of algal species composition is necessary for understanding this process. There are a few traditional group-specific methods of microalgae classification, but they are often labour-intense and time-consuming. Moreover, the samples must be prepared and/or collected before getting any results. Non-invasive chlorophyll fluorescence analysis offers an alternative approach and potentially allows in situ estimation of algal concentration. In this work the fluorometric methods to estimate algae content in water and to differentiate algal populations is presented.

Aim of this study: To appraise the value of CT-guided celiac plexus neurolysis (CPN) as an effective method for alleviating intractable pain in patients with unresectable pancreatic cancer. Patients and methods: 22 patients (their ages ranged between 45 and 73Â years) with severe pain due to unresectable pancreatic cancer were subjected to CT-guided CPN by 25â30Â mL of 97% ethanol via anterior approach and single puncture technique. The pain intensity scoring, both before and after the procedure, was done using the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS). Results: All patients showed a significant pain reduction after CPN (PÂ

Dietary fat and oil is important for many body processes. The present investigation was carried out to determine the concentrations of organochlorine pesticides in butter, olive and corn oil. A total of 125 samples (75 butter, 25 each of olive oil and corn oil) were collected from El Minia Governorate, Egypt. Levels of these compounds were determined by gas chromatography with electron capture detector (GC-ECD). The results indicated that 30.4%(38/125), 24.8%(31/125), 21.6%(27/125), 21.6%(27/125), 16.8%(21/125), 14.4%(18/125), 14.4%(18/125), 12.8%(16/125), 9.6%(12/125), 8.8%(11/125), 8%(10/125), 1.6%(2/125) and 0.8%(1/125) of the examined samples were contaminated with Heptachlor, Endrin, Aldrin, Dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene(p,p'-DDE), Dichlorodiphenyldichloroethane(p,p'-DDD), Gamma hexachlorocyclohexane(Gamma HCH), Heptachlor epoxide, Dieldrin, Endosulfan, methoxychlor, Alpha hexachlorocyclohexane(Alpha HCH), Delta hexachlorocyclohexane(Delta HCH) and Gamma Chlordane, respectively. None of the examined samples revealed the presence of Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (p,p'-DDT) and 11 samples contained organochlorine residues above European Union maximum residue limits (EU MRL)

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of various supplemental greenhouse lighting systems, i.e., high-pressure sodium lamps and mixtures of red and blue light-emitting diodes, on the photochemical efficiency, anatomical leaf structure, and growth of the two pepper cultivars. The intensity levels of the photosynthetically active radiation were the same for both light treatments. In this study, the relative chlorophyll content was measured. Additionally, certain parameters of chlorophyll a fluorescence were measured under ambient light or after dark adaptation. The obtained results showed that the application of light-emitting diodes (LEDs) as supplemental lighting positively affected the anatomical leaf characteristics and plant growth. The leaves of both pepper cultivars were thicker and had larger palisade parenchyma cells under LED supplemental lighting compared to leaves grown under high-pressure sodium (HPS) lamps. Moreover, the mesophyll cells of seedlings grown under LEDs contained more chloroplasts than those growing under HPS lighting. The chlorophyll a fluorescence measurements of pepper seedlings grown under LEDs showed significant increases in photosynthetic apparatus performance index (PI) values compared to plants grown under HPS lamps; however, the values for this index were higher in cv. ‘Aifos’ as compared to cv. ‘Palermo’. We recommend that supplemental lighting systems are applied with caution, as their performance appears to depend not only on the light spectrum but also on the cultivar.

Saffron is a valuable plant and one of the most expensive spices worldwide. Nowadays, there is a tendency to produce this crop in indoor plant production systems. However, the production of saffron is restricted by the need for the reproduction of high-quality corms. In this study, we investigated the effect of different ratios of red (R) and blue (B) light spectra (including 100% B (monochromatic B), 75%, 50%, 40%, 25% B, and 0% B (monochromatic R) on the photosynthetic performance and biomass partitioning as well as morphological and biochemical characteristics of saffron. The growth of flower, root, and corm was improved by increasing the proportion of B to R light. B-grown plants were characterized by the highest photosynthetic functionality with efficient electron transport and lower energy dissipation when compared to R-grown plants. B light directed biomass toward the corms and floral organs, while R light directed it toward the leaves. In saffron, the weight of a daughter corm is of great importance since it determines the yield of the next year. As the ratio of B to R light increased, the daughter corms also became heavier, at the cost of reducing their number, though increasing the proportion of B-enhanced antioxidant capacity as well as the activity of ascorbate peroxidase and catalase while superoxide dismutase activity was enhanced in R-grown plants. In conclusion, B light increased the production of high-quality daughter corms and altered biomass partitioning towards harvestable organs (corms and flowers) in saffron plants.

Novel therapies for the treatment of COVID-19 are continuing to emerge as the SARS-Cov-2 pandemic progresses. PCR remains the standard benchmark for initial diagnosis of COVID-19 infection, while advances in immunological profiling are guiding clinical treatment. The SARS-Cov-2 virus has undergone multiple mutations since its emergence in 2019, resulting in changes in virulence that have impacted on disease severity globally. The emergence of more virulent variants of SARS-Cov-2 remains challenging for effective disease control during this pandemic. Major variants identified to date include B.1.1.7, B.1.351; P.1; B.1.617.2; B.1.427; P.2; P.3; B.1.525; and C.37. Globally, large unvaccinated populations increase the risk of more and more variants arising. With successive waves of COVID-19 emerging, strategies that mitigate against community transmission need to be implemented, including increased vaccination coverage. For treatment, convalescent plasma therapy, successfully deployed during recent Ebola outbreaks and for H1N1 influenza, can increase survival rates and improve host responses to viral challenge. Convalescent plasma is rich with cytokines (IL-1β, IL-2, IL-6, IL-17, and IL-8), CCL2, and TNFα, neutralizing antibodies, and clotting factors essential for the management of SARS-CoV-2 infection. Clinical trials can inform and guide treatment policy, leading to mainstream adoption of convalescent therapy. This review examines the limited number of clinical trials published, to date that have deployed this therapy and explores clinical trials in progress for the treatment of COVID-19.