Cultural, morphological, pathogenic and molecular characterization of Alternaria mali associated with Alternaria leaf blotch of apple

Alternaria blotch (Alternaria mali) causes severe foliar damage to apple trees in Kashmir. Twenty one (21) isolates of A. mali were collected from different locations and characterized for cultural, morphological, pathogenic and molecular variations. A. mali colonies varied in their cultural behaviour ranging from velvety to cottony, mostly appressed, with regular to irregular margins. Colour of colonies ranged between light to dark olivacious. Isolates impregnated media with colour ranging between grey to brown. Growth rate of isolates was between 5.86 to 8.21 mm/day with fast growth in isolate Am-13 and least in Am-5. Morphological variations in size, shape and septation of hyphae, conidiophore and conidia were observed in the isolates with significant variations in conidiophore and conidial septation. Average conidial size ranged from 21.36 to 31.74 x 8.34 to 14.48 μm. Isolates exhibited variations in incubation period, number and size of the lesions were produced. The dendrogram analysis, based on cultural, morphological and pathogenic studies, revealed variation within A. mali population. At 67% similarity matrix, all the isolates formed 2 clusters with 12 and nine isolates in cluster I and II, respectively. However, dendrogram on molecular (random amplification of polymorphic DNA, RAPD) basis revealed five clusters at 68% Dice similarity coefficient. There was no congruence between RAPD pattern and cultural, morphological and pathogenic characters. Isolates identical for one spectrum were often dissimilar for other spectrum. The results demonstrate existence of considerable variation in cultural, morphological, pathogenic and molecular characters of A. mali isolates prevalent in Kashmir valley.Keywords: Apple, Alternaria mali, variability, cultural, morphological, pathogenic, RAPDAfrican Journal of Biotechnology Vol. 12(4), pp. 370-38

The Association of Serum Vitamin D Levels and Short Term and 6-month Outcomes among Patients with Acute Coronary Syndrome

Introduction: vitamin D affects the function of most of the cells in the body, including myocytes and endothelial cells, and also affects platelet function. This study aims to evaluate the relation between vitamin D deficiency and in-hospital and 6-month outcomes of patients with the acute coronary syndrome.Methods: This was a prospective cohort study of patients admitted to Mousavi hospital with the diagnosis of acute coronary syndrome. A venous blood sample obtained from patients at the time of admission and 25-hydroxyvitamin D, lipid profile, and hs-troponin-I levels were measured. After coronary angiography, the severity of the coronary artery stenosis was calculated by the syntax score. Patients also evaluated in-hospital outcomes and even followed up for 6-month results.Results: Totally, 204 patients were included in the study. The mean ± SD of age was 60 ± 11.6-year-old. The overall vitamin D deficiency was 80.9%. There was no association between vitamin D deficiency and in-hospital and 6-month mortality in patients with acute coronary syndrome (P = 0.824). There was a direct and statistically significant association between vitamin D levels and HDL cholesterol (P = 0.011). Twenty-eight percent of patients with negative hs-troponin-I and 14% with positive hs-troponin-I had normal vitamin D levels, which was statistically significant (P = 0.045).Conclusion: This study does not demonstrate an association between vitamin D levels and in-hospital and 6-month outcomes in patients with the acute coronary syndrome

Cost and Income Estimation of Burn Intensive Care Units: A Case Study in the Armed Forces Hospital

Background: As one of the most expensive sections of health system, hospitals are of special importance among healthcare service providers, and the management of financial resources in this sector is essential for continuous provision of services. The high cost of the burn department and post-treatment care in the armed forces, which is one of the most needed units of this organization, has led to the financial analysis of the burn department in Chamran Hospital. The main goal of this study is for the policy-makers and managers of the country's health sector to adopt a suitable policy in the debate between quality and cost-effectiveness of establishing a burn unit in the field of health and treatment, so that, in addition to reducing the costs of this sector, they focus on positive external effects, including reducing the psychological pressure on the affected people. Methods: This cross-sectional and descriptive study analyzed burn department in one of the hospitals affiliated with the armed forces in 2020 and 2021. The required data was collected through the review of all the hospital financial statements and patient payment documents during the period under study, and the income, cost and profitability indicators were calculated and analyzed using Excel software. Results: Based on the results, the calculated costs in the burn department were more than 62 billion tomans, and the income from hospitalization of patients was about 61 billion tomans. The index of pharmaceutical income to total income was calculated as 0.35, pharmaceutical income to pharmaceutical cost was 0.10, and the ratio of hoteling income to total income was 0.37. Among the cost indicators, the ratio of the cost of medicine and medical supplies to the total costs was 0.31, the energy cost to the total cost was 0.002, the percentage of personnel cost to the total resources was 0.56. Moreover, the profitability index was calculated as 0.97. Conclusion: According to the results, although the burn department, especially in the armed forces, is not cost-efficient from an economic point of view, from a social point of view and due to the health and treatment mission of the armed forces, which is the efficient support of the armed forces and meeting their needs. Establishing this sector is considered a strategic matter and the optimal use of resources and reduction of unnecessary costs is necessary for cost efficiency. Therefore, the establishment of a systematic system for evaluating financial performance, outsourcing services, providing subsidies, and raising burn tariffs in order to improve the performance of the burn department in government hospitals are the methods proposed in this study to improve financial indicators, productivity, and excellent management in providing services to the patients in the burn department

Efficacy of Intra-articular Injection of a Newly Developed Plasma Rich in Growth Factor (PRGF) Versus Hyaluronic Acid on Pain and Function of Patients with Knee Osteoarthritis: A Single-Blinded Randomized Clinical Trial

Background and objectives: Knee osteoarthritis is the most common joint disease. We aimed to compare the efficacy and safety of intra-articular injection of a newly developed plasma rich in growth factor (PRGF) versus hyaluronic acid (HA) on pain and function of patients with knee osteoarthritis. Methods: In this single-blinded randomized clinical trial, patients with symptomatic osteoarthritis of knee were assigned to receive 2 intra-articular injections of our newly developed PRGF in 3 weeks or 3 weekly injections of HA. Our primary outcome was the mean change from baseline until 2 and 6 months post intervention in scores of visual analog scale, Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC), and Lequesne index. We used analysis of variance for repeated-measures statistical test. Results: A total of 69 patients entered final analysis. The mean age of patients was 58.2 ± 7.41 years and 81.2% were women. In particular, total WOMAC index decreased from 42.9 ± 13.51 to 26.8 ± 13.45 and 24.4 ± 16.54 at 2 and 6 months in the newly developed PRGF group (within subjects P  = .001), and from 38.8 ± 12.62 to 27.8 ± 11.01 and 27.4 ± 11.38 at 2 and 6 months in the HA group (within subjects P  = .001), respectively (between subjects P  = .631). There was no significant difference between PRGF and HA groups in patients’ satisfaction and minor complications of injection, whereas patients in HA group reported significantly lower injection-induced pain. Conclusions: In 6 months follow up, our newly developed PRGF and HA, both are effective options to decrease pain and improvement of function in patients with symptomatic mild to moderate knee osteoarthritis

Inter-Rater Reliability of Ergonomic Risk Assessment Methods

Background: Musculoskeletal disorders are one of the most common occupational diseases, and in recent years, several methods have been developed to evaluate risk factors for these types of disorders. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 40 tasks in small industries including carpentry, turning, welding, loading and unloading, and sewing were recorded with a video camera and in the second stage, the postures were reviewed and evaluated by six raters. In total, forty of the worst and most frequent postures were analyzed by self-raters and then, the same risk levels were determined for the six methods and analyzed with correlation and Kappa agreement coefficient tests using SPSS (version 19), and then they were compared with each other using the Intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC). Results: The results revealed the importance of Kappa Coefficient in which it shows the risk level of different method and specified pair method: OCRA/SI =0.25, OCRA/HAL=0.2, SI/HAL= 0.32, SI/ RULA= 0.33, REBA/OCRA = 0.4, QEC/SI= 0.27, QEC/ RULA= 0.23Inter-rater Reliability of the methods was found as follow:ICCOCRA=0.3, ICCSI= 0.67, ICCHAL= 0.8, ICCRULA= 0.85, ICCREBA=0.8, ICCQEC=0.972.Conclusions: The results showed that there was no complete agreement among the methods. This agreement among methods is evaluated from poor to good (0.2-0.4). The ICC showed high reliability in the methods except in the OCRA method

A Rare Huge Sacral Tarlov Cyst with Progressive Neurologic Deficit: A Case Report

Background and Importance: Perineural cysts, also known as Tarlov cysts, are benign cysts of the spinal cord containing a collection of cerebrospinal fluid. They most frequently originate in the sacral spine and can be asymptomatic. Case Presentation: We presented a 30-year-old woman who was referred to our clinic with an 8-month history of perianal paresthesia, slowly progressive lower back pain, pain in back of the left and right thigh, and a one-week history of bladder incontinence. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) done six months ago showed a large cyst with size of 74x40x22 mm in S1 from S4 of the spinal canal. The cyst was uncovered after laminectomy of S1 to S4. The cyst was aspirated, its neck ligated, and the dismissed portion was excised. The nerve roots were reserved intact. Postoperatively, the patient reported noticeable pain relief. At month 3, the patient's bowel and bladder control recovered. Sensation and deep reflexes were also normal. Conclusion: A giant sacral Tarlov cyst and the development of associated radicular symptoms are powerfully associated with an outstanding outcome following surgery

Left ventricular thrombus formation in a COVID‐19 patient with a complex course of pericarditis and myocardial infarction

Key Clinical Message Our case demonstrated that thrombotic complications such as coronary thrombosis and left ventricular clot could occur even in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) patients with nonspecific symptoms which indicates the mysterious face of COVID‐19. This complex process highlights the necessity of screening patients for COVID‐19 disease even with nonspecific cardiac symptoms

Ginger extract modulates the expression of IL-12 and TGF-β in the central nervous system and serum of mice with experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis

Objective: The main function of IL-12 is differentiation of naive T cells intoTh1 cells and TGF-β is a powerful immunoregulatory cytokine. The immunomodulatory and anti-inflammatory properties of ginger have also been reported in some studies. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of ginger extract on the expression of IL-12 and TGF-β in a model of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE).Materials and Methods: EAE was induced in C57BL/6 mice by immunization with myelin oligodendroglial glycoprotein emulsified in complete Freund's adjuvant. The mice were administered intra-peritoneally with ginger extracts or PBS, from day +3 to +30. On day 31, mice were scarified and the expression of IL-12 and TGF-β mRNA in the spinal cord were determined by using real time-PCR. The serum levels of cytokines were measured by ELISA.Results: In PBS-treated EAE mice, the expression of IL-12 P35 and IL-12 P40 mRNA in the CNS and the mean serum levels of IL-12 were significantly higher than those of healthy group (

International Journal of Farming and Allied Sciences The process of production compost tea and its usage in agriculture: a review

ABSTRACT: By mixing compost with water and culturing for a limited period.The use of Compost teas have useful effects on plants. High quality compost refers to compost that is high in microbiological activity. Compost tea is made by two brewing methods: non-aerated method and aerated method. For both methods, microbial food may or may not be added in compost tea production. The inconsistency has been associated with a number of factors that affect the production process. Compost contains a diverse group of organisms dominated by bacteria and fungi participating in decomposing of organic matter. Compost teas decrease plant Disease when used as soil drenches or foliar sprays. Compost tea as potential alternatives are viewed to use of synthetic chemical fungicides. Dilution of the tea prior to foliar application may reduce the nutrients and microbial population. Compost is comprised of a large and diverse community of microbes, human acids and other chemical nutrients such as carbon and nitrogen that soil and healthy plant growth