Association between Renal Stones Sonographic Findings and Demographic Data among Patients at Riyadh Hospitals, Saudi Arabia

Background: Ultrasound is the primary imaging modality to identify renal stones (RS) in patients with acute flank pain. This study aimed to evaluate the presence, location, and size of RS diagnosed by ultrasound in association with age, gender, and BMI among patients at Riyadh hospitals. Methods and Results: In this case-control study, a total of 250 records (130/52% for males and 120/48% for females) from 2018 to 2019 were reviewed from January to March 2020 at different hospitals in Riyadh. In this study, 150(60%) records of patients with RS and 100(40%) records of patients without RS were collected to evaluate the risk factor for RS formation in the central area of Saudi Arabia. A designed data collection sheet containing all variables (demographic and sonographic) of the study was used. Demographic data included gender, age, and body mass index (BMI). Sonographic data included RS presence (yes, no), RS location (right kidney [RK], left kidney [LK], both kidneys), and RS size (small [1cm]). The study found that RS were more common among males than females (P0.05) Conclusion: Among patients at Riyadh hospitals, females are less affected by RS than males. Gender is a significant risk factor for the development of RS. The effect of BMI is obvious on renal stone location and size

Prevalence and management of aphids (Hemiptera: Aphididae) in different wheat genotypes and their impact on yield and related traits.

Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) production is significantly altered by the infestation of sucking insects, particularly aphids. Chemical sprays are not recommended for the management of aphids as wheat grains are consumed soon after crop harvests. Therefore, determining the susceptibility of different wheat genotypes and selecting the most tolerant genotype could significantly lower aphid infestation. This study evaluated the susceptibility of six different wheat genotypes (‘Sehar-2006’, ‘Shafaq-2006’, ‘Faisalabad-2008’, ‘Lasani-2008’, ‘Millat-2011’ and ‘Punjab-2011’) to three aphid species (Rhopalosiphum padi Linnaeus, Schizaphis graminum Rondani, Sitobion avenae Fabricius) at various growth stages. Seed dressing with insecticides and plant extracts were also evaluated for their efficacy to reduce the incidence of these aphid species. Afterwards, an economic analysis was performed to compute cost-benefit ratio and assess the economic feasibility for the use of insecticides and plant extracts. Aphids’ infestation was recorded from the seedling stage and their population gradually increased as growth progressed towards tillering, stem elongation, heading, dough and ripening stages. The most susceptible growth stage was heading with 21.89 aphids/tiller followed by stem elongation (14.89 aphids/tiller) and dough stage (13.56 aphids/tiller). The genotype ‘Punjab-2011’ recorded the lower aphid infestation than ‘Faisalabad-2008’, ‘Sehar-2006’, ‘Lasani-2008’ and ‘Shafaq-2006’. Rhopalosiphum padi appeared during mid-February, whereas S. graminum and S. avenae appeared during first week of March. Significant differences were recorded for losses in number of grains/spike and 1000-grain weight among tested wheat genotypes. The aphid population had non-significant correlation with yield-related traits. Hicap proved the most effective for the management of aphid species followed by Hombre and Husk among tested seed dressers, while Citrullus colocynthis L. and Moringa oleifera Lam. plant extracts exhibited the highest efficacy among different plant extracts used in the study. Economic analysis depicted that use of Hombre and Hicap resulted in the highest income and benefit cost ratio. Therefore, use of genotype Punjab-2011’ and seed dressing with Hombre and Hicap can be successfully used to lower aphid infestation and get higher economic returns for wheat crop

Combined application of zinc and silicon alleviates terminal drought stress in wheat by triggering morpho-physiological and antioxidants defense mechanisms

Wheat is an important global staple food crop; however, its productivity is severely hampered by changing climate. Erratic rain patterns cause terminal drought stress, which affect reproductive development and crop yield. This study investigates the potential and zinc (Zn) and silicon (Si) to ameliorate terminal drought stress in wheat and associated mechanisms. Two different drought stress levels, i.e., control [80% water holding capacity (WHC) was maintained] and terminal drought stress (40% WHC maintained from BBCH growth stage 49 to 83) combined with five foliar-applied Zn-Si combinations (i.e., control, water spray, 4 mM Zn, 40 mM Si, 4 mM Zn + 40 mM Si applied 7 days after the initiation of drought stress). Results revealed that application of Zn and Si improved chlorophyll and relative water contents under well-watered conditions and terminal drought stress. Foliar application of Si and Zn had significant effect on antioxidant defense mechanism, proline and soluble protein, which showed that application of Si and Zn ameliorated the effects of terminal drought stress mainly by regulating antioxidant defense mechanism, and production of proline and soluble proteins. Combined application of Zn and Si resulted in the highest improvement in growth and antioxidant defense. The application of Zn and Si improved yield and related traits, both under well-watered conditions and terminal drought stress. The highest yield and related traits were recorded for combined application of Zn and Si. For grain and biological yield differences among sole and combined Zn-Si application were statistically non-significant (p>0.05). In conclusion, combined application of Zn-Si ameliorated the adverse effects of terminal drought stress by improving yield through regulating antioxidant mechanism and production of proline and soluble proteins. Results provide valuable insights for further cross talk between Zn-Si regulatory pathways to enhance grain biofortification

Soil phosphorus fractionation in calcareous soil as affected by organic amendments application

Understanding of P transformations following organic amendments addition to highly calcareous soils is necessary for developing better management practices that can help enhance P fertilizer use efficiency. Phosphorus solubility and availability for plant uptake under the con- ditions of arid calcareous soil is very low, making P nutrient supply a critical issue under these conditions. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of various types of organic amend- ments (chicken compost, cow compost and a mixture of humic-fulvic acid) applied alone at dif- ferent rates of KH 2 PO 4 fertilizer on P fractions in calcareous soil using the sequential chemical extraction method. Amended calcareous soil was incubated under laboratory conditions and soil samples were collected at 0, 4, 8 and 16 weeks of the incubation periods. Soil was sequentially extracted and analyzed for P different fractions. The results indicated that the addition of chicken and cow compost increased soluble and exchangeable-P and Ca-P fractions in calcareous soil and the increases depend on application rates. The results indicated that combination of chicken and cow compost with different KH 2 PO 4 fertilizer application rates increased the concentration of sol- uble and exchangeable-P in the soil compared to organic amendments or KH 2 PO 4 fertilizer applied alone. The P associated with Ca was the dominant P fractions in soil, ranging between 51 to 59% regardless of the different treatment and the period of incubations. The Al- and Fe-associated Pfractions varied between 2 and 9%, with the maximum value being observed at the eighth week of incubation. The residual-P fraction ranged between 5 and 22% at different incubation periods

Attenuation of STAT3 signaling cascade by daidzin can enhance the apoptotic potential of bortezomib against multiple myeloma

10.3390/biom10010023Biomolecules1012

Biological activities of some natural compounds and their cytotoxicity studies against breast and prostate cancer cell lines and anti-COVID19 studies

In this study, we investigated the inhibition effects of matairesinol, pregnanolone, hamamelitannin, secoisolariciresinol, and secoisolariciresinol diglicoside compounds on HMG-CoA reductase and urease enzymes. We have obtained results for the HMG-CoA reductase enzyme at the millimolar level, and for the urease enzyme at the micromolar level. Molecular docking calculations were made for their biological activities were compared. In docking calculations, proteins of experimentally used enzymes, activities of SARS-CoV-2 virus against RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) protein, and anti-oxidant protein were compared. Then, ADME/T calculations were made to use the molecules as drugs. Cytotoxicity potential of these complexes against human breast and prostate cancers demonstrated that these compounds had good cytotoxic effects. There is growing attention to phenolic molecules and their presumed role in avoiding diverse degenerative diseases, such as cardiovascular and cancer diseases

Identification of a novel 1,2 oxazine that can induce apoptosis by targeting NF-κB in hepatocellular carcinoma cells

10.1016/j.btre.2020.e00438Biotechnology Reports25e0043

Gamma Radiation-Induced Disruption of Cellular Junctions in HUVECs Is Mediated through Affecting MAPK/NF- κB Inflammatory Pathways

10.1155/2019/1486232Oxidative Medicine and Cellular Longevity2019148623