Exogenous application of polyamines improves germination and early seedling growth of hot pepper

Polyamines are low molecular weight organic compounds involved in diverse range of biological processes in all living organisms. Seed priming is a technique that improves seed performance by rapid and uniform germination with normal and vigorous seedlings. A laboratory study was performed to explore the benefits of seed priming with polyamines on seed germination and seedling growth of hot pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) Hot pepper seeds were primed in aerated solution of putrescine, spermine, or spermidine (25, 50, 75, and 100 mM) for 48 h at 25 ± 2 °C. Significant results (P < 0.05) were observed for different attributes of seed germination and early seedling growth. Polyamines priming resulted in earlier and synchronized germination via improving final germination percentage, time to 50% germination, mean germination time, germination energy, germination speed and germination index compared with control. Improvement in shoot and root length, seedling fresh and dry weight, seedling growth rate and seedling vigor index was clearly indicative of positive effects of seed priming with polyamines. Out of all polyamines, putrescine proved to be better at low concentrations (i.e. 25 and 50 mM) for most of the traits related to seed emergence and seedling growth

Molecular characterization of Pakistani wheat cultivars using random markers

The genetic diversity among fifteen varieties of wheat was studied by random amplified polymorphic DNA  (RAPD) analysis. By applying 20 RAPD primers, 182 fragments were amplified, out of which 118 were  polymorphic (64.84%). The number of fragments amplified per primer ranged from 10 to 24 with an average of  17 fragments per primer. Primer K-17 produced the maximum number of fragments (24) and all the fragments  were polymorphic. Range of polymorphism percentage was from as low as 0% (I to 15) to as high as 100%  (K-11). The number of fragments produced per wheat genotype varied from 36 to 56 with an average of 47.2  fragments per genotype. The variety Shahkar-95 produced maximum number of fragments (56). Cluster  analysis classified fifteen varieties of wheat into two main groups; three varieties were placed in group I and  the rest of the varieties were placed in group II. Second group (group II) was further divided into three  subgroups; IIA, IIB and IIC. The pair wise similarity values ranged from 54.88 to 82.93% and showed that  genotypes Kohinoor-83 and Pak-81 were the closest with highest similarity value (82.93%), while genotypes Kohinoor-83 and Kohistan-97 were most distinct with minimum similarity value (54.88%).Key words: Cultivar, polymorphism, random amplification of polymorphic deoxyribonucleic acid (RAPD), cluster analysis, genotype

Mucinous carcinoma of breast: A rare tumour with favorable prognosis - 10 years experience from a single center

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to describe the biological behaviour of mucinous breast carcinoma (MBC) regarding their clinical presentations, pathological features, prognosis and survival.Methodology: We conducted this retrospective study from 2006 to 2015 (10-year duration) and included all the patients who presented with mucinous carcinoma of the breast at any age. We excluded all the patients who presented with invasive ductal carcinoma or other rare breast tumours. Each patient with mucinous carcinoma breast was categorised in terms of diagnosis, surgery, chemotherapy and outcome. For categorical variables, Chi-square test was used. Kaplan–Meier curves were used to determine estimated overall survival. Data analysis was carried out using the SPSS 20.Results: In total, 8841 patients with breast carcinoma presented during the study period. Of these, 74 patients were diagnosed as cases of MBC, constituting &lt;1%. Family history of breast carcinoma was positive in 20% of patients. Most of the women were postmenopausal (66.2%) falling in BIRADS Category 4 and 5 (32.4% each). Considering laterality tumours had almost equal distribution between the right and left side. Breast-conserving surgery was performed in 47.3% of women as compare to modified radicle mastectomy in 52.7% of women. Most of the patients had pathological T2 (51.4%), N0 (81.1%) and moderately differentiated (69%) mucinous carcinoma. ER was positive in 85% of patients, PR in 80% and H2N in 74.6% of patients. Neoadjuvant chemotherapy was given to 20 patients (27%) and adjuvant chemoradiotherapy was given to 51 patients (69%). Metastasis occurred in 12 (16.2%) of our patients while 62 (83.8%) were metastasis free on long-term follow-up, with bones being the most common site of metastasis, occurring in 6 patients (8.1%) followed by lungs, occurring in 4 patients (5.4%). A total of 32 (43.2%) patients are alive, and on regular follow-up, 3 (4.1%) died during the course of follow-up and 39 (52.7%) are lost to follow-up with a median survival of 60 months and an overall 5-year survival rate of &gt;95%.Conclusion: Mucinous carcinoma is a rare breast carcinoma with a good prognosis.Key words: Breast cancer, mucinous carcinoma, prognosi

A STUDY OF INTERNET THREATS, AVOIDANCE AND BIOMETRIC SECURITY TECHNIQUES - COMPARISON OF BIOMETRIC TECHNIQUES

In today&rsquo;s IT world, most of the communication is done through networking. So, security of information is very crucial. A lot of techniques have been developed for security which involves passwords, encryption, digital signatures etc. But there are chances of vulnerabilities in these techniques and hackers can break the security algorithms of these techniques. So, in this era, researchers have moved towards biometric techniques of security. It involves identification of people based on their physical characteristics or psychological behaviors. A choice of biometric method to be used is made depending on the level of security required and the goals of the system. Biometric identification is very excellent and secure way of authenticating people. But it can also suffer from security threats, if proper design considerations are not taken into account. This work presents details of biometric techniques and a detailed comparison of most famous biometric techniques

Impact of 10-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV10) on nasopharyngeal carriage in children 2 years of age: Data from a four-year time series cross-sectional study from Pakistan

The dataset described in this paper was collected for a time-series cross-sectional study exploring the impact of 10-valent Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine (PCV10) on nasopharyngeal (NP) carriage in children under 2 years of age from a rural population in Sindh, Pakistan. The study was carried out in two union councils of Matiari - Khyber and Shah Alam Shah Jee Wasi (Latitude 25.680298 / Longitude 68.502711). Data was collected on socio-demographics, clinical characteristics and vaccination status using android phone-based application. NP samples were collected using standard World Health Organisation (WHO) techniques, culture and serotyping was done using sequential Multiplex PCR described by Centre for Disease Control, USA. We looked at the carriage rate of vaccine type (VT) and non-vaccine type (NVT) serotypes over time in vaccinated and unvaccinated children. We additionally looked at the predictors for pneumococcal carriage. The uploaded dataset, available on Mendeley data repository (Nisar, Muhammad Imran (2021), Impact of PCV10 on nasopharyngeal carriage in children in Pakistan , Mendeley Data, V1, doi:10.17632/t79h6g97gr.1), has 3140 observations in CSV format. Additional files uploaded include a data dictionary and the set of questionnaires. The dataset and accompanying files can be used by other interested researchers to replicate our analysis, carry similar analysis under varying set of assumptions or perform additional exploratory or metanalysis

Antimicrobial resistance among migrants in Europe: a systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND: Rates of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) are rising globally and there is concern that increased migration is contributing to the burden of antibiotic resistance in Europe. However, the effect of migration on the burden of AMR in Europe has not yet been comprehensively examined. Therefore, we did a systematic review and meta-analysis to identify and synthesise data for AMR carriage or infection in migrants to Europe to examine differences in patterns of AMR across migrant groups and in different settings. METHODS: For this systematic review and meta-analysis, we searched MEDLINE, Embase, PubMed, and Scopus with no language restrictions from Jan 1, 2000, to Jan 18, 2017, for primary data from observational studies reporting antibacterial resistance in common bacterial pathogens among migrants to 21 European Union-15 and European Economic Area countries. To be eligible for inclusion, studies had to report data on carriage or infection with laboratory-confirmed antibiotic-resistant organisms in migrant populations. We extracted data from eligible studies and assessed quality using piloted, standardised forms. We did not examine drug resistance in tuberculosis and excluded articles solely reporting on this parameter. We also excluded articles in which migrant status was determined by ethnicity, country of birth of participants' parents, or was not defined, and articles in which data were not disaggregated by migrant status. Outcomes were carriage of or infection with antibiotic-resistant organisms. We used random-effects models to calculate the pooled prevalence of each outcome. The study protocol is registered with PROSPERO, number CRD42016043681. FINDINGS: We identified 2274 articles, of which 23 observational studies reporting on antibiotic resistance in 2319 migrants were included. The pooled prevalence of any AMR carriage or AMR infection in migrants was 25·4% (95% CI 19·1-31·8; I2 =98%), including meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (7·8%, 4·8-10·7; I2 =92%) and antibiotic-resistant Gram-negative bacteria (27·2%, 17·6-36·8; I2 =94%). The pooled prevalence of any AMR carriage or infection was higher in refugees and asylum seekers (33·0%, 18·3-47·6; I2 =98%) than in other migrant groups (6·6%, 1·8-11·3; I2 =92%). The pooled prevalence of antibiotic-resistant organisms was slightly higher in high-migrant community settings (33·1%, 11·1-55·1; I2 =96%) than in migrants in hospitals (24·3%, 16·1-32·6; I2 =98%). We did not find evidence of high rates of transmission of AMR from migrant to host populations. INTERPRETATION: Migrants are exposed to conditions favouring the emergence of drug resistance during transit and in host countries in Europe. Increased antibiotic resistance among refugees and asylum seekers and in high-migrant community settings (such as refugee camps and detention facilities) highlights the need for improved living conditions, access to health care, and initiatives to facilitate detection of and appropriate high-quality treatment for antibiotic-resistant infections during transit and in host countries. Protocols for the prevention and control of infection and for antibiotic surveillance need to be integrated in all aspects of health care, which should be accessible for all migrant groups, and should target determinants of AMR before, during, and after migration. FUNDING: UK National Institute for Health Research Imperial Biomedical Research Centre, Imperial College Healthcare Charity, the Wellcome Trust, and UK National Institute for Health Research Health Protection Research Unit in Healthcare-associated Infections and Antimictobial Resistance at Imperial College London

Use of nanomaterials in the pretreatment of water samples for environmental analysis

The challenge of providing clean drinking water is of enormous relevance in today’s human civilization, being essential for human consumption, but also for agriculture, livestock and several industrial applications. In addition to remediation strategies, the accurate monitoring of pollutants in water sup-plies, which most of the times are present at low concentrations, is a critical challenge. The usual low concentration of target analytes, the presence of in-terferents and the incompatibility of the sample matrix with instrumental techniques and detectors are the main reasons that renders sample preparation a relevant part of environmental monitoring strategies. The discovery and ap-plication of new nanomaterials allowed improvements on the pretreatment of water samples, with benefits in terms of speed, reliability and sensitivity in analysis. In this chapter, the use of nanomaterials in solid-phase extraction (SPE) protocols for water samples pretreatment for environmental monitoring is addressed. The most used nanomaterials, including metallic nanoparticles, metal organic frameworks, molecularly imprinted polymers, carbon-based nanomaterials, silica-based nanoparticles and nanocomposites are described, and their applications and advantages overviewed. Main gaps are identified and new directions on the field are suggested.publishe

Pooled analysis of WHO Surgical Safety Checklist use and mortality after emergency laparotomy

Background The World Health Organization (WHO) Surgical Safety Checklist has fostered safe practice for 10 years, yet its place in emergency surgery has not been assessed on a global scale. The aim of this study was to evaluate reported checklist use in emergency settings and examine the relationship with perioperative mortality in patients who had emergency laparotomy. Methods In two multinational cohort studies, adults undergoing emergency laparotomy were compared with those having elective gastrointestinal surgery. Relationships between reported checklist use and mortality were determined using multivariable logistic regression and bootstrapped simulation. Results Of 12 296 patients included from 76 countries, 4843 underwent emergency laparotomy. After adjusting for patient and disease factors, checklist use before emergency laparotomy was more common in countries with a high Human Development Index (HDI) (2455 of 2741, 89.6 per cent) compared with that in countries with a middle (753 of 1242, 60.6 per cent; odds ratio (OR) 0.17, 95 per cent c.i. 0.14 to 0.21, P <0001) or low (363 of 860, 422 per cent; OR 008, 007 to 010, P <0.001) HDI. Checklist use was less common in elective surgery than for emergency laparotomy in high-HDI countries (risk difference -94 (95 per cent c.i. -11.9 to -6.9) per cent; P <0001), but the relationship was reversed in low-HDI countries (+121 (+7.0 to +173) per cent; P <0001). In multivariable models, checklist use was associated with a lower 30-day perioperative mortality (OR 0.60, 0.50 to 073; P <0.001). The greatest absolute benefit was seen for emergency surgery in low- and middle-HDI countries. Conclusion Checklist use in emergency laparotomy was associated with a significantly lower perioperative mortality rate. Checklist use in low-HDI countries was half that in high-HDI countries.Peer reviewe

Multiple novel prostate cancer susceptibility signals identified by fine-mapping of known risk loci among Europeans

Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified numerous common prostate cancer (PrCa) susceptibility loci. We have fine-mapped 64 GWAS regions known at the conclusion of the iCOGS study using large-scale genotyping and imputation in 25 723 PrCa cases and 26 274 controls of European ancestry. We detected evidence for multiple independent signals at 16 regions, 12 of which contained additional newly identified significant associations. A single signal comprising a spectrum of correlated variation was observed at 39 regions; 35 of which are now described by a novel more significantly associated lead SNP, while the originally reported variant remained as the lead SNP only in 4 regions. We also confirmed two association signals in Europeans that had been previously reported only in East-Asian GWAS. Based on statistical evidence and linkage disequilibrium (LD) structure, we have curated and narrowed down the list of the most likely candidate causal variants for each region. Functional annotation using data from ENCODE filtered for PrCa cell lines and eQTL analysis demonstrated significant enrichment for overlap with bio-features within this set. By incorporating the novel risk variants identified here alongside the refined data for existing association signals, we estimate that these loci now explain ∼38.9% of the familial relative risk of PrCa, an 8.9% improvement over the previously reported GWAS tag SNPs. This suggests that a significant fraction of the heritability of PrCa may have been hidden during the discovery phase of GWAS, in particular due to the presence of multiple independent signals within the same regio

Mapping local patterns of childhood overweight and wasting in low- and middle-income countries between 2000 and 2017

A double burden of malnutrition occurs when individuals, household members or communities experience both undernutrition and overweight. Here, we show geospatial estimates of overweight and wasting prevalence among children under 5 years of age in 105 low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) from 2000 to 2017 and aggregate these to policy-relevant administrative units. Wasting decreased overall across LMICs between 2000 and 2017, from 8.4% (62.3 (55.1–70.8) million) to 6.4% (58.3 (47.6–70.7) million), but is predicted to remain above the World Health Organization’s Global Nutrition Target of <5% in over half of LMICs by 2025. Prevalence of overweight increased from 5.2% (30 (22.8–38.5) million) in 2000 to 6.0% (55.5 (44.8–67.9) million) children aged under 5 years in 2017. Areas most affected by double burden of malnutrition were located in Indonesia, Thailand, southeastern China, Botswana, Cameroon and central Nigeria. Our estimates provide a new perspective to researchers, policy makers and public health agencies in their efforts to address this global childhood syndemic