Capparis decidua Edgew (Forssk.) Stem Extract Alleviates the Water Stress Perturbations in Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) at Early Growth Stage

Water shortage is one of the major limiting factors of crop productivity worldwide. This study was planned to explore the impact of Capparis decidua stem extract on wheat varieties (FSD-2008, 12066 and 13348) under water stress condition. Water deficit condition negatively impacted the seedling germination, growth, photosynthetic pigments and ions uptake capacity. Water limited condition significantly (p≤0.05) increased time to attain 50% germination, lipid peroxidation, H2O2 and enhanced the antioxidant mechanism to overcome the oxidative stress. Different concentrations of C. decidua extract i.e. Not Soaking (NS), 10%, 20%, 30% and 40% were used for seed priming. It improved the negative effects of water stress and amended plant germination and growth by enhancing photosynthesis and reactive oxygen species (ROS) scavenging mechanism. The 20% and 30% C. decidua stem extract remained effective in mitigating the induced water stress effects in the tested cultivars. It was found that C. decidua stem extract significantly (p≤0.05) improved germination, growth Mg+2 and Fe+2 uptake in the wheat varieties under study. It is concluded that C. decidua phytoextract is an influential agent to ameliorate water stress effects in wheat at early growth stage

Metaplastic breast carcinoma: Clinicopathological parameters and prognostic profile

Introduction: Metaplastic breast carcinoma (MBC) is defined as breast cancer with a heterologous non-glandular component. MBC is considered a special type of breast cancer with a prognosis that is worse than invasive ductal carcinoma (IDC) of the breast. MBC is the most common breast cancer with a triple-negative profile. Therefore, in this study, we evaluated the clinicopathological parameters, recurrence and survival of MBC in our population.Methods: We conducted a retrospective observational study in the Department of Histopathology at Prince Faisal Oncology Centre, Buraidah, Saudi Arabia, over a period of five years. All cases diagnosed as MBC were included in the study. Estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR), and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2/neu) immunohistochemistry (IHC) was performed on representative tissue blocks.Results: Total 183 cases of MBCs were included in the study, out of which 120 cases were excision specimens. The mean age of the patients was 48.84±12.99 years, and the most common age group was between 36 and 50 years of age. Most of the cases were tumor (T) stage T3 (50%), and nodal metastasis was present in 40% of cases. Most cases were grade III (78.7%). ER, PR and HER2/neu positivity was noted in 15.8%, 13.1%, and 9.8% cases, respectively. Follow-up data were available for 70 cases, with a median follow-up period of 4 (1-7) years. Tumor recurrence was noted in 31.4% cases, with a survival rate of 71.4%. Squamous, chondroid, spindle cell differentiation, and matrix production were noted in 70.5%, 7.1%, 13.7%, and 2.2% cases, respectively. A significant association of squamous differentiation was noted with HER2/neu positivity. An inverse association of spindle cell differentiation was seen with axillary metastasis. Survival analysis by Kaplan-Meier revealed a significant association of survival with tumor recurrence.Conclusion: MBC is an important subtype of breast cancer, histopathological identification of which is challenging, owing to varied histological differentiation. We found squamous differentiation to be the most common in MBC, which was associated with HER2/neu positivity. A high recurrence rate of MBC was also observed in our study that was significantly associated with survival

Capparis decidua Edgew (Forssk.) Stem Extract Alleviates the Water Stress Perturbations in Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) at Early Growth Stage

Water shortage is one of the major limiting factors of crop productivity worldwide. This study was planned to explore the impact of Capparis decidua stem extract on wheat varieties (FSD-2008, 12066 and 13348) under water stress condition. Water deficit condition negatively impacted the seedling germination, growth, photosynthetic pigments and ions uptake capacity. Water limited condition significantly (p≤0.05) increased time to attain 50% germination, lipid peroxidation, H2O2 and enhanced the antioxidant mechanism to overcome the oxidative stress. Different concentrations of C. decidua extract i.e. Not Soaking (NS), 10%, 20%, 30% and 40% were used for seed priming. It improved the negative effects of water stress and amended plant germination and growth by enhancing photosynthesis and reactive oxygen species (ROS) scavenging mechanism. The 20% and 30% C. decidua stem extract remained effective in mitigating the induced water stress effects in the tested cultivars. It was found that C. decidua stem extract significantly (p≤0.05) improved germination, growth Mg+2 and Fe+2 uptake in the wheat varieties under study. It is concluded that C. decidua phytoextract is an influential agent to ameliorate water stress effects in wheat at early growth stage

Print And Electronic Media: Cause Of Depression

Objective: To assess depression in normal people and associate it with print and electronic media of Pakistan. Methodology: The study was descriptive, cross-sectional and conducted from July to November 2011. Three hundred and twenty men and women, with age range of 20-70 years were included in study following informed consent. A structured questionnaire with five items of Yes and No category relating media to depression was used. To assess the severity of depression Zung self –rating depression scale was used. Subjects with score of 80-90 were excluded as this score is of clinical depression. Data analysis was done by SPSS version 13.0. Pearson Chi-square was applied with p<0.01 considered statistically significant. Results: Depression was seen in 55 % of subjects on reading newspaper. Watching television caused depression in 59.7% (p<0001). In 68% subjects daily routine life was disturbed (p<0.01). The highest rate of depression 32.6% was due to watching political news, while 28.3 % were by photographs and visuals of dead bodies and 24.6% by news of terrorism. Prevalence of mildly and moderately depressed individuals was 56.3 % and 15.8% respectively. Conclusion: Reading newspaper and watching television causes depression. The content of news on media in particular leads to depression