The COVID-19 Data Portal: accelerating SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 research through rapid open access data sharing.

The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic will be remembered as one of the defining events of the 21st century. The rapid global outbreak has had significant impacts on human society and is already responsible for millions of deaths. Understanding and tackling the impact of the virus has required a worldwide mobilisation and coordination of scientific research. The COVID-19 Data Portal (https://www.covid19dataportal.org/) was first released as part of the European COVID-19 Data Platform, on April 20th 2020 to facilitate rapid and open data sharing and analysis, to accelerate global SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 research. The COVID-19 Data Portal has fortnightly feature releases to continue to add new data types, search options, visualisations and improvements based on user feedback and research. The open datasets and intuitive suite of search, identification and download services, represent a truly FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable) resource that enables researchers to easily identify and quickly obtain the key datasets needed for their COVID-19 research

Effect of early tranexamic acid administration on mortality, hysterectomy, and other morbidities in women with post-partum haemorrhage (WOMAN): an international, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial

Background Post-partum haemorrhage is the leading cause of maternal death worldwide. Early administration of tranexamic acid reduces deaths due to bleeding in trauma patients. We aimed to assess the effects of early administration of tranexamic acid on death, hysterectomy, and other relevant outcomes in women with post-partum haemorrhage. Methods In this randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, we recruited women aged 16 years and older with a clinical diagnosis of post-partum haemorrhage after a vaginal birth or caesarean section from 193 hospitals in 21 countries. We randomly assigned women to receive either 1 g intravenous tranexamic acid or matching placebo in addition to usual care. If bleeding continued after 30 min, or stopped and restarted within 24 h of the first dose, a second dose of 1 g of tranexamic acid or placebo could be given. Patients were assigned by selection of a numbered treatment pack from a box containing eight numbered packs that were identical apart from the pack number. Participants, care givers, and those assessing outcomes were masked to allocation. We originally planned to enrol 15 000 women with a composite primary endpoint of death from all-causes or hysterectomy within 42 days of giving birth. However, during the trial it became apparent that the decision to conduct a hysterectomy was often made at the same time as randomisation. Although tranexamic acid could influence the risk of death in these cases, it could not affect the risk of hysterectomy. We therefore increased the sample size from 15 000 to 20 000 women in order to estimate the effect of tranexamic acid on the risk of death from post-partum haemorrhage. All analyses were done on an intention-to-treat basis. This trial is registered with ISRCTN76912190 (Dec 8, 2008); ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT00872469; and PACTR201007000192283. Findings Between March, 2010, and April, 2016, 20 060 women were enrolled and randomly assigned to receive tranexamic acid (n=10 051) or placebo (n=10 009), of whom 10 036 and 9985, respectively, were included in the analysis. Death due to bleeding was significantly reduced in women given tranexamic acid (155 [1·5%] of 10 036 patients vs 191 [1·9%] of 9985 in the placebo group, risk ratio [RR] 0·81, 95% CI 0·65–1·00; p=0·045), especially in women given treatment within 3 h of giving birth (89 [1·2%] in the tranexamic acid group vs 127 [1·7%] in the placebo group, RR 0·69, 95% CI 0·52–0·91; p=0·008). All other causes of death did not differ significantly by group. Hysterectomy was not reduced with tranexamic acid (358 [3·6%] patients in the tranexamic acid group vs 351 [3·5%] in the placebo group, RR 1·02, 95% CI 0·88–1·07; p=0·84). The composite primary endpoint of death from all causes or hysterectomy was not reduced with tranexamic acid (534 [5·3%] deaths or hysterectomies in the tranexamic acid group vs 546 [5·5%] in the placebo group, RR 0·97, 95% CI 0·87-1·09; p=0·65). Adverse events (including thromboembolic events) did not differ significantly in the tranexamic acid versus placebo group. Interpretation Tranexamic acid reduces death due to bleeding in women with post-partum haemorrhage with no adverse effects. When used as a treatment for postpartum haemorrhage, tranexamic acid should be given as soon as possible after bleeding onset. Funding London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, Pfizer, UK Department of Health, Wellcome Trust, and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Process Optimization and Characterization of Gamma Irradiation Induced Variations in Functional Properties of Maize (Zea mays L.) Flour

The effect of particle size and high dose gamma irradiation on functional properties of maize flour was studied. The maize flour at three levels of particle size (-177, -250 and -420 µm obtained from sieves of 80, 60 and 40 meshes respectively) was irradiated in transparent glass bottles at three levels of gamma radiation (25, 50 and 75 kGy) using 60Co gamma source. A significant linear increase in water holding and swelling capacities and bulk density values and significant linear decrease in emulsifying stability was observed in response to an increase in particle size of the flour. Gamma radiation dose was found to show a significant linear positive effect on water holding capacity and solubility but a significant linear negative effect on oil holding capacity, protein solubility and bulk density values. These observed trends in functional properties of maize flour with the application of gamma irradiation suggests that quality of maize flour, regarding the manufacture and packaging of food products, may be improved by irradiation process

Effect of NaCl on Morphophysiological and Biochemical Responses in <i>Gossypium hirsutum</i> L.

Soil salinity is increasing due to several factors such as climate change and areas with uneven rainfall. This increase in level of salinity compelled the cotton breeders to develop a new germplasm that exhibit the suitable for salty soil. This study aimed to determine the salt tolerance of 50 accessions of Gossypium hirsutum in hydroponic conditions having three levels of NaCl, i.e., 0 mM, 150 mM, and 200 mM. The experiment was carried out in a completely randomized design with a factorial arrangement. Morphological, physiological, and biochemical attributes were estimated in these genotypes. The Na+/K+ ratio was determined by dry digestion method. Salt-susceptible and -tolerant genotypes were identified by biplot and cluster analysis. The genotypes showed significant differences for morphophysiological and biochemical parameters. In control, Cyto-515 showed enhanced growth with shoot length (30.20 cm), root length (20.63 cm), fresh shoot weight (2.34 g), and fresh root weight (0.93 g), while under 150 mM and 200 mM salinity levels, MNH-992 had the maximum root length (15.67 cm) and shoot length (24.67 cm). At a 150 mM salinity level, maximum levels of antioxidants were found in Kehkshan and CIM-595, while at a 200 mM salinity level, AA-703, CIM-595, and Kehkshan showed maximum values of antioxidants. The highest Na+/K+ ratio was observed in VH-363 and FH-114, while Kehkshan had lowest Na+/K+ ratio. The biplot analysis revealed that Kehkshan, CIM-595, VH-330, Cyto-178, MNH-992, and Cyto-515 were widely dispersed and distant from the origin, and exhibiting variability for morphophysiological and biochemical traits under the salt stress. In terms of performance across the treatments, accessions MNH-992, Kehkshan, Cyto-515, and CIM-595 performed significantly better. Peroxidase activity, proline contents, H2O2 determination, and Na+/K+ ratio were shown to be useful for the salt tolerance selection criteria. The potential of such salt tolerant accessions (MNH-992, Kehkshan, Cyto-515, and CIM-595) could be assessed after planting in salt affected areas and could be used in breeding programs for the development of diverse salt tolerant new genotypes of upland cotton

Estimation of Drought Tolerance Indices in Upland Cotton under Water Deficit Conditions

Cotton is a precious commodity that offers raw material to the textile industry. This crop is grown in tropical and sub-tropical regions of the world. Abiotic stresses exerts negative impact on cotton production, but water scarcity has the worst impact. It is rising due to current situation, in which global warming is producing a decrease in precipitation while an increase in evapo-transpiration is causing an agricultural drought. Thus, it is a difficult task for cotton breeders to identify cotton lines that can respond to areas with limited water supplies without lowering yields and might be utilized as suitable parents in a breeding program to produce drought-tolerant indices. The primary objective of this research was the estimation of drought tolerance indices in upland cotton under water deficit conditions. For this purpose, fifty accessions of upland cotton were assessed for their ability to tolerate the water stress under three conditions, namely control, 50% FC, and 75% FC. These genotypes showed significant variations based on morpho-physiological and biochemical characteristics. At control conditions, these genotypes exhibited enhanced growth and better performance. Whereas, the behavior of some indices under 75% FC showed less growth as compared to control, while under the 50% FC highly significant reductions were observed among genotypes. The genotypes that are resistant to drought and those that are susceptible were found using the K-means cluster and biplot analysis. In terms of performance, the genotypes namely Cyto-515, CIM-595, FH-142, and IR-3701 exhibited relatively better in all the treatments and low excised leaf water loss, high relative water contents, chlorophyll contents, free proline contents, and peroxidase activity were observed to be useful selection criteria for drought resistance. These identified genotypes namely, Cyto-515, CIM-595, FH-142, and IR-3701 may be grown in water deficit areas of the country to assess their potential, could be used in breeding programs for development of germplasm suitable for water stress conditions

Differential antibrucella activity of bovine and murine macrophages

452-456Brucella abortus is an intracellular pathogen affecting macrophages. Macrophages release some antibrucella components such as lysozymes (LZ), reactive oxygen species (ROS) and reactive nitrite intermediates (RNI) which prevent intracellular survival of Brucella. The present study compared the antibrucella activity of bovine and murine macrophages following stimulation with B.<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"> abortus lipopolysaccharides. Our results revealed increased production of these antibrucella substances in murine macrophages as compared to bovine macrophages. The differential production of these antibrucella components explained the differential B. abortus killing ability of these species (bovine and mice) that was measured in terms of intramacrophagic survival of Brucellae in murine and bovine macrophages.</span

Comparative efficacy of conventional diagnostic methods and evaluation of polymerase chain reaction for the diagnosis of bovine brucellosis

The comparative efficacy of Rose Bengal Plate Test (RBPT) and Milk Ring test (MRT) was calculated in terms of sensitivity and specificity for the diagnosis of bovine brucellosis in cows (Group A) and buffaloes (Group B) from Lahore and Okara districts of Punjab, Pakistan. Using bacterial growth as a gold standard RBPT showed high sensitivity values of 100% in both groups. While its specificity was 96.29% (Group A) and 90.62% (Group B). On the other hands MRT showed low sensitivity (80.0% in Group A; 86.6% in Group B) while its specificity was 100% in all the animals of both groups. The calculated positive predictive and negative predictive values of both groups were in correspondence with their specificity and sensitivity values respectively. High sensitivity and low specificity of RBPT as compare to high specificity and low sensitivity of MRT in all groups suggested the poor efficacy of both tests used individually as compare to bacterial growth. In the continuation of this study polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was evaluated for its diagnostic efficacy of quick Brucella abortus isolation from same samples. PCR conducted on serum samples gave more positive results than on milk samples. Therefore, the combination of both conventional tests alongwith serum PCR can be recommended. [Vet. World 2010; 3(2.000): 53-56

Nitrate pollution of ground water and impacts of nitrogenous fertilizers and irrigation on dynamics of NO3-N movement in soils of Punjab, Pakistan

Increase in N application rates may eventually raise the potential groundwater N-pollution. This survey study was conducted by Soil Chemistry Section, ISCES to assess the NO3 contents of soil from 0 to 120 cm depth with different intervals. For this purpose, the soil and water samples were collected from Okara, Vehari Sialkot, Chiniot, Hafizabad, Sahiwal and Multan districts. The results showed that nitrate leaching occurred but it is only up to 2 feet soil depth. The NO3-N contents were maximum at two upper depths (i.e. 0-30 cm and 30-60 cm) and then decreased gradually downward. The highest average NO3-N content was found at 0-30 cm soil depth and the lowest were found at 90-120 cm. The data also revealed that mean NO3-N content at 0-30, 30-60, 60-90 and 90-120 cm depths were 16.85±4.05, 15.21±4.77, 9.94±3.36 and 6.54±2.62 mg kg-1, respectively, whereas NO3-N content at same depths were ranged from 11.50-26.20, 6.53-21.15, 5.24-16.12, 1.45-9.36 mg kg-1, respectively. The results regarding underground water samples (tube well) from the same sites from all the three districts showed that NO3 were found in all the water samples but it was only in traces and their concentration were not much higher to create the health hazardous problem owing to NO3 leaching. The data showed that the highest NO3 contents did not exceed than 8.61 and 10.6 ppm in Multan and Sahiwal districts respectively, which were much lower than permissible limit i.e. 50 ppm (FAO). Similarly, the nitrate content in underground water are well below the maximum admissible limit of WHO i.e. 50 mg L-1

Urban wastewater: A valuable resource for agriculture - A case study from Haroonabad, Pakistan

Farming communities in water-scarce regions increasingly practice the use of urban wastewater in agriculture. Untreated urban wastewater is generally considered unacceptable for direct use because of potential health risks. However, in many parts of the world, poor farmers in peri-urban areas use untreated wastewater. This situation is considered likely to continue even in the foreseeable future due to the high investment cost associated with the installation of treatment facilities