Safety of Cystic Fibrosis Patients at Health Care Facilities

Cystic Fibrosis (CF) is one of the most common, life-shortening illnesses; it’s a genetic disease that affects the transport of water and salt across cells and affects various organs such as lungs, liver, and pancreas [1]. Cystic fibrosis patients need safety more than anyone else during their visits to the hospital, so CF patients are classified among one of the most vulnerable groups to get infections from the hospital during their visits. The purpose of this qualitative research is to study the safety of cystic fibrosis patients at hospitals and whether they have the proper safety precautions that they need at the hospital or not. The methods used in the study were reviews, interviews, and surveys - as the data collection method. The results obtained showed that sometimes it’s very challenging to protect the CF patients from getting infections and bacteria from hospital environments, also it showed that different hospitals and medical universities are taking proper and very strict safety precautions for CF patients due to mainly they are following the CF foundation guidelines and some universities are fully accredited by the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. The study discussed, the safety precautions for CF patients in the clinic, how does the hospital environments affect CF patients, separating CF patients from each other, hand hygiene, nebulizer care for CF inpatients, safety precautions for CF patients during COVID-19 and infection control strategies for CF patients. Safety precautions and efforts of hospitals in dealing with CF patients have been discussed as well. Applying safety precautions for CF patients is challenging for hospitals due to the vulnerability of CF patients and hospitals should take strict actions on safety precautions to ensure the patient’s safety. &nbsp

Accumulation of chromium in plants and its repercussion in animals and humans

The untreated effluents released from industrial operations have adverse impacts on human health, environment and socio-economic aspects. Environmental pollution due to chromium is adversely affecting our natural resources and ecosystem. Chromium is hazardous carcinogenic element released from spontaneous activities and industrial procedures. Chromium toxicity, mobility and bioavailability depend mainly on its speciation. Chromium mainly exists in two forms, first as an immobile, less soluble trivalent chromium [Cr(III)] species under reducing conditions whereas hexavalent chromium [Cr(VI)] as a mobile, toxic and bioavailable species under oxidizing conditions. Hexavalent chromium is more pernicious in comparison to trivalent form. Chromium negatively affects crop growth, total yield and grain quality. Exposure of chromium even at low concentration enhances its accretion in cells of human-beings and animals which may show detrimental health effects. Many techniques have been utilized for the elimination of chromium. The selection of the green and cost-efficient technology for treatment of industrial effluent is an arduous task. The present review highlights the problems associated with chromium pollution and need of its immediate elimination by suitable remediation strategies. Further, investigations are required to fill the gaps to overcome the problem of chromium contamination and implementation of sustainable remediation strategies with their real-time applicability on the contaminated sites

Defence response of host plants for cyst nematode: A review on parasitism and defence

The Cyst nematodes (CN), such as Heterodera spp. and Globodera spp. are key biotrophic pathogens inflicting high levels of damage to agricultural and horticultural crops. This review sheds light on the parasitism of the CN and molecular defence responses of infected plants. We highlight the role of effector proteins secreted from the oesophageal gland cells of the CN, hormone-signalling pathway, and miRNA regulation of gene expression that modulate the differentiation of the feeding site. In addition, we speak of the role of pattern-triggered immunity (PTI), effector-triggered immunity (ETI), resistance genes (R genes), and pathogenesis-related proteins in the immune defence responses of the CN. We conclude this review by discussing recent progress in genomic studies and molecular mechanisms involved in the recognition process of the infesting CN that provides scope for future investigations and the discovery of novel strategies to manage these biotrophic pathogens

New insights in to the ameliorative effects of zinc and iron oxide nanoparticles to arsenic stressed spinach (Spinacia oleracea L.)

Nanotechnology is capturing great interest worldwide due to their stirring applications in various fields and also individual application of iron oxide nanoparticle (FeO−NPs) and zinc oxide nanoparticle (ZnO−NPs) have been studied in many literatures. However, the combined application of FeO and ZnO−NPs is a novel approach and studied in only few studies. For this purpose, a pot experiment was conducted to examine the plant growth and biomass, photosynthetic pigments, gas exchange attributes, oxidative stress and response of antioxidant compounds (enzymatic and nonenzymatic), sugars, nutritional status of the plant, organic acid exudation pattern As accumulation from the different parts of the plants in spinach (Spinacia oleracea L.) under the different As concentrations i.e., 0 (no As), 60 and 120 μM] which were primed with combined application of two levels of FeO−NPs (10 and 20 mg L−1) and ZnO−NPs (20 and 40 mg L−1). Results from the present study showed that the increasing levels of As in the soil significantly (P \u3c 0.05) decreased plant growth and biomass, photosynthetic pigments, gas exchange attributes, sugars, and nutritional contents from the roots and shoots of the plants. In contrast, increasing levels of As in the soil significantly (P \u3c 0.05) increased oxidative stress indicators in term of malondialdehyde, hydrogen peroxide, and electrolyte leakage, and also increased organic acid exudation patter in the roots of S. oleracea. The negative impact of As toxicity can overcome the combined application of ZnO−NPs and FeO-NPs, which ultimately increased plant growth and biomass by capturing the reactive oxygen species, and decreased oxidative stress in S. oleracea by decreasing the As contents in the roots and shoots of the plants. Research findings, therefore, suggest that the combined application of ZnO−NPs and FeO-NPs can ameliorate As toxicity in S. oleracea, resulting in improved plant growth and composition under As stress, as depicted by balanced exudation of organic acids

Interactions of Metal‐Based Engineered Nanoparticles with Plants: An Overview of the State of Current Knowledge, Research Progress, and Prospects

Nanotechnology is a potential technique for increasing agricultural output by producing nano-fertilizers, improving herbicide and pesticide efficacy, regulating soil fertility, managing wastewater, and detecting illnesses. It is also virtuous for industrial food processing since it boosts market value, improves nutritional and sensory properties, enhances safety, and boosts antibacterial protection. Moreover, nanotechnology may also assist farmers in reducing post-harvest losses by prolonging shelf life via the use of nanoparticles. Furthermore, nanoscience develops new ideas that lead to a better understanding of nanoparticles and their mechanisms of action in plants. Plants can grow and develop more effectively when the physiological-biochemical and molecular pathways involving nanoparticles in plants are understood. Scientists have developed a broad range of nanoparticles (NPs) such as Au, Ag, Pt, Fe, Cu, Cd, ZnO, and TiO2. At the same time, nanoscience gives us new ideas and diverts our intentions to attain some suitable mechanism mode for the functions of NPs in plants. The proper functionality of the physical, biological, and cellular mechanisms of NPs requires selected plant species to influence the variation in the different phases of plant growth and development. Although several reviews on engineered nanoparticles have been published in recent years, few have focused on their current applications, transport, interaction, and physio-chemical aspects of metal-based nanoparticles (MBNPs) and carbon-based nanoparticles (CBNPs) with crops. As a result, we evaluated the behaviors of (MBNPs) and (CBNPs) in agricultural systems, including absorption and translocation of MBNPs and CBNPs in crop plants, physiological and biochemical effects of MBNPs on plants, and factors influencing MBNPs and CBNPs\u27 interactions on plants. This review will help glow nanotechnology by promoting scientific study on MBNPs and metal oxides nanoparticles MONPs and understanding the risks and advantages of their association with plants. Graphical Abstract: [Figure not available: see fulltext.]

Trichoderma virens mitigates the root-knot disease progression in the chickpea plant

This study was planned to investigate the efficacy of various concentrations of Trichoderma virens against Meloidogyne incognita in vitro. The five concentrations viz., S, S/2, S/ 10, S/25, S/50 were prepared and planned for in vitro study to test the potential of T. virens against hatching and mortality of second-staged juveniles of M. incognita. It was observed a reduction in second-staged juveniles hatching within all tested aqueous concentrations of T. virens. The second-stage juvenile mortality was also recorded in the above-given concentrations of T. virens. The maximum decrease in second-stage juveniles hatching was found in standard aqueous fungal concentration (S). Moreover, in the same T. virens concentration (S), mortality of juveniles was also recorded as highest, and was followed by S/2, S/10, S/25 and S/50. Additionally, the application of T. virens as an individual, simultaneous, and sequential order with M. incognita was also investigated in pot-grown chickpea plants and found that its use was significantly effective in suppressing root-galling disease and improved the plants\u27 growth and physiological attributes. According to the correlation coefficient analysis, the root-knot index correlated significantly with the per cent reduction of the plants\u27 growth and physiological attributes

Zinc fortification and alleviation of cadmium stress by application of lysine chelated zinc on different varieties of wheat and rice in cadmium stressed soil

Sustainable and cost-effective methods are required to increase the food production and decrease the toxic effects of heavy metals. Most of the agriculture land is contaminated with cadmium (Cd). The present study was designed to minimize the toxic effect of Cd stress (0, 10 and 20 mg kg1-) on tolerant and sensitive varieties of wheat (Punjab-2011; Sammar) and rice (Kisan Basmati; Chenab) under Zn-lysine (Zn-lys) application as foliar spray (0, 12.5 and 25 mM) and seed priming (0, 3 and 6 ppm). Remarkable decrease was observed in plant growth, physiology and biochemistry as well as increase in Cd uptake, roots to shoots and grains of both crops. Cd significantly reduced the root and shoot lengths, root and shoot dry weights, transpiration rate, photosynthetic rate, stomatal conductance and water use efficiency as well as chlorophyll contents associated with enhanced electrolyte leakage (EL), malondialdehyde (MDA) and H2O2 and Cd uptake in different plant parts including grains of both crop varieties. The foliar application of Zn-lys (0, 12.5 and 25 mM) ameliorated the toxic effect of Cd on growth and physiology associated with decrease in EL, MDA and H2O2 and improved the activities of SOD, POD, CAT and APX enzymes with decreasing Cd uptake in tolerant varieties of wheat and rice as compared to seed priming. Furthermore, it has been investigated that the foliar application of Zn-lys is effective to improve quality of wheat and rice tolerant varieties (Punjab-2011 and Chenab) under Cd contamination soils

Microbe-citric acid assisted phytoremediation of chromium by castor bean (Ricinus communis L.)

Chromium is one of the highly toxic heavy metals to plant growth and development especially hexavalent chromium (Cr+6) due to its readily available nature and mobility into the environment. The chelating agents and hyperaccumulator plant can contribute to remediating the heavy metals from the contaminated medium. This study was conducted to analyze the role of citric acid and chromium resistant bacteria in castor bean to remediate Cr+6 from the polluted soil. The soil was spiked with different levels of citric acid (0, 2.5, 5 mM) and chromium (0, 10, 20 mg kg−1). The ripened plants were harvested and analyzed for growth parameters, chlorophyll contents, gas exchange parameters, oxidative stress markers, antioxidant enzymes activities and chromium accumulation in different parts of plants. The high concentration of chromium 20 mg kg−1 drastically reduced the plant growth, decreased photosynthetic rate and increased oxidative stress. The application of CA improved the plant growth even at the highest concentration of chromium which was further boosted by the combined application of CA and chromium resistant bacteria. However, the performance of staphylococcus aureus was found significantly better than Bacillus subtilis due to its better ability to tolerate chromium toxicity even at high concentrations. The findings proved that castor bean has excellent potential to tolerate high chromium concentrations and can be effectively used to remediate metals contaminated soil. Further, CA and metal resistant bacteria can significantly enhance the phytoremediation potential of castor bean and other hyperaccumulator plants. The bacteria assisted phytoremediation coupled with the chelating agent can be a practical approach to remediate the metals contaminating soils

Synthesized copper oxide nanoparticles via the green route act as antagonists to pathogenic root-knot nematode, Meloidogyne incognita

This investigation explains the green synthesis, characterization and biocontrol potential of copper oxide nanoparticles (CuONPs) against second-stage juveniles (J2s) of root-knot nematode, Meloidogyne incognita infesting chickpea. Mono-disperse, spherical, pure CuONPs were synthesized from Jatropha curcas leaf with particle sizes ranging from 5 to 15 nm in diameter. Antagonistic activities of synthesized CuONPs were studied against Meloidogyne incognita. The highest mortality of J2s was found in the 200 ppm concentration of CuONPs at 24 h of exposure. The exact concentration also showed maximum inhibition of J2s hatching from egg masses after six days of exposure. It was worth noting that 25 ppm concentration was the least effective. The pot experiment showed that CuONPs significantly reduced the root infection caused by M. incognita and enhanced chickpea plants’ growth and physiological attributes (Chlorophyll and carotenoid content). The results depicted when the concentration of CuONPs was increased, J2s mortality rate was also increased. We highlighted the antinematode influence of green synthesized CuONPs. Thus, it will offer an excellent eco-friendly strategy to optimize yield under pathogens attack and provide prospects of green synthesized-based nanoparticles development for pests control. Plants mediated CuONPs will also help in resolving the current toxicity concerns and future challenges in the agriculture

Individual and Synergic Effects of Phosphorus and Gibberellic Acid on Organic Acids Exudation Pattern, Ultra-Structure of Chloroplast and Stress Response Gene Expression in Cu-Stressed Jute (Corchorus Capsularis L.)

Copper (Cu) pollution in agricultural soils is considered as a serious health risk due to its accumulation in plants. Thus, there is an urgent need to optimize nutrient application for higher yield with lower Cu uptake to ensure food security. A pot experiment was conducted to determine the effects of single and/or combined application of different levels (0 and 80 kg ha−1) of phosphorus (P) and gibberellic acid (0 and 100 mg L−1) on Cu accumulation, morpho-physiological and antioxidative defence attributes of jute (Corchorus capsularis L.) exposed to severe Cu stress (0, 200 and 400 mg kg−1). Results revealed that C. capsularis tolerated up to 200 mg kg−1 Cu concentration without a significant (