Effect of organic fertilizers combined with benzo (1,2,3) thiadiazole-7-carbothioic acid S-methyl ester (BTH) on the cucumber powdery mildew and the yield production

Organic fertilizers such as compost, compost tea and seaweed extracts (Algean) combined with benzo (1,2,3) thiadiazole-7-carbothioic acid S-methyl ester (BTH)) showed significant effect on the powdery mildew-infected cucumber leaves with Sphaerotheca fuliginea. We have shown that spraying the infected cucumber leaves with the BTH (0.05 mM) combined with the organic fertilizers strongly decreased the disease severity of the cucumber powdery mildew fungus from 85.1% to 3.4% as compared to the control leaves which infected only with the pathogen. Furthermore, organic fertilizers combined with BTH increased significantly vegetative growth characters of cucumber (stem length, number of leaves /plant, leaf area /plant and chlorophyll content) especially at the earlier stage of growth as compared to the control plants (chemical fertilizer only). Also, most of the organic materials produced the highest cucumber early yield and fruit quality, but total yield was equal or less than the chemical fertilizers. Interestingly enough, that organic fertilizers combined with BTH elevated the ascorbic acid content (chemical quality of cucumber fruits) and decreased the nitrate content which very harmful as well as increased the fruit yields as compared to the control plants

EFFICACY AND SAFETY OF MULTI-TARGETED KINASE INHIBITORS IN PROGRESSIVE, RADIOIODINE-REFRACTORY DIFFERENTIATED THYROID CANCERS: A META-ANALYSIS

Purpose: A meta-analysis was conducted to evaluate the impact of oral multitargeted kinase inhibitors (MTKIs) in radioactive-iodine refractory locally advanced, recurrent/metastatic differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC) on disease control rate (DCR), progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) rates. Materials and Methods: The PubMed/MEDLINE, CANCERLIT, EMBASE, Cochrane Library database and other search engines were searched to identify randomised controlled trials (RCTs) comparing MTKIs with placebo in locally advanced, recurrent/metastatic DTC. Pooled data were expressed as odds ratio (OR), with 95% con dence intervals (CIs, Mantel–Haenszel xed-effect model). Results: Three RCTs with a total patient population of 954 patients were identi ed. The use of MTKIs was associated with improved PFS (OR: 0.262, 95% CI: 0.19–0.35; heterogeneity (I2) = 22.4%; P < 0.0001), improved DCR (complete and partial responses + stable disease, P < 0.0001) and improved OS 0.66, 95% CI: 0.46–0.96 (I2 = 43%, P = 0.034). Lenvatinib (compliance = 87%) was associated with more grade ≥3 hypertension. However, its other adverse effects were much lower than sorafenib (compliance = 56%) and vandetanib. Conclusion: In radioactive iodine-refractory recurrent, metastatic DTC patients, lenvatinib and sorafenib were associated with improved PFS, DRC and OS rates, while the compliance was better with lenvatinib. Key words: Meta-analysis, multitargeted kinase inhibitors, progressive differentiated thyroid cancer, radioactive iodine- refractory

Cost-Efficient Storage for On-Demand Video Streaming on Cloud

Video stream is converted to several formats to support the user's device, this conversion process is called video transcoding, which imposes high storage and powerful resources. With emerging of cloud technology, video stream companies adopted to process video on the cloud. Generally, many formats of the same video are made (pre-transcoded) and streamed to the adequate user's device. However, pre-transcoding demands huge storage space and incurs a high-cost to the video stream companies. More importantly, the pre-transcoding of video streams could be hierarchy carried out through different storage types in the cloud. To minimize the storage cost, in this paper, we propose a method to store video streams in the hierarchical storage of the cloud. Particularly, we develop a method to decide which video stream should be pre-transcoded in its suitable cloud storage to minimize the overall cost. Experimental simulation and results show the effectiveness of our approach, specifically, when the percentage of frequently accessed videos is high in repositories, the proposed approach minimizes the overall cost by up to 40 percent.Comment: International IEEE World Forum for Internet of Thing

Bleeding in Locally Invasive Pelvic Malignancies: Is Hypofractionated Radiation Therapy a Safe and Effective Non-Invasive Option for Securing Hemostasis? A Single Institution Perspective

Introduction: Control of bleeding due to locally invasive disease is of paramount importance in the management of cancer patients. This study was undertaken to explore the outcomes of palliative intent hypofractionated radiation therapy (HRT) in advanced stage pelvic malignancies that presented with bleeding. Methods: This study enrolled patients treated with palliative intent hypofractionated radiation therapy from July 2015 to November 2017. In the inclusion criteria, all these patients had the common presenting complaint of bleeding from the tumor. These patients were not treated with radiation therapy before for the same indication. Patients with known bleeding disorders and those undergoing parallel interventions for bleeding control were excluded from the study. Bleeding was categorized based on the World Health Organization (WHO) scale for the classification of bleeding. Response assessment was classified into a complete response, partial response and no response. A comparison was made for the bleeding scale before and after HRT using the Wilcoxon signed rank test. The comparison of mean hemoglobin levels before and after the HRT was calculated by paired t-test. Results: Forty-two patients with advanced pelvic malignancies qualified for inclusion in the study after applying the inclusion/exclusion criteria. Among those analyzed, the median age was 67 years (range 37 – 95 years). The male and female proportion was 38% and 62% respectively. Different cancers included uterine cancer 31%, cervical cancer 24%, bladder cancer 21%, rectal cancer 17% and vulvar cancer in 7%. The baseline bleeding scale in these cases was found to be grade 1 in 12%, grade 2 in 55% and grade 3 in 33% cases. The median dose in our cohort was 20 Gy in five fractions over one week (range was 8 Gy to 40 Gy). Following HRT, the WHO bleeding score at one month was recorded as grade 0 in 57%, grade 1 in 31%, grade 2 in 7%, grade 3 in 5% and grade 4 in none. Toxicity profile did not show any grade 3 or 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 6 Open Access Original Article DOI: 10.7759/cureus.2137 How to cite this article Shuja M, Nazli S, Mansha M, et al. (February 02, 2018) Bleeding in Locally Invasive Pelvic Malignancies: Is Hypofractionated Radiation Therapy a Safe and Effective Non-Invasive Option for Securing Hemostasis? A Single Institution Perspective. Cureus 10(2): e2137. DOI 10.7759/cureus.2137 above acute toxicity in the study. Response rates were 57% complete response, 36% partial response and 7% no response. The mean hemoglobin level post-treatment versus pre-treatment was found to be 9.6 g/dL versus 7.3 g/dL. Conclusions: Hypofractionated radiotherapy was found to be a safe and effective non-invasive palliative treatment modality for securing hemostasis in advanced pelvic malignancies that presented with bleeding

Parapharyngeal space hemangiopericytoma treated with surgery and postoperative radiation- a case report

Hemangiopericytoma (HPC) is a rare tumor of uncertain malignant potential arising from mesenchymal cells with pericytic differentiation. It accounts for 3-5% of soft tissue sarcomas and 1% of vascular tumors. It usually presents in 5th to 6th decade of life. Most common sites are limbs, pelvis and head and neck. About 20% of all hemangiopericytomas are seen in head and neck, mostly in adults. Usually it presents in orbit, nasal cavity, oral cavity, jaw, parotid gland, parapharyngeal space, masticator space and jugular foramen. Long term follow up is important because of imprecise nature of the histological criteria for prediction of biologic behavior

Clinicopathological features and treatment outcomes of brain stem gliomas in Saudi population

Photograph of a scene along Talimena Drive, in the Ouachita National Forest