Determining the Effects of Plant Extracts and Saltro Nematicide on Hatching, Mortality and Reproduction of the Soybean Cyst Nematode \u3cem\u3e(Heterodera glycines)\u3c/em\u3e

Soybean cyst nematode (SCN) is a microscopic worm that infects and feeds from the soybean roots, hence robbing the plant of nutrients, and entry wounds may facilitate other pathogens to infect the roots. Current SCN management practices include cultural, chemical, and biological methods. Cultural practices such as, crop rotation with non-host and different tillage practices are not efficient due to the persistent nature of SCN in the soil. Chemical nematicides, though effective, can be expensive, and some are not environmentally sound. SCN resistant soybean varieties are mainly derived from one source, PI 88788 and SCN population have already evolved to overcome this resistance. Plant extracts can be a safe and sustainable alternative for SCN management. This study tested the aqueous extracts from dry leaves and flowers of ragweed (Ambrosia artemisiifolia) and wormwood (Artemesia absinthium), and dry leaves of leafy spurge (Euphorbia esula) on SCN egg hatching and second stage juvenile (J2) mortality under laboratory and cysts development on soybean in greenhouse conditions. All the plant extracts at 5mg/ml inhibited the hatching by more than 90%. Among the plant extracts tested, ragweed dry flower at the rate of 94 mg/ml, caused 100% J2 mortality at 84 hours after application of extract. Plant extracts of wormwood dry flower dry leaf of ragweed, wormwood, and leafy spurge at 94 mg/ml caused 90.5%, 89.4%, 86.6%, and 57.2% J2 mortality, respectively. In greenhouse test, soybean cyst nematode susceptible cultivar Williams 82 was grown on the soil from the SCN infested field and treated with 75 ml of extract per plant. Tap water was used as negative control and ILeVO nematicide seed treatment was used as positive control. Ragweed dry flower and dry leaf at the concentration of 100 mg/ml reduced the SCN cyst per gram of root as effectively as ILeVO nematicide seed treatment. These findings will be helpful in further developing and testing of plant based nematicides. wormwood, and leafy spurge at 94 mg/ml caused 90.5%, 89.4%, 86.6%, and 57.2% J2 mortality, respectively. In greenhouse test, soybean cyst nematode susceptible cultivar Williams 82 was grown on the soil from the SCN infested field and treated with 75 ml of extract per plant. Tap water was used as negative control and ILeVO nematicide seed treatment was used as positive control. Ragweed dry flower and dry leaf at the concentration of 100 mg/ml reduced the SCN cyst per gram of root as effectively as ILeVO nematicide seed treatment. These findings will be helpful in further developing and testing of plant based nematicides

Underdiagnosis of acute pulmonary embolism in physically active middle age man with syncope

Acute pulmonary embolism is a component of venous thromboembolism which may prove fatal if not suspected and subsequently treated. So, it is a disease that needs high clinical suspicion to prevent mortality and morbidity. Suspicion is very low in young healthy individuals in comparison to old age individuals with multiple co-morbid conditions. A physically active individual without genetic predisposition is considered to be at low risk for deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism. Here, we present one overweight case who had 3 episodes of syncope in 4 days interval as well as breathlessness who came to our hospital and was diagnosed and treated with acute pulmonary thromboembolism

Outcome of COVID-19 Infection in vaccinated and unvaccinated adults admitted to Patan Hospital, Nepal: COVID-19 outcome in vaccinated and unvaccinated

Introduction: The vaccine has a positive impact on reducing the severity of the COVID-19 disease course and studies have projected 50-90% protection against severe disease. Our study aimed to find the difference in disease severity outcomes between RT-PCR positive vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals. Method: This cross-sectional study was carried out among 417 COVID-19 cases who were admitted from June 2021 to August 2021. Collected data were fed into Microsoft-excel and analyzed using SPSS software, version- 16.0. Frequency, percentage, mean and standard deviation were calculated for descriptive analysis. To find out the association of categorical variables, the Chi-square test or Fisher’s Exact test was used where appropriate. P-value <0.05 was considered significant. Result: Out of 417 cases, 23(5.5%) were fully vaccinated i.e. 10(2.4%) with Covishield and 13(3.1%) with Vero Cell, 48(11.5%) partially vaccinated i.e. 19(4.6%) with Covishield, and 29 (6.9%) with Vero Cell and 346(83%) unvaccinated. 343(82.25%) admitted patients were discharged and 74(17.75%) died during our study period. The disposition of the patient was statistically significant (p<0.001) and revealed more mortality among unvaccinated cases. There was a statistical difference between the requirement of ICU admission (p=0.032) among vaccinated and unvaccinated cases. The Absolute Risk Reduction (ARR) of mortality and requirement of ICU after complete vaccination with respect to unvaccinated COVID-19 patients was 14.11%(5.14%-23.73%) and 20.50%(8.02%-32.97%) respectively at 95% CI. Conclusion: Vaccination reduces Mortality, the requirement of ICU, and oxygen requirement among COVID-19 cases with respect to unvaccinated COVID-19 cases

Loss-of-function of an α-SNAP gene confers resistance to soybean cyst nematode

Abstract Plant-parasitic nematodes are one of the most economically impactful pests in agriculture resulting in billions of dollars in realized annual losses worldwide. Soybean cyst nematode (SCN) is the number one biotic constraint on soybean production making it a priority for the discovery, validation and functional characterization of native plant resistance genes and genetic modes of action that can be deployed to improve soybean yield across the globe. Here, we present the discovery and functional characterization of a soybean resistance gene, GmSNAP02. We use unique bi-parental populations to fine-map the precise genomic location, and a combination of whole genome resequencing and gene fragment PCR amplifications to identify and confirm causal haplotypes. Lastly, we validate our candidate gene using CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing and observe a gain of resistance in edited plants. This demonstrates that the GmSNAP02 gene confers a unique mode of resistance to SCN through loss-of-function mutations that implicate GmSNAP02 as a nematode virulence target. We highlight the immediate impact of utilizing GmSNAP02 as a genome-editing-amenable target to diversify nematode resistance in commercially available cultivars