Drought Responses in Six Hazelnut (Corylus avellana L.) Cultivars

[EN] Drought is one of the major causes of reduction of crop yields worldwide, a problem that will increase in the next decades due to climate change. We describe here an initial attempt to define biochemical markers associated to water stress in several hazelnut cultivars, by measuring the levels of common osmolytes and the generation of secondary oxidative stress, in plants subjected to water stress, and after recovery from the stress treatment. Proline (Pro) appears to be a reliable marker in this species, as its accumulation in leaves correlates well with the degree of stress affecting the plants. Differences between cultivars in relative Pro accumulation and oxidative stress suggested that some cultivars are more tolerant than others and could be selected for cultivation in drought-affected areas.Shahi-Gharahlar, A.; Fatahi, MR.; Zamani, Z.; Al Hassan, M.; Boscaiu Neagu, MT.; Vicente Meana, Ó. (2016). Drought Responses in Six Hazelnut (Corylus avellana L.) Cultivars. BULLETIN OF UNIVERSITY OF AGRICULTURAL SCIENCES AND VETERINARY MEDICINE. 73(2):259-261. doi:10.15835/buasvmcn-hort:12288S25926173

Morbidity and mortality from road injuries: results from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017

BackgroundThe global burden of road injuries is known to follow complex geographical, temporal and demographic patterns. While health loss from road injuries is a major topic of global importance, there has been no recent comprehensive assessment that includes estimates for every age group, sex and country over recent years.MethodsWe used results from the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) 2017 study to report incidence, prevalence, years lived with disability, deaths, years of life lost and disability-adjusted life years for all locations in the GBD 2017 hierarchy from 1990 to 2017 for road injuries. Second, we measured mortality-to-incidence ratios by location. Third, we assessed the distribution of the natures of injury (eg, traumatic brain injury) that result from each road injury.ResultsGlobally, 1 243 068 (95% uncertainty interval 1 191 889 to 1 276 940) people died from road injuries in 2017 out of 54 192 330 (47 381 583 to 61 645 891) new cases of road injuries. Age-standardised incidence rates of road injuries increased between 1990 and 2017, while mortality rates decreased. Regionally, age-standardised mortality rates decreased in all but two regions, South Asia and Southern Latin America, where rates did not change significantly. Nine of 21 GBD regions experienced significant increases in age-standardised incidence rates, while 10 experienced significant decreases and two experienced no significant change.ConclusionsWhile road injury mortality has improved in recent decades, there are worsening rates of incidence and significant geographical heterogeneity. These findings indicate that more research is needed to better understand how road injuries can be prevented

Global injury morbidity and mortality from 1990 to 2017 : results from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017

Correction:Background Past research in population health trends has shown that injuries form a substantial burden of population health loss. Regular updates to injury burden assessments are critical. We report Global Burden of Disease (GBD) 2017 Study estimates on morbidity and mortality for all injuries. Methods We reviewed results for injuries from the GBD 2017 study. GBD 2017 measured injury-specific mortality and years of life lost (YLLs) using the Cause of Death Ensemble model. To measure non-fatal injuries, GBD 2017 modelled injury-specific incidence and converted this to prevalence and years lived with disability (YLDs). YLLs and YLDs were summed to calculate disability-adjusted life years (DALYs). Findings In 1990, there were 4 260 493 (4 085 700 to 4 396 138) injury deaths, which increased to 4 484 722 (4 332 010 to 4 585 554) deaths in 2017, while age-standardised mortality decreased from 1079 (1073 to 1086) to 738 (730 to 745) per 100 000. In 1990, there were 354 064 302 (95% uncertainty interval: 338 174 876 to 371 610 802) new cases of injury globally, which increased to 520 710 288 (493 430 247 to 547 988 635) new cases in 2017. During this time, age-standardised incidence decreased non-significantly from 6824 (6534 to 7147) to 6763 (6412 to 7118) per 100 000. Between 1990 and 2017, age-standardised DALYs decreased from 4947 (4655 to 5233) per 100 000 to 3267 (3058 to 3505). Interpretation Injuries are an important cause of health loss globally, though mortality has declined between 1990 and 2017. Future research in injury burden should focus on prevention in high-burden populations, improving data collection and ensuring access to medical care.Peer reviewe

Predicting the environmental suitability for onchocerciasis in Africa as an aid to elimination planning

Recent evidence suggests that, in some foci, elimination of onchocerciasis from Africa may be feasible with mass drug administration (MDA) of ivermectin. To achieve continental elimination of transmission, mapping surveys will need to be conducted across all implementation units (IUs) for which endemicity status is currently unknown. Using boosted regression tree models with optimised hyperparameter selection, we estimated environmental suitability for onchocerciasis at the 5 × 5-km resolution across Africa. In order to classify IUs that include locations that are environmentally suitable, we used receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis to identify an optimal threshold for suitability concordant with locations where onchocerciasis has been previously detected. This threshold value was then used to classify IUs (more suitable or less suitable) based on the location within the IU with the largest mean prediction. Mean estimates of environmental suitability suggest large areas across West and Central Africa, as well as focal areas of East Africa, are suitable for onchocerciasis transmission, consistent with the presence of current control and elimination of transmission efforts. The ROC analysis identified a mean environmental suitability index of 071 as a threshold to classify based on the location with the largest mean prediction within the IU. Of the IUs considered for mapping surveys, 502% exceed this threshold for suitability in at least one 5 × 5-km location. The formidable scale of data collection required to map onchocerciasis endemicity across the African continent presents an opportunity to use spatial data to identify areas likely to be suitable for onchocerciasis transmission. National onchocerciasis elimination programmes may wish to consider prioritising these IUs for mapping surveys as human resources, laboratory capacity, and programmatic schedules may constrain survey implementation, and possibly delaying MDA initiation in areas that would ultimately qualify.SUPPORTING INFORMATION : FIGURE S1. Data coverage by year. Here we visualise the volume of data used in the analysis by country and year. Larger circles indicate more data inputs. ‘NA’ indicates records for which no year was reported (eg, ‘pre-2000’). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0008824.s001FIGURE S2. Illustration of covariate values for year 2000. Maps were produced using ArcGIS Desktop 10.6. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0008824.s002FIGURE S3. Environmental suitability of onchocerciasis including locations that have received MDA for which no pre-intervention data are available. This plot shows suitability predictions from green (low = 0%) to pink (high = 100%), representing those areas where environmental conditions are most similar to prior pathogen detections. Countries in grey with hatch marks were excluded from the analysis based on a review of national endemicity status. Areas in grey only represent locations masked due to sparse population. Maps were produced using ArcGIS Desktop 10.6 and shapefiles to visualize administrative units are available at https://espen.afro.who.int/tools-resources/cartography-database. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0008824.s003FIGURE S4. Environmental suitability prediction uncertainty including locations that have received MDA for which no pre-intervention data are available. This plot shows uncertainty associated with environmental suitability predictions colored from blue to red (least to most uncertain). Countries in grey with hatch marks were excluded from the analysis based on a review of national endemicity status. Areas in grey only represent locations masked due to sparse population. Maps were produced using ArcGIS Desktop 10.6 and shapefiles to visualize administrative units are available at https://espen.afro.who.int/tools-resources/cartography-database. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0008824.s004FIGURE S5. Environmental suitability of onchocerciasis excluding morbidity data. This plot shows suitability predictions from green (low = 0%) to pink (high = 100%), representing those areas where environmental conditions are most similar to prior pathogen detections. Countries in grey with hatch marks were excluded from the analysis based on a review of national endemicity status. Areas in grey only represent locations masked due to sparse population. Maps were produced using ArcGIS Desktop 10.6 and shapefiles to visualize administrative units are available at https://espen.afro.who.int/tools-resources/cartography-database. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0008824.s005FIGURE S6. Environmental suitability prediction uncertainty excluding morbidity data. This plot shows uncertainty associated with environmental suitability predictions colored from blue to red (least to most uncertain). Countries in grey with hatch marks were excluded from the analysis based on a review of national endemicity status. Areas in grey only represent locations masked due to sparse population. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0008824.s006FIGURE S7. Covariate Effect Curves for all onchocerciasis occurrences (measures of infection prevalence and disability). On the right set of axes we show the frequency density of the occurrences taking covariate values over 20 bins of the horizontal axis. The left set of axes shows the effect of each on the model, where the mean effect is plotted on the black line and its uncertainty is represented by the upper and lower confidence interval bounds plotted in dark grey. The figures show the fit per covariate relative to the data that correspond to specific values of the covariate. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0008824.s007FIGURE S8. Covariate Effect Curves for all onchocerciasis occurrences (measures of infection prevalence and disability). On the right set of axes we show the frequency density of the occurrences taking covariate values over 20 bins of the horizontal axis. The left set of axes shows the effect of each on the model, where the mean effect is plotted on the black line and its uncertainty is represented by the upper and lower confidence interval bounds plotted in dark grey. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0008824.s008FIGURE S9. ROC analysis for threshold. Results of the area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis are presented below, with false positive rate (FPR) on the x-axis and true positive rate (TPR) on the y-axis. The red dot on the curve represents the location on the curve that corresponds to a threshold that most closely agreed with the input data. For each of the 100 BRT models, we estimated the optimal threshold that maximised agreement between occurrence inputs (considered true positives) and the mean model predictions as 0·71. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0008824.s009TABLE S1. Guidelines for Accurate and Transparent Health Estimates Reporting (GATHER) checklist. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0008824.s010TABLE S2. Total number of occurrence data classified as point and polygon inputs by diagnostic. We present the total number of occurrence points extracted from the input data sources by diagnostic type. ‘Other diagnostics’ include: DEC Patch test; Knott’s Method (Mazotti Test); 2 types of LAMP; blood smears; and urine tests. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0008824.s011TABLE S3. Total number of occurrence data classified as point and polygon inputs by location. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0008824.s012TABLE S4. Covariate information. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0008824.s013TEXT S1. Details outlining construction of occurrence dataset. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0008824.s014TEXT S2. Covariate rationale. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0008824.s015TEXT S3. Boosted regression tree methodology additional details. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0008824.s016APPENDIX S1. Country-level maps and data results. Maps were produced using ArcGIS Desktop 10.6 and shapefiles to visualize administrative units are available at https://espen.afro.who.int/tools-resources/cartography-database. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0008824.s017This work was primarily supported by a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation OPP1132415 (SIH). Financial support from the Neglected Tropical Disease Modelling Consortium (https://www.ntdmodelling.org/), which is funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (grants No. OPP1184344 and OPP1186851), and joint centre funding (grant No. MR/R015600/1) by the UK Medical Research Council (MRC) and the UK Department for International Development (DFID) under the MRC/DFID Concordat agreement which is also part of the EDCTP2 programme supported by the European Union (MGB).The Neglected Tropical Disease Modelling Consortium which is funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the UK Medical Research Council (MRC) and the UK Department for International Development (DFID) under the MRC/DFID Concordat agreement which is also part of the EDCTP2 programme supported by the European Union (MGB).http://www.plosNTDS.orgam2022Medical Microbiolog

Estimating the Economic Value of Organic Rice

The demand for organic products has increased in the past decade due to concerns about the environmental and health issues of food products. This study provides marketing data on consumer preferences and willingness to pay (WTP) for organic rice in Babol County, Northern Iran. The main objective of this study was to estimate urban consumers' WTP for organic rice and to determine the main factors that consumers look for when purchasing rice. The contingent valuation method (CVM) and double bounded dichotomous (DBD) questionnaire were used to achieve the study goals. The results of the logit model showed that level of education, cancer history, and insurance history had statistically significant effects on WTP. The expected WTP for 1 kg of organic rice was 152467.33 IRR. Based on the average exchange rate of six months of 2018 (33500 IRR) per family in the study tends to the monthly equivalent of US$4.55 of their income to buy organic rice allocated. As a result, the total economic value of organic rice was US$ 2254893.072. These results provide important information about market opportunities and policy implementation regarding the production of organic crops

The Relationship between Food Security and Total Factor Productivity in Apple Producers in Semirom

Background: Food security and productivity are very important variables that affect social welfare and production level. Since a large proportion of employees in Semirom are engaged in apple gardening, this study aims to investigate the effect of increasing the productivity of all factors of apple production in improving the level of food security in Semirom city. Methods: In order to answer the research questions, using Cochran's formula, 139 gardeners were selected and the required data were collected through interviews and completing a questionnaire by cluster sampling in 2020. First, the productivity of all factors of production and the level of food security of the surveyed households were measured using the Household Food Insecurity Access (HFIA) index. Results: The results of this analysis showed that gardeners are not in a good food security situation. Then, using Shazam software and estimating the coefficients of the variables in the logit model, the relationship between productivity and food security was investigated. The results showed that productivity had a positive and significant effect on food security of the studied farmers. Based on the final effect, the variables of productivity, income, and savings had the greatest effect on food security of the farmers. In order to create more employment and increase income for gardeners and their families, apple-related processing industries should be established. Conclusion: The results of the study showed that apple gardeners of Semirom do not have good food security. It is recommended that younger people be educated by experienced farmers in the region

Study of Biofilm Formation and Antimicrobial Resistance Staphylococcus aureus Isolated from Handmade Sweets in Hamadan

Background and Aims: Staphylococcus aureus is one of the most common causes of food poisoning, which due to excessive use of antibiotics has become resistant to different antibiotics. In addition, it is also capable of producing biofilm. The aim of this study was to investigate antibiotic resistance patterns and phenotypic study of biofilm production in S. aureus isolates separated from confectionary pastries in Hamadan. Materials and Methods: In this descriptive- cross-sectional study, 370 samples of creamy (280) and dried (90) pastries were collected randomly (May to February 2017). To separate possible microbial contaminations, part of samples were cultivated with conventional microbiological methods. The separated S. aureus isolates were confirmed using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and nuc gene amplification. The antibiotic susceptibility pattern of all isolates was determined by disk agar diffusion (DAD) method based on CLSI guideline and also, microplate modified method was used to identify biofilm strains. Results: The results showed that 34.64% of the creamy pastries and 3.33% of the dried pastries were infected with S. aureus. Antibiogram results showed the highest resistance was related to penicillin (90%). In the quantitative study of biofilm production, 42 strains (42%) were strongly adhesive, while 17 (17%) and 41 (41%) strains were weakly adhesive and lacking adhesive ability, respectively. Conclusions: Consumption of creamy pastries increases the risk of infection with S. aureus and is a serious warning to the health system. Pasteurization and storage of food stuff in the refrigerator, continuous microbial control of pastries and the screening of the confectionary staff can reduce the level of microbial contamination and the risk of staphylococcal poisoning

The effect of ovalbumin on orthodontic induced root resorption

Background: This randomized trial was undertaken to investigate the effect of experimentally induced allergy on orthodontic induced root resorption. Materials and Methods: A total of 30 Wistar rats were divided randomly into test and control groups. Starting from the first 3 days, the rats in the test group were injected intra-peritoneally by 2 mg ovalbumin as allergen and 0.5 mg Alume as adjuvant. Afterward only allergen was injected once a week. The control group was injected by normal saline. After 21 days, Wistar immunoglobulin E was measured and peripheral matured eosinophil was counted. A total of 50 g nickel-titanium closed coil spring was ligated between right incisor and first molar. All animals were sacrificed after 14 days. The mesial root of the right and left first molar was dissected in a horizontal plane. The specimens were divided into four groups considering whether force and/or ovalbumin was applied or not. Root resorption was measured and compared among these groups. Repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA), and Bonferoni tests were used to analyze the data. The level of significance was determined at 0.05. Results: In general, the differences were insignificant (P > 0.05). As the only exception, the group in which both ovalbumin and force were applied had significantly more root resorption than the group in which neither force nor ovalbumin was applied (P < 0.001). Conclusion: Allergy may increase the susceptibility to root resorption. Application of light force, periodical monitoring of root resorption and control of allergy are advisable

Association between serum lactate and postoperative outcomes following coronary artery bypass graft surgery

Background: Increased serum lactate during cardio-pulmonary bypass is associated with high mortality and cardiac complications up to 10-20 percent. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of serum lactate increase on postoperative outcomes after coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) Surgery. Materials and Methods: This descriptive-analytical study was performed on cases (no=116) undergoing CABG at Beheshti hospital in Kashan between 2013-2014. Demographic data, variables related to surgery, serum lactate level and the time of tracheal extubation, length of stay in intensive care unit (ICU) and hospital post-surgery left ventricular ejection fraction were collected. These data was compared in two groups: Normal serum lactate ( 2 m mol\liter) group. Results: The postoperative hyperlactatemia was observed in 62.1 % of patients. There were no significant differences between two groups in time of tracheal extubation, length of stay in ICU and hospital. There was a relationship between the mean postoperative serum lactate and blood sugar, bicarbonate, pH, length of cardiopulmonary bypass and the aortic cross clamping time. There was a significant relationship between the serum lactate increment and the left ventricular ejection fraction decrement. Conclusion: Hyperlactatemia is probably associated with such important factors as high blood sugar, longer duration of aortic cross clamp and cardio-pulmonary bypass time. So controlling such factors can reduce the rate of hyperlactatemia and help postoperative recovery