HYDRAULIC ASSESSMENT OF MEDIA FILTERS UTILIZING TREATED WASTEWATER FOR COTTON IRRIGATION

Key Words: Media filter, Treated wastewater, Drip irrigation, Cotton Growth and Yield.INTRODUCTIONAccording to Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation (MWIR), Egypt (2014) Agriculture expends a large amount of the obtainable water in Egypt, with its share exceeding 85% of the total demand for water. Utilizing treated wastewater represents a viable option. The study were carried out at Sarapium Forest, Ministry of Agriculture and Land Reclamation in “Sarapium”, Ismailia Governorate, Egypt, during 2018 and 2019 seasons to investigate the effect of media depth on the performance of different types of emitters for irrgating cotton (verity Giza 94) using treated wastewater. Also this study estimates the effect of using treated wastewater on the cotton growth, quantity and quality. The first experiment design for filtration performance was a split-plot with four replications. The main plots involved two media filtration depths (50 cm and 70 cm) and the sub-plots involved the time of operation (0, 25, 50, 75 and 100h). While the second experiment design for planting cotton was a split-plot with three replications. The main plots involved two plant distribution (Mutual and Opposite) and the sub-plots involved the three types of emitters namely: online 4 l/h compensative, online 4 l/h non-compensative and built- in 4 l/h-30cm non-compensative the distance between emitters were (30 cm).The results indicated that: Increasing media filtration depth from 50 to 70 cm has led to decrease the filtration flowrate with increasing pressure losses, biological oxygen demand (BOD5) and total suspended solids (TSS). The filtration flowrate decreased by increasing operation time from 0 to 100 but pressure losses, BOD5 and TSS was increased. Emitters performance of online compensative and built-in non-compensative were generally better than the online non-compensative under using wastewater quality and emitters performance decrease by increasing operation time from zero to 100 hours. Plants distribution significantly effect on growth and yield components of cotton. Planting cotton by mutual method gave the highest values of number of opened bolls per plant, seed cotton yield (Ken./fed.

Laminin and Fibronectin Treatment Leads to Generation of Dendritic Cells with Superior Endocytic Capacity

Copyright: 2010 Garcı´a-Nieto et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.Background: Sampling the microenvironment at sites of microbial exposure by dendritic cells ( DC) and their subsequent interaction with T cells in the paracortical area of lymph nodes are key events for initiating immune responses. Most of our knowledge of such events in human is based on in vitro studies performed in the absence of extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins. ECM in basement membranes and interstitial spaces of different tissues, including lymphoid organs, plays an important role in controlling specific cellular functions such as migration, intracellular signalling and differentiation. The aim of this study was, therefore, to investigate the impact of two abundant ECM components, fibronectin and laminin, on the phenotypical and functional properties of DC and how that might influence DC induced T-cell differentiation. Methodology/Principal Findings: Human monocyte derived DC were treated with laminin and fibronectin for up to 48 hours and their morphology and phenotype was analyzed using scanning electron microscopy, flow cytometry and real time PCR. The endocytic ability of DC was determined using flow cytometry. Furthermore, co-culture of DC and T cells were established and T cell proliferation and cytokine profile was measured using H(3)-thymidine incorporation and ELISA respectively. Finally, we assessed formation of DC-T cell conjugates using different cell trackers and flow cytometry. Our data show that in the presence of ECM, DC maintain a 'more immature' phenotype and express higher levels of key endocytic receptors, and as a result become significantly better endocytic cells, but still fully able to mature in response to stimulation as evidenced by their superior ability to induce antigen-specific T cell differentiation. Conclusion: These studies underline the importance of including ECM components in in vitro studies investigating DC biology and DC-T cell interaction. Within the context of antigen specific DC induced T cell proliferation, inclusion of ECM proteins could lead to development of more sensitive assays.Peer reviewedFinal Published versio

Biomarkers in Spinal Cord Injury: Prognostic Insights and Future Potentials

Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) is a major challenge in Neurotrauma research. Complex pathophysiological processes take place immediately after the injury and later on as the chronic injury develops. Moreover, SCI is usually accompanied by traumatic injuries because the most common modality of injury is road traffic accidents and falls. Patients develop significant permanent neurological deficits that depend on the extent and the location of the injury itself and in time they develop further neurological and body changes that may risk their mere survival. In our review, we explored the recent updates with regards to SCI biomarkers. We observed two methods that may lead to the appearance of biomarkers for SCI. First, during the first few weeks following the injury the Blood Spinal Cord Barrier (BSCB) disruption that releases several neurologic structure components from the injured tissue. These components find their way to Cerebrospinal Fluid (CSF) and the systemic circulation. Also, as the injury develops several components of the pathological process are expressed or released such as in neuroinflammation, apoptosis, reactive oxygen species, and excitotoxicity sequences. Therefore, there is a growing interest in examining any correlations between these components and the degrees or the outcomes of the injury. Additionally, some of the candidate biomarkers are theorized to track the progressive changes of SCI which offers an insight on the patients' prognoses, potential-treatments-outcomes assessment, and monitoring the progression of the complications of chronic SCI such as Pressure Ulcers and urinary dysfunction. An extensive literature review was performed covering literature, published in English, until February 2018 using the Medline/PubMed database. Experimental and human studies were included and titles, PMID, publication year, authors, biomarkers studies, the method of validation, relationship to SCI pathophysiology, and concluded correlation were reported. Potential SCI biomarkers need further validation using clinical studies. The selection of the appropriate biomarker group should be made based on the stage of the injuries, the accompanying trauma and with regards to any surgical, or medical interference that might have been done. Additionally, we suggest testing multiple biomarkers related to the several pathological changes coinciding to offer a more precise prediction of the outcome

The Glycosylation Pattern of Common Allergens: The Recognition and Uptake of Der p 1 by Epithelial and Dendritic Cells Is Carbohydrate Dependent

Allergens are initiators of both innate and adaptive immune responses. They are recognised at the site of entry by epithelial and dendritic cells (DCs), both of which activate innate inflammatory circuits that can collectively induce Th2 immune responses. In an attempt to have a better understanding of the role of carbohydrates in the recognition and uptake of allergens by the innate immune system, we defined common glycosylation patterns in major allergens. This was done using labelled lectins and showed that allergens like Der p 1 (Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus group 1), Fel d 1 (Felis domisticus), Ara h 1 (Arachis hypogaea), Der p 2 (Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus group 2), Bla g 2 (Blattella germanica) and Can f 1 (Canis familiaris) are glycosylated and that the main dominant sugars on these allergens are 1–2, 1–3 and 1–6 mannose. These observations are in line with recent reports implicating the mannose receptor (MR) in allergen recognition and uptake by DCs and suggesting a major link between glycosylation and allergen recognition. We then looked at TSLP (Thymic Stromal Lymphopoietin) cytokine secretion by lung epithelia upon encountering natural Der p 1 allergen. TSLP is suggested to drive DC maturation in support of allergic hypersensitivity reactions. Our data showed an increase in TSLP secretion by lung epithelia upon stimulation with natural Der p 1 which was carbohydrate dependent. The deglycosylated preparation of Der p 1 exhibited minimal uptake by DCs compared to the natural and hyperglycosylated recombinant counterparts, with the latter being taken up more readily than the other preparations. Collectively, our data indicate that carbohydrate moieties on allergens play a vital role in their recognition by innate immune cells, implicating them in downstream deleterious Th2 cell activation and IgE production

Burden and disease pathogenesis of influenza and other respiratory viruses in diabetic patients

Over the past two decades, diabetes mellitus (DM) has been receiving increasing attention among autoimmune diseases. The prevalence of type 1 and type 2 diabetes has increased rapidly and has become one of the leading causes of death worldwide. Therefore, a better understanding of the genetic and environmental risk factors that trigger the onset of DM would help develop more efficient therapeutics and preventive measures. The role and mechanism of respiratory viruses in inducing autoimmunity have been frequently reported. On the other hand, the association of DM with respiratory infections might result in severe complications or even death. Since influenza is the most common respiratory infection, DM patients experience disease severity and increased hospitalization during influenza season. Vaccinating diabetic patients against influenza would significantly reduce hospitalization due to disease severity. However, recent studies also report the role of viral vaccines in inducing autoimmunity, specifically diabetes. This review reports causes of diabetes, including genetic and viral factors, with a special focus on respiratory viruses. We further brief the burden of influenza-associated complications and the effectiveness of the influenza vaccine in DM patients

Ligand substitution reactions of a phenolic quinolyl hydrazone; oxidovanadium (IV) complexes

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Quinoline ring has therapeutic and biological activities. Quinolyl hydrazones constitute a class of excellent chelating agents. Recently, the physiological and biological activities of quinolyl hydrazones arise from their tendency to form metal chelates with transition metal ions. In this context, we have aimed to study the competency effect of a phenolic quinolyl hydrazone (H₂L; primary ligand) with some auxiliary ligands (Tmen, Phen or Oxine; secondary ligands) towards oxidovanadium (IV) ions.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Mono- and binuclear oxidovanadium (IV) - complexes were obtained from the reaction of a phenolic quinolyl hydrazone with oxidovanadium (IV)- ion in absence and presence of N,N,N',N'- tetramethylethylenediamine (Tmen), 1,10-phenanthroline (Phen) or 8-hydroxyquinoline (Oxine). The phenolic quinolyl hydrazone ligand behaves as monobasic bidentate (NO- donor with O- bridging). All the obtained complexes have the preferable octahedral geometry except the oxinato complex (<b>2</b>) which has a square pyramid geometry with no axial interaction; the only homoleptic complex in this study.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The ligand exchange (substitution/replacement) reactions reflect the strong competency power of the auxiliary aromatic ligands (Phen/Oxine) compared to the phenolic quinolyl hydrazone (H₂L) towards oxidovanadium (IV) ion; (complexes <b>2 </b>and <b>3</b>). By contrast, in case of the more flexible aliphatic competitor (Tmen), an adduct was obtained (<b>4</b>). The obtained complexes reflect the strength of the ligand field towards the oxidovanadium (IV)- ion; Oxine or Phen >> phenolic hydrazone (H₂L) > Tmen.</p

The ligational behavior of a phenolic quinolyl hydrazone towards copper(II)- ions

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The heterocyclic hydrazones constitute an important class of biologically active drug molecules. The hydrazones have also been used as herbicides, insecticides, nematocides, redenticides, and plant growth regulators as well as plasticizers and stabilizers for polymers. The importance of the phenolic quinolyl hydrazones arises from incorporating the quinoline ring with the phenolic compound; 2,4-dihydroxy benzaldehyde. Quinoline ring has therapeutic and biological activities whereas, phenols have antiseptic and disinfectants activities and are used in the preparation of dyes, bakelite and drugs. The present study is planned to check the effect of the counter anions on the type and geometry of the isolated copper(II)- complexes as well as the ligational behavior of the phenolic hydrazone; 4-[(2-(4,8-dimethylquinolin-2-yl)hydrazono)methyl] benzene-1,3-diol; (H₂L).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A phenolic quinolyl hydrazone (H₂L) was allowed to react with various copper(II)- salts (Cl‾, Br‾, NO₃‾, ClO₄‾, AcO‾, SO₄^2-). The reactions afforded dimeric complexes (ClO₄‾, AcO‾ ), a binuclear complex (NO₃‾ ) and mononuclear complexes (the others; Cl‾, Br‾, SO₄^2-). The isolated copper(II)- complexes have octahedral, square pyramid and square planar geometries. Also, they reflect the strong coordinating ability of NO₃‾, Cl‾, Br‾, AcO‾ and SO₄^2-anions. Depending on the type of the anion, the ligand showed three different modes of bonding <it>viz</it>. (NN)⁰for the mononuclear complexes (<b>3, 4, 6</b>), (NO)^-with O- bridging for the dimeric complexes (<b>1, 5</b>) and a mixed mode [(NN)⁰+ (NO)^-with O- bridging] for the binuclear nitrato- complex (<b>2</b>).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The ligational behavior of the phenolic hydrazone (H₂L) is highly affected by the type of the anion. The isolated copper(II)- complexes reflect the strong coordinating power of the SO₄^2-, AcO‾, Br‾, Cl‾ and NO₃‾ anions. Also, they reflect the structural diversity (octahedral, square pyramid and square planar) depending on the type of the counter anion.</p