Practitioner Perspectives on Innovation: Insights Into Innovation Practices in Established Organizations

This paper explores the design of innovation systems in established organizations and how innovation approaches could be designed to account for organizational and sectoral realities that appear to be in conflict with innovation practices. Through a human-centered design approach, including a literature review, survey, and semi-structured interviews, the research team identified key insights associated with the challenges of integrating innovation into large, established organizations, specifically at the worldview and values level of analysis. Causal layered analysis is used to develop a deeper understanding of the issue. An organizational diagnostic is provided along with innovation system design principles and recommendations to support sustained innovation practice in established organizations

Asian Carp Project – Infographics & Megamap™

Resilience Design Lab used the Megamap™ process in order to support the Asian Carp Project’s efforts to raise awareness and enlist broad participation in preventing Grass Carp from entering Canadian Great Lakes. The Asian Carp Project is led by Fisheries and Oceans Canada

Multislice CT in sinonasal polypi; Functional endoscopic sinus surgery correlation

Background: Nasal and sinus illnesses are diagnosed with computed tomography (CT) because CT scans effectively bone anatomy is depicted with air spaces, opacified sinuses, and detailed structural details. Objective: The significance of using multislice CT for the detection and characterization of sinus polyps and the relationship between the CT findings and those of functional endoscopic sinus surgery (FESS) have been studied. Patients and Methods: At Zagazig University's Radiodiagnosis Department, we conducted this study on 18 patients, 10 of which were females and eight were males, from a total of 33 individuals. To emphasize the role of multislice (CT) in diagnosis and characterization of sinonasal polypi during functional endoscopic sinus surgery, numerous CT parameters were used and correlated with operational findings. Results: There was a strong correlation calculated by Spearman correlation coefficient (r) for right-sided and left-sided surgeries of 0.76 and 0.87, respectively, for operative endoscopic and Lund-Mackay staging scores. Conclusion: Based on functional endoscopic sinus results, CT and diagnostic endoscopy may be the new standard of care in the diagnosis of sinonasal diseases

Application of silicon ameliorated salinity stress and improved wheat yield

Management of soil salinity is an important research field around the globe, especially when associated with the limited water resources. This work aimed to improve the growth and yield of wheat (Triticum aestivum L. CV. Sakha-93) grown under salinity stress. A completely randomized design pot experiment with three replications was conducted in a loamy soil with various levels of salinity under local weather conditions. The treatments included five levels of salinity (2.74, 5.96, 8.85, 10.74, and 13.38 dSm-1) prepared by adding NaCl to the selected soil and five treatments of Si (0, 2.1, 4.2, 6.3, and 8.4 mg Si/10 plants). Silicon was applied to wheat plants as a foliar spray 30, 45, and 60 days after sowing. Results indicated that photosynthetic pigments; N, P, and K concentrations; biomass, and grain yield significantly decreased with increasing salinity concentration. For example, in the pots treated with Si rate of 0.0 mg Si/10 plants, biomass and grain yield significantly decreased by 37 and 30%, respectively, as salinity increased from 2.74 to 13.38 dSm-1. However, Na and proline concentrations increased with the increase in salinity. Supplying Si alleviated salinity stress and enhanced plant growth, e.g., at salinity concentration of 5.96 dSm-1, biomass and grain yield increased by 32 and 54%, respectively, when Si rate increased from 0.0 to 6.3 mg Si/10 plants. Similarly, under the same previous salinity and Si treatments, Na and proline concentrations decreased by 10 and 23%, respectively. Eventually, application of Si to wheat enhanced its growth and yield under salinity stress

Evaluating stress responses in cowpea under drought stress

Drought impact on plants is an increasing concern under the climate change scenario. Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata L. Walp.) is considered as one of the most tolerant legume crops to drought, being the search for the best well-adapted genotypes crucial to face the future challenges. Different approaches have been used for differentiating plant responses to drought stress. Plants of four cowpea genotypes were submitted to three watering regimens (a severe and moderate drought stress, and well-watered control) during 15 days, and several physiological, biochemical and molecular parameters were evaluated. Stressed plants revealed commonly-described drought stress characteristics, but not all assayed parameters were useful for discriminating plants with different drought severities or genotypes. The analyses which have contributed most to genotype discrimination were those related with stomatal function, and biochemical markers such as proline and anthocyanin contents. Antioxidant enzymes activities and related genes expression did not differed among genotypes or upon drought stress treatments, suggesting that scavenging enzymes are not involved in the differential ability of cowpea plants to survive under drought stress. This information will be useful to evaluate and use genetic resources, as well as design strategies for breeding cowpea resistance to drought stress.This study was supported by EUROLEGUME project. This project has received funding from: the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme for research, technological development and demonstration under grant agreement no 613781; National Funds by FCT - Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology, under the project UID/AGR/04033/2019; and the project PEstOE/BIA/UI4046/2014; UID/MULTI/04046/2013

Occurrence and molecular characterization of multidrug-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii isolated from humans and dogs

This study investigated the occurrence, antibiogram and molecular characterization of Acinetobacter baumannii in hospitalized humans and dogs. A total of 120 clinical samples including (64 sputum, 40 urine samples from human and 16 wound swabs from dogs) were cultured on MacConkey agar plates and CHROMagar Acinetobacter medium. Sixty two A. baumannii strains were identified from both human and animal sources with a percentage of 51.7%. The occurrence of A. baumannii was 56.3% in sputum and 35% in urine and 75% in wound swabs. All 62 A. baumannii isolates were tested for the antimicrobial susceptibility by disc diffusion method. Colistin showed a lowest resistance percentage (3.2%), while a complete resistance (100%) of A.baumannii strains was for aztreonam. Moreover, the recovered 62 A. baumannii strains were screened by PCR for integrase genes (intI1 & intI2). Integron-positive isolates (29.03%; 18/62) harbored both intI1 & intI2 genes. The distribution of integrases was 30.6 % in sputum- recovered strains, 28.5% in urine-originated isolates and 25% in wound-identified strains. This study clarified that multidrug-resistant A. baumannii strains of dog and human origin implicated a zoonotic potential; and PCR integrase gene is useful in screening the epidemic strains of A. baumannii

Effect of humic and fulvic substances and Moringa leaf extract on Sudan grass plants grown under saline conditions

Salinity is the major stress factor, which limits crop cultivation, especially in developing countries. A randomized complete block, factorial (3-factor) experiment was conducted on Sudan grass grown on non-saline and saline soils to assess humic substances with or without foliar spraying Moringa leaf extract (MLE). Factors were :(A) Soil; 3 different levels of salinity i.e. S1: non-saline (EC =3.01 dSm-1), S2: medium saline (6.12 dSm-1) and S3: highly saline (12.33 dSm-1) ; (B) humic substances i.e. B0: no addition, B1: humic acid (HA) as K-humate , B2: fluvic acid as K-fulvate and B3: HA and FA ; (C) foliar spray with MLE i.e. C0: non-treated and C1: foliar spray. Results indicated that total chlorophyll, nutrient uptake, available N, P and K significantly decreased within each humic substances application and MLE with increasing salinity concentration. The highest values of fresh, dry weight, total chlorophyll and NPK- uptake under different salinity levels were observed with application of substances and MLE. Spraying of MLE increased cumulative yield and nutrient uptake by Sudan grass compared to the untreated ones. The treatment of HA and FA with or without spraying MLE gave the highest values of available NPK under the salinity levels.The accepted manuscript in pdf format is listed with the files at the bottom of this page. The presentation of the authors' names and (or) special characters in the title of the manuscript may differ slightly between what is listed on this page and what is listed in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript; that in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript is what was submitted by the author

Molecular profile of some Bacillus cereus strains isolated from milk with reference to its susceptibility to lysozyme

The present study aimed to clarify the molecular diversity of B. cereus isolated from milk and its susceptibility to lysozyme. A total of 153 individual raw milk samples were randomly collected.　Bacteriological examination was carried out according to standard methods. In vitro susceptibility of Bacillus species to lysozyme was done for all isolates (No=153). ERICPCR fingerprinting was done for 10 B. cereus strains. It was found that 61 (39.9%) of milk samples were positive for B. cereus. Susceptibility to lysozyme was the highest in B. cereus (47.5%) among other Bacillus species. Molecular fingerprinting produced patterns of 11 major bands. Dendrogram revealed 3 main clusters. The highest degree of similarity was noticed among isolates in different date of isolation. It could be concluded from this study that the isolated B. cereus clones had diversity in terms of molecular profile and sensitivity to lysozyme

Incidence, Phenotypic and Genotypic Antimicrobial Resistance of Zoonotic Salmonella spp. Isolated from Broiler chicken and Human in Egypt

 This study investigated incidence, phenotypic-genotypic antimicrobial resistance in zoonotic salmonellae from broiler chicken and human in Egypt. Two hundred and forty samples were randomly collected from broilers including (liver, gizzard, intestine, n=60 of each) and from workers (hand swabs, n=60) at poultry outlets. Isolation, biochemical and serological identifications of Salmonella spp. were performed. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing of Salmonella serotypes was done using disc diffusion method. The multiple antibiotic resistance (MAR) index of Salmonella serotypes was calculated. Genotypic detection of antimicrobial resistance genes [blaTEM, floR and tetA(A)] was identified in phenotypically resistant salmonellae using PCR. The incidence of Salmonella spp. was 5% in each of liver and intestine of broilers, and 1.66% in gizzard of broilers; and 3.33% in hand swabs of workers. The serotypes of S. Typhimurium were distributed into liver of broilers (3 out of 4, 75%) and into intestine of broilers (1 out of 4, 25%). The distribution of S. Enteritidis was 33.3% (1 out of 3) in gizzard and )66.7%, 2 out of 3) was distributed in intestine of broiler. Two isolates of S. Kentucky (100%) were distributed in hand swabs from workers. The peak resistance (100%) of 9 Salmonella isolates was found to each of chloramphenicol and ampicillin followed by a highest resistance (88.8%) to doxycycline The profile of each S. Typhimurium and S. Enteritidis isolates from broiler chicken reached the peak resistance (100%) for ampicillin, chloramphenicol and doxycycline The multiple antibiotic resistance (MAR) index of Salmonella isolates was ranged from 0.23 to 0.54 with an average of 0.34. The blaTEM, tetA(A) and floR genes were identified with similar distribution percentage of 66.7% in S. Typhimurium isolates from liver. all isolates of S. Enteritidis from gizzard, S. Typhimurium from intestine, S. Enteritidis from intestine and S. Kentucky from hand swabs harbored similar distribution percentage (100%) for each blaTEM, tetA(A) and floR gene. Further studies are required to predict biological tools such as bacteriophages during poultry production to minimize entry of multidrug resistant (MDR) salmonellae from broiler chicken to human food chain