A NOVEL TREATMENT BY GRAPHENE-BASED NANOMATERIALS AND 6-BENZYLAMINOPURINE TO IMPROVE FLOWERING AND CORM PRODUCTION OF GLADIOLUS GRANDIFLORUS ANDREWS ‘WHITE PROSPERITY’

Graphene-based nanomaterials have great potential to improve cut flower production, including the production of high-quality corms of gladiolus locally to compensate for the shortage in imported corms mostly from the Netherlands due to the recent unprecedented global spread of COVID-19. In this study, we investigated the response of the cultivar ‘White Prosperity’ to various doses of nano-carbon as graphene oxide nanomaterials (0, 3, 5 and 7 g/l) in combination with BA (0, 50, 75 and 100 mg/l). The results demonstrated that the combination of the medium or the high BA concentrations (50 and 75 mg/l), with these of nano-carbon (5 and 7 g/l) promoted good vegetative and flowering growth. Pearson’s product correlation showed positive relationships between all the tested parameters except for the number of days to flowering, which negatively correlated with all the traits. These results were further confirmed by PCA results. Our findings provide evidence that nano-carbon can render positive effects on flowering and corm production of gladiolus that may be applicable for other important flower bulb species

STIMULATIVE EFFECTS OF SEAWEED AND ACTIVE YEAST EXTRACTS AS FOLIAR TREATMENTS ON GROWTH AND PRODUCTIVITY OF GLADIOLUS GRANDIFLORUS ANDREWS ‘WHITE PROSPERITY’

In view of the availability, safety and beneficial effects of both yeast at 0, 3, 5 and 7 g/l and seaweed extract at 0, 50, 100 and 150 ppm, the current experiment aimed at studying the ability of different concentrations of both substances to enhance growth, flowering and corm production of gladiolus ‘White Prosperity’ plants. The results showed that both dry yeast extract and seaweed extract are promising growth stimulants for gladiolus plants. It is obvious that the heaviest and longest spikes and rachis were obtained in gladiolus plants subjected to the foliar application of 5 g/l yeast alone. When yeast at 5 g/l was combined with seaweed extract at 100 or 150 ppm, the longest flowering duration was recorded. Increasing yeast concentration to 7 g/l in combination with seaweed extract at 100 ppm showed the best characteristics of the new corm including corm FW, DW and diameter. However, the combination of yeast at 5 g/l and seaweed extract at 50 ppm produced the highest number of cormels/corm. Accordingly, it could be recommended to spray gladiolus plants cultivated for the production of cut flowers with yeast extract at 5 g/l combined with seaweed extract at 100 ppm. Meanwhile, for the purpose of cormels production, it is recommended to use 7 g/l yeast with 100 ppm seaweed extract

"Othering" the health worker: self-stigmatization of HIV/AIDS care among health workers in Swaziland

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>HIV is an important factor affecting healthcare workforce capacity in high-prevalence countries, such as Swaziland. It contributes to loss of valuable healthcare providers directly through death and absenteeism and indirectly by affecting family members, increasing work volume and decreasing performance. This study explored perceived barriers to accessing HIV/AIDS care and prevention services among health workers in Swaziland. We asked health workers about their views on how HIV affects Swaziland's health workforce and what barriers and strategies health workers have for addressing HIV and using healthcare treatment facilities.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Thirty-four semi-structured, in-depth interviews, including a limited set of quantitative questions, were conducted among health workers at health facilities representing the mixture of facility type, level and location found in the Swaziland health system. Data were collected by a team of Swazi nurses who had received training in research methods. Study sites were selected using a purposive sampling method while health workers were sampled conveniently with attention to representing a mixture of different cadres. Data were analyzed using Nvivo qualitative analysis software and Excel.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Health workers reported that HIV had a range of negative impacts on their colleagues and identified HIV testing and care as one of the most important services to offer health workers. They overwhelmingly wanted to know their own HIV status. However, they also indicated that in general, health workers were reluctant to access testing or care as they feared stigmatization by patients <it>and </it>colleagues and breaches of confidentiality. They described a self-stigmatization related to a professional need to maintain a HIV-free status, contrasting with the HIV-vulnerable general population. Breaching of this boundary included feelings of professional embarrassment and fear of colleagues' and patients' judgements.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>While care is available and relatively accessible, Swaziland health workers still face unique usage barriers that relate to a self-stigmatizing process of boundary maintenance - described here as a form of "othering" from the HIV-vulnerable general population - and a lack of trust in privacy and confidentiality. Interventions that target health workers should address these issues.</p

The effect of metformin on ghrelin serum level in type 2 diabetes mellitus

Objectives: Ghrelin is an orexigenic peptide hormone. A great deal of evidence suggests that ghrelin is involved in the development of type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM). The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of metformin on ghrelin serum level in type 2 DM patients. Patients and methods: This case control study was carried out in Al-Wafaa medical center for diabetic and endocrine disorder patients in Mosul from October 2011 to March 2012. In this study 55 type 2 diabetic patients and 20 control healthy subjects was participated. Those patients and subjects was divided into 4 groups. Blood samples had been collected from all subjects and patients and body mass index (BMI) had been calculated for each patient. Fasting blood sugar (FBS) level and ghrelin serum level were estimated for each patient. Results: The study shows a non significant lower mean ghrelin serum level in control diabetic group in comparison to that of control healthy group. There is significant difference in ghrelin serum level between control diabetic patients group and diabetic patients' group using metformin 1000 mg daily at P < 0.05. Ghrelin serum level has a negative correlation with ages more than 30 years old and BMI in both healthy and diabetic individuals. Conclusion: Ghrelin serum level in diabetic patients is tends to be lower when compared with healthy subjects. Metformin increase ghrelin serum level in diabetic patients and this increment was related to the dose and duration

A Context-Aware Architecture for Personalized Elderly Care in Smart Environments

Much research has focused recently on the development of smart environments and services for human-centered applications for personalized care and improved quality of life. This is especially relevant to support the elderly to lead an active and independent life. Recent efforts exploited the state of art development in the Internet of Things, Smart Sensors grid, Embedded and Wearable systems as well as Cloud Computing to build mathematical models of personal behavior and lifestyle largely driven by big data analytics. In order to overcome the range of challenges associated with the size and heterogeneity of the related data, hardware and software, as well as of the human and social factors involved, a context-aware architecture appropriate for smart environments is needed. This paper describes ACTiVAGE (ACTiVe AGeing sErvices), a conceptual framework for developing Personalized Elderly Care services that leverage big data analytics for context-awareness in smart environments

Profiling of nosocomial infection in hepatic patients

Background:&nbsp;Nosocomial infection (NCI) is a problem with global concern due to increasing morbidity and mortality in hospitalized patients. Chronic liver disease increases the chance of NCI by suppressing cell and antibody mediated immunity.&nbsp;Aim:&nbsp;We aimed in this study to visualize the problem of NCI in hepatic patients regarding organisms causing it, pattern of resistance and possible device associated with its existence.&nbsp;Methods:&nbsp;End stage chronic hepatitis C patients who admitted to the National Liver Institute Hospital, Menoufia University, were enrolled in this observational study. Different samples from alleged sites further processed by conventional culture and sensitivity techniques and confirmed by VITEK2C2 system. Antibiotic resistance pattern of isolates was assessed. &nbsp;Pan drug resistance&nbsp; (PDR)&nbsp;Acinetobacter baumannii&nbsp;to Omp A, bap, and Csu E virulence genes was further processed by Multiplex PCR. &nbsp;Results:&nbsp;Gram- negative pathogens were significantly higher in CAUTI. The most predominant nosocomial organism was&nbsp;Pseudomonas aeruginosa&nbsp;which represent 19% (32 from 168), followed by Staph aureus that account for 17.86% (30 from 168),&nbsp;Acinetobacter baumannii&nbsp;signify 14.2%,&nbsp;Klebsiella pneumonia&nbsp;form 11.9%. MDR represents 123 isolates from 168 with 73.2% percentage, while XDR represents 23.8% of total isolates. &nbsp;Pan drug resistance&nbsp;Acinetobacter baumannii&nbsp;represents 5 from 24 isolates. It was associated with CAUTI and CLBSI but non-significant. 4 PDR isolates show Prescence of Omp A, Csu E, and bap biofilm forming genes.&nbsp;Conclusions:&nbsp;MDR NCI in hepatic patients need more attention regarding rational use of antibiotics especially with appearance of PDR&nbsp;Acinetobacter baumannii&nbsp;carrying Omp A, Csu E, and bap biofilm forming genes

Experience Based Quality Control in IMRT Treatment Planning of High Risk Post-Prostatectomy Prostate Cancer with RapidPlan

Purpose: To develop a knowledge based planning (KBP) model with RapidPlan (Varian Medical Systems, Palo Alto, USA) for the treatment of high risk post-prostatectomy prostate cancer. The model was trained on a knowledge database of high quality treatment plans from the national clinical trial RTOG 0621, then tested as a QA tool. Methods: An initial dosimetric analysis was carried out to identify high quality plans from clinical trial RTOG 0621. Treatment plans for patients enrolled in the trial were scored according to the system used by the Imaging and Radiation Oncology Core (IROC) of the National Clinical Trials Network (NCTN) of the NCI to assess adherence to the trial protocol. Of the 80 plans enrolled in the trial 39 were chosen for the training sample. Another subset of 8 plans, orthogonal to the training sample, was chosen for the validation sample to ensure that the model accurately predicts dose volume histograms (DVHs) for all critical structures. The validation plans were then re-optimized with the model in order to test its effectiveness as a tool for planning QA. DVHs of the re-optimized plans were compared with those of the original clinical plans. Normal tissue complication probabilities and tumor control probabilities were calculated with the Lyman-Kutcher-Burman (LKB) model before and after re-optimization to determine the effect on patient outcome. Results: The RapidPlan prostate model was shown to accurately predict estimated DVH bands for all plans in the validation sample that matched the geometry of the training sample. Three treatment plans in the validation sample were geometric outliers with respect to the training sample leading to inaccuracies in the model predictions for the cone down phase of these treatment plans. All of the re-optimized plans showed increased dose sparring to the bladder and rectum respectively without lose of target coverage. The average reduction in NTCP was 0.34 ± 0.21 % for the bladder and 0.11 ± 0.25 % for the rectum with corresponding p-values of 0.116 and 0.668. The average TCP for the prostate bed decreased slightly from 97.05 % to 96.54 % with a p-value of 0.149. Due to limited statistics the changes reported in these numbers are not statistically significant as indicated by the p-values. Although the average values are inconclusive the model was effectively used to identify sub-optimal treatment plans which were improved through re-optimization with the model. For treatment plan 0621c0027 the NTCP decreased from 0.35 % to 0.06 % for the bladder and from 0.10 % to 0.06 % for the rectum while the TCP increased from 96.78 % to 96.87 %. Conclusions: The RapidPlan prostate model developed in this study is an effective tool for monitoring the quality of IMRT treatment plans for high-risk post prostatectomy prostate cancer

DISEASE DETECTION FROM FIELD SPECTROMETER DATA

ABSTRACT: Oil palm plants have been planted in large scale of areas. Ganoderma disease has been recognized and diagnosed in oil palm plants to infect almost half of the oil palm plants in Malaysia. To deal with this problem, the use of vegetation indices analysis on hyper spectral field data we will examine the ability of this data in discrimination between Ganoderma disease stages in oil palm plants which will be helpful in control the spread of the diseases. By using vegetation indices the oil palm plants could be classified into 1 (T1 healthy), 2 (T2 semi healthy) and 3 (T3 severe damage) plant classes accurately. The results showed that the best vegetation index is the Modified Red Edge Simple Ratio (MSR705) among the vegetation indices to discriminate between oil palm health stages. It was realized that the modification that was applied to the Modified Red Edge Simple Ratio (MSR705) index of Narrowband greenness VIs has been exhibited an acceptable results in differentiate between the oil palm plant stage 1 (T1 healthy) and stage 2 (T2 semi healthy).   ABSTRAK: Tanaman kelapa sawit ditanam secara meluas.  Penyakit ganoderma dikenali dan didiagnosikan menjangkiti hampir separuh tanaman kelapa sawit di Malaysia. Untuk mengawal penyakit ini daripada merebak, analisis indeks tanaman dijalankan ke atas data kawasan spektrum melampau di mana keupayaan data ini diuji dalam membezakan peringkat-peringkat penyakit Ganoderma terhadap tanaman kelapa sawit. Dengan menggunakan indeks tanaman, kelapa sawit dapat diklasifikasikan kepada 1 (T1 sihat), 2 (T2 separa sihat) dan 3 (T3 rosak); kelas tanaman dengan tepat. Keputusan menunjukkan indeks tanaman terbaik sebagai Modified Red Edge Simple Ratio (MSR705) yang merupakan indeks tanaman dalam membezakan peringkat kesihatan kelapa sawit. Adalah didapati pengubahsuaian terhadap indeks Modified Red Edge Simple Ratio (MSR705) yang juga indeks Jalur Sempit Hijau VI telah memberikan keputusan yang munasabah dalam membezakan peringkat tanaman kelapa sawit peringkat 1 (T1 sihat) dan peringkat 2 (T2 separa sihat)

Efficient Prediction of Structural and Electronic Properties of Hybrid 2D Materials Using Complementary DFT and Machine Learning Approaches

<p>There are now, in principle, a limitless number of hybrid van der Waals heterostructures that can be built from the rapidly growing number of two-dimensional layers. The key question is how to explore this vast parameter space in a practical way. Computational methods can guide experimental work however, even the most efficient electronic structure methods such as density functional theory, are too time consuming to explore more than a tiny fraction of all possible hybrid 2D materials. Here we demonstrate that a combination of DFT and machine learning techniques provide a practical method for exploring this parameter space much more efficiently than by DFT or experiment. As a proof of concept we applied this methodology to predict the interlayer distance and band gap of bilayer heterostructures. Our methods quickly and accurately predicted these important properties for a large number of hybrid 2D materials. This work paves the way for rapid computational screening of the vast parameter space of van der Waals heterostructures to identify new hybrid materials with useful and interesting properties.</p