Controlling the root-knot nematode, Meloidogyne incognita in cucumber plants using some soil bioagents and some amendments under simulated field conditions

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Study the Influence of Treatment Interruptions in the Radical Irradiation of Breast Cancer

Hypofractionated radiotherapy (HFRT) in breast cancer treatment regimen (40 Grey /15 fractions/3 weeks) is more convenient for patients, especially those coming from remote areas to radiotherapy facilities and for healthcare providers, than conventional fractionation (50 Gy/25 fractions/5weeks). So the effect of radiotherapy interruption on treatment outcome (loco-regional control (LRC)& overall survival (OS)) during hypofractionated schedule is the issue of our study. Materials and Methods: We studied retrospectively 174 female patients with breast cancer who received PORT at the Clinical Oncology & Nuclear Medicine Department, Faculty of Medicine, Mansoura University, Egypt, from January-2012 to December-2016. We determined the treatment outcome (OS&LRC) from the follow-up (FU) of the studied patients, as the patient still survived or died, and recurrence till now occurred or not, and were estimated with the Kaplan-Meier (K-M) method and Logrank test, respectively. Then we calculated surviving fraction (SF) and tumor control probability (TCP) with regard to biologically effective dose (BED), for all patients, using breast cancer radiobiological parameters. Results: When comparing patients without radiotherapy gap with patients with radiotherapy gaps, the results showed a decrease in LRC rate in patients with radiotherapy treatment interruptions by 15 % (P=0.019, a significant value), but no detrimental effect on OS because of the very limited number of the studied patients. Curves of the relationship between (SF&OTT) and (TCP&OTT) confirmed the detrimental effect of unscheduled gap during radiotherapy fractions on the treatment outcome. Also we found a significant-P value for (marital status, start day of radiotherapy fractions, time, number, and duration of gaps); it means these factors affect LRC during radiotherapy interruptions.Conclusions: Interruptions during postoperative hypofractionated irradiation of 7breast cancer (40 Gy/15 fractions/3weeks) should be avoided and if they are inevitable, they should not be prolonged more than two days, as they will adversely affect the treatment outcome (LRC)

Green synthesis of mixed metallic nanoparticles using room temperature self-assembly

Bimetallic nanoparticles of silver (Ag) and gold (Au) were synthesized at room temperature using Curcumin. Reduction process of silver and gold ions with different molar ratios leads to production of different nanostructures including alloys and core-shells. Produced nanoparticles were characterized simultaneously with FTIR, UV/vis. spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and Energy-dispersive X-ray (EDAX). UV/vis. optical absorption spectra of as synthesized nanoparticles reveals presence of surface palsmon resonance (SPR) of both silver at (425 nm) and gold at (540 nm) with small shift and broadness of gold band after mixing with resucing and capping agent in natural extract which suggest presence of bimetallic nano structure (Au/Ag). FTIR and EDAX data approve the presence of bimetallic nano structure combined with curcumin extract. TEM micrographs shows that silver and gold can be synthesized separately in the form of nano particles using curcumin extract. Synthesis of gold nano particles in presence of silver effectively enhance and control formation of bi-metallic structure

Assignment of PCR markers to river buffalo chromosomes

International audienc

COLREGs compliant fuzzy-based collision avoidance system for multiple ship encounters

As the number of ships for marine transportation increases with the advancement of global trade, encountering multiple ships in marine traffic becomes common. This situation raises the risk of collision of the ships; hence, this paper proposes a novel Fuzzy-logic based intelligent conflict detection and resolution algorithm, where the collision courses and possible avoiding actions are analysed by considering ship motion dynamics and the input and output fuzzy membership functions are derived. As a conflict detection module, the Collision Risk (CR) is measured for each ship by using a scaled nondimensional Distance to the Closest Point of Approach (DCPA) and Time to the Closest Point of Approach (TCPA) as inputs. Afterwards, the decisions for collision avoidance are made based on the calculated CR, encountering angle and relative angle of each ship measured from others. In this regard, the rules for the Fuzzy interface system are defined in accordance with the COLREGs, and the whole system is implemented on the MATLAB Simulink platform. In addition, to deal with the multiple ship encounters, the paper proposes a unique maximumcourse and minimum-speed change approach for decision making, which has been found to be efficient to solve Imazu problems, and other complicated multiple-ship encounters

DFT, TD-DFT and biological activity studies of some maleanilic acid derivatives ligands and their organometallic complexes

1564-1573This study is a complementary study to our previous study that included the synthesis and characterization of some maleanilic acid derivative ligands (L1-4) and their metal carbonyl complexes (2-4)a-d as effective compounds for cancer cell growth inhibition against three cancer cell lines: HCT-116, HepG-2 cells and MCF-7. The activity data has manifested that the p-nitrophenyl maleanilic acid ligand (L2) and its chromium complex (2b) inhibited the tested cancer cells more effectively than the other complexes. Additionally, DFT and TD-DFT studies are performed to investigate their frontier molecular orbital (FMO), optical properties, and the correlation between the structure and biological activity. The calculated optical energy gap (Eg) is in the range of 1.78- 2.13 eV, and electron cloud delocalization of HOMO/LUMO levels revealed that all complexes show effective charge separation. The DFT results show a strong relation between Eg values of the carbonyl complexes and their experimental biological activity, where it is obvious that complex (2b) with the lowest Eg value has the greatest inhibitory potency against cancer cells. In contrast, complex (2d) with the highest Eg value exhibits the lowest inhibition potency. These findings translate the inverse relationship between Eg values of the complexes and the inhibition potency against cancer cells

DFT, TD-DFT and Biological Activity Studies of Some Maleanilic Acid Derivatives Ligands and Their Organometallic Complexes

This study is a complementary study to our previous study that included the synthesis and characterization of some maleanilic acid derivatives ligands (L1-4) and their metal carbonyl complexes (2-4)a-d as effective compounds for cancer cell inhibition against three cancer cell lines: HCT-116 (colon cancer), HepG-2 cells (Hepatocellular cancer) and MCF-7 (breast cancer). The activity data manifested that p-nitrophenyl maleanilic acid ligand (L2) and its chromium complex (2b) showed higher inhibitory than the other complexes against the tested cancer cells. Additionally, DFT and TD-DFT studies were performed to investigate their frontier molecular orbital (FMO), optical properties, and the correlation between the structure and biological activity. The calculated optical energy gap (Eg) was in the range of 1.78- 2.13 eV, and electron cloud delocalization of HOMO/LUMO levels revealed that all complexes show effective charge separation. DFT results show a great relation between Eg values of the carbonyl complexes and their experimental biological activity. Where it was obvious that complex (2b) with the lowest (Eg) value exhibits the highest inhibition potency against cancer cells. In contrast, complex (2d) with the highest (Eg) value exhibits the lowest inhibition potency. These results translate the reverse relationship between Eg values of the complexes and the inhibition potency against cancer cells

A tale of two cities: Aedes Mosquito surveillance across the Texas-Mexico Border

Cross border situations complicate epidemiologic risk assessments in transboundary regions such as the US-Mexico border. Countries have different health policies, mosquito control policies, and mosquito surveillance systems. We established a binational Aedes mosquito surveillance program in Reynosa, Tamaulipas, and McAllen, Texas by replicating a part of the Mexican Integrated Vector Monitoring System (IVMS) across the international border. The entomologic surveillance of the IVMSs is based on ova collection cups (ovitraps) and for the binational project, the surveillance protocol was modified to include an Autocidal Gravid Ovitrap (AGO) in the center of every city-block (100 m2) distribution of four ovitraps. We measured the weekly abun-dance of Aedes eggs and adult females in 72 clusters (cluster = one AGO and four ovitraps) in Reynosa and 67 clusters in McAllen from Epidemiologic Week (EW) 17 to EW 36. The mean weekly egg counts were 34 and 22 in McAllen and Reynosa respectively. The female adult mosquito counts were more than 5 in 12 out of 20 (60%) weeks in McAllen, and in 5 out of 16 (31%) weeks in Reynosa. For every increase of one female mosquito, the egg counts in the corresponding ovitraps increased by 2.33% (95% HDI: 2.31%–-2.42%) in McAllen and by 0.6% (95% HDI: 0.5%–0.62%) in Reynosa. Counter knowledge, weekly increase of temperature had a negative influence in adult and egg counts in Reynosa and McAllen. Precipitation had a positive influence on egg counts in McAllen

Analysis of the Healthcare MERS-CoV Outbreak in King Abdulaziz Medical Center, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, June–August 2015 Using a SEIR Ward Transmission Model

Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) is an emerging zoonotic coronavirus that has a tendency to cause significant healthcare outbreaks among patients with serious comorbidities. We analyzed hospital data from the MERS-CoV outbreak in King Abdulaziz Medical Center, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, June–August 2015 using the susceptible-exposed-infectious-recovered (SEIR) ward transmission model. The SEIR compartmental model considers several areas within the hospital where transmission occurred. We use a system of ordinary differential equations that incorporates the following units: emergency department (ED), out-patient clinic, intensive care unit, and hospital wards, where each area has its own carrying capacity and distinguishes the transmission by three individuals in the hospital: patients, health care workers (HCW), or mobile health care workers. The emergency department, as parameterized has a large influence over the epidemic size for both patients and health care workers. Trend of the basic reproduction number (R0), which reached a maximum of 1.39 at the peak of the epidemic and declined to 0.92 towards the end, shows that until added hospital controls are introduced, the outbreak would continue with sustained transmission between wards. Transmission rates where highest in the ED, and mobile HCWs were responsible for large part of the outbreak