Hydropriming -a useful technique for seed invigoration in okra (Abelmoschus esculentus) and parsley (Petroselinum crispum)

Seed germinating ability and stand establishment determine the management options in crop production system. Physiological advancement of seeds through priming is a simple and cost-effective method to improve the germinability and stand of any crop. Studies were performed on seed invigoration through hydropriming at the division of PHT, SKUAST-Kashmir during the year 2016 to optimize the hydropriming duration for improved germi-nation and seedling vigour of okra (Pusa sawani) and parsley (curly type). Freshly harvested seeds were soaked in normal water for varying durations (okra- 12, 18 and 24 h; parsley- 24, 48 and 72 h) at (25±2°C) and re-dried to original moisture content at room temperature. Fifty seeds of each treatment were cultured in 14.0 cm Petri dishes lined with 5 layers of moist blotting paper. Observations on various germination parameters were recorded at (25±2°C). Priming of okra seeds for 18 h resulted in highest FGP (85.7%), GE (66.5%), GI (36.7), SDB (29.1mg) and SVI (2.49) coupled with minimum values of T50 (2.75 day) as well as MGT (2.38 day). However, the highest FGP (78.7%), GE (48.7%), SDB (3.13 mg), GI (12.8) and SVI (0.25) together with minimum T50 (7.2 day) and MGT (6.5 day) in parsley was recorded with 24 h priming duration. As such priming duration of 18 and 24 hours at 25±2°C were found optimal for enhanced and rapid seed germination with vigourous seedlings

Prescription audit to evaluate the pattern and errors in a tertiary care hospital

Background: Medication errors are widespread public health issue. Prescription errors commonly results in medication error. Prescription error can be largely avoidable this study was performed with aim to point out the common mistake in the prescription which may endanger patients.Methods: Our study was cross-sectional and observational, performed in Index Medical College. 320 prescriptions were reviewed. Analysis was done for presence or absence of essential components of prescription like prescriber information’s, patients information’s, details of drug like its dosage form, strength, frequency, total duration of treatment, warnings or instruction for use. The observed data was expressed in number and percentage.Results: Patient information was complete 315 (98.44%) in prescriptions. Prescriber’s information were present in 284 (88.75%). Legibility was seen in 240 (75%). Use of generic drug, capital letters for drug name, warning are seen in 9 (2.81%), 39 (12.19%), 3 (0.94%) respectively. Completeness in terms of the name of drug, dose, strength, route, frequency, duration and dosage forms of prescribed drugs was seen in 252 (78.75%) prescriptions.Conclusions: Properly framed and written prescription can largely prevent medication error. Regular prescription audit must be carried out so that common mistake can be identified and corrective measure with the help of training session, workshop can be taken

An observational retrospective study on safety and functional outcomes of arthroscopic anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction using Sironix suture button and interference screw

Background: Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury is a persistent orthopaedic condition that affects a wide spectrum of people. ACL reconstruction (ACL-R) stands out as the primary treatment option. Graft fixation with suture buttons and interference screws has proven to be a highly successful and reliable method for ACL-R. In this context, our research aims to assess the safety and functional outcomes of patients who underwent arthroscopic ACL-R using the Sironix suture button and interference screw. Methods: This was a retrospective observational study. Patients who underwent arthroscopic ACL-R using Sironix suture button and interference screw (January 2018-March 2022) were included in the study. Functional outcomes of patients were evaluated using the international knee documentation committee (IKDC) assessment, the Tegner activity scale (TAS), the Lysholm knee scoring scale, the modified knee injury and osteoarthritis outcome score (KOOS) quality of life subscale, and the single assessment numerical evaluation (SANE) score. Adverse events, if any, were recorded. Results: All patients achieved excellent outcome measures for IKDC, Tegner, Lysholm, KOOS, and SANE scores. The mean (SD) IKDC score was 88.76 (7.16), Tegner activity score was 5.9 (1.13), while the Lysholm score was 96.9 (6.56). The overall KOOS score was 93.7 (7.52), and the overall SANE score for the affected joint was 94.5 (7.22). Conclusions: Arthroscopic ACL-R using Sironix implants (Helysis titanium interference screw, Helysis PLDLA+β-TCP interference screw, Infiloop fixed loop UHMWPE suture titanium button, Proloop adjustable loop UHMWPE suture Titanium button, and Titanium suture disc) demonstrated safety and good functional outcomes

Practice Makes Imperfect: Restorative Effects of Sleep on Motor Learning

Emerging evidence suggests that sleep plays a key role in procedural learning, particularly in the continued development of motor skill learning following initial acquisition. We argue that a detailed examination of the time course of performance across sleep on the finger-tapping task, established as the paradigm for studying the effect of sleep on motor learning, will help distinguish a restorative role of sleep in motor skill learning from a proactive one. Healthy subjects rehearsed for 12 trials and, following a night of sleep, were tested. Early training rapidly improved speed as well as accuracy on pre-sleep training. Additional rehearsal caused a marked slow-down in further improvement or partial reversal in performance to observed levels below theoretical upper limits derived on the basis of early pre-sleep rehearsal. This decrement in learning efficacy does not occur always, but if and only if it does, overnight sleep has an effect in fully or partly restoring the efficacy and actual performance to the optimal theoretically achieveable level. Our findings re-interpret the sleep-dependent memory enhancement in motor learning reported in the literature as a restoration of fatigued circuitry specialized for the skill. In providing restitution to the fatigued brain, sleep eliminates the rehearsal-induced synaptic fatigue of the circuitry specialized for the task and restores the benefit of early pre-sleep rehearsal. The present findings lend support to the notion that latent sleep-dependent enhancement of performance is a behavioral expression of the brain's restitution in sleep

Single slice vs. volumetric MR assessment of visceral adipose tissue: reliability and validity among the overweight and obese.

To access publisher's full text version of this article. Please click on the hyperlink in Additional Links field.Visceral adipose tissue (VAT) is associated with abnormal cardiovascular and metabolic profiles. Total VAT volume of the abdominal compartment by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is the gold-standard measurement for VAT but is costly and time consuming. Prior studies suggest VAT area on a single slice MR image may serve as a surrogate for total VAT volume but it is unknown if this relationship is maintained in overweight and obese men and women. Untreated sleep apnea subjects enrolled into the Icelandic Sleep Apnea Cohort (ISAC) underwent abdominal MRI. VAT area and subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT) area at the L2-L3 and L4-L5 interspaces and total VAT and SAT volumes were determined by manual examination using image analysis software; 539 men and 129 women with mean ages of 54.1 and 58.8 years and mean BMI of 32.2 kg/m(2) and 33.7 kg/m(2), respectively, were studied. Mean total VAT volume was 40% smaller and mean total SAT was 25% larger among females compared with males. The correlation with VAT volume was significantly larger for L2-L3 VAT area (r = 0.96) compared to L4-L5 VAT area (r = 0.83). The difference in correlation coefficients was statistically significant (nonparametric bootstrap P < 0.001 with 95% confidence interval (CI) for the difference from 0.11 to 0.15. VAT area at L2-L3 was also significantly better correlated with VAT volume than traditional anthropometric variables. Linear regression analyses demonstrated that L2-L3 area alone was sufficient for predicting total VAT volume and that the nature of the linear association was maintained across all levels of obesity and in both genders.NIH HL070267 HL09430

Foxm1 regulates neural progenitor fate during spinal cord regeneration

From Wiley via Jisc Publications RouterHistory: received 2020-05-20, rev-recd 2021-06-24, accepted 2021-07-01, pub-electronic 2021-08-24Article version: VoRPublication status: PublishedFunder: Wellcome Trust; Grant(s): 205894/Z/17/ZFunder: Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council Research Training Support; Id: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100000268; Grant(s): BB/M011208/1Funder: UKRI|Medical Research Council (MRC); Id: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100000265; Grant(s): MR/M008908/1Funder: Wellcome Trust (ISSF fund)Abstract: Xenopus tadpoles have the ability to regenerate their tails upon amputation. Although some of the molecular and cellular mechanisms that globally regulate tail regeneration have been characterised, tissue‐specific response to injury remains poorly understood. Using a combination of bulk and single‐cell RNA sequencing on isolated spinal cords before and after amputation, we identify a number of genes specifically expressed in the spinal cord during regeneration. We show that Foxm1, a transcription factor known to promote proliferation, is essential for spinal cord regeneration. Surprisingly, Foxm1 does not control the cell cycle length of neural progenitors but regulates their fate after division. In foxm1−/− tadpoles, we observe a reduction in the number of neurons in the regenerating spinal cord, suggesting that neuronal differentiation is necessary for the regenerative process. Altogether, our data uncover a spinal cord‐specific response to injury and reveal a new role for neuronal differentiation during regeneration

Unscented Kalman filter with parameter identifiability analysis for the estimation of multiple parameters in kinetic models

In systems biology, experimentally measured parameters are not always available, necessitating the use of computationally based parameter estimation. In order to rely on estimated parameters, it is critical to first determine which parameters can be estimated for a given model and measurement set. This is done with parameter identifiability analysis. A kinetic model of the sucrose accumulation in the sugar cane culm tissue developed by Rohwer et al. was taken as a test case model. What differentiates this approach is the integration of an orthogonal-based local identifiability method into the unscented Kalman filter (UKF), rather than using the more common observability-based method which has inherent limitations. It also introduces a variable step size based on the system uncertainty of the UKF during the sensitivity calculation. This method identified 10 out of 12 parameters as identifiable. These ten parameters were estimated using the UKF, which was run 97 times. Throughout the repetitions the UKF proved to be more consistent than the estimation algorithms used for comparison

Early objective response to avelumab treatment is associated with improved overall survival in patients with metastatic Merkel cell carcinoma

Background: Response rates are primary endpoints in many oncology trials; however, correlation with overall survival (OS) is not uniform across cancer types, treatments, or lines of therapy. This study explored the association between objective response (OR) and OS in patients with chemotherapy-refractory metastatic Merkel cell carcinoma who received avelumab (anti-PD-L1). Methods: Eighty-eight patients enrolled in JAVELIN Merkel 200 (part A; NCT02155647) received i.v. avelumab 10&nbsp;mg/kg every 2&nbsp;weeks until confirmed progression, unacceptable toxicity, or withdrawal. Using conditional landmark analyses, we compared OS in patients with and without confirmed OR (RECIST v1.1). We applied a Cox model that included OR as a time-varying covariate and adjusted for age, visceral disease, and number of previous therapies. Results: Twenty-nine patients had confirmed OR; 20 by study week 7 and 7 more between study weeks 7 and 13. Survival probabilities 18 months after treatment initiation were 90% [95% confidence interval (CI) 65.6-97.4] in patients with OR at week 7 and 26.2% (95% CI 15.7-37.8) in patients without OR but who were alive at week 7. Median OS was not reached in patients with OR and was 8.8 months (95% CI 6.4-12.9) in patients without. Similar results were observed for the week 13 landmark. The adjusted Cox model showed OR was associated with a 95% risk reduction of death [hazard ratio 0.052 (95% CI 0.018-0.152)] compared with a nonresponse. Conclusions: Patients with OR by 7 or 13&nbsp;weeks had significantly longer OS than patients without, confirming that early OR is an endpoint of major importance