Remotely Estimating the Influence of Epicuticular Wax on Plant Health and Water Content Using Bloom and Bloomless Sorghum Genotypes

Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L. Moench) is an important crop grown for both fodder and food, especially in Africa and Asia. Although it can cope with water shortage, long-term stress affects sorghum growth and productivity. The presence of epicuticular wax (EW) on the vegetative body of sorghum is one effective mechanism for conferring drought resistance. The heavy wax covering is termed “bloom,” while bloomless types lack EW layer. The presence of EW has been associated with low abiotic stress tolerance, as each phenotype is associated with the wax composition and not the wax content. However, to monitor the influence of this drought-adaptive trait on plant growth, health and water use efficiency is limited by the unavailability of suitable phenotyping methods. The high resolution hyperspectral imagery consists of more than 200 narrow spectral bands that can monitor plant responses to drought over critical phenological stages throughout the plant life cycle. This study focused on determining the influence of epicuticular wax on plant health and water use efficiency (WUE) using recombinant inbred line population derived by Stg4*M1789. Physiological data was collected from field trails in CS and a greenhouse experiment. The EW data and hyperspectral data was collected at different phenological growth stages at the same time. Our results confirmed that under well-watered conditions the high EW lines had higher WUE compared to low wax lines, but the low wax lines had adapted a short-term resistance to water loss under water deficit conditions. Differences were observed in the reflectance pattern between the lines across the photosynthetic active (400-700nm) region and the near infrared (700-1200nm) region. The lines with consistently high and low wax were measured for their carotenoids content, plant greenness, water content and photochemical reflectance with a marked difference being found in their pattern. The reflectance index tends to increase in case of carotenoids pigments for low wax lines as the age of plants increase and senescence. Water band and green normalized vegetation index does not seem to be affected much by the presence of epiculticular wax and is considered a more robust estimation of the water and biochemical content. The plant senescence reflectance index increased with a decrease of epicuticular wax during the vegetative stage of plant development and continued into extended plant maturation compared to high wax genotypes indicated canopy stress for low wax lines. The Spectral-Indices related vegetation increases with an increase in EW, which indicates the overall plant health and growth for RILs with higher leaf wax content

Remotely Estimating the Influence of Epicuticular Wax on Plant Health and Water Content Using Bloom and Bloomless Sorghum Genotypes

Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L. Moench) is an important crop grown for both fodder and food, especially in Africa and Asia. Although it can cope with water shortage, long-term stress affects sorghum growth and productivity. The presence of epicuticular wax (EW) on the vegetative body of sorghum is one effective mechanism for conferring drought resistance. The heavy wax covering is termed “bloom,” while bloomless types lack EW layer. The presence of EW has been associated with low abiotic stress tolerance, as each phenotype is associated with the wax composition and not the wax content. However, to monitor the influence of this drought-adaptive trait on plant growth, health and water use efficiency is limited by the unavailability of suitable phenotyping methods. The high resolution hyperspectral imagery consists of more than 200 narrow spectral bands that can monitor plant responses to drought over critical phenological stages throughout the plant life cycle. This study focused on determining the influence of epicuticular wax on plant health and water use efficiency (WUE) using recombinant inbred line population derived by Stg4*M1789. Physiological data was collected from field trails in CS and a greenhouse experiment. The EW data and hyperspectral data was collected at different phenological growth stages at the same time. Our results confirmed that under well-watered conditions the high EW lines had higher WUE compared to low wax lines, but the low wax lines had adapted a short-term resistance to water loss under water deficit conditions. Differences were observed in the reflectance pattern between the lines across the photosynthetic active (400-700nm) region and the near infrared (700-1200nm) region. The lines with consistently high and low wax were measured for their carotenoids content, plant greenness, water content and photochemical reflectance with a marked difference being found in their pattern. The reflectance index tends to increase in case of carotenoids pigments for low wax lines as the age of plants increase and senescence. Water band and green normalized vegetation index does not seem to be affected much by the presence of epiculticular wax and is considered a more robust estimation of the water and biochemical content. The plant senescence reflectance index increased with a decrease of epicuticular wax during the vegetative stage of plant development and continued into extended plant maturation compared to high wax genotypes indicated canopy stress for low wax lines. The Spectral-Indices related vegetation increases with an increase in EW, which indicates the overall plant health and growth for RILs with higher leaf wax content

Factors Affecting U.A.E Consumer’s Attitude towards Brand Switching: A Comparative Investigation of Black Berry& Android Phones

Form the recent past there is ongoing issue of the slump of BlackBerry in the Smartphone industry. So the purpose of this study was to investigate the variables that affect the brad switching among the BlackBerry smart phone users in UAE. For data collection focus group and in depth interview was held and self-administered survey was also conducted from sample of 100 respondents at convenience. Findings from the qualitative and survey results reveal that low brand loyalty and loss of exclusive features in BlackBerry are major reasons to switch the customers to other smart phones. However the changing perceptions and decreasing brand aspiration are also motives to switch the brands. Keywords: Customer Loyalty, Brand Awareness, Reference Groups, Brand Switchin

Taxonomy of Consumer Confusion and Word of Mouth

The current study aims to investigate the consumer confusion proneness with decision postponement and word of mouth. The population of study is mobile phone consumers of Pakistan and sample of the study is DG-Khan and Rajan Pur district consumers. And the data is collected through brief questionnaire. The study hypothesized the consumer confusion, decision postponement and word of mouth under theory of risk behavior and prospect theory. The study revealed the results that ambiguity confusion is found significant with decision postponement under moderating effect of word of mouth. Hence, the similarity confusion and overload confusion is rejected and ambiguity confusion hypothesis is accepted. Keywords: Consumer Confusion Proneness, DG-Khan, Rajan Pur, Prospect theory, Theory of Risk Behavior

Non-traumatic right hepatic artery pseudoaneurysm: An unusual cause of hemobilia and obstructive jaundice

Most hepatic artery pseudoaneurysms (HAPA) are post traumatic, and non-traumatic pseudoaneurysm is rarely reported. It is a potentially life threatening vascular disorder and difficult to diagnose before rupture. Early diagnosis and prompt nonoperative intervention of this lesion could be life saving. The authors report the case of a patient with hemobilia caused by ruptured right hepatic artery pseudoaneurysm and subsequently developed right hepatic duct stricture, which has not been reported previously. This patient was successfully treated with endovascular stent graft of pseudoaneurysm and endoscopic stenting of right hepatic duct stricture

Frequency of Malpresentation in Patients Presenting with Polyhydramnios during Pregnancy at Tertiary Care Hospital

OBJECTIVES To determine the frequency of malpresentation in pregnant women with polyhydramnios. METHODOLOGY This Cross-Sectional Study was conducted at the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology of Lady Reading Hospital, Peshawar, from March 2021 to September 2021. A total of 175 pregnant women with polyhydramnios were included in the study. Ultrasound was done to make a diagnosis of malpresentation. RESULTSThe age range of pregnant women in this study was from 18-40 years with a mean age of 31.137±3.67 years, mean gestational age of 34.022±2.78 weeks, mean parity of 2.537±1.69 and mean AFI level was 29.017±2.32 cm. A previous history of malpresentation was seen in 25.7% of patients. Malpresentation was observed in 10.3% of patients. The previous history of malpresentation and polyhydramnios had strong statistical significance with current malpresentation (p<0.01). CONCLUSION With the timely diagnosis of polyhydramnios with documentation on ultrasound by an expert radiologist and clinical examination by a gynaecologist, malpresentation can be reduced significantly by prompt treatment.

The Effectiveness of Aquatic Exercises in Improving Balance and Gait in Patients with Knee Osteoarthritis: A Systematic Review

Aim: Knee osteoarthritis is a degenerative joint disease that primarily affects older persons. The second most common disease among adults living in communities is osteoarthritis, which also has the second-highest overall medical cost aggregate. Objective: This review aimed to synthesize evidence for the effectiveness of aquatic exercises on the mobility, balance, gait, and posture of patients with knee osteoarthritis. Method: The databases utilized for literature searching were Embase, PubMed, PEDro, Cochrane library, and web of science. The search was conducted for literature selection on electronic databases up to November 2022. The selected studies were randomized controlled trials conducted in the past 12 years and published in English. To assess the methodological quality of the selected studies, the PEDro scale for quality assessment was applied. Results: Out of 366 obtained studies from the initial search, 10 trials met the inclusion criteria and were selected for review. All the included studies were found to have good methodological quality when assessed by the PEDro scale. A total of 531 participants, 74 males, and 457 females were evaluated with ages above 40 years. The aquatic exercise sessions for 3 to 12 weeks, 2 to 5 times a week for 30 to 90 minutes were administered across the studies. Although the method, duration, and frequency of aquatic interventions varied widely regarding mobility and balance in the studies, most of the studies found significant improvement in balance, postural control, and mobility. No convincing evidence can be provided for the improvement of gait and reduction of postural sway for both genders. Conclusion: Aquatic exercises are generally effective for the management and treatment of elderly patients suffering from knee osteoarthritis and should be used as an initial treatment option. Aquatic exercises with proper protocols of warm-up, specific aquatic exercise sessions, and cool-down are effective for the improvement of mobility, balance, and postural control in patients with knee osteoarthritis

The impact of immediate breast reconstruction on the time to delivery of adjuvant therapy: the iBRA-2 study

Background: Immediate breast reconstruction (IBR) is routinely offered to improve quality-of-life for women requiring mastectomy, but there are concerns that more complex surgery may delay adjuvant oncological treatments and compromise long-term outcomes. High-quality evidence is lacking. The iBRA-2 study aimed to investigate the impact of IBR on time to adjuvant therapy. Methods: Consecutive women undergoing mastectomy ± IBR for breast cancer July–December, 2016 were included. Patient demographics, operative, oncological and complication data were collected. Time from last definitive cancer surgery to first adjuvant treatment for patients undergoing mastectomy ± IBR were compared and risk factors associated with delays explored. Results: A total of 2540 patients were recruited from 76 centres; 1008 (39.7%) underwent IBR (implant-only [n = 675, 26.6%]; pedicled flaps [n = 105,4.1%] and free-flaps [n = 228, 8.9%]). Complications requiring re-admission or re-operation were significantly more common in patients undergoing IBR than those receiving mastectomy. Adjuvant chemotherapy or radiotherapy was required by 1235 (48.6%) patients. No clinically significant differences were seen in time to adjuvant therapy between patient groups but major complications irrespective of surgery received were significantly associated with treatment delays. Conclusions: IBR does not result in clinically significant delays to adjuvant therapy, but post-operative complications are associated with treatment delays. Strategies to minimise complications, including careful patient selection, are required to improve outcomes for patients

Convalescent plasma in patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19 (RECOVERY): a randomised controlled, open-label, platform trial

SummaryBackground Azithromycin has been proposed as a treatment for COVID-19 on the basis of its immunomodulatoryactions. We aimed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of azithromycin in patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19.Methods In this randomised, controlled, open-label, adaptive platform trial (Randomised Evaluation of COVID-19Therapy [RECOVERY]), several possible treatments were compared with usual care in patients admitted to hospitalwith COVID-19 in the UK. The trial is underway at 176 hospitals in the UK. Eligible and consenting patients wererandomly allocated to either usual standard of care alone or usual standard of care plus azithromycin 500 mg once perday by mouth or intravenously for 10 days or until discharge (or allocation to one of the other RECOVERY treatmentgroups). Patients were assigned via web-based simple (unstratified) randomisation with allocation concealment andwere twice as likely to be randomly assigned to usual care than to any of the active treatment groups. Participants andlocal study staff were not masked to the allocated treatment, but all others involved in the trial were masked to theoutcome data during the trial. The primary outcome was 28-day all-cause mortality, assessed in the intention-to-treatpopulation. The trial is registered with ISRCTN, 50189673, and ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT04381936.Findings Between April 7 and Nov 27, 2020, of 16 442 patients enrolled in the RECOVERY trial, 9433 (57%) wereeligible and 7763 were included in the assessment of azithromycin. The mean age of these study participants was65·3 years (SD 15·7) and approximately a third were women (2944 [38%] of 7763). 2582 patients were randomlyallocated to receive azithromycin and 5181 patients were randomly allocated to usual care alone. Overall,561 (22%) patients allocated to azithromycin and 1162 (22%) patients allocated to usual care died within 28 days(rate ratio 0·97, 95% CI 0·87–1·07; p=0·50). No significant difference was seen in duration of hospital stay (median10 days [IQR 5 to >28] vs 11 days [5 to >28]) or the proportion of patients discharged from hospital alive within 28 days(rate ratio 1·04, 95% CI 0·98–1·10; p=0·19). Among those not on invasive mechanical ventilation at baseline, nosignificant difference was seen in the proportion meeting the composite endpoint of invasive mechanical ventilationor death (risk ratio 0·95, 95% CI 0·87–1·03; p=0·24).Interpretation In patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19, azithromycin did not improve survival or otherprespecified clinical outcomes. Azithromycin use in patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19 should be restrictedto patients in whom there is a clear antimicrobial indication