The role of biostimulants in the fertilization program in eggplant

Seaweed-based biostimulants have the potential to stimulate the growth and development of young plants and increase plant resistance to stress induced by abiotic factors, such as drought or high temperatures, due to their rich content in macro and microelements, in phytohormones and in plant essential aminoacids. In the present experience, we aimed to study the influence of some foliar treatments with seaweed biostimulators on fruit weight, number of fruits per plant and eggplant yield. For the treatments, three seaweed-based biostimulators were used, Agrocean B, Auxi 4C and Kelpak, each product containing a different species of seaweed (Laminaria digitata (Huds.) Lamour., Ascophyllum nodosum (L.) Le Jolis. and Ecklonia maxima (Osbeck) Papenfuss). The treatments with the product Agrocean B (Laminaria digitata (Huds.) Lamour.) determined a 46.60% increase in production, compared to the untreated variant. Significant increases were also caused by treatments with the product Kelpak (Ecklonia maxima (Osbeck) Papenfuss), which led to a 32.37% higher yield

Basal cell carcinoma—a clinical indicator of immunosuppression

BackgroundBasal cell carcinoma (BCC) and squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) are skin-derived carcinomas. The literature strongly connects SCC with acquired immunosuppression. Current data regarding BCC’s association with immunosuppressive comorbidities are vague. The primary objective of this study was to establish the correlations between BCC and immunosuppressive comorbidities of patients. Materials and methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study on 275 patients with a histopathological proven diagnosis of BCC from October 2019 to October 2023. Demographic data, BCC characteristics, and patients’ comorbidities were analyzed. Comorbidities were classified as non-immunosuppressant and immunosuppressant (primary and secondary immunodeficiencies).ResultsWe recorded 292 BCCs from 275 patients (142 females, 133 males), with equally distributed skin phototypes. 66.44% of the BCCs were detected in patients with various comorbidities (p < 0.001), of which 81.44% had immunosuppressive comorbidities (p < 0.001). All the immunosuppressive comorbidities were secondary and included diabetes mellitus (47.55%), history of solid or hematogenous cancer in the last 5 years (26.57%), chronic kidney disease (8.39%), chronic infections (9.09%), and antirheumatic immunosuppressive therapies (8.39%) (p < 0.001). BCC patients with immunosuppressive comorbidities did not develop larger BCCs (p = 0.2577) or more aggressive subtypes (p = 0.4269) and BCC did not arise earlier in their life (p < 0.001). BCC on the nasal pyramid was frequent in cancer history patients (p = 0.008). The ulcerated form of BCC is more confined to patients with chronic kidney disease (p = 0.006). Multiple BCCs are more frequent in patients with secondary immunodeficiencies (p = 0.027).ConclusionBCC represents a clinical indicator of secondary immunodeficiency. Further research should establish if cancer screening campaigns may be beneficial in BCC patients