Yield and Qualitative Traits of Sesame as Affected by Irrigation Interval, N Fertilizer and Superabsorbent

In order to study the effect of irrigation interval, N fertilizer and superabsorbent on yield and qualitative traits of sesame (Sesamum indicum L.), a split-split-plot experiment was coducted in a farm in Khusf of Birjand, Iran in 2009 on the basis of a Randomized Complete Block Design. The main plot was devoted to irrigation interval at three levels of 6, 12 and 18 days, the sub-plot was devoted to N fertilization rate at three levels of 0, 100 and 200 kg ha-1 and the sub-sub-plot was devoted to superabsorbent at two levels of 0 and 200 kg ha-1. It was found that the effect of irrigation interval was significant on seed yield, oil percentage, protein percentage, seed N percentage, oil yield and protein yield, so that the increase in    irrigation interval from 6 to 18 days resulted in significant loss of seed yield, oil yield and protein yield by 44.5, 44.5 and 39.7%, respectively. Different N fertilization rates significantly influenced seed yield, oil yield and protein yield, but its effect was not significant on seed oil percentage, protein percentage and N percentage, so that the increase in N level from 0 to 200 kg ha-1 significantly increased seed yield, oil yield and protein yield by 25.6, 28.3 and 25.1%, respectively. According to the results, it is recommended to use the irrigation interval of 6 days with the treatment of 200 kg N ha-1 in order to realize optimum yield of sesame in Birjand, Iran

Occult HCV Infection: The Current State of Knowledge.

[en] CONTEXT: Occult HCV infection (OCI) is defined as the presence of HCV-RNA in hepatocytes and the absence of HCV in the serum according to usual tests. We aimed to define OCI and provide information about the currently available diagnostic methods. Then we focus on specific groups that are at high risk of OCI and finally investigate immune responses to OCI and the available treatment approaches. EVIDENCE ACQUISITION: PubMed, Scopus and Google Scholar were comprehensively searched with combination of following keywords: "occult", "hepatitis C virus" and "occult HCV infection". The definition of OCI, diagnostic methods, specific groups that are at high risk and available treatment approaches were extract from literature. An analysis of available articles on OCI also was done based on Scopus search results. RESULTS: OCI has been reported in several high-risk groups, especially in hemodialysis patients and subjects with cryptogenic liver disease. Furthermore, some studies have proposed a specific immune response for OCI in comparison with chronic hepatitis C (CHC). CONCLUSIONS: With a clinical history of approximately 11 years, occult HCV infection can be considered an occult type of CHC. Evidences suggest that considering OCI in these high-risk groups seems to be necessary. We suggest that alternative diagnostic tests should be applied and that there is a need for the participation of all countries to determine the epidemiology of this type of HCV infection. Additionally, evaluating OCI in blood transfusion centers and in patients who receive large amounts of blood and clotting factors, such as patients with hemophilia, should be performed in future projects