Response of Some Sunflower Hybrids (Helianthus annuus l.) to Different Nitrogen Fertilizer Rates and Plant Densities

In order to improve sunflower productivity, this investigation aimed to study the performance of some genotypes to different doses of nitrogen and plant population density on seed yield and yield components. Two field Experiments carried out on the Experimental Farm of the Sakha Agriculture Research Station during 2015 and 2016 seasons. The objective of this study aimed to investigate the performance of some sunflower hybrids to different nitrogen fertilizer rates and plant population densities to growth, yield components, seed yield and its quality.The results indicated that tallest plants, highest leaves number/plant, number of achenes/head and highest values of head diameter were obtained from MS.sirena F1 genotype. Biest Brima genotype recorded the highest values of leaf area. The highest weight of 1000 seed and seed yield/ha were recorded from Nsovak genotype.The increases in nitrogen fertilizer rates to 168 Kg N/ha produced tallest plants,thick stems (cm), the highest leaves number/plant, leaf area (cm2), number of achenes/head, head diameter (cm), 1000 achene weight (gm) and achene yield (Kg/ha) in both seasons. It could observed that increasing nitrogen fertilizer from 72 to 168 Kg N/ha significantly increased seed yield by 12.0 and 11.6 % in the first and second seasons, respectively. Increasing hill spacing from 15, 20 and 25 cm produced thickness stem, highest number of leaves/plant, highest values of leaf area, maximum number of achenes/head, head diameter and weight of 1000 achene. The tallest plants and highest and achene yield were produced from 20cm hill spacing. It could concluded that increasing nitrogen fertilizer from 72 to 168 Kg N/ha and sown Nsovak genotype at dense hill spacing of 15 cm between plants maximized seed yield per unite area

Germination and Seedling Characters as Influenced by Sunflower Hybrids, Nitrogen Fertilizer Rates and Hill Spacing

In order to study the performance of some sunflower genotypes to nitrogen fertilizer rates and plant population density to germination and seedling parameters. A laboratory experiment conducted in the Agronomy Department seed lab, Faculty of Agriculture, Mansoura University, Egypt during March and April 2017.The goals of this study aimed to study the effect of sunflower hybrids, nitrogen fertilizer rates and hill spacing on germination and seedling characters.The results indicated that Nsovak genotype recorded the highest values of abnormal seedling percentage. Highest mean germination time was obtained from MS.sirena F1 genotype. The highest coefficient of velocityand value of the vigour was produced from Biest Brima genotype without significant differences with sown Nsovak genotype.The results indicated that increasing nitrogen fertilizer rates from 72, 120 and 168 kg N/ha significantly increased mean germination timeandvalue of the vigour. The highest coefficient of velocity percentage produced from addition nitrogen fertilizer at 120 Kg/ha.The results designated that increasing hill spacing from 15, 20 and 25 cm reduced germination percentage and mean germination time, however, significantly increased coefficient of velocity anddead seed percentages and value of the vigour.It could be concluded that sown Nsovak genotype at hill spacing of 15 cm and fertilizing with 120 kg N/ha enhanced seed germination and viability

Tumour necrosis factor-α mediates blood—brain barrier damage in HIV-1 infection of the central nervous system

The pathogenesis of brain inflammation and damage by human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection is unclear. Because blood–brain barrier damage and impaired cerebral perfusion are common features of HIV-1 infection, we evaluated the role of tumour necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and interleukin-1β (IL-1β) in mediating disruption of the blood–brain barrier. Levels of TNF-α were more elevated in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) than in serum of HIV-1 infected patients and were mainly detected in those patients who had neurologic involvement. Intrathecal TNF-α levels correlated with signs of blood–brain barrier damage, manifested by high CSF to serum albumin quotient, and with the degree of barrier impairment. In contrast, intrathecal IL-1β levels did not correlate with blood-brain barrier damage in HIV-1 infected patients. TNF-α seems to be related to active neural inflammation and to blood–brain barrier damage. The proinflammatory effects of TNF-α in the nervous system are dissociated from those of IL-1β

Free circulating ICAM-1 in serum and cerebrospinal fluid of HIV-1 infected patients correlate with TNF-α and blood-brain barrier damage

The mechanism for the initiation of blood-brain barrier damage and intrathecal inflammation in patients infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is poorly understood. We have recently reported that tumour necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) mediates active neural inflammation and blood-brain barrier damage in HIV-1 infection. Stimulation of endothelial cells by TNF-α induces the expression of intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1), which is an important early marker of immune activation and response. We report herein for the first time the detection of high levels of free circulating ICAM-1 in serum and cerebrospinal fluid of patients with HIV-1 infection. Free circulating ICAM-1 in these patients correlated with TNF-α concentrations and with the degree of blood-brain barrier damage and were detected predominantly in patients with neurologic involvement. These findings have important implications for the understanding and investigation of the intrathecal inflammatory response in HIV-1 infection

Implementation of Intelligent Smart Heart Health Monitoring System using IOT

There are a lot of severe diseases that are associated with humans, but one of them is cardiac arrest, which, in general terms, we call a heart attack. The already existing heart rate monitoring systems are not mobile, are expensive, and take a little longer to give out the results. So, in this work, we will go for a system called Heart Rate Monitoring system using an ECG sensor and a Raspberry Pi, which actually represents the acquisition and interpretation of a human heart’s data collected with the help of sensors, anywhere and everywhere on the earth, through IOT. We generally consider heart rate while noting the status of the heart, but the oxygen level and body temperature also play a major role in determining the exact heart status. So, the hardware required to implement this heart rate monitoring model consists of different health sensors and a Raspberry Pi configured in a way to communicate with the guardian and the respective doctors over the Internet through an available smart mobile phone. In this work, the sensors configured with the hardware collect the required information about the patient’s health, which includes parameters such as the patient’s heart rate, body temperature, and SPo2 levels. Then, using the collected information from the sensors, the patient’s heart activity is actively observed. Thus, the patient himself or herself can easily identify his or her heart condition with the help of collected data anywhere on the earth through the internet. An alert indicating that their heart status is not good is displayed to the caretakers on the mobile, which shows a message called "abnormal condition to the patient" given the condition that the collected sensors’ values are beyond the threshold information through the GSM module, and also the GPS location of the patient will be sent to the caretakers as well as to the doctors

Effect of Horizontal DNA Transfer in Azospirillum and Azotobacter Strains on Biological and Biochemical Traits of Non-legume Plants

Abstract: Auxin production by Azospirillum and Azotobacter is believed to play a major role on promoting plant growth. Non legume plants inoculated with different genetically modified strains is significantly stimulated due to the contribution of Auxin biosynthesis by Azospirillum transconjugants affecting on root fresh weight of sugar beet above the plants fertilized with 50% of recommended dose. This study focuses the association between 2,4-D and Azospirillum which revealed significant increase in leaf area of top variety at the presence of 2,4-D above the plants fertilized with nitrogen recommended dose. At the absence of 2,4-D some of transconjugants significantly stimulate the leaf area of top variety above the plants fertilized with 50% of nitrogen recommended dose. The importance of horizontal gene transfer is an adaptive mechanism for bacteria, which may result in increased genetic variation by bringing together DNA from different genetic backgrounds. Furthermore, Azospirillum transconjugants (extra copy of DNA) were evaluated in field trail. Together, these results confirm the important role of IAA produced by transconjugants on stimulating root weight and illustrate the power of combining genetic tools and bioassays to elucidate the mechanism of a beneficial Azospirillum -plant interaction. The effects of biofertilizing by Azospirillum transconjugants on the technological parameters of sugar beet were studied. The better results were gained at variety Top (sugar %, potassium, sodium, quality) at the absence of 2,4-D under the effect of biofertilization, but variety dispery obtained better results of alphaamino-nitrogen under the effect of nitrogen recommended dose. When plant-growth promoting rhizobacteria (Azotobacter strains) were used as inoculants for biofertilization and phytostimulation of canola, some of the inoculants improving growth and yield parametres; leaf area, plant height, root dry weight and grain yield/plant above the plants fertilized with 50% of nitrogen recommended dose. In addition, chlorophyll b and grain yield/plant in Serw 6 variety was significantly affected by the addition of 2,4-D. Corn plants biofertilized with Azospirillum strains and their transconjugants appeared significant effect on ear length, plant height, grain content of carotene and leave content of cholorophyll pigments. This work describes the beneficial effect of genetic variations in rhizobacterium strains, which contains an active biological containment system affecting on their effectiveness of nitrogen fixation and auxin production. This leading to recommend to inoculate non -legume plants with selected rhizobacterial isolates to exhibit stimulatory effect on grain yield and root fresh weight (sugar beet). However, plantresponse was varied, due to plant varieties and genetic constitution of rhizobacterial strains as shown in this study. Field experiments conducted in this study on two varieties of sugar beet, canola and corn demonstrated an increase in root fresh and/or dry weight, shoot dry weight and grain yield of inoculated seedlings, above that in the plants fertilized with 50% of nitrogen recommended dose. Colonization of the non-legume plants by rhizobacteria have indirect and direct effects on plant growth and their developments. Direct effects include enhanced provision of nutrients and the production of phytohormones. Indirect effects involve aspects of biological control: the production of antibiotics and the induction of plant resistance mechanisms. It was concluded that the highest auxins-producing strains also caused a maximum increase of growth and yield of non-legume plants

Barrier dysfunction or drainage reduction: differentiating causes of CSF protein increase

BACKGROUND Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) protein analysis is an important element in the diagnostic chain for various central nervous system (CNS) pathologies. Among multiple existing approaches to interpreting measured protein levels, the Reiber diagram is particularly robust with respect to physiologic inter-individual variability, as it uses multiple subject-specific anchoring values. Beyond reliable identification of abnormal protein levels, the Reiber diagram has the potential to elucidate their pathophysiologic origin. In particular, both reduction of CSF drainage from the cranio-spinal space as well as blood-CNS barrier dysfunction have been suggested ρas possible causes of increased concentration of blood-derived proteins. However, there is disagreement on which of the two is the true cause. METHODS We designed two computational models to investigate the mechanisms governing protein distribution in the spinal CSF. With a one-dimensional model, we evaluated the distribution of albumin and immunoglobulin G (IgG), accounting for protein transport rates across blood-CNS barriers, CSF dynamics (including both dispersion induced by CSF pulsations and advection by mean CSF flow) and CSF drainage. Dispersion coefficients were determined a priori by computing the axisymmetric three-dimensional CSF dynamics and solute transport in a representative segment of the spinal canal. RESULTS Our models reproduce the empirically determined hyperbolic relation between albumin and IgG quotients. They indicate that variation in CSF drainage would yield a linear rather than the expected hyperbolic profile. In contrast, modelled barrier dysfunction reproduces the experimentally observed relation. CONCLUSIONS High levels of albumin identified in the Reiber diagram are more likely to originate from a barrier dysfunction than from a reduction in CSF drainage. Our in silico experiments further support the hypothesis of decreasing spinal CSF drainage in rostro-caudal direction and emphasize the physiological importance of pulsation-driven dispersion for the transport of large molecules in the CSF

Rapid tests and urine sampling techniques for the diagnosis of urinary tract infection (UTI) in children under five years: a systematic review

Background: Urinary tract infection (UTI) is one of the most common sources of infection in children under five. Prompt diagnosis and treatment is important to reduce the risk of renal scarring. Rapid, cost-effective, methods of UTI diagnosis are required as an alternative to culture. Methods: We conducted a systematic review to determine the diagnostic accuracy of rapid tests for detecting UTI in children under five years of age. Results: The evidence supports the use of dipstick positive for both leukocyte esterase and nitrite (pooled LR+ = 28.2, 95% CI: 17.3, 46.0) or microscopy positive for both pyuria and bacteriuria (pooled LR+ = 37.0, 95% CI: 11.0, 125.9) to rule in UTI. Similarly dipstick negative for both LE and nitrite (Pooled LR- = 0.20, 95% CI: 0.16, 0.26) or microscopy negative for both pyuria and bacteriuria (Pooled LR- = 0.11, 95% CI: 0.05, 0.23) can be used to rule out UTI. A test for glucose showed promise in potty-trained children. However, all studies were over 30 years old. Further evaluation of this test may be useful. Conclusion: Dipstick negative for both LE and nitrite or microscopic analysis negative for both pyuria and bacteriuria of a clean voided urine, bag, or nappy/pad specimen may reasonably be used to rule out UTI. These patients can then reasonably be excluded from further investigation, without the need for confirmatory culture. Similarly, combinations of positive tests could be used to rule in UTI, and trigger further investigation

How does study quality affect the results of a diagnostic meta-analysis?

Background: The use of systematic literature review to inform evidence based practice in diagnostics is rapidly expanding. Although the primary diagnostic literature is extensive, studies are often of low methodological quality or poorly reported. There has been no rigorously evaluated, evidence based tool to assess the methodological quality of diagnostic studies. The primary objective of this study was to determine the extent to which variations in the quality of primary studies impact the results of a diagnostic meta-analysis and whether this differs with diagnostic test type. A secondary objective was to contribute to the evaluation of QUADAS, an evidence-based tool for the assessment of quality in diagnostic accuracy studies. Methods: This study was conducted as part of large systematic review of tests used in the diagnosis and further investigation of urinary tract infection (UTI) in children. All studies included in this review were assessed using QUADAS, an evidence-based tool for the assessment of quality in systematic reviews of diagnostic accuracy studies. The impact of individual components of QUADAS on a summary measure of diagnostic accuracy was investigated using regression analysis. The review divided the diagnosis and further investigation of UTI into the following three clinical stages: diagnosis of UTI, localisation of infection, and further investigation of the UTI. Each stage used different types of diagnostic test, which were considered to involve different quality concerns. Results: Many of the studies included in our review were poorly reported. The proportion of QUADAS items fulfilled was similar for studies in different sections of the review. However, as might be expected, the individual items fulfilled differed between the three clinical stages. Regression analysis found that different items showed a strong association with test performance for the different tests evaluated. These differences were observed both within and between the three clinical stages assessed by the review. The results of regression analyses were also affected by whether or not a weighting (by sample size) was applied. Our analysis was severely limited by the completeness of reporting and the differences between the index tests evaluated and the reference standards used to confirm diagnoses in the primary studies. Few tests were evaluated by sufficient studies to allow meaningful use of meta-analytic pooling and investigation of heterogeneity. This meant that further analysis to investigate heterogeneity could only be undertaken using a subset of studies, and that the findings are open to various interpretations. Conclusion: Further work is needed to investigate the influence of methodological quality on the results of diagnostic meta-analyses. Large data sets of well-reported primary studies are needed to address this question. Without significant improvements in the completeness of reporting of primary studies, progress in this area will be limited