Development of sorghum (sorghum bicolor (L.) moench) core collection and its application to association mapping of quantitative traits

Thesis (Ph. D. in Agricultural Science)--University of Tsukuba, (A), no. 5160, 2009.6.30Includes bibliographical references (leaves 113-136

A comprehensive review of the classification of fibromyalgia, its possible genetic and environmental causes, and its epidemiology in Pakistan

Fibromyalgia (FM) is a common form of chronic pain that causes pain all over the body. It is thought to affect between 1% and 5% of the world's people. It happens more often in adults, but it can also happen in children. Its exact cause and effect are still not known. However, it is thought to be linked to neuronal over-sensitization, decreased conditioned pain modulation (CPM), cognitive dysfunction, dementia, and problems with how the brain processes information. It is now a disorder with physical symptoms (SSD). FM does not run in families. But it seems to happen more often in families where FM has happened before. One of the most common reasons why people get fibromyalgia is an SNP in the serotonin transporter gene, which can also cause emotional stress. The effects of genetic polymorphisms on serotonergic and catecholaminergic processes in the central nervous system seem to make fibromyalgia more likely. It can be stopped if it is found and treated quickly. Physical therapy and other treatments that don't involve drugs should be made to fit the person with FM. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has given the go-ahead for three treatments. In this review article, we looked again at the possible causes, effects, and treatments for fibromyalgia syndrome. &nbsp

The effects of drought stress and type of fertiliser on generalist and specialist herbivores and their natural enemies

Abiotic stresses such as drought and nutrient availability can affect invertebrate herbivores feeding on plants, and potentially cascade up to impact their predators and parasitoids. Although these two factors separately been the subject of many studies, there are few tests of their combined effects in the context of pest species and their natural enemies on cultivated plants. Climate change models predict an increase in the frequency and severity of droughts, while the type and amount of fertiliser applied to crops is more under the control of growers. Understanding how these two abiotic factors may interact is key to utilising the potential of natural enemies to control pests under a future climate. To address this, a range of drought and fertiliser type treatments were applied to a model Brassica system in a factorial design, and the performance of two ubiquitous aphid species and their parasitoids was assessed. One aphid species was a specialist on Brassicas (Brevicoryne brassicae, with parasitoid Diaeretiella rapae) and the second a generalist aphid species (Myzus persicae, with parasitoid Aphidius colemani). The performance of both aphid species responded in a similar way to the treatments, and was maximised on plants growing in organic fertilisers under medium levels of drought stress. The strongest effects of drought and fertiliser cascaded up to affect parasitoids. Parasitoid performance responded in a broadly similar way to their aphid host performance in relation to fertiliser type. Some of the smaller effects of fertiliser treatments on aphid performance were not found for parasitoid performance. Aphid performance was greatest on plants under medium drought stress, but the parasitoids only responded consistently to the high drought stress treatment, on which their performance was reduced. Interactions between the drought and fertiliser did not have a large effect on aphid or parasitoid performance, compared with the strong main effects found for each treatment. These results are discussed in the context of previous and future research on the impacts of abiotic stresses on invertebrate herbivores and their natural enemies

Influence of Packaging Material and Ethylene Scavenger on Biochemical Composition and Enzyme Activity of Apricot Cv. Habi at Ambient Storage

The present study was undertaken to evaluate the influence of different packaging materials and ethylene absorbent on biochemical composition, antioxidant and enzyme activity of apricot cv. Habi during ambient storage. Perforated (0.25%) polyethylene films of low, medium and high densities and wrapping paper were used along with KMnO4 dipped sponge cubes. Biochemical characteristics (pH, ascorbic acid, phenolics and carotenoids), antioxidants and enzyme activity were determined at 2 day intervals during storage. The results demonstrated that low density polyethylene retained maximum chemical and bioactive compounds, higher antioxidant activity and lower enzyme activities during storage, while the maximum loss of quality was observed in control and paper wrapped sets followed by high and medium density packaging films. It was concluded that apricot harvested at commercial maturity stage and packed with low density polyethylene films along with ethylene scavenger (KMnO4) can be successfully stored at ambient conditions up to two weeks. Keywords: Apricot, biochemical composition, packaging material; ethylene absorbent, ambient storag

Development of SSR-based sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench) diversity research set of germplasm and its evaluation by morphological traits

Assessment and utilization of diversity in plant genetic resources is vital for the improvement of plant species. A sorghum diversity research set (SDRS) was developed by using SSR markers. A total of 320 sorghum accessions were selected based on geographic distribution from more than 3,500 germplasm accessions comprising Asia (East, Southeast, South and Southwest Asia) and Africa, conserved at NIAS Genebank, Japan. We selected 38 simple sequence repeats (SSR) markers which generated 146 alleles, covering ten chromosomes of sorghum from a three different published SSR linkage map of sorghum. The average percentage of polymorphic loci (P) and gene diversity (He) observed in this study were 82.8 and 0.217 respectively. Analysis showed a positive correlation with geographic pattern of differentiation. Based on SSR assessment, 107 sorghum accessions were selected as diversity research set. There was no significant difference in pattern of genetic spectrum between SDRS and base population. Similarly no greater change was observed for variability parameters (Dice, %P, He) and almost all of the SSR alleles were retained in selected sorghum accessions except for the loss of a single allele at locus Xtxp287. SDRS was sown during sorghum sowing season in two replications. Data were recorded on 26 important morphological traits according to the standard sorghum descriptors at Genebank. Analysis of variance showed a highly significant difference among all accessions for all of the traits. Morpho-agronomic traits could not effectively classify the accessions according to geographic origin by using cluster analysis

Bacteriological Spectrum of Pediatric Urinary Tract Infection and Its Drug Sensitivity and Resistance Pattern

Introduction: - Urinary tract infection (UTI) is common infection in children. It has high morbidity and long term sequelae. Objective: To determine the frequency of bacteriological organism of Pediatric UTI and its drug sensitivity and resistance pattern and to improve the treatment of UTI according to culture sensitivity, hence to minimize the resistance pattern and disease burden. Material and methods: It was a descriptive cross sectional study conducted during 2018 over a period of 6 months. Total 225 children with UTI were enrolled. Urine culture and sensitivity reports were evaluated and an isolated microorganism along with their sensitivities to the mentioned drugs was entered through designed Performa. Results: - The average age of the children was 7±.18 years. Common bacteriological agents leading to UTI was E.Coli (59.1%), followed by  Pseudomonas aeruginosa (14.2%),  klebsiella (13.8%) , stapylococcus aureus (8.9%) and enterococcus (4%). Most common organism isolated was E.coli ( 133 cultures). It was fully resistant with amoxicillin clavulanate and ofloxacin (100%), while resistant pattern with other antibiotics, ceftriaxone (88.7%), imipenam (88.7%), ciprofloxacin (75.9%). the most effective antibiotic for E.coli was amikacin (81.2%). klebisella was isolated in 31 cultures. Conclusion: Most common organism that cause UTI was E.coli followed by Pseudomonas Aeroginosa and Klebsiella. These isolates were highly resistant to commonly used antibiotics. Therefore new antibiotics policy should be adopted to treat these infections

Compliance with Standard Precautions and Associated Factors among Critical Care Nurses in Peshawar, Pakistan and Kunming, China: Comparative Cross-Sectional Study

OBJECTIVES To find the level of compliance and the associated factors of compliance with standard precautions among registered nurses. METHODOLOGY Cross-sectional study was conducted during March and August 2020 in four hospitals, two from each country; Pakistan and China. Data was gathered through a modified version of the adopted questionnaire from 424 registered nurses, selected by a simple random sampling technique. Data were analyzed by SPSS version 26. RESULTSThe overall compliance with SPs among registered nurses in Pakistan was 57.1%, and among the respondents from China was 75.2%. Gender, age and working area were associated with the compliance of SPs. Female nurses from China are 1.72 times less compliant, while the increasing age of Pakistani nurses increases the risk for non-compliance with SPs by 1.7 times. Participants working in Emergency Department in Pakistan were 2.07 times less compliant than those working in Intensive Care Unit/Coronary Care Unit (ICU/CCU). Lack of training increases the risk of being 2.9 times more non-compliant. For Chinese Nurses, less knowledge and a lack of resources were associated with non-compliance in both countries nurses. CONCLUSION Noteworthy numbers of nurses were found non-compliant with standard precaution practices in both study populations. Therefore, strategies like regular training on standard precautions, availability of Personal Protective Equipment and policymaking may improve compliance with SPs practice

Bacteriological Spectrum of Pediatric Urinary Tract Infection and Its Drug Sensitivity and Resistance Pattern

Introduction: - Urinary tract infection (UTI) is common infection in children. It has high morbidity and long term sequelae. Objective: To determine the frequency of bacteriological organism of Pediatric UTI and its drug sensitivity and resistance pattern and to improve the treatment of UTI according to culture sensitivity, hence to minimize the resistance pattern and disease burden. Material and methods: It was a descriptive cross sectional study conducted during 2018 over a period of 6 months. Total 225 children with UTI were enrolled. Urine culture and sensitivity reports were evaluated and an isolated microorganism along with their sensitivities to the mentioned drugs was entered through designed Performa. Results: - The average age of the children was 7±.18 years. Common bacteriological agents leading to UTI was E.Coli (59.1%), followed by  Pseudomonas aeruginosa (14.2%),  klebsiella (13.8%) , stapylococcus aureus (8.9%) and enterococcus (4%). Most common organism isolated was E.coli ( 133 cultures). It was fully resistant with amoxicillin clavulanate and ofloxacin (100%), while resistant pattern with other antibiotics, ceftriaxone (88.7%), imipenam (88.7%), ciprofloxacin (75.9%). the most effective antibiotic for E.coli was amikacin (81.2%). klebisella was isolated in 31 cultures. Conclusion: Most common organism that cause UTI was E.coli followed by Pseudomonas Aeroginosa and Klebsiella. These isolates were highly resistant to commonly used antibiotics. Therefore new antibiotics policy should be adopted to treat these infections

Comparative chloroplast genomics of endangered Euphorbia species : Insights into hotspot divergence, repetitive sequence variation, and phylogeny.

Euphorbia is one of the largest genera in the Euphorbiaceae family, comprising 2000 species possessing commercial, medicinal, and ornamental importance. However, there are very little data available on their molecular phylogeny and genomics, and uncertainties still exist at a taxonomic level. Herein, we sequence the complete chloroplast (cp) genomes of two species, E. larica and E. smithii, of the genus Euphorbia through next-generation sequencing and perform a comparative analysis with nine related genomes in the family. The results revealed that the cp genomes had similar quadripartite structure, gene content, and genome organization with previously reported genomes from the same family. The size of cp genomes ranged from 162,172 to 162,358 bp with 132 and 133 genes, 8 rRNAs, 39 tRNA in E. smithii and E. larica, respectively. The numbers of protein-coding genes were 85 and 86, with each containing 19 introns. The four-junction regions were studied and results reveal that rps19 was present at JLB (large single copy region and inverted repeat b junction) in E. larica where its complete presence was located in the IRb (inverted repeat b) region in E. smithii. The sequence comparison revealed that highly divergent regions in rpoC1, rpocB, ycf3, clpP, petD, ycf1, and ndhF of the cp genomes might provide better understanding of phylogenetic inferences in the Euphorbiaceae and order Malpighiales. Phylogenetic analyses of this study illustrate sister clades of E. smithii with E. tricullii and these species form a monophyletic clade with E. larica. The current study might help us to understand the genome architecture, genetic diversity among populations, and evolutionary depiction in the genera.publishedVersio