In-field soil fertility assessment of Ramat Polytechnic farm Maiduguri in North-Eastern Nigeria

In-field soil fertility valuation is an important diagnostic tool for determining the nutrient needs of plants. The main objective was to determine soil chemical characteristics. Twenty samples covering 2.5 hectares of the farm from 0-30 cm depth (< 2mm fraction) processed and analysed in the laboratory. The soils are in a state of equilibrium from the C: N ratio (14.50 to 35.00), influencing the biogeochemistry of carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus in pedogenetic development. There was high exchangeable calcium (6.20 Cmolkg-1 to 12.40 Cmolkg-1) and magnesium (1.00Cmolkg-1 to 4.80Cmolkg-1). Potassium contents were found to be medium to high (0.27 Cmolkg-1 to 1.54 Cmolkg-1). Available phosphorus ranged from low to medium contents (1.40 mkg-1 to 22.05 mkg-1) in all the samples. Cation exchange capacity (CEC) ranged from 10.01 Cmolkg-1 to 0.41 Cmolkg-1 and percent base saturation was high having >80%. Parent materials (sedimentary deposits) had influenced the availability of phosphorus and the exchangeable bases on the farm. These findings conclude that the soils have a high fertility status. However, there are slight hazards of salinity

Ceramic-reinforced HEA matrix composites exhibiting an excellent combination of mechanical properties

CoCrFeNi is a well-studied face centered cubic (fcc) high entropy alloy (HEA) that exhibits excellent ductility but only limited strength. The present study focusses on improving the strength-ductility balance of this HEA by addition of varying amounts of SiC using an arc melting route. Chromium present in the base HEA is found to result in decomposition of SiC during melting. Consequently, interaction of free carbon with chromium results in the in-situ formation of chromium carbide, while free silicon remains in solution in the base HEA and/or interacts with the constituent elements of the base HEA to form silicides. The changes in microstructural phases with increasing amount of SiC are found to follow the sequence: fcc → fcc + eutectic → fcc + chromium carbide platelets → fcc + chromium carbide platelets + silicides → fcc + chromium carbide platelets + silicides + graphite globules/flakes. In comparison to both conventional and high entropy alloys, the resulting composites were found to exhibit a very wide range of mechanical properties (yield strength from 277 MPa with more than 60% elongation to 2522 MPa with 6% elongation). Some of the developed high entropy composites showed an outstanding combination of mechanical properties (yield strength 1200 MPa with 37% elongation) and occupied previously unattainable regions in a yield strength versus elongation map. In addition to their significant elongation, the hardness and yield strength of the HEA composites are found to lie in the same range as those of bulk metallic glasses. It is therefore believed that development of high entropy composites can help in obtaining outstanding combinations of mechanical properties for advanced structural applications.Financial support from the Higher Education Commission of Pakistan (HEC NRPU 6019) is acknowledged. FEDER National funds FCT under the project CEMMPRE, ref. “UIDB/00285/2020” is also acknowledged.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Xanthogranulomatous Pyelonephritis: A Rare Presentation

Xanthogranulomatous pyelonephritis is an uncommon chronic destructive disease process of renal parenchyma, associated with recurrent urinary tract infection. It is seen predominantly in females with no age specificity. The most common symptoms are flank or abdominal pain, fever, palpable mass, and gross hematuria. The common laboratory findings are leukocytosis and anemia. Urine cultures most often reveal Escherichia coli and Proteus mirabilis. Computed tomography is the mainstay of diagnostic imaging for xanthogranulomatous pyelonephritis. Histologically, xanthogranulomatous pyelonephritis presents a granulomatous inflammatory infiltrate mainly composed of lymphocytes, plasma cells, foamy histiocytes, and multinucleated giant cells. The differential diagnosis includes clear cell renal cell carcinoma, sarcomatoid renal cell carcinoma, leiomyosarcoma, malakoplakia, tuberculosis, and interstitial nephritis. Treatment includes antibiotics and surgery. In this article, we report a case of xanthogranulomatous pyelonephritis in a 38-year-old male patient with recurrent urinary tract infection

Study of keyword extraction techniques for electric double-layer capacitor domain using text similarity indexes: An experimental analysis

Keywords perform a significant role in selecting various topic-related documents quite easily. Topics or keywords assigned by humans or experts provide accurate information. However, this practice is quite expensive in terms of resources and time management. Hence, it is more satisfying to utilize automated keyword extraction techniques. Nevertheless, before beginning the automated process, it is necessary to check and confirm how similar expert-provided and algorithm-generated keywords are. This paper presents an experimental analysis of similarity scores of keywords generated by different supervised and unsupervised automated keyword extraction algorithms with expert-provided keywords from the electric double layer capacitor (EDLC) domain. The paper also analyses which texts provide better keywords such as positive sentences or all sentences of the document. From the unsupervised algorithms, YAKE, TopicRank, MultipartiteRank, and KPMiner are employed for keyword extraction. From the supervised algorithms, KEA and WINGNUS are employed for keyword extraction. To assess the similarity of the extracted keywords with expert-provided keywords, Jaccard, Cosine, and Cosine with word vector similarity indexes are employed in this study. The experiment shows that the MultipartiteRank keyword extraction technique measured with cosine with word vector similarity index produces the best result with 92% similarity with expert-provided keywords. This study can help the NLP researchers working with the EDLC domain or recommender systems to select more suitable keyword extraction and similarity index calculation techniques

Assessing Oral Intake Outcomes in Head and Neck Cancer Patients Treated with Definitive Radiation with or Without Chemotherapy

Background: Head and neck cancer treatment modalities can significantly impact functional outcomes of patients, especially oral intake (Brizel, et al N Engl J Med 1998; Kamal, et al Support Care Cancer 2019). Radiation therapy in particular has been associated with posttreatment xerostomia and dysphagia (Adelstein, et al J Clin Oncol 2003; Hutcheson, et al Cancer 2013) which can affect quality of life and impair weight gain, contributing to worse long-term outcomes (Payakachat, et al Head Neck, 2013). Early speech-language pathology intervention has shown to be effective in improving these functional outcomes in this population (Greco, et al Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys 2018). Objectives: The purpose of this study is to evaluate oral intake outcomes of patients undergoing definitive radiation therapy with or without chemotherapy for head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. Methods: A cohort of patients with stage III or IV squamous cell carcinoma of the oropharynx, larynx, and hypopharynx treated with definitive radiation therapy with or without chemotherapy were extracted from system database. Patients with evidence of distant metastases were excluded. Swallow function was assessed both pre- and post-treatment (within four months of treatment initiation or conclusion) with the Functional Oral Intake Scale (FOIS) (Crary et al, Arch Phys Med Rehabil, 2005) as measured by a Speech-Language Pathologist (SLP) involved in the patient\u27s care. Body mass index (BMI) was evaluated within four months of treatment initiation and one year after treatment completion. The use of enteral feeding at one-year post-treatment was also assessed. Data was analyzed with descriptive statistical methods, Wilcoxon sign rank tests, and [chi]2d tests. Results: The sample included 152 patients. Table 1 highlights patient baseline characteristics, tumor location, and treatment. FOIS scores decreased from pre-treatment to post-treatment, with 75% of patients having a FOIS of 7 at pre-treatment compared with only 13.8% at the post-treatment time point (Table 1). Median BMI also decreased from pre-treatment to one-year post-treatment (Table 2). At one-year post-treatment, 23.7% patients (n=33) required enteral feeding. Conclusions: Definitive radiation therapy with or without chemotherapy in the treatment of head and neck cancer is associated with impaired oral intake. Treatment is also associated with decreases in BMI and longer use of enteral feeding, which may reflect sequelae of impaired oral intake. These factors have a negative impact on quality of life and can lead to long-term morbidity. Integrative treatment plans would therefore benefit from speech-language pathology interventions throughout the treatment process

Assessing Oral Intake Outcomes in Head and Neck Cancer Patients Treated with Definitive Radiation with or Without Chemotherapy

Background: Head and neck cancer treatment modalities can significantly impact functional outcomes of patients, especially oral intake (Brizel, et al N Engl J Med 1998; Kamal, et al Support Care Cancer 2019). Radiation therapy in particular has been associated with posttreatment xerostomia and dysphagia (Adelstein, et al J Clin Oncol 2003; Hutcheson, et al Cancer 2013) which can affect quality of life and impair weight gain, contributing to worse long-term outcomes (Payakachat, et al Head Neck, 2013). Early speech-language pathology intervention has shown to be effective in improving these functional outcomes in this population (Greco, et al Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys 2018). Objectives: The purpose of this study is to evaluate oral intake outcomes of patients undergoing definitive radiation therapy with or without chemotherapy for head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. Methods: A cohort of patients with stage III or IV squamous cell carcinoma of the oropharynx, larynx, and hypopharynx treated with definitive radiation therapy with or without chemotherapy were extracted from system database. Patients with evidence of distant metastases were excluded. Swallow function was assessed both pre- and post-treatment (within four months of treatment initiation or conclusion) with the Functional Oral Intake Scale (FOIS) (Crary et al, Arch Phys Med Rehabil, 2005) as measured by a Speech-Language Pathologist (SLP) involved in the patient\u27s care. Body mass index (BMI) was evaluated within four months of treatment initiation and one year after treatment completion. The use of enteral feeding at one-year post-treatment was also assessed. Data was analyzed with descriptive statistical methods, Wilcoxon sign rank tests, and [chi]2d tests. Results: The sample included 152 patients. Table 1 highlights patient baseline characteristics, tumor location, and treatment. FOIS scores decreased from pre-treatment to post-treatment, with 75% of patients having a FOIS of 7 at pre-treatment compared with only 13.8% at the post-treatment time point (Table 1). Median BMI also decreased from pre-treatment to one-year post-treatment (Table 2). At one-year post-treatment, 23.7% patients (n=33) required enteral feeding. Conclusions: Definitive radiation therapy with or without chemotherapy in the treatment of head and neck cancer is associated with impaired oral intake. Treatment is also associated with decreases in BMI and longer use of enteral feeding, which may reflect sequelae of impaired oral intake. These factors have a negative impact on quality of life and can lead to long-term morbidity. Integrative treatment plans would therefore benefit from speech-language pathology interventions throughout the treatment process

Antimicrobial resistance among migrants in Europe: a systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND: Rates of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) are rising globally and there is concern that increased migration is contributing to the burden of antibiotic resistance in Europe. However, the effect of migration on the burden of AMR in Europe has not yet been comprehensively examined. Therefore, we did a systematic review and meta-analysis to identify and synthesise data for AMR carriage or infection in migrants to Europe to examine differences in patterns of AMR across migrant groups and in different settings. METHODS: For this systematic review and meta-analysis, we searched MEDLINE, Embase, PubMed, and Scopus with no language restrictions from Jan 1, 2000, to Jan 18, 2017, for primary data from observational studies reporting antibacterial resistance in common bacterial pathogens among migrants to 21 European Union-15 and European Economic Area countries. To be eligible for inclusion, studies had to report data on carriage or infection with laboratory-confirmed antibiotic-resistant organisms in migrant populations. We extracted data from eligible studies and assessed quality using piloted, standardised forms. We did not examine drug resistance in tuberculosis and excluded articles solely reporting on this parameter. We also excluded articles in which migrant status was determined by ethnicity, country of birth of participants' parents, or was not defined, and articles in which data were not disaggregated by migrant status. Outcomes were carriage of or infection with antibiotic-resistant organisms. We used random-effects models to calculate the pooled prevalence of each outcome. The study protocol is registered with PROSPERO, number CRD42016043681. FINDINGS: We identified 2274 articles, of which 23 observational studies reporting on antibiotic resistance in 2319 migrants were included. The pooled prevalence of any AMR carriage or AMR infection in migrants was 25·4% (95% CI 19·1-31·8; I2 =98%), including meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (7·8%, 4·8-10·7; I2 =92%) and antibiotic-resistant Gram-negative bacteria (27·2%, 17·6-36·8; I2 =94%). The pooled prevalence of any AMR carriage or infection was higher in refugees and asylum seekers (33·0%, 18·3-47·6; I2 =98%) than in other migrant groups (6·6%, 1·8-11·3; I2 =92%). The pooled prevalence of antibiotic-resistant organisms was slightly higher in high-migrant community settings (33·1%, 11·1-55·1; I2 =96%) than in migrants in hospitals (24·3%, 16·1-32·6; I2 =98%). We did not find evidence of high rates of transmission of AMR from migrant to host populations. INTERPRETATION: Migrants are exposed to conditions favouring the emergence of drug resistance during transit and in host countries in Europe. Increased antibiotic resistance among refugees and asylum seekers and in high-migrant community settings (such as refugee camps and detention facilities) highlights the need for improved living conditions, access to health care, and initiatives to facilitate detection of and appropriate high-quality treatment for antibiotic-resistant infections during transit and in host countries. Protocols for the prevention and control of infection and for antibiotic surveillance need to be integrated in all aspects of health care, which should be accessible for all migrant groups, and should target determinants of AMR before, during, and after migration. FUNDING: UK National Institute for Health Research Imperial Biomedical Research Centre, Imperial College Healthcare Charity, the Wellcome Trust, and UK National Institute for Health Research Health Protection Research Unit in Healthcare-associated Infections and Antimictobial Resistance at Imperial College London

Regulation of RKIP Function by Helicobacter pylori in Gastric Cancer

Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) is a gram-negative, spiral-shaped bacterium that infects more than half of the world’s population and is a major cause of gastric adenocarcinoma. The mechanisms that link H. pylori infection to gastric carcinogenesis are not well understood. In the present study, we report that the Raf-kinase inhibitor protein (RKIP) has a role in the induction of apoptosis by H. pylori in gastric epithelial cells. Western blot and luciferase transcription reporter assays demonstrate that the pathogenicity island of H. pylori rapidly phosphorylates RKIP, which then localizes to the nucleus where it activates its own transcription and induces apoptosis. Forced overexpression of RKIP enhances apoptosis in H. pylori-infected cells, whereas RKIP RNA inhibition suppresses the induction of apoptosis by H. pylori infection. While inducing the phosphorylation of RKIP, H. pylori simultaneously targets non-phosphorylated RKIP for proteasome-mediated degradation. The increase in RKIP transcription and phosphorylation is abrogated by mutating RKIP serine 153 to valine, demonstrating that regulation of RKIP activity by H. pylori is dependent upon RKIP’s S153 residue. In addition, H. pylori infection increases the expression of Snail, a transcriptional repressor of RKIP. Our results suggest that H. pylori utilizes a tumor suppressor protein, RKIP, to promote apoptosis in gastric cancer cells