Effect of Barleria acanthoides Vahl., on root knot nematode infection and growth of infected okra and brinjal plants

Abstract Barleria acanthoides Vahl. is a xerophytic herb found in Karachi. In the present study B. acanthoides was used against root-knot nematode, Meloidogyne javanica (Treub) Chitwood, In vitro and greenhouse experiments. Its effects on root-knot infection, growth, chlorophylls and protein contents in leaves of okra (Abelmoschus esculentus (L.) Moench. var. Arka anamika) and brinjal (Solanum melongena L. var. Black beauty) plants were observed. Aqueous extracts of B. acanthoides significantly inhibited egg hatching of root-knot nematode and caused appreciable mortality of second stage juveniles of M. javanica In vitro. Soil amendment with shoot material of B. acanthoides at 1% and 2% w/w significantly suppressed nematode galling in okra and brinjal roots. B. acanthoides amendment resulted in enhanced growth, chlorophyll and total protein contents in okra and brinjal compared to unamended M. javanica inoculated plants

Soil amendment with halophytes induces physiological changes and reduces root-knot infection in eggplant and okra

Root-knot nematode, Meloidogyne javanica (Treub) Chitwood is a soil-borne plant pathogen of roots. Nematode infection results in altered plant growth and physicochemical processes due to gall formation. Many plants contain unique biochemicals that have biocidal properties and offer a potential novel approach to suppress the nematode populations in soil and improve growth of crop plants. In the present study effect of some indigenous halophytic plant species (Tamarix indica Willd, Suaeda fruticosa Forssk and Salsola imbricata (Schultz) Dandy) were tested against M. javanica. Tested halophytes significantly (P<0.001) reduced egg hatching and caused mortality of second stage juveniles (J2) in vitro. These halophytes when incorporated in soil (0.3, 0.5 and 1% w/w) markedly increased growth of eggplant (Solanum melongena L. cv. Black beauty) and okra (Abelmoschus esculentus [L.] Moench. cv. Arka anamika) and provided control of root-knot infection at higher doses (0.5 and 1%). Amended eggplants and okra showed significant (P<0.001) increase in chlorophylls and decrease in chlorophyll a/b ratio. Protein concentration in leaves of both the plants were increased with 1% amendment of S. fruticosa and S. imbricata. While nucleic acid concentrations were varied with different treatments. &nbsp

A new biometric matching fingerprints system for personal authentication using R305

Now days, security is the main concerning research area for public and private sectors. Security become a major issue in many of our daily life places such as offices, libraries, hospitals, houses, laboratories, educational institutes, military areas etc where in these places, our privacy and confidentiality are very high. A number of methods used to solve this issue in different ways. One of the methods used for authentication of any individual to desired place entrance is door lock security system. This paper implements R305 which is a fingerprint based system design that that used security system for authentication on fingerprint process along its unique patterns. Furthermore, Arduino UNO device is used for this physical security by fingerprints. This project will become a prototype of biometric system since each fingerprint has a unique pattern and cannot be stolen, shared or any type of rudeness. The effectiveness of the proposed system has been verified and the results show that 95% accuracy with matching results on selected datasets

Towards a just heat transition in the building sector: A study on social indicators of sustainability

Heating in UK buildings is dominated by fossil fuels as the main energy source, representing over 80% of the household energy consumption and 79% of the carbon emissions. Therefore, heat decarbonisation in this sector should be accelerated in order to achieve the 2050 net zero carbon targets. However, there is still a great deal of uncertainty regarding the social impacts of heat decarbonisation strategies on households and the communities. The multiplicity of social criteria and inconsistency of their measuring methods complicate the assessment of social sustainability in the energy systems, leading to less incorporation of the social factors in design and decision-making processes. Therefore, identifying a set of indicators that represent the social performance of energy systems is an essential for conducting a holistic sustainability assessment. In this research, a methodological process is established primarily aimed to identify, select, and prioritise a representative set of indicators that can reflect the social sustainability of the heating transition in the building industry. The research accounts for a qualitative survey and judgments of experts to determine the indicators and their importance weights thus reducing the subjectivity and uncertainties of the process. The result is a social sustainability assessment framework that will enable decision-makers to evaluate the transition pathways, select the best alternatives, and monitor their performance, by analysing social indicators in conjunction with other sustainability parameters.publishedVersionPeer reviewe

Planning energy interventions in buildings and tackling fuel poverty : Can two birds be fed with one scone?

Energy retrofitting and renovations are an inseparable part of decarbonisation strategies in the building sector. These measures are often tied up with several social factors that can potentially impact the wellbeing of households and the community if the end-user requirements are not carefully considered. Fuel poverty is one of these social factors that is an essential consideration for designing effective, just, and user-centred interventions, but it is often overlooked in engineering processes. Therefore, this article seeks to re-connect the notion of fuel poverty to practice by bringing it forward from the post-intervention assessments to the design and decision-making stages. To do so, a new indicator, Potential Fuel Poverty Index (PFPI), is developed to obtain the likelihood of fuel poverty that future interventions can pose to the households. The PFPI presents a more targeted analysis of fuel poverty by reflecting the socio-spatial characterisation of the households. Using the PFPI, fuel poverty can be observed as a design/decision factor at the early stages of sketching interventions, in conjunction with other economic, environmental, and technical factors. Finally, the utility of the developed method is demonstrated using a real case study in the UK, assessing the impact of heat decarbonisation through heat pumps on fuel poverty.publishedVersionPeer reviewe

The global burden of cancer attributable to risk factors, 2010-19 : a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019

Background Understanding the magnitude of cancer burden attributable to potentially modifiable risk factors is crucial for development of effective prevention and mitigation strategies. We analysed results from the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2019 to inform cancer control planning efforts globally. Methods The GBD 2019 comparative risk assessment framework was used to estimate cancer burden attributable to behavioural, environmental and occupational, and metabolic risk factors. A total of 82 risk-outcome pairs were included on the basis of the World Cancer Research Fund criteria. Estimated cancer deaths and disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) in 2019 and change in these measures between 2010 and 2019 are presented. Findings Globally, in 2019, the risk factors included in this analysis accounted for 4.45 million (95% uncertainty interval 4.01-4.94) deaths and 105 million (95.0-116) DALYs for both sexes combined, representing 44.4% (41.3-48.4) of all cancer deaths and 42.0% (39.1-45.6) of all DALYs. There were 2.88 million (2.60-3.18) risk-attributable cancer deaths in males (50.6% [47.8-54.1] of all male cancer deaths) and 1.58 million (1.36-1.84) risk-attributable cancer deaths in females (36.3% [32.5-41.3] of all female cancer deaths). The leading risk factors at the most detailed level globally for risk-attributable cancer deaths and DALYs in 2019 for both sexes combined were smoking, followed by alcohol use and high BMI. Risk-attributable cancer burden varied by world region and Socio-demographic Index (SDI), with smoking, unsafe sex, and alcohol use being the three leading risk factors for risk-attributable cancer DALYs in low SDI locations in 2019, whereas DALYs in high SDI locations mirrored the top three global risk factor rankings. From 2010 to 2019, global risk-attributable cancer deaths increased by 20.4% (12.6-28.4) and DALYs by 16.8% (8.8-25.0), with the greatest percentage increase in metabolic risks (34.7% [27.9-42.8] and 33.3% [25.8-42.0]). Interpretation The leading risk factors contributing to global cancer burden in 2019 were behavioural, whereas metabolic risk factors saw the largest increases between 2010 and 2019. Reducing exposure to these modifiable risk factors would decrease cancer mortality and DALY rates worldwide, and policies should be tailored appropriately to local cancer risk factor burden. Copyright (C) 2022 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an Open Access article under the CC BY 4.0 license.Peer reviewe

Global, regional, and national burden of disorders affecting the nervous system, 1990–2021: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021

BackgroundDisorders affecting the nervous system are diverse and include neurodevelopmental disorders, late-life neurodegeneration, and newly emergent conditions, such as cognitive impairment following COVID-19. Previous publications from the Global Burden of Disease, Injuries, and Risk Factor Study estimated the burden of 15 neurological conditions in 2015 and 2016, but these analyses did not include neurodevelopmental disorders, as defined by the International Classification of Diseases (ICD)-11, or a subset of cases of congenital, neonatal, and infectious conditions that cause neurological damage. Here, we estimate nervous system health loss caused by 37 unique conditions and their associated risk factors globally, regionally, and nationally from 1990 to 2021.MethodsWe estimated mortality, prevalence, years lived with disability (YLDs), years of life lost (YLLs), and disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs), with corresponding 95% uncertainty intervals (UIs), by age and sex in 204 countries and territories, from 1990 to 2021. We included morbidity and deaths due to neurological conditions, for which health loss is directly due to damage to the CNS or peripheral nervous system. We also isolated neurological health loss from conditions for which nervous system morbidity is a consequence, but not the primary feature, including a subset of congenital conditions (ie, chromosomal anomalies and congenital birth defects), neonatal conditions (ie, jaundice, preterm birth, and sepsis), infectious diseases (ie, COVID-19, cystic echinococcosis, malaria, syphilis, and Zika virus disease), and diabetic neuropathy. By conducting a sequela-level analysis of the health outcomes for these conditions, only cases where nervous system damage occurred were included, and YLDs were recalculated to isolate the non-fatal burden directly attributable to nervous system health loss. A comorbidity correction was used to calculate total prevalence of all conditions that affect the nervous system combined.FindingsGlobally, the 37 conditions affecting the nervous system were collectively ranked as the leading group cause of DALYs in 2021 (443 million, 95% UI 378–521), affecting 3·40 billion (3·20–3·62) individuals (43·1%, 40·5–45·9 of the global population); global DALY counts attributed to these conditions increased by 18·2% (8·7–26·7) between 1990 and 2021. Age-standardised rates of deaths per 100 000 people attributed to these conditions decreased from 1990 to 2021 by 33·6% (27·6–38·8), and age-standardised rates of DALYs attributed to these conditions decreased by 27·0% (21·5–32·4). Age-standardised prevalence was almost stable, with a change of 1·5% (0·7–2·4). The ten conditions with the highest age-standardised DALYs in 2021 were stroke, neonatal encephalopathy, migraine, Alzheimer's disease and other dementias, diabetic neuropathy, meningitis, epilepsy, neurological complications due to preterm birth, autism spectrum disorder, and nervous system cancer.InterpretationAs the leading cause of overall disease burden in the world, with increasing global DALY counts, effective prevention, treatment, and rehabilitation strategies for disorders affecting the nervous system are needed

Global burden of 288 causes of death and life expectancy decomposition in 204 countries and territories and 811 subnational locations, 1990–2021: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021

BACKGROUND Regular, detailed reporting on population health by underlying cause of death is fundamental for public health decision making. Cause-specific estimates of mortality and the subsequent effects on life expectancy worldwide are valuable metrics to gauge progress in reducing mortality rates. These estimates are particularly important following large-scale mortality spikes, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. When systematically analysed, mortality rates and life expectancy allow comparisons of the consequences of causes of death globally and over time, providing a nuanced understanding of the effect of these causes on global populations. METHODS The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2021 cause-of-death analysis estimated mortality and years of life lost (YLLs) from 288 causes of death by age-sex-location-year in 204 countries and territories and 811 subnational locations for each year from 1990 until 2021. The analysis used 56 604 data sources, including data from vital registration and verbal autopsy as well as surveys, censuses, surveillance systems, and cancer registries, among others. As with previous GBD rounds, cause-specific death rates for most causes were estimated using the Cause of Death Ensemble model-a modelling tool developed for GBD to assess the out-of-sample predictive validity of different statistical models and covariate permutations and combine those results to produce cause-specific mortality estimates-with alternative strategies adapted to model causes with insufficient data, substantial changes in reporting over the study period, or unusual epidemiology. YLLs were computed as the product of the number of deaths for each cause-age-sex-location-year and the standard life expectancy at each age. As part of the modelling process, uncertainty intervals (UIs) were generated using the 2·5th and 97·5th percentiles from a 1000-draw distribution for each metric. We decomposed life expectancy by cause of death, location, and year to show cause-specific effects on life expectancy from 1990 to 2021. We also used the coefficient of variation and the fraction of population affected by 90% of deaths to highlight concentrations of mortality. Findings are reported in counts and age-standardised rates. Methodological improvements for cause-of-death estimates in GBD 2021 include the expansion of under-5-years age group to include four new age groups, enhanced methods to account for stochastic variation of sparse data, and the inclusion of COVID-19 and other pandemic-related mortality-which includes excess mortality associated with the pandemic, excluding COVID-19, lower respiratory infections, measles, malaria, and pertussis. For this analysis, 199 new country-years of vital registration cause-of-death data, 5 country-years of surveillance data, 21 country-years of verbal autopsy data, and 94 country-years of other data types were added to those used in previous GBD rounds. FINDINGS The leading causes of age-standardised deaths globally were the same in 2019 as they were in 1990; in descending order, these were, ischaemic heart disease, stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and lower respiratory infections. In 2021, however, COVID-19 replaced stroke as the second-leading age-standardised cause of death, with 94·0 deaths (95% UI 89·2-100·0) per 100 000 population. The COVID-19 pandemic shifted the rankings of the leading five causes, lowering stroke to the third-leading and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease to the fourth-leading position. In 2021, the highest age-standardised death rates from COVID-19 occurred in sub-Saharan Africa (271·0 deaths [250·1-290·7] per 100 000 population) and Latin America and the Caribbean (195·4 deaths [182·1-211·4] per 100 000 population). The lowest age-standardised death rates from COVID-19 were in the high-income super-region (48·1 deaths [47·4-48·8] per 100 000 population) and southeast Asia, east Asia, and Oceania (23·2 deaths [16·3-37·2] per 100 000 population). Globally, life expectancy steadily improved between 1990 and 2019 for 18 of the 22 investigated causes. Decomposition of global and regional life expectancy showed the positive effect that reductions in deaths from enteric infections, lower respiratory infections, stroke, and neonatal deaths, among others have contributed to improved survival over the study period. However, a net reduction of 1·6 years occurred in global life expectancy between 2019 and 2021, primarily due to increased death rates from COVID-19 and other pandemic-related mortality. Life expectancy was highly variable between super-regions over the study period, with southeast Asia, east Asia, and Oceania gaining 8·3 years (6·7-9·9) overall, while having the smallest reduction in life expectancy due to COVID-19 (0·4 years). The largest reduction in life expectancy due to COVID-19 occurred in Latin America and the Caribbean (3·6 years). Additionally, 53 of the 288 causes of death were highly concentrated in locations with less than 50% of the global population as of 2021, and these causes of death became progressively more concentrated since 1990, when only 44 causes showed this pattern. The concentration phenomenon is discussed heuristically with respect to enteric and lower respiratory infections, malaria, HIV/AIDS, neonatal disorders, tuberculosis, and measles. INTERPRETATION Long-standing gains in life expectancy and reductions in many of the leading causes of death have been disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, the adverse effects of which were spread unevenly among populations. Despite the pandemic, there has been continued progress in combatting several notable causes of death, leading to improved global life expectancy over the study period. Each of the seven GBD super-regions showed an overall improvement from 1990 and 2021, obscuring the negative effect in the years of the pandemic. Additionally, our findings regarding regional variation in causes of death driving increases in life expectancy hold clear policy utility. Analyses of shifting mortality trends reveal that several causes, once widespread globally, are now increasingly concentrated geographically. These changes in mortality concentration, alongside further investigation of changing risks, interventions, and relevant policy, present an important opportunity to deepen our understanding of mortality-reduction strategies. Examining patterns in mortality concentration might reveal areas where successful public health interventions have been implemented. Translating these successes to locations where certain causes of death remain entrenched can inform policies that work to improve life expectancy for people everywhere. FUNDING Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation