Ceratocystis manginecans associated with a serious wilt disease of two native legume trees in Oman and Pakistan

A serious wilt disease has recently been found on Prosopis cineraria (Ghaf) in Oman and on Dalbergia sissoo (Shisham) in Pakistan. Disease symptoms on both these native, leguminous hosts include vascular discolouration and partial or complete wilt of affected trees. A species of Ceratocystis was consistently isolated from symptomatic material. Morphological comparisons and analyses of DNA sequence data of the ITS, β-tubulin, and EF 1-α gene regions showed that the Ceratocystis isolates obtained from both tree species represent C. manginecans. This is the same pathogen that is causing the devastating mango sudden decline disease in Oman and Pakistan. This is also the same pathogen that has been reported causing a wilting disease on Acacia mangium in Indonesia. Cross inoculation with C. manginecans isolates from P. cineraria, D. sissoo and mango showed that the fungus can cause disease on all three trees.Tree Protection Cooperative Programme (TPCP), University of Pretoria, South Africa, and the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, Omanhttp://link.springer.com/journal/13313hb201

Assessment of Eating Habits and Lifestyle during Coronavirus Pandemic in the MENA region: A Cross-Sectional Study

© The Authors 2020. The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has rapidly spread globally, forcing countries to apply lockdowns and strict social distancing measures. The aim of this study was to assess eating habits and lifestyle behaviors among residents of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region during the lockdown. A cross-sectional study among adult residents of the MENA region was conducted using an online questionnaire designed on Google Forms during April 2020. A total of 2970 participants from 18 countries participated in the current study. During the pandemic, over 30% reported weight gain, 6.2% consumed five or more meals per day compared to 2.2% before the pandemic (p\u3c0.001), and 48.8% did not consume fruits on daily basis. Moreover, 39.1% did not engage in physical activity, over 35% spent more than five hours per day on screens. A significant association between the frequency of training during the pandemic and the reported change in weight was found (p \u3c 0.001). A significantly higher percentage of participants reported physical and emotional exhaustion, irritability, and tension either all the time or a large part of the time during the pandemic (p \u3c 0.001). Although a high percentage of participants reported sleeping more hours per night during the pandemic, 63% had sleep disturbances. The study highlights that the lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic caused a variety of lifestyle changes, physical inactivity, and psychological problems among adults in the MENA region

Determination of (S)( )-cathinone by spectrophotometric detection

Previous studies on the Khat plant (Catha edulis, Celastraceae) illustrated the importance of using freshly harvested young shoots and leaves such that cathinone, the principle active component and Schedule I controlled drug contained within the plant, could be suitably isolated and identified. The purpose of this work was to develop a quantitative analytical technique for the determination of cathinone. The proposed method is based on treating the reductant cathinone with copper(II)–neocuproine reagent in sodium acetate-buffered medium followed by measuring the absorbance of the copper(I)–neocuproine complex at 455 nm. The calibration plot is linear in the range 0.08–25 mg ml 1 with a detection limit of 0.08 mg ml 1. The precision of the method, expressed as the relative standard deviation, is 1.35% for 10 mg ml 1 cathinone. Good recoveries have been obtained in applying the method to the analysis of cathinone in Khat leaves

Stable and effective super-hydrophilic polysulfone nanofiber mats for oil/water separation

Hydrophobicity of polysulfone is the main constraint facing wide application in the most important field; water treatment, although this polymer shows promising characteristics to be used in different separation technologies. In this study, super-hydrophilic polysulfone nanofiber mats are introduced using novel modifications. The introduced nanofibers were synthesized by electrospinning of polysulfone/NaOH/DMF electrospun solution. The prepared electrospun nanofibers have been activated by deposition of a polyamide layer using interfacial polymerization (IP) reaction between m-phenylenediamine and 1,3,5-benzenetricarbonyl chloride. Three different heat treatment methodologies were investigated to enhance the characteristics of the activated nanofiber mats; normal drying at 70 °C, and soaking in boiled water followed by either normal drying at 70 °C or storing in the water. Investigation of the mechanical properties indicated that incorporation of NaOH improves the tensile stress by 40% compared to the pristine polysulfone nanofibers. Interestingly, treatment of the activated nanofiber mats in the boiled water followed by storing in water led to produce super-hydrophilic mats with water contact angle of 3° due to enhancing the IP reaction on the surface of the individual nanofibers. In oil/water separation process, the proposed heat treatment for the modified nanofiber mats resulted in increase the water flux from 8 to 12.21 m3/m2 day with oil rejection of 99.976%.1- National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) Grant funded by the Korean Government (MOE) (No.2014R1A1A2058967). 2- Deanship of Scientific Research at King Saud University for funding the work through the research group project No. RGP- 1435-001

Effective and stable FeNi@ N-doped graphene counter electrode for enhanced performance dye sensitized solar cells

N-doped FeNi@graphene is introduced as effective and stable non-precious counter electrode for the dye sensitized solar cells. After preparation of graphene oxide using the chemical route, the obtained product has been refluxed in presence of nickel acetate, ferrous acetate and urea at 150°C for 12h. Then, the solid product was mixed with melamine and sintered under nitrogen atmosphere at 850°C. The invoked characterization techniques affirmed formation of N-doped graphene decorated by FeNi bimetallic nanoparticles. In dye sensitized solar cell, the prepared material revealed good performance as counter electrode as the estimated efficiency was 4.12% with a photocurrent and an open circuit voltage of 8.96mA/cm2 and 0.73V, respectively, Moreover, the cyclic voltammetry measurements indicated very good catalytic activity and distinct stability.National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) Grant funded by the Korean Government (MOE) (No. 2014R1A1A2058967)