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Salinity induced redox metabolic shift influence hormonal profile and germination performance of two contrasting indica rice cultivars
Get PDFThe role of redox deviations under salinity on metabolic dysfunction associated with progression of seed germination is well documented. However, the correlative evaluation of the salinity induced changes in the redox system and hormonal profile in regulating germination are least studied and hence is the subject of present investigation. Imposition of post imbibitional salinity stress (PISS) to two contrasting rice genotypes differing in sensitivity towards salinity (Oryza sativa L., Cultivars Patnai and IR29) caused differential and significant redox-metabolic shift and germination performances. Biomarkers of oxidative stress like, accumulation of total ROS, in situ localization of hydrogen peroxide, radical scavenging property, and lipid peroxidation are assessed for the determination of salinity induced differential changes in redox status of both the experimental cultivars. Salt resistant cultivar Patnai exhibiting better redox regulatory property under PISS in terms of controlled generation of ROS (DCFDA oxidation, H2O2 content) with greater elicitation of total antioxidant capacity (DPPH radical scavenging property), contends lipid peroxidation (accumulation of TBARS) as compared to the salt-sensitive cultivar IR 29. RP-HPLC based estimation of PISS-induced alteration in hormonal pools showed strong correlation between altered redox status (assessed in terms of redox biomarkers) and hormonal profile (endogenous titer of gibberellic acid (GA3), abscisic acid (ABA) and jasmonic acid (JA)) and germination and other physiological phenotypes (t50 value, allocation index, relative water content, and Na+ / K+ ratio) of the experimental rice germplasms, suggesting the influence of differential shift in redox status on germination hormones and early growth performances. Taken as a whole, the work proposes close connection between salinity induced changes in oxidative windows and hormonal profile of germinating seeds, necessary for better management of salinity stress in agriculture.</p
Healthcare providers’ attitude towards abortion service provision in Gulu city, Northern Uganda
Get PDFBackground: Although induced abortion is legally allowed on various grounds in several sub-Saharan African countries, health care providers in these countries often persist in viewing induced abortion as immoral. Providers’ attitudes may conflict with the national abortion law or their personal and or religious values. Abortion services are severely restricted and highly contentious in Uganda. This study, therefore, is aimed at determining attitudes among healthcare providers on induced abortion service provision in Gulu City. Procedures: A cross-section survey was conducted among health workers about attitudes toward induced abortion between September and November 2019 using a modified abortion attitudinal score. The study was conducted in the Hospitals and Health centers in Gulu City, in Northern Uganda, the participants were drawn from Public, Private non-for-profit faith-based, Private for Profit and, Private non-for-profit Non-Government Organisation health centers.Findings: A total of 252 health care providers were surveyed. The mean attitudinal score for generally in support, generally not in support, conditional in support, personal attitude, and beliefs against and toward abortion provision were 2.80, 2.71, 2.86, 3.239, and 3.35 respectively. Factors that were positively associated with general support included age 40 years and above; and being employed in private non-for-profit non-governmental health facilities, with coefficients of 0.85 and 0.67 respectively. Factors that were positively associated with conditional support were; age 40years or above; being employed in a non for profit non-governmental health facility; private for-profit and private not-for-profit faith-based health facilities coefficients 0.55, 0.54, 0.40, and 0.37 respectively. However, being a born-again Christian was negatively associated with general support for induced abortion provision. Conclusion: Healthcare providers’ attitude is an important element in the provision of quality stigma-free post-abortion care services. A clear national effort to improve post-abortion and comprehensive abortion care training should include value clarification and attitude transformation among all healthcare providers.</p
Dualistic relativity: Unification of Einstein’s Special Relativity and de Broglie’s Matter–Wave Theory
Get PDFIn Hawking’s view physics has been broken up into many partial theories, while the ultimate goal of physicists is to unify them. The two basic theories of 20th-century physics, relativity theory and quantum theory, are based on completely different logical prerequisites and exactly separate: matter is described as particles in relativity theory and as waves in quantum mechanics. Here, based on the identical logical prerequisites, we unify Einstein’s special relativity (SR) and de Broglie’s matter-wave theory (MWT) into the theory of dualistic relativity (DR), taking a significant step toward the unification of relativity and quantum mechanics. From the definition of time, we derive the Lorentz transformation in differential form and establish the theory of DR, which generalizes the wave-particle duality of matter motion, and uniformly derives Einstein’s formula E=mc2, Planck’s equation E=hf, and de Broglie’s relation λ=h/p. From the logical prerequisite completely different from Einstein’s hypothesis of the invariance of light speed and along the logical path completely different from Einstein’s SR, we have deduced the whole theoretical system of Einstein’s SR and de Broglie’s MWT. In the theory of DR, the two great formulae originally separated, Einstein’s formula E=mc2 and Planck’s equation E=hf, become a pair of twin formulae unified in an identical theoretical system.</p
Possible effect of dialysis membrane in polymethylmethacrylate on clinical variables associated with atherosclerosis development in chronic renal failure patients
No full textBackground: Chronic hemodialysis patients have higher cardiovascular morbidity compared to the general population. A number of studies have suggested that patients undergoing hemodialysis with polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) membranes have a better outcome compared to other membranes. Methods: We performed a retrospective, multicenter study to evaluate the impact of PMMA membranes compared to other types of membranes on clinical parameters considered important risk factors for the development of cardiovascular disease in chronic kidney disease patients. Results: The study included 104 patients (52 patients on PMMA and 52 patients on other membranes) from ten dialysis centers, monitored for 24 months. HDL cholesterol (mg/dL) increased significantly in the PMMA group (41.4 ± 10.8 to 44.1 ± 13.5, p = 0.0467), but not in the control group (41.8 ± 13.8 to 39.4 ± 9.6, p = 0.8628). At 24 months total cholesterol and triglycerides (mg/dl) were significantly lower in the PMMA group than in the control group (142.4 ± 43.8 vs. 166.1 ± 43.4, p = 0.0321 and 106 (76.5-176) vs. 170 (118-254), p = 0.014), respectively. Serum creatinine (mg/dL) increased significantly from baseline to 24months in the PMMA group (9.20 ± 2.5 to 9.47 ± 2.3, p = 0.0291), but not in the patients treated with other membranes (8.39 ± 2.6 to 8.37 ± 2.3, p = 0.2743). In addition creatinine was significantly higher in the PMMA group compared to the other group (9.47 ± 2.3 vs. 8.37 ± 2.3, p = 0.0493).WBCs (109/L) increased significantly in the control group (6151 ± 1846 to 6672 ± 1872, p = 0.0457) but not in the PMMA group (6326 ± 2113 to 6152 ± 1832, p = 0.8981). At 24 months platelets (109/L) and CRP (ng/dL) were significantly lower in the PMMA group compared to the control group (185 (144-222) vs. 210 (173-259), p = 0.0498 and 0.70 (0.30-1.59) vs. 3.76 (0.46-10.2), p = 0.023, respectively). Iron and transferrin (μ g/dL) decreased signifi cantly in the patients treated with other membrane (62.5 ± 30.4 to 52.6 ±19.0, p = 0.0113 and 178 (157-218) to 170 (124-203), p = 0.0019, respectively), but not in the PMMA group.Conclusion: This retrospective study of data from 104 patients shows a favorable effect of PMMA on clinical variables considered relevant for the development of atherosclerosis in hemodialysis patients. </p
Erythromelalgia: Definition, clinical contexts, differential diagnosis, and therapy. Single case and literature update
No full textClinical publications on this morbid condition report as many as 16 different Nav1 7 channel substitutions. They also report more than 40 pharmacological treatments, including agents with sodium channel blocking but nonspecific activity (mexiletine, lidocaine, carbamazepine), anti-neuropathic drugs (gabapentinoids and antidepressants), antidepressant drugs with efficacy on migraines (amitriptyline) vasoactive drugs for the management of hypertension, and analgesics (opioids and ketamine). Current research fails to address all patients’ clinical needs, although it recently suggests new genetic hypotheses yet to be tested and the central importance of genetic counseling, to inform patients and their families about the severity, likely course of symptoms, and risk of complications, and in some cases to guide clinical management. Current findings and the significant morbidity associated with the condition, even in light of the single case presented, highlight the need for mechanism-based therapies to improve clinical outcomes.</p
mRNA based vaccines as an alternative to conventional vaccine approaches
No full textIn recent years, vaccines based on mRNA are providing protection against infectious diseases and treatment for cancer. These vaccines offer many advantages as compared to traditional vaccines. They can be rapidly and easily manufactured at a low cost and are reliable for administration. These vaccines can generate both cell-mediated and humoral immunity. Their administration is still limited because of the risk of quick degradation and ineffectiveness after delivery. Technological advancements are recently being made to overcome these issues. This review summarizes current mRNA vaccine development, safety concerns, advances in delivery systems, clinical trials, and various therapeutic applications of mRNA vaccines. </p
Psychopathological profiles and trends of Italian social network users (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok)
No full textBackground and aims: With the advent of the Internet and social networks, mass communication has become more interactive and geo-dislocated. The present research hypothesizes the existence of a link between the choice of the use of a specific social network by the subject user of the telematics service and his or her eventual psychopathological profile, hypothesizing that: the users of Facebook (FB) have a higher level of neurotic (cluster A) and psychotic (cluster C) dysfunctional traits, while users of Instagram (IG), Twitter (TW) and TikTok (TT) have a higher level of borderline dysfunctional traits (cluster B), according to the PICI model. Materials and methods: Clinical interview, and administration of the battery of psychometric tests. SPSS, Anova test (with Bonferroni). Results and discussion: The population sample was selected based on past clinical contacts and voluntary participation through social recruitment, totaling 5.581 participants, divided into four age groups (18-25, 26-37, 38-46, 47-60) and by four different social networks (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok). The present research showed that, on average, the selected users in the studied population sample, divided into sixteen subgroups, present in 79.9% of cases a psychopathological personality profile with at least 5 dysfunctional traits among the first three social networks analyzed (Facebook and Twitter with a lower frequency than Instagram, while TikTok users present an average value of 95.5% of cases). Equally distributed are also the hypotheses of affective addiction among users of the four social networks, with an average of 41.7% of cases, although always with higher pathological peaks in the case of Instagram, and even more for Tiktok, which varies with a much higher average of 69.2%. The pronounced dysfunctional tendency found is also confirmed by the tests related to the study of ego defense mechanisms, which in 100% of the psychopathological cases detected with the PICI (Perrotta Integrative Clinical Interviews) model turn out to be markedly dysfunctional, especially concerning the mechanisms of isolation, fixation, identification, denial, repression, regression, omnipotence, idealization and devaluation. The survey on dysfunctional sexual behaviors also found the marked presence of the clinical condition of users, with a mean value of 21.3% for Twitter, 55.9% for Facebook, 57.8% for Instagram, and 81.0% for TikTok; in particular, the presence of pedophilic paraphilia/pederasty is found in Instagram users with a mean value of 28.5% and for TikTok with a mean value of 43.0%.Conclusion: There is a correlation between the preferred profile choice on a specific social network and one’s psychopathological personality profile: Facebook users are found to be more oriented on the neurotic (anxious-phobic, somatic and obsessive) and border (borderline and depressive) area, Twitter users are oriented on the border (bipolar, borderline and narcissistic) area, Instagram and TikTok users on the border (bipolar, borderline, histrionic, antisocial, psychopathic and narcissistic) and psychotic (delusional, paranoid and dissociative) area.</p
Bamboo leaf as quality fodder supplement for goat production in the dry semi-deciduous forest zone of Ghana
No full textLimited access to fodder with fair nutritive characteristics especially during dry periods is a challenge to livestock farming. However, it is envisaged that evergreen bamboo with year-round litter production and high nutritive characteristics, may provide a valuable supplementary source of feed. In Ghana, bamboo use as fodder is largely unknown and efforts to promote its use will require an understanding of base feed quality and results disseminated. Therefore, a field fodder quality experimentation using twenty Djallonké kids (juvenile goats) of 1-year-old with a mean initial weight of 13.77 ± 1.16 kg for the trial and allotted to four dietary treatments in a completely randomized block design with five replicates per treatment was conducted. The study sought to assess the effect of leaves of two bamboo species (Oxytenanthera abyssinica and Bambusa balcooa) as a feed supplement to goats fed on basal diets of Pennisetum purpureum and Brachiaria decumbens. The fodder quality results indicated that nutrient composition and in vitro gas production of the treatments varied significantly among the grasses and the bamboo supplement. The highest crude protein and in vitro gas production was observed in O. abyssinica. Besides, O. abyssinica diets recorded the highest daily gain and the lowest feed-to-gain ratio. The treatment effect was significant on blood variables measured. Bamboo leaves are a viable feed supplement for goats as shown by their nutrient profile and positive influence on the growth performance of goats. Hence, the leaves of any of the bamboo species could be used as supplemental feed for goats. </p
Optimization of oxidative improver’s formulation for the wheat flours with different extraction rates
No full textIn this study, the effect of oxidative improvers such as glucose oxidase (10-30 mg/kg) and ascorbic acid (50–150 mg/kg) were compared on the rheological properties of two sets of flours with different extraction rates (75% and 82%). The optimized formulation via the response surface method revealed that the oxidative improvers have a different reaction in different types of flours. In flours with a 75% extraction rate, glucose oxidase played the main role, while in the flours with an 82% extraction rate, ascorbic acid was more effective. Also, this study showed that the effects of both improvers are dose-dependent, for the 75% extraction rate of flour, the optimal dose of glucose oxidase is 23 mg/kg, and for the 82% extraction rate of flour, the optimal dosage is 90 mg/kg of ascorbic acid. Finally, the effect of the optimal formulation was investigated on the bread properties and the results were compared with the control sample.</p
Physico-chemical properties of Ethiopian Apis mellifera Honey: Review
No full textThe aim of this review is focused on the physical, chemical, and antioxidant properties of Ethiopian honey such as moisture contents, reducing sugars (glucose and fructose), free acidity, pH, hydroxymethylfurfural, (HMF), phenolic compounds, minerals, and water-insoluble solid and enzymatic activity of honey. Generally, the average values of the parameter were within the acceptable ranges of National, EU, and FAO/WHO which was set as permission limit requirement for general blossom honey quality. Accordingly, HMF (9.46±7.11mg/kg), moisture contents (18.93%±1.92%), free acidity (23.2±10 meq/kg), pH (3.94±0.14) ash content (0.32%±0.13%), electrical Conductivity (0.41±0.16 mS/cm), water-insoluble solids (0.20%±0.07%), reducing Sugar (70.46%±3.5,0%), and Sucrose (2.75%±1.1%) of the honey was found to be low, this value suggesting that Ethiopian honey were of good quality. The total phenolic contents of honey were high and strongly correlated with the antioxidant activity/radical scavenging capacity. A large portion of research findings are not focused on medicinal value therefore, more research would be important to focus on honey from medicinal plants and to build up the possible relations between the bioactive substances in plant parts and their nectars.</p