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In this work we used semi-isolated heart of the cockroach Nauphoeta cinerea for the investigation of the pharmacological effects of extracts (aqueous, 1:1, 1:2, 1:4 and 1:8) from Nephrolepis exaltata L. leaves, a popular ornamental fern considered to be safe. The use of insects in experimental studies has grown due to the easy handling, proliferation/growing assuring its rapid obtention, and absence of ethical issues. An aqueous extract 0.2 % was obtained after maceration of 1 g N. exaltata leaves powder with 20 mL of distilled water (1:20). Diluted extracts in water were obtained to have the following proportion 1:1, 1:2, 1:4 and 1:8. Experiments (n=4) consisted of 200 µL addition onto semi-isolated heart preparation of N. cinerea with concomitant heart beating counting. Aqueous, 1:1 and 1:2 extracts paralyzed completely the heart beatings of cockroachs (p<0.05 compared to saline control), but not 1:4 or 1:8, which showed only a slight decline (p>0.05 compared to saline control). A preliminary thin layer chromatography showed the presence of unidentified terpenoid in aqueous extract of N. exaltata. These pharmacological findings of N. exaltata can be exploited for future use as insecticide or as dose-dependently cholinergic agent.

Tropical forests have long been of interest to biologists because of their high species diversity and their complicated patterns of community organization. The recent ecological studies which have demonstrated that tropical trees are diverse in their reproductive biology and dynamic population structure. Asynchronous flowering among the clones in a clonal seed orchard is an inherent problem resulting in poor seed and fruit set in them. These results in the complete defeat of the prime objective of establishment of clonal seed orchards (CSOs) i.e. abundant quality seed production poor flowering and asynchronous flowering between the clones are a major bottleneck in higher seed set in these clonal seed orchards across the country. Asynchrony found between clones may be attributed to the origin of clones, which are collected from different zonal populations as revealed by isoenzyme and DNA markers studies. This article reviews the work done in CSOs across the world and suggests an alternate strategy in designing the clonal seed orchards of the future.

The calyces of Hibiscus sabdariffa have been used by many communities as herbal tea. Their anthocyanin contents have been reported as the key component in anti-obesity studies. This present work reported results of anthocyanin content of calyces in two varieties of H. sabdariffa collected from Sabak Bernam, Selangor, Malaysia. The samples have been authenticated in the Herbarium, Institute of Bioscience, University Putra Malaysia prior to the study. The samples were processed and the ground dry raw material and its aqueous extract were analyzed using Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) and Two-Dimensional Infrared (2DIR). The short hybrid calyces (FT11-15A) raw material spectrum showed more than 80% similarity with long wild variety calyces (FT11-15B) when using “Compare” in analysis. The differences of both samples were obviously shown in their aqueous extract spectra. The peak at 1672 cm-1 and 841 cm-1 showed that tri-substituted double bond in FT11-15B aqueous extract was not present in FT11-15A aqueous extract spectra, whereby a double peak was assigned at 1221 cm-1 referred to anti symmetry stretching of aromatic and vinyl =C-O-C- with other =C-O- and 1192 cm-1 is assigned In-plane δ C-H in FT11-15A aqueous extract. The peak at 1071 cm-1 assigned as bonding C-H in plane bending of phenyl of both samples was the only peak comparable with standard delphinidin and cyanidin which are used for qualification and quantification of sample content. Aqueous extract spectra of both samples showed higher number of peaks detected compared with raw material spectra, which was attributed to the higher solubility of anthocyanins in water. The 2DIR correlation spectroscopy is advantageous in enhancing the qualitative analysis of herbal products. The anthocyanin content in both varieties of H. sabdariffa in descending amount is delphinidin-3-O-sambubioside (DS), cyanidin-3-O-sambubioside (CS), delphenidin-3-O-glucoside (DG) and lastly cyanidin-3-O-glucoside (CG). FT11-15A has more content of DS and DG of raw material and CG of water extract plus TFA than FT11-15B, whereby, FT11-15B has more content of CS, CG of raw material and DS, DG, CS of water extract plus TFA than FT11-15A.

Standardized method of seed treatment is of prime importance in the production of groundnut. The study was to carry out control trial using bark extract (aqueous and ethanol) and oil (seed) of mahogany (Khaya senegalensis) on seven (7) isolated fungi from two groundnut varieties (peruvian and valencia). The result shows that both mahogany bark and seed extracts are capable of inhibiting mycelial growth of all the isolates. There was no significant variation between the aqueous and ethanol bark extracts in-vitro, however the in-vivo test shows a significant difference between the aqueous and the ethanol bark extract in which the ethanol extract reduced growth of the pathogens more than the aqueous. For all the pathogens except Rhizopus stolonifer there was no growth between 50% to 100% concentration of the Khaya senegalensis oil in-vitro, however in-vivo control at 50% produced scanty to moderate growth for all the pathogens except Rhizopus stolonifer on peruvian, while there was full coverage on the seeds of valencia variety with Aspergillus niger and Rhizopus stolonifer having total coverage though Pseudaiiescheria boydii and Cylindrocarpon lichenicola were effectively inhibited and showed no growth at the 50% and 100%. Further research to focus on the quantifying the chemical constituents and formulation are suggested.

This study comparatively evaluated the analytical performance of the Erba H7100 hematology analyzer against the Siemens Advia 2120i and Beckman Coulter DXH 900, using 243 patient samples. The study assessed the agreement and linear relationship across 14 key hematological parameters in whole blood, employing statistical methods that included mean bias, standard deviation of the difference, Pearson’s correlation, and coefficient of determination. Additionally, reticulocyte counts were analyzed in 27 samples for Erba H7100 vs. Advia 2120i and 53 samples for Erba H7100 vs. DXH 900, revealing exceptional agreement with high Pearson’s r and r-squared values. The performance of the Erba H7100 and DXH 900 in analyzing ascitic, cerebrospinal, and bronchial wash fluids was also evaluated. Notably, the Advia 2120i analyzer exhibited discrepancies in mean corpuscular volume (MCV) and monocyte counts (Mon#). Conversely, the Erba H7100 showed better agreement with the DXH 900 for MCV and Mon# in whole blood. In fluid samples, Erba H7100 and DXH 900 demonstrated a strong correlation with Microscopy in determining Neutrophil % and Lymphocyte % values. Strong linear correlations were observed for most parameters in whole blood, with reticulocyte counts showing near-perfect correlation. This study underscores the importance of rigorous validation and potential platform-specific reference intervals to ensure accurate and reliable hematological testing, emphasizing the need for standardized methodologies in clinical laboratories.

West Nile virus (WNV), a mosquito-borne pathogen belonging to the Flavivirus genus (family Flaviviridae), is primarily responsible for West Nile fever. In rare cases (< 1% of infections), it can lead to West Nile neuroinvasive disease (WNND), which carries an approximate fatality rate of 10%. This cross-sectional study aimed to assess WNV exposure among residents of Gezira State, Sudan, from 2019 to 2022. A total of 400 participants were included, with 5 mL of blood collected from each—2 mL in an EDTA tube and 3 mL in a plain container. Plasma and serum were separated via centrifugation, and WNV-specific IgG and IgM antibodies were detected using ELISA. The results revealed that 62.25% (249 cases) tested positive for WNV-IgG antibodies, while 37.75% (151 cases) were negative. None of the samples showed detectable WNV-IgM antibodies. Statistical analysis indicated no significant association between WNV-IgG seropositivity and age or gender (p = 0.060 and p = 0.117, respectively). However, significant correlations were observed with marital status and education level (p < 0.05). The study highlights the need for ongoing surveillance of WNV and other vector-borne diseases in the region to identify active West Nile Virus infections. Public health efforts should prioritize mosquito control measures, community education, and awareness campaigns about WNV symptoms and prevention.

The potential of spent compost of oyster mushroom, Pleurotus sajor-caju cultivated on rice (MCR) or wheat straws (MCW) was evaluated against the root-knot nematode, Meloidogyne incognita on tomato plants under field conditions during two successive seasons (2016 and 2017). The field trial was carried out in a clay loam soil naturally infested with M. incognita at a private farm, Kafr El-Sheikh governorate, Egypt. Results revealed that all the tested treatments greatly suppressed final populations (Pf), numbers of galls and egg masses of M. incognita during both seasons as compared to the untreated treatment. The highest percentages of Pf reductions (81.1 - 87%) and (80.2 - 86.2%) were achieved with the chemical nematicide, Vydate® 10 G and treatments of (MCR and MCW) at application rate of 1200 g/m2 in the 1st and 2nd seasons, respectively. Moreover, the fruit yield during both seasons was increased significantly with all the applied treatments, especially treatment of MCW at application rate of 1200 g/m2. Additionally, chemical fruit properties were markedly improved with MCR and MCW treatments. Also, treatments of MCR and MCW achieved the highest percentages of nitrogen and phosphorus contents. Generally, the results indicated that spent compost obtained after cultivation of P. sajor-caju has a nematicidal potential against M. incognita, also improved nutritional status and increased tomato yield.

Amyloidosis-associated kidney disease commonly manifests with chronic glomerular symptoms including heavy proteinuria predominantly albuminuria. Clinical presentation ranges from full-blown nephrotic syndrome, hematuria, and hypertension to renal failure. In India patients with chronic kidney disease are mainly attributed to hypertension and diabetes but an underlying etiology such as amyloidosis needs to be unearthed and shouldn’t be ignored as an etiology. We report a case of a 60-year-old man with hypertension and hypothyroidism who presented with frothy urine for several years, b/l pedal edema for 15 days. Over the past 3 months, there was a serial increase in creatinine. As per CKD-EPI equation, the patient was CKD-4. As the patient was suspected to be rapidly progressive renal failure; a renal biopsy was planned. Biopsy reports were suggestive of Amyloidosis. Glomerular, vascular, and tubulointerstitial deposition of amyloid was seen. Based on renal biopsy and IHC staining; the patient’s diagnosis was AA-associated secondary renal amyloidosis. Thus in this case renal amyloidosis was an unearthed etiology.

Autologous Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation (AHSCT) performed after induction therapy is the standard of care for newly diagnosed Multiple Myeloma (MM) patients who qualify. Our institution has performed AHSCT for MM since 1991, and in this study, we sought to retrospectively examine the outcomes of 303 MM patients who underwent AHSCT from 1991-2021. We focused on Overall Survival (OS) and Progression-Free Survival (PFS) in patients in addition to Landmark survival (1-year post-transplantation). We found that in elderly patients > 70 years of age there was no significant difference in OS at 12 years, with 51% for patients < 70 years of age and 50% > 70; these were the same numbers for PFS at 12 years as well. We also found that median overall survival is improving overall with each decade in our transplanted MM patients with patient survival improved to over > 80% regardless of age at 7 years, when the previous median overall survival was 6 - 6.6 years before 2001. Given our findings, supported by others, we show that survival is continually improving over time in MM AHSCT patients and that AHSCT can be performed safely with equivalent landmark and long-term PFS and OS in patients of advanced age.

Peritoneal dialysis (PD) is a well-tolerated home renal replacement therapy for patients with end-stage renal disease. One of the critical points for the success of a PD program is the care of the peritoneal catheter and the exit site. A target for the incidence of infections/year should not exceed 0,40. The aim of the study was to observe whether our exit-site cleansing and dressing method, which involves the application of silver-releasing dressing may be associated with a reduction in the incidence of exit-site infections compared to the data reported in the literature.The data of 51 patients attending the Peritoneal Dialysis DH of the AOU Federico II in Naples in the period between July 2021 and September 2023 were analyzed.Overall, 27670 catheter days were analyzed with an average incidence of 0.23 infections/year/patient. The average incidence (0.23) is lower than the target suggested by the ISPD (0.4 infections/year/patient) and the average estimated in the USA (0.5-0.6 infections/year/patient). The average incidence from 2021 to 2023, equal to 0.23 episodes/year/patient, is therefore lower than the incidence of 2014-2015 (0.38 episodes/year/patient), a two-year period in which we did not use dressings with silver Exit-Pad.The use of Exit-Pad silver ion-releasing dressings Ag may further hinder the development of such infections by reducing the failure of peritoneal treatment and the transition to hemodialysis.