Biochar amendment has been known as a promising strategy that improves crop productivity and physio-chemical properties of soil. A pot experiment was conducted to investigate the effect of three ...biochars: wheat straw, sugarcane bagasse, and rice husk at different levels 2%, 3%, and 5% (w/w) on soil properties and growth of tomato cv. "Money Maker." Results revealed that rice husk at 3% concentration showed significant improvement (+37.4-68.6%) in plant height, number of leaves, fresh and dry shoot weight, fresh and dry root weight and root length compared to control. The physiological parameters like stomatal conductance, photosynthesis, transpiration rate, and water use efficiency were also enhanced (+38-62%) in 3% RH-treated plants while chlorophyll contents were highest in 5% WS, whereas cell membrane stability was maximum in 3% WS-treated plants compared with control. Moreover, 3% RH caused a significant increase (+22.4-81.7%) in electrical conductivity, cation exchange capacity, organic matter, organic carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. Conclusively, 3% RH was found to be the best treatment that improved the soil properties and plant physiological traits that led to enhance overall plant growth. Therefore, RH biochar amendment of soil can be potentially utilized for improving soil properties and plant health.
Public cloud computing has become increasingly popular due to the rapid advancements in communication and networking technology. As a result, it is widely used by businesses, corporations, and other ...organizations to boost the productivity. However, the result generated by millions of network-enabled IoT devices and kept on the public cloud server, as well as the latency in response and safe transmission, are important issues that IoT faces when using the public cloud computing. These concerns and obstacles can only be overcome by designing a robust mutual authentication and secure cross-verification mechanism. Therefore, we have attempted to design a cryptographic protocol based on a simple hash function, xor operations, and the exchange of random numbers. The security of the proposed protocol has formally been verified using the ROR model, ProVerif2.03, and informally using realistic discussion. In contrast, the performance metrics have been analyzed by looking into the security feature, communication, and computation costs. To sum it up, we have compared our proposed security mechanism with the state-of-the-art protocols, and we recommend it to be effectively implemented in the public cloud computing environment.
ABSTRACT
Introduction
Amid coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) pandemic, accurate detection of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‐CoV‐2) is critical for diagnosis management and ...breaking down transmission chains. We designed a national external quality assessment panel (EQAP) for SARS‐CoV‐2 molecular detection comprising working laboratories nationwide.
Methods
A molecular diagnostic EQA panel that consists of five samples for SARS CoV‐2 testing was distributed to 141 public and private sector laboratories across country. These samples contain different concentrations of SARS‐CoV‐2 to evaluate the sensitivity of commercial kits available.
Results
Sensitivity among public and private sector laboratories was variable, particularly lower SARS‐CoV‐2 concentrations significantly increased the risk of false‐negative tests, whereas Ct values of accurately tested SARS‐CoV‐2 specimens increased as concentration decreased. These findings highlighted that performance of used commercial kits was not significantly correlated to various extraction or PCR methods.
Conclusion
This study highlights the need for a national external quality assessment panel (EQAP) in the country to improve the quality of the healthcare system while ensuring the accuracy and reliability of results. Furthermore, EQAPs can help laboratories meet accreditation and regulatory requirements. However, continued participation in EQAP is recommended for quality enhancement of laboratories.
In 21 antimicrobial stewardship programs in critical-access hospitals in Nebraska and Iowa that self-reported nonadherence to a CDC Core Element or Elements, in-depth program assessment and feedback ...revealed that accountability and education most needed improvement. Recommendations included providing physician and pharmacist training, tracking interventions, and providing education. Program barriers included lack of time and/or personnel and antimicrobial stewardship and/or infectious diseases expertise.
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Background: High dose chemotherapy (HDCT) followed by autologous stem cell transplant (ASCT) has shown to overcome intrinsic chemo-resistance and improve disease control in Primary ...Central Nervous System Lymphoma (PCNSL). Our study reviews the treatment outcome in PCNSL with sequential HDCT and ASCT. Methods: 8/34 studies were finalized after systematic search of PubMed, Cochrane, and Clinicaltrials.gov for treatment of PCNSL with HDCT followed by ASCT. Results: 251/288 patients were evaluated. Mean age was 55.5 years. 227 underwent HDCT-ASCT. 174 were newly diagnosed (ND) and 77 had relapsed refractory (R/R) PCNSL. ND patients showed superior outcomes in terms of progression free survival and overall survival. Combinations of High dose Rituximab, Busulfan and Cyclophosphamide significantly improved survival outcomes in RR patients. Significant toxicities mainly included pancytopenias and opportunistic. Conclusions: Primary CNS lymphoma treated with HDCT followed by ASCT has shown promising outcomes and has set a benchmark for future studies. Table: see text
