The effect of fertigation regimes on wheat grown in sandy soil was tested in two field experiments in Egypt. The aim of the study was to determine the vulnerability of wheat to extreme weather event ...under climate change scenarios. Eight fertigation treatments, in addition to farmer irrigation were tested. Two climate change scenarios obtained from Hadley climate change model were incorporated in CropSyst model to assess wheat yield responses to fertigation regimes under these scenarios. The results showed that the highest yield and the highest water use efficiency (WUE) was obtained under irrigation application using 1.2 and 0.8 of Etc, respectively, with fertigation application in 80% of application time in both growing seasons. The calibration of CropSyst model confirmed that the model is able to mimic the growth of wheat and predicted grain, biological yield, and WUE with high degree of accuracy. The highest yield reduction and the lowest WUE under the tested climate change scenarios were obtained from farmer irrigation. It can be concluded that irrigating wheat grown in sandy soil with an amount of either 1.0 or 0.8 of ETc with fertigation application in 80% of application time is recommended to enhance growth and yield, and to reduce wheat's damage caused by extreme climate change.
Pharmacological relief of neuropathic pain is often insufficient. Electrical neurostimulation is efficacious in chronic neuropathic pain and other neurological diseases. European Federation of ...Neurological Societies (EFNS) launched a Task Force to evaluate the evidence for these techniques and to produce relevant recommendations. We searched the literature from 1968 to 2006, looking for neurostimulation in neuropathic pain conditions, and classified the trials according to the EFNS scheme of evidence for therapeutic interventions. Spinal cord stimulation (SCS) is efficacious in failed back surgery syndrome (FBSS) and complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) type I (level B recommendation). High‐frequency transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) may be better than placebo (level C) although worse than electro‐acupuncture (level B). One kind of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) has transient efficacy in central and peripheral neuropathic pains (level B). Motor cortex stimulation (MCS) is efficacious in central post‐stroke and facial pain (level C). Deep brain stimulation (DBS) should only be performed in experienced centres. Evidence for implanted peripheral stimulations is inadequate. TENS and r‐TMS are non‐invasive and suitable as preliminary or add‐on therapies. Further controlled trials are warranted for SCS in conditions other than failed back surgery syndrome and CRPS and for MCS and DBS in general. These chronically implanted techniques provide satisfactory pain relief in many patients, including those resistant to medication or other means.
There is a growing body of literature that recognizes the importance of mathematical modelling which deal with real world problems in mathematics school. The present study set out to investigate ...potential uses of the Hip Roof problem to introduce a mathematical modelling activity to Indonesian students. This study was exploratory and interpretative in nature. The Hip Roof problem was originally developed by the researcher and was assigned to six groups of undergraduate students enrolled at one public university in Jakarta, Indonesia. Test administration and interview were conducted to describe their work. The works were analyzed descriptively. The result indicates that the problem is feasible with undergraduate students and the participants of the study appreciate the problem included in school mathematics to enhance their ability to implement mathematics in their real life. In solving the problem, the participants used their personal mathematical knowledge.
▶ Water crisis and escalating labour costs are threatening rice production. ▶·Because of its low-input demand, direct seeded rice is an attractive alternative. ▶·Early-maturing varieties, weed and ...nutrient management favour its adoption. ▶ Weeds, blast, lodging, poor kernel quality and low yields are the major challenges. ▶·Experiences, problems and opportunities of direct seeded rice have been discussed.
Rice is one of the most important food crops in the world, and staple for more than half of the global population. Looming water crisis, water-intensive nature of rice cultivation and escalating labour costs drive the search for alternative management methods to increase water productivity in rice cultivation. Direct seeded rice (DSR) has received much attention because of its low-input demand. It involves sowing pre-germinated seed into a puddled soil surface (wet seeding), standing water (water seeding) or dry seeding into a prepared seedbed (dry seeding). In Europe, Australia and the United States, DSR is highly mechanised. The development of early-maturing varieties and improved nutrient management techniques along with increased availability of chemical weed control methods has encouraged many farmers in the Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand and India to switch from transplanted to DSR culture. This shift should substantially reduce crop water requirements, soil organic-matter turnover, nutrient relations, carbon sequestering, weed biota and greenhouse-gas emissions. Still, weed infestation can cause large yield losses in DSR. In addition, recent incidences of blast disease, crop lodging, impaired kernel quality and stagnant yields across the years are major challenges in this regard. In this review, we discuss the experiences, potential advantages and problems associated with DSR, and suggest likely future patterns of changes in rice cultivation.
Background
In patients with multiple endocrine neoplasia type 2 (MEN2) syndrome, genetic testing offers early diagnosis, stratifies the risk of developing medullary thyroid cancer (MTC) and informs ...the timing of thyroidectomy. The efficacy of treatment, which depends on timely and safe surgery, is not well established.
Methods
This was a retrospective review of diagnostic and clinicopathological outcomes of prophylactic thyroidectomy in children with MEN2 between 1995 and 2013 in the UK. American Thyroid Association (ATA) 2009 guidelines were used as a benchmark for adequate treatment.
Results
Seventy‐nine children from 16 centres underwent total thyroidectomy. Thirty‐eight patients (48 per cent) underwent genetic testing and 36 (46 per cent) had an operation performed above the age recommended by the ATA 2009 guidelines; pathology showed MTC in 30 patients (38 per cent). Late surgery, above‐normal preoperative calcitonin level and MTC on pathology correlated with late genetic testing. Twenty‐five children had lymphadenectomy; these patients had more parathyroid glands excised (mean difference 0·61, 95 per cent c.i. 0·24 to 0·98; P = 0·001), and were more likely to have hypocalcaemia requiring medication (relative risk (RR) 3·12, 95 per cent c.i. 1·54 to 6·32; P = 0·002) and permanent hypoparathyroidism (RR 3·24, 1·29 to 8·11; P = 0·010) compared with those who underwent total thyroidectomy alone. Age did not influence the development of complications.
Conclusion
Late genetic testing may preclude age‐appropriate surgery, increasing the risk of operating when MTC has already developed. Early genetic testing and age‐appropriate surgery may help avoid unnecessary lymphadenectomy and improve outcomes.
Centralization needed
Although deep brain stimulation (DBS) of the subthalamic nucleus (STN) is a highly effective therapeutic intervention in severe Parkinson's disease, its mechanism of action remains unclear. One ...possibility is that DBS suppresses local pathologically synchronised oscillatory activity.
To explore this, the authors recorded from DBS electrodes implanted in the STN of 16 patients with Parkinson's disease during simultaneous stimulation (pulse width 60 μs; frequency 130 Hz) of the same target using a specially designed amplifier. The authors analysed data from 25 sides.
The authors found that DBS progressively suppressed peaks in local field potential activity at frequencies between 11 and 30 Hz as voltage was increased beyond a stimulation threshold of 1.5 V. Median peak power had fallen to 54% of baseline values by a stimulation intensity of 3.0 V.
The findings suggest that DBS can suppress pathological 11-30 Hz activity in the vicinity of stimulation in patients with Parkinson's disease. This suppression occurs at stimulation voltages that are clinically effective.
Background
Treatment of plantar warts is difficult and requires multiple treatments, and they are more refractory to treatment than common warts. Intralesional bleomycin has been used in the ...treatment of warts with varying degrees of success.
Aim
The aim of the present work is to evaluate the efficacy of intralesional injection of bleomycin in the treatment of plantar warts based on clinical and dermoscopic observations.
Patients and methods
Bleomycin (1 mg/ml) was injected intralesionally into the pared plantar wart every 2 weeks for a maximum of four sessions. Patients were followed both clinically and by the use of dermoscope.
Results
The cure rate of plantar warts treated with bleomycin was 69.3% with minimal and tolerable side effects.
Conclusion
Intralesional injection of bleomycin is an effective and safe treatment of plantar warts. Dermoscope is recommended in the evaluation of treatment success, as it can accurately tell if the wart needs further treatment, preventing premature stoppage of the treatment, thus decreasing the possibility of recurrences.
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•Influence on sulphur content on the properties of NiS-rGO has been investigated.•Effect of sulphur content on the performance of DSSC using NiS-rGO counter electrode has also been ...investigated.•The sample has been prepared via modified Hummers’s method assisted with spin coating technique.•The cell with the NiS-rGO CE prepared with 1.20 M thiourea yielded the highest η of 1.42%.•This is because this cell has the lowest Rb, Rct and the highest reduction current (J).•The findings of this work show that NiS-rGO is able to substitute platinum as CE of DSSC.
The influence on sulphur content in term of thiourea (TU) concentration on the properties of nickel sulphide (NiS)-reduced graphene oxide (rGO) has been reported in this paper. The effect of sulphur content on the performance of dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) using NiS-rGO counter electrode (CE) has also been investigated. The source of sulphur is TU. The sample has been prepared via modified Hummers’s method assisted with spin coating technique. The cell using NiS-rGO CE prepared with 1.20 M TU yielded the highest power conversion efficiency (η) of 1.42%. This is due to this cell has the lowest series resistance (Rb) and charge transfer resistance at the interface of NiS-rGO CE/electrolyte (Rct) with the value of 0.44 and 4.09 Ω, respectively. It is also due to the sample with 1.20 M TU owns the highest reduction current (J). The finding of this work reveals that NiS-rGO is able to substitute platinum as CE for DSSC.
Background
Treatment of vitiligo with intralesional steroid (ILS) injections has shown to be successful in quite a few studies. It is a simple and safe treatment when used with caution with a better ...response in localized lesions.
Objectives
The aim of the present study is to explore the efficacy and safety of using different concentrations of intralesional corticosteroid combined with NB‐UVB phototherapy in the treatment of non‐segmental vitiligo (NSV) patients.
Methodology
Twenty patients with non‐segmental vitiligo were subjected to different concentrations of ILS injections (triamcinolone acetonide); that was carried out monthly for six sessions. All patients were also subjected to twice‐weekly sessions of NB‐UVB for 6 months. Punch biopsy was taken from each patch before and at the end of treatment sessions. Each biopsy was stained with hematoxylin and eosin (H&E), Orcein, and Masson's trichrome stains.
Results
There was a significant difference between all groups in their repigmentation response (P = 0.017). After treatment, the epidermal thickness (histometry) was decreased (epidermal atrophy), especially with concentrations of 2.5 and 5 mg/ml of intralesional triamcinolone acetonide injection with decreased and disorganized collagen fibers.
Conclusion
Intralesional corticosteroid injections combined with NB‐UVB showed a good and well‐tolerated therapeutic option for vitiligo. The concentrations of 0.625 and 1.25 mg/ml of triamcinolone acetonide were the safest with fewer side effects and complications. However, higher concentrations of 2.5 and 5 mg/ml were more effective but with more side effects.
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