Exogenous application of ascorbic acid improves physiological and productive traits of Nigella sativa.

For thousands of years, plants have been utilized for medicinal purposes. For its naturally existing antibacterial properties, Nigella sativa is one of the most researched herbs. A study was conducted during rabi 2020-21 at The University of Haripur in order to evaluate the potential of ascorbic acid as plant growth enhancer. Two concentrations of ascorbic acid i-e 350 µm and 400 µm were sprayed along with control and water only spray on Nigella sativa crop. The study was arranged in RCBD two factor factorial arrangement. Factor A: ascorbic acid concentrations along with control and water spray, factor B: Growth stages (Stage1 = 40 days after sowing, Stage 2 = 80 DAS, Stage 3 = 120 DAS, Stage 4 = 40 + 80 DAS, Stage 5 = 40 + 120 DAS, Stage 6 = 80 + 120 DAS, Stage 7 = 40 + 80 + 120 DAS). Crop was sown in first week of November. Results reviled that chlorophyll b content, fixed oil content, 1000 seed weight, grain yield, Photosynthetic rate (µ mole m-2s-1), Transpiration rate (mmole m-2s-1), photosynthetic water use efficiency, Internal CO2 concentration (Ci) of leaf tissue and Stomatal conductance (mmole m-2s-1) were significantly affected by ascorbic acid concentrations and stage of application. Crop growth rate increased by 19.88% and 17.29%, chlorophyll b by 12.3% and 11.2%, fixed oil by 11.7% and 9%, grain yield by 10.29% and 9.8%, harvest index by 4% and 5.7% photosynthetic rate by 33%, 20% and stomatal conductance by 24.24% and 24.25 with application of ascorbic acid @ 350 µm, over control and water spray respectively. On the basis of these results it is concluded that application of ascorbic acid at the rate of 350 µm, followed by ascorbic acid at the rate of 400 µm significantly improves black cumin (Nigella sativa) yield and production. Hence it is recommended to apply ascorbic acid at the rate of 350 µm at 40 + 80+120 days after sowing of Nigella sativa crop for obtaining maximum results.

An efficient and compromise-resilient image encryption scheme for resource-constrained environments.

The secret keys produced by current image cryptosystems, which rely on chaotic sequences, exhibit a direct correlation with the size of the image. As the image dimensions expand, the generation of extensive chaotic sequences in the encryption and decryption procedures becomes more computationally intensive. Secondly, a common problem in existing image encryption schemes is the compromise between privacy and efficiency. Some existing lightweight schemes reveal patterns in encrypted images, while others impose heavy computational burdens during encryption/decryption due to the need for large chaotic sequences. In this study, we introduce a lightweight image encryption scheme that involves partitioning the image into uniformly sized tiles and generating a chaotic sequence accordingly. This approach diminishes the necessity to create extensive chaotic sequences equal to the tile size, which is significantly smaller than the original image. As a result, it alleviates the processing burden associated with generating sequences equivalent to the original image size. The results confirm that our proposed scheme is lightweight and secure compared to the latest state-of-the-art image encryption schemes. Additionally, sensitivity analysis demonstrates that the proposed image encryption technique, with a UACI value of 33.48 and NPRC value of 99.96, affirms its resistance to differential attacks.

SBXception: A Shallower and Broader Xception Architecture for Efficient Classification of Skin Lesions.

Skin cancer is a major public health concern around the world. Skin cancer identification is critical for effective treatment and improved results. Deep learning models have shown considerable promise in assisting dermatologists in skin cancer diagnosis. This study proposes SBXception: a shallower and broader variant of the Xception network. It uses Xception as the base model for skin cancer classification and increases its performance by reducing the depth and expanding the breadth of the architecture. We used the HAM10000 dataset, which contains 10,015 dermatoscopic images of skin lesions classified into seven categories, for training and testing the proposed model. Using the HAM10000 dataset, we fine-tuned the new model and reached an accuracy of 96.97% on a holdout test set. SBXception also achieved significant performance enhancement with 54.27% fewer training parameters and reduced training time compared to the base model. Our findings show that reducing and expanding the Xception model architecture can greatly improve its performance in skin cancer categorization.

Automatic Diagnosis of Glaucoma from Retinal Images Using Deep Learning Approach.

Glaucoma is characterized by increased intraocular pressure and damage to the optic nerve, which may result in irreversible blindness. The drastic effects of this disease can be avoided if it is detected at an early stage. However, the condition is frequently detected at an advanced stage in the elderly population. Therefore, early-stage detection may save patients from irreversible vision loss. The manual assessment of glaucoma by ophthalmologists includes various skill-oriented, costly, and time-consuming methods. Several techniques are in experimental stages to detect early-stage glaucoma, but a definite diagnostic technique remains elusive. We present an automatic method based on deep learning that can detect early-stage glaucoma with very high accuracy. The detection technique involves the identification of patterns from the retinal images that are often overlooked by clinicians. The proposed approach uses the gray channels of fundus images and applies the data augmentation technique to create a large dataset of versatile fundus images to train the convolutional neural network model. Using the ResNet-50 architecture, the proposed approach achieved excellent results for detecting glaucoma on the G1020, RIM-ONE, ORIGA, and DRISHTI-GS datasets. We obtained a detection accuracy of 98.48%, a sensitivity of 99.30%, a specificity of 96.52%, an AUC of 97%, and an F1-score of 98% by using the proposed model on the G1020 dataset. The proposed model may help clinicians to diagnose early-stage glaucoma with very high accuracy for timely interventions.

Automated Estimation of Crop Yield Using Artificial Intelligence and Remote Sensing Technologies.

Agriculture is the backbone of any country, and plays a viable role in the total gross domestic product (GDP). Healthy and fruitful crops are of immense importance for a government to fulfill the food requirements of its inhabitants. Because of land diversities, weather conditions, geographical locations, defensive measures against diseases, and natural disasters, monitoring crops with human intervention becomes quite challenging. Conventional crop classification and yield estimation methods are ineffective under unfavorable circumstances. This research exploits modern precision agriculture tools for enhanced remote crop yield estimation, and types classification by proposing a fuzzy hybrid ensembled classification and estimation method using remote sensory data. The architecture enhances the pooled images with fuzzy neighborhood spatial filtering, scaling, flipping, shearing, and zooming. The study identifies the optimal weights of the strongest candidate classifiers for the ensembled classification method adopting the bagging strategy. We augmented the imagery datasets to achieve an unbiased classification between different crop types, including jute, maize, rice, sugarcane, and wheat. Further, we considered flaxseed, lentils, rice, sugarcane, and wheat for yield estimation on publicly available datasets provided by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations and the Word Bank DataBank. The ensemble method outperformed the individual classification methods for crop type classification on an average of 13% and 24% compared to the highest gradient boosting and lowest decision tree methods, respectively. Similarly, we observed that the gradient boosting predictor outperformed the multivariate regressor, random forest, and decision tree regressor, with a comparatively lower mean square error value on yield years 2017 to 2021. Further, the proposed architecture supports embedded devices, where remote devices can adopt a lightweight classification algorithm, such as MobilenetV2. This can significantly reduce the processing time and overhead of a large set of pooled images.

A lightweight noise-tolerant encryption scheme for secure communication: An unmanned aerial vehicle application.

In the modern era, researchers have focused a great deal of effort on multimedia security and fast processing to address computational processing time difficulties. Due to limited battery capacity and storage, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) must use energy-efficient processing. In order to overcome the vulnerability of time inefficiency and provide an appropriate degree of security for digital images, this paper proposes a new encryption system based on the bit-plane extraction method, chaos theory, and Discrete Wavelet Transform (DWT). Using confusion and diffusion processes, chaos theory is used to modify image pixels. In contrast, bit-plane extraction and DWT are employed to reduce the processing time required for encryption. Multiple cyberattack analysis, including noise and cropping attacks, are performed by adding random noise to the ciphertext image in order to determine the proposed encryption scheme's resistance to such attacks. In addition, a variety of statistical security analyses, including entropy, contrast, energy, correlation, peak signal-to-noise ratio (PSNR), and mean square error (MSE), are performed to evaluate the security of the proposed encryption system. Moreover, a comparison is made between the statistical security analysis of the proposed encryption scheme and the existing work to demonstrate that the suggested encryption scheme is better to the existing ones.

Efficacy of Antibiotic Versus Probiotics As Adjuncts to Mechanical Debridement for the Treatment of Peri-Implant Mucositis.

The objective was to compare the efficiency of probiotic therapy (PT) vs antibiotic therapy (AT) as adjuvants to nonsurgical-mechanical debridement (NSMD) for the treatment of peri-implant mucositis (Pi-M). Volunteers with Pi-M were encompassed. Therapeutically, patients were randomly divided into 3 groups: (a) Group 1: NSMD + PT; (b) Group 2: NSMD + AT; and (c) Group 3: NSMD alone. Peri-implant plaque index (PI), bleeding on probing (BOP), probing depth (PD), and crestal bone loss (CBL) were recorded at baseline and at 3 and 6 months follow-up. P < .05 was selected as the indicator of statistical significance. Forty-two male individuals (14, 14, and 14 in Groups 1, 2, and 3, respectively) were included. At 3 and 6 months of follow-up, PI (P < .01), BOP (P < .01), and PD (P < .01) were higher in Group 2 than Group 1. At 3 months of follow-up, PI (P < .01), BOP (P < .01), and PD (P < .01) were higher in Group 3 than Group 2. At 6 months of follow-up, PI, BOP, and PD were comparable in Groups 2 and 3. In Group 3, PI, BOP, and PD were comparable with the respective baseline values at 6 months of follow-up. The CBL in all groups remained unchanged up to 6 months of follow-up. The NSMD with adjuvant PT is more effective than adjunct AT for the treatment of Pi-M for up to 3 months.

Role of Probiotics for the Treatment of Peri-Implant Mucositis in Patients With and Without Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus.

This study hypothesized that probiotic therapy (PT) does not offer additional benefits to mechanical debridement (MD) for the treatment of diabetic subjects with peri-implant mucositis (PM). This study compared the influence of PT as an adjunct to MD for the treatment of PM in type 2 diabetic and nondiabetic patients over a 12-month follow-up period. Patients with and without type 2 diabetes were included. PM patients were categorized into 2 groups based on the treatment procedure: (1) nonsurgical + PT and (2) nonsurgical MD alone. Demographics and education statuses were recorded. Gingival index (GI) and plaque index (PI), crestal bone loss (CBL), and probing depth (PD) were measured at baseline and after 6 and 12 months. Significant differences were detected with P < .01. The hemoglobin A1c level was significantly higher in patients with diabetes at all time durations than in patients without type 2 diabetes (P < .001). Baseline GI, PI, PD, and CBL were comparable in all groups. In patients with type 2 diabetes, there was no difference in PI, GI, PD, and CBL at 6- and 12-month follow-up. In patients without type 2 diabetes, there was a significant reduction in PI (P < .01), GI (P < .01), and PD (P < .01) at 6-month and 1-year follow-up as compared with baseline. In patients without type 2 diabetes, MD with or without adjunct PT reduced soft-tissue inflammatory parameters in patients with PM.

Exploring the potential of moringa leaf extract as bio stimulant for improving yield and quality of black cumin oil.

The history of plants to be utilized as medicines is thousands of years old. Black cumin is one of the most widely examined plant possessing naturally occurring compounds with antimicrobial potential. Foliar application of growth stimulators is a successful strategy to enhance yield and quality in many crops. A field study was planned to apply growth stimulator like moringa leaf extract on black cumin crop grown under field conditions using RCB design with three replications. All other agronomic inputs and practices were uniform. The treatments were moringa leaf extract concentrations (10%, 20%), growth stages (40 days after sowing, 80 DAS, 120 DAS, 40 + 80 DAS, 40 + 120 DAS, 80 + 120 DAS, 40 + 80 + 120 days after sowing) and two controls unsprayed check (i.e. no moringa leaf extract, no water) and sprayed check (no moringa leaf extract + water). Application of 20% moringa leaf extract at stage-7 (40 + 80 + 120 days after sowing) had significantly increased plant height, branches plant-1, essential oil content, fixed oil content, peroxidase value and iodine value of black cumin oil over unsprayed control. Application of moringa leaf extract showed maximum results and improves growth and yield of black cumin when applied at 40 + 80 + 120 days after sowing. As this study was only conducted using moringa leaf extract, it is advisable to conduct an experiment with various bio stimulants along with fertilizer combinations and growth regulators to check their synergistic effects for more reliable and acceptable recommendations in future.

LightAnomalyNet: A Lightweight Framework for Efficient Abnormal Behavior Detection.

The continuous development of intelligent video surveillance systems has increased the demand for enhanced vision-based methods of automated detection of anomalies within various behaviors found in video scenes. Several methods have appeared in the literature that detect different anomalies by using the details of motion features associated with different actions. To enable the efficient detection of anomalies, alongside characterizing the specificities involved in features related to each behavior, the model complexity leading to computational expense must be reduced. This paper provides a lightweight framework (LightAnomalyNet) comprising a convolutional neural network (CNN) that is trained using input frames obtained by a computationally cost-effective method. The proposed framework effectively represents and differentiates between normal and abnormal events. In particular, this work defines human falls, some kinds of suspicious behavior, and violent acts as abnormal activities, and discriminates them from other (normal) activities in surveillance videos. Experiments on public datasets show that LightAnomalyNet yields better performance comparative to the existing methods in terms of classification accuracy and input frames generation.

Periodontal Conditions and Whole Salivary IL-17A and -23 Levels among Young Adult Cannabis sativa (Marijuana)-Smokers, Heavy Cigarette-Smokers and Non-Smokers.

In the United States, prevalence of marijuana-use has doubled in the past 2 decades. The aim was to compare the periodontal conditions and whole-salivary IL-17A and IL-23 levels among young adult marijuana-smokers, heavy cigarette-smokers and non-smokers. Self-reported marijuana-smokers, heavy-cigarette-smokers, non-smokers with periodontitis and periodontally-healthy non-smokers were included. Demographic data was recorded and full-mouth plaque index (PI), bleeding on probing (BoP), probing depth (PD) and clinical attachment loss (AL), marginal bone loss (MBL) and missing teeth were recorded. Levels of IL-17A and IL-23 levels were measured in the whole saliva. p < 0.01 was considered statistically significant. Fifteen-marijuana-smokers, 15 heavy-cigarette-smokers, 16 non-smokers-with-periodontitis and 15 periodontally-healthy-non-smokers) were included. The clinicoradiographic parameters were worse among marijuana-smokers (p < 0.01), cigarette-smokers (p < 0.01) and non-smokers-with-periodontitis (p < 0.01) than periodontally-healthy-non-smokers. Marijuana- and cigarette-smokers had Stage-IV/Grade C and non-smokers with periodontitis had Stage-III/Grade-C. Salivary IL-17A and IL-23 levels were higher in marijuana-smokers than cigarette-smokers (p < 0.01) and non-smokers-with-periodontitis (p < 0.01). Whole salivary IL-17A and IL-23 levels were higher among cigarette-smokers than non-smokers with periodontitis (p < 0.01) and periodontally-healthy-individuals (p < 0.01). Marijuana- and heavy cigarette-smokers have comparable clinicoradiographic periodontal statuses. This rejects hypothesis-1. However, whole salivary immunoinflammatory response may be moderately worse in marijuana-smokers compared with heavy cigarette-smokers and non-smoker with periodontitis thereby supporting hypothesis-2.

Comparison of an Herbal- and a 0.12% Chlorhexidine-based Oral Rinse as Adjuncts to Nonsurgical Mechanical Debridement in the Management of Peri-implant Mucositis: A Randomised Controlled Trial.

PURPOSE: In the present randomised controlled trial (RCT), the authors hypothesise that herbal-based oral rinses are as effective as 0.12% chlorhexidine when used as adjuncts to non-surgical mechanical debridement (MD) in the management of peri-implant mucositis. The aim of the present RCT was to compare the efficacy of an herbal oral rinse with a 0.12% chlorhexidine-based oral rinse when used as adjuncts to non-surgical MD in the treatment of peri-implant mucositis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Adult patients with peri-implant mucositis were included. Participants were randomly allocated into 3 groups. In group 1, patients only underwent non-surgical MD. In groups 2 and 3, patients underwent non-surgical MD with adjunct rinsing with an herbal- and 0.12% CHX-based oral rinse, respectively. Peri-implant plaque index (PI) and bleeding-on-probing (BOP) and probing-depth (PD) were assessed at baseline and at 3, 6, and 12 weeks. Group comparisons were done and p < 0.01 was considered statistically significant. RESULTS: Forty-eight patients with peri-implant mucositis (16, 16, and 16 in groups 1, 2 and 3, respectively) were included. At baseline, there was no difference in PI, PD, BOP in all groups. In group 1, there was no statistically significant difference in PI and BOP at 6, and 12 weeks of follow-up compared with baseline. In groups 2 and 3, PI (p < 0.01) and BOP (p < 0.01) were statistically significantly higher at baseline than 3, 6, and 12 weeks of follow-up. In group 1, there was no statistically significant difference in PD at all time intervals. In groups 2 and 3, PD was statistically significantly higher at baseline than 3, 6, and 12 weeks of follow-up. In groups 2 and 3, there was no statistically significant difference in PI, BOP and PD at all intervals. CONCLUSION: Herbal- and 0.12% CHX-based oral rinses are useful adjuncts to MD for the treatment of peri-implant mucositis.

Comparison of physiological responses of Arabian striped hyaena (Hyaena hyaena sultana) to effective immobilisations with ketamine-medetomidine and ketamine-xylazine in (semi-) captive conditions.

Chemical immobilisation is an integral component for the conservation of wild animals and can be stressful if proper protocols are not administered. References on the immobilisation of Arabian striped hyaena (Hyaena hyaena sultana) are scarce. The current study was designed to evaluate the physiological and clinical responses of Arabian striped hyaena, immobilised with ketamine-medetomidine (KM) and ketamine-xylazine (KX); and to compare immobilisation effectiveness of the two combinations in a cross-sectional clinical study. A total of 15 (six males, nine females) (semi-) captive and adult Arabian striped hyaena with an average weight of 31.39 ± 0.36 kg were immobilised 50 times for annual vaccination and translocation purposes from January 2014 till March 2018 on Sir Bani Yas Island, United Arab Emirates. A total of 34 immobilisations were executed with (Mean ± SE) 2.27 ± 0.044 mg/kg ketamine and 0.04 ± 0.001 mg/kg medetomidine; while 16 with 4.95 ± 0.115 mg/kg ketamine and 0.99 ± 0.023 mg/kg xylazine. The drugs were remotely delivered intramuscular. The evaluation of physiological and clinical parameters included monitoring of vital signs through pulse oximetry, blood gas analysis of arterial blood through Istat blood gas analyser, and blood biochemistry and haematology. The quality of induction, anaesthesia and recovery was also assessed. Atipamezole (0.21 ± 0.003 mg/kg) was used to antagonise the effects of KM and 0.09 ± 0.003 mg/kg atipamezole or by 0.23 ± 0.006 mg/kg yohimbine for KX. Data were analysed using the general linear model and inferential statistics. KM was more effective in induction (scores; KM = 1.41 ± 0.10; KX = 1.31 ± 0.12), anaesthesia (KM = 1.00 ± 0.00; KX = 2.0 ± 0.0) and recovery (KM = 1.76 ± 0.15; KX = 2.69 ± 0.12) phases as compared to KX. There was a significant difference (P < 0.05) amongst the two combinations for anaesthesia time (KM = 59.5 ± 2.41; KX = 49.25 ± 1.31 min.), time to stand after reversal (KM = 4.91 ± 0.60; KX = 10.38 ± 1.48 min.) and full loss of the signs of anaesthetics (KM = 12.32 ± 1.37; KX = 21.25 ± 2.16 min.) along with rectal temperature (KM = 37.58 ± 0.29; KX = 36.00 ± 0.68 °C), pulse rate (KM = 50.46 ± 1.90; KX = 61.14 ± 2.79 beats/min), respiration rate (KM = 29.44 ± 0.99; KX = 23.80 ± 1.57 breaths/min.) and partial pressure of oxygen (KM = 89.59 ± 1.34; KX = 82.06 ± 3.92%). The blood oxygen saturation by oximeter indicated hypoxaemia in KX (82.06 ± 3.92), supported by the data from blood gas analyser. KM combination was more suitable for the immobilisation of Arabian striped hyaena, providing a better quality of induction, anaesthesia and recovery compared to KX. However, we strongly suggest further investigation to see the effects of oxygen supplementation for the compensation of hypoxaemia.

Association study of Apolipoprotein A5 gene (APOA5 gene) variant with the metabolic syndrome in local Pakistani population.

OBJECTIVE: To explore the association of rs662799 variants of Apolipoprotein A5 gene with metabolic syndrome in Pakistani population. METHODS: The case-control study was conducted at Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences, Islamabad, Pakistan from 2014 to2016, and comprised subjects enrolled from the out-patient clinics. Groups were formed on the basis of preliminary screening for risk factors like obesity, insulin resistance, hypertension, dyslipidemia and fasting blood glucose levels. Met S was diagnosed based on the international diabetes federation criteria. Blood samples were collected for biochemical testing and deoxyribonucleic acid extraction. Genotyping of rs662799 was performed a the Genome Research Centre of the University of Hong Kong using Sequenom Mass ARRAY, iPLEX Gold technology. Data was analysed using SPSS 16and Plink software. RESULTS: :There were 712 subjects in two groups of 356(50%) each. The overall mean age was 41.59}7.18 years. There was a significant association of risk allele C of rs662799 with metabolic syndrome (p=0.002). The risk showed strong association with dyslipidaemia (p=0.03) and obesity (p=0.01) which are risk phenotypes of metabolic syndrome in age- and gender-adjusted model. CONCLUSIONS: The association of risk allele C of genetic variant rs662799 of Apolipoprotein A5 gene with dyslipidaemia and obesity may lead to the development of metabolic syndrome in the Pakistan adult population.

Peri-implant clinical and radiographic status and whole salivary cotinine levels among cigarette and waterpipe smokers and never-smokers.

The aim was to compare the peri-implant clinical and radiographic inflammatory parameters and whole salivary cotinine levels among cigarette smokers (CS), waterpipe smokers (WS) and never-smokers (NS). Thirty-four CS (Group 1), 33 WS (Group 2), and 31 NS (Group 3) were included. Peri-implant plaque index (PI), bleeding-on-probing (BOP), and probing depth (PD) were measured, and crestal bone loss (CBL) was assessed on standardized digital radiographs. Unstimulated whole saliva samples were collected and whole salivary cotinine levels were measured. Peri-implant PI and PD were higher in Groups 1 (P < 0.05) and 2 (P < 0.05) than in Group 3. Peri-implant BOP was significantly higher in Group 3 than in Groups 1 (P < 0.01) and 2 (P < 0.01). Peri-implant MBL was significantly higher in Groups 1 (P < 0.05) and 2 (P < 0.05) than in Group 3. There were significant differences in PI, BOP, PD, and CBL between Groups 1 and 2. There was no significant difference in the whole salivary cotinine levels in Groups 1 and 2. Peri-implant sites with plaque accumulation, PD, CBL, and whole salivary cotinine levels were higher in CS and WS than in NS, but did not differ between CS and WS.

Self-perceived oral symptoms and periodontal status among young intravenous heroin addicts: A cross-sectional case-control study.

BACKGROUND: It is hypothesized that (a) self-perceived oral symptoms (OSs) are worse in intravenous heroin addicts (IHA) than controls; and (b) clinical periodontal inflammatory parameters (plaque index [PI], bleeding on probing [BOP], PD and clinical attachment loss [AL]), number of missing teeth (MT), and radiographic marginal bone loss (MBL) are higher in IHA compared with controls. The aim was to compare the self-perceived OSs and periodontal parameters among young IHA and controls. METHODS: Sociodemographic data, self-perceived OSs and duration and daily frequency of intravenous heroin use was gathered using a structured questionnaire. Full-mouth PI, BOP, PD, and clinical AL were measured, and number of MT were recorded. Mesial and distal MBL on all teeth was measured on digital radiographs. Odds ratios (OR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) were computed for self-perceived OSs and periodontal parameters were assessed using the Mann Whitney U-test and logistic regression analysis. Sample-size was estimated, and level of significance was set at P < 0.05. RESULTS: OR (95% CI) for self-perceived loose teeth (P < 0.001), pain in teeth (P < 0.001), dry mouth (P < 0.001), burning sensation in mouth (P < 0.001), bleeding gums (P < 0.001) and pain during chewing (P < 0.001) were significantly higher in the test than control group. Number of MT (P < 0.05), PI (P < 0.05), clinical AL (P < 0.05), and mesial (P < 0.05) and distal (P < 0.05) MBL were statistically significantly higher among individuals in the test group compared with the control group. CONCLUSION: Self-perceived OSs and periodontal inflammatory parameters were worse in IHA than controls.

Cotton productivity enhanced through transplanting and early sowing / Aumento da produtividade do algodão por meio de transplante de mudas e semeadura precoce

Due to high temperatures in arid regions, cotton crop emergence and early establishment ofseedlings are adversely affected. Field studies were undertaken to quantify the effects of transplantation ofcotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) seedlings during the early part of the growing season (March) and cropseason (May) for potential realization of cotton productivity under the harsh weather of the southern partof Punjab province, Pakistan. Treatments, consisting of (a) two planting dates (March and May), and (b)two sowing methods (transplanting of seedlings and direct seeding), were arranged in a randomizedcomplete-block design with four replications. Results showed that transplanting seedlings improved theproductivity of cotton by 14.2% over direct seeding. Productivity was also increased substantially (34.8%)by planting during March over May sowing. The practice of planting cotton by transplanting seedlings andearly sowing could be successfully adapted in areas where high temperatures coincide with the Mayplanting and peak blooming periods in different cotton growing areas.

Altas temperaturas, em torno de 48ºC, prevalecem durante os meses de maio na parte do sul da província de Punjab, no Paquistão. A esta temperatura a emergência da colheita de algodão e o estabelecimento precoce da plântula são adversamente afetados. Estudos de campo foram realizados paraquantificar os efeitos do transplante de mudas de algodão (Gossypium hirsutum L.) durante a primeira parteda estação de crescimento (março) e da safra (maio) para a realização potencial da produtividade do algodãosob condições adversas da parte sul do Punjab Província-Paquistão. Os tratamentos, consistindo em(a) duas datas de plantio (março e maio), e (b) dois métodos de semeadura (transplante de mudas e semeadura direta), foram dispostos em delineamento em blocos ao acaso com quatro repetições. Os resultados mostraram que o transplante de mudas melhorou a produtividade do algodão em 14,2% em relação à semeadura direta. A produtividade também aumentou substancialmente (34,8%) com o plantioem março sobre a semeadura de maio. A prática de plantio de algodão por transplante de mudas e sua semeadura precoce poderia ser adaptada com sucesso, onde a alta temperatura coincide com o tempo de plantio durante o mês de maio e períodos de florescimento máximo em diferentes áreas de cultivo de algodão.

Cotton productivity enhanced through transplanting and early sowing

Due to high temperatures in arid regions, cotton crop emergence and early establishment of seedlings are adversely affected. Field studies were undertaken to quantify the effects of transplantation of cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) seedlings during the early part of the growing season (March) and crop season (May) for potential realization of cotton productivity under the harsh weather of the southern part of Punjab province, Pakistan. Treatments, consisting of (a) two planting dates (March and May), and (b) two sowing methods (transplanting of seedlings and direct seeding), were arranged in a randomized complete-block design with four replications. Results showed that transplanting seedlings improved the productivity of cotton by 14.2% over direct seeding. Productivity was also increased substantially (34.8%) by planting during March over May sowing. The practice of planting cotton by transplanting seedlings and early sowing could be successfully adapted in areas where high temperatures coincide with the May planting and peak blooming periods in different cotton growing areas.

Comparison of peri-implant clinical and radiographic inflammatory parameters among cigarette and waterpipe (narghile) smokers and never-smokers.

BACKGROUND: The authors hypothesized that peri-implant clinical and radiographic inflammatory parameters are worse in waterpipe smokers (WS) and cigarette smokers (CS) compared with never-smokers (NS). The aim of the present retrospective study is to compare peri-implant clinical and radiographic inflammatory parameters among WS, CS, and NS. METHODS: Forty-four CS (group 1), 41 WS (group 2), and 43 NS (group 3) were included. Demographic data were collected using a questionnaire. Peri-implant plaque index (PI), bleeding on probing (BOP), and probing depth (PD) were measured, and crestal bone loss (CBL) was assessed on standardized digital radiographs. Sample size was estimated, and statistical analyses were performed using Kruskal-Wallis and Wilcoxon rank-sum tests. For multiple comparisons, Bonferroni post hoc test was performed. P values < 0.05 were considered statistically significant. RESULTS: Peri-implant PI and PD were higher in groups 1 (P < 0.05) and 2 (P < 0.05) compared with group 3. Peri-implant BOP was significantly higher in group 3 compared with individuals in groups 1 (P < 0.01) and 2 (P < 0.01). Peri-implant total marginal bone loss was significantly higher in groups 1 (P < 0.05) and 2 (P < 0.05) compared with group 3. There were differences in PI, BOP, PD, and CBL among participants in groups 1 and 2. CONCLUSIONS: Peri-implant soft tissue inflammatory parameters and CBL are worse in CS and WS compared with NS. There is no difference in these parameters between CS and WS.

Sperm sexing in Nili-Ravi buffalo through modified swim up: Validation using SYBR® green real-time PCR.

Sperm sexing through flow-sorting technology is relatively expensive, requires considerable technical support and is actually not practicable in many developing countries. The aim of this study was to investigate the feasibility of producing enriched pools of X or Y chromosome-bearing sperm by a modified swim-up method. For this purpose semen was collected from five mature Nili-Ravi buffalo bulls for a period of six weeks. The qualifying ejaculates were divided into two aliquots for further processing through modified swim-up or control (untreated). After processing, semen was cryopreserved in tris citric acid extender using standard techniques. Semen quality was assessed at pre dilution, post dilution and post thawing. Validation of technique was done by using SYBR® green real time PCR using two sets of primers, PLP and SRY for X and Y chromosome of buffalo genes, respectively. Sperm recovery rates, pre freeze and post thaw sperm quality were found significantly higher in X chromosome bearing sperm fraction than Y chromosome bearing fraction and control. Mean fold relative expression of X bearing sperm was significantly higher (4-5 fold) in X chromosome bearing fraction of supernatant than Y chromosome bearing fraction (0.06 fold), similarly mean fold relative expression of Y chromosome bearing sperm was significantly higher in Y chromosome bearing fraction (4 fold) of supernatant than X chromosome bearing fraction (0.15 fold) compared to control (1.00). In conclusion, a modified swim up method proved to be an effective method for Nili-Ravi buffalo sperm sexing as validated by real time PCR.