Phosphate-Solubilizing Bacillus sp. Modulate Soil Exoenzyme Activities and Improve Wheat Growth.

Phosphorus (P) is a vital mineral nutrient in agriculture and its deficiency results in reduced growth, yield, and grain quality in cereals. Much of the applied P in agriculture becomes fixed in soils, limiting its accessibility to plants. Thus, investigating sustainable strategies to release fixed P resources and enhance plant uptake is crucial. This study explored how plant-associated bacteria employ phosphate solubilizing mechanisms to improve P availability. The growth patterns of four bacterial strains, namely Bacillus subtilis ZE15 and ZR3, along with Bacillus megaterium ZE32 and ZR19, were examined in Pikovskaya's broth culture with and without the addition of insoluble phosphorus (P). In the absence of P amendment, most strains reached a stationary growth phase by the fourth day. However, their responses diverged when exposed to P-amended media. Particularly, ZE15 demonstrated the highest P solubilization capability, achieving up to 130 µg mL-1 solubilization in vitro. All strains produced organic acids in Pikovskaya's broth culture. A comparison of the influence of Ca3(PO4)2 revealed significantly greater organic acid quantities in the presence of insoluble P. Notably, strain ZE15 exhibited the highest phosphate esterase activity (3.65 nmol g-1 dry matter), while strain ZE32 showed the highest ß-D glucosidase activity (2.81 nmol g-1 dry matter) in the presence of insoluble P. The ability of Bacillus species to solubilize P in combination with increased exoenzyme activity in the rhizosphere could be used in future studies to support P uptake through enhanced solubilization and mineralization.

Photosystems and antioxidative system of rye, wheat and triticale under Pb stress.

Lead (Pb2+) pollution in the soil sub-ecosystem has been a continuously growing problem due to economic development and ever-increasing anthropogenic activities across the world. In this study, the photosynthetic performance and antioxidant capacity of Triticeae cereals (rye, wheat and triticale) were compared to assess the activities of antioxidants, the degree of oxidative damage, photochemical efficiency and the levels of photosynthetic proteins under Pb stress (0.5 mM, 1 mM and 2 mM Pb (NO3)2). Compared with triticale, Pb treatments imposed severe oxidative damage in rye and wheat. In addition, the highest activity of major antioxidant enzymes (SOD, POD, CAT, and GPX) was also found to be elevated. Triticale accumulated the highest Pb contents in roots. The concentration of mineral ions (Mg, Ca, and K) was also high in its leaves, compared with rye and wheat. Consistently, triticale showed higher photosynthetic activity under Pb stress. Immunoblotting of proteins revealed that rye and wheat have significantly lower levels of D1 (photosystem II subunit A, PsbA) and D2 (photosystem II subunit D, PsbD) proteins, while no obvious decrease was noticed in triticale. The amount of light-harvesting complex II b6 (Lhcb6; CP24) and light-harvesting complex II b5 (Lhcb5; CP26) was significantly increased in rye and wheat. However, the increase in PsbS (photosystem II subunit S) protein only occurred in wheat and triticale exposed to Pb treatment. Taken together, these findings demonstrate that triticale shows higher antioxidant capacity and photosynthetic efficiency than wheat and rye under Pb stress, suggesting that triticale has high tolerance to Pb and could be used as a heavy metal-tolerant plant.

Struvite separation from wastewater and its use with sulfur-oxidizing bacteria improves phosphorus utilization in alkaline soil.

A major portion of phosphatic fertilizer comes from the limiting natural resource, rock phosphate, which demands a timely alternative. Struvite, a crystalline mineral of low solubility, is a worthwhile alternative. Evaluation of the local wastewater streams for their ability to precipitate struvite and its capability as phosphatic fertilizer under an alkaline soil environment was studied. Two stirring speeds, a pH range of 8.0-11.0, and a constant molar ratio were used to optimize local wastewater streams for struvite precipitation. Struvite was used in five different combinations to assess the release of phosphorus (P), including control (no P source), single superphosphate, struvite, struvite + sulfur, and rock phosphate with or without inoculation of sulfur-oxidizing bacteria (SOB). For struvite precipitation, low stirring speeds are ideal because the precipitates readily sink to the bottom once they form. Furthermore, the amalgamation of SOB with sulfur significantly improved P use efficiency under alkaline soils through increased phosphorus sources solubility and enabled optimum wheat production due to its low solubility in an alkaline soil condition. Due to its capacity to recycle phosphorus from wastewater, struvite is poised to emerge as a sustainable fertilizer and had an opportunity to capture a share of this expanding market.

Low red/far-red ratio as a signal promotes carbon assimilation of soybean seedlings by increasing the photosynthetic capacity.

BACKGROUND: Shading includes low light intensity and varying quality. However, a low red/far-red (R/Fr) ratio of light is a signal that affects plant growth in intercropping and close- planting systems. Thus, the low R/Fr ratio uncoupling from shading conditions was assessed to identify the effect of light quality on photosynthesis and CO2 assimilation. Soybean plants were grown in a growth chamber with natural solar radiation under four treatments, that is, normal (N, sunlight), N + Fr, Low (L) + Fr, and L light. RESULTS: Low R/Fr ratio significantly increased the total biomass, leaf area, starch and sucrose contents, chlorophyll content, net photosynthetic rate, and quantum efficiency of the photosystem II compared with normal R/Fr ratio under the same light level (P < 0.05). Proteomic analysis of soybean leaves under different treatments was performed to quantify the changes in photosynthesis and CO2 assimilation in the chloroplast. Among the 7834 proteins quantified, 12 showed a > 1.3-fold change in abundance, of which 1 was related to porphyrin and chlorophyll metabolism, 2 were involved in photosystem I (PS I), 4 were associated with PS II, 3 proteins participated in photosynthetic electron transport, and 2 were involved in starch and sucrose metabolism. The dynamic change in these proteins indicates that photosynthesis and CO2 assimilation were maintained in the L treatment by up-regulating the component protein levels compared with those in N treatment. Although low R/Fr ratio increased the photosynthetic CO2 assimilation parameters, the differences in most protein expression levels in N + Fr and L + Fr treatments compared with those in N treatment were insignificant. Similar trends were found in gene expression through quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction excluding the gene expression of sucrose synthase possible because light environment is one of the factors affecting carbon assimilation. CONCLUSIONS: Low R/Fr ratio (high Fr light) can increase the photosynthetic CO2 assimilation in the same light intensity by improving the photosynthetic efficiency of the photosystems.

Nutrients Supplementation through Organic Manures Influence the Growth of Weeds and Maize Productivity.

Declining rate of productivity and environmental sustainability is forcing growers to use organic manures as a source of nutrient supplement in maize farming. However, weed is a major constraint to maize production. A field study was carried out over two seasons to evaluate various integrated nutrient and weed management practices in hybrid maize. The treatment combinations comprised of supplementation of inorganic fertilizer (25% nitrogen) through bulky (Farmyard manure and vermicompost) and concentrated (Brassicaceous seed meal (BSM) and neem cake (NC)) organic manures and different mode of weed management practices like chemical (atrazine 1000 g ha-1) and integrated approach (atrazine 1000 g ha-1 followed by mechanical weeding). Repeated supplementation of nitrogen through concentrated organic manures reduced the density and biomass accumulation of most dominant weed species, Anagalis arvensis by releasing allelochemicals into the soil. But organic manures had no significant impact on restricting the growth of bold seeded weeds like Vicia hirsuta and weed propagated through tubers i.e., Cyperus rotundus in maize. By restricting the weed growth and nutrient removal by most dominating weeds, application of BSM enhanced the growth and yield of maize crop. Repeated addition of organic manures (BSM) enhanced the maize grain yield by 19% over sole chemical fertilizer in the second year of study. Application of atrazine as pre-emergence (PRE) herbicide significantly reduced the density of A. arvensis, whereas integration of mechanical weeding following herbicide controlled those weeds which were not usually controlled with the application of atrazine. As a result, atrazine at PRE followed by mechanical weeding produced the highest maize grain yield 6.81 and 7.10 t/ha in the first year and second year of study, respectively.

An assessment of counseling quality provided by community pharmacies to type 2 diabetic adult patients for oral therapy: a simulated patient study from Pakistan.

This study was conducted to assess quality of counseling provided to type 2 diabetic patients. For this cross-sectional study, a simulated patient method was applied in 562 selected community pharmacies of Punjab, Pakistan. A scenario for the metformin oral therapy was developed that illustrates direct counseling for adult diabetic patients. Counseling and communication skills were also assessed. Descriptive statistics and chi-square tests were used for analysis. Only 29.4% of simulated patients received medication counseling directly; 47.6% received it on request. About 32.8% of clients were referred to a physician without counseling. The most frequently provided information was dietary instruction (94.8%) and dose of therapy (84.5%). Only one quarter (25.3%) of simulated patients were asked about disease duration and similar rate (25.0%) was found for discussions of special warnings. The side effects, drug storage, drug-drug interactions and duration of therapy were ignored. Minimal information was provided about other medication during therapy (0.2%) and effect of medicine withdrawal (2.7%). About 59.5% simulated patients were instructed for compliance to medication. Counseling to type 2 diabetic patients in Pakistani community pharmacies is not very satisfactory. Pharmacies' staff have little focus on counseling. Professional training of staff could improve counseling and communication skills.

Expression, Subcellular Localization, and Interactions of CPK Family Genes in Maize.

Calcium-dependent protein kinase (CPKs) is a key player in the calcium signaling pathway to decode calcium signals into various physiological responses. cDNA sequences of 9 ZmCPK genes were successfully cloned from all four phylogenetic groups in maize. qRT-PCR analysis showed the expression variation of these selected genes under abscisic acid (ABA) and calcium chloride (CaCl2) treatment. Due to the presence of N-myristoylation/palmitoylation sites, the selected ZmCPK members were localized in a plasma membrane. To clarify whether ZmCPK, a key player in calcium signaling, interacts with key players of ABA, protein phosphatase 2Cs (PP2Cs) and the SNF1-related protein kinase 2s (SnRK2s) and mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling pathways in maize, we examined the interaction between 9 CPKs, 8 PP2Cs, 5 SnRKs, and 20 members of the MPK family in maize by using yeast two-hybrid assay. Our results showed that three ZmCPKs interact with three different members of ZmSnRKs while four ZmCPK members had a positive interaction with 13 members of ZmMPKs in different combinations. These four ZmCPK proteins are from three different groups in maize. These findings of physical interactions between ZmCPKs, ZmSnRKs, and ZmMPKs suggested that these signaling pathways do not only have indirect influence but also have direct crosstalk that may involve the defense mechanism in maize. The present study may improve the understanding of signal transduction in plants.

Correlates of diabetic retinopathy: A case study.

Prevalence of diabetes mellitus is increasing worldwide particularly in developing countries as according to International Diabetes Federation, globally a rise from 451 million diabetic people in 2017 to 693 million in 2045 is expected. Diabetic retinopathy is one of the major consequences of diabetes mellitus, so knowing its risk factors can be very helpful. For identifying the risk factors of the Diabetic Retinopathy (DR) in Faisalabad and to determine whether DR is more caused by type 1 or type 2 diabetes, a cross-sectional study was conducted at major hospitals in Faisalabad district during February-July 2016. Descriptive statistics were used for initial screening of the significant variables. Then binary logistic regression was applied to measure the influence of different factors on likelihood of DR. Using Odds Ratio (OR) from logistic regression as measure of influence, the problem of DR was found to be higher among males (OR=1.913; 95% C.I, 1.072~3.413), married patients (OR=5.678; 95% C.I=2.206~14.616), patients with type 1 diabetes (OR=2.195; 95% C.I=1.205~3.997), patients with obesity (OR=25.736; 95% C.I=11.033~60.031), patients using insulin treatment (OR=6.678; 95% C.I=2.330~10.138). The study demonstrated a high prevalence of DR in Faisalabad. Eye examination, social status of patients and duration of diabetes were also found as significant variables affecting DR.

A nonparametric mixed exponentially weighted moving average-moving average control chart with an application to gas turbines.

This study aims to develop a nonparametric mixed exponentially weighted moving average-moving average (NPEWMA-MA) sign control chart for monitoring shifts in process location, particularly when the distribution of a critical quality characteristic is either unknown or non-normal. In literature, the variance expression of the mixed exponentially weighted moving average-moving average (EWMA-MA) statistic is calculated by allowing sequential moving averages to be independent, and thus the exclusion of covariance terms results in an inaccurate variance expression. Furthermore, the effectiveness of the EWMA-MA control chart deteriorates when the distribution of a critical quality characteristic deviates from normality. The proposed NPEWMA-MA sign control chart addresses these by utilizing the corrected variance of the EWMA-MA statistic and incorporating the nonparametric sign test into the EWMA-MA charting structure. The chart integrates the moving average (MA) statistic into the exponentially weighted moving average (EWMA) statistic. The EWMA-MA charting statistic assigns more weight to recent w samples, with weights for previous observations decling exponentially. Monte Carlo simulations assess the chart's performance using various run length (RL) characteristics such as average run length (ARL), standard deviation of run length (SDRL), and median run length (MRL). Additional measures for overall performance include the average extra quadratic loss (AEQL) and relative mean index (RMI). The proposed NPEWMA-MA sign control chart demonstrates superior performance compared to existing nonparametric control charts across different symmetrical and asymmetric distributions. It efficiently detects process shifts, as validated through both a simulated study and a real-life example from a combined cycle power plant.

Nonparametric mixed exponentially weighted moving average-moving average control chart.

This research designed a distribution-free mixed exponentially weighted moving average-moving average (EWMA-MA) control chart based on signed-rank statistic to effectively identify changes in the process location. The EWMA-MA charting statistic assigns more weight to information obtained from the recent w samples and exponentially decreasing weights to information accumulated from all other past samples. The run-length profile of the proposed chart is obtained by employing Monte Carlo simulation techniques. The effectiveness of the proposed chart is evaluated under symmetrical distributions using a variety of individual and overall performance measures. The analysis of the run-length profile indicates that the proposed chart performs better than the existing control charts discussed in the literature. Additionally, an application from a gas turbine is provided to demonstrate how the proposed chart can be used in practice.

Diethyl aminoethyl hexanoate reprogramed accumulations of organic metabolites associated with water balance and metabolic homeostasis in white clover under drought stress.

Diethyl aminoethyl hexanoate (DA-6) serving as a non-toxic and low-cost plant growth regulator is used for improving plant growth and stress tolerance, but the DA-6-mediated organic metabolites remodeling in relation to drought tolerance is not well documented in crops. The aims of the present study were to evaluate impacts of DA-6 on physiological functions including osmotic adjustment, photochemical efficiency, oxidative damage, and cell membrane stability as well as organic metabolites remodeling in white clover (Trifolium repens) leaves based on the analysis of metabolomics. Plants were foliarly treated with or without DA-6 and subsequently exposed to drought stress for 8 days. Results demonstrated that foliar application of DA-6 (1.5 mM) could significantly ameliorate drought tolerance, which was linked with better leaf water status, photosynthetic performance, and cell membrane stability as well as lower oxidative injury in leaves. Metabolic profiling of organic metabolites identified a total of 59 metabolites including 17 organic acids, 20 sugars, 12 alcohols, and 10 other metabolites. In response to drought stress, the DA-6 induced accumulations of many sugars and sugar alcohols (erythrulose, arabinose, xylose, inosose, galactose, talopyranose, fucose, erythritol, and ribitol), organic acids (propanoic acid, 2,3-dihydroxybutanoic acid, palmitic acid, linolenic acid, and galacturonic acid), and other metabolites (2-oxazoline, silane, and glycine) in white clover. These altered metabolites induced by the DA-6 could perform critical functions in maintenances of osmo-protection, osmotic adjustment, redox homeostasis, cell wall structure and membrane stability when white clover suffered from water deficit. In addition, the campesterol and stigmasterol significantly accumulated in all plants in spite of the DA-6 pretreatment under drought stress, which could be an important adaptive response to water deficit due to beneficial roles of those two metabolites in regulating cell membrane stability and antioxidant defense. Present findings provide new evidence of DA-6-regulated metabolic homeostasis contributing to drought tolerance in leguminous plants.

Quantifying the Individual and Combined Effects of Short-Term Heat Stress at Booting and Flowering Stages on Nonstructural Carbohydrates Remobilization in Rice.

Rice production is threatened by climate change, particularly heat stress (HS). Nonstructural carbohydrates (NSCs) remobilization is a key physiological mechanism that allows rice plants to cope with HS. To investigate the impact of short-term HS on the remobilization of nonstructural carbohydrates (NSCs) in rice, two cultivars (Huaidao-5 and Wuyunjing-24) were subjected to varying temperature regimes: 32/22/27 °C as the control treatment, alongside 40/30/35 °C and 44/34/39 °C, for durations of 2 and 4 days during the booting, flowering, and combined stages (booting + flowering) within phytotrons across the years 2016 and 2017. The findings revealed that the stem's NSC concentration increased, while the panicle's NSCs concentration, the efficiency of NSCs translocation from the stem, and the stem NSC contribution to grain yield exhibited a consistent decline. Additionally, sugar and starch concentrations increased in leaves and stems during late grain filling and maturity stages, while in panicles, the starch concentration decreased and sugar concentration increased. The heat-tolerant cultivar, Wuyunjing-24, exhibited higher panicle NSC accumulation under HS than the heat-sensitive cultivar, Huaidao-5, which had more stem NSC accumulation. The flowering stage was the most vulnerable to HS, followed by the combined and booting stages. Heat degree days (HDDs) were utilized to quantify the effects of HS on NSC accumulation and translocation, revealing that the flowering stage was the most affected. These findings suggest that severe HS makes the stem the primary carbohydrate storage sink, and alleviation under combined HS aids in evaluating NSC accumulation, benefiting breeders in developing heat-tolerant rice varieties.

Organizational Change and Workplace Incivility: Mediated by Stress, Moderated by Emotional Exhaustion.

Modern organizations continuously undergo change processes. The focus of the organizations remains on the macro level, but the micro level (i.e., employee's perspective) is neglected. Using the conservation of resource theory (COR), this study examines the association between organizational change and workplace incivility. This study also proposes mediating and moderating mechanisms of stress and emotional exhaustion. The data were collected from 262 respondents working in public sector organizations in Pakistan using a time-lagged technique. The results proved that change significantly impacts workplace incivility. Moreover, stress mediates their relationship and emotional exhaustion moderates it. Furthermore, emotional exhaustion also moderates the stress-incivility relationship. Public sector organizations must focus on well-planned, inclusive, and adequately managed change processes to achieve the desired outcome; otherwise, adverse behaviors, including incivility, manifest. To the best of the authors' knowledge, the organizational change and incivility relationship has not been explored in the past. Additionally, their relationship with stress and emotional exhaustion also requires empirical investigation. This study also adds to the literature on the conservation of resource theory.

Integrating by-products from bioenergy technology to improve the morpho-physiological growth and yield of soybean under acidic soil.

Soil acidity may negatively affect plant growth. By-products (bottom ash (BA), biochar (BC), and biogas slurry (BS)) from bioenergy technology may change the physio-chemical properties of acidic soils and affect the plant growth parameters. The current research work was carried out to determine the impact of different bioenergy by-products to enhance soybean growth and production by alleviating the effects of acidic soil. A total of eight treatments of different bioenergy amendments (BA, BC, and BS) and their combined applications were used as follows; T1 (control), T2 (only biogas slurry); T3 (only bottom ash); T4 (only biochar); T5 (biogas slurry + bottom ash); T6 (biogas slurry + biochar); T7 (bottom ash + biochar); T8 (biochar + bottom ash + biogas slurry). Our results depicted that, the synergistic use of amendment mainly, T8 treatment (BC + BA + BS) was found most effective, which significantly prompted the dry biomass and photosynthetic rate by 42.58% and 13.25% over the T6 treatment respectively. Furthermore, the chlorophyll pigments, photochemical activities, and root growth of soybean plants enhanced significantly under T5 and T8 treatments as compared to the control. Finally, amendments significantly increased the yield in T8 treatment by increasing the pod's number, grain number, 100-grain weight and grain yield by 119.6%, 75%, 24.9%, and 83.7% as compared to T1. Conclusively, amendments are very effective in the reclamation of acidic soil and enhance the post-harvest soil pH at T8 treatment by 41.49% in comparison to T1 treatment. The organic amendments might neutralize the soil pH and change the acidic nature of the soil, which would modify the root growth of soybean and increase the photosynthetic and photochemical activities, resulting in increased soybean growth and yield.

Revitalizing the Biochemical Soil Properties of Degraded Coastal Soil Using Prosopis juliflora Biochar.

Biochar is an effective soil amendment with capabilities of boosting carbon sequestration and enhancing soil fertility, thus enhancing plant growth and productivity. While numerous studies have documented the positive effects of biochar on improving soil properties, a number of studies have reported conflicting results. Therefore, the current study was conducted to evaluate the impact of Prosopis juliflora biochar (0, 2.5, 5.0, and 7.5 t ha-1) on soil biochemical properties in Coastal Kenya to ascertain biochar's potential for soil fertility improvement. A randomized complete block design was used for setting up the experiment with three replicates, while Casuarina equisetifolia L. was planted as the test crop. Soil sampling for nutrient analysis was conducted quarterly for 12 months to assess nutrient dynamics under different biochar rates in the current study. Compared to soil untreated with Prosopis juliflora biochar, the results showed that there was a significant increase in soil pH by 21% following biochar utilization at the rate of 7.5 t ha-1. Total nitrogen was increased by 32% after the biochar application, whereas the total organic carbon was increased by four folds in comparison to biochar-untreated soil. Available phosphorus was increased by 264% following biochar application in comparison to the control treatment. In addition, the application of biochar resulted in an increment in the soil exchangeable cations (Ca2+, K+, Mg2+) across the assessment periods. Soil cation exchange capacity (CEC), bacteria and fungi were enhanced by 95, 33 and 48%, respectively, following biochar application at 7.5 t ha-1 in comparison to untreated soil. In conclusion, these results strongly suggest improvement of soil biochemical properties following Prosopis juliflora biochar application, thus providing potential for soil fertility improvement in regions such as the one in the study.

Spatial differences influence nitrogen uptake, grain yield, and land-use advantage of wheat/soybean relay intercropping systems.

Cereal/legume intercropping is becoming a popular production strategy for higher crop yields and net profits with reduced inputs and environmental impact. However, the effects of different spatial arrangements on the growth, grain yield, nitrogen uptake, and land-use advantage of wheat/soybean relay intercropping are still unclear, particularly under arid irrigated conditions. Therefore, in a three-year field study from 2018 to 2021, soybean was relay intercropped with wheat in different crop configurations (0.9 m, narrow strips; 1.8 m, medium strips; and 2.7 m, wide strips), and the results of intercropping systems were compared with their sole systems. Results revealed that intercrops with wide strips outperformed the narrow and medium strips, when the objective was to obtain higher total leaf area, dry matter, nitrogen uptake, and grain yield on a given land area due to reduced interspecific competition between intercrops. Specifically, at maturity, wide strips increased the dry matter accumulation (37% and 58%) and its distribution in roots (37% and 55%), straw (40% and 61%), and grains (30% and 46%) of wheat and soybean, respectively, compared to narrow strips. This enhanced dry matter in wide strips improved the soybean's competitive ability (by 17%) but reduced the wheat's competitive ability (by 12%) compared with narrow strips. Noticeably, all intercropping systems accumulated a significantly higher amount of nitrogen than sole systems, revealing that wheat/soybean relay intercropping requires fewer anthropogenic inputs (nitrogen) and exerts less pressure on the ecosystem than sole systems. Overall, in wide strips, intercropped wheat and soybean achieved 62% and 71% of sole wheat and soybean yield, respectively, which increased the greater total system yield (by 19%), total land equivalent ratio (by 24%), and net profit (by 34%) of wide strips compared to narrow strips. Our study, therefore, implies that the growth parameters, grain yields, nutrient accumulation, and land-use advantage of intercrop species could be improved with the proper spatial arrangement in cereal/legume intercropping systems.

Reading habits of medical practitioners: Young doctors in Pakistan, a case study.

Objective: This study attempted to investigate the reading preferences and habits among young Pakistani medical doctors. The reading time, preferred source of information, preferred medical journals, and ways of reading medical journals were explored. Methods: A survey approach was used for data collection. The study participants were young medical professionals in Pakistan. An online survey was sent to more than 300 individuals through various physicians and their professional groups/bodies. A total of 155 responded to the questionnaire, and 128 of the questionnaires were considered worthy of data analysis. Results: Among respondents, 40% read printed journals, 49% read online journals, 60% read case reports, and 55% read newspapers for 1-5 h per week. Continuing medical education was the preferred source of information, and the Pakistan Journal of Cardiology & Thoracic Surgery was the preferred medical journal. Reading the abstract and the conclusion was the preferred way of reading journal articles. Conclusion: Young physicians are enthusiastic in participating in research activities and spending time gaining updated information. Physicians read articles methodically. Online sources of information are preferred over printed sources.

Thyroid Storm in a Patient on Chronic Amiodarone Treatment.

Amiodarone is a class III antiarrhythmic drug with a structure comparable to thyroid hormone and 37% iodine content by weight. In addition to direct drug cytotoxicity on thyroid cells, amiodarone deiodination in the body releases an excessive amount of iodine, which can impair thyroid function and cause hypothyroidism or thyrotoxicosis, including thyroid storm in susceptible individuals. In this report, we discuss the case of a 52-year-old woman who experienced a thyroid storm after being treated with amiodarone, eventually leading to her death.

COVID-19-Associated Tension Pneumothorax in Mechanically Ventilated Patients: A Case Series.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome management secondary to coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) has been overwhelming for healthcare systems. Patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection can present with symptoms ranging from a mild flu-like illness to acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). Patients who develop coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection and present with hypoxic respiratory failure requiring mechanical ventilation typically follow ARDS physiology. Many of them develop complications including pneumothorax, pneumomediastinum, and pneumopericardium. In this case series, we present multiple instances where patients with severe COVID-19 infections developed tension pneumothoraces during their hospital course.

Herpes Simplex Virus Type 2 Encephalitis in an Immunocompetent Adult: A Case Report on an Unusual but Relevant Cause of Significant Neurological Morbidity.

Encephalitis refers to inflammation of the brain that is most frequently caused by viral infection (particularly herpes simplex virus type 1 [HSV-1]). In some instances, it may be associated with substantial neurological mortality and long-term morbidity. Although HSV-1 is the most common agent involved in producing neurological infections and disorders, herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2) can occasionally affect the central nervous system, particularly in immunocompromised patients. We discuss the case of an immunocompetent male patient with a history of well-controlled diabetes who presented with symptoms of encephalitis. Our patient did not have a history of herpes infection, indicating the presence of subclinical infections. His initial magnetic resonance imaging was inconclusive, but the diagnosis was established following a lumbar puncture and subsequent cerebrospinal fluid analyses.