Organic fertilizer substitution benefits microbial richness and wheat yield under warming.

Climate warming poses a serious threat to soil biodiversity and crop yield. Application of organic fertilizer has been extensively practiced to improve soil health and crop productivity. However, information is limited about the effects of organic fertilizer on microbial communities and diversity (richness) under warming. Thus, to investigate the interactive effects of temperature (ambient temperature and warming) and fertilizer (chemical fertilizer and partial substitution of chemical fertilizer with organic fertilizer) on microbial properties and wheat yield, a two-factorial pot experiment was conducted using soils with high and low fertility The results showed that warming and organic fertilizer had minor effects on bacterial Shannon and Simpson indexes. Due to concomitant reductions in soil moisture, warming decreased the average Chao index by 5.4 % and Ace index by 3.8 % for soils with high and low fertility (P < 0.05). High-throughput sequence presented that dominated genus was Bacillus with spore-forming ability. Under warming and drying conditions, microbes with adaptive traits (spore-forming ability) would outcompete the other microbes, and decrease microbial Chao and Ace index (richness). However, organic fertilizer counteracted the adverse effects of warming on microbial richness attributed to positive interaction between temperature and fertilizer on soil nutrients and organic carbon. The strong relationships between bacterial richness and wheat yield, as well as soil nutrients, highlighted the importance of soil biodiversity in improving soil nutrients and crop productivity. Partial substitution of chemical fertilizer with organic fertilizer significantly increased wheat yield by 27.1 % and 14.9 % under ambient temperature and by 28.0 % and 19.6 % under warming for soils with high and low fertility, respectively. Overall, this study provided the possibility to increase bacterial richness related to nutrient turnover and crop production by organic fertilizer application with reduced chemical fertilizer, especially under climate warming.

Serological and epidemiological investigation of Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis in bovines in Pakistan.

Objective: To investigate the prevalence of paratuberculosis in cattle and buffaloes at twelve public dairy farms in Punjab, Pakistan. Methods: A total of 2181 more than two-year-old animals (1242 cattle and 939 buffaloes) were tested by avian tuberculin, i.e., killed purified protein derivative (PPD) of Mycobacterium avium paratuberculosis and indirect ELISA. Blood and fecal samples were collected from tuberculin positive animals. These samples were further processed by indirect ELISA. The data were analyzed using frequency analysis and logistic analysis procedures. Results: The prevalence of paratuberculosis at public dairy farms was 3.8%, as determined by tuberculin + ELISA test. It varied from 0.71-13.5% with a 100% herd prevalence. Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that species, milk production, total animals, total small ruminants, and total buffaloes were significantly associated with the occurrence of paratuberculosis. Odd ratio analysis revealed that with a one-kilogram increase in body weight, there will be a 0.006% increase in disease occurrence. With the increase in one animal in small ruminants and buffaloes, there will be 0.008% and 0.42% greater chances of developing paratuberculosis, respectively. Bivariate logistic regression analysis of cattle and buffaloes revealed that farm number, age, and total number of cattle were significantly associated with the occurrence of paratuberculosis. A one-month increase in lactation length increases the chance of tuberculosis by 0.004%; similarly, a one-liter increase in milk production increases the chance of disease by 10%. With each additional buffalo in the herd, there will be a 0.007% greater chance for the occurrence of paratuberculosis. Conclusion: This study concluded that tuberculin testing can be used in conjunction with ELISA to screen animals for paratuberculosis in countries with scarce resources, such as Pakistan. The efficacy of disease diagnosis can be improved by combining multiple tests.

Design, semi-synthesis of soft coral-derived Aspergillus sp. secondary metabolite geodin derivatives and their antibacterial activities.

A series of novel ester derivatives 2 - 7, of natural product geodin 1, isolated from the soft coral-derived fungus Aspergillus sp., were designed and semi-synthesised through one step reaction with high yield. Compound 5 showed strong antifouling inhibitory activities with MIC of 4.80 µM while compound 4 showed selective inhibitory activities with MICs values 8.59 µM against Aeromonas salmonicida and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (Sea-Nine 211, MIC = 0.27 µM). Compounds 3, 4 and 6 showed potent anti-pathogenic inhibitory activities with MICs of 2.29 µM, 4.29 µM and 4.56 µM respectively against Staphylococcus aureus (Ciprofloxacin, MIC = 0.156 µM). Compound 2 showed weak inhibitory activity against A. salmonicida with MIC 18.75 µM (Sea-Nine 211, MIC = 0.27 µM) and with MICs 9.38 µM against S. aureus (ciprofloxacin, MIC = 0.156 µM). However, compound 7 showed very low antibacterial activities with MIC = >20 µM. The preliminary structure-activity relationships of compounds 2 - 7 further prove that the modification of 4-OH group of natural product geodin 1 improves the antibacterial activities such as antifouling and anti-pathogenic activities.

Carbon trade-off and energy budgeting under conventional and conservation tillage in a rice-wheat double cropping system.

Amid rising energy crises and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, designing energy efficient, GHG mitigation and profitable conservation farming strategies are pertinent for global food security. Therefore, we tested a hypothesis that no-till with residue retaining could improve energy productivity (EP) and energy use efficiency (EUE) while mitigating the carbon footprint (CF), water footprint (WF) and GHG emissions in rice-wheat double cropping system. We studied two tillage viz., conventional and conservation, with/without residue retaining, resulting as CT0 (puddled-transplanted rice, conventional wheat -residue), CTR (puddled-transplanted rice, conventional wheat + residue), NT0 (direct seeded rice, zero-till wheat -residue), and NTR (direct seeded rice, zero-till wheat + residue). The overall results showed that the NTR/NT0 had 34% less energy consumption and 1.2-time higher EP as compared to CTR/CT0. In addition, NTR increased 19.8% EUE than that of CT0. The grain yield ranged from 8.7 to 9.3 and 7.8-8.5 Mg ha-1 under CT and NT system, respectively. In NTR, CF and WF were 56.6% and 17.9% lower than that of CT0, respectively. The net GHG emissions were the highest (7261.4 kg CO2 ha-1 yr-1) under CT0 and lowest (4580.9 kg CO2 ha-1 yr-1) under NTR. Notably, the carbon sequestration under NTR could mitigate half of the system's CO2-eq emissions. The study results suggest that NTR could be a viable option to offset carbon emissions and water footprint by promoting soil organic carbon sequestration, and enhancing energy productivity and energy use efficiency in the South Asian Indo-Gangetic Plains.

Evaluation of Knowledge, Disease Severity and Quality of Life of Patients with Psoriasis

Background@#Psoriasis vulgaris is a chronic immune-mediated inflammatory multi-system disease characterised by keratinocyte hyperproliferation. Data regarding patients’ disease severity, knowledge and quality of life (QOL) is important to optimize treatment strategies for psoriasis. This study aims to evaluate and investigate the relationship between disease severity, knowledge and QOL of patients with psoriasis. @*Methods@#A cross-sectional multicentre study utilizing a socio-demographic data collection form, Psoriasis Knowledge Assessment Questionnaire (PKAQ), Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI) and Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI was conducted. Correlations between PKAQ, DLQI and PASI were analysed using Spearman’s test. @*Results@#A total of 114 subjects participated in this study. Majority of them had mild psoriasis (n=73, 64%) based on PASI. The mean score of PKAQ was fourteen out of a total possible score of twenty-five, whereas the DLQI had a non-parametric distribution with a median (interquartile range) of 7 (10). Most subjects (32.5%) stated that psoriasis had a ‘moderate effect’ on their QOL, while only 3.5% said that it had an ‘extremely large effect’ on their QOL. There was a statistically significant correlation between PASI and DLQI (rs = 0.264, p = 0.004), with higher PASI scores corresponding to higher DLQI scores. No statistically significant correlation was found between DLQI and PKAQ (rs = -0.048, p= 0.612), and between PASI and PKAQ (rs = 0.058, p= 0.542).@*Conclusion@#Impairment of QOL was positively associated with severity of psoriasis. However, there was no significant relationship between knowledge and quality of life, as well as between knowledge and psoriasis severity.

Ethnopharmacological treatment of Cough in Piran, Malakand, Pakistan / Tratamiento etnofarmacológico de la tos en Piran, Malakand, Pakistán

The current study was designed to investigate the traditional recipes used to treat cough in Tehsil Piran, Malakand, Pakistan. These recipes were explored and quantitively analyzed for the first time. A total of 30 species of the plants, 6 animal products and one salt were reported to be used by the community to treat cough. Punica granatum L. and Olea ferruginea Royle dominated with Use value (UV) of 0.84 and Origanum vulgare L. with least use value of 0.1. The frequency citation (FC) of the Papaver somniferum L. is higher (98) while the lowest one is Verbascum thapsus L. (0.13). The large number of traditional recipes used for cough in this area shows that primary health care is still amalgamated in this culture. In future studies, these recipes may be further exploited as a base for modern medicine.

Este estudio fue diseñado con el propósito de investigar las recetas tradicionales utilizadas para tratar la tos en Tehsil Piran, Malakand, Pakistán. Estas recetas fueron exploradas y analizadas cuantitativamente por primera vez. Se constata que la comunidad utilizó un total de 30 especies de plantas, 6 productos animales y una sal para tratar la tos. Punica granatum L. y Olea ferruginea Royle se destacaron con un valor de uso (UV) de 0.84 y Origanum vulgare L. con un valor de uso mínimo de 0.1. La cita de frecuencia (FC) del Papaver somniferum L. es más alta (98) mientras que la más baja es Verbascum thapsus L. (0.13). La gran cantidad de recetas tradicionales utilizadas para la tos en esta área muestra que la atención primaria de salud todavía está amalgamada en esta cultura. En futuros estudios, estas recetas pueden explotarse aún más como base para la medicina moderna.