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Diversity and distribution of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi associated with vegetable crops in Haryana, India
No full textThe optimal growth and development of many vegetable crops hinge significantly upon their reliance on Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi (AMF). Understanding the AMF status of vegetable crops can assist researchers in selecting suitable strains for future experiments. Therefore, a field work was carried out to determine the species diversity and composition of AMF with fifty vegetable crops from seventeen different districts of Haryana. AMF spores were isolated and identified to evaluate AMF density, diversity, and host preference in terms of AMF species richness, abundance and frequency of occurrence. Soil conditions, land use type and its physico–chemical properties played a crucial role in regulating the uneven distribution and composition of AMF. Mycotrophic structures such as linear infection (Arum–type) to coils (Paris–type) arbuscules and vesicles were seen. Interestingly, no correlation was found between spore number and root colonization. Maximum AMF spore density, spore richness and abundance were witnessed in Zea mays and Trigonella foenum–graecum. Five plants exhibited 100% AMF colonized roots, 15 plants showed above 75% and 12 plants above 50% colonization. Soil pH 6.10 to 7.40 supported the maximal abundance and frequency of occurrence of Glomus and Acaulospora with 53 species and 18 species followed by Acaulospora (18), Sclerocystis (10), Gigaspora (5), Entrophospora (4) and Sclerocystis (4). G. mosseae was the most preferred species among vegetable crops. Members of non–mycorrhizal families lack root colonization except for Brassica campestris, B. oleracea var. botrytis and B. Rapa where 2–11% root colonization was detected. Noticing the abundant AMF diversity of vegetable crops , this investigation expands the scope of detection, selection and inoculation of vegetable crops with suitable AMF species for improving their quality and quantity
Evaluating the prediction success of soil organic carbon stock in pasture land using different modeling performance metrics
No full textMany national and international initiatives depend on detailed spatial data on changes in soil organic carbon stock (SOC stock) at various scales to support policies aimed at land degradation neutrality and climate change mitigation Developing tools to accurately model the spatial distribution of SOCstock at national scales is a priority for both monitoring soil organic carbon (SOC) changes and contributing to global carbon cycle studies. The primary goal of this study was to evaluate and compare various spatial performance metrics used to assess the accuracy of predicting soil SOC and SOCstock content in a semi-arid pasture. Soil samples were taken from 0-20 cm soil depth at 150 random sampling points. Spatial structure of SOCstock and SOC were modelled by ordinary kriging The soil pH varied from slightly acidic (6.34) to neutral (7.19), and salinity was not an issue in the study area. Lime content, with an average of 2.04%, stands out as the most variable soil property, with a coefficient of variation (CV) of 61.76%. The carbon stock ranged from 23.46 to 65.36 tons ha-1, with an average carbon stock of 43.28 tons ha-1 calculated. In the study area, SOC (%) and stoniness (%) had the shortest autocorrelation distance (21.00 m), while bulk density had the longest (27.00 m). The prediction errors indicated that parameters in the random sampling did not result in better predictions using the OK technique.The results indicated that SOC content can exhibit significant spatial variability even within a small area, highlighting the need for site-specific management in semi-arid pastures. In order to achieve high accuracy and success in modeling, metrics of the performance such as RRMSE, RMSE and MAPE should be used that minimize the effect of the relevant soil property measurement unit
Augmented Feedback Response Prediction by Peak Vertical Ground Reaction Force in Adolescent Female Athletes
No full text# Background and Purpose
Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tears often occur due to non-contact mechanisms in landing within females. Impact loading and aberrant landings may be addressed with augmented feedback training. The purpose of this study was to identify which female athletes most readily respond to a single session of augmented feedback to attenuate vGRF, by considering baseline peak vGFR and change in vGRF during training.
# Design
Repeated Measures
# Methods
One hundred, forty-seven female athletes landed from 50 cm onto two force platforms with and without augmented feedback of vertical ground reaction force (vGRF), vGRF symmetry, and lower extremity position. Each performed six baseline trials and two sets of six training trials with cues. Following training, athletes completed six post-feedback trials (with no feedback) and six dual-task (transfer) trials where they randomly caught a basketball during landing. Peak vGRF was measured. Mean responses were reported for the sets of six trials. Participants were grouped based on their responses to training. Linear regression was used to indicate how well initial performance and response predicted the final response.
# Results
Four groups were identified, with 107 participants showing high baseline ground reaction forces and response to training. Only 23 participants (16.4%) did not respond to training. Baseline vGRF predicted post-feedback vGRF and transfer task vGRF (R2=0.508 and R2=0.400) across all participants. When change in vGRF was assessed following two blocks of augmented feedback training, prediction of responders improved with post-feedback vGRF and transfer vGRF (R2=0.911 and R2=0.761).
# Conclusions
The combination of both baseline ground reaction force and response to initial training is more accurate than baseline measures alone in identifying those who respond to training. Assessing initial response to training may be necessary to more accurately identify individuals most likely to benefit from augmented feedback training and who may require further evaluation and training.
# Level of Evidence
2
Examination of the Clinical Utility of Eating Disorder and Disordered Eating Screening Tools in Young Athletes: A Scoping Review
No full text# Background and Purpose
Many screening tools are used to identify eating disorders (ED) and disordered eating (DE) in individuals. The purpose of this scoping review was to identify the most commonly used ED/DE screening tools for young male and female athletes.
# Study Design
Scoping Review
# Methods
Following the Johanna Briggs Institute scoping review guidelines, PubMed, CINAHL Complete, PsycInfo, SPORTdiscus, and Web of Science Core Collection databases were searched using keywords related to eating disorder, disordered eating, athletes, and screening. Included articles were randomized controlled trials, cohort studies, or cross-sectional studies published in English between 2011-2023; included primarily non-aesthetic athletes aged 14-24 years; and utilized an ED/DE screening tool for diagnostic purposes. Articles were excluded if analysis of ED/DE was a secondary purpose or < 20 athletes participated. Tools utilized and demographic and outcomes data were extracted and qualitatively analyzed.
# Results
Thirty articles were included. The Eating Attitudes Test-26 (EAT-26), the Sick, Control, One, Fat, Food (SCOFF) questionnaire, and the Eating Disorder Inventory (EDI) were most used among all included articles. Three articles examined only males and used a variety of tools. Five articles utilized a tool specifically designed for athletes: the Eating Disorder Screen for Athletes (EDSA), Brief Eating Disorder in Athletes Questionnaire (BEDA-Q) or the ATHLETE questionnaire.
# Discussion
While the EAT-26 is most used for diagnosing ED/DE risk within young athletes, clinical utility of screening tools for male athletes is varied. Combinations of tools utilized for examining ED/DE risk in athletes are not agreed upon. Continued research is needed to assess the clinical utility of screening tools that identify ED/DE risk specifically in athletes. Tool adjustment or development for male athletes may be necessary.
# Level of Evidence
2
Clinical Implementation of Cone Beam Computed Tomography-Guided Online Adaptive Radiation Therapy in Whole Breast Irradiation
No full textPurpose: In postoperative breast irradiation, changes in the breast contour and arm positioning can result in patient positioning errors and offline replanning. This can lead to increased treatment burden and strain on departmental logistics because of the need for additional cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) images or even a new radiation therapy treatment plan (TP). Online daily adaptive radiation therapy (oART) could provide a solution to these challenges. We have clinically implemented and evaluated the feasibility of oART for whole breast irradiation. Methods and Materials: Twenty patients treated with postoperative whole breast right irradiation (5 × 5.2 Gy) were included in BREAST-ART, a prospective single-arm trial. The dosimetry of the reference TP calculated on the daily anatomy and adaptive TP were compared. Duration of the oART workflow, in-house satisfaction questionnaires, and acute toxicity (National Cancer Institute Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Event v5.0) were collected. The oART workflow was evaluated by investigating the impact of manual corrections of influencer and target contours on treatment time and quality. Results: In the first 17 patients (85 fractions), the on-couch time, ie, the time between the end of CBCT1 and CBCT3, was a median of 13.8 minutes (range, 11–25). Retrospective evaluation of the use of the influencer (ie, breast) in 4 patients (20 fractions) and manual correction of the most cranial and caudal target contours (ie, 4 mm) in 10 patients (36 fractions) was done. This resulted in a reduced on-couch time in the last 3 clinical patients to a median of 13.0 minutes (range, 11–19). No grade 3 or higher toxicity was observed, and 19 of 20 patients indicated that they preferred the same treatment again. Skin marks for patient positioning during treatment were no longer necessary. Conclusions: This study showed the feasibility, challenges, and practical solutions for the implementation of oART for breast cancer patients. Future work will focus on more complex breast indications, such as whole breast, including axillary nodes, to further investigate the benefits and challenges of oART in breast cancer
IBEWMS: Individual Band Spectral Feature Enhancement-Based Waterfront Environment AAV Multispectral Image Stitching
No full textAs the use of autonomous aerial vehicles (AAVs) for waterfront monitoring increases, combining multiple AAV multispectral (MS) images into a single, seamless panoramic image has become crucial. This process ensures the accuracy and effectiveness of waterfront monitoring. However, the varying reflective properties of different wavelengths bring challenges for existing single-band MS image stitching frameworks, especially in complex waterfront areas. To address this challenge, we developed the individual band enhanced waterfront multispectral stitching (IBEWMS) framework. Central to this framework is the individual band spectral feature enhancement (IBSFE) module, which enhances each spectral band based on varying reflectance of different land covers, yielding clearer and more reliable features. Using IBSFE, we designed a detector-free framework to effectively extract and match feature points in waterfront MS images. In addition, we implemented an image fusion technique to address issues, such as ghosting and global reflectance inconsistency, in panoramic images. To support this work, we provided the Wuhan AAV Waterfront Environment MS Dataset, comprising 12 315 high-resolution 5-band MS images. Experiments show that IBEWMS outperforms both deep learning and traditional stitching frameworks, offering valuable support for downstream applications
How PPAR-alpha mediated inflammation may affect the pathophysiology of chronic kidney disease
No full textChronic kidney disease (CKD) is a major risk factor for death in adults. Inflammation plays a role in the pathogenesis of CKD, but the mechanisms are poorly understood. Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor alpha (PPAR-α) is a nuclear receptor and one of the three members (PPARα, PPARβ/δ, and PPARγ) of the PPARs that plays an important role in ameliorating pathological processes that accelerate acute and chronic kidney disease. Although other PPARs members are well studied, the role of PPAR-α is not well described and its role in inflammation-mediated chronic disease is not clear. Herein, we review the role of PPAR-α in chronic kidney disease with implications for the immune system
Monitoring semantic relatedness and revealing fairness and biases through trend tests
No full textAn emerging application domain concerning content-based recommender systems provides a better consideration of the semantics behind textual descriptions. Traditional approaches often miss relevant information due to their sole focus on syntax. However, the Semantic Web community has enriched resources with cultural and linguistic background knowledge, offering new standards for word categorization. This paper proposes a framework that combines the information extractor ReVerb with the WordNet taxonomy to monitor global semantic relatedness scores. Additionally, an experimental validation confronts human-based semantic relatedness scores with theoretical ones, employing Mann–Kendall trend tests to reveal fairness and biases. Overall, our framework introduces a novel approach to semantic relatedness monitoring by providing valuable insights into fairness and biases
Decoration of carbon nanotubes in the substrate or selective layer of polyvinyl alcohol/polysulfone thin-film composite membrane for nanofiltration applications
No full textNanofiltration (NF) membranes demonstrate considerable promise for desalinating saline water and wastewater containing mineral salts to overcome the lack of fresh water and improve drinking water quality. This research work aims to detect the influence of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) on the filtration performance of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA)/polysulfone (PSf) thin-film composite NF membranes. For this purpose, CNTs were incorporated in the PSf substrate/PVA selective layer to fabricate a thin-film composite (TFC) with nanocomposite substrate (nTFC) and a thin-film nanocomposite (TFN) membranes, respectively. To fabricate TFC membranes, PSf substrates with different concentrations (16–20 wt%) were made using the phase inversion technique. Then, the selective layer of PVA was formed on the PSf support through cross-linking with glutaraldehyde during dip-coating. The membranes’ NF performance was assessed by filtration of NaCl and Na2SO4 solutions at a relatively low pressure of 0.3 MPa. The salt rejection of all prepared membranes followed the sequence of Na2SO4 > NaCl, indicating the characteristics of negatively charged membranes. By embedment of 0.05 wt% CNT in the PSf substrate/PVA selective layer, the rejections of over 43% for NaCl and over 80% for Na2SO4 were obtained, which is higher than that of TFC-16 as a control membrane (18.1% for NaCl and 74.7% for Na2SO4). Furthermore, in the presence of CNTs, the permeance and fouling resistance of the nTFC and TFN membranes have been improved compared to the TFC-16 membrane
Mandibular ramus distraction osteogenesis and Lefort I osteotomy for obstructive sleep apnea: A case report monitored with home respiratory polygraphy
No full textA new monitoring protocol for orthognathic surgery for addressing obstructive sleep apnea syndrome in adult patients using bilateral internal ramus distraction (BIRD) followed by Lefort I osteotomy and monitored by HRP is presented. This strategy is part of an outpatient major surgery protocol and includes preoperative 3d virtual planning, followed by surgery under general anesthesia with endoscopic assistance.Following the procedure, patients are typically discharged on the same day, with the vertical lengthening of the mandibular ramus starting after a 5-day period and progressing at a speed of 0.5–1 mm per day over a period of 10–50 days. The process carries on until the negative dental overjet exceeds 10 mm or the apnea-hypopnea index falls beneath 15 events per hour, demonstrating a curative level.Mandibular advancement monitorization based on clinical, polygraphic, or polysomnographic criteria enables the surgeon to meet the individual needs of each patient. The distractors are typically maintained in position for six months following elongation of 10–25 mm to ensure proper consolidation.BIRD followed by LeFort I osteotomy, has demonstrated significant efficacy as a treatment for obstructive sleep apnea syndrome in adult patients, irrespective of the presence of retrognathia. Furthermore, this approach may offer particular advantages for patients with severe cardiovascular disease or diabetes
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