ABSTRACT
The importance of food supply throughout the world has once again shown its significance in the COVID-19 pandemic period. A continuous food supply is possible with correct agricultural programming. An effective agricultural product programming can only be possible by obtaining precise agricultural data. However, it is very difficult to gather accurate agricultural production statistics from all over the world and confirm their accuracy. In this study, the compatibility of the production statistics of six important agricultural products (wheat, rice, potato, onion, banana, apple) which had been collected from local sources, and had published as opensource by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, with Benford's law was examined for the first time. Data for the last two decades are used to ignore the impact of annual fluctuations. The compatibility of theoretically expected and observed data was tested by Chi-square (X2) and Mean Absolute Deviation (MAD) tests. Although inconsistencies were found in some data by examining the numbers in the first, second, and first two digits, in general, the MAD test results gave a mostly concordant result.
ABSTRACT
The corona virus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has increased the interest in self-care strategies, including self-medication. Medical students, as future health practitioners, learn more about medications than other students. This study aimed to describe self-medication practices for preventing COVID-19 among medical students at Universitas Islam Indonesia. This observational study used a cross-sectional design and was undertaken in November- December 2020. The study sample included 336 undergraduate medical students determined using a consecutive sampling technique based on inclusion and exclusion criteria. Data were collected using an online questionnaire about self-medication practices in the preceding 3 months. Among a total of 336 students, 137 (41%) reported using self-medication intending to prevent COVID-19, and 126 (92%) of these 137 took preventive supplements, mainly vitamins C, D, and E, and omega-3. Seven students reported the use of zinc, mainly in combination with other vitamins. Students who practiced self-medication lived closer to people confirmed with COVID-19, washed their hands more often, and desinfected their belongings more frequently than their counterparts (p<0.05). The mean duration for consuming vitamins was 11-16 days. Forty students (29%) used herbal medicine to prevent COVID-19;ginger, turmeric, honey, black seed, cutcherry, and Curcuma were the most often consumed herbal remedies. Fourteen students (10%) reported taking over-the-counter medications to relieve symptoms related to COVID-19, including antipyretic, analgesic, antiseptic, antihistamine, decongestant, antitussive, and expectorant medications. Most respondents (82%) purchased their medications at pharmacies, and 11 (9%) obtained them from online shops. These findings show the high rate of self-medication using vitamins and herbal remedies for COVID-19 prevention among university medical students. Further studies are needed to explore students' knowledge about the risks of self-medication including the use of herbal medicines.Copyright © 2022 Marmara University Press.
ABSTRACT
Apple production has the greatest significance among all types of fruit crops in Macedonia, sharing 56% of the total fruit production. Due to the economic crisis caused by Covid-19 and the war in Ukraine, the prices of agricultural inputs have increased greatly. To that end, the main goal of this paper is to evaluate the impact of the global economic crisis on the apple production price. The production costs calculation is based on calculation of variable and fixed costs of apple production for 2020 and 2021 as reference years and 2022 as the year when the production price change is considered. Data for the normative calculation and production price for 2020 and 2021 are obtained based on the expert knowledge and confirmed with the semi-structured interview with 3 farmers and 2 apple producing companies. Based on this normative calculation and market prices for inputs in 2020, 2021 and 2022 collected from the 10 input suppliers, AMIS and SSO, the apple production price is calculated. The results show that the economic crisis has a large negative economic impact on apple production, as the estimated full production price of apples in 2022 ha increased by 37% compared with that of 2020 & 2021.
ABSTRACT
As cardiovascular diseases are still a major cause of death in most countries, it is still relevant to look into treatment of such diseases. Dyslipidemia is one of the important identified risk factors for cardiovascular diseases. As this is largely driven by lifestyle and diet, it may be difficult to control it with lifestyle modifications alone. Currently, Statins remains to be the mainstay therapy for dyslipidemia but this is also met by problems within certain patient population. The drug may be contraindicated in certain patient groups;some patients tend to not respond to Statins;while certain patients may not tolerate the adverse events. This study looked into available literature on studies done on dyslipidemia using plant-based formulations using randomized clinical trial. Based on the review conducted, there are several plant-based formations with potential to be similar in efficacy to Statins. Some of the plants used are abundant or may be easily sourced. With the increasing popularity of food supplements or nutraceuticals, exploration on the potential of plant-based products is attractive. Despite the promising results of some studies, these will need further investigations and targeting a larger population size. Formulation options may need to be explored also focused on its stability. © RJPT All right reserved.
ABSTRACT
To examine the potential roles of melatonin in cadmium (Cd) uptake, accumulation and detoxification in Malus plants, we exposed two different apple rootstocks varying greatly in Cd uptake and accumulation to either 0 or 30 µM Cd together with 0 or 100 µM melatonin. Cadmium stress stimulated endogenous melatonin production to a greater extent in the Cd-tolerant Malus baccata Borkh. than in the Cd-susceptible Malus micromalus 'qingzhoulinqin'. Melatonin application attenuated Cd-induced reductions in growth, photosynthesis and enzyme activity, as well as reactive oxygen species (ROS) and malondialdehyde accumulation. Melatonin treatment more effectively restored photosynthesis, photosynthetic pigments and biomass in Cd-challenged M. micromalus 'qingzhoulinqin' than in Cd-stressed M. baccata. Exogenous melatonin lowered root Cd2+ uptake, reduced leaf Cd accumulation, decreased Cd translocation factors and increased root, stem and leaf melatonin contents in both Cd-exposed rootstocks. Melatonin application increased both antioxidant concentrations and enzyme activities to scavenge Cd-induced ROS. Exogenous melatonin treatment altered the mRNA levels of several genes regulating Cd uptake, transport and detoxification including HA7, NRAMP1, NRAMP3, HMA4, PCR2, NAS1, MT2, ABCC1 and MHX. Taken together, these results suggest that exogenous melatonin reduced aerial parts Cd accumulation and mitigated Cd toxicity in Malus plants, probably due to the melatonin-mediated Cd allocation in tissues, and induction of antioxidant defense system and transcriptionally regulated key genes involved in detoxification.