Seedlings of Poncirus trifoliata exhibit tissue-specific detoxification in response to NH4 + toxicity.

Ammonium nitrogen (NH4 +-N) is essential for fruit tree growth, but the impact of excess NH4 +-N from fertilizer on evergreen citrus trees is unclear. In a climate chamber, 8-month-old citrus plants were exposed to five different hydroponic NH4 +-N concentrations (0, 5, 10, 15 and 20 mm) for 1 month to study effects of NH4 +-N on growth characteristics, N uptake, metabolism, antioxidant enzymes and osmotic regulatory substances. Application of 10 mm NH4 +-N adversely affected root plasma membrane integrity, root physiological functions, and plant biomass. MDA, CAT, POD, APX and SOD content were significantly correlated with leaf N metabolic enzyme activity (GOGAT, GDH, GS and NR). GDH was the primary enzyme involved in NH4 +-N assimilation in leaves, while the primary pathway involved in roots was GS-GOGAT. Under comparatively high NH4 + addition, roots were the main organs involved in NH4 + utilization in citrus seedlings. Our results demonstrated that variations in NH4 + concentration and enzyme activity in various organs are associated with more effective N metabolism in roots than in leaves to prevent NH4 + toxicity in evergreen woody citrus plants. These results provide insight into the N forms used by citrus plants that are important for N fertilizer management.

Discovery of benzochromene derivatives first example with dual cytotoxic activity against the resistant cancer cell MCF-7/ADR and inhibitory effect of the P-glycoprotein expression levels.

A series of 1H-benzo[f]chromene moieties (4a-z) were synthesised under Ultrasonic irradiation and confirmed with spectral analyses. Derivative 4i solely possessed an X-ray single crystal. The anti-proliferative efficacy of the desired molecules has been explored against three cancer cells: MCF-7, HCT-116, and HepG-2 with the cytotoxically active derivatives screened against MCF-7/ADR and normal cells HFL-1 and WI-38. Furthermore, compounds 4b-d, 4k, 4n, 4q, and 4w, which possessed good potency against MCF-7/ADR, were tested as permeability glycoprotein (P-glycoprotein [P-gp]) expression inhibitors. The attained data confirmed that 4b-d, 4q, and 4w exhibited strong expression inhibition against the P-gp alongside its cytotoxic effect on MCF-7/ADR. The western blot results and Rho123 accumulation assays showed that compounds 4b-d, 4q, and 4w effectively inhibited the P-gp expression and efflux function. Meanwhile, 4b-d, 4q, and 4w induced apoptosis and accumulation of the treated MCF-7/ADR cells in the G1 phase and 4k and 4n in the S phase of the cell cycle.

Time series forecasting of COVID-19 transmission in Asia Pacific countries using deep neural networks.

The novel human coronavirus disease COVID-19 has become the fifth documented pandemic since the 1918 flu pandemic. COVID-19 was first reported in Wuhan, China, and subsequently spread worldwide. Almost all of the countries of the world are facing this natural challenge. We present forecasting models to estimate and predict COVID-19 outbreak in Asia Pacific countries, particularly Pakistan, Afghanistan, India, and Bangladesh. We have utilized the latest deep learning techniques such as Long Short Term Memory networks (LSTM), Recurrent Neural Network (RNN), and Gated Recurrent Units (GRU) to quantify the intensity of pandemic for the near future. We consider the time variable and data non-linearity when employing neural networks. Each model's salient features have been evaluated to foresee the number of COVID-19 cases in the next 10 days. The forecasting performance of employed deep learning models shown up to July 01, 2020, is more than 90% accurate, which shows the reliability of the proposed study. We hope that the present comparative analysis will provide an accurate picture of pandemic spread to the government officials so that they can take appropriate mitigation measures.

A citrus fruits and leaves dataset for detection and classification of citrus diseases through machine learning.

Plants are as vulnerable by diseases as animals. Citrus is a major plant grown mainly in the tropical areas of the world due to its richness in vitamin C and other important nutrients. The production of the citrus fruit has been widely affected by citrus diseases which ultimately degrades the fruit quality and causes financial loss to the growers. During the past decade, image processing and computer vision methods have been broadly adopted for the detection and classification of plant diseases. Early detection of diseases in citrus plants helps in preventing them to spread in the orchards which minimize the financial loss to the farmers. In this article, an image dataset citrus fruits, leaves, and stem is presented. The dataset holds citrus fruits and leaves images of healthy and infected plants with diseases such as Black spot, Canker, Scab, Greening, and Melanose. Most of the images were captured in December from the Orchards in Sargodha region of Pakistan when the fruit was about to ripen and maximum diseases were found on citrus plants. The dataset is hosted by the Department of Computer Science, University of Gujrat and acquired under the mutual cooperation of the University of Gujrat and the Citrus Research Center, Government of Punjab, Pakistan. The dataset would potentially be helpful to researchers who use machine learning and computer vision algorithms to develop computer applications to help farmers in early detection of plant diseases. The dataset is freely available at https://data.mendeley.com/datasets/3f83gxmv57/2.

[Long term results for the ATS valve, the first open pivot valve: 182 cases]. / Résultats a long terme de la valve ATS, premiere valve a pivot ouvert: 182 observations.

Between May 1995 and May 2004, 197 ATS valves were implanted in 182 patients: 120 males and 62 females with an average age of 58 +/- 13 years. 149 cases were for aortic valvular replacement and 48 cases were for the mitral valve. Fifteen patients had a double mitral and aortic replacement. Twelve tricuspid procedures were necessary, 17 patients underwent coronary revascularisation and 58 underwent an aortic procedure (Bentall, aortic sub-coronary, aortic cross). The in-hospital mortality (31 days) was 1.6%. The long term mortality at up to 9 years included 23 deaths. No death was attributed to the ATS valve. Nine thrombo-embolic events occurred, but six were minor. One mitral valve thrombosis was due to the voluntary cessation of anticoagulants and another was linked to a reduction in anticoagulant treatment. There were ten haemorrhagic events. They were all linked with an organic visceral lesion. Only one death was recorded. All patients received standard anticoagulant treatment with a target INR between 2.5 and 4. 155 patients were asked about the problem of valve noise. 139 (89.6%) stated that they did not notice any noise from their valves in everyday life. Conclusions The ATS valvular prosthesis is currently the only open pivot valve, fundamentally differentiating it from other valves with 2 leaflets. As a result of this, it has a very low rate of thrombo-embolic complications and a reduction in anticoagulant treatment could therefore be envisaged (Westaby, Van Nooten, Stefanidis). The haemodynamic characteristics are excellent and the ease of rotation of the leaflets allows optimal orientation. Finally, thanks to its structural characteristics, there is less leaflet closure noise and it is less perceptible than with other prostheses. It therefore offers an excellent quality of life.