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Background: Diabetes mellitus is a major health concern, and the development of foot ulcers is a serious complication. Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a common causative pathogen in diabetic foot infections, which can lead to delayed wound healing and increased morbidity. This study aims to compare the diagnostic performance of conventional microbiological methods and molecular techniques (polymerase chain reaction [PCR]) for the identification of P. aeruginosa in diabetic foot ulcers and to evaluate its antimicrobial susceptibility pattern. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in a tertiary care hospital, involving 134 patients with diabetic foot ulcers. Samples were collected and conventional culture methods were used to identify the pathogens and perform antimicrobial susceptibility testing. In addition, a single-step DNA extraction method (AmpReady) and conventional PCR were utilized for the molecular identification of P. aeruginosa. Results: The study found that the PCR technique was more efficient than conventional culture methods in identifying P. aeruginosa, with 44% detection by PCR compared to 14% by conventional culture. According to the antimicrobial susceptibility testing, co-trimoxazole was the most resistant drug against P. aeruginosa, while amikacin was the most sensitive. Conclusion: The study highlights the importance of using molecular techniques like PCR for accurate and faster identification of pathogens like P. aeruginosa in diabetic foot ulcers, which is crucial for appropriate antibiotic treatment and management of these infections. The findings contribute to a better understanding of the diagnostic validity and antimicrobial susceptibility patterns of P. aeruginosa in diabetic foot ulcers, which can aid in improving clinical management and outcomes for these patients.

Phosphorus (P) deficiency is a frequent problem in calcareous soils of Pakistan because of P-fixation, which poses significant threats to pearl millet productivity. The use of P-solubilizing bacteria (PSB) is regarded as a promising approach for improving P-availability in soil-plant systems. However, it needs optimization of P application into the soil. Therefore, this 2-year field study was conducted to optimize P doses in combination with PSB (Bacillus sp. MN54) inoculation to improve phosphorus use efficiency (PUE), yield, economic returns, and grain quality of pearl millet. Five P doses, i.e. 0 (native soil P only - control), 30, 60, 90, and 120 kg P2O5 ha−1 combined with and without PSB inoculated seeds were used in the study. The application of 90 kg P2O5 ha−1 + seed inoculation with PSB improved the grain yield by 36.8% and 36.0% during 1st and 2nd year, respectively. The same treatment significantly improved the PUE, grain protein, zinc (Zn), and total grain P contents compared to the control treatment. Furthermore, the highest economic returns (1053.3 and 1050.5 $ ha−1) and benefit:cost ratio were observed under 90 kg P2O5 ha−1 + seed inoculation with PSB during both years. In conclusion, application of 90 kg P2O5 ha−1 combined with PSB seed inoculation is a pragmatic option to improve P uptake, grain yield, PUE, grain quality and economic returns of pearl millet grown on calcareous soils. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Metasurface absorbers (MSAs) are of significant importance in a wide range of applications, such as in the field of stealth technology. Nevertheless, conventional designs demonstrate limited flexible characteristics and a lack of transparency, hence constraining their suitability for certain radar stealth applications. This study introduces a novel MSA operating in the broad microwave range, which exhibits both optical transparency and flexibility. The structure consists of a flexible substrate made of polyvinyl chloride (PVC), along with a resistive film composed of indium tin oxide (ITO). The proposed structure exhibits the ability to effectively absorb over 90% of the energy carried by incident electromagnetic (EM) waves across the frequency range of 9.85–41.76 GHz within an angular range of 0° to 60°. In addition, to assess the efficacy of the absorption performance, an examination of the radar cross-section (RCS) characteristics is conducted. The results indicate a reduction of over 10 dB across the aforementioned broad frequency spectrum, regardless of the central angle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]