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Heavy metals are micropollutants, persist in the environment and accumulate in organisms, causing adverse effects to ecosystem. Synthetic inorganic minerals, polymers, activated carbon, ash, char, biomass powders, shells, etc. are used as adsorbents to remove the heavy metals in aqueous medium. Advancements in nanotechnology and green chemistry focus on novel materials for efficient removal of heavy metals. Among the different interesting nanomaterials, Silica nanoparticles (SiNPs) have recently emerged as an important nanomaterial used for environmental remediation due to their tractable pore size, distinct surface area, surface reactivity, outstanding biocompatibility, structural flexibility, stability, low toxicity, and adoptable surface modification. Due to the huge availability of biomass, SiNPs synthesis from crop residues and agro-industries waste by-products has been widely suggested. The SiNPs could be synthesized from agro-waste through calcination, sol-gel, ball milling, etc. Some of the SiNPs produced from certain agro-waste recorded a specific surface area of 5 to 653 m2 g-1 with a particle size of sub-50 nm. These SiNPs remove a wide range of heavy metals, viz., Cr, Ni, Pb, Cd, As, Hg, Zn, etc., from aqueous solutions with varied concentrations. This review briefly discusses various agro-waste sources for SiNPs green synthesis and SiNPs heavy metal adsorption.

The present study was aimed to screen castor germplasm lines varying in wax content against gray mold disease for the identification of resistance source under in vitro conditions using detached spike and detached capsule technique. Out of thirty-three lines screened against gray mold under in vitro conditions six lines with low wax content viz., RG-1754 (0.24 µg/mg), RG-1875 (0.12 µg/mg), RG-1915 (0.21 µg/mg), RG-1919 (0.24 µg/mg), RG-1972 (0.08 µg/mg) and RG-1926 (0.08 µg/mg) recorded significantly low levels of infection ranging from 10 to 20 per cent 7 days after inoculation. Whereas the susceptible cultivar DCH -519 has recorded disease severity of more than 90 %. The pearman's rank correlation analysis showed a strong positive relation between disease severity and capsule wax content, with p < 0.01 and r = 0.884.

Aims: Diabetic retinopathy is called as vision threatening disease. It affects retina very severely. DR is a common public health problem in Worldwide. Our main objective was to identify significant risk factors for diabetic retinopathy among diabetes mellitus patients. Materials and Methods: The present retrospective Case-Control study was conducted with 404 DM patients' records were collected from King Abdulaziz Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Statistical analysis used: Data were presented as descriptive statistics, multivariate logistic regression, association between variables was using odds ratio and 95% confidence interval. Results: Among 404 diabetes patients, 192 (47.5%) were Cases and 212 (52.5%) Controls. In multivariate regression analysis showed that male gender also had a higher likelihood in the development of DR, OR: 1.68 [95% CI: (1.04 – 2.71); p

Abstract Background Elephant endotheliotropic herpesvirus haemorrhagic disease (EEHV HD) is the leading cause of death in captive Asian elephant calves in Asia, North America, and Europe with a mortality rate of ~ 65% in calves that are under human care. Although EEHV HD was first found in elephant camps, more recently it was identified in wild populations which poses a greater threat to the elephant population. Deaths due to EEHV HD have been seen in wild elephants, but the in-situ prevalence and mortality rate is unknown. We report the first EEHV HD cases in Malaysia from 3 wild born endangered Bornean elephant calves from Sabah with known typical clinical signs. Case presentation The first calf died within 24 h of the onset of clinical signs; the second calf died within 12 h of the onset of clinical signs. The third calf succumbed within 72 h. Necropsies revealed that all 3 calves had similar presentations of EEHV HD but in the third calf with less severity. We conducted conventional polymerase chain reaction (cPCR) assays and found EEHV DNA at all 7 loci in the 3 calves; it was identified as EEHV1A, the virus type that has been found in most other reported cases. Conclusion Typical EEHV HD clinical signs and the molecular confirmation of EEHV by cPCR and sequencing point to EEHV as the cause of death. Further genetic investigation of the strain is in progress.

Highly endangered species like the Sumatran rhinoceros are at risk from inbreeding. Five historical and 16 modern genomes from across the species range show mutational load, but little evidence for local adaptation, suggesting that future inbreeding depression could be mitigated by assisted gene flow among populations.

One of the tools used to measure the quality of life in hemodialysis (HD) patients is the Kidney Disease Quality of Life (KDQOL) survey. The KDQOL has been through several developmental processes, with the most recent one being the KDQOL-36™. Our study evaluated the validity and reliability of the Arabic-translated KDQOL-36™ survey in Saudi chronic dialysis patients. This cross-sectional study was conducted at four HD centers in Saudi Arabia. The KDQOL-36™ survey was translated into Arabic according to the RAND Corporation’s basic guidelines for translating surveys. The validation process was achieved by assessing reliability and validity. The reliability of the translated survey was established by Cronbach’s alpha to measure internal consistency and the intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC) to measure the test–retest reliability. The validity of the translated survey was established based on content validity and convergent validity. The study included 184 patients (36–65 years; 60.9% of men). Regarding reliability, Cronbach’s alpha for the subscales ranged from 0.63 to 0.89, and ICCs ranged from 0.60 to 0.88. For content validity, an expert panel reviewed the questions in depth. In addition, we found a positive relationship between all sub- and overall health-rated scores (P

Objective: The aim of this study is to compare the adherence to the guidelines in patients presenting with hyponatremia defined as a sodium (Na) level ⩽120 mEq/L, treated with 3% hypertonic saline or normal saline. The comparison included 3% hypertonic saline use, safe serum sodium increases within 24 and 48 h, frequency of hyponatremia-related complications, and length of stay. Methods: This retrospective observational study enrolled 122 patients with serum sodium ⩽120 mEq/L admitted to the Internal Medicine Department, King Abdulaziz Medical City, National Guard-Health Affairs (NGHA), Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, from January 2016 to December 2017. The patients were treated with either 3% hypertonic saline or normal saline. Results: Of the 122 patients, 105 (83.3%) received normal saline, and 17 (13.5%) received hypertonic saline. In the normal saline group, the mean serum sodium increase at 24 h was lower (6.60 ± 4.75) compared to the hypertonic saline group (9.24 ± 5.04). The length of stay was longer in the normal saline group (10.35 ± 13.90) compared to the hypertonic saline group (4.35 ± 3.39). A small proportion (8.7%) of the normal saline group had a serum sodium increase >12 mg/dL at 24 h compared to 29.4% for the hypertonic saline group, and the difference was statistically significant (p value = 0.013). Almost one-third of the sample (36%) presented with complications, the majority (77.3%, n = 34) had a serum sodium of ⩽115 mg/dL, and 22.7% (n = 10) with a serum sodium of 116–120 mg/dL (p value = 0.041). Conclusion: Despite the strong recommendation for 3% hypertonic saline use in severe hyponatremia, many practitioners still use normal saline, even in patients with serum sodium ⩽120 mEq/L. Normal saline showed some efficacy in managing hyponatremia in asymptomatic cases; however, severe cases may have a delayed correction, hyponatremia-related complications, and an extended length of stay.

Lemuricola (Protenterobius) nycticebi is the only pinworm species known to infect strepsirrhine primates outside Africa, and the only pinworm species yet described in slow lorises. Here, we provided a detailed morphological comparison of female and male worms, and a first description of fourth-stage larvae collected from free-living slow lorises (Nycticebus menagensis) in Sabah, Malaysian Borneo. Using mitochondrial and nuclear markers, we also reconstructed the species' phylogenetic relationship with other pinworms infecting primates. Both morphological and molecular results indicated a distinct association between L. (P.) nycticebi and its host. However, while taxonomy identified this species as a member of the Lemuricola clade and grouped pinworms infecting lemurs and slow lorises together, phylogenetic reconstruction split them, placing L. (P.) nycticebi within the Enterobius clade. Our results suggest that L. (P.) nycticebi may represent a different taxon altogether, and that it is more closely related to pinworm species infecting Old World primates outside Madagascar. Pongobius pongoi (Foitová et al., 2008) n. comb. is also proposed. Keywords: Nematoda, Oxyuridae, Slow loris, Nycticebus menagensis, Primates, Borneo

Bacterial blight, blast, and sheath blight are the commonest diseases causing substantial yield loss in rice around the world. Stacking of broad-spectrum resistance genes/QTLs into popular cultivars is becoming a major objective of any disease resistance breeding program. The varieties ASD 16 and ADT 43 are the two popular, high yielding, and widely grown rice cultivars of South India, which are susceptible to bacterial blight (BB), blast, and sheath blight diseases. The present study was carried out to improve the cultivars (ASD 16 and ADT 43) through introgression of bacterial blight (xa5, xa13, and Xa21), blast (Pi54), and sheath blight (qSBR7-1, qSBR11-1, and qSBR11-2) resistance genes/QTLs by MABB (marker-assisted backcross breeding). IRBB60 (xa5, xa13, and Xa21) and Tetep (Pi54; qSBR7-1, qSBR11-1, and qSBR11-2) were used as donors to introgress BB, blast, and sheath blight resistance into the recurrent parents (ASD 16 and ADT 43). Homozygous (BC3F3 generation), three-gene bacterial blight pyramided (xa5 + xa13 + Xa21) lines were developed, and these lines were crossed with Tetep to combine blast (Pi54) and sheath blight (qSBR7-1, qSBR11-1, and qSBR11-2) resistance. In BC3F3 generation, the improved pyramided lines carrying a total of seven genes/QTLs (xa5 + xa13 + Xa21 + Pi54 + qSBR7-1 + qSBR11-1 + qSBR11-2) were selected through molecular and phenotypic assay, and these were evaluated for resistance against bacterial blight, blast, and sheath blight pathogens under greenhouse conditions. We have selected nine lines in ASD 16 background and 15 lines in ADT 43 background, exhibiting a high degree of resistance to BB, blast, and sheath blight diseases and also possessing phenotypes of recurrent parents. The improved pyramided lines are expected to be used as improved varieties or used as a potential donor in breeding programs. The present study successfully introgressed Pi54, and qSBR QTLs (qSBR7-1, qSBR11-1, and qSBR11-2) from Tetep and major effective BB-resistant genes (xa5, xa13, and Xa21) from IRBB60 into the commercial varieties for durable resistance to multiple diseases.

Within host communities, related species are more likely to share common parasitic agents, and as a result, morphological similarities have led researchers to conclude that parasites infecting closely related hosts within a community represent a single species. However, genetic diversity within parasite genera and host range remain poorly investigated in most systems. Strongyloides is a genus of soil-transmitted nematode that has been reported from several primate species in Africa and Asia, and has been estimated to infect hundreds of millions of people worldwide, although no precise estimates are available. Here we describe a case of infection with a cryptic species of Strongyloides in a Bornean (Philippine) slow loris (Nycticebus menagensis) living within a diverse community of several primate species in the Lower Kinabatangan Wildlife Sanctuary, Malaysian Borneo. Fresh fecal samples were collected from five primate species and nematode larvae cultured from these samples were selected for phylogenetic analyses. Sequences obtained for most larvae were identified as S. fuelleborni, grouping into three different clusters and showing no aggregation within specific hosts or geographic location. In contrast, a set of parasite sequences obtained from a slow loris clustered closely with S. stercoralis into a different group, being genetically distinct to sequences reported from other primate hosts, humans included. Our results suggest that although S. fuelleborni infects all haplorrhines sampled in this primate community, a different species might be infecting the slow loris, the only strepsirrhine in Borneo and one of the least studied primates in the region. Although more data are needed to support this conclusion, we propose that Strongyloides species in primates might be more diverse than previously thought, with potential implications for ecological and evolutionary host-parasite associations, as well as epidemiological dynamics. Keywords: Strongyloides, Nycticebus menagensis, Cryptic species, Host-parasite interactions, Malaysian Borneo

Background: Menopause is a physiological event in the women's life that can strongly affect the quality of life (QOL). More than 80% of women state that physical and physiological symptoms commonly accompany menopause and affect women's health and well-being. Objective: The aim of the study was to assess the menopause-related symptoms and their impact on the women's life. Materials and Methods: We have done a hospital-based descriptive study at the Outpatient and Inpatient Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences and Research Centre, Kochi, Kerala, with 150 postmenopausal women. The data were collected using the structured Menopause-specific QOL (MENQOL) questionnaire. The data were collected for 4 weeks from the Outpatient and Inpatient of Department of OBG with inclusion criteria of women who were coming as bystanders' age in between 50 and 65 years. Statistical Analysis: Mean, standard deviation, frequency, and proportions were calculated. The association between the MENQOL scores and selected demographic variables was found using one-way ANOVA test. Results: Among 150 postmenopausal women, 51 (34%) were in the age group of 55–59 years and more than half of the study population (n = 116, 77.3%) were married. The management of menopausal symptoms was followed by 28 (18.7%) women. The prevalence levels of the classical menopausal symptoms such as hot flushes, night sweats, and vaginal dryness in women aged 50–65 years were 75.3%, 58%, and 30.7%, respectively. The overall MENQOL mean total score was found as 112.47 ± 28.80. The majority of them experienced the mean physical symptom, which was found to be 62.05 ± 17.82. The associations between QOL scores with educational status and socioeconomic status were statistically highly significant with P < 0.01 and with marital status statistically significant with P < 0.05. Conclusion: From the present study, we have concluded that the postmenopause-related physical symptoms are frequently reported by the middle age group classifications. The association between QOL scores with educational status, socioeconomic status, and marital status was statistically highly significant. By nursing education, creating appropriate awareness and health education on the management of postmenopausal symptoms to that age group and it could be reducing the burden of the women population.

AIM:To find the severities status of diabetic retinopathy(DR)among the patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus and to determine the association of the severities of diabetic retinopathy with duration of DR, HbA1C levels, history of hypertension, age and gender in the study population.METHODS:Hospital based cross-sectional studies with sample of 100 patients with DR were selected by using simple random sampling technique with a structured questionnaire was conducted in May to June 2012. The study participants those who with DR aged ≥35 years were included in this study and an oral consent was also collected from the study participants. Descriptive statistics, univariate and multivariate ordinal logistic regression analysis were performed. MS Excel spread sheet was used for data entry and data analysis was done by using SPSS 21.0 version. Statistical significance was taken as PRESULTS:Out of 100 patients, mean age of the patient was found as 53.16±10.81(range 35-78)y. By univariate analysis, there was a positive relationship between diabetic retinopathy severity and age(PPPPP>0.05 by Mann Whitney u-test. All these factors were found as independent risk factors with the severity of DR except the factor age.CONCLUSION:This study was concluded that the duration of DM, HbA1C levels, family history of DM, History of hypertension and gender were independently associated with severity of DR. However, the factors like age and HDL weren't significant with severity of DR in multivariate analysis. Therefore, by using the availability of the existing treatments and controlling in time, which can prevent and free from the vision threatening diseases or delay the occurrence of DR in their life.

Non-human primates of South-East Asia remain under-studied concerning parasite epidemiology and co-infection patterns. Simultaneously, efforts in conservation demand knowledge of parasite abundance and biodiversity in threatened species. The Endangered proboscis monkey, Nasalis larvatus, a primate flagship species for conservation in Borneo, was investigated in the present study. Habitat loss and fragmentation are among the greatest threats to bachelor and harem groups of this folivorous colobine. Designed as a follow-up study, prevalence and co-infection status of intestinal parasites from N. larvatus in a protected area in Malaysian Borneo were analyzed from fecal samples using a flotation method. For the first time, the intestinal parasite co-infection patterns were examined using quantitative analyses. Overall, 92.3% of fecal samples (N = 652) were positive for helminth eggs. Five helminth groups were detected: (1) trichurids (82.7% prevalence) including Trichuris spp. (82.1%) and Anatrichosoma spp. (1.4%), (2) strongyles (58.9%) including Trichostrongylus spp. (48.5%) and Oesophagostomum/Ternidens spp. (22.8%), (3) Strongyloides fuelleborni (32.7%), (4) Ascaris lumbricoides (8.6%), and (5) Enterobius spp. (5.5%). On average, an individual was co-infected with two different groups. Significant positive associations were found for co-infections of trichurids with strongyles and S. fuelleborni as well as S. fuelleborni with A. lumbricoides and strongyles. This study shows a high prevalence of various gastrointestinal helminths with potential transmission pathways primarily related to soil and with zoonotic relevance in wild proboscis monkeys in their remaining natural habitats. Observed positive associations of trichurids with strongyles and Strongyloides spp. may result from the high prevalence of trichurids. Similarly, positive associations between Strongyloides and Ascaris were found, both of which typically occur predominantly in juvenile hosts. These findings should be considered when proposing conservation actions in altered habitats nearby human settlements and when managing captive populations. Keywords: Nasalis larvatus, Gastrointestinal parasites, Co-infection, Conservation, South-East Asia, Malaysia, Zoonosis

Breast cancer is one of the major health problems that leads to early mortality in women. To aid the radiologists, computer aided diagnosis provides a second opinion for the detection and classification of breast cancer. In this paper, two texture feature extraction methods using Empirical Mode Decomposition (EMD) have been proposed to classify the masses in mammogram images into benign or malignant. The first feature extraction method is based on Bi-dimensional Empirical Mode Decomposition (BEMD). On performing BEMD on Region of Interest (ROI) of mammogram image, the ROI is decomposed into a set of different frequency components called Bi-dimensional Intrinsic Mode Functions (BIMFs). Gray Level Co-occurrence Matrix (GLCM) and Gray Level Run Length Matrix (GLRM) features are extracted from these BIMFs and are given as input to the classifier for classification into benign or malignant. Due to the mode mixing problem that exists in BEMD, BIMFs obtained from BEMD are less orthogonal to each other. To overcome this drawback, the second feature extraction method called Modified Bi-dimensional Empirical Mode Decomposition (MBEMD) is proposed. The BIMFs are extracted by employing the proposed MBEMD on mammogram ROI. Features are extracted in a similar way as BEMD method. Support Vector Machine (SVM) and Linear Discriminant Analysis (LDA) classifiers are used for the classification of mammogram mass. The classification accuracy of 88.8%, 96.2% and Area Under the Curve (AUC) of Receiver Operating Characteristics (ROC) of 0.9, 0.96 are obtained with SVM classifier for BEMD, proposed MBEMD based features respectively. The results show that the proposed method yields consistent performance when applied across different databases.

Background: Discharge instructions are vital in postemergency patient care to help the caregiver understand the diagnosis and identify symptoms which require prompt readmission. In general, oral or written instructions are provided on discharge. However, there is a dearth of information on the efficacy of discharge instructions provided by physicians in KSA. Objectives: To evaluate the efficacy of discharge instructions for postpediatrics emergency visit. Materials and Methods: This observational cross-sectional survey conducted in the Department of Paediatric Emergency at King Abdul Aziz Medical City, Riyadh, KSA, included 173 literate adult caregivers who had given their consent. Those who had been on admission earlier and been discharged from the emergency department were excluded. Demographic data and variables like knowledge of medicine and treatment follow-up were collected using a structured questionnaire and analyzed using SPSS version 16. Results: Verbal only, written only, or both verbal and written discharge instructions were provided. Written and verbal instructions, when provided together, were the most effective modes of communication with caregivers. The majority of the respondents were unaware of the follow-up plan (64.16%), unable to identify problems that would necessitate a follow-up (58.96%), and unable to identify the signs and symptoms that would require a revisit (62.43%) irrespective of the mode of instruction. However, more attention is necessary because of the 34.68% of the subjects who left the hospital without discharge instructions. Conclusions: Instructions given both verbally and in writing were observed to be more effective than verbal only or written only. The effectiveness of discharge instructions was highly influenced by the level of education of the caregivers. Improved caregiver friendly methods of communication from the pediatric emergency health-care team are necessary for the delivery of discharge instructions.

Understanding determinants shaping infection risk of endangered wildlife is a major topic in conservation medicine. The proboscis monkey, Nasalis larvatus, an endemic primate flagship species for conservation in Borneo, is endangered through habitat loss, but can still be found in riparian lowland and mangrove forests, and in some protected areas. To assess socioecological and anthropogenic influence on intestinal helminth infections in N. larvatus, 724 fecal samples of harem and bachelor groups, varying in size and the number of juveniles, were collected between June and October 2012 from two study sites in Malaysian Borneo: 634 samples were obtained from groups inhabiting the Lower Kinabatangan Wildlife Sanctuary (LKWS), 90 samples were collected from groups of the Labuk Bay Proboscis Monkey Sanctuary (LBPMS), where monkeys are fed on stationary feeding platforms. Parasite risk was quantified by intestinal helminth prevalence, host parasite species richness (PSR), and eggs per gram feces (epg). Generalized linear mixed effect models were applied to explore whether study site, group type, group size, the number of juveniles per group, and sampling month predict parasite risk. At the LBPMS, prevalence and epg of Trichuris spp., strongylids, and Strongyloides spp. but not Ascaris spp., as well as host PSR were significantly elevated. Only for Strongyloides spp., prevalence showed significant changes between months; at both sites, the beginning rainy season with increased precipitation was linked to higher prevalence, suggesting the external life cycle of Strongyloides spp. to benefit from humidity. Higher prevalence, epgs, and PSR within the LBPMS suggest that anthropogenic factors shape host infection risk more than socioecological factors, most likely via higher re-infection rates and chronic stress. Noninvasive measurement of fecal parasite stages is an important tool for assessing transmission dynamics and infection risks for endangered tropical wildlife. Findings will contribute to healthcare management in nature and in anthropogenically managed environments.

The development of GPS tags for tracking wildlife has revolutionised the study of home ranges, habitat use and behaviour. Concomitantly, there have been rapid developments in methods for estimating habitat use from GPS data. In combination, these changes can cause challenges in choosing the best methods for estimating home ranges. In primatology, this issue has received little attention, as there have been few GPS collar-based studies to date. However, as advancing technology is making collaring studies more feasible, there is a need for the analysis to advance alongside the technology. Here, using a high quality GPS collaring data set from 10 proboscis monkeys (Nasalis larvatus), we aimed to: 1) compare home range estimates from the most commonly used method in primatology, the grid-cell method, with three recent methods designed for large and/or temporally correlated GPS data sets; 2) evaluate how well these methods identify known physical barriers (e.g. rivers); and 3) test the robustness of the different methods to data containing either less frequent or random losses of GPS fixes. Biased random bridges had the best overall performance, combining a high level of agreement between the raw data and estimated utilisation distribution with a relatively low sensitivity to reduced fixed frequency or loss of data. It estimated the home range of proboscis monkeys to be 24-165 ha (mean 80.89 ha). The grid-cell method and approaches based on local convex hulls had some advantages including simplicity and excellent barrier identification, respectively, but lower overall performance. With the most suitable model, or combination of models, it is possible to understand more fully the patterns, causes, and potential consequences that disturbances could have on an animal, and accordingly be used to assist in the management and restoration of degraded landscapes.

Pearl millet is a staple food crop for millions of people living in the arid and semi-arid tropics. Molecular markers have been used to identify genomic regions linked to traits of interest by conventional QTL mapping and association analysis. Phenotypic recurrent selection is known to increase frequencies of favorable alleles and decrease those unfavorable for the traits under selection. This study was undertaken (i) to quantify the response to recurrent selection for phenotypic traits during breeding of the pearl millet open-pollinated cultivar “CO (Cu) 9” and its four immediate progenitor populations and (ii) to assess the ability of simple sequence repeat (SSR) marker alleles to identify genomic regions linked to grain and stover yield-related traits in these populations by association analysis. A total of 159 SSR alleles were detected across 34 selected single-copy SSR loci. SSR marker data revealed presence of subpopulations. Association analysis identified genomic regions associated with flowering time located on linkage group (LG) 6 and plant height on LG4, LG6, and LG7. Marker alleles on LG6 were associated with stover yield, and those on LG7 were associated with grain yield. Findings of this study would give an opportunity to develop marker-assisted recurrent selection (MARS) or marker-assisted population improvement (MAPI) strategies to increase the rate of gain for pearl millet populations undergoing recurrent selection.