Search

Most fresh horticultural commodities are highly perishable and thus require proper care and handling during and after harvesting. Hence, packaging (pre-packaging, primary, secondary and tertiary) becomes an essential operation in prolonging the shelf life of the processed or fresh horticultural produce. Packaging provides containment and protection to the product and convenience and communication about the inside product to the end consumer. Consumer requirements and demands and world wide shifting patterns such as expectation of life and companies putting money into the production and delivery of food are driving innovation in food and packaging. Smart packaging is a novel and fascinating technological area with a lot of positive feedback from today’s consumers. The two primary forms of smart packaging are active and intelligent packaging. Active packaging systems include active compounds put into sachets or pads and then placed in the package, as well as placed directly in the package or on the packaging material. Intelligent packaging comprises signs that describe the product’s safety and quality, history, and the environment surrounding the container. Packaging in the traditional sense functions as a passive barrier, delaying the detrimental impact of environmental factors on the food product. These new innovative packaging systems, on the other hand, allow the package to interact with the environment and food, as well as play a vital part in the preservation of horticultural commodities. Despite substantial study into the innovative packaging technologies, several of these innovations have yet to be successfully deployed in commercial horticultural produce packaging systems. Comprehensive awareness of their potential in horticulture product packaging applications will help with effective development and broad commercial introduction.

Pollination is vital to conserve the planet’s vast wealth of biodiversity.The pollinator is a living organism transporting pollen grains from the male part to the flower’s fertilizing stigma.Fruit and seed set mainly in cross-pollinated crops dependon honeybees since their bodily parts have been engineered to capture the most pollen grains possible andhavea rapid reproductive rate. Insects are responsible for about 80% of all pollination activity, with bees accounting for over 80% of all insect pollination.Every day, a given bee colony may pollinate about 300 million flowers.Honey bees are considered the finest pollinators among all that contribute to pollination and generate honey and other hive products that add to farm income. The benefits of growing crops yield much more than the income generated by selling honey and other products.Many studies also demonstrate that pesticide application became a significant issue in most crops and antagonistically influence the honey bee population. Hence, great care must be taken to safeguard insect pollinators, particularly honey bees, against pesticide poisoning.The importance of pollinator species richness in their natural environment and function in crop improvement must be recognized. This review provides a broad overview of pollination difficulties that farmers face and an explanation of the importance of pollination in boosting food and nutritional security by improving the productivity of horticultural crops.

Background: Bluetongue is an arthropod transmitted viral disease causing range of clinical manifestations in small ruminants. The causative agent, Bluetongue virus (BTV) possesses several structural (SPs) and non-structural proteins (NSPs) associated with its morphogenesis and virulence. NS3, a multifunctional protein of BTV execute a decisive role in virus pathogenesis and release. In the present study, the NS3 protein of BTV was cloned into a pGBKT7-BD vector as bait and characterized for its expression. The suitability of NS3 as a bait to screen interactions with host proteins was also assessed. Methods: The NS3 gene was cloned in the pGBKT7-BD vector to generate the bait plasmid. The recombinant pGBKT7-NS3 bait was sequence confirmed and characterized for auto-activation, toxicity and expression. Thereafter, the bait was mated with yeast two-hybrid (Y2H) cDNA library and screened for the host-BTV protein-protein interactions (PPI). Conclusion: The constructed bait was found suitable for mating, however, no protein hits appeared on forward library screening. The sequence analysis revealed the presence of the transmembrane domains (TM) within the NS3 sequence that may have resulted in the failure of protein interaction studies in Y2H.

Introduction Atherosclerotic coronary artery disease (CAD) is the major cause of mortality in the USA. CAD requiring percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) can have a wide spectrum of presentations. We reviewed the cost of admission and PCI at the tertiary care center stratified for different CAD presentation types. Methods We performed a retrospective study of 7,389 patients undergoing coronary angiogram at our facility from 2015 to 2017. Patients were selected from CathPCI registry. Chart review was done for readmission and death data. Cost data were provided by the finance department. Patients going for coronary artery bypass surgery (CABG) were excluded. We split the patients based on their need for PCI. Cost analysis was based on CAD presentation types (No symptoms, atypical symptoms, stable angina, unstable angina, NSTEMI [non-ST segment elevation myocardial infarction], STEMI [ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction]). Adjusted linear regression was run for the outcomes. Primary outcomes were 30-day readmission and death. The secondary outcome was cost of admission. Results The final sample size was 6,403. The mean age was 65.6 years (SD: 12.5; male: 63.8%). 2444 required PCI (38%; p < 0.001). PCI group had lower mean age (62.5 years; SD: 12.3, p

Anomalous coronary artery remains the second most common cause for sudden cardiac death (SCD) in young athletes. The anomaly most commonly associated with SCD is the one that courses between the aorta and pulmonary artery, the malignant course. We present a case of a young gentleman who presented with symptomatic palpitations and was found to have anomalous right coronary artery from ostial left main coronary artery coursing between the aorta and pulmonary artery.

Okra is a traditional and one of the most popular crops among various groups of vegetable crops, generally cultivated extensively in summer and rainy season in India. Although at present, a considerable number of commercial cultivars and hybrids of okra are available in the market, yet farmers are facing difficulties in production as the available cultivars are not well adapted to country’s specific agro-climatic conditions. Hence, the present investigation was conducted for performance-based evaluation of twenty-six okra cultivars, including a standard check Arka Anamika (C) thus, selecting elite cultivars from the evaluated ones. A Randomized Block Design (RBD) with three replications was employed for aligning all the cultivars under study. The data for 32 quantitative traits were taken using five plants from each treatment corresponding to every replication. A fair amount of variation was observed in all the cultivars in terms of all the yield and its attributing traits under study. The analysis of variance depicted significant differences among genotype for all the traits under investigation where the yield per hectare ranged from 231.87 q/ha (VL Bhindi-2) to 86.95 q/ha (LC-1) with a mean value of 155.55 q/ha. Out of twenty-six cultivars, seventeen genotypes viz., Agri Bahar, Chanda, Hisar Naveen, Hisar Unnat, Kashi Kranti, Kashi Mohini, Kashi Pragati, Kaveri, LC-3, LC-4, LC-6, Lucky-666, Pusa A-4, Pusa Sawni, VL Bhindi-2, Vandana-241, and Varsha Uphar performed better than check cultivar Arka Anamika in terms of yield and its attributing traits. Therefore, these seventeen genotypes can be recommended for further study, future breeding aspects and cultivation in the mid-hill conditions of Garhwal Himalaya.

Acute coronary obstruction is a relatively rare complication of transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR). Left coronary ostial obstruction is much more common compared to right coronary occlusion due to its relatively lower ostial height from the aortic annulus. We present a case of acute ostial right coronary occlusion immediately upon deployment of a 29-mm Sapien 3 transcatheter aortic valve. The acute right coronary ostial occlusion manifested with ventricular fibrillation, acute right ventricular failure, and right-sided cardiogenic shock. The patient, after undergoing an initial unsuccessful attempt at percutaneous revascularization, was placed on veno-arterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (VA-ECMO). This was later transitioned to percutaneous right atrial to pulmonary artery right ventricular support, which led to subsequent recovery.

A 48-year-old lady presented with a parotid mass found to be secondary to recurrent sialadenitis. She was also found to have microcytic anemia, renal dysfunction, an elevated gamma gap, and an isolated alkaline phosphatase elevation. Later, she developed altered mental status and shock, and was found to have adrenal insufficiency, pulmonary hypertension, and pulmonary nodules. A liver biopsy was consistent with amyloid deposition. The constellation of findings was consistent with systemic amyloid A (AA) amyloidosis secondary to recurrent sialadenitis with hepatic, renal, pulmonary, and adrenal involvement. The patient later passed away due to acute hypoxic respiratory failure. This case demonstrates rare sequelae of systemic AA amyloidosis of pulmonary hypertension and adrenal insufficiency.

Patient selection for and predicting clinical outcomes of chronic total occlusion (CTO) percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) remain challenging. We hypothesized that both J-CTO (Multicenter Chronic Total Occlusion Registry of Japan) and PROGRESS CTO (Prospective Global Registry for the Study of Chronic Total Occlusion Intervention) scores will predict not only angiographic success but also long-term clinical outcomes of the patients who underwent PCI of CTO. Of 325 CTO PCIs performed at 2 Emory University hospitals from January 2012 to August 2015, 249 patients with complete baseline clinical, angiographic and follow-up data, were included in this analysis. Major adverse cardiovascular events (MACEs) consisted of a composite of death, myocardial infarction, and target vessel revascularization. Mean age was 63 ± 11 years old and mean follow-up was 19.8 ± 13.1 months. Angiographic success rates increased from 74.5% in 2012 to 85.7% in 2015. Greater J-CTO and PROGRESS CTO scores were not only associated with lower likelihood of angiographic success but also higher rates of long-term MACE. Compared with the scores of 0 to 2, J-CTO and PROGRESS CTO scores of ≥3 were associated with higher MACE. Multivariable analysis demonstrated that PROGRESS CTO scores of ≥3, male sex, and peripheral vascular disease were independent predictors of MACE. In conclusion, J-CTO and PROGRESS CTO scores are useful in predicting procedural success. In addition, the PROGRESS CTO score, and to a lesser degree J-CTO score, have predictive value for long-term outcomes in patients who underwent CTO PCI.

Objectives The purpose of this study was to assess and compare in vivo the restoration of vasomotor function following Absorb bioresorbable vascular scaffold (BVS) (Abbott Vascular, Santa Clara, California) and metallic Xience V (XV) (Abbott Vascular, Santa Clara, California) stent implantations in porcine coronary arteries at 1 and 2 years. Background Drug-eluting metallic coronary stents induce sustained vasomotor dysfunction, and preliminary observations from arteries with bioresorbable scaffolds have indicated partially restored vasoreactivity. Methods A total of 15 Absorb BVS (3.0 × 18.0 mm) and 14 XV (3.0 × 18.0 mm or 3.0 × 12.0 mm) stents were randomly implanted in the main coronaries of 12 nonatherosclerotic swine. The effect of implant on vasomotor performance (constrictive and expansive) was measured in the stented/scaffolded segments and the 5-mm proximal and distal adjacent segments in vivo by angiography assessing mean luminal diameter changes following infusion of vasoactive agents at 1 year (n = 6) and 2 years (n = 6) as well as ex vivo at 2 years using a tissue chamber apparatus. Endothelial cell function and smooth muscle cell phenotype gene marker levels were evaluated with quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction. Results The scaffolded Absorb BVS segments showed fully restored constrictive response compared with XV implanted vessels at 1 year: −24.30 ± 14.31% versus −1.79 ± 6.57% (p Conclusions Absorb BVS-implanted coronary arteries demonstrate early functional restoration of the scaffolded and adjacent segments at 1 year, which is preserved up to 2 years.

Introduction: There has been steady increase in the number of catheter ablations for the definitive management of atrial fibrillation and it is associated with its own complications with vascular complications being the most common. There are many studies comparing Ultrasound (US) guided versus Conventional Method (CM) of venipuncture for complications as these patients are on therapeutic anticoagulation. We conducted a meta-analysis to look for any difference between the two approaches. Methods: PubMed, Medline, EMBASE and Cochrane databases were analyzed from inception to January 2018 for all studies comparing US vs CM for venipuncture in patients undergoing catheter ablation. Four observational studies and one Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT) with 5158 patients were studied for major and minor vascular complications. Major vascular complications included hematoma/major bleeding (more than or equal to BARC2), AV fistula and pseudo aneurysm. Random effect model was used to estimate the odds ratio of dichotomous outcomes Results: Major and minor vascular complications were significantly less with US guided approach as compared to conventional approach {Odds Ratio (OR): 0.36, 95% CI 0.21-0.61, P=0.0002} and {Odds Ratio (OR): 0.30, 95% CI 0.15-0.64, P=0.002} respectively. Conclusion: Real time ultrasound use for venipuncture access is safer approach with significantly lesser vascular complications in patients with atrial fibrillation on anticoagulation undergoing catheter ablation.

Background: Studies have shown that transradial approach (TR) is associated with increased radiation exposure compared to transfemoral (TF) approach. However, it is believed that the difference in radiation exposure may not be significant between the two approaches when performed by experienced operators, as TR approach has a challenging learning curve. Newer studies have shown conflicting results in radiation exposure between the two treatment strategies. Hence, we sought to perform a meta-analysis comparing the radiation exposure between TR and TF approach during coronary angiography (CA) and percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). Methods: We searched PubMed, EMBASE and SCOPUS for eligible studies. 27 randomized controlled trials (RCTs) were included in our analysis. Outcomes analyzed were Fluoroscopy time (FT) in minutes and dose-area product (DAP) in Gy/cm2. We used Inverse variance random effects model to calculate the mean difference (MD) and 95% confidence interval (CI). We performed a subgroup analysis of trials that compared the two approaches for CA and PCI separately. We also performed a subgroup analysis of trials that only included self-identified experienced operators. Results: FT was reported by 26 trials and was significantly higher with TR approach for both CA (MD=1.28, 95% CI 0.78 to 1.77, P Conclusions: TR approach is associated with higher radiation exposure than TF approach even with experienced operators. However, the clinical significance of this finding has to be evaluated in larger RCTs.

Numerous studies have compared the effect of loco-regional versus general anesthesia on outcomes in patients undergoing endovascular abdominal aortic aneurysm repair (EVAR) with varying results. We therefore systematically reviewed published literature and conducted a meta-analysis of available

A middle-aged woman was admitted with progressive shortness of breath for 3 weeks. Clinical exam was unremarkable and further work-up was pursued. CT chest showed a cardiac mass and multiple opacities in the lungs (figure 1C). Echocardiogram demonstrated a 3×5 cm mass in the right atrium (online supplementary video 1) which was extending into the inferior vena cava (IVC) (figure 1A,B). These findings were highly suspicious for metastatic disease, but the primary was unknown. CT abdomen showed an 8.9×7.5×9.3 cm mass in the left kidney with …

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a known risk factor for worse outcomes in patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) for Chronic Total Occlusions (CTO). PubMed, MEDLINE, Embase, and Cochrane databases were queried from inception to September 2018 for all RCTs and observational

There is limited data on cardiogenic shock complicating hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). We identified patients admitted between January 2010 and September 2015 in National Inpatient Sample Database using International Classification of Diseases, 9th revision codes 4251x and 78551 for

Six degree-of-freedom motion platforms are extensively used as vehicular and flight simulators. It is difficult to modify the design of a platform after installation if some issues such as improving the performance and smoothness of the platform are encountered. Hence, various issues encountered such as jerky motion on using different mock-ups and irregular response are difficult to be dealt without changing the controllers and modifying the design. This paper presents two approaches to make the platform behave smoothly. The first one is the dynamic speed control to reduce jerks. The second one is the variable travel control to reduce distance between consecutive positions, thus maintaining smoothness of operation. These two approaches were implemented on a truck driving simulator and the overall performance became significantly better. Similar approach can be applied to other motion platforms facing the similar issues.

A 23-year-old woman with history of systemic lupus erythematous presented with dizziness and headache and was admitted for the stroke workup. During her stay, she had sudden painless loss of vision in her right eye consistent with central retinal artery occlusion (CRAO). Ocular massage and paracentesis were attempted without success to resume the flow. She was started on oral high-dose steroids (1 mg/kg) for lupus flare and therapeutic anticoagulation for antiphospholipid syndrome (positive for anticardiolipin and beta-2 microglobulin antibodies). On day 4, she started having painful bluish discoloration of her left index finger and right fifth toe, and on day 5 she had acute onset of left blurry vision with findings consistent with CRAO. She fulfilled the criteria of catastrophic antiphospholipid syndrome and was started on intravenous pulse steroids, plasmapheresis and higher international normalised ratio goal of 3–3.5 with improvement in her left eye vision from 20/200 to 20/20 on near card test by the end of treatment.

Background Coronary Allograft Vasculopathy (CAV) is a major determinant of long term survival after cardiac transplantation and remains one of the leading causes of death after the first year of orthotopic heart transplantation (OHT). Percutaneous revascularization is an option for amenable lesions with either drug-eluting stents (DES) or bare-metal stents (BMS). Choice of stent is dependent on patient and angiographic characteristics. Previous studies comparing the two stent subtypes have shown inconsistent results and thus we decided to do a meta-analysis to evaluate the net clinical effect. Methods PubMed, Medline & EMBASE were queried for all English articles from 1993 to 2017. Inclusion criteria were patients with CAV undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention with either DES or BMS with follow up angiography at 1 year. Primary outcome was In-stent restenosis (ISR): defined as more than 50% stenosis of the stent diameter angiographically. Secondary outcome was mortality. Outcomes were analyzed in two groups: Patient-based analysis and Lesion-based analysis. Data were pooled with absolute event rate and metanalysis of the outcomes was performed using a weighted random effects model in RevMAN 5.0. Results Seven studies including a total of 526 angiographic lesions (BMS 267; 50.7%) and 268 patients were analyzed. On lesion-based analysis, mean incidence of ISR in the BMS group vs the DES group was 31% vs 10.2% (RR 0.36; 95% CI 0.19–0.69; p=0.002). No difference in mortality was observed between the two groups (RR 0.86; 95% CI 0.16–0.46; p=0.86). Forest-plots for the outcomes are shown below. Conclusion Our analysis suggests that when compared with BMS implantation, DES have a lower rate of in-stent restenosis but offer no reduction in mortality at 1 year.

The purpose of this study was to assess and compare in vivo the restoration of vasomotor function following Absorb bioresorbable vascular scaffold (BVS) (Abbott Vascular, Santa Clara, California) and metallic Xience V (XV) (Abbott Vascular, Santa Clara, California) stent implantations in porcine coronary arteries at 1 and 2 years.Drug-eluting metallic coronary stents induce sustained vasomotor dysfunction, and preliminary observations from arteries with bioresorbable scaffolds have indicated partially restored vasoreactivity.A total of 15 Absorb BVS (3.0 × 18.0 mm) and 14 XV (3.0 × 18.0 mm or 3.0 × 12.0 mm) stents were randomly implanted in the main coronaries of 12 nonatherosclerotic swine. The effect of implant on vasomotor performance (constrictive and expansive) was measured in the stented/scaffolded segments and the 5-mm proximal and distal adjacent segments in vivo by angiography assessing mean luminal diameter changes following infusion of vasoactive agents at 1 year (n = 6) and 2 years (n = 6) as well as ex vivo at 2 years using a tissue chamber apparatus. Endothelial cell function and smooth muscle cell phenotype gene marker levels were evaluated with quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction.The scaffolded Absorb BVS segments showed fully restored constrictive response compared with XV implanted vessels at 1 year: -24.30 ± 14.31% versus -1.79 ± 6.57% (p0.004) and at 2 years: -28.13 ± 14.60% versus -3.90 ± 6.44% (p0.004). The early restoration of vasomotor function within the scaffolded segments reached a peak at 1 year and did not significantly change up to 2 years. The vasoactive responses of Absorb BVS-implanted vessels within the scaffolded segments were similar to those observed within the proximal and distal edge segments at both time points. Conversely, the stented XV segments demonstrated significantly impaired constrictive response compared with the distal XV edges at 1 year: -1.79 ± 6.57% versus -21.89 ± 7.17% (p0.0002) and at 2 years: -3.90 ± 6.44% versus -21.93 ± 15.60% (p0.03). Ex vivo assessment of contraction induced by PGF2α and relaxation induced by substance P of isolated BVS segments compared with XV-treated segments generated greater contraction force of 3.94 ± 0.97 g versus 1.83 ± 1.03 g (p0.05), and endothelial-dependent relaxation reached 35.91 ± 24.74% versus 1.20 ± 3.79% (p0.01). Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction gene analysis at 2 years demonstrated increased Connexin 43 messenger ribonucleic acid levels of Absorb BVS-treated vessels compared with XV-treated vessels: 1.92 ± 0.23 versus 0.77 ± 12 (p0.05).Absorb BVS-implanted coronary arteries demonstrate early functional restoration of the scaffolded and adjacent segments at 1 year, which is preserved up to 2 years.

Given its continuous wire molding and sinusoidal design, we hypothesized that Resolute Integrity stent (R-ZES) is more conformable than the XIENCE Xpedition stent (X-EES) and therefore may induce more physiologic wall shear stress (WSS) in angulated coronary arteries. Interim analysis of

We describe the design, implementation and evaluation of a RObust and Distributed MAC (RODMAC) protocol for cognitive radio networks which exploit spectrum white spaces for communication. RODMAC incorporates two novel features. These are a robust design resilient to node failure and a scheme for on-demand channel hopping. Other features include a fully distributed architecture and incorporation of Forward Error Correction (FEC) for better performance. RODMAC allows any pair of nodes requiring dedicated bandwidth for communication between them to request exclusive use of a free channel. Besides improving the QoS for communication between this pair of nodes, this mechanism also improves the overall efficiency of bandwidth resource usage. RODMAC can serve as the basis for building MAC protocols for applications which include device-to-device (D2D) communication, tele-medicine or military communication in a jamming environment. Our design has been implemented on the Wireless Open Access Research Platform (WARP) of Rice University. For this purpose, we have established a test bed of 4 WARP nodes. This design has been validated by careful analysis and repeated experiments over a 6 month period. We have analyzed our results for jitter, throughput and loss for different bandwidths. Our results for these parameters show an improvement in loss percentage of about 70% for a 5 Mbps link with video streaming on different channels using our novel on-demand channel hopping scheme as compared to simultaneous video streaming on the same channel.