Growth, physiological and biochemical responses of Malaysia rice cultivars to water stress

The response of water deficit on rice plants varies substantially according to cultivars. Drought tolerant cultivars possess better morphological, physiological and biochemical adaptation to reduce water availability. An experiment involving water stress on rice varieties was carried out under rain shelter to examine the morphological changes (leaf rolling, root depth), stomatal responses and biochemical processes (proline and peroxidase accumulation) of five different local rice varieties. These varieties were selected based on their drought tolerant potential from an earlier varietal screening trial. The varieties were taken from both traditional (Muda, Jawi Lanjut and newly breed commercial varieties, MR 84, MR219 and MR 220) obtained from Genebank, MARDI Research Station, Seberang Prai, Kepala Batas, Pulau Pinang. These varieties were exposed to two different water regimes; water stress by withholding water and well watered condition (control). The experiment was carried out in a Complete Randomized Design (CRD) with 4 replicates. Water stress plants exhibited lower growth rate with obvious variation among rice varieties on the sensitivity to water stress. Meanwhile, the overall sensitivity of the varieties to water stress was ranked in the order; MR220>Muda>MR84>MR219>Jawi Lanjut. Water deficit decreased stomatal conductance, relative water content and root depth while peroxidase activities and proline accumulation were increased in rice grown under water stress treatment

Effect of carbon and nitrogen sources and carbon-to-nitrogen ratio on production of Exserohilum longirostratum.

The effects of carbon and nitrogen sources and the carbon-to-nitrogen ratio on the growth and sporulation of Exserohilum longirostratum were evaluated. Rice flour and malt extracts as the carbon and nitrogen sources, respectively, produced the greatest amount of mycelium. Sources that produced the most biomass were chosen as carbon and nitrogen sources in a C:N ratio test. However, in further experiments, glucose was chosen as the carbon source for the C:N ratio test because rice flour was found to be easily contaminated. Under the C:N ratio test (fixed carbon test), the highest spore production was obtained with a 5:1 ratio (4.78 × 106 spores/mL) and the highest biomass production was obtained with a 7.5:1 ratio (4.66 g/100 mL). In the fixed nitrogen test, 7.5:1 ratio provided the greatest output (4.08 × 106 spores/mL) whereas a 5:1 ratio produced the most biomass (4.33 g/100 mL). Meanwhile, the control which consisted of V8 agar without additional carbon and nitrogen source produced 1.07 × 106 spores/mL. These results provide information on the influence of carbon and nitrogen source and the C:N ratio that can be used in media for optimum growth and spore yield

Sex differences in the association between plasma copeptin and incident type 2 diabetes: the Prevention of Renal and Vascular Endstage Disease (PREVEND) study

AIMS/HYPOTHESIS: Vasopressin plays a role in osmoregulation, glucose homeostasis and inflammation. Therefore, plasma copeptin, the stable C-terminal portion of the precursor of vasopressin, has strong potential as a biomarker for the cardiometabolic syndrome and diabetes. Previous results were contradictory, which may be explained by differences between men and women in responsiveness of the vasopressin system. The aim of this study was to evaluate the usefulness of copeptin for prediction of future type 2 diabetes in men and women separately. METHODS: From the Prevention of Renal and Vascular Endstage Disease (PREVEND) study, 4,063 women and 3,909 men without diabetes at baseline were included. A total of 208 women and 288 men developed diabetes during a median follow-up of 7.7 years. RESULTS: In multivariable-adjusted models, we observed a stronger association of copeptin with risk of future diabetes in women (OR 1.49 [95% CI 1.24, 1.79]) than in men (OR 1.01 [95% CI 0.85, 1.19]) (p (interaction) < 0.01). The addition of copeptin to the Data from the Epidemiological Study on the Insulin Resistance Syndrome (DESIR) clinical model improved the discriminative value (C-statistic,+0.007, p = 0.02) and reclassification (integrated discrimination improvement [IDI] = 0.004, p < 0.01) in women. However, we observed no improvement in men. The additive value of copeptin in women was maintained when other independent predictors, such as glucose, high sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) and 24 h urinary albumin excretion (UAE), were included in the model. CONCLUSIONS/INTERPRETATION: The association of plasma copeptin with the risk of developing diabetes was stronger in women than in men. Plasma copeptin alone, and along with existing biomarkers (glucose, hs-CRP and UAE), significantly improved the risk prediction for diabetes in women

Evaluación probabilística del riesgo de disconfort en edificios

El diseño y la construcción de los edificios determinan junto con el clima y el uso las condiciones  higrotérmicas interiores y el consumo energético durante la vida útil. Este artículo presenta una nueva metodología probablística que permite cuantificar el riesgo de disconfort higrotérmico de cualquier edificación. Mediante simulación estocástica es posible establecer la frecuencia y duración esperada de eventos de disconfort en cada local del edificio y el consumo esperado de energía para su climatización. Se sintetizan aquí los conceptos fundamentales, los índices de confiabilidad y riesgo y los modelos numéricos desarrollados. Para ilustrar las implicancias de la evaluacion de riesgo de disconfort en el proceso de diseño, se ha determinado el riesgo higrotérmico que presenta de una vivienda convencional climatizada, así como su variante bioclimática

Corrosion of One-Step Superhydrophobic Stainless-Steel Thermal Spray Coatings

As most superhydrophobic coatings are made of soft materials, the need for harder, more robust films is evident in applications where erosional degradation is of concern. The work herein describes a methodology to produce superhydrophobic stainless-steel thermal spray coatings using the high-velocity oxygen fuel technique. Due to the use of a kerosene fuel source, a carbon-rich film is formed on the surface of the thermal spray coatings, lowering the surface energy of the high-energy metallic substrates. The thermal spray process generates a hierarchical micro-/sub-micro-structure that is needed to sustain superhydrophobicity. The effect of spray parameters such as particle velocity and temperature on the coating’s hydrophobicity state was explored, and a high particle velocity was shown to cause superhydrophobic characteristics. The coatings were characterized using scanning electron microscopy, profilometry, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, static water contact angle measurements, water droplet roll-off measurements, and water droplet bouncing tests. The corrosion behavior of the coatings was studied using potentiodynamic polarization measurements in order to correlate water repellency with corrosion resistance; however, all coatings demonstrated active corrosion without passivation. This study describes an interesting phenomenon where superhydrophobicity does not guarantee corrosion resistance and discusses alternative applications for such materials

A European Renal Association (ERA) synopsis for nephrology practice of the 2023 European Society of Hypertension (ESH) Guidelines for the Management of Arterial Hypertension.

In June 2023, the European Society of Hypertension (ESH) presented and published the new 2023 ESH Guidelines for the Management of Arterial Hypertension, a document that was endorsed by the European Renal Association (ERA). Following the evolution of evidence in recent years, several novel recommendations relevant to the management of hypertension in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) appeared in these Guidelines. These include recommendations for target office blood pressure (BP) &lt;130/80 mmHg in most and against target office BP &lt;120/70 mmHg in all patients with CKD; recommendations for use of spironolactone or chlorthalidone for patients with resistant hypertension with estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) higher or lower than 30 mL/min/1.73 m2, respectively; use of a sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitor for patients with CKD and estimated eGFR ≥20 mL/min/1.73 m2; use of finerenone for patients with CKD, type 2 diabetes mellitus, albuminuria, eGFR ≥25 mL/min/1.73 m2 and serum potassium &lt;5.0 mmol/L; and revascularization in patients with atherosclerotic renovascular disease and secondary hypertension or high-risk phenotypes if stenosis ≥70% is present. The present report is a synopsis of sections of the ESH Guidelines that are relevant to the daily clinical practice of nephrologists, prepared by experts from ESH and ERA. The sections summarized are those referring to the role of CKD in hypertension staging and cardiovascular risk stratification, the evaluation of hypertension-mediated kidney damage and the overall management of hypertension in patients with CKD