Prospecting the plant growth–promoting activities of endophytic bacteria Cronobacter sp. YSD YN2 isolated from Cyperus esculentus L. var. sativus leaves

Purpose Plant growth–promoting (PGP) bacteria are an environment-friendly alternative to chemical fertilizers for promoting plant growth and development. We isolated and characterized a PGP endophyte, YSD YN2, from the leaves of Cyperus esculentus L. var. sativus. Methods Specific PGP characteristics of this strain, such as phosphate solubilization ability, potassium-dissolving ability, siderophore and indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) production, and salt tolerance, were determined in vitro. In addition, positive mutants were screened using the atmospheric and room temperature plasma (ARTP) technology, with IAA level and organic phosphate solubility as indices. Furthermore, the effect of the positive mutant on seed germination, biomass production, and antioxidant abilities of greengrocery seedling was evaluated, and the genome was mined to explore the underlying mechanisms. Results The strain YSD YN2 showed a good performance of PGP characteristics, such as the production of indole acetic acid and siderophores, solubilization ability of phosphate, and potassium-dissolving ability. It was recognized through 16S rRNA sequencing together with morphological and physiological tests and confirmed as Cronobacter sp. The strain exposed to a mutation time of 125 s by ARTP had the highest IAA and organic phosphate (lecithin) concentrations of 9.25 mg/L and 16.50 mg/L, 50.41% and 30.54% higher than those of the initial strain. Inoculation of mutant strain YSD YN2 significantly increased the seed germination, plant growth attributes, and the activities of peroxidase (POD) and superoxide dismutase (SOD), respectively, but decreased the content of malondialdehyde (MDA) significantly compared with the control. Furthermore, genome annotation and functional analysis were performed through whole-genome sequencing, and PGP-related genes were identified. Conclusion Our results indicated that the mutant strain YSD YN2 with PGP characteristics is a potential candidate for the development of biofertilizers.

Experimental Investigation on Thermal Comfort of COVID-19 Nucleic Acid Sampling Staff in Hot and Humid Environment: A Pilot Study of University Students

The current situation of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) prevention and control coupled with the need to work in high-temperature harsh environments makes it necessary to ensure the health and efficiency of medical staff. An experimental outdoor work tent was set up and university students were used to study the thermal comfort of personnel wearing protective clothing in hot and humid environments. The experiment was carried out simultaneously through subjective and objective field tests and physiological tests of personnel. The wet bulb globe temperature (WBGT) index was investigated to divide the outdoor thermal environment into four working conditions: 21–23 °C, 23–25 °C, 25–27 °C and 27–29 °C. Under the different thermal environment intensities, the variations of physiological parameters of test personnel were monitored. The results showed that when WBGT was increased to 27–29 °C, 100% of the participants expected the external temperature to become cooler and the humidity to decrease after one hour. When the temperature was close to 30 °C and the relative humidity was close to 60%, it was necessary to take cooling measures to reduce the thermal stress of the participants. Moreover, relationships between subjective feelings and physiological parameters of the nucleic acid sampling personnel were obtained. Results also found that the forehead, chest and back were the highest skin temperature parts, so it is most effective to give priority to improving the thermal comfort of these three locations. As an early attempt to conduct the real outdoor experimental study on the thermal comfort of COVID-19 nucleic acid sampling staff, this study provided a theoretical basis for follow-up research to develop cooling strategies for protective clothing in hot and humid outdoor environments.

Phylogeny and identification of Pantoea species associated with bulb rot and bacterial leaf blight of onion crops in Uruguay

Onion is among the most consumed vegetables in Uruguay, grown in the Northwestern and Southern regions of the country. The onion supply presents interannual variations associated with significant postharvest losses, mainly caused by bacterial rots. Besides bulb rotting, onion leaf lesions as well as infections on seed-stalks during seed production may be devastating for some varieties under conducive conditions. This research aimed to identify the causal agents of bulb rots and leaf blight of onion crops in Uruguay. Symptomatic bulbs, seeds-stalks and leaves were collected from commercial fields from 2015 to 2020. Bacterial colonies were isolated and identified at genera level using physiological tests and 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis. A collection of 59 Pantoea spp. isolates was obtained (11 from bulbs and 48 from leaves and seeds-stalks). Multilocus sequence analysis (MLSA) using four housekeeping genes (rpoB, gyrB, leuS and fusA) allowed the assignment of the isolates to five Pantoea species: P. ananatis, P. agglomerans, P. allii, P. eucalypti and P. vagans. The last two species were not previously reported as onion pathogens elsewhere. The ability to cause disease symptoms was tested by leaf inoculation and red onion scale assays. Pantoea ananatis isolates showed the highest aggressiveness in both assays. Specific isolates from P. allii (MAI 6022), P. eucalypti (MAI 6036), P. vagans (MAI 6050), and Pantoea sp. (MAI 6049) ranked the second in aggressiveness on onion leaves, while only three isolates belonging to P. eucalypti (MAI 6036 and MAI 6058) and P. agglomerans (MAI 6045) exhibited the same scale clearing phenotype as P. ananatis. Leaf inoculation assays were also performed on a set of eight onion cultivars and breeding lines. Overall, P. ananatis MAI 6032 showed the highest aggressiveness in all tested cultivars, followed by P. eucalypti MAI 6036. The presence of new reported bacterial species leads to complex disease management and highlights the need for further studies on virulence factors and the epidemiology of these pathogens.

Neurophysiological features in patients with migraine at risk for epilepsy

Objective: to study the electrophysiological parameters of brain bioelectric activity and features of the autonomous nervous system assessing heart rate variability, sympathetic skin response, clinical and physiological tests depending on the lateralization of migraine pain syndrome in the right or left brain hemisphere in patients with epileptic electroencephalogram (EEG) signs and migraine.Material and methods. Thirty six patients with aura-free episodic migraine at risk of developing epilepsy and 9 age-matched healthy subjects were examined. All participants underwent EEG, clinical and physiological tests, assessment of heart rate variability and sympathetic skin response.Results. Patients with right-hemisphere migraine headache had signs of activated sympathetic nervous system at baseline level and during exercise, lower baseline EEG epileptiform activity and in provocative tests. In contrast to the subjects of this group, patients of other group featured with a more stable migraine pain syndrome in the left hemisphere tended to dominate with functional activity of the parasympathetic system such as increased trophotropic support during exercise, as well as greater magnitude of baseline epileptiform bioelectric activity and during load tests.Conclusion. Values of heart rate variability in combination with objective results of clinical and physiological assessment of the autonomous nervous system and electrophysiological parameters of brain bioelectric activity are reliable prognostic indicators for varying functional conditions in patients with episodic migraine.

Digital Rectal Examination Is a Valuable Bedside Tool for Detecting Dyssynergic Defecation: A Diagnostic Study and a Meta-Analysis

Background. Accurate dyssynergic defecation (DD) diagnosis depends on anorectal physiological tests that are not widely available. Aim. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the diagnostic yield of digital rectal examination (DRE) compared with anorectal physiological tests in diagnosing DD in patients with constipation. Methods. A total of 218 chronic constipation patients who fulfilled the Rome IV diagnostic criteria for functional constipation (FC) and underwent a standardized DRE and high-resolution anorectal manometry (HRAM) test were enrolled in this study. The diagnostic accuracy of DRE compared with HRAM was evaluated, and the agreement between DRE and HRAM was calculated. Furthermore, a comprehensive literature search on PubMed, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, and Embase database was conducted to further elucidate the pooled diagnostic accuracy of DRE in DD patients. Results. A total of 101 patients (46.33%) had a DD pattern using HRAM, while 117 patients (53.67%) were diagnosed without DD. The sensitivity of DRE in diagnosing dyssynergia was 71.3%, and the specificity was 76.1%. There was a moderate agreement between DRE and HRAM for diagnosing DD (κ-coefficient = 0.474, P < 0.001 ). Meanwhile, six studies (including our study) comprising 964 constipated patients were included in our meta-analysis. The outcomes demonstrated that the AUC was 0.85 (95% CI 0.82–0.88) with 77% summary sensitivity (95% CI 65–86) and 80% summary specificity (95% CI 71–86) to diagnose DD. Conclusions. DRE could be a valuable tool for screening DD. Our study revealed acceptable sensitivity and specificity of DRE in detecting dyssynergia compared with the physiological tests. Meanwhile, our study highlights that DRE remains an important tool in clinical practice.

Identification of effective Rhizobium isolate(s) for efficient symbiosis with soybean under moisture stress conditions

The objective of the paper is to observe the effectiveness of Bradyrhizobial species on symbiosis with soybean under moisture stress conditions. In physiological tests, treatment T3: B. daqingense (under irrigated condition) showed significant amount of leghaemoglobin content (1.82 mg). Proline content was recorded highest (2.8 mg g-1 seed) in T8 B. liaoningense in stress. Highest chlorophyll content (1.84 mg/LFW) was recorded in T4 B. liaoningense under irrigated condition. The highest N-uptake in plant shoot, root and grain was obtained in B. daqingense under irrigated condition. Similarly, highest was obtained in in treatment T3 B. daqingense under irrigated condition. At R8 stage, grain yield was significantly highest (6.48 g) in treatment T3 (B. daqingense under irrigated condition). In both irrigated and moisture stress conditions bradyrhizobial strains B. daqingense (treatment T3 and Treatment T7) were most effective in terms of nitrogen fixation, nitrogen accumulation, phosphorus accumulation, shoot dry weight, root dry weight and grain yield as compared to the other treatments.

Determination of the Critical Phases of the Experimental Research Using Laboratory Animals: Risk Analysis

Critical phases (stages) of preclinical studies are those procedures or types of research activities whose accurate and correct implementation is a prerequisite for obtaining valid and reliable results. Russian and foreign standards require determination of the critical phases of each individual study by quality assurance staff based on checking the study protocol (plan).The aim of the study was to identify critical phases typical for most preclinical studies, and assess the potential risks during inspections.Materials and methods: the study was carried out by analysing the types and consequences of nonconformities. Numerical parameters of risks were analysed for each critical phase of the preclinical study identified by quality officers of the Joint Stock Company “Scientific and Production Association ‘HOME OF PHARMACY’”.Results: it was discovered that incorrect implementation of a procedure constituted a potential nonconformity at all the identified critical phases, and a potential consequence was acquisition of low-quality data. A combination of incorrectly implemented procedures at two or more critical phases could pose an unacceptable risk and lead to complete loss of data or failure to process data, and, as a result, the need to repeat the study.Conclusions: the highest risk was identified for such critical phases as preparation and administration of final doses of test samples, performance of physiological tests, collection of biological material samples, and handling of biological material samples by other relevant departments. Summarising the data obtained on the risks of all the critical phases, it can be concluded that risk action should take the form of regular inspections by the quality assurance staff and the study director. By adjusting the frequency of inspections, the risk of each critical phase can be made insignificant.

506 - Methodologies used to study the feasibility, usability and effectiveness of social robots in clinical and social care settings for elderly adults

Background:In a search for innovative dementia care strategies, a new research fields have been dedicated to design social robots for older adults with cognitive impairments and dementia in order to promote their quality of life through communication and social interactions. Although the results are promising, the quality of studies on effectiveness of social robots in elderly adults is still low due to several methodological limitations (1). Then, we aim to review the methodologies used so far for conducting studies with social robots in clinical and social settings with people with dementia and elderly adults.Method:Searches in Medline (PubMed), Web of Science, PsycInfo, and Cinahl yielded 33 studies included in the final review after applying inclusion and exclusion criteria. Reviews were conducted by two authors independently.Result:Across 33 papers, 23 different social robots were examined on elderly adults and PwD, investigating feasibility, usability and effectiveness. A variety of study designs such as RCTs, mixed methods, cross-sectional and cohort were employed. Individual and group-based interventions took place in private households, LTCFs and labs within a single session or multiple sessions. Data were collected through observation, questionnaires, interview and physiological tests. Most revealed improvements were found in mood, engagement and participation. However, improvements in QoL, depression and cognition were not significant.Conclusion:Despite the promising results, due to the insufficient methodology, failures and ambitious findings remain within the many aspects of the enquiry. Appropriate RCT designs with large sample sizes and individual intervention sessions might be established for effectiveness studies. For feasibility/usability studies, a cohort design with long-term intervention would serve best. We also recommend a mixed method of data collection for any of three effectiveness, feasibility and usability study aims. Multiple interaction sessions running for more than one month might help researches to draw significant results and reveal the long-term impact of the robots.

Relationship of Table Tennis Sports Nutritional Food to Sports Athletes’ Training and Physical Health

Table tennis has a broad mass base in our country and is a sport suitable for all ages. It has achieved outstanding results in the international arena and has become our country’s traditional advantage. To engage in professional table tennis, table tennis players are required to have good physical quality. However, table tennis is actually a high-intensity, high-skills sport. It has a very large impact on the main power-generating parts and joints of the athlete’s body. Soldiers and ball players often suffer from sports injuries. Therefore, it is necessary to carry out the nutrition corresponding supplements and targeted training. Therefore, the experimental group members were supplemented with nutritious food to distinguish the control group. The operation steps and experimental principle of this method are provided in detail in this article. Based on the above test scheme, a comparative experiment has been done and a number of physiological tests on the two groups of sports have been carried out. It includes the statistical analysis of athletes’ body composition changes after the experiment and the comparative analysis of body composition before and after nutrition intervention in the experimental group. Analysis of experimental data shows that nutritional food can improve the physical indicators of table tennis players and enhance the overall health evaluation coefficient.

A salt tolerant Sphingosinicella microcystinivorans A3 isolated from soil contaminated with mercury in traditional gold mining of Jendi Village, Wonogiri District, Indonesia

Sutami, Purwanto, Rosariastuti R. 2021. A salt tolerant Sphingosinicella microcystinivorans A3 isolated from soil contaminated with mercury in traditional gold mining of Jendi Village, Wonogiri District, Indonesia. Biodiversitas 22: 3785-3791. Isolation and characterization of indigenous bacteria from the soil of traditional gold mining contaminated with mercury is the first step in a series of research to explore and utilize indigenous bacteria in Jendi's area. This study was aimed to determine the characteristics and identity of bacterial isolates from soil of traditional gold mining in Jendi Village, Wonogiri contaminated by mercury. The methods used in this study included bacterial isolation, media preparation, phenotypic identification including; morphological and physiological tests and genotyping tests. The results showed that the bacterial isolate A3 grew optimally in media with the addition of 10% NaCl, at a temperature of 27°C, and pH 9. There were negative reactions to the observations of gram staining, acid production from glucose, indole production, catalase and urease, and positive reactions to oxidation. A neighbor-joining phylogenetic tree based on the 16S rRNA gene sequence showed that the A3 strain was closely related to Sphingosinicella microcystinivorans strain Y2T (JCM 13185T) with 100% Query coverage and a maximum identity of 99.56%.