The Scientific World Journal最新文献

Land use change is one of the major factors affecting soil degradation. Growing population pressure has increased land use change with more negative effects on soil carbon storage and overall soil properties. The objective of this study was to assess the effect of land use changes on soil organic carbon (SOC) stock and selected soil physicochemical properties in Gobu Sayyo, Western Ethiopia. Soil samples were collected from three adjacent land uses, that is, forest land, grazing land, and cultivated land, at 0-20 and 20-40 cm soil depths. A total of 36 composite soil samples were collected, and the major soil properties and SOC storage of the area were analyzed and computed based on their standard procedures. SOC stock was significantly (p < 0.05) higher (43.09-81.86 t ha^-1) in forest land and was significantly lower (38.08-43.09 t ha^-1) in cultivated land at the top 20 cm. SOC stock decreased with depth in all land uses. Changes in land use and soil depth affected the physical and chemical properties of soil. The physical soil property such as bulk density (BD) was higher (1.62 g cm^-3) in the cultivated land, whereas the lowest (1.08 g cm^-3) was recorded in the forest at 0-20 cm depth. Comparatively, the moisture content was higher (25.89%) under forest land at the depth of 20-40 cm and was lower (11.22%) under cultivated land. The chemical soil properties like exchangeable Ca²⁺, Mg²⁺, and K⁺ were higher in forest lands. Organic carbon, available phosphorus (AvP), total nitrogen (TN), exchangeable calcium (ex.Ca²⁺), exchangeable magnesium (ex.Mg²⁺), exchangeable potassium (ex.K⁺), and cation exchange capacity (CEC) were lower under cultivated lands. pH increased with depth and was higher under forest land and lower under cultivated land. Soils of the study area are in general acidic to slightly acid, with pH values ranging from 4.6 to 6.02. The pH, SOC, TN, AvP, and CEC were higher under forest land compared to cultivated and grazing lands. It can be concluded that SOC stocks and the physical and chemical properties were affected by land use change and depth. Therefore, reducing the intensity of cultivation, adopting integrated soil fertility management, and maintaining forest land must be practiced to save the soil of the area from degradation.

This study investigated the socioeconomic determinants of fruit tree adoption amongst smallholder farmers in Budaka District, Eastern Uganda. Specific objectives included describing the characteristics of fruit tree gardens, mapping their spatial distribution, and analysing socioeconomic factors influencing adoption. This study is one of the first empirical studies in agroforestry to relate socioeconomic factors in Eastern Uganda to the spatial distribution of fruit trees. The study employed a combined approach incorporating GIS-based spatial mapping and socioeconomic analysis. A cross-sectional design was employed, with data collected from 276 randomly selected farmers, key informants, and focus groups. GIS was used to visualise the spatial patterns and descriptive statistics, and chi-square tests were applied to identify differences between adopters and nonadopters. Results indicated that fruit farming is predominantly undertaken by males aged 40 and above. Fruit tree distribution is concentrated in the north and northwest, grown on small holdings averaging 0.5 acres with 10-40 trees. Chi-square tests confirmed significant differences in age, labour type, farm size, and income between adopters and nonadopters, whilst there were no significant differences in gender, family size, and access to credit. Policy interventions should expand youth- and gender-inclusive extension services that support climate resilience and sustainable fruit tree farming, and address land tenure limitations to increase adoption.

Background: Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) are known for their potent antibacterial properties, making them suitable for wound healing applications. Aims: This study focuses on formulating AgNPs into dermal patch films (DPFs), leveraging the adhesive properties of the film for the effective delivery of active ingredients. Methods: AgNPs were synthesized through a green synthesis method using Plantago major L. Leaf extract as a bioreductant. Five distinct formulations, ranging from AgNP concentration of 0% (control), 0.005%, 0.01%, 0.05%, and 0.10%, were optimized and denoted as Formulas 1-5 (F1-F5), respectively. The films were fabricated by solvent casting method employing a manual film applicator. A variety of evaluations were then performed on the films, including assessments of their physical and chemical characteristics. These characteristics included organoleptic properties, film thickness, folding endurance, surface pH, loss on drying (LOD), crystallinity, the interaction between active ingredients and excipients, the morphological characteristics of the films, and a wound healing study. Results: All formulations resulted in smooth and transparent films. Favorable outcomes were observed in film thickness and surface pH measurements. Formulations F1-F4 demonstrated exceptional folding endurance (> 200 times). This is also affirmed by a reduction in the -OH peak in the Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectrum. Powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD) analysis showed that F1-F4 had adopted an amorphous structure, while F5 retained crystalline AgNPs. The drying process revealed that F5 exhibited the lowest moisture loss. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) imaging displayed distinct morphologies among the five formulations. F4 and F5 exhibited the highest percentage of wound healing. Conclusion: The formulation of AgNPs synthesized through a green synthesis method, utilizing Plantago major L. leaf extract as a bioreductant, has demonstrated significant improvements in the physical characteristics, particularly in Formulations F1-F4. Notably, F4 exhibited the highest wound healing efficacy. Therefore, the findings of this study suggest that F4 (AgNPs 0.05%) represents the most promising DPF formulation for enhanced wound healing applications.

Currently, significant attention is being paid to the study of the mechanisms underlying the development of multiple sclerosis (MS), especially factors related to humoral immunity, apoptosis, and sphingolipid metabolism processes. These factors play a key role in neuroinflammation and neurodegeneration during both the acute and chronic stages of the disease. The aim of this study was to investigate the concentration of proinflammatory cytokines (IL-1β, IL-6, and TNFα) in plasma, homogenates of the brain and spinal cord, serum circulating immune complexes (CICs), the apoptosis marker APO-1/Fas, and the content of glycosphingolipids during experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) and its treatment. The therapeutic agent used in this study was Cronassial, which contains mono-, di-, and trisialylated gangliosides. Our results indicate the significant role of elevated proinflammatory cytokine levels in the pathogenesis of EAE, which initiate the activation of the sphingomyelin cycle and subsequently trigger apoptosis processes. During the study, we observed an increased concentration of APO-1/Fas. Administration of the ganglioside-containing drug in vivo led to the normalization of the levels of the studied factors, demonstrating a neuroprotective effect. According to our findings, this drug regulates the metabolism of glycosphingolipids and the humoral immune factors that were studied.

Notifiable diseases are legally designated due to their epidemic potential, requiring mandatory reporting by healthcare professionals to support public health surveillance and control. This narrative review analyzes weaknesses in the compulsory notification process, with emphasis on dengue, revealing critical gaps in surveillance systems and health data reporting globally. A structured literature search was conducted in PubMed, Scopus, and SciELO, including articles in English, Portuguese, and Spanish. Inclusion criteria focused on studies related to dengue surveillance, underreporting, health information systems, and notification policies. The findings demonstrate persistent failures in data collection, diagnostic confirmation, and reporting practices, which compromise the accuracy of epidemiological indicators and hinder timely responses. These limitations reflect broader challenges in dengue control. Strengthening surveillance infrastructure and reporting protocols is essential to mitigate underreporting and improve decision-making in public health.

Hot pepper is a vital vegetable crop traditionally valued for its commercial importance and role in rural economies, with its fruits consumed fresh, dried, processed, or used as condiments. Hot pepper wilt, a complex disease caused by various soilborne pathogens, significantly influenced hot pepper crops. This study is aimed at evaluating the combined effects of compost application, host resistance, and chemical treatments on seeds and seedlings in managing this disease, as well as its effect on yield. Eighteen treatment combinations were tested in a split-split plot design with three replications. The findings showed highly significant differences (p ≤ 0.001) in disease severity, area under disease progress curve (AUDPC), and agronomic traits across the treatment combinations. The study found that the Melka Zala variety, when treated with Apron Star and transplanted into compost-treated plots, exhibited the lowest disease severity (23%), AUDPC (478.33%-days), and disease progress rate (0.0034 units/day). In contrast, the Mareko Fana variety, grown in compost-untreated and control plots, showed the highest disease severity (54%), AUDPC (1426.67%-days), and disease progress rate (0.0114 units/day). Additionally, Melka Zala yielded the highest marketable fruit yield (2.42 t ha^-1) and total fruit yield (2.47 t ha^-1) when the seeds and seedlings were treated with Apron Star Fungicide and transplanted into compost-treated plots. Treating Melka Zala seeds and seedlings with Apron Star fungicide and transplanting them into compost-treated plots resulted in twice the net benefit and marketable fruit yield compared to other treatment combinations. In conclusion, using the Melka Zala variety treated with Apron Star and grown in compost-treated plots effectively controlled the disease and improved yield, suggesting this approach as a viable strategy for farmers in the study area and similar agroecological zones to manage wilt disease.

An ethnobotanical study was conducted to document the plant-based indigenous knowledge of the people on the utilization of these medicinal plant resources in Ensaro District, North Shewa Zone, Ethiopia. A total of 100 informants were sampled from four study sites, and a variety of ethnobotanical methods were applied, including semistructured interviews, field observations, and direct matrix rankings. The vast source of traditional healing knowledge of plant species conveyed from one generation to the next by word of mouth was in a family member. Totally 47 plant species were identified from the study site. These 47 medicinal plants belong to 44 genera and 31 families. Of these, 21 species are used for the treatment of livestock ailments only, and 26 species are reported for the treatment of both human and livestock ailments. These medicinal plants are used to treat about nine types of animal ailments and eight types of animal and human ailments. Family Solanaceae, Lamiaceae, and Asteraceae were represented by the highest number of five medicinal plant species, followed by the Fabaceae with three, Rutaceae two, and the remaining family representing one species. Of the total medicinal plant species, 24 species (51%) were shrubs, 16 species (34%) were herbs, and 2 species (4%) were trees, whereas 4 species (9%) were climbers. Most of them have medicinal properties in their leaf, bark, root, stem, flower, seeds, and fruits. Medicine from these plant parts is prepared in fresh, dried, and both fresh and dried states. Data showed that retained placenta had the highest informant consensus factor (ICF) value (1.00), followed by anthrax and eye infection (0.9), diarrhea (0.896), rabies (0.888), leech infestation (0.808), and snake poisoning (0.750). The highest fidelity level (FL) values were obtained for the plants Sideroxylon oxyacanthum treating leech infestation, Inula confertiflora used to treat eye infection, and Nicotiana tabacum also for leech infestation. Therefore, further phytochemical investigations need to be conducted on the above-listed plants with the highest FL values, which may indicate their higher potential against the respective ailments. Due to high population growth, the expansion of urban areas, and the need for more farming lands, there are significant challenges in conserving ethnoveterinary medicinal plants. The existing conservation efforts undertaken by the local community are insufficient to address the loss of plant species from their natural habitats. Therefore, it is imperative to implement both in situ and ex situ conservation strategies based on the nature of medicinal plants.

The outbreak of COVID-19 took the world by surprise and dealt a serious blow to the global economy. Even today, few drugs against SARS-CoV-2 infection have been proven useful, and repurposing existing antiviral therapies remains a major research area in the treatment of the disease. During previous viral outbreaks, therapies using convalescent plasma and related products have repeatedly been used as empirical approaches. Rapid preparation of convalescent plasma and hyperimmune globulins (hIVIGs) makes these two treatment options useful in dealing with outbreaks of emerging diseases. The current study presents a systematic roadmap concerning the guidelines, criteria, and regulations involved in plasma transfusion and the preparation of hIVIGs applicable to possible future viral outbreaks.

Crop yield prediction is a critical aspect of agricultural planning and resource allocation, with outlier detection algorithms playing a vital role in refining the accuracy of predictive models. This research focuses on optimizing crop yield prediction in the Davangere region through a thorough analysis of outlier detection algorithms applied to the local agricultural dataset. Six prominent algorithms, including isolation forest, elliptic envelope, one-class SVM, iterative R, spatial singular value decomposition (SSVD), and spatial multiview outlier detection (SMVOD), are systematically evaluated. The study emphasizes the significance of accurate crop yield predictions in local agriculture and assesses each algorithm's performance using precision, recall, accuracy, and F1 score metrics. Elliptic envelope demonstrates its efficacy in handling the unique characteristics of the Davangere dataset. This method demonstrated improved performance in refining the crop yield prediction model by identifying and removing outliers, thereby contributing to more accurate predictions and optimized planning in the dynamic landscape of the Davangere region.

Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) established a waste segregation system that provided plastic waste to feed a plastic recycling facility to improve solid waste management in 2017. However, since the establishment of the segregation system, there has not been any assessment to ascertain its efficiency. Hence, this research seeks to assess the efficiency of KNUST's waste segregation system. The study utilized a quantitative research approach method to assess the efficiency of the segregation system. A total of 500 randomly selected participants, including students, lecturers, administrators, cleaners, and other staff, participated in the survey. Also, to ascertain the efficiency of the segregation system, through stratified random sampling, 67 bins were selected for the segregation of plastic waste. The results indicated poor attitudes towards segregation, low adherence, and ineffectiveness. Analysis of the waste components generated on campus revealed that 64.7% of the participants generated paper as part of the total waste produced, a substantial 83.5% generated plastics, 82.5% generated food waste, and 28.2% generated tins/cans. A corresponding 9.4%, 11.24%, and 4.4% generated fiber bags, glass, and other waste types, respectively. The plastic waste stream consists of polyethylene terephthalate (PET), high-density polyethylene (HDPE), low-density polyethylene (LDPE), and polystyrene (PS). Of the participants, 43.9% knew about waste segregation on campus, and 75.5% had seen the bins. Of the participants, 56.5% knew what the color codes of the bins meant. Barriers to effective segregation included low publicity, insufficient bins, and low monitoring. Management should intensify publicity, introduce more bins, and diversify the system.