Tomato and cowpea crop evapotranspiration in an unheated greenhouse

With the development of protected cultivation of vegetables in China, it is necessary to study the water requirements of crops in greenhouses. Lysimeter experiments were carried out to investigate tomato （2001） and cowpea （2004） crop evapotranspiration （ETc） in an unheated greenhouse in Eastern China. Results showed remarkably reduced crop evapotranspiration inside the greenhouse as compared with that outside. ETc increased with the growth of the crops, and varied in accordance with the temperature inside the greenhouse and 20-cm pan evaporation outside, reaching its maximum value at the stage when plants’ growth was most active. Differences between the variation of crop evapotranspiration and pan evaporation inside the greenhouse were caused by shading of the pan in the later period when the crops were taller than the location where the pan was installed, 70 cm above ground. The ratio of crop evapotranspiration to pan evaporation was not constant as reported in previous studies, and the variation of the inside ratio αin lagged behind that of the outside ratio αout. Simulation of crop evapotranspiration based on 20-cm pan evaporation inside the greenhouse is more reasonable than that based on 20-cm pan evaporation outside, although pan evaporation outside is more consistent with ETc than that inside. The value of αin, calculated based on air temperature, relative humidity, and ground temperature inside, plays a dominant role in the calculation of ETc. As the crop height increases, altering the location of the inside pan and placing it above the canopy, out of the shade, would help to achieve more reasonable values of crop evapotranspiration.

Associations of toluidine red unheated serum test response to the treatment of syphilis in pregnancy and congenital syphilis: a 10-year real-world study

Background: So far, there is a paucity of real-world data on the syphilis serological responses to the first-line treatment during pregnancy, and there is no relevant study on the necessity of anti-syphilis treatment during pregnancy for those patients who have been treated for syphilis before pregnancy for the prevention of mother-to-child transmission, which might provide valuable insight into treatment effectiveness and optimal management of pregnant women with syphilis.Methods: A retrospective study on 10 years of real-world data was performed for accumulative 410 Chinese pregnant women with syphilis. The descriptive statistics were conducted in the study, and toluidine red unheated serum test (TRUST) titer responses to penicillin treatment in syphilis-infected pregnant women, and the associations with congenital syphilis were investigated. We divided the patients into two groups according to the history of anti-syphilis treatment before pregnancy (patients diagnosed with syphilis who had received anti-syphilis treatment before pregnancy, and patients screened and diagnosed with syphilis during pregnancy who had no previous history of anti-syphilis treatment).Results: The rate of congenital syphilis in this study was 6.2% (25/406). There was no significant difference in the rate of congenital syphilis between patients who received anti-syphilis treatment before pregnancy and those who did not. Secondary syphilis and high baseline serum TRUST titer (≥1:8) in pregnant women were independent risk factors for congenital syphilis.Conclusions: For the prevention of congenital syphilis, anti-syphilis treatment during pregnancy for syphilis seropositive pregnant women is needed, regardless of whether the patient has received anti-syphilis treatment before pregnancy, especially for those patients with secondary syphilis or high baseline serum TRUST titer, thus, timely surveillance, early diagnosis to timely treatment, and close syphilis reexamination during posttreatment follow-up, may help to reduce the above-mentioned risk factors for congenital syphilis.

Comparison of efficacy of unheated and heat-treated Sahara honey on wound healing in rabbits

Objective:To investigate the efficacy of unheated and heat-treated Sahara honey on wound healing in rabbits on the basis of macroscopic observation changes.Methods:Eight female rabbits were used.Using aseptic surgical technique,a 3 cm incision was made on the back of each rabbit and two rabbits with injuries in each group were treated daily with a topical application of unheated and heated honey,sulfadiazine and sterile saline,respectively.Results:The unheated honey demonstrated the highest activity on the wound compared to reference ointment silver sulfadiazine,heat-treated honey and sterile saline respectively.Further the present investigation proves that unheated honey is possessing superior wound healing activity than that of heat-treated honey.Conclusions:The result of this study confirms that unheated honey had the best wound healing effect even better than heat-treated honey.