Session XII Male contraception

Session XII Male contraception     

Characterization and screening of bacteria from rhizosphere of maize grown in Indonesian and Pakistani soils

Thirty rhizobacteria isolated from maize grown in Pakistani and Indonesian soils were evaluated for their morphological characteristics, nitrogen fixation, P-solubilization, indole acetic acid (IAA) and siderophores production. Nitrogenase activity was detected in nineteen isolates ranging from 21.8-3624 n moles C2H4 produced/h/mg protein. Most of the isolates produced IAA, ten were capable of siderophore production while four were P-solubilizers. Ultrastructural studies of Pseudomonas sp. F14 indicated characteristic rhizospheric colonization within 48 h that was observed to change considerably with the passage of time from few bacteria to micro colonies. Random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) analysis of 30 bacterial strains using 30 oligonucleotide primers resulted in considerable level of genetic diversity, with genetic distance ranging from 2-16%. Indonesian isolates were found to be more diverse as compared to Pakistani isolates. The characterization and screening of rhizobacteria of maize rhizosphere has helped in selection of isolates F7, LS-1, 3.1.1.C, F2, F3 and F13 as superior strains for use as bioinoculant. Moreover isolate F14 identified, as Pseudomonas fulgida by partial 16S rRNA sequence analysis is a novel strain regarding its tremendous potentials for inoculum production to enhance the yield of maize.     

Assessing management training needs: a study in the Punjab health services,Pakistan

Pakistan's public sector is organized in a federal system with many management and planning functions devolved to the 4 provincial governments. Provincial health secretariats lead on most policy and planning decisions for health services. The provinces employ health personnel, although the national Public Service Commission controls some key aspects of human resources management. Reporting the findings of a training needs assessment (TNA) for health personnel in the provincial health services of Punjab, the authors show how TNA can be used systematically to improve the quality of health professional training. They also discuss the extent to which better training could contribute to improved health management capacity in Pakistan, and describe the context and problems of Pakistan's health services, focusing upon management capacity, and the methods and results of a training needs assessment conducted to address the problems. A final section covers the usefulness of the TNA method in Pakistan and its applicability to other countries. Moreover, the implications of decentralization and the problems of preparing training plans in the absence of decentralized structures are discussed.     

单核细胞增生李斯特菌L型对小鼠脾脏树突状细胞免疫调节作用影响的研究

  目的  研究单核细胞增生李斯特菌(Listeria monocytogenes, LM)感染对树突状细胞(dendritic cell, DC)免疫功能的影响,探讨细菌型(WT)和L型(L-form)LM对DC的免疫活化能力差异。  方法  将C57BL/6小鼠随机分为对照组、WT组、L-form组,3组小鼠分别经尾静脉感染PBS液、细菌型LM和L型LM,电镜观察脾脏DC超微结构特征;流式细胞术检测小鼠脾脏DC的数量、共刺激分子表达、胞内细胞因子分泌、脾脏T细胞亚群及其活化程度。  结果  透射电镜可观察到对照组小鼠脾脏DC表面有大量丝状伪足,胞浆均匀,细胞核大而偏于一侧;吞噬细菌后,表面丝状伪足减少,胞质内空泡增多;小鼠感染后第1天脾脏中DC绝对值无明显升高或降低(P>0.05),但成熟表型特征性分子表达上调(P < 0.05),L-form感染组DC表面CD80和CD86分子均高于WT组(P < 0.05);小鼠感染LM后TNF-α+DC比例明显升高,L-form感染组分泌TNF-α的DC高于WT组(P < 0.05);感染LM后第7天,3组小鼠脾脏CD4+T细胞和CD8+T细胞在淋巴细胞中所占比例差异均无统计学意义(P>0.05),但L-form组CD69+ T细胞比例高于WT组(P < 0.05)。  结论  L型LM可介导相对高水平的TNF-α,促进DC成熟以增强其抗原递呈的能力。     

High loss factor piezoelectric damping composite with three-dimensional reduced graphene oxide as the conductive phase

In this study, a lead zirconate titanate (PZT)/in situ polymerized polyurethane (PU) composite with three-dimensional (3D) reduced graphene oxide (rGO) as the conductive phase was prepared and the potential of 3D rGO to enhance the damping properties was investigated. The conductivity and damping properties of the composite were systematically investigated. The results show that the conductive threshold of the composite is reached at a very low rGO content of about 0.7 wt% by using the 3D rGO structure. The best damping performance of the piezoelectric damping composite is achieved at the conductive threshold, where the loss factor is 0.22 (almost 41%) higher and the temperature range where tan δ ≥ 0.3 is 13.2 °C (almost 84%) wider than those of the PU matrix. A composite consisting of only PU and rGO sheets without the 3D structure was prepared for comparison. The conductive threshold of this composite is more than 0.9 wt% and the highest tensile strength is 5.63 MPa when the rGO content is 0.6 wt%, indicating that the 3D structure reduces the use of the conductive phase and does not significantly affect the tensile strength of the matrix.

Piezoelectric damping composite with 3D rGO as the conductive phase that possesses good damping properties with the conductive threshold as low as 0.7 wt%.