Pregnancy provides optimal opportunities for health promotion and disease prevention. Smoking before and during pregnancy is one of the largest modifiable risk factors for a range of adverse pregnancy outcomes. Concerns over the risks of smoking motivate many pregnant smokers to quit. However, most of their partners continue to smoke throughout pregnancy. More than one-third (35%) of men in the world smoke, and just over 6% of women do (Ritchie et al. Published online at OurWorldInData.org 2020). The impact of paternal smoking, second-hand or third-hand smoking on the perinatal health is largely overlooked. Given the vast majority of studies focusing on the pregnant smokers, less is known about paternal smoking on their future children.In this paper (Zhou et al. BJOG 2020), using a large national prepregnancy registry database, Zhou et al. found that paternal smoking may be associated with birth defects such as congenital heart diseases, limb abnormalities and neural tube defects in the offspring. The result was consistent with previous retrospective studies, but a medium to large effect size was seen. All of the odd ratios exceeded 2.5, with one even over 20 (congenital heart diseases OR=2.51, 95%CI 1.04-6.05; limb abnormalities OR=20.64 95%CI 6.46-68.02; digestive tract anomalies OR=3.67 95%CI 1.44-9.37; neural tube defect OR=4.87,95%CI 1.66-14.28). Such difference might be partially explained by potential confounding factors. For example, the extent of tobacco exposure, in the National Birth Defects Prevention Study (Malik et al. Pediatrics 2008; 121: e810), compared with light smoking exposure (<14 cigarettes per day), heavy smoking women (≥25 cigarettes per day) were more likely to have infants with septal defects (OR 2.06; 95%CI: 1.20-3.54), suggesting a dose-dependent relationship between tobacco exposure and birth defects.In addition, a reduced risk of birth defects after changing smoking behaviors was found in Zhou’s paper. It is no surprise that paternal smoking cessation could improve the adverse outcomes. Limited evidences address whether there is a critical window period by which smoking must be stopped to prevent subsequent adverse perinatal outcomes. Results from a retrospective case-control study indicated that the risk of fetal congenital heart diseases increased as women smoked during the first trimester (Sullivan et al. J Pediatr; 2015; 166:978). In a prospective cohort study (McCowan et al. BMJ 2009; 338: b1081), the authors concluded that stopping smoking early in pregnancy, and certainly by 15-16 weeks’ gestation, may minimize the adverse effects of smoking on late pregnancy complications and should be an important goal for pregnant smokers. Yet, such critical time for paternal smoking cessation remains unknown.Tobacco smoke is also a human germ cell mutagen. It is estimated that with even a modest 25% increase in sperm mutation frequency caused by smoke-exposure, for each generation across the global population there will be millions of smoking-induced de novo mutations transmitted from father to offspring (Beal et al. Mutation Research;2017; 773:26).Therefore, it is strongly recommended that women and men should immediately stop smoking in advance of reproduction.No disclosures: A completed disclosure of interest form is available to view online as supporting information.

Background. Differential diagnosis of Low-back pain (LBP) is complex and a prominent health care issue at all Health-care levels; guidance may come from patients’ history cues and clinical examination signs. Human and animal studies report that lumbar radicular pain (LRP) may be diagnosed, at all care settings, by the evaluation of subjective responses of injured lumbar nerves to a strain applied at the buttock. The Buttock Applied Strain (BUAS-test) may guide the differential diagnosis of LBP. Following an ex-adiuvantibus criterion, clinical improvement of LRP, diagnosed with the BUAS-test and congruently treated, may support this test diagnostic ability. Methods. Among 258 LRP patients, positive at V1, to the BUAS-test (with/without positive Straight-Leg-Raising-Test, SLRT), the effect of gabapentin on painDETECT (PD) questionnaire and BPI outcomes was quantified in the follow-up visit (V2). We hypothesized that, at V2, >50% of the sample would present negative PD-outcome, significant (t-Test), and 2 points V2-V1 differences for each the BPI-item’s score. Multinomial-Logistic-Regression (MLR) and χ2 analyses were used to evaluate the PD-V2-outcomes’ dependence upon independent variables. Results. Of the sample, 77% reported Negative PD-V2-outcome. V2-V1 differences of all BPI-items were significant and >2 points. PD-V2-outcomes showed significant associations with SLRT-V1 and PD-V1, respectively, but not with gender, age group, or pain-site. MLR showed a significant relationship between SLRT-V1 and PD-V2 outcomes. Conclusions. Among LRP patients, diagnosed by the BUAS-test and treated with gabapentin, all prespecified endpoints were reached. These results may be considered a piece of ex-adiuvantibus evidence for the BUAS-test ability to diagnose LRP. While positive BUAS-test implies potential LRP, the co-presence with positive SLRT may imply a severer LRP condition. Further prospective research, in different settings and direct clinical measures, is needed.

Mapping and Visualisation of various sequence-based features of proteins on the three dimensional (3D) structure enables to connect the sequence-space to the structure-space and thereby facilitates understanding of the sequence-structure-function relationship of proteins. Academic and commercial software programs are available for visualization and rendering of 3D structures but lack utilities for selection, customization, and integration of data from UniProt and PDB. PFV3D addresses these gaps and enables visualisation of features on the 3D structure using the JSmol applet.

The black soil region of northeast China is one of the most productive regions of the world. The depth of A horizon is rapidly decreasing due to excessive erosion. A strategy for erosion hazard evaluation and soil conservation planning has been proposed and tested on the region. Climate, geomorphology, DEM, soil, landuse, runoff plot and corn yield data were compiled. Soil erosion rate, A horizon thickness and corn yield under six conservation scenarios during 2020~2200 was predicted. The six scenarios include Present (continue present practices), Contour (contour tillage), Straw (straw incorporated in tillage layer), Combo 1 (contour tillage and terracing etc.), No-till (no-till farming) and Combo 2 (partially Combo 1 and partially No-till). Current soil life expectancy of A horizon (SLEA), which is the time until a critical horizon thickness needed for sustaining crop production is reached, was calculated for each scenario. Erosion hazard degrees were determined with SLEA. Croplands with SLEA of <0 a, 0 a~20 a, 20 a~100 a, 100 a~1000 a and ≥1000 a, were classified as “Damaged”, “High hazard”, “Moderate hazard”, “Low hazard” and “No hazard”, respectively. Current area ratio of “Damaged” and “High hazard” and “Moderate hazard” was found to be 8%, 5%, and 22%, respectively. The optimum conservation practice was found to be No-till for “Damaged”, “Combo 2” for “High hazard”, “Moderate hazard” and “Low hazard” and Present for “No hazard”. An optimum conservation schedule was also suggested for each township to maintain all soils to have an A horizon above 20 cm.

Aims: The investigation regarding the clinical significance of programmed cell death protein-1 (PD-1)-targeted immunotherapy in Chinese patients is rare. This study evaluated safety and efficacy of PD-1 with Toripalimab, Camrelizumab or Sintilimab for Chinese Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients in a real-life cohort. Methods: We retrospectively analyzed HBV associated HCC patients treated with Toripalimab, Camrelizumab or Sintilimab in a retrospective cohort from Nov 2018 to Dec 2019. Efficacy was evaluated with objective response rate (ORR), disease control rate (DCR), progression-free survival (PFS), time to tumor progression (TTP) and overall survival (OS). Results: Seventy eight patients were finally included in the analysis: 26 for Toripalimab, 36 for Camrelizumab, and 16 for Sintilimab. Mean duration of follow-up was 22.7 ± 12.6 weeks and the mean Cycles of PD-1 at cut-off were 4.8 ± 2.7 for all patients. The ORR and DCR for the whole cohort were 17.9% and 73.1%, respectively. Overall, 21 (26.9%) patients had radiological disease progression and 6 (7.7%) patients died during follow-up. Median PFS was 40.7 (95% CI, 34.7-46.7) weeks, median TTP was 45.7 (95% CI, 40.5-60.0) weeks, and median OS was 51.1 (95% CI, 46.4-55.9) weeks. Most frequent drug-related AEs were Rash (19.2%), Hypertension (15.4%), Fatigue (12.8%), Paraesthesia (12.8%), and Diarrhoea (10.3%). Conclusions: Our findings suggest that: 1. PD-1-targeted immunotherapy with Toripalimab, Camrelizumab or Sintilimab yielded a promising outcome in Chinese HBV patients with HCC; 2. Immunotherapy was well tolerated generally and had manageable side effects, which is worth of popularization and application in clinical practice.

Identification of genetic diversity in heat tolerance and associated markers is of great importance for improving heat tolerance in cool-season grass species. In this study, 98 accessions of perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.) were subjected to heat stress (35/30 ℃, day/night) or optimal growth temperature (25/20 ℃) for 24 d in growth chambers. Overall heat tolerance of those accessions was ranked by principal component analysis (PCA) based on eight growth and physiological traits. Among these traits, chlorophyll (Chl) content had the highest correlation coefficient (0.864) with the PCA ranking of heat tolerance, indicating it was the most closely linked parameter to heat tolerance. And expressions of four Chl catabolic genes (CCGs) were negatively correlated with PCA ranking of heat. Furthermore, simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers were identified that significantly associated with Chl content and other heat tolerance-related traits. Together, the result highlighted the importance of Chl catabolism in heat tolerance of cool-season grasses. Chl content, heat-associated CCG genes and their associated SSR markers could be used as reliable trait or molecular markers in the breeding program of perennial ryegrass toward better heat tolerance.

Retropharyngeal emphysema is a rare condition with various causes including traumatic and iatrogenic injuries, or it could occur spontaneously. Symptoms of mediastinitis and/or airway obstruction should be evaluated as indicators for surgical incision. Complications of mediastinitis are associated with poor prognosis; therefore, worsening of symptoms should be carefully monitored.

Blastic plasmacytoid dendritic cell neoplasm is a rare disease with difficulty in diagnosis, and clinical courses of patients with BPDCN vary widely. We report a case of a 63-year-old man with BPDCN showing severe tumor lysis syndrome (TLS). BPDCN with high tumor burden should be carefully considered to prevent TLS.

A patient with mucopolysaccharidosis type VI, on enzyme replacement therapy (galsulfase) for more than 6-years with good adherence. Urine glycosaminoglycans became stable, cardiopulmonary progression is slow, motor skills have improved, pain is controlled and no adverse reactions were reported. These support the benefits of galsulfase, as it slows disease progression.

Twenty-nine Candida isolates were assessed with green-coloured colonies using CHROMagar Candida medium with a positive germ-tube test. Based on morphological and biochemical tests, 29 strains were isolated from the oral cavity of children with leukaemia who were undergoing chemotherapy in Basrah, Iraq. Three (10.3%) of them were identified as Candida africana. Identification of the isolated yeasts was further confirmed at the molecular level by amplifying the internal transcribed spacer sequencing (ITS) region of rDNA comprising the ITS1-5.85-ITS2 regions of fungal rRNA genes. This study represented the first recovery of C. africana from the oral cavity for immunocompromised patients with leukaemia and considered the first record of species in Iraq.

Riparian habitats have high insect abundance and consequently provide good foraging opportunities for insectivorous bats. Here we investigate how insect abundance, temperature, season, and elevation affect the foraging behaviour of Daubenton’s (Myotis daubentonii) and common pipistrelle (Pipistrellus pipistrellus) bats along the river Wharfe in north Yorkshire. Insect abundance correlated positively with ambient air temperature. Abundance reached a maximum around sunset before dropping to low levels with frequent zero captures throughout the middle of the night. There was often a second smaller peak in insect abundance around sunrise. Insects at all elevation habitats were mainly dipterans, and most (92%) of these were nematocerans. There was a mismatch between peak insect abundance and bat detections, with highest insect detection just before bats arrived in the evening or after they left in the morning. Insect abundance and bat Feeding Buzz Ratios (FBR) did not differ significantly between treeless and tree-lined habitats. Significantly more M. daubentonii detections were recorded in August than in May, but there was no significant difference in the number of mean feeding buzzes between months. More P. pipistrellus FBRs were recorded at lower elevations; however, there was no elevational difference in FBR for M. daubentonii, although more FBRs were recorded for this species. Detections of M. daubentonii were fairly constant throughout the night, while P. pipistrellus exhibited large variations in number of passes per hour. P. pipistrellus arrived c.a. half an hour earlier at tree-lined habitats than tree-less habitats, likely taking advantage of protective tree cover to gain additional foraging time when insects are more abundant. M. daubentonii, on the other hand, generally arrived later. There was no correlation between FBR and number of aerial insects for either species. Bat detections (and therefore presence) is influenced by factors other than the availability of aerial prey.

A 61-year-old woman entered the emergency department due to worsening dyspnea. Severe mitral regurgitation was observed by transesophageal echocardiography. The patient had history of an ALCAPA (Anomalous Left Coronary Artery from Pulmonary Artery) syndrome having undergone coronary artery bypass grafting (saphenous venous graft to left anterior descending artery) 30 years before. Coronary angiography and computed tomography revealed patency of the graft, with the dilated vein running across the front of the ascending aorta and being responsible for the perfusion of the left anterior descending and circumflex arteries. To avoid injuring the patent graft, mitral valve replacement under ventricular fibrillation without aortic cross clamping was performed through a right minithoracotomy approach. Postoperative course was uneventful, and she was discharged on hospital day 7. This method appears safe, effective and useful for avoiding secondary injuries in patients with severe mitral regurgitation, previous sternotomy and patent bypass grafts.

Quantum-chemical “descriptors”, including atomic partial charges, orbitals, and electrostatic potentials are powerful tools for understanding chemical reactivity. Localized defects in graphene are a particular challenge for these tools, especially to model the adsorption processes and to predict the interactions of transition metals with these defects. Such defects often have little charge polarization and a combination of localized and delocalized states. Our orbital overlap distance D(r) measures the “size” of occupied orbital lobes about point r, distinguishing the hybridization state and compact vs. diffuse character of local electronic structure. Here we apply the overlap distance to graphene defects. We find that the overlap distance clearly distinguishes differential reactivities of different atoms at intrinsic defects. Combining the overlap distance and electrostatic potential provides a rich picture of extrinsic defect reactivity, including semiquantitative predictions of transition metal binding.

Sternal refixation or reconstruction of a median sternotomy can be indicated after treatment of deep sternal wound infection or bony non-union. Synthes® Titanium Sternal Fixation System is routinely used for sternal refixation. To perform a stable reconstruction, the titanium plates need to be bent to the anatomical shape of the sternum and adjacent ribs. The procedure offers good results, but can be, especially in the case of a complex non-union or a complex anatomy, time-consuming. Based on pre-operative CT-scan a 3D model of the sternum was printed (Materialise, Belgium). The operation was simulated using 3D software (Materialise, Belgium) and the two parts were aligned. The titanium plates were bent to fit the anatomical shape of the 3D model pre-operatively. During surgery the plates were fitted and if necessary additional bending was performed. Case 1: Total pre-operative bending time for the relative simple anatomic shape and mal-union was 53 minutes. Total operative time was 1 hour 19 minutes. Case 2: Total pre-operative bending time for a complicated non-union and anatomy was 1 hour 21 minutes. Total operative time was 1 hour 43 minutes. Because of pre-operative bending, total operative time could be reduced by approximately 40-45%. Additional bending was rarely necessary. This case series demonstrates that the use of 3-dimensional planned patient-specific guides and preoperative preparations can help reduce operating time with satisfactory preliminary results.

Based on Clark unit hydrograph model, a variable distributed unit hydrograph model for urban drainage system is presented with different rainfall intensity. Firstly, urban watershed is decomposed into several individual sub-catchment units; then, different unit hydrograph for each sub-catchment unit is modeled as a single linear reservoir; finally different unit hydrograph is delayed and summed to outlet according the time of concentration along underground pipe network. The values of two model parameters including response parameter and delayed time of concentration can be directly estimated without the need of calibration considering the effect of rainfall intensity on flow velocity. The north region of Future Science Park in Beijing was selected as the study area, application results showed that: (1) the unit hydrograph for whole catchment area was different, in which the peak values increased with the increase of rainfall intensity, and the increasing rate showed gradual decrease tendency; (2) the simulated runoff processes are in reasonable agreement with the monitored runoff processes, in which the average value of R2 was 0.73, which varied from 0.4 to 0.89, the average value of NSE was 0.26, which varied from -0.77 to 0.87, the average value of RE was -0.18, which varied from -0.77 to 0.36; (3) the unit hydrograph for each sub-catchment unit was spatially varying, and varied with the rainfall intensity, in which with the increase of rainfall intensity, the response parameter increased by the 0.4 power function and delayed time of concentration decreased by the -0.6 power function, respectively.

Cryptic taxa have often been observed in the form of host‐associated species that diverged as the result of adaptation to alternate host plants. Untangling cryptic diversity in species complexes that encompass invasive species is a mandatory task for pest management. Moreover, investigating the evolutionary history of a species complex may help to understand the drivers of their diversification. The mealybug Hypogeococcus pungens was believed to be a polyphagous species from South America and has been reported as a pest devastating native cacti in Puerto Rico, also threatening cactus diversity in the Caribbean and North America. There is neither certainty about the identity of the pest, nor the source population from South America. Recent studies pointed to substantial genetic differentiation among local populations, suggesting that H. pungens is a species complex. In this study, we used a combination of genome-wide SNPs and mtDNA variation to investigate species diversity within H. pungens sensu lato to establish host plant ranges of each one of the putative members of the complex, to evaluate whether the pattern of host plant association drove diversification in the species complex, and to determine the source population of the Puerto Rican cactus pest. Our results suggested that H. pungens comprises at least five different species, each one strongly associated with specific host plants. We also established that the Puerto Rican cactus pest derives from southeastern Brazilian mealybugs. This is an important achievement because it will help to design reliable strategies for biological control using natural enemies of the pest from its native range.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is considered a worldwide pandemic. COVID-19 patients had profound immune dysregulation so they could be susceptible for adverse pregnancy outcomes as preeclampsia and miscarriage. In this article, we tried to explain the link between recurrent miscarriage and COVID-19.

Active infection is generally considered a contraindication for heart transplantation. The rare combination of a patient with an active Coxiella burnetii infection and a congenital corrected transposition of the great arteries requiring heart transplantation imposes challenging treatment decisions. We present a case of a patient with end stage heart failure requiring heart transplantation who developed chronic Q-fever and endocarditis.

Dialkyl peroxides may decompose under heating and illumination conditions, and consequently cause an explosion or fire possibility. However, they can promote diesel-degraded branching reaction, enhance diesel spontaneous combustion ability, and accelerate the chain reaction of fuel combustion. In this study, one series of dialkyl peroxides, i.e. methyl, ethyl, isopropyl, and di-t-butyl peroxide, which have different numbers of terminal methyl groups, have been modeled. We have systematically explored their stabilities under heating and illumination conditions by using CCSD(T), DFT/TDDFT, and variational transition state theory. We focus on the rate constants of thermal dissociation of peroxide bonds and absorption spectra because previous experimental and calculated thermal kinetic parameters are not consistent and the absorption spectra of these compounds are few. Based on the calculated data including rate constants and simulated absorption spectra, we find out that di-t-butyl peroxide is the best candidate among four compounds considering the stability under both heat and light. The most striking finding is that the previous assumption that the activation energy of O-O decomposition equals O-O bond energy may be wrong.

Backgound: Extracellular deposits of amyloid-β (Aβ) in neuronal synapse have been considered as a major hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease. Purpose: Here in we have investigated the neuroprotective potential of embelin Aβ-42 induced neurotoxicity in rats. Material and Methods: Amyloid β1-42 oligomer was infused (3nmol/3µl) intracerebroventrically twice on day-1to induced Alzheimer’s type dementia in rats. Spatial and non- spatial memory was assessed at different time intervals and terminally biochemical, neurochemical and neuroinflammatory parameters were determined in rat hippocampal brain tissue. One week following Aβ1-42 infused rats were treated with different doses of embelin (2.5, 5 and 10mg/kg/p.o.) till 21st day. Results: Amyloid β1-42 infusion produced significant deterioration in learning and memory while hippocampal tissue showed elevation in AChE activity, oxidative stress, and pro-inflammatory cytokine levels (TNF-α, IL-β etc.) and disturbed pattern of GABA/glutamate levels in Aβ1-42 infused rats. On the other side, embelin significantly attenuated Aβ1-42 induced cognitive deficit & other biochemical changes in rats. Embelin treated rats showed improved learning and memory was able to reduce the burden of hippocampal oxidative stress and pro-inflammatory cytokines and also restored the GABA/glutamate balance in rats. Conclusion and Implication: The pro-cognitive effect of embelin may be due to its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory actions. The observed results indicate the therapeutic potential of embelin in cognitive disorders. Key words: Alzheimer’s disease; Embelin; Amyloid-β; Neuroprotection; Dementia; Cognitive deficit.

The 2019 novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is an emerging pandemic caused by the highly-transmissible SARS-CoV-2 , posing a serious challenge to public health and clinical therapies worldwide. Very recently, we addresed a cluster of imported italian cases of COVID-19 in Lishui City, Zhejiang Province of China. Here we report an epidemiological and clincial study of local COVID-19 in Lishui City. This is a snapshot for comprehensive COVID-19 repertoires in Zhejiang, China.

Previous research has identified a relationship between climate and occurrence of SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV cases, information that can be used to reduce the risk of infection. Using COVID-19 notification and postcode data from New South Wales, Australia during the exponential phase of the epidemic in 2020, we used time-series analysis to investigate the relationship between 749 cases of locally-acquired COVID-19 and daily rainfall, 9am and 3pm temperature, and 9am and 3pm relative humidity. Lower 9am relative humidity (but not rainfall or temperature) was associated with increased case occurrence; a reduction in relative humidity of 1% was predicted to be associated with an increase of COVID-19 cases by 6.11%. During periods of low relative humidity, the public health system should anticipate an increased number of COVID-19 cases.

Scientists are increasingly using volunteer efforts of citizen scientists to classify images captured by motion-activated trail-cameras. The rising popularity of citizen science reflects its potential to engage the public in conservation science and accelerate processing of the large volume of images generated by trail-cameras. While image classification accuracy by citizen scientists can vary across species, the influence of other factors on accuracy are poorly understood. Inaccuracy diminishes the value of citizen science derived data and prompts the need for specific best practice protocols to decrease error. We compare the accuracy between three programs that use crowdsourced citizen scientists to process images online: Snapshot Serengeti, Wildwatch Kenya, and AmazonCam Tambopata. We hypothesized that habitat type and camera settings would influence accuracy. To evaluate these factors, each photo was circulated to multiple volunteers. All volunteer classifications were aggregated to a single best answer for each photo using a plurality algorithm. Subsequently, a subset of these images underwent expert review and were compared to the citizen scientist results. Classification errors were categorized by the nature of the error (e.g. false species or false empty), and reason for the false classification (e.g. misidentification). Our results show that Snapshot Serengeti had the highest accuracy (97.9%), followed by AmazonCam Tambopata (93.5%), then Wildwatch Kenya (83.4%). Error type was influenced by habitat, with false empty images more prevalent in open-grassy habitat (27%) compared to woodlands (10%). For medium to large animal surveys across all habitat types, our results suggest that to significantly improve accuracy in crowdsourced projects, researchers should use a trail-camera set up protocol with a burst of three consecutive photos, a short field of view, and consider appropriate camera sensitivity. Accuracy level comparisons such as this study can improve reliability of future citizen science projects, and subsequently encourage the increased use of such data.

The hemibiotrophic oomycetes are significant threats to a wide range of Cucurbitaceae species, causing substantial losses of plant productions. Particularly, Phytophthora melonis evokes severe symptoms, thus dramatically limiting yield in cucumber. However, information about cucumber–P. melonis interaction is still limited. This study explored changes in the activities of phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL), peroxidase (POX), catalase (CAT), superoxide dismutase (SOD), and polyphenol oxidase (PPO) in cucumber roots of two resistant genotypes (Soheil and Ramezz), one moderately resistant genotype (Baby) and three highly susceptible genotypes (Extrem, Mini 6-23 and Yalda), over the time courses of 7, 14 and 21 days after inoculation (DAI). The results indicated that the activities of defence‐related enzymes differed between the resistant and highly susceptible genotypes. Although, the defense-related enzymatic activities were elevated sharply in the resistant and moderately resistant genotypes after inoculation, but no significant correlations were present between the activity trends of PPO, SOD and CAT and resistance characteristics. Moreover, no significant changes in enzyme activities were found in the control plants, non-inoculated plants of the six genotypes during the testing period. Altogether, the resistance of cucumber to P. melonis is related to POX and PAL activities, but does not show relationship with PPO, SOD and CAT activities. Studying the physiological metabolic pathways of POX and PAL appears to be an important direction in research to elucidate resistance to P. melonis in cucumber genotypes.