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AKT2 is crucial for cancer cells' invasion, metastasis, and survival. It is a possible downstream gene target of cancer glycolysis-related microRNAs. The study investigated the role of miRNA-4716–3p, rs2304186, and the AKT2 gene in blood cancer pathogenesis. RT-qPCR was used to analyze AKT2 gene mRNA and miRNA-4716–3p expression in 200 blood cancer samples and 200 healthy controls. Furthermore, Tetra-ARMS PCR was used to examine the rs2304186 AKT2 SNP in 300 patients and 290 control samples. miRNA-4716–3p was shown to be significantly downregulated (p = 0.0294), whereas mRNA expression of the AKT2 gene was found to be significantly upregulated (p = 0.0034) in blood cancer patients compared to healthy individuals. miRNA-4716–3p downregulation (p = 0.0466) was more pronounced, while AKT2 upregulation was non-significant (p = 0.1661) in untreated patients compared to chemotherapy-treated patients. Blood cancer risk was significantly associated with the rs2304186 GT genotype (p = 0.0432), TT genotype (p = 0.0502), and mutant allele (T) frequency (p = 0.0008). Polymorphism rs2304186 was associated with an increased risk of blood cancer in dominant (p = 0.0011), recessive (p = 0.0502), and additive (p = 0.0008) genetic models. The results suggested that the rs2304186 and the deregulated expression of miRNA-4716–3p and AKT2 gene at the mRNA level may significantly increase the incidence of blood cancer, particularly in the Pakistani population. Therefore, these may function as suitable biomarkers for blood cancer diagnosis and prognosis. Additional, larger-scale investigations may be required to affirm these results.

Seed mycoflora poses significant challenges to rice production, leading to substantial economic losses. Fourteen samples of stored and freshly harvested seeds of five rice varieties were collected from the Agricultural farm of Orissa University of Agriculture and Technology, Bhubaneswar, Odisha, to study the morphology of the mycoflora associated with rice seeds and their impact on seed health and quality. Eight fungal species, including Fusarium pallidoroseum, Fusarium fujikuroi, Curvularia lunata, Helminthosporium oryzae, Trichoconis padwickii, Aspergillus flavus, Rhizopus sp., and Penicillium sp., were isolated, identified, and morphologically characterized based on colony growth, mycelial features, conidial structures, and spore measurements. The rice varieties, viz., Hema, Jyotirmayee, Swarna, Lalat, and Annapurna, were artificially inoculated with F. pallidoroseum, F. fujikuroi, T. padwickii, C. lunata, and H. oryzae. Seeds showed that the fungi had a variable effect on seed quality parameters like germination, seedling vigor index I and seedling vigor index II, speed of germination, and seed health. A maximum of 16.33% reduction of germination was observed by T. padwickii, followed by F. fujikuroi (14.80% in Hema). Seedling vigor (1754.81) incited by T. padwickii inoculation was recorded to be the lowest. Seed rot up to 15.8% was observed in the case of F. fujikuroi. The percentage of root discoloration reached 40.0% by F. pallidoroseum and T. padwickii. In Jyotirmayee, C. lunata caused an 18.88% germination reduction and the lowest seedling vigor (1866.03) by T. padwickii. T padwickii also caused the highest reduction of seedling dry weight (36.12%) in this variety. The result reveals the diversity and prevalence of fungal pathogens in rice seeds. Hence, this study underscores the importance of seed sterilization practices in reducing fungal contamination and the requirement of thorough seed examination to reduce the effects of seed mycoflora associated with rice seeds, which could affect rice production.

Teacher education curricula have been innovated in Pakistan. The curricula recommends constructivist practices for teacher educators. The current study examined the instructional practices of teacher educators in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), Pakistan. The overall objective of the study was to find out whether teacher educators (TE) used constructivist or traditional instructional practices in the Departments of Education (DoE) and Regional Institutes of Teacher Education (RITEs). Classroom observation protocol was developed for investigating the practices of 31 teachers, they were randomly selected from 211 teacher educators from 09 DoE in universities and 20 RITEs. Analysis of the data showed that teacher educators used most of the time traditional classroom practices, they did not use proper methods which could enable the prospective teachers to create knowledge, they transmitted knowledge, most of the teachers did not use constructivist practices and they did not have full cognizant of constructivist practices. Teachers did not come to the class well prepared for teaching for following constructivist practices. The study recommends training on constructivist practices, provision of a separate cadre of teacher educators in RITEs, and training on the use of information technology, and the provision of internet in teacher education institutes.

Hypothetical proteins (HPs) are those whose sequence is present but nothing is known about their structural and functional annotations. Elucidation of structural and functional insights would be effective enough in perceiving the protein interactions and their involvement in various pathways and networks. Ananas comosus is considered as third most essential tropical fruit and is given more consideration from the commercial point of view; therefore, in this research, it is taken for analysis using different approaches of bioinformatics. On the basis of subcellular localization and secondary structure analysis, it was suggested that HP is the nuclear protein consisting of α helices and more abundant coils. Homology modeling has been done through Swiss Model to determine their template structure but template identity score is not enough which uncover the fact that the protein OAY63476.1 is unpredicted in-vitro. In order to predict the 3D structure of protein, Phyre 2 server is utilized. Results are validated by different strategies revealing the stability of the developed model. The quality factor of this protein is 45.28. Functional analysis and domain identification have been performed by using NCBI-CDD and Pfam which suggested that protein contains ring variant domain. Comparative genome analysis has been performed with other proteins of plants which demonstrate that the selected protein has the highest similarity. This study paves the way in order to determine the structural and functional annotations of other uncharacterized proteins and effective in exploring other novel proteins along with their functions in the same way as that of this research study.

Achromatopsia (ACHM) is a genetically heterogeneous visual disorder, also known as rod monochromatism, in which human get affected due to cone cells. Mutation in five genes viz. CNGA3, CNGB3, GNAT2, PDE6C, and PDE6H have been reported in ACHM. These genes encode essential constitutes of the cone-specific photo transduction cascade. Present study was focused on CNGB3 gene that accounts 40%-50% mutations of all ACHM cases. A new approach for analyzing drug-drug interactions based on modularity was adopted. This approach depends on the behavioral relationship of drugs against CNGB3 for ACHM, particularly the ADME and toxicity between drugs. Data of 2475 compounds were retrieved, out of which 185 were selected on the basis of Lipinski rule of five. In total, eight clusters were made for which the strongly interacted DDI networks were build based on their modularity values. Strong DDI and minimum toxic values indicates that 5 drugs are effective, but on the basis of docking only 2 drugs indicated no bumps, which shows that they are most appropriate for treating ACHM. Our findings revealed that drug-drug interactions disclose the intervention of drug nature and can also successfully diagnose new indications and more convincing drugs for other diseases as well. Keywords: Achromatopsia, CNGB3, In silico, Integrated drugs

Nanocomposites consisting of polyvinyl alcohol embedded with nanoparticles of Zn0.80Co0.1Ni0.1Fe2O4 and ZnFe2O4 were successfully synthesized by employing a facile two-steps process. The nanoparticles of Zn0.80Co0.1Ni0.1Fe2O4 and ZnFe2O4 were synthesized via a micro emulsion procedure and then embedded into a polyvinyl alcohol matrix by an ultrasound-assisted in-situ emulsion. The result showed that the prepared nanoparticles of Zn0.80Co0.1Ni0.1Fe2O4 & ZnFe2O4 diffuse homogeneously in a polyvinyl alcohol matrix, maintaining the particle shape and size of the Zn0.80Co0.1Ni0.1Fe2O4 nanoparticles. Transmission electron microscope images revealed that polyvinyl alcohol chains have encircled the Zn0.80Co0.1Ni0.1Fe2O4 & ZnFe2O4 nanoparticles. The interaction between the polyvinyl alcohol and the nanoparticles in the prepared nanocomposites was confirmed by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy via the shifting of bands revealed from the Fourier-transform infrared spectra. Dielectric studies explained the decreasing trend by varying concentrations of nanoparticles with a constant polymer concentration. The dielectric constant and dielectric loss both revealed a decreasing trend by varying the concentration of the nanoparticles with a constant polymer concentration. This occurred due to the grain boundary effect which becomes dominant at low frequencies. The Transmission electron microscope images result shows that polycrystalline Zn0.80Co0.1Ni0.1Fe2O4 & ZnFe2O4 nanoparticles with an average size of 10–15 nm were incorporated with PVA to form nanocomposites. Keywords: Nanocomposites, Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), Ultrasound-assisted, In-situ emulsions

In this paper, we propose a partial randomized response technique to collect reliable sensitive data for estimation of population proportion in ranked set sampling (RSS) scheme using auxiliary information. The idea is to increase confidence and (or) co-operation of the respondents by providing them the option of both 'direct' and 'randomized' response for the inquired sensitive question. This option is quite logical because perception of sensitive (insensitive) inquiry can vary among respondents. The properties of the proposed method are discussed and compared with existing randomized response techniques. Cost analysis is also carried out to prove supremacy of the suggested method. Finally, an application to clinical trial on AIDS is included.

In this paper, we propose a partial randomized response technique to collect reliable sensitive data for estimation of population proportion in ranked set sampling (RSS) scheme using auxiliary information. The idea is to increase confidence and (or) co-operation of the respondents by providing them the option of both ‘direct’ and ‘randomized’ response for the inquired sensitive question. This option is quite logical because perception of sensitive (insensitive) inquiry can vary among respondents. The properties of the proposed method are discussed and compared with existing randomized response techniques. Cost analysis is also carried out to prove supremacy of the suggested method. Finally, an application to clinical trial on AIDS is included.

This paper considers the concomitant-based rank set sampling (CRSS) for estimation of the sensitive proportion. It is shown that CRSS procedure provides an unbiased estimator of the population sensitive proportion, and it is always more precise than corresponding sample sensitive proportion (Warner SL (1965)) that based on simple random sampling (SRS) without increasing sampling cost. Additionally, a new estimator based on ratio method is introduced using CRSS protocol, preserving the respondent's confidentiality through a randomizing device. The numerical results of these estimators are obtained by using numerical integration technique. An application to real data is also given to support the methods.

RNA silencing is a novel gene regulatory mechanism that confines the transcript level by either preventing translation or by the initiation of particular RNA degradation. Small interfering RNAs are regularly represented as the exogenously made or viral inducers of RNAi. Such small RNAs have been used in biomedical research for particular repression of genes. A small hairpin RNA is an artificially synthesized RNA molecule with a hairpin or loop like structure, that is inserted into the designed siRNA to induce interference. In this research work, computational techniques are used to design the siRNA and shRNA against the P53 gene. Approximately four target sites are identified in the p53 gene to which the siRNA and shRNA can bind, for each target site the siRNAs and shRNAs are designed as complementary sequence of the target site. Furthermore, a small hairpin RNA is inserted as a loop in the designed siRNA molecules for better results. This computational analysis of siRNA and shRNA can be further used with the help of in-vitro exploratory techniques to check efficacy and adequacy. Keywords: Gene silencing, Interference, Motifs, P53, siRNA, shRNA

Osteoporosis occurs because of the Calcitonin-Related Polypeptide Alpha (CALCA) gene. At present, Caltrate600, Boniva and Alendronate are viewed as dynamic drugs to cure osteoporosis. Chronic lymphocytic leukemia occurs because of the ABL1 proto oncogene. Currently, Rituximab, Fludarabine and Cytarabine are utilized as monoclonal antibodies against this ailment. Drug repositioning is a new rising field of reusing previous drugs, safeguarding retired drugs and developing licenses to make lives easy. The main objective of this research was repositioning of Alendronate and Cytarabine in order to use them in other diseases, too. Interactions of each of these drugs with many off-target proteins were identified. Alendronate presented strong interactions with FPPS, Hydroxylapatite, PTPRS, PTPRE, PTN4 and GGPPS. Cytarabine demonstrated strong interactions with DNA and DPOLB. After screening a great number of drugs which are accustomed to cure mutations of those off-target genes and proteins, their ill effects were compared, and it is suggested that Alendronate and Cytarabine have less side effects than different other drugs utilized for the same interacting targets. Both Alendronate and Cytarabine can be repositioned to cure well known carcinomas and different diseases.

Hypothetical proteins (HPs) are the proteins whose presence has been anticipated, yet in vivo function has not been built up. Illustrating the structural and functional privileged insights of these HPs might likewise prompt a superior comprehension of the protein-protein associations or networks in diverse types of life. Bananas (Musa acuminata spp.), including sweet and cooking types, are giant perennial monocotyledonous herbs of the order Zingiberales, a sister grouped to the all-around considered Poales, which incorporate oats. Bananas are crucial for nourishment security in numerous tropical and subtropical nations and the most prominent organic product in industrialized nations. In the present study, the hypothetical protein of M. acuminata (Banana) was chosen for analysis and modeling by distinctive bioinformatics apparatuses and databases. As indicated by primary and secondary structure analysis, XP_009393594.1 is a stable hydrophobic protein containing a noteworthy extent of α-helices; Homology modeling was done utilizing SWISS-MODEL server where the templates identity with XP_009393594.1 protein was less which demonstrated novelty of our protein. Ab initio strategy was conducted to produce its 3D structure. A few evaluations of quality assessment and validation parameters determined the generated protein model as stable with genuinely great quality. Functional analysis was completed by ProtFun 2.2, and KEGG (KAAS), recommended that the hypothetical protein is a transcription factor with cytoplasmic domain as zinc finger. The protein was observed to be vital for translation process, involved in metabolism, signaling and cellular processes, genetic information processing and Zinc ion binding. It is suggested that further test approval would help to anticipate the structures and functions of other uncharacterized proteins of different plants and living being.

This study aimed at exploring students’ perceptions of virtual espirit de corps, teamwork and team trust in distance learning environment based on team structure, team leadership, team situation monitoring, team mutual support and team communication. Descriptive survey design was used for research methodology. A self-constructed 5 point likert scale questionnaire containing 30 statements was administered to 100 randomly selected graduate level students enrolled in distance education. Results revealed that espirit de corps, team work and team trust need to be addressed rigorously if highly motivated team members are to be produced through distance education. Teachers may introduce online discussion forums, reflective videos and reflective blogs to enhance team work. In addition to this, teachers may serve as team leads and provide a base for espirit de corps.

Reflective practice and action research have captured the attention and imagination of educational community in the recent times. Both are considered to be inevitable and critical dimensions of professional development of teachers. Similarly, distance education is gaining popularity day by day, thus increasing the sense of responsibility for teachers as well as students enrolled. Educational institutions are dedicated to cater to diverse need of enrolled students by providing high quality education through emerging technologies. This article explores the critical part action research can play in enhancing reflective practices of teachers which may lead to their ultimate professional development. The article challenges the perceptions of distance education teachers about reflective practice and action research. It takes into account holistic view of both constructs as considering them inseparable elements for improving distance education teaching learning environment. This research suggests that distance education teachers are well aware of the importance of both, but process and practical implementation of action research as effective tool for reflective practice is need of the day. This target may only be achieved through administrative support, on-line sessions, monetary and non-monetary incentives for teachers and personal commitment. Practical implementation of conduction of action research in the domain of distance education may go a long way in improving the whole instructional environment.

Abstract Aging is a complex biological process characterized by the gradual decline of cellular functions, increased susceptibility to diseases, and impaired stress responses. Hypoxia, defined as reduced oxygen availability, is a critical factor that influences aging through molecular pathways involving hypoxia‐inducible factors (HIFs), oxidative stress, inflammation, and epigenetic modifications. This review explores the interconnected roles of hypoxia in aging, highlighting how hypoxic conditions exacerbate cellular damage, promote senescence, and contribute to age‐related pathologies, including cardiovascular diseases, neurodegenerative disorders, cancer, metabolic dysfunctions, and pulmonary conditions. By examining the molecular mechanisms linking hypoxia to aging, we identify key pathways that serve as potential therapeutic targets. Emerging interventions such as HIF modulators, antioxidants, senolytics, and lifestyle modifications hold promise in mitigating the adverse effects of hypoxia on aging tissues. However, challenges such as the heterogeneity of aging, lack of reliable biomarkers, and safety concerns regarding hypoxia‐targeted therapies remain. This review emphasizes the need for personalized approaches and advanced technologies to develop effective antiaging interventions. By integrating current knowledge, this review provides a comprehensive framework that underscores the importance of targeting hypoxia‐induced pathways to enhance healthy aging and reduce the burden of age‐related diseases.

IntroductionThe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), has posed extraordinary challenges to global health systems and economies. The virus’s rapid evolution has resulted in several variants of concern (VOCs), including the highly transmissible Omicron variant, characterized by extensive mutations. In this study, we investigated the genetic diversity, population differentiation, and evolutionary dynamics of the Omicron VOC during the fifth wave of COVID-19 in Pakistan.MethodsA total of 954 Omicron genomes sequenced during the fifth wave of COVID-19 in Pakistan were analyzed. A Bayesian framework was employed for phylogenetic reconstructions, molecular dating, and population dynamics analysis.ResultsUsing a population genomics approach, we analyzed Pakistani Omicron samples, revealing low within-population genetic diversity and significant structural variation in the spike (S) protein. Phylogenetic analysis showed that the Omicron variant in Pakistan originated from two distinct lineages, BA.1 and BA.2, which were introduced from South Africa, Thailand, Spain, and Belgium. Omicron-specific mutations, including those in the receptor-binding domain, were identified. The estimated molecular evolutionary rate was 2.562E-3 mutations per site per year (95% HPD interval: 8.8067E-4 to 4.1462E-3). Bayesian skyline plot analysis indicated a significant population expansion at the end of 2021, coinciding with the global Omicron outbreak. Comparative analysis with other VOCs showed Omicron as a highly divergent, monophyletic group, suggesting a unique evolutionary pathway.ConclusionsThis study provides a comprehensive overview of Omicron’s genetic diversity, genomic epidemiology, and evolutionary dynamics in Pakistan, emphasizing the need for global collaboration in monitoring variants and enhancing pandemic preparedness.

Aeshna mixta (Latreille 1805) is added to the Anisoptera fauna of Pakistan by reporting it from district Neelum of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistan. Geopolitically the study area lies in an area facing uncertain ground conditions since inception of Pakistan. It is a hard to reach valley between India and Pakistan, very close to the line of control. Out of twenty sampling sites, specimens of Aeshna mixta were found from fifteen localities of the district. With the addition of this taxon, Anisoptera fauna of Pakistan now count 74 species. The area under district Neelum represents many lush green valleys with lots of natural water bodies that support a broad complex of Odonata. More surveys in the area are suggested to unveil more important records from the area.