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In present study, comparative andrological histopathologies of Cypermethrin (CP) (a chlorinated type II pyrethroid) and Lambda-Cyhalothrin (LN) (a fluorinated type II pyrethroid) insecticide exposure and their amelioration with post treatment with Extra Virgin Olive oil (EVO) in testes, epididymis and vas deferens were explored. Sixty male albino mice (12-14 weeks old) were randomly distributed in six groups (n=10): 1. Negative Control (NC) is vehicle control so received 0.1mL corn oil on day 1&2, no treatment (day 3) and 0.1mL corn oil (day 4-6) through gavage; 2. Positive Control (PC) (the olive oil EVO antidote group) were given 0.1mL corn oil on day 1&2, no treatment (day 3) and 0.1mL EVO (day 4-6); 3,4) CP and LN were treated with 0.1mL of their respective 5mg/kg insecticides dissolved in corn oil on day 1&2, no treatment (day 3) and 0.1mL corn oil (day 4-6); 5,6) CP+EVO and LN+EVO were given 0.1mL of their respective 5mg/kg insecticides on day 1&2, no treatment (day 3) and 0.1mL EVO (day 4- 6). Animals were dissected on day 7 to recover testes, epididymis and vas deferens. Excised organs were processed for serial sectioning and micrometry. Exposure with CP and LN results in severe damage to seminiferous tubules and interstitial tissues of testes and endothelium of epididymis and vas deferens. Toxic effects were depicted as empty spaces in seminiferous tubules, interstitial tissues and epididymis and vas deferens, wavy margins of seminiferous tubules and corpus epididymis and necrosis in spermatogonia. Simultaneously the mean cross-sectional area of seminiferous tubules was significantly (p<0.05) decreased in CP (10.34±3.00µm2) and LN (12.63±3.23µm²) than PC (15.30±6.25 µm²) and NC (14.69±4.96µm²) groups. The EVO post treatment groups CP+EVO and LN+EVO indicate signs of rehabilitation in the mean CSA of seminiferous tubules (13.04±5.45µm², 13.07±5.80µm²) and interstitial tissues (30.47±0.67µm², 33.60±1.23µm²) as well as the mean number of spermatogonia. There was significant (P≤0.05) decrease in the mean epithelial height of caput (22.78±0.56µm², 22.42±0.49µm²), corpus (20.29±0.42µm², 20.15±0.55µm²) and cauda epididymis convoluted tubing (18.29±0.59µm², 17.93±0.52µm²) and epithelial thickness of vas deferens (29.17±1.49µm², 28.91±0.88 µm²) in CP and LN groups. The recovery signs of extra virgin olive oil in CP+EVO and LN+EVO groups were observed as rehabilitation in epithelial height of caput (23.58±0.49µm², 23.04±0.51µm²), corpus (20.97±0.54µm², 20.69±0.55 µm²) and cauda epididymis (21.43±0.65 µm2, 20.13±0.70 µm²) and epithelial thickness of vas deferens (34.06±1.07µm², 31.24±0.96µm²). The results indicate that both insecticides inflicted almost similar histopathologies which were convincingly recovered by the olive oil post treatment. It is thus concluded that irrespective of the presence of fluoride the type II pyrethroids can inflict severe testicular, epididymal and vas deferens damage in the exposed animals whereas the olive oil has immense rehabilitative capacity and thus can be used against insecticide inflicted testicular, epididymal and vas deferens histopathologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Histopathological and micrometric alterations of mice liver and kidney against gastro-intestinal exposure of (lambda-cyhalothrin) (LCT) and (cypermethrin) (CYP) were investigated along with the rescuing potential of extra virgin olive oil (EVOO). The study comprised 60 male albino mice randomly distributed in 6 groups (n=10). The vehicle control group (VC) was maintained and treated with 0.1ml corn oil. The positive control group was treated with EVOO, whereas the (CYP) and (LCT) groups were treated with 5mg/kg of the respective insecticides for two consecutive days and corn oil for 4-6 days. The last 2 groups Cypermethrin+extra virgin olive oil (CYP+EVOO) and Lambda-cyhalothrin+extra virgin olive oil (LCT+EVOO) were treated with olive oil only on day 4-6 along with respective insecticide exposure on first two days. All animals were sacrificed on day 7 to recover body organs (Liver and Kidney). Results show various histopathological alterations both in Liver (enormously enlarged hepatocytes, disruption of hepatic cords, etc.) and kidney (lesions in the endothelial wall of bowman's capsule, endothelial cells apoptosis, etc.) on CYP and LCT exposures. Significant micrometric changes were also noted along with pathological signs. The olive oil post treatment groups have shown rehabilitative effects against the reported histopathologies. On the basis of these findings, it is concluded that both insecticides harbor hepato-renal histopathological potentials that are at least partially rescued on EVOO treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study examines the thyro-parathroid toxicological impacts of a fluoridated (Lambda cyhalothrin) and a non-fluoridated (Cypermethrin) pyrethroid in male albino mice and the amelioration of these toxicities with post treatment with extra virgin olive oil (EVOO). Study plan included 6 groups. 1: Vehicle control (Cnt group) received 0.1 mL corn oil for days 1,2, 4-6) and 2: Positive control (Olv group) received 0.1 mL corn oil for days 1-3 and 0.1mL EVOO for days 4-6) 3: cypermethrin group (Cpr group) and 4: Lambda Cyhalothrin group (Lch group) received 5 mg/Kg cypermethrin or Lambda Cyhalothrin respectively for days 1-2, no treatment on day 3, 0.1mL corn oil for days 4-6) 5: Cypermethrin+Olive group (Cpr+Olv group) and 6: Lambda cyhalothrin+Olive group (Lch+Olv group) received 5mg/kg cypermethrin or Lambda Cyhalothrin respectively for days 1-2, no treatment on day 3, 0.1mL EVOO for days 4-6). Results of the present study indicate that both of the insecticides are toxic to the endocrine tissue examined in the study. However lambda cyhalothrin led to severe histopathological (Cords seemed to be merged and focal degenerations can also be observed in central and peripheral regions) and micrometric changes compared to the cypermethrin. Various significant alterations occurred in micrometric parameters, such as mean CSA of follicular cells, Para-follicular cells and follicles were significantly higher in lambda cyhalothrin groups as compared to cypermethrin group. The morphometric data also showed a significant (p≤0.05) decrease in mean cross-sectional area of follicular cells (Cnt: 51.33±1.05, Olv: 51.16±1.16, Cpr: 62.45±1.8, Lch: 61.00±2.1, Cpr+olv: 54.3±1.8 and Lch+olv: 55.2±1.7), CSA of follicles (Cnt: 2083±128.6, Olv: 2019.84±189.7, Cpr: 1946.6±94.03, Lch: 1712.6±139.6, Cpr+olv: 2041.7±114 and Lch+olv: 1483.3±134.4), Para-follicular cells (Cnt: 55±11.09, Olv: 51.76±9.0, Cpr: 73.8±15.7, Lch: 60.9±10.7, Cpr+olv: 54.1±8.8 and Lch+olv: 51.9±11.8) indicating that the fluoridation has contributed significantly to the pathological potential of this insecticide. On the other hand olive oil has been found to contain rescuing and rehabilitation potentials and ameliorated the mean CSA of follicular cells, CSA of follicles and parafollicualr cells, against the histopathologies of these insecticides. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current research paper aimed to investigate the current research practices in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in Khyber PakhtunKhwa (KP). The study was Mixed Methods Research (MMR) and thereby convergent Parallel design was used. A sample 254 participants were taken out of 695 individuals through (Yamane, 1967) formula. A selfdeveloped questionnaire, checklist and semi-structure interview were developed. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used as inferential statistics to analysis the quantitative data while thematic analysis was used to analyze the qualitative data. The result of study indicates that collaborative research environment in the HEIs. HEC approved supervisors available in the institutions. Thesis evaluation process found transparent but lengthy. The study found that paper publication is one of the difficult tasks for the teachers and students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The knowledge about heterosis breeding of achene yield in sunflower is known; however, dissection of the genetic components of achene yield and seed quality traits is limited. Therefore, the prescribe study was conducted using Line × Tester design to determine combining abilities, and about the maternal-and-paternal gene actions involved in achene yield and seed quality traits in 21 single cross hybrids. Significant mean differences for achene yield and seed quality traits were observed, with total attributed variation (R2 =0.89). Principal component analysis (P < 0.05) explained 92.6% variation and using factor analysis, we found factor 1 had primary variables (AW, AL, AT, HD, PH, PC, LA and OC) contributed 35.6% variation to achene yield. Combining ability analysis showed the positive general combining ability for E%, HD, PH, 100 AW and AYP in parental inbred lines, whilst, hybrids had positive specific combining ability for E%, HD, PH, 100 AW, DTF, DTM, OA, LA, OC and AYP. Females contributed significantly higher (P < 0.05) for AYP, E%, HD, NWPH, PH, 100 AW, LA and OA than that of males. Two-way hierarchical clustering showed the most promising hybrid H5 (A-18 × G-79) in Cluster V. The hybrid H5 also showed heterosis, heterobeltosis and commercial heterosis, therefore, genetic exploitation of H5 is highly desirable in future breeding to map QTLs/genes in arid/semi-arid zones and /or similar growing conditions to boost up yield and seed quality traits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Phenotypic stability under stress environment facilitate the fitness of genotype and opens new horizons to explore the cryptic genetic variation. Variation in tolerance to drought stress, a major grain yield constraint to global maize production, was identified, at the phenotypic and genotypic level. Here we found a prominent hybrid H9 that showed fitness over four growing seasons for grain yield under water stress conditions. Genotypic and phenotypic correlation of yield attributing traits over four seasons demonstrated that cobs per plant, 100 seed weight, number of grains rows per cob, total dry matter, cob diameter had positive association (r2 = 0.3-0.9) to grain yield. The perturbation was found for chlorophyll content as it showed moderate to strong association (P < 0.01) over four seasons, might be due to environment or genotype dependent. Highest heritability (95%) and genetic advance (79%) for grain yield was found in H9 over four consecutive crop growing seasons. Combined analysis over four seasons showed that studied variables together explained 85% of total variation in dependent structure (grain yield) obtained by Principal component analysis. This significant finding is the best example of phenotypic stability of grain yield in H9 andmade it best fitted for grain yield under drought stress scenario. Detailed genetic analysis of H9 will help us to identify significant loci and alleles that made H9 the best fitted and it could serve as a potential source to generate novel transgressive levels of tolerance for drought stress in arid/semiarid regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: This study aimed to determine contraceptive utilisation among mothers aged 18-49 years old in Ajman, United Arab Emirates (UAE). Methods: This cross-sectional study was carried out from May to November 2013. A total of 400 participants were recruited from two primary healthcare centres and one private hospital in Ajman. An interviewer-administered validated questionnaire was used for data collection. Results: The frequency of previous and current contraceptive use was 68.0% and 61.8%, respectively. Expatriates more frequently used contraceptives in comparison to Emiratis (77.3% versus 54.3%, respectively). Contraceptive use increased significantly with age (75.5% among >35-year-olds versus 57.3% among =25-year-olds; P <0.050) and education level (83.3% among postgraduates versus 60.0% among those with primary education; P <0.050). In addition, contraceptive use was significantly higher among those living in a nuclear family system (P <0.050). A univariate analysis indicated significant associations between contraceptive use and age, nationality, education level, type of family system, employment sector, parity, knowledge of birth control measures and source of birth control information (P <0.050 each). However, no significant associations were found via multivariate analysis. Conclusion: Healthcare practitioners can play a pivotal role in providing contraceptive advice which could lead to an improvement in contraceptive utilisation. Efforts are recommended to raise awareness regarding newer forms of contraceptives among mothers of reproductive age in the UAE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Soil, air and water pollution have become a global problem due to unprocessed emission of toxic heavy metals into the environment. The uncontrolled increase in release of hazardous heavy metals such as arsenic into the soil and water is mainly due to the untreated industrial waste. The accumulation of heavy metals causes damage not only to soil and water flora but also have deleterious effects on human health. The conventional methods such as thermal treatment, excavation and land fill, electro-reclamation and acid leaching used for degradation were time and cost consuming with release of toxic products. In nature, there are microorganisms residing in soil, which are capable of degrading toxic metals through phytoremediation. In phytoremediation, rhizobacteria play an important role. Rhizobacteria not only prevent contaminated soil's fertility but also enhance the growth of plants by release of special plant growth hormones. Phytohormones secreted by plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) are major chemicals involved in metal uptake. This in situ and environment friendly method of bioremediation is cost effective and efficient. The advance techniques such as genetic engineering have been introduced to increase the spectrum and degrading capacity of rhizobacteria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The genetic diversity ofCulex quinquefasciatusmosquito based on the standard barcode region of cytochrome C oxidase I (COI) gene fragment was studied in the present study. TheCOIgene sequences ofCx. quinquefasciatuswere also compared with four other species of GenusCulex(i.e.Cx. tritaeniorhynchus, Cx. fuscocephala, Cx. pipiens, andCx. theileri). Our data set included sequences of Culex mosquitoes from 16 different countries of world. The average intraspecific and interspecific divergences recorded were 0.67% and 8.27%, respectively. The clades for five species were clearly separated exceptCx. quinquefasciatusandCx. pipiens. It is concluded that the DNA barcoding is effective and reliable tool for the identification of selectedCulexspecies but create little problem in case of sister species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study was carried out to evaluate F1 single cross-maize hybrids in four crop growing seasons (2010–2012). Morphological traits and physiological parameters of twelve maize hybrids were evaluated (i) to construct seed yield equation and (ii) to determine grain yield attributing traits of well-performing maize genotype using a previously unexplored method of two-way hierarchical clustering. In seed yield predicting equation photosynthetic rate contributed the highest variation (46%). Principal component analysis data showed that investigated traits contributed up to 90.55% variation in dependent structure. From factor analysis, we found that factor 1 contributed 49.6% variation (P<0.05) with primary important traits (i.e., number of leaves per plant, plant height, stem diameter, fresh leaves weight, leaf area, stomata conductance, substomata CO2 absorption rate, and photosynthetic rate). The results of two-way hierarchical clustering demonstrated that Cluster III had outperforming genotype H12 (Sultan × Soneri) along with its most closely related traits (photosynthetic rate, stomata conductance, substomata CO2 absorption rate, chlorophyll contents, leaf area, and fresh stem weight). Our data shows that H12 (Sultan × Soneri) possessed the highest grain yield per plant under environmentally stress conditions, which are most likely to exist in arid and semiarid climatic conditions, such as in Pakistan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Unintentional childhood injuries are the leading cause of death and disability worldwide and its incidence is higher in low to middle income countries. Objectives: To determine the frequency of childhood unintentional injuries in pediatric units of two tertiary care hospitals. Study type, settings and duration: Prospective cross sectional study in pediatric surgical unit of Mayo Hospital, Lahore (01 July, 2012 to 30 September, 2012) and Children's Hospital, PIMS, Islamabad (01 October, 2012 to 31 December, 2012) July to December 2012. Patients and Methods: All children presenting with unintentional injuries to the pediatric surgical emergency of above two hospitals were included in study. Unintentional Injuries were (burns, RTAs, falls, piercing sharps etc.) are accidental injuries that occur without any planned intention of someone to harm children. Children who were previously treated for unintentional injuries, unexplained injuries, medico-legal cases were excluded from the study. An informed consent was taken (from the parents or care-givers) and the questionnaire was filled by the duty doctor through interview. The demographic data was taken. Age, Gender and maternal educational status were measured Frequency of all variables was measured and simple frequency was measured. The data was analyzed in SPSS 11 version. Results: A total of 600 patients (300 from each selected hospital) were included in the study. The predominant cause of unintentional injury was burn (37.2%) followed by fall (21.5%) and pedestrian hit (16.1%). Maximum unintentional injuries were noted in 6-10 years (45%) and minimum in 0-1 years (1%). Male children were affected more (62%) as compared to females. Maternal education was low or nil in 40% cases with majority (46.6%) belonging to poor socioeconomic group. Home was the most frequent place of injury (58.7%). Conclusion: This study showed that 37% of the unintentional injuries were due to burning and the most common place of injury was the home which may be reduced by creating awareness in public and especially by educating the mothers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we introduce the strongly prime, prime, semiprime, strongly irreducible and irreducible bi-ideals of semigroups. The space of strongly prime bi-ideals is topologized. We also characterize those semigroups for which each bi-ideal is strongly prime. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Burns in Pediatric population accounts for almost 77% of total burn cases in developing countries including Pakistan. Objectives: To calculate the frequency and causes of burns in pediatric population. Study type, settings and duration: Prospective cross sectional survey done in the emergency departments of pediatric units of Mayo Hospital Lahore and Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences, Islamabad over 6 months from July to December 2012. Subjects and Methods: All new cases of burns presenting to the emergency departments of these hospital were included in the study while those who were previously admitted with burns and were undergoing some reconstructive surgery or treated for complications were excluded. A questionnaire was completed by the duty doctor while interviewing the parents or care givers. The frequency of all variables was measured in percentage. Results: A total of 600 children were enrolled in the study. Their ages ranged from 0-12 years with 270(45%) constituting toddlers between the ages of 1-2 years. Gender showed female predominance in 372(62%) cases. Place of injury was home in 80% cases (480). Mothers were illiterate in 60% cases (370). Commonest causes of burns were scalds (43.6%), followed by flame burns (20.6%), electrical burns (15.3%), chemical burns (10.2%) and other causes (10.3%). Single multipurpose room of poor socioeconomic homes and maternal ignorance about burn prevention were common contributing factors. Conclusion: Burns were more in toddlers and in female gender. Creating awareness in mothers can reduce the injury manifold. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two experiments were conducted to develop an efficient maize regeneration system using mature and immature embryos of four maize elite lines (Agaiti-85, Golden, Soneri and Sultan). The comparative studies revealed that all maize lines were responsive to callus and plant regeneration from mature and immature embryos. The culture medium Chu's N6 was used in both experiments. Immature embryos efficiently produced callus and regenerated plants therefore, when cultured on medium supplemented with 2,4-D, kinetin, 6-BAP and IBA at concentrations of 2 mL L-1, 0.2, 0.2 and 0.3 g L-1, respectively. However, callus-to-plant regeneration system for mature embryos required these growth regulators at higher concentrations (5 mL L-1, 0.4 g L-1, 0.5 g L-1 and 0.6 g L-1, respectively). The regeneration frequencies ranged from 40 to 75% using immature embryos, compared to 55 to 80% from immature embryos of all elite lines of maize under study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Cancer is a genetic disease and mainly arises due to a number of reasons include activation of onco-genes, malfunction of tumor suppressor genes or mutagenesis due to external factors., Methods: This article was written from the data collected from PubMed, Nature, Science Direct, Springer and Elsevier groups of journals., Results: Oncogenes are deregulated form of normal proto-oncogenes required for cell division, differentiation and regulation. The conversion of proto-oncogene to oncogene is caused due to translocation, rearrangement of chromosomes or mutation in gene due to addition, deletion, duplication or viral infection. These oncogenes are targeted by drugs or RNAi system to prevent proliferation of cancerous cells. There have been developed different techniques of molecular biology used to diagnose and treat cancer, including retroviral therapy, silencing of oncogenes and mutations in tumor suppressor genes., Conclusion: Among all the techniques used, RNAi, zinc finger nucleases and CRISPR hold a brighter future towards creating a Cancer Free World., Competing Interests: Conflict of interests The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest.