Search

Objective: Hyperketonemia remains a major metabolic issue of serious milk production and a major health concern in early lactation cows. Oral supplementation of glucose precursors (GP) can be used to prevent hyperketonemia in dairy cows. The objective of this study was to compare the beneficial effects of orally supplementing a mixture of GP on metabolic health indicators and milk production status of primiparous (PP) and multiparous (MP) dairy cows.Methods: Twenty-eight Holstein cows were blocked by expected date of parturition, previous lactation yield, and parity. The cows were randomly allocated to one of the four treatment groups (n = 7 cows/group) based on their parity and GP supplementation: i) PP cows fed basal diet only (PP-CON), ii) PP cows with oral supplementation of GP (PP-GP), iii) MP cows fed basal diet only (MP-CON), and iv) MP cows with oral supplementation of GP (MP-GP). Glucose precursor (glycoline liquid) was orally drenched (300 mL/d) in GP cows from 7 days prepartum through 7 days postpartum. Other than GP supplementation, all cows were fed similar pre- and postpartum basal diets.Results: In both pre- and postpartum periods, serum glucose concentration was increased, whereas β-hydroxybutyrate and free fatty acids were decreased in GP cows compared with the CON cows. Milk yield and milk components were statistically not different between GP and CON cows over the first 9 week of lactation. The yield of actual milk, energy-corrected milk, 63-days cumulative milk, colostrum yield, and calf birth weight remained higher in MP cows compared with PP cows.Conclusion: Oral drenching of GP around calving can be recommended to successfully improve the metabolic health and reduce the negative effects of hyperketonemia not only in MP but also in PP dairy cows.

Objective: Although symptom-based screening has a positive role in identifying women at risk, it’s yet to be validated as screening tool. The present study aimed to validate the ovarian cancer symptom index in Pakistani population. Methods: From June 2019-December 2020, presenting symptoms were prospectively recorded in patients with ovarian cancer (n=70) and benign ovarian tumor (n=140) using Goff’s questionnaire. Results: Symptoms such as unable to eat normally, feeling full quickly, weight loss, increased abdomen size and postmenopausal bleeding were reported more frequently among the cancer group (p

Background: This study was conducted to compare the perioperative findings among women undergoing hysterectomy by abdominal (TAH), vaginal (VH) and laparoscopic (TLH) routes. Methods: A 5-year cross-sectional survey was conducted at the Aga Khan University Hospital from January 2015-December 2020 to compare perioperative outcomes of the different routes of hysterectomies. Medical record review of 385 patients who underwent hysterectomy for benign conditions were reviewed and analysed, out of which 195 (50.6%) underwent TAH, 96 (24.9%) VH and 94 (24.4%) were operated laparoscopically. Patients with uncontrolled medical comorbid, history of 2 or more abdominal surgeries and uterine size of more than 14 weeks were excluded from the study. Results: revealed significant difference between the mean hospital stay of patients with TAH having the highest mean stay in days (TAH=4.8±1.01, VH=4.4±0.7 and TLH=3.9±0.82 in days; p

In this paper, the examination of soliton solutions of the biofilm model with the help of a new extended direct algebraic method is expressed. Besides the exact solutions, the existence of these solutions is also discussed with the help of the Schauder fixed point theorem. The nonlinear dynamical biofilm model which we consider in this paper is basically the bistable Allen–Cahn equation with quartic potential. For more physical understanding, the 3D plots of the solutions are presented. The different types of hyperbolic, trigonometric, and rational soliton solutions are gained. In the biofilm model, different parameters belong to certain spaces and give the exact solutions by applying the technique of new extended direct algebraic method. Exact solutions of the biofilm model are highlighted along with their restriction.

To systematically review the literature and report the rate of return to sport (RTS) in athletes following periacetabular osteotomy (PAO) for symptomatic hip dysplasia.A literature search of the Pubmed, Embase, and Cochrane Library databases was performed using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines for clinical studies reporting on athletes undergoing PAO surgery for symptomatic hip dysplasia. A quality assessment was performed using the Methodological Index of Non-Randomized Studies (MINORS) grading system. Data collection included study characteristics, demographics, radiographic measurements, rate and timing of RTS, baseline and most recent patient-reported outcomes (PROs), and subsequent surgeries.Six studies met inclusion criteria with 341 patients undergoing PAO. There were two Level III and four Level IV studies, with an average MINORS score of 11. Preoperative and postoperative lateral center edge angles (LCEAs) ranged from 8° to 18° and 23° to 41.3°, respectively. One study reported solely on dancers with a 63% rate of RTS at one year postoperatively. Two other studies reported RTS of 80% and 82% for multiple sports, with slightly lower rates (73% and 78%) in competitive athletes. Three studies demonstrated a comparable distribution of sports participation, from the preoperative to postoperative period, in low (61.4% to 72.1% and 63.7% to 85.7%), moderate (10.3% to 21.0% and 4.3% to 25.4%), and high (8.5% to 17.6% and 5.1% to 10.8%) impact sports. Three studies reported time to RTS after PAO, ranging from 8.8 to 12.8 months. Of the three studies noting reasons for not returning to sport, concerns related to the operative hip ranged from 36.4% to 67%. Of the studies that reported both preoperative and postoperative PROs, improvements in all values were observed, with modified Harris Hip Scores and Hip Disability Osteoarthritis Outcome Scores at most recent follow-up ranging from 81 to 95 and 72 to 93, respectively.In athletes with symptomatic hip dysplasia undergoing PAO, postoperative participation in low, moderate, and high impact sports was observed, with greater than 70% RTS for competitive athletes. These findings suggest that PAO, with appropriate indications, is an efficacious treatment option in this active patient population with severe dysplasia.

Meniere’s disease, also called endolymphatic hydrops, is a disorder of the inner ear where the endolymphatic system is distended due to endolymph. It is characterized by vertigo, tinnitus, sensorineural hearing loss, and aural fullness. Meniere's disease's primary pathology disease is the distension of the endolymphatic system due to an increased volume of endolymph. This can result either from increased production of endolymph or its faulty absorption or both. The description of hypothyroidism as a disease is not directly found in Unani texts. However, in Unani medicine, the signs and symptoms of Meniere's disease such as Dawar (vertigo), Taneen (tinnitus), Hissi Asabi Bahrapan (sensorineural hearing loss), and Seqal-e-Uzn (aural fullness) were linked to clinical manifestation in the context of Su-e-Mizaj Barid Maddi (derangement in cold temperament) as a result of excessive production of endolymph. On the basis of this fact, an attempt has been understanding the illness and how Unani Medicine treats it is provided.

Resource disaggregation offers a cost effective solution to resource scaling, utilization, and failure-handling in data centers by physically separating hardware devices in a server. Servers are architected as pools of processor, memory, and storage devices, organized as independent failure-isolated components interconnected by a high-bandwidth network. A critical challenge, however, is the high performance penalty of accessing data from a remote memory module over the network. Addressing this challenge is difficult as disaggregated systems have high runtime variability in network latencies/bandwidth, and page migration can significantly delay critical path cache line accesses in other pages. This paper conducts a characterization analysis on different data movement strategies in fully disaggregated systems, evaluates their performance overheads in a variety of workloads, and introduces DaeMon, the first software-transparent mechanism to significantly alleviate data movement overheads in fully disaggregated systems. First, to enable scalability to multiple hardware components in the system, we enhance each compute and memory unit with specialized engines that transparently handle data migrations. Second, to achieve high performance and provide robustness across various network, architecture and application characteristics, we implement a synergistic approach of bandwidth partitioning, link compression, decoupled data movement of multiple granularities, and adaptive granularity selection in data movements. We evaluate DaeMon in a wide variety of workloads at different network and architecture configurations using a state-of-the-art simulator. DaeMon improves system performance and data access costs by 2.39× and 3.06×, respectively, over the widely-adopted approach of moving data at page granularity.

Background: Immunocompromised cancer patients stand high case fatality risk if encountered severe infection. This study aims to evaluate outcomes and complications of gynecological cancer surgeries performed during COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: A retrospective study conducted at Aga Khan University hospital, Pakistan. Patient’s medical records who underwent gynecologic cancer surgery or deferred between March-December 2020 were reviewed. Age, BMI, comorbid, COVID-19 status, clinical stage of disease and intraoperative data were collected. Post-operative complications per Clavien-Dindo classification i.e., Infection, thromboembolism, Urinary/bowel problems, and mortality within 30 days were noted. Statistical analysis performed using SPSS-19. Mean, SD ratios calculated for age and BMI. Frequency/percentages for priority levels and Categorical variables were equated using Chi square test. Results: Total 116 patients were included. Early-stage disease found in 64% patients. Surgical approach was laparotomy in 77.6%, including 48% complex surgeries. Prioritization based on BGCS framework, including 89% levels 2 and 11% level 3. PCR testing for all pre-operative patients initiated late in institute hence done in 77% however verbal screening performed in 90% patients. Two patients found COVID positive, so surgery delayed. Post operative complications of grade 1, grade 4a and grade 5 were observed in four patients. Twelve patients had clinical suspicion of COVID post operatively, 3 were found to be positive and one required ICU care. Conclusion: During pandemic, treatment provision posed challenge due to concern of infection to both patients and healthcare workers. However, with adequate preventive measures, cancer surgeries can be performed with low risk of severe complications and post-surgical COVID positivity. Keywords: COVID-19, Gynecology Oncology, Surgery, Guidelines

To determine if routine capsular closure following hip arthroscopy for FAI in non-dysplastic patients results in improved patient-reported outcomes (PROs) and increased survivorship rates.A literature search of the Pubmed, Embase, and Cochrane Library databases was performed using the PRISMA guidelines for clinical studies reporting PROs following arthroscopic hip labral repair for FAI. A quality assessment was performed using the MINORS grading system. Inclusion criteria consisted of comparative clinical studies investigating routine capsular closure to non-closure in patients undergoing hip arthroscopy for the treatment of FAI and labral tears. Exclusion criteria included non-English language, minimum follow-up of less than 2 years after surgery, technique articles, case reports, non-comparative case series of fewer than 10 patients, failure to report surgical technique, absence of postoperative PROs, or partial repair. Data collection included study characteristics, demographics, indications, radiographic metrics, perioperative findings, surgical technique, baseline and most recent PROs, and subsequent surgeries.A total of 531 articles were reviewed, of which 3 were included with 249 hips which underwent capsular repair and 157 hips which underwent capsulotomy with no repair. There were two level III studies and one level II study, with an average MINORS score of 16.7. All studies cited femoroacetabular impingement and labral tear as an indication for surgery. All studies demonstrated improved PROs from baseline to most recent follow-up. Postoperatively, the repair group reported mHHS values ranging from 80.8 to 87, while the non-repair group reported scores ranging from 76 to 81.7. Additionally, the repair group reported postoperative HOS-SSS values ranging from 68.1 to 9, while the non-repair group reported scores ranging from 65.3 to 76.1. The studies also reported MCID for mHHS, with the repair group reporting percentages ranging from 71 to 100 and the no repair group reporting percentages ranging from 52 to 95.6. All three studies also observed a lower rate of hip survivorship in the non-repair group, rangingfrom 94.6 to 100 the repair group and 90.8 to 100 in the non-repair group. There were no significant differences in the rate of revision arthroscopy between groups.Non-dysplastic patients who undergo capsular repair have greater improvements in PROs and higher survivorship rates at early- and mid-term follow-up than patients who do not undergo capsular repair.Level III, systematic review of level II and III studies.

India, as the world’s fastest emerging economy, is no exception to the international problem associated with functional illiteracy. Millions of consumers penetrate the marketplace with inadequate literacy skills which makes them make ineffective decisions that may endanger an opportunity to optimize their already inadequate financial resources. This study provides marketers with valuable information and insights about the characteristics of Indian consumers in terms of their perceptions and purchase behaviour. The study was exploratory and descriptive in nature. A screening test was conducted to first qualify the respondents for the study and then a survey-based questionnaire was used for data collection. Women respondents were chosen, and Judgment sampling was used to recruit willing respondents that met the selection criteria. The study confirms the previous studies that functionally illiterate consumers earn a low income. Price was identified as the most influential factor during the purchase of food products for functionally illiterate women. The results are consistent with the findings of Viswanathan who suggested that low literate or illiterate consumers do not tradeoff between groups of product characteristics. The study benefits retailers as they seek to understand consumers’ problems and demands as well as improve facilities provided in their stores to assist functionally illiterate consumers. The study is significantly beneficial for policymakers as they could frame policies that will emphasize visual product depiction so that functionally illiterate consumers can make informed decisions. The study also benefits food product manufacturers as they could develop the products keeping in consideration the functional illiteracy of consumers. Appreciating that illiterate consumers are not equipped with adequate knowledge related to structure and function and they spend the money they earned with a danger of being browbeaten, the findings of this study can be effective in helping such customers make well-informed purchasing decisions to make optimal use of their hard-earned income.

NH4Cl doped with PEDOT: PSS is pprepared with facile and efficient approach demonstrates a superior photovoltaic performance in inverted perovskite solar cells due to enhanced conductivity and light-harvesting ability.

Decompression sickness (DCS) occurs when divers are exposed to reduced barometric pressure during their ascent from depth. We report a case of DCS causing severe acute kidney injury (AKI) after an uneventful dive in which all decompression stops were made as instructed by a dive computer. A 26-year-old man presented with abdominal and bilateral flank pain ~ 24 hours after scuba diving to a depth of 23 m. Vitals and physical exam were unremarkable. Lab results revealed elevated serum creatinine at 2.3 mg/dL from a normal baseline and elevated blood urea nitrogen at 23 mg/dL. The patient was non-oliguric. Other biochemical parameters were unremarkable. Dipstick urinalysis showed presence of blood and 100 mg/dL proteinuria. Urine microscopy revealed hyaline casts and red blood cells ~ 16 - 30/HPF but no acanthocytes. Urine protein-to-creatinine ratio was 340 mg/g. Renal ultrasound showed normal sized kidneys with increased cortical echogenicity, and computed tomography of the abdomen/pelvis showed bilateral striated nephrogram with delayed excretion, both radiographic signs of acute tubular necrosis. The patient received isotonic IV fluids and 5 sessions of hyperbaric oxygen therapy. Symptomatic improvement was observed by day 3 of hospitalization with full recovery of kidney function after discharge. Due to a wide range of associated symptomology, a thorough and prompt evaluation is warranted in suspected cases of DCS, particularly if presentation is more than 24 hours following ascent.

Areca (Areca catechu Linn.) nut is the fourth most widely used psychoactive drug in the world, and it has been associated with serious health problems. Chewing areca nut, commonly termed as betel nut, is popular in Asia and the South Pacific, but it has been associated with several health issues, such as oral cancer. All over the world, it has been used as a masticatory drug, most commonly in South-East Asia, the south pacific, and the tropical and sub-tropical regions. Areca nut active substance arecoline is widely and commonly used addictive drug globally, after caffeine, nicotine, and alcohol. Areca nut used in pregnancy has been associated with several birth defects and infants mortality. A systematic review of studies is carried out to investigate prenatal betel nut use and adverse perinatal outcomes. The review suggested that consumption of Areca nut hurts fetus and maternal health. There was a significant association between low birthweight and betel nut exposure in pregnancy. It is recommended that all pregnant women receive enough information and counseling on the potential negative health effects of betel nut products during their prenatal, antenatal, and postnatal periods.

Drawing on the Deleuzian theory of de-territorialization of the subject from the center of power, this article picks up the controversy regarding Gao Xingjian’s misogyny with reference to his second novel One Man’s Bible and presents an alternative perspective on his gender treatment. With the help of textual analysis, it contends that far from being anti-feminist as is generally assumed in critical circles, Gao is gender neutral, and allows the same subjective agency to woman as man. Both male and female protagonists in the novel tend to hegemonize each other on the basis of their location in the geo-political or socio-cultural scale of power until each dislocates from his/her power base to undergo a qualitative transformation that changes their world view. It is their minority position which helps them surmount their tendency to hegemonize or minoritize the other and thus to become “minortarian.”

The lack of a standardized sign language, and the inability to communicate with the hearing community through sign language, are the two major issues confronting Pakistan's deaf and dumb society. In this research, we have proposed an approach to help eradicate one of the issues. Now, using the proposed framework, the deaf community can communicate with normal people. The purpose of this work is to reduce the struggles of hearingimpaired people in Pakistan. A Kinect-based Pakistan sign language (PSL) to Urdu language translator is being developed to accomplish this. The system’s dynamic sign language segment works in three phases: acquiring key points from the dataset, training a long short-term memory (LSTM) model, and making real-time predictions using sequences through openCV integrated with the Kinect device. The system’s static sign language segment works in three phases: acquiring an image-based dataset, training a model garden, and making real-time predictions using openCV integrated with the Kinect device. It also allows the hearing user to input Urdu audio to the Kinect microphone. The proposed sign language translator can detect and predict the PSL performed in front of the Kinect device and produce translations in Urdu.

Mentha piperita (Mint) is a well-known herb belong to family Lamiaceae. Mint is famous as “herb of hospitality” in Greek mythology. It is used worldwide for culinary purposes. Mentha piperita has many therapeutic effects and used in different ailments. It is used extensively in gastric problems. It consists many bioactive compounds which showed different pharmacological effects. It is also an aromatic herb and also fame for its fragrance. Essential oils have strong aroma and a complex composition. They are natural and volatile secondary metabolites. It is used in drinks, teas, jellies, toffees, syrups, and in ice-creams. Mint leaves possess a deep, fresh, and aromatic flavor with a cool smack.

Ectopic pregnancy (EP) is a potentially life-threatening condition, leads to increased maternal mortality and morbidity till date. About 2% of all pregnancies are Ectopic one and recurrence rate is as high as 1 in every 10 pregnancies. Here we present a case who had a history of 2 Ectopic pregnancies – 1st one treated surgically and 2nd one by medical method. Unfortunately, 3rd pregnancy was also an Ectopic one and needed surgical management. Thus, her natural reproductive ability went down and had to go for In vitro fertilization (IVF) pregnancy and successfully got twin baby (Girl, on March,2020). Northern International Medical College Journal Vol. 12 No.1 July 2020, Page 511-514

There are various strategies used for treating ST-segment elevated myocardial infarction (STEMI). Among those approaches, Primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PPCI) is the current treatment of choice for STEMI as it reperfuses the ischaemic cardiac tissue with fewer reported adverse events and a better survival rate. Although thrombolytic therapy is still used for STEMI in approximation, the benefits of PPCI outweigh thrombolytic therapy as thrombolytic therapy is associated with higher bleeding events and higher morbidity. The barriers in implementing a PPCI program and regional differences arise due to limited technologies, lack of proper training of first responders, lack of public awareness, and transport facilities and finances. Therefore, treatment varies between different regions of countries and even between different countries, including Pakistan. PPCI should be used in a timely manner as delayed use of this intervention can significantly reduce the benefits. We lack a coordinated approach to the delivery of this system in Pakistan; mainly, the paramedical staff is not fully familiarised and trained for making a definite diagnosis and lacks referral portals. We need a comprehensive approach and program to identify factors that cause a delay in providing PPCI to STEMI patients and to eliminate the factors responsible for the delay. This will help in improving the survival rate morbidity in STEMI patients.

Plants are the source of numerous pharmaceutically important compounds that have been employed to cure various human ailments since ancient times. With the assistance of modern chemistry and materials science, such pharmaceutically important compounds have been identified and isolated to produce new drugs. Alkaloids are one of the most significant classes of naturally occurring secondary-metabolites, which are synthesized and widely distributed in various parts of plants. They regulate various metabolic activities and induce physiological responses in the human body. Capsaicin is a naturally occurring alkaloid found in many species of peppers and is attributed to their spicy nature and pungent flavor. This alkaloid is a member of the Capsaicinoids group, which includes capsaicin, homocapsaicin, homodihydrocapsaicin, dihydrocapsaicin, and nordihydrocapsaicin. Capsaicin has a wide range of therapeutic potential against various human ailments. In this article, we provide a comprehensive overview of the capsaicin molecule as well as an examination of its medicinal properties in a variety of human disorders, including pain, various types of cancer, ulcers, diabetes, obesity, inflammation, cardiovascular diseases, and neurodegenerative diseases.

Background: Colostomy reversal after definitive procedure in patients of Imperforate Anus (for example; PSARP) can be difficult and challenging for surgeon due to proximal and distal gut lumen discrepancy, short length of distal loop, difficult mobilization of stoma. These factors affect the anastomosis and anastomosis is done under tension due to these factors. Colostomies which are reversed under tension mostly results in anastomosis leakage and increases the morbidity and mortality rate. The objective of this study to assess postoperative outcome in terms of complications following colostomy closure in patients with imperforate anus. Material and Methods: This is a prospective study done at the Department of Pediatric Surgery, National Institute of Child Health Karachi during the period of 6months from December 2016 to June 2017. A Self- structured performa was used to collect the data of total 84 Patients who Underwent Colostomy Reversal after definitive procedure for imperforate anus . Data analyzed through SPSS version 20. A descriptive statistical analysis of continous and categorical variables were performed. Continuous data (like age) expressed as mean SD. The categorical data like gender, wound infections , anastomosis leakage expressed in frequency and percentages. Results: Out of total 84 children, majority 51 (60.7%) children were presented with ≤4 years of age (Mean age 4.15±3.12 years). Majority 55 (65.5%) children were presented with >8 kg of weight (Mean weight 13.31±6.00 kg). There were 41 (48.8%) males and 43 (51.2%) females. Intra-operative difficulty was found in 55 (65.5%) children. Postoperative complication showed that wound infections were observed in 10 (11.9%) children while frequency of anastomotic leakage was found in 12 (14.3%) children. Conclusion: Anastomotic leakage was found to be higher following colostomy closure in children with intra-operative difficulty due to proximal and distal gut lumen discrepancy, short length of distal loop and dense adhesions making difficult the mobilization of stoma. Keywords: Postoperative outcome, Complications, Colostomy closure, Imperforate anus

The research analyzes the mediational impact of creative self-efficacy through which Ecopreneurship impacts the behaviors of employees at work. The discretion behind the research is founded on using Bandura's social learning theory and a mediation model is presented to show the innovative effects of Ecopreneurship on employees’ Innovative Work Behavior (IWB) through the mediation of creative self-efficacy (CSE). The present research focuses on Innovation by developing a model that seeks to investigate the association among Ecopreneurship and Innovation Work Behavior in industrial SMEs of Pakistan for promoting the economic strength of the country. A framework has been developed comprising Creative Self-Efficacy as input. It is believed that unless SMEs emphasize Innovative Work Behavior, it is difficult to compete efficiently and gain higher economic returns. The nature of SME organizations is very dynamic, thus, particularly need to be innovative & creative to lead, nurture and compete in the industry. A questionnaire method has been used to collect the data; the unit of analysis is permanent workers from the industrial setups of SMEs in Pakistan. SPSS and AMOS have been used to analyze the data. The outcomes of the results show that Ecopreneurship stimuli Innovative Work Behavior via the mediation of CSE.

Globalization has substantial influence on the environmental issues and consequently on the economic activities of a country. Environmental problems are more prominent in developing countries. With the growing development, the issue of environmental degradation is also enhanced. The non-renewable energy consumption is the main cause of environmental degradation and this problem can’t be ignored. Therefore, the main objective of this research is to analyze the connection among energy consumption, growth of an economy, and emission of carbon dioxide gas in Pakistan. The data is collected from World development Indicators. Autoregressive Distributed-Lag Model (ARDL) is used for the analysis. The outcomes of ARDL technique stipulate that energy consumption and growth of an economy rise the emission of CO2 in Pakistan. On the basis of these results, it is suggested that policy makers in Pakistan must implement and encourage different sources of energy, which are renewable and will support to fulfill the huge demand of energy to boost the economy and to contribute in a sustainable environment of Pakistan.

China, being the world's largest exporter, has now certain environmental commitments such as to achieve carbon neutrality before 2060. These commitments of China has raised a reasonable concern regarding the expected reduction in the production and export of pollution intensive goods in the future. Besides China, the most efficient countries in the region to produce these goods are most of the member countries from ASEAN. The current study therefore aims to analyze if in the future, China reduces the production and export of these goods, whether the selected ASEAN countries can be the next choice for the export of pollution intensive goods. Based on the data availability for the period 1990-2019, this study considers five selected ASEAN countries (ASEAN-5). The results are based on the Auto Regressive Distributive Lag (ARDL) bound testing approach to cointegration and Error Correction Modeling (ECM). The aggregate analysis of five pollution intensive goods (pulp and paper (341), industrial chemicals (351), non-metallic minerals products (369), iron and steel (371) and non-ferrous metals (372)) suggests that Foreign direct investment (FDI) inflow can significantly increase the export of pollution intensive goods only in case of Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand. However, there is no significant effect of FDI on the export of pollution intensive goods in case of Philippines and Singapore. The disaggregate analyses of the five pollution intensive goods suggest that in each of the ASEAN-5 countries, FDI inflow can significantly increase the export of pollution intensive goods in some of these industries rather than in all of them. In nutshell, it is concluded that ASEAN-5 countries can be a potential choice for the export of pollution intensive goods in some of the pollution intensive industries but not in all of them.

Engineering hierarchical nanostructures with enhanced charge storage capacity and electrochemical activity are vital for the advancement of energy devices. Herein, a highly ordered mesoporous three-dimensional (3D) nano-assembly of Nickel Cobalt Sulphide/Polyaniline @Polyoxometalate/Reduced Graphene Oxide (NiCo

Poliomyelitis, commonly known as “polio” is a paralytic and perilous disease caused by the poliovirus. Due to its highly contagious nature, the virus was a challenge to the world in the late 1980s. . Since 1988 the collective work of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI), Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and World Health Organization (WHO) through immunizations, communication awareness, and monitoring have helped the world exonerate polio. The mission of polio-free Pakistan was herculean and had confronted enormous challenges in different ways but came out with positive results. In 2019, with only two remaining polio-endemic countries, Pakistan and Afghanistan, GPEI launched an “Endgame strategy 2019-2023” which aims to eradicate polio globally, with a targeted focus, especially on polio-endemic countries, the plan emphasizes the early detection of polio cases for complete eradication and to restrict the spread of polio. Pakistan has achieved a milestone in combating polio despite having a web of factors that have thwarted Pakistan’s polio eradication efforts, but this is not the end, the struggle continues until we really get an internationally verified certification of Polio free nation, for this WHO has designed a multidisciplinary strategy 2022-2026 to really end this polio for once and for all.

Background Cervical cancer is a major cause of cancer-related deaths among women worldwide. Paucity of data on cervical cancer burden in countries like Pakistan hamper requisite resource allocation. Objective To estimate the burden of cervical cancer in Pakistan using available data sources. Methods We performed a systematic review to identify relevant data on Pakistan between 1995 to 2022. Study data identified through the systematic review that provided enough information to allow age specific incidence rates and age standardized incidence rates (ASIR) calculations for cervical cancer were merged. Population at risk estimates were derived and adjusted for important variables in the care-seeking pathway. The calculated ASIRs were applied to 2020 population estimates to estimate the number of cervical cancer cases in Pakistan. Results A total of 13 studies reported ASIRs for cervical cancer for Pakistan. Among the studies selected, the Karachi Cancer Registry reported the highest disease burden estimates for all reported time periods: 1995–1997 ASIR = 6.81, 1998–2002 ASIR = 7.47, and 2017–2019 ASIR = 6.02 per 100,000 women. Using data from Karachi, Punjab and Pakistan Atomic Energy Cancer Registries from 2015–2019, we derived an unadjusted ASIR for cervical cancer of 4.16 per 100,000 women (95% UI 3.28, 5.28). Varying model assumptions produced adjusted ASIRs ranging from 5.2 to 8.4 per 100,000 women. We derived an adjusted ASIR of 7.60, (95% UI 5.98, 10.01) and estimated 6166 (95% UI 4833, 8305) new cases of cervical cancer per year. Conclusion The estimated cervical cancer burden in Pakistan is higher than the WHO target. Estimates are sensitive to health seeking behavior, and appropriate physician diagnostic intervention, factors that are relevant to the case of cervical cancer, a stigmatized disease in a low-lower middle income country setting. These estimates make the case for approaching cervical cancer elimination through a multi-pronged strategy.

IntroductionThe current study was carried out with the hypothesis that foliar application of plant-derived smoke water (PDSW) and karrikinolide (KAR1) might enhanced the plant growth, physiology, and essential oil production of the Mentha arvensis L. Karrikinolide (KAR1) is one of the most important bioactive constituents of PDSW. MethodsMint (Mentha arvensis L.) was grown in natural conditions in the net-house. Different concentrations of PDSW (1:125, 1:250, 1:500 and 1:1000 v/v) and KAR1 (10-9 M, 10-8 M, 10-7 M and 10-6 M) were used as foliar-spray treatments, using double-distilled water as control. The PDSW was prepared by burning the dried wheat-straw that acted as a growth-promoting substance.ResultsFoliar-spray treatment 1:500 v/v of PDSW and 10-8 M of KAR1 proved optimal for enhancing all morphological, physiological, and essential-oil yield related parameters. In comparison with the control, 1:500 v/v of PDSW and 10-8 M of KAR1 increased significantly (p ≤ 0.05) the height of mint plant (19.23% and 16.47%), fresh weight (19.30% and 17.44%), dry weight (35.36% and 24.75%), leaf area (18.22% and 17.46%), and leaf yield per plant (28.41% and 23.74%). In addition, these treatments also significantly increased the photosynthetic parameters, including chlorophyll fluorescence (12.10% and 11.41%), total chlorophyll content (25.70% and 20.77%), and total carotenoid content (29.77% and 27.18%). Likewise, 1:500 v/v of PDSW and 10-8 M of KAR1 significantly increased the essential-oil content (37.09% and 32.25%), essential oil productivity per plant (72.22% and 66.66%), menthol content (29.94% and 25.42%), menthyl acetate content (36.90% and 31.73%), and menthone content (44.38% and 37.75%). Furthermore, the TIC chromatogram of the GCMS analysis revealed the presence of 34 compounds, 12 of which showed major peak areas. DiscussionTreatment 1: 500 v/v of PDSW proved better than the treatment 10-8 M of KAR1 with regard to most of the parameters studied. The outcome of the study can be used as a recommendation tool for agricultural and horticultural crops, since it costs much lesser than that of KAR1. In fact, the foliar application of PDSW proved economical and played bioactive role at very low concentrations.

Smart contracts in Ethereum blockchain network are self-executable scripts used for managing tokenized assets and access rights between different entities on the blockchain network. They are significant addition to blockchain technology for achieving data transparency and reliability in maintaining the digital relationship between two or more entities. However, the smart contract is in its nascent stage and suffers from various limitations, including immutability and code secrecy. In this paper, we address the inability of smart contracts to access the on-chain data. The smart contract currently fetches the on-chain data by taking external oracle assistance, which can be compromised to influence the customers. To address the issue, we propose a decentralized mechanism for accessing the blockchain data directly from the smart contracts by indexing single or multiple parameters of a transaction in each block using the Merkle-Patricia Trie (MPT). The idea is to increase the data transparency of blockchain applications. The paper provides a sequential search methodology that can retrieve transactions from N blocks, satisfying specific conditions, in O(N). The complexity is further reduced to O(N/k) by partitioning the blockchain data into k disjoint subsets to achieve parallelism in the search procedure. We experimentally verify the effectiveness of the proposed methodology with a case study on the Ethereum blockchain data.

Purpose The world is shifting towards the fourth industrial revolution (Industry 4.0), symbolising the move to digital, fully automated habitats and cyber-physical systems. Industry 4.0 consists of innovative ideas and techniques in almost all sectors, including Smart health care, which recommends technologies and mechanisms for early prediction of life-threatening diseases. Cardiovascular disease (CVD), which includes stroke, is one of the world’s leading causes of sickness and deaths. As per the American Heart Association, CVDs are a leading cause of death globally, and it is believed that COVID-19 also influenced the health of cardiovascular and the number of patients increases as a result. Early detection of such diseases is one of the solutions for a lower mortality rate. In this work, early prediction models for CVDs are developed with the help of machine learning (ML), a form of artificial intelligence that allows computers to learn and improve on their own without requiring to be explicitly programmed. Design/methodology/approach The proposed CVD prediction models are implemented with the help of ML techniques, namely, decision tree, random forest, k-nearest neighbours, support vector machine, logistic regression, AdaBoost and gradient boosting. To mitigate the effect of over-fitting and under-fitting problems, hyperparameter optimisation techniques are used to develop efficient disease prediction models. Furthermore, the ensemble technique using soft voting is also used to gain more insight into the data set and accurate prediction models. Findings The models were developed to help the health-care providers with the early diagnosis and prediction of heart disease patients, reducing the risk of developing severe diseases. The created heart disease risk evaluation model is built on the Jupyter Notebook Web application, and its performance is calculated using unbiased indicators such as true positive rate, true negative rate, accuracy, precision, misclassification rate, area under the ROC curve and cross-validation approach. The results revealed that the ensemble heart disease model outperforms the other proposed and implemented models. Originality/value The proposed and developed CVD prediction models aims at predicting CVDs at an early stage, thereby taking prevention and precautionary measures at a very early stage of the disease to abate the predictive maintenance as recommended in Industry 4.0. Prediction models are developed on algorithms’ default values, hyperparameter optimisations and ensemble techniques.