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One of the main issues confronting humanity in the twenty-first century is the lack of potable water availability. Around half of the world's consumers face drinking water scarcity. Industrially rich areas have a high population and high-water contamination risk factors. Modern technologies that are quite effective for water purification, present economical limitations that impede their usefulness in developing countries. Conventional methods involving low energy, low chemical demand, and prevention of water-borne disease are therefore significant for water purification in developing countries like Pakistan. These limitations have led to improvising the conventional method for facile water purification. Herein we report the water purification assembly based on allow sand filtration; involving the raw materials grass, clay, sand, silt, pebbles, gravel and coal/fly ash carbon to obtain clean and quality-controlled water treatment. Ground water samples collected from various areas of Sargodha city were subjected to the developed design Hybrid Multi-Layer Slow Sand Filter (HMLSSF). Based on pre- and post-treatment water analysis, it was determined that the filtration assembly was quite effective at reducing pH, turbidity, dissolved and suspended solids, hardness, and heavy metals percent removal by 87%, 77.7%, 91.3%, 95.4%, 84.4%, and to promising levels, respectively. Moreover, 99 % biological contamination such as total coliform was also removed by this method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is the third leading cause of death, causes pulmonary and extra-pulmonary symptoms, and also impacts the quality of life. Rigorous evidence on manual and mechanical chest physiotherapy is still scarce. Therefore, this review aims to evaluate the effects of different exercise therapies on obstruction, dyspnea, and quality of life in COPD patients. Materials and Methods: We performed a systematic review of randomized controlled trials published from 2011 to 2020 to evaluate the effects of exercise therapies on obstruction, dyspnea, and quality of life in obstructive patients. Databases such as Medline, BioMed Central, CINHAL, and Cochrane were reviewed. Methodological quality and risk of bias were assessed using the Cochrane tool. Results: Most of the trials supported the effectiveness of mechanical chest physiotherapy in improving obstruction, dyspnea, and quality of life. Conclusion: High-to-moderate evidence shows that mechanical chest physiotherapy is useful in the improvement of obstruction, dyspnea, and quality of life in COPD patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Stroke is one of the leading causes of death worldwide. Despite the glowing advancement of Virtual Reality Therapy (VRT), clear evidence about its effectiveness in stroke is still scarce. Hence it is essential to review the current information to provide up-to-date insight. Therefore the aim of this review is to evaluate the effects of VRT on the balance and Health-related Quality of Life (HRQoL) in patients with stroke. Data Sources: A literature search was done in Google Scholar, PEDro, Cochrane Library, Medline, Web of Science, and PubMed databases. Eligibility Criteria: We performed a systematic review of randomized controlled trials published from June 2014 to January 2020, evaluating the effects of VRT on the balance and/ or HRQoL in stroke. Fourteen eligible trials were analyzed, of which, 7 studies focused on balance and 7 on HRQoL. Quality Appraisal: Methodological quality and risk of bias were assessed using the Cochrane tool. Results: Most of the trials supported the effectiveness of VRT in improving balance and HRQoL. However, few trials reported similar improvements in HRQoL using VRT via Nintendo WiiTM games and conventional physiotherapy. Conclusions: High to moderate evidence supports the effectiveness of VRT use in improving balance and HRQoL in stroke survivors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To investigate the level of self-efficacy and disability in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and to examine the relationship of patient self-efficacy and disability with age and disease duration. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted at the department of rheumatology in JPMC, Karachi from June to November 2017. Patients who had RA as main disease, age above fifteen years, disease duration of three months or above and cognitively able to answer the questionnaires were consecutively included. Self-efficacy was measured by Arthritis Self- Efficacy Scale (ASES) and disability assessed by Health Assessment Questionnaire. The relationship between ASES and disability, age and disease duration were examined using Spearman's rho test. Statistical analysis was undertaken using SPSS for Windows, version 22. Results: Of 100 RA patients, 32% had average self-efficacy. Whereas moderate to severe disability existed in 59% of the patients. A spearman's correlation showed that arthritis self-efficacy was strongly correlated with disability (r= -0.751, p= <.0001), moderately with disease duration (r= -0.359, p= <0.0001) and weakly with age (r= -0.284, p= 0.004) whereas disability had direct moderate correlation with age and disease duration (r= 0.396, p= <0.0001 and r= 0.423, p= <0.0001, respectively). Conclusion: This cross-sectional survey concluded that average self-efficacy and moderate to severe disability exist in RA patients. Enhancing the patient's self-efficacy should be an essential part of a total treatment program of RA so that disability, treatment cost and visits to health care system could be reduced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To assess the knowledge, attitude and practice regarding the oral health in our community. It was a cross sectional study from January 2018 to June 2018, in Nishtar Institute of dentistry Multan Material and methods: A total number of 378 patients were enrolled in this study. A questionnaire was developed to gather the information required for the determination of knowledge, attitudes and behavior of the patient towards oral health. The questionnaire comprised of thirty three questions regarding different aspects of oral health care. It involved questions regarding demographic information, knowledge, attitudes and behavior of the patients. Results: Regarding oral care, n=213 (56.3%) used tooth paste, n=260 (68.8%) patients brush once a day, n=178 (47.1%) used vertical technique for brushing. n=138 (36.5%) changed their brush every six months while n=60 (15.9%) changed their brush after one year. n=189 (50%) patients brush their teeth in morning, n=166 (43.9%) brush their teeth for cleaning purpose. n=144 (38.1%) visited to dentist when they felt pain. n=170 (45%) ignore, n=98 (25.9%) go to the dentist and n=110 (29.1%) use home remedies when they felt dental decay. n=239 (63.2%) patients' family members brush their teeth regularly. Self-medication was observed as n=269 (71.2%). Conclusion: Although majority of the patients had good knowledge about health care but it was not associated with better attitudes, behavior and practicing of healthy habits. It can be suggested that poor socioeconomic conditions of majority of the public and lack of motivation for oral hygiene are the cause of poor behavior, attitude and practicing of dental care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, desaturase from novel strain of micro algae was isolated and purified. Three step purification procedure i.e., ammonium sulphate precipitation, dialysis and gel filtration chromatography yielded 11 % activity with a purification factor of 2.39. The final enzyme preparation was homogeneous as judged by SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis having a single polypeptide of 15kDa with 18.033% oil contents. The catalysis of stearoyl-CoA by desaturase was expressed by the Michaelis-Menten equation, exhibiting maximum activity at 37° C, 7.0 pH and retained its activity for 24h within 5-8 pH range. It was observed that maximum velocity (Vmax) was 13.91 U/mL and Michaelis constant was 0.6 μM revealing a binding site with higher substrate affinity. Furthermore, the present findings will reveal new vistas in the exploitation of Chlorella vulgaris for marvellous desaturase because to our knowledge it is first report for the isolation and characterization of desaturase from micro-algae Chlorella vulgaris. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Alcalase was scarcely immobilized on monoaminoethyl‐N‐aminoethyl (MANAE)‐agarose beads at different pH values (<20% at pH 7). The enzyme did not immobilize on MANAE‐agarose activated with glutaraldehyde at high ionic strength, suggesting a low reactivity of the enzyme with the support functionalized in this manner. However, the immobilization is relatively rapid when using low ionic strength and glutaraldehyde activated support. Using these conditions, the enzyme was immobilized at pH 5, 7, and 9, and in all cases, the activity vs. Boc‐Ala‐ONp decreased to around 50%. However, the activity vs. casein greatly depends on the immobilization pH, while at pH 5 it is also 50%, at pH 7 it is around 200%, and at pH 9 it is around 140%. All immobilized enzymes were significantly stabilized compared to the free enzyme when inactivated at pH 5, 7, or 9. The highest stability was always observed when the enzyme was immobilized at pH 9, and the worst stability occurred when the enzyme was immobilized at pH 5, in agreement with the reactivity of the amino groups of the enzyme. Stabilization was lower for the three preparations when the inactivation was performed at pH 5. Thus, this is a practical example on how the cooperative effect of ion exchange and covalent immobilization may be used to immobilize an enzyme when only one independent cause of immobilization is unable to immobilize the enzyme, while adjusting the immobilization pH leads to very different properties of the final immobilized enzyme preparation. © 2018 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Biotechnol. Prog., 35: e2768, 2019. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Alcalase was immobilized on glyoxyl 4% CL agarose beads. This permitted to have Alcalase preparations with 50% activity retention versus Boc-l-alanine 4-nitrophenyl ester. However, the recovered activity versus casein was under 20% at 50 °C, as it may be expected from the most likely area of the protein involved in the immobilization. The situation was different at 60 °C, where the activities of immobilized and free enzyme became similar. The chemical amination of the immobilized enzyme or the treatment of the enzyme with glutaraldehyde did not produce any significant stabilization (a factor of 2) with high costs in terms of activity. However, the modification with glutaraldehyde of the previously aminated enzyme permitted to give a jump in Alcalase stability (e.g., with most than 80% of enzyme activity retention for the modified enzyme and less than 30% for the just immobilized enzyme in stress inactivation at pH 7 or 9). This preparation could be used in the hydrolysis of casein at pH 9 even at 67 °C, retaining around 50% of the activity after 5 hydrolytic cycles when the just immobilized preparation was almost inactive after 3 cycles. The modified enzyme can be reused in hydrolysis of casein at 45 °C and pH 9 for 6 cycles (6 h) without any decrease in enzyme activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, innovative technologies have gained prominence in stroke patient rehabilitation worldwide, with virtual reality-based mirror therapy (VRBMT) emerging as a notable example. Hence, the present study aims to determine the efficacy of VRBMT on upper extremity motor function, manual performance, and gross manual dexterity among stroke patients. The systematic search utilized Population, Intervention, Comparison, Outcome, and Design (PICOD) paradigm, and the study searched was based on 2012-2023, utilizing different databases. The meta-analysis data was evaluated using MedCalc version 18.11.3. The Pooled effect size mean was statistically examined using a fixed and random effect model. Among the 6 studies selected, 4 studies involving upper-limb stroke patients were identified between the VRBMT. Pooled analysis of VRBMT revealed no significant effect on motor function [standardized mean difference (SMD) 0.815; 95% CI 0.00 to 81.37; P = 0.5562]. The remaining 2 of 6 studies participated in the study of the manual performance stroke patients (SMD 0.869; 95% CI 0.00 to 93.22; P = 0.0684). The pooled analysis of VRBMT revealed no significant effect. The last 2 of 6 included studies on gross manual dexterity in stroke. The pooled analysis also showed no significant effects on VRBMT (SMD 0.198; 95% CI 0.00 to 0.00; P = 0.6951). The present study concluded although VRBMT exhibits potential as a novel method for stroke rehabilitation, its effects on gross manual dexterity, manual performance, and upper extremity motor function are not statistically significant may be due to a limited number of studies on VRBMT in stroke patients.

Alcalase was scarcely immobilized on monoaminoethyl-N-aminoethyl (MANAE)-agarose beads at different pH values (<20% at pH 7). The enzyme did not immobilize on MANAE-agarose activated with glutaraldehyde at high ionic strength, suggesting a low reactivity of the enzyme with the support functionalized in this manner. However, the immobilization is relatively rapid when using low ionic strength and glutaraldehyde activated support. Using these conditions, the enzyme was immobilized at pH 5, 7, and 9, and in all cases, the activity vs. Boc-Ala-ONp decreased to around 50%. However, the activity vs. casein greatly depends on the immobilization pH, while at pH 5 it is also 50%, at pH 7 it is around 200%, and at pH 9 it is around 140%. All immobilized enzymes were significantly stabilized compared to the free enzyme when inactivated at pH 5, 7, or 9. The highest stability was always observed when the enzyme was immobilized at pH 9, and the worst stability occurred when the enzyme was immobilized at pH 5, in agreement with the reactivity of the amino groups of the enzyme. Stabilization was lower for the three preparations when the inactivation was performed at pH 5. Thus, this is a practical example on how the cooperative effect of ion exchange and covalent immobilization may be used to immobilize an enzyme when only one independent cause of immobilization is unable to immobilize the enzyme, while adjusting the immobilization pH leads to very different properties of the final immobilized enzyme preparation. © 2018 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Biotechnol. Prog., 35: e2768, 2019., (© 2018 American Institute of Chemical Engineers.)