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Abstract We formulate the variance-based uncertainty relations (URs) via the Robertson’s inequality, for a 2-particle entangled system constrained on a torus and subject to a stationary magnetic field $$\mathcal {\vec {B}}$$ B → . We explore the system’s parameter space and show that these new URs have field-tunable uncertainty bounds. Our analysis reveals that $$\mathcal {\vec {A}}$$ A → (vector potential) induces a phase shift in the state, due to the Aharonov–Bohm effect, leading to a perturbed system dynamics which results in asymmetric product of variance ( $$\mathcal {POV}$$ POV ). Additionally, we give the critical range of $$\mathcal {\vec {A}}$$ A → and $$\mathcal {\vec {B}}$$ B → where the system acts as an entanglement amplifier; this amplification is also discussed under various geometric parameters. The possibility of reducing the $$\mathcal {POV}$$ POV of the conjugate pair [q, p] below the known benchmark value by the Generalized Uncertainty Relation (GUR) is also demonstrated. Finally, we check the susceptibility of state coherence to $$\mathcal {\vec {B}}$$ B → by saturating the angular momentum uncertainty relation and identify the critical coherence value $${\mathcal {B}}_c$$ B c such that when $${\mathcal {B}}\ne {\mathcal {B}}_c$$ B ≠ B c , the state decoheres.

Special Economic Zones (SEZs) form part of the industrial growth strategies of the respective countries to stimulate economic growth and community development. China has emerged as the most prosperous country in developing SEZs for long-term economic and social transformations of its people. Bangladesh, treading its path, achieved long-term foreign direct investments and developed its SEZs. Indian development of SEZs faced problems but contributed to attracting FDIs and triggering exports. SEZs Act 2016 in Pakistan laid the outlines for developing and regulating SEZs in Pakistan. China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) with integrated SEZs can be a potential economic growth stimulus. Critical Success Factors (CSF) like bold policy initiatives, customised designs, correct location with proficient and effective management, and institutional protocols through internal connectivity and integration can be the recipe for the success of SEZs in Pakistan. Bibliography Entry Iqbal, Muhammad Zafar and Bashir Ahmad. 2024. "Economic and Social Development through Special Economic Zones (SEZs), Workable Strategies for Pakistan." Margalla Papers 28 (1): 180-197.

Heavy metals are widely available in the environment due to the natural processes, industrial, anthropogenic activities and ultimately in the results contaminate the immediate environment. The presence of the heavy metals such as Pb, Cd, Cr, Ni, Fe and Cu in environment disturb the quality of ecosystems, soils, water, air and vegetation. The chromium metal at higher level in ecosystem is an alarming signal for both developed and developing countries. Pennisetum glaucum is an annual grass which is widely cultivated in drought, rain fed and high temperature areas. The limited amount of literature available on the impact of chromium stress on P. glaucum. This study was conducted to investigate the beneficial or harmful effect of chromium stress on seed germination and seedling growth performances of P. glaucum in in vitro conditions. The different concentration of chromium 0, 25, 50, 75 and 100 ppm was applied. In present study, the overall results suggests the variable response on the rate of seed germination percentage and plant growth of P. glaucum to chromium stress was recorded. Results showed that the chromium treatment at 25 ppm significantly (p

The wet (rain, snow, fog, sleet, dew) and dry (transport of aerosol, particles and gases) deposition of acidic substance in environment results due to human, automobile, fossil fuel burning and industrial activities. Acid deposition is worldwide environmental degradation problems and in recent years these acidic materials are increasing at alarming scale in the environment both in developed and developing countries, including Pakistan. Some scientific literature survey reports suggest that plant growth and agriculture yield decrease due to consequence of acid rain. In addition, acid rain is found responsible for producing toxic effects on the morphological parameters of agricultural crop. The evidence collected from last more than fifty years showed the common significant effects of acid rain on seed germination percentage, seedling height, root hair and structure, alteration in leaf anatomy, size and area, stomatal structure, size, pollen germination, photosynthetic pigments and physiological changes in herbs, shrubs and trees. Still, little is known on the impact of acid rain on plant growth. This study was aimed to review the effects of acid mist on growth performances of some selected plant species. This review is contributed with the help of literature survey, research work published on the impact of acid rain on the plant growth.

White clover (Trifolium repens L.) is an important forage and aesthetic plant species, but it is susceptible to drought and heat stress. The phytohormone auxin regulates several aspects of plant development and alleviates the effects of drought stress in plants, including white clover, by involving auxin/indole acetic acid (Aux/IAA) family genes. However, Aux/IAA genes and the underlying mechanism of auxin-mediated drought response remain elusive in white clover. To extend our understanding of the multiple functions of Aux/IAAs, the current study described the characterization of a member of the Aux/IAA family TrIAA27 of white clover. TrIAA27 protein had conserved the Aux/IAA family domain and shared high sequence similarity with the IAA27 gene of a closely related species and Arabidopsis. Expression of TrIAA27 was upregulated in response to heavy metal, drought, salt, NO, Ca2+, H2O2, Spm, ABA, and IAA treatments, while downregulated under cold stress in the roots and leaves of white clover. TrIAA27 protein was localized in the nucleus. Constitutive overexpression of TrIAA27 in Arabidopsis thaliana led to enhanced hypocotyl length, root length, plant height, leaf length and width, and fresh and dry weights under optimal and stress conditions. There was Improved photosynthesis activity, chlorophyll content, survival rate, relative water content, endogenous catalase (CAT), and peroxidase (POD) concentration with a significantly lower electrolyte leakage percentage, malondialdehyde (MDA) content, and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) concentration in overexpression lines compared to wild-type Arabidopsis under drought and salt stress conditions. Exposure to stress conditions resulted in relatively weaker roots and above-ground plant growth inhibition, enhanced endogenous levels of major antioxidant enzymes, which correlated well with lower lipid peroxidation, lower levels of reactive oxygen species, and reduced cell death in overexpression lines. The data of the current study demonstrated that TrIAA27 is involved in positively regulating plant growth and development and could be considered a potential target gene for further use, including the breeding of white clover for higher biomass with improved root architecture and tolerance to abiotic stress.

The murine model is invaluable for studying intricate interactions among gut microbes; hosts; and diseases. However; the impact of genetic variations in the murine microbiome; especially in disease contexts such as Klebsiella pneumoniae (Kp) infection; still needs to be explored. Kp; an opportunistic global pathogen; is becoming increasingly prevalent in regions like Asia; especially China. This study explored the role of the gut microbiota during Kp infection using mouse model; including wild-type and rpoS mutants of Kp138; KpC4; and KpE4 from human; maize; and ditch water; respectively. Under stress conditions; RpoS reconfigures global gene expression in bacteria; shifting the cells from active growth to survival mode. Our study examined notable differences in microbiome composition; finding that Lactobacillus and Klebsiella (particularly in WKp138) were the most abundant genera in mice guts at the genus level in all wild-type treated mice. In contrast; Firmicutes were predominant in the healthy control mice. Furthermore; Clostridium was the dominant genus in all mutants; mainly in ∆KpC4; and was absent in wild-type treated mice. Differential abundance analysis identified that these candidate taxa potentially influence disease progression and pathogen virulence. Functional prediction analysis showed that most bacterial groups were functionally involved in biosynthesis; precursor metabolites; degradation; energy generation; and metabolic cluster formation. These findings challenge the conventional understanding and highlight the need for nuanced interpretations in murine studies. Additionally; this study sheds light on microbiome–immune interactions in K. pneumoniae infection and proposes new potential therapeutic strategies.

Background: Healthcare professionals are exposed to difficult situations that lead to increased stress. Higher emotional intelligence can lead to better psychological adaptation and greater self-esteem while lower emotional intelligence may result in hopelessness and stressful behavior. Objective: To examine self-esteem, emotional intelligence, and their relationship with demographic factors among healthcare professionals in Karachi. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among healthcare professionals using a self-reported questionnaire. The data was collected through Google forms from April 2021 to April 2022. Spearman correlation and Mann-Whitney U test were applied for inferential statistics and the p-value was fixed at ≤0.05. Results: A total of 261 participants responded to the survey with complete responses. The mean age of the participants was 28 (IQR=26-30) years and most of them were females (69%). The median emotional intelligence score of participants was 5.56 (IQR=6.00-4.93) and the median self-esteem score of participants was 29 (IQR=30-27). A weak positive correlation was found between emotional intelligence and self-esteem scores (ρ=0.285, p

The constant increase in the high number of population, anthropogenic and industrial activities are alarming issues and raise food security issues around the world. The treatment of compost acts as an effective and environmentally friendly tool for an increase in vegetable production. This research article records the effects of three soil compost treatments (1) dry leaves (Ficus bengalensis L.), (2) solid waste (mustard oil cake) and (3) chicken manure, alone and in combination, with seedling growth performances of pea in pot culture experiments with five replications. The results showed that soil compost treatments showed a significant (p < 0.05) impact on the physicochemical features of soil and the physiological characteristics of pea (Pisum sativum L.). Soil compost analysis revealed a difference in soil porosity and pH, electrical conductivity, organic matter, total organic carbon, CaCO3, Na+, K+, phosphorous and nitrogen. Plant tissue analysis of pea seedlings also showed different levels of sodium, potassium and phosphorous values. The findings of the present research work concludes that the treatment of F. bengalensis dry leaves (25%) + garden loam (75%) treatment produced maximum growth performance, and the mustard oil cake solid waste (25%) + garden loam (75%) treatment showed the lowest seedling growth performance. The F. bengalensis dry leaves (25%) + garden loam (75%), soil compost application treatment showed the maximum seedling height of pea. The solid waste (SW) mixed with garden loam (GL) (SW 25% + GL 75%) and mustard oil cake solid waste alone treatment showed the lowest seedling growth of pea. The F. bengalensis dry leaves 25% + garden loam 75% compost treatment also influenced on the soil properties.

This research introduces a novel probability model, the DUS modified Lehmann-type II power function distribution, designed to optimize potato yields. This model provides valuable insights for decision-makers and can enhance sustainable potato production practices. To achieve our goal, we utilized a time series dataset spanning 75 years (1947–1948 to 2021–2022) of potato cultivation statistics for Punjab and Pakistan, sourced from the official website of the Agricultural Statistics of Pakistan. We rigorously tested six parameter estimation methods, ultimately selecting the maximum likelihood technique based on extensive simulation experiments that considered accuracy measures, including bias, mean square, and root mean square errors. Model selection was determined using established goodness-of-fit tests among recognized models. The precise estimations generated by our model offer valuable support to producers and policymakers in making well-informed decisions about crop management strategies, including the optimal use of fertilizers and pesticides.

A previous metabolomic and genome-wide association analysis of maize screened a glucose-6-phosphate 1-epimerase (ZmG6PE) gene, which responds to low-phosphorus (LP) stress and regulates yield in maize’s recombinant inbred lines (RILs). However, the relationship of ZmG6PE with phosphorus and yield remained elusive. This study aimed to elucidate the underlying response mechanism of the ZmG6PE gene to LP stress and its consequential impact on maize yield. The analysis indicated that ZmG6PE required the Aldose_epim conserved domain to maintain enzyme activity and localized in the nucleus and cell membrane. The zmg6pe mutants showed decreased biomass and sugar contents but had increased starch content in leaves under LP stress conditions. Combined transcriptome and metabolome analysis showed that LP stress activated plant immune regulation in response to the LP stress through carbon metabolism, amino acid metabolism, and fatty acid metabolism. Notably, LP stress significantly reduced the synthesis of glucose-1-phosphate, mannose-6-phosphate, and β-alanine-related metabolites and changed the expression of related genes. ZmG6PE regulates LP stress by mediating the expression of ZmSPX6 and ZmPHT1.13. Overall, this study revealed that ZmG6PE affected the number of grains per ear, ear thickness, and ear weight under LP stress, indicating that ZmG6PE participates in the phosphate signaling pathway and affects maize yield-related traits through balancing carbohydrates homeostasis.

The extraordinary success of deep learning is made possible due to the availability of crowd-sourced large-scale training datasets. Mostly, these datasets contain personal and confidential information, thus, have great potential of being misused, raising privacy concerns. Consequently, privacy-preserving deep learning has become a primary research interest nowadays. One of the prominent approaches adopted to prevent the leakage of sensitive information about the training data is by implementing differential privacy during training for their differentially private training, which aims to preserve the privacy of deep learning models. Though these models are claimed to be a safeguard against privacy attacks targeting sensitive information, however, least amount of work is found in the literature to practically evaluate their capability by performing a sophisticated attack model on them. Recently, DP-BCD is proposed as an alternative to state-of-the-art DP-SGD, to preserve the privacy of deep-learning models, having low privacy cost and fast convergence speed with highly accurate prediction results. To check its practical capability, in this article, we analytically evaluate the impact of a sophisticated privacy attack called the membership inference attack against it in both black box as well as white box settings. More precisely, we inspect how much information can be inferred from a differentially private deep model’s training data. We evaluate our experiments on benchmark datasets using AUC, attacker advantage, precision, recall, and F1-score performance metrics. The experimental results exhibit that DP-BCD keeps its promise to preserve privacy against strong adversaries while providing acceptable model utility compared to state-of-the-art techniques.

Abstract Background Tripsacum dactyloides (2n = 4x = 72) and Zea perennis (2n = 4x = 40) are tertiary gene pools of Zea mays L. and exhibit many abiotic adaptations absent in modern maize, especially salt tolerance. A previously reported allopolyploid (hereafter referred to as MTP, 2n = 74) synthesized using Zea mays, Tripsacum dactyloides, and Zea perennis has even stronger salt tolerance than Z. perennis and T. dactyloides. This allopolyploid will be a powerful genetic bridge for the genetic improvement of maize. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying its salt tolerance, as well as the key genes involved in regulating its salt tolerance, remain unclear. Results Single-molecule real-time sequencing and RNA sequencing were used to identify the genes involved in salt tolerance and reveal the underlying molecular mechanisms. Based on the SMRT-seq results, we obtained 227,375 reference unigenes with an average length of 2300 bp; most of the unigenes were annotated to Z. mays sequences (76.5%) in the NR database. Moreover, a total of 484 and 1053 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified in the leaves and roots, respectively. Functional enrichment analysis of DEGs revealed that multiple pathways responded to salt stress, including “Flavonoid biosynthesis,” “Oxidoreductase activity,” and “Plant hormone signal transduction” in the leaves and roots, and “Iron ion binding,” “Acetyl-CoA carboxylase activity,” and “Serine-type carboxypeptidase activity” in the roots. Transcription factors, such as those in the WRKY, B3-ARF, and bHLH families, and cytokinin negatively regulators negatively regulated the salt stress response. According to the results of the short time series-expression miner analysis, proteins involved in “Spliceosome” and “MAPK signal pathway” dynamically responded to salt stress as salinity changed. Protein–protein interaction analysis revealed that heat shock proteins play a role in the large interaction network regulating salt tolerance. Conclusions Our results reveal the molecular mechanism underlying the regulation of MTP in the response to salt stress and abundant salt-tolerance-related unigenes. These findings will aid the retrieval of lost alleles in modern maize and provide a new approach for using T. dactyloides and Z. perennis to improve maize.

Pollution by heavy metals in the environment is a worldwide problem. The aim of the research study was to record the effect of lead (Pb) and iron (Fe) elements on early seedling growth of Albizia lebbeck L. (Benth.) and Eucalyptus globulus Labill. The obtained results showed that higher level of lead (Pb) and iron (Fe) elements treatment present in the substrate had wide a spectrum of toxicity activity against seedlings growth performance of A. lebbeck and E. globulus as compared to control in lab conditions. Statistically analyzed data showed that seedling growth of A. lebbeck and E. globulus were reduced significantly (p

Rapid increase in automobile density and discharge of different types of pollutants from automobile are a serious issue for whole civilized world and in Bhakkar also.Vehicle emission from automobiles released an enormous quantity of toxic pollutants likewise nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide, carbon mono oxide, heavy metals particularly lead, cadmium in environment and produced harmful effects on germination and growth of plants. This study was aim to investigate the effect of automobile polluted soil on the growth of some tree species. In present study the variation in seedling growth performance of three different selected tree species namely, Acacia nilotica L., Albizia lebbeck L. (Benth.) and Eucalyptus globulus Labill. raised in roadside polluted soils of District Bhakkar, Pakistan were recorded in the pots. Results showed that root, shoot, seedling length, number of leaves, and seedling dry weight of Acacia nilotica grown in polluted road soils of Bhakkar-Khansar road showed a significant (p

The waste water generation from the automobile motor workshop activities are responsible for environmental degradation in the form of water pollution and showed variable impact on plant growth. This paper gives information, assessment and screening about the effect of motor work shop waste water on seedling growth of two different types of legume bean crops namely, kidney bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) and mung bean (Vigna radiata (L.) R. Wilkczek) in pot culture experiments. The results showed that the increase in treatment of 25%, 50%, 75%, and 100% of motor workshop waste water decreased the root, seedling length, number of leaflets, shoot, leaves dry weight and root/shoot ratio of common bean as compared to control. The waste water treatment of 25% significantly (p

Abstract Background Helictotrichon virescens is a perennial grass that is primarily distributed in high altitude areas of 2000 ~ 4500 m. It is widely cultivated in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau of China, strongly resistant to cold, and an essential part of the wild herbs in this region. However, the molecular mechanism of the response of H. virescens to low temperature stress and the key regulatory genes for specific biological processes are poorly understood. Results Physiological and transcriptome analyses were used to study the cold stress response mechanism in H virescens. During the low temperature stress period, the content of chlorophyll a and b decreased more and more with the delay of the treatment time. Among them, the difference between the controls was not significant, and the difference between the control and the treatment was significant. At the same time, the expression of related differential genes was up-regulated during low temperature treatment. In addition, the plant circadian pathway is crucial for their response to cold stress. The expression of differentially expressed genes that encode LHY and HY5 were strongly up-regulated during cold stress. Conclusions This study should help to fully understand how H. virescens responds to low temperatures. It answers pertinent questions in the response of perennial herbs to cold stress, i.e., how light and low temperature signals integrate to regulate plant circadian rhythms and Decrease of content of chlorophylls (which can be also accompanied with decrease of total quantity of reaction centers) leads to an increase in photosynthetic damage.

Static analysis is a software testing technique that analyzes the code without executing it. It is widely used to detect vulnerabilities, errors, and other issues during software development. Many tools are available for static analysis of Java code, including SpotBugs. Methods that perform a security check must be declared private or final; otherwise, they can be compromised when a malicious subclass overrides the methods and omits the checks. In Java, security checks can be performed using the SecurityManager class. This paper addresses the aforementioned problem by building a new automated checker that raises an issue when this rule is violated. The checker is built under the SpotBugs static analysis tool. We evaluated our approach on both custom test cases and real-world software, and the results revealed that the checker successfully detected related bugs in both with optimal metrics values.

The destruction of β-cells of the pancreas leads to either insulin shortage or the complete absence of insulin, which in turn causes diabetes Mellitus. For treating diabetes, many trials have been conducted since the 19th century until now. In ancient times, insulin from an animal’s extract was taken to treat human beings. However, this resulted in some serious allergic reactions. Therefore, scientists and researchers have tried their best to find alternative ways for managing diabetes with progressive advancements in biotechnology. However, a lot of research trials have been conducted, and they discovered more progressed strategies and approaches to treat type I and II diabetes with satisfaction. Still, investigators are finding more appropriate ways to treat diabetes accurately. They formulated insulin analogs that mimic the naturally produced human insulin through recombinant DNA technology and devised many methods for appropriate delivery of insulin. This review will address the following questions: What is insulin preparation? How were these devised and what are the impacts (both positive and negative) of such insulin analogs against TIDM (type-I diabetes mellitus) and TIIDM (type-II diabetes mellitus)? This review article will also demonstrate approaches for the delivery of insulin analogs into the human body and some future directions for further improvement of insulin treatment.

Open universities play an important role in delivering distant learning education to the general public. MOODLE is an open-source programme that enables and maintains the success of open universities. One of the main concerns of teachers when using internet content is the students' interest, particularly when using recorded videos because synchronous interactive instruction is not possible for big groups of students online. In an e-learning system, interactive videos are crucial because they allow learners to interact with learning content while watching the video. The H5P module of MOODLE Learning Management System (LMS), was used to generate an interactive film in this empirical study. The focus of the study was to investigate students’ satisfaction about interactive video content on MOODLE in online learning. It was assessed by using the Delone and Mclean Information Systems Success Model. H5P interactive video content was developed and implemented on MOODLE and satisfaction of students was measured. The findings revealed that the value of video for learning effectiveness is depending on the level of interactivity. Students in the e-learning class with interactive video had much higher levels of satisfaction than students in other settings.

Background. A country’s agriculture reflects a backbone and performs a vital part in the betterment of the economy and individuals. Facts and figures of the agriculture sector offer a solid foundation and factual pathway intended for upcoming decisions in favor of a country. Accordingly, the probability models have a more significant influence not only in reliability engineering, hydrology, ecology, and medicine but also in agriculture sciences. Objective. The primary objective of this study is to propose a reliable and efficient model for pearl millet yield analysis, thereby empowering decision-makers to make informed decisions about their farming practices. With the successful implementation of this model, farmers can potentially increase their pearl millet yield, leading to higher incomes and improved livelihoods for the rural population of Pakistan. Model. This study proposes a novel probability model, namely, the alpha transformed odd exponential power function (ATOE-PF) distribution, for analyzing pearl millet yield in Punjab, Pakistan. Data. For data collection, two secondary data sets are explored that are electronically available on the site of the Directorate of Agriculture (Economics and Marketing) Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan. Results. The maximum likelihood estimation technique is used for estimating the model parameters. For the selection of a better fit model, we follow some accredited goodness of fit tests. The efficiency and applicability of the ATOE-PF distribution are discussed over the province of Punjab (with RMSE = 4.9176) and Pakistan (with RMSE = 4.5849). Better estimates and closest fit to data among the well-established neighboring models offer robust evidence in support of ATOE-PF distribution as well.

BackgroundOccupational therapists (OTs) and physiotherapists (PTs) are expected to provide evidence-based services to individuals living with disabilities. Despite the emphasis on evidence-based practice (EBP) by professional entry-level programs and professional bodies, little is known about their EBP competencies upon entry to practice and over time or what factors impact EBP use. The aim of the study was to measure and understand how EBP evolves over the first three years after graduation among Canadian OTs and PTs, and how individual and organizational factors impact the continuous use of EBP.MethodsA longitudinal, mixed methods sequential explanatory study. We administered a survey questionnaire measuring six EBP constructs (knowledge, attitudes, confidence, resources, use of EBP and evidence-based activities) annually, followed by focus group discussions with a subset of survey participants. We performed group-based trajectory modeling to identify trajectories of EBP over time, and a content analysis of qualitative data guided by the Theoretical Domains Framework.ResultsOf 1700 graduates in 2016-2017, 257 (response rate = 15%) responded at baseline (T0) (i.e., at graduation), and 83 (retention rate = 32%), 75 (retention rate = 29%), and 74 (retention rate = 29%) participated at time point 1 (T1: one year into practice), time point 2 (T2: two years into practice, and time point 3 (T3: three years into practice) respectively. Group-based trajectory modeling showed four unique group trajectories for the use of EBP. Over 64% of participants (two trajectories) showed a decline in the use of EBP over time. Fifteen practitioners (7 OTs and 8 PTs) participated in the focus group discussions. Personal and peer experiences, client needs and expectations, and availability of resources were perceived to influence EBP the most.ConclusionsThough a decline in EBP may be concerning, it is unclear if this decline is clinically meaningful and whether professional expertise can offset such declines. Stakeholder-concerted efforts towards the common goal of promoting EBP in education, practice and policy are needed.

Coke production is one of the important sources of pollution from steel industries. The effects of coke (sludge of iron and steel) on seed germination and growth of Vigna radiata (L.) R. Wilczek, Vigna mungo (L.) Hepper and Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp. were recorded. The seed germination percentage of V. radiata was increased with increase in coke concentration treatment at 25-50% as compared to control treatment in petri dish. Seedling length and root growth performance of V. radiata was also slightly increased with the increase in coke concentration treatment at 75 and 100% as compared to control. The seed germination percentage and root length of V. mungo was reduced with increase in coke concentration treatment at 25%. The obtained results showed more positive effects of coke on seed germination and seedling growth performance of V. unguiculata than V. mungo and V. radiata. Meanwhile, experiment showed decrease in seedling vigor index of V. radiata and V. mungo with the increase in concentration of coke at 100% as compared to control. A gradual increase in seedling vigor index for V. unguiculata with the increase in coke concentration was observed. The coke extracts treatment influence on the seedling tolerance indices of V. radiata, V. mungo and V. unguiculata. The better tolerance to coke treatment in all bean crops might be mainly due to some resistance potential ability of seedlings to coke concentration.

Helictotrichon virescens is a perennial herbaceous plant with a life expectancy of about 10 years. It has high cold and heat resistance and can successfully survive over winter in the habitats with a temperature range of −25 to 25°C. Therefore, this study aimed to identify the key genes regulating low-temperature stress responses in H. virescens and analyze cold tolerant at molecular level. This study used RNA sequencing (RNA-Seq) and weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) to identify the hub genes associated with cold tolerance in H. virescens. RT-PCR was conducted, homologous genes were identified, and related bioinformatics were analyzed to verify the identified hub genes. Moreover, WGCNA analysis showed that only the brown module had the highest correlation with the active-oxygen scavenging enzymes [peroxide (POD), superoxide dismutase (SOD), and catalase (CAT)]. The expression levels of three hub genes in the brown module (Cluster-37118.47362, cluster-37118.47713, and cluster-37118.66740) were significantly higher under low-temperature stress than those under control conditions. Furthermore, gene ontology (GO) and KEGG annotations showed that the three hub genes were mainly enriched in the metabolism pathways of sphingolipids, selenocompounds, glyoxylate, and dicarboxylate, carotenoids biosynthesis, and other biological pathways. The results of this study also showed that the subcellular localization prediction results showed that the cold tolerance hub genes were all localized to the plasma membrane. By constructing a protein interaction network, it was found that the hub gene Cluster-37118.66740 interacted with Sb09g003460.1 and Sb04g020180.1 proteins in Sorghum bicolor. By constructing phylogenetic trees of the four species of H. virescens, Sorghum bicolo, Oryza sativa Japonica, and Arabidopsis thaliana, the results showed that, the hub gene Cluster 37118.66740 (of H. virescens) and Os03g0340500 (of Oryza sativa Japonica) belonged to the same ancestral branch and were in the same subfamily. Thus, this study provides methodology and guidance to identify the cold tolerance genes for other herbage and their cold tolerant molecular mechanisms at molecular level.

Objective: To determine the diagnostic accuracy of Tzanakis and Alvarado score for the diagnosis of acute appendicitis taking histopathology as the gold standard. Materials and Methods: It was a Cross-sectional validation study The study was carried out at the emergency department of RMC allied hospital Rawalpindi. The study was completed in eighteen months from 1st May 2016 till 30th Nov 2017. After approval from the ethical committee total of 420 patients fulfilling inclusion criteria from the emergency department of District head Quarter hospital, Rawalpindi was taken. Informed consent was taken from patients or their attendants, and their demographic information like name, age, sex, and address was obtained. Alvarado score and Tzanakis score were calculated (as per operational definition) at the time of admission of the patients. After surgery, the specimen appendix was sent for histopathology in the hospital lab. The diagnosis of the acute appendix was based on a positive histological report which was verified by a pathologist. All the data was entered by a researcher who will collect the data by himself. Results: The mean age of patients in this study was 20.15±7.13 years with 218 (51.9%) males and 202 (48.1%) females. The mean Alvardo score was recorded as 7.22±1.58 with the mean Tzanakis score being 9.64±3.13. The histopathology for diagnosing appendicitis showed positive for 367 (87.4%) patients and negative for 53 (12.6%) patients. The sensitivity of Alvarado score for diagnosing appendicitis, keeping histopathology as the gold standard was 86.92%, specificity was 92.45%, Positive Predictive Value was 98.76%, and Negative Predictive Value was 50.52% and overall diagnostic accuracy was 87.62%. The sensitivity of the Tzanakis score for diagnosing appendicitis, keeping histopathology as the gold standard was 88.83%, specificity was 88.6%, Positive Predictive Value was 98.19%, Negative Predictive Value was 53.41% and overall diagnostic accuracy was 88.81%. Conclusion: The sensitivity of the Tzanakis score was high when compared to the Alvarado score. And specificity was high in the Alvarado score when compared to the Tzanakis score. Moreover, the overall diagnostic accuracy of the Tzanakis score was high when compared to the Alvarado score. SoTzanakis score can be utilized to predict appendix and in the future, we can avoid negative appendectomies.

Abstract Separated attenuation values have not been used in post-seismic variation research, although the scattering attenuation (Q s −1) parameter that can be used to estimate crustal inhomogeneity due to cracks. In this study, three earthquakes that occurred in Kumamoto (M7.3), Tottori (M6.6), and Gyeongju (M5.8) in 2016 were investigated by applying a multiple lapse time window analysis to seismograms recorded before and after the events. At a low frequency, significantly greater variation of the Q s −1 value was observed than the intrinsic attenuation (Q i −1) for the Kumamoto earthquake, whereas similarly large variation was observed for the Gyeongju earthquake. For the surrounding Kumamoto earthquake area of increased attenuation, even higher decreases in Q s –1 and Q i –1 were also observed. The increases occurred within a two year-period after mainshock. The large increases in attenuation, corresponding to regions with high peak ground acceleration, were limited to the basin area with an elevation below 500 m. Furthermore, post-seismic increases in attenuation values were found to correlate with the magnitude and length of the quiet periods of the earthquakes. From this study, Q s –1 and Q i –1 were shown as new parameters that can quantitatively measure the post-seismic deformation due to crustal earthquake.

With the growth of networks, the Internet of Things (IoT) and new cyber attacks pose threats to privacy and security, secure communication is therefore becoming one of the most crucial concerns. For this purpose, symmetric algorithms namel; The Rijndael algorithm, the Serpent algorithm, and the TWOFISH algorithm pay equal attention. In this paper, the TWOFISH algorithm’s mathematical complexity is improved by using substitution boxes (S-boxes) drawn from a multiplicative group of units of chain ring $\sum \nolimits _{i=0}^{7} {u^{i}F_{2}} $ . As these S-boxes have the property of having copious generators, they, therefore, produce a rich algebraic complexity. Moreover, the time complexity of the proposed work is modified by processing the 64-bit block throughout the process and reducing the number of subkeys. To measure the strength of the proposed algorithm, various standard color digital images, with a size of $256\times 256$ , are encrypted and tested. The computation speed of the encryption is compared to the standard TWOFISH algorithm’s speed and found that the newly designed algorithm is quite fast. For security analysis and quality assessment, various statistical tests are performed on the standard encrypted images. The results recommend that the proposed algorithm is a strong candidate for digital image encryption.

Allelochemical are natural compounds which effects the growth of surrounding plants. The treatment of aqueous powder extracts of Capsicum annuum L. and Coriandrum sativum L. at 1% showed significant decreased in shoot, root and seedling height, leaves growth and biomass of mung bean (Vigna radiata). The inhibitory effect on growth performance was directly related with the increasing concentration of powder extracts of coriander. The seedlings of both legume bean were tested for the determination of toxicity and tolerance to red chilli and coriander powder extract treatment at 0, 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5%. The seedlings of mung bean and cowpea showed lowest percentage of tolerance indices to coriander and red chilli powder extract treatment at 5%. However, on comparison, the seedlings of cowpea showed more tolerance to coriander and red chili powder extract than mung bean.

Objective: To assess learning styles and preferred teaching methodologies of medical students in relation to year of study. Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out among 523 medical students of Baqai Medical College, Baqai Medical University, Karachi, from May 2019 to October 2019. All male and female students from first to final year, who attended the undergraduate MBBS program in the medical college, were included in the study. The study questionnaire was administered to all enrolled undergraduate medical students, from first to fifth year, on the campus out of which 523 forms were collected. The study instrument was a questionnaire containing students’ demographic details, David Kolb’s Learning Style Inventory 4.0 and their preferred teaching methodologies scored using a 5 point Likert scale. The association of various learning styles and preferred teaching methodologies with year of study was assessed by using Pearson chi-square test. Results: Out of 523 students who returned the form 518 had completed the questionnaire. A majority of the students had imagining or experiencing learning style. No change in learning style was observed between years of study. The top three teaching methodologies with highest mean scores were small group discussion (3.58±1.12), problem based learning (3.56±1.11) and demonstration on models (3.54±1.20). A significant association between some preferred teaching methodologies and year of study was found such as interactive lecture (p=0.011), problem based learning (p=0.026), small group discussion (p=0.024), and one way lecture (p=0.028) while a highly significant association was noted in case of student presentation (p=0.001). Conclusion: The present study showed that different years of study at medical schools did not significantly affect students’ learning styles, although the students did change their preferences to some teaching methodologies. Longitudinal studies are necessary to reveal whether there is an effect of learning styles over time in medical education.

This research paper was aimed to explore the trends in Allama Iqbal Open University (AIOU) open and distance learning support system (ODLSS). The study was quantitative in its approach and descriptive research design was adopted. Data were collected through Google data analytics software. In this research the data of ODLSS for four years were included from 2016-2019. To explore the trends in ODLSS the data were collected on number of visitors, visitors by time, city, country, technology, screen resolution, and language used. It was found that over the time period AIOU students increased in accessing the ODLSS using mobiles through android and windows sets. They mostly used chrome to access the website. At present no mobile APP has been developed by AIOU for the mobile users. So, it was recommended that AIOU should develop a mobile application for android users so that students may get information easily anywhere.

In practice, finite mixture models were often used to fit various type of observed phenomena, specifically those which are random in nature. In this paper, a finite mixture model based on weighted versions of exponential and gamma distribution is considered and studied. Some mathematical properties of the resulting model are discussed including moment generating function, skewness, kurtosis, survival function, hazard rate function, stochastic ordering, order statistics, Bonferroni and Lorenz curves, Renyi entropy measure and estimation of the model parameters. Two real-life data applications from different fields exhibit the fact that in certain situations, the proposed mixture model might be a better alternative than the existing popular models.

Massive advances in internet infrastructure are impacting e-healthcare services compared to conventional means. Therefore, extra care and protection is needed for extremely confidential patient medical records. With this intention, we have proposed an enhanced image steganography method, to improve imperceptibility and data hiding capacity of stego images. The proposed Image Region Decomposition (IRD) method, embeds more secret information with better imperceptibility, in patient's medical images. The algorithm decomposes the grayscale magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) images into three unique regions: low-intensity, medium-intensity, and high-intensity. Each region is made up of k number of pixels, and in each pixel we operate the block of n least significant bits (LSBs), where 1 ≤ n ≤ 3. Four classes of MRI images of different dimensions are used for embedding. Data with different volumes are used to test the images for imperceptibility and verified with quality factors. The proposed IRD algorithm is tested for performance, on the set of brain MRI images using peak signal-to-noise ratio (PSNR), mean square error (MSE) and structural similarity (SSIM) index. The results elucidated that the MRI stego image is imperceptible, like the original cover image by adjusting 2nd and 1st LSBs in the low-intensity region. Our proposed steganography technique provides a better average PSNR (49.27), than other similar methods. The empirical results show that the proposed IRD algorithm, significantly improves the imperceptibility and data embedding capacity, compared to the existing state-of-the-art methods.

Introduction: Clinical teaching helps students develop clinical reasoning, decision-making, professionalism, empathy, and patient management. These benefits can only be obtained if patients show reasonable acceptance towards medical students. The aim of this study was to assess patients’ perceptions regarding their level of acceptance towards students’ participation in their healthcare. Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted at King Fahd University hospital between December 2018 and March 2019. The data were collected via face-to-face interviews with patients from four clinical departments using a self-administered questionnaire. A total of 196 patients were approached for an interview, of whom 187 agreed to participate (a response rate of 95.4%). Results: Overall, patients showed a positive attitude towards students’ participation in their care. The acceptance rate was higher in cases where there was minimal or no student–patient physical contact, such as reading patient's medical records (88.8%) and attending outpatient clinics (83.3%). On the other hand, the refusal rate increased dramatically (from 11% to 43.3%) when permission was sought from patients to perform diagnostic procedures. In a comparison of specialties, the highest refusal rate was observed in the obstetrics/gynecology department, whereas the lowest refusal rate was observed in the pediatrics department. Conclusions: Patients seeking healthcare services in a tertiary care teaching hospital have an overall positive attitude towards the involvement of undergraduate students in their medical care. The higher refusal rate with regard to students performing a physical examination and diagnostic procedures is alarming and demands alternative clinical teaching solutions, such as simulation-based training.

Objective: To measure the empathy levels of undergraduate medical students, and to explore whether the empathy level has any significant association with gender, academic year and academic achievement. Methods: The cross-sectional study was conducted at the College of Medicine, Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, Dammam, Saudi Arabia, from January to March 2020, and comprised medical students. Data was collected using the pre-validated student version of the Jefferson Scale of Empathy. Data was analysed using SPSS 23. Results: Of the 391 students, 251(64.19%) were females, and 140(35.8%) were males. The overall mean empathy score was 105.18+/-12.51. Second year medical students showed the highest empathy score 108.59+/-13.33. There was minor but significant decline in empathy as the students progressed through their academic studies (p

IntroductionBirth preparedness and complication readiness (BPCR) is a broad system to increase the practice of trained health provision at the time of childbirth and the key interventions to decrease mothers' and newborns' death. However, its status and influencing factors have not been well studied at different levels in the study area. The current study aimed to assess the BPCR status and explore its associated factors influencing BPCR among childbearing age women in Thatta, District of Sindh.MethodsThis community-based cross-sectional study was conducted among 770 recently delivered mothers from October 2016 -September 2017, recruited using a multistage cluster sampling technique. A structured validated close-ended questionnaire measuring BPCR knowledge and practices was used for the interviews. The results were analyzed by means of the Chi-square test, and a binary logistic regression model was used to determine the factors influencing BPCR.ResultsThe overall response rate was 94.6%, with a low BPCR status. Out of 770 participants, only 163 (21.2%) were well prepared, while 607 (78.8%) were not prepared for safe childbirth and its complications. A small proportion of women knew about the serious warning signs of pregnancy, labour, childbirth and the postpartum period (16.2%), (15.3%) and (22.7%) respectively. Antenatal care (ANC) checkup (P < 0.001), cost of ANC checkup (p = 0.016), place of birth (p = 0.014), awareness of serious warning signs during pregnancy (p = 0.001) and awareness of serious warning signs during the postpartum period (p < 0.001) were found to be significant predictors of BPCR.ConclusionThe proportion of women who were well prepared for birth and its complications was low. It is recommended to organize community-based education campaigns and improve the quality of MNCH services at every level to increase BPCR among women in Sindh.

In observational studies, the probability of selection of sampling units is not always equal. The recorded observations are biased in this scenario. The unweighted distributions in such situations are not useful until the inclusion probability of each item is same. The theory of weighted distributions offers a unifying approach for these types of conditions because it considers the adjustment bias. Failure to comply with such adjustment may lead to inappropriate results. In this article, an efficient mentoring scheme (Weighted-TBE chart) for time between events (TBE) using weighted exponential distribution has been proposed based on weighted variance (WV) method. A comparison has been established between CC based on weighted and unweighted probability distributions. The performance measure ARL has been calculated using Monte Carlo simulations. The Weighted-TBE chart has provided least values of ARL in the presence of unwanted process variations and proved to be more effective than the existing scheme. Further the proposed control chart has been applied to time between failures data to show its practical applicability.

Interspecific hybridization has contributed significantly to land diversity, species evolution, and crops’ domestication, including upland cotton, the cultivated form of Gossypium hirsutum. Being the world’s most important fiber crop species, Gossypium hirsutum belongs to the allotetraploid Gossypium consisting of six additional tetraploid species. The lint fiber evolved once in diploid parent A-genome species in the Gossypium’s history and passed on during hybridization of the A-genome with the D-genome and was maintained in subsequent evolution. The domestication history of G. hirsutum involved the collection and use of lint fibers by indigenous people for the purpose of making strings and other textile products; hence, spinnable lint fibers were likely to have evolved under domestication. Crossing with G. barbadense has resulted in the development of multiple genetic lines in contemporary upland cotton. However, in later-generation hybrids between G. hirsutum and other polyploid species, reproductive barriers such as reduced fertility, segregation distortion, and hybrid breakdown are frequently observed, complicating the task of introgressing new, stably inherited allelic variation from inter-specific hybridization. Recent efforts in molecular genetics research have provided insights into the location and effects of QTLs from wild species that are associated with traits important to cotton production. These and future research efforts will undoubtedly provide the tools that can be utilized by plant breeders to access novel genes from wild and domesticated allotetraploid Gossypium for upland cotton improvement.

Heat shock transcription factors (HSF) are divided into classes A, B and C. Class A transcription factors are generally recognized as transcriptional activators, while functional characterization of class B and C heat shock transcription factors have not been fully developed in most plant species. We isolated and characterized a novel HSF transcription factor gene, TrHSFB2a (a class B HSF) gene, from the drought stress-sensitive forage crop species, white clover (Trifolium repens). TrHSFB2a was highly homologous to MtHSFB2b, CarHSFB2a, AtHSFB2b and AtHSFB2a. The expression of TrHSFB2a was strongly induced by drought (PEG6000 15% w/v), high temperature (35 °C) and salt stresses (200 mM L−1 NaCl) in white clover, while subcellular localization analysis showed that it is a nuclear protein. Overexpression of the white clover gene TrHSFB2a in Arabidopsis significantly reduced fresh and dry weight, relative water contents (RWC), maximum photosynthesis efficiency (Fv/Fm) and performance index on the absorption basis (PIABS), while it promoted leaf senescence, relative electrical conductivity (REC) and the contents of malondialdehyde (MDA) compared to a wild type under drought, heat and salt stress conditions of Arabidopsis plants. The silencing of its native homolog (AtHSFB2a) by RNA interference in Arabidopsis thaliana showed opposite trends by significantly increasing fresh and dry weights, RWC, maximum photosynthesis efficiency (Fv/Fm) and performance index on the absorption basis (PIABS) and reducing REC and MDA contents under drought, heat and salt stress conditions compared to wild type Arabidopsis plants. These phenotypic and physiological indicators suggested that the TrHSFB2a of white clover functions as a negative regulator of heat, salt and drought tolerance. The bioinformatics analysis showed that TrHSFB2a contained the core B3 repression domain (BRD) that has been reported as a repressor activator domain in other plant species that might repress the activation of the heat shock-inducible genes required in the stress tolerance process in plants. The present study explores one of the potential causes of drought and heat sensitivity in white clover that can be overcome to some extent by silencing the TrHSFB2a gene in white clover.

Drought is a serious outcome of climate change reducing the productivity of forage species under arid and semi-arid conditions worldwide. Diethyl aminoethyl hexanoate (DA-6), a novel plant growth regulator, has proven to be involved in the amelioration of critical physiological functions in many agricultural crops under various abiotic stresses, but the role of the DA-6 in improving seed germination has never been investigated under drought stress. The present study was carried out to elucidate the impact of the DA-6 priming on seeds germination of white clover under drought stress. Results showed that seed priming with the DA-6 significantly mitigated the drought-induced reduction in germination percentage, germination vigor, germination index, seed vigor index, root length, shoot length, and fresh weight after 7 days of seed germination. The DA-6 significantly increased the endogenous indole-3-acetic acid, gibberellin, and cytokinin content with marked reduction in abscisic acid content in seedlings under drought stress. In addition, the DA-6 significantly accelerated starch catabolism by enhancing the activities of hydrolases contributing toward enhanced soluble sugars, proline content and ameliorated the antioxidant defense system to enhance the ability of reactive oxygen species scavenging under drought stress. Furthermore, exogenous DA-6 application significantly increased dehydrins accumulation and upregulated transcript levels of genes encoding dehydrins (SK2, Y2SK, or DHNb) during seeds germination under water deficient condition. These findings suggested that the DA-6 mediated seeds germination and drought tolerance associated with changes in endogenous phytohormones resulting in increased starch degradation, osmotic adjustment, antioxidants activity, and dehydrins accumulation during seed germination under water deficient condition.

In this paper, a potentiated lifetime model that demonstrates the bathtub-shaped hazard rate function is developed. This proposed model is referred to as Kumaraswamy modified size-biased Lehmann Type-II (Kum–MSBL–II) distribution. Various mathematical and reliability characteristics are derived and discussed. The maximum likelihood estimation method is used to estimate the model parameters and its performance is discussed by following a simulation study. Three-lifetime sets of data are utilized to illustrate the flexibility of the proposed model and the results demonstrate that the proposed model can adequately fit the real-life datasets than the competitors.

Objective: To assess the burden of trauma during the last three years (2016-18) caused by road traffic accidents presenting to the trauma centre of tertiary care public hospital in district central, Karachi. Methods: All the accident cases presenting in the trauma center of the hospital in last three years who were defined as accidents occurring on a public road and involving at least one moving vehicle were included in the study. Those with incomplete medical records were excluded. This was a crosssectional study where records of a total of 2857 individuals were retrospectively collected and their socio-demographic information, history of road traffic crashes, clinical history and examination was noted. Data was analyzed through SPSS while descriptive statistical analysis of continuous and categorical variables was performed. Results: The mean age of patients admitted to the trauma centre was 29.3 ± 16.7 years with no significant difference between both gender. Out of 2857 patients with road traffic accident injuries, around 80.9% were males. The most prevalent age group was 16-30 years of age, which was over 40.2%, followed by subjects of 31 - 45 years age group which was 21%. The study results further showed that over 51.3% of the road traffic accident patients were discharged normally, followed by 46.7% subjects who left against medical advice. Overall death rate was 2% (n=57). Conclusion: This study helps to identify the latest accident burden and pattern of injuries to develop plans aimed at prevention of road traffic accidents. Looking at the burden, the most affected was the younger subjects (16-30 years) highlighting the need for targeting this population for educational programs and policies about safe driving. Among the road traffic accidents cases the subjects who left against medical advice cases was gradually decreasing from 2016 to 2018 suggesting better healthcare facilities at the tertiary care hospital and corresponding increasing patient's confidence in them.

In this paper, generalize the Bateman polynomials in terms of generalized hypergeometric function of the type pFp. Establish different forms of extended polynomials such as series expansion, generating functions and recurrence relations.

This research explores the use of modern digital technologies in learning English as a foreign language in Pakistan. This research attempts to find these various prospects and the modern trends associated with the phenomenon of learning motivation in Pakistani public and private sector universities. There are randomly selected 28 teachers and 140 students for this research. 18 teachers and 80 students are from six private universities while 10 teachers and 60 students are selected from four public sector universities in Pakistan. The collected data is analyzed by using mixed method of analysis of both qualitative and quantitative approach. Findings of this research presents the futuristic need in English learning and in education system, how to get benefits from modern technology in academia. This research suggests that technological aid cannot give accurate results if it is not selected correctly and according to the needs. It is also recommended that both public and private sector universities in Pakistan should be equipped with latest technological facilities for more effective learning process of English language. This research will provide a solid ground to the upcoming researchers, syllabus designers and higher authorities to take positive measures in this direction to meet the global standards of learning of English language.

A great variable response was observed when PP-3 and PP-J encumbered with 116 populations of root knot nematode (RKN) at two different temperatures (25 ± 2°C and 30 ± 2°C) and concentrations (104 and 105 spores/ml). The PCR reaction amplified intergenic region between cytochrome oxidase subunit II gene (COII) and large subunit of rRNA gene (lrRNA) of the mitochondrial genome of different RKN species. The primer C2F3 and 1108 identified M. incognita with the highest frequency (52.6%) followed by M. javanica (36.8%) and M. arenaria (10.5%). The sizes of PCR products were 1.7 kb for M. incognita and M. javanica populations while populations of M. arenaria produced 1.1 kb fragment. The digestion with Hinf I yielded three different fragment length patterns on 1.5 % agarose gel. From current research it is concluded that intra-Meloidogyne genetic variability exist in RKN populations which have better encumbrance with P. penetrans.

Panicle degeneration, sometimes known as abortion, causes heavy losses in grain yield. However, the mechanism of naturally occurring panicle abortion is still elusive. In a previous study, we characterized a mutant, apical panicle abortion1331 (apa1331), exhibiting abortion in apical spikelets starting from the 6 cm stage of panicle development. In this study, we have quantified the five phytohormones, gibberellins (GA), auxins (IAA), abscisic acid (ABA), cytokinins (CTK), and brassinosteroids (BR), in the lower, middle, and upper parts of apa1331 and compared these with those exhibited in its wild type (WT). In apa331, the lower and middle parts of the panicle showed contrasting concentrations of all studied phytohormones, but highly significant changes in IAA and ABA, compared to the upper part of the panicle. A comparative transcriptome of apa1331 and WT apical spikelets was performed to explore genes causing the physiological basis of spikelet abortion. The differential expression analysis revealed a significant downregulation and upregulation of 1587 and 978 genes, respectively. Hierarchical clustering of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) revealed the correlation of gene ontology (GO) terms associated with antioxidant activity, peroxidase activity, and oxidoreductase activity. KEGG pathway analysis using parametric gene set enrichment analysis (PGSEA) revealed the downregulation of the biological processes, including cell wall polysaccharides and fatty acids derivatives, in apa1331 compared to its WT. Based on fold change (FC) value and high variation in expression during late inflorescence, early inflorescence, and antherdevelopment, we predicted a list of novel genes, which presumably can be the potential targets of inflorescence development. Our study not only provides novel insights into the role of the physiological dynamics involved in panicle abortion, but also highlights the potential targets involved in reproductive development.

The discharge of heavy metals in the environment due to anthropogenic, industrial and automobile activities is a worldwide environmental pollution problem. Copper is widely used in different forms in fertilizer, fungicides. Industrial effluents and for the removal algal growth in ponds. In this study the toxic effects of copper (Cu) on seed germination and seedling growth of Lens culinaris were investigated. Germination rate of L. culinaris that showed that increased in concentration of copper treatment at 25 ppm significantly (p

Abstract Objective: To determine the frequency of learning styles of medical students by using David Kolb’s learning style inventory and its association with preferred teaching methodologies. Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out among over 500 medical students of Baqai Medical College, Baqai Medical University, Gadap, Karachi, form July 2019 to October, 2019. David Kolb’s learning style questionnaire, and a 2nd questionnaire to know preference for different teaching methodologies were distributed to the students. Learning styles were identified and their association with preferred teaching methods was checked by Chi-square test. Results: The mean age of the medical students was 21.5±1.69 years. Two hundred and thirteen (40.7%) participants were males and 310 (59.3%) females. By learning styles, 268 (51.7%) medical students were divergers, 118 (22.8%) were assimilators, 86 (16.6%) were accomodators and 46 (8.9%) were convergers. A significant association was found between learning styles and selected teaching methodologies such as interactive lectures (p=0.013), small group discussion (p=0.039) and self-study (p=0.032) while problem based learning, demonstration on models, lab work, one-way lecture and student presentation were not found to be significantly associated with learning styles. Conclusion: Majority of the medical students had diverger (51.7%) and assimilator (22.8%) learning styles. The teaching methodologies of interactive lectures, small group discussion and self-study were found to be associated with learning styles. Aligning our instructional strategies with learning styles of the medical students will improve learning and academic performance. Clinical Trial Number: Not Applicable Keywords: Learning, Problem-Based Learning, Teaching Methods, Continuous...

Objective: To determine the awareness regarding weaning and its associated factors among mothers in Kashmore, rural Sindh. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among infant’s mothers regarding awareness for weaning at Kashmore, a rural community in interior Sindh, from March 2108 to November 2018. The inclusion criteria were age of mothers 30 years or above and child’s age more than two years whereas mothers refusing to give verbal informed consent were excluded from the study. A total of 200 mothers were included in the study and were interviewed by using a questionnaire designed specifically for the study. Data were analyzed using statistical package for social sciences version 20 while Mann Whitney U test and Kruskal Wallis H test were used for inferential analysis. The study duration spanned over 9 months. Results: The mean age of the mothers was 27.1 ± 6.3 years and the average number of children for every household was 2.4 ± 1.3. When participants were asked about what weaning foods should be given to assess their awareness, 176 (88.0%) mothers said bread or roti, 153 (76.5%) said yogurt, 144 (72%) said boiled rice, 133 (66.5%) said vegetables, 130 (55.0%) said suji or kheer, 95 (47.5%) said egg yolk while only 71 (35.5%) said fruits. The study results further showed that among the socio-demographic characteristics compared the mean awareness scores of the mothers were significantly different across categories of mothers’ education (p

Objective: To assess tuberculosis related knowledge, attitude and practice among final year medical students of Karachi. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in two medical colleges located in different districts of Karachi from January 2017 to June 2017. Being a final year medical student of the college was the inclusion criterion whereas refusal to give written informed consent was the exclusion criterion of the study. Data were collected on a structured questionnaire administered by the principal investigator to all the participants. Data collected were analyzed using SPSS statistical package version 20. Results: Around two-thirds students knew that tuberculosis cannot be treated only on radiographic findings while a majority of them knew about the treatment regimens but knowledge about the different TB medicines and their side effects was variable. About 90% of the students believed that directly observed treatment short course therapy is effective while a similar number believed Bacille Calmette Guerin vaccination prevents tuberculosis. A fair number of students (63.1%) practice wearing of face mask while a majority (89.3%) of them reported that contagious patients should be isolated. Over 95% of the students stated that they give tuberculosis patients counseling and health education. Conclusion: Majority of students had correct knowledge, attitude and practices regarding tuberculosis. Increased exposure and education to medical students in both academic and clinical settings is recommended.

This research explored the exponentiated left truncated power distribution which is a bounded model. Various statistical properties which include the moments and their associated measures, Bonferroni and Lorenz curves, reliability measures, shapes, quantile function, entropy, and order statistics were discussed in detail. A simulation study was provided and applications to two real-world data were considered. The performance of the exponentiated left truncated power distribution over other bounded models like Topp-Leone distribution, Beta distribution, Kumaraswamy distribution, Lehmann type–I distribution, Lehmann type–II distribution, generalized power function, Weibull power function, and Mustapha type–II distribution is quite commendable.

Objective: To determine the frequency of skin diseases and its associated factors among patients visiting a dermatology clinic in Karachi. Methods: A cross sectional study was carried out from December 2018 to May 2019 at Baqai Institute of Health sciences, Baqai Medical University, Karachi. Available relevant data of all patients visiting a selected dermatology clinic in Karachi for a period of two years, from 1st January 2017 to 31st December 2018, were retrospectively gathered and recorded on the study questionnaire by the principal investigator. Statistical package for social sciences version 19.0 was used for analysis. Chi-square test was applied to check associations between the independent variables and the study outcome whereas the significance level was set at 0.05. The duration of the study was six months. Results: The study findings revealed that the highest frequency of skin diseases among the patients was of psoriasis (25.3%), followed by dermatitis (23.3%), scabies (14.1%), fungal infection (11.9%), acne (9.0%), folliculitis (4.4%), atopic dermatitis (4.1%), keloid (3.2%), warts (2.8%) and vitiligo (1.9%). Moreover, 51.2% of the patients came in the summer season. The study results also showed that season was found to be significantly associated with the diagnosis of the patients both among patients aged 25-49 years (p