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Although Afghanistan shares a common religion, race, history, ethnicity and geography with Pakistan, yet the relations between both have never been smooth and remained estranged. The nature of Pak-Afghan relations saw many ups and downs in past decades and has always been flimsy and they are found in murky waters. Since Pakistan's independence, there have been concerns and determination to have jovial and friendly relations between both the countries. The relationships between the two neighbors can be described as challenging and complex. The detriments that mainly manipulate these relationships have been questionable and experienced ebb and flow for historical and geopolitical reasons with the exception of brief interludes. This distrust at times bordering on hostility continues to date although some has been done to improve the working relationship by third parties i.e., US and EU. In the changed regional context of post 9/11 developments carry hallmark significance in the world history as it has brought both the countries at the brink of major national disasters. The post 9/11 scenario provided an opportunity to Pakistan to renew its diplomatic ties and political relations with Afghanistan and to reconsider her Afghan policy. This paper aims at discussing the core problems and highlights the future prospects of Pak-Afghan relations in post 9/11 scenario, as it brought a drastic change in world in generally and in this region particularly. It is a turning point in history when Taliban government was ousted as a result of American military action in Afghanistan. The study will explore and reveal its overall impact on both the countries with the existing diplomatic relations, areas of hostility and economic relations with making suitable recommendations for strengthening political stability in the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Each conflict has components which mark for simple and uncomplicated evaluation to the previous ones. It has been American history that whenever it involved in any war, it had to come across much difficult and unpleasant situations. In the World War II, Vietnam was boondocks for American armed forces, and nothing much was important as far as an absolute struggle against Japan and American officials charged with the contours of the post-war world, was concerned. Still paradoxically, United States became involved in Vietnam even before the eruption of armed hostilities between the French and Vietminh. It is generally believed that the US has neither fought any war larger than Vietnam War nor has any of its war been criticized so far. And there is no weighing up of the sufferings. The toll in suffering, grief in resentful national commotion can never be put into a table. Today the US is again entangled in a war in Afghanistan which has entered in 13th year with no results and success in the offing. This paper is an attempt to analyze whether Vietnam War, fought 48 years ago, was indeed the first episode of today's Afghan War or not? The study will comprise of all the details of those times in order to bring out comparison between the two wars. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The year 2014 expects to witness the pulling out of foreign forces from Afghanistan, however not absolutely. The defence matters of the country then be relinquished to Afghan National Security Forces (ANF), despite the fact that the White House does not have a unanimous opinion on the remaining numbers of troops in Afghanistan after 2014 and that number varies from 20,000 to 30, 000. However, the most important issue today has become how Afghanistan will tackle its security forces in the presence of militants and keeping in view this scenario, what would be the role of Pakistan and the US? The paper will study the pitfalls and factors, regarding the possible scenarios in Afghanistan and Pakistan following the ISAF withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2014? The paper shall also discuss how the interests and actions of other powers in the wider region around Afghanistan will determine the outcomes in the coming years? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

America takes the death of Osama Bin Laden as an important milestone in the war against terror. May 2, 2011 was the day when the sole Superpower found and killed the "Most Wanted Man" in Operation Geronimo, in Abottabad. Many questions remained unanswered which emerged as a result of this operation. The most imperative was, if Osama was found alive, why he had not been arrested? As much has been written about how this operation happened and how America fabricated the whole episode; this paper is an attempt to analyze Pak-US ties in post-Osama period. It will also explore the hard fact that Abottabad Operation is an significant twist of American Global War's Design which in the times to come, will help US to intervene Pakistan, whenever, wherever and however, it would like. The study will look at the situation whether really the death of Osama has achieved the target of a decade long war or not, whose cost of sending troops in Afghanistan is more than 400 billion dollars. The paper will conclude with the theory that since Osama has been found, the United States should carefully start the withdrawal of its forces from Afghanistan, in order to ensure peace in this region. Though America called the death of Bin Laden a "Great Success" of its "Counter-terrorism" Policy, yet nothing concrete has come out in one year from his death till date, except the souring relations between Pakistan and the United States. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The global changes have occurred throughout the 20th century and there is no reason to believe that they will slow down their pace in this millennium. The disintegration of the Soviet Union with its defeat in the Cold War and the terrorist attacks of September 11 have changed geopolitical environment and generated new forms of instability in the world and particularly in South Asia. These events also damaged those traditional international security arrangements that were evolved after the World War II. This paper will examine the major challenges and trends in Pakistan's foreign policy after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 that caused major shift in the US policy towards the region and the issues pertaining to the US-led global war that has much significance for Pakistan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although Afghanistan shares a common religion, race, history, ethnicity and geography with Pakistan, yet the relations between both have never been smooth and remained estranged. The nature of Pak-Afghan relations saw many ups and downs in past decades and has always been flimsy and they are found in murky waters. Since Pakistan's independence, there have been concerns and determination to have jovial and friendly relations between both the countries. The relationships between the two neighbors can be described as challenging and complex. The detriments that mainly manipulate these relationships have been questionable and experienced ebb and flow for historical and geopolitical reasons with the exception of brief interludes. This distrust at times bordering on hostility continues to date although some has been done to improve the working relationship by third parties i.e., US and EU. In the changed regional context of post 9/11 developments carry hallmark significance in the world history as it has brought both the countries at the brink of major national disasters. The post 9/11 scenario provided an opportunity to Pakistan to renew its diplomatic ties and political relations with Afghanistan and to reconsider her Afghan policy. This paper aims at discussing the core problems and highlights the future prospects of Pak-Afghan relations in post 9/11 scenario, as it brought a drastic change in world in generally and in this region particularly. It is a turning point in history when Taliban government was ousted as a result of American military action in Afghanistan. The study will explore and reveal its overall impact on both the countries with the existing diplomatic relations, areas of hostility and economic relations with making suitable recommendations for strengthening political stability in the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Before the World War II, the US policy was a compound of cooperation and isolation towards the world affairs and the US has no direct link in Southwest Asia and this area was under British influence. The main reason was lack of American commercial interests in Afghanistan and the role of Britain as guardian of Afghan foreign affairs, which obviated an early meaningful relationship between the two countries. So the history of US-Afghan relations is not very long and the efforts of the Afghan government for establishing relationship were not cherished up until 1934 and formal diplomatic relations were established in 1942. Afghanistan continued its traditional and preferred role as a buffer state, which prevented it from going into the orbit of any superpower or joining any military alliance. However, the Soviet influence increased and the Soviets provided military training and arms supply to Afghan army. The US adopted flexible approach in its relations with the Soviets, which resulted in increasing influence of communism and ultimately, Soviet troops invaded Afghanistan on December 27, 1979, which totally altered the geo-strategic situation. Pakistan became a frontline state and the US made arrangements to supply military assistance to resistance groups without its direct involvement. In 1981, President Reagan took power with his tough anti-communist stance and made Moscow pay a high military and political price for the intervention in Afghanistan. The Soviet left Afghanistan after signing Geneva Accords in February 1989. In the absence of a central government, a civil war erupted which brought the Taliban in power. The paper will explore historical events which led to the events of 9/11 and war on terrorism in Afghanistan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The new Afghan policy is articulated to achieve military victory as it is characterized with increasing military operation and escalation in aerial strikes in border areas of Pakistan and a new surge of 30,000 US troops to Afghanistan, seems a part of the strategy. It is important to note that for the first time, a timeline for the evacuation of NATO troops along with an exit strategy for the American forces has been given, following up the American presidential elections in November 2012. Although the interests of both Pakistan and US coincide yet Washington is not satisfied with Islamabad. This paper aims at discussing the US agenda in Afghanistan and its implications for Pakistan. It will look at the real intentions of US- whether it really wants to defeat Taliban or dismantle Al-Qaeda or both and is the new strategy likely to be effective? Surely it will be decided in the times to come, as it is not possible to predict about forestall future. The fundamental questions are about the success of this strategy as America could not win the war in last eight years, how could it assert its success by sending more troops? It seems that Obama's new Afghan policy is indeed the formulation of its policy for Pakistan which is to come into effect from 2010. The policy carries many aspects of fears and dangers for Pakistan. It is doubted that the increased US troops is to build more pressure on Pakistan. Is it not likely that America is creating this situation under proper planning and is pushing Pakistan in this warfront? As this policy is a vivid picture of an endless conflict in the South Asian region, the paper is an effort to analyze and explore the covert groundwork through notorious organizations like black water and other foreign elements, which are organized by them to create chaos and confusion in Pakistan. What are their hidden designs? Why the number of high ranking US officials, NGOs, delegations, security agencies, diplomats and 'spies' have increased all of a sudden? These all aspects will be discussed in the paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Mesotheliomas arising from the lining of the mesothelial cells of the peritoneum are rare. However, they are strongly linked to asbestos exposure, similar to the relatively well-known pleural mesotheliomas. It is slightly more common in men than in women, with the majority of cases seen in Caucasians older than 50 years. Distant spread of tumor, size > 4 cm, and negative lymph node status were observed in our study among the patients with evaluable data. Optimal outcomes are achieved when patients are treated in specialized centers with surgical debulking followed by heated chemotherapy administered intraoperatively. Systemic chemotherapy and radiation are options for the selected patient groups. Patients with poorly differentiated large tumors (>4 cm), Caucasian race, and distant spread of disease outside the abdominal cavity have worse prognosis. Background: Primary peritoneal mesothelioma (PPM) is a rare and aggressive tumor arising from the visceral and parietal peritoneum. The diagnosis and treatment of PPM are often delayed because of non-specific clinical presentation, and the prognosis is worse. The current study investigated the demographic, clinical, and pathological factors affecting patient prognosis and survival in PPM. Methods: Demographic and clinical data of 1998 patients with PPM were extracted from the Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) database (1975–2016). The chi-square test, paired t-test, and multivariate analysis were used to analyze the data. Results: The majority of PPM patients were male (56.2%, p < 0.005) and Caucasian (90.4%, p < 0.005, with a mean age of diagnosis was 69 ± 13 years. The grading, histological, and tumor size information were classified as "Unknown" in most of the cases, but when available, poorly differentiated tumors (8.7%), malignant mesothelioma, not otherwise specified (63.4%) and tumors > 4 cm in size (8%), respectively, were most common, p < 0.005. Chemotherapy was administered to 50.6% of patients, followed by resection (29.2%) and radiation (1.5%), p < 0.001. The cohort of PPM had a five-year overall survival of 20.3% (±1.1), compared to 43.5% (±5.9), 25.9% (± 8.4), and 18.7% (±1.6) for those with surgery, radiation, or chemotherapy alone, respectively. Poor differentiation (OR = 4.2, CI = 3.3–4.9), tumor size > 4 cm (OR = 3.9, CI = 3.2–4.5), Caucasian race (OR = 2.9, CI = 2.6–4.4), and distant SEER stage (OR = 2.5, CI = 1.1–3.2) were all linked with increased mortality (p < 0.001). Conclusion: An extremely rare and aggressive peritoneal tumor, PPM may be difficult to identify at the time of diagnosis. Radiation therapy likely to have a limited function in the treatment of this condition, with surgery and chemotherapy being the primary choices. All PPM patients should be enrolled in a nationwide registry to improve our understanding of the pathogenesis and identify factors affecting survival. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Global agricultural systems face one of the greatest sustainability challenges: meeting the growing demand for food without leaving a negative environmental footprint. United States (US) and China are the two largest economies and account for 39 % of total global greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions into the atmosphere. No-till is a promising land management option that allows agriculture to better adapt and mitigate climate change effects compared to traditional tillage. However, the efficacy of no-till for mitigating GHG is still debatable. In this meta-analysis, we comprehensively assess the impact of no-till (relative to traditional tillage) on GHG mitigation potential and crop productivity in different agroecological systems and management regimes in the US and China. Overall, no-till in China did not change crop yields, although soil CO 2 (8 %) and N 2 O (12 %) emissions decreased significantly, while soil CH 4 emissions increased by 12 %. In contrast to Chinese no-till, a significant improvement in crop yields (up to 12 %) was recorded on US cropland under no-till. Moreover, significant decreases in soil N 2 O (21 %) and CH 4 (12 %) emissions were observed. Of the three cropping systems, only wheat showed significant reduction in CO 2 , N 2 O and CH 4 emissions in the Chinese no-till system. In the case of US, no-till soybean-rice and maize cropping systems demonstrated significant emission reductions for N 2 O and CO 2 , respectively. Interestingly, yields of no-till maize in China and rice in US exceeded those of other no-till cereals. In China, no-till on medium-texture soils resulted in significant reductions in GHG emissions and higher crop yields compared to other soil types. In both countries, the relatively higher crop yields under irrigated versus non-irrigated no-till and the significant yield differences on fine textured soils under US no-till are likely due to the substantial N 2 O reductions. In summary, crop yield disparities from no-till between China and the US were related to the insignificant effects on controlling CH 4 emissions and successfully mitigating N 2 O, respectively. This study comprehensively demonstrates how cropping system and pedoclimatic conditions influence the relative effectiveness of no-till in both countries., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)