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Objectives: The aim of the article was to evaluate Ki-67 expression in oral leukoplakia in snuff users and non-users. Study Design: Descriptive Cross sectional study. Setting: At different hospitals of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. Period: From August 2016 -- March 2017. Material & Methods: Clinically diagnosed and histopathologically confirmed cases of oral leukoplakia in snuff users and non-users 30 cases each were immunohistochemically examined and percentage expression of nuclear Ki-67 was evaluated by a semi quantitative method in basal, parabasal and suprabasal layers of the lining epithelium. Results: The relationship of expression of Ki-67 in parabasal and suprabasal layers of affected epithelium in snuff users was found to be statistically significant with a p value of 0.007 and 0.002 respectively. Conclusion: The present study concludes that the proliferative index is high in snuff users as compared to non-users which can be a factor for malignant transformation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Micronutrient (iron, zinc and boron) deficiencies are a basic and prominent factor affecting grape quality and yield in the Pothwar region. To overcome these deficiencies, different levels of micronutrients were applied foliarly on grapevines at five different berry developmental stages during two consecutive growing seasons (2018 and 2019). The data suggested that foliar treatment of micronutrients significantly increased the yield, number of bunches per vine, bunch weight, yield per vines, bunch length, berry number per cluster, berry diameter, berry weight and cluster compactness. The biochemical quality attributes of berries, including sugars (reducing, non-reducing as well as total sugars), ascorbic acid content, pH and TSS values, were at their highest levels in grapevines supplemented with Fe, Zn and B treatment at 200 ppm, respectively, i.e., the highest concentrations used. Biochemical leaf values, including chlorophyll a and b and leaf micronutrient content (Fe, Zn and B), were also highest in grapevines that were sprayed with Fe, Zn and B at 200 ppm. Overall, the results revealed that the performance of grapevine cv. ‘Flame Seedless’ growing in agroclimatic conditions of the Pothwar region was improved as a result of the foliar application of Fe, Zn and B at 200 ppm. The results also suggested that a further increase in the concentration of each nutrient might be helpful to obtain berries of improved quantity and quality.

Peaches are well-liked amongst the stone fruits in Pakistan. The peach industry faces significant losses, from harvesting to marketing. The objective of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of foliar sprays of salicylic acid (SA) on the fruit quality of peaches (cv. ‘Flordaking’) at the harvest and postharvest life or stages. Different concentrations of SA (control, 1, 2 and 3 mM) were sprayed on the plants at three growth stages of fruit, i.e., the cell division, cell enlargement and pit-hardening stages. In general, all the SA treatments improved the fruit quality at harvest and maintained higher levels of flesh firmness, titratable acidity and ascorbic acid during storage. However, fruit weight loss, soluble solid contents, membrane leakage, chilling injury, color development, disease and decay incidence and the climacteric peak of ethylene were lowered by SA treatment after six weeks of low-temperature storage. SA at a 3-mM concentration was proven to be the most effective in maintaining the quality for a longer period of time during low-temperature storage. Based on the results, it can be concluded that the application of SA at fruit development stages can improve the harvest quality and storability of ‘Flordaking’ peaches.

Encapsulated probiotic administration can be a nutritional strategy to improve the growth performance and immune status of fish. Here commercial application of encapsulated G. candidum was evaluated as a feed supplement to fingerlings of L. rohita reared in earthen ponds under semi-intensive culture conditions. Fingerlings with an average body weight of 20 ± 2.34 g were distributed randomly in three groups and experiment was conducted in triplicate. The control group (P0) was fed 35% protein basal diet while the two treated groups, P1 and P2 were fed basal diet supplemented with 109 CFU g−1 un-encapsulated (free) and encapsulated G. candidum , respectively, for eleven weeks. Results indicated significantly (P < 0.05) improved growth rate, intestinal enzyme activities (protease, amylase and cellulase) and hemato-immunological indices (RBCs, Hb, HCT, WBCs, MCHC, respiratory bursts and phagocytic activity, total protein, lysozyme, IgM), upregulation of heat shock protein HSP 70 gene in muscle, intestine and liver tissues and reduction of serum AST and ALT activities, total cholesterol and triglyceride in fish fed G. candidum supplemented diets (P1 and P2 groups) as compared to basal diet (P0 group). However, diet supplemented with encapsulated G. candidum showed the most significant (p < 0.001) positive effect in comparison to un-encapsulated probiotic. In conclusion, a pronounced effect of G. candidum especially in the encapsulated form on the growth, health status and immunity of L. rohita reared in semi intensive culture system, suggesting its application as a feed additive in practical/commercial semi-intensive earthen pond culture system. • Commercial application of free and encapsulated G. candidum was evaluated. • Dietary probiotic improved the health status of L. rohita. • G. candidum supplementation improved the growth and immunity of fish. • Probiotic supplemented diet also upregulated heat shock protein gene. • Encapsulated probiotic in contrast to free form showed profound effect in fish. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study proposes the machine learning based classification of medical plant leaves. The total six varieties of medicinal plant leaves-based dataset are collected from the Department of Agriculture, The Islamia University of Bahawalpur, Pakistan. These plants are commonly named in English as (herbal) Tulsi, Peppermint, Bael, Lemon balm, Catnip, and Stevia and scientifically named in Latin as Ocimum sanctum, Mentha balsamea, Aegle marmelos, Melissa officinalis, Nepeta cataria, and Stevia rebaudiana, respectively. The multispectral and digital image dataset are collected via a computer vision laboratory setup. For the preprocessing step, we crop the region of the leaf and transform it into a gray level format. Secondly, we perform a seed intensity-based edge/line detection utilizing Sobel filter and draw five regions of observations. A total of 65 fused features dataset is extracted, being a combination of texture, run-length matrix, and multi-spectral features. For the feature optimization process, we employ a chi-square feature selection approach and select 14 optimized features. Finally, five machine learning classifiers named as a multi-layer perceptron, logit-boost, bagging, random forest, and simple logistic are deployed on an optimized medicinal plant leaves dataset, and it is observed that the multi-layer perceptron classifier shows a relatively promising accuracy of 99.01% as compared to the competition. The distinct classification accuracy by the multi-layer perceptron classifier on six medicinal plant leaves are 99.10% for Tulsi, 99.80% for Peppermint, 98.40% for Bael, 99.90% for Lemon balm, 98.40% for Catnip, and 99.20% for Stevia.

Piezoelectric vibration energy harvester (PVEH) consists of a cantilever bimorph with piezoelectric layers pasted on its top and bottom, which can harvest power from vibrations and feed to low power wireless sensor nodes through some power conditioning circuit. In this paper, a non-linear conditioning circuit, consisting of a full-bridge rectifier followed by a buck–boost converter, is employed to investigate the issues of electrical side of the energy harvesting system. An integrated mathematical model of complete electromechanical system has been developed. Previously, researchers have studied PVEH with sophisticated piezo-beam models but employed simplistic linear circuits, such as resistor, as electrical load. In contrast, other researchers have worked on more complex non-linear circuits but with over-simplified piezo-beam models. Such models neglect different aspects of the system which result from complex interactions of its electrical and mechanical subsystems. In this work, authors have integrated the distributed parameter-based model of piezo-beam presented in literature with a real world non-linear electrical load. Then, the developed integrated model is employed to analyse the stability of complete energy harvesting system. This work provides a more realistic and useful electromechanical model having realistic non-linear electrical load unlike the simplistic linear circuit elements employed by many researchers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chromium contamination of agronomic soil has to turn into a serious global problem. This research was pointed to assess the effects of three Cr-tolerant rhizobacteria (SS1, SS3, and SS6) on sunflower growth and heavy metal uptake under Cr smog i.e. 20, 30 and 40 ppm using K 2 Cr 2 O 7 . Root promotion assay and pot experiment were conducted to investigate and evaluate the effects of Cr tolerance rhizobacteria and Cr accumulation capacity of sunflower. From root promotion assay non-significant variation was observed in the root length between SS1 and SS3 compared with un-inoculated whereas SS6 enhanced the root length in the absence and presence of chromium. In addition, inoculation with rhizobacteria alleviated the Cr concentration and endorsed plant growth by enhancing Cr accumulation in sunflower. At different Cr levels, the Cr concentration in shoot was improved by each rhizobacterium though their difference was non-significant with each other, while the percentage increase was half as the Cr level doubled. Different rhizobacterium inoculation significantly ( P < 0.05) affected the physiological and morphological characteristics of sunflower and increased the plant height, stem diameter, head diameter, grain yield, oil content of seeds, and total biomass, and among them, SS6 observed best followed by SS1 and SS3 comparing with un-inoculated. Our study illustrates an assessment about Cr-tolerant bacteria and their influences and recommends that these bacteria can effectively be used for crop improvement which provides a potential approach for Cr phytoremediation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The fractional derivatives are used in the sense modified Riemann-Liouville to obtain exact solutions for BBM-Burger equation of fractional order. This equation can be converted into an ordinary differential equation by using a persistent fractional complex transform and, as a result, hyperbolic function solutions, trigonometric function solutions, and rational solutions are attained. The performance of the method is reliable, useful, and gives newer general exact solutions with more free parameters than the existing methods. Numerical results coupled with the graphical representation completely reveal the trustworthiness of the method.

We use the fractional derivatives in Caputo’s sense to construct exact solutions to fractional fifth order nonlinear evolution equations. A generalized fractional complex transform is appropriately used to convert this equation to ordinary differential equation which subsequently resulted in a number of exact solutions.

In the title compound, C19H19ClN4S, the 2-chlorophenyl and [1,2,4]triazolo[3,4-b] [1,3,4]thiadiazole fragments (r.m.s. deviations of 0.015 and 0.017 Å, respectively) are oriented at a dihedral angle of 55.76 (6)°. The adamantane group exhibits extensive rotational disorder about the single C—C bond to the thiadiazole ring, which was modelled as occupying four orientations each with 0.25 occupancy. In the crystal, the chlorophenyl rings exhibit π–π stacking interactions with centroid–centroid distances of 3.9526 (18) Å.

The title molecule, C19H19FN4S, displays Cs molecular symmetry, in which the crystallographic mirror plane bisects the adamantan-1-yl unit while the 3-fluorophenyl triazole ring is located on the mirror plane. The F atom of the 3-fluorophenyl ring is positionally disordered [occupancy ratio 0.9:0.1]. In the crystal, π–π interactions between the triazole and phenyl rings occur [centroid–centroid distance = 3.5849 (7) Å] and weak C—H...F interactions form a ribbon propagating in [010].

In the title compound, C19H19FN4S, the planes of the 2-fluorophenyl and 1,2,4-triazolo[3,4-b][1,3,4]thiadiazole ring systems are oriented at a dihedral angle of 48.98 (6)°. In the crystal, weak C—H...S and C—H...π interactions may help to establish the packing and π–π interactions between the centroids of the benzene rings at a distance of 3.8792 (13) Å occur.

The title compound, C7H6BrNS, crystallizes with two molecules in the asymmetric unit. The dihedral angles between the aromatic ring and the thioamide fragment are 23.6 (4) and 20.5 (3)° in the two molecules. In the crystal, there are intermolecular N—H...S hydrogen-bonding interactions between the amine group and the S atoms.

In the title compound, C8H9NS, the dihedral angle between the aromatic ring and the thioamide fragment is 36.0 (2)°. There are π-stacking interactions between coplanar aryl fragments, with a centroid–centroid separation of 3.658 (2) Å. In addition, there are intermolecular hydrogen bonds between the amino group and the S atoms.

In the title compound, C7H6ClNS, the dihedral angle between the aromatic ring and the thioamide fragment is 28.1 (2)°. The structure features a π-stacking interaction between the aromatic rings with a slight offset of the rings, giving a centroid–centroid separation of 3.7942 (2) Å. There are intermolecular hydrogen-bonding interactions between the amino group and the S atoms.

Commensal as well as wild rats and mice may present a potential risk to public health. They may harbour microorganisms that can be transmitted either through contact with infected rodent urine or faeces, or through ectoparasites. Prevalence of zoonotic microorganism in house rat (Rattus rattus) and house mouse (Mus musculus) in different types of structures such as grocery shops, sweet shops, rice godowns, wheat godowns and poultry feed stores was studied in Sargodha and Faisalabad districts of Pakistan. In R. rattus, E. coli showed the highest prevalenc in faecal material from rice godowns (4.72%), while the lowest prevalence (3.46%) was in poultry feed stores (P<0.05). S. typhi had the higest prevalence (4.44%) in samples from grocery shops and lowest (3.56%) in those from sweet shops (P<0.05). Similarly, the highest prevalence of H. nana (3.89%) was recorded in faeces from grocery shops and lowest in those from poultry feed stores (P<0.05). In case of Mus musculus, rats from sweet shops showed the highest prevalence of E. coli (4.83%), while the lowest was in rats from wheat godowns (4.05%; P<0.05). S. typhi had the highest prevalence (4.56%) in grocery shops and lowest (3.28%) in sweet shops (P<0.05). For H. nana, the highest prevalence (3.61%) was noted in samples from rice godowns and lowest (3.00%) in sweet shops (P<0.05). Fecal samples of R. rattus and Mus musculus of all the structures of Sargodha district were significantly more infected with E. coli, S. typhi and H. nana compared with the samples collected from the structures of district Faisalabad (P<0.05). These results indicated that both house rat and house mouse may act as reservoir for E. coli, S. typhi and H. nana. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ability of a species and population to respond to a decrease or an increase in temperature depends on their adaptive potential. Here, the critical thermal tolerance (CTmax and CTmin) of four populations: Labeo rohita, Catla catla, and their reciprocal hybrids L. rohita♀ × C. catla♂ (RC) and C. catla♀ × L. rohita♂ (CR) being acclimatized at four acclimation temperatures (22, 26, 30 and 34 °C) were determined. All populations indicated substantial variations (P < 0.05) in CTmax and CTmin values. L. rohita displayed, comparatively the highest CTmax with largest total and intrinsic polygon zones as well as the upper and lower acquired thermal tolerance zones followed by RC and CR hybrids, while C. catla showed significantly the highest CTmin value and the smallest intrinsic and acquired thermal tolerance zones. Both hybrids illustrated low parent heterosis (≤11%). Additionally, the highest expression of Hsp70 and Hsp90 (heat shock proteins) genes, serum lysozyme level, respiratory burst activity and lowest lipid peroxidation level under lower and higher temperature shock further illustrated strong physiological mechanism of L. rohita in contrast to C. catla, to deal with acute temperature, while hybrids, especially F1 RC hybrid appeared as a good option to replace C. catla in relatively higher and lower temperature areas. • Thermal tolerance of parent species and their reciprocal hybrids (C. catla♀ × L. rohita♂ (CR) and L. rohita♀ × C. catla♂ (RC) at four acclimated temperature was evaluated. • L. rohita exhibited the largest thermal polygon area followed by RC hybrid and then CR hybrid. • Both hybrids showed better physiological response under thermal shock as compared to C. catla. • L. rohita and RC hybrid showed higher expression of Hsp after exposure to thermal assault. • L. rohita appeared more tolerant fish to temperature change followed by both hybrids. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chilli peppers are widely consumed for their pungency, as used in flavoring the food and has many pharmaceutical and medicinal properties. Based on these properties an experiment was held using 83 varieties of chilli (Hot pepper and sweet pepper) were grown in suitable environment using Augment Block design and evaluated for fruit pungency and phytochemical contents using high proficiency liquid chromatography. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) of traits showed highly significant for all traits except for fruit length and capsaicin contents. The value of Least significant increase (LSI)was ranged 0.27-1289.9 for all traits showed high variation among varieties. Highly significant correlation was found among fruit diameter to fruit weight 0.98, while moderate to high correlation was present among all traits. The most pungent genotype 24,634 was 4.8 g in weight, while the least pungent genotypes i.e. PPE-311 (32.8 g), green wonder (40.67) had higher in weight. The genotypes 24,627, 32,344, 32,368 and 1108 marked as higher number of seeds in their placental region. It was observed that chilli genotype 24,621 had maximum length with considerable high amount of pungency act as novel cultivar. Principal component analysis (PCA) showed the high variability of 46.97 for two PCs with the eigen value 2.6 and 1.63 was recorded. Biplot analysis showed a considerable variability for fruit pungency, while huge variability was found for all traits among given varieties. PPE-311, T5 and T3 are found as highly divergent for all traits. The findings of this study are instrumental for selecting parents to improve desirable traits in future chilli pepper breeding programs. It will help plant/vegetable breeders for development of highly nutrient and pungent varieties and attractive for the consumer of food sector., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Nowadays, lower post-release survivorship of hatchery-reared fish in natural aquatic bodies has attained great attention and research is in progress to determine the reasons for their higher mortality. It is assumed that hatchery rearing environments negatively affect the physiological stress response of the fish. Thus, understanding how rearing environments modulate this is important for the well-being of fish. Here, an attempt has been made to assess the influence of two early rearing environments, i.e., barren (BR), mimic the conventional hatchery rearing environment; without any substrate and enrichment items and structurally enriched (ER), containing multi-colored gravel substrate, cobbles and plants, on the stress regulators i.e., HPI-axis and brain monoaminergic system of fish. Three-day old grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella) postlarvae were reared up to the fingerling stage in the aforementioned environments. For the stress assay, fish were subjected to net capture followed by 30 min confinement in a small container at a lower water level. The pre- and post-stress responses were compared by evaluating their water-borne cortisol and the mRNA level of corticotropin releasing hormone (CRH), dopamine D1A receptor (DRD1A) and hydroxytryptamine receptor 2B (HTR2B) in the whole brain through qPCR analysis. Results of two-way ANOVA revealed significantly low (p < .001) post-stress concentration and release rate of water-borne cortisol and pre- and post-stress expression of CRH, DRD1A and HTR2B genes in the ER than BR fish. It is concluded that a structurally complex early rearing environment reduces the stress level in fish.

Contamination of pre-urban arable land, by untreated municipal/industrial effluents derived heavy metals, is causing serious health hazards to human beings and abiotic components of the ecosystem. In this study, phytoremedial potential of four non-eatable floriculture plants, i.e. antirrhinum, pansy, calendula, and marigold, was explored by growing in heavy metal contaminated soil (collected from pre-urban area under untreated wastewater irrigation for more than 20 years) amended with bacterial inoculum and EDTA amended soils under greenhouse conditions for 75 days. Bacterial inoculation gave a maximum increase in the root (47.1%) and shoot (30.9%) biomass, while EDTA amendment gave 37.1 and 21.4%, respectively. However, EDTA application increases more metal concentrations in the root (65%) and shoot (36%) than that of bacterial inoculum, i.e. 37 and 27%, respectively. The values of bioconcentration factor (BCF) of all the plants for Cd, Cr, Ni and Pb were significantly increased by EDTA application and bacterial inoculum over control. The BCF values were either ≈1 or >1 in all the treatments in case of Cr. Ni and Pb. Contrarily, reduction in translocation factor (TF) values of all the flowering plants for all the metals were observed over control when the growth medium was treated with EDTA and bacterial inoculum.

Arsenic (As) concentrations in fine (2) and coarse (3) rice varieties belonging to Hafizabad, Gujranwala and Sheikhupura districts was assessed initially by means of field survey, followed by pot experiments. Bulk soil samples collected from same rice districts (Hafizabad and Gujtanwala) were spiked with As (0, 10, 20 mg kg -1 ) and each was amended with iron sulphate (0, 25, 50 g kg -1 ) to investigate their effect on plant growth and uptake under anaerobic conditions. Survey results revealed that mainly fine long grain (Super Basmati and KSK 515) and coarse long grain (Basmati 386 and Kainat) rice varieties were grown in the area. Overall, 16% rice grain samples were above the recommended permissible limit (RPL) of 300 mg kg -1 . Among varieties, 24% grain samples of coarse and 12% of fine varieties had As concentration above the RPL. Results of pot experiments showed a significant decrease in straw and grain yield and increase in As concentration with increasing rates of As spiking. Paddy yield increased significantly when As spiked soils were amended with iron sulfate; and opposite was true for As concentration.

Heavy metals phytoextraction potential of swollen duckweed ( Lemna gibba Linn.) and lesser duckweed ( Lemna aequinoctialis Welw.) was determined under greenhouse conditions by exposing to untreated industrial/municipal effluent for a period of 21   days. The nickel (Ni), lead (Pb), and cadmium (Cd) concentrations in water samples were measured weekly and in plant biomass at the termination of experiments. Significant differences ( p   <   0.05) between initial and final physicochemical parameters and in heavy metal concentrations of plant and water samples were observed. Periodically measured metal concentrations in mediums revealed that removal percentage was dependent on initial Ni (2.15   mg L -1 ), Pb (1.51   mg L -1 ), and Cd (0.74   mg L -1 ) concentrations. The final metal removal percentages were in the sequence of Ni (97%) > Pb (94%) > Cd (90%) when treated with Lemna gibba L. as compared to control (9-12% reduction). High biomass production of Lemna gibba L. resulted in a large metal reduction in the growth medium and the total plant metal contents were in the sequence of Ni (427   µg) > Pb (293   µg) > Cd (105   µg). The lesser duckweed did not survive under experimental conditions. Based on these results, we concluded that Lemna gibba L. is a good candidate for phytoremediation of wastewater.

Lead (Pb), chromium (Cr), and cadmium (Cd) removal capacity of sawdust (Picea smithiana) from aqueous solution was investigated by conducting batch experiments. Thermodynamic parameters, like change in standard free energy (ΔG Θ ), enthalpy (ΔH Θ ) and entropy (ΔS Θ ) during bio-adsorption process were estimated using the Van't Hoff equation. The maximum metals adsorption was observed at pH 8, 20 g L -1 bio-adsorbent and at 60 min of contact time. The metal adsorption kinetics was examined by fitting the pseudo-first-order as well as four forms of pseudo-second-order kinetic models. Type 1 pseudo-second-order equation described adsorption kinetics better than others. Langmuir model and Freundlich equations were used for calculation of sorption parameters. The Langmuir maximum adsorption capacity of Pb, Cr, and Cd was 6.35, 3.37, and 2.87 mg g -1 at room temperature, respectively. The values of the separation factor (RL) were in between 0 and 1, indicating that bio-adsorption was favorable. Thermodynamics study revealed that the Pb, Cr, and Cd uptake reactions were endothermic and spontaneous. Results of the study asserted that the removal of heavy metal ions from aqueous solution is viable and the sawdust could be used in the treatment of effluents from industries, thereby reducing the level of water pollution.

Municipal effluent of three rural settings of Islamabad was assessed for physicochemical and microbiological parameters by collecting wastewater from inlet and center of ponds. Results showed that water quality was comparatively better at the center as Typha latifolia plants were growing toward the center of ponds. In another study, the wastewater treatment ability of T. latifolia was investigated by growing them in industrial and municipal effluent under greenhouse conditions. Water and plant samples were collected periodically (3rd, 10th, 17th, 24th, and 31st day after transplanting) for the measurement of Pb, Cu, and Cd concentrations. A decrease in heavy metal concentration of both effluents was observed as the experiment progressed and metal removal percentages ranged between 81% and 96%. Complementary the increase in metal concentration in plant tissues was observed over experimental period. Among plant tissues, metal concentration of Pb was highest i.e. 362 mg kg -1 in roots and 313 mg kg -1 in shoots at end of experiment. Pb, Cu, and Cd concentrations were higher in roots than shoots and hence translocation factors were less than 1.0. Metal removal efficiency was better from industrial wastewater and was in order of Pb > Cu > Cd. T. latifolia can be used for remediation of heavy metal-polluted wastewater.

The abilities of sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L.) and oat (Avena sativa L.) to take up heavy metals from soils amended with ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) were assessed under greenhouse conditions. Both plants were grown in two soils contaminated with heavy metals (Gujranwala-silty loam and Pacca-clay loam). The soils were treated with 0, 0.625, 1.25, and 2.5 mM EDTA kg -1 soil applied at both 45 and 60 days after sowing (DAS); the experiment was terminated at 75 DAS. Addition of EDTA significantly increased concentrations of Cd, Cr, and Pb in roots and shoots, and bio-concentration factors and phytoextraction rates were also increased. Post-harvest soil analysis showed that soluble fractions of metals were also increased significantly. The increase in Cd was ≈ 3-fold and Pb was ≈ 15-fold at the highest addition of EDTA in Gujranwala soil; in the Pacca soil, the increase was less. Similarly, other phytoremediation factors, such as metal translocation, bio-concentration factor, and phytoextraction, efficiency were also maximum when soils were treated with 2.5 mM EDTA kg -1 soil. The study demonstrated that sorghum was better than oat for phytoremediation.

In this study, cadmium (Cd), chromium (Cr), and lead (Pb) adsorption potential of unmodified and modified sugarcane bagasse and ground wheat straw was explored from aqueous solution through batch equilibrium technique. Both the materials were chemically modified by treating with sodium hydroxide (NaOH) alone and in combination with nitric acid (HNO3) and sulfuric acid (H2SO4). Two kinetic models, pseudo-first order and pseudo-second order were used to follow the adsorption process and reaction fallowed the later model. The Pb removal by both the materials was highest and followed by Cr and Cd. The chemical treatment invariably increased the adsorption capacity and NaOH treatment proved more effective than others. Langmuir maximum sorption capacity (q m) of Pb was utmost (12.8-23.3 mg/g of sugarcane bagasse, 14.5-22.4 mg/g of wheat straw) and of Cd was least (1.5-2.2 mg/g of sugarcane bagasse, 2.5-3.8 mg/g of wheat straw). The q m was in the order of Pb > Cr > Cd for all the three adsorbents. Results demonstrate that agricultural waste materials used in this study could be used to remediate the heavy metal-polluted water.

Bt-cotton germplasm, consisting of 75 genotypes was evaluated against cotton leaf curl disease (CLCuD) under high inoculum pressure in the field and using graft inoculation in glasshouse by visual symptom scoring assessments. None of the tested genotype was found disease free under both evaluation tests. Under field conditions in 2011, 3 genotypes were found resistant, 4 moderately resistant, 3 tolerant, 2 moderately susceptible and one susceptible; in 2012, 3 genotypes were tolerant, 7 moderately susceptible, 5 susceptible and 38 highly susceptible; in 2013, one was moderately susceptible and 51 were highly susceptible with varying degree of percent disease index (PDI) and severity index (SI). However, through graft evaluation in glasshouse, none of the graft inoculated plant was symptomless. All tested genotypes showed disease symptoms with SI values ranging between 5.0 and 6.0, and latent period between 12 and 14 days. Of the 75 genotypes evaluated using graft inoculation, 11 were found susceptible with SI values of 5.0 to 5.4 while remaining 64 were highly susceptible with SI values of 5.5 to 6.0. Inoculated plants of all tested genotypes exhibited severe disease symptoms within 10 days after the appearance of initial symptoms. No reduction in SI value was observed until the end of the experiment i.e., 90 days after grafting. Information generated under the present study clearly demonstrates that no sources of resistance to CLCuD are available among the tested Bt-cotton genotypes. So, a breeding programme is needed to introgress the CLCuD-resistance from other resistant sources to agronomically suitable Bt-cotton genotypes.

The adsorption of cadmium (Cd), chromium (Cr), and lead (Pb), widely detected in wastewater, by unmodified and modified banana stalks, corn cob, and sunflower achene was explored. The three agricultural wastes were chemically modified with sodium hydroxide (NaOH), in combination with nitric acid (HNO3) and sulfuric acid (H2SO4), in order to improve their adsorptive binding capacity. The experiments were conducted as a function of contact time and initial metal ion concentrations. Of the three waste materials, corn cob had the highest adsorptive capacity for Pb than Cr and Cd. The NaOH-modified substrates had higher adsorptive capacity than the acid modified samples. The chemical treatment invariably increased the adsorption capacity between 10 and 100 %. The Langmuir maximum sorption capacity (q m) of Pb was highest (21-60 mg g(-1) of banana, 30-57 mg g(-1) of corn cob, and 23-28 mg g(-1) of sunflower achene) and that of Cd was least (4-7 mg g(-1) of banana, 14-20 mg g(-1) of corn cob, and 11-16 mg g(-1) of sunflower achene). The q m was in the order of Pb > Cr > Cd for all the three adsorbents. The results demonstrate that the agricultural waste materials used in this study could be used to remediate water polluted with heavy metals.

In the title compound, C(19)H(19)ClN(4)S, the 2-chloro-phenyl and [1,2,4]triazolo[3,4-b] [1,3,4]thia-diazole fragments (r.m.s. deviations of 0.015 and 0.017 Å, respectively) are oriented at a dihedral angle of 55.76 (6)°. The adamantane group exhibits extensive rotational disorder about the single C-C bond to the thia-diazole ring, which was modelled as occupying four orientations each with 0.25 occupancy. In the crystal, the chloro-phenyl rings exhibit π-π stacking inter-actions with centroid-centroid distances of 3.9526 (18) Å.

The title mol-ecule, C(19)H(19)FN(4)S, displays C(s) mol-ecular symmetry, in which the crystallographic mirror plane bis-ects the adamantan-1-yl unit while the 3-fluoro-phenyl triazole ring is located on the mirror plane. The F atom of the 3-fluoro-phenyl ring is positionally disordered [occupancy ratio 0.9:0.1]. In the crystal, π-π inter-actions between the triazole and phenyl rings occur [centroid-centroid distance = 3.5849 (7) Å] and weak C-H⋯F inter-actions form a ribbon propagating in [010].

Background: Left atrial thrombus is common in patients with mitral stenosis and atrial fibrillation; but how frequent it is in our population? The objective of study was to see the frequency of left atrial and appendage clot on trans-oesophageal echocardiography in symptomatic patients with severe mitral stenosis planned for PTMC., Methods: Trans-oesophageal echocardiographic data retrieved from computer database Cardiology department, Lady Reading Hospital, Peshawar from August 1998 to Mach 2008. Patients admitted for PTMC under went trans-oesophageal echocardiography for detection of left atrial and appendage clot and quantification of mitral regurgitation. Data was analyzed on SPSS., Results: Out of 1544 patients, males were 608 (39.4%), females were 936 (60.6%). Mean age was 30.84 +/- 12.6. Mean age of males was 30.56 +/- 13.1 years and females were 31.02 +/- 12.6 years. Minimum age was 8 years and maximum was 76 years. The mean LA size was 43.82 +/- 2.12 mm.Atrial fibrillation was observed in 289 (18.7%).Overall clot was seen in 224 (14.5%) patients. Left atrial appendage clot seen in 202 (89.73%).LA clot seen in 9 (4.02%). LAA/LA clot seen in 14 (6.25%). No significant difference was observed for clot among the gender distribution (p=0.42). Significant correlation was observed for clot in patients with AF and LA size > or = 45 mm, (p>0.001)., Conclusion: The frequency of left atrial and appendage clots on trans-oesophageal echocardiography in patients with severe mitral stenosis is common and more frequent in patients with AF and LA size > or = 45 mm.

In the title compound, C(19)H(19)FN(4)S, the planes of the 2-fluoro-phenyl and 1,2,4-triazolo[3,4-b][1,3,4]thia-diazole ring systems are oriented at a dihedral angle of 48.98 (6)°. In the crystal, weak C-H⋯S and C-H⋯π inter-actions may help to establish the packing and π-π inter-actions between the centroids of the benzene rings at a distance of 3.8792 (13) Å occur.

In the title compound, C(8)H(9)NS, the dihedral angle between the aromatic ring and the thio-amide fragment is 36.0 (2)°. There are π-stacking inter-actions between coplanar aryl fragments, with a centroid-centroid separation of 3.658 (2) Å. In addition, there are inter-molecular hydrogen bonds between the amino group and the S atoms.

The title compound, C(7)H(6)BrNS, crystallizes with two mol-ecules in the asymmetric unit. The dihedral angles between the aromatic ring and the thio-amide fragment are 23.6 (4) and 20.5 (3)° in the two mol-ecules. In the crystal, there are inter-molecular N-H⋯S hydrogen-bonding inter-actions between the amine group and the S atoms.

In the title compound, C(7)H(6)ClNS, the dihedral angle between the aromatic ring and the thio-amide fragment is 28.1 (2)°. The structure features a π-stacking inter-action between the aromatic rings with a slight offset of the rings, giving a centroid-centroid separation of 3.7942 (2) Å. There are inter-molecular hydrogen-bonding inter-actions between the amino group and the S atoms.

Mainstream preventive interventions often fail to reach poor populations with a high risk of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) in Pakistan. A community-based CVD primary prevention project aimed at developing approaches to reduce risk factors in such populations was established by Heartfile in collaboration with the National Rural Support Program in the district of Lodhran. The project implemented a range of activities integrated with existing social and health service mechanisms during a three year intervention period 2000/01-03/04. These were targeted in 4 key settings: community health education, mass media interventions, training of health professionals and health education through Lady Health Workers. The project received support from the Department for International Development, U.K. At the community level, a pre-test-post-test quasi-experimental design was used for examining project outcomes related to the community component of the intervention. Pre and post-intervention (training) evaluations were conducted involving all health care providers in randomly selected workshops in order to determine baseline levels of knowledge and the impact of training on knowledge level. In order to assess practices of physician and non-physician health care providers patient interviews, with control comparisons were conducted at each health care facility. Significant positive changes were observed in knowledge levels at a community level in the district of intervention compared with baseline knowledge levels particularly in relation to a heart healthy diet, beneficial level of physical activity, the causes of high blood pressure and heart attack and the effects of high blood pressure and active and passive smoking on health. Significant changes in behaviors at a practice level were not shown in the district of intervention. However the project played a critical role in spurring national action for the prevention and control of non-communicable diseases and introducing sustainable public health interventions for poor communities in Pakistan.