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The versatility of Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats/Cas (CRISPR/Cas) genome editing tool ushered biologists into an exciting era of editing genomes with great efficiency and at a pace that was never imagined before. Though the CRISPR/Cas genome editing was developed after Zinc Finger Nucleases (ZFNs) and Transcription activator-like effector nucleases (TALENs), it is more popular and successful than these genome editing systems. The advent of targetable nucleases such as Cas9 has enabled manipulation of genomes in an accurate and precise manner. The CRISPR/Cas system of editing plant genomes has technical and economical advantages over conventional breeding methods. It has led to the development of traits within plant genomes that fulfill the needs of mankind. Advent of innovative procedures have paved the way for effective and efficient genome editing that has revolutionized genetic aspects and meets the safety regulations toward development of crops. The present review highlights the critical aspects of employing CRISPR/Cas for editing plant genomes in comparison with previously known editing approaches, such as ZFNs and TALENs. The study includes descriptive information on the approaches, procedural programs and applications in editing plant genomes for improving traits such as crop yield, resistance against emerging pathogens, abiotic stresses and herbicide tolerance thereof in the present-day world.

Diversity of plant parasitic nematodes in the rhizosphere of maize ( Zea mays ) from some areas of District Rajouri, Jammu and Kashmir was studied. A total of ten plant parasitic nematode species were found to be associated with the rhizosphere of maize plants in these areas. The nematode species were Pratylenchus zeae, P. brachyurus, Helicotylenchus dihystera , Longidorus brevicaudatus , L. elongatus , Xiphinema diversicadatum, X. elongatum, Tylenchorhynchus spp. Ditylenchus spp . and Criconemoides spp . The most dominant and frequently occurring species was found to be P. zeae, with absolute frequency of 86.66% followed by P. brachyurus (80%), H. dihystera , (76.66%) and L. brevicaudatus (73.33). Contrarily, the least frequent was Criconemoides spp. (36.66%) followed by Tylenchorhynchus spp. and Ditylenchus spp . with absolute frequencies of 53.33% and 60%. Similar trend was observed in case of relative frequencies. In case of P. zeae, mean density of 56 and relative density of 16.05% was observed followed by P. brachyurus and H. dihystera with mean densities and relative densities of 50.33, 14.43% and 49, 14.04% respectively. On the other hand, Criconemoides spp . and Tylenchorhynchus spp. showed mean densities of 6.33 and 23.33 and absolute densities of 1.81% and 6.68% respectively. P. zeae exhibited high prominence value of 57.85 followed by P. brachyurus (49.96 ). The least prominence value was found in Criconemoides spp. (4.05) followed by Tylenchorhynchus spp. with prominence value of 18.30.

This article describes how recursive spatial multiplexing (RSM) is a closed-loop multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) structure for achieving the capacity offered by MIMO channels with a low-complexity detector. The authors investigate how to make RSM able to provide a bit-error rate performance, which is robust against different types and levels of interference. The interference arising from simultaneous transmission of information signals is taken into account in the RSM scheme at the receiver using a whitening approach. Here, the covariance matrix is estimated and used subsequently for defining the retransmission subspace identifier to be fed back to the transmitter. The performance of this adaptive RSM scheme is compared with standard linear detection schemes like zero-forcing and minimum mean-squared error receivers. It turns out that the adaptive interference whitening substantially improves the bit-error rate performance. Moreover, adaptive RSM leads to a performance being independent of the correlation coefficient of the interference signals.

Introduction Extra-intestinal manifestations (EIM) play an important role in the mortality, morbidity, and quality of life in patients with Crohn’s disease (CD). Understanding the prevalence and clinical course of these manifestations is important to understand and manage CD. Materials and methods The hospital records of 103 patients diagnosed with CD between July 2016 and December 2019 at a tertiary care hospital in Pakistan were reviewed retrospectively. Baseline demographic and clinical characteristics including sex, age, follow-up duration, CD phenotype at diagnosis, clinical features, and course of EIMs were noted. The diagnosis of CD was based on clinical features in combination with endoscopic and radiologic findings. CD phenotype at diagnosis was assessed using the Montreal Classification by the World Congress of Gastroenterology (WCOG). Results The mean age at diagnosis of CD was 31 ±8 years. The most common age group as per the Montreal classification at diagnosis was 17-40 years (68.93%). The most common localization of disease was ileocolonic (70.87%), and the most common disease behavior was non-stricturing and non-penetrating (82.52%). In this study, 41 (39.8%) patients had a minimum of one EIM. The most common EIM was anal skin tags (29.12%), while 24 (23.30%) patients had elevated liver function tests (LFTs), three (2.91%) had peripheral arthritis, and 12 (11.65%) had cutaneous manifestations, the most common being erythema nodosum (7.76%). The most common ophthalmological manifestation was anterior uveitis (3.88%). Conclusions EIMs are prevalent in CD patients in Pakistan, yet very little is known about them. Further large-scale studies are needed to assess the frequency and impact of EIMs on patients with CD.

Introduction More than its motor symptoms, cognitive impairment is being increasingly identified as a cause of worse functional outcome, morbidity and mortality, and caregiver dependence in Parkinson’s disease (PD). The aim of this study was to identify the frequency of cognitive decline and evaluate the factors associated with it. Methods In this cross-sectional study, 124 PD patients fulfilling the United Kingdom Parkinson’s Disease Society Brain Bank Clinical Diagnostic Criteria were included. Motor and non-motor symptoms were recorded. Disease duration, age at the time of onset, and severity of disease on Hoehn and Yahr Scale (HY scale) were recorded. Data was entered and analyzed using SPSSs v. 22.0. Results The ratio of men to women was 7.2:1. The mean age of the participants was 64 ± 10 years (range: 38-82 years). Rigidity (n = 121; 97.5%), bradykinesia (n = 119; 95.9%), and tremor (n = 11; 90.3%) were the three most common symptoms. Cognitive impairment was present in 45 (36.3%) patients. Cognitive decline was more frequent in patients of age less than 50 years at the time of disease onset (p < 0.00001) and in those with disease duration more than 10 years (p = 0.00001). Patients with longer disease duration had more severe disease (stage III or above on HY scale; p = 0.008). Conclusion Motor symptoms such as rigidity, bradykinesia, and tremor remain the most frequent clinical presentation among Pakistani Parkinson’s patients. One-third of these patients have cognitive dysfunction. Early age at the time of disease onset and longer duration of disease were associated with cognitive impairment.

Introduction High-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) has emerged to be a very useful and reliable clinical marker of primary as well as secondary cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Elevated hs-CRP contributes to underlying atherogenesis and worsens disease prognosis. Along with their lipid-lowering properties, statins also contribute to the alleviation of micro-inflammation and reduces pro-inflammatory markers. The aim of this study is to compare the effects of rosuvastatin and atorvastatin in lowering hs-CRP levels in statin-naive patients admitted with acute coronary syndrome (ACS). Methods In this prospective, open-label randomized trial, group A was given rosuvastatin 40 mg daily and group B was given atorvastatin 20 mg daily along with standard post-ACS therapy. Lipid profile (mg/dL), hs-CRP (mg/L) and erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) (mm/Hr) were recorded and measured as the baseline (before starting therapy) and then again after four weeks. The data were analyzed using SPSS for Windows version 22.0 (IBM Corp., Armonk, NY). Results With four weeks of treatment, both group A and B showed statistically significant reduction in serum hs-CRP levels (p

Introduction The overall environment of the medical school is often considered very stressful. It projects negative effects not only on the academic performances of medical students but also deteriorate their physical health and psychosocial wellbeing. The aim of this study was to determine the frequency of depression, stress, and anxiety among final year medical students. Methods This observational study was conducted in public and private medical colleges in February 2019. The instrument utilized in this study was Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale (DASS-21). Factors predisposing to depression, stress, and anxiety were also recorded. Data were entered and analyzed using SPSS v. 21. Results The mean scores of depression, anxiety, and stress were 18.00 ± 11.5, 19.15 ± 11.2, and 20.92 ± 11.2, respectively. The mean score of anxiety and stress was higher in private college students, while that of depression was higher in public college students. Overall, 57.6% of the students suffered from moderate to extremely severe depression, 74% of the students suffered from moderate to extremely severe anxiety, and 57.7% students had moderate to extremely severe stress. The common reasons to high stress and anxiety included the pressure of passing exams, the pressure of living up to family’s expectations, fear of stepping into the real world of medicine, and dissatisfaction with the administration. Conclusion The incidence of psychological illnesses including anxiety, stress, and depression is high among the medical students of Pakistan. Reasons predisposing the students to these illnesses must be efficiently tackled.

Introduction Academic pressure and its associated stress are responsible for disturbances in the circadian cycle of the students. Adequate sleep has crucial role in enhancing cognitive skills especially memory retention. Poor night time sleep quality and consequent daytime sleepiness affects physical and cognitive health of the students. In this study, sleep quality among medical students is evaluated. Methods It was an observational, cross-sectional study conducted with undergraduate medical students. Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) was used to assess the sleep quality. The data was analyzed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) 22.0 (IBM Corp., Armonk, NY, USA). Results Of 281 students, 155 (55.16%) were pre-clinical students and 126 (44.83%) were clinical students; 207 (73.66%) were female students and 74 (26.33%) were male. The overall frequency of poor sleepers was 172 (61.2%); 95 (55.2%) of these were clinical sciences and 77 (44.8%) were basic sciences students. Sleep latency, duration, and efficiency were more impaired in clinical students (p-value ≤ 0.05). Use of sleep medications and daytime dysfunction was more common in clinical students (p-value ≤ 0.05). Conclusion Medical students are continuously under high academic stress and pressure. Adequate sleep is essential for them to refresh them every day and help in learning and memory processing. Medical students in advance years of education have worse sleep quality than those in early years. Efforts should be taken to improve their sleep quality in order to protect the psychological and emotional health of future doctors.

e18053 Background: Despite the relatively rare incidence of tongue cancer in the United States, 2,830 people were estimated to have died from it in 2020. Research has indicated disparities in oral cancer screenings among minority and low-income patients. The aim of the present study is to characterize the incidence of tongue cancer across in the US population and to determine mediators of survival months. Methods: SEER 18 regions database (November 2019 submission) was queried to obtain data on tongue cancer incidence, patient demographics, and clinical variables for patients (n=51,622) from 2000-2017 using SEER*Stat 8.3.8. Data analysis were performed using R and RStudio version 4.02, and 1.3.1073, respectively. For comparison between groups, Chi-squared test for independence, Fisher’s exact test, and Wilcoxon signed-rank test were applied where applicable. Univariate and multivariate regression models characterized the relationship between survival months and sex, race, primary site, and additional patient characteristics. Results: Several significant group differences were determined in the incidence of tongue cancer. Patient sex was significantly associated (P

Geographically Pakistan gains much importance in the sea linkages as it intersects the three main sea lines of communication (SLOCs). After the project China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), there we see improvement in infrastructure of every sector which is linked with it. But the Ship breaking sector located at Gaddani, Pakistan was still ignored. And the main focus of our study is on the safety measures, education, health, and demands of TEVT graduates in this sector. Data is collect through survey in 2016. At start the ship breaking sector was on peak and become the No. 1 sector around the globe but unfortunately this sector in performance getting down and down with time. There are three main reasons, first, the high tax rate was imposed, second, there was no proper safety measures as we see deaths and injuries incidents are taken place, no proper medical facilities are available and third there was no proper training and education for the workforce which are engaged in this sector. All the needs of this sector to make it Green are addressed in this study properly. If all the measures which we addressed for the improvement of this sector is handled properly than this sector will contribute much more to GDP in different ways as this sector in terms of employment, and will also produce much more steel which not only fill the demand of steel domestically but also we will export it to different countries.

SUMMARYCotton–wheat is an important cropping system in South Asia. Introduction of BT cotton has caused the time conflict between sowing of BT cotton and wheat harvest in this cropping system. Wheat is harvested in late April but the best planting time of BT cotton is mid-March, which indicates a time conflict of 30–45 days between two crops in the region. However, this conflict can be managed by raising the cotton nursery and transplanting 30–45 days old seedlings in the field after wheat harvest. This two years field study was conducted to assess the economic feasibility of transplanting BT cotton in BT cotton–wheat cropping system at two locations (Multan, Vehari) in the cotton belt of Punjab, Pakistan. The BT cotton–wheat cropping systems included in the study were; flat sown wheat (FSW) – zero-tilled cotton (ZTC), FSW – conventional-tilled cotton (CTC), ridge sown wheat (RSW) – ridge-transplanted cotton (RTC) (30 days old seedlings), RSW – RTC (45 days old seedlings), bed sown wheat (BSW) – bed-transplanted cotton (BTC) (30 days old seedlings) and BSW – BTC (45 days old seedlings). BSW produced more grain yield than RSW and FSW during both years at both locations. Likewise, BTC (45 days old seedlings) had higher production at both sites during both years. The overall productivity of BT cotton–wheat, in terms of net income, benefit: cost ratio and marginal rate of returns, was the maximum from transplanting 45 days old cotton seedlings on beds after BSW during both years at both sites. Sowing cotton as ZTC following FSW was the least productive cropping system. In conclusion, transplanting 45 days seedlings of BT cotton on beds during late April after harvest of BSW wheat may be opted to manage the time conflict and improve the productivity of BT cotton–wheat cropping system in Punjab, Pakistan.

Cotton ( Gossypium hirsutum L.) is the leading cash crop being grown across the globe including Pakistan. By the inclusion of insect resistant transgenic cotton ( BT cotton), the cotton production has mounted many folds in Pakistan. BT cotton is mostly grown in Southern Punjab in cotton – wheat cropping system of Pakistan; however there exists a time conflict among wheat harvest and BT cotton sowing in this system. Wheat is harvested during late April but the ideal sowing time of BT cotton is early-mid March indicating a time conflict of 4 – 6 weeks which is becoming the main concern leading to wheat exclusion from this system. Intercropping of BT cotton in standing wheat is one of the possible options to manage this overlapping period. This two year field study was, therefore, conducted at two locations (Multan, Vehari) to evaluate the economic feasibility of relay intercropping of BT cotton through different sowing methods in BT cotton – wheat cropping system. BT cotton – wheat cropping systems included in the study were: conventionally tilled cotton (CTC) on fallow land during early and late March, CTC during late April after harvest of flat sown wheat (FSW), bed sown wheat (BSW) + intercropped cotton during early and late March, and ridge sown wheat (RSW) + intercropped cotton during early and late March. Planting cotton in fallow land with conventional tillage during early March had more seed cotton yield; whereas planting in the same way during April after wheat harvest had minimum seed cotton yield. Likewise, FSW had more yield than ridge and bed sown wheat with intercropped BT cotton during early or late March. However, the system productivity in terms of net income, benefit: cost ratio and marginal rate of return of BSW + intercropped BT cotton during early March was the highest during both years at both locations. However, the system with sole crop of BT cotton sown on fallow land during late or early March was the least economical even than the system with CTC during late April after harvest of FSW. In conclusion, BSW + intercropped cotton during early March may be opted to manage the time conflict and improve the economic productivity of BT cotton – wheat cropping system without wheat exclusion from the system.

A new genus, Loffienema dhanoriensis gen. n., sp. n. is described and illustrated from soil mixed with mature compost of Biodiversity Park, Baba Ghulam Shah Badshah (BGSB) University, Rajouri, Jammu and Kashmir, India. It is characterized by medium-sized body, slightly offset labial region, weakly developed, isoglottoid stegostom, amphidelphic reproductive system, slender and separate spicules, spathulate gubernaculum and reduced bursa with eight pairs of bursal rays. Its relationship and distinguishing features with other closely related genera are discussed.

Quercorhabditis rajouriensis gen. n., sp. n. is described and illustrated. Distinctive characters include a labial region set off by a constriction and wider than adjoining body, heavily sclerotized cheilostom with arched rhabdions, barely differentiable stegostom, amphidelphic gonads, spicules with a free dorsal arm, and a leptoderan bursa with ten pairs of bursal papillae. The new genus resembles Diploscapteriodes Rahm, 1928 in the shape of cheilostom, presence of amphidelphic gonads, leptoderan bursa and long conoid tail. However, it can be differentiated from the latter genus in the shape of labial region, cheilostomal sclerotization, absence of ridge-like tooth in gymnostom, having spicules with a free dorsal arm, somewhat boat-shaped gubernaculum and in having ten pairs of bursal papillae. The new genus also resembles Curviditis (Dougherty, 1953) Andrássy, 1983, Rhabditella (Cobb, 1929) Chitwood, 1933 and Metarhabditis Tahseen et. al., 2004 in having spicules with free dorsal arm. However, it can be differentiated from these related genera by its heavily cuticularised cheilostom with arched rhabdions and barely differentiable stegostom. The new genus can further be differentiated from Curviditis and Rhabditella in having a well developed bursa and from Metarhabditis by its leptoderan bursa with ten pairs of bursal papillae arranged in 3+4+3 arrangement.

Abstract A detailed description of Distolabrellus veechi (syn. nov. D. pakistanensis) is given based on variations observed in different populations collected from India and Korea, and comparisons made with those reported from Arizona and Argentina. The populations, which showed a great degree of morphometric overlap and a continuous range in variation, could not be differentiated from the type population of D. veechi. The relationships of the populations were studied using morphological data subjected to cluster analysis. The characteristics of the species and its relationship with Teratorhabditis are also discussed. Biogeographical information revealed an interesting trend of distribution for the species, i.e., between 22-55° north and south of the equator.

Abstract A new rhabditid nematode, Sclerorhabditis tridentatus gen. n., sp. n. is described and illustrated. The body is small, less than 0.5 mm, and has an unusual labial and cephalic organisation. The dorsal and ventral lips have strongly sclerotised tridentate structures with the free ends of the forks directed towards the stoma, and the anterior margins of the lateral lips are sclerotised. An unusual feature of this species is the contour of the cephalic border that has axillae-like structures on the lateral sides. The stoma is wide and lacks a glottoid apparatus. The females are amphidelphic with reflexed ovaries and elongate conoid tails. Males were not found. The new genus resembles Diploscapter and the related genus Carinoscapter in having membranous lateral lips, absence of glottoid apparatus and amphidelphic reproductive system, but is clearly distinguishable by the shape and orientation of the sclerotisation of the dorsal and ventral lips and by the presence of a cephalic border.

Quercorhabditis rajouriensis gen. n., sp. n. is described and illustrated. Distinctive characters include a labial region set off by a constriction and wider than adjoining body, heavily sclerotized cheilostom with arched rhabdions, barely differentiable stegostom, amphidelphic gonads, spicules with a free dorsal arm, and a leptoderan bursa with ten pairs of bursal papillae. The new genus resembles Diploscapteriodes Rahm, 1928 in the shape of cheilostom, presence of amphidelphic gonads, leptoderan bursa and long conoid tail. However, it can be differentiated from the latter genus in the shape of labial region, cheilostomal sclerotization, absence of ridge-like tooth in gymnostom, having spicules with a free dorsal arm, somewhat boat-shaped gubernaculum and in having ten pairs of bursal papillae. The new genus also resembles Curviditis (Dougherty, 1953) Andrássy, 1983, Rhabditella (Cobb, 1929) Chitwood, 1933 and Metarhabditis Tahseen et. al., 2004 in having spicules with free dorsal arm. However, it can be differentiated from these related genera by its heavily cuticularised cheilostom with arched rhabdions and barely differentiable stegostom. The new genus can further be differentiated from Curviditis and Rhabditella in having a well developed bursa and from Metarhabditis by its leptoderan bursa with ten pairs of bursal papillae arranged in 3+4+3 arrangement.

A population of Sclerorhabditis miniata n. sp. is described and illustrated from Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir State, India. The new species is characterized by small body size, with an annulated cuticle, offset labial region, crown shaped, strongly sclerotized lips, thin lateral lips, membranous, stegostom without glottoid apparatus, cheilostom rod shaped, sclerotized, spicules free, strong and thick, gubernaculum simple, bent proximally, bursa open, peloderan with seven pairs of bursal papillae in 1+1/1+1+2+1 pattern. The males of Diploscapter coronatus are described for the first time. They are usually smaller than the females and have labial region similar to females. Spicules separate, with a small dorsal velum, gubernaculum simple, almost straight, bursa open, pseudopeloderan with seven pairs of bursal papillae in 1+1/1+2+1+1 pattern.

Recursive spatial multiplexing (RSM), a closed loop multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) structure for achieving the capacity offered by MIMO channels with a low-complexity detector, is investigated in measured indoor MIMO transmission channels limited by different types of interference. It is seen that RSM can deal effectively with interferences following either a Gaussian mixture or Middleton distribution. In cases of interferences which are symmetric alpha stable distributed, however, RSM suffers from a performance degradation. Performance improvements resulting from the use of a convolutional coding at the single-input single-output (SISO) encoder of the RSM architecture are investigated for the different interference distributions.

A realistic Recursive Spatial Multiplexing (RSM) scheme for the case of a wireless feedback channel with limited capacity is considered where the identifier for the critical subspaces are encoded using either Grassmannian or vector quantizers. Optimum and suboptimum encoding schemes are proposed and analyzed. The threshold for the eigenvalues of the channel matrix required in the receiver for determining the critical subspaces is chosen based on optimizing channel capacity and uncoded biterror rates within the inner transceiver. It is shown that the limited feedback channel capacity limits the RSM performance, critically determines the achievable bit-error rates and defines the range of signal-to-noise ratio values where RSM outperforms open-loop multiple-input multiple-output transmission schemes.

Recursive Spatial Multiplexing (RSM) is a closed loop multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) structure for achieving the capacity offered by MIMO channels with a low-complexity detector. We investigate how to make RSM able to deal with different interference scenarios. The interference at the receiver side is considered as a vector-valued stochastic process characterized by a covariance matrix which is to be estimated and used subsequently for defining the retransmission subspace identifier to be fed back to the transmitter. We consider both the sample covariance matrix (SCM) estimator and an empirical Bayesian (EB) scheme as well as different probability distribution functions and correlation properties of the interference vectors. It turns out that the proposed RSM modification substantially improves the bit-error rate performance in the presence of interference where EB and SCM perform comparably due to the conditions for the covariance matrix estimation in RSM with limited frame length. Moreover, adaptive RSM leads to a performance being independent of the correlation coefficient of the interference vector.

This paper features a review of smart cities' needs established by Cooperative Sensor Networks. Based on the challenges due to emerging demands and rapid technological advance, the frontend of a radio frequency (RF) transceiver has to reorganize its typical architecture to achieve service convergence. A solution for the RF-frontend architecture of an Internet of Things sensor network oriented system is proposed. It has been identified that state-of-the-art technology has to improve in terms of spectrum allocation, driven bandwidth and energy consumption. Key strategies as Cognitive Radio/Software-Defined-Radio combined with high performance tunable RF components can satisfy these requirements, and thus, reconfigure and adapt the wireless transceiver for different environments and user needs. Furthermore, the frequency range of operation can also be greatly enhanced by using tunable components to enable agile and universal functionality, as well as significant improvement in the utilization of resources.

This paper presents a fully integrated high voltage charge pump which enables a reconfigurable, energy-efficient multi-band transceiver. Using a high voltage CMOS technology from Austriamicrosystems and a 4-phase charge-pump (DC/DC converter) circuit architecture, up to 120 V supply voltage can be generated from a 3.7 V DC battery using this monolithically integrated circuit. The very small footprint of this solution enables the integration of this multi-band transceiver in mobile devices, whereas the concept of reconfigurability can also be applied to fixed transceiver installations to optimize power efficiency.

We consider a simple closed-loop spatial multiplexing architecture which can be incorporated into an outer system with off-the-shelf single-input single-output encoders/decoders. Instead of relying on transmitter-side channel state information for matching the layers of the multidimensional signal to the eigenmodes of the multiple-input multiple-output channel through a precoding, the eigenmodes with high attenuation are identified in the receiver and a retransmission of the affected signal parts requested through a feedback channel. The requested backup facilitates a linear array signal reconstruction subject to limited noise amplification. Since the backup is always embedded in a subsequent signal frame, the multiplexing becomes a recursive procedure. We propose appropriate transmit antenna selection policies for limiting the number of recursions and thereby the memory requirement and incurred delay. Optimal policies are obtained using the theory of Markov decision processes. Moreover, the use of a simple unsupervised learning method lets the system adapt to unknown channel conditions while always guaranteeing a target signal-to-noise ratio at the decoder input.

We investigate the performance of a closed-loop multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) architecture featuring recursive spatial multiplexing (RSM) in the presence of co-channel interference. RSM is effective even when the MIMO channel varies arbitrarily from frame to frame transmission. The RSM scheme evades the noise enhancement inherent in zero forcing (ZF) and minimum mean squared error (MMSE) based receivers and also avoids the increasing complexity that arises in V-BLAST receivers. Using Monte-Carlo simulations, it turns out that RSM outperforms the conventional ZF and MMSE receivers and is an interesting approach in the presence of co-channel interference.

Pakistan was listed as eighth globally in its landings of sharks and other elasmobranchs during the 1990s. Balochistan occupies over three-quarters of the coast of Pakistan yet the nature of the elasmobranch fishery there remains undocumented. Landings of elasmobranchs at landing sites were surveyed; the main species recorded were blacktip shark ( Carcharhinus limbatus ), bull shark ( C. leucas ) and spot-tail shark ( C. sorrah ). Altogether 25 shark species were identified, of which nine are regionally vulnerable, eight endangered, and one (the sand tiger shark, Carcharias taurus ) critically endangered. Of the thirteen other elasmobranchs recorded, five are regionally vulnerable, two are endangered and one (the sawfish, Pristis pristis ) critically endangered. Local fishers and processors were interviewed about their industry. Sharks were caught using both long-lines and nets, largely in May – July. The fishers retained some meat (for consumption) or liver (for the oil used for waterproofing boats), but did not process the sharks themselves, instead selling them to agents of companies that exported fins and other elasmobranch products. Results showed that recorded landings in both Balochistan and the neighbouring Sindh Province have declined to a tenth or less of peak catch. Meanwhile, the numbers of registered fishermen continued to increase, a persistent threat to elasmobranchs stocks. It is recommended that a realistic national plan of action and widespread public awareness programme, with support to fishers and processors would help to alleviate this critical situation.

Salmonella genus represents most common food borne pathogens isolated from food producing animals and is responsible for causing zoonotic infections in humans and other animal species, including birds. As a result, Salmonella diseases are among the most common problems for the humans, animals, and food industry around the world. Despite rising attention about other pathogens, Salmonella continues to be the most prominent cause of food borne disease worldwide. Salmonella can be transferred to humans at any point along the farm-to-fork chain, most commonly through infected animal-derived foods such as poultry and poultry related products (eggs), pork, fish, and so on. Some Salmonella serotypes have been confined to a single serovar and are known as “host-restricted” while the others have a wide host spectral range and are known as “host-adapted” serotypes. Globally Salmonella infection causes huge mortality and the infection plays a huge role in immune response by evolving multiple mechanism to subvert immunity to its own benefit. Numerous infectivity markers and determinants have indeed been reported to play essential role in Salmonella pathogenesis to colonize its host by invading and avoiding the host’s intestinal shielding system.