Search

Low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) endure an asymmetrically high burden of worldwide disease and death caused by chronic respiratory diseases (CRDs), i.e., asthma, emphysema, bronchiectasis, and post-tuberculosis lung disease (PTLD). CRDs are firmly related with indigence, infectious diseases, and other non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and add to complex multi-disease with great impact on the lives and livelihood of those affected. The pertinence of CRDs to health and demographic wellbeing is relied upon to increment in the long time ahead, as expectations of life rise and the contending dangers of right on time youth mortality and irresistible infections level. The WHO has distinguished the counteraction and control of NCDs as an earnest improvement issue and crucial for the sustainable development goals (SDSs) by 2030. In this review, we center on CRDs in LMICs. We examine the early life roots of CRDs, challenges in their avoidance, identification and administration in LMICs, and the pathways to resolve for accomplish valid widespread wellbeing inclusion.

Objectives:The present study aimed to enhance the aqueous solubility of methanol extract of leaves of Vinca rosea (family: Apocynaceae) by particle-size reduction using milling and to evaluate its antidiabetic activity.Materials and Methods:The methanol extract (ME) was micronized using a vibratory ball mill, operated at a vibratory speed of 15 Hz for 60 min at room temperature, and the resulting extract micronized ME (MME) was investigated to determine particle size, solubility, UV/visible profile, and in vitro antidiabetic activity.Results:The average particle size of MME was 0.753±0.227 μm, which was less than half of that of the ME (2.007±0.965 μm). The solubility of MME was greater than that of the ME. MME exhibited 65.63%, 18.0%, and 96.87% higher antidiabetic activity in the glucose uptake by the yeast cells method, hemoglobin glycosylation assay, and the alpha amylase inhibition assay, respectively (p0.05).Conclusion:The results of the present study indicate that micronization effectively enhanced the aqueous solubility and antidiabetic activity of methanol extract of leaves of Vinca rosea.

Objectives The present study aimed to enhance the aqueous solubility of methanol extract of leaves of Vinca rosea (family: Apocynaceae) by particle-size reduction using milling and to evaluate its antidiabetic activity. Materials and methods The methanol extract (ME) was micronized using a vibratory ball mill, operated at a vibratory speed of 15 Hz for 60 min at room temperature, and the resulting extract micronized ME (MME) was investigated to determine particle size, solubility, UV/visible profile, and in vitro antidiabetic activity. Results The average particle size of MME was 0.753±0.227 μm, which was less than half of that of the ME (2.007±0.965 μm). The solubility of MME was greater than that of the ME. MME exhibited 65.63%, 18.0%, and 96.87% higher antidiabetic activity in the glucose uptake by the yeast cells method, hemoglobin glycosylation assay, and the alpha amylase inhibition assay, respectively (p Conclusion The results of the present study indicate that micronization effectively enhanced the aqueous solubility and antidiabetic activity of methanol extract of leaves of Vinca rosea.

Objectives: The study is conducted to find relationship between socioeconomic characteristics and awareness of respondents about the concept of knowledge economy as these characteristics are considered vital to develop one’s perception. Methods: Survey method is used to collect the data. Total 606 respondents (teachers, students, administrators) are selected randomly from three private and three public universities of Punjab, Pakistan. Information is gathered through interview schedule. Descriptive and inferential statistical techniques are used for analysis. Pearson Chi-Square, Likelihood Ratio, Linear-by-Linear Association and Gamma tests are applied for bivariate analysis and multivariate analysis is done with the help of binary logistic model of regression. Findings: It is found that out of 606 respondents 391(64.5%) respondents were aware of the term of knowledge economy but 215 (35.5%) were unaware of the term that is alarming. Most of the respondents were young belong to the age groups of 15-20 and 21-25. Second characteristic was the sex distribution of the respondents, out of 606 respondents 337 females participated in the research. Third attribute was the qualification level of the respondents as already mentioned that most of the respondents were young since the qualification of the majority of them were BS/B.Sc and M.A/M.Sc. Fourth characteristic was monthly income of the family, participant from all backgrounds equally participated in the research as 195 (32.2%) respondents were from families who earned 20000 with 40000, 172 (28.4%) respondent’s family earned 41000 to 60000, family income of 133(21.9%) respondents were 61000-80000 and 106 (17.5%) respondents belong to families who’s earning were 81000 and above. Application: These findings can help to understand the relationship between awareness level and socioeconomic characteristics of respondents for policy making. Keywords: Awareness about the Concept of Knowledge Economy, Socio-economic Characteristics

Analyst attempts to best find the job of corporate governance (CG) on the evolvement/execution of the company just as on other budgetary choices. In this examination CG is estimated by utilizing five factors board size (S), executive gatherings, CEO duality, level of non-official directors (Dirs). also, the level of autonomous Dirs. ROA isnt influenced by the scale/size of the board and effect irrelevantly. Board size in the setting of Pakistan cant develop a reason to increment or diminish organization ROA. Non-official executives job doesnt validate the addition in the evolvement of the organization just as in ROA of organization. Organization evolvement and ROA are related adversely with the extent of executives who are not Dirs. The companys extension in size is enormous or little cat build the productivity of the organization in using the benefits for remittance, it generally relies upon the capacities of bosses as opposed to (S).

Peace education attempts to promote awareness of non-violent and positive means of production with conflicts and violent concepts, and to endorse necessary capabilities, knowledge, attitudes and values. This purpose of this empirical study was to examine the Perceptions of Female Teachers in Transferring Peace Concepts among adult Students of public and private schools in Pakistan. However, Mix method, sequential explanatory method was used to attain the objectives of the study. Data of the main study was drawn from students of secondary level of the public and private sector of district Korangi of Karachi, Pakistan. Random sampling technique was employed to select participants of the study. Data was collected equally from both genders. Quantitative data gathered through questionnaire from female teachers and analyzed by using SPSS qualitative data was analyzed with themes. The results of this empirical study revealed that education, schools and teachers are playing influential role in transferring peace concepts and behaviors among adult students it is very vital part of peace building in students and also for their character building. This study concludes that teachers are basic pillar for the building knowledge and behaviors, teachers and educational institution can develop peace concepts and behavior through teaching and developing needs of our violently ill society through mainstreaming peace concepts in education system. Research findings also exposed that Teachers are aware to the meaning and understanding of peace concept to some extent. It was recommended that School atmosphere, teachers, classroom environment, curriculum, activities and concerned school setting should be transformed in such a way to reduce violent actions and conflicted situations in school that will lead to better future citizens.

Objectives: From the existing literature review we found that the link quality between nodes and to prolong the battery power of the nodes still needs improvement. This research article controls the node mobility in underwater environment through maintaining link between nodes and prolongs the battery power of the nodes through Cluster-based Multipath Shortest-distance Energy Efficient Routing (CMSE2R). Method/Analysis: In this research article, we proposed the Clustered-based Multipath Shortest-distance Energy Efficient Routing (CMSE2R) protocol for Underwater Wireless Sensor Network. CMSE2R is based on four phases to improve the link quality between nodes and reduces the average energy consumption. These phases are: Network setup phase, cluster formation phase, multipath development in relevant clusters, and data forwarding phase. Findings: The results of CMSE2R are compared with CBE2R and EMGGR and it is observed that CMSE2R is a better performer than CBE2R and EMGGR.This protocol improves the link quality through use of fixed courier nodes and formation of multipath in relevant cluster formation mechanism. This routing protocol uses the Cumulative Distance Calculation Mechanism (CDCM) to reduce the average energy consumption. Applications/Improvements: The proposed routing protocol extracts the valuable information from the seabed to sea surface. Keywords: Calculation, CDCM, Layers, Shortest-Distance, Snods

Objectives: To design and develop the Multi-layer Multipath Data Forwarding Routing (M2DFR) protocol for Underwater Wireless Sensor Network which controls the water depth, node mobility and can enhance the overall performance. Method/Analysis: M2DFR is based on three phases, one is design of architecture under which the deployment of the nodes are shown, second is the initialization phase which develops the multipath route selection mechanism between seabed source nodes to ordinary nodes which are deployed in the lower depth to upper layer, Acoustic Powerful Nodes (APNs) deployed in upper depth in fixed way in layers to surface sink nodes which are deployed on water surface, the route selection for multipath is based on RREQ/RREP through Weight Calculation Mechanism (WCM). Third phase focuses the data forwarding phase under which the shortest WCM is selected and from this route packets are forwarded from source nodes to sink nodes. Findings: Most of the existing protocols are unable to overcome the problem of water depth controlling, uncontrolled node mobility. Applications/Improvements: M2DFR is designed to extract the information from the bottom of the sea with its applications like: gold, oil/gas and minerals. The improved performance of M2DFR is measured with CBE2R and EMGGR. Keywords: APNs, Higher-Depth, Lower-Depth, Node-Mobility, WCM

Objective: To observe efficacy of Timolol maleate 0.5% by topical and surface application in infantile superficial capillary hemangioma of eyelid. Methods: This multi-centered clinical case series was carried out at Ophthalmology Department of Bilawal Medical College and Institute of Ophthalmology, LUMHS, Jamshoro from November 2019 to May 2020. We included 14 subjects. All the patients were subjected to detailed clinical examination. Before starting the topical beta blockers, the enrolled subjects had obtained the expert opinion by pediatrician to rule out any preexisting developmental cardio vascular disease. Topical beta blockers 0.5% drops were thus started with, against the ongoing finding of superficial capillary hemangioma of eyelid. Results: There was significant regression in size of infantile hemangioma after treating with topical timolol maleate 0.5%. We included 14 subjects in this study. Mean±SD age of patients was 4.94. Complete regression was seen in 08 subjects at the end of 12 weeks (64%) while 03 were completely cured at 08 weeks (21%) and 01 patient lost follow up with us. No significant ocular and systemic side effects were noted. Conclusion: Topical timolol maleate 0.5% can be the first-line treatment modality for superficial capillary hemangiomas due to its better safety and efficacy. doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.37.7.4317 How to cite this:Junejo MS, Rebecca, Memon MN, Shaikh SP. Role of topical beta blockers in regression of infantile capillary hemangioma. Pak J Med Sci. 2021;37(7):---------. doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.37.7.4317 This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

One of the most important functions of TV advertisements is to create demand for products. TV advertisements influence youth towards buying behavior. The demand of beauty care products is rising in Pakistan and is experiencing high industrial market growth rate. In contemporary era, majority of fairness TV ads exaggerate the product benefits, which often results in rousing an inappropriate demand within the respective market. The repeated exposure (frequency) of advertisement helps to boost demand of products. This research, intended to study the impact of two respective factors, namely, the product claim and the extent of frequency of fairness TV ads. It also finds out which factor has a much stronger influence on demand for fairness products. The major findings of the study revealed that there is a strong impact of fairness TV ads on their demand among university students in Karachi (Pakistan). The TV ads for fairness products holds a lasting impact on the minds of consumers and consequently leads to stimulate their demand.

Adulteration is the root cause of producing not only a chemically and pharmacologically inferior but also in some instances hazardous or poisonous drug. Despite availability of several techniques, microscopy and physicochemical analyses are the most practical approaches for crude drug authentication. Hence, the present study aimed to evaluate morphological, microscopic, and physicochemical properties of root, bark, leaf, and fruit of Diospyros montana Morphological properties were determined by sensory organs, whereas microscopic features of cross-sections and powders were determined by light and scanning electron microscopy. The proximate and fluorescence analyses were performed using the standard guidelines. The physical examination of fresh, shade-dried, and powdered material showed no significant change in color. The identifying cellular structures included cuboidal cork, pitted tracheids, scalariform, reticulate and spiral xylary vessels, and rosettes, raphide, and cuboidal calcium oxalate crystals. The stomatal number, stomatal index, vein-islet and vein-termination number, and palisade ratio in the leaf were found to be 293.91 ± 32.68 mm-2 , 64.18 ± 3.42%, 22.00 ± 3.81 mm-2 and 38.40 ± 5.81 mm-2 , and 3.85 ± 0.60, respectively. Total ash, acid insoluble ash, water soluble ash and sulfated ash of leaf (9.00 ± 0.50%, 1.67 ± 0.23%, 2.00 ± 0.22% and 14.50 ± 0.99%, respectively), foaming index of bark and root (111.11 ± 2.11), and swelling index of fruit (19.00 ± 3.45) were higher than the other parts. The powder of different parts showed characteristic colors in the daylight and UV light upon treatment with various regents. The plant was found to be rich in saponins, fibers, and flavonoids. The results of the present study may serve as identifiers of different parts of Diospyros montana.

The rhizomes of Bergenia ciliata (B. ciliata, Family: Saxifragaceae) are widely used for treating gastric ulcers in folk medicine in Asia. It was hypothesized that anti-ulcer activity of B. ciliata is due to its anti-Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) activity. The anti-H. pylori activity was investigated on six clinical bacterial isolates using agar well-diffusion and broth micro-dilution methods. The anti-H. pylori activity of amoxicillin (standard) was the highest (Zone of inhibition; ZI = 25 mm, minimum inhibitory concentration; MIC=0.125 µg/µL) whereas among all the extracts of the rhizomes, methanol extract showed the highest activity (ZI = 16 mm, MIC = 12.50 µg/µL). Bioassay guided isolation of methanol extract using chromatographic and crystallization techniques isolated bergenin (ZI = 21mm, MIC = 0.391µg/µL) as constituent responsible for anti-H. pylori activity. The present study describes for the first time anti-H. pylori activity and possible mechanism of anti-ulcer properties of rhizomes of B. ciliata.

Background: Coronary artery diseases (CAD) is a disorder of the heart and the blood vessels, which claimed 17.1 million lives a yearworldwide (World Health Organization, 2010). Men and women may develop CAD at the age of 40. Men were reported more prone toget CAD than women. However, more women than men died from CAD. Coronary heart disease (CHD) was having the high prevalencedied rate in the US general population. In the United States of America (USA), for example, CAD is the leading cause of death inadults, accounting for approximately one-third of all deaths in subjects over the age of 35-years. Atherosclerosis increases the risk ofgetting CAD. Objective: To identify studies that report prevalence, causes, preventions, and treatments of coronary artery disease.Design and data sources: Systematic review with searches in several articles related to prevalence, causes, prevention, and treatmentof CAD. Data were collected through interviews, clinical examinations, laboratory tests, electrocardiograms, previous medical historyof patients and Pose chest pain questionnaire. Results: The prevalence rate of Cad is high is various countries especially reported inUS. The primary cause of CAD is atherosclerosis. Primary and secondary prevention of Cad can be used to reduce CAD incidences.Conclusion: CAD is the major public health problem worldwide. CAD is the leading cause of death in people. People must have theawareness toward the causes and prevention of CAD. Atherosclerosis is the primary cause of the CAD. In most cases, patients withESRD have more than a 10-fold increased risk for CHD death per 1000 person-years than a patient with five Framingham risk factorsprojected over time. Preventions and treatments that could be taken are primary and secondary prevention of CAD, medication,and lifestyle changes, which includes following plant-based nutrition, exercise, drugs consumptions and cardiac catheterization.

Aims: The point of this examination was to think about post usable nausea, emesis absence of pain and recuperation between protocol – ketalar against protocol – fontanel for outdoor sufferer’s laparoscopy tubal ligation. Study: This was imminent randomized blinded investigation. Methods: Imperative signs torment, visual simple scale scores (VAS), nearness of rumination, management for queasiness and nausea, pruritis, tranquillizer and nearness of envisioning were observed on post soporific consideration component (PACU) affirmation, PACU release, stand down element confirmation and sanatorium release. Quantifiable factors included all out portion of Ketalar, Fontanel, Protocol and working time. Results: Consequences are communicated as methods Medians +/ - SD and investigated utilizing t-analysis, chi quadrangle test. The Ketalar gathering had a superior pulse, requisite additional torment drug and had a superior recurrence of imagining on PACU affirmation than the narcotic analgesic gathering. The distinctions present wound up inconsequential on PACU release. No distinction were renowned with admiration to 2, 6 bisphenol portion ,working time, agony or queasiness VAS achieves, rumination ,management for sickness and retching pre and tranquillizer on PACU affirmation, PACU release, step down component confirmation and hospice release. Conclusions: It is presumed that for outpatient Laparoscopic tubal ligation 2, 6 bisphenol – Ketalar does not recover post employable queasiness, rumination, anodyne or recuperation contrasted and the 2, 6 bisphenol – Fontanel blend. Keywords: 1- phenethyl-4-N, Laparoscopic sterilization, Intravenous sedation, Ketamine, Propofol

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the incidence and prognostic value of ocular complications in malaria. Place and Duration: In the Ophthalmology Unit II of Civil Hospital, Karachi for One-year duration from June, 2015 to June, 2016. Methods: A total of 140 children (105 of whom had cerebral malaria, 35 not having neurological issues) and 34 with mild malaria and 82 children without malaria were compared. Results: Eye complications were infrequent in the group of malaria (5.8%). In 11.8% of children, retinal hemorrhage noted in the non-cerebral malaria group. Cerebral malaria was related with retinal edema (10.5%) and retinal bleeding (22.9%). Conclusion: There was no correlation between ocular findings such as retinal edema, retinal bleeding. The presence of cotton spots, papilledema and exudates were related with high mortality risk. Seizures and coma score were strongly related with mortality, but not with ocular findings. The retinal symptoms present in a child in an area endemic to malaria may indicate a serious malaria case. Key Words: Malaria, ocular complications, endemic area, retinal haemorrhages.

This paper presents an interesting approach to observe the effects of the load variations on the performance of high temperature polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell system, such as: hydrogen and air flow rate, output voltage, power and efficiency. The main advantage of this approach is to analyse the internal behaviour of the fuel cell like current-voltage characteristics during energy conversion, when the load is varying dynamically. This approach of power system simulation models fuel cell system by integrating 3D-COMSOL model of high temperature polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell with MATLAB/Simulink model of the fuel cell system. The MATLAB/Simulink model for the fuel cell system includes the fuel cell stack (single cell), load (sequence of currents), air supply system (air compressor), fuel supply system (hydrogen tank), and power-efficiency block. The MATLAB/Simulink model is developed in such a way that one part behaves as an input model to the 3D-COMSOL model of the fuel cell system, whereas second part behaves as an output model that recovers the results obtained from the 3D-COMSOL of the fuel cell. This approach of power system modelling is useful to show the performance of high temperature polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell in much better and accurate way.

In this numerical study, the variation of wake patterns and force coefficients of the flow past four square bodies aligned inline are investigated. A two-dimensional numerical code is developed using the Lattice Boltzmann method (LBM) for this study. The code is first validated for the flow past a single and two tandem square cylinders. The results are compared to those available in literature and found to be in good agreement. After validation the calculations are further performed to investigate the effect of gap spacing (g) for the flow past four inline square cylinders at two different Reynolds numbers (Re) 100 and 200. The gap spacing is chosen in the range 0.25 ≤ g ≤ 7. Six different flow patterns: Single slender body, alternate reattachment, quasi steady reattachment, intermittent shedding, chaotic flow and periodic flow are found in this study with successive increment in spacing. It is found that some flow patterns existing at Re = 100 do not exist at Re = 200. The generated vortices at Re = 200 are much stronger as compared to those at Re = 100. The spacing value g = 3 is found to be critical at Re = 100 while at Re = 200 the spacing value g = 2 is critical due to abrupt changes in flow characteristics. At some spacing values the downstream cylinders have higher values of average drag coefficients as compared to upstream ones. In general the upstream cylinder (c1) have higher drag forces at Re = 200 than at Re = 100. The root mean square values of lift coefficient are found to be greater than the corresponding root mean square values of drag coefficient.

The dyeing behaviour of UV irradiated cotton and polyester fabrics using multifunctional reactive and disperse dyes has been investigated. The plain, woven, mercerized, bleached, cotton and polyester fabrics were exposed to UV radiation (180 w, 254 nm) for 30, 60, 90 and 120 min. Dyeing was performed using irradiated fabric with a dye solution of un-irradiated reactive and disperse/azo dyes. The dyeing parameters such as, temperature, time, pH and salt concentration have been optimized. The colour strength values of dyed fabrics were evaluated by comparing irradiated and un-irradiated cotton and polyester fabrics in CIE Lab systems using spectra flash SF600. Finally ISO standard methods were employed to observe the effect of UV radiation on fastness properties. It was found that UV radiation has a potential to improve the colour strength values of cotton and polyester fabrics by using reactive and disperse dyes.

A rapid non-aqueous capillary electrophoretic (NACE) method for the separation of (−)-epicatechin (EPI), (+)-catechin (−CAT), kaempferol (KAE), quercetin (QUR), naringanin (NAR), ferulic acid (FA), and p-coumaric acid (p-CA) has been developed and applied to the determination of these compounds in different rice varieties. All seven compounds were separated on capillary of 50 μm × 68 cm (60-cm effective length) using 20 mmol L−1 borate buffer of pH 9.0 and 5 % acetonitrile in methanol. Large-volume sample stacking (LVSS) technique was optimized and used to preconcentrate non-detectable polyphenols of white polished rice. Rice extracts were concentrated on-line by LVSS prior to separation by non-aqueous capillary electrophoresis. An improvement of 10–55 times in detectability was achieved with injection at 50 mbar for 30 s followed by voltage inversion (−20 kV) for 5 s. Linear calibration range of 1–300 μg L−1 and 0.01–60 μg L−1 was observed for NACE and NACE-LVSS method respectively, with the detection limit of 0.33–2.0 and 0.006–0.19 μg L−1. Good reproducibility with standard deviations of less than 5 % was achieved. Polyphenol contents of different rice varieties were determined using developed method.

The rhizomes of

The present study describes the development and validation of a simple high performance liquid chromatographic method for the determination of a novel drug candidate, 5-[(4-chlorophenoxy) methyl]-1, 3, 4-oxadiazole-2-thiol. The stability-indicating capacity of the method was evaluated by subjecting the compound's solution to hydrolytic, oxidative, photolytic, transition metal- and thermal- stress. The chromatographic separation was achieved over a C18 column (Promosil, 5 µm, 4.60 × 250 mm), maintained at 25°C, using an isocratic mobile phase comprising a mixture of acetonitrile and acidified water of pH 2.67 (1:1, v/v), at a flow rate of 1.00 mL/min and detection using a fluorescent light detector (excitation at 250 nm and emission at 410 nm). The Beer's law was followed over the concentration range 2.50-50.00 μg/ml. The recovery (98.56-100.19%, SD5%), intraday accuracy and precision (97.31-100.81%, RSD5%), inter-day accuracy and precision (97.50-100.75%, RSD5%) and intermediate accuracy and precision (98.10-99.91%, RSD5%) indicated that the method was reliable, repeatable, reproducible and rugged. The resolution and selectivity factors of the compound's peak from the nearest resolving peak, particularly in case of dry heat and copper metal stress, were found to be greater than 2 and 1, respectively, which indicated specificity and selectivity. The compound was extensively decomposed in alkaline-hydrolytic, oxidative, metal- and dry heat- stress. However, the compound in acidic and neutral conditions was resistant to photolysis. The results of the present study indicate that the developed method is specific, selective, sensitive and suitable, hence, may be used for quality control, stability testing and preformulation studies.

Objectives: The present study aimed to enhance the aqueous solubility of methanol extract of leaves of Vinca rosea (family: Apocynaceae) by particle-size reduction using milling and to evaluate its antidiabetic activity. Materials and Methods: The methanol extract (ME) was micronized using a vibratory ball mill, operated at a vibratory speed of 15 Hz for 60 min at room temperature, and the resulting extract micronized ME (MME) was investigated to determine particle size, solubility, UV/visible profile, and in vitro antidiabetic activity. Results: The average particle size of MME was 0.753±0.227 μm, which was less than half of that of the ME (2.007±0.965 μm). The solubility of MME was greater than that of the ME. MME exhibited 65.63%, 18.0%, and 96.87% higher antidiabetic activity in the glucose uptake by the yeast cells method, hemoglobin glycosylation assay, and the alpha amylase inhibition assay, respectively (p

The study of genome, proteome, and metabolome is called omics. This field has enormous contributions to the advancement of green biotechnology. These newer technologies have improved the process of sequencing for environmental DNA and RNA in a cost-effective way. Assembly of genomes of organisms, for instance the soil microorganisms, can be analyzed by metagenomic and transcriptomic methods. In this chapter, various applications of omics-based bioengineering in environmental biotechnology have been discussed. These include their role in determining soil microbial ecology, controlling environmental pollution, identification of chemicals-induced toxicity and modification of geno-proteome composition of an organism.

Plant isolated compounds have been in use to treat various ailments and to support normal physiological functions since long. Curcumin is also known for its beneficial health effects in the world of phytochemicals. Chemical name of curcumin is diferuloylmethane and it is extracted from turmeric and used for the prevention and cure of different inflammatory diseases. Inflammation is one of the root causes of diseases like arthritis, obesity, metabolic diseases like type II diabetes, pancreatitis, and neurodegenerative diseases cardiovascular even certain types of cancer. In Ayurveda medicine, turmeric has long been used for the treatment of different inflammatory disorders. Recent studies have shown that turmeric has an ingredient curcumin that is effectively applicable to therapeutic processes. Further, evidence has shown that inflammatory cell invasion, proliferation and angiogenesis can be inhibited using curcumin, through multiple molecular targets. Anti-inflammatory activity of Curcumin is carried out by suppressing of protein kinases, inflammatory cytokines, transcription factors, and enzymes that all promote inflammation, thus acts as a safe and non-toxic drug. However, curcumin’s efficacy is hindered by poor absorption and low bioavailability, which limit its translation into clinics. This study summarizes anti-inflammatory and anticancer effects of curcumin.

Recently, a traditional remedy (Joshanda) has been replaced largely by modern ready-to-use dosage forms, which have not been compared to the original remedy. Therefore, the present study aimed to compare a number of modern dosage forms with traditional remedy. Seven brands, 3 batches each, were compared with a Lab-made formulation with reference to analytical (proximate analyses, spectroscopic and chromatographic metabolomes) and pharmacological profiles (anti-inflammatory and antibacterial activities). Chemical and pharmacological differences were found between Lab-made Joshanda and modern dosage forms. Such variations were also found within the brands and batches of modern formulations (p Joshanda showed significantly higher pharmacological activities as compared to modern brands (p ). The results of the present study indicate that modern dosage forms are unstandardised and less effective than the traditional remedy. Characteristic profiles obtained from Lab-made Joshanda may be used as reference to produce comparable dosage forms.

The present study aims to develop a method using multivariate design of experiment approach for the treatment of arsenic-contaminated water. A newly synthesized resin i.e. Amberlite XAD-2 modified with Schiff’s base-iron complex is used as a solid surface for the removal optimization. The Schiff's base was synthesized by simple condensation reaction and its Fe(III) complex was prepared by refluxing Fe(III) salt with methanolic solution of Schiff’s base. XAD-2 was impregnated with Fe(III)-Schiff’s base complex, and FTIR spectroscopy was used to characterize the complex. Individual and interactive effects of pH, time, concentration, and sorbent amount on removal of arsenic were studied using factorial design approach. A face-centered Draper–Lin composite design predicted 100% removal efficiency at optimum variables; pH 5.5, concentration of arsenic 10 mg L−1, sorbent amount 57 mg, and shaking time 160 min. A good agreement between experimental and predicted data was observed. Langmuir and Frendlich ...

A brief discussion about the exclusive properties and applications of terahertz technology is provided in this chapter. The frequency spectrum terahertz (THz) is also discussed. The applications of terahertz in the field of sensors and terahertz for communications are covered. State-of-the-art literature starting from the early to the latest research conducted is provided and analyzed in terms of the performance of terahertz systems. Terahertz, known as Tera waves or T-waves rather than submillimeter wave, has approximately a fraction of a wavelength less than 30 μm. T-wave is heavily used in sensing and imaging applications, and has no ionization hazards and is an excellent candidate frequency band to defeat the multipaths interference problems for pulse communications. The lower quantum energy of T-waves identifies its potential applications toward near-field imaging, telecommunications, spectroscopy, and sensing, including medical diagnoses and security screening. Identification of DNA signatures including complex real-time molecular dynamics through dielectric resonance is a good example of terahertz spectroscopy instruments nowadays. This concluding chapter will not only address the practical applications of terahertz communications, but also identify the research challenges that lie ahead in terms of terahertz antenna design.

Epidemiological studies have shown that inflammation plays a critical role in the development and progression of various chronic diseases, including cancers, neurological diseases, hepatic fibrosis, diabetic retinopathy, and vascular diseases. Decursin and decursinol angelate (DA) are pyranocoumarin compounds obtained from the roots of Angelica gigas. Several studies have described the anti-inflammatory effects of decursin and DA. Decursin and DA have shown potential anti-inflammatory activity by modulating growth factors such as vascular endothelial growth factor, transcription factors such as signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 and nuclear factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated B cells, cellular enzymes including matrix metalloproteinases cyclooxygenase, and protein kinases such as extracellular receptor kinase, phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase, and protein kinase C. These compounds have the ability to induce apoptosis by activating pro-apoptotic proteins and the caspase cascade, and reduced the expression of anti-apoptotic proteins such as B-cell lymphoma 2 and B-cell lymphoma-extra-large. Interaction with multiple molecular targets and cytotoxic effects, these two compounds are favorable candidates for treating various chronic inflammatory diseases such as cancers (prostate, breast, leukemia, cervical, and myeloma), rheumatoid arthritis, diabetic retinopathy, hepatic fibrosis, osteoclastogenesis, allergy, and Alzheimer's disease. We have summarized the preliminary studies regarding the biological effects of decursin and DA. In this review, we will also highlight the functions of coumarin compounds that can be translated to a clinical practice for the treatment and prevention of various inflammatory ailments.

This study was conducted to investigate antifungal properties of Pongamia pinnata products. Pongamia pinnata seed oils and leaf diffusates contain products that show fungi-static effect against Scelotium rolfssi on Chickpea. This study shows comparison between antifungal effects of Pongame seed oils and Leaves, as both of these potentially inhibit Sclerotial production and germination of S. rolfsii. It was noticed that ingredients of leaves were changed when autoclaved. It also showed that there were some ingredients that were altered in terms of composition when heated. These agents were thought to be proteins and carbohydrates. Similarly, ingredients of seed oil also undergo change in composition when autoclaved. Extract showed insignificant difference about 20% v/v in inhibiting concentrations when used before autoclaving, while there was a significant difference among various concentrations after autoclaving. This significantly increased inhibition was present in Sclerotial production, germination and growth of mycelia. Overall, leaf extract was more effective than seed oil extract.

An MEKC method has been used to separate m-coumaric acid, ferulic acid, syringic acid, vanillic acid, p-coumaric acid, 4-hydroxybenzoic acid, caffeic acid, gallic acid, and 3,4-Dihydroxy benzoic acid, along with Vitamins B1 and B6 from uncoated fused silica capillary of 60.2 cm total length, 50 cm effective length, and 75 µm id. Optimum separation was achieved with BGE comprised of sodium tetraborate buffer (50 mmolL−1), pH 9.0, Sodium dodecylesulfate (SDS) (10 mmolL−1), and normal propanol (4% v/v), the optimum ratio was 70:20:10 (Borate:SDS:Propanol) with applied voltage of 20 kV at a wavelength of 225 nm. Linear calibration range and limit of detection (LOD) observed for the analytes were in the range 0.1–100 mgL−1 and 0.032–0.068 mgL−1, respectively. Calculated recoveries of analytes by standard addition were in the range 96–102% with RSD of 0.98–1.43%. Phenolic acids: ferulic acid, p-coumaric acid, and syringic acid were identified along with m-coumaric acid which is being reported for the first time...

In the present study, jamun seed waste has been explored for the removal of Pb(II) ions from aqueous solution. The multi-variant sorption optimization was achieved by the factorial design approach. 99.91% of Pb(II) ions was removed from aqueous solution. The results predicted by the model were in good agreement with the experimental results (the values of R2 and R2 adj. were found to be 99.89% and 99.95%, respectively). Langmuir and D-R isotherm studies were carried out to find adsorbent’s capacities (183.9 ± 0.31 mg/g and 184.5 ± 0.16 mg/g respectively), sorption free energy 13.17 ± 0.16 and RL values in the range of 0.05-0.77, suggested the favorable chemical and/or ion exchange nature of the sorption process. The FT-IR study was carried out for unloaded and Pb(II) ions loaded jamun seed, indicated, Pb(II) ions associated with nitrogen and oxygen of jamun seed containing moieties during the adsorption process. The proposed method was successfully validated and applied for the treatment of Pb(II) ions contaminating drinking water.

Face spoofing is considered to be one of the prominent threats to face recognition systems. However, in order to improve the security measures of such biometric systems against deliberate spoof attacks, liveness detection has received significant recent attention from researchers. For this purpose, analysis of facial skin texture properties becomes more popular because of its limited resource requirement and lower processing cost. The traditional method of skin analysis for liveness detection was to use Local Binary Pattern (LBP) and its variants. LBP descriptors are effective, but they may exhibit certain limitations in near uniform patterns. Thus, in this paper, we demonstrate the effectiveness of Local Ternary Pattern (LTP) as an alternative to LBP. In addition, we adopted Dynamic Local Ternary Pattern (DLTP), which eliminates the manual threshold setting in LTP by using Weber’s law. The proposed method was tested rigorously on four facial spoof databases: three are public domain databases and the other is the Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) face spoof database, which was compiled through this study. The results obtained from the proposed DLTP texture descriptor attained optimum accuracy and clearly outperformed the reported LBP and LTP texture descriptors.

This paper introduces a new multi-purpose image watermarking algorithm which based on a hybrid of lifting wavelet transform (LWT) and Arnold transform for copyright protection and image authentication. In the proposed scheme, the original image is first decomposed by LWT into four subbands. Then the robust watermark which is a binary logo image is decomposed by Discrete Wavelet Transform (DWT) as such only the high frequency subband of the watermark are embedded in the low frequency subband of the original image. The fragile watermark is block wise self-generated from the original image and scrambled using Arnold transform which is later embedded in the spatial domain of the robust watermarked image. Self-generated fragile watermark supports self-authentication with high localization, whereas scrambling the fragile watermark increases the security of the algorithm. On the other hand, the lifting scheme approaches have almost one half the amounts of operations compared to the DWT based approaches. The overall system has been tested against various attacks and the results demonstrated that the robust watermark can be decoded successively under each attack. In addition, the proposed algorithm can detect any tampering attempts.

This study was aimed to investigate the prevalence of diabetes mellitus type 1 and 2 in patients infected with hepatitis C virus. This study was conducted in blood collection Centre at Nuclear Medicine Oncology and Radiotherapy Institute (NORI) situated in Islamabad, Pakistan. The duration of study was from March 2014 to June 2014 twice a week. Randomly selected 112 HCV infected patients were included in this study. Patient information form was used to collect information from patients. In addition to this, about 51 patients were tested for random blood glucose levels, by strip based glucose testing method. Our control group consisted of 80 non HCV infected individuals of same age group. The results of the present study showed 7/112 (6.25%) diabetic patients in HCV infected group and 9/80 (11%) in non-infected. Statistical analysis does not support association of diabetes type 2 with HCV infection (OR=0.5926, 95% of CI=0.2116 to 1.6594, P=0.3193). Similarly, when we analyzed diabetes type 1 separately, 3.57% were suffering from type 1 in HCV infected patients, contrary to that there was not a single person was suffering from type 1 diabetes. Statistically, it is insignificant with p value 0.2050. Although insulin resistance is often reported in HCV infection, however, association of diabetes type 2 with HCV seems rare event. Type 1 Diabetes mellitus is reported to be linked with antiviral therapy, but our results show insignificant association.

It is acknowledged that work systems cannot only affect commitment, competence, cost effectiveness and congruence but also have long term consequence for workers’ well-being; there is some evidence to indicate that work systems designs may have effects on physical health, mental health and longevity of life itself. Conducive work environment ensures the wellbeing of employees as well as enables them to exert themselves to their roles with all vigor that may translate to higher productivity (Taiwo, 2009). This study aims to explore the impact of office facilities and workplace milieu on employees’ performance in a university of Sargodha. A sample of 150 respondents of male and female employees of both teaching and non teaching category was selected. Chi-square and Gamma test were applied to interpret the findings of study.

It was important to maintain a comfortable, safe, supportive physical environment to help workers stay motivated and productive. This study aims to explore the impact of office facilities and workplace milieu on employees’ performance in a university of Sargodha. A sample of 150 respondents of male and female employees of both teaching and non-teaching category was selected. Chi-square and Gamma test were applied to interpret the findings of study.

Face biometrics plays an important role in various authentication applications. However, one of the main design challenges for an accurate face biometrics is detecting spoof artificial artifacts. The development of robust anti-spoofing algorithm requires for rigorous system training and testing on facial database that includes various possible spoof specimen which reflects different variations of spoofing attacks. Currently, the databases which are used to test face anti-spoofing algorithms are limited in terms of texture variations. Therefore, in this paper, our focus is to introduce a face spoofing database which is compiled from various types of spoofing textures. Our database was collected from 30 different subjects and fake faces were recaptured on various forms which include four different types of paper-based textures and three different digital display devices. All images were collected using a high precision camera device. This database would provide a more realistic and challenging platform for facial anti-spoofing research.