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Phoenix dactylifera (Date palm) is one of the essential commercial and economical fruit crops which mainly grows in hot arid areas. A good source of food, shelter, and energy, date palm is widely known due to its unique characteristics. The dioecious nature of date palm made it challenging to prognosticate its sex until they flower almost 5 to 8 years after plantation. Researchers have developed many strategies to determine sex, including morphological study, biochemical studies, molecular-based studies as sequence characterized amplified regions (SCAR), randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) marker, and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays, but still more endeavours are integral. To foretell sex at the seedling stage, specific PCR primers were employed in this study. These primers were designed on sex-linked regions that determine their gender. Date palm DNA was extracted through the CTAB method. The DNA was then amplified through PCR using sex-linked specific primers. PCR products have run on gel electrophoresis using 1.2% agarose to score the bands for sex determination. Four primers were employed in this study to determine sex. Two primers were SCAR markers, and one was a sex-linked tetra primer. Tetra-primer amplified the double band fragment of 430 and 320bp respectively in male plants, while a band of 430bp was amplified in female plants. The other primer named ALAMER1 was amplified by the single band fragment of 186bp in males with no band in females. The fourth primer, named as SCARdp, amplified the band fragment of 354bp fragment in males. These SCAR markers were established to be male-specific. Sex-linked markers provide a platform for robust, efficient, and accurate determination of sex in date palms.

The plants Cassia fistula and Terminalia arjuna are medicinally important and produce leaves and colourful blossoms that belong to the Caesalpinioideae of the legume family and the family of Combretaceae. The antioxidant, hydrogen peroxide, and phytochemical assessment (qualitative and quantitative) of methanolic and ethanolic extracts of Cassia fistula and Terminalia arjuna flowers and leaves were investigated in this work. In qualitative phytochemical evaluation, the presence of ten different chemicals of varying degrees and classes was observed, and alkaloids, steroids, tannis, glycosides, saponins, flavonoids, and terpinoids were confirmed during qualitative screening. During quantitative analysis, the Cassia fistula L. leaves showed the highest TFC (32.783A ± 0.073) and the TPC was observed highest in Terminalia arjuna flowers (42.800A ± 0.028). The highest DPPH percentage was recorded in C. fistula flowers (21.825A ± 0.069) compared to its lowest value observed in C. fistula leaves (10.660B ± 0.053). The highest hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) scavenging activity among both plants was found in C. fistula (12.526A ± 0.146) and the lowest in its leaves (7.1470B ± 0.045). The methanolic extracts showed promising antioxidant activity. The presence of bioactive components in the leaves and flowers of Terminalia arjuna and Cassia fistula suggests that these flowers and leaves might be used as a phytochemical source and are also effective and safe as natural remedies. The biochemical analysis proved that the extracts of Cassia fistula and Terminalia arjuna plants have glycosides, flavonoids, and alkaloids that play a role in antioxidant activity.

In Pakistan, arid and semi-arid areas are more prone to limited rainfall, extensive evapo-transpiration and higher temperatures. For better understandings of current situation, a field experiment was carried out to study the morphological characteristics, biochemical responses and ionic composition of Conocarpus species (Conocarpus erectus and Conocarpus lancifolius) under saline soil conditions in Lal Suhanra National Park, Bahawalpur during 2019-21. Three sites one at normal soil (S.I) and two at different salinity levels (Medium and High Salinity) were observed in order to assess their effect on plant growth and other parameters. The data regarding physiological and biochemical parameters were recorded. Conocarpus lancifolius and Conocarpus erectus has maximum (233) mmol m-2sec-1 and (162) mmol m-2sec-1 stomatal conductance respectively. Maximum transpiration rate (4.57 MMOL M-2S-1) was observed at site-I in case of C. lancifolius, while maximum transpiration rate in case of C. erectus was (2.94 MMOL M-2S-1) at site-I. At control level, maximum photosynthetic rate was measured as (8.76 µmol m-2sec-1) in C. lancifolius and (5.59 µmol m-2sec-1) in case of C. erectus. Conocarpus species; Conocarpus lancifolius and Conocarpus erectus has maximum SOD (13.29 and 19.62) and CAT (16.48 and 42.05), and POD (14.81 and 8.81 U/mg protein) respectively. Maximum values of Na+K+ ratio in leaves (3.08), shoots (5.98) and roots (9.84) were detected at site-I in C. lancifolius. Based on statistically analyzed data, it is revealed that Conocarpus lancifolius can tolerate better salt stress as compared to Conocarpus erectus. Both species of Conocarpus can tolerate salinity up to 40 dSm-1 but growth of Conocarpus erectus is affected more as compared to Conocarpus lancifolius.

The use of rhizobacteria for plant growth enhancement is decades old. Still, in this era of the 21st century, biofertilizers have become the need of the day due to the health and environmental concerns associated with chemical fertilizers and pesticides. Rhizobacteria strains were isolated from the rhizosphere of rice and wheat. The selected bacterial strains' nitrogen fixation, indole acetic acid (IAA) production, phosphorus solubilization, and antifungal activity were determined on morphological, biochemical, and molecular levels. Production of IAA ranged from 6 µg/ml to 29.33 µg/ml. Ethylene production (C2H4/hr) varied from 2 µmoles to 9.8 µmoles. Maximum Phosphorus Solubilization index (7), decrease in pH (4) and Solubilization % age (0.49) was observed in WM-2 (wheat microbe). Promising results were obtained concerning antifungal activity against Rhizoctonia solani and Fusarium sp. The effect of the potential PGPR strains on the germination of rice and wheat was significantly positive in Petri plates. In the case of rice, the highest shoot length (29.27 cm) was observed by inoculation with RPR-33 (Rice isolate), and the most increased root length (9.33 cm) was observed in the treatment inoculated with RPR-42. The highest shoot fresh weight (476.67 mg/plant) was recorded in the treatment inoculated with RPR-42. The maximum root weight was 170 mg/plant in the same treatment. For wheat, all recorded growth parameters were improved significantly by wheat microbe WM-5. All the PGPR isolates showed positive results for growth parameters of wheat and rice on inoculation. So, it is suggested that these PGPR isolates may be used in potential biofertilizers.

Pollution is the main cause that effects the environment in a degradable condition. For the presence of heavy metals in the atmosphere birds are considered as tremendous bio indicator. Blue pigeon and domestic pigeon (Coloumba livia) of Faisalabad are selected to examine the level of heavy metals including Manganese (Mn), zinc (Zn), Cobalt (Co), lead (Pb) cadmium (Cd) and Copper (Cu) in several tissues such as (heart, lungs, bones, muscles and feathers. Six adult birds were collected rural, urban and residential and traffic areas of Faisalabad. After collection of sample fresh weight will be measured of each sample, then digestion of sample was done by conventional acid digestion method and digested samples were analyzed in the lab by Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer for the determination of heavy metals. It was concluded that accumulation of heavy metals in the birds depends upon the environmental conditions. Our result showed that concentration of heavy metals more in rock pigeon as compared to domestic pigeon which may be due to more exposure of industrial waste to rock pigeon. It has inferred from our study that high concentration of heavy metals in the excreta of rock pigeon was due to its high trophic level in food chain.

The Smog expression was used in 1905 by H.A. Des Voeux to portray air conditions beating numerous British towns. It became conspicuous in 1911 and clarified by Des Voeux's report to the Manchester Conference of the Smoke Abatement League of incredible Britain in Glasgow and Edinburgh during the pre-winter of 1909. "Exhaust cloud" is shaped by the consolidation of two words, "smoke" and "mist." Smog should be visible as the yellowish or blackish mist, framed fundamentally by a combination of poisons in the environment where fine particles and ground-level ozone are present. Smog which happens essentially due to air contamination can likewise be characterized as a combination of different gases with residue and water fume.

Graphene oxide (GO) has been intensely investigated in recent years due to its biocompatibility and its role in drug delivery. Its conjugation with polyethylene glycol (PEG) further improves its solubility in physiological solutions, which is important for enhancing efficacy of drug delivery. The present study aimed to assess the hepatotoxicity of PEG-nGO in mature mice. Liver function tests such as Alanine transferase (ALT), Alkaline phosphatase (ALP) were performed in the liver homogenate of the control and treated groups after intravenous administration of a single dose (5 mg/kg) of PEG-nGO through the tail vein. Total Glycogen content and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) activity was measured. For histology studies, liver slices were fixed in 10% formalin and stained with H&E and photographed. The liver function test indicated a significant increase in ALT and ALP activity following 1 to 2 h of treatment with PEG-nGO, which recovers to normal levels at 4 h. Total glycogen contents were mobilized from the liver in the first hour in response to stress, which again regain normality after 4 h. The LDH assay showed maximum necrosis and apoptosis of hepatocytes at 1 h. Histology studies further indicated that infiltration of inflammatory cells and vacuolization of cytoplasm occurred mostly at 1 h. PEG-nGO treatments caused maximum damage and toxicity to the liver during the first 2 h. Following this, the liver tissues recover substantially which indicated that the low dose toxicity of PEG-nGO to the liver was transient and reversible.

With the advancement of solid-state devices for lighting, illumination is on the verge of being completely restructured. This revolution comes with numerous advantages and viable opportunities that can transform the world of wireless communications for the better. Solid-state LEDs are rapidly replacing the contemporary incandescent and fluorescent lamps. In addition to their high energy efficiency, LEDs are desirable for their low heat generation, long lifespan, and their capability to switch on and off at an extremely high rate. The ability of switching between different levels of luminous intensity at such a rate has enabled the inception of a new communication technology referred to as visible light communication (VLC). With this technology, the LED lamps are additionally being used for data transmission. This paper provides a tutorial and a survey of VLC in terms of the design, development, and evaluation techniques as well as current challenges and their envisioned solutions. The focus of this paper is mainly directed towards an indoor setup. An overview of VLC, theory of illumination, system receivers, system architecture, and ongoing developments are provided. We further provide some baseline simulation results to give a technical background on the performance of VLC systems. Moreover, we provide the potential of incorporating VLC techniques in the current and upcoming technologies such as fifth-generation (5G), beyond fifth-generation (B5G) wireless communication trends including sixth-generation (6G), and intelligent reflective surfaces (IRSs) among others.

Assessing the spatial distribution of organic matter and total nitrogen in soil is essential for management and optimum utilization of fertilizers in order to obtain better crop yield with minimum fertilizers cost. Subsequently, this field experiment has studied the impact of different planting patterns arrangements of maize and soybean strip relay intercropping on spatial distribution of soil total nitrogen and organic matter contents. The planting was arranged in a manner that soil sampling could be done from continuous maize/soybean relay strip intercropping (MS1), maize/soybean relay strip intercropping in rotations (MS2), Traditional maize/soybean intercropping (MS3), sole maize (M), sole soybean (S), and fallow land (FL) from 2018 to 2020. The results showed significant variations for soil organic matter and total nitrogen under different planting patterns of maize and soybean in intercropping. The highest soil organic matter (29.19 g/kg) and total nitrogen (10.19 g/kg) were MS2. In contrast the minimum organic matter (1.69 g/kg) and total nitrogen (0.64 g/kg) were FL. Soil organic matter and total nitrogen in MS2 increased by 186.45% and 164.06%, respectively, compared with FL. Furthermore, under MS2, the spatial distribution of soil organic matter was higher in both maize and soybean crop rows as compared with other cropping patterns, whereas the soil total nitrogen was higher under soybean rows as compared with maize in all other treatment. However, the correlation analysis of the treatments showed variations for organic matter. It can be concluded that different planting patterns can have other effects on soil organic matter and total nitrogen distribution under intercropping. Moreover, it is recommended from this study that MS2 is a better planting pattern for strip intercropping, that can increase spatial distribution of soil organic matter and total nitrogen, consequently it can improving the soil fertility and C:N ratio.

BACKGROUND: Acute kidney injury (AKI) after surgery for congenital heart disease (CHD) in adults is poorly studied despite being well-recognized as a postoperative complication after cardiac surgery in adults. The primary aim of our study was to determine the frequency of AKI in adults undergoing surgery for CHD. We also aimed to determine risk factors and predictors of AKI in this patient population, and to explore outcomes in terms of duration of mechanical ventilation, intensive care unit (ICU) stay, and hospital stay. METHODS: This retrospective cross-sectional study included all adult patients (18 years) who underwent cardiac surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass for their congenital heart problems from January 2011 to December 2016 in a tertiary-care private hospital. RESULTS: A total of 166 patients with a mean age of 32.05 ± 12.11 years were included in this study. The postoperative course was complicated by AKI in 29.5% of patients. Thirty-two percent of these patients had moderate-to-severe kidney disease. Two patients (4%) developing AKI required renal replacement therapy in the form of transient hemodialysis. All patients in our study showed complete resolution of AKI, with no mortalities in the postoperative period. On univariable analysis, (Risk adjusted classification for congenital heart surgery-1) RACHS-1 category 2 and 3, aortic valve replacement, preoperative creatinine clearance, ventricular septal defect closure, cardiopulmonary bypass time, aortic cross-clamp time, intra-operative excessive blood loss, intra-operative ionotropic score, and postoperative hypotension were found to be significant predictors for the development of AKI. On age-adjusted multivariable analysis, RACHS-1 category 2 (OR = 3.49; CI = 1.22–9.95) and category 3 (OR = 3.28 = 1.15–9.36), and intra-operative excessive blood loss (OR = 2.9; CI = 1.07–7.85) were significant predictors of AKI development in the postoperative period. Moreover, development of AKI postoperatively was a predictor of a significantly longer cardiac intensive care unit (CICU) stay (OR = 1.21; CI = 1.08–1.37). CONCLUSION: We found that preoperative creatinine clearance, ACC time, intraoperative excessive blood loss, and RACHS-1Category 2 and 3 are potential risk factors for postoperative AKI development. Moreover, patients who develop AKI are likely to have a significantly longer CICU stay. Our study has tried to fill the lacunae with regard to AKI in adults undergoing surgery for CHD. However, there is a need for more studies with larger cohorts involving more complex surgeries to truly estimate the incidence and potential risk factors for AKI in this group of patients. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1007/s12055-020-00926-z) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

The UAV is emerging as one of the greatest technology developments for rapid network coverage provisioning at affordable cost. The aim of this paper is to outsource network coverage of a specific area according to a desired quality of service requirement and to enable various entities in the network to have intelligence to make autonomous decisions using blockchain and auction mechanisms. In this regard, by considering a multiple-UAV network where each UAV is associated to its own controlling operator, this paper addresses two major challenges: the selection of the UAV for the desired quality of network coverage and the development of a distributed and autonomous real-time monitoring framework for the enforcement of service level agreement (SLA). For a suitable UAV selection, we employ a reputation-based auction mechanism to model the interaction between the business agent who is interested in outsourcing the network coverage and the UAV operators serving in closeby areas. In addition, theoretical analysis is performed to show that the proposed auction mechanism attains a dominant strategy equilibrium. For the SLA enforcement and trust model, we propose a permissioned blockchain architecture considering Support Vector Machine (SVM) for real-time autonomous and distributed monitoring of UAV service. In particular, smart contract features of the blockchain are invoked for enforcing the SLA terms of payment and penalty, and for quantifying the UAV service reputation. Simulation results confirm the accuracy of theoretical analysis and efficacy of the proposed model.

The Cholistan desert is the oldest Hakra River civilization in the Indian Sub-continent. One of the largest desert in Pakistan comprising Bahawalpur, Bahawalnagar and Rahimyar khan Districts with a population of 10.6 million. Rohi pastoral people (0.22 million) engaged in livestock husbandry. Livestock rearing is much important for food security and is the only source of livelihood for these people. The pastoralists raise sheep, goat, cattle and camel breeds and have a herd size of up to 600 animals. Health facilities for livestock and human are very poor in the area. The livestock is under fed due to lack of vegetation and non-availability of other fodders. Cholistan pastoralists remain mobile throughout the year with their livestock in search of water and forage. Water is the major problem in the desert, although tobas of different dimensions are present but their de-silting is not carried out on regular basis. Pastoralists suggested the reseeding of grasses and fodder trees in the area. They also required marketing, veterinary facilities and value addition ecotourism and participation in the projects related to desert development. &nbsp

Physical layer security (PLS) is considered as a promising technique to prevent information eavesdropping in wireless systems. In this context, cooperative relaying has emerged as a robust solution for achieving PLS due to multipath diversity and relatively lower transmission power. However, relays or the relay operators in the practical environment are unwilling for service provisioning unless they are incentivized for their cost of services. Thus, it is required to jointly consider network economics and relay cooperation to improve system efficiency. In this paper, we consider the problem of joint network economics and PLS using cooperative relaying and jamming. Based on the double auction theory, we model the interaction between transmitters seeking for a particular level of secure transmission of information and relay operators for suitable relay and jammer assignment, in a multiple source-destination networks. In addition, theoretical analyses are presented to justify that the proposed auction mechanism satisfies the desirable economic properties of individual rationality, budget balance, and truthfulness. As the participants in the traditional centralized auction framework may take selfish actions or collude with each other, we propose a decentralized and trustless auction framework based on blockchain technology. In particular, we exploit the smart contract feature of blockchain to construct a completely autonomous framework, where all the participants are financially enforced by smart contract terms. The security properties of the proposed framework are also discussed.

The objective of the study was to investigate the suitability of the Plantago ovata (PO) husk as a pharmaceutical excipient. Various phytoconstituents of the husk were determined according to the standard test procedures. The Plantago ovata husk was evaluated for various pharmaceutical parameters related to flow, swelling index, and compressibility index. Orodispersible tablets (ODTs) were prepared, containing different concentrations (2.5, 3, 5, 7.5, 10, and 15% w / w ) of the Plantago ovata husk. Before compression, all the formulations were evaluated for their flow. Compressed ODTs were evaluated for physical characteristics (physical appearance, weight and weight variation, thickness, and moisture content), mechanical strength (crushing strength, specific crushing strength, tensile strength, and friability), disintegration behavior (disintegration time and oral disintegration time), drug content, and in vitro drug release. Phytochemical evaluation of the Plantago ovata husk confirmed the presence of various phytoconstituents like alkaloids, tannins, glycosides, saponins, flavonoids, and phenols. SEM photograph of the Plantago ovata husk showed that it has a fibrous structure, with a porous and rough surface. The Plantago ovata husk had a high swelling index (380%) which decreased by pulverization (310%). Precompression evaluation of the powder blend for all the formulations of ODTs showed good flow properties, indicating that the Plantago ovata husk improved the rheological characteristics of the powder blend. Compressed ODTs had good mechanical strength, and their friability was within the official limits ( w / w of the Plantago ovata husk. It is concluded that the Plantago ovata husk can be used as a disintegrant in the formulation of ODTs.

Fig (Ficus carica) is a species of flowering plants within the mulberry family. During June 2020, leaf spots were observed on several fig plants (31°26'15.0"N 73°04'25.6"E) at the University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, Pakistan. Early symptoms were small, oval to circular, light brown, sunken spots that were uniformly distributed on the leaves. Spots gradually enlarged and coalesced into circular to irregular dark brown to black spots that could be up to 3cm diam. with no or small sized fruit. Disease incidence was approximately 25%. To identify the causal agent of the disease, 15 symptomatic leaves were collected. Small pieces from all diseased samples were removed from the margin between healthy and diseased tissues were surface disinfested in 70% ethanol for 2 min, rinsed three times with sterile distilled water, plated on Potato dextrose agar and incubated at 25 ± 2°C with a 12-h photoperiod. Fungal isolation on PDA medium frequency was 95% from diseases leaves. Morphological observations were made on 7- day- old single-spore cultures. The colonies initially appeared light grayish which turned sooty black in color. All fungal isolates were characterized by small, short-beaked, multicellular conidia. The conidia were ellipsoidal or ovoid and measured 9 to 25 μm × 5 to 10 μm (n = 40) with longitudinal and transverse septa. The morphological characters matched those of Alternaria alternata (Simmons et al. 2007). Genomic DNA of a representative isolate (FG01-FG03) was extracted using DNAzol reagent (Thermo Fisher Scientific MA, USA) and PCR amplification of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) rDNA region, was performed with primers ITS1/ITS4 (White et al. 1990), partial RNA polymerase II largest subunit (RPB2) with RPB2-5F/RPB2-7cR (Liu et al. 1999) and glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) gene regions was performed with gpd1/gpd2 (Berbee et al. 1999). The obtained sequences were deposited in GenBank with accession numbers MW692903.1 to MW692905.1 for ITS-rDNA gene, MZ066731.1 to MZ066733.1 for RPB2 and MZ066728.1 to MZ066730.1 for GAPDH. BLASTn analysis showed 100% identity with the submitted sequences of A. alternata for ITS rDNA, RPB2, and GAPDH. To confirm pathogenicity, 2-month-old 15 healthy potted F. carica plants were sprayed at true leaf stage with conidial suspension by using an atomizer in a greenhouse. Each representative A. alternata isolate (FG01-FG03) was inoculated on every three plants with conidial suspensions (106 conidia/ml; obtained from 1-week-old cultures) amended with 0.1% (vol/vol) of Tween 20 until runoff (1.5 to 2 ml per plant) whereas, three control plants were sprayed with sterile distilled water amended with 0.1% Tween 20. All plants were incubated at 25 ± 2°C in a greenhouse, and the experiment was conducted twice. After 10 days of inoculation, each isolate induced leaf spots similar to typical spots observed in the field, whereas the control plants remained symptomless. The fungus was re-isolated from symptomatic tissues and reisolation frequency was 100%. Re-isolated fungal cultures were again morphologically and molecularly identical to A. alternata, thus fulfilling Koch's postulates. Previously, A. alternata has been reported cause fruit disease of fig in Pakistan and California, USA (Alam et al. 2021; Latinović et al. 2014). To our knowledge, this is the first report of A. alternata causing leaf spot on common fig in Pakistan. In Pakistan, fig is widely grown for drying, and this disease may represent a threat to fig cultivation.