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In this study, women who had recently given birth were very likely to have dental problems. In girls, 28.1% had dental caries and 27.3% had gingivitis. The number of APOs was also high: LWB was 22.5 percent, PTB was 21.7 percent, and preeclampsia was 11.6%. After giving birth, women with oral problems, poor oral hygiene, or APOs were more likely to have high levels of S. mutans (p0.0001) and S. sobrinus colonisation. Even though S. mutans and S. sobrinus are the most common bacteria that cause cavities, S. mutans was found in only a small number of samples (BK1=0.004%, BK2 and BKC2=0.001%, and BKC1=0.004%) when tested without a culture. Instead, Streptococcus, Yersinia, Haemophilus, Prevotella, Neisseria, Fusobacterium, Gemella, Prevotella, Aggregatibacter, Rothia, Veillonella, Granulicatella, and Actinomyces were found to be most common in females with dental caries and gingivitis. This suggests that these isolates may play a role in causing dental caries. Using the culture-based method, the most common types of bacteria found in the poop of both healthy and postpartum women were Staphylococcus, Streptococcus, Enterobacteriaceae, Neisseria, and Lactobacillus. 65.1% of the 267 pregnant women who were tested for Staphylococcus species in culture were found to have it.

This study exploited effect of knowledge management in knowledge worker productivity and empirically measured via cross-sectional study and data was collected from banks in south-Punjab Pakistan. There is lack of literature that deliberate interplay of knowledge management-enablers, knowledge worker’s productivity, knowledge management process as well as the organizational performance. Thus, the findings as obtained through the statistical procedures provide significant information that helps in reaching the desired conclusion. The finding reveals positive significant effect of the knowledge management (KM) enablers on the knowledge management (KM) practices and process and subsequently, knowledge management practices and process has positive impact upon workers’ productivity and organizational performance. Likewise, the knowledge workers productivity also significantly enhancing the firms’ performance.

Climate is the average of weather situation in a particular area, which affects all parts of ecosystem. Due to industrialization and urbanization, forests are cutting down and converted into living societies. This change in ecosystem disturbs the balance of ecosystem from decomposers to producers and consumers. Important part of ecosystem is plants (producers) that are energy providers. This alteration affects productivity and sustainability of plants. Wheat is staple food, which is highly affected by temperature and CO2 elevation. It not only affects wheat yield but also make wheat vulnerable to several diseases. High temperature causes a high rate of transpiration, which causes drought that ultimately leads to low productivity. A model was designed on drought conditions and result showed that global warming causes serious drought in 60% of wheat-growing areas of the world. Currently, drought affects 15% of wheat productivity. It was predicted that every 2°C shift of temperature can cause severe water shortage in the coming 20 to 30 years. Water shortage at milking and grain filling stage will affect yield. This chapter includes factors affecting climate, impact on wheat growth, yield, and elevation of carbon dioxide, impact on disease severity, prediction model for temperature rise, and CO2 curve in 2050.

This paper argues that, due to their inherent strategic competition, Washington and Moscow rely on low-yield or Tactical Nuclear Weapons (TNWs) to overcome intrinsic geo-strategic uncertainties of international politics. It further explores the nuclear policy of the US and Russia while positing that both states are depending on the use of battlefield nuclear weapons for ensuring nuclear deterrence stability. It also maintains that Pakistan’s policy of full-spectrum deterrence and its declaration to use TNWs, when certain red lines will be crossed, is in line with the policy of above-mentioned states.

Background Poor oral health affects not only dietary choices but overall well-being. This study explores the influence of lifestyle, socio-demographics and utilization of dental services on the dentition status of an older urban Malaysian population. Methods A total of 1210 participants 60 years and above, representing the three main ethnic groups were recruited from a larger cohort study. Weighted factors valued for comparison included socio demographics and health status. Knowledge of and attitude and behaviour towards personal oral health were also assessed. Dentition status, adapted from WHO oral health guidelines, was the dependent variable investigated. Data were analysed using descriptive chi square test and multivariate binary logistic regression. Results Overall, 1187 respondents completed the study. The dentition status and oral health related knowledge, attitude and behaviour varied between the three ethnic groups. The Chinese were significantly less likely to have ≥13 missing teeth (OR = 0.698, 95% CI: 0.521–0.937) and ≥1 decayed teeth (0.653; 0.519–0.932) compared to the Malays, while the Indians were significantly less likely than the Malays to have ≥1 decayed teeth (0.695; 0.519–0.932) and ≥2 filled teeth (0.781; 0.540–1.128). Conclusion Ethnic differences in dentition outcome are related to oral health utilization highlighting the influence of cultural differences and the need for culturally sensitivity interventions.

Reactive oxygen species are a byproduct of aerobic metabolic processes but are also produced by plants in defense against pathogens. In addition, they can function as signaling molecules that control various aspects of plant life, ranging from developmental processes to responses to abiotic and biotic stimuli. In plants, reactive oxygen species can be produced by respiratory burst oxidase homologues. Arabidopsis contains 10 genes for respiratory burst oxidase homologues that are involved in different aspects of plant life. Plant pathogenic cyst nematodes such as Heterodera schachtii induce a syncytium in the roots of host plants that becomes a feeding site which supplies nutrients throughout the life of the nematode. In line with this function, the transcriptome of the syncytium shows drastic changes. One of the genes that is most strongly downregulated in syncytia codes for respiratory burst oxidase homologue B. This gene is root-specific and we confirm here the downregulation in nematode feeding sites with a promoter::GUS (β-glucuronidase) line. Overexpression of this gene resulted in enhanced resistance against nematodes but also against leaf-infecting pathogens. Thus, respiratory burst oxidase homologue B has a role in resistance. The function of this gene is in contrast to respiratory burst oxidase homologues D and F, which have been found to be needed for full susceptibility of Arabidopsis to H. schachtii. However, our bioinformatic analysis did not find differences between these proteins that could account for the opposed function in the interaction with nematodes.

Arabidopsis contains 34 genes for glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI)-anchored LTPg proteins. A motif analysis has placed these into four groups. With one exception, all are produced with a signal peptide and are most likely attached to the cell membrane via the GPI anchor. Several of the LTPg genes across the four groups are downregulated in syncytia induced by the beet cyst nematode Heterodera schachtii. We have here studied At3g22600 encoding LTPg5, which is the most strongly downregulated LTPg gene. It is mainly expressed in roots, and a promoter::GUS line was used to confirm the downregulation in syncytia and also showed downregulation in galls of the root knot nematode Meloidogyne incognita. In contrast, infection with bacteria (Pseudomonas syringae) and fungi (Botrytis cinerea) led to the induction of the gene in leaves. This diverse regulation of LTPg5 indicated a role in resistance, which we confirmed with overexpression lines and a T-DNA mutant. The overexpression lines were more resistant to both nematode species and to P. syringae and B. cinerea, while a knock-out mutant was more susceptible to H. schachtii and P. syringae. Thus, LTPg5 encoded by At3g22600 is part of the Arabidopsis resistance mechanism against pathogens. LTPg5 has probably no direct antimicrobial activity but could perhaps act by associating with a receptor-like kinase, leading to the induction of defense genes such as PR1.

Plant WRKY transcription factors play a vital role in abiotic stress tolerance and regulation of plant defense responses. This study examined AtWRKY11 and AtWRKY17 expression under ABA, salt, and osmotic stress at different developmental stages in Arabidopsis. We used reverse transcriptase PCR, quantitative real-time PCR, and promoter:GUS lines to analyze expression. Both genes were upregulated in response to abiotic stress. Next, we applied the same stressors to seedlings of T-DNA insertion wrky11 and 17 knock-out mutants (single and double). Under stress, the mutants exhibited slower germination and compromised root growth compared with the wild type. In most cases, double-mutant seedlings were more affected than single mutants. These results suggest that wrky11 and wrky17 are not strictly limited to plant defense responses but are also involved in conferring stress tolerance.

Begomoviruses are economically important plant viruses with a wide host range infecting numerous vegetables, legumes and fibre crops worldwide. Pakistan cotton suffered with cotton leaf curl diseas...

Increasing human population places pressure on agriculture. To feed this population, two time increase in the current wheat production is needed. Today agriculture is becoming input intensive with more reliance on synthetic fertilizers and agrochemicals to fulfil the feed demand of the growing numbers. Use of synthetic fertilizer since last few years is impacting the soil quality. In this scenario, the use of beneficial endophytic microbes is an attractive strategy to overcome the use of synthetic products. To investigate the effect of consortium application of endophytic bacteria and fungus on plant growth, grain yield moisture status, a pot experiment was conducted in different wheat lines. It comprised four treatments like control, application of bacterial strain Bacillus sp. MN54, fungal strain Trichoderma sp. MN6, and their consortium (Bacillus sp. MN54 + Trichoderma sp. MN6). The effect of consortium application was more prominent and significantly different from the sole application of bacteria and fungus. The results showed that with a consortium application of endophytic bacteria and fungus, there was 28.6, 4.3, -6.3 and -3.7% increases in flag leaf area, chlorophyll content, relative membrane permeability and water content respectively. Consortia of endophytic microbes also resulted in the yield enhancement through the betterment of various yield attributes like number of spikelet’s, grains per spike and grain yield per plant (32.2, 25.8 and 30.8%, respectively). So, consortia of endophytic microbes can greatly promote the progress of plants in dry land agriculture and increase the yield in an environmentally sustainable way.

The two-component system (TCS) plays an important role in signal transduction pathways, cytokinin signaling and stress resistance of prokaryotes and eukaryotes. It is comprised of three types of proteins in plants; histidine kinases (HKs), histidine phosphotransfer proteins (HPs) and response regulators (RRs). Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) is one of the most important legume crops worldwide with special economic value in semi-arid tropics. Availability of complete genome sequence of chickpea presents a valuable resource for comparative analysis among angiosperms. In current study, Arabidopsis thaliana and Oryza sativa were used as reference plant species for comparative genomics analysis with C. arietinum. A genome-wide computational survey enabled us to identify putative members of TCS protein family including 18HKs, 26 RRs (7 type-A, 7 type-B, 2 type C and 10 pseudo) and 7 HPs (5 true and 2pseudo) genes in chickpea. The predicted TCS genes displayed family specific intron/exon organization and were randomly distributed across all the eight chromosomes. Comparative phylogenetic and evolutionary analysis suggested a variable conservation of TCS genes in relation to mono/dicot model plants and segmental duplication was the principal route of expansion for this family in chickpea. The promoter regions of TCS genes exhibited several abiotic stress-related cis-elements indicating their involvement in abiotic stress response. The expression analysis of TCS genes demonstrated stress (drought, heat, osmotic and salt) specific differential expression. Current study provides insight into TCS genes in C. arietinum, which will be helpful for further functional analysis of these genes in response to different abiotic stresses.

WRKY transcription factors are a class of DNA-binding proteins that bind with a specific sequence C/TTGACT/C known as W-Box found in promoters of genes which are regulated by these WRKYs. From previous studies, 43 different stress responsive WRKY transcription factors in Arabidopsis thaliana, identified and then categorized in three groups viz., abiotic, biotic and both of these stresses. A comprehensive genome wide analysis including chromosomal localization, gene structure analysis, multiple sequence alignment, phylogenetic analysis and promoter analysis of these WRKY genes was carried out in this study to determine the functional homology in Arabidopsis. This analysis led to the classification of these WRKY family members into 3 major groups and subgroups and showed evolutionary relationship among these groups on the base of their functional WRKY domain, chromosomal localization and intron/exon structure. The proposed groups of these stress responsive WRKY genes and annotation based on their position on chromosomes can also be explored to determine their functional homology in other plant species in relation to different stresses. The result of the present study provides indispensable genomic information for the stress responsive WRKY transcription factors in Arabidopsis and will pave the way to explain the precise role of various AtWRKYs in plant growth and development under stressed conditions.

Meloidogyne incognita is the most dangerous plant parasitic nematode species that infects a huge number of crop plants. It also infects the ornamental plants resulting in a serious growth-limiting factor in ornamentals. In this study, the response of ten ornamental plants to M. incognita was assessed in pot experiments. All the ornamental plant species showed varying degree of infection of M. incognita. Rhapis excels and Ophiopogan japonicas were moderately resistant, Cordyline fruticosa, Hibiscus syriacus and Carrisa macrocarpa were moderately susceptible, Murraya paniculata and Ficus benjamina were susceptible, F. elastica, Artemissia stelleriana and Duranta repens were highly susceptible to M. incognita infection according to a well established 0-4 galling scale. The highest galling index and reproductivity of nematodes, i.e., total number of egg masses, juveniles and females, were observed in highly susceptible plants. The values of canopy length, dry root weight, fresh root weight, root length, dry shoot weight and shoot height was variable for all plants and the maximum canopy length was recorded in C. macrocarpa, while maximum fresh root weight, dry root weight, root length and shoot weight were recorded in O. japonicus and R. escelsa, respectively. The susceptible plants were subjected to the application of endophytic bacteria Pantoea agglomerans strain MN34 and Pseudomonas putida strain MN12 in a pot experiment. Both endophytes significantly decreased the galling index and promoted the growth of the plants root length, shoot weight and canopy length; however, the highest root weight was observed in the control treatment. P. agglomerans showed more reduction in galling index and increase in plant growth than P. putida. The results concluded that M. incognita has a wide host range in ornamental plants and they could be managed by using antagonistic, growth promoting endophytic bacteria.

Pre and postharvest losses in agriculture result in decline of potential yield in almost all crops. However, it becomes a real concern when pests invade food crops like cereals, oil seeds, fruits, and vegetables. These losses are primarily caused by insect, weeds, and microbial pests and could be managed to economic threshold levels by the use of pesticides. In Pakistan, pesticides were introduced in 1953 to manage locust attacks in cereals and resulted in wide adoption by the farming community. The pesticide sector was owned by the government up to 1980 and then was privatized. The robust emergence of pesticides as an important sector was started in late 1980s and achieved economic peak in 1992–1996 due to white fly-driven CLCV disaster in cotton crop. There are important issues of AI determination, selection of proper pesticide for a particular insect pest, application procedure, detection of adulterations, residual effects of chemicals on human and animal health, ecosafety, cost, tax fixation, and possible assessment of risk factors; all are critical regarding pesticides usage in Pakistan. This chapter also emphasizes the use of alternative ways to adapt safer and ecofriendly biopesticides.

Hyperuricemia, a condition due to high serum uric acid level and is notorious to health. It is considered to be a potent risk factor for gout and dramatically associated in the development of many chronic diseases such as malignant tumor, cardiovascular disorders and renal failure. Modern innovative medicinal and therapeutic interventions are underlying these days to combat hyperuricemia. Previously reported studies revealed the significant impact of dietary polyphenols (e.g. anthocyanins, phenolic acids, flavonoids etc.) against hyperurecemia disorder. Dietary plant polyphenols, unlike anti- hyperuricemic agents, are not reported to have any side effects in curing hyperuricemia. The current comprehensive review figure outs the use of dietary polyphenols as a natural remedy for the management of hyperuricemia. The sources, affiliated pathways, mode of actions and factors affecting their efficiency to prevent hyperuricemia are deeply discussed in this article. Additionally, limitations and suggestions regarding previously reported studies are also highlighted.

In this paper, biological synthesis of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) using Syzygium guineenses stem extract with 1mM, 2mM and 3mM AgNO3 concentrations has been presented. The plant extract was prepared with distilled water. The characterization and morphological composition of the synthesized AgNPs were determined by UV-visible spectroscopy and SEM respectively, while FTIR analysis was performed to identify the presence of the possible functional groups in the synthesized nano particles. It was observed from the UV and SEM analyses that the particles formed have diameters in the range of 23.5nm - 89.3nm, which is the range of nanoparticle size. Antibacterial test was carried out on the sample with six pathogenic microbes (Methicillin Resistant Staphylococus aureas, Vancomycin Resistant Entrococci, Staphylococcus aureas, Bacillus sublitis, Escherichia coli, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa ) to ascertain the antimicrobial activity of the synthesized AgNPs. Both the characterization and antimicrobial activity test were very successful and could lead to significant economic viability, as well as being environmentally friendly for treatment of some infectious diseases. Keywords : Syzygium guineenses, Green Chemistry, Spectroscopy, Optoelectronics, Biomedical Sensors

Exchange rates have main role that affect the macroeconomics performance of any leading country. The objective of this research was to investigate whether uncertainty or fluctuations in exchange rate affects the macroeconomic in Pakistan. This Study was based on secondary and time series data. For this purpose 32 years old data of Exchange rate and FDI for the period of 1982 to 2013 was used and was collected from the website of State Bank of Pakistan. The tests of Correlation and regression analysis were applied through SPSS software to check the relationship between Exchange rate and FDI. The correlation results showed that there is positive significant relationship between Exchange rate and Foreign Direct Investment while in regression analysis the value of R-square = 0.679 which shows that the independent variable Exchange has 67% impact on dependent variable Foreign Direct Investment and research model is accurate. This research will help the mangers, related organization and future researchers to make or revise the further economic decisions.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the expression and localization of tight junction proteins (TJPs) or claudins in the keratocystic odontogenic tumor (KCOT) and to correlate with its biological behavior.Five claudins (-1, -3, -4, -5, and 7) were examined immunohistochemically in 25 KCOTs and compared with 10 dentigerous cysts (DCs) and 10 radicular cysts (RCs).Marked claudin-3 loss of expression in KCOT basal layer (n=24/25; 96%) compared with DCs (n=1/10; 10%) and RCs (n=5/10; 50%) (P.05) suggests that claudin-3 downregulation may indicate altered or loss of basal cell polarity and impaired barrier function of KCOT lining epithelium and this might contribute indirectly to its biological behavior. In contrast, claudins-1, -4, -5, and -7 distribution patterns were less distinctive in all three entities, suggesting that these TJP molecules probably play limited roles in influencing their different growth potentials.Present findings suggest that differential claudin expressions in the lining epithelium of KCOTs, DCs, and RCs probably reflect their neoplastic or nonneoplastic nature.

Rhizosphere is the portion of soil that is exposed to the root activity. It is hot spot for microbial activities which support the plant growth and development in different ways. Microbial communities in the rhizosphere referred as rhizosphere microbiome are one of the most diverse regions of the ecosystem existing on Earth. Rhizosphere microbiome is biologically the most diverse part of the ecosystem which contains a large number of microbial communities which interact with the plants differently like the good, the bad, and the ugly microbes of rhizosphere. The good ones are beneficial microbes of the rhizosphere which are involved in plant growth promotion through nutrient uptake in plants, antagonism to plant pathogens, and plant tolerance against abiotic stresses. However, the bad ones are plant parasitic fungi and nematodes which cause diseases of economic importance in important crop plants and result in serious issues of reduction in productivity and food security. Similarly, some rhizosphere microbes avail the opportunity to invade the human body through different courses and cause infectious diseases. These opportunistic microbes are “the ugly” ones as they are the most deleterious in nature. In this chapter, we have discussed in detail the good, the bad, and the ugly members of rhizosphere microbiome. Moreover, we have given a comprehensive account of bolts and nuts of rhizosphere and engineering of rhizosphere for agriculturally sustainability.

Potato virus Y (PVY) is one of the important diseases of potato throughout the world wherever potatoes are grown. Yield losses in potato due to PVY are upto 70% if infection occurs at initial growth stages of plants. More than eight PVY strains have been reported worldwide which differ from each other based on symptoms they produce in the infected host plants and at their genetic makeup. In recent past years, new necrotic strains of PVY have emerged which are more damaging as they produce necrotic rings and arms on the tubers of infected plants. With increasing aphid population during last decade, incidence of PVY epidemics has increased worldwide. Managing PVY is difficult as some strains do not produce symptoms on infected potato plants and disease diagnosis becomes difficult. In Pakistan, work on strain differentiation of PVY and their aphid vectors are lacking and there is need of molecular research to identify PVY strains which are present in Pakistan.