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Organic and inorganic soil fertilizer addition or removal pose significant effects on soil nutrients. As climate change and other anthropogenic factors are causing deprivation in soil nutrient profiles and altering its proper functioning, complete insight into fertilizer modification and its consequences is required for understanding the sustenance of forest ecosystems. In this regard, an experiment was conducted at Liangshui National Nature Reserve, northeast China, in which two forest soil types (i.e., Korean pine plantation and natural Korean pine forest) were evaluated for their response to external fertilizer applications and litter treatments. The litter treatments were litter application as Ck (undisturbed litter), RL (removed litter) and AL (Alter/double litter i.e., litter removed from RL was added in double litter plots), whereas the synthetic fertilizer treatments were Control (No added N and P), Low (5 g N m−2 a−1 + 5 g P m−2 a−1), Medium (15 g N m−2 a−1 + 10 g P m−2 a−1) and High (30 g N m−2 a−1 + 20 g P m−2 a−1). The outcome showed that soil organic carbon (SOC) was directly proportionate to forest litter amounts. Synthetic fertilizers affected soil total nitrogen (STN) and maximum amounts were recorded in plots with H: 30 g N m−2 a−1 + 20 g P m−2 a−1, as 3.03 ± 0.35 g kg−1 in AL. Similarly, altered litter/double was most effective in enhancing the quantity of soil total phosphorus (STP) (0.75 ± 0.04 g kg−1). Soil sampling carried out during the start and end of the experiment showed decreases in the sixth sampling of: SOC (4–23%), STN (7.5-10.8%) and STP (8.51–13.9%). A positive correlation was observed between SOC and total nitrogen; C:N ratio also increased with SOC. Principal component analysis (PCA) on captured a total of 62.1% variability, on the x-axis (35.1%) and on the y-axis (27%). It was concluded that combined application of N and P at the level of 30 g N m−2 a−1 + 20 g P m−2 a−1 under AL (Alter/double litter) treatment level improved soil total N and P content. The results clearly depicted that forest litter is an important source for building up of soil organic matter, however for attaining maximum sustenance capabilities in soil, the continuity of fertilizer application in either form is a prerequisite.

PurposeEconomic risk plays a vital role in firm's cash holdings. We aim to determine the impact of economic risk on the firm's cash holdings.Design/methodology/approachThe data is collected from the DataStream from 2002 to 2018, which covers 552 listed firms in the manufacturing sector of Pakistan, Sri Lanka, India and Bangladesh. We apply a two-step dynamic panel estimation to analyze the results.FindingsWe use the variance of inflation and variance of interest rate as proxies of economic risk. Our results show that variance of inflation has a significant and negative effect while the variance of interest rate has a significant and positive effect on firms' cash holdings in selected countries. Furthermore, we find economic risk negatively affects the firm's cash holdings in the country-wise analysis. Firms should maintain a reasonable amount of cash reserves to handle uncertain situations.Originality/valueThis study may provide insights to financial decision-makers of a firm for better cash management according the economic conditions of the country.

Objectives: The objective of this study is to lay emphasis on Gerdy’s tubercle, its morphology and clinical significance of Gerdy’s safe area in upper lateral part of tibia for any surgical intervention to avoid injury to neighboring common peroneal nerve. Study Design: Comparative anatomical study. Setting: Anatomy Department Faisalabad Medical University Faisalabad. Period: From 1st September 2018 to 20th Feb 2019. Material & Methods: Total 72 dried Pakistani tibia irrespective of sex (38 right and 34 left) were taken from the bone bank of Anatomy Department FMU. The upper end of tibia was studied with respect to the shape and texture of Gerdy’s tubercle. The shape is divided in to Group A having triangular, Group B oval, Group C irregular and group D unidentified in both right and left bones and their % age was calculated. Similarly the texture Of GT was divided in to Group A facet (smooth), Group B tubercle (rough) and Group C unidentified in both right and left tibia and then % age was calculated. Results: Total 72 dried human tibia were examined out of which 38 were of right side and rest 34 were of left side all showed presence of Gerdry’s tubercle. Regarding shape of GT Right tibia showed 12(31.5%) triangular (group A), Oval shape was 20 (52.6%) (Group B), number of irregular was 6 (15.9%) (Group C) and none unidentified (0%) (Group D). Regarding texture GT Right Tibia showed facet type Group A 16(42%), Group B 57% were of tubercle type (22) and non unidentified (Group D) Zero %. Total 34 left tibia Shape of GT was examined and found triangular (group A) in 18 tibia (52%) and oval shaped 6(17.6%) in group B. Whereas in group C 10 (29.4%). were irregular. The texture of left tibia 41.1% (14) were of facet Type Group A and 58.82% (20) were of tubercle type (group B). Total Number of Tibia (N=72) GT showed 41.6% triangular, 36.1% oval and 22.2% irregular. While 41.6% were facet and 58.3% tubercle in texture. Conclusion: This study concluded that the morphological study of Gerdy’s tubercle is mandatory to approach the lateral compartment of the knee joint for any surgical intervention. The calculation of safe area is so important to avoid injury to common peroneal nerve.

Globally, atmospheric nitrogen (N) deposition is rising, adversely impacting soil health, i.e., increasing soil acidity. While phosphorus (P) is the limiting element in the temperate environment and plays a key role in making the ecosystem more vulnerable to N-derived acidification. The impact of elevated N and P inputs on soil acidity and exchangeable base cations have been extensively studied; however, few studies have focused on these parameters, especially within various soil aggregate fractions in the temperate forest. In 2017, a field experiment was conducted under N and P additions with four soil aggregate fractions (>5 mm, 2–5 mm, 0.25–2 mm, and KPP. Thus, soil acidification is primarily caused by a decrease in base cations, such as Ca2+ and Mg2+, and increase in exchangeable Fe3+ and Al3+ ions in large macro-aggregates and macro-aggregates, which leads to the depletion of soil nutrients. The initial pH value (5.69) in >5 mm soil aggregate was decreased to (5.4) under high fertilizer application, while a minimum value of 5.36 was observed in 0.25–2 mm aggregates under high fertilizer application. The same trend was observed in all aggregates because of decrease in base cations, which, in turn, affects the vitality and health of the forests.

Road traffic accidents are quite common in developing countries like Pakistan and mainly affect middle aged men. Objectives: To determine the frequency of epidural hematoma in different ages due to road traffic accidents on Computed Tomography scan brain. Study Design: Cross-sectional descriptive study. Setting: Emergency Radiology Department, Lahore General Hospital, Lahore. Period: August 2017 to November 2017. Material & Methods: One hundred fifteen patients were selected who visited to emergency due to road traffic accidents. The individuals with head injury bearing hematoma were included. Axial computed tomography scan brain without contrast was performed. The frequency of epidural hematoma in different ages was determined. Result: Total one hundred fifteen patients were enrolled in the study; epidural hematomas were 49 (42.60%) while no epidural hematomas were 66(57.39%). Out of 49 epidural hematoma cases males were 38(77.55%) and females were 11 (22.45%) with a mean age of 19 years with a range of 2-55 ± 9.59 years. All the individuals with head injury were categorized into three groups. The frequency of epidural hematoma in different ages was 75.51% (15-44 years) followed by 20.40% (45years). Conclusion: It was concluded from this study that epidural hematoma determined by computed tomography scan brain is more frequent in middle age.

Phosphorus (P) is the restraining aspect in the forest ecosystem, particularly in temperate regions, and makes the ecosystem more liable to nitrogen (N)-derived acidification. However, it remains poorly understood how N and P fertilization together affects soil-P availability and other soil properties. To address this question, a factorial experiment was conducted with N and P additions under two forest ecosystems, i.e., Korean pine plantation (KPP) and natural Korean pine forest (NKPF). Both forests were divided in to three subplots and each subplot underwent four different treatments, i.e., C: control (no N and P addition), L: Low treatment (5 g N m−2 a−1 + 5 g P m−2 a−1), M: Medium treatment (15 g N m−2 a−1 + 10 g P m−2 a−1), and H: High treatment (30 g N m−2 a−1 + 20 g P m−2 a−1). Results revealed that the soil-P fractions changed during N and P fertilization over time although organic-P (Po) fractions were lower than inorganic-P (Pi) fractions. The residual P was increased overall, along with N deposition in soil. Soil organic carbon (SOC) was more present in NKPF soils as compared to KPP. Principal component analysis (PCA) indicated that at medium treatment there is maximum availability of P fractions as compared to other treatments in both forests, while high treatment showed some fixation of P in soils across both forests. Furthermore, SOC showed a negative correlation with residual P, while pH showed a positive correlation. Total N in soil showed a negative correlation with soil pH and residual P. Therefore, it is recommended that application of N and P at the rate of 15 g N m−2 a−1 + 10 g P m−2 a−1 is suitable in these two forest types to enhance P availability.

Crystalline silicon oxy-nitride (SiON) composite films are deposited on Si substrate for multiple (5, 15, 25 and 50) focus shots (FS) by plasma focus device. The X-rays diffraction patterns reveal the development of various diffraction peaks related to Si, Si3N4, and SiO2 phases which confirms the formation of SiON composite film. The intensity of Si3N4 (1 0 2) plane is linearly increased with the increase of FS. The Si3N4 (1 0 2) phase does not nucleate for 5 FS. Raman analysis confirms the formation of β–Si–N phase. Raman and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy analysis reveals that the strength of chemical bonds like Si–N, Si–O formed during the deposition process of SiON composite films is associated with the bonds intensity which in turn depends on the number of FS. The field emission scanning electron microscopic analysis reveals that the surface morphology like size, shape and distribution of micro/nano-dimensional particles, film compactness and the formation of micro-rods, micro-teeth...

Sulphur (S) plays a significant role in determining seed yield and quality of oilseed crops. However, the effect of sulphur application on yield, sulphur uptake and concentration in sesame genotypes under rainfed conditions is still unclear. A two-year field trial was conducted during 2012 and 2013 to analyze the impact of four sulphur levels S1, 20 kg ha−1; S2, 30 kg ha−1; S3, 40 kg ha−1; S4, 50 kg ha−1 on capsules per plant (NCP), seeds per capsule (NSC), seed weight (SW), seed yield (SY), total sulphur uptake (TSU), sulphur concentration and quality parameters of four sesame genotypes (G1, SG-27; G2, SG-30; G3, SG-36; G4, SG-51). The results showed that all the sesame genotypes responded significantly to sulphur application for all the parameters, however, the level of response differed among genotypes. Maximum NCP, NSC, SW, SY, oil yield and superior quality of seeds were observed with G3. Among all the sulphur levels, S3 considerably increased the NCP, NSC, SW, seed yield (1529.9 kg ha−1 for 2012 and 1757.1 kg ha−1 for 2013), oil content (39.1% in 2012 and 39.4% in 2013) and oil yield (601.3 kg ha−1 for 2012 and 692.4 kg ha−1 for 2013) of sesame genotypes. These findings implied that sulphur application has the significant impact on the yield-related parameters and sesame genotypes responded positively to sulphur application. In addition, application of sulphur increased TSU and maximum TSU (39.7 kg ha−1) was noticed in G3 under treatment S3. The sulphur concentration in stem, leaf, capsule and seed varied significantly among all sesame genotypes. Higher content of sulphur in stem (17.4 mg g−1), leaf (10.7 mg g−1), capsule (11.4 mg g−1) and seed (8.6 mg g−1) was observed with G3 under treatment S3. However, decreasing trends were found for the accumulation of protein content (9.7%), palmitic acid (22.7%), stearic acid (15.2%) and linoleic acid (6.3%) while the accumulation of oleic acid (7.6%) was significantly increased from S1 to S4. These results suggested that by selecting the appropriate genotype and level of sulphur for sesame crop we can increase the seed yield and quality characters of sesame seeds under rainfed conditions.

Background Maize-soybean relay-intercropping (MSR) is a famous system of crop production in developing countries. However, maize shading under this system directly affects the light quality and intensity of soybean canopy. This is a challenging scenario in which to implement the MSR system, in terms of varieties selection, planting pattern, and crop management since the duration of crop resource utilization clearly differs. Methods Therefore, this experiment aimed to elucidate the effect of leaf excising treatments from maize top to fully clarify the needs and balance of light quality and intensity of intercrop-soybean under MSR in field conditions. The effects of different leaf excising treatments (T0, no removal of leaves; T2, removal of two topmost leaves; T4, removal of four topmost leaves; T6, removal of six topmost leaves from maize plants were applied at first-trifoliate stage (V1) of soybean) on photosynthetically active radiation transmittance (PART), red to far-red ratio (R:FR), morphological and photosynthetic characteristics and total biomass production at second-trifoliate stage (V2), fifth-trifoliate stage (V5), and flowering-stage (R1) of soybean were investigated through field experiments for 2-years under MSR. Results As compared to T0, treatment T6 increased the PART and R:FR ratio at soybean canopy by 77% and 37% (V2), 70% and 34% (V5), and 41% and 36% (R1), respectively. This improved light environment in T6 considerably enhanced the leaf area index, SPAD values and photosynthetic rate of soybean plants by 66%, 25% and 49% at R1, respectively than T0. Similarly, relative to control, T6 also increased the stem diameter (by 29%) but decreased the plant height (by 23%) which in turn significantly increased stem breaking strength (by 87%) by reducing the lodging rate (by 59%) of soybean plants. Overall, under T6, relay-cropped soybean produced 78% of sole soybean seed-yield, and relay-cropped maize produced 81% of sole maize seed-yield. Our findings implied that by maintaining the optimum level of PART (from 60% to 80%) and R:FR ratio (0.9 to 1.1), we can improve morphological and photosynthetic characteristics of soybean plants in MSR. Therefore, more attention should be paid to the light environment when considering the sustainability of MSR via appropriate planting pattern selection.

Coarse wood debris (CWD) plays a critical role in forest productivity, nutrient cycling, decomposition, and carbon sequestration, and shapes the carbon pool in the forest ecosystem. However, the elemental composition of CWD varies among different forest types and decay classes for the same dominant tree species (Pinus koraiensis, PK). We compared CWD elemental composition across different forest types (Picea koraiensis-Abies nephrolepis-Pinus koraiensis forest (PAPF), Betula costata-Pinus koraiensis forest (BPF), Tilia amurensis-Pinus koraiensis forest (TPF)), considering four classes of wood decay. Results showed that N, P, Mg, Mn, Na, Zn, S, Al, and Fe concentrations almost totally increased with decay level for all three forest types, except for K in all three forest types and B in Picea koraiensis-Abies nephrolepis-Pinus koraiensis forest (PAPF). Similarly, maximum concentrations of N, P, B, Mg, K, C, Zn, and Mn of CWD were observed in Betula costata-Pinus koraiensis forest (BPF) under varying decay classes, but their maximum concentrations of Fe and S were found in Picea koraiensis-Abies nephrolepis-Pinus koraiensis forest (PAPF) and Tilia amurensis-Pinus koraiensis forest(TPF), respectively. Only C content did not significantly differ in decay classes across all three forest types. The C:N ratio decreased significantly with increasing decay levels across all forest types. The decay rates were significantly related to N concentration and C:N ratio in decay classes across all forest types. These results suggest that C and N concentration are the key factors affecting its decomposition. The variation in nutrient concentrations observed here underscores the complexity of nutrients stored in wood debris in forested ecosystems.

IPBrick solution for the Private Cloud has some limitations which can be challenged in future by its competitors in the market. The administrative access to the web interface of an IPBrick server is restricted to one user who manages everything by using a given set of features and services. The existing solution also does not support Multi-Sessions Management due to which multiple update operations can't be applied on the database simultaneously and if it is attempted then it can have adverse affects on the consistency of data stored in the Database. The aim of this thesis is to develop features like Administrative Profiles and Multi-Sessions Management for the betterment of IPBrick Solution.

Aim and Objective: The study was conducted to see the vascular and follicular changes induced by dexamethasone (syntheticcorticosteroid) during involution of hyperplastic thyroid gland in albino rats. Study Design: A comparative histological study done in PostGraduate Medical Institute Lahore in 1998 Procedure: 54 adult rats were taken and divided at random into two control groups having 27 ratsand experimental groups containing 27 rats. Control group was given normal diet along with 2 microgram of Potassium iodide intraperitonealyfor 21 days while experimental groups further subdivided into group A having 3 rats and group B and C containing 12 rats each. All theexperimental groups were treated with Thiourea for 21 days. Group A was sacrificed on day 22 after withdrawal of thiourea. Group B was givenPotassium iodide intraperitonealy after stoppage of TU on day 21 and were sacrificed on days 22,26,30 and 50 in 4 sub groups (B1-B4) tostudy the involution process. Group C was injected dexamethasone from 22 to 50 days after withdrawal of TU and sacrificed on same daysin 4 subgroups (C1-C4) as sub groups B. Results: The results of experimental group. A showed increase in thyroid and relative tissue weight.Histologically this group exhibited significant increase in stromal congestion with tall follicular cells lining the small sized follicles having scantycolloid. The results of experimental groups B and C demonstrated increase in thyroid and relative tissue weight but microscopically subgroupsB revealed early and complete involution whereas subgroups C showed significantly persistent hyperplastic changes in the form of stromalcongestion, vessels wall remained well defined and tall follicular cells lining small empty follicles. Conclusion: It was concluded thatdexamehasone did retain hyperplastic changes during involution evident by stromal congestion and small sized regular follicle lined by tallfollicular cells, so it should be carefully used in thyroid diseases.