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This study identified the trends in monthly temperature, precipitation, & evaporation for Astore, Darosh, Gilgit, Gupis and Skardu and trends in inflow, outflow and reservoir level for Tarbela reservoir. Two non-parametric tests i.e. Man-Kendall and Sen’s Slope and Innovative Trend Analysis (ITA) were used to determine the trend. The first Mann-Kendall test with a significance level 5% was applied to 33-year data of five selected areas from 1990-2022. The results showed an increasing trend in temperature in March for all selected areas. No significant trend was observed in precipitation except negative trends for Darosh in March, May and December and positive trend for Gilgit in January and September. It has been observed that the trend direction given by ITA and Mann-Kendall is similar. Inflows to reservoir were found directly related to the temperature because of glacier melt in rising temperature, thus increasing the inflow, although the precipitation was found decreasing with increase in temperature. Altered snowmelt patterns can influence weather systems, potentially contributing to more extreme weather events.

Abstract Background Innovations in cancer treatment have contributed to the improved survival rate of cancer patients. The cancer survival rates have been growing and nearly two third of those survivors have been exposed to clinical radiation during their treatment. The study of long-term radiation effects, especially secondary cancer induction, has become increasingly important. An accurate assessment of out-of-field/peripheral dose (PDs) is necessary to estimate the risk of second cancer after radiotherapy and the damage to the organs at risk surrounding the planning target volume. This study was designed to measure the PDs as a function of dose, distances, and depths from Telecobalt-60 (Co-60) beam in water phantom using thermoluminescent dosimeter-100 (TLD-100). Methods The PDs were measured for Co-60 beam at specified depths of 0 cm (surface), 5 cm, 10 cm, and 15 cm outside the radiation beam at distances of 5, 10, and 13 cm away from the radiation field edge using TLD-100 (G1 cards) as detectors. These calibrated cards were placed on the acrylic disc in circular tracks. The radiation dose of 2000 mGy of Co-60 beam was applied inside 10 × 10 cm2 field size at constant source to surface distance (SSD) of 80 cm. Results The results showed maximum and minimum PDs at surface and 5 cm depth respectively at all distances from the radiation field edge. Dose distributions out of the field edge with respect to distance were isotropic. The decrease in PDs at 5 cm depth was due to dominant forward scattering of Co-60 gamma rays. The increase in PDs beyond 5 cm depth was due to increase in the irradiated volume, increase in penumbra, increase in source to axis distance (SAD), and increase in field size due to inverse square factor. Conclusion It is concluded that the PDs depends upon depth and distance from the radiation field edge. All the measurements show PDs in the homogenous medium (water); therefore, it estimates absorbed dose to the organ at risk (OAR) adjacent to cancer tissues/planning target volume (PTV). It is suggested that PDs can be minimized by using the SAD technique, as this technique controls sources of scattered radiation like inverse square factor and effect of penumbra up-to some extent.

Amplified uncertainties in economic, financial, and political environments across nations have created a dire need to search for safe investment options that could mitigate the losses faced by investors. Consequently, researchers and investment managers have started investigating alternative investment options like real assets to cope with such risks. Since Pakistan is among the most politically unstable economies, there is a dire need to investigate this conundrum and provide Pakistani investors with alternatives. Previous researches have widely reported gold to be this alternative as it provides a hedge and safe haven during various economic downturns. Therefore, the current study investigates whether gold could also diversify the risk of political uncertainties faced by different sectors of the Pakistan stock exchange (PSX). For this purpose, initially the impact of political uncertainty on PSX sectors and gold is investigated through event study analysis, by using economically political and socio-political events from Jan 2009 to Dec 2019. Then Pearson correlation and volatility modeling using event dummies are employed to unveil the diversification characteristics of gold. Gold holds diversification characteristics in case it exhibits zero, negative or insignificant correlations with PSX sectors. Findings suggest that gold is not influenced by political events while most of the PSX sectors are influenced by socio or economical political events. The results also show that gold acts as a hedge for all sectors i.e. indicating zero correlation, and acts as a safe haven for many sectors i.e., it indicates a negative correlations, and an insignificant relationship indicating the absence of co-movement. Therefore, the study concludes that Pakistani investors could consider gold as a diversifier for diversifying traditional investment portfolios.

Abstract Northwest Pakistan has served as a point of entry to South Asia for different populations since ancient times. However, relatively little is known about the population genetic history of the people residing within this region. To better understand human dispersal in the region within the broader history of the subcontinent, we analyzed mtDNA diversity in 659 and Y-chromosome diversity in 678 individuals, respectively, from five ethnic groups (Gujars, Jadoons, Syeds, Tanolis and Yousafzais), from Swabi and Buner Districts, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, Pakistan. The mtDNAs of all individuals were subject to control region sequencing and SNP genotyping, while Y-chromosomes were analyzed using 54 SNPs and 19 STR loci. The majority of the mtDNAs belonged to West Eurasian haplogroups, with the rest belonging to either South or East Asian lineages. Four of the five Pakistani populations (Gujars, Jadoons, Syeds, Yousafzais) possessed strong maternal genetic affinities with other Pakistani and Central Asian populations, whereas one (Tanolis) did not. Four haplogroups (R1a, R1b, O3, L) among the 11 Y-chromosome lineages observed among these five ethnic groups contributed substantially to their paternal genetic makeup. Gujars, Syeds and Yousafzais showed strong paternal genetic affinities with other Pakistani and Central Asian populations, whereas Jadoons and Tanolis had close affinities with Turkmen populations from Central Asia and ethnic groups from northeast India. We evaluate these genetic data in the context of historical and archeological evidence to test different hypotheses concerning their origins and biological relationships.

Traditional assets, like stocks and bonds, are mostly found to be highly influenced by uncertainties, and cause distress for investors most of the time, consequently investors look for safe investment options that can provide diversification benefits to cope with uncertainties. So, current research unveils the diversification characteristics of real estate by investigating its relationship with a set of selected financial assets like KSE-100 index, gold, sub-asset classes; growth stocks, value stocks, large stocks, small stock, and sector’s stock. Autoregressive distributive lag (ARDL) approach is employed on monthly time series data for a time span of 2011 to 2019. Findings indicate that real estate behaves quite differently than all of these assets and holds good diversification potential for Pakistani investors because it exhibits no relationship with any of the assets under study. Findings suggest that Pakistani investors must incorporate real estate in their asset allocation strategy for diversifying their portfolios. Current research contributes to literature by unveiling the diversification potential of real estate in comparison to a set of financial variables that are rarely investigated in previous literature. Moreover, it contributes well to the knowledge of Pakistani investors and asset/investment managers to make healthy investment decisions.

Pulmonary arteriovenous malformations (PAVMs) are the abnormal connections between the pulmonary artery and pulmonary veins branches without intervening in the pulmonary vascular bed. Although the most common cause of PAVMs is hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia, the etiology of single PAVMs appears to be idiopathic. Dyspnea, cyanosis, cerebrovascular events, and brain abscess are the common clinical manifestations of these lesions, though they may present with a nonspecific symptom as upper back pain. Computed tomography is the gold standard investigation for diagnosing pulmonary arteriovenous malformations, and demonstrating their size and extent before therapy. Transcatheter embolization is the first-choice treatment for patients without severe complications. Surgical intervention is reserved for the lesions not amenable to embolotherapy.

Beckwith-Wiedemann syndrome (BWS) is a human genomic imprinting disorder that presents with a wide spectrum of clinical features, including overgrowth, abdominal wall defects, macroglossia, neonatal hypoglycemia, and predisposition to embryonal tumors. Its diagnosis is based on molecular tests or clinical signs. However, in children with features of BWS who do not fulfill the clinical diagnostic criteria, the molecular tests may play an important role in the diagnosis. There is an increased risk of embryonal tumors in patients with BWS, but few case reports have been reported on benign breast tumors in female adolescents with this syndrome. To our knowledge, this is the first case report in the literature that describes the imaging findings of fibroepithelial breast tumors (phyllodes tumor and fibroadenomas) in a 13-year-old female with BWS, highlighting the need for lifelong tumor surveillance in this patient population.

Lupus mastitis (LM) is a rare presentation of lupus panniculitis (LP) that usually affects women of childbearing age and may mimic malignancy. The condition is recurrent and progresses along with the underlying disease. Breast pathology that may be associated with LM includes fat necrosis, calcification, fibrosis, scarring, and breast atrophy. Therefore, LM should be considered in the differential diagnosis of a suspicious breast mass on mammography or ultrasound, particularly if the patient has a background of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) or discoid lupus erythematosus (DLE). Traumatic procedures such as surgery or biopsy may worsen the condition and it is advisable to avoid biopsy if the diagnosis can be established through accurate patient history, with identification of typical clinical and radiological features. Thus, awareness of the radiologic and clinical features of LM is essential to avoid unnecessary interventional procedures that carry the potential for disease exacerbation. The authors present here the imaging findings of LM in a 37-year old female with SLE, which presented as bilateral palpable breast lumps.

Abstract Background The falciform ligament hernia is a type of internal herniation, caused by a defect in the falciform ligament of the liver. The etiology for this defect may be congenital or iatrogenic, created after the laparoscopic intervention. Case presentation A 45-year-old male was presented to our hospital, complaining of abdominal pain for 2 days. The physical examination revealed diffuse abdominal tenderness and guarding. The abdominal X-ray was suggestive of intestinal obstruction. On abdominal CT images, dilated proximal ileal loops between the left hepatic lobe and anterior abdominal wall, forming a closed-loop with mesenteric edema and fat stranding, were observed. There were findings of ileus in the jejunal loops proximal to this segment, but the ileal loops and the colon were completely collapsed, consistent with small bowel obstruction due to internal herniation through a defect in the falciform ligament. The patient underwent surgical intervention, reduction of the herniated bowel loops, and repairing the hernia defect. He had an uneventful recovery with a favorable outcome. Conclusion Herniation through a defect in the falciform ligament is extremely rare but should be considered in the differential diagnosis of acute abdomen. The clinical manifestations of falciform ligament hernia are nonspecific and may underestimate the diagnosis, leading to a delayed treatment that affects the management outcome. Computed tomography plays an important role in the timely diagnosis and planning of surgical intervention, precluding intestinal strangulation.

Heterotaxy syndrome is a rare condition characterized by the abnormal arrangement of thoracoabdominal organs across the left-right axis of the body.It is generally classified as right and left atrial isomerism or asplenia and polysplenia syndrome, even though there are overlaps and uncertainties. The diagnosis of isomerism is typically made by echocardiography. However, multidetector computed tomography and MRI can help in obtaining detailed data on the morphology of the heart, great vessels, the anatomy of the internal organs, and their mutual arrangement that make an accurate diagnosis of heterotaxy syndrome.The authors present here the imaging findings of the heterotaxy polysplenia syndrome in a 21-year-old female with a complete endocardia cushion defect and a duplicated right renal vein.

Intracranial lipomas are rare congenital lesions of the pediatric age group and incidental findings in neuroimaging studies, but some are associated with other congenital malformations. They are usually located in the interhemispheric fissure, often in the vicinity of the corpus callosum.Most of the intracranial lipomas are asymptomatic and require no therapy. The diagnosis is usually made based on the imaging findings and doesn't need histologic conformation.The author presents here the imaging findings of a corpus callosal lipoma with unusual extracranial extension in a 30-year-old male, highlighting the need for a complete evaluation of each patient presenting with a scalp lesion before any intervention, irrespective of the age group.

Abstract Background Right ventricular pseudoaneurysm is an extremely rare finding than left ventricular pseudoaneurysm, associated with high mortality. The diagnosis of right ventricle pseudoaneurysm is often challenging because of its rarity and lack of typical clinical features. However, advanced cardiac imaging techniques including CT angiogram and MRI can help a timely diagnosis to avoid a fatal outcome. Case presentation The authors present the imaging findings of a right ventricular pseudoaneurysm in a 33-year-old male, presented with dyspnea and chest pain after exertion for 2 weeks. The gated CT and cardiac MRI showed a small outpouching from the right ventricle apex into the pericardial space, consistent with a pseudoaneurysm. He underwent cardiac surgery and pseudoaneurysm resection with a favorable outcome. Conclusion Right ventricular pseudoaneurysm is a very rare complication following right heart catheterization and a potentially life-threatening condition that requires prompt diagnosis and management. Though the lack of its typical clinical presentation is often a diagnostic challenge, advanced cardiac imaging techniques including CT angiogram and MRI may help a timely diagnosis to avoid a fatal outcome.

Abstract Household responses to COVID-19 in different corners of the world represent the primary health care that communities have relied on for preventing and mitigating symptoms. During a very complex and confusing time, in which public health services in multiple countries have been completely overwhelmed, and in some cases even collapsed, these first-line household responses have been quintessential for building physical, mental, and social resilience, and for improving individual and community health. This editorial discusses the outcomes of a rapid-response preliminary survey during the first phase of the pandemic among social and community contacts in five metropolises heavily affected by the COVID-19 health crisis (Wuhan, Milan, Madrid, New York, and Rio de Janeiro), and in twelve rural areas or countries initially less affected by the pandemic (Appalachia, Jamaica, Bolivia, Romania, Belarus, Lithuania, Poland, Georgia, Turkey, Pakistan, Cambodia, and South Africa). We summarized our perspectives as 17 case studies, observing that people have relied primarily on teas and spices (“food-medicines”) and that there exist clear international plant favorites, popularized by various new media. Urban diasporas and rural households seem to have repurposed homemade plant-based remedies that they use in normal times for treating the flu and other respiratory symptoms or that they simply consider healthy foods. The most remarkable shift in many areas has been the increased consumption of ginger and garlic, followed by onion, turmeric, and lemon. Our preliminary inventory of food medicines serves as a baseline for future systematic ethnobotanical studies and aims to inspire in-depth research on how use patterns of plant-based foods and beverages, both “traditional” and “new”, are changing during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. Our reflections in this editorial call attention to the importance of ethnobiology, ethnomedicine, and ethnogastronomy research into domestic health care strategies for improving community health.

A new species from coniferous forests in Pakistan, Amanita ahmadii, is described on the basis of morpho-anatomy and molecular data set analyses. This species is characterized by its medium-sized to large basidiomata, grayish brown to brown pileal surface and rimose pileus margin with gray to dark brown verrucose veil remnants, a cream stipe with bulbous base having grayish brown or brown longitudinal striations above the annulus, a scaly surface towards the base, globose to broadly ellipsoid and amyloid basidiospores, and the absence of clamped septa in all tissues. Molecular phylogenetic analyses based on ITS and LSU sequences confirmed its identity as a new taxon nested within subgen. Amanitina sect. Validae.

Background: In the third era of ancient DNA field, it has endured the mesmerising modifications, which should be revealed. From side to side period, analysis of mitochondrial DNA permits to determine the evolutionary relationship among the species, to expose the terrestrial roots of the entities, to standardise the molecular clocks and to study the demographic pasts. Methods: In the current study we used bioinformatics tools for prediction of mitochondrial haplogroups and phylogenetic analysis. The ancient complete mitochondrial genomes were retrieved from online resources and were further used for phylogenetic analysis to know the evolutionary position of the ancient populations lived thousands of years ago. Results: We aligned 46 ancient genomes, collected online and estimated trees by using neighbour-joining, maximum parsimony and maximum-likelihood. Support for nodes was assessed with bootstrap replicates. During our analysis a strong bond between genomes of Altai Neanderthal, Motala 12, Motala 1, Loschbour, Ust'-Ishim, LBK, Mezmaiskaya Neanderthal, Denisova, RISE391(ERR844272), Clovis Anzick-1, RISE395(ERR844275) and RISE210(ERR844262) were found. In this context these ancient samples recommended the presence of a mutual earliest genomic signature. Conclusion: A significant population immigrations and alternates, accountable for influencing main parts of current demographic structure together in Europe and Asia is supported by the Bot15 (ERR668415) and RISE family. In the initial bronze period, ancestral similarity among these populations also share the theorised blow-out of Indo-European languages. Mechanisms of pathogen development and alteration for evolving and reappearing toxicities is also explained by this study. We aim that this study will help researchers in understanding the evolutionary position of ancient populations resided around the world.

A 38-year-old gentleman presented with thyroid storm with multiorgan involvement in the form of heart failure (thyrotoxic cardiomyopathy), respiratory failure (respiratory muscle fatigue), hepatic dysfunction, fast atrial fibrillation, pulmonary embolism, and disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC). His Graves’ disease (GD) remained undiagnosed for nearly 8 months because apart from weight loss, he has not had any other symptoms of thyrotoxicosis. The presentation of thyroid storm was atypical (apathetic thyroid storm) with features of depression and extreme lethargy without any fever, anxiety, agitation, or seizure. There were no identifiable triggers for the thyroid storm. Apart from mechanical ventilation and continuous veno-venous renal replacement therapy in the intensive care unit, he received propylthiouracil (PTU), esmolol, and corticosteroids, which were later switched to carbimazole and propranolol with steroids being tapered down. He was diagnosed with thyrotoxic myopathy which, like GD, remained undiagnosed for long (fatigability). A high index of suspicion and a multidisciplinary care are essential for good outcome in these patients.

Abstract Background The Plasmodium falciparum apical membrane antigen-1 (PfAMA1) is considered as an ideal vaccine candidate for malaria control due to its high level of immunogenicity and essential role in parasite survival. Among the three domains of PfAMA1 protein, hyper-variable region (HVR) of domain I is the most immunogenic. The present study was conducted to evaluate the extent of genetic diversity across HVR domain I of the pfama1 gene in P. falciparum isolates from Hazara division of Pakistan. Methods The HVR domain I of the pfama1 was amplified and sequenced from 20 P. falciparum positive cases from Hazara division of Pakistan. The sequences were analysed in context of global population data of P. falciparum from nine malaria endemic countries. The DNA sequence reads quality assessment, reads assembling, sequences alignment/phylogenetic and population genetic analyses were performed using Staden, Lasergene v. 7.1, MEGA7 and DnaSP v.5 software packages respectively. Results Total 14 mutations were found in Pakistani isolates with 12 parsimony informative sites. During comparison with global isolates, a novel non-synonymous mutation (Y240F) was found specifically in a single Pakistani sample with 5% frequency. The less number of mutations, haplotypes, recombination and low pairwise nucleotide differences revealed tightly linked uniform genetic structure with low genetic diversity at HVR domain I of pfama1 among P. falciparum isolates from Hazara region of Pakistan. This uniform genetic structure may be shaped across Pakistani P. falciparum isolates by bottleneck or natural selection events. Conclusion The Pakistani P. falciparum isolates were found to maintain a distinct genetic pattern at HVR pfama1 with some extent of genetic relationship with geographically close Myanmar and Indian samples. However, the exact pattern of gene flow and demographic events may infer from whole genome sequence data with large sample size of P. falciparum collected from broad area of Pakistan.

Mushrooms with a thin-fleshed pileus that becomes plicate on opening, deliquescent lamellae and dark brown to blackish basidiospores are commonly called coprinoid mushrooms. The genus Coprinellus is one of the important lineages of coprinoid mushroom in the family Psathyrellaceae. Species-level taxonomy in Coprinellus is based mainly on the presence or absence and the structure of veil and cystidia on the pileus, of cystidia on the lamellae and on basidiospore morphology. In this study, four new species of Coprinellus (Co. campanulatus, Co. disseminatus-similis, Co. pakistanicus and Co. tenuis) are described from Pakistan. Species descriptions are based on morphological and molecular data. Phylogenetic analyses based on nuc rDNA ITS region show that the new species Co. campanulatus and Co. disseminatus-similis are clustered in a clade including members of section Micacei; Co. tenuis falls in a clade with members of section Domestici; and Co. pakistanicus recovered in a separate clade adjacent to other recently described clades of genus Coprinellus. Morpho-anatomical descriptions of the new species and comparison with closely allied taxa are provided. With this study, the number of known species of Coprinellus in Pakistan has reached eight.

Introduction: Assessment of occupational exposure to external radiation and the analysis of associated trends are imperative to observe changes that have taken place over time due to regulatory operations or technological advancements. Herein, we describe the occupational radiation exposure to workers employed in Nuclear Medicine (NM), Radiotherapy (RT), and Diagnostic Radiology (DR) departments at the Institute of Radiotherapy and Nuclear Medicine, Peshawar, Pakistan, and to evaluate the related trends during 2009-2016. Materials and Methods: A retrospective analysis of the dose records of 4320 film dosimeters was performed during 2009-2016. The analyzed quantities included annual collective effective dose, annual average effective dose, distribution of workers, and their annual average effective doses in various effective dose intervals, as well as the maximum and minimum annual individual effective doses. Results: The annual average effective doses in RT, NM, and DR were within the ranges of 1.07-1.45, 1.25-1.55, and 1.03-1.60 mSv, respectively. The majority (90%) of the workers received effective doses in the interval of 1-4.99 mSv, while 10% of the workers received doses within the range of the minimum detectable level-0.99 mSv. The minimum and maximum annual individual effective doses were 0.30 mSv and 3.96 mSv as recorded in RT and NM, respectively. The annual average effective doses measured for NM, RT, and DR were 1.39, 1.23, and 1.30 mSv, respectively. These values are comparable with the worldwide annual average effective doses. Conclusion: All the workers received doses below the annual dose limit. The status and trends of doses showed that radiation protection conditions were adequate.

Background: Diversity of communities with specific cultural, ethnic, lingual and geographical backgrounds makes Pakistani society a suitable study subject to unravel the early human migrations, evolutionary history of population having about 18 ethnic groups. Gujars are mostly Indic-speaking nomadic herders with the claims of multiple origins in the sub-continent. Present study was aimed at the determination of maternal lineage of Gujars by mitochondrial DNA analysis. Methods: Total DNA from the human buccal cells was isolated using modified phenol chloroform method. Purified DNA was used for the PCR amplification of mitochondrial Hyper Variable Region 1 and 2 (HVR1 & 2). The nucleotide sequences of amplified PCR products were used to explore the maternal lineage of the Gujar population residing in Northern Pakistan. Results: Haplotypes, allele frequencies and population data of the mitochondrial control region was determined in 73 unrelated individuals belonging to Gujar ethnic group of Northwest areas of Pakistan. Total 46 diverse haplotypes were identified out of which 29 were found unique with (0.9223) genetic diversity and (0.9097) power of discrimination. Haplogroup R was the most frequent (48%) followed by haplogroup M (45%) and N (7%). Conclusion: We found that the Gujar population has multiple maternal gene pool comprising of South Asian, West Eurasian, East Eurasian, Southeast Asian and fractions of Eastern Asian, Eastern Europe and Northern Asian lineages. This study will contribute for the development of mitochondrial DNA database for Pakistani population.

Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) has been remained an important agricultural crop in resolving global food issues through decades. The crop has experienced enormous growth in terms of production throughout the world in recent decades because of improvement in agricultural mechanization, fertilizers application and irrigation practices. Nevertheless, a significant proportion of this valuable crop is still vulnerable to losses due to prevalence of different viral, bacterial, fungal and nematodes infestations. Late blight, caused by Phytophthora infestans (Mont.) de Bary, is one of the most threatening pathogenic diseases which not only results in direct crop losses but also cause farmers to embrace huge monetary expenses for disease control and preventive measures. The disease is well known for notorious ‘Irish Famine’ which resulted in drop of Irish population by more than 20% as result of hunger and potato starvation. Globally, annual losses of crop and money spend on fungicides for late blight control exceeds one trillion US dollars. This paper reviews the significance of late blight of potato and controlling strategies adopted for minimizing yield losses incurred by this disease by the use of synthetic fungicides. Advantages and disadvantages of fungicides application are discussed.

The ongoing episode of coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) has imposed a serious threat to global health and the world economy. The disease has rapidly acquired a pandemic status affecting almost all populated areas of the planet. The causative agent of COVID-19 is a novel coronavirus known as SARS-CoV-2. The virus has an approximate 30 kb single-stranded positive-sense RNA genome, which is 74.5% to 99% identical to that of SARS-CoV, CoV-pangolin, and the coronavirus the from horseshoe bat. According to available information, SARS-CoV-2 is inferred to be a recombinant virus that originated from bats and was transmitted to humans, possibly using the pangolin as the intermediate host. The interaction of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein with the human ACE2 (angiotensin-converting enzyme 2) receptor, and its subsequent cleavage by serine protease and fusion, are the main events in the pathophysiology. The serine protease inhibitors, spike protein-based vaccines, or ACE2 blockers may have therapeutic potential in the near future. At present, no vaccine is available against COVID-19. The disease is being treated with antiviral, antimalarial, anti-inflammatory, herbal medicines, and active plasma antibodies. In this context, the present review article provides a cumulative account of the recent information regarding the viral characteristics, potential therapeutic targets, treatment options, and prospective research questions.

Allelopathy – interactions among plants for resources along with competition – is a composite phenomenon which has spacious potentials of application in agriculture. Understanding of interactions among plants, particularly cultivated crops, may be helpful in modifying crop cultivation pattern with consequent yields increments. In this study, we investigated the allelopathic effects of aqueous extracts of root, stem peels and leaves of sugarcane (Saccharum officinale L.) cultivar 51 at concentrations 0, 2.5, 5.0, 7.5 and 10.0 g/l on germination indices and seedling biomass of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) cultivar Pirsabak-2005. Results demonstrated that higher concentration (10.0 g/l) of extracts of root, stem peels and leaves significantly decreased mean germination time (MGT) but increased shoot and seminal root growth and seedling dry biomass; however, germination percentage was affected neither by extract concentration nor by plant parts used in the study. Extract concentrations up to 7.5 g/l had no effect on the studied parameters of wheat. Our result suggests that sugarcane’s allelopathy demonstrates healthy effects on wheat growth and that wheat could be cultivated in sequential rotation in field conditions.

Retroperitoneal haemorrhage (or retroperitoneal haematoma) refers to an accumulation of blood found in the retroperitoneal space. It is a rare clinical entity with variable aetiology including anticoagulation, ruptured aortic aneurysm, acute pancreatitis, malignancy, and bleeding from renal aneurysm. Diagnosis of retroperitoneal bleed is sometimes missed or delayed as presentation is often nonspecific. Multislice CT and arteriography are important for diagnosis. There is no consensus about the best management plan for patients with retroperitoneal haematoma. Stable patients can be managed with fluid resuscitation, correction of coagulopathy if any, and blood transfusion. Endovascular options involving selective intra-arterial embolisation or stent-grafts are clearly getting more and more popularity. Open repair is usually reserved for cases when there is failure of conservative or endovascular measures to control the bleeding or expertise is unavailable and in cases where the patient is unstable. Mortality of patients with retroperitoneal haematoma remains high if appropriate and timely measures are not taken. Haemorrhage from a benign renal tumour is a rarer entity which is described in this case report which emphasizes that physicians should have a wide index of suspicion when dealing with patients presenting with significant groin, flank, abdominal, or back pain, or haemodynamic instability of unclear cause. Our patient presented with features of acute abdomen and, being pregnant, was thought of having a ruptured ectopic pregnancy.

Pulmonary vein thrombosis (PVT) is rather an uncommon condition which presents nonspecifically and is usually associated with lung malignancy and major pulmonary surgery. Rarely could no cause be found. It causes increased pulmonary venous pressure leading to pulmonary arterial vasoconstriction and subsequent pulmonary arterial hypertension and subsequently can cause cor pulmonale if not addressed in timely fashion. Other associated complications like peripheral embolization and stroke have also been reported. This case emphasizes the importance of maintaining high index of clinical suspicion especially when CT pulmonary angiogram is negative for pulmonary embolism.

Phenolic compounds were extracted from five Hypericum species (H. perforatum, H. oblongifolium, H. monogynum, H. choisianum and H. dyeri Redher) using ethanol. The crude extract (called fraction 1) was then fractionated using re-extraction to water (fraction 2), ethyl acetate (fraction 3), and acetone (fraction 4). The final residue was marked as fraction 5. The content of total phenolics in the fractions ranged from 21 mg of gallic acid equivalents per g (fraction 5 of H. dyeri) to 100 mg of gallic acid equivalents per g (fraction 5 of H. choisianum). Phenolic compounds present in the fractions showed antioxidant and antiradical properties investigated using DPPH radical scavenging activity, molybdate method, and reducing power. The strongest antiradical properties were noted for fraction 3 of H. choisianum (EC50=11.2 μg/mL), whereas the weakest was for fraction 5 of H. dyeri (EC50=139.2 μg/mL). Fractions 1 and 5 of H. dyeri showed good antibacterial activity against Escherichia coli, while fractions 3–5 of H. perforatum were active against Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Fractions 1–4 of H. perforatum were found most active against Helminthosporium maydis as determined by antifungal screening.

This article provides an overview of Afghanistan’s urban planning institutional change in certain historical periods, particular dilemmas within the current urban planning system and its gradual shift from totalitarian urban planning approaches practiced during 1960s - 1980s to a different form of planning being practiced by the current government. In addition, it will seek to analyze the ease and tension caused by the three recent phenomena that have emerged after the establishment of a new democratic government in Afghanistan since 2001, such as private sector-led urban development, international funding community’s and NGOs’ role in planning and the delegation of certain roles given to different tires of the government. Another purpose of this work is to analyze the collaboration among urban planning institutions, private sector, international funding community, NGOs and civil society within the current urban planning arena of Afghanistan and to identify the roles, responsibilities and functions of urban planning institutions in different levels of urban governance. Finally find out what possible and necessary institutional changes and framework are needed in order to foster grassroots based inter-institutional collaboration and partnership among various tires of government. The methodological approach to the research is based on qualitative data analysis. For the analysis purpose, government urban planning data and in-depth, semi-structured, face-to-face interviews with Afghanistan’s urban planning officials were thematically used, which provided in-depth information about involved actors in urban planning and their roles and relationships.

Encouragement of Islam through the rearing of Muslim female children in Pakistan is impossible without fabulous exploration of Islamic rights and cultural obstacles. Islam, as a branch of knowledge based on the Qur'an and hadith, encourages the moral, social, security, economic rights of women. These rights, the first of their kind when they were released, the 7th century, the equal right and dignity of all humans before God were the focus of the women's revolution. According to the Quran, women and men are spiritually equal their success in the attainment of piety and righteousness. These rights find substantial space in different Muslim societies because of various cultural norms and traditional interpretations of Sharia. Women in Pakistan suffer from the patriarchal system deeply ingrained in societal norms that restricts their freedom and opportunities. Right from family dynamics and socialization to marriage and reproductive rights, the women face the very discrimination of the system. Violence against women, including honor killings, is still a widespread practice, justified by cultural norms rather than Islamic principles. Women's problems are of course one of the results of socio-economic problems. Even though the laws are in place, there is a lack of enforcement of those laws. A set of actions and operations are necessary to be implemented to find the best solution, which consists of legal changes, policy interference, and culture change. By way of teaching true Islam perspectives, women's rights lecturer, and upbringing to end harmful cultural practices, Pakistan will have enough potential for its female half, which is in its turn the key to the success of the whole country. A relationship between Islamic rights and cultural practices, told in the form of a comparison, can be examined in the areas of acceptability and separation. While Islamic religion and local customs put their stress on family relationships and community development, but they are diverse when it comes to women's rights, their legal and social status, and the gender role of men. The teachings of Islam in turn convey the messages of justice and equality, whereas cultural norms often create the situation by which women are forced in the position of a "gender hack" and not having freedom. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Within the Hebrew-Jewish tradition, there were strict prohibitions against certain practices and rites that were commonly observed by other Semitic peoples. These included Blood rites and rituals, which are recorded throughout Jewish history. The act of consuming blood was among the sins believed to have contributed to the destruction of Jerusalem. In fact, in one instance Moses took the blood from a sacrifice and threw it upon the people proclaiming, „Behold the blood of the covenant.‟ This idea of using a blood rite to cleanse a place where violence had occurred can be seen in various phases of Jewish History and Old Testament age. Unfortunately, these instances also seem to establish a foundation for violence and a warrior mentality among adherents which has been justified in many Biblical Versus and Books like of Judges and Deuteronomy. Biblical war often refers to "Yahweh war" meaning the war of God of Israel. In the Hebrew Bible, God may be referred to as the "man of war". The War laws are developed considerably later in Rabbinic interpretation. A great collection of War poetry is found in Hebrew scripture and much of it consists of hymns of praise and thanks for God‟s protection of Israel and victory over Israel‟s enemies. Book of Psalm contains fragments of a series of war songs or pieces of war poetry. The main focus of the article is to explore the instances of blood rituals, violence mentality, war appreciation poetry and war practices beginning from the era of ancient Hebrews in Palestine, its historical evolution untill the age of Old Testament and its contemporary relevance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we engineered a sub-70 nm nanocomposite of ZnO/Zn2TiO4 using a low-temperature solution-phase method with titanium isopropoxide and zinc acetate as precursors, and isopropyl alcohol and water as solvents. The investigation focused on nanocomposite growth by varying precursor and surfactant concentrations and their efficiency within different pH ranges. All three ZnO/Zn2TiO4 nanocomposites exhibited hexagonal wurtzite ZnO and Zn2TiO4 structures. The crystallite size in these nanocomposites ranged from 39.50 nm to 62.67 nm for ZnO and 21.24 nm to 26.15 nm for Zn2TiO4. Morphological observations using FESEM revealed the formation of dispersed cotton packet-like nanocomposites with sizes ranging from 18 to 350 nm. FTIR analysis showed peaks indicative of Ti–O and Zn–O bond formation, and EDX spectrum confirmed the presence of Ti, O, and Zn. UV spectrums and photocatalytic investigations confirmed the successful formation of ZnO/Zn2TiO4 nanocomposites with notable photocatalytic degradation efficiency for methylene blue dye under various conditions. These findings suggest the potential applicability of the synthesized nanocomposites for environmental pollutant degradation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]