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In this study, 27 strains of Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) were isolated and identified from different milk sources. All the isolates were biochemically characterized and screened for their ability to produce exopolysaccharides (EPS), among which two isolates namely Lactobacillus plantarum NTMI05 (197mg/L) and Lactobacillus plantarum NTMI20 (187mg/L) showed higher EPS production. Both the isolates were molecular characterized and tested for their probiotic properties. The chemical composition of EPS from L. plantarum NTMI05 and NTMI20 revealed the presence of 95.45% and 92.35% carbohydrates, 14±0.1and 11±0.15mg/L lactic acid, 10.5±0.2 and 9±0.1mg/mL of reducing sugar, respectively. HPLC analysis showed galactose at the retention time of 2.29.The maximum EPS yield was optimized for the media components like glucose (20g/L), yeast extract (25g/L) and ammonium sulphate (2g/L) using Central Composite Design and Response Surface Methodology (RSM). Under optimum conditions the predicted maximum EPS production was 0.891g/L, 0.797g/L, while the actual experimental value was 0.956g/L and 0.827g/L for L. plantarum NTMI05 and NTMI20, respectively. The antioxidant capacity was also evaluated by DPPH and reducing power assay proving the potentiality of these organisms in food and dairy industries., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The objective of this work was to enhance the quality and safety of dose delivery in the practice of radiation oncology. To achieve this goal, the absorbed dose verification program was initiated by using the diode in vivo dosimetry (IVD) system (for entrance and exit). This practice was implemented at BINO, Bahawalpur, Pakistan. Diodes were calibrated for making absorbed dose measurements. Various correction factors (SSD, dose non-linearity, field size, angle of incidence, and wedge) were determined for diode IVD system. The measurements were performed in phantom in order to validate the IVD procedure. One hundred and nineteen patients were monitored and 995 measurements were performed. For phantom, the percentage difference between measured and calculated dose for entrance setting remained within ±2% and for exit setting ±3%. For patient measurements, the percentage difference between measured and calculated dose remained within ±5% for entrance/open fields and ±7% for exit/wedge/oblique fields. One hundred and nineteen patients and 995 fields have been monitored during the period of 6 months. The analysis of all available measurements gave a mean percent deviation of ±1.19% and standard deviation of ±2.87%. Larger variations have been noticed in oblique, wedge and exit measurements. This investigation revealed that clinical dosimetry using diodes is simple, provides immediate results and is a useful quality assurance tool for dose delivery. It has enhanced the quality of radiation dose delivery and increased/improved the reliability of the radiation therapy practice in BINO.

Objectives: To determine the level of depression in Rheumatoid Arthritis and its relationship with severity of Rheumatoid Arthritis., Methods: This cross sectional analytical study was conducted from March 2014 to May 2014. Total 102 cases of Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) diagnosed as per ACR (American College of Rheumatology) 1987 criteria were enrolled from Rheumatology Department, Fatima Memorial Hospital. Severity of Rheumatoid Arthritis was assessed by Health Assessment Questionnaire (HAQ) and disease activity score (DAS - 28) while severity of depression was measured by Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) scale II questionnaire. The relationship between depression and disease activity (severity) of Rheumatoid Arthritis was assessed by calculating correlation coefficient between depression, disease activity score (DAS 28) of Rheumatoid Arthritis and health assessment questionnaire (HAQ)., Results: Out of 102 patients, 77(75.5%) were females and 25(24.5%) males. The mean age of patients was 43.5± 11.9 years and the mean duration of disease was 7.8 ± 5.5 years.71.5% of Rheumatoid Arthritis patients were found to have some degree of depression and this was directly related to the severity of disease. Moderate and severe depression were present in 23 (22.5%) and 19(18.6%) patients respectively., Conclusion: In this study, almost three-fourths of Rheumatoid Arthritis patients were found to have depression. There was a strong association between Rheumatoid Arthritis disease activity and the level of depression. So it is imperative for clinicians treating Rheumatoid Arthritis patients to screen them for co morbid depression and manage it accordingly.