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Background: Basal cell carcinoma is the most common nonmelanoma skin cancer, followed by cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma. The objective of the current study was to retrospectively evaluate the epidemiology, characteristic variations, histological aspects, and prognosis of basal cell carcinoma of the facial region based on a single-centre experience. Methods: Data from 125 patients admitted to the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, University Medical Center Schleswig-Holstein (UKSH), Kiel, for surgical treatment of basal cell carcinomas of the face between January 2015 and April 2021 were evaluated. Results: The mean patient age was 79.58 years, 60.5% were male and 39.5% were female. Six patients (4.8%) had tumour recurrence with no regional metastasis. Seventy-nine patients (63%) were classified as T1. The nose and the temporal region were the most common areas. The mean tumour thickness was 3.20 mm. Conclusions: Micronodular, sclerosing/morphoeic, nodular, and superficial growth patterns of basal cell carcinoma are highly correlated to recurrence, so an excision safety margin is recommended. There is a strong correlation between tumour thickness and recurrence among basal cell carcinoma cases. When completely excised, the recurrence rate for basal cell carcinoma is relatively low. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Blended Learning (BL), is a teaching approach that integrates face-to-face instruction with interactive online tools and resources. The research study was conducted to analyze students’ satisfaction with approach of Blended Learning in the second language learning classrooms. The research study’s objectives were to find out the impact of blended learning on the students’ speaking practice and to find out impact of Blended Learning on students’ listening practice. The simple random sampling technique was used in this study. In this regard, the data was collected from 317 undergraduate ESL students of different private and government universities in Lahore. After collection, data was encrypted in SPSS software version 22. The descriptive analysis of the collected data shows that most of the ESL students found BL supportive and helpful in learning English language and shows a positive attitude toward BL. The results offered important information from results of current investigation in reaching the conclusion wherein findings show that varying percentages of the students expressed their diverse sentiments regarding the blended learning as compared to the traditional classroom environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of the study is to calculate the thermal response of different types of glazing windows used in buildings to achieve a sustainable environment. However, buildings experience a significant amount of heat gain or loss through and this will affect the thermal comfort of the building's occupants. One of the essential parts of the window is the glazing. Selecting a window glazing is complicated when energy saving and day lighting aspects of a building are considered concurrently. The study involves the estimation of changes in the numerical values regarding the heating and cooling load of a residential unit in the case of replacing glazing from a double-glazed with a single-glazed window. A model of a singlestory residential structure prototype has been taken as a case study in the climate of Lahore. The calculation has been compared with values of direct solar gains, heat gains, and losses throughout the year. A quantitative research-based approach has been used. Overall, the results indicate that during summers the Double-glazed window units have 37% less heat gain and during winters 36% less heat loss as compared to Single-glazed window units. Thus, double-glazed windows are more effective in terms of energy efficiency in comparison to single-glazed windows. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rate at which Pakistan's population is increasing, is alarming for Pakistan, and will resources be available in Pakistan to meet the needs of such a population in the future? Pakistan's rapid population growth is a threat because of the imbalance between population and resources. Islam, as a complete code of life, is a moderate religion. It encourages balance and moderation in all aspects of human life or an individual's life and avoids excesses. In Islam, the institution of the family comes into existence under the contract of marriage. Islam encourages the expansion of the Ummah when other economic and social conditions are better and also teaches prayer for protection from a life of impoverishment and poverty. This article will explore the rapid increase in population, resources, balance problems, and the responsibility of government. It will provide indirect and effective suggestions for the appropriate situation of the problem of economy and society and the balance of resources and population in this era. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The centralized and decentralized planning approaches as affirmed through ‘Post Flood Disaster Management Institutions’ (PFDMI), at provincial management level in Punjab deliberate peculiar impacts within. A macro- level analysis of land use planning of the region will establish the optimum course of strategic disaster risk reduction approaches. For a prolific research analysis of effectivity of integrated and devolved systems of hierarchy involved in flood mitigation mechanism within Punjab,certain qualitative and quantitative methods are utilized in this research to evaluate the effectiveness of management in disaster risk reduction. Another important factor in determining a suitable approach for hierarchy depends upon type of organizations which are responsible for funding the disaster hit regions. The structure of ‘Matching Grant’ at local level in Punjab has therefore been discussed in this research paper to evaluate its effectivity and relational reference for future policies. Similarly the cohesion of prospective management in reference to disaster prone areas in Punjab, may vary with regard to various locations or regions. The macro outlook of fundamental data analysis with respect to centralized and decentralized approaches applied in flood prone areas of Punjab in Pakistan will formulate an overall viewpoint for adopting relevant strategy to deal with disaster risk reduction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Haemorrhoidal disease affects around 4% of the world's population. Symptomatic internal haemorrhoids of varying grades usually require some form of surgical treatment. The gold standard treatment has been haemorrhoidectomy for an extended period of time which is associated with a lot of pain and a number of complications. Haemorrhoidal artery ligation and recto anal repair has shown promising results in terms of less pain and a lower rate of complications. Objective: To assess the outcome of recto-anal repair without doppler transducer for the treatment of grade II, III and IV internal hemorrhoids. Methods: This descriptive case series was conducted at Ghurki trust teaching hospital, Lahore, Pakistan, between January 2016 to December 2021. Using a convenience sampling technique, 100 patients who attended the outpatient department of the hospital were recruited for this study. These patients presented in the Outpatients Department with grade-II, III or IV symptomatic internal haemorrhoids. Surgical intervention was conducted in the form of recto-anal repair without doppler transducer at the three primary sites of internal haemorrhoids in all patients and outcome was measured in terms of mean operating time, length of hospital stay, post-operative pain score, recurrence of prolapse and bleeding, and early and late post-operative complications with one year follow up for all patients. Results: Amongst the study sample, 60% patients were male and 40% were female. The mean age of the patients was 45 years and the mean operating time was 39 minutes. The mean duration of hospital stay was 26 hours. The mean postoperative pain score calculated by visual analogue scale (VAS), twenty-four hours after the surgery was 2.54. Six patients complained of excessive pain persisting for one week, two patients developed anal fissures with bleeding after the procedure. Long term follow-up spanning over one year, showed recurrence of prolapse in one patient. No patient suffered from wound infection, anal stenosis and fecal incontinence due to anal sphincter dysfunction. Conclusion: Recto-anal repair without doppler transducer is an effective method for the treatment of grades-II, III and IV internal haemorrhoids, with very low post-operative pain scores, good relief of symptoms and low recurrence rates. The added advantage is a very low cost because the doppler probe is not required. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The floods have occurred at a very high frequency in last decade in province Punjab which has the largest number of population in Pakistan. The man-introduced hazards have brought about heavy impacts on the losses caused by natural disasters. In addition to the effect of climate change the mechanical activities have posed in huge threats to livelihood, the public infrastructure, and the general economic conditions of population in the country. Analytic valuation establishes the fact that risk assessments must be carried out by institutional mechanisms in a relevant orderly manner .In context of flood disaster in Punjab evaluation of risk was confined to certain levels within upper layers of hierarchy in the past. However, the suggestive discussion for devolution of authorities to deal with disaster has been analysed in this paper, with study of the planned and unplanned improvements (including reviewed and revised community assets) that occurred since the 2010 flood event, an updated hierarchy has to be asserted at various levels for smart control in pre- disaster as well as post –disaster times. In order to improve capacity building of the institutions factors like better deliberation, mitigation, and preparedness are required. The level of vulnerability of a community to any prospective disaster will determine the required capacity of institutions for mitigation of flood induced disasters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Background Four medicinal plants (Chrozophora hierosolymitana Spreng, Chrysanthemum leucanthemum L., Ephedra gerardiana Wall. ex Stapf, and Quercus dilatata L.) used by indigenous healers to treat various infectious diseases were selected for the present study. The major objective of the present study was isolation and characterization of antimicrobial components from the crude plant extracts using bioassay guided fractionation. Methods Seven methanolic extracts of the four plants were screened to identify any antimicrobial agents present in them. The active crude plant extract was fractionated first by solvent partitioning and then by HPLC. Characterization of the active fractions was done by using spectrophotometer. Results All the seven methanolic extracts showed low antifungal activity, however, when these extracts were tested for antibacterial activity, significant activity was exhibited by two extracts. The extract of aerial parts of Q. dilatata was most active and therefore, was selected for further analysis. Initially fractionation was done by solvent-solvent partitioning and out of six partitioned fractions, ethanol fraction was selected on the basis of results of antibacterial activity and phytochemical analysis. Further, fractionation was carried out by RP- HPLC and purified active subfractions were characterized by comparing their absorption spectra with that of the known natural products isolated from the plants of Quercus genus. Discussion and conclusion The results suggest that this is the first report of the isolated antibacterial compounds from this genus.

Variously substituted N-(4-phenyl-3-aroylthiazol-2(3H)-ylidene)benzamides (2a-t) were prepared by base-catalyzed cyclization of corresponding 1-aroyl-3-aryl thioureas with acetophenone in the presence of bromine. Some of the synthesized compounds were assayed in vitro for their antifungal activity and were found to exhibit low to moderate activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Circadian rhythms align biological functions with the 24-hour day-night cycle, but modern artificial light disrupts these patterns, contributing to health issues like obesity and cardiovascular disease. The circadian clock operates through a transcriptional-translational feedback loop involving core components such as BMAL1 and CLOCK. Recent research has shown circadian variations in sphingolipid metabolism, specifically sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P), which plays crucial signaling roles. This study investigates the sphingolipid enzyme, sphingosine kinase 1 (SphK1), which converts sphingosine to S1P, as a circadian-regulated gene in adipocytes. We find that SphK1 expression and activity follow a circadian rhythm, regulated by BMAL1 and CLOCK binding to its promoter. Adipocyte-specific SphK1 knockout mice exhibit disrupted circadian rhythms, and impaired adipocyte function. Additionally, SphK1 deficiency leads to reduced histone acetylation and altered histone deacetylase (HDAC) localization, affecting gene regulation. These results highlight the critical role of SphK1 in linking lipid metabolism with circadian biology.

Sphingosine kinase 1 (SphK1) plays a crucial role in regulating metabolic pathways within adipocytes and is elevated in the adipose tissue of obese mice. While previous studies have reported both pro- and inhibitory effects of SphK1 and its product, sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P), on adipogenesis, the precise mechanisms remain unclear. This study explores the timing and downstream effects of SphK1/S1P expression and activation during in vitro adipogenesis. We demonstrate that the synthetic glucocorticoid dexamethasone robustly induces SphK1 expression, suggesting its involvement in glucocorticoid-dependent signaling during adipogenesis. Notably, the activation of C/EBPδ, a key gene in early adipogenesis and a target of glucocorticoids, is diminished in SphK1-/- adipose-derived stem cells (ADSCs). Furthermore, glucocorticoid administration promotes adipose tissue expansion via SphK1 in a depot-specific manner. Although adipose expansion still occurs in SphK1-/- mice, it is significantly reduced. These findings indicate that while SphK1 is not essential for adipogenesis, it enhances early gene activation, thereby facilitating adipose tissue expansion.