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On October 7, 2021, a magnitude 5.9 earthquake struck the Harnai (Baluchistan) region of Pakistan, causing several fatalities and injuries within the epicentral area. First-order tectonic deformation in this region is caused by the convergence of the Indian Plate with respect to the Eurasian Plate. The Katwaz Block hinders the motion of the Indian Plate, resulting in the formation of strike-slip faults. In this study, the P-wave first-motion polarity technique was used to determine the mainshock faulting style. Cyclic scanning of the polarity solutions was applied to determine the most suitable focal mechanism solution among the available solutions generated by the FOCMEC (focal mechanism) software. The nodal planes correspond to different faulting styles (i.e., thrust and strike-slip faulting). A nodal plane oriented in the NW-SE direction corresponded to a strike-slip mechanism, which was considered to be the fault plane. Tectonically, this earthquake was associated with the Harnai-Karahi strike-slip fault zone owing to the fault strike and direction of slip. The apparent stress drop, fault length, and moment magnitude of the Harnai earthquake were 35.4 bar, 6.1 km, and 5.9, respectively. A lower b-value for the Gutenberg-Richter law was observed prior to the earthquake. Higher α- than b-values (α > b) indicate that this earthquake was governed by large events as opposed to small-magnitude events. The Harnai sequence had a decay exponent close to unity, lasted for 145 days, and produced few aftershocks. The study will help the future hazard mitigation in the region.

Ground deformation associated with natural and anthropogenic activities can be damaging for infrastructure and can cause enormous economic loss, particularly in developing countries which lack measuring instruments. Remote sensing techniques like interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) can thus play an important role in investigating deformation and mitigating geohazards. Rawalpindi and Islamabad are twin cities in Pakistan with a population of approximately 5.4 million, along with important government and private entities of national and international interest. In this study, we evaluate rapid paced subsidence in this area using a modified small baseline subset technique with Sentinel-1A imagery acquired between 2015 and 2022. Our results show that approximately 50 mm/year subsidence occurs in the older city of Rawalpindi, the most populated zone. We observed that subsidence in the area is controlled by the buried splays of the Main Boundary Thrust, one of the most destructive active faults in the recent past. We suggest that such rapid subsidence is most probably due to aggressive subsurface water extraction. It has been found that, despite provision of alternate water supplies by the district government, a very alarming number of tube wells are being operated in the area to extract ground water. Over 2017–2021, field data showed that near-surface aquifers up to 50–60 m deep are exhausted, and most of the tube wells are currently extracting water from depths of approximately 150–160 m. The dropping water level is proportional to the increasing number of tube wells. Lying downstream of tributaries originating from the Margalla and Murree hills, this area has a good monsoon season, and its topography supports recharge of the aquifers. However, rapid subsidence indicates a deficit between water extraction and recharge, partly due to the limitations inherent in shale and the low porosity near the surface lithology exposed in the area. Other factors amplifying the impacts are fast urbanization, uncontrolled population growth, and non-cultivation of precipitation in the area.

In this research work, we present the evolution of Coulomb failure stress (CFS) in the Sulaiman Lobe and its implications for seismic hazard assessment. The Chaman transform fault, ~1,000 km long, is the major active fault that marks the western boundary between Pakistan and Afghanistan on the Indian Plate. To date, few studies have been conducted to unveil the interactions among earthquakes and the implications of these interactions for seismic hazard assessment in the region. We thoroughly investigated the published and online catalog to construct a sequence of major earthquakes that occurred in this region during the past. The final earthquake sequence was composed of 15 earthquakes of Mw ≥ 6.0, beginning with the 1888 earthquake. We used the stress-triggering theory to numerically simulate the evolution of CFS caused by these earthquakes. The numerical results revealed that 8 out of 15 earthquakes were triggered by the preceding earthquakes. The earthquakes in 1908, 1910, 1935, 1966, and 1997 were rather independent earthquakes in this sequence. Although the epicenters of the 1975a and 1975b earthquakes were in the stress shadow zone, the partial rupture segments of both these earthquakes were in high-CFS regions. The CFS induced by the 1935 earthquake was notable, as it later triggered the 2008 doublet. Moreover, our results revealed that the northern segment of the Chaman Fault, the southern segment of the Ghazaband Fault, and the northwestern segment of the Urghargai Fault demonstrated a high change in CFS that could trigger seismicity in these regions. The necessary arrangements must therefore be made to mitigate any possible seismic hazards in the region.

Abstract Fagonia cretica L. is a tropical plant of family Zygophyllaceae with wide range of medicinally important secondary metabolites. The low cellular uptake of the polar compounds in the extract of the plant limits its biological application. In present study efficacy of F. cretica modified bioactive nano-formulations for in vitro modulation of TRAIL mediated extrinsic apoptotic pathway as cancer therapy was investigated. F. cretica methanolic extracts were formulated at nano-scale for green synthesis of silver nanoparticles, albumin conjugation and liposomes encapsulation to enhance targeted bioactivity against cancer. Physical characterization of the synthesized nanoparticles was done by SEM, EDX and Zeta potential analyzer. In vitro cell viability assay MTT was done for MCF-7, Hep-2, HUH-7 and HCEC cell lines. Relative expression variation of the apoptotic pathway-associated genes was done by qRT-PCR. SEM revealed spherical shape of 56.62 ± 8.04, 143 ± 11.54 and 83.36 ± 38.73 nm size and zeta potential − 18.6, − 15.5 and − 18.3 mV for liposomes, silver and albumin nanoparticles. Silver nanoparticles showed highest anticancer activity in vitro than albumin and liposomes nanoparticles with IC50 0.101 ± 0.004, 0.177 ± 0.03 and 0.434 ± 0.022 mg/mL in MCF-7, Hep-2 and HUH-7 respectively. F. cretica albumin and silver nanoparticles upregulated the in vitro TRAIL, DR4, DR5 and FADD gene expression at statistically significant levels in Hep-2 cell lines. Nano-formulations of F. cretica proved therapeutically important biomolecules in vitro. The hypothesized modulation of extrinsic apoptosis pathway genes through the plant nanoparticles proved novel medicinal options for effective treatment of cancer and enhancing the bioavailability of the active plant metabolites.

Measurement(s) Lonicera japonica • RNA sequencing • genome assembly • sequence annotation Technology Type(s) SMRT Sequencing • RNA sequencing • Hi-C • biomolecular annotation design Factor Type(s) Genotype Sample Characteristic - Organism Lonicera japonica Sample Characteristic - Environment occurrence Sample Characteristic - Location Shandong Province

This is an innovative study that deals with the application of continuous wavelet transform (CWT)-based seismic spectrum decomposition (SD) and static wedge modelling (SWM) to characterize the fluvial system of Indus Basin, Pakistan. The CWT better discriminates the thin and thick-bedded hydrocarbon-bearing reservoir pore-fluids compared to band-limited seismic characteristics. The hydrocarbon-bearing point bar shows higher amplitudes compared to the water-filled channel, which indicates lower amplitudes A static amalgamation of CWT attributes within the sandstone reservoirs indicates that 28 Hz can resolve the thick-bedded sandstone-filled point bar facies. The mapping of reservoir facies within the 27 Hz to 40 Hz CWT-based frequencies predicts the lateral distribution of channel sandstone, fluvial point bars, regional faults, and three-dimensional seal of shale-bearing levee deposits. The 48 Hz amplitudes can be used for predicting the regional seal for petroleum system. The SWM resolves a 25 m thick gas-bearing fluvial point bar, which is laterally distributed by head-to-head continuity of 29 km. The SWM can be used to predict the quantitative aspects of fluvial systems. The paleo-flow direction of the river was predicted in NNE-SSW orientations. The low-velocity of ∼3500 m/s of river flow eroded the coarse-grained sandstone facies from the eastern flanks and deposited in the western regions of the Basin. The angle of stratigraphic trap and thickness of point bar petroleum system was 20° and 25 m in the west of Basin. These observations can serve as an analogue for the development of stratigraphic plays within the Indus Basins of Pakistan and fluvial systems with similar geological settings.

Inkjet printing technology uses the low-cost direct deposition manufacturing technique for printing and is applicable in various fields including optics, ceramics, three-dimensional printing in biomedicine, and conductive circuitry. This study reviews the classifications and applications of inkjet printing technologies, with a focus on recent publications. The different design approaches, applications, and research progress of several inkjet printing techniques are reviewed. Among them, the piezoelectric inkjet printing technology is the main focus owing to its reliability and handling of a diverse range of inks. A piezo-driven inkjet printhead is activated by applying a voltage waveform to a piezoelectric membrane. The waveform ensures the formation of the designed droplet and a stable jet. A survey of various driving-voltage waveforms is conducted, which can serve as a reference to the research community that uses piezo-driven inkjet printheads. The challenges of printing quality, stability, and speed and their solutions as published in recent studies are reviewed. Technologies for producing high-viscosity inkjets are explored, and the applications of inkjet printing technology in textile, displays, and wearable devices are discussed.

The study of migrants’ ethnobotany can help to address the diverse socio-ecological factors affecting temporal and spatial changes in local ecological knowledge (LEK). Through semi-structured and in-depth conversations with ninety interviewees among local Pathans and Afghan refugees in Kohat District, NW Pakistan, one hundred and forty-five wild plant and mushroom folk taxa were recorded. The plants quoted by Afghan refugees living inside and outside the camps tend to converge, while the Afghan data showed significant differences with those collected by local Pakistani Pathans. Interviewees mentioned two main driving factors potentially eroding folk plant knowledge: (a) recent stricter border policies have made it more difficult for refugees to visit their home regions in Afghanistan and therefore to also procure plants in their native country; (b) their disadvantaged economic conditions have forced them to engage more and more in urban activities in the host country, leaving little time for farming and foraging practices. Stakeholders should foster the exposure that refugee communities have to their plant resources, try to increase their socio-economic status, and facilitate both their settling outside the camps and their transnational movement for enhancing their use of wild plants, ultimately leading to improvements in their food security and health status.

This article has been retracted: please see Elsevier Policy on Article Withdrawal (http://www.elsevier.com/locate/withdrawalpolicy).The authors retract the above paper due to: 1) conflict of interest among the authors; and 2) addition of co-author Dr. Muhammad Younus without his knowledge or permission. The authors apologize for these two grave mistakes.

The study investigates the effect of changing various input parameters on the pressure responses at acoustic cavities of a droplet-based acoustic printing device consisting of a Fabry–Pérot (FP) resonator and a standing wave-source chamber. The standing wave of the acoustic radiation pressure at the FP resonator is analyzed. The behavior of the standing wave and acoustic radiation force at the FP resonator is presented and compared with the measured results by varying the position of the standing wave-generating plate. The pressure changes inside the standing wave-source chamber are investigated and discussed to determine the reason for the sudden high-pressure drop at the FP resonator. Furthermore, the effects of inserting the nozzle and droplet inside the FP resonator on the standing wave and acoustic radiation force are analyzed. Experimental analysis is performed by collecting acoustic pressure data at the outlet of the FP resonator. The simulated and measured pressure drop behaviors are compared. The presented numerical approach can be used to set optimal design guidelines for obtaining a higher acoustic pressure inside the acoustic cavities of droplet-based acoustic jetting and other acoustofluidic devices.

The study investigated the relationship between motivation for learning and motivation for reading among university students. A convenient sample of N=300 male and female students was drawn from Punjab University Lahore, Pakistan with age range of 18 to 23 years. Two questionnaires, Motivation for Reading and Motivated strategies for learning were administered on the sample. Results indicates that female students were significantly higher on both, motivation for learning and motivation for reading as compared to male students. Correlational analysis revealed a significant and positive relationship between motivation for learning and motivation for reading. Finally, linear regression analysis revealed that reading motivation is a significantly predictor of learning motivation.

After a piezoelectric inkjet printhead jets the first droplet, the actuating membrane still vibrates, creating residual vibrations in the ink channel, which can degrade the inkjet printhead performance. For suppressing these vibrations, an optimized actuating voltage waveform with two pulses must be obtained, of which the first pulse is used for jetting and the second pulse is used to suppress the residual vibrations. In this study, the pressure history within the ink channel of a recirculating piezoelectric inkjet printhead was first acquired using lumped element modeling. Then, for suppressing residual vibrations, a bipolar voltage waveform was optimized via analysis of the tuning time (tt ), dwell time (td2), rising time (tr2), falling time (tf2), and voltage amplitude of the second pulse. Two voltage waveforms, Waveform 01 and Waveform 02, were optimized thereafter. In Waveform 01, tt=2 μs, td2=2 μs, and tr2 and tf2=1 μs were finalized as the optimal parameters; in the case of another waveform, the optimal parameters of td2, tr2, and tf2 were found to be 4, 1, and 1 μs, respectively. The optimal voltage amplitude of the second pulse was found to be 1/3 the amplitude of the first pulse. On the basis of our analysis, the tuning time in Waveform 01 is the most sensitive parameter, and the performance yielded is even poorer than that yielded by standard waveform, if not optimized. Therefore, the other waveform is recommended for the suppression of residual vibrations.

The recirculation of ink in an inkjet printhead system keeps the ink temperature and viscosity constant, and leads to the development of a high-performance device. Herein, we propose a recirculating piezo-driven micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS)-based inkjet printhead that has a pressure chamber, a nozzle, and double restrictors. The design and characteristic analysis are performed using a two-port lumped element model (LEM) to investigate the effect of design parameters on the system responses. Using LEM, the jetting pressure at the pressure chamber, velocity at the nozzle inlet, meniscus pressure, and Helmholtz resonance frequency are predicted and the comparative analysis of the jetting pressure and velocity between LEM and the finite element method (FEM) simulation is conducted to validate our proposed LEM method. Furthermore, the effect of a change in major design parameters on the jetting pressure, velocity, and Helmholtz resonance frequency is analyzed. On the basis of this analysis, the optimized device dimensions are finalized. From our analysis, it is also concluded that the restrictor is more sensitive than the pressure chamber in terms of their variations in depth. As the cross-talk effect can occur due to an array of hundreds or thousands of nozzles, we investigated the effect of a single activated nozzle on the non-activated neighboring nozzles, as well as the effect of multi-activated nozzles on a single central nozzle using our proposed LEM.

In August 2010, Pakistan experienced major floods and a subsequent cholera epidemic. To clarify the population dynamics and transmission of Vibrio cholerae in Pakistan, we sequenced the genomes of all V. cholerae O1 El Tor isolates and compared the sequences to a global collection of 146 V. cholerae strains. Within the global phylogeny, all isolates from Pakistan formed 2 new subclades (PSC-1 and PSC-2), lying in the third transmission wave of the seventh-pandemic lineage that could be distinguished by signature deletions and their antimicrobial susceptibilities. Geographically, PSC-1 isolates originated from the coast, whereas PSC-2 isolates originated from inland areas flooded by the Indus River. Single-nucleotide polymorphism accumulation analysis correlated river flow direction with the spread of PSC-2. We found at least 2 sources of cholera in Pakistan during the 2010 epidemic and illustrate the value of a global genomic data bank in contextualizing cholera outbreaks.

Background: Fractures of shaft of femur are a major cause of morbidity and mortality. The objective of this study was to compare outcome of static and dynamic interlocking nailing in closed femoral shaft fractures. Material & Methods: This descriptive study was carried out at Department of Orthopaedics Surgery, Shaikh Zayed Hospital, Lahore, between September 2006 to September 2007. Fifty patients with transverse or short oblique closed fracture shaft of femur (Winquist and Hansen type I) were selected and divided into two groups of 25 each. In group A fractures were fixed in static mode i.e. applying both proximal and distal locking screw, while in group B fractures fixed in dynamic mode by applying only proximal or distal locking screw. Data was entered in computer software SPSS version 11 and was analyzed by using ‘t’ test. Results: Out of 50 patients, 42 patients were male and 8 patients were female, with male to female ratio was 7:1 of static interlocking nail and 4:1 of dynamic interlocking nail. The minimum age of patient was 14 years and maximum was 70 years in both the groups with a mean age of 34.82 in group A and 32.55 in group B. The mean follow up of 6 months was carried out and our results showed that all fractures healed radiologically and clinically in 16.11 weeks in group A (static locking) while 19.37 weeks in group B (dynamic locking). One patient (4%) from group B developed shortening of 2 cm. Two patients (8%) developed delayed union from group A and were treated by dynamization. No patient from both the groups developed early postoperative complications like compartment syndrome, hemorrhage, pulmonary embolism or fat embolism. Conclusion: Closed static interlocking intramedullary nailing is the effective way for management of transverse and short oblique femoral shaft fractures because of faster fracture union with lesser complications.

Abstract Background Digital literacy influences academic behaviors, especially in medical education, where students encounter considerable academic challenges. However, the effects of this phenomenon on academic self-efficacy and procrastination remain inadequately understood. Objectives This research explores the relationships between digital literacy and academic self-efficacy, emphasizing the mediating role of academic procrastination and its various dimensions among medical students. Methods A descriptive cross-sectional survey was conducted from seven medical colleges from October to December 2023. The research employed meticulously validated measurement tools encompassing a digital literacy scale, academic self-efficacy scale, and academic procrastination scale and collected data on 659 medical students. Descriptive statistics and inferential testing (mediation analysis) were performed to investigate the direct and indirect relationships of the study variables. Results The empirical results confirmed that digital literacy positively influenced academic self-efficacy and negatively correlated with academic procrastination. Among the five dimensions of procrastination assessed, self-efficacy emerged as the most potent mediator, significantly reducing procrastination and enhancing academic self-efficacy, followed by affective procrastination, time management, task avoidance, and behavioral procrastination. Conclusion The findings underscore the critical role of digital literacy in fostering academic self-efficacy and reducing procrastination among medical students. Educators can develop more effective interventions to support medical students in their academic journey by targeting specific dimensions of procrastination, particularly self-efficacy-related procrastination. Future research should consider longitudinal studies to confirm causality and explore these dynamics in diverse educational settings.