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Given its detrimental effect on the brain, alcoholism is a severe disorder that can produce a variety of cognitive, emotional, and behavioral issues. Alcoholism is typically diagnosed using the CAGE assessment approach, which has drawbacks such as being lengthy, prone to mistakes, and biased. To overcome these issues, this paper introduces a novel paradigm for identifying alcoholism by employing electroencephalogram (EEG) signals. The proposed framework is divided into various steps. To begin, interference and artifacts in the EEG data are removed using a multiscale principal component analysis procedure. This cleaning procedure contributes to information quality improvement. Second, an innovative graphical technique based on fast fractional Fourier transform coefficients is devised to visualize the chaotic character and complexities of the EEG signals. This elucidates the properties of regular and alcoholic EEG signals. Third, thirty-four graphical features are extracted to interpret the EEG signals' haphazard behavior and differentiate between regular and alcoholic trends. Fourth, we propose an ensembled feature selection method for obtaining an effective and reliable feature group. Following that, we study many neural network classifiers to choose the optimal classifier for building an efficient framework. The experimental findings show that the suggested method obtains the best classification performance by employing a recurrent neural network (RNN), with 97.5% accuracy, 96.7% sensitivity, and 98.3% specificity for the sixteen selected features. The proposed framework can aid physicians, businesses, and product designers to develop a real-time system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Decarbonizing economies requires an energy transition from conventional energy resources to renewable and clean energy resources. However, this transition largely depends upon the availability of huge investments to manage high start‐up costs and operational infrastructure. In this respect, the financial sector can play a vital role. This study explores the financial sector's role in renewable energy consumption utilizing a comprehensive measure of financial sector development constituting both financial institutions and financial markets. Moreover, the study utilizes an advanced econometric technique “dynamic panel threshold model” on panel data of 165 countries ranging from 1980 to 2019. The empirical analysis reveals the presence of a threshold value of 0.191, 0.196, and 0.008 for the overall financial development index, financial institutions index, and financial market index, respectively. This finding confirms the presence of a U‐shaped curve between financial sector development and renewable energy consumption, validating the existence of the financial Kuznets curve. Thus, initially, financial sector development results in lower renewable energy consumption while after reaching the threshold level it boosts renewable energy consumption. Furthermore, the study also shows the statistically significant role of economic growth, trade openness, and inflation in explaining renewable energy usage. The obtained outcomes suggest a pressing necessity to improve both financial institutions and markets to surpass the threshold levels of financial sector performance within the financial sector, thus supporting a rise in renewable energy consumption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The unique physical and chemical properties of silica fume enhance the compressive strength and water resistance of cement mortar. The study aims to investigate the effect of silica fume in cement mixes in terms of strength-gaining characteristics and water-resistance attributes. The silica fume was added in amounts of 0%, 10%, 20%, and 25% as a partial cement replacement for the production of mortar. A total of 120 mortar cubes were prepared with steel molds of 50 × 50 × 50 mm dimensions. Two water-cement ratios (w/c) of 0.4 and 0.5 were utilized to investigate the water-resistance properties. A water-resistant property was calculated using the compressive strength ratio in the saturated surface dry (SSD) state to the oven-dry condition. The compressive strength ratios in SSD and the oven-dry state were measured after curing in water for 3, 7, 28, 45, and 90 days. After 90 days of curing, the sample with a water-cement ratio of 0.4 exhibited the greatest compressive strength and the highest ratio of SSD to the oven-dry state. The higher SSD to oven-dry strength ratio shows the silica fume possesses superior water resistance. This study concludes that silica fume possesses great pozzolanic activity and excellent resistance to water. The incorporation of silica fume creates a concrete composition that enables the construction of durable concrete structures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Absolute quantification of biological samples provides precise numerical expression levels, enhancing accuracy, and performance for rare templates. Current methodologies, however, face challenges‐flow cytometers are costly and complex, whereas fluorescence imaging, relying on software or manual counting, is time‐consuming and error‐prone. It is presented that Deep‐qGFP, a deep learning‐aided pipeline for the automated detection and classification of green fluorescent protein (GFP) labeled microreactors, enables real‐time absolute quantification. This approach achieves an accuracy of 96.23% and accurately measures the sizes and occupancy status of microreactors using standard laboratory fluorescence microscopes, providing precise template concentrations. Deep‐qGFP demonstrates remarkable speed, quantifying over 2000 microreactors across ten images in just 2.5 seconds, with a dynamic range of 56.52–1569.43 copies µL−1. The method demonstrates impressive generalization capabilities, successfully applied to various GFP‐labeling scenarios, including droplet‐based, microwell‐based, and agarose‐based applications. Notably, Deep‐qGFP is the first all‐in‐one image analysis algorithm successfully implemented in droplet digital polymerase chain reaction (PCR), microwell digital PCR, droplet single‐cell sequencing, agarose digital PCR, and bacterial quantification, without requiring transfer learning, modifications, or retraining. This makes Deep‐qGFP readily applicable in biomedical laboratories and holds potential for broader clinical applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Shape From Focus (SFF) reconstructs a scene's shape using a series of images with varied focus settings. However, the effectiveness of SFF largely depends on the Focus Measure (FM) used, which is prone to noise-induced inaccuracies in focus values. To address these issues, we introduce a perception-influenced factor to refine the traditional Focus Volume (FV) derived from a traditional FM. Owing to the strong relationship between the Difference of Gaussians (DoG) and how the visual system perceives edges in a scene, we apply it to local areas of the image sequence by segmenting the image sequence into non-overlapping blocks. This process yields a new metric, the Perceptual Focus Factor (PFF), which we combine with the traditional FV to obtain an enhanced FV and, ultimately, an enhanced depth map. Intensive experiments are conducted by using fourteen synthetic and six real-world data sets. The performance of the proposed method is evaluated using quantitative measures, such as Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) and correlation. For fourteen synthetic data sets, the average RMSE measure of 6.88 and correction measure of 0.65 are obtained, which are improved through PFF from an RMSE of 7.44 and correlation of 0.56, respectively. Experimental results and comparative analysis demonstrate that the proposed approach outperforms the traditional state-of-the-art FMs in extracting depth maps. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: This study aims to investigate the effectiveness of the lower limb rehabilitation protocol (LLRP) using mobile health (mHealth) on quality of life (QoL), functional strength, and functional capacity among knee OA patients who were overweight and obese. Patients and methods: Between August 2019 and November 2020, a total of 96 patients (42 males, 54 females; mean age; 52.9±4.8 years; range, 40 to 60 years) were randomized into either the rehabilitation group with mobile health (RGw-mHealth) receiving reminders by using mHealth to carry on the strengthening exercises of LLRP and instructions of daily care (IDC), the rehabilitation group without mobile health (RGwo-mHealth) following the strengthening exercises of LLRP and instructions of daily care (IDC) and control group (CG) only following the IDC for duration of 12 weeks. The reminders for using mHealth were provided two times a day for three days a week. Primary outcome measures were QoL assessed by the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index summary score, and functional strength by five-repetition sit-to-stand test. Secondary outcome measure was functional capacity assessed by the Gait Speed Test. The assessments of QoL, functional strength, and functional capacity were taken at baseline and post-test after 12 weeks of intervention. Results: After 12 weeks of intervention, the patients in all three groups had a statistically significant improvement in QoL within groups (p<0.05). Patients in the RGw-mHealth and RGwo-mHealth had a statistically significant improvement in functional strength and walking gait speed within groups (p<0.05). The pairwise between-group comparisons (Bonferroni post-hoc test) of the mean changes in QoL, functional strength, and functional capacity at post-test assessments revealed that patients in the RGw-mHealth had a statistically significant greater mean change in QoL, functional strength and functional capacity relative to both the RGwo-mHealth and CG (p<0.001). Conclusion: The improvement in QoL, functional strength, and functional capacity was greater among patients in the RGw-mHealth compared to the RGwo-mHealth or CG. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the shape-from-focus (SFF) method, the quality of the 3D shape generated relies heavily on the focus measure operator (FM) used. Unfortunately, most FMs are sensitive to noise and provide inaccurate depth maps. Among recent FMs, the ring difference filter (RDF) has demonstrated excellent robustness against noise and reasonable performance in computing accurate depth maps. However, it also suffers from the response cancellation problem (RCP) encountered in multidimensional kernel-based FMs. To address this issue, we propose an effective and robust FM called the directional ring difference filter (DRDF). In DRDF, the focus quality is computed by aggregating responses of RDF from multiple kernels in different directions. We conducted experiments using synthetic and real image datasets and found that the proposed DRDF method outperforms traditional FMs in terms of noise handling and producing a higher quality 3D shape estimate of the object. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Any component of the urinary system can get infected with bacteria, which is known as a urinary tract infection (UTI). It is one of the most common bacterial diseases in children. The study's objectives included identifying the clinical symptoms of UTI in children between the ages of one month and fifteen, as well as the bacteria responsible for the illness and their sensitivity to various medicines. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted at the CMH Rawalpindi, Pakistan from January to June of 2022. Our analysis comprised 137 strongly suspected instances of UTI in children (1 month to 15 years old). Results: A total of 137 urine samples from paediatric patients suspected of having UTI were obtained in which the 93 samples (67.88%) generated significant bacteria. The two most common clinical symptoms of UTI patients in our research were fever and dysuria. E. coli was the most prevalent isolate in cases with paediatric UTI. Ampicillin, Ciprofloxacin, and cotrimoxazole were the medications that were most effective against E. coli and Klebsiella, respectively. Conclusions: This study highlights the importance of identifying the clinical symptoms, bacteria causing urinary tract infections (UTIs), and their drug sensitivity patterns in children. The findings emphasize the need for early detection through urine culture sensitivity tests and provide valuable insights for clinicians to effectively manage UTI cases in children, including selecting appropriate empirical antibiotic treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, Xiaomi phones have been a major player in the Pakistani smartphone market due to their innovative technology, suitable hardware, and affordable prices. Still, in light of the intense market conflict, Xiaomi has to keep going in its endeavors to uphold the efficacy of its marketing strategy. This study focuses on the selection of Xiaomi Company as the research subject to comprehensively investigate its marketing strategy and its effectiveness within the Pakistani market. To begin with, PEST analysis is used to assess the external factors that impact their operations and make decisions to lower lowering the risk involved. In addition, Five Forces method might be useful for the executives of Xiaomi in analyzing the market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polymeric rubber and organic semiconductor H2Pc-CNT-composite-based surface- and sandwich-type shockproof deformable infrared radiation (IR) sensors were fabricated using a rubbing-in technique. CNT and CNT-H2Pc (30:70 wt.%) composite layers were deposited on a polymeric rubber substrate as electrodes and active layers, respectively. Under the effect of IR irradiation (0 to 3700 W/m2), the resistance and the impedance of the surface-type sensors decreased up to 1.49 and 1.36 times, respectively. In the same conditions, the resistance and the impedance of the sandwich-type sensors decreased up to 1.46 and 1.35 times, respectively. The temperature coefficients of resistance (TCR) of the surface- and sandwich-type sensors are 1.2 and 1.1, respectively. The novel ratio of the H2Pc-CNT composite ingredients and comparably high value of the TCR make the devices attractive for bolometric applications meant to measure the intensity of infrared radiation. Moreover, given their easy fabrication and low-cost materials, the fabricated devices have great potential for commercialization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A compact-size Penning ion source with a small discharge volume (1.24 cm3) is developed. It consists of two concentric cylinders of different heights that act as cathodes and one hollow cylindrical anode. A homogeneous magnetic field is achieved within the discharge volume with geometrical optimization of the ion source. As a result, dense plasma is generated at low discharge power. The dynamics of the pulse mode discharge at low pulse width and frequency of anode voltage are studied. A high discharge (hundreds of amperes) current pulse with low delay time and fast rise time is recorded. The ion source is equally efficient to operate in continuous as well as pulse modes of ionization for various gases. It is operated in a wide range of low pressure at low anode voltage. An extraction system is designed to extract ions efficiently in the axial direction at a variable extraction voltage. The beam current of 200 µA in continuous mode and 6 A fast pulse in the pulsed mode of discharge have been measured. Variable beam current can be extracted with variable extraction voltage for any potential application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although maize (Zea mays L.) crop has high production potential for forage and grain, however it requires efficient managerial practices for optimum yield. Adequate nutrients for optimum growth led to good vegetative and reproductive growth. Field studies were conducted to evaluate the effects of two endogenous seed phosphorus (P); i.e. SLP: seed with low endogenous phosphorus (1.5 mg kg −1 seed dry weight), and SHP: seed with high endogenous phosphorus (3.2 mg kg −1 seed dry weight). Pre-categorized seeds were tested against five rates of exogenous soil P, namely, (1) control: no P (0 kg P ha −1); (2) 50 kg P ha −1; (3) 100 kg P ha −1; (4) 150 kg P ha −1; and (5) 200 kg P ha −1. Seeds having different P contents depicted non-prominent effects on accumulation patterns with few exceptions of P (at physiological maturity (R6) and of potassium (K) (at grain filling (R4) and R6); exogenous P expressed significant effects. Nitrogen (N), P, K, zinc (Zn), and boron (B) exhibited differential accumulation behavior during maize growth. Nitrogen expressed accumulation from tasseling (VT) to R4; however, P, K, Zn, and B depicted remobilization from VT to R6. Maximum accumulation efficiency of P (50.7%), Zn (46.9%), and B (51.4%) was observed from VT to R4 growth, whereas maximum response of K (60.3%) and N (21.8%) was witnessed from R4 to R6, representing variant source-sink capacities. Boron depicted greater remobilization under low exogenous P applications. Results suggest that exogenous P application severely affects nutrient accumulation during pre- and post-grain filling growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The science of hydrological modeling has continuously evolved under the influence of rapid advancements in software and hardware technologies. Starting from simple rational formulae for estimating peak discharge and developing into sophisticated univariate predictive models, accurate conversion of rainfall into runoff and the assessment of inherent uncertainty has been a prime focus for researchers. Therefore, alternative data-driven methods have gained widespread attention in hydrology. Moreover, scientists often couple conventional machine learning models with data pre-processing techniques, i.e., wavelet transformation (WT), to enhance modelling accuracy. In this context, this research work attempts to explore the latent linkage between rainfall and runoff in Pothohar region of Pakistan by developing a novel linkage of five streamline techniques of machine learning, including single decision tree (SDT), decision tree forest (DTF), tree boost (TB), multilayer perceptron (MLP), and gene expression modeling (GEP), with a more sophisticated variant of WT, i.e., maximal overlap discrete wavelet transformation (MODWT), for boundary correction of the transformed components of timeseries data. This study also implements these machine learning models in a stand-alone mode for a more comprehensive comparative analysis of performances. Furthermore, the study uses a combined-basin approach that divides Pothohar region into two basins to compensate for the complex topographic division of the study area. The results indicate that MODWT-based DTF outperformed other stand-alone and hybrid models in terms of modeling accuracy. In the first scenario, considering the Bunha-Kahan River basin, MODWT-DTF yielded the highest NSE (0.86) and the lowest RMSE (220.45 mm) and R2 (0.92 at lag order 3 (Lo3)) when transformed with daubechies4 (db4) at level three. While in the Soan-Haro River basin, MODWT-DTF produced the highest accuracy modeling at lag order 4 (Lo4) (NSE = 0.88, RMSE = 21.72 m3/s, and R2 = 0.91). The highly accurate performance of 3- and 4-days lagged models reflects the temporal consistency in hydrological response of the study area. The comparison of simple and hybrid model performance indicates up to a 55% increase in modeling accuracy due to data pre-processing with wavelet transformation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To determine the frequency of post-operative asymptomatic hypocalcaemia in patients with total and subtotal thyroidectomy. Study Design: Cross-sectional study. Setting: Department of Surgery, Sheikh Zayed Hospital, Rahim Yar Khan. Period: 1st July 2021 to 30th April 2022. Material & Methods: One hundred and Sixteen post thyroidectomy male and female patients of age 18-50 years were included in the study using consecutive sampling technique and two groups were formed. Group-A included those patients who underwent total thyroidectomy and in Group-B patients underwent sub-total thyroidectomy. Samples for serum calcium levels were collected in gel tube before and 24 hours after surgery. Post-operative Hypocalcemia was defined by serum total calcium < 8.5 mg/dL 24 hours after surgery. Patients with symptomatic post-operative hypocalcemia following total or subtotal thyroidectomy or hypocalcemia due to any other reason or systemic disease e.g. renal disease and pregnant females were excluded by history and medical record. Data was analyzed using SPSS 20. Results: In Group A the Mean age was 30.94 ±9.6 years, while those in Group B were 31.59± 11.03 years. In Group A 62 (35.63%) and in 30 (17.245%) of Group B patients respectively were identified with asymptomatic hypocalcemia. A statistically significant difference was seen in both groups. 0.00 is the probability value. Conclusion: When compared to sub-total thyroidectomy, the frequency of asymptomatic hypocalcaemia was substantially higher following total thyroidectomy. Asymptomatic hypocalcaemia after complete or partial thyroidectomy might affect both men and women equally. After subtotal or total thyroidectomy, both younger and older age groups had an equal likelihood of developing asymptomatic hypocalcaemia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electroencephalography (EEG) signals are considered one of the oldest techniques for detecting disorders in medical signal processing. However, brain complexity and the non-stationary nature of EEG signals represent a challenge when applying this technique. The current paper proposes new geometrical features for classification of seizure (S) and seizure-free (SF) EEG signals with respect to the Poincaré pattern of discrete wavelet transform (DWT) coefficients. DWT decomposes EEG signal to four levels, and thus Poincaré plot is shown for coefficients. Due to patterns of the Poincaré plot, novel geometrical features are computed from EEG signals. The computed features are involved in standard descriptors of 2‑D projection (STD), summation of triangle area using consecutive points (STA), as well as summation of shortest distance from each point relative to the 45-degree line (SSHD), and summation of distance from each point relative to the coordinate center (SDTC). The proposed procedure leads to discriminate features between S and SF EEG signals. Thereafter, a binary particle swarm optimization (BPSO) is developed as an appropriate technique for feature selection. Finally, k-nearest neighbor (KNN) and support vector machine (SVM) classifiers are used for classifying features in S and SF groups. By developing the proposed method, we have archived classification accuracy of 99.3 % with respect to the proposed geometrical features. Accordingly, S and SF EEG signals have been classified. Also, Poincaré plot of SF EEG signals has more regular geometrical shapes as compared to S group. As a final remark, we notice that the Poincaré plot of coefficients in S EEG signals has occupied more space as compared to SF EEG signals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To determine the frequency of post-operative asymptomatic hypocalcaemia in patients with total and subtotal thyroidectomy. Study Design: Cross-sectional study. Setting: Department of Surgery, Sheikh Zayed Hospital, Rahim Yar Khan. Period: 1st July 2021 to 30th April 2022. Material & Methods: One hundred and Sixteen post thyroidectomy male and female patients of age 18-50 years were included in the study using consecutive sampling technique and two groups were formed. Group-A included those patients who underwent total thyroidectomy and in Group-B patients underwent sub-total thyroidectomy. Samples for serum calcium levels were collected in gel tube before and 24 hours after surgery. Post-operative Hypocalcemia was defined by serum total calcium < 8.5 mg/dL 24 hours after surgery. Patients with symptomatic post-operative hypocalcemia following total or subtotal thyroidectomy or hypocalcemia due to any other reason or systemic disease e.g. renal disease and pregnant females were excluded by history and medical record. Data was analyzed using SPSS 20. Results: In Group A the Mean age was 30.94 ±9.6 years, while those in Group B were 31.59± 11.03 years. In Group A 62 (35.63%) and in 30 (17.245%) of Group B patients respectively were identified with asymptomatic hypocalcemia. A statistically significant difference was seen in both groups. 0.00 is the probability value. Conclusion: When compared to sub-total thyroidectomy, the frequency of asymptomatic hypocalcaemia was substantially higher following total thyroidectomy. Asymptomatic hypocalcaemia after complete or partial thyroidectomy might affect both men and women equally. After subtotal or total thyroidectomy, both younger and older age groups had an equal likelihood of developing asymptomatic hypocalcaemia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently among modern molecular tools, novel DNA barcode approach has gained significant importance for the accurate identification of animal species. However, still much remains unknown about the utility of DNA barcodes for plant species identification. To fill this research and knowledge gap, a study was designed to determine the efficacy of plant-based DNA barcodes for identification of spinach cultivars. In land plants, standard DNA barcode markers are Maturase K (matK) and RNA polymerase subunit beta' (rpoC1). Data for DNA barcoding of local spinach species were established based on matK and rpoC1 barcode using the modest taxonomic range. The results pertaining to the nucleotide sequence of matK markers from spinach exhibited maximum homology with sugar beet (Accession ID: HM850762) from Portugal, whereas rpoC1 sequence showed homology with two different plant species from China i.e., Spinach (Accession ID: AJ400848) and sugar beet (Accession id: EF534108). Our results demonstrate the promising potential of chloroplast marker genes as an effective and viable tool for species identification for spinach cultivars. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study investigates the effects of renewable energy, nonrenewable energy, and foreign direct investment (FDI) on output growth in the five South Asian economies. For this purpose, a panel growth model has developed over the period 1990–2018. Pedroni cointegration estimates indicate that renewable, nonrenewable energy, FDI, and gross domestic product (GDP) are cointegrated. The results from the panel fully modified ordinary least squares (FMOLS) depict the nonrenewable energy stimulates output growth. FDI also has a positive impact on output growth. Besides, the empirical results confirm that renewable energy has a significant and positive impact on output growth in the South Asian economies. The findings suggest that South Asian economies should investment in renewable energy for sustainable economic development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel surface acidity modulation strategy allows us to obtain modified nanoclay with specific peroxidase (POD)-like catalytic activity. Fe3+ exchange could increase the surface acidity of modified montmorillonite (MMT), resulting in a significant enhancement of its POD-like activity. We proposed that the POD-like catalytic reaction followed the electron transfer pathway and ping-pong mechanism. Correspondingly the constructed colorimetric sensor for H2O2 exhibited high sensitivity and specificity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of adding hydrocortisone enema in the traditional management of Solitary rectal ulcers (SRU) in pediatric patients. Study Design: Randomized Controlled Trial. Setting: Department of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Children’s Hospital and The Institute of Child’s Heath, Multan, Pakistan. Period: January, 2021 till December, 2021. Material & Methods: A total of 52 children (15 years or younger) diagnosed to have SRU were included. Demographic data, clinical and colonoscopic findings were collected. Children were randomly divided into two groups. Group-A received only conventional therapy while Group-B received hydrocortisone enema in addition to conventional therapy. After starting treatment, patients were followed up every 15 days up to duration of 6 months and response to the treatment in terms of complete resolution of symptoms was noted. Results: The Mean age of 52 children was 9 + 1.8 years. Twenty eight (53.8%) were boys. The mean duration of symptoms was 5 + 1.4 months. Most common presenting features were per-rectal bleed 48 (92.3%) and mucus in stool 27 (51.9%). It was found that 14/25 (56.0%) children in Group-A reported complete resolution of symptoms in comparison to 20/24 (83.3%) in Group-B (p=0.0380) at 2-months post treatment follow up. Forty one children completed the 6-months follow up period and included in the final analysis. It was found that 10/21 (47.6%) children reported completed resolution of symptoms while Group-B, 18/20 (90.0%) children had complete resolution of symptoms (p=0.0036) at 6-months follow up. Conclusion: In children with SRUS, hydrocortisone enemas along with conventional treatment were found to be significantly more useful in resolution of pretreatment symptoms in comparison to conventional treatment alone. Further studies involving large sets of population are needed to verify the findings of present study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Allergic conjunctivitis is a common hypersensitivity disorder that is prevalent globally. The objective of this trial was to compare the efficacy of Olopatadine versus Ketotifen ophthalmic solution in relieving itching in allergic conjunctivitis in population of Peshawar, Pakistan. Materials & Methods: This RCT was conducted at Department of Ophthalmology, Khyber Girls Medical College, Peshawar, Pakistan from March 01, 2022 to June 30, 2022. One-eighty-six patients with allergic conjunctivitis with itching score of 2-3 and aged 5-65 years were randomly allocated to two groups; 93 to experimental/ Olopatadine and 93 to control/Ketotifen group. Itching was graded as; no itching zero, mild itching 1, moderate itching 2 and severe itching 3. Pre-treatment itching score was measured. Experimental group used Olopatadine Hydrochloride 0.1% b.i.d., while control group used Ketotifen Fumarate 0.025% q.id., both for six-weeks. Posttreatment presence of itching was measured as 0-1 as itching relieved and 2-3 as not relieved. Sex, age groups, pre-treatment itching score and presence of itching were described by count and percentage. Hypothesis was verified using McNemar chi-square test. Results: Experimental/Olopatadine group included 58 (62.37%) men and 35 (37.63%) women, while control/ Ketotifen group included 55 (59.14%) men and 38 (40.86%) women. There were 78 (83.87%) patients in age group 5-35 years and 15 (16.13%) in age group 36-65 years in each group. Pre-treatment itching score was 2 in 40 (43.02%) and 3 in 53 (56.98%) patients in experimental group, and 2 in 42 (45.16%) and 3 in 51 (54.84%) patients in control group. Itching was relieved in 77 (82.80%) in experimental/Olopatadine group, and in 67 (72.04%) patients in control/Ketotifen group. Experimental/Olopatadine showed statistically significantly higher efficacy than control/Ketotifen (p-value .0139). Conclusion: The efficacy of Olopatadine Hydrochloride 0.1% b.i.d. was higher than Ketotifen Fumerate 0.025% ophthalmic solution q.i.d. in terms of itching relief in allergic conjunctivitis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. Next-generation sequencing methods have been developed and proposed to investigate any query in genomics or clinical activity involving DNA. Technical advancement in these sequencing methods has enhanced sequencing volume to several billion nucleotides within a very short time and low cost. During the last few years, the usage of the latest DNA sequencing platforms in a large number of research projects helped to improve the sequencing methods and technologies, thus enabling a wide variety of research/review publications and applications of sequencing technologies. Objective. The proposed study is aimed at highlighting the most fast and accurate NGS instruments developed by various companies by comparing output per hour, quality of the reads, maximum read length, reads per run, and their applications in various domains. This will help research institutions and biological/clinical laboratories to choose the sequencing instrument best suited to their environment. The end users will have a general overview about the history of the sequencing technologies, latest developments, and improvements made in the sequencing technologies till now. Results. The proposed study, based on previous studies and manufacturers' descriptions, highlighted that in terms of output per hour, Nanopore PromethION outperformed all sequencers. BGI was on the second position, and Illumina was on the third position. Conclusion. The proposed study investigated various sequencing instruments and highlighted that, overall, Nanopore PromethION is the fastest sequencing approach. BGI and Nanopore can beat Illumina, which is currently the most popular sequencing company. With respect to quality, Ion Torrent NGS instruments are on the top of the list, Illumina is on the second position, and BGI DNB is on the third position. Secondly, memory- and time-saving algorithms and databases need to be developed to analyze data produced by the 3rd- and 4th-generation sequencing methods. This study will help people to adopt the best suited sequencing platform for their research work, clinical or diagnostic activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To compare the outcome of surgical repair of inguinal hernia between total extra peritoneal repair (TEP) and Lichtenstein repair. Study Design: Randomized Controlled Trial. Setting: Department of Surgery, Sheikh Zayed Hospital, Rahim Yar Khan. Period: 24-03-2021 to 23-09-2021. Material & Methods: Non probability consecutive sampling. The cases of both genders with age range of 20-60 years with inguinal hernia (both direct and indirect) were included. The cases in group A were managed by laparoscopic TEP while those in group B underwent Lichtenstein repair. Prolonged hospital stay was labeled when the patients were not discharged after 24 hours of surgery and post-operative pain was labelled as yes when the patient had pain of score of 3 or more assessed by visual analogue scale after the 2 weeks of the surgery. Results: In this study 62 cases were included, 31 in each group. The mean age in group A and B was 32.90±9.89 vs 32.67±7.57 years and mean duration of hospital stay was 22.77±6.84 vs 26.00±11.25 hours with P=0.004 in group A and B respectively. Postoperative pain was seen in 08 (25.80%) cases in group A and 19 (61.29%) cases in group B with P=0.01. Prolonged hospital stay was observed in 10 (32.25%) cases in group A and 18 (58.06%) cases in group B withP= 0.07. Conclusion: Postoperative pain is significantly higher in cases managed with Lichtenstein repair as compared to total extra peritoneal repair. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Given the need to employ novel research methods in the energy-environment nexus, the objective of the present research is to investigate the impacts of real output, unemployment, and renewable and non-renewable energy on ecological footprint under a STIRPAT theoretical framework by applying the second-generation unit root, cointegration, Granger-causality, and long-run estimation methods on the annual data from 1990 to 2017 for South Asian economies. Empirical results show that increases in unemployment and renewable energy decrease ecological footprint while increases in real income and non-renewable energy hurt the environment. This study confirms the adverse effect of renewable energy on environmental degradation as well as the trade-off between unemployment and pollution through multiple robustness and sensitivity checks. In addition, the causality test supports unidirectional causality from income, renewable energy, and non-renewable energy to ecological footprint. Regarding policy perspectives, the governments of the South Asian region should support the deployment of renewable energy through various channels and regulations. The development of technologies that promote sustainable production and consumption play critical roles for reducing the trade-off unemployment and ecological footprint. Further policy suggestions are discussed in the study. • The nexus of renewable energy and environmental degradation is investigated for Asian Economies. • Novel estimators that account for cross-sectional dependence and heterogeneity among the economies are applied. • Renewable energy contributes to environmental sustainability through a decline in ecological footprints. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Methods exist to extract capsaicin from chili (Capsicum annuum L.), but they have poor yield and are hazardous to the environment. The objective of the study was to develop a process for extraction of capsaicin from chili that is more efficient and bio-rationale. Two deep eutectic solvents (DES), choline chloride-urea (CCU) and choline chloride-glycerol (CCG), were used for extraction with MAE (microwave-assisted extraction) and UAE (ultrasound-assisted extraction). In MAE, the highest yield in both solvents was at 600 W and solvent-solid ratio 30 mL∙g−1 for CCU 18.88 mg∙g−1 and for CCG 14.49 mg∙g−1. In UAE, the highest yield in both solvents was at 50°C and solvent-solid ratio 100 mL∙g−1 (2.77 for CCU and 2.59 mg∙g−1 for CCG). The CCU (1:2) was an efficient solvent for extraction of capsaicin from chili and MAE was more efficient than UAE (ultrasound-assisted extraction). The results provide a new method to obtain capsaicin efficiently from C. annuum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The FEPE calibration of in situ gamma spectrometer is very complex and limits its widespread use. In this study, a novel method for the absolute FEPE calibration of in situ spectrometer is proposed. The proposed method is applied for the FEPE calibration of HPGe detector (GC-3020) intended to use for in situ measurements. The intrinsic FEPE of detector is determined by measuring standard radioactive point sources 152Eu,137Cs, 133Ba and 60Co at a distance of 25 cm from front face of the detector. The method is validated by Monte Carlo simulations in Geant4. The absolute FEPE values obtained through the proposed methodology are compared to those computed using MC simulations. A good agreement between them validates the proposed method, in the energy range of interest. The proposed method may be employed for the rapid calibration of in situ gamma spectrometry systems during nuclear emergency. • A method to calibrate in situ gamma spectrometer rapidly. • Intrinsic FEPE of detector measured using few point sources. • Radial extent of disk source is optimized for various detector sizes. • Method validated by computing FEPE using Geant4 MC simulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Socio-economic disparities can pose threat to the security of a nation-state. They may even threaten a state's survival. Thereby States have to adopt a comprehensive security approach to address socio-economic disparities. Pakistan is also challenged by socioeconomic disparities caused by several internal and external factors. National Security Policy (NSP) 2022-2026 has duly recognised these factors and proposed a comprehensive security paradigm for the country. This study deploys a Comprehensive security approach as propounded by Copenhagen School to understand the linkage between socio-economic disparities and the national security of Pakistan. It attempts to explain how socioeconomic disparities affect Pakistan's national security and what can be done to address them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The occurrence of natural disasters is as old as the history of human beings, thus, the SDG 11.5 target underscores the importance of reducing natural disasters and their corresponding losses. Natural disasters suddenly disturb the inflow of foreign reserves and restrict the purchase of necessary goods, thus, causing welfare loss. Due to limited literature, this research shows the effect of natural disasters on foreign exchange reserves in 24 high, 26 upper-middle, 32 lower-middle, and 16 low-income countries. The two-step generalized method of moments shows that disaster-related loss reduced the level of foreign reserves in all panels, excluding high-income countries. The favorable impact of infrastructure, capital formation, renewable energy, FDI inflow on foreign reserves implies practical implications like (a) infrastructural investment is recommended to strengthen the economy, (b) capital formation is recommended for the production of exportable items, (c) enhance human capital through healthcare, education, employment, training, and skills development, (d) installation of renewable energy systems at discounted rates to tackle energy crisis and reduce import bills, and (e) increase FDI inflow, especially in disaster management and planning. Resilience-building is a vital tool for hazard management and planning. This study encourages countries to follow the Sendai Framework 2015–2030 to increase resilience. • It shows the impact of natural disasters and renewable energy on foreign reserves. • It shows the impact of capital formation and human capital on foreign reserves. • It uses panel data of 98 countries, divided into four income-groups. • Natural disasters showed adverse impact on foreign exchange reserves. • Renewable energy, capital, and human capital showed favorable impact on reserves. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Necrotic enteritis (NE) is an important enteric infection in poultry. Since the ban on the use of antimicrobials growth promoters, NE has re-emerged significantly in commercial poultry. The current study aimed to evaluate the ameliorative effects of anti-clostridial egg yolk antibodies (EYAs) in NE. Passively immunized birds showed improved behavioral signs and gross and microscopic lesions. Although EYAs showed ameliorative potential in our study, studies regarding safe production and reliable application remain overdue. The present study was planned to evaluate the ameliorative effects of egg yolk antibodies (EYAs) in broiler chicken. For this purpose, 80-day-old broiler chickens were divided into four groups (A–D), where group A was kept as negative control. Experimental infection with C. perfringens (1 × 108 cfu/mL) was induced via oral route on days 17, 18 and 19 of the experiment in groups B, C and D. Groups C and D were passively immunized by anti-clostridial IgYs @ 1 mL per bird via oral and oral and intramuscular (I/M) routes respectively, on days 21 to 24, and on days 22 and 24 of the experiment, respectively. Two necropsies were performed (the first on day 26th and the second on day 35th). Birds in group B showed behavioral signs e.g., laziness, depression and diarrhea, gross post-mortem lesions e.g., increase in the relative weights (RW), due to acute swelling and congestion of liver and kidneys and ballooning and hemorrhages of jejunum and microscopic lesions e.g., congestion and necrosis in liver and kidneys' parenchyma and disrupted epithelium with fewer goblet cells in jejunum, compared to the group A. Birds in groups C and D, showed significant improvements in clinical and behavioral signs, RW of liver, kidneys and jejunum, swelling, congestion and mononuclear cells' infiltration in liver and kidneys and damages in the jejunal-wall, compared to group B. The most significant changes were found in birds of group C. Our study revealed ameliorative effects of EYAs on certain biological parameters however, further studies would be needed to justify a safer production and a reliable application of EYAs in NE outbreaks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The role of aldose reductase (ALR2) in causing diabetic complications is well-studied, with overactivity of ALR2 in the hyperglycemic state leading to an accumulation of intracellular sorbitol, depletion of cytoplasmic NADPH and oxidative stress and causing a variety of different conditions including retinopathy, nephropathy, neuropathy and cardiovascular disorders. While previous efforts have sought to develop inhibitors of this enzyme in order to combat diabetic complications, non-selective inhibition of both ALR2 and the homologous enzyme aldehyde reductase (ALR1) has led to poor toxicity profiles, with no drugs targeting ALR2 currently approved for therapeutic use in the Western world. In the current study, we have synthesized a series of N-substituted thiosemicarbazones with added phenolic moieties, of which compound 3m displayed strong and selective ALR2 inhibitory activity in vitro (IC50 1.18 µM) as well as promising antioxidant activity (75.95% free radical scavenging activity). The target binding modes of 3m were studied via molecular docking studies and stable interactions with ALR2 were inferred through molecular dynamics simulations. We thus report the N-substituted thiosemicarbazones as promising drug candidates for selective inhibition of ALR2 and possible treatment of diabetic complications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The subject of nutrition in intensive care is being discussed among the pediatric intensivists since long. The nutritional supplementation plays a vital role in treatment of pediatric intensive care patients. In recent past, due to technological advances the pathophysiology of critical diseases is being better understood so better nutritional strategies are being implemented in critical care units. As a result the prognosis of intensive care patients is improving resulting in decreased length of stay and less number of deaths of these patients. The metabolic stress in sick patients is an important factor to be considered while calculating the nutritional requirements of patients. The body's physiological mechanisms in the event of stress due to critical illness, need to be understood to make nutritional assessment of pediatric critical patients. The purpose of the current review is to recognize the recent nutritional supplementation guidelines of pediatric critical patients and to discuss any controversial issues. A meticulous study of the published literature regarding supplemental nutrition, energy calculation and algorithmic protocols for nutritional targets in pediatric critical population was done and areas in need of future research were identified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: To expand the muscular extensibility, alternation of muscle energy techniques have been upheld, yet proof present to help the general value of a specific methodology. Two strategies of muscle energy techniques have been explored in the osteopathic writing that differs principally in the group of muscles focused on. Objective: The objective of our study was to find out the effectiveness of post isometric relaxation and reciprocal inhabitation technique on hamstring muscle flexibility among students of Johar Institute of Professional Studies Lahore. Methods: The Quasi-experimental study was for comparison of two Relaxation Techniques with 50 healthy students of both gender were recruited by non-probability convenient sampling technique from different department of Johar Institute st of Professional Studies Lahore from 1 October to March 2020. For enrolling the subjects in this study we used convenience sampling technique. Furthermore, 50 subjects were selected on the basis of inclusion exclusion criteria and were arbitrarily divided in to two groups with 25 in each group. Hamstring length was assessed using AKE test. For intervention, Group A performed post isometrics relaxation and Group B performed Reciprocal Inhibition Technique. Knee range of motion was assessed pre-intervention and post-intervention. Numeric Pain Rating Scale (NPRS) and Universal Goniometer were assessment tools accessed for all patients before and after 4 weeks of physical therapy intervention. Data were documented and analysis was done using SPSS version 20. Paired sample t-test and independent sample t-test was applied to find association between the variables of hypothesis. Results: In both groups, the pre-intervention and post-intervention measurements by statistical analysis found that there is significant improvement in hamstring muscle flexibility with P value = 0.05 for both right side and left side. Conclusion: The current study found out that both post isometric relaxation and reciprocal inhibition are equally beneficial in the treatment of tight hamstrings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Non-ST elevation acute coronary syndrome (NSTE-ACS) comprises NSTE myocardial infarction (NSTEMI) and unstable angina. A common complexity of NSTE-ACS is heart failure (HF). The objective of this study was to assess the incidence of in-hospital HF in NSTE-ACS patients and to link clinical and electrocardiographic (ECG) abnormalities to HF. Methodology: This study was performed at National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases (NICVD) Karachi, from January 1, 2018 to June 30, 2018. The study included all adult patients who were hospitalized with a diagnosis of non-ST elevation ACS. Their socio demographic profile, clinical findings, ECG findings, and occurrence of heart failure during hospital stay was recorded. Data was entered and analyzed using SPSS v.23. Results: In this study 265 patients with NSTE-ACS were included. Mean age of 55.39±10.40 years was observed. There were 195 (73.6%) male patients. T-wave inversion was observed in 73 (27.5%) patients, ST-segment depression in 77 (29.1%), and both T-wave inversion and STsegment depression in 71 (26.8%) patients. During their stay in the hospital, 28 patients (10.6 percent) developed HF. Diabetes, hypertension, smoking, a genetic susceptibility of ischemic heart disease, and combination of T-wave inversion and ST-segment depression on ECG was significantly correlated with HF (P=0.05). Conclusion: The determinants of HF were diabetes, hypertension, smoking, family history of ischemic heart disease, and combination of T-wave inversion and ST depression on ECG. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Low-cost local wild olive oil was chosen as a hopeful raw material. • TPA decorated mixed oxide catalyst was developed for biodiesel production. • The wild olive biodiesel completely complied with the international standard. • The characteristics of the designed catalyst was thoroughly investigated. In the present work, wild olive (Olea oleaster) plant oil was chosen as a hopeful feedstock for efficient biodiesel production. Mixed oxides of aluminium and chromium were modified with different amounts (10−40 wt.%) of 12-tungstophosphonic acid (TPA), used for biodiesel production from low cost local wild olive oil (WOO). Moreover, the physicochemical characteristics of the synthesized catalysts were elaborated with different analytical techniques such as XRD, SEM, EDX, BET. The biodiesel reaction was carried out in a single step via trans-esterification reaction using TPA impregnated Cr–Al mixed oxide catalyst. The maximum 93% biodiesel yield was obtained under the optimized conditions: oil/methanol molar ratio 1:21, reaction temperature 80 °C, catalyst dosage 4 wt% and reaction times 5 hrs with stirring speed of 600 rpm. Interestingly, the reusability experiments showed that the synthesized catalyst sustained remarkable stability and reusability up to 5 runs in the biodiesel production from wild olive oil. Furthermore, the synthesized biodiesel completely complied with international standards. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To analyze the prevalence of CALR and JAK2 mutation co-occurrence in myelofibrosis (MF) patients in KP Methods: This cross-sectional study included Myelofibrosis (MF) patients (n = 50) enrolled in the Hematology/Oncology department of Hayatabad Medical Complex (HMC), Institute of Radiotherapy and Nuclear Medicine, Peshawar (IRNUM) and Blood Diseases Clinic, Peshawar. Non-probability convenience sampling technique was used. All patients with JAK2 V617F positive and negative primary or secondary MF were included. After taking blood samples, DNA was extracted manually and analyzed for JAK2 mutations using conventional PCR. Sanger sequencing technique was employed to analyze the samples for CALR mutations. Data were recorded & analyzed statistically. Results: Among the 50 patients, 48(96%) had JAK2 mutations. The typical CALR mutations was not identified in the current study. However, two specific genetic variants were identified in 30 patients i.e., a single nucleotide polymorphism (c.1381 G > T) in the 31 UTR and a novel insertion-deletion variant (c. 1099 CTT > AC). Seven patients had the Indel frameshift variant (p.Leu 367 Thr Fx 63), whereas 23 had SNR In JAK-2 positive patients (n=28), six had the Indel variant, and 22 had the SNR Two patients were JAK2 negative, one with SNP and the other with a frameshift mutation. Conclusion: Majority of the MF patients had a novel frameshift variant (p. Leu367Thr Fx63) (n = 07) and an SNP in the 31 UTR (G > T) (n = 23) in CALR gene. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nanocomposites of chitosan and cerium oxide‑cadmium oxide (CeO 2 -CdO) nanopowder were developed to fabricate impedimetric humidity sensors. The low temperature-stirring was used to synthesize CeO 2 -CdO nanopowder. Average particle size of synthesized nanopowder was 100 ± 20 nm. Various composition of chitosan-CeO 2 -CdO nanocomposites were developed using echo-friendly (mechanical mixing) technique. Pellets of 13.0 mm diameter and 1.0 ± 0.1 mm thickness were prepared using hydraulic press under the pressure of 375 MPa. Silver paste was used to deposit the electrodes; the length of each electrode was 12.0 mm and the gap between two electrodes was 2.0 ± 0.5 mm. The mechanism of sensing is based on impedimetric change in response to humidity variation. Fabricated sensors showed high sensitivities ranging from −930.0 kΩ/%RH to −2091.1 kΩ/%RH. Response and recovery times are up to 1 s, while the humidity sensing range is 5 to 95%RH. The fabricated sensors are very attractive to use in several devices for environmental monitoring and biomedical applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To determine the diagnostic accuracy of the Mentzer index as a screening tool for iron deficiency anaemia, using an iron profile as the gold standard in patients presenting with hypochromic microcytic anaemia. Study Design: Cross-sectional study. Place and Duration of Study: Department of Pediatrics, Pak Emirates Military Hospital, Rawalpindi Pakistan, from Dec 2021 to May 2022. Methodology: Data was collected from 163 patients with hypochromic microcytic anaemia. Red cell indices were noted for each patient and recorded on a defined proforma. Results: The mean age of the patients was 8.23±3.57 years. 85(52.1%) patients were males and 78(47.9%) were females. Moreover, out of 163 patients, the specificity, sensitivity, negative predictive value, positive predictive value, and diagnostic accuracy of the Mentzer index for the diagnosis of iron deficiency anaemia were 90.1%, 90.1%, 84.6%, 93.8%, and 90.8%, respectively. Conclusion: The cell-count-based indices, especially the Mentzer index, are reliable and available methods for diagnosing iron deficiency anaemia. They have an accurate discrimination ability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sustained drought, uneven rain falls, progressively depleting soil moisture and predominant cultivation of chickpea under residual soil moisture condition are major causes of drastic decline in chickpea productivity in Pakistan. Systematic breeding efforts are required for evaluation of available genetic material to evolve drought tolerant chickpea cultivars for drought prone regions of the country. For this purpose, a research experiment was conducted in moisture stress (drought) and non-stress conditions (irrigated) at Gram Breeding Research Station, Kallurkot, Pakistan during 2019-20. Mean performance of various traits revealed significant differences among all the included chickpea advance lines. Drought indices i.e. drought tolerance efficiency (DTE), drought susceptibility (DSI) and yield reduction percentage were calculated to identify the drought tolerant chickpea lines. Correlation analysis showed that the strains possessing higher number of pods plant-1, more root length and maximum grain weight were comparatively least susceptible to moisture stress along with higher yield potential. Results regarding drought indices also indicated that relatively higher DTE, less DSI and minimum yield reduction percentage were revealed by KK-10001, KK-10015, KK-10019 and Bhakkar-2011. Therefore, these advance lines possess best genetic constitution for moisture stress tolerance and may be utilized further for chickpea genetic improvement program. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The poultry sector is one of the most vibrant segments of the agriculture industry of Pakistan. In addition to different infections, ammonia (NH3) production from litter material of broiler is the most harmful pollutant and causes serious threats for the environment. To overcome this problem, different methods are proposed assuring poultry bird's health and production. This study was carried out to evaluate the effect of toxic levels of NH3 on the haematology and serum proteins of broiler birds and its amelioration by using different modifiers. The recovery of Escherichia coli (E. coli) from liver and spleen of broiler birds was also carried out. A total of 100 birds were divided into 5 separate groups (groups A–D). The groups C, D and E were treated with potassium aluminium sulphate, aluminium silicate and Yucca schidigera plant extract, respectively. Blood and tissue samples were collected after slaughtering the birds at 42 days of age. This study revealed increased RBC, total leucocyte count, Hb and heterophils percentage. Serum proteins were decreased in Yucca-treated and potassium aluminium sulphate–treated groups. This study concluded that NH3 production was reduced by the application of different modifiers, and these modifiers also neutralized the changes in blood parameters induced by NH3. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ever since the reduction of antimicrobial growth promoters in animal feed, infectious diseases have re-emerged in certain parts of the world, necrotic enteritis (NE) for one. The current study determines the protective efficacy of egg yolk antibodies (EYAs) in experimentally infected broiler chicken. Eighty (80), day-old broiler chickens were procured and divided into four groups (G1-G4). Group G1 served as a negative control, while G2 served as positive control viz infected with C. perfringens type A (1 x 108 cfu/ml) from days 17-19 of the experiment. Groups G3 and G4 immunized passively with anti-clostridial IgY @ 1 ml per bird between days 21-24 via oral route, while 22nd and 24th days via I/M route, respectively. Two killings were performed (days 26th and 35th) and the birds were observed for growth performance, hematology and serum biochemistry. The study results showed a statistically significant decrease in growth, hematology and serum protein values, while elevation in serum enzyme values of the birds in group G2 when compared to group G1. The groups G3 and G4 (passively immunized) showed the values less affected and close to the physiological ranges. Hence it was concluded that anti-clostridial EYAs (IgY) has ameliorative effects against experimental clostridial infection in broiler chicken. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Acoustic recordings of birds have been used by conservationists and ecologists to determine the population density and biodiversity of bird species in a region. However, it is hard to analyze and visualize the presence/absence of a specific bird species by aurally hearing these recordings even by an expert bird song specialist. In this paper, we present a computational tool to cluster and recognize bird species based on their sounds and visualize relationships of within-species and between-species sounds based on their similarity measures. The tool has been evaluated on two datasets of varying complexity containing acoustic recordings of eleven birds' songs and calls using various similarity measures. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was used for feature selection. Euclidean distance, Mahalanobis distance, and cosine similarity among features was used for pair-wise similarity calculation. The results of similarity measures have been compared using 3-fold cross-validation and validated by spectrograms patterns obtained from frequency representation of acoustic recordings of the selected birds' songs and calls. Cosine similarity performed better to measure underlying patterns of birds' sounds and identify mutual relationship among species. It was concluded that the proposed tool can be used as a novel method for conversationalists, ecologists, ornithologists, and evolutionary scientists as well as tourists and bird watchers to recognize different birds' species, study their mutual relationship, locate the area with highest population density, estimating the predators, and biodiversity in a specific region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Necrotic enteritis (NE) is one of the important enteric disease in the poultry industry worldwide, caused by C. perfringens type A. This study describes the isolation, identification, and toxinotyping of C. perfringens in necrotic enteritis affected broiler chicken in Pakistan. A total of 430 intestinal samples from dead carcasses and birds suspected of NE outbreak, in and around Faisalabad, Pakistan were collected from 36 broiler farms which yielded 87 alpha toxin gene (cpa) positive C. perfringens type A isolates. The birds having 4-5 weeks of age, clinical signs, and reared in open (conventional) sheds showed higher C. perfringens isolation rate. The study concluded netB negative C. perfringens type A as a causative agent for NE outbreaks in broiler birds in Faisalabad, Pakistan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Geographically, the region of ex-Bahawalpur state had been remained an integral part of Hakara Valley Civilization which flourished about 4000 years ago along the shores of River Hakara. After the advent of Islam in the region, it became the epocentre of religious, educational as well as social activities of the Muslim scholars and spiritual guides. They made Uch as principal seat of their religious and social activities which caused to change the socio-religious modes of the local population. In this paper, an attempt is made to analyze the lifestyle and religio-festive trends of the local population. We crave to explore, what changes appeared in their lives and how did they accept this panorama of socio-religious activities? The Muslim and the Hindus were the major communities of the state. Other minorities i.e., Sikhs, Parsies, Christians etc. were not in notable ratio but they enjoyed complete freedom in their religio-social activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Shape from focus (SFF) reconstructs 3D shape of the scene from a sequence of multi-focus images, and the quality of reconstructed shape mainly depends on the accuracy of image focus volume (FV). Traditional SFF techniques exhibit poor performance in preserving structural edges and fine details while removing noisy artifacts, and mostly they do not incorporate any additional shape prior. Therefore, in this paper, we propose to refine FV by formulating an energy minimization framework that employs a nonconvex regularizer and incorporates two types of shape priors. The proposed regularizer is robust against noisy focus values. The first proposed shape prior is input image sequence and it is a single and static shape prior. While, the second shape prior corresponds to a series of shape priors. These shape priors are FVs which are iteratively obtained on-the-fly. Both of these shape priors constrain the solution space for output FV. We optimize nonconvex energy function through majorize-minimization algorithm which iteratively guarantees a local minimum and converges quickly. Experiments have been conducted to evaluate accuracy and convergence properties of the proposed method. Experimental results of synthetic and real image sequences demonstrate that our method achieves superior results in terms of ability to reconstruct accurate 3D shapes as compared to existing approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explored some notable factors contributing to the employability in agriculture department, Government of the Punjab as perceived by the Diploma in Agricultural Sciences (DAS) holders. who were recruited in agriculture department during 2017. This study was quantitative and data were collected through questionnaire from 300 respondents who were recently appointed as Field Assistants (FAs) in Agriculture Department. Total 237 questioners returned by the respondents were found complete, thus, sample size was reduced to 237. Effective Schools Model presented by Lezotte (2010)" was employed as theoretical framework of this study. Collected data were analyzed through Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). Results unveiled that average age of respondents was 25.03 years. Maximum respondents (31.96%) had received DAS from IATI, Sargodha while least contribution came from University of Agriculture Faisalabad (2.86%). Family background of 77.45% respondents was rural and farming was key source of income for more than half of respondents (56.14%). Satisfaction with classroom facilities (Mean=2.47±0.67), higher grades in examination (Mean=2.39±0.77) and relevance of the coursework (Mean=2.38±0.75) learned at training institutes helped respondents to get through the recruitment process. Regression analysis affirmed that extracurricular activities (P<0.05), being a sportsman, (P<0.01), higher grades in examination (P<0.05), educational environment at IATI Sargodha (P<0.01) and Rahim Yar Khan (P<0.05) were the prominent determinants of their employability. Study concludes that educational activities and co-curricular activities were equally important for the successful academic performance and earning an employability. Study stresses to streamline extracurricular activities at institutes level and conductance of inter and intra institutes competitions to bring positive change in behavior of students to pave the way towards success. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

OBJECTIVES: To find out the etiology and outcome in terms of clinical improvement among children having esophageal stricture (ES). METHODS: This prospective study was conducted from July 2019 to March 2020 at Children's Hospital, Multan, Pakistan on diagnosed patients of ES, ageing <15 years. Demographic details, different etiologies, location of the ES and treatment outcome were recorded. After initial management, endoscopy and dilatation was done at 6 weeks. Patients were followed-up for at least 12 weeks. RESULTS: Out of 32 children with ES, 19 (59.4%) were males. Mean age of children was 36.58±19.6 months. Twenty-four (75%) patients had proximal and 8 (25%) had distal stricture. Chemical burn (n=23; 71.9%) and esophageal atresia (n=4: 12.5%) were commonest causes of ES. Dilatation and surgery were performed in 21 (65.6%) cases followed by dilatation only in 10 (31.3%) cases and surgery alone in one (3.1%) case. In patients with chemical burns, majority (n=16/23; 69.6%) required both dilatation and surgery. Overall outcome of treatment options was good in 62.5% (n=20/32) patients. Outcome was good in 61.9% (n=13/21) of patients requiring both dilatation and surgery and 70% (n=7/10) in patients having dilatation alone (p=0.385). Outcome was good in 69.6% (n=16/23) of patients with chemical burns and 70% (n=7/10) in patients with dilatation only (p=0.385). Mortality rate was 3.1% (n=1). CONCLUSION: Chemical burn and esophageal atresia were the commonest causes of ES. Outcome of all procedures was good in 62.5% cases and had no significant relationship with causes and site of ES or types of treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explored some notable factors contributing to the employability in agriculture department, Government of the Punjab as perceived by the Diploma in Agricultural Sciences (DAS) holders. who were recruited in agriculture department during 2017. This study was quantitative and data were collected through questionnaire from 300 respondents who were recently appointed as Field Assistants (FAs) in Agriculture Department. Total 237 questioners returned by the respondents were found complete, thus, sample size was reduced to 237. Effective Schools Model presented by Lezotte (2010)” was employed as theoretical framework of this study. Collected data were analyzed through Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). Results unveiled that average age of respondents was 25.03 years. Maximum respondents (31.96%) had received DAS from IATI, Sargodha while least contribution came from University of Agriculture Faisalabad (2.86%). Family background of 77.45% respondents was rural and farming was key source of income for more than half of respondents (56.14%). Satisfaction with classroom facilities (Mean=2.47±0.67), higher grades in examination (Mean=2.39±0.77) and relevance of the coursework (Mean=2.38±0.75) learned at training institutes helped respondents to get through the recruitment process. Regression analysis affirmed that extracurricular activities (P<0.05), being a sportsman, (P<0.01), higher grades in examination (P<0.05), educational environment at IATI Sargodha (P<0.01) and Rahim Yar Khan (P<0.05) were the prominent determinants of their employability. Study concludes that educational activities and co-curricular activities were equally important for the successful academic performance and earning an employability. Study stresses to streamline extracurricular activities at institutes level and conductance of inter and intra institutes competitions to bring positive change in behavior of students to pave the way towards success [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study aimed to investigate the effects of Aloe vera gel (AvG) and multi‐layered microencapsulation on the survival of five Lactobacillus species in cottage cheese during 28 days of refrigerated storage. Testing of the probiotic and AvG‐loaded synbiotic microparticles under simulated human digestion conditions showed that the synbiotic beads for L. fermentum, L. rhamnosus, and L. plantarum were on the average 8%–10% better than their probiotic counterparts. AvG augmented the antioxidant activity of synbiotic beads of L. rhamnosus and L. plantarum by 20%–30% and inhibition of foodborne pathogens by twofold in comparison with the control and probiotic particles. Synbiotic cheese also exhibited a more or less same sensory profile as the control cheese. These results suggest that cottage cheese fortified with AvG filled alginate–chitosan beads loaded with either L. rhamnosus or L. plantarum strains, can prevent pathogen invasion, maintain functional qualities, and deliver more probiotics to the human gut. Practical applications: The success of microencapsulating probiotics has been marred by its inability to ensure adequate cell viability. Co‐encapsulation with prebiotics has circumvented this bottleneck, the degree of success greatly dependent on the choice of prebiotic material used. Fresh cottage cheese embedded with a tripartite blend of bioactive elements has better shelf life and safety constitutes a potentially novel fourth‐generation synbiotic that is commercially exploitable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]