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Introduction: Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a major risk factor for the development of cardiovascular disease (CVD), and it is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in end-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients receiving maintenance hemodialysis (MHD). Aim: This study aims to evaluate biomarkers of oxidative stress (OS) and carotid artery intima-media thickness as predictors of cardiovascular health among MHD patients. Materials and methods: We divided 135 participants in this prospective case-control study into three groups: group A included 45 healthy controls, group B included 45 ESRD patients receiving MHD for less than three years, and group C included 45 ESRD patients receiving MHD for more than three years. Participants aged 18–50 years, not taking antioxidant supplements, and willing to participate were included, excluding those with chronic illnesses, prior cardiac disease, or acute renal failure. Data collected included demographics, MHD duration, medical history, lipid profile, common carotid artery intima-media thickness (CCA-IMT), and some biochemical parameters such as oxidized LDL (Ox-LDL), malondialdehyde (MDA), and superoxide dismutase (SOD). Results: This study included 135 participants divided into three groups (A, B, and C) based on the MHD duration. Significant differences were observed in OS markers and lipid profiles across the groups (p

The high-temperature oxidation behaviour and phase stability of equi-atomic high entropy AlCrCoFeNi alloy (HEA) were studied using in situ high-temperature X-ray diffraction (HTXRD) combined with ThermoCalc thermodynamic calculation. HTXRD analyses reveal the formation of B2, BCC, Sigma and FCC, phases at different temperatures, with significant phase transitions observed at intermediate temperatures from 600 °C–100 °C. ThermoCalc predicted phase diagram closely matched with in situ HTXRD findings highlighting minor differences in phase transformation temperature. ThermoCalc predictions of oxides provide insights into the formation of stable oxide phases, predominantly spinel-type oxides, at high p(O2), while a lower volume of halite was predicted, and minor increase observed with increasing temperature. The oxidation behaviour was strongly dependent on the environment, with the vacuum condition favouring the formation of a thin, Al2O3 protective layer, while in atmospheric conditions a thick, double-layered oxide scale of Al2O3 and Cr2O3 formed. The formation of oxide scale was determined by selective oxidation of Al and Cr, as further confirmed by EDX analysis. The formation of thick oxide in air environment resulted in a thick layer of Al-depleted FFC phase. This comprehensive study explains the high-temperature phase stability and time–temperature-dependent oxidation mechanisms of AlCrCoFeNi HEA. The interplay between surface phase transformation beneath oxide scale and oxides is also detailed herein, contributing to further development and optimisation of HEA for high temperature applications.

Introduction: Novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), a pandemic was declared by WHO on 11 March 2020. The lockdown had an evident impact on various sectors including the Information Technology sector. Few studies have been conducted to find out the levels of stress in Information Technology professionals. During the COVID-19 pandemic, all employees of Information Technology companies were informed to work remotely at their homes without any prior information, training and mental acceptance i.e. ‘work from home’. Information technology professionals have occupational stress &working from home during COVID-19 has added mental stress. The present study was planned to assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on perceived stress in Information Technology professionals. Methods: The present study was a cross-sectional observational study. Volunteers of the Information Technology sector (n=200) of either sex in the age group of 25 to 55 years participated in the study. PSS was administered through Google Forms and scores were analyzed. Results: The association of various stressors with PSS was done which showed a significantly positive association. The mean PSS score of subjects was 23.53 ± 7.39. Twelve (6%) employees had mild, twenty (60%) had moderate and sixty-eight (34%) had high stress levels. This study explored that IT professionals experienced an additional level of stress during the COVID-19 pandemic. Conclusion: The present study concluded statistically significant moderate levels of stress in IT professionals of either sex with the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

This study presents an analysis of synchronic metathesis in the Saraiki language based on the Optimality Theory (OT) approach. It is limited to the voiced laryngeal fricative (/ɦ/). Only voiced phonemes are the targets of /ɦ/ metathesis in Saraiki (resulting in breathy voiced consonants), while voiceless plosives are incompatible with this process. Metathesized and non-metathesized forms both occur in Saraiki. They are realized in informal and formal speech styles, respectively. This study analyses the informal speech style and identifies the reasons behind the movement of the above laryngeal fricative in phonetic optimization.

Abstract Objectives: To examine the moderating role of academic motivation and entitlements on the academic achievements of university students, and to study the role of sycophancy and excuse-making on the part of students. Method: The descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted at the University of Okara, Okara, Pakistan, from November 2017 to November 2018, and comprised university students from Okara and Sargodha. Data was collected using the Students’ Motives for Communicating with their Instructors Scale, the Academic Motivation Scale and the Academic Entitlement Scale. Data was analysed using SPSS 23. Results: There were 300 students. Academic motivation moderated the relationship between participation motive and academic achievement as well as the relationship between functional motive and academic achievement (p

This paper utilizes in situ X-ray diffraction (XRD) to investigate the high-temperature oxidation behaviour of CrMnFeCoNi high-entropy alloy (HEA). We found that (1) Mn is the major oxide-forming element in both vacuum and air environments, leading to the formation of non-protective oxides that deplete the bulk alloy of Mn; (2) no oxides like Cr2O3, Fe2O3, or Fe3O4 were observed during the high-temperature oxidation behaviour of CrMnFeCoNi, which contradicts some previous studies on the isothermal oxidation of CrMnFeCoNi HEA. We also analysed and compared the experimental results with thermodynamic calculations by using ThermoCalc version 2022b software following the CALPHAD method. ThermoCalc predicted spinel oxide in a vacuum environment, along with halite oxides observed in experimental results; also, in an atmospheric environment, it predicted only spinel, indicating the need for further investigation into factors to validate the thermodynamic predictions. Our study shows that the in situ HTXRD technique is a powerful tool to accurately identify time–temperature-dependent phase formation/transformation for studying oxidation behaviours and understanding oxidation mechanisms in HEAs.

Cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) is a major health problem in over 98 countries of the world, including Pakistan. The current treatments are associated with a number of adverse effects and availability problem of drugs. Therefore, there is an urgent need of easily available and cost effective treatments of CL- in Pakistan. The bioassay-guided fractionation and purification of crude extract of Physalis minima has led to the isolation of a new aminophysalin B (1), and eight known physalins, physalin B (2), 5ß,6ß-epoxyphysalin B (3), 5α-ethoxy-6ß-hydroxy-5,6-dihydrophysalin B (4), physalin H (5), 5ß,6ß-epoxyphysalin C (6), and physalin G (7), K (8), and D (9). It is worth noting that compound 1 is the second member of aminophysalin series, whereas compound 6 was fully characterized for the first time. The structures of compounds 1-9 were elucidated by spectroscopic techniques Whereas, the structural assignments of compounds 1 and 8 were also supported by single-crystal X-ray diffraction studies. The anti-leishmanial activity of isolated physlains 1-9 was evaluated against Leishmania major and Leishmania tropica promastigotes. Compounds 2, 3, and 5-7 (IC50 = 9.59 ± 0.27-23.76 ± 1.10 μM) showed several-fold more potent activity against L. tropca than tested drug miltefosine (IC50 = 42.75 ± 1.03 μm) and pentamidine (IC50 = 27.20 ± 0.01 μM). Whereas compounds 2, 3 and 5 (IC50 = 3.04 ± 1.12-3.76 ± 0.85 μM) were found to be potent anti-leishmanial agents against L. major, several fold more active than tested standard miltefosine (IC50 = 25.55 ± 1.03 μM) and pentamidine (IC50 = 27.20 ± 0.015 μM). Compounds 4 (IC50 = 74.65 ± 0.81 μM) and 7 (IC50 = 39.44 ± 0.65 μM) also showed potent anti-leishmanial ativity against the miltefosine-unresponsive L. tropica strain (MIL resistant) (miltefosine IC50 = 169.55 ± 0.78 μM). Molecular docking and predictive binding studies indicated that these inhibitors may act via targeting important enzymes of various metabolic pathways of the parasites.

The validation of underexplored traditional plant remedies represents a reservoir of novel leads for drug discovery. In line with this, in vitro total phenolics and flavonoids content, multimode antioxidants, antimicrobial, cytotoxicity, and protein kinase inhibition assays were conducted on C. ambrosioides seed extracts in addition to RP-HPLC. Methanol extract exhibited highest total phenolics (64.6±0.6 μg gallic acid equivalent/mg) and flavonoids (50.9±0.5 μg quercetin equivalent/mg) content. RP-HPLC quantified rutin (1.98 μg/mg) in methanol extract whereas quercetin (0.322 μg/mg) and kaempferol (2.86 μg/mg) in methanol-distilled water extract. Methanol extract exhibited highest ascorbic acid equivalent (AAE) free radical (DPPH) scavenging (IC50 of 110.7±5 μg/ml), total antioxidant capacity (110.6±2.2 μg AAE/mg), and total reducing power (94.30±0.46 μg AAE/mg). Highest antibacterial activity against K. pneumonia (14±1.61 mm ZOI) and antifungal activity against F. solani (17±1.38 mm ZOI) were shown by n-hexane and chloroform extracts, respectively. Ethyl acetate extract exhibited highest brine shrimps cytotoxicity (LC50 of 125 μg/ml). A noteworthy protein kinase inhibitory potential was shown by ethanol extract with a 20±1.27 mm bald zone. Therapeutic potential of medicinal plants can be completely explored by using multiple solvent system. This study makes C. ambrosioides, a resourceful prospect for the bioactivity-guided isolation of lead compounds.

Abstract In this paper we have derived the fractional integral inequalities by defining exponentially ( s , m ) $(s,m)$ -convex functions. These inequalities provide upper bounds, boundedness, continuity, and Hadamard type inequality for fractional integrals containing an extended Mittag-Leffler function. The results about fractional integral operators for s-convex, m-convex, ( s , m ) $(s,m)$ -convex, exponentially convex, exponentially s-convex, and convex functions are direct consequences of presented results.

The objective of this paper is to derive the bounds of fractional integral operators which contain Mittag-Leffler functions in the kernels. By using (s,m)-convex functions bounds of these operators are evaluated which lead to obtain their boundedness and continuity. Moreover the presented results can be used to get various results for known fractional integrals and functions deducible from (s,m)-convexity. Also a version of Hadamard type inequality is established for (s,m)-convex functions via generalized fractional integrals.

Educational Robotics (ER) is an upcoming trend in education. It has been introduced in classrooms to improve the learning environment. It provides opportunities for young learners by promoting knowledge-building activities. STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) education is viewed as a catalyst to ensure a successful future in the context of real-world issues. ER is an innovative tool that can provide a roadmap for quality education. This study aims to investigate "What skill-set does ER (Educational Robotics) develop in young learners?", "How does robotics intervention affect young learners?", and "Whether Educational Robotics (ER) facilitates STEM education?". We systematically reviewed the literature on robotics and the importance of STEM, identifying the role of robotics in both formal and informal elementary and secondary classrooms, after-school programs, and summer camp activities. We used the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis) methodology to analyze 20 relevant articles. We searched articles by using keywords and the snowballing technique. The study of recent applications of ER suggests that it aids in a precise and flexible understanding of STEM concepts.

Objective: To find out the knowledge and preferences of a rural hypertensive populace. Study Design: A cross-sectional study. Place and Duration of Study: Conducted at the Basic Health Unit (BHU) Mangat Neecha in March, 2018. Material and Methods: Systematic, probability sampling was done. A total of 143 hypertensive patients regardless of age labeled as hypertensive: Visiting from each of the 12 villages under charge of each Lady Health Worker; within the BHU Mangat Neecha bracket were included in the study. Informed consent was taken from all the patients who participated in the study and the data were analyzed using SPSS 20. Results: Eighty-four (58%) patients who did not know of their normal blood pressure, 100 (70%) patients either did not know or were not told of their high BP by their healthcare provider. Sixty four (45%) patients did not consider hypertension a serious life threat. Only 29 (20%) patients could correctly identify the SBP (Systolic Blood Pressure 120 mmHg) number and another 16 (11%) the DBP (Diastolic Blood Pressure), 32 (22.3%) patients agreed having resorted to alternative cures for their illness like homeopathy etc. Eighty four (58%) patients had the perception of hypertension being a normal part of ageing and 60% (n=86) considered it incurable. While 100 (70%) patients agreed the role of medication in BP control and 133 (93%) supported the claim of exercise being of help, only 16 (11%) patients gave weight age to dietary/behavioral changes as an integral part of attaining adequate blood pressure control. Conclusion: Our results suggested existence of inadequate knowledge and awareness about hypertension amongst the hypertensive patients at grass roots level. In general, they fail to recognize hypertension as a very serious health concern owing to lack of percolating public healthcare awareness initiatives. Therefore, extensive patient education and counseling is necessary to improve the adherence of patients to antihypertensive medications as well as better equip them to understand its affects on decreasing their cardiovascular event risk.

The results of this paper provide two Hadamard-type inequalities for strongly s,m-convex functions via Riemann–Liouville fractional integrals and error estimations of well-known fractional Hadamard inequalities. Their special cases are given and connected with the results of some published papers.

This paper deals with Hadamard inequalities for strongly m-convex functions via Riemann-Liouville fractional integrals. These inequalities provide refinements of well known fractional integral inequalities for convex functions. Further, by applying an identity error estimations are obtained and compared with already known error estimations.

The present study was conducted to elaborate vegetation composition structure to analyze role of edaphic and topographic factors on plant species distribution and community formation during 2013–14. A mixture of quadrat and transect methods were used. The size of quadrat for trees shrubs and herbs were 10 × 5, 5 × 2, 1 × 1 meter square respectively. Different phytosociological attribute were measured at each station. Primary results reported 123 plant species belong to 46 families. Asteraceae and Lamiaceae were dominant families with 8 species each. PCORD version 5 were used for Cluster and Two Way Cluster Analyses that initiated 4 plant communities within elevation range of 529–700 m from sea level. Indicator species analyses (ISA) were used to identify indicator species of each community. CANOCO Software (version 4.5) was used to measure the influence of edaphic and topographic variables on species composition, diversity and community formation. Whereas Canonical Correspondence Analysis (CCA) was used to measure the effect of environmental variables which showed elevation and aspect were the stronger environmental variable among topographic and CaCO3 contents, electric conductivity, soil pH were the stronger edaphic factors in determination of vegetation and communities of the Bheer Hills. Grazing pressure was one of the main anthropogenic factors in this regard. Keywords: Floristic study, Canonical Correspondence Analysis (CCA), PC-ORD, Edaphic factor, Plant communities

Linkus and insty are polyherbal medicines that are known to possess a variety of pharmacological activities such as anti-inflammatory, expectorant, bronchodilator, antispasmodic, antipyretic, mucolytic, etc. In this study, preclinical efficacy and toxicity of linkus and insty antipyretic extracts have been determined on animal models with yeast induced pyrexia. It has been found that linkus and instypolyherbal products possess significant antipyretic activity and exhibited no toxicity. They were found to have antipyretic activity similar to paracetamol, which was used as a control in this study. This work has provided genuine in-house generated information reflecting efficacy and toxicity of linkus and insty antipyretics, which will facilitate the registration process of these agents.

Microbial transformation of the anti-inflammatory steroid medrysone (1) was carried out for the first time with the filamentous fungi Cunninghamella blakesleeana (ATCC 8688a), Neurospora crassa (ATCC 18419), and Rhizopus stolonifer (TSY 0471). The objective was to evaluate the anti-inflammatory potential of the substrate (1) and its metabolites. This yielded seven new metabolites, 14α-hydroxy-6α-methylpregn-4-ene-3,11,20-trione (2), 6β-hydroxy-6α-methylpregn-4-ene-3,11,20-trione (3), 15β-hydroxy-6α-methylpregn-4-ene-3,11,20-trione (4), 6β,17α-dihydroxy-6α-methylpregn-4-ene-3,11,20-trione (5), 6β,20S-dihydroxy-6α-methylpregn-4-ene-3,11-dione (6), 11β,16β-dihydroxy-6α-methylpregn-4-ene-3,11-dione (7), and 15β,20R-dihydroxy-6α-methylpregn-4-ene-3,11-dione (8). Single-crystal X-ray diffraction technique unambiguously established the structures of the metabolites 2, 4, 6, and 8. Fungal transformation of 1 yielded oxidation at the C-6β, -11β, -14α, -15β, -16β positions. Various cellular anti-inflammatory assays, including inhibition of phagocyte oxidative burst, T-cell proliferation, and cytokine were performed. Among all the tested compounds, metabolite 6 (IC50 = 30.3 μg/mL) moderately inhibited the reactive oxygen species (ROS) produced from zymosan-induced human whole blood cells. Compounds 1, 4, 5, 7, and 8 strongly inhibited the proliferation of T-cells with IC50 values between

Back ground: Plaque control methods are one of the most important tools in promoting and improving oral health of an individual. Plaque can lead to the most prevalent oral diseases that are dental caries and gingivitis2. The available data on prevalence of dental caries show that Pakistan is a low caries country whereas there is persistently high level of periodontal diseases3. Improvement of oral health by healthcare professional is a vital aspect of preventive dentistry 1. Objectives: The aim of the study was to assess and compare the knowledge and practices of medical and dental students of Gandhara University Peshawar about plaque control methods. Materials and methods: In a cross sectional study a total of 386 students were surveyed by using self administered structured questionnaires which covered student’s knowledge about plaque control methods, dental attendance and smoking. A total of 265 students responded with fully filled questionnaires out of which 121 were filled by medical students and 144 by dental students. Results: Almost 79.8% Dental students knew about plaque out of which 78(54.1%) students thought that is caused by not cleaning the oral cavity and 65(45.1%) thought that it leads to dental caries. One hundred and thirty nine (96.5%) students clean their teeth out of which 93(64.5%) clean their teeth twice a day with a tooth brush. One hundred and eighteen (81.9%) have visited a dentist before out of which only 49(41.5%) went for regular checkup. Sixteen (11.1%) students smoke. Almost 61.1% Medical students knew about plaque out of which 41(33.8%) students thought that it is caused by not cleaning the oral cavity and 37(30.5%) students thought that it leads to dental caries. One hundred and fourteen (94.2%) students clean their teeth out of which 69(57%) clean their teeth twice a day with a tooth brush. Sixty nine (57%) students have visited a dentist before out of which only 26(37.6%) students went for regular checkup. Twenty nine (23.9%) students smoke. Conclusions: It is concluded that there is a marked difference between the knowledge and practices among the medical and dental students, and there is a need to enhance the knowledge of medical student regarding dental attendance. Both need more awareness regarding plaque control methods to have a positive role in the oral health education of their patients and the community. Key words: Plaque control, dental attendance, tooth brushing, smoking

The aim of this study is to present the status of transfusion –transmitted infections among the apparently healthy donors so as to increase the awareness of complications of blood transfusion and make the clinicians more vigilant with regard to judicious use of blood. Screening of blood is mandatory for providing safe blood. The magnitude of transfusion transmitted infections (TTI) varies from country to country depending on TTI’s load in that particular population. Transfusion transmitted infections create significant burden on health care system. Donor selection is of paramount importance because infected individuals serve as an asymptomatic reservoir and a potential source of transmission. This retrospective study was carried out in healthy blood donors in the age group of 18-60 years; study was done on blood units collected from replacement and voluntary donors. The serum samples were screened for Hepatitis B Surface Antigen (HBsAg); antibodies against HIV I and II, Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) by Chemiluminescent microparticle immuno assay (CMIA) method. Screening for Syphilis was carried out by RPR Rapid plasma reagent. Seropositivity of transfusion transmitted disease in replacement donors was 1.93% in hepatitis B surface antigen, 2.41% in hepatitis C virus, 0.09% in HIV and 1.15% in syphilis. Voluntary donors had low infectivity rate as compare to replacement donor.

The title compound, C24H34O5, a fungal-transformed metabolite of the injectable contraceptive medroxyprogesterone acetate, consists of four fused rings (A, B, C and D; steroid labelling). Ring A exists in a half-chair conformation while trans-fused rings B and C adopt chair conformations. The five-membered ring D adopts an envelope conformation with the C atom bound to the methyl group at the flap. In the crystal, adjacent molecules are linked by O—H...O and C—H...O hydrogen bonds, forming infinite chains along the a axis.