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The Internet of Medical Things (IoMT) has revolutionized healthcare by bringing real-time monitoring and data-driven treatments. Nevertheless, the security of communication between IoMT devices and servers remains a huge problem because of the inherent sensitivity of the health data and susceptibility to cyber threats. Current security solutions, including simple password-based authentication and standard Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) approaches, typically do not achieve an appropriate balance between security and low computational overhead, resulting in the possibility of performance bottlenecks and increased vulnerability to attacks. To overcome these limitations, we present an intelligent two-phase dual authentication framework that improves the security of sensor-to-server communication in IoMT environments. During the registration phase, our framework is based on Elliptic Curve Diffie-Hellman (ECDH) for rapid key exchange, and during real-time communication, our framework uses the Advanced Encryption Standard Galois Counter Mode (AES-GCM) to encrypt data securely. The efficiency of the proposed framework was rigorously tested through simulations that evaluated encryption-decryption time, computational cost, latency, and packet delivery ratio. The security resilience was also evaluated against man-in-the-middle, replay, and brute force attacks. The results show that encryption/decryption time is reduced by over 45%, overall computational cost by 45.38%, and latency by 28.42% over existing approaches. Furthermore, the framework achieved a high packet delivery ratio and strong defense against cyber threats for maintaining the confidentiality and integrity of the medical data across IoMT networks. However, the dual authentication approach doesn't affect the functionality of medical IoT devices while enhancing IoMT security, which makes it an ideal integration option for existing healthcare systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Steganography is used to hide sensitive types of data including images, audio, text, and videos in an invisible way so that no one can detect it. Image-based steganography is a technique that uses images as a cover media for hiding and transmitting sensitive information over the internet. However, image-based steganography is a challenging task due to transparency, security, computational efficiency, tamper protection, payload, etc. Recently, different image steganography methods have been proposed but most of them have reliability issues. Therefore, to solve this issue, we propose an efficient technique based on the Least Significant Bit (LSB). The LSB substitution method minimizes the error rate in the embedding process and is used to achieve greater reliability. Our proposed image-based steganography algorithm incorporates LSB substitution with Magic Matrix, Multi-Level Encryption Algorithm (MLEA), Secret Key (SK), and transposition, flipping. We performed several experiments and the results show that our proposed technique is efficient and achieves efficient results. We tested a total of 165 different RGB images of various dimensions and sizes of hidden information, using various Quality Assessment Metrics (QAMs); A name of few are; Normalized Cross Correlation (NCC), Image Fidelity (IF), Peak Signal Noise Ratio (PSNR), Root Mean Square Error (RMSE), Quality Index (QI), Correlation Coefficient (CC), Structural Similarity Index (SSIM), Mean Square Error (MSE), Entropy, Contrast, and Homogeneity, Image Histogram (IH). We also conducted a comparative analysis with some existing methods as well as security analysis which showed better results. The achieved result demonstrates significant improvements over the current state-of-the-art methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This document is an editorial published in the journal Frontiers in Plant Science. It discusses the topic of plant adaptation and resistance to cold temperature stress. The editorial highlights the importance of understanding the mechanisms behind plant responses to cold stress, as it can significantly impact crop productivity and survival. The document also provides a brief summary of six research papers included in the Research Topic, which cover various aspects of plant adaptation to cold stress. The findings presented in these papers contribute to our understanding of plant responses to environmental stresses and can inform efforts to enhance crop resilience in the face of changing climatic conditions. [Extracted from the article]

ESL learners have different preferences for reading materials. Some of the learners prefer to read printed material while others are comfortable with the electronic or digital books. The current study aims to find out the preferences of ESL learners regarding printed or electronic course material. It further attempts to investigate the reasons behind such preferences. The data for the study have been collected from 105 ESL learners using survey questionnaire and conducting semi-structured interviews of 15 ESL learners of the department of English, the University of Azad Jammu & Kashmir. The data have been analyzed using pie-charts, thematic analysis and categorization. The findings reveal that majority of the participants prefer to read printed books because of their convenience, durability, longevity, better understanding, tangible and enjoyable reading experience. Electronic books are preferred by a small number of learners for their portability, low cost, easy access and availability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Underwater Wireless Sensor Networks (UWSNs) obtains more attention due to their wide range of applications such as underwater oil field discovery, Tsunami monitoring systems, surveillance systems, and many more. In such a resource-constrained environment, sensors are more vulnerable to malicious attacks. Node authentication and secure communication is one of the vital issues in UWSNs. In this study, a secure and lightweight key management framework for UWSNs is proposed. The proposed framework includes key generation, key distribution, revocation, and authentication mechanisms along with lightweight implementation, and scalability. We use an elliptic curve-based algorithm for key distribution, and certificate revocation list (CRL) for key revocation. We also examine the performance of the proposed framework taking into account the amount of communication overhead as well as the level of security. The simulation results show that the proposed framework provides better security with less communication overhead compared to existing frameworks. This framework can be used for secure data communication in UWSNs, which has various applications in oceanography, environmental monitoring, and military operations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Phosphorus (P) deficiency is the global prime constraint for crop growth including Pakistan. Therefore, the application of phosphatic fertilizers is compulsory. But P availability is low due to its fixation, which is a major constraint in achieving sustainability in crop production. A pot trial was performed to estimate the efficiency of organic manures for P release from rock phosphate by wheat. The fourteen treatments with six replicates were arranged according to completely randomized design (CRD). Treatments of the study were T1 = Recommended N, K with no P, T2 = Recommended NPK from mineral fertilizer, T3 = T1 + all P from PROM (Phosphorus rich organic manure), T4 = T1 + all P from FYM, T5 = T1 + all P from compost, T6 = T1 + all P from press mud, T7 = T1 + half P from mineral fertilizer + half P from PROM, T8 = T1 + half P from mineral fertilizer + half P from FYM, T9 = T1 + half P from mineral fertilizer + half P from compost, T10 = T1 + half P from mineral fertilizer + half P from press mud, T11 = T2 + all P from PROM, T12 = T2 + all P from FYM, T13 = T2 + all P from compost and T14 = T2 + all P from press mud. Pre and post-harvest soil analysis were performed. The growth and yield traits were recorded and data were analyzed using LSD at a 5% level of probability for significance differences. Results of the research intimated that highest height of plant (71.42 cm), shoot dry weight (10.74 g), length of spike (13.33 cm), tiller numbers in a plant (7.16), weight of dry root (0.335 g), root length (11.68 cm), weight of 1000 grains (37.88 g) and wheat biomass (48.63 g) were recorded with T11 (T2 + all P from PROM). Thus, P application improved the wheat growth and yield traits significantly (T1) and T11 was found more effective for achieving the optimum output. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the errors committed by ESL learners at two educational levels in district Muzaffarabad Azad Jammu & Kashmir. The main purpose of the study is to investigate different types of errors in English essays of ESL learners. It also aims at revealing the most and least frequent errors of these learners in their writing. It further intends to compare these errors at secondary and higher secondary levels to determine whether the grammatical errors increase, decrease or remain same at these two levels. For the collection and analysis of data, Gass and Selinker's (2008) Model for Error Analysis has been replicated. To find statistically significant differences among the learners of both levels, an independent t-test was used. The results reveal that ESL learners commit verb, tense/aspect, concord, word-order and infinitive errors in their writings. The frequencies of these errors vary at secondary and higher secondary levels. Significant differences have been found among secondary and higher secondary level learners in concord, tense/aspect and word order errors. On the other hand, no significant difference exists among the learners of these levels in verb and infinitive errors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The beneficial effects of Vermicompost (VC) as an organic fertilizer on the growth and yield of plants are well studied. However, studies related to its utilization and effect in combination with reduced chemical fertilizers on plant growth are still limited. Therefore, this experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of varying levels of VC (0 and 2.5 tons/ha) and NPK (60:80:60 kg/ha or RDF, 75% RDF, 50% RDF, 25% RDF) fertilizers on the growth and yield of spinach, peas, and radish. In a Randomly Complete Block Design (RCBD), the soil for each plot was amended with different VC concentrations before sowing the seeds. The data collected was subjected to ANOVA at 5% level of significance. VC substitution (T1) in soil was helpful in enhancing the overall growth of all three vegetables as compared to control (T0). NPK alone (T2) was more helpful and further enhanced the vegetative growth as well as the yield of the studied vegetable plants. T3 as a combined VC and NPK treatment caused more enhancement in the growth of vegetable plants. With the increased VC and reduced NPK in T4, all three vegetable plants behaved significantly and depicted maximum yield as compared to T0. Whereas, T5 and T6 showed a gradual decline in the growth and yield of spinach, peas, and radish as compared to T4. The results of this experiment suggest that 1.5 tonns of VC per hectare of land is best suitable for vegetable production in clay loam soils of district Chakwal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ESL students in AJK find English writing scary and frightening despite learning English from Grade one to Graduation level as a compulsory subject. They feel hesitation in using English in writing and speech as they are afraid of errors. This study aims to find out what type of grammatical errors ESL learners commit in their English essays at secondary level. It also intends to reveal which are the most and least frequently committed errors of these learners. It further aims to compare male and female ESL learners' errors to determine whether any significant difference exists between the frequencies of errors committed by two different genders. Gass and Selinker's (2008) Model for Error Analysis has been replicated to collect and analyze the data. SPSS has also been used to find out statistically significant differences among males and females in committing grammatical errors. The findings show that secondary level ESL learners commit concord, tense/aspect, word order, verb and infinitive errors. Verb related errors are the most frequent whereas infinitive errors are the least frequent ones among learners. Male and female learners differ significantly in concord, tense/aspect and word order errors; however, there is no significant difference between them in verb and infinitive errors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Injury to lingual nerve is a well-known perceived difficulty of surgical extraction of affected mandibular third molars. The reported incidence of this complication ranges from 1% to over 10%. In most of the cases, the nerve recuperates precipitously however lasting harm has been found in around 0.5% of the patients. Material and Methods: 120 patients were operated for third molar removal at Khyber College of Dentistry, Peshawar from 1st January 2018 till 1st January 2020. Only those patients were included in this study who clinically diagnosed as having impacted mandibular third molar. Patients with comorbid condition were excluded from the study. Patients were grouped in group A and B randomly, having 60-patients each. Patients in group-A were treated by reflection and retraction of lingual flap in addition to buccal flap while in group-B, procedure was performed by reflecting buccal flap only. Results: A total number of 120 patients with impacted mandibular third molars were included. The mean age was 27.33 years (SD±5.11) ranging from 20-years to 40-years. There were 28(46.67%) males and 32(53.33%) females in group-A. In group-B, there were 17(28.33%) males and 43(71.67%) females. 11-patients, 9.17% showed damaged lingual nerve including 3(2.5%) males and 8(6.66%) females. Conclusion: The result shows that when flap is raised, there is high incidence of lingual nerve injury but the damage is temporary. Permanent damage occurs in lingual flap reflection and retraction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Salinity is affecting a large area of Pakistan. The country is situated in a semiarid and arid region where the climate is subtropical continental and the process of salinization and sodification is in progress. Excessive salt rates are adversely influencing the biological, chemical, and physical properties of soils. These physical and chemical changes influence the activity of soil microbes and plant roots, and eventually affect the crop growth and yield. Therefore, it is essential from the food security viewpoint to bring these salt-affected lands into agriculture production for the promptly growing population. The paper provides a brief overview of the different aspects of salt-affected soils regarding their extent, origin, existence, nature, types, causes, characteristics, visual diagnosis, effects on soils and plants, salttolerant plant species, management, strategies adopted in Pakistan to overcome salinity, saline, and bio-saline agriculture. Different issues of salinity can be managed by adopting strategies that are helpful in reclamation of such soils. The overview focuses on chemical and biological amendments as they are the most effective implements in improving various soil properties (soil permeability and structural stability) of saline/sodic soils for sustainable food production, thus, authenticating the potential of inorganic and organic amendments to reinstate soil quality. Salinity effects can be reduced to a higher level by the addition of fertilizers and these amendments may also improve nutrient use efficiency. Other sustainable agronomic practices (crop diversifications, leaching by irrigation water, scraping, etc are also pointed out that may inhibit and, in some cases, reverse the conditions of soil salinization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rock phosphate is a non-renewable resource and a basic raw material of all the water soluble phosphatic fertilizers. The experiment was conducted to estimate usage of different organic amendments on release of P from rock phosphate using maize (Zea mays L.) as a test crop. In the first phase, phosphate rich organic manure (PROM) was prepared using cow dung, press mud and rock phosphate. In the second phase of study, efficiency of thus prepared PROM was evaluated for P release and uptake by maize plants. Treatments of the experiments were; T1 = Recommended NPK, T2 = Recommended NK + zero, T3 = Recommended NK + half Recommended P + Half P from PROM, T4 = Recommended NK = Recommended P + All recommended P from PROM, and T5 = Recommended NK + Recommended P + All recommended P from PROM. The results reveal that the combination of PROM and DAP improved the growth components of maize. PROM also indicated the changes to other soil associated properties like EC (dS m−1) and soil pH. Similarly, PROM and recommended N, K, P from DAP produced the highest value of organic matter (0.94%), soil phosphorus concentration (20.06 mg kg−1), soil potassium concentration (286.2 mg kg−1), nitrogen concentration in plants (3.12%), phosphorous concentration in plants (0.31%), and potassium concentration in plants (3.50%) as compared to other treatments. The results suggest that rock phosphate is an environmental friendly and can be used as an alternate tool to reduce the use of chemical fertilizers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study aims to account for differences in switching behavior of lexical and functional categories in intra-sentential codeswitchingwithin the provisions of the Minimalist Program (Chosmky, 1995, 2000, 2001). It employs both negative and positive Urdu/English code-switching data to support the argument. The positive data examined consists of 58 sentences selected from a corpus of naturally-occurring interactions involving competent Urdu/English bilinguals. The negative data consist of judgments about the well-formedness of 88 different constructed versions of the positive data. Both positive and negative data examined demonstratethat switching of lexical categories is unconstrained whereas functional categories are not only not switched but are also invariably supplied byv-contributing lexicon; however, C, being the phase head itself, may be supplied by either of the lexicons. It is concluded that since lexical categories originate as unspecified lexical roots in the lexicon as proposed by Hale and Keyser (1993), Chomsky (1995), Marantz (1997) and Borer (2005), they may randomly be supplied by either of the lexicons involved but since functional categories carry crucial language-specific information i.e., parameters and define feature specifications and categorial status of unspecified lexical roots, switching of these categories must be highly constrained in order to avoid 'crash'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Teacher- student interaction is an important element of education system. Strong teacher student relationship is essential for the development of academic process. Teachers' practices used in English classroom play a vital role in students' learning. The study investigated gender based teachers' practices in English at Intermediate level. The study employed qualitative approach. Data were collected through structured observation and analyzed by using SPSS software. The study revealed the fact that the teachers of both genders use practices in classrooms in order to make their teaching effective but male teachers use practices more as compared to female teachers. Less number of female teachers use practices in classroom to make their teaching effective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the present study is to investigate how person deixis is used in Urdu and how sentences can be interpreted more effectively with the help of this deictic knowledge. It also unveils different uses of Urdu person deixis along with their features. Urdu textbooks, novels, magazines, poetry books, newspapers, travelogues, etc. were used to collect the data for the present study. The frameworks proposed by Fillmore (1991, 1997), Levinson (1983) and Ingram (1971,1978) were used to analyze the data. The diverse and multidimensional deictic nature of Urdu first person plural pronouns has been revealed by the study. The first person plural in Urdu generally refers to plural. However, a group of people with the inclusion or exclusion of the addressee may also be referred by the first person plural in Urdu. They may refer to an individual in literary writings or to an individual in authority. The choice of second person pronouns in Urdu is purely deictic and they may refer to singular or plural referents depending on the context except ‘tu’ which always points out a singular referent. Urdu second person may jump to third person also. Unlike English, third person deictics in Urdu do not make any gender distinction. Sometimes, the plural third person may refer to a singular referent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective:This paper aims to describe bibliometric study of scholarly literature published in Pakistan Heart Journalcoveringperiod from 2005 to 2015 and to explore publication trends. Methodology:This quantitative study applied required bibliometric methods to analyze Originalarticles, authorship pattern, citations, contributions from different regions and other relevant parameters of Pakistan Heart Journal covering period from January 2005 to June 2015. The data is collected from Postgraduate Medical Institute (PGMI) Library. Results:The study reveals that number of articles published in each issue of the journal ranges from 09 to 44. In regard to productivity, male authors hadhighest contribution (90.84%) and majority of authors belonged to Khyber Pukhtunkhwareion(41.69%). The finding shows that Lady Reading Hospital Peshawar had the highest research productivity in the region. Cardiologyis main subject area covered in the articles with Ischemic heart disease as leading topic (23%) followed by Preventive cardiology (19.47%). Articles with three authors were more in numbers (24.03%). Journal (95.36%) proved to be the more cited source of information. Variation was found in the number of references cited in each article, 38.67% (87) articles have 11-20 references. Article's length was also analyzed and it was revealed thatmajority (30.22%) of articles were comprised of threepages. Conclusion: The Study investigated that the frequency of Pakistan Heart Journal found irregular with gradual increase in number of articles. Significantincrease in number of articles had been seen in the last five years. Being a special journal about heart diseases, largernumber of articles was on Ischemic heart disease followed by Preventivecardiology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To describe bibliometric study of scholarly literature published in Pakistan Heart Journal covering period from 2005 to 2018 and to explore publication trends. Methodology: This quantitative study applied bibliometric methods to analyze original articles, authorship pattern, citations, contributions from different regions and other relevant parameters of Pakistan Heart Journal covering period from January 2005 to December 2018. The data was collected from Postgraduate Medical Institute (PGMI) Library Hayatabad Peshawar and official website of PHJ. Results: The study reveals that number of articles published in issues of the journal per year ranged from 09 to 57. Cardiology is main subject area covered in the articles with stable Ischemic heart disease as leading topic (15.46%) followed by Preventive cardiology (14.40%), Interventional cardiology, Heart failure and Acute Coronary Syndrome. Articles with three authors were more in numbers (23.30%). Journal (95.53%) proved to be the more cited source of information. Variation was found in the number of references cited in each article (40.05%) (153) articles had 11-20 references. Article's length was analyzed and it was revealed that a majority (30.22%) of articles comprised of five pages. In regards to productivity, more authors belonged to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa region(40.96%). Number of articles submitted by foreign authors has shown a steady increase reflecting international acceptance and recognition. Conclusion: Pakistan Heart Journal is more than fifty years old journal with gradual increase in number of articles in the last seven years. This is specialtyorientated journal about heart diseases, larger number of articles were on ischemic heart disease followed by preventive cardiology, interventional cardiology and heart failure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Salinity and drought are the two major abiotic stresses that affect the quality and quantity of tomato. The dehydration response transcription element binding factor (DREB) gene enhances tolerance in plants against salinity. The present study was conducted to transformed DREB1A gene through Agrobacterium in tomato cultivar Roma against salt stresses. A binary vector containing DREB1A gene under the control of inducible promoter Lip 9 along with hygromycin screening marker was used. The few major factors which directly affect transformation efficiency were optimized such as acetosyringone levels, cefotaxime concentrations, pre-selection time period and hygromycin levels. Four different concentrations (50, 100, 150 and 200 mM) of NaCl were applied on both transgenic and non transgenic plants. The addition of 200 µM acetosyringone in co-cultivation media, 200 mg/L cefotaxime in pre-culturing media and 25 mg/L hygromycin concentration significantly increased transformation efficiency. Maximum transformation efficiency 16.6% was obtained in tomato cultivar Roma. The transgenic plants were confirmed with PCR and the expected band size ~630 bp was amplified. The transgene express in transgenic tomatoes was confirmed by reverse transcriptase- polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). The resulted transgenic plants showed enhanced tolerance against high salt concentration (200 mM) while the non transgenic plants showed the symptoms of wilting and eventually die at that concentration. The DREB1A gene was successfully transformed into local tomato cultivar Roma. The resulted transgenic tomato cultivar Roma will be recommended against extreme salt stresses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To conduct a Bibliometric analysis of the Original articles published in the Pakistan journal of Surgery Methods: Th e study was conducted in Postgraduate Medical Institute (PGMI) Peshawar and covered all original articles published in the Pakistan Journal of Surgery from 2007 and 2016. Th e articles were downloaded from the Journal website and Bibliometric parameters were analyzed. Results: A total number of 597 articles were found in regular issues of the Journal, four-author contributions ranked the highest with 160(28.57%); 1219(57.77%) authors. Majority of the contributors belong to Sindh, Pakistan. Surgery was found to be the most popular medical subject. Th e number of articles published per year ranges between 24 and 71; most of the articles 281(47.15%) have 11-20 citations. Th e male authors 1769(79.29%) contribution were almost four times greater than female authors 462(20.71). Conclusion: Th e number of papers published in Pakistan Journal of Surgery per issue increased from 2007 to 2016 and the main region in terms of contribution was Sindh. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An innovative approach for in vitro shoot regeneration by both direct and indirect means was developed in three tomato genotypes culturing hypocotyls and leaf discs explants on MS and N6 basal media fortified with various concentrations of carbon sources (sucrose and sorbitol) individually, accumulatively and also in amalgamation with various plant growth regulators. No response of in vitro shoot regeneration was recorded in all the genotypes by the individual application of carbon sources in both MS and N6 basal media. On the other hand, their accumulative effect rapidly enhanced the in vitro shoot regeneration frequency in all the genotypes. The highest shoot organogenesis frequency (100, 99.00 and 97.69%) was recorded in Rio Grande, Roma and Moneymaker, respectively on MS medium fortified with carbon sources (30: 30 g/l) culturing hypocotyls. Supplementation of sucrose: sorbitol (30: 30 g/l) in N6 medium along with different PGRs (0.1 mg/l IAA, 1.0 mg/l ZEA and 2.0 mg/l BAP) produced the highest shoot regeneration frequency (96.33, 92.69 and 88.74%) in Roma, Rio Grande and Moneymaker culturing leaf discs. Our findings suggest an alternative approach as hormone-free protocol for in vitro shoot regeneration in tomato that would save the resources with regard to hormonal costs and time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]