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Musculoskeletal pain seeks high importance due to its occurrence among the people of any profession. Objectives: To find the prevalence of musculoskeletal pain and its associated work-related factors among nursing interns in a teaching public hospital of Lahore. Methods: Analytical cross-sectional study design was used. Study setting for this research was Jinnah Hospital Lahore. Study population was comprised on all nursing interns working in Jinnah Hospital Lahore. Cluster sampling technique was used to collect the data. Results: The study's findings showed majority of nursing interns were between the ages of 20 and 22, accounting for 51% of them. About 125 respondents were married with percentage of 68.5%. More Half of the population (57.4%) is experiencing pain in the neck and shoulder regions. About two third populations of interest is experiencing pain or discomfort in lower back. Approximately half of the population (48.9%) is experiencing ankle and feet pain symptoms. Conclusion: The study concluded that musculoskeletal discomfort is highly common among nursing interns. Several additional body parts are frequently impacted in addition to the lower back

The global demand for good quality food is going to be increased gradually. Mushrooms are broadly used as healthy nutritious meals. The nutritional values of extracts from four distinct Pleurotus species—Pleurotus ostreatus, Pleurotus sajor-caju, Pleurotus sapidus, and Pleurotus columbinus—were determined in the current study. Firstly, proximate analysis of selected Pleurotus species was performed followed by the Bradford assay to analyze the protein spectrophotometrically; high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) was performed for sugar determination while GC-MS was done to determine fatty acids on organic extracts of selected mushrooms. Descriptive statistics were used to calculate the percentages while significance was determined by SPSS statistics. The results depicted that fat, protein, ash, fiber, energy contents, and total carbohydrate were in the range of 0.64-2.02%, 16.07-25.15%, 2.1-9.14%, 6.21-54.12%, 342.20-394.30 kcal/100 g, and 65.66-82.47%, respectively. The protein’s maximum concentration was observed in P. ostreatus followed by P. columbinus>P. sajor-caju>P. sapidus, sequentially. Various sugars may or may not be present in selected Pleurotus spps. Among the fatty acids, the prevalence of UFA was more than that of saturated fatty acids among all selected mushrooms. From this study, it is concluded that all four Pleurotus spps. have excellent nutritional composition and can be used as valuable food and a great source of biochemical compounds.

Patient’s satisfaction is an indicator of quality care and it encompasses the different aspects of nursing care leading to cancer patient’s satisfaction like information given by nurses. Aim: To assess the level of satisfaction with nursing care among hospitalized cancer patients. Study design: Cross-sectional descriptive study. Methodology: A sample of 158 patients in two hospitals was selected from Jinnah hospital Lahore and INMOL by using method of non-probability convenient sampling. Data was collected by adopted questionnaire. Data was analyzed by SPSS software, version 20. Chi square was used for qualitative variables like satisfaction, educational status. A p-value of ≤ 0.05 was considered as statistically significant. Results: The results of this study indicated that a majority of the cancer patients were satisfied with different aspects of nursing care such as information given by nurses, 60.28% of patients were satisfied but interpersonal relations between nurses and patients were found to have mixed response as only 60.61% patients were satisfied. Regarding the technical quality of nurse 68.07% of patients were satisfied. Practical Implication: This study identified the lacking among health care providers regarding nursing care that make a barrier for patient’s satisfaction and helped in Program planning for monitoring and improving the nursing care services at health care setups. Conclusion: We concluded that majority of the patients were satisfied by the nursing care but there is a need to improve the information given by nurses and interpersonal relationship in the nursing care provided by the selected hospitals to improve patients’ overall satisfaction. Keywords: Patient Satisfaction, Nursing Care and Cancer.

Natural bioactive compounds that trigger apoptosis in medicinal plants might be a promising new source of anti-cancer medications. The present study aimed to assess the anti-cancer potential of the powerful therapeutic plant Chrysanthemum indicum. The whole plant extract was extracted in n-hexane and ethanol solvents to test anticancer and antioxidative capabilities on the cancer HepG2 cell line. The cells in the untreated group had not been exposed to any of the plant extracts. Ethanol and n-hexane extracts were administered to the treated cell lines. Cell viability was estimated by employing standard methodologies for the anticancer potential. Cell death and viability were measured by MTT, trypan blue, and crystal violet tests. The rate of apoptosis was measured in all groups using an Annexin-V ELISA. Furthermore, antioxidant enzyme activity studies were carried out to investigate the scavenging activities of nitric oxide, DPHH radicals, H2O2, and superoxide, scavenging power of the extracts. When cancer cells from the HepG2 cell lines were treated with plant extracts, they showed lower viability, decreased proliferation, and increased apoptosis compared to untreated control cells, according to the findings. Plant extract-treated cancer cells have stronger anti-oxidative scavenging activity than untreated cancer cells. In comparison to the n-hexane extract, the ethanol extract exhibited stronger anti-cancer and antioxidative capability against cancer cells. It was concluded that Chrysanthemum indicum ethanol and n-hexane extracts induce anticancer activity in cancer cell lines by increasing apoptosis, antioxidant status, and decrease proliferation.

Aims: Modern industrialization, anthropogenic and industrial activities have increased the risk of human exposure to heavy metals and in turn effecting human health badly. Hundreds of millions of people are globally affected by heavy metal toxicity through contaminated water in one way or. another. In order to find a correlation between the heavy metal concentrations and serum creatinine level, a study was conducted on the inhabitants living near the Hudiara drain suffering from kidney diseases. Study Design: The subjects (n=498) were selected from the vicinity of polluted Hudiara drain to conduct this matched case–control study in 2019-2020. Instrumental techniques were used for the determination of heavy metals and creatinine was determined by using Kit. The correlation between heavy metals and creatinine was checked. Place and Duration of Study: To determine heavy metals and creatinine in blood, samples were collected from the habitants of Hudiara drain and the control group 100Km far from Hudiara drain. Methodology: Blood samples of male subjects with and tested for heavy metals in the blood using atomic absorption spectrophotometer and creatinine level using Creatinine Elisa Kit. The study was conducted in 2020 and included n= 498 healthy volunteers (control) and n=498 effected (suffering from chronic kidney disease). Results: The ANOVA shows the significant difference between two groups i.e. control group and affected group in all traits of the respondents (weight, age, heavy metal values and serum creatinine level). Pearson’s correlation coefficient was calculated for heavy metals and creatinine subjects’ blood samples. It was found that heavy metal levels in subjects have a significant correlation with serum creatinine. The study shows that serum creatinine level has no significant correlation with age, so is independent of age. Conclusion: The concentration of heavy metal contaminants (Cd, Hg, Pb) in the blood of the inhabitants of Hudiara drain flowing in Lahore city, Pakistan is highly polluted by industrial effluents. The effects of higher concentration of heavy metals in the inhabitants of Hudiara drain have been determined in serum creatinine levels. It was observed that high serum creatinine values are found in subjects suffering from CKD.

Autoimmune disorder is a chronic immune imbalance which is developed through a series of pathways. The defect in B cells, T cells, and lack of self-tolerance has been greatly associated with the onset of many types of autoimmune complications including rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), multiple sclerosis, and chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy. The SLE is an autoimmune disease with a common type of lupus that causes tissue and organ damage due to the wide spread of inflammation. In the current study, twenty anti-inflammatory peptides derived from plant and animal sources were docked as ligands or peptides counter to proinflammatory cytokines. Interferon gamma (IFN-γ), interleukin 3 (IL-3), and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) were targeted in this study as these are involved in the pathogenesis of SLE in many clinical studies. Two docking approaches (i.e., protein-ligand docking and peptide-protein docking) were employed in this study using Molecular Operating Environment (MOE) software and HADDOCK web server, respectively. Amongst docked twenty peptides, the peptide DEDTQAMMPFR with S -score of -11.3018 and HADDOCK score of − 10.3 ± 2.5 kcal/mol showed the best binding interactions and energy validation with active amino acids of IFN-γ protein in both docking approaches. Depending upon these results, this peptide could be used as a potential drug candidate to target IFN-γ, IL-3, and TNF-α proteins to control inflammatory events. Other peptides (i.e., QEPQESQQ and FRDEHKK) also revealed good binding affinity with IFN-γ with S -scores of -10.98 and -10.55, respectively. Similarly, the peptides KHDRGDEF, FRDEHKK, and QEPQESQQ showed best binding interactions with IL-3 with S -scores of -8.81, -8.64, and -8.17, respectively.

Biosynthesized silver nanoparticles (Ag-NPs) displayed altogether particular physical, concoction, and natural properties, drawing high consideration for a variety of new applications in different fields due to their cost-effective and eco-friendly procedure. The current work delineates a methodology for the green synthesis of Ag-NPs from the roots of Pueraria Lobata. The Ag-NPs were synthesized at room temperature through a reduction method from the methanolic crude extract of the roots of Pueraria Lobata. UV–vis absorption spectra of Ag-NPs demonstrated the synthesis by giving an intense peak at 248 nm. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) revealed the synthesis of Ag-NPs was spherical with a size range of 30–60 nm. Fourier transformation infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) results showed the binding properties of bio-constituents responsible for stabilizing the nanoparticles. The synthesis method of Ag-NPs was optimized and the most stable Ag-NPs were achieved after 13 h at pH 9. The in vitro anti-diabetic ability of Ag-NPs was tested against carbohydrate digestion enzyme α-amylase. The result suggests that the Ag-NPs demonstrated remarkable potential of anti-diabetic activity against the key enzyme of diabetes and were found to be appropriate for nano bio-medical application.

Rezazadeh, Hadi/0000-0003-3800-8406 The paper investigates Calogero-Degasperis-Fokas (CDF) equation, an exactly solvable third order nonlinear evolution equation (Fokas, 1980). All possible functions for the unknown function F(v) in the considered equation are listed that contains the nontrivial Lie point symmetries. Furthermore, nonlinear self-adjointness is considered and for the physical parameter A - 0 the equation is proved not strictly self-adjoint equation but it is quasi self-adjoint or more generally nonlinear self-adjoint equation. In addition, it is remarked that CDF equation admits a minimal set of Lie algebra under invariance test of Lie groups. Subsequently, Lie symmetry reductions of CDF equation are described with the assistance of an optimal system, which reduces the CDF equation into different ordinary differential equations. Besides, Lie symmetries are used to indicate the associated conservation laws. Also, the well-known (G'/G)-expansion approach is applied to obtain the exact solutions. These new periodic and solitary wave solutions are feasible to analyse many compound physical phenomena in the field of sciences. (C) 2020 THE AUTHORS. Published by Elsevier BV on behalf of Faculty of Engineering, Alexandria University.

Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are ubiquitously expressed, covalently closed rings, produced by pre-mRNA splicing in a reversed order during post-transcriptional processing. Circularity endows 3'-5'-linked circRNAs with stability and resistance to exonucleolytic degradation which raises the question whether circRNAs may be relevant as potential therapeutic targets or agents. High stability in biological systems is the most remarkable property and a major criterion for why circRNAs could be exploited for a range of RNA-centred medical applications. Even though various biological roles and regulatory functions of circRNAs have been reported, their in-depth study is challenging because of their circular structure and sequence-overlap with linear mRNA counterparts. Moreover, little is known about their role in viral infections and in antiviral immune responses. We believe that an in-depth and detailed understanding of circRNA mediated viral protein regulations will increase our knowledge of the biology of these novel molecules. In this review, we aimed to provide a comprehensive basis and overview on the biogenesis, significance and regulatory roles of circRNAs in the context of antiviral immune responses and viral infections including hepatitis C virus infection, hepatitis B virus infection, hepatitis delta virus infection, influenza A virus infection, Epstein-Barr virus infection, kaposi's sarcoma herpesvirus infection, human cytomegalovirus infection, herpes simplex virus infection, human immunodeficiency virus infection, porcine epidemic diarrhoea virus infection, ORF virus infection, avian leukosis virus infection, simian vacuolating virus 40 infection, transmissible gastroenteritis coronavirus infection, and bovine viral diarrhoea virus infection. We have also discussed the critical regulatory role of circRNAs in provoking antiviral immunity, providing evidence for implications as therapeutic agents and as diagnostic markers.

Genomic epidemiology of SARS-CoV-2 is imperative to explore the transmission, evolution, and also pathogenicity of viruses. The emergence of SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern posed a severe threat to the global public health efforts. To assess the potential consequence of these emerging variants on public health, continuous molecular epidemiology is of vital importance. The current study has been designed to investigate the major SARS-CoV-2 variants and emerging mutations in virus structural and non-structural proteins (NSP) during the fourth wave in September 2021 from the Punjab province of Pakistan. Twenty SARS-CoV-2 positive samples have been collected from major cities were subjected to next-generation sequencing. Among the 20 whole genomes (GenBank Accession SRR16294858-SRR16294877), 2 samples failed to be completely sequenced. These genome sequences harbored 207 non-synonymous mutations, among which 19 were unique to GISAID. The genome sequences were detected: Delta 21I, 21J variants (B.1.617.2). Mutation’s spike_F157del, spike_P681R, spike_T478K, spike_T19R, spike_L452R, spike_D614G, spike_G142D, spike_E156G, and spike_R158del have been detected in all samples where K1086Q, E554K, and C1250W were unique in spike protein. These genomic sequences also harbored 129 non-synonymous mutations in NSP. The most common were NSP3_P1469S (N = 17), NSP3_A488S (N = 17), NSP3_P1228L (N = 17), NSP4_V167L (N = 17), NSP4_T492I (N = 17), NSP6_T77A (N = 17), NSP14_A394V (N = 17), NSP12_G671S (N = 18), and NSP13_P77L (N = 18). The mutation, F313Y in NSP12, detected in the current study, was found in a single isolate from Belgium. Numerous other unique mutations have been detected in the virus papain-like protease (NSP3), main protease (NSP5), and RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (NSP12). The most common non-synonymous mutations in the spike protein were subjected to stability analysis, exhibiting a stabilizing effect on structures. The presence of Delta variants may affect therapeutic efforts and vaccine efficacy. Continuous genomic epidemiology of SARS-CoV-2 in Pakistan may be useful for better management of SARS-CoV-2 infections.

Childhood absence epilepsy (CAE) is an autosomal dominant disorder and a heterogeneous familial condition in which family members express absence seizures initially and then show multiple phenotypes of myoclonic epilepsy, including partial or absence seizures and generalized tonic conic seizures. Multiple types of genetic mutations are involved in epilespy. This study was aimed at investigating the coding regions of CACNA1H gene for analyzing the mutations involved in epilepsy. Blood samples of mutually unrelated true representatives of CAE were collected from the psychiatry department of various hospitals in Lahore. DNA was extracted using the standard protocol and the amplification of the CACNA1H region was achieved with specially designed primers. Later on, the analysis of the results was carried out via the sequencing of target fragments. Sequences were analyzed using the BioEdit software and then aligned with the help of the ClustalW2 software. A series of 12 unrelated patients with CAE were screened for mutations in the CACNA1H gene. No mutation was found in exon 9a. As already reported, mutations in the exonic sequence of CACNA1H gene were found in 5 out of 14 CAE patients. These changes were observed in a PCR fragment amplified by primer 2 in the region of the 9th exon. Subsequent analysis of these fragments identified transition mutations (2025G>A) in exon 9. To conclude, there is a need to explore the site of the gene along with other gene mutations causing epilepsy in the local population of Punjab, Pakistan. It will help to develop genetic counseling strategies, gene therapies, and prenatal diagnostic procedures for the said population.

The extensive use of antibiotics has led to drug-resistant bacteria, which is a major public health issue worldwide. Silver nano-particles have been recognized as efficient broad-spectrum antimicrobial agent. It uses mushroom glucans as reducing and capping agent to reduce its toxicity. In the present work, we performed the characterization of glucans and glucan–AgNPs. The crude glucans were extracted by hot water then fractionated and purified by anion exchange chromatography (DEAE-cellulose 52); the elution of glucans was monitored by phenol sulfuric acid assay. The major fractions were further purified with gel filtration chromatography (Sephadex-G200) then lyophilized. Green synthesis of silver nano-particles was performed by glucans from selected Pleurotus spps. Extracted glucans and synthesized glucan–AgNPs were confirmed by UV–Vis spectra at 190–250 nm and 380–420 nm, respectively. Size of glucan–AgNPs (100.1 nm) was determined by dynamic light scattering. The glucans were characterized by FT-IR, SEM and XRD while glucan–AgNPs were characterized by FT-IR, SEM–EDS, TEM and XRD. Based on FT-IR spectra, the functional groups associated with the glucans and glucan–AgNPs were determined. SEM analysis revealed that the structure of glucan was spongy with asymmetrical particle size while SEM–EDS/TEM analysis revealed the glucan–AgNPs were spherical with size range of 15–45 nm for Pleurotus ostreatus. XRD spectra of glucan showed diffraction peaks at 2θ = 5.9°, 10.1° and 19.6°. By SEM–EDS/TEM analysis, the silver nano-particles against Braggs reflection planes of (111), (200), (220) and (311) in X-ray diffraction, showed diffraction at 2θ = 38.2°, 44.5°, 64.7° and 77.5° in pattern.

Autoimmune disorder is a chronic immune imbalance which is developed through a series of pathways. The defect in B cells, T cells, and lack of self-tolerance has been greatly associated with the onset of many types of autoimmune complications including rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), multiple sclerosis, and chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy. The SLE is an autoimmune disease with a common type of lupus that causes tissue and organ damage due to the wide spread of inflammation. In the current study, twenty anti-inflammatory peptides derived from plant and animal sources were docked as ligands or peptides counter to proinflammatory cytokines. Interferon gamma (IFN-γ), interleukin 3 (IL-3), and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) were targeted in this study as these are involved in the pathogenesis of SLE in many clinical studies. Two docking approaches (i.e., protein-ligand docking and peptide-protein docking) were employed in this study using Molecular Operating Environment (MOE) software and HADDOCK web server, respectively. Amongst docked twenty peptides, the peptide DEDTQAMMPFR with S-score of -11.3018 and HADDOCK score of −10.3 ± 2.5 kcal/mol showed the best binding interactions and energy validation with active amino acids of IFN-γ protein in both docking approaches. Depending upon these results, this peptide could be used as a potential drug candidate to target IFN-γ, IL-3, and TNF-α proteins to control inflammatory events. Other peptides (i.e., QEPQESQQ and FRDEHKK) also revealed good binding affinity with IFN-γ with S-scores of -10.98 and -10.55, respectively. Similarly, the peptides KHDRGDEF, FRDEHKK, and QEPQESQQ showed best binding interactions with IL-3 with S-scores of -8.81, -8.64, and -8.17, respectively.

In this paper, we investigated the Gilson-Pickering (GP) equation and many new solutions are obtained with the aid of two different approaches, namely Jacobi elliptic functions and exponential rational function approach. Different choices of the parameters in obtained results lead to the solutions of some well known models, which are Camassa-Holm equation, the Fornberg-Whitham equation and the Rosenau-Hyman equation. The methods considered here can also help to have a panoply of new wave surfaces concerning other related partial differential equations. Further more, 2D and 3D graphical presentations of these surfaces are presented for the various parameters. Moreover, bifurcation behavior of nonlinear travelling waves of GP equation is discussed. Bifurcation theory of planer dynamical system is utilized to observe that considered model contains nonlinear periodic wave, bell shaped solitary wave and shock wave.

Cardiovascular diseases (CVD), primarily inflammatory cardiomyopathy, are characterized by the infiltration of inflammatory cells into the myocardium. It has a relatively high risk of deteriorating heart function and has heterogeneous etiologies. Inflammatory cardiomyopathy is mainly mediated by viral infections but can also be mediated by protozoa, fungal or bacterial infections. Besides that, there are a wide variety of drugs, toxic substances, and systemic immune-mediated diseases that result in the development of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs). Despite broad research, inflammatory cardiomyopathy has a poor prognosis. The roles of the pathogens, host genomic counterparts and environmental triggers in the progression of disease are still under consideration, including the role of some viruses as active inducers and others as bystanders. In this review article, we review the available evidence on the types, pathogenesis and treatment of myocarditis, inflammatory cardiomyopathy, and atherosclerosis with a particular focus on virus-associated cardiac diseases.

Mushrooms have been accepted as nutraceutical foods because of their high nutritional and functional values. They have also gained interest due to their medicinal properties, economic importance, and organoleptic merit. In this study, wild Ganoderma lucidum and four commercial mushrooms, that is, Pleurotus ostreatus, Volvariella volvacea, Hericium erinaceus, and Lentinus edodes from Pakistan were screened for their biological activities such as anticancer, antityrosinase, anti‐α‐glucosidase, and antithrombotic activities from their methanol, ethanol, and water extracts. Enzyme inhibition assay showed that selected mushrooms are potent inhibitors with %age inhibition ranging from 19.00% to 80.91%, and 32.85% to 83.38% for tyrosinase and α‐glucosidase, respectively. The best tyrosinase inhibition was shown by P. ostreatus whereas L. edodes was found best as α‐glucosidase inhibitor. These mushrooms were tested against cancer cell lines including HT‐29 colon and H‐1299 lungs carcinoma cell lines. G. lucidum showed 29% and 24% viability of cells against HT‐29 and H‐1299 cell lines, respectively. This antiproliferative effect was in dose‐dependent manner, and the maximum inhibition was observed at 200 μg/ml. Mushrooms extracts were also found effective against clot lysis. The percentage of clot lysis was in the range of 27%–29%. The research would provide knowledge to the people of Pakistan about the importance of locally available commercial mushrooms and wild mushrooms for health improvement and prevention against different kinds of diseases.

The synthesis of nanomaterials with specific properties and functions as biomimetic nanoenzymes has attracted extensive attention in the past decades due to their great potential to substitute natural enzymes. Herein, a facile and simple method for the preparation of platinum nanoparticle (PtNP)-decorated two-dimensional metal-organic framework (MOF) nanocomposites was developed. A ligand with heme-like structure, Fe(III) tetra(4-carboxyphenyl)porphine chloride (TCPP(Fe)), was applied to synthesize MOF nanosheets (denoted as Cu-TCPP(Fe) nanosheets) in high yield. Ultrathin Cu-TCPP(Fe) nanosheets with thickness less than 10 nm were used as a novel template for the growth of ultrasmall and uniform PtNPs. Significantly, the obtained hybrid nanomaterials (PtNPs/Cu-TCPP(Fe) hybrid nanosheets) exhibit enhanced peroxidase-like activity compared to PtNPs, Cu-TCPP(Fe) nanosheets, and the physical mixture of both due to the synergistic effect. On account of the excellent peroxidase-like activity of PtNPs/Cu-TCPP(Fe) hybrid nanosheets, we established a colorimetric method for sensitive and rapid detection of hydrogen peroxide. Furthermore, by combining with glucose oxidase, a cascade colorimetric method was established to further detect glucose with excellent sensitivity and selectivity.

Purpose The secondary metabolites in plants are the basis of defense and stress balance, which is an important aspect in plant growth. The UV-B treatment (a biotic stress) and salt stress on bitter melon ( Momordica charantia L.) were studied, and the impact of pre-sowing seed treatment was evaluated on the basis of biochemical and enzymatic biomarkers, antioxidants, and wound-healing potential during early growth stages. Methods The UV-B treatment for 5 and 10 min and salt stress 250 mM and 500 mM treatments were applied, and 21-day seedling tissue were collected for total phenolic contents (TPC), total flavonoid contents (TFC), antioxidant, chlorophyll contents, hydrogen peroxide, total soluble sugar, enzymes activities, and wound-healing potential studies. Results The TPC, TFC, diphenyl picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), chlorophyll contents, and total soluble sugar were recorded higher at 5 min treatment with UV-B and salt stress at 250 mM concentration. Antioxidant enzymes activities were recorded higher for 10 min UV-B treatment and 500 mM salt treatment. Wound-healing potential was found significant at 5 min treatment with UV-B radiation, which was studied in vivo in rabbits. The LC-MS analysis revealed a variety of phenolic compounds in the seedlings. Conclusion The study concluded that treatments significantly affect the biological activities of bitter melon seeds at the seedling stage, and the seeds contain important phenolic compounds responsible for its antioxidant potential and enzymatic activities. Future studies could be focused on the later stages of growth, development, and yield characteristics subjected to salt stress along with UV-B radiation treatment.

Humans have relied on nature throughout their ages to cater for their basic needs including medicines to cure a wide spectrum of diseases. Plants have formed the basis for sophisticated systems of traditional medicines. For therapeutic agents many of the presently known lead compounds are natural products or their derivatives. Ethnomedicinal studies play a vital role to discover new drugs from indigenous medicinal plants. Green pharmaceuticals are getting popularity and extraordinary importance because vast opportunities for new drug discoveries are provided by the unmatched availability of chemical diversity and natural products either as pure compounds or as homogenous plant extracts. Therefore, in recent years the demand for herbal medicines and several natural products from a variety of plant species is consistently increasing. In spite of being an agricultural country and having different ecological regions, the medicinal plants of Pakistan have not been explored for their secondary metabolites which are responsible for treating different diseases. Although, huge importance of different extracts of medicinal plants from Pakistan have been reported for their different activities such as antimicrobial, anti-cancerouse, antiviral and antioxidant but complete biochemical profiling of these medicinal plants is lacking. LC-MS and GC-MS techniques have been applied in the field of drug discovery from medicinal plants but in Pakistan its success rate is very low in the subject of biochemical profiling. Therefore, such techniques should be used in Pakistan to explore active constituents from medicinal plants which could be used as medicines in future.

In this paper, modified Zakharov-Kuznetsov (mZK) equation is taken into consideration. Diverse variety of solitonic structures are computed by using extended algebraic method. Sufficient conditions for the existence of the computed solutions are presented. Then, Galilean transformation is utilized to transform the considered model in the planer dynamical system. All possible forms of phase portraits with respect to the parameters are plotted. Moreover, we utilized the numerical techniques to find out the nonlinear periodic structures of the discussed model and results are shown graphically. Moreover, after deploying an extrinsic periodic force the effect of frequency is observed then sensitive analysis is applied for different initial value problems to analyze the quasiperiodic and chaotic behaviour. In addition to this, Lie point symmetries and their corresponding conservation laws are reported at the end.

Ultrathin (10 nm) nanosheets of a metal-organic framework (MOF-NSs) were prepared in high-yield and scalable production by a surfactant-assisted one-step method. The MOF-NSs possess distinguished affinity for ssDNA but not for dsDNA. This causes the fluorescence of the labeled DNA to be quenched. On binding to the target DNA (shown here for Salmonella enterica, Listeria monocytogenes and Vibrio parahemolyticus), the labeled duplex is released and the fluorescence of the label is restored. The labels Texas Red, Cy3 and FAM were used and give red, red or green fluorescence depending on the kind of pathogen. The detection limits are 28 pM, 35 pM and 15 pM for the gene segments of Salmonella enterica, Listeria monocytogenes and Vibrio parahemolyticus, respectively. Graphical abstract Schematic of an ultrasensitive fluorescent biosensor for multiplex detection of pathogenic DNAs based on ultrathin MOF nanosheets (type Cu-TCPP).

Citrate synthase (CS) is involved in citric acid biosynthesis which is a well-established metabolic pathway. The condensation of acetyl-CoA with oxaloacetate is catalyzed by CS. Citric acid (CA) has a number of applications in pharmaceutical industry. CA in combination with bicarbonates is used as an effervescent in the preparations of tablets and powders. It has also been used as an anticoagulant and acidulant to form mild astringent. In current study, detailed structural and functional analyses of CS protein were carried out using various bioinformatics tools. Structural modeling was also done by building 3D model of CS from Aspergillus niger ANJ-120 using Modeller 9.16 software. The 3D Model was then evaluated using different online approaches. Furthermore, superimposition of query and template structures, Root Mean Squared Deviation and visualization of generated model were done through UCSF Chimera 1.5.3. Even though various roles of CS protein were already known and verified experimentally, here we presented a structural analysis of CS protein. The structural investigation of CS protein will be helpful for protein engineering strategies and understanding the interactions among proteins. Due to large number of applications, the production of citric acid by A. niger and its bioinformatics studies will offer substantial improvement in commercial scale intensification of this useful product.

Background Myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) are clonal stem cell disorders exhibiting cytopenias, ineffective hematopoiesis and morphological dysplasia. Bone marrow cytogenetics, inspite of being incorporated as mandatory tool in diagnosis are done less frequently due to limited availability of this technique in Pakistan. The aim of the study was to study baseline clinicohematological and cytogenetic characteristics of patients presenting with de novo MDS. Results A retrospective cross sectional study was done at National Institute of Blood Diseases and Bone Marrow Transplantation, Karachi, Pakistan from 2010 to 2016. Total of 177 patients were included in the study having median age 51 years and male to female ratio of 3:1. Pancytopenia was observed in 80 (45%) patients and bicytopenia in 74 (42%). Mean Hb% was 7.8 ± 2.18 g/dl, total leukocyte count (TLC) 8.8 ± 13.6 × 109/l, platelet count was 82 ± 95.7 × 109/l. Of total 170 (96%) were transfusion dependent. Refractory cytopenias with multilineage dysplasia (RCMD) was the most common world health organization (WHO) category. Karyotype was done in 98 (55%) patients out of which 44 (45%) had abnormal karyotype, complex karyotype (CK) was most commonly observed in 12 (12.2%) followed by monosomy 7 in 7 (7.1%). Conclusions We found younger median age at diagnosis, higher mean TLC and no significant history of recurrent infections. CK and monosomy 7 carry bad prognostic implications and early disease transformation to acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Monosomy 7 being associated with bad overall survival, such patients must be identified early with close clinical follow up and offered stem cell transplant. This is the largest cohort of patients of MDS evaluated for baseline clinical and cytogenetic characteristics in our country.

Green supply chain management (GSCM) is considered the provenance of best performance in every organisation around the world. Its efficient implementation leads to increase the green innovation act...

A novel impedimetric sensor was developed for the detection of loop mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) amplicons of various foodborne pathogens through combining with a microfluidic system and magnetic separation procedure. The amplified nucleic acid products (amplicons) of the LAMP reaction can adsorb on magnetic beads surface via electrostatic adsorption process. The obtained nucleic acid-magnetic bead composites were re-dispersed in deionized water and the impedance response was measured by injecting the nucleic acid-magnetic bead composites into the microfluidic system. On account of the quite low conductivity (1˜2 μS cm―1) of deionized water, the weak change of charge can be detected by impedance. Thus the abundant negative charges of nucleic acids in the composites can produce an obviously reduction of impedance signal. Based on the principle, the developed impedimetric sensing method was used for sensing various foodborne pathogens including Escherichia coli O157:H7 (E. coli O157:H7), Vibrio parahaemolyticus (V. parahaemolyticus), Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus), and Listeria monocytogenes (L. monocytogenes), which achieved a low detection limit (10 copies). Compared with the conventional gel electrophoresis method, our method is more sensitive and faster, which has a potential for fast and sensitive detection of the LAMP products of various targets.

In this paper, relationship between background metric and Noether operators is developed for different surfaces. For this the ( 1 + 2 ) -dimensional non-linear wave equation on curved surfaces is considered. The Noether approach is applied on the discussed equation and determining equations for the Noether operators are computed in terms of coefficients of the first fundamental form (FFF). Further these determining equations are utilized to compute the Noether operators and conserved vectors of the considered equation on particular surfaces i.e. sphere ( S 2 ) , torus ( T 2 ) , flat space ( R 2 ) and cone ( C 2 ) . In derivation of conservation laws, two cases of the function f ( u ) are observed. For both cases the conserved vectors of the discussed equation on S 2 , T 2 , R 2 and C 2 are established. It is noted that on all discussed surfaces Lie point generators coincide with the corresponding Noether operators while the maximal solvable algebra of symmetries is obtained for f ( u ) = 0 .

In this paper, the conserved quantities of the non-linear Klein–Gordon equation \(u_{tt}=u_{xx}+f(u)\) are derived. The Noether theorem is applied to the considered equation with an arbitrary function \(f(u)\). Symmetry operators for all possible cases of the function \(f(u)\) are investigated. Then the conserved vectors are computed for each of these Noether symmetry operators.

This paper discusses the nonlinear wave equation on hyperbolic space. We extend some results reported in Nadjafikhah and Zaeim (2011) [17] . Partial Noether theorem is applied to the equation under consideration and partial Noether operators are computed for different cases of f ( u ) . Furthermore, these partial Noether operators are utilized to calculate corresponding conserved quantities. A complete group classification is discussed for the considered equation. Maximal solvable algebra of Lie point symmetries is used to reduce the class of considered equation. Then algebras of translational symmetries are associated with its infinite conservation laws.

This paper discusses the wave equation on torus in terms of classical Lie theory. The symmetry algebra is computed and found solvable. A general element of one-dimensional Lie algebra is used to compute similarity variables. Further invariant solutions are obtained for the considered equation by using similarity variables, while two- and three-dimensional algebras are reported for which the considered equation is investigated by quadrature. Conserved quantities for the considered equation are obtained. The components of conserved vectors are then associated with the translational symmetry generators using the symmetry conservation laws relation given by Kara and Mahomed (2000) [12].

Mastitis is one of the major problematic diseases of dairy animals throughout the world associated with etiological agents but Staphylococcus aureus is one of the major causes which are responsible for this dairy scourge. Biofilm production by the microorganisms is considered an important virulence factor responsible for adhesion of these microorganisms with living or non-living surfaces. Staphylococcus aureus isolates which produce biofilm lead to chronic mastitis in dairy animals. The intramammary infection due to biofilm producer S. aureus is difficult to treat even with intra-mammary antibiotics so proper considerations should be given to the infections produced by biofilm producing bacteria. Development of an effective vaccination against the bacteria which produce biofilm may provide success to control such type of perilous infections.

Lactococcus lactis subsp. lactis is very important as starter culture of cheese and yogurt production. A variety of bacteriocins ranging the molecular weight 3 to 10 have been reported from L. lactis under different growth conditions. In our study, we have optimized the growth of L. lactis for the bacteriocin production. Growth kinetics of these bacteria was studied in accordance to time, pH and temperature. Optimum growth as well as optimum bacteriocin activity was obtained after 18 h at pH 5.0 and temperature 37°C. Bacteriocin activity was produced on optimal conditions and were further characterized and purified. Antibacterial assay of bacteriocin showed the strong growth inhibition of test bacteria. Bacteriocin activities were checked after their treatment with different enzymes, organic solvents, sodium chloride (NaCl) and detergents as well as their heat stability and effect of pH was studied. Bacteriocin activity was found to heat stability at 100°C for 30 min and activity was found stable in the 3 to 10 pH range but lost the activity after the treatment with proteinase-K and protease enzymes. Urea, ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) and 6% affected the bacteriocin activity. Bactericidal activity was further purified to homogeneity by ammonium sulphate precipitation and chromatographic techniques. Molecular weight was calculated by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) as 4.6 kDa. Key words: Bacteriocin activity, Lactococcus lactis, growth kinetics, antibacterial assay.