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ABSTRACTChange in land use land cover (LULC) is driven by human activities and drives changes that limit the accessibility of services and products for livestock and humans. This study aimed to develop the spatio-temporal changes in LULC, vegetation cover, and moisture index using multi-temporal satellite data in Southern Punjab, Pakistan. Analysis of satellite data was accomplished using ArcGIS 10.4 software. Based on ground-truthing, the supervised classification technique (maximum likelihood algorithm) was used to achieve the LULC classification. The LULC change analysis revealed that vegetation area converted to the build-up area by 7.17 % and bare soil converted to urban areas by 1.68 % from 2000 to 2021. Average NDVI values were calculated at 0.23, 0.17, 0.19, and 0.14 for 2000, 2007, 2014, and 2021, respectively. In the study area, average NDMI values were observed at 0.28, 0.25, 0.2, and 0.15 for 2000, 2007, 2014, and 2021, respectively. Based on our study, the general trend in Southern Punjab is a decrease in vegetation cover, moisture index, and forest area due to an increase in build-up areas. Assessments of LULC and NDMI changes, as well as estimates of the effect on the environment, are necessary for many policy decisions and planning.

Abstract The colloidal borescope, using colloidal particle motion, is used to monitor the flow velocities and directions of groundwater. It integrates advanced techniques such as microscopy, high-speed photography, and big data computing and enjoys high sensitivity at the micron level. However, In the same well, the groundwater flow velocity monitored by colloidal hole mirror is varies greatly from that obtained by conventional hydrogeological monitoring, such as pumping test. In order to solve this problem, the stability catcher and stratified packer are designed to control the interference of the vertical flow in drilling, and to monitor the flow velocity and direction of groundwater velocity at the target aquifer and target fracture. Five wells with different aquifers and different groundwater types were selected for monitoring in south-central China. The instantaneous velocity and direction are converted into east–west component and north–south component, the average velocity and direction is calculated according to the time of 10 min, and the particle trajectory diagram is established. Based on these results, it proposed a concept of cumulative flow velocity. Using curve-fitting equations, the limits of cumulative flow velocities as the monitoring time tends to infinity were then calculated as the actual flow velocities of the groundwater. The permeability coefficient of aquifer is calculated by using the fissure ratio of aquifer, hydraulic slope and flow velocity, and compared with the permeability coefficient obtained by pumping test. The results are as follows: (1) The variation coefficient of the instantaneous flow velocity measured at the same depth in the same well at different times is greater than that of the time average flow velocity and greater than that of the cumulative flow velocity. The variation coefficient of the actual velocity is the smallest, indicating that the risk of using the actual flow velocity is lower. (2) The variation coefficient of the flow rate monitored at different depths in the same well is mainly controlled by the properties of the aquifer. The more uniform water storage space in the aquifer, the smaller the variation coefficient. (3) The comparison between the permeability coefficient obtained by monitoring and the permeability coefficient obtained by pumping test shows that the flow of structural fissure water controlled by planar fissure is more surface flow, and the results are consistent. When the groundwater flow is controlled by pores and solution gaps, the flow channel is complicated, which is easy to produce turbulent flow, and the result consistency is poor. (4) According to different research accuracy requirements, different monitoring and calculation methods can be selected for different aquifers and groundwater types. Researches show that, the permeability coefficient calculated for the actual flow velocity in well DR01 is the same as that calculated for the pumping test. The aquifer characteristics reflected by the coefficient of variation of the actual flow velocity in the same aquifer are more realistic. The pumping test method obtains the comprehensive parameters of a certain aquifer, and this method can be used to monitor a certain fissure. In this paper, the new technology developed for monitoring, and the new algorithm established for data processing, can accurately obtain the flow velocity and direction of groundwater, using capsule hole mirror monitoring method. The key parameters of hydrogeology can be obtained by using one well, which can reduce the time and cost input and improve the work efficiency.

Introduction India’s contribution to the malaria burden was highest in South-East Asia Region in 2021, accounting for 79% of the estimated malaria cases and 83% of malaria-related deaths. Intensified Malaria Control Programme supported by Global Funds to Fight against AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria has deployed crucial interventions to reduce the overall burden of malaria in India. Evaluation of utilisation of malaria elimination interventions by the community and assessment of the healthcare system is underway in eleven high malaria endemic states in India. Health system preparedness for malaria elimination, logistics, and supply chain management of diagnostic kits and anti-malarial drugs in addition to the knowledge, attitude and practice of the healthcare workers is also being assessed.Methods and analysis The study is being undertaken in 11 malaria endemic states with a variable annual parasite incidence of malaria. In total, 47 districts (administrative unit of malaria control operations) covering 37 976 households are to be interviewed and assessed. We present here the protocol following which the study is being undertaken at the behest and approval of Ministry of Health and Family Welfare in India.Ethics and dissemination No patients were involved in the study. Study findings will be shared with Institutional ethics board of National Institute for Malaria Research New Delhi (NIMR) in a timely, comprehensive, accurate, unbiased, unambiguous and transparent manner and to the National Vector-borne Disease (Malaria) Control Programme officers and the Community public who participated. Important findings will be communicated through community outreach meetings which are existing in the Health system. Results will be informed to study participants via local fieldwork supervised by District Malaria Officers. Also findings will be published in reputed journals based on Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) publication policy.The ICMR-NIMR ethics committee approved the study via letter No. NIMR/ECM/2023/Feb/14 dated 24 April 2023 for version 5. All standard ethical practices will be followed.

Objective: Development & Optimization of Ofloxacin Floating tablets to enhance gastric retention time. Sustained release effect of formulation will reduce the dosing frequency for UTIs and prolonged local effect will benefit against H-pylori infection. Materials: Pre formulation tests were performed which include bulk characteristics and flow properties. Post formulation studies include weight variation, thickness, content uniformity, hardness, friability, dissolution studies, release kinetics and compatibility & stability analysis. Kinetic studies were done and models were applied to understand the drug release mechanism. Accelerated stability analysis was also done for time period of 6 months. Results: All pre formulation tests were within range of USP standards, all the formulations showed good buoyancy. The in-vitro dissolution testing showed that F2 released drug at much slower rate, 64.97% within 24 hrs. F3 & F4 released ofloxacin at faster rate, 98.6% & 99.90% respectively, however, F1 released 91.66% drug within 24 hrs. F1 followed Higuchi model, F2 & F3 followed 1st order kinetics and F4 followed 1st order & Higuchi model. For F1, FTIR & DSC analysis curves showed no interaction or change of state of ofloxacin. Conclusion: Formulation F1 was proved to be the optimized formulation and followed non-Fickian release independent of concentration of drug also confirmed from Korsmeyer-Peppas equation. The Stability analysis also proved that F1 is the best fit formulation to be used as Floating Drug Delivery System of Ofloxacin. Stability analysis proved that polymers used in F1 formulation were effective effervescent agents and made the formulation optimized and efficacious.

The aim of this paper is to study the nonlinear couple Drinfel’d–Sokolov–Wilson (DSW) equation under conformable differential operator (CDO) that plays an important role in describing the shallow water in fluid mechanics, plasma physics, nonlinear optics and Bose–Einstein condensate (soliton formation). The Tanh–Coth and energy balance techniques are implemented in this work to explore some travelling wave solutions. These analytical methods yield various solutions for the considered DSW equation. The solutions obtained from both method are expressed in the form of hyperbolic and trigonometric function. Furthermore, the dynamic behaviour of the obtained solutions are illustrated, via 2D and 3D curves. Additionally, the effect of the conformable differential operator on dynamics of wave solutions is studied via 2D graphs.

Abstract Background Elucidating genome-wide structural variants including copy number variations (CNVs) have gained increased significance in recent times owing to their contribution to genetic diversity and association with important pathophysiological states. The present study aimed to elucidate the high-resolution CNV map of six different global buffalo breeds using whole genome resequencing data at two coverages (10X and 30X). Post-quality control, the sequence reads were aligned to the latest draft release of the Bubaline genome. The genome-wide CNVs were elucidated using a read-depth approach in CNVnator with different bin sizes. Adjacent CNVs were concatenated into copy number variation regions (CNVRs) in different breeds and their genomic coverage was elucidated. Results Overall, the average size of CNVR was lower at 30X coverage, providing finer details. Most of the CNVRs were either deletion or duplication type while the occurrence of mixed events was lesser in number on a comparative basis in all breeds. The average CNVR size was lower at 30X coverage (0.201 Mb) as compared to 10X (0.013 Mb) with the finest variants in Banni buffaloes. The maximum number of CNVs was observed in Murrah (2627) and Pandharpuri (25,688) at 10X and 30X coverages, respectively. Whereas the minimum number of CNVs were scored in Surti at both coverages (2092 and 17,373). On the other hand, the highest and lowest number of CNVRs were scored in Jaffarabadi (833 and 10,179 events) and Surti (783 and 7553 events) at both coverages. Deletion events overnumbered duplications in all breeds at both coverages. Gene profiling of common overlapped genes and longest CNVRs provided important insights into the evolutionary history of these breeds and indicate the genomic regions under selection in respective breeds. Conclusion The present study is the first of its kind to elucidate the high-resolution CNV map in major buffalo populations using a read-depth approach on whole genome resequencing data. The results revealed important insights into the divergence of major global buffalo breeds along the evolutionary timescale.

Design of orthopedic implants is a challenging task to cope with desired properties, therefore, numerous metal-alloy and coating were utilized in the fabrication of implants as alternative options. Magnesium (Mg)-based alloys are among the unique materials owing to their promising properties to avoid cytotoxicity, genotoxicity, and carcinogenicity; however, the fast degradation of Mg limits its clinical applications. In this study, hydroxyapatite (HA) nano-powder was coated on pure Mg as the compositions of both materials are promising biodegradable bone-compatible materials. The electrophoretic deposition (EPD) technique was used to produce a bioactive coating on pure Mg. The research novelty highlighted for the first time, the EPD parameters were optimized via the full Design of Experiment (DoF) approach during HA coating of Mg, while the weight loss of pure Mg and HA coated Mg were investigated in SBF for 7, 14, 21, and 28 days. The surface morphologies of both materials were investigated before and after coating. The bioactivity of the coated samples was examined in Simulated Body Fluid (SBF) and investigated using SEM. Surface roughness, contact angle measurement, scratch test, wear test, an in-vitro study in SBF, electrochemical corrosion, and cellular studies were conducted according to the standard approaches. The results show that HA coated Mg samples are compatible for orthopedic implants in terms of surface roughness, wettability, adhesion, wear sustainability, HA growth, corrosion rate, and cell viability. Thus, the biological, mechanical, and cellular properties of HA-coated implants are suitable and recommended as alternatives to biodegradable implants.

Background: The presence and behavior of mosquitoes in various agro-ecological zones of Punjab are influenced by a combination of seasonal and topographical patterns, cropping schemes, and human settlement. These modifications have a significant impact on the occurrence of diseases. Therefore, determining the distribution of these species could help in halting their spread and disease outbreaks. Methods: Under these prevailing conditions, surveillance studies were carried out at six zones of Punjab, to know the distribution of mosquitoes. Samples were collected in various seasons (once in winter and rainy seasons, and twice in summer), from all possible habitats, having stagnant water. Results: Out of twenty-four (24) recorded species, three were included in Anophelinae and Culicinae, eleven from tribe Aedini, eight from Culicini and one each from Ficulbiini and Mansoniini. Sampling was done from 91 m (Ahmed Pur East) elevation to 1759 m (Fort Monroe). High and diversified population was recorded during rainy season. The Anopheline mosquitoes were found in rural as well as urban habitats, including rainfed, wet mountains and irrigated plains whereas Aedine species were confined to northern irrigated plains and mostly recorded from Changa Manga National Forest. Culicine species were more diversified and abundant, in all seasons. However, M. chamberlaini was collected from urban (rainfed lands) and rural (northern irrigated plains) settings. C. crassipes was recorded only from rainfed lands. Conclusion: Twenty-four mosquito species from the Anophelinae and Culicinae subfamilies were observed in the current investigation. Anophelinae subfamily contained three species. Eleven species of Culicinae belonged to the tribe Aedini, eight to the Culicini, and one each to the Mansoniini and Ficalbiini.

Abstract The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is an ongoing mega-construction project in Pakistan that necessitates further exploration of new natural resources of aggregate to facilitate the extensive construction. Therefore, the Late Permian strata of Chhidru and Wargal Limestone for aggregates resources were envisaged to evaluate their optimal way of construction usage through detailed geotechnical, geochemical, and petrographic analyses. Geotechnical analysis was performed under BS and ASTM standards with the help of employing different laboratory tests. A simple regression analysis was employed to ascertain mutual correlations between physical parameters. Based on the petrographic analysis, the Wargal Limestone is classified into mudstones and wackestone, and Chhidru Formation is categorized into wackestone and floatstone microfacies, both containing primary constituents of calcite and bioclasts. The geochemical analysis revealed that the Wargal Limestone and Chhidru Formation encompass calcium oxide (CaO) as the dominant mineral content. These analyses also depicted that the Wargal Limestone aggregates bear no vulnerability to alkali-aggregate reactions (AAR), whereas the Chhidru Formation tends to be susceptible to AAR and deleterious. Moreover, the coefficient of determination and strength characteristics, for instance, unconfined compressive strength and point load test were found inversely associated with bioclast concentrations and directly linked to calcite contents. Based on the geotechnical, petrographic, and geochemical analyses, the Wargal Limestone proved to be a significant potential source for both small and large-scale construction projects, such as CPEC, but the Chhidru Formation aggregates should be used with extra caution due to high silica content.

The objective of Advanced Persistent Threat (APT) attacks is to exploit Cyber-Physical Systems (CPSs) in combination with the Industrial Internet of Things (I-IoT) by using fast attack methods. Machine learning (ML) techniques have shown potential in identifying APT attacks in autonomous and malware detection systems. However, detecting hidden APT attacks in the I-IoT-enabled CPS domain and achieving real-time accuracy in detection present significant challenges for these techniques. To overcome these issues, a new approach is suggested that is based on the Graph Attention Network (GAN), a multi-dimensional algorithm that captures behavioral features along with the relevant information that other methods do not deliver. This approach utilizes masked self-attentional layers to address the limitations of prior Deep Learning (DL) methods that rely on convolutions. Two datasets, the DAPT2020 malware, and Edge I-IoT datasets are used to evaluate the approach, and it attains the highest detection accuracy of 96.97% and 95.97%, with prediction time of 20.56 seconds and 21.65 seconds, respectively. The GAN approach is compared to conventional ML algorithms, and simulation results demonstrate a significant performance improvement over these algorithms in the I-IoT-enabled CPS realm.

Peste des petits ruminants (PPR) characterized by fever, sore mouth, conjunctivitis, gastroenteritis, and pneumonia, is an acute, highly contagious viral disease of sheep and goats. The role of long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) in PPRV infection has not been explored to date. In this study, the transcriptome profiles of virulent Peste des petits ruminants virus (PPRV) infected goat tissues – lung and spleen were analyzed to identify the role of lncRNAs in PPRV infection. A total of 13,928 lncRNA transcripts were identified, out of which 170 were known lncRNAs. Intergenic lncRNAs (7625) formed the major chunk of the novel lncRNA transcripts. Differential expression analysis revealed that 15 lncRNAs (11 downregulated and 4 upregulated) in the PPRV infected spleen samples and 16 lncRNAs (13 downregulated and 3 upregulated) in PPRV infected lung samples were differentially expressed as compared to control. The differentially expressed lncRNAs (DElncRNAs) possibly regulate various immunological processes related to natural killer cell activation, antigen processing and presentation, and B cell activity, by regulating the expression of mRNAs through the cis- or trans-regulatory mechanism. Functional enrichment analysis of differentially expressed mRNAs (DEmRNAs) revealed enrichment of immune pathways and biological processes in concordance with the pathways in which correlated lncRNA-neighboring genes were enriched. The results suggest that a coordinated immune response is raised in both lung and spleen tissues of the goat through mRNA-lncRNA crosstalk.

Peste des petits ruminants (PPR) is an acute, highly contagious viral disease of goats and sheep, caused by the Peste des petits ruminants virus (PPRV). Earlier studies suggest the involvement of diverse regulatory mechanisms in PPRV infection. Methylation at N6 of Adenosine called m6A is a type RNA modification that influences various physiological and pathological phenomena. As the lung tissue represents the primary target organ of PPRV, the present study explored the m6A changes and their functional significance in PPRV disease pathogenesis. m6A-seq analysis revealed 1289 m6A peaks to be significantly altered in PPRV infected lung in comparison to normal lung, out of which 975 m6A peaks were hypomethylated and 314 peaks were hypermethylated. Importantly, hypomethylated genes were enriched in Interleukin-4 and Interleukin-13 signaling and various processes associated with extracellular matrix organization. Further, of the 843 differentially m6A-containing cellular transcripts, 282 transcripts were also found to be differentially expressed. Functional analysis revealed that these 282 transcripts are significantly enriched in signaling by Interleukins, extracellular matrix organization, cytokine signaling in the immune system, signaling by receptor tyrosine kinases, and Toll-like Receptor Cascades. We also found m6A reader HNRNPC and the core component of methyltransferase complex METTL14 to be highly upregulated than the m6A readers – HNRNPA2B1 and YTHDF1 at the transcriptome level. These findings suggest that alteration in the m6A landscape following PPRV is implicated in diverse processes including Interleukin signaling.

Measurement(s) Proteome Technology Type(s) Mass Spectrometry Factor Type(s) Dosage Sample Characteristic - Organism Tuta absoluta

Rice (Oryza sativa) is one of the most important cereal crops with a diverse set of pests and natural enemies. Rice fields often support a high diversity of arthropods which contribute significantly to productivity. This diversity is frequently threatened due to indiscriminate applications of pesticides. Our aim was to emphasize on the predator diversity in agrochemical exposed rice field as well as on the impact of surrounding vegetation on beneficial insect diversity. Natural enemies’ data were recorded from randomly selected 10 quadrates by visual observation from each treatment. A total of 5,590 individuals of predators were observed during the study period which included 27 species belonging to 16 families from five orders of arthropods during the kharif season of rice. Statistically, there were no significant differences between the population of general natural enemies such as Odonata, Coleoptera, Hymenoptera, and Araneae in plots with insecticide and control during the different growth stages of rice cultivation. Diversity indices were almost similar in fields where pesticide was sprayed and not sprayed. Our study concluded that natural enemies are conserved by ensuring crop heterogeneity, growing insect-friendly plants (with high levels of nectar and pollen) as border crops, and judicious application of granule insecticide like cartap hydrochloride in a rice agro-ecosystem.

Nowadays, individuals are getting steadily dynamic in achieving the possible ways to clean their environment. The concerned teams have initiated other developments to build tidiness. Previously, prior data on filling the trash container was required, which cautions and sends cautioning messages to the city workers for cleaning the trash receptacle on schedule and protecting the city. In this framework, numerous dustbins through urban areas from various regions are associated with utilizing IoT innovation. This program can be used conveniently to verify the status of the dust bin, the garbage in the dust containers, clean the dust bin on time, and maintain the atmosphere's safety and prevent contamination from overflows from the dust containers. So, people don't have to test everyone's work manually, so they'll get a warning if the container is full. A sensor over the garbage container would be placed to detect the full amount of waste, and when it exceeds the excessive volume, a warning will be transmitted to the company office. The proposed framework based on Arduino IDE, cloud computing concept and Load Sensor will help clean any city. Load Sensors are utilized to distinguish the dimension of trash gathered in the containers. The application also gets Latitude and Longitude estimations of the territory where the Garbage Bins are put.

The potential of information technology has influenced the efficiency and quality of healthcare worldwide. Currently, several republics are incorporating electronic health records (EHRs). Due to reluctance of technological adaptation & implementational complexities, electronic health record systems are not in practice. Due to the emphasis on achieving general compatibility, users may perceive systems as being imposed and providing insufficient customizability, which may exacerbate issues in a setting of national implementation. EHS improves patient safety and confidentiality and ensures operative, effective, well-timed, reasonable, and patient-centred care, all of which substantially impact healthcare quality. Blockchain technology has been used by the EHS system, which supports web-based accessibility and availability. The difficulties of exchanging medical data can now be overcome by consumers using an infrastructure based on cloud computing. A variety of cryptographic approaches have been employed to encrypt and safeguard the data. This review paper aims to highlight the role and impact of blockchain in EHR. The proposed research describes cryptography methods, their classifications, and the challenges associated with EHR to identify gaps and countermeasures.

The passive power distribution networks are prone to imperfect voltage profile and higher power losses, especially at the far end of long feeders. The capacitor placement is studied in this article using a novel Mine Blast Algorithm (MBA). The voltage profile improvement and reduction in the net annual cost are also considered along with minimizing the power loss. The optimization problem is formulated and solved in two steps. Firstly, the Voltage Stability Index (VSI) is used to rank the nodes for placement of the capacitors. Secondly, from the priority list of nodes in the previous step, the MBA is utilized to provide the optimal location and sizes of the capacitors ensuring loss minimization, voltage profile improvement, and reduced net annual cost. Finally, the results are tested on 33 and 69 radial node systems in MATLAB. The results for the considered variables are presented which show a significant improvement in active and reactive power loss reduction and voltage profile with lesser reactive power injection.

Study region: Panjiakou Reservoir, Hebei province, China Study focus: Based on our multiple measurements of dissolved organic matter (DOM) and collected published papers, DOM itself stratification has been identified. Then, this stratification is adopted to analyze vertical distribution of DOM and its influencing factors during the thermal stratification period in the Panjiakou Reservoir, a deep and channel type reservoir. New hydrological insights for the region: It was found that DOM itself was stratified due to thermal stratification and other factors, but its stratification boundaries were not fully consistent with the thermal stratification ones. This strongly indicated that DOM characteristics of different layers should be appropriately and accurately analyzed based on its own stratification rather than the thermal stratification. In the upper layer, DOM characteristics were not only affected by endogenous input, but also affected by an external contribution and photodegradation, resulting in low aromaticity and low molecular weight of DOM. In the middle layer, influenced by runoff, phytoplankton secretion, and microbial activities, DOM quantity first increased and then decreased. Meanwhile, DOM had properties of higher aromaticity, molecular weight, and humification. In the lower layer, endogenous input had the maximum influence on DOM properties, resulting in a decrease in aromaticity and humification of DOM. However, endogenous input produced less DOM because microbial activity and phytoplankton growth were limited by the low temperature and low oxygen environment.

To develop medical-grade stainless-steel 316L implants that are biocompatible, non-toxic and antibacterial, such implants need to be coated with biomaterials to meet the current demanding properties of biomedical materials. Hydroxyapatite (HA) is commonly used as a bone implant coating due to its excellent biocompatible properties. Zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles are added to HA to increase its antibacterial and cohesion properties. The specimens were made of a stainless-steel grade 316 substrate coated with HA-ZnO using the electrophoretic deposition technique (EPD), and were subsequently characterized using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray (EDX), stylus profilometry, electrochemical corrosion testing and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. Additionally, cross-hatch tests, cell viability assays, antibacterial assessment and in vitro activity tests in simulated body fluid (SBF) were performed. The results showed that the HA-ZnO coating was uniform and resistant to corrosion in an acceptable range. FTIR confirmed the presence of HA-ZnO compositions, and the in vitro response and adhesion were in accordance with standard requirements for biomedical materials. Cell viability confirmed the viability of cells in an acceptable range (>70%). In addition, the antibacterial activity of ZnO was confirmed on Staphylococcus aureus. Thus, the HA-ZnO samples are recommended for biomedical applications.

All over the world, deaf people use sign language as the only reliable source of communication with each other as well as with normal people. These communicating signs are made up of the shape of the hand and movement. In Pakistan, deaf people use Pakistan sign language (PSL) as a means of communication with people. In scientific literature, many studies have been done on PSL recognition and classification. Most of these work focused on colored-based hands while some others are sensors and Kinect-based approaches. These techniques are costly and also avoid user-friendliness. In this paper, a technique is proposed for the recognition of thirty-six static alphabets of PSL using bare hands. The dataset is obtained from the sign language videos. At a later step, four vision-based features are extracted i.e. local binary patterns, a histogram of oriented gradients, edge-oriented histogram, and speeded up robust features. The extracted features are individually classified using Multiple kernel learning (MKL) in support vector machine (SVM). We employed a one-to-all approach for the implementation of basic binary SVM into the multi-class SVM. A voting scheme is adopted for the final recognition of PSL. The performance of the proposed technique is measured in terms of accuracy, precision, recall, and F-score. The simulation results are promising as compared with existing approaches.

The present study aims to extract a natural brown colourant from Ficus religiosa for cotton dyeing using the microwave radiation process. The colourant was isolated in aqueous and acidic media before and after microwave treatment (MW) for up to 6 min. The dye variables have been optimised for the development of new shades with good fastness characteristics, 1–5 g/100 mL of sustainable chemical and bio-mordants have been used. It has been found that irradiated aqueous extract (RE) containing 3 g/100 mL of salt at 55°C for 45 min has given high colour yield onto cotton fabric (RS) after microwave treatment for 4 min. The utilization of 2% of Al, 2% of Fe, 3% of tannic acid (T.A.) as pre chemical mordant whereas 4% of Al, 5% of Fe, 2% of tannic acid as post chemical mordant has given good colour characteristics. In comparison 3% of acacia and 4% pomegranate while 4% of Acacia and 2% of pomegranate extracts as post-bio-mordant have given excellent colour characteristics. It is concluded that MW treatment has an excellent sustainable efficacy to isolate colourant from Ficus Religiosa bark powder for cotton dyeing, whereas the inclusion of bio-mordants has made the process more sustainable and environmental friendly.

Female and male solitary bees usually differ in their behavioral and morphological attributes and consequently in their pollination effectiveness. The current study was carried out at the research farm of The Islamia University of Bahawalpur, Pakistan, to compare the foraging behavior and pollination efficiency of female and male Andrena savignyi Spinola, 1838 on Brassica campestris. The impact of different environmental factors (temperature, relative humidity, light intensity and wind speed) on foraging behavior was also studied. Andrena savignyi was the most abundant floral visitor of B. campestris and comprised 52.17% of the floral visitors. Female individuals fed on both nectar and pollen while male fed on nectar. Visitation frequency, visitation rate, pollen harvest and pollen deposition of females were significantly higher than that of males because of their larger size and more dry weight. The maximum abundance of females was recorded at 12:00 pm followed by a sharp decline until 4:00 pm whereas males attained their maximum abundance at 2:00 pm. The female pollinated flowers resulted in greater pod weight, pod length, number of seeds per pod, seed weight per pod and germination percentage than the males. Our results suggest that females of A. savignyi deliver better pollination of B. campestris than males in terms of its reproductive success and germination percentage. Future studies should emphasis on exploring the biology and ecology of A. savignyi with special focus of its artificial nesting.

The agriculture sector plays a crucial role in supplying nutritious and high-quality food. Plant disorders significantly impact crop productivity, resulting in an annual loss of 33%. The early and accurate detection of plant disorders is a difficult task for farmers and requires specialized knowledge, significant effort, and labor. In this context, smart devices and advanced artificial intelligence techniques have significant potential to pave the way toward sustainable and smart agriculture. This paper presents a deep learning-based android system that can diagnose ginger plant disorders such as soft rot disease, pest patterns, and nutritional deficiencies. To achieve this, state-of-the-art deep learning models were trained on a real dataset of 4,394 ginger leaf images with diverse backgrounds. The trained models were then integrated into an Android-based mobile application that takes ginger leaf images as input and performs the real-time detection of crop disorders. The proposed system shows promising results in terms of accuracy, precision, recall, confusion matrices, computational cost, Matthews correlation coefficient (MCC), mAP, and F1-score.

Additive manufacturing (AM) technology has gained significant popularity, among which Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) has emerged as the predominant technique for 3D printing. FDM offers the unique ability to achieve the desired and tailored engineering properties required for specific applications. This experimental study investigates the influence of varying FDM process parameters on the mechanical properties and highlights the optimal set of parameters for better tensile strength for a bi-layered composite of PLA-ABS (polylactic acid and acrylonitrile butadiene styrene). Also, it investigates the most-to-least influential printing parameters. Four process parameters were played out i.e., Infill density (50%, 75%, and 100%), number of layers (20,25 and 30), printing speed (20 mm sec ^−1 , 40 mm sec ^−1 , and 60 mm sec ^−1 ), and bed temperature (90 °C, 95 °C, and 100 °C), while keeping other parameters constant. Taguchi optimization technique was used for optimization and experiments were designed according to Taguchi orthogonal array L9 (3 4). After printing, the samples were evaluated for tensile properties and the results were analyzed. It is found that the infill density is the most influential parameter while bed temperature is the least influential. Infill density of 75%, 30 layers per part, a printing speed of 20 mm sec ^−1 , and a bed temperature of 100 °C are the optimal set of parameters for better tensile strength. Alongside, percent elongation, printing time, and strength-to-weight ratio were also analyzed and correlated.

The effect of compaction load, sintering temperature and soaking time on the sinter-ability and densification of Nano crystalline hydroxyapatite (HA) was assessed. The compaction and sinter-ability of HA particles was done at three different compaction loads and temperatures ranging from 1 ton to 5 ton and 850 °C to 1250 °C, respectively. Compaction of the green pellets was best achieved at 5-ton compaction load and it’s percent green densification was up to 50% of the theoretical density of HA (3.16g cm ^−3 ). For sintered density, the best results were achieved at a temperature of 1250 °C and a compaction load of 1 ton which were 98% of the theoretical density. Soaking time at these sintering temperatures was varied between 1 and 3 h and was found that with the variation of soaking time from 3 h to 1 h, the sintered density decreased tremendously at 850 °C from 85% to 50% whereas at higher temperatures the decrease in density was only 4 to 6%. The maximum hardness of 625 (±28) HV1 was obtained for HA sintered at 1250 °C with a soaking time of 3 h. Phase analyses were carried out using an x-ray diffractometer. The HA phase was stable even at the highest sintering temperature of 1250 °C and did not decompose into α tri-calcium phosphate (TCP) and β TCP. The grain size was reduced by decreasing soaking time and lowering sintering temperature.

Few data are available regarding comprehensive or quantitative assessment of fish feed considering both the environmental and feeding impacts. Aiming to fill the gap, an experimental study to investigate the effects of three fish feeds on concentrations of nutrients and crucian carp (Carassius carassius) growth was conducted in laboratory aquariums in the presence and absence of prometryn. Results showed that weight gain rates of crucian carp treated with Tong Wei (TW) feed were 106.3% and 2.0% higher than that of Zhong Shan (ZS) and Zhong Liang (ZL) feeds, a possible explanation was that the quality of protein in TW feed was highest as evidenced by the protein efficiency ratios. Meanwhile, TW feed posed relatively lighter effects on water qualities (between ZL and ZS). Prometryn significantly inhibited the growth of crucian carp and thus affected concentrations of nutrients in water indirectly. The relationships between weight gain rates of fish and concentrations of nutrients in water (R2 = 0.929–0.990) were developed. In sum, this study suggested that it is realizable to obtain better fish growth performance with lesser degrading effects on water qualities by producing and selecting appropriate feed regardless of prometryn existence, and the developed equations could be used as a basis for future studies.

We report the nesting biology and ecology of Megachile cephalotes Smith, 1853 for the first time in Pakistan. Wooden and bamboo trap nests were deployed at three different locations in Bahawalpur district, Pakistan, from January 2020 to May 2021. A total of 242 nests of M. cephalotes were occupied in all three locations with the maximum abundance in the Cholistan Institute of Desert Studies. Megachile cephalotes remained active from March to September (the spring and summer seasons). In a nest, females made 7–8 brood cells each having a length of 1.2–2.3 cm. Plant resin was used to construct cells and mud or animal dung to plug the nest entrance. A vestibular cell was also made between the outermost brood cell and the nest entrance that ranged from 1.4 to 2.5 cm in length. No intercalary cells were observed in the nests. The males took 65.3 days to become adults, while the females took 74.78 days. The sex ratio was significantly biased toward females in all three locations. Grewia asiatica was the predominant pollen grain species found in the brood cells. Megachile cephalotes were observed collecting resin from Acacia nilotica, Prosopis juliflora, and Moringa oleifera. Three cleptoparasites of this species were also recorded: Euaspis carbonaria, Coelioxys sp., and Anthrax sp. This study set up a background to encourage new studies on artificial nesting and provides tools for proper biodiversity management and conservation.

Friction stir welding (FSW) is one of the primary fabrication techniques for joining different components, and it has become popular, especially in aluminum alloy structures for marine applications. The welded joint with the friction stir process greatly depends on the process parameters, i.e., feed rate, rotational speed, and pin profile of the tool. In the current study, plates of aluminum 5451 alloy were joined by the FSW technique, and the Taguchi method was used to find the process parameters at an optimal level. The maximum value of tensile strength, i.e., 160.6907 MPa, was achieved using optimum welding conditions of a tool rotation speed of 1400, a feed rate of 18 mm/min, and the tool pin with threads. The maximum value of hardness, i.e., 81.056 HV, was achieved using optimum conditions of 1200 tool rotational speed and a feed rate of 18 mm/min with a tool pin profile having threads. In addition, the contribution in terms of the percentage of each input parameter was found by the analysis of variance (ANOVA). The ANOVA results revealed that the pin profile of the tool has the maximum contribution of 67.77% and 62.42% in achieving the optimum value of tensile strength and hardness, respectively. The study also investigated the joint efficiency of the friction stir welded joint, hardness at the weld zone, and metallography on FSW samples at the optimized level. The effectiveness and reliability of FSW joints for shipping industry applications can be observed by joint efficiency. That was investigated at optimum conditions, and it comes out to be 80.5%.

A smart grid can be considered as a complex network where each node represents a generation unit or a consumer, whereas links can be used to represent transmission lines. One way to study complex systems is by using the agent-based modeling paradigm. The agent-based modeling is a way of representing a complex system of autonomous agents interacting with each other. Previously, a number of studies have been presented in the smart grid domain making use of the agent-based modeling paradigm. However, to the best of our knowledge, none of these studies have focused on the specification aspect of the model. The model specification is important not only for understanding but also for replication of the model. To fill this gap, this study focuses on specification methods for smart grid modeling. We adopt two specification methods named as Overview, design concept, and details and Descriptive agent-based modeling. By using specification methods, we provide tutorials and guidelines for model developing of smart grid starting from conceptual modeling to validated agent-based model through simulation. The specification study is exemplified through a case study from the smart grid domain. In the case study, we consider a large set of network, in which different consumers and power generation units are connected with each other through different configuration. In such a network, communication takes place between consumers and generating units for energy transmission and data routing. We demonstrate how to effectively model a complex system such as a smart grid using specification methods. We analyze these two specification approaches qualitatively as well as quantitatively. Extensive experiments demonstrate that Descriptive agent-based modeling is a more useful approach as compared with Overview, design concept, and details method for modeling as well as for replication of models for the smart grid.

The exploration into the strategies for the prevention and treatment of cancer is far from complete. Apart from humans, cancer has gained considerable importance in animals because of increased awareness towards animal health and welfare. Current cancer treatment regimens are less specific towards tumor cells and end up harming normal healthy cells. Thus, a highly specific therapeutic strategy with minimal side effects is the need of the hour. Oncolytic viral gene therapy is one such specific approach to target cancer cells without affecting the normal cells of the body. Canine parvovirus (CPV) is an oncolytic virus that specifically targets and kills cancer cells by causing DNA damage, caspase activation, and mitochondrial damage. Non-structural gene 1 (NS1) of CPV, involved in viral DNA replication is a key mediator of cytotoxicity of CPV and can selectively cause tumor cell lysis. In this review, we discuss the oncolytic properties of Canine Parvovirus (CPV or CPV2), the structure of the NS1 protein, the mechanism of oncolytic action as well as role in inducing an antitumor immune response in different tumor models.

The number of undesirable environmental impacts of fish feed has been reported widely. Although repeated fish feed exposures are more prospective to occur in water, previous studies were mostly conducted as a single exposure of fish feed. In order to fill these gaps, a 40 days incubator experiment was conducted to explore the effects of fish feed addition scenarios during the lag phase with prometryn on both Microcystis aeruginosa growth and concentrations of nutrients. The maximum algae densities in groups of single exposure were 6.0–26.2% and 8.8–74.4% higher than those in groups of double and triple exposures, respectively (P

Assessment of resource partitioning in pollinators at a particular place can be used to conserve plant communities by minimizing their inter-specific competition. Current study was conducted to investigate the occurrence of this phenomenon among plant communities under sub-tropical conditions for the first time in Pakistan. We considered the entire available flowering plant and floral visitor communities in the study area-Lal Suhanra forest of Bahawalpur, Pakistan- along with different variations among them based on morphology, color and symmetry (functional groups) i.e. four functional groups among insects and nine among plants. Weekly floral visitor censuses were conducted during spring season -from the first week of March to the fourth week of May 2018. Thirty individuals of each plant species -in bloom- were observed for floral visitors in each census. Plant species with different floral shapes, colors and symmetry did not show any significant resource partitioning. The Non-metric multidimensional scaling analysis followed by one-way ANOSIM test showed non- significant differences among all the pair of floral shapes, colors (except white and yellow) and symmetry (R-value < 0.168). However, SIMPER test suggested that flies were the most common group that contributed more towards within group similarities of different floral shapes (19 to 21% similarity), colors (16 to 30%) and symmetry (19%) followed by long-tongue bees i.e. 14 to 21%, 9 to 19% and 18%, respectively. Our results suggest that plant communities under sub-tropical conditions of Pakistan exhibit a generalist pollination system with no significant resource partitioning in pollinator species. Therefore, plant communities may have high competition for pollinator species which exhibits fewer implications of species loss on overall pollination process. Our study provides the basis for understanding the partitioning of pollinator guilds under sub-tropical conditions. Future studies should focus on functional traits in more detail at the community and the population scales for their possible impact on resource partitioning.

Plants’ diseases cannot be avoided because of unpredictable climate patterns and environmental changes. The plants like ginger get affected by various pests, conditions, and nutritional deficiencies. Therefore, it is essential to identify such causes early and perform the cure to get the desired production rate. Deep learning-based methods are helpful for the identification and classification of problems in this domain. This paper presents deep artificial neural network and deep learning-based methods for the early detection of diseases, pest patterns, and nutritional deficiencies. We have used a real-field dataset consisting of healthy and affected ginger plant leaves. The results show that the convolutional neural network (CNN) has achieved the highest accuracy of 99% for disease rhizomes detection. For pest pattern leaves, VGG-16 models showed the highest accuracy of 96%. For nutritional deficiency-affected leaves, ANN has achieved the highest accuracy (96%). The experimental results achieved are comparable with other existing techniques in the literature. In addition, the results demonstrated the potential in improving the yield of ginger using the proposed disease detection methods and an essential consideration for the design of real-time disease detection applications. However, the results are specific to the dataset used in this work and may yield different results for the other datasets.

The current study focuses on minimising the bubbles in polyester-insulated ignition coils, which were produced with a defect level of ~21–25% or 210–250 coils per 1000 batch size by using the potting method. This high-level rejection makes a substantial financial impact by increasing waste material, manufacturing, and after-sales costs. Hence, to control the bubbled problem without using expensive and maintenance-heavy techniques, the process parameters in the potting method were alternated and investigated using one factor at a time, which played a vital role in the formation/reduction of bubbles in the ignition coil insulation. Process parameters, including pre/process heating, the appropriate MEKP/cobalt naphthenate ratio, the pouring amount/increments, and the stirring speeds, reduced the bubble formation per lot from 205 ± 30 to 146 ± 25, 108 ± 21, 61 ± 17, and 10 ± 2 per 1000 lot accordingly. In addition, a comparative study was conducted in terms of performance and life cycle endurance, using Japanese and Indian standards. Furthermore, an after-sale warranty claim also supports the proposed changes in the potting technique. This modification may reduce the after-sales rejection within two years to approximately ~85%. This modification in the potting technique is extremely cost-effective in comparison to expensive processes, i.e., vacuum-pressure impregnation and vacuum impregnation, which require extensive labour and maintenance.

Aquaculture net pens inspection and monitoring are important to ensure net stability and fish health in the fish farms. Remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) offer a low-cost and sophisticated solution for the regular inspection of the underwater fish net pens due to their ability of visual sensing and autonomy in a challenging and dynamic aquaculture environment. In this paper, we report the integration of an ROV with a visual servoing scheme for regular inspection and tracking of the net pens. We propose a vision-based positioning scheme that consists of an object detector, a pose generator, and a closed-loop controller. The system employs a modular approach that first utilizes two easily identifiable parallel ropes attached to the net for image processing through traditional computer vision methods. Second, the reference positions of the ROV relative to the net plane are extracted on the basis of a vision triangulation method. Third, a closed-loop control law is employed to instruct the vehicle to traverse from top to bottom along the net plane to inspect its status. The proposed vision-based scheme has been implemented and tested both through simulations and field experiments. The extensive experimental results have allowed the assessment of the performance of the scheme that resulted satisfactorily and can supplement the traditional aquaculture net pens inspection and tracking systems.

Cancer remains one of the leading causes of death worldwide in humans and animals. Conventional treatment regimens often fail to produce the desired outcome due to disturbances in cell physiology that arise during the process of transformation. Additionally, development of treatment regimens with no or minimum side-effects is one of the thrust areas of modern cancer research. Oncolytic viral gene therapy employs certain viral genes which on ectopic expression find and selectively destroy malignant cells, thereby achieving tumor cell death without harming the normal cells in the neighborhood. Apoptin, encoded by Chicken Infectious Anemia Virus’ VP3 gene, is a proline-rich protein capable of inducing apoptosis in cancer cells in a selective manner. In normal cells, the filamentous Apoptin becomes aggregated toward the cell margins, but is eventually degraded by proteasomes without harming the cells. In malignant cells, after activation by phosphorylation by a cancer cell-specific kinase whose identity is disputed, Apoptin accumulates in the nucleus, undergoes aggregation to form multimers, and prevents the dividing cancer cells from repairing their DNA lesions, thereby forcing them to undergo apoptosis. In this review, we discuss the present knowledge about the structure of Apoptin protein, elaborate on its mechanism of action, and summarize various strategies that have been used to deliver it as an anticancer drug in various cancer models.

The present study focuses on identifying and estimating the extent of earning inequality due to increase in the level of education in Pakistan. Utilizing four rounds of household level surveys conducted at national level during 2001-2014, the study analyzes the effect of education on earning inequality within workers having same level of education. Quantile regression is employed to estimate and test earning inequality within workers having primary, secondary and tertiary education respectively. The results confirm that there is significant heterogeneity in the returns within each level of education. Such disparities are shown to be larger for workers at upper quantiles of the earnings distribution versus the lower counterpart. The results also show that within-group earning inequality is higher for workers with tertiary education than with secondary and primary education. Finally, the findings suggest that earning inequality does not remain same over time. These dynamic changes have enlarged lower as well as upper tail of earning distribution causing further income inequality in Pakistan. Therefore, these findings has identified that heterogeneity in the returns has very serious implication for distribution of income, general welfare and labor markets in Pakistan.

Phalsa, Grewia asiatica is a multi-purpose crop while cross-pollination can significantly improve its reproductive success. Megachile bees (Megachilidae) are the most important group of pollinators of G. asiatica. In this study we observed the foraging behavior of Megachile cephalotes and its ultimate impact on reproductive success of phalsa at Bahawalpur (Punjab), Pakistan. Although visitation rate and stay time were statistically similar in both the sexes but visitation frequency (2.06±0.14 individuals/120 seconds) and pollen deposition (39.35±3.17 pollen grains /stigma/visit) of females were significantly higher than that of males (0.44±0.06 individuals/120 seconds and 12.05±1.19 pollen grains/stigma/visit, respectively). The environmental factors (i.e. ambient temperature, relative humidity, sunlight intensity and wind speed) greatly influenced -either positively or negatively- both the sexes (Pearson’s correlation). Female pollinated fruits were significantly greater in weight (0.41±0.017 g) followed by open (0.31±0.012 g) and male (0.27±0.011 g) pollinated fruits. Percent weight loss remained significantly lower in female pollinated fruits than open and male pollinated fruits until12 hours after harvest. Fruit wrinkling significantly increased with the increase in post-harvest intervals in open, female and male pollinated fruits while fruit color changed only in female pollinated fruits. The results of present study suggest female M. cephalotes as the efficient pollinators of G. asiatica in terms of it reproductive success and post-harvest parameters. Future studies should focus biology and ecology of M. cephalotes with special focus on its artificial nesting.

In this study, transcriptome analysis of PPRV infected PBMC subsets—T helper cells, T cytotoxic cells, monocytes, and B lymphocytes was done to delineate their role in host response. PPRV was found to infect lymphocytes and not monocytes. The established receptor for PPRV—SLAM was found downregulated in lymphocytes and non-differentially expressed in monocytes. A profound deviation in the global gene expression profile with a large number of unique upregulated genes (851) and downregulated genes (605) was observed in monocytes in comparison to lymphocytes. ISGs—ISG15, Mx1, Mx2, RSAD2, IFIT3, and IFIT5 that play a role in antiviral response and the genes for viral sensors—MDA5, LGP2, and RIG1, were found to be upregulated in lymphocytes and downregulated in monocytes. The transcription factors—IRF-7 and STAT-1 that regulate expression of most of the ISGs were found activated in lymphocytes and not in monocytes. Interferon signaling pathway and RIG1 like receptor signaling pathway were found activated in lymphocytes and not in monocytes. This contrast in gene expression profiles and signaling pathways indicated the predominant role of lymphocytes in generating the antiviral response against PPRV in goats, thus, giving us new insights into host response to PPRV.

Increasing the unplanned penetration of Distributed Generators (DGs) has spurred active and reactive power losses in the distribution system. This article suggests using a novel Strawberry Plant Propagation Algorithm (SPPA) for planning the placement of the DGs with the aim of reducing the network (active) power losses and improving the overall voltage profile. The proposed method (SPPA) has been tested on 33 and 69 node radial systems in MATLAB. A cost analysis was also performed and compared with other contemporary methods. The results for the considered variables show the significance of the proposed method in comparison to various other counterparts, including the Mine Blast Algorithm and Particle Swarm Optimization.

Friction and plastic deformation at the tool–chips interaction during a dry drilling process results in temperature rise and promotes tool wear and surface roughness. In most of the components produced in industries, a drilling process is used to make a hole for final assembly. Therefore, knowledge of temperatures produced during drilling operation at various machining input parameters is required for the best quality product. A fuzzy logic-based algorithm is developed to predict the temperature generated in the drilling process of AISI 1018 mild steel. The algorithm used speed and feed rate of the drill bit as input parameters to the fuzzy domain. A set of rules was used in the fuzzy domain to predict maximum temperature produced in the drilling process. The developed algorithm is simulated for various input speed and feed rate parameters and was verified through the maximum temperature measured during drilling of the studied material at selected speed–feed combinations. Experiments were conducted to validate the results of developed fuzzy logic-based algorithm by using non-contact infrared pyrometer for drilling of AISI 1018 steel. A good agreement between the predicted and experimentally measured maximum temperature was observed with an error less than 6%. It is found that temperature increases with increase in cutting speed and feed rate. Size of roll back burr formation at the hole perimeter significantly increases with increase in drill speed and feed rate. Segmental continuity in spiral or helix chips morphology is more at low feed and high cutting speed. Chip radius increases with increase in feed rate and results in damaging of the machined surface and causes burr formation while the radius decreases with cutting speed along with improved hole surface finish.

In this study, the miRNAome and proteome of virulent Peste des petits ruminants virus (PPRV) infected goat peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were analyzed. The identified differentially expressed miRNAs (DEmiRNAs) were found to govern genes that modulate immune response based on the proteome data. The top 10 significantly enriched immune response processes were found to be governed by 98 genes. The top 10 DEmiRNAs governing these 98 genes were identified based on the number of genes governed by them. Out of these 10 DEmiRNAs, 7 were upregulated, and 3 were downregulated. These include miR-664, miR-2311, miR-2897, miR-484, miR-2440, miR-3533, miR-574, miR-210, miR-21-5p, and miR-30. miR-664 and miR-484 with proviral and antiviral activities, respectively, were upregulated in PPRV infected PBMCs. miR-210 that inhibits apoptosis was downregulated. miR-21-5p that decreases the sensitivity of cells to the antiviral activity of IFNs and miR-30b that inhibits antigen processing and presentation by primary macrophages were downregulated, indicative of a strong host response to PPRV infection. miR-21-5p was found to be inhibited on IPA upstream regulatory analysis of RNA-sequencing data. This miRNA that was also highly downregulated and was found to govern 16 immune response genes in the proteome data was selected for functional validation vis-a-vis TGFBR2 (TGF-beta receptor type-2). TGFBR2 that regulates cell differentiation and is involved in several immune response pathways was found to be governed by most of the identified immune modulating DEmiRNAs. The decreased luciferase activity in Dual Luciferase Reporter Assay indicated specific binding of miR-21-5p and miR-484 to their target thus establishing specific binding of the miRNAs to their targets.This is the first report on the miRNAome and proteome of virulent PPRV infected goat PBMCs.

Background: Dengue fever is a serious public health issue in Pakistan for many years. Globally plants have been reported to contain compounds with insecticidal properties. These properties have been demonstrated more recently on the larval stages of mosquitoes. Therefore, Citrus cultivar seeds were evaluated for larvicidal potential against the primary dengue vector Aedes aegypti. Methods: Extraction of oil was done by a steam distillation method and oils were evaluated according to WHO guidelines for larvicides 2005 for evaluation of insecticidal properties of citrus seed extracts against mosquito larvae. Result: Among the Citrus cultivar seed oil, rough lemon (Citrus jambhiri) had the lowest LC50 value (200.79ppm), while musambi (C. sinensis var musambi) had the highest LC50 value (457.30ppm) after 24 h of exposure. Conclusion: Citrus cultivars have some larvicidal potential but C. jambhiri had the greatest potential against A. ae­gypti larvae. Further small-scale field trials using the extracts of C. jambhiri will be conducted to determine opera­tional feasibility.

Background: Dengue is amongst the most serious mosquito-borne infectious disease with hot spots in tropical and subtropical parts of the world. Unfortunately, no licensed vaccine for the disease is currently available in medicine markets. The only option available is the management of dengue vector mosquito, Aedes aegypti (Diptera: Culicidae). Method: Predatory potential of five odonate nymphs namely Anax parthenope, Bradinopyga geminate, Ischnura forcipata, Rhinocypha quadrimaculata, and Orthetrum sabina were evaluated against the 4th instar larvae of the den­gue vector mosquito, Aedes aegypti, under laboratory conditions. The consumption of the mosquito larvae was eval­uated at three water volume levels viz., 1 liter, 2 liter and 3 liter. Results: The number of Ae. aegypti larvae consumed varied significantly among the five species, and at different levels of water volume (P< 0.01). However, the interaction between odonate nymphs and the water volumes was statistically non-significant (P> 0.05). Ischnura forcipata consumed the highest number of Ae. aegypti larvae (n=56) followed by A. parthenope (n=47) and B. geminate (n=46). The number of larvae consumed was decreased with in­creasing search area or water volume, and the highest predation was observed at 1-liter water volume. Conclusion: The odonate nymphs could be a good source of biological agents for the management of the mosquitoes at larval stages.

Background: Development of insecticide resistance occurred due to the continuous and misuse of synthetic insecticidestherefore, the recent study was conducted to explore eco-friendly plant extracts that have some potential to suppressmosquito larval population.Methods: WHO recommended mosquito larval bioassay method for insecticide was used while for the analysis of citrus oils for limonin and nomilin content HPLC was used.Results: Among the two citrus cultivars tested as larvicide against Aedes albopictus, valencia late (Citrus sinensis) wasthe best in terms of LC50 (297 ppm), % mortality (97%) and LT50 (18.49 hours) then freutrall early (Citrus reticulate)with LC50 (377.4 ppm), % mortality (88%) and LT50 (31 hours), While nomilin gave lowest LC50 (121.04 ppm) than limonin (382.22 ppm) after 72 hours of exposure. Valencia late also had more limonin and nomilin (377 μg/ml and 21.19 μg/ml) than freutrall early (5.29 μg/ml and 3.89 μg/ml) respectively.Conclusion: Valencia late showed best results in term of LC50, LT50 and percentage mortality against Aedes albopictus as it has more amount of nomilin then freutrall early, however further evaluation in the field conditions is required.

High-valent cobalt–oxo complexes are reactive transient intermediates in a number of oxidative transformation processes e.g., water oxidation and oxygen atom transfer reactions. Studies of cobalt–oxo complexes are very important for understanding the mechanism of the oxygen evolution center in natural photosynthesis, and helpful to replicate enzyme catalysis in artificial systems. This review summarizes the development of identification of high-valent cobalt–oxo species of tetrapyrrolic macrocycles and N-based ligands in oxidation of organic substrates, water oxidation reaction and in the preparation of cobalt–oxo complexes.

Background: Development of insecticide resistance occurred due to the continuous and misuse of synthetic insecti- cides therefore, the recent study was conducted to explore eco-friendly plant extracts that have some potential to sup- press mosquito larval population. Methods: WHO recommended mosquito larval bioassay method for insecticide was used while for the analysis of cit- rus oils for limonin and nomilin content HPLC was used. Results: Among the two citrus cultivars tested as larvicide against Aedes albopictus, valencia late (Citrus sinensis) was the best in terms of LC50 (297 ppm), % mortality (97%) and LT50 (18.49 hours) then freutrall early (Citrus reticulate) with LC50 (377.4 ppm), % mortality (88%) and LT50 (31 hours), While nomilin gave lowest LC50 (121.04 ppm) than limonin (382.22 ppm) after 72 hours of exposure. Valencia late also had more limonin and nomilin (377 µ g/ml and 21.19 µ g/ml) than freutrall early (5.29 µ g/ml and 3.89 µ g/ml) respectively. Conclusion: Valencia late showed best results in term of LC50, LT50 and percentage mortality against Aedes albopictus as it has more amount of nomilin then freutrall early, however further evaluation in the field conditions is required.