The chief aim of this study was to enlist the ethnobotanical uses of wild plants in district Sheikhupura, province Punjab, Pakistan. Due to extreme geographical and climatic conditions, Pakistan has ...a great floral diversity. Plants have been used by the indigenous people for treatment of different ailments since long. They are still dependent on the plants for their domestic purposes. Moreover, plants are used as first aid to treat diverse ailments such as cold, cough, influenza, asthma, cancer, antidote, gastric and hepatic disorders. The traditional uses of medicinal plants lead to the discovery of natural drugs. This is first quantitative ethnobotanical documentation of medicinal plants in NavaPind and ShahpurVirkan district Sheikhupura, province Punjab, Pakistan.
This ethnobotanical information was collected from about 400 informants including male and female. Sample size was determined by statistical formula. The informative data was based on semi-structured interviews, group discussions, Questionnaire and field visits. Then the data was analyzed by applying different quantitative indices such as Informant Consent Factor (ICF), Use value (UV), Relative Frequency of Citation (RFC), the Fidelity level (FL) and Jaccard Index (JI).
Almost 96 plants belonging to 34 families were reported. Most-frequently cited families were Poaceae (16 species) and Fabaceae (15 species). The most dominant life form was herbs (30.20%). The most-used plant parts were leaves (31.14%), followed by whole plant (24.59%), Most common mode of administration is extraction (81.25%). Generally herbal medicines were acquired from fresh plant material. Among all 54.16% plants were toxic, 31.25% were nontoxic, whereas the remaining 14.58% may be toxic or nontoxic because of their dual attitude. Almost 34 species were reported with their different medicinal uses as has been reported in literature.
This ethnobotanical documentation revealed that the plants are still used by natives of rural areas in their day-to-day lives. This study provides basis for the conservation of local flora. Plants with high ICF, UV and FL can be further used for phytochemical and pharmacological studies. This documentation could provide baseline information which can be used to develop new plant-based commercial drugs.
We report a 15-year-old boy who developed aseptic meningitis 10 days after administration of the second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine BNT162b2. Although accompanying aphthous mouth ulcers resembling ...herpetic stomatitis initially led us to suspect an underlying viral infection, broad virological and microbiological screening did not identify any causative pathogen. Gonarthritis and skin lesions, which both developed within three days after admission, extended the clinical presentation eventually resembling an acute Behçet's disease episode. This is the first description of a juvenile patient with aseptic and pathogen-negative meningitis occurring in close temporal association with vaccination against COVID-19, along with a few previously reported adult patients with isolated meningitis and a further case with meningitis and an accompanying Behçet's disease-like multisystem inflammation episode as seen in our patient. With billions of individuals being vaccinated worldwide so far and only a few cases of aseptic pathogen-negative meningitis reported in close temporal relation, causality is unclear. However, aseptic meningitis should be kept in mind in the differential diagnosis of patients with persistent or delayed onset of headache and fever following COVID-19 vaccination.
Background. Nonurgent visits in pediatric Emergency Departments are a growing burden. In order to find predictors for those nonurgent visits, we performed a retrospective analysis of unscheduled ...visits at the Pediatric Emergency Department of the University Hospital of Bonn, Germany, in the year 2017. Additionally, we compared these findings to unscheduled visits during the first peak of the worldwide pandemic of the Coronavirus disease 2019, to see if there would be an effect on nonurgent pediatric Emergency Department attendances. Methods. For our retrospective cohort study, we analyzed more than 5.000 visits at the pediatric Emergency Department of the University Hospital of Bonn, Germany, before and during the first peak of the ongoing worldwide pandemic of the Coronavirus disease 2019, particularly with regard to their urgency. Data included gender, age, zip code, urgency, and preexisting conditions. Results. Our study shows that more than half of unscheduled pediatric Emergency Department visits (69%) at the University Hospital in Bonn are for nonurgent reasons, with short living distance being a factor to present children to a pediatric Emergency Department, even with minor complaints. During the first peak of the pandemic of the Coronavirus disease 2019, nonurgent visits decreased significantly, potentially due to hesitation to attend a pediatric Emergency Department with minor issues, fearing an infection with SARS-CoV-2 at the hospital. Conclusion. Many people use pediatric Emergency Departments for nonemergency complaints. In order to address the reasons for nonurgent visits to pediatric Emergency Departments and to prevent parents from doing so, further studies and targeted education concepts for parents are needed.
ABSTRACT
In an electronic color-imaging device, such as a digital camera, using a single CCD (Charge Coupled Device) sensor, the color information is usually acquired in sub-sampled patterns of Red ...(R), Green (G) and Blue (B) pixels. The methodology to recover or interpolate the missing color components is known as color demosaicing, a type of image interpolation.
This paper introduces and compares some of the most popularly demosaicing algorithms of adaptive type applied on true color images. Another comparison is done between these methods and the non-adaptive traditional methods. Also, a new method is invented, which depends on both types.
The used images are of Bitmap type. Signal to noise ratio measure is used as an objective quality metric. The results of comparison are presented with some sampled images. Programming has been applied using Visual C++ 6.0 programming language.
The study aimed at analyzing the materials of 22 issues of YJARS published by AREA (1994 2010). The sample consisted of 332 published items appeared at an average of 15 topics/issue, at a rate of 2 ...journal issues/year. Research articles formed 60% of the total sample. Remaining eight types of published materials appeared at lower percentages. Among 14 agricultural disciplines identified, only few disciplines scored a relatively high percentages such as "socioeconomics", "crop protection" and "cereals". The remaining specialties realized meager percentages of the total sample like: "farm mechanization", "genetics" and "bio-technology". The study suggested some measures for future improvement.
Purpose
Innovative undertakings play a critical role in the economic value creation and wealth generation of a nation. This paper aims to contribute to the literature that positions innovation at the ...core of the tourism industry in the context of emerging markets.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors adopt a case study approach and draw on secondary sources of data to examine how the UAE is reaping the benefits of innovation to transform itself into a leading international leisure and entertainment hub.
Findings
The strategy of significant financial investment in complex mega-projects and major infrastructure development have offered the UAE a relative advantage over other industry giants worldwide. Nonetheless, the local government should continue tapping into the multiple and diverse opportunities that product/service and process innovation has to offer if the UAE ambitions to enhance its competitiveness and acquire the status of a global tourism hub.
Originality/value
While most research efforts to date focused on Western markets, this study contributes to the development of a knowledge base about the role of innovation in the tourism industry in emerging market settings.
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