Food allergy is an important cause of morbidity, significantly affecting the quality of life of the sufferer. Most food allergy research has been undertaken in high‐income countries. Here, we ...summarize literature regarding food allergy in India and other low–middle‐income countries (LMIC). We provide summaries of self‐reported adverse food reactions and food sensitization in these regions by reviewing published community‐based studies of prevalence, burden, and risk factors. We identified 2 community‐based studies of food allergy prevalence in Karnataka, India, which estimate that food allergy affects just 0.14% of children and 1.2% of adults. The overall prevalence of allergic sensitization to ‘any’ food was 26.5% in adults and 19.1% in children by serum‐specific IgE; but only 4.48% in children by skin prick test. We identified a further 28 studies in other LMICs, mainly from China but also Turkey, South Africa, Ghana, Mexico, Brazil, Thailand, Philippines, and Korea. The overall prevalence of allergic sensitization to ‘any’ food ranged from 0.11% to 16.8% in children using serum‐specific IgE and 0.14% to 9.6% in children by skin prick test. The questionnaires and skin prick testing materials used and number of allergens tested varied significantly between studies. Other than Karnataka, there is no information on prevalence of food sensitization and probable food allergy in the community in India. Similar lack of information is noted among the majority of the 136 LMICs. Where community‐based studies have been undertaken, there is wide variation in the prevalence and patterns of food sensitization across different LMICs, at least partly due to variations in study methodology. International collaboration is required in order to formally assess food allergy prevalence and burden across representative samples from multiple LMICs.
The Signalling System No. 7 (SS7) is used in GSM/UMTS telecommunication technologies for signalling and management of communication. It was designed on the concept of private boundary walled ...technology having mutual trust between few national/multinational operators with no inherent security controls in 1970s. Deregulation, expansion, and merger of telecommunication technology with data networks have vanquished the concept of boundary walls hence increasing the number of service providers, entry points, and interfaces to the SS7 network, which made it vulnerable to serious attacks. The SS7 exploits can be used by attackers to intercept messages, track a subscriber's location, tape/redirect calls, adversely affect disaster relief operations, drain funds of individuals from banks in combination with other methods and send billions of spam messages. This paper provides a comprehensive review of the SS7 attacks with detailed methods to execute attacks, methods to enter the SS7 core network, and recommends safeguards against the SS7 attacks. It also provides a machine learning based framework to detect anomalies in the SS7 network which is compared with rule based filtering. It further presents a conceptual model for the defense of network.
Automatic generation control (AGC) is primarily responsible for ensuring the smooth and efficient operation of an electric power system. The main goal of AGC is to keep the operating frequency under ...prescribed limits and maintain the interchange power at the intended level. Therefore, an AGC system must be supplemented with modern and intelligent control techniques to provide adequate power supply. This paper provides a comprehensive overview of various AGC models in diverse configurations of the power system. Initially, the history of power system AGC models is explored and the basic operation of AGC in a multi-area interconnected power system is presented. An in-depth analysis of various control methods used to mitigate the AGC issues is provided. Application of fast-acting energy storage devices, high voltage direct current (HVDC) interconnections, and flexible AC transmission systems (FACTS) devices in the AGC systems are investigated. Furthermore, AGC systems employed in different renewable energy generation systems are overviewed and are summarized in tabulated form. AGC techniques in different configurations of microgrid and smart grid are also presented in detail. A thorough overview of various AGC issues in a deregulated power system is provided by considering the different contract scenarios. Moreover, AGC systems with an additional objective of economic dispatch is investigated and an overview of worldwide AGC practices is provided. Finally, the paper concludes with an emphasis on the prospective study in the field of AGC.
Background and Objective: Asthma control in pregnant women remains of utmost importance; suboptimal control can have adverse repercussions on both fetal and maternal health. The objective was to ...identify the factors that affect asthma control in pregnant Pakistani women presenting to a tertiary care hospital. Methods: This descriptive, cross-sectional research was conducted at KRL General Hospital between 1st November 2022 to 30th April 2023. Non-probability technique was used to sample one hundred and forty-five pregnant women with confirmed bronchial asthma irrespective of their trimester presented. Data regarding demographics and factors affecting asthma control was collected. Results: The mean age was 30.39 ± 4.33 years, with two-thirds (65%) being multiparous. Approximately 48% of participants were non-compliant with treatment, and less than 40% achieved adequate asthma control. A chi-squared test applied showed that multiparity (p = 0.003), treatment compliance (p < 0.001), BMI (p < 0.001), and proper inhaler technique (p < 0.001) were statistically significant factors affecting asthma control in pregnant women while, the level of education and household income did not exhibit a significant association. Multiple regression analysis qualified higher BMI, multiparity, treatment compliance, and inhaler technique as significant predictors of asthma control amongst pregnant women. Conclusion: Ensuring asthma control during pregnancy is important. This study identified BMI, multiparity, inhaler technique, and treatment compliance as factors that affect asthma control in pregnant women. Addressing these factors through regular antenatal check-ups can significantly mitigate risks and promote the optimal health of both maternal and fetal lives. doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.40.6.8659 How to cite this: Toori KU, Qureshi MA. Factors affecting asthma control in pregnancy: A cross-sectional study. Pak J Med Sci. 2024;40(6):1146-1150. doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.40.6.8659 This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Debris flows destroys the facilities and seriously threatens human lives, especially in mountainous area. Susceptibility mapping is the key for hazard prevention. The aim of the present study is to ...compare the performance of three methods including Bayes discriminant analysis (BDA), logistic regression (LR) and random forest (RF) for debris flow susceptibility mapping from three aspects: applicability, analyticity and accuracy. Nyalam county, a debris flow-prone area, located in Southern Tibet, was selected as the study area. Firstly, the dataset containing 49 debris flow inventories and 16 conditioning factors was prepared. Subsequently, divided the dataset into two groups with a ratio of 70/30 for training and validation purposes, and repeated 5 times to obtain 5 different groups. Then, 16 factors were involved in the modeling of RF, of which 11 factors with low linear correlation were for BDA and LR. Finally, receiver operating characteristic curves, the area under curve (AUC) and contingency tables were applied to evaluated the accuracy performance of the 3 models. The prediction rates were 74.6–81.8%, 74.6–83.6% and 80–92.7%, for the BDA, LR and FR, while the AUC values of three models were 0.72–0.78, 0.82–0.92 and 0.90–0.99, respectively. Compare to LR an BDA, RF not only effectively process and preserved dataset without priori assumption and the obtained susceptibility zoning map and major factors were reasonable. The conclusion of the current study is useful for risk mitigation and land use planning in the study area and provide related references to other researches.
The existence of shallow landslide brings huge threats to the human lives and economic development, as the Lang County, Southeastern Tibet prone to landslide. Landslide susceptibility mapping (LSM) ...is considered as the key for the prevention of hazard. The primary goal of the present study is to assess and compare four models: classification and regression tree, gradient boosting decision tree (GBDT), adaptive boosting-decision tree and random forest for the performance of landslide susceptibility modeling. Firstly, a landslide inventory map consisting of 229 historical shallow landslide locations was prepared and the same number of non-landslide points was determined by k-means clustering. Secondly, 12 conditioning factors were considered in the landslide susceptibility modeling. The prediction performance of the four models were estimated by fivefold cross validation and relative operating characteristic curve (ROC), area under the ROC curve (AUC) and statistical measures. The results showed that the GBDT performed best in the training and validation dataset, with the highest prediction capability (AUC = 0.986 and 0.940), highest accuracy value (95.3% and 88.1%) and highest kappa index (0.904 and 0.772), respectively. Therefore, the GBDT was considered to be the most suitable model and applied to the whole study area for LSM. The results of this study also demonstrate that the performance can be enhanced with the use of ensemble learning. The sampling strategy of non-landslide points can be improved by combining with clustering analysis which are more reasonable.
In addition to the well-known Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. lycopersici, several other Fusarium species are known to cause extensive worldwide crop losses in tomatoes. Prevalence and identities of ...Fusarium species infecting tomatoes in Northwest Pakistan is currently not known. In this study, we surveyed and characterized Fusarium species associated with symptomatic tomatoes in Northwest Pakistan using morphological and molecular analyses. Pathogenicity tests revealed varying degrees of virulence with some Fusarium sp. causing severe disease symptoms whereas others displaying mild symptoms. Molecular identification based on Internal Transcribed Spacer (ITS) region and TEF-1α gene sequencing classified all isolates into four major species with a majority (68.9%) belonging to Fusarium incarnatum-equiseti species complex (FIESC), followed by F. graminearum (20.7%), F. acuminatum (6.8%), and F. solani (6.8%). ISSR analyses revealed substantial genetic variability among all the Fusarium population infecting tomatoes. Genetic distance between populations from the central region and the type strain F.o. f.sp. lycopersici from Florida was the highest (0.3662), whereas between the south and central region was the lowest (0.0298), which showed that genetic exchange is negatively effected by distance. High genetic variability suggests that these Fusarium species have the potential to become a major production constraint for tomato growers. Findings in this report would greatly facilitate identification of Fusarium species in developing countries and would provide groundwork for devising and implementing disease management measures for minimizing losses caused by Fusarium species in tomatoes.
The human body exchanges heat through the environment by various means, such as radiation, evaporation, conduction, and convection. Thermo-physiological comfort is associated with the effective heat ...transfer between the body and the atmosphere, maintaining the body temperature in a tolerable thermal range (36.5–37.5ºC). In order to ensure comfort, the body heat must be preserved or emitted, depending on external conditions. If the body heat is not properly managed, it can cause hyperthermia, heatstroke, and thermal discomfort. Conventionally, heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems are used to provide comfort. However, they require a huge amount of energy, leading to an increase in global warming, and are limited to indoor applications. In recent decades, scientists across the world have been working to provide thermal comfort through wearable innovative textiles. This review article presents recent innovative strategies for moisture and/or thermal management at the material, filament/fiber, yarn, and fabric scales. It also summarizes the passive/active textile models for comfort. Integrating electrical devices in garments can rapidly control the skin temperature, and is dynamic and useful for a wide range of environmental conditions. However, their use can be limited in some situations due to their bulky design and batteries, which must be frequently recharged. Furthermore, adaptive textiles enable the wearer to maintain comfort in various temperatures and humidity without requiring batteries. Using these wearable textiles is convenient to provide thermal comfort at the individual level rather than controlling the entire building temperature.
With the passage of time and indiscreet usage of insecticides on crops, aphids are becoming resistant to their effect. The different classes of insecticides, including organophosphates, carbamates, ...pyrethroids and neonicotinoids, have varied effects on insects. Furthermore, the molecular effects of these insecticides in aphids, including effects on the enzymatic machinery and gene mutation, are resulting in aphid resistance to the insecticides. In this review, we will discuss how aphids are affected by the overuse of pesticides, how resistance appears, and which mechanisms participate in the resistance mechanisms in various aphid species as significant crop pests. Gene expression studies were analyzed using the RNA-Seq technique. The stress-responsive genes were analyzed, and their expression in response to insecticide administration was determined. Putative insecticide resistance-related genes, cytochrome P450, glutathione S-transferase, carboxylesterase CarEs, ABC transporters, cuticle protein genes, and trypsin-related genes were studied. The review concluded that if insecticide-susceptible aphids interact with ample dosages of insecticides with sublethal effects, this will result in the upregulation of genes whose primary role is to detoxify insecticides. In the past decade, certain advancements have been observed regarding insecticide resistance on a molecular basis. Even so, not much is known about how aphids detoxify the insecticides at molecular level. Thus, to attain equilibrium, it is important to observe the manipulation of pest and insect species with the aim of restoring susceptibility to insecticides. For this purpose, this review has included critical insights into insecticide resistance in aphids.
The two-layered electro-osmotic peristaltic flow of Phan-Thien-Tanner (PTT) fluid in a flexible cylindrical tube is analyzed. The core (inner) layer fluid satisfies the constitutive equation of PTT ...fluid model and the peripheral (outer) layer is characterized as a Newtonian fluid. For each region, the two-dimensional conservation equations for mass and momentum with electro-osmotic body forces are transformed from the fixed frame to the moving frame of reference. These equations are further simplified by invoking the constraints of long wavelength and low Reynolds number. Closed-form expressions for velocity and stream function are derived and then employed to investigate the pressure variations, trapping, interface region, and reflux for a variety of the involved parameters. The analysis reveals that the reflux and trapping can be restrained by appropriately tuning the electro-kinetic slip parameter and Deborah number. Further, the pumping efficacy can also be improved by adjusting the rheological and the electro-kinetic effects. These results may be helpful for improving the performance of the microfluidic peristaltic pump.
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