Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) studies consistently reported abnormalities in fractional anisotropy (FA) and radial diffusivity (RD), measures of the integrity of white matter (WM), in bipolar ...disorder (BD), that may reflect underlying pathophysiologic processes. There is, however, a pressing need to identify peripheral measures that are related to these WM measures, to help identify easily obtainable peripheral biomarkers of BD. Given the high lipid content of axonal membranes and myelin sheaths, and that elevated serum levels of lipid peroxidation are reported in BD, these serum measures may be promising peripheral biomarkers of underlying WM abnormalities in BD. We used DTI and probabilistic tractography to compare FA and RD in ten prefrontal-centered WM tracts, 8 of which are consistently shown to have abnormal FA (and/or RD) in BD, and also examined serum lipid peroxidation (lipid hydroperoxides, LPH and 4-hydroxy-2-nonenal, 4-HNE), in 24 currently euthymic BD adults (BDE) and 19 age- and gender-matched healthy adults (CONT). There was a significant effect of group upon FA in these a priori WM tracts (BDE<CONT: F1,41=6.8; P=0.013) and RD (BDE>CONT: F1,41=10.3; P=0.003), and a significant between-group difference in LPH (BDE>CONT: t40=2.4; P=0.022), but not in 4-HNE. Multivariate multiple regression analyses revealed that LPH variance explained, respectively, 59 and 51% of the variance of FA and RD across all study participants. This is the first study to examine relationships between measures of WM integrity and peripheral measures of lipid peroxidation. Our findings suggest that serum LPH may be useful in the development of a clinically relevant, yet easily obtainable and inexpensive, peripheral biomarkers of BD.
•DFT calculations are executed for halides double perovskites Cs2ScAgX6 (X = I, Cl, Br).•Structural and elastic investigations represent stability of Cs2ScAgX6 (X = I, Cl, Br) in cubic phase.•The ...band structures analysis show their indirect bandgap nature of Cs2ScAgX6 (X = I, Cl, Br).•The computed band structures and optical parameters indicate potential solar cells devices applications.•Electronic thermal coefficients are probed and suggested studied halides as promising thermoelectric materials.
As a possible suitor for application of solar cells and thermoelectric, halide based double perovskites has been developed due to their ecosystem stability, non-toxicity and noticeable performance. In current study, we have explored structural stability and elastic properties of Cs2ScAgX6 (X = I, Cl, Br) in the cubic phase through tolerance factor and Born stability criteria calculations. Further, we present an extensive analysis of optical, electronic and electronic transport characteristics. An indirect semiconducting bandgap in the range of 1.9 eV and 1.55 eV is observed while analyzing electronic band structure and play vital role in solar cells applications. According to their bandgap values, maximal absorption in visible region is perceived, which reduces the bandgap when chlorine is substituted with bromine and iodine. Dielectric constants and other relevant parameters were produced by studying optical characteristics of Cs2ScAgX6. Within the visible region, the maximum absorption of light has been recorded by investigating dielectric constant. Finally, thermoelectric properties are computed using the BoltzTraP package. The value of figure of merit, which is around 0.74 at 300 K, clearly suggests that these materials are also used as potential candidate for thermoelectric devices.
Poultry industry is amongst highly developed industries of Pakistan, fulfilling the protein demand of rapidly increasing population. On the other hand, the untreated poultry waste is causing several ...health and environmental problems. The current study was designed to check the potential of keratinolytic fungal species for the conversion of chicken-feather waste into biofortified compost. For the purpose, three fungal species were isolated from soil samples. These strains were pure cultured and then characterized phenotypically and genotypically. BLAST searches of 18S rDNA nucleotide sequence of the fungal isolates revealed that the two fungal isolates belonged to genus Aspergillus and one belonged to genus Chrysosporium. Optimum temperature for Aspergillus flavus, Aspergillus niger and Chrysosporium queenslandicum was 29, 26 and 25 oC, respectively. A. flavus showed maximum (53%) feather degradation, A. niger degraded feather waste up to 37%, while C. queenslandicum showed 21% keratinolytic activity on chicken feathers at their respective temperature optima. The degradation potential of these fungal species showed their ability to form compost that has agro-industrial importance.
An overview of poultry industry in Pakistan HUSSAIN, J.; RABBANI, I.; ASLAM, S. ...
World's Poultry Science Journal,
12/2015, Volume:
71, Issue:
4
Book Review, Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Open access
The poultry sector is an important and vibrant segment of agriculture in Pakistan with a significant contribution to the national GDP (1.3%). Commercial poultry production in Pakistan started in the ...1960's and has been providing a significant portion of daily proteins to the Pakistani population ever since. During its evolution the industry enjoyed promotional policies of the Government, but has faced several challenges such as disease outbreaks and retail price fluctuations. Despite its important role in the country's economy, not a single scientific study is available on its evolutionary history. The data available in this regard are scattered and lack reliability. This review is an effort to encompass the history of the overall growth of the poultry industry in Pakistan, its present status (2012 statistics) and future directions and challenges. This article may serve as the basic source of information on Pakistan's poultry industry achievements. It will also guide poultry experts and policy makers for developing strategic planning for further growth of the industry.
Identification of neural markers associated with risk for manic symptoms is an important challenge for neuropsychiatric research. Previous work has highlighted the association between predisposition ...for mania/hypomania and elevated reward sensitivity. Elevated activity in the left ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (L vlPFC) during reward expectancy (RE) is associated with measures predictive of risk for manic/hypomanic symptoms. However, no studies have examined this relationship longitudinally. The goal of this study was to identify a neural marker associated with longitudinal risk for manic/hypomanic symptoms.
We used a card guessing functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) paradigm to examine RE-related L vlPFC activity. One hundred and three young adults who were either healthy or experiencing psychological distress completed a single baseline fMRI scan and self-report measures of manic/hypomanic symptoms. Self-report measures were repeated up to two follow up visits over one year.
We identified a significant positive relationship between baseline RE-related L vlPFC activity and MOODS Manic Domain scores up to one-year post scan. This relationship was specific to manic symptoms and was not present for MOODS depression-related domains.
This study was not designed to predict conversion to bipolar disorder, but rather the more proximal construct of lifetime risk for mania/hypomania.
RE-related L vlPFC activity may serve as an important marker of risk for future manic/hypomanic symptoms and may also be a potential target for intervention.
•Left ventrolateral PFC activity to reward expectancy correlates with mania risk over time•This relationship is not present for depressive or other mood symptoms•Left ventrolateral PFC activity to RE is a promising marker of future mania risk
The objective of this study is to review current measurement issues and valuation methods such as “human capital” and “friction cost” for estimating productivity loss due to illness. Since observed ...wages diverge from marginal productivity when allowances are made for sick days and workers are risk averse, or when a job type involves team production, unavailability of perfect substitutes, and/or time-sensitivity of output, productivity loss is likely to be underestimated. A multiplier adjusting wage to marginal productivity needs to be developed for practical use. We further consider the ramifications of measuring labour input loss due to illness in both paid and unpaid work as well as the inclusion of presenteeism to the more traditional approach of measuring only absenteeism. Although a number of instruments have been developed to measure presenteeism, they generate widely varying estimates of productivity loss. Further investigation is required to identify which instrument provides a better estimate. Finally, we provide recommendations on measurement methods such as using subjective measures due to the unavailability of objective measures and the appropriate recall periods. We conclude by proposing a generic measure instead of a disease-specific measure and discuss important perspective related issues.
► Lost productivity due to illness is substantial and should be appropriately measured and valued. ► Existing instruments generate widely varying estimates of productivity loss. ► We review the current methods of valuing productivity loss. ► We highlight issues and controversies related to the measurement and valuation of productivity loss. ► We suggest methodological guidelines to align economic theory with valuation approaches for productivity loss.
Most vegetable crops are severely affected by the uptake of heavy metals from the soil. Heavy metals in vegetable bodies generate reactive oxygen species (ROS) that unbalance the antioxidant defense ...system. This study was initiated to determine the physiological and biochemical characteristics of spinach plants grown on soil contaminated with heavy metals and responding to Bacillus cereus and Bacillus aerius were isolated from soil contaminated with heavy metals. Heavy metal contamination led to a significant reduction in seed germination, seedling biomass, protein, and total nitrogen content of spinach plants grown in contaminated soils compared to control soils. In contrast, a significant increase in the content of metallothioneins and antioxidant enzymes was observed. Plants inoculated with B. cereus and B. aerius significantly reduced the oxidative stress induced by heavy metals by improving seed germination (%), seedling growth, nitrogen, and protein content. The content of metallothioneins and the activities of antioxidant enzymes were reduced in spinach plants grown from seeds inoculated with bacterial strains. In addition, plants inoculated with, B. cereus and B. aerius showed greater stomata opening than plants grown on soil contaminated with heavy metals, whose stomata were almost closed. These results suggested that both bacterial strains enhanced plant growth by reducing oxidative stress caused by metals.
Introduction
Bipolar disorder (BD) is a source of marked disability, morbidity, and premature death. There is a paucity of research on personalized psychosocial interventions for BD, especially in ...lowresource settings. A previously published pilot randomized controlled trial (RCT) of a Culturally adapted PsychoEducation (CaPE) intervention for BD in Pakistan reported higher patient satisfaction, enhanced medication adherence, knowledge and attitudes towards BD, and improvement in mood symptom scores and health-related quality of life measures compared to treatment-as-usual (TAU).
Objectives
This protocol describes a larger multicentre RCT to confirm the clinical and cost-effectiveness of CaPE in Pakistan.
Methods
A multicentre individual, parallel arm, RCT of CaPE in 300Pakistani adults with BD. Participants over the age of 18, with adiagnosis of bipolar I and II and who are currently euthymic, will berecruited from seven sites including Karachi, Lahore, Multan,
Rawalpindi,Peshawar, Hyderabad and Quetta. Time to recurrence will be the primaryoutcome assessed using Longitudinal Interval Follow-up Evaluation(LIFE). Secondary measures will include mood symptomatology, qualityof life and functioning, adherence to psychotropic medications, andknowledge and attitudes towards BD.
Results
Full ethics approval has been received from National Bioethics Committee (NBC) of Pakistan and Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), Toronto, Canada. The study has completed sixty-five screening across the seven centres, of which forty-eight participants have been randomised.
Conclusions
A successful trial will lead to rapid implementation of CaPE in clinical practice, not only in Pakistan, but also in other low-resource settings including those in high-income countries, to improve clinical outcomes, social and occupational functioning, and quality of life in South Asian and other minority patients with BD.
Disclosure of Interest
None Declared
The classical theory of rough sets (RSs) established by Pawlak, mainly focused on the approximation of sets characterized by a single equivalence relation (ER) over the universe. However, most of the ...current single granulation structure models cannot meet the user demand or the target of solving problems. Multi-granulation rough sets (MGRS) can better deal with the problems where data might be spread over various locations. In this article, based on modified rough bipolar soft sets (MRBSs), the concept of multi-granulation MRBSs (MGMRBSs) is introduced. A finite collection of bipolar soft sets (BSs) has been used for this purpose. Several important structural properties and results of the suggested model are carefully analyzed. Meanwhile, to measure the uncertainty of MGMRBSs, some important measures associated with MGMRBSs are presented in MGMRBS-approximation space, and some of their interesting properties are examined. In the framework of multi-granulation, we developed optimistic MGMRBSs (OMGMRBSs) and pessimistic MGMRBSs (PMGMRBSs). The relationships among the MGMRBSs, OMGMRBSs, and PMGMRBSs are also established. After that, a novel multi-criteria group decision-making (MCGDM) approach based on OMGMRBSs is developed to solve some problems in decision-making (DM). The basic principles and the detailed steps of the DM model are presented in detail. To demonstrate the applicability and potentiality of the developed model, we give a practical example of a medical diagnosis. Finally, we conduct a comparative study of the proposed MCGDM approach with some existing techniques to endorse the advantages of the proposed model.
The increasing threat of heat stress in agriculture, fueled by the relentless rise in global temperatures, presents a formidable challenge for vegetable crops. High-temperature stress instigates ...intricate morphological, anatomical, and physiological changes in vegetables, resulting in a noticeable decline in yield and an overall compromise in quality. Mitigating these challenges necessitates the imperative development of heat-tolerant vegetable varieties, underscoring the need for a nuanced understanding of crop responses to the rigors of high-temperature stress. This comprehensive review systematically explores the multifaceted impacts of heat stress on vegetable crops, spanning morphological traits, physiological processes, and molecular dynamics. Beyond the identification of challenges, the review explores into the intricate adaptive mechanisms employed by vegetables to counteract the stresses imposed by elevated temperatures, besides exploring in detailed how these crops navigate and respond to the physiological disruptions caused by heat stress. Further, it also assesses the efficacy of diverse genomic approaches in the development of heat-tolerant vegetable varieties. In addition, the review explores genomic tools such as genomic selection, transgenic approaches, and genome editing technologies, which hold promise in expediting the development of vegetable varieties endowed with enhanced thermo-tolerance and heightened productivity. By synthesizing insights from diverse scientific realms, the review aspires to provide a comprehensive and integrative perspective on mitigating the adverse impacts of heat stress on vegetable crops, paving the way for sustainable agricultural practices in the face of escalating global temperatures.
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