Water is the most important resource; it is utilized largely in agricultural production and is fundamental to ensuring global food security. This study aims to assess sustainable water management ...interventions and their impact on the farm economy. To increase water productivity, the most important adaptations that have been proposed are high-efficiency irrigation systems, drought-resistant varieties, the substitution of water-intensive crops with less water-demanding crops, the mulching of soil, zero tillage, and all on-farm operations that can save water, especially ground water. The recent analysis utilized farm survey data from 469 representative farmers along with secondary statistics. The data were collected via a multi-stage sampling technique to ensure the availability of representative farm populations based on a comprehensive site selection criterion. The TOA-MD model estimates the adoption rate of a proposed adaptation based on net farm returns. The impact of high-efficiency irrigation systems and the substitution of high delta crops for low delta crops had a positive impact on net farm returns and per capita income, and a negative impact on farm poverty in the study area. It is recommended that policymakers consult farmer representatives about agricultural and water-related issues so that all the policies can be implemented properly.
The physical properties of water cause an underwater image to degrade. Enhancing damaged underwater photos is an important topic of study. Several academics have used various picture-enhancing ...methods and models. We have included a hyper-Laplacian reflectance priors enhancement technique for underwater images and a Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) for the classification of images. The classification is performed on the real images and the enhanced images when passed through an HLRP code.
This comparative cross-sectional study was conducted in the Departments of Trauma and Neurosurgery, Ayub Teaching Hospital, Abbottabad, Pakistan from September 2021 to February 2022 to study ...predictive factors of outcomes in acute subdural hematoma evacuation.
A total of 101 patients with confirmed diagnosis of acute subdural hematoma (ASDH) who underwent surgical evacuation by consultant neurosurgeon were included in the study. A detailed clinical proforma was designed to document all the clinical and demographic details of these patients at the time of admission. Glasgow Coma Scale outcome score (GOS) was used to assess the outcome of patients after the surgery. Sociodemographic and clinical parameters were associated with outcome of surgery in our study participants.
Out of 101 patients, 55 (54.5%) were males and 46 (45.5%) were females. Mean age was 43.66±19.66 years with 7.39 as mean Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) at presentation. Road traffic accident (RTA) 62 (61.4%) was most frequent mechanism of injury followed by fall from height (19.8%) and history of assault (13.9%). In our study, 59 patients had poor outcomes while 42 had good outcomes. Elder age, low GCS at presentation, and use of oral anticoagulant were associated with poor outcomes while pupillary reaction had no effect on the outcome after application of test of significance.
More than half of the patients managed with surgical evacuation for acute subdural hematoma as per guidelines at our neurosurgical unit had poor outcomes according to Glasgow Coma Scale. In this study, advancing age (>60 years), low GCS score at presentation, and use of oral anticoagulation therapy emerged as significant risk factors for poor outcomes in participants. Pupillary reaction had no effect on outcomes as per this study but this needs further evaluation in future studies.
Background: Chronic suppurative otitis media (CSMO) is an important cause of preventable hearing loss, particularly in developing world. The objective of this trial was to compare efficacy of 2% ...acetic acid versus 0.3% ciprofloxacin ear drops in achieving dry ears in CSMO in adult population of Islamabad, Pakistan. Materials & Methods: This trial was conducted at Department of ENT, HBS Medical College, Islamabad, Pakistan from March 2018 to February 2019. With alpha 5%, beta 20% and power of study 80%, sample size was calculated 47 for each group. All adult patients of CSOM, having ear discharge for more than three months were eligible. Patients with aural poly, external auditory canal pathology, ear malignancy, having mastoid surgery in preceding 12 months or having used antibiotics in last one week were excluded. Experimental group received 2% acetic acid, twice daily while control group received 0.3% ciprofloxacin eardrops twice daily. At two weeks, achievement of dry ears was noted. Sex and age in years were matching variables. Primary end point was achieving dry ears, which was compared between the two groups using McNemar chi-square test. Results: Experimental group included 30 (63.8%) men and 17 (36.2%) women and control group included 32 (68%) men and 15 (32%) women. Mean age of experimental group 36±2.14 years was matching to the control group 36±2.59 years. Dry ears were achieved in 35 (74.47%) patients in experimental group and in 11 (23.40%) patients in control group. The efficacy of 2% acetic acid was significantly higher than 0.3% ciprofloxacin eardrops in achieving dry ears (p
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common types of cancer in the world and a reason behind different oncogenes activation and tumor suppressor genes inactivation. Hyper-methylation of ...tumor suppressor genes including RASSF1a, GSTP1, p16, and APC cause gene silencing as well as tumor cell invasion. STAT 1 gene is a part of signaling cascade of JAK/STAT and any dysregulation in signaling has been implicated in tumor formation.
The current investigation focus on the methylation role of STAT1 gene as a non-invasive biomarker in the progression and diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma.
STAT1 gene methylation status in 46 HCV induced hepatocellular carcinoma patients and 40 non-HCC controls were examined by methylation specific PCR. STAT1 gene expression was examined by real time PCR and further validated by various bioinformatics tools.
STAT1 methylation in HCV-induced HCC (67.4%) was significantly higher compared to the non-HCC controls (p< 0.01). However, mRNA expression of STAT1 gene in methylated groups was significantly lower compared to unmethylated groups (p< 0.05). Furthermore, insilco analysis of STAT1 validated our results and shown expression of STAT1 mRNA was lower in liver cancer with the median 24.3 (p= 0.085).
After using peripheral blood samples we observed that STAT1 silencing caused by aberrant methylation could be used as potential non-invasive biomarker for the diagnosis of HCV induced hepatocellular carcinoma. We conclude that blood as a sample source could be used instead of biopsy for early detection of HCC.
Conventional means of electrical energy generation are costly, create environmental pollution, and demand a high level of maintenance and also going to end one day. This has made it crucial to ...exploit the untapped prospective of the environmentally friendly renewable energy resources. To address this problem, present research proposed an efficient, everlasting, and environment-friendly grid-connected PV system at The Islamia University of Bahawalpur, Pakistan (latitude: 29° 22′ 34″ N, longitude: 71° 44′ 57 E). Bahawalpur is one of those sites where the potential of solar energy is immense. The global daily horizontal solar irradiance at the site is 1745.85 kWh/m2, having average solar irradiation of 5.9 kWh/m2 per day, and the ambient average temperature is about 25.7°C. In this research, the performance ratio and different power losses just like soiling, PV module losses, inverter, and losses due to temperature are taken into account and calculated by using PVSyst. The coal saving per day is 15369.3 kg which is equal to planting 147600 teak trees over a lifetime. The cost of the energy produced is 0.11 US $/kWh whereas in Pakistan the conventional energy tariff is 0.18 $/kWh. From the simulation results, the value of PR comes out 83.8%, and the CUF value is 16% with a total energy generation of 4908 MWh/year. The performance analysis of this grid-connected system would help in the designing, analysis, operation, and maintenance of the new grid-connected systems for different locations.
Several Glutathione S-transferases (GSTs) enzymes, in insects, have previously been implicated in resistance developed against DDT and other insecticides. The GST enzyme particularly sigma class have ...important physiological role in detoxification of lipid peroxidation by-products in insects. Phlebotomus argentipes has been intensely exposed to DDT over years due to Indoor Residual Spray (IRS) programme for Kala-azar elimination in Bihar, India. However, in P. argentipes, role of GSTs in DDT resistance have not been elucidated. Here, sigma class GST of P. argentipes (Parg-GSTσ) was successfully cloned, expressed and purified by affinity chromatography. The recombinant Parg-GSTσ was found to be highly active towards cumene hydroperoxide and 4-HNE having specific activity 92.47 & 203.92 µM/min/mg of protein, respectively and exhibited low activity towards universal substrate CDNB i.e., 8.75 µM/min/mg of protein. RT-PCR and immunoblot analysis showed at least 2 and 1.8 fold overexpression of Parg-GSTσ in the single exposed and non exposed DDT resistant P. argentipes as compared to susceptible, implicating Parg-GSTσ also involved in DDT resistance probably by imparting enhanced stress tolerance. The DDT, H
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and temperature induction assays demonstrated stress-dependent induction of Parg-GSTσ expression indicating its important role in oxidative stress redressal.
Phlebotomus argentipes is an established vector for Visceral leishmaniasis prevalent in the Indian subcontinent. Insect Glutathione S-transferases (GST) enzyme plays a pivotal role in the metabolism ...of xenobiotics and chemical insecticides. We report herein the identification and characterization of a delta class GST from the sandfly, P. argentipes. The resulting clone (rParg-GSTδ) is successfully sequenced, which revealed 76.43% and 66.32% gene identity with GST from Phlebotomus papatasi (Scopoli; Diptera: Psychodidae) and Lutzomiya longipalpis (Lutz and Neiva; Diptera: Psychodidae), respectively. The identified rParg-GST amino acid Blast results revealed 82.6% homology to delta class GST of Phlebotomus papatasi and more than 50% homology to Lepidoptera which comprises butterflies and moths. The Phylogenetic analysis of Parg-GST with different classes of Insect GSTs further supported its classification as delta class. A functional recombinant Parg-GSTδ protein (rParg-GSTδ) was expressed in Escherichia coli (Migula; Enterobacterales: Enterobacteriaceae) cells in a soluble form, purified to homogeneity and found to be active against a substrate 1-chloro-2,4-dintrobenzene (CDNB) and lipid peroxidation by-product 4-Hydrxynonenal (4-HNE). Interestingly, rParg-GSTδ demonstrates high dehydrochlorination activity against dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) i.e., 16.27 nM/µg in high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) assay. These results provide evidence of direct DDT metabolism property exhibited by P. argentipes GST and set the foundation to decipher the metabolic resistance mechanism in P. argentipes against insecticides.
Cytosine deaminases AID/APOBEC proteins act as potent nucleic acid editors, playing important roles in innate and adaptive immunity. However, the mutagenic effects of some of these proteins ...compromise genomic integrity and may promote tumorigenesis. Here, we demonstrate that human APOBEC3G (A3G), in addition to its role in innate immunity, promotes repair of double‐strand breaks (DSBs) in vitro and in vivo. Transgenic mice expressing A3G successfully survived lethal irradiation, whereas wild‐type controls quickly succumbed to radiation syndrome. Mass spectrometric analyses identified the differential upregulation of a plethora of proteins involved in DSB repair pathways in A3G‐expressing cells early following irradiation to facilitate repair. Importantly, we find that A3G not only accelerates DSB repair but also promotes deamination‐dependent error‐free rejoining. These findings have two implications: (a) strategies aimed at inhibiting A3G may improve the efficacy of genotoxic therapies used to cure malignant tumours; and (b) enhancing A3G activity may reduce acute radiation syndrome in individuals exposed to ionizing radiation.
A3G protects mice from IR‐induced damage and promotes accurate DNA double‐strand breaks repair in cultured cells. Transgenic mice expressing A3G successfully survived lethal irradiation, whereas wild‐type controls quickly succumbed to radiation syndrome. In cultured cells, A3G accelerates DSB repair and promotes survival of cells after irradiation. Moreover, in a cell‐based non‐homologous end‐joining reporter system, A3G promotes deamination‐dependent error‐free rejoining of the induced double‐strand break mediated by I‐SceI.
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