Foliar application of micronutrients and plant growth regulators (PGRs) is one of the strategies of plant-feeding direct through leaves to allow rapid uptake irrespective of soil condition. This is ...the best way to enhance nutrient balance and its accumulation in the crops that, in turn, lead to improved crop yield and quality. This research studied the effect of boron (0, 25, 50, 75, and 100 ppm) and gibberellic acid (GA
3
; 0, 20, 40, and 60 ppm) on quality fruit production of pear. Fruit weight, yield (kg/tree), minimum fruit drop (%) and disease incidence (%) were significantly enhanced in fruit sprayed with 75 ppm boron while fruit firmness (kg/cm), total soluble solids (° Brix), fruit juice pH, ascorbic acid content, and minimum titratable acidity (%) significantly increased in pear fruit sprayed with 100 ppm boron. The highest contents of phenols, flavonoids, and antioxidants (%) were observed in pear fruit sprayed with 100 ppm of boron and 60 ppm of GA
3
. Maximum fruit firmness, total soluble solids (° Brix), fruit juice pH, ascorbic acid with minimum titratable acidity (%) were recorded in plants sprayed with 60 ppm GA
3
. Boron (100 ppm) and GA
3
(60 ppm) could be applied at the fruit set stage to obtain the quality fruit production of pear.
In this study, a survey has been conducted during 2005–2007 on surface and groundwater arsenic (As) contamination and its impact on the health of local population, of villages located on the banks of ...Manchar lake, southern part of Sindh, Pakistan. We have also assessed the relationship between arsenic exposure through respiratory disorders in male subjects with drinking water and smoking cigarettes made from tobacco grown in agricultural land irrigated with As contaminated lake water. The biological samples (blood and scalp hair) were collected from As exposed subjects (100% smokers) and age matched healthy male subjects (40.2% smoker and 59.8% non smokers) belong to unexposed areas for comparison purposes. The As concentration in drinking water (surface and underground water), agricultural soil, cigarette tobacco and biological samples were determined by electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry. The range of As concentrations in lake water was 35.2–158 µg/L (average 97.5 µg/L), which is 3–15 folds higher than permissible limit of World Health Organization (WHO, 2004). While the As level in local cigarette tobacco was found to be 3–6 folds higher than branded cigarettes (0.37–0.79 µg/g). Arsenic exposed subjects (with and without RD) had significantly elevated levels of As in their biological samples as compared to referent male subject of unexposed area. These respiratory effects were more pronounced in individuals who had also As induced skin lesions. The linear regressions showed good correlations between As concentrations in water versus hair and blood samples of exposed subjects with and without respiratory problems.
Liver fibrosis is characterized by the activation of perivascular hepatic stellate cells (HSCs), the release of fibrogenic nanosized extracellular vesicles (EVs), and increased HSC glycolysis. ...Nevertheless, how glycolysis in HSCs coordinates fibrosis amplification through tissue zone-specific pathways remains elusive. Here, we demonstrate that HSC-specific genetic inhibition of glycolysis reduced liver fibrosis. Moreover, spatial transcriptomics revealed a fibrosis-mediated up-regulation of EV-related pathways in the liver pericentral zone, which was abrogated by glycolysis genetic inhibition. Mechanistically, glycolysis in HSCs up-regulated the expression of EV-related genes such as Ras-related protein Rab-31 ( RAB31 ) by enhancing histone 3 lysine 9 acetylation on the promoter region, which increased EV release. Functionally, these glycolysis-dependent EVs increased fibrotic gene expression in recipient HSC. Furthermore, EVs derived from glycolysis-deficient mice abrogated liver fibrosis amplification in contrast to glycolysis-competent mouse EVs. In summary, glycolysis in HSCs amplifies liver fibrosis by promoting fibrogenic EV release in the hepatic pericentral zone, which represents a potential therapeutic target.
Glycolysis in liver perivascular cells amplifies fibrosis through a spatially coordinated extracellular vesicle release.
The purpose of this paper is to develop a database of fish tissues and to evaluate concentration of arsenic (As) in five tissues of fish species collected from Manchar Lake Pakistan and to compare ...concentration of As in fish tissues of same fish species collected from the Indus River, Pakistan. A sensitive and precise, hydride generation atomic absorption spectrometry (HG AAS) method is presented for the determination of total Arsenic (As). Microwave acid-assisted digestion (MAD) procedure based on the mixture HNO
3/H
2O
2 was evaluated. The method was successfully validated against CRM DORM-2 (dogfish muscle). Quantitative As recovery in CRM (DORM-2) was obtained and no statistical differences were found at 95% level by applying the
t-test. The limit of detection (LOD) and limit of quantitation (LOQ), for As were established as 0.022 and 0.063
μg
g
−1, respectively. The results of this study indicated that As concentration in fish tissues from the Indus River are generally lower than in tissues of fishes from Manchar Lake. Arsenic concentrations in fish tissues of Indus River are although above the respective human health-based concentrations.
•Growth and characterization of Zn1−xSbxSe (0⩽x⩾0.15) thin films by thermal evaporation technique.•XRD analysis showed the growth of cubic polycrystalline structure along (111) plane.•Structural ...variation was also confirmed by employing Raman spectroscopy.•Energy band gap was tuned from 1.81eV to 1.61eV with the increase in Sb content.•All results showed that Sb content has strong influence on physical properties of ZnSe thin films.
Here we report the influence of Sb doping on the structural and optical properties of Zn1−xSbxSe (0⩽x⩾0.15) thin films prepared by thermal evaporation technique on glass substrate. Various characterization techniques such as X-ray diffraction (XRD), EDS, Raman spectroscopy and spectroscopic ellipsometer are employed to assess the structural and optical properties of the deposited films. XRD analysis reveals the formation of polycrystalline cubic structure having preferred growth orientation along (111) plane without any evidence of secondary phases. Crystallographic parameters like grain size, micro strain, dislocation density, number of crystallites per unit area and texture coefficient point out the structural modification in ZnSe films with Sb inclusion. Raman analysis shows the existence of three 1LO, 2LO and 3LO phonon modes at 251, 511 and 745cm−1 in pure ZnSe while 3LO mode disappears by the incorporation of Sb atoms in ZnSe matrix. Increase in FWHM of Raman peaks with Sb concentration also indicates the change in crystalline quality of ZnSe films which is in accordance with our XRD results. Spectroscopic ellipsometry results demonstrate a decreasing trend for the optical band gap energy (from 2.61eV to 1.81eV) with increasing Sb content.
Olive (Olea europea) is used in traditional medicine as a remedy for hypertension. The aqueous-methanolic crude extract of O. europea fruit (OeF.Cr) was studied in anaesthetized rats and its possible ...mechanism was elucidated using isolated cardiovascular preparations. Intravenous administration of OeF.Cr produced a dose-dependent (30-100 mg/kg) fall in arterial blood pressure in normotensive anaesthetized rats. This effect remained unaltered in atropinized animals. In the in vitro studies OeF.Cr (0.1-3.0 mg/ml) inhibited spontaneously beating guinea-pig atria. Moreover, it relaxed K+ and/or phenylephrine-induced contractions of rabbit aortic preparations over a dose range of 0.1-3.0 mg/ml, suggesting calcium channel blockade (CCB). The CCB effect was confirmed when pretreatment of the vascular preparations with OeF.Cr produced a dose-dependent rightward shift of the Ca2 + dose-response curves, similar to verapamil. These results suggest that the blood pressure lowering effect of olive is mediated through CCB, justifying its use in hypertension.
Background: Flow cytometry assay for PNH clone is a compulsory routine test for all aplastic anaemia patients. Objective: To estimate the frequency of PNH clone in aplastic anaemia. Method: ...Twenty-two known cases of aplastic anaemia patients were enrolled for the study. Flow cytometric quantitation of glycosyl phosphatidyl-inositol (GPI)-anchored proteins deficiency using markers CD14, CD24, CD45, CD59, Fluorescent Aerolysin (FLAER), CD235a (6 markers) were performed. Result: PNH clone was identified in 8 (36.4%) of the study population. Among PNH clone positive patients 7 (87.5%) were suffering from non-severe aplastic anaemia. Conclusion: PNH clone is significantly associated with aplastic anaemia and PNH clone assay should be regularly assayed in aplastic anaemia patients for specific management.
In research projects such as vaccine trials, accurate and complete surveillance of all outcomes of interest is critical. In less developed countries where the private sector is the major health-care ...provider, the private sector must be included in surveillance systems in order to capture all disease of interest. This, however, poses enormous challenges in practice. The process and outcome of recruiting private practice clinics for surveillance in a vaccine trial are described.
The project started in January 2002 in two urban squatter settlements of Karachi, Pakistan. At the suggestion of private practitioners, a phlebotomy team was formed to provide support for disease surveillance. Children who had a reported history of fever for more than three days were enrolled for a diagnosis.
Between May 2003 and April 2004, 5540 children younger than 16 years with fever for three days or more were enrolled in the study. Of the children, 1312 (24%) were seen first by private practitioners; the remainder presented directly to study centres. In total, 5329 blood samples were obtained for microbiology. The annual incidence of Salmonella typhi diagnosed by blood culture was 407 (95% confidence interval (95% CI), 368-448) per 100 000/year and for Salmonella paratyphi A was 198 (95% CI, 171-227) per 100 000/year. Without the contribution of private practitioners, the rates would have been 240 per 100 000/year (95% CI, 211-271) for S. typhi and 114 (95% CI, 94-136) per 100 000/year for S. paratyphi A.
The private sector plays a major health-care role in Pakistan. Our experience from a surveillance and burden estimation study in Pakistan indicates that this objective is possible to achieve but requires considerable effort and confidence building. Nonetheless, it is essential to include private health care providers when attempting to accurately estimate the burden of disease in such settings.
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