Potential drug-drug interactions in the neurology ward of a tertiary care hospital in Peshawar, Pakistan

Purpose: To identify and report the prevalence of potential drug-drug interactions (pDDIs) in a neurology ward, as well as their levels and association with risk factors.Methods: The study was conducted in the neurology ward of Northwest General Hospital Peshawar, Pakistan. Medical records of 205 randomly selected patients were retrospectively reviewed for potential drug-drug interactions using Micromedex Drug-Reax Software.Results: The total number of interactions identified were 633. About 96 % of the patients showed at least one type of potential interaction regardless of its severity. The identified pDDIs were categorized on the basis of severity, scientific evidence and onset. Based on severity, of the total of 633 pDDIs, 62.2 % were of major type while 31.8 % were of moderate type. On the basis of scientific evidence, 16.42 % were excellent type, 32.22 % in good category while fair category was the highest (55.60 %). The onset categories such as rapid (27.64 %), delayed (24.96 %) and non-specified onset (53.71 %) were also noted.Conclusion: Computerized DDIs programs are very helpful in minimizing harmful drug interactions. With this type of program, this better patient health outcomes can be achieved.Keywords: Drug-drug interaction, Patients, Drug reactio

Determination of the best non-linear function to describe the growth of Kajli sheep

The aim of the present study was to determine the best non-linear growth function to describe the growth of Kajli sheep. For this aim, the Brody, von Bertalanffy, Logistic, and Gompertz models were used to describe the sigmoidal relationship between bodyweight and age of the Kajli sheep. The records obtained from the Livestock Experiment Station, Khushab, were collected between 2007 and 2018. The records comprised 9864 age-weight observations (300 for male, 9564 for female, 7392 for single, 2388 for twin, and 84 for triplet lambs), which extended from birth to 12 months old. Candidate non-linear functions were fitted and the curve parameters were estimated by nlsfit (fit non-linear models) function in R statistical package, version 3.6.1. Goodness of fit criteria that were used to evaluate predictive performances of candidate models were adjusted coefficient of determination (R2adj), Akaike’s information criterion (AIC), Bayesian information criterion (BIC) and root means square error (RMSE). The Brody model was the best non-linear function that described the biological growth pattern of all, male, female, single, twin, and triplet lambs. Differences in curve parameter estimates between male and female suggested a definite pattern of sexual dimorphism. Moreover, a higher estimate of rate of maturity in female lambs reflects their early maturity compared with male Kajli lambs. Similarly, the single-born Kajli animals with highest maturity rate were maturing at an earlier age than twins and triplets. This is the first report on the non-linear pattern of visible changes in bodyweight of Kajli sheep from birth to 12 months old.Key words: age, bodyweight, growth curves, regression, shee

Response of sunflower hybrids to management practices under irrigated arid-environment

Two field experiments were established at Research Farm, Bahauddin Zakariya University, (BZU) Multan, Pakistan, during the spring season of 2009 to study the interactive effect of sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) hybrids in terms of growth, fraction of intercepted radiation (Fi), intercepted photo-synthetically active radiation (PAR), yield components and oil contents to planting geometries and nitrogen rates. Experiment 1 comprised nine treatments having combinations of three hybrids (H1 = 19012; H2 = Hysun-33; H3 = DK-4040) and three planting geometries (PG1 = flat sowing; PG2 = ridge sowing; PG3 = bed sowing) while, experiment 2 comprised 16 treatments having combinations of four hybrids (H1 = 00989; H2 = 01087; H3 = 00997; H4 = 010226) and four nitrogen rates (N0 = control; N1 = 75; N2 = 150 and N3 = 225 kg ha-1). The results revealed that, the ontogeny maximum plant height ranged from 32 to 216 cm and from 36 to 299 cm in experiments 1 and 2, respectively. The ontogeny maximum number of leaves plant-1 were 21, 32, 28, 21 and 14 in experiment 1 and 20, 33, 29, 20 and 9 in experiment 2, respectively on respective harvest dates. The ontogeny maximum head diameter was 17, 22 and 25 cm and 20, 21 and 29 cm on respective dates for experiments 1 and 2, respectively. The ontogeny Fi values for experiments 1 and 2, ranged from 0.11 to 0.99 and from 0.09 to 0.99, respectively. The cumulative intercepted PAR ranged from 492 to 812 MJ m-2 and from 627 to 897 MJ m-2 in experiments 1 and 2, respectively. The achene weight ranged from 69.7 to 127.5g and from 65.4 to 93.4g in experiments 1 and 2, respectively. The number of achenes head-1 ranged from 919 to 1868 and 925 to 1678 for experiments 1 and 2, respectively. The achene oil contents ranged from 38.1 to 43.1% and 34.5 to 47.6% for experiments 1 and 2, respectively. However, average oil contents value was 41% for both experiments. From the results, the use of higher nitrogen rates and ridge or bed sowing techniques are recommended for the management practices for the newly developed sunflower hybrids farmers.Keywords: Sunflower hybrids, planting geometries, nitrogen rates, intercepted PA

Probing IC/CMB Interpretation for the X-ray knots of AGN through VHE observations

Detection of hard X-ray spectrum from the kilo-parsec scale jet of active galactic nuclei cannot be accounted to the synchrotron emission mechanism from the electron distribution responsible for the radio/optical emission. Alternate explanations are the inverse Compton scattering of cosmic microwave background photons (IC/CMB) or synchrotron emission from a second electron population. When the X-ray emission is interpreted as IC/CMB process, the Compton spectrum peak at GeV energy and were predicted to be the Fermi candidate sources. The non-detection of significant gamma ray flux from these galaxies by Fermi disfavoured the IC/CMB interpretation of the high energy emission. We extend this study to predict the very high energy (VHE) gamma ray emission due to IC/CMB model which can be investigated by Cherenkov Telescope Array(CTA). The model parameters deciding the broadband spectral energy distribution are estimated using analytical approximation of the emissivity functions. The emission model is extrapolated to VHE energy and then compared with the CTAO sensitivity. Particularly, we selected the sources for which the IC/CMB model is not ruled out by initial Fermi observations.Comment: Submitted to MNRAS Main Joura

Efficient design for smart environment using Raspberry Pi with Blockchain and IoT (BRIoT)

Internet of Things (IoT) is reshaping digital world day by day by integrating several technologies to provide smart services. However, intrinsic features of IoT resulting in a number of challenges, such as decentralization, poor interoperability, privacy, confidentiality, and security vulnerabilities. Several security techniques like encryption, third-party software’s are in use currently to protect users data. Blockchain was initially established for digital crypto currencies with a Proof of Work (PoW) consensus process and the advantage of smart contracts, which enabled distributed trust without the involvement of a third party. Its distributed trust concept paved the way for many other developments, such as the development of new consensus mechanisms such as Proof of Stake (PoS) and Proof of Authority (PoA), which aided in the adoption of Blockchain with low computation machines into sectors such as smart industry and smart transportation. Blockchain implementation in IoT can address the security issue, here we proposed a design using Raspberry Pi as edge node (BRIoT)

Spatial Analysis on the provision of Urban Amenities and their Deficiencies - A Case Study of Srinagar City, Jammu and Kashmir, India

The paper examined inequality in the distribution of urban amenities in Srinagar City. Inequality in the study area is manifested in the form of unequal provision of social amenities within the wards (municipal units) of the City. The spatial distribution and concentration of two social amenities, viz, educational institutions and fire service stations was studied. The study mainly relied on the secondary sources of data. The Z-score variate has been used to determine the spatial concentration pattern in the provision of these amenities. However, Lorenz Curve proved to be a useful tool in accessing and quantifying the spatial disparity. The results of the analysis indicate that inequalities exist in the provision of accessibility of these amenities among different wards in Srinagar city. The reasons for the uneven distribution of urban amenities are spurt urban growth in the last three decades and poor management planning. The paper suggests that planning body must keep pace with the urban sprawl in order to ensure the equitable distribution of urban amenities in the city. Keywords: Amenities, Wards, Srinagar City, Well-being, Accessibility, Lorenz Curv

A reproducible protocol for raising clonal plants from leaf segments excised from mature trees of Betula utilis a threatened tree species of Kashmir Himalayas

Tissue culture techniques such as micropropagation provide a fast and dependable method for production of a large number of uniform plantlets in a short time and offer potential means not only for rapid mass multiplication of existing stocks but also for the conservation of important, elite and rare plants. In this study, callusing was achieved from leaf explants of Betula utilis on MS medium supplemented with 2, 4-D (2.5mg/l). The callus was friable, nodular, having numerous embryoids which exhibited organogenesis on subculturing. Production of multiple shoots was achieved on MS medium supplemented with BAP (1.5mg/l). Rooting from these shoots was obtained within 10 days of inoculation on MS medium fortified with NAA (1.0mg/l). A combination of BAP (2.0mg/l) + NAA (0.5mg/l) proved to be the best auxin-cytokinin combination in which explants exhibited best morphogenetic potential in terms of development of shoots along with roots within 8-10 days of inoculation. The maximum frequency of root differentiation (8.2) roots was achieved on MS basal medium supplemented with NAA (1.0mg/l) after 10 days of inoculations in 80% cultures. The complete plantlets were produced which showed enhanced growth after transferring in the same media composition