Effect of Natural and Artificial Diets on the Life History Parameters of Melon Fruit Fly Bactrocera Cucurbitae (Coquillett)

Fruit flies are the noxious pests of fruits and vegetables throughout out the tropical and subtropical regions of the world. The melon fruit fly Bactrocera cucurbitae is a polyphagous pest of vegetables and fruits. We evaluated the effect of natural bottle gourd, (Lagenaria siceraria) and artificial diets on the life history parameters of B. cucurbitae under lab conditions. Results revealed that shortest incubation period (3.0 ± 0.54) was observed on natural diet whereas; lowest hatching % (12.4 ± 2.11) was observed on blotting papers. However, reduced larval duration (5.6 ± 0.24) was observed when maggots were provided with bottle gourd as compared with artificial diet (6.6 ± 0.24). Furthermore, significantly (p < 0.05) higher pupal recovery, pupal duration and adult emergence were recorded on natural diet. In contrast, statistically higher pupal weight (p < 0.05) was observed on artificial diet. In addition, number of deformed adults was higher in natural diet as compared to artificial diet. These findings could be helpful in defining more optimum conditions for the mass rearing of B.cucurbitae for use in Sterile Insect Technique (SIT), programmes for various orchards. Key words: Natural diet, Artificial diet, Incubation period of B. cucurbitae.

Management and Outcome of Chronic Subdural Hematoma: A Prospective Study of Shaikh Zayed Hospital, Lahore

Background/Objective: Chronic subdural hematoma (CSH) is a type of intracranial hemorrhage is commonly seen in old age. It has a poor prognosis when misdiagnosed or a delayed treatment can lead to significant morbidity. We evaluated the effectiveness of available surgical treatments for the management and outcome of CSH.Method: The prospective cases (n = 48) of CSH were included from Department of Neurosurgery, Sheikh Zayed Hospital, Lahore during January 2014- December 2017. Detailed history of patients was taken along with comprehensive examinations with CT scans and MRIs. The CSH patients were treated surgically either with burr-hole evacuation (unilateral/bilateral) with irrigation or burr-hole drainage with drain 48 to 72 hours.Results: The mean age of male patients was 68 years and 56 years in female patients. Most of our patients recovered (81.25%; GOS 5) uneventfully. Patients were mostly treated with burr-hole evacuation with irrigation. The 15% patients had required ICU management with GOS 2-3. Older (> 65 years) male patients were at higher risk of CSH. Trauma was not the only major cause of the CSH as history of trauma was not present in the majority (< 25%) of the patients. We found following significant risk factors, i.e., hypertension (73%), DM (62.5%) and ischemic heart disease (60%) and intake of anticoagulant/antiplatelet drugs (60%). A 4% recurrence was reported in our CSH patients. Stroke as a postoperative complication was reported in two patients (4%) and only one patient (2%) died of aspiration pneumonia.Conclusion: Chronic subdural hematoma can be effectively treated by simple surgical intervention if diagnosed early and mortality can be reduced. We found burr-hole evacuation (unilateral/bilateral) with irrigation an effective treatment against CSH, as most of our patients (> 80%) were recovered with it. The trauma was not the only cause of CSH as history of trauma was not present in the majority of the patients, therefore, some other factors are also involved in the CSH formation in old age

Strukturelle Charakterisierung und Struktur-Eigenschafts-Korrelationen von nanostrukturierten supraleitenden Coated Conductors und thermoelektrischen Materialien

Materials drive innovation of devices and materials prepared by innovative technologies were investigated in this study. A microstructural study of device relevant nanostructured energy materials, such as DyBa2Cu3O7-x (DyBCO) high-temperature superconductors and Bi2Te3 room-temperature thermoelectric materials, are presented by employing analytical Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM). Both compounds DyBCO and Bi2Te3 have a layered anisotropic structure and a number of modern electron microscopy and microanalysis methods have been applied for their investigation. Structure-property correlations of device relevant materials of both compounds were established for a better understanding and thereby improving the performance of these materials by controlling the micro- and nanostructure. DyBCO based Coated Conductors (CCs), i.e. long-length high-temperature superconducting tapes were fabricated as thin-films by the Inclined Substrate Deposition (ISD) technology. The tapes yielded a critical current density of 1.7-2.1 MA cm-2, which give rise to a world record critical current of 1000 A cm-1 for a 6 µm thick superconducting film at 77 K and zero field. In addition, the growth behavior of superconducting DyBCO thin-films deposited by ISD for CCs was investigated and a growth model is presented for the DyBCO growth. Nanostructured Bi2Te3 bulk materials were produced by two different methods: (i) Ar+ ion irradiation of bulk materials and (ii) Spark Plasma Sintering (SPS) of nanoscale bulk precursors. For the first time, a controlled formation and removal of the natural nanostructure (nns) in bulk Bi2Te3 by Ar+ ion irradiation is shown.In dieser Arbeit werden Untersuchungen an Materialien vorgestellt, die durch innovative Technologien hergestellt wurden und zu einer Innovation im Bereich Anwendung führten. Die Mikrostrukturuntersuchungen wurden an für die Anwendung relevanten nanostrukturierten Materialien für die Energietechnik durchgeführt. Insbesondere wurden DyBa2Cu3O7-x (DyBCO) Hochtemperatur-Supraleiter und thermoelektrische, für Raumtemperatur geeignete Bi2Te3 Materialien mittels analytischer Transmissionselektronenmikroskopie (TEM) charakterisiert. Beide Verbindungen, DyBCO und Bi2Te3, besitzen geschichtete, anisotrope Kristallstrukturen. Eine Reihe an modernen, elektronenmikroskopischen und mikroanalytischen Methoden wurde zu deren Analyse angewandt. Für beide Verbindungen wurde eine Struktur-Eigenschafts-Korrelation erarbeitet. Dies diente dem besseren Verständnis, der Kontrolle und der Verbesserung der für die Anwendung relevanten Mikro- und Nanostrukturen dieser Materialien. DyBCO basierte Coated Conductors (CCs), dies sind bei hohen Temperaturen supraleitende Drähte von mehreren Kilometern Länge, wurden als Dünnfilme mittels der Inclined Substrate Deposition (ISD) Technologie hergestellt. Die Drähte zeigten kritische Stromdichten von 1.7 bis 2.1 MA cm-2, wodurch der kritische Strom zu einem Weltrekordwert von 1000 A cm-1 bei einer Dicke des supraleitenden Films von 6 Micrometer und bei 77 K im Eigenfeld gesteigert werden konnte. Außerdem wurde ein Wachstumsmodell vom Wachstumsverhalten der supraleitenden DyBCO Dünnfilme abgeleitet, die mittels der für CCs angewandten ISD Technologie hergestellt wurden. Nanostrukturierte Bi2Te3-Volumenmaterialien wurden durch zwei verschiedene Methoden aus herkömmlichen Volumenmaterialien hergestellt: (i) durch Ar+ Ionenbestrahlung und (ii) mittels dem Spark-Plasma-Sinterungsprozess (SPS). Zum ersten Mal wird eine kontrollierte Bildung und Entfernung der natürlichen Nanostruktur in Bi2Te3 Materialien mittels Ar+ Ionenbestrahlung gezeigt