EVALUATION OF ANTIFUNGAL ACTIVITY OF ANAEROBIC DIGESTATE AND ITS EFFECT ON GROWTH AND YIELD OF MAIZE

Pakistan is an agricultural country. The increased population leads to increasing demand for food. Unfortunately, crops are infected by different microbes and nutrient deficiency of soil adversely affects the yield of the crop. Furthermore, the use of chemical fertilizers like Nitrogen, Phosphorus, Potassium (NPK), Urea, Diammonium phosphate (DAP) and pesticides have environmental consequences. Therefore, so there is need to find alternative renewable and sustainable biofertilizers

Flows with Slip of Oldroyd-B Fluids over a Moving Plate

A general investigation has been made and analytic solutions are provided corresponding to the flows of an Oldroyd-B fluid, under the consideration of slip condition at the boundary. The fluid motion is generated by the flat plate which has a translational motion in its plane with a time-dependent velocity. The adequate integral transform approach is employed to find analytic solutions for the velocity field. Solutions for the flows corresponding to Maxwell fluid, second-grade fluid, and Newtonian fluid are also determined in both cases, namely, flows with slip on the boundary and flows with no slip on the boundary, respectively. Some of our results were compared with other results from the literature. The effects of several emerging dimensionless and pertinent parameters on the fluid velocity have been studied theoretically as well as graphically in the paper

What Influence Credit Card Debts in Young Consumers in Malaysia

This paper examines empirically antecedents of the credit card debts in young consumers in Malaysia. We examine whether easy access to credit card, credit card related knowledge, aggressive promotion by credit card industry, low minimum payment requirement and attitude towards credit cards influence credit card debts in the younger generation. Regression model was used to meet the objectives. These findings based on a sample of 240 young credit card holders, show that the factors that affect credit card debts are credit card related knowledge, aggressive promotion by credit card industry and low minimum payment requirements. These findings also provide insights for both bank management and policy-makers to improve the bank performance in terms of credit card debts

Photocatalytic Z-Scheme Overall Water Splitting: Recent Advances in Theory and Experiments

Photocatalytic water splitting is considered one of the most important and appealing approaches for the production of green H2 to address the global energy demand. The utmost possible form of artificial photosynthesis is a two-step photoexcitation known as “Z-scheme”, which mimics the natural photosystem. This process solely relies on the effective coupling and suitable band positions of semiconductors (SCs) and redox mediators for the purpose to catalyze the surface chemical reactions and significantly deter the backward reaction. In recent years, the Z-scheme strategies and their key role have been studied progressively through experimental approaches. In addition, theoretical studies based on density functional theory have provided detailed insight into the mechanistic aspects of some breathtakingly complex problems associated with hydrogen evolution reaction and oxygen evolution reaction. In this context, this critical review gives an overview of the fundamentals of Z-scheme photocatalysis, including both theoretical and experimental advancements in the field of photocatalytic water splitting, and suggests future perspectives

Variations in Pulmonary Function in Relation with the Menstrual Cycle in Healthy Adult Female

Objective: To compare the respiratory parameters during different menstrual versus luteal phases of the menstrual cycle in healthy adult female. Methodology: This comparative study was conducted in research lab physiology department of Liaquat University of medical and health sciences Jamshoro, from January 2018 July 2018.  Adult healthy non-pregnant females aged between 18 and 24 years were Included. Each participant was advised to visit the Physiology Lab on a particular date for pulmonary function test during menstrual (1-5th day) and luteal (19-22th day) phases, based on their menstrual history. Using the Power lab AD tools 15:HT Computerized Spirometer and parameters recorded on Labtutor software, the participants were made to undertake pulmonary function testing in distinct menstrual cycle stages. All the data was collected via study proforma. Results: Mean age of the cases was 20.03+6.30 years and mean duration of menstrual cycle was 28.62±1.35 days. Mean FVC value was significantly higher in luteal phase (2.57) as compared to menstrual phase (2.50) (p-0.016).  Average FEV1 value was significantly higher in luteal phase (2.61) compared to menstrual phase (2.53) (p-0.009). Average values of PEF and FEV1/FVC were also significantly higher in luteal phase as compared to menstrual phase (p-<0.05). Conclusion: Pulmonary functions as well as respiratory efficiency were significantly improved in luteal phase compared to menstrual phase of menstrual cycle, which were enumerated in this study thus suggesting a possible beneficial role of progesterone in improvement of respiratory parameters. The reason could be the bronchodilator effect of progesterone, its level remains higher during this phase

Techno-economic feasibility of combine harvester (class denominator

ABSTRACT Techno-economic feasibility of using combine harvester (Class Denominator) was carried out by determining harvesting losses, timeliness of harvesting, field capacity, fuel consumption, noise and dust pollution, frequency of repair/maintenance and operating cost of the machine. The results indicated that combine had an average harvesting losses of about 1.25% of wheat yield. Grain breakage losses (5.7%) were bit higher. The machine was able to harvest 2.5 to 3.0 acres in an hour. The fuel consumption of the combine was found to be 15 L of diesel per acre. As the machine was not equipped with a proper cab, dust and noise pollution posed threat to the operator's health. The machine needed only two to three persons for its operation and costs about Rs 860/acre to the user. The combine is an efficient, economical, labor and time saving machine but its initial cost is quite high. To promote this high cost technology, it is suggested that the District Governments of present set up should make arrangements at Tehsil Council level to provide combine to the farmers on rental basis

Classic virilizing congenital adrenal hyperplasia presenting late: case series from Pakistan

Deficiency of 21 hydroxylase enzyme deficiency (21OH) activity accounts for 90% cases of congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH). This results in deficient cortisol, increased ACTH, adrenal hyperplasia and increased adrenal androgen secretion. There is marked virilization in genetic females which is the hallmark of this disorder. Genetic heterogeneity in 21 OHD is well recognized, and both severe and mild forms occur. We present three cases of adult females with the disease from a larger study to establish genotype, phenotype correlation of Pakistani patients with congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) and to highlight issues such as diagnostic delay, inappropriate gender assignment at birth, and high degree of consanguinity among parents, psychosexual outcome of 21 OHD females and the need to develop expertise for early case detection. The analysis was done using Amplification Refractory Mutation System (ARMS) PCR. These cases show that CAH frequently remains undiagnosed during the newborn period in our population due to lack of awareness in the society and lack of proper diagnosis by the primary physician. There is a need to develop expertise for early case detection

Cytotoxicity, In vitro anti-Leishmanial and fingerprint HPLC- photodiode array analysis of the roots of Trillium govanianum.

Trillium govanianum Wall. ex D. Don (Melanthiaceae alt. Trilliaceae), commonly known as 'nagchhatry' or 'teen patra', distributed from Pakistan to Bhutan about 2500-3800 m altitude is indigenous to Himalayas region. In folk medicine the plant has been reported for the treatment of wound healing, sepsis and in various sexual disorders. This paper reports, for the first time, to evaluate the cytotoxicity, in vitro anti-leishmanial (promastigotes) and fingerprint HPLC-photodiode array analysis of the MeOH extract of the roots of T. govanianum and its solid phase extraction fractions. Reverse phase HPLC-PDA based quantification revealed the presence of significant amount of quercetin, myrecetin and kaemferol ranging from 0.221to 0.528 μg/mg DW. MeOH extract revealed distinguishable protein kinase inhibitory activity against Streptomyces 85E strain with 18 mm bald phenotype. The remarkable toxicity profile against brine shrimps and leishmanial was manifested by MeOH extract with LC50 10 and 38.5 μg/mL, respectively

A bibliometric analysis of end-of-life vehicles related research:exploring a path to environmental sustainability

Considering rapid economic development and continuously increasing environmental concerns, end-of-life vehicles (ELVs) have significant socioeconomic value as a crucial waste stream. The research relating to ELVs has rapidly evolved over the last few years. However, existing review studies focus on specific research themes, and thus, fail to present a complete picture. Hence, this research intends to explain the current research scenario relating to ELVs by reviewing the critical published studies of the last 22 years. A total of 1405 research publications were extracted from the Scopus database covering the period from 2000 to 2021. Mainly employing bibliometric analysis techniques, this research analyzes the quantity of literature, researchers, institutions, countries, and research themes to understand the current status and future trends in ELV recycling and management. The results revealed a considerable rise in the number of articles published in the last five years. The key producers of influential ELV research are listed as the United States, China, and the United Kingdom. Globally, Chinese universities have the most ELV-related articles published. Similarly, Serbian researcher Vladimir Simic authored the most ELV-related articles during the research period. This article also identifies various research themes: management and recycling, resource recovery and components, life cycle evaluation, and socioeconomic effects. The results also reveal a strong association between distinct ELV research clusters