A note on morphometric and length-weight relationship of Upeneus moluccensis (Bleeker) off Veraval coast

Upeneus moluccensis were collected from the catches of bottom fish trawl of "M. V. Saraswati" off Veraval coast in the area lat. 20 degree 26 N and long. 70 degree 35 E. The fish were analysed for length-weight relationship and morphometric characters. The fishes were found to vary from 116 to 161 mm in length and 20.0 to 50.0 g in weight. The exponent value and correlation coefficient for length-weight relationship was found to be 2.73 and 0.991 respectively

Extensions of beta and related functions

In this paper, we introduce and investigate a new extension of the beta function by means of an integral operator involving a product of Bessel-Struve kernel functions. We also define a new extension of the well-known beta distribution, the Gauss hypergeometric function and the confluent hypergeometric function in terms of our extended beta function. In addition, some useful properties of these extended functions are also indicated in a systematic way

Prevalence, incidence and molecular identification of root-knot nematodes of tomato in Pakistan

Tomato is a widely grown vegetable in Pakistan. However, its production is severely constrained by root knot nematodes (RKNs). Accurate identification of RKNs is essential for an appropriate control program. The current study evaluated the prevalence, incidence and diversity of RKNs of tomato crops grown in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province and their identification using molecular tools. A field survey, including 30 commercial tomato fields, was conducted in ten major tomato growing areas of Swat and Malakand divisions during spring 2010. The overall prevalence and incidence in the study area was 83.3 and 52.0%, respectively. Three species of RKNs, Meloidogyne arenaria, M. incognita and M. javanica were found alone or in mixed populations. Disease incidence ranged from 10% in Malakandher to 100% and 90 to 100% in Jabban and Malakand, respectively. The greatest galling index (GI) (5.0) and egg mass index (EMI) (5.0) was recorded in samples from Jabban, whereas the lowest GI and EMI were recorded in samples from Malakandher and Peshawar. The population density of RKNs was highest in roots (633.0 eggs and second-stage juveniles) and soil (533.0 eggs and second-stage juveniles) samples of Jabban. DNA amplification with rDNA (D2A-D3B) and (194 to 195) primers amplified 750 and 720 bp products for M. arenaria, M. incognita and M. javanica, respectively. Amplification with sequence characterized amplified regions (SCAR) primers produced characteristic products of 420 bp for M. arenaria (Far/Rar), 1200 bp for M. incognita (Finc/Rinc), and 670 bp for M. javanica (Fjav/Rjav). DNA amplification of mtDNA with C2F3/1108 primers yielded a 1700 bp size product for all three species of RKNs in comparison with 520 and 750 bp for M. chitwoodi and enterolobii, respectively, which were utilized as control. Sequencing the 28S rDNA product generated with the D2A-D3B primers did not differentiate among the three Meloidogyne spp. from the study area.Key words: Meloidogyne, species identification, perineal pattern, sequence characterized amplified regions (SCAR) primers

Colchicine, COVID-19 and hematological parameters: A meta-analysis

Introduction: Colchicine has the potential in reducing patient morbidity and mortality in COVID-19 infection owing to its anti-inflammatory properties. This study aims to determine the efficacy of colchicine in optimizing inflammatory hematological biomarker levels among COVID-19 patients.Methods: In accordance to Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) 2020 statement guidelines, a systematic search was conducted using the following keywords: Colchicine, covid*, SARS-CoV-2, anti-inflammatory, trials, clinical, hematological, laboratory. Databases were searched from December 2019 until August 26, 2021: MEDLINE/PubMed, Web of Science, Cochrane, Scopus, and EMBASE. Other sources were located through ClinicalTrials.Gov, manually searching SAGE, Science Direct, Elsevier, and Google Scholar. The meta-analysis was conducted using Review Manager 5.4.Results: In total, six studies were included, of which four reported c-reactive protein (CRP) standardized mean reductions in the colchicine group (N = 165) as opposed to the control (N = 252; SMD = -0.49, p \u3c 0.001). On noting lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) values post treatment, the colchicine group (N = 204) showed significant reductions at the end of treatment compared to control (N = 290; SMD = -0.85, p \u3c 0.001). Finally, the D-dimer values in colchicine groups (N = 129) compared to control (N = 216) also documented a negative effect size (SMD = -0.9, p \u3c 0.001).Conclusion: Colchicine has efficacy in reducing inflammatory biomarkers observed in moderate-to-severe COVID-19 patients. It may be worthwhile to consider monitoring the clinical and laboratory parameters of patients in further trials to consider colchicine as a strong candidate for an adjunct to COVID-19 treatment

Anakinra treatment efficacy in reduction of inflammatory biomarkers in COVID-19 patients: A meta-analysis

Introduction: Anakinra is being empirically considered for the treatment of COVID-19 patients. The aim is to assess the efficacy of anakinra treatment on inflammatory marker reduction, including c-reactive protein (CRP) concentrations, serum ferritin, and serum d-dimer levels.Methods: Adhering to PRISMA 2020 statement guidelines, a systematic search was conducted across the following databases from December 2019 until January 10, 2022: PubMed/MEDLINE, Cochrane Central, Web of Science, Scopus, and EMBASE. The following keywords were employed: Anakinra, COVID*, SARS-CoV-2, inflammatory, CRP, D-dimer, Ferritin, hematological, laboratory, clinical, trials. The findings were collated and presented in a tabulated manner, and statistically analyzed using Review Manger 5.4 (Cochrane).Results: In total, 2032 patients were included (881 in the anakinra and 1151 in the control/standard care group); 69.1% of them were males. Overall, the mean difference from admission until last follow-up in CRP values was -9.66, where notable reductions were seen in the anakinra group (SMD = -0.46, p \u3c 0.00001, N = 655). Serum ferritin mean values were reduced by 1467.16 in the anakinra group (SMD = -0.31, p = 0.004, N = 537). D-dimer mean values were largely reduced by 4.04 in the anakinra group (SMD = -0.38, p = 0.0004, N = 375).Conclusion: This study finds that anakinra is potentially a strong candidate as an anti-inflammatory agent to reduce mortality in COVID-19 patients, specifically in patients with elevated inflammatory biomarkers

Pericardial fluid proteomic label-free quantification of differentially expressed proteins in ischemic heart disease patients with systolic dysfunction by nano-LC-ESI-MS/MS analysis

Left ventricular systolic dysfunction (LVSD) is common in patients with pre-existing ischemic heart disease (IHD) and myocardial infarction. An untargeted proteomic approach is used to improve the understanding of the molecular mechanisms associated with LVSD and to find out potential proteomic signatures in pericardial fluid. The pericardial fluid of IHD (n = 45) patients was grouped into two categories according to the left ventricular ejection fraction, LVEF ≥45 (n = 33) and LVEF \u3c45 (n = 12), and analyzed by using nano-liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry (nano-LC-MS/MS) technique. The nano-LC-MS/MS analysis resulted in the identification of 709 pericardial fluid (PF) proteins in both normal and impaired systolic functional groups (LVEF ≥45 vs. LVEF \u3c45). Sixteen proteins were found to be differentially expressed (p \u3c 0.05, fold change \u3e2) including 12 down-regulated and 4 up-regulated in the impaired systolic functional group (LVEF \u3c45) compared to the normal group (LVEF ≥45). Among the differentially expressed proteins the inflammatory marker albumin, atherosclerosis marker apolipoprotein A-IV and hedgehog-interacting protein marker of angiogenesis were predominantly associated with the impaired LVEF \u3c45 group. KEGG pathway analysis revealed that the hedgehog (Hh) signalling pathway is up-regulated in LVSD reflecting the underlying molecular and pathophysiological processes

Incentive Based Load Shedding Management in a Microgrid Using Combinatorial Auction with IoT Infrastructure

This paper presents a novel incentive-based load shedding management scheme within a microgrid environment equipped with the required IoT infrastructure. The proposed mechanism works on the principles of reverse combinatorial auction. We consider a region of multiple consumers who are willing to curtail their load in the peak hours in order to gain some incentives later. Using the properties of combinatorial auctions, the participants can bid in packages or combinations in order to maximize their and overall social welfare of the system. The winner determination problem of the proposed combinatorial auction, determined using particle swarm optimization algorithm and hybrid genetic algorithm, is also presented in this paper. The performance evaluation and stability test of the proposed scheme are simulated using MATLAB and presented in this paper. The results indicate that combinatorial auctions are an excellent choice for load shedding management where a maximum of 50 users participate

A mutation in the major autophagy gene, WIPI2, associated with global developmental abnormalities

We describe a large consanguineous pedigree from a remote area of Northern Pakistan, with a complex developmental disorder associated with wide-ranging symptoms, including mental retardation, speech and language impairment and other neurological, psychiatric, skeletal and cardiac abnormalities. We initially carried out a genetic study using the HumanCytoSNP-12 v2.1 Illumina gene chip on nine family members and identified a single region of homozygosity shared amongst four affected individuals on chromosome 7p22 (positions 3059377–5478971). We performed whole-exome sequencing on two affected individuals from two separate branches of the extended pedigree and identified a novel nonsynonymous homozygous mutation in exon 9 of the WIPI2 (WD-repeat protein interacting with phosphoinositide 2) gene at position 5265458 (c.G745A;pV249M). WIPI2 plays a critical role in autophagy, an evolutionary conserved cellular pathway implicated in a growing number of medical conditions. The mutation is situated in a highly conserved and critically important region of WIPI2, responsible for binding PI(3)P and PI(3,5)P2, an essential requirement for autophagy to proceed. The mutation is absent in all public databases, is predicted to be damaging and segregates with the disease phenotype. We performed functional studies in vitro to determine the potential effects of the mutation on downstream pathways leading to autophagosome assembly. Binding of the V231M mutant of WIPI2b to ATG16L1 (as well as ATG5–12) is significantly reduced in GFP pull-down experiments, and fibroblasts derived from the patients show reduced WIPI2 puncta, reduced LC3 lipidation and reduced autophagic flux