Activity of Indoleamine 2, 3 Dioxygenase (IDO) in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus Patients in Pakistan

To assess the activity of Indoleamine 2, 3 Dioxygenase (IDO) in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus Patients in PakistanMethods: In this prospective study, activity and expression of IDO , was assessed in sera of diabetics and healthy controls (n=28). Colorimetric Assay was performed to analyze IDO activity in samples.Results: A significant difference was observed between the means of control and diabetic patients with a p-value of 0.0001.Conclusion: IDO concentrations were significantly higher in the serum of samples of diabetes mellitus patients as compared to contro

Allelopathic inhibition of germination, seedling growth and cell division of selected plant species by Calotropis procera (Ait.) Ait.

Calotropis procera (Ait.) Ait. is perennial medicinal obnoxious shrub growing in Pakistan up to 1500 m altitude. Hot and water aqueous extracts from leaves and young stems of C. procera were used against Pennisetum glaucum (Linn.) R. Br., Setaria italica (Linn.) P. Beauv., Brassica campestris Linn. and Lactuca sativa L. under laboratory condition. It was seen that germination, seedling growth, fresh and dry biomass reduced in concentration dependent manner. It was observed that the allelopathic effects depended upon the tested species, growth parameter measured, soaking duration and concentration of the donor plant material. The C. procera litter incorporated into the growth medium inhibited the test species used. The C. procera extracts from leaves were more inhibitory than stem extracts. The tendency of inhibition was radical growth > germination > plumule growth suggesting radicle growth to be a better measure of allelopathy. Leaf extracts significantly reduced division and size of cells. It is suggested that aqueous extract from C. procera can be further assessed against microbes and weed under laboratory and field condition

Factors Affecting Job Turnover: A Case Study of Private Schools of District Swat

 Several factors force employees to leave the organization. This study examines the relationship among job turnover intention, workload, low pay and job stress in private schools at district swat. For this purpose, the data has been collected from of two hundred and forty eight employees. The results of the study indicated that workload, low pay and job stress are significantly positive related to turnover intention. This study also suggested that for overcoming the turnover from the schools enough salary should be given to employees to motivate them and retained

Location effect on heritability estimates of yield traits in mungbean derived from F2 populations

Heritability and genetic advance were estimated in four F2 mungbean populations (Ramzan×ML-5, NM- 92×NM-1919, NM-1919×ML-5 and ML-5×NM-51) at two locations (Peshawar and Swat) of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, Pakistan, during 2008. Combined analysis exhibited highly significant differences among the genotypes and locations for pods plant-1, pod length, seeds pod-1, 1000-seed weight and seed yield. Similarly, genotype-by-location interaction was highly significant for pods plant-1 and 1000-seed weight. Averaged over five parents and four F2 populations, means for clusters plant-1, pods plant-1, pod length, seeds pod-1, 1000-seed weight and seed yield plant-1 at Peshawar and Swat were 9.2 vs. 9.8, 28.7 vs. 35.3, 8.5 vs. 8.7 cm, 9.3 vs. 10.0, 50.4 vs. 56.5 g and 7.1 vs. 7.6 g, respectively. Broad-sense heritability estimates in four F2 population of mungbean ranged from 0.22 to 0.70 and 0.34 to 0.58 for clusters plant-1, 0.33 to 0.75 and 0.19 to 0.61 for pods plant-1, 0.19 to 0.74 and 0.45 to 0.68 for pod length, 0.21 to 0.58 and 0.48 to 0.66 for seeds pod-1, 0.34 to 0.63 and 0.58 to 0.89 for 1000-seed weight and 0.15 to 0.64 and 0.45 to 0.61 for seed yield at Peshawar and Swat, respectively. Genetic advance was greater at Swat than at Peshawar. Among the four F2 populations, genetic improvement of yield-associated traits will be more effective in Ramzan×ML-5 and ML-5×NM-51. Moreover, among the parents, ML-5 showed good combination with Ramzan and NM-51

Frequency of Tension-Type Headache in Patients with Migraine: A Single-Center Cross-Sectional Study

ABSTRACT Background and objective: Migraine is a common headache disorder characterized by recurrent episodes of moderate to severe headaches which are usually unilateral. Migraine is the second most common headache disorder after tension-type headache. The objective of this study was to determine the frequency of tension-type headache in patients with migraine. Methods: This cross-sectional study was carried out at Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences, Islamabad for a period of six months between 1st July 2018 and 31st December 2018. This study enrolled patients above the age of 12 years that were diagnosed with “Migraine without aura” or “Migraine with aura”. The patients were subsequently asked for presence of features of tension-type headache. The criteria published by International Headache Society, ICHD-3 was used for making the diagnosis of migraine and tension-type headache. The data was analyzed using SPSS version 17. In the case of numerical variables, the mean and standard deviation were calculated. In the case of categorical variables, the frequency and percentage were calculated. All data were presented in tables and figures. Results: One-hundred-forty-two patients participated in the study. The age range was between 14 and 72 years. The mean age was 30.12 years. Female patients were 76.1 percent. Eighty patients were married, and 15.5 percent patients did not receive education; 72.5 percent patients were from urban background. Seventy-five (52.8%) patients had migraine with aura while 67 (47.2%) patients had migraine without aura. Twenty-nine (20.4%) patients of migraine had coexistent tension-type headache while 113 (79.6%) patients of migraine did not have tension-type headache. Conclusion: Tension type headache was an infrequent finding in our study population of migraine patients

Factors Affecting Job Turnover: A Case Study of Private Schools of District Swat

 Several factors force employees to leave the organization. This study examines the relationship among job turnover intention, workload, low pay and job stress in private schools at district swat. For this purpose, the data has been collected from of two hundred and forty eight employees. The results of the study indicated that workload, low pay and job stress are significantly positive related to turnover intention. This study also suggested that for overcoming the turnover from the schools enough salary should be given to employees to motivate them and retained

Salvia reflexa (Lamiaceae): a new record for Pakistan

Salvia reflexa Hornem., a member of the New World subgenus Calosphace, ranges from North America to southern South America, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Afghanistan in Asia, and still continues to expand its range. Here we report further range expansion for S. reflexa into the tribal areas of Pakistan and hypothesize that it has been introduced from Afghanistan. This represents a new record for the flora of Pakistan

The role of random forest and Markov chain models in understanding metropolitan urban growth trajectory

IntroductionThis study delves into the spatiotemporal dynamics of land use and land cover (LULC) in a Metropolitan area over three decades (1991–2021) and extends its scope to forecast future scenarios from 2031 to 2051. The intent is to aid sustainable land management and urban planning by enabling precise predictions of urban growth, leveraging the integration of remote sensing, GIS data, and observations from Landsat satellites 5, 7, and 8.MethodsThe research employed a machine learning-based approach, specifically utilizing the random forest (RF) algorithm, for LULC classification. Advanced modeling techniques, including CA–Markov chains and the Land Change Modeler (LCM), were harnessed to project future LULC alterations, which facilitated the development of transition probability matrices among different LULC classes.ResultsThe investigation uncovered significant shifts in LULC, influenced largely by socio-economic factors. Notably, vegetation cover decreased substantially from 49.21% to 25.81%, while forest cover saw an increase from 31.89% to 40.05%. Urban areas expanded significantly, from 7.55% to 25.59% of the total area, translating into an increase from 76.31 km2 in 1991 to 258.61 km2 in 2021. Forest area also expanded from 322.25 km2 to 409.21 km2. Projections indicate a further decline in vegetation cover and an increase in built-up areas to 371.44 km2 by 2051, with a decrease in forest cover compared to its 2021 levels. The predictive accuracy of the model was confirmed with an overall accuracy exceeding 90% and a kappa coefficient around 0.88.DiscussionThe findings underscore the model’s reliability and provide a significant theoretical framework that integrates socio-economic development with environmental conservation. The results emphasize the need for a balanced approach towards urban growth in the Islamabad metropolitan area, underlining the essential equilibrium between development and conservation for future urban planning and management. This study underscores the importance of using advanced predictive models in guiding sustainable urban development strategies

Porous and highly responsive polymeric fabricated nanometrices for solubility enhancement of acyclovir; characterization and toxicological evaluation

Solubility is one of the major factors which affects several therapeutic mioeties in terms of their therapeutic efficacy. In the current study, we presented a porous and amorphous nanometrices system for the enhancement of the solubility of acyclovir. The polymeric network was fabricated by crosslinking polyethylene glycol-6000, polycaprolactone, and β-cyclodextrin with methacrylic acid by optimizing free radical polymerization technique using methylene bisacrylamide as a crosslinking agent. The formulated nanometrices were then characterized by zetasizer, FTIR, PXRD, Scanning electron microscopy, Thermogravimetric analysis, swelling, sol-gel fraction, drug loading, stability, solubility, and in-vitro dissolution analysis. Since the formulated system has to be administered orally, therefore to determine the in-vivo biocompatibility, nanometrices were administered orally to experimental animals. SEM images provided a rough and porous structure while PXRD showed an amorphous diffractogram of the unloaded and loaded nanometrices. Moreover, the particle size of the optimum loaded formulation was 25 nm higher than unloaded nanometrices due to the repulsion of the loaded drug. A significant loading of the drug with enhanced solubility and dissolution profiles was observed for the poorly soluble drug. The dissolution profile was quite satisfactory as compared to the marketed brand of drug which depicted that the solubility of the drug has been enhanced. Toxicity study conducted on rabbits confirmed the biocompatibility of the nanometrices. The systematic method of preparation, enhanced solubility and high dissolution profile of the formulated nanometrices may be proved as a promising technique to enhance the solubility of poorly aqueous soluble therapeutic agents