Proximate composition of Mystus bleekeri in relation to body size and condition factor from Nala Daik, Sialkot, Pakistan

Proximate composition of small catfish, Mystus bleekeri, from Nala Daik, Sialkot, Pakistan was investigated and fluctuation in relation to body size and condition factor was carried out. Mean percentages for water, fat, protein and ash contents in the whole wet body weight of wild M. bleekeri were 77.87, 3.26, 15.01 and 3.87%, respectively. Body composition of the fish was effected by body size; however, condition factor remains constant with observed body constituents (% water, fat, protein, ash and organic contents). Highly significant (P<0.001) correlation Found between percentage water and percentage fat, protein, ash and organic contents in both wet and dry body weight. Investigation of body size on body constituents Reflected decrease in relative amount of water, skeleton (wet and dry weight), increase in fat (dry weight), protein, organic contents (wet and dry weight), and no effect on fat (wet weight) with growth of fish. Additionally, the first reference for proximate composition for M. bleekeri is provided.Key words: Proximate composition, body size, condition factor, predictive equation, catfish, Mystus bleekeri

Some aspects of the analytical chemistry of malathion

A thorough investigation of the recommended colorimetric method for the determination of malathion (an organophosphorus pesticide) has led to the identification of the major cause of all the problems with which the method suffers. The method, which involves the extraction of the copper (II) complex or the hydrolysis product of malathion from aqueous solution into immiscible organic solvents, has many drawbacks. For example, the colour of the organic extract fades very quickly and a slight increase in the contact time of the hydrolysis product and the copper reagent within the aqueous solution, results in a decrease in the ab-solute absorbance. Also, the presence of any reducing agents can be a significant source of error. In the present work, it has been shown that the basic cause of all these problems is the ability of copper (II) ion to be reduced to copper (I) ion. It has further been shown that these problems can be resolved by re-placing copper (II) by bismuth (III). This has led to the development of a modified colorimetric method for the determination. of malathion, which has distinct advantages over all other existing methods in terms of reagents required, ease in application, avoidance of interferences and stability of colour for extended periods of time. The modified colorimetric method described above has been further improved by making use of a ligand exchange reaction involving dithizone. The resulting final organic extract in this case is bright orange in colour, the absorbance of which can be measured even with simple photometers. The usefulness of the modified colorimetric method has been demonstrated by determining malathion in technical products, and in aqueous solution containing the compound down to sub ppm levels. The scope and applicability of atomic absorption spectrophotometry has been extended by demonstrating for the first time that the technique can be used for the indirect determination of malathion. Almost all of the work described above has been accepted for publication by international journals and considerable interest in the work has been shown by chemists working in the field of pesticide analysis and research

Contemporary Issues in Current Account Operations in Pakistani IBs - Sharia Compliant Solution

Contemporary Sharia scholars have three stances about the Current Account Operations in Pakistani Islamic Banks (IBs) i.e., (i) Ijarah based contract (ii) Wadi'ah based contract, and (iii) Qard based contract. This paper is an attempt to delve into the root causes of the differences of scholars and to find the Sharia-compliant solution acceptable for all. Descriptive as well as applied approaches are used in this paper. Clearing of ambiguity on this issue may result in twofold benefits: from the public point of view, it would satisfy practising Muslims which may result in form of huge deposits in this account (ii) from IBs viewpoint the Current Account is a bonus deposit

External morphometric study of hatchery reared mahseer (Tor putitora) in relation to body size and condition factor

Different samples of Mahseer (Tor putitora) were examined for the study of external morphometric characters of the fish. Slopes of log transformed data were used for comparison with an isometric slopes (b=1, b= 0.33 or b= 3). Relationships between wet body weight and external body parts lengths showed that increasing trend was found in all the parameters with the increase in wet body weight. Length of all the external body parts was also found to be increase with the increase in total length of the fish. Highly significant correlation (r = 0.9436) was found with negative allometric growth in the length-weight relationship. Wet body weight showed positive correlation with external body parts length and their weights. The relationship between wet body weight and the condition factor was found linear with no significant correlation, but with total length, it showed inverse relationship with highly significant correlation. This study will help to recognize the morphometric of different variants and to improve body weight for fish breeding and commercial growth.Key words: External morphometery, body size, condition factor, Tor putitor

Generation of mice carrying a knockout-first and conditional-ready allele of transforming growth factor beta2 gene

Transforming growth factor beta2 (TGFβ2) is a multifunctional protein which is expressed in several embryonic and adult organs. TGFB2 mutations can cause Loeys Dietz syndrome, and its dysregulation is involved in cardiovascular, skeletal, ocular, and neuromuscular diseases, osteoarthritis, tissue fibrosis, and various forms of cancer. TGFβ2 is involved in cell growth, apoptosis, cell migration, cell differentiation, cell-matrix remodeling, epithelial-mesenchymal transition, and wound healing in a highly context-dependent and tissue-specific manner. Tgfb2(-/-) mice die perinatally from congenital heart disease, precluding functional studies in adults. Here, we have generated mice harboring Tgfb2(βgeo) (knockout-first lacZ-tagged insertion) gene-trap allele and Tgfb2(flox) conditional allele. Tgfb2(βgeo/βgeo) or Tgfb2(βgeo/-) mice died at perinatal stage from the same congenital heart defects as Tgfb2(-/-) mice. β-galactosidase staining successfully detected Tgfb2 expression in the heterozygous Tgfb2(βgeo) fetal tissue sections. Tgfb2(flox) mice were produced by crossing the Tgfb2(+/βgeo) mice with the FLPeR mice. Tgfb2(flox/-) mice were viable. Tgfb2 conditional knockout (Tgfb2(cko/-) ) fetuses were generated by crossing of Tgfb2(flox/-) mice with Tgfb2(+/-) ; EIIaCre mice. Systemic Tgfb2(cko/-) embryos developed cardiac defects which resembled the Tgfb2(βgeo/βgeo) , Tgfb2(βgeo/-) , and Tgfb2(-/-) fetuses. In conclusion, Tgfb2(βgeo) and Tgfb2(flox) mice are novel mouse strains which will be useful for investigating the tissue specific expression and function of TGFβ2 in embryonic development, adult organs, and disease pathogenesis and cancer. genesi

A novel algorithm for integrated control model using swarm robots for intruder detection and rescue schedules

Due to the development of computer controlled tools and expansion of integrated computing applications, more and more controller functions are turning to software implementations. A novel controlling algorithm is designed for continuous optimization tasks. However, they are used to thoroughly optimize and apply different areas. The most intelligent swarm algorithms have been designed for continuous optimization problems. However, they have been applied to discreet optimization and applications in different areas. This article gives experimental results on the control of swarm robots with the help of integrated control model (ICM), around its own axis. Such methodology is quite impressive in development of applications for surveillance, path planning, intruder and obstacle detection, model errors in communication to remove uncertainty. The ICM control design performance is based on comprehensive swarm robot model for the identification of actuators from testing data. The same ICM controllers are designed to be compared with the PID controllers in a variety of tests and collected feedback found 12.37%, 8.69% and 12.09% improved on the basis of thrust produced in the propellers for surveillance

Large-scale shell-model calculations near mass region 100-130

308-313In this work, we have presented a microscopic shell-model description of the structure and collective behavior of intermediate-mass nuclei around doubly magic 100Sn and 132Sn nuclei. The Sn-isotopes lie between the two doubly magic nuclei and cover a range from exotic proton-rich N=Z nuclei to exotic neutron-rich nuclei with N/Z > 1.6. The results obtained using BIGSTICK code for the low-level excitation states and transition probabilities for the studied Sn and Ba isotopic chains have been discussed in the radiance of available experimental data. We have used 100Sn as a core for all the studied isotopes with the same valence space (i.e. 1d5/2, 2s1/2, 1d3/2, 0g7/2, 0h11/2 or ‘sdgh’) for both protons (Z) and neutrons (N) between 50 and 82. These calculations are performed by means of globally optimized monopole effective interaction for the sdgh-shell

Development of a Method for the Determination of Chromium and Cadmium in Tannery Wastewater Using Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy

This paper illustrates systematic development of a convenient analytical method for the determination of chromium and cadmium in tannery wastewater using laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS). A new approach was developed by which liquid was converted into solid phase sample surface using absorption paper for subsequent LIBS analysis. The optimized values of LIBS parameters were 146.7 mJ for chromium and 89.5 mJ for cadmium (laser pulse energy), 4.5 μs (delay time), 70 mm (lens to sample surface distance), and 7 mm (light collection system to sample surface distance). Optimized values of LIBS parameters demonstrated strong spectrum lines for each metal keeping the background noise at minimum level. The new method of preparing metal standards on absorption papers exhibited calibration curves with good linearity with correlation coefficients, R2 in the range of 0.992 to 0.998. The developed method was tested on real tannery wastewater samples for determination of chromium and cadmium

Antimicrobial, hemolytic and thrombolytic activities of some new N-substituted-2-({5-[(1E,3E)F-4-(1,3-benzodioxol- 5-yl)-1,3-butadienyl]-1,3,4-oxadiazol-2-yl}sulfanyl) propanamides

Purpose: To synthesize and evaluate the bioactivity of some N-substituted-2-({5-[(1E,3E)-4-(1,3- benzodioxol-5-yl)-1,3-butadienyl]-1,3,4-oxadiazol-2-yl}sulfanyl)propanamides (9a-o) of the alkaloid piperine (1) extracted from P. nigrum (black pepper).Methods: Extract 1 was subjected to basic hydrolysis to obtain piperic acid (2). The heterocyclic 1,3,4- oxadiazole ring was synthesized from 2 through the formation of an ester and carbohydrazide. A series of electrophiles, 8a-o, were synthesized in the presence of 10 % Na2CO3. The final compounds, 9a-o, were synthesized by stirring 5-[(1E,3E)-4-(1,3-benzodioxol-5-yl)-1,3-butadienyl]-1,3,4-oxadiazol-2-thiol (5) and 8a-o in LiH/DMF. Spectral analysis was performed using infrared (FTIR), proton nuclear magnetic resonance (1H-NMR) and electron impact mass spectrometry (EI-MS) to determine the structures of 9a-o. Antimicrobial activity was evaluated as zone of inhibition by disc diffusion method. Hemolytic and thrombolytic activities were determined by measuring absorbance before and after incubation of blood cells with test compound.Results: Compound 9d strongly inhibited Bacillus subtilis and Escherichia coli with zone of inhibition values of 16 mm for each. The reference drug, rifampicin, showed zone of inhibition of 21 and 23 mm against B. subtilis and E. coli, respectively. Compound 9a strongly inhibited Aspergillus niger with a zone of inhibition of 18 mm compared to the reference drug, fluconazole, with a zone of inhibition of 19mm.Conclusion: The newly synthesized compounds are more active antimicrobial agents than piperine. Compounds 9a and 9d are the most active.Keywords: Piper nigrum, Piperine, Propanamide, Hemolytic, Thrombolytic, Black peppe