Comparison of Crop Water Productivity of Traditional and Hybrid Maize Varieties

A field study was conducted on clay loam soil at the research farm of The University of Agriculture Peshawar during Kharif 2012. Objective of the study was to compare the crop water productivity of maize using two traditional (V1=Azam and V2=Jalal) and two hybrid (V3=3025W and V4=30K08) varieties having four replicates. Soil moisture was determined by gravimetric method taking into account soil moisture, rainfall, and irrigation water applied. Crop water productivity (CWP) was calculated by dividing grain yield and total seasonal water applied to each variety. Results showed that CWP of maize variety V1 ranged from 0.75-0.8 kg m-3 with a mean of 0.8 kg m-3, CWP of V2 ranged from 0.82-0.91 kg m-3 with a mean of 0.85 kg m-3, CWP of V3 ranged from 1.16-1.23 kg m-3 with a mean of 1.19 kg m-3 and CWP of V4 ranged from 1.19-1.31 kg m-3 with a mean value of 1.24 kg m-3. Crop water productivity in case of V1 was low compared to FAO reported values. CWP was found statistically significant (P ? 0.05) for the selected maize varieties. Results showed that among all the varieties V4 performed better therefore, it is recommended for irrigated areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Key Words: crop water productivity, hybrid maize, traditional varieties

A comparison of intrinsic and extrinsic compensation instruments: the case of National Bank Of Pakistan (NBP)

The paper aims to compare the compensation instruments which are used as the factors of motivation in the banking sector of Pakistan. With a case study research design, structured interviews were conducted from the fifty ( 5 0 ) employees of NBP branches in district Attock. The responses of interview were scaled and scored according to standardized Likert technique, in such a way that scores for each response were added and then multiplied with total responses. After obtaining scores of the nine compensation factors, Pearson Product correlation was calculated to check the relationship between the compensation factors. The results show that the employees of National Bank of Pakistan were motivated both by the intrinsic as well extrinsic factors of compensation, in such way that extrinsic factors were more causing motivation. The paper has concluded that Compensation Management has a profound direct positive relationship with employee motivation level and intrinsic factors played important role in the motivation process. The paper recommends that public sector banks shall apply progressive human resource strategy and provide healthy compensation plans regarding benefits and intrinsic factors

Alpha-glucosidase and carbonic anhydrase inhibition studies of Pd(II)-hydrazide complexes

This study focused on the synthesis and characterization of hydrazide ligands and their respective Pd(II) complexes and used high throughput screening to determine their α-glucosidase and carbonic anhydrase II enzyme inhibition activities. The physical, analytical (elemental analyses for C, H, N and Pd) and spectral (FT-IR, 1H NMR, 13C NMR, EI-mass) techniques utilized during characterization revealed the formation of square planar, neutral and 1:2 Pd(II)-hydrazide complexes with the general formula [PdL2Cl2]. In these Pd(II) complexes, the hydrazide ligands are monodentate; the terminal nitrogen is the donor atom. The uncoordinated hydrazide ligands were inactive against both α-glucosidase and carbonic anhydrase II enzymes; however, the respective Pd(II)-hydrazide complexes were approximately 300 times more potent α-glucosidase inhibitors than the standard compound, 1-deoxynojirimycin (DNJ). Some of the Pd(II) complexes also demonstrated potential carbonic anhydrase (CA) inhibition properties comparable to the standard compound, acetazolamide (ACZ).Higher Education Commission of Pakistan for financial support (‘The National Research Grants Program for Universities’, grant No.1862/R&D/10) and MMT acknowledges the support from Fulbright Scholar Award from The J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board. Open Access funded by King Saud University

PREVALENCE OF DENGUE VIRAL INFECTION IN PESHAWAR, KPK, PAKISTAN

Background: Dengue is a widespread mosquito-borne viral infection in human beings, which is a major public health concern all over the world. In recent years, dengue is predominant in the tropics and subtropics with a high incidence and increased considerably over the last three decades. Objective: To investigate the prevalence of dengue in Peshawar, Khyber Pakhunkhwa, Province of Pakistan. A total of 823 samples were collected from 823 patients by puncturing the vein in aseptic condition. Serum of patient was analyzed by Immunochromatography technique (ICT). Results: Out of patients, 671 were male and 152 were female. Among the total of 823 samples, 196 (23.81%) patients were positive for Dengue Non-Structure 1 (NS1) while 627 (76.18%) were negative. In male patients 147 (21.90%) were positive for Dengue NS1 while 524 (78.09%) were negative. Out of 152 (18.46%) female patients 49 (32.23%) were positive for Dengue NS1 and remaining 103 (67.76%) were negative. Conclusion: It is concluded that the prevalence of dengue infection is higher in male than in female due to susceptibility of male to certain risk of dengue. Key Words: Prevalence, Dengue viral infection, Peshawa

Pathology-Based Tumour Registry Analysis of Cases of Female Genital Tract Malignancies

Objective: To study the frequency and distribution of Female genital tract (FGT) malignancies through data recouped from the tumour registry of Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, Rawalpindi Pakistan. Study Design: Retrospective longitudinal study. Place and Duration of Study: Histopathology Department, Armed Force Institute of Pathology, Rawalpindi Pakistan, from 2009-2018 Methodology: A total of 1586 cases of malignant tumours of FGT were retrieved from the AFIP tumour registry, and data were analyzed in terms of the age of the patients' site of the tumour. It was also compared with regional and international data. Results: Thirty-seven thousand seven hundred ninety-three malignant cases were reported at AFIP from 2009-2018, out of which 1586(4.19%) were of the female genital tract. Ovarian malignancies were most frequent among FGT tumours,637(40.1%), followed by uterine tumours 519(32.6%). Carcinoma of the cervix was found in 237 cases (15%). Vulva and vaginal cases were seen in only 7.7% patients. The FGTs ranked fourth among the top ten commonest tumours in females. Conclusion: The most common malignancy of the female genital tract was ovarian cancer. Endometrial carcinoma was the second most frequent gynaecological malignancy, followed by cervical carcinoma. Ovarian malignancies were in fourth position among the top ten commonest female tumours in the current analysis as well, as in the previous analysis from AFIP

Knowledge Attitude and Practice of Dental Professionals Towards Diabetes Mellitus in Islamabad Dental Hospital

OBJECTIVES The aim of this study was to determine general dentists and dental students knowledge, attitudes and practices regarding diabetes mellitus, a major public health issue with oral complications. METHODOLOGY This cross-sectional study design was conducted in Islamabad dental hospital for three months on House officers and final year BDS students. A convenience sampling technique was used for the sample. A pretested questionnaire was selected from the previous study. After approval of the IRB, the questionnaires were distributed among participants of the research. The descriptive analysis of the collected data was done by using SPSS software version 20. RESULTS The overall results of knowledge of dentists towards diabetes scored high (90%), 80% of the respondents had a positive attitude towards diabetes mellitus. Less than half (20%) of the dentists scored poor in the practice of diabetes mellitus, while about three fourth of the respondents had a good score (80%). CONCLUSION Dentists in Islamabad dental hospital have good knowledge and practice skills regarding diabetes. The attitude of the dental practitioners in Islamabad dental hospital regarding diabetes is also positive

Safety and efficacy of ketamine xylazine along with atropine anesthesia in BALB/c mice

Anesthetics are an indispensable prerequisite for surgical intervention and pharmacological animal studies. The objective of present study was to optimize the dose of ketamine (K) and xylazine (X) along with atropine sulfate (A) in order to achieve surgical tolerance in BALB/c mice. Several doses of ketamine (100, 150, 200 mg/kg) and xylazine (10, 15, 20 mg/kg) were mixed and combination of nine doses (K/X: 100/10, 100/15, 100/20, 150/10, 150/15, 150/20, 200/10,200/15,200/20) were evaluated (n=9 per combination). A constant dose of atropine (0.05 mg/kg) was also used to counter side effect. Timerelated parameters were evaluated on the basis of reflexes. KX at dose 200/20 mg/kg produced surgical tolerance in all nine mice with duration 55.00±6.87 minutes. The induction time 0.97±0.09 minutes, sleeping time 90.67±5.81 minutes and immobilization time (102.23±6.83 minutes) were significantly higher than all combination. However, this combination was considered unsafe due to 11 % mortality. While, KX at dose 200/15 mg/kg results in none of the mortality, so was considered as safe. Moreover, this combination produces surgical tolerance in 89 % mice with duration (30.00±7.45 minutes). It was concluded that KX at dose 200/15 mg/kg along with atropine 0.05 mg/kg is safe for performing surgical interventions in BALB/c mice

4-Methoxy­benzohydrazide

The title compound, C8H10N2O2, is stabilized by three inter­molecular hydrogen bonds of the N—H⋯O and N—H⋯N types. Two intra­molecular inter­actions of the N—H⋯O and C—H⋯O types are also observed

On the Type-I Half-logistic Distribution and Related Contributions: A Review

The half-logistic (HL) distribution is a widely considered statistical model for studying lifetime phenomena arising in science, engineering, finance, and biomedical sciences. One of its weaknesses is that it has a decreasing probability density function and an increasing hazard rate function only. Due to that, researchers have been modifying the HL distribution to have more functional ability. This article provides an extensive overview of the HL distribution and its generalization (or extensions). The recent advancements regarding the HL distribution have led to numerous results in modern theory and statistical computing techniques across science and engineering. This work extended the body of literature in a summarized way to clarify some of the states of knowledge, potentials, and important roles played by the HL distribution and related models in probability theory and statistical studies in various areas and applications. In particular, at least sixty-seven flexible extensions of the HL distribution have been proposed in the past few years. We give a brief introduction to these distributions, emphasizing model parameters, properties derived, and the estimation method. Conclusively, there is no doubt that this summary could create a consensus between various related results in both theory and applications of the HL-related models to develop an interest in future studies

Hepatoprotective role of vitexin against cadmium-induced liver damage in male rats: A biochemical, inflammatory, apoptotic and histopathological investigation

Financiado para publicación en acceso aberto: Universidade de Vigo/CISUGCadmium (Cd) is one of the potent occupational and environmental toxicants, which induces oxidative stress to the multiple organs of the body, including liver. The present investigation was planned to evaluate the protective role of vitexin against Cd-prompted hepatotoxicity in rats. 24 male rats were divided into 4 groups viz. control, Cd-induced group (5 mg/kg), Cd + vitexin-treated group (2 mg/kg + 30 mg/kg), and vitexin-treated group (30 mg/kg). After 30 days of treatment, it was indicated that Cd escalated the level of liver function enzymes namely alanine transaminase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) as well as total bilirubin. Whereas the levels of albumin and total proteins were decreased in the rats. Additionally, it reduced the enzymatic activities of catalase (CAT), superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GPx), glutathione reductase (GSR) and glutathione-S-transferase (GST), in addition to glutathione (GSH) content, whereas levels of malondialdehyde (MDA) and reactive oxygen species (ROS) were escalated. Furthermore, level of nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB), tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), interleukin-1 beta (IL-1β) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) as well as the activity of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) were increased. Besides, the level of Bax, caspase-9 and caspase-3 were elevated, while the Bcl-2 level was reduced following the Cd intoxication. Histopathological observation revealed significant hepatic tissue damage in Cd-administered rats. However, treatment of rats with vitexin significantly (p < 0.05) improved the Cd-induced disruptions in biochemical parameters as well as histological damages. Therefore, it is concluded that vitexin could be used as a therapeutic agent to counter the Cd-generated hepatic toxicity in rats owing to its anti-oxidant, anti-apoptotic and anti-inflammatory potential