Epidemiology of Onychomycosis in Gujranwala Division-Pakistan

Onychomycosis is a common fungal infection of nails. It is usually further divided into four types which are Distal and lateral subungual onychomycosis (DLSO), white superficial onychomycosis (WSO), proximal subungual onychomycosis (PSO) and candidal onychomycosis (CO). The main causative agents of onychomycosis are three fungal forms: dermatophytes, yeasts, and non-dermatophytes molds. In current study, occurrence frequency of various types of onychomycosis was observed in a selected region of Pakistan. Collected data were statistically analyzed at 0.001% significance level by using single factor ANOVA for comparative examination on the basis of gender, age and onychomycosis types. Results indicated that males suffer more than females, adults are more prone to get onychomycosis attack and DLSO is frequently occurring than other forms. The root causes of this epidemiological trend were lack of personal hygiene and health care awareness among masses and knowledge about symptoms and effects of onychomycosis meanwhile poverty was also found as a leading indirect reason for the spread of this nail disorder. Future researchers should find out cost effect local alternatives for treatment and control of onychomycosis along with some general public awareness program

Presence and Antibiotic Resistance of MDR Salmonella Isolates Recovered from Zea mays L. Farms Located near the Poultry Farms in Faisalabad-Pakistan

Background: Salmonella is the major food-borne pathogen associated with food products and causative agent of salmonellosis. Discharge of untreated wastes and leakage of poultry drainage in irrigation water might be the significant source of contamination in fields. The aim of this study was to investigate the presence of Salmonella in the rhizosphere and phyllo sphere of Zea mays L farm, following irrigation with ditch water contaminated with poultry drainage.Methods: Total 6 maize farms in and around Faisalabad (Pakistan) were selected nearby the poultry farm area. Irrigated water, rhizosphere and leaves were analyzed for presence of Salmonella. A total of 160 samples were collected from different farms. Samples were cultivated on SS agar media and incubated at 37oC.Results: Out of 160 samples, 39 showed positive growth for bacterial contamination. 18 samples were confirmed as Salmonella by morphological and biochemical characteristics. Our results indicated the presence of Salmonella isolates from irrigated water (n=10), from rhizosphere (n=5), from phyllo sphere (n=1) and from roots (n=2). Antibiotics susceptibility pattern of Salmonella isolates against routinely used antibiotics had indicated that 71% isolates were resistant to Tetracycline and Amikacin, and 65% resistance to Chloramphenicol. All the isolates were sensitive to Levofloxacin, Tobramycin, Cefepime, Gentamycin, Cefoxitin and Sulfamethoxale. All isolates were intermediate resistant to cefuroxime and ampicillin.Conclusion: From obtained result it is confirmed that Salmonella spp. have been found in irrigation water mixed with poultry drainage and could be a source of Salmonella contamination to the crops located near the poultry farms.Keywords: Rhizosphere; Zea mays L., Ditch water; Phyllo-sphere; Irrigation water

Lane Line Detection and Object Scene Segmentation Using Otsu Thresholding and the Fast Hough Transform for Intelligent Vehicles in Complex Road Conditions

An Otsu-threshold- and Canny-edge-detection-based fast Hough transform (FHT) approach to lane detection was proposed to improve the accuracy of lane detection for autonomous vehicle driving. During the last two decades, autonomous vehicles have become very popular, and it is constructive to avoid traffic accidents due to human mistakes. The new generation needs automatic vehicle intelligence. One of the essential functions of a cutting-edge automobile system is lane detection. This study recommended the idea of lane detection through improved (extended) Canny edge detection using a fast Hough transform. The Gaussian blur filter was used to smooth out the image and reduce noise, which could help to improve the edge detection accuracy. An edge detection operator known as the Sobel operator calculated the gradient of the image intensity to identify edges in an image using a convolutional kernel. These techniques were applied in the initial lane detection module to enhance the characteristics of the road lanes, making it easier to detect them in the image. The Hough transform was then used to identify the routes based on the mathematical relationship between the lanes and the vehicle. It did this by converting the image into a polar coordinate system and looking for lines within a specific range of contrasting points. This allowed the algorithm to distinguish between the lanes and other features in the image. After this, the Hough transform was used for lane detection, making it possible to distinguish between left and right lane marking detection extraction; the region of interest (ROI) must be extracted for traditional approaches to work effectively and easily. The proposed methodology was tested on several image sequences. The least-squares fitting in this region was then used to track the lane. The proposed system demonstrated high lane detection in experiments, demonstrating that the identification method performed well regarding reasoning speed and identification accuracy, which considered both accuracy and real-time processing and could satisfy the requirements of lane recognition for lightweight automatic driving systems

Interacting generalized anisotropic scalar field models

This paper is devoted to investigate the interacting generalized ghost pilgrim dark energy model in the background of anisotropic universe in general relativity. We analyze the two parameters i.e., hubble parameter and equation of state parameter to explore the cosmological evolution of the Bianchi type universe. We study scalar field dark energy models i.e., quintessence, dilaton, K-essence and tachyon to check the consistency of the current universe with their scalar field and corresponding potentials. Further, we check the compatibility of fractional density of matter and dark energy with recent observations of Plank along with their graphical analysis. It is remarkable to conclude that that both fractional densities admits consistency with Plank data 2018 in all cases of Bainchi type universe

Hybrid’s Hunt for Home: A Postcolonial Study of Bapsi Sidhwa’s Fiction

The present study aims at exploring the elements of hybridity and assimilation in the fictional expedition of Bapsi Sidhwa. The work in question adheres to the theoretical construct of Postcolonial theory by utilizing Bhabha’s concept of Hybridity which suggests that the colonizers and the colonized, through their interaction, mutually construct their subjectivities and this interaction destabilizes the hierarchy of superior and inferior cultures. The research is primarily qualitative in nature and the selected texts namely, An American Brat (1993) and The Crow Eaters (1980) are subjected to close reading for explicating the instances where the characters’ social practices and personal experiences display hybrid cultural forms, patterns and parameters. The novels actually depict a clash and an unbalanced conflict between different cultures. Though the characters yearn for saving their own cultures yet at the same time they are forced to sacrifice their traditions. . The current research shines light on the implications of multiculturalism and highlights an increasing interaction between different nations. The study contends that identity is a process, constantly being redesigned and refashioned. In the light of the findings, it can be concluded that identity is fluid, never complete, always in process owing to transnational and transcultural flows in the globalized world of today. The current study can be helpful in understanding the dynamics of identity and the challenges to the cultural purity in the world of diaspora

Street Harassment of Women in Lahore: Experiences, Consequences and Reporting Mechanism

Purpose: Urbanization, Women’s participation in education and work, and the patriarchal structure of Pakistani society are challenging women in urban communities, especially for their mobility. The present study aims to revolve around the experiences, consequences, and reactions of street harassment among young females of Urban Lahore. This study also aims to explore the perceptions of young females about public safety and comfort by exploring the reactions and reporting mechanism of young females to Street Harassment.  Design/Methodology/Approach: The research stance is interpretive consisting of 20 in-depth interviews of females between the ages of 18-35 years from Lahore. The sampling technique was snowball sampling and the data is transcribed and analyzed through thematic analysis. Findings: The major findings of the present research show that the bus stops and terminals are the major places of street harassment and the perpetrators of street harassment come from all walks of life. Young females have social, emotional, and physical consequences of such kind of harassment. There are many social and cultural barriers, including patriarchal society and its socialization patterns, blaming the victims and considering it a harmless act which stops women to report it legally but they started to talk about it, especially in informal settings. Implications/Originality/Value: Women need to have some support from their families and even from the passers in dealing with public or street harassment by not considering it a harmless act.                                                   &nbsp

Evolution of non-flat cosmos via GGPDE

This paper is devoted to explore the cosmic evolution of non-flat Friedmann Robertson Walker universe through generalized ghost pilgrim dark energy model in the background of f(R) gravity. For this purpose, we consider two well known scale factors, i.e., power-law and unified scale factors in terms of red shift parameter. For these scale factors, we reconstruct the given dark energy model in f(R) gravity and determine its stability/instability through squared speed of sound parameter. In order to discuss the behavior of reconstructed and dark energy models, we evaluate well known cosmological parameter such as equation of state parameter along with $$\omega$$–$$\omega '$$ plane. In addition to this, we also investigate compatibility of new models with standard cosmological models through state-finder parameters. The density parameter is formulated for both ordinary matter as well as dark energy components and results are compared with Planck 2018 constraints. It is concluded that cosmological parameters reveal consistency with recent observations while the value of density parameter suggested by Planck 2018 is achieved by power-law scale factor in most of the cases as compared to unified scale factor

Directly printable moisture sensor tag for intelligent packaging

A compact, flexible 24-b dual-polarized chipless radio frequency identification tag with a size of 20.6mm × 19.9mm is realized. The tag structure is optimized and analyzed for Taconic, Kapton TIN and organic substrate. The prototype fabricated on TIP photopaper with silver nanoparticles-based conductive ink is exhibiting a behavior of moisture sensor. The proposed moisture sensor tag has a bandwidth of 13.5GTIz. The direct printability of moisture sensor tag makes it suitable for intelligent packaging and various low-cost applications

G-C3N4/Ag@CoWO4: A novel sunlight active ternary nanocomposite for potential photocatalytic degradation of rhodamine B dye

Present study reports the fabrication of novel sunlight active heterogeneous photocatalyst, i.e. Ag@g-C3N4/CoWO4 for potential degradation of rhodamine B dye. The ternary nanocomposite was fabricated using thermal condensation of melamine to prepare g-C3N4 followed by coupling with silver doped cobalt tungstate (Ag@CoWO4) using the hydrothermal method. The novel composite photocatalyst (Ag@g-C3N4/CoWO4) along with pristine photocatalysts (g-C3N4 and Ag@CoWO4) were well characterized in term of morphology (scanning electron microscopy), structure (Fourier Transformed Infrared spectroscopy), crystallinity (X-ray diffraction), and composition (energy dispersive X-ray). The energy band gaps of catalysts were calculated using UV–visible spectroscopic analysis (Tauc plot). The characterization analysis supports the successful assembly of Ag@CoWO4 nanoparticles on the surface of g-C3N4 nanosheets with good crystallinity. The photocatalytic potential of novel catalysts was examined through the degradation of rhodamine B dye in water. The engineered heterojunction promotes photocatalytic activity and improves photo-generated charge separation. The results of the proposed research showed boosted sunlight active photocatalytic efficiency (97% in 120 min at pH 6) of novel composite against rhodamine B dye degradation. The kinetics of the reaction was determined using different models and RSM was used as a statistical tool for interaction and individual effects of influencing parameters. The numerical values of optimized parameters endorsed the results of RSM i.e. composite dose = 10mg/100 mL, H2O2 = 15 mM, and pH = 6.Dr. Muhammad Zahid (corresponding author) is thankful to TWAS (Grant No. 15-410 RG/MSN/AS_C–FR3240288961 under TWAS-COMSTECH joint Research Grant) for equipments and the University of Agriculture Faisalabad, Pakistan for facilities to conduct this research. The valuable support from Central Lab, LUMS Pakistan for characterization of samples is highly acknowledged

Asphaltene precipitation modeling in dead crude oils using scaling equations and non-scaling models: comparative study

Abstract This research study aims to conduct a comparative performance analysis of different scaling equations and non-scaling models used for modeling asphaltene precipitation. The experimental data used to carry out this study are taken from the published literature. Five scaling equations which include Rassamadana et al., Rassamdana and Sahimi, Hu and Gou, Ashoori et al., and log–log scaling equations were used and applied in two ways, i.e., on full dataset and partial datasets. Partial datasets are developed by splitting the full dataset in terms of Dilution ratio (R) between oil and precipitant. It was found that all scaling equations predict asphaltene weight percentage with reasonable accuracy (except Ashoori et al. scaling equation for full dataset) and their performance is further enhanced when applied on partial datasets. For the prediction of Critical dilution ratio (Rc) for different precipitants to detect asphaltene precipitation onset point, all scaling equations (except Ashoori et scaling equation when applied on partial datasets) are either unable to predict or produce results with significant error. Finally, results of scaling equations are compared with non-scaling model predictions which include PC-Saft, Flory–Huggins, and solid models. It was found that all scaling equations (except Ashoori et al. scaling equation for full dataset) either yield almost the same or improved results for asphaltene weight percentage when compared to best case (PC-Saft). However, for the prediction of Rc, Ashoori et al. scaling equation predicts more accurate results as compared to other non-scaling models