Estimating the Production Potential of Major Crops in Pakistan’s Irrigated Agriculture during the 21st Century

Land and irrigation are the basic resources in agriculture. The role and importance of these resources and their contribution towards productivity, in the context of the country’s increasing population, can hardly be exaggerated. Pakistani agriculture is set in a very distinctive situation of an increasing population on the one hand and diminishing resources on the other. The population of Pakistan was reported to be 131.63 million in 1996 and is projected to be 207 million in 2013 [Pakistan (1996) and WSIP (1990)]. The agriculture sector has to face the difficult task of doubling the existing food production by the turn of this century. The situation demands horizontal and vertical growth in the productivity, either by bringing more land under cultivation, or by increasing the cropping intensity of the existing land resources. This can also be accomplished by bringing more land under cultivation from the cultivable uncultivated area (a large proportion of which exists on medium and large farms under waterlogged or saline conditions). In this context, it becomes important to identify the nature of the relationship that exists between farm size and unculturable wastelands and the kinds of changes the green revolution/SCARPs projects introduced to this relationship.

High Resolution Melt Analysis (HRMA); a Viable Alternative to Agarose Gel Electrophoresis for Mouse Genotyping

Most mouse genetics laboratories maintain mouse strains that require genotyping in order to identify the genetically modified animals. The plethora of mutagenesis strategies and publicly available mouse alleles means that any one laboratory may maintain alleles with random or targeted insertions of orthologous or unrelated sequences as well as random or targeted deletions and point mutants. Many experiments require that different strains be cross bred conferring the need to genotype progeny at more than one locus. In contrast to the range of new technologies for mouse mutagenesis, genotyping methods have remained relatively static with alleles typically discriminated by agarose gel electrophoresis of PCR products. This requires a large amount of researcher time. Additionally it is susceptible to contamination of future genotyping experiments because it requires that tubes containing PCR products be opened for analysis. Progress has been made with the genotyping of mouse point mutants because a range of new high-throughput techniques have been developed for the detection of Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms. Some of these techniques are suitable for genotyping point mutants but do not detect insertion or deletion alleles. Ideally, mouse genetics laboratories would use a single, high-throughput platform that enables closed-tube analysis to genotype the entire range of possible insertion and deletion alleles and point mutants. Here we show that High Resolution Melt Analysis meets these criteria, it is suitable for closed-tube genotyping of all allele types and current genotyping assays can be converted to this technology with little or no effort.This work was supported by NHMRC (http://www.nhmrc.gov.au) grants 366476 and 1003648 (to R.M.A.). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript

Estimating the Production Potential of Major Crops in Pakistan’s Irrigated Agriculture during the 21st Century

Land and irrigation are the basic resources in agriculture. The role and importance of these resources and their contribution towards productivity, in the context of the country’s increasing population, can hardly be exaggerated. Pakistani agriculture is set in a very distinctive situation of an increasing population on the one hand and diminishing resources on the other. The population of Pakistan was reported to be 131.63 million in 1996 and is projected to be 207 million in 2013 [Pakistan (1996) and WSIP (1990)]. The agriculture sector has to face the difficult task of doubling the existing food production by the turn of this century. The situation demands horizontal and vertical growth in the productivity, either by bringing more land under cultivation, or by increasing the cropping intensity of the existing land resources. This can also be accomplished by bringing more land under cultivation from the cultivable uncultivated area (a large proportion of which exists on medium and large farms under waterlogged or saline conditions). In this context, it becomes important to identify the nature of the relationship that exists between farm size and unculturable wastelands and the kinds of changes the green revolution/SCARPs projects introduced to this relationship

Comparative evaluation of in vitro antioxidant potential of Punica granatum L. leaves extracts

A comparative evaluation of tannins, flavonoid, phenol quantification and antioxidant potential of aqueous, methanol, n-hexane, acetone and chloroform extracts of Punica granatum leaves were determined. Quantification of phenolic was carried out by the technique of Folin-Ciocalteau, using rutin as standard flavonoids were evaluated through the technique of colorimetry, tannin was measured by the difference of total phenolics and free phenolics assay procedure. Antioxidant activities were evaluated by four standards antioxidant techniques including Superoxide dismutase (SOD)-like activity, Hydrogen Peroxide (H2O2) scavenging activity,1, 1’-diphynyl- 2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) activity and Nitric oxide (NO) scavenging activity method using ascorbic acid as standard. The antioxidant activities showed that methanol extract at 500μg/mL calculated maximum DPPH inhibition activity was 78±1%, H2O2 scavenging activity was 90±0%, SOD-like activity was 88±0% and NO scavenging activity was 90±0%. The outcomes indicated the major antioxidant actions were carried out by the extract of methanol; the entire potential was increased in the directive of methanol> chloroform> acetone>aqueous>n-hexane extracts. The results indicate that Punica granatum leaves extracts to have potent antioxidant activities that would have beneficial effects on human health and methanol extracts are superior with better antioxidant potential. The leaves extracts of Punica granatum could be of enormousattention in the enhancement of top value-added secondary products and the appliance of functional and green substitutes in thecosmetics, food and pharma industries

Outcome of Acute Peritonitis Related To Cause and Duration Of Presentation

Objective: To determine the outcome of acute cause-related peritonitis correlated with the duration of inflammation within 24, 24-48, and after 48 hours of hospital admission. Methodology: This quasi experimental study was conducted at Surgical Ward #3, Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre from September 2019 to March 2021. Patients over 12 years old were included in this study. The duration, cause, and outcomes of peritonitis were noted. All complications were recorded and treated accordingly. Results: 136 patients between the ages of 13 to 80 years old were included, 104 were males (76.8%) and 32 females (23.18%). 37 patients (28.2%) were aged 13–20 years, 61 (44.2%) were aged 21–40, 33 (23.91%) were aged 41–60, and 5 (3.6%) were aged over 60 years. Mortality showed 2 patients (1.47%) expired in 24–48 hours, and 6 (4.4%) in 48 hours.  The cause of peritonitis included typhoid ileal perforation (41%), duodenal perforation (33%), ruptured appendix (28%), intestinal tuberculous (14%), gangrenous gut (7%), tumour perforation (6%), liver abscess (3%), and gastric perforation and rectal tear (1%). Notably, 2.4% of patients with typhoid peritonitis, 3.0% with duodenal perforation, 3.5% with ruptured appendix, 14.2% with tuberculous intestine, 33.3% with tumour perforation, and 100% with liver abscess perforation passed. Paralytic ileus (8%) and burst abdomen (8%), were the most common complications. Conclusion: Typhoid ileal perforation was the major cause of peritonitis, and paralytic ileus and burst abdomen were the most common complications contributing to the mortality rate

Safety and efficacy of bendamustine in the conditioning regimen for autologous stem cell transplantation in patients with relapsed/refractory lymphoma

Background: Bendamustine is an attractive option for the management of both de novo and relapsed lymphomas. It is being increasingly used in the conditioning regimen for autologous stem cell transplantation (SCT) and can be an alternative to the traditionally-used carmustine. In this study, we aimed to determine the safety and efficacy of bendamustine in the conditioning regimen for autologous SCT in refractory/relapsed lymphomas.Methods: We designed a descriptive study to evaluate bendamustine in combination with etoposide, cytarabine, and melphalan (BeEAM) in the conditioning regimen for autologous SCT.Results: Fourteen patients (median age, 28 yr) with Hodgkin\u27s lymphoma (HL) (N=8), non-Hodgkin\u27s lymphomas (NHL) (N=5), or peripheral T-cell lymphoma, not otherwise specified (PTCL NOS) (N=1) were included in the study. A median number of 5.95×106 CD34+ cells/kg were transfused. Median times to absolute neutrophil count and platelet engraftment were 17 days and 24 days, respectively. The 100-day transplantation mortality rate was 28% (4 patients). Eight patients (57.14%) had GII-III acute kidney injury, four patients (28.5%) had GIII-IV hyperbilirubinemia, and twelve patients (85%) had GII-III diarrhea. After 3 months, 37% (5 patients) and 21.4% (3 patients) demonstrated complete response and partial response, respectively. The median follow-up was 5.5 months (15 days-19 mo). At the final follow-up, 7 patients (50%) were alive and in CR.Conclusion: Our study showed that bendamustine is a potentially toxic agent in the conditioning regimen for autologous SCT, resulting in significant liver, kidney, and gastrointestinal toxicity. Further studies are required to assess its safety and efficacy at reduced doses

Historical References in the Poetry of Prominent Hilla Poets

يميط هذا البحث اللثام عن تجربة الشعراء، وكيفية تخصيب مرجعياتهم التاريخية على اختلاف ألوانها ونمطها وقضاياها، وهو ما نصبوا إليه في هذه الدراسة الخاصة بنصوص أبرز الشعراء الحليين، وكيفية أدلجة لغتهِم مع المرجعيات التاريخية، بالتعامل مع الأمثال القديمة، بالإضافة إلى العبارات التاريخية، مما مكنهم أن يكونَوا فرسانا في هذا المجال، وقد كان المنهج التحليلي هو النهج المتبع في تحليل وتفسير النصوص المختارة، كونها أخذت تحتل مكانة مهمة في موضوعات الأدب، وصارت موضوعاتها تستهوي عددا من الباحثين الذين تأثروا بها.This research will reveal the experience of the poets, and how to enrich their historical references of different colors, style and issues, which is what they aimed at in this study of the texts of the most prominent poets, and how to ideological their language with historical references, by dealing with ancient proverbs, in addition to phrases history, which enabled them to be a mare in this field The analytical method was the approach followed in analyzing and interpreting the selected texts, as it took an important place in literature topics, and its topics became attractive to a number of researchers who were influenced by it

Risk Factors of Intracerebral Hemorrhage – A Cross Sectional Study

ABSTRACT Background and Objective: Stroke is the major cause of disability and one of the top causes of death in the globe. Though the rate is decreasing in the West, it is most likely growing in Asia. In Pakistan, the burden of stroke risk factors is substantial. Although data on the incidence and prevalence of stroke in Pakistan is limited, there are several published case studies demonstrating major disparities in stroke epidemiology, risk factors, kinds, and patterns. This study aims to identify risk factors of intracerebral hemorrhage among patients presenting to a teaching hospital. Methods: From August 2019 to February 2020, 103 patients from DHQ Teaching Hospital Abbottabad\u27s medical units participated in this prospective cross-sectional research. A CT scan of the brain was performed in all patients to identify intra cerebral hemorrhage and was used to diagnose cerebrovascular events. In patients with intracerebral hemorrhage, detailed histories and medical records were thoroughly examined in order to identify risk factors such as uncontrolled hypertension. To detect poorly managed diabetes and hyperlipidemia, fasting blood glucose, fasting serum cholesterol, and fasting triglycerides were measured. SPSS 20 was used to evaluate the data obtained on a standardized proforma. Results: The majority of the patients (n=41) were over 70 years old, with 71 (68.93%) males and 32 (31.07%) females. Intracerebral hemorrhage was reported in 8.74 percent (n=9) of patients with acute cerebrovascular accidents, with 66.67 percent (n=6) having uncontrolled hypertension, 44.44 percent (n=4) having diabetes, and 33.33 percent (n=3) having hyperlipidemia. Conclusion: Intracerebral hemorrhage is prevalent in individuals who have had a cerebrovascular accident, and hypertension is the most common risk factor for this consequenc