Description of stomatopod larvae from the Arabian Sea

The Northern Arabian Sea Ecological and Environmental Research (NASEER) Programme cruise I, January, 1992 and other collections from Manora Channel (Karachi) were examined. Six stages i.e. IV, VII, VIII, IX, X and XI of stomatopod larvae are recognized. Day samples talen in 1994 (January to December) from Manora Channel revealed the presence of only three specimens of stage IV. They all belong to the family Squillidae. Each stage is measured, described and illustrated. None of the stages could be correlated to their adults

Estimation of Vehicle Damage Cost Involved in Road Traffic Accidents in Karachi, Pakistan: A Geospatial Perspective

AbstractRoad Traffic Accidents (RTAs) are serious but ignored problem in Pakistan. Now this problem is under limelight due to disastrous impacts over society in general and over economy in particular. Karachi is considered to be the most income generating city of Pakistan. This city holds a typical feature of most road traffic accidents facing in the country and the fourth highest RTA fatalities in the world. More than 26,000 road accidents occur on the arteries of Karachi every year making it a worrisome place. Outcome of RTAs could be measured in tangible manner i.e., in term of number of life loss but intangible losses are very difficult to measure. In this paper an attempt has been made to capture the potential flaws in road geometry through Remote Sensing and embedding the land use data through the inventory of Geographic Information Systems. Moreover, overlay analysis techniques helps in identifying the high accident cost areas. In Karachi, over 35,000 vehicles are involved in crashes every year, resulting in loss of life as well as wealth. The overall repair cost over the vehicles involved in all types of RTAs in year2012 is more than 20,000,000 PKR with Landhi Town showing the highest cost. Shah Faisal Town showed the minimum repair cost of over 300,000 due to its small aerial extent and lesser number of economic land use making it a safer place for vehicle users. Moreover, map of Karachi showing the spatial pattern of vehicle repair cost. It is suggested that the serious measures need to be undertaken to combat this problem

Ruin Theory for Dynamic Spectrum Allocation in LTE-U Networks

LTE in the unlicensed band (LTE-U) is a promising solution to overcome the scarcity of the wireless spectrum. However, to reap the benefits of LTE-U, it is essential to maintain its effective coexistence with WiFi systems. Such a coexistence, hence, constitutes a major challenge for LTE-U deployment. In this paper, the problem of unlicensed spectrum sharing among WiFi and LTE-U system is studied. In particular, a fair time sharing model based on \emph{ruin theory} is proposed to share redundant spectral resources from the unlicensed band with LTE-U without jeopardizing the performance of the WiFi system. Fairness among both WiFi and LTE-U is maintained by applying the concept of the probability of ruin. In particular, the probability of ruin is used to perform efficient duty-cycle allocation in LTE-U, so as to provide fairness to the WiFi system and maintain certain WiFi performance. Simulation results show that the proposed ruin-based algorithm provides better fairness to the WiFi system as compared to equal duty-cycle sharing among WiFi and LTE-U.Comment: Accepted in IEEE Communications Letters (09-Dec 2018

The effect of endurance training on the level of tissue IL-6 and VEGF in mice with breast cancer

زمینه و هدف: تمرینات ورزش پتانسیلی در جهت پیشگیری از سرطان پستان دارد. هدف پژوهش حاضر بررسی اثرات پیشگیری و کمک درمانی تمرینات ورزشی بر سایتوکاین های درگیر در رگ زایی تومور سرطان پستان وابسته به گیرنده استروژن می باشد. روش بررسی: در این مطالعه مداخله ای 50 سر موش بالب سی ماده به طور تصادفی در چهار گروه قرار گرفتند. پس از آشناسازی با محیط دو گروه از موش ها به مدت 8 هفته تمرین استقامتی تداومی را انجام دادند و سپس سلول های سرطانی وابسته به استروژن (MC4-L2) به همه موش ها تزریق گردید. پس از آن یک گروه از موش های تمرین کرده و یک گروه از موش های تمرین نکرده به مدت 6 هفته، 5 روز در هفته تمرینات استقامتی را انجام دادند. حجم تومور به صورت هفتگی با کولیس دیجیتالی اندازه گیری شد. در پایان موش ها قربانی شدند و بافت تومور برداشته و سطوح سایتوکاین های اینترلوکین 6 (IL-6) و فاکتور رشد اپی تلیال عروق (VEGF) با روش الایزا اندازه گیری شد. یافته ها: بین گروه ها در میزان مقادیر IL-6 و VEGF و میزان رشد تومور تفاوت معناداری وجود داشت (001/0PP). نتیجه گیری: با توجه به افت مقادیر IL-6 و VEGF در گروه هایی که قبل از سرطانی شدن و پس از سرطانی شدن تمرینات ورزشی را انجام دادند؛ می توان گفت که تمرینات ورزشی علاوه بر نقش پیشگیرانه بسیار موثر، دارای نقش درمانی در تومورهای وابسته به گیرنده استروژن نیز می باشند

Drug resistance profile and biofilm forming potential of Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolated from contact lenses in Karachi-Pakistan

BACKGROUND: The contaminated contact lens provides Pseudomonas aeruginosa an ideal site for attachment and biofilm production. Continuous contact of the eye to the biofilm-infested lens can lead to serious ocular diseases, such as keratitis (corneal ulcers). The biofilms also prevent effective penetration of the antibiotics, which increase the chances of antibiotic resistance. METHODS: For this study, 22 Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolates were obtained from 36 contact lenses and 14 contact lens protective fluid samples. These isolates were tested against eight commonly used antibiotics using Kirby-Bauer disk diffusion method. The biofilm forming potential of these isolates was also evaluated using various qualitative and quantitative techniques. Finally, a relationship between biofilm formation and antibiotic resistance was also examined. RESULTS: The isolates of Pseudomonas aeruginosa tested were found resistant to most of the antibiotics tested. Qualitative and quantitative biofilm analysis revealed that most of the isolates exhibited strong biofilm production. The biofilm production was significantly higher in isolates that were multi-drug resistant (p < 0.0001). CONCLUSION: Our study indicates that multi-drug resistant, biofilm forming Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolates are mainly involved in contact lens associated infections. This appears to be the first report from Pakistan, which analyzes both antibiotic resistance profile and biofilm forming potential of Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolates from contact lens of the patients with contact lens associated infections

Analysis of Population Growth and Urban Development in Lahore-Pakistan using Geospatial Techniques: Suggesting some future Options

Population is the main focus in all studies within the framework of geography because population and basic natural resources are intimately related to each other and with the prospects of urban development and quality of the environment in a region. Therefore, the study and analysis of population growth and distribution in the urban development is the logical starting point for any research of the present nature. Lahore is 2nd largest city of Pakistan in terms of its share in total population of the country. The total population of Lahore was 6,318,745 as per 1998 Census. Systematic monitoring of the urban development, proper management of the City and planned future development would lead to improvement in the living standards and environmental conditions of the millions of people living in the city of Lahore. Remote sensing along with the GIS technology can be used effectively and economically in the analysis and the inventory of urban development and land use and land cover study of the urban settlements. It provides database for the site suitability for further urban development and growth corridors in this fast growing metropolis of the country

A randomized controlled clinical study to evaluate efficacy and safety of a topical Unani formulation in the management of Nār Fārsī (Eczema)

644-650Nar Farsi (Eczema) is a very common skin inflammatory disorder. Its prevalence varies according to age groups and country to country. The Unani system of medicine offers its successful management. In this study, efficacy and safety of a topical Unani formulation was assessed and compared with a standard drug. A prospective, non inferiority, randomized, active controlled and parallel group study was designed to study 60 participants of eczema (30 participants in each group). The Unani formulation Marham Safeda Kafoori was studied as a test drug for 6 weeks versus allopathic medicine Clobetasol Propionate in the study. The study findings suggested that the Unani formulation was non inferior to Clobetasol Propionate in terms of percentage of reduction in itching, oozing, exudation, erythema, lichenification and cracking at 6 weeks of treatment. It was observed that the difference of the mean±SD of SASSAD Score was measured as 12.83±4.76 and 14.13±5.27 in test and control groups respectively. The result was analysed as per protocol and it was found that the efficacy of the Unani formulation was statistically significant (p<0.001). This study concluded that the Unani formulation was safe and effective in the treatment of eczema