Citrus Tristeza Virus: An Increasing Trend in the Virus Occurrence and Distribution in Citrus Fruits of Northwest, Pakistan

Citrus tristeza clostervirus (CTV) is one of the most damaging fruit viruses playing havoc in citrus orchards around the world. Here, we report, an ELISA-based indexing of citrus trees over a period of eight years (2002 to 2010) in Northwest Pakistan, revealing that the incidence of CTV is increasing mainly with the distribution of infected rootstocks, putting citrus industry at the verge of complete annihilation. The surveys revealed that the average incidence of CTV in 10 major citrus growing districts in the Northwest of Pakistan has steadily increased from 24% (in 2002) to 31, 35, 39 and 44 in 2004, 2006, 2008, 2010, respectively. Maximum per cent increase of CTV was in citrus orchards in district Haripur, that is, 27.50% and followed by 26% increase of the virus incidence in district Swat during 2002 to 2010. The incidence of the virus was correlated with use of sour orange as root stock with rough lemon. In orchards, where rough lemon was used as root stock; the incidence of CTV was comparatively low. A comparative study of the virus incidence conducted during 2006 to 2012 in sweet orange trees grafted on sour orange and rough lemon in Northwest indicated an average per cent incidence 43 and 37, respectively. This is the first comprehensive study on citrus fruits to determine an increasing trend of CTV in Northwest of Pakistan where citrus industry has been a major source of income for local farmers. An extensive rescue plan needs to be placed to avoid complete destruction of this exportbased industry.Keywords: Citrus, Tristeza, Citrus Tristeza Clostervirus (CTV), ELISA, Incidence, Pakista

Phase Transformation in Micro-Alloyed Steels

Phase transformation in crystalline solid is an important factor that designs the microstructure and plays a great role in alloy development. Iron has an allotropic form, and this unique metallurgical property leads to phase transformation. Addition of micro-alloying elements enhances the phase transformation scenarios in steels. Phase transformation due to the addition of micro-alloying elements, together with exceptional precipitation hardening capabilities, substantially improves mechanical properties of steels of different grades. Ferrite transforming to other phases reduces the hardenability of steels. Micro-addition of elements forms precipitation in ferrite and austenite, which controls the microstructure and hence the mechanical properties of steels. Besides, interactions between different deformation sequences used in the production of steel and addition of elements as solute or precipitates regulate the microstructure. Ferrite grain refinement depends on the refinement of austenite grain size in one case, and austenite grain size growth can be varied by addition of various elements. Thus, a variety of elements influences phase transformation that leads to significantly modified properties

Chikungunya outbreak in Bangladesh (2017) : clinical and hematological findings

A massive outbreak of Chikungunya occurred in Bangladesh during the period of April-September, 2017 and over two million people were at risk of getting infected by the virus. A prospective cohort of viremic patients was constituted and analyzed to define the clinical, hematological and long-term aspects of this outbreak. A 35-day long comprehensive survey was conducted in two major, neighboring cities, Dhaka and Mymensingh. One-hundred and eighty-seven clinically proven Chikungunya cases were enrolled in the cross-sectional cohort study. Additionally, a smaller group of 48 Chikungunya patients was monitored for post-infection effects for 12 months. Clinical data revealed that a combination of fever and arthralgia (oligoarthralgia and/or polyarthralgia) was the cardinal hallmark (97.9% of cases) of the infection. Hematological analysis showed that, irrespective of age groups, hemoglobin level significantly decreased and erythrocyte sedimentation rate remarkably increased in Chikungunya confirmed patients. However, the majority of the patients had a normal range of whole WBC and platelet counts; RBC counts for mid aged (40 – 60 years) and senior (61+ years) patients (especially in the females) were beyond the reference values. The post-infection study revealed that children had an early recovery from the infection compared to the adults. Moreover, post-infection weakness, successive relapse of arthralgic pain and memory problems were the most significant aftereffects, which had an impact on daily activities of patients. This study represents a comprehensive overview of clinical and epidemiological features of the 2017 outbreak of Chikungunya in Bangladesh as well as its chronic outcomes till the 12th month. It provides insights into the natural history of this disease which may help to improve management of the Chikungunya patients.Author summeryThe clinical profile, epidemiology and the economic impacts during the acute phase of Chikungunya infection has been studied quite rigorously. However, studies regarding the hematological features and chronic consequences are very limited. In this study, a dataset of 187 clinically proven chikungunya patients were analyzed for the clinical and hematological features at acute phase of the infection. Additionally, the long-term consequences till month 12 after the infection were studied for a smaller group of 48 patients. Clinical data revealed that a combination of fever and joint pain (arthralgia) was the cardinal hallmark in the acute phase of the infection. Hematological analysis showed that, hemoglobin levels of the patients were significantly reduced and erythrocyte sedimentation rate increased remarkably. Also, RBC counts for mid-aged and older patients were beyond the reference values. The post-infection consequence study unveiled that children recovered better from the infection compared to the adults. Further, post-infection weakness, successive relapse of joint pain and memory problems were the most significant aftereffects. Overall, the infection had moderate to severe impact on daily activities of the respondents. This study provides insights into the clinical and hematological aspects of Chikungunya infection during the acute phase as well as describes an account for its chronic outcomes which puts forward to the knowledge for clinicians and epidemiologists regarding the infection diversity and to help improved patient management

Chikungunya outbreak in Bangladesh (2017) : clinical and hematological findings

Introduction: A massive outbreak of chikungunya virus (CHIKV) occurred in Bangladesh during the period of April-September 2017, and over two million people were at risk of getting infected by the virus. A prospective cohort of viremic patients was constituted and analyzed to define the clinical, hematological, and long-term aspects of this outbreak. Methods: A 35-day long comprehensive survey was conducted in two major, neighboring cities, Dhaka and Mymensingh. One-hundred and eighty-seven laboratory-confirmed CHIKV cases were enrolled in the cross-sectional cohort study. Additionally, a smaller group of 48 chikungunya patients was monitored for post-infection effects for 12 months. Results: Clinical data revealed that a combination of fever and arthralgia (oligoarthralgia and/or polyarthralgia) was the cardinal hallmark (97.9% of cases) of the infection. Hematological analysis showed that irrespective of age and sex groups, CHIKV patients had a decreased level of hemoglobin (n = 64, p < 0.01) and elevated erythrocyte sedimentation rate (n = 131, p < 0.01). Besides, a significant portion of the patients represented abnormal values for RBC (n = 38, p = 0.0005) and WBC (n = 63, p < 0.01) counts. The post-infection study revealed that children had an early recovery from the infection compared to the adults. Moreover, post-infection weakness, successive relapse of arthralgic pain, and memory problems were the most significant aftereffects, which had an impact on the daily activities of patients. Conclusions: This study represents a comprehensive overview of clinical and epidemiological features of the 2017 outbreak of CHIKV in Bangladesh as well as its chronic outcomes till the 12(th) month. It provides insights into the natural history of this disease, which may help to improve the management of CHIKV patients. Author summary: The clinical profile, epidemiology, and the economic impacts during the acute phase of chikungunya infection have been studied quite rigorously. However, studies regarding the hematological features and chronic consequences are infrequent. In this study, we analyzed the clinical and hematological features of 187 chikungunya patients in the acute phase of the infection. Also, we monitored a smaller group of 48 patients until 12 months to study its post-infection consequences. Clinical data revealed that a combination of fever and joint pain (arthralgia) was the cardinal hallmark in the acute phase of the infection. Hematological analysis showed that CHIKV infection features a significantly reduced hemoglobin and remarkably elevated erythrocyte sedimentation rate. Besides, RBC and WBC counts, especially in children and females, were beyond the reference values. The post-infection consequence study unveiled that children recovered better from the infection compared to the adults. Further, post-infection weakness, successive relapse of joint pain and memory problems were the most significant aftereffects. Overall, the infection had a moderate to severe impact on the daily activities of the respondents. This study provides insights into the clinical and hematological aspects of chikungunya infection during the acute phase as well as describes an account for its chronic outcomes, which puts forward to the knowledge for clinicians and epidemiologists regarding the infection diversity and to help improve patient management

PHARMACEUTICAL AND BIOPHARMACEUTICAL ASPECTS OF QUANTUM DOTS-AN OVERVIEW

In the twenty-first century, nanotechnology has become cutting-edge technology. It is interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary, covering numerous fields such as medicine, engineering, biology, physics, material sciences, and chemistry. The present work aims to cover the optical properties, method of preparations, surface modifications, bio-conjugation, characterization, stability, and cytotoxicity of quantum dots (QDs). Articles were reviewed in English literature reporting the pharmaceutical and bio-pharmaceutical aspects of QDs which were indexed in Scopus, web of science, google scholar and PubMed without applying the year of publication criterion. One significant value of utilizing nanotechnology is that one can alter and control the properties in a genuinely unsurprising way to address explicit applications' issues. In science and biomedicine, the usage of functional nanomaterials has been broadly investigated and has become one of the quick-moving and stimulating research directions. Different types of nanomaterial (silicon nanowires, QDs, carbon nanotubes, nanoparticles of gold/silver) were extensively utilized for biological purposes. Nanomedicine shows numerous advantages in the natural characteristics of targeted drug delivery and therapeutics. For instance, protection of drugs against degradation, improvement in the drug's stability, prolonged circulation time, deceased side effects, and enhanced distribution in tissues. The present review article deals with the quantum dots, their optical properties, method of preparations, surface modifications, bio-conjugation, characterization, stability, and cytotoxicity of quantum dots. The review also discusses various biomedical applications of QDs. The QDs-based bio-nanotechnology will always be in the growing list of unique applications, with progress being made in specialized nanoparticle development, the detection of elegant conjugation methods, and the discovery of new targeting ligands

Clinical and echocardiographic characteristics of patients with significant pericardial effusion requiring pericardiocentesis

Objective: Clinical and echocardiographic features of significant pericardial effusion (PE) have been reported from the west. Currently there is lack of published data from this part of the world, we reviewed all consecutive cases of significant PE requiring echocardiographic assisted pericardiocentesis to analyze the clinical and echocardiographic features of these patients.Methods: Forty four consecutive patients who underwent echocardiography assisted pericardiocentesis at the Aga Khan University Hospital (AKUH) between January 1988 and May 2001 re included in this review.Results: Most common presenting symptoms were dyspnea (89%) and fever (36%). Elevated JVP and pulsus paradoxus were documented in 59% and 41% of patients respectively. Sinus tachycardia (75%) and low voltage (34%) were the most common ECG findings. Malignancy (45-51%) and tuberculosis (27%) were among the most frequent causes of PE. One patient died during echocardiography-assisted pericardiocentesis.CONCLUSION: The symptoms and physical findings of haemodynamically significant PE are frequently nonspecific. Transthoracic echocardiography is the gold standard for rapid and confirmatory diagnosis of PE and cardiac tamponade. The most common cause of PE was malignancy followed by tuberculosis. Pericardiocentesis under echocardiographic guidance is a safe and effective treatment for significant PE