Left Ventricular Systolic Dysfunction in Patients of Obstructive Sleep Apnea Syndrome

Objective: To determine the left ventricular systolic dysfunction and the association of various factors with this dysfunction in patients with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome. Study Design: Cross-sectional study. Place and Duration of Study: Pak Emirates Military Hospital, Rawalpindi Pakistan, from Dec 2020 to May 2021. Methodology: We included the patients diagnosed with sleep apnea syndrome by a consultant pulmonologist based on a sleep study. Patients were labelled as having left ventricular systolic dysfunction if the ejection fraction was less than 40% on echocardiography. Results: Eighty patients diagnosed with sleep apnea syndrome were included in the study. The mean age of the study participants was 48.551±9.971 years. Out of 80 patients, 19(23.75%) had left ventricular systolic dysfunction on echocardiography, while 61(76.25%) had no evidence of left ventricular systolic dysfunction. With the application of relevant statistical tests, we found that patients with high body mass index and the presence of comorbid illnesses had a statistically significant relationship (p-value<0.05) with the presence of left ventricular systolic dysfunction among patients with sleep apnea syndrome. Conclusion: Considerable number of patients suffering from obstructive sleep apnea syndrome showed the presence of left ventricular systolic dysfunction on echocardiography. High Body mass index and comorbid illnesses emerged as risk factors for left ventricular systolic dysfunction in our study population

Exopolysaccharides producing bacteria for the amelioration of drought stress in wheat

This research was designed to elucidate the role of exopolysaccharides (EPS) producing bacterial strains for the amelioration of drought stress in wheat. Bacterial strains were isolated from a farmer’s field in the arid region of Pakistan. Out of 24 isolated stains, two bacterial strains, Bacillus subtilis (Accession No. MT742976) and Azospirillum brasilense (Accession No. MT742977) were selected, based on their ability to produce EPS and withstand drought stress. Both bacterial strains produced a good amount of EPS and osmolytes and exhibited drought tolerance individually, however, a combination of these strains produced higher amounts of EPS (sugar 6976 µg/g, 731.5 µg/g protein, and 1.1 mg/g uronic acid) and osmolytes (proline 4.4 µg/mg and sugar 79 µg/mg) and significantly changed the level of stress-induced phytohormones (61%, 49% and 30% decrease in Indole Acetic Acid (IAA), Gibberellic Acid (GA), and Cytokinin (CK)) respectively under stress, but an increase of 27.3% in Abscisic acid (ABA) concentration was observed. When inoculated, the combination of these strains improved seed germination, seedling vigor index, and promptness index by 18.2%, 23.7%, and 61.5% respectively under osmotic stress (20% polyethylene glycol, PEG6000). They also promoted plant growth in a pot experiment with an increase of 42.9%, 29.8%, and 33.7% in shoot length, root length, and leaf area, respectively. Physiological attributes of plants were also improved by bacterial inoculation showing an increase of 39.8%, 61.5%, and 45% in chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, and carotenoid content respectively, as compared to control. Inoculations of bacterial strains also increased the production of osmolytes such asproline, amino acid, sugar, and protein by 30%, 23%, 68%, and 21.7% respectively. Co-inoculation of these strains enhanced the production of antioxidant enzymes such as superoxide dismutase (SOD) by 35.1%, catalase (CAT) by 77.4%, and peroxidase (POD) by 40.7%. Findings of the present research demonstrated that EPS, osmolyte, stress hormones, and antioxidant enzyme-producing bacterial strains impart drought tolerance in wheat and improve its growth, morphological attributes, physiological parameters, osmolytes production, and increase antioxidant enzymes

EFFECT OF CORPORATE GOVERNANCE INDEX ON DIVIDEND POLICY: AN INVESTIGATION OF TEXTILE INDUSTRY OF PAKISTAN

This study observed empirically the impact of corporate governance index on dividend payout policy by using the data of seventeen textile firms listed in Karachi Stock Exchange. The data covered the five years period from 2009 to 2013. The data were gathered from financial statements of all the sample firms. Multiple regression models were used to check the impact of corporate governance on dividend policy. No effect of corporate governance index on firm dividend policy was found, and the largest shareholders also had no impact on dividend pay-out policy. The association between payout policy and stock value was found to be significant positive. Gross profit margin and operating profit margin had significant positive impact on firm’s dividend payout policy. There is a significant correlation between firm performance and payout policy