DETERMINING CARRYING CAPACITY OF UNTREATED AND TREATED AREAS OF MARI RESERVE FOREST (POTHWAR TRACT) AFTER RESEEDING WITH CENCHRUS CILIARIS

ABSTRACT Mari Reserve Forest of Pothwar tract covers an area of 3055 ha. Due to uncontrolled grazing, the range area has degraded and supports mainly unpalatable vegetation. In 2005-06, a 911 ha area was reseeded with Cenchrus ciliaris (Dhaman/Buffel grass). Forage production on both the reseeded/treated and untreated areas was measured in 2007 at the end of the growing season during October. The reseeded area produced about 16 times (7733 kg/ha) more forage than the untreated area (491 kg/ha). General Grass coverage on an average was 27% and 78% in untreated and treated pastures, respectively. Carrying capacity (Animal Units per Year) based on dry biomass of grasses/herbs was found to be 0.07 AUY/ha and 1.18 AUY/ha in untreated and treated areas, respectively or in other words, rakh with an area of 3055 ha can provide fodder to 3605 AUY if seeded, and otherwise it will support only 214 AUY. These results indicate that reseeding may be an important management practice for improving degraded rangelands of Pakistan

Establishing a Target Exposure for Once-Daily Intravenous Busulfan Given with Fludarabine and Thymoglobulin before Allogeneic Transplantation

AbstractA combination of fludarabine (Flu) and daily i.v. busulfan (Bu) is well tolerated and effective in patients undergoing allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. Although there is some evidence that Bu exposures exceeding 6000 μM/min may lead to excessive toxicity, there is little information on the effect of exposures below this level on outcomes. We studied Bu exposure, as measured by area under the concentration-time curve (AUC), in 158 patients with various hematologic malignancies in an attempt to identify an optimal range for targeted therapy. The preparative chemotherapy regimen comprised Flu 50 mg/m2 on days -6 to -2 and i.v. Bu 3.2 mg/kg on days -5 to -2 inclusive. Graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) prophylaxis included methotrexate, cyclosporin A, and antithymocyte globulin. Patients with Bu exposures below the median AUC of 4439 μM/min were at increased risk for acute GVHD grade II-IV (hazard ratio [HR], 2.30; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.19 to 4.49; P = .014). Those in the highest and lowest Bu exposure quartiles (daily AUC <3814 μM/min and >4993 μM/min) had an increased risk of nonrelapse mortality (subdistribution HR, 3.32; 95% CI, 1.46 to 7.54; P = .004), as well as worse disease-free survival (HR, 1.81; 95% CI, 1.09 to 2.99; P = .021) and overall survival (HR, 1.94; 95% CI, 1.12 to 3.37; P = .018). Bu exposures between 4440 and 4993 μM/min were accompanied by the lowest risk of both nonrelapse mortality and acute GVHD

Lentivirus-mediated gene therapy for Fabry disease

Enzyme and chaperone therapies are used to treat Fabry disease. Such treatments are expensive and require intrusive biweekly infusions; they are also not particularly efficacious. In this pilot, single-arm study (NCT02800070), five adult males with Type 1 (classical) phenotype Fabry disease were infused with autologous lentivirus-transduced, CD34+-selected, hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells engineered to express alpha-galactosidase A (α-gal A). Safety and toxicity are the primary endpoints. The non-myeloablative preparative regimen consisted of intravenous melphalan. No serious adverse events (AEs) are attributable to the investigational product. All patients produced α-gal A to near normal levels within one week. Vector is detected in peripheral blood and bone marrow cells, plasma and leukocytes demonstrate α-gal A activity within or above the reference range, and reductions in plasma and urine globotriaosylceramide (Gb3) and globotriaosylsphingosine (lyso-Gb3) are seen. While the study and evaluations are still ongoing, the first patient is nearly three years post-infusion. Three patients have elected to discontinue enzyme therapy

Phytotoxic effects of "Euphorbia dracunculoides": a weed of rainfed chickpea-chickpea cropping system

Phytotoxic effect occurs when plants release chemicals that inhibit neighoubouring plants. Phytotoxic effects of aqueous extracts of different parts of Euphorbia dracunculoides L. (green spurge) at two concentrations, and its infested soil were investigated on germination and seedling growth of chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.). The fruit extract at 1:20 (w/v) concentration caused maximum reduction (12%) in germination of chickpea seeds while leaf extract at 1:10 (w/v) concentration resulted in maximum mean germination time value and minimum germination index of chickpea seeds. All the traits of chickpea seedling growth including emergence were adversely affected by the aqueous extracts at both concentrations. Further, the inhibition of chickpea seedling growth was more pronounced with 1:10 (w/v) concentration whereas the lower concentration (1:20 w/v) showed stimulatory effect on shoot length, seedling vigor index and chlorophyll contents of chickpea seedlings. The leaf extract at 1:10 (w/v) concentration proved most harmful to seedling growth and chlorophyll contents (76% reduction) of chickpea. Soil beneath the E. dracunculoides plants significantly reduced emergence (23%), seedling vigor index (55%) and chlorophyll content (19%) of chickpea but a significant increase in N (6%), P (16%) and K (4%) contents of chickpea seedlings was recorded. Thus it can be concluded that E. dracunculoides contains compounds in its tissues which may cause phytotoxic effects on chickpea under field conditions.Se produce un efecto fitotóxico cuando las plantas liberan sustancias químicas que producen inhibiciones en las plantas próximas. Utilizando extractos acuosos a dos diferentes concentraciones de distintas partes de Euphorbia dracunculoides L., así como del suelo infestado, se investigaron sus efectos fitotóxicos sobre la germinación y crecimiento de plántulas de garbanzo (Cicer arietinum L.). Extractos del fruto 1:20 (p/v) provocaron la máxima reducción (12%) en la germinación de las semillas de garbanzo, mientras que extractos de hoja 1:10 dieron el máximo valor del tiempo medio de germinación y el mínimo en el índice de germinación. Todos los caracteres de crecimiento de las plántulas de garbanzo, incluyendo la emergencia, fueron perjudicados por los extractos acuosos a ambas concentraciones. Además, la concentración 1:10 inhibió el crecimiento de las plántulas de garbanzo de forma más pronunciada, mientras que la 1:20 mostró un efecto estimulante sobre la longitud de brotes y el índice de vigor y contenido de clorofila de las plántulas de garbanzo. El extracto de hoja 1:10 resultó más perjudicial para el crecimiento de plántulas y el contenido de clorofila (76% de reducción). Suelo extraído debajo de las plantas de E. dracunculoides redujo significativamente la emergencia (23%), el índice de vigor (55%) y el contenido de clorofila (19%) de las plántulas, pero en cambio se registró un aumento significativo en el contenido en N (6%), P (16%) y K (4%) de las plántulas. Se concluye que E. dracunculoides contiene compuestos en los tejidos que pueden causar efectos fitotóxicos en garbanzo en condiciones de campo

Comparison between Transepithelial Photorefractive Keratectomy versus Alcohol-Assisted Photorefractive Keratectomy in Correction of Myopia and Myopic Astigmatism

Purpose. The aim of the study was to compare visual acuity, refractive results, safety, and efficacy of TPRK with AAPRK as primary outcomes and surgical time, pain scores, haze levels, and healing time as secondary outcomes in TPRK and AAPRK groups. Setting. Security Forces Hospital, Ophthalmology Department, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Design. Prospective, nonrandomized case-control comparative study. Methods. A total of 200 eyes of 100 consecutive patients were included. One hundred eyes underwent TPRK in the right eye (study group), and 100 eyes underwent AAPRK in the left eye (control group). Ablations were performed with the Schwind Amaris excimer LASER750S. Clinical outcomes during 6 months’ follow-up were compared. Results. The mean age of patients was 28.3 ± 6.3, 77 were females and 23 males. The mean surgical time was 162.17 ±  14.827 s and 243.24  ±  98.69 s, respectively. At day 1, the UDVA mean was 0.7 in 87% of eyes in the TPRK group while it was 0.5 in 45% of eyes in AAPRK; at week 1, it was 0.9 in 88% of eyes in the TPRK group and 0.6 in 60% of eyes in AAPRK. The mean pain scores were less and lower incidence of corneal haze in the TPRK. Complete epithelial healing time was shorter in TPRK, 3.20 ± 0.686 and 4.60 ± 1.969 days, respectively. Conclusions. TPRK and AAPRK produce similar results 6 months postoperatively. However, in the early postoperative period, there were significant differences in UDVA, pain score, level of haze, and complete epithelial healing time. The pain scores were lower, level of haze was less, and healing time was shorter in the TPRK group which provided patient better felling and comfort in this period. Both of procedures are effective and safe for correction of myopia and compound myopic astigmatism. This trial is registered with NCT03569423

Clinicians', patients' and carers' perspectives on borderline personality disorder in Pakistan: A mixed methods study protocol

Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) is a condition characterised by significant social and occupational impairment and high rates of suicide. In high income countries, mental health professionals carry negative attitudes towards patients with BPD, find it difficult to work with patients with BPD, and even avoid seeing these patients. Negative attitudes and stigma can cause patients to fear mistreatment by health care providers and create additional barriers to care. Patients' self-stigma and illness understanding BPD also affects treatment engagement and outcomes; better knowledge about mental illness predicts intentions to seek care. The perspectives of mental health clinicians and patients on BPD have not been researched in the Pakistani setting and likely differ from other settings due to economic, cultural, and health care system differences. Our study aims to understand the attitudes of mental health clinicians towards patients with BPD in Pakistan using a self-report survey. We also aim to explore explanatory models of illness in individuals with BPD and their family members/carers using a Short Explanatory Model Interview (SEMI). The results of this study are important as we know attitudes and illness understanding greatly impact care. Results of this study will help guide BPD-specific training for mental health clinicians who care for patients with BPD and help inform approaches to interventions for patients with BPD in Pakistan