Dichromacy: Color Vision Impairment and Consanguinity in Heterogenous Population of Pakistan

Background and Objectives: Dichromacy, an X-linked recessive disorder is identified worldwide, more in males than females. In European Caucasians, its incidence is 8% in males and 0.5% in females. In India, it is 8.73% in males and 1.69% in females, and in Iran, it is 8.18% in males and 0.43% in females. Population based epidemiological data about dichromacy in different ethnic groups in Pakistan is not available. The aim of this study was to find out the population prevalence of inherited red-green dichromacy in a heterogenous population of the district of Chiniot, Punjab, Pakistan, and to determine the impact of consanguinity and ethnicity. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, boys and girls of the higher secondary schools were examined in the three tehsils of district Chiniot. Pseudoisochromatic Ishihara Test has been employed for detection of dichromacy in the study population. The sample size was calculated statistically as 260, which was expanded to 705 and divided by population density of the three tehsils. Results: Screening of 359 males and 346 females revealed 19 (5.29%) dichromat males and only 2 (0.58%) females. The study population belonged to 23 castes / isonym groups. The consanguinity found in the district of Chiniot is 84.82% and in the dichromat families, it is 85.71%, of which 52.37% are first cousin. Interpretation & Conclusion: The study has shown that the incidence of dichromacy could be reduced through genetic counselin

Levels of mercury and arsenic contamination in popular fish and shrimp brands consumed in Saudi Arabia

ABSTRACT. Fish and shrimp are public sources of healthy protein for a large fragment of the Saudi population. Therefore, the present work was conducted to assess the level of possible arsenic (As) and mercury (Hg)          con­tamination of these sea foods. Eight species of fish and two species of shrimp were collected from the local mar­kets of Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia. Mercury and arsenic concentration of samples was determined by hydride generation atomic absorption spectrometry (HG-AAS). Highest average concentration of total Hg was found in Siganus canaliculatus (0.54 ± 0.06 µg/g) while the lowest level was detected in Lethrinus miniatus (0.24 ± 0.07 µg/g). For shrimp species, the levels varied from 0.13 to 0.91 µg/g for mercury and 0.19 to 0.53 µg/g for arsenic. The rank order of shrimp species based upon mercury level was Penaeus semisulcatus > Penaeus indicus; whereas based upon arsenic level it was almost similar. Mean levels of both Hg and As in all the species studied are lower than the limits set by international health agencies; 0.550 µg/g for mercury and 6.0 µg/g for arsenic.               KEY WORDS: Arabian Gulf, Fish, Shrimp, Arsenic, Mercury Bull. Chem. Soc. Ethiop. 2019, 33(3), 573-578.      DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.4314/bcse.v33i3.1

Extreme events and event size fluctuations in biased random walks on networks

Random walk on discrete lattice models is important to understand various types of transport processes. The extreme events, defined as exceedences of the flux of walkers above a prescribed threshold, have been studied recently in the context of complex networks. This was motivated by the occurrence of rare events such as traffic jams, floods, and power black-outs which take place on networks. In this work, we study extreme events in a generalized random walk model in which the walk is preferentially biased by the network topology. The walkers preferentially choose to hop toward the hubs or small degree nodes. In this setting, we show that extremely large fluctuations in event-sizes are possible on small degree nodes when the walkers are biased toward the hubs. In particular, we obtain the distribution of event-sizes on the network. Further, the probability for the occurrence of extreme events on any node in the network depends on its 'generalized strength', a measure of the ability of a node to attract walkers. The 'generalized strength' is a function of the degree of the node and that of its nearest neighbors. We obtain analytical and simulation results for the probability of occurrence of extreme events on the nodes of a network using a generalized random walk model. The result reveals that the nodes with a larger value of 'generalized strength', on average, display lower probability for the occurrence of extreme events compared to the nodes with lower values of 'generalized strength'

CP Violation in γγ→t tˉ\gamma \gamma \to t~\bar{t} within the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model

The complete analysis of the CP violation in the process $\gamma \gamma \to t \bar{t}$ in frame of the Minimal Supersymmetric Model(MSSM) is presented. The CP-odd observables for describing the CP violating effects in polarized and unpolarized photon collisions, are calculated. We investigate the possible CP violation sources induced by the complex soft breaking parameters and study the CP violating effects contributed by gluino, neutralino and chargino sectors appearing in the loop diagrams. We find that it is possible to observe the CP violation effects in top quark pair production via polarized and unpolarized photon fusions by using optimal observables and favorable parameters.Comment: 15 pages, LaTex, including 14 figures in eps file

TQM Practices in Public Sector : Case of Finnish Healthcare Organizations

This study aims to discuss the evolution, principles, and stages of total quality management (TQM) in public health care organizations. It also makes a comparison that how case organizations think about quality and TQM along with its applicability within public sector. The study can be categorized as qualitative research. The data is collected from semi structural interviews of the informants and the concerning documents, which consist of strategy, policy papers and audit reports of the case organizations. Altogether there are two case organizations. Furthermore, data is analyzed with the help of content analysis. Most vital issues in TQM practices are its comprehensiveness, and its application in such a way which is appropriate for the organization, with a logical way of operation and the participation of management and personnel. Training, guidance, teamwork, involvement and learning are imperative for achieving a continuous improvement culture and are vital elements when adopting TQM. Managers should learn from the experience of TQM implementers by studying expected challenges and pitfalls. They should also pay more attention to the crucial role of all stakeholders in the TQM implementation. The study could be quite valuable from a strategic perspective in providing guidelines to build up a proper plan for TQM practices more promptly. The paper also manages to shed light on TQM practices of public service organizations by comparing their current approaches to quality.fi=vertaisarvioitu|en=peerReviewed

Botanicals to Control Soft Rot Bacteria of Potato

Extracts from eleven different plant species such as jute (Corchorus capsularis L.), cheerota (Swertia chiraita Ham.), chatim (Alstonia scholaris L.), mander (Erythrina variegata), bael (Aegle marmelos L.), marigold (Tagetes erecta), onion (Allium cepa), garlic (Allium sativum L.), neem (Azadiracta indica), lime (Citrus aurantifolia), and turmeric (Curcuma longa L.) were tested for antibacterial activity against potato soft rot bacteria, E. carotovora subsp. carotovora (Ecc) P-138, under in vitro and storage conditions. Previously, Ecc P-138 was identified as the most aggressive soft rot bacterium in Bangladeshi potatoes. Of the 11 different plant extracts, only extracts from dried jute leaves and cheerota significantly inhibited growth of Ecc P-138 in vitro. Finally, both plant extracts were tested to control the soft rot disease of potato tuber under storage conditions. In a 22-week storage condition, the treated potatoes were significantly more protected against the soft rot infection than those of untreated samples in terms of infection rate and weight loss. The jute leaf extracts showed more pronounced inhibitory effects on Ecc-138 growth both in in vitro and storage experiments

Tall Fescue Expressed Sequence Tag and Simple Sequence Repeats: Important Resources for Grass Species

Expressed sequence tag (EST) databases have been growing exponentially. The simple sequence repeat (SSR) has become one of the most useful molecular marker systems in plant breeding and is widely used in cultivar fingerprinting, genetic diversity assessment, molecular mapping and marker-assisted selection. ESTs are a potential source for SSRs. The EST-SSR markers are of high quality and have versatile applications in molecular breeding (Bughrara et al., 2003; Saha et al., 2004 a, b, c). Here, we present an overview of our efforts to develop SSRs from tall fescue ESTs and their application for the genetic improvement of forage and turf grass species