Osteochondral grafting of knee joint using mosaicplasty

Focal cartilage defects of articular surface-traumatic and degenerative are difficult to treat, thus a variety of surgical techniques have been developed and reported for treatment of such defects. Procedures such as Priddies perforations, microfracture, abrasion chondroplasty have shown long-term results which are often less than adequate. One of the reasons is that all these techniques lead to the formation of fibrocartilage which has inferior mechanical properties as compared to the native hyaline cartilage. Mosaicplasty is a procedure which aims at replacing the lost articular cartilage with hyaline cartilage including underlying bone support, thus providing adequate stability to the cartilage and better cartilage/bone integration. A young man underwent this procedure for recalcitrant knee pain at our institution. At 2 years follow-up, his knee pain has significantly improved. We hereby present medium term results (2 years) of this first case report in local literature

AN EFFECTIVE APPROACH OF FOUR-STEP METHOD FOR OPTIMAL SOLUTION OF TRANSPORTATION PROBLEM

Transportation problem (TP) in operation research is one of the most in use optimization technique to deal the problems that are related with transportation of goods from sources to destinations. Initial Basic Feasible Solution (IBFS) plays a vital role in TP which offers a way to obtain the optimal solution. The objective is to prevail the total transportation cost equivalent or nearer to optimal solution. In this paper, an effective approach of Four Step Method (FSM) for optimal solution of TP has been brought up in order to get optimal solution of TPs. In this method we construct the Maximum Column Table (MCT) and Maximum Row Table (MRT). Several problems has been solved using this method to get the optimal solution. The outcomes of proposed method are contrasted with results of North West Corner Method (NWCM), Least Cost Method (LCM) and Vogal’s Approximation Method (VAM). It is observed that the proposed method is not only achieving better results but also overcoming the limitation of VAM. Key Words: Transportation problem, Initial Basic Feasible Solution, Optimal solution, Linear programming proble

Cytotoxic and antioxidant potentials of ellagic acid derivatives from Conocarpus lancifolius (Combretaceae)

Purpose: Isolation, characterisation and structure elucidation of compounds obtained from Conocarpus lancifolius and screening of their pharmacological effects in vitro.Methods: After collection, authentication and extraction from whole C. lancifolius plants, screening for secondary metabolites, thin-layer  chromatography and subsequent open column chromatography were performed for phytochemical analysis and subsequent purification of the compounds. The chemical structures of the isolated compounds were elucidated using spectroscopic (UV-visible, infrared and mass) spectroscopy, and nuclear magnetic resonance (1H-NMR, 13C-NMR including BB, DEPT-135, 90 and two-dimensional correlation techniques, including HMBC and HSQC). The cytotoxic and antioxidant potentials of extracts and compounds obtained from C. lancifolius were evaluated using in vitro models.Results: Two ellagic acid derivatives, 2,3,8-tri-o-methylellagic acid (A) and 3-O-methylellagic acid 4-O-β-D-glucopyranoside (B), were isolated. Both compounds (A and B) were cytotoxic in a variety of cancer cell lines, including murine lymphocytic leukaemia (P-388, half-maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) =3.60 and 2.40 μg/mL, respectively), human colon cancer (Col-2, IC50 = 0.76 and 0.92 μg/mL, respectively) and human breast cancer (MCF-7, IC50 = 0.65 and 0.54 μg/mL, respectively). Moreover, both compounds showed significant antioxidant potential in vitro.Conclusion: C. lancifolius extract and isolated ellagic acid derivatives (compounds A and B) possess cytotoxic and antioxidant properties. These findings suggest that C. lancifolius contains bioactive compounds that can be potentially developed as natural cytotoxic and antioxidant compounds. Keywords: Conocarpus lancifolius, Ellagic acid, Combretaceae, Cytotoxic activity, Antioxidan

Magnetic field dependent viscous fluid-flow between squeezing plates with homogeneous and heterogeneous reactions

The impacts of magnetic field dependent viscous fluid is explored between squeezing plates in the presence of homogeneous and heterogeneous reactions. The unsteady constitutive equations of heat and mass transfers, modified Navier-Stokes, magnetic field and homogeneous and heterogeneous reactions are coupled as an system of ODE. The appropriate solutions are established for the vertical and axial induced magnetic field equations for the transformed and momentum as well as for the MHD pressure and torque exerted on the upper plate, and are in details. In the case of a smooth plate, the self-similar equation with acceptable starting assumptions and auxiliary parameters is solved by utilising a homotopy analytics method, to generate an algorithm with fast and guaranteed convergence. By comparing homotopy analytics method solutions with BVP4c numerical solver packaging, the validity and correctness of the homotopy analytics method findings are demonstrated. Magnetic Reynolds number have been shown to cause to decrease the distribution of magnetic field, fluid temperature, axial and tangential velocity. The magnetic field also has vertical and axial components with increasing viscosity. The applications of the investigation include car magneto-rheological shock absorbers, modern aircraft landing gear systems, procedures for heating or cooling, biological sensor systems, and bio-prothesis, etc

Islamic Banking Controversies and Challenges

The concept of interest free financing was practiced by Arabs prior to the advent of Islam, and was later adopted by Muslims as an acceptable form of trade financing. While the system had been used on a small scale for centuries, its commercial application began in 1970. Many countries in the world are now experiencing dual banking system, where the banks are involved in alternative form of banking along with conventional banking. Islamic Banking is based on two main pillars; one is economic Philosophy of Shariah and second is monetary theory of Islamic economics. Despite a substantial growth of Islamic banking in the last decade, there is not every thing right. There are some controversies and challenges which are prevailing about different concepts of Islamic banking and which need to be addressed. This paper basically examines and explores the different controversies which are in the minds of people which need to be addressed. The author has also tried to suggest suitable solutions to overcome these challenges and controversies

Association of Microalbuminuria with the Severity of Diabetic Retinopathy in Patients with type II Diabetes Mellitus.

Objective: To evaluate the association of microalbuminuria with the severity of diabetic retinopathy. Methodology: This is a cross-sectional study that was conducted at Combined Military Hospital Lahore from Dec 2019 to Dec 2020. All Patients having type II diabetes mellitus fulfilling the inclusion and exclusion criteria were selected for this study. All patients underwent complete ocular examination including fundoscopy to grade the stage of diabetic retinopathy using the ETDRS chart. To assess the extent of microalbuminuria, a urine albumin to creatinine ratio was carried out using the urine spot test and classified as mild, moderate and severe according to KIDGO 2012 clinical practice guidelines. Results:   Out of 300 patients 104 (34.6%) had some stage of diabetic retinopathy.  Microalbuminuria was present in all (104) patients with diabetic retinopathy and in 55 (28.06%) patients with no diabetic retinopathy. The severity of microalbuminuria correlates with the advancement in stages of retinopathy with   as the number of patients with moderate and severe microalbuminuria had higher stages of diabetic retinopathy. None of the patients with very mild diabetic retinopathy had moderately or severely increased microalbuminuria whereas 88% of patients with advanced diabetic retinopathy had moderately increased microalbuminuria and 4% had severely increased microalbuminuria.  Furthermore, 76% of the patients had moderately increased and 12% had severely increased microalbuminuria in patients >7 HbA1c and only 28% of patients had moderately increased microalbuminuria and none had severely increased microalbuminuria in patients with ≤ 7 HbA1c. Conclusion: This study showed that the degree of microalbuminuria increases with each higher stage of diabetic retinopathy.

Spatiotemporal variation in land use land cover in the response to local climate change using multispectral remote sensing data

Climate change is likely to have serious social, economic, and environmental impacts on farmers whose subsistence depends on nature. Land Use Land Cover (LULC) changes were examined as a significant tool for assessing changes at diverse temporal and spatial scales. Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) has the potential ability to signify the vegetation structures of various eco-regions and provide valuable information as a remote sensing tool in studying vegetation phenology cycles. In this study, we used remote sensing and Geographical Information System (GIS) techniques with Maximum Likelihood Classification (MLC) to identify the LULC changes for 40 years in the Sahiwal District. Later, we conducted 120 questionnaires administered to local farmers which were used to correlate climate changes with NDVI. The LULC maps were prepared using MLC and training sites for the years 1981, 2001, and 2021. Regression analysis (R2) was performed to identify the relationship between temperature and vegetation cover (NDVI) in the study area. Results indicate that the build-up area was increased from 7203.76 ha (2.25%) to 31,081.3 ha (9.70%), while the vegetation area decreased by 14,427.1 ha (4.5%) from 1981 to 2021 in Sahiwal District. The mean NDVI values showed that overall NDVI values decreased from 0.24 to 0.20 from 1981 to 2021. Almost 78% of farmers stated that the climate has been changing during the last few years, 72% of farmers stated that climate change had affected agriculture, and 53% of farmers thought that rainfall intensity had also decreased. The R2 tendency showed that temperature and NDVI were negatively connected to each other. This study will integrate and apply the best and most suitable methods, tools, and approaches for equitable local adaptation and governance of agricultural systems in changing climate conditions. Therefore, this research outcome will also meaningfully help policymakers and urban planners for sustainable LULC management and strategies at the local level

Microsatellite marker based genetic diversity among four varieties of Pakistani Aseel chicken

Indian Aseel chicken (Gallus gallus) is traditionally used as a favorite game bird all over the world. Bird fighting communities of Pakistan are the major source of its conservation and there are at least four distinctively recognized varieties of Aseel chicken based upon selective breeding, geographical location and color patterns. A pioneering study on genetic diversity of these varieties namely Lakha (n=17), Mushki (n=19), Mianwali (n=19) and Peshawari (n=13) was undertaken using FAO recommended 10 microsatellite loci. A total of 91 alleles were observed in 4 varieties of Aseel chicken with an average of 9.1 alleles per locus. Number of alleles varied between 4 to 8 in Lakha, 4 to 9 in Mushki, 3 to 10 in Mianwali and 3 to 7 in Pashawari. Mean polymorphic information content values were 0.67, 0.69, 0.71 and 0.65 in individual varieties, respectively. Mean observed and expected heterozygosity index values of 0.3941 and 0.7376 were recorded in Lakha, 0.4105 and 0.7468 for Mushki, 0.4105 and 0.7718 Mianwali and 0.3692 and 0.7191 for Peshawari. Mean Fixation index (Fst) value was calculated as 0.1264. Highest Nei's standard genetic distance (Ds) value of 1.0735 was observed between Mushki and Peshawari, whereas its value was minimum (0.3533) between Lakha and Mushki. This report describes genetic diversity of Aseel chicken in Pakistan and provides foundation data to initiate extensive and more comprehensive studies on indigenous chicken genetic resource conservation and its future utilization in commercial breeding programs. (C) 2011 PVJ. All rights reserve

Monitoring the dynamic changes in vegetation cover using spatio-temporal remote sensing data from 1984 to 2020

Anthropogenic activities and natural climate changes are the central driving forces of global ecosystems and agriculture changes. Climate changes, such as rainfall and temperature changes, have had the greatest impact on different types of plant production around the world. In the present study, we investigated the spatiotemporal variation of major crops (cotton, rice, wheat, and sugarcane) in the District Vehari, Pakistan, from 1984 to 2020 using remote sensing (RS) technology. The crop identification was pre-processed in ArcGIS software based on Landsat images. After pre-processing, supervised classification was used, which explains the maximum likelihood classification (MLC) to identify the vegetation changes. Our results showed that in the study area cultivated areas under wheat and cotton decreased by almost 5.4% and 9.1% from 1984 to 2020, respectively. Vegetated areas have maximum values of NDVI (>0.4), and built-up areas showed fewer NDVI values (0 to 0.2) in the District Vehari. During the Rabi season, the temperature was increased from 19.93 °C to 21.17 °C. The average temperature was calculated at 34.28 °C to 35.54 °C during the Kharif season in the District Vehari. Our results showed that temperature negatively affects sugarcane, rice, and cotton crops during the Rabi season, and precipitation positively affects sugarcane, rice, and cotton crops during the Kharif season in the study area. Accurate and timely assessment of crop estimation and relation to climate change can give very useful information for decision-makers, governments, and planners in formulating policies regarding crop management and improving agriculture yields