Mitigating dengue incidence through advanced Aedes larval surveillance and control: A successful experience from Pakistan

Dengue fever is a viral disease caused by one of four dengue stereotypes (Flavivirus: Flaviviridae) that are primarily transmitted by Aedes albopictus (Skuse) and Aedes aegypti (L.). To safeguard public health, it is crucial to conduct surveys that examine the factors favouring the presence of these species. Our study surveyed 42 councils across four towns within the Bhakkar district of Punjab Province, by inspecting man-made or natural habitats containing standing water. First, door-to-door surveillance teams from the district health department were assigned to each council to surveillance Aedes species and dengue cases. Second, data collection through surveillance efforts, and validation procedures were implemented, and the verified data was uploaded onto the Dengue Tracking System by Third Party Validation teams. Third, data were analysed to identify factors influencing dengue fever cases. The findings demonstrated the following: (1) Predominantly, instances were discerned among individuals who had a documented history of having travelled beyond the confines of the province. (2) Containers associated with evaporative air coolers and tyre shops were responsible for approximately 30% of the Aedes developmental sites. (4) Variability in temperature was responsible for approximately 45% of the observed differences in the quantity of recorded Aedes mosquito developmental sites. (5) Implementation of dengue prevention initiatives precipitated a 50% reduction in Aedes-positive containers, alongside a notable 70% decline in reported cases of dengue fever during the period spanning 2019 to 2020, while the majority of reported cases were of external origin. Aedes control measures substantially curtailed mosquito populations and lowered vector-virus interactions. Notably, local dengue transmission was eliminated through advanced and effective Aedes control efforts, emphasising the need for persistent surveillance and eradication of larval habitats in affected regions

COMPARATIVE EFFICACY OF FIVE DIFFERENT BRANDS OF COMMERCIAL NEWCASTLE DISEASE LASOTA VIRUS VACCINES IN BROILERS

Five commercial LaSota strain Newcastle disease (ND) vaccines namely A, B, C, D and E were evaluated for their potency, efficacy, thermostability and influence on productivity in broilers. A 3-log10 difference of EID50 and two-to-eight fold difference of HA activity was found among the various vaccines tested. One hundred and fifty day-old broiler chicks were divided into six equal groups tagged as I, II, III, IV, V and VI. The birds in groups I, II, III, IV and V were actively immunized against ND on days 7 (eye drop method) and 21 (drinking water) using vaccines A, B, C, D and E, respectively. The birds in group VI served as unvaccinated control. The serum HI antibody response to five vaccines was determined 7, 14, 21 and 28 days post-vaccination. Fifteen birds from each group including unvaccinated control were challenged at day 35 with local virulent ND field isolate. The HI serum antibody profile and post-challenge mortality pattern revealed a dose-response relation between the virus content, humoral antibody response and clinical protection. To compare the heat stability, the vaccines were incubated at 4, 25 and 400C for a period of 24 hours. There was no remarkable reduction in HA titer, however slight dips (less than 2 logarithmic units) in EID50 values were found in all the vaccines. All the vaccines caused significant suppression in weight gain, leading to a poor performance in terms of feed conversion ratio (FCR) and European Efficiency Factor (EEF)

Urban Development of Bayn Al-Haramayn Zone Based on 25-Year Estimation of Al-Arbaeen Crowd Density

Karbala city is known to host one of the largest annual human gatherings in the world, where a diverse group of visitors congregates in the Karbala old city to participate in the Al-Arbaeen rites. This significant event peaked on Safar 19th, resulting in mobility issues, particularly in the Bayn Al-Haramayn zone. To address this concern, this study proposes a plan that estimates the number of visitors over the next 25 years and presents a solution for the vertical expansion of the zone while maintaining its urban fabric. The proposal includes estimating the areas required to accommodate the visitors based on an average crowd density of 3.5 individuals per square meter. The authors predict that the number of pilgrims will continue to increase over the next 25 years, and by 2046, an area of 148 square kilometers will be necessary to accommodate them. Expanding the Bayn Al-Haramayn zone is crucial as it is a vital destination for many visitors, and its spiritual significance adds value to the experience of performing the Ziyarat-Alarbaeen rituals. The proposed solution focuses on vertical expansion, providing a total area of 10, 116 m2 and can accommodate up to 35, 500 capita. Moreover, the proposed solution also integrates mobility paths that align with the urban scene of the area

Novel acrylamide‐based baits for effective control of subterranean termites (Blattodea: Rhinotermitidae)

Background: Acrylamide-based bait has super water absorption making it highly attractive to subterranean termites that are lured by wood with high water content. This study investigated the control efficiency of these baits on subterranean termites. In particular, we evaluated the water-absorption capacity, attractiveness to subterranean termites, and control efficiency of these baits on subterranean termites through wooden blocks (Populus deltoides and three types of particleboards). Results: The results indicated a substantial water absorption capacity of acrylamide (70.6%; control: 14.8%) and a strong attraction for feeding subterranean termites (P. deltoides: 198 highest; 81 lowest subterranean termites individuals; combination of neem leaves and walnut shells: 168 highest; 36 lowest subterranean termites individuals). When acrylamide was combined with boric acid at the highest concentration, it resulted in the lowest wood consumption rates (P. deltoides: 24.1%; control: 63.8%, combination of neem leaves and walnut shells: 32.5%; control: 62.1%). Conclusions: In conclusion, this research supports the commercial viability of employing innovative acrylamide-based toxic baits and particleboards for subterranean termite management. © 2024 Society of Chemical Industry

Knowledge and practice of menstrual hygiene management among women living in a low-income neighbourhood, Karachi, Pakistan

Background: The aim of the study was to determine the degree of awareness and practice of proper menstrual hygiene management among women living in low-income neighbourhood in Karachi, Pakistan.Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted at the Bizerta Lines, Karachi between January and June 2019. All women of reproductive age were included in the study. Amenorrheic, menopausal, or women on birth control were excluded from the study. Degree of awareness and current practices pertaining to menstrual hygiene management were assessed through pro-forma. The study tool collected the participant’s knowledge, awareness, and misconceptions about menstruation. The factors affecting the quality of life during menstruation of women living in poor socio-economic conditions were also observed. Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS v.23) was used to analyze the collected data.Results: Of the 338 participants, 82.5% had no knowledge of menstruation prior to their first menstrual period. Only a minority of the women knew that the source of menstrual blood was the uterus while 41.4% of the women incorrectly claimed that the menstrual blood and urine were expelled from the same orifice. More than half of the participants used disposable sanitary napkins (55.5%). 65% of the participants changed the absorbent at least 1 to 3 times a day.Conclusions: Most of the participants used disposable sanitary napkins. However, the basic knowledge of female anatomy and physiology behind menstruation was poor among women

Pixel intensity-based contrast algorithm (PICA) for image edges extraction (IEE)

In this paper, images' pixels are exploited to extract objects' edges. This paper has proposed a Pixel Intensity based Contrast Algorithm (PICA) for Image Edges Extraction (IEE). This paper highlights three contributions. Firstly, IEE process is fast and PICA has less computation time when processing different images' sizes. Secondly, IEE is simple and uses a $2\times 4$ mask which is different from other masks where it doesn't require while-loop(s) during processing images. Instead, it has adopted an if-conditional procedure to reduce the code complexity and enhance computation time. That is, the reason why this design is faster than other designs and how it contributes to IEE will be explained. Thirdly, design and codes of IEE and its mask are available, made an open source, and in-detail presented and supported by an interactive file; it is simulated in a video motion design. One of the PICA's features and contributions is that PICA has adopted to use less while-loop(s) than traditional methods and that has contributed to the computation time and code complexity. Experiments have tested 526 samples with different images' conditions e.g., inclined, blurry, and complex-background images to evaluate PICA's performance in terms of computation time, enhancement rate for processing a single image, accuracy, and code complexity. By comparing PICA to other research works, PICA consumes 5.7 mS to process a single image which is faster and has less code complexity by $u\times u$. Results have shown that PICA can accurately detect edges under different images' conditions. Results have shown that PICA has enhanced computation time rate for processing a single image by 92.1% compared to other works. PICA has confirmed it is accurate and robust under different images' conditions. PICA can be used with several types of images e.g., medical images and useful for real-time applications

Quick Decline Disease Disturbs the Levels of Important Phytochemicals and Minerals in the Stem Bark of Mango ( Mangifera indica

Quick decline is one of the deadly diseases of mango (Mangifera indica) which causes a serious damage to the tree and its production. In the current study, we examined the levels of important phytochemicals and minerals in the stem bark of healthy and infected mango tree. Infected stem bark showed 12.5% lower levels of total sugars and 51.1% higher levels of proteins as compared to healthy parts, whereas no variation was observed in reducing sugar, free amino acid, and ascorbic acid. Among micronutrients, the levels of Zn, Na, Cr, and Cl were lowered by 25%, 54.3%, 25%, and 75.4%, respectively, whereas the level of Ni was 62.5% higher in the infected stem bark when compared with the healthy stem bark. However, other micronutrients did not show significant differences between healthy and infected parts. Among macronutrients, the quantity of N, P, and Mg showed an increase of 51.2%, 34.7%, and 27.6%, respectively, whereas the quantity of Ca and K was decreased by 25.2% and 7.66% in the infected stem barks as compared to healthy ones. The results of this study provide some basic but important information that may ultimately be helpful in managing the quick decline disease in the mango trees

Nanofabrication of (Cr2O3)x (NiO)1-x and the impact of precursor concentrations on nanoparticles conduct

This study aims to synthesize the (Cr2O3)x (NiO)1-x nanoparticles at lower and higher precursor values using the calcination method. There is a lack in regard to investigating the lower and higher precursor values on structural and optical properties of the (Cr2O3)x (NiO)1-x nanoparticles. To synthesize the (Cr2O3)x (NiO)1-x nanoparticles, Cr (III) acetate hydrate and Ni (II) acetate tetrahydrate were reacted with poly (vinyl alcohol). Several techniques, including X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), have been employed to characterize the synthesized sample. The XRD pattern analysis indicated that, following calcination, nanoparticle formation occurred, indicating hexagonal crystalline structures (HCP) and face-centred cubic (FCC) of (Cr2O3)x (NiO)1-x nanoparticles. FT-IR verified the existence of Ni-O and Cr-O as the original compounds of ready (Cr2O3)x (NiO)1-x nanoparticle samples. In term of average particle size, this varied from 5 to 16 nm when the precursor concentration rised from x = 0.20 to x = 0.80, as reflected in the TEM results. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) was employed to measure the valence state and surface composition of the prepared product nanoparticles. To identify the optical band gap using the Kubelka-Munk equation, diffuse UV-visible reflectance spectra were employed, which revealed that the energy band gap fell with a rise in the value of x. In addition, photoluminescence (PL) spectra indicated that the photoluminescence intensity was related to a directly proportional way to particle size. Hence, the results can be employed with a broad range of applications in solar cell energy applications at higher x values and antibacterial activity at lower x values

The effect of PVP concentration on particle size, morphological and optical properties of cassiterite nanoparticles

Different concentrations of polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) have been successfully employed to prepare high purity tetragonal cassiterite nanoparticles, and control the growth of particle size. The effect of PVP on the structural, morphological, size, composition, and optical properties of the prepared cassiterite nanoparticles has been investigated. It has been found that various characteristics of tetragonal cassiterite nanoparticles could be optimized by simply changing the values of PVP. The pure tetragonal cassiterite nanoparticles have been produced at the optimum calcination temperature. The XRD and SEM results indicated the structural and morphological properties of the tetragonal cassiterite nanoparticles, respectively. The particles' size and their distribution have been displayed by TEM images. The composition phase and the surface composition of the prepared samples have been evaluated via FTIR and XPS, respectively. The optical properties of the prepared tetragonal cassiterite nanoparticles have been studied using UV-vis and PL spectroscopy. Outcomes cassiterite nanoparticles are useful for antibacterial activity and application of solar energy