Microbial Status and Resistance Profile of Bacterial Species Isolated from Recreational and Agricultural Sites in Multan

Background: Humans are in continuous contact with recreational areas and agricultural fields. However, recent discovery of resistant bacteria in these sites have posed serious threats to the community.Methods: This study is designed to investigate prevalence of resistant bacteria in agricultural and recreational areas i.e., parks and rivers, to investigate their resistant profiling against antibiotics and metals by culture dependent agar techniques and to investigate effect of local medicinal plants on isolated resistant bacteria.Results: A total of 106 isolates from 35 water and sediments samples were isolated. A resistant rate of 46.05% was reported against antibiotics; the highest against ampicillin (75%) and the lowest against streptomycin (8.9%). Identified resistant strains were Bacillus megaterium, Bacillus subtilis, Klebsiella pneumoniae, E. coli, Micrococcus luteus, Staphylococcus spp., Pseudomonas spp., Streptococcus spp. and Staphylococcus aureus. Co-occurrence of metal resistance with antimicrobial resistance was also reported. Ethanolic leaves extracts showed promising results against isolated resistant bacteria. The highest and lowest zone of inhibition was reported in Syzygium cumini (37mm) and Ziziphus mauritiana (10mm).Conclusion: The finding of this study has demonstrated presence of resistant bacteria in publicly accessed areas that support various needs. The potential of Syzygium cumini, Ficus benghalensis and Psidium guajava against resistant bacteria in combination can be explored as an alternative green method against resistant bacteria.Keywords: Antibiotic resistance; Irrigational land; Medicinal plants; Metal resistance; Multi drug resistance; River   

Impact of Personal Remittances on Economic Growth of Pakistan: A Multivariate Cointegration Analysis

The study targets the impact of personal remittances on economic growth in case of Pakistan for the time period 1980-2014. For this purpose, Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and Human Capital are used as control variables. Using Augmented Dickey Fuller (ADF) and Philips-Peron (PP) unit root tests, all the variables came stationary at order one or I (1). Johansen Cointegration showed a long run relationship between personal remittances, FDI, human capital and economic growth. The results showed a positive long run impact of personal remittances, FDI and human capital on economic growth of Pakistan. Similarly, ECT (-1) term was -0.04 and also significant. Granger causality also showed a unidirectional causality running from personal remittances to economic growth. Moreover, the diagnostic tests showed normality of residuals, no autocorrelation and stationarity of residuals at level. Government should formulate such policies that encourage remittances in Pakistan by formulating reliable and efficient transfer mechanism to cheap transfer cost. Keywords: Personal Remittances, FDI, Economics Growt

Determine the Severity of Acute Respiratory Infections by Using Pediatric Respiratory Severity Score (PRESS) in Children Visiting Federal Govt. Polyclinic hospital, Islamabad

Objective: To determine the severity of acute respiratory infections in children by using Pediatric Respiratory Severity Score (PRESS). Methodology: This descriptive cross sectional study was conducted at the outpatient and emergency paediatric department of the Federal Govt. Polyclinic hospital, Islamabad, from October 2017 to December 2019. One hundred and seventeen children with acute respiratory infections were enrolled in the study by a non-probability sampling technique. Epidemiologic variables of interest included age, sex, and breastfeeding or not. Clinical variables of interest included respiratory rate, use of accessory respiratory muscle, wheeze on auscultation, and oxygen saturation at room air.  PRESS assessed tachypnea, wheezing, accessory muscle use, SpO2 and feeding difficulties with each component given a score of 0 or 1, and the total score were categorized as a mild(0-1), moderate (2-3) or severe(4-5). Results: Out of 117 children, 98 (83.8%) belonged to the age group > 2 months– 12 months, while 19 (16.2%) belonged to the age group > 12 months– 24 months. Among them, 17 (14.5%) were mild, 53 (45.3%) were moderate, and 47 (40.2%) were severe according to their severity of respiratory distress. The hospitalization rate for moderate infection was 84.9% while 100% for severe infection and none of the patient with mild infection was hospitalized (p<0.001). Conclusion: Early assessment by simple bedside technique will help in managing the respiratory distress according to its severity, reducing the undue investigation and improving the outcome of illness. Moreover it can be easily administered at primary health care facilities for triage of pediatric patients with respiratory distress

Genome-wide analysis, identification, evolution and genomic organization of dehydration responsive element-binding (DREB) gene family in Solanum tuberosum

Background The dehydration responsive element-binding (DREB) gene family plays a crucial role as transcription regulators and enhances plant tolerance to abiotic stresses. Although the DREB gene family has been identified and characterized in many plants, knowledge about it in Solanum tuberosum (Potato) is limited. Results In the present study, StDREB gene family was comprehensively analyzed using bioinformatics approaches. We identified 66 StDREB genes through genome wide screening of the Potato genome based on the AP2 domain architecture and amino acid conservation analysis (Valine at position 14th). Phylogenetic analysis divided them into six distinct subgroups (A1–A6). The categorization of StDREB genes into six subgroups was further supported by gene structure and conserved motif analysis. Potato DREB genes were found to be distributed unevenly across 12 chromosomes. Gene duplication proved that StDREB genes experienced tandem and segmental duplication events which led to the expansion of the gene family. The Ka/Ks ratios of the orthologous pairs also demonstrated the StDREB genes were under strong purification selection in the course of evolution. Interspecies synteny analysis revealed 45 and 36 StDREB genes were orthologous to Arabidopsis and Solanum lycopersicum, respectively. Moreover, subcellular localization indicated that StDREB genes were predominantly located within the nucleus and the StDREB family’s major function was DNA binding according to gene ontology (GO) annotation. Conclusions This study provides a comprehensive and systematic understanding of precise molecular mechanism and functional characterization of StDREB genes in abiotic stress responses and will lead to improvement in Solanum tuberosum

Pakistan's leading stock exchange and COVID-19 nexus : evidence from quantile regression analysis

The contagious pandemic COVID-19 outbreak has disrupted numerous economic and business activities worldwide. This study focuses on COVID-19's effects on KSE-100 index (Karachi stock exchange), which is a part of a developing country. From 2 March 2020 to 9 November 2021, COVID-19 confirmed, recovered and deaths cases were taken as covariates for the COVID-19. To explore the conditional distributional impact of COVID-19 on KSE-100, we employ robust quantile regression analysis with detailed asymmetric evidence. The results show that the confirmed and recovered cases have a significant positive impact on KSE-100 whereas expired cases having a significant negative influence. These findings contradict previous studies in the world, which claimed that COVID-19 had a negative impact on developed stock markets while aligning with a vast literature of Pakistan stock exchange. It seems that as the result of timely policy implemented by the government of Pakistan. For investors, these findings are robust, which leads to providing practical policy to combat such circumstances in the future.peer-reviewe

Expression Characterization of Flavonoid Biosynthetic Pathway Genes and Transcription Factors in Peanut Under Water Deficit Conditions

Drought is one of the hostile environmental stresses that limit the yield production of crop plants by modulating their growth and development. Peanut (Arachis hypogaea) has a wide range of adaptations to arid and semi-arid climates, but its yield is prone to loss due to drought. Other than beneficial fatty acids and micronutrients, peanut harbors various bioactive compounds including flavonoids that hold a prominent position as antioxidants in plants and protect them from oxidative stress. In this study, understanding of the biosynthesis of flavonoids in peanut under water deficit conditions was developed through expression analysis and correlational analysis and determining the accumulation pattern of phenols, flavonols, and anthocyanins. Six peanut varieties (BARD479, BARI2011, BARI2000, GOLDEN, PG1102, and PG1265) having variable responses against drought stress have been selected. Higher water retention and flavonoid accumulation have been observed in BARI2011 but downregulation has been observed in the expression of genes and transcription factors (TFs) which indicated the maintenance of normal homeostasis. ANOVA revealed that the expression of flavonoid genes and TFs is highly dependent upon the genotype of peanut in a spatiotemporal manner. Correlation analysis between expression of flavonoid biosynthetic genes and TFs indicated the role of AhMYB111 and AhMYB7 as an inhibitor for AhF3H and AhFLS, respectively, and AhMYB7, AhTTG1, and AhCSU2 as a positive regulator for the expression of Ah4CL, AhCHS, and AhF3H, respectively. However, AhbHLH and AhGL3 revealed nil-to-little relation with the expression of flavonoid biosynthetic pathway genes. Correlational analysis between the expression of TFs related to the biosynthesis of flavonoids and the accumulation of phenolics, flavonols, and anthocyanins indicated coregulation of flavonoid synthesis by TFs under water deficit conditions in peanut. This study would provide insight into the role of flavonoid biosynthetic pathway in drought response in peanut and would aid to develop drought-tolerant varieties of peanut

Functional Foods and Human Health: An Overview

Functional food is a whole ingredient or a part of food that used as food for specific therapeutic purposes. It is divided into two wide categories: Conventional and modified functional foods. Conventional functional Foods are composed of natural or whole-food ingredients that provide functional substances while modified functional is food or food products in which add additional ingredients for specific health purposes. Plant-based food such as fruits, vegetables, herbs, cereals, nuts and beans contain vitamins, minerals, fiber, omega-3 fatty acids, antioxidants and phenolic compounds that play a functional role in the human body against chronic diseases including cancer, cardiovascular and GIT-related disease. Some other foods or food products like juices, dairy products, fortified eggs and seafood are composed of functional components. Fish contain omega-3 fatty acids (EPA and DHA) that are played a functional role in heart health and brain development

The Indian Footprints in Afghanistan

The US forces in Afghanistan were scheduled to leave the Afghan soil in 2014. However it raised suspicions in the minds of the US troops and the top hierarchy about the capacity and the ability of Afghan troops to ensure the law and order and to hinder the possible reassembling of Taliban and the other militant groups on the Afghan land. At the time of US withdrawal, many regional actors were envisaging their role in Afghanistan, primarily because of its geostrategic location. Among the regional actors which were anticipating an active role in Afghanistan, India was the prominent one for assuming a proactive role in Afghanistan. The reason for this dominant role was very vivid, India wanted to exploit the natural resources of Central Asian Republics (CARs) and untapped resources in Afghanistan. The experiment of establishing footprints in Afghanistan was a blind move as it was not certain about the repercussions it could face in case of reassembling of Taliban factor. If there is instability and anarchy in Afghanistan its resonance would be felt in India. The policy makers of India would have calculated the risk factor and most importantly they did not want to leave Afghanistan at the mercy of Pakistan. This paper will unfold the India’s economic as well as political role in Afghanistan that will debilitate Pakistan’s internal security and its efforts to strengthen Indo-Afghan relations in the post US withdrawal scenari