The prevalence of pseudoexfoliation syndrome in Pakistan. Hospital based study

BACKGROUND: Pseudoexfoliation syndrome (PXS) is the most common identifiable cause of secondary glaucoma, the prevalence of which varies considerably among different ethnicities. The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of pseudoexfoliation syndrome in Pakistan. METHODS: A prospective study conducted in the period from January 2003 to June 2004 in a teaching hospital serving a population of about 7.6 million. 1860 patients aged 45 or above attending the general ophthalmic clinics were recruited for this study. A detailed evaluation including ophthalmic and general history, slit lamp biomicroscopy, intraocular pressure measurement, gonioscopy and dilated eye examination was performed on all patients. RESULTS: 120(6.45%) subjects were found to have PXS with a male to female ratio of 1.5:1. All 120 (100%) cases were bilateral and 48(40%) patients had high intraocular pressure. CONCLUSION: To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study conducted in a Pakistani population to determine the prevalence of PXS. The prevalence rate of 6.45% is similar to other studies conducted in south Asia, however all cases were bilateral and quite a high percentage of patients had high intra-ocular pressure

Evaluation of Antiulcer and Cytotoxic Potential of the Leaf, Flower, and Fruit Extracts of Calotropis procera

Calotropis procera is traditionally used for treating many diseases including ulcers and tumors. It was thus deemed of interest to investigate and compare the antiulcer and cytotoxic activities of C. procera leaf, flower, and fruit extracts in an attempt to verify its traditional uses. Phytochemical studies on the fruits, flowers, and leaves of C. procera, collected from the desert of Saudi Arabia, led to the isolation of one new lignan 7′-methoxy-3′-O-demethyl-tanegool-9-O-β-D-glucopyranoside and five known compounds from the flowers, four compounds from leaves, and a flavonoid glycoside and a lignan glycoside from the fruits. The structures of compounds were determined by spectroscopic techniques. Ethanol extracts of the three parts of C. procera were evaluated for their antiulcer activity and we found that the leaf extract possessed a powerful antiulcer activity which could be considered as a promising drug candidate. All the extracts and the isolated compounds were evaluated for their cytotoxic activity against MCF-7, HCT-116, HepG-2, and A-549 human cancer cell lines. Compound 2 was highly active on all the cell lines, whereas compounds 5 and 11 were more selective on colon and liver cell lines. Compound 10 demonstrated a significant activity on liver and lung cancer cell lines

Biological evaluation of potent antioxidant, lipoxygenase inhibitor and antibacterial: A comparative study

AbstractThree biologically active new Schiff bases, 2-[(3-hydroxybenzylidene)amino]phenol 5, 2-[(4-hydroxybenzylidene)amino]phenol 6 and 4-[(2-hydroxyphenylimino)methyl]benzene-1,3-diol 7, were synthesized by the reaction of 2-aminophenol 1 with three different hydroxyl-benzaldehydes 2–4. They were characterized by spectroscopic analysis (IR, 1H NMR, EI-MS) along with elemental analyses. The products were biological screened out for antioxidant, lipoxygenase inhibition, antibacterial and urease inhibition activities. The compounds 5 and 6 showed potent while 7 showed moderate antioxidant activity. Compound 6 showed potent whereas 5 and 7 showed significant lipoxygenase inhibition activity. All the target compounds showed excellent activities against Staphylococcus intermedius, Bacillus subtilis, Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli and Salmonella typhi bacteria. All the compounds showed non-significant activity against urease enzyme

A cost-effective o-toulidine-based Schiff base as an efficient sorbent for metal ion uptake from aqueous and soil samples: Synthesis, antimicrobial, and acute toxicity analyses

Heavy metals create serious health problems, so the practical implementation and development of low-cost sorbent materials to remove heavy metals from the ecosystem is a worldwide issue. The purpose of this study is to find a low-cost ligand that has the potential to adsorb heavy metals from aqueous and soil samples and also has biological potential. For this, a Schiff base, dimeric o-toluidine (SBL), has been synthesized through condensation, characterized by spectroscopic analysis, and had its biological activities measured. We also studied its adsorption efficiency through a batch technique to remove Zn(II), Co(II), and Cu(II) from aqueous and soil samples under different conditions such as metal ion concentration, pH, contact time, and SBL concentration. The adsorption potential of SBL was analyzed by the Langmuir and Freundlich adsorption isotherms. The values of correlation coefficients revealed that the Freundlich isotherm elucidated results that were more appropriable than the Langmuir model. Adsorption equilibrium was established in 90 min for aqueous samples and in 1,440 min for soil samples. For the maximum adsorption of all metals, the optimum pH was 8, and it showed a capacity to remove 77 to 95 percent of metals from the samples. The maximum adsorption capacity (qmax) of SBL were 75.75, 62.50, and 9.17 mg g-1 in the case of Cu(II), Zn(II), and Co(II) ions, respectively, from aqueous samples and 10.95, 64.10, and 88.49 mg g-1 in the case of Zn(II), Cu (II), and Co(II), respectively, from soil samples. The effectiveness of SBL in the sorption of the selected metals was found to be Cu+2 > Zn+2 > Co+2 for aqueous samples and Co+2 > Cu+2 > Zn+2 for soil samples. The antimicrobial activity of SBL was also investigated. The results revealed that SBL showed moderate inhibitory activity against Staphylococcus dysentria, C. albican, and Aspergillus niger, whereas it exhibited weak activity against S. aureus, P. aureginosa, K. pneumoniae, P. vulgaris, and E.coli when compared to Fluconazole and Ciprofloxacin as the standard. Acute toxicity of the synthesized compound was measured through its daily oral administration with various doses ranging from 0.1 to 1,000 mg/kg of the mice’s body weights. Even at the dose of 1,000 mg/kg, the SBL showed no mortality or any type of general behavioral change in the treated mice. Based on preparation cost, metal removal capacity, toxicity, and antimicrobial activities, SBL is an excellent sorbent and should be studied at pilot scale levels

Radiative and magnetohydrodynamics flow of third grade viscoelastic fluid past an isothermal inverted cone in the presence of heat generation/absorption

A mathematical analysis is presented to investigate the nonlinear, isothermal, steady-state, free convection boundary layer flow of an incompressible third grade viscoelastic fluid past an isothermal inverted cone in the presence of magnetohydrodynamic, thermal radiation and heat generation/absorption. The transformed conservation equations for linear momentum, heat and mass are solved numerically subject to the realistic boundary conditions using the second-order accurate implicit finite-difference Keller Box Method. The numerical code is validated with previous studies. Detailed interpretation of the computations is included. The present simulations are of interest in chemical engineering systems and solvent and low-density polymer materials processing

The global burden of cancer attributable to risk factors, 2010-19 : a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019

Background Understanding the magnitude of cancer burden attributable to potentially modifiable risk factors is crucial for development of effective prevention and mitigation strategies. We analysed results from the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2019 to inform cancer control planning efforts globally. Methods The GBD 2019 comparative risk assessment framework was used to estimate cancer burden attributable to behavioural, environmental and occupational, and metabolic risk factors. A total of 82 risk-outcome pairs were included on the basis of the World Cancer Research Fund criteria. Estimated cancer deaths and disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) in 2019 and change in these measures between 2010 and 2019 are presented. Findings Globally, in 2019, the risk factors included in this analysis accounted for 4.45 million (95% uncertainty interval 4.01-4.94) deaths and 105 million (95.0-116) DALYs for both sexes combined, representing 44.4% (41.3-48.4) of all cancer deaths and 42.0% (39.1-45.6) of all DALYs. There were 2.88 million (2.60-3.18) risk-attributable cancer deaths in males (50.6% [47.8-54.1] of all male cancer deaths) and 1.58 million (1.36-1.84) risk-attributable cancer deaths in females (36.3% [32.5-41.3] of all female cancer deaths). The leading risk factors at the most detailed level globally for risk-attributable cancer deaths and DALYs in 2019 for both sexes combined were smoking, followed by alcohol use and high BMI. Risk-attributable cancer burden varied by world region and Socio-demographic Index (SDI), with smoking, unsafe sex, and alcohol use being the three leading risk factors for risk-attributable cancer DALYs in low SDI locations in 2019, whereas DALYs in high SDI locations mirrored the top three global risk factor rankings. From 2010 to 2019, global risk-attributable cancer deaths increased by 20.4% (12.6-28.4) and DALYs by 16.8% (8.8-25.0), with the greatest percentage increase in metabolic risks (34.7% [27.9-42.8] and 33.3% [25.8-42.0]). Interpretation The leading risk factors contributing to global cancer burden in 2019 were behavioural, whereas metabolic risk factors saw the largest increases between 2010 and 2019. Reducing exposure to these modifiable risk factors would decrease cancer mortality and DALY rates worldwide, and policies should be tailored appropriately to local cancer risk factor burden. Copyright (C) 2022 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an Open Access article under the CC BY 4.0 license.Peer reviewe

<i>Ailanthus altissima</i> (Miller) Swingle fruit - new acyl <i>β</i>-sitosteryl glucoside and <i>in vitro</i> pharmacological evaluation

<p><i>β</i>-Sitosterol-3-<i>O</i>-(6ʹ-<i>O</i>-13ʺ-octadecenoyl)-<i>β</i>-D-glucoside (<b>1</b>), a new acyl <i>β</i>-sitosteryl glucoside, along with three known compounds <i>β</i>-sitosterol-3-<i>O</i>-<i>β</i>-D-glucoside (<b>2</b>), <i>β</i>-sitosterol (<b>3</b>) and methyl gallate (<b>4</b>) have been isolated from the ethyl acetate soluble fraction of methanolic extract of <i>Ailanthus altissima</i> fruits. Their structures were elucidated through spectroscopic data including 2D NMR, ESI-MS, methanolysis and oxidative cleavage of double bond. Antibacterial, antifungal, cytotoxic, phytotoxic and insecticidal activities were evaluated of compound <b>1</b>, crude extract and its fractions so far for the first time. Pharmacological activities results showed that <i>n</i>-butanol fraction was good active against <i>Pseudomonas aeruginosa</i> and <i>Salmonella typhi</i> bacteria, and moderate active against <i>Microsporum canis</i> fungus. Crude extract, <i>n</i>-butanol and aqueous fractions showed good cytotoxicity. Moreover, compound <b>1</b>, extract and all fractions showed notable phytotoxicity at higher concentrations, whereas all inactive against assayed insects.</p

A central-upwind scheme for two-phase shallow granular flow model

In this article, a central-upwind scheme (CUP) is extended to solve two-phase shallow granular flow (TPSF) model. The flow in this case is considered as incompressible and it is regarded to be a shallow layer of granular and liquid material. The model consists of continuity and momentum equations for both solid and liquid phases. Our main intrigue is the numerical approximation of the above-mentioned solid-liquid model, the complexity of which raises numerical challenges. The proposed method is non-oscillating upwind biased that does not require a Riemann solver at each step. A few test problems are approximated numerically to check the performance of suggested scheme. For validation the outcomes are compared with the conservation element solution element (CE/SE) and kinetic flux vector splitting (KFVS) schemes