On a roll: the LSE student helping solve Pakistan’s water crisis a wheel at a time

In Pakistan 22 million people live without access to clean drinking water and those living in waterdeprived areas walk on average six kilometres everyday to access a well. LSE student, Bilal Bin Saqib (Msc Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship) set up non-profit Tayaba in 2015 to help introduce the ‘H20 Wheel’ to Pakistan. Here he explains why such a simple piece of technology can have revolutionary impacts

Isolation, identification and antifungal susceptibility of Candida in patients with fungal sepsis

Background: In this study, our aim was to identify and isolate Candida species from patients admitted in ICU,s of our hospital and to determine their susceptibilities to various antifungal agents so as to find the local resistance pattern and guide for empirical treatment.Methods: In our study 37 strains of candida were isolated (4 Candida albicans, 33 Non-albicans Candida strains). Candida species were identified by conventional, biochemical and molecular methods. Antifungal susceptibility tests for amphotericin B, fluconazole, itraconazole, ketoconazole and voriconazole were performed with broth microdilution method and E- tests as described by National Committee for Clinical Laboratory Standards (NCCLS).Results: Out of 37 Candida strains, the most prevalent species were C. tropicalis (43.2%), C. parapsilosis (24.3%), C. krusei (16.2%), C. albicans (10.8%), and C. glabrata (2.7%). Among all strains four strains (10.8 %) were resistant, two Candida albicans where found resistant to fluconazole one Candida krusei and one Candida parapsilosis were found to be resistant to all azoles.Conclusions: Candidemia continues to be associated with substantial morbidity and mortality and non albicans Candida species are the commonly isolated pathogen from those patients admitted in tertiary care hospitals in Indian scenario. Thus, it is imperative to perform antifungal susceptibility to select appropriate and effective antifungal therapy

Assessing the Impact of Job Involvement and Commitment on Organizational Productivity in the Arab/Gulf Countries

The relationship between job involvement, organizational commitment and productivity/ performance is well studied concept in western organizational literature because organizational commitment and job involvement are crucial factors having direct effect over organizational performance. It is generally assumed that since workers with high organizational commitment and job involvement are usually highly satisfied with their organization and job, hence puts extra efforts to perform better in the organization which ultimately leads to organizational efficiency. Despite given importance to the said constructs, limited studies have been conducted in developing countries and especially in Arab/Gulf countries. The proposed study was designed to assess the effects of job involvement and workers commitment on organizational performance in Middle East countries. Findings of the study reveal significant positive relationship between job involvements, employee’s commitment and organizational productivity. The study concludes clearly indicate that organizations with high job involvement and employees’ commitment are performing well than organizations with little job involvement and low employees’ commitment. Keywords: Job involvement, organizational commitment and organizational productivity/ performanc

Determination of reference interval (RI) of spot urinary oxalate to creatinine ratio in children of Pakistani origin under six years of age: A cross-sectional study

Background: The gold standard screening method of hyperoxaluria in children is using 24-hour urine collection. Urine collection may be cumbersome and challenging for children. Reference intervals (RI) of oxalate for the Pakistani population are not readily available. Therefore we aimed to determine the oxalate to creatinine ratio (Ox: Cr) for Pakistani children \u3c6 years of age.Materials and methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted at Aga Khan University from June 2018 to October 2019. Random urine samples from apparently healthy children \u3c 6 years were collected and stored at -30°C until analysis after adding 6M HCl. Oxalate was measured on Micro lab 300 using a kit based on oxalate oxidase principle, while creatinine was measured by kinetic Jaffe reaction. Data was analyzed by EP evaluator and SPSS 23. Ox: Cr ratio was calculated and reported with 90% confidence interval (CI) and interquartile range (IQR).Results: The mean age of study subjects (n=120) was 29 ±22.3 months with an M: F ratio of 1:1. Children of various ethnicities were included from all over Karachi. The majority of the subjects were Urdu speaking (37.5%). Median Ox: Cr was 0.13(0.10). No significant difference was noted in the median Ox: Cr ratio between various ethnicities (p\u3e0.05). It was significantly different in group I to V which was 0.25 (IQR: 0.06), 0.19 (IQR: 0.11), 0.15 (IQR: 0.04), 0.11 (IQR: 0.06) and 0.08 (IQR: 0.04) respectively (pvalue \u3c0.001).Conclusion: The established RIs of Ox: Cr ratio was 0.05-0.34 (90% CI). Ox: Cr ratio showed a declining trend with age. Large scale reference interval studies are encouraged, taking diet and age into consideration

Technomoral Affordances of Artificial Intelligence in Data-Driven Systems

In a panel session on Data, Platforms, and Policies, participants examined the state of artificial intelligence (AI) in the Arab states and discussed the responsible use of AI in data-driven systems in government, health care, education, and industry

Histological changes in the liver of diabetic rats: A review of pathogenesis of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease in type 1 diabetes mellitus

Abstract: Abundant knowledge is present over nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and type 2 diabetes mellitus but no attention has been given to the same aspect with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) in humans. However, various animal modeled studies are documented having induced T1DM using chemical induction by alloxan (ALX) or streptozotocin (SZ) to investigate and comprehend the nature and pathophysiology of NAFLD in T1DM. The objectives of this review were to assess whether T1DM induced by ALX or SZ could cause histological (morphological and ultrastructural) changes in rat liver to illustrate the effects of these drugs and diabetes, and pathophysiology of NAFLD in T1DM. To achieve these objectives, we systematically searched the studies from EconLit, Embase, Google Scholar, Medline, PubMed, ProQuest, Scopus, Springer Link, and Science Direct databases. Initially, 150 studies were retrieved. Out of these, 107 studies were removed as these failed to provide relevant details. Finally, 43 articles were selected for this review. This review concluded that diabetes induced by ALX or SZ, cause biochemical alterations in blood and pathophysiological variations in the liver of rats. These changes can vary from steatosis to steatohepatitis and liver fibrosis, and are similar to the modifications observed in human liver

Microbiome Variation Across Populations of Desert Halophyte Zygophyllum qatarensis

Microbial symbionts play a significant role in plant health and stress tolerance. However, few studies exist that address rare species of core-microbiome function during abiotic stress. In the current study, we compared the microbiome composition of succulent dwarf shrub halophyte Zygophyllum qatarensis Hadidi across desert populations. The results showed that rhizospheric and endosphere microbiome greatly varied due to soil texture (sandy and gravel). No specific bacterial amplicon sequence variants were observed in the core-microbiome of bulk soil and rhizosphere, however, bacterial genus Alcaligenes and fungal genus Acidea were abundantly distributed across root and shoot endospheres. We also analyzed major nutrients such as silicon (Si), magnesium, and calcium across different soil textures and Z. qatarensis populations. The results showed that the rhizosphere and root parts had significantly higher Si content than the bulk soil and shoot parts. The microbiome variation can be attributed to markedly higher Si – suggesting that selective microbes are contributing to the translocation of soluble Si to root. In conclusion, low core-microbiome species abundance might be due to the harsh growing conditions in the desert – making Z. qatarensis highly selective to associate with microbial communities. Utilizing rare microbial players from plant microbiomes may be vital for increasing crop stress tolerance and productivity during stresses

Microbiome Variation Across Populations of Desert Halophyte \u3ci\u3eZygophyllum qatarensis\u3c/i\u3e

Microbial symbionts play a significant role in plant health and stress tolerance. However, few studies exist that address rare species of core-microbiome function during abiotic stress. In the current study, we compared the microbiome composition of succulent dwarf shrub halophyte Zygophyllum qatarensis Hadidi across desert populations. The results showed that rhizospheric and endosphere microbiome greatly varied due to soil texture (sandy and gravel). No specific bacterial amplicon sequence variants were observed in the core-microbiome of bulk soil and rhizosphere, however, bacterial genus Alcaligenes and fungal genus Acidea were abundantly distributed across root and shoot endospheres. We also analyzed major nutrients such as silicon (Si), magnesium, and calcium across different soil textures and Z. qatarensis populations. The results showed that the rhizosphere and root parts had significantly higher Si content than the bulk soil and shoot parts. The microbiome variation can be attributed to markedly higher Si – suggesting that selective microbes are contributing to the translocation of soluble Si to root. In conclusion, low core-microbiome species abundance might be due to the harsh growing conditions in the desert – making Z. qatarensis highly selective to associate with microbial communities. Utilizing rare microbial players from plant microbiomes may be vital for increasing crop stress tolerance and productivity during stresses

Silicon Me-diated Arsenic Reduction in Rice by Limiting Its Uptake

Abstract This study was planned to examine the effects of exogenous silicon supply on growth parameters and arsenic accumulation level in rice. The experiment was conducted in the wire house of Saline Agriculture Research Centre, Institute of Soil and Environmental Science, University of Agriculture Faisalabad. The study was comprised of treatments viz: control; (100 µM Arsenic); (200 µM Arsenic); (5 mM Silicon); (5 mM Silicon + 100 µM Arsenic) and (5 mM Silicon + 200 µM Arsenic). Results revealed that maximum shoot fresh weight, shoot dry weight, root fresh weight and root dry weight were observed in (5 mM Si) solution. In the same way, maximum number of tillers was also recorded in (5 mM Si) solution; while silicon application failed to alleviate arsenic concentration of rice genotype

Dynamic interplay of WRKY, GRAS, and ERF transcription factor families in tomato-endophytic fungal symbiosis: insights from transcriptome and genome-wide analysis

Plant-microbe interactions play a crucial role in shaping plant growth and development, as well as in mediating plant responses to biotic and abiotic stresses. In this study, we used RNA-seq data to examine the expression profiles of SlWRKY, SlGRAS, and SlERF genes during the symbiotic association of Curvularia lunata SL1 with tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) plants. We also conducted functional annotation analysis by comparative genomics studies of their paralogs and orthologs genes, as well as other approaches, such as gene analysis and protein interaction networks, to identify and characterize the regulatory roles of these TFs in the development of the symbiotic association. We found that more than half of the investigated SlWRKY genes exhibited significant upregulation during symbiotic association, including SlWRKY38, SlWRKY46, SlWRKY19, and SlWRKY51. Several SlGRAS and SlERF genes were upregulated, such as SlGLD2, SlGLD1, SlERF.C.5, ERF16, and SlERF.B12. Conversely, a smaller proportion of SlWRKY, SlGRAS, and SlERF genes were significantly downregulated during symbiotic association. Furthermore, we investigated the possible roles of SlWRKY, SlGRAS, and SlERF genes in hormonal regulation during plant-microbe interactions. We identified several upregulated candidate transcripts likely to be involved in plant hormone signaling pathways. Our findings are consistent with previous studies on these genes, providing further evidence of their involvement in hormonal regulation during plant-microbe interactions. To validate the RNA-seq data accuracy, we performed RT-qPCR analyses of selected SlWRKY, SlGRAS, and SlERF genes, which showed similar expression patterns to those observed in the RNA-seq data. These results confirmed the accuracy of our RNA-seq data and provided additional support for the differential expression of these genes during plant-microbe interactions. Taken together, our study provides new insights into the differential expression profiles of SlWRKY, SlGRAS, and SlERF genes during symbiotic association with C. lunata, as well as their potential roles in hormonal regulation during plant-microbe interactions. These findings could be useful for guiding future research on the ways in which plants and microbes interact, and may ultimately lead to the creation of better approaches for promoting plant growth under stressful conditions