Fresh Properties of Concrete having Banana Leaf Ash and Banana Fibres

This paper focuses on the investigation of fresh properties of concrete with the influence of banana leaf ash and banana fibre. In this study, cement was partially replaced by 10% banana leaf ash content in weight; whereas; banana fibre was incorporated in concrete mixes at 1%, 1.5% and 2.5% by weight of cement. 1 % content of superplasticizer based on polycarboxylic ether was used. A single concrete mix ratio was developed to achieve a strength of 30MPa and slump, density, and compacting factor tests were conducted for examining the fresh concrete properties. The results exhibited that the incorporation of banana leaf ash developed fresh concrete properties, while banana fibre decreased the fresh characteristics of concrete. The incorporation of 2.5% fibre resulted in a 55% decrease of slump as compared to the reference concrete whereas 1% and 1.5% banana fibre in concrete showed a reduction of 8.2% and 16.11% as compared to reference concrete. With the significant amount of research being carried out in the domain of natural fibres and natural ashes it is important to evaluate the fresh properties of such concrete for their easy application in civil engineering

Use of AI applications for the drone industry

The unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) industry, commonly referred to as the drone industry, has grown rapidly in recent years and changed many industries' operational procedures. Drones are adaptable AUs that have the ability to operate independently or remotely. The drone business has developed into a vibrant, diverse sector with applications in many other industries. Drone technology is set to grow and become more integrated into daily life and corporate operations as long as regulations keep up with technological advancements. Artificial intelligence (AI) technologies are increasingly used in various industries, notably drone companies. AI can improve drone technology's effectiveness, dependability, and efficiency, creating new opportunities for the drone industry to service multiple applications and sectors

Frequency of congenital hypothyroidism in new born admitted with neonatal jaundice at tertiary care hospital peshawar

Neonatal jaundice is a common disorder worldwide affecting 30-70% of newborn infants. Severe neonatal jaundice and its progression to kernicterus is a leading cause of death and disability among newborns in poorly-resourced countries. OBJECTIVES: To determine the frequency of congenital hypothyroidism in new born admitted with neonatal jaundice at tertiary care hospital Peshawar. METHODOLOGY: Settings: removed for blind review Duration: Period of 1 year from January 2020- January 2021. Study Design: Descriptive (cross sectional) study. Results: In our study 489 mothers 386(79%) mothers were in age range 18-30 years while 103(21%) mothers were in age range 31-40 years. 279(57%) babies were male and 210(43%) babies were female. 303(62%) newborns had maternal  gestation age ≤38 weeks and 186(38%) neonates had gestation age >38 weeks. 352(72%) newborns had duration of jaundice ≤14 days and 137(28%) newborns had duration of jaundice >14 days. Birth weight was analyzed as 200(41%) newborns had birth weight ≤2.5 kg and 289(59%) newborns had birth weight >2.5 kg.  15(3%) Mothers had positive history of hypothyroidism  while 474(97%) mothers had negative history of hypothyroidism .  24(5%) mother had positive history of anti-thyroid drug intake while 465(95%) mothers had negative history of anti-thyroid drug intake. 5(1%) newborn had congenital hypothyroidism while 484(99%) newborn didn’t had congenital hypothyroidism. Conclusion: Our study concludes that the frequency of congenital hypothyroidism was 1% in new born admitted with neonatal jaundice at tertiary care hospital Peshawar. Key words: Hypothyroidism, Jaundice, kernicterus, bilirubin, morbidity, anti-thyroid drugs

The Influence of Epidural Steroids on Postoperative Pain and Hospital Stay in Patients Having a Single-Level Lumbar Discectomy

Objective:   In this study, we looked at how intra-operative epidural steroids affected postoperative pain and stay duration in patients with unilateral single-level lumbar discectomy. Material & Methods:  A randomized control trial was conducted at Ayub Teaching Hospital Abbottabad. Group A (n = 30) was given intraoperative epidural methylprednisolone, while group B (n = 30) was given normal saline only. The outcome was measured between the two groups in terms of postoperative pain (visual analog scale), time of mobilization, length of hospital stay, and duration to return to work. Results:  At discharge, the VAS score in group A was 0.40 compared to 2.4 in group B (p = 0.000). At 2 weeks follow-up, the mean VAS score was 1.10 in group A in contrast to 1.4 in group B (p = 0.001). Patients who received local epidural methylprednisolone were mobilized after an average of 1 day, stayed for an average of 1.16 days, and returned to work following 18.2 days, whereas patients in the control group were mobilized after an average of 1.2 days, stayed for an average of 1.86 days and returned to work following 25.9 days. An incidental Dural tear occurs in 2 cases. Conclusion:  Intra-operative epidural steroid is beneficial in reducing post-operative pain, hospital stay, and time to return to work. It allows early mobilization with enhanced recovery and few complications

Survey of medicinal plants and patterns of knowledge in district Swabi/ Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan

To investigate and document the indigenous knowledge on the medicinal flora of the native communities in Swabi district, Pakistan. A field survey was carried out and data was based on semi-structured interviews, group discussions, and questionnaire from 8 villages. 180 local individual of local communities were interviewed and collected data were analyzed by quantitative and descriptive index. During the survey, 81 species belonging to 45 families were reported. Solanaceae was the leading family with 7 species. Herb (48%) was the dominant plant habit and leaf (24%) was the most preferred used part for indigenous medicine. Moreover, decoction (28.93%) was the most prestigious method. According to the result, the highest use value was documented for Jaundice ailment (1.00-0.81). Besides, 11 plants added to the endangered species list. Local experts of Swabi district practice a huge variety of ethnomedicinal plants in treating a wide spectrum of disorders, especially those plants used to cure jaundice. Our finding suggest that the pharmacological potential across some of these plants has been therapeutically validated however still need to explore the pharmacological properties of other species. Hence, the present investigation, aside from being a source of new insight for ethnobotanical and pharmacological cure of many disorders, might contribute to upgrade the sustainability, conservation, and management of medicinal flora in the Bachai Sikandari, district Swabi

Extremophiles and Limits of Life in a Cosmic Perspective

Extremophiles are one of the most extreme entity on planet earth which can withstand many harsh conditions considered lethal for other life form of terrestrial life. From an evolutionary prospective, extremophiles are considered to be primitive cells that used to live in the early earths harsh environment living on this planet since billions of years, it can be found in almost in any environmental conditions on our planet. There are many established valuable uses of these extremophiles and particularly their bioactive compounds. The enzymes produced by extremophiles have significant applications in different industries like detergent, food, feed, starch, textile, leather, pulp and paper, and pharmaceuticals This chapter discuss extremophile, their survival mechanism and astrobiology, discussing life in a cosmic prospective

Anti-hyperglycemic activity of Heliotropium strigosum (Boraginaecae) whole plant extract in alloxan-induced diabetic mice

Purpose: To investigate Heliotropium strigosum whole plant extract for its potential to reduce the blood glucose level of alloxan-induced diabetic mice.Methods: Preliminary phytochemical analysis was carried out using standard  procedures. Diabetes was induced in Balb/c mice by injecting alloxan (200 mg/kg i.p.). The crude methanol extract of Heliotropium strigosum (Hs.Cr, 30, 100 and 300 mg/kg doses) was administered daily to alloxan-induced diabetic mice for 15 days and its effect on fasting blood glucose levels, body weight and oral glucose tolerancewas evaluated. Two control groups (non-diabetic control and diabetic control)  received normal saline (0.2 ml). Metformin (500 mg/kg) was used as reference standard.Results: Heliotropium strigosum showed positive for the presence of alkaloids, tannins and flavonoids. The extract (30, 100 and 300 mg/kg) caused significant reduction in the fasting blood glucose level of alloxan-induced diabetic mice on days 5, 10 and 15 compared to diabetic control (p < 0.001). In this regard, the  anti-hyperglycemic effect compared to the reference (metformin). The extract also timedependently decreased the body weight of the treated animals as well as improved tolerance of the oral glucose overload.Conclusion: These results indicate that Heliotropium strigosum possesses  anti-hyperglycemic effect, reduces body weight and enhances the tolerance of  glucose overload in mice. Further studies are therefore required to determine its  feasiilty as an alternate herbal medicine in the management of diabetes in humans.Keywords: Heliotropium strigosum, Anti-hyperglycemic, Alloxan-induced diabetic mice, Blood glucose, Oral glucose tolerance, Body weigh

Dynamics of SIR mathematical model for COVID-19 outbreak in Pakistan under Fractal-fractional derivative

There are still mathematical predictions in the fight against epidemics. Speedy expansion, ways and procedures for the pandemic control require early understanding when solutions with better computer-based mathematical modeling and prognosis are developed. Despite high uncertainty in each of these models, one of the important tools for public health management system is epidemiology models. The fractional order is shown to be more effective in modeling epidemic diseases, in relation to the memory effects. Notably, recently founded calculus tools, called fractal-fractional calculus, having a fractional order and fractal dimension, enable us to study the behavior of a real-world problem under both fractal and fractional tools. This paper is about the dynamical behavior of a new mathematical model of novel corona disease (COVID-19) under the fractal-fractional Atangana–Baleanu derivative. The considered model has three compartments, namely, susceptible, infected and recovered or removed (SIR). The existence and uniqueness of the model’s solution will be proved via Krasnoselskii’s and Banach’s fixed point theorems, respectively. The stability of the solution in the sense of Hyers–Ulam (HU) will be built up by nonlinear functional analysis. Moreover, the numerical simulations for different values of isolation parameters corresponding to various fractal-fractional orders are analyzed using fractional Adams–Bashforth (AB) method with two-step Lagrange polynomial. Finally, the obtained simulation results are applied to the real data of disease spread from Pakistan. The graphical interpretations demonstrate that increasing the isolation parameters which is caused by strict precautionary measures will reduce the disease infection transmission in society

ТЕМПЕРАТУРНЫЕ АНОМАЛИИ ПЕРЕД ЗЕМЛЕТРЯСЕНИЕМ В ПРОВИНЦИИ ГОРКХА (НЕПАЛ) В 2015 Г., УСТАНОВЛЕННЫЕ ПО ЗНАЧЕНИЯМ ТЕМПЕРАТУРЫ ПОВЕРХНОСТИ ЗЕМЛИ MODIS И УХОДЯЩЕГО ДЛИННОВОЛНОВОГО ИЗЛУЧЕНИЯ

Earthquakes can generate thermal anomalies in the atmosphere at low altitudes. Pending well-focused detailed studies, such phenomenon may be referred to as a precursor for earthquake prediction. However, today the pre-earthquake thermal anomalies are not clear enough. In this paper, the thermal anomalies prior to the April 25, 2015 Mw 7.8 Gorkha (Nepal) earthquake are investigated from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) land surface temperature (LST), air temperature and Outgoing Longwave Radiations (OLR) data. The 2D and 3D wavelet transformation techniques are used to interpret the real time enhancement of the daily MODIS and OLR data before the impending earthquake. Using the wavelet density spectrum, pre-earthquake anomalies in MODIS and OLR are found in connection to the impending earthquake. The spatial images of MODIS and OLR show the evolutionary pattern of the emanation of ions from the epicenter and the surrounding area. The most important feature revealed by the spatial analysis is the eastward migration of temperature clouds due to a strong electric field. The satellite based LST data showed deviation, which crosses the upper bound by 5 °C. All the observations in our case study strongly support the notion of pre-earthquake thermal anomalies. Based on the analysis of the results, it can be concluded that the overabundance of ions from the seismogenic zone is responsible for prompting large temperature perturbations in atmospheric layers.Землетрясения способны создавать тепловые аномалии в атмосфере на малых высотах. Такие аномалии могут рассматриваться в качестве вероятного предвестника при прогнозирования землетрясений, в связи с чем требуются целенаправленные детальные исследования. На сегодня знаний о тепловых аномалиях, появляющихся перед землетрясениями, недостаточно. В статье представлены результаты изучения термических аномалий, имевших место перед землетрясением в провинции Горкха (Непал) (Mw=7.8) 25 апреля 2015 г., как свидетельствуют значения температуры поверхности Земли, зарегистрированные сканирующими спектрорадиометрами среднего разрешения MODIS, а также данные о температуре атмосферного воздуха и уходящего длинноволнового излучения (OLR). Метод вейвлет-преобразования в двух- и трехмерном пространстве использован для интерпретации повышения суточных значений MODIS и OLR в реальном времени накануне землетрясения. По спектральной плотности накануне реального сейсмического события установлены аномальные значения MODIS и OLR, связанные с приближением этого землетрясения. Пространственные снимки MODIS и OLR показывают эволюционирующий характер эманации ионов из эпицентра и прилегающей области. Наиболее важной особенностью, выявленной посредством пространственного анализа, следует считать миграцию температурных облаков в восточном направлении вследствие усилившегося электрического поля. Спутниковые данные LST показывают отклонение от верхней границы значений на 5 °C. Все наблюдения в нашем исследовании подтверждают понятие тепловых аномалий накануне землетрясения. Исходя из анализа результатов, можно сделать вывод, что избыток ионов из сейсмогенной зоны обусловливает появление больших температурных возмущений в слоях атмосферы

Enzyme inhibition and antibacterial potential of 4-Hydroxycoumarin derivatives

The 4-Hydroxycoumarin derivatives are known to show a broad spectrum of pharmacological applications. In this paper we are reporting the synthesis of a new series of 4-Hydroxycoumarin derivatives synthesized through Knovenegal condensation; they were characterized by using UV-Vis, FT-IR, NMR spectroscopies. The synthesized compounds were evaluated for antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus and Salmonella typhimurium strains. The compounds (2), (3) and (8) showed favorable antibacterial activity with zone of inhibitions 26.5± 0.84, 26.0 ± 0.56 and 26.0 ± 0.26 against Staphylococcus aureus (Gram-positive) respectively. However, the compounds (5) and (9) were found more active with 19.5 ± 0.59 and 19.5 ± 0.32 zone of inhibitions against Salmonella typhimurium (Gram-negative). Whereas, in urease inhibition assay, none of the synthesized derivatives showed significant anti-urease activity; although, in carbonic anhydrase-II inhibition assay, the compound (2) and (6) showed enzyme inhibition activity with IC50 values 263±0.3 and 456±0.1, respectively