Increased regeneration efficiency of _Brassica napus_ L. cultivars Star, Westar and Cyclone from hypocotyle and cotyledonary explants

The comparative organogenesis of _Brassica napus_ L cultivars Cyclone, Star and Westar was studied. The cotyledonary explants gave a higher response to all the combinations of 0.5 mg/L 2,4-D and BAP (0.5, 1.0,1.5 and 2.0 mg/L} used for optimizing the conditions for callus induction. The best mean weight and mean length of callus was obtained at 0.5 mg/L 2,4-D and 1.5mg/L BAP for Star cotyledonary explants. For the complete plant regeneration the new method of exposing the explants culture to Growth regulator free medium was performed. The method was applicable to both hypocotyl and cotyledonary explants. The Shoot Induction Frequency for hypocotyl (6-34%) in the three cultivars is higher than the cotyledonary explants (3-23%). The method is speedy and almost all of the shoots and some unshooted calli (78%) form roots on the same media without prior transfer to rooting medium

Challenges Associated with Resource Selection in Public Libraries of Khyber Pakhtunkhawa, Pakistan

Resource quality and users satisfaction in public libraries are correlated factors. In resource selection for both the formats i.e. (soft and hard) professional involvement as well as geographical and cultural position of people is mandatory for consideration. The unilateral decision making power of few under the centralized system has left no gap for policy designing by sitting across the table. This study was conducted to explore the challenges faced by Khyber Pakhtunkhawa public libraries in resource selection. A quantitative based study was conducted to collect the relevant data from twelve out of seventeen library professionals in the whole directorate of public libraries and its sub-offices. An in depth study of the relevant literature was carried out to collect the data through questionnaire. The data were later analyzed using SPSS.  Results of the study showed that Khyber Pakhtunkhawa public libraries having no set pattern and concept for printed and e-resource selection and automation of printed materials. In the cyber age e-resources are superseding the printed materials Khyber Pakhtunkhawa public libraries are far away from e-resource provision which need serious consideration on immediate basis. Keywords: Library resources, library materials, resource management, resource selection, resource mechanism, Khyber Pakhtunkhawa public libraries

Association of Cigarette Smoking with Thickness of Intimal Layer of Carotid Arteries on Color Doppler Ultrasound Study and Its Surgical Management

Objectives:  Aim of this study is to evaluate the intimal vessel wall thickness in smoker and their co-relation with non-smoker and also surgical management of stenosis. Material and Methods:  It is a prospective study of 55 cases. Study span and follow up duration were 4 months. Our patients were presented with the history of CVA (Cerebrovascular accident), hypertension, diabetes, and headache. Results:  In all patients, the carotid doppler ultrasound was done and their intimal vessel wall thickness was noted. Our 78% patients were smoker and non-smoker was 22%. In our study, 52% patients had CVA, 41% patients had hypertension, 30% patients had headache and 9% patients were also obese. Forty three smokers used to take 15 – 25 cigarettes daily. Among 43 patients, 5 patients were females. In carotid Doppler study, intimal thickness was increased in 87%, the plaque was observed in 49% and stenosis was observed in 38% cases. In 18 % patients, who had stenosis > 70%, carotid endarterectomy was performed and in rest of the patients medical treatment done.Patients who were chronic smokers and had medical co-morbidities showed greater thickness of intimal layer of vessels on carotid Doppler. In 6 patients, post-operative headache occurred. Conclusion:  Smokers had more thickness of intimal layer of carotid vessels. Carotid endarterectomy yields good results in case of stenosis more than 70%. Keywords:  Cerebrovascular accident, Intimal layer thickness, Carotid doppler ultrasound, Cigarette smokin

EFFECT OF BENTONITE ON FRESH AND HARDENED PROPERTY OF SELF COMPACTING CONCRETE

Self compacting concrete can be described as a high performance material which flows under its own weight without requiring vibrators to achieve consolidation by complete filling of formworks even when access is hindered by narrow gaps between reinforcement bars. Self compacting concrete required a large amount of binder (paste) and chemical admixtures. This paper presents the use of bentonite in self compacting concrete as viscosity modifying agent (VMA). Bentonite as VMA and other chemical admixture which are liquid form of VMA are compared to check the fresh and hardened properties of self compacting concrete such as, Slump flow, funnel, L-box , sieve stability tests, further compressive strength of the self compacting concrete at the age of 28 days was determined

Outcome of Microsurgical Clipping of Ruptured Anterior Circulation Aneurysms

Objective: The objective of the study was to analyze the operative outcome of microsurgical clipping in Ruptured Anterior Circulation Aneurysms.Materials and Methods: Twenty patients with Ruptured Anterior Circulation aneurysms were treated with surgical clipping. All the patients were evaluated pre-operatively according to Hunt & Hess and WFNS grading scales. Patients with grade I, II, and III were operated. All the aneurysms were clipped through Pterional approach under General anesthesia and Yasargil Aneurysm clips of appropriate sizes were used in each patient. Outcome was analyzed according to Glasgow Outcome Scale at the end of six months of follow up in each patient.Results: In this series of twenty cases, the mean patient age was 49 years. Lesion location included, the ACA/A. Com 55% (n = 11), the Middle Cerebral artery 25% (n = 5), P. Com 15% (n = 3), Ophthalmic artery 5% (n = 1). Sex distribution, female 55% (n = 11) and male 45% (n = 9). Per-operative complications, rupture of aneurysm 20% (n = 4), and damage to perforating branches of MCA 5% (n = 1). Conclusions: Surgical clipping still is the most efficient treatment of Ruptured Anterior Circulation aneurysm at the beginning of the new millennium. Anterior Communicating Artery is the commonest location of aneurysms. Major determinants of outcome are Hunt & Hess, WFNS grades on admission and the age of the patient

Outcome of Microsurgical Clipping of Ruptured Anterior Circulation Aneurysms

Objective: The objective of the study was to analyze the operative outcome of microsurgical clipping in Ruptured Anterior Circulation Aneurysms.Materials and Methods: Twenty patients with Ruptured Anterior Circulation aneurysms were treated with surgical clipping. All the patients were evaluated pre-operatively according to Hunt & Hess and WFNS grading scales. Patients with grade I, II, and III were operated. All the aneurysms were clipped through Pterional approach under General anesthesia and Yasargil Aneurysm clips of appropriate sizes were used in each patient. Outcome was analyzed according to Glasgow Outcome Scale at the end of six months of follow up in each patient.Results: In this series of twenty cases, the mean patient age was 49 years. Lesion location included, the ACA/A. Com 55% (n = 11), the Middle Cerebral artery 25% (n = 5), P. Com 15% (n = 3), Ophthalmic artery 5% (n = 1). Sex distribution, female 55% (n = 11) and male 45% (n = 9). Per-operative complications, rupture of aneurysm 20% (n = 4), and damage to perforating branches of MCA 5% (n = 1). Conclusions: Surgical clipping still is the most efficient treatment of Ruptured Anterior Circulation aneurysm at the beginning of the new millennium. Anterior Communicating Artery is the commonest location of aneurysms. Major determinants of outcome are Hunt & Hess, WFNS grades on admission and the age of the patient

Op2Vec: An Opcode Embedding Technique and Dataset Design for End-to-End Detection of Android Malware

Android is one of the leading operating systems for smart phones in terms of market share and usage. Unfortunately, it is also an appealing target for attackers to compromise its security through malicious applications. To tackle this issue, domain experts and researchers are trying different techniques to stop such attacks. All the attempts of securing Android platform are somewhat successful. However, existing detection techniques have severe shortcomings, including the cumbersome process of feature engineering. Designing representative features require expert domain knowledge. There is a need for minimizing human experts' intervention by circumventing handcrafted feature engineering. Deep learning could be exploited by extracting deep features automatically. Previous work has shown that operational codes (opcodes) of executables provide key information to be used with deep learning models for detection process of malicious applications. The only challenge is to feed opcodes information to deep learning models. Existing techniques use one-hot encoding to tackle the challenge. However, the one-hot encoding scheme has severe limitations. In this paper, we introduce; (1) a novel technique for opcodes embedding, which we name Op2Vec, (2) based on the learned Op2Vec we have developed a dataset for end-to-end detection of android malware. Introducing the end-to-end Android malware detection technique avoids expert-intensive handcrafted features extraction, and ensures automation. Some of the recent deep learning-based techniques showed significantly improved results when tested with the proposed approach and achieved an average detection accuracy of 97.47%, precision of 0.976 and F1 score of 0.979

Comparison of Early vs. Late Tracheostomy in Subdural Hematoma Operated at GCS Six or Below

Objectives:To compare the outcomes of early tracheostomy vs. late tracheostomy in post-operative patients after acute subdural hematoma at receiving GCS (Glasgow comma scale) of six or below. Method:  A quasi observational study was conducted on 30 patients with acute subdural hematoma after RTA (road traffic accident) and were operated in The Department of Neurosurgery Unit 2, Punjab Institute of Neurosciences, LGH, Lahore. The age range was 20 – 65 years. All patients were operated upon within 12 hours of RTA. Results:  In Group A, 12 (40%) patients, decompressive craniectomy with the evacuation of acute subdural hematoma and early tracheostomy were performed. In Group B, 8 (26%) patients’ craniotomy and evacuation of acute subdural hematoma were done along with early tracheostomy. In 6(20%) patients, decompressive craniectomy and evacuation were done and their tracheostomies were done at the 10th post-operative day. In 4 (13.33%) patients’ craniotomy and evacuation of hematoma done and their tracheostomies were also done at 10th post-operative day. In Group A, on 5th postoperative day GCS of 16 (53.33%) patients with early tracheostomies and fewer comorbidities improved, they were extubated, while 2 (6.67%) patients did not improve and 2 (6.67%) patients died. In Group B, in 30 patients with late tracheostomies, only 4 (13.33%) patients were improved. On 10th post-op day, GCS of 4 (13.33%) patients improved, GCS of 3 (10%) patients not improved and 3 (10%) patients died. Conclusion:  Early tracheostomy in patients with acute subdural hematoma yields good results as compared to late tracheostomy

Social media and SMEs’ performance in developing countries: effects of technological-organizational-environmental factors on the adoption of social media

Increasing globalization and rapid digitization across industries have led to greater international competition. Furthermore, the emergence of new innovation has created both challenges and opportunities for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). SMEs have recently been attracted to social media applications to reach a larger audience, improve their relationship with potential customers, and retain existing customers. However, the scant focus has been devoted to comprehensively understanding the adoption of social media in the SME context in developing countries. This study investigates the effects of technological-organizational-environmental (TOE) factors on social media adoption and its effect on SME performance. Data was collected by generating online survey link. SmartPLS 3.3 was used for the path analysis of 381 SMEs. The findings revealed a significant effect of relative advantage, cost-effectiveness, compatibility, interactivity (technological), entrepreneurial orientation (organizational), and customer pressure (environmental) factors, and an insignificant effect of top management support (organizational) and competitive pressure (environmental) determinants on social media adoption. The study found a significant influence of social media on SME performance. This paper offers several implications for decision-makers, policy-makers, and scholars interested in social media and its use. It builds an empirical, integrated framework for SMEs in developing countries

EFFECT OF BENTONITE ON FRESH AND HARDENED PROPERTY OF SELF COMPACTING CONCRETE

Self compacting concrete can be described as a high performance material which flows under its own weight without requiring vibrators to achieve consolidation by complete filling of formworks even when access is hindered by narrow gaps between reinforcement bars. Self compacting concrete required a large amount of binder (paste) and chemical admixtures. This paper presents the use of bentonite in self compacting concrete as viscosity modifying agent (VMA). Bentonite as VMA and other chemical admixture which are liquid form of VMA are compared to check the fresh and hardened properties of self compacting concrete such as, Slump flow, funnel, L-box , sieve stability tests, further compressive strength of the self compacting concrete at the age of 28 days was determined