ASSESSING ZINC LEVELS: IS IT THE HOUR OF NEED?

Zinc is an essential mineral playing a pivotal role in numerous aspects of cellular metabolism. Zinc deficiency affects all age groups, but the effect on growing children is very severe. Zinc deficiency is known to cause stunted growth and development in children. However, there are no reliable biomarkers of zinc status to assess health risk. Without a specific, sensitive biomarker to determine the zinc nutritional status, zinc intervention program is a struggle. Sensitive and specific analysis of zinc status is hence cardinal to defining optimal zinc status and setting evidence-based reference intake level. Given the lack of an accurate, sensitive zinc biomarker that reflects zinc nutrition across various populations and situations, research is needed to identify new biomarkers. Presently, the biochemical marker for measuring the zinc status is analyzing the plasma zinc. However, zinc homeostasis depends on many factors complicating the detection of marginal zinc deficiency. Key words: Zinc; homeostasis; markers; under nutrition; deficienc

Eco-friendly Ag-CuO nanoparticles for antidiabetic, antimicrobial, anti-cancer, platelet aggregation inducing, antioxidant and photocatalytic applications

The development of nanotechnology has a major impact on pharmaceutical sciences, dramatically improving diagnosis and treatment of many diseases that are life-threatening. A number of metallic nanoparticles are widely employed as nanomedicines because they may have medicinal applications. The environmental pollution from textile industry is one the big global problems that pose substantial risks to the environment and public health. Finding affordable, efficient, and sustainable technology to solve the challenges with pollution is crucial. In the present study we developed multi-functional Ag-doped CuO nanoparticles by utilizing Actinidia delicia extract by employing solution combustion method. The synthesized nanoparticles were examined by Transmission electron microscopy, scanning electron microscopy including energy dispersion X-ray analysis (EDX), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and UV–visible spectroscopy. The synthesized nanoparticles have a variety of applications including anticancer, antibacterial, and antidiabetic agents via modulating the activities of carbohydrate digesting enzymes, and they also exhibit effective photocatalytic activity by degrading the methylene blue dye. Platelet aggregation and plasma coagulation were both enhanced by Ag-doped copper oxide nanoparticles, and this was achieved without any noticeable haemolytic activity. This study presents an eco-friendly method for producing multifunctional Ag-CuO nanoparticles

Health and environmental effects of silent killers Organochlorine pesticides and polychlorinated biphenyl

Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) are known to be silent killers due to their bioaccumulative and long-lasting existence. These pollutants are present everywhere in our environment, including plants, animals, and humans. POPs can be stored in several aquatic environmental matrices and biomagnified by the food web, thus presenting a danger to aquatic habitats and human health. During recent decades, they have gained substantial attention considering their possible persistent threats. In the aquatic environment, legacy POPs, such as organochlorine pesticides (OCPs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), were widely found and recorded. A complete description of OCPs and PCBs amounts and their distribution in the aquatic environment is necessary for a detailed understanding of the activities and threats of POPs in aquatic ecosystems

Temperature-based prediction and validation of pink bollworm, Pectinophora gossypiella infestation on cotton crop

Pink bollworm Pectinophora gossypiella infestation on cotton now a days found to be a major alarm to cotton crop in Pakistan. The effect of past and future temperatures climatic factors on the infestation rate of pink bollworm needs to be extensively studied. Field visits were organized in different areas across 17 main districts of Punjab, Pakistan, for eight consecutive years from 2012 to 2019. Based on past data, the pink bollworm infestation rate for the year 2040 was estimated. Our results showed an extensive infestation of pink bollworm on cotton throughout the visited locations between 0.1 and 35.7 % range above the economic threshold level, that cause reasonable cotton productivity losses. Based on the results of historical data of infestation rate, the nine of the 17 districts (53 %), Bahawalnagar, Bahawalpur, Faisalabad, Jahang, Mianwali, Multan, Muzaffargarh, Rahimyar Khan, and Lodhran, showed significantly (p < 0.05) higher pink bollworm infestation rate than the other cotton-growing areas. Moreover, the systematic increase level of pink bollworm infestation was predicted in 2040, especially in the five districts, Bhakar, Jahang, Khanewal, Faisalabad, and Vehari. Considering the importance of biological parameters, different temperature regimes (21 °C, 28 °C, and 35 °C) were tested for the validity of temperature-based prediction. Our results showed that growth capacity of P. gossypiella were increased at 28 °C. It revealed that, variation in weather due to current climatic condition with decreases of temperature increases P. gossypiella infestation on cotton crop. In this investigation, the effects of a severe outbreak of pink bollworm infections in Punjab's cotton-growing regions are discussed