Beneficial Effects of Artocarpus Lakoocha Extracts in Rat Models Suffering from Atherosclerosis

Objective: To evaluate the anti-inflammatory effects of A. lakoocha extracts by utilizing the rat models with induced hyperlipidemia.Methodology: Twenty-four well-fed rats (Wistar breed), were selected for the current study, weighing average 150-250 grams each and divided into three groups; GROUP I served as healthy control group, fed with normal diet composed of carbohydrates, proteins and fats. Group II were hyperlipidemic rats, with atherosclerosis, and considered as disease group. They were fed with high fat diet. Group III rats were fed with extracts of A. lakoocha, extending from day 20 up to day 60 of this experiment.Results In the disease group, significantly decreased (P < 0.001) expression levels of IL-5 were found in (14.76 ± 2.65) compared with control group (26.54 ± 3.98). IN the group treated with A. lakoocha extracts (22.01 ± 4.53) significantly enhanced (P < 0.01) the expression levels of IL-5 were observed. In addition, plasma IL-6 levels were significantly enhanced (P < 0.05) in the disease group (44.19 ± 10.90) compared with the control group (32.59 ± 4.51). Treatment of rats with A. lakoocha extract (20.22 ± 2.75) caused significant reduction (P < 0.001) in the expression levels of IL-6 as compared with the disease group. Significantly raised (P < 0.01) expression levels of TNF-α within the disease group (31.78 ± 4.71) compared with the control group (23.34 ± 2.25) group. Moreover, A. lakoocha extracts (24.60 ± 4.26) significantly reduced (P < 0.05) the expression of TNF-α levels, compared with the disease group.  Conclusion: Current study demonstrates that A. lakoocha extracts significant protective and anti-inflammatory properties in selected rat models, subsequently leading to atherosclerosis. The present study highlighted the down-regulation of inflammatory cytokines such as IL-6, TNF-α, IL-6 and NF-кB, while simultaneously up-regulating the plasma levels of IL-15, in rat models treated with extracts of A. lakoocha

Outcome of triple procedure in older children with developmental dysplasia of hip (DDH)

Objective: To evaluate the radiographic and functional results of the triple procedure (open reduction, femoral shortening and Salter\u27s Osteotomy) in the treatment of Developmental Dysplasia of the Hip (DDH) disease in older children. Methods: This case-series comprising 23 patients (29 hips) underwent the triple procedure of open reduction, femoral shortening and Salter osteotomy, at Aga Khan University Hospital between June 1995 and June 2005. Patients were classified pre-operatively according to the Tonnis class. Postoperative functional evaluation was performed using Modified MacKay\u27s scoring system and radiographic assessment using Severin\u27s scoring method. Results: The mean age of patients at presentation was 6.84 years and the average follow-up was 19.6 months. The MacKay score was \u27Good\u27 to \u27Excellent\u27 in 25 hips; we had a failure in 1 hip joint. The Severin\u27s class was I in 15 (51.7%) hips at the time of final evaluation as compared to none at the time of presentation. Patients younger than 5.6 years of age had a better radiological and clinical outcome as compared to older patients (pvalue \u3c 0.05). Conclusions: The triple procedure of open reduction, femoral shortening and Salter osteotomy gives best results in younger children. Early diagnosis and intervention is therefore imperative in the successful treatment of patients suffering from DDH (JPMA 57:591;2007)

Linguistic Interpretations of Pakistani Job Application Letters

This study strives to sift through the job application letters written by the Pakistani applicants in order to seek linguistic interpretations on different levels. The analysis of these job letters was made keeping in view two major objectives: (i) to explore the level of vividness/vagueness in the letters; and (ii) to highlight politeness strategies demonstrated through these letters. To accomplish the first objective a micro level analysis was furnished on word level. In this context lexical items like proper and common nouns, syntactic patterns like active and passive voice, cohesive devices like referencing and transitional words, rhetorical devices like repetition and parallelism etc. had been studied both quantitatively (to determine the level of concreteness and abstractness in the letters) and qualitatively (to determine what implications are made by this concreteness and abstractness). To achieve the second objective a macro level analysis was made on sentence level to determine positive (directness and optimism); and negative (indirectness, use of modals, expressing appreciation and formulaic expressions) strategies. The findings reveal that the Pakistani applicants have tendency to use more vague expressions than the concrete ones. The study further exhibits that the applicants of the study utilize both the positive and negative politeness strategies in their applications. Keywords: Job application letters, linguistic interpretations, vividness, vagueness, negative politeness, positive politeness

Mutational analysis of CYP1B1 gene in Pakistani pediatric patients affected with Primary Congenital Glaucoma

Background: Glaucoma is the significant cause of blindness all over the world. Primary congenital glaucoma (PCG) reduces the vision and ultimately causes the blindness by damaging the aqueous drainage system of the eye. The purpose of the current study was to determine the pathogenic mutations in the CYP1B1 gene responsible for PCG.Methods: A total of thirty-five PCG patients were enrolled in this study. Blood samples were collected from the enrolled patients, and after DNA extraction and amplification, the coding regions of CYP1B1 were sequenced to determine the pathogenic mutations. In-silico analysis of the identified mutation was executed to study the effect of genetic variation on protein structure.Results: One mutation, c.1169 G>A has been revealed in exon 3 of the CYP1B1 gene leading to p.R390H, present in 20% of the patients enrolled. Besides, two missense sequence variants c.1294G>C (2 patients), c.1358A>G (4 patients) and a synonymous variant c.1347T>C (18 patients) has also been observed.Conclusion: Our study not only reaffirms the role of CYP1B1 mutations in PCG but also supports the use of genetic screening for molecular diagnosis and carrier identification, which will reduce the burden of disease on society. Furthermore, the in-silico analysis of the identified mutations provided an in-depth understanding of the PCG pathogenesis at the molecular level.Keywords: Primary congenital glaucoma; CYP1B1, mutation; Genetic variatio

Level of Actual Physical Fitness and its Perception among Students of Physiotherapy in Lahore

OBJECTIVE: To assess estimated and measured the physical fitness level of physiotherapy students. METHODOLOGY: This Cross sectional study carried out at Azra Naheed Medical College and School of Allied Health Sciences, Children Hospital Lahore, with Simple convenient sampling technique. The data was collected from 115 students including 42 male and 73 female, from 3rd year to final year. Self-perceived fitness questionnaire was used for estimation of perceived fitness and actual physical fitness level was measured by common clinical tests. Harvard step was used for fitness index measurement. SPSS version 21.0 was used for analysis and Pearson correlation for the correlation of perceived and measured physical fitness level. RESULTS: It was evident that physiotherapy students have good perception about their BMI. Results of perceived and measured body composition were correlated significantly .004 because they have good perception of body composition. Measured strength was low from the perceived, although some males were in average level. The results of strength show significant correlation for upper extremity that was 269 but for lower extremity non-significant. But measured flexibility results were good for lower extremities as compared to the shoulder flexibility for upper extremities, but both variables were different from perceived fitness. Actual fitness index level was very low as compared to the self-estimated. CONCLUSION: Measured fitness was quite different from self-perceived. The students of physiotherapy were not physically fit as they perceived it. They need to improve their physical fitness level as their profession requires

Effect of teriparatide on bone regenerate after distraction osteogenesis

Abstract OBJECTIVE: To determine the effect of teriparatide on new bone formation in a rat model of distraction osteogenesis. METHODS: The experimental study was conducted at the Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi, in November-December 2010, and comprised male Sprague-Dawley rats weighing 250gm each who were allocated to two treatment groups, teriparatide and saline, both given subcutaneously for 7 weeks. Femoral distraction was done for 3 weeks at the rate of 0.4mm/day, followed by a further 4 weeks for consolidation. New bone formation was assessed using X-ray scoring system, bone densitometry and histology. RESULTS: The 12 rats in the study were divided into two groups of 6(50%) each. All rats in the teriparatide group showed new bone formation whereas bone formation was present only in 2(33.3%) rats in the saline group. Bone densitometry showed that area (size) of the new bone formed adjacent to the margins of the osteotomy site as well as the total bone mineral content of the new bone was significantly higher (p\u3c0.05) in the teriparatide group. Histological analysis showed larger but statistically insignificant (p\u3e0.05) area of woven and trabecular new bone in the teriparatide group. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggested a promising role of parathyroid analogue therapy in distraction osteogenesis for promoting bone formation and consolidation. This may have strong clinical implications in cases of limb lengthening and bone transport

Association of Physical Activity with Co-morbid Conditions in Geriatric Population

To find out association of physical activity with co-morbid conditions in geriatric population, a cross-sectional study was conducted in different cties of Pakistan in 2015. A total of 114 participants were inducted by non-probability convenience sampling technique. Data was collected after informed verbal consent by a validated questionnaire that is Rapid Assessment of Physical Activity (RAPA). Participants were categorized into two groups i.e. physically active and physically inactive. Data was entered and analyzed in SPSS version 20. There were 66 (57.9%) males and 48 (42.1%) females with mean age of 57.04±7.348 years. Among hypertensive individuals (n=43, 37.7%) there were 39 (90.7%) physically inactive, among individuals having angina (n=17, 14.9%) there were 15 (88.2%) physically inactive. Out of 37 (32.5%) diabetics, 35 (94.6%) were physically inactive. Among individuals suffering from arthritis (n=40, 35.1%), there were 38 (95%) physically inactive. A significant association was found between physical activity and diabetes and arthritis with p-value of 0.048 and 0.029 respectively. Physical activity is significantly associated with diabetes and arthritis in geriatric population. Adequate physical activity should be performed to reduce the risk of co-morbid conditions and improve the quality of life in geriatric population

Morphology of the proximal femur in a Pakistani population

Purpose: To measure the morphology of the proximal femur in a Pakistani population. Methods: Standardised anteroposterior pelvic radiographs of 116 male and 20 female healthy volunteers aged 20 to 50 (mean, 33) years were taken. Morphologic dimensions of the proximal femur were measured, including canal flare index (CFI), morphological cortical index (MCI), femoral head offset, femoral head diameter, and femoral head position. Results: Based on the CFI, 67% of the subjects had normal canal shapes (CFI, 3.0-4.7), whereas 1% and 33% of the subjects had stovepipe shapes (CFI,2.7). Conclusions: Morphology of the proximal femur in our study population differed significantly from those in western populations, indicating regional variation. It could also be due to the younger age of our population

Bio-methane Production from Sorghum Elite Lines under the Climatic Conditions of Pakistan

Fossil foils are depleting dramatically to meet the ever blooming energy demands. Plant biomass is a best source of renewable energy which can be used for bio-fuel production in order to meet the energy demands. Therefore, this study was conducted for two consecutive years 2016 and 2017 to screen out best lines of sorghum for biomass yield, chemical composition and bio-methane yield. The results revealed that tested lines had differential responses for biomass yield, biomass quality and methane yield. Line 5018, performed remarkably and produced maximum leaf area index (LAI), leaf area duration (LAD) and crop growth rate (CGR) followed by L-6024 whereas the minimum LAI, LAD and CGR were recorded for L-5025. Maximum plant height, leaves per plant and dry matter yield ha-1 was observed in L-5018, whereas the minimum plant height leaves per plant and dry matter yield ha-1 was recorded in L-5025. Likewise, L-5018 also had maximum protein content, acid detergent fiber, neutral detergent fiber, lignin content and ash content whereas the L-1914 had the minimum values for these parameters amongst the tested li- nes. In addition, L-1914 produced maximum specific yield, however, L-5018 produced maximum methane yield ha-1 owing to higher dry matter yield ha-1. The results of this study suggested that L-5018 can be used to develop high biomass cultivars with good methane yield potential

Climate Smart Interventions of Small-Holder Farming Systems

Agriculture is very vulnerable to temperature and drought in semi-arid and arid regions. Farming communities are especially vulnerable to the potential impact of climate change on crop and livestock. For Pakistan, a potential increase of 2.8°C for the maximum day temperature and 2.2°C decrease in night temperature by the mid-century has been reported. The goal of this chapter is to introduce climate-smart interventions as mitigation and adaptation strategies coupled with crop diversification through the introduction of climate resilient crops in existing cropping systems. Firstly, it describes the impacts of climate change in context to current food security situation in Pakistan and, secondly, potential climate smart interventions to combat changes in the country. Crop models, their application for developing adaptations, modeling technique and its integration with breeding, remote sensing and its application, policy interventions and resource smart interventions in context to changing climate are imperative means to favor the farming community in future farming. Introducing climate resilient crops can be rescued and recognized in dry and hot areas of Pakistan using climate smart interventions and resource use efficiency may be determined with the aid of computer and decision support IT tools in resource inefficient areas