Description of Sivalhippus (Equidae: Perissodactyla) from the Late Miocene Siwalik Sub-Group of Pakistan

New fossil mandible as well as isolated upper and lower dentitions of the late Miocene Hipparionine species, have been discovered from a locality of Chakwal, Punjab, Pakistan. By using morphometric and morphologic analysis, we have deduced that these specimens belong to Sivalhippus theobaldi. The body size of this species was intermediate between Sivalhippus perimensis and Hipparion antilopinum while its hypsodonty indicates that this species was a grazer to a larger extent which existed in mosaic of woodland and grassland in the Latest Miocene. However, the comparison with the recent horse (Equus caballus) mandible indicates some differences in dental and jaw lengths. The recent horse tends to have bigger and longer molars (higher hypsodonty indices) which may be attributed to a response towards changing vegetation, started at the end of the Miocene (ca. 6-7 Ma) strengthening the hypothesis that adaptive physiologies are a response towards a changing climate

Dietary Overlap between Native and Exotic Fishes revealed through Gut Content Analysis at Head Baloki, Punjab, Pakistan

An imminent threat to indigenous freshwater ichthyofauna is the introduction of alien fishes that can alter the behavior, population dynamics and native community structure. Thus, it is necessary to understand their feeding behaviour to avoid any unwanted incalculable loss. At sampling site, Head Baloki feeding habits both of native (L. calbasu, C. catla, L. rohita and C. mrigala) and alien (H. nobilis, H. molitrix, C. carpio, C. idella, C. auratus, O. aureus, O. niloticus and O. mozambicus) species were analyzed through frequency of occurrence and percentage by number from January 2017-December 2019. Results indicated that L. rohita remained herbivorous while L. calbasu, C. catla, C. idella and both C. carpio and C. mrigala were detritivore, planktivore, phytoplanktivore and generalist feeders, respectively. H. molitrix and C. auratus showed planktivorus and generalist feeding behaviour, respectively. Tilapia species enlisted as detritivores Whereas, H. nobilis was generalist feeder. Complex dietary overlap has been observed between different co-existing species. Current study has uncovered some surprising results where diet of O. niloticus was altered as detritus feeder. Change in feeding habit of alien fishes is the strategy to make them successful that is in line with current findings from freshwater ecosystem of Punjab, Pakistan

Correlation of Maternal Anemia with Sonographic Placental Thickness

Anemia is a condition in which hemoglobin (Hb) concentration and/or red blood cell (RBC) numbers are lower than normal and insufficient to meet an individual’s physiological needs, it affects roughly one-third of the world’s population.Objective: To correlate the maternal anemia with placental thickness ultrasonographically.Methodology: Toshiba Nemio17 with Convex array transducer 3-5 MHz frequency was used. Patient were in spine position. Measurements of placental thickness were performed in the mid portion of the placenta, perpendicular to its long axis. The study was conducted at Gillani Ultrasound Centre and Mansoorah Teaching Hospital Lahore. Data of 110 patients was collected through cross-sectional, analytical study. Convenient Sampling Technique was used to analyze data. Statistical software for social sciences (SPSS version 22.0) is used for the analysis of data.Results: Out of 110 patients 44.5% patients were in 2nd trimester and 55.5% patients were in their 3rd trimester. In our study 26.4% patients had normal hemoglobin, 43.6% patients were diagnosed with moderate anemia and 30% patients were diagnosed with mild anemia. Hemoglobin rates varied between 7 g/dL to 15.40 g/dL. Placental thickness varied between 10.50mm and to 56.50mm. 9 patients had normal placental thickness, 89 had thick placenta and 12 had thin placenta. In 2nd trimester minimum placental thickness was noted 15.7 mm and maximum placental thickness was 47.2 mm. In 3rd trimester minimum placental thickness was noted as 10.5 mm and maximum thickness 56.5 mm. In normal placental thickness minimum hemoglobin was noted as 7 g/dL and maximum was 15.5 g/dL. In thick placenta minimum hemoglobin noted was; 7.8 g/dL and maximum hemoglobin was 15.4 g/dL. In thin placental thickness minimum hemoglobin was 8.9 g/dL and maximum was 11.2 g/dl. Majority patients came with hemoglobin rates between 8 to 11 (g/dL) and less than 5 patients came with hemoglobin 7 g/dL. In patients with mild anemia mean placental thickness was 30.57 mm. In patients with moderate anemia had mean placental thickness of 33.72 mm and in patients with normal anemia had mean placental thickness of 30.39 mm. Out of 110 patients, 29 had no anemia and from these 3 patients were found with normal placental thickness 4 with thick placenta and 2 were with thin. 81 patients who were diagnosed with anemia had normal placental thickness in 6 patients, 65 had thick placenta and 10 patients were found with thick placenta.Conclusion:We concluded that, maternal anemia has adverse effects on placental thickness and gestational age. In the present study we found that morphological and histological changes in placenta of anemic mother is undertaken, to study the effects of anemia on morphology of placenta and fetal outcomes. Keywords: Ultrasound (US), anemia, placenta, placental thickness DOI: 10.7176/JHMN/81-02 Publication date:October 31st 202

Nutritional, safety and sensory quality evaluation of unleavened flatbread supplemented with thermal and non-thermal processed spinach powder

Spinach (Spinacia oleracea L.) is a leafy green vegetable that belongs to the family Amaranthus, sub-family Chenopodiaceae. It is famous for its low-calorie content and rich nutritional profile of zinc, folic acid, iron, calcium, magnesium, retinol, and ascorbic acid. In contrast, pesticide residues like imidacloprid, cypermethrin, bifenthrin, chlorpyrifos, and deltamethrin and antinutrients like alkaloids, phytates, tannins, and oxalates are also found in spinach, which inhibit nutrient absorption and also exert deleterious effects in humans. The present study was aimed at determining the technofunctional and nutritional characteristics and improving the consumer safety aspects of dehydrated spinach powder (SP). Spinach was processed to improve its safety characteristics using thermal and non-thermal processing techniques, including microwave heat processing, blanching, acid, and alkali soaking. Findings on the nutrient composition of raw and treated forms suggest SP developed from raw spinach as a promising source of ash (2.9%), fibers (8.19%), proteins (19.1%), Na (97.9 mg/100g), Ca (1304 mg/100g), K (234.2 mg/100g), Fe (41.1 mg/100g), and Zn (14.3 mg/100g). Microwave heating anticipated the highest decline of the content of alkaloids, oxalates, tannins, and phytates by 85, 87, 88 and 89%, respectively. Similarly, microwave heating of SP was found to be more promising in reducing the burden of pesticides such as imidacloprid, cypermethrin, bifenthrin, chlorpyrifos, and deltamethrin by 86, 74, 84, 80 and 78%, respectively. Value-added unleavened flatbreads (chapatis) with 5% SP were observed to have the better color, taste, and textural attributes. The study proposes thermal processing i.e., microwave heat processing in particular as a safer approach to reduce the natural antinutrients and extrinsic toxicants of spinach to a level considerably safer for consumption

Niche partitioning and competition between different rabbit breeds using stable isotopes

[EN] Stable isotope analysis (SIA) is an evolving method for determining diet, understanding food web and resolving biogeochemical issues in the ecosystem. This study aims to trace out ecological niche preferences/partitioning and competition among the lagomorphs, including two different breeds of European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus), New Zealand rabbit and American Dutch rabbit, using SIA. Thirty-two samples of tooth enamel were analysed, which were collected from different districts of Punjab, Pakistan, including Okara, Sahiwal and Kasur. Among these samples, 16 belonged to the New Zealand breed (08 male and 08 female rabbits) and 16 to the American Dutch breed (08 male and 08 female rabbits). Significant (P<0.001) intergender differences in the isotope content of ?13C in the enamel for New Zealand and American Dutch rabbit were found. The European rabbits showed significant differences for both genders in the stable isotope of oxygen in the enamel (?18O) values (P=0.05). Nitrogen stable isotope results showed no significant intergender differences between American Dutch and New Zealand rabbits (P=0.24). The stable isotope results for ?13C, ?15N, and ?18O indicate that the trophic niche partitioning of both breeds overlaps, which can potentially cause competition for resources, whereas the water intake may differ among different genders, which may reflect differential gender-related activities. The archaeological and fossilised data of lagomorphs is present, but there is no significant literature available for living lagomorphs (rabbits). In general, this study provides a basic and first dataset for ?13C, ?15N, and ?18O of living lagomorphs, which can serve as a comparative dataset for future studies.Shouket, U.; Ahmad, RM.; Waseem, MT.; Khan, AM.; Zubaid, S. (2024). Niche partitioning and competition between different rabbit breeds using stable isotopes. World Rabbit Science. 32(1):73-81. https://doi.org/10.4995/wrs.2024.19934738132

Rehabilitation of Acute and Chronic Ankle Sprain for Male Cricketers through Mixedbag (Hydrotherapy and Land-Based) Exercises

Ninety-five amateur cricketers of age, 15-35 years with confirmed acute or chronic ankle sprain, selected from four different cities of the Punjab, Pakistan were evaluated through Star Excursion Balance Test (SEBT), Single Leg Balance test (SLB) and subject to a set of progressively increasing exercises on ground and in water as well known as MixedBag rehab exercises which consisted of Hydro, Isometric, Isotonic and proprioception protocols. Another group of same level cricketer (n = 40) served as control. Comparisons of pre and post-exercise values showed significant increase (p \u3c 0.001) in Lateral direction reach and Posteromedial direction while the rest of the six directions showed non-significant results. MixedBag Rehab Group showed an overall improvement of 14.3 % and 9.2 % with an increase (cm) of 9.6 and 6.3 for the non-injured and injured leg respectively. However, the range of improvement in percentage for all eight directions lies between 5.5-6.3 and 7.7-11.8 for the non-injured and injured leg, respectively. Similarly, the difference between pre and post-exercise difference of two positions of non-injured leg and injured leg in seconds were 2.9, 12.1 and 4.1, 27.7. The results indicated that MixedBag exercises improved isometric and isotonic muscular strength, proprioception and stability that ultimately helped to recover, regaining strength and reinstall proprioception. After completing the MixedBag Rehab plan, the subjects were followed for four months to check the recurrence and it was found that the recurrence of Control Injured Group and MixedBag Rehab Group was 17.5 % and 7.5 %, respectively

Highly Efficient Visible Hologram through Dielectric Metasurface

To achieve applied aspect of metasurfaces in the visible regime, dielectric materials with low absorption are indispensable. This work presents highly efficient generation of hologram via processed amorphous silicon, which exhibits significantly low absorption in the region of interest. The phase and the polarization of transmitted light are tailored by varying the orientation of dielectric nanorods whereas their conversion efficiency is optimized by adjusting their structural parameters. Better image fidelity and higher conversion efficiency (up-to 75%) are achieved as compared to previously reported work. The proposed design methodology paves a way toward on-chip realization of various novel phenomena with substantially enhanced performance.11Yscopu

Were late Gomphotheres (Plio-Pleistocene) of the Siwaliks at more Stress as compared to early Gomphotheres (middle to late Miocene)?

Gomphotheres existed in the Siwaliks from the middle Miocene (14.2Ma) to the middle Pleistocene (0.8Ma) and became extinct later on. In this paper, we tried to discuss the reasons of such extinction of gomphotheres in the lower Pleistocene time span by considering Linear Enamel Hypoplasia (LEH) among 114 isolated tooth samples to assess whether ecological changes correlate with the stress factor in gomphotheres. For this purpose, the Siwalik gomphotheres were divided into two Groups viz. early gomphotheres (middle Miocene to late Miocene) and late gomphotheres (Pliocene to middle Pleistocene). We presented the hypothesis, that as the gomphotheres are characterized by the brachydonty and relied on browsing for their feeding while inhabiting the semi forest land setting thus, expected to have higher stress in Plio-Pleistocene time span as vegetational change around ~6 Ma may have exerted stress on late gomphotheres. The results for the occurrence of frequency of LEH indicated severe ecological stress in late gomphotheres (33%). The significant differences were found (P < 0.05) among the early gomphotheres and late gomphotheres which can be correlated to the vegetational change from C3 to C4, higher aridity indices and intensified seasonality after the late Miocene vegetational shift which may have resulted in substantial faunal turnover, extinction and speciation. We assume that such palaeoecological changes forced a competition with more pronounced grazers like of family Elephantidae and Bovidae resulting in extinction of gomphotheres during the late Pleistocene in the Siwaliks of Pakistan

Consequences of diverse use of nitrogen sources on grain yield, grain quality and growth attributes of hybrid maize (Zea mays L.)

A two year field experiment was conducted to check the consequences of diverse use of nitrogen sources on grain yield, grain quality and growth attributes of hybrid maize (Zea mays L.) at the Agronomic Research Area, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad during Autumn 2008 and 2009. Experiments were laid out in a randomized complete block design with factorial arrangement comprising 3 replications with a net plot size of 3 × 5 m. Treatment comprised two hybrids: that is, H1 (Pioneer-30Y87) and H2 (Pioneer-31R88) with combination of six nitrogen sources S0 : Control (0) kg N ha-1, S1: Urea (50%) + Poultry manure (50%), S2: Urea (50%) + Farm Yard Manure (50%) , S3: Urea (50%) + Pressmud of sugarcane manure (50%), S4: Urea (50%) + Compost (50%), S5: Urea (50%) + (PM+FYM+PMS+ Compost) 50% . Results of grain yield (t ha-1), grain protein content (%) grain oil content (%), leaf area index, leaf area duration, dry matter accumulation, crop growth rate and net assimilation rate was found to be significant during 2008 and 2009. It was concluded that hybrid maize H1 (Pioneer - 30Y87) produced better grain yield (6.14 t ha-1) during 2008 when nitrogen sources S1: Urea (50%) + Poultry manure (50%) was applied in combination as compared to grain yield (6.0 t ha-1) in hybrid H2 (Pioneer -31R88) during 2009. Growth and quality attributes also performed better in 2008 as compared to 2009 at nitrogen sources S1: Urea (50%) + Poultry manure (50%).Key words: Nitrogen sources, hybrid maize, yield, growth, quality