Relationship of Science Teachers’ Performance and their Attitude towards Science with Academic Achievement of their Students

The objective of this study was to uncover the relationship of the performance and attitude of science educators with their students’ academic achievements. For this purpose, a survey type questionnaire was set to find data regarding science educators’ academic/ professional qualifications and experience. To find the attitude of science educators towards science, a 50 items’ attitude scale containing five components was formulated and adapted from TOSRA. This questionnaire was completed by 80 secondary grade science educators located in 40 institutions with due consideration being paid to gender, urban/rural representation and inclusion of both private/public secondary institutions. Quantitative analysis of data specified an inverse correlation of educators’ academic as well as professional qualifications/teaching experience with their students’ academic performance. Most of the educators displayed an extremely positive attitude towards their respective subject. Also, a positive relationship was found between science educators’ attitude towards science and academic achievements of their pupils. More studies are required to ascertain the reasons for the negative correlation of educators’ academic/professional qualification/ experience with their students’ achievements and also to explore the variables that influence the attitude of educators towards science

Mathematical Understanding of Sequence Alignment and Phylogenetic Algorithms: A Comprehensive Review of Computation of Different Methods

Pairwise sequence alignment is one of the ways to position two biological sequences to identify regions of similarity that may suggest the functional, structural and evolutionary relationship among proteins and nucleic acids. There are two strategies in pairwise alignment: local sequence alignment (Smith Waterman algorithm) and global sequence alignment (Needleman Wunsch algorithm). In the prior approach, two sequences that may or may not be related, are aligned to find regions of local similarities in large sequences, whereas in the later one, two sequences of same length are aligned to identify their conserved regions. Moreover, similarities and divergence between biological sequences also has to be rationalized and visualized in the form of phylogenetic trees, so the dendrogram construction approaches were developed and divided into distance-based and character-based methods. In this review article, different algorithms of sequence alignment and phylogenetic tree construction were meditated with examples and compared by looking into the background computation for the better understanding of the algorithms, which will be helpful for molecular biology, computational sciences and mathematics/statistics novices. Phylogenetic trees are constructed through various methods, some are computationally robust but does not provide precise evolutionary insight, whereas some provide accurate evolutionary understandings, but computationally exhaustive and cumbersome. So, there is a need to understand the implicit mathematics and intricate computation behind the dendrogram construction for improving the existing algorithms and developing new methods.  Keywords: Local sequence alignment; Global sequence alignment; UPGMA; Neighbour joining; Fitch Margoliash; Maximum-Parsimony; Maximum-Likelihood  

The epidemic of HIV/AIDS in developing countries; the current scenario in Pakistan

HIV (Human Immunodeficiency virus) causes (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome) AIDS, in which the immune system of body totally fails to develop any defense against the foreign invaders. Infection with HIV occurs by transfer of blood, semen, and breast milk. HIV/AIDS is a global problem and it results nearly 25 million deaths worldwide. Developing countries like Pakistan have issues regarding Public Health. Currently, epidemic of HIV/AIDS is established in Pakistan and there is a threat of an expanded HIV/AIDS outbreak in the country. The major reason is that population is engaging in high-risk practices, low awareness about HIV/AIDS, and treacherous blood transfusion practices. A supplementary threat to Pakistan is India because both sharing a border and India is facing a rapidly growing HIV/AIDS epidemic. Local NGOs, National and International organizations are warning that in near future Pakistan may experiences bad situation regarding HIV/AIDS

Sub-categorization of Pediatric Small Round Blue Cell Tumors using Immunohistochemistry

Introduction: The category of Small Round Blue Cell Tumors includes neoplasms that are undifferentiated and contain similar-looking growth of small round blue cells having bigger nuclear size as compared to the cytoplasm (high N/C). It includes Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma, Synovial Sarcoma, Ewings Sarcoma/ Primitive Neuroectodermal Tumor, Rhabdomyosarcoma, Hepatoblastoma, Retinoblastoma, Neuroblastoma, Neuroendocrine carcinoma, Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma, Desmoplastic Small Round Cell Tumor, Dysgerminoma, and Wilm's tumor. Immunohistochemistry can be very helpful in the accurate diagnosis of this diverse group of tumors. Objective: The objective of the study is to sub-categorize pediatric malignant small round blue cell tumors using immunohistochemistry. Study design: Descriptive cross-sectional studySetting: Meezan private lab, Faisalabad, PakistanDuration of study: 4 years, from January 2017 to December 2020.Sample size: 46 cases.Sampling technique: Non-probability purposive samplingMaterials and Methods: 46 cases, which fulfilled the inclusion and exclusion criteria were selected for the study. All these cases were subjected to immunohistochemistry. The IHC technique used was based on the Peroxidase anti-peroxidase (PAP) method. Based on site and morphological clues, initially Leukocyte common antigen (LCA), Myogenin, Cytokeratin (CK), Desmin, Chromogranin, Neuron Specific Enolase (NSE), S-100, Smooth Muscle Actin (SMA), and CD99 were used. Further immune stains panels were used afterward, as and when needed like CD20, CD3, CD30, BCL2, CD117, Ki-67, Tdt, Synaptophysin, SMA, CD56, Melan A, HMB45, and WT1.Results: Among all the malignant Small Round Cell Tumors, Rhabdomyosarcoma was the highest in frequency i.e. 8 (17.4%), followed by Ewing’s sarcoma/PNET 7(15.2%). Both Diffuse Large B cell lymphoma and Neuroblastoma were 5 each in number (10.9%). Non-Hodgkins lymphoma as a whole was 13 (28.2%), including 5 cases (10.9%) of diffuse large B cell lymphoma, 4 cases (8.7%) of T lymphoblastic lymphoma, 3 cases (6.5%) of Burkitt’s lymphoma, and only 1 case (2.2%) of NK/T cell lymphoma.Conclusion: Immunohistochemistry is an essential tool for accurate sub-categorization of pediatric small round blue cell tumors

Growth, herb yield and phytochemical contents in a medicinal herb Andrographis paniculata under saline irrigation.

Andrographis paniculata (King of bitters/Hempedu Bumi) is a traditional medicinal herb of family Acanthaceae. It is commonly used to cure a variety of ailments and diseases. This study was designed to evaluate the herb yield and phytochemical contents in two germplasm accessions of Malaysian A. paniculata, viz. 11261 and 11265, grown with different quality of irrigation water, that fresh (EC iw 0.12 dS m -1) and saline (EC iw 2.5 and 5.0 dS m -1). Just before blooming, the plants were harvested to record data on six basic traits, including plant height, length and width of main-stem leaves, length and number of primary branches plant-1 and dry herbage yield (plant-1). Concentrations of Na + and K +, coupled with K +/Na + ratio, were determined in the cell sap extracted from the top fully matured leaves. Phytochemicals, viz. Andrographolide (AG), Neoandrographolide (NAG) and 14-deoxy-11, 12- didehydroandrographolide (DDAG), were determined in the dry matter of aerial parts using highperformance liquid chromatography (HPLC). No significant changes in plant growth and dry herbage yield (plant-1) were observed with 2.5 EC iw (dS m -1) water, compared to 5.0 EC iw water, where reductions in same indices were >13% and statistically significant. Adverse effects of water salinity on growth and dry herbage yield can be attributed with significantly higher concentration of Na + and lower concentration of K + and lower K +/Na + ratio in the leaf sap. Phytochemical contents in dry matter were generally unaffected by water salinity. With the exception of Na + concentration in leaf sap, response of both accessions to saline irrigation was similar. These results suggest that both accessions exhibited good potential to withstand to salty water environment and produce considerably high amount of phytochemicals under both normal as well as saline irrigation conditions

Sub-categorization of Pediatric Small Round Blue Cell Tumors using Immunohistochemistry

Introduction: The category of Small Round Blue Cell Tumors includes neoplasms that are undifferentiated and contain similar-looking growth of small round blue cells having bigger nuclear size as compared to the cytoplasm (high N/C). It includes Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma, Synovial Sarcoma, Ewings Sarcoma/ Primitive Neuroectodermal Tumor, Rhabdomyosarcoma, Hepatoblastoma, Retinoblastoma, Neuroblastoma, Neuroendocrine carcinoma, Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma, Desmoplastic Small Round Cell Tumor, Dysgerminoma, and Wilm's tumor. Immunohistochemistry can be very helpful in the accurate diagnosis of this diverse group of tumors. Objective: The objective of the study is to sub-categorize pediatric malignant small round blue cell tumors using immunohistochemistry. Study design: Descriptive cross-sectional studySetting: Meezan private lab, Faisalabad, PakistanDuration of study: 4 years, from January 2017 to December 2020.Sample size: 46 cases.Sampling technique: Non-probability purposive samplingMaterials and Methods: 46 cases, which fulfilled the inclusion and exclusion criteria were selected for the study. All these cases were subjected to immunohistochemistry. The IHC technique used was based on the Peroxidase anti-peroxidase (PAP) method. Based on site and morphological clues, initially Leukocyte common antigen (LCA), Myogenin, Cytokeratin (CK), Desmin, Chromogranin, Neuron Specific Enolase (NSE), S-100, Smooth Muscle Actin (SMA), and CD99 were used. Further immune stains panels were used afterward, as and when needed like CD20, CD3, CD30, BCL2, CD117, Ki-67, Tdt, Synaptophysin, SMA, CD56, Melan A, HMB45, and WT1.Results: Among all the malignant Small Round Cell Tumors, Rhabdomyosarcoma was the highest in frequency i.e. 8 (17.4%), followed by Ewing’s sarcoma/PNET 7(15.2%). Both Diffuse Large B cell lymphoma and Neuroblastoma were 5 each in number (10.9%). Non-Hodgkins lymphoma as a whole was 13 (28.2%), including 5 cases (10.9%) of diffuse large B cell lymphoma, 4 cases (8.7%) of T lymphoblastic lymphoma, 3 cases (6.5%) of Burkitt’s lymphoma, and only 1 case (2.2%) of NK/T cell lymphoma.Conclusion: Immunohistochemistry is an essential tool for accurate sub-categorization of pediatric small round blue cell tumors

Cytotoxic and antiviral potentials of Euphorbia milii var. splendens leaf against Peste des petits ruminant virus

Purpose: To determine the cytotoxic and antiviral potentials of Euphorbia milii var. splendens leaf against Peste des petits ruminants virus (PPRV). Methods: The methanol extract, as well as n- hexane, chloroform, ethyl acetate, and n- butanol fractions of E. milii leaves were screened for cytotoxic and antiviral activities against PPRV using Vero cell line and 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. Results: Non-cytotoxic concentrations with cell survival rate (CSP) greater than 50 % were considered virucidal. Methanol extract and fractions produced significant (p < 0.05) effects at all test concentrations against PPRV. The 50 % cytotoxic concentration (CC50) calculated was ≤ 25 µg/mL for extract and fractions. In antiviral assay, ethyl acetate, n-hexane, and n-butanol fractions at all test concentrations ranging from 1.56 - 800 µg/mL were non-virucidal; even at their non-cytotoxic concentrations these fractions did not show antiviral activities. However, the methanol extract and its chloroform fractions showed significant (p < 0.05) virucidal potential. Conclusion: The results suggest that further isolation of antiviral constituents from the fractions may open new horizons for the development of new antiviral agents

Synthesis and consecutive reactions of a-azido ketones: a review

This review paper covers the major synthetic approaches attempted towards the synthesis of α-azido ketones, as well as the synthetic applications/consecutive reactions of α-azido ketones