Bacterial stripe and bacterial leaf blight of sorghum: effect of temperature and relative humidity on disease development, tolerance among sorghum hybrids, and overwinter survival of the incitant bacteria

Call number: LD2668 .T4 1984 A4Master of Scienc

Mass transfer efficiency of a tall and low plate free area liquid pulsed sieve-plate extraction column

Acknowledgements The authors would like to acknowledge Chakwal group of industries for funding the project. Ms. Madiha, Ms. Zona, Mr. Sohaib, Mr. Abdullah, Mr. Mudassar, and Mr. Salahuddin also deserve our acknowledgements for their assistance in different ways.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Impact of Firm Size on Earnings Management; A Study of Textile Sector of Pakistan

The study was conducted to evaluate the impact of firm size on earnings management for the textile sector of Pakistan. For this purpose annual ten years data was obtained from 2004 to 2013 for fifty selected firms from the textile sector of Pakistan. Natural logarithm of total assets was used as the proxy of firm size. On the other hand earning management was the dependent variable of this study. Earnings management was measured through discretionary accruals by using modified Jones model. Descriptive statistics, correlation and panel data analysis was used for capturing the impact of firm size on earnings management. The statistical results of this study revealed that there is positive and significant impact of firm size on earnings management. Keywords: Firm Size, Discretionary Accruals, Earnings Management, Karachi Stock Exchang

Antimicrobial Peptides as Infection Imaging Agents: Better Than Radiolabeled Antibiotics

Nuclear medicine imaging techniques offer whole body imaging for localization of number and site of infective foci inspite of limitation of spatial resolution. The innate human immune system contains a large member of important elements including antimicrobial peptides to combat any form of infection. However, development of antibiotics against bacteria progressed rapidly and gained popularity over antimicrobial peptides but even powerful antimicrobials failed to reduce morbidity and mortality due to emergence of mutant strains of bacteria resulting in antimicrobial resistance. Differentiation between infection and inflammation using radiolabeled compounds with nuclear medicine techniques has always been a dilemma which is still to be resolved. Starting from nonspecific tracers to specific radiolabeled tracers, the question is still unanswered. Specific radiolabeled tracers included antibiotics and antimicrobial peptides which bind directly to the bacteria for efficient localization with advanced nuclear medicine equipments. However, there are merits and demerits attributed to each. In the current paper, radiolabeled antibiotics and radiolabeled peptides for infection localization have been discussed starting with the background of primitive nonspecific tracers. Radiolabeled antimicrobial peptides have certain merits compared with labeled antibiotics which make them superior agents for localization of infective focus

Isolation of squarrosal and squarrosol compounds from methanol root extract of Ruellia squarrosa (Acanthaceae)

Purpose: To identify, characterize and structurally elucidate bioactive compounds from root of Ruellia squarrosa.Methods: One kilogram of crude Ruellia squarrosa root was shade dried for 14 days, ground to a fine powder and subjected to a methanol extraction. The resultant extract underwent column chromatography for further purification. The isolated compounds were subjected to ultraviolet spectroscopy (UV), infra-red (IR), proton nuclear magnetic resonance (1H-NMR), 13C–NMR and high resolution electron ionization mass spectrometry (HR-EI-MS) for the identification, characterization and structural elucidation of bioactive compounds. The most active compounds were tested for anticancer activities against human prostate cancer cell.Results: Two active compounds, squarrosol and squarrosal, were obtained with half-maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) of 15.6 and 26.6 μg/mL, respectively, against human prostate cancer cell lines. Squarrasol showed a significantly (p < 0.05) greater inhibition of cell proliferation than the same dose of squarrasal.Conclusion: These findings suggest that extracts of Ruellia squarrosa containing the bioactive compounds, squarrosol and squarrosal, can potentially be developed for the treatment of human prostate cancer.Keywords: Ruellia squarrosa, Prostate cancer, Squarrosol, Squarrosal, Anit-proliferativ

Existence theories and exact solutions of nonlinear PDEs dominated by singularities and time noise

The current research deals with the exact solutions of the nonlinear partial differential equations having two important difficulties, that is, the coefficient singularities and the stochastic function (white noise). There are four major contributions to contemporary research. One is the mathematical analysis where the explicit a priori estimates for the existence of solutions are constructed by Schauder’s fixed point theorem. Secondly, the control of the solution behavior subject to the singular parameter ϵ when ϵ → 0. Thirdly, the impact of noise that is present in the differential equation has been successfully handled in exact solutions. The final contribution is to simulate the exact solutions and explain the plots

Ethnomedicinal Importance of Family Lamiaceae and Family Rosaceae Among Local Communities of Dir Kohistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan

The present study was conducted to document the medicinal uses of Family Lamiaceae and Rosaceae in Dir Kohistan during the summer of 2016. Field visits were arranged to different resource-based areas of Dir Kohistan and plants were identified according to their phytogeographic locations. The study revealed that nine species of the family Lamiaceae and seven species of the family Rosaceae are used by the local community for the treatment of human ailments. They utilized these plants through personal experiences and ancestral prescriptions. The plants were used for different health disorders like kidney pain, lung infections, jaundice, as carminative, antimicrobial, antifungal, antiseptic, laxative, febrifuge, sedative and astringent agent. The study revealed that the medicinal flora of the area is under high pressure and was threatened locally due to population growth, habitat degradation, tourism, marketing pressure, over exploitation and unscientific methods of collection from their natural habitat

Cytotoxic and antioxidant potentials of ellagic acid derivatives from Conocarpus lancifolius (Combretaceae)

Purpose: Isolation, characterisation and structure elucidation of compounds obtained from Conocarpus lancifolius and screening of their pharmacological effects in vitro.Methods: After collection, authentication and extraction from whole C. lancifolius plants, screening for secondary metabolites, thin-layer  chromatography and subsequent open column chromatography were performed for phytochemical analysis and subsequent purification of the compounds. The chemical structures of the isolated compounds were elucidated using spectroscopic (UV-visible, infrared and mass) spectroscopy, and nuclear magnetic resonance (1H-NMR, 13C-NMR including BB, DEPT-135, 90 and two-dimensional correlation techniques, including HMBC and HSQC). The cytotoxic and antioxidant potentials of extracts and compounds obtained from C. lancifolius were evaluated using in vitro models.Results: Two ellagic acid derivatives, 2,3,8-tri-o-methylellagic acid (A) and 3-O-methylellagic acid 4-O-β-D-glucopyranoside (B), were isolated. Both compounds (A and B) were cytotoxic in a variety of cancer cell lines, including murine lymphocytic leukaemia (P-388, half-maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) =3.60 and 2.40 μg/mL, respectively), human colon cancer (Col-2, IC50 = 0.76 and 0.92 μg/mL, respectively) and human breast cancer (MCF-7, IC50 = 0.65 and 0.54 μg/mL, respectively). Moreover, both compounds showed significant antioxidant potential in vitro.Conclusion: C. lancifolius extract and isolated ellagic acid derivatives (compounds A and B) possess cytotoxic and antioxidant properties. These findings suggest that C. lancifolius contains bioactive compounds that can be potentially developed as natural cytotoxic and antioxidant compounds. Keywords: Conocarpus lancifolius, Ellagic acid, Combretaceae, Cytotoxic activity, Antioxidan

Synthesis, Structural Analysis and Screening of Some Novel 5-Substituted Aryl/Aralkyl-1,3,4-Oxadiazol-2-Yl 4-(Morpholin-4-Ylsulfonyl)Benzyl Sulfides as Potential Antibacterial Agents

A series of new 5-substituted aryl/aralkyl-1,3,4-oxadiazol-2-yl 4-(morpholin-4-ylsulfonyl)benzyl sulfides 6a-k were synthesized by converting multifarious aryl/aralkyl organic acids 1a-k successively into corresponding esters 2a-k, hydrazides 3a-k and 5-substituted aryl/aralkyl-1,3,4-oxadiazole-2-thiols 4a-k. Finally, the target compounds, 6a-k were prepared by stirring 5-substituted-1,3,4-oxadiazole-2-thiols with 4-(4-(bromomethyl)phenylsulfonyl) morpholine (5) in the presence of N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF) and sodium hydride (NaH). The structures of the newly synthesized compounds were elucidated by spectroscopic techniques. In addition, the anti-bacterial activity of all the synthesized compounds was investigated in vitro against Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria by using ciprofloxacin as reference standard drug and the results showed that some of the tested compounds possessed good anti-bacterial activity

Comparison of Outcomes of Topical Anesthesia with Peribulbar Anesthesia in Vitrectomy for Unresolving Vitreous Hemorrhage

OBJECTIVES: To compare the Surgeon's ease level and duration of surgery in topical anesthesia with peribulbar anesthesia for vitrectomy without sedation in patients with unresolving vitreous hemorrhage of duration greater than 3 months. METHODOLOGY: A randomized controlled trial was carried out at the Department of Ophthalmology, Lahore General Hospital, Postgraduate Medical Institute, Lahore from October 2017 to September 2018. A total of 110 patients were equally divided (n=55) in group A (topical anesthesia) and group B (peribulbar anesthesia) by lottery method. In group A, 0.5% proparacaine hydrochloride eye drops were instilled into the conjunctival sac every 3 minutes preoperatively 5 times before surgery. For group B patients, 5cc injection consisting of 2.5ml of 0.5% bupivacaine and 2.5ml of 1% lidocaine was injected thirty minutes before surgery. Surgical time was noted from first incision to enter the eye for vitrectomy till application of last closing suture. Surgeon ease was recorded with a 4 Grade scale. All data was recorded, entered, and analyzed by SPSS version 25.0. Continuous variables were presented as mean, standard deviation and independent t-test was applied. RESULTS:  The mean age of the patient was 43.83±9.76 years. Male cases were 78 (70.9%) and female cases were 32 (29.1%). Mean duration of surgery was 30.32±7.07 minutes and the surgeon’s ease was 2.30±0.98. There was a significant difference (P<0.05) with respect to mean duration of surgery and surgeon’s ease level in patients who were given topical anesthesia (28.12±6.57 minutes and 3.11±0.90) versus peribulbar anesthesia (32.52±6.92 minutes and 2.67±0.90). CONCLUSION: Topical anesthesia without sedation is better than peribulbar anesthesia for vitrectomy without sedation in patients with unresolving vitreous hemorrhage of duration greater than 3 months