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The present report accounts successful production of blastocysts and birth of calves following OPU-IVEP technique in Sahiwal cows of Pakistani origin. A total of 9 transvaginal OPU sessions were performed in twelve Sahiwal cows and 520 immature COCs were recovered using commercially prepared media. These COCs were placed in maturation medium for 24 h in an incubator at 38.5°C with 5% CO2. The matured oocytes were co-incubated with sperm cells in IVF medium for 22 h. After fertilization, the presumptive zygotes were transferred to culture medium for 7 days at 5% CO2. The results showed that the cleavage rate of IVF was 68.6% out of which 26.3% were developed up to blastocyst. A total of 2 blastocyst-stage fresh embryos were transferred in a single synchronized recipient cow. The pregnancy was confirmed one month after transfer and resulted in successful calving demonstrating the possibility of performing embryo transfer in elite native herds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Current study was conducted for the evaluation of genetic variability present in triticale for seven yield attributing characters, to classify the triticale genotypes into similar groups and find out the characters responsible for distinguishing the genotypes into groups. For this purpose 70 lines of triticale were introduced from CIMMYT and grown at the experimental site of Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad during the cropping season of 2012-2013. Experiment was conducted in RCBD with two replications. Triticale genotypes were evaluated for characters: plant height (129.9 cm), spike length (14.71 cm), number of spikelets per spike (32), number of grains per spike (28), number of tillers per meter (117), 1000 grain weight (87g) and grain yield per meter (104.50g). Analysis of variance found that genotypes selected were significantly different for all the characters in study. Plant height showed negative and non-significant correlation (-0.006) with grain yield per meter. Correlation between number of grains per spike and grain yield per meter was found to be highly significant (0.118). Genotypes were grouped into 15 clusters as a result of cluster analysis based upon the characters under study and cluster I and XV were most diverse while cluster VIII and IX were most similar. Genotypes belonging to the cluster XII showed best performance for various characters indicating the presence of superior genetic material for breeders in triticale improvement programmes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we first survey cross-layer architectures for Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) and Wireless Multimedia Sensor Networks (WMSNs). Afterwards, we propose a novel cross-layer architecture for QoS provisioning in clustered and multi-hop based WMSNs. The proposed architecture provides support for multiple network-based applications on a single sensor node. For supporting multiple applications on a single node, an area in memory is reserved where each application can store its network protocols settings. Furthermore, the proposed cross-layer architecture supports heterogeneous flows by classifying WMSN traffic into six traffic classes. The architecture incorporates a service differentiation module for QoS provisioning in WMSNs. The service differentiation module defines the forwarding behavior corresponding to each traffic class. The forwarding behavior is primarily determined by the priority of the traffic class, moreover the service differentiation module allocates bandwidth to each traffic class with goals to maximize network utilization and avoid starvation of low priority flows. The proposal incorporates the congestion detection and control algorithm. Upon detection of congestion, the congested node makes an estimate of the data rate that should be used by the node itself and its one-hop away upstream nodes. While estimating the data rate, the congested node considers the characteristics of different traffic classes along with their total bandwidth usage. The architecture uses a shared database to enable cross-layer interactions. Application's network protocol settings and the interaction with the shared database is done through a cross-layer optimization middleware. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we present enhanced routing protocol for low-lower and lossy networks (ERPL), a reduced overhead routing protocol for short-range low-power and lossy wireless networks, based on RPL. ERPL enhances peer-to-peer (P2P) route construction and data packet forwarding in RPL's storing and non-storing modes of operation (MoPs). In order to minimize source routing overhead, it encodes routing paths in Bloom Filters (BF). The salient features of ERPL include the following: (i) optimized P2P routing and data forwarding; (ii) no additional control messages; and (iii) minimized source routing overhead. We extensively evaluated ERPL against RPL using emulation, simulation, and physical test-bed based experiments. Our results demonstrate that ERPL outperforms standard RPL in P2P communication and its optimized P2P route construction and data forwarding algorithms also positively impact the protocol's performance in multi-point to point (MP2P) and point to multi-point (P2MP) communications. Our results demonstrate that the BF-based approach towards compressed source routing information is feasible for the kinds of networks considered in this paper. The BF-based approach results in 65% lower source routing control overhead compared to RPL. Our results also provide new insights into the performance of MP2P, P2MP, and P2P communications relative to RPL's destination-oriented directed a-cyclic graph (DODAG) depth, i.e., a deeper DODAG negatively impacts the performance of MP2P and P2MP communications, however it positively impacts P2P communication, while the reverse holds true for a relatively shallow DODAG. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction The most common degenerative joint disease in adults is osteoarthritis. The gold standard treatment option for this aging society with greater functional demands is total knee arthroplasty. The Oxford Knee Score (OKS) assesses factors such as stiffness, pain, function, satisfaction, and quality of life, allowing you to quantify treatment success after surgery. According to published research, there isn't a perfect postoperative timepoint to use the OKS to obtain TKA outcomes. Therefore, at the time of evaluation, the OKS should reflect the best possible outcome for the patient group. This study was conducted to see the OKS in patients who underwent simultaneous bilateral knee replacement at six weeks and six months postoperatively and to see if there was a clinically significant difference in the mean OKS. Methods This prospective cross-sectional study was conducted at the Section of Orthopedic Surgery at Aga Khan University Hospital, a tertiary care center in Karachi, Pakistan. Patients who underwent simultaneous bilateral total knee replacement from October 2023 till December 2023 were included; exclusion criteria included patients who had a recent knee infection and extensor mechanism disruption. OKS was calculated at six weeks and six months postoperatively. Results The total number of patients included in the study was 49 with a mean age of 61.9 +/- 6.1. There were 42 (85.7%) females and 7 (14.3%) males. The mean BMI of our patients was 33.3 +/- 3.8. The radiographic Kellgren Lawrence Grading (KLG) was used and 38 (77.6%) patients were placed in Grade IV KLG, and 11 (22.4%) were placed in Grade III KLG. The mean OKS preoperatively was 12.6 +/- 3.5. At six weeks, the OKS showed improvement, with the mean being 20.6 +/- 3.0. At six months postoperatively, there was a significant improvement in the OKS, with the mean now being 42.7 +/- 2.4. At six weeks post-surgery, the mean improvement in the OKS score was 7.9 +/- 2.71, whereas at six months post-surgery, the mean improvement in the OKS score was 30.1 +/- 3.6. This difference was significant ( p -value=0.03). Conclusion Our study showed a clinically significant difference between the mean OKS at the six-week and six-month timeline, with a significant increase in the mean improvement OKS score at six months. OKS should be utilized six months postoperatively to assess the outcome of simultaneous bilateral knee arthroplasty patients., Competing Interests: Human subjects: Consent was obtained or waived by all participants in this study. Ethics Review Committee Aga Khan University Hospital issued approval 2023-7977-26781. Animal subjects: All authors have confirmed that this study did not involve animal subjects or tissue. Conflicts of interest: In compliance with the ICMJE uniform disclosure form, all authors declare the following: Payment/services info: All authors have declared that no financial support was received from any organization for the submitted work. Financial relationships: All authors have declared that they have no financial relationships at present or within the previous three years with any organizations that might have an interest in the submitted work. Other relationships: All authors have declared that there are no other relationships or activities that could appear to have influenced the submitted work., (Copyright © 2024, Sulaiman et al.)

Background and Aims: Beta-blockers provide secondary prophylaxis following endoscopic therapy for variceal bleeding. Guidelines recommend starting beta-blockers 6 days after endoscopy to prevent masking hemodynamic signs of re-bleeding. We aimed to see safety of earlier initiation of betablockers., Methods: Cirrhotic patients with upper GI bleed were given intravenous vasoactive agents until undergoing endoscopy. Patients with only oesophageal varices as source of bleed were recruited. Vasoactive agents were discontinued following variceal banding. The patients were observed for 12-18 hours, discharged on oral carvedilol 6.25 mg BID and monitored for 6 weeks for re-bleeding and mortality., Results: Fifty patients were included, 27 (54%) male and 23 (46%) female. Average age was 43±3 years. Aetiology of cirrhosis was HCV in 42 (84%), HBV in 6 (12%), HCV & HBV in 2 (4%) and indeterminate in 1 (2%) patient. Seventeen (34%) patients had Child A, 22 (44%) Child B and 11 (22%) had Child C disease. Hospital stay was under 24 hours in 24 (48%), 24-48 hours in 15 (30%) and 48-72 hours in 11 (22%) patients. Five (10%) patients underwent EGD within 6 hours of admission, 28 (56%) within 12 hours, 14 (28%) within 24 hours and 3 (6%) within 36 hours. No re-bleeding, mortality or drug related adverse effects were noted during 6 weeks after discharge., Conclusions: Our study proves possibility of shorter management of variceal bleeding by having a 12-18 hour monitoring after endoscopic banding, followed by beta-blocker initiation and discharge. This will safely reduce physical and financial burden on health services.