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The use of animal waste for soil amendment is a viable option for waste management. For safe and sustainable management of waste, it is important to assess its chemical speciations. Therefore, an experiment was carried out to compare changes in heavy metals (HM) [cadmium (Cd), mercury (Hg), nickel (Ni), and lead (Pb)] fractions in five types of livestock manures, namely cow, goat, sheep, chicken, and ostrich. The metals were stepwise fractionated into exchangeable, adsorbed, organically bound, carbonate-precipitated, and residual forms by extracting with 0.5 M KNO3, de-ionized water, 0.5 M NaOH, 0.05 M Na2 EDTA, and 4 M HNO3, respectively. Extractability of HM was found to be highly dependent upon the type of waste as well as extracting agent. Manures differed for the release of HM as chicken > ostrich > sheep > cow > goat. Extractions released HM in the order of Ni > Pb > Cd > Hg. For all metals, extracting agents differed in the order HNO3 > EDTA > NaOH > KNO3 > H2O, irrespective of the kind of manure. Carbon content in the poultry manure (both ostrich and chicken) was less than other animals. Poultry manure released more P than goat, sheep, and cow. Chicken manure got the highest pH (9.5) whereas cow manure had the lowest pH value (8.4). Among manures, EC was measured as goat > cow > sheep > ostrich > chicken. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the study is to assess the limestone (LS) exploitation area and its negative impacts on natural resources using geo-spatial techniques. LS is an important constituent of cement manufacturing which is extensively used in the construction of infrastructure such as roads and buildings. The Margalla Hills National Park (MHNP) is situated around Islamabad and contains a large amount of LS reserves. However, the exploitation of LS from the MHNP is causing harmful environmental impacts on the surrounding areas. Geographic Information System (GIS) and Remote Sensing (RS) have been proved as powerful tools for LS exploitation assessment. Four Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM)/Enhanced Thematic Mapper (ETM+) satellite images have been acquired over a span of 17 years (1992-2009). The temporal changes in the study area were detected by performing the digital image processing techniques of image enhancement and supervised classification. The classification accuracy has been verified with high resolution Google Earth images and by using error matrix. Advanced Space borne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) Global Digital Elevation (GDEM) has been used for topographic information extraction. It was observed that LS exploitation area increased from 0.35% to 5.72% from 1992-2009, whereas, the vegetation was decreased from 23.46% to 12.12%. Urban development also increased rapidly. The results showed that LS exploitation is deteriorating the ecosystem, biodiversity, landscape and vegetation of the MHNP which was established in 1980 to protect, conserve and manage the biodiversity and ecosystem in this region. We conclude that the LS exploitation in the MHNP should be managed properly to secure the water, soil, air quality in the federal capital. Initiatives should be taken for the rehabilitation of the LS exploited areas and then, to suggest alternative LS exploitation sites in the near periphery of study area with EIA restrictions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The "Shuanghuanglian" formula, simplified from the classic formula "Yin Qiao San", is composed of the Honeysuckle flower, Scutellaria root and Forsythia fruit. Its primary effects include dispelling wind, relieving exterior syndrome, and clearing heat and toxic materials. The traditional "Shuanghuanglian" (SHL) preparation method requires prolonged heating that results in the loss of volatile oil components and diminishes its efficacy. This study centered on developing an enhanced "Shuanghuanglian" volatile oil-infused soluble powder (SHLO) and evaluating its therapeutic efficacy and mechanisms using a mouse pneumonia model. Our findings demonstrate that SHLO administration significantly restores lung tissue damage and mitigates LPS-induced pulmonary inflammation. SHLO intervention led to a notable reduction in TUNEL-positive lung cells and levels of IL-6 (P<0.01), IL-1β (P<0.001), and TNF-α (P<0.05) in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) triggered by LPS. Furthermore, SHLO markedly suppressed p-ERK levels without substantially influencing p-JNK levels or p-NF-κB p65 levels. The relative traces of p-ERK, MyD88, and TLR4 in lung tissues were notably decreased in the SHLO group relative to the LPS group. Additionally, SHLO reduced the proportion of an unclassified Muribaculaceae genus while increasing Akkermansia levels in the gut microbiota. In summary, SHLO effectively defends against LPS-induced lung damage through the inhibition of the TLR4/MyD88 and p-ERK signaling pathways and modulating gut microbiota. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mycoplasma bovis (M. bovis) is one of the important pathogens of cattle, which have been detected from pneumonic lungs of dairy cattle especially calves. M. bovis is main reason for morbidity and mortality in dairy calves because it is overlooked due to its late detection. It is considered that some typical clinical ailments, postmortem and microscopic lesions are useful for the diagnosis of disease but molecular confirmation through PCR is more reliable technique. The present study was conducted for detection and phylogenetic analysis of M. bovis induced mortality in bovine calves. A total of 193 lung and pleural fluid samples (bovine calves) were collected from slaughterhouses and private farms in Bahawalpur region. The DNA was extracted from samples by using DNA extraction kit. The samples were analyzed by PCR using M. bovis-specific primers having a length of 270bp. The PCR results showed that M. bovis was detected in 16(8.29%) isolates, which included 14(7.90%) lung tissues and 2(12.50%) pleural fluid samples. The season-wise positive samples were 12.12% in winter, 10.34% in spring and 2.89% in summer. The sequences were submitted to NCBI under accession number allotted as PP738878-PP738885. The BLAST was performed for sequence alignment by windows 7.1 software MEGA Muscle 37. The phylogenetic analysis showed the maximum and minimum identity of 97-100% among these geographical obtained strains from local isolates. The reference strain PP738878 had 100% identity with Swiss strain AF003959.1 of M. bovis and other strains showed a minimum identity of 99% with Poland, Switzerland and Egypt. This is the first study of the molecular detection and phylogenetic analysis of M. bovis in bovine calves in Pakistan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Scabies is a common parasitic infection caused by the mite Sarcoptes Scabiei. About 300 million cases of scabies are reported annually. Scabies usually presents clinically with an erythematous excoriated papulovesicular rash, burrows, nodules and hyperkeratotic lesions in specific body areas. A rare presentation of scabies is the bullous pemphigoid-like bullous scabies. So far, to the best of our knowledge, only 32 cases of bullous scabies have been reported in medical literature, of which only 11 were under 60 years of age at the time of initial presentation. This is the first case of bullous scabies being reported from Pakistan., Case Presentation: Herein we discuss, with reference to the existing literature, the case of a 23-year-old Punjabi male who presented with a 3 day history of a tense, non-erythematous, non-tender bulla measuring approximately 0.5 cm x 0.8 cm on the right foot near the interdigital cleft. He was diagnosed to have bullous scabies., Conclusion: The diagnosis of scabies should be considered in all patients who present with tense bullous lesions accompanied by pruritus and a maculopapular rash. This is particularly relevant if these lesions do not resolve with steroid treatment. In such patients, in order to prevent a misdiagnosis of bullous pemphigoid, scrapings for Sarcoptes Scabiei mites and eggs should be taken.